by Vitaly Zykov
The energy conducted through people's bodies hit at Roshag. He fought up to the end. Silver lightnings were enveloping him like a shimmering cover. The energy stream from people, sprawled on the ground, scattered over the cover surface. But that final defense disappeared in a short time, it was swept away by the pressure of Force.
Roshag was dying uttering no sound. The energy flow was pouring into him. An unhurried flow of assimilating Force at the beginning of the Ceremony now changed to chaotic flickering of scattered bundles. It seemed to be never ending… The rock turned out to be the weakest link. It could not stand the vibration and the roaring stream of Force. There came a terrible crash. Like a cobweb of tiny cracks covered the pristine purity of the stone. The energy flow passing through the people went off. There was a lull for a moment again, with people writhed and the monster frozen. Then Roshag's skin lit from within. At first it was smooth and soft light, but with every heartbeat, its intensity was growing. Finally, the light became unbearably bright, like a piece of sun which had fallen on the ground and disappeared, just as if someone turned the switch off.
Lying with his eyes closed, Yaroslav saw the phantasmagoria of raging energies from the beginning to the very end. Despite the pain and suffering, his memory had fixed everything. It happened without his will, he did not make any effort for it. The visions were simply arising in his mind.
When the pulsation of colored lines and the terrible glow from the place where Roshag sat before was gone, Yaroslav opened his stony eyelids. He did not have enough strength even to surprise any more. He became completely apathetic. Roshag remained on his place. He stood motionlessly. It seemed that he had not changed, but it was only on the surface. Then his skin began to glisten. With every passing moment that glitter was increasing. Then the first trickles ran.
– Is that blood indeed? – Yaroslav cried hoarsely.
There were no visible wounds on the monster's body, but he was bleeding. Some dark red liquid was oozing from under each scale. Suddenly, the front paws of the monster buckled and he slowly fell forward. Yaroslav weakly attempted to dodge but failed. He was pressed by the fallen body. Although «body» was too strong a word, since only the upper part of the winged lizard fell to the place where Yaroslav's legs were lying. He managed to pull his legs, and only the monster's head on its long neck fell directly on him. Because of the blow he almost lost his breathe for the umpteenth time during this crazy day. But that was not the worst part. The body of the dead (now it was clear that it was dead) monster continued to ooze with blood. The red liquid flew, as if pushed out with pressure. Yaroslav rigidly fixed by the long neck, was literally flooded over with the steaming substance. His entire body was covered with skin-deep bleeding wounds left by the claws of the monster, and Roshag's blood of got into these open wounds. Yaroslav was feeling as if some acid was splashed on him. Each wound began to pulse and burn with fire. He yelled and alien blood gushed into his open mouth. The blood like some sort of living creature, was pouring into the victim's body. Waves of pain rolled through his body, and his lungs were bursting with choking cough. Yaroslav could not turn off his head from this blood flow. His consciousness became clouded. The surrounding world began to spin on its axis, all feelings lost brightness. His consciousness began to tremble and ran off like a frightened gull…
Now his consciousness was floating in darkness. Some hungry, greedy darkness sucked Yaroslav in, trying to dissolve the basis of his soul. There was no time in this dungeon. Even the concept of time did not exist here, and there was no body. Only shadows of thoughts flew sluggishly. Suddenly, a thin ray of light pierced the surrounding darkness. It grew steadier and steadier. The walls of the dungeon transformed into a pipe. And his consciousness began to dart through the tunnel, lit with bright light at its far end. The speed was increasing, the end of the tunnel became closer. And after a moment the bright light filled everything around…
Dry cough shook his chest. Something firm was pressing into his sternum, somebody's hands rhythmically pressed on his back. His chin was smeared with something sticky. He had incredibly disgusting feeling in his mouth. The general condition of the body could be characterized by one word – awful. His eyes were obscured with some hazy veil, streaked with small gold-colored lines. Then Yaroslav heard familiar speech.
– Push stronger! Come on, come on! Coughs mean he's alive. The second guy was not so lucky.
The voice obviously belonged to a woman. Somebody nearby was mumbling and crying hysterically. The pressure on his back seized. Strong hands of a man helped Yaroslav to sit down. Yaroslav opened his eyes. A pretty dark-haired girl stood kneeling in front of him. Beautiful bust rose her thin jacket (Yaroslav noticed it even in such an awful state!). She looked at him sympathetically. Turning his head, he saw the guy holding him.
– How are you? – The voice was dry and a little stressful. – Can you stand up?
– Yes, I guess so…
– Well. Try it. We'll help you.
The guy took Yaroslav under one arm and the black-haired girl under the other. One jerk, and he was on his feet. Yaroslav was swaying, but stayed in vertical position. His volunteer assistants gently took off their hands.
– Ok. Thanks! I can stand myself… – Yaroslav made a small step. He was feeling nauseous and a little dizzy, but he was alive.
He looked for the source of the noise – not far from there was a weeping girl about eighteen. Her face was hidden in discolored hair, her small shoulders were trembling. Nearby, there was another girl, hugging the first one, she was mumbling something soothing. Although it was evident that she needed no less care herself. The second girl that was mumbling, had red hair, apparently for a change. She raised her eyes at Yaroslav and at the same moment turned away, the tips of her ears blushed.
All the events were unfolding on the background of the ruined bus. The second involuntary participant of the ceremony was lying near the front wheel. He was all covered with blood, he was not breathing, his eyes were closed. Roshag was lying nearby. Though in that dead mass he had become it was now impossible to recognize the proud and cruel tormentor. Pursing his paws under his body, he drew himself upright, as if trying to reach for something. Only his neck was turned to the side. The skin than seemed impenetrable earlier, now was hanging on the skeleton like a rag. In some places white bones could be seen. A dark spot spread around the body.
The monster was lying on the platform cleaned from dust and stones. Perfectly smooth before, the dark gray rock was now covered with a cobweb of small cracks. The most of the cracks were splotched with blood. From the amount of the characters that covered the ground during the ritual remained very few, they were as if sealed into the rock. But there was a strong feeling of incompleteness of the system. It raised a vague anxiety in one's soul… Someone touched Yaroslav's shoulder.
– Take this, wipe yourself. – The guy was offering him a rag, which used to be a white shirt.
Yaroslav looked at himself. He was covered with dried blood as if with an armor. He felt his face. The face was the same. Suddenly, his knees started to tremble and a moment later his whole body was shaking. Trying to pull himself together, he silently grabbed the rag and began to clean his face.
– Not just the face! – The guy chuckled darkly.
Puzzled, Yaroslav looked at himself again. The understanding came very quickly. Had he not been covered in crust of dirt, it would be easy to see how he blushed with shame. He was absolutely naked. His hands reflexively shielded the most important part of his body… The girls giggled nervously. Even the crying girl stopped sobbing and smiled timidly. Yaroslav was ready to sink into the ground, but the guy helped him again.
– Come behind the bus and try to scrub your skin a little bit. Be careful, you're covered with wounds. Its dried up now, but blood can bleed again. Then make some garb from these rags. – He was holding a pile of them.
Looking closer, Yaroslav recognized some of his own cloth among them. His memory showed pictures of
the monster's claws, tearing off his suit and other cloth. Yaroslav nodded gratefully and went to the bus. He had a lot of work.
CHAPTER 3
Yaroslav cleared the mud and blood relatively well and surprisingly quickly. From the scraps of clothing Yaroslav made something with a lot of knots, but at the very least it was protecting his body. Then he stood for a moment, trying to look around. It turned out that they all were on a mountain plateau, and now he was looking in the direction of the mountain foot. At the bottom he could see waving of green colors with gray spots resembling some sort of sea. A little further and to the left there was something blue, like a river. To the right of the green line there were some lofty mountains. Behind them there were dark mountains too. Turning his head, Yaroslav realized that their mountain was the highest. It was just a giant. The place of the ceremony was not at the top, as it seemed at first. The true peak came up to the sky. It had a memorable look – like a clenched fist.
«A clenched fist, threatening the sky» – Yaroslav shivered.
Finally he went to the other people. They were already waiting for him. It was decided to move discussion behind the bus, where Yaroslav had dressed before. The neighborhood with place of massacre of their travel companions, the remains of the monster, the corpse of the guy who had not survived in ritual and now began to decay very rapidly – all that pressed hard on their psyche. Fellows in suffer, simply sat down in circle on the ground, Yaroslav, having suffered more than the others, was leaning heavily to the wheel.
They began with introduction. The guy's name was Oleg. He was wiry, energetic, smart, and in addition, fair-haired and blue-eyed – a real die Blonde Bestie, a true Aryan. Yaroslav shook hands with him, his hand was strong, very strong. Yaroslav who had not complained about hand weakness before, slightly winced. Oleg drily informed that he was twenty-six years old, a businessman. He had accompanied his girlfriend to the University. Today, unfortunately, his car had broken down and they went to the bus stop. Then Oleg added that in the army he had served in border troops. His girlfriend was the black-haired girl who helped to bring Yaroslav to life. Her name was Anastasia, or Nastya.
The crying girl with discolored hair was Olesya and her redhead friend Natasha. Yaroslav remembered that the guy who had not survived in the ritual, had tried to pick up these two girls in the bus. The girls were going to the University. They were in the fourth year (as usual, Yaroslav made a mistake in suggestion of the girls age).
Yaroslav simply said his name and added briefly that he was a teacher at the University. He was going to work by bus.
– Okie dokie then! – Oleg spoke too cheerfully. – Now let's think where we are, and what we are going to do…
– There's nothing to think about – we're in another world! – said Yaroslav angrily. – Remember what was happening at home for the last three months. Apparently, it was a related phenomenon that had prepared the passage here, to these creatures!
He basically screamed the last words furiously. The ritual did not last for long, but he felt fed up with it… Yaroslav grinned gloomily.
– Why are you saying another world? – protested Anastasia. – Maybe, Africa or Australia, judging by the heat. We may be anywhere, who knows where?!
– I'm not an expert in astronomy, but the sun on the Earth is not green!
– But we never used to have the purple sky either!!!
– Stop, that's enough! – said Oleg with authority. – Let's hope that the world is ours. But it could be not, and we have to prepare for the worst. Leave suggestions for the future, let's deal with the pressing problems. I propose to brainstorm the memories about being kidnapped by this dragon.
– Dragon?! – exclaimed Yaroslav.
– Yes, dragon. Did you notice that it is one to one similar to dragons as these mythical creatures are usually portrayed, didn't you?
– Well, it's true… – Yaroslav scratched his head. – I did not notice. He said – he's Roshag, and I regarded him as Roshag.
– Who said? What Roshag? – Exclaimed all at once.
Oleg raised his hand:
– Well, now tell us all details.
Yaroslav told everything from his awakening and to destruction of the skull. He did not forget the conversation with Roshag.
– The dragon was talking, after all… – now Oleg was scratching his head.
– If it was not merely his pain-induced hallucination! – Olesya inserted a remark. Yaroslav began to feel persistent hostility toward her.
– And what do you know?
Oleg volunteered to tell the story. At the moment when the bus wheels took off from the ground, people fell on the floor. Apparently, Yaroslav had the worst fall. However, the others lost consciousness just a little later. Something dimmed their consciousness, and they could not remember anything that happened afterwards. When the dragon, or Roshag, began to tear off the roof, everyone woke up, but the confusion still lasted. No one understood what was happening. Then the roof was gone… and instead of it, appeared a terrible muzzle and began to scrutinize each person. People on the back seat were killed by the dragon immediately. There simply appeared a paw, hit one strike, and all was over – «Finita la comedia». Seven people were killed, including the driver. Then the dragon carried other people out of the bus and sat them not far.
It seemed that the dragon was not satisfied. He put Oleg and another guy at some distance from the girls. They all could move, but there was no even a thought to run away. Then the dragon began to draw lines on the ground with his claws, and it turned out that it was not ground actually, but stone! Sparks were flying out from under the claws. After that Roshag began to bring bodies from the bus and cut signs on them, which caused metamorphosis similar to what Yaroslav saw. The dragon put some skulls and bones over the signs and lines. Having finished his hellish drawing, the dragon began to howl and knock with his jaws, making elaborate figures with his paws, wings, tail and neck in the air. It did not last long, but the monster was very tired. People could judge about that by his intermittent breathing. When he completed that pantomime, some elusive changes happened with the drawing on the stones.
Natasha, silent before, said that the drawing became more alive. All other agreed with her, but nobody could explain its meaning.
– You saw the rest of the events yourself… – completed Oleg and after a pause added: – Or even participated.
– Well, has anybody seen the tornadoes and the lightnings?
Everybody has. Though the storm was raging only near the figure on the rock, just ten yards away it felt like a slight breeze. Simply a mystery of nature. After telling the whole story, Oleg said very clearly:
– In short, the dragon tried to make a magical ritual. He was looking for some Force. It makes no difference for us. Let's think about what to do next. We have no food, and rescuers may never arrive. Therefore the problem number one is to find food, and the main task is to reach people…
– If they're here at all… – muttered Yaroslav under his breath, Oleg who heard everything fine, glared at him angrily.
Oleg became a leader in the most natural way. His self confidence, confident voice, stern look, and heroic aura of a border guard having a lot of experience – all that made his authority unquestioned not only for his girlfriend, but for other girls too. Yaroslav did not mind.
They began to prepare for a journey. It was decided to set the clock to twelve – the local sun was clearly at its zenith. Oleg took driver's tools from the bus – a set of wrenches and a small hammer. Others just picked up their stuff and lined up in front of Oleg.
– Well, listen to the task! I've found a pathway, like a goat track, but wider. It's going downhill, so we will follow this way.
– Well, what's next after we get down? – asked Yaroslav.
– We'll go to the water! Where comes water always come the seaways and consequently a chance to meet people. – Oleg's face was unreadable.
Yaroslav grinned: «He is trying to soothe us.
We all do realize that if this is another world, there may be no people here. It is good that, at least, the air is suitable for us. Let's hope that the solar radiation is the same as on Earth».
They built a chain, Oleg in head, and began their descent. It was easy to go. The trail was flat, very comfortable stones protruded on the left side of the wall. Clinging to these stones helped them to successfully overcome fear of height. The cliff on the right was not vertical, but its slope was very impressive. If you fall down you will not stop until you reach the foot. The easiness of their descent raised some vague suspicions – it was too easy a trail, with frequent notches on the rocks, which were so convenient. And protruding stones were placed too comfortably, their hands found them with no effort. Yaroslav was going at the rear and allowed himself for a few times to stop and carefully scrutinize the stones. The form of the cracks repeated too often and was like a man made sign – two vertical dashes and a horizontal wave across them. But he could not stop for long, Oleg urged them, forcing to move on. And Yaroslav had to obey.
Surprisingly, but after everything that had happened to him today Yaroslav felt pretty well. He did not feel dizzy, he was not swaying or sick, there was no pain, and his weakness ceased. All that pleased him. His wounds were not sore and did not bleed. His mood was rising, it seemed that everything would be ok, that they were not on another planet, and would come to people very soon. He even was not hungry. A few hours after the start Yaroslav began to feel some sort of euphoria. He wanted to sing. He noticed puzzled looks from girls and Oleg, but it did not matter. He was only little surprised with a question Oleg asked. At some point Oleg stopped the descent, cautiously went to the edge of the cliff, up to Yaroslav and asked whether he was under the influence of drugs. Yaroslav nearly laughed at his face, but restrained himself and just shook his head. Oleg shrugged and returned to his place at the head of their small detachment. The descent continued.