The Immortal Words (The Grave Kingdom), стр. 13
He grabbed one of the skulls and tried to smash her in the head with it. He smelled like one of the Qiangdao, all murder and rage and spoiled meat. It horrified her.
Bingmei’s reflexes saved her life. She dodged back, then did a double kick into his face. She watched as blood bloomed from his nose, and he slumped into the water unconscious.
Water dripped from her own face as she staggered, swaying with confusion. Then she marched up to him, grabbed his wrist, and began dragging him out of the pool. Her insides writhed with dread, and then, to her horror, she saw the tree sway. The butterflies all took flight at once, revealing the bleached-bone bark of the leafless trunk.
The leopard ran away. Bingmei had no sooner noticed than the insects swarmed around her, around her and Quion both. One tried to fly into her mouth, but she closed her lips and eyes and yanked on her friend’s limp body.
The insects went into her shirt, through the opening at her neck and the front of her blouse. They wriggled against her, flapping their disgusting wings. She nearly screamed at the sensation of them on her face, the noise of their wings in her ears. And she knew if she opened her mouth to scream, she would unwittingly eat one.
She pulled hard, dragging Quion with her, his body limp and heavy as she strained to get him out of the water.
And then, from far above, she sensed a dragon coming.
CHAPTER FIVE
Poison
A jolt of panic went straight through Bingmei’s heart as the crazed butterflies swarmed around her. A strong compulsion to flee nearly made her abandon Quion, but she wouldn’t leave her friend. Gritting her teeth, she shifted her position, hoisting him up from beneath his arms and dragging him back toward the chasm that led to the grotto. As soon as she left the water of the pool, pulling Quion with her, the insects returned to the tree. She steadied herself to prevent a scream from tearing loose as the wriggling creatures found their way out of her shirt.
The feeling of the dragon came closer. Bingmei realized she didn’t have time to drag Quion down into the chasm. But there was a boulder that had sheared off the side of the wall. Part of the underside was broken. She changed her course and pulled her friend to it. When she reached the edge, she dropped to her knees and pushed him into the small opening. His pack was too bulky and blocked her efforts, so she hurriedly removed it from his shoulders and shoved it in first.
Once Quion was positioned inside the crag, she rolled into it as well. A blue-winged insect crawled out from her shirt and fluttered by her face, and she slammed her fist into it, squashing it against the stone. She felt the dragon sinking toward the grotto.
Then she saw the meiwood staff at the edge of the pond where Quion had dropped it. He’d been carving it, so it no longer looked like a natural piece of driftwood.
It would reveal them.
Biting her lip, she quickly rolled back out and raced toward the edge of the pond. Grabbing one end of the staff, she dived back under the boulder just as the sound of leathery wingbeats filled the close space.
Bingmei let go of the staff, pressing herself against the rugged stone floor. The chasm stretched out to her left and behind her. She could see a shadow descend on the tree in its silver pool. The blue wings of the butterflies fluttered again, just as they had before, mimicking the leaves of a tree. Bingmei felt her pulse in her ears. She sniffed, trying to catch the dragon’s scent.
She caught a smell she recognized instantly.
It was Xisi, the Dragon Queen.
The dragon, pale as milk, landed gracefully at the edge of the pond. Bingmei smelled her own fear as it rose in pungent fumes. If the Dragon Queen captured her again, she’d be devoured.
As a dragon, Xisi was not as massive as Echion, but she was still quick and deadly. Her neck craned and extended over the pond, her forked tongue flicking out like a snake’s.
Her jaws opened then, exuding a strange mist Bingmei remembered from the Death Wall. She’d seen it freeze guardians where they stood. It wasn’t the killing fog, but it was just as fatal. The mist billowed, and Bingmei heard a crackling noise as the waters of the pond froze solid.
Tendrils of mist crept toward Bingmei, making her stiffen with additional fear. A frigid breeze came into the gap. She closed her eyes, wincing in dreadful anticipation, but no harm befell her. It was like touching a frosty cloud. It was cold but not painful.
When she risked opening her eyes again, Xisi had transformed into her human self. She wore the long, elegant robes that Bingmei recognized from Fusang, her hair arranged in an intricate style of small braids woven around combs and stays that propped it up. Xisi drew a sigil in the air with her finger, drawing Bingmei’s attention to the decorative silver claws she wore on her smallest fingers, the ones that could slit a man’s throat.
Bingmei watched in fascination as Xisi walked across the now-frozen pond with surefooted ease, approaching the tree with its silver bark.
The queen was alone, and it startled Bingmei to hear her speak.
“How long it has been since I first came to this place?” She inclined her head, gazing around at the cavern. “How many lives have you claimed, wicked tree? Blighted tree.” She gave a silvery laugh. “But you do bear good fruit eventually. Knowledge being the most useful. How foolish we were then. How ambitious. Echion grows more insufferable over the ages. But, thanks to you, I need not endure it for quite so long this time.”
Xisi, standing before the tree, removed one of the silver claws from