Ghost Monkey, стр. 25
"Why did you hide from us? Of course we’ll do what you say. You are a revered and wise spirit. From now on we will never feast on the flesh of fish, but will let them pass unhindered. Tell them we will make pools so they can spawn here and we will protect and provide for them."
Ganaptu did, and the fish rejoiced. Soon men worked on a temple to Ganaptu, putting it off the river so fish could enter it. The water spirit, humbled, worked with man and fish to make sure both were happy and given the best life possible. Man built stone fishes and put them in the temple, worshiping them in the hopes of becoming one in the next life.
Then the demons came. When the demons attacked, Ganaptu fought them off, filling the river with their blood. The black ichor killed fish and man. The fish stopped visiting. The men used water through reservoirs for years. Before man could drink from the river again, a plant blossomed on the shore which Ganaptu wasn't familiar with. It was like the calla lily, but the flower was purple with a glowing red bulb down in the sheath of the lily. Smoke emitted from the flower, twisting around the red and warping the glow. Men refused to approach it.
Ganaptu ate it and was enraged, killing several animals and two men. Having fought demons, he understood the corruption within the plants and he called them chaos flowers. Man was forbidden from touching them until one day an herbalist visited.
The herbalist looked at the plant and said, "This is unique. Do you suffer from the corruption?"
"Yes. I fought the demons long ago, and the taint remains with me. It consumes me." The flower was not the only way Ganaptu entered a rage, as he was touched in the head by chaos.
"Give me five plants, a vial, and three days. I will figure the rest out." So Ganaptu, hesitant but with nothing to lose, gave the requested resources to the herbalist.
In three days, he provided a potion which mimicked the red with shadows squirming around. "I think it will taste vile, but drink this. It should placate your madness, at least for a while." Ganaptu drank the liquid, and he felt a calm wash over him. The black veins in his blue body receded a little, and the water spirit was overjoyed. Then he learned how to make the potion, placed the recipe in the temple, and sent men and fish out to find others who were tainted. That made this city a large city for a hundred years after the demon wars. When people were no longer corrupted, man no longer cared about the village or Ganaptu.
Chapter ElevenThe Monkey and the Pits
Age of Men 807
"I need that potion," Sugriva pleaded.
"I will fetch the shaman to create the concoction. In payment, take the Ganaptu pit so we can pray at the temple once more and honor the fish in the river."
“What about balance?” Madhav grumbled.
“All things need to balance out, even purchases.”
Madhav thumped his chest. "So be it. It's our path. We'll do it with or without the potion."
The warriors rushed to the temple, the river leading there dark with corruption. Shed skins floated downstream, catching on the banks. A few serpent scouts bathed in the sun, lying on rocks. Archers picked them off, bodies writhing though the Fangs were already dead.
The team forded the river and reached the opposite bank, the temple an imposing stone figure staring down at them. There were no doors, though two fish statues framed where the opening would be underwater. Madhav said, "Water team, breach. Ikku, signal when it's clear."
A fish and three otters dove under. Serpent bodies surfaced shortly after. A red cloth floated out of the temple, the signal from Ikku that it was clear.
Sugriva dove under, the river weeds tickling at his belly. Then he reached stone stairs, the small entrance welcoming them in two at a time. Fighting clattered through the temple by the time Sugriva arrived. Pitch and crimson blood splattered the walls.
Sugriva went straight into the fight with his staff, cracking a Fang in the mouth and chipping its teeth. When it went to bite him, he caught the monster in the hinge of his jaw, and the snake went slack.
In the center was a corpulent queen. She wrapped her tail around eggs already delivered, each one large enough for a man to fit in. She struck out at anyone close enough, but her motions were slow, encumbered by the children growing inside her. Fang warriors remained close to her. They were formidable, but quickly fell to Madhav and the others. Sugriva remained away from the heart of battle, clearing out any snakes which slithered in late or fled. It was boring work, but it decreased the risk of rage taking him.
A Fang lunged at Sugriva and thumped into his chest with its head. The monkey was sent reeling, and the room took on a crimson hue.
Kill them. It's what they deserve. Not just the Fang. Kill the people forcing you to fight. The people keeping you from sanity.
Sugriva screamed, though he couldn't hear it, then jumped the Fang. He grabbed it by the head and body and pulled hard enough to rip the head off. Another Fang attacked, and Sugriva easily dodged to the side and came down with his staff hard enough the skin ruptured. Back broken, the snake flopped on the stone, slapping it like a fish. Sugriva crushed its skull with his heel.
In the center of the temple, like a distant dream, Madhav and his trusted fought the queen and her guard. Sugriva whirled around the temple's peripherals, entering rooms, going up and down levels, and the rest of the warriors got out of his way. When the fighting slowed, and Sugriva had to search for enemies, Zaina walked up to him, wrapped her arms around him, and whispered into