Dragon Conjurer 5, page 11
Kitsune’s blurred shape sped past the Sinsimito once more, and the hulking beast did its best to follow the speedster’s movements as he rushed past. But with such an ungainly body, and without proper joints, the beast barely pivoted a few inches before it had to lean heavily on its tree cane again to keep from toppling over.
The agitated chattering of the sprites steadily died down as Goldie blew them toward Nick’s darts, and the nymph continued to pop in and out of the plants catching them each with enough tranquilizer to put them down for a nice long nap. A few moments later, they all laid quietly snoring on the floor of the jungle. A few of them hugged their walking staves like children with teddy bears, and one sprite, who was quite a bit chubbier than the rest, laid flat on his back as his pudgy belly rose and fell rhythmically.
Wisp continued to battle the wind from Ky’s wings, Goldie’s wind attacks, and the rush of air that Kitsune caused with every pass, and I could see a slight sheen of sweat had formed on her forehead from the effort.
“Alright, now that those things are out of the way, let’s focus on this ugly bastard.” I grimaced down at the mishmashed form of the Sinsimito.
“This isn’t doing a whole lot,” Phoenix called out as he launched another mild attack of fire energy down at the beast. “I could ramp it up, but if I throw any more heat in, it will either kill the beast, or easily get away from us and catch the entire jungle on fire.”
“And we don’t want that.” I nodded. “Phoenix, you and Steffi try to keep the monster distracted, maybe we can keep it from causing any more damage. Elisabeth, I need you and Doppelganger to transform and get your hands on this thing. The tranqs aren’t working, try to choke it out.”
“Goody,” Doppelganger grumbled and immediately shifted his body back into the monstrous form. He stumbled awkwardly forward once the shift was complete, and he faced the Sinsimito head on.
“Right!” Elisabeth called out.
Then she launched herself into the air from the high tree branch she’d perched on, and she shifted her body from an eagle to a Silverback Gorilla as she fell through the air. My French lover landed on the Sinsimito’s chest with full force, and it stumbled heavily, but it managed to hold its balance. Elisabeth had landed behind the weird monster’s backward point of view, though, and she wrapped her burly arms around the beasts nearly nonexistent throat and squeezed.
The Sinsimito howled in anger and sent a ripple of ear-piercing interference through our comms system again. It managed to shake its thick torso like a wet dog, and gorilla-Elisabeth tumbled backward onto the ground.
Doppelganger roared at the ugly monster and attempted to raise his awkwardly formed arms up to the beast’s throat, but the Sinsimito was an incredibly mangled shape of body parts, and it looked like the Japanese guy had little success in piloting such a distorted form.
I caught sight of Kitsune flashing by once more while I looked down on the scene, and then I finally realized what the speedster had been working on this entire time.
The narrow Japanese guy trailed thick vines behind him and had been slyly weaving a thick net around the lumbering beast as we had been distracted by the swarm of Chaneque.
“Damn, Kitsune,” I murmured through the comms. “That’s brilliant.”
“Indeed.” The Japanese guy’s voice was weirdly distorted like he spoke to us from the other end of a long tunnel rather than through the comms as he raced in circles back and forth and around the Sinsimito. “Nearly done.”
“Alright, everybody!” I called out to the entire group. “Kitsune’s laid out a lovely trap, and it’s just about ready to spring! When he’s done, we take this beast down!”
“Hell yeah!” Nala laughed as she dodged another flying tree trunk, and my teammates all grinned in anticipation as they awaited instruction.
Chapter 7
“Everyone needs to grab hold of an anchor point, we will pull in unison,” Kitsune explained as he dashed once more to lay the last vine in place. “It is ready.”
“Where are the anchor points?” Steffi asked as she blasted another energy ball at the beast to keep its attention up in the air.
“I will move each of you into place,” Kitsune declared, and then almost as an afterthought, he added, “If that is acceptable?”
“Sounds good to me,” I chuckled. “Anybody object?”
“No,” Nala and Elisabeth said in unison.
“Just show me where, and I can get there as fast as you,” Nick boasted.
“I do not believe you are that fast,” Kitsune said, and his voice was inflected with the first bit of humor I’d heard from the stern Japanese guy.
“Oh, I’m that fast,” Nick declared.
“Then we shall test this theory later and determine who is correct,” Kitsune replied.
“Yeah, later.” I rolled my eyes at the sudden spike in testosterone in the air. “For now, let’s get to Kitsune’s anchor points and get ready to spring this trap.”
“Kit, show us where, and Steffi and I will get into position,” Phoenix said as he tossed another flaming burst of energy at the Sinsimito’s beastly form.
“Beyblade!” I called, and then I decided to test his ability to read my nonverbal commands.
I thought about how I wanted Beyblade to keep the monster distracted, but contain his fire blasts to the trampled dirt under the mangled feet of the beast. It wouldn’t do anybody any good to accidentally start a wildfire in this jungle, and I didn’t want to piss off the Chaneque any more today.
The scarlet Chinese dragon instantly twisted in the air with what looked like an excited smirk, and he began to spit short bursts of fireballs down at the Sinsimito below. His attacks were just strong enough to singe the thick brown fur that covered the monster’s body and char the earth at its feet, and the flames sizzled into nothing quickly enough that there was no real danger of it getting out of control.
“Good job, buddy!” I hollered to Beyblade. “Keep it up!”
“Phoenix, here!” Kitsune sped to a large Brazil nut tree and patted it once on its thick bark before he sped ten feet to the right to another sturdy tree. “Steffi, you are here!”
“Got it!” Steffi nodded as she and Phoenix flew off to their respective positions and grabbed hold of the thick vines that Kitsune had anchored around the tree trunks.
“Are you ready?” the narrow Japanese speedster asked Nala as he suddenly appeared at her side.
“Uh, yeah,” Nala murmured. “I guess so.”
Kitsune wrapped one of his lean arms around Nala’s waist and braced her neck with his other hand before he dashed at full speed over to a kapok tree and laid her gently on her feet.
“Woah!” Nala breathed and took hold of the thick vine wrapped around the trunk of the tree.
Then Kitsune appeared beside Elisabeth, who’d shifted back into her human form, and he took a firm hold on her and sped her across to her anchor point. The speedster dashed and moved Wisp into position next, and he called out to his broad-shouldered teammate along the way.
“You’re right there to the left, Doppelganger!” Kitsune ordered.
Doppelganger nodded once and shifted his body back into his human form before he jogged over to the rubber tree the speedster had indicated.
“Ronin, over here,” the dark-haired guy continued.
“Hai!” The voluptuous Japanese girl released her astral katana, and it disappeared in a short glow of white light before she dashed to her position.
Meanwhile, Goldie had interpreted an idle idea at the back of my mind and turned it into action. While the rest of the team had gotten into position, my wind dragon had precisely blown the unconscious Chaneque out of the clearing and away from the Sinsimito and our trap.
“Ready!” Kitsune called up to me after he sped to his own tree and took a firm grip of the vine tied around its trunk. “On your order, Dylan!”
I glanced around at the net of thick jungle vines that Kitsune had expertly woven. Each of my team members and the Japanese cadets stood about fifteen paces apart in a circle around the beast, and they each held a vine as thick as my wrist in both hands and had braced their feet into the rich soil of the jungle floor.
“Let me try something,” Nala called as her eyes lit up with an idea. She focused hard for a moment, and the earth around each cadets’ feet rose up and solidified to anchor them in place. “A little more support.”
“Excellent!” I praised as Beyblade blasted another small fireball directly at the Sinsimito’s face, and it roared out with rage once more. “On three! One, two… three!”
I watched in satisfaction as my teammates pulled forcefully and in perfect unison on their vines, and the woven net cinched tight around the Sinsimito and knocked it off balance.
Then the beast tumbled forward into the netting, and the speedster cadet gave the final call.
“Release!” Kitsune yelled.
Everyone let go of the taut vines, and the net was flung upward to scoop the lumbering Sinsimito into its trap. It encased the beast and kept him hanging several feet off the ground, and my teammates cheered with pride while the twelve-foot monster dangled comically between them.
“Great job, everyone!” I called out as Ky dipped down to land in the clearing beside the trapped beast.
“That was awesome,” Nick whooped and punched a fist in the air.
“What a great idea, Kitsune.” Steffi smiled at the narrow Japanese guy. “Where did you learn to weave a net like that?”
“My father is a fisherman,” Kitsune replied with a hint of a proud smile. “He prides himself on being able to weave a net tight enough to catch any octopus.”
“Well, this guy’s no octopus,” Phoenix chuckled as he looked up at the Sinsimito who glared angrily at us. “But he’s sure trapped like one.”
“Incredible,” Nala murmured.
“I must admit,” Wisp declared as she swiped the back of her hand across her forehead. “You are a talented leader. There was much to coordinate today, and you utilized our strengths effectively.”
“Thank you,” I said with a surprised grin. “You guys are really great, too.”
“I have seen better,” Doppelganger grumbled under his breath.
“Don’t mind him,” Wisp said with what could almost be called a smile. “He doesn’t like it when others are better than him.”
Doppelganger rolled his eyes and marched away several paces to examine one of the still unconscious Chaneque.
“Do you think we should bring some of these guys back to AIMM?” Ronin asked, and she leaned over the fat-bellied sprite just as he let out a rumbling snore.
“They’re almost cute while they are asleep,” Elisabeth giggled.
“I think we should let them be,” Nala said hesitantly. “They aren’t vengeful and harmful to humans, they only want to protect the jungle.”
“I agree.” I nodded and crossed my arms over my chest. “I think if we took some of them, we’d piss them all off more, and that would create a bigger problem for the locals.”
“Let us take some photos and perhaps a few small hair samples, then, non?” Elisabeth suggested. “That should be satisfactory for Dr. Hastings and relatively untroubling to these creatures.”
“That’s a good idea.” I smiled at the French beauty and then turned to Nick, who stood nearby with his entire arm faded into the trunk of a tree.
The blond nymph had his eyebrows bunched in concentration, and I got the impression he was studying the jungle tree’s makeup while he had the chance.
“When you’re done with that,” I said with a grin, “radio Silva and tell him we’re done here.”
“On it, boss.” Nick extracted his arm from the tree and pulled the radio from his belt. “Captain Silva, this is Dragon One, we have secured the threat.”
“Copy that, Dragon One.” Silva’s voice crackled over the radio.
“Did you hear that?” Nick’s cackle of amusement echoed through the jungle. “He said ‘Dragon One!’ Score!”
“Oh, geez.” Steffi smirked.
“We’ll never hear the end of this one,” Nala laughed.
“Alright,” I chuckled. “Let’s get these samples and get ready for Silva. Nala, can you flatten out the ground for him some more?”
“Probably not enough for the jet to land.” The dark beauty frowned and looked around us. “At least not without destroying way too many trees.”
“What if Thor carried the net over to the jet instead?” Elisabeth offered.
“That’s a good idea.” I turned to my storm dragon who hadn’t had the chance to be of much use during the battle. I could see he was pleased with the idea of pulling his weight, or at least the weight of the Sinsimito. “Let us gather up all our samples, and then you can help us get the beast back to the jet.”
An affirmative roar rumbled from low in Thor’s throat as he stood patiently waiting nearby.
“Silva, await monster delivery by dragon,” Nick said into his radio. “I repeat… delivering our cargo to you by dragon. Over.”
“Copy that,” the pilot chuckled, and my nymph friend grinned from ear to ear.
“This is such a classic Dragon One move,” Nick sighed. “Delivering monsters all over the world… by dragon.”
“I do feel very official,” Phoenix chuckled as he looked up at my lingering dragons above.
The sun had dipped low over the horizon as we’d wrapped up the Sinsimito in Kitsune’s net, and we were quickly fading into night in the jungle. I pulled out my flashlight and aimed it at the ground before I turned it on. I quickly discovered that three thousand lumens was a hell of a lot, and I was glad we’d been able to subdue the beast before night had fallen.
“I will guard this one,” Elisabeth said as she gestured to the Sinsimito where it glowered at us from between the vines and tried again in vain to free itself.
“Thanks.” I smiled at the red-haired girl and walked over to the sleeping Chaneque. “Let’s clip a little hair and get as many photos as we can.”
“I think I can grab a piece of fingernail from this one,” Ronin called from a few feet away, where she leaned over the pudgy sprite. “His nails are very long, and there is plenty extra here, I am sure he will not notice if I clip a small sample.”
“Great,” I said. “Let’s do it.”
“Heads up, Silva’s got the engines running, I bet he’s waiting for us,” Nick called over to us.
“Can you hear the jet?” I looked over at my best friend to find that only the left side of his body was visible.
The blond nymph had leaned against a tree and sunk halfway into its thick bark, and he looked back at me with one eye and half a bright smile visible.
“Sure can. Well, in my own way.” Nick smirked and leaned just enough out of the tree to expose his full mouth. “I can feel the vibrations of the engines through the jungle.”
“Woah.” I smiled back at Nick with amazement. “You can feel it through the trees?”
“Yeah,” he said with a smug look on his face. “I didn’t want to jinx it during the battle, but I thought I was starting to feel the Sinsimito’s movements, too. Bigger vibrations are easier, and it has such a huge, lumbering body that I was pretty sure that’s what I was feeling. But the jet is totally unmistakable.”
“That’s amazing, dude.” I clapped a hand on Nick’s one exposed shoulder. “You’ll be ranking up again in no time.”
“Thanks, man,” Nick chuckled and slid the rest of his body out of the tree.
“Okay, we’ve got the samples,” Nala said as she, Elisabeth, and Steffi strode over.
Their arms were filled with dozens of plastic bags that contained scraps of cloth, bits of rocks woven with vine, and samples of hair and fingernails.
“I used the entire roll.” Ronin strolled up behind them and waggled the little disposable camera in the air and flipped her long ponytail over her shoulder.
“That’s great,” I replied. “Dr. Hastings should be pretty pleased.”
Wisp walked up silently beside the Japanese beauty, and she gave me a subtle nod as she followed the others.
“Let’s get a move on, guys,” I called to everybody. “Thor, take the Sinsimito over to the jet, we’ll be right behind you.”
“Are we going to fly on your dragons?” Elisabeth asked with excitement in her eyes.
“No.” I frowned. “There’s too many of us, we’ll have to walk.”
“You might. I’ll see you all there.” Kitsune smirked and took off at top speed toward the jet.
“Right.” I shook my head in amazement. “Let’s get going, it’ll take us a little bit to get back.”
Thor let out another roar as he swooped in closer to the Sinsimito in the net, and we all braced ourselves against the wind for a moment while he clamped his talons on the netting at the top. Then, with a single wrenching pull, he broke the net free and roared once more as he took to the sky.
We started to march through the jungle after my storm dragon at our own speeds, and Nick jumped into the trees to jet ahead of us. Steffi and Phoenix took off into the air and flew above us as Nala, Elisabeth, Ronin, Wisp, Doppelganger, and I trudged through the thick jungle as quickly as we could in the dark.
“About time you kids got here,” Silva chuckled as we stomped out of the tree line fifteen minutes later.
“Not all of us have super speed to rely on,” Wisp complained as she glanced over at Nick and Kit.
“We all use the gifts we were given.” Nick laid a hand reverently on his chest before he burst into laughter. “Hey, it’s not our fault we’re faster than you.”
“This thing is one ugly bastard.” Silva whistled as he admired the tightly woven net of vines that encased the ugly beast. “Great net, though.”
“Thank you,” Kitsune said with a slight respectful dip of his chin.
“Alright, anybody else coming along, or just this fugly bastard?” The captain crooked his thumb over at the dangling Sinsimito clamped in Thor’s sparking talons.
