The Attack of the Nian Beast (III)

I felt the electricity,

The borders within our veins,

It was the move of eccentricity,

The barricades of the pains.

***

THE YEAR 1904, a century away from the present time.

"You need to stay at the corner of the lawn, close your eyes, and I will shout to you when it will be the time to open it, alright?" Qing Long breathed the instructions as Althea clenched her jaw and obliged as soon as possible. She didn't have any choice, she wanted to know what was Fang Ying Yue's life, and why they can communicate with each other on their minds.

Qing Long swallowed as he gripped the Jian sword and grabbed a hold of Althea's hands while she was turning around. Althea was surprised by the electricity that stung her palms after a split second and she quickly turned around. She swallowed as Qing Long looked at her.

"Focus, Althea. And... I need you to be careful...," it was the first time Althea heard the sincerity in his tone. A day had passed, or so she thought, and she was there, seeing that everybody was celebrating the Lunar New Year. Something was very strange with the sound, it was like, the only two of them could hear it.

"It will be a bloody hell," Qing Long breathed as the roaring of the waters begun to resonate. Althea hitched her breath as a beast's horns came along on the center of the Yangtze River, and they were both watching it with widened eyes. The veins on Althea's neck were throbbing, she doesn't know if she could hold her scream in a few minutes that had passed.

Qing Long swiped the sword, protecting Althea behind him, and he shouted, "You need to do as I have ordered! Now!"

Althea felt the adrenaline rush that had risen from her veins similar to what was happening right now. She swallowed as she heard the thunder and lightning erupted in just a matter of minutes while she sprinted on the side. Althea hitched the white robes of hers while she ran and closed her eyes as she crumpled on the side, curling into a fetal position, hiding under the leaves of the coconut tree, and she felt the tears trickling down her eyes.

The waters of the Yangtze River were continuously rising, making huge waves, and it smashed on the fences of the lawn. Qing Long walked with ease on the fences, pacing back and forth, waiting for the Nian beast to come. It was his duty to protect everybody, but, he doesn't know if he could hold a little longer today.

Especially that, the Last Healer didn't know how to use her powers inside. The horns of the Nian beast were protruding from the waters, and it glowed right then and there. Qing Long sighed as he was hearing his heart beating louder than usual.

The rain suddenly emerged from the clouds, followed by the loud clap of thunder and lightning, making the ceremony at the hall of the Qing Empire in chaos.

The cooks inside the royal kitchen hall hastily went outside, covering the feast with an umbrella, and the people on the center dispersed in a split second. The rain got heavier and heavier as the Emperor and the Empress had been motioned to come inside the hall. The lanterns that were lit up on the side, readying for the closing remarks of the ceremony, had been extinguished in just a blink of an eye.

Althea felt the shivers down her spine as she clasped her hands on her wet robes while she controlled herself from opening her eyes. She swallowed as she bit her lip and whispered, "Grandma... I'm scared..."

She doesn't know what to think of as Qing Long watched the horns glow upon the waters, the whole area was now drenched with rain, and he was a little bit cold.

Qing Long wanted to resent that moment right then and there. He needed to transform into a dragon form but he knew he couldn't. He needed the help of the Healer to do that, but he knew that Althea couldn't use it right. He was in need to fight with the Nian beast alone.

The waters suddenly stopped as Qing Long bend his knees and glared at the portion where the horns disappeared. The glowering light had vanished on the depths too, making it a symbol that everybody within the area could be in danger. Qing Long placed his Jian sword close to his face as he concentrated on how he could transform all by himself.

Althea heard that the noise had stopped after a second, and she opened her eyes in an instant. She grasped the robes, making her nails pinched through the skin, and she clenched her jaw as she focused on the noise around her. She swallowed as she doesn't want to look up, she stayed like that.

Qing Long counted on his mind, until, something appeared on the waters. A creature emerged from the deep and depths of the river, and it jumped through the fences. It was bloody wet, and its sharp claws had been tainted with dark blood. Qing Long closed his eyes and pleaded on his subconscious to turn himself into the azure dragon, but he knew he couldn't.

The Nian beast's fur had been the same since the last thing Qing Long ever wanted to see was its hair. It was dirty, dripping with blood, different from the one it used before as Qing Long shielded his face right away with the sword. The Nian beast's teeth had clawed through his Jian sword, and it tumbled on the lawn.

It was huge, enough to gobble Qing Long down, but Qing Long was not a human anymore. He was the Azure Dragon of the east and spring season.

He breathed as the Nian beast recovered from his place and ran up the steps. Qing Long rotated and swiped the Jian sword in the air, releasing a blue flame and energy through that whish. The flame caught off a little of its fur, but it didn't penetrate the beasts' skin.

He looked at Althea, and he saw from his vision that she was crumpled in the dark corner of the rocks.