Summer, Eighteenth Year of the Xin Zhuo Emperor

That night, the two dragons quietly slipped out of Lord Buzhong’s Palace and into the great capital. Leaving the domain of the Master of Ceremonies was simple enough: as Captain of the Guard, Qing simply juggled assignments and placed certain subordinates at certain times, told Hong she would be out investigating some potential thieves, and then sneaked over to the stables. With Eshak’s help Morha was quickly freed from her stall, and together the two ronin dragons slipped through the East Glorious Gate and into the city itself.

Escape however got more difficult from there: flying was out of the question, based upon how just how many dragons would be able to identify the Captain of Lord Buzhong’s Guard and the Emperor’s purple pet in the air; swimming or traveling by boat were similarly not favored based on how much river traffic was observed and tracked by default. That left going by land, through the megapolis and quietly slipping through one of the city gates and into the countryside.

The streets were largely empty at this phase of the evening, and those few individuals still around kept to themselves, pointedly ignoring the dragons shuffling incognito through the dark alleys. Still Morha felt uncomfortably naked; though the eventide cast its shadows upon the land, it was never quite black, for Anping was massive, and at night the lights of millions of lanterns cast a warm, otherworldly hue upon the sleeping city. Anyone who cared to pay attention would find her presence all too suspect.

Qing moved steadily, not quite fast enough to arouse suspicion, but with the determination of a dragon intending to surmount an obstacle and get on with things. Borne by long experience, she weaved through the streets and alleys almost by instinct. Behind her, the mušḫuššu struggled to keep up without drawing attention to herself by running.

Morha had long since lost track of time while wandering the darkened paths, when suddenly the sound of beaten drums began to echo through the distance. Qing stopped to listen with a frown.

The wind picked up the distant sounds of panicked calls and the rapid beat of footsteps echoing from the Northeast.

With that the blue dragon turned and picked up pace.

*Damn. They were alerted faster than I had hoped for.*

*That’s from Lord Buzhong’s Palace?* Morha asked in a whisper as she rushed to follow.

*Yes, that is Jian’s drumming. We’ve already been discovered missing. Hong is attentive.*

The conversation was interrupted by the sudden appearance of guard longs, soaring in the sky above the city. Quietly, systematically, like a pack of predators hunting prey, these longs scanned the night streets of Anping with lanterns, clearly searching for the blue and the purple dragons.

Qing immediately got on her hind legs and backed up against a wall. Morha quickly ducked behind her companion, and the two escapees watched as a male long hovered past.

The mušḫuššu had caught her breath as their pursuer passed by unknowingly, breathing hard after the guard long had disappeared again. Qing was already on her feet, moving rapidly. *We are actively being searched for. Stay closely by my side, keep silent and keep up.*

From one alley to the next they moved, now avoiding the main roads. Qing expertly zipped left and right, whether to properly maneuver through the labyrinthine maze that was the city layout or to throw off the pursuers, Morha didn’t know. She just knew that she was completely lost, thrown off from even her sense of cardinal directions in the tangle of buildings.

Suddenly, just as the pair were about to enter a cross street, the blue long suddenly turned back and tackled the mušḫuššu, clasping her muzzle shut with a paw and pushing the two of them to the ground. Morha gave a muffled cry before abruptly shutting up as another searching guard hovered past. Getting up, the fugitives looked warily as this new pursuer gracefully landed upon the roof of a nearby building, shining his lantern into the gloom below. First one street was scanned, then the next, before the guard hopped over to the next building.

The blue dragon gestured to the purple one before immediately plunging into an darkened alleyway. Morha took care to follow her companion silently rushing down the corridor, but she briefly glanced back to notice that their pursuer was now only a single building over and turning towards their direction. As the fleeing dragons quickly picked their way through garbage and debris, the purple one silently prayed to the heavens that they would escape detection.

Under dim lanterns and clotheslines and wooden placards and ornate awnings Qing and Morha rushed, the ominous glow of lanterns on the rooftops slowly but systematically heading towards them.

After what felt like an eternity, the stout city walls appeared, dominated here by a large and ornate four-storied gatehouse. Here too, were guards, but they were few, patrolling in pairs with glowing lanterns atop the parapet and the terraces of the gatehouse. Qing pointed to a dark corner of the gatehouse, where a half dozen large red pillars held up the structure.

*There’s our exit. Follow my lead.*

Smoothly Qing shimmied up one of the columns and quickly slipped onto the ceiling under the second terrace level of the tower, hanging upside-down in the shadows like a gecko. Morha attempted to follow suit, but had less success, struggling to climb up the smooth sides of the pillar before ignominiously sliding back back to the ground.

“What was that?”

Two human city guards patrolling the tower suddenly appeared and went over to glance over the side. Qing disappeared up into the awning, while Morha immediately backed up against the pillar and made herself scarce.

For a minute there was silence.

Then the sounds of footsteps began again and echoed away.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Morha resumed her climbing, but to her immense frustration several more attempts ended as embarrassingly as the first.

Then in the distance, two guard dragons appeared a few buildings away and began moving towards the East Glorious Gate.

For a second the purple dragon attempted to spread her wings and just fly up, only to hesitate at a glare by Qing from the shadows, worriedly exchanging glances at the approaching guards, both humans returning from their patrol along the parapet as well as the dragons from the palace heading towards the gate and them.

Finally Morha attempted to clamber up using her wings as a second set of appendages, inching up like a worm, hoping that her profile was not visible in the shadows. Every third step she climbed the purple dragon slid down one step, but finally she was getting traction. The mušḫuššu stopped when the human guards began approaching again, praying that they would not look over the side a second time. They did not, and as the human completed another circuit and rounded the corner, Qing lowered herself from the ceiling like a python, grabbed Morha by the shoulders, and quickly dragged her over the top.

The guard dragons appeared to notice the motion however, and began flying rapidly over to check the gate. Climbing upside-down while supporting Morha, Qing crawled her way around the ceiling, evading the human patrol, and finally over to the tip of one eave. With the other dragons quickly bearing down upon them, Qing glanced around outside, pointed to a canal gutter off one side of the large horse ramp, and dived off of the tower gate. With minimal hesitation Morha jumped as well.

The two dragons landed in the gutter, the long smoothly and quietly settling in the water, quickly followed by the mušḫuššu awkwardly tumbling atop her companion. With a grunt, Qing grabbed the purple dragon before she could splash into the canal, willed the water away, and again snapped her companion’s muzzle shut, as both escapees lay low in the creek bed as the voice of one of the guard dragons called out into the night.

“Ho! Glory to the Emperor.”

“Glory to the Emperor.” A human reply came. “Who is in our presence?”

“We come from Lord Buzhong.”

“What do you seek at this late hour?”

“We are seeking two dragons, a blue long, who fled with a pet of the Emperor himself, a purple western dragon. Did you see them?”

“No, we did not see them. I thought we heard a noise at street level, but it was likely a stray cat.”

“Very well, keep a lookout for these two. Both Lord Buzhong and the Emperor himself would be interested in this matter, and anyone who finds them will be richly rewarded. Spread the news to the other guards.”

“Understood.”

Paw still clamping Morha’s snout, Qing watched as the guard dragons hovered overhead, cursorily searching the outskirts before giving up and returning into the city. As the others left, the long gave a sigh of relief and released her grip.

For a long minute Morha warily watched the others fly off and the city settled in again for the night. *That was close.* She finally uttered.

Qing nodded, before continuing down the length of the canal, carefully spreading the water out of their way. *We keep moving. I want us to shelter in the forest by Wuguan before daybreak.*

---

Raymond Wong- Blade of Gu Qin

Another great atmospheric work by  Siberian-demon!

Original: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/56728905/