With a trail to follow, tracking the Chameleos became much easier.
The group cautiously followed its footprints and the subtler signs it had left through the forest.
After they had tracked it for some time, the footprints and other traces on the ground abruptly vanished. The Hunters immediately grew tense.
Covering one another, they searched the area carefully and soon discovered a smear of fresh mucus on the trunk of a large tree.
"It climbed the tree?" Altaïr asked with a frown.
"Yes." Nadia looked up at the tree before them. "It must have realized something was wrong and decided to travel through the canopy instead. That will make it harder to track... but it won't stop us. I'll follow its trail through the trees. The rest of you stay beneath me."
Altaïr and the others were about to agree when Tala, protected at the center of the group alongside Kral, spoke quietly.
"I might know where it's going."
Nadia paused just as she was preparing to climb. She signaled the others to remain alert, then gestured for the young woman to continue.
"If we keep going in this direction, we'll reach a sinkhole formed when the ground collapsed. The slopes are steep, and the rock walls are damp and covered in moss, so getting down safely without a rope is difficult. There isn't much space at the bottom, and there are no mining deposits or other useful resources, so it usually isn't marked on maps. It's what people might call a 'secret area.'"
Altaïr continued scanning their surroundings. "That sounds like an ideal place for a monster to make its lair."
"It does, but several enormous trees grow inside the sinkhole, their branches and foliage forming a dense canopy. There's also a great deal of standing water at the bottom, so the whole place is extremely damp. Yian Kut-Ku, Flying Wyverns, and other powerful monsters tend to avoid it. Velociprey packs or Congalala sometimes occupy it, though, and a Vespoid Queen even appeared there two years ago."
"Mr. Kral, what do you think?" Nadia asked.
Kral adjusted his glasses. "Chameleos store large quantities of water in their bodies to produce mist, so they favor damp environments. Steep, slippery ground would pose no difficulty for one, and insects tend to gather inside sinkholes like that, providing it with abundant food. By every measure, it sounds like an ideal Chameleos habitat. I believe there is a strong chance our target is heading there."
Tala spoke again. "Actually... that was one of the places I originally intended to investigate with you. There haven't been many Vespoids around it lately, though, so I brought you to the network of streams first."
Isis shrugged. "They've all been eaten, so of course there aren't many left."
"That remains only a theory, so don't let your guard down," Nadia warned them. "The Chameleos may have stopped somewhere nearby and could be watching us right now. I'll climb into the canopy and continue following its trail. If the tracks lead toward the sinkhole, all the better. If they don't, we'll follow them for as long as we can, then investigate the sinkhole once the trail goes cold."
Altaïr closed his mouth before he could voice the same warning. Nadia truly was a seasoned veteran; she had already considered every detail.
Nadia moved soundlessly through the treetops, leaping from branch to branch and stopping periodically to examine the faint marks on the bark.
The others followed close behind on the ground. According to Tala, they were indeed taking the route to the sinkhole, and the distance separating them from it steadily shrank.
Just as the group unconsciously quickened its pace, a pink blur shot from the shadows of the canopy. It flew straight toward Nadia as she leaped among the branches, or, more precisely, toward the Rathalos Light Bowgun on her back.
Nadia reacted with astonishing speed. Just before the long pink tongue could coil around her weapon, she twisted aside and leaned back as though she had eyes in the back of her head.
The tongue swept past her chest and struck nothing but air.
Its ambush thwarted, the Chameleos hidden among the towering trees whipped its head around. Its outstretched tongue changed direction like a lash and snapped toward the Gunner in the canopy.
"I knew you wouldn't behave."
Nadia remained perfectly calm. Using her backward momentum, she flipped off the branch. While still in midair, she raised her Light Bowgun and fired several rapid shots at the Chameleos, whose attack had briefly exposed its body.
Splat! Splat!
The Paint S rounds that struck the Chameleos did not erupt in flame. Instead, they splashed vivid pink dye across its body, filling the forest with the strange, acrid scent of Paintberries.
The Chameleos shook its head in irritation. A heavy spray of water poured from between its scales, washing away most of the Paintberry dye in moments.
At the same time, its body blended into its surroundings once more and vanished from the Hunters' sight.
"That thing..." Isis had barely deployed her weapon before losing sight of the target again, and she ground her teeth in frustration.
Altaïr frowned and sniffed the air, attempting to locate the Chameleos by the scent left by the Paint S, but the attempt failed.
The airborne moisture had carried the Paintberry dye in every direction. Its acrid scent now saturated the area, making it useless for pinpointing the target.
It even knew how to counter Paint S...
"This way! Follow me!" Nadia called as she landed and immediately broke into a sprint.
Her extraordinary senses caught the faint rustle of trembling branches and a subtle distortion in the ambient light, allowing her to determine the target's approximate direction.
Altaïr and the others followed close behind. Kral struggled to keep pace with the Hunters while muttering continuously, "Strange... It could have escaped safely by releasing dense fog like before. Why didn't it? Did the Sleep Herb interfere with its ability to produce mist?
"Possibly, but that can't be the entire reason. It was still able to spray enough water to wash off the Paint S... Ah! Did we pass any sources of water on the way here?"
He directed the last question at Tala.
"What?" Tala did not immediately understand what he meant.
"Were there any streams, ponds, or other water sources between the place where it disappeared earlier and here?"
Thoroughly familiar with the forest, Tala mentally retraced their route. "No. The nearest surface water in this direction is inside the sinkhole. Rainwater and underground seepage have formed a pool at the bottom."
"I understand!" Kral shouted. "It's the water supply! Producing mist over such a wide area consumes a large amount of the water stored inside a Chameleos's body!
"It tried to create fog just now, but it didn't have enough water left. All it could manage was a burst of spray, not another bank of dense fog!
"If we keep it from replenishing its water, it won't be able to produce more fog!"
"Then it won't be able to escape Nadia's senses combined with the effects of Psychoserum!" Altaïr barked. He activated Demon Mode and accelerated, his entire body blurring into an afterimage as he shot forward.
"I'll circle ahead and cut it off!"
"Go. I'll guide you toward it." Nadia accelerated as well, quickly pulling ahead of Isis and the two noncombatants.
Then she issued another command. "Isis! Escort those two away from here! As long as we're keeping it occupied, it won't have a chance to circle around and ambush you!
"Once you've put enough distance between yourselves and the fight, come back and support us!"
"Understood!" Isis stopped abruptly, caught Tala and Kral before they could stumble past her, grabbed one in each hand, and turned to flee.
With the noncombatants withdrawing, the Hunters could finally fight without restraint.
Nadia continued firing as she sprinted at full speed, using her shots to guide Altaïr toward the invisible target.
Altaïr bounded through the jungle's tangled undergrowth and maze of roots. The distance between him and the blurred silhouette rapidly narrowed.
At last, he cut diagonally across its path. He pivoted as he arrived, converting the momentum of his charge into the force of his swing, and swept his enormous scythe upward in an electrified diagonal slash.
The Chameleos reacted with astonishing speed. It stopped short and jerked its head back, allowing the blade to skim past the tip of its nose without even breaking the skin.
The arcs of electricity leaping from the blade's tip still struck its body. Light and shadow immediately twisted into a chaotic blur.
Before Altaïr's eyes, the bizarre Elder Dragon recoiled with its neck drawn in as its true form was forced into view once more.