"This way, quickly!"
"We cannot let them escape!"
The loud voices faded into the distance, along with the steady beat of heavy footsteps. In the darkness of the room the men had just left, Yami slumped against the wall and paused to catch his breath.
Ra, this armor is hot. He thought, brushing his bangs back and wiping the sweat from his brow. He couldn't stay in one place for too long, those goons could be back any moment. He blew out another breath, checked his gear, and then slipped silently down the corridor.
The sounds of pursuit had died down, both before and behind him, and so he sacrificed stealth for a measure of speed, trotting easily down the long, narrow passageways. He was only half paying attention to his surroundings as he ran, for he was going through a mental run down of the map he had taken from the first guard he had encountered. He had not kept the map, because he knew that if it was missing when the man woke up, then the alarm would have been raised only that much sooner.
He had to hide a small smile at that thought, for he knew the man would awaken with one devil of a headache. But hey, that's what you get for working with the bad guys. No mercy from the good guys.
As it was, the alert had gone off much faster than he had anticipated, and he had to constantly watch his step in case he ran into any more guards. Though Yami was determined to escape without shedding any innocent blood, he doubted his enemies would be as merciful.
He brought his attention fully back to the present then, certain he was on the right path. A few more side passageways opened their dark mouths as he passed, but he kept his path straight until the very end. He slowed just before he reached the turn, putting his back to the wall and listening hard. He tried to keep his breathing quiet, somehow sensing that something was listening for him. Carefully, slowly, he peeked around the corner.
Nothing. Too much nothing, it was far too quiet. There was no movement. If he was correct in his assessment of this place, then just beyond this turn there was a wide open cavern that usually served as a meeting hall. From there he could choose any number of exits, most of which would lead to dead ends now that the enemy knew that he was here. But if he could find the right door, then it would be a straight run to freedom.
That was the only obstacle (he hoped,) but still he hesitated. He could almost feel eyes upon him, and that sixth-sense was ringing silent alarm bells. He held his breath and kept quiet for just a moment longer, hoping his enemy would grow careless and reveal itself. Because if it didn't, he would just have to forge ahead and risk an ambush.
Then he heard it. A scraping, shuffling sound that set his nerves on edge. He had only seen them once, dark humanoid beings that were like shadow copies of the guards that ran amuck here. But, fortunately, Yami saw these creatures as entirely less than human, and thus he could kill them without feeling guilty about ending a human life. A fiery light leapt into his eyes.
Their dragging gait was a dead giveaway; but his suspicion officially proved correct just a moment later when they turned the corner at the end of the hall he was watching. The first two walked in on two legs, just like humans. They carried no weapons, they would not need any. Their limbs were just as strong as any human, and they had the ability to melt into the darkness around them to become less substantial. They would need to be dealt with quickly, and quietly if that was at all possible. Yami tensed, flexing his fingers in anticipation, his blood beating in his ears.
Before he made his move however, he took note of one last shadow that was crawling along the roof like a spider. It clung to the dark stone with both hands and feet, moving like water. He would take out that one first.
The two shadows at the end of the hall paused, and for a moment he thought they had spotted him. But they turned to each other and relaxed their postures, one waving its arms in small gestures and the other nodding its featureless head. The third continued crawling down the ceiling, getting dangerously close to his position. Apparently they were holding a silent conversation, following the basic instincts of the humans they had been copied from.
Nothing but copies, fakes. Yami's eyes flashed again. He was ready.
A flash of silver caught the attention of the crawler on the ceiling. It turned its sightless face to look at the bright point of gleaming silver that was speeding toward it, realizing too late what it was. Yami's sword caught it right in the center, impaling the shadow beast to the ceiling with a sharp hiss.
The other two creatures snapped their attention up to their slain comrade. Idiots. Yami thought, descending swiftly upon them and drawing a pair of daggers from his boots as he went. The shadows managed to turn around just in time to meet their purple-eyed death face to face.
They never stood a chance.
He threw his first weapon too fast for the stunned beast to react, catching it in the chest and effectively ending that threat. But that gave the other one a chance to react, and it crossed it arms in front of its shadowy figure to block the other dagger.
Yami leaped straight into the air, snapping his foot out to kick the beast in the head, and it slumped to the ground, defeated.
"Too easy." He muttered, watching as the creatures dissolved into nothingness. A sharp clang behind him told him that the first creature too, had vanished, freeing his sword. Yami quickly gathered it up and snapped his knives back into their hiding places. He grabbed a torch off of its sconce on the wall and waved it once, quickly making sure that the other shadows in the dark hall were not hiding anything living. After a quick glance around to ensure that no one else was coming, he sheathed his sword and ran. If anyone had heard that commotion, they would soon come to investigate, and he planned to be away from this place long before they did.
Yami jogged down the corridor, turned a sharp right, and felt a slight breeze of air across his face. It was not fresh air, but it was the cooler air of a much larger cavern. He had found the meeting room.
Hearing nothing ahead that would indicate the area was occupied, he turned the last corner and found the room with the many doors. He was a step away from freedom.
He glanced around the room quickly (too quickly!) and then rushed in to begin trying the doors.
An explosion of movement from the side and a flash of light had him scrambling to his left in a desperate attempt to get away from his attacker. Off balance and wide open, he knew he would be vulnerable, so he used his momentum to tuck into a roll to give himself some time to recover from the surprise. The torch went rolling away, scattering itself all over the floor and extinguishing the light. But Yami was not worried, the meager light from the torches outside of the room would be more than enough to his eyes.
He put his feet under him at the completion of his somersault and sprung to his feet, spinning and drawing his sword as he went. He expected to find his opponent surprised and unsure; he expected to turn his unbalance on his attacker with his quick movements. And so his surprise was complete when he turned to find a sword already arcing for his head; his ambusher already lined up for the killing blow!
Yami fell completely into his instincts, trusting his reflexes completely. Like a flash of lightning, his own sword shot up to block the descending blade. The ring of steel on steel was accompanied by a flash of sparks as their blades connected, and Yami knew at once that this was no ordinary guard. This might be harder than he first anticipated.
He quickly went on the offensive, hoping to overwhelm him. But each attack was met with the perfect parry, over and over again. He seemed to anticipate Yami's attacks before he could even begin them! He was shocked, and even a little disheartened. But his freedom could be only a few steps away, and he was not going to give up on the threshold of victory!
Yami spun into a series of quick jabs, looking only to overthrow the enemy's stance. With his sudden, straightforward approach, he sensed that he had surprised his enemy, and so he struck quickly. Yami's hand lashed out and grabbed his wrist where he was gripping his sword. With a quick tug he flung the sword out wide and brought his own to bear. With a surge of elation, he thought he had won. There was no way the man could recover from the move, no way he could bring his sword back around in time to stop Yami from running him through.
But then he froze, feeling the icy cold touch of a dagger resting at the base of his neck.
They both were completely still, locked in a pose of death. Yami held the sword arm out wide with his one hand, while his other hand held the sword directly above the man's heart. But his ambusher had reached around and pulled a knife out from some hidden location, and now held it poised at his throat.