Chapter 8

Shadows in the darkness

Esuka's head was pounding, like drums in a long tunnel. Slowly, he got to his feet, looking around. Long passages surrounded him, dark and damp. Great stone boxes, looking peculiarly like crypts, lay broken open in a room beyond. As Esuka walked toward these, small green fires closed in around him. They floated, observing this newcomer.

Esuka reached out to touch one, and they went berserk. The flew at him, burning his skin and tearing his Gi. Esuka turned to run, but found a great dog standing in his way. Skin hung off the creature in tattered strips, its teeth stained by blood. In a heartbeat, the dog was moving towards him, teeth bared and its eyes red with bloodlust.

Esuka kicked at the dog, and sent it flying back, but it quickly got up, as if nothing had happened. Esuka turned and ran down the other path, up some stairs, and around a pillar only to find the path was blocked. Only a hole about his size remained in the rubble. Turning around, he saw the hound only a few yards behind him, ready to tear his throat out.

"Not much choice I guess…" Esuka turned and dove through the hole. As he dove, his foot hit a switch of some sort. The wall in front of him opened up, and the shaking caused the hole to cave in. The hound had been half way through when the rocks fell on it. Blood trickled down the rocks, pooling on the floor behind where Esuka had landed.

Esuka tried to get up, but felt a dull pain in his leg. The contact had left a gash in his leg, making it hard to move. He tore off a strip of cloth, tied it to his leg, and kept moving.

"Who knows what else is down here."

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For what felt like days, Esuka climbed through the darkness, avoiding hounds, skeletons, and living balls of fire. Slowly, he entered a small, cross-shaped room. Looking around, he saw nothing, and moved through the center of the room. AS he stepped, he felt a block recede into the ground, and the floor swallowed him. Through darkness he fell again, until with a soft thud, he landed on soft dirt.

Footsteps sounded in the passages, step by step by step. A pair of boots stopped by Esuka's prone body, a pair of red eyes glaring at the newcomer. From his back, a great sword many feet long came into view. Raising it to Esuka's chin, he prepared to make him one of them.

The strange warrior never got the chance. A bright light erupted into the room, scared the creature from its shell. The shadow creature receded into the tunnels, frightened by the bright light of the two short creatures before it. One of them walked forward, her hands on her hips and an angry look on her face.

"Aww, did ya have to scare it away? I wanted to beat it up!"

"Maho, your never going to be a white mage if you constantly want to kill everything."

"Well, Ghani, I'll just be a black mage forever then." Maho walked up to the limp body in the middle of the room and kicked him hard in the gut. "Wake up ya lazy bum!"

"Maho, he's unconscious. Kicking him won't help." Ghani made some signs with her hands, and a bright light surrounded Esuka. Suddenly, his eyes were open and he was on his feet.

"thank you, both of you."

"You should be thankful, moron! What are you doin down here?"

"I fell. What are you doing here?"

"Forgive my friend here. This is Mahohana, and I am Ghanima, but call me Ghani."

"I'm Maho, okay?"

"O…k" Esuka bowed to the pair, and walked away.

"Hey wait! Now where are you going?"

"I'm going to get out of here."

"Before you do that, do you think you could help us out? Please?" Maho put on her saddest face possible, drooping her ears and tearing up. Ghani shook her head in embarrassment.

"What do you need?"

"Will you do it?"

"… Sure."

"YAY! Come with us. We think it's this way." Esuka followed the two down the dark path, following the light Ghani made with her staff. Behind them, the shadows returned, watching them, waiting…

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Sorry, everyone,I meantto update sooner, but you all know school, slows me down shrug. Anyway, I hope you like it, more chapters to come. Also, the "require reviews" is removed, Ijust want towrite my story,and hope you enjoy it as much. reviews are still appreciated though.smiles