Chapter 9: Darkness Falls

            "Why did you come with me Kayla?" Cye asked softly as the two made their way down the left tunnel.

            "Um…" here Kayla paused as she blushed and tried to think of a good reason for following him other than the fact that she liked him. "well you saved Clara's life and she never got the chance to return the favor. So hopefully, I'll be able to do that for her."

            "For someone who wears no armor you really are quite brave, you willingly put yourself in danger with no thought of the consequences that lay ahead…just the goal." Cye said wistfully as the passageway ahead of them grew darker and he put his hand on the wall beside him and began to walk slowly. "I only wish I was braver…like the others."

            "Oh, Cye don't say that." Kayla said as she smiled sympathetically at her friend. "You are brave, and you have a kind, sensitive heart. A man like that is hard to find in my time."

            "I imagine it would be." Cye said as he pondered what Kayla had just said, yet failed to realize Kayla's hidden meaning and true feelings behind her words. "I knew chivalry was a dying art, but I'm pleased to find out it's lasted this loooooonnngg…" here Cye suddenly fell into a deep pit in front of him and as he landed on the pit's rocky bottom with a sickening thud, he heard a loud crunch in his shoulder as he felt something hard and pointed tear through.

            "CYE!!" Kayla cried anxiously as she fell to her hands and knees and peered into the mouth of the pit. "Talk to me! Are you okay?" 

            "I think so…" Cye said as he held his upper right arm.

            "What happened to your arm?"

            "I must've landed on a sharp rock." Cye said as he tried to move his arm experimentally. "It should be fine, though I might have trouble holding my yari. Hey! What happened to my yari anyway?"

            "Is this it?" Kayla called down to Cye as she held the three-pronged spear in her hands above the pit.

            "Yes that's it!" Cye cried excitedly. "Can you hold it down into the pit so I can climb out?" suddenly Cye stiffened as he heard the scraping of claws against the smooth floor of the cavern followed by loud clanging noises.

            "I'm afraid I'm a little busy right now!" Kayla called back over her shoulder as she tried desperately to hold back her attacker, unaware that she was being pushed toward the pit's edge.

            "Kayla watch out! You're close to the edge!" Cye called out as he watched Kayla being pushed closer and closer to the edge. A few moments later he heard her scream as he watched her fall and dove forward to catch her in his arms.

            "Cye you…you just saved my life." Kayla said softly as she gazed into his light sea-green eyes.

            "I don't understand," Cye said in confusion, "it isn't a very long drop."

            "Yes but if I'd landed on the same rock that you did I might have been killed."

            "I think we may be anyway." Cye said as he pointed up to the faces of three demon warriors who snarled and shook their weapons at them in triumph.

            "Tell me why we're here again." Kento half-whined as he made his way past the sharp stalactites and stalagmites.

            "We're here to get Clara back of course. And because we promised Rowen we would help him." Ryo said as he calmly made his way down the eerie tunnel.

            "I know that but this place gives me the creeps and those faces in the rocks give me the willies. It makes me think we're being watched." Kento said with a shudder as he broke into a run only to bump into Ryo who was standing with his twin katanas unsheathed facing an enormous demon.

            "We were being watched." Ryo said dryly as he prepared to attack. "Armor of Wildfire; Flare Up Now!!"

            "Wow you toasted him Ryo! Way to go!" here Kento broke off as a demon dropped from the ceiling and grabbed him from behind. "Hey Ryo, I don't need to go anymore."

            "Huh? Why not?" Ryo asked as turned around to see Kento struggling in the demon's grasp, trying desperately to grab his tetsubo.

            "You know what I like to do with filthy slime balls like you?" Kento asked as he grabbed the demon from behind. "THROW THEM AGAINST THE WALL!!" he roared as he picked up the demon and slammed it against the cave wall.

            "Good job Kento!" Ryo cheered enthusiastically, "But you forgot one thing."

            "Huh? What's that?" Kento asked in confusion as Ryo slowly turned him around to face the now burnt and extremely angry oversized demon that was now accompanied by ten other demons.

            "That."

            "Rowen have you ever thought about why you're doing this? Why you're really doing this?" Sage asked as he turned around and gazed into his friend's eyes. "Are you risking your life to defeat Chaos and become stronger, or are you doing this to save Clara?"

            "Of course I'm doing this for Clara…" Rowen said softly in a hurt voice as tears welled in his eyes. "she means the world to me. I cannot fight unless she's by my side. I…I love her Sage. But I don't know that it will make much of a difference now…"

            "Rowen," Sage said softly as he placed his hand on Rowen's shoulder. "Let me tell you a story about when I was younger. When I first came of age and was old enough to wear my father's armor, I fell in love with a young princess of one of the local lords. But she was captured by the Tokugawa clan and was wooed consistently by the lord's son. During that time she closed her heart to him because she did not love him and when I came to rescue her, I found that she had closed her heart to me for fear that she would hurt by love. I confessed my love to her and it touched her heart. We were married within a year…she died within my arms. After that I swore that I would never love again…The path splits in two here, I'm afraid we must go on alone from here. When I meet you again, we will meet Chaos and defeat him."

            "Right…" Rowen said quietly as he watched his friend walk off into the left tunnel. As Rowen made his way down the tunnel, he quietly thought about what Sage had said to him and wondered if maybe just maybe this crazy plan would work.