He comes in the night

The story continues.

A.N.: Contrary to appearances I have not given up on this story. For nearly two years it seemed writing had given up on me, but I'm back. Still loosening the 'writing muscles' in my brain, so posting is still likely to be slow.

Thanks to everyone who has read the story during the absence of new chapters;

Chapter 12

Dante was the last to cross the bridge. He noticed that Dylan was staring at the bridge. The young demon half turned to follow Vergil, then turned back towards the bridge, all the while biting his lower lip.

"Something the matter, kid?" he asked.

The youngster, too deep in thought, didn't answer immediately. Dante was about to follow his brother when Dylan turned to him.

"I was wondering if the bridge should be raised again to stop those plant demons from crossing," he said. "There are still members of my tribe here, and I wouldn't want them to become prey to those creatures."

"Go ahead, kid. I can wait, and Vergil will have to if we don't follow him," Dante reassured him.

Dylan shook his head.

"No need, Sir. The old bridge that's guarded by those plant demons is always open. They have never crossed it to leave the jungle. So, why would they cross here? I suppose they don't like the bare rock this side of the river."

"Whatever, kid. Let's go then."

They caught up with Vergil who was looking out over a landscape still deep in shadows. Dark rugged hills were just starting to show against the sky that was only slightly lighter. Darker shadows showed where they were cut through by narrow valleys. The only path they could take looked like an unstable mess of stones and rocks. Dante turned away to see if there was an easier option. Built against the rock face a few hundred metres away was an overly ornate mansion.

"I suppose that's not Mundus's place. That would be too good," Dante sighed.

"That is Solaris's home," Vergil said without looking.

"And we have to be …?"

Vergil pointed towards a bright red spot on one of the higher peaks.

"Do you see the red light in the distance?"

"That's a long way away, Vergil."

"Yes, it is," Vergil said. "That red light is on top of a watchtower on the border of Mundus's private domain. It will take us a week to get to his castle. We can't afford to waste time."

"What about a portal from Solaris's place to Mundus's stronghold?"

"There isn't any," Vergil said.

His voice – short, sharp, and angry – cut off any further remarks or questions.

"Okay, okay. No need to be like that. You're still a pain to be around, Vergil."

Vergil gave his brother a cold stare. A movement behind Dante caught his attention. A group of demons appeared from a cavern at the far side of the plateau.

"I believe the bridge guards have woken up from their afternoon nap," Vergil said.

Dante tsk-tsked. "Sleeping on the job? You can't get the workforce anymore these days."

With a howl the demons charged towards the men who waited for their targets to come to them. Dante was the first to react. He ran towards the enemy, hacking and slashing, killing everything that came within reach of his sword.

Daryl, seen as an easy target, triggered as one of the demons approached. The fiend skidded to a halt. Too late, too close. Daryl yanked the creature of its feet and tore its head off with his claws. Two more demons approached more cautiously.

The Fanshaah's hypnotic voice called them. "Come to me. A bit closer. Come now."

The first one obeyed the soft, gentle voice and was decapitated as soon as Daryl could grab him. The second one struggled to stay away from the death-dealing Fanshaah, but step by step the demon neared its doom, unable to use its weapon, until Daryl grabbed it and wrung its neck.

Vergil meanwhile was waiting in his usual stance, one hand on Yamato's saya, its tsuka firmly in his other hand, observing the enemy that started to surround him. When the demons were close enough, he cut through all but a few who jumped back with his drawing strike. The rest didn't last much longer.

Between them they destroyed the whole company of demons in record time.

"It was fun while it lasted but it was way too easy," Dante said as the remains of the demons crumbled to dust. "I expected those demons to be a lot tougher."

"Don't be fooled, Dante. We weren't expected to come this way."

"Ah, yes. Because …" Dante pointed at Solaris's house.

"Indeed. It is no secret that I hate this place." Vergil's chilling smile didn't reach his eyes.

"So they sent the weekend-soldiers here, to guard a place they thought wouldn't need it," Dante said.

"Quite."

Daryl who'd followed and killed a demon that had tried to escape, joined the brothers again. He had released his trigger and looked the least dangerous creature that had ever walked in the Demon Realm.

"You did well, kid. Killed your fair share of these demons," Dante said.

The young demon sounded troubled when he answered, "It worries me, Sir, all this power."

"Why?" Dante began only to be stopped by Vergil's hand over his mouth.

"What troubles you, Daryl?" Vergil asked.

"How easy the killing was, Sir. I don't want to be this thing that kills without a second thought. We've never been like that. Well, not since we lost our powers so long ago. Fanshaah like peace, but the killing came so easy. And when I called them, they came, had to come even though they knew it was to their death. I don't know if it was a good idea to want our power back."

Vergil took his hand from Dante's mouth and wiped it on his brother's shirt. He went towards Dylan and lightly put his hand on the young Fanshaah's back.

"You should not be afraid of your power. It will be protection to the Fanshaah," Vergil said.

"But what if the power takes over, Sir, and rules us? We could be as bad as the worst demons."

"Has your tribe any legends about such power-possessed Fanshaah?"

"None that I've heard, Sir."

"None are known to me either. You already understand the danger of your powers, Daryl. They cannot seduce you any longer."

Vergil let go of the young Fanshaah and as he passed his brother he said, "Close your mouth, Dante, before the flies get in."

Then he went to the path down into the valley. Dante caught up with him.

"Did I hear you right? 'The danger of power'? 'Power that seduces'? What about 'I need more power' and 'might controls everything'?"

"I do not wish to talk about the past," Vergil answered. "What happened then cannot be changed."

"I'm curious. When did you change your mind? What made you change your mind?" Dante asked. Then he started grinning like mad. "I know! It's Sis, isn't it? She changed your mind. Now I'm sure she's a witch."

"My wife is not a witch."

Vergil was nearly growling. His eyes flickered red.

"Be careful, Vergil. You don't want to trigger and advertise our presence," Dante said shaking with suppressed laughter.

"Fool," Vergil said, and increased his speed.

Soon he had to slow down. The early morning light had not penetrated the valley yet. Walking down a path they couldn't see meant they slipped on the loose stones and uneven surface. The three men advanced slowly and carefully until dawn became full day. The path ahead was rocky and rough, strewn with rubble. Not as Vergil remembered it. Solaris had always insisted that the road from her home to Mundus's castle was always kept smooth and even. Wider as well. Now parts of the road had collapsed.

"Are you sure there was no portal from that mansion to Mundus's place?" Dante asked while they were carefully edging along a narrow ledge. "Who'd want to travel along this road?"

"Solaris hasn't been here since you defeated Mundus, Sir. She needed to be at the castle to keep an eye on Mundus's rescue, and to hold on to his power," Dylan explained.

"Not really interested, kid. But thanks for the history lesson," Dante said.

"Ignore my brother, Dylan. He can't keep his mouth shut," Vergil said.

"You used to bet that I couldn't keep quiet."

"Yes, and I won … always."

"True." Dante sighed. "Most of my toys ended up in your closet because of those bets."

There was no response of either Vergil or Dylan. They were looking at the road ahead, or what was left of it. About halfway down a rockslide had destroyed the path. There was only rubble. With every step they took the stones slid and shifted. It was a recent event. Bits of rocks and stones kept tumbling onto the debris below. Dodging the falling rocks and trying to keep their balance on the unstable underground they eventually passed the worst landslide and the path widened again.

The rest of the way down went easy by comparison, but even down in the valley it was noticeable that the road had been neglected. Rocks of varying sizes were strewn all over it, and it had enough potholes to remind Vergil of the road to his mate's house before he had gone to the town hall and had suggested they do something about it.

Further along, the road split in two paths going either side of the cliff that jutted out like the bow of a ship. On the left, the road that Vergil remembered, was blocked by a pile of loose and unstable debris, a granite grey heap nearly as high as the cliff. On the right a path, narrow but straight, continued between two steep sleek walls.

Vergil, followed by Dylan, took the left side.

"Wouldn't it be easier to take the nice straight road?" Dante asked.

"The original road will continue past this blockage. It is still the fastest way."

At first it seemed as if Vergil was right. Climbing up the blockade went smooth with only the occasional loose rock being dislodged. But as they climbed higher the incline became steeper. The underground started to lose its stability more and more and suddenly the surface gave way beneath them.

It wasn't a major disturbance though it had lost them half the distance they'd climbed so far.

"It's gonna take us all day to get to the top, if we don't end up in a heap at the bottom of this slope," Dante grumbled.

"I know this road. You don't," Vergil said and continued stubbornly followed by a struggling Dylan and a muttering Dante.

The underground was even looser than before. Pebbles kept tumbling down around them Occasionally they had to scramble out of the way of larger stones which caused them to slide down too. When Dylan lost his footing on the loose rubble Dante grabbed his arm to steady the youngster, but they still ended up a good way down.

"Vergil, this is madness," Dante said. "We should have taken the other road."

Without a word Vergil continued the awkward climb.

Dante sighed.

"Come on, kid. He's made up his mind and Sis is the only person who's ever managed to make him see sense."

Hours on end they continued to climb, sliding down half the time, never getting anywhere near the top.

"One step forward, two steps back," Dante muttered. "We'll be on this slope forever."

He couldn't tell whether Vergil didn't hear him or, more likely, just ignored him. The older twin kept trying, destabilising the underground more and more with every attempt to reach the top. Dante didn't know how many times they had tried to scale the heap of rubble. A couple of times they had nearly fallen to the bottom and he was fed up with getting nowhere.

Scree kept trickling down. Suddenly the entire slope became unstable. In the avalanche that followed they lost their footing and ended among the stones at the bottom of the incline that they'd been trying to climb.

"That's it, Vergil," Dante said while getting up and brushing the dust of his coat, "either we take the other road, or we trigger and fly to the top carrying Dylan between us."

"We are not advertising our route to every demon that stayed here. We do not trigger. Is that understood?" Vergil said, irritated that his plan was failing.

"Fine! Then we take the other road. I'm not doing that climb again. It's ridiculous. All that effort scrambling up those stones all day only to end at the bottom again. Besides, just look at the other road. As straight as an arrow. We should have gone that way from the beginning."

Vergil looked at the slope where stones were still coming down. He had to concede that they couldn't reach the top without triggering. Judging by the Sunday-soldiers that had guarded the bridge nobody knew that he had chosen this way into the Demon Realm. He wanted to keep it that way.

He sighed.

"We will take the other road," he said.

"First sensible thing you've said today, Bro."

They rounded the cliff that separated the two paths. Ahead lay the alternative route. No granite grey rubble here, but a narrow and straight pathway between steep, sleek, ochre yellow walls.

"Why did we even try climbing over that heap of rubble? We could have been halfway to Mundus's place already," Dante said.

"I doubt that very much," Vergil answered.

He studied the sky, looked around and up again.

"Expecting an attack from above?" Dante asked.

"We have to hurry. We have to get through this gorge, as quickly as we can," Vergil answered and started to run.

"The Burning Valley," Dylan whispered, increasing his speed to keep up with Vergil.

"The whatty what?" Dante asked.

Nobody answered. Vergil and Dylan were running at full speed through the narrow gap between the cliffs. Dante followed their example. If nothing else the running would warm him up. It was cold in this valley where the sun couldn't reach.

The walls of the valley were still claustrophobically close when the ochre colour began to be streaked with paler yellows. The temperature became more pleasant as well. Swirling patterns started to appear: a kaleidoscope of ochre, lemon, mustard, and sunflower yellow. Orange colours mixed with the yellows and the temperature increased.

Slowly the yellows were replaced by reds and the heat intensified. The men's breathing became more laboured.

"Do we have to run? It's no fun in this heat," Dante complained.

Vergil and Dylan just kept running, even increasing their speed when a low humming sound seemed to seep from the rocks in time with the swirling colours.

"Hey, have you seen how these colours keep changing? Never seen anything like it," Dante said.

"Stop dawdling, Dante!" Vergil shouted without slowing his pace.

Dylan stopped and turned towards Dante who was taking his time, looking around at the colourful display on the rocks.

"Sir, we have to get out of the valley," the Fanshaah said with urgency.

He didn't wait for a reaction but sprinted away, catching up with and overtaking Vergil.

A fiery red seeped into the swirling colours on the valley walls. At the same time the temperature became even hotter. Uncomfortably hot; burning hot.

Vergil and Dylan had put on an extra spurt and reached the end of the narrow colourful gorge. They turned toward Dante who had finally started to run to get away from the increasing heat. The walls were now completely red, and the humming noise had become a roar.

"Will he make it, Sir?" Dylan asked.

Vergil shook his head.

"I knew it was foolish to bring him along," he mumbled. Then he shouted, "Dante! Trigger!"

"What about not advertising our presence?" Dante shouted back.

"Dammit, Dante! Just trigger!"

Vergil's swearing told Dante he might be in serious trouble. Finally he triggered and bolted towards the exit of the valley. He'd nearly reached his goal when flames spewed out of the walls, starting from the middle of the gorge and extending towards either ends. Dante leaped as the fire engulfed him. He landed in a heap at his brother's feet, slightly singed but not seriously harmed.

"What the fuck kinda place is that?" he said as he released his trigger.

"The Burning Valley, Sir. It bursts into flame each evening."

"Each evening? Couldn't we have waited until tomorrow to go through?" Dante asked, irritated because even with his Devil Trigger, he hadn't been totally protected.

"We cannot afford to waste time," Vergil answered, no less irritated. "If you had run when I told you to, we would all have been safely away before the flames came."

Dante shook his head. "I couldn't get away from those colours, the patterns they made. I just had to see the whole show."

"Good thing you finally came, Sir. Those that stay to watch are not so lucky."

"D'you mean?"

"Yes, Dante. We've been walking on their remains," Vergil said. "Now let us continue. You were lucky enough to escape the valley. If your luck holds its eruption may have obscured your trigger."

"My luck? Wouldn't count on it." Dante answered.

The valley widened some more, but the path had lost its initial smoothness. They kept walking as long as they could until there was so little light left that they stumbled more than walked along the path.

"Vergil, I know you want to get to Mundus, but this is ridiculous. We'll end up breaking our necks if we continue. Besides, I'd like to catch me some Zees."

"Preposterous. We continue."

"Do it for the kid then. He's not used to this madness."

Vergil stopped and turned to his brother.

"I agree, but this place is unsuitable for a rest."

"There may be a better place nearby, Mister Vergil. I think I can smell water," Dylan said.

"I think you're right, kid. Let's go. I can do with a drink," Dante answered.

When they finally found the source it was a mere trickle coming down the side of the valley. The water had accumulated in a basin that was full to the brim. More water must be coming down regularly, causing the basin to overflow because all around moss grew in large, thick, soft patches

"Five-star accommodation," Dante said settling down.

"Catch your zees, Dante. Dylan and I will take first and second watch. I'll wake you up to take your turn. Dylan, you wake me up and don't compensate for last time. You need to rest."

"Yes, Sir," Dylan answered.

After a couple of hours Dylan called Vergil, who in turn eventually woke up a reluctant Dante for the third watch. In the morning they had cool water to drink and the last of the fruit that Dylan had picked in the jungle. They were small, hard ovals with a bitter taste, but the three men could feel the energy pumping through their bodies. With renewed vigour they continued their route.

"Hold on to your breeches, Mundus. The sons of Sparda are coming," Dante exclaimed, which earned him a disgusted "Fool!" from Vergil.

ooOOoo