Beware the Eastern Sun

Beware the Eastern Sun

Chapter 22

"He cocked the gun and stroked it admiringly. '7.62 mm NATO rounds,

silencer/muzzle flash suppressor providing 35 decibels of silencing, extended

barrel for a one kilometer range, special heavy-metal alloys for extra durability

and cooling, thirty-two round clip for endurance, and complete with safety,

single fire for sniping, three-burst group fire, and full automatic.'"

- Fantasies of Greater Power

There it was, finally before them. Perhaps half a mile of forest and a mile of wide open grassland separated the group from the outer castle walls. The formidable keep remained static, seemingly unchanged from when they last kept its company. Dark swirls of black clouds were forming in the air, almost gathering in an imaginary point above the spires of the castle. If it was a storm, it was a most unusual one.

"How do we proceed?" Joe asked, looking to Tai.

Tai thought hard, looking at the keep. "Well, I suppose a direct confrontation is out of the question. We'll have to get in through some back way, but we'll have to keep our eyes open. Matt is expecting us, and has some good traps set up. We'll just have to make sure that he doesn't get a chance to deploy them."

"Weren't we supposed to meet with someone here?" Sora asked.

"Good point," Tai considered, "but we can't be sure if that's part of the trap or not. I guess it doesn't hurt waiting, though. We'll just have to be extra cautious in determining friend or foe." Tai added, "And if it is a trap, I think we should let on like we don't know, so at least we'll have some sort of advantage." He smiled. "We'd better prepare for a storm," he said, looking at the sky. "It's going to be a long night."

Matt looked at the altar. Gods? Demons? What they were, he knew not, but they held the key to power, so who was he to complain? Satisfy those you have to, he thought to himself. The rest will come later.

He took a torch and lit two smaller torches held in their own metal scones. Between them was the stone figure of some monster, poised to leap out at the viewer. Its large maw was open, revealing a wickedly crafted set of teeth with dark stains. Not unlikely the blood of other sacrifices.

He picked up a candle made of a black wax that did not reflect light. Its darkness seemed to absorb the energy around it, giving it an unnatural coldness. Setting it down in a holder, he lit it with one of the small torches. Two candles like it stood recessed behind the front candle, but he left those alone. Those were for another time. Drawing a jeweled dagger from his belt, he watched the reflection of the candlelight play off of the cold, steel-blue metal surface. Taking the torch, he threw it in a brazier of coals sitting below the demon-figure, no doubt reminiscent of its domain. The coals slowly caught and gave off a red glow which caught in the ruby eyes of the demon. Taking the dagger in his hand, he knelt before the altar.

"Cold steel, forged by the fires of below, return to the fires from whence you came, anointed by the blood of mortals." He staying kneeling for a moment, then rose and cut his finger with the dagger. He let some blood run onto the blade before he tossed the dagger into the brazier, watching the weapon absorb the heat. Then, he held his finger over the flame of the candle and calmly watched the blood sizzle and the flesh turn tender. After about fifteen seconds, he removed his finger.

He knelt before the altar in silence for many long moments.

"So this is it then?" Tai looked at the arsenal spread before him. A few bows, quivers, daggers, short swords, long swords, and one crossbow. "Take your pick." He backed up, letting the others examine the weapons.

Sora picked up a dagger, unsheathed it, and sliced it through the air a few times, seemingly satisfied. She picked up a short sword and tossed it to Joe, who caught it, but fell over backwards due to the weight. Sora shook her head. Joe picked himself up and looked at the sword. He was just able to heave it into a ready position. Despite his clumsiness, he was still able to wield it to some effect—he could hold his own. Izzy looked amongst the weapons and carefully selected the crossbow. He smiled at the rugged machinery, but the smile turned into a grimace when he tried to load it. On his third try, he was finally able to load a bolt into the crossbow. Rubbing his chin, his eyes fell upon a nearby tree. He pulled the trigger.

The crossbow nearly flew out of his hands as the bolt went hurling with deadly speed through the air. A solid thunk sounded as the bolt pierced the tree, though Izzy, dazed and sore at the wrist, did not immediately notice. When he saw the true mark of the bolt, he smiled and grinned. Tai sighed, picking up a dagger and tossing it to him. "Pointy end goes in the bad guy."

"Hey, I know, I know," Izzy said defensively, buckling the dagger to his belt.

Sora looked over each of the bows with a carefully eye, scrutinizing every bump and feeling the textures of all of the longbows. "Sora," Tai asked, "do you know anything about bows?"

Sora tested the tension of one of the strings with the utmost concentration. "Not a clue." She hefted the bow and decided that that was the one she wanted. Bending down, she scooped up a large quiver filled to completion. She knocked an arrow into the bow and looked off into the distance. "They say that if you're good at archery, you're truthful." She let the shaft loose, which whistled through the air. It hit Izzy's arrow solidly before ricocheting off into the woods. She smiled.

"You do note that the converse of that statement isn't necessarily true," Izzy pointed out.

Sora looked at him and gave him an amiable smile. "Izzy, my dear. Shut up."

Izzy shrugged and put up his hands defensively.

"Here Kari. You'll need this." Tai handed Kari a large dagger, which she held somewhat awkwardly. "If you run into any problems, remember what I told Izzy."

"The pointy end goes in the bad guy," Kari responded.

Tai smiled. "Great! You're an expert swordsman already."

"OK, so we're armed and ready. Now what?" Joe asked.

Tai shrugged. "We wait."

A snicker was heard followed by a rustling from the nearby bushes. They all jumped to readiness, feeling the adrenaline flow. There was much tension as the rustling continued until five figures materialized from the forest shadows.

"Joe! Just imagine! Joe with a weapon!" Gomamon was already rolling on the floor laughing. The other digimon came into the light as the group relaxed, except for Joe.

"Sure, sure. Laugh all you want," Joe dismissed. "When you need me, don't come crawling back." But his face betrayed him—he was beet red. Gomamon continued to laugh and poke fun at Joe, who stood facing the other direction with his arms folded across his chest, attempting to ignore him. The other digimon came out and started commenting about the weapons.

"Izzy? I suppose your mother approves?" Tentamon asked.

Izzy just smiled. "'I'm a grown boy now,' I'm sure she'd say."

Tentamon sighed. "Now it's my duty to make sure that no one hurts you and that you don't hurt yourself." Izzy lightly hit him with the crossbow.

For the rest of the day, dark as it was, they trained themselves in the use of their weapons, devising rigorous drills to prepare themselves. Confidence and morale was high among them. It seemed that the boys would be home before Christmas, like they were just fighting another "two week war." No one spoke of the doubt that they all felt deep inside. No one mentioned the fear of death or worse. And no one even uttered a hint of failure.

Mimi watched from the shadows as Matt performed his dark rituals. She shuddered, thinking of the prospect of raising hell-spawned demons and other horrible nightmares. Certain words echoed in her head as she viewed the sight. But the devil looked beautiful until the hour of his fall.

She thought she caught Matt's eye. Quickly she darted behind the pillar for cover. Did he actually see her? She was not supposed to be there. Secretly, she had followed him, after escaping unnoticed from her room. She was still proud of how she had sent one guard on an errand and knocked the other one out, though it did take some doing to hide the wound.

He must've seen me. It was creepy how he seemed to have eyes all around him—not just spies, but his own sense of awareness. The evilness and paranoia must have honed his senses to quite a supernatural level, almost making him more beast than man. He even acted like a savage, stalking his enemies and snapping at those who opposed him. Or at least he appeared a beast.

Indeed, she knew very well what passions he was capable of. Would she ever see the old Matt again? Whatever the answer, she certainly could not just stand by and watch him in his demise. No, it would be her duty to rescue her. And she couldn't do it alone. She would need the help of the others. Tai and Kari, and Izzy, Joe too, and Sora, and...most of all T.K.

For the first time in ages, her thoughts drifted upon the others. What had become of them? Did they unlock the secrets of the prophecy? Where were they now? Would they rescue her? As the questions spiraled about her head, the sounds of shuffling boots reached her ears. Peeking around the pillar, she saw Matt rise and walk, slowly and steadily, towards the exit. She stole forth among the shadows to follow him.

Izzy snapped awake. The sound of a twig breaking woke him. Glancing around him and rubbing his eyes, he lifted his crossbow into ready position. The only sounds were the light snores and heavy breathing coming from the dim camp fire. He approached the fire and tossed in a few pieces of pine. The fire crackled with new life, gleefully consuming the fuel. He yawned, returning to his post leaning on a tree. Tentamon leaned on the other side of the tree fast asleep.

The sound came again, but still, there was nothing to be seen. Izzy dismissed it as his tiredness, or perhaps some animal in the forest. But then, there it was, the same sound, almost with an agitated persistence. With resolve, Izzy moved towards the foliage where he heard the sound come from. He crept up quietly, taking care not to step on any twigs or do make any shuffling sound. As he came within reach of the bush, he smiled and stretched out a hand to part the bushes.

Suddenly, there was a flurry of movement as the bush shook violently, and out stepped a figure. Izzy jumped back and leveled his crossbow, but a firm grip held it down. "T.K.?" Izzy cried in bewliderment.

Out of the bushes stepped T.K., followed by Leomon. "Izzy," T.K. greeted, with the warmth of an old comrade. He gripped him roughly at the shoulders and shook him. "I'm gald to see you. It's been so long!"

"T.K.....what, uh...T.K." Izzy could not formulate his thoughts.

"Izzy, we don't have much time. Wake the others." The black night hung oppressively around them, cold and unchanging.

Izzy had a look of doubt on his face, but moved nonetheless to the camp, shaking bodies and calling names softly. When they were all conscious, T.K. moved in close to the campfire. "See the clouds that gather above?" T.K. pointed to the sky, which had become a rotating gray whirlpool, sucking in storm clouds around it. "They are not natural. This disturbance is Matt's doing. He is going to perform an ancient ritual, summoning demons to increase his power. We have to stop him."

T.K. glanced at his watch. "It is midnight. By sunrise this morning, if the ritual is completed, there will be a great darkness. In other words, you might as well kiss yourselves goodbye."

The group looked gravely at each other. T.K. continued, "Matt is performing this ritual in a well-protected chamber deep within the denizens of the castle. He has placed the maximum possible distance between himself and the outside world. There are three candles that he must light at certain times, the last of which comes at sunrise. We must see to it that all three candles are not lit at sunrise."

T.K. looked each one in the face. "My friends, the time has come. This is the moment of truth. There can be no fear. Have faith in yourselves and the rest will follow. I have other tasks to attend to, but I leave Leomon here with you. He is capable in every respect to guide you through the underground caverns which you must use. Farewell, comrades. May the stars shine upon you." With that he was off.

After the sounds of T.K.'s departure disappeared in the depth of the forest, Tai rose and took a position where T.K. had stood. "Well, I guess we have our mission cut out for us."

"Wait," Izzy said. Everyone looked at him expectantly. He closed his eyes, holding out his finger signaling for everyone to be quiet. It was as if he were listening to something. "O.K. Go on," Izzy said suddenly, opening his eyes once more.

"What's wrong, izzy?" Kari asked with concern.

"Just letting it all sink in," Izzy replied.

Sora frowned. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Izzy just made a joke."

"Could be possible," Izzy responded.

"Well," Tai said smiling, "now that we've had our strange occurrences for the day, I'd say we've been thoroughly blessed by the gods. Indeed, today must be a special day."

Leomon led the group to an area of rocky terrain which led up into a mountain range on the northern side. For a time, they walked alongside a steep cliff wall which went up for hundreds of feed before ending. After some distance, they reached a cave entrance cut into the Cliffside. The dark maw was gigantic, its calcite fangs visible from the outside. The floor sloped gently downward as far as they could see into the cave. Leomon turned and addressed the group.

"This cave leads to the underground caverns below the castle. You must stay close at all times. There are countless hidden dangers down there, some of which I do not know of. You can easily get lost, so do not stray."

"We could tie ourselves up in a line," Izzy suggested.

"No," Leomon responded. "We may need to use our weapons down there."

Tai scanned the group. "Light?"

Izzy, Joe, and Sora each withdrew an electric lantern from their backpacks. Sora handed hers to Tai, "I suppose you'll need this." Tai passed it on to Leomon. "In better hands," he said. "One front, one back, one spare," he said to the group. "Who wants rear?"

There was a silence. "I'll do it," Joe volunteered.

"Armed and ready?" Tai asked.

The entire group added their sounds of agreement. Sora shifted the longbow and quiver slung on her back. Izzy loaded a bolt in his crossbow and slung it over his shoulder by a strap. Joe shifted his belt, which held two hilts—one for his short sword and one for his dagger. Kari put a hand to her side, feeling the reassuring coldness of the steel. Tai donned his gauntlets and strapped the huge longsword to his back. He turned to Leomon. "Lead the way."

With that, they plunged forward into the darkness.