A cold, night wind stirred the dead leaves as two figures
walked along, silhouetted by the bright moonlight. Yuli, wrapped tightly in a jacket that was five sizes too big,
ran ahead as they approached the mansion. Following behind the small boy was Sage, carrying a still stupefied
ex-warlord. All the lights in the large
manor had been shut off which was odd because the other Ronins all should have
been there. He climbed the steps to the
porch and deposited the warlord of illusion on a wooden bench to check out the
mansion. Pushing Yuli behind him he
opened the front door and entered.
The
den was dark and very little moonlight filtered through the closed white
curtains. But there was enough for Sage
to see a figure standing in the back of the room. He took a defensive pose; none of his friends would just stand in
the dark like this. "Who are you and what do you want?" He called.
"Oh,
I think you can guess. I'm Talpa's new
warlord of darkness, Roe." Even in this light Sage could see the figure begin
to approach. But before he got there, a
crash broke the silence and the silhouette vanished.
Using
the distraction to his advantage, Sage quickly flipped on the lights. On the floor was roe, but he was rapidly
getting up. Behind him was the end
table that he had tripped over in the dark. As he got to his feet he was unaware when his cape snagged a corner of
the table. So when he went on to
continue his menacing advance on Sage, the table went with him. He dragged it a full five feet before
noticing. Cursing, he turned around to
free himself.
"I
have a message for you and your friends." Roe said kicking the blasted end
table and winced when he stubbed a toe. "You can have your friend back on one
condition." He paused to let it sink in.
Sage
made no attempt to ask what he wanted. His mind was working on other things; anyway, he already had a pretty
good idea what it was.
"Talpa wants the Inferno Armor in return for you
companion. And you have twenty-four
hours to decide his fate."
"What
if we don't accept?" Sage asked testily. Even though he knew Ryo would most likely accept the offer.
"He
dies." Roe answered simply with a devilish smirk. He then dissipated, returning to the Dynasty.
The
facts had barely a moment to arrange themselves in Sage's head before the front
door abruptly slammed shut. Jogging
toward the sound he found Yuli greeting the other Ronins at the door. They looked exhausted and disappointed. Rowen was covered in mud.
"Boy,
it got dark out there fast." Kento pointed out.
"Unfortunately,"
replied Rowen softly, looking down at his dirty clothes.
"Hey
Sage, three questions." Ryo caught his attention. "Where have you been? Why is Yuli here? And why is Dais on our front porch?"
He
cursed and went out to drag the warlord, who was still out cold, to the couch
in the living room.
"Where
were you guys?" Sage asked as they waited for Rowen, who had gone upstairs to
change.
"We
were all out looking for White Blaze and Mia was going to check and see if he
had been seen in the city." Ryo answered in a solemn voice. Yuli gulped audibly, White Blaze had been
missing for some time now. "So what happened to you?" Ryo asked when Rowen
returned from his room.
Sage
told them everything Yuli had told him, about the fight between him and
Dunados, and, last of all, Roe's little message. Everyone remained speechless once he finished.
A
noise coming from the front of the house broke the heavy silence that had
descended upon the room and everyone jumped. They all ran from the living room and piled out the front door to
assemble outside. The front lawn was
blanketed in a thick fog and in the distance a light was shining unnaturally
bright. The light was approaching the
five at an amazing speed before it stopped and solidified into the form of the
ancient.
"Anubis?"
Ryo asked warily.
"Yes,
it is I, Ryo of Wildfire, and I have come to help you along on your quest. But first I must show you something." Anubis
waved his hand and what looked like and ordinary mirror appeared before the
Ronins and Yuli. They all gathered
around and looked into it.
The
sight that met their eyes made them gasp. The Dynasty had definitely changed and this was just the thing that a
twisted mind like Talpa's would come up with. Instead of the traditional temple that the Ronins destroyed when Talpa
was last defeated, this resembled something more like the gates of hell. Standing in the middle was a tall mountain
or a volcano of some sort. Topping that
was a stone dragon, its granite wings outspread and its head reared back;
flames poured from its mouth tingeing the charcoal clouds overhead with
red. The creature's tail wound around
the mountain to end just above the only entrance to the enormous labyrinth. Surrounding a single walkway to the fortress
was an infinite expanse of nothingness. Coming from the bottom, if there was one, was a bright green glow too
intense to look directly into.
Yuli clung to Ryo's leg, too frightened to move. The picture was almost too real.
"Cye's
in there?" Kento asked, voice wavering.
"Yes,
and that is where you must go. I can
get you there but that is all. From
there on it is up to you to rescue Cye of the Torrent."
"Yuli,"
Ryo looked down at the frightened boy. "You need to tell Mia everything that
happened and tell her not to worry, we'll be back with Cye soon."
Yuli
pulled away as the four Ronins donned on their sub armor.
"Let's
go," Rowen suggested. Anubis chanted a
couple words and faded away. Soon the
Ronins followed in suit. The mist
abruptly cleared and Yuli returned to the house.
* * * * *