Chapter 8
Time had slipped away for Cye and there was very little
socialization between him and his keepers. Which isn't to say he didn't learn some pretty stunning things. White Blaze was in the Dynasty with
him. The very first attack on him by
the fire cat had been merely a distraction in order to capture the tiger. Cye also learned that the former warlords
were being held in another cell, their armors taken from them also. Yet he heard nothing of the fate to befall
him or his armor.
These
things he heard when some conversations drifted down to him from Talpa's throne
room above. Whenever he happened to be
conscious he would listen to these in hopes for news of his friends.
Since
his arrival here Cye had been subjected to countless forms of torture; and the
unceasing apathy of his tormentors was unnerving. He would give anything for the monotonous routines of everyday
life. But he could not have even that. He was a Ronin Warrior and he had an
obligation. And as long as Talpa lived
that's how long he would have to protect this place.
Voices
caught his attention and he realized Talpa was chewing out yet another of his
new employees. The words he heard
seemed foreign to him and he searched his fevered brain for a meaning.
"What
do you mean 'escaped'?" Talpa's voice roared.
"Th-the
tiger escaped, sire, he's gone." Came the faint reply.
There
was a moment of silence, then Talpa bellowed, "You shall pay for you
carelessness!" Followed by a blood-curdling scream that Cye knew he would never
want to hear again. There was a loud
explosion and then silence once more. Over and over this happened and Cye could still here each individuals'
terrified screams in his mind as they were murdered. He wondered how Talpa found replacements for everyone he killed.
"Dunados!"
He yelled.
"Yes,
my liege?" The warlord said rather shakily soon after entering the room and
spotting the corpse.
"Gather
soldiers and find that tiger and a replacement while you're at it." Needing no further explanation Dunados
hurried from the throne room.
Cye
shifted uneasily hoping they wouldn't come near his cell. Once in a while though, footsteps would come
close enough to make him jump.
Two
soldiers paused just outside his door and started murmuring to each other. He thought he caught the word "Ronins", but
he wasn't sure. Where were his friends?
* * * * *
Down in the dark recesses of the Dynasty was a maze of
passageways that hadn't been used in centuries. They were full of debris, dust, and desolation. In the darkest of these tunnels a light
flared to life and out of it fell four dark figures. The light then disappeared.
"Get
your knee out of my side!"
"Wow,
it's dark in here."
"You
wanna bet?"
"You
wanna get off me?"
After
the Ronins assembled themselves they worked on the light problem. Ryo quickly solved that by lighting a torch.
"So
this is where Talpa lives?" Asked Rowen eyeing the clutter.
"Who
did you expect, Martha Stewart?" Kento replied.
"Well,
I never thought of Talpa as much of a housekeeper."
"I
never thought of Talpa as one at all. Now, lets get going." Ryo ended the conversation and hurried down the
hall stepping over rocks that used to be in the ceiling. The others followed.
Eventually,
as they went, the debris cleared up but the darkness remained and Ryo's torch
was growing dim.
Ryo
took another step and when he put his foot down the stone tile under it shifted
with an odd click. Confused, he stopped
and looked down.
"What
is it?" Sage asked just before pain raced through Ryo's limbs, he cried out and
lost his balance falling forward with a grunt. Kento and Sage were instantly at his side while Rowen checked out where
he had stepped. A small metal swell had
emerged just above the surface of the stone tile and when this came in contact
with Ryo's foot it had given him a painful electric shock. Rowen looked over to see Sage and Kento
helping him up. When they let go Ryo
swayed a bit but seemed to find his balance.
They
continued on, always careful to check for any more tricks. Unfortunately they didn't always find them.
"Does
this hallway ever end?" Sage complained crossing his arms and leaning against
the wall for a break. The stones
creaked in protest as his weight caused a hidden door to open. Sage fell backwards with a cry of surprise
as the door closed behind him.
"What happened?" Ryo demanded, feeling
frantically along the wall for the hidden doorway.
"I'm
not quite sure but I think something knows we're here." Rowen answered doing
the same. The three searched vainly for
the trap door, but when their fruitless search turned up nothing more than dust
and grime, they decided to press reluctantly on.
After an
immeasurable amount of time, disaster struck once again. A trap door in the floor had been triggered
and Kento had fallen through. Their
party was now reduced to two. How far
those two would make it without their friends was about to be determined.
Some
time later Ryo and Rowen entered a small room with no other exit besides the
one they had come through. The dripping
of water could be heard throughout the chamber. They were about to leave when a creature, not unlike a bat, flew
down from the ceiling and landed on Ryo's hand, biting it, causing him to drop
the torch. It landed in a small puddle
where it sputtered and finally died, swamping the room in darkness. The creature fluttered off in the dark.
"Rowen?"
Ryo called uncertainly.
"Yeah
Ryo?" Came his reply.
"Just
checking to make sure you were there."
Silence.
"Rowen?"
Ryo called again.
Again
silence, except this time it wasn't broken by Rowen's reply. A heavy breathing sound filled the
room.
A
claustrophobic feeling came over Ryo as he realized he was not truly
alone. He really didn't like being
alone especially when something this immensely large was standing right behind
him breathing down the back of his neck.
* * * * *