Silent Fall
Arcana
Sendai.
The last time they had been here hadn't been their best battle. Dais had turned them all against each other with his illusions and it had almost proved fatal. Here, for the first time they were shown the full extent of Dais's power and the fact that he was only one small fraction of the Dynasty that they would have to deal with before progressing onward. It was a sobering thought, even for Kento.
It killed Cye to think that the guys (Mia had stayed behind in the Dynasty) had just followed him here to humor him with plans to go straight home afterward or, as Cye feared, straight to a psychiatrist. Right now, with all the turmoil, he wouldn't doubt that they would.
Cye's searching of the Sendai coastline was interrupted when the pendant round his neck, which he had gathered up before he left, started glowing fervently. Not quite as strong as times before, but it was still noticeable.
The crystal floated away from where it dangles at Cye's chest to hover mere inches away from his chin, much to Cye's surprise. He knew, somehow, that what the necklace was trying to direct him toward a large stand of reeds at the base of a steep cliff near the water's edge. He crept over cautiously and pulled the reeds away to reveal a small cavern entrance.
Once again, as in a dream, he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that what he was searching for was somewhere in its dark recesses. He reached out to touch the stone near the opening and the pendant dropped down to its habitual place at his neck.
"Hey, Cye, did you find something?"
It was Ryo, from somewhere up on the cliff.
"Yeah, you want to get the others?"
Ryo gave a shrill whistle and he and the others jumped from the edge of the outcrop to land safely in the ankle-deep water with White Blaze close at their heels. Cye, realizing they had equipped their sub armors, donned his as well.
"What's in there?" Kento asked.
"It's what we've been looking for, I'm sure of it." Cye replied confidently.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Don't be so uptight, Ryo, what's wrong with a little spelunking?" Rowen challenged.
"A lot, we'd better call our armors, just in case."
Kayura rummaged through the things in her bottom dresser drawer, searching for a deck of tarot cards.
When she had worked with them she had learned to master them fairly well, and, still, her predictions were more accurate than a normal persons as her way of working with the cards was a far cry from the rituals of any mortals. Also true, she could think of no better way to track the Ronins progress.
The cards were wrapped in a loose, silk, cloth tied with a ribbon that she undid as she positioned herself in the center of her room. Kayura laid the stack in front of her, closed her eyes, and began to chant in a tongue known only to the Ancients Clan.
The cards responded by floating up to her eye level and spinning slow circles around her head. They held their backs to her, concealing what fate may lie on their other side. Five cards separated themselves from the others and glided down to form a facedown, star pattern at her feet. The rest formed a neat, orderly pile and replaced themselves on the cloth.
Kayura glanced down at the five cards, carefully deciding where to start. She gently turned over the card that made up the left arm of the star.
It was The Moon, a card depicting the moon and beneath it a dog and a coyote, baying their praise. This card represented confusion, deception, and danger and it wasn't what Kayura was hoping to see.
What would this mean?
The cavern wasn't natural, that Cye knew. The walls were smooth and even, as though they had been carved from the ambient stone. It was all a little too suspicious for the ease of his mind and soul, yet he remained indifferent as he trailed Ryo through the cavern tunnels.
The only source of light here was provided by Ryo in the form of a small flame suspended above his upturned palm. And up until now the only sounds accompanying them was the idle drip of water and the clinking of their armors. But the clinking had since stopped.
"Ryo, dude, what's the holdup?" Kento demanded from the back of the line. "It's a dead end, let's go back."
"It's not exactly a dead end, Kento, look."
The wall before them was inscribed with various, odd symbols and five small indentations in the center. These caught Cye's eye almost immediately and on a whim he placed his armor orb in the topmost slot. The small, blue marble gave a blinding flash and settled into the wall.
Without a word, Rowen followed, doing the same thing and receiving the same result, then Kento, Ryo, and lastly Sage.
When the last orb had been placed the wall-now actually a door-acknowledged their identities and moved away to reveal a large, brightly lit chamber.
The chamber was so well lit that Ryo exterminated his flame before retrieving his armor orb with the others and stepping through the threshold. The source of light here being a group of five, colored spheres sitting upon a small outcrop in the back of the room. The spheres practically hummed with power and seemed to be made solely of energy, as the amount they gave off was immense.
"Cye, I'm sorry I ever doubted you, man." Kento muttered in awe.
A smile pulled at Cye's lips, he knew something had to convince them he was right eventually.
He took a cautious step forward and, before he-anyone-could react Cye found a blade at his throat. The Halo no-dachi was pressed so close to his neck blood began to pool on the flat side of the blade.
* * * * *
There, now that's longer.
I couldn't think up a title for this chapter so I chose something at the last minute (which I do a lot).
Disclaimer: For the last time, I don't own the Ronin Warriors!