Author's Note: FINALLY!!! After what seemed like eons of downtime, FF.N's completely up! YAY! *throws confetti* And just in time, too. I present to you, my faithful readers…

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Chapter Fifteen

Dragon's Heart

Mikara woke suddenly. "They're coming!"

Lina stared at her. "What?"

"They're coming! I saw them in my dream! They're coming!"

"Who?"

"The others!"

Lina stood up and walked along the mountain path until she rounded a corner. Sure enough, several beings were walking through the grassy foothills. Lina cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted out…

"Daiki, Compass, Riki, Jesse, Riku! We're over here!"

There was silence for a moment, in which David, Mikara, Josh, Riley, and their Digimon took the time to join Lina. And, when the silence ended, the two groups rushed to each other. It was a frenzy of hugs, laughter, and relief. Twenty different voices cried out.

"We missed you so much!"

"We missed you too!"

"Did your Digimon Armor digivolve yet?"

"Sure as hell, yeah!"

"I knew we'd see each other again!"

"Of course. We wouldn't get into much trouble."

Several shouts later, the reunited Tamers and their Digimon started off through the mountains. Grins and smiles of joy invaded their faces as the early morning sun brightened the day. Small conversation broke out among the group.

"Tetramon can Armor digivolve, Josh."

"Cool! So can Patamon. He's an awesome winged horse."

"So, how's life, David?"

"Life is well. You?"

"It's great."

"Did anything happen while we were away?"

"No, Lina, nothing. Well, except when I got really sick, but Petalmon and the others saved me."

Lina turned to Compass, who walked next to her. "Hey, Compass, where to?"

"West. According to my natural sense of navigation…" Compass began, "…west is…" She pointed. "That way. It's a huge mountain, huh?"

"That's no mountain…" Morglormon replied. "That's a volcano!"

"Oh, okay… WHAT!? A VOLCANO!!!?"

"Yes. It's the only volcano on Server that's anywhere in the west. It's a dormant volcano, so it won't erupt or anything. Otherwise, we'd be fried."

"Yeah, I kinda knew that," Compass said dryly.

"Oh."

Riku, who was walking on Lina's other side, strained to see farther. "There's not much I can see from here. We're too far. I don't see a castle or anything like Mount Infinite…"

"Maybe it's underground," Riki suggested.

"Maybe…"

Mikara suddenly halted. Nekomon stopped and turned to her partner. "What's up, Mikara?"

"I sense danger…"

"Hm?"

"Danger…"

A sudden, primal roar echoed throughout the slopes. The Tamers and their Digimon froze, startled. An Apemon came over the hilltop, running on its knuckles. It glared hard at the Tamers, then unleashed another wild roar. Standing on its hind feet, it took the large bone shaped like a boomerang into both hands.

Kill the Tamers.

That single command echoed in its mind.

Kill the Tamers.

Cut off the head, and the snake no longer lives. Cut off the head…

With another roar, the Apemon sent its bone boomerang through the air, straight at Lina. The girl screamed in fear, and so did several other voices.

"Prism Sun!"

Sytamon's solar attack collided with the whirling bone, sending it off course. Being a boomerang, however, it whirled back to its owner. The Apemon caught its weapon deftly and adopted a fighting crouch, snarling at Sytamon. The purple-and-white dinosaur snarled back.

"Why did you attack Lina?" Sytamon demanded angrily.

Then answer was immediate. "Kill the Tamers!"

The dinosaur and the ape charged at each other. It was a blur of purple and yellow. Fur bristled, teeth bared, and bone hit claw. But, being a Rookie, Sytamon was weakening faster. She was slowing down.

"S-Sytamon!" Lina cried, clutching her D-Force. "SYTAMON!!!"

Two voices echoed throughout the sloped, hilly landscape.

"Prism Sun!"

"Mega Bone Stick!"

The attacks missed the other, but Apemon's stick flew past Sytamon and headed back, knocking the Digimon squarely at the back of the head. Sytamon growled in pain, but refused to fall.

Lina was also not ready to fall. Riku and her brother David supported her trembling form, but her voice needed no help. "SYTAMON!!! PLEASE!!! ARMOR DIGIVOLVE!!!" The purple-and-white D-Force that she held glowed brilliantly. "DIGI ARMOR ENERGIZE!!!"

Still growling in pain, Sytamon glowed as brilliantly as the D-Force. The light's warmth spread through her body, easing the stinging agony.

"Sytamon Armor digivolve to… Fyremon, dragon's Heart!"

The light faded, and Lina's Digimon was towering over the Apemon. She was a huge armored dinosaur, lavender purple in color with white markings and bands on her skin. She wore gleaming red-gold armor. On her head, a Spartanlike helmet rested, complete with a single metal spike protruding from the front. She bore a chest plate and shoulder guards. Arm guards protected her clawed hands, and even her tail carried a metal tip. Painted on her helmet was the Crest of Heart.

"Wow… Fyremon…" Riki commented, awed, still visibly shaking.

The Apemon, furious at a new enemy, launched itself at Fyremon. But it suddenly stopped.

Kill the Tamers.

The yellow primate took the bone boomerang in its hand and flung it at the Tamers. A sudden inferno charred the bone, leaving a cracked, broken, and burned weapon. The Apemon looked up with undaunted eyes at its enemy.

"You have attempted to attack Lina once," Fyremon snarled. "I stopped you, and I would've let you free. But you have attempted to attack her a second time, and so you shall pay!" From her mouth, she called forth an identical pillar of fire. "Steel Love!"

Now, at the sight of its first and foremost fear, the Apemon screeched and started to knuckle-run away. But the fire was too fast. It engulfed the Apemon, who, still shrieking, withered in the flames. Soon, the enemy Digimon and its bone weapon disintegrated into data and flew away on the breeze. But a sinister voice floated away with it…

"Kill the Tamers…"

An involuntary shudder passed through the Tamers and their Digimon. Fyremon de-digivolved back to Sytamon, and, after a moment of fearful silence, everyone started to relax.

"That was disturbing," Josh whispered, gazing up at the sky.

"It always is, facing death head-on. But…" Mikara hugged her brother reassuringly. "It's all right. As long as we stick together, we'll be fine. Right guys?"

Everyone nodded in unison, and some mumbled their agreements.

Compass pointed west. "Let's go before the sun reaches noon. Then we can have lunch at the base of the mountain, and climb for the rest of the afternoon."

"Good thinking," Morglormon replied. "I'm hungry."

"Me too," Tetramon chimed in. "Daiki, I'm hungry…"

In turn, Daiki turned to his older brother. "Riki, I'm hungry."

Riki sighed and looked at his Digimon for help. Vipomon gave him a strange look. "No way are you telling me you're hungry."

That got a laugh from everyone.

"Let's go," Riku said, grinning. "C'mon."

With Lina and Sytamon leading, the Tamers headed for the mountain. They felt content, and as the sun steadily rose to its zenith, they felt good inside. All their Digimon had Armor digivolved; a grand feat, which not many wild Digimon had yet accomplished.

"If only we had the skill our parents had," Riley told Mikara, glancing at the clouds in the sky.

"Yeah… I miss them, you know. Every other night, I dream of them. I see my mom and dad, and my uncle and aunt, too. I tell Josh, and he is happy that I constantly communicate with them."

"You do? What do they say?"

"They say… they say they are proud of us. They all have something to tell us."

"What… what do my parents tell me?"

Mikara took a moment to remember. She then remembered. "Well… your father says he hopes you don't get your underwear soaked—"

Riley sighed. "Dad would be the only one to say that."

"—And your mother wants you to remember that everyone is there, rooting for us."

"They're still there? How many days have we been here, again?"

Nekomon piped up. "Fifteen."

"Wow… they're still probably at the presentation center, trying to communicate with us."

"No, I don't think so. Mr. Matsuki says they've returned to work, but they always check with Mr. Akiyama to see how we're doing. He's kept tabs on us. We're fine."

Riley nodded. "Good. I wouldn't want my parents worried."

"Me neither. We can say a prayer for them, and for us."

"Are you getting devout all of a sudden?"

Mikara laughed suddenly. "No, no. I just like praying at times of danger and worry. That's what my Christian parents always taught me."

"Okay. Even though I'm Daoist, go ahead."

After a deep sigh, Mikara started saying, "Dear God, we praise and thank Thee. From the sun in its birth to its dying, we pray to replace the hardest task with the sweetest memory, and we pray to find eternal peace. Amen."

"Amen," Riley echoed, then repeated the new word. "Amen."

Mikara said nothing more.

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"I like it."

"Me too."

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Author's Note: That prayer Mikara said is from Animorphs #33: The Illusion. You can find it in Chapter 6 on page 38. So, I do not own it or the Animorphs series. I simply own the books that I have bought. And the last four lines are also from the book, from that same chapter, from that same page. Thanks again for reading. ~TdA