A Little Side Adventure
Episode Seven: Final Fight
By Shelli-Jo Pelletier
(ussfantasy@hotmail.com)
***************
The hallway was made of gray stone, just like the rest of the building. Every few hundred feet a slim window—actually just a slit in the stone about a hand's length wide, and unfortunately too small for anyone to squeeze through—allowed sunlight, warmth and fresh air to circulate through the hall. Between every other one of these windows a lamp was mounted to the wall, providing more light. The floor and ceiling were stone as well, like the room they had been trapped in.
"Izzy!" yelped Mimi suddenly, making everyone jump. "You almost stepped on my tail!"
"Shhhhh! We're trying to escape here, Mimi!" hissed Matt.
"And I wasn't going to step on your tail," Izzy added with irritation.
Under all the annoyed gazes Mimi was quickly contrite. "I can't help it," she sniffed as they continued walking. "He's a lot bigger than he usually is. It's making me nervous."
Izzy refrained from pointing out that technically he was back to his normal size, and she was the one who was actually smaller.
Tai snickered. "You know Izzy, you've finally got your wish."
"My wish?"
"You're the tallest Digi-Destined!"
There was a quiet explosion of muffled laughter, quickly stifled. Up ahead, Tok snorted and rolled his eyes. Izzy couldn't decide whether to laugh or be offended, so he ended up not doing either.
The soft chatter ended at the first intersection of hallways. They had all suddenly realized just how large this place really was. Tok paused, his wing beats strangely silent in the still air, as he looked left and right and straight ahead in turn. Finally he snorted once again and set off down the right hall.
Tai didn't follow. "How do you know that's the right way?" he demanded of the flying dragon.
Tok wheeled in a tight circle. "I don't," he returned shortly. "But do you have a better idea?"
Tai sighed. "Let's go."
They continued on silently, but it didn't last long. Less than five minutes later Tai told Izzy in no uncertain terms that they needed to know exactly who they were up against. The human swallowed, knowing he was right, and began to describe the three who were holding them prisoner. He didn't know what he was going to say when he got to Vladimir, but to his relief he never actually had to reach that point. When he mentioned the fact that Zophia wanted to capture dragons because she was a magic-using sorceress—a human—the entire procession came to a halt and stared at him.
Izzy trailed off. "I-it's true," he insisted. "I observed it with my own eyes. I'm proof myself, as a matter of fact."
Half of them looked afraid (that being Joe and Mimi), and the rest looked like they wanted to laugh but didn't quite dare. Finally Sora sighed. "Digimon, aliens, evil magic-users. I'm going to be so happy when we get home."
"Me too," Mimi said softly.
"Me three," muttered Joe.
"Look, let's just keep going," Matt stated. "We need to get out of here." Tai was nodding agreement.
"Found it!" The triumphant voice made them all jump, as Tok soared in over their heads. They hadn't even noticed his absence. "I've found the way out!"
For a moment the Digi-Destined were stunned, then they broke out into wide grins. Realizing they hadn't exactly been the quietest group of escaped prisoners ever, they followed Tok quickly and silently as he led the way down the hall with rapid thrusts of his wings.
The dragon hadn't really discovered some secret exit or anything. As it so happened, the hallway led to a set of big double-doors, wooden and shaped like half an oval broken down the middle. Windows slightly wider than the slits in the hallway (though still not real glass-covered windows) allowed the late afternoon sunshine to pour in and proved the doors really were a passage out.
"Tok, you make pretty good guesses," Joe commented.
The sight of freedom so close had an effect on all of them. Heads tipped up just a bit, ears perked up straight, they quickened their pace slightly. This nightmare was almost over! It almost seemed unreal, thinking about it now. Certainly one of the weirdest adventures they'd had in Digiworld so far, and Tok would never think of a vacation planet in quite the same way again. And they weren't even out of it yet. . . .
Tai really hoped the doors weren't locked. He just wanted to get out of here, find T.K. and Sarith and the Digimon, and get everyone back to being human again. He had asked Tok to turn them back as soon as they had gotten out of those stupid cages and into the hall, but had been curtly informed that Tok didn't have the strength without preparing himself ahead of time and replying upon Sarith's shared energy. Even if it had been possible, both he and Sarith would have been practically comatose for hours afterward. Any transformations would have to wait until they were out of enemy territory, at least.
So that was why getting them back to their true forms was last on his list of priorities, and escaping first. And he was just about to tackle that list and hit the doors head on when Tok landed in front of him, effectively blocking the way. "It might be a trap," the real dragon frowned. "The exit seems a little too coincidental."
Tai snorted. "Yeah, Tok. That must be it. I'm sure they saw us escape, followed us through the halls, then saw which way we were going and moved the door so we'd find it." His voice dripped sarcasm.
The indigo-colored dragon drew himself up straight, affronted. "I'm just saying—"
Matt sighed. "Well it's not like we have a bunch of options here, Tok. And we both have siblings to find." Tok's eyes widened as he looked at the yellow dragon. He had forgotten Matt had a little brother out there. And of course that made him think of Sarith. For the thousandth time he asked himself, was she all right? She never could take care of herself. Imagine what trouble she was getting in without him there to look after her!
"Right," Tai announced, breaking into Tok's thoughts. "So we can either go outside and face whatever might be out there, or turn around and walk in here some more, running into who-knows-what."
"You don't think they'd put a guard outside, do you?" Mimi asked, gazing longingly at the sunshine streaming into the hall. All this talking was so boring. She just wanted to get outside and away from here! Why didn't anyone else?
Her remark made Izzy think. He hadn't even considered that possibility. He had assumed, because he had only seen three of their captors, that there were only three. But who knew for sure how many associates Zophia had around this place? There was no way to know for certain. Perhaps if they—
A cold hand fell on his shoulder, tightening like iron. "Who-knows-what indeed," a dry voice snickered as Izzy let out a yelp.
The dragons whirled around to find the boy struggling in the grip of a huge tan-colored snake. "Izzy!" Sora cried out in horror.
Tok didn't hesitate. There was an angry scowl on his face as he reared up, and a column of blue-purple fire shot over the heads of the other dragons. It was actually a good thing that Izzy wasn't quite so tall. He just missed getting his spiky hair singed as the flames struck Jakamon in the face. The Digimon gave a roar of pain and recoiled. Izzy slipped free.
"Out! Out! Now!" Tai was shouting, bolting for the doors. No time for discussions on traps now. The others were right behind him and Tai hoped once again that the doors weren't locked as he leapt up and hit them.
They weren't.
The late afternoon sunlight was blindingly bright for a moment. Claws skittered across stone flagstones. A paved courtyard.
Izzy and the six dragons piled out the building, Tok spiraling upward into the air. The stone building they had been held captive in all this time appeared to be some kind of small, flat castle or fortress with two stories. They had emerged into the courtyard, and on the other side a protective wall of stone separated the fortress from the desert, which could be seen because of an arch cut into the wall where a drawbridge might have gone. The Digi-Destined turned to look for Jakamon. He was poised in the doorway, staring at them with narrowed eyes and arms crossed, an ugly smirk on his face. Warily they backed away as he advanced forward.
Suddenly a voice cried out above them, a screech of pain that was cut off immediately. Tok!
The Digi-Destined whirled. Hovering in the air above them was a transparent sphere . . . and the dragon was curled up inside. His eyes were tightly shut. He wasn't struggling.
"Tok!" Tai called, taking a step forward as he searched for a response. "Tok! What—whoa!" The blue and orange dragon pulled up short. Two figures, a blond woman in a red dress and a man in a dark suit, stood side by side across the courtyard, leaning against the wall. They were unmistakably human. Tai heard one of his friends inhale sharply. He recognized Zophia from Izzy's description, but who was the man?
If either of them noticed or cared about the Digi-Destined, they didn't show it. Their attention was narrowed to the sphere floating between the two groups. The man beckoned with a finger and the orb holding the passive Tok floated toward them.
"Hey!" Matt yelled, stepping up abreast to Tai. "You can't do that!"
Well, that worked. The woman's brown eyes focused on the group of dragons plus one. The look that crossed her face wasn't a nice one. "Jakamon," she stated flatly.
Sora gasped. They had forgotten about—!
"Swift Punch!"
A strong force picked them up from behind and slammed them into the hard ground without mercy. Sora struggled to breathe, the air knocked out of her, as she listened to the groans of her friends. Desperately she wished for Biyomon. They couldn't fight evil Digimon and sorcerers without help!
But they couldn't give up. They couldn't leave Tok to these people without a fight. Almost unbelieving her own strength, the red dragon forced her legs to pick herself up, to stand. The others were also getting to their feet. Joe swayed and almost fell over, then stood firm. Next to him Izzy was on his hands and knees, shaking his head to clear it. Ahead of them Tai and Matt glared at the humans with rage. Mimi was beside her, panting for breath. "Ouch," the pink dragon muttered softly. "That wasn't very nice."
Tai growled, sharp teeth bared. No one messed with his friends! He didn't care if they were magic-users, or world leaders in the United Nations! Tok was almost in the sorceress and sorcerer's possession. The brown-haired man reached out a hand, palm up, as if expecting the sphere to settle right into his waiting grasp, although it was larger than a beach ball. Well, Tai was sick of being pushed around by these humans. He was sick of everyone trying to stop them, when all they wanted to do was get home. They didn't ask to be Digi-Destined. They didn't even ask to be yanked into Digiworld!
Matt flinched as, to his total surprise, a blast of blue fire shot from Tai straight at the two humans standing by the wall. But no one was more surprised than Tai, who promptly fell flat on his face as the eruption of flame ended as quickly as it had come.
"Whoa, man. Are you okay?" Matt nudged him with his tail, then blinked and wondered why he hadn't used an arm instead.
Tai picked up his head woozily. "Ugh. Now I know how Agumon feels," he mumbled, dazed.
Zophia and Vladimir had to dive to the side to avoid being charbroiled. Tok's sphere bobbed up into the air, like an air bubble riding a wave, as the blue fire flashed underneath. The man glowered at the six that were interfering with his plans. How annoying. Apparently he would have to take care of them anyway, although he had thought he could just ignore them until he was finished. "Zophia," he spoke, feeling a small satisfaction that the auburn-haired boy visibly cringed at his voice. "Deal with them."
"Uh oh," Izzy whispered in a small voice.
Joe stared at him in alarm. "Uh oh? What do you mean by—aaahh!"
Izzy gritted his teeth against the agony that blazed through his body. He couldn't think; he couldn't breathe. And unlike before when the experience was mercifully short—though it hadn't seemed so at the time—this just went on and on, until the world was nothing but pain, pain, pain, pain. . . .
Darkness.
The pain was gone, with an abruptness that left him dizzy. He wondered if he had passed out, but then realized he could hear sounds. Harsh breathing. A surprised hissing from Jakamon, somewhere behind him. And Zophia and Vladimir, crying out in surprise. Izzy forced his eyes open.
It wasn't total darkness, just dimness. There was a large dark form in the sky, between the fortress and the sun, casting its huge shadow on them all. Izzy squinted. Was it some kind of Digimon? And if it was, friend or foe?
"TOK!" The female voice was familiar.
A blur, a streak, a bolt of green lightning came shooting down through the air on the tail of the cry. As it struck Tok the clear orb holding him popped like a bubble, and the momentum carried both of them across the courtyard, hitting the ground and skidding across the stones. They rolled and came to rest in a dazed heap. Tok opened his eyes.
"S-Sarith?"
"Tok." She sighed happily, but he saw a flash of pain underneath her smile. "I've missed you."
Whatever other reunions they might have had were cut off. The human man was suddenly standing over them, grabbing Sarith around the neck and hauling her away. Tok scrambled to his feet and took a breath, but let it out again as he realized that his flames would hit her as well. At the same time the ground shook with a strong force, and Tok would have been relieved at the sight of his teacher if he weren't preoccupied with fearing for his sister's life.
"Release my students," thundered the large white dragon as he landed. He was outside the wall surrounding fortress and courtyard, but that wasn't really a problem since he was head and shoulders taller than it was. His voice shook with rage.
Zophia produced something metallic from one knee-high boot: it was a dagger. She stood close to Vladimir and touched the sharp point to the mint green dragon's neck. Sarith stilled her struggles in the man's grasp, her eyes filled with fear as she stared at her brother on the ground.
"Make any move and she dies." Vladimir's sharp voice cut across the courtyard.
Tok froze where he stood, only scant feet away. His heart thumped painfully in his chest. Fearful of saying anything, the dragon willed with all his might for her to go, to run home, to never come back. Anything to keep her safe. But as the seconds ticked by and no one made a move or a sound, he remembered the Inhibitors and felt his heart sink. They knew dragons. They must be keeping her from doing it somehow. And if Sarith tried anything obvious . . . the knife. . . .
Brell's rumbling growl issued deep from his throat. "So, stalemate then, sorcerer and sorceress. You have one of our own, but we surround you. How long can you hold your position?"
"Long enough," the man snarled. Tok couldn't look away. He had to be there for Sarith. He had to help her. He had to get her away! He'd never forgive himself if something happened.
"Zophia," Vladimir said levelly. Tok watched with dread as the human woman withdrew something small and round from a pocket of her dress, something that crackled with yellow light, tiny bolts reaching out into the air around the little sphere. His throat constricted as he recognized a Drainage Orb, specifically created to suck the essence from a dragon. The humans' whole plan suddenly clicked into place in his mind. And he had zero time to save himself, his sister and his teacher from destruction! The dragon's back legs tensed as he prepared to leap at the magic-users.
"Hey, you meanies leave Sarith alone!"
Heads snapped toward the arch that offered the exit into the desert. There, standing under the curved opening in the stone wall, were seven angry-looking Digimon and—
"T.K!" yelled Matt, bolting forward, everything and everyone else forgotten. The other Digi-Destined followed him for a joyous reuniting with their Digimon. Hugs were shared all around, and even some tears. But the happiness was brief as the situation they were in returned to them.
Vladimir, Zophia and Tok had also looked over, caught off guard by the sudden voice. But this was a perfect opportunity Sarith had been praying for. Her tail snapped up like a whip, catching Zophia across the wrist. The dagger went flying as the woman gave a screech of pain, and at the same time Sarith threw open her wings, breaking Vladimir's hold on her. Painfully she flapped a few times to gain altitude away from her prisoners and landed again farther off, out of reach.
Brell snarled and opened his jaws but had to hesitate when he realized Tok was too close to the humans. The little dragon saw this too, and scrambled away before they could recover and make him their next hostage. When the way was clear the great dragon let loose a blazing ball of white fire with an angry roar. The humans below him barely had time to throw up their hands, palms out. It was a futile, hopeless action. And yet, when the fireball should have consumed them, instead they seemed to be suddenly safe inside some kind of translucent bubble. The fire struck the barrier, curled around its curved edges and dispersed.
Zophia still clutched the Drainage Orb in her hand. The forks of lightning spurting from it where getting brighter and longer every moment, but didn't seem to cause any discomfort to the two humans. Brell winced and drew back from the wall as the yellow light expanded outward, straight through the shield just put up. He recognized the signs as well. Tok and Sarith backed away until they had joined the group of Digimon and Digi-Destined-turned-dragons (plus T.K. and Izzy) at the archway of the wall.
"What's going on, Sarith?" T.K. worried.
Her voice was strained as she answered. "Drainage Orb. Unless given a specific target it's just going to keep expanding until it finds some dragons. Then. . . ." She shuddered and didn't finish.
"We've got to get through the shield and stop them," muttered Tok, watching the bright dome across the courtyard through narrowed blue-green eyes.
"Well this . . . er, Drainage Orb harm anything else?" Izzy asked.
Sarith shook her head. "It shouldn't, anyway. It supposed to be set to a specific target, a dragon, but if it isn't it just goes into search mode. That's what it's doing now. Anything that's not a dragon should be ignored, just like the two humans and their shield right now." She turned away from the sight to look up at the red-haired boy. "You have a plan, Izzy?"
"I don't know how strong that shield thing is, but let's see if it can stand up against a Champion Digimon. Tentomon, digi-volve!"
"Right!" buzzed the red and black bug. "Tentomon digi-volve to . . . Kabuterimon!"
The giant gray and blue insect swooped over fortress and the courtyard, hovering above the shield and the lightning bolts extending out in all directions. The light given off was so intense the sorcerer and sorceress could not be seen within. Still determined, Kabuterimon's four wings stilled as he landed, then stomped on the dome-shaped protection with one foot. The impact was enough to shake the ground and everyone on it, but not enough to break the shield.
"Brell, help me!" implored the Champion, buzzing back up into the air again. The white dragon took off as well. Together the two large beasts hovered in the air.
"Electro Shocker!" A ball of purple and blue electricity formed.
"Rrrraaawww!" Brell let loose a similar ball of white-hot fire.
The two blasts streaked down and impacted on the shield. On the ground the little band covered their eyes as the light brightened considerably. It was gone in an instant, leaving bright white spots dancing before everyone's eyes, and taking the magic-users' barrier with it!
There was no time for celebration. The Drainage Orb's questing fingers were still stretching outward, and as the shield failed two voices within shouted the same unintelligible phrase. Mimi's pink ears perked upright. She thought she had heard the word "mirror." But what could that mean?
Like a hatching egg, as the shield disintegrated quick black forms streaked out of it, two shooting up into the sky and the rest darting toward the group on the ground. This wasn't over yet!
The dragons, Digi-Destined and Digimon scattered as the strange . . . things swooped toward them. These black shapes zipped around, too fast to really make out, but as they made several passes it looked like they were nothing more than shadows. Flat, two-dimensional, transparent forms of black. And the creepiest thing about them was that there seemed to be several four-footed, winged shadows, two humanoid ones, and the others an odd combination of shapes.
Tok dodged a winged one that leapt at him and spared a glance up at the sky. Sure enough another winged black shape, only much bigger, sparred with Brell, and one just as large with four wings and a long horn on its nose battled Kabuterimon.
Mimi was not thrilled to find out what they had meant by "mirror."
T.K. screamed as a pair of clawed hands closed around his backpack and started to lift him into the air. Matt, not two steps away, growled and leapt at the shadow being . . . and passed right through.
"Blue Blaster!"
Gabumon's attack was more effective. The bright blue energy sliced through the creature's arm and T.K. dropped safely back to earth. The other Digimon saw this and took their cue, striking out at the shadows and keeping them away from their partners.
"Marching Fishes!"
"Spiral Twister!"
"Bubble Blow!"
A flash of bright fire, and Tai was about to congratulate Agumon when he remembered it was Koromon who was by his side, and saw Tok and Sarith take another winged one down with combined green and indigo flames. For a while there was no time to think of how others were doing, of becoming human again, of who the big white dragon was or what those two humans were doing. Questions would have to be answered later. For now, the entire world had narrowed down to the fight. To slipping through the dark claws aimed at them. To keeping the black creatures from making a successful strike. To staying alive.
Tok shot another creature with a burst of flame, but three more took its place. There were too many of them! Everywhere at once. Blurs of speed. And half his mind was taken up with worry for Sarith. Why did she drag her wings, almost tripping over them instead of folding them along her back? Why didn't she take to the air to fight? Had she gotten hurt while he had been captured? Had the sorcerer and sorceress injured her more than he realized? He never should have thought of coming here! This was a fight for survival, not a vacation! There hadn't been anything relaxing about this place for a long time now.
At that moment two of the howling dragon-things swooped under his wings—he cursed himself for becoming distracted with thoughts—and toward the mint green shape on the ground. Sarith's blue-green eyes narrowed and she beat one back with a fireball, but the other circled around and came at her from behind. Forgetting in his fright that they were immune to physical attacks, Tok folded his wings and dove to the rescue.
"Tok!" Sarith cried out in horror. She was unable to look away as he plummeted through the transparent shape and straight into the ground. There was a sickening crunch. The action caused the shadow being to momentarily hesitate, and that was long enough for a bolt of green energy to shoot through it from the side. Before she could thank Biyomon she was already flapping away and turning her attack on one of the shadows on the ground.
Sarith ran to her fallen brother instead, who was flopped over on the stone. Terrified that he had broken something (something like his head) she refrained from touching him, but called his name frantically, sitting back on her haunches and rowing the air with her wings. That hurt excruciatingly, but she ignored the pain and instead watched the wind from the movement wash over her brother, blowing his ears back and making his wing membranes flutter.
Slowly, his eyes slid opened.
"Tok!" she gasped, sagging back on all fours and letting her wings fall. "Are you—"
"Look out!" He surged to his feet and leapt skyward in one fluid movement, bowling her over as he took her by surprise. A shadowy creature zipped through the space they were standing in a moment before, then vanished as mingled mint and blue-purple flames consumed it.
Tai tried to rapidly survey the situation as best he could, dodging shadows and staying close to Koromon. Things were not going well. With Kabuterimon preoccupied and Palmon's Poison Ivy useless against the black things, they were down to only seven effective fighters (counting Sarith and Tok), and Gomamon's fish weren't really doing anything but providing a distraction. That left seven defenseless Digi-Destined to protect, and Sarith and Tok were having enough problems looking out for each other. Fortunately Gabumon and Biyomon were watching out for Izzy and Mimi along with Matt and Sora, and Palmon helped where she could, yanking her friends away from the grasping claws of the shadows.
A quick count told him there were still six of the shadows to contend with, and that didn't count the two big ones—
"Tai look out!" Koromon cried.
—make that seven, the blue dragon corrected himself, as he ducked and a small shadow-being sailed over his head. Nope, six. The thing evaporated under a hail of pink bubbles.
"Izzy, look out!" the deep voice of Kabuterimon rang out in alarm. Digi-Destined heads turned to the sky. Digimon heads couldn't chance looking away from their opponents.
The good news was Brell and Kabuterimon appeared to have dispatched one of the giant shadows. The bad news was that the remaining one was speeding toward them with the obvious intent to take out the smaller and easier targets, Kabuterimon hot on its heels.
"Everyone get out of the way!" shouted Izzy unnecessarily. The long horn of the shadow creature was poised to skewer the hapless beings below. Tok and Sarith, the Digi-Destined, and the Digimon scattered in all directions. Just as the large black thing hit the ground an Electro Shocker blasted it into little shadowy bits. Without missing a beat Kabuterimon devolved into Tentomon and sent a Super Shocker surging through one of the remaining smaller shadows that was closing in on Izzy. Then the poor Digimon landed beside his partner, panting. It was a good thing they had eaten a decent meal before arriving!
The last five shadows were destroyed as the Digimon and the two dragon siblings worked together to get rid of them. Finally the noises of battle were gone. No one yelled their attack names, or called warnings to each other. Exhausted, battered, covered with dirt and scratches from the fights, the sixteen collapsed wherever they happened to be standing as the last black creature vanished in a burst of blue energy.
For several long moments the only sound was the group's heaving breathing. Finally Sarith pushed herself upright and looked around. She opened her mouth to speak, coughed, then tried again. "Brell? Where's Brell?" she croaked. "And the humans?"
The tired adventurers sat up, looked around. The courtyard showed signs of a battle. Small chucks were broken off the wall of the fortress and the wall separating it from the desert. Dark strips streaked the stone where attacks had missed. The flagstones of the courtyard were torn up in places. But the open space was empty. Zophia and Vladimir had vanished, along with their Drainage Orb.
"Jakamon's gone too," Joe commented, sounding relieved. "I sure hope he doesn't come back."
"I don't think so," Biyomon assured him. "Jakamon is a cowardly virus Digimon. He wouldn't hang around if things didn't look like they were going his way. He'd take the easy way out and run away."
"Sarith?" Tok watched as she started trotting toward the archway leading to the desert. "Where are you going?"
"I have to find Brell!" she called over her shoulder. Tok sighed and started after her, also walking. He was too tired to fly.
The Digi-Destined looked at one another. "Well," Tai finally said. "We can either go look for that big white guy with Tok and Sarith, or we could go and search that castle-thing over there. I'm starving. We haven't eaten since, when, yesterday? Evil magic-users have to eat too, right?"
"Or we could just sit here," Joe put in helpfully.
"I like that," sighed Mimi. "My feet hurt, and I have twice as many as usual this time."
Too late. Tai had already started for the doors, Koromon bouncing at his side and asking if splitting up was such a good idea.
Matt rolled his blue eyes. "He's going to go anyway, with someone or not, so he'd better have someone to watch his back. Come on, Gabumon."
"I'm coming too!" T.K. scrambled up and hurried after the yellow dragon and canine Digimon, Tokomon perched in his usual place on his hat. The little blond boy hugged the dragon as they walked, then giggled. "It's kinda weird having a big brother the same size as I am," he said.
Matt grinned. "You're too late, little bro. Tai already made the small dragon joke. But speaking of that, what happened to you?"
"It was Brell! He's Sarith's teacher, you know. She went to get him after we found the Digimon. After the big gray cloud took you guys away. . . ." The six of them disappeared inside the fortress and T.K.'s voice faded away.
"We should go help Sarith and Tok," Mimi's plant Digimon spoke up as the others left.
"Palmon's right. Come on, Biyo." Sora started for the arch, and the others followed. But as soon as they cleared the wall and saw what lay beyond, the group of eight broke into a run, despite how tired they were.
Two small figures were crouched to one side to Brell's head, the great white form stretched out motionless on the sand. Like the walls of the courtyard, ugly black streaks ran down his pale body. His eyes were closed.
"Brell!" Sarith shrieked, anguished. "Brell, wake up!" When she got no response she turned, sobbing, to her brother. Tok flapped a wing and sent a breeze blowing over her, which seemed to be the dragon equivalent of a hug.
"He was hit pretty bad during the fight," Tentomon spoke up, worry in his voice as he buzzed around the large dragon's head. "The shadow thing got a few good swipes at him before he was able to destroy it, then he started heading right for the ground. I was going to help, but mine went after you guys, so. . . ." The insect Digimon landed beside Izzy, orange antennae drooping, and the boy patted him reassuringly on the shell.
"Will he be all right?" Sora asked in concern.
"I'm sure he will," Tok declared firmly. "We'll just wait here until he wakes up, or until Tai and the others come back." So saying he yawned and stretched out next to Brell, snoring in moments. Whether it was a joke or he really fell asleep that fast was unknown.
Sarith smiled at him fondly. "Party pooper," she chuckled, curling up next to him. Izzy sat down and pulled out his laptop, soon tapping away. The others settled down as well. Sarith and the Digimon were the ones to quickly follow Tok into unconsciousness.
Joe's dark blue eyes were on the sky. It was the deep blue of late evening. The sun would be setting soon. "I think some of us should stay awake, just to be safe." The gray dragon spoke quietly so he wouldn't wake up Gomamon, sleeping beside him. The little seal Digimon was flopped over on his back with one flipper covering his face. Only his bright orange shock of hair and purple-tipped ears poked out.
"I agree," concurred Sora. "But let's let the Digimon sleep. They had a big battle."
"Oh yeah, and we just sat on the sidelines," grumbled Mimi. "I'm too hungry to be tired anyway. Do you think Matt and Tai found anything to eat?"
Sora sighed. "I'm sure when they do they'll come and get us, Mimi." Her bright yellow eyes rolled upward to look at the silent shape of Brell. "Who do you think this Brell guy is?"
Mimi yawned. "Didn't either Sarith or Tok mention him before?"
The boy typing at the laptop stilled his hands as he thought. "The name does sound familiar. . . ." In a moment he had it. "Sarith mentioned him last night. She said he was her teacher."
Joe sat up a little straighter. "Last night? Man, it feels like ages ago. Just think, two days ago we had no idea aliens from other planets visited Earth in disguise."
"And when summer started we had no idea we'd be pulled from camp to this world, to be the Digi-Destined," Izzy pointed out, before resuming typing.
Mimi was staring at Brell's closed eyelid. She blinked her own pale green eyes, then turned to her friends. "Do you think he gives homework?" Joe and Sora blinked at her.
"Anything is possible, young one," a deep, soft voice rumbled with amusement.
Mimi, Sora, Joe and Izzy started in surprise. Sarith and Tok were instantly awake and on their feet. The Digimon jumped up too. "Eek!" screeched Tentomon. "Don't let him step on me!" It was unclear whether he meant Brell or some phantom of his dreams.
One bright green eye with a large round pupil was half-open and gazing at them all.
"Brell! Oh, Brell!" Sarith gasped. "Are you all right? The humans, and then the shadows, and the fight, and you—"
"I will recover," he assured her, cutting off her babbling. His green eye rolled to the blue-purple dragon. "And you, Tok?"
The young dragon's own eyes were on the ground, and he shifted restlessly. "I'll be all right, Brell," he said softly.
The older dragon made a small noise in his throat, and then he was looking at the Digi-Destined. Joe swallowed. "You. You are human."
"How's he know?" Mimi whispered, none-too-softly, to Sora. The red dragon shushed her but Brell only smiled, the corner of his mouth pulling back and up.
"Can you fix us?" Joe wanted to know.
A quiet chuckle. The teacher's eyelid fell halfway. "You will indeed be human once again, young ones. But first, I must rest. My wounds are not life threatening, but deep. Sleep well, children. We will speak more in the morning." The green eye closed once again. His breath soon became deep and even.
A huge sigh of relief escaped from Sarith's lungs, and she turned to her brother with a bright grin. "Did you hear that, Tok? He said he's going to be all right! He's going to be all right!" Unable to control her elation, the mint dragon twirled in a circle, laughing.
Tok watched and gave a small, nonchalant smile. "I told you."
"You did!" she cheered, then immediately shrank back. "Oops. I shouldn't be so loud." She giggled. "Come on, let's go find T.K. and the others!" Still grinning wildly, she headed for the fortress at a dead run.
With a grin of his own, Tok commented, "Now there's the sister I knew before this whole mess started. Should we go rescue the guys, or should we just leave them to Sarith?"
Mimi was already leaving. "Are you crazy?" she called over her shoulder. "And leave all the food to them?"
Palmon ran after her, followed by the other Digimon, Digi-Destined-turned-dragons, and Izzy. Tok came last, casting one more glance at the silent Brell out of the corner of his eye. Was it his imagination, or did the old dragon chuckle softly as he walked away?
Inside the ten of them found Gabumon stationed at the end of the hall. As he led them to a stairway for the second floor the canine Digimon explained that Matt had been worried about another attack, either from Jakamon or the man and woman, and had asked Gabumon to stand guard just in case. Thankfully he hadn't seen or heard anything so far. "This place seems deserted," concluded the Rookie.
They found Tai, Koromon, Matt, T.K. and Tokomon in a room on the second floor, stone like everything else. There was a long table in the center of the room, draped with a white tablecloth, and the boys were busy covering it with dishes and food from the cabinets and fridge when they came in. Tai looked up. "We found the kitchen guys! And it's stocked!"
"I will say this for magic-users," Matt puffed, lifting a large platter of cooked turkey up to the tabletop with T.K.'s help, "they sure know how to live."
"This place was probably already here and they just found it," was Sora's opinion. She looked at Biyomon questionably, but the parrot Digimon only shrugged.
"I've never been to Server before," she reminded Sora as they all took their places around the table. A lot of the chairs were mismatched, and the red dragon figured they must have been taken from other rooms in the building so that there would be places for everyone to sit.
"That's right, I forgot," Mimi sighed, shaking her horned head. "I'd rather like to think we all knew where we were and what we were doing."
"What about Brell?" T.K. wanted to know as everyone grabbed plates and began to help themselves. The Digi-Destined, most a bit smaller than they usually were, stood in the seats of the chairs and braced their front feet on the table's edge and found they could manage all right. Tok and Sarith copied their example. "Won't he be hungry?" the little boy continued. "I don't think there's enough here in the whole castle to fill him up!"
Sarith grinned. "Brell will eat when we get home."
"Yeah, what do dragons eat?" Izzy wondered curiously, stuffing a roll into his mouth.
"Badles, mostly," Tok put in. At their blank looks he chuckled. "Uh, kind of like really big deer, but with three horns. We keep herds of them in valleys not far from the Clan Grounds."
"Eeewwww!" Mimi squealed. "Don't you cook them first?"
"But you don't always cook your fish," Sarith pointed out, gulping down one of the purple fruits that had been growing in the hidden forest in the desert. She was rather pleasantly surprised to find them in the fortress.
"There's a big difference between sushi and dead deer," grumbled the pink dragon, sniffing delicately.
"That's your opinion," Tok returned smugly. Mimi stuck her tongue out at him.
"We're omnivores. We eat fruits and vegetables too," added Sarith, chomping on another fruit and licking her lips. "Just like humans."
Tai snorted. "Yeah. Just like humans. Man, I don't even know why we're considered different people. I mean, I can barely tell us apart!" He grinned and ducked a flying grape. Well, it looked like a grape anyway. He hadn't actually tried the plate of them yet, and one could never be positive in Digiworld.
"Hey, let's not waste food here," the red dragon declared, eyeing Tok. He ducked his head sheepishly, but was so busy looking apologetic that he missed Tai's return volley and was beaned in the head with another grape. The real dragon's head snapped up with affront.
"Boys," Sarith sighed, rolling her blue-green eyes heavenward.
"Hey, don't pull me into this," Matt objected.
The mint dragon grinned cheekily. "You're right. It must be a blue thing."
Tok gave his characteristic snort and rolling of the eyes. Tai looked insulted. Then they both looked at each other and laughed.
"Speaking of the big white guy," Tai said after he composed himself, "who is he exactly? T.K. said he was your teacher."
Sarith nodded eagerly. "Yes, Brell teaches all the young dragons of the Clan."
"That's our word for city, by the way," Tok added. "Though I guess it's more like a town. Anyway, Brell is very wise. He teaches us about the universe, and about the people and the history of the planets that we visit."
Izzy wiped crumbs off his fingers with a napkin. "Is that how you knew about the Inhibitors and the Drainage Orb?" he wondered. Tok nodded.
"Brell teaches us about ourselves as well," put in Sarith. "And helps us with our strengths and weaknesses." Her brother's blue-green eyes looked down at the tablecloth.
Seeing him, she immediately felt bad and leaned over to nudge him. "Don't feel so bad, Tok. I'm sure nobody's gonna blame us. I mean, they'll probably be so worried about those humans that we won't even get in trouble!" She laughed lightly, and a little forcefully.
The Digi-Destined had been listening with mostly confusion. "Why would you get in trouble?" asked Joe.
Tok gave a sardonic grin. "Well, first for consorting with humans. We're not supposed to. Humans are dangerous, the adults say. You're only supposed to talk with them if you look like a human too, and you should have a grownup with you. That's why it was so hard to talk Mom and Dad into letting us come here for vacation, since it's so closely connected with Earth. But we didn't think there were any humans here." The Digi-Destined had various degrees of indignant and annoyed expressions on their faces as he spoke.
"And we're really not supposed to let other people know about our powers, or use them without permission," Sarith explained. "That's why Tok's so worried. He might get in big trouble for turning you all into dragons. It's never been done before, really." Some of them, most notably Joe, blanched at that. "But I don't see what the big deal is. I like humans, if they're like you guys, and we didn't have a choice about the changing thing. Well, I mean, we didn't think we did at the time." She smiled at them all.
"I like humans too," piped up Tokomon. "They're fun!"
"And they can be funny. Ha!" Gomamon put in, grinning.
"And kinda cute." That was Koromon.
"And they have beautiful hair." Palmon looked at Mimi. "Uh, most of the time. Hee hee."
Gabumon chuckled. "Or no hair at all," he finished, nudging Matt with an elbow.
By now, the Digimon and Digi-Destined were cracking up too much to speak, all sharing some private joke. It was Tok and Sarith's turn to look confused as they blinked at each other and shrugged.
The movement caused Sarith to wince. She peered over her shoulder at her yellow wings. "Hope Dad won't be too disappointed that I'm not going to be able to be in the spring races next week," she murmured. "Ah well. There's always next year, anyway."
Tok's eyes were immediately filled with worry. "What happened to you?" he demanded. The others quieted down quickly, hearing the seriousness in his voice.
But she waved a clawed hand, dismissive. "Just something that needed to be done."
T.K. leaned forward. "That's right! Sarith caught me when I fell!" he exclaimed, quite happy to tell the story a second time. The helmeted boy held up both hands so could demonstrate with them. "She dove right down and caught me, and then we landed in the forest, because the cloud thing was coming after us! And then we met a Pagumon!"
"Pagumon? One of those little gray heads?" Mimi asked.
"Yup." The little boy nodded enthusiastically. "He had this hiding tree, and Sarith made him take us inside."
Joe blinked. "Hiding tree?"
Izzy spoke up. "You hide in them," he explained.
"Uh huh. That would probably explain the name then, huh?"
T.K. grinned. "And the gray cloud couldn't find us, so it left. Then we climbed back up the cliff—Sarith flew us, I mean—"
"She what!?" Tok interrupted, his head jerking to the side so he could stare at her. "You what!?" he repeated, flabbergasted.
Sarith stretched her neck, slightly proud. "It was something that needed to be done," she said simply.
"You carried him?"
"Well we had to see what happened to you, didn't we?"
"And we found the Digimon!" T.K. said, hugging Tokomon so tightly he squeaked. "But we couldn't find anyone else! So Sarith said she'd go back home and get her mom and dad, only she got her teacher instead. And he was the one who turned me back into me again." The little boy smiled.
"I had been wondering," admitted Izzy.
"Then Brell said we had to rescue you guys, so he picked us up and off we went!" continued T.K. "It's lots of fun flying so fast. The wind blows back your hair and everything looks so tiny down below!" He giggled.
"While we were flying Sarith told me lotsa stuff, like why Brell looks different than she does. It's because he's from another continent. In the south, she says. And know what else she said?" T.K. leaned forward, like he had a secret. Sarith grinned. "She said she appeared right in Brell's home, and he was so surprised to see her because she had just left! Like no time had passed at all!" His blue eyes were wide. "Do you think that means no time's gone by at home? Will it be like we just left, and we can go home and our moms and dads won't even have missed us?"
Even Matt and Tai looked surprised at this, so the little boy must have not revealed this before. Izzy looked thoughtful. "I never considered, but I suppose it is possible that time travels at a different speed in Digiworld than it does on Earth," was his opinion. "However, I don't have any evidence to support this. It's just as possible that the Digiworld's time is synchronized with our own, and it's the dragons' homeworld that is different."
"Don't look at me," Tok shrugged, when the short boy did just that. "I have no idea. How time is affected by our form of travel isn't my forte."
"Mine either," admitted Sarith. "Brell can probably tell us in the morning though." She yawned. "Actually, everything's gonna look better in the morning. Anyone else ready for sleep?" She looked around and everyone's plates were empty. They had been so lost in conversation that no one had noticed dinner had ended a long time ago. Then again, this was the first time they were all together again. They still had some catching up to do. Like what had happened while she, T.K. and the Digimon were getting help?
The lemon-colored dragon cleared his throat. "Yeah, but is it safe to sleep?" he asked the group. Everyone turned to look at him. "Has anyone else noticed that those magic-users disappeared kind of coincidentally?"
Tai barked a short laugh. "They ran back home with their tails between their legs because they saw we were winning!"
Matt shot him a look. "How much sense does that make, Tai? They had the upper hand. We were all fighting those shadows; they could have picked us off one by one, but instead they just vanished. Jakamon too. Why did all our enemies disappear right when they could have struck and won?"
An uncomfortable silence fell. "Maybe someone's helping us?" Joe ventured weakly.
"Who, Gennai?" returned Matt, a bit sarcastically.
"He's never done anything like that before," Izzy reminded him seriously.
The golden dragon rolled his eyes. "No duh."
Suddenly Mimi brightened. "I have an idea!" The group turned to look at her expectantly. "Why can't Tok and Sarith tell us if they're here?"
The real dragons blinked, in unison no less. "Uh . . . how would we know?" Tok asked.
"Can't you, you know, sense their evil, or something like that?"
That elicited a not unkind laugh from Sarith. "We don't sense evil; we sense the intentions in others," she explained. "It's just like sight, or smell. Something has to be present to perceive it."
"What about back at the oasis?" the red dragon pointed out. "There wasn't anything to perceive there."
Tok shook his head. "There was, it was just very far away. And it was a very powerful evil, which was why I was able to. I think what happened was that I was sensing the intentions of the being who created the Spell Cloud magnified, and if Izzy says that human woman was behind it. . . ." The indigo-colored dragon had yet to refer to Zophia by name. Something about the fact that she wanted to kill him and extract his abilities for herself made him loath to consider her at the same level as he and his friends.
The redheaded boy was nodding. "If Zophia's harmful intent was feeding the Spell Cloud to maintain it, her evil would have been amplified at such a rate that you would be able to sense it at greater distances for as long as the Spell Cloud was maintained."
Matt grinned. "Leave it to Izzy to put magic in technical terms."
Tok shrugged. "It makes sense."
"Who was that woman, anyway?" Sarith wanted to know. "And the other human, and that Digimon everyone keeps talking about, Jakamon? What exactly happened to you guys?" The Digimon made similar comments. They were curious about what happened to their human partners too!
"Izzy knows the most about it," declared Tai, giving the boy a look. The blue dragon did believe that everyone was entitled to privacy. But he was the leader, and it was the leader's job to make sure his teammates were all right. He'd messed up once with Koromon, forcing him to digi-volve. He wasn't going to do it again. If he could help it, anyway. And Izzy definitely was not all right.
Suddenly the center of attention, the short boy coughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Zophia—the woman—wanted to know why we were here. That's why she brought me to her room to speak with her. She-she told me she was a user of magic, a sorceress apprenticed to a man named Vladimir, and that this was her initiation."
"Then I'd say she failed!" cracked Tai, grinning wickedly. Sarith, who was sitting between Tai and Tok, rapped him on the snout with the end of her tail and told him to be quiet.
"She told me she had a spell that would drain the energy from a dragon, and could be used to augment her own powers. That would be the Drainage Orb, I would surmise."
Tok shuddered. "Nasty thing, that. Made on Earth long, long ago, according to Brell. One of the reasons we stopped going there without disguises. I didn't know they still existed, though."
Izzy's black eyes widened a little. "Zophia had a book that she repeatedly looked in. I believe her . . . ah, spells were kept in there. Maybe if it's still in the room with the mirror—"
Matt looked up. "A room with a mirror? With a tall lamp, and a red chair?" When Izzy nodded the yellow dragon sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "That was one of the rooms we checked when we were looking for the kitchen. There was a wooden stand thing in front of the mirror, and it looked like it would hold a book or something, but there wasn't anything like that in the room."
The redhead's shoulders slumped. "She must have retrieved it sometime after they disappeared from the courtyard," he murmured.
"Was she the one that turned you back into a human?" Sarith asked, her blue-green eyes wide. He nodded wordlessly, and she turned to her brother. "How is that possible?"
His mouth set into a deep frown. "I . . . don't know. I mean, Brell knows how to undo the transformation, but he's the one who taught me how to do it in the first place. How a human learned how, I have no clue." He shuddered slightly. "But I don't like it."
"Me either," she agreed. "But Brell can take care of it. That's what teachers are for." She grinned. "So, how did you escape?"
Tai opened his mouth but Izzy spoke first, glad that Sarith had unknowingly allowed him to skip his interrogation. The short boy still didn't want to think about it; he certainly didn't want to talk about it. "It was simply a matter of using a series of symbols which have the ability to effect the physical qualities of the Digiworld. I discovered them on File Island."
"And when we managed to find our way outside," contributed Tok, "that sorcerer and sorceress attacked us. But I'd like to know how they knew where we were."
"Maybe it's the only exit," Biyomon suggested. "They found out you were gone and just waited for you."
"But then how did they get there first?" Sarith asked.
The gray dragon looked around the room. "Maybe there are secret passages, just like in real castles. Maybe they're hiding in one right now! Maybe they're just waiting—"
Tai rolled his eyes. "Chill, Joe. They're gone. If they were here they would have attacked us while we were fighting, like Matt said."
Matt frowned. "That's not what I meant."
The blue and orange dragon's tail twitched in annoyance. "Fine, fine. Whatever. If you're so totally sure they're going to come and get us in the night, you can stand guard. No skin, or scales or whatever, off my nose. But I tell ya, they're gone!" With a final look around the table Tai jumped down from his chair and headed out of the room.
That seemed to be the signal for the end of dinner. Without cleaning up (There wasn't really a need to, with the place deserted. They were all too tired to do much cleaning anyway.) the group left the kitchen and headed out into the hall. T.K. had fallen asleep at the table, his head pillowed in his arms, and Matt had to wake him before they fell too far behind the others. Sarith ran ahead and caught up with Tai, suggesting they spend the night out in the desert by Brell. She thought it would be safer for them and for the large white dragon as well. Besides, she was still a little bit worried about him. Koromon (who was riding on Ta back, between his wings) thought it was a good idea too, which was probably the factor that convinced the blue dragon.
So together they trooped out of the fortress, across the courtyard, and through the archway to the desert sands. The sun had long since set, and the swollen blue orb of the moon shone down amid a sprinkling of stars across the heavens. No one spoke, but it was more from exhaustion than being uncomfortable. The day of flight and capture and battle had taken its toll on them all.
Just like the previous night at the oasis, it was warm enough not to need a fire. Even if they wanted one, there was no wood, unless they wanted to go search the fortress again. Luckily the moon and stars were again bright enough to light the way. Matt sat down and watched as the others, already half asleep, curled up or stretched out on the warm sand. Gabumon plopped down beside him.
"Staying up?" the white and blue-furred Digimon asked casually.
"Yup."
There was no answer, but the Digimon made no move to prepare for sleep. The yellow dragon felt a rush of warmth in his chest. Gabumon was always watching out for him. Matt had never had anyone to watch out for him, not like his Digimon did. Usually it was himself doing the watching over T.K. It was a nice feeling.
As Joe and Gomamon passed the duo, the gray dragon blinked sleepily at them. "Better safe than sorry," he said. "Wake me in an hour." A few others spoke up with similar remarks.
Tai made a "humph" noise and rolled over.