"So, ready for unspeakable creatures of the night?"
"No."
"Great! Onward, ho!" Yolei whistled merrily for the first half hour or so of their trek until her lips were sore. Then she switched for humming, and Ken was amazingly patient through it all.
"Yolei, lower your voice," he said suddenly, after over an hour of her off-tune music-making.
"It's too quiet in here. It's creepy."
Ken rolled his eyes. "I don't think it is completely silent anymore. You were the one who heard the… woodland creatures a few days ago. What do you hear now?"
Yolei quieted for a minute. "Something that's not us. Somethings, I think. Seems like we've found our unspeakable creatures. And if they're not relying on sight, they've definitely heard us by now."
Silently, Ken drew the strange dagger and held it in front of him. Yolei blocked most of the lantern's light with her hand, hoping to confuse their position a little. They walked shoulder-to-shoulder without saying a word, waiting tensely for something to spring out at them.
Footsteps sounded in the distance and soon seemed to scurry all around them, but still they saw nothing in the lamp's faint glimmer. They walked slowly, desperate not to stumble at a bad moment. The suspense was growing so great that Yolei felt a terrible urge to break out running and had to fight to restrain her flight instincts. Fear would do no good here, in the heart of Infinity.
Yolei heard the creature approaching moments before Ken and pulled him close just as it came crashing through their wan light. The thing was unclear, but what Yolei saw reminded her of the starved dogs she saw occasionally on city streets at night, sullen and aggressive if she were alone, fearful and slinking if she were not. This had blind white eyes and massive ears, membranes stretched thin like a bat's wing. Its teeth reflected the lantern, and very un-canine hooves clattered on the rocks. It slid a little, then turned and growled low at the pair of humans.
It took every bit of Yolei's strength to inch herself along the tunnel wall toward their ultimate destination, her eyes locked on the dog-thing. It stayed within the weak glow around the two, disquieting eyes shining. Silence reigned for a few minutes, and then something screech and dove into Yolei's hair. She shrieked, and this seemed to be the signal for everything to rush at the teenagers.
Yolei tried to dodge what she could see, and she heard Ken grunting as he jabbed at the things with his blade. What he did hit fell back and stayed there, but always more came. The very worst were kept at bay, and for a while, it seemed that the clash would continue in an agonizing stalemate: the teenagers with their advantage of a deadly weapon and the creatures with their endless numbers.
Shallow bites and scratches, as well as the unreality of the whole situation, began to wear down our heroes. Ken's reactions slowed just a little, and Yolei's aching feet dragged a little more as she dodged right and left. It didn't help that she was clutching the lantern to her chest, so they were fighting in unaccustomed darkness.
"It's not fair," Yolei shouted in frustration. "They have an army here, and we're on their territory!" She bumped into a wall where the tunnel turned sharply and cursed. "And it doesn't help that we're inside a freakin' mountain!"
As she rubbed her temple with a free hand and leapt over a fallen… something, a solution hit her. A sadly obvious one, considering where they were. She wasn't worried about these creatures understanding her, so she called her idea to Ken over the unearthly cries that surrounded them. "Hey Ken! If these guys know the terrain, at least we can fight them in the light! Get ready to blink like crazy. I guarantee they'll need more than a few seconds to adjust to this," and with that, she thrust the silvery lantern into the air.
Light filled the cracks and crevasses in the bedrock of the tunnel and blinded their opponents. Some still charged the two, but Ken was able to dispatch them much more efficiently after his eyes became accustomed to the brilliance. Somehow, the light shed from the lamp was brighter than ever, rivaling the brightest noon Yolei had ever seen.
They were able to run across the tunnel ground now, as the rocks were a bit more solid from the passage of hundreds of creatures since the Digiworld had been created. The creatures attempted to follow—and those who succeeded were extremely fleet of foot, but the humans had the upper hand now. Yolei found she couldn't run for long, but it was enough to lose their pursuers.
They stumbled along, trying to catch their breath but afraid to stop completely. After several minutes, their breaths steadied. Ken tentatively wiped the blade on his cloak, loathe to stain the beautiful cloth but unwilling to look at that strange, dried blood on the dagger any longer. Yolei held the lantern aloft, hoping that anything following them would stay out of its silver circle.
After an interminable period of time, Yolei thought she caught another noise, this one very unexpected. "It sounds like… a waterfall." She looked at Ken with a puzzled expression on her face. "How would water get down here?"
Ken thought a moment. "The angel-spirit mentioned a black river we would come across after those." He gestured behind them. "After we cross it, we should see a light in the distance, emanating from our star."
"Oh yeah." Yolei thought about all the mentions of dark rivers she'd ever heard in literature and shivered. They never boded well for travelers.
The sound grew louder as they approached, and to Yolei's relief, it didn't sound particularly sinister. It even looked calm when they could see it, bubbling over little rocks like any stream sparkling in the sunshine. There was no bridge, though, and Yolei did not like that.
Ken knelt down besides it, apparently to wash his wounds or take a drink. Yolei's eyes widened when she noticed this and pulled him sharply away from the edge. "If fantasy and mythology have taught me anything, Ken, it's that you never drink from black, underground rivers. Never. No exceptions. The Lethe, the Styx, the Mirkwood River… I could go on. If they don't outright kill you, they always leave you mad or forgetting everything you know." At Ken's expression of skeptical disbelief, she threw up the hand not holding the lantern defensively. "Hey, this is a quest! I think many of the usual rules of quests apply. Except the ones about mortal, lifelong wounds I hope."
Ken rose, shaking his head. "If you insist… How do you plan on crossing this river of horror? I mean, if you don't want to drag back the corpses of those things back there and use them as a bridge."
Yolei rolled her eyes at his mockery. Well, he couldn't very well change from Emperor to Nice Guy in a week. "Well… I'm not sure. I just know that we definitely can't drink it, and we should touch it as little as possible. Maybe if we just run really fast."
"Is that what they do in your stories?"
The urge to hit him was rising. "Somehow," she tossed back, "Providence always finds them a way." She crept up to the shore and stretched the lantern across the water. "Maybe we can find some stepping stones." She studied the river in their area thoroughly, then sighed. There was a large rock in the wide river's center, but getting there and to the other side would be a challenge. They could possibly get a running start and leap across the inky water, but if they missed, they would fall headlong into the river. They also could just 'run really fast', as Yolei suggested uncertainly.
She explained the choices to Ken, who mulled it over for only a few seconds before coming to a decision. "I honestly care little for your fantasy stories, but we stand a much lower risk of injury… and potential 'evil river' damage… if we simply run across. That is, assuming that it's as deep as it looks."
Yolei winced. He had a point there. "Um, do you know how to swim, Ken?"
He grimaced and looked the tiniest bit scared. "Theoretically, yes. In practice… it's been a while."
"Me too."
"But it's much safer than risking concussive head injury."
Yolei nodded resolutely. "True. Let's go on the count of three. One… two… three!"
They took a deep breath at the same moment, and then dashed into the black water. They gasped almost simultaneously as the icy liquid hit them. They sloshed through the river, shivering and keeping their balance against a surprisingly strong current.
Instead of hurrying and probably losing her footing for good, Yolei forced herself to slow to a reasonable pace. It became increasingly difficult when she found that the water left a slightly oily feel on her skin. This was definitely an evil river, just as she had predicted.
At its highest point, the water rose to just above her waist, and by then she was shivering out of disgust as well as cold and fear. She splashed out the river gratefully minutes later, happy to be out of that horrible water. If possible, she thought she was even colder now.
When she glanced at Ken, she noticed that he was paler than usual. The light from her lantern was dimming, and neither could mean any good had come of that river. Then she realized that another light was shining weakly in the distance.
"No."
"Great! Onward, ho!" Yolei whistled merrily for the first half hour or so of their trek until her lips were sore. Then she switched for humming, and Ken was amazingly patient through it all.
"Yolei, lower your voice," he said suddenly, after over an hour of her off-tune music-making.
"It's too quiet in here. It's creepy."
Ken rolled his eyes. "I don't think it is completely silent anymore. You were the one who heard the… woodland creatures a few days ago. What do you hear now?"
Yolei quieted for a minute. "Something that's not us. Somethings, I think. Seems like we've found our unspeakable creatures. And if they're not relying on sight, they've definitely heard us by now."
Silently, Ken drew the strange dagger and held it in front of him. Yolei blocked most of the lantern's light with her hand, hoping to confuse their position a little. They walked shoulder-to-shoulder without saying a word, waiting tensely for something to spring out at them.
Footsteps sounded in the distance and soon seemed to scurry all around them, but still they saw nothing in the lamp's faint glimmer. They walked slowly, desperate not to stumble at a bad moment. The suspense was growing so great that Yolei felt a terrible urge to break out running and had to fight to restrain her flight instincts. Fear would do no good here, in the heart of Infinity.
Yolei heard the creature approaching moments before Ken and pulled him close just as it came crashing through their wan light. The thing was unclear, but what Yolei saw reminded her of the starved dogs she saw occasionally on city streets at night, sullen and aggressive if she were alone, fearful and slinking if she were not. This had blind white eyes and massive ears, membranes stretched thin like a bat's wing. Its teeth reflected the lantern, and very un-canine hooves clattered on the rocks. It slid a little, then turned and growled low at the pair of humans.
It took every bit of Yolei's strength to inch herself along the tunnel wall toward their ultimate destination, her eyes locked on the dog-thing. It stayed within the weak glow around the two, disquieting eyes shining. Silence reigned for a few minutes, and then something screech and dove into Yolei's hair. She shrieked, and this seemed to be the signal for everything to rush at the teenagers.
Yolei tried to dodge what she could see, and she heard Ken grunting as he jabbed at the things with his blade. What he did hit fell back and stayed there, but always more came. The very worst were kept at bay, and for a while, it seemed that the clash would continue in an agonizing stalemate: the teenagers with their advantage of a deadly weapon and the creatures with their endless numbers.
Shallow bites and scratches, as well as the unreality of the whole situation, began to wear down our heroes. Ken's reactions slowed just a little, and Yolei's aching feet dragged a little more as she dodged right and left. It didn't help that she was clutching the lantern to her chest, so they were fighting in unaccustomed darkness.
"It's not fair," Yolei shouted in frustration. "They have an army here, and we're on their territory!" She bumped into a wall where the tunnel turned sharply and cursed. "And it doesn't help that we're inside a freakin' mountain!"
As she rubbed her temple with a free hand and leapt over a fallen… something, a solution hit her. A sadly obvious one, considering where they were. She wasn't worried about these creatures understanding her, so she called her idea to Ken over the unearthly cries that surrounded them. "Hey Ken! If these guys know the terrain, at least we can fight them in the light! Get ready to blink like crazy. I guarantee they'll need more than a few seconds to adjust to this," and with that, she thrust the silvery lantern into the air.
Light filled the cracks and crevasses in the bedrock of the tunnel and blinded their opponents. Some still charged the two, but Ken was able to dispatch them much more efficiently after his eyes became accustomed to the brilliance. Somehow, the light shed from the lamp was brighter than ever, rivaling the brightest noon Yolei had ever seen.
They were able to run across the tunnel ground now, as the rocks were a bit more solid from the passage of hundreds of creatures since the Digiworld had been created. The creatures attempted to follow—and those who succeeded were extremely fleet of foot, but the humans had the upper hand now. Yolei found she couldn't run for long, but it was enough to lose their pursuers.
They stumbled along, trying to catch their breath but afraid to stop completely. After several minutes, their breaths steadied. Ken tentatively wiped the blade on his cloak, loathe to stain the beautiful cloth but unwilling to look at that strange, dried blood on the dagger any longer. Yolei held the lantern aloft, hoping that anything following them would stay out of its silver circle.
After an interminable period of time, Yolei thought she caught another noise, this one very unexpected. "It sounds like… a waterfall." She looked at Ken with a puzzled expression on her face. "How would water get down here?"
Ken thought a moment. "The angel-spirit mentioned a black river we would come across after those." He gestured behind them. "After we cross it, we should see a light in the distance, emanating from our star."
"Oh yeah." Yolei thought about all the mentions of dark rivers she'd ever heard in literature and shivered. They never boded well for travelers.
The sound grew louder as they approached, and to Yolei's relief, it didn't sound particularly sinister. It even looked calm when they could see it, bubbling over little rocks like any stream sparkling in the sunshine. There was no bridge, though, and Yolei did not like that.
Ken knelt down besides it, apparently to wash his wounds or take a drink. Yolei's eyes widened when she noticed this and pulled him sharply away from the edge. "If fantasy and mythology have taught me anything, Ken, it's that you never drink from black, underground rivers. Never. No exceptions. The Lethe, the Styx, the Mirkwood River… I could go on. If they don't outright kill you, they always leave you mad or forgetting everything you know." At Ken's expression of skeptical disbelief, she threw up the hand not holding the lantern defensively. "Hey, this is a quest! I think many of the usual rules of quests apply. Except the ones about mortal, lifelong wounds I hope."
Ken rose, shaking his head. "If you insist… How do you plan on crossing this river of horror? I mean, if you don't want to drag back the corpses of those things back there and use them as a bridge."
Yolei rolled her eyes at his mockery. Well, he couldn't very well change from Emperor to Nice Guy in a week. "Well… I'm not sure. I just know that we definitely can't drink it, and we should touch it as little as possible. Maybe if we just run really fast."
"Is that what they do in your stories?"
The urge to hit him was rising. "Somehow," she tossed back, "Providence always finds them a way." She crept up to the shore and stretched the lantern across the water. "Maybe we can find some stepping stones." She studied the river in their area thoroughly, then sighed. There was a large rock in the wide river's center, but getting there and to the other side would be a challenge. They could possibly get a running start and leap across the inky water, but if they missed, they would fall headlong into the river. They also could just 'run really fast', as Yolei suggested uncertainly.
She explained the choices to Ken, who mulled it over for only a few seconds before coming to a decision. "I honestly care little for your fantasy stories, but we stand a much lower risk of injury… and potential 'evil river' damage… if we simply run across. That is, assuming that it's as deep as it looks."
Yolei winced. He had a point there. "Um, do you know how to swim, Ken?"
He grimaced and looked the tiniest bit scared. "Theoretically, yes. In practice… it's been a while."
"Me too."
"But it's much safer than risking concussive head injury."
Yolei nodded resolutely. "True. Let's go on the count of three. One… two… three!"
They took a deep breath at the same moment, and then dashed into the black water. They gasped almost simultaneously as the icy liquid hit them. They sloshed through the river, shivering and keeping their balance against a surprisingly strong current.
Instead of hurrying and probably losing her footing for good, Yolei forced herself to slow to a reasonable pace. It became increasingly difficult when she found that the water left a slightly oily feel on her skin. This was definitely an evil river, just as she had predicted.
At its highest point, the water rose to just above her waist, and by then she was shivering out of disgust as well as cold and fear. She splashed out the river gratefully minutes later, happy to be out of that horrible water. If possible, she thought she was even colder now.
When she glanced at Ken, she noticed that he was paler than usual. The light from her lantern was dimming, and neither could mean any good had come of that river. Then she realized that another light was shining weakly in the distance.