In The Dark

Part Twenty-three: The End is Near

***

Standard Disclaimer Thingie: Author (moi)  is not the owner of characters within, only the pathetic attempt at plot. Even that is mostly borrowed. Digimon and all related components are property of someone else. Don't sue, don't steal. If you do, you shall face the wrath of Chimeramon.

Chimeramon: ::growls::

See?

***

Takeru shielded his eyes in the bright sunlight. He was warm, but he didn't remove his winter cloak. He wished for a hat. "I don't see anything!" he shouted. "Are you certain this is the place?"

"Positive," Miyako called in response.

"Perhaps we ought to land," Holsmon suggested.

A few moments later, they were on the ground. Takeru climbed down from Pegasmon and wiped his brow with the back of his right hand. "I don't see any sign of life, Miyako," he said. "Perhaps you should cast the spell again."

Miyako was hesitant. "I'm not sure a wind spell is the best thing to do in the desert," she said cautiously. "It will most certainly create another sandstorm."

"All the same, if it's the only thing to do, it's the only thing to do," Tailmon inserted from her perch atop Pegasmon. "We can take to the air and be safer there than on the ground."

V-mon, who'd traveled with Miyako aboard Holsmon, agreed: "At least in the air we won't get buried with the sand."

***

"Now what?" Hikari questioned. They had escaped the sandstorm and left the Veggiemon behind, but they were still exhausted, still without shelter, and still hungry and thirsty. Terribly thirsty. They also had little clue as to where they were.

Daisuke sank wearily into the sand. They'd run through the thick sand for some distance now, and the exhaustion was heavy on them both. "We need to find shelter," he answered, his throat dry. He cleared it, but it didn't relieve the pain. They needed water.

Hikari sighed, sitting beside him. She removed her boots and emptied the small pile of sand that was within each one. Her face and neck were red from the sun exposure, but there was no escape, nothing that could be done. "Do you think it was Miyako that caused the sandstorm?" she wondered.

He rested on his back in the sand, digging with both arms, hoping the deeper sand would be cooler. "I don't know," he answered. "I think it was too convenient for it to not be." He shut his eyes, exhaustion catching up with him.

"Don't sleep!" Hikari scolded, poking him. "You mustn't sleep. You'll be baked to death."

"Just a few minutes," he mumbled, half-pleading, but making an effort to sit up at the same time. Hikari grabbed his hand and pulled, jolting him upright. The dry sand fell in clumps from his covered arms but stuck in the sweat on the back of his neck. "Which way do we go?" he asked, rubbing his neck to remove the gritty granules.

The wind had done one unfortunate thing. It had erased whatever tracks the Veggiemon had made leading them across the desert.

"I'm not certain it matters," Hikari answered. "We just need to keep moving."

A light breeze, so light she barely noticed it, flew past her, sending a strand of her hair into the air. Daisuke caught sight of it as he pulled himself to his feet and waited, but there was no further wind.

"This way?" he suggested, facing the direction the wind had come from.

They'd not taken more than a few steps when they began to hear a screeching sound. At first, it was impossible to tell which direction it came from, but after a moment, the noise grew louder, and then it was followed by another call, also in anger.

A deeper, growl sounded, and then a high screech. After a moment of listening, Hikari recognized the noise.

"It's back!" she realized a moment before Daisuke did. Instinctively, both flattened themselves in the sand, hoping to avoid notice.

A shadow fell again over them and then zipped away. Heat built up, so that the very air seemed to be burning. Another shadow fell over them, but the heat didn't lessen, and then it, too, flew quickly away, a screeching call of anger echoing in its wake.

When Hikari regained her feet, she could see why the heat had intensified. Around them were high, leaping flames. The desert was on fire, although there was nothing but sand to burn. Nothing, that is, except two defenseless humans.

"Airdramon!" Daisuke realized, noticing the serpentine figure sailing away. The monster they'd seen in the woods had been first, but now the Airdramon was indeed on its tail, following at a short distance.

The breeze blew again, lightly, dancing on the tops of the flames, and then with intensity, extinguishing the inferno. The sand rose into the air, shifting with the wind.

"This must be Miyako's doing," Hikari stated with certainty, watching the flames die. "I don't believe our luck could be that good."

***

"That monster? Here? But why?" Takeru asked. "And what would the Airdramon want with it?"

Miyako shook her head, not fully understanding. "I don't know," she admitted. "All I know is what the wind told me. They can't be far from here, I'm certain of it."

Takeru wasn't in the least bit certain of how Miyako could tell where they were, but he didn't answer. Instead, he stared out at the endless expanse of sands, searching for some sign of life.

"Daisuke!" V-mon called loudly as he could.

"There!" Tailmon shouted, a triumphant tone to her voice. Far below, they could see two sunburned, tattered figures standing in the midst of the sea of sand, peering up at the sky.

They landed a moment later to a joyful reunion.

"We owe you our lives, Miyako," Daisuke told her after he'd drank half Takeru's canteen of water. "The sandstorms – we would not have been able to escape the Veggiemon without it."

"Veggiemon?" Takeru echoed.

"Escape?" V-mon asked, concerned. "You were captured by Veggiemon?"

"Why else would they trek through the desert all night?" Tailmon returned.

***

Some distance away– far, but not too far – there was an oasis in the midst of the arid wasteland. A few Veggiemon had called this place home, and a few other desert-dwelling digimon had used it as shelter, but since the Kaiser had claimed the desert as his own it had been home to nothing but plants.

The plants – lush, green grass and a few tall trees – made their home at the edge of a swift river that flowed defiantly through the area, heedless of the emptiness that surrounded it.

Submarimon had been pleased with the river and pleased even more with the opportunity to travel within it. Iori arrived at the oasis with a small amount of food, medicine, and other supplies tugged behind them on a makeshift raft constructed by him and Jyou. He'd tried to convince the doctor to come along, riding upon the raft, but Jyou had declined (much to Gomamon's dismay) and decided to wait at Primary Village instead should Koushiro return, seeking explanations.

The day had been a long one, and the night would be even longer. When Miyako and Takeru arrived at the oasis (Miyako's wind spell having located it in the first place) it was nearing sunset. The days were shorter even in the desert, for it was winter here as well. Miyako arrived first, carrying a mostly-asleep Hikari as a passenger, and then had to return for Daisuke, who was asleep by the time he arrived.

While the two desert-travelers slept, the others prepared a meal from the supplies Iori had brought. Every so often, they could hear the loud screech of Airdramon and the deeper, rumbling growl of the monster it fought.

***

During the night, the desert burned. The two monsters fought. Few slept.

A small green digimon with six tiny legs watched the fight, and watched his master watch the fight. From hours travel away they could see the fires and hear the screams and shouts of the battle. Wormmon did his best to stifle the shivers that continued to run through his body.

The Kaiser was furious. Wormmon knew that he was afraid as well, because the Chimera's battle could destroy him. Whatever control he had once had over the monster was gone, and there was only the Airdramon to defend him now.

***

Hikari awoke shortly after the sun had risen. The oasis was as cold as the desert during the night, but when the sun began to rise, the temperature did as well. She awoke to find that her skin felt painful after the exposure to the hot sun.

Miyako was awake already, but meditating, and if she noticed that Hikari was awake she made no indication of it. She sat, eyes shut, legs folded beneath her, a small fire burning a few feet away. No one else appeared to be awake.

Feeling stiff and hungry, Hikari crawled the few feet to the clean, clear river and drank her fill of the cool water. It felt soothing to her skin, so she splashed a bit on her face.

"Try some of this," Iori's said, startling her even with his quiet voice. He held a small box in front of him.

"What is it?" Hikari asked, reluctant to leave the coolness of the water.

"Some herbs," the boy replied. "Jyou says that the juice from these plants will help your skin feel better." He opened the box, removed a few green stalks, and snapped them cleanly in half. A small amount of juice trickled from the plant and pooled in a small puddle in his open palm.

***

"I haven't heard the noise of the battle for a while now," Takeru said during breakfast. "I wonder what that means."

"I'm not sure I should be saying this, but I hope it means that the Airdramon got rid of that monster," Miyako said.

"I'd say that," Hawkmon agreed. "We have a better chance at defeating an army of Airdramon than – whatever that monster is."

"It is evil, that's what it is," Hikari said, her voice almost a whisper. "The Veggiemon were afraid of it, and I'm afraid of what that means."

"It means that Ken's afraid of it," Daisuke said, not looking up from applying the soothing plants to his own, sunburned neck.

"Afraid of it?" V-mon echoed. "Why would Ken be afraid of it?"

Takeru agreed. "I thought for certain that Ken had – had created that monster. At the very least, he must control it, right? Otherwise, he would have destroyed it."

"If Ken controlled it, he would send it after us, right?" Patamon asked.

"He would," Daisuke agreed, still rubbing the salve into his skin, "and he did control it at one point."

"But now he doesn't," Iori noted. "Why?"

"Maybe the monster is too strong for him?" Armadimon suggested.

***

The first of many Airdramon had been defeated, deleted in a massive explosion above the desert floor not long after midnight.

Chimeramon had been only enraged. His victory did not please him, nor did it tire him. He was not capable of exhaustion.

The Kaiser had hundreds of Airdramon at his disposal. If each of them failed to bring down the monster, there were thousands of other controlled slaves that could be brought against it.

The monster had disappeared shortly before dawn, screeching, roaring with rage.

The Kaiser came to a conclusion. One Airdramon would not be sufficient to defeat the Chimera.

He had more than one Airdramon. He had an army.

Now, he would rouse that army.

***

Miyako shook her head. "I haven't been able to locate it recently, but the first time I cast the wind spell I saw it clearly."
"Then you could point us in the right direction, correct?" Takeru asked.

"I think I could."

"Wait," Iori interrupted. "Are we sure that now is a good time? What if we cannot find the base? What if it has been moved?"

There was a moment of hesitant silence.

"We'll never get another chance like this," Daisuke stated. "Any controlled digimon will be trying to stop the monster. The base may be unguarded, or, at the very least, guarded less than at other times. It could be our only opportunity. We ought to take advantage of it."

"And if the base is gone?" Iori challenged.

"Then the base is gone." Daisuke shrugged. "But we must try."

There was silence again, as every one present considered what had been said.

Hikari said, "Miyako, you cannot guarantee that the base is still there. Why can you no longer sense it?"

"I'm not sure," the young mage replied. "I think that it may be that Ken has increased whatever shields prevent it from being seen. It may be because I have not searched hard enough for it. It was only by luck that I saw it the first time."

"Yet you think you can find it again?"

"I think I can find the space where it was. I don't know if it will still be there."

***

next part will be the last in this story. Probably not the last in the series. ::sigh::

I'd like to predict that it will be out in the next two weeks, but no promises. I can assure you it will be out before June.

Summer arrives soon, and thus I shall escape school. Will this mean more time? Who knows.

Thanks for reading, reviewing, etc.