Chapter 2 – A Coming of Darkness
Tusk
"Have you found it?"
One red, gleaming eye pierced the gloomy depths of the tunnel. A sliver of light from a dying torch illuminated a crimson, brooding mask, then the elaborate but damaged armor requisite of Jimoto's head generals.
The soldier swallowed nervously as the man approached. "We've reached the stone gates, sir, but they cannot be opened, despite our efforts."
"Oh?"
The blade of a sword flashed out and shoved itself into the soldier's throat. He gasped, and then choked as blood welled up into his prone mouth. "I do not accept failures, you ignorant cur."
Sheathing the sword, the masked man walked onward until he reached an enormous cavern, recently unearthed by the excavation team and mutedly lighted by smoldering lanterns. "Where is it?"
"J-Jimu! What a surprise, sir!" A figure, donning a gas mask and a beige jumpsuit caked with dirt, moved toward him.
Again the sword flashed, and its wicked tip was directed at the excavator's throat. "Where is it?" he asked again, each word harboring little patience.
"The…the gates, sir, are right in front of you," the excavator said anxiously, gesturing at the gargantuan stone doors that loomed before them, engraved with the swirling runes of ages past, and fastened stolidly against the ravages of time and earth.
Jimu nodded in the barest form of appreciation. "Ah, good. And what is the problem?"
"They simply can't be opened. We've tried bashing them, even small explosives—nothing seems to work, and anything larger might make the cavern cave in."
Beneath the mask, the Jimu's eyes narrowed. "So be it. Leave."
"But, sir—…"
The sword slashed down and the unfortunate speaker knew no more. Horrified at their companion's death, the other men in the cavern fled for their lives, howling as they rushed up the tunnel to the waning sunlight of Tusk. Smirking, Jimu once again turned to the sealed gates.
"Sachira!"
A dark circle unfurled itself above the man's head, revealing a lithe figure of solid black. "Destroy the gates."
Two yellow, glowing circles appeared at the spirit's shoulders and scythed down, slamming into the impervious doors, and deflected off. The man gritted his teeth. "Again!" he snarled, and the spirit heeded his command, arms hacking at the stone and bursts of energy incinerating the earth around them. At last, the gates yielded under Sachira's brutal assault, crashing open with a loud bang.
A spirit shard floated up to his face, its dark, eldritch glow casting deepening shadows over him. Deep black and streaked with the red of blood, it seethed with power; tantalizing power that he could not ever resist.
"Finally…finally…it is mine!"
He reached for it, and the shard came to him, strands of shadowy light dancing from it as it went. The man laughed with glee.
"At last, the power to destroy Amil Gaoul…the power of the seventh key spirit…"
He laughed again, and this time could not stop laughing.