Chapter 2
Valley of the Dead
The two friends left the small campsite and headed west towards the location of the ore. According to Arthur's map, the location of the material was in a small cave over three thousand miles away in what used to be known as the Demon World. The two were running, knowing that their feet would carry them quicker then any vehicle would, and were in high spirits. Each had a traveling cloak, as well as their usual garments. Corey had on a pack that was thrown over his shoulder, which carried the map they needed, some dried food and a canteen. Derek had his katana strapped to his belt, and a pack, which also had dried food and water and other various items.
They had been traveling for one week now, having only made about seven hundred miles of tracks behind them. So far, everything had been easy enough. They had encountered no threats, with the exception of a rouge demon or two, but nothing they couldn't handle.
It was getting dark now, and the two had set up camp in an open field with a river running nearby. Derek was setting up camp while Corey had rigged up a fishing pole with a long stick, some string and a hook from Derek's pack.
"Getting anything?" Derek asked as he made a campfire.
"No," Corey grumbled, getting frustrated. "Damn fish won't even go for the worm.
Derek laughed lightly. "Be patient, Corey. Jeez, you really haven't changed much, have you?"
"Shaddup. I'm stronger then before, and was forced into becoming a leader. I think that would be called 'change', don't you?" Corey asked with a sly grin.
"I suppose…but your patience is still just as bad as when I left."
There was silence for a few minutes, and then Corey turned to Derek. "Hey…what did you do after you beat Lee?"
Lee had been the elite that Derek massacred after learning he had been responsible for sending the assassin to kill Jade.
Derek sighed quietly and poked at his fire with a stick. "Nothing, really. Those days are basically a blur. I tried to cope with everything, but nothing worked. Not even meditation. Finally, I snapped…" Corey could tell that Derek was having a hard time talking about the past year, and as if on cue, a fish tugged at his line.
"Oh! Hey, got one!" He pulled up a nice looking trout-like fish that were common in the demonic world and brought it over to Derek.
"Gut this, would you?" Corey asked.
"Why me? Don't you know the saying of 'You gut what you catch'?" Derek replied.
Corey grinned. "Nope. I only know the phrase 'One catches and the other cooks'." He laughed, and after a few moments Derek did too. Corey went back to fishing as Derek began to fillet the fish.
As he fished, Corey couldn't help but smile. This trip might actually be good for Derek. He's been really distant since he came to his senses…maybe I can help him open up a bit.
Thinking about their battle, Corey began to remember when he took up Derek's katana and gained the power of the Sacred Energy, a fusion of both spiritual and demonic energy. He remembered how powerful he had become after that moment, and looked at his hand.
I was so strong…I was on par with Derek…maybe even stronger. If I could only get that power back… But then he remembered the rebound of the energy. After only five minutes, his body began to break. He remembered every pore in his body thriving with pain and blood gushing out of him. It made him shiver, but still…the power.
"Corey? What're you doing? You have another fish!" Derek called out, snapping Corey out of his train of thought.
"Oh! Shit!" He quickly brought it up and took it over to Derek to fillet, not sharing his thoughts about the Sacred Energy to him.
Maybe…if I fought Darkine like that…we could easily win.
After another hour Corey had caught five decent sized fish and the two were eating them, freshly cooked over the fire. The young man was silent as they had their meal, and Derek quickly caught on.
"Something on your mind?" He asked finally, taking a bite of his fish.
"Hmm? No, I'm fine." Corey said hastily, glancing away.
"Yea…I believe that. Something's bugging you. I can tell." Derek accused, giving his friend a small smirk.
"I guess…I'm worried, that's all." Corey admitted. "What if this ore doesn't work? That means that I'll only be as strong as I am now, and there is no way I can beat Darkine with my power level as it is now."
Derek looked at him. "But it's not just you. We'll all be fighting. Everything will work out okay."
"I guess…but still, if I was just a little stronger…"
Derek frowned. "Corey, you're plenty strong as you are now! And once we get the ore from that cave, you'll be even stronger! We can beat Darkine, okay? Trust me."
"Yea…you're right." But Corey hardly sounded convinced. "Anyways, I'm gonna turn in. Night."
"G'night, Corey." Derek said, watching the fire as Corey lay down to sleep.
******
The next morning the two packed up their small camp and left as the sun was rising. They picked up speed as the morning grew warmer, the sun feeling nice against their bodies. Derek noticed Corey still seemed troubled about their conversation they had had last night. He barely spoke as the two ran, and when confronted about it, all he said was that he was conserving energy by not talking.
After a few hours of running, the two stopped to rest on the top of a large hill, overlooking a desert valley.
"Some people in the Demon World called this place The Valley of the Dead. I never really understood why." Derek informed Corey as the two looked over it.
"How far is it? It doesn't look like there is any water for miles out there." Corey commented.
Derek shook his head. "There probably isn't. From what I heard, the valley stretches over two hundred miles. Without a vehicle, most would be dead in a matter of hours."
"What about us?"
Derek smirked at his friend. "We'll be fine. With our speed, we should managed to get through in under four hours, but we'll probably want to wait until night fall to go at it. I saw a stream a few miles back. We'll set up camp here, fill our canteens, and then head out."
Corey glanced over at him and smirked. "Well, aren't you the survivalist."
"I had to be…since I wasn't living in civilization."
Corey nodded and was about to turn back towards the way they came, when a small tremor of demonic energy filled his senses. Derek noticed it too, and the two looked to where it was coming: The Valley of the Dead.
"Demons?" Corey asked, but knew the answer.
"Yea…and a lot of them. Over two hundred." Derek replied, pulling out his katana.
"They don't feel very nice." Corey commented, making sure his gloves were on secularly.
Derek smirked. "I guess they're the welcoming committee. Come on! Let's go greet them."
The two ran down the hill and entered the Valley of the Dead. Instantly Corey and Derek felt the climate change. It became unbearably hot, well over 130 degrees. It always amazed Corey how easily the demonic plain could change.
The two ran about three miles when they caught view of their enemies, and the sight made Corey scream and point.
"Holy shit!!!" He exclaimed in fear.
"What!?" Derek asked sharply, worried.
"Dude! Zombies!!"
"Huh!?"
"Look!"
Derek turned and saw what Corey meant. Hundreds of green, slimy creatures moved towards them in a very slow and sluggish way. Their structure was that of a human, but it looked as though they had been bound by seaweed. Their arms were parallel with the ground as they moaned and moved closer to the two warriors.
"Oh. Damn it, Corey! Those aren't zombies!" Derek yelled, turning to his friend.
"Oh? Then what the hell are they?" Corey asked, still looking toward the demons.
"They're demons, obviously. I've heard about them before. They travel desert areas in large groups, attacking and feeding on whatever they can get their slimy hands on. They're not that fast, but extremely strong…to normal humans, that is."
"Hello?! That's what a fucking zombie is!!" Corey shouted, waving his arms in the air.
"They are not zombies!" Derek yelled, but then looked back at the coming demons, "Still…we're going to have to take them out."
Corey grinned at him. "Alright! We're zombie hunting!"
Derek grit his teeth. "How many times do I have to tell you they aren't---oh, forget it! Let's go!"
The two charged forward, ready to strike. When they were not thirty feet away from the first wave of the 'zombies', the two skidded to a stop. Corey cocked back his right arm and made a fist, blue spiritual energy flowing around it.
"Bring it on, zombie bitches! Shotgun!!" A barrage of spiritual bullets blasted out of his fist, taking down at least fifty of the creatures, blasting them in the head, chest and limbs. The ones that weren't hit in the head who fell slowly began to pick themselves back up. Derek reacted quickly, snapping his fingers and a wave of fire hit the recovering demons, burning them to ash.
"You need to make sure you destroy their skulls…or the entire body. That's the only way to make sure their…what?" Derek looked at Corey and saw him grinning wide.
"What did I tell you? Zombies. They only die from getting hit in the head, too."
"God…shut up."
The next wave came, and this time the two went into close range combat. Corey made easy work with his fists, destroying demon after demon by nailing them in the skull. Derek's katana was also plenty affective, splitting them in half or decapitating them as they came close.
"Bring it on!" Corey yelled, grinning widely. It was clear that he was having fun destroying these blood thirsting demons. "Spirit Gun!!" As he lifted up his right index finger, a large blast of spiritual energy burst out and destroyed a row of demons.
"Show off." Derek grumbled, but also smiled. It seemed like so long ago that this was all he and Corey did, fighting demons that happened to enter their town and doing their best to protect it. Then Cross Blade came, and Kurama had saved them from certain doom. Soon after that, he had met Jade and fallen in love with her during their battle on the roof of a hotel in Portland.
"Yo, Derek! Pay attention!" Corey yelled, slamming down a demon that was coming towards Derek.
"What? Oh, sorry, Corey." Derek said, hacking down another of the slimy creatures with his katana.
"Jeez, man. You gotta be careful when you're fighting zombies. I don't want to have to kill you if you get turned!" Corey told him with mock seriousness.
"Whatever. Like you could, anyway." Derek said, rolling his eyes.
"Could too!" And the two continued making mincemeat out of the demonic minions.
******
"Nothing like a bit of exercise, eh?" Derek asked, smiling lightly and wiping off his blade with a rag that he had in his pack.
"Yea…except I got zombies guts all over my gloves. Jeez…I'm gonna have to go to the stream and wash these. They stink." Corey said, taking off his gloves, tying them together and putting them on his belt.
"Corey, they weren't zombies." Derek said sounding slightly irritated. "How long are you going to keep doing this---what the hell are you doing?"
Corey had picked up one of the heads of the creatures that Derek had decapitated by it's short black hair, and it was still alive! It was biting at Corey, trying to get close to him, but Corey wasn't allowing it.
"Hehe. Zombie head." Corey laughed.
"Put that down." Derek ordered, turning around and walking away. Corey caught up with him, still holding the head.
"I know! I'll name him!"
Derek stopped and looked at him. "You have to be kidding…"
"Murray! He shall be named Murray!" Corey broke into a fit of laughter. Derek walked over and smacked him over the head
"Put that damned thing down and let's go set up camp! I'm burning up out here." Derek told him, walking off.
"Aw…but I wanted to bring him back to Cory as a souvenir!"
"You are not giving that to be son!"
"Poor sport." And Corey tossed the biting zombie head out into the desert, and the two walked back towards the hill to wait until the sun set.
******
"Ready to go?" Derek asked Corey, who was sloshing the cool water from the stream on his face and hair.
"Yup." He replied, flinging his head up and allowing the water to naturally spike his hair. He put his now clean and dried gloves on and smirked, "I'd say today was successful."
Derek rolled his eyes. "If you call fighting zombies a success, then yes."
"Aha!!" Corey exclaimed loudly, causing Derek to jump a little, "You called them zombies, too!"
"I—goddammit, just drop it." Derek grumbled, now pissed that he had fueled Corey's zombie fanatics.
"I totally win." Corey said proudly, putting his hands behind his head.
"Shut up. Let's get going. We have to cross this desert before the sun rises. I really don't feel like getting caught in a burning inferno."
"Okay." Corey walked back to their campsite and grabbed his bag and flung it over his shoulder. Derek was looking at the map, "Where to after this?"
Derek studied the map, then looked back at Corey, shrugging. "I'm not sure of the name. All Arthur's map shows is that it's a mountain region. Once we cross those, right at the bottom of that is a forest, then at the end of the woods is some plains, then a cave which apparently has the ore inside."
Corey nodded. "So we still got a long way. Great…"
Derek smirked. "Don't worry. We'll find the ore. Then, we can finally take Darkine down."
"Right! Let's get going, then! No point wasting time here!"
The two nodded to one another, and then broke into a sprint, sliding down the hill and began traveling through the Valley of the Dead, hoping that they'd encounter no problems along the way.
