Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Children Of Fate ❯ 2 ( Chapter 3 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: moose_of_doom 
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.01.2005 | Pages: 8 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 278 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.01.2005 | Pages: 8 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 278 | Status: Completed
Chapter 2:
********
Davis’s head felt like someone had performed surgery on him with a sledgehammer. His mouth was dry, grainy, like he had had sand poured down his throat. Kari sat down on the edge of his bed.
“Hey.”
“Hey, Babe.”
“Are you okay?”
“My head hurts, my chest hurts, and my throat hurts, but apart from that…”
“Okay, okay, calm down. Just asking!” she laughed. Her face stopped, and a worried look came into her eyes. “You gave me quite a scare.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. It wont happen again.”
“How do you know?”
“Just one of those feelings.”
She gave him a disparaging look.
“Great, because those feelings are SO reliable.”
“Hey! I resent that!”
She laughed again, and lay down, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Well, I suppose if you believe in them, I should too. We are married, after all.”
“You’d noticed?”
She kicked him gently, and closed her eyes, snuggling against him. Davis glanced at the clock. It was only nine at night.
“Do you think we should lock the door?” he asked slyly.
She lifted her head, a grin on her face and her eyes full of love.
“Well, obviously you’re already feeling better.” She said.
Standing shakily, Davis walked over to the door, closed it, and clicked the bolt home. He went back to the bed, and lay down next to his wife.
=============================================================
Veemon strolled into the house, and fell onto the beanbag he used as seat and napping spot in front of the TV.
“So, where are they?” he asked Gatomon, who was lying on the sofa, idly flicking through channels on the TV.
“Where do you think?” The Cat-Digimon asked, giving a slightly bored nod towards the bedroom door.
Veemon sighed.
“Where do they get the energy?”
“I think they’re making up for lost time.”
“A whole hour?”
“For those two, it’s a lot of time to make up.”
“No arguments here.” Veemon snorted.
“I didn’t expect any.”
The small blue Digimon settled back, his head against the base of the couch.
“Do you remember the last time we were in a battle, Gatomon?”
“No. Not really.” Gatomon’s voice was sharp, daring him to continue. Veemon took the hint.
“Just wondering.” He sighed. “I just… miss it sometimes. Wouldn’t it be cool to just go out on another adventure? Just for fun?”
“Veemon, I love you dearly, but I’ve had enough adventures for one life.”
He sighed again.
“I know.”
He stood, suddenly restless, and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Gatomon asked.
“Just out for a walk.”
“Be careful.”
“Me? Never.”
He strode out of the door, and down the path, onto the beach. Picking up a smooth stone, he tossed it into the ocean, watching as it skipped along the surface of the water.
“Not a bad throw.” Came the strange voice.
Veemon spun, and looked at the tall woman who stood not far away on the white sand. Her red hair, trailing down to the base of her spine, shone dully in the night air. Her pale green dress blended into the night like foliage.
“Who are you?” He demanded.
She walked over to him on silent feet, barely leaving an imprint in the ground behind her. She knelt in front of him, and gently pressed her hand against the top of his forehead.
“You know me, Veemon.” She said softly.
He felt a rush through his mind, like a steam train, making everything else fade into the background, drowned out by the clamouring noise. But amid it all there was a sense of… recognition.
“Who are you?” He whispered again.
The woman smiled down at him.
“It seems you must find the answer to that question yourself.” Standing, she turned to walk away.
“Tell me who you are!” Veemon called.
“I cannot. But know this – you and Daisuke are in great danger. This place is a haven for you, but it is not a haven that can last forever. Be at peace for a while, Veemon, for I shall return when the time is right.”
And with that, she walked up the narrow path that led away from the beach. As fast as he could on his small legs, Veemon ran after her. When he reached the road, however, the woman was gone. All that remained were the shadows, which suddenly seemed very real in the cold night air. The Digimon shivered, and turned to head back to the house, wondering whom the strange woman was.
=============================================================
Davis lay next to Kari, his eyes closed in a semblance of sleep.
“Are you still awake?” she whispered.
“No.”
“You can’t fool me that easily, Mr Motomiya!” she laughed.
“Damn, just when I thought I’d gotten away with it.” He replied.
She laughed again, and slipped the covers back. Standing she pulled on a robe, and headed for the door.
“I’m gonna make some coffee. You want some?”
“What, coffee, or…”
“Don’t push your luck, Mr. Yes, Coffee.”
“Sure. I’ll be up in a minute.”
She stepped outside, gently pulling the door shut behind her. Davis lay there on their shared bed, and frowned.
Something didn’t feel quite right. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was a definite feeling of… being in the wrong place. He focused, trying to figure out what was wrong, but the feeling vanished and dispersed as if it had never been, swiftly confining itself to the recesses of his memory.
He shrugged, and stood, pulling on his own robe, and heading for the door. Moving swiftly outside into the kitchen, he slid his hands around his wife’s waist, nestling his chin on her shoulder. The rich, aromatic scent of the coffee filled the room, as he kissed the side of her neck.
“Mmm. Better stop that, or we’ll never get this coffee done.”
“Oh. Wouldn’t that be a shame?”
She elbowed him lightly in the ribs. Wincing slightly, he backed off a couple of paces. Whatever he would have said next was interrupted by the chirp of their computer. He sighed.
“I knew it was a bad idea to bring that thing with us.”
“And I knew it was a good one. Are you going to argue?” Kari asked.
“I’m a wiser man than that.”
She snorted derisively. Sighing again, he sat down in the chair in front of the terminal. Moving the mouse, he swiftly opened the newly received Email. A camera window popped open, and a video of TK started to play.
“Hey guys. Hope you enjoyed your honeymoon! Just thought I’d drop you a message to say Hi, and to let you know that me and Tasha are thinking of you.” the image shrugged. “Well… sometimes anyway.” Davis laughed.
TK leaned forward towards the camera.
“Things are all quiet out here. The digital world has never been more peaceful. Tai and Matt are doing patrols, but there doesn’t seem to be much point. Your sister seems to have taken command in your absence, by the way, and to be quite frank, we’re all far too sensible to try and argue with her. Now, we all know that you aren’t going to be coming back except in a dire emergency, so I got nominated to send you a message telling you to keep your interfering nose out, asshole.” The image grinned. “We’ll be coming round to see you at some point. Keep the guest bedroom prepped up for us! Catch ya later, married-dudes!”
The image blinked out, only to blink back in again quickly.
“One last thing. STAY THE HELL OUT OF THE DIGITAL WORLD!!! JUST ENJOY YOURSELF!!! Ciao!”
The video ended properly this time, and Davis grinned. A steaming cup of coffee appeared over his shoulder, and he reached up to accept it gratefully.
“Do you think they’re trying to tell me something?”
“Could be. Maybe you should listen to them.”
He spun the chair around, and gripped her about the waist once more.
“Kari, this is possibly the first time ever when I have every intention of following TK’s advice.”
=============================================================
Nick’s head hurt. As he had stood up in the low doorway of a house, helping to push the beams back into place, a single rock had fallen from the top of the roof, slamming across the side of his head. It had only been a glancing blow, but it had re-opened an old wound. He was pressing a wadded bandage against the cut.
“Are you Kari’s friend?”
The soldier turned, and looked down at the small girl. A frown was across her earnest face, and Nick decided it would probably be better to be talk to her. He had seen that look on Kari’s face too.
“You could say that. Who’re you?”
“I’m Dayla.” The child said in a ‘How stupid are you?’ tone of voice.
Nick immediately felt a strain of annoyance creep into his mind.
“Dayla… Dayla… ah yes. Did the master ever get around to talking to you about that bracelet?”
It was a low blow, and he knew it. Seemingly, so did Dayla. If looks could have killed, Nick felt that he would have been smeared across the top of the cavern.
“That’s none of your business.” She replied Haughtily.
The soldier laughed.
“You’re probably right. Was there any reason you wanted to talk to me?”
The girl sat down on the rock next to him.
“What’s happened to Kari?” the girl asked.
He glanced down at her, and immediately realised that there was no point in trying to lie to this kid.
“She’s been captured.” He said simply.
“And you didn’t stop them?”
“I tried. God, I tried! But when Davis went down…” he sighed. “There were too many of them. I couldn’t hold them back.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Huh?”
“You weren’t meant to hold them. Everything that had happened so far has been destined to happen. Daisuke is now at a point where he can beat the darkened one.”
“The darkened one? You mean Taythe?”
“Who else would I mean?”
“So why can Davis beat her now when he couldn’t before?”
“Well he…” She cocked her head to the side suddenly. The small almond-shaped eyes narrowed. “Alright, Master. I’ll bring him. Yes I KNOW right away!”
She sighed, and stood.
“C’mon. The master wants to talk to us.”
Nick looked distinctly unenthusiastic.
“Oh. Great.”
Dayla laughed, and held out her hand for the soldier to hold. Nick got the impression that he should feel privileged. He gripped the small palm in his and they headed up to Dartha’s house.
=============================================================
Jun sat on the bench outside the front of the Master’s house. Her head was resting back against the wall, exhaustion finally taking over her system and forcing her to sleep. Tetsato Dartha stepped out of the door, looked down at her, and smiled. Leaning back, he looked up at the ceiling of the cave.
“Ah, Arra. If you could see me now…”
A tear crept its way from the corner of his eye.
“And you, Ichiro. You’d better be looking after her, you rogue.”
Unbidden, a memory leapt up in front of his eyes. A memory of a meeting, long ago, in his dragon-lord father’s tower.
=============================================================
“More wine, my lord?”
“Who… who are you?”
The servant-girl had self-consciously looked away. She wasn’t supposed to talk to someone as high on the ladder as Ichiro. Luckily, the man next to him had answered for her.
“Ah, so you like our little Arra, do you Ichiro?”
The voice was slurred, and Ichiro looked at Tetsato Dartha, the younger son of the host with distaste.
“You’re drunk.”
“Aye, that I am. But you didn’t answer my question, my friend.”
He looked up at the servant-girl.
“On your way, lass. I’m sure there are others you could be serving.”
“My lord.”
She turned and left, her red-tinted hair falling behind her. Tetsato nudged Ichiro in the ribs.
“You like her?”
“I don’t even know her.”
His friend laughed.
“And what does that have to do with anything? You want a bed-warmer, not a wife. You’ll get one of those soon enough anyways, if rumours are correct.”
Ichiro elbowed the other man, choking off the next laugh.
“They’re not correct. And you know me, I’m not the type to just have, as you so eloquently put it, a Bed-warmer.”
Tetsato shook his head, and shrugged.
“You wouldn’t want her anyway. She’s a cocky one, she is. That’s why she’s so liked around here, she’s a cheeky little lass, for all her fairness.”
“She’s a servant girl, Tetsato. You know they’re off limits. Especially our hosts servant girls.”
“Well, how about a present…”
“Give it a rest, and go back to getting drunk.”
“Too late. Are your family heading home tonight?”
Ichiro shook his head.
“Too late for that, my friend. Your father has arranged guest rooms for those of us from the farther towers.”
“In that case, you can get drunk with me, you miserable bastard.”
=============================================================
Dartha laughed to himself at the memory. That was the first time that Ichiro had met the woman with whom he was to fall in love, for whom he was to give up everything. Dartha had always prayed that he wouldn’t be tested in the same way absently, he reached up to the hanging basket by the door and picked one of it’s flowers. Breathing in the scent, he smiled as the memories came back more clearly. Arra’s rose, they were called. Ichiro had created them in such a way that they only bloomed in these caves, a haven of memories. He looked up as he heard Nick and Dayla came up the path to the house. Dropping the flower, he reached down to wake Jun up, and then decided against it. The doctor could wake in her own time – there was nothing he was about to say that couldn’t wait.
“Thankyou for coming so fast, Mr Pallet.”
The small girl coughed, indignantly.
“Yes, and you too, Dayla. Come inside.”
=============================================================
In the tunnels there were signs of a battle. The floor had fallen away, as the roof caved in. burn marks seared the wall. A discarded rifle was against the wall of the chamber, surrounded by shell casings. There were also several bodies – Shadowmon only. If we were to go down through the hole in the tunnel floor, we would come across a ice-cold river of fast flowing water. Following the water along, we come to the entrance of another tunnel, at the edge of a small beach. There is a man sprawled on the beach, exhausted, his hand grasping a sword that he has stubbornly refused to let go. He has been there for days now, hungry, drained by the cold. When he hears a footstep next to him, he barely has the strength to raise his head to look at the figure above him. He doesn’t need to speak to recognise the hooded man. The newcomer reaches a hand down, and the exhausted soldier reaches up and grasps it, allowing himself to be helped to his feet.
=============================================================
********
Davis’s head felt like someone had performed surgery on him with a sledgehammer. His mouth was dry, grainy, like he had had sand poured down his throat. Kari sat down on the edge of his bed.
“Hey.”
“Hey, Babe.”
“Are you okay?”
“My head hurts, my chest hurts, and my throat hurts, but apart from that…”
“Okay, okay, calm down. Just asking!” she laughed. Her face stopped, and a worried look came into her eyes. “You gave me quite a scare.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. It wont happen again.”
“How do you know?”
“Just one of those feelings.”
She gave him a disparaging look.
“Great, because those feelings are SO reliable.”
“Hey! I resent that!”
She laughed again, and lay down, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Well, I suppose if you believe in them, I should too. We are married, after all.”
“You’d noticed?”
She kicked him gently, and closed her eyes, snuggling against him. Davis glanced at the clock. It was only nine at night.
“Do you think we should lock the door?” he asked slyly.
She lifted her head, a grin on her face and her eyes full of love.
“Well, obviously you’re already feeling better.” She said.
Standing shakily, Davis walked over to the door, closed it, and clicked the bolt home. He went back to the bed, and lay down next to his wife.
=============================================================
Veemon strolled into the house, and fell onto the beanbag he used as seat and napping spot in front of the TV.
“So, where are they?” he asked Gatomon, who was lying on the sofa, idly flicking through channels on the TV.
“Where do you think?” The Cat-Digimon asked, giving a slightly bored nod towards the bedroom door.
Veemon sighed.
“Where do they get the energy?”
“I think they’re making up for lost time.”
“A whole hour?”
“For those two, it’s a lot of time to make up.”
“No arguments here.” Veemon snorted.
“I didn’t expect any.”
The small blue Digimon settled back, his head against the base of the couch.
“Do you remember the last time we were in a battle, Gatomon?”
“No. Not really.” Gatomon’s voice was sharp, daring him to continue. Veemon took the hint.
“Just wondering.” He sighed. “I just… miss it sometimes. Wouldn’t it be cool to just go out on another adventure? Just for fun?”
“Veemon, I love you dearly, but I’ve had enough adventures for one life.”
He sighed again.
“I know.”
He stood, suddenly restless, and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Gatomon asked.
“Just out for a walk.”
“Be careful.”
“Me? Never.”
He strode out of the door, and down the path, onto the beach. Picking up a smooth stone, he tossed it into the ocean, watching as it skipped along the surface of the water.
“Not a bad throw.” Came the strange voice.
Veemon spun, and looked at the tall woman who stood not far away on the white sand. Her red hair, trailing down to the base of her spine, shone dully in the night air. Her pale green dress blended into the night like foliage.
“Who are you?” He demanded.
She walked over to him on silent feet, barely leaving an imprint in the ground behind her. She knelt in front of him, and gently pressed her hand against the top of his forehead.
“You know me, Veemon.” She said softly.
He felt a rush through his mind, like a steam train, making everything else fade into the background, drowned out by the clamouring noise. But amid it all there was a sense of… recognition.
“Who are you?” He whispered again.
The woman smiled down at him.
“It seems you must find the answer to that question yourself.” Standing, she turned to walk away.
“Tell me who you are!” Veemon called.
“I cannot. But know this – you and Daisuke are in great danger. This place is a haven for you, but it is not a haven that can last forever. Be at peace for a while, Veemon, for I shall return when the time is right.”
And with that, she walked up the narrow path that led away from the beach. As fast as he could on his small legs, Veemon ran after her. When he reached the road, however, the woman was gone. All that remained were the shadows, which suddenly seemed very real in the cold night air. The Digimon shivered, and turned to head back to the house, wondering whom the strange woman was.
=============================================================
Davis lay next to Kari, his eyes closed in a semblance of sleep.
“Are you still awake?” she whispered.
“No.”
“You can’t fool me that easily, Mr Motomiya!” she laughed.
“Damn, just when I thought I’d gotten away with it.” He replied.
She laughed again, and slipped the covers back. Standing she pulled on a robe, and headed for the door.
“I’m gonna make some coffee. You want some?”
“What, coffee, or…”
“Don’t push your luck, Mr. Yes, Coffee.”
“Sure. I’ll be up in a minute.”
She stepped outside, gently pulling the door shut behind her. Davis lay there on their shared bed, and frowned.
Something didn’t feel quite right. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was a definite feeling of… being in the wrong place. He focused, trying to figure out what was wrong, but the feeling vanished and dispersed as if it had never been, swiftly confining itself to the recesses of his memory.
He shrugged, and stood, pulling on his own robe, and heading for the door. Moving swiftly outside into the kitchen, he slid his hands around his wife’s waist, nestling his chin on her shoulder. The rich, aromatic scent of the coffee filled the room, as he kissed the side of her neck.
“Mmm. Better stop that, or we’ll never get this coffee done.”
“Oh. Wouldn’t that be a shame?”
She elbowed him lightly in the ribs. Wincing slightly, he backed off a couple of paces. Whatever he would have said next was interrupted by the chirp of their computer. He sighed.
“I knew it was a bad idea to bring that thing with us.”
“And I knew it was a good one. Are you going to argue?” Kari asked.
“I’m a wiser man than that.”
She snorted derisively. Sighing again, he sat down in the chair in front of the terminal. Moving the mouse, he swiftly opened the newly received Email. A camera window popped open, and a video of TK started to play.
“Hey guys. Hope you enjoyed your honeymoon! Just thought I’d drop you a message to say Hi, and to let you know that me and Tasha are thinking of you.” the image shrugged. “Well… sometimes anyway.” Davis laughed.
TK leaned forward towards the camera.
“Things are all quiet out here. The digital world has never been more peaceful. Tai and Matt are doing patrols, but there doesn’t seem to be much point. Your sister seems to have taken command in your absence, by the way, and to be quite frank, we’re all far too sensible to try and argue with her. Now, we all know that you aren’t going to be coming back except in a dire emergency, so I got nominated to send you a message telling you to keep your interfering nose out, asshole.” The image grinned. “We’ll be coming round to see you at some point. Keep the guest bedroom prepped up for us! Catch ya later, married-dudes!”
The image blinked out, only to blink back in again quickly.
“One last thing. STAY THE HELL OUT OF THE DIGITAL WORLD!!! JUST ENJOY YOURSELF!!! Ciao!”
The video ended properly this time, and Davis grinned. A steaming cup of coffee appeared over his shoulder, and he reached up to accept it gratefully.
“Do you think they’re trying to tell me something?”
“Could be. Maybe you should listen to them.”
He spun the chair around, and gripped her about the waist once more.
“Kari, this is possibly the first time ever when I have every intention of following TK’s advice.”
=============================================================
Nick’s head hurt. As he had stood up in the low doorway of a house, helping to push the beams back into place, a single rock had fallen from the top of the roof, slamming across the side of his head. It had only been a glancing blow, but it had re-opened an old wound. He was pressing a wadded bandage against the cut.
“Are you Kari’s friend?”
The soldier turned, and looked down at the small girl. A frown was across her earnest face, and Nick decided it would probably be better to be talk to her. He had seen that look on Kari’s face too.
“You could say that. Who’re you?”
“I’m Dayla.” The child said in a ‘How stupid are you?’ tone of voice.
Nick immediately felt a strain of annoyance creep into his mind.
“Dayla… Dayla… ah yes. Did the master ever get around to talking to you about that bracelet?”
It was a low blow, and he knew it. Seemingly, so did Dayla. If looks could have killed, Nick felt that he would have been smeared across the top of the cavern.
“That’s none of your business.” She replied Haughtily.
The soldier laughed.
“You’re probably right. Was there any reason you wanted to talk to me?”
The girl sat down on the rock next to him.
“What’s happened to Kari?” the girl asked.
He glanced down at her, and immediately realised that there was no point in trying to lie to this kid.
“She’s been captured.” He said simply.
“And you didn’t stop them?”
“I tried. God, I tried! But when Davis went down…” he sighed. “There were too many of them. I couldn’t hold them back.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Huh?”
“You weren’t meant to hold them. Everything that had happened so far has been destined to happen. Daisuke is now at a point where he can beat the darkened one.”
“The darkened one? You mean Taythe?”
“Who else would I mean?”
“So why can Davis beat her now when he couldn’t before?”
“Well he…” She cocked her head to the side suddenly. The small almond-shaped eyes narrowed. “Alright, Master. I’ll bring him. Yes I KNOW right away!”
She sighed, and stood.
“C’mon. The master wants to talk to us.”
Nick looked distinctly unenthusiastic.
“Oh. Great.”
Dayla laughed, and held out her hand for the soldier to hold. Nick got the impression that he should feel privileged. He gripped the small palm in his and they headed up to Dartha’s house.
=============================================================
Jun sat on the bench outside the front of the Master’s house. Her head was resting back against the wall, exhaustion finally taking over her system and forcing her to sleep. Tetsato Dartha stepped out of the door, looked down at her, and smiled. Leaning back, he looked up at the ceiling of the cave.
“Ah, Arra. If you could see me now…”
A tear crept its way from the corner of his eye.
“And you, Ichiro. You’d better be looking after her, you rogue.”
Unbidden, a memory leapt up in front of his eyes. A memory of a meeting, long ago, in his dragon-lord father’s tower.
=============================================================
“More wine, my lord?”
“Who… who are you?”
The servant-girl had self-consciously looked away. She wasn’t supposed to talk to someone as high on the ladder as Ichiro. Luckily, the man next to him had answered for her.
“Ah, so you like our little Arra, do you Ichiro?”
The voice was slurred, and Ichiro looked at Tetsato Dartha, the younger son of the host with distaste.
“You’re drunk.”
“Aye, that I am. But you didn’t answer my question, my friend.”
He looked up at the servant-girl.
“On your way, lass. I’m sure there are others you could be serving.”
“My lord.”
She turned and left, her red-tinted hair falling behind her. Tetsato nudged Ichiro in the ribs.
“You like her?”
“I don’t even know her.”
His friend laughed.
“And what does that have to do with anything? You want a bed-warmer, not a wife. You’ll get one of those soon enough anyways, if rumours are correct.”
Ichiro elbowed the other man, choking off the next laugh.
“They’re not correct. And you know me, I’m not the type to just have, as you so eloquently put it, a Bed-warmer.”
Tetsato shook his head, and shrugged.
“You wouldn’t want her anyway. She’s a cocky one, she is. That’s why she’s so liked around here, she’s a cheeky little lass, for all her fairness.”
“She’s a servant girl, Tetsato. You know they’re off limits. Especially our hosts servant girls.”
“Well, how about a present…”
“Give it a rest, and go back to getting drunk.”
“Too late. Are your family heading home tonight?”
Ichiro shook his head.
“Too late for that, my friend. Your father has arranged guest rooms for those of us from the farther towers.”
“In that case, you can get drunk with me, you miserable bastard.”
=============================================================
Dartha laughed to himself at the memory. That was the first time that Ichiro had met the woman with whom he was to fall in love, for whom he was to give up everything. Dartha had always prayed that he wouldn’t be tested in the same way absently, he reached up to the hanging basket by the door and picked one of it’s flowers. Breathing in the scent, he smiled as the memories came back more clearly. Arra’s rose, they were called. Ichiro had created them in such a way that they only bloomed in these caves, a haven of memories. He looked up as he heard Nick and Dayla came up the path to the house. Dropping the flower, he reached down to wake Jun up, and then decided against it. The doctor could wake in her own time – there was nothing he was about to say that couldn’t wait.
“Thankyou for coming so fast, Mr Pallet.”
The small girl coughed, indignantly.
“Yes, and you too, Dayla. Come inside.”
=============================================================
In the tunnels there were signs of a battle. The floor had fallen away, as the roof caved in. burn marks seared the wall. A discarded rifle was against the wall of the chamber, surrounded by shell casings. There were also several bodies – Shadowmon only. If we were to go down through the hole in the tunnel floor, we would come across a ice-cold river of fast flowing water. Following the water along, we come to the entrance of another tunnel, at the edge of a small beach. There is a man sprawled on the beach, exhausted, his hand grasping a sword that he has stubbornly refused to let go. He has been there for days now, hungry, drained by the cold. When he hears a footstep next to him, he barely has the strength to raise his head to look at the figure above him. He doesn’t need to speak to recognise the hooded man. The newcomer reaches a hand down, and the exhausted soldier reaches up and grasps it, allowing himself to be helped to his feet.
=============================================================