Chapter 29: A Trip Through The Dark

An abyss.

That’s all that awaited the children, an endless nothingness.

The bottom was nowhere to be found from the rim of the pit. Swarmthed within a distant darkness, the children aimlessly stared over the edge into the ocean of shadows of the underworld. Around the width of 20 football fields, the other side was a week's journey away. Stretching down into the grand tunneling system that had expanded with time, creatures beneath the surface funneled through all the rubble from a different time. This desolate landscape was now a home for the lost.

Cursed revolting monsters that feared the light.

Daisuke’s usual wonder for the unknown was sequestered by the reality of what was skulking around at the bottom of the crater. An anxious smile braced his face that gradually shrunk into a skittish glare. Kiyo stood beside him on the edge, his breath hesitant, struggling mentally to prepare for what awaited them.

Now strapped with the weight of more lives on the line, friends he didn’t wish to lose.

“You guys ready?” Kono commented from behind, body tense from anticipation.

Daisuke and Kiyo turned around to be met with three earnest faces, friends marked with bittersweet confidence. Fearful of the confrontation that awaited them, but upheld by what they knew. A step up from the rest of the groups. But was it enough?

“Yeah,” Daisuke said lightly with a nod.

“Not like there’s a choice,” Eiko responded with a forced smirk as he attempted to hide his shaky nerves.

“Good,” Kiyo piped in.

Shoma nodded solemnly, attention locked onto Takeo, waiting for him to say the word, for the trial to begin. Whispers and stuffy grunts filled the air as people brushed past one another, anxious to get a look at a pit. To find out what was next.

Without warning, the two guardians closed the crates and stepped aside from Takeo. Ample space between them, arms pinned to their sides. Just watching over the children as if preparing for what came next. A point of no return.

Takeo cleared his throat, words gargled right in the back of his mouth. The noise one that sucked in every child's focus, not wanting to miss a word.

“Listen. For this one time, I’ll let you choose.” Takeo said, passing a glance around the group.

Stuck in consideration, Takeo waved it off and gazed at the children with sincerity in his eyes.

“You have a quarter turn. Choose amongst yourselves.” He added on.

Takeo’s words blared into everyone’s ears loud and clear as the children broke off instantaneously from their idle boxed positions. One after another asked around to join, mouths clammy from desperation. Weaker children hoped to squeeze in with the five who had gone to the temple, those exalted seen as nothing more than a surefire way of survival in the eyes of the cowardly and frail.

Thirty children searched for people they could trust with their lives, their futures. Some were looking for angels to knock off those on top and make their names known, others just wished to get by enough to be recognized for their strengths. To not fall behind.

Huddled in the middle of the horde, Daisuke, Kiyo, Eiko, Kono, and Shoma stood their ground against the weary faces that tried to fiddle in. Passing regretful glances, and simplistic rejections of any attempt before they could even get the words out of their mouth. Hoping to join Kiyo.

One more adamant than the others. Torio.

“Hey, wait a sec—” His grainy voice called out, muffled from behind Shoma’s broad shoulders.

Pushing past the feeble and baleful faces, Torio made himself known to them as he popped his head into the huddle. Brimmed with a greedy smile, Torio tried to present himself the best way he knew how, through lies. The boy was a bland banana yellow-eyed short-haired kid that acted above his true worth in the house. Cocky and scrawny, he had the mouth to back his lackluster efforts presented in training.

“Looks like you need a fifth?” Torio spat out.

They did not.

Kono and Daisuke looked at him with awkward warmth warping their faces, unable how to turn someone this bullheaded away. Kiyo and Shoma only passed sighs that carried their annoyance with the situation, refusing to speak to someone of such small mental capacity. Too thick-skulled to realize he was unwanted.

“Alright, great. So, what’s the plan? Anyone got any ideas?”

No one felt the urge to respond. Amidst their silence, all eyes fell on the one person entrusted to flick away this nuisance: Eiko. Dropping his head forward with a heavy sigh, Eiko walked over to Torio with firm and purposeful strides.

“Well, I guess I’ll start, heh. I was thinking we find a solid camping ground and—”

Torio’s words came to a sudden close, silenced by Eiko’s grasp upon his shoulder. Eiko made a sarcastic mocking grin at the dull boy, eyes already working around how to get into his head, to repel him. The boy nothing more than a pesky fly.

“Toyo, right?”

“It’s To—” Torio started as he batted Eiko's hand off of him.

“Okay, whatever. Thing is. . .” Eiko shrugged with a moppy smile and glanced around. “I’m petty sure we’re full.”

“But there’s only four of you. . .” Torio said skittishly with a limp point around the group.

One by one, he counted, confidence dwindling as all his fingers extended on his right hand.

The two marbles rolling around in his brain finally began to stir up reason as he looked around and noticed all the chilled stares passed his way. The odd one out.

“You see it now?”

“Uhmm, but I thought that. . .”

“The problem is you thought. Just don’t.” Eiko said forcefully as he shoved Torio out of the group. Kono sighed at the aggressive gesture used, yet relief spread throughout the group’s minds all the same as Torio gave in to the obvious. Wandering off to find his place elsewhere, now someone else’s unfortunate problem to deal with.

As the end of the time rolled around, six groups had been formed. Each consisted of five members, a standard squad for the Sunretsu clan. In this case, just a way to make sure every child stayed alive for longer than one rotation in the Night’s Sea, the Sun’s hell.

Of the six excluding Daisuke’s group, there was Monterio’s, Shin’s, Miki’s, Shizu’s, and Torio’s. Takeo raised his left fist into the air and drew it back down to his chest, everyone falling in line from the signal within seconds. Their full attention was absorbed in what would come next, their evaluation and eventual departure.

“Good, you’re all ready. . .now we descend,” Takeo stated as he stepped aside to allow space between the children and the only entrance to the caves.

A moment of sheer anxiety left everyone stalled. No one dared to volunteer, to plunge themselves into the darkness, but someone had to. Someone had to take the first step.

“We don’t have all day. . .make a decision.” Takeo muttered.

“We’ll go.” Shin let out with confidence coiled in his raised fist.

Behind his words, Shin’s group stepped forward, volunteering to be the first to make the bleak descent. Wasting no time, they each grasped onto one of the five ropes dangling off the cliffside and mustered what courage they had. The ropes themselves were five inches thick, made of coar hair fastened by sun-dried tar, anchored on the ragged rim by hooked weights buried into the ground. Boulders that were bulky enough nested over them to support more than thirty children on a single rope. Shin’s group was the first to grab ahold of the length strings, breaths held, and nerves heightened.

But the descent was the least of their problems.

When they reached the bottom the true danger would commence.

Hell itself would greet them face to face. Turning back was no longer an option. It was time.

The other twenty-five nerve-wrecked children watched from above as Shin and the other four within his group dropped off below the outer layer of shadows. Their pristine angel-blessed white hair was engulfed in a thick inky fog, seconds spent in the transition through the dividing layer, and then they were just gone. Hidden from the eyes of the Sun, left to fend for themselves. Wade through whatever terrors lurked down there on their own will.

One by one, the groups slid down each of the ropes to the bottom of the pit, disappearing in front of the other children's eyes as the void swallowed them whole. Bodies consumed by the darkness.

Daisuke’s the last to join the others, their plan already in motion. One dependent on the other’s lack of awareness, using them as bait to draw out the cave stalkers. A risky tactic at best, the unknown terrain a factor they set aside, hopeful of most of the other children’s ignorance.

“You five, it’s time,” Takeo called out.

Their turn to take the trip had arrived. All five of them glanced up from the pit over to the ropes, their chariot into hell. The second they grasped them they could only descend, submerge themselves into unknown terrain. Armed with only the skills they’ve gained and the radiance within them coursing through their veins.

Kiyo stepped up to the first rope and kicked off a small cluster of pebbles that dived down into the abyss. Invisible to the eye as they dipped out of sight beneath the thick clump of murkiness. Nothing more than dust in the wind.

Daisuke and the others remained close behind, each taking their turn to swallow their pride and grapple with the bottomless fear laid in front of them. Kiyo clutched onto the coarse rope and squeezed it in his worn palms. Feet twisting into the earth, the next step was a drastic one, right off the edge inches in front of them. A straight downward spiral into the unknown.

“Remember,” Takeo uttered from behind.

Turning back with anxious haste, the five boys gave their full attention to the last bit of knowledge Takeo had to offer. Advice welcomed in their worrisome hearts.

“You only need one. Don’t overdo it.”

His words rippled through them, each grasping it on their own as they nodded in understanding. A few shivers settled in their bodies as they let out a final exhale. Release of the world above the hell they were about to enter and become entrenched in its life.

The very place they would learn to survive.

Bending down, they wound their fingers around the grainy rope and propelled themselves into the crater. Each step down was calculated and precise as they pushed off and dug their feet back into the rock wall. Small pockets allowed them to easily support their bodies as they climbed down step by step. Their guide a beaten footpath left behind by trainers of earlier generations into the cliffside from previous Paladinian generations. Their ancestors.

While scaling down into the pit, o creatures dared to fly out, bodies too weak to outlast the sheer gleam of the open Sunlight. Such a vile sensation sent their skin up in flames, torched by the Sun herself for their lack of faith. Followers of the night, dwelling within it eternally.

The farther down they plunged the more strained their motions became as an updraft fought against them. Not enough to sway their bodies but it offset their balance. Concentration skewed by the intensity of the situation someone was bound to mess up, to slip.

Whirrshsh! Bam!

Eiko lost his footing, distracted by the ever-changing bleak scenery that encompassed them. Hands gliding down the rope, he jammed his feet against the rock wall and grappled for dear life. It took place in a matter of seconds but the repercussions echoed throughout the cavern.

Everyone fell still, attention drawn over to Eiko as he clung to the rope below them. One look was all it took to see the bloody pain that had fallen upon him. His hands were left singed, flesh torn open and dyed scarlet as he grasped onto the rope.

Yet he remained silent. Biting into his lower lip to quench the urge till a copper taste sloshed against the roof of his mouth. Glancing up at them, he bobbed his head with a tepid smile. He tried to play off the irritating shocks that rippled through his palms, to appear strong, to be a warrior. No one said a word, only able to sympathize with his agony for a moment before they continued. Respect given and attention reset on the larger task at hand.

Everything had to go as they planned, the only way to go in and out smoothly without any losses. To come out the other end whole.

Forced to take the rest of the journey at a slower pace to accommodate Eiko, they made do with what daytime they had left. The last few layers were high enough to catch a glimpse of the Sun, a luscious beam that warmed the frigid gritty stone, the last bits of light they would see till the end of the trial. Continuing onward, their gradual propulsion down to the very edge of fluffy wisps of light that swirled with the low-hanging clouds came to an end.

Daisuke dropped down to the final layer first. Feet posted above the dense clustered fog, he reached down and skimmed it with his bare fingers. Little puffs drifted into the air and simmered back down toward the pit. It was soft, delicate, and precious as were all things Amaterasu’s light touched. This divider was a blessed illusion for what lay on the other side. A separator of worlds.

Soon enough, they all arrived at the breakaway point above the thin filament of light-brushed smoke. Gazes passed from each other, waiting for the signal. Their hands trembled, tightening their grip on the rope as stress drove tension across their backs. Beads of sweat trickled off of their bodies, a salty release of their anxious nerves. Minds cycling through all they discussed, planned and prepped for this moment.

A single nod passed down the row from Shoma to Kiyo, understanding taken in full swing.

They descended.

…

Pitch-black darkness.

Even with the sheer gleam of their eyes, there was nothing to see within the expanse of the pit. Their bodies were consumed in the abyss as they inched further down, shrouded in silence, cautious of every final step till they reached the bottom.

Thump-thump.

Kono landed first, feet planted on the strange glittery ground beneath his feet. All the debris and rubble were coated in a thin layer of transparent mass. An infinite pile of what was textured like shattered glass, ground down to the size and consistency of sand.

One by one, the rest of the group joined him on the ground, cautious to not let a single peep escape their lips. Taking a quick breather, they allowed their sight to adjust to the environment before making any rash movements.

Eiko found himself distracted, mind swarmed by the pain emanating from the scabbed wounds on his hands as he grabbed his water pouch from within the sling. Only letting out a few drops to dry the crusted sores he searched the leather-skin sack for anything else of use. Wrapping the wound in shreds of cloth he nulled the pain for the time being, he dug deeper into the bag.

A quaint shimmer gleamed out from the contents of the sack onto his face. A blue glow sequestered deep within the contents of the sling, a glowstone. Dimmer than on the surface, it still offered an extension of sight for the group as they waded through the open caves.

Spires of limestone and gypsum were embedded within the walls. Discolored by a cloud of stagnant red dust and sparkles of glass that were embedded in the rock. Water dripped from the ceiling around the grand entrance that was the mouth of the cave. Its teeth cut through the air across the landscape, stalagmites and stalactites scattered throughout the cave system, some skewered with metal rods that had warped over the ages. This realm was not like the narrow cave passageways Kiyo and Daisuke had experienced. It wasn’t born of the earth but instead crafted by man, a rubbled civilization from the past that had collapsed upon the caves below. A beacon of the life lived before their time was ever considered a possibility.

A cave jungle.

The space was broken up by towering and slanted pillars of rock that stretched on for miles. A bubble beneath the surface sat atop a nearly countless amount of tunnels diving further into the earth’s upper mantle. Its atmosphere was cold, constantly faced with a light rush of wind that vented out through the entrance. Water only rained down from the crust above, a scarce source in the pit.

Sticking to the walls of the rocks, they moved in sync with the person ahead finding solace in a nested high den. With no presence of unknown life within it, they made themselves at home. Getting a better look through the shadows, they were able to take in the full layout of the once homestead to beings of the past. It was a spherical room nested above the ground in a collection of pillars of rock that had been sculpted together. Some crimson rock and metal beams had broken down and dulled over the years. Now a nice little niche hiding spot. A place to live out until they would enact their plan.

Taking a break for nourishment, all the boys laid against the wall beneath the mouth of the small den. Backs against the grimy and chiseled limestone surface, the slick rock cooled their heated vessels. Damp from the trickle of water from above.

All that was left to do then was wait, wait for the first recognizable noise. Some voices or sounds trail to go after their prey or save the bait of the other students. While harsh to some, it was the only thing they could foresee working.

…

“You want us to just—sit there? Wait for someone else to find one of those weird things??” Kono let out amidst the onslaught of perplexed confusion that whirled within his mind.

The crackle of the fire of days past glistened upon the boys' faces. They had only three days until the descent and this was the best Daisuke could contrive. With a slight shrug, he tried to show convection in the dimples of his earnest smile. But they couldn’t buy it. How could such a passive means of attack ever work?

“That’s the best thing to do. Go in quiet, find a place to hide, then wait until they bait one out. I promise you, that’s—”

“I don’t like it,” Shoma muttered with a slow headshake.

Eiko laughed aloud and clapped his hands together as he gestured toward Daisuke.

“I mean, what if we just never hear anything? What if everyone gets one first? What are we supposed to do then just keep waiting?” Eiko scoffed and propelled himself off his knees up onto his feet. “I’m not gonna sit there like a brain-rotting child while everyone else hunts. Why don’t we just hunt? Isn’t that—”

“It’ll work.” Kiyo shot upright and beamed toward Eiko with a narrow sense of authority. “Trust us, we’ve seen them. This is w-what’s best.” Kiyo spat out, a little sputter of nerves creaking out as the limelight drifted over him, the center of the group's beady attention.

Shocked by the sudden intrusion, Eiko sniffled up his opinion and fell back onto the gravel. Wheezing in a hearty breath laced with dark humor, he glanced from the fire back up to Kiyo and smiled.

“I—well, we all believe you. Both of you” Kono picked up a couple of pebbles and cast them into the fire. “Just show us the way.”

“Wait are you serious??” Eiko huffed out as he descend from his delusional laughter.

“Yeah, we’re a group. We have to trust each other, right?” Kono’s words pierced everyone’s focus, a sense of heartfelt truth emanating from them that they couldn’t ignore. This trial and their future were in each other’s hands. Reliance was just as important as strength. Beneath the dying night sky, it was clear what was to come in the pit: maturation.

“Look. . .I know it’s crazy but—I just want to make it out alive. For all of us to.” Daisuke shifted closer to the flames and pulled back his right sleeve. “If this is what it takes, I swear on the Sun it’ll work. So. . .trust us.” Daisuke extended his fist into the flames of the fire and passed a smirk of consideration toward his allies, his friends.

With looks of approval and fists raised toward the fire, they all joined in the initiation into something bigger than a short-term agreement. This was a bond, a brotherhood.

“Come on, Eiko put your thin little fist in the fire,” Kono commented as Eiko shrunk back away from the flames, arms crossed over his chest from bitter confusion. Seconds of silence and pensive stares ate away at his resentment toward the plan. Heaving out an egregious sigh, he slumped forward and joined in with the rest of the group.

“Fiiiine. Don’t blame me when we all die down there.” Eiko murmured as he stuck his fist into the flames.

The pain embraced a means of respect, a sign of trust, and the creation of a bond that tethered their souls. All lies and secrets held detrimental to its foundations. Shoma left to linger in the shadows of his friends' companionship, his truth withheld.

Kono and Eiko were the only two he considered friends, those he would do anything to see succeed. To live.

…

Plan enacted, it was just a matter of time. Their purpose was nothing more than pursuers who remained out of the way, moving about the system to gain a lead, scent, and idea of where to look first. Too many tunnels beneath them to check every single one. So they waited.

EEEERRRAAaagghh. . .

It was distant, but it was a signal enough. Leaving the den, they all scaled down onto the base surface of the cave. They moved in silence, a single unit and body of motion, Kiyo at the lead while Shoma watched the rear able to keep a count of all of their surroundings for the time being. Searching for their prey.

The game they chose to play was a long one. Waiting in the shadows to the best of their ability, prepared to strike when the chance presented itself before them. Food and water were taken in little by little, only what was deemed necessary. Their presence was confined.

Silent shadows in the dark. Mere spectators.

Killers bathed in the night.

…

Day one met its end.