A Cynical Shadow's Return

Chapter 9

     Three hours passed since Agnus’ bloody rampage. The forest was dead silent. Not even the birds sang their illustrious songs during this time of day for a dark cloud loomed over Tasaloo, and the clouds began to shower the land with their tears. The sky roared like a lion with a vicious cracking sound that erupted like a volcano.
     Upon hearing the raging storm, Reko sprung up from his slumber; his pupils were dilated, and he was slightly hyperventilating. Reko was shirtless for some reason, and his punctured wound was gone mysteriously. He placed his hand on his forehead while he was trying to calm himself down, and took a look around. He was inside of a small cave; his swords were leaning against the wall across from him, but his shirt and vest were not around. He wondered how he ended up inside of the cave and was curious to know who brought him to the cave. Reko then looked at where his wound used to be and thought to himself: Just how am I still alive? I should have bled to death. At that moment, Reko remembered what Igneous told him about the advantage they had over other Tasoolians when it came to their durability. She even told me how you and I are practically unkillable.
        “That must be it,” Reko said as he was getting up to his feet, but an overwhelming amount of pain brought him back down to the ground. Reko cringed with pain as he started to push himself back up, and used the wall for support. He was still suffering from the damage he had taken during his battle with Chordon and the shadow, but he was not about to let the pain get the best of him.
        “I-I didn't realize I was in th-this much pain. L-Looks like I bit off more than I can chew.” Reko cringed again, began limping over to his swords. As he walked, he remembered explicitly what the shadow’s reasons were for murdering Lavonna; all for a laugh. Reko fought back his tears for her could visualize what his beloved mate went through on that dark day, but his broken heart pulled itself back together as his emotional pain was switched with a burning desire for revenge. He grabbed ahold of his swords and strapped both sheaths across his shoulders.
        “The next time I see him,” Reko said as he walked outside of the cave, and into the rain, “I swear, Lavonna, I'll make him pay for this. I don't care how many sides of a face he is; he's not getting away with what he did.” After swearing his vengeance, Reko set out to continue his journey to the mountains, not caring about the thunderstorm that went on, nor the pain he was in.
     Reko walked by himself for a good thirty minutes until he stopped to rest his injured body. The thunderstorm had now subsided, leaving Tasaloo coated with droplets of water so that its beauty may shine when the sun comes out to greet the land. This, however, made Reko regret leaving the cave, but he was too far gone from the cave to turn back now. He sat on top of a log and stared up at the sky. He missed the peace and wished for it all to come back. It seemed that no matter how hard he tried, peace will only last until the next time he has to fight for survival. It was getting pretty old. After all, he’s been going through the same routine ever since he was a child, but this was much different. There were demons that wanted him dead, and he could not understand why, or what their motives were. He reflected on when he promised he’d get revenge, but now that his mind is calm, he thought back on his battle with Chordon and the shadow. Even with the shards of the Artifact, he never stood a chance against either of them, and he could only imagine how Agnus and the others were holding up. He would speak with them on his communicator, but that is missing along with his shirt and vest. At this, he let out a sigh as he could now only worry about them. He could not stop his journey and head back home. Igneous’ life depends on him and was not about to let his son down.
     When Reko’s injuries got to where the pain was tolerable, he continued moving forward to Tasaloo’s mountain region. While he was walking, his stomach began growling, and he let out an annoyed sigh.
        “Just perfect,” he said as he unsheathed one of his swords. “I can’t believe I have to stop and find something to eat. Chasing down a moose is too much work, but if I’m lucky, I’ll find a rabbit or something like--” Reko was interrupted by a sudden vibration in the ground, and he gave another annoyed sigh as he unsheathed his other sword. Although he was still injured, he would be prepared to take on anything that proved to be an obstacle in his path, and as the vibrations grew closer, Reko did not bat an eye. Out of the blue, an enraged, dehorned rhinoceros came charging directly at Reko, but he jumped out of the way in time before the beast could steamroll over him. Of all things why a rhino? Reko thought to himself as he landed on the ground, but cringed in pain from his wounds. He was still in no condition to get into an altercation with anything, nor was he in any condition to run away from one. Reko growled as he found himself caught in between a rock and a hard place. The rhino looked over at him and roared at him as it charged at him again, but a flash of black came from nowhere and knocked it off of its feet. Reko’s eyes widened in shock as he watched the large animal crash down onto the ground with a loud thud. Impossible, Reko thought to himself, aside from Agnus, rhinos are one of the toughest creatures on Tasaloo. Who could have done something like that to an animal that size? While the rhino was getting up to its feet, a man dressed in all black clothing came from above with the rhino’s horn in hand, and drilled the horn into the rhino’s head as though it were a knife; the rhino dropped dead. The man chuckled deviously in a voice that was much familiar to Reko as he jumped down from the rhino.
        “Lunch is served,” the man said as Reko stared at him in awe. “No need to thank me.”
        “I-I don’t believe this,” Reko finally said as he continued to stare at the man.. “Either I’ve gone crazy or you’re actually Darzay!” It was true. Darzay had returned from the depths of hell, ready to wreak havoc on those who dared to oppose him, but Reko wondered why he returned in the first place. Darzay chuckled as he looked at Reko with his dark red, demonic eyes.
        “What’s the matter, Reko,” Darzay asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
        “Why are you here? Did that other demon that looks like me send you to finish me off?”
        “That would be too easy, and besides, you know I won’t help anyone unless it’s for my own benefit.”
        “Let me guess, you’re keeping me alive to settle the score between us later on?”
        “Even Agnus would know that. Now tell me what you were doing fighting two demons on your own.” Reko growled and gripped one of his swords.
        “I don’t fully trust you,” he said as he started to pull his sword out. “You could be the same demon that’s been trying to kill me.” Darzay smirked and in the blink of an eye, he was out of Reko’s sight, and almost a second later, he was behind Reko and had a firm grip on his wrist. Reko was utterly shocked at how fast Darzay moved and knew from there that Darzay was not the same Darzay back when he was alive. Darzay made Reko sheathe his sword and put a dagger up to Reko’s neck.
        “See this?” Darzay inched the dagger closer to Reko’s neck, poking him with the tip of the blade. “It’s like I told you. Killing you now would be too easy for me. Think about it, if I weren’t me, I would have killed you without a second thought. Now does that change your mind, or am I gonna have to make you a corpse right here in this very spot?” Reko growled as he took a moment to weigh his options. He’s changed, no doubt, Reko said to himself, and I didn’t even see him move. I need to avoid any unnecessary battles as much as I can, but can I really trust him? Reko knew for a fact that he’d be dead if he were to try to fight Darzay in his condition, but his main issue was attempting to trust Darzay. After all, Darzay has been his bitter rival for as long as he could remember, and even when they teamed up, he was close to impossible to trust. Now that he is a demon, Reko found himself caught in between a rock and a hard place as he tried to come up with an answer. Darzay smirked as he eased the blade closer to Reko’s neck.
        “No answer?” He asked Reko. “Huh, sucks to be you then.” Just as he was about to slit Reko’s throat, Reko grabbed his wrist to stop him before it was too late.
        “Alright, fine,” Reko said finally. “I’m convinced. You’re Darzay, definitely.” Darzay chuckled and put his arm down, then pushed Reko away from him.
        “That’s what I wanted to hear,” Darzay said, putting the dagger in his pocket. “Now let’s get down to business, shall we?”
        “Tch, fine,” Reko answered, turning to face Darzay. “What do you need to know?”
        “What I want to know is what the hell were you doing fighting Chordon the Snake Demon and a double of you? Did you run out of Zubelon’s toys to break or something?”
        “All of Zubelon’s robots are gone, and it wasn’t like I had a choice, especially now that I know what I know. However, I don’t know much about those two, except that Chordon tried to kill me when I was a kid, and...the other killed...her.”
        “Lavonna, right?” Reko did not answer but gave a slow nod, and then let out a deep sigh.
        “The reason why I’m out here is that Igneous fell into some kind of deep sleep. Nothing we do will wake him up, but Sitha told me that there was someone by the name of Leaonay who can use some type of magic to wake him up.” Darzay chuckled for he was excited for what laid ahead of them, and could not wait to cause some chaos.
        “You’ve really got yourself in a no-win situation, Reko. Lucky for your sorry ass, I’m coming with you.”
        “Wait, what?”
        “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m only doing this to keep you alive. After all, I’m the one who’s supposed to kill you; not some psycho snake demon and a copy of you.” Reko found it best not to comment after what Darzay said, but nodded with a tiny smirk on his face. This reminded him of their battle against the Ultrabot. Although they struggled greatly, they would set their differences aside to come together as allies and accomplish great things. With Darzay aiding, Reko now has high hopes in making it back home alive after their trip to the mountains. Now once again, the bitter rivals have come together to face a threat far more dangerous than Zubelon. Only time will tell if they are to be successful in their endeavors.