Digimon Empire Chapter 10

Digimon Empire

Chapter 10

AxeBattlemon whirled his mighty battle axe directly at Michael and Cairomon who rolled away from each other as the axe whizzed by them. Michael turned to look and found that the axe was buried to the pommel in the soft earth they'd been standing at. He felt scared, while though he had mentally prepared for this very battle he was still surprised by the instant assault upon their arrival. Looking at Cairomon he could see that he was equally rattled by the battle they seemingly walked right into. Michael turned his head back just in time to see AxeBattlemon rush forward, fist swinging right at Cairomon.

"Cairomon lookout!" Michael cried, but it was too late. In an instant the black dragon crumpled under the force of the mighty fist. Michael could feel the air rushing around him as the world seemed to spin out of control. He heard Coronamon attacking but he couldn't make out what was happening. Cairomon's body lay broken as AxeBattlemon turned to attack Coronamon who was jumping quickly backward while tossing fireballs at the warriors face. As Coronamon distracted AxeBattlemon with his annoying tactics Michael slid to Cairomon's side.

"Hey buddy." Michael said while lifting the head of the dragon. "Hey stay with me now. It's alright." Michael was scared, this was suddenly more than he could handle. He felt vulnerable with Cairomon immobilized. The black dragon didn't make the slightest move to respond to his words or his touch and it left him feeling completely hopeless. At least he felt that way until Guardmon and Battlemon rushed from the front gate and started for him and Cairomon. His eyes darted around but there was nothing, the closest dead Digimon was too far out of reach for him to hope to gather a weapon from.

"Kill them!" The voice of AxeBattlemon roared as it attacked Coronamon who was impishly attacking him. Michael panicked as the group was within reach of them and Cairomon was still seemingly unconscious and badly broken. He closed his eyes as he tried to prepare his death and he felt cold. He felt as though the heat of the world had escaped him and it could never come back. Then he felt the wind cold and biting against his cheek and the heat rising from his hands. His eyes slowly opened and through the start of tears he saw Cairomon's body glowing, contorting, and growing. The advancing troop had stopped in surprise at the sudden change. Michael gasped and jumped back away from the dragon as Cairomon emerged from the sharp light.

"Excairomon" The deep rumbling voice proclaimed as a proud quadrupedal dragon stood where the previously timid bipedal dragon had been. His scales were the same and with the same soft glowing illuminating the veins in between the scales. His snout was slightly more pronounced than before, wisps of smoke coming from his nostrils at a steady rate. He now sported two sharply pointed horns whereas Cairomon only sported nubs under his skin. His arms were slightly webbed now and he was larger than before by more than double his Rookie size. "Back off-" He roared as flames poured out among the Guardmon and Battlemon troop that had advanced on them. Before the troop could react Excairomon swung his large thick tail into the closest Battlemon taking out the rival Champion level Digimon and killing a Guardmon to boot as the Battlemon fell and crushed the smaller Digimon.

Another Battlemon scrambled forward swinging its battle mace at Excairomon. The mighty dragon leapt back out of the way of the attack. Hissing as flames once more erupted from his jaws to envelop his adversary. Michael saw the look in his friends eyes, it was the look of hunger. He could see that the dragon was preying on the Guardmon and Battlemon. Michael made his way forward as the two squared off and got a better look at what was happening. The city was on fire, and there were bodies of the inhabiting Digimon piled high in the streets. It looked as though the rebel army had started slaying the city and the Digimon who lived there had fought back. They had fought back and failed, and Michael felt saddened by the amount of death he perceived as he looked on the battlefield. The rebellion armies were supposedly there to help the Digimon that resided in the cities and towns of the Empire. As Michael looked at the devastation around him though he knew that rebel army didn't care about the Digimon who lived there any more than the Empire did and probably less. Both sides needed to be stopped.

AxeBattlemon had shifted his attention to Excairomon as Coronamon finally fell to a heavy hit from the giant warriors fist. A wicked grin flashed across AxeBattlemon's face as he walked swiftly toward Excairomon while twirling his mighty axe in his hand. Before the dragon could attack AxeBattlemon pounced on top of him pinning him down by his neck with one hand while trying to get his free hand in an angle to swing his battle axe. Excairomon scrambled against the warriors side trying to break free of its grip. The dragon craned its neck and placed its back feet against the warriors hands and viciously tore into flesh of AxeBattlemon. A fireball cast from Coronamon hit the warrior in the face and all at once Excairomon was freed from the grasp of AxeBattlemon but not without a price. As the dragon broke free the mighty axe of AxeBattlemon cleaved into his side. With a deafening roar Excairomon retaliated with a molten blast of fire that the warrior dodged away from while swinging his axe again in a wide arc.

"Come a little closer you lizard cretin." AxeBattlemon taunted while leaping forward and swinging again at Excairomon who barely moved back away from the deadly weapon. The dragon coiled back while hissing and snapped dangerously at AxeBattlemon. The warrior kept pushing Excairomon back towards the city wall to pin him and Michael saw this happening. He felt panic rising in his chest, and he felt so helpless and vulnerable. Coronamon bounded over to his side and they watched the deadly axe twirl and the flames escape in short bursts.

Guardmon started pouring from the gates, The sounds of their footsteps resounding loudly as each soldier stepped out and stood in formation, and each completed line of troops was twenty Guardmon, with one Battlemon for every ten, and they continued coming out until they were twenty rows thick. Walking in step the sound of the approaching troop was both terrifying and invigorating. Michael picked up a small buckler shield and Coronamon started twirling small flames between his finger tips.  Michael looked back at Excairomon and his heart started sinking as he saw how badly he was being beaten. Looking back at the advancing troop of four hundred and forty, Michael felt fear racking his body. The battle had barely begun and they were losing badly with only three against so many all of his hope faded. All of these feelings seemingly faded as a terrible roar erupted from within the city walls.

"Fist of the Beast King!" Flaming energy burst from his fist as the words escaped his lips. Michael felt hope all at once as on the wall running down the ramparts was a bloodied and scarred Leomon. The king of beasts himself Leomon is known for being a mighty warrior with a brave heart and soul of justice. When they were coding the Digimon Michael remembered Tori complaining about how complicated it was to code the "braveHeart class," but because of this Michael wasn't surprised when Leomon leapt from the wall drawing his short blade mid air and decapitating a Guardmon upon landing. Michael and Coronamon rushed forward both attacking the troop, but were both abruptly tossed aside. Coronamon's attacks were annoying but they are not powerful enough to do any damage the armored soldiers. They were hopelessly outnumbered, and one by one they fell. Michael strained to see Excairomon and saw Axebattlemon dragging him by his tail towards them.

"Execution time, suiting for an EX-Cairomon!"

Digimon Empire Chapter 9

Digimon Empire

Chapter 9

By the end of the night Michael felt that they had resolved much of what they'd set out to accomplish that day. When they attempted casting magic FlaWizarmon was quite visibly disappointed when Michael was unable to cast the most simple spell FlaWizarmon knew, match flame. Michael lacked a way to conjure the spell and he lacked the conviction to force his energy into spells that FlaWizarmon created in order to active them. Despite feeling like they had no sense of time FlaWizarmon carefully tracked the time and would conjure a clock when prompted. When they finally went to bed Michael and Cairomon sat at their small table and discussed their thoughts and plans. Michael debated whether he should broach the subject of partnering with Cairomon but couldn't think of a way to delicately bring it up. He knew that in order to take them on the path they were heading he would have to partner with him and he knew they had to discuss it before it could happen. In the end he decided to just come out and say it because it needed to be said.

"Ultimately I'm going to have to find a Digimon to partner with and I'd like for that to be you Cairomon." Michael sat back and studied Cairomon's face as the black dragon Digimon thought it over. Cairomon's reptilian composure didn't allow a great deal of depth to his facial expressions though Michael could tell he was slightly amused as he had a small curl of a grin was visible on the sides of his snout. "The downside to being my Partner Digimon is that you would revoke your birthrights for your mind to return to the Isle of Darkness should you die. Instead your mind would be sent to the Dark Ocean."

"I told you I'd be by your side until the end and if that's what we need to do then I am down." Cairomon smiled broadly, his sharp teeth flashing. "What do we need to do?"

Michael walked over to his nightstand and picked up the Digivice. It was his first time really appreciating the work that Tony had done designing it. It was sleek, grey highly durable plastic with rubber grips on the sides. The interface was an advanced 3D holographic projection that would actually allow really advanced commands and features. The small device was designed to be an all-in-one personal computer in addition to carrying out the primary function of assisting in Digivolution. If there were other humans in the world Michael would be able to use his Digivice to communicate with other people he'd synced his Digivice with at a previous time. Other features included email features, Digidex which made a directory of all Digimon encountered,  Digivolution Store Data allowing Digimon to re-achieve their Digivolution stages they've already reached, and Digimon Bonding which allowed the human to bind their Digivice with a Digimon. This was the feature he needed now and so he activated it.

"You just need to come over here and stand in the circle that's about to appear." As Michael spoke the hologram interface warped into a spiraling band of data that glowed brightly. Cairomon stepped into it and the Digivice synced to him. Data of Cairomon started appearing in the Digivice interface, now no matter where Cairomon was Michael would be able to see his vitals, see readouts of data from him, and ultimately track his position should they become separated. The glowing faded and the ring fully faded back into the interface. "That does it. You're synched as my partner now."

"Good, then we really are in it until the end." Feeling satisfied both Michael and Cairomon went to sleep though the morning came sooner than expected when Michael awoke to the deep booming voice of Zeparmon shaking the massive cavern just outside their alcove. Cairomon jumped to his feet as did Michael and the pair ran out into the main cavern. The dim lighting dimmer than normal from the clear drain of Zeparmon's presence. Michael felt apprehension as he did not see FlaWizarmon or Coronamon and the presence of the Djinn did nothing to ease that feeling. FlaWizarmon teleported in to the area and Coronamon came zipping from a small alcove it used as a bed.

"What progress have you made FlaWizarmon?" Zeparmon's voice resonated with such strength that it made Michael jump and move back as the deep bass feeling passed through him. The air was thick and growing thicker. Michael could definitely sense frustration in Zeparmon, the feeling was resonating in the air around them.

"Quite well," FlaWizarmon shifted uncomfortably on his feet before continuing, "We made progress with bringing Michael up to speed on geography, world events, and speculation over potential fragment locations." Zeparmon's nostrils flared as though he were frustrated and the air noticeably shifted warmer.

"Can you not be depended on for a task this simple FlaWizarmon?" The Djinn sneered in a degrading manner at the flaming wizard. Michael was surprised at this back and forth as he thought the two were working together based on what FlaWizarmon had told him about his past. "The task at hand is to determine if we can use the human as a weapon against the Divine. If you can't use him then let us move on!" The booming voice started to grow fainter as the Djinn began to fade. "Get rid of him if we can't use him FlaWizarmon. Do not forget the price you're paying for my help. Do not let it go to waste." With that the Djinn faded from the room though his presence still heavily clung to the air.

"FlaWizarmon-" Michael began but the wizard waved him off.

"I'm sorry Michael. To Zeparmon you're merely a tool to be used as a means to the end." Michael felt strange as though he'd already been very used although up to this point he'd only gained knowledge and hadn't lost anything save time. Cairomon would just shrug it off and move on and that's what Michael felt he should do as well.

"It's fine. In the end it doesn't change anything about what we need to do and I feel we stand a better chance working together than not," Michael paused, wanting to ask what price FlaWizarmon was paying for the help of the Djinn and opted not to, "and so if it's not too early lets start making plans for taking Talthos City." FlaWizarmon looked surprised and snapped his fingers conjuring his clock. It was early but not too early to begin their day so as Coronamon prepared a quick breakfast.

"Talthos City is a large place to start in my opinion. Why not pick a quiet little fishing village or something similar? I know of a lovely little stone mill on a river only three or four days away." FlaWizarmon suggested but Cairomon and Michael united in voice declining. "Well then I think it best to go directly for the head of the source and if you want to take Talthos you're going to need to avoid confronting the army. You may be able to take the leader of the Guardmon controlling the city and that is probably your best option." Michael contemplated the wizards advice and saw the wisdom in his words. This was going to be Cairomon and his first battle together, at best they'd be able to take on one or two enemies but certainly not the entire standing army around the city. Michael wasn't even sure if Cairomon would be able to Digivolve yet and if he couldn't this battle was going to be short lived. Cairomon voiced his own concern during this lull in conversation,

"We'll need a plan to escape in the event that we fail." His eyes shifted from FlaWizarmon back to Michael, "I don't know if I'll be able to defeat enemies as powerful as AxeBattlemon or MetalBattlemon and we need to know we can get away if we need to." FlaWizarmon went over to his alcove and returned several minutes later carrying a scroll.

"Coronamon shall go with you, he'll be able to activate this scroll should something happen. Even if the three of you get separated so long as you're not dead it should teleport the three of you to a coordinate just outside the city limits which should allow you enough time to evade pursuit." FlaWizarmon handed the scroll to Coronamon who cast a spell on the scroll itself, Michael assumed to keep it from burning. Cairomon growled in an annoyed tone,

"Why not teleport us back here where we're actually safe?" The dragon asked.

"It would cost Coronamon more energy than he's capable of using to move you all that far. It would kill him and all of you easily. Teleporting needs to be in short burst distances and you have to specify who and where in the spell itself in order to execute it." FlaWizarmon explained.

"Yeah and I 'on't wanna 'ie." Coronamon chimed in with his cheerful disposition.

"Well that settles that then," Michael concluded, "If we're going to do this then we may as well go now." FlaWizarmon nodded and started casting a teleportation spell on to the ground.

"I can teleport you to just outside of the city by tapping into the energy stored in the crystals here in this cave." FlaWizarmon explained as he began to start the spell. "Step in to the circle all of you." As they stepped in Michael felt the rush and falling sensation he'd experienced before. All at once he was on the ground and facing the city walls of Talthos City. The city was on fire and the body of a Guardmon fell to the ground right next to him. Stepping from the front gate AxeBattlemon emerged, bloodied axe in hand. A cruel grin crossed his face as he saw the trio.

"Oh ho!" AxeBattlemon exclaimed, "I was itching to find you again. Now the fun can begin."