Kuro: A Land in Eternal Night

Chapter 17.3: The Fate of Talthys

I closed my eyes again, unwilling to let this opportunity pass. I felt the rush of power once more, I could feel the familiar energies coursing through me. I worried a little about whether there were Tengu about, but paid my fears no attention. I was going to count on Searra to cover me. I concentrated my energy, attempting to locate the Dark Steed in the air in my mind's eye. I would have only one chance at this. I was going to unleash several seals at once, but focus them into a single, pinpoint, high-energy beam. This was risky, reckless. If I missed, I would be open to an attack and the Dark Steed would notice instantly who it was that had fired upon him. I opened my eyes and scanned the sky. I had guessed correctly where the Dark Steed would end up. I had successfully accounted for its movements.

There was no time to hesitate. I let loose with my blast. The sky lit up once more, like a flash of lightning. My beam went out into the sky. For a moment, I was frightened that I had missed.The consequences of missing would be catastrophic. Neither Searra nor I would survive a direct conflict with Enma's manifested form.

I could scarcely breathe as I waited for the result of my attack. I saw the beam shoot out from my hand and cross the sky, I saw it move with great speed, and then I saw it connect. The beam of light hit the Dark Steed and went right through it. There was a brief moment when the Steed stood in the sky motionless, and then it fell. I could hear the cheers from the members of the Order as the Dark Steed plummeted down into the temple. The Steed transformed as it fell, Enma reverting back to his true form as he crashed down, hitting the roof of the temple breaching several levels of the temple as he fell into the gardens below.

I secretly hoped he was dead, but I knew that was impossible. Only the true light of Amaterasu would be able to kill a Demon Lord. Our mere remnant energy would not have enough power to fully destroy him. Already, we could see Enma rising slowly and his recovery would be swift. Searra acted at this point. I saw her move into the temple, jumping from window to window as she went made her way to the bottom.

She crossed to meet him. I saw her hands form the actions of a forbidden seal.

"Searra!" I shouted at her, knowing the implications. She looked back at me and shook her head to indicate she knew what she was doing.

"It is too reckless to use the Column of the Sun! You put us all at risk by unleashing that much power at once." My heart pounded and I feared for everyone present. "If you fail to control it..."

"I see no other choice!" Searra yelled back. "I can do this! I can control the Column of the Sun!"

The light blinded us for a moment. A giant pillar formed where Enma stood. I saw it spread, moving slowly as everything in its path was bathed by light. The Column of the Sun surrounded Enma in a prison of light. We could see the frustrated face of the demon looking at us, his fists pounding the walls of the pillar that held him captive. I could see that the spell was having a great effect on Searra and that she was being drained rapidly of her power. She would not be able to contain the energy for very long. She would need to dissipate the spell soon or risk losing control over it. If she lost control, the energies within the Column of the Sun would run amok, destroying everything in its path. Everything that is, but the demon Enma.

I was desperate, my mind raced as I frantically tried to control the situation. It was then that I hit upon the idea that haunts me to this day.

Verily, I doubt myself, even now. I knew not if I had carefully considered the consequences of my actions enough. I tell myself to this day that the course of action I had chosen at that time was the only possible way to handle the situation we faced. I have spent the last five hundred years analyzing over and over in my mind the scene that followed. I had convinced myself it was the only way, but what if there had been an alternative? Had I waited a split-second later, might we have found another way to slay the immortal demon? I know not the answer, and it has tormented me through the centuries.