Kuro: A Land in Eternal Night

Chapter 10.2: The Yami

"We need more sources to tap into. Taiyou cannot be the only place where the Goddess Essence abounds. Why did the Goddess choose this place?"

"That is what we are doing in the North, are we not?" Sergei snapped impatiently.

"A reaction, Diskarma, a reactionary move in response to a rapidly deteriorating situation."

"I think we have beaten that horse to death. Let us move on to something that concerns us all. There are disturbing reports that Drake Riordan has found his way into the Utter Darkness."

"Oh? I thought we had placed effective controls around that? I was under the impression in fact, that the controls were meant to prevent that very thing from occurring," Sergei retorted, his patience wearing thin.

"The young man is resourceful." came the reply. "He is in many ways like his sister. He presents a threat. It will only be a matter of time before he picks up where Fala left off. The trail has not gone cold yet."

"How much does he know?" Sergei demanded.

"We were unable to intercept the contents of the message Fala Riordan sent out. She was far too crafty and rigged the transmission with a snare. The data was set to delete itself unless opened by the intended recipient."

"So the young man has the only remaining copy of the message?"

"Unfortunately so."

Sergei laughed. "As much as I would like to help you with all your problems, gentlemen, I regrettably am a very busy man." Sergei had had it. If he could somehow find a way to end this early, he could have a few precious minutes with his family. Then he could get back to the Whiskey, and back to running Diskarma, and life would be absolutely perfect. "If this meeting has nothing to do with Diskarma's output or production, I must respectfully bow out and say 'there is nothing I can do, solve this yourselves.'"

"Now, now, we're getting all worked up aren't we? And this meeting has only just begun." A new person entered the boardroom.

"Zentar," Sergei began. "It was your cock-up that caused this in the first place. What in Naraka were Felicia and you doing at the Number 3 Reactor that day? That was foolish."

"With all due respect, Diskarma, I was in the right place at the wrong time." Zentar emerged from the darkness, his tall figure imposing as ever. "Everyone agrees the girl was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Sergei shook his head and disagreed. "It could have been handled more delicately. You and your band of hoodlums have made a mockery of this. Now we have this brother out looking for the smoking gun."

Zentar began to laugh as he walked to his position at the table and sat down. "This, too, is your problem, Sergei, as much as you would want to divest yourself of this."

An older gentleman cut through the conversation. "Gentlemen, as we argue amongst ourselves, the forces of the Yami grow, whether you acknowledge it or not."

"Arkus, there are few in the land who have come across the likes of the Yami, much less understand enough of the demons to truly make a call on how to handle them. Why do we continue to throw resources at a foe we do not understand completely?" Sergei's patience was growing paper thin.

"The so-called 'missions' in the North. They are uncovering a great number of them. Whatever force is there, it is malevolent, it is building an army, and it is intent on proceeding." The elder Arkus spoke softly, with purpose. A bald, gray-robed man with a flowing white beard, Arkus was oldest and wisest member of the Council and filled the role of Council Moderator.

Sergei paused for a moment, then shook his head. "The Goddess Essence is not an efficient means of standing against the Yami." He continued to bring his fingers in close contact with each other. "The shadows react to nothing, and can be harmed by nothing. Our weapons and blades pass through them as surely as they pass through air. Only sunlight can harm them, but it requires equipping our weapons with three times the amount of what is normally required for operation. It is costly, and requires modifications to the weapons themselves. Diskarma cannot continue to provide Yin with weapons at this pace indefinitely. Already we have begun tapping into the reserves in the city core, something we have never had to do."

He faced the group grimly and pointed a finger at them. "My predecessors had the foresight to build the Great Reserves underground. We were wise to keep the underground reserves a secret from everyone. Now we are in danger of using up the legacy that has taken my family generations to build."

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