OoO( 1 )OoO
The day was calm and peaceful. The people of Albion were celebrating the holiday of the Harvest in a few days, and everyone in the country was happy. In a tavern in the large city of Bowerstone, there was much singing and merry making heard. Several heros were inside of the tavern drinking, but the most noticable was a young woman with blonde hair and white armor on. She had her spear over in the corner of the tavern as she drank ale and sang with all her male counterparts. Suddenly, one of the men slammed his fist on the table. The whole tavern was silenced from the act and everyone focused on him.
He threw his tankard into the air and yelled, "To Lady Agrias! The new Arena champion!" he shouted and cheers erupted again. The woman smirked.
"I couldn't have done it without my good friends Gladiator and Rokjon! Without them I would be completely..." she said, then fell over and passed out on the ground with a loud thud. Everyone, even her two friends from the guild looked down on the floor at the drunk champion, then burst out laughing loudly.
Rokjon turned to Alvo the Gladiator and nodded with a smile on his face. The both knelt down and lifted her up with an arm over each of their shoulders and carried her back to the guild.
OoOoO
Agrias woke up in the morning with her head aching. She pushed her blanket off and held her head with one hand. "Aii...what happened last night?" she asked amused. "Guess I had a little too much to drink yesterday." she said as she stood up. She had on her old apprentice uniform again and her hair was a little messy from rolling around in the bed all night. She laughed as she looked at herself in the mirror, then began to brush her hair.
Soon, she was back to here glorious self and walked down the stairs. She smiled as she watched the man ahead of her approach. He was a calm and focused man, one she had grown to like while she was at the guild. He was bald and had a small black beard growing from his chin. He walked forward with another student following him, when he noticed the woman at the bottom of the stairs. He smiled brightly at her. "Ah, Agrias. How are you?" he asked her.
"I am as fine as the day guildmaster." she said, then her eyes shot to the girl standing timidly next to the guildmaster staring at the ground. "And who is this young lady?" she asked curiously.
The guildmaster looked down at the girl and sighed sadly. "This here is Scarlet. Her family was killed by a pack of balverines at the edge of Darkwood Forest." he said.
"How did she survive?" asked the woman.
"Thats the amazing part, and why she is here. She took her fathers hunting axe and killed all of them herself. We found her bloodsoaked and clenching the axe over the balverine remains." he said. The little blonde girl closed her eyes tight and was about to cry when Agrias knelt down and put her hands on the girls shoulders.
The girl looked up into the hero's eyes. "Worry not young one. You will be well taken care of here, and I can assure you that you will like it. Understand?" she asked. The girl nodded, still on the verge of tears. Agrias smiled at the young girl. "I'll be your first friend, okay?" she asked. The girl nodded again enthusiastically. "Good. Now, cheer up." she said poking the girls nose and making her giggle. Standing back to her feet, Agrias looked at the guildmaster. "Have you seen Maze around? He said he wanted to speak with me about something."
The guildmaster nodded. "Yes, he was heading to his quarters only a few minutes ago." She nodded to him and thanked him, then headed in that direction. When she arrived she saw Maze staring out his window to the countryside to the north. She knew from experience that this meant he was distraught about something. She approached and he stopped her with his words.
"Good to see you again Agrias." he said.
"What is it Maze? You have bad news?" she said.
He sighed. "Indeed..." he said, then turned to her. "It seems that he has finally found where the key lies. Now the only thing he needs is someone from the bloodline." he said to her. Her face turned to shock.
"How did he find the key!? Where is it?" she asked.
"How he found it I cannot say. But the key is in an old monastary in Hook Coast."
"Do we have any leads on the bloodline yet?" she asked, her heart almost thumping out of her chest.
He shook his head. "No. And if ever we do figure it out, it is not to leave either of us. If he finds the bloodline then this country is at its end." he said dreadfully. She nodded and began to think.
"How far are we on the leads?" she asked.
"We know the family is somewhere in Albion. More than that however we cannot say. We don't have a family name, or place of origin. It could be noble blood or common. Nobody knows who or where they could be. For all we know they could be dead right now." he said.
"As bad as I may sound for saying this, we can only hope that the bloodline has stopped. That is the only way to keep Jack from the key." she said looking down at the ground, feeling guilty for even making that statement.
Maze smiled at her. "You shouldn't worry so much. You will look as old as me if you don't learn to smile more." he said jokingly. The woman laughed at her mentor, then nodded.
"I know. If you need me, I will be down training in the melee area. Need to work on my skills." she said and walked down the stairs.
OoOoO
The female warrior had her spear out and ready for battle. She stood in an almost crouched position with her spear prepared behind her. She watched as the heroes around her circled her like a pack of hungry wolves. The first one who thought her guard was down ran forward and struck out with his sword. She stopped his attack immediately by hitting him in the gut with her spear butt, knocking the wind from him immediately. Another jumped forward and struck out with the stave he was holding, but the warrior blocked the attack and spun around, using her momentum to trip him with the spear handle.
She wasted no time in going after the last two. She swung her spear over her head and hit one in the shoulder, knocking him to his knees, before kicking him in the chest and sending him to the ground. She then spun around at the last charging hero and struck out with her weapon again. The spear snaked behind his neck, forcing him forward and strait into her knee. He dropped his weapon and fell to the ground gasping for air. She smirked then jumped high into the air raising her spear above her head. Landing hard on the ground, she slammed her spearhead on the ground and energy exploded from the earth, hurling all four of the heroes out of the melee ring, sending two into the river and the other two tumbling across the grassy courtyard.
There was loud laughter from a nearby watcher. She turned and looked at the person, then smiled. "Picking on the younger heroes again Agrias?" asked the man. She rolled her eyes.
"Ranzo. What do you want?" she asked amusedly. "Or...what was it you called yourself now? Twinblade?" she asked him sarcastically.
"Hey! What's wrong with that name?" he asked running after her as she left the melee circle. He stood a little taller than Agrias, with two simetric blades crossed on his back. "Seriously! Tell me!" he said pleadingly as he followed her.
She stopped walking and laughed at his persistence. "What's wrong with the name? It sounds like you are trying to make yourself out to be some great and all knowing hero when you just graduated a year ago!" she said. "What was the biggest mission for the guild you have done so far?" she asked him. He scratched his black hair and thought for a moment before a smile creased his tattooed face.
"I rescued Orchard Farm from a Hobbe infestation!" he said proudly. She laughed out loud, though visibly trying to hold it in. He glared at her. "Oh yeah, what about you huh? What was the biggest thing you've done!?" he shouted. She smiled at him and he slapped himself in the face. "Right...Arena...sorry..." he said. "So I should drop the name?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I know how you can be so excited, believe me. I was the same way when I got here, I wanted to go and make a name for myself so that everyone would praise me when I walked the streets. But you have to realize that when a title is bestowed on someone in the guild it is done so by someone other than yourself." she said. "Alvo got the name Gladiator because he has been a champion of the Arena for five seasons strait. Jalin the Runemaster got his name because he uses ancient magic read from the languages in the Old Kingdom books."
"But...I have two swords..." he said looking down.
"Yes, but the name will come with time and experience. Don't worry, one of these days all of Albion will know you as the great Twinblade." she said. He smiled brightly.
"Thanks Agrias." he said, then looked up at the sun. "I was gonna head to the mess hall here in a few minutes. Did you want to go with me?" he asked.
She sighed and shook her head. "I'm afraid I have buisiness elsewhere." she said. He had a disappointed look on his face. "Don't worry, I'll meet you for dinner though." she said, and he immediately brightened up.
"Don't forget, you are gonna be the general in my army one of these days." he said as he ran off waving to her.
She waved back. "I'll be waiting!" she shouted. When he was out of sight, she turned and walked towards the guild doors. Pushing them open, she went to finish another mission she had.
OoOoO
1 Year Later...
Albion had gone on as the guild watched over the land making sure that all was peaceful. Agrias had trained Scarlet to be a fine warrior in the year that she was there and had even made the young girl her apprentice. Scarlet favored an axe as her weapon of choice, wielding it with a ferocity scarcely shown by even the male heroes of the guild. She was a true hero to be and with the Help of Agrias she was nearly unstoppable in combat. She took to wearing a red cape, saying that it matched her name, as would her enemies when she finished with them.
Ranzo the rookie hero finally got the name he desired. He was known as Twinblade the Destroyer for a mission he had done that left an entire bandit camp in flaming ruins. He and Agrias celebrated the event, then he began to study more into the bandits, saying he was going to rid the land of them. Agrias was as vigilent as ever. She wiped the path of evil in front of her clean as she passed through it. Any creature or human alike that stood in front of her spear was wiped from existence with lightning fast attacks and amazing accuracy.
With time Agrias was given the title as Albion's greatest, accomplishing deeds beyond that of any normal man. But, the land was not rid of evil. No matter how hard someone pushes to rid the land of evil, there will always be someone pushing just as hard to spread it. There was such a man in Darkwood Forest. He stood in front of the statue carved out of stone in the Chapel of Skorm. His face was wrinkled and withered with age. The sound of sobbing echoed the halls of the small temple. The man wore a black robe with red trimming, with a black hood over his head. He smiled down at the girl bound on the stone floor.
"Worry not young one...soon, you will feel no pain. You will be a part of a much greater role than the bastard daughter of a peasant woman. You will be greater than you are now, so do not cry my dear." he said stroking her tear stained cheek. Standing back up, he pulled out a dagger and cut the young girls clothes off her body. Lifting her up from the floor, the man set her on the alter in front of the statue. "Now...we begin." he said as he raised the dagger. He began to chant in some unknown language, holding the dagger high in the air with both hands. The girl tried to free herself of her bonds, but they were too tight and struggling didn't help at all. Finally, the man finished chanting and the girl cried out one last time as he thrust the dagger into her stomach. Blood poured onto the alter and immediately all the candles in the temple blew out, leaving the inside of the chapel in complete darkness.
The girl went silent as the man began to speak again. "Skorm I call upon thee! Here my call and accept my virgin sacrifice! I give you this sacrifice in return for a minion of darkness to rule this world! I want to be conquerer of all in the land!" he shouted jerking the blade free of the girls stomach, splattering her blood on the stone statue of Skorm. Suddenly, the man was thrown backwards as the alter exploded with fire, consuming the girls body and nearly blinded the him. He stood to his feet again as he heard demonic laughter. Suddenly, his eyes widened as the girl on the alter stood to her feet, her eyes still closed. Turning to the man, she smiled and opened her eyes, showing the pure darkness of hell.
"You have done well priest." said the girl as she stepped down from the alter. "I wasn't aware that there was still a human alive who knew how to summon me." The man got to his knees and bowed his head.
"M...My lord!" he said. "I wasn't expecting you to show up...but someone...less..." he said.
"I am not Skorm you old fool. I am merely a servant." she said. "Now, for your reward. Summoning a minion of Skorm is a very dark thing indeed. But I have no reward for you. My master wishes to reward you himself." she said, making him look up in glee.
"He...he is coming here?" he asked almost extatic.
She smiled. "No...you are going to him." she said. Before he could even flinch, the girl grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. He began to scream as his body caught fire. The demon held him until he was nothing but a smouldering skeleton, then dropped his bones to the ground. Turning to the entrance of the chapel, the demon began to laugh maniacly. "This world will be mine!" she shouted. The chapel suddenly became alive with power as fire shot out of every window and door in the place.
OoOoO
Agrias and Scarlet were in the mess hall of the guild eating and laughing with friends when they felt the ground begin to shake violently. They all froze when they felt the tremor. Agrias looked at Rokjon and he nodded. They both grabbed their weapons and immediately dawned their armor. Rokjon grabbed his giant two handed sword and strapped it to his back, while Agrias grabbed her spear. They both headed to the door with Alvo following close behind. Scarlet attempted to grab her weapon, when Agrias called to her.
"Scarlet, no. Not today..." she said to the girl.
The girl looked at the woman shocked. "B..But Agrias..." she said.
"I said no Scarlet. Whatever this is doesn't feel like normal. It is pouring with evil, I can feel it." she said. "You stay here and guard the guild. I will be back once this is over." she said. Scarlet looked as if she was about to object again when the hero shouted. "You heard me Scarlet! I will be back soon, wait here until I get back." she said, then opened the guild doors. The wind outside was strong and it immediately made her hair and white cloak blow wildly behind her. Her eyes widened as she saw the destruction in front of her. There was a swirling mass of black clouds floating over head and in the center was glowing red. She glared angrily and ran in the direction of the clouds, followed by her allies.
OoOoO
The demon laughed loudly as people in the town center scattered in fear. Bodies lie everywhere, burning and rotting from the demons destruction, buildings lie in heaps of rubble and burning wood, and any living thing withing ten feet of the demon instantly burst into flames and died. She walked forward smiling wickedly at the destruction she caused. She lit a massive fireball and hurled it into another building as she walked down the streets. The building didn't stand a chance as it was made of mostly wood.
It burst into flames and collapsed into the street. Bowerstone, still a small town was suffering severe damage from the attack of the demonic girl. Several heroes that were already in Bowerstone ran out into the open and faced of with the demon. She mearly smiled.
The first hero, wearing all black ran forward with a curved blade and took a swing at the demon. The blade went strait through her body without stopping, but immediately sealed back up without a scratch. She laughed at the shocked look on the heros face and grabbed his sword, the rammed it through his gut, causing him to spit blood onto the ground. She pushed him away as two more ran forward with weapons raised high.
One heroes mace swung at her the same time as the others cleaver. The demonic woman caught both weapons in her hands, causing them to melt immediately. The heroes stepped back, only to be killed as the demon ran forward and grabbed their horrified faces, igniting their bodies. The last hero had a bow outstretched when he saw what happened to his friends, he fired the arrow and turned and ran in the opposite direction.
The hero looked back and didn't see the entity behind him, so he relaxed on his run. "She probably had better things to destroy." He said. He looked forward again and froze in horror. There she was right in front of him.
"I always hated cowards." She said, then raised her hand and placed her palm right in front of his face. He screamed in terror as a wave of dark energy discentigrated him instantly. "They live in fear, they die in fear." She said.
"You!" came a call behind her. She turned and looked at a man standing on a flight of steps. "You will face me now!" he shouted. He was a simple man, dressed in fine clothes of an upper class citizen; he had short blonde hair with a talisman around his neck inscribed with a G. His hand was tightly clasped around the handle of a fine decorated sword that was obviously meant more for show than battle.
The woman laughed loudly as she shot balls of fire at the man. He ducked and weaved around the magic, dashing forward and delivering amazingly accurate strikes to the demon. She had been slashed across her throat her torso twice, one arm and a leg. The man spun and looked at his opponent again. The wounds sealed up and he growled in irritation. He held the sword strait in front of him, then raised it up high into the air. He closed his eyes, then vanished. His movements were quick, very quick, but not quick enough. The demon lashed out with her fist and caught the man in his stomach, sending him flying into a nearby shop, smashing anything in the way.
She created a large ball of dark magic and hurled it at the shop to finish him off. But, the black energy was sent flying off into the sky as a spear swatted it away. Agrias slid in front of the building, holding her spear behind her back. The man appeared from the shop and smiled. "Lady Agrias. I owe you my life." He said.
"Lord Grey, you should not be fighting this battle." She said.
He waved away the remark. "Oh nonsense. I am as much a citizen of this town as anyone. Just because I am not a hero anymore means naught." He said as he stood next to Agrias, holding his sword pointed at the beast.
"Oh how lovely. What a beautiful little couple you two will make in hell." Said the demon. She started to fire magic again when she was hit from behind with a twin bolt of lightning. She hit the ground, then got up and turned around to see Alvo and Rokjon standing on the tavern roof. They glared down at her.
"Over our dead body. If anybody is going back to hell, its you foul beast. I, Gladiator, will see to it myself." The two jumped off the roof and the demon was going to attack when again she was hit from behind with magic. She spun around in anger. Agrias and Lord Grey were both running at the demon at high speed.
"You all will suffer for your insolence!" she shouted as she prepared for the attack. But, again she was hit from behind. Not with magic, but swords this time. Rokjon's great sword cleaved through her torso, nearly splitting her in two. Alvo's sword cut crossways opposite to Rokjon's slash, leaving a gaping X shape in what used to be her torso.
She began to heal when two more weapons slashed through her neck and pelvis. The process repeated. The heroes all ran at amazing speeds, slashing the demon in the back and across her whole body. The demon yelled loudly, scattering the four with a burst of fire energy. They didn't stop however. Agrias hurled her metal spear at the demon and it stuck into her chest. Throwing both arms forward, she shot lightning at the weapon causing it to flow into the demon. The other three did the same as well, pushing their energy into the spear and causing the demons body to glow with power. She screamed loudly until finally, the body exploded. The spear fell to the ground where the demon once stood as the four, breathing heavily, sighed with relief.
People began to come out of hiding when they heard the silence of the streets. They saw the four heroes and the massive black spot on the ground where the demonic woman had errupted in fire. A man who had been watching from his upstairs window burst from the building and shouted, "Hail the heroes! They defeated the demon!"
The entire town began to cheer loudly for the four. Lord Grey and Agrias looked at each other, smiling. "Well, that wasn't so hard was it?" she asked amusedly.
Lord Grey stood to his full height and shined the sword in the light. "Of course not! Not for Grey the Mighty!" he shouted in a mock voice. Everyone, including himself laughed out loud.
Suddenly, dark magic erupted from the ground in the center of all them. A black hand reached up and grabbed Rokjon and Alvo, pulling them into the blackness. Both Lord Grey and Agrias dodged the magic. Agrias grabbed her spear and ran to rescue the other two when another pair of hands came out and grabbed her as well. She was pulled down into the darkness yelling loudly. Lorg Grey ran to her rescue but it was too late. She had vanished.
He raised his sword and struck the ground repeatedly, wanting to slay whatever came out of the ground. Even after the sword broke, he still cleaved at the stone. "Bring her back you bastard!" he shouted...