Lester

Chapter 6: The Chamber

In the time after the party celebrating the Heroes of Mistpeak and their departure, the boys decided to make use of their time there by learning how to use firearms. Though in between, Les was pretty much useless. Sven gave Karl a soapy bath to clean off all the blood and, to their surprise it took eight baths to accomplish. Now Karl look like he was supposed to; a pure white chicken with clean, smooth, beautiful feathers. Sven even made a collar for Karl out of some black leather so they could tell Karl apart from the other white chickens.

"Wow Karl, who knew that you looked so regal." Les was admiring at how different and non threatening Karl looked now that he was clean and Karl seemed pleased as well.

Les had also spent this time recovering from the fatigue he got during the Hobbe attack; his right hand had gotten burned and needed to be kept bandaged for a few more days and ointment applied regularly.

"Good work Sven; now, about our clothes."

"Already finished."

After washing their clothes several times, Sven could not get the stench of the Hobbe cave out of their clothes. Sven asked around the camp and acquired two mercenary clothing sets in their size. It was no problem finding one to fit Sven, but they had trouble getting one in Les' size due to his short and scrawny stature; a fact the mercenaries liked to poke fun at. That and being considered useless annoyed him the most.

When Sven changed into his new clothes, Les could see how developed his forearms were. If you've never seen Sven before, then you couldn't tell by looking at him that he was sixteen. In the mercenary outfit, Sven looked to be in his early 20's. When Les put on the mercenary clothing, he looked like a little kid playing dress up.

Being sixteen, scrawny, and only five feet two inches, while his best friend had well toned muscle and stood at six foot two; people usually assumed Sven was in charge. This height difference usually doesn't bother Les, but when people ignore him entirely or treat him like a child; it irritated him to no end.

"I liked our old clothes better; while these are nice and surprisingly comfortable. My old clothes reflected my obviously sophisticated mind and sense of decency."

"I miss mine coat." Sven sadly commented.

"Oh well, these will do for now; we'll get more clothes when we reach Bowerstone." Les sent most of his time turning around, examining himself in his new clothes. Lemmy came into the room.

"That's a good look for you boys; Sven you look like a natural warrior meant to be feared, and Les, you look like one of those children's dolls wearing a mercenary uniform."

Sven blushed and turned away from Lemmy when he made that comment.

"Bite Me Lemmy" Les replied annoyed. "What do want?"

Lemmy smiled and held out two clockwork guns; one rifle and one pistol. The two guns were sleek in design, the barrels were slim and on the rifle you could see some of the gears near the trigger. Lemmy tossed the pistol at Les and the rifle at Sven. The pistol was bit heavier than expected; holding it his right hand Les moved his arm around to get used to the feel.

"Sven the rifle is yours and Les you get the pistol. No offence, but if someone as light as you tried to fire one those babies, you'd get sent a good four feet in the opposite direction and lose a few teeth in the process."

Sven held the rifle and examined it, then put it in the rifle holster sewn into the back of the mercenary jacket and Les put his in the sewn in pistol holster on his pants. Les began wondering what was so inconvenient about regular gun holsters that they need to sew then into jackets and pants. 'Questions for later' Les thought to himself.

"Not bad"

Les muttered to himself; having a gun on his hip made him feel more suited for combat now. He felt back at full strength and he'll be able to use his lightning attack again. But now if that doesn't work, Les now has a gun to keep any attackers at bay. Les looked back at Sven who was looking over his shoulder at his new gun; with that and his sword at his side, Sven really did look like a warrior. He just needs better looking clothes so that people don't mistake them for mercenaries or Highwaymen.

Outside the cabin Les could see a bunch of mercenaries running towards the main camp's entrance. Lemmy notices the commotion as well and loudly grunted.

"What now?" Lemmy stormed out with Les and Sven trailing behind guns drawn, but to their surprise it wasn't an attack. Squeezing through the crowd Les made it to the front and saw the reason for all the commotion.

"Bowen?" Sven quickly took notice of Bowen; not like it was hard since Bowen is one of few people a whole foot taller than Sven.

"What are you doing here Dweller?" The mercenaries made way for Lemmy to get through and he didn't look too pleased to see Bowen and his dozen armed Dwellers walking into his camp as they please.

"I did not give you permission to enter my camp."

Lemmy was not at all intimidated at Bowen's massive size, sure Sven was tall and muscular; but Bowen was like three Svens mixed with the Dweller lifestyle. Everyone looked on edge, both sides keeping their hands cautiously near their weapons; all with the exception of Lemmy and Bowen. Ever since the King bested the mercenaries years ago, they swore to leave the Dwellers in peace and even opened up a trade with them; but apparently old habits die very hard.

"Hey Bowen, it's good to see you again; what brings you?" Les thought fast and squeezed his way past two guys in front of him to show himself to the two leaders. Maybe if he broke the ice, then they won't try to kill each other.

Bowen acknowledged Les' presence and waved his hand, gesturing to his men and they moved their hands away from their swords and guns. When the Dwellers stood down, Lemmy signaled his men to do the same; Les breathed a sigh of relief and hurried over to Bowen with Sven following.

"Ah, the triumphant heroes; great work on those Hobbes and seeing as the mercenaries are well and good, I assume you finished your tasks here as well."

At least he's straight to the point, Les thought. "Wait, what Hobbes?"

"The Hobbes killing the traders that transport our supplies from Brightwall." Bowen replied.

"Those were the same Hobbes!?" Les quickly turned to Sven who was just as lost as he was. Bowen looked just as confused as the boys.

"What are you talking about?" Bowen asked.

"It's a long story." Les answered.

Lemmy allowed the Dwellers into the main camp, which all sat down and unloaded their large bags; they all groaned in relief for their backs and took the opportunity to stretch. Les and Sven told the Dwellers of their fight with Les doing all the talking about the Wasp Queen, the battle with the Hobbes in Chillbreath Caverns and how they met, then later befriended the feral bloodthirsty chicken and introduced them to Karl.

The Dwellers looked amused by their tale, but none of them voiced any doubts to their story and some seemed to cheer them on. Les ended the story with how the mercenaries dubbed them the Heroes of Mistpeak.

"That sounds like quite an adventure; I'm a little surprised that you two weren't killed." Bowen sat through the whole story sitting with his arms crossed, and he was smiling. Guess that means he was happy for them.

"Heroes of Mistpeak, I like that." One of the Dwellers said.

"It's not often that two share a title." Another said.

"Alright, back on point. So the Hobbes we killed in the Chillbreath Caverns closest to the old Monorail Station were the same group of Hobbes killing traders coming from Brightwall. Now that we killed them all, we have essentially completed the three tasks given by the Dwellers."

"Yes; and since we were on our way down to search for the Balverine nest, we decided to bring down some supplies." Bowen grabbed a second travelers' bag he had been carrying and handed it to the two boys.

"These should last you both till Bowerstone."

Les attempted to pick up both supply bags to hand one off to Sven, but they were just too heavy for him to budge; trying with all his might the bags suddenly lifted easily off the ground and over his head. Looking behind him, Les saw that it was Sven who picked them both up easily with one hand.

"I carry, yes." Sven said to Les, who let go and watch Sven swing their supply bags over his shoulder and secured the strap.

"Well I guess that takes care of everything; Sven, let's be sure we have everything we need. We leave at dawn."

"Ja" Sven responded; Karl clucked in agreement as well.

That night Les and Sven shared a two bed cabin for their final night in Mistpeak with Karl sleeping on Les' bed; Les couldn't sleep, all he could think about was what tomorrow would bring. The old monorail station was most likely gonna be filled with Hobbes and who knows what else, and his hand still wasn't fully healed yet. He hoped that their new firearms would be enough to make a difference compared to their last encounter.

And Bowerstone; it had been three years since he was last there; not since his father sent him to Brightwall and only visits once or twice a year. When he dose visit, it's always to scold his only child's negative behavior and the blatant disrespect of his teachers. Sure, Les called his history teacher a disillusioned, self-righteous sow; and isolates himself from others by making a giant book fort in the main library with Sven as his only company. But ever since the cannon incident, Les feels like his father is disappointed in him.

Not this time, he might be disappointed in hearing Les' escape; but when he and Sven brave the Monorail station and all that it inhabits. Then there will nothing for him to be disappointed in, Les will prove that he is just as strong as the Hero of Brightwall, if not stronger.

The very thought made Les grin mischievously; he looked over to Sven who was sleeping with his back towards Les when suddenly Sven shot up from his bed screaming, which made Les and Karl jump up. Sven was breathing heavily and clenching his covers tightly while shaking uncontrollably. He was sweating so much that his pajamas and bed appeared to be soaked through. Sven looked panicked and quickly began swinging his head around in every physically possible direction before locking eyes with Les.

"Back? I am back!" Sven exclaimed happily, leapt out of bed, scooped Les up and hugged him has tight as he could. The hug knocked the wind out of Les and began squeezing the life out of him.

"Yes Sven, you're back." Les struggled. "Can you please, put me down?"

"Sorry" Sven let go of Les who began breathing heavily to catch his breath.

"What. Happened. This. Time" Les managed to choke out.

Les scooted over to let Sven sit down on his bed; Sven did and he picked up Karl, hugged him then began petting him while Les patted his shoulder. Sven told Les about how he found himself back in the void where the demon of his nightmares resides, its same icy breath and distorted voice told him that no matter what Sven does the demon will find him and no one can stop it or its brethren.

"Brethren?" Les was already wary about the demon that Sven keeps dreaming of and from how he described it, this demon was nothing to go messing with; but his chest tightened and stomach fell at the thought of there being others like it.

"Ja, zhen it came to me and I saw it's mask."

Why did I just see red when Sven said that? Les thought to himself.

"Just eye holes vith no eyes looking; gold and silver designs on zhe top and on zhe bottom sides and no mouth. Saw it vhen it quickly flashed in front of mine face and zhen I voke up."

"So this demon not only has a voice that freezes the air but it wears a regal face mask." Les heavily laid his back to his bed and flung his arms in the air. "That's just perfect" Les said bitterly.

"Not even a week into our journey and we've already got a demon from an unknown land stalking us and there are others just like it. Brilliant!"

Sven laid down next to Les with Karl on his chest. "Maybe ve tell Archon? Archon very strong, vill stop it like stopped Zhe Crawler, Ja?"

Thinking about that option made Les puff out his cheeks and pout; the King of Albion had already saved the kingdom decades ago, twice, he probably is the only one strong enough to beat whatever the bloody hell that nightmare demon is.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Les suddenly felt exhausted and let out a loud yawn; since he's calmed down he is now even more tired.

"Let's go back to sleep and discuss the rest once we get moving."

"Ja" Sven replied.

Once Sven and Karl were off his bed, Les climbed under the covers to sleep, only to feel his mattress quickly sink and his blanket getting pulled behind him. Les sat up and turned around to see Sven climbing into bed with him; Sven stopped in his tracks and looked at Les with his puppy dog eyes.

"Scared of dreams; sleep vith Les and Karl. Ja."

Stunned for a second Les looked at Sven who even brought his pillow with him over Les' bed, but then remembered how often Sven would do this when he got exceptionally scared. Only Sven's dreams have ever scared him this much and it's no surprise now. Les scooted over to make room for Sven, with Karl taking his place at the foot of the bed; soon all three went right to sleep.

Caves, why is it always caves; disgusting caves with murky water are the worst. Who knows what kind of stuff is floating in it or stuck at the bottom.

It didn't help the fact that the river in the Monorail cave system was deep enough that Les would have to stand on his tip toes just to keep his head above water. Sven had no problem wading through the water while caring Les on his back while Karl sat on Les' shoulder.

"Where the bloody hell are we!" Les screamed furiously in the cave.

Their journey started off simple enough as usual, but it's as if fate was mocking them over and over. At first light, Les, Sven, and Karl left the Mercenary Camp and entered the Mistpeak Monorail; by far the quickest way to reach Bowerstone. The old path leads right to the Mourning Wood swamp, but at Les' insistence, the boys took another path when they reached the old monorail that crashed decades ago. Wandering for a bit they were immediately attacked by a group of six Hobbes that made the Monorail car their home, then more showed up and then even more until they were completely overwhelmed.

Les was unsure if they could face off fifty ugly little Hobbes in such a small space, they would soon swarm all over them and that would be it for their adventure. Done, that's it. Doubt filled Les' mind once more; he thought back to the Wolves, Balverines, the Wasp Queen and the ten or so Hobbes that they killed. These little disgusting creatures would be the ones that kill them; Balls. Suddenly Les was being pulled back, it was Sven; he grabbed Les and slung him over his shoulder.

"Karl jump. Ve jump, ve live." Sven said. As orderd Karl jumped into Les' arms.

"Wait what?" Was all Les could say before Sven jumped off the cliff side into the river below. The Hobbes could be heard yelling through the echoes but none of them jumped after them, for now they were safe.

The cave was nothing but darkness when they came up, but somehow Sven could find a shore large enough for them to stay, never under estimate a boy who came from a land where the kids were raised like mountain men. Les tried not to think about what was in the water, he was just glad to be touching land. One fire later the boys were ready to continue on the path they were given, a cave river.

Being carried by Sven on his shoulders, Les carried their supplies and a lantern for light while Karl sat on Les' left shoulder. The light only covered a small radius around them; since Sven stayed close to the river's edge and with no shore they could see the cave walls. The light didn't go too far up so Les couldn't see the top and looking to his right, could not see the other side of the river; just darkness.

Being in this confined space surrounded by darkness reminded Les of the stories he had heard about The Darkness; a being called The Crawler whose entire existence was surrounded by the shadows created by the light. It could summon shadow beings called the Children and you could see where it was or where it had been by the puddles of pure tangible darkness rising up from the ground and into the air. It could seep into the minds of anyone its darkness had come in contact with and torment them with visions of their own doubt, guilt and worst fears while taunting them with its haunting voice.

Les always had nightmares as a child when he heard that particular story and now that he was here in this cave, remembering that story, made it seem like The Crawler was still around lurking in the shadows still, waiting for its chance to try and infect the people and claim Albion once more. Les' breathing hastened while thinking about such an idea and a rock falling from the ceiling and into the water caused Les to flinch and slowly he was starting to panic. He needed to do something to get his mind of this before he has a meltdown.

"So uh Sven, what um gave to the idea to jump down here anyway?" Les was still nervous and was turning his head in every direction his neck would allow to look out for anything that might attack them. Sven look up at Les and had his usual innocent face while thinking of his answer.

"Vhispering voice said jump. So jumped."

That was it. A voice that only Sven could hear said jump, so he jumped. If Les wasn't already so use to Sven and his abilities then he would think Sven had gone mad. Les enjoyed the fact that Sven had these strange abilities and no one else, it made him more unique and defined. But Sven is also very trusting to the point of being naïve and easily manipulated by others who look down upon him and use him as a work horse.

"And you just decided to follow its advice because..?"

"It vas safe voice, not bossy or mean or scary; it vas zhe nice voice zhat told us how to survive Hobbes."

Sven's cheerful attitude about the voice was comforting since he can, for some reason, tell what kind of intentions the various voices have. Like the demon he see in his dreams has a voice that pierces his heart with fear; that's the scary voice. There's another one that kind of tells him what he needs to do. That one Sven describes as male with a long history and good intentions but tired; he's the bossy voice. Sven is like a human trust slash danger detector.

"What is this nice voice like?" Les would be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little bit curious about this new voice.

"Nice voice is a lady; honest and guiding but can lie." Sven's expression changed to sadness when having to describe the voice's negative qualities.

"How do you know when you can trust her?"

"I vill know vhen I hear."

"Good to know."

If Sven can trust this voice then Les should try to as well, he just hopes it won't end badly for them to do so. Time had passed slowly but the boys finally made it to a shore that led further down the river but no real way up. After Sven rested his tired feet the trio continued down the shore that followed the river. They walked for what felt like hours until they all called it quits for the day and wanted to rest.

Sven started a small camp fire while Karl wandered around the area clucking about; Les has no idea how long they have been down here, but if he had to guess Les would assume they had been wandering around all day and it was most likely already night time. Tired and hungry, Les began getting their supplies to make some dinner until Sven took over when Les nearly lost a ration into the water when his hand began hurting again. Sven cooked while Les applied more ointment and dressed his hurt hand, Les noticed that in the time they were down in the caves, his hand had healed even more, faster than any normal person would and faster than it was before in Brightwall.

He began wondering if something about him had changed since leaving; sure it took about a month to leave the Mistpeak region due to a wild Balverine encounter and it that time he had become stronger and faster. But the biggest change of all was the lightning magic Les used to kill the Wasp Queen, it damaged his hand pretty good but it had been healing so fast in just three days that it must be connected somehow.

Will Energy, Les thought. Isn't that what it's called? Les thought long and hard, trying to remember something he read in the Brightwall Academy that talked about the power of Will. Sitting cross legged in front of the fire, rocking back and forth thinking What was it, what am I forgetting?

"Les, dinner done; roast lamb slices vith potatoes and carrots."

Sven said as he handed Les his bowl and sat a bowl on the ground with cooked carrots for Karl. Les pushed any thoughts of Will out of his mind and focus on the delicious food cooked by Sven; never will he take Sven's cooking for granted, it's too good to hate and without Sven, Les would likely starve.

"Thanks Sven. Let's eat!"

Their stomachs filled with a hot meal, warm and dry by a fire and wrapped up in comfy blankets; the boys wanted to try and get some sleep. But in this new environment and no idea if something might attack, they had a bit of trouble getting to sleep, Les started thinking about he was earlier, the book that talked about Will Energy, it nagged at the back of his mind. It was so brief and he probably never gave it a second thought. What was it! Why can't I remember what the book was!? The thought screamed in his mind over and over making Les more frustrated when Sven snapped him out of it.

"Les; cannot sleep. Can ve read a book? Zhe one about heroes?"

Heroes? Oh I'm a daft fool

Les leapt up in a hurry and tore through his supply bag digging around to find his book, with everything that had happened it's no surprise that he had forgotten about the book he had taken with him on this journey. It was the book that inspired him to go on this adventure, it was what made him believe that he could become like the heroes of old, to become like the Hero of Oakvale, the Hero of Bowerstone and the Hero of Brightwall. A person who travels the lands protecting people from the monsters that dwell in the forests at night and the highway men who walk in the day, from the things that the people of Albion cannot fight against. 'The Heroes of the Guild'

It was written by an unknown author long after the fall of the guild but many years before the Hero of Bowerstone was even born. Saul had been wandering the catacombs one day and according to him, the book fell off the highest bookshelf that was far out of reach for anyone. Before, no one knew that there was even a shelf up that high. Saul had heard a scraping sound that echoed above him, he said it sounded like wood being pushed against the floor, and then it stopped. Saul looked up at the seemingly never ending ceiling of the catacombs library and in seconds, a book landed cover up at Saul's feet.

Many of the other children at the academy did not care for the stories about the old heroes or the guild, but the history teacher still read it to the class so they could learn more about their country's history. Les and Sven both were fascinated by the stories and after the teacher finished reading it to the class, Les kept the book for himself and would read it to Sven and himself many times and it still remains their favorite book.

Les silently cursed at himself for forgetting he had the book; Les turned the page and read the first story in the book, 'The Founder: Nostro'. It was the legend about a man who came from the land east of Albion arriving with the intent of making his mark on world, founded the Heroes Guild under the tutelage of a strange man by the name of Scythe and his tragic end many years later.

'This could be us one day' Les thought; the stories always made Les think of how their journey could end, back when they were in the academy. Dying to an enemy, eaten by the many monsters of Albion or living to a ripe old age before leaving that life with a cherished friend by your side; so many ways.

Les doesn't remember when he fell asleep since it happened so fast after Karl cuddled up to him, Les staring at the camp fire and seeing Sven sleeping across from him. He doesn't remember what he was dreaming about when he felt a pinch on his face; Les jerked up rubbing the bridge of his nose where the pain came from, seeing Karl flapping around making an uproar.

"Ow Karl, what'd you do that for!?" Angry, Les grabbed at Karl trying to catch him but Karl kept jumping away; Les chased Karl while crawling on his hands and knees grabbing at the riled up chicken. "Stop. Running. Away." Les made one final jump from his knees and grabbed Karl's feet before he could jump away.

"Gotcha!" Les celebrated. Whew. Les struggled to keep Karl under control, who kept trying to wiggle out his arms and making noises that Les never thought a chicken could make.

"What has gotten into you Karl?" Karl began trying to peck at Les' hands and he was having trouble keeping his grip. "Hey Sven! ow ow; Sven!" Les knew Sven was a deep sleeper, but how could anyone sleep through a chicken going nuts and Les' shouting. Les turned back towards the camp fire to see to his horror that Sven was gone.

In shock Les dropped Karl, who landed on his feet, then ran over to where Sven once laid and began scratching at the dirt. Les instantly began to panic about Sven's wellbeing and what could have caused him to leave or maybe he didn't leave on his own, what if someone took him!

"Karl! Why didn't you say anything!?"

If Karl could speak, what would he say? He stopped scratching and looked up at Les in silence, the expression on the chicken's face read in a sarcastic disappointed way. 'Seriously?' Les thought that's what Karl would say if he could talk, who knew a chicken's face could display emotion; then again this is Karl after all. Les' panicking was getting worse while staring at his pet chicken, who just stood there staring at Les as if demanding an apology.

"Alright fine! You're right and I'm sorry. Can we please just go find Sven now?!"

Karl returned to scratching at the dirt until he shot his head up and looked into the darkness into the caverns and called out to Les with a loud squawk, leading Les to believe that Karl can track Sven. In a hurry Les frantically grabbed as much stuff from their camp as possible and stuffed them into their supply bags, as much as he could carry with Sven's included, slung the bags over his shoulder; the weight almost pulling Les down. He lit their lantern and followed Karl into the darkness.

With Karl leading the way to Sven and Les lighting the way, Les was sure he would find his best friend in no time. It hasn't been that long since Sven left. 'Right? Come to think of it, why would someone want to take Sven? I mean he's a giant from a society of mountain men, who would want to try and fight him when a scrawny very killable runt, like myself, is sleeping soundly nearby.'

Deeper they went into the darkness, occasionally they would have to climb up several feet then down a path before climbing up again; winding paths and steep cliffs 'where are we?' Les thought. 'From how far Karl and I have been going, there is no way we are anywhere near Mistpeak.' Les strained his eyes trying to peer into the darkness that surrounds them but he couldn't see anything beyond the light from his lantern. As a child, Les's parents told him that the more vegetables he ate at dinner the healthier his body would become; Les took it another step when he learned that carrots are good for the eyes and ate as many as he could with the belief that he would one day be able to see in the dark. Les wished that it was true.

Rushing through the darkness, Les' followed Karl trough a large thick crack in the cavern walls 'If Sven went through on his side then he could have easily gone through here.' He still needed to go through on his side but it was no tight fit for the young adventurer but it was long; Les made sure he went in lantern first to keep track of Karl. The entrance began looking less like a crack and more of a caved in path, judging by the old wooden beams caked in dirt that he passed, it collapsed a very long time ago. 'Why would there be a path way all the way down here and how is it that it's just big enough for someone as big as Sven to get through AFTER it collapses; and why is everything damp?'

Coming to wall Les believed to be a dead end until he heard Karl squawking loudly from above. 'How did he get up all the way up there?' Les thought; the wall up was almost smooth with only a few chunks sticking out. Pulling the lantern closer Les saw several Sven sized shoe prints from the toe end going up the wall along with some deep scratches, obviously from Karl, going up as well. With the lantern in his teeth Les made his way up to Karl, struggling the whole way up. 'When this is over, I'm doing more pull-ups.' Les made it up to a ledge, laid on his back, gasping for air.

"Hey. Karl. You. Find. Sven. Yet." As if answering Les' question, Karl walked over to a chunk of the wall sticking out above his head, grabbing it with his beak and began pulling himself up with his feet giving support until Karl balanced himself on that rock and repeated.

"Oh come on Karl, I just got here!" Les struggled to his feet, arms aching, especially his right arm. 'Not completely healed yet.'

As much as it hurt, Les forced himself to climb. 'Work through the pain' Is what Les had to keep in his mind while climbing up such a steep wall, he could feel his face getting hot and was once again out of breath when Les felt a chill travel down his spine. Thinking his body was about to give out, Les tried to hurry up as quickly as he could; making it to the top at last Les grabbed at the edge in an attempt to get him up quicker. He spat out the lantern and sprawled himself on his back, sweating profusely as his tried to catch his breath and rest.

As he lay on the cold ground Les noticed that he could see his breath in the light of his lantern, every breath he took in was almost painfully cold, the whole cavern was freezing but there was no breeze and no sound. Not even a squeak from a disgusting little bat, just absolute silence.

"Karl, I see a light"

In the darkness a white glow in the distance down a section of the cave; looking around Les saw that he climbed into another cave system like in Chillbreath. Karl ran towards the glow and clucked for Les to keep going. 'Beats freezing to death'. Cold and tired wasn't what Les was expecting during this trip, he thought about what he'd do to Sven when they finally found him. He had no idea what Les put himself through to find him and if Sven thinks he's getting away with this without punishment then he's very wrong.

With the light guiding the way Les found the glow, it was white fire burning on an old torch post; looking forward down the path Les saw more white burning posts marking a trail. 'Finally something warm' Les tried to warm his hands but the torches gave no heat, they radiated chills. Les realized they were the source of why the cave was freezing, he decided it was time to hurry and find Sven as quick as he could or he might freeze.

Les grabbed Karl and began jogging his way through the cave, following the cold fire torches; he was out of breath again when he came into a room with four lit flames around a pedestal with a already open door with a lock center piece. 'Not odd or completely pointless at all'

Les followed the now more narrow tunnel further, ignoring the unlit left hand side passage and continued forward until he reaches an intact expertly crafted bridge.

"Whoa!" Les let out, looking up from the bridge he saw an underground building its walls reaching the roof of the massive cave; the craftsmanship was beyond words, Les had no idea what the building was, but it was the most impressive thing he had ever seen in his life. It took Karl biting his hand for Les to snap out of his gawking to notice the figure standing in the doorway on the other side of the bridge, staring at Les.

"Sven!" Les realized; renewed with energy Les rushed across the bridge to his friend, who then turned and walked into the room without waiting for Les.

"Hey! Sven wait!" Finally catching up, Les found Sven standing in the center of the room. Les called out to his friend but Sven did not respond, grabbing his arm to get his attention, Les noticed something was 'off'.

"Sven what is-what is wrong with your eyes?!"

Sven turned his head down to Les and showed his milky white eyes which were oddly glowing; Les knew Sven had blue eyes and they never glowed. Panicking Les didn't know what was going on, and then Sven began to speak.

"Evil is coming to Albion" That wasn't Sven's voice; it was too high pitched and didn't have his accent. Les thought it sounded like a woman.

"You must find the other two in a land beyond the nine seas. The journey will be too long by ship; you will find a way in The Northern Wastes."

"Who are you!?" Les demanded, 'who is this, is this really Sven, is this a fake or is something possessing him?' He had so many questions but the voice only responded with two words.

"Your guide"

'Sven' closed his eyes and he took in a sudden gasp of air and dropped to his knees, Les rushed to help and saw his blue eyes were back.