OoO( 12 )OoO
Twinblade sat in his throne, enjoying the days sunlight, when an explosion hurled him from the chair and sent him rolling across the ground. The seeress smiled as she stood to her feet and started to repeat her vision to her leader.
"In a flash of silver and white, the bandit king will lose his might." she said, reciting a line from her dream.
Twinblade looked at her and yelled, "What does that mean?"
"Your fate." she said. Suddenly, the gate in front of them exploded in a shower of splinters and wood.
OoOoO
Talon stepped forward as the cage smashed through the gate of the bandit camp. As Lyle started to run forward, Talon grabbed him by the shoulder. He looked at her and said, "What is it?"
"Incase we don't get out of this..." she said and he nodded, "My real name is Maria."
Lyle smiled and said, "It's a beautiful name. Now, lets show Twinblade who the new Queen of Bandits is going to be." he said. She smiled and they ran together into the final camp, where Twinblade lie waiting for them.
OoOoO
Twinblade drew both of his swords and stepped forward, not knowing what to expect from the attack. Suddenly, a figure flew from the dust cloud and Twinblade raised his swords at just the right moment, blocking Lyle's cleave attack. The seers words suddenly gripped him, seeing the silver sheen of the blade and the warriors white hair in front of him.
Talon jumped in after Lyle and began to attack the bandits that were about to jump Lyle. They all turned to her and laughed at seeing a girl ready to fight.
"Hey, look at this mates. This little kitten wants to fight us!" shouted one of the bandits. "Lets show her how to really fight, Twinblade can handle the other one." he said and all of the regular bandits surrounded her.
She smiled wickedly. "Big mistake underestimating this kitten." she said.
Lyle slashed at Twinblade left and right, but with two swords, Twinblade easily deflected the blows then countered using his other sword. Lyle ducked under a horizontal swing from the bandit king and kicked out with his right leg, sending Twinblade stumbling backwards. Standing up, he ran forward and swung his blade again, but Twinblade blocked it.
Twinblade noticed Lyle had a smile on his face, which made him nervous. Suddenly, he started shaking as lightning traveled from Lyle's hand, up his sword, then through Twinblade's, and into Twinblade's body. Twinblade was hurled backwards and Lyle grabbed the sword he dropped. Turning around, he saw an impossibly fast force flashing back and forth slaying bandits left and right. Hurling the blade, he struck a bandit in the chest that was running away, then he turned back to Twinblade.
Lyle approached and looked at Twinblade lying on the ground unconscious. Standing over him, he said, "This is the great bandit king?" he asked. Suddenly, Twinblade's hand shot out and grabbed Lyle's ankle. Lifting him off the ground, Twinblade slammed Lyle into the ground with amazing strength, making Lyle drop his sword. Getting up, Twinblade lifted him again and hurled him at a nearby wall.
Lyle crashed through the wooden structure and skidded along the ground. He coughed, spitting up blood and dust. He forced himself to his feet and stared through the hole he made in the wall and at Twinblade, who had both swords again. Running forward, Lyle jumped through the hole and grabbed his sword. As Lyle ran at him, Twinblade raised both swords and thrust them at Lyle. Lyle did a baseball slide and bounced the two swords off his own, making them stick in the ground above his head. Twinblade now stood over Lyle trying to pry the swords from the ground, when Lyle rolled up and thrust both legs into the bandits gut.
Although he was a giant man, the attack lifted Twinblade off the ground and sent him and his swords rolling across the ground. Lyle jumped up and ran to Twinblade, jumping into the air and hurling a fireball at him. Twinblade smacked the attack away with a sword and held his feet up as Lyle had done. Lyle landed on Twinblade, foot to foot. Twinblade thrust his legs up and threw Lyle into the air, then stood to his feet with a smile.
Lyle flipped backwards in mid-air and was now nose diving towards Twinblade. He smiled as well, holding his sword next to him and racing towards the ground. Suddenly, the air around Twinblade seemed to thicken. He slowly raised his sword to strike, waiting for Lyle to approach. Lyle continued to smile as time slowed for everyone except for him. With time like mollassus, Lyle continued to freefall and flipped, landing on his feet. He swung his blade upward and cut clean through Twinblade's armor.
Twinblade stared at Lyle, waiting for him to fall in range, when Lyle suddenly flew and smashed into the ground like a comet, sending a cloud of dust shooting away from him. The speed of the attack amazed Twinbalde, and the giant man looked down at the warrior holding a bloody sword. Placing a hand on his chest, he lifted it and stared at his own blood spilled across the ground. Falling to one knee, Twinblade spat blood on the ground.
"It doesn't feel good does it? To have your life in the hands of somebody you know hates your kind with all his heart. I know what you think of the heros from the Phoenix Guild, and I know what you have done to them." said Lyle as he slowly walked forward.
"I am not going to give up!" shouted Twinblade and he rose to his feet, flailing the two swords around wildly in an attempt to kill Lyle. But Lyle's eyes burned red and dark energy seemed to come from him. He swung his sword with a battle cry and his sword cut clean through one of Twinblade's. Twinblade dropped the useless weapon and swung the other. Lyle dodged the attack and again the sword got stuck in the ground. Lyle swung his sword again severed the handle from the blade of Twinblade's remaining sword.
"My family, my life, my friends, everything of mine was taken by bandits. And since that day forward, I have devoted my life to killing off every last one of you scum of the earth." said Lyle in a voice that obviously wasn't his.
Twinblade sat on his knees watching his death walk towards him with the fiery red eyes of Skorm, and for the first time since he was a bandit...no, for the first time in his life, he was truly terrified. Twinblade now knew what all those heros he slaughtered mercilessly felt before they died. He bowed his head in defeat and said, "Please, don't kill me!"
Talon and all the remaining bandits turned to see Twinblade begging for his life. The bandits had lost heart after seeing their leader fall in defeat, and ran out of the camp thinking that Lyle would come after them next. Talon continued to watch Lyle as he closed in on the bandit, hoping Lyle wasn't about to do what she thought he was about to do.
Lyle stopped five feet from Twinblade and spoke again, "Did you spare those heros who begged for their lives when you had them surrounded and outnumbered by your horde?" asked Lyle.
"You've humiliated me in front of my horde, please! Isn't that punishment enough?" asked the leader of the bandits. Lyle smiled and began to laugh in his demonic voice.
"You think I came here to humiliate you? The only reason Maze and the Guildmaster sent me on this mission is because they knew I would not hesitate to kill you!" he shouted. A brave bandit wanting to save his lord aimed at Lyle with a crossbow. Pulling the trigger the arrow flew and what happened made everybodies jaw drop.
Lyle reached up and grabbed the arrow, stopping it dead in its tracks. Lyle looked at the bandit with his red eyes, and the bandit stared back nervously. Suddenly, Lyle hurled the arrow and it struck the bandit in the chest with amazing force. He fell over and died a slow and painful death.
Lyle turned back and raised his sword. Twinblade closed his eyes, waiting for death. The sword flew and struck...strait into the ground. "But, I have learned a lot from my friends. And that is that no matter what somebody has done to me or others, I am not the one to judge whether they die or not." he said.
Twinblade stared back up at Lyle and noticed his red eyes had gone back to blue and the evil aura that eminated from the warrior had vanished. He was back to the same warrior that had began fighting him in the first place. "So...you are going to spare me?" he asked.
Lyle stared into Twinblade's eyes and said, "Only if you give me your word that you will not partake in anymore bandit activity. As of today, you must quit stealing, robbing, murdering, pilaging, raping, and smuggling. You must sever all ties with bandits here and now." said Lyle.
Twinblade looked around and saw all his men gone, then glared at Lyle. "Stay with those traitorous cowards? I would take my life over them any day." he said. Lyle nodded.
"If I find out that you have even snatched a money bag from someone, then I will hunt you down and kill you personally. You have my word on that." he said.
The seeress stood in the shadows listening to the warrior speak. A silent tear carressed her smiling face as she heard him say those words. Stepping forward, she walked into the sunlight and stopped next to Twinblade. "Welcome Lyle." she said. Lyle looked up at her curiously.
"Are you the seer?" he asked. The girl laughed out loud. "I'm sorry, I missed the joke." he said.
"What's wrong Lyle, do you not recognise your own sister?" she asked still chuckling.
Lyle's eyes instantly widened and he slowly approached the girl. Staring at her for a moment, he fell to his knees in shock. "Theresa?" he asked.
She nodded and walked over to him as if she could see perfectly and wrapped her arms around him, holding his head to her chest. "It is me brother." she said.
OoOoO
Lyle had taken Talon and his sister to the Phoenix Guild and to the guildmaster. The guildmaster was delighted to meet Lyle's sister and welcomed her with open arms. Though disappointed that Lyle decided to spare Twinblade, the guildmaster understood why Lyle didn't kill the bandit and was glad to find out that Twinblade feared the warrior, so he wouldn't be killing anyone anymore.
Lyle had walked his sister up to his room and sat her down on the bed. He had so many questions to ask her and not enough time in this life to ask them. But, he started with a simple, "How did you survive the attack?"
Theresa smiled and said, "After I shoved you away from the road, they dragged me through the town and to our house. They were looking for something Lyle, and they were desperate to find it. They killed father to get us to talk, but we said nothing. So, they cut my eyes out. I don't know what they did with mother, but I know that she is still alive as well." she said calmly.
Lyle's heart skipped a beat. "She is alive?" he asked surprisedly. Theresa nodded and continued. "As I said, I don't know what they have done with her, but if I find out you will be the first to know. Mother is suffering somewhere without us...I have seen it in my dreams. But whomever did do this to us has taken her prisoner and is trying to get information out of her." she said.
"So, how did you get to Twinblade's?" he asked curiously.
"They all left me for dead, but I wasn't about to die so easily. I crawled away from the heat of the village and ended up on the beach south of Twinblade's camp. That is where he found me and took me in. After a while, I began recieving prophecies and he found out and began using them to his aid. But, ever since I began staying at the camp, I became Twinblade's slave."
Lyle stared at her for a moment before saying, "Wait, you don't mean..."
She mearly nodded and Lyle stood up and reached for his sword. "Lyle, please sit down. Though he did use me in this way, remember your words back at the camp." she said. Lyle sat down, but still gripped his sword tightly.
"Why didn't you escape?" he asked.
"Because, I didn't have anything to go to. When I awoke at Twinblade's camp, I thought that they had found you and killed you. So I waited and trained at Twinblade's for the day that I could free mother. Only a few days ago did I recieve a prophecy about you, and even then I didn't realize it was you. Only when a bandit said 'Lyle the Sabre' was inside the camp did I know for sure."
"Wait, a bandit said that?" he asked and Theresa nodded. "So Twinblade was expecting me?"
Theresa laughed. "Yes, but he didn't expect you to enter so elegantly." she said sarcastically.
He smiled at hearing his sister laugh again. "Whatever works." he said.
OoOoO
The Witchwood Arena was alive with shouts and cheers everywhere. Warriors battle against one another, beasts were slain, humans were tortured by their opponents, others were eaten alive by the beasts put up against them. Only quality entertainment could keep this crowd roaring so loudly.
Stale air hung all around as he walked down the torch lit hallway. He stopped as he passed a dark corner, feeling an uneasy presence in the corner. Two eyes stared coldly at him from the corner as if to say 'Get lost.' "What is it Maze?" asked the entity.
Maze stared back at the man and said, "It turns out that the boy has found his sister. And now Lyle knows that his mother is alive." he said.
The man stepped out from the shadow and smirked. "Lyle...oh how he has grown. This boy from the prophecies never ceases to amaze." he said.
"He is no longer a boy Jack, and you shouldn't take him lightly. Though he is young, his thirst for revenge against you has fueled him to become the most promising hero Albion has seen in years."
"And where is there proof of this?" asked Jack coldly.
"He has defeated the bandit king Twinblade and his horde. Something no hero of the past has done before." said Maze.
"Oh he has? So, our little hero was able to defeat a bandit?"
"Jack, I'm serious. If you let him live much longer, dare I say it, he could become stronger than you." said Maze. A hand with a dark red glove wrapped around it suddenly shot around Maze's neck and lifted him off the ground.
"Nobody is stronger than me. I do not care what any prophecy says about him, he will never be able to defeat me! Because, once I have the sword, then all else will be nothing but scrap and bone!" shouted the ghost like voice. "Do you understand me?" he asked slowly.
Maze struggled with the hand and blurted out, "Yes..." Jack dropped Maze and smiled again.
"Much better. If I were to kill him now, then there is no way that we would be able to get the key using only the sister and mother. The blood must be male! And to ensure that I get the sword, I need him alive." he said. Maze nodded and turned away. "Oh, and Maze..." he said, making Maze turn back to him. "Don't disappoint me when it comes time to kill the boy. I know how attached you have gotten to him." said Jack. Then he vanished back into the shadows...
