Down, down, deep into the bowels of the Shadow Court, Austin and his friends walked. The steps felt as if they would last forever. Fortunately, the steps did finally end and luckily not into the water. The steps evened out and became a platform that ran into an open tomb.
"I have a bad feeling about this. I mean, there is supposed to be some sort of protective spell or something keeping Avo's Lamentation safe. What if we can't overpower it?" Clarissa wondered. She looked up. "We have to be at least a mile below ground, maybe more than that."
Austin tried to peer into the darkness of the tomb. There was a small light coming from deep inside. "Okay. I'm going in. You guys coming?"
Jean stepped forward and nodded. Cody and Erik also were quick to agree. Clarissa paused, "What happens if we all die in there?"
"Then Blain gets the Sword of Aeons unchallenged and the world goes to hell," Cody answered quietly.
Austin sighed and walked slowly into the tomb. It was much larger than it appeared on the outside. Several torches lined the tombs wall. Then, in the middle of the tomb, it sat. Avo's Lamentation. "This doesn't feel right. Who would just let this legendary sword sit out in the open, ripe for the taking?" Austin muttered. It felt as though a rock was sitting in the middle of his stomach. "Well, I guess I'm going to find out what kind of spell was set to protect it."
"Austin! Wait!" Jean yelped.
He stopped and looked back at her. She pointed at something in the air. Austin turned to see what she spotted. "What the?" He mumbled.
Overhead, flying around the tomb like a strange ghostly bird, was a wisp. Austin knew from his studies that wisps were the souls of those who died but did not leave this world. Although similar to ghosts, wisps occasionally possessed the bodies of the dead and were known to be violent. That fact made Austin look to the ground. Sure enough, bones littered the floor.
"So it looks like a hollow man protects Avo's Lamentation," he muttered.
Erik paused for a second, taking in this knowledge. "So a rotting bag of bones guards this tomb? Please, Austin, can I just whack the hollow man with my hammer and just end the fight in one blow?"
"I wish it were that simple but I have a feeling that this won't be easy." Austin answered. He quietly walked to Avo's Lamentation and reached out to grab its hilt.
The wisp turned from a light blue to blood red. It shot into the ground and a loud rumble echoed across the tomb. An arm erupted from the ground and, slowly, a figured emerged. Austin stared at the hollow man.
He was tall, maybe six feet, and thin. His face still maintained most of his features, even though it was starting to rot. He reached down to the ground and grabbed his glasses, which he promptly placed on his face. He only had one remaining eye. The top of his head had taken damage—chunks of his scalp were gone, leaving patches of skull showing.
The hollow man wore an outfit that would have been fitting for an academic. Robes hung loosely from his skeletal frame. At one time, the robes probably were a bright red color, but now they were faded with age. Holes could be seen in his sleeves, which had been dyed grey.
As far as Austin could tell, the hollow man was not armed. For several seconds, Austin merely sized up the hollow man. Then he spoke, "Excuse me, are you the protector of Avo's Lamentation?"
The hollow man fixed his eye on Austin and answered sarcastically, "Do you see any other hollow men here?"
Jean laughed, "Oh, this guy has attitude! I like him!"
"Thank you, miss. Yes. I am the guardian of Avo's Lamentation. You must get past me before you can claim the legendary blade." The hollow man explained. Then he smirked, "Which is impossible. You can't beat me."
Austin grabbed his augmented crossbow and placed a fiery bolt on it. "Oh? You are dried out. It wouldn't take much to set you on fire."
"Please. You think a little flame scares me? During my time, I was electrocuted, stabbed, burned, and poisoned. To be honest, I am surprised I lived so long. By the way, I am Tyler, one of the Heroes that belonged to the Hero's Guild."
"Why don't you carry a weapon? I thought you would have a sword or something," Austin sounded disappointed.
Tyler laughed, "There is more to being a Hero than swinging around a sword! I'll have you know that I was personally trained by Maize himself before he went evil and sided with Jack of Blades. Let me guess, you have no idea who Maize was?" He saw everyone shake their heads. "Maize was a master of Will. He seldom lifted a sword or a bow. He brought his enemies down using magic. And sadly for you, I know all of his tricks."
Austin's eyes widened. How am I supposed to beat an undead Hero who knows all about Will?
Tyler seemed to be thinking the same thing about Austin. "Okay, I'm a nice guy. How about this? You amuse me for a while then you can have the sword. I can sense that your intentions are pure. There is a great evil that's coming back, I know. But I did promise my friend that I would guard over his sword. Still, being down here is such a bore. Yeah, entertain me for a while and Avo's Lamentation is all yours."
"And how do I entertain you?" Austin asked nervously.
Tyler rubbed his chin with a bony finger. "Fight me. Or try to fight me. You won't succeed but watching you struggle for a while will be fun. For me, anyway."
Austin growled and raised his crossbow. He fired and the flaming bolt flew straight at Tyler with blinding speed. Then the bolt slowed down to a crawl. Austin tried to speak but found that his mouth was moving incredibly slowly. Tyler, on the other hand, moved like lightening. His fist connected with Austin's gut.
There's no pain, he thought, relieved. Then time went back to normal. The pain from the hit struck Austin and he doubled over. "What the hell was that?"
Tyler chuckled, "Slow Time. That's what the spell is called." He watched as Austin got back to his feet. "Hmm…what else can I use on you? Oh, I know…" He raised his hand up and, to Austin's horror, lighting shot out.
"ARRGGAHH!" Austin yelled. He had collapsed to the ground and was twitching spastically.
Cody grabbed his longsword and started to rush Tyler. The hollow man growled slightly and the lightening split in half, striking Cody. "Do not try to interfere. Do you have no honor? It is a dishonorable thing to attack two against one. The same can be said about striking someone from behind." Tyler explained, looking annoyed. He had stopped attacking Austin in order to lecture Cody.
Austin slowly rose to his feet. "That hurt," he groaned.
"Don't whine now, plaything! We've only just begun. Now, if anyone tries to interfere again, I will stop playing and kill him outright. Does everyone understand? None of you have the capabilities to destroy me. No. Not even you," Tyler nodded toward Erik. "So let the fun resume!"
"How much longer do you plan on keeping this up?" Austin asked weakly.
Tyler looked thoughtful. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'll stop when you finally realize that you can't beat me. I can look into your mind and there is still some hope that you can find a way to harm me. Oh, by the way, this might hurt a bit."
Austin gasped as Tyler's right hand began to crackle with lightening and the left hand appeared to be holding a small tornado. "Spell weaving?! How?!" Austin gasped just as Tyler unleashed his new creation. Austin slammed into the wall as sparks flew around him.
Jean slowly stepped forward. "Come on, Austin! Beat him! You can do it! And there isn't a rule against cheering!" She snarled at Tyler.
Tyler answered, "No. You can cheer although I see no reason why you are wasting your breath. Austin cannot beat me. I have more than demonstrated this. So you all should shut your mouths and watch as I play!"
"Torture is more like it! I thought you were a Hero, not a monster!" Jean shouted. She ran to Austin and knelt down beside him. "If you are going to keep hurting him, then you will have to hurt me!"
Tyler looked surprised. "Me? Hurt a girl? You misjudge me, miss. I have never had the desire to harm a woman. Well, with the exception being Whisper and Briar Rose, but other than that, I have had no interest in harming women. Hell, I never even touched those two. They just annoyed me, you know? Especially Whisper, who thought she was so much better than anyone else. I mean, yeah, her brother was Thunder and he was terrifying." He realized he was rambling and closed his mouth.
Jean smiled at Tyler. "I'm sure you were plenty terrifying back in the day," she remarked gently. Keep him talking, she thought.
He scratched his skull. "Well, not really. I wasn't really up for melee combat and shooting a bow was dull. I spent most of my training in the library at the Hero's Guild, reading ancient tomes. Maize liked that about me so he offered to be my personal trainer. My friends thought I was crazy, learning only one discipline. Chicken Chaser, which later became known as the Hero of Oakvale, enjoyed learning all three skills. Allison also learned all three, but favored Strength."
"Chicken Chaser? What kind of name is that?" Cody wondered.
Tyler chuckled, "It was his nickname. He was from Oakvale, which was considered farming country. Plenty of chickens in the country, right? Whisper called him Farmboy." He looked up and smiled. "They're all dead, you know. Well, Allison is somewhere out there, guarding Avo's Tear. But she's dead too. If your quest is to find Avo's Tear as well, then you are in for a fight. I mean, I just messed with you but Allison will be ready to rumble. She was always a serious sort. And one hell of a fighter. She will not go easy on you."
Austin asked, "Do you know where Avo's Tear is located?"
"Yes. And no. Allison merely hinted on where she was going to take it."
"Can you tell us the hint?"
Tyler looked thoughtful and answered, "I suppose a little hint won't hurt. I never could figure it out. Allison told me that she's taking it to where many people have died. That probably doesn't help but I'm sure you can figure it out. You have to be smart enough to find me, which was no easy feat."
"Thank you," Jean said politely.
"Well, I am no longer bored. I'm impressed that you were able to do that. As promised, you are free to take Avo's Lamentation. I supposed I should be saying something wise and insightful." Tyler thought for a second. "Okay, how about a little life experience? As a child, I used to catch snowflakes on my tongue. I loved the taste of fresh snow. While I was in the Northern Wastes I came across yellow snow. I was perplexed. Perhaps it was lemon flavored? Well, I tried it. And now for my advice…if you see yellow snow, don't eat it. Now, go."
The rotting body collapsed as the wisp left it. The wisp darted around the group, and then flew out of the tomb. "I wonder where he's going." Clarissa peered out of the tomb, watching the wisp fly out of view.
"Maybe he's going to the afterlife?" Erik suggested.
Austin shook his head. "Or he's going to give more bad advice to someone else. I can't believe a Hero's Guild trained Hero would crack a 'yellow snow' joke. I thought he was going to be serious. Maybe even noble. Tyler was a fully trained Hero! He should act—"
"How should he have acted?" Jean interrupted. She smiled, "He probably acted like that around his friends when he was alive."
"Acted like what, exactly? Sneak around corners and shock people as they walked by?" Cody growled.
Erik spoke up, defending Jean. "Probably. You know how people are when they are with their friends. Tyler wasn't trying to kill Austin. Although if Jean hadn't stepped in, Austin might have received permanent damage."
Austin shrugged, "Whatever. At least we have Avo's Lamentation. Finally we now have something to show for our struggles. And I can get rid of these hatchets." He removed the hatchets from his belt and discarded them. "I thought they would be useful, but I was wrong."
"Go on. Grab the sword!" Clarissa urged.
Austin approached the sword and seized the hilt. The sheath was ornate with designs running down it. The hilt was decorated with a large opal and a golden balverine head greeted Austin on each side. He removed it from its sheath. The blade was long and incredibly sharp. "So this is the twin of Avo's Tear?" He muttered, sheathing the blade.
"I wonder where the other sword is located," Jean looked thoughtful. She removed her pack and began to sift through her belongings. She removed two pieces of paper. Austin recognized one as the map they used to find their way to Westcliff. The other was indeed a map, but Austin had never seen it before. Jean began to compare to two maps and scratched her chin.
"What's the other map of?" Austin asked.
"Albion. It's just older. I took it from Reaver's mansion in Bloodstone. I thought it might be useful. You see, it shows Albion as it was hundreds of years ago. You see where to location of Bloodstone should be? It's called Twinblade's Tent on the old map. And we have Oakvale and Barrow Fields. Then Darkwood. We should be able to figure out where we're using the old map."
Austin nodded, looking rather impressed. "Well, let's get out of here and figure out where the next sword is located. What did Tyler say again about its location?"
"He said it was where a lot of people have died," Erik reminded him.
"Okay. We'll check the maps and see where that description might be most accurate. Let's go," Austin left the tomb and began to climb the winding stairs that would lead him out of the Shadow Court and back to the surface.