OoO( 25 )OoO
After taking the man to the Bowerstone guards to be locked away, Lyle returned to Grey Mansion with the necklace. He soon found out that finding the necklace was the right thing to do if he wanted to get her in a good mood. She immediately took the small box and checked for authenticity, then wouldn't let it out of her iron grip for the rest of the day.
That evening, her and Lyle sat at her dining table eating a very expensive meal. Afterwards she stared at him a moment before speaking her piece. "So, you have managed to complete my second task."
Lyle grew irritated that she had given him such a trying task, yet still expected him to continue her little game. "Yeah, so I still have to do your third task?" he asked, knowing the answer he was about to receive.
She stared at him mockingly. "Of course you do silly boy. But, that's not saying you won't get rewarded for this task. That hierloom was the only thing I had left from my father. I don't know what I would do if you hadn't found it." she said.
Lyle straitened up in his seat when he heard this. "What kind of reward?" he asked.
She smiled again, showing her sugar covered coating over her usual dark and deceiving manor. "You have won the right to marry me." she said. Lyle looked at her oddly. "If, that is, you accept to take on my last challenge. Whether you complete it or not matters not." she said.
"So, if I at least try your task, then I have permission to marry you?" he asked.
She nodded. "But Lyle, in this last task, you will have to do more than just try." she said. "It could mean your life if you don't."
"What do you mean? What is it?" he asked curiously.
"As you know, you aren't the only one who is trying to win my heart. Now, I have already said that I will marry you, but the reason you must take this last task is that there are those who would do anything to have me. And I wouldn't want anybody wrecking our wedding because of this. Therefore, you must send a message to those who would do such a thing."
"And how do I do that?"
"By defeating the one that is of the biggest threat. I believe you had an encounter with him recently at the guild." she said staring at him, her expression now serious.
Lyle stared back a moment before answering, "Thunder..."
"Exactly. If you defeat Thunder, nobody would dare test your power by ruining the wedding, now would they?" she asked. He shook his head and she smiled. "I will send a message to Thunder. The meeting will take place tonight at Headsman's Hill." she said.
"I see. I'll be there." he said, then stood.
"Wait, where are you going?" she asked.
"I have buisiness to take care of elsewhere. Don't worry, I'll go and defeat Thunder. You can count on it." he said, then walked out the door, leaving Lady Grey dumbfounded.
OoOoO
The bandit woman sat in the tent, covering herself with a thick blanket made of animal hide. She had been unable to sleep because she feared she would be killed in her sleep if her information turned out to be useless. She soon regretted yelling at him, especially after hearing about his reputation as a bandit killer. She sat pondering her fate the entire night.
Suddenly, the tent flap opened and Lyle walked in glaring at her. She looked up and cowered, expecting him to attack her. But, he did nothing for a while. Minutes seemed like hours to her as she stared into his piercing eyes. Suddenly, he spoke, harsh and commanding. "Follow me." he said. She nodded and stood to her feet. But, as she walked to him, he tied a cloth over her eyes completely blinding her.
"W-What are you doing?" she asked surprisedly.
"Just shut up and walk. I'll guide you to where you are going." he said, instilling fear into her. He led her out of the camp and into a cullis gate. After she stepped off the pedistal to the gateway, she finally summed up the last of her courage and stood up to him.
"Wouldn't it be easier to kill me in front of the rest of the camp? After all, that's what you are best at doing, is scaring everone into doing what you want them to." she said.
"Don't worry about what my intentions are, just prepare for what I have coming to you." he said. After ten more minutes of walking, the warrior finally stopped. "Good, now take off your blindfold." he said.
She sighed, then pulled the cloth off her eyes. As the cloth came off, she saw snowfall. Looking around, she realized that she was standing on the coast of a town. "What is this?" she asked.
Lyle walked forward with a smile. "Your reward. This store is now yours." he said walking up to the shop in front of them. "You don't work here, you don't stay here. You own the entire thing." he said.
Her jaw dropped as she stared at the shop in front of her. It was a two story building, with the shop on the ground floor and living quarters above it. "I...I own it?" she asked. Lyle nodded.
"No question. I bought the place a while ago because I didn't like the guy who was running it. Not only was he selling everyday items for outrageous amounts of gold, but he was also selling illegal shipments of weapons and other stuff. So now he is in prison and the shop is yours." he said.
She walked up slowly, as if the store might vanish if she ran too quickly. When she was only feet from it, she ran her hand across the doorway.
"So, is this suitable? If not I can get you someplace bigger." he said.
She turned and looked at him. Then, without notice, she leapt at him and embraced him, crying her eyes out. Though it surprised him, he made no move to recoil. He mearly wrapped his arms around her and smiled slightly. "I'm glad you like it." he said.
OoOoO
After finishing the task of helping the woman set the store up, Lyle went back through the cullis gate and decided to take the long way to Headsman's Hill. He began running everthing that had happened in the last few days through his mind, trying to sort it all out. "Maria...loves me. Well, can't say I didn't notice after that kiss she gave me. But, I...I love..." he said silently, then shook his head. "I have to stop thinking about her right now. I have to keep my mind on the fight ahead." he said. "Well, at least now I know who was in my room that night. Talon may be small, but if she don't want to be caught, then she won't. She could have easily gotten inside." he said. Then, he looked up and realized that he was almost to Headsman's Hill. He continued forward silently.
OoOoO
Dark clouds covered the sky. They lit up silently at first, then a deafening clap of thunder roared across the sky like a pride of lions. Lightning flashed, revealing the presence of a dozen men sitting on the hangmans stand and the hill around it. But one stood out from the rest. He stood easily seven feet with silver armor heavy enough to weigh down two horses. In one hand, he held a small metal shield with a large T imprinted onto it, and in the other, he held a giant sword. A white flash of light carresed the razor sharp edges as the moon shined onto the sleek metal blade.
Suddenly, the sound of foosteps could be heard. They all turned towards the entrance to the court and instantly knew who it was by the shining white plate mail he was wearing. The large man stood to his feet as lightning flashed again, exposing Lyle as he walked down the path. Then, he stopped. He stared into the black knights eyes coldy, getting the same response.
After five deathly silent minutes, the dark warrior spoke. "What took you so long farmboy? I almost thought you had run in terror." he said smirking.
Lyle stood his ground and spoke. "Disappointed?" he asked.
"It would have been the smart thing to do. But no, I have waited for this day for a long time. Ever since that day in the guild when you tried telling me how I should act." said Thunder grinning wickedly. "Now, shall we get this started?" he asked.
Lyle drew his sword and took up his battle stance. "Ready when you are." he said. They both stood, swords ready, glaring at each other. Then, as another flash of lightning lit the lanscape, the battle began as well as the cheers from the group of men surrounding Thunder.
Lyle and Thunder ran forward and clashed blades sent sparks flying from their blades. Thunder, using his massive strength shoved Lyle backwards, sending him tumbling across the ground. "Cummon farmboy, I thought you were better than that." he said tauntingly. Lyle stood again and regained his composure, then stood ready. Thunder hurdled forward and slammed his blade down across Lyle's block that it forced the warrior to the ground. Seeing his opportunity, Thunder sent a kick into Lyle's armored stomach. Lyle bent forward and held his gut as the wind was driven from his lungs.
Thunder smiled, then kicked his opponent across the face sending Lyle rolling across the ground and making the men behind Thunder cheer madly. Lyle got on all fours and coughed as blood began to trickle down from his forehead. Quickly he wiped it from his face and stood up, only to be verbally beaten by Thunder.
"The almighty Sabre folks!" shouted Thunder, making the crowd laugh loudly. Lyle growled, then grabbed his sword from the ground. Running at Thunder, he jumped in the air and slashed for the mans head. But, Thunder stepped aside and watched as Lyle landed, then did a somersault across the ground. Thunder smiled again amusedly. "Nice try farmboy, but you'll have to do better than that." he said.
Lyle smirked. "Really? That's funny, I thought for a second that I hit you."
Thunder was surprised to see blood drip from his cheek onto the blade of his sword. Growling loudly, he raised his sword and swung at Lyle, only hitting earth as the versatile warrior dodged. Lyle swung and elbow around quickly and smashed it across Thunder's jaw. The dark warrior spun around, then stopped. Shaking his head to rid of the stars, he looked up and glared. Then, he raised his sword and smiled evily. The blade began to glow with light as everyone stared at it, then lightning shot in different directions, striking stone, earth, wood, and flesh. One of the men who was unlucky enough to be standing too close to Thunder was struck by a stray lightning bolt and instantly slain by it.
Lyle was taking cover behind a large stone when Thunder raised his sword higher. The dark warriors lightning gathered into the blade making it glow brighter. Lyle looked over the top of the stone when he saw Thunder swing his sword and strike the ground. He barely jumped out of the way as a wave of lightning cut through the ground and the rock where he was previously sitting like a guilotine.
Thunder smiled at seeing Lyle in the open and slashed agan with his lightning strike. Lyle dropped his sword and held both hands in front of him, catching the attack. But the power was akmost too much to handle. He took a step backwards as he felt his hands begin to burn. Then, a raindrop fell from the sky and hit the warriors cheek. Ignoring the weather, he continued to hold off the attack.
"Drop it farmboy, nobody can stop my Lightning Stab!" yelled Thunder over the din of the lightning. But Lyle persisted and stood his ground. Suddenly, he felt it. The power was seeping into his body slowly, making his entire being burn. Raising both hands into the air, he began yelling at the top of his lungs. Thunder and all the men gasped in surprise as another lightning bolt from the sky struck Lyle's hands and began to make the energy grow bigger and brighter. "T-That's not possible!"
The warrior placed both hands in front of him and began to add his own energy until the ball of lightning nearly blinded everyone in range. Thunder tried to pull his attack away, but he soon realised that he couldn't because his own lightning was being drained and added to the attack. Suddenly, Lyle threw both hands forward and sent the attack flying down Thunder's lightning bolt and strait into the dark knights sword. There was an explosion as it made contact with his body, making him burn from the inside out. Flying backwards, he crashed into the headsman stand and making it fall over.
Lyle fell to one knee and breathed heavily. The rain thickened and poured as both warriors sat, umoving, and weary. Lyle eventually stood and stared at his opponent. Thunder lay in the shambles of the wooden fixture, his armor smoking and steaming as rain fell and hit the red hot metal. He turned and began to walk away, but stopped when he heard Thunder's voice.
"Don't think for a second that this is over farmboy." he said, then rose slowly to his feet. Turning around, the warrior stared at the dark knight. "I don't know how you did what you did, but it won't stop me from killing you and avenging my sister." he said.
Sighing, Lyle picked his sword up and faced his opponent. Thunder began walking slow, then started to slowly run forwards. Suddenly, he stopped and hurled his sword at the warrior. Lyle, suprised by the attack barely dodged in time. But, dodging left him open to Thunder's next move. Barreling forward, he crashed into Lyle, making a loud clang as metal armor clashed against metal armor. As he slammed into Lyle, Thunder lifted the warrior from the ground and hurled him with all his strength through the air. Lyle quickly got to his feet and saw Thunder still running towards him. Ducking slightly, Lyle sent out a kick to Thunder's stomach, making the dark knight double over. Grabbing him, the warrior roughly threw Thunder onto the ground near a cliff.
But Thunder immediately got up and grabbed Lyle by the throat. Lifting him off the ground, Thunder began to strangle the warrior. After a few moments, he hurled Lyle away, then picked up his sword. Lyle now stood with his heels to the edge of the cliff. As Thunder came at him, the white haired warrior dodged the dark knights attack, but, at a price. He began to slip from the edge of the cliff, waving his arms wildy to try and regain balance. Thunder approached and smiled.
"Now, you die farmboy." he said. He thrust his hand forward and shoved Lyle, only to have it grabbed. The dark skinned warrior lost his balance as well and they both went over the edge. Lyle grabbed ahold of a rocky ledge as he fell, then grabbed Thunder's hand. He cringed in pain as he slammed into the side of the cliff with Thunder's weight relying on his only hand. Thunder shook his head and wiped rain from his face as he stared up at the warrior. "W-Why did you catch me?" he asked astonished.
"B-Because, you want me dead, and I want you out of the way." he said in pain. "But, that doesn't mean that I would let you die like this." he said. Thunder stared at Lyle for a moment before smiling slightly. "Q-Quick, grab onto something! My hand is about to slip!" he yelled. Thunder snapped out of his stupor and looked around. There were very few rocky ledges around, and those that were accessible where slick with rain water.
"There isn't anyplace!" shouted Thunder over the storm. But, his call went unanswered as Lyle's hand finally slipped from the edge and they both fell from the cliff edge into the black abyss below them.
OoOoO
It was hours before they woke up. Thunder opened his eyes and saw only rain wet stones surrounding him. He lifted his head and felt a sharp pain in his back. Slowly, he looked around and saw Lyle lying unconscious five feet away from him with blood dripping from his mouth. He crawled painfully forward and said, "Farmboy, wake up!"
Lyle shifted, then his face warped in agony. Rolling onto his back, the warrior held his arm painfully.
Thunder got to his knees and stretched his aching back. He stared at Lyle for a moment before getting to his feet. "Can you stand?" he asked.
"Yeah, hold on..." groaned Lyle as he got to one knee. "My arm...its dislocated..." he said making sure it didn't move as he rose. "Are you alright?" he asked the dark knight.
Thunder nodded. "Well, if you call falling hundreds of feet into a forgotten canyon and waking up in agonizing pain alright, then yeah, I'm fine." said the man sarcastically. Lyle smirked, then slowly walked over to a wall. Lifting his dislocated arm, he slammed his shoulder against the cliff side and screamed in pain. Pulling away, he held his shoulder sorely.
"Damn, I can't believe we fell that far and lived." he said staring up at the tiny crack that exposed the sky way above them.
"Me niether, it looks like someone is looking out for us up there." said Thunder as he stared up as well.
Lyle smiled. "Yeah, Whisper is." he said, and Thunder looked at him with a blank expression.
The dark knight stared at Lyle for a second, then smiled. Grabbing his sword, he asked. "Can you use your arm again?" he asked.
Lyle stretched the stiff limb, then grabbed his own sword from the ground. "Yeah, you still want to battle?" he asked.
Thunder nodded. "Aye, but not for the same reasons anymore." he said, and Lyle looked at him confusedly. "I know that Whisper knew what she was doing when she chose you as a friend now." he said.
Lyle stood strait. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"She always talked about you, whenever we trained, whenever we ate, whenever we did anything. She once said to me that you were the best friend she ever had. And when you caught me up there, I found out why you were so important to her. You could have just let me fall and Lady Grey would have been all yours. But you didn't."
"You think that's why I took this challenge?" asked Lyle.
Thunder looked at him oddly. "You didn't?" he asked.
Lyle shook his head. "No, I like Grey, but she isn't worth losing my life over. I came, because I wanted to try and convince you to stop being...well, yourself. I didn't want to fight you, but if I had to to get it through your head that I wasn't your enemy, then so be it." he said.
Thunder smiled, then began laughing out loud. "It seems that this fight had nothing to do with Grey." he said.
Now that he actually thought about it, Lyle knew Thunder was right. He smiled and said, "Yeah, so it seems. But now, it is about Grey." he said.
"So it is, and I plan on marrying her myself. So prepare to get your behind handed to you." said Thunder smirking. Lyle crouched slightly and held his sword at his side with the tip of the blade barely touching the ground. Thunder walked forward slowly and watched his opponent. Lyle stared at the dark warrior and scraped the edge of his sword lightly across the stone.
Suddenly, Thunder struck out with his sword and barely missed Lyle as he sidestepped. The warrior slammed his shoulder into Thunder, then thrust his blade. But Thunder smacked the sword aside and swung out with his own. Lyle bent his body at and angle, dodging the attack, then kicked out and swept the dark knights feet out from under him. Jumping into the air, Lyle slammed the pommel of his sword into Thunder's chest, making the man yell loudly.
Thunder got up and swung his sword heavily. Lyle attempted to block it with his own, but the attack was so fierce that it sent him rolled out of the way as Thunder slammed a giant foot where he had just been laying. Lyle rolled onto one knee and his hand flared with fire. With his fiery hand, he grabbed the blade of his sword and ran it down the entire length of the metal. The blade instantly caught fire due to some unknown element and he ran towards his opponent.
Thunder smiled as his blade sheened with lightning. Both warriors swung their weapons and clashed the blades together. As soon as the two elements touched, they instantly combined and began to create a bright light. Suddenly, they exploded and sent both warriors flying backwards. Thunder was first up and he walked towards Lyle. The white haired warrior got to his feet and slowly backed into a cave. He disappeared into the shadows and the dark knight followed him inside, only to be surprised by a dark beast jumping out and tackling him. Thunder stared as the oversized balverine snapped an inch from his face. He growled at the monster and grabbed its head like he was about to crush it. But, lightning shot from his palms and the beast instantly shattered into black smoke with a howl of pain.
Getting up, Thunder walked into the cave and saw Lyle standing with a smirk on his face. "What took you so long?" he asked.
Thunder looked at him, smirking as well. "Some farmboy sent a monster to try and take me out." he said.
"That's where you are wrong. It was just a distraction until I could heal my arm properly. I knew it had no chance of taking you out." said Lyle flexing his renewed ligament.
"So you are admitting you sent it after me huh?" he asked, then charged forward. Lyle dropped his sword and dodged the dark knights attack, then grabbed the man and lifted him from the ground. Slamming the dark warrior onto his back, Lyle jumped up and drove an elbow into the mans exposed gut, driving the wind from him. Quickly, he grabbed his sword and swung at Thunder, only to have it blocked. Lightning extended from the dark warriors blade and into Lyle's. But, feeling the electricity hit him, Lyle sent magic lightning through his sword as well.
Thunder stood and they pressed the keen edges of their weapons together, making small bolts of lightning shoot from the two blades. Both used strength and will to try and sway the opponent, but they held firm, giving no quarter to the other. Eventually, tiredness enveloped both of them and their will began to slip. Thunder made one fatal mistake, by showing his tiredness. He started to breath heavy and loosen his grip slightly. As soon as Lyle saw this, he shoved his tiredness aside and pushed himself to his limit. Yelling out loud, his body became alive with electricity as it glowed with the element. Pushing forward, he thrust all the stored energy into his sword.
Thunder felt the energy hit him and he flew backwards, with his sword flung somewhere in the distance. Lyle fell to one knee as his energy drained. He wiped sweat from his face and looked up at his opponent. "You alive over there?" he asked.
Thunder raised his hand wearily and made a rude jesture involving the middle finger. Lyle laughed loudly and Thunder slowly sat up. "Looks like you finally beat me farmboy. Can't say I'm surprised." he said. "Lady Grey is yours." Lyle nodded. "And, you finally have beaten the only other that stood in your way. Now, all of Albion will know of my defeat." he said.
Lyle stood, then smiled. "Not if you don't want them to." he said.
Thunder looked at him confusedly. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, nobody needs to know that I beat you. I did what I came to do, and thats that." he said.
"And what if the people ask how it went?" asked Thunder, intrigued by Lyle's logic.
"It was a tie. We both decided it was better to live than to end up killing each other." siad Lyle smirking.
Thunder stood to his feet, then stared at the warrior before him. "Are you sure about this? You would truly be the most famous hero in Albion if you were to brag about my defeat."
"As I said before, that isn't why I took this fight. I only want one thing now..." he said staring solemnly at the dark knight. Thunder nodded. "For you to be the friend and ally that your sister was."
Thunder smirked, then walked forward holding out his hand. "My sister trusted you, so I trust you." he said. Lyle smiled and shook the mans hand.
"Good. Now, lets get out of this place."