A/N Hey guys, I know it's late but I want to say happy new years anyway so I hope 2021 will be better than the shitty year we already had, now enjoy the new chapter.
Once Jack and I continued traveling, I had become warier and less trustworthy around other people who seem decent since going through a betrayal made me more paranoid and suspicious while we kept moving through Aku's infested world until we found ourselves in a hilly plain that went on for miles as the sky was covered by dark clouds with the wind blowing heavily, the area looking slightly ominous and making me keep my eyes and ears open since this place was perfect for an ambush.
I spotted a skinny white wolf up ahead that was sniffing the ground before its head quickly shot up with its ears perked before the animal looked at us and bolted while Jack and I approached, then we came to a stop and I gazed out at the plain while I noticed that Jack was shivering slightly from the cold wind, but I felt fine because of my fur insulating me as the wind kept howling until my ears perked up when I heard something in the distance that sounded like someone moaning.
I pursed my lips while Jack let out a sigh before we continued walking, but I heard more moaning again as Jack seemed to have also noticed and we looked at each other with narrowed eyes while we continued walking and I gazed around us suspiciously.
"Come to me!" the voice called out faintly this time, causing me and Jack to stop walking while looking around with steely glares before we continued moving at a more cautious and slower pace.
"Come!" the voice called out again, then Jack and I halted before I quickly took out my bow and an arrow until I aimed around while Jack placed his hand on the handle of his sword, ready to pull it out at a moment's notice.
"Who's there?" Jack demanded as we looked around before an owl flew out of a hole in a tree, then Jack and I continued walking while I still had my bow out and kept it slightly lowered to raise it quickly just in case as the voice kept calling for us until Jack pulled out his sword and I raised my bow.
"Hey, show yourself asshole!" I shouted tensely as I slowly aimed around and scowled irritably.
"Come to me!" the voice called out again and Jack looked just as annoyed as I am.
"Coward!" Jack exclaimed before we started running in the direction of where the voice was coming from, our weapons ready as the voice continued to call for us until we were forced to stop at the edge of a burnt field that stretched on for miles and I stared in shock at what was in front of us while Jack leaned down to pick up a clump of dead earth to examine it.
"Jesus, everything looks dead," I muttered while I wondered what could cause something like that as Jack stood up and dropped the dead soil before looking at me.
"Bradley, something evil has ravaged these lands...a very familiar evil," Jack told me with hard eyes, then I understood what he meant as the voice called for us again.
"Yeah, Aku did this and it doesn't surprise me," I agreed before we headed into unknown territory by stepping into the dead field and started walking through it.
I couldn't help but cover my nose at the horrible old stench of death and decay, as well as burnt flora while we walked through the dead land and I couldn't help but get a chill up my spine since I knew something terrible happened here a long time ago and considered that following the voice was a bad idea as Jack and I arrived at the top of a hill and froze at what was before us.
I was horrified to see wrecked Norse Viking ships and skeletons strewn around the area with old armor and weapons, showing us that a massacre happened here long ago while I couldn't help but feel sick by what I was seeing since the thought of these people just wiped out like they were nothing utterly disturbed me as the voice called out for us again.
"My god...what the fuck happened here and what did this?" I wondered in disbelief while Jack looked at me solemnly.
"Something terrible," Jack said grimly as we heard the voice again, then we looked up at where it was coming from and saw a mountain in the distance before we nodded at each other and started walking.
We kept walking through the dead land filled with bodies as I tried not to stare at them and didn't feel like drawing the environment around us since it would be disrespectful in a way as we got closer to the mountain and came to a stop in front of it.
I looked up with Jack doing the same thing while we stared up at the mountain and heard the voice again, then we proceeded to start climbing while I felt utterly nervous since we were doing this without safety gear and one wrong step could cause one or both of us to fall to our deaths as my heart raced and my breathing became heavy until I stopped climbing after we made it to a certain height and Jack noticed how terrified I looked before he stopped climbing as well.
"Bradley, look at me," Jack instructed, and I looked at him shakingly while he smiled reassuringly.
"S-Sorry...I just h-have a really b-bad fear of h-heights," I admitted with a weak smile and Jack nodded in understanding.
"I know you are afraid but we must continue, so stay focused and try to refrain from looking down," Jack assured, only I sent him a withering glare for the last part of what he said.
"Jack, the last thing you should do is tell someone not to look down because there's a good chance it'll cause them to look down," I retorted uncomfortably, then Jack started looking at me sheepishly.
"My apologies, I didn't know but we must keep going, and I'll be here to help if something were to happen," Jack reassured while hearing that calmed me down slightly and I sent him a thankful nod.
We continued climbing and I tried not to look down as we made it to an opening in the mountain and went inside, climbing down into a cavern with the floor looking cracked with a red glow and heat coming out of the cracks as the voice beckoned us to keep going, then we stepped onto the cracked ground and red spears suddenly shot at us.
My eyes widened in alarm as we were forced to leap out of the way and kept moving fast to avoid getting turned into pin cushions as the end of the cavern before us started closing, making me and Jack pull out our swords to slice through so that we could get past the obstacle until the voice called for us again and we looked at each other.
"I don't like this," I admitted tensely and Jack nodded in agreement.
"Surely he takes us for fools to follow deeper into his trap," Jack said before the ground started rumbling loudly and I looked down to see that it was rising up to the ceiling that had sharp spikes to impale us.
"And we were idiots to fall for it, now run!" I shouted urgently before we started bolting and kept running as I saw that we were about to get killed and dove through the end of the cavern just in time, sliding down and landing at the bottom as we got up and saw that we were in another cavern with giant spider webs.
The voice called for us again and we narrowed our eyes as we moved forward and moved the webs out of the way before seeing another trap with sharp gems that were flying like arrows, causing me and Jack to send each other a look before I studied the trap and concluded that there were too many gems to dodge so we needed to find something to block them until Jack picked up two shields from two skeletons and I formed two from my body.
We covered ourselves with the shields after holstering our swords and ran through with the gems hitting the shields from both sides and bouncing off of them until we made it through to the other side, only we slipped and started sliding down as we approached an opening and fell out before dropping from a long height.
"Oh shit!" I exclaimed in a panic as I saw the stone spikes at the bottom, then Jack grabbed the top of a pillar and I held on to his ankles as we dangled above the spikes.
Then, the top of the stone pillar broke and we fell before landing on a narrow path and I let out a sigh of relief until I saw the impaled skeletons on the spikes, making me grimace since that was almost us a few seconds ago as we carefully moved with our backs against the stone wall and I wondered if it could get any worse, then bursts of steam shot out of holes in front of us before we looked back to see more steam and we were forced to run and jumped to avoid the steam in front of us until we were forced to stop at a large stone face with sharp spikes for teeth slamming down repeatedly.
"Come on, how the fuck is that fair?!" I shouted in disbelief, but the steam behind us made me and Jack jump through the opening after timing it carefully before we found ourselves jumping through more openings with sharp ends slamming down repeatedly.
At that moment, I realized that we weren't standing on anything and we fell as I spotted a large opening with spikes moving around while my eyes widened before Jack and I pulled out our swords to slice through them until we landed at the bottom, then it got worse as the area around us rumbled and lava came pouring down from the hole we fell down from and we had to run through the cavern and were forced to stop in a large area with platforms.
We looked back and saw the lava engulfing a skeleton before its helmet bounced onto one of the platforms and the platform sank into the lava below, though the lava behind us forced me and Jack to hop across many platforms and land onto a large piece of stone that started drifting over to a large mound of stone before we jumped onto it and lava shot up from below the stone.
A giant stone figure with red cracks all over it formed from the lava and its eyes opened to reveal white dots before a spiked club was created from its hand, then my eyes widened in disbelief as it got into a combat stance and leered down at us.
"Welcome to your deaths!" the creature declared before Jack and I narrowed our eyes at the threat and got our swords ready.
"Many warriors have been lured here to their end, so why have you done this?" Jack demanded and the creature turned its attention to him.
"My purpose is to battle," the creature stated before swinging its club at us, making us dodge a few attacks, and we retaliated by slashing its side as the creature yelled in pain and fell to its hands and knees while it bled lava.
"Yes...at last, after all these years, two worthy opponents," the creature groaned before I scowled at it.
"Stop, there is no need for this because it's nothing more than senseless violence, so we're not going to fight you anymore," I said firmly as Jack and I holstered our swords, then the creature got up and turned around while looking less than happy to hear that.
"I say thee nay!" the creature growled as it swung a fist, making us jump out of the way and land a safe distance away.
"Enough, we will not do battle with you for your own amusement because there is no honor in it," Jack refused as the creature glared at us.
"Honor?! What do thee know of honor?! A millennium hath passed and now my goal is within my grasp, so this battle will continue to the end!" the creature shouted as it created a sword and swung at us, causing me and Jack to jump back so that we wouldn't get sliced in half as we pulled our swords out.
"Didn't you hear us? We said that we're not going to fight you," I stated sternly and the creature yelled angrily as it raised its sword.
"I shall not be denied!" the creature roared in frustration as lava shot up around the stone mound, then the creature fired something from its eyes, and seeing the attack heading for Jack made me tackle him out of the way before we stood up and glared at the creature.
"Strike us down if you must, but we will not fight," Jack said calmly as we holstered our swords and sat down while I could see the creature looking shocked by our suicidal move as it lowered its sword.
"Nay, I cannot strike thee defenseless because this battle must be concluded by the warrior's code so, I beg thee, unsheath your swords and continue this fight," the creature pleaded and I frowned at that.
"Why the hell should we do that?" I questioned skeptically before the creature sighed tiredly.
"For freedom...the master of this kingdom of rock is just a man, a cursed man trapped in a rock body and it happened long ago...so long ago now where I too was a man, a mighty warrior like thee," the creature began to explain as he held his hand over the nearby ground, green electricity shooting into the stone and causing a large tablet with a family crest and words of a different language to rise up out of the ground as Jack and I started looking stunned.
"I have engraved a recording of my past so that I would never forget the life I had, the man I was so thy people would not be lost to the dust of time, now let me take thee on a journey into the past.
This land, 'twas not always parched and burnt but once a beautiful city thrived in lush countryside and 'twas truly a sight to behold, a jewel of all the northern lands while my happiness was a beautiful family of a wife, two sons, and a faithful canine.
Times were good, game was plentiful, and my people prospered but it was on return from a successful hunting trip when an omen appeared, a black moon blocking out the sun while it grew and grew until it ate the sky and land.
The darkness now loomed over my kingdom and a horrible monster born from within the darkness attacked...my army retaliated, but our efforts were to no avail till I alone was left to kill the monster, but my weapons were useless, and my attempts to avenge amused the monster before he struck me down.
I lay before him, ready to battle for the last time, but the villain did not kill me and the fate dealt to me was much crueler...he imprisoned me within an unbreakable crystal, denying me a warrior's end and helpless was I as the beast destroyed what was left of my beloved kingdom and came for me again.
'Twas his enjoyment that day to punish me for eternity and thrust me, he did, into the core of the mountain where it was his plan for me to spend all of eternity in the mountain, never to join my fallen comrades in Valhalla, the resting place of all great warriors.
Through countless eons, I laid still but my will was strong and I found a way to manipulate the material around me while out of the rock, I formed the body thou seest before thee before I created a passage so full of peril and danger that only the greatest of warriors can pass...for you see, the only entry into Valhalla is to fall in combat to another warrior and thou are the only ones to survive," the former king finished while Jack and I were rendered speechless for different reasons, then I sighed and looked up at the man while I felt awful for him.
"God...I'm truly sorry you have to go through something so terrible," I said solemnly and the king turned his attention to me with a small smile.
"As written, the truth has been told so my fate is at your mercy," the king told me and Jack, causing me to look hesitant since I haven't killed someone who requests it, but this poor man was suffering a horrific hell that Aku was responsible for and Jack and I couldn't leave him like this, so we stood up and pulled out our swords while holding steely glares.
"Prepare yourself," Jack said firmly and the king smiled eagerly as he raised his sword.
"At last...the gates of Valhalla open to me!" the king declared victoriously before he attacked with a swing of his sword, Jack and I meeting his blade with ours as they clanged loudly before we struggled for dominance.
The king managed to force our swords away and swung at us, making me and Jack dodge a few times while we slashed him again and the king roared before he sent us to the ground rolling until we came to a stop near each other.
"Rise, warriors, rise! Honorably, I must be defeated so I cannot let up!" the king encouraged while I groaned in pain, but I grabbed my sword's handle and got up with Jack doing the same thing while his hair was disheveled and coming undone.
"Don't worry, we're not finished yet," I growled as the samurai and I held our swords up before charging forward.
The fight continued with the king swinging his sword to bring us down, only we dodged and slashed him a few times while he screamed in agony before Jack and I were batted away with a hand as we flipped upright in mid-air until attacking the king again relentlessly, the king blocking our strikes with his sword as the fight went on and it finally ended when Jack and I got past his defenses to stab him in the abdomen before the king let out a pained sound until his stone body started cracking and he smiled in relief.
"After all these years, my freedom has arrived," the king gasped joyfully while he slumped to his knees and raised his arms victoriously before shouting, "Accursed monster, your spell is broken!"
As he said that, his stone body started bursting with light while Jack and I backed up until I was forced to shield my eyes while the king roared before there was a flash of light, then it died down and I uncovered my eyes before I was astonished to see a large burly man with long blond hair and dressed as a nordic Viking while my mouth dropped open at how he was released from his curse.
"I am free! At last, my flesh is restored...the curse is lifted," the king said happily as he lowered his arms and smiled at us, then I was shocked to see him aging rapidly into an old man before he dropped his sword and laid down onto his back with a tired smile as Jack and I hurried over to him.
"Warrior? I...we..." Jack tried to say and the king sent us a look of reassurance.
"Don't worry, my friends...please hand me my sword," the king requested, causing me to holster my sword and I got the king's blade before gently handing it to him as he placed it against his chest.
"Thank you," the king told me until he closed his eyes peacefully.
At that moment, a light shined down on us as Jack and I looked up before we started appearing stunned as two warrior women on horses descended before us and landed onto the stone while staring at us, then one of the women got off her horse and went over to pick up the king before getting back onto her horse and the two women went back up into the light with their new passenger, but not before the king sent us one last grateful smile before they were gone and the light faded away.
I couldn't help but tear up at the incredible sight I had just witnessed and took out my sketchbook to draw what I saw, as well as the king as his younger self with a few other Nordic people that flashed in my mind before I finished drawing and put away my sketchbook, then I saw Jack at the stone tablet engraving something on it with a sharp piece of metal before he met up with me and we went to leave, just as I made the decision that we would help anyone we come across during our journey while we left the mountain and continued traveling through the plains.
A/N Hey everyone, such an emotional ending where freeing the king from his curse has inspired Brad to help people during his journey with Jack and you could say that it gives him hope throughout his situation, so let me know what you think and stay tuned because one of my favorite characters will be introduced in the next chapter and I can't wait to write down his interaction with Jack and Brad.