Ch 3: Flames of Torment

Damion woke in the dinning hall, sweating inteansly. He sat up and felt a searing pain flow throughout his body. A hand pressed against his chest and forced him to lay back. He rolled over as the pain in his body got more intense and he vomited on the floor. He rolled back as the pain subsided

He glanced up at the woman who was tending to his wounds and saw the girl that had sat with him earlier. "I really wouldn't recommend sitting up that fast again, it'll only spread the poison."

Poison? He thought to himself. What the hell does she mean poison?

He went to open his mouth but couldn't say anything. "Don't worry," she said. "You'll be fine, there's not enough there to kill you, it just made you very sick."

He realized that this was the first time she had ever spoken to him. He pushed himself up slightly and smiled at her. She went to push him back down but he shook his head. He grabbed a flask filled with water and downed it. He turned to her and smiled again, she blushed. "What was that thing that attacked me?" He asked.

She shook her head. "You'll have to ask the guild master, he's the one who found you."

"Ask me what?" The old man said as he stepped into the room.

"What... happened to me?" Damion asked him as he rubbed his neck, trying to lossen up his mucles.

"This could take a bit, I was hoping this would never happen but." He turned to the girl. "Mia, could you give us a moment." The girl nodded and walked out of the room, leaving the two alone. "Now Damion I'm sure you know about your blood line by this point in time."

"I've known ever since I was a child. Why? What does that have to do with this?"

The guild master sighed and sat down beside the apprentice. "That thing that attacked you... It was you."

Damion looked up at him in disbeleave. "How the hell is that possible? I can't be in to places at once, and that was a kid that attacked me."

"Yes it was a child that attacked you, but did you see his mask?" Damion nodded and he continued. "That was the same mask the your ancestor, Jack of blades wore. He's trying to get your powers so he can use them."

"How is that possible?" Damion asked him. "Jack died deacades ago, everyone knows that. Plus my families his only living decendants."

The Guild Master sighed once more as he placed one of his hands on Damion's shoulder. "The reason that he could effect you is because he's in the guild, he always has been."

Damion looked at him, shocked."How is that possible. No one has ever seen him since the night he was killed."

"He wasn't killed," said the Guild Master. "He was vanquished, he was never killed. He was defeated in the Guild and he's trying to get loose."

"But why?" Damion asked. "Why now? I've been here for years. He could have bone this at any time."

"Well it has to do with your age," said the Guild Master. "As you get older, your powers get stronger. Now that your powers have reached a point where you are ready to become a hero he saw his oppertunity."

Damion nodded as he stood up shakely. "So where is he, in the guild?"

The Guild Master stood up and beackoned for Mia to come back into the room. She grabbed Damion's arm, steadying him. He smiled at her and tried to straighten up.

He felt nauseous and almost fell backward. He felt Mia's grip tighten on him as she tried to get him to stand normally. Damion leaned forward as the felling subsidded and his head stopped spinning.

The guild master smiled and began to walk out of the room. Damion followed him with the help of Mia as they exited the room.

They walked up a small set of steps and into the map room. They turned right and walked into the guild library.

Damion clutched one of the many book shelves as Mia released him. "What's so special about the library?" Damion asked as he puleed himself up to his full height. "I've been in here many times and there hasn't been the slightest thing I'd call strange."

The guild master sighed as he walked tothe back of the room. "Its not the library that's important," he said. "It's what's behind it that is important."

with that he grabbed the bookshelf closest to him and pushed it aside, revealing a large doorway. He walked into theentrance with Damion and mia close on his heels.

As they stepped into the entrance a cold gust of wind met them. Damion shivered as he looked around the dark room that they stood in.

There were two sets of tourches were at either end of the room. The middle was darkened to the point where it almost looked like there was nothing there.

Damion looked to the side and saw a railing. He realized that he was standing on a bridge. He clutched the railing and leaned over it. He saw that the bridge was streatching across a large cavern, to which he could not see the bottom.

He heard a creaking noise and he looked up. The Guild Masterhad pushed open a large set of oak doors and was looking at Damion.

"Watch howyou look over the edge, I'm not really sure howfar down that goes."

Damion straightened up and hobbled toward theGuild Master. As he got to the doors he feltMia pull away from him. He looked to her, confused.

"I can't go in there," she said as he leaned against the railing. "Besides, I doubt I want to go in there if its the cause of all this trouble. I'll wait out here while you and the GuildMaster go in."

Damion nodded as he stumbled into the next room. He leaned against the doorway as he looked into the room.

There were tourches all around the circular room. Along the walls were many tapastrys that seemed to show the life of some great hero. Then Damion's eyes fell one of the tapastrys that had a painting of a man wearing a red cloak.

H reaconized it to be Jack of Blades and he tried to look away but could not. Jack's eyes seemed to burn into his. He tore away from it and looked to the center of the room. There was a small rising in the center and there seemed to be a reddish light coming from there.

He looked at theGuildMaster and then back to thelight. "What do you see Damion?" the old man asked him.

Damion stayed silent and walked toward it.Thelight seemed to call out to him and he quickened his pace, ignoring the pain that the posion was inflicting upon him.

As he came within a fewstepsof the light he felt an odd burning sensation. He fell to the ground as a pain the likes of which he had nver felt before consumed him. He looked up to see flames now shooting from the center of the room.

He gasped as a hand reached out of thefloor, seemingly trying to pull itself up. The hand seemed tohave claw-like nails on it.

Damion tried desperatly to stand as the figure of Jack was pulled from the ground. He looked back to find the doors of the room closed and the Guild Master nowhere in sight.

He began to black out asthe figure that seemed to be Jack lifted him from the ground.