OoO( 15 )OoO
Jack walked down the cold and clammy hallway, his armor slightly rattling and sending an echo across the corridor. Finally, he reached a door. He placed a hand on the iron ring and pulled the door open, entering the room where he had kept her. Looking to his right, he saw the iron bars that detained the old woman, keeping her from seeing daylight.
He approached and stared at the old woman. She was old, but still strong willed. She saw him and glared at him through the mask that tightly hugged his face. "What do you want you murderer?" she asked.
"Oh just the usual, coming here to convince you to tell me how to get the key." said Jack almost mockingly.
"You can ask all you want. You can starve me, torture me, even cut me piece by piece. But never will I tell you what you want to know about the key." she said visciously.
Jack sighed. "Oh Scarlett my dear, why do you do this to yourself? You know that as soon as I get the key, you will be set free, no chains attached." he said. Scarlett secretly wrapped her hand tightly around the leg of the stool she was sitting on.
"I know your lies Jack, I can see right through you." she said. She pulled the leg off the stool and managed to keep her balance.
"Then...I shall have to convince your son to tell me." he said. Scarlett's wrinkled face turned from anger to surprise.
"M-My son is alive?" she asked, almost dropping the weapon.
"Oh yes, and very healthy as well. Maze has been training him ever since that fateful day that I burned your village and killed your husband. He really is quite the energetic one." said Jack. "Did you know that he has been invited to the Witchwood Arena? I guess it comes to no surprise, it does run in the blood after all doesn't it?"
Scarlett snapped. Taking the leg of the stool, she hurled it through the iron bars and smashed into Jack's mask, making it slip off of his face. Jack stumbled backwards and grabbed his mask as quickly as possible. He covered his face until he quickly slipped the mask back on. When he finished he glared at her with his icy gaze. "You leave my son out of this you monster!" she shouted.
Jack approached her and held up his hand. Suddenly, a purple glow shot from his hand and grabbed her like a phantom hand, stealing her life away. She fell to the ground as the spell slowly pulled her life from her body. Jack lowered his hand and continued to glare at her. "Oh, I won't touch Lyle, as long as he cooperates with me. Otherwise, I can't really say what I would do if he says no." Scarlett lay on the ground gasping for air as the color drained from her face. "As for you, once your usefulness had ended, I will take pleasure in peeling the skin from your bones. But, until then, you will stay here and watch as I do to your son what I have done to you for years!" he shouted. Turning away from his victim, he walked back out the door and slammed it behind him. "Maze...its time." he said.
OoOoO
The man looked up as the two shadowy figures stood over him with their blades at his throat. "Are you the one they call the Archeologist?" asked one of them. He slowly nodded his head, and they both put their swords away. Lyle lit a nearby lantern with a fireball and held it up examining the man. "I have come to find you at the request of Maze." he said.
The man seemed outraged. Standing up he glared at Lyle and Talon both. "Damn! If you two can find me, then so can 'they'! Thanks a lot you two, you have just ruined my hiding place!" he shouted.
"I'm sorry we have compromised your hiding, but we were sent to find you. So aim your anger elsewhere." said Lyle angrily. The man shut up and walked over to the cart. Sloppily, he started to gather his things and cram them into the cart. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"Away from here, if they find me, they'll torture me for information." he said aggitatedly.
"You will come to the guild with us." said Talon.
"I'm afraid not. That would be no different from walking into the enemy fort itself." he said, starting to grab the barrels and slide them into the cart.
"What do you mean?" asked Lyle.
"Spies you twit! They are everywhere, even the Phoenix Guild has no way of telling who is a spy and who isn't. You can't trust anyone these days, so I'm going elsewhere to hide. And you two, quit looking for me!" he shouted.
Lyle walked up to him with a smile. "Of course we will, once you come to the guild with us."
"I'm not going to the guild! As I told you before..." he shouted and turned around. But he was quickly grabbed by the collar and lifted off the ground. Lyle drew his sword and held it barely a centimeter from the mans neck.
"I have tried to ask you nicely, but still you persist in saying no. Now, one way or another I am bringing you back to the guild. You can make it easy on yourself and come willingly, or do I have to tie you up and gag you?" he said angrily. The Archeologist struggled with Lyle's hand, but quickly found his attempt futile.
"F-Fine, I will go with you to the guild, but only under a few conditions..." gurgled the man.
Lyle set the man down and stared. "What?"
"I be assigned a hero to constantly watch me, twenty-four hours a day to ensure my safety." he said. Lyle nodded. "I get to pick that hero, I can usually tell the difference between a good and evil hero." Lyle waited for a second, then nodded again. "And third...nobody in the guild is to know who I am except for the Guildmaster and Maze."
"You know, you talk too much." said Talon irritatedly.
"Alright. Now get in the cart so we can leave." he said.
"You are going to pull the cart?" asked the man slightly surprised.
"No offense against you, but I believe that I can pull it a lot faster than you can." he said.
"Oh...no offense taken."
"Good, now lets go. Talon, you get on too." he said as he grabbed the two handles in the front of the cart, obviously meant to be strapped to a horse. Lifting it with ease, he slowly pulled it forward, then began to gain momentum as he jogged down the tunnel.
OoOoO
Lyle had pulled the cart all the way past the Temple of Avo when he was stopped by a pleading man. The man approached Lyle sobbing histerically. Lyle put the front of the cart down and ran to the man.
"P-Please, you must come quickly! My wife is being attacked by a balverine!" shouted the man.
Lyle glared at him visciously. "And you left her there to die?" he shouted. Not even stopping to listen to the mans response, Lyle ran past him and in the direction the man had pointed.
"Cummon!" shouted Talon and she grabbed the Archeologist's arm, jerking him forward and running after Lyle.
Lyle smiled as he reached the spot. There was no balverine, there wasn't even a wife. He stood surrounded by bandits, all eyeing him greedily. "So, a bandit ambush huh?" he asked. Drawing his sword, he smiled even wider.
"What you smilin' about pretty boy? You think you can take us all?" asked their leader.
"Oh no..." said another bandit. "Boss...don't make him mad! That's Sabre!" he shouted.
"You mean that brat hero that killed my brother Mikal?" he asked.
"And defeated Twinblade! I was there and he turned into something evil, he caught an arrow with his bare hand!" shouted another bandit.
Their leader walked forward smiling, ignoring the advice from his men. "So, I finally get to take revenge on my brothers killer." he said to himself. "So, this here weakling defeated Twinblade?"
"I will say this and I will say it only once. All bandits who wish to live will throw their weapons down right now." said Lyle. The leader stepped up to him still smiling.
"Or what?" he said jabbing his fingers at Lyle's shoulder. Lyle looked at his fingers, then back at the man. Within a split second, Lyle's sword was in the air. Lyle held his sword up after the lightning fast attack, letting the sun shine off of the blood that dripped from the blade. The leader stood only a moment before blood seeped from the fault. Falling to the ground, his two halves splitting apart and falling seperate ways. The entire group of bandits immediately dropped their weapons and fell face first to the ground in defeat. Lyle swung his sword, sending the bandits blood flying off his blade, then sheathed it over his back. Walking away from the kneeling bandits, he spotted the two passengers of the cart.
"T-That was amazing! I barely saw you move!" said the Archeologist in complete astonishment.
Lyle waved the compliment away and said, "Lets get back to the cart. We still have a ways to go to the ferry." he said as he walked away from them.
OoOoO
The guild was cheerful and sunny when the passengers arrived at the guild. As they entered the Bowerstone pass, Lyle had the Archeologist hide inside the cart so he wouldn't be recognized by the passing citizens. He travelled, with great strain, up the hill to the guild and pulled the cart behind him. Finally he kicked the door open and hauled the cart into the large entrance.
"Lyle!" shouted Maze as he approached. "What are you doing? You are supposed to be looking for the Archeologist." he said annoyedly.
Lyle glared at him as he caught his breath. "Shut up...I just found a friend of yours." he said. The scientist crawled out of the cart and stepped onto the stone floor of the guild.
"Hello again Maze." said the man. Maze looked at him surprisedly.
"Oh, hello again my old friend. Its good to see you." he said. "Come with me to my chamber and we shall speak." he said as he led the Archeologist away.
Lyle glared at Maze and said, "Your welcome."
Van walked out of the mess hall at that moment and spotted Lyle, who was staring at Maze. "Hey Lyle, where have you been?" he asked.
Lyle said nothing for a few seconds, then replied, "Is it just me or has Maze been acting strange lately?" he asked.
Van looked at Maze as he exited and nodded. "I agree. Something just isn't right about him." said Van. Then, he looked over and noticed Talon. "Who is your friend here?"
Both Lyle and Talon looked at Van before he spoke. "Oh, this is a good friend of mine. She is the Queen of the Bandits. Her name is Talon." said Lyle. Then he turned to Talon. "This is my close friend Vangard, we grew up together."
Van slugged Lyle in his arm for using his full first name, then turned to Talon. "It's nice to meet you, but you can call me Van. I must admit, its strange to see Lyle working next to a bandit." he said. Then Lyle punched him back, sending Van sprawling.
Turning to them both, Lyle said, "Well, now that I have that out of the way, I guess I better prepare for the Arena."
"You are going to the Arena?" shouted Talon. Lyle jumped in surprise at her outburst, but collected himself.
"Yes, I was invited to enter it tomorrow. So I guess I better get to Knothole Glade and take a rest there before I do." he said.
"Can I go?" she asked. Lyle and Van stared at her. "I've always wanted to watch the Arena battles, but its way too expensive for me." she said.
Lyle smiled slightly. "Alright, but you owe me one. And I own you until you pay me back." he said jokingly.
"Deal!" she shouted excitedly. Lyle and Van's eyes widened at this exclamation.
"W-Wait...I was just kidd..."
"There you are farmboy, I thought you had chickened out on me for a second." said Whisper as she came down the stairs. "Lets get going to Knothole Glade, we should rest before we fight tomorrow."
Lyle smiled and said, "You read my mind. So, lets get going before someone else asks for a favor." he said. Together, Lyle, Whisper, Talon, and Van all went through the cullis gate and headed to Knothole Glade.