OoO( 27 )OoO
Dark clouds covered the coast as the warrior ran down the coastline. Only a few steps behind him, a creature almost as white as the snow itself followed him. Together they pounded the ice and snow as they sprinted across mountain and tundra. As the warrior ran, he slowly recalled what happened back in his house.
OoOoO
Lyle knelt down and stared at the girl. "Are you...the Angel of Death?" he asked.
She looked at him, fear etched into every inch of her pretty face. "P-Please don't kill me! Please!" she shouted.
Lyle's face turned from confused to enraged. "You mean like you were about to do to me? And in my sleep too! How cowardly can an assassin be?" he shouted.
"I'm not an assassin!" she shouted. They stared at each other a moment before she continued. "Or, at least not yet." she said.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, I work for the Dark Hand Bandit's. But at my age, they really only have use of me as a servant. So, I decided that I wanted to move up in the ranks. And I heard the leader talking to my big sister about wanting to assassinate you. So, I thought if I killed you first, they would make me an assassin and quit making me do slave work." she said.
"Your big sister huh? Who is she?" he asked curiously.
"Well, she isn't really my sister. I just call her that because she always looks out for me."
"Who is she? She must be pretty good for them to send her after me." he said.
The girl nodded excitedly. "Oh yeah! She's the best! They call her the Angel of Death because nobody can shoot a bow like her!" she said.
"A bow? What's she like?" he asked.
The girl scratched her head a moment. "Well, she's really nice to me. All the men drool over her and say that she is the biggest babe in all of Albion. She protects me from anyone who hits me or treats me like a slave, even our master."
Getting interested, Lyle persisted with his questions. "Where did she come from?" he asked.
"Nobody really knows. She was washed up on the beach one day all bruised and battered. When she woke up, she said she didn't remember who she was or where she came from. So our master made her into a slave, but when she got ahold of a bow, she was quickly made into a top assassin because of her skill with it." she said.
Lyle's eyes went wide. Grabbing the girl by her shoulders, he yelled, "What does she look like?"
"She is tall and skinny with long blonde hair and bright green eyes...hey that hurts!" shouted the girl as Lyle clenched her shoulder harder.
Lyle let go of her and stood up. "What's your name?" he asked.
"My name? My name is Aerika...why?" she asked.
Smiling, Lyle began to strap his armor onto his body. "Well Aerika, what would you say if I were to tell you that I could free you from that bandit camp?" he asked.
"That's not possible. If I run, they will track me down and kill me." she said sadly.
Lyle, still smiling as he buckled his sword over his back continued. "Well, it will be hard to come after you if they are all dead." he said.
She looked up at him flabbergasted. "You can't be serious! You're going to take on an entire bandit camp by yourself? Are you insane!" she shouted.
"I've done it before, I can do it again. Now, would you like to be free from them, or go back and tell them that I'm coming. Because either way, I'm going." he said. "Don't worry, I don't intend on killing your big sister. When I am finished, she can come and live here with you." he said.
The girls expression instantly brightened. "That sounds great!" she shouted.
"Good, now wait here til I get back." he said as he pryed his katana from the door.
"Wait!" she shouted. He turned and looked at her. "Be careful...big brother." she said. Lyle smiled at her sweetly, then walked down the stairs. As he left the house, he heard growling to his right. Looking beside the door, he saw a white dog standing in the attack position.
"Hey Aerika! Is this your dog?" asked Lyle. The girl peeked over the balcony.
"Yeah, his name is Samba. And he's a wolf, not a dog. Please take him with you!" she shouted. "Samba, go with big brother to free big sister from the bandits!" she shouted. The white wolf looked up at her, then back at Lyle. The warrior dashed off towards the north, and the wolf quickly followed him.
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Together they stood in front of the giant black gates of the bandit camp. Into the gate was carved a large clawed hand grasping a skull. Both warrior and wolf stared at the portal, then began to walk towards it.
"The Dark Hand huh? Are you ready for this?" he asked the wolf. The creature kept trotting next to the hero as if saying 'yes'. When they reached they gates, Lyle placed both hands flat against the black wood. "Stand back. I don't want you getting burned." he said. The wolf obeyed and took a few steps back. When he knew his partner was out of harms reach, he looked at the gate. "Now, burn in Hell." he said. Fire sprang forth and crawled along the wooden structure as if it was alive. In no time at all, the gate caught fire and screams could be heard from the other side.
Lyle looked up at the two towers on either side of the gate as he heard yells of his presense. "There is somebody out there! He burned the gate!" shouted one of them. All eight of the men on the towers pulled out bows and notched arrows to them. But, none of them were able to fire before being consumed in an inferno. Lyle had created two fireballs larger than his torso and hurled them at the archer towers. Both structures burst into flames and anybody on the towers was burned alive.
"Lets get rid of this scum." said Lyle, and together they charged the gate. Using force magic, he blew the gates to pieces and ran through the flaming gateway. Together, they attacked the camp like a wraith, slaughtering all who stood before them. The wolf tore at flesh with his razor sharp fangs and dagger like claws, while Lyle carved a path through the confused bandit horde. But, numbers eventually got the best of them. The warrior turned to the wolf and yelled, "Get to higher ground!" Instantly, the creature flew off and climbed a stairway that led to the battlements. The warrior smiled and turned to the horde in front of him. His demeanor changed again. "All who wish to walk away with your lives, leave now." he said. But the bandits just circled him and began to close in. Lyle smirked. "Very well, then your fate is death. You had better pray to Avo while you still have a chance." he said, then raised his fist high into the air.
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Aerika stood on the balcony and looked to the north. With her elbow in the rail and her chin on her palm, she began to talk to herself. "Hmmm...I wonder if big brother can actually defeat lord Rojack and the rest of the horde. I mean, he says he has fought an entire horde before, but this is the biggest bandit company in Albion." she said. She sighed deeply before remarking, "Well, I hope he's okay."
Suddenly, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she saw the north sky light up with crimson. It looked as if the sun was rising, but the scene had more of a dead look to it. "D-Did big brother do that?" she shouted.
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William ran as fast as he could across the guild grounds. He dashed inside the building and up the stairs, into his friend the dark mages room. He walked over and grabbed Van, ripping him from the bed.
Angrily, Van looked up and yelled, "What the hell? I was having a good dream!"
"No time Van! You have to come and see this!" he shouted. Van saw the look of urgency across his friends face, then immediately jumped to his feet. Together they left the building and climbed the highest tower in the guild, where Maze was already waiting. Van stared open mouthed at the scene on the horizon.
"W-What the hell is that?" he asked.
"Its magical fire." said the older mage. "Van, do you remember when you and Lyle were children? When Lyle took his Will exam and countered with a new technique?" asked Maze.
"Yeah, he made the entire guild light up with it. Even the scholars said that their candles had melted due to the heat, and their library was on the other side of the guild." he said. Then he looked back at the horizon. "Is...Is that Lyle?" he shouted.
"Yes, he is attacking the Dark Hand bandit camp." said William.
"Then what are we waiting for? We have to help him!" shouted the young mage.
"We can't. When Lyle used that attack, it disrupted all of the cullis gates across Albion. Now, none of them work and it will be tomorrow before any of them can be fixed." said Maze.
Van slammed a fist against the stone window ledge. "Then what the hell do we do?" he shouted.
Maze sighed and shook his head sorrowfully. "Pray."
OoOoO
Thunder sat in the tavern of Knothole Glade, drinking and being merry with his friends. After doing his time for attacking Lyle, he was released and rather enjoyed his freedom. Together, they all sat and sang together a song of getting rid of their wives for gold, when a wave of energy collided with all of them. They were all thrown from their seats and onto the floor.
"What in bloody hell was that?" asked one of the men. Thunder immediately got to his feet and ran outside. Climbing the tower in the center of the city, he looked out over the trees and the sea and saw the sky glowing red. Many of the townspeople had followed him up the tower until it stood packed to the edges. But they all stared in awe as the crimson sky burned like a collosal beacon.
"What is that?" asked a frightened woman.
Thunder never took his eyes off the scene and said one word. "Lyle..."
OoOoO
Fire tore from the ground and vaporized any lifeform in its path. Though the fire was contained within the stone walls of the fortress, the heat could be felt for miles. The wolf had hidden itself inside one of the buildings and was safe from the fire, but the heat was quickly taking its toll on the creature.
Lyle's fist rose from the ground and instantly the fire vanished. All the bandits, all the plantlife, all the snow, and all the wood within the fortress were gone from existence. All that was left was charred land and black stone. The warrior walked forward, his former killing instinct wearing off. The main building of the camp sat twenty feet in front of him. "Come out! I know you are in there!" he shouted.
Two figures stepped out from the building. One was a warrior like Lyle, with a mane-like beard and black armor. Upon his back was a giant axe, and he wore a menacing look. The other was a beautiful woman. Tall and slender, she wore white armor over her chest and waist, with a short white skirt and cloak, both ruffling in the wind. In her right hand, she held the largest bow he had ever seen, made from black wood with a red hand guard. Her long hair flowed down her back and was tamed only by a white band of cloth tied around the bottom.
"Let me ask you something warrior. Why have you come to my camp and destroyed everything that I have worked to build?" asked the man.
Lyle looked at him murderously. "I didn't come here to destroy anything. I gave your men a chance to throw down their weapons but they refused. It's their fault that I destroyed everything." he said.
The man sighed and rubbed his head. "So. If you didn't come here to kill my men, then why did you?" he asked.
Lyle looked at the woman staring at him. "I came for her." he said.
Rojack, the leader of the Dark Hand looked from Lyle to the woman. "And what buisiness do you have with my assassin?" he asked.
The warrior smirked. "That is none of your concern." he said. "Now, I offer you the same chance I gave your men. Stand down and you won't be harmed. But choose to fight, and you will suffer the same fate they did."
Rojack smiled for a moment, then began laughing loudly. "You really think that you can beat me because you took out my horde!" he shouted. After his episode of laughing was finished, he turned grim faced. Looking at the woman standing next to him, he said, "Kill him."
The woman grabbed an arrow and placed it on the bow. Pulling the string back, she aimed strait at Lyle. Lyle walked forward and stopped ten feet from her. "Are you going to kill me?" he asked.
Rojack looked at his assassin confusedly. "What are you waiting for? Kill him!" he shouted. But, she didn't move.
She stared at Lyle nervously, her grip on the arrow loosening. "Wh-Who are you?" she asked.
Smiling at her gently, he walked up the stairs until he was right in front of her. "You don't recognize me?" he asked. She said nothing as he got closer. Leaning forward, he kissed her, stunning both her and Rojack.
"What the hell?" shouted the bandit leader. He pulled his axe off and swung at Lyle. But, his weapon fell limply from his hands as an arrow flew strait through his chest and buried itself halfway through the stone wall. He looked down at the wound, then at the woman who had fired it. "B-But...why?" he asked. Then, he fell over onto the charred stone dead.
The assassin turned back to Lyle. Dropping the bow she stared at him. Her memories flooded into her head as she stared into his icy eyes. When she came to the guild, when she met Maze and the guildmaster, when she met Lyle, when she graduated from apprenticeship, and when she was hurled away from the coast by the snow troll. She stared at him a long time, tears pouring from her eyes as her memories came back to her in an instant. "L-Lyle..." she said.
The warrior nodded and she jumped forward, wrapping her arms around him and sobbing her heart out. Lyle hugged her tightly, savoring every last second as if it were a dream about to slip away. "I finally kept my promise to you...Alex." he said, then kissed her again...