OoO( 43 )OoO

The woman dodged as a dark tentacle swiped at her head. She rolled across the ground and ran forward, towards the dark beast in front of her. He stood tall, at least nine feet with two brilliant glowing eyes. His body was black as the night with two wicked looking horns growing out of the side of his head. He laughed as he toyed with the woman who defied him. Large black appendages grew out of his body and slammed the ground in an attempt to hit her, but she was fast. However this did not concern him. If he truly wanted her dead he would merely take back the mark that kept her alive.

Alex dodged again, slicing through the dark matter with her blade. She ran towards the dark being that was laughing out loud. "Why is it that you fight a battle you know can't be won?" he asked in his mocking voice. She growled and jumped into the air. Another whip-like limb flew through the air and smacked her in the side, making her spin. The beast laughed as he saw her falling to the ground. Suddenly, there was a flash and a loud roar.

OoOoO

Lyle couldn't fight. His only actions in the battle were only to defend himself and he couldn't even do that for long. He stood as the enemy, now airborne, flew at him and used the sword to create a mass of black magic that hurled him against the wall, causing it to crack and sending his consciousness to its limit. He fell to the ground and opened his eyes. Getting to his hands and knees he coughed and blood dripped onto the ground. He didn't know what happened. He knew that this was the incarnation of whatever the others saw in him. But he had no knowledge of it himself. He only knew that he fought through impossible battles and come out alive because of this. And now, if this was his drive to live then how was he going to defeat it.

"Why?" asked Lyle. The dark warrior stopped and looked at Lyle. "Why did you use me?" he asked.

The dark swordsman smiled. "It is simple. You were easy to use." it said in a demonic voice. "Your little lover asked me to watch over you. She had no idea the power she had just put into my hands." he said.

Lyle immediately looked up at the demon and stood to his feet. "What the hell are you talking about!" he shouted.

The entity laughed out loud, making Lyle clench his fists. "What? She didn't tell you? Your little friend Alexandria sold her soul to me the day she was killed on Hook Coast. She sold her soul to me for two things. The chance to see you one more time, and that I protect you from harm. So, since you were younger I have been making sure that you survive until this day. The opportunity that you have given me is too great to pass up, even if I do have to give her soul back to her. Albion is right here and because of her deal with me I can now take over the overworld!" he shouted as he held up the sword. "From the moment you touched this sword, you gave me the power to enter this world and conquer everything! And you made it so easy for me. All that hatred you had, all that built up loathing for bandits made it so easy to taint your soul. And now, because you couldn't let go of your hatred I have become the new ruler of the overwold!"

Lyle grabbed his blade and ran foward with lightning speed. Skorm saw the action just in time to raise his arm as the blade sunk to the hilt in his limb. He smirked and laughed at the warriors attempt. He kicked Lyle, sending the warrior backwards. "You cannot harm me. You are a mortal...ARGH!" he shouted loudly as a white beam of light streaked where the sword had pierced.

OoOoO

"W...What is this!" shouted Skorm as Alex's blade sunk into his arm, causing massive pain in his ligament. He pulled the blade free and watched as the bright wound sealed up. "What is the meaning of this! I can't be harmed by a mortal!" he shouted looking at the blade. He noticed the blood stained metal, then looked at Alex.

She smiled as she pulled another blade similar to the first from her back. They were short, only meant for close range if anyone got past her bow, which was near impossible. She took the edge of the blade and cut the wound on her arm open again, letting the blood flow onto the blade. "You don't even know who it is you put under contract. What kind of simple minded hellitic demon are you Skorm?" she asked. He roared and the fire surrounding the room flared into an inferno.

"You may have your soul back with the breaking of your contract, but how do you expect to escape from here without me?" he asked her smartly, laughing to himself.

She smiled back. "You really are ignorant for the king of demons." she said calmly, making him growl in fury. "It was never my intention to escape this place. I intend to keep you here in hell where you belong. And using the blood of Avo that flows in my veins, I will gladly sacrifice myself to keep you from stepping a foot beyond this realm." she said.

"No...you can't be..." said the demon as she approached him with her new weapon. "You are the descendant of Avo!" he asked. She said nothing as she stepped closer and closer. He backed up a little bit before hurling more vine-like claws at her.

OoOoO

Lyle took his chance when the demon roared and ran forward again. Jerking his blade free, he slashed the beast across the chest, then spun around and sunk the blade hilt deep into its chest. He stepped away and turned around. His eyes widened when he saw the demonic figure rip the blade from its chest and the wounds heal immediately. Energy surged from the figure sending Lyle flying back and smashing into the ground again along with the blade. He grabbed the sword and got to his feet, then ran at the opponent. He swung his blade at the same time as the demon.

His eyes widened in horror as the strength the demon exerted severed his blade from the hilt. The top half of the sword pinged off the ground and lay flat. Lyle stared at the hilt of his blade stunned. The demon raised his sword and slashed Lyle, the power of the sword blowing him back and cutting through his thick armor. Lyle smashed into the wall again, his armor falling to pieces on the ground leaving a large bleeding cut across his chest. He fell to his knees attempting to cover his bleeding wound. Skorm wasted no time in attacking again. Gathering energy into his limbs, he threw his arms forward an sent a dark wave of energy crashing into the warrior.

Lyle had never felt anything as painful in his life as he had when he was hit. It was as if a thousand burning knives were carving his body into shreds. Suddenly, Talon woke from her injury and shook her head. She tried standing but her legs were weak from the last attack she suffered. Suddenly, she heard the screaming of someone suffering beyond torture. She cleared her vision and saw Lyle suspended in the air covered in a cloud of dark energy. His whole body was shaking and he was screaming louder than she had ever heard anyone scream before. She quickly grabbed her blade lying next to her and used it to get shakily to her feet.

Lyle fell from the air and slammed into the ground unconscious. The demon laughed loudly and walked towards the fallen warrior. Suddenly, Theresa walked into the room and looked at the demonic figure standing over her brother. "So, its you." she said, making him turn towards her. "You are the infestation my brother had to suffer with. I remember you from Twinblade's Camp." she said as she approached.

"And you are his sister. The seer if I am not mistaken." he said as he looked away from the warrior.

She smiled. "Yes. And I have forseen your destruction dark one. You will not succeed in your plan to take this world." she said with confidence. Skorm yelled a battle cry and shot a blast of energy at her. Out of nowhere, Lyle jumped in the way, taking the blast full force and falling to the ground, gasping as blood poured from his open wounds. Theresa stepped back towards the door as her brother attempted to rise again. "Lyle, everyone has been evacuated from the guild. There is nobody that can get hurt by your power now. I know you can defeat him." she said as her brother stood to his feet again, the cut on his chest now flowing again.

Skorm flew forward and blasted Lyle again with the dark energy. He slammed against the far wall causing it to collapse, letting the night air into the chamber. Lyle coughed up blood again, looking up at his impending doom through blurry eyes. Skorm walked forward to finish the work when suddenly two blades exploded from his chest. Talon sank the blades in and ran to Lyle's side immediately. "Lyle, wake up Lyle!" she shouted as she slapped his cheek gently. "Lyle! Get up!" she said. Then, she gasped as she felt a sharp pain. Lyle's eyes opened and looked at the expression of horror on her face. He looked down, and saw the sword of Aeons sticking out of her stomach.

She was lifted from the ground and suspended in the air right in front of him. The girl looked down at the blade and grabbed it as if it wasn't real. Suddenly, it was thrust further, causing blood to spray onto the warriors shocked face. She tried to say something, but words wouldn't come from her mouth as tears began to fall down her cheeks. Lyle rose to his knees, staring in disbelief at what was in front of his face. The demon grabbed her by the throat and ripped the sword from her back, then threw her onto the floor right in front of the hero.

Lyle crawled over to her and looked down at her. She looked up at him and coughed, letting blood spill down her cheek as she tried to cover her wound with her hands. "Maria..." he said as he cradled her head. He placed his hand on hers and concentrated on using his magic to heal her. But no matter how much energy he put into it, it wouldn't heal.

"It's afflicted with dark magic. It won't heal." said Theresa as she felt her own tears starting to flow.

Lyle looked at her panicked. "Maria..." he said as his eyes watered. "Maria, it'll be okay. We'll get you help." he said. She smiled at him, finally finding her words.

"L...Lyle..." she said as she raised her hand and stroked his already tear stained cheek. "I...I'm happy..." she said quietly. "Thank...Thank you...for everything..." she said.

"Don't say that!" he shouted through choked tears. "You aren't leaving me!"

"I'll...see you again...promise me..." she said closing her eyes. "Please promise..."

He let out a sob. "I promise you…we will see each other again." He said and she smiled with her eyes still closed.

"Good…I will see…you soon." She said as her arm fell limp. Lyle stared at her for a moment before he shaking her gently.

"Maria…Maria, wake up!" he said loudly. But she didn't say anything. She just lay in his arms with a small smile on her face. Lyle could no longer hold himself together. All the tears he had held back flooded from his eyes as he hugged her small form tightly. "I promise you, I will make him pay for taking you away from me…." He said. Gently he leaned down and kissed her smiling lips.

"How amusing to see such a great hero break down over a little girl." Said the demonic figure laughing loudly. "Don't worry. You will see her again soon." He said as he charged and fired another dark energy blast at the hero. Lyle looked up at the oncoming attack and raised his arm slowly, then backhanded it, sending it crashing into a wall. The wall exploded, sending stone over the dark guild grounds. The look of astonishment on Skorm's face couldn't have been any more noticeable. "That…is not…"

"Possible?" asked Theresa. "It became very possible once the sacrifice was made." She said.

"Theresa…" The woman looked over at her brother. "Take her away from here. Keep everyone away from the guild." He said as he stood up carrying her body over to the doorway where his sister stood. Gently, he laid her still form in her arms and turned away from her. "Leave here now." He said. She nodded, then turned and walked out the door. Lyle stood with his head down, his ragged hair now covering his eyes. He stood saying nothing as the demonic figure in front of him looked at him with apprehension.

Finally, the demon smirked. "That was luck. You probably have no strength left in your body after deflecting that blast." he said as he charged more energy than he had before. Lyle looked up at him and the demons eyes widened. Whenever he took over Lyle's body, the process turned Lyle's eyes red. Now...his eyes were pure white. Lyle yelled at the top of his lungs and raised his fist into the air, causing volcanic geysers all around him to erupt. The fire shot into the air and formed into hundreds of blazing dragons, flying circles around his fist. Lyle stopped yelling and slammed his fist into the ground, the dragons all followed his fist and smashed into one point on the ground.

The demon yelled loudly as fire tore what was left of the chamber walls and ceiling to shreds and blasted the dark beast outside into the court yard. Skorm hit the ground hard, sliding across the grass before getting up and looking at the damage. The fire had consumed the whole chamber and was rapidly tearing down the halls of the guild. In the center he saw the dark figure of the warrior staring at him with those cold piercing eyes.

"HOW!" he shouted. "I was always his power! How does he have this much power now that I have seperated from him!" he asked himself swiping the sword at the air in front of him. Suddenly, recollection hit him as he recalled one of Lyle's memories. He saw Lyle as a child, getting attacked from all sides by the will dummies. Then, he reacted. And the snow troll at Hook Coast...both of those were before the incident with Alex and before Skorm had taken his place inside Lyle's consciousness. All that power had come from the boy and the supression of such power due to his interference..."Oh no..." he said to himself. "Almost ten years of power stored inside the boy..." Skorm stared at him a moment longer before his face twisted into anger. "I will not be defeated by this mortal!" he shouted as he flew into the air again. He began charging his power for another attack when he saw the fire on the ground turn a blinding white color.

He looked down and saw something flying towards him. It looked like a giant ball of fire. He smirked. "As if a pitiful fireball could knock me off my balance!" he yelled and went to knock it away, when his eyes widened. Within the depths of the fire he could see those piercing eyes again. Suddenly, as the fire reached him, a flaming fist came into contact with his gut. He felt the painful blow and flew down towards the ground with Lyle glaring down towards him from the sky. Skorm looked at him and saw his whole body covered in white flames. The fire from the warriors fist followed him down to the ground and as soon as he hit the grass, he was immediately screaming from the power that crashed into him.

The fire dispersed and Skorm stood up, the body he was in heavily damaged. He breathed heavily as he looked up at the warrior. Lyle stood in the air with flaming wings sprouted from his back. Skorm looked the warrior in the eyes, as Lyle looked back into his. The warrior began to dive towards the demon, but the beast took flight quickly. Lyle however was not planning to let him get away. He stopped in mid-flight and threw his arms and legs out in all directions. Fire shot from his limbs again in the form of dragons and the flew faster than the demon, surrounding him and smashing into him with explosive force.

The body flew and smashed through the wall of the guild, sending him coughing and sputtering into the mess hall. He stood and fired dark energy at the warrior flying towards him at high speed. Lyle took the blast and hit the ground hard, but rose immediately and began running at high speed towards the building. Skorm tried to fire another blast at the warrior, but he wasn't fast enough. Lyle ran forward with amazing speed and tackled the beast with his shoulder, carrying him as he sped up into another guild wall causing it to explode from the force.

OoOoO

Van and Thunder stood outside with the others staring at the entrance of the guild from a ways back. They could see the flames from the guild on the dark night sky. Van sighed. "I hope everything is alright. It has been a while, I would have thought that he would have defeated Jack by now." he said. Thunder hand his hand resting on his sword handle.

"Jack is dead. Lyle is now fighting something more dangerous that even Jack was..." he said.

Elizabeth looked at him worriedly. "What do you mean? What could be more dangerous than Jack?" she asked holding onto Van's arm gently.

"I don't know...but whatever it is, it isn't going down without a fight." he said. Suddenly, they all covered themselves as the wall in front of them exploded, sending shrapnel and debris everywhere. They all gasped as they saw the burned and mangled body fall in front of them face down. Looking up, they saw Lyle fly out of the opening in the wall, his flaming wings expanded to full stretch. They all stared in shock as the flaming warrior glided towards the body, his eyes white and piercing. Suddenly, the body in front of them got up and roared loudly. Taking the sword that was clasped in its hands, he flew into the air and back towards the guild. Lyle jumped up and flew after him, leaving the rest of them in awe.

Van turned to Thunder and angrily smacked him in the back of the head. Thunder was outraged and glared at Van. "What the hell was that for!" he shouted.

Van pointed at Lyle flying off and yelled, "You wanted to fight that! Are you out of your damn mind!" he shouted. Thunder stared at him dumbly for a second before smirking. He shrugged and looked back towards the warrior.

"Seems Lyle had something for the young girl. If he didn't care about her as much as he did, he would not be as powerful as he is now." he said.

Elizabeth looked away. "Who could be so cruel as to kill someone so young?" she asked.

Van hugged her gently. "Don't worry, she is in a better place now." he said.

Theresa walked up to the others and they all parted ways for her. "She is safe now. William and Briar Rose are watching her body so that nothing happens to it." she said. Turning to Thunder, she looked at his giant frame. "Make sure nobody goes farther than you have now. Death awaits them if they do." she said as she walked towards the guild. Thunder grabbed her shoulder gently.

"I assume that means you too." he said. She smiled, then grabbed his hand and spun him around, twisting his arm behind his back. He grimaced in pain, barely noticing the blade that just touched his throat.

"I can take care of myself Thunder. Thank you for your concern though." she said as she let him free. Turning back to the guild, she said, "Remember. Nobody crosses any of you, even to help Lyle. This battle will be over soon. We now await the Savior to do their job and it will be." she said then began walking towards the guild.

Van smirked as he watched the girl go. Elbowing Thunder, he said sarcastically, "Sometimes I wonder if she really is blind."

Thunder rubbed his throat gently. "She could fool me." he said. "It seems that now the two most dangerous people in Albion are brother and sister..."

OoOoO

Skorm landed in the center of the guild courtyard and stabbed the sword into the ground quickly, focusing all his energy into the blade. It began to glow with dark energy, when he felt himself lifted from the ground. He released the sword as the warrior grabbed him and flew up into the air, yelling loudly as he sped into the night sky. Lyle yelled out loud as a massive explosion ripped through the night air, tearing what was left of Jack's old body to pieces. The dark dragon roared loudly as it escaped from the body and flew at high speed towards the ground.

The Sword of Aeons was still glowing in the ground as the dark dragon flew down and was absorbed into the sword. "It needs more power!" it shouted as the sword grew brighter with every ounce of energy taken from the dragon. Lyle flew down out of the air and watched as a flaming tear opened up in the center of the courtyard. It opened wide and became a large fiery whirlpool. The sword fell into the depths and vanished from sight. But, a gigantic black claw reached out and grabbed the ground.

"No..." said Alex as she pulled the bow from her back. "You will not get free from here!" she shouted and ran forward as she drew an arrow from her quiver. Pulling it back on the bowstring she fired. It flew and struck the beast, causing it to faulter. But he continued to pull himself free of the demonic world. Lyle roared loudly and flew at high speed towards the claw. Using his fists again, he smashed into the dark beast, causing a loud roar to erupt from the depths of the pool. Lyle flew up and out of the way as the giant claw tried to grab him. The warrior stared down into the depths of hell, and what he saw made his eyes widen.

Quickly he did a nosedive and flew strait into the volcanic maelstrom. Alex didn't believe what had just happened. Out of nowhere Lyle appeared and grabbed her form, then flew out of the fiery depths of hell and back into the overworld. She breathed in the clean cool air as she stared at his face. "L...Lyle...?" she asked astonished. He looked at her and she could see his eyes. But she didn't see hatred and coldness like Skorm did. She saw pain and suffering of more years than in a lifetime. He set her down on the broken tower where Maze's quarters used to be.

Theresa raised her head as she sensed her brother and someone else nearby. She smiled. "And we have our Savior." she said to herself.

Lyle set her down and flew off to do battle with the demon that had halfway pulled itself into the overworld. "Lyle..." she said silently as she watched him fly off. Suddenly, she looked down as she heard someone yelling at her.

"You! You have to help him!" shouted Theresa. Alex spotted her and nodded. Taking another arrow, she opened the wound again and let blood flow onto the arrow.

Glaring at the demon, she turned and ran down the stairs of the small tower and ran to another nearby that was taller and still intact. She dashed up the stairs, occasionally stopping at a window to watch Lyle fight off the demon with his newfound power. Finally, she made it to the top of the tower and stood tall with her hair and skirt fluttering in the strong wind. "I am no longer your angel of death demon." she said as she took aim. "Lyle!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. The warrior turned and looked at her on top of the tower. She fired the arrow and it flew strait and true. Skorms giant form roared loudly and painfully as the arrow pierced his head in the dead center, causing a blinding white light to shine out of the wound. Lyle wasted no time and flew forward concentrating all his power into his fist.

The hero struck true, hitting the bright glowing spot before it disappeared. His power flooded into the wound causing the demon to roar loudly. Bright cracks began to form on the body of the giant devil. Lyle roared out a loud battle call as he exerted all his power and caused the demon to scream in agony. Suddenly, it's body exploded into black smoke. The explosion caused the entire landscape to shutter.

Van and Thunder nearly fell over when they felt the jarring shock of the massive demonic combustion. Lyle was hurled into the building, smashing through walls and finally landing on top of the map table. His flaming wings dissipated and left him looking like the warrior and hero that Albion knew. His eyes faded again back to the piercing blue that he had before as he closed them...