OoO( 5 )OoO
Michael stood staring in awe at the sword in front of him. "It's huge..." he said with admiration. Lyle smirked at him.
"It was a gift from a friend." he said as he watched the kid eat the food he had given him. "So, Micheal, what is it that you want to do when you get older?" he asked curiously, his eyes scanning the child, noting that his skin was dark like Thunder's.
"Well, my dad wants me to take over the town after he retires...but to be honest I don't really want to. I've always wanted to be a hero." he said taking another bite from an apple. He looked up at Lyle.
"It's not all fun in the life of a hero, believe me." said Lyle as he layed back and waited for Thunder.
"I know. But its not something I want to do for fame..." said the boy, getting Lyle's attention. "I've had dreams about it. I've dreamt about fighting bad guys and saving lives. I dream that I am a warrior who slays dragons and beasts of all kinds. In one dream, I fought a dragon and slew it!" he said with excitement.
Lyle was intrigued. "And what did you do to slay him?" he asked, knowing that the boy was enjoying telling the story.
"Well, he was attacking a town and I ran in and challenged him. But, a dragon is big. We battled through the town, and did a lot of damage. But finally, I drew my weapon and stabbed it into the dragon. I fell off of him and I remember seeing a bright flash of light, then he was gone." said the boy. "My sword fell and there was cheering. I just know that being a hero is what I was meant to do." he said.
"That's a foolish dream..." said a voice from the entrance of the cave. "But it doesn't matter, because father made you heir anyway. You are obligated to become mayor." Lyle got to his feet and grabbed the sword handle. "No need for dramatics hero." said the voice again as the figure appeared in the light of the fire. It was another child, but unlike Michael, this one was light skinned, as Lyle was.
"Lucas...what are you doing here?" asked Michael as he stood to his feet.
The older boy laughed. "It's funny. You aren't even our blood, but our father would still make you the mayor of the town. It's disgraceful." said the teenager. "So I decided to take the matter into my hands. I hired people to take him out, but they got too greedy. They decided to ransom him instead."
The look on the boys face was horrified. "What...you sent those men to kill me!?" shouted Michael.
"And now I offer you the same deal hero. Kill my brother and you will have all the gold in the cart, plus double what I was going to pay those bloody bandits." said Lucas.
Lyle's expression didn't change for a while. Then he smiled. Walking over to Michael, he whispered something in his ear, then stood back again. Michael nodded, then took one of the bandits weapons from the floor. "Take a weapon brother..." he said with a glare.
OoOoO
It has started raining outside very heavily as Van, Alex, and Briar Rose looked over the map in Maze's quarters by firelight. Rain pelted the window as their eyes trained on the surface of the parchment. "Okay, these maps are pretty old, but they say that Snowspire is about a month by ship across the sea...."
"That's quite a ways away..." said Rose as she looked at the vast gap of ocean between the two islands. "What do you think this is?" she asked, pointing to a drawing of a ring of mist around the Island of the North, where Snowspire lay.
"I don't know...but whatever it is, it doesn't look too inviting." said Alex as she looked at the inscription underneath the drawing. "This here...its in Old Kingdom..." she said.
"Well, that helps considering none of use read old kingdom." sighed Van as he fell back into Maze's chair. He suddenly jerked back up as something jabbed him in the back. "Ah! What the hell!?" he shouted rubbing the sore spot on his back. Turning to the chair, he dug inside and pulled out a small book. On the cover was some ancient runic mark that meant nothing to the mage. "What is this?" he asked and opened the book.
Briar crossed her arms as she looked at the table. "So, we need a ship, a crew, possible weapons on the ship incase of pirates..."
"No, there will be enough heroes on that ship the scare any pirate off..." said Alex. "Especially if they know who is onboard." she giggled at the thought of Lyle getting loose onto a pirates ship.
"Right...anything else aside from rations for the galley?" asked the hero. Alex shook her head. "What about you Van?" she asked. But he was deep into the book. "What are you reading?" she asked irritated at him ignoring her.
Finally he came to and looked at Rose. "It's Maze's journal...he took notes hoping that when he died, someone would find it." he said smirking. "Look at this! It's practically telling us what we need to do right here!" he said handing it over.
Alex took the book and looked at the text, then nodded. "It does, it says we need a ship, and the...fireheart?" she asked looking up at Van. "What is that?" she asked.
The mage shrugged. "I've only vaguely heard of it in the older books of the guild. It says that the fireheart is used to ward off darkness and mystery." he said.
Alex skipped through the book until she came across a very elaborate drawing labeled, "The Weapon". Turning the page she began to read.
OoOoO
Thunder had heard every word of what Lucas had to say. He walked into the tunnel and stopped just short of the cave entrance. His eyes widened when he heard Michael, the boy he saw grow up challenge his brother. "Take a weapon brother..." said the boy as the dark knight listened. The older boy had a stunned look on his face.
"What?" he asked, surprised at his brothers actions.
"I said pick a weapon. You and me are going to handle this right here." he said. Lucas, though still stunned, picked up a sword similar to Michaels. "Alright. This ends now. I've taken your insults and your beatings long enough..."
The older boy shrugged. "No hard feelings, just business." he said with a smirk.
"Now, you want to have me killed, then do it yourself." he said. Still stunned, Lucas didn't expect the attack. Michael lunged forward and they clashed blades, forcing the older boy against a wall. The younger brother sent a knee straight into the gut of his brother.
Lucas gasped, and stumbled away, only managing to barely block another attack before being sent to the ground and disarmed. Michael sighed and tossed his weapon aside.
"Pathetic...you think this proves anything?" asked the boy.
"It proves that you tried to kill your brother, and failed horribly. And also, that you don't even have the strength to defend yourself. You are nothing but a coward." said Lyle as he approached the boy. "Now get up. I'm taking you back to your father so he can deal with you himself."
"You think my father will believe the words of some hero? No...he won't believe you over me. I'll be free by tomorrow because there is only one persons words he trusts more than mine." he said triumphantly.
"You mean mine?" said Thunder from the dark. Lucas heard the voice and instantly went pale. "I heard everything Lucas, and to think that you would kill your own brother for something so selfish makes me sick." said the hero as he jerked the boy to his feet. "Lets go...its already dark and we have ground to cover." he said to Lyle. Taking Lucas by the arm, he led him outside and tied his hands inside the cart.
OoOoO
"It seems that Maze was hunting for a weapon. Some kind of ancient weapon used in the old kingdom." said the guildmaster as he read from the book. "Maze's writing is very cryptic, but its here alright. And it seems that only someone who is pure of heart can use the weapon, or even find it for that matter. I guess Maze just wasn't pure enough. When he failed to find it, he turned all his attention on training Lyle."
"So, where is this weapon. Surely you must know, you are the guildmaster and all." said Briar Rose anxiously.
He looked at her oddly. "My dear girl, do you think that I would have withheld a weapon when Jack had found the sword? If I knew anything about it, I would have sought it out as soon as we found out Jack was after the sword." he said. Briar Rose sighed.
Alex then spoke as she rubbed her chin, deep in thought with her elbow in her other hand. "So, we now have two items to find. This fireheart, and now a weapon from the Old Kingdom. This means we will probably have to split up." she said. "Van, you and Rose try and find out as much as you can on the fireheart. I'm going to look more into this ancient weapon." said the archer as she looked up at her friend.
Van stood stiff at attention and saluted. "Yes ma'am." he said then ran off, causing Alex to giggle more. Briar chased after Van as Alex turned to the guildmaster.
"Pardon, but do you mind helping me out a little?" she asked. He shook his head.
"It would be my pleasure Alex. What can I do?" he asked her curiously.
"Well, in the diary, it says that only the pure of heart can find the weapon. The first clue to finding the weapon was given to Maze by someone a long time ago and he wrote it down here. It goes 'In a place that turns knowledge into power, seek out he who holds the blooming flower'." she said. "What do you make of it?"
"Well, a place that turns knowledge into power..." he said thinking. "I would say that the thing that turns knowledge into power is a book. A book itself is knowledge, but by itself its nothing more than paper. What turns knowledge into power is someone reading the book." he said. "At least...I think..."
She nodded with a smile. "Sounds logical to me. So, off to the library." she said with excitement. "We will defeat Jack again, I know we will..." she said as she ran towards the library.