OoO( 7 )OoO

The sun over Knothole Glade was bright after the storm had passed, shining its golden rays down onto the natural village. It gleamed off of the gold as the precious metal moved on top of a cart in the front gate and up to hill towards the mayors house. The white haired hero pulled on the cart as the dark knight behind him helped to push it up the hill until finally it sat outside the mayors house.

The mayor was sitting outside in his favorite chair, his foot impatiently tapping on the ground. He had waited all night for his sons return, but niether of the heroes had come back. When he finally saw the cart come up the hill with Michael sitting on the top of it, he immediately launched himself out of his chair and ran to them.

"Michael! You're alright!" he shouted as Thunder held him back from climbing onto the cart with him. The boy jumped down and his father immediately grabbed him and hugged him. Turning to the heroes, he looked at them. "What about Lucas, did you find him as well?" he asked.

Thunder nodded. "We did." he said, pulling the kid from the back of the cart and tossing him on the ground, still bound by leather straps.

The mayor knelt down to his son, then looked up at the heroes. "What is the meaning of this? Why is he still tied up?" asked the man.

"This is the one responsible for the kidnap of your other son." said Thunder. "He hired those bandits to kill Michael because you were going to leave him as your heir instead." said the hero.

The mayor looked at his son with his eyes wide in surprise. "You...you tried to have your brother killed?" he asked.

Lucas growled. "He is not my brother!" he shouted at his father.

The mayors face twisted in anger and he backhanded the boy. "How dare you!" he yelled. "He is every bit as much your brother as I am your father!" he shouted.

"That's enough of that." said Thunder as he got between the two. "What do you want done with him?" he asked.

"Put him in the town jail for now. When my temper cools and I have a more level head I will figure out what to do with him then." he said and walked away.

Lyle approached the man and put his hand on his shoulder. "Sir, I have something to ask you." he said.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Well, when we were back in the cave..." he said, looking around to make sure Michael was far enough away. "Lucas said something about Michael not being of the same blood. Was this true?" he asked.

The mayor sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Come with me please." he said. Lyle followed the man into his house, where they closed the door. "What you heard is true. It happened years ago. A woman from the village was at the beach when she saw another woman in the sand. When she approached, the woman was holding a child. However, the woman had already passed away. It seemed she was in some sort of shipwreck and made it to shore, but never made it to a village. So, the village girl took the child and brought him to me. Lucas was very young at this time, and I didn't think he would have known, but I guess I was wrong." he said. "I raised Michael since he was a newborn and the woman was given a funeral."

"Does Michael know about this?" asked the hero.

The man shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I always meant to tell him, but..." he said sighing. "I never had the heart." he said. Lyle nodded and looked at the ground.

"I have a favor I want to ask." he said.

The mayor looked up at him. "What is it?"

"I want to take Michael with me and train him as a hero." said Lyle.

The mayor's eyes widened briefly, then he looked at the ground. "I'm afraid thats not possible. Michael is going to be the future mayor of this city, and now that Lucas has shown his true colors, it can be nobody else." he said.

"You are not set to retire for a long time now. Correct?" asked the hero. The man looked at him, then nodded. "Well, think about it like this. Michael will be prone to all kinda of events similar to those that happened yesterday as long as he is going to be the future mayor. He will be the target of many kidnappings, many assassination attempts, and other things as well." he said, and the mayor lowered his head, knowing the hero was right. "If I take him with me now, then not only will he be constantly surrounded by heroes able to protect him from such attacks, but when you are ready to retire, he will already be strong and able enough to defend himself, and his family. He will be a fine mayor one day, but until then, I would like to take him with me, and train him, so that when the day comes that he does become mayor, he will be able to do so without the worry of doing it defensless." he said.

The mayor looked at him. Then thought for a moment. "Surely the gold he receives as a hero could help the town expand as well..." he said, getting an approving nod from Lyle. Thinking a bit more, he finally caved. "Alright hero. You win. Michael can go with you. But please be sure to keep him safe." he said as he walked towards the door.

Lyle smiled and nodded. "I will protect him with my life." he said, then followed the man out.

OoOoO

That night, Lyle left Knothole Glade with an excited Michael behind him. The village had celebrated the boys return, and also his departure to become a hero. Lyle was rather surprised by the boys reaction. When he was told, Michael didn't squeal happily or jump up and down out of excitement like most new recruits. He merely smiled at Lyle. The hero knew what that look meant. Michael had been honored greatly.

When the festivities were over, Lyle packed his things and took Michael with him. Though he wasn't as soft footed as his father, the boy was still relatively unused to the mountains that needed to be travelled in order to get back to the guild. When they finally arrived, the boy was out of breath and worn out.

After giving him his old room, Lyle let him sleep and walked downstairs. He ran into the guildmaster, who was staring at the map table, as he usually did. But this time was strange, he was actually looking for something. Hearing Lyle approach, he looked up and was surprised at first, then sighed and smiled.

"My boy, I'm afraid I'm still not used to having you around. I am surprised every time I see you." Said the older man. Lyle smiled gently.

"Sorry to worry you guys. I just had to sort my own self out before I came back…and then I kinda got used to my new life." He said, remembering how he was immediately accepted into his new family. Looking up at the guildmaster, it was as if Lyle spoke without words.

The guildmaster nodded. "We have accepted the troupe here. They await your visit in the courtyard. They have become quite popular here." Said the man. Lyle nodded.

"Thank you. I guess I owe them some explanation…" he said as he walked by. Then he stopped momentarily. "Oh…and thank you for watching over my family." He said, then walked out into the courtyard.

The guildmaster smirked to himself. "As if Scarlet Robe and Theresa needed my watching over. Even without her sight, that girl is deadlier than most of the guild. And Scarlet is a hero by blood. There is nobody in that bloodline that needs to be watched over." He said, then went back to staring at the map.

OoOoO

Heroes and apprentices were gathered around the melee ring, watching as the troupe put on another play for the crowd. At the moment, two men were sword fighting, dressed as warriors from a foreign land, with red armor and helmets with disfigured faces. They used curved blades that were sharp only on one side, similar to the one Lyle had used a long time ago.

A maiden stood nearby, dressed in a long flowing gown that was also foreign. It had a wide belt that covered her entire waist, as well as long sagging sleeves and a tail. The girl stood by as if terrified that the two men were fighting, her dark hair covering part of her face. The hero sat and watched as the act went on.

"How dare you try to take her from me you fiend!" shouted one as he struck out with his blade, grazing the others armor.

"She is mine now!" yelled the other before giving an evil sounding laugh. Lyle smirked. He had seen the play many times. He looked over near the prop barrel and saw his old mask laying on the ground. Walking over to the barrel, he took his upper armor off, leaving him bare chested, then donned the wolf hood and drew a sword from the barrel. Climbing the wall, he dove at the others.

"Beware! The Wolf King is here!" shouted one man, dressed as a dead villager. The crowd laughed as the man then resumed to play dead. At his entrance, the normal pace of music played on a strange stringed instrument suddenly got violent. Landing next to the others, Lyle held his sword up at them both.

The girls face suddenly brightened as she saw the new addition to the play. "Drake…" she said silently to herself. Then, remembering she was acting, she squealed in terror. "Oh no! Don't let him take me away!" she shouted. The other two turned to him growling.

"You will not have my daughter!" shouted one of the men.

"Nor mine!" shouted the other, causing laughter in the crowd again.

"She will be my sacrifice! And you will hand her over now!" shouted the hero. The men ran and attacked him, only to swipe at air as he rolled across the ground, right back onto his feet. He swung the flat of his dull sword across both of their backsides, causing them to yelp in pain and dance around in circles.

The crowd roared with laughter as Lyle ran back and forth, swatting at them like they were animals, causing more yelping and howling. Finally, he threw his sword over his shoulders and smiled. "I will take my prize now." He said and turned around, where the girl was standing. She pulled her leg back let out a kick that soared between his legs. The entire crowd gasped in horror as the large man dropped his sword and fell over, his legs crossed and whimpering. The girl snorted. Again the dead man lifted his head and yelled, "All hail! The Wolf King is defeated!"

The crowd laughed loudly as all the actors rose again and bowed deeply. Lyle smiled at the feeling. He might actually have a life like this when all this hero business was over. The men and other actors who had not played in the act gathered the coins that were thrown at them from the crowd. Lyle however, walked over to the girl, who smiled up at him with her beautiful features. She was also foreign, like Talon. Her slightly slanted almond shaped eyes and long dark hair made her stand out from the regulars of Albion.

"Drake. I was starting to miss you." She said silently. He smiled at her and took her hand.

"Lets go somewhere where we can talk." He said and he pulled her away from the crowd. Taking her to his favorite spot in the guild, he opened the stone door and sat with her inside.

"Why must we talk alone?" she asked curiously.

He turned to her and sat down across from her. "There is something I have to show you." He said as he lit the candle on the table, lighting the dormant room up. She looked at him with a smile, obviously curious what he had to show. He reached up and took off his hood, causing her to gasp with surprise. In all his time with them, they had never seen his face because he wanted to keep it hidden. The reason was unknown to them, but they did not question him.

She stared at him in awe. She had thought he wanted to hide it because his face was hideously deformed from battle. She had never imagined he would look like this. Getting to her feet, she walked over to him and let her hands examine his face and hair. "You are…" she said, stumbling on her words for a moment. "Nothing like I imagined." She said.

"Is that good or bad?" he asked curiously.

She giggled slightly. "Good actually…I thought you were hiding scars or some injury you suffered. I had never thought you would look like this…" she said, still examining him.

"Kiko, can I have my face back?" he asked, amused at her amazed curiosity. She giggled again, then sat down.

"Why have you shown me now?" she asked, still staring at his features. "All this time and you decide to show me now? Why?" she asked.

He leaned back and brushed his hair back. "I've been in hiding." He said. She looked at him worriedly. "You see, I am a member of this guild. I'm a hero."

She gasped. "Drake, you are a hero?" she asked. Then she smiled. "Well, to be honest I could see it in you. You always played the bad guy, but I know that you would never be like that." She said.

"And…my name isn't Drake." He said. She nodded, not surprised that he used a fake name. "I go by Lyle." He said, waiting to hear her reaction.

Her eyes lit up briefly, then she looked at the table. "Lyle the Saber then?" she asked, and he nodded. "And I guess you tell me all this because you are going back to being a hero now…" she said again.

His heart seemed to be in pain to have to tell her. "I…I am. Something has come up and they need my help. If not, then who knows what would happen…" he said, but was cut off.

"I understand. Here in Albion, word gets around fast. I keep hearing rumors about someone thought to be dead, coming back. The people speak of the end of times if he does." She said, still not taking her eyes off the table. "I just hope you don't forget about us…" she said.

He stood to his feet and walked over to her, then cupped her face in his hands. Smiling, he said, "I could never forget you. Not in a hundred years. Now, smile, before you bring rain down." He said. She did as he said and smiled, then leapt up and hugged him.

"Just be sure to stay safe Lyle…" she said.

"Don't worry, I've killed him once, I can do it again." He said as he hugged her back. "Now, lets get you back to the group before they think you slipped and fell in the river." He said, making her laugh.

"Alright, lets go." She said, and together they walked out into the sunshine again.