OoO( 14 )OoO
Snowspire was an island surrounded by a thick cloak of fog. In the center of the island was a large city surrounded by the ruins from a kingdom lost far in the past. In the large snowy city, huge fires were lit to help keep the unmerciless cold from enveloping and swallowing the small population of the islet.
Scythe walked into the center of the town where there stood a giant cullis gate, lifeless and empty. Lyle walked forward with the others, the dark haired man ahead of him. He couldn't take his eyes off him. Hundreds of questions were rolling through the heroes mind as he stared. "What did he mean by family? Was he a relative? But I was an only son, how could he be?" he thought to himself. He was so deep in thought that he almost didn't see the attack from the side.
But his instincts immediatly fired up and he raised his metal framed hand and caught the spiked ball that was seconds from smashing into his face. Glaring at the man who threw the weapon, his arm started to glow with energy.
"Huh...oh no...not that...please!" yelled Zerga as he tried to detach the chain from his arm. But it was too late. Lightning shot through the chain and the young mans body went rigid for a moment before Lyle jerked the chain, sending the man flying forward. A swift kick flatlined the young man before Lyle stepped on his head.
Still glaring at the perpetrator, the warrior growled. "Who are you and why did you attack me?"
Zerga opened his eyes and sighed. "Yep...can definately see the resemblance from down here." he said painfully.
Lyle took his foot off the mans head and stepped towards Scythe. "Alright, enough! What is going on here!?" he asked loudly, getting everyones attention. They all turned and looked at him. Turning to the dark haired hero, Lyle eyed him curiously. "Who are you? And why did you call yourself my family?" he asked.
Ark looked at Scythe who stepped towards Lyle and placed a withered hand on his shoulder. "Lyle, we have much to talk about. Let us go to my house." he said. Lyle looked at the man. He resembled Maze in that he had similar markings on his face that glowed with light. But the majority of his face was covered with a cloth mask leaving only his mouth and eyes showing. Finally, he nodded and continued to follow the man to a small house near the center of town.
Once they arrived, Scythe turned to Lyle. "Your friends will stay out here. Only you, Van and Ark will be coming in with me." he said. Lyle turned to Alex and Michael.
"Don't worry. I'll look after the little one." said Alex with a smile, putting her arm across the young boys shoulders.
Lyle nodded. "Thank you. We shouldn't be long." he said, then turned and walked into the small hut after Scythe. Van and Ark followed, closing the door behind them.
"Please take a seat." said Scythe as he sat down in his own large chair. As the warrior and the mage took their seats, they looked around and noticed that Scythes house was similar to a library. The walls weren't visible behind the rows and rows of bookshelves. There were books on every subject on the walls, some of them not even in any well known language. "Lyle, I know you have many questions, so I will let you ask them." said the wizard as he leaned back in his chair. Lyle noticed that even sitting down, the man was very tall.
A question immediately sprang from the warriors mouth. "Who is he?" he asked looking at the dark hair warrior in front of him.
"This is Ark. He is a hero as well, but was not trained in the guild as you were. I trained him here." he said. Lyle was about to interrupt when Scythe stopped him. "I know what you are asking. And yes, it is true. You two are related."
"How? My mother never had another son and as far as I know my mother was an only child." said the warrior. Scythe nodded.
"It is true, your mother was an only child. However, her mother was not. Your grandmother had a brother, who begot his own family. Ark here is his grandson. And by blood, you both are related." he said as the two warriors stared each other down."
Lyle sat back and scratched his head. "Wait...so why have I never met him?"
Scythe sighed deeply before continuing. "That was partly mine and Maze's fault. You see, Maze and I started a group to try and stop Jack. We noticed early on that Jack was far too powerful for any mans good. As soon as we learned that he sought the Sword of Aeons, we immediately tried to find a way to prevent him from getting it. We could not confront him because of his power. But we could keep him from getting the key."
"How did you plan on doing that?" asked Van, interested in the story greatly.
"Simple. To get the key, you need many pieces of a puzzle. If you remove one piece from his sight, then he can't complete the puzzle, and can't get the key. These puzzle pieces are simple. A male from the bloodline of Archon. The book with the spell to remove the barrier to the Monastary where the key is kept. And the final piece is someone who can read Old Kingdom so that they can translate the book."
"So...you had to get rid of one of those pieces in order to stop Jack?" asked Lyle. Scythe nodded. "So why not destroy the book?" he asked.
"Jack was already in possession of the book. He had the book for a long time and would not let it out of his site. Even when Maze had it in Hook Coast he could not destroy it. Jack himself had made the pages of the book indestructable in case Maze tried something. So we could not get rid of the book. And there are numerous people across Albion that can read and speak Old Kingdom. So we had to go with the only option left."
"Get rid of the bloodline." said Van as he looked at Lyle.
"So...why didn't you?" asked the warrior, wondering why he as asking why he wasn't killed as a child.
"Lyle, we are not barbarions, nor are we murderers. We did however try to remove you from Jack's sight. When Ark was young, he was an orphan. We found him easily enough and brought him here where Jack could not find him. But when we traced your side of the family, we ran into a problem. See, it was believed that your mother had died during the balverine attack on Barrow fields. So we did not think we had to worry much about your side of the family. However, your mother was a hero, and soon Maze found out who she was. When he tracked her down to Oakvale, we were already too late."
"Too late? Meaning that Jack found out who I was..." said Lyle as he remembered the attack on his village when he was a child.
"Yes...Jack beat us to you and ripped the village apart looking for you. However, you weren't in the village."
Lyle remembered the day as if it had just happened. "I was...Theresa had pushed me off the road and I fell...then I blacked out. I was hidden at the forests edge of the village." he said staring at the floor. "If it hadn't been for her, Jack would have found me and I would have been..." he trailed off.
"Indeed. Jack might have used you to get the sword immediately. But luckily for us, Maze found you first. He kept you hidden in the guild for some time but eventually, Jack found you again. Maze stopped him from taking you and using you right away by telling him how rebellious you were, and how you would have died before doing anything to help him. So, in exchange for 'getting you to open the barrier', Jack let Maze live, even after hiding you." said the old wizard. "We then had a prophecy from your own sister, telling us that you would defeat Jack with the help of two others. When Maze felt the time was right, he took you to Hook Coast."
"Maze wanted to make sure I was ready to fight Jack. He sacrificed his own life to make sure Jack was destroyed." said Lyle as he remembered the battle he had with the older man. Then, after thinking for a moment, he looked up at Scythe. "So, what you are saying is that Jack could have used either me or Ark to open the monastary. Meaning that it was just by chance that I was the one he found." he said.
Scythe nodded. "Indeed. If Jack had found Ark, you might still be living in Oakvale as a farmer or something else.
"Another question..." said Van as he interrupted. "Jack's minions on the beach...why did they bow to Lyle? A long while ago, they were after our heads, but now they are rolling over like servants..." he said.
"The dragonites are the minions of Archon, not Jack. Using his magic, he revived the beasts to serve him. But once Lyle destroyed Jack, they immediately went back to their original nature and followed the orders of the bloodline of Archon. In Albion, Theresa had all the minions stand down and go back into hiding. But here in Snowspire, Ark controlled all the minions."
"So...wait...I can control them now?" asked the warrior, intrigued by his new found power.
"Yes, you can. You only need to order them." said Scythe.
"One last question." said Lyle. Scythe nodded. "Why is the cullis gate dormant here?" asked the warrior. "It would have made travelling a lot easier if we could have gone through it."
Scythe chuckled. "I would have thought that your last question would have been about Jack's ressurection." he said.
Lyle shook his head. "No need to ask how. The fact is that he is coming back, and we have to stop him. So why ask questions?" he said.
"Very wise. As for your question, the cullis gate here is dormant because of Maze." he said, getting Van's and Lyle's attention. "Maze was the one who activated the cullis portal. When he died, Jack took his power from him and tried to use it against you in your final battle. So the cullis gate went with Maze and it has been dormant since."
"So, why not reactivate it?" asked Van.
"Dear boy...only an experienced mage can activate a cullis gate. I may be a great sorcerer, however I have opened many cullis gates across Albion. If I were to try to activate this one as well, I'm afraid I would be pulled inside out. It is beyond my power." he said.
Van scratched his head nervously. "That's....comforting..." he said.
"You however, are able to open it. And as such, you will be marked." said Scythe as he stood and walked to the door.
"Wait...marked?" asked Van, again nervous.
"You will see. Now, come with me so we can connect this island to Albion once more." said the old mage as he opened the door. They all stood and walked with him to the center of the town.
The young mage walked up and looked at the empty monolith. Standing in the center, he recalled some of the knowledge that was passed to him by Scythe. "Alright...stand back." he said as he raised his arms. Everyone backed away from the gateway as the mages body lit with power. Energy surged through his form and he aimed his palms at the crystals embedded into the large pointed pillars surrounding the gateway. When he felt he had enough energy stored, he unleased it into the jewels, causing a shockwave to fly through the city. Suddenly, the gateway sprang to life, it's shimmering light causing the faces of those watching to turn to awe.
Van fell onto his knees, his energy nearly drained from the effort. When he looked up, Lyle and Alex gasped. His face now had several glowing markings on it. They were similar, but not the same as Maze's facial markings. Alex walked forward and knelt down to him. Touching the glowing markings on his face, she asked, "Does it hurt?"
He shook his head smiling. "Not really..." he said, then flinched when Lyle poked one of them. "Ah! Cut that out!" he said shoving the chuckling warrior.
"So the gate is open now?" asked Lyle. Scythe nodded. Stepping forward, he stood in front of the gateway. "Lets give it a try." Taking a step into the light, he immediately felt the pull of of being transported. He closed his eyes and felt the immediate change of the cold air to the warmer climate of Albion. When he opened his eyes, he saw himself inside the guild. Standing in front of him was a young girl with dark hair around her shoulders, about to take a bite from a bread roll. She stood stunned as the warrior stepped out of the shining gate.
"L-Lyle?" she asked. He looked down at Kiko and smiled.
"Hey. Did you miss me?" he asked. She dropped the food and ran to him, throwing her arms around him.