OoO( 17 )OoO

"Oh man...Scythe is gonna love this..." said Lyle as he looked at the scene. They had escaped from the cemetary and locked the door, taking a lot of the undead creatures with them in the charge. Now, trapped inside the stone walls of the graveyard, the entire place was blazing as the torch that the dark warrior had used as a lock lit the undead on fire. They ran back and forth, smashing into each other and lighting others like them on fire. Now, the entire place was a giant flaming pool.

"Well, at least its contained. We didn't light the whole city, so we should be fine." said Ark as he turned and faced the sun, which was slowly heading towards the horizon. "The next one should be in a church." he said.

"Yeah, behind the wall in the back." said Lyle. Then he sighed. "It would really be helpful if next time we got directions to these places." he said irritated.

"No need." said Ark smiling. Lyle looked at him curiously. "When we were on the rooftops, I saw a large building with Avo's Sword on the steeple." he said. Lyle smiled and slapped his head. "Shall we?" he asked.

"Ladies first." said Lyle, getting a smirk from Ark, before getting shoved forward. "Alright alright, I need to open the door for you anyway..." he said sarcastically. Ark growled and jumped at the warrior, only to find air. Lyle took off laughing as the dark warrior chased him.

OoOoO

Kiko had wondered the streets of Snowspire Town, looking at all the small island had to offer. She knew this wasn't like other towns. Something here was more dreary, as if the soul from the town was dying. There were no lively merchants eagerly lying through their teeth to sell goods for much more than they were worth. There were no children playing in the streets, or happily chasing pets. It was all quiet and hardship for the small town.

What was worse, she felt that this place was familiar. She had no memory of anything before the troupe, but nobody there was related to her. She hadn't thought to ask them about it. She was happy where she was after all. But now, she was having a feeling of dejavu, as if she had been here before.

She was suddenly startled as a hand fell onto her shoulder. Jumping, she spun around with her heart racing. Then she sighed with relief as she saw Cara smiling down at her. "What's the matter kiddo?" asked the playful young mage.

Kiko sighed again. "I'm not sure really. I just have a really bad feeling about this place." she said. Cara crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side curiously.

"Could it be that Jack of Blades is going to be ressurected here unless the heroes from the guild stop it? Or is it something else bothering you?" she asked, trying to make the girl smile. However, the attempt failed.

"It's something else. I don't know what, but I get a feeling that I've been here before." said the girl.

Cara pouted slightly. "Well, I don't know anything about that. But lets say we go get something to eat. That should clear your mind up a bit." said the young mage smiling. Kiko noticed her stomach growling at the mention of food and smiled.

"That's....a good idea." she said, then walked with Cara to a nearby tavern.

The young woman looked at the girl and felt her heart hurt. "I hope Lyle doesn't get swallowed by this. It will just end up hurting him and her both." she thought to herself.

OoOoO

The sun began to set as the two warriors walked up to the stairs of their final destination. They were both breathing heavy and had several bruises as trophies for their near failures. They both smiled however, when they saw the last building. It was a monistary, though small, it was certainly grand. Stained glass windows were all over the building inside the wall, but the largest was the one directly in the center of the buildings face.

It stood proudly in the dying sunlight, gleaming with a myriad of colors. In the center was a giant golden cross that dominated the window. As they walked into the building, they spotted bones everywhere. They were scattered across the courtyard of the small structure, even some skeletons hanging out of the windows.

Lyle and Ark stopped in their tracks. Lyle's hand was on the sword on his back, his remaining hand ready to fire lightning at a moments notice. Ark had his sword drawn, the tip of its blade scraping the ground.

"I...have a really bad feeling about this place..." said Lyle silently. Ark nodded in agreement. Together, they slowly walked forward towards the main building in the back where the stained glass windows were glistening in the sun. It seemed as if the wind blowing across the grounds was echoing the screams of those who died here.

"Wait..." said Ark. "Those don't look like the bones of a human..." he said pointing at a few piled on the ground. Lyle noticed what the warrior was talking about. One of the bones was as long as his arm, meaning that whatever either died here, or was living here, was not human, and was much bigger than they were.

They continued to move silently across the grounds, guarding themselves cautiously against any sneaky undead. However, there was nothing. After they made it inside, they gave one last look at the courtyard, then shut the door behind them. The light from the sun shone through the glass windows, creating a koleidascope effect on the back wall. The two warriors looked around the place for any clue as to where the glyph was.

"Where do you think it could be?" asked Ark as he looked around the place at any obvious hiding spots.

"Not sure. Scythe said that it would be easier to find at sunset. But I have no idea what he was talking about..." said the warrior as he scanned the room also.

"Hold on..." said Ark as he walked towards the back wall. Stopping a few feet away, he smiled as he looked at the picture painted on the wall by the sun. Turning back, he looked up at the stained glass window. "Easier to find at sunset huh?" he asked, then raised his hand and knocked on the wall in the center of the pictures giant cross. To both of their surprise, it was wooden, unlike the rest of the wall.

"Well, its about time you found one." said Lyle walking up and smirking. Ark looked at him oddly.

"Is that right. Find the rest by yourself then?" he asked as he smiled.

"Might as well have...I did all the work after all." said the warrior.

"Hah! If you call complaining working, then you had me outmatched the whole way." said Ark as he pulled his fist back. He thrust his fist forward, causing the wall to cave in, creating a cloud of dust that engulfed them. After a long coughing fit, they came back to the hole and looked inside. In the small amount of light, they saw an apple sized round stone with a glyph in the dead center.

Smiling, Ark grabbed the stone and put it in his pouch. "Well then. I guess we are done here." he said. No sooner had he finished talking than the ground started to rumble.

Lyle looked at him furiously. "What did you do!?" he shouted. Ark looked at him speechless. "Hah, had you worried. Lets get the hell out of here before whatever is doing that decides to show up." he said running for the door.

Ark looked after him, then growled. "I'm gonna kill him..."

They both made it to the door when the entire inside of the monastary building lit up with magical glyphs and symbols. Not stopping to admire the specticle, they both kicked the doors open and ran outside, only to stop in their tracks again. The bones they had seen outside earlier had pulled themselves together to make one massive creature that was looking right at them.

"You know that bad feeling I had about this place?" asked Lyle as he grabbed his sword. Ark nodded and grabbed his own. "Well, I think I know what it was." he said.

Ark growled and pulled his sword free of its scabbard. "I hate it when you're right." he said. The creature reared its head and roared loudly, looking like a large skeletal bull on its hind legs. Lurching forward, it launched a wave of fire straight at them. Both of them dodged opposite ways to escape the flames as it engulfed the building they had just exited from. Lyle rolled to his feet and ran at the creature, his large blade drawn.

He jumped at the large creature and slashed at its leg. He looked surprised as his sword got stuck in the bone. The creature backhanded him and sent him flying across the courtyard as Ark ran forward. Jumping high into the air, he took a giant swipe at the creatures skull. But, he was cut short as the creature grabbed him in mid-air. It's massive frame seemed to flow like water as it used momentum to smash the warrior to the ground.

Opening its mouth, the undead collosus prepared to launch another blast of fire. Ark felt the heat build and covered his face from his impending doom. Lyle had gotten to his feet and ran forward, launching himself into the air before slamming both feet into the top of the bulls skull. It's head twisted on its shoulders, firing the wave of heat off to the side. Ark took his chance and thrust both palms forward, creating a massive energy wave that blew the monster backwards.

Ark got to his feet and Lyle pulled his sword loose and they both dove in, attacking the undead ferociously. However, its bones were a lot more tempered than its underlings. It got back to its clawed feet and roared again. It swiped at Lyle, knocking him back as its long tail swung at Ark.

The dark warrior jumped, but the tail raised off the ground and caught him in mid sweep. He was slammed against the wall as Lyle dodged another jet of flame. Coming to Ark's side, the warrior was gasping for breath. "Damn! We can't find a weakness for this thing!" he shouted.

Ark got up and stretched his back as the undead goliath turned to them and prepared again. "Then we have to make one!" he shouted. As the monster swiped at him, he jumped. He landed on its arm and ran up its body before jumping off and slashing with all his body weight. He caught the monster right above its tail. The blade carved through the bone, completely severing the appendage from the creature. It roared loudly, giving an opening for Lyle.

The warrior ran forward and took another running slash at its leg. This time, the blade cleaved through the monsters limb, causing it to fall over on its side. Ark waisted no time in attacking, raising his sword again and swinging another heavy blow at the creatures neck. Lyle ran forward and joined him. Both warriors yelled loudly as they swung downwards, striking true and cutting off the creatures head.

Ark smirked, then fell over in the light snow that covered the island. Lyle limped over to him and sat down. "See? What'd I tell you. That's me doing all the work again." he said to his partner.

Ark laughed, then groaned painfully. "Ahh...don't make me laugh you bastard." he said as he held his ribs.

"Well, I say lets get out of here while we still can." said the hero. Ark nodded his agreement, then slowly sat up. Lyle used a bit of healing magic on him so he could walk again, and they both set out for the door with Ark's arm over Lyle's shoulder for support. They suddenly stopped when they heard a roaring from behind them. Slowly they both turned around and saw the body of the creature standing on its repaired leg again. It slowly stalked forward as the eyes in the skull that was still lying on the ground burned brightly.

"You know...I'm starting to think Avo has it out for us..." said Ark gravely. Lyle sighed.

"Persistant little bastard isn't he." he asked.

"Agreed. But now what?" asked Ark.

Lyle shrugged. "I guess I'll see you in the afterlife if we don't make it out of this." he said.

They both grabbed their weapons again, and prepared for the worst. But, the beast fell. It crashed forward into the ground, shattering one of its arms into gravel. They looked at each other, then back at the monster. Suddenly, four bright lights shining in the darkness suddenly flew and hit the creatures spine with enough force to crack it. The beast roared loudly in pain.

"Are those...arrows?" asked Ark as he squinted at the lights. Suddenly, the fire began to spread and soon consume the creature. Both warriors watched in horror as the mighty goliath turned to ashes. Suddenly, Lyle looked nervous. Ark looked at him curiously. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"We need to leave right now." he said frantically.

"Why? Well...you know what I mean." said the dark warrior.

"Something even worse is about to show up." he said trying to get the door to the sanctuary courtyard open. Finally he pushed the gates open, then froze in his tracks. Right in front of them on the path leading outside was Alex, standing tall with her bow in her hand. "Uh oh..." said Lyle.

"LYLE!!!" shouted Alex as she drew an arrow back on her bowstring. The warrior fled immediately, leaving Ark to lean against the wall next to the door. She fired the arrow which flew and ricochetted off his left spaulder, causing him to lose balance. He rolled across the ground and rose to his feet.

"Alex, can't we..." suddenly, he shut up as four arrows flew at once and hit the wall surrounding his body. His heart raced as he realized how close to death he had brought himself.

"Why?" she asked. He looked at her, and she glared at him. "Why did you go without me?" she asked.

"Uh...what...?" asked Ark who was standing behind the woman.

She raised her arm and cut him off. Walking forward slowly, she began to advance on Lyle. He felt like a cornered animal, about to be pounced and torn to pieces. But she didn't attack. She simply walked up to him and stared at him, tears in her eyes. "Why do you always do this Lyle?" she asked. But he didn't say anything. He almost panicked when she jumped at him, but he didn't move. She simply beat on his chest, crying to herself and cursing him at the same time.

He stood and took it before raising his arms and pulling her close. She seemed to go limp when he did, accepting the embrace. "I'm sorry." he said to her. "I promise it won't happen again."

She just laid her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat.