OoO( 19 )OoO

Lyle and Ark were breathing heavily as they ran for their lives. After talking to Thunder, they decided that the best place to start looking was the arena. They had travelled through the cullis gate and into Witchwood Forest, the closest place to the arena. And of recent, the home of a large balverine nesting ground.

Now, they ran as the whole pack chased them through the forest. One of the creatures that was faster than the others caught up, but was sheared in half when Ark's blade swung at it. They continued to run towards the giant stone building in the distance, the hungry beasts running swiftly after them. Finally the made it to the door, when Lyle turned around.

"What are you doing!?" yelled Ark as he stopped behind the hero.

"Watch and learn!" yelled the hero. He raised his fist into the air and slammed it to the ground. Suddenly, a wall of fire erupted in front of him, flooding forward like some lethal tidal wave. The baverines that weren't caught in the immediate explosion were sent sailing backwards with their fur on fire. Backing inside the building, Ark aimed both hands above the door and shot lightning at the arch, collapsing the stone structure in on itself. Turning around, they found themselves in the main hall of the arena. The statues of heroes lined the walls, however, there was one difference.

"What happened to this place?" asked Lyle as he looked around. There was rubble and debris everywhere. It looked as if the place had been in a natural disaster.

"You mean its not like this normally?" asked Ark as they walked down the red carpet that led to the anteroom.

"No...it looks like an earthquake hit this place." said Lyle as he stared at the damage all over the Arena. Suddenly, both of them stopped when they heard pounding on the door to the anteroom. "What the...?" asked Lyle. They both ran forward as screams became audible from the other side. Each hero grabbed one of the iron rings on the door and pulled them open, causing people to flood into the chamber. They were all guards, running for their lives from some unseen threat.

The heroes looked at each other and ran into the ante room. There was nothing but broken furniture and bodies inside. When they ran to the doors leading to the arena, they gasped in horror at seeing three men outside surrounded by dark creatures. They appeared to be minions, but they had no form.

"Damn..." said Lyle as he ran outside into the sunlight. Ark followed with his sword ready.

"What are those things!?" he shouted. The creatures turned and looked at the newcomers.

"Nows my chance!" shouted the man in the middle. He was definately younger than Lyle, and from the looks of his chainmail armor and greatsword, he was a hero. Stabbing the sword tip first into the ground, he began to yell at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly, both heroes stopped as they felt a power surge coming from the unknown man. The two guards on either side of him stepped back as well. As he yelled, red energy began to flood out of his body, completely surrounding his form. His short black hair flew in crazy directions as the energy flooded his body.

Then Lyle saw it. "He's a berserker!" said Lyle in surprise.

"I'm sorry I haven't been in the hero business for very long, but what the hell is a berserker?" asked Ark.

"Someone who turns will energy into raw power." he said. "We have to get those guards out of there now." Both of the warriors ran forward as all hell broke loose. The young man yanked his sword out of the ground, the iris in his eyes now glowing bright red. He had a maniacal smile on his face as he jumped forward and attacked the shadow creatures with inhuman strength.

The first one never saw it coming. His long two-handed sword cleaved through its form as if it were paper. The others saw this and attacked. However, they didn't stand a chance. He sheared two of them in half while they were in the air, then jumped on another. Grabbing its head in his hand, he crushed its cranium. As the shadow creatures fell, they vanished into black smoke.

Lyle and Ark had gotten to the guards and pulled them away from the fight. The two men were awestruck at the young ones strength. He swung his sword overhead and the blade split one of the creatures in two, causing the blade to stick in the ground. One of the monsters slashed at his back from behind, however the young hero didn't even flinch. Turning around, he grabbed its neck and twisted its head completely around on its shoulders.

"This is insane!" said Ark as he watched the havoc insue. "Dragonites are among the strongest creatures in the world, how can one kid take on that many!?" he shouted.

"They aren't real dragonites, and they lack the durability of real ones. They are shadow creatures, summoned by a mage...." said Lyle as he felt chills down his spine. "Or a demon..." he said as he looked around. He knew that feeling. Jack was somewhere nearby.

"Still, that's pretty crazy for someone as young as that." said Ark as he watched the young man disembowel another of the dark creatures. Looking over at Lyle, he grew curious. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"Jack is somewhere...I can...feel him." he said as he looked around the empty stands of the abandoned colloseum.

Finally, the last of the shadow creatures faded away to nothing. The boy turned and saw the heroes standing a short distance away and started walking towards them.

"Uh oh...we have more pressing issues." said Ark as he drew his blade. Lyle turned to the boy as well.

Walking forward, the young hero stopped in front of them, then to the surprise of the two warriors, fell to his knees. His hair fell flat again and Lyle could feel the energy dissapating. Hearing ragged breaths coming from the young one, both warriors knelt down to help him. "S-Sorry about that..." he said as he gained his balance again.

"For what? Completely slaughtering those creatures?" asked Lyle amused.

"Sorry indeed. You saved a lot of lives, including ours." said one of the guards that had remained to fight.

"Wait...what happened here?" asked Lyle.

The other guard sighed. "We were putting the new hero through his paces, teaching him about the arena. He was going to be a new addition to the warriors soon enough and I thought he should know how things work."

"That's right. We were in the fighters chamber over there when suddenly the ones out here practicing for this weeks show started screaming. We looked outside and saw them getting slaughtered by those dark...things." said the guard.

"We came out to help, but everyone else who wasn't killed ran off." said the first guard indignantly. "That's what we get for helping those in need, huh?" he said.

Lyle smirked. "Well, looks like you didn't need their help after all." said the warrior looking at the young hero. "What's your name?"

"Toran...but the guild calls me Efrit." he said sheepishly.

"Efrit?" asked Ark curiously.

"Yeah...it's old Albion mythology that talks about a demon covered in flames." said Lyle smirking. "I can see why they would name you that. My name is..."

"Lyle the Sabre." said Toran as he smiled.

Lyle looked at him strangely. "Have we...met?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not. When I finally went to the guild, you were much too busy with pirate kings and ancient swords to notice any new faces." he said. "But I guess you could call me a fan of yours."

"I see, well, good to meet you Toran Efrit." he said shaking the younger heroes hand. "Now then, we have business here, so could you wait in the chamber for us?" asked the warrior. All three agreed and left Ark and Lyle in the arena grounds.

"Now we use those orbs that Scythe gave us." said Ark as he pulled one of them out. They were crystal clear ball shaped stones. He concentrated, and slowly released some of his will energy into the orb, causing it to glow. Suddenly, it seemed as if the whole world changed around them. The sky changed from blue to black, covered with thick clouds and the world around them no longer had any color. The bright orange stones used to build the arena were now dull grey, as was the rest of the world around them.

Ark looked around and gasped as he saw numerous spirits approaching them. In a matter of seconds, they were surrounded. Voices began to flood their heads as more and more spirits noticed them.

"Why are you here?"

"Have you come to set us free?"

"Are you of the living?"

"Where are we?"

Both warriors held their hands to their ears, dropping the orb to the ground as they failed to block the bombardment of noise. Suddenly, one voice cut them all off.

"SILENCE!!!" shouted a familiar voice. Lyle's eyes shot open and he looked up at the speaker. She stood tall with a large spear over her shoulder, and a grin on her face. "Hello farmboy." said the spirit of his old friend, Whisper.