Chapter Thirteen: The Hero of Strength

Following the secret tunnel the group walked in silence till Kyler opened a trap door peeking into the back of the Westcliffe Taverns where he stepped out with the others following.

Peeking around the corner Seth narrowed his eyes to see the Patrol all over town, "damn! They're everywhere! How are we going to get out of here?"

"Spsst!" the heroes heard seeing Mac by the backdoor to the Tavern motioning them, "This way!"

Keeping low the group entered the Tavern stock room where Mac led them to a hatch, "Through here! This will lead under the town and take you to the Bandit Coast, you have to get out of town!"

"Thank you," Connor spoke entering with Seth but Kyler stopped to hand his father to Mac.

"Please, make sure he gets a proper burial Mac, right next to Mum," Kyler requested seeing Mac nod.

"I will lad, you go and make the wretch who did this pay!" Mac spoke watching Kyler enter before closing the hatch and covering it up with a rug.

Following the secret tunnel Connor pushed up a hatch in a forest where he stepped out followed by Seth, Roscoe, and Kyler who stepped out and looked at his father's blood on his hands before approaching a tree.

"RAAAAAAH!" Kyler yelled out in anger punching a tree and sending it crashing down making both Connor and Seth flinch when they saw Kyler fall to his knees and punch the ground.

"DAMMIT! WHY?! Why my father?! Why is this happening?" Kyler yelled with Connor coming up behind.

"Kyler, I'm so sorry," Connor spoke seeing Kyler stand up and grab him by the collar and held him up off the ground.

"YOU! They came for you! Why?!" Kyler demanded as a beam of light appeared behind him and Gabriel appeared.

"Because there are bigger things at play than you know," Gabriel spoke making Kyler turn his head and drop Connor.

"Where the bloody hell did you come from?! Who the bloody hell are you?" Kyler growled watching Gabriel lift a hand.

"Someone who can tell you much about Lord Tirich, and someone who can help you get your revenge on the warden, if you will listen," Gabriel spoke holding out his hand.

"I want to know everything!" Kyler growled taking Gabriel's hand before the two vanished in a beam of light.

"I've taken Kyler to the Sanctuary, I will begin the preparations to get him up to speed and to help him learn his role in the plan, for now I want you both to make your way to Rookridge, I've seen a vision of our first ally there," Gabriel spoke at the map table while Kyler watched.

"You got it, Gabriel!" Connor replied making Kyler raise an eyebrow.

"Okay the magical room and the magic map starting to convince me you lot aren't a bunch of kooks," Kyler spoke approaching the map table.

"Before we can truly begin, we must take you to a place your ancestors left for you," Gabriel spoke pointing to a spot up north of Albion.

"Alright let's do this," Kyler sighed touching Gabriel's shoulder where they were teleported to a temple high in the mountains, where Kyler turned his head to see the lights of towns and cities in the distance.

"Welcome to the Warrior Monks Temple," Gabriel spoke leading Kyler up the steps to a large courtyard.

"Why are we here?" Kyler asked crossing his arms and looking around at statues of warriors where Gabriel stopped at a statue of a woman wielding a hammer.

Tilting his head Kyler noticed that the hammer she was wielding looked familiar and pulled off his from his back to see they were identical.

"You are her descendant, this is Hammer the Hero of Strength, it was a very long time ago, after she aided the Hero of Bowestone to stop the evil Lucien from destroying our world, that day she decided to come here where she lived out the rest of her days till she too had a daughter who too wielded that hammer," Gabriel spoke leading the way inside the temple till they reached a gate to the catacombs.

"This hammer was a gift from my father, said it was a family heirloom passed down to all the daughters, I always thought it was strange why he gave this to me and not save it for when I had a daughter," Kyler spoke turning his head when a hooded bearded monk approached.

Taking one look at Kyler and then the hammer attached to his back he said nothing but unlocked the gate to the tomb, "Welcome home Hero of Strength."

"Thank you?" Kyler replied following Gabriel into the tomb.

"You see your bloodline comes from a long line of heroes, to be more précised, heroines, Heroes of Strength who carried that title until you came along, you are the first Hero of Strength to be born male, but of course, we shall see if you can live up to the strength your ancestors left, go, enter the tomb and claim the treasure at the end," Gabriel instructed.

Nodding Kyler slowly walked down the steps into the tomb before him lay a sarcophagus that Kyler brushed his hand over seeing Hammer's birth name Hannah on it.

At the end of the room stood a statue with its arms held out, like it wanted something to be placed there, understanding and looking at Hammer's grave Kyler knew if this was her tomb then he should return her hammer.

Taking off his hammer Kyler looked at it fondly, "Well old friend, we had many grand battles together, but you were never truly mine to own were you? Time to put you where you belong."

Placing the hammer in the statue's hands Kyler heard a clink and watched the statue slowly move back revealing a secret staircase.

Walking down the steps Kyler found himself in a cave tunnel lit by torches walking deeper Kyler entered a massive room where he noticed a large pressure plate on one side of the room and a large stone cube about the size of a hummer on the other side.

Seeing the closed gate Kyler knew what needed to be done, he would have to move the heavy cube on the switch to progress deeper into the tomb.

Cracking his knuckles Kyler got behind the cube and began to push grunting till it began to slide, "This is nothing! Keep pushing!"

Pushing more Kyler felt the cube slide onto the switch unlocking the gate at the other end of the room.

Smirking Kyler brushed the dust off his hands and approached the gate, "that was easy."

Entering a narrow path Kyler made his way stepping on a switch on the ground that closed both the gates in and out of the room and began to lower the ceiling down towards Kyler.

"Oh no you don't!" Kyler yelled catching the ceiling and grunting pushing back against it, "There is no bloody way I am getting crushed here!"

With a grunt, Kyler shoved the ceiling up making something unlock and stop the dropping roof, and opened the exit out.

Letting go Kyler ran and rolled under the gate that closed with the ceiling coming down, brushing dust off his body Kyler turned to see three female hooded-like statues at the other end of the room, and in the stone hand of the middle statue was the Hero War Hammer calling to him and in her other hand was a large Guild Seal.

Slowly approaching Kyler approached the Hammer about to take it but hesitated, "No, I am not the Hero you are looking for."

Turning around to leave a Wisp flew into the room before transforming behind Kyler into an image of his father, "Where is the confident son I raised?"

Gasping Kyler spun around seeing his father was indeed there but was transparent, "Father? FATHER!" Running over Kyler fell to his knees and hugged the small ghostly figure who hugged him back.

"I'm so sorry dad, had I been strong enough maybe I could have saved you!" Kyler apologizes hearing his father scoff.

"What exactly were you going to do? Jump like a Balverine to a floor that was high out of reach and somehow stop a bullet? Kyler, there was nothing you could have done to stop what happened and I am fine with that, you have always made me proud!"

"Why didn't you tell me about any of this Dad? Had I known I was to be this hero I could have been ready?" Kyler asked seeing his father shrug.

"To be honest son, I didn't fully know either, but deep down I had always felt a connection to the stories of the Mighty Hammer, or the Great Stone, didn't you?" Mr. Blade asked seeing Kyler nod.

Kyler couldn't deny it, deep down he always felt there was something that connected him to the stories of those great women, it was more than admiration it was much deeper than that.

"You have trained all your life for a much bigger ring than the Crucible, that hammer over there, it's calling for you son, go out there, help the people of Albion, be the Hero I always knew you could be! Just make me one promise son," Mr. Blade requested.

"Anything dad," Kyler spoke seeing his father grin.

"When you find a nice lass someday, you fight hard for her! Only a bloody fool lets something special slip through his hands!" Mr. Blade teased getting a chuckle out of Kyler.

"Ok Dad, I won't forget," Kyler spoke standing up and looking at the Hero's Hammer.

"Now you go out there and show Albion just how mighty Kyler Blade is!" Mr. Blade smirked watching Kyler first take hold of the Hero War Hammer feeling its magic pulse and giving the beautiful hammer a test swing he was surprised at how light it was, or maybe it was just light for him.

Looking at the seal Kyler reached out a hand and touched it, his touch making it glow and create a blinding light that engulfed the room.

"I find his heart worthy," Stone's voice echoed.

"His Strength is worthy," Hammer's voice echoed

"He is worthy," Annabelle's voice echoed, and with the three blessings the light died, and blinking a few times Kyler saw the Guild Seal had shrunk and was now a more portal size that lay in his hand.

Looking around Kyler looked to the statues where orbs began to flow from their bodies and go into Kyler who could feel a power surging through his body.

"Whoa, this strength," Kyler spoke smiling having never felt such a power before, placing the hammer to rest on his shoulder Kyler looked up at the statues of the three women.

Turning to where his father was Kyler was surprised to see he was gone and when he turned to the statues again he saw the addition of a fourth statue in the likeness of his father in a hood.

"I bet you three were quite the life of the party, do not worry, I won't let you down, if I am the new Hero of Strength, I will do everything in my power to make you proud!" Kyler smirked giving a thumbs up before he was teleported out of the room by his seal.

In the Sanctuary Gabriel studied the map table with Ginjer and Nova sitting on the table all three turning their heads when Kyler appeared in the room with his seal in hand.

"I got what I need," Kyler spoke holding out his seal, "ok old man, start talking, what this plan you have for me."

"Before we do, I have a gift for you in the closet, that outfit simply won't do," Gabriel spoke watching Kyler look down at his messy clothes.

"Fine," Kyler sighed entering the closet of the Sanctuary where a large mannequin stood before him wearing a blue and black tank top hoodie, gold armor bracers on its arm, with black and grey pants to go with the black boots.

After changing Kyler looked at himself in the mirror and then looked at his arm recalling something he had seen on Seth and Connor.

"Hey, old man!" Kyler spoke leaving the closet and hearing Gabriel sigh.

"Yes?" Gabriel replied trying not to get annoyed about being called old.

"This map can take us anywhere, right?" Kyler asked.

"Yes, it can, why?" Gabriel asked watching Kyler study the map and touch it before vanishing, "OK?"

After waiting an hour Kyler emerged back in the room where Gabriel looked up and saw what Kyler wanted to do, "Ahhhh I see now."

Kyler had gone out and gotten a tattoo of the Guild Seal symbol on his right arm, he had seen both Connor and Seth had matching tattoos they had gotten for the Resistance. Now Kyler saw himself as one too and got a tattoo to match.

"I guess the tattoo going to be a returning theme with you lot," Gabriel chuckled watching the map.

"Now then," Kyler spoke pulling up a chair, "start talking, what the plan, who the enemy, and how do I smash that bitch skull in?"