Fable 1. Prologue

Three decades have passed since the death of Lucien and Lionheart's coronation as the king of Albion.

The people think that the peace shall last forever. How foolish, peace will never last forever. There are still many evils in the World and hereos will be needed. Garth; The Hero of Will, Reaver; The Hero of Skill, and Hammer; The Hero of Strength had all left Albion in Lionhearts care. The problem was, as mighty as he is, Lionheart is mortal. Even after increasing his lifespan to a predicted time of five hundred years with the aid of Leoheads potions of life. Death was inevitable for him.

The hero, or rather king now..... was in the study of Fairfax Castle standing on the symbol where it had all began looking out the window. He stood there in a a white coat for the noble trimmed with gold. He wore pants to match as well as gloves. He looked like the royalty he was aside from a pair of black boots meant for traveling explorers. They seemed to completely clash with the rest of his clothing. His white hair was tied back in a pony tail and his poet's beard was finely kept.

He was currently formulating a plan to keep Albion safe after his passing in the years to come. He dared not risk reviving the hereos guild, at least not how it used to be. History repeats itself and he was no exception to this.

A knock at the door.

"My liege! You are needed in the throne room to greet the Abbot from the temple of light..."

The door opened and the Sherrif Derek, now old in years but still serving Bowerstone as well as he could in his old age. He saw Lionheart standing there staring out the window, "Err.....my liege?"

Lionheart glanced at Derek and made a quick apologetic bow, "I am sorry my old friend I was distracted. I'll go meet the abbot at once."

Derek shook his head, "You need to stop shirking your duties if I may say so sir. With you day dreaming in the tower all day the rest of us are piled with work."

The King nodded, "I understand Derek, that is why I chose you to be the head of the court. Walk with me will you?" he motioned for Derek to follow him.

Derek strode two paces behind the king on his left, "Is there something else then?" Derek silently followed Lionheart, who said nothing, down the hall all the way to the end of the stair well. He stood to the side of the entrance to the throne room and motioned for Lionheart to go on ahead, "I have to report to the market now my liege. Do not hesitate to call me if you need me." He was answered with another nod and Lionheart strode past him.

The throne room used to be empty, to ensure otherwise Lionheart had allowed all citizens, even ruffians, to enter the castle as long as they remained on the first floor. Under the eye of Derek, the palace guards were swift to arrest those who attempted to break the order. The suits of armor lined down the hallway looked immobile to most but were actually the knights taken from the Wraith Marsh demon door. Derek and the others that knew the will enchantments that had placed upon them looked on them nervously when real trouble broke loose. The suits of armor would come to life and kill any with malicious intent upon the king or the people at their own judgment of the situation. Lionheart usually stopped them but on several occasions allowed them to proceed due to their efficiency.

The abbot of the Temple of Light in Oakfield was standing in his white and gold robes made of the finest cloth tapping his foot impatiently. Lionheart snorted, "He seems to be doing well- Ah! Abbot Robin! What brings you to Castle Fairfax this day?" he put on a friendly face and greeted the Abbot.

The abbot bowed slightly, "Greetings Lionheart. I am here to discuss the economy of Oakfield... and other things." Lionheart raised an eyebrow to this. He hadn't expected anything other than the Abbot talking about his purse. Several of the aritsocrats in the room also gave an slightly surprised look, most of them were in on the temples corrupted dealings. Most of the farmers in the room looked at him as if he was Avo himself, such rubbish the king mused.

"Let us discuss this in the library abbot," Lionheart motioned towards another door leading out of the throne room. The abbot turned and headed to the library shoving a gaping farmer out of the way way onto the floor. The king followed him and followed the abbot silently with a disappointed look on his face. Ever since Robbin had taken control of the temple he had gone beyond help.

The man on the floor was yelling, "Hey abbot fathead!!!" he obviously wasn't the brightest man, "my father Roland is a very important man! I'll have you treat me with respect!" The abbot ignored him and kept walking while the king signaled to one of his guards to have the man taken to the kitchen for a meal. Lionheart didn't know the man's name but he remembered that hopeless bard Roland who became a bard the day he killed Thag and sung about him ever since.....well at least until he was bribed heavily to stop due to several of his songs leading to misunderstandings among the citizens of the towns. Lionheart did feel sorry for his old friend and had given him the large farm Giles had built all those years ago as compensation. Unfortunately Roland had opened the portcullis in the cellar and had unleashed the hollowmen that had been down there for years. Lionheart had arrived with several of Cotter's Knights fearing he was too late, but to his suprise Roland was standing in front of the barn with a blunderbuss in his hands and a large pile of hollowman remains scattered on the ground. Roland had asked for a reward but Derek and Giles at his hearing both reminded him he was the one who let them out in the first place. Lionheart shook his head chuckling, such a hopeless family they were.

Lionheart was standing in his study with Derek and several members of the court that had been appointed over the years in a circle discussing the abbots requests from earlier that day. The abbot had ofcourse asked that the villagers in Oakfield be taxed more to keep their fields blessed by the Golden Oak. Lionheart knew better than that, but most villagers would easily believe the Abbot had such powers. Lionheart had said he would consider the Abbots request and then had inquired about the other things he had wished to talk about. Robin had said that several of the monks and villagers who were tired of the corruption that had been brought to the temple and had went inside the Serenity Farm. The guards and the other monks were to afraid to go inside expecting to be torn to pieces by the portals energies that he reported the rebels (though they hadn't threatened to do anything and had just went inside the portal) were going to harness its energy and destroy the temple. Lionheart had struggled to explain that it is impossible for ordinary people and likely most heroes to harness such power but Robin would have none of it and had demanded that an entourage of Cotter Knights be sent to destroy them. Lionheart sent them but with orders to merely walk to the portal and the freeze without attacking any who come by.

"The Abbot is a mad man I tell you," one of the members of the court from Oakfield argued, "he is going to suck us dry." The members from Oakfield nodded in agreement along with the members from Bowerstone.

The only member from Bloodstone (having murdered any others that were appointed) Norman, who had once been one of Reaver's men spoke out with a chuckle, "Well if you aren't strong enough to bring down the Abbot then I think yeh all deserve ta be taxed like that. In Bloodstone the strong survive, and the weak either serve or you'll find yourself dead in the gutter within moments." Lionheart had his hands over his face hiding his aggitation of the meeting. The ruffians would argue with the moral, who would then seek aid from the neutrals who would tell both sides to stop blithering such nonsense and get over their petty ideals.

Derek and Lionheart were the only two who tried to make everyone happy but as this rarely was possible, they let the others argue it out until they were unable to continue. Lionheart signaled for Derek to stop it, one of the Bowerstone members had insulted Norman who had drawn his sword and was holding it to the poor mans throat.

"Listen you, I don't care if your from Bloodstone, everyone follows the law here or else." Derek thunked Norman over the head and he fell down unconscious.

Lionheart grinned, "Very subtle Derek, the rest of you...... we will continue this next month, not decisions will be made until then." he waved his arm to shoo them out and had Derek get to guards to bring Norman to the Cow and Corset to calm down when he awoke. "Derek are these the duties you spoke of earlier today?"

Derek shook his head and said with a straight face, "No, I consider this my only entertainment. Well my liege, permission to retire?"

Lionheart nodded, "I'll at work, tell the guard at the door not to open the door for any reason." Derek nodded and saluted the king as he left. Lionheart waited for the door to close and turned his attention to one of the bookcases. He lifted his arm and the blue runic symbols on his arms flared and a book flew into his hands. On the cover was a face similar to a demon door's.

"This might be the answer I was looking for, most hereos can't harness the energies of a Demon door, but they don't have the Ultimate Weapon do they?" Lionheart opened the book on a table and sat down preparing for a long night of studying. He knew the Demon doors had incredible powers that were linked to the lands they guarded. The one under the castle kept any from commiting deeds of malicious intent. Whilst others like the Forest Lodge could shroud things in illusions. What he wanted to figure out was how to shut them and give them orders in the ways of which they open. All the doors shared in common the ability to stop time on the inside though. He knew alone he did not have enough will to seal all nine doors without risking his life. But.... it could possibly give Albion a hope of rescue when dark times came once more. He would place a guild seal inside each of the portals, and give the doors orders to only open for the hero of the title that they are assigned to. Albion's fate would rest upon nine new hereos; Sabre, Blade, Conjurer, Dumpling, Shadowfiend, Chicken Chaser, Chosen One, Desperado, and Avenger. He knew not who these titles would be given to, but he did have a hunch for some of them, especially Chicken Chaser and Dumpling.


	2. Chapter One: The Chicken Chaser Part 1

The man on the floor was yelling, "Hey abbot fathead!!!" he obviously wasn't the brightest man, "my father Roland is a very important man! I'll have you treat me with respect!"

The man who was knocked over by the Abbot was Henry, son of the famous bard and hero (to all those who didn't witness the actual event) Roland. Roland had defended the farm in Brightwood all on his own with the mighty blunderbuss _The Enforcer_ but the only reason the event occured is because Roland was enough of a nutter to open the porticullis in the first place when Lionheart had warned him. Regardless, Henry had come to castle Fairfax to meet his father's greatest inspiration as a bard and friend. Nothing was going as planned though. He had just been pushed aside by Abbot Robin of Oakfield like a degenerate Yokel.... which reminded him he needed to get rid of the Yokel hat upon his head.

Just as Henry got up to teach the Abbot, and the king who also seemed to ignore him a lesson when two guards came up and grabbed both his arms and began dragging him towards a different door. "Put me down you buggers! I won't stand for this. Where.....where are you taking me anyway?" he noticed a strong scent of roast duck and finally took notice of his surroundings. He was in the royal kitchen.

The guards let go of him. The guard on his left, who also had an eye patch, cleared his throat, "Appologies young master, the king ordered us to bring you here to eat to your hearts content in apologies to the Abbots behavior."

Henry nodded and sat down in the nearest chair, "Just as you should, my father Roland is very important you know. He is a hero in Brightwood."

The guards both rolled their eyes, they both had seen Roland prancing around Bowerstone at one point or another flaunting his fluke renown. But they both said nothing and walked back down the hall to return to their posts in the throne room. A man dressed in a black highwayman's outfit appeared in front of Henry. "How may I serve you today good sir?" he questioned.

Henry was unsettled by the mans appearance, especially since his face was also covered. "Ah..yes...... well I smelt a roast duck as I walked in and if you could by chance.." he lost his voice.

The man let out a good natured laugh, "Can do sir, fresh out of the pot it is. Would you like some ale with it?" his words completely clashed with his appearance which further worried Henry. "N-No thank you, my father never touched the stuff, and I don't much plan on it either," Henry managed to stumble out.

The man laughed some more and went into the next room and appeared moments later holding up a silver tray with the said roast duck on top of it. He placed it in front of Henry and then stepped back, "I hope it is to your liking."

Henry looked at the duck, and then the man, "You didn't poison it did you?"

The mans eyes' looked at him with a questioning expression, "Why in Avo would I do that sir? I am Lionheart's personal chef, not some two bit assassin." he then looked down at his garb and chuckled, "don't worry sir this is just the uniform I choose to wear, less stains show on it than some white apron for a housewife."

"Indeed....." Henry put his gaze back on the duck. It really did look good.... he picked up a knife and a fork and began cutting away at the duck to find it cooked to perfection on the inside. He took a large chunk of it and put it in his mouth. His eyes began to tear, it was the best thing he had ever tasted in all twenty three years of his life, especially considering that Roland was the one who cooked at home. (remember Roland is the most untalented individual in Albion)

The chef smiled, "Glad you like it sir. You can call me the Marcus if ye like." With that the man walked out of the room and Henry began choking on the duck he was chewing on. Marcus the name of a chef, it was the name of the king's best bounty hunter. He turned towards where the chef had went but he was no where to be seen. Henry was puzzled but then looked at the duck again, "Can't let this all go to waste now can I?"

Henry was gone from the kitchen, he was all the way in old town now actually. The minute he finished the duck (except for a leg which he saved for later) he stormed out the castle and as far away from Marcus as possible. Some people might call Marcus a hero except he wasn't. Hereos don't cut their victims to little pieces after they are done killing them, at least that was Henry's logic. He was looking at clothing stall for a new hat. Trouble was, the only hat they had left was a top hat that no farmer would be caught dead wearing. Henry sighed and began walking towards down through the streets until he came to a tree which he decided would be a great place to have lunch. He pulled out the duck leg and took a bite out of it and experienced the same heavenly sensation he had the first time he tried it. He took another bite.... nothing went into his mouth. He opened his eyes and saw a chicken pecking at the duck leg that was now on the ground.

"Hey that is mine you devilish poultry! Give it back!" he lunged for the chicken who picked the leg up by the end and dashed out the way sending Henry face first into the cobble stone ground. Henry got up, "So that is how you want to play huh chicken? Well lets see how well you do full of holes!" he pulled an EXTREMELY rusty flintlock pistol out from his pocket and aimed at the chicken. He pulled the trigger. Nothing. He pulled it again. Nothing. The chicken made a sound that Henry found extremely mocking and threw the gun aside, which let out a loud bang when it hit the floor and Henry heard some glass break.

He ran towards the chicken who began dashing away. Several people who had heard the gun shot came outside to see what the clammor was and were beheld with the sight of Henry chasing the chicken with athe duck leg in its mouth around at tree. One of the adults gave out a harsh laugh, "Oi look at that now, the poor sod can't even catch a chicken!"

A group of small kids began pointing at Henry excitedly and one began to chant, "Chicken chaser chased the chicken, all he got was a bunch of....." the boy stopped. "Hey Julia, what d'ya think rhymes there?"

The little girl Julia, who was in a very nice dress that made everyone around her look impoverished shrugged, "Beats me."

The last child pulled out a toy gun and fired at Henry hitting him in the forehead and knocking him over. The chicken kept running around the tree until it tripped on Henry who the sat up and grabbed it by the legs sending it into a fury. The children cheered out, "Chicken Chaser caught the chicken!"

Henry grabbed the remains of the duck leg, "Why....... why does it always end like this?" he let go of the chicken that then began pecking at him, "Hey stop that you chicken! Gah!!" Henry got up and ran through the crowd who continued laughing. What a rotten day this was turning out to be, being knocked over that the Abbot, meeting the deadliest bounty hunter in the king's service, having his meal stolen by poultry! He decided as he was running to head back to Brightwood to hide in _The Sepulchre._ He knew he would find shelter in the portal leading to the lifeless graveyard. He would wait there until this chicken chaser thing cooled off.

The little girl named Julia had followed Henry and had a nasty look on her face, he had gotten dirt on her fancy dress as he ran by. She was glaring at him and then turned back towards the stalls and walked back in that direction. She then spoke in a voice different from the first time she had spoken, a deep voice that would seemingly belong to a troll, "Chicken Chaser thinks he can ruin Gorogoron's dress? I'll show him. Soon as I find mommy and get more fruit gum." She smiled cheerfully and began merrily skipping off, thinking of all the fun games she would get to play with Henry.

Note: Gorgoron is a small little girl who you see the first time you enter the crucible, she is standing next to Zachary. She complains about not being able to compete because she has an ingrown toenail, an evil one at that. It made me laugh so hard when I found out who was speaking. I went and spoke to her, she said she is a master of disguise and was very very evil, and good at winning fancy dress contests. She also offered me fruit gum but then said she was running out.


	3. Chapter One: The Chicken Chaser Part 2

Lionheart was standing in front of the final door, the Brightwood Demon door, the one that had sent him on a ridiculous quest to wear the uniform of a cheese bearer. This was one of the few moments in his time that Lionheart had felt the boiling need to destroy everything around him. After collecting an even more disappointing reward, he hadn't believed that it was as bad as the door let on, he headed straight for the door in Castle Fairfax to tell it what the Brightwood door had been hiding, the walls out the courtyard were shaking from the doors laughter at the contents of its brother. Pleased with the result Lionheart decided he would stop opening doors for a while and had set his mind back on finding Reaver back then.

Two of Cotter's Knights were standing behind him, one was holding a guild seal and a note while the other held a long sword shaped item that was wrapped in cloth. Lionheart stood there and gathered his energies for a moment and the symbols on his body flared to life once more. He pulled out a small unassuming music box, the box that had been the reason his sister was killed and the item that had drained Lucien of his power. The other doors had all been powerless against Lionheart with the box in his possession. He waved a hand forward and both the knights creaked forward into the portal and returned moments later with the objects they had brought missing.

Lionheart nodded, "Good. It is time to begin." he lifted the music box and spun the key in it three times and the familiar tune began playing. Light swirled from the portal and sucked into the box slowly. It was the only item that had the power to redirect the doors energies upon itself that Lionheart knew existed. He closed shut the box and then put an open hand in front of the door and commanded, "Close, now." the box opened once more and a blast of light hit the portal and the door slowly began closing once again. Even the soulless knights behind him understood the energies that were at play and had their hands on the hilts of their swords, thought it would do them little good if something went wrong. The door continued shutting and closed with a resonating ring. The stone face in the wall came outward and made a big yawn.

"......Huh......what....what is going on..." in mumbled in a sleepy voice. It seems they really did sleep when they opened. "what do you.....You!! You are the one that opened me! You told the Fairfax door my secret! I'll tear you apart!" the doors eyes glowed brightly and then suddenly faded and the door made a pained face.

"What magic is this? In fact why have I shut! What did you do to me hero!" the door finally realized what had just happened.

"I have closed you as you can tell, and now you are going to be quiet and listen to me." Lionheart stood there staring at the door with little emotion. The door seemed more than a little angry at this prospect, "Why would I listen to you now? Hero you may be but you are mortal!" Lionheart put a hand on the music box and it glowed with a red energy that lit it up and the door began roaring, "Stop this!!" the hand stopped glowing and the door looked at Lionheart, "What did you do....."

Lionheart was aggravated, none of the other doors complain this much or had asked as much questions, they understood if he could close them he must have a reason and be powerful. "I was going to tell you that rock, but seeing as you wouldn't be quiet I had to punish you. I absorbed your energies with the box and now have the power to close you. I have my reasons for doing this, I have placed new items inside all of you, a seal for the Heroes Guild and an item for the hero who is destined to open it in the future, I gave several of the other doors orders to only open the doors if the hero can prove themselves worthy by completing tasks to test their valor, or perhaps their cruelty if they are destined to be evil."

The door had calmed down and now had a serious face on, "You expect me to follow these demands?" Lionheart motioned his free hand to the box and the door grumbled, "very well, give me a name then at least, I can't tell heroes just by looking at them even if I am a demon door."

Lionheart chuckled, "You would do it even if you didn't want to, as soon as I release the energy in the box all the doors will follow these tasks, or there will be consequences even your kind fear. But regardless, your task is to put your hero through what you put me through."

The door looked at him with a questioning look, "What kind of a hero would willing do that ludicrous task aside from you?"

Lionheart's grin vanished and he looked at the door grimly, "Chicken Chaser....." and with that he and the two knights disappeared in a flash of light.

The door also lost its amusement, "Yet again I am belittled with another embarrassing task." it sighed and its face sunk back into the wall.

Several hours later in the black of night two things happened. A burst of light and energy came from the tower in Castle Fairfax and all nine of the Demon Doors eyes gleamed in unison, their orders were now active and all of them save the Brightwood door, waited intently for their hero to arrive.

Two days, that was all it was supposed to take to return to Brightwood yet some how Henry was still in Bower Lake. On his way out of Bowerstone through the market people had been laughed and greeting him as Chicken Chaser as he left. How is it possible for it to get around this fast he thought. He was exiting the Gypsy camp where he had slept during the night where people (to his relief) didn't call him Chicken Chaser. He had managed to get a new pistol from a traveling merchant but its condition was only slightly improved than that of his other one. Henry had also bought a longsword just in case. He did have a strange feeling as he was walking down the road though. He felt like someone was constantly watching him but every time he turned around he saw nothing. He tried to keep cheerful and started whistling and had remained cheerful... until it had started raining.

Henry was for once thankful for having his yokel hat, it was was dirty and crusty that it had become watertight and he stayed relatively dry. He looked at the gray sky and sighed, "What did I do to deserve such bleak weather going home?" he shook his head, "Stay positive Chicken Cha- Agh!! Now I'm doing it!" he put his face in his palms and groaned. The rain continued poor through nightfall and when Henry finally arrived at his father's farm he was tired and zombie like. Roland was asleep in the house with a hat on his head and his lute at his side. He never gave up trying. Henry wondered if his luck was because of his father, who also seemed to have extremely bad luck, though it had lessened as he got older and settled down on the farm. Henry made it half way up the steps before he fell asleep right there. His mother and a burly farmer found him later and brought him to a bed.

"Thank you for your help Adrian, I don't know how I would've gotten him up myself." she said to him.

The farmer Adrian chuckled, "It is no problem ma'am anything to help good ol' Chicken Chaser here." Henry's mother have a puzzled expression on her face. "When I went to Bowerstone to get a new anvil I saw Henry rushing out of the town withing people yelling "Good luck Chicken Chaser!", "Go slay them chickens for us" and other amusing comments, I thought it was hilarious meself, though I don't know how he didn't get back before me."

She smiled, "He has his fathers luck." Adrian nodded needing no more explanation. He left the farm house and went to go fill in the farmers that didn't already know about Henry's new title.

"Mum why didn't you stop him?!" Henry whined. After waking up the next morning he had gone around the farm and everyone was calling him Chicken Chaser. He had immediately ran to his mother for an explanation.

She was holding a hand over her mouth to hide her smile, "Because I hadn't noticed dear," she offered.

Henry sighed and looked at his mother, she was in on it too then. Henry was now certain that _The Sepulchre _was the only safe place left for him. It was really a mystery to Henry why it was there. No one he knew had been in Brightwood before he was born and said it was there when they got there. He did recall a tale his dad had made about Lionheart opening nine of these stone doors or something but couldn't think of how that would relate to this portal, _The Sepulchre _was a gloomy graveyard that had graveyard that had gravel everywhere and a single mausoleum in the center. There was a fence surrounding it with even more similar areas around it but Henry couldn't get over them ever. He had begun going inside the strange portal ever since he and his father had a contest to see who was the most daring, his father dared him to go in the portal. Henry had run into the portal and found the strange graveyard and was disturbed by the strange silence and came out to find his father very jittery, Roland hadn't obviously expected him to go inside.

Henry left the farm in a hurry and ran to where the portal was, he wasn't worried about bandits, the only bandits left in Albion were barricaded away in Wraithmarsh and Westcliff in forts under heavy guard. Henry always wondered why Lionheart had let them live up there, and had intended to ask but due to the events that took place had no chance to. He was mainly worried about running into anymore people he knew.

Several tripping over his own boots later he found him self where the portal _should_ be. It should've been there, it had always been there but wasn't!!! There was an odd door with a face carved into it though. It looked spooky considering Henry had never seen one before. He stood there for a moment and then dared take a few steps closer to the door. The face began to move and popped out of the door. It let out a yawn and looked at Henry with a glum look. Henry stood there frozen and a dumbfounded look on his face, stone wasn't supposed to move... well aside from a rock troll.

"What are you looking at? Never seen one of my kind before human?" the door asked with amusement. Henry slowly shook his head. The door sighed, "It has been three decades since I was opened. Can't expect one that looks as young as you to know of the great Demon Doors."

Henry broke out of his trance, "Wait Demon Door? That was the name of the talking rocks from my fathers story! I never believed it mind you, most of what he speaks about seems to be a load of rubbish. People in the city think he's a something of a nutter. Of course these days they think him some kind of hero for nearly getting all of us killed by a horde of hollow-men. You know someday I-" Henry stopped talking because the door was giving him an agitated look.

"Stop stop!!! You are just as bad as that Bard from before I was opened! He wouldn't stop talking! Ofcourse he didn't know I was a door until after I had been opened." the door was groaning, the memory apparently being one giant headache.

Henry guessed the door was talking about his father, when his father got into one of his tales he wouldn't shut up unless you payed him. Henry was at least glad to have a conversation, even if it was with a rock, that wasn't about chickens. He then remembered why he was here"Ummm if I might ask, why are you closed again? I was actually planning on hiding inside your cozy little graveyard for awhile until this nonsense about Chicken Chaser wears off."

The door gave him another glum look, "Did you just say Chicken chaser........"  
Henry looked at the door, "Yes I know, terrible nickname isn't it? If it wasn't for that roast duck."

The door groaned, "If I had known I was going to wait for you I would have rather faced the punishment Lionheart had set for me, but it is too late now. I might as well tell you. But you must promise that if you ever meet the other doors you will not tell them of this!!" the door seemed very serious about this.

Henry nodded slowly not understanding really, "A-Alright I promise not to tell a soul."

The door seemed relieved, "I was closed and given a new task to be opened, I am to wait for the hero known as Chicken Chaser", it paused watching Henry groan in satisfaction, "and when he completes the task deemed required to prove his heroic poise, I shall open and reveal my contents to them. Though what is heroic about a scrawny man like you is beyond likely even my brothers' comprehension."

Henry was even more confused, "So.... I have to go fufill the task you give me and then you'll open up? Just like that?"

The door moaned, "It is a really dreadful task, infact it was probably Lionheart's toughest challenge ever, even if he was in no physical danger....from me anyways....."

Henry thought about it, if he didn't like how it sounded he could always just ignore it and leave right? "Alright door, what's the task then?"

The door groaned, "Another one who is willing to do it eh? Simply.....amazing... you need to bring me cheese, and you need to be dressed as a regal cheese bearer."

Henry looked at the door like it was the idiot, "That's it then? Dress as a cheese bearer? What do you think I was raised to do? Write plays about silly men dancing the nights away with women?"

The door was stunned actually, "You mean you know what a cheese bearer looks like..... you poor man," the door pitied Henry now, "You do realize a cheese bearer must dress in.....a yokel hat....well there you have that..... a noble gents trousers, and a noble gents shirt." Henry nodded.

"I got the uniform back home actually.....though I really don't want to go back now....and you forgot the hair requirements actually." he added.

The door looked at him again, "Yes.....um.....remind me what those were again." it had made it all up on the spot, how was he supposed to remember.

Henry pulled off his hat and reached into his pack pulling out a wig of dreadlocks, and fake muton chops, "These? Gosh kind of embarrassing to not even remember the uniform if your task is to let one is it?" Henry thought he was quite clever at this point. The door realized this man truly deserved pity, he was enthusiastic about a task that he had orginally made up to get the last one to open him to give up, though it had nearly succeeded last time, this time it seemed as if it wasn't even a determent. Before the door could say anything else Henry was already leaving to go to his house, fired by the discussion of cheese bearing.

The door grumbled, "If Albion's fate rest in his hands we are indeed doomed......I hope the other eight are more competent" and faded back into the wall.

Henry had managed to sneak in to the farm house without anyone noticing and had snuck away with the cheese bearer uniform and was now infront of the open portal once more. The door had laughed when it saw him in it and said he was why people called him Chicken Chaser. Before Henry could yell anything worth while at it it had opened and the same portal stood before him again as it had ten years ago. Henry slowly walked into the portal expecting the graveyard to be completely different. He passed through the other side and....... it was the same..... it was as if it hadn't been touched even. Henry slowly walked to the mausoleum and found a small podium with a letter with a seal on top of it, and leaning on the side of the podium was a weapon like object wrapped in cloth. Henry walked towards the podium and touched the seal. It flared brightly and then dimmed. He picked it up and then looked at the letter. He tore it open and found a note. It read: "Dear hero, I hope the door's task didn't mentally scar you in any way, because you are needed for times to come. I thought that task would be best for the hero entitled Chicken Chaser, and since you are reading this you have completed your task. The seal you picked up is the seal of heroes. It is not the same seal as the old guild though, it is one created from stone of the Chamber of Fate, and a simple bewitching augment. The seal is your proof of being a hero, do not lose it. Also, next to you is an old weapon that was found by my old predecessor back in his youth, I enchanted it with a Lucky Charm augment considering a hero named chicken chaser is obviously not the most fortunate one. I suggest you start you search for one of the other heros. Dumpling seems to be one on similar terms as you and would be the smartest choice to search for in your case." Henry finished reading the note and then looked to the thing wrapped in cloth. He put the seal and note away in his pocket and carefully picked up the object, it wasn't that heavy, and it was the size of a long sword except shaped sort of like a flat mace. Henry guessed it was a battle axe.

He unwrapped the object and saw something he didn't expect. It was a frying pan. A very old frying pan. Henry smacked it against the podium and it cracked away into pieces.......the podium anyway. The frying pan made a clang and a soft golden aura surrounded it as it hit the stone. Henry smiled, maybe this Chicken Chaser thing would be alright. He unlatched the sword on his back and replaced it with the frying pan. "

Henry grinned, "I'll call it.....the Chicken beater." Henry began whistling as he headed for the portal exit to find this Dumpling hero.

From the spire, where all had been quiet in thirty years another wave of energy went by, faint and dark rather than bright. Not even Lionheart had sensed it. The nine doors sensed it though, and they knew what happened. A small fragment of chaos had been released, Chicken Chaser, and the other hereos were going to be tested by the spire's owner before they were accepted.


	4. Chapter Two: Sabre Part 1

A young woman was laying against a tree. She was looking at the sky with hopeless eyes. It was eternally dark in this land and the clouds sped across the sky as if in a hurry to be gone from the dark land. Next to the woman was a statue of a monk giving thanks to the tree she was laying against. The woman shuddered from the noises that came out past the meadow she was resting in, even it wasn't safe. The hollow-men who she killed always came back and haunted her more. The ground began to rumble and the sounds of wisps approaching made the woman move, she grabbed the sword stuck in the ground next to her and yanked it out of the ground. It was the Daichi, the most powerful blade in Albion. The only thing was, she wasn't in Albion anymore. She stood up revealing her blood stained High-Rollers coat which was stained with her own blood. Her hair likely once a beautiful orange color and was now covered in dirt and matted with sweat and kept out of her face by an old ratty bandanna. The rest of the clothes she wore were a pair of old gray leggings and a pair of faded Highwayman's boots and leather gauntlets. The woman's arms were bare and runes on her arms were flaring brightly and she raised Daichi as the wisps sunk into the ground and more Hollow-men rose up from the ground.

"How many more of you fiends do I have to slay before I am released from this Nightmare?!" she screamed. The Hollow-men made no response other than lurking towards her in slow strides raising their weapons eagerly awaiting to spill the woman's blood.

Two of the hollow-men broke into a run and swung their rusty and ancient blades at the woman's legs. The woman parried three of the blades but one of them sunk into her thigh and she jumped backwards against the tree, "I won't let you fiends beat me! You won't beat Sabre that easily!!" She swung Daichi at the Hollow-men in front of her and sent a jolt of lightning through the blade scorching their bones and sending them flying in random directions. She put the sword into the ground again and it began glowing a bright blue and crackling with electricity. Sabre charged the spell until another six Hollow-men were near her and she let loose the spell sending the light from the blade into the sky and almost instantly onto the fiends destroying them and tearing up the meadow.

There were only seven more now. All she had to do was destroy them before taking any more wounds and she would be able to rest some more waiting for the next wave. She felt she was doomed to live this way until she died. Sabre lifted Daichi one more time when the world darkened even more until she could barely see two feet in front of her. The statue, the tree, the entire meadow seemed to fade away into nothing. She saw nine pairs of eyes flicker and stare at her. They began glowing brightly until a burst of white energy came towards her forcing her to close her eyes.

She suddenly felt comfortable, she felt like she was laying on a soft bed with velvet covers and felt a warm feeling she hadn't felt since she had been trapped in the Nightmare. 'Did I die?' she wondered to herself. She heard a faint voice, distant and yet vaguely familiar. The voice kept getting closer until she could hear it clearly.

"Nora, can you hear me?" the voice questioned. Sabre opened her eyes slightly. She saw a dark figure surrounded by a wooden ceiling. She blinked and then opened her eyes wider and saw the man clearly now. He was a Samarkanian and had seen his years, his hair was white and he had a spectacle over one of his eyes. His skin was dark yet he had the same blue runic symbols flaring on his arms as she did. She remembered this man from somewhere, she recalled her father introducing him to her when she was a small child.

"So you are awake...." the man said calmly, though she thought she heard some relief in his voice, "Nora, can you tell me what happened in the Nightmare? No one has ever been trapped nearly that long."

She stared at him dumbly..... the nightmare..... she sat up suddenly and felt a sharp pain in her thigh, the wound was still there. She looked at her surroundings, it looked like the Brightwood Tower, "Could it be.... I'm not dead?" she asked to herself.

The man answered, "No not yet, though if nothing is done about those wounds you will certainly be dead. Can you stand? I would rather move you to another bed, I'd rather not risk you getting trapped in there again. You certainly wouldn't survive." Sabre nodded and slid her legs to the edge of the bed and stood up almost imidiately falling onto her knees, "It hurts," she hissed.

The man helped her to her feet and helped her walk across the room to another bed, "I can only imagine it hurts, Five year old wounds that haven't been treated would mean the death of most. I suppose it is your blood." she sat on the other bed and looked at the man.

"Do you know my father?" she asked.

"Of course, I met him when he rescued me from the spire what was it.....forty years ago? I had my doubts about him, but in the end he turned out to be alright. Ah how rude of me, you haven't seen me since you were little. My name is Garth."

Sabre rubbed her head, she remembered him now, sort of. Everyone knew the story of how Lionheart had gone and rescued the Hero of Will from the Tattered Spire decades ago and most people still couldn't believe how they both got out alive. But she turned her attention back to the present, some how he had woken her up. Sabre felt like she was in Garth's debt, "Thank you...... for saving me I mean."

Garth raised an eyebrow, "But I didn't save you in fact I didn't know you were waking up until shortly before it happened. I was in the Old Tomb working on something."

She looked at Garth curiously, "But....then....how did I wake up?"

Garth shook his head, "I don't know, all I know is that I felt like nine of the gateways to other realms were shut suddenly as it happened and I teleported here to aid you. If it wasn't for the Cotter Knights stationed at the tower I would have never know you were here, I am only here to help your father, then I plan on returning to Samarkand." Garth held out a vial with a red liquid in it to Sabre, "Drink this, it will at least heal some of the wounds." In truth he gave her a potion of life, she had lost several years of her life being trapped in that cursed place and he felt that the last of the Lionhead potions he had was worth giving to her.

"So.... my father," she started, "Where is he?" Garth turned around, "He is likely in Fairfax castle, he still doesn't know you're awake, I don't plan on telling him either. It is all your choice Sabre, daughter of Lionheart the King of Albion." he began casting a spell, "I need to get back to my work. I suggest you head to Fairfax castle, if not to greet your father. Then to talk to the Demon door in the courtyard below the castle. I feel they know a great deal about what happened." With those final words Garth vanished in a blue light disappeared.

Sabre wanted to say something more but it was too late, she stood up. She felt much better, in fact she felt like she could take on a horde of Hobbes. She saw a fresh change of clothes, identical to the ones she was wearing but clean and not faded, and her sword Daichi. She washed herself and then changed into the new set of clothes and set Daichi next to her. She felt calm, for the first time in five years if what Garth told her was true. That she had been trapped in the Nightmare Hollow all that time. She put it out of her mind, she didn't want to think about that. She let herself relax and felt the flaring symbols on her body fade away into her skin. Sabre went to sleep on the bed Garth had told her to use that night, she had fallen asleep quickly and hadn't had any nightmares.

The next morning Sabre was on the road, it was raining but she didn't mind much, she cast a spell that kept the water off of her and was walking to Bowerstone, taking her time and enjoying the scenery of the real world. She saw a funny looking man with a yokel hat walk past her who looked miserable she offered him some help but he yelled out something about chickens and ran off. Sabre sighed and continued down the road wondering what would happen next.


	5. Chapter Two: Sabre Part 2

Sabre was definitely shocked to see how Bowerstone had changed in the last five years. The reconstruction of Bower Bridge had been completed. She barely remembered how it had been destroyed in the first place. The last great bandit king had attacked Bowerstone hoping to catch the king by surprise. Lionheart had been waiting for them at the bridge and as they charged him he destroyed it with a lightning bolt the size of a boulder. She chuckled and a few of the symbols on her right hand flared dimly and a small electrical bolt appeared in her palm. Lightning was what her family seemed to be best at. She walked over the bridge to the town square and looked up at the clock tower.

It wasn't noon yet so she decided she continue on to Fairfax Gardens to where Garth had told her to go. She was wondering what would happen if anyone recognized her. She didn't look any different then she had when she was in the Nightmare, save looking under fed. She past the town crier who was yelling out his usual nonsense about selling titles. Sabre believed that a title is something the people give you, not a silly man. She did remember however her father became known as Lionheart because of this man. She was at the edge of the market and looked at the Castle. She figured she was a good hour away from it.

She wasn't very surprised by the large number of people in the garden when she arrived. When her father had become king he encouraged more people to enter the place that had originally been reserved mostly for the upper-class and the traders. Many people came to see Lionheart in the court these days and she was suddenly much less worried about being noticed by anyone. Sure Daichi stuck out but many other people were walking about with weapons. She walked towards the pathway behind the staircase that led into the castle to find the tunnel. She walked towards the tunnel entrance and saw a man walking towards her. He was wearing average travelers clothes but had two swords sheathed. One on his right hip, marking him left handed, and one on his back. Both blades gave her an ominous feel.

As she walked past the man he snorted, "Good luck lady, I couldn't get the bloody thing to reopen. Shame, I had wanted to see if it really was impossible to draw a blade in that portal." He shrugged and walked past her casually. She turned to his back recognized the blade on his back as The Maelstrom. A sword that had been forged by the shadows themselves. The man gave of a sense of good yet he carried that accursed blade and another one that gave her a sense of woe. It was a cutlass, but she didn't know of any magic blades that looked like that.

She came into the underground courtyard and stopped for a moment to fondly admire the tree in the middle of it. She walked around it and then saw herself facing a stone wall with a face in it.

"So that is a Demon Door huh? Never seen one in real life, granted father opened them all before I was born. Doesn't look like much to me," and as if responding to her voice the stone moved and the face came out of the wall.

"Not much to you? Do you even know who you are talking to little brat? I am the the greatest of the Demon Doors! Given the most important task compared to all the others, you dare think me inferior? If it weren't for this stone I would teach you who you are speaking to."

Sabre stood back, she hadn't really expected it to talk at all, and now it also seemed very angry, she had to change the subject quickly, "Ummm.....My name is Nora, I am the daughter of Lionheart," the demon door scoffed at this, "I came here because Garth...do you know Garth? Well he told me the reason I woke up from the Nightmare Hollow was because of some energy that came from the doors as they closed."

The demon door gave her a new and inquisitive look. It was trying to see if she lied, but it seemed to believe her after some thought, "Forgive me daughter of Lionheart, I do have a feeling I know what happened." The demon door cleared its throat, if it had one, "The Nightmare Hollow, is a realm that is connected to Albion through a portal, in this case it is that bed and your dreams that let one walk it. When all the other doors closed once more, we sent out a wave of our energies that activate our essence. The energy of our nine realms most likely caused the Nightmare Hollow to close temporarily, allowing you to wake up. Quite amazing really."

"So were those flashing eyes I saw were the doors activating?" she questioned. The door gruffed, "Indeed, though why you saw us is interesting. Tell me daughter of Lionheart, do you have a title you go by?"

Sabre pulled Daichi from her back and held pointed at the door, "I am known as Sabre. Give the title by the People of Albion after inheriting this sword."

The door hummed in approvement, "Ah, the finest of the nine is infront of me, makes sense, you being of that blood. Listen Sabre....." the door paused and took a deep breath, "All nine doors were closed once more and given the name of a hero that they will open for. I was chosen to open for Sabre, not suprising me being the most powerful door, and you the most powerful of these nine assumingly."

"So you are only supposed to open for me? Why? In fact why do you need nine heroes?" she shook her head in confusion.

"I would tell you.... but considering these circumstances I feel it is best that I not. I was given a particular order to make you fulfill a certain task before I open for you though." the door paused for a moment with an angry look, it was still probably annoyed that it had to open for anyone at all at a mortals command, "You must gather the other eight and you and them shall bear your guild seals in front of me. Once that is complete, the _Forest Sanctum_ shall be reopened once again." the stone faded into the wall before Sabre could ask anything.

Sabre stood there confused. She had to gather eight other hereos with guild seals to open this door? And for what? She didn't even know. She paced the courtyard for a while wondering and thinking. A voice stopped her though, two voices actually. As she heard them she wrapped her hand around Daichi's hilt.

"Is that who I think it is...... Nora?", the voice asked with an obvious nervousness.

"It couldn't be any other you sod, no one else carries that weapon without my knowledge, and remains among the living for long." the other voice monotoned.

Sabre spun around and was shocked at who she saw. On the left in a sheriffs uniform with a badge marking him a member of the court. Derek stood there in with his legs shivering and looking at Sabre in disbelief. The man next to him wore a pure black highwayman's outfit and had a simple long sword......well......four of them. They all faintly glowed with a dark red aura. She recognized him as Marcus, her father's personal chef.

"Marcus......Derek........what are you...." she stammered out. taking steps back towards the wall. Derek being as surprised as her said nothing. Marcus however, didn't seem bothered or even surprised for that matter, "What are we doing here? I heard from one of my informers that you were headed towards the demon door. He said that you had Daichi with you and the man is never wrong. Avo can recognize any blade from here to Samarkand without fail."

Sabre knew that man who had passed her earlier had a strange look about him. But calling him Avo? With those swords the name was ill fitting. She slowly let go of Daichi, "So what are you doing here then? Did you really have to come and retrieve me?"

Derek, finally able to move again, spoke, "Of course we are! You've been missing for five years and then suddenly show up talking to a stone wall! Naturally when I heard this I insisted we come and fetch you, your father needs to know you're alright. You've given him a lot to worry about over the years young missy." Marcus rested his gloved hand on Derek's shoulder as if saying that was enough.

Sabre figured this would happen if she had run into Derek, she wondered why Marcus had even bothered telling Derek in the first place though. She walked up to them, "I'll go meet my father then. After you Derek."

Derek and Marcus both led her out the courtyard and up into the castle. They continued to the study in the tower and Derek stood aside to let Marcus and Nora pass, "I'll stop here, I need to attend to my duties you know, not lazy like some folks around here," he said giving Marcus a stern glare and with that he walked off impressed with himself.

"Are you nervous?" Marcus asked.

Nora nodded, "A little, I haven't seen him, or anyone for that matter in five years....I was......." her voice failed her. She still couldn't talk much about the Nightmare.

Marcus began opening the door........

Lionheart was in the staring out the window again with a document in hand, it was the paper he would send to Oakfield to go along with the Abbot's wishes to increase the taxes. One of the members of the court had written it up for him and the court signed it one by one. He still hadn't decided whether he wanted it to pass though. Oakfield was already taxed more than even the richest people in Bowerstone Market. The temple of light did indeed need more taxes but the levels the Abbot had taken them were going to far in his eyes. He heard the door behind him push open and didn't move.

"My liege, sorry for the intrusion. But I have a visitor I think you will be very please to see." Marcus said. Marcus had a very obvious presence when he was out in the open and the King had known it was him the second he stepped in the room. Marcus never int erupted Lionheart unless he thought it was very important. The King turned around and stood there frozen. Next to Marcus was a young woman. She had orange hair and on her back had the hilt of a katana.........no it couldn't be. But he knew it was, it was Daichi. The sword he had given his daughter five years ago. The King knew Marcus wouldn't have let the person carrying the sword live to this point if it didn't belong to her in the first place.

The king smiled, "Welcome back Nora. You've been gone awfully long haven't you?" he greeted her as if he wasn't surprised. He was extremely surprised in fact. He knew his daughter had been trapped in the nightmare hollow ever since he had visited the tower to place a small group of Cotter Knights at it.

Nora took a step forward and looked at Lionheart, "Father..." She failed to hold it in. She ran up to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him, "Why didn't you save me?" she demanded.

Lionheart stood there patiently and patted her head. He had been in the Nightmare Hollow for a week himself but he imagined what she had been through was terrible, "I'm sorry Nora, I couldn't do anything."

Marcus stood there staring at the two heroes with his face hidden behind his mask and the collar of his jacket. He normally wouldn't care for a scene like this, but he was smiling. He had been quite fond of Nora when she was a child and said he was almost as great a hero as her dad. Marcus knew he wasn't close to being a hero but just being admired by a child had eased him up. Marcus turned around and strode to the door, "I'll get the two of you some tea."

He walked out and shut the door silently behind him. With Nora back he wondered how the king would act. Of course finding her at the Demon door told him she didn't plan on staying long. Only Derek, Giles, and himself knew that Lionheart had closed the nine again. Lionheart had told him of the nine heroes he had chosen and one of them had been Sabre. Nora had always said she wanted to be the virtuous Sabre when she grew up. Marcus knew she was definitely capable of being the hero she had wanted to be. Marcus sighed as he got to the kitchen and took off his hat, he forgot which tea's the pair had liked.

Marcus was walking back down the long hallway into the study with a a Cotter Knight holding a tray of tea. He liked the things because you could knock off their heads and one of their legs and they'd manage to get to their destination without spilling a drop of tea. He pushed open the door and found the two sitting in chairs with a table in between them. He walked to them and the Cotter knight placed the tray near the edge of the table, "Your tea my liege. I went with the kind Victor drinks when he is visiting is that acceptable?"

Lionheart nodded, "It'll do I don't have much of a taste for it but it isn't bad, I recall Nora liking this kind though."

Nora smiled and nodded at Marcus, "Thank you Marcus."

Marcus nodded and walked towards the door, motioning for the knight to follow him. It clanked away after him and they both left the room, the doors closing again.

Nora looked at her father, "I hate this kind you know," she said with a cheerful smile.

Lionheart smiled, "I know but I try not to work Marcus to hard," he moved his hand over the cups and the tea inside them evaporated instantly, "Now back to what we were talking about....... the door told you to find the other eight?" Nora nodded, "Well I don't know what to tell you about that. Maybe they will find you." Lionheart didn't want to tell her that it had been his plan. He'd help her as much as he could without revealing himself though.

Nora sighed, "Why do I have to be the one to gather them though...... and where would we go afterwords. Also, the door mentioned something about guild seals...." she looked at the heroes symbol on the floor, "this have to do anything with the heroes guild you think?"

Lionheart rubbed his chin, he couldn't think of anything to say without letting Nora know it was him. He had to think..... a simple idea struck him, "Nora, you know the demon door said it was waiting for the hero Sabre right?" Nora nodded, "Well the other doors must have the names of their hero also. Go to the other doors and ask who they are waiting for."

Nora shook her head, "That is no good, other than the door under the castle, I have no idea where the others might be." Lionheart thought over this and then picked up a scroll. He unrolled it revealing a map of Albion. He marked nine spots with a quick zap, "Go to these places. If you can't find them ask people in the areas where the portal is. They probably will know what you're talking about."

Nora grabbed the map and rolled it up and place it in one of the pouches in her Highrollers coat. She then wondered something, "Father.... after I find these heros? What am I going to do? I can't just let them all go running off where ever they please can I? It would be hard to keep track of them."

Lionheart smiled. He didn't have to hide this part at all, in fact he was quite proud of it, "Nora, do you remember the Chamber of Fate? I took you there when you were little. You see, for the last twenty years me and Garth have been restoring the chamber and the rest of the tomb. It didn't take us too long to restore the library and part of the sleeping quarters.....but the chamber was much more difficult to restore. Garth told me recently that he had finished the Chamber and was going back to Samarkand. When you find these heroes, lead them to the chamber."

Nora gave her father a inspired look. She was glad he didn't let the place crumble away further, but there was still another problem, "What if they don't listen to me father? If they have opened their doors they will have their seals but that doesn't mean they will listen to me."

The king smiled and pulled out a round object from the inside of his coat, it had the same symbol in it that the stonework near her did, "Isn't that.....your seal?" she asked. He nodded, "and to my knowledge it is the last true seal of the guild. If the heros understand the situation, they will probably listen to you if you have this."

She took the seal from his hands nervously, "Thank you....."

The king smiled, "And now it is time for you to begin your new journey Sabre." and then a light surrounded him and he vanished.

Sabre looked around the room. Why did he just vanish like that? "If you were trying to make it feel like some quest has started for me you failed old man!" she shouted. Her voice echoed and then the room fell silent. She tied the seal on her belt and then pulled out the map her father had given her. There was a mark in the Bowerstone Cemetery and then another mark at Bower Lake. Those were the closet of them anyway. She walked out the study and down the hallway and continued until she got to the throne room where several of the Well-to-do citizens gave her disapproving looks. They obvious did not like someone dressed as an explorer walking out from Lionheart's private study alone. She ignored them as best she could and kept walking until she was nearly outside.

She heard a scream from outside, she put her hand on Daichi and ran outside seeing most of the aristocrats and merchants that lounge around in the gardens running away from a man dressed in all black. He wasn't Marcus who most people can recognize from the hat he wears, but he seemed almost incopreal from a heavy shadow that lurked around him. He had a crossbow drawn and was aiming at something near the top of the castle. He fired the crossbow three times and then was wrapped in the shadows and disappeared. The people in the Garden calmed down after they noticed the man was gone and looked up at what he had shot.

Sabre ran down from the stairs to where the man had been and looked up. The arrows were lodged in the face of a Gargoyle. Sabre hadn't ever noticed it before. The Gargoyle crumbled into pieces and the stone fell from the castle and onto the ground. A man walked next to Sabre, "Nobody got hurt right? Just leave it. It was only after our friend the gibbering block of stone." She turned to the man and saw it was the swordsman from earlier. He was sheathing Maelstrom, "Do you know why he shot it?" she asked.

The man looked at her, "Where the 'ell have you been the last three years? In a well? That's Shadowfiend, he started popping around towns three years ago destroying every Gargoyle he could find. He doesn't usually attack people so it isn't much of a problem," the man stopped and chuckled, "Of course these pompous fools in the Garden wouldn't know anything about it. Quite entertaining watching them act like Hobbes."

Sabre couldn't tell if the man was evil or just mental. He didn't seem that rotten but the swords he had.... they were without a doubt evil, "Is your name really Avo?" she asked him.

The man had already turned away, "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Don't worry I ain't trying to impersonate some dead god lady." he walked away muttering something about getting a beer after talking with people who don't know anything.

Sabre snorted, "What a rude man." and pulled out the map again to figure out how to get to the cemetery. Her 'journey' was beginning rather dully. A commotion that ended in nothing other than a rock getting injured, and now reading a map to find a place she forgot how to get to. She looked to the sky and hoped the other heros were having a more idealistic journey than her.


	6. Holiday: Day of Feasting

(Note this just came to me suddenly while I was eating dinner today. It isn't meant to be serious but I wanted to post it for kicks.)

Henry was taking a break from his adventuring and had returned home to the farm in Brightwood to celebrate the 'Day of Feasting' with his family. It wasn't turning out well though. Henry was scourging in his old room looking for Chicken Beater, his frying pan. It had been next to him when he fell asleep but it was gone when he woke up.

"This'll never do! What will the other heroes think of me if they knew I lost my weapon in my own house!" he began chewing at his finger nails and then heard a crash on his door. He heard Adrian's familiar and ever so mocking voice from the other side, "Hey! Chicken Chaser, get your chicken chasin' arse out here! Your father is almost done cooking the megafowl!" (Henry's family takes the biggest chicken on the farm every year and calls it the megafowl, it is usually the main course)

Henry groaned, he didn't mind being chicken chaser. But when that farmer Adrian called him it, it made him want to hit him with his frying pan (if he could find it anyways). He opened the door and saw Adrian standing there with a cuffed overcoat on and some new pants. He didn't look so much like a barbarian today but when he grinned and showed his teeth the illusion disappeared immediately. "There's a good boy, now get downstairs! Your father wants you to help him set the table outside." Henry groaned again. His father was cooking this year? Henry loved his father.......but Roland's cooking was what you call.. dangerous. He went down the stairs waiting for the familiar aroma of burning food to fill his nostrils but he smelled food that was well..... cooked well. Henry saw Roland holding a long pole with metal dish at the end that had the imprint of someones face beaten in on it. It was Henry's frying pan. On the pan was the megafowl (which Henry thought went in the oven) which was roasted perfectly despite his father being the cook.

"Father! What are you doing with my frying pan?" he shouted at his father who turned around and looked at him with a bright smile.

"Sorry son, it is just a frying pan anyway right? I couldn't find the one I usually use so I borrowed the one I saw you bring upstairs when you arrived. I tell you it's like magic! Everything I cook on it cooks perfectly. I even tried burning the food but it still comes out great." Roland cleared his throat, "The Bard found a frying pan........ that made him cook like Friar Sam!" (refer to Roland's first song ever when he meets the hero for the tune of it......).

Adrian and Henry cringed, his cooking was better but his barding was still terrible. Henry guessed the lucky charm augment in the frying pan wasn't even powerful enough to cure Roland of that. Henry took off his yokel hat and put it on a table next to him, "So you needed my help with something?" Roland nodded and pointed to the plates, "Be a good lad and set those up for your father will you? Your mother already has her hands full waking up Pete."

Henry took the plates and carried them outside to where a long table was set out to fit the many residents of the farm. Henry spotted his mother shouting at old man Pete who had been on the farm ages before they became the owners of it. Some of the children on the farm ran up to Henry and pointed at him, "Chicken chaser, chicken chaser!" Henry tried to pull of a smile but felt his lips twitching in agitation. He set the plates along the table noticing half of the plates didn't match eachother. He assumed this being his father broke so many they needed to get another set.

An hour later (Roland having too much fun being able to cook edible food, key word being edible) everyone on the farm, including Pete who was snoozing with his head on his plate was gathered and sitting down along the long table with Henry's mother carrying a large tray with a chicken the size of the nine year olds who lived at the farm. The chicken seemed impossibly big and Henry suspected the frying pan's magic (which locked in a chest upstairs and deemed Roland proof). Adrian was surrounded by the children telling them stories of the valiant megafowl that ran through the farm and defeated the wicked Chicken chaser bringing giggles among them and sending Henry into misery. As the plate was set at the center of the table Adrian stood up, "First off, Happy Day of Feasting to you lot," the farmers raised their mugs which were filled with cider, Roland allowing no alcohol, "Second off, This year I believe we should let our very own hero cut the megafowl! Good old Chicken Chaser knows how to deal with all sorts of chickens!" the farmers and Henry's family laughed and cheered him on. Henry's mother held a large knife out to him. Henry gave Adrian a nasty look and stood up shifting his yokel hat and taking the knife from his mother.

He cut into the large chicken and muttered drolly, "Happy Day of Feasting..........."


	7. Chapter 3: The Chosen One

Abbot Robin's return to Oakfield with the king new tax increase had angered most of the villagers. If it weren't for the towns thriving economy that had sparked years ago when Lionheart had bought all of the buildings in Oakfield. Over the years that Robin had become Abbot he had fallen deeper into corruption and had began making life harder on the farmers that live there. He had removed the sheriffs and replaced them with puppets that turned their heads at his wrong doings. Infact it had taken the Oakfield court members a great amount of courage to bring the state of their town to the kings attention. Lionheart had gone in and asserted his authority with the abbot.

The town was back to it's old self with the abbot unable to work his way past the law but he had found suitable excuses for raising the taxes in Oakfield to 'support' the temples needs. A who recently moved to Oakfield had set up a small temple calling it T.O.B.Y. the Temple of Benevolent Yokels. The owner of the temple named Toby Trotter had tricked people into bringing him 'sacred artifact's to preform a right of cleansing over the Temple of Light. Right before he had started the cleansing he insisted that the people revolt against the abbot. The 'rebels' had gone to Homestead to plot the Abbots downfall but with the aid of Lionheart's Cotter Knights the abbot had brought them all back and punished them. Toby had fled to Echo Mine awaiting a 'chosen one' who would retrieve the last of the ritual pieces which had been left behind in Homestead. Several young adventurers had ran into Toby who claimed that each one of them was the chosen one. Most of them got arrested but one young adventurer named Ogan was foolish enough to resist the guards and ended getting shot in his head. The local bard wrote a song about his bad luck.

A man in his forties named Charles II was sitting in the Sandgoose listening to the Barman tell him most of what had happened in Oakfield recently. Charles was Keenly interested in the Chosen One story. He finished his cider and tipped his top hat to the barman, "A good day to you sir, my next adventure awaits!" Charles stood up and walked out of the Sandgoose and asked one of the guards where the mine was located. The guard gave him a strange look and told him to just head left after he reached the windmill at the cliff. Charles thanked the guard and began moving in that direction, 'this was it!' he told himself. Charles was struggling to become a great adventurer like his father, who had fought with the King in the Tomb of Heroes against an Hollow-man horde years ago. On his death bed Charles had given his son his hat and told him to go and become a great adventurer, but not to let his great grandmother (who was somehow still alive and healthy, the nerve of that old crone!) hear about it. Charles had set out that day from Bowerstone and had purchased a sword and had scraped down a few of the beetles in Bower Lake. He tried visiting the place his father fought with Lionheart, but these strange suits of armor stood in his way and had kept him from entering.

He continued searching for an adventure or quest of the like until he had come to Oakfield, who seemed to be having many problems an adventurer like himself could fix. This Toby fellow seemed to need help more than anyone else in the town though, if he was going to help the entire town, Charles might as well help him. On his way to the cave a hobbe jumped out of a bush and pulled out a crude mace. The hobbe had a boot on its head and thought Charlie was an easy picking (most people with top hats weren't usually armed). Charles unsheathed an iron longsword and parried the hobbe's mace as it flailed at him. Charles slashed his sword and cut the top of the Hobbe's boot off and it immidiately turned around and began running away from him with a sound went off and the hobbe fell on the ground dead.

A plump man with grease stained clothing, balding hair, and odd spectacles was standing five yards from the Hobbe. He walked over and gave the Hobbe a kick, it didn't move. Pleased with his work the man trotted to Charles with a wide grin, "How do you do good sir? My name is Toby Trotter, of T.O.B.Y. perhaps you were me?" he held his hand out to Charles who wearily took it. He hadn't expected the great Toby to look like......well look like a local drunk.

"Yes, jolly good...." Charles hesitated, "Pleased to make your acquaintance sir. I am Charles, the second that is." Toby continued shaking his hand with his grin, "Yes yes very good to make your acquaintance my dear friend." He released Charles's hand (which he immediately wiped off) and gave him a look, "here to see if you are the Chosen One destined to save Oakfield from its vile corruption?"

Charles nodded, "That was my plan sir....."

Toby waved his hand for Charles to follow him, "Quickly then, quickly! Follow me, we shall see if you are indeed the Chosen One, mind you we best keep out of sight until we get to the sacred door. The Abbot has ordered I be arrested." Charles followed Toby wondering what he had got himself into. The two of them sneaked around the town getting dangerously close to the cliffs, they then passed around a house off on its own and got on on a path that was along the water. The two of them walked in front of the stone wall that stood at the path and the face on it came out.

"Here we are, this is the......sacred door.... beyond it lies the wine of.....forgiveness..and uhh purification, yes that's it!" Toby had suddenly gotten nervous. The Demon Door had an angry look on its face, "Going with that again..... you just want to drink all that wine yourself don't you trotter? All those other 'chosen ones' you've sent here. It is only a matter of time before the knights arrive. Forgive my old stone heart adventurer...... it seems this man has brought your doom upon you. I am waiting for the Chosen One. But not to get this man a crate of Yellow Fairy....."

Charles gave Toby a glare, "Is what the rock says true? This is only some con to get you a drink? Why I never! I am an adventurer, I will not be subjugated to this rot! What about knights you say?" Toby was nervously chuckling, "Oh it is nothing don't mind the door it is obviously craz-" Toby was cut off as a sword came out the front of his chest. Behind Toby was a suit of armor, Charles couldn't see anyone in it.

The Demon Door sighed, "Those would be the knights, if only they had killed him sooner......" it sighed and sunk into the wall. Two more knights came next to the first one and the three turned to Charles with their swords drawn. Charles unsheathed his sword again. Toby's blood began soaking in with the gravel path making it slippery and Charles lost his footing. The knights charged as one and Charles barely managed to parry all the blades. "Can't we talk this over my fellows? I must insist this isn't a great time for a spar!" The knights ignored his words and kept attacking him. He was forced closer and closer to the demon door as the three swung in a flurry of strikes, Charles was nicked several times and then felt the stone against his back. He lunged with his sword at the middle knight and hit the joint where its sword arm connected to its body and the arm fell with the sword and then Charles slashed into the knight knocking its torso into its comrade sending them both lying in pieces. The third knight slashed again and disarmed Charles. His sword fell to the blood stained ground with a thunk and he held up his arms.

The knight began swing its sword but then a pistol went off. The knight turned around and a man in a Yokel hat with a frying pan on his back was holding an old pistol, his clothes were average farmer clothes but he had a belt looped around his back and on the belt a strange seal was looped on it. He had several feathers on his clothes and smelt like chicken.

Another shot went off. Except this one was like a boom. A bolt of lightning struck the knight and sent it flying into pieces. It had come from a woman who had blue runes flaring on her skin. She was wearing an explorers outfit with a Highrollers coat. She had the same seal as the other man except hers was bigger and seemed to glow. The runes disappeared as Charles stared at the pair in awe. They must be heroes he thought.

"Good work Henry," the woman said patting his shoulder, "you actually hit your target this time."

The man let out a good natured laugh, "Thank you Sabre, I'm just glad you allowed me to keep it."

The woman named Sabre looked at Charles, "You aren't hurt are you sir? I am very sorry for this inconvenience, though it is amazing of you, defeating two Cotter Knights by yourself with an average weapon. Most men would have ended up like your friend there....." she said glancing at Toby's corpse.

Charles stood up and wiped his hands on the front of his clothes. He then straightened his top hat, "Yes yes, I'm fine. Still confused about that all now. All that buggers fault, though he is dead now. Good thing no blood got on my hat. It was my fathers."

The stone face from the wall came out again and looked over the scene, "You're still alive huh......I guess you deserve to go in. If you survived then I suppose you must be the Chosen One." The door looked at Sabre and the other man and noticed the seals on them, "and you are with them........ there is no doubt.....I can finally return to the dreams of my sweet love." The door sighed peacefully and then shrunk back into the wall as it opened revealing a portal.

Sabre smiled, "It appears we have found another Hero."

The man looked at Charles, "You sure? He is a bit scrawny...."

Sabre smiled, "He is no more scrawny than you are....Chicken Chaser...." Henry groaned and then remained silent, "Go in sir, we'll see what to do about you when you come out."

Charles glanced at the portal, "Is it safe? I can say this is jolly good fun but this has been enough adventure for today."

Sabre walked up to him, "I can assure you it is safe in there. It is known as homestead, my father lived there at one time. Though when you leave if you bear the seal you will be the hero Chosen One...... I cannot guarantee your safety then. Of course adventurers are drawn to danger are they not?"

Charles nodded and then faced the portal, he put his hand up to it and snatched it back. The energy from the portal felt strange. Charles got up his courage and then walked swiftly (holding his breath and with his eyes closed) through the portal. He felt a warm and gentle breeze on his face. Charles opened his eyes and took a breath. Before him was an idyllic home to settle down in. A dirt road led to a small and cozy farm house with a chicken pen next to it. Up on a small hill near a cliff was a Windmill. The grass was green and the clouds were passing the sky swiftly though it seemed like time was frozen.

He let down his guard and walked towards the house and knocked on the door. The door creaked open and the inside of the house was just as humble, yet calming, as the outside. Against the wall was a large crate marked, 'Yellow Fairy'. The door had been right, that Toby really was a fraud. On the dining table was was a seal like the ones the two waiting outside the portal had. Charles picked it up and it glowed faintly. Charles also noticed a sheathed sword with a note on it. He picked up the note and opened it. It read: "Chosen One, you have opened your portal. I trust it wasn't too much of a burden for you. The sword here is a Master Longsword, I have given it a ghoul augmentation. When you defeat your enemies with this blade you will be healed. I hope it aids you in your quests. Also, Serenity Farm is yours, feel free to do what you will with it." Henry put down the note and picked up the sword. The sheath itself looked like it cost more than his current sword did..... which was lying in Toby Trotter's blood. Charles removed his old sheath and placed the new sword in its place

"Today wasn't that bad I suppose, except it will be a nightmare with these blood stains on my jacket! It looks so barbaric." Charles continued going through the days ups and downs and began walking back towards the portal with the seal in hand. He walked through the portal finding Sabre and the other man waiting for him.

Sabre looked at the seal in Charles's hand and smiled, "Welcome to the guild Chosen One. I am Sabre and this is Chicken Chaser," Henry glared at Sabre, "though he prefers it if you call him Henry."

Charles nodded, "jolly good jolly good. I am Charles, well the Chosen One now." Sabre waved her hands in a negative fashion, "I will just call you Charles, Chosen One is too long to say."

Henry immediately began protesting, "It took me a whole week to get you to stop calling me chicken chaser and it is even longer! You cold and heartless woman, treating him better than me already!"

Charles stood there looking at Henry with a peculiar look while Sabre was laughing and patting Henry on the back, "Well it is fun to say Chicken Chaser." Henry groaned and put his head down, "Can we just go back to the guild now?" Sabre nodded, "We need to show our new friend here the guild anyway." Sabre held out her hand and Charles tapped it and her seal blinked. The three heroes vanished to the Chamber of Fate where they would search for the next hero to find. Little did they know that the Chaos that had been released was now starting to take its form.


	8. Chaos Begins

Sabre was pacing the newly reconstructed Chamber of Fate, the large pits had been repaired and the rubble was cleaned away. The paintings of her ancestor had been restored to their original look. She had just come back from the Rookridge door and had found it already opened, which meant there was a hero on the loose. She had entered _Memory Lane_ and had found herself surrounded by her past. Most of her horrors from the five years in the Nightmare Hollow had been waiting on the inside and she had immediately left.

As it were the only heroes in the guild were her, Chicken Chaser, and Chosen One. She had visited the Bower Lake door and the Bowerstone Cemetery door and had been given the names Gunslinger, and Blade. She had sent Charles to Bloodstone to find the name of the hero that door was waiting for. Henry on the other hand was in another part of the guild that had been restored. In the room past the walkway where the metal plate was a small, but efficient library had been built and stored books filled with knowledge heroes would find valuable. From that room another doorway led to sleeping quarters for the members.

Sabre guessed a pile of gold that Henry was likely asleep. She decided that it would be better to go to Westcliff on her own and leave Henry here incase something happened in the areas surrounding the guild. She knew Henry wouldn't do much against a big problem but he could at least take care of some beetles or thugs that caused trouble in area. Sabre walked to a table at the edge of the room and picked up a small notebook, she was using it to log the the doors heroes and the realms they led to. She placed the book in one of the many pouches on her Highrollers coat and walked to the Cullis Gate. She put her hand in the blue light of the gate and then closed her eyes. She felt the world swirl around her momentarily and she opened her eyes on top of Hero Hill. It was getting dark, if she wanted to get to Bowerstone to take a carriadge to Westcliff had to hurry. She jumped off the top of the hill and landed on part of the ramp that wraps around it and began running down it at her top speed. She slowed her pace when she got to the bottom but kept a steady speed towards the road.

An hour later she arrived at BowerStone. She entered the gate and walked up to the coach driver panting, "Can....... you take me.... to westcliff?" she asked.

The Coach Driver was looking at her with an odd look, most people don't arrive at the coach panting and asking for a ride. Especially not people dressed as explorers, who generally traveled the world, and got slaughtered by bandits, on foot. The driver finally nodded, "It'll cost ya twenty gold missy, even if a route goes there now I'm not to keen of the chance of running into Balverines."

"If you're so worried about Balverines....." Sabre finally caught her breath and straightened herself, "wait here, I'll be back in ten minutes." Sabre left the confused coach driver and began crossing the bridge to the town square. Most of the shops were closing down but she could hear the blacksmith still panging at his forge. She walked into the shop and looked at the blacksmiths selection. She had Daichi, but if she wanted to fight off anything without stopping the coach she'd need a gun. There were some iron flintlock pistol and rifles along with a steel blunderbuss. She looked to the blacksmith, "Hey, you got any guns better than these?"

The blacksmith stopped his work and turned to Sabre, "Fraid not, not much call for guns in Bowerstone these days." Sabre sighed, they all thought that nothing bad was going to happen now that Lucien was gone and the bandits had been forced to retreat to Wraithmarsh. Sabre pulled out a small purse from her pouch and threw it at the counter, "I'll take the blunderbuss then." She picked up the blunderbuss and walked out of the shop back towards the bridge.

When she returned the coach driver was leaning on his coach his eyes glinting from the rim of his hat. He stood up and looked at Sabre, "So you plan on shooting them with that eh? Ya look like you can use a gun when you have to, get in, but the price stays the same mind you." Sabre shrugged and hopped into the back of the coach and leaned the blunderbuss on the seat. The driver hopped to his spot and his horses (I assume this, never seeing what moves the bloody things in game) began trotting slowly. Sabre knew even at full speed it would take half a day to get to Westcliff so she leaned her head against the corner of the coach and fell sound asleep.

"Nutter, sleeping on a coach," the driver muttered as the coach rolled off the pavement of Bowerstone onto the dirt road that leading to the rest of Albion.

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Bloodstone had always been an ugly town to look at before Lionheart became king, with Reaver watching down on the city and all the thugs in everyone corner it was full of broken windows and corpses that no one seemed to mind. Over the last few decades though Lionheart had made an effort to build a town guard in Bloodstone. The trouble was all the members of the court from Bloodstone were opposed to the guards and had many brutal conflicts with them with Norman at the head. Several other members had pondered why Lionheart let Norman live when so many guards were being killed. Lionheart told them it was best not to interfere too much with Bloodstone and had pulled out the guards after making Norman sign a contract that that had kept the city in some sense of order. The streets were cleaner, bodies weren't littering the streets (though they were still appearing in the graveyard) due to the trial system that had been implemented.

Norman was quite comfortable living in Reaver's Mansion, he wasn't a bandit king due to Lionheart's efforts but was still in charge regardless. Most of the other court members in Bloodstone were his puppets or were dead. Norman was enjoying a flask of fresh imported brews in the main room when a knock was at the door.

"Oi Norman! We got a ship coming in to port." one of his many goons told him.

Norman opened the door and saw two men at the door. He pulled his gun and shot the one who had spoken, "This is a port town you imbecile, of course there are ships coming in." He was about to slam the door shut but the other guard was pale.

"No sir, it isn't just any ship, it's _his _ship," the second one said with a worried voice.

Norman gave him a strange look and tried to see if he was lying. The man was certainly afraid alright, he figured he had better head down to the docks and verify it with his own eyes. "Okay you come with me, I want ta see this with my own eyes," the goon nodded and followed him out the door and they began rushing down the streets to the docks. When he got down what he saw stopped him in his boots. A small yet elegant ship was docked and a man was standing at its helm. The man was dressed in elegant clothes and was holding a Dragonstomper .48. The man aimed and fired killing the goon next to Norman and then jumped onto the deck.

Reaver smiled, "I'm back now, did you miss me Norman?" he let off another shot of his Dragonstomper.

Within the week, all the order that was built in Bloodstone came crumbling down to its original state. Norman walked around with a sling on his arm after having been shot by Reaver for his impotence of running the town without his approval. Norman explained what had happened in the past thirty years and Reaver shook it off as if it was irrelevant. He knew that Lionheart wouldn't do anything that would effect him much. He spent his first week back shooting anyone he thought didn't belong in town. He then had a party at the end of the week to commentate the revival of how things used to be.

Soon after Reaver had taken back Bloodstone Charles was coming into port on a passenger ship filled with several unremarkable people on it. He was thankful to see land again because the ship had gone through a storm to get to port. As the ship docked and the ramp was set to let the passengers off Charles bumped into a young woman who had been on the same ship as him.

Charles felt an object poke his stomach. The woman had drawn a pistol and was now aiming it at his gut, "I'll give you three seconds to leave before I blow your guts all over the floor," she said in a good natured tone. Something about her voice made him believe her completely, "Jolly good... I'll be eh over there, away from the nice shiny pistol if you will," Charles tipped his large hat and then ran from the dock up into a higher section of the town. All of the houses had their windows show out or their doors busted in and most of the people on the street were armed. Charles wondered where he would find the demon door in this place. He walked back down to the docks taking a different staircase than before and poked his head into the tavern. At the bar was a man who had a knife in the back of his head and was slumped forward, Henry turned around and looked at the gamemaster. He at least seemed to be better than most of the people in the town.

He noticed the gamemaster's hat had a hole it in that looks like it was caused by a bullet. "Um Excuse me good sir, but I was wondering," the gamemaster was looking at his sword, "do you know where a portal or a large talking rock would be in this town?" the gamemaster pointed down the road to a staircase that led up to the cliff and had a bend , "Righto....... I'll be on my way have a good day sir"

Charles trotted down the road avoiding a puddle of some green and yellow sludge that had built up in the poorly maintained cobble stone road. Behind him the ruffians and thugs were giving him cold stares that made him feel very out of place and he doubled his pace until he reached the old stone staircase. As he climbed the stairs he noticed a chest that had its lid open against the stone wall that was probably built to make the town more appealing. He glanced at its contents to find it empty save for some murky rain water that had built up over the years. He wondered why no one bothered moving the thing or putting something else in it, "A pity really, they only think about the first adventurer to get to the chests, and bollox to the rest of us."

He got to the top of the stairs and went around the bend, "Well this is a.....delightful place isn't it?" he pulled off his hat and held his head down a moment in honor of the dead who he assumed were buried in the tombs along the sides of the small valley. He walked down a small stair case and looked at several of the tombs, one had a statue with a golden mask at the base of it and when Charles tried to touch it he was flung out of the small tomb and onto the ground. After wiping his coat clean of the filth from the ground he looked at a blank stone wall that wasn't rough like the cliff.

"Last time it just popped out on its own... so it will this time right?" Charles stood there for a minute. He stood there for another minute, and then he heard a voice behind him, "You dunderhead of a human, I am behind you......." Charles turned around and saw what was without a doubt a Demon door, Charles scratched his neck, "Sorry about that good chap.....you blend in with the tombs....very nicely....."

The door stared at him curiously, "Say.....by chance you wouldn't happen to have a lute would you? Ever since I was closed there has been no noise other than that wind! Well and the occasional canon firing from that horrid town." Charles shook his head, "Oh well then..... I didn't expect you to really. It took hundreds of years for the first one to come here, and he couldn't play at all damn bard," the door said with disgust, "I was very fortunate for the second one to pass by no more than a week afterwards and he played with the skill only a true minstrel could. But alas..... I am cursed to wait for my hero to open me by the same minstrel who opened and then closed me."

Charles was very curious about this minstrel who opened and closed him but the door reminded him why he came to this little corner of hell (obviously he hasn't been to Wraith Marsh yet, walk another 30 feet forward Charles! Let's see how long you last against Hollow men and banshees!!! ........sorry lost my train of thought) "Actually..... I am here to... ask the name of the..hero.....you're waiting for."

The door stared at him with interest, "And why would you need to know that now? I hope you don't plan on claiming that you're Albion's 'Dumpling'." Charles looked at the door like it was crazy, "What kind of hero could be called Dumpling? But then again........what kind of hero could be called Chicken Chaser."

The door chuckled, "Chicken chaser? Which of the doors got that hero? I bet it was that Brightwood door, got on the wrong side of the man he did.......oh and I suppose I should tell you this.....if you are looking for Dumpling...try finding the 'scourge of everything that is holy and pure' "

"What in the blamesess is that supposed to mean?" Charles asked. The door seemed to shrug (without a body, an amazing feat I must say) and then sunk back into the wall, "Only he would know..."

Charles sat down on a patch of grass and sighed looked at the inside of his hat, which was completely empty, "Do I really have to go back through that town?" He heard a sound and stood up, at the end of the road there was a cave entrance, and from the cave three shadow creatures shaped like balverines were approaching him. Charles put his hat on quickly and unsheathed his sword holding it in front of the creatures, "What are these things?!"

Charles wished he had brought Henry or Nora with him..... he then charged the creatures.

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Henry was wishing the same thing as Charles at the same moment in Bowerstone. He had woken up and gone to Bowerstone to entertain the kids or help out with some small tasks. Shortly after he had entered Bowerstone the town bell began ringing the guards were rushing to the bridge yelling about a slaughter. Henry had pulled out his frying pan and followed them to see what was going on. What he saw shocked him.

At least twenty villagers were dead at the town gate and a dozen shadow balverines were at the town gate and had already killed seven guards. Henry was horrified and yet he found himself warning the guards to step back.

"What is wrong with me?" he wondered. A balverine jumped at him and he swung at it sending it flying into its comrades who ignored their comrade and shoved it aside. Henry continued swinging them away doing no real damage to them but keeping them from getting past Bower bridge. Several of the guards rushed in and managed to kill one of them but were killed by the others quickly.

One of the balverines lunged at Henry and caused him to drop his frying pan and knocked him against a wall. The beasts were slowly moving towards him. Henry began laughing, "Oh what a lovely way for Chicken Chaser to end!" he sighed and closed his eyes.....Nothing.......he was still alive....he thought. He opened his eyes and saw a figure another shadow fiend, except unlike the others it was shaped like a warrior monk and had a crossbow in its hands. Oh great Henry thought, an even nastier one. This new one was keeping the others at bay though, he wondered what it was waiting for. The balverines figured it wasn't going to attack and one charged at Henry, and was impaled by a bolt from the crossbow and howled in pain.

The other fiends held at bay when suddenly the archer vanished. The balverines cautiously moved towards Henry when a horn blared and several Cotter knights ran past the guards who were still alive to defend the bridge. Following them was the man Henry met at the castle named Marcus wielding a golden Cleaver and next to him was an adventurer holding a sword that seemed to be the cleavers oppisite. The Balverines turned their attention to the new comers and leaped at them. The cotter knights were slow to react and ended up being knocked into pieces.

"Get up you lazy farmer, you're not done yet," Marcus's companion growled. Henry scurried to his feat and picked up his frying pan. The man looked at him with dubious look. "Is that really your weapon? Nevermind I'll handle them......" he swapped the dark blade to his right hand and unsheathed a cutlass that made Henry want to run away in terror when he looked at it. The man obviously was using cursed blades......but why? Marcus and his friend both toyed with the Balverines like they were children and caused them to rashly attack them. The man with the swords stabbed two of the fiends with one blade while fighting off one with the other. Marcus was slashing his Cleaver at the fiends who were dodging it by inches.

"I can't let them take all the glory!" Henry charged in and swung at one of the shadow creatures on the head making it disappear into nothingness. Several minutes later the fight was over. Marcus's friend walked over to Henry who was too terrified to move looking at both blades. Avo sheathed the swords and Henry felt calm once again. "I guess you are just a normal human after all," the man sighed, "Well you're still alive at least, that is more than I can say for most of those guards. I didn't think we'd make it before they killed you all. How'd a farmer like you manage to hold the bloody things off that long?"

Henry blinked...he looked at all the corpses and remembered the slaughter slowly, "I..... I don't know.......one of the fiends though, it looked like a human.. it had a crossbow and show at them." The man gave Henry a surprised look, "Shadowfiend was here? Why would it hang around in Bowerstone this long. I am pretty sure it has killed all the Gargoyles here. If I see him I'll be sure to gut his sorry-" Marcus cut him off.

"Calm down Avo, Henry did all right considering he was fighting shadow creatures with a cooking utensil......." Avo looked at Marcus, "You know this yokeling dolt?" Marcus nodded, "Some guards brought him to the castle's kitchen one day to make up for an incident that occurred with the Abbot." Avo nodded, "I'll be going if you don't need me then, there is some talking door in the cemetery I want to see before I leave the city."

Marcus nodded and when Avo was gone he chuckled, "I wonder what the bastard is up to......I guess it doesn't matter." He signaled one of the guards, "You, were you here when these things first attacked?" The guard nodded, "Yes my lord, they popped out of thin air right in front of the gate and cut down the men there and then killed the people at the general store."

"And the coach driver?" he continued.

"He is gone my lord, he left with a strange woman last night to Westcliff." the guard continued giving his report to Marcus and Henry suddenly felt very tired........and very sick. He activated his guild seal and a blue light began surrounding him. Marcus and the guard didn't seem to notice as he warped back into the Chamber of Fate where Charles and Nora were standing, waiting for him.

________________________________________________________________________________________

The three heroes were in the library room having a meeting on how their missions had gone. Sabre revealed that on the way to Westcliff she and the coach driver had been attacked by several of the shadow balverines but had managed to kill them quickly enough, "Also," she added, "The Westcliff demon door is still shut. The damn thing was trying to convince me being pure is a waste of time. I finally managed to get him to tell me he was waiting for 'Shadowfiend' whoever that is."

Charles sighed, "Sounds more like a villain than a hero. The Bloodstone door said it was waiting for Dumpling....which sounds more like a little girl than a hero. After that I was attacked by the same balverines you both ran into. I couldn't beat them and used my seal to teleport away."

Sabre looked at Charles, "You let those things run wild in Bloodstone then?"

Charles scoffed, "I wouldn't worry about that now, that Reaver fellow has returned to Bloodstone, I'll wager he took care of them before anyone could blink." Sabre looked at Charles with a slightly disappointed look. "Wonderful news for my father then........Reaver's return...likely to ruin his sunny day.

Henry groaned, "Mines already been ruined...." he shuddered thinking of the slaughter that had occurred.

Sabre looked at both of her fellow heroes, "Look, the both of you did good today. Let's just go to bed and then tell my father about Reaver tomorrow." Charles and Henry agreed quickly and went to their beds and fell asleep the second they lied down.

Sabre sighed to herself, "Just what in the name of the Archons is going on? It's likely that damn shadowcourt, they are the only one who has so many spirits under its control. Sabre wrote down the events of the day in her journal and fell asleep on the chair reading 'Marcus's Poem' thinking about how Marcus had once told he wrote it. She knew better than to believe that now, but it was a nice memory and it helped her sleep.


	9. Holiday: Merry Christmas

Once again venturing off the plot of the story completely!!! This time we are going to be celebrating Christmas! (I am too lazy to think of a catchy new name for it)(oh on another note sorry for taking forever to add chapters I had planned on using the DLC content to base my next chapter off of except it got delayed so the story was delayed)

It has never snowed in snowed in Bloodstone before, of course they didn't have the marvelous inventor duo Barnum (alive for this segment) and Gordon (new character in Fable 2 DLC) to build a shakeastickful device like the Snow cone maker.....which they made a giant version of and dumped over Reaver's mansion for the party that was in store.

Reaver and Norman were standing at the door waiting for Lionheart and his guests to arive, "Say Reaver... why are we having this party at your mansion? I thought you didn't like this Lionheart fellow." Reaver shook his head, "Dear dear Norman. This event will be in the history books. Why the most famous and renown people in Albion will be here and I have snow on the courtyard, this will never happen in Bloodstone again." Norman nodded and didn't say anything else.

Someone knocked at the door, and Reaver groaned, "Lovely they're hear....."

"Weren't you just happy about the party Boss" Norman pointed out. He was answered by having a pistol fired into his foot.

"Don't be silly Norman," Reaver opened the door and saw a small crowd of people standing at the steps of his house. He looked amongst the people in the crowd with mixed emotions. In the front 'King' Lionheart was standing with his white nobles coat on and had an unfamiliar yet charming girl next to him. His wife? No no he wouldn't marry someone that young, he is too noble and what not. His eyes passed over Garth and Hammer quickly and with disgust and he moved on to others. There was a man dressed like a guard and next to him was a Highwayman and an adventurer with two swords. He let the group in with some kind words and a sarcastic smile and began looking at the rest of them as they walked in.

A farmer with a frying pan passed by him followed by a little girl with pig tails who was looking at the farmer with a rather menacing look, "Charming girl" he muttered to himself. After them came a bard who if Reaver remembered from one of Lionheart's tales correctly was Roland. A man with a rather worn out top hat followed him as well as the inventor Barnum, which he seemed to recall shooting and his partner Gordon. Hammer, Garth, Lionheart, and the young woman with him were the last to come in.

"Ah welcome my good....well you obviously aren't my friends so what should I call you?" Reaver said with a sly smile. Hammer growled and jabbed him in the ribs, "Enemies is fine with me." Reaver snorted in disgust, "Norman! What is this troll doing in my house?"

"Why you-" Hammer reached for Reaver but Lionheart put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head, "Guests is fine Reaver, we don't hold very kind feelings towards you either." Reaver clapped his hands once, "Good wouldn't have it any other way, if the three... wait I forgot the pretty lady," Reaver bowed towards the young woman, "the four of you would follow me to the balcony so I can greet all of your other guests. Rowdy bunch they are, wouldn't mind killing them on a normal day."

Garth frowned at Reaver's words as the five of them stepped up the stairs and the balcony looking over the people at the party. They were all rather festive until Reaver shot his Dragonstomper.

"Will you all SHUT UP!!! I can barely hear myself think..... Where was I?" Norman whispered in Reaver's ears, "Oh yes! Welcome one and all to my glorious abode for this party, or shindig, or whatever words floats your paticular boat."

Hammer shoved Reaver aside and let Lionheart step up, "Thank you for attending this party my friends, it isn't often those who keep Albion safe get to relax like this, I wish you all a Merry Christmas." Marcus and the little girl stood there quietly while Henry, Derek, Charles, Roland, Barnum, and Gordon raised their goblets or glasses (or in Barnum's case a thesarus) , "Merry Christmas!!!" they all replied.

(I wrote this in 10 minutes, don't judge me. Going to make sure it is perfect after I wake up......just wanted it to be uploaded on the right day I guess)


	10. Chapter 4: Blade Part 1

Sabre, Henry, and Charles were in the guild library standing around a table with various scrolls strewn across it. In the middle of the table was a map of Albion with several pinpoints on it. Next to the points were lines, seven of them had names, and two were blank, "Sabre, Chicken Chaser, Chosen One, Blade, Dumpling, Gunslinger, and Shadowfiend. What a lovely little family of heroes we are looking for," Henry mumbled.

Sabre nodded and sighed, "That and we have that hero on the loose from Rookridge," she pointed to the mark on Rookridge, and then to the one in Wraithmarsh, "Not to mention we still need to get the Wraithmarsh doors name."

Charles lifted his hands over his head, "I absolutely refuse to go anywhere near Wraithmarsh, last time I was even close to it those lovely balverine chaps decided to claw at my gooneys." To this Henry began laughing but he stopped abruptly at a glare from Sabre.

Sabre shook her head, "Don't worry Charles, you and Henry are going on a safer mission. Henry, you said that Avo seemed to know something about that shadow he called Shadowfiend right?" Henry nodded, "Good, I want you an Charles to go ask him about this Shadowfiend. Oh and he seems to be a good swordsman, ask him if he knows a master who would be known as Blade will you?"

Henry hesitated to agree, "Well…. Those swords of his, when he has them out I feel a certain dread come over me I can't control. If has the swords out I probably can't ask him anything you know."

Sabre pointed at Charles, "He'll be with you don't worry, oh and here," she unrolled one of the scrolls on the table and laid it over the map. On it were pictures of weapons with names and notes next to most of them, "Recognize any of these? It might help me figure him out."

Henry looked closely at some of the pictures and pointed to one, "He had that sword for certain, the Maelstrom is it? Odd name for a sword really…. Ah he also had that one," Henry pointed to a cutlass that was odd looking. Charles looked over it, "The Wreckager? 'A sword purposively used by Captain Dread. It is said that his name alone sends shivers down the spines of those who remember him' well that is indeed an odd weapon also, if I am right the sword has taken on his frightfulness, jolly good…….another evil sword."

The three continued discussing the swords and what they'd do until the hit a bad spot in their plan which Charles thoughtfully brought up, "Sabre…..on the map is says those lovely chaps from the Shadowcourt are on your way to the door, wouldn't passing them be…well bad? They don't seem likely the friendliest of fellows after their ambush on us."

Sabre pointed at a spot near the Demon door, "Don't worry Charles, there is a one way Culis gate here. The one in Brightwood can take me here and I'll be able to avoid the Shadowcourt. I'll try to be back in three days if not shorter."

The other two nodded, they were quite relieved Sabre was going instead of them for this dangerous mission, though in all honestly it was more like going to a library to find information rather than a mission….though this library happened to have banshees and other nasties that Charles and Henry both loathed to think of.

Charles and Henry were both traveling up the road to Fairfax castle to find Marcus. From what Sabre and Henry figured, Marcus and Avo were around each other a lot. There were a lot of citizens from different towns walking up the road today. A guard had told them Lionheart was giving a speech concerning Balverine sightings and a lot of the people wanted to hear him, "We have to get into the Castle kitchen before this speech starts," Henry told Charles.

"You gob! This isn't the time to be thinking about your stomach," Charles retorted and smacked Henry's yokel hat off his hat. Henry reached down to get it and then tripped over the air and landed down face first. After Henry got up he was looking at Charles defiantly and jabbed him in the forehead, "No! Marcus is the castle chef, he is supposed to be in the kitchen that is where he should be easiest to find!"

Charles looked away from Henry and kept walking on and mumbled to himself, "Could've said that sooner, ignorant yokel."

Henry glared at Charles but said nothing as they walking to the castle until they got to the steps of the castle. A large crowd was assembled waiting for the king to come out. The door to the castle was shut and several guards were standing outside it.

Charles adjusted his hat, "Well that is jolly good! The door is shut and guarded, how are we going to get in there?" Henry pointed to the heroe's guild seal that was attatched the the belt slung over his shoulder, "Well shouldn't they accept heroes with guild seals?"

Charles sighed, "Worth a try I suppose."

Both of them continued towards the crowd and say an old guard with a captains badge trying to calm down a routy group of people. Henry and Charles approached the guard who was shouting sternly at a bunch of ruffians that were likely from Bloodstone.

"Oh shut it you pansy, we don't take orders from guards," one of retorted and pulled a pistol to Derek's head. The guard took a few steps back, "Come on now, this is no time to be unreasonable son, I am just trying to help."

The man with the gun laughed, "Help me? Oh that is a good one! In fact-" whatever he was going to say he never had a chance to say. A frying pan struck the man in the head and he fell to the ground knocked out. Both his companions turned to see who had hit their leader and they saw Henry with his frying pan and pistol out, and Charles with his sword and ever so fashionable top hat.

"Tsk tsk," Charles sighed, "You shouldn't be causing trouble in the capital, It might be free of rules in that awful Bloodstone place but here you won't get away with it."

The two men picked up their leader and ran deeper into the crowd before Henry or Charles could stop them. The guard picked up the ruffians pistol and put it in his belt, "Well I suppose I should thank the two of you, I haven't seen action in many years, it has made me soft. I am Derek captain of the guard."

Charles gave a quick tip of his hat and Henry simply nodded, "I am Henry, and this is my friend Charles. You are the captain? Perhaps you could help us then."

Derek nodded, "That is what I am here for." Henry opened his mouth but Charles spoke first, "We are looking for the castle chef Marcus can you take us to him?"

Derek eyed the both of them with a curious look, "Marcus? I'm sorry, he is in the castle, which is off limits to civilians today. I hope you understand.."

Charles sighed and pulled out his guild seal and showed it to Derek, "Look, we are Sabre's allies, we need to see Marcus as soon as possible."

Derek looked surprised to see the guild seal, his expression changed from curiosity to aggravation, "Well well…..these are the heroes to save us now? Well ain't that dandy, come on follow me now." Derek began stamping away with an annoyed look on his face and Charles and Henry scurried to keep up with him.

As they approached the castle door Derek made a hand sign and the guards opened it, Derek then stood to the side, "Marcus is in the kitchen, go do your business with him and then leave."

The two of them walked into the castle and then the doors shut behind them. Henry scratched his chin, "I don't think he is to fond about us knowing Sabre."

Charles said nothing nor made any indication he was listening. The two of them always seemed to be at odds about something, or so it seemed to Henry. He sighed and walked into the usually crowded throne room that was empty today. The castle seemed very lonely with no one in it. No wonder Lionheart opened it to the public. The two of them took a left into the west wing and down to where the dining hall was located. The long table was empty save for a book that someone had been reading and the only noise was coming from the kitchen.

Charles walked past Henry and into the kitchen and saw a Highwayman watching an oven intently.

"You there! What is a criminal like you doing in the castle?" Charles demanded, Henry reached out to grab Charles but he had already ran towards the Highwayman in all black who responded to Charles charge by grabbing his wrist and throwing him onto the floor.

Henry ran forward before Marcus could do anything else, "Marcus wait!"

Marcus turned toward Henry, "Oh yes, hello again, we seem to be crossing paths quite often now. Do you happen to know this man?" he said looking at Charles intently.

Henry nodded, "He is another one of the heroes Sabre found."

Marcus chuckled, "He looks about as threatening as you do….oh well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers." Marcus grabbed Charles and pulled him to his feet, "I am Marcus, Lionheart's personal chef."

Charles put his head down, "Charles," and then backed away from Marcus.

"What can I do for the two of you then? I am somewhat busy at the moment," he said motioning towards the oven.

Henry took off his hat and spoke, "We were actually looking for Avo, Sabre asked us to ask him about Shadowfiend and Blade."

Marcus blinked, "Avo? I believe he was under the castle discussing something with the demon door down there. It seems to know a lot about ancient swords, and Avo is obsessed with ancient swords, has two of them at the moment, the cursed things."

"How do we get under the castle?" Charles asked.

Marcus turned away from them and looked at the oven, "leave the castle and take the path to the end of the wall and walk towards the stairs, there is a tunnel that leads to a small courtyard with a tree."

Charles opened his mouth again but Henry grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the castle before he could say anything.


	11. Chapter 4: Blade Part 2

"You are too greedy human," the door was saying to Avo in the Courtyard as Henry and Charles came in. Avo was standing in front of the demon door with a scowl on his face and several swords laid out before the door, "You have let me study your swords…….I owe you information in return, but I will not tell you how to get _that _sword!"

Avo slammed his fist into the wall next to the door, "and why not?! I swore to gather all of the legendary swords and it is one of them! I am a master of the blades! I will not be denied."

The door sighed, "My decision is final……. You have some visitors Avo," and with that the door shrunk into the wall.

Avo turned around and saw a middle class dolt with a sword and a farmer….with a frying pan. He recognized Henry after a moment but had no idea who the dolt was next to him, "You again? You also brought a friend this time? Wait wait, let me guess he is the almighty chosen one, destined to save Albion?" he said with more than a little bit of sarcasm.

Henry looked at the swords on the floor and felt his will disappear, those evil swords were right there, and they were giving Henry the chills, "Y-yes it is me again… you see… we came to a-ask you about," before Henry could finish Avo began sheathing the pile of swords one by one. He grinned at Henry, "Go on."

Charles looked at the swords, "Good sir, why on earth would you have five swords?"

Avo gave Charles an annoyed look, "Chicken Chaser, tell your friend to be quiet before I run him through."

Henry elbowed Charles and muttered into his ear, "Be careful what you say around him, he is rather enthusiastic about killing," He looked at Avo again.

Avo latched on the two swords he normally had with him and then put the others in a linen bag and tied it shut, "You were saying…."

"Right," Henry began, "Our friend, or leader…..rather, Sabre told us to ask you what you know about Shadowfiend…… and she also asked us to ask if you know any sword masters……"

Avo shrugged, "Shadowfiend eh? All I know is he is half human and half shadow, he began hunting all the Gargoyles in Albion for some reason…..he is sort of obsessed with them. People think he works for the Shadowcourt, but after what you saw, "he looked at Henry, "You should know better than that. As to your second question, you're looking at one."

"Yes I know you are, but we were wondering if-"

"There are no others," Avo growled, "I am the best swordsman in Albion and that is that. Why are you looking for a sword master anyway?"

Henry pointed to the Demon door, "We are looking for the hero Blade to open the Demon door in Bowerstone cemetery."

Avo looked at the door, "So these doors open for certain heroes? Well then, how do you open it?"

Charles and Henry both shrugged, "It is different for every door I suppose, Charles's opened after he fought some Cotter knights, mine opened up after I dressed like a cheese bearer."

Avo picked up the sack of swords and then began walking towards the exit, "Both of you come with me now."

"Where are we going?" Charles demanded.

Avo turned towards Charles and grinned, "To see if I can open up that door."

After walking for three hours the trio made it to the door at the Cemetery, Blade didn't even seem to have been affected by the walk, Henry was a farmer and was used to it, but the day had seem to taken a toll on Charles who complained constantly about his feet hurting. On the way there Henry had told him how they always seemed to have a weapon waiting inside the doors and Avo had a glint in his eyes since the conversation.

Avo threw his sack into Henry's arms, which nearly toppled him over, "Hold this." He walked up to the door and kicked it, "Wake up! You're about to be opened!"

The door's face rose from the stone wall and contorted in anger, "Meat!! Me want meat!!"

Avo snorted, "Shut up door, I just want you to open."

The door looked at him, "You blade? Prove it!"

Avo unsheathed both of his swords and slashed with them at the door, it only scratched the surface barely leaving a mark but the door howled with pain. Avo satisfied with the results, sheathed the swords again.

"You go in……now leave alone!" the face vanished into the wall, and the door opened up revealing the portal. Avo walked into the portal and felt a strange lurch as he walked through, he turned around and saw the portal behind him, and in front of him was a dirt path leading up to an enormous wall made of black stone with a single door way leading past it.

He unsheathed The Maelstrom walked down the path and into the keep, "As far as old forts go, this one isn't so bad," he muttered to himself. Most of the hallway was intact except for a pile of rubble to his right that looked like a smashed statue; he saw another doorway ahead of him. He walked past it found and himself on a platform in a large chamber with piles pouring water down onto the floor below him. There was a large square opening in the ceiling letting light shine down on the edge of the platform, which had a a stone table on the end of it. Unlike the dark colored stone of the keep, the table was made out of white marble and had a sword lying down on it. The blade had a curved lined going down it that separated it into two until it nearly reached the pommel. The blade seemed to glow with goodness and light, and made a low ringing noise being near the Maelstrom.

Avo sheathed the Maelstrom and the ringing stopped. Next to the sword was a seal that Avo remembered seeing attached on Henry's belt that was slung across his back to hold up that ridiculous frying pan he fought with, he also noticed one pinned to Charles coat, "So this is a guild seal?" he said picking it up. He shrugged and stashed it away in his pouch and turned his attention back to the sword.

He didn't know the name of the sword but it felt vary familiar. He reached his hand out to grab the blades hilt when he felt lightning burst through his body.

"Gah!!" he snatched his hand back and glared at the blade, it seemed to refuse him with defiance. It acknowledged he owned it but refused to let him wield it, "What kind of sword would do this?" he growled.

Avo looked at the side of the table and noticed there was an inscription on it now that hadn't been there before. It read 'You might be named Avo, but Avo's Tear isn't yours until you regain your honor'

Avo recognized the name Avo's Tear; he remembered that the hero who had defeated Jack of Blades had been given the sword after completing a quest in the Heroes guild years ago. The temple of Avo had been since then destroyed, and the sword and the Sentinus had both disappeared from Albion.

He slammed his fist on the table, "How exactly am I supposed to regain something I gave up for my swords?"

The table's inscription changed again 'Find yourself' and then it went blank.

Avo snorted and walked back into the hallway and then left the fort, "That damn sword, I can't go back after what I did." He muttered. He gave the Maelstrom a look and then unlatched it and threw it into the bushes, "Damn you!" he shouted.

He walked through the portal and saw Charles waiting at the portal entrance and Henry was chasing his hat around (it has a chicken under it). When they saw him they looked at him expectantly, "Well?" they asked in unison.

Avo took out the guild seal from the pouch and held it up so they could see it, "Now what?" he grumbled.

"Well we take you back to the Chamber of fate and introduce you to Sabre if she is back yet…." Henry said. Charles shook his head, "No no, we go and take down a bandit or something to celebrate, Sabre won't be back for a week."

Avo looked at Charles with an annoyed look again, "How about we go back or a certain someone will have no more head."

Charles gulped, "Yes…..jolly good……back to the chamber then?"

Henry, Avo, and Charles set off to return to the Chamber, which of course gave Charles more to complain about. Henry was looking at Avo the entire time who seemd to be in a foul mood and noticed he only had one sword with him, when he had entered the portal with two. He wanted to ask but was afraid his ears would be sliced off if he said anything.

Meanwhile in Wraithmarsh……

Sabre was walking towards the entrance to the Shadowcourt, only an idiot would do that but she was headed towards it anyway, just to investigate, the demon door had told her after a long tale that it was waiting for the hero Conjurer.

She got to the large stone wall with the sealed door that led into the Shadowcourt, but she couldn't open the door. She cursed under her breath. She heard a noise behind her and turned around, seeing two figures approaching her.


	12. Chapter 5: Gunslinger

First Note: I don't know if I should have notes before chapters…..

Second Note: I did have some trouble coming up with a good gunslinger, I think I might've pushed Fable lore too far with this new character here.

Third note: Last thing……in case someone didn't notice I am going with 3 hero chapters a time and then having an interlude or whatever you want to call it. When I hit the end of the line of the hero chapters I guess the interesting bits will start…..maybe

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A passenger ship was coming into the Bloodstone dock, on board only two people stood out, a dignified man with a large top hat and a sword strapped to his belt, and a young woman who was dressed in all black. She was wearing boots tha_t_ went to her thigh and was wearing pants with various pouches hanging from them. She had a knife on the back of her belt and a pistol holstered on the side. Her crop top jacket had several more knives sticking out of it.

As the ship came into port the passengers all got off in a hurry. On her way leaving the docks, the man with the top hat bumped into her, she pulled out her pistol and held it to his stomach and said in a rather good natured and cheerful tone, "I'll give you three seconds to leave before I blow your guts all over the floor."

The man backed away, "Jolly good… I'll be eh over there, away from the nice shiny pistol if you will," and he then tipped his hat good mannerly and ran away. The young woman named Sarah smiled. She hadn't actually planned on shooting him but his reaction was amusing none the less.

Sarah walked off the dock and in front of the Bloodstone's pub. She walked over to the game master who was sitting at a table outside trying to appeal to people to play 'Bloodstone' which was a backwards version of Keystone. She tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention, "Do you know where I could find Reaver? I heard he was in town."

The game master gave her a dumb look, "Lady where 'ave you been? Whole town knows Reaver is up in the manor on top of yonder hill. Daft woman, don't see why you'd want to go get yourself killed anyway."

Sarah smiled and shot the Gamemaster's hat off and walked to the staircase to go up the hill, "Thank you very much sir," and began humming. She didn't like acting like that, but she knew this was Bloodstone and she had to do something that would keep most of the towns Thugs keep their distance.

Sarah took care to count men who would likely be some of Reaver's more dangerous goons and tried to stay out of their sight as she walked up the streets of Bloodstone towards the mansion at the top. She didn't know how she was going to deal with Reaver when she met him. She would tell him what she had to say and then see how he reacted. She imagined she'd likely be running out of Bloodstone for her life, not that it would do much good if Reaver came after her personally with his gun expertise.

As she approached the mansion she noticed how it clashed with the rest of Bloodstone, it was clean and all of its windows were open. There was a garden in the middle of the courtyard and the goons here were tidier than their counterparts on the streets. They all had their hands on their weapons as she walked up the gates but wouldn't do anything unless she made a threatening move.

There was a bald man with unkempt sideburns and had his right arm in a sling. His sword was on his right hip and he seemed very uncomfortable with it there. The man glared at her as she stood in front of the door and inspected him. He puffed his chest, "What in blazes do ya want lady?" he demanded.

Sarah looked at him as if he was stupid, "What else would I be doing in Bloodstone at this mansion? I am here to see Reaver of course."

The man grunted, "Go in then, try not to die will ya though? I am sick of cleaning the blood out of the carpets!"

One of the other thugs chuckled, "Ever since he shot your arm you have been his maid haven't ya Norman?" Several of the others also snickered at this. Norman pulled out a pistol with his left hand and shot the men in the arms, "Shut it ya gobs! I'm bloody left handed I'll have you know!" the thugs that were bleeding howled in pain and looked at Norman in anger, but knew better than to shoot one of Reaver's favorites.

Sarah ignored their charade and walked inside the mansion and looked around. It was just as nice on the inside as it was the outside. In front of her was a door that was shut and voices coming from behind it. Sarah walked up to the door and put her ear up on it and heard two men talking. One of them seemed angry and was very displeased with the other. While the other man seemed to be enjoying the conversation and mocking the other. Sarah didn't have time to pay attention to them and opened the door while they were still talking.

The two men turned their attention to her. One man seemed to be honorable and was wearing a white coat fit only for royalty. He had a kind and wise face that was lined with wrinkles that only made him seem more wise. He had a simple sword on his back and was muscular despite his age. The other man however, he was dressed just as elegantly except more befitting of a pirate, which was obviously Reaver. A few wrinkles lined his face but he didn't seem to be very affected by it. He had the finest pistol Sarah had ever seen on his belt and a seal in one of his hands. Reaver clapped his hands once, "Ahhh right, the company I asked for, I am sorry hero but I am going to have to ask you to leave, Bewegen! Boguer!!"

The man in white shook his head in disappointment, "Don't think this is over Reaver, I will be back."

Reaver gave him an annoyed look, "Why are you still here?"

The man walked past Sarah and whispered to her quietly, "Be careful, he is a dangerous man." and with that he left the building and she heard a flash sound and the man was gone. Reaver was looking at Sarah with interest.

"My my, what a pretty one we have today," he began, "I never thought that dratted 'King of Albion' would shut up! Bah, he isn't king of Bloodstone as long as I'm alive. Which I intend to be for many years to come. Since you've helped me by stumbling in at the perfect time, I will listen to whatever you have to say or whatever you want to ask, I might even give you a three second head start if you are here to kill me. But where you that get you now?" Reaver grinned cynically, "Probably dead in my basement."

Sarah shook her head nervously, "No no…. I'm not here to kill you, there is something I want to confirm though….."

Reaver arched his brow, "Is that so? Hmm not that often someone comes to confirm something with me, except their untimely deaths, but let's put that aside shall we?"

After Norman had finished dealing with the other goons he had stepped into Reaver's house after Lionheart left and the young woman had begun talking with Reaver. He missed the first part of the conversation but what he heard interested him.

Reaver had a frustrated expression and his face was lined with confusion, "That was twenty three years ago now? I believe I was still in Samarkand....no Garth had already suggested ever so kindly that I left, maybe on the ocean then?" He scratched his head obviously giving up trying to remember it, "but I will need more proof than a simple claim if I am to believe this story."

"What do I have to do to prove it then?" She demanded in a wavering voice.

Reaver looked at the seal in his hand, "Ah yes….. that could work rather nicely," he looked up at Sarah with his usual overly pleasant and deceiving expression, "You see this little thing here?" he waved the seal in the air, "I belongs to some rather lovely people in Wraithmarsh. I would return myself of course but I am too busy running Bloodstone at the moment to leave. Norman you remember where the Shadowcourt is? Could you please guide….oh what was your name again girl?"

"Sarah," she muttered as if offended.

"Ah yes Sarah, great name… could you guide Sarah to the Shadowcourt? I believe if her story is true, she should be able to protect you from any nasties in the marsh," Reaver was in a very cheerful mood and Norman had no idea what he was planning.

Norman had guided people to the Shadowcourt before, but he always returned to bloodstone alone and never bothered finding out what happened to those he led there. He figured he only managed to get back alive because most of the Balverines and Hollow-men were too busy fighting the bandits that had been forced to to inhabit Twinblade's tomb after being driven out by Lionheart years ago. Lionheart had since then made contact with the bandits and had even managed to sort out a truce amongst them and had sent several of his Cotter Knights to help the bandits fight the Banshees.

Sarah blinked, "What exactly is the shadowcourt?" She looked to Norman.

Reaver grinned, "The little details are not important, you should come out alive, if you are who you say you are anyway. Now the both of you, Oft! Scoot!" Reaver waved his hand at the both of them with no more interest.

Norman grunted and headed out the door and Sarah picked up the pace behind him.

As Norman had guessed there was a large horde of hollow-men wallowing outside the now fortified tomb that the bandits inhabited and they ignored Sarah and himself as they walked through the swamp with ease. They ran into a balverine but before Norman could blink Sarah pulled her pistol and shot it four times in the head killing it.

He looked at her with a curious glance, "Who did you say you were again?"

Sarah turned away from Norman and snorted in a sarcastic and child like manner, "None of your business."

They continued through the swamp without any more words.

Sabre was walking towards the entrance to the Shadowcourt, only an idiot would do that but she was headed towards it anyway, just to investigate, the demon door had told her after a long tale that it was waiting for the hero Conjurer.

She got to the large stone wall with the sealed door that led into the Shadowcourt, but she couldn't open the door. She cursed under her breath. She heard a noise behind her and turned around, seeing two figures approaching her.

She instantly pulled of the Daichi and stabbed it into the soft soil. The runic symbols all over her body flared to life and lightning crackled from her hands making the sword glow a bright blue. She released her hands and left the sword carry the lightning while she held two weak but quick bolts in her hand to blast the oncoming intruders.

Norman and Sarah arrived at the tomb when a sight they didn't expect to see appeared before them, a sword in the ground was glowing blue and crackling with lightning and a woman covered in runic symbols was standing there with lightning crackling in her hands.

Both of the bolts of lightning shot from the woman's hands towards them both. Norman quickly drew his sword and threw it at the bolt headed towards him which was struck by the lightning and absorbed it while the sword fell harmlessly to the ground. Sarah unfortunately, was not as quick to think and was struck by the bolt of lightning which sent her down crying with pain.

Norman noticed she was acting like a small child and not the one who had mercilessly killed a balverine in the blink of an eye. He turned his attention back to the glowing person ahead of them and made a dash for his sword.

Sabre let loose both lightning bolts at her targets. One of the bolts struck an object shaped like a sword and didn't hit the intended target, whilst the other hit its target sending the figure down on the ground. The struck figure made a cry of pain that didn't sound like any evil creature of Wraithmarsh, it sounded more like a small girl crying. The other figured dashed down for the sword it had dropped and then began rushing at Sabre. She realized her opponents were living suddenly and the Daichi and the symbols on her body died out and she raised her hands in the air.

"Wait!" she yelled out.

The figure with the sword stopped, "What? You're living are ya? Who the hell are ya, and more importantly what are you doing in Wraithmarsh," it growled. She marked the standing figure as a man likely in his middle ages.

Sabre left the Daichi where it was and lit up the symbols on her right hand. After some effort she managed to create a small fireball in her hand that gave her enough light to see the details of the two people she had attacked. The man was dressed in a thuggish manner though his clothes were rather well kept, and his right arm was in a sling and he had an iron longsword in his left hand.

The one on the ground was a young woman. She was dressed in well made clothes that were all black. The lightning spell had been a rank one attack and generally couldn't even kill a normal citizen of a town in one blast, but the woman seemed to have been severely effected by the bolt as if she had never experienced pain again.

She eyed the man, "I could ask the same thing…… are you two from the tomb?" she didn't let down her guard even though she had no weapons in her hand. She still had her steel blunderbuss but she couldn't use it while maintaining the fireball in her hand which took enough of her concentration considering she was only well versed in lightning based magics.

The man shook his head, "The name is Norman," he said in a matter of fact tone, "and I'm from Bloodstone."

Sabre's eyes narrowed and she eyed Norman, "Which means your nothing but a murderous thug like the bandits." Norman snorted at this remark but her lowered his sword guessing she wasn't going to fight him.

Sabre pointed at Sarah who was on the ground moaning in pain still, "What about her?"

Norman shrugged, "What about her eh?" He chuckled and sheathed his sword. He was supposed to guide Sarah to the Shadowcourt, and he had done that, he didn't really care what happened to her now.

Sabre's other hand lit up with a lightning bolt that was stronger than the one before, "Don't give me that. Now go and lean her on the wall so I can get a look at her."

Norman knew that the woman could kill him in an instant if she had to and shrugged and did his best to gently move Sarah along the wall next to the door inside the Shadowcourt. To Norman's surprise she still wasn't over the bolt even though it had long worn off by now.

"She isn't a fighter is she," Sabre muttered looking over the poor girl. She took the Daichi from the ground and stuck in closer to Sarah and sent enough energy to make it give off a faint glow.

Norman shrugged, "She killed a balverine easily enough earlier. But you, you are obviously a fighter. Who the hell are you. Not many people can use will like that."

Sabre turned to Norman and presented herself in a mannerable fashion, "I am Sabre, member of the Heroes guild. Daughter of Lionheart." Norman chuckled at this, "Lionheart yer daddy eh? He and Reaver just had quite the argument they did."

Sabre stopped breathing, "My father was in Bloodstone?" she looked at Norman angrily.

Norman nodded, "Yup, the bastard was in Bloodstone just a few hours ago to try to tell Reaver he wasn't in charge anymore. Daft…..simply daft."

Why would her father just go and leave the castle like that? He might be powerful but there were people who depended on him. What would happen if they were attacked while he was gone? She cursed under her breath. She heard a new voice it was quiet and scared but it snapped her out of her brooding.

Sarah was fully awake now and shivering and whispered, "Father……"

Sabre put her hand on the girls head, she didn't have a fever but she still seemed out if it despite her eyes being opened normally, "Are you alright now?" she asked a voice that Norman found shockingly gentler than the one he has used with him.

Sarah looked at Sabre, "Yes…..wait…….who are you?" suddenly aware of herself Sarah shot up and backed away from Sabre, "Norman who is this?!"

Norman was only too happy to answer, "She is the one who attacked you she is."

Sarah looked at Sabre with alarm for a moment and was about to draw her pistol but stopped, "Then why did she stop attacking us?"

Sabre bowed her head apologetically, "I am sorry, I mistook the both of you as hollow-men, or worse. I didn't mean to hurt you, if there is any way I can help you both with what you're doing I will to make up for that."

Sarah pulled out the seal to the Shadowcourt, "I have to take this to the Shadowcourt, Norman was just guiding me here."

Sabre looked at Sarah with alarm and concern, "You!" she said looking at Norman, "Why did you take her here?! Do you know what is in the Shadowcourt? Are you both mad?!"

Norman snorted again, "Look Daughter of Lionheart, I don't have time for this, I am just following Reaver's orders, I don't know about this Shadowcourt but as long as Reaver pays me to take people here that is what I will do."

Sabre glared at the seal in Sarah's hands, "Drop it. The Shadowcourt is a place of evil, and my father told me of what happens to those Reaver sends here when I was a child."

Sarah blinked in confusion, "You are Lionheart's daughter? Is that true?" she asked Norman with disbelief but Norman only shrugged, "What exactly does f- Reaver do to people here?"

Sabre's eyes narrowed, "Reaver does nothing, but the Shadowcourt takes the one with the seal and sucks out their youth, giving it to Reaver so that he can live. If he stops sending the sacrifices, the Shadowcourt will come after him."

Sarah's confused face changed to one of anger, "So he only sent me here to….to…." she couldn't even finish. Her hands were trembling with anger and the innocent look in her eye changed to a one full of hatred and suffering, "Will you help me confront him?"

Sabre nodded, "It is my job to take eliminate people like Reaver." Norman let out a loud chuckle and picked up the seal, "like I'll believe any of that rot, Reaver could kill you before you even saw him. And as for the tomb!" Norman held the seal to the door and it opened, he walked in and it shut behind him, "I'll show you both that is nothing but rot!" his voice continued on until it was too far away to hear.

Sarah began walking back the direction she came with her gun out, not bothering to wait for Sabre who caught up swiftly but looked at the girl worriedly, she wondered what the girl's relationship with Reaver was.

The three judges of the Shadowcourt were floating in their places. Each sharing a vision of what was taking place outside the doors of the court.

The judge in the middle spoke out, "The daughter of Lionheart has been diverted….."

The judge on the right picked up, "And now a fool is giving his youth to us…….."

The judge on the left finished, "soon to find out how cruel his master truly is."

The three shook their heads as one, "Sabre falsely accuses us," the other two judges echoed, "falsely."

The judge on the left raised one of its hands, "They are shadows, but not one of ours." The judge on the right echoed, "not one of ours."

The middle judge spoke again, "He is going to arrive…..."

The judges stood in silence patiently as a battered Norman came through the door leading into their damned court.

The judges spoke, "Welcome….." "Welcome……" "Welcome…….."

Sarah and Sabre were both in front of Reaver's mansion the next morning. Sarah had her pistol (and Norman's which she stole) in her hands ready to fire. Sabre had the Daichi unsheathed and was holding it in a defensive stance cautiously walking up to the door. A goon was posted at the door in Nornan's absence but was shot in the head by Sarah, to Sabre's disgust and they entered the house.

The moment they entered Sabre's sword was shot out of her hand and Norman's pistol was shot out of Sarah's hands. Sarah managed to get a shot off her other pistol before it was shot and then she was shot in the leg and fell to her knee.

Sabre's skin was flaring brightly and she had a large bolt of lightning crackling in her hands but was shot in the torso several times and fell down bleeding on the floor.

Reaver was at the top of the staircase with his dragonstomper out. A piece of his hair was missing but other than that he looked younger than when Sarah had first saw him. He was smiling as he walked down the stairs, "Now now Sabre, I expected more from the daughter of Lionheart, don't worry, I'll let you crawl away this time because I am that generous."

He turned to Sarah and his grin broadened, "As for you! You shot me! You actually shot me, that has never been done before mind you," Reaver ran a hand over the missing chunk of hair, "but you shot me none the less, and caused me to miss your head. I also notice you are looking as youthful as ever, clever aren't you? Did you trick Norman into going down? A pity, he will be missed, but he is easily replaced."

Reaver patted the bleeding Sarah on the shoulder, "I suppose you really are my daughter now….. I probably should kill you but it isn't often I get to have a legacy of gunslingers eh?"

Sabre was listening to the whole conversation despite bleeding terribly from the bullet wounds. So Norman was sacrificed to the court, Sarah shot off Reaver's hair which brought a grin to her face….. but the last matter puzzled her…….Reaver had a daughter?! Sabre was trying to piece that together, sure he had probably been around with a large number of women, if any of them got pregnant he'd likely shoot them before they could do anything as bad as leaving him an heir. The last thing Sabre heard before fainting was Reaver saying, "a legacy of gunslingers".

Sabre opened her eyes. She was in a familiar room. Her room? No, it wasn't it……it was the housing room inside the Chamber of Fate. She sat up slowly and felt a sharp pain in her chest and gut. She rubbed her neck, "That's right….. I was shot by Reaver…"

"You're also lucky we arrived in Bloodstone when we did girl," said a gruff voice that she had heard before.

Sabre turned and saw Avo standing in the room with Henry and Charles behind him. Avo didn't look that happy or worried but Charles and Henry looked genuinely concerned.

"Avo…..what is he doing in here you two?" Sabre demanded of Chicken Chaser and Chosen one.

Avo held up a guild seal, "The name is blade now," he said grimly, "Now if you are alright I am going to be in the library reading up on that scroll of legendary weapons you have."

Blade shoved his way past the two less amazing heroes and left the room. Henry muttered drolly, "Charming isn't he?"

"He is really Blade?" Sabre asked.

Charles and Henry both nodded. Sabre looked down at her chest and saw that there were bandages wrapped around her, "When did I get these?! Did you two-"

"Don't be serious Sabre!" Charles yelled in a flustered voice. Henry raised his hands above his head and shook his head, "Wasn't me."

Sabre looked horrified, "Then- Av- Blade?" she turned white. Another person came up behind Charles, "No don't worry Sabre, I did it." A different voice popped up.

Sarah was standing there, "Good thing I was here, I think Blade would have just let you bleed to death. He doesn't seem very cheerful."

Sarah was walking with a slight limp after having been shot by Reaver but she had fared much better than Sabre obviously. Her black pants were now replaced with a gray pair, likely due to the bloody hole the other pair now. Sarah looked much happier than when she was going back to Bloodstone to get Reaver.

"Sarah…… I don't mean to be rude, but why are you here?" she said in a dull voice. Sarah's expression changed to one of agitation the moment she said that, "You need a gunslinger don't you? Reaver himself said I was one!"

Sabre grabbed her head, she remembered Reaver talking about his legacy before she had passed out, "Charles…which door was gunslinger for…. I can't think straight with these holes in me."

Charles looked a Sabre confused, "Why should I bother remembering which door is for which hero?"

Blade's voice echoed behind them, "Because it is useful information you posh git. Sabre, you well enough to walk? Gunslinger's door isn't far, it is the Bower lake door."

Sabre moved her legs to the edge of the bed and stood up only to fall back onto the bed, "Damn it, why do I have to be so weak!" she cursed herself.

Blade grunted, "Don't blame yourself, you were shot by _the_ hero of skill. It is surprising you are alive. Chicken Chaser, help Sabre walk. Come on you lot, let's go."

Sabre nodded as Henry moved to help her and nodded at Blade thankfully for taking the reins while she was injured even if he hadn't been formally introduced into the guild yet. They all made their way to the main chamber and then used the Culis Gate to take them to Hero Hill. The group walked down the large stone hill as the sun was setting and was in front of the Demon Door just as the moon came out.

The door greeted them in a odd manner, "Ah yes! More Thespians to act for me I suppose?"

"I'm sorry, but that isn't why we are here. We have brought Gunslinger to you." Sabre said with a pained voice."

The door looked among the group, "Well? Whoever it is better step up….. I do not have all night……well I suppose I do actually, but hurry it up! I am working on my next great play!"

Blade nudged Sarah in front of the others and she looked at the door with awe, "How do I open it?" she asked the others.

The door answered for them, "Do something that will convince me you are Gunslinger."

Sarah pulled out her pistol and held it at the door, "Do you want me to shoot you?"

The door looked at Sabre with disappointment, "You really think she is the one?"

Sabre hesitated but eventually nodded. The door seemed to think this was good enough and sunk into the wall and opened.

"The doors listen to Royalty eh?" Blade chuckled.

Charles shook his head, "I don't think it works like that…….."

Henry nodded in agreement with Charles and then looked to Sarah, "What are you doing out here still? Go inside! There is probably some fancy item waiting for you." Henry looked back realizing everyone got a useful weapon from their door other than him and then suddenly his mood darkened.

Sarah snickered at Henry's misfortune and walked into the door cheerfully. She suddenly felt hot, and like the air was dry. She was in a desert now. Sand filled the air and made it difficult to breathe. She walked away from the portal and saw a graveyard of ships lying in the water. There was a skeleton on the ground in front of her. In the skeletons hand was a pistol. It was red and was modeled differently than any of pistol she had ever seen before.

Sarah also noticed at the feet of the skeleton was a seal like the ones Sabre, Henry, Charles, and Blade had. She picked it up and it glowed faintly accepting her as its owner. She grabbed the pistol and admired it. It was probably a pistol that was a good as the Dragonstomper 48 series.

Sarah noticed a note under where the gun had been, she read it out loud to herself, "Gunslinger, this is the Red Dragon, a pistol belonging to the only man said to be as skilled as Reaver. Its bullets will down most enemies in a single shot. Use it well."

She looked at her prize, and then at the note…….she wondered who put the pistol here. She also wondered who's skeleton it was. Perhaps she would ask her father about the man who used to own the pistol one day.

Sarah, or Gunslinger rather, walked back towards the portal leaving the burning world behind her to return to Sabre and the others to start her life as a hero.


	13. Chapter 6: Shadowfiend Part 1

According to local legend, there is a cavern under Bowerstone Market where dark creatures lie. Many through the years searched for the entrance to this cavern but none had any luck in finding it. No one human that is. For generations this cavern was only inhabited by the gargoyles, who were clever tricksters and loved taunting the residents of Albion. But due to one gargoyle being shot and shattered once while carrying a map, another found their way into their lair.

A figure was standing there at the entrance to the cavern. It looked examined the place and decided it was more like a stronghold or a tomb than a cavern. Below the platform on which the figure stood was a deep pit filled with water at the bottom. Across on the other side of the dark place a chest stood, the figure normally would easily pass such a gap but at the moment it could not use its powers. On the walls to the left and right were five other chests on platforms that were all opened. The figure had collected its reward every time it killed ten gargoyles. Now none were left and it stood there waiting at the edge of the platform waiting patiently.

The figure took a step forward and was going to plunge into the water below, but suddenly two blue fireballs appeared at the edges of the platform and new ones formed all the way to the other edge. It still looked as if there was nothing to hold the figure up but it easily walked across the gap with blue marks of energy appearing where it had stepped.

As it approached the other side the figure grew more of a form. It appeared to be a tall and slender human dressed in the guise of an assassin. The figures head grew a more definite shape and a face was forming- a wave of shadow suddenly masked over the figure completely. It still resembled a darkly clad assassin but its face was hidden behind shadows and it seemed to be burning with black flame like smoke.

The man, shadow, or fiend possibly touched the chest with its hands and slowly opened the lid. For all its cleverness and cunning intellect it didn't expect to find what it found inside the chest. Inside the chest, sitting on a vine velvet pillow, was a rotten apple. There was no energy clinging to it and it seemed like it would crumble at a touch.

Hollow laughter broke out inside the cavern, "Hahaha!!! Don't eat it all at once now!! Hahahaha!!" the voice of many gargoyles speaking at once rumbled and then faded into silence.

The shadowy fiend stood there in the cavern without moving or making any noise. After what seemed like hours it lifted its head and its eyes flared with a sudden human glint that was not meant to adorn a shadow or a fiend.

The shadow spoke, two voices came out its mouth, one of a calm and patient man, and the other of a cold and detached shadow, "You rocks think you can fool me?"

The fiend walked past the chest and to the wall directly behind it, it was old and had visible cracks in it. The fiend placed its hand on the wall and the shadow around its armed flew off revealing the clothing beneath for a moment as it destroyed the wall completely. The shadow returned to its arm as fast as it had left.

All hallway was where the wall had stood and the stone that had been concealing it was completely gone as if the shadow had ate it. The fiend began walking down the path slowly though it did not seem to be cautious or worried. It reached the end and was in another large chamber that had a significant difference from the last one, hundreds of gargoyles were along the walls all peering down at the intruder silently, they dared say nothing as they knew he had beat them at their game. The fiend's footsteps echoed in the room as it walked to the pedestal where another chest sat.

It reached the top of it and turned to face where it had come in, above the entrance was a huge gargoyle like none other. Its features were different and it glared angrily at the thing that dared enter its home. The fiend placed its hands on this chest and opened it. Inside was something much more worthy of its interest than the previous one.

A crossbow, possibly the finest crossbow ever created, it seethed with aura of good that matched its ornate carvings and intricate design.

The largest of the gargoyles spoke, "You think ye kin wield that crossbow eh? It knows its own, as if it will let some willy nilly shadow of the hells ta touch ya damn right bugger."

The fiend reached into the chest and touched the crossbow, it didn't hurt, it certainly didn't do anything deadly and the shadows receeded for a moment as it touched the crossbow for the first time completely revealing the man that was beneath it. The man smiled at the gargoyle, "That is precisely why I can wield it," he said in a single voice, the voice of the shadow being absent. The shadows crept back onto his body and engulfed the crossbow as well making it shrouded with the same coat of evil.

The man raised the crossbow aiming at the large gargoyle who's face contorted with rage, a bolt of shadow was fired, and the entire chamber was engulfed in darkness. The screams of the gargoyles were horrid and as the darkness cleared, there was nothing left, the entire chamber had been scorched and looked as if it were melting. The gargoyles were gone and the fiend was still there, his form had distorted and was melting into the shadows and then begun rapidly moving and skitted across the ground through the corridor and out into the water that led to the exit.

_______

The day the shadows attacked Bowerstone……

Bowerstone was crowded that day, and there was a group of children happily following a man chanting, "Chicken Chaser," over and over and he seemed to silently accept his defeat that he wouldn't be able to stop them.

He was smiling despite the children tormenting him and his yokel hat was firmly sitting upon his head. He was standing over Bower Bridge and looking down into the water.

Henry sighed, "I guess there isn't much to do here today."

As he stared into the water and noticed something odd, it was bubbling in a small spot, something was moving towards the surface of the water and doing it quickly.

Suddenly a blob of shadow shot out from the water and flew straight into Henry sending him toppling over on his back, causing the kids to giggle merrily, "Chicken Chaser what's wrong!" they shouted in unison, "A chicken feather fall on you?" they all laughed more until they got bored and eventually left Henry.

He was looking at himself, he looked normal, the shadow had hit him but he was perfectly fine, "That was strange," he muttered. He got up and dusted himself off and put his yokel hat back on his head. He looked at his own shadow and frowned, it was like it wasn't his, even though it was matching his every movement.

"I ate some bad meat…….that is the explanation for it," he mumbled to himself. He then stopped, the town bell was ringing noisily and a group of guards bustled past him, he pulled out his frying pan and decided to follow them.

While he was running, Henry's shadow seemed to ignore what its flesh counterpart was doing and pulled out a shadow crossbow that wasn't there.


	14. Chapter 6: Shadowfiend Part 2

Sabre felt like she was in a tough spot.

Last week there had been an attack on the Gypsy Camp in Bower Lake. The shadows had attacked at nights and the few guards patrolling the area had been killed or seriously injured. When they arrived at the camp the gate was shut with a large hole of splintered wood in it and shadows were roaming on the other side looking for survivors, at the hill up on top there was a bard and two children cowering against the back of a tree screaming for the approaching shadows to go away. Sabre began hurling lightning at the shadows crossing the bridge to keep their attention away from the three survivors.

Blade unsheathed a cutlass the others hadn't seen before that gave off an aura of justice and judgement and had jumped through the hole in the gate and began cutting them down. Henry and Charles followed him soon after but were both pinned to a caravan by shadows only to be saved by gunslinger who was rapidly shooting away with The Red Dragon.

In the end they fought until morning where the remaining shadows hissed and disappeared as the sun weakened them in combat. Sabre and Gunslinger went to go help the few people that had survived by hiding while Henry was knocking his head against a caravan cursing to himself, and Blade was standing there impassively staring at his sword that he had stuck into the ground with a bored look.

Charles had been affect most after seen the bodies of the people the shadows had killed, the methods they killed the people in had not been kind and Charles had to leave the camp with Henry aiding him and vomited several times. Sabre was relieved when the old bard told her that today was market day and part of the camp was in Bowerstone to trade their goods, she looked over to Sarah who was just staring over the camp with a sad expression.

The whole arguement started when Blade said they needed to go and destroy the shadowcourt, a statement that shocked the others, considering Blade never did anything unless he had to, when Sabre asked him why he had been very evasive and insisted that another incident like that shouldn't be allowed to happen. She had agreed with him there, but she said that they needed more information before they took on the Shadowcourt.

Charles and Henry both sided with Blade to Sabre's surprise.

Henry had one of his hands on his head as if he had a headache, "Look Sabre.. I can't see that happen again.....I knew most of the people that died there, if that were to happen again." Henry fell silent looking at the floor. Charles was still pale looking but had his arms crossed and agreed with Henry.

Blade grunted, "See? Even these two think that we need to get rid of them now."

Sabre looked to Sarah for help, but she smiled helplessly and shrugged. Sabre groaned, Sarah was only siding with her because she of everything Sabre had done for her.

Sabre slumped her shoulders and looked up at the ceiling getting ready to give in, but as she looked up, she noticed something. A part of the shadows on the ceiling were darker than it should be. She lifted up a hand and made a bright flash of lightning, startling the others and making the form drop down from the ceiling into the middle of the heroes.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Shadowfiend was in the Chamber of Fate, a place only heroes were supposed to be allowed in. It wasn't that they couldn't enter it, normal people just didn't have the means. Even Shadowfiend knew he wouldn't have found this place if he hadn't been attatched to that yokels shadow.

Shadowfiend had left Henry and taken up the shadows of the Chamber so he could watch and hear everything that went on, today a particularly interesting event was going on between the heroes, they were in a loud arguement.

All five heroes, Sabre, Blade, Chicken Chaser, Chosen One, and Gunslinger were in the main chamber. Sabre and Gunslinger on one side of the platform in the center. Blade, Chicken Chaser, and Chosen One.

Shadowfiend was listening when the one called Sabre looked up at the ceiling directly at where his shadow was spread out. She lifted her hand and sent a bright flash of lightning right where he was waiting, the light forced him to take physical form and he fell from the ceiling onto the center of the platform on the chamber.

He stood up and summoned two identical blades from the shadows. His eyes began scanning over the heroes, he knew the yokel and man with the top hat would be no problems, but the one in the high rollers coat and the blue markings all over her skin would be deadly if he wasn't careful. He turned to the other two heroes, a young girl, he ignored her, the other hero caught his attention. The man was standing there with a gray highwayman coat flung off his back and five swords on his body. He had three at his belt and two on his back, before Shadowfiend could do anything Blade unsheathed one of the swords and swung at him....

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Blade hadn't been shocked to see the Shadow, after fighting along side Marcus for years he had learned how to find hidden shadows. Also two of his swords began to make a resonating that only he could hear.

He waited patiently for the time to strike, and when Sabre flashed the lightning at the ceiling Blade had flung off his coat and unsheathed the sword on his right hip and charged the shadow head on. The shadow turned to him and it dark glowing eyes spread in surprise as Blade swung at its shoulder.

A loud clang went off and the sword began made a screaming ring that everyone in the room could hear. Blade startled and stepped back and unsheathed another sword, The Wreckager, staring at the shadow angrily, "What are you?! Why won't the Judge's Steel cut you?!"

Blade swung both swords at Shadowfiend, except this time he was ready for it and blocked it with both his blades, The Wreckager met with one of Shadowfiend's blades while Judge's Steel flared and fell out of Blade's hand, and Shadowfiend's blade stopped just short of his shoulder.

Shadowfiend stepped back and both swords disappeared, Shadowfiend threw a Shadow at Sabre's head causing her to fall to the floor unconscious, Sarah ran to Sabre while Henry and Charles ran at the shadow with their weapons out.

Blade got in their way and snarled, "Stay back, if I can't kill that thing then neither of you can idiots!"

Blade stared at Shadowfiend hard with The Wreckager in a defensive stance. Shadowfiend walked over to Judge's Steel and picked it up and let out a chuckle, Charles turned white as he heard the two unlike voices come from Shadowfiend, "Judge's Steel? I'm afraid that blade will not cut me," both of the voices clashed with each other, a hollow and inhuman voice along with the voice of a honorable warrior.

Blade unsheathed another sword, the blade was a blue cutlass with several teeth on its edge, "Tell me what you are and what you are doing here, or you will find that Bluetane isn't as descrete about its prey as that weak sword."

The Shadow around Shadowfiend seemed to lessen, making the man dressed as an assassin more apparent. He spoke out with one voice, "Calm yourself Blade, I am not here to fight you all, I've watched you heroes for some time now, and I have many things to-" he grunted as the shadow darkened again and he continued with both voices, "-explain to you people."

Blade sheathed The Wreckager and held Bluetane with two hands, "Chicken Chaser, Charles, go tend to Sabre. Gunslinger get over here now."

Henry and Charles slowly edged to where Sabre lay on the ground and Sarah bit her lip and reluctantly walked beside Blade.

Shadowfiend shook his head and spoke, "You think I am here to hurt her? If I wanted to do so I could have done killed you all weeks ago, no there are more important matters." As he spoke the shadow seemed to darken.

Only the dark voice spoke, "The Shadowcourt being the main subject."

All four of the awake heroes gave Shadowfiend a disgusted look, "You want to talk to us about your masters after you slaughtered all of those people at Bower Lake?!" Henry demanded.

Shadowfiend glared at Henry, "That is why I am here, it was not the Shadowcourt. We do not do such things without reason."

Henry scoffed, "Like there are Shadows who aren't in the Shadowcourt!"

Shadowfiend walked up to Henry, "Again, we do not do such things without reason, do not give me a reason." He turned back to Blade, "You should know that not all shadows belong to the Court, those fools in the Temple of Shadows were an example you should know of all to well Avo."

Blade lowered Bluetane, "I should've recognized you sooner..." he sounded very angry but sheathed Cutlass Bluetane, "So Shadowfiend, you are an errand boy for those shadows now?"

Sarah and Henry were looking very confused now, while Charles was sitting next the unconcious Sabre looking to be in worse condition than she was. One moment Blade had been ready to die fighting the Shadow, and now his sword was sheathed and he was talking to it.

"If you say the Shadowcourt didn't do it, and if your story is good enough, then I will believe you. We will wait for Sabre to wake up first, she needs to hear this to." Blade was talking without much emotion and had a straight face on. Sarah thought she saw Shadowfiend smille, "I will remain hidden until then, I trust you will explain to her the situation. I do not enjoy having light thrown at me like that."

With those words Shadowfiend lost his shape and dispersed itself into the Chamber. Sarah and Blade heard Henry jump, "Gah!! That strange feeling again." Henry stared at his shadow suspiciously, "He didn't latch onto my Shadow did he?"

Blade looked at Henry grimly, "That would explain how he got in here."

Henry scratched his head with a pitiful look on his face, "ummm.......sorry?"

Sarah pointed at Charles who wasn't moving at all even after Shadowfiend had disappeared, "What are we going to do about him?"

Blade shrugged, "Just take the fool to his bunk, we don't need him."

Sarah nodded and she and Henry both took Charles by the legs and began dragging him, Henry was grinning, "Do you suppose he'll remember any of this?"

Sarah looked at Charles, "Probably, though he'll only go after you because your weak."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Blade was left alone in the Chamber with Sabre and walked over to where his sword Judge's Steel lay, he picked it up and stared at it, "Why did you disobey me......" he sheathed the sword and snorted in disgust, of all of his swords he had never understood how the sword worked, he had always assumed it was like Marcus's Rising Sun but after several fights with this happening, the sword refusing to cut a shadow was the final straw to Blade.

He looked to where Sabre was and in his aggitation he kicked her in the side, "Get up already damn it."

Sabre let out a groan in pain and sat up slowly holding her side, "Gah... What happened....." She stood up and looked at Blade for an answer.

He looked at her dully, "Shadowfiend knocked you unconcious with his shadow..." He let the information register into her brain.

Sabre then looked around quickly, "Shadowfiend! Where did it go?!" She continued looking around more and then it hit her, "Wait, Shadowfiend?"

Blade nodded several times, "So now you understand, the gargoyle hunter, the one who saved Henry from the Shadows in Bowerstone. Not your average shadow is he? Infact I seem to recall the reason those two blundering dolts came to find me was that they wanted information on Shadowfiend. We need a hero named Shadowfiend, and here is one who fitst he description."

Sabre nodded but wasn't quite convinced, "What about the Shadowcourt though.... weren't you so eager to kill them earlier?"

Blade stared at her, "I have reason to believe it wasn't them. Shadowfiend will explain it to you himself if you promise to keep your lightning to yourself."

Sabre crossed her arms and looked at Blade angrily, "Fine, just bring him here."

Blade and Sabre heard Henry from the other part of the guild shout out in surprise and a dark figure came through the door way and took form several feet away from Sabre, "You called?" he asked in his eerie voices.

Sabre glanced over Shadowfiend uneasily, his very existence seemed to destroy the stone under his feet even though it was her imagination, "Blade says the Shadowcourt wasn't responsible for the attacks in the Bowerstone reigon, explain, now," she demanded.

Shadowfiend bowed in a courtly manner, "Of course," once more the shadow loosened and the man behind it became more visible, "The Shadowcourt is evil, I will not deny that, but it does not approve of chaos. Murder without objective is pointless, murdering for profit, for life, murdering to uphold our bargains," Sabre was faintly reminded of Reaver, "Those are reasons to kill, we have no reason to senselessly attack towns and likely never will. Oakvale has been the only town ever taken as a price from the Shadowcourt, no others have dared make such a mistake."

Sabre was taken aback, she had believed the Shadowcourt approved of Chaos, basked in it. But she remembered the stories from her father, what she had read, and now what Shadowfiend was telling her, "If it was the Shadowcourt, what else could have that much power?"

The shadow darkened, "Chaos itself, though it shouldn't be able to be released into this world so easily. I suspect something incredibly powerful took off the bar holding chaos's door barely open, and now it is slowly opening more and more until all of chaos will be able to come out, that will take centuries though," he stared at Sabre, "even so, the slightest crack is more than enough to consume Albion without protection, that is why heroes exist, to protect the world from chaos."

Blade was looking at Shadowfiend, resting his hands on Judge's Steel.....Perhaps that is why you didn't cut him he thought.

Sabre understood what he said basically, but a question was nawing at her mind, "Are you really a shadow?" she asked.

Shadowfiend shook his head and the human voice spoke, "No I merely coexist with one," he stopped and then the shadow itself spoke, "That was the bargain he made with the Court."

Sabre was shocked, "You did this willingly? Why?"

Shadowfiend looked at Sabre, she felt very uneasy, "You will find out soon enough," the shadow seemed to go completely black as he said that. Then the shadow went back to its normal state.

Blade stepped in, "The Shadowcourt didn't do it, and some unknown power is letting chaos out. What do we do now? Sabre.." Blade looked at Sabre with a dull and expectant glance.

Sabre looked at Shadowfiend, "Will the court aid us?"

The shadow laughed, it was an eerie laugh that made Sabre cringe and all the light in the room seemed to disappear, "Don't ask questions you already know the answer to!"

When shadowfiend calmed down he bowed to Sabre, "But I will help if it is the will of the door."

"You know of the doors?" Sabre asked, "Wait...you've been spying on us haven't you? Of course you do. Blade, I'm going to the library to see which door belongs to the hero Shadowfiend, keep our....friend...company," she said friend with a little more than hurt voice, and she turned around on her heels and left the room.

Shadowfiend shook his head, "She asked whether or not we'll help and then she acts like I'm not to be trusted, she is certainly unique."

Blade shrugged, "She is the daughter of Lionheart, he was definitely an odd one, makes sense that his daughter is the same. She's also had it hard I hear, she was trapped in some realm for five years, I didn't bother with the details," Blade bent down to pick up his coat and put it back on, throwing the edge behind one scabbard to make it appear is if he only had one sword with him.

Shadowfiend was staring at Blade, "Something is different about you.....find out something you didn't want to know about?"

Damn Blade thought, the damn fiend was right on the mark. He turned away from Shadowfiend to see Sabre walking back into the room with Henry and Sarah next to her.

"The Chosen One decided to stay behind?" Blade said with some amusement in his voice. Henry nodded and Blade shrugged, "Can't be helped if he is that weak against shadows."

"Where is the door?" Shadowfiend asked

"Westcliff," Sabred replied.

Shadowfiend nodded, "Forgive me, I can travel in the light, but it would be safer if I attatched myself to one of your shadows," and before anyone could volunteer (not that they would) Shadowfiend melted and latched onto Henry's shadow again.

Henry took off his yokel hat and waved it at his shadow in anger, "Get off of me! I didn't say you could latch onto me again!"

A voice popped up in Henry's head, 'Look at it this way, I can aid you in combat if you are attacked, I can come out of hiding, making you a stronger force than you seem to the casual observer.'

Henry put his hat back on and nodded, "That actually doesn't sound bad."

Sarah slapped Henry on the back cheerfully, "Stop talking to yourself Chicken Chaser, you're weird enough."

Henry blinked, "You didn't hear that?"

Sarah looked concerned, "Are you feeling alright? Maybe you should stay here?"

Henry sighed and slumped his head and began walking toward the door with Sarah next to him using his misery to cheer herself up. Sabre followed the two of them to the Welkynd Stone. She turned her head to notice Blade wasn't moving, "You staying here?"

Blade snorted, "Who else will protect this place? That fool with the top hat? I think not."

Sabre smiled, "Very well then."

The three activated the glowing stone and disappeared.

Blade unsheathed Judge's Steel and stared at it, the blade let out a low resonating sound, he snarled and sheathed the sword and walked down to his bunk and threw the sword onto it and stalked away to the library to find a certain book.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The three heroes had traveled to Bowerstone to take the coach there, and when the driver had seen Sabre, he had sighed and asked her if she was going to Westcliff. Sabre had smiled and nodded, but the driver was gloomy about it.

Henry sat on one side of the coach fiddling around with the top of his yokel hat humming the story of how Lionheart killed Thag to himself. Sabre was asleep leaning against the wall of the carriage snoring peacefully, and Sarah was diverting her attention between staring at Sabre and tell Henry to be quiet. When Henry did stop though, Sabre had woken up and Sarah had kicked Henry insisting it was all his fault.

The coach stopped and the driver called to them in irritation, "We're here, now get out so I can get to the town before I get attacked again."

Sabre jumped out and let out a big yawn and stretched her arms, swinging them back and forth, hitting Henry in the stomach causing him to keel over.

She turned to him, "Oh, Henry... why are you on the ground like that? We aren't playing around."

When Henry didn't get up Sarah put her gun on his forehead and stared at him with a bright smile, "Get up before I accidentally pull the trigger okay?"

Henry scrambled to his feet, and looked toward the small path leading to the Demon Door and ran toward it. Sarah basked in the glow, "Now see what he can do if you give him a little inspiration?"

Sabre sighed and began walking down the path with Sarah along side. When they reached the door they noticed Henry staring at his shadow.

"Well are you going to come out any time soon?" He stood there and waited and then muttered angrily, "So what if it is still day light, the door is right here!"

Slowly a form appeared from Henry's shadow and seperated itself, shaping into the image of a man, "Impatient fool," it muttered.

Sarah glared at the Shadow, "That is why we are here isn't..." she went and leaned against a rock pillar near the door, "come on door, we don't have all day now."

Sabre pointed the palm of her hand out and was about to Flash the door with lightning when Shadowfiend grabbed her arm, she felt like all the blood in it was being sucked out, "Don't even think about it, I might be able to tolerate the sun, but that will ruin me."

He let go of her hand and pulled something out of the air, it was a blob at first but then it took the shape of a crossbow, and then the shadow receeded from it all together, leaving a beautifully crafted weapon in its place. Shadowfiend took aim at the door but then its face emerged.

"Don't shoot don't shoot," it muttered, "Just go in, I can already tell you are rotten to the core, I've had enough of heroes." The demon door split down the middle and began to open.

Henry stared at it and commented, "I think you were too evil for the door."

Shadowfiend turned to Sabre, "What is this door's realm called?"

"The Vault," she said, "It is supposed to look somewhat similar to the Chamber of fate according to my Father's records on it."

Shadowfiend simply nodded walked into the shimmering portal.

He looked at his surroundings, "A cavern with a buildings inside it......and plants.....a realm of magic indeed." He walked down the room to a doorway and walked across a bridge, noting there was a forest below him and a cavern ceiling above. As he got to the edge he looked into the chamber ahead of him. It was indeed shaped like the Chamber of Fate, except it had plants growing everywhere.

In the center of the room, on a platform Shadowfiend saw a small seal, like the ones all the heroes had on on their belts. He walked over to it and picked it up, the shadow quickly engulfed it causing the details unable to seen, "What it means to be a hero," said the human voice. The shadow agreed, "What it means, you learned the hard way."

They spoke as one, "The Judge's will kill me for this one," Shadowfiend turned around and walked out The Vault, he had no intention of ever returning, it held no meaning to him.

As he exited the portal he saw Henry whacking a rock with his frying pan for no reason, he quickly melted and attached himself to Henry's shadow, 'We are going to make astounding partners, you and I."

Henry jumped and dropped his frying pan looking around, his gaze shifted to his shadow, "Well at least I'm safe this way."

Henry felt a swift pain across the back of his head, he turned around to see Sarah standing behind him with her gun, "I told you to stop talking to yourself," she smacked him with the gun again and he fell unconcious.

Sabre glared angrily at Sarah, "You shouldn't do those things to him, he is also a hero."

Sarah shrugged, "Barely a hero I'd say," she was about to continue when she let out a gasp, a dark form was holding her neck.

Shadowfiends all to familiar voice was heard, "I will be protecting this one from now on, I suggest you leave him alone."

Sarah let out a pained groan and nodded, the hand disappeared and she rubbed her neck, "And we also have him on our case now."

Sabre sighed, "He is also a hero, when will you learn they aren't all the same."

Sabre and Gunslinger both grabbed their guild seals and used its charged up magic to send them back to the Chamber of Fate.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Two people were visitng Oakfield that day. They were standing on the cliff where the Golden Oak stood and were both staring out over the sea at the Spire.

The larger of the two spoke, she had a surprisingly gentle voice as she spoke and it was tinged with some sorrow, "So the fighting will be starting here soon huh?"

The man next to her nodded. His white coat and sword glinting in the sunset, "I'm sorry I asked you to return, but they can't protect everywhere at once."

The woman shook her head, "No, I'm glad I'm back, I missed you. I even think I missed this place." She turned to Golden Oak, "I haven't seen my father in years anyway."

Lionheart nodded, he understood her feeling, he had lost most of his family and knew the pain it caused, "I'm sorry Hammer, but I need to return to the castle, I have a feeling I'll be having some unwanted visitors in Bowerstone soon."

Hammer didn't say anything, she took her hammer and leaned it against the tree, and then layed down on the grass to take a nap. She was back, and she was going to protect Oakfield. She realized it hadn't been fair of her and Garth to leave Albion alone in Lionheart's care but if she could make it up to him by protecting Oakfield for awhile, she thought it was worth it.


	15. The Old Heroes

Well for starters I'd like to say sorry for the wait. Apparently it was a 90 day trial on my Microsoft word 2007 and I loath to using Notepad or Wordpad, they drive me crazy. I just got the 'See the Future' DLC for Fable 2 this week and got microsoft office student & home so I am fresh with inspiration and a means to type again. Well hope you enjoy these two chapters.

* * *

Fairfax castle was busy with activity tonight, the Cotter Knight's patrol had been doubled and their loud clanking footsteps along the corridors of the castle. The normally empty and quiet kitchen was filled with several men under the direction of a man dressed in black giving directions and cleaning up the empty plates of a meal that had just ended awhile ago. Under the castle the occasional yawns of the Demon Door that stood under it.

Giles and Derek were leaving the study last out of all the council members, they both bowed to Lionheart before leaving and closed the doors.

The lights in the room had been doused leaving Lionheart in pitch darkness save for the runic markings glowing on his skin. He was staring at a small pile of items on one of the tables with a grim look. The items on the table were for the most part unassuming and normal, a small figurine of a spire, a golden decorative skull, and a snow globe, and the crown of the kingdom that Lionheart had refused to adorn because of the nature of his ascension to the throne.

"The future is drawing closer," he said darkly. The shadows of the items from the glow of his skin flickered as he spoke. He was thinking back to many years ago before his daughter was born and his wife was still living. Murgo the Trader had presented himself to the king offering him a means to see into the future. The items on the table in front of him were all from that encounter. Theresa had showed him the future, his daughter had to be ready for Aurora, and the only way to do that was to test Nora......to test her allies, to test the new line of heroes, "How will it all end I wonder....."

Lionheart sighed and slowly the candles in the room all lit themselves once more and he turned his attention to an official matter regarding the Cotter Knights. Marcus had been investigating the realm inside the snow globe which they had early deduced was a place created for the ghosts of Oakvale, showing the towns last inhabitants in their spirit forms. While Marcus had been searching inside the globe he had found more Cotter knights, and a journal. The journal spoke more of the Knights Aberrant, which was the prophecy and true name of the suited guardians that protected Bowerstone.

They took on the name Cotter Knights because they had been originally discovered in the home of Terry Cotter, a house hidden in one of the realms of the nine demon doors. Lionheart and Garth three years studying from Albion and Samarkand to find a way to breathe life into them once more, they had found a method combining Lionheart's own power, and the old kingdom magic of the shard shard, to animate them similar to how Lucien controlled the Shards themselves, but in a safer more contained fashion.

"I hope this test ends soon," Lionheart prayed. The sooner the nine doors opened, the sooner he could feel at peace and join Rose, Alex (his wife), and Rothgard (his dog), in the forest of the man in the blue robes. It had never happened, but he recalled getting a letter from his sister vaguely describing the place, he also had a terrible recollection of wishing for all the gold he could hope for in the spire.

Lionheart smiled and left the room, returning to his chambers for the night, he had to send a message to the heroes guild in the morning.

_ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The next morning the flowers in the Bowerlake region were in full bloom, they had ho audience to show their petals to this day though, save one. The road was barren save for the kings personal chef, the black clad Highwayman named Marcus.

Marcus was admiring the beauty of the area, which he hadn't visited in nearly half a year, while he was traveling to the Gypsy camp. Lionheart had written a message for the Heroes guild and had arranged for Chicken Chaser to meet Marcus there to take it back to the guild. Marcus was rather interested in what the message said but he didn't dare open it. Marcus had spoken to Giles and ventured that it related to the items of the 'See the Future' incident as he called it, but Marcus disagreed silently. He knew those items had nothing to do with the new heroes. If anything the letter was going to send them to help the others.

Marcus continued pondering all the possible messages the missive could contain, after another half hour he reached the bridge that crossed into the Gypsy camp. Out front by the gate, which was closed, a man wearing a tattered gentleman's coat and a yokel hat looking rather miserable was standing there. When Chicken Chaser saw Marcus his expression changed from one of torturous boredom, to one of hope, an expression a child would make when they find something they hope will entertain them. Marcus sighed and now knew why Chicken Chaser was popular with the kids of Bowerstone.

Marcus thought he would at least enjoy himself while dealing with Henry and started his greeting with a mocking tone, "Good day master hero, enjoying yourself?"

Henry snorted loudly and crossed his arms looking at Marcus squarely, "No I'm not enjoying yourself if you must know! Those gypsies won't even open the gates to let me sit down and have a lunch while I wait! It isn't like they are going to get attacked in broad daylight is it?"

Marcus lifted a hand a wagged a finger at Henry with disappointment, "It isn't likely, but they aren't likely to forget what happened anytime soon, can you blame them? You who fought the shadows yourself?"

Henry seemed about to comment on that but then he closed his mouth, "I'd rather not go into that right now?"

Marcus was wondering where Henry's willpower all disappeared to, "What? You feeling something for those soulless shadows? Or maybe your just scared out of your britches by them eh?" he finished with a chuckle.

Henry shook his head, "No... that isn't it.. it just might offend present company..."

Marcus was amazed, he had no idea what Henry was talking about, "Present company?" The Highwayman was now suspiciously looking around the bridge to see if anyone was hiding, but no one was there.

While Marcus was utterly confused Henry was getting a mouthful of it from Shadowfiend, who was attached to his shadow, '_Don't just reveal it like that you fool, the point behind me hiding in your shadow is to surprise the enemy.'_

_'But Marcus isn't an enemy,'_ Henry argued.

The Shadow went silent for a moment, _'The fewer who know the better, let's just keep it at that, you are rather difficult to deal with, I feel sorry for the Highwayman over there almost.'_

"What is that supposed to mean you stupid ghoul?!" Henry shouted out of nowhere, catching Marcus off guard once more and causing him to draw his sword looking around again, seeing Henry alone, he sheathed his sword again, and he swore underneath his breath, and pulled out the missive for Henry and handed it to him, "Just take it, I can't stay away from the palace too long."

Henry nodded and was about to thank Marcus for the message when Marcus jumped up into and disappeared like the normal highwaymen that roamed Albion did. Henry scratched his head and wondered how they managed to do that.

Shadowfiend chimed in with his cursed and tormented voices, _'Time and incredible skill, something that takes years to master, natural talent is required to even attempt such things.'_

"How would you know that?" Henry asked as he started down the bridge to return to hero hill and the cullis gate. Henry's shadow crossed its arms even though Henry himself wasn't. _'You seem to forget I was once human.'_

The conversation between Henry asking rather pointless or stupid questions and Shadowfiend answering them in an almost sincere manner while taking every opportunity to point out Henry's lack of skill until they reached the hill, where they heard the sounds of swords clashing at the top. Henry rushed to the top of the hill expecting to see someone fighting for their lives against a horde of shadows, only to find a rather one sided sparring session between Charles and Blade.

Charles was using his Master Longsword and was sweating profusely and was knocked flat on his back seconds after Henry reached the top of the hill and Blade tossed aside the iron longsword he had been sparring Charles with. Unlike Charles though, he hadn't even broken a sweat, "It seems the Chosen One was Chosen to fall to my Blade," he said dully and to the point.

Blade turned his head to Charles, his eyes were bloodshot and filled with disinterest, "So you got the message? Well let's return to the chamber. Sabre is in the library and Gunslinger is sleeping, go send that ghoul of yours to wake her up when we get inside."

Henry's shadow began to split and new shadow on the ground sprung up and gained dimensions, turning into the fiend he was normally, "I am not his ghoul, but I will go wake her up." Shadowfiend stepped into the Cullis gate and disappeared from view, followed shortly by Blade.

"He doesn't look to good does he?" Henry said as he helped Charles up. Charles patted his clothes down and straightened his top hat, "I'd imagine it would be because the poor nutter hasn't slept in nearly a week. He has been staying in the library studying during the nights, won't tell me what about though, secretive bloke really. Even tired I still didn't manage to get any good shots in on him." He sighed and sheathed his sword, "We have a long way to go to get to his level."

Henry took off his yokel hat and waved it back and forth at shoulder level, "No good, no good, we will never been as good as blade, set your goals lower, maybe one of the Crucible winners."

Charles agreed reluctantly and the two of them went into the Cullis gate appearing in the Chamber of Fate where Sabre and Blade were waiting, and a yawning Gunslinger was walking into the chamber followed by Shadowfiend.

"Still three short," Shadowfiend said after counting the six of them.

"Of course, finding a wizard, a loveable hero, and a hero who has already opened their door isn't exactly what you'd call easy now is it?" Gunslinger said stretching her arms in the air.

Henry pulled out the envelope and handed it to Sabre, "Here you go, didn't peek at it I swear."

Sabre smiled and accepted it, immediately ripping the top of it off and letting it glide down to the floor, she pulled out the message itself and unfolded it.

The message read;

_Nora, I know the Guild still isn't in any position to take on official tasks, but I feel I have to ask you to and the members you've already assembled to split up and take part in the defense of the other areas of Albion, between me and the more powerful members of my staff, we can protect the Bowerstone regions as soon as we move into position. The other areas of Oakfield, Brightwood, Westcliff, and Wraithmarsh are too far and too many for me or my men to protect. I'd like to ask you to send one of the guild members to each area except for Wraithmarsh where I would like to ask you to send two. All of these areas have defenders but very few of them are powerful enough to fight off the shadows alone._

_A note: The Wraithmarsh area is crucial, be mindful of who goes there._

The message stopped there.

Sabre was quite understanding and willing to do what her father was asking until she came up to the word Wraithmarsh. Why would anyone be needed to defend that place? The exiled bandits who Lionheart had a lasting truce with now for over five years had their makeshift fortress build at Twinblade's tomb, but to send aid to them? It perplexed her. Sabre sighed and read the letter once more except out loud this time so the others could hear.

Shadowfiend and Blade were both silent and acknowledged it easily, Charles was rather worried that two of them were going to have to go to Wraithmarsh, and Henry and Sarah were rather eager to have a chance to protect the people.

It was decided rather quickly who was going to Wraithmarsh, Sabre along with Shadowfiend, the original plan was to send Henry with Shadowfiend, but Shadowfiend refused to take part in murdering Henry by sending him there. Blade was going to Westcliff because the Crucible champions were more likely to acknowledge and respect a proven fighter. Henry and Sarah were going to Brightwood, and Charles ended up with Oakfield.

After they were done deciding, the heroes broke up and returned to whatever they had planned on doing before. Charles wanted to Spar with Blade more but Blade told him to learn how to fight a shrub before sparing with him again and rushed off to the library to continue his rather secretive studies. Sarah remained in the Chamber to admire the paintings all around the room and was joined by Charles after Blade sent him away. Henry just seemed to disappear…. And no one really noticed or bothered with that….

Sabre went up to Hero Hill to get outside for awhile and was followed by Shadowfiend.

"It is rare that you follow me, or go out into daylight," Sabre observed, reminding Shadowfiend that he was weakened in the light, "is it about going to Wraithmarsh?"

"It is," he said simply, "What exactly is there in that place that the king would want to protect? I am sure he has no intentions of protecting the Shadowcourt, the Demon Door there is still shut and safe, and the only living people there are those bandits who refuse to be wiped out regardless of how many undead attack them."

"The third one," Sabre said with little enthusiasm. She then thought she saw Shadowfiend blink in surprise, but she instantly dismissed it as her head playing tricks on her.

"No matter how good a man, I cannot imagine the king sending aid to his enemies, who tried to attack his kingdom multiple times," he paused to consider something, "Maybe one of them asked for his help? I do believe he would help even a bandit protect his home if his reasons were good enough."

Sabre sighed, "I don't know what the details are, but a truce was called five years ago between the bandits and him so he probably sees this as a good opportunity to get on better terms with them. Tomorrow we will travel with Henry and Gunslinger to Brightwood, when the road splits we will head towards the tower and they will go to Brightwood farm to meet up with Henry's father Roland. Blade will be taking a carriage to Westcliff and Charles will take one to Oakfield."

"Who will we be meeting up with?" Shadowfiend asked dully.

"I don't know, I imagine they will have a small escort waiting at the Cullis gate, but if not we will just travel directly to their fortress."

"I hope we aren't wasting our time with this, I am taking a big risk to convince the judges that being in this guild will benefit them even without me spying on you all and relaying them information, they do that well enough without me," the two voices of Shadowfiend explained, they seemed to harmonize and put a big emphasis on the word risk.

Shadowfiend, finished with their conversation, went back through the Cullis gate to the guild where he could rest in the shadows. Sabre stood there atop hero hill looking to the east where Brightwood was.

"A risk huh," she muttered.


	16. The Old Heroes of Westcliff

Blade was sitting in the Carriage with a large wrapped bundle on the seat across from him. He had brought every single one of his swords with him on this trip, excluding the two inside the Bower Cemetery demon door, and the sword he kept locked away in his shack in the Bower Lake area where the Bandit Thag used to operate many years ago.

He memorized everything about each of his swords, their metals, their histories, their personalities, the songs they made in combat. He was completely determined to become the master of Blades. His thoughts were currently on his prized Cutlass Bluetane, one of the more powerful of his swords. It was similar to Sabre's Daichi in that both weapons harnessed the powers of lightning in them. But Bluetane was a part of a legendary treasure and was never used in combat, giving it a growing hunger to be used on flesh. Even from here among all his other swords, he could almost feel its need to be used in a fight. He knew his stay in Westcliff would likely give the blade more than its fill of death.

Hours later he finally disembarked from the carriage, he undid the wrappings of the bundle he had. He took Judge's Steel and Bluetane and strapped them to his right hip, Wretcher's Blade to his left, and he put the Berevar and the Wreckager on his back.

For a place that was supposed to be in need of defense to hold off shadow attacks, Westcliff was still buzzing with activity. In the shadow of the Crucible combatants were training in a large walled off area at the edge of the mountain and visitors from all over Albion were headed into the Crucible itself to watch the actual fighters. The Crucible now belonged to Lionheart, since thirty years ago Reaver killed the Crucibles old owner, and with Lionheart being the man's only investor, its possession was left to him, but he left the management of it to Allen Murray, one of the commentators.

"Who exactly was I supposed to meet here? That rotten Lionheart could've been a little more specific," Blade grumbled as he walked through the crowds to the steps of the Crucible, he went off to the left of the large staircase to where all the combatants were training and he walked over to the oldest man there, recognizing him easily.

"Mad Dog 'The Strangler' Mcgraw!" Blade called out to the man, still walking towards him.

The old but still in shape man turned around to face Blade, "Oi? Do I know you? You look familiar, but then again, so does every bloke who walks in here with a bunch of swords one him."

"My name is Avo, I fought in the Crucible twelve years ago," Blade began, "the one who killed the troll with nothing but swords."

Mad Dog's expression lightened up, "Ah! The idiot who fought the troll without any ranged weapons! Gave us a good chuckle that did, seeing you nearly get squashed like a bug. I say, unprecedented that was, but still not as amazing as Lionheart, no one has beaten his record yet."

Blade decided to get back on subject, "Speaking of Lionheart, the king sent me here to aid Westcliff against the shadows."

Mad Dog scratched his head, "He did, did he? Well I do seem to remember Murray sending a message to Lionheart, didn't bother asking him what it was about. Here, go inside the waiting room of the crucible tell 'em I sent ya, Murray is in there with some of the other old Crucible winners."

Blade thanked Mad Dog and gave him the slightest bow in respect as a warrior and left the training grounds and went up the staircase that led into the mountain, and the Crucible. At the door were two men armed with master battle axes. _'They stepped up their security,' _ Blade thought.

"Mad Dog sent me, I am here to talk to Murray," he said.

Both men stepped aside instantly without questioning him at all and Blade walked by, _'Any fool could've come up to them and said Mad Dog sent them and they probably would've the person it.'_ Blade took back what he said earlier about security.

After passing through both large gates he was in the same unchanged waiting room he had been in twelve years ago. Murray was in the room with a small handful of people. Blade recognized one of them as a competitor who had been famous even before he had been born. Meatbane the Bandit 'Warrior, Usefulinarian'. Meatbane had been one of the contestants to win the Crucible shortly after Lionheart first had, he had gotten eight perfect rounds and was awarded with Mad Dog's old axe, The Chopper. Ten years later Lionheart had beaten Meatbane's records, but Meatbane was still a regular in the Crucible and was a favorite.

Blade didn't recognize any of the other people around Murray, so he decided to walk up on them and interrupt their conversation. As he approached all the people in the group turned their heads toward him.

"Can I help you sir?" Allen Murray asked.

"Lionheart sent me, and if Mad Dog said you sent for someone so here I am." Blade bowed to Murray and Meatbane.

Meatbane seemed to remember Blade, "Hey I've seen you before, you're the sword fighter, that was a great crowd pleaser. Even I never came up with something like that. Good to see you at the Crucible again."

"So you're Lionheart's hero? Well you're a former champion here so I can't complain can I? Good to see you didn't suffer an agonizing death on your travels," Murray sounded quite pleased to see Blade, the more defenders, the safer the town. That was his view on things.

"I'm sure you don't recognize any of these other champions do you? They all entered the Crucible after you did, they are quite the elite. Let me introduce them. The one in the green armor and the helmet is Master Chief, we all just call him Hal. You should see his gun in action, I've never seen such a fast shot in all my days."

The man in green armor, Hal, nodded to Blade. The armor seemed to be made out of some sort of tough leather, and the helmet covered his entire face and had a glass cover with metal bars above the glass to keep it from breaking. He had a sword on his back that was made out of some sort of crystal, and a rifle in his hands that looked out of this world. He certainly wasn't an easy man to forget once you met him.

The other three weren't nearly as impressive. There was Willow the Widowmaker (The Second), a large man with scars all over his body, and a rusty mace. He grunted loudly and pounded his chest once to acknowledge Blade. There was skinny bald young man with a long with a pointed goatee wearing pauper clothing, with a tan highwayman's cloak on. He had no weapons, but he did have a blue glowing tattoo in the shape of a sword on his head, and there seemed to be one on his hand that he wasn't wearing a glove on. They looked a lot like the runic markings Sabre had, but they were in more precise patterns, but Blade paid no attention to it. The last person in the lineup was a monk from the north wearing nothing but a pair of pants and some gloves, he had a katana that looked nice, but Blade couldn't sense anything special about it.

"I am pleased to make your acquaintances," Blade said in a unconvincing manner to the three of them.

The monk, Calloth put both his hands together and bowed to Blade, "I am pleased to meet a master of the art." He seemed more sincere in his greeting than Blade had.

The young man Cael, was trying to keep his ungloved hand covered up and put a bandana over his head to cover up the tattoos on his head, "Yes, it is very good to meet other crucible champions," he seemed nervous more than anything. Blade couldn't believe this kid was a champion.

"Okay, now that we all know eachother, I'd like to get you all to work at once. Since there are six of you I'd you to patrol Westcliff in two groups of three," Murray explained, "You see, there are so many fighters here at the camp, they can surely hold off a shadow attack even for a little while for you all to get back here. I think it Is more likely they will appear on the edges of the forest and move their way in to pick off travelers and the unguarded border into the camp."

Hal spoke for the first time, "Why not put guards on the perimeter of the camp then?" He said this as if it were an obvious solution.

Murray coughed and corrected himself, "Unguarded by any real fighters. There are plenty of those town guards, but from what I heard, they get slaughtered like pigs against the shadows, quite a shame, replacing guards so often must be terrible for the king."

Meatbane chuckled, "They aren't all that bad, fighting simply for a prize isn't good enough. The means justify the ends and all that," Murray began to groan at Meatbane's most often uttered words, "Now then, Chief, Willow. Both of you come with me we'll take the southeastern roads."

Hal didn't seem to care and simply nodded and got in place behind Meatbane. Willow grumbled some about taking the easy road and how there wouldn't be any challenge but he got in line and the trio left.

"I suppose that leaves us……" Cael said after a few moments silence.

"Doesn't the western road go through the Howling Halls?" Blade asked in an obviously agitated tone.

Calloth nodded, "Meatbane always takes the easy way these days, he isn't getting old, you shouldn't blame him for wanting an easier fight."

"Let's get going?" Cael smiled weakly.

"Right, you take the rear kid," Blade muttered as he walked towards the exit.

Calloth smiled,"He is an interesting character, don't worry, he will respect you after he sees you fight, just like the rest of us," he began walking after Blade with Cael trotting behind him.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _

Blade and his two companions were inside the Howling Halls. They had only entered the second room from the direction they came in and already they noticed something was wrong. There wasn't a balverine in sight. Sure they had lost their numbers over the years but the halls were still their territory.

Blade had Wretcher's blade unsheathed and in his hand as he was walking. He was looking at the other two. Calloth the monk, had his katana out but only because he didn't have a sheath for it. Cael on the other hand, was walking with a more serious air about him, as if he knew danger was coming.

Blade didn't like this silence so he thought he'd talk to the monk, "You have a fine sword there, what do you call it?"

"This? This is Katana Kiryu. It has been among my order for many centuries now. It isn't particularly special, not since the ancient arts that went with it were lost during the reign of the old kingdom," he looked at Blade's swords, "You have quite the collection there, I sense a dark and pained past on each of those Blades, and it seems they've worn off on their owner."

Blade gave Calloth an anger look, "What do you mean by that exactly?"

Calloth bowed to Blade in apology, "Forgive me, but you seem to be a better person than you look. I was merely guessing that those swords have affected you life strongly in a negative manner."

Blade sighed, the bastard monk was on the spot, "You're right, though not all of them are evil in nature, they have all come to me at a great cost, one that I doubt I will ever be able to make up for."

Calloth nodded knowingly, "I'll leave it there for now, I would like to spar you one day if we are ever given the chance."

Blade looked back at Cael, "Hey kid you're being awfully quiet, you alright back there?"

"Shh," Cael raised his hands for silence, "They are coming."

"Coming? Now that you mention it…" Blade put his left hand on Judg'es Steel and heard its echo, "You're right. Well here comes the good part I suppose." He unsheathed Judge's steel and flipped it in his hand catching it by its hilt.

Calloth held his sword in front of him and closed his eyes, looking very relaxed. Blade didn't doubt that the monk knew how to fight with that thing. He turned to Cael, and was surprised.

Cael's coat was fluttering about him, a red shield was covering his body, and he had three floating ghost swords around him. He opened his right hand and another sword appeared in it, but rather a sword energy, like the Blades spell was in his hand. He also suddenly looked older. His youth was gone and his beard was graying and he had a few wrinkles on his face.

Blade heard a shriek and turned his attention to the corridor in front of them. A flood of shadows was coming at them. Three energy blades whizzed past Blade and into the shadows in the front of the group, which where all shaped like balverines. All three swords disappeared along with the shadows.

Blade was amazed by the kid, a will user of that level, even though he didn't look so young now. He shook his head and rushed at the shadows. He slashed his way into the middle of the horde and then spun in a three-hundred-sixty degree arc taking out half a dozen of the foul monsters. He rolled out of the horde but not before one of them nicked his right hand causing him to drop the Wretcher's blade.

Calloth was having a hard time handling himself. His combat style was perfected for one on one. While Blade and Cael were taking on half a dozen at a time, he was struggling to work on two. "Please let the others get out of this alive," he prayed to himself. Shadows were still pouring out the corridor and it seemed there was a little over three dozen still, despite Blade and Cael having taken over a dozen each.

A shadow was about to strike Calloth from the back when Blade threw Judge's steel at the shadow killing it, and disarming himself. He unsheathed the Berevar, the weakest of his swords, and the Wreckager, the cursed sword of Captain Dread. A larger shadow pounced at him and he crossed his swords and managed to keep himself from being knocked over and he cut the shadow into three pieces with two downward strikes.

Cael was beginning to sweat, he could keep going for awhile, but the longer he went the more dangerous it would be for him. So far the shadows hadn't touched him, his ghost swords doing their job to keep the enemies at bay while he launched swords from his left hand at the fiends. The sword in his right hand was a precaution incase one of the shadows got past his defense.

As the fight continued the three of them got pressed into a corner and the shadows stopped, for a moment. They stopped to shift from the shape of balverines to the shape of large humans carrying large swords.

"Hey kid, watch over Calloth, the monk is getting tired," Blade shifted from his normal offensive stance to a defensive one as he moved to Calloth's left flank. Cael nodded and two of his ghost swords began hovering around Calloth's right flank.

Calloth didn't like having to be protected in a fight but he knew there was no helping it, it was natural to protect one's allies. He smiled to himself, "Blade, that burden you carry, let go of it, let go of that guilt and you will regain what you lost."

Blade cranked his head back for an instant, "What the hell are you saying at a time like this monk?!"

Both of his swords were launched from his hands by the shadows and he unsheathed his last sword, Bluetane. Its hunger was apparent; it seemed to move on its own just to destroy the shadows. Calloth raised his sword and jumped at three of the shadow warriors. He cut down two of them with one strike and left himself open, long enough for one of the warriors to bring their shadow blade down on his shoulder, cutting into him and causing him to fall to the floor.

Cael watched this and horror and Blade cursed, "Damn it monk!" he threw Bluetane aside and dived for the injured monk, dodging the blades of the shadows and getting Calloth over to a wall with Cael's ghost swords protecting him. Cael's magic was waning now, he only had the strength to keep two energy blades summoned. He conjured both of the Blades……..into Blade's hands.

"I can't keep any more than that summoned, you'll have to manage," Cael fell to his knees next to Calloth who was unconscious from Blood loss, and the poisoning of the shadow blade.

Blade wasn't used to holding pure energy in his hands. The blades burned at his hands, the light they came from seemed to reject him. He was now protecting all three of them with two swords that were causing him pain. Why did the light hate him so! He got used to the burning and was managing to defend against the shadows well, but he wasn't landing any kills.

"Kid, I don't think I can do this much longer, not a great day for crucible champions eh?" he chuckled, there were only twenty four shadows left, but they would overwhelm him the second he slowed down.

A shot was heard, another one followed nearly instantly. Seven quick shots in all were fired at his direction killing the shadows nearest to Blade causing him, and the shadows to look over. Hal was standing there with his rifle out. Taking aim again, he fired again taking out fourteen of them, he stopped firing to reload and then took out the rest of them nearly effortlessly.

Blade slumped on the wall, both the swords in his hands fading away. He looked at them to see there were no actual burns.

Hal walked over to them and spoke in an angry voice, "I expected the three of you to do better, it can't be helped though….." he put his rifle away and went over to Calloth, and got Cael to help pick him up, "We have to get back to treat this fast. Hurry, get your swords, and the monks."

Blade nodded and got back up, retrieving the five of his swords sheathing them all, and carrying Katana Kiryu in his hands watching the walls anxiously. He wouldn't rest until they were back at the camp.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

All the champions of the crucible, more than just the elites, were all gathered at the cemetery for combatants, it was relatively small considering not many of the fighters corpses were ever retrieved in one piece. There was only one grave.

It was the grave of Willow Widowmaker the Second. Sitting right next to the grave of Willow Widowmaker. The tombstone read _'Rest in Peace Willow. You followed your father's footsteps till the end.'_

Meatbane, Cael, Hal, and Blade were all present. Calloth was on a bed in the inn and his condition wasn't looking great. Mad Dog said he'd be dead in a week. Calloth had woken up and gave his sword (and its sheath which actually existed) to Blade, telling him to hold it until he recovers, where they would then have their sparring match.

Mad Dog and Murray gave Willow a splendid funeral service, which at the end of most of the people were laughing. Blade, Hal, and Cael were the only ones who didn't laugh. Meatbane explained that it was a good way to go, getting hacked to bits in front of the camp to save innocent lives.

After the service Blade and Cael were both at the carriage.

"I haven't been here a day and we were already attacked, from what Shadowfiend told us, it will take them some time to build up energy dark energy to attack us again like that. I'm returning to the guild, wait no first I'll return to the Bowerstone Cemetery," Blade sighed, Calloth had been one fine fellow for a monk.

Cael, who now appeared young again (using magic to maintain that appearance when he isn't fighting) wasn't wearing gloves, a coat, or anything on his head and the runic markings were now apparent. He didn't say anything.

"So how old are you really?" Blade asked.

"Eh? Twenty seven, I gave part of my youth to get the power I've gotten, I sometimes wonder if it was worth it," Cael shook his head mournfully.

Blade knew there couldn't be any other, "Cael, I'd like you to come back to the guild with me, there is someone I want you to meet."

"Huh?" Cael looked up shocked. Blade called him by his actual name, "W-what for?"

Blade shrugged, tossing the bundle of swords he had into the carriage, "Just a hunch."

Cael got into the carriage with Blade, and despite the driver's demands, refused to pay extra.

Blade pulled out his guild seal and thought of the swords in the demon door. He knew what he was going to do when he returned and he actually smiled sincerely to himself and fell asleep with Cael staring out the window in bewilderment.


	17. The Old Heroes of Wraithmarsh Part 1

Well I've been terribly mistreating this story by not working on it.

Well the story is now officially a year old, and I'd feel terrible if I didn't do anything else by then. Happy Birthday Nine Doors and Lauren.

* * *

The Demon Door of Wraithmarsh, an author of a nearly innumerable amount of plays, despite being located in such a dreary place than was less than welcoming to the aristocrats it longed to perform for, was usually in high spirits after his last performance some years ago. It didn't know how many really, time was hardly relevant to the demon doors. With the thick fog and dark sky, its mood had declined, in less than a month's time, the door had been woken up twice now, both times being denied the opportunity to recite its plays.

"Please go away if you are going to waste my time again, I already told you what you wanted to know last time," the Demon Door was begging to a female dressed in a patchy coat, but was distinguished by the katana on her back.

Sabre sat down and leaned against a tree, closing her eyes and muttering to the door, "We are just here until this fog clears out. I am not in much of a mood for having my soul sucked out by a Banshee while I am this tired."

The door blinked, "We? What do you me we? Are you going to bother answering me?! Never mind!!" Fuming, the door sunk back into the stone when she didn't say anything.

Sabre began arcing small flares of lightning between her hands, trying to make her forget how cold and dank it was, "That trip was horrible…."

A dark voice came from her shadow, "_Is it really safe to leave those two on their own? You trust them, but the girl was threatening to fill the farmer with bullets as we left." _Sabre looked at her shadow and noticed it wasn't in place anymore and laughed.

"Gunslinger and Henry will be okay… if they can make it to Roland's farm," she smiled to herself, "though I am not so sure Gunslinger will tolerate Roland's singing as long as she tolerated Henry's before trying to shoot him."

"_Very well then, but I do not suggest we linger here for long. Even the court has grown weary of late, I could be recalled back to them at any time if this chaos gets too out of hand."_

Sabre looked into the fog warily and then nodded after a moment, "Let's go then."

She took a breath, and with her hand firmly on Daichi's hilt, she walked forward into the fog. It was thicker than she had thought it was, limited her sight to a few steps in front of her. Shadowfiend could see through the fog and guided her to the entrance to the Shadow Court. Sabre looked at the door astonished. She couldn't believe he taken her here.

"What is the meaning of this Shadowfiend?!" Sabre demanded quickly, reaching for the Daichi, but noticed her hands wouldn't move. Shadowfiend's form grew in front of her, thinner than usual, maintaining half of himself to hold her in place.

The hollow of the two voices began to speak, "You must forgive me Sabre, if it had been any of the others, the court would have allowed it. But you, the court finds you too benevolent . They have ordered me to take you before them. Forgive me," the last two words came out with bitter sarcasm.

"Why? I thought the court couldn't order you!" her surprise waning in place of anger.

Shadowfiend laughed, "It is true, their control over me is normally weakened! But being so close to the court has weakened the human soul that balances the control." Shadowfiend closed one of his fists and Sabre was forced to the ground.

Shadowfiend walked to the door, which began opening as he approached. He lifted his hand again and Sabre felt herself getting up. She began walking forward and couldn't stop. She tried to use her will and arc lightning to weaken Shadowfiend's grasp on her, but the markings on her skin flared and then died as the fog ate away at it.

Shadowfiend stopped by the door and turned around, just a few steps before she was inside Sabre heard a shriek. Shadowfiend's body returned to its normal state to defend himself and Sabre was freed. She turned her head around and saw a terrifying sight. She had only seen banshees in the nightmare, but in person they were just as terrifying. She grabbed the Daichi and raised it, ready to defend herself. The banshee lurked closer, its shadowy children being defeated by Shadowfiend launching bolts from the Rammer at them. As it shrieked once more, Sabre felt an unimaginable fear run up her spine and she dropped her sword and froze. Shadowfiend ran infront of her and pushed her inside the stone door behind her. Shadowfiend shot two more bolts at the banshee before going inside himself, and shutting the doors.

The Banshee howled in anger, gliding towards the door when a burning bolt flew into its head, instantly killing it. The red rags fell to the soft mud and six figures emerged, five of them dressed like bandits, probably because they were. One of them noticed something shining in the swampy floor.

"Oi boss. Ther's somethin' in the dirt!" one of them said. The sixth one was dressed in dirtied, but otherwise well kept middle class clothing. He had no visible arms on him, but the men with him knew better.

"Ah? Is that so? Well then, bring it here," he said in a well enunciated accent. The bandit scurried and picked up the sword, wiping the mud off it with a thick rag. The man inspected it for a moment, he thought the designs on the sword were very fine. He thought he recognized it from somewhere but he couldn't quite place his tongue on it.

Another man joined the group, " 'Ey Executioner, what do yeh got there? Looks nice it does." This one bandit man was huge. In his hands were two iron cleavers and he wore a mask over his face that he had fashioned to resemble of what he thought Jack of Blades' mask looked like.

The man called Executioner's brow twitched, "Well Butcher, if you must know, it is a sword. You can slash imbeciles like yourself with them, and they die!"

Butcher gave out a hearty laugh and slapped one of the other bandits on the back, "Slash me! O' thatsa good one!" He looked at the sword over Executioners shoulder, "Wait, I've seen this I have! In Bowerstone at th' meeting, we got called t' once."

Executioner snapped his fingers and raised his voice, "That's it! That girl standing next to that damned king had it. How the bloody hell did it get here now?"

Both of them looked up to the door of the Shadow Court.

"It couldn't!" one of the other bandits shouted a little too loudly. Butcher grabbed him and smacked his head.

"Quiet you! D' yeh want all th' Nasties in the marsh to hear?!" he hissed angrily. The smaller bandit apologized quickly and took several steps away.

Executioner was looking at the door, and placed his hand on a circle in the center of it, "Butcher, do you still have that thing you stole from the old man?"

The large bandit patted the various pockets and pouches of his ragged clothing until he pulled out a circular object and handed it Executioner, not sure what he planned on doing with it. Executioner put the object on the door and it made a clicking sound, the gears on the door began turning and the tomb opened up.

He clapped his hands together, "That did it, we're going inside."

One of the other bandits spoke out, "Din' that old bloke tell us it is even worse in dere?" He looked around nervously.

Butcher laughed and Executioner scoffed. Both agreeing he was just afraid. They were convincing the others to go when the bandit who had moved several feet away after being bashed in the head got stabbed, a rusty blade sticking out his chest. Behind him a large gathering of hollow-men were advancing. The bandit fell to the marsh dead, and the rest scurried to the wall of the cliff.

Butcher roared out angrily, "I tol' him I did! I tol' him!" he held up both of his cleavers when Executioner grabbed his arm.

"Don't bother, there are too many," he said. He turned to the others, "All of you get inside that tomb! You to Butcher!."

The two of them and the five remaining bandits scurried into the tomb, not knowing what horrors the Shadowcourt was holding in store for them. Executioner looked at the Daichi. He decided he would save the girl who he had seen with it at the castle. If she knew Lionheart like he thought she did, all of them could be pardoned officially. They would finally be able to leave Wraithmarsh.


	18. The Old Heroes of Wraithmarsh Part 2

Sabre opened her eyes. Above her she saw a gloomy sky, and some trees. She closed her eyes again to recollect herself.

… ….

Her eyes flashed open and she sat up instantly grabbing for the pistol in her boot. She wasn't really outside; she was in a room in the Shadowcourt that had no ceiling. All around her in the circular room were doors to tombs, she looked behind her and saw three semi-columns covered in skeletons. Across from the platform she was on was a door, a way out. She got off of the altar in front of the columns and lay against it.

For some reasons her body ached everywhere. She remembered that Shadowfiend had pushed her into this place; she had no idea what had happened after that, or why she was still alive. Her father had told her the Shadowcourt was wicked, and she believed it, yet they let her live. Why?

"Why!" she cursed to the empty room, well almost empty.

A voice from behind her, relaxed and barely concerned commented, "Because they might be able to use you. You are no use to them dead."

A man's voice Sabre thought, it sounded familiar but she had no idea who it was. She was also too tired to get up and find out who it was, but she did tighten her grip on her pistol. She snorted at his comment to try and provoke him, "And how would you know that I wonder."

The man laughed, there was pain in his voice, regret, anguish, many other things, "Because this has been my life for over one hundred years. The bargain I made was a mistake, I've been suffering their rule for too long now."

Interested now, Sabre stood up and looked at the man, she was now certain she had seen him before, "Who are you?" she asked.

The man was malnourished, he had no shirt on and his ribs were showing through his figure, his pants were in tatters, and his feet were protected by wraps. She looked at his face and gasped. His short hair was a faded black and both of his eyes were empty, scars covered his face. There was little life inside this man.

He looked up at her and smiled weakly seemingly about to say something; then he looked down and sighed. He continued the task he was doing before, ripping at cloth on his pants to tie around his bony hands.

Sabre knelt down next to him worriedly, and instead of pressing any further she changed the subject, "Come on it is dangerous here. We need to find a way out."

The man began muttering to himself, "Wrap, loop, pull," as he added layers of cloth to the bandages on his hands. When he was satisfied with his work He lean his head back and looked up, "Unless you can fly, I'd give up. The Court will be back soon enough, and when that happens…" he went silent once more.

Sabre herself was getting depressed, and her thoughts shifted towards Shadowfiend's betrayal. Why hadn't he warned her that that might've happened? Perhaps he didn't know she thought. She returned to her side of the altar and lay down again. Her last thoughts before she drifted asleep was wondering where her sword was.

Executioner sneezed. The noise echoed throughout the halls and caused all the bandits, including him to grab for their weapons.

The bandits were still inside the entrance to the Shadowcourt. The door was open from the inside, but the legion of hollowed-men outside forced them to remain inside. Butcher and one of his fellows were on the end of the corridor keeping watch. The two of them constantly complained they didn't know what they were looking for, but Executioner insisted they remain at the post.

Executioner wasn't accustomed to holding a sword, but something about holding the katana in his hands gave him confidence. After swinging it in the air a few times, he decided that the sword was perfectly balanced; it had not a single flaw. He turned to the stone coffin nearest to him and decided to take a swing at it. He swung with all its strength only to have the blade go a few inches into the stone, he had expected this. What he didn't expect what a burst of lightning to leap from the blade and make a crackling sound that caused Butcher to raise his arms in alarm.

"Oi lads! We've got company we do!" the giant brute shouted, before hefting up his twin cleavers. The figures running towards the doorway were human to Butcher, but as he took his first swing he found it did little enough damage to the figure.

Butcher heard the bandit next to him curse, "Shadows! Blast it! I've seen it all!" After trading several blows with the shadow intent on running him through he shouted, "Copperton! Get yer bloody bow an' burn these fiends up!"

Copperton, the smallest bandit in the group, unlaced the strap that held his small crossbow at his waist, and loaded a bolt into it. He had one of the other bandits light a torch, which he placed the linen wrapped tips of each bolt in before letting loose.

Executioner was standing in the rear, holding the Daichi in a passive stance, not yet ready to join the fight. He was too busy swelling with pride at how well this handpicked group of men was doing. The other two bandits were moving forward slowly, meeting up with Butcher and his comrade as they were slowly retreating to the onslaught. Copperton was still loosing fiery bolts on the shadows, and the one holding the torch stood at his side with sword drawn. Executioner took a breath and slowly started advancing on the shadows.

Ordering the bandits he said, "Get ready to move aside, I'm heading in, all of you be prepared to follow me!"

He lifted up the Daichi and began his charge, reaching into his coat for several hidden daggers.

The man leaning on the Altar lifted his head. He heard a noise echoing throughout the halls.

He shook his head and said, "Can't be real… can it?" As he continued to listen, the sound didn't fade; he heard metal clashing and voices shouting. He was beginning to question his sanity, not that he had much of it left, "No one can get into the court without a seal, except for shadows, those are the rules…"

He looked up to where the three judges of the court normally presided, they must be hard pressed by Chaos to remain absent this long, ever since he had arrived and it had taken place, the three had left. He stood up and moved away from the altar where Sabre was sleeping. He stood there for a moment when a shadowy figure appeared before him.

"Have you recovered enough yet?" it hissed at him. The shadow seemed to be struggling to hold its shape, the shape of the man in front of him, "This may prove to be rest for you, but my existence fades without you!"

The man crossed his arms, resolute, "You will wait for the judges to return," he said calmly, "that was the agreement."

The shadow's form shifted into a cloud momentarily before regaining shape, "So it is…"

He waved his hand at the shadow, "Be gone now you fiend, before the girl wakes up, you wouldn't want to face her as you are now would you, "he grinned. Watching the shadow flinch was one of the few pleasures he had enjoyed in a century.

The shadow dissipated into nothingness. The man slumped as soon as the shadow was gone. He knew the shadow was still watching him, eagerly waiting to be returned to its energy source. In truth he was also suffering from the separation, the both of them gained energy from one another. And, while he felt at rest when he was away from the shadow. He felt himself getting physically weaker being separated from what made him whole.

"Now…" he breathed, "I wait for something to happen."

After he spoke a howling gust blew through the room. He knew they had returned, and he knew that even though Sabre didn't know what was about to happen, she was already up with her pistol in hand looking around the chamber.

Sabre was up the second she felt the change in the wind. Something was coming, and she knew she wouldn't like it. She walked around to the front of the altar to see the man calmly sitting there.

"What are you doing? Don't just stand there, you heard that to didn't you?" she asked in an angry voice.

He dusted off his pants before slowly getting up, he looked at her seriously and put his hand on her shoulder, "Listen to me Sabre," he started, "The Judges of the Court are coming, I don't know what it is they want, but-

She pushed him away, "You know me? Explain-" a dark voice spoke out. One that stopped Sabre in her tracks.

"That will be enough Cedric, you have done well in bringing her here. In exchange for your service, we will give you more time to rest should you desire it."

The man cedric fell to one knee, not out of respect for the Judges, who were now appearing in their places, but from the commanding tone of its voice.

"Welcome… Sabre"

"Daughter of Lionheart"

"To the Shadow Court." They spoke, "Put that weapon away, it will have no effect on the likes of us."

Five shots were fired off, Sabre paying no heed to the judge's warning. After the fifth round was fired she heard a click, she was out of bullets. She cursed to herself, "Damn, I must be the first person in Albion to ever run out of ammo."

She looked up to the Judges, "I don't know what you want of me you fiends, but if you plan on killing me do it!"

The first Judge answered, "You are far too valuable to us alive, even if you intend to destroy us."

The third continued, "We have brought you before us… to be given a choice. The Court is based upon order, a thing these new shadows threaten to destroy."

And the second finished, "In order to keep Chaos from becoming too powerful, we propose… a bargain."

Sabre cast away the pistol, it being of no further use to her, "I'm listening… for now."

"You shall be given the means to collect enough power to shut the rift that was opened."

" In doing so this enemy shall vanish, saving Albion."

The final judge moved towards Sabre, the dark orbs that were its eyes piercing her soul, "At a price," it motioned to Cedric, still on his knees, "You will become like him. Your soul will bond with a judicator, the most powerful of shadows."

Sabre couldn't believe what this creature was telling her, "You tell me to become your slave?" The runes on her skin flaring with her anger, lightning arcing out at the judges. The lightning was merely absorbed by them, as if it had never been.

The second judge clarified, ignoring her attack completely, "We offer you a choice, as was offered to Lionheart many years ago."

A shadow emerged from the altar, holding a Dark seal. It walked towards Cedric and placed it upon his chest. Before taking several steps back. The Judges surrounded Sabre, each speaking in turn.

"Now comes the choice."

"Take the seal, and take on the pact this man has made… Take on his charge and free him. You will free him upon taking his burden."

"The choice is yours…. Decide."

Cedric lashed out at the shadow who had placed the seal on him, and turned to Sabre, "Don't do it damn it!" He began to plead, "I resisted it, but they have perfected this ritual! They will fully-"

All three judges spoke at once, invoking a curse, "Silence!"

Cedric fell to the floor screaming in pain. The second judge gave him a warning, "You will not interfere. This choice is not yours."

…..

Sabre backed away seeing Cedric writhe in pain. She didn't want that to happen to her, to be in Thrall of the Court. There was no possible way she could! Her father, the others… they needed her. She looked at the man she knew as Shadowfiend apologetically before turning her back on the Judges and shouting, "I'll never stray from my path!"

She expected death to come swiftly, the Judges to smite her down with their powers. Instead she heard Cedric scream, the Shadow was once again merging with him, turning him once again into Shadowfiend.

"The decision has been made, it cannot be undone. We shall continue to honor this pact binding this human to our service."

A bridge of shadow spread to the other side of the chamber. They were letting her go?

"You may go Sabre… should you escape with your life we shall send this servant to your hall to aid you against the common enemy we share… It seems your rescuers are here…"

"Rescuers?" Sabre questioned the Judges, turning around, only to see them gone. Five shadows replacing them and began running towards her. She began crossing the bridge as fast as she could, the runes on her body illuminating it. The runes! Her will was back, she stopped and turned to the fiends as she reached the edge and unleashed a surge of light, destroying them and the bridge in the process. Before falling into the water far below she grabbed the ledge and began struggling to pull herself up.

"There she is!" A voice called out.

Before she knew it she heard footsteps, and she felt herself being pulled up as if she was a child by a large man with a mask on. A group of bandits was surrounding him, with their weapons drawn.

"Let's go now!" the voice said again, coming from a different man. A man who was holding her sword.

"That's min-"before she could finish, the larger man hoisted her up on his shoulders and the group began running through the hallway they had come from. It didn't take them long to reach the exit, though two more bandits fell to the shadows in their retreat.

To the bandits surprise, especially Copperton's who was in front, the stone door creaked open as they ran, and the large group of hollowmen they had fled from awaited them. Three of them ran the small bandit through before he had time to react. The other hollowmen creeped forward with their weapons rose to greet the small group of bandits exiting the tomb.

The large bandit finally dropped Sabre and said, "Alrigh' missy, your ride's ova!"

Sabre wasted no time in grabbing the shortsword that belonged to bandit who had fallen upon their arrival and pushed into the throng of hollowmen. Executioner easily kept up the pace next to her, slashing the Daichi in graceful arcs that slashed through the brittle bones of their enemies. Butcher and the other two bandits held off as best they could, the large man worn down from hacking at incorporeal shadows. One of the hollowmen stabbed him in the leg, making him roar in pain and flailing his cleaver at the offender. In his fury he left himself open and was slashed across the hamstring, and fell to his knee.

One of the other bandits, depending on Butcher to protect his flank was cut down when the big man fell. Sabre saw this and knew that they wouldn't last much longer, seeing as there were still over two dozen hollowmen around them.

She whirred around to face Executioner and said, "My sword! Ground it!"

The bandit leader scoffed as he killed two more of their skeletal foes, "What? Are you crazy?"

Sabre let lose some of her will, arcing lightning from her blade to the nearest hollowman, "Just do it!" she demanded.

Executioner waited for the right moment before sticking the sword in the ground, and jumping high in the air (blasted highwaymen), landing next to Butcher and the remaining bandit with two daggers.

Sabre swung her shortsword in an arc to push back the hollowmen for a moment and began to charge lightning in her hands. When the markings on her skin were at their brightest she lunged for the Daichi.

A blinding light emerged from the sword; Executioner was forced to look away. When the light faded the hollowmen were gone, and Sabre was on the ground motionless with a deep gash in her thigh.

Executioner stood up between Sabre and the other two bandits. All he could do was shake his head in frustration. "It wasn't supposed to turn out like this," he spat.

He turned to the uninjured bandit and kicked him until he got up, "On your feet! Get the girl."

The bandit nodded and slinged Sabre onto his shoulder with more than a little effort. Executioner knelt next to Butcher and helped the big man to his feet. Once the two were moving he turned to the sword that had saved them and grabbed it again.

He gave the Shadow Court one last glance before he left, "Pissing swamp."


End file.
