The Heroes I-The Black Fire Lighthouse

Chapter XIII-Black Fire Lighthouse in Sight

The breeze was harsh on the warrior's faces as they stood outside the city walls, waiting for the beasts in front of them to make their way across the field. The sounds of their roars and marching pounded inside the ears of each warrior, causing some of them to step back in fear. The Hell Raiders roared with satisfaction at the smell and sight of the fearful humans in front of them. Langholm stood in the front of the crowd with the king and Jake at his sides; Cody, Garen, Neotasha and Becky all stood behind them with their swords drawn and ready to fight. Langholm turned around to face his army.


"Now is the time for another battle," he said in a loud, firm voice. "We shall not have as many losses as we did back in my city, and we will secure this victory before the day is through! Now let us take them by surprise and attack!"


Langholm rose up his sword and started running toward the army of oncoming Hell Raiders, Jake and King Lang behind him, followed by Garen, Cody, Becky and Neotasha and the rest of the army. The humans screamed at the Hell Raiders as they charged, whether scared or not, they did not show it. The Hell Raiders took a few steps back in surprise at the warrior's courage, then they charged forward and the two armies met in a collision of screams and blood. Cody and Neotasha worked their way through the crowd of Hell Raiders quickly, ending up in the middle of the army. Garen and Becky were shooting blasts of their Fire of Color at the crowds that were coming at them, Jake was fighting off five Hell Raiders, Langholm was joining Neotasha and Cody, and King Lang was nowhere to be found.


Cody, Neotasha and Langholm formed a little triangle and they all threw up a wall of Fire of Color around them. A mixture of Rainbow and Silver Fire swirled around them slowly, then Langholm brought down his arms and the wall of Fire collapsed to the ground, sending it toward the army of Hell Raiders around them. Garen was running over to help Jake fight the Hell Raiders charging at him, leaving Becky to lead a team of archers into the fight. Jake had now pulled out Cody's sword and started cutting at the Hell Raiders in front of him, while Garen parried the Hell Raiders off from his back side.


The humans beside them were screaming in terror now as the Hell Raiders made their advances on the city, but they were getting blocked off by Becky and her team of archers. Neotasha and Cody ran to meet up with her and started throwing up walls of Fire as Langholm stayed back and shot the walls at the Hell Raiders. Garen and Jake joined them and Becky put her bow back and started letting out her Gold Fire. The humans all stood behind them now and the Hell Raiders dropped as the Fire hit them. The showers of Rainbow, Green, Silver and Gold Fire rained down on the Hell Raiders, driving them back to retreat, some running back in fear at the Fire Raiders. Neotasha dropped his Silver Fire and ran forward, drawing out his sword and started cutting at the Hell Raiders that were brave enough to stay back. Finally the Fire Raiders in front stopped their attacks and looked around, seeing the ground littered with Hell Raiders and humans alike. The smell of the burnt bodies reaching their noses and the heat of the attacks pressing on their faces.


Langholm went running quickly over to a body, followed by Cody, Garen and Neotasha. When they came up to the body they could see Langholm kneeling over it and not touching it. The face was badly beaten and the body was partially torn apart, but the rainbow colored robes made it no mistake that Langholm's son, King Lang, laid before them, not able to recognize the face at all. Langholm showed no sign of sadness or anger, in fact, his face showed no emotion at all. He finally stretched out his hands to pick up his dead son, slowly as if he would fall apart if lifted up to fast.


He walked him to the middle of the city and placed the body down on the ground, the rest of the warriors falling in behind him. Garen, Neotasha, Becky, Cody and Jake came to the front of the crowd as Langholm lifted up his arms which caused the ground beneath King Lang to rise up. He then took a few steps back and punched the air, sending a ball of bright Rainbow Fire at the body. Garen made an attempt to step forward, confused, they didn't burn the dead in Kio, but Cody held out an arm and shook his head slowly. The Fire rose into the air casting off beautiful sparks; inside of the flames, two dragons made from the fire could be seen flying around each other further into the air until they got about twenty five meters up, then they dove down and hit the body sending off a wall of Rainbow Fire Toward the crowd. Garen threw up his hands to shield his face, but the Fire didn't burn him, in fact it made him feel better. He put down his arms and felt the warmth inside of him and when he looked down he saw a mist of Blue Fire mixed with the Rainbow Fire, he had never seen of Blue Fire before, but there it was flowing through his body. He looked around and saw the Fire flowing through everyone, knowing that they could also feel the warm, healing sensation, and then it faded away into a fine powder, letting the wind take it way to the skies.


Garen looked over at King Lang's body and found that it had been perfectly healed and a dim, blue light emitted from him. Langholm lowered the ground from King Lang's body, which kept floating, and pushed down toward the ground causing a large hole to form below the body, lowering it slowly into the hole. He walked over to it and started moving his hands from side to side, one moving over the other and Garen watched as the ground started to layer itself over King Lang's body. A white colored headstone came up after the body was covered and bright blue letters started carving into it, looking as if it was a liquid flowing through.


"'Here lies Azul Lang, an honorable king and faithful son'," Langholm read the headstone softly; he then turned to the crowd of people. "He died a real king's death, in battle alongside his men and we will not let his death be in vain. You must stop the Lighthouses from being lit at all costs," he was looking directly at Garen and Cody now, "no matter what may stand in your way, you cannot let this world come to an end because of those men. We will have a feast tonight, honoring King Lang's life and, at the same time, celebrating our victory today." Langholm then walked off towards the mansion that was near the other end of the city.














There were a lot of people in the great hall that night and everyone had dressed up for the feast. Langholm had had dress robes specially made for Cody, Becky, Garen, Neotasha and Jake. He also reserved them all seats at the High Table for the feast. When everyone was finally seated, Langholm stood up and the hall went silent, everyone listening for what he had to say.


"As you all may know, we have lost a great king today, Azul," he said, there was a lower murmur throughout the crowd and Langholm cleared his throat, the crowd falling silent again. "There is something else you all should know that many of you are probably not aware of," he said this time louder than his last announcement, the people listening in more closely than before, "I know there are a great number of you from around the country here to fight against these beast, but the Hell Raiders are not the main threat. Not too long ago, three men stole the Tablets from Mt. Killimore in the village of Kio and they plan on lighting the Fire of Color Lighthouses with them and soon there will be a war that will bring even more brutal and violent creatures than the one we're in now," fear seemed to have struck the people of the great hall and yet no one spoke, Langholm then motioned toward the group at the table. "These five here will be our main line of defense in this war. They've already helped us out greatly and have lost a close friend," he looked over at Becky, who's eyes started to tear up a bit, "and significant other, by the hands of the Dark Lord. Jake will be staying with us because we need Fire Raiders on our side too."


One of the men in the crowd stood up quickly and shouted out, "And what makes you think we can rely on ones that are so young and inexperienced to go out and do such an important task."


Cody started to get up, the anger coming clearly across his face, but Langholm stopped him and said, "Becky here is actually half elf so she is quite older than everyone here, and Cody has much more experience than most of you, as well as Neotasha I'm sure. Garen is very skilled for his age and experienced and Jake will be training with me and shows signs of great potential. So don't judge these Heroes that sit in front of you now. I know I have just told you a great deal and such things are a great deal to take in, but let us worry about it in the morning and for now, we eat." He gave his hands a clap and the great hall lit up in a white glow around them and the people below began their feast.


Garen looked over at Becky, who was rolling a piece of meat back and forth with her fork, her eyes red and puffy. He put an arm around her carefully, "You need to eat, Becky," he said softly. "I know that Max was a great person and that his loss is a dreadful thing, but you need your strength. Look at Langholm, he just lost a son and he shows no sign of it."


Becky looked up at him with a weak smile, "Thank you, Garen. I know that I should be over it by now, but it’s just so hard. But you're right, I do need to eat."


From there on, the feast went great. Becky started to cheer up more and the people below them were laughing at jokes, getting drunk off their beer and enjoying the peaceful times while they last, not thinking about the near future. It soon came to the time of night where everyone was heading off to their homes, Neotasha and Cody had already left for the room provided for them by Langholm and he, Garen, Jake and Becky were the last to leave the feast. Garen and Becky wished them farewell, they would be leaving first thing in the morning. Garen walked Becky to her room and stopped when they got there.


"You doin' alright?" he asked her.


"Yeah, I think so, I had a good time tonight," she replied. "Thank you again, Garen, you're a great friend."


"Any time, Becky."


She glanced down at his chest and saw the necklace that hung there and she looked back up at him. "You have some back in Kio," it wasn't a question.


"Mary," he said grabbing hold of the necklace. "But we should be going to sleep. We have to head out pretty early."


"You're right," she said, then she wrapped her arms around Garen's body giving him a tight hug and he could feel the sobs starting to come. "I love you, Garen and don't let anything happen to yourself, you need to go back to her."


He wrapped his arms lightly around her. "I love you too, Becky, and no worries, everything will be alright."


She let him go and walked into her room, waving him goodnight. He walked over to his room that he had to share with Neotasha and Cody, laying down in his bed and rolling over, the thoughts of what the future battles may hold for him and, for the first time on his journey, about Mary and what it would be like when he came back to Kio to see her.














"Max, no!" Becky screamed. She could see the Soul Drainer floating behind the Dark Lord, devouring down his soul as the Dark Lord laughed at the body. Becky was a ghost to them and couldn't do anything to help, no matter how hard she tried. The Dark Lord lifted his arm up slowly, causing Max to start screaming in pain. He looked over at her with the life leaving his eyes saying, "Becky, Becky," over and over again.


She woke up with a start, seeing Max's face standing over her. Then her eyes came into focus and she saw Garen standing there, his hand on her arm to wake her. Cody and Neotasha were standing behind him, their bags slung around their shoulder, Cody with another new sword at his hip, ready to go.


"We have to get going, Becky," Garen said softly. "Karlasha is the next town and I don't think it's large enough for the Hell Raiders to attack, so it should be safe to head over there. Only thing is, there's a desert between us and the town."


Becky sat up slowly and climbed out of bed, "Alright, I'll grab my things quick and meet you outside the city." Garen nodded his understanding and led Neotasha and Cody out of the room leaving Becky to collect her things. She walked over, wiping away the sleep and little bit of tears in her eyes. It seemed so real, that dream about Max, she thought she had been watching him die again. She cast the dream from her mind and grabbed her bag, swords, bow and arrows and headed out the door.


Becky climbed her way up the hill where Cody, Neotasha and Garen were; not a sign of Max anywhere, her imagination couldn't even bring him to appear. She stopped when she came up to the group and closed her eyes quickly, I can't be thinking like this, she thought, I have got to get over it and carry on with the mission. When she opened her eyes and looked down the hill, she couldn't believe the sight she saw.


What lay below them was a mass of nothing but sand and a slight bit of strange looking plants randomly spread around the sea of sand. The dry heat was pressing against their faces and the sand was starting to blow around them, getting into their mouths and their eyes. Garen looked back at the others with a questioning and worried look on his face.


"This seems dangerous," he said loudly over the blowing sand.


"Quit being scared," Cody said. "We'll just drink water only when absolutely needed and get through the desert in a little over a day."


"He's right Garen," Neotasha said. "We have to keep moving through it or otherwise head back to Kio now. But we should wait until nightfall."


"Are you crazy?" Cody asked. "You don't know what kind of beasts come out at night in there."


"It's our best chance of survival. I know what these things are like and traveling at night is the best way, when it's cooler than it is now, sometimes even cold."


"It's settled then, we rest 'til nightfall then move on," Garen said. "How much water do we have anyway?"


"We have enough to last us a couple days," Becky said, trying to sound cheerful about it, causing Garen to look over at her in worry.


"Alright, let's get some rest then," Garen said.








Garen could hear something moving around behind him, going through some of the things that were by the camp fire. He could feel his heart starting to pound heavily in his chest as he rolled himself casually over, as if still in a sleep and then open his eyes slightly to see two figures putting things together. When he realized it was only Cody and Neotasha, he decided to open his eyes completely and start to get up, grabbing the things around his sleeping area and putting them into his bag.


"It's about time you decide to get up, sleepy one," Becky said walking past him with a smile. "We've all been up for quite a while now." She grabbed her bag and threw it gracefully over her should then picked up her sheathed dual swords, placing them both on her left hip. "It's time for us to make our way through this desert, now hurry up before we decide to leave you." She smiled at him then turned on her heel and trotted off.


Garen looked over at Neotasha, "She seems a bit cheery tonight, doesn't she?"


"Cheery as her usual self," Neotasha replied. "Either she's finally starting to get over Max's death, or she's trying really hard to get over it."


"How do you know what she was like before?" Cody asked, walking up to them. "We didn't meet up with you until after Max died and she was not her usual self."


"Well, uh, she just seemed like that naturally cheery type, and I just figured this is what she's usually like," he replied with hesitation at first.


"Hm, alright," Garen said quickly. "Well, let's get going now, we have to get through this desert."


"Wait," Cody said quietly.


"No, Cody, you cannot go back to see Jake off," Garen said with a slight smile.


"Shut up. This is kind of serious," Cody said looking over at Garen. "You still have everything that you left Kio with, right?"


"Uh, yeah, why?" Garen asked looking confused.


"Well, you've had that shield since I first met you and haven't used once. So I was hoping nothing else went missing."


Garen felt the shield on his back, frowning slightly. "I-I knew it was there, it just seems to be a bother in battle to have both of my arms occupied."


"The shield doesn't matter to me, Garen, pay attention," Cody said firmly. "Do you still have the Rainbow Fire Tablet?"


Garen nodded his head and reached in to his sack to pull out the Tablet, still looking as spectacular as ever. The liquid, rainbow color gleamed off the moon light and felt like it was making everyone around feel better. They all looked at it in wonder, except Cody, who was looking at the Tablet with greed and a selfish spark in his eye.


"Okay, put it away," he said quickly. "I don't like the feeling it gives me."


"What are you talking about, it felt great," Becky said.


"To you, yes, but Fire Raiders who have the power of Gold Fire always have a pure heart and are great, loyal friends 'til the end. We Rainbow Fire Raiders are quite the opposite; our hearts are filled with greed and when coming across an item that's stored with that much Rainbow Fire really brings the greed out," everyone was looking at Cody carefully as he explained the situation. "Now I have an even more important question for you; do you still have the Gems?"


"I should have them," Garen said as Becky and Neotasha looked over at him questioningly. He pulled out the box from his sack and opened it, exposing six Gems. Garen looked down at them confused, "I gave Max the Black Fire Gem, why is it here now?"


"Because after one dies, the Gem returns to its rightful place," explained Neotasha. "How did you come across these? Did the Protector give them to you?"


"Yeah, he did, why did you want me to pull 'em out Cody?"


"We're going to need them, that's why," he said. "Becky, you grab yours first."


Becky went to grab for the Gold Gem, but before she could reach it, it turned into a substance somewhere between a liquid and solid and absorbed into her hand. The gold substance flowed through her veins and throughout her body until, finally, a dim gold light rested in her heart. Neotasha walked up to the box next and grabbed for the Silver Gem and the same thing happened to him, and then Cody went for the Rainbow Gem.


"That was an incredible feeling," Becky said softly.


"Yes, incredible, but now we have to go," Cody said quickly and started heading into the heavy winds of the desert.


Garen could see Neotasha and Cody putting cloths over their nose and mouth so he did the same before going in.


"Garen, use your shield!" shouted Cody over the winds.


"What?"


"That shield that you got in Kio, use it to block the wind," Cody repeated. "Come out in front of use, place the shield in front of you and channel your Fire through it."


Garen didn't ask any questions, just walked to the front of the group and placed the shield in front of him and put out a little bit of his Green Fire into the shield just as directed. Nothing happened at first, then he felt himself drain of energy for a second as the shield lit to a bright green and cast an aura around the four of them, blocking away the sands and returning Garen's strength to him.


"Good now we can walk in peace," Cody said. "I don't remember deserts ever being this powerful before."


"We must have caught it in the middle of a sand storm or something because deserts aren't usually like this," Neotasha said. "Unless the unbalance of the planet is affecting this too."


It was too unreal for Garen to take in. How could something that affected the planet so far away can still be doing it now? He didn't even know the planet was this big, he's seen maps of course, but there was nothing that could describe to him that he would be walking for months at a time just to try and reach the first Lighthouse. Garen's thoughts had led him to an area in the desert that wasn't like the rest of it. In fact, it looked like the whole scene didn't belong.


There was a small field of grass and a crystal clear pool that was in the middle of the whole area, but those weren't the things that stood out to them, it was the beasts. On the opposite side of the pool there was a puddle of blood splattered across the bank and a Hell Raider that was beaten almost beyond recognition. The beast standing over it with blood covering its body and the blunt side of its axe was neither a Hell Raider nor a human, but something in between. It looked a lot like a human but it had the same structure as the Hell Raiders, almost 4 meters in height and muscles the size of small trees. The look on the things face was frightening as it looked over at the Heroes and growled. Garen let down his aura in fear of what was in their path.


"Who human be in front of me," came a low growl from the beast.


"We're not here to harm you in any way, we're just on our way through here, trying to get to the other side of this desert," Neotasha said softly.


The beast looked at them with a hard look, then to their surprise, broke into a roaring laughing, "Human scared of half giant, very amusing. Me no bad either, me just like to kill Hell Raiders, they bad creatures."


"Would like to join us?" Becky spoke up. "Do you have a name?"


"You no human, you part elf, but still timid," the beast started laughing again. It didn't seem so scary anymore, more innocent, childish and goofy, almost like...


"You remind me of someone I used to know," Becky said with a small smile, thinking the same thing that Garen was; a part of Max lived in this beast.


"Me very pleased to hear that. I am half giant like say before. Can't speak human language very good and don't got no name," he looked down and started poking at the dead Hell Raider with the blunt part of his axe, as if trying to amuse himself.


"How about we name you Ax?" Becky said. "You seem to like that weapon, and if you come with use, we can help you learn the human language."


"Ax sound good, then Ax need lesson in one more human thing that me should no have." He held up his hand and a ball of Black Fire lit up for a few seconds then vanished.


Cody looked at him with shock on his face. "How did you learn that one?"


"Me born with Black Fire power, one reason why Ax no longer with giant family. Being small is half 'nother reason."


"We can definitely train you in the use of your Fire of Color," Cody said with a sly smile. "Now can you help us out of the desert?"


"Ax can do that, yes. This cursed desert, you die if keep going and no knowing where to go. Me will show you way and travel with you on journey."


So Ax led them through the desert and they used him to block the wind now instead of Garen's shield. The trip took much longer than expected, but it also was shorter than what they almost thought, with the planet switching on them. After a while they started seeing patches of light grass until they came upon a field of bright green grass and fields of taller grass that crawled to their waists (except for Ax, who's knees were barely covered) and below them was a small village and it was far from peaceful. The little shacks the people lived in were all caught a flame and there was a pile of dead bodies in the middle of the village all laid on top of each other, the severed head of an elderly man stuck into a stake at the top. Around the pile of corpses were Hell Raiders, dancing in circle to celebrate their victory of the small village of defenseless people. Garen could feel the anger boil over him as he looked down at the sight; how could there be a creature so cruel? Ax showed Garen's anger with a deafening roar that had all the Hell Raiders stop and look up at the noise with fright in their faces, which had Garen by surprise; they were never frightened.


Ax charged over to the village with his weapon held high, Black Fire swirling around it. Becky was right behind him with her duel blades out, followed by Neotasha and Cody, with Garen falling in the rear. The Hell Raiders almost had no time to react to Ax's furry or Becky's speed, but there were more Hell Raiders than the ones that they saw before. More started climbing out of the burning buildings, weapons drawn as if ready for a raid, Garen had to duck out of the way of a swinging battle axe coming out of a doorway aimed directly at his neck. He spun back around and stabbed his sword through the creature’s back, his emerald blade covered with the dark crimson blood of its victim. Garen pulled the sword out of the Hell Raider and spun around only to see Ax and Becky fighting, Cody and Neotasha were nowhere to be seen.


Becky was swinging her blades in a style that was just as beautiful as it was deadly, slicing down any enemy that came near her, but she was starting to get overwhelmed with the numbers of the Hell Raiders charging at her. She could hear the roar of Ax bellowing through the mass number of Hell Raiders as his swinging axe came into view, followed by his fierce look which quickly turned into a childish grin at the sight of Becky.


"Half elf okay?" he asked, and when she nodded at him, he returned the nod and went on his way cutting down whatever beast came into his path.














The sounds of the screaming Hell Raiders were reaching Cody's ears, but he could tell that they were in the distance. He looked up at the masked man leaning against the tree with a sour look on his face. "What are you doing here?"


"Now that's no way to speak to a friend, is it Cody?" the Masked One said in a casual tone. "And I'm just here to tell you something. Something very important."


"What are you getting at?" Cody spit back at him. "I should be out there helping them kill those Hell Raiders."


"They can handle them without you, this is more important anyway and must be told to you face to face," the Masked One removed the mask from his face and started explaining to Cody what he had to say.











"Garen, behind you!" Ax yelled out as Garen ducked out of the way of his axe and it sliced the Hell Raider behind him clear in the middle.


"Damn it," Garen said, "where are they. We need Cody and Neotasha now." Garen spun around and sliced through a Hell Raider's throat then held up his emerald shield just in time to ward off another attack. He pushed back at the creature's war hammer and struck his sword through its face and pulled it out, ready for any beast to attack him.











"You got that, Cody?" he said after placing the mask back on his face. "You must let the first six Lighthouses be lit, and then I will kill him."


Cody nodded back at him, an unreadable look on his face.


"Then I will tell them everything," he continued. "And you must not let them be suspicious about any of our plan. Now get out of here."


The Masked One turned on his heel and was gone from view and Cody did the same. When Cody came back to the village it looked like a war zone. There were scattered body parts everywhere and when he looked up at Ax and Garen he saw that they were both covered in the blood of their victims, he looked over at Becky, who was a little bit cleaner than the other two, then he looked around for Neotasha, who wasn't anywhere to be found.


"What happened here?" he asked glancing around the village again.


"That doesn't matter, where the hell were you?" Garen shot back. "We needed you out here."


"Evidently not," he nodded at the head of a Hell Raider lying at his feet. "I was off fighting the Masked Hero, he was here and I kept him away from the battlefield, I couldn't beat him."


"Don't kill him, he's mine," Garen said sourly. "Now where's Neotasha?"


"I'm right here," came Neotasha's voice from the side of a building. "I was making a deal with someone." Cody glanced over at him quickly with a glare and then looked back at Garen.


"We need to get going, the Lighthouse is near."


Cody turned around and started walking, the others close behind him. They came over a hill that was near the village and the sight was incredible to them all. The city was larger than Langholm and almost every building was built in some kind of black stone, but that was nothing to what lay beyond. In the distance, they could see a large black tower with no windows or doors, or any other visible way of entry. The whole building looked as though it were made of a standing black liquid. It gave off a faint glow that was almost inviting but at the same time ominous. There was an energy that came to them from looking at it, an energy that had them feeling better and rejuvenated from the last fight.


"Well there it is," Becky said. "It looks like the Black Fire Lighthouse is finally in sight."


"Cool," Ax said starring at the tower.


"Guys," said Garen from behind everyone. "Where did Neotasha disappear to, already?"