The Heroes II The Eternal Night

Chapter VIII-Adsmeria

The old man that has interfered with him before was standing in his way now. How he hated Langholm, ruining his plans on taking control of Cadiash so many years ago and now he was here to kick him from the son. There was no way he could let this happen, if he couldn't have Cadiash, then he needed Cody. They were naturally powerful, it ran in their blood from generations back. The Dark Lord knelt down into a fighting position and watched as Langholm did the same, his features becoming young.


The Dark Lord charged at the old man, but he was gone before the Dark Lord reached him. He felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck and collapsed, the Dark Mist shooting away, revealing Cody's real body. The Dark Lord's spirit wasn't gone be he had no control over Cody right now.


Langholm knelt down beside the boy and propped him up as he came to. "It's alright, Cody," Langholm said. "He's still there but he's weakened and you can fight him now.


"I can't fight him," Cody replied. "His spirit is too strong and I'm weak."


"You are not weak," Langholm said sternly. "You're stronger than him and you can win. I know that your life has been full misery and hate, but think about the good things. Think about your time with Kyle and his family and go back to them. They need now more than ever. There are people trying to steal the Tablets and light the Lighthouses; you need to be there to stop them. Remember that even in the darkest of places that there is a sign of light. As long as that light exists, it can overcome the darkness."


"I'll try," Cody panted. "I need you to leave, though. I don't want anyone to see it."


Langholm gave him a smile and disappeared in rainbow cloud. Cody started to stand up, he could feel the Dark Lord's spirit stirring inside his soul. This was the best time to do it. Images of him training with Kyle and eating dinners or sitting next to the fire with his family, laughing and joking, started swimming through his head. He could see himself learning the arts of Fire of Color from Killimore and Kalish and he started feeling something in his sould that he hadn't felt in almost a decade. He felt happiness and light piercing through the Darkness that rested in the core of his soul. He could hear the soul of the Dark Lord screaming at him, telling him that it was pointless. But he sounded scarred now; in pain. Before, when he told Cody it was pointless, he was cocky about.


Cody started screaming loudly as Dark Mist started pouring out of his mouth, ears and eyes. It was painful for him and hard to keep the memories their, but it was working. He could feel the Dark Lord fighting to keep his possession, screaming in pain the whole way. Eventually, the Dark Lord was forced out of his body, a pool of darkness laying at his feet. Cody collapsed to his kness in exhaustion, feeling weakened and tired. The Dark Lord screamed and shot at him, the Darkness traveling through his head and out the other side, causing Cody to fall onto his back and pass out from his exhaustion.








"He took some of his memories from me," Cody continued. "How he came to be and how to kill him. I remember that I knew how to kill him when he was first expelled from my body, but as soon as he shot his way through my head, that memory was gone. I felt weak for a long time after that. Expelling his Darkness took a lot of power from me and I still can't control at times. Not because I'm too powerful, but because my power is too unstable and difficult to balance."


"The Elves can assisst you slightly in the rebalancing of your powers," Queen Ellenor said from the doorway. "We won't be able to completely because it was caused from the Dark Lord. You're the only one who can fully regain control of your powers."


"How much of story did Elf queen hear?" Ax asked.


"I already knew the story," she replied. "I can sense almost anything that happens on this planet and I usually keep up to date with the Dark Lord. He's grown smart since leaving you Cody. He has learned to block his presence from people so he can't be found by someone like the Langholm again."


"It's not that he has grown smart," Cody said. "He adapted. That's what he does as a parasitic dark soul. Whatever caused him to lose control of his host body or whatever kills it, he adapts to it so it will not happen again. That's why he grows stronger every time he leaves a host body. At the same time, his powers were weakened when I expelled him; I'm the first to have ever done it and survive so I kept a piece of him with me."


"Wait, what?" Becky finally spoke out, causing them all to look at her.


"Do not speak, Becky," one of the healers said. "It will delay the process, like we explained before." She nodded with a shameful look.


Cody looked back at the group and continued, "Yes, I kept a piece of the Dark Lord. That's why I have random outbursts of anger and why I don't have full control of my powers. It's also the reason why my eyes are the color that they are, the reason they turn to a darker grey when I'm angry. That's the small spirit of the Dark Lord left inside of me trying to take control, but it is way too small too succeed. I think I was born with a piece of the Dark Lord in me, passed to me from my father, but I'm not completely sure."


"Maybe one day you'll find out," Queen Ellenor said. "For now you all should eat some good food and sleep. I'm sure that all of you are exhausted from you travels. In the morning we can let you explore the Elven Capitol of Adsmeria, then we can discuss what you came here for."


"Canola will not like the wait," Cody said with a smile.


"It does not matter," she replied, smiling back. "The man needs to learn paitience if he is to make at least a half way decent king. Now go eat, all of you, and let Becky rest."














They had large beds made for them as they climbed to their rooms after eating. Each person was aloud their own room and they were like the ones when they stayed in Langholm. Garen's room was a brighter green than it was before, showing signs that he has grown stronger since the beginning of his journey. Neotasha's room was a bright, swimming silver. Ax's a slightly duller black. Cody's was a wild rainbow color. It would dull out and grow bright again, swimming with both dark and bright colors. As he grew stronger from his journey, his powers would be less and less in his control and this room should that right now. He could tell how powerful he could be if he had control, with the room growing too bright to keep his opens at times. At other times, it would dim to the point of barely being visible.


Cody climbed into his bed, starring at the rainbow ceiling above him; it was bright now. This is not good, he was thinking. He needs to control his powers as fast as he could. If he keeps growing stronger without being able to control, something bad could happen. He had no idea what, but he knew it would hurt, if not kill, somebody. Cody rolled onto his side, looking into his mothers face with bruises under both eyes and a cut oon her lip. He closed his eyes quickly and opened them to see that there was no one there. Why did he have to tell them his story? It was bad enough trying to sleep at night with the memories burried, but now they fresh in his head and ready to haunt his nightmares.


No one else had troubles falling asleep except Garen. It wasn't his bright, green room. He was used to sleeping with light. It was Cody's past that had him tossing and turning in his bed. How could someone go through so much? How could a father ever treat his own child and wife like that? Garen couldn't imagine the things that he must have gone through and now he was beginning to understand why Cody was so distant from everyone. There was another thing that was troubling Garen; Cody still had a part of the Dark Lord in his soul. Could that make it easier for the him to possess Cody again, or was he strong enough to resist it now? The questions couldn't stop flowing Garen's head and the next thing he knew, he was watching the Near Star rise over the trees of Adsmeria. He closed his eyes and was able to fall asleep, finally, until there was a knock on his door.


Queen Ellenor opened the door, wearing bright green robes and smiling at Garen. "Becky is almost fully recovered, now," she said pleasantly. "Go visit her with the others."


"Everyone else is already there?" Garen asked. He can't be the last one to go see Becky.


"Everyone except for you and Cody. You both had troubles sleeping until dawn, so I decided to let you two sleep for an extra few hours. I still have to wake Cody."


"Thank you, Her Grace," Garen said, then he remembered that the Elves didn't recoginze the highers as different from their citizens like the humans did. She only smiled at him, though. "I'll be on my way down there shortly."


"Okay, hurry up though, she's almost ready to go out and train again and you don't want to miss your chance to see her."


The queen left his room, closing the door behind her. Garen climbed out of bed slowly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. The room around him didn't look as bright as it did last night, but different shades of green swam around evenly with each other. He climbed out of bed slowly, sliding on his trousers and a tight sleeveless shirt. The shirt hadn't always been as tight as it is now, but with all the training he's done and the battles he's fought, his muscle size has increased. Finally, he slipped on his leather shoes and left his room to run down to the Healing Room where Becky was waiting.


When he got their, everyone was there, even Cody and that woman that brought them all there, Heather. There was someone else their too who was healing Becky. He wasn't one of the Healers from the other night and he almost resembled Neotasha. His eyes weren't as yellow though and his hair not as long. It was the a dull, bronze color the silked back and ran down to the middle of his neck.


"It's about time you showed up," Heather said in a playful manner as though they've known each other since the journey started. "My sister has been waiting for you. I think she's attempted to delay the recovery."


"Well, I'm here now," he replied. "No need for you to delay any longer, Becky."


Becky give a quick smile and closed here eyes. The man that was healing her smiled as well and a bright yellow light shined from his hands to her body. He stood back and Becky jumped off the table, running up to Garen to hug him. Then she turned to her sister and gave her a quick hug. She did this with everyone before she spoke.


"I'm all healed now," she said with a smile. "I told you that you can't get rid of me that easily. Thank you everyone for being here this whole time for me. And thank you, Neota, for the healing."


"It was no problem, Becky," the man named Neota replied. He then turned toward the others and said, "My name is Neota. I am the brother of Neotasha and I took his place as the Healer when he decided to continue as a Royal Knight."


Neotasha smiled quickly. "You didn't have to take the position, Neota. I know how hard that training was from the Twins."


"You mean the twins that healed Becky before?" Cody asked.


"Yes, the very same," Neota replied. "About fifty years ago, Neotasha went under them to learn the arts of Ancient Healing. They were much stronger back then than they are now and it was much harder for Neotasha to go through."


"I like all of the stories going on," Canola cut in, "but I believe we have things to discuss with the Queen."


Everyone looked at Canola cruely, except for Queen Ellenor. She only smiled at him and nodded slowly. "You are correct, King Canola," she said. "Let us go to the war room and discuss our terms."


She left the room and everyone followed here. The Healing Room was behind the throne. On each side of the throne were two stairs that led to a room that looks like it hasn't been used in a long time. The Queen went up the stairs and stopped in front of the door with everyone gathered around her. Neotasha stepped out of the group and walked by the Queen, smiling at her, and stood in front of the door, holding his hand up next to it. A thin line of Silver Fire crept out of hand and connected with the door, which opened a space for them to enter. The doorway had a glowing darkness in it that looked ominous to walk into but at the same time, inviting. Neotasha walked into it and the darkness engulfed him, followed by Queen Ellenor. Becky was the next to enter, then Heather and Neota. The others looked at each other cautiously, not sure if they should follow or not. Langholm and Jake were the first to enter out of the group, followed by Cody and Garen and, finally, everyone else.


They space they had entered felt different; heavier. The air around them was more tense and the auro would be calming if it wasn't for their bodies' feeling heavier than normal. Neotasha, Queen Ellenor, Heather, Becky and Neota all stood around a table with a large map of the land on it, looking down. The others walked slowly to the table, trying to adjust to the weight change.


"This is our war room," Neotasha said. "The only one who is allowed to open is the head of the Royal Nights. That would, of course, be me." He paused quickly and looked up at the group around him. "As you all have probably noticed, it feels heavier in here than outside. That is because we have entered into a different dimension than that we are used to. The head of the Royal Nights must be at least an adept in Silver Fire see he can enter this room."


"Why in a place like this?" Canola asked. Beads of sweat were crawling down his face as he struggled to stand straight.


"It's normal for us," Heather replied. "Our training rooms are similar to this, with everything feeling heavier. It is one reason for our strength and finece."


"I would like to train in one of these areas," Cody said with a smile.


"Oh, you will all get your chance," Queen Ellenor said. "We will all assist in your training as well. If we are to fight with you then you need to be on par with us."


"Wait," Canola interjected, "does this mean you will join our ranks."


The Queen smiled softly at him. "Yes. This is a war that endangers the entire land and we can not let anything bad happen. There will be many who will disprove of this but it does not matter. Now, take a look at the map."


They all looked at the map that looked just like the one that they had studied before entering Adsmeria Forest with only a few differences. It was much larger than the one they had studied and Adsmeria was correctly marked deep within the forest. Langholm's camp was also marked on the map, but there was another camp that looked to be only a few kilometers away from Langholm's. This one was marked in red, signafying that it was an enemy camp and it was at least twice the size of Langholm's. Garen looked at carefully and blinked quickly, rubbing his eyes. The camp was moving toward the forest on the map, very slowly. Neotasha looked up at him and nodded.


"As Garen noticed, this enemy camp is moving toward us," he said. "We have come up with an estimate of about eight thousand warriors in the camp. They do not know about your camp, Langholm. They are only focused on finding us."


"But isn't that impossible," Canola said. "You told us that nobody can find the city."


"That is true," Heather said, "but there is a major problem. They already have Elves in their ranks."


"What?" Cody exclaimed. "Elves are supposed to be the purest of beings. That's why the majority of Gold Fire Raiders are Elves. I've always held the highest respect to the Elves for this reason."


"We are no different from humans at times," Queen Ellenor said mournfully. "Some like the feel of power in their hands and are will to do anything to get it. With the enemy having Elves on their side, they'll be able to get to Adsmeria within a week or two. We don't have enough time to set up anymore defenses."


The Comander General looked at Canola. "We must aid the Elves in protecting their city. If we expect their help, we must give them ours."


"How do you propose we do that with less than half the numbers as the enemy?" Canola shot back.


"I actually have a plan for that, His Grace," the Major General said as he studied the map. "As soon as the enemy begins to enter the forest, we can have our men flank them. If they don't know our camp is there, it'll work perfectly. Then, the Elves can carry out the attack within the forest and, if need be, Adsmeria."


Neotasha smiled at the Major General, nodding his. "That was the plan that I had come up with. I am delighted you want to help with this, it should make relationships easier with the other Elves."


Canola studied the map closely, trying to find a flaw with the plan of attack. Cody stared at him throug hateful eyes. This man only wants the Elves for their strength, he didn't appreciate them in any way.


He finally looked up and said, "Fine, it will have to work for now."


"It's settled then," Queen Ellenor said. "Becky, Neotasha, Heather and Neota. You four can show them around the capitol and train them. Unfortunately, we can only train Fire Raiders in areas like this. Normal humans can not be in here for long with causing harm to their bodies. King Canola is struggling to keep himself standing and so are the Generals. They are very trained and don't show it very well, but I can sense the strain in their bodies. We should leave here, now."


Heather led Canola and the Generals out quickly and the others followed. It felt strange when they walked out of the room. Everything felt light and free moving. The Humans were having difficulties walking now and were being led to their rooms to rest. Cody wore a satisfying grin as he watched Canola almost crawl his way to his room. Langholm and Jake had already left with Neota to go train. Cody, Garen, Ax, Neotasha and Becky were the ones that were left with Queen Ellenor. She looked at them at carefully then rested her eyes on Cody.


"Neotasha will train you, Cody," she said. "His knowledge in the arts of Ancient Healing can help with the control with your powers. You'll probably end up in his favorite training room."


"Oh?" Cody smiled. "And where would that be?"


Neotasha returned the smile. "It's at the highst point of Adsmeria. A place that I discovered when searching for new training rooms and there are very few people who go there. In this place, your body feels as though it will collapse on itself. No Human can withstand this area." Neotasha's smile grew as he turned away, motioning Cody to follow him. "If you thought that room felt bad then you are in for a rough time."


Cody walked forward, laughing. "I do love a good challenge." Neotasha grabbed onto his should and they vanished in a cloud of silver dust.


"That leaves me with you guys," Becky said cheerfully. "This is a room that I discovered with Neotasha's help. It's not as heavy there but it is extremely close."


"Take us to place," Ax said. "Ax need be stronger."


Becky smiled at him, her eyes sparkling in the sun, and held out her hand. Ax grabbed onto it followed by Garen and they were gone. Garen wanted to train with Neotasha and Cody. He needed to grow as strong as he could and that was the only way to do it. Maybe once Cody has better control of his powers he would join them. For now he'll have to train as hard as could in the area that Becky was going to take them.








They were exploring Adsmeria. Becky had said it would be a good start for their training and she was right. The Elven Capitol had no buildings on the ground and no easy way of climbing the trees to the actual city. Every building was built out of the trees around them. The branches neatly bent it the structures with colorful vines growing around them. They started on the ground of Adsmeria and were told to climb to the city. She demonstrated her way of getting to the top by first jumping as high as she could. Once she got to the peak of her jump, she lit her fingertips with Gold Fire and dug them into the tree. From there, she began to climb using only her arms to do so. Garen started inspecting the tress for the holes that should be left by fingers being dug into the trees but found none. He then looked up at where Becky was climbing and noticed that every time she pulled her fingers from the tree, the hole would heal itself.


Garen had troubles at first climbing the trees but adjusted to it quickly. Ax, on the hand, was having a lot of difficulties with his size. Becky had told him that it was not a city built for Giants or half Giants but that he should be able to do it easily. With his powerful legs, he should be able to jump higher than them even with his size. Ax came up with idea to jump with the use of his Black Fire and was finaly able to jump higher than Becky and after that he easily climbed the tree with his strength. After they were both able to do it, Becky had them repeat it another three times to get used to. Garen was wondering why she wanted them to do it so much after they could already do it and then he remembered something that Langholm told him before his first battle. Amatures practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they don't get it wrong. From there, he did it without question. After every climb to the city, Becky made them jump from it to the ground and to land as softly as possible. Garen was able to not make a noise before their last climb. Ax could do the same but he, again, used his Black Fire to be able to land softer on the ground.


After their last climb, Becky sat time and told them to relax and eat and drink water. As soon as Garen sat down, he could feel his body stiffen. He had no idea that climbing to the city would be so trying. He looked over at Ax and saw him wincing in the same uncomfort as Garen was. He shifted his eyes over to Becky to see that the climbs had no effect on her. Even after being near death, this was an every day thing for her like walking.


"Now that we're up here, we can explore the city a little bit," Becky said casually. "There are a lot of differences here than the Human cities."


"I can see that," Garen said.


Taking a closer look at the city was spectacular. The branches were not only bent to form the buildings, but they were tightly woven together. Tight enough to not let the sunlight into the buildings. He noticed that the stucture of the city was almost the same as Kio, only at a much larger scale. The buildings were set in three levels. The first level held the many markets of the Elven Capitol. The Elves were coming in and out of everyone, but not once exchanged any type of currency. They walked in, grabbed what the want and left after telling the shop owner what they got. Garen could see Elves working in the back of every shop forging blades, cleaning meat or inspecting fruits and all of them wore smiles of joy. These Elves crafted, hunted or gathered everything and gave them out to the citizens and were happy to do it because it was a job that they enjoyed. The Humans could really learn something from them, Garen thought. The second level of Adsmeria had the fortress which housed the Queen and Royal Knights. The houses where the Elves lived were also on this level. Judging by the number of citizens that came in and out of the fortress told Garen that was the reasoning; to easier visit the Queen for any concerns that they may have. The third level was high above the second, almost to the tree tops. This was were all the training took place. Garen could see Elves standing outside of doors that led to nowhere and open them the same way Neotasha had opened the war room. There was one door that was higher than all the others and Garen knew that's where Cody and Neotasha were training. He wondered how well Cody was controlling his powers now, if he'd improved at all.


Becky stood up and motioned the othe two to do the same. "It's time for us to train. I would let you explore, but I saw you both taking in the Capitol and how it is laid out. We will be living in our area for a couple of days. There is a shop in there for food and drinks, so it will be fine."


"A couple days?" Garen asked. "What if that army gets here before then?"


"It's fine," she replied. "Out here, time and distance is not how it should be because the land is trying to protect itself. It will take them awhile to get here. And within that area, time is normal so it might only be a day or even a few hours out here. It depends on how bad the time shifts have gotten."


"Becky speaks truth," Ax grumbled. "Ax notice that day and night are both longer than normal. If time normal in training area it will be much shorter there than here."


"Let's do it then," Garen said smiling and looking up at the training level.











Cody could barely walk in the area that they were training in. Neotasha didn't lie, this area feels extremely heavy comapred to the last one and he felt as though his body wanted to collapse on itself. Neotasha, however, stood there looking off in the distance as if it didn't bother him at all. It looked to Cody that they were in a wasteland. There was sand all around them and large rocks standing higher than most castles that he's seen. The heat almost felt like the dessert but wasn't as bad. Neotasha said that the war room was in a different dimension, but this looked and felt as though it was a different land all together.


Neotasha turned around with a straight face. "Yes, this is a different land than the one that we are used to," he explained. "I'm a master of Silver Fire and it still confuses me at what it can do. Sometimes I feel like I haven't fully mastered it and that there are more things it can do that I haven't discovered yet. They don't call it the Fire of Mystery for no reason. These training areas that we have are definitely mysterious."


"You could say that," Cody coughed. "But why is it that Elves have these training areas but the Fire Raiders haven't yet. You would think with how power hungery Humans and Fire Raiders are, they would've done this by now."


"True," Neotasha nodded. "Elves are the only ones to have mastered it though, as far as I know. Fire Raiders can never really obtain the power to control areas like this. They could only open a space for a little while to dispose of an enemy or attempt to escape. If, however, they are not trained well enough, they'll be stuck in whatever area they escaped to or spend their lives moving from land to land. So, they have never really been able to master it like the Elves have. Their thirst for power won't let them. Now, take off your shirt."


"Excuse me?"


"You must take off your shirt so I can take a look at the Dark Lord's Mark."


"Ah," Cody replied and he pulled off his shirt. There were scars that covered his body in every direction. Neotasha wondered if the scars came from past battles or his father. On the left side of his chest was a light band of a L incased within a D showing the Dark Lord's Mark. Neotasha walked up to him and reached out to touch the Mark. As soon as Neotasha touched it, he pulled his arm back quickly yelling out. His eyes gave a hint of pain for a moment.


"What was that?" Cody asked.


"That was the spirit of the Dark Lord that lives inside of you," Neotasha replied. "It definitely explains your mood changes and why you are so angry all the time. And the fluxes in your power."


"Well, yeah. I already know this."


"I don't think you do. The spirit in you is powerful, much more powerful than the Dark Lord is right now. It is to small to possess you, though. Did you know that you kept a piece of him?"


"No," Cody said as he rubbed the Mark. "I could feel his spirit still in me shortly after I got rid of the him."


"Think he purposly left it there."


"What?"


"Thinking about the story you shared with us, the Dark Lord did not like Langholm. He had prevented the Dark Lord from possessing your father and you have the suspicion that there was a piece of the Dark Lord in him. So, he tried going for you instead. I suspect that there is something about your bloodline that attracts him; something that he wants. You were said to be the most powerful body that he has ever possessed and I knew of your father during the Kingdom Wars. He was extrememly powerful, powerful enough to take the place of one of the Original Four Kings. And you're just as powerful, if not more."


Cody studied Neotasha as he spoke. What about his bloodline would make the Dark Lord target his family. "Can you get rid of it?" he asked.


"I can only surpress it," Neotasha said. "I know a good amount of the Ancient Healing arts which stem from Bule and Yellow Fire. Yellow Fire was known to rid of curses, but it is weak against the Dark Lord so I can only surpress it for so long. It should be surpressed long enough for you to recover your full strength and from there you can keep him back yourself. One more thing, this is going to be painful."


"I can handle pain, Neotasha."


"You don't understand. It's going to be painful for the both of us. The spirit will try to reject me as much as possible, probably showing us images of death and torture. With it being the Dark Lord, we will more than likely feel everything that we see."


"I can handle pain," Cody repeated. "Just get it over with."


Neotasha nodded with a frown and reached up to touch the Mark again, his hand glowing with a yellow light. As soon as he touched they both screamed out in pain. They were seeing the same images as Neotasha tried to subdue the spirit. Fire burning around them and through them, the smell of their own crisp flesh swimming into their noses. Under water with bubbles running out of their mouths and noses as the water poured down their throats and into the lungs. Each vision got worse than the last. Now, they were tied to a table with a man standing over them with a large knife. He walked over and began to falay their skin as slowly as he could. The next had that same man with needles in his hands. Cody began crawling away from Neotasha but he held him in place. Cody remembered this torture from before the Black Fire Lighthouse and he did not want to experience it again. He tried moving his hand away, but the man drived a needle deep into the tip of his forefinger, sending a burning pain run up his body. The both of them screamed out while listening to a cruel laugh in the background. The laugh of the Dark Lord's spirit taunted them and angered Cody. He began to scream in anger, fighting his way through the visions of torture and death to get to the spirit. Neotasha fought with him and they knew they were getting close, for the tortures were getting worse. There was spiked wire wrapped tightly around their foreheads as they hung from a painful possession on a cross shaped stake, hands and feet nailed into it. They could see the spirit now in front of them as the vision changed to a grueling scene. Almost all the skin had been removed from their bodies and a man was throwing salt onto their wounds causing a powerful sting. The nails on each one of their fingers and toes were being torn out and their tongues cut. The table they laid on was spiked and there was a hot liquid dripping on their faces, causing them severly burn. Almost there, they were thinking and then the visions were gone. The spirit of the Dark Lord was no longer laughing and he was not in their sight anymore. Cody's body felt more controlled and calm. It was over, the spirit had been subdued into the deepest parts of Cody's soul.


Neotasha realsed him and collapsed to the ground. The two of them were breathing heavily with sweat sweeping through their clothes. He looked over at Cody and saw that his eyes were turning into a lighter grey than he's ever seen then, but there was something else he saw. He wasn't sure if it was his mind playing tricks from exhaustion but he was sure of what he saw. Cody's eyes had flashed a rainbow color for only a second. No one has ever had rainbow colored eyes. The only Fire Raider who was ever said to have these eyes were the Father of Fire Raiders himself. The bloodline that the Dark Lord was after wasn't only a strong one, but the original one. Cody had the bloodline of the very first Fire Raider to have lived.








They were in the area that was right below the Neotasha had brought Cody into. Heather had decided to join their training after she walked Canola and the Generals to their rooms. Garen had difficulty standing in the area they were in. It was much heavier than the war room. He looked around painfully at the scenery around him. They were in a forest covered with trees and plants all around them. It didn't feel like a forest that he was used to. It was more humid here and the heat was pounding on him. That combined with the heaviness of this land was almost intolerable for Garen. Ax, on the other hand, showed no signs of having difficulty with standing. Garen stood up as straight as he could and turned to face him.


"Are you have any problems at all?" he panted.


"Ax much stronger than Garen, plus more body size," he replied. "This area no problem for Ax."


"Of course not," Garen said. Sweat was now pouring down his body and seeping through his clothes.


Heather and Becky faced them, both smiling. "Neotasha trained us both to fight before the Kingdom Wars," Heather said.


"He is a master in both the duel and single blade arts," said Becky. "He trained me in the arts of duel swords and Heather in the arts of the single sword."


"I will be training Garen because he is already quite adept with the single sword and Becky will be training Ax."


"Me only have one axe."


"It's alright," Becky smiled. "I brought duel axes with us. They're not as large as your axe now because that would not work well, but they are still fairly large." She knelt down and picked up two large axes from beneath a plant and tossed them to Ax, who caught them cautiously. "The reason I want to train in the arts of dueled arms is because you will be almost unstopable. Your brute strength combined with these skills will make the mightiest of Hell Raiders run."


Ax smiled at the statement and examined his new weapons, swinging them back and forth. He set one down and pulled out his old axe and examined it as well. "Ax want old one still. Me need duel holster like Becky duel sheath."


Becky grinned at him and threw a holster at him that had to slots that fitted his axes perfectly. "I had the feeling you would want your old weapon."


"Now me kill two as many Hell Raiders as before," Ax said as he attached his new holster and place his old axe on his back. He picked up the axe he had dropped and held them both at his sides, couching over slightly and facing away from the others. He gave out a loud roar followed by a powerful stream of Black Fire. When the Fire ended, he stood up straight with a large smile at looked at the others. "Train now?"


"Yes, Ax," Becky chuckled, "we can train now."