The Heroes I-The Black Fire Lighthouse

Chapter XIV-The Man Behind the Mask

"Really?" Cody said with frustration in his voice. "Where the hell would he think about going now?"


He looked over at the city and noticed that there were no one story buildings, every building there was at least two stories or higher. He started walking down and the others followed. They came into the entrance of Naronia and the castle that was located in the middle of the city was extremely large. They could barely see the top of it, but beyond that, the Lighthouse still was larger and was much more attracting.


"Arrest the prisoners!" shouted someone behind them and when they turned around they saw at least two dozen guards around them.


"Now, why would we be prisoners?" Cody asked casually.


"Some of your friends passed by not long ago saying that they were here to light the Lighthouse and got away from us," said a guard. "We're not goin' to let you get away either."


"Oh, is that so?" Cody asked, lighting his hands in Rainbow Fire.


There was a noise that sounded like soft lightening and Cody's limp body hit the ground, Garen started to run toward him but all he felt was a sharp pain shoot throughout his body and him falling to the ground, his limbs jerking beyond his control. He looked over and saw that Becky and Ax were in the same situation, not being able to get free, then everything went black.














"Maybe we should kill them," said a voice in the room next to them. "That way they won't be able to light that thing."


"No," said another voice, "we have to at least see what they have to say and if they don't feel like answering, you know what to do. Right, Conalli?"


"Yes, sir," said Conalli's voice.


Garen opened his eyes and realized that his hands were chained above his head and his feet were barely touching the ground, the others were chained up the same way except for Ax, who had his arms tied at his sides while there were chains tied under his arms to hold him up. Then he saw a tall man with short blonde hair come out of the room with a whip in one of his hands and a pair of pliers in the other. He was looking at them with hatred in his eyes as he placed the items on a table that held other strange items; he then walked over to Cody and got within two inches of his face. The sound of thunder rolled under their feet along with the shaking of the earth until the wall in front of them was no longer there, but instead left a huge hole for a doorway. Garen looked from the doorway to Ax, remembering the comment he made back in Mt. Killimore about the size of the doorways, now he understood why.


"Why are you trying to light our Lighthouses?" he asked, spitting every word into Cody's face. "You better give us answers."


"We don't want to light them," Cody replied.


"Wrong answer," Conalli said. He went over to the table and grabbed the whip and gave Cody ten lashes on the back. Cody didn't make any sign that he was getting whipped.


"You're going to have to try harder than that you bastard," Cody snarled at him. "We're not here to light that Lighthouse, we want to stop them from lighting it."


"That's what these are for," Conalli said with a twisted smile as he shifted through small pins on the table.


"Needles?" Cody chuckled. "What are they supposed to do?"


"I've studied the human body very closely," Conalli said. "I have eyesight that can let me see things too small for others to see and I discovered what makes the body feel. The most sensitive area is the tips of the fingers because that's where they all connect." He brought down Cody's arms and flicked his fingertips, causing Cody to move them uncomfortably. "See what I mean?"


He took a needle and started pushing through Cody's finger tips, who screamed out in pain. Sweat began to fall down his face which was now growing pale.


"It feels like your body is on fire right now, doesn't it?" said Conalli as he stabbed another needle into a finger.


"Enough, Conalli!" yelled out someone from the other room and Cody's screams stopped as Conalli quickly pulled out the needles. "He's telling the truth."


Conalli looked at the man with a questioning look on his face. "How do you know this, sir?"


"Because, his eyes aren't as cold as he his and they speak the truth," he walked forward and snapped his fingers and the chains that were holding the Heroes up disappeared and let them all go. "My name is Tekalli, and I must apologize for my brother's harsh methods, we couldn't just let you walk."


"Yeah, I don't mind the torture at all," Cody said. "It was a nice way to loosen up the muscles." He looked over at Conalli with a smile.


"What do we do with them, then?" Conalli asked after catching Cody's eye. "We can't just let them go."


"Sure we can, and that's exactly what we're going to do," Tekalli looked at the four of them carefully. "You've all spent enough time here, now get out of here and stop them from lighting that thing."


Cody grabbed his bag and weapons from the ground where all their things were stacked and walked quickly out the door, followed closely by Ax. Becky and Garen just stood there after collecting their things as if waiting for a second invitation to leave.


"You're really letting us go, just like that?" Garen asked and Tekalli nodded. "You expect us to leave quietly after your brother here decided to torture our friend?"


"I do, and he didn't seem to mind it much. Now get out of my city so we can live in peace." At that Tekalli waved his hand and Garen and Becky were sent out the door, then it shut in their face leaving them to walk out of the city.


When they turned around, they saw that they were already out of the city and directly in front of them was the Black Fire Lighthouse towering over them with Cody and Ax a couple meters ahead looking up at the same sight. They all started walking not wanting to look back at the strange city that lay behind them.











The presence of the Dark Lord was creeping upon them very slowly. It was obvious that he would be waiting at the base of the Lighthouse for them. The dark clouds that always surrounded him were there, slowly rotating around. Garen looked up the Lighthouse and saw a dome covering the top of it and he thought he could see someone looking back down at him. He tore his gaze away from the dome quickly and looked around at the view and only saw the wonderfully green fields of grass around them, with the random patches of pink or purple flowers. Beyond the Lighthouse were valleys of grass that looked as though it went forever, it looked so peacefully to him, but he had to stop this Lighthouse from being lit before absorbing any of the beauty around him.


The views of green grass were leaving his view as they stepped into the clouds of the Dark Lord and a grunt came out behind them, followed by a loud thud and as they turned around to see Ax kneeling down with the dark clouds around him swirling around.


"There is no need for these clouds," said the cold voice of the Dark Lord as he stepped into view. "There is also no need of someone here that can use Black Fire."


"How 'bout you fight me instead?" Cody shot at him. "You've played with these guys long enough; don't you think it's time to see my real power without you?"


"Oh, how I would love to," hissed the Dark Lord as he pulled a dark blade out from his arms and vanished in a cloud of smoke.


Cody drew his sword and held it above his neck and the two blades made contact and, instead of sparks, made a shower of black mist. Cody turned around to face the Dark Lord as he floated to the ground making a purring noise with his throat. He then lifted his sword slowly and swung at Cody's side with deadly speed. He did the same thing to Cody's other side, as if toying with him, so he swung at the Dark Lord with a heavy swing which the Dark Lord dodged. Soon the he was on the defensive, a grimace coming across his face, then Cody swung at his stomach, his blade looking like bolt of lightning. It struck the Dark Lord and sent him flying back a few meters with the sound of thunder coming from the impact.


"I will finish this quickly," Cody said, sheathing his sword and holding up his hands that were now showing little rainbow colored sparks.


Cody lifted two of his fingers and the Dark Lord's body followed the movement, then he took the two first fingers of his other hand and shot a bolt of rainbow lightening were the Dark Lord's heart should be and left a hole there. He then jerked his fingers up and the Dark Lord's body exploded then it fell through the dust and hit the ground with a large thud looking disfigured. The body started to squirm around in an awkward way until a dark mass of some kind of gas or liquid came shooting out of the body. The substance didn't form into anything just floated there and sounded out a bone chilling laugh.


"Well," came the voice of the Dark Lord, "I guess it is time for me to find a new body. You will be seeing me again, I promise you that." And the Dark Lord vanished, leaving the group there to enter the Lighthouse.


Garen looked away from where the Dark Lord was just a second ago and took in the sight of the Lighthouse, then said," Now it's time for the hard part." He began walking toward the Lighthouse, the others following him.


They came up to the Lighthouse and could see no way of entering it at all. The only thing on the side of it was a small hole no larger than a marble. Garen walked up to examine it and remembered what they had to do to get into Mt. Killimore, "Ax, try lighting your finger up with Black Fire and touch that hole."


Ax walked up without saying a word and did what he was instructed, but nothing happened when he touch the Lighthouse except for a loud snapping noise. Ax yelped out and threw his finger into his mouth and looked down at Garen with a sad look on his face, "Lighthouse no like Ax, it shock finger real bad." He then held out his finger to let Garen see the slight reddening of it.


"That's because you can't use simple Fire of Color to get into the Lighthouses," Cody spoke out. "It's got to be more complicated, they want someone worthy to enter the Lighthouse, someone who can control the powers they have. So, Ax, try making a little ball of Black Fire and flicking it into that hole, without touching the Lighthouse at all."


Ax looked at Cody for a second, hesitant to try entering the Lighthouse again, but he turned around to face it and crouched down, holding his hand in front of his face. He lit his forefinger and thumb with his Black Fire, with sparks shooting between them until a small ball of Black Fire was between his fingers. He then flicked it at the small hole and as it went in, it vanished causing Ax to cock his head to the side with confusion. The sound of thunder rolled under their feet as the earth started shaking violently until a large hole appeared in the side of the Lighthouse. Garen looked from Ax to the doorway remembering, again, the comment he made back in Mt. Killimore about the size of the doorways and now realizing why they were so large.


Ax didn't wait at all to enter the Lighthouse and the other three were right behind him, walking themselves into darkness. The doorway behind them closed as soon as Becky walked through causing them to be in complete darkness, not being able to see the hands in front of their own faces. It wasn't unsettling though, not at all like the Dark Forest or the Dark Lord's mist, but instead it felt welcoming and rejuvenating, almost as if it were healing them on the inside. Garen could hear Ax shift around and then saw a light coming from his hand, not a blinding bright light but more like a dim black light that helped them see ahead of them, then the walls around them absorbed the light from Ax's hand and lit up the hall ahead of them. What was in front of them wasn't only a hallway though. It was a thin bridge that looked as though it would barely hold Becky, let alone Ax's giant weight.


"Well, this seems troubling," Becky said causally as she looked down the endless drop.


"We have no choice but to cross it," Garen said. "So I'll go first."


Garen started crossing the bridge slowly, carefully placing one foot directly in front of the other making sure he wouldn't slip off. When he got off, he turned around to see Cody moving across it just as slow as he was, then Becky started crossing it at almost a sprint running on nothing but her toes, each step gracefully touching the ground for only a few a seconds before lifting off again and then Ax was still at the other side of the bridge starring down where he was afraid of falling. He moved forward and put his first foot onto the bridge, as soon as he heard the cracking beneath him he started sprinting across it and as soon as he was across it, the bridge collapsed apart and fell to the depths of the Lighthouse.


"Looks like we're going to need to find another way out," Cody said softly. "Now let's head up these stairs." He started climbing a set of stairs that had some sort of liquid black substance trapped inside them, flowing to his foot with each step he took the others following him.


They came off the stairs to see that there were two paths that lie in front of them to choose from and in between the two paths was a ghostly figure floating a few inches off the ground and a hood pulled over half its face hiding what the identity of the creature may be. He stretched his arms out slowly and pointed down both paths then brought them in to fold them across each other.


"There is only one correct path to choose from," the ghost hissed out. "If you want to learn the correct way, you must fight me and defeat me or you can choose on your own, but be warned that the latter path would have a certain death for all of you."


Garen began to draw out his sword until Cody held his hand up to stop him. "Wait, Garen, doesn't that voice sound slightly familiar."


Garen looked at Cody a little confused then turned back to the ghost, "Remove your hood, now."


The ghost reached up to remove its hood and started taking a solid shape of a man, his eyes turning from light grey to a pure black. The man's hair was short and spiked and there were no ears on him at all. Max's smile showed off a number of sharp teeth that looked like they were made for tearing flesh and the only thing left of his nose were two slits.


"Max!?" Garen shouted at his dead friend. "How are you here right now?


Max made a weird hissing sound from his throat and jumped into the air and started coming down at Garen baring his teeth and stretched out claws. Garen dove out of the way of Max's attack and Cody came up to cut him with his sword. Max slapped the sword away with the back of his hand while waving his other hand casually to the side causing Cody to fly back.


"I don't want you, Cody," said Max. "I only want Garen."


"What are you doing, Max?" Garen asked.


Max didn't reply but instead charged at Garen, who just stood there and watched his friend punch at his face and his stomach. Max began cutting up Garen's body and Cody started running at him, not being able to watch Garen just stand there and do nothing, but he was stopped by a black shadow that crawled out of the ground and when he looked back at Ax and Becky, he could see that they were being attacked by the same things. Cody slapped the creature away from him and was stopped by yet another one. They were mulitplying out of the ground preventing him from reaching Garen or Max.


He drew out his sword to slice them down and could see Max throw Garen into the air, beat him up and not defending himself at all. "It's not Max, Garen, you have to fight back. It's not the friend we once knew."


Cody didn't know what he was talking about, Garen was thinking, he's in there somewhere, if only there was a way to drag him out. Garen straightened himself out in the air as he felt the burning of Max's claws digging into his cheek. Then he felt a sharp pain in the back of his knee as he was kicked.


"I know you're in there," Garen barely got out.


"He's not there," Cody shouted, not fighting off the demons anymore, letting them climb onto him and pull him to the ground. "He's gone Garen, his soul was eaten by the Soul Drainer."


He could feel his legs sinking into the ground and he took a glance down to see the demons pulling him under, he looked over at Ax and Becky and could see the same thing happening to them, he then looked back up at Garen and saw a sword in Max's hands coming down at Garen's body.


"Garen, snap out of it, now! He's not Max and we need your help, we're dying!" Cody shouted up at him just as Max started bringing down his sword.


Cody's voice was muffled to him and the person in front of him was a blur, but Cody's last sentence shot through his ears like an explosion. Garen drew out his sword to parry of Max's swing, then he swung down and sliced into Max's shoulder causing him to scream out in a horrible screech. Garen brought his sword back to his side and glared at the creature taking on the form of his friend cowering down.


"You're not him, I should have realized it before," Garen said. He looked down at the other three to see them being pulled into the ground by some kind of demons he's never seen before. He looked back at Max and said, "Now, you die."


He flew at Max, who held up his sword to parry away the blow but his sword shattered at impact. Garen pulled his arm back and swung his sword again this time not meeting a sword but meeting the creature's neck and slicing through it, the head flying off as his sword made it through. No blood spit its way out of the neck, no noise came out of the creature at all it just started disappearing into dust, along with the creatures on the ground. Garen floated back down and went over to help up the other three, who were no longer partially in the ground, he then looked over at the paths and saw that there was only one path in front of them; no fork in the hallway at all.


"It was all an illusion," Becky said. "That creature had us see things that weren't really there."


"It had us more than see it," Garen said, "we felt it all as if it was really happening, I don't even have a scratch on me anymore and he was destroying my body with those claws."


Cody looked down the path, squinting his eyes to see what was ahead of them. "The next room will lead us to the top of the Lighthouse, but I think someone is waiting for us."


"Who would it be, the Masked One?" Becky asked.


"He's not the Masked One anymore," Garen almost growled. "I would like to start calling him Neotasha."


"Don't make rash decisions like that, Garen," Cody said.


"It makes sense though, doesn't it?" Garen said. "He's gone every time we run into him, he was never with us while we were attacked by the Masked One and in that village when you were off fighting him, he said he was making a deal with someone. He was probably fighting you behind that mask."


Cody looked away from him quickly, "Let's just move on and find out then."


Garen nodded in reply and followed Cody down the hallway with Becky and Ax behind him until they got into the next room, which was a spectacular sight. The room climbed the height of the Lighthouse and the walls were all a liquid black with carvings in it that were all different colors. There would be a green looking carving or gold or silver and rainbow colored carvings in the walls and they all had the look of liquid to them and on the floor below them was a symbol difficult for any of them to describe but they knew it was the Black Fire symbol. They looked around the room in awe and looked in the middle of it where there was a larger circle carved into the floor that was glowing black.


"It's quite incredible, isn't it?" came the voice of the Masked One above them. "It will look even better when we light it."


"You're not going to be lighting anything," Cody spat back at him.


"And I suppose you're gonna be the one to stop me? The one who's failed thrice at stopping me before?" asked the Masked One shrugging his shoulders.


"Oh, yeah," said Cody and he flew off the ground toward the Masked One, drawing out his sword and meeting his in a shower of sparks. "Where did you pick this one up?"


"Probably the same place you did, a fallen warrior," replied the Masked One, swinging Cody's sword away and slicing back at him. "Except, I killed the soldier to get it."


Cody parried it and pointed at the Masked One with his first two fingers, sending a stream of Rainbow lightening at him. He vanished from view and reappeared in front Cody with his sword meeting Cody's. He backed off and sheathed his sword with a smile forming across his horrid mask.


"Enough play time," he said softly. "It's time." And he vanished.


Cody looked around with a dazed look on his face, then he turned to the others on the ground, "Quick, to that circle!" he shouted at them. "We have to get to the top now!"


There was a violent shaking around them and the walls around them started lighting, the carvings growing from their colors to a deep black, the black glow around the circle was starting to vanish and the symbol beneath them began to glow instead.


"Hurry, now!" Cody shouted at them again, landing in the circle himself. "Ax, emit yourself with Black Fire!" He said when the rest of them got in the circle.


Ax did it and the next thing they saw was a bright blue sky above them and large black sparks in front of them. The top of the Lighthouse had seven pillars of seven different looking dragons and in the middle was a large hole in it with the Black Fire Tablet floating in it, the symbol glowing a bright black. The Masked One, Nerag, Elyk and Kye were all on the other side of the hole, smiling down at what was happening in it.


The black sparks were spitting out it with something forming in the middle where the Tablet was, the area around them still violently shaking. Cody started running forward to stop it, but a large stream of black lightening shot at him from it and sent him flying toward one of the pillars. A ball of Black Fire began to form where the Tablet was and then it shot up toward the sky, a line of large Black Fire shot up next to it and then another. The three streams began circling one another and then enclosed together causing a solid form to start molding out. The Black Fire Dragon above them was engulfed in its own flame as it flew into the air and then it came to a stop, turned and dove back down to where the Tablet was and as soon as it hit, a wall of Black Fire exploded out of the circle and flooded over the top of the Lighthouse. The feeling of warmth and comfort reached the Heroes as it trailed over them and when it was gone, what they saw left them with the feeling of defeat.


In the middle of the top of the Lighthouse where the Tablet was just moments before was the bright glowing ball of Black Fire. The ground beneath them was also glowing a strange black liquid and the men on the other side were all wearing smiles of triumph, Nerag was even laughing. The Masked One walked forward and looked over at them, his head cocked to one side, gleaming black eyes glistening in the sun and the mask's rotted teeth mocking their defeat.


"You have failed," he said.


"Show us who you are!" Garen shouted at him. "I'm tired of you hiding behind that mask from us! I know it's you."


"I'm not hiding behind this mask at all," replied the Masked One." I was given strict orders by Kye to keep it on at all times, but I suppose I can remove it now that this Lighthouse has been lit. And believe me, you have not a clue of who I am behind this mask, Garen."


The Masked One glanced over at Cody then lifted his hands slowly to the mask. When he removed it a cloud of rainbow smoke came pouring out, then he twirled his hand around and the smoke was gone causing Garen to look at the man in disbelief.


"It can't be you," he choked out. "All this time, how can it be you?"


"It was you after all," Cody whisper and looked away from him.


Becky stood there with her mouth barely open, a look of shock on her face and Ax just looked at the man not really knowing who it was like the others.


"You were supposed to be my friend!" Garen shouted at him, and he ran forward at the man, his chest beginning to emanate a greenish glow.














End of Book One