The Heroes II The Eternal Night

Chapter V-Kyle's Story

. It's been eating at him for a while, and now he can feel that he's close by. Ever since Kyle showed himself to Cody, he's wanted to find out why, why did Kyle betray everyone for this side of the war. Cody sat up in his bed and looked outside; by the positioning of the moon it wasn't even close to the Near Star's rising and it's only been about an hour since Garen's seeing into the future. Kyle was nearby, he could feel that but he wasn't sure if he wanted to go risk it or not. He swung his feet over his bed and rested his head on his hands to think.


"If I wander off, will they really know where I went, even if I came back a little later?" he asked himself. He decided that it would be safe for him to go find Kyle and talk to him about this, he had to, and it was the only way to find out the truth behind it all.


He got out of his bed and slipped his boots on, then walked silently over to the window in his room and opened it, feeling the cool breeze brush across his face. He knows I'm coming, he's calling me to him, Cody thought. He couldn't explain it, but he could feel somewhere inside him that Kyle was nearby, probably close to the forest. And it felt like Kyle was calling him over, not to fight but to speak.











So he is coming, good, Kyle thought to himself as he was flaring out his energy to make sure that Cody could sense that he was near. No intensions to fight at all, just to explain why he went to the other side. Kyle looked up and saw Cody's figure walking toward him slowly, his arm at the ready on the hilt of his sword, Kyle smiled at this. "It's about time you got here," he said.


"I was sleeping," Cody replied. "What do you want?"


"Just to talk. I feel like I owe you an explanation, old friend."


"Well, you're thinking is right. You do owe me one, after all I went through to free myself from the Dark Lord," Cody looked at him closely. "I ran into Garen when I was heading to Kio, I told him it was to protect the Tablets, but I knew they were already gone, I was really going there to ask for your help. Seems like I won't need it." Cody turned away and started walking towards the edge of a cliff.


"Wait," Kyle said grabbing Cody's arm, "I still want to tell you what happened."


"What makes you think I want to know?"


"Because you're giving off the hint of curiosity and longing, longing for answers."


Cody turn back around to face Kyle, then fell onto his rear and looked up, motioning his hand, "Go on then, explain.


Kyle cleared his throat and started, "Well, it obviously started when I fell off that cliff side in Mount Killimore..."





He couldn't make out the screams of Garen or Shelby as he felt himself falling to the bottom of the mountain, all he could see were Kye's eyes glowing red and that's when he felt himself catch in mid-air. He was no longer falling, but was now being gently sent down to the bottom. When he was about a meter or two from the floor, he fell onto his back and could feel the ground dig painfully into his tailbone. He stood up slowly, holding his back and took a look around the area, which was perfectly still compared to the collapsing top of the mountain. It was dark and damp, filled with rocks of different colors and ahead of him not too far was a dark mist that seemed very ominous for him to walk toward, so he decided to turn the other way and find his was out of the caves of Mount Killimore. The dark mist followed Kyle where ever he went and there was something very familiar about, something that may have took Cody away so many years ago, but was it him? He stopped and watched as the Dark Lord began to take a physical form, this was not Cody, the feeling was wrong and the structure of the host body was completely different.


"What do you want from me?" Kyle asked.


"I don't want anything from you," the Dark Lord replied. "Kye thinks you have some potential with us and our cause, he saw your longing for power while in the Room of the Tablets."


"I won't join you."


"But we can get you the power you want, the power you need." The Dark Lord held out his hand and a mask appeared in it from a dark mist. "All you have to do is put this on and the power is yours."


"Is this some way you get into your hosts? No more forcing your way in through their soul?"


"Oh no, I still tear my way in, this is not a way for me to enter your soul, Kyle. I truly want to give you more power, to help our great cause."


"The Lighthouse will destroy the planet."


The Dark Lord laughed at Kyle in a cruel way and looked at him with a smile coming across his lips, "You are mistaken, Kyle, people are only afraid of the great powers that will be released when they are lit. Think about the strength you'll have after even the first Lighthouse is lit, but when all seven have been lit, especially the Rainbow Fire Lighthouse, you'll have a power that is second to nobody."


Kyle stood there, staring at the mask and thinking how it would feel to have that much power under him. He remembered the feeling of touching the stones that shared his Fire and the warmth it gave him, the power he felt and he remembered looking at the distance of the land, seeing the Rainbow Fire Lighthouse as if it were just beyond his reach. His hand started reaching for the mask beyond his control and grasped it tightly, already feeling power shoot up his arm, he brought it to his face and dark strings started shooting from the mask at the same time as rainbow light started shooting from his head, connecting at the middle and bringing the mask to connect with his face. Kyle stood there for a second, holding onto his new mask, then he felt it. A power shot into his head and through his body, so overwhelming that he dropped to his knees beginning to breath hard, his vision started to fade out until all he saw was a darker shade of everything around him as if someone put a translucent blind over his eyes but at the same time he felt like he could see everything more clearly. His body began to feel lighter as he stood back up and the feeling of absolute power was finally surrounding him, casting off an aura of rule. He glanced over at the Dark Lord with a cruel smile forming across his lips, showing the horrible black teeth that belonged to the mask.


"My name?" Kyle hissed out.


"You have no name. I am sure that whoever tries to stop you will give you one," the Dark Lord replied.


"Good, because I feel Neotasha is not too far from here; time to test the powers of this mask," Kyle looked down the path he was walking before.


"No, you can't leave," the Dark Lord began to say, but Kyle was already gone from his view. He just smile at his accomplishment, "Oh well, it's not for me anyway. All I know is that my mask is quite the success." And he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.


He was looking pretty flustered, which was good. Now Kyle could attack him without any reason to worry. Neotasha was storming his way down the path glaring straight ahead of him, not paying any attention to the masked figure stalking him from above. Kyle smiled and dropped down, landing in front of Neotasha, causing him to jump back and draw out his sword.


"You look quite annoyed," Kyle hissed.


"Who are you?" Neotasha asked.


"Just a man looking for a good fight," Kyle's smile widened and he held up his hand, pushing it outward with a quick jerk that sent Neotasha flying back a few meters. The power was incredible, it took no effort at all to throw Neotasha back and he was one of the strongest Fire Raiders in the village.


Neotasha got up at glared back at Kyle, his eyes turning to a dark yellow with slits as his pupils, making them look more cat-like, his ears now came to a point and his long dark hair looked finer than before. Kyle stepped back quickly causing Neotasha to smile at his reaction. "Wasn't expecting an elf, were you? Now tell me who you are."


"I have no name," Kyle replied, "and the fact that you're an elf means nothing to me, it just caught me a little off guard."


Kyle lifted up his arms and the rocks around him started floating up, he threw is arms forward and the rocks followed his movement, all of them hitting Neotasha across his body, a sharper one sticking into his left leg which caused him to collapse on it. Kyle walked over at the struggling and panting Neotasha to look at the state he was in; cuts, bruises and bleeding around his body was a satisfying sight to him, but Neotasha was still moving and he couldn't have that, Garen was on his way over here. Kyle held his hand down and a purple light appeared which surprised him. All he did was think about making him unconscious and there it was, the Fire that controlled the state of mind, but could he do it without wiping his memory? Kyle let the light go from his hand and as soon as it hit Neotasha, the liveliness left his eyes in an instant.








"That's when I ran into Garen and from there on you pretty much know what was going on," Kyle said. "It was wonderful, how powerful I was, but now I'm more powerful than that mask so I don't need it." He looked off in the distance toward the camp. "I didn't want to kill Garen at that point, or anybody at all, I wasn't ready for that yet."


"What happened between the times we met?" Cody asked.


"Nothing too interesting," replied Kyle. "I suppose I could tell you about our kidnapping of Marry and why we did it."


"Go on then, tell me."


"Well, it happened not long after our meeting at the village that the Hell Raiders were taking over, after I just got back actually..."











Kyle walked into the room and saw Nerag leaning back in a chair smiling up at him with his wicked eyes digging deep into his own, it was quite unsettling. Nerag stood up and started walking slowly towards him, his tongue hungrily skimming across his upper lip as he drew closer. He reached up and ripped Kyle's mask off, a rainbow cloud spilling from his face and causing him to fall to his knees. He wasn't stronger than the mask yet and every time it came off he could feel the power drain out of him as if he hadn't eaten for days, there's got to be a way to get him stronger than that thing. He looked up at Nerag through hateful eyes and he just smiled back, crouching down and placing his cold index finger under Kyle's chin to lift him to his feet. The touch sent chills down his back and the goose flesh rose on his skin instantly, it was so cold and dead, you could feel the cruelness of this man run through your body as if it were streams of electricity.


Nerag lifted Kyle up to the tips his toes and then dropped him to his feet again tilting his head to the side, his mouth slightly ajar and his eyes wide and full of craziness. He stepped back slightly and swung his hand across Kyle's face leaving it red and bleeding and dropping him to the ground. Kyle looked up at Nerag and glared at him wiping the blood off his face. He stood up quickly, feeling the power come back to him, and swung his fist at Nerag sending him flying across the room. Kyle looked at Nerag standing up from across the room, holding his head up showing his dominance and feeling his strength grow even more. This was it, this is how he gains more power, train just after the mask comes off when he's weak then when he's at his prime he'll be unstoppable even Kye won't be able to hurt him then.


"You disobeyed our orders," Nerag hissed. "You are not supposed to talk with any of them at all, not even Cody."


"I will talk with whoever I want and there won't be anyone who says different," Kyle shouted back.


"That's where you are mistaken." It was his voice, sounding off in its authority. Nerag looked frightened for a second then regained his senses, but Kyle couldn't help but hunching over at the power that was coming up to him. Without the mask, Kye's power is unbearable to be around, the darkness it lets off and the pure strength that no one can challenge, it was intimidating. "You will not be seen with them again or I will be forced to...punish you. Now we are about to head for Kio to pick something up."


Kyle looked up at him quickly. "Why Kio? Why go all the way back there when we've made it so far? I mean, we can light the Lighthouse right now without any interference."


"I like interference," Kye said. "It's good for my entertainment. And as for Kio, we need to grab the girl that Garen cares about; maybe it will help him be a little more cooperative. You will be coming with us, without the mask." Kye smiled down at him in his cruel way as Kyle took in what that meant.


It meant that Kyle's identity would not be hidden from the village folk at all and they would all know that he was out to light the Lighthouses. Not only that, when Garen finds out about him going back to Kio just to kidnap Marry he would never forgive him, and that's exactly what they want. Kidnapping Marry wasn't to make sure that Garen would follow every one of Kye's orders, it was to make sure Kyle would have nobody left to go back to if he were to change his mind on which side of the war he was on. He smiled at the thought and looked up directly into Kye's deep cold eyes, accepting his challenge.


"Seems like a great plan," he said.


He felt Kye's long fingers grip around his shoulders and started squeezing tightly into them, putting his mouth just centimeters from his ear close enough to smell the flesh of his last corpse meal. "Now that's what I like to hear," he whispered softly, giving Kyle goose flesh from the neck down. It was almost as if Kye's own breath was alive and tunneling its way through his head.


"Wh-when do we leave for Kio?" Kyle breathed out.


"Now," Kye hissed pleasantly. Kyle turned around and the next thing he saw were the two cherry blossom trees that marked the entrance to Kio almost as if it was behind them the entire time.


Nothing at all has changed since he left those long months ago. He looked down the stone engraved path and started debating on whether he should walk down it. Did he really want the village to see him like this, on the wrong side? Yes, he did want that, he wanted to show the village that he has power and that he should be someone to fear. He took his first step into the village's boundaries and already he could feel the presence of everyone around him, his friends and family. Everyone there thought he had died in Mount Killimore, now he's going to show up and kidnap Marry with the people who came and caused mass chaos on his village.


Kyle felt a sharp nudge on his back and looked to see Nerag jabbing at him with his sword, nodding for him to keep walking and so he did. They walked through the forest and came into the entrance of Kio to see the people there going about their normal day, a few of them looking up to see the new comers and that's when people started to realize who just stepped into their village.


The looks on the faces were nothing but surprise at first. Someone in the crowd ran off, going up the stairs to where Kyle once lived. Their surprise was quickly replaced by relieving looks, but some were looking horrified and even angry and that's when Kyle realized that they were not looking at him but at the men behind him, the men who had invaded and destroyed their home and stole the sacred Tablets.


"Kyle!" his stomach knotted up quickly as he heard the voice of his mother coming from his left, she must have taking the other way around. "Kyle, what are you doing with these men?"


"We're not here for you," hissed Nerag. "Now get out of here, you whore." He flicked his hand to send Jennifer flying away from them. Kyle felt himself tense up, but resisted the temptation to attack Nerag.


"Now, now Nerag," Kye said, "no need for violence like that, we're only here for one reason and that is it. Kyle, if you would be so kindly as to bring us our prize."


Kyle could feel his cruel grin on him right before he left them and reappeared in Mary's house. She jumped slightly as the men appeared before her in her house. She at first looked happy to see Kyle, but then the look quickly went sour as she focused on the men standing behind him. Her brother didn't seem to be home at all, which was good for Kyle; he didn't want to hurt him.


"Why are they here with you?" she asked violently.


"We're here to take you with us, Marry," Kyle said softly. "It'd be best for you not to resist." He appeared behind her and held her arms behind her back roughly so she couldn't escape.


He walked out of the house to see the village there looking at him in hatred. Elyk and Kye came out behind him shortly after. One of the villagers was about to say something, but Mary’s house exploded in a Purple flame, burning everything down. Leaving nothing left for Mary’s brother. Nerag came out of the house laughing violently, then seeing the crowd in front of him; he waved his arm causing everyone to fly back.


"It is time for us to take our leave," Kye said.


Kyle nodded and vanished with the others in a cloud of smoke.











"And that's pretty much it," Kyle said.


"That still doesn't explain why you did it."


"For the power, you know how we are with greed and power."


"Yeah," Cody said walking away. "I think I should leave now." Kyle didn't attempt to stop him at all and Cody vanished from his view.


He was in his bed before anyone could realize that he was gone, which was good for him. Hearing Kyle's story didn't help him at all, in fact it made him more angry at the fact that Kyle betrayed everyone. He closed his eyes to sleep and can only dream of the old days with Kyle, when things were normal and happy.


When Cody woke the next morning, he saw that the camp had moved from where they were the night before. So that's how he did. Langholm teleported the town in the middle of the night to get closer to the forest. Might as well stay with him if this is how they were traveling. It will be safer and probably faster. He looked over at Garen's bed to find it empty, he must have slept in pretty late if Garen was up before he was. He climbed out of bed and put on his clothes to go down to the Great Hall for some food. When he got there, he saw the others there and a couple of the army's generals, so he made his way to them.


"Not like you to sleep in like this," Becky said. "Rough time sleeping?"


"Yeah, something like that," he replied. "What's wrong with you?" he then asked looking over at Neotasha.


"I'm just debating when would be a good time to tell you all who I am," Neotasha said softly. "And I'm worried about Becky's health."


"I'll be fine, Neotasha," she said with a smile. "Now could be a good time to tell them."


"What?"


"It makes sense," Cody said. "You can tell us now, before we get to Adsmeria, or wait until we get there and find out on our own."


"I'll wait a little bit," he said standing up. "I need to find the right way of saying it. It will be before we get to the capitol though, I promise that."


Cody grabbed tightly onto Neotasha's arm and dragged him back toward Cody. "And why is it that you can't tell us now?"


"I don't want you to treat me any differently," he said softly.


"I used to be the Dark Lord, what are they going to judge you on?"


"It's not like that."


"Cody!" Becky spoke up. "If he doesn't want to tell you guys yet, he doesn't have to. Let him find the right words to break it to you."


Cody looked up at her quickly then threw Neotasha's arm away and looked back at him. "Alright, but I want a story before we get to the forest," he turned around and walked toward the table, "it better be more revealing than the last one I heard."


Neotasha looked at him confused for a bit, then continued to walk out of the dining hall and back to his room. Cody sat down between Garen and Jake, his food already there and prepared for him. It was the best food he'd had in a while, instead of low fat meat and random berries, he was now eating what looked like a full thigh of some animal and fruits that he'd never seen before, but were still delicious either way. He looked over at Garen, who was done with his meal, then over at Jake who was finishing up his last bit of corn. It was strange to him to just be sitting at a table and eating real food without any worry of an attack. It almost didn't feel right to him, and then he remembered that he was in the presence of Langholm, the man that should be king again.


He looked over at Langholm, who was studying him back and said, "Why are you not the king?"


Canola shot a look over at Cody and said sharply, "Because I was the one appointed to be king, if you don't like it, you can leave my camp."


"They will be going nowhere, Canola," Langholm said softly. "I would advise that you listen to me on that too. The reasoning is simple. I've already had my time as the king, and I'm much too old to run anything these days. I'm afraid I would not be able to keep up with this age’s people."


Cody looked at him carefully. He was much too kind. No man of his power and stature should let someone like Canola rule over him. Canola was the kind of king that Cody despised, the kind that thought he was untouchable for being a king. He looked back up the stairs and could see Neotasha coming down and watched him sit at the table. Neotasha looked at everyone carefully in turn. Ax, Becky, Garen and finally Cody met his hesitant gaze. Finally clearing his throat, he spoke out.


"I guess I can start with telling you right out that I am a knight of the royal army," Neotasha said. "I am the head captain of the Queen's guard and considered one of the top officials in the capitol." Everyone was watching them with shocked faces, except Becky. She had a slight smile on her face. "I was once trained by the Twin Healers that we met to help Becky, but I couldn't continue the training. I assisted the previous king in the last war and trained Becky in the skills that she knows. Shortly after the war the new queen was appointed, the king's daughter, and I was appointed her right hand, but there was an issue with that." He broke off and took a sip of the tea in front of him, trying to find his words. "The thing is...well, it was really complicated, it still is-"


"Him and the queen are kind of together," Becky said.


"Wait, what?" Cody choked out. "You and the queen of elves?"


"Er, yes," Neotasha said nervously. "It was a secret for a while but it got exposed not long ago. That's one reason why I got sent off to Kio. The elders didn't like that idea of it and told me I had to go to Kio and protect the Tablets. I don't think they ever anticipated on them actually being stolen, they believed that I would be there much longer than I was, I'm sure. Me coming back to Adsmeria is going to be quite an awkward experience for me."


"Might be for all of us," Garen said.


"I think it's time for a meeting," Langholm said. "With this new information it might be able to help us on how we can get into Adsmeria. You can also tell us the way there, Neotasha, or you Becky. We only have an estimate of where it is."


They both nodded in agreement and everyone walked out of the great hall and up to the command center where there were already generals waiting around the map. Canola walked to the center of it with Langholm at his side and the others fell in on the other side, all looking down at the map. Their location had changed and said that they were closer now to the forest than before. The location of Adsmeria changed as well further to the east than they had it placed. Becky and Neotasha looked down at the map, smiling as they looked at where their home was located on the map.


"You were actually closer yesterday than you are now," Becky chuckled. "But knowing its location is one thing, getting there is another."


"The forest has Elves guarding it constantly," Neotasha said. "They know as soon as someone enters and there is no way this city will get in there. It can only be a handful of us, probably everyone in this room while the rest of the soldiers wait."


"You expect us to leave our men here, alone, while we go into the protected forest of the Elves?" asked the highest ranked general.


"There will be Elves watching the city, the probably already are," Becky said. "They will be able to protect your men if they are attacked. Even though they do not like getting involved in Human affairs, they will not stand by and watch people who are protecting the planet get slaughtered."


The general started stroking his beard, thinking carefully. "It still doesn't sit right with me," he finally said. "It's not that I don't trust the Elves' ability, but I don't like leaving someone else protecting my men. I will stay behind as well to be able to lead the men into battle if need be."


"We can't have you do that, Major General," Langholm said. "We need you with us to go through the battle plans. I will leave behind someone that I trust though."


"Who would you like to leave, Elder?" asked the Major General.


"I'm thinking of leaving Fourth General Hailasheo," he said looking at a middle aged man with short, blonde hair. "Is that alright with you both?"


"I trust the Fourth General with our men," said the Major General.


"I have no problems with that, sir," said Fourth General Hailasheo. "It will be my pleasure."


"It's settled, then," Canola said. "We are close enough to enter the forest now, so everyone here get ready to move out within the hour. All, but you Hailasheo."


They all nodded their understanding and started filing out of the room to get their things together and to head into the unknown Adsmeria Forest.