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| - "Okay all packed!" Zane said with a bag on his back as they took the Cullis Gate to Hook Coast. "Ah, Heroes. I've been expecting you. As you can see the town been evacuated just like the Guildmaster asked. Must be something serious huh? Well, it wasn't easy getting everyone out on such short notice but us guard know our duty. Oh I could tell you some stories I could but you probably don't want to hear them right now. I'll just leave it to you sirs. Good day" he said as the heroes stepped out onto the snow. "Didn't even know it snowed here" Ace said putting on some of his winter gear. "There the lighthouse" Zane said approaching it as the three headed up the stairs. "Hey look Ace a silver chest bet that has lot of gold" Leo said. "Nice try Leo but I will not be satisfied with gold while you two show off your legendary weapons" Ace said opening it, "GAH!" "What is it?" Zane asked as Ace pulled out Murren Greataxe. "A legendary weapon! This was used by Murren himself!" Ace said. "So now you can stop bitching" Leo said as Zne place the Fire Heart onto the lighthouse as the heat and light grew bright then shattered the glass around them. "WHOA!" Zane yeled. "I take it the Fire Heart is in place then?" Briar Rose called from below. "It is!" Zane called. "Good, meet me downstairs" she said as the three headed below. "Find anything Briar?" Leo asked. "According to the books, the ship should arrive as soon as the Heart's energy reaches full power" she said as they heard a loud bang above, "what the hell?" "Over there!" Ace said pointing to a Summoner throwing blue inferno balls at the Lighthouse. "A Summoner! It's trying to destroy the Heart! We have to...we have to protect it!" Briar said as they ran towards the Summoner on the docks as it charged another energy ball. "AHHH!" Zane yelled tackling it and making it's Inferno ball hit the water. The Summoner then threw Zane off and stood up as Ace slammed his Axe into it only to be sent flying back from impact. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!" Ace yelled. "Find a weak point!" Leo yelled trying to make an attack as well. "I got one!" Zane yelled striking it a few times as it fell to its knees then exploded into blue energy. "More Summoners! The Heart needs more time to power up. Come on!" Briar Rose said as another blue energy ball hit the lighthouse. "Minions?!" Leo growled seeing some appear. "The hell they showing up for?" Zane asked smashing through some. "No clue but we need to stop that Summoner!" Ace said. "Zane get that Summoner!" Leo yelled colliding weapons with a Minion as Zane slammed his sword into the side of a Summoner side. "Blades!" Zane yelled sending blades stabbing into it making it explode then went after the other Summoner. "Where is that damn ship?!" Ace yelled taking down a Minion before seeing fie explode on the top of the Lighthouse then from out of the water rose a broken down ship. "Well, here's your ride. Looks...cozy" Briar Rose said. "...how is that thing floating?" Ace said as they walked down the docks. "When you get to the Northern Wastes, you Guild Seal will activate the local teleporters and I'll be able to join you" Briar Rose said, "Scythe would have done it long ago, but he destroyed his Seal before he arrived. Didn't want Maze to know what he was up to I guess. Well have a nice trip! Maybe when I see you next we can have a snowball fight." "Your so on!" Zane said boarding the ship with Leo, Ace and Sparky. "The strange, silent ship set sail into the featureless swell. Day after day, it carved it's path among the waves, an ocean phantom moving ever forward. Then the moment came, when the icy peaks spread out of the horizon mist. These were the shores of the Lost Bay. The Northern Wastes lay beyond them." "LAND! OH SWEET LAND!" Ace said running out in snow gear kissing the docks. "If you got sea sick why the bloody hell did you cane Ace?" Zane asked stepping onto the dock wearing his own snow gear. "Wherever you go I go!" Ace said. "Moron" Leo said looking around. "Lost Bay, looks abandon" Zane said as Scythe appeared using his magic image of himself. "Welcome to the Northern Wastes, Guildmen. I had fear you lost" Scythe spoke. "No the ride just took a few days" Zane said. "Few days too many!" Ace yelled. "I am Scythe, though my name has long been forgotten in the Guild. Maze saw to that" Scythe said. "It's nice to meet you in person. I am Zane this is Leo, Ace and my dog Sparky. Soooo...are you dead cause we can see through you?" "My apologies for not meeting you in person. I must remain in Snowspire village and protect it from Summoners. Terrible though they are but a symptom of much greater power rising in these lands. Meet me in Snowspire in the far North. I will explain everything and then we must consult the town's ancient Oracle. I pray we can awaken it and that it holds the answers we seek" Scythe said vanishing. "Awaken it?" Zane repeated. "Hey! The teleporters are up and running in Snowspire. I'm going to have a look around after speaking to Scythe. Talk to you later" Briar Rose spoke from the seal. "BLOODY HELL! It's freezing!" Ace said as they headed up the stairs. "Come on you big baby" Leo said before they noticed a large block of ice. "It's blocking the way" Ace said as Sparky growled and the block began to rise as the heroes back away and saw it was an Ice Troll as it roared. "It's body made of ice!" Zane yelled as it made ice shard come at them. "HA!" Leo grunted dodge rolling. "Use an Inferno spell!" Ace yelled. "INFERNO!" Zane yelled hitting the Ice Troll face with the fire ball turning the Troll into a pile of snow. "Let's leave" Leo said as they entered the Northern Foothills. "More Minions? Those were Jacks creatures why show up now? It's been a year" Zane said. "This is strange but the Summoners and the Minions are connected somehow to this new threat Scythe spoke of" Leo said. "That Scythe is a bit odd. How exactly is he alive?" Ace asked. "No idea, must be related to magic" Zane said. "A spell to keep you alive in a body that turns into a Hollow Man yeah I would pass on that spell" Ace said. "Still these Summoner are strong and they are being led by someone or something" Zane said pulling out Jack of Blades mask, "it's all his fault, he must be behind this somehow." "He's dead Zane" Leo said putting the mask into Zane backpack. "Yeah he's burning in hell now" Ace said as they entered the cave to Archon's Shrine "Seems to quite hear no Minions. Why are there no Minions?" Leo said. "That's a good question" Zane said as they walked to the center of the shrine where they saw Briar Rose. "Briar!" Zane called. "There you are! So how was the cruise?" she asked. "You could have come with us to find out" Leo said. "Me, I'm more of a teleporter girl. Good thing your Seal set the local ones off. I've managed to get a good look around and this plies of stones might be worth investigating" Briar said. "Really? This old shrine?" Zane said. "See all those inscriptions? I'm heading back to the Guild to work on the translations. You should carry on to Snowspire and speak with Scythe. He's waiting for you. Catch you later!" she said using her seal to vanish. "Let's get moving" Zane said as they headed down a hill then up some stairs and pushed past the gates and entered the Snowspire village. "Is it just me or is everyone giving us a dirty look?" Ace whispered. "No they are glaring but for what reason?" Leo asked as they saw Scythe approaching. "Welcome to Snowspire, Heroes. Walk with me. Speak of your journey" Scythe said as they followed him into the village. "Well to make a very very long story short Jack of Blades was behind my home burning and father and mother death and now he's dead thanks to us. But when we were putting the Fire Heart in the light house Summoner appeared along with Minions" Zane said. "Summoners have reached Hook Coast...Then there is less time than I thought and I have much to tell you" he said as they followed him up some stairs, "I arrived many years ago, when the Guild believed Jack of Blades would use the Snowspire Oracle in his search for the Sword" he said as they entered a large room and saw three stone faces on a strange shine at the end of the room, "now it is we who are in need of its wisdom. To speak with it we will need the Glyphs of Inquiry. They were hidden in the age of Archon by four acolytes, who buried them deep in the Haunted Necropolis. I will send word to the Necropolis guards to grant you passage." "Thanks Scythe" Zane said as they three left and headed back down the stairs. "So those stone heads are the Oracle? Thought they were some special Demon Door" Ace said. "Still if they can grant us wisdom to who is behind the Minions and the Summoners we can get closer to keeping the peace we have" Leo said as they headed back to the Northern Foothills and reached the large doors and looked up to the guard on the wall high above as he opened the doors for them. "Ah yes, Scythe told us to let you in. Well, I guess you better show him through" a guard said to the other. "Yes, nice try, Mungo. It's your turn and you know it...ah nuts. Alright then, follow me..." the other said leading them into the Decropolis. "An abandon town?" Leo said looking around. "Right, that's as far as I'm going. This place ain't safe, y'know. The whole town's full o' ghosts. Folks say the poor beggars don't even realize they're dead. Anyway, take care looking for them...Glyphs they're called, right?" "Yeah that's it" Ace said. "You're not the first one that's come rummaging for pieces of carved stone, you know. The others found more than they bargained for, though. Rotting corpses the lot of 'em now. Anyway, have a nice day!" he said turning back and closing the doors. "...yeah thanks" Zane said as they looked into the old town. "A Ghost Town huh? Hollow Men going to be all over this place" Ace said. "And lots of ghosts..." Leo said as they saw ghosts walking around. Sparky then barked and lead them to a grave and started digging as Ace used the spade to dig up the Calran's Tablet. "What strange markings" Leo said picking it up as the table contacting the Glyph of Inquiry crumbles in Leo hands. "Please tell me that did not happen?!" Ace said. "Relax I know what the symbol looks like it's the Calran's Expression" Leo said writing it down on a paper. "Let's see if there are more" Ace said as they followed Sparky. "There should be four" Zane said as they followed Sparky to another grave and dug up the Yeron's Tablet as it too crumbled but Leo managed to write down the symbol. "What happened to my children" a ghost voice echoed. "Man that's creepy!" Ace shivered. "This grave beckons me." "Let the poor souls alone" Leo said as they followed Sparky to another part of the town and to another grave where the Skorm's Tear tablet was found then shattered in the heroes hand. "These colors and symbols all mean something I just know it" Leo said as they found the another tablet the Moryk's in another grave before it shattered. "Some of these seem out of place" Ace said. "They are Yeron, Moryk and Calran see right but this Skorm stands out were missing one tablet" Leo said as they entered a new part of town as a barrier formed behind them. "That's not good" Zane said as Summoners and Minions appeared around them. "That sarcophagus! That must be where the last one is" Ace said. "Let's get it then!" Zane said drawing his weapons like the others. After the last of the enemies was destroyed Zane approached the sarcophagus and pushed the lid off with a grunt then held up the Avisto's Tablet as Leo quickly wrote it down. "This is Scythe Heroes. Well done collecting those Glyphs. You should come back to Snowspire now and see if we can awaken the Oracle" Scythe spoke from their Seals. "Let's head back" Zane said. Later the heroes walked up toward Scythe who waited for them at the bottom of the stairs. "You have uncovered the Glyphs. Very good. It's time we awoke the Oracle form it's deathly slumber" Scythe said as they headed up the stairs in the shrine so they could see the Oracle more clearly, "oh, great Oracle! Grant us the knowledge we seek! What evil rise in this land?" "Hey those symbols look like letters" Ace said. "Exactly!" Leo said showing what he was working on, "Y-M-C-A are the names of the four will users who founded this place so these symbols represent their names" Leo said as the Y symbol on the Oracle glowed followed by the M, C and A "The prophecy is fulfilled. The Guildman is here" the top head spoke. "You follow the follow the footsteps of the one who bore the mask you carry" the face on the left head spoke. "Jack of Blades has awakened the dormant power of the Summoners" the right head spoke. "He has used the blood of your family to feed his new shell, beyond the Bronze Gate." "But now his Soul Mask is in your hands. You must use it to feed the Archon's Shrine and open the Gate. Go now and face your destiny." "Jack!" Zane growled. "So Jack has cheated death once more. Never have we encountered a being like him" Scythe said as they headed down the steps, "I do not envy you. The Bronze Gate has long been a symbol of doom in this land. Return to Briar Rose at the Shrine. Perhaps she can tell you how to use Jack's Soul Mask. I must return to the Guild. May fate mile on you" he said before disappearing into a Cullis Gate. "Hmm" Ace said thinking. "Thought of something?" Leo asked. "Having fun at the Y-M-C-A...that could make a good song!" Ace said. "Shut up Ace" Leo and Zane said as they headed back to the shrine. "I'm serious! There could be a whole dance too!" Ace said running after them.
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