| The Hero of Brightwall | |
|---|---|
| Series | His True Destiny by Azaelia Silmarwen |
| Chapter | 19 |
| Writer | Azaelia Silmarwen |
| Chapter Chronology | |
| Previous | His True Destiny: Chapter Eighteen |
| Next | His True Destiny: Chapter Twenty |
| ← His True Destiny: Chapter Eighteen | Chapter Chronology | His True Destiny: Chapter Twenty → |
Chapter Nineteen: The Hero of Brightwall[]
With the Elvira Grey problem dealt with and his dark seal in hand, Reaver returned to Bloodstone and made the necessary preparations for the sacrifice. He managed to convince some naïve adventurer to go there for him.
The moment the man was gone, Reaver then made the preparations for his trip to Aurora to suss out this Crawler. He was not looking forward to this. He was nervous. He had no idea what kind of power this new enemy would have or want to expect. Maybe, if he still had his Will power, he would have felt more confident. One thing he knew, though, was it must be more powerful than Jack of Blades if Theresa was convinced that he couldn’t handle it by himself.
When Reaver arrived in Aurora he could have groaned. It was just as hot as Samarkand and all he could see was desert. He knew that he definitely would not be recommending this place to anyone for a holiday.
At first, he calmly walked through Aurora’s lively streets and figured that the Crawler hadn’t approached them yet, and when he asked random citizens, they all looked at him blankly. They had no idea what a Crawler was.
Knowing this, Reaver acquired a map detailing Aurora and searched for any caves or shadowy locations. Theresa had informed him that the Crawler preferred the dark. Circling several caves, Reaver went out to investigate. However, all he found was Crawler free caves and strange creatures he learnt were called Sand Furies, but that all change when he came to some ancient ruins of an abandoned temple.
Outside the temple, in the sun, were some bird-like warriors made out of what looked like metal. When they saw Reaver, they charged at him, weapons drawn. He didn’t hesitate to fill them with bullets or to slice them with Avo’s Tear.
Figuring that he was in the right place, he climbed up a nearby cliff and jumped onto the platform to the side that contained stairs leading into the temple.
Dragonstomper at the ready, he cautiously entered the mysterious temple and found nothing but darkness. He had thought that some of the other caves had been dark, but compared to this cave, one would have thought that those caves were as bright as day. He couldn’t even see his hand in front of his face.
Grumbling, Reaver pulled a small torch out of his bag and lit it. It showed him a short distance around him, but not enough to be comfortable. He had never been scared of the dark, but this darkness was not natural and it scared him. He felt despair and death in the atmosphere.
Drawing upon the courage he was once famous for, Reaver began to explore the temple. At first it seemed empty, but that was until he entered a room and quickly withdrew, before peering into it more carefully.
Inside was a hideous creature with dead white skin, floating above the ground. Its body was small in comparison to its head containing six eyes. It had spikes bulging from its pale head and a serrated looking mouth stretching across the entire width of its head. It was also asleep.
Reaver figured that this was the Crawler and slowly began to creep back the way he came. True, the Crawler was currently an easy target, but Reaver doubted that he would be able to defeat it with a bullet or Avo’s Tear. After all, it wasn’t that easy to defeat Jack of Blades.
When he exited the temple, he visibly relaxed and headed back towards the desert where he found two more metal bird warriors admiring his handy work from before.
Sighing, Reaver dropped on them from above and finished them of with his sword. He then picked one of them up and half-dragged across the desert and took it back to Albion, ignoring all the curious and suspicious looks he was receiving.
Once he was home in Bloodstone, he began to examine the creature. That was how Theresa found him.
‘I see the Crawler has awakened its minions,’ she sighed.
‘Not all of them,’ replied Reaver, pouring himself some wine. ‘There were some that were like statues. Scared the Hell out of me, they did, but not nearly as much as the Crawler… at least I think it was the Crawler.’
‘Was it a hideous, pale creature?’
‘Oh yes.’
‘Did it see you?’
‘No. Fortunately, it was sleeping.’ Reaver took a sip of wine. ‘It was in an abandon temple. According to locals, it is called Shadelight. Apparently it was like the Shadow of Temples only more extreme. It has been abandoned for years and everyone who goes in never returns.’
‘Obviously that isn’t true for everyone,’ Theresa said pointedly. ‘You came back.’
‘I suppose a Hero would survive. What do we do now?’
‘There is nothing we can do until Sparrow’s daughter is born,’ Theresa sighed, pouring herself some wine. ‘But once the child is old enough, we will need to guide her to victory, by any means.’
‘I hate it when you say that,’ Reaver grumbled.
‘We don’t have a choice, Rowan. It is better a few suffer than the majority.’
‘You are such a utilitarian.’
-----HIS TRUE DESTINY-----
And so, as the years past, Reaver travelled to and from Aurora every five years to investigate the Crawler’s progress, not that he ever went back into Shadelight. He knew that was far too dangerous. However, he was able to tell that the Crawler was growing in strength as its guards in the Shifting Sands began to grow, not to mention the small attacks on the City of Aurora.
When he wasn’t being a Hero, he was supervising the construction of his new mansion in Bower Lake, which had been renamed to Millfields. He had Hero Hill destroyed and his mansion stood in its place. He and Theresa both agreed that no one should ever find the remains of the Heroes Guild encase anyone recognised something linking back to Reaver. It was by some miracle that Sparrow, Garth and Hammer hadn’t figured it out.
He also set about writing an autobiography about his life, though he made sure that he had two versions. The first version, the uncut version spoke of his entire life and all his Heroic work, while the cut version eliminated everything to do with the Hero of Oakvale. It was this version that he got published.
By the time this had happened, Sparrow had passed away from old age, leaving behind her teenage children. Her eldest, Logan, then approached Reaver and offered him employment as a business man to oversee the industry development. Reaver eagerly agreed and made sure that no one could get their hands on his autobiographies, encase they used them against him.
It was a year after Logan took the throne that Reaver knew that the time would soon be upon him and Theresa to make sure Sparrow’s daughter, Rosella, was ready to protect Albion. How did he know that the time was soon approaching? Well, Logan had gone on one of his expeditions with a group of men, to Aurora, and had explored Shadelight. Logan was the only survivor.
Theresa was by his side the moment he returned and she then informed Reaver on what Logan had seen. Reaver immediately went back to Aurora and had a look for himself. While there, he witnessed one of the Crawler’s attacks on the City.
As he stood there, he began to hope that Rosella would have what it took to defeat this enemy, and that she wasn’t anything like Sparrow. Four years later he discovered that Rosella was nothing like her mother.
He was about to enter the Throne Room to hear about the days court meetings when he saw Sir Walter Beck and the Princess talking to a commoner. His jaw dropped when he saw the Princess. She looked nothing like a stereotypical princess. She had short, messy hair with red streaks, while her clothes made her look like a female mercenary.
While she looked tough and didn’t look like a cry baby, Reaver began to worry about the future of the kingdom. She didn’t look like she would be able to defeat the Crawler.
Uneasy, Reaver entered the Throne Room as Rosella farted on the man’s petition.
-----HIS TRUE DESTINY-----
Reaver did not see the Princess again until one of his secret society masquerade, a few weeks later, but he didn’t know it was her at the time.
A few days earlier, he found a group of rebels sneaking around his mansion, which angered him greatly. He had many secrets in his mansion that he didn’t want getting out, not to mention how rude it was for them to be there.
As a result, Reaver killed all of them except, one which he locked in a cage in the main room containing the Wheel of Misfortune. He knew that the rebel leader would try to save her fellow rebels and he was going to use the man as bait. He wasn’t disappointed.
He smirked as two rebels entered the room. Barry Hatch had done his part well. He would have to reward him.
‘There’s one of my men!’ the woman with a red fox mask exclaimed, as the women ran over to the cage. Reaver took this to be the famous Page; the rebel leader who had been infuriating Logan a lot lately. ‘Kidd, are you alright?’
‘Get out! Now!’ Kidd ordered urgently.
Page ignored his order.
‘Where are the others?’ she asked.
‘All dead,’ he replied. ‘Reaver knew you’d come. He’s been waiting for you.’
‘Indeed I have been,’ Reaver said coldly, pulling a lever, which lifted the cage into the air. He watched as the other rebel tried to hang onto the bars as the cage went up. She did not succeed. She ended up falling back to the ground.
‘I am not surprised to have more busy bees here to steal Reaver’s honey,’ he continued. ‘After all, you are all so industrious… so committed, and so bloody annoying. When will you people learn to enjoy life?’
‘I’ll enjoy killing you! Does that count?’ Page snapped, looking up at the terrace Reaver was standing on with his masked guests.
‘Oh, you’re just full of spunk, aren’t you?’ Reaver chuckled. ‘You’re a true heroine. You must be lightning under the bed sheets.’ He turned to his guests. ‘Now, as promised, the evening’s piece de la resistance.’ He looked back at the rebels. ‘Do try to put on a good show for my guests, won’t you?’
‘Show?’ Page barked. ‘You expect us to entertain you?’
‘But of course. It’s just a game, my little sweet.’ Reaver laughed as he pulled another lever, which turned the Wheel of Misfortune. The pin in the middle stopped on a picture of a hobbe.
Reaver smirked as the hobbe arena door opened and the rebels stormed through it. He then ushered his guests to the platform that overlooked the arena so they could all watch. He had gotten the idea of having these arenas in his home from the Arena and the Crucible. He had enjoyed competing in the Arena and he enjoyed watching fights, so he decided to make one for his enemies.
Once everyone was ready for the hobbes, Reaver said, ‘You will laugh, you will cry, and you will have your sinews gnawed upon. Bring out the hobbes!’
Barry Hatch went over to a lever and pulled it. This simple action opened all the locked gates in the arena releasing the hobbes.
Reaver watched on eagerly as the two rebels fought. However, it was the second rebel that held his attention. While she was wearing a beautiful gown and mask, she fought like a savage. She was brutal with the two swords she fought with, showing no mercy and sent bloods and guts everywhere. On several occasions she forgot all about her weapons and used her bare hands. Reaver mentally noted to put a bullet through her if she ever came to close to him.
The rebels managed to slaughter the hobbes without much difficulty, much to Reaver’s dismay.
‘One almost feels sorry for those repugnant beasts,’ he said calmly as the two rebels glared up at him. ‘Then one shrugs and waits for the next piece of carnage’
As the door out of the arena reopened, Reaver led his guests back to the main hall.
‘Like the tales of my greatest conquests, the Wheel simply demands to be spun,’ he said once the rebels were once more before him. ‘What delicious fate will it deliver this time?’
It landed on a picture of a helmet above a skull.
‘Ah, it’s just not a real party without the elegant shuffles of these gentlemen,’ he announced. ‘They are so hallowed and yet so hollow.’
As Barry led the guests to the next room, Reaver watched as the girls below exchanged what he assumed to be nervous looks before they entered the next arena.
‘Let the tearing of limbs commence!’ he ordered as he entered the room. ‘Chop, chop!’
During this round, Reaver paid more attention to the other rebel’s fighting skills rather than the fighting as a whole. He noticed that she relied a lot on her strength and that she was very clumsy. She had no grace, like Whisper did. He had to say that she was even more barbarian than Hammer was.
‘What a heartbreaking performance,’ Reaver drawled as the last hollow man fell. ‘The poetry of life and death was unmistakeable, and you had to spoil it all by not dying.’
He then watched as the zombie dust covered rebels marched out of the room. He could hear Page muttering angrily to herself.
He chuckle as he followed his guests back to the man room. Grudgingly enough, he could now see why Jack of Blades liked messing with people. It was fun.
Back in the main hall, the Wheel was spun again, before landing on a symbol of a bird. Reaver noticed that Page seemed to relax at his symbol. He found that odd as one was yet to survive this level.
‘Ah, yes,’ said Reaver, ‘I paid these bloodthirsty mercenaries out of my own pocket. Of course it was with the gold I took from the people, but still, they’d better not disappoint.’
Once more Reaver and his guests made their way to the next view point to watch another round, hoping that the rebels would die. However, Reaver was secretly hoping that they would make it to the final round, just for the entertainment.
During the round, Reaver noticed that Page was rather good at slaying mercenaries and the other rebel still thought like a savage. He had never seen anyone fight like her before. He found it rather disturbing.
He watched as the mercenaries dropped like flies under the girls’ attacks, so he commented on how petty they were.
‘It is because of these sorry excuses of fighters that I miss my Bloodstone pirates,’ he stated aloud. ‘They were ten times better than this sorry lot. They took orders better too.’
He had to then laugh as the mercenaries, who had heard him, turned and glared at him for insulting them. However, they were merely proving Reaver’s point of how petty they were. They had just given the girls the advantage of defeating them, which they took.
‘As it happens, I was bending the truth about having paid them,’ Reaver admitted as the last mercenary fell. ‘It was strictly a no kill, no deal agreement. So you’ve saved me a small fortune. Bravo.’
‘And I’m sure your little payout would have broken the bank!’ Page snapped sarcastically. Everyone knew that Reaver’s wealth rivalled that of the royal family, and she was sure that that wasn’t all of his wealth. She wouldn’t be surprised if he was the wealthiest man alive.
‘To become as rich as I, you don’t spend money when you don’t need to,’ Reaver informed her casually. ‘Now, the Wheel awaits.’
The Wheel was spun once more and when the next round was revealed, Reaver grinned broadly. Now this was going to be an interesting round; a round the savage would struggle in.
‘Oh, now this is a very special round,’ Reaver announced eagerly. ‘Wait until you see what treasures I have in store for you next.’
He watched as the rebels nervously looked at each other, before slowly making their way to their next enemy.
When they were all in the sandy arena, they looked up at the interested Reaver.
‘I met these delightful creatures in a rather inhospitable land far from the turgent green of Albion,’ Reaver informed everyone. ‘I do love to bring two cultures together and see which one dies first.’
‘Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… the Sand Furies!’ Barry announced.
Out of the sand jumped the strangest looking creatures. They seemed to be dressed in brown rags with horns on their heads. They were all carrying swords.
Reaver smirked as he watched the rebels struggle with the Sand Furies agility and flexibility. The brute struggled the most.
He had managed to capture them during his last expedition to Aurora. His unequalled speed and skill as a Hero of Skill truly helped in the capture. Unfortunately, the rebels didn’t have the same advantage as he did, though he did have to admit they were quite dense. They were using the same tricks that they used during the past rounds, and were failing miserably.
Every time the fierce rebel charged at her enemies, they merely stepped out of her way and shot one of their darts at her back. This infuriated her. She let out a roar of frustration and charged at them, but they mildly hopped out of her way. It was for this reason that Reaver was shocked that they survived the round. He had no idea how they did it, even though he watched the entire round.
‘Wasn’t that utterly enthralling?’ Reaver asked his guests as the rebels stood there panting. ‘Of course, you should be ashamed of yourselves,’ he added to said rebels, ‘treating foreign visitors in such an unsocial manner.’
He glanced around at his guests as they headed back to the main chamber and saw that they were growing restless. Not that he could blame them. The rebels weren’t doing anything spectacular. They weren’t livening things up. At least when he competed in the Arena, he made it interesting for the spectators.
‘You holier-than-thou idealists, always thinking in the simplest, most binary of ways,’ he said once everyone was in the main chamber, ‘but I quite agree. This game grows tiresome, and my guests grow reckless.’
He had heard Page’s comment, before they left the room, about her having enough of the game.
The Wheel spun once again to reveal the symbol for balverines.
‘Let’s see how you enjoy these delightful creatures,’ Reaver said to the rebels, pointedly ignoring Barry flirting with one of his guests. ‘I always save the best for last.’
He chuckled as the rebels looked around for the next arena, but they couldn’t see any open doors. They looked quickly back up at Reaver, but he was no longer paying them any attention. He was scolding one of his guests, who had turned into a balverine, because they killed Barry. However, his scolding was rather mocking.
He then turned back to the rebels, smirking.
‘What is the use of a “secret society” without a secret?’ he questioned rhetorically as all his guests became balverines.
The balverines jumped down and began to attack the rebels. Now he would see them die… or so he thought. By some miracle they managed to survive.
As the last balverine fell, Reaver could not help but feel both impressed and annoyed. He was impressed that the girls had been able to get through all the levels; no one had survived the Wheel of Misfortune rounds before, except for him. Then he was annoyed because they survived and had slaughtered all his brutes. It had taken a lot of work to establish his secret society.
‘Well, I must say, you’ve made me out to be a somewhat poor host,’ he commented coldly. ‘Rather rude of you to dispose of all my guests.’
‘Now it’s your turn, Reaver!’ Page growled, aiming her gun at him and firing.
Rolling his eyes, Reaver raised his cane and held it in front of him, knocking the bullet back towards the girl's feet.
‘How -?’ Page gasped.
'My dear girl, why not stop all this bickering?’ Reaver suggested. ‘The three of us could go up to my quarters and have a private party.’
‘No,’ Page said immediately, while the other rebel said eagerly, ‘Sure.’
While Reaver chuckled at the savage’s eagerness, Page turned disbelievingly to her.
‘No, we won’t!’ she stated firmly, before turning angrily to Reaver. 'Do you have any idea who this is?' she demanded, nodding to her companion.
‘Your brute of a friend?’ he asked mildly. ‘Should I know her?’
‘She is Princess Rosella… Logan’s sister!’
Reaver paled.
That was the princess! Since when did she become an animal? She was definitely taking her rebellious stage way too far. But that wasn’t what was worrying him. What worried him was her fighting skills. If she was to face the Crawler now, she would die. She wouldn’t even last a minute against it. Albion would be doomed. He would have to speak to Theresa about her.
‘Well, well, well, look who’s become a bona fide Hero...' he ended up drawling, hiding his true feelings and thoughts. 'Well, I wouldn't dream of coming between siblings. Well, that's not strictly true... there was that time... Anyway,' he said, walking away, 'best of luck with this whole revolution lark. Perhaps we'll meet again one day. Tatty-bye.'
As Reaver closed the door behind him, he heard a bullet hitting the door, and Page swearing loudly.
Written: 29 April 2013