Solsae Kingdom - Part 15

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Episode 9: VyeBlaze - Firefight in Noxnuo
 "Brave in the Shadows!"

“Go! Go my Relinquished! The enemy is strong! Very strong! But we have strength in numbers, oh yes... We are Legion! Bring back Noxnuo, bring them all into our fold!”

Those were the last thoughts that coursed through Abyss’s brain as the flames ripped through him and tore him asunder. The shadows spewed out of him, crawling from his sleeves and pouring from his mouth and eyes, thousands of them flying with a howl through the night, all of them headed in the same direction.

The sun rose to the east, but in the west, towards the town of Noxnuo, the looming darkness had not yet been bested!

“To your right!” The voice in Amami’s head urged her. She twisted and narrowly avoided her foe’s lunging slash, countering with a strong punch. His jaw cracked and he was tossed several feet from the force.

“Now behind you! A kick!” It was the goddess Xian who was doing the ‘back seat fighting’ so to speak. “Yeah!” Amami said, dodging the incoming kick and grabbing the Relinquished Nero’s gloopy leg. She then span twice on her heels and threw him skywards in the direction of the rising sun. Moments later, a crash in the distance signified his painful landing.

“They just don’t stop!” She huffs, her breath ragged, her chest heaving.

<span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“You're right… But that's not all. Have you noticed? With each moment that passes, they regain more of their individuality! It is <span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:700;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Imperative <span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> that we end this now!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Yeah… but how? It's taking all my strength and all your guidance to keep them at bay!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“The treasures you stole from your homeland. Do you have something that dispels the darkness?

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Oh, you're right… The Fire Rat’s mantle consumes flames and lays waste to the dark. And the Cowrie Shells disperse Evil in a single shot!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“That sounds like it's worth a shot!” Xian chuckles.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Well, let's lock and load!” Amami concurs, reaching behind her cloak and whipping out a weapon of clear alien origin. She points the nozzle of the wave cannon at the chest of the charging Relinquished blob that <span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">was <span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Dionisus and waited. Waited… waited…

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Now!” Xian shouted in her head. She squeezed the trigger. Inside the weapon, a hammer struck a flint, that ignited a small depository of liquid light, which resulted in a shockwave so forceful that it blew her away with recoil. A shine and a glow propelled two projectiles from the barrels of the gun, which exploded into hundreds more smaller projectiles. Hundreds of glowing bullets like fireflies struck his chest simultaneously amongst hundreds more that missed. He screamed an inhuman scream as they wormed through him, eating away the darkness that had seized him, leaving just his blackened bones that then melted into tartar, the gloopy substance that he had emerged from. Amami was just about to breath a sigh of relief, when Demonix called out!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Watch your back, luv!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">He moved with his trademark swiftness, appearing like the wind near her and parrying the attack of the shadow of Nero. He gritted his teeth. So Korin was right. It wasn’t Rex who killed him. Kite killed his own envoy. It was no surprise now - but in a moment of anger, with three claw blades, he rent him in pieces. Amami aimed her shotgun, she locked, loaded, and fired!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The bullets, like a swarm of pink fireflies bombarded Demonix and Nero. Nero was consumed by the streaks of lights, burned and melted down into tartar.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">When they come in contact with Demonix though, he felt a different sensation. Like the hate that gripped him, that threatened to even destroy him! Like all of that darkness, just like that, left his weary soul.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">_________________________________________________________

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Meanwhile! A Hero’s duty is never over!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Far to the west of the cult’s gathering grounds, where a battle between light and dark took place, in the town of Noxnuo, at the foot of the Manglewood cliffs, the people needed a defender! A Hero! And VyeBlaze was that Hero!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">It was mere moments ago, Amami, wheezing and coughing, encroached My liege and  at the Palace! She spoke in short splutters, trying to get her words of utmost urgency out of her as quick as possible.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Bad guy!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">-wheeze-

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Demonix will be killed…”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">-cough-

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Solsae is in danger…!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">-pant-

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">This continued as I rubbed her back to try and ease her, Rex and I listening dutifully to the youngling. When she finished her struggled spiel, it made a hazy sort of sense. Demonix was a tool of a greater power - Kite, a mysterious cult leader beyond Noxnuo. He went after Kite for vengeance, but he had no chance. Amami wanted to save him. She wanted so much to save him, she would beg for his life. How could a Hero say no to that?

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">When I gallantly stepped forth to offer my services, Rex blocked me with his arm.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“The Devil Hood is an enemy to Solsae. I will not put my land nor my men in jeopardy for him. But this Kite… It is my duty to expel vermin like him. VyeBlaze, evacuate Noxnuo to Solsae. Help them best you can. I have a feeling this will get ugly.” I had snapped a salute in response, no words necessary.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“One more thing, friend… As you always have, capture the hearts of the people. Now, Amami, lead the way!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Hero of Solsae opens his fierce eyes, and he grips Excaliburn’s hilt tight, waiting with bated breath at Blackgate bridge which separated these decent, hard working folk from the wasteland of death and destruction where his esteemed king fought valiantly.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">If Noxnuo’s civilians would stand in the face of evil, against all odds, for what they had worked hard to earn, then a Hero must stand up for them. That’s what he thought. So in the face of oncoming adversary, he vowed to protect them with his every living breath. A vow he would uphold with all the gallantry that he could muster!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">He waited.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The horizon grew darker. Thick with stampeding creatures the likes of which he had never lain eyes on. And still he waited!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“My King Rex… you have proven thyself once again a true hero as ever I knew you would! Now I, VyeBlaze, will protect these people with every iota of strength within me!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">People of Noxnuo… you give me the strength to fight. Indeed your refusal to flinch or flee from those who wish you harm is the very spirit of heroism! And that bravery makes my heroic spirit stir!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Now, fiends, come at me, I will drive every one of you back!” I cry, swishing my sword off of my shoulder and holding it in a ready stance.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">There are thousands of them. And the rumblings of them thousands of feet gets louder and louder! The bridge shudders as they stamp closer and closer!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“When a hero has somebody to protect, he will never fall! And I have hundreds! The people of Noxnuo, their resolve stands firm in me!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">_________________________________________________________

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Elsewhere, Noxnuo,

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“But Loco! We have a <span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:700;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">duty <span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> to protect Noxnuo, do we not?! Is this not our home?!” A very large grey-skinned man roars angrily at another, a man astride a segway, wearing a huge, googly eyed cartoon Orc mask. Behind the pig-headed man stand three scantily clad women, each with a cartoon mask of their own, each in near silence as though they are his own shadows.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The masked man straightens his lab coat and looks up at the towering athlete with his dizzying green eyes and snarls, “This is not our problem. Just when did we stop being entertainers and become heroes, hmm?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Whether Gargoyal goes with you, or without you, Gargoyal goes! Gargoyal is no mere man, no - from now on, Gargoyal Stone is the Hero of Noxnuo, pig!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">With that, the muscular man stormed out of the tent fuming.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Was that really OK, baws?” A girl's voice asks. “He was one of our biggest stars.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Yeah, wasn’t he like your own son or somethin’ sweety?” another of the Loco girl chimes in. Loco snorts his pig like laugh.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“My dear, this was always going to happen” oinks Loco. “This little circus of ours was never big enough for that man. Now, my son, see the world with your own eyes. You are free.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">________________________________________________________

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The first wave of odorous ink-creatures charge BlackGate Bridge with a deafening roar! The weak-kneed may tremble before such an army, But, I, VyeBlaze will not be repelled by such a flagrant show of beastial aggression! Oh no! I inhale with lungs of steel, and then I bellow like a hurricane, “You shall not pass!” with such force that the encroaching horde shake in there blotted boots!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">And then, like a crack of a whip, I blast forth with the speed and ferocity of a Griffon! I broadly, boldly swing my Kitesword, Excaliburn, with the might of an ogre, the beasts are felled like so many blades of grass, each collapsing in twain, and melting into black blobs.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I spin, like a man-cyclone, cutting those demons in half at the waist by the dozen, and then I throw myself deeper into the fray and swing down Excaliburn with enough force to blast the creatures by the dozen over the edge and into the ravine beneath BlackGate! They yell in surprise and anguish as they fall deep into the maw of darkness where they belong!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“You will never conquer my spirit!” I roar, raising my sword and sticking out my chest proudly. I feel strong in the face of this darkness!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“For Noxnuo, on VyeBlaze the Hero of Solsae’s honor! You shall not pass!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">When the hoards steel their resolve and swing white-tipped claws for me in an effort to snuff out the noble VyeBlaze before them, excaliburn in hand, I parry, each hit, and disarm my foes with deadly precision!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I bunt one shadow between its spiraling eyes, knocking him out cold, I plunge my sword through another one's waist, cutting him right in half!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">One tries to stab me with a spear-like limb, but I rip it from him and harpoon it through the skull of yet another monster!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">When they leap at me in waves, I avoid with the dexterity gained through years of dueling with my lord, and when their attacks fail to even graze me, I make deadly counters, felling them one by one, leaving more and more puddles of ooze at my feet!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">A battalion of the creatures splits away, and charges my flanks in a cowardly attempt to take Noxnuo behind my back while I struggle with the hoards!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“What a dastardly way to fight! That's why, no matter what petty reasons drive villains to fight, Evil will ever be routed by great heroes of people! Only with a heroic heart, one like that which Noxnuo’s people share, like the heart that guides I, VyeBlaze, Defender of the Just!, Gallantly into the unknown, can you forge your path forwards!” I lecture, to deaf ears.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I smash my sword deep into the bridge, and with a couple of shoulder rotations to limber my punching arm, I throw my fist, all of the weight of justice to guide it through, right into a gargantuan wooden support column, one of many keeping bridge erect and sturdy. It snaps, like taking an axe to a tree! The beam, easily six square feet, falls with a screech and the snapping of vine cables. It collapses atop me! I reach up and grab it, hoisting it aloft - and, with a burst of god-like strength, I toss it like a massive caber! It soars in a way something that large never should! Briefly, anyway. The dastards notice the shadow of the column and scramble to escape, but nothing that large could stay aloft for ever - and when it comes down, it crashes down hard! The wretched villains had no chance! Their screams were drowned out under the wall of wood that pinned them down, and then, like the rest I had defeated, the two troops melted down into blots of darkness and trickle out from beneath the barricade.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Without the support, the bridge wanes to the side, Tossing some of the creatures over the edge. I brace myself until the structure adapts to its new placement. Now standing on a 45 degree bridge over a drop of who knows how far, this battle just became one hundred times more precarious!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I take up my sword once more, and get back to the slaying! I wield it like a shield, charging into the crowd and shunting the monsters left and right, their inky carcasses scattering over the sides of the bridge and into the abyss!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Each swing of Excaliburn diminishes the enemy ranks, and I constantly press them further and further from the city! The hoard, once so thick, you couldn’t see beyond the bridge, now numbered less than a hundred! Puddles of the ink that comprised their bodies swamped the wooden surface of BlackGate bridge like tar, making movement hard, but this bout was as good as over now! I push forwards again, swinging, slashing, slaying the swarm by the dozen!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">How many have I beat now? Hundreds? Thousands? More? I can hardly tell! But this is exhilarating! I felt my blood boiling from this unusual challenge, pitting all my skill, strength and training to the ultimate test! Before me, villains even by the thousand were nothing! My chest swells with pride!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">They roar and chant and shout and howl, and again and again they charge me like the mindless zombies that they are! And each one, I cut down without a second thought, never relaxing my guard until but one last foe stands before me!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I scoop my sword up, squinting through the sunlight, my eyes meeting his soulless pits within his face, a face void of all emotion. “Who ever you are, Remember this… Noxnuo is under the protection of Rex of Solsae, and the people’s Hero, VyeBlaze will personally see that no villain never ever steps foot beyond the great Black gate of Noxnuo!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I push off the ground with my right leg and lunge with one massive step across its length. In an instant, I pass him, in that instant, I wave my sword and cut him in twain. And finally, before me, I see the edge of Noxnuo. I see the wastes of Old Solsae, its scorched lands and ruins, the toxic green plumes overhead. But I also see… the end of today's darkness.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">This wasn’t his first time seeing the ruins of his homeland. The ruins of Old Solsae. But it always overcome him with emotions.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">It was a terrible place. The people who lived here were beyond wretched. Thieves, rapers and all the scum of the worst kind. But Abyss, who like Rex, fought to change that, was somewhere here too, trying his best to shine light in the the hearts of the black hearted. Or so VyeBlaze thought, unaware to his old comrades nefarious deeds.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The people who dared to wish for the light all left with Rex, and together created New Solsae. After that, those who overcome the darkness and those who refused to be overcome by villainy gathered and created Noxnuo in the shadow of Manglewood cliffs.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Every day, people move from the ruins to Solsae or Noxnuo to start a new life.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The green sky was proof of the worst of humanity. It blocked out the sun and corrupted the people. It poisoned life, which lead to an unspoken rule here in the badlands, that only the strong would live. Plant life was scarce and water was a luxury. Most resorted to cannibalism and even the closest of friends would drive a knife through each other’s backs for a grand enough profit.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Screeching shadows of those killed in the attack three generations ago were still imprinted on the ground and walls as a reminder of just how destructive people had the capacity to be. I took a breath. Moment over. I turned back to Black Gate bridge, ready to return to Noxnuo, ready to be its shield. I had faith that Rex, beyond here, could handle himself no matter what happened.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">But when I turned back to the bridge, I saw something unlike what I ever could have expected!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The blots of the shadows that I had killed…

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">They had all come together and were slithering down the length of the bridge like a massive slug! How could I be so foolish! Sentimentality got the better of me, and in that instant where my resolve was weak, the enemy had made his move?! I run, fast as I can along the bridge, but it's so close to Noxnuo now, how can I ever hope to get there in time?! My king… People of Noxnuo, of Solsae old and new! Give me strength!, I pray, as I run full throttle along Blackgate, my cloak flaring out, blazing a trail behind me!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Just when it looks like the monster will engulf the gate at the far side with it oozing, slimy girth my ears prick up and my skin prickles, and just then, a huge shockwave erupts! I feel it like a punch! The bridge swings violently and the monster is slung over my head and collapses in a heap!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">And where it stood moments ago, A man, grey skinned, with fierce eyes, firm heroic brows, and a pompadour as magnificent as his outstretched fist, stood in its place!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I bound over to him, then turn and return my focus to the monster opposite us. He pulls back his fist and takes a guarded stance, bouncing lightly, one foot to another.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Well met, fellow hero!” I say to the built man. And when I say built, I mean built! He must be eight feet of pure muscle! Yet so light on his feet! He is incredibly well trained, perhaps rivaling my self.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Hero? Heh… I guess I am now! Name’s Gargoyal!” He chuckles, swiping his nose with his hand. “Anyway, fill me in, VyeBlaze! What happened to the army? What is this behemoth?!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“I killed every single shadow that descended upon Noxnuo… or so I thought. In truth, in a lapse of concentration, they must have combined into… this!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Combined, huh? That can’t be good. It must be as strong as hundreds of men. No, thousands…”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">No sooner had he finished speaking, that the slug monster began to morph its gelatinous body! First, a huge fist thrust out of its goopy form, then two legs, short yes, but strong like trees. Then another arm burst forth. That's not all! In its arm…!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The pillar that I used as a barricade! When it got launched back down the bridge, it must have took the pillar with it! And now it intended to show us the broad side of its new bat!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">It attempted to walk forwards on its spindle-like legs, trembling like a newborn foal, but the sheer mass of its upper body caused it to collapse into a heap.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Heh! Looks like baby can’t walk!” Gargoyal taunts.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“No, it's still… learning.” I correct him. Indeed it is. It rights itself, using the column like a crutch, and then puts its whole body into its next step, and another, and another, and then, before long, it's barrelling towards us, Heldes bent on our deaths!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“$±/+!” Gargoyal swears. “Ya had to say it!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">When it gets within range, me and him both step forwards together. I slash through its gelatinous body to no effect. It cuts, but the gel just repairs itself! His punch is absorbed by the springy body of the blob monster, and what's worse, we were in its range!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">We both open our mouths to curse this misfortune at the same time, but before we get our chance, the Black Gate bridge bat swats us like a pair of mosquitoes!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Rather than be sent flying, we both grit our teeth, and dig our fingers into the column. The monster then brings the bat up and smashes it down, trying to flatten us against the bridge. I push off the rod and tumble to safety, for the time being, but Gargoyal has another plan!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">He lands on his feet and using all his strength, holds the monster in place.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Get him!” He yells!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Don’t have to tell me twice!” I reply! I leap up high above the creature, and then come down, sword first through its body, splitting it right in two through the middle! Gargoyal then lifts the half with the column and suplexes him down into the bridge, the same way he tried to dispatch of us! The right half of the creature explodes into chunks with a squelch!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“But if it can just revive itself, how do we finish it?” I ask my new comrade.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Ever heard of anything coming out from the World Scar?” Gargoyal asks win.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“No… No I have not! You're not thinking…?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Can ya smell what the Stone’s cookin’ up, VyeBlaze?!” He roars, then lunges towards the half that he hadn’t yet smashed into oblivion. He winds up like a batterballer, ready to swing, and then with a crack! He sends half of the monster hurtling into the endless ravine.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Hel yeah! Let's find out once and for all if there is any escape!” He grinned broadly then boisterously thrusts his fist up in celebration. “Oh yeah!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Seems like our best bet. Then, allow me to finish what I started!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“You got it, Blaze!” Gargoyal agrees, slapping my hand though to tag me in.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I start spinning clockwise, my sword held firmly in both hands, each rotation getting faster and faster, a low hum emanating from the speed of the sword swinging around and around!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Excaliburn is no ordinary sword! It is a Kite Sword! When you use the edge, it's a dangerous tool for protecting the innocent, <span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:700;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">but! <span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> when you use the broad side it becomes a fan that fuels the flames!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Hah! So that's why it's such an odd shape?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Indeed! Now excaliburn, bellow! Blow these creatures into the depths!” I cry, spinning faster and faster, the wind getting stronger and stronger. The blobs try to stick down, they try with all their might but against such a powerful hurricane they one by one are plucked from the bridge, scooped up and tossed aside and over the ravine into the World Scar. They can’t resist. There would be no reforming from this.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I slow my spin as the last one is thrown into the pit. The humming of my rotating sword lessens, and just like that, with my great hurricane, the heroes of Solsae and Noxnuo protected Black Gate bridge!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">He extends his fist, a broad smile on his lips, his eyes fiercely locked with mine. I extend my own, bumping his fist as a sign of respect.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Peace brother!” He says.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Yes. Let us fight shoulder to shoulder again, noble Gargoyal!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Nah, I ain’t noble just yet. If I were noble, I’d have been the one protecting my people. Thanks.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“From one hero to another, no thanks are necessary!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Not for this, for letting me be what I always shoulda. Anyway, you can leave this to me. When I saw you over there, you had a look, like a man with a mission. Gargoyal knows that something's going down. An’ you need to be there when it does.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Sir, I couldn’t!’--

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Don’t give me that {@¶! I'm a hero too. You can leave my city to me, now get your pansy ass in high gear!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Sir Gargoyal… Yes, I shall leave this in your capable hands from here out! Noxnuo is lucky to have you!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Damn straight.” He grumbles, turning his back on me. Yes, friends don’t say good bye. That's how it should be. And so, planting one foot in front of the other as fast as my legs can carry me, I rocket off with a crack and a fwhoosh, And my cloak blazing a trail behind me.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Wait for me, Rex, VyeBlaze will be there in a snap!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:14.666666666666666px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Fwoosh!”

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