The Fighter’s Guild Chronicles
“Shall We Continue?!”
Miniature City
As Dale is still looking down into the arena, Shade walks up next to him. “You said that you’re here to help me but, I don’t understand how any of this is going to help me.” Dale says. He then turns away from the arena and looks up at Shade. Shade chuckles.
“I know it’s all a bit confusing now but, I assure you, very soon, you’ll understand why this is so important.” Dale shakes his head, a little distraught. “Shall, we continue?”
“Sure, let’s see how crazy the rabbit hole really gets.”
“Very good. First thing’s first. You must learn who we are and what it is that we really do here. Clawhaven History 101. Follow me, please.”
“Great, back to school, I go.” Dale says, sarcastically. He then follows both Shade and Shadow to another room in the house. The two vampires stop at the door. Shadow opens the door then, using his hand, he looks over at Dale, directing him into the room. Dale looks into the room, it’s completely dark. Dale hesitates going in, as he gives each of the vampires a disturbing look.
“I know that trust is only one of the many struggles that you face. You need to learn to trust, mate, if that’s going to change.” Shadow says.
“I suppose that’s fair, you know, given that you didn’t tear me to pieces, when I entered your house.”
“Once we’re finished here, we’ll move on.” Shade says, then she and Shadow walk away.
Dale enters the room. The door immediately closes behind him. As he stands there for a few moments, he starts to wonder, if he really made a mistake, by trusting them then, the room lights ups, with the same white glow, as with the rest of the house. Dale looks around. The room is rather large. Large enough that it would take a while to reach from one side of the room to the other. The room is all white, with white padding on the walls and floor. Dale looks behind him, at the door, to see if anyone is coming in behind him but, he only sees that the spot where the door should be, blends in with the rest of the wall.
“Hello!” Dale shouts.
“Yes, honey, we can hear you.” Shade says, her voice echoing throughout the room. Dale jumps. Shade’s sudden reply, caught him by surprise. He looks around the room for her but, she is nowhere in sight.
“Where are you? I don’t see you” Dale responds, still looking around.
“You are standing inside the Cortex. While in this room, we can communicate to you through telepathy.
“Telepathy? So, you’re in my head right now.”
“No. Even though I have the ability of telepathy, I stay respectful to your thoughts and privacy. We only use the telepathy to communicate. This is how we’ll help you learn, understand and grow, while you’re in the Cortex.” Shadow says, his voice also echoing throughout the room.
“Okay...” Dale says, nodding his head, understandably. “…but why is this room so big?”
“This room is used primarily for three things. Learning, training and searching.” Shade says. The word training catches Dale’s attention, giving him a bad vibe.
“Training? Training for what?” Dale asks, rather briskly, looking around, again.
“The room is the size that it is so you can move freely, inside. You will understand soon. First, let’s focus on learning. Now, you will learn who we are and why we exist. Are you ready?” Dale pushes out a sigh of frustration as Shade’s question slightly annoys him.
“I feel like you’re going to ask me that question a lot.”
“She will, so please, just indulge her so, we can move on.” Shadow demands. Dale applies a fake smile on his face.
“I’m ready.” Dale answers, mockingly.
“Very good. Let us begin.” Dale nods his head, looking around, as he is quite curious as to what is going to happen next. After a few moments, a ball of light appears. The noise it emits as the ball of light manifests, catches Dale’s attention and he looks up. Giving the floating ball an awkward glare, Dale watches as the ball slowly descends in front of him.
Then, with another strange noise, the ball of light flashes. Dale quickly covers his face. Before Dale realizes what’s happening, the ball of light disappears. Dale uncovers his face and looks around. The all white, padded room he was standing in, has completely disappeared. He now, appears to be standing outside, in some sort of meadow. He’s never seen this place before. The whole area is covered with thick green grass. Bushes of vegetation and a large variety of flowers seem to stretch endlessly. There are several different types of trees in the surrounding area that are of all colors and sizes. Some of the trees are even baring a variety of fruits.
Hearing some birds flying by, Dale looks up at the sky and watches as the large group of birds fly past him. He then notices the sky. Not a single cloud in sight, only an ocean of blue, hovering above him. The sun, like our sun, burns bright, lighting the area perfectly. What catches Dale’s attention about the light is that, it’s the same magical glow, he saw when Shade lit up the house. Dale can feel the warmth of the sun as the rays touch his body. As the wind blows, the breeze is refreshing on his skin. The wind causes the trees, the grass and the rest of the vegetation in the area to sway back and forth. The familiar sound of the leaves rustling and the smell of the grass and flowers are a slight comfort for him. The beautiful scenery almost makes him forget that he was just standing in the Cortex, only a few moments ago.
When he remembers, Dale starts looking around frantically, for Shade and Shadow. After not seeing anyone, he starts to panic. His heart begins to race and his breathing becomes a little more tense. “Hey!” Dale shouts. “Is anyone there? Shade, Shadow!”
“We’re still here. Calm down, Dale, you’re okay.” Shadow says, calmly. Shadows voice soothes some of Dale’s anxiety and Dale calms down a little.
“What happened, where am I?”
“You’re still standing inside of the Cortex. What you are seeing is an image of our world inside of your head.”
“You told me that you weren’t inside of my head!” Dale shouts, angrily.
“And I’m not. I have merely implanted an image so you can see our world. Think of it like being in one of your cartoons. All of your senses still work. U can see, feel, smell, taste and touch, all while walking around.” Dale takes a few moments to process Shadow’s words. What Shadow says does makes sense, since Dale is able to feel the heat and the wind, while also being able to smell the grass and flowers.
“Okay.” Dale blurts out, after calming down. “So now what?”
“Now, you take a walk and see our world through your eyes.” Shade says. Dale silently obeys. He picks a direction to get started in and starts walking. “The world that you are now experiencing is called Raylia. We are Raylians.” Shade says.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Yes, and sacred. It is the home of the Host-High.”
“You have mentioned Him before. Who is He?” Dale asks, grabbing onto some weird, tall weeds that remind him of “corn on the cob”, as he passes by them.
“Oh, He is everything. He is the creator of creators and the High of Highs. He is the one who created our world and yours. Without Him, there would be no existence.”
“So, this “Most-High” created us.” Dale says. He comes to a group of beautifully colored flowers and stops. He bends down and picks a blue one. Dale examines the flower for a moment.
“And everything around us” Shadow says, watching Dale stare at the flower. “Those are called “Phildylapans.” They are very common on our planet and very good for restoring health, when needed of course.” Dale nods his head. So far, he likes their planet and everything the vampire twins are telling him. It does makes sense in a weird way. Before today, he would have never believed in the “Most High” but, now, after everything that he’s seen, it just feels right. Dale goes to continue his walk when he sees a weird-looking large animal stand up from some tall grass not too far away from him.
The creature is large in size and looks like a cross between a kangaroo and a bat. Dale jumps and stops. The creature looks over and locks eyes with Dale. Dale’s heart starts to race. “Is this thing, going to attack me?” Dale thinks to himself. “What is this thing!?” Dale shouts, fearful of being mauled by the ginormous creature, standing in front of him.
“Calm yourself, Dale. Nothing in this image can harm you. I assure you, you’re perfectly safe.” Shadow says.
“Okay, that’s very good to hear.” Dale says.
“What you are looking at, is called a Thirmimyes. One of the many mammals that share our planet. The Thirmimyes are very territorial and they eat both meat and vegetation. If this were a real situation, the Thimimyes would tear you to shreds but, fortunately for you, it’s only part of the image that I’ve implanted into your mind.” Shadow says. After Shadow ends his sentence, Dale watches as the Thirmimyes hops a few times then flies away. Dale let’s out a sigh of relief and starts walking. again.
“So, this “Most-High”, is he the reason why you and your sister have those special abilities?”
“Yes, the Most-High is the reason why we have our gifts and the one and only reason our guild exists. We exist to serve Him. We are his disciples.” Shade says.
“So, where is He? What does He look like?”
“These questions will be answered in due time, for now, let us focus on why you’re here, Dale.” Shadow says
“Very well, brother.” Shade says. “Long ago, like yours, when our world was first created, our people lived in peace. Everyone lived together in harmony and honored the “Most-High”. Our world was perfect. Then, our world was betrayed, by the one we call the “Black Baron.” He corrupted our people and is the one who is responsible for bringing the “Black” into our world.
“What is the Black?” Dale asks. He then stops to examine a cool looking bush full of small fruits that look kind of like blueberries.
“The Black goes against everything good that we stand for. It goes against our divine law.” Shadow says.
“Okay.” Dale says, as he continues to look at the berries. He hasn’t eating in a while and he is now, starting to get hungry.
“Those are a poisonous fruit called “Coffinberries”. Once eating, it only takes about three minutes before your nervous system shuts down and you die.”
“Wow!” Dale says. He then gets up and resumes his walk.
“Back to our conversation, once the Black Baron released the Black into our world, it brought with it death and destruction. Unfortunately, everyone on Raylia was affected by the Black. We were all forced to make a choice. Those who were completely consumed by the Black decided to turned their backs on the “Most-High” and started to live only to please themselves. They became known as the “Fallen”. Once consumed, their entire appearance changed. The transgressions that the Fallen made against the “Most-High”, caused a world-wide war, that ravage our planet, turning most of our once gorgeous home from what you see now, to this” Shade says.
As soon as shade finishes speaking, another bright flash occurs, changing the gorgeous scenery to, what now, looks like a dry, desolate, wasteland. Dale stops, looking around in awe. The temperature is super-hot now. The smell has changed. Instead of the pleasant earth smell form the vegetation, it now smells like dead carcass mixed with must and a weird acidic, gas smell. The ground is bare and cracked. There is no grass or flowers. The trees are all dead, leaving only rotting stumps. Dale looks up at the once beautiful, blue sky but, now the sun is gone and the sky has turned red with weird red lightning, streaking throughout the sky.
“What happened, here?” Dale asks, as he begins to walk again.
“This was caused by the “Forever War”. Once the Black hit our world, we starting fighting and we have been fighting ever since but, the war has taken a rather significant toll on our world.” Shadow says.
“Soon after the Fallen attacked, the rest of us established guilds, to protect those who were still loyal to the “Most-High.” Our guild, the Noman Land’s Fighter’s Guild, was the very first guild to be established. We had one goal, to protect our divine law but the “Most-High wasn’t happy with that. When his children were consumed by the Black, He was saddened and decided to sacrifice a part of himself, which made it possible for the Fallen to return to Him. The “Most-High” then commanded us to bring his children back to him so now, we not only protect our way of life but, we also, help find Fallen who aren’t too far lost and bring them back to the “Most-High.”
“Yes, but the battle has been fierce. Most of the guilds are now destroyed and the members either dead or part of the Fallen legion. We and a handful of guilds are all that’s left. Shade says, sadly.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Dale says, sincerely, shaking his head.
“Over time, the Fallen legion started to become too large and overwhelming. The Fighter’s guilds, all around our world, starting losing to the Fallen. It even got to a point where we had almost given up hope but, our endless loyalty and faith in the Most-High, was rewarded with a new way of fighting our enemy.”
“Which was what?”
“By recruiting your kind and bringing them to Raylia.” Shadow answers. Dale stops walking as he breaks out into a laugh.
“What are you talking about?”
“Raylian’s have an acute ability of understanding one’s mind and also unlocking parts of the brain that you humans have not accomplished yet.” Shade says.
“And probably never will.” Shadow blurts out.
“Shadow!” Shade scolds.
“I’m sorry, sis, I’m just saying.” Shade blows out in frustration over her brother’s indirect, rude comment.
“Anyway, when you humans fell, you’re struggles were in both your heart and your mind whereas, we Raylians, only ever struggled in our hearts. Our minds were never affected by the Black.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“She is saying, that we Raylians are either bad or good. There is no mind struggle like there is with humans. This is because our mental state works differently and is far more superior than humans so, the “Most-High” made a deal with us. If we used our mental gifts to help certain humans, whom the Most-High chose, get through their struggles in their lives and lead them to the Him, then in return, we can use them to help fight our war on Raylia.”
“And why would you want humans to help you fight your war?”
“Because, for some unanswered reason, when humans come to Raylia, they are far more superior on the battlefield than we are.” Dale shakes his head, a little bewildered.
“Right, and how are we more superior?” After Dale asks his question, another bright flash occurs and the environment changes, again. This time, Dale appears to be on some type of battlefield. He can see a large group of humans, dressed in armor, fighting what looks like dark shadows. The screams of the humans, roar loudly, as they driver their weapons deep into the black figures. Dale watches intensely, as the fight rages on.
“They are called “Crusaders”. Humans who aid us in our war. When they come to our planet, they become like us, gaining special abilities, all unique to each warrior. They have been helping us for the past 1000 years.” Shade says.
“So, let me get this straight. You’re here to help me get over my struggle and in return, I’ll fight with you in your Forever War?” Dale asks, looking around.
“It sounds more horrible than it actually is but, yes.” Shadow says.
“I’ll tell you what it sounds like. It sounds like you and your sister ate an entire pack of bologna and now, it’s spewing out of your mouth.”
“You think that we’re lying to you, is that it?”
“I know I’ve witnessed some rather bizarre and down-right highly unexplainable events today but, you’re telling me that your taking humans from our world and bringing them to yours? How is that even possible?”
“The Most-High made it possible by giving us a way of transporting between the two worlds.” Dale chuckles again.
“Which is how, exactly?”
“You’re standing in it.”
“The Cortex?”
“No, mate, the house.”
Shadow’s replie frustrates Dale. He closes his eyes. All of this information is literally making his head hurt and his mood changes, causing him to grow angry. As Dale is standing there, trying to process all of the information that he just received, another flash occurs and the image reverts back to the beautiful green scenery that it was in the beginning. Dale opens his eyes and looks around.
“What is it that you two think I need help with?”
“We know that you suffer from borderline personality disorder.” Shadow says.
“Yeah, what about it?” Dale asks, angrily.
“Dale, calm down. We aren’t here to judge you.” Shade says.
“Well, you can’t help me either. You don’t think other people have tried? Well, guess what, they have and they failed so, what do you know about what I’m dealing with that they didn’t?”
“More than you think.” Shadow replies.
“Dale, please, calm down and listen to us.” Shades pleads.
“No, I’m done listening to you. You don’t know anything. Your probably not even from Raylia, let alone real vampires, just a couple of weirdos in costumes!”
“Would you like to come over there and “bite” you so you can be sure?” Shadow asks.
“I don’t care what you do to me and I don’t care to hear about any more of your nonsense. Let me out, now! You say you can help me but, you can’t even save your own dying planet!” Dale’s comment angers Shade. Her eyes immediately turn red and she lets out an angry roar. Dale stops talking and looks around, nervously.
“ENOUGH!” She screams. Immediately Dale sees another flash. The image that appears to him this time is of another battlefield on Raylia. Running towards him, is a large, black snake-like creature. The outfit that the creature is wearing looks like a black and red medieval tailcoat with an insignia of an ape on his chest. The swords in his hands are long and wide. Each sword bears a crest on the handle, of a snake with its mouth open, as if its attacking.
“The big snake running toward you is the Black Baron, the one who started this war of ours.” Shade says. Dale then sees a large group of Fallen running toward him along-side the Black Baron. Before Dale can even think, the Black Baron and his army are upon him.
The Black Baron attacks Dale. Dale screams and quickly rolls out of the way. The creature takes a couple more swings at Dale but Dale, dodges both attacks but, by the time Dale can get to his feet, several Fallen are at attack range. The Fallen jump toward Dale to strike. Dale turns his head as he hollers, putting his hands up to protect his face. Right before the Fallen land their strikes, the image freezes. Dale looks back over at the Fallen, who are now stationary, in the air. Dale just stares at them, breathing intensely.
“What you are staring at are the Fallen. Take a good look at them, Dale.”, Shade demands. Dale continues to stare at them. “What do you see when you look at them?” Dale shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head.
“I… I don’t know, they look like burnt zombies, with black eyes and fangs, I guess.” but, then, Dale notices something happening. Inside each one of the Fallen’s blackened eyes, lies a remnant of the creature that each Fallen used to be, before turning. Dale watches as each one of the creatures walk around inside of the Fallen’s eyes, like they have a purpose, either smiling or laughing.
“Do you see their remnants?”
“Yes!” Dale responds, amazed by what he is seeing.
“They are my people. People that I once called friend and family. They used to be so happy before the Black took control of them and now, they’re reduced to what you see before you. They are gone now, just a bunch of dead, blindly following the dead.”
“Why are you showing this to me?”
“Because unlike them, you still have a choice. You can continue this path that you’re on and eventually, the borderline will consume you or, you can put your trust in us and let us help you. The choice is up to you, we have no desire to force you to do anything that you don’t want to do however, the “Most-High” has called you so, it would be wise of you to heed His call.”
After Shade finishes her sentence, Dale sees one more bright flash and the image disappears. Dale is now standing in the white, padded room, again. The door opens. Dale turns to see both Shade and Shadow waiting for him in the doorway. He stares at them, feeling sorry for, not only how he talked to them but also, for all of the loss that they’ve suffered. Dale walks over to the twins with his head down. He gets to the door and stops. Dale looks up at them with sorrow in his eyes.
“I’m sorry for getting angry with you and for calling you liars. The truth is, other than my wife, I don’t have any family and because of this borderline, I really don’t have friends either so, can you forgive me?”
“Of course, dear. Like I said earlier, we’re not here to judge, only to help.” Shade says. Dale, can’t believe it. She forgave him so quickly and in such a loving way, that is gives Dale a sense of relief.
“Don’t sweat it, mate. Listen, weather you understand this now or later, changes nothing but, from the time you entered our home, you became our family.” Shadow says, smiling, putting his hand on Dale’s shoulder.
Shadows loving comment forces a sigh of joy from Dale’s mouth. Dale can’t believe how well the twins dealt with his attitude. Usually, people don’t know to deal with him so, for the most part, people try to stay away from Dale but, the twins seem to truly accept him for who he is and this puts a smile on Dale’s face.
“So, do you believe us, now?” Shade asks.
“Yes, and I’m ready for whatever comes next!” Dale’s confident reply puts a proud smile on both of the twin’s faces.
“Very good, shall we proceed then?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Dale says, still holding his smile. Shade nods her head.
“Follow me please.”
The twins put their hands behind their backs and start walking toward the next room. Dale laughs and then, putting his hands behind his back, he happily follows behind his hosts.
The group come to the living room. Shadow and Shade walk over by the fireplace and stop, turning to Dale. Dale walks over by the couch and stops, looking at the vampire twins, as he wonders what’s going to occur next.
“So, now you know who we are and why we’re here. After our conversation in the Cortex, I’ll ask you one last time.” Shade says. Dale looks away for a moment, as he still feels bad for how he talked to them. “Do you understand what is going on and are you prepared to move forward?”
Dale looks over at Shadow. The vampire smiles, giving Dale a nod, silently telling him that he’s got this. Dale smiles back and then, looking back over at Shade, he replies confidently, “Yes and yes!”
“Very good. I’m very glad to hear that. I can tell that you and I are going to be great friends.” Shade says then smiles. Dale smiles back. He hasn’t heard that in a long time. “Now, next on the agenda, will be a series of self-evaluations.”
“And what will I be doing, exactly?”
“I can’t you tell that because I don’t know. The evaluations differ with each person but, I must warn you. You must be as honest as you can, when it comes to these evaluations. They are what’s going to help us, help you. Once you complete each evaluation successfully, you will then, face the final trial. Only when completing the final trial successfully, will the door be opened to you.”
“Door? What door?”
“We call it the “Door of Truth”. There, you will make your decision, if you’re going to become a Crusader or not.” Shadow says.
“I see.” Dale says, nodding his head. He then leans on their couch. The couch immediately starts to shake. Dale hears what sounds like a dog growling, coming from the couch and he quickly moves away. Dale walks around to the front of the couch, where he can see a mouth, underneath the cushions, snapping as it growls. “Whoa!” He shouts, jumping backwards.
As he continues to back up, he then bumps into the coffee table. The table also starts to shake and growl. Dale let’s out another yelp as he jumps and spins, looking down at the coffee table. The table has a mouth that is also snapping where the drawer is. He quickly moves away from the couch and coffee table. This stirs up all of the creatures in the room. Dale looks around and notices that all of the furniture and other household items, such as the vacuum sweeper, the nick-knacks and even the pictures frames on the walls, are all alive, shaking and growling.
“What are those!” Dale shouts, pointing to all of the weird creatures surrounding the room. Shadow laughs at Dale’s reaction.
“Those are Raylian Mimics, honey. Little in size until they attack, then they can get big and powerful. They’re what we use to protect our home.” Shade says.
“Yeah, mate, we’re not always here. Someone has to keep an eye on the place.” Shadow says, walking toward the middle of the living room. The vampire then claps his hands three times. At once, all of the mimics in the room, stop growling and become still. Dale looks around, weirded out by what he just saw.
“Don’t worry, once they get used to your scent, they’ll come to accept you as we have, then you can sit on the couch, as if it were a normal couch.” Shade says.
“No, thank you!” Dale shouts.
“Or they’ll eat you, one or the other.” Shadow says then chuckles. Shade gives him a disgusted look. Shadow clears his throat after acknowledging Shades glare. He then looks over at Dale. “Okay, so your evaluations will start soon. Do you want to eat something before you start?”
“I don’t know, Shadow…” Dale says, briskly. “…Is the food here going to eat me as well?”
To Be Continued!!!