Earth Two

            He learned from Vik and Blue a new empire was established in his absence as well as a large group of cities that had formed an alliance.  This new empire was no better than the last, in fact from what he heard it was even worse.  It was rumored the prince had gone mad and was now driven by greed and insane power hunger.  Even with the rumor the generals were still loyal to him, they also seemed to be under no spell.

            He stay at the fort Vik and Blue were staying to see what fate had in store for him this time, as he was sure he would be shown the way soon.  Sure enough Vik brought a boy named Gelo from one of his hunts, possibly an empire spy, but Gleen could sense something about him, like he had Heo.  The boy told them he was a part of the Empire youth brigade, that was until the prince slaughtered them all to blame it on the alliance.  He managed to escape with his friend by jumping in the river and that was where Vik found him.

            While looking into this they put him under the charge of one of the soldiers there, who gave him a few small errands to do as a test to see what happen.  That night his friend Lye tried to free him only to be captured as well, Gleen however sensed something about him too.  It was as if these two were the keys to something much bigger going on underneath the current problems.  Not finished yet the two were put back to work again and that night they managed to escape again, this time they battled their way out.

            Unsure of their intentions Gleen, Vik, and Blue followed them to see where they would run to.  After stopping at the nearby village for some supplies they went off towards the empire lines.  Upon reaching the city the two boys went their separate ways and made their way home.  When Gelo came to a small temple he was nearly strangled by Lela, his sister, in her excitement of his return.

            When they left the temple the imperial soldiers came and arrested them on the charges of treason.  Lye had also been arrested after being thrown out of his home by his own father.  The two boys were to be hung so no one would find out what really happen at the youth camp.  At the last minute Gleen sent his sword spinning at the ropes freeing them and allowing them all escaped.  Then after saving Lela, or closer to say saving the poor soldiers from Lela’s temper, they returned to the fort.

            Blue told Gelo he had free leave now that the story checked out and that they were now allies.  Gleen suggested they go out and get some recruits to help out the resistance, he also decided to go along with them to see what happen.  Back in the nearby village they found people that seemed to be drawn to Gelo as if pulled by something.  Gelo couldn’t even understand what was going on, but Gleen did having carried fate around with him for a long time.

            When they came to the next village to the north Lye was reunited with the family that pulled him from the river.  While there they did a delivery for them, as a favor to Lye, to the village they just came from.  When they got back they were horrified by what they saw, the entire village was burnt to the ground and everyone slaughtered.  The only one they found alive was the youngest girl of Lye’s new family who hide in the nearby cave.  They were soon joined by a strategist who had seen what happen as she was on her way to see Blue and an Amazon warrior who had come to see what happen.

            Back at the fort the strategist, who Gleen now recognized from the last time he was here, gave Blue a memory of old times.  She then informs them it was the prince who had slaughtered the village and was aiming for this location next.  Gelo was then send to retrieve their old weaponist friend to repair the weapons he constructed last time.  He managed to return with the man and his young daughter, but also with the news the rest of the nearby villages were already burnt down.

            The four generals that were arrived attacked earlier than expected before the prince could arrive.  Using their newly reconfigured weapons they were able to devastate the field and it looked like things were in their favor.  This was until two more generals joined the battle as well as the prince’s unit from behind cutting off any chance of victory or orderly retreat.  Everyone was ordered to split up and reunite with anyone who makes it at the back up fort.

            While they were evacuating everyone Gleen saw Gelo and Lye fighting the prince in a attempt to save Lela.  Vik ignited all the weapons at once to distract the prince and save them from a fatal blow.  Gleen stayed with Gelo and the few recruits he had got as they evacuated themselves.  Yet with nowhere else to go they returned to the village where Lye was pulled from the river.

            When they approached the cave where the young girl had hide in, Gelo and Lye entered like they were being pulled by something.  When the two finally returned Gleen could sense a new power within of them as it had waken in each of them.  Gelo had a protective power and Lye now had a destructive power, yet as he observed each didn’t seem whole.  This only confirmed his believe that these two would bring peace this world need, one way or another, and he felt the sorceress had a hand in this as well.  Gleen sent the others to meet up with those that made it to the fort, while he went another way.

            “It’s been a while.” Gleen said as he stepped from the shadows of the crystal tower.

            “You seem to have dimmed since that last time we met.”

            “My powers are all gone.” He said which caused Luki to smile.  “Don’t even think about a rematch, I said my powers were gone, not my strength.”

            “I’ll test my luck.”

            “I wouldn’t.” Gleen said turning back to the sorceress.  “What is your plan with the two boys?”

            “Heo was to vanquish evil, they are for peace.  It is the best path to be taken.”

            “Humans are meant to dicide their own path.  It’s not good to tamper with fate.” Gleen said before he left.

            While he was gone they had met up with the others and were in a conference with the leaders of the Alliance of Cities.  Their plan was to use some of the youth uniforms they had confiscated and sneak into the camp and see how many provisions were in the camp.  Gelo, Lye, and some of the younger members were assigned to the task since they would be least likely to be caught.  Just outside with the rest of the troops Gleen and Vik stood watch over the camp waiting for anything to happen.

            They managed to get the answers that were wanted, but they were recognized and Lye stayed behind so the others could escape.  The brigade that was infuriated was ordered to come after them, to make things more suspicious Lye returned only a few hours before the attack claiming to have escaped.  They were ordered to delay the army while their forces gathered, they did so with surprising effectiveness.  Things were going well until one of the allies were ordered to return home by their leader right in the middle of the battle.

            Yet still they managed to pull it off, or were given it as suspicions began to arise from the resent activity.  That evening Gleen was drinking with Vik when the alarms went off, someone had opened the gate letting the imperial solders in.  To make things worse Gelo and Lela were accused of killing the city leader when they were found beside his dead body.  This left them with no choice at the moment other than running now that they had both sides after them now.

            Gelo met up with them at the village to the north, bringing along a few people he picked up along the way.  They continued to head north coming to a deserted town that Gleen also recognized from his last time here.  The number of graves near the entrance gave the entire party reason to pause for a moment.  While Vik explained this was his home village, a familiar face appeared before them.

            “I can’t believe you’re still in existence, vampire.” Gleen told him.

            Once again finding it was protected by a magic barrier they were forced to reteat and retrieve the sword again.  The sword itself wasn’t happy to see Vik who had left him back in the cave when his use was over last time.  Letting off some steam he attacks them again, but once defeated joins Vik again if only to kill the vampire.  Leaving the cave they came upon a vampire hunter also after the same vampire coming here for the sword and joined them so they could aid him in his quest.

            The vampire took the time they were gone to prepare for them, having constructed an enormous skeleton monster, which was obviously made from multiple skeletons.  During the fight with the skeleton monster the vampire made his escape and the vampire hunter went after him.  There was not much choice other than let the vampire hunter do his job since at this point they would just slow him down.  Besides they had larger problem to deal with at the moment that they needed to concentrate on.

            They were about to leave when the others showed up with bad news that made the problems worse.  The empire had managed to capture their base of operations and slaughter most of the people in the cities.  It seemed quite hopeless to take back the cities, which was until their strategist suggested them to go recruit a strategist friend of hers.  While she took Gelo and Lela with her while the rest remained behind to straighten out the castle for their return.  By the next day they had the strategist as well as a few others, among which was a hyperactive elf Gleen recognized and two people which no one could guess their gender.  Not much longer after that a few more showed up as well as Gleen’s entire unit ready for a fight.

            The battle plan was to get the captured cities to defect to their side, it was the only possible way to win.  Gleen took his own troops head on after the main troops while Gelo came up from behind.  They eventually managed to get the cities to defect and this caused the imperial troops to retreat immediately.  This was in fact a huge victory for them as it now appeared that they could actually make a difference in this war.

            Returning Gelo was praised as a hero and was selected to become their united leader, to which he gives the new stronghold the name Hope.  To be their permanent base of operations and a shining beacon against the darkness the empire was spreading over the land.  The sorceress then appeared giving her blessing and leaving a not too eager Luki to help in any way he could.  At that point Gleen smiles as they both knew that he had no choice but to stay and help their resistance.

            The following morning they received a messenger that came for the request of aid for his people.  Gelo and a few others went with the messenger to help the problems there before they got any worse.  While they were gone Blue got word of a battle taking place there and they head out arriving just in time to see the enemy retreating.  Gelo had also managed to get some new recruits to add to their growing resistance.

            Following that victory they were granted an audience with one of the other alliance leaders.  Gleen, Gelo, and Blue were sent to see if they could get his assistance in the fight against the empire.  Along the way they came across a traveling sorceress, one of which Gleen also recognized from the last time.  Arriving in the leader’s territory they find an army waiting to escort them straight to the castle.  What they find when they reach the castle was the leader had a hands off attitude towards the war as long as they stay stayed out of his territory.

            While there a battle began when the imperial solders were headed their way, but instead they were chasing refugees which they were hunting like sport.  The troops were ordered to hold off until they reached the border, against the pleas of the generals.  They made continuous suggestions to deploy, but they fell upon deaf ears as the leader would not have any part of it.  The refugees never made it and once they were all dead the imperial soldiers retreated back to their posts.

            Back at the castle they over heard one of the generals telling the other he was going to investigate what was going on in that city.  The remaining general requested they go and aid his friend as he left to distract the leader while they were gone.  They managed to catch up with him just before he reached the borders of the city where they were forced to stop.  Ahead of them a strange light spiraled up from the city forming a stranger dragon-like apparition only for a moment before it was gone.  Once inside the city they found that it was devoid of any life whatsoever, not even a plant was growing.

            Returning to the castle the general requested to send his troops to investigate the situation further.  When the request was denied the general resigned his commission in disgust for a man he had served faithfully.  The other general was then ordered to arrest the traitor, but to everyone’s surprise he too resigned as well as both their armies.  The two of them then asked to join Gelo’s group right in front of their former king.

            They return to the castle only to find news of another city had been captured, Gelo and Gleen then go to investigate.  When they arrived the pair of imperial generals there called them over and told them of Lye’s upcoming wedding to the princess.  Seeing what they were up against the return to the castle to prepare to retake the city, but when enemy reinforcements came forcing them to retreat.  As they did they were still coming at full force, then the reinforcements retreated leaving the imperial generals to surrender.

            It was decided they would spare the general’s life and when they received news of the king’s death by the prince, the general declared allegiance to the alliance.  The knowledge he had of the empire’s military power didn’t go well as they had no chance against the entire empire army.  Gleen suggested there was one place they could get help from and at the mention of the old empire a shudder was sent through quite a few people, but they needed any help they could get.

            Gleen went with Gelo as they went to the former world power, the president of the city was glad to help them where he could.  He assigned them his two best generals, one of which was Kiahs his own son to help in the efforts.  A few members of the city also joined them as they made their way back to the stronghold.  When they got back they found two ninjas from Kisha’s village waiting for them with the support of their village.

            “It’s been a while.” Gleen said once he was alone with Kisha.  “I’m glad to get to see you again.”

            “Where is Bycon, he could have found me easily.”

            “He died in one of our battles, I nearly died in that battle too.”

            “What happen to all the power you possessed?”

            “It’s all gone, I’m as human as you are now.”

            “So is there anyone waiting for you back home?”

            “Yes.” Gleen said getting a disappointed look from Kisha.  “A little girl I‘m raising as my own.”

            “What’s her name?”

            “Lycina.” He said looking at the setting sun.  “It’s getting late, we should go in.”

            “Will you be staying with me while you’re here?”

            “As long as you wish me to.”

            When the next battle began they were soon over whelmed by the prince’s troops as they had no idea what he was doing.  They managed to get an advantage by having reinforcements come up flanking the prince’s troops forcing him to retreat.  It was their first victory directly over the prince, but there were so many injures as the price.  It was then decided the only way to defeat the prince was to get him alone where they all could fight him.

            They attacked while the prince was on the move targeting the troops only, as expected the prince moved on leaving his fallen troops behind.  The plan was going well so far as the prince found three groups waiting for him along the way.  Each group would attack as long as they could then retreated, letting him pass to the next waiting group.  When he got past all the groups and came to the end of the path Gleen ran forward locking blades with him.

            “Want to see a magic trick?” Gleen asked getting the prince’s interest.

            With a quick swipe he ran the blade’s edges together creating a shower of sparks, then jumped back.  Before the prince could do anything a brigade of arrows hit him, the second wave sending him to his knees.  Yet still he seemed to have enough energy to lung at Gelo, but the chain shot forward piercing the armor of the prince.  Even then it looked like he was still going to attack them all, only when the fire in his eyes died and he fell over did they know he was gone.

            With the prince’s death they thought their problems were over, but they only got worse as King Lye took his place demanding their surrender.  They knew they would need more help and Gelo went on a recruitment trip for any help they could get.  When he returned he was met by a bandit whos village was being attacked by zombies.  The sword immediately know it was the vampire and Vik urged them to check it out to make sure.

            Gleen went with them and the bandit, but they were stopped just short of the village by the bandit’s brother.  The village was gone, but they knew the next village where the monster was headed.  The next village in his path was so under guarded the vampire wouldn’t even have a challenge taking this one.  The mayor was overly glad for more help guarding their small village since so few would stay here anymore.  It was eventually decided they would go after the vampire instead of waiting for him to come there and that would save the village from destruction.  Gelo and Lela were left to protect the village if they could not stop the vampire.

            The reports they had gotten from the spy turned out to be a trap and when they got back they found Lela carrying a collapsed Gelo away from the village.  They were soon joined by the vampire hunter who had tracked the vampire there.  He claimed to have found a person who could seal away the vampire’s power permanently.  That person turned out to be a young woman who was also a vampire sent by the high counsel to deal with the vampire who was bent on destroying everything to fulfill his greed.

            The two bandits return claiming the vampire had taken their sister and was now holding up in a church of another village.  At the entrance of the village another one of the vampire’s pets were waiting for them, this time a stone golem.  It was enormous, but they found it was much weaker than his last pet and it was easily disposed of.  Inside the city they found the vampire within the church like it was said to be, not that it was hard to find out.

            They kept him busy while the hunter and the other vampire created the seal around him that quickly stripped his powers.  Without them the vampire had nothing, leaving Vik and the sword to lay the final blow to the demon.  With the girl free, she and her brothers joined them as well as those from the destroyed village.  Now with this added support they felt they were beginning to have a chance at winning this war once and for all.

            Once back at the stronghold it was decided only one target remained, the empire castle itself.  Vik and Blue rallied all the troops to storm the castle for the final battle to end this now pointless war.  The plan was while the battle waged outside Gelo and a few others would enter the castle to deal with Lye.  When it came down to it the group consisted of Vik, Blue, Luki, and Gleen who all believed this would be enough power to capture the castle.

            When the battle begun they found their way into the castle and found the remaining two generals waiting for them.  The two of them were stronger then they looked and took a lot for them to be defeated.  Reaching the throne room they didn’t find Lye, instead they found the prince, or what was left of him in his zombie-like state.  Blood dripped from him onto a large crest on the floor where he was standing and in a surge of power he became a three-headed golden hydra.

            A trinket left behind by the witch, apparently the prince had been offering his victims to try to awaken it.  Now as he offered the last of his own blood he finally succeed in getting the power he wanted all along.  They were in real trouble now, Gelo could protect them from most of the attacks, but not all.  It would be only a matter of time before it had them all and they had no way to fight back as it attacked relentlessly.

            Just as things were at their worst the black sphere, which he still had no idea what it did, began to pulse and the blade began to give off a dark glow.  Running forward he jumped up bringing the blade down through the middle head, then a round house slash through all three heads.  He got it, but not before its bladed tail gashed him across the back as he fell back to the ground.  With a sheik the spell was broken leaving the prince finally dead on the floor, yet it was too much for the castle as it began to crumble around them.  Vik grabbed Gleen as they ran from the castle just making it out as it collapsed, and found outside the battle there had also ended.

            Returning to the stronghold the army wanted Gelo to become the new leader of the unified country.  Unfortunately he turned down the offer telling them there was something he had to do first.  As they watched him go they remained there to wait for his return and what his final answer would be.  At dawn he returned with Lye and together with Lela the three of them accepted the roles of leadership.

            Many remained in the stronghold while others returned to their peaceful lives with their friends and families.  Vik and Blue were off on the search for their next adventure, Gleen had to turn down the offer to join them again.  Luki once again returned to the sorceress, but not before having a quick scrimmage with Gleen that was long overdue.  Gleen was the last one to leave watching over the group for a while, smiling at what he saw and activated the gate’s return device.