The Road to Friendship and The Island Fortress Beginning

The Road to Friendship and The Island Fortress Beginning

"Death is not your destiny today, little brother."

These were the words that awoke Fable from the darkness. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was lying down on a small patch of land floating over a sea of fog. Sitting up, he noticed the sky above which was ethereal, white like the fog around him; the only thing that he could see was the patch of land he sat upon, which resembled a small island, a gate with the Guild Seal on it, and a plinth. He stood up and found himself near a Cullis gate, a magic portal constructed by the Old Kingdom used by Heroes alike to travel quickly from one place to the other. He looked around and saw no one at first, but taking a step forward a woman wearing a red hood with a white line down the middle appeared before him.

Fable felt his muscles tense up at the sight of her. He had an idea of who she was, but his hands defensively cupped around some casted fireballs out of caution. The Hooded woman cocked her head at the sight. "Be at ease little brother,” She assured him. “I cannot harm you here. Nor would I harm any of my kin." Fable extinguished his fireballs, clenching his hands closed into fists and bringing his arms to his side. He then stepped forward and hugged his sister Theresa who embraced his hug, tightly clinging around him, then loosening her grip and patting his back. "It is good to see you again little brother," She commented. Fable then backed away slowly from the embrace and asked the obvious.

"Where are we?"

"We are in the deeper recesses of your mind. Here there are powers and gifts that can manifest themselves in the real world," Theresa answered.

"So this is a place to gain more power?" The gruff hero asked, to which Theresa nodded and turned towards the gate. Fable followed and the guild seal on the gate vanished, the gate opening before them. On the plinth a perfect life-sized statue of himself appeared, wearing his exact clothes and his exact weapons. In front of the gate on either side, ghostly silhouettes appeared.

They were of all people he knew. Like the guild master. (Man in the middle.)

Whisper (What she looks like.)

An Albion Guard (What they look like.)

A hooded Apprentice (What they look like.)

The Archaeologist (What he looks like.)

An Assassin (What they look like.)

Briar Rose (What she looks like.)

His father Brom. (What he looks like.)

His former wife Elvira Grey ( What she looks like.)

Flick the Executioner (what he looks like.)

Issiah (what he looks like.)

The Knothole Glade chief (What he looks like.)

Maze (What he looks like.)

The Self proclaimed Old Adventure (What he looks like.)

His mother Scarlet Robe (What she looks like.)

Thunder (Already seen what he looks like but here is a picture of him again.)

A Trader (What the traders generally look like.)

Gethyn the insane crazy prisoner(What he looks like.)

Lady Sophia of the Darkwood Bordello (What she looks like.)

Mr. Gout the teacher at the school in Bowerstone (What he looks like.)

Nostro (What he looks like.)

Scythe (You have already seen him in the first chapter, but here is an image of him anyway.)

The Witch of Bowerstone Quay (What she looks like.)

Captain Alendia (You have already seen a picture of her in the first chapter, but here is a pic anyway.)

And First mate/new daughter Raylyn (You have already seen her in the second chapter, But here's a pic anyway.)

He stopped and inspected each of their ghostly forms. He waved his hand through them expecting them to do something, but they both just stood there. Like ghost statues, they stood perfectly still, not even breathing.

"These ghostly silhouettes are the friends, acquaintances, rivals, mentors and loved ones of every single person you have met,” Explained Theresa. “They are your allies that have given you power without even realizing it." Fable stared at his sister and she motioned him to follow.

They walked through the open gate onto another small piece of land with a plinth and an exact replica of the gate before them. In the middle was a lone chest with the Guild Seal on it; behind the chest was another Cullis Gate. Theresa stood by the chest and noted, "The world you are about to enter is a dangerous one. Will, the source of your power, is nonexistent in this world, and so it will be harder for you to cast such spells that are Will-oriented. But on this road of your mind, chests like these will help you and guide you." She motioned for him to open the chest beside her.

Fable opened the chest and got a Gauntlet.

He grabbed the chest and it instantly flashed a hue of otherworldly gold, then returned back to normal. The chest then faded a ghostly tint and was now spectral. "Congratulations, you now have Will Gauntlets,” Theresa said as she clapped her hands, applauding Fable. “They will help you cast spells easier and act as a beacon for your Will." Fable opened and closed his hands getting a feel for them; they were nice and firm, making him feel more powerful already.

"Try casting a spell at this Hobbe statue," Theresa said standing next to a statue of a Hobbe as it suddenly rose up from the ground, appearing beside her. Fable clenched his hand into a fist then burst open his hand and pointed his palm at the statue. Lightning arched from the palm of his hand directly at the statue, destroying it instantly.

"Very good! Now, let us try a moving target."

Another Hobbes statue appeared and started strafing from side to side. Repeating the process, he faced his palm at the target, blasting it with more lightning and obliterating it like the last one.

"Excellent. Now let's try something that will attack."

Like its predecessors, another one appeared from the ground, this time wielding a crude, makeshift rock club. It charged towards him, swinging its club downward at Fable. The hero nobly stepped to the side and brought his palm inches away from the statue’s face, blasting it with more lightning.

"Now that you have your new Gauntlets mastered, there is another thing I must show you," She said, stepping on a rising stone platform and walking forward, more stone platforms rising up under her feet, forming a path that led to a gate similar to the one before. Behind the gate appeared to be a Coliseum with banners of the Guild seal covering the place, an archway leading them inside.

Just before they entered the inside of it Theresa stopped and turned to face her brother. "In this Coliseum is an enemy unlike any other. Once you defeat it, you will grow more powerful. You will return here again once more powerful enemies appear and you need to conquer them."

Fable nodded and proceeded onward. As he stepped onto the Coliseum grounds he saw a lone figure staring forth at him, an armor-clad warrior, almost a doppelganger of him. Once he moved closer it drew a sword from a hidden scabbard and advanced towards him like a predator after its prey. Fable drew his Sword of Aeons, immediately parrying a downward strike from the combatant; their swords clanged each time they met. The Doppelganger made for a flourish, but Fable rushed forward and teleported behind him, stabbing his blade into the enemy’s spine. It stood there motionless after a moment, soon enough fading into a misty shadow; Fable gawked at how it could become translucent.

Once it floated to a good few feet away, it separated and split into two, both doppelgangers staring down Fable from a good distance away. The previous clone charged sword-first into battle, while the other warrior seemed to be charging up a fireball, aiming at Fable. Fable quickly parried and, with a twist of the wrist, went for an overhead attack with his blade. The clone blocked the blow by defensively flashing his sword in front of him horizontally just in time. Each time their swords clashed, Fable felt himself being pushed back from those ferocious swipes, causing him to stagger. Just then, the other clone threw his fireball, watching it direct contact with his armor. Though it absorbed most of the impact, he still felt the heat of the blast and his armor also got a nasty scorch mark.

Having had enough of this, the gruff hero used his sword as a brace and brought himself up to do battle once more. The doppelganger that blasted him with fire was now chanting and casting what looked like a small golden sword trapped inside a ball, the other barring his path to the other caster. Thinking quickly, Fable summoned his ethereal blades again and the minute they came from the netherworld, they attacked the sword-wielding bastard, leaving the caster a sitting duck. He smirked and shot forth a beam of lighting at the clone, making it lose focus and dissipate into shadow.

Fable then took a glance at the other shade and saw that three of his ghostly swords remained, all three impaled into the Shade. The shade was still alive however, drawing out each sword one by one and throwing them onto the ground. The swords would then float back up and proceed to impaling it even more. The hero watched as his doppelganger struggled to remove all three swords from its body, starting to stagger and fall back once they impaled it again and again. Fable then began channeling his will energy into his sword. Running towards the last shade he made an overhead flourish, his blade raised in the air was brought down upon the clone, slicing him in half.

When Fable stepped away from the shade the ethereal swords disintegrated and the combatant turned into shadows, leaving behind a darkened Guild seal that had a reddish tint to it. He kneeled down and examined it, tilting his head from side to side, wondering why it was left here. Picking it up it stung with searing heat, but he couldn't let go, the seal oddly stuck to his clenched hand. Gripping his forearm with his other hand, the guild seal glowed red and flashed brightly. Blinded momentarily, he opened his eyes to see the Guild seal merged with his left gauntlet, sensing a sort of darkness from it. Opening and closing his palm to adjust to the new gauntlet, he saw that his armor no longer had a scorch mark on it as well. The world around him then started fading from his vision and he could hear Theresa's voice speak to him once again:

"It is time to return back to the real world. The attachment to your gauntlet allows you to tap into your inner darkness, but take heed to not let them corrupt your judgment. We will see each other again, little brother."

Daring Do and Trixie were currently on the bridge of their skyship discussing the time with the Captain and when they will be picked up. The captain explained that he will be back in two hours; if they were not back by that time, the duo would have to use their Teleportation scroll to escape. They all then glanced out the window and saw the fortress come into view. It was as the fishermen in the report said: it faded in and out of existence with a swarm of thundering storm-clouds surrounding it along with the Bermane Triangle.

The skyship gradually began its descent and touched down close to the water. The captain then told them their U-boat awaited them, the due making their way through the ship over to their U-boat, hearing calls of good luck by various crew members they passed by on the way. Once they reached the U-boat, they strapped themselves into their seats, the skyship then dropping their U-boat into the water, the crew watching them on their course for the Island Fortress.

Author's Note

Edited:Corrected by Danmcintosh