First off I'd like to apologize once again for how long it took me to get the update up, as I've had some other stories that also required some updates… at one point I'd even accidently put a chapter from another story up on this fic on accident, and I apologize for that.

I also wanted to say that I have actually gone through the previous chapters I have written for this fic and did some much needed correcting and editing. Hopefully it will be easier to read now and the story will flow much smoother.

Chapter 8

Making a Bet

…Reaver hadn't had this much fun in a long time…

Of course he hadn't actually had to work at seducing someone in ages. This surprise guest at his little gathering was a delightful breath of fresh air into what had become a somewhat repetitive cycle of parties. Not that he didn't enjoy them they were just becoming… well, a little bit dull. He had been longing for something exciting to happen. Currently he had seized control of the dance and had begun making small talk with this strange beauty. Well actually saying that was incorrect, it was more like he was talking; period. He was so engrossed with talking about his favorite subject… namely himself… that he failed to acknowledge that his dance partner was no longer even trying to steal the lead from him. In fact a somewhat grim look was starting to write itself upon her face. Like she was starting to wonder when this dance would be over. It had been fun at first… now it had devolved into listening to a rich creep rant.

"Has anyone ever told you that you seem to be in love with the sound of your own voice?" Ember questioned, interrupting Reaver's little speech about how great he was. Even though her voice definitely held a noticeable amount of agitation it didn't seem to dissuade Reaver at all.

"Why yes several people have indeed come to that conclusion." Reaver confirmed. "And I must admit that it is quite true, my voice is lovely isn't it?"

"Charming…" Ember said dryly. Reaver smiled a little more at his guests' irritated tone.

"Oh, silly me. Here I am telling you tales of my greatest triumphs and in the meantime I don't even know your name. Care to enlighten me as to what your name is my dear?" At that Ember slipped completely out of Reavers grasp and walked into the center of the room, her back turned to him.

"My name? I'll tell you but I don't think you're gonna like it…" She said mischievously as she took her mask off but was careful to keep her back turned to the Deviant Tycoon.

"Oh? Why would I not like your name?" Reaver inquired curiously.

"My name," Ember said turning around to face Reaver. "is Ember." There was something almost humorous about how all the glee within Reaver's eyes just crumbled and died. And just as quickly as his glee died, anger took its place.

"You!" He snapped recognizing her as the woman who had pushed him into the river and he had subsequently tried to shoot earlier in the day. Ember chuckled as this recognition dawned on him.

"Yep, it's me. Now since I don't need to be polite anymore I'll just say what I've been thinking all night. You sir are an arrogant ass… and you throw a terrible party." Ember said coyly; only to be made aware of several loud growling sounds coming from directly behind her. She quickly looked behind her only to see that most, if not all, of Reaver's party guests had transformed into Balverines and were looking at her hungrily. Upon looking back at Reaver she was greeted with the sight of Reaver's DragonStomper .48 pointed straight at her forehead. Embers blazing eyes flashed dangerously for a minute and her smile grew a little wider.

"Nice toy. But I'm not really interested in playing anymore with you tonight... unless you know some different games." She commented waving her hand in a nonchalant sort of way.

"Any last words before you die?"

"I should think so, considering that I'm not going to be dying here and I happen to love the sound of my own voice almost as much as you love yours. I guess that I will just have to pick the new game then…" That was when Reaver began to notice that Embers shadow was changing. Long oily black, tendrils began to rise up from around her body. They moved like writhing serpents and strongly resembled the darkness related slime that the Crawler and Skorm had been able to create.

Reaver pulled the trigger and the gun fired… only Ember didn't even so much as flinch, let alone drop dead. The reason for this was revealed to be the writhing tendrils of darkness had actually blocked the bullet before it had gotten to her. Her coy smile only grew at this; finally things were starting to get interesting! In a single fluid movement she lashed out, kicking Reaver square in the chest and knocking him back a good five feet.

"Let the party really begin!" She laughed as most of the Balverines suddenly rushed towards her! At this she brought her hand back and an eerie black light began blooming in her palm. She quickly channeled the dark energy into the form of a Blades Spell, just like the one she had performed earlier at the castle. With a single fluid movement, the dark blades flew out and impaled several of the snarling beasts causing them to shriek horribly; a few even dropped dead from the blades piercing their vital organs. Not happy at the thought of fighting a pack of raging Balverines with magic alone, Ember extended her hand and reached into one of the oozing black tendrils and surprisingly pulled out her sword.

"Skormy wasn't kidding when he said that using my magic to store weapons would be useful." She thought to herself just as one of the Balverines went to bite her… only before it could sink it's teeth into her did she jab her sword into its gaping maw, causing the blade to come out the other side of its head. Blood splattering everywhere as she did so…

A new dance began…

A dance of death…

Embers skill with a sword was almost legendary. Skorm himself had commented that even Heros whom had trained all their lives at the Hero's Guild couldn't even begin to scrape the surface of her raw talent. During her time with the Royal Guards, many of her fellow soldiers learned that not only was Ember gifted with a blade… she absolutely loved to use it. Even in situations where force was completely uncalled for! It drove many of the other guards mad and gave her a very nasty reputation. At some point Walter had taken her under his wing and tried to teach her to control her violent tendencies… but ultimately it had been in vain. Ember longed for battle and was currently undefeated…

But back to the situation at hand; while Ember was slicing and dicing any Balverine unfortunate enough to be in her path, Reaver had recovered and was currently shooting bullet after bullet at this annoying little wench! But every bullet he shot at her was effortlessly deflected by those black tendrils that were still writhing around her form. So much for his party, it wasn't this aggravating when Princess Elizabeth and Page had fought their way through his home! At least they behaved better than this bitch; they didn't run wildly around a room beheading Balverines while laughing like madmen! But after beheading another of the hairy monstrosities, something happened…

Embers sword began to glow with a dazzling white light…

Her blade was a living weapon…

And it was evolving…

The sudden burst of light scared nearly all of the remaining Balverines into retreating. Once the light cleared, it was revealed that Embers sword had mutated… its blade had changed until it was nothing but a gleaming shard of red crystal that seemed to glow in response to Embers Will. While the hilt had become arcane in design; the wood was as black as night while the stone in its handle was also blood red.

"Now this is nice! I've been waiting for this blade to finish evolving… hehe; I guess a little Blaverine blood was all that it needed." Ember chuckled with malicious glee. Of course marveling at her new weapon would have to be put on hold for a while; a bullet whizzed past her right ear so close that she actually felt it touch. Had Ember actually been paying attention she would have noticed that the light her blade had emitted had accidentally affected her dark tendrils… damaging them so they were only just barely able to deflect the most recent on-coming bullet. Realizing that she might be in a little over her head Ember decided it was time for plan B.

Run like hell…

And she ran as fast as her legs could carry her, down the hall and out the front door quickly slamming it closed behind her. Reaver was following closely behind; he'd almost caught up with her when she'd gotten outside. He angrily kicked the door open…

Only Ember had somehow disappeared…

"Damn it!" Reaver growled looking around, seeing if he could locate this annoying bitch whom seemed to have taken a liking to ruining his fun. But as his eyes slowly scanned the surrounding area… the sound of Embers nearly maniacal laughter suddenly resounded from all around him.

"Not bad, you might not be as dull as I was originally thinking you were. But you still fall way short of what you brag that you're capable of." Her voice chuckled wickedly.

"You have hardly given me a chance to show you my true talents my dear." Reaver replied maliciously, but he stopped as his eyes suddenly locked onto a shadowy form, standing a ways away from him. Without a second thought he shot at it… and the form collapsed. The laughing voice went silent as soon as he did this, causing him to believe that he'd just put a bullet in the annoyances head.

"Such a pity." He muttered to himself as he strode over to the fallen figure. "It seems that it was you who was unable to show what you claimed to be capable of." Of course when he reached what it was that he had shot, he was surprised to see that it wasn't Ember… in fact it wasn't even human at all!

It was nothing but a human-shaped construct of the god-awful black liquid…

"I haven't even started! But I am getting tired of this… since this evening hasn't exactly played out the way I'd hoped. How about something different then? Let's play a new game... my game." At this she got behind Reaver and tapped his shoulder. He turned around only to stare into Embers burning eyes, an impish smile present upon her face.

"Are you at all aware that I could blow your head off right now?" He questioned coldly. Not that it seemed to faze Ember in the slightest.

"You could… but you're curious. You strike me as a man who likes games and the game I'm talking about is unlike anything you've ever played before. Interested? I think you are." Now this actually got Reaver to laugh, his agitation dying down… for the moment anyway.

"I do admit that you're a very entertaining individual Miss Ember. And yes I do like games… especially if there was a wager on it." He chuckled darkly. Ember blinked once in surprise, clearly she hadn't thought about making a bet. Although judging by the evil smile that crossed her face she immediately took a liking to the idea.

"What would you want to bet exactly? I don't think I have anything you'd want… except for this stone which I'm not going to part with..." She said gesturing to the pendant she currently wore. "So… would you want a stuffed White Balverine? Because that's pretty much all I've got… aside from gold."

Reaver stared blankly at her for a second…

"I have no need for trinkets or money… let alone stuffed Balverines… I have plenty of money and a living Balverine for a servant."

"You mean the big ginger-colored one that's passed out on the roof with a bottle of cooking sherry lodged in it's mouth?" Ember asked pointing to the roof on Reaver's mansion. The Deviant Tycoon cast an annoyed glance up to his roof and saw that Barry Hatch was indeed in his full fuzzy Balverine form and out like a light.

"Remind me to whip him later…" He said flatly before returning his attention to Ember. "Back to the subject at hand; what I'd want from you my dear… is your body." He wasn't going to deny that he found this woman, Ember, to be extremely attractive. Especially now that he was seeing her in that beautiful dress rather than her usual, less-than-flattering outfit. Now upon realizing exactly what he meant Embers eyes widened… and a blush overcame her normally pale features. But a look of anger quickly overtook her and she glared daggers into him.

"Skorm really wasn't kidding when he warned me about this guy… but if that's the way he wants to play it…" After a second the calm, smug look returned to her face and she smiled with false sincerity.

"Ok fine… it's not like you'll actually be beating my score anyway." Ember said with a shrug. Reaver laughed; oh this was going to be fun!

"Alright, what would you want from me should by some fluke I should lose whatever this mysterious game is?" He chuckled.

"Aren't you a little over-confident? I mean you don't even know what my game is yet and you're already sure that you're gonna win?" Ember asked shortly. But then she just sighed and shrugged. "As for what I'll take once you lose… hmm, I don't have anything in mind. But I'll think of something later."

"Fair enough." Reaver acknowledged. "Now just what is this game of yours?"

"It's a secret. I'm not telling…" Ember sneered. "Even if I told you it wouldn't help. But I will give you a slight hint."

"Hmmm?"

"Have you ever ridden a horse?" She asked innocently.

"Yes."

"When it's trying to buck you off?"

"Um… yes." Reaver answered suddenly getting a bit suspicious as to what this game was. "Please tell me that this game of yours has nothing to do with that wretched past time of bull-riding. That's just undignified and can hardly be called a game at all."

"No, it's not bull riding. Although I admit there are some similarities." Ember muttered before looking him over again. "The only real tip I can give you is to wear something else. Something more… erm… durable and less… whatever the hell you're wearing is."

"I'll have you know that these clothes are very fashionable!" Reaver said almost defensively.

"Yeahhh… right." She said in less than convinced voice. "Meet me just before sunrise tomorrow in the area that was once the old gypsy camp. When I arrive, I'm pretty sure the game will become pretty self-explanatory at that point."

"You do of course realize that if this little game of yours isn't everything that you're making it out to be I might just kill you out of disappointment." Reaver informed her. Ember just gave him an irritated glare.

"Just be ready to play…" She grumbled before slowly closing her eyes… just as a boiling pool of darkness suddenly appear around her feet and within less than a second it seemed to rise up and envelop Embers body before disappearing entirely. Taking Ember with it… Which ultimately left Reaver alone standing just outside of his manor. Not that he minded being alone in the least. He quickly holstered his Dragonstomper .48 and headed back inside; making a mental note of the things he needed to do in order to prepare for his little 'date' with Miss Ember. But first things first…

He had a servant to punish…

But what Reaver and Ember had both failed to notice during their little chat... was that they were being watched from the shadows; or to more appropriately state the facts they were being watched by the shadows. As hidden within the darkness around Reavers grand Lakeside Mansion were several humanoid figures. Each figure seemed to be made of a living shadow, they were dark and mostly transparent… but they each possessed a pair of ominous, glowing red eyes. There were three of these figures; standing there amongst the darkness… their empty eyes stared without any trace of emotion, without any real sustenance, indeed these were beings that possessed no souls of their own. They were merely puppets, sent to do a job for their puppeteer. And now it was time to report what they had witnessed…

As they moved through the shadows their forms seemed to blur together into one massive snake like form and yet the three pairs of eyes remained at what could be deduced to be the serpents head. When this creature reached the water's edge it slipped beneath the surface without so much as causing a ripple on the lakes surface. It swam downward and slid across the lakes bottom until after a bit of searching it found what it was looking for; a tiny crack that led the shadow underground…

And into the ruins of the old Hero's Guild…

With all of the construction that had occurred in the Bower Lake area over the years it was not really that surprising that most of what remained of the Guild had flooded. Most of the passages had flooded… but the Chamber of Fate, while extremely damp and indeed flooding in some areas, its main plateau remained dry.

Although this chamber looked like something straight out of a nightmare…

While not entirely flooded with water, the room was dripping wet with the same liquid darkness that had once threatened to overrun all of Albion two years ago. It was splashed everywhere and actually poured down from the ceiling in some areas. But within this hellish room was something far more frightening than the darkness… It was the creature that lived within the said darkness. The creature that had come closer to destroying all life in Albion than any other…

The Crawler…

"You bring news to us…" The hideous creature rasped as it limped forward towards its now serpent like servant as it rose up from the water and divided once again into three different shadows. Whilst the shadows whispered nearly undecipherable hisses and growls to their master, one could easily see that the Crawler had undoubtedly seen better days. Its head was now adorned with deep, nasty scars that looked extremely painful. It was now blind in two of its eyes and it moved with a noticeable limp. Clearly the creature possessed other injuries to its body that were currently hidden beneath its tattered robe. After the shadows finished saying whatever it was they were reporting, the Crawler hissed loudly in anger.

"So we weren't mistaken in what we were feeling. There are others of our kind near…" When the Crawler spoke its voice was filled with anger and fear… mostly fear. "It is luck that they haven't taken notice of our presence yet. But if they find us we will be destroyed… we are far too weak." The creature turned away from its soulless servant and seemed to become lost deep in its thoughts. "We must stay hidden longer… we must heal."

"And then we will tear this world asunder!"

"Revenge will be ours!"

That's it for now! Please remember to Read and Reviews!