For those of you that have returned to the first chapter, you'll find several new changes to the story, such as Tyler not knowing his actual name for much of the story. Scenes later on with his twin swords have also been omitted for several reasons, as we will not recover them until around the time he must leave the mountain.

Take a seat if you're staying, because it's a long story. One that isn't fun for me to remember, but I suppose if you're gonna hear this story then it should be from me. The last thing I need is for someone to leave out just enough details just to make me seem more like the bad guy or more like a hero than I really am just to influence your opinion's. I'm not either, and while I'm not a particularly bad guy, I sure as hell won't call myself a hero.

Yeah, I've done some things that some might think of as evil, but I like to think I've done just as much good as I have bad to even it out, but that's not the point, and I didn't really care what others thought about me.

Getting back on track, my name is...Well, I wasn't too sure. As it was a name I would not come to learn until some time into my new life. I was like any other person that entered this strange world. Like the rest, I had all but forgotten my past, with the exception of my name and a single event, which is more than most actually retained during the transition here. Though I still didn't even know if Tyler was my name, it was just one of the only things about my memories in my broken train wreck of a mind that was clear, while the rest of it was still very broken.

I only have bits and pieces of what I guess was my life before this whole thing started, but it was never clear what they meant since I didn't know everything.

Simply put; I don't remember much. Like, who am I really? Who was I before entering this nightmare of a world? Where am I? And more importantly where the hell is here?

But as for what I could remember, it was only two memories.

Just two small answers to a lot of unanswered questions.

The name Tyler. And the horrible memory of an event that I nearly died from, but one that would jump-start the new life I was to begin. One that continues to haunt me so.

This is my story.

And its starter, for those of you unfamiliar with this story of ours, needs to be at the very moment I came into consciousness.

A Stranger's beginning, on Stranger tides.

I'd have said I was in a great deal of pain, but any sensation I could possibly have wasn't there to feel. Only a strange numbness that radiated around my body, staving off any feelings that may have accumulated during whatever struggles I'd gone through that had lead me to this point I'd found myself.

I was left heavily dazed with no sense of where in the hell I was, unable to get a feeling of my surroundings enough to recall why I was here, or what had happened, not understanding the situation I'd found myself in at all, having lost all command over my own body, seeing nothing but the blinding light of the sun as it helped to clear away the darkness that clouded my tightly shut eyes, able to feel the harsh sting of it after too long, assuring me that this coma-like state was coming to its end. Though in some way I did not welcome it, as slowly, I began to feel other things as well, such as wave after wave of sheer blinding pain that washed over my body.

My body still refused to move though, as not even a twitch or a shiver could get my body back to listening to my commands, even in the smallest of ways.

No recollection of past events, no way to awaken myself, and feeling the pain of previous combat, I started to feel a deep worry fill my lost mind.

In fact, I started to become immensely more so as I realized I couldn't actually remember anything. Gods, nothing was there at all. Not even my own name.

It wasn't even at the back of my mind, like trying to recall something you were certain you knew, or a thought slowly slipping away, just on the edge as you tried your damnedest to pull it back.

There was none of this, and I was scared by that factor.

'Okay, deep breath. Deep breath.' I said in an effort to keep myself calm, knowing well that I had no say in the breaths I took, doing so only for a psychological need to stay on point. 'Keep focused. You can just about feel again. That's good. Roll with what you have.'

I used whatever newly acquired sense I had, working through the pain the best I could to figure out where I was.

Okay, I was laying on the ground with my paralyzed self, feeling something soft and dry touch my skin. My hands seemed to be buried in this substance, that while soft to the touch, was scratchy at the same time, like grain or salt.

The only noise I could pick up on was the wind as it ran by my ears, then silently slipped away, leaving nothing but an echo, then came the loud crash from the waves as they came down onto the shore, a few drops of the sea water falling onto me after

The ground was soft and the sun's warmth wrapped around me in the best blanket I had at the moment, and yet still I was freezing cold to the touch, feeling icy winds blowing from just about every direction that made my bodies heat refuse to rise even a tad, both the sun and the cold fighting fiercely with the other for control over my temperature.

I wasn't moving anytime soon, that much was clear. But I still desperately need answers, searching through my mind the best I could to recall a seemingly forgotten past, my mind coming back to a blank each time I tried, only succeeding in bringing me to a higher level of confusion.

And the more I thought about this current event, the more I tried to force myself to remember something. Anything.

And that forced remembrance seemed to have pulled something back from the darkness of my broken mind, of a few things hidden away that told the tale of what happened just before I had fallen into this coma of mine, though I could only think of one thing only, as the same questions kept repeating themselves over and over again.

It slightly scared me; not knowing my own name, let alone anything of a past lost to me, yet I had to be brave. To figure this out, I just needed to be to solve this.

Yet something kept my thoughts clouded, making my mind run into a brick wall, only making the task that much more of a challenge.

It was strange, somehow I knew there was something there, but something else blocked me from listening to this past of mine. And it seemed like the harder I tried, the more of a blank was pushed to the surface.

There had to be something. There just had to be. Trying to shake loose what was there.

And as I focused on any single moment of what had happened to me, one thing started to reveal itself to me after gods know how long of trying to locate it. I wasn't able to tell how long I had been there to begin with, and it wasn't until I had started to feel my bodies pain that I was able to keep some track of time.

My mind seemed to pinpoint something, and it was nearly helpful, but at the same time...

It was almost like a nightmare. And instantly, I knew why I had such trouble remembering.

I think before, part of the reason was that I'd done well to suppress, and another part really wished it wasn't real, yet when I should awake, whenever that was, I would have the injuries to prove it all to be true.

While I wish it could have been a name, what I remembered was much, much worse. But at least it was enough to keep my mind occupied, if only for the time being. Yet it still confused me to no end. But it was all I had.

But what it was something so gruesome; Something that shook me with fear.

Something horrible, this living nightmare of mine.

Chapter 1.

I fell onto the ground as blood dripped from my face and onto the dirt. My hand down at my stomach, a horrible pain radiating from my center, keeping me from moving even an inch, every time I made an attempt was punished with the severe pain that came with it.

I looked down to see the red liquid pouring out of a fresh wound, pressing my hand against it in an effort to stop the bleeding, gritting my teeth in pain as I struggled to get onto my feet, letting the arrow that I'd dug out of my chest fall onto the dirt.

As soon as I was up, I heard the sound of the undergrowth behind me being disturbed as one of the bastards tracking me came to make sure I stayed down. Relentless hunters that never stopped, these few still alive driven on even more so by the deaths of their fellow comrades; The ones I'd previously slaughtered.

I knew perfectly well they would not take any kind of mercy on me, so I couldn't hold back, least I wish to meet a gruesome demise myself.

When I turned to face the figure, I saw my assailant hidden poorly in the shadows, though I doubted he was trying to be stealthy as he made no attempt to conceal the fact that he was stalking me, since his rushing through the forest had given him away.

Even though it was the dead of night and he was standing within the dark, I could still see him holding what looked to be a bow, pulling back on the string as he took aim at me.

There wasn't much I could do yet, since I was still confined to my spot leaning against a tree for support just to keep myself up, and he knew he had the perfect opportunity for a killing blow, so I suppose it didn't matter to him if he was hidden or not.

The bowmen found his target quickly just a moment after aiming, letting his arrow fly straight towards me, the arrow being visible under the moon's silver light.

Unfortunately for him though, I wasn't such an easy target, injured or not.

Once the arrow closed in, my free hand instinctively whipped out and grabbed onto it, stopping it just before the tip could hit any part of my body.

I tried to rush towards him in a rage after being attacked when I was in no real condition to fight, but I still needed to rest for a few moments, not having recovered enough to retaliate.

But that didn't mean he was going to stop yet, being relentlessly set on killing me.

Snapping the arrow in half after crushing the shaft, I finally used the hand that I'd been using to cover my wound and began reaching back slowly as he began walking closer after firing another shot off, aiming for the kill again.

I moved my head after he'd fired, the arrow zipping by and nearly cutting into my ear as I found myself finally free to move, yet at a much slower rate than had I been fighting fit, making my way towards him.

Seeing me come closer, he quickly fired off another, being quick about firing to keep his distance.

Though with the increased fire rate came less precision, so it took a small movement to avoid each one, either by turning my body or just taking a step to my right or left.

And yet my streak of luck didn't last much longer, one of them finding a line straight to my head.

At this moment, my reflexes kicked in, through my eyes everything moving at a much slower pace as I gripped the handle of my sword harder as I drew it, slicing it across the air and cutting the tip of the arrow off.

Finally having recovered enough to engage, I lashed out and grabbed onto his head, taking the blade to his neck and making a clean cut through it as I kicked the headless body away, holding up the severed head as I flipped my sword around, holding it in reverse.

Dragging the head into the light, the sight of it was something I couldn't yet explain and still shook me with fear.

It wasn't the head of a man I held, it was just a skull, and when I looked back to the body, it too was just bones. No flesh, no organs, no anything. Just a skeleton.

Yet I showed no reaction to the strange creature, just a dull expression, as if it was a usual experience for me. And if that was the case then why did it unnerve me so much now?

I dropped the skull onto the ground and crushed it beneath my foot before leaving to find my way back onto whatever path I'd been on before being attacked, the tip of the aqua coloured sword I held dragging across the ground as I walked on.

I knew they hadn't given up yet though, hearing the sounds of the forest disturbed by the monsters that hunted me, this time trying to stay hidden after having seen me promptly execute the hunter, yet failing at this.

Though I acted as though the fact they were there wasn't known to me, letting them prepare to strike, yet giving me more time to rest for any coming battles.

I glanced around discreetly, seeing another skeleton joined by several others following it, each one preparing their bows, yet not stopping to fire at me.

I returned to ignoring them for the moment, feeling more of my strength start to return to me the longer I was out of combat, picking up the pace just a bit in hopes of getting enough ground between me and them when the time came for me to finally strike. I was fully aware of the fact that they were archers themselves, while the only weapons I had were my two blades, but what was best for me in this situation was to be further away from them. When I needed too, I could cover distance quickly, even against ranged opponents.

Yet my increase in speed gave away the fact that I knew they were there, each of them quickly releasing the waiting arrow in hopes that one would find its way into my skull, no longer waiting for a better opportunity.

I quickly turned to face the creatures and their damned arrows, swiping my sword across the air in response and cutting the tips off of each one, glaring at all of the skeletons who would challenge me, making my way towards them with the three rushing to reload.

And again the same mistake as the first was made as they continued with the rapid fire, each one being deflected by a quick swipe from my blade.

Seeing no real threat, I finally rushed over to my three would-be assassins, kicking the middle one's chest while my blade went through the one on my left.

As for the right, I pressed my fingers into its eye sockets and lifted him up off his feet, grabbing onto my arm and struggling as I ripped my sword out from the other as it fell to my blade.

Once all three were down, I just began to crush its skull in my hand, shaking it violently as it weakly kicked at my side. Only succeeding in being an annoyance, I gave one last hard squeeze that rendered it unable to move before slamming it down into the ground, shattering it entirely.

The last one slowly pushed itself off the ground as it pitifully reached out for a bow to continue its struggle, most of its ribs having been broken clean off, making moving that much more difficult, yet I was having none of it.

I stomped my foot onto its hand after it had laid it on the bow, kneeling down with a grin as I held the sword up to its throat.

It just gave me the most hate filled glare it could muster up as I dug the tip in further, fear being absent from its gaze as though it had already accepted death.

And yet the very moment I went to kill it, I heard the sound of a horrible screech come from the trees, whipping back and coming face to face with a red-eyed giant of a spider that lunged straight at me from the leafs.

Having seen it before it had lunged I rolled out underneath the attacking creature, getting back onto my feet after it had acted as a shield, letting the downed skeleton climb onto to it and use it as a mount, holding its bow up now that the fight could continue.

I gave a low growl as I drew my second blade from the scabbard attached to the strap around my body that rested on my back, revealing a sword as black as the night sky that reflected the light from the moon, the three of us beginning to circle the other with violent intent, the spider snarling while I kept my swords crossed, making my way over to a path within the bushes discreetly.

Once I was close enough to be able to make a break for it I flipped the blades around so they were facing the ground and held my arms out, waiting for them to attack.

It didn't take much longer before I got the opportunity to escape, the arrow coming just as quickly as it had been loaded, pushing off the ground and jumping back, another coming towards me as both blades began to glow white for a moment, sending out a blinding light that covered the small clearing we fought in; Blinding them for the moment.

And when the light cleared, the arrow had lodged itself into the exact spot I had been, having vanished from their sight entirely.

The spider hissed angrily as it and the skeleton searched the grounds for me once more, yet I was nowhere to be seen.

I found myself hidden within the leafs of a nearby tree, peering down at the creatures below during their search, having been able to escape from the monsters of the night. I wasn't sure what I'd just done exactly, or why I had even run in the first place, but I think it had something to do with the appearance of the spider.

Whatever the reason I had for doing so, I'm glad I had. From the shadows of the forest, two more of those mounted spiders came crawling out from the dark, each with about a dozen or more so following behind, actually physically disturbing me this time.

All three Skeleton riders pointed to a different location to travel before letting out what seemed to be orders, taking a few spiders from the group and going on their hunt.

I breathed out in relief before sheathing my blades and quickly ascending the rest of the tree to get a better idea of where I was exactly. "Hell no, skeletons are one thing, but spiders are a completely different story," I commented before I finally reached the top and stared out across the land, my eyesight being well enough that I didn't have much of a problem seeing in the dark. Even in the dark, I wasn't entirely blind.

Looking out, my eyes set sight on the sea, the smell of the salt water on the wind stronger than it had been.

"So close...Just a bit further...Have to escape." I said to myself, jumping out from the top of the tree I stood on and to another, thinking I could avoid them for now if I traveled through the air.

Unfortunately for me, a group of the creatures had gone the same way I needed to travel, so I tried to be quick about this, I also needed to be stealthy. So the odds were really stacked against me.

I could hear the sounds of the creatures as they searched further ahead, keeping a look out down below for any that might be nearby.

My mistake here was that I didn't worry about them enough, believing I could just escape them for a few moments should I be discovered once again, so I didn't exactly bother to be quite, seeing as how I was protected from sight by the trees.

It was this moment that would lead to my downfall.

Being so damned sure of myself, I failed to notice the shaking of the leafs around me, and the sound of another angry spider as it jumped out from cover and into me, knocking me out of the air as we both fell.

I hissed back at it as it snapped at me, narrowly avoiding having it sink its fangs into my neck and returning with a heavy blow to its head, dazing it as it crashed onto the ground.

Having gotten rid of it for the moment, I started to twist my body around to reposition myself while I was still in the air, my feet being the first thing to hit the trunk of a large tree, whipping my arms up and grabbing the two closest tree branches to support myself as I hung there.

Though just a moment after, having shrugged off my hit, the same spider began to crawl up a tree close to mine, its eyes locked on as it lunged, it's fangs ready to clamp down.

Acting as fast as I could, I pushed off the trunk of the tree and swung my legs forward, pushing straight up into the air as it latched onto the tree, ready to spring back at me again.

Growing tired of it, I shoved off the branch above me, diving into it before it had another chance to strike, any fear I'd shown before towards the spider suppressed for the moment.

Shoving my shoulder into it as we both fell towards the ground, I went to draw my aqua blade, letting out a battle cry as I slammed it into the dirt.

Quickly pushing off of its body and onto my feet, all while unsheathing the sword, I turned the blade around until it was aimed at the beast's head and falling back onto it, forcing the blade through its head, making the spider thrash around after having been killed as a last reaction.

Twisting the blade around until it went still, I began to shiver as I pushed off the corpses, disgusted by it.

Not wanting to be caught in the open by my hunters again, I quickly turned back towards the sea and broke out into a run, hearing them scramble as they made they're way towards the sounds of the fight that had just taken place, cursing myself for having given a battle cry.

Though as I looked back, I couldn't see a single one of them, and eventually, after getting far enough away from them, even the sound of they rushing through the forest was silent.

Even though all was quiet -only the sounds of the forest at night behind heard- I was still uneasy. They were still there I just knew it. Though I had killed some of the creatures that pursued me, I did not doubt there weren't more out there, more of them lurking in the shadows like the nightmares they were, yet after going for about fifteen minutes without even a small sound to give them away, I finally thought I was safe enough to rest for a bit, my body starting to fail me the longer I went without rest.

The gods know I wish had kept moving, this being my final mistake.

After coming to a stop, I looked ahead at a rather small mountain just ahead of me, and sitting below it was a cliff, it having no other way to go other than down, towards whatever rest below. Believing myself to be safe, I leaned against a tree as I panted heavily from exhaustion, the night having been spent fighting finally taking a toll on me.

But, in my brief moment of belief that I was safe to rest, I found myself trapped, having been unaware that they had not only caught up to me, but their numbers had grown exponentially as well.

Hearing the hiss of a spider, I glanced up towards the trees and was welcomed by a sight that turned my blood to ice.

Up in the trees were a large number of spiders, and the ones with skeletons leading them at the front of the pack. The three of them pulled arrows back on the strings of their bows as they took aim, quickly letting them fly towards me.

In the instant that they did, I only had a moment to avoid being struck, pushing off of the tree before they could touch me.

As if the sight of the sheer number of spiders wasn't bad enough, the army that joined them only worsened things. Stalking out from the trees, armed with various weapons and armor, were the powerful Undead that traveled with them, snarling with hunger as they laid their black eyes upon me.

I stared down the rows of creatures as they advanced towards me; All out for death this night.

I was tired, losing blood, and had vicious creatures chasing after me wanting to kill me, my death seemingly close. But I'd be damned sure to make them work for it.

Regaining my composer, I pulled the strange aqua coloured sword out from the scabbard, holding it out with my right hand as I put my left arm behind my back, flashing a strange smile, fueled by the prospect of this great battle. No trace of fear over impending demise to be found.

"Come at me with all you have. One at a time or all together. It matters little to me." I challenged them, ready for the attack.

One of the skeletons using the spiders for a mount took a spot on the ground, motioning for two Undead Swordsmen to go forward, which they did obediently.

The first one lunged forward, pulling his sword to his left as he lashed out at me, being easily dodged by just a little step away, tripping itself as a result.

I whipped out my free arm and gripped its hands, taking a hold of the handle to keep it from moving.

As it struggled to get its hands free, I launched my foot straight into its stomach, blood erupting from its mouth after the forceful hit, falling to its knees as it coughed up the green-like ooze.

With it down momentarily, I spun back towards the other, taking my heel to its head.

Knowing I couldn't screw around, I flipped my blade back and jumped into the downed undead, the blade slicing through its body as it was run through, going limp very quickly.

The other snarled loudly and angrily as it jumped at me in revenge for its lost brethren, its sword being thrust forward.

Though all I did as raise up my own blade after pulling it out from the corpse, easily deflecting the hit, taking my fist back and unleashing a strike strong enough to cave in its face, its body being tossed aside after being dealt the heavy blow, skidding across the ground lifelessly.

These things were not good at swordplay, or fighting in general, but they were tough and vicious, being incredibly dangerous in numbers, so I knew I still needed to be on guard.

Turning back towards the rest, the skeletons had finally stopped assessing the situation, commanding their forces to march forward, each one rushing towards their target.

I breathed in heavily as the horde advanced rapidly towards me at an alarming rate, going in for the kill, leaving me with very few options.

I reached out behind me as I softly uttered a small prayer to gods I did not know any longer before I drew my second blade, flipping both of them down and kneeling as I took a moment to gather my remaining strength, slowing my breathing down immensely.

With my death coming closer, I no longer saw any reason to hold back. I would unleash everything I had and deliver my wrath upon them. They'd struck first, but swearing to the heavens above, I'd die last.

And should I meet death tonight, I would be sure to bring several of these monsters to hell with me.

Suddenly, several of the spiders hissed loudly as they lunged towards me, expecting an easy kill after seeing me kneeling on the ground.

In the moment they did, a sudden flash from an unseen force knocked the three of them back, an orange energy now tinting my body as I stood back up.

No longer giving them any chances to attack, I finally took the fight to them, rushing forward with a sudden burst of speed and dealing in lethal strikes to those nearby as I rushed through the hoard, making quick work of the many monsters in their ranks.

All those that I passed quickly dropped dead, sudden large gashes appeared almost instantaneously across their bodies, unleashing quick and unseen strikes before I came skidding to a stop, whipping my body back and bringing my foot straight down on an Undead's head and breaking its helmet off, shoving my dark blade straight into its chest, pushing it off to deal with the rest once it fell.

I kept up the fight against the creatures for as long as I could, my previous injuries slowly weighing me down after going all out, my body unable to properly handle the effort anymore.

I grabbed onto the head of a spider that had lunged at me, taking its head off with a quick strike from my sword and tossing it away, lashing back against any behind him as I stumbled forward, coughing up blood as they backed off, holding both blades up weakly with a poor attempt at standing.

The second both of my arms fell forward, one of the more courageous spiders jumped onto me, piercing my shoulder with its leg, forcing a scream to erupt as it dug the needle-like end of its leg further.

Hissing because of the blow, my blade flew up, taking off its arms before it received a hard kick to its head, knocking it off as it withered in pain.

I tore the leg out from my shoulder, throwing it away as I rose back up, trying to ignore the pain the best I could.

It hadn't mattered how many I'd killed, there was more than enough to replace each one I killed a thousand times over.

Picking up both of my blades, I plunged them both into the ground, gripping them tightly as I stared out at the horde, the orange tint leaving my body, indicating just how much weaker my body was now, though I refused to acknowledge it, making one last attempt to fight this undefeatable fighting force.

Putting whatever strength I had left into my blades, both began to glow their respective colours, glaring hatefully at the hunters. "May you all burn in hell," I shouted out, my cry being heard through the night as I ignited the spark needed to unleash the power stored in my swords.

The result was a powerful explosion that devoured all those closest to me, destroying everything in its kill zone, leaving only scorched earth behind.

As it began to spread, I stared at the burning clearing as the creatures tried to run from the fire or get to me, releasing my hold on the handles of my blades as I nearly fell back, finally having been exhausted from my power attack so much I barely even cared how close any of them got.

Not like it even mattered, as the flames lashed out at any that came too close, as though they were keeping me safe from any of my attacker's. Even the arrows being shot at me were burned away into ashes before they could reach me.

Though as I coughed up more of my own blood, I finally dropped down to my knees as the loss of blood was finally getting to me, preventing any further resistance, this being my last act to stay alive.

"Dammit...I wasn't careful enough...Gods Dammit..." I cursed myself as I looked into the very center of the hell fire to watch them all burn, almost none being able to escape my wrath. "I-I'm sorry guys...I couldn't do it..." I said in a pathetic tone as I flinched away from the raging fire, it turning on its master, yet still fending off the creatures. Thoughts of friends I'd forgotten the last things that stayed within my thoughts.

As the heat grew, so did my fear of the fires which surrounded me, scared of what it could do, and desperately trying to avoid each whip from the flame.

I moved back further as the flames came much closer, my feet just going over the edge of the cliff as I tried to avoid my own fire, having stupidly put myself in an even worse situation than I had just been in. Sure, the creatures would have given me a painful experience before my death, yet I would have much rather preferred the death from them then a slower one by my own hands, and being burned alive by my flames was not how I was going to go out.

So looking back down at the waters below, I finally made my choice.

I was not just going to let them kill me, I knew they would one day, yet today was not that day. Not yet at least. Not for the time being.

It may have been how I was meant to die, or not. Hell, fate pretty much just left me no choice but to take my third option if I wanted to survive.

And yet I refused both of these, choosing to take a cowardly escape to live to fight another day, rather than die in vain.

I used my planted blades to push myself up, using any last bit of strength to force myself off the ground as I started to lean back.

And by that time, the creatures finally shot through the flames and towards me, but it was too late, as I had already thrown myself off the cliffs and towards the water below.

While I may have lived, I took a risky move in order to escape. It came with too heavy of a price, but it was my only means of escape.

But as I crashed into the lake below, I saw everything in my sight begin to slow as the water was thrown up. Small drops almost stopped in midair as my vision started turning dark as it took its hold on me, my body going limp as I faded into the darkness of the water, feeling my body become still as I softly floated down, until everything was silent, and I could no longer see the fire or the lights from the moon or stars.

Then nothing but the silence and black of the waters as my struggle ended.