The planes started falling out of the sky. 

All kinds of Shadow aircrafts. Biplanes, Fighter jets, Helicopters. "Must be some sort of search party!" I shouted over the noise. Snowfire dodged and weaved around the falling aircrafts, spinning and turning to avoid crashing. 

Suddenly, a huge gunship began to fall out of the sky. Snowfire saw it, and sped up. "Snowfire! Slow down! It's gonna hit us!" I yelled at her, but she ignored me. She sped across the ocean surface as the plane's tip grew nearer to crashing. 

Just before the plane impacted on the surface, Snowfire did a quick dive under the water, then back up and out, barely missing the plane. I gasped and glared at Snowfire. "Don't EVER do that again!" I yelled at her.

...

After hours of flying, the fog cleared and we found the island. It was small and circular, and it had a temple in the center. Snowfire landed gently, and I dismounted and started walking towards the temple. It wasn't really a temple, more like a pavilion. It had a large, rectangular coffin-like sculpture on it. There was writing on it, written in the ancient tongue. I read it to myself.

Here lies Adolphus Brandenburgh XII

Leader of the Hero's Guild

Speak his number and enter

"It's a riddle." I said to myself. "XII stands for..." I thought for a minute. "Twelve." I said suddenly. The whole island shook, and the coffin began to move, revealing a dusty staircase that went down into the dark. 

"Looks sketchy." I told myself. I took out my flashlight and shone it on the stairs, and withdrew my M1911 from it's holster as I walked down the steps. They went down for a long time, spiralling in a circle. Based on how long I'd been traveling, I'd say I was at least five miles underground. The stairs finally ended, and there was a strange being standing there. Judging by his size and structure, he was a Dwarf (The mining kind.) 

"You're here." He spoke with an old and croaky voice. "Who are you?" I asked.
"I am Drogo Philips VII." he answered. "I am the second last living member of the Hero's guild." I looked around, confused.

"Who's the last?" I asked. 

With a slowly raised finger, he pointed at me. "Your father- your real father- was a descendant of Adolphus." He spoke. "His name was Ranger Brandenburgh I." I put the pieces together. "Shadowfax slew your father and mated with your mother, and you were born." He continued. I shuddered at the thought of that. 

"Shadowfax cast you out into the wild, and wiped your memories. He hoped you would eventually lose your way." The dwarf coughed. "My time is short. Take this," He withdrew a small glowing stone from his pocket. "It will help you on your way." with that, he suddenly went stiff and dropped the stone. He immediately dissolved into a skeleton, which disintegrated into dust. 

"Shit." I said to myself. "That's morbid." I picked up the glowing stone he had been holding. It was perfectly circular and round, and it had a green aura about it. It had writing engraved on it, and as I studied it, I realized it was an enchantment in ancient Dwarvish. I read it out loud.

"Whoevrumm holds anek unrol Nar recites these words var Mer granted my protection."

As soon as the words had exited my mouth, a large sphere formed around me. It was some sort of energy shield, one that could repel any attack. "Cool." I said, flipping the stone over in my hands. I rubbed it a little, and the energy sphere dissipated. "Huh." I did this several times, turning the shield on and off rapidly. 

"Will you stop that?" A voice suddenly spoke. 

"Who said that?" I shouted. 

"I did." The voice came from the stone, and when I looked at it, a small ball with wings erupted from the stone and flew around my head. "Who are you?" I asked it. 

"I am Redha. I am an Angel." It said to me. 

"An Angel?" I asked. "Aren't Angels...Human sized?" As soon as I asked that, the small ball transformed into a beautiful woman with elegant eagle wings, flowing blonde hair, and a white toga. I couldn't help but stare. "How's this?" She asked me. 

"I-I uh liked it better the other way." I stuttered. She turned back into her ball form and flew around my head. "I was instructed to guide you on your quest to revive the Guild of Heroes," she explained. "It's harder than you think. Are you ready?" I nodded.

...

I mounted up on Snowfire after reaching the surface. She eyed Redha suspiciously. "It's okay Snowfire. She's with me." I told her. Snowfire looked at me with a look in her eyes that said, What were you thinking? I patted Snowfire's back and told her to take off. Redha followed close behind, mounting herself on my shoulder. "Where to first?" I asked Redha. 

"We should head north first. Something we need is there." She responded. "Alright," I said. "Snowfire! Head north!" Snowfire turned and began to head north. The fog had dispersed, but the sun was still hidden by clouds. "Where exactly are we headed?" I asked Redha. "To the Temple Of Time. You'll face a hard challenge there," She continued. 

"Dark Bane is hidden there."

"What's Dark Bane?" I asked. 

"It's the name of a sword," Redha explained. "It means 'Evil Slayer' in the Shadow's language." I nodded. "The Shadows hid it there when the Guild of Heroes was eliminated." She continued. "Shadowfax took it from your father when he killed him." She finished. 

"And why exactly do we need it?" I asked her. 

"Well, for two reasons," She answered. "One, whoever wields the sword is deemed the new leader of the Guild of Heroes. Two, once we have the sword, we need it to relight the beacons." She finished. 

"Beacons? What beacons?" I asked her. 

"So many questions..." She groaned.

"The beacons are the two strongholds of the Guild of Heroes." She said. "They were each placed on opposite ends of the land, so that they could be seen everywhere." She continued. "When the beacons are alight, it means the Guild of Heroes is in session." She finished. 

"Sounds easy enough." I commented. "What's the catch?" I asked. "Well...one beacon has to be activated for the other one to activated..." She trailed off. "Unfortunately, the switch in the western beacon was destroyed, which means they can only be activated from the eastern beacon's switch." She finished. 

"And how's this a problem?" I asked her. 

"Well...The eastern beacon is located in Shadow territory." She said.

"Well...That might create some...complications." I replied. Snowfire grunted in response. 

"We're here." Reha announced. I looked down, and saw a huge, ruined fortress. It looked kind of like a church, but it was covered in moss and parts of it were collapsed. Snowfire landed, and I dismounted her. "The Temple of Time is a labyrinth of illusion and deception." Redha explained. "You will be tempted by it, and it will show you things you might not wish to see. You'll have to use every ounce of courage and bravery you have. Good luck." Redha finished. I headed to the door, and opened it. "See you soon, Snowfire." I called, and then I closed the door behind me.