All hope seemed lost. A pit of eternal darkness with no hope of escaping. Fear was overwhelming.

 

But there was something that Gaius once said to him. Whether it was the ghost that Bonaface thought he was seeing of him, or an echo from the past before Gaius lost his life.

 

“Why do we become afraid?”

 

Why do we become afraid?

 

How can you move faster than possible? Fight longer than possible? Fear. But only after you have conquered it.  Fought past it. Confronted it. Faced it.

 

Fear. Fear is what Boniface knew what he must overcome.

 

As he was thrusted back into the ring with the shadow creatures and handed a club, Boniface pondered these words. He also thought of what Invetrvus said to him all that time ago.

 

He did not need the Sword of the Brotherhood. It was a part of him.

Boniface was the Sword of the Brotherhood.

 

He imagined the club, as he picked it up off the ground, as the Brotherhood. He gripped it like it was the Brotherhood. He focused upon the club like he once did while wielding the Brotherhood to unlock its power. He needed to not just protect himself… but protect his friends and family.

 

Just like that, he felt its power coursing through him. He felt its Aura… His Aura. An Aura that conflicted with the evil that was around him. An aura that shown like a beacon to all the vile and shadow that he was not like them. It was an Aura of Good…

 

An Aura of Courage.

 

This Aura almost completely repelled the Shadow forms upon him. He heard their screeching. Their screeching no longer caused him to quake in his boots. He was immune to it.

 

Immune to fear.

 

One of the Shadow forms, one of the darker ones, came at him out of anger. Boniface focused on the Shadow. Saw that it was evil. His sword glowed white as he twirled around and struck the formless shadow Umbralite. In that instant, it disrupted and dispersed violently. It was destroyed.

 

Boniface looked around. The other shadows stood at bay, almost as if they were frozen in fear themselves. One twitch and the Shadow forms flew off screeching in fear.

 

Soon, the area around Boniface was completely devoid of Shadow Umbralites.

He closed his eyes… he felt the sword of the Brotherhood. It was calling him.

 

Calling him from past the veil. He felt the bond.

 

The spirit of Gaius spoke to him, “You must follow the bond. You must breach the veil, when it is torn.”

 

“How” Boniface asked, in which Gaius replied, “You will need a guide to navigate through the underworld. I will be that guide, If you will allow it.”

 

Boniface looked into the spirit of Gaius. He was one of the few spirits here that was no evil. He accepted.

 

Gaius offered his hand. When Boniface took it, he found himself take flight. It was incredible. Never has he experienced the feeling of weightlessness and freedom such as this. It was in stark contrast than the feeling of simply being in the Underworld.

 

Gaius guided Boniface through obstacles that he would never have dreamed of before. Without the guide, he would have surely been lost down here forever.

Gaius informed Boniface that a great force was closing the breaches in the veil and repairing it. It was much harder to find a tear than ever before.

 

He also informed Boniface that the power which was causing the mending in the veil was a very dangerous one, and one to not be taken lightly.

 

For the veil was not simply being repaired, it was being reorganized. While in Daksina, Uttara and the Umbralands the veil is stabilizing, deep within the heart of Xantonia the veil was destabilizing. To what purpose was beyond the knowledge of Gaius. But it did not bode well. Once Gaius guides Boniface through the breach, it will be up to

 

Boniface to find out what exactly is going on in the heart of Xantonia.

 

Boniface did not know how long he was navigating the underworld. Nor did he even understand what he saw. However, it was Gaius that informed him of the impending tear in the veil. Boniface saw nothing.

 

Gaius told him that they will have to be quick… forces that be are already mending the place where the tear will form.

 

Gaius informed Boniface that he would have to take him all the way through because of it, though he was not sure what form he would take when he crossed the veil. Spirits have long been warped and changed by the crossing the veil unprotected. However, it was the only way to insure that Boniface made it across.

 

Boniface protested, but Gaius gripped Boniface’s arm so that he could not let go.

“I’m sorry” Gaius told him before dragging him through the piercing light of the world of the living, peaking through the edge of the underworld.

Almost like he was falling, Gaius and Boniface approached the tear and it came upon them just as it was closing. Another shadow tries making for the opening, but was repelled by the two of them.

 

The light was all encompassing.

 

He felt Gaius warp and distort as they crossed the threshold. The overwhelming pain of the underworld was replaced by a stretching sensation as it seemed like Boniface was being pulled from both sides.

 

As the stretching seemed to get to the breaking point, the underworld side lost its grip upon Boniface, as the ring around his finger released an explosion of energy, which gave them what they needed to complete the journey across the threshold. This seemed to have cost the ring of all of its power though, as it was now charred black like tarnished silver.

 

The world of the living came into view… and the daunting situation around him. The power here were surprised to see him come out of the veil. They were obviously expecting an umbralite of some sort.

 

Though what surprised Boniface the most was Gaius. Instead of a distorted and

twisted shadow Umbralite, instead was a beautiful and powerful steed.

Boniface had protected Gaius from the negative energies and warping of the veil. There was now a Divine bond between the two of them, like there was with the Brotherhood.