It was dark.

Caim struggled to open his eyes but quickly squeezed them shut. He sat forward, feeling a mountain of heavy dust roll off of him and hang in the air. He waved a hand and banished it away.

Where am I?

His hands gripped hard, rough stone around him. He shook his head and tossed away the last of the dust so he could open his eyes.

Not dust. Ash. He was covered in ash. The world was covered. The stone of the coffin he rested in. The trees and rock around him. Slowly, carefully he rolled and placed his feet on the ground. He shook, unsteady but grit his teeth and forced himself to stand.

"I'm alive?" He touched his own head. It was hard to think or remember. Flashes. Fragments of fire and yelling. Fighting. Dying. In a panic, he clutched at his chest and tore open his robes. Nothing. No mark. No darksign. "No hollow then."

A great ringing chime echoed in the distance. Some bell great enough to shake the earth. For now, it was something to chase. Caim would take any distraction at the moment. Reaching back into the crypt that had been his own he found a familiar axe and a more familiar tool.

His pyromancy flame was still warm and burned with a dull glow of a dying ember. The wooden shield would serve him better for now. Testing the axes weight, he turned and started down the only path this crevice offered.

His body was sluggish and slow. At least the pyromancer garb, while slightly decayed. As light and comfortable. His flame felt weak. His heart struggling to remember how it worked.

Down the path, he saw corpse. A weathered and decrypt thing slumped against one of the walls. Caim watched him warily as his hair stood on end. No. Not dead, he thought as the body shambled to its feet, one hand gripping a broken shattered sword, Hollow.

The creature hissed and began running, its gait unsteady and shambling towards Caim. It was faster than he expected but nothing to a seasoned warrior like himself. He deflected the crude broken weapon sending the creature off balance. The first axe strike staggered it further and the second knocked it to its knees. The final blow drove the creature to the ground where it stayed, motionless.

He waited, cautious to ensure was truly dead. One last kick to be sure and he left the body. This valley opened up far more, much wider than the one that had held his crypt. In its center was a stone fountain, cracked and broken through time. Seated before it was another hollow. It too rolled to its feet, howling.

Caim rolled past the first thrust and brought his axe around cleaving into the creatures back with a sick crunch. He swung again sending it to the ground in a boneless heap. The threat removed he turned back to the fountain to the clear glow at its base. A blue flask that shifted as he turned it one side to the other. Not the same as the estus in his belt, but damn close.

Later. He tucked the flask away and stepped through the shallow water. It was cold and stank. The air was stagnant and full of dry dust. It was eerily quiet. He could hear no animals or signs of life in the distance. The world was dead. Its last breathes were just whispers in the wind. Pushing those thought down with others he didn't like he approached a set of stone stairs raising him from the water.

Another hollow, this one awake and armed with a crossbow. It gave a raspy roar and fired. Caim dove to the side using the broken stone for cover. Damn. He tucked away his shield as another bolt struck the rock. It was burning with a dying flame on its tip. "I'll show you fire you wretch." He threw out his hand and the simple creature took the pointless shot. Caim dove out.

His hand burned the power forming into a ball of fire gripped in his fingers. With a howl, he hurled the churning flames at the hollow. The fire splattered catching its rags into flames. He rushed the stunned, burning creature and delivered the final blow with his axe, cleaving the creatures head.

A growl made him spin but too slow as the hollows sword carved across his ribs.

"Damn bastard!" He dove away as the creature swung again hitting only air. The fire formed again and he hurled another ball of fire at his new enemy letting it envelop him before tossing one more to incarnate the creature.

He took a drink of the flask, felling its restorative effects stich his side back together. I need armor. He thought as he walked up the path towards the sunlight. A better weapon too.

As the hill crested he paused. It was a breathtaking sight. It would have been if he could feel any real application for the beauty. The land below as a vast, featureless landscape covered in fog. Down the slope was a grand circular arena. Beyond, a round, towering building. Ornate if broken. It was flanked by a pair of towers. Tall and looming. A bell hung in one tower.

"There's my bell." He whispered. He turned and gazed up. An imposing castle stood above like some great guardian. It seemed less fazed by the decay that was claiming the world below. "Typical of the higher class. Letting the lower rot." He shouldered his axe and stepped towards the arena.

A bonfire. It made his pause. A familiar and welcome sight to any traveler. He settled down at took the time to rest, examining his items. The axe would hold for now. The shield would do until he found something better. His flame felt stronger now. Everything else would have to suffice.

"Let's have a look at the little cathedral." He said standing. He could see more hollows ahead. Some resting others standing as if on an eternal guard. He readied the shield and axe and strode down the path.

The first one fell easy. The other two nearly caught him off guard and he was forced to step away, rolling behind them to catch the first and then the other caught him in the arm. He took the high path and claimed a small metal shard from a coffin before dropping on an unsuspecting hollow, felling him in a single swing. The last one with a crossbow guarded the doorway. Caim rushed him dodging the first bolt and driving the axe into his back before it could recover

He waited but no others showed themselves. With a sigh, he walked into the arena. A great coffin sat beneath a massive tree to his left. The right had broken away and fell into the nothingness below. It was cracked, wet and had a different kind of foul smell to it. Part of that must have been due to the massive creature that kneeled in its center.

The great knight was clad in full iron armor, head to toe. At least nine feet tall he kneeled on one knee, his head bowed. A great iron halberd was driven into the stone at his side, a coiled sword driven through his chest.

The sword drew him in. In was no use as a weapon but he could feel power wrapped around it. Power that wrapped up the giant before him. This was dangerous. Downright foolish. But it was calling to him. Whispering. Challenging him.

"Alright. Let's take your test." He gripped the hilt and pulled digging in his feet before tugging harder. He groaned and grit his teeth feeling the burn as he struggled. Then it gave. An inch. Then two. Then ten. The sword came free and he staggered back examining the sword.

There was a heat radiating from within the metal. Not painful but comforting like the fire of his pyromancy flame. The power drew deeper and ….

The giant moved.

Camin leapt back as the giant shifted shaking off years of dust and water. Moss fell away, his armor groaned and protested. His arm reached out, gripping the great halberd and swung it around, holding it in a ready stance. His face rose and light shone in those dead eyes. A deep hissing roar echoed from the iron helm as the creature stomped his leg, the entire arena shaking with the force.

"Well alright then." He tucked away the sword and drew out the axe, raising his shield. "Have at you!"

Gundyr answered.