The bell of awakening rings. The bell of awakening never rings. The Fire keeper looks toward the sound, realizing just how desperate the times must be. The thrones of the Lords of Cinder all lay empty save for one. Ludleth watches the entrance of the shrine, awaiting whatever unkindled ash that may approach.

"Leon! Come on Leon, wake up!" Leon hears the voice of a young boy echo within his mind as he lays under a pile of ash and dirt. As it fades out of his head he snaps upward, gasping for air. The ash and dirt blow off of his armor. The armor of a lowly knight. Not even his own, but something he had disgracefully stripped off of a corpse before he left for his journey.

He stands up, shield attached to his left hand and his longsword sheathed. He lifts his visor, revealing dark brown eyes and long wavy brown hair. He stands still for a moment as he collects his thoughts. He looks down at his chest and places his hand on it with a confused expression. He shakes his head and looks forward, resolve in his eyes.

"The flame. I've got to link the flame." He says, advancing forward as he draws his longsword. He moves toward the first grave warden he sees. It is clearly hollow, so he dispatches it quickly with a quick slice at its throat. He looks down and sees what seems to be a glowing blue flask. He reaches for his side and finds his own Estus flask, orange. He takes this strange new blue flask and tucks it in a strap on his side. He continues forward and a bolt hits him in his stomach. He grunts loudly and raises his shield to block another oncoming bolt. He dashes forward and stabs the firing grave warden in the chest, killing it. He pulls the bolt out of his stomach and quickly chugs his Estus flask, closing the wound. He keeps moving and walks along the top of a cliff until he sees a bonfire. He feels a strange attraction to it and immediately runs to rest.

"Man, these guys sure are tough." He says, taking a breath. He had never been a very fit person, and he was already tired from only two hollows. He looks out over the cliff and sees a bell tower. He decides to make that his goal. Setting goals for himself had always helped him in the past. It was a trick he used to get himself moving. Leon stands up and walks forward a bit. When he sees more hollows he stops and collects himself. There were at least four. And four is more than one, so Leon decided he would use his ultimate technique.

The residents of the shrine looked around as a loud yell was heard. It was two distinct words.

"Haul ass!"

Leon ran past all the hollows at full sprint. He was not a very athletic person, but it was impressive just how fast he could run, especially in full armor. The hollows chased behind him for a few moments until he entered an open area with a large dead knight. Leon looked back and saw that the grave wardens where backing away. He smiled. feeling accomplished he continued forward.

Leon saw a coiled sword like the one at the bonfire he sat at, stuck inside of the large knight. Behind the knight was a large closed door. He couldn't help but feel that he couldn't advance until pulling out the sword, so that's exactly what he did.

After a few seconds the knight began to animate. Leon back peddled about ten feet as the knight pulled its halberd from the ground. It was then that Leon knew, he had screwed up.

Iudex Gundyr swung its halberd at Leon in a wide arc and Leon rolled under it. Leon ran forward and slashed at Gundyrs legs a couple of times before making a retreat as Gundyr tried grabbing him. Leon looked around for a way to escape the encounter. His options were to die, or to jump off a cliff. He decided fighting would have to do for now. He continued his advances at Gundyrs legs until it fell to its knees and a black sludge begin to emerge from it. Leon retreated and watched as Gundyr transformed into a terrible beast. At this point jumping off the cliff seemed like a good idea. Leon backed over to the cliff and Gundyr leaped into the air at Leon, and right off the cliff. Leon turned around and looked down, seeing Gundyr fall out of sight.

Leon made his way into Fire Link Shrine and walked down the stairs toward Hawkwood.

Hawkwood looked at him. "Ah, another one roused from the sleep of death? Well, you're not alone. We Unkindled are worthless. Can't even die right. Gives me conniptions."

Leon looked at himself. Unkindled. He was an Unkindled, that was why he wasn't dead. He knew one thing about Unkindled. They only arise when the fire needs to be linked again. "Why am I here?" He asked.

Hawkwood sighed. "They'd have us seek the Lords of Cinder, and return them to their moulding thrones. But we're talking true legends with the mettle to link the fire. We're not fit to lick their boots. Don't you think?"

Leon looked at the thrones, all but one empty. He had one mission in his mind. Link the fire. He looked down at Hawkwood. "Listen , I'm not gonna have the fire fade just because it's difficult to have it done. I'm gonna see about these Lords of Cinder and I'm going to make sure they do their job." Leon walked down the stairs to the fire keeper. She walked over to greet the young man.

"Hello there Miss. Who might you be?" He asked her.

"Welcome to the bonfire, Unkindled One. I am a Fire Keeper. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. The Lords have left their thrones, and must be deliver'd to them. To this end, I am at thy side" She explained.

Leon nods. "What will you have me do?" He asks, ready to begin his journey.

That is the end of the chapter folks. I hope you all liked it. Next chapter we will be introducing a new character! Stay tuned in for more!