A/N:

Welcome to my very first full length story! This shall be a Dark Souls/Game of Thrones crossover and I will probably turn a few potential readers off when they realise that I have taken a few liberties with what counts as lore in the Dark Souls Universe.

With that said:

Italics – Flashbacks

Bold – Thoughts

So, let the Champion of Ash go through his final moments in Lothric before he is taken to Westoros!

Prologue

William was tired, he had spent his time fighting against monstrosities and beasts that he only dreamt he would never have to fight against again. The lands of Lothric had made him give up hope at times, hope that would always have been brightened by the always-successful attempts of the Fire Keeper at the Firelink Shrine.

When he awoke from death, and found that he could die and die without consequence, he knew he had become one of the Unkindled, unlucky men who died out with each linking of the First Flame, an event to signify the coming of a new age. He was not even fit to be Undead, he was meant to be dead, never to wake again.

Then he awoke, the lid of his stone coffin crumbling around him, allowing him to stand and watch as he awoke to the new world before him. The lands that converged all met at Lothric, and if the old gods had deemed it necessary to wake the Unkindled, then nobody had linked the flame.

So when he defeated the living Soul of Cinder, the guardian of the First Flame, he was relieved, but overcome with a fear of the unknown. What will happen to me when I link the flame? He thought, his hands trembling as he sheathed his longsword, shouldered the bottomless bag that the friendly Fire Keeper had given him before he set off on his journey to find the four Lords of Cinder who had shirked their duty as kindling for the First Flame. He could remember when he first knelt before the Fire Keeper, the regal, yet friendly lady who had became his closest companion in his journey.

"My fair lady, my name is William, a knight of the Holy Lands of Astora, pray tell, I am only Unkindled, why have I been awoken from my sleep?"

"Good knight, do you remember the old words?" She responded, a small smile on her face.

"The fire fades..."

"The words of prophecy have rang true, and no champion arose when the Bell of Awakening tolled. If the Undead shall not rise, then the Unkindled shall take their place."

"Then where are the rest of them? Have they gone? Where are all the other Fire Keepers?"

"You are the only one to have arisen. Your soul is true, and dominant. My honourable knight, the give five thrones are empty, save one. The four Lords of Cinder have forgotten their duty as Flame-bearers, and you, as my honourable Champion of Ash, shall bring them to their thrones, and if they shall not come willingly, let them return as cinders." The Keeper replied, growling the last few words.

"My Keeper, you want me to… Kill the Lords?"

"Should they return willingly, not at all. But if not, then they leave no choice."

The Fire Keeper, in all meaning of the words, was beautiful, but it was a special kind, one that was real but not meant to be tarnished by men or gods, a beauty that transcended reality. The pale skin, silver hair and regal style of dress made her a considerable presence in the room. She was quiet and peaceful, usually sitting on the decrepit stairs that led to the four thrones, or she knelt by the bonfire in the middle of the shrine, praying in silence.

"My Keeper, I have only my armour and my blade, how am I to carry what I find on my journey?"

"Take this, a gift from the keepers, it is reserved for the Undead, but I doubt it matters if they have not awoken." The Keeper handed over a ragged looking sack, and stared at William with another smile.

"My lady, this cannot do. It would break if I placed pebbles in it."

"My loyal champion, this is a bottomless bag, given to champions of ages past. It has stored their treasures and stores for generations, and now I give it to my Champion of Ash. Try it, my honourable knight."

William unsheathed his dirt-covered longsword, and placed it into the bag. Surprisingly, the sword fit into the bag perfectly, leaving Will with a wide eyed glare at the bag. "How do I get my sword out of the bag?" he asked.

"You need merely think of the object that you require, place your hand in the bag, and out will come the object you desire."

His bag was heavy, and the cold iron armour that William had worn had degraded much since he had risen from the grave, his knee-pads were barely held to his by some rope, the helmet and its visor was dented badly, and some of the plating on the chest had fallen off, leaving William to replace them with some poor chain mail and tattered cloth. Some of the things he had gathered were things that mothers and fathers told their children before they went to bed. The wolf-like armour and sword of Artorias of the Abyss, the lightning staff and Lion-like armour of Dragonslayer Ornstein.

It is time… Will thought.

Will stood up, his battered, bloody and bruised body carrying the tattered and heavily damaged set of armour, and placed his hands around the coiled sword that was stuck in the bonfire. He could feel his hands warm up, but they were not burning. The First Flame began to crawl up his hands, then up his arms and he could slowly feel himself become whole once more due to the First Flame.

Will turned, and the Fire Keeper stood next to him, a wide grin plastered on her face.

"Oh, honourable Champion of Ash, you have chosen to link the fire have you not?"

"My Keeper, I shall keep my promise as a Champion, your Champion, and I have indeed linked the fire."

Then the Fire Keeper's smile turned to a frown, and the smile was now full of sorrow.

"My Keeper, what is wrong? All shall be as it was, a new dawn for a new generation!"

"Ah, but it is not my duty to lead the next Champion. The First Flame needs a host to start the next Age of Fire, and it has always been the Fire Keeper to do so. It is my duty as a Fire Keeper to become one with the First Flame."

"But, that would kill you!"

"Dear William, your journey will mean nothing If I don't absorb the flame. Please, my honourable Champion of Ash, hand me the flame."

"No, if you are to sacrifice yourself, then you shall not do it alone. Allow me to help you in this, please, My Keeper."

The Keeper gave a small smile, it was small but it was there. The warmth had encompassed all of William's body, and he was burning away from the First Flame's power. Will held out his hand, covered in cloth, chain-mail and iron plate. Instead of the cold and blood-coated steel she had thought she would hold, she could feel the First Flame's warmth, as if she held William's own hand in hers. She could feel the flame crawl up her arm, over her black and gold robes and cloaks.

"My honourable knight, I thank you for your kindness." She spoke with a smile.

"My Keeper, my name is William, and I believe we shouldn't rely on formalities any longer now. My Keeper, what is your name?" Will replied, as he took of the dented iron helm.

To call Will handsome was an understatement. He was young, but he was not a child, with a noticeable beard and a mane of shaggy black hair he would have been in luck if he were not Unkindled. A problem with both the Unkindled and the Undead was that they could never remember their former life, and if they could, it would be a small part at most. All William could remember was his identity and his homeland of Astora, now a ruined wasteland of sand and fallen stone.

"Annalise, my name is Annalise."

Annalise was given to the Fire Keepers at a young age, and was brought up by them ever since. Becoming a Fire Keeper was all she knew, and at one point or another, she would have to become a follower of a Champion, someone who would rekindle the First Flame.

Both Will and Annalise could feel the flame overcome them, and despite them both being powerful beings, the flame eventually covered them both. Will had took a knee, and was beginning to feel the effects of the First Flame's power, as it began to melt away the dirtied armour and cloth, replacing it with a new set, one that looked similar to how he looked when Will first met Annalise. Whilst Will was knelt down, admiring the flame has crawled along his body, Annalise had allowed herself to relax, as she felt the flame travel up her arms and legs, body and head. It was a wonderful feeling, and one she would never be able to feel again. As the flames travelled along her, crawling along the master-crafted black gown and hoods she wore, she began to remember the Firelink Shrine, a place that she could only call home.

The Shrine stood on a tall cliff, and surrounding it was the glorious mountain ranges of Lothric, and below Lothric Castle stood Irithyll of the Boreal Valley. Whilst Lothric had beautiful weather, and the occasional rainfall, Irithyll had the harsher weather, with snow falling almost non-stop all year round. The buildings that she could see from the Shrine were very much dark and fearful looking in nature, beasts made of stone carved into alcoves and roofs on every building, and the Irithyll Knights patrolling the streets always made it seem like the city of Irithyll was in a rather unfortunate situation.

It wasn't Irithyll or Lothric Castle that she would always remember, it would be the Shrine. Guarded by Iudex Gundyr, the Belated Champion who awoke too late, to a Shrine without a Keeper and a bell that would not toll. The towering champion in a suit of armour resembling a former king knelt before the shrine, his halberd in one hand, and the coiled sword planted in his chest. If another champion was to come forth, they would have to prove they could duel Iudex Gundyr. His tale was a sad one, and at one point she could remember shedding tears at the poor man's fate, but she remembered that Fire Keepers didn't cry like children, they were to attend their champion.

The Shrine was gloomy then, when Sir William had came, with a blacksmith plying his trade and a merchant hag selling her goods, Annalise had felt that the Shrine had been misused. A man named Hawkhood the Deserter sat on the steps near the five Thrones of Cinder, crestfallen, weaving his tale of how he abandoned his brothers when he was needed the most.

When William had arrived, only one Lord of Cinder had arrived willingly. His title was Ludleth the Exiled, but he went by Ludleth of Courland. A small man, he sat on his small throne, smiling as he awaited his fate. He wasn't like the others, powerful, magical, special. He merely adopted the role as kindling to the flame, and he would do his duty once more. As Will came back to the Shrine, with rare treasures from his adventures, he would occasionally bring back people too. One time he brought back a Siegward of Catarina, a knight of Catarina, who would always mumble to himself as he sat in his onion-shaped armour. Another he brought back two sorcerers, Orbeck of Vinheim and Cornyx of the Great Swamp, the two men wearing their fine robes and sorcerers staffs as they began to write down scrolls upon scrolls of information about the Shrine. He finally brought three people back with him before he went off to relight the flame, Anri of Astora, Holy Knight Hodrick, and a traveller from a far-off land named Benhart of Jugo. Anri and Hodrick were kind, both dedicated to helping William relight the flame, whilst Benhart was quiet and he kept to himself, cleaning his blade or retelling stories of his homeland of Jugo. When they realised that sending William to relight the first flame would kill everyone except him and Annalise, they knelt before the remains of the Lords of Cinder, and with their final words had said the words that had brought them closer than any of them had ever thought.

"We very few, we very few, we very happy few."

As their bodies fell to the ground, she couldn't help but watch as William knelt to floor before the thrones, and let out a cry of sorrow and anguish. Will had failed to realise that as a Fire Keeper, Annalise could hold the souls that held no sovereignty of themselves, and when the band of misfits had passed along with the Lords of Cinder, she could feel the powerful essence of the souls enter her own, and she could feel the close feelings that the knights, mercenaries, and sorcerers held for William, and she could voice their words for them when they could not.

Annalise was brought out of her sorrowful memories when she looked at Will, as the First Flame began to die out, and the world around them began to fade into darkness.

"Annalise, w-w-what is happening to us?"

"The world is starting anew, my William. We shall not know what awaits us in the next life."

Little did they know, they wouldn't return to Lothric, but to a land of conflict and violence, where kings would fall and kingdoms would crumble. They would instead to a land of Seven Kingdoms, a land called Westoros.