Hello everyone, contrary to the meta here this is NOT my first story, I wrote that story three years ago but I was never happy with the quality, so I discontinued it and spent my time instead learning what makes a good fanfiction, I learnt a lot from some of the best fanfiction writers around among them the legend himself Coeur Al'aran.
Anyway, here's the story, enjoy.
What is destiny, why are we bound to it unable to escape? Did we not used to say that man makes his own destiny? He decides his own future? So why then why do I stand here, at the footsteps of the first flame unable to decide my own fate? Why must I give up my life and suffer for an ungrateful world that would crumble again.
The ashen one stood gazing at the murky sky dominated by the dark sigil, his black Greataxe fell limply from his hand for he had no more strength to spare, beneath his helmet, his face was one of sorrow, doubt and most prominently rage, "I…I sought to save this world once before but I failed" he whispered, "And thus, you raised me again to carry out my wish… a wish I longer seek to fulfill" his voice louder this time and directed at the flame before him, the fire flickered at his words almost taunting him. He did not want to save this world anymore, what purpose would it serve if every friend he made died, perhaps once he wished to save it regardless but now he's grown bitter, thousands of years watching friends die and hollow jaded him.
Long ago, mankind fought alongside Lord Gwyn, it was their efforts that helped destroy the dragons, for they were the vanguard, humans were always strong willed even more so than the giants, they cared not if this battle would be their last or the next but when the dragons were defeated Gwyn cast a seal of fire upon humanity, a brand that would stop their power from growing, a sigil that would curse mankind until they lost their minds, then he erased the efforts of humanity from history, removing their pride as warriors, for Gwyn feared humanity for one reason and one alone, the Dark King, he would rise from humanity and be the direct antithesis to Gwyn's power, he trembled before the dark and thusly doomed humanity in his cowardice.
The champion of ash trudged towards the first flame "You cursed me, cursed my friends. Damned us all to this torment but now...now I curse you" the flame flickered again. The Lord of Hollows extended his hand over the flame, the fire resisted, for it knew what was to come, that the dark king has arrived to dismantle the flame and claim its power for his own, it writhed and struggled sending lashes of pain that brought the Ashen one to his knees, "You have no choice, just as I had none", the flame receded and within a few minutes it faded entirely. Up above, the crimson ring of the dark sign, the seal placed upon mankind by the ancient ones who feared humanity, faded. suffused by a white ring. The mark of humanity.
It was a cold day in the outskirts of vale, so far at the edge of the kingdom the cold only increased in magnitude due to the lack of civilization, on a dirt road cutting through the forest three green vehicles drove in silence, the vehicles were a type used by explorers and army personnel during scouting missions in the untamed lands beyond the kingdoms, they were fast, quiet and sturdy. "are you sure we are on the right track Azure? it feels like it's taking too long to get there?" a brown-haired man in his mid-thirties yelled over the whipping winds. "Definitely, the ruin grounds should be off the road just ahead" the man now identified as Azure replied "Maybe if you stopped doubting me every 10 miles we could have gotten there faster Capri" there were two other members in this vehicle excluding the driver and all of them wore the same brown cargo pants and white sleeved shirt with a brown vest.
"Captain Capri, I think we've reached our destination mam" a voice spoke through the two-way radio Capri peered out from the vehicle and saw a small ruin ahead. The ruin itself was nothing more than a small castle-like structure atop a small hill, trees and vines grew around it wildly further cementing the abandoned image the ruin held, with corroded stone walls and pillars barely holding it in place, so far away from civilization, this is uncharted territory, and they were the first to set foot here for a hundred years at minimum the structure could not be anything other than the ancient shrine they sought.
Finally! After all this time I've found it, the abandoned ruins that predates history itself, this has to be it. Its location is a perfect fit to the texts we found in vacuo. Capri grinned at the thought of all the treasure she would find and the knowledge humanity would obtain from this excavation.
"may I ask what is it exactly are we looking at here?" one of the guards they hired to travel with them asked, "we have evidence to suggest that there may be an important historical relic here, from what we gathered the texts referred to it as 'Mankind's greatest weapon', it's probably just a stone relic that these people worshiped or something of that ilk but whatever it is, it has historical value and so we must retrieve it, what we find here today can change the world" Capri spoke with a gleam in her eye. "Now, there's no time to waste I want your men to set up a perimeter while we begin the excavation.
The mercenaries split up into two groups, one group guards the entrance and the other ventures into the ruins with the explorers.
The group entered the mouth of the ruins, the inside of the ruin had the appearance of an arena with a large open center and large stone seats standing imperiously above it.
"Spread out, look for anything we can carbon date. Azure, you inspect those seats up there, try to see if there are any carvings around it then scratch them down". The group followed Capri's commands each of them sifting through ash and dust.
A few minutes pass in absolute silence, each person working to their assigned tasks diligently
"Uhh, Capri? You need to see this" Azure called out from above. Capri climbed the stairs looping from the side of the arena and was greeted at the top by a sight she could never forget. A corpse was slouched in the center throne, the figure was covered from head to toe in dull silver armor, indents ran across the front and back giving the armor a ribcage-like appearance and at the center of the armor was a red ring forged to appear as though it was melting, his face was covered with a knight's helmet the top of which appeared to have a jagged crown-like appearance.
"Who do you think he might have been" Azure asked slightly disturbed by how the corpse was just left in the open without proper funeral rights. "It's likely since he was found on the throne he could be a person of authority or he could also be a grave robber who simply died while on the job, we shoul- ", her words were cut off by an ear-splitting scream that came from the mouth of the ruin
"WHAT IS HAPPINING!" Capri yelled and in response a hail of bullets erupted from the entrance, one such projectile lodged itself in her right thigh, she collapsed next to the throne, her blood seeping into the cracked stone floor. Four men rushed in through the entrance with machine guns, they wore white robes and their faces were obscured by a white mask with red linings, there was no mistaking it, the white fang is here.
Capri looked around from the floor and saw all her partners and guards murdered, she was the only one who survived the shower of bullets, she laid very still and tried to slow down her breathing, she doubted they were here only to kill them, if she can feign death long enough for them to be distracted then she may be able to escape.
The terrorists moved in to secure the area, "Alright now that that's dealt with what are we looking for here?" a large brute of a man wielding a two-handed axe on his back asked, "No idea, they don't tell us shit" his comrade wielding a saber on his hip aside from the machine gun grunted "All we are ordered to do is clear the place then wait for that woman to get her", on queue a woman with raven locks and amber eyes strode in, her movements were as elegant as her beauty.
She walked up the stairs of the arena next to the body of a fallen explorer staring briefly at the body, Capri stopped her breath and remained motionless, the woman's eyes flicked briefly to the corpse resting on one of the thrones then turned around and walked back down, Capri exhaled then rasped for breath softly, she was shaking out of fear, if that woman had looked at her for a second longer she would have been discovered, she thanked the corpse for taking the attention off her long enough.
"Bring her down"
Capri's heart froze, her eyes widened to see the white fang soldier hastily climb the steps and pull her to her feet.
"What a fortunate coincidence, it just so happens that in order to obtain the power hidden in these ruins we require a sacrifice" cinder gave her a cruel smile, one that spoke of her impending death.
Capri was stunned, power? Is she mad?! These are nothing more than myths and legends, tales sung by civilizations long dead, they had no merit, was she about to die for something as idiotic as this?!
"NO! please you must understand, there is no power here, It's just a myth!" Capri pleaded, she knew it was futile, when someone is obsessed with something almost nothing can dissuade them but she tried nonetheless.
"Hush now, is this not what you wanted? To discover something so grandiose that it changes the world? Well now you will do more than just discover it, you will become a part of it" cinder smiled again.
"Bring her to the center of the room" the grunts obeyed her commands and hauled Capri to the small circle of stone that stood in the center of the arena.
She fell into the small structure and for a moment nothing happened then suddenly and without warning her right foot caught on fire. Capri screamed, the fire seemed to burn her leg through to the very bone, she hopped out of the blaze that now spread into the circle but seemed to be contained within it, she shut her eyes to grit through the pain but also so she wouldn't see herself be thrown again into the fire, she waited for someone to grab her but none did.
She opened her sobbing eyes and looked around expecting to see everyone there staring at her but none were, they were all staring above her, she turned her head to see what it is they were staring at.
The corpse that was resting on the throne, it moved! A small twitch at first then the head rose, the steel groaning and cracking as it did then very slowly it got up onto its feet.
She couldn't believe this, a corpse just rose back from dead, it stood in front of the throne watching them, it tilted its head slightly, almost confused.
"What is this? Who are you? If you have taken the power hidden here then I suggest you give it up" cinder yelled, frustration evident in her voice, no doubt she didn't expect this to happen, she too couldn't believe it either, she expected the relic to be something made of stone at least.
The corpse laughed, it wasn't a joyous laugh, it was a laugh of sorrow and disappointment.
"You were right patches… every age is tainted by the greed of men, their hearts are as black as the souls which swirl within them, they know no honor or morals, blindly they stumble, forgetting those who laid down their lives to save them. For this I despise humanity..." the corpse stared at the ceiling as if talking to a phantom visible only to him, then looked back down.
"I will cleanse this world of the unworthy"
I originally based this story on a concept of fire vs fire, the Ashen one vs Cinder, that will happen but not In the way you might imagine, the ashen one will not be the hero of this story but rather will have his own agenda, anyway this story will get update once or twice a week, there's no fixed schedule yet because I am a child who can't organize his time properly.