A Crusade Of Fire
By Lucius RC
A/N: Greetings and welcome to A Crusade Of Fire, a story that follows the struggles of an Unkindled Hero to gather the Lords Of Cinder, return them to their thrones and link the Flame, but his goals aren't simply that: he wants to make sure the Flame stays lit forever
This is the first part of a 4-stories long series I am planning, A Crusade Of Fire will of course be based on Dark Souls 3… and the other 3 stories? Well now, that's for the future!
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this story! I know I will.
PS: Spoiler Alert! So if you haven't completed Dark Souls 3, don't read!
Prologue
The fight was vicious and certainly epic, the small, old and fragile Ludleth battling against the all-powerful Lord Of Cinder, Ludleth had nothing left, absolutely nothing left anymore, Courland existed no more, destroyed by its very own Soul Arts, and the Abyss was spreading without control
He lunged forward to stab his powerful sword, infused with Souls, deep into the chest of the Lord Of Cinder, who, to his surprise, exploded in a fiery flash… he screamed in pain as a massive fireball struck him, charring his armor, the force of the explosion tearing his legs away from him
He coughed as he fellto the ground, gripping his powerful sword in one hand and removing his charred and destroyed helmet with the other, tossing it aside as he struggled to crawl towards the flame "I may be small, but I will die a Colossus" Ludleth said solemnly as he touched the flame and screamed as the searing fire surrounded him
"It's the only way" Knight Athwulf, the leader of the Abyss Watchers, said grimly to the Alpha Pack Leaders of the Undead Legion Of Farron, slowly rubbing the legendary Wolf Ring on his finger as he stared at every last one of them in the eyes, the ashes of the Kiln surrounding them; The whole Legion was present except for the traitorous Harkwood, who had defected to serve the Dragon Path
The pointy steel helmets were visible all around him, the Knight being the only exception, since he wore Artorias' Armor itself as a sign of his status, slowly, he gripped his Greatsword, the same greatsword of the legendary Artorias, and turned around to face the fog wall, rising his weapon high in the sky
"The Abyss is out of control! Kingdom after Kingdom we have purged and yet the darkness keeps pouring nonstop into the land, Farron will soon be next, linking the flame is the only way of stopping it… and so, it is our task to do it! FORWARD, UNDEAD LEGION OF FARRON! FORWARD, ABYSS WATCHERS! FORWARD, SONS OF ARTORIAS!" he shouted to rally his men before rushing into the fog wall, the Legion soon following suit
The battle was quick and easy, their sheer numbers and power tearing the previous Lord Of Cinder apart like Wolves tearing a Sheep, minutes after, the Legion gathered around the flame and Athwulf closed his eyes- "It's the only way… the Abyss is spreading as we speak, by doing this we honor Artorias' legacy"
No other word was uttered as the Knight touched the flame and they were all consumed as one
"Yhorm! Yhorm! Yhorm!" the cheers ringed on his ears as he began his procession, the Giant and Lord of the Capital marching forward to the flame, coated in his full battle armor and his crown, his machete gripped tightly on both his hands as he marched, full of resolve, towards the kiln
He knew the cheers weren't sincere, he loved the Capital and its People, but they didn't loved him, only his power and the wealth he brought to them… ungrateful shits, but it was his capital and his people after all, he couldn't complain, he just loved them so much… it was all that was left to him after he lost his loved one and had tossed his Greatshield away
It was the only way, the Profaned Flame was getting dangerous, if not contained quickly it would consume the whole city… and what better way than to kindle the First Flame? The original and true Flame
As he reached the fog, he turned to face his only true friend, Siegward of Catarina, a Undead Knight from a long lost kingdom that had lived for so long… "It's the only way, Siegward… It's the only way to save the capital" he said in grief before entering the fog gate, the fight was over before it started, his great strength and his powerful machete doing short work of the previous Lord Of Cinder
That night, the Flame was linked and the city fell on celebration, celebration of both the salvation of the city and the dead of the hated Lord Yhorm… but the celebration was short lived, for the new Lord Of Cinder was so powerful that he wasn't consumed immediately, quite the contrary, the Giant came out of the Kiln and, infuriated by the lack of love of his people, rampaged through the city and burned it to the ground using the power of the flame
And then he laid down in the tomb that had been prepared for him and finished being consumed by the flame "I promise, Yhorm my old friend, to end your rampage should you ever rise again" Siegward of Catarina, one of the only survivors, said as he wept over the tomb
"Where is my prey?!" the dark and loud voice shook the whole Kiln as Pontiff Sulyvhan and the Three Archdeacons Of The Deep stared at the massive blob of darkness, it looked like one of those abominations, The Pus Of Man, who were possessed by the abyss and adopted gigantic, serpent-like forms made of darkness… only that Aldrich was a gigantic version of it
The Three Archdeacons cowered in fear as they knelt to worship the Saint Of The Deep, but Sulyvhan, self-proclaimed Pontiff Of The Deep and old friend of the abomination, smiled as he pointed at the fog gate "Another God, as promised my old friend"!" the Pontiff said with his skilled tongue, easily convincing the monster to enter the fog gate… the sounds of struggling could be hear inside as it began devouring the previous Lord Of Cinder
Sulyvhan rised a hand and the fog gate was sealed so strongly that not even Aldrich himself could break it "Its necessary, my subjects, its necessary, Aldrich was becoming too strong, too powerful, too chaotic, he would've devoured the whole world eventually… he hasn't even finished devouring Gwyndolin and he already wanted to eat another God… fear not tough, for soon the Age Of Fire and the Age Of Dark will both die, and the Age Of The Deep will rise" The Pontiff said as he turned around to leave the Kiln
Moments later, as the Lord Of Cinder was devoured, Aldrich, Saint Of The Deep, Devourer Of Gods was now also Lord Of Cinder, and the fire of the First Flame soon consumed him completely, using his raw power to keep the Age alive…. His remnants were retrieved and sent to a massive tomb in the Cathedral Of The Deep
Prince Lothric simply closed the book and tossed it to the fire, slowly beginning to crawl towards his oh so dear brother Lorian and climbing on his back "We must leave, Brother, we must leave… the flame is condemned to fall, I don't want to link the flame, I CAN'T link the flame, it's too horrible, the fate is too horrible…" he whispered to his ear as he began preparing a teleportation spell
"But I know a place, a place where we can watch the flame fade from a safe distance and enjoy our brotherhood together…. Far from danger, only the two of us, safe, forever… let others link the Flame" Lothric whispered before he teleported both he and his brother Lorian out of the Castle
Hours later, all the bells of the castle began ringing to give the news: Prince Lothric had escaped
Years later, the consequences for Lothric's actions were now quite visible: the flame was fading, the Undead Curse had returned, and now Time itself was convoluted, the lands of ancient Lords Of Cinder had appeared all around the land, heroes from ages past had arrived to Lothric, and now the Abyss was spreading
And so, for the first time, the Bell Tower Of Firelink Shrine began ringing, over and over again, it began ringing to awaken the Lords and the Unkindled, for the Flame was in peril, and only They could save it
The Undead Legion Of Farron, The Abyss Watchers, opened their eyes as the bells rang, and one by one they began rising in their graves, swords in hand, ready to put the Abyss at bay once more
Yhorm, The Giant, Lord Of The Profaned Capital, sank his machete deep into the ground and supported himself in it to rise to his feet, hearing the bell ring, he looked up, remembering how he had destroyed his very own Capital, and he roared, his body burning as he stood
Aldrich, Saint Of The Deep, Devourer Of Gods, destroyed the seal of his tomb as it raised, water pouring into the ground, to the surprise of the Deacons Of The Deep, the dark blob reached the ground and growled, ready to extract revenge upon Pontiff Sulyvhan, the damn traitor, and to finish consuming poor Gwyndolin
And deep in the Cementery Of Ash, in a forgotten grave, a Knight rised, once an Undead, now Unkindled, he had failed to link the flame long ago, and now he was back to life, a second chance to do what he failed to do.
Joshep, Knight Of Lothric, rose from his grave and looked at the Firelink Shrine on the distance
"I… I am alive… I've awakened…"
A/N: AAAAAAND The end! Of the Prologue of course, hope it was good enough! I speculated heavily on it and used my own interpretations of the Item Descriptions, hope you like it! For me, it looks like in Dark Souls 3 we are in the timeline of Lothric AND Irythrill of the Boreal Valley, as well as the Cathedral Of The Deep
I think we are in the Age extended when Aldrich was forced to link the fire, but that Lothric failed to do so and as such the bells began ringing
But hey! We will see more of that in the next episode, hope you enjoyed it!
