The bird cawed as it flew, black as night. A shadow in the cloudy sky. From a distance I could see a massive city, A giant castle and cathedral looming over it. The wind was fierce but died down as we descended. The Astoran knight had said that an undead would be chosen to ring the bell, could I have been that undead?
The crow made an effort to set me down gently then flew to the top of some nearby ruins and nested. In front of me was a cage built into a rock face and inside was a woman. She did not speak, but simply looked at me. "Hello?" I said but again, she did not speak. I saw stairs slightly to the left and right. I took the right way though they both led to the same place. Directly above where her cell was, a bonfire sat. The darksign called to me.
"Touch the flame..." It said longingly.
"Yes, yes. I know how this works." I said as I held my hand out. The darksign ignited the flame and I sat and rested. The souls scattering around me again. Just then I heard a voice from in front of me and raised my head. There sat a man on a set of steps in rusty chain armor with a sword by his side.
- "Well, what do we have here? You must be a new arrival. Let me guess. Fate of the Undead, right? Well you're not the first." I didn't know what to say. I was under the impression that only one undead would be chosen, not every bloody bastard that managed to jump out of the Asylum with a darksign on his hand. He spoke again with a bit less cheer in his voice. "Well there's no salvation here. You'd have done better to rot in the Undead Asylum... But, too late now." He said with a sigh.
"Are you implying I can't handle this?" I said with scorn in my voice. He smiled a smug little grin.
"I'm saying no one can. But... since you're here, I suppose I can help you out. There are actually two Bells of Awakening. One's up above, in the Undead Church..." He pointed up to the cathedral at the top of the city I saw on the flight over. "The other," He pointed at the ground. "is far, far below, in the ruins at the base of Blighttown. Ring them both, and something happens... Brilliant, right?" He said with a smile. I rolled my eyes though he couldn't see it through my helmet and crossed my arms in disapproval. "Look, its not much to go on, but I have a feeling that wont stop you. So, what are you waiting for?" He motioned me toward the church. "Off you go. It IS why you came, isn't it? To this accursed land of the Undead?" He let out a chuckle then leaned back against a wall and relaxed.
I was tempted to run him through but I thought better of it. Though he was arrogant, he had information that could be of some use to me. I walked up the stairs past him. The place seemed to be an old shrine of some sort. I yelled back at the warrior as I was looking around. "What is this place called?" I said as I walked around.
"They call it Firelink. No godly idea why." I ran my fingers along some bricks then looked back at him.
"I didn't catch your name." He sat up as I walked forward. The crow had landed in front of me and knelt its head down to me.
"I didn't throw it.." He chuckled at his own joke while I gave the crow a bit of petting.
"Well will you at least tell me what crest you wear, What city you hail from?" He shook his head.
"You ask too many questions." He sighed and continued. "But if you must know, I don't have a crest. I'm a crestfallen warrior if you will." The crow nuzzled me and I put its head under my arm. He saw and chuckled. "The bird's name is Snugly."
I laughed and patted its head a bit. "Why Snugly?" He turned back toward me.
"Because he's one of the only things that wont kill you in this fucking place... Plus I fell asleep on him one time. Very soft." I smiled a bit.
- I walked back to the bonfire and sat near it. Everything was silent. Finally the warrior spoke. "Have you.. Have you seen that terribly morose lass?... The Fire Keeper." I nodded. He was speaking of the woman in the cell. "She's stuck keeping the embers of this bonfire alight. Sad, really. She's mute and bound to this forsaken place." He got a smile and spoke with a laugh. "They probably cut her tongue out back in her village, so that she'd never say any god's name in vain. Hah hah hah.." His voice became a bit more serious when he sighed his laugh away. "How do these martyrs keep chugging along? I'd peter out in an instant..."
"Some just want to keep living." I said
"Living in this hell is a curse.. and that little fire in your hand, the darksign. Heh, wouldnt let you die if you wanted to.." Silence closed around us for what seemed like hours but, in actuality was only a couple minutes.
"So..." I said inquisitively. "Has anyone else been here?"
"Many. they've all gone to ring the bells. Heh heh, probably hollowed by the darksign by now."
"Well if they aren't, I'll send them back here." He laughed at the thought.
"There's no bloody point, they'll hollow eventually, we all will. Such is the life of an undead.." I stood up and pulled my sword out of it's sheathe. Looking toward the Undead Church, I thought of the sound of the bell tolling. "Oh, you're leaving? Well, I don't want to sound pessimistic but I do not believe that you'll make it back here so, goodbye." He said with a smile. I ignored his mockery and set off toward the first bell.