A transperced mount of bones and ashes was burning brightly. The Sword was old and rusted, it was what was commonly called a Bonfire. Those little sanctuaries were scattered throughout the land, serving as checkpoint to this world's undeparted guests. Next to it, a dried Hollow carcass laid still, flat on its belly and with a crushed skull. Amon, the fifth member of the newly formed group of Undead warriors, approached it and exhaled in annoyance. "Pardon me, I forgot about him." he said.
As he had done short moments before, Amon pushed the corpse with his bare feet, and lead it on the edge of the cliff. His goal was obvious. "Must you indulge in your sadistic actions in front of us ?" launched his Aroth with a saccharine voice. Not putting a stop to his motion, the naked noble retorted. "Excuse me 'your Lordship', I didn't know the smell of a rotten corpse was your favorite kind of perfume." as he pushed the unmoving black corpse into the mists below.
The knight couldn't find a good argument to launch at his hated brother. In truth, he had made a good decision. An exasperated axeman declared his impression:
"We all heard when you called the man "murderer". But he has been nice so far, little knight. No offense, I believe you and alll. Also, he's funny. So try to keep your concerns for when we get out of this place." Alrof sat at the bonfire, spreading a small cloud of dust from his weight. "Thank you, brave man. Shall we ?" appreciated Amon who let himself fall against a rectangular gravestone. He was imitated by the young cleric and the calm lancer. Their muscles relaxed as they incorporated the mystical flames' miraculous properties.
The five companions now formed a circle around the flames. Each seated differently. Alrof was spread on his side, with a hand sustaining his bearded head. Amon was resting against a gravestone, pensive. Pavelplaced his spear on his shoulder and removed his helmet as well. Revealing short brown hairs and a tattoo representing a white aureola on his forehead. And finally, Aveny was kneeling modestly, scratching the protuberance on the back of her blue robe. Aroth, after placing his weapons in front of him, removed his helmet to let his blond ponytail out of his neck.
Over their heads, the wind was blowing softly. It carried and a strange tune, grave and unnatural. Aroth and Pavel seemed perplexed, but something else caught the knight's attention. On his shield, something was amiss. Or rather, something was missing.
"This is... Interesting ?" he said, surprised.
"What is ?" asked Aveny.
"My shield... Well... This shield. There was a large gash from where I blocked a great lizard's attack. But it returned to its previous state."
Unmoved by the confusion, the bearded fighter responded.
"Well of course, what else did you expect ? You're at the bonfire."
Aveny nodded while Amon chuckled silently. Only Pavel seemed to share the knight's concern:
"Aroth has a point. I don't remember repairing my own shield either. I do not even have a dedicated kit." he said.
Perplexed by their insistence, Alrof changed position.
"Whatever for ? Nothing is broken beyond the bonfire's powers, no ?"
It was a pale Undead who gave an explaination: "I believe I can explain. Aroth here, and you, Ser Pavel, probably arose from earliest iterations of the Age of Fire. Times before the First Flame and the bonfires it feeds had absorbed the strength of legions of souls. So many heroes, gods and monsters had been poured into it by Champions of Fire who gathered essence during their journeys. As a result, the rules that bind the world became twisted over time." Amon pointed at the sparkling light of the flaming sword. "Bonfires, for instance, give new services, like the regeneration of equipment, but lost other things in return."
Those were complex concepts to grasp. Basically, things worked differently and they would have to adapt their approach in the coming days.
Alrof scratched his red fur and focused on another part of the explanation: "Oh oh! So you three are older than kingdoms, and you're still kicking ? Bwahaha! That's the Undead curse for you!" His carefree demeanor was virulent, Aveny's eyes sparkled with interest: "The earliest Ages you said ? Oh! Oh! I have questions! Did you meet the Gods O ancient ones ? Was the Sun as bright as it is now ?" she inquired.
"Well, er... I didn't exactly." commenced Pavel, taken aback.
Aroth, clearly aiming to get away from his brother
"This is no place for this discussion, at least not yet. Amon, where is the man you told us about ?"
"We could use another companion, given our altered condition..." confirmed the relieved herald.
Amon extended a thumb to the area ahead: "It's just there. Surely you can hear him."
"What ?" asked Aroth, Pavel and Aveny at the same time.
"Extend your ears and behold his great aura."
All rised and joined Amon a few metres away, on the edge of a smaller cliff. Below the small group was a man in an ash-colored robe, sleeping peacefully over a coffin that probably contained him until now. A hood was concealing his face. The noise he produced confirmed he was still among the living. Observing this strange fellow from atop the rocks, the five adventurers conversed anew.
"He is quite noisy... How long has he been there ? " asked the curious cleric.
Amon shrugged: "Not too long. He woke up the moment after a small bell was tolled. I believe there is one for every coffin that opens in these grounds. And its call grows in intensity with each warrior it awakens."
"Why didn't you meet with him, and how can you tell it is an old man, ?" inquired a suspicious Aroth
Another raising of shoulders was given: "I would never bother an elder man trying to rest. Twould be disrespectful. And I know of his age because of the color of his tone..." Amon added a little smile as he recollected something else "Doesn't his tune sound familiar ?"
In the silence of the ash filled hills. The grave wheeze could be distinctly heard from the man seated against the tree. It echoing for a while, then followed by an equally long whistle. It sounded faked, but was definitely most annoying, and the group couldn't ignore it now... Unware, the senior Unkindled was slowly balancing as his legs still hanged over the hole of his stone coffin.
"Gods... He sounds like the Kingseeker now that I think about it." admitted the blond-haired knight.
"He is correct. I heard his terrible turbulence many times over..." commented Pavel. He was apparently reminiscing of his past life, in a place filled selfsame people.
"Did you now ? I don't believe the Serpent ever mentioned you." replied Aroth.
"Neither were you among his thoughts..." wondered the servant of White. "Maybe the Old Snake simply forgot ?"
"You hail from different eras, remember ? Just hope he doesn't smell like him up close. No ?" interfered the almost naked man. Amon approached the border and invited others to do so as well. So, the group climbed down from the small cliff head. Each in their own way. Aroth jumped to the side and used his shield to slide over the ashes. Alrof simply jumped without ceremony. Aveny and Pavel both grabbed the ledge before letting go. Amon sat on the edge before propulsing himself down.
All had landed unscatthed, and were now very close to the old sleeper. The noise hadn't awakened him. Discussing quickly on who should awake him, Alrof volunteered. But Aroth deemed that brash actions would be dangerous. If the man really was a wizard, who knows what kind of spell he could throw in reaction.
And so Aroth approached silently. He got within two decimetres of the coffin when the snoring stopped.
Opening his eyes as if he was never sleeping to begin with, the new stranger looked indeed old. Removing his hood, his traits were more apparent. He had a great unkempt blue beard and his long and greasy hairs' tips were curling. Under his ash-colored cape was a deep blue uniform. He looked like the very definition of a sorcerer.
At least he doesn't awaken like Frampt. Thought Aroth
"I did not expect visitors..." said the wary sage.
"I'm sorry to have startled you. May I ask for your name ?"
"Hurm... Afore demanding an elder's name, you should all introduce yourselves."
"Forgive our rudeness ancient one. I am named Aroth the Arklaw. The ones accompanying me are the Lawless..."
"Let us introduce ourselves, 'Arklaw'." interrupted Amon coldly.
"White-skin has a point. I'm not even sure I remembered everyone's name." admitted Alrof, scratching his great red beard.
With a reluctant nod, Aroth let his comrades present themselves, starting from the right :
"I am Amon, Lawless Amon. A pleasure." he said, emoting a slight bow.
"Alrof the Ardent! Same..."
"Aveny. I am known as the Zealous. And an admirer of our precious Sun." said the bald woman with joined hands.
"Steadfast Pavel. Herald of the Way of White." said the calm lancer in his monotonous voice.
"An outstanding amount of titles to be sure... And you are in the presence of the famed Gyron the Learned. Greatest scholar of the Dragon School from the earliest days of the arcane. And maintaining this position even through to the infinite future. You have heard of me surely ?"
That is one great ego he has. Was what everyone else thought.
All tried to recollect anything about this person. But nothing came to mind.
Not waiting for a response, the older man arised at once. He was old, but very lively. Stepping over the opened stone box, he advanced towards the nearest cliff-face.
"I won't refuse sharing my wisdom, but I don't think this is a great place to discuss. Why don't we head towards the near building over the hill ?" he said joyously as he headed confidently towards the walls ahead.
"Pardon me master Gyron, but it looks quite high. Let us assist you." said Pavel
"Humpf... Don't insult me. I'll just prepare myself."
Apparently casting a spell with his staff. The old man walked confidently over the edge, before Pavel and Aroth could stop him. Prepared to land gracefully; Gyron kept his body unmoving while in mid-air, everything seemed alright for a split second. However...
"Yaouch!"
The old man had landed unsafely. His legs weren't ready for the force they had to go through. The old man stumbled and his arms barely caught a second fall forward.
"Ow... Heavens... What is the meaning of this ?"
Quickly joining the sorcerer, the company reenacted a descent. Aveny was the first to touch him.
"Oh my Sun... Do you need healing, old sage ? You tried to cast a spell ?"
"My legs... I have known Fall control since I was a little boy. How could I fail now ?"
The confident façade had left the wizards face. While Aveny began casting the minor healing miracle on the poor scholar, Aroth explained what could have caused this mishappening.
"For an unknown reason, each of us has lost the souls that had permeated our beings. We are weaker than we should be..."
"And we forgot about our original arcane techniques. We start from a basic set of skills." finished Pavel
The miracle had done its part in the middle of the explanation. Gyron stood back up immediately. But his mind had a hard time accepting this notion.
"Thank you young lady. It is quite an annoyance. Quite an annoyance... I cannot fathom relearning all my sorceries... The souls I had devoted..."
"On the brighter side, we might now choose how to integrate them adequately. I am sure you chose an unneeded aspect of yourself once or twice. And since we are a blank slate, our improvement will go that much more quickly." added Aroth. Trying to cheer the afflicted sorcerer.
"Aroth ? The way you said it, it would mean you couldn't reshape your inner souls once you fed it ? Exactly how long ago did you come from ?" asked Aveny.
All the questions and mysteries were adding up on the group. They were discussing left and right in a blur. Trying to ascertain their thoughts. But the nearby Hollows and the stress of their awakening were boggling their minds. Hollows ? There were three of them coming from behind another path, and another was hiding in the archway. The latter had taken a crossbow and was aiming at them.
"On your guards!" shouted Amon
In retaliation, Gyron launched an attack from hs wand while Aroth raised his shield instinctively. A blue mystical arrow flew towards the souless bowman just as his bolt was loosed. The spell hit its mark while the quarrel was stopped by the knight's shield.
Alrof and Pavel charged on the other Hollows. Aroth, Aveny and Amon sheated their weapons, victory could be considered achieved. Amon's sheathing made use of the entirty of his loincloth and Aveny let out a little giggle. This sound warmed the heart of the deprived noble and he smiled in return, unashamed. Something Aroth couldn't possibly comprehend. How long had Amon lived for him to change so ? Gyron, in the meantime, wasn't amused.
"A bloody soul arrow. Unimproved in any way. At least I can produce that." mumbled the rugged sorcerer.
Finishing off the other Hollows at close-range, Alrof and Pavel came back to the fold.
"Let's not waste time and head to the summit. We'll discuss like men and not like old firekeepers." finally said an annoyed Alrof.
On that note. The six strangers advanced towards the arc stone nearby.
They all stopped when they heard yet anther interruption. Rocks were falling on the left of the archway. Something big was falling from the summit of the graveyard.
"Dangnabbit!" shouted a female voice.
Landing on top of the wall, she lost balance because of the violence of her arrival. She fell on the group's side and her full body came into contact with the ground.
That fall looked far more painful than Gyron's. The woman had fallen from quite the height before reaching the ruins. Probably from atop the hills given the damage. Losing blood quickly but she saw the group
"Hoy there... Y'all..." she whispered while a bottle appeared in her hand. A hand she tried to move with all her strength.
She lost consciousness before the yellow flask could reach her lips.
"Aveny! Pavel!"
Without other instructions, the cleric and the herald rushed to her assistance. Aroth raised his shield in case more rocks could fall on them.
Pavel, though unable to cast miracles was determined to help. Drinking the injured ladies' Estus, he kissed her and transfered the content in a meager hope to stop her from dying.
The estus had penetrated. But the lady kept still. UNtil she violently opened her eyes
Liking her lips and observing Pavel's blushing face. She headbutted him straight in the nose.
"Thanks ya withey monklover."
"Aoh... Excuse me ?"
"Ya heard me. Ah'm grateful for the saving an' all but the last thing ah need is some debt to a droolin' herald of the White Way."
"Those are just clothes. I mean I am a herald... However that doesn't mean I.
While desparation was taking hold of the normally ice cold Pavel, the party sheathed their weapons. The danger was more in the gal's words than her actions. Getting back on her feat, still trying to balance herself and slowly getting her back upright, she waved at the rest of the adventurers.
"Bloomseer Carra of da Great Swamp. Savior of da Flame of Chaos an' Burner of Demons. Nice ta meet ya."
In the ensuing silence, only Aroth stepped up.
"Can you tell us why you fell like so ? We didn't see any coffin from here nor heard any bell to tell of your existence."
"Oh that ? I was up an' about since before y'all. I was tryin' ta reach the top of those rocks back where there's water. Ah dunno if you got there yet. But there was a wall in the way and nowhere else to go. Ah kept climbing but it took too long a while ta get anywhere. Maybe ah got lost also..."
The young woman was ecstatic as she spoke, thrilled to be able to speak to someone at long last."
"Anywho, ah was climbin' for a while an' almost reached the big tree ya can see behind. But those hills are more dangerous than a Mama Crab that smelled some berries on ya."
Indeed. Any attempt at climbing would only result in broken bones, even if everyone adopted Amon's current fashion to get themselves lighter.
"I'm sure glad I fell on your side. The big fella looked real dangerous from up there."
"You mean me ? You're on my side you know ?" demanded Alrof, with a thick eyebrow raised high.
"Oh I didn't see you! Nice meetin' ya. An' I meant the other guy."
"You mean behind those walls"
"See fer yerself friends."
Finally properly in front of the entrance, the group could see what lay ahead. An immobile armour in the middle of a great circle made of hard stones. Behind it
"We have nothing to fear. Advance as one. Gyron and Carra, stay back. Should it awaken, destroy it." whispering
"Nobody died yet to make you leader of this little company, Aroth." snarkly commented Amon. And he was right. Aroth was already commanding everyone simply because he had more confidence than the rest.
"I would gladly oblige you, wretch."
"Does anyone here possess binocular ?" asked Aveny
None answered.
"That big fella has oily tendrils on da back... And not slugs. Ah know about slugs." observed Carra thanks to her keen eyes.
It was true. Focusing on the armour's back, all now noticed a wriggling shadow
"The Abyss ? Gods... Has the world been infected once more ?" reflected Pavel.
"This changes much. If this foe has absorbed some amount of Abyss within, then his might would be quite formidable." continued Gyron, who had finally gotten some confidence back.
"A might that would prove inferior to ours. However diminished we may be, he is but one entity." explained Aroth.
Being the oldest of the group, at least in appearance and mannerism, Gyron explained his idea.
"Let us partake in the ancient ways of the Dragon School. Should anyone want to share his thoughts, he should first raise his hand in silent until I choose to listen to him. Let this ritual prove the solution to our unease."
The armoured behemoth wasn't moving yet. But the group didn't want to waste more time bickering with no chance to prove their point. They all nodded. Aroth, Amon and Aveny raised their hands.
"You servant of the Gods."
"We could simply climb the wall or use the cliffs on the right to avoid confrontation. We have enough number to help each other reach highest ground."
"Not a good idea... Once separated, the..." started Pavel.
"Raise a hand to share your thoughts..." repeated Gyron, vexed. "You can interrupt to agree or dismiss, but no elaboration please."
After raising his hand in silence, and being approved, Pavel bounced back.
"Once separated, we don't know if the giant will awaken and slay the fugitive first. Or worse, he could attack while we are on each other's shoulders. As for the cliffs, much like the hills, they made of extremely brittle stones. We risk a fall that would only kills us before we even know what lies beyond the walls."
"A sound argument."
"Oh, and I confirm about going down da cliff. Completely impossible." added Carra.
Ignoring the commenters, Pavel awaited other options. Three more hands were raised. Aveny's, Amon's and Aroth's.
"Lawlfest Amon ?" continued Gyron.
Strangely pleased with the wanky title, the naked man started in a happy tone.
"We don't know if a fog wall could form when engaging the warrior. But if we send someone ready to die and confirm his behavior, then at least we would know if confrontation is inevitable."
"Would you test this foe yourself ?"
"Gladly, but I wager I might kill him and keep the souls for myself. And you wouldn't stand for it would you ?"
Sighing, but not approving nor dismissing, the young man raised his hand.
"Ser Aroth."
"Amon raised a good point. But we outnumber this great being seven to one. The souls he would release would be passed to each of us equally. But in order not to displease anyone, let us get some rest and discuss what each of us would do with those souls. I'm sure Carra would also want her Estus recharged"
No one raised his hand after this. Gyron began
"All in favor of Amon's proposal, say Aye."
No one answered, not even Amon himself.
"Then we should go back to the Bonfire and discuss our options. All in favor ?"
"Agreed" "Aye." "Aye." "Obviously." "Aye" "Aye"
Each seemed confident in the arguments in the favor of them grabbing the enemy's souls. The discussion would be a thing of legend. As they returned up the hill in smaller groups, tackling Hollows along the way, Alrof took Aroth by the shoulder.
"By the way Aroth... the Arklaw ?
"Yes, Ardent Alrof ? You can call me Aroth if you wish."
"Its THE ardent... You know what it sounds better your way so keep calling me that. Anywho, you remember the blue estus flasks we found a while ago ?
"I do..." a moment of thought was all the young man needed. "How many are there ?"
"Ten. I think... We should share them at the bonfire as soon as we can."
"Certainly, go ahead. Maybe Amon knows about them."
Alrof sprinted ahead, Aveny welcomed him back. Amon too was waiting while the rest started discussing. But Aroth ignored him.
And so, seven Ashen ones sat at the bonfire, in order to prepare to face a most fearsome battle.