Flynn

SL18 - 14 VGR - 10 ATT - 11 END - 17 VIT - 18 STR - 12 DEX - 9 INT - 9 FTH - 7 LCK

Resa

SL18 - 13 VGR - 10 ATT - 10 END - 12 VIT - 12 STR - 15 DEX - 8 INT - 16 FTH - 11 LCK

Flynn

I moved to Andre, Resa oddly enough following along. I presented him my longsword, the poor thing bent and dented from our most recent encounter. The smith, looked at the blade, a clear sign of pity in his eyes...but also admiration.

"It takes dedication 'ta bend a sword like that, Flynn. Ye got in a rough fight, and it looks like ye've come back the better for it. Here, give that blade 'ta me, and I'll fix it up for ye." I nodded, handing over the blade to Andre. Meanwhile, Resa pulled something out of her belt pouch...I couldn't quite make out what they were.

"I found these in the same fight as well...they look like some sort of clear titanite? I know I'm not very good at this, but I figured you'd know what they were." Her description was accurate, if not a little odd. At the sight of them, Andre's eyes grew wide.

"What ye found there is something far more rare than any titanite...ye found shards of an Estus Flask. The things are damn near indestructible, and it takes quite an amazing feat 'ta shatter one. However, given a bit of work, I can join them with yer Estus Flasks...make them a bit more useful for ye. Ye've got nothing 'ta lose."

That was all I needed to hear. I reached for both my flasks, handing them over to him while Resa did the same. "This'll take me a bit of time. I'll call for ye when they're done. Yer sword'll be ready too, Flynn."

"Thanks for everything, Andre...oh! I nearly forgot." I pulled out the gem we'd pried from the lizard, showing it to the smith. "Found this, as well as a piece of titanite. I have a feeling you'll appreciate both."

The smith nodded, a smile plastered across his face. "Damn right I do. I knew I could count on ye to bring me these. As much as I know ye want to use them...I'd hold off this time. This gem's infusion is...nothing special, unfortunately. I've heard tell out there that there are flames capable of working with gems I've never laid my eyes on...perhaps ye'll find one for you, somewhere. Keep this one with ye for now though. I won't stop ye from using it, it's just not a good use of yer resources."

"I understand. You're still the expert here...I'll take your word on this."

The smith nodded. "Alright, now scram. I'll call for ye when yer stuff is finished."

I left, moving back out to the central area. Something caught my eye, however...another man, leaning against the topmost throne. He seemed to be in odd attire, a foreign hat and a leather cape surrounding him in a veil of mysticism. "I'll meet back up with you soon. I'd like to meet the newcomer. Can you...please just talk to Greirat? He's a good man, Resa, if perhaps misguided previously in his life."

My sister let out a sigh. "Okay, Flynn. I'll give him a chance. We can meet back when Andre's ready for us."

We split up as I walked up the stairs, rounding the corners of the Shrine to approach our newest arrival. As I approached he seemed to take but a mere passing interest in me, arms still folded in front of his chest. "Is there something you'd like?"

I shook my head. "Nothing particularly, no. Just would like to meet the people here."

The man stood straight up, no longer resting against the throne. "Well...the name's Leonhard. Yours?"

"Flynn."

"Well, Flynn, here's what you need to know. I smell something on you...a thirst, a desire, to hunt. Not merely the mindless hollows roving Lothric or anywhere else in this godforsaken world...no. I smell a desire to hunt other unkindled. What say you?"

I shook my head adamantly. "I'd say you're out of your mind."

He chuckled, a thin plate of steel veiling his features. "Most say that...few can resist the temptation. You remind me of one of our group...you bear a similar smell. Tell me, do you recall the name 'Quelaan'?"

I couldn't hide my surprise, even if I wanted to. "What of her?"

"Ha." His response was smug and terse. "Then you can't fight it, you were once and always will be a servant of chaos. There is one other among our ranks that was a follower of Quelaan. Perhaps you'll meet him someday." He reached into the folds of his garb, pulling out five small, red rocks "Take these. Crush one...and you will join the hunt once more."

I smacked the rocks out of his hand, letting them scatter to the floor. "You misunderstand my intentions, Leonhard. I did not serve Quelaan because of the thrill of the hunt. I served Quelaan because I saw a selfless woman that deserved my time and respect. I do not know who among her people also served her, but we served her for very different reasons."

Leonhard reached down, grabbing the stone closest to him. "If you wish to serve a selfless mistress, then you should reconsider my proposition. I serve Rosaria...she is a wonderful mistress. Through her power, her followers can be reborn, can reshape themselves to be whatever they wish. All she requires is a sacrifice...an offering befitting of her transformative powers."

At this...I was at least willing to hear him out. "And what is this offering, exactly?"

I could hear Leonhard let out a subtle laugh. "None other than the - "

"Flynn! Resa!"

Leonhard stopped talking as Andre shouted out across the Shrine. "Well. Looks as if you're wanted. Here, take just one stone...I know you'll come back for more."

I batted his hand away. "We will continue this conversation another time. Until then, I want nothing to do with you, Rosaria, or her other followers. You leave me and my sister alone."

I started walking away, Leonhard leaving me with a final, parting message. "You cannot escape your soul, Flynn, your dark, dark soul. You were once a servant of chaos...it is time you became a servant of Rosaria."

I didn't bother to look back, continuing down the stairs, past the bonfire, and towards Andre. I don't know what irked me more...the fact that he was so blunt with his approach...or the fact that he might have been right. No, I shook the thought away immediately...I didn't kill for sport. The undead that we fought, they were in our way, and we needed to get through them to reach our goal. I enjoyed killing...I enjoyed the thrill of the fight, not knowing if I'd be the one to walk away...but I wouldn't attack another unkindled. Their job was the same as mine, to prolong the age of the undead. Attacking one would only hinder both our goals.

I arrived at Andre's forge, my longsword sitting brand-new on the anvil alongside two Estus flasks. Resa was nearby, slipping her two bottles into her belt. "Brand new for ye...just don't go ruinin' it so quickly next time. I'd hate to see my work squandered."

I slid the sword into its sheath, grabbing the two flasks. "I'll take good care of it, Andre. You have my word." Resa and I walked back to the central bonfire, taking a seat. "Are you ready to return?"

My sister nodded. "Let's go. I want to find what's in that gate. It's our first and only clue."

I closed my eyes, envisioning the bonfire we'd just left...the bonfire on the tower. Within moments I felt my body shift, opening my eyes to see the familiar landscape around me once more.

We pushed back through once more...nothing was terribly challenging. Down the tower, across the rooftops, and finally back down, near the entrance to the building where we'd found Greirat's key. We took another path this time, heading towards the archer Resa had preemptively taken out last time. Around the corner, several other hollows sat in wait, none of them even able to land a scratch on us before we'd taken them all down. Behind them was a ladder that led down to the ground floor, off of the rooftops we'd been climbing on. If my orientation was correct, which it almost certainly wasn't...we had to be close to the gate.

I descended the ladder, landing in what seemed to be the remains of a battlefield. All around us were armor of the two knights we'd seen, several of them directly near us as well as one other, larger knight. This one bore blue regalia, as opposed to the knight's red, and was nearly twice the size of the other knights. Weapons were skewered through all of them, at least five per suit of armor and double for the blue knight...something had happened, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know what.

Up ahead I heard a rhythmic thumping, heavy footsteps coming from the otherside of the archway just ahead of us. I peeked through the arches, looking at what was on the other side. The battleground looked even worse than before, literally dozens of knights and hundreds of statues visible just from my constrained look. However, one knight wasn't dead quite yet...and it was one of the ones that bore the blue regalia. It patrolled the plaza in a circle around a central statue, a sizeable halberd slung over its shoulder. As soon as I saw it I turned back around, shaking my head. Beyond the guardian, it was the largest foe we'd fought...there wasn't even a close second. "Big guy. Really big guy."

"How many?"

I looked at my sister, shocked. "Just one...why?"

She fidgeted, her words not coming quickly. "We were able to take out four just before this. Surely you can take out one."

"I...yeah. Okay." The truth was, I wanted to fight...and I wanted to win. At the same time, though, Leonhard's words rung true in my mind. I didn't want to know if I enjoyed the kill. Right now, I just wanted to fight as little as possible, but I knew that wasn't going to happen, nor would anything remotely similar happen. "Okay. I'll follow your lead."

Resa moved ahead of me, spear and shield at the ready. I moved behind her, for once, waiting to see how this initially played out before planning my reaction.

It played out...poorly. The knight noticed us despite our meager attempt to remain unnoticed, pivoting towards Resa and charging. The halberd came swiftly sideways, Resa narrowly missing it as it slammed into the archway. It got wrenched free faster than I could have expected, though, the blunt half of the weapon slamming into her before she had a chance to react. She was sent flying into the other side of the arch, immediately falling to the ground.

She hadn't died...if she did, I wouldn't be here now, I'd be back at a bonfire. That simply meant that I had to buy time, give her a chance to get back on her feet...however long that took.

I charged at the knight, a pathetic gesture given that it was nearly twice my size. The halberd came swinging at me, my shield blocking the swing in its tracks. I countered, plunging my sword into its chest and slashing upwards, cutting through the metal armor with ease. The knight backed up, trying to get me back in range of the head of its weapon, but I refused to give it the chance...I kept close, charging towards it again, getting another slash against it. I kept this up, refusing to give the knight even a chance to swing the tide of the battle in its favor, lest I end up in the same situation as Resa.

It slammed the halberd down again, the head landing just behind me. I took a different approach this time, taking the pommel of my sword, slamming it down just where the knight's hand gripped the halberd. I knocked the weapon free, slamming it onto the ground. One foot swiftly moved to stand on the head, hoping that would be enough to deter the now-unarmed knight from trying it to retrieve it.

I could tell the knight was mad...it charged towards me. I held up my shield, unsure of what to expect, but nothing could prepare me for its assault. It took both hands and grabbed my shoulders, lifting me into the air with less effort than I expected. I tried to slash at its arms, my sword not quite finding its mark. I was lifted up as the knight turned around, facing the central statue in the plaza.

"No...please no." The knight threw me straight into the statue, stone and marble shattering as I slammed into it, my body now hurtling towards the ground. I landed amidst the rubble, sharp pieces of rock digging into my sides...I don't think I could move my sword arm. With my one good arm I reached for my Estus flask, nearly choking on the liquid as I poured as much of it down my throat as I could.

It seemed that Resa had just gotten up...I could hear the sounds of fighting in the distance. As my wounds healed I got back to my feet, popping my shoulder back into place and grabbing my sword. I'd gone from defensive to mad...at first, I only wanted to buy time for Resa to recover. Now, I simply wanted it dead.

I charged for it, not trying to hide my presence in the slightest as I closed the distance, leaping into the air and holding my sword out once I was only a stride or two away. I slammed it into the unaware knight, dragging it down with me as I hit the floor, but not before putting a major gash in the knight's back. It howled with pain, but I wasn't done yet...not even close. I plunged it in again, ripping another chunk of armor away, repeating the action a third time, the knight too frozen with pain to be able to do anything about it. Like a butcher with a fresh slab of meat I carved at the knight's back, only stopping when the behemoth fell to the ground.

Blood was splattered all over me...and I didn't care. It had humiliated me, picking me up and tossing me around like a sack of vegetables. For that...death wasn't a satisfactory conclusion. I wanted more, but I couldn't get it now.

"Flynn...you're scaring me."

Those words snapped me back into reality, back to Lothric...not the sadistic world that I had traveled to. Once again, Leonhard's words rung through my mind, and a wave of crashing guilt bore down on my chest.

"Yeah...I'm scaring me, too. Don't let me go into that rage again, please."

"I'll do my best."

I walked back over to my shield, not even realizing I'd abandoned it amidst the fervor of battle, and we moved to the far side of the plaza, past another archway.

There it was...the gate. The odd, window-like structure above it still shone with a ghastly blue light, just disconcerting enough to make me wonder why...it clearly wasn't natural, and it also wasn't from the sun. Before we could investigate it, though, we had to get there. Two knights clearly blocked our path, patrolling in unison around the much-cleaner streets than what we'd just walked through...no battered suits of armor lining every corner.

We were close. We just needed to go the little extra distance, and we'd finally be at the gate, and the massive castle behind it. I pressed forward, waiting until the two knights had pivoted about and began marching towards the gate to continue. I wasn't quiet by any means, but neither were they...their armor was as heavy, if not heavier, than mine. Each of them bore the armaments of one we'd fought previously - one carried a sword and shield, the other a spear and greatshield. I had just about snuck up on the former when it noticed my presence, both pivoting in a martial fashion to face me. All four shields raised up as I immediately retreated towards Resa, the two knights chasing after me. I fended away the stray strikes that got close to my shield, eventually forming a solid battle line with my sister right behind me.

"Spear for spear, sword for sword?"

"Only if you think you can get around that shield, sister. I can tell you, it's not easy."

"That's because you're not fast enough to get around it. Allow the expert to show you how it's done." She moved past me, two spears crashing into opposing spears almost instantly.

I narrowed my vision towards the sword-bearing knight. "That leaves me with you. Tough luck...you don't look so bad." I bashed my shield forward, a few quick thrusts from my sword immediately putting the knight on defense, its shield trying to catch the tip of my sword each time. It countered, two swords now trying to bypass each other and the opposing shield, never once making contact with armor.

I ducked low, barreling forward and wrapping my arms around the knight's waist and throwing both of us to the floor. I brought my elbow down onto its chest with enough force to cave in its armor, the two of us now wrestling on the ground, vying for control. Whoever was on top tried to plunge their sword through the other's chest, the knight's getting dangerously close to slipping through my armor and into my flesh. I refused, lifting up my legs to kick it in the back, garnering enough of a distraction to turn the tides back in my favor. We flipped over once more, the knight now below me, as I tried the dangerous game of plunging the sword into my foe. I pushed down with all my weight, feeling the sword inch closer and closer...until it finally slipped through. As soon as I felt the tip pierce flesh the knight's resistance faltered minutely, but the difference was enough for me to plunge the tip of my sword straight into the ground. I pulled the sword out and stood up, the knight close behind me, blood now spilling from both sides of its chest...undead were impossible to kill.

Now, however, I had a clear advantage. The knight's attacks were slower, its defenses sluggish, causing our duel to lean slightly more in favor of me as time went on. A chip here, a slash there, eventually leaving the knight looking battered and beaten. With one final swipe, I brought my sword diagonally across the knight's chest, cutting straight through its armor...the body fell to the floor.

I looked towards Resa...it looked like she'd just recently taken down her opponent, still wiping the blood from the tip of her spear. She looked up, seeing that I'd taken down the knight. "About time...I was starting to wonder if you needed some help. You looked like you were having fun, rolling around on the floor and all."

I looked down to Resa's slain knight...its sides and back were littered with holes, each one from Resa's spear. To contrast, Resa looked no worse for wear. "I was fun...now let's not waste any more time. We're close."

I pressed forward, the tiny entryway into the massive gate growing closer and closer. Eventually, we crossed the threshold...to a sight I didn't expect to see. The inside was practically empty, most of the furniture that use to be in the center pushed aside. The only piece that remained was a fairly reasonable chair in the very furthest part of the room, dead ahead of us. Sitting in it was a woman in clean blue robes, staring idly in the distance.

"Greetings, Chosen Ash." The woman's voice rang through the whole room, echoing across the empty walls. She continued. "I am Emma, a High Priestess of the Lothric Castle that you now stand at the gate of. Tell me, what do you seek?"

The two of us walking towards her, Resa responding to her. "We seek the Lords of Cinder. Would you happen to - "

Emma held up her hand. "The Lords are no longer here, Ash. They no longer reside here, though they once did. If you seek the Lords, you must look elsewhere. Lothric is empty."

We were now close enough to her to see her features. She was an elder woman, gray hair covered by a a hood. "Well, where must we look."

She lifted up a crooked finger, pointing out the door. "The doors directly beyond these gates leads to the Undead Settlement. I know not where the Lords remain now, but that is where they fled. The road now is torn and untraversable. You will require aid. Here."

Emma reached for something at the base of her chair, a small banner with an intertwined circle upon it. "Present this when you can travel no further, and you will be taken to the Settlement."

"How will we know?"

Emma shook her head. "Such foolish questions. You will know. Beware, however...the path is guarded. A slumbering knight of the Boreal Valley protects his master. Vordt does not take kindly to those seeking the Settlement...but that is a problem I will not have to deal with."

That was all we got...she shooed us away with her hand, leaving us with previous questions that went unanswered, and new questions that were left open. I shook my head, almost dizzy at what had just happened...Emma wanted nothing to do with us, and made that abundantly clear.

I backed out of the gateway, back out into the path we were just on. Resa was a few steps ahead of me, equally as disconcerted by the blunt conversation that had just happened. Once we were safely outside, she pulled me off to the side.

"What just happened."

I shook my head. "I don't know if we can trust her...I think you get that feeling as well. Still, I didn't see any sort of pathway forwards there, so I don't think it's worth our time to press the matter."

My sister nodded. "Okay...so what do we do about Vordt?"

I pulled out the blue teardrop ring Greirat had bestowed upon us. "Well...we've got multiple reasons to go to the Settlement now, if she is indeed telling us the truth. We've taken down a few knights already...how much worse can one more be?"

I could tell it was taking Resa a bit of time, but she yielded. "You're right. Alright, let's go."

We continued down the path, leading to a massive slope. At the end were two doors, each nearly three stories tall and proportionally wide. It looked like a door fit for dragons, not humans...but that was a situation I was willing to take. Several hollows guarded the way, none of them particularly challenging. Eventually, I made it to the doors, pushing against them with all my might. With Resa's help they began creaking open, slowly but steadily, until we both slipped inside, the door slamming shut as soon as we weren't supporting it.

The room felt...colder, for no apparent reason. It was completely empty from what I could see, two more doors of equal size to what we'd just moved at the far end. These, however, looked like they'd been assaulted by plants, vines having pulled apart the center of the metal doors, peeking through to the sun beyond. Vordt was nowhere to be seen, though we had no clue what to look for.

I continued to the end of the room, hoping we could circumvent fighting any more than we needed to. Resa and I approached the far doors, drawing closer and closer...until the entire room shook. I spun about, panicked...and had no clue what I'd just laid eyes on.

It looked like some sort of armored...bear. The beast before us was on all four appendages and impossibly massive, taking up a substantial portion of the spacious room. In one hand was a mace, likely the cause for the chill in the air - it seemed to be radiating a chill, frost cascading from the tip. The most curious part, however, was the fact that it was in full plate armor, and it was armor that fit very well. Perhaps this was Vordt's beast...in which case I didn't want to meet the associated the beast charged.

Given its immense size, the beast closed the distance impressively fast, slowing to a stop just before us. It brought up its mace, which was at least twice as long as I was tall, and sent it crashing to the ground. Frost spread out across the floor from the impact, almost vicious in the way it spread out and began crawling up my armor. Resa, of course, nimbly dodged out of the way and begun to circle around behind the beast...I wasn't so lucky. The follow-up attack came crashing down right on top of me, my shield absolutely worthless at stopping such a massive blow. I crumpled to the ground, the frost on the floor quickly consuming my armor, freezing the plates together. I tried to get up, but I simply didn't have the maneuverability any more...I didn't like the look of where this was going.

I didn't even try to block the third swing...I could barely move my arms. The mace hit me square in the chest, sending me flying into the wall of the room. As soon as I made contact, my vision went black, my lungs barely able to move in the chill. I fumbled for my Estus flask, the only thing that could keep me alive...I didn't know if Resa would have the bandwidth to heal me. Eventually I found it, the familiar warmth all I needed, and I brought the flask to my helmet. I didn't even bother to remove it, instead opting to simply let it splash through the front grate, whatever I could manage to get in my mouth immediately invigorating me. Slowly, spots in my vision began returning, and I got back up on my feet.

One good thing came from being slammed into the wall...all the ice on my armor was immediately shattered as well. With my full range of motion back I charged back at the beast, Resa now keeping its attention by circling around it. I slashed at its rear legs, unashamedly making my presence known once again. Oddly enough, it didn't bother to turn around, instead opting to pummel my sister with blow after blow, though I couldn't see just how well she was doing with the beast blocking my vision.

This, however, afforded me a very valuable opportunity - free reign to attack. I did as much as I could, plunging my sword through the oddly-thick armor multiple times, blood eventually starting to spill from the fresh wounds. At least, I assumed it was blood...it was a navy blue, and very viscous from how it clung to my blade.

Just as I plunged my blade into it, I saw Resa go flying across the room as well...seems like she fared a little better than I did, but she couldn't avoid being struck forever. She'd recover, however, I just needed to buy her time. The beast spun about, rearing up on its hind legs and slamming its mace into the ground right in front of it, letting out a guttural howl. The room chilled even more than it already was as the beast began exuding a powerfully cold aura around it, its front legs crashing back down on the ground.

It charged forward, completely plowing right overtop of me and slamming me into the ground. I scrambled back to my feet, noticing Resa beginning to move out of the corner of my eye...we had this.

The beast, however, was doing something completely unprecedented. It backed up in the corner of the room, readying something completely new. I hid behind my shield, not quite sure what to expect, a laser blast of ice and frost firing from its mouth. It angled its head directly towards me as the beam followed, and I had no choice but to hide behind my shield and absorb the brunt of the attack. Ice began to coalesce on my shield, wrapping around the outsides and towards me. Thankfully, the beam didn't last forever, lest I would have been frozen once it was done. As soon as I had the freedom I bashed my sword against the shield, the excess ice falling to the ground.

The beast charged again, swiping at me with its paw. I blocked the attack, countering with my own as a long slice ripped through the beast's side. Another howl let out as it turned around, barreling towards me once again. I threw myself to the floor, my armor scraping against the beast's underside as it passed right over me. To my surprise, Resa rushed over to my side, helping me back to my feet.

"Glad you're back...I can't do this alone."

"Neither can I. Let's flank it...that might do the trick."

I nodded, rushing the beast. I could survive long enough to let Resa heavily injure it, which might turn the fight further in our favor...or so I thought. The beast's attacks now brought with them biting cold and ice, causing even glancing blows to start stiffening my armor once again, my defenses starting to falter as I became less and less mobile. Eventually I could barely move, and it was all I could do to hide behind my shield again and again. I'd figured out how to support myself against such tremendous blows, though the impact still was immensely painful...I just didn't fall to the floor.

Resa came rushing around from the beast's back, seeing my situation and taking over. She drew it's attention, backing up and dodging the beast's attacks one after another, buying me the time I needed to recover. I started breaking away the ice, freeing my arms and then legs so that I could get back into the fight. I was starting to get worn out...we'd been at this for a while now, and it seemed like the beast was stronger than when we'd entered. For the first time since we'd woken up, I wondered if we would emerge victorious...even against the lizard I'd fallen to, I still carried with me a fairly foolish bravado, looking back on it now. This, however...I only felt terror.

The beast backed up, once again a faint blue glow forming around its mouth. I rushed over to Resa, holding my shield up to cover the two of us. "Watch out...you don't want to get hit by this."

"I saw last time. I've got a really stupid plan."

I simply chuckled...between the two of us, we always had one of those. "I'm all ears."

"Well, you should be all eyes. Here it goes."

Just as the beam rushed from the beast's mouth, Resa reached for her spear, leaping into the air. She threw it forward as hard as she could, straight for the beast's mouth. It began getting covered by ice along the way, but that didn't divert its path in the slightest. It flew straight into the beast's mouth...and the beam stocked.

An ugly grunt let out, the beast either trying to comprehend what just happened, or trying to recover from it. Whatever the case, we had our opening, and we would be a fool not to use it. I rushed forward, Resa pulling out her dagger in front of me, and we began a full-frontal assault. I plunged my sword in and slashed, several times...until the beast finally stirred once more.

This time, however, it was clearly injured. Its swings were slower and less impactful, and it wasn't moving nearly as fast as it was before. I'd spent enough time dealing with the frost forming around me to be able to deal with it as it came, giving my defense much more longevity than before. Resa had nearly rendered its back legs useless her dagger, numerous stabs eventually causing it to fall down onto its back legs, immobile.

And yet, it still fought. It drug itself forward with one paw, slamming the mace down time after time. It wasn't even challenging anymore...it simply refused to die. I had time now to plunge my sword into it after every one of its attacks, slowly debilitating it further.

It was hard to tell what the attack was that killed it...or if it simply gave up. I didn't know which. Slowly, the beast began to fade away, an occurrence that hadn't happened thus far. What remained was indisputably its soul...we'd seen enough of them our first time to know what they looked like. It flickered amidst a pile of ice, and I picked it up, marvelling at its simplicity. We'd only seen three souls...a butterfly, a golem, and a knight. All of them looked exactly like this one, and yet it was clear that each one represented a separate entity. Once we found the Transposing Kiln, Ludleth would be able to change it, change it into something close to the soul. What it would be...I did not know.

"I need a breather...I need a long breather."

Resa nodded, the two of us sitting down near a bonfire. I hadn't noticed it earlier...perhaps it wasn't here earlier, and we'd revealed it. However, it was a welcome addition to the room, as I sat back on the cool ground, resting.

Not forever, however. We had more that needed to be done. Once we were both ready to move on, I moved to the far doors, grasping them and pulling. I was able to manage these on my own but still with great effort, eventually managing to pry one of them open. It slammed into the wall of the room, coming to a stop.

Now I understood why we needed the banner...there barely was a road anymore. The path we'd been on continued forward for maybe two dozen paces before the road simply...vanished. The edge that was left was mangled and twisted, as if it had been separated. Far beyond I could see what I presumed to be the settlement, a sprawling array of buildings for below us.

Resa walked up beside me. "I guess this is the next step...searching for the Lords of Cinder."

I nodded, the two of us holding up the banner together. We thought we had the correct path, that we'd figured it out, only to be told that the Lords had left. Where they were now, we had no clue...but it was our duty to find them. It was not a duty I intended to leave unfulfilled.

I appreciate the reviews…truly I do. I'm trying not to sprint through NaNo like I have done the previous years, because then I tend to take a break until February and I want to keep going strong this year.

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