A pair of glowing blue eyes watched a figure walk down a set of stairs. The owner of these eyes huffed a small puff of cold breath as the knight slashed a hollow and then another. Despite the cold emanating from it the being felt a warm feeling rush across its veins. A thing very common in many creatures of Lordran that extended even to many of its people: Thirst. But not the usual desire for water, no…it was something else. A more primitive sensation, a more…aggressive need. Bloodlust. A deep desire for blood, for meat, for action…but its instincts kept it on place for it had to wait. The walls had several narrow passageways and places to hide, too many ways to escape its grasp. The prey had to corner itself first in a place the beast could reach and move with freedom. Then…lunch would be served.

Marcus entered a large rectangular room with high ceiling. The ground was cracked in various places, showing the barren earth beneath the stone floor. Torches burned on the walls, the flame dancing as a fresh air current blew through the room. At the other side a great red gate was closed, the middle warped as if a giant had struck it with a mighty battering ram.

Marcus glanced at the ground and then at the gate. "I´m not alone here…" he thought as he walked forward.

The knight reached the broken gate without any trouble, he noticed the gaps in the middle were covered by dark roots. They weren´t unusually large nor contained any traces of fire but their very presence awoke a memory inside the warriors´ mind. As if to confirm his fears a distant short roar echoed from behind him, prompting Marcus to look back at its source.

At the entrance of the room, in front of a small gate, a black portal had appeared. It was a mass of darkness with a misty white core that emanated drops of snow from time to time. The knight from Astora stored his mace and shield, summoned the greatsword he inherited from the great wolf and wielded it with both hands.

"Not again." the warrior thought as he entered a battle stance with the sword held in front of him.

Like a carriage guided by a fierce war boar a creature emerged from the dark portal charging at full speed. The beast ran on its four limbs, the thick fluted armor covering almost every spot except for the cold light blue eyes and the joints. It was wider than two carriages put side by side and at least twice as tall as the Lord of Cinder. It resembled a boar or bear in form, having a protuberant back and quite small limbs for its size. The creature itself emitted a cold aura that froze the air around it and what seemed to be black hair sprouted from some of the fissures of the helm and body. Finally the frost monster carried a large metal mace on its left hand that also emitted a cold aura.

Marcus waited as the beast came closer, he took notes on the creature´s size and speed and thought on how early he would need to dodge. The situation reminded him of the armored boar he faced in the Undead Burg, a painful memory that taught him some important lessons. The beast was almost upon him when he decided to roll to the side. The monster crashed upon the broken gate with such force that the sound resembled a thunder produced by the lighting of Gwyn himself.

The undead stood up the fastest he could and searched for any gaps on the monster´s armor as he moved behind it. He found one opportunity at the beginning of the monster´s right thigh where there were only clothes covering the skin. The Lord of Cinder jumped forward with the greatsword held with both hands and plunged the blade deep into the weak point. The monster gave a long and deafening scream as blood poured from the injury. It turned around lifting its giant mace to crush the one who caused it pain. Marcus, however, was ready for the attack and he simply walked to the side, the giant thing smashing the ground he was standing just a second ago.

"He´s faster than I thought…" the knight thought as he dodged the fist of the monster. Marcus pinned the hand of the creature on the ground, he noticed it had five fingers just like a human or a god.

The Lord of Cinder was too distracted to notice the icy creature moving the mace back in preparation for a horizontal attack. The blow sent the warrior flying, his body sliding across the ground and creating sparks of light.

"I have never faced an icy creature before, have I?" Marcus thought as he stood up, his bones still intact since his armor had absorbed most of the damage. "Not even in the painted world. I wonder how she´s doing…she had some scales…" Marcus looked straight into the monster´s eyes.

"I don´t think you´re peaceful or kind. Besides, you attacked first." Marcus held the sword horizontally by his side.

Both combatants ran towards each other. The creature went for a wide swipe with the mace but the knight simply ducked underneath the hefty weapon and stabbed the left eye of the monster. The chilling beast flayed around in agony launching Marcus away in the process. The knight rolled several times until he managed to stab the ground with Ciaran´s dagger and stop the movement. He rose his head to look at the monster, the thing was still screaming in pain, striking the ground and air several times with the mace as it allowed the rage to overtake its body. The warrior carefully stood up but decided to wait for a while since it was dangerous to approach it in this frenzied state.

"Sif, do you think that…" Marcus said but rolled to the side when he saw the monster charging at him at full speed.

Just as Marcus got on his feet he had to roll again to avoid another charge. When the beast turned to perform a third charge the undead held the sword with both hands by his side and flexed his legs. They ran after each other, the scene very similar to a joust between knights of old. The warrior flexed his legs and extended his arms forward in a powerful trust aimed at the creature´s good eye. The power of the attack was further increased by the beast´s charge, making the blade pierce all the way through the skull of the icy monster. However, the monster was still at top speed and the knight was pushed back by the form of the creature. They crashed on a brick wall, the massive body of the creature pressing the charred corpse of the knight on the solid wall.

"Shit…." Marcus whispered as the creature gave a step back and collapsed on the ground, releasing him.

The knight fell on his knees and then used his hand to stop his fall. The ribs were severely damaged and any minor movement caused enough pain to make a commoner scream in agony. The knight, however, was no common man and carefully moved his arm to reach the golden flask on his waist. He lifted the visor of the helm with the back of his hand and drank two sips of the golden liquid. Immediately all the wounds were healed and his stamina replenished.

"Should have known that this would happen…" the knight said as he stood up.

He looked at the corpse of the icy creature, it was emanating small fragments of cinder that floated and converged in front of the great gate. In just a few moments a bonfire spawned and like before the creature had disappeared by the time the bonfire had formed. Marcus felt a surge of souls filling his body alongside a distinct and bigger soul that he supposed belonged to the monster he had just killed. Marcus ignited the bonfire and sat in front of it to refill his flask. He looked at the sword on his hand and gave a faint smile.

"One more abyssal creature down. I suppose…" Marcus scratched his helm. "Anyway, good work Sif. It seems I cannot use your magical strength yet though you´re still strong. This means I´m still dumb and since he lied to me…well…" the knight stored the weapon inside his soul. "Hm…my armor seems to be doing fine against the enemies until now. It seems the titanite paid off in the end…I don´t need more dexterity for now nor strength, affinity with spells or miracles can wait. Oh! Of course you idiot! No, not you Sif. I know what I need to focus." he stretched his hand over the bonfire and teleported back to the shrine.

(Firelink Shrine)

After allowing the firekeeper to increase his ability to carry more weight the undead quickly used the bonfire to return to his journey. The Fire Keeper was shocked by his eagerness, he had waited only enough for her to finish the prayer before leaving. The knight didn´t even sit on the bonfire to receive its healing effects. Meanwhile Andre had stopped hammering a longsword and was looking at the bonfire at the other side. Greirat rushed to his side, his breath heavy and inconstant.

"I was going to ask him something…" Greirat said between gasps of air.

"The Lad has always been like this. If you want something from him you have to catch him or wait for him to talk to you." Andre told.

"You know him?" the thief asked.

"Aye, forged a good deal of weapons for him." the smith told. "Suppose you have a task for him." he said.

"I asked for a favor. Not to-too much." Greirat answered.

"It´s goin´ to take a while then. I don´t think he will need me as much this time around." Andre turned to grab a new weapon.

The bearded smith went for a longsword with a golden cross-guard and a black silver blade. He carefully enveloped his meaty fingers around the handle and placed the weapon on the anvil.

(Lothric´s Great Gate)

Marcus was breathless as he came upon the sight before him. He had just passed through the great iron gate and now was standing on the edge of a cliff. The sides were blocked by stone walls leaving only the cliff in front of the undead. In the distance it was possible to see the sky and below it a multitude of buildings of various designs in a far lower level. Surrounding the agglomerated of buildings mountains rose in the left and front while the right was covered by the sea.

"This is beautiful…!" Marcus said as he placed the over his chest and summoned a brass binoculars.

"So this is how the sea looks like. That underground sea is beautiful and all but the Sun really changes the mood. I wish I had time to spend on a proper beach…Anyway. How in Gwyn´s name I go down there?" he moved the binoculars around trying to search for any path or maybe even a bonfire. There was none. "Maybe I took the wrong…I almost forgot!" Marcus shouted.

The knight summoned the banner Emma gave him and lifted it front of him. It was awkward, how a banner was supposed to create a new path? He kept pondering over the effects of the gift as he counted the seconds. After a minute the corner of his eyes saw movement coming from the very edge of the cliff. He narrowed his eyes as a blood-red hand touched the surface of the broken road. Soon the owner of the hand emerged, it was a white humanoid creature with bat wings and a brain-shaped head. Overall the creature had a slim and frail build and seemed to lack any proper means of inflicting serious damage. Another two gargoyle-like creatures not unlike the first suddenly appeared from below, they flapped their wings in a steady pace to remain flying as they surrounded the Lord of Cinder.

"These creatures again?! Oh! No! Wait! Just give me a second to prepare myself!" Marcus said placing the shield on his back and storing the sword inside his body

The monsters grabbed his arms and lifted him from the ground, two flameless chaos demons held the knight by the hands while the third went in front of them as if it was the leader. Usually a man would be scared of falling to his death but Marcus had already suffered a similar experience in the past. He knew the demons wouldn´t release him and that they were in fact transporting him to a new location. Still, the way they carried him put a strain on his arms and the position wasn´t comfortable either since his legs dangled to the sides with every turn they made.

"Hey, I have a favor to ask. Could you bring me to Anor Londo? City of the Gods?" he asked as they descended but they didn´t listen. "You know, big city with the silver knights and that colossal woman? Does this ring a bell?" he asked again. "Is this because I killed the Bed of Chaos?" he asked. "Wait a minute! YOU´RE DEMONS! HOW are you AH!" the knight fell on the ground with a thud.

The knight slowly stood up as he recovered himself from the fall. He looked around and noticed he was standing on top of a small broken tower. In the distance on the right existed a large building with some towers on both sides. It wasn´t tall like a castle nor did it had any embellishment. It was probably a place dedicated for some kind of activity or event. On the front Marcus could see a closed gate on the middle of a stone wall. From the ruined tower a set of stone stairs descended in a straight line until it reached a platform that extended to the left where another broken tower stood with many of the bricks missing. In front of the platform there was a narrower set of stairs on the right that descended until it reached a bridge at the same level of the gate.

Marcus heard the crackling of fire and so looked at his side, just two feet away from him a bonfire burned timidly, the flame gently enveloping the coiled sword.

"I´m not the first…" the knight whispered as he sat in front of the bonfire to mark his position. "And another bonfire? This makes my life so much easier." Marcus stood up and stretched his arms. "So there are demons even after what? 100 000 years? Unless I just killed the source and there aren´t any new demons. But there´s still a chance she´s alive!" Marcus said.

After a brief moment of hope the forgotten Lord clasped his hands together and begged the gods for the lady to be fine. He wasn´t familiar with most of the traditional rituals performed by clerics, despite spending a good amount of time with one, but the little he learned he used on his prayers to ask whatever god was hearing him at that moment to give the chaotic child mercy and health. When the prayer was finished he descended the stairs while looking at the closed gate. On the bridge a bunch of grey-skinned and shirtless hollows were praying in front of the gate while a duo wandered aimless behind them. They paid no attention to the brave undead that came from behind them and the duo did nothing but look at him. Marcus asked himself if they were fully hollowed since they weren´t attacking him but his thoughts were interrupted when the gate opened revealing a pack of starved grey furless dogs behind it. A man wearing dark robes and a pointed hat gave a signal to the dogs which eagerly jumped at the defenseless hollows. The knight was caught off guard and didn´t react as the first dog chewed the neck of the nearest hollow while the second dragged another by the leg.

The horrible acute screams of the first two victims awoke Marcus from his trance, the warrior shook his head twice and then focused on the problem at hand. He wouldn´t stand by as the rest of the hollows were killed, even though they had no sense of self or hope of salvation. The knight summoned the claymore from his soul and quickly slashed and behead the starved dogs with ease, each beast taking only a single swing to be put to rest. Still, Marcus couldn´t save everyone, half of the hollows were killed in the skirmish but fortunately the survivors weren´t harmed. With the last dog dead Marcus turned his gaze at their owner, the man was still standing behind the closed gate as if mocking the knight. Unfortunately for the man there was a lever on Marcus´ side just by the gate´s left. The savior lost no time and pulled the lever and soon the metal gate was lifted.

The black robbed man seemed to notice his own predicament and quickly turned back to retreat. He didn´t go far since the undead quickly reached him and stabbed the coward in the chest, the blade fully penetrating the clothes and flesh of the man.

Marcus stared down at the corpse with disgust, he kicked the body aside to see the man´s face. "A Hollow…so this man´s strongest thought was of torturing people. Killing a murderer is one thing, I get that. But what´s the point of torturing a hollow? The person can´t even feel guilty or change for the better. They can´t even be considered the person that did the murder. Hollowing is already a great punishment for any undead." the knight said walking back to the hollows.

The knight stopped in front of the survivors. They just stood there, the mouths slightly open and arms hanging on their sides. They didn´t attack or move but simply stared at him with their black void eyes. The Lord of Cinder nodded once and then walked past the mindless undead in silence, happy that they left him alone. The warrior looked forward, there were some carriages on the sides of the bridge and an archway at the other side that lead to the rest of the bridge. When he passed the archway he was met with an unexpected scene. A multitude of corpses where spread not too far away from his position. When Marcus approached one of the bodies he noticed it was humanoid with large black robes and a white turtle-like shell on the back held by a pair of chains. All the corpses looked exactly the same and each of them seemed to have died from exhaustion.

"What happened to them?" Marcus said to no one as he walked between the corpses.

The Chosen Undead stopped when he reached the end of the bridge. It was completely broken with the rest of it far away and out of reach. The accursed man looked down and saw a part of the bridge that had fallen a couple of meters but was still connected to the other side. The corpse of a large black drake on top of it.

"Oh, so that´s what happened." Marcus whispered as he turned back.

"Please, grant me death! Undo my shackles." a tired male voice spoke from somewhere amongst the corpses.

The knight looked around for the source of the sound. He spotted a wooden staff moving slightly to the sides as the voice repeated the same words from before. The man hastily walked towards the wooden staff until he reached the sole survivor of the group.

"Hey, are you okay?" Marcus asked tapping the man´s shoulder.

"Oh…Oh! Then it is true…" the man spoke as he looked at the newcomer. He used the staff to support himself and stand up.

The stranger had the same tattered black robes as the rest, leaving only his thin legs and feeble arms exposed. The head was covered with a large hood that obscured the hunchback´s face leaving no clue of his facial traits.

"A champion of ash, as I live and breathe! To be in your presence is a great honour." the man bowed the best he could despite the pain and unusually heavy shell.

"Champion of ash? I thought unkindled were treated like failures or something. Hm…I´m not sure what to think of it." the undead thought. "I´m Marcus of Astora." the knight bowed. "Why do you wish to die?" he asked.

"I am Yoel of Londor, a pilgrim as you can see, only…Somehow, I've failed to die as was ordained. I should be dead!" the frail man exclaimed. "Well…perhaps my calling lies elsewhere. Say, Champion of Ash, how does the idea of taking me into your service strike you? I was once a sorcerer. Surely I can be of use." the hunchback said.

"If he wants to be dead why didn´t he jump off the cliff? There´s a bonfire close by, he just needs to jump a couple of times until he hollows." Marcus thought as he rubbed his chin. "And I didn´t rescue him or anything, he owns me nothing. Unless he´s doing it out of respect but I doubt it, not even she treated me like this…I know what to do" the undead lowered his arm. "I`m sorry but I was never too much refined in the soul arts and I tried really hard to understand them." the knight apologized.

The robbed man sighed, "I see…yes, of course. An accursed pilgrim has no place in your honourable service. But if a lost soul should encounter a legend such as you, could that be anything but a movement of fate? I will remain in this spot. Praying solemnly that you might have a change of heart." Yoel said.

Marcus closed his eyes, a fond memory resurfacing in his mind. An open balcony, the sun rays bathing his broken armor. The presence of an easygoing figure by his side that would follow him until almost the very end. "The way I see it, our fates appear to be intertwined. In a land brimming with Hollows, could that really be mere chance? So, what do you say? Why not help one another on this lonely journey?" the words of the sun knight echoed in his mind.

The knight from Astora opened his eyes and recollected the words from the suspicious pilgrim. "Hm…so he WANTS to be taken." Marcus looked back at the broken bridge. "Why here? They clearly where heading to the other side but it leads to nothing. And if all of them wanted to die why travel here? What´s so special about this place?" the undead looked upwards. "The place where the lands of the lords converge…No, they had a purpose. They want an unkindled. If they want an unkindled why don´t they go to the shrine? Unless…" the knight looked back at Yoel. "I don´t like where this is going…Should I kill him? Eventually he´s going to lure some prideful undead. Also, he told me he wanted to die. If he can´t be my servant then he should ask me to kill him. I would be fulfilling his primary wish, IF this is actually his first goal." Marcus thought. "Very well Yoel…I made up my mind. I´m going to make your wish true." he said.

"Hm?! It is an honor to be your servant." the frail man gave a deep bow. When he looked up again he felt an immeasurable pain on the chest. As the hunchback looked down he saw the blade of a greatsword and dark blood leaking from his stomach. "You bastard, foolish and ignorant ash!" he said as he fell down clutching his injury with the free hand. The pilgrim tried his best to stand up but the shell on his back and the wound prevented him from doing so.

"As I suspected…" Marcus said performing a swing in the air to remove the excess of blood on the blade.

"You…! You will pay for that! May you die a hundred times!" Yoel said and then coughed blood.

"I already did." Marcus thought before cutting off the head of the liar with a swift swing.

The Lord of Cinder looked down at the corpse, "If you were honest with me you would say something like: 'But why?' or 'how could you?' or maybe even a 'You´re not the true champion!' or 'Thank you.'." the knight turned his back to the newest corpse and went to the other side. "I want people to recognize what I did but baseless and false compliments mean nothing to me." Marcus thought sad.

(Firelink Shrine)

Greirat was tying up one of his bags when he heard footsteps. He looked up and saw Marcus standing right in front of him.

"Oh, hello, you're back. And in one piece." the thief said relieved.

"I found Loretta…" Marcus said placing his right hand over the chest. He retrieved an aged yellowish bone with many shards missing. The knight handed the bone to the masked man.

"Heavens, she was already dead..." Greirat extended his hand to grab the bone, his hand trembled as he grasped the aged object.

The small masked man held the gift close to his chest, his head lowered in respect to the deceased woman. After a minute he looked at the knight, his eyes clearly wet and the tears staining his hood.

"Thank you. I-I'm not surprised, though. Hmm, almost a relief, really. You can keep the ring. As, well, a little trinket of thanks, I suppose" Greirat cleaned his eyes and offered another ember from one of his bags.

The knight silently took the reward and stored it in his soul. He also took the opportunity to summon the azure ring from his body. "I already have one. The ring is yours after all." he said offering the ring.

The thief stared at the knight with surprise. Magical rings were rare in Lothric and to refuse one, even if the person already has a copy, was something unthinkable for the thief. He accepted the ring and put it on his finger to avoid losing it.

"I´m sorry Greirat. I brought her body to the cemetery outside the shrine. I put her in the same coffin I woke up. I can take you there, if you wish." the warrior said feeling guilty he couldn´t do anything else.

"You did this?!" Greirat said surprised.

"I don´t have a shovel so it was the second best thing I could have done." the knight explained.

Greirat looked at the old bone in his hands, the ring and the finally at the knight. "Please, show me the way." he said standing up.

"It´s a short trip, five minutes or so. Just stand back and let me kill the hollows on the way." Marcus said.

(Later)

Marcus remained in silence as the smaller man made his prayers in front of the open coffin. He thought about closing it before but judged that he should give a chance for Greirat to give his final words. For a moment he thought there was a chance she turned undead and would revive at the last bonfire she rested at but his hopes crumbled when there were no signs of the mark of the undead on her body.

One thing that Marcus learned during his many attempts to traverse Sen´s Fortress was to NEVER let his guard down at any moment or/and any place. The muffled sound of footsteps came from behind, they got louder as the owner of the sounds approached. The knight clenched the claymore on his shoulder and tightened the grip on his crest shield. He had to act quickly or they would be ambushed in a dead end with just a small space to move. Marcus wondered if it was a giant warrior or a beast, the former would be easier to identify the attacks and react accordingly. In the blink of an eye the knight turned his feet and sprinted forward to gain as much terrain as possible but stopped when he met a figure he once expected to see but wished would never meet.

(Firelink Shrine)

Andre was humming a song to himself as he hit a halberd with his hammer. The sword he was previously working on was already reinforced and for now only the halberd remained. Between the clashes of metal he heard voices coming from the other side of the hall but paid them little attention since he was busy at the moment.

"You need to sit at the bonfire!" a worried voice warned.

"I told you Greirat, I will be fine! It´s just the armor." another voice said.

"Had a bad time hm? I warned you…" a third voice scolded.

"Actually I think today was a good day." the second voice answered.

Andre finally stopped hammering the weapon, he looked upwards when he heard a weak stomp in front of him. Marcus was standing in front of the blacksmith, his vest and mail were pierced on many spots, the helm was deformed on the back, the left gauntlet was scratched and the leather glove had one of the "fingers" missing, although the finger itself was still intact.

"Found some friends, heh?" Andre said with a smile.

Despite his current state Marcus chuckled, "Not one, not two but three crystal lizards." the knight answered showing three fingers.

"I recall warning you about going too far to get those lizards, titanite isn´t good if you can´t use it." the smith told.

"Oh but THEY were the ones after me." Marcus said placing a hand over his chest. From there he summoned three dark stone shards.

The shards were bigger than the undead´s hand and had some strange glowing green runes over them. The runes were of an ancient forgotten tongue but despite this Marcus recognized them for he saw the same runes on another type of magical stone.

"You can guess what is their purpose, can´t you?" Andre asked.

"I think I do…" Marcus said reluctantly, he had to be careful on how much he said, otherwise people wound ask how an unkindled had defeated several Titanite demons by himself. "Did you learn any new techniques in the past years?" he asked changing subject.

"Yes, plenty of them actually. But without the right tools I´m afraid I can´t do much besides reinforcement and some simple infusions. If I had a special coal I could forge some mighty swords for you." Andre admitted.

"If I find any I will give it to you." the knight said. "Oh! I almost forgot! Is this considered broken?" he gestured to his own armor.

"Hahahaha! Believe it or not the bonfire can fix it. You will save a lot of souls this time around, friend." the smith told.

"But I liked to fix it, gives me an excuse to rest my mind." the warrior´s shoulder fell. "I guess it can´t be helped. See you later Andre." the knight turned and walked back to the bonfire.

"I´ll be seeing you, then. Be careful out there." Andre advised.

Marcus smiled as he sat on the bonfire, those were the same words the bearded man used thousands of years ago. He grasped the silver pendant on his chest and passed his exposed finger over the metallic surface, the damage of the glove gradually disappearing as the power of the bonfire fixed the armor. The dark silver pendant was a treasure he found in the magic city of Oolacile, Artorias being the former owner. It was a special item, blessed with a protective power capable of repelling even the dark magic of Manus himself. The object was a reminder of the brave knight Artorias and his undying will to defeat evil but at the same time it acted as a warning to the dangers of nostalgia. Nostalgia, anger and obsession were the feelings that engulfed Manus, father of the Abyss. An entire city was doomed to the abyss just because a primeval man wanted to retrieve a broken pendant.

Marcus clutched the silver pendant. "Hm…I remember having another pendant…I was wearing it when I fought the Lords and Seath but I don´t recall having it during my fight with Gwyn. Did I lose it? Oh…I remember now, so that´s what happened." the knight shook his head. "My head is really jumbled after linking the fire. I hope I didn´t forget anything important, hopefully I will get better with time." he thought releasing the silver pendant.

As soon as the entire armor was restored the undead Lord stretched his arm over the coiled sword and focused on his next destination: Undead Settlement.

Notes:

Took too damn long to finish this chapter, more than I expected.

Thankfully for our hero he managed to avoid Yoel´s scheme. At this point of the story his intelligence isn´t at its peak but he can still come to conclusions based on questions and clues. Simple questions like "Why?" or "Why not?" can help him when deciding the fate of a character.

According to a site where Dark Souls 1 data has been collected a good deal of players die around 100 times in their first playthrough (NG) so that´s why I wrote that Marcus died over 100 times during the course of his journey.

Since this is a story dedicated to players that completed the first and third game I will skip most of the regular encounters unless they bring something new to the story or character. This method allows me to have a faster-paced story until something more "relevant" happens.

If you have any tips or suggestion please leave a comment.