Chapter 6: A Completionist's Worst Nightmare
Alright, here it is, the final chapter of the legendary High Wall Saga, and it's been quite some time since we've arrived here. Like, a lot of time. But, it's done now and we are not coming back, ever, or at least until nearly the end. Anyway, since the last official chapter this story's had a lot of new followers and favorites, so I'll name them off now: DarkBlur2005, Enrq Rldn, Wild Fox Fire(Maybe somewhere there is the much less free, Captive Fox Fire, but we'll never know), cantipuesto2, and(I think? It's been a while since I've listed these) Addemiusinksoul, just to be safe. I'd rather list someone twice than forget them. There's also(again, I think?) Sethclark2001. Most of all there is also Arklaw, who I'd also like to thank very much for the helpful tips given after the last chapter, they were insanely helpful, and so are you. Thanks. Without any further ado, let's get the hell out of the High Wall!
P.S. For maximum effect at the end fight, play this: watch?v=ylaQvvNILt4, you will not regret it, definitely :)
"Dusty," The Firekeeper began as they walked away from the site of the fight. "Do you want to talk about anything?"
"What do you mean?" the knight asked as entered the tower and climbed the steps.
"Well, you sort of just impaled, Captain Kernel, was it? With fire. I assumed it would bother you."
"Nah, I'm good, he was only a hollow anyway. The real Captain died a long time ago." He gave a dry laugh. "Still, it gave me quite a bit of satisfaction to finally cancel out that greatsword of his, he always mocked me for having a shield. Apparently, he was a fan of the Abyss Watchers, back in the day."
The Firekeeper followed along in his anecdote, nodding as he went. "So, you're really okay with what just happened?
The knight turned around, his eyes wide as he throttled an unfortunate hollow that had charged at him. "What could you possibly mean?" He slammed the corpse into the stone wall and it crumpled to the ground. "I think you're just projecting onto me now, you might be the one who needs to talk about stuff." The steps ended and they were outside again, at the top of the tower. Dusty lit the bonfire there and stopped. There was nowhere to actually go. "Oh. Well, at least we got a bonfire. It's the small victories." The group turned back around and went down.
The Firekeeper still refused to drop the subject. "You don't have to be so defensive, you know. We're all friends here. Like-" She looked around and gestured to Ludleth, listening in silence from Dusty's neck. "Like Ludleth here!" She snatched the man off of Dusty's back and held him in front of the knight. "Look at this little guy," She swung the man around like a doll as she went on. "He must have so much knowledge and wisdom hidden away, but you-you just refuse to talk to him about it, don't you? What have you been talking about with each other these past couple days?"
The group reached the bottom of the stairs and made a quick right turn to avoid some hollows.
"We've, uh, we've talked about all sorts of things. Really important things, yeah! Right, Ludleth?"
Ludleth hummed in thought before nodding. "Yes, yes. He taught me how to play a card game, and then we discussed your tiar-"
Dusty clapped his hand over Ludleth's mouth, "WE AGREED NOT TO TALK ABOUT THAT!"
There was silence as she stared at them. "Right," The Firekeeper drawled out slowly. "Anyway, that exactly proves my point. You two need to discuss these things, for real, there's a lot you could learn from each other." She waved a hand at Dusty. "You would be doing most of the learning, but still."
"Well, we've only really known each other for, like, three days."
They exited the tower and picked their way across the nearby rooftops. Two hollows ran at the group, and the Firekeeper rushed forward to kick one off the roof. The other, Dusty smashed away with a shield blow. "Yeah, and what really did you do in those three days? You taught me to fight, got drunk with an onion man, impaled some armored guy, and played a card game. Why not try to improve yourself too?"
"Well... I mean..." He sighed. "Good point." He turned to Ludleth. "Mind teaching me some things when we get back, eventually." They approached a group of hollows, praising a tree-person.
The man gave a gentle smile. "Of course, I thought you'd never ask. You'll find I have a wide array of knowledge to share, and stories, if you wish to hear them."
"Sure, why not?" He turned back to the Firekeeper. "And now it's your turn."
"What?" One of the hollows gave an inhuman roar and exploded into a mass of Pus of Man, with a giant claw and mouth leaping from his torso.
Dusty pointed to the monster. "Hit it." He commanded simply. The Firekeeper chucked a quick succession of firebombs and the creature burst into flames and fell to the ground. "We don't know anything about you either. Who you are, why you begged me to take you with me, nothing."
Her jaw clenched and she blushed. "That's... well, that's none of your business..." She trailed off.
Dusty leaned in close. "Mmm? But, I thought we should be open emotionally?"
With a groan of frustration, she shoved him away, off of the rooftop. "Ah, sorry!" She exclaimed as he plummeted to his death.
He appeared again moments later, stalking back toward her. The knight stared at her silently.
"What? I said I was sorry!"
"...You murdered me."
"You revive instantly."
"...It takes a little bit."
"Sorry."
"...You killed Ludleth too."
"Sorry, Ludleth."
"I'm quite all right, no need to worry."
The trio moved toward the end of the rooftop and climbed down the ladder. "Anyway," She took a deep breath. "If we're going to be working together for a while, the three of us may as well get to know each other, myself included."
Dusty spoke between breaths as he came down the ladder. "Good... I'm actually kinda glad we worked that out."
The Firekeeper stopped climbing and was quiet for a moment. "Huh. Now that I think about it, me too, it sort of feels like a weight's been lifted from my chest. Strange."
"Maybe Siegward was right. Could this be the power of comradery?"
"He did mention that, didn't he."
Finally, the end of the ladder was reached. Unfortunately, they had a choice of which direction to go in. "Ah, damn it, not again." Dusty groaned. He leaned to the right, attempting to see where that way went. The sight of a ladder and a tunnel immediately turned him off. He looked to the left, where a ramp led down to a balcony. It appeared short enough to jump down onto the street below. "Let's try left."
The Firekeeper leaned into the tunnel to attempt to see where it led. "Are you sure?"
He went to the left and stepped down the ramp, dropping Ludleth off with the Firekeeper on his way. "Yeah, I'm positive this will be better, definitely. No stupid ambushes or tight hallways this way, uh-uh. I'll check it first, just in case." He began to look down from the balcony. "It's gonna be f-" The word died in his throat in a choked gasp. In the area below a rotund knight dressed in silver armor and a blue tunic patrolled. On its armor were many intricate designs, depicting angels. Two wings appeared to have been crudely attached to the armor on its back, and it carried a halberd that towered above Dusty twice over.
But, he didn't notice that first. His first sight was that of the Lothric Knights, whose bodies the knight would sometimes trample in his path. Dozens of the knights were in the area, littered across the ground like trash. In the corner rows of them sat leaning against the walls, heads cut clean off, some still somehow reaching for weapons long after their death. The creature, he refused to think of it as human, looked up at Dusty. He reeled back, there was intelligence in those eyes. The creature was not hollow, he had done this on purpose. What in the Izalith happened here, and why? His clenched fists shook. Damn it...
. . . . .
The Firekeeper's patience began to wane as she stared at Dusty's kneeling form. He had been like that for nearly a minute now. "Have you checked enough yet?" She called after him.
She waited, no response came from the knight.
Ludleth attempted. "Dusty, might there be an enemy we must fight?"
Finally, he gave an answer, though not a vocal one. Dusty stood straight up, quicker than she had ever seen him move. And, without a single word, the knight leaped off of the balcony.
The Firekeeper gasped as she sprinted toward the balcony he had jumped from. "Dusty!" She called after as he made contact with the cobblestone below and rolled, sending sparks into the air. Another gasp escaped her as she saw the Lothric Knights, and their killer circling the courtyard. "No way..." she breathed out. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized Dusty's intent. That knight was massive, and his weapon would easily outreach his. "You can't fight that thing alone, it's suicide!"
Again, she received no response. In silence, Dusty squared off against the knight. But, he was fighting all wrong. His shield had been abandoned in the street and he held his sword with both hands. He didn't even know how to fight that way!
A fact that became all the more apparent when, with a high pitched yelp, his severed torso sailed into the air in front of her face moments later. Scrambling back from the edge of the balcony, she squeezed her eyes shut and fought the urge to vomit. Still, she had to do something. Perplexed at her own stubborn stupidity, she forced herself to her feet and prepared to jump down, if only as an act of unity. However, as she bent down to prepare a jump, she caught of Dusty's legs, not yet faded away into ash. Suddenly, as though through magic, she found herself perplexed at her legs' inability to operate and was forced back down.
She choked back a sob and curled up into a ball, cursing her own weakness. But, she didn't want to die like that, however impermanent.
Her reverie was broken by the footfalls of metal against stone. She turned to face Dusty as he sprinted like a madman toward the balcony again. "We need to make a-" She didn't even bother finishing as the knight blew past her and dove away.
"What in the Izalith..." She had expected this, never seen anything that would even suggest he would do this. Another strike rang out in the air, and she buried her face in the sleeve of her dress.
Moments later, he came rocketing by once more, and once more, she tried to deter him. "You can't kill him like that!"
Once more, he died without any real combat. The Firekeeper buried her face in her hands as the knight sprinted past her only to die again, and again, and again. She soon lost count of the killing blows and girlish shrieks she heard. Why? she thought. How can he even think he could win? He's using no strategy, no healing, he isn't even blocking. She forced her hands away from her face. And why aren't I doing anything about it?
The Firekeeper rose to her feet and waited. She heard the steps approaching once again, much slower this time. A fact that did not deter the Firekeeper in the least as she whipped around with an outstretched hand to halt his progress. Consequently, a push that would have only stopped him before now sent him flying onto his back. "Oh, sorry about that. Thought you'd be going faster."
From the ground, Dusty heaved a sigh deep enough to rattle his helmet."It's fine, just give me a second. Something's weird, can't move all of a sudden."
The Firekeeper strode toward him, activating what little of her Firekeeper facade still remained intact. "You overtaxed the Darksign's power, it's not meant to be used like that. By now you would've hollowed."
"Right, forgot about that one. Shit."
"Furthermore, even if you could move, I would stop you." She squatted next to him. "What are you even doing, Dusty?"
He turned his head away from her. "Just trying to get past that thing."
"No, if you were trying to do that, you'd have thought of a plan by now. You'd have asked for help or thought of a way to cheat, and that's if we didn't just decide to run away. That's how you just 'get past' things, and you aren't doing that. You're being stubborn and stupid and trying to kill a monster far stronger than you by throwing a fit and swinging at it like an idiot. So, I'll ask again: What are you even doing?"
There was a heavy pause. "It killed them, Keep. Lots of them."
"What, the Lothric Knights? They're hollows now, you said it yourself."
He shook his head vigorously. "Not these ones." He pointed in the direction of the battle. "Those knights were decapitated, and they waited around to have it happen to them. Hollows don't give up when they're being beaten, they keep going." His voice cracked, and the Firekeeper cringed. "It executed them, and I'm going to kill it for that."
With that, the Firekeeper finally saw the truth she had been avoiding. She finally saw the scared child that existed in the knight come out to the world. As old as the boy in front of her acted, he had been young when he died, and he still was. They both were. That could wait until later though, for now, she needed to get what little confidence left him functioning back. "Ashen One," She could almost hear his pride perk up slightly. "I know you're frustrated, but this isn't going to work. There has to be a plan."
"Why though? I just want to have a cool revenge rampage where my anger would make me more powerful, like the old heroes I've read about."
This was new. "Maybe one day you will, but for now just rest for a bit, alright? I'll think of something."
Dusty growled in frustration and tried to sit up, but his armor did not even give the slightest creak of movement. "Fine, just go away for a little bit! I got cut in half a lot, it hurt very much, and I'm going to cry about it for much longer than is socially acceptable."
She stared. "Are you sure you don't want some emotional intima-"
"And I still want to feel manly and stoic when I'm done."
She turned to leave.
"Wait, uh, could you call me that name one more time?"
There was a pause as she turned back. "Of course, Ashen One."
He leaned back and smiled in satisfaction. "That name's so awesome."
She nodded. "I'll be back. Ludleth, watch him, will you?"
The man's head popped up from the ground. "Oh, surely. I was almost afraid you'd forgotten about me over here."
The Firekeeper walked over to the balcony and looked down. "Oh Gwyn-damn me..." she murmured as the creature stomped about on the ground, shaking it with each step. She leaned back did everything she could to amp herself up: jogged in place, pounded her chest, and punched the air. At the end of the nonsensical series of actions she got down in a squat and held her breath. She counted one, two, three, rocking her body and swinging her arms with each count. At four she leaped forward and... with a shriek of fear grabbed the edge of the balcony and crawled back to safety. Curling up pitifully on the ground, she wrung her hands in irritation.
"Hey, Keep!" Dusty's voice echoed from his position on the ground. "If you need help, just give me a second, I think I have a plan."
She sucked in a breath and puffed her cheeks, growling. She did not need his help for this, she could do it just fine. Probably. She stood up and pounded her chest again. "Not like I'll die, right?" The Firekeeper reasoned with herself. Then, closing her eyes, she jumped down.
Immediately as her feet touched cobblestone she regretted the decision. The knight turned her way and looked at her as a Great Crab would a steamed lobster, then sauntered forward. For her part, she did her best not to erupt into vomit and tears, then drew her estoc and held it out in front of her. She sighed in relief, it wasn't much by a long shot, but the action gave her some confidence in the fight. Preparing for a dodge, she stood still as the giant continued to lumber in her direction, halberd swinging in front lazily. Suddenly, as though an idea had occurred to it, the giant stopped short and considered her. Then he held out his halberd and spun around rapidly to create an unstoppable death tornado of flab and steel.
Shit, she hadn't planned for that one. Screaming in terror she turned and ran in the opposite direction as fast as she could. The creature roared in laughter and lifted his hands up above his head. Pillars of Light fell from the sky and cracked the stone itself, impaling themselves on the ground. One narrowly missed the Firekeeper as she ran around the fountain in the center of the courtyard, pinning her dress to the ground until fading away. This drew her attention to the fountain for the first time. She noticed the sword it held, and the bracelets on its arm. "Is that? No, it cou-" Her thought did not get to finish as the statue's head was lopped off by a swing of the halberd, pulling her back into reality. Somewhere, she swore she could hear a very bored dictator wizard-pope wail in anger.
The Firekeeper rolled backward as a second round of Light Pillars were summoned, flinging a firebomb at the knight as she stood up. It had no effect, exploding on the surface of its armor harmlessly. But, it had made enough smoke to cover the giant's face, she used that chance and lunged forward to strike with her estoc, ducking under the halberd that was being swung wildly in defense. She struck once, jumping to the left as an arm came down to grab her and scurrying around the knight, where she stabbed its back. This time, the halberd's shaft was swung in defense. It collided with her stomach, sending her flying away into the courtyard's wall, beneath the balcony. As the Firekeeper slid to the ground clutching her stomach, however, she smiled. At the knight's feet laid nearly a dozen firebombs, dislodged from her bag by the blow.
It looked down in surprise, then was enveloped in a fiery maelstrom of death and smoke. Groaning in pain, the Firekeeper got up into a kneel and pulled her Estus Flask out of her bag, taking a drink. Relief flooded through her as her abdomen pain vanished, and she laid back on the ground to rest. That relief was short-lived, dissipating as the ground beneath her shook. She leaned up, and her eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. The knight was striding forward, as though nothing had happened. Its armor still red-hot and smoking. The Firekeeper stood up and held the estoc out again, even if it was futile. If that hadn't killed the knight, she didn't know what would. Slowly, she advanced forward and-
"ALRIGHT, FUCKFACE, GET READY TO DIE!"
She gasped and twisted to the right to look up at the balcony. "Dusty!"
Dusty stood on top triumphantly, Ludleth hanging from his neck. Embers trailed up from his body. "That's right! Ludleth's been picking up embers apparently! The guy has dozens of them!"
"I do like to be prepared."
Dusty pointed his sword at the knight, "And now, I'm going to kill you! Take a rest, Keep."
The balcony creaked under Dusty's weight. "Well, I could help!"
"No, I'm good."
She waved her estoc around in the air. "Don't you think, I'm letting you do what I think you're going to do! I fought him first, and I don't want you to take the credit."
The giant advanced."No, no, I'm sure you did great, now I'll finish him off."
"I want to finish him off!" The balcony gave a small crack.
"Except I have the ember!"
"Um, excuse me, but I think this balcony may be badly built..."
"Then give me one."
"No way, you're not Unkindled! I had to die as an undead to get that, I don't know how exactly it happened, but I'm sure I must've been hard!"
The knight lifted his halberd to kill them both in one blow, standing directly behind the Firekeeper. "Then how about you weaken him, and I'll do the Finishing Move?"
"Excuse me..."
Dusty cut the air with his sword. "NO! I can do thi-" the balcony gave a mighty snap and collapsed. "OH SHIT!" The Firekeeper rolled away as the balcony fell to the ground, directly on top of the giant.
Dusty rolled down the entirety of the balcony and bounced off of the giant's exposed head, he stopped on his back, blinking in bewilderment. Hesitantly, he stood and looked down at the body. "Well." He took his sword and poked its flab. "Cool, guess I killed it!" The knight shifted a little and Dusty shrieked hysterically, picking up his shield and slamming it down on the winged knight's head until it ceased moving. Panting, he sat down. "Great, where now?" he asked the Firekeeper.
. . . . .
Five minutes of wandering and running away later, the group found themselves in the main courtyard of Lothric Castle. They stood in the center, looking to the right, where a sort of chapel stood. Then to the left, where steps led down to a corridor enveloped in fog. Lothric Knights patrolled the entire area, and some had taken notice of them.
"So," The Firekeeper said. "How about you and Ludleth go and take down the knights and I'll explore that chapel?"
"Sure, but why don't I check out the chapel, you know, since I killed the Winged Knight and all."
"You did not! A balcony fell on him."
"And I was on that balcony!"
"Here," she held out a hand. "How about we play stones, shears, and sheets?"
Dusty held out his hand. "Fine, let's do it."
"I would like to explore the chapel..." Ludleth murmured.
They pumped their fists in unison. "1, 2, 3!" They cried.
"Sheets!" Dusty yelled.
"Stones!" The Firekeeper groaned.
"Oh Gwyn..." The Firekeeper drew her estoc and firebombs and jogged toward the largest group of knights. "Hurry up in there, I really don't think I can kill this many."
"Alright, alright..." He marched toward the chapel. He turned to Ludleth. "Maybe now someone will tell me what happened here. This place is falling apart."
"Hopefully so."
Reaching the chapel, he pushed open the door and walked in, the familiarity of the action reverberating throughout his body. How many times had he walked in here before training? To this day he still didn't understand a word of the Way of White, besides that it let him have mad lightning powers and involved some nonsense about linking the flame. As he craned his neck up to look at the carvings and paintings in the ceiling, he began to wonder if perhaps Emma still worked here. But she would be positively ancient at this point...
He reached the chair at the head of the enormous room, and there sat the object of his thoughts: Emma, High Priestess of Lothric Castle. He swallowed the thought, and ran up to clasp her hand warmly."Emma, how's it going old gal!"
Broken out of her holy meditation, the old woman looked about in fright before recognizing Dusty. She gave a gummy smile and gripped his hand. "Hello there..." She trailed off.
"You don't remember my name, do you?"
"I'm afraid not, my memory is not what it once was..."
Dusty smiled nonetheless. "It's fine, I'm Dusty now anyway. Just glad to see you, it's been ages since I've seen anyone from the kingdom." He leaned in. "To be honest it looks like they may have all died. That's not true is it?"
She nodded sadly. "I am afraid so." She croaked out. "Things have not been quite well since you died, but it will be fine now. From your appearance, I gather you are Unkindled now? That is very fortunate. But, there are no Lords of Cinder here, you must travel to their churning homes, at the foot of this castle."
"Wait, how the Izalith did they get there?"
She steamrolled on, despite his protest. "Forge on through that great gate and," She deftly reached behind her chair and pulled out a large wooden banner.
"Where did that even come fr- you know what? I don't want to know."
Emma handed him the banner and waited for him to ram it into his Undead Bag of HoldingTM before continuing. "Beware, though, the vile watchdog of the Boreal Valley." Dusty paused, muted by confusion. "I mean really, the guy will just crawl out of nowhere, watch out for that. It's really messed up to see in person."
"Alright... but really, what happened here? It's like a Gwyn-damn civil war out there!"
She smiled again. "That is for another time, for now just travel onward."
Dusty kicked the ground in frustration. "Fine, but at least come to the Shrine with us, would you? It's not safe for you here."
"I cannot. I must," Emma stopped as she caught sight of Ludleth, leaning on Dusty's shoulder. "Oh, my word, who is this handsome fox? You seemed to have hidden him from me!"
Ludleth raised his head and gave a gentle smile. "My lady, I am Ludleth of Courland. Long of virtue, but..." He shook his small legs. "Short of foot. I am sorry I did not introduce myself sooner."
Emma was flushed now, and she hid her face behind the oversized sleeve of her robe. "Oh, why thank you."
Dusty grinned from beneath his helmet. He had her now. "Come on, Emma, come back to the Shrine. We can talk more, and Ludleth is bored pretty often, right buddy?"
Ludleth nodded, "Sometimes, yes."
Emma looked ready to fall to pieces, but she composed herself under the guise of a proper priestess. "Well, I suppose it would not hurt. Not as if I have much to do here, Prince Lothric acting like such an arse and all." She nodded. "I shall accompany you, but, before you leave, I have a gift."
"Oh, what is it?"
Emma reached into her seat and pulled out a small talisman. "This, you left it behind when, well, you know. I had hoped you would come back one day and require its services once more." Dusty took the small charm of canvas. "Do you still know the miracle I taught you?"
Dusty took a band from his pouch and tied the talisman to his wrist, keeping his hand free. "I think so... I'm not sure what all 'reset' or whatever when I died. But, let's see..." Dusty raised his hand and pretended to cock back a spear, "Something like this," as he did so, he found lightning began to form in his palm. He laughed, "Alright!" the lightning took shape, lengthening out into a spear. Mad with joy, Dusty threw the spear. It sailed through the air, crashing through rows of pews, before colliding with the door of the chapel in a mighty explosion of electricity. Dusty couldn't believe he could still cast it, Lightning Spear.
From her seat, Emma clapped in delight. "Oh good, I was worried you may have forgotten it. I'd have hated for you to lose the only bit of knowledge you gained from all those days of study."
Dusty rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "Yeah, sorry, I just wasn't much interested in the Way of White."
Emma shrugged. "Can't be helped, if I'm being honest it is quite boring. But, no more of this, you have a duty now, Dusty. See to it."
Dusty nodded and turned to leave.
Emma added, "And I would like you to know, I'm proud of you for undertaking this responsibility. It eases much of my worry about you. So, do not despair, and no matter the difficulty continue on, with the Church of Lothric at your back. This is all I shall ask of you."
Laughing, he spread his arms. "Of course, granny, what else would you expect me to do? Being a knight was my goal, remember?" He went through the door and out into the world again.
Once alone, Emma sat back and relaxed to wait for his return."That's right, and now you've done it, my little knight."
. . . . .
"Now, we have a goal and destination, how about that?" Dusty exclaimed as he skipped down the steps of the chapel. "And I have my bitchin' lightning powers back! Hours of study, so worth it."
"Yes, we only need to find the Firekeeper, and then kill a dog-man who can pop out of nowhere."
"Exactly! Easy, right?" Dusty glanced down at his wrist, studying the talisman. "Wonder how many more of my lightning miracles I still know? I definitely need to check my Faith when we get home."
Ludleth chuckled. "I must say, Dusty, you seem less and less reluctant these days."
He looked up. "Nah, I'm just in a good mood right now, I wouldn't go that far." He looked down at himself, the embers had stopped rising, and he had lost the warm feeling. "And wasn't I just embered? It's gone."
"That's strange, you didn't die."
"No. I guess we'll just worry about it later. "Hey, Keep, we're regrouping! I found out what we have to do!"
They walked around the area, becoming nervous at the lack of knights. "Keep!" he yelled again, to no answer.
Ludleth piped up, "You don't think she could've killed them all, do you?"
"No, no. There were at least five Lothric Knights, and four soldiers. She might've just led them away for something." Climbing a set of steps, they reached the northeast corner of the courtyard and Dusty was silenced. Crouching like a wild animal was the Firekeeper. She held her estoc in a death grip in front of her. Her hair was covered in soot and looked as though it had weathered a tornado. Her eyes were wide as saucers and had the look of a rabid wolf. Shaking, she looked up at them and gave a glare that could freeze lava. "How nice of you to join me." She spat out between gritted teeth. "How was the Gwyn-forsaken tea party you had in there?"
Dusty laughed nervously. "Oh, it was okay. Got a banner, some lightning magic, found the High Priestess, it was great."
She raised the estoc and shushed him. "Well, for your information I had a terrible time! I had to fight nine of those brain-dead zombies at once. Do you know how hard that is? I don't even need an answer, it's hard! I'm not even going to go into the things I had to resort to. Just that they would certainly not be allowed in any form of civilized warfare."
"What does that me-"
"I STUCK FIREBOMBS IN THEIR PANTS! I pretended to be dead, waited until they turned away, and stuck firebombs in their pants, like a stone-cold killer! Zombie genitalia was flying all over the place!"
He didn't really want to question how she even could have done that. "Oh. Well, alright. Anyway, I figured out what we need to do."
"Spit it out, then!"
He pointed down the steps, "We have to go down there and do something with this banner."
"Okay." She didn't move.
"You okay to go?"
"Not really."
"Need a minute alone?"
"Yeah."
"I'll come back and get you in a minute then."
"...Thanks."
"Want some emotional intimacy?"
"Screw you."
. . . . .
As the group finally pushed through the fog, Dusty felt as though he had been in the stupid High Wall for a month. He was more than ready to leave this piece of shit behind for a while. But, to be perfectly honest...
"What the Izalith is this room even for?" Dusty said. They had entered a large square arena, perfect for fighting things. Torches lined the walls on every side, and most of all, the ground was terrible. It was completely uneven and broken from one end to the other. The group walked across, doing their best not to trip on any of the tiles that threatened to stub their toes to oblivion.
After what felt like a century they reached the end, and Dusty reached into his pouch for the banner.
"Hey, wait for a second!" The Firekeeper yelled.
He stopped and looked up. "Why do you feel the need to yell?"
"Well, doesn't this seem off? I mean, it is my first time and all. But, I had the understanding that the areas we go through usually end with, like, a big fight or something like that."
Dusty had forgotten about that. After a moment he rapped his helmet in realization. "Right, I forgot! Emma said to watch out for some knight-dog something or other that's 'Watching us' or whatever." He stood on his toes and looked around. "I don't really see where it is though." He reached for the giant door. "Maybe he's out here?" He pushed but the door would not budge. Growling, Dusty turned to push his entire weight against it. "Come on, I wanna leave!"
The Firekeeper felt a cold gust of wind billow out from behind them. She shivered and clutched her arms across her chest. She turned around, "Is there a draft in here?"
"Don't know. Preoccupied. With. Door." Dusty gasped out between shoves. "Vines. Halting. Progress!"
From behind him, the Firekeeper made a sound somewhere between gasping and choking."D-d-d-d-d-duh-duh-duh-duh..."
Rapid-fire pokes assaulted his back. He sighed. "Keep, kind of busy right now."
"It's, uh, i-i-i-its..." She took a deep breath. "It's dog-man!"
"What are you yelling about?" Dusty turned around. "What dog-ma- HOLY SHIT!" A portal had opened by the gate through which they had entered the room. Out of it was crawling a giant man on all fours, covered in armor from head to toe. His armor seemed to be smoking, but from the color Dusty immediately recognized it as Ithryll metal. That was cold coming from the armor. The creature fully exited the portal then reached back in and pulled out a mace. Which it slammed into the ground head first.
Dusty copied the Firekeeper's shivering, the room's temperature had dropped heavily and was now almost freezing. Dusty did his best to ignore the beast's glowing eyes following him and turned to the Firekeeper. "I think this is the guy."
She nodded. "I read about him, that's Vordt, an outrider knight of the Boreal Valley."
"Nice!" Dusty pumped a fist in the air. "Knew that metal was from there, haven't lost my touch." He studied Vordt, circling them. "I did remember hearing about those loons starting a program like that, sometime before I died. Lothric was planning to attack them, some political crap. One of our scholars up and taking over that country, I don't really know. Still," he gestured to the beast. "Nice to see it worked out for them, I think."
"Oh, yeah."
"I really don't want to fight that."
"Nope."
"Don't really have a choice though."
"True."
He drew his sword. "I guess we should go."
"Yeah, we should."
"Are... you coming?"
She put her hands behind her back and looked away. "Well, actually, I was thinking you could take the lead on this one, and I'd stay back and support you."
His voiced cracked. "What! Why?"
"I was just thinking, you know, that possibly, maybe... the thin pointed stick that you gave me, which I learned to use about one day ago, might not be the most effective weapon against that thing. Possibly. So, it might be better if I hung back and helped you with firebombs, or something."
He raised a finger to argue, then put it back down. "Good point. Guess I'll need to figure something out." Drawing his sword he jogged toward Vordt.
"Alright, Ludleth, conference time. Game plan?"
The small man hummed in thought. In the meantime, Vordt charged forward and initiated a savage spinning swing of his mace, that sailed clear over Dusty's head as he ducked.
"Anything yet?"
"Well..."
"Nevermind!" Dusty pivoted on his foot and sprinted toward Vordt, who had stopped his attack to face him. Rushing in, Dusty sidestepped Vordt's outstretched hand and brought his sword down on Vordt's shoulder. To no effect at all, his sword harmlessly bouncing away with a pathetic clank. Perplexed, Dusty climbed atop Vordt and tried it again, and again. He pulled back. "Uh, Ludleth, I think we have an iss-" Dusty was interrupted as a bone-crunching mace blow from Vordt savagely blew him off, sent him flying back toward the giant door of the room.
He hit the door with a resounding thud and slid to the floor. "Uh... Ludleth, Flask. Flask, please." Dusty studdered out. He groaned as Vordt stalked toward him, grabbing him by the leg and pulling him away from the door. "NO, NO! ESTUS PLEASE!" Vordt stopped dragging him and raised his mace up high, then brought it down on Dusty hard enough to crack the stone beneath him.
As the mace was raised again, Ludleth finally got the Estus Flask out, putting it to Dusty's lips.
He drank it quickly. "Thank y-"
The mace was driven onto Dusty again, silencing him. As it was raised, Ludleth gave him another drink of the Estus. "Hey wai-"
Another blow.
Ludleth gave him another drink. "I think we should do something el-"
Vordt struck again.
Ludleth struck again with the Flask.
"I really should just d-"
Vordt hammered him into the ground once more. He was given a fifth drink of the Estus.
"Oh, it's gone now."
"Great." As the mace fell, Dusty rolled to the side. Getting up, he uselessly raised his shield to block a blow from Vordt again, with the force blowing him back and plowing him into the wall. As he impacted with the wall a shower of stones fell, littering the area. Sliding to the ground, he fell forward and stayed down. "Damn it, there're stones digging into my stomach now."
"Um, Dusty," Ludleth whispered into his ear. "I think we have to get up."
Dusty sighed in defeat. "Going to be honest here, Ludleth, might just be my shattered spine talking here, but I don't think I'm getting up anytime soon. I'll just let him kill me and we can try again."
"I suppose that's a good idea."
"...Yep."
Dusty laid there, his face planted firmly in the ground, waiting for Vordt's finishing blow. But, it didn't come.
"Hey, buddy, what's the hold up over there, is he coming or what?"
"Not exactly, he's going after the Firekeeper now."
"What?" Dusty yelled.
"Look," Ludleth picked Dusty's head off of the ground and tilted it to look forward. There he saw the Firekeeper, yelling and waving her arms in the air to draw Vordt's attention toward herself. She sprinted away as he began a charging swing that traveled most of the arena. "She's drawing him away from us."
"Damn it, she thinks I have a plan."
Suddenly, the Firekeeper tripped on an outcropping stone and fell to the ground. Vordt gained on her, his mace raised in attack. Dusty struggled to get up, but his body refused to comply, being shattered to pieces and all.
"Ludleth, if there anything we can do?"
"What do you mean?" Ludleth replied. "I thought we should give up and die?"
"Yeah, I did say that, but," Dusty sucked in a breath. "I don't know! It just doesn't seem right to leave her to get crushed, she believes in me right now! I don't want to ruin that just yet."
He could almost feel Ludleth give his trademark gentle smile. "Then it's a good thing I still have some embers left."
Dusty grinned, leave it to Ludleth to push him toward the right choice. "Light my fire, little man!"
As Ludleth pushed the ember into his back, Dusty felt his heart catch fire. His body filled with warmth as embers and ash rose from his body in droves. His bones healed, forming back together and becoming whole again. He remembered this feeling, borrowed power, far beyond his natural means, coursed through him. The strength of a Lord. He stood up and his enflamed heart sunk to his stomach. Vordt's mace was already halfway to reaching the Firekeeper, to him it fell in slow motion. He wouldn't get there in time, he couldn't, he failed and there was nothing he could do-
A thunderous clang filled the air, the sound of his shield repelling Vordt's mace.
"Dusty!" The Firekeeper yelled.
Dusty's eyes widened. What the Izalith had just happened? One second he was cursing not being able to reach Vordt, and the very next second, he was already there. Not only that, he was actually stopping him! Dusty, him, a weakling. He was able to hold back the power of this hulking man-beast that should've been able to crush him into paste without any effort. In short, something was once again up, and he really, really liked it. "Well, Vordt, you know what they say..." He jerked his arm outward, and Vordt's mace was dislodged, crashing into the ground as he reeled back, exposing his chest. "I might have only one match..."
In one quick motion, Dusty pulled the bowl and firebomb out of his pouch. "But, I can make an explosion!" He yelled, setting the firebomb inside, and driving the bowl into Vordt, causing an explosion that sent fire into the beast. As the flames died out, Vordt roared in rage and fumed icy mist that covered Dusty's vision. But, something else happened right after, his chest armor crumbled, falling to the ground in a heap and revealing the gnarled flesh beneath. Dusty drew his sword and pulled his arm back, "And I'm really on fire today!" He drove the sword into Vordt's chest and rammed his shield into the hilt, driving it further in.
"Sorry, Lassie, but I figured out your weakness! Hey, Keep!" he yelled toward the Firekeeper. "When I say so, throw as many firebombs as you can at this guy, alright?"
The Firekeeper jolted as she was brought out of her daze, "Uh, yeah, yeah! I got it!"
Dusty gave a wicked grin, his confidence peaking. "Awesome, then let's put this dog down... actually, that's a really sad pun." He shook his head to start over. "Let's put this dog back in the kennel. There's the one!" He turned around to face Ludleth. "Hey, Ludleth, I might have to use you as a weapon again, you okay with that?"
He chuckled, giddy with joy. "I suppose!"
He rushed forward and engaged Vordt head on. One blow he would deflect away, another he would sidestep. Anything to increase Vordt's frustration. He could already see it, his eyes begin to glow bright blue as the condensation from his armor increased and the temperature in the room continued to drop. But, Dusty could not feel it, he was far too heated up now. "See, Ludleth, I figured this whole thing out, and it's basic physics. Metal's going to break if it gets cooled rapidly, and that metal's always cooling itself, so we just need to heat it up. I could end it here, but..." Vordt slammed his mace down, landing only inches clear of Dusty's body as he dodged, he ran up the mace's length and jumped onto Vordt's back. "I want to end this with a bang!"
Dusty held on to Vordt's back, then he felt the temperature of Vordt's body drop rapidly. He was about to use his ice attack. He cocked his arm back, willing power into the talisman at his wrist. Lightning formed in his empty hand, soon forming into a long spear. "Okay, Keep, on three! One!" He drove the spear into Vordt's body and his metal armor conducted the attack perfectly, sending electricity down his body that caused him to seize and spasm. "Two!" Dusty leapt off of Vordt's back, rolling to the ground. "Three!" He signaled, and the Firekeeper sent a barrage of firebombs at the beast, as many as she could throw. Over a dozen of the bombs plowed into Vordt's body, engulfing him in flame. As the smoke cleared, just as with the Winged Knight, Vordt's armor was red-hot and smoking.
Just as Dusty had guessed, he continued with his attack, and began to spin around the arena, mace outstretched and mist fuming. Attempting to retaliate in any way he could. As he stopped, however, his armor gave protesting rattles, promptly coming apart and crumbling to pieces at his feet. He was completely exposed, leathery flesh useless as any form of protection.
Dusty sprinted at Vordt directly, wasting no time. He was already dead. He stopped just short of the beast and planted his foot firmly into the ground, preparing to push off as he centered his shield beneath Vordt's neck. "Your day's about to get pretty ruff, Shield Uppercut!" He yelled as he pushed off and drove the shield up into Vordt's neck, sending his gnarled teeth flying and snapping his head back with a brutal crack. He collapsed to the ground in a naked heap.
Exhausted, Dusty sat on his haunches panting, energy spent. He stared across at the savage glare of Vordt helpless on his stomach. "Really underestimated a weakling like me, didn't you? Well, I have some news for you, even weaklings can kill giants, if they just try." He fell to his side, careful not to land on Ludleth. "A cripple taught me that one."
Vordt gave a weak roar.
"Screw you too."
Then, the air whistled as a portal began to form at Vordt's feet. And, as quick as he had crawled out of it, he fell into the portal and was gone. The temperature returning to normal as though he had never even been there.
Dusty was flabbergasted. Completely speechless. "Ludleth, did... did he just disappear?"
Ludleth sounded as disappointed as he did, "Yes, it certainly seems so."
"I thought so. Shit."
From behind them, they heard the Firekeeper give a triumphant shout, and before he knew it, he was gathered up in her arms as she hopped up and down like a child. "We did it! We did it! Take that, dog-guy!" She brandished her estoc, "I just got this yesterday, and it ruined you!" It hadn't. "I can do this whole adventuring thing!" He wasn't sure she could. She turned her attention to Dusty. "You, my favorite Unkindled, are taking me out every time now," She rapped his helmet with every word to support her point. "You are not leaving that Shrine without me."
"Keep, we didn't kill him."
She shrugged, "So, we still beat him, it doesn't have to be about killing every time. I didn't think we could do that much."
He sighed and his mood rise again to match hers. "Yeah, I guess so!" He pumped his arms into the air. "I totally kicked his sorry dog ass!"
"Yeah, you did!"
He pulled the banner out of his pouch and marched to the door, "Now let's get going to the next place."
The Firekeeper quieted down in an instant. "Wait, we're going now?"
"...Yeah, why not."
"Well, the sun's going down, so I thought we could call it a day and head back home. Maybe play a game, have some soup, you know, relax."
"No way, we have to keep this streak go-" Dusty's embered state faded away, and his energy dissipated just as fast. He collapsed to the floor. "Nevermind," he muttered, voice muffled by stone. "Let's just go home, we've made good progress."
"Is this going to be a recurring thing?"
"Maybe? I don't know how this whole 'embering' thing works exactly."
"I don't really think this was in the guidebook."
Ludleth joined, "Maybe you're special?"
"Pretty sure I crossed the thin line between special and downright disabled."
