I woke up early that next morning to the sound of crashing stone and roaring fire. I shot out of bed and ran to my balcony. I looked out over the city to see what I simply could not believe, a wall of flames stretching from the Stoneburg. I shook off my shock and ran to my armor rack, quickly donning my armor and equipping my greatsword. With armor on and sword in hand, I ran from my room and headed for the entrance of the palace. Once outside, I looked up to see Gough in his usual position, firing great arrow after arrow towards the burg. Many Silver Knight Archers were also assisting him with their Dragonslayer Greatbows. I kept running towards the entrance of the burg where I ran into Ornstein and Ciaran.
"Ornstein! Ciaran!" I cried out. They turned around to look at me.
"Artorias! Nice to see you this morning!" Ornstein yelled. I stopped once I reached them to catch my breath a bit.
"What's the situation?" I asked.
"The Demons have attacked. So far these goat-headed Demons wielding cleavers have taken to the streets. The larger bull demons are currently acting as artillery, hurling stones over the walls." Ciaran replied, laying out the situation.
"I see, well what's the plan?" I asked.
"You and I will take to the streets of the Stoneburg, fight of the goat boys. Ciaran will sneak around and take out the boulder-slingers." Ornstein planned.
"Alright, then it's a plan. Ciaran," I looked at her with worry. I knew she was a big girl and a damn good knight, but I still worried. "Be careful."
"You too, Artorias. Come back alive." She said, concealing her worries. She turned around and took off towards the gate.
"What about me?" Ornstein yelled.
"Come on Ornstein, we don't have time for this!" I yelled, running for the burg. Ornstein shrugged and followed after me, spear at the ready. I readied my sword for battle, ready to slay the first Demon I saw. Out from behind a couple houses, three Demons ambushed us. They had the drop on us, but I was ready. I jumped mid-run and cranked my sword back. I connected my feet with the Demon's chest and knocked it to the ground. Then I brought my arm forward, sword in tow, and cleaved the monsters head off in one fluid motion. I looked over to see Ornstein piercing the skull of another Demon with his spear. Once the two were dead we double-teamed the last one. The beast swing both of its cleavers at me, which I was able to just barely dodge. However the attack left him wide open to Ornstein's spear. He started to thrust his spear forward, when the Demon spun around and back-handed Ornstein across the street. I went to take a swing at him when I saw a gigantic arrow sailing through the air. It pierced the demon square in the back and threw him to the ground. I jumped over to the body and removed its head, for good measure. Ornstein stood back up, brushing dust off of his armor.
"Well that's three down." Ornstein coughed.
"And who knows how many more. There are probably hundreds of Demons, the burg is in flames and ruin, this is a difficult fight." I speculated.
"Oh come on now, Artorias. Where is that legendary unbendable will of steel?" Ornstein asked.
"You're right," I sighed. "So then let's keep going. Although the burg is still in ruins. It's safe to assume no one is left alive. So I say we pull back to the gate of Anor Londo and guard it. If we lose Anor Londo it's over, we need to protect it with our full force." I planned out.
"I agree, all surviving Humans were already escorted into Anor Londo. No point in defending an empty, burning settlement." Ornstein agreed.
"Wait a minute, it got quiet. There's no more boulders flying!" I exclaimed. We ran back towards the gate where we ran into Ciaran.
"Ornstein, Artorias! We did it, Gough and I were able to dispatch the artillery." Ciaran announced.
"This is good news. Join us, Ciaran. We're heading back to the gate to guard Anor Londo." Ornstein pointed.
"Good because we have even more problems," Ciaran admitted.
"What is it?" I asked.
"More Demons were seen marching towards the city. We have mere minutes before they arrive in force." Ciaran started to panic.
"Damn," I spit. "Where the hell are the Lords when we need them?" I yelled.
"We don't have the time for this now, Artorias. Everyone back to Anor Londo and ready up." Ornstein ordered. Ciaran and I both nodded and followed him back to Anor Londo. We made our way up to the top of the wall. We were able to see over the burg and beyond. We could see the horde of Demons charging for us, everyone seemed worried but we stayed to fight. Gough and all of the archers let loose multiple volleys of arrows. Many Demons feel to the waves of raining steel and stone. The archers alone cut the invasion force in half by the time they made it into the Stoneburg. Once they made it to the gate of Anor Londo, the rest of us went to work.
"Well let's get to work, Knights." I smiled with anticipation. I jumped off the wall, sword ready, and plunged my blade into the head of a bull Demon. The other two soon followed, plunging their weapons into nearby Demons. We fought as hard as we could, cutting down Demon after Demon. Ornstein even got multiple at a time with his Lightning discharge. We kept slicing and cleaving and killing, but they kept coming. More and more waves of Demons came, even with the Archers taking out half of their numbers. Soon the Army of Silver Knights converged on us and aided in the fight against the Demons at the gate.
"Man I could do this all day!" Ornstein exclaimed.
"We may have to!" I laughed, still cutting away at Demons. Then we heard a loud rumbling from the distance. Then came what felt like a thundering earthquake. The Demons left in the burg scattered.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked.
"Whatever it is, it's bad enough to scare these Demons shitless." Ornstein answered. From the thick trees emerged a giant beast. It looked almost exactly like a dragon, except the wings were torn up and the eyes were empty.. This creature was easily four times the size of a Giant, and how it hid in the trees was beyond us.
"Is it just me or is that a Dragon?" I asked, incredibly nervous.
"It can't be. This has to be some conjuration of the Witch." Ciaran hoped.
"Hopefully it dies like anything else." Ornstein said ready to fight. The Archers fired on the great creature, waves of arrows flying through the air. Then, simultaneously, the arrows struck the creature and bounced off.
"It's hide is too thick to be hurt by arrows!" Ornstein yelled.
"Hopefully it's vulnerable to blades!" I replied. I looked to Ciaran and Ornstein and we nodded to each other. We took off running towards the Demon with our weapons drawn. The creature had us in it's sights and drew back its hand. As we were running it brought its clawed hand down at us. Ornstein and Ciaran jumped to either side, but I jumped up over its hand. I landed on its arm and began to run up it. I dropped my blade, letting it cut into it's arm as I ran. My sword was slicing into the beast so it lacked the near impenetrable scales of a dragon. It tried to crush me with its other hand, but I jumped down from the creatures arm. As I fell, I dug my sword into its chest, slashing it open. While I was coming down it's chest, Ornstein and Ciaran attacked it's legs. The creature brought its claws to its chest, trying to catch me. Luckily I was able to fall through its fingers and down to the ground.
It was then it noticed Ornstein and Ciaran at its legs. It began to stomp its feet, trying to shake us or scare us off. When one of its feet came down, Ornstein plunged his spear into the flesh. Then with all of his power, he unleashed bolts of lightning into the monsters leg and body. It let out a pain filled roar and dropped to one knee. Ciaran ran up its back and carved at its spine and neck. I followed after to make deeper cuts. Ciaran left me a deep gash just below its head, where I planted my greatsword. Then with every fiber of strength I had, I cleaved through its spine and flesh. I beheaded the beast, causing it to collapse to the ground in a crumpled heap. Ornstein and Ciaran cleared away before it fell. We all walked away victorious from that fight. Too bad that the battle was far from over. From the trees, more and more of the dragon creatures emerged, ready to fight. There were at least ten more dragon creatures, and more appearing every minute.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Ornstein yelled.
"What do we do? We can't take them all on!" I exclaimed.
"We know we can kill them, we just need to do it quickly!" Ciaran yelled.
"Easier said than done." I grumbled. Then as a beacon of hope, the sun began to shine unnaturally bright. At the moment we needed them most, they returned to us with more than we ever imagined.
