Kwai kwai everyone! I'd just like to apologize to fans of Selen Vinland out there, I know that some of you readers liked her. Just keep in mind though, not everything in Demon's Souls stays dead forever… Anyway, remember to leave a review or send me a PM!
Chapter 10: The Golden Garb and Black Steel
There was complete silence within the Nexus. When Selen Vinland didn't return from the upper levels, Saint Urbain himself and his two disciples made their way up the stone steps to look for her. The only thing they were able to find however, was the corpse of the slain magician and Selen's headless body.
The three priests were horrified by what they saw, but they were never able to find the murderer. They searched every corner and dark place within the upper levels, but they could find no one. The three priests eventually gave up their search and carefully carried the two corpses down to the lower levels.
They never even noticed that Yurt, the Silent Chief was watching their every move. He had half a mind to attack them outright, but that could possibly compromise his work. If he was going to strike, he needed to make sure that he wasn't caught in the process. So instead, the black knight made his way over to the other set of stairs where the three priests weren't taking. Luckily, his black armor blended in well with the darkness, so it was extremely hard to see him.
Below the area Yurt was standing, Sage Freke, the Visionary could be seen sitting down behind a column, like he usually did. His apprentice was standing over him however and they seemed to be speaking to one another. Most mortals wouldn't be able to hear their low toned whispers, but Yurt wasn't most mortals and he could hear them perfectly.
"I do not understand, what do you intend on doing with a second altered Eye Stone? Why not just have one?" the sage's apprentice asked as Freke handed him the pitch black Eye Stone.
"I had another made because our knight friend is using the first one. I think it would be good to have a second one for study purposes." the older magician answered with a small smile under his gray hood.
"But why give it to me, if I may ask?" the apprentice questioned curiously with a raised eyebrow.
Sage Freke frowned at this and lowered his head slightly. This caused even more of his face to be concealed in shadows because of his hood.
"That girl who I spoke to earlier was found dead. As much as I rather not be in the presence of the disciples, I feel that it is necessary to pay my respects to her. I owe her that much." the powerful magician explained before he very slowly stood up.
"Very well, Sage Freke; I understand. I will guard the Eye Stone with my life if I have to." the much younger magician replied with a small nod, but he didn't sound too pleased about his master being with those priests.
"Hopefully, you won't have to." Sage Freke commented quietly before he lowered his head again and walked passed his apprentice.
Yurt, the Silent Chief watched the powerful sage walk away before his gaze shifted to the apprentice, who began to lean against a nearby column. The black knight now knew who his next target was. Slowly, he pulled his shotel away from his belt and crouched down, almost like a predator getting ready to pounce.
At the Tower of Latria, the knight was making his way up the spiral steps of the main tower. As he walked, he made sure to keep his Dark Silver shield raised protectively just in case anything tried to attack him. Yes, it obscured his view, but he'd rather be safe than sorry at the moment.
Not too far behind the armored human, all of the Dwarves in Thorin's company and Bilbo Baggins were following close behind. They had all chosen to continue to help the human, at least until this next Demon had been slain. They hoped to head back to Middle-Earth as soon as this was over.
As the group made their way up the narrow steps, Man-Centipedes tried to attack them with their poisonous tails and their powerful pincers, but the knight and other Dwarves easily dispatched them with their weapons. Even Bilbo managed to kill one by slicing it's tail clean off with his sword, Sting.
Even further up the steps, the group encountered more of those octopus headed Black Phantoms, but the armored human's shield managed to block their spells. When they got close enough to the creatures, Thorin or Glóin would swing their weapons at the ghostly monsters. It took a few swings, but the octopus headed mages always died after a dozen or so swings. It seemed like nothing could stop them at this point.
In the main room at the top of the main tower of Latria, a makeshift throne could be seen in the huge circular room. The throne was on top of a mounted of piled up chairs and a few stray chairs were resting at the floor towards the bottom of the "mountain." Paintings of a single woman could also be seen on the walls, but the woman's face was always blotched out with black ink, almost as if someone meant to disrespect her. Heavy breathing could also be heard in the room.
An old man was sitting on the makeshift throne on top of the mountain of chairs. This man was unhealthily skinny and almost completely bald, minus a few strands of gray hair. His skin was very dry looking and it almost looked like it was decomposing like a corpse. His eyes were also sunken into his eye sockets, which made them look black when the light was just right. In the old man's left hand, was a black walking stick. The walking stick was thin and a yellow light was emitting from the top part.
What stood out however; was the very large robe he was wearing. The robe was gold in color and very bright, starkly contrasting with the old man's dead looking appearance. The robes were so long that they went almost halfway down the mountain of chairs. This vegetable of a man was the Old Monk.
The man-turned-Demon let out a low toned gasp as he weakly looked up. Even though he looked very weak, he was powerful enough to sense intruders in the tower he stole from his now dead wife.
With a small wave of his walking stick, some symbols appeared on the floor in front of the tower of chairs. The symbols resembled an eight pointed star that was around a circle, both glowing bright yellow. There were also ancient looking symbols around the star.
Suddenly, a bright light began to slowly shoot out of the floor and a magical humming noise could be heard. The yellow gradually changed into a red-orange color and a humanoid figure began to rise out of the ground. When the figure was fully out of the ground, it hovered in the air with it's arms and shoulders drooped. It soundlessly rested it's feet on the ground and the light faded away, revealing a Black Phantom.
Like other Black Phantom's, this Black Phantom had a bright red aura and it's body was mostly black. The ghostly warrior appeared to be a female as well and she was wearing plated armor that looked semi-lightweight. She also donned a helmet with small, metal wings attached to the side. She also held a weapon in each hand; Geri's Stiletto in her left hand and Selen Vinland's sword, Blind, in her right hand.
The Old Monk suddenly gasped again and waved it's freehand in the air. When he did this, the golden robes he was wearing suddenly flew off of him and towards the Black Phantom. It began to speedily twirl around her, almost like a twister. In a blink of an eye however, the robes wrapped around the Phantom's head and made formed the shape of a jagged cone. The sheer size of the robes were so great however that they couldn't' all fit around the Black Phantom's head, so it went upwards until the Phantom looked almost twice as tall.
As the dark soul kept a firm grip on her weapons, five yellow orbs appeared in an arch over her body. Now with a purpose in mind, the Black Phantom slowly turned around to face the room's exit, which was shrouded with a fog wall.
Now that the one thing that was keeping the Old Monk alive was gone, he leaned back in his throne and died on the spot And when he died, his body darkened.
Back with Thorin and his company, the group had just killed another octopus headed Black Phantom. When it died and faded away in a red mist, they continued on their way up the stairs with their weapons or fists at the ready. When they reached the top of the steps, they found themselves in a small, rectangular shaped room. A fog wall could be seen to their left, but something in the corner caught the group's attention.
"What is that thing!?" Fili shouted in surprise when he spotted a white scaled lizard with crystals jutting out of it's body.
The little crystal-covered lizard looked up at the group before it quickly turned around and tried to scamper away. Without answering the Dwarf's question, the armored man lunged forward and stabbed his knight sword through the creature's back, killing it instantly. Only after it was dead and he pulled his sword out of the small corpse, he chose to answer.
"It's a crystal lizard. They have rare minerals in their bodies that I can use to strengthen my weapons." the knight explained calmly as he strapped his Dark Silver Shield onto his back and crouched down.
"What a peculiar creature." Bilbo murmured as he and the Dwarves watched the human cut into the lizard's belly and pulled out a chunk of yellow colored rock, then a silver rock.
"At least you have a reason for killing it." Kili mumbled to himself.
"Does that fog lead to this Demon you've been telling us about?" Thorin Oakenshield questioned the knight as they all turned to face the fog wall.
"It should, yes. It seems wide enough… I think we should go in two at a time." the armored human answered after some thought. "Since I can afford to die, I should go in first." he added grimly while he sheathed his sword and replaced it for his long Bastard Sword.
"I will go in with ya." Glóin, the red bearded Dwarf, volunteered as he stepped forward and he kept a firm grip on his Orkish battle axe.
"We'll be right behind you." Bombur, the obese Dwarf, assured with a smile as the other Dwarves kept their weapons at the ready.
The knight nodded as he held his Bastard Sword in both hands and rested the blunt edge of the blade on his shoulder. He and Glóin then approached the fog wall and with a bit of effort, walked through into the next room. But before the others could walk through after them, the once colorless fog turned yellow.
"What the…?" Kili thought allowed as he and his brother, Fili, attempted to walk through the fog, but the yellow fog was as solid as a rock.
"We can't get through?" Fili realized with wide eyes.
"What do you mean you can't get through?" Thorin Oakenshield demanded with a heavy frown as he lightly pushed them aside and rested a hand on the yellow fog.
"Maybe the Demon doesn't want us to go in?" Bilbo offered with a frown of his own.
"No, there has to be a way through this cursed thing." the Dwarf leader barked angrily as he and many of the other Dwarves tried to force their way through the fog, but to no avail.
For minutes, the Dwarves and lone Hobbit tried to push through the seemingly impenetrable fog, but nothing worked. The fog simply wouldn't let them through. And the sounds of fighting I the next room didn't do anything to calm them. All they could do now was wait and hope for the best.
The knight and Glóin walked through the fog wall and entered the main room of the Tower of Latria. The first thing that they noticed was the huge mountain of chairs that led up to the now dead Old Monk. They were confused at first, but they quickly switched their attention to the Black Phantom with the golden garb wrapped around it's head, who was currently sprinting towards them.
As the Demonic spirit charged forwards, the five golden orbs hovering over it's body suddenly shot forward with magical popping noises. The bearded Dwarf's eyes widened when he saw two of the five orbs coming for him. He quickly jumped to the side and the orbs flew over his downed body, just barely missing him. The two orbs smashed into the now yellow fog wall and he looked up to see the knight block the other three orbs with his shield, which he had taken off of his back in a matter of seconds.
The Black Phantom then swung her sword at the armored man and the almost transparent blade. The knight held up his shield again to block it, but his eyes widened however when the blade simply fazed through the shield and cut him across the chest. He couldn't help, but let out a pained grunt as he took an involuntary step back. The evil soul then raised her sword, Blind, again to strike.
"Khazâd ai-mênu!" Glóin roared in Khuzdulian as he raised his Orkish axe over his head and charged.
The Black Phantom ceased her attack and turned to "look" in the Dwarf's general, only for his axe to chop right into her left shoulder. If she had any bones, they would've cracked from the mighty hit, but red ectoplasm splattered out of the wound instead.
The red bearded Dwarf roughly pulled his axe away and tried to swing it at her again, but the Demonic Phantom suddenly leapt away from him and landed with a roar. When she got up however, the knight tried to hit her with a horizontal swing from his Bastard Sword. Before the long blade could connect however, she rolled away from the attack. When she landed again, five more magical yellow orbs appeared above her.
Not wanting the orbs to shoot towards the unprotected Dwarf, the armored human quickly raised his shield and charged forward. The magical yellow orbs immediately began to fly towards him, but they all vanished once they connected with his magical shield.
The Black Phantom attempted to stab him with Geri's Stiletto, but the bladeless tip harmlessly bounced off of his shield. While she was distracted by the knight, Glóin swung his axe at her back a few times. Every time the Orckish blade connected with her body, more red ectoplasm would sprout from her body and fade away.
The dark spirit suddenly slashed at the knight with Blind, causing the blade to go through his shield and strike his chest, before she whipped around to face the red bearded Dwarf. Before he could swing his axe again, she lunged forward and stabbed her stiletto into her left breast, causing blood to be drawn and a gasp of pain to escape his lips. But because it was a bladeless tip, it didn't cause too much damage to him physically.
'I'm going to end this.' the armored man thought to himself as he quickly placed his shield on his back again and held his Bastard Sword in both hands.
With this goal in mind, the knight commenced to charge towards the Demonic Phantom, who was about to stab Glóin again with Geri's Stiletto. Before she could however, the armored human swung his large sword downward and the thick blade sliced through her darkened body, starting with the right shoulder. Once the blade cut into her, the Black Phantom's body ignited in agonizing flames.
But the Knight didn't stop there; he swung his Bastard Sword again and again, causing more fire to erupt onto her body and more ectoplasm to splatter out of her body due to the deep cuts. The red bearded Dwarf just watched this scene with wide eyes. He couldn't believe that one man could have enough strength to be able to effortlessly swing a sword that large that many times.
After about the fifth or sixth swing, the Black Phantom with the golden garb wrapped around her head fell to her knees with her arms outstretched. She then began to fall forward, but before she even hit the ground, she faded away in red mist. Once she was fully gone, the knight inconspicuously absorbed the Old Monk's Demon soul. It wasn't until then that the yellow fog wall at the room's entrance finally faded away and the rest of the company rushed in with their weapons raised.
The rest of the Dwarves and the lone Hobbit quickly stopped running and lowered their weapons when they realized that there weren't any Demons in the room. The only ones left alive were the armored human and Glóin, who were standing in the center of the room with their own weapons lowered.
"What happened? Where is the Demon?" Thorin Oakenshield questioned seriously as his dark eyes darted suspiciously around the room.
"We killed it. I have it's soul right here." the knight answered simply before he slowly held up his left hand and an orb of yellow light appeared just above his palm.
"You have a Demon's soul? Well, that's not disturbing in the slightest." Bilbo commented sarcastically as everyone stared at the yellow orb.
The armored man simply shrugged before he put away the soul and rested his Bastard Sword on his shoulder. At that point, an Archstone with a rapier stabbed into it appeared right in front of the mountain of chairs.
"Let's go… I'm assuming you want to go back home. I don't want to spend another minute in this hell." the knight stated emotionlessly before he approached the Archstone.
Having similar thoughts, the others followed close behind the human and they all rested their hands o the hilt of the rapier. When they did that, they simultaneously vanished in a blue-green mist.
Back in the hidden Nexus, Yurt was looking down at Sage Freke's apprentice. The black knight was on a pillar above the magician and he was crouched down with his left hand resting on the stone floor. He was holding his sickle-like shotel in his right hand and he held the intimidating weapon in a tight grip.
He could hear the sound of someone appearing at one of the Archstones, but he didn't care about that. All he cared about was his target, the vile user of the Soul Arts.
Yurt, the Silent Chief suddenly jumped down from where he was crouched and raised his shotel over his horned head. The apprentice looked up just in time to have the black knight's pointed boots force him to the ground and he grunted from having the heavy man's full body pushing him down. Before he could even let out a scream, the assassin slashed his shotel through the magician's jugular.
Yurt didn't stop there though; he slashed at the magician again and severed his head completely. This caused some specs of blood to fly onto his armored chest and helmet.
As the apprentice's severed head rolled away from the now limp dead body, the Silent Chief stepped off of the body's chest and crouched down. With his freehand, he searched through the dead magician's pockets and tossed aside whatever objects he didn't find useful.
After awhile, the black knight's steel-covered hand connected with something hard in the corpse's left breast pocket. Quickly, he clenched the object in his hand and pulled it out. He then stood up straight and held the object up to see that it was a pitch black Eye Stone.
At that moment, Yurt heard the sounds of various footsteps rushing towards him and he looked ahead to see all the Dwarves and the Hobbit that freed him back in Latria. He also saw an armored knight who he didn't recognize.
"What have you done!?" one of the younger Dwarves demand as they all looked at the corpse, then the black knight, then the shotel that was dripping blood on the floor.
Instead of giving a proper answer, the Silent Chief decided to reply to the Dwarf in a different way. One that he knew they wouldn't soon forget.
"I'm indebted to you, for your help in Latria." Yurt spoke coldly as he flicked some blood off of his sickle-like blade. "Without it… I would not have made it back to the Nexus. Now I can go on with my work… and for that… I must thank you." he finished with that voice that sent shivers up all of their spines.
Right after he said that, the black knight raised the pitch black Eye Stone up and a bright green mist began to cover his black armored body, ending at his pointed horns at the top of his helmet. The knight who had fought against the Old Monk earlier quickly rushed forward to try to stop what he knew what was about to happen. Before he could get too close however, a blight flash of light suddenly blinded the group. It was only when the light faded away that the group discovered that Yurt, the Silent Chief had vanished.