Lex rolled out of the bonfire and kicked away. He threw himself against one of the Silver Knight memorials and brandished his fistful of goddess-hair. Yet he wasn't surrounded. The hostile Fire Keeper wasn't there. No guardians of Anor Londo had gathered to take him into custody. There were no assassins ready to kill him again and again (unless they were very good at hiding). There was only an old corpse resting at the side of the illusory statue.
Nothing had been done to stop him from entering the hidden passage behind the statue. Outside, the bridge was still raised, and there was no guard who would keep him from finding whatever mechanism lowered it. He could simply leave. Maybe that was Princess Gwyndolin's goal – to make him return to his Undead Mission.
Lex sighed and decided to take a look at his fellow pilgrim. The ancient hollow must have arrived in the distant past, for the dead northman's furs were in tatters, even out of the weather. The cleric wondered if the princess had really left the body here just to provide extra "evidence" that the statue was real.
The dead savage had a ferocious mane and beard to match. The rusted head of a large battleaxe lay at his feet, and there were splinters of a wooden shield. A number of trinkets decorated his hide armor, and a vaguely familiar eye-shaped diadem was chained across his forehead.
For a northman like this, whether he came from Carim or Balder or anywhere else, passing through the bitter winds and snow of Havel's Teeth would have been an easier task in the time before the Undead Asylum. Lex wasn't entirely surprised to see such a hardy warrior had reached Lordran. What was surprising was that the warrior seemed to have hollowed in peace beneath the shadow of Lord Gwyn.
The hollow's legs were crossed, and his arms were folded in his lap, holding something. It was unlike a hollow to simply rest at peace like that, but Lex thought back to the monks of the Undead Parish. Some had passed into hollowing while in the midst of their studies and turned the pages of their books even now.
Perhaps too curious for his own good, Lex knelt before the old pilgrim. He pried at the hollow's hands, expecting resistance, but they unfolded gently. In the warrior's scarred and calloused palm was a simple bronze ring. Somehow, it hadn't corroded at all. Naturally, Lex reached to pick it up.
"Now I truly stand apart from my father's legacy and from my own. If you would, deliver this sign to my father's tomb. It will let those watchers know that I am utterly beyond their power."
The bronze band burned in Lex's fingers. There was nothing to it. It had no gems or magic seals. It had merely basked in the presence of the God of War for centuries and now raged with an inner thunder.
Lex clenched his fists, then looked at the rings on his fingers. He did still have that red tearstone ring, sacred to Caitha. Maybe it was better that he set aside the relics of his former patron.
The cleric slipped the ring from his finger and slotted it on his wand instead. He laid the tin rod down at the feet of the statue, knowing fully that it was an illusion. Gingerly, Lex slipped the ring of the Firstborn of Gwyn onto his finger. Static prickled, and all the hair on his body stood on end as power flowed into him.
"Well, this might help with fighting a god!"
Emboldened by the power of the War God, Lex turned back to the secret passage and descended once more. He didn't stop amidst the candles but immediately pressed through the fog wall. What he found was that infinite hallway, still burning. Piles of ash had filled much of it, and the columns had begun to collapse. Lloyd stood some distance away, stony-faced. Lex's chest grew tight, and the air stuck in his lungs.
"You come before the Allfather once more. Do you repent of your sins and wish to return to the Way of White?"
Lex swallowed before speaking, "I probably should confess my sins. But not to you. I- I say again in the name of Princess- no, Queen Gwynllian Rose Talia, surrender the defenses of Anor Londo to me!"
Lloyd narrowed his eyes and frowned.
"As bold as humans ever are. Have the deaths already clouded your mind that much? Have you already forgotten that you are ash before me?"
"Don't think I'm the same as before!"
"Indeed. You have deprived a pilgrim of his god's relic. Graverobbing is a vile sin. It often causes the dead to stir."
"If the God of War still lives, then I'll return it to him! I promised my Lady I would find her brother. Though it seems I already have, Prince Gwyndolin."
Lloyd stared blankly at that accusation. The flames around him flickered as he lost focus. After a moment, he frowned.
"It seems the rebel Velka has given you many secrets. You know too much and will not willingly return to the bliss of ignorance. There can be no mercy. I shall slay you until the Abyss washes the lore from your mind."
Lloyd swung the Sword of Law, unleashing a wave of near-invisible heat. Lex dropped to the ground and whimpered as it flew overhead. He scampered to his feet and hid behind one of the half-melted pillars. The Allfather watched impassively and thrust his greatsword into the floor. Lex watched to see what would happen next – and suddenly found himself thrust into the air. A heat haze in the shape of the sword had burst from the ground.
The cleric screamed as the burning blade struck him without the protection of a Magic Barrier. He panted and tried not to panic. He chanted the words of Second Chance as fast as his tongue would go. Lloyd raised his sword silently for a second thrust.
"Goddess, please. Luck be my Lady."
Just as Lloyd moved to strike, the flow of souls shifted. Lex felt a heartbeat in his eyes. There was a sound like a choir lamenting, and a name was whispered in his ears. Lloyd stiffened and tried to peer through the fog wall at the end of the passage.
"Impossible," the grizzled god murmured. "A Darkwraith could not pierce my barrier, and it would not come this close when there are other undead to hunt."
The fog rippled anyway. A tar-black hand clawed its way through, a bloody red glow shining through the mist.
"I see," the god said. "It was a plot of New Londo to finally assassinate me. You hid your Sealer's wand too late, pawn of Velka! I will not allow traitors to enter this holy place! To me, Blades of the Darkmoon! Keep your covenant and make safe the sacred halls of Anor Londo!"
Silver light glinted over the Allfather, and the air distorted at his feet. As the red phantom entered the room, a pair of blue phantoms rose from a murky Dark.
One was a man of great stature like the Knights of Berenike. His black iron armor was all of spikes and made of segmented plates like a Black Knight of Gwyn. A fence of iron spikes wrapped about his shoulders, and his helm had horns and a crown. Belts clutched long skirts about him, and a jagged longsword with hooks for breaking blades hung low in his grip.
The other Darkmoon Blade didn't suit the name at all. He wore robes and a tall, runed cap. Long hair and a longer beard fell about him, and he wielded an iron staff which clutched a gemstone in claws that looked like the peak of a tower. What this phantom may have lacked in ornateness, he made up for in dignity, with a tall and proud bearing.
Lloyd swung his Sword of Law and unleashed a heat wave. The false Black Knight charged after it, using the magic as a shield against ranged attacks – as if Lex had any. The sorcerer had already begun churning the power of souls to craft some grand spell.
Lex screamed but kept his head. He used the most basic of Lloyd's miracles against him, unleashing a wave of Force to disperse the heat. As fast as that simple orison was, the cleric would be cutting it close to avoid the knight's swing. Yet it turned out he wouldn't have to.
As the blue phantom charged from the front, the red charged from behind. Just as the Darkmoon Blade raised his arm, he was bodied. A pavise greatshield of venerable oak dented the iron faceplate as it struck. The knight floated for a moment as his head fell back but his legs raced forward. With his head tilted back, his neck was exposed. In a flash, a short halberd had skewered him.
As the phantom fell, a beam erupted from behind him. Lex threw himself to the floor, but the oaken shield crashed down in front of him. Soul energy still seeped through the ancient wood, but the lean phantom seemed unperturbed. It wore segmented plate of white steel over chain. While the Blue Phantom seemed to have crudely imitated the Black Knights, this seemed as elegant as that of the Silver Knights, yet flawed somehow. It seemed similar but older and more primitive in design.
The Red Phantom wielded a short-hafted halberd with a crooked blade. The entire weapon was carved from a single oak branch – and quite poorly. Lex couldn't even tell whether the markings on it were runes or termite damage.
As the sorcerer's beam sputtered, Lloyd stuttered.
"Th-those relics! I know not how you have come to possess them, but the Blades of the Darkmoon will ensure they-"
With the practiced motions of a Knight of Gwyn, the invader threw their halberd like a Lightning Spear. It pierced the sorcerer without a sound, casting the phantom to the ground.
"Return to your home and hearth in peace, children of Man! You are misled!"
There once was a holy maiden afield;
Forlorn healed in mercy.
In toxic mire, soul was free,
Kindness of strangers, trusting.
A tear fell from Lex's ordinary eye. Golden light streamed from the phantom and washed across the room. Lex's body twitched and stretched as the hollow flesh under the illusion became hale and whole again. Both of the Blue Phantoms looked at their own bodies in amazement before fading away.
Before Lloyd could even react, Lex had fallen to one knee.
"Hail, Queen of Sunlight!"
"Fraud!" the false Allfather roared as he saw the phantom's face. "The Princess Filianore is lost to eternal slumber! You cannot fool me with the magics of Oolacile! It was I who taught the Xanthous Scholars!"
Caffrey removed her nosed barbute helm. Her eyes were reversed, somehow. Her left eye was now the red one, and it roiled with the hungry power of the Dark. In spite of her fearsome power, she looked on the verge of tears.
"What has become of my brother who used to love every surprise? Yet still he hides behind Father's form as he did of old. Will you not reveal yourself, Dolenor? My time here is short, and there is much we must discuss about the End of Fire."
Lloyd's lip curled into a snarl.
"There is your goal! You have failed to destroy the legacy of Lord Gwyn by force time and again! Now you speak those tired old lies! To convince me that the Age of those wretched parasites has come! Begone, phantom!"
Another blistering wave arced from the Sword of Law. Caffrey stood in front of Lex again and braced her shield. The attack burst over its edge, but the heat and force whipped the goddess' long hair back into the cleric's face.
"Oh! I am sorry," she said, whipping her hair back. "Let us hurry. Advance without fear; I will protect you without fail."
"Are you sure, my Lady? A shield can only do so much against magic. You've already been hit a couple of times. It's a disgrace that I'm not able to protect you."
"This shield and I have been through much. This is but little. Its blessing is strong."
Certainly, the shield looked quite holy. Pavises were often painted with icons – saints and gods and proof against the forces of Dark. This one featured a sapling which arose from a winged egg. It was a strange symbol which Lex didn't understand at all, except that he'd already seen a winged egg several times in Lordran. Did it have something to do with that skull-egg Caffrey held in the dream?
"As you say, my Lady. I'll have faith in your strength of arm."
The goddess began to smile, but her eyes went wide.
"Leap aside!"
The burning image of the Sword of Law erupted from the floor as the pair jumped away from each other. Lex panted heavily but focused on his lady. She pointed silently, hand hidden behind her shield. As the cleric nodded, she charged toward Lloyd, pavise lowered like a ram.
"Since Hanar is not here, Muinthel must punish you in his stead!"
"The man you speak of does not exist."
"You claim his right as firstborn, but you will not even say his name?"
As Caffrey thundered down on Lloyd, he raised his sword to his face. The old god began to flicker like heat haze, but a firebomb suddenly exploded on his cheek. It couldn't have done any real damage, but the impact, heat, and light made him yelp in an effete voice, completely out of character. While he was distracted, Caffrey's shield boomed against his armor.
The god was cast through the air, and his illusion was shattered. The fires faded, and the ash blew away. "Princess" Gwyndolin tumbled in a pile of snakes. He wasn't defeated yet and drew a golden bow. It had extra arms such that from the front, it too gave the appearance of an eclipsed sun like his crown. The god clutched a pair of arrows between the first two pairs of fingers and another between the last, five in total.
His arm was a blur as he drew the bow again and again, unleashing a torrent of golden arrows. Of course, catching arrows was a task at which wooden shields excelled. Caffrey slammed the pavise against the tiles, and the caught arrows fell free, the holes filling as the painted wood healed itself. Lex ran up alongside her.
"I'm sorry, my Lady. I only had the one firebomb left. I've got a half-rotten crossbow, but I'm not sure it's even effective as a distraction."
"It is enough that we have revealed his true shape. Now we must convince him to stand down."
Gwyndolin hurled a great orb of souls down the hall, but the cleric and goddess split and hid behind opposite pillars as the attack blazed down the center.
"Will he listen?" Lex wondered aloud. "If my visions didn't miss anything, he's been here alone since at least Tarkus' assault. That was hundreds of years ago. I'd guess he's pretty dug in."
A flurry of homing soul orbs shot through the air, but the pair ran in opposite directions, confusing the darts.
"Hundreds of years?" Caffrey echoed. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped. After a moment, she said, "My poor brother. I would have taken this burden from him."
It wasn't clear whether the pair was close enough that Gwyndolin could hear them, but he launched another large orb at Caffrey as she spoke. She gave a great swing and spun her shield about her, using its weight to twirl out of the way. Lex took advantage of the distraction to dash ahead. He was now only one column's distance from the god.
"My L…" Lex started. He thought better of it and continued, "Caffrey, you can't take back what's already happened. You can only move forward."
That close, Gwyndolin couldn't miss. Caffrey started running with all her might, but she was too far away. The enormous orb of souls would kill Lex if he didn't dodge immediately. So he didn't. He ran directly into the light, throwing himself into the air.
"Lexion!" Caffrey yelled.
The cleric screamed in agony as the raw power washed over him. He died and returned to life again by the power of the miracle he'd cast earlier. In spite of the spiritual power of the attack, it did nothing to stop his physical momentum. The god's snakes lashed at him, but they lacked the sheer mass to stop him.
The god fell in an ungraceful heap. The snakes bit at Lex's exposed flesh, but a former Deacon of the Deep was accustomed to poisons and to small barbs piercing the skin. He didn't need to rise and fight this time, so the numbing poison didn't matter. He just needed to be sure the renegade god could do no harm. He pinned Gwyndolin's arms to his sides and refused to let go no matter how the prince struggled.
Thunder of ancient Man become a beast,
Bloody feast, heroes grand!
I fear not in pagan lands,
Malice broken by my hand!
Caffrey clasped her hands in prayer, and concentric spell rings emitted about her like ripples on water. Thin clouds drifted through the air. As they touched Caffrey, Lex, and Gwyndolin, blue sparks arced onto the three.
"Release my brother, Lexion. He can do no evil now. His Soul Arts have been sealed."
"I'm… not sure I can get up," the cleric groaned.
"Your efforts have availed you nothing, Darkwraith!" Gwyndolin hissed. "There are still Men who are wise or selfish enough to see there is need for Flame – even a Flame without gods!"
"Little Dolenor, do you not see me? Even now, I Keep the Fire."
"A trick!"
"I cannot believe that you would not have learned the secrets of Seath's sight. Yet if the eyes of a serpent cannot be trusted, then behold the power which I alone possess."
The goddess knelt beside the pile of Lex and Gwyndolin and snakes. She laid her shield on the ground and reached into a pouch. She plucked a single seed from it and kissed the kernel. It cracked and sprouted immediately, growing into a delicate crimson blossom.
"Lexion, chew this. It will cure your poisoning enough to heal yourself."
She lifted the flower to his mouth. Lex took it with his teeth. It tasted mostly like water, but there was a hint of medicinal bitterness. He could feel his limbs grow lighter. Caffrey rose and extended a hand to her brother. The god winced.
"It… it really is you, Muinthelon."
Gwyndolin took her hand and stood. His snakes hid their faces in shame.
"Please," Caffrey said, "forgive me. I would have come if I were able. My memories were sealed until Lexion found me. Lord Ludleth was forbidden to speak of-"
Her eyes went wide. She must have realized what Lex already suspected. Her father was dead; elder brother in exile; and elder sister missing. If her orders were being overridden, it could only be by the ruling King of Anor Londo.
"You already know," she said sadly.
Gwyndolin grimaced beneath his crown.
"Even I cannot say. It was a commandment of Father's I would never break."
The god looked away.
"I might forgive you for that," Caffrey said, "but I will hold you accountable for what you have done to my people whilst I slumbered."
"Your people?" Gwyndolin growled. "The humans are merely a burden! They feed on you like parasites!"
"They are my responsibility. Just as you try to deflect yours." The Princess Filianore grew proud and tall as she continued, "You have hidden behind a false image to hide your involvement. You have kept the faithful Pygmy Lords from their duties. You have tormented my bishop in a way most cruel. I have heard from him rumors of further crimes."
"What crime can be committed against vermin?"
"You repeat the words of Seath without knowing their meaning, little brother. You are too young to remember the reason for Father's fear of the Dark. I know you have tried your dearest, that you have struggled and fought. Yet your choices affect the lives of countless people. It is with sadness that I declare…"
"You would not!"
"I am Lían Merilîg Ariamîdh Gwâniel," she said, and her voice echoed through the hall. "With the passing of Fion Gwân, the exile of Enethor Thorondil Aralagos Gwânion, and the absence of Faerwen Ylfcyll Mabathae Gwâniel, I am as my bishop declared – Queen of Sunlight! Dolenor Ithildir Úlanpador Gwânion, I hereby relieve you of your duties to Anor Londo, to the Way of White, and to any secret project which acts against my domain as Princess of the Mortal Lands!"
Thunder roared and the windows rattled throughout the infinite hall.
"What have you done?" Gwyndolin hissed. "You know nothing! You have been asleep too long! You would undo all that I have sacrificed?"
"You misspeak, my brother. What have you sacrificed?" Caffrey took an uneven breath before continuing, "You are free now. Journey to the west and join our people there. I am sure you will not be judged harshly."
"I will not flee from fleas."
"Then remain here. Yet you will serve, and you will learn humility befitting your station. Our time is over. It is the duty of we who remain to teach the humans, that they might truly inherit the Flame."