Characters: Chosen Undead/Dragon Slayer Ornstein
Word Count: 7.163
Summary: Tempest and Ornstein venture further into the Demon Ruins. Ornstein has some trouble with all the fire though.
(Author's note: To be honest, this part of the Demon Ruins in game feels like filler and therefore, this chapter feels like filler as well. There wasn't even much room for character development, for there just isn't anything very interesting happening minus one invasion and that isn't enough to spend a lot of time with.
I hope you still enjoy the chapter. At least we have more Stormstein interactions. I am positive the Lost Izalith chapter(s) will be more entertaining, for we have a lord soul and two character quests in there.)
Ornstein frowned when he removed the flask from his lips. The water was far too warm, it felt more like he had just drank water from the cooking pot, even though it couldn't be that hot, his tongue wasn't burned at least.
Even with Ceaseless Discharge gone and the lava having dropped to a lower level, the area was still extremely hot. Ornstein knew that he had to keep hydrating, or he wouldn't be of much use. If only they would be closer to their goal, but they had barely scratched the surface of the Demon Ruins and hadn't even arrived in Lost Izalith yet.
"Are you ready, Ornstein?", Tempest asked when he saw that Ornstein put the cork back on the flask. He had sat next to the little altar where they had found the clothes of the daughter of Izalith while Ornstein had taken a little break from the fight to not collapse in the heat.
"Yes, let's get going.", Ornstein confirmed and Tempest jumped up. While the heat certainly affected him too, Ornstein could see the sweat running down his forehead, as an Undead he didn't have to worry about collapsing from dehydration.
"With the lava gone, we can reach the rest of the Demon Ruins, right?", Tempest blabbered on as they walked. "But... when these are ruins, does that imply that there was a town once? Did the demons have their own society?"
"You could say that, yes.", Ornstein explained. "Izalith and the demons... they had actually a good relationship with each other. You have seen Quelaag and her sister... I believe they fused with their demons on their own free accord. Also, haven't you wondered about the Asylum Demon, little Storm?"
"Oh yes! There were even two of them!", Tempest clapped his hands together. "So they come from this place?"
"They have been sent from Izalith, yes.", Ornstein confirmed. "They were gifts for Anor Londo. Lord Gwyn simply decided for them to guard the Undead Asylum once the undead curse had become such a big problem."
"I get that the first one was there to refrain anyone from escaping.", Tempest had a finger on his chin, appearing to be deep in thought. "But what about the second one? I had already left and came back. And it attacked you as well, Ornstein."
"Nobody gave it any new orders, I guess.", Ornstein shrugged. "It just knew that it should kill anyone entering its chamber, it didn't care about who it was. While demons have a primitive society, it is what it means, primitive. They don't think a lot."
"So are you implying they are dumb?", Tempest grinned at Ornstein.
"Not as dumb as you can be when you storm off again...", Ornstein whispered, but it was still loud enough for Tempest's face to fell and to stem his hands in his hips, giving Ornstein a loud "Hey!" before they both chuckled at the jest.
The duo arrived back at where they started, the lava now gone and while Ornstein steered to the right to get deeper into the demon ruins, he started to remember the layout from trips to Izalith, Tempest had stopped and stared at the Taurus Demons.
With an uneasy feeling in his stomach, Ornstein spoke: "Little Storm, are you planning to do what I think you would do...?"
"Ornstein!", Tempest burst out. "I remember having had so much trouble with only one of these! And that was before you trained me!"
Oh right, Ornstein remembered how Tempest had complained about the first part of his journey when he still had laid in bed, heavily injured and hating Tempest's guts. That felt so far away now...
Tempest grabbed for his sword. "This means, now I should be able to challenge them with ease!"
"Little Storm, wait." But before Ornstein could say anything else, Tempest had already charged off with a battle cry, challenging three Taurus Demons at once. After they had stood around for a second or two in surprise and one of them got a wound in the leg, three axes crushed down at the same time and Ornstein could hear the sound of dissolving ashes.
With a frown, he stood where he was and waited a few minutes until Tempest had reformed at the bonfire. When Tempest came back, he let his head hang low and said: "Well, three of them were too much, but maybe two..."
While Tempest was nocking an arrow in his bow, Ornstein laid a hand on his shoulder, shuddering a tiny bit at the rotten frame of the small Undead. "You won't let them be, won't you?"
"No.", Tempest said. "I guess I want to prove something to myself..."
"Well, I am not too keen on staying here for hours until you succeed." Ornstein could see Tempest's glare even without any eyeballs in his sockets at the time. "So let me help you, so that you can have a rematch with a Taurus Demon. Alright?"
"Hmmm...", Tempest crossed his arms. "Deal.", he then said, grabbing his sword with both hands, putting his shield on his back.
"Good.", Ornstein said and charged up a lightning spear which pierced the nearest of the Taurus Demon's. While it collapsed, the other two near it raised their weapons and started to stomp towards Ornstein and Tempest.
"I'll take the right, you the left.", Ornstein murmured. Tempest nodded, raising his sword. Once the Taurus Demon's reached their position, both of them charged at the same time.
Ornstein always had enjoyed fighting larger creatures, though the Taurus Demon was nothing compared to a dragon. Still, it was easier for him to get a hit in thanks to his own size, which was similar to the Taurus Demon (though he was leaner) and the lighting that his spear was imbued with was a great help to strike the demon down, so that he only needed two calculated hits to kill it.
He then put his attention on Tempest, not planning to help the little Storm. Tempest actually did a pretty good job in this one on one, dodging out of the way of the axe and whittling away at the legs of the Taurus Demon. Of course his sword didn't do that much damage, especially because he was too small to reach vital organs, but the constant slashes forced the Taurus on its knees eventually and that was when Tempest managed to stab it through the eye, ending its existence.
"Are you satisfied now, little Storm?", Ornstein asked, but he got his answer when Tempest turned to the leftover four Taurus Demon's with a glint in his eyes. "I guess not."
With a sigh, Ornstein dashed between the two outermost Taurus Demon's while Tempest took the two that were closer to him. Would he be alright? Would he be able to take two at once? Ornstein didn't have too much time worrying about Tempest though, for he was busy fighting against the two Taurus Demons. Even though they were rather slow, their weapons would hurt for they possessed massive strength, and thanks to the leftover lava, there wasn't too much room to dodge.
While Ornstein leapt into the air and prepared his spear to get bored into the head of one of the demon's, he got a glimpse of Tempest who wielded what looked like a fiery whip. With an uneasy feeling in his stomach (which hopefully wasn't the water he drank having gone bad in the heat), Ornstein charged up the lighting powers of his spear and managed to take the first of his Taurus Demon's down in one strike.
Upon seeing this, the other Taurus Demon backed away, but decided against fleeing like a coward, probably also because the cave was a dead end. It charged at Ornstein, who easily stepped out of the way and swung his spear so that the whole chest and stomach of the Taurus Demon was cut open, hot blood pouring on the floor. The demon grunted in pain and it was enough to finish it off with a well aimed thrust.
Once both of the demons had hit the ground, Ornstein put his attention on Tempest. The little Storm looked a little chipped and Ornstein was sure that his Estus flask was half empty, for the green glass showed... no, they were made of emeralds... regardless, Tempest put up a surprisingly good fight and managed to take down the first Taurus Demon with his fire whip, but the moment he had to catch his breath, Ornstein saw that the last Taurus Demon prepared to crush Tempest with his axe and was over in a flash, his spear in the side of the Taurus Demon, which just looked at him in confusion and then dropped the axe before collapsing.
"I got this, Ornstein.", Tempest said after he caught his breath. "Still, thanks for the help."
"You simply would have died again.", Ornstein sighed while he removed his spears, cleaning it from all the demon blood. Tempest went over to the axe and picked it up.. or tried.
"H-heavy.", he gasped, letting the thing fall again. "I think I'll leave this here."
"A good idea, for I can't use axes very well anyway.", Ornstein said. "Not that I would use them as long as I have my spear."
"I think I prefer my sword as well.", Tempest said. "That's what you taught me after all, Ornstein."
"That... that was just out of necessity back then.", Ornstein felt his face burning up. "The sword is the most versatile weapon after all and for my knowledge about how to train the silver knights-"
"It's alright, Ornstein, you don't have to defend yourself anymore.", Tempest smiled at Ornstein and only culminated the burn of Ornstein's face. Gladly, the little Storm didn't dwell on the topic any longer.
"Huh, look at that, there are a few poor souls who died in the lava." Ornstein followed his gaze and could see them... shrivelled up corpses with a few trinkets or souls still attached to them.
"No way to check them.", he said. "For we will both burn if we step into the lava."
"Yeah, I know...", Tempest sighed and then wandered away, deeper into the ruins, like Ornstein wanted to do earlier. Ornstein followed him and looked at Tempest's sunken in face.
"Are you planning to stay like this?"
"Yes, it's much cooler when I barely have any skin to sweat with."
"Oh no, little Storm, I won't be the only one that suffers. You turn back human right again now."
Tempest gave Ornstein a look. It was still impressive for him how Tempest could convey so much emotion with his eyes lacking.
"At the next bonfire I turn human.", he bargained.
"...Deal.", Ornstein said. He guessed the little Storm deserved a bit of a breather.
The both of them didn't travel far until the next demon stood in their way. Ornstein recognized this one as a Capra Demon, a goat-like creature wielding dual machetes. What he didn't expect was Tempest's reaction to it though. He raised his sword and shield and looked around hastily, if he was searching for some invisible threat.
"What's the matter?", Ornstein asked, one brow raised at the little Storm's odd behaviour.
"There are... no dogs? Oh thank the gods, I would have been able to do this again...", Tempest let out a sigh or relief, which turned into a shriek when the Capra Demon used his moment of inattention to attack, its machete clanking against the hastily risen shield.
"Dogs?", Ornstein tried to remember a story about dogs in Tempest's story back in the Dark Moon Tomb, but couldn't. Well, he hadn't paid a lot of attention back then...
"Yes, there was one in the Lower Undead Burg, with two dogs! I went through the fog and died a very painful death!", Tempest shrieked, clearly not up to telling stories right now, as he was still busy blocking the attacks from the Capra Demon. One or twice more and his guard would be broken.
"Don't be so nervous.", Ornstein said. "Do that dodge roll thing you always do and then stab it from behind."
"If it only was that easy!", Tempest complained, but did as told and once he got up on his feet again, his sword landed in the Capra Demon's back, the creature making a surprised noise that soon turned into pain when Tempest removed his sword and watched how blood splattered on the hot ground below them.
"Huh, the one in the Burg seemed stronger...", Tempest said as he wiped his sword.
"I suppose you simply have become stronger and more skilled yourself.", Ornstein said. "Now come, I would prefer to find the next bonfire fast. I don't want to be the only one suffering."
"You are so petty, Ornstein.", Tempest grinned. "I will cook an extra dish for you after we have managed to get out. Something that will be cold and refreshing."
Something cold and refreshing sounded far too good, so that Ornstein couldn't hide the grumble of his stomach. Well, that was the trouble of having puked out his breakfast.
"Guess it is time for you to take a break at the next bonfire.", Tempest said. Ornstein didn't argue with him. He knew that the little Storm was right. He had gotten too used to regular and good meals, he wouldn't function without a full stomach.
The both of them headed for a row of columns. It amazed Ornstein that all this hadn't been melted by the lava. After balancing on a very narrow path, both him and Tempest stopped, staring at the foes in front of them. Tempest raised his hand and counted them one by one.
"FIVE?!", he yelled. "Oh come on, one of them with dogs was enough, one of them with four brothers will be impossible!"
"You have me with you, remember?", Ornstein grabbed for his spear. "We will take them one by one. There isn't much room to dodge, so we should use our most powerful attacks to take them down in as few hits as possible."
"Understood.", Tempest equipped his pyromancy flame. Ornstein felt the strange feeling in his stomach again... not hunger, not the water having gone bad, just him nervous at the prospect of fire. Even though they were in the middle of lava riddled ruins.
The two of them made a massacre of the Capra Demons. Ornstein managed to take one down with a lighting spear, the other one with a thrust through its heart and Tempest used the Fire Tempest pyromancy, which made large pillars of flames erupt from the grounds. Needless to say, Ornstein had to back away and watch from afar as he saw the Capra Demon's burn. What a fearsome magic...
When he returned, Tempest stood there doubled over, gasping. "Woah, this pyromancy is taxing...", he said. "I won't be able to use that one often..."
"I can understand that.", Ornstein said. "That must have taken a lot of you. Can we continue?"
"Yes.", Tempest straightened his back up. "Let's move on."
The duo descended some stairs at the end of the narrow path. Ornstein stopped when he saw something that looked like a small statue, observing it. It looked... almost alive for some reason.
"Huh, look at this, someone made a statue of the Asylum Demon.", Tempest cooed, reaching out to touch it, shrieking when the statue suddenly breathed fire and shrieking once more when Ornstein fired a lightning bolt into the statue, having been startled by the fire.
"You could have warned me, Ornstein.", Tempest poked his ears, probably having trouble hearing because of the thunderous impact.
"Sorry, little Storm.", Ornstein said. "You know how bad I am with fire."
"Anyway.", Tempest spoke louder than usual, reinforcing Ornstein's theory that his ears were failing. "It seems we can either go further down the path... or we can take a detour towards this path."
Tempest pointed in both directions. Ornstein's gaze followed his fingers. It appeared that the first path would lead them deeper into the ruins, they should check out the other path first.
"Let's go for the second option.", Ornstein readied his spear and took the lead, Tempest followed him closely. Ornstein stopped when he heard a low noise, hearing a soft "Ow." when Tempest ran into him. When he turned around, he could see that Tempest was having a bloody nose.
"What was that about, Ornstein?", he asked.
"Don't you hear it, little Storm?", Ornstein looked at the ceiling. There was a certain nose... as if something would burrow itself through the walls.
"I can barely hear you, Ornstein.", Tempest complained, wiping his nose on his sleeve. At least the blood wouldn't be very apparent on the black leather.
"Something is... there.", Ornstein said. "I can hear it... Keep your guard up, little Storm."
Tempest's mouth that already was opened, probably to say something else, closed again and he nodded, raising his sword. Ornstein took one careful step forward and gasped when the cause of the noise appeared in front of him.
"A rockworm!", he exclaimed. "That was the noise I heard! Be careful, little Storm, they aren't very agile, but they have acid spit. Poison for your equipment."
"Acid sounds like it would be poison for my skin as well!", Tempest shouted. Ornstein just gave him a short look, for Tempest's skin already looked pretty rotten, but decided against a tease in favour of fighting the rockworm.
Even with Ornstein's help the fight took a while. Rockworms had a very hard exterior and their sharp weapons weren't up for the task to get through it, so that they could attack the softer insides. It took both of them a while to chip away on the rock-hard exterior and get the rockworm down.
"Well, that took a while.", Tempest said and then gasped. He stormed off before Ornstein could say anything, but he quickly heard why. "A bonfire! Now I can hear again!"
Ornstein smiled and went over to the little Storm to join him. Now that they had reached a place of respite, he should hold his promise to Tempest and eat the carefully prepared lunch box. Ornstein got it out from his belongings and opened it while Tempest filled up his Estus flask. He took out a sandwich which was filled with poultry, cooked eggs and various vegetables. Even though Ornstein asked himself when the little Storm did had time to bake bread, it wouldn't surprise him if he did it during the nights while they still had been stuck at the cathedral. Gwyndolin had a method to keep food fresh for a long time.
Ornstein took a bite from the sandwich. It tasted very warm, but not bad. It actually was pretty tasty and even a bit refreshing. Tempest joined him soon after he started eating.
"Is it still good?", he asked. "I worry that the food will go bad easily down here..."
"It's fine.", Ornstein said after swallowing his current bite.
"I made a second one for the case we are stuck down here longer.", Tempest said. "Though I think you want to try and get everything done during the day."
"Yes and we should have plenty of time left.", Ornstein replied. "Though I cherish the thought, little Storm. I haven't even thought about getting anything to eat with me, I just took a flask of water with me."
"Good, that means you have three in total."
"Three?"
"I brought two of course, we were going to a hot place, you need proper hydration, Ornstein."
Once again Ornstein felt bad about how much the little Storm thought about him. He would definitely collect a few humanities and a few special ingredients for him once they were out of this far too hot place.
Ornstein finished his meal as well as the first flask of water. Then he excused himself for a different kind of break. When he came back, he saw Tempest sitting on the edge of the path, his legs dangling. His skin was still greyish and rotten.
"Little Storm, didn't you want to turn back human?", Ornstein asked, pointing towards the bonfire.
"Oh right.", Tempest said, his expression betraying that he hadn't simply forgotten about it, he had hoped that Ornstein wouldn't notice.
One popped humanity and one reversing of the hollowing later Tempest's skin was back to its fair colour and his blue eyes that looked as deep as water were back in their sockets. Ornstein very much preferred this Tempest, though he had to admit, his form that looked like dried meat could be charming too...
"Ready to go?", Tempest asked. Ornstein nodded and got up. While the two of them were on the way to the stairs, Tempest stopped, frantically looking around.
"What is it?", Ornstein wanted to know.
"I heard the sound of another undead appearing.", Tempest whispered. "An invader..."
Ornstein was alert. The other undead could pose a great threat, but he couldn't see anyone in front of them. That could only mean...
Ornstein gasped when someone rolled right against them, feeling how a thorn managed to get into the gap of his armour and rip a small but painful wound.
"Oh no, it's him!", Tempest exclaimed, raising his shield. Once Ornstein had recovered from the shock of his new wound, he saw a knight with armour that hurt by only looking at it.
The man was covered in thorns from head to toe and even his weapons, both sword and shield, were covered with thorns. Even just standing near this guy guaranteed an injury and Tempest was currently struggling against his attacks.
"You know him?", Ornstein jumped over to Tempest and gave the thorny knight a bash with his spear, not wanting to get too close to not cut himself on the multiple prongs.
"He invaded in the depths. One of the rare times I was human.", Tempest said, taking the breather to regain his stance. "Needless to say, I didn't stay human."
The knight recovered from Ornstein's bash and seized his enemies. Truly fighting against an Undead and a legendary knight should be enough to make him yield, but there was no defeat in his posture. In fact, he charged at both of them again.
Ornstein pushed Tempest out of the way and then parried the sword with his spear. He was surprised at how strong the knight was, or maybe it was because Ornstein was reluctant in attacking him, for his armour promised many wounds if he would tackle this carelessly.
"Ornstein, out of the way!", Tempest shouted and Ornstein jumped to the side just in time to avoid being grilled by the Fire Tempest pyromancy. While not every of the pillars hit the thorny knight, it lowered his guard so that Ornstein felt confident... and also because he had to get rid of the lighting energy that had concentrated in his fingertips, to finish the knight off with a lighting spear.
Both him and Tempest gasped when the knight still stood after these two heavy attacks. Ornstein was wondering what kept the knight going, why he fought with such aggression and stubbornness. The knight also used their surprise to attack Tempest with a roll on the ground, tearing a few wounds, making the little Storm cry in pain and going for the kill with his sword.
That scene was enough for Ornstein to get moving and before the knight could kill Tempest, Ornstein's spear was deep into his back, even though it meant that both of Ornstein's elbows got cut by the thorns and blood seeped onto the ground.
The thorny knight collapsed and vanished. At the same time, the rush of the battle left Ornstein and he became painfully aware of all the cuts on his body.
"Ornstein, we need to take care of these wounds.", Tempest looked at him with big eyes. His own wounds were already healed with Estus. Ornstein only nodded and let himself lead back to the bonfire, where Tempest cleaned all the wounds he could find and bandaged them. At least they weren't very deep, they would heal without trouble, but Ornstein had the feeling that he would get a new scar on his ankle.
"This one was persistent.", Ornstein said. "And you said you ran into him once again. And lost. He must have tried to go for you again for he thought you were easy prey."
"Probably.", Tempest said. "I just hope that I don't have to see him again. This armour still hurts. I called him knight of thorns."
"Hm, that sounds better than thorny knight."
"Aw, Ornstein, that is only two letters away from horny knight.", Tempest grinned and got a slap on the head about this remark from Ornstein.
Once Ornstein's wounds were all dressed, the two of them continued and went back to the area in which the knight of thorns had attacked them. There was no other direction to go than down the stairs. Ornstein tensed once he saw the little demon statues, the ones that breathed fire. He already felt the tingling in his fingers.
"You take them.", Ornstein pretty much pushed Tempest in front of him, not caring about the offended look the little Storm got him, when he would have to face even more fire, he could lose control of his powers. "Look, you know how bad I am with fire."
"Yes, but me fighting them doesn't mean that they won't breathe fire.", Tempest sighed and stepped forwards, facing the first of the demon statues. Four of them in total. Ornstein considered just closing his eyes and waiting until Tempest was finished, but that would be suicide in Lordran, so he was forced to watch.
One, two, three slashes at the first statue, interrupting it enough to not breathe fire, but it gave enough time for the second one to close up and breathe its fire instead. Tempest rolled out of the way while Ornstein felt the twitching in his fingers intensifying... the second one went down in three hits as well. For how small they were, their stone-like skin was hard to pierce for Tempest's sharp weapon.
Tempest continued down the stairs, approaching the next statue and while he did so, he got out his bow and sunk an arrow in the last one, so that both of them approached at once. Ornstein couldn't help but feel pride when Tempest slashed both of them at once, but he must have misjudged, for he stepped back and had to roll out of the way when both of them breathed fire at the same time. Ornstein took a deep breath, trying to get the tingling in his fingers back under control.
Two slashes later, for the demon statues didn't think about moving farther apart from each other, they were gone and Tempest turned around and waved at Ornstein. Ornstein let out the breath he had held and stepped on the first step, his eyes going wide when he saw the Taurus Demon rising its axe behind Tempest.
In an instance, all the energy that had accumulated in his fingers exploded and the Taurus Demon was struck down by one massive lighting spear, hitting it with such a thunderous noise, that Tempest twirled around with both sword and shield on the ready, slowly lowering them when he spotted the grilled Taurus Demon on the floor.
A few seconds later Ornstein joined Tempest. "Thanks, Ornstein, your attack saved me another death.", Tempest said. "Though that was the most intense lighting spears of yours that I have ever seen."
"All the fire in here is taking a toll on me.", Ornstein said. "Let's just move on. I want to get out of here before dinner."
"Where to?", Tempest asked. "There are different paths."
"Hmmm...", Ornstein looked around. It seemed like straight forward led to something like a building, so he turned into that direction. After he only took one step, he heard the distinct sound of the rockworms again and stopped, looking to his right, where one of them emerged.
"Not again...", he sighed.
"Shall we take care of it?", Tempest asked. "It doesn't feel like it can move much..."
"It's better, for if they spit on you, your equipment is trash.", Ornstein said. "Let's just proceed slowly..."
Several hits on the very hard exterior of the rockworm later, it was gone and Tempest picked up a shard of green titanite from the exterior they had chipped away, for apparently the rockworms bodies were similar to crystal lizards and shards would just form on their skin.
Ornstein continued forwards after this small distraction, but Tempest strayed away from him. Knowing that Tempest didn't have any needs to attend to that would make him stray away, the only reason could be his damn curiosity, so Ornstein turned around to see what got the little Storm's attention.
Tempest stopped at the edge of the small cliff they were on and looked down. Ornstein gave him a questioning look, obscured by his helmet. "What are you doing?", he asked instead.
"I saw a Taurus Demon to the left earlier.", Tempest said. "But you preferred to not take this path and it also looked far too narrow to dodge, but when I noticed that we went up, I thought we could use this to our advantage..." Tempest raised his sword and pointed downwards with it.
"A plunge attack...", Ornstein said. "That could work. I just hope going down this path is worthwhile, little Storm."
"It if isn't, then I make apple sauce with peas for you again, Ornstein.", Tempest's face was scrunched up, clearly he didn't want to think about it. Ornstein felt a devious grin appear under his helmet, for he could use Tempest's own curiosity against him.
"Make it a pudding with garlic.", he said. Tempest just gave him a look and shook his head, his thoughts kept to himself.
"Here we go.", he murmured and plunged down, his sword in both hands, a surprised Taurus Demon growling when it got stuck deep into his shoulder. Shortly after Tempest had removed his sword and jumped off the Taurus Demon's back, its attention now fully on the little Storm, Ornstein took his opportunity. With his bigger size and better aim, his spear hit the Taurus Demon right through the head and left only a corpse on the floor.
"That worked perfectly.", Tempest smiled. "Now let's go on and hope that it was worth it." He shuddered and Ornstein knew that Tempest wasn't keen about making a pudding like the one he had ordered.
Tempest walked a few metres before he stopped and Ornstein sighed when he saw another Taurus Demon.
"How many of these damn bulls are here?", he asked. "And now our neat little trick won't help..."
"It's only one.", Ornstein said. "Surely we can handle it. We handled four at once earlier."
"Yeah, just... I am annoyed by them.", Tempest said, looking at the ground.
"Who wouldn't be?", Ornstein said. "Let's just get it over with."
"Hm.", Tempest nodded and the both of them charged forward, taking the Taurus Demon out with only a few well aimed thrusts. At least their skin wasn't as rock hard as the one of the rockworms.
"That hopefully was the last of them.", Tempest said when he removed his sword and wiped the blood off. Ornstein wiped some blood off his armour as well. It would surely need to get a good cleaning once they were done down here.
There was only one path to the left. Tempest stepped on it and shielded his eyes to see better into the distance. "Aha!", he exclaimed. "There is a chest up there! That means it has been worthwhile!"
"It could also be a mimic.", Ornstein remarked.
"Mimics still have treasure inside of them.", Tempest said. "I won't let myself get eaten this time, Ornstein. I promise."
"Alright then...", Ornstein shrugged, "But at least proceed carefully, this path with nothing on it reeks of a-"
The sound of four rockworms burrowing themselves out of the ceiling interrupted Ornstein and he finished his sentence with a delayed: "Trap."
He then sighed deeply and jogged down the path while Tempest already called for his help.
"The nickname Little Storm will never cease to be fitting for you.", Ornstein hissed, though he didn't really mean it. He had seen it coming, honestly.
"Sorry, Ornstein.", Tempest said sheepishly, trying his hardest to not get hit by the acid spit. "I make the pudding for you for this..."
"The apple sauce is enough.", Ornstein decided and then occupied the two rockworms in front of him into a battle, so that Tempest could work on the two others that had him in a pincer. Ornstein just didn't like these things, it was so hard to kill them and his injured elbows started to hurt. Tempest also got smacked around once or twice and had to drink from his Estus to recover. Ornstein envied him a bit about how easy he could get rid of pain, but also got reminded that Tempest had died countless times and experienced it with the full pain that came with it. Even Ornstein himself had stabbed him, slashed him, electrocuted him... what a terrible memory! Ornstein finished off the rockworms with a lightning spear and then went to help Tempest with the rest of them.
"Phew.", Tempest wiped some sweat from his forehead. "At least I managed to not get spit on myself."
"Go and get the treasure.", Ornstein sighed. "Let us at least find out if it was worthwhile doing this little detour."
"Alright." Tempest turned around and carefully climbed over the corpes of the rockworms, giving the chest a hit with his sword, which was a satisfying dull thud, meaning it was safe. He opened it and removed an ember from it, letting it fall right away. "Oh ouch, it's hot!"
Ornstein came closer to inspect it. "A flame ember.", he said. "Well, that is kind of ironic..."
"It kinda is.", Tempest looked at the ember with large eyes. "That is certainly something worthwhile to get, but I can't use it because you won't be able to be around a sword set on fire all the time."
"Hm, you can still give it to a blacksmith who knows how to handle it.", Ornstein said. "I am getting my apple sauce either way."
Ornstein turned around and made the trek backwards while Tempest was picking up the flame ember somehow, jogging back to Ornstein.
"Alright, no more detours.", he said. "I won't survive it if I have to cook a pudding that bad."
"It's not like you won't come back.", Ornstein said, chuckling for he very much deserved the nudge that Tempest gave him, at his legs though, for Tempest was too small to reach his shoulders.
Back on the path that led to the building, there were no further distractions. At the building itself, they could spot a fog gate as well as two more demon statues. Tempest took them both down and then looked to his right, but shook his head and moved towards the fog gate. When Ornstein followed his gaze, he saw a Capra Demon standing there. He could understand why Tempest wanted to skip it, it didn't even seem to have seen them.
"Are you ready, Ornstein?", Tempest asked before he touched the fog gate. Ornstein raised his spear and nodded. He was more than ready to get out of this place and that meant he was more than ready to fight whatever the demon ruins threw in their way.
Right after they had entered the fog gate, Ornstein's gaze fell on a big fat demon, standing on the opposite wall of the room.
"Huh, it's another Asylum Demon.", Tempest said, only for him to be squashed a second later by the long staff of the demon, letting Ornstein stand there in shock for a second before he scooped up Tempest and darted behind a pillar. Wait, Tempest was still there, even though his body felt like it had several broken bones and blood gushed on the ground, that meant...
Ornstein reacted quickly and fed Tempest three doses of Estus, the small Undead groaning when his bones knit back together and his wounds healed over, slowly getting back on his feet. "That was mean..."
"Go behind it.", Ornstein suggested, the demon was searching for them and with his big body, it would find them soon. "I'll distract it and you attack."
"Alright.", Tempest said and picked up his sword, gasping when the demon found their location and the pillar in front of them shattered.
"You aren't the only one who can do that.", Ornstein murmured and got up, concentrating the powers of his leo ring on the next best pillar he saw. While the debris rained on the ground, the demon stared at Ornstein, giving the little Storm an opportunity to sneak behind it. If only it wouldn't be on fire... Ornstein felt how his lighting spear miracle once again started to gather in his fingertips without his permission. Gladly, Tempest managed to give the demon a wound, for it growled and its attention went away from Ornstein, giving him a moment to force the miracle away. He didn't feel comfortable letting it loose in such a tight space, the whole room could collapse and bury them. It didn't help that a tree grew through it as well.
Ornstein gasped when he saw that the demon put its weapon in front of it... that wasn't a staff or stick like he thought, it was a catalyst.
"Little Storm, watch out!", he screamed as a blast of magic erupted around the demon, forcing Ornstein to jump back, clenching his spear with both hands, hoping that it would prevent his fingers from tingling up involuntarily. He looked around frantically, but luckily saw Tempest safe and sound a bit away from the demon, though it turned around, focusing on the nuisance that had slashed its rear open, preparing a blow with its long weapon.
It was the perfect opportunity for Ornstein though, for the demon was rather slow and so he didn't waste any time and stabbed his spear into the rear of the demon as well, creating a second wound right next to the one that Tempest had inflicted. The demon growled another time and its small eyes wandered from Tempest to Ornstein. Just as Ornstein removed his spear and wanted to finish it off, the demon suddenly flew into the air, probably intending to crush the both of them under its massive form.
Tempest ran over to Ornstein, frantically gesturing at above him. Ornstein gave him one second of attention and then murmured: "You made a grave mistake." He then leapt up in the air and landed on the demon's shoulders, making it shriek in surprise, when it tumbled to the ground under Ornstein's added weight, its tiny wings were just enough to hold itself up in the air for a small while apparently.
Ornstein put his boot over the face of the demon and bored his spear into it's shoulder, holding it in place. "Now, little Storm!", he said. "Finish it off!"
Tempest didn't have to be told twice, for he ran towards the demon with a battle cry and ended its life by stabbing it directly through the eye, face wrinkling in disgust when he removed the sword and saw it covered in other yucky stuff than just blood.
"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.", Tempest said as he cleaned his sword. "Well, besides from the beginning when it crushed me... I didn't think it would have that much of a range."
"Have you seen the size of this catalyst?", Ornstein picked it up, only for it to shrink down in size to adjust to him. "Oh, nevermind." Ornstein dropped the catalyst again.
"It reminded me of the demon we found when we got back to the Asylum.", Tempest continued to babble on. "Just more fair for we didn't fall through the ceiling and I didn't break my leg from the fall and my Estus was still with me. Well, thanks to you, Ornstein, if I would have been alone, I would have died again."
"But you would have learned from the experience and wouldn't have made the same mistake again.", Ornstein replied, looking down at the corpse of the demon. At least now that it was dead, the fire surrounding it had started to snuff out, which was a good thing, for he could barely tolerate the tingling in his fingertips anymore.
"I am just wondering how you managed to stay so calm.", Tempest said, stopping his activity to look directly at Ornstein, "Aren't you getting nervous around fire?"
"Oh, I was nervous.", Ornstein said. "I have to try so hard to not let the miracles that gather around my fingertips out. It was a good thing that you were there to take the attention of the demon, so I could calm myself down. That could have ended up ugly if I fired a lighting spear around all this wood."
"Yeah, that probably would have led to more fire and that would only have led to you firing more and more lightning spears and in the end the whole thing would have collapsed.", Tempest pretty much spoke Ornstein's concerns out. "For now, let's continue. There surely will be a bonfire soon and you should take a break and drink a bit more before we continue."
"Alright.", Ornstein said and followed Tempest, who ascended some stairs, glad that he had managed to prevent his lighting spear from being fired, though the moment he saw a whole row of this little fire breathing demon statues, they pretty much crumbled to ashes when the held back lighting spear hit them.
"I am really glad you didn't do that back in the room with the demon, Ornstein.", Tempest said, looking from Ornstein to the ashes and then he moved on like nothing had ever happened.
"Yeah.. me too...", Ornstein said weakly, hoping that they would be out of this place soon.
(Author's note:
While I researched bad puddings for Tempest's request, I found a list of the nine worst rated puddings in the world and looked at it for inspiration and... they sounded and looked all delicious? I actually want to try them all! I don't get why they are rated bad.
Anyway, I asked a few Discord servers and garlic won as the ingredient that doesn't go with a sweet pudding at all.
The last few chapters have been mostly Ornstein POV and I think it will stay like this for a while, for Ornstein has more insight in Lost Izalith and has a more interesting POV on it than Tempest. We will go back to Tempest POV eventually. Also, you all know that I just switch around between these two like I please sometimes.
Did you enjoy this chapter or do you know a better bad ingredient to add to a pudding? Tell me in a comment!)