Mad Wolf 3: Thanks. If you have any spell suggestions, just leave comment them. The Drake dissolved into souls, to answer that question. As for the tail, if you'll go back and read, I'm pretty sure I was clear that the tail was cut off. It was more a footnote in the entire thing, as Thomas wasn't so focused on the tail so much as he was actually killing the drake, but it was done.

LDTA: Thanks. I spent like, several minutes trying to think of a dynamic for Oscar and Solaire that could work on them being friendly rivals and/or frenemies, and that was the best one I could think of. Nothing works better than sibling rivalry for that.

kewlleuk: Good eye on noticing that! Yes, when I was initially starting out, I deliberately chose that to be Thomas' starting gift because, from the beginning, I intended to do something quite different in that spot. Spoilers: It involves Thomas being either really bold, or really stupid. (Considering how much his actions veer between the two, I get I'm not saying much, but it's not like the magician reveals his secrets, does he?)

06

A Legendary Invasion

Gathered around the Bonfire next to the Sunlight Altar, Thomas, Solaire and Oscar, whom he was considering calling the Super Astora Brothers (not that they would get the reference) began to strategize their next move. Thomas, to his credit, was holding up pretty well, considering that the fight with the Hellkite Drake, while technically successful in that they killed it, had gone wrong twelve ways to Sundas. "Hah," Thomas muttered to himself. "Elder Scrolls jokes."

Solaire looked up. "You say something, Prophet?" He shook his head in response.

"It's nothing. I'm just... reassessing, I suppose."

"What's there to reassess," Oscar asked. "Your predictions, while correct on enemy placements, were horrificly wrong in terms of movement."

"I KNOW!" Thomas snapped, causing the Astoran brothers to flinch. The sorcerer rubbed his temples with his fingers, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he let out. "I... I never, in any of my visions, saw that coming. I won't lie. That... That was unexpected. The game has changed. They've gotten more organic, I suppose."

Solaire surprised him, taking off his helmet. Short, golden hair and piercing grey eyes greeted him, along with a trimmed beard framing his mouth. "All right then. Are your visions on their locations still accurate?" Thomas nodded. "All right. Lay it out, and we can strategize, together. We can no longer rely entirely on the visions, but we can still make use of them."

Thomas got a lump in his throat. Part of him wanted to take charge. He was the Chosen Undead, after all. But Solaire was the one with the most combat experience. "All right," he deferred, "here's the locations of various Hollows. Also, there's an armored boar here. We want to be really careful here, as there's another one of Gwyn's knights, wielding an Ultra-Greatsword. The warriors paled. Oscar tried to be chipper.

"But we faced one before, did we not? And we took it down."

Thomas nodded. "Observant, yes. However, we must still be careful." He pulled the Black Knight Sword out of his inventory. "See this? This is a regular sword to them. Go ahead. Feel it's weight. The raw power it commands." They passed the blade amongst themselves, not much enjoying the concept of the blade being used against them. Oscar, in particular, was appreciative the Black Knight was focused on the prophet, allowing him to stab it in the back. Taking the blade back, Thomas smiled grimly. "What if I told you that this sword here looked like a toothpick compared to the one our next foe bears?" There was a collective gasp. "Good. Now that I got the shock of the size of the weapon out of the way, we can strategize how to deal with him."

Solaire picked up the pace from there. "Well, there's only one of him, yes? We could draw him out to the courtyard, and flank him. After we take care of the boar and hollows there." Thomas nodded. Solid plan, and assuming the Black Knight didn't hyper aggro like the last one did, they'd have no issues. "Prophet, speaking of the boar, anything you want to share?"

Right. "The armor is nigh impenetrable," Thomas began, laying out a diagram of the boar. Gods, he was loving the glyph drawing feature of his catalyst. "But it has two weaknesses. Miss Piggy's belly and asshole are both completely without plating. But, unless you have a giant ass spatula to flip her over, the belly is unavailable."

"Leaving us with just her rear," Oscar muttered. "Well, I have a very pointy spear. What do you say I stick the pig?"

Thomas smiled at his initiative. "All right," he said, handing Oscar the last of the golden pine resin. "You use this on it. If Solaire agrees, he and I will focus on drawing the boar's attention, as well as defense in general, until the boar is dead." Solaire nodded agreement. "All right, let's do this. Three, two, one, BREAK!" The Super Astora Bros just looked at Thomas like he was immensely stupid, and he was left to remind himself that they had no idea what he was referencing. "Right. Let's just move on."

Solaire and Thomas had their shields ready. At Thomas' suggestion, Solaire had also removed his iron bracers and his helmet, allowing him to get just under the 25% weight thresh hold so that he could roll even more effectively. After giving a couple practice rolls, the Warrior of Sunlight seemed exuberant. "I feel so light!" he exclaimed. "It's like I could reach out and touch the sun myself!" His cheer bled over to the others, lifting their spirits, and they ventured forth.

As they entered the parish courtyard, Thomas took the right side, Solaire the center, and Oscar was on the left. As the hollow warrior charged them, Thomas veered to the side to deal with the pike-wielding Hollow, kicking it's shield aside as he cleaved it in twain. Solaire parried the warrior, and ran him through. The boar then lowered it's plated helm, pawing the ground. Thomas rushed over, his Hollow Soldier's shield in both hands. "Ready?" Solaire nodded, sheathing his own blade and following Thomas' lead. He'd need both hands for this. Oscar got into position; behind the pair, but to the side so that, if they were launched, he would be clear. Pulling out the pine resin, he prepared to apply it to the spear.

Squealing in rage, the boar bore down on the warriors, dirt and stone flying from it's hooves as it charged, hatred and malice burning in it's beady red eyes. "NOW!" Thomas and Solaire pressed their shields together, and bore the brunt of it's strike headon. The pair were launched backward bodily, and ended up rolling backwards, coming up kneeling. Their shields, at least, had remained upward. Thomas' arm shook from the blow, and he knew that if they kept their shields up, they wouldn't be able to block another direct strike like that. The boar looked at them, as though furious that they defied his blow, when it stopped, quivering as electrical energy surged into it's body. "Solaire! Now's our chance to get the archers!" The pair ran on either side, Thomas giving encouragement to Oscar. "Keep it busy for just a couple seconds. We-" he darted ahead of Oscar, using his shield to block the bolts that would have hit his back. "Have got your back!"

Oscar grunted, pushing the pig off the spear, and switched to his sword and shield as it got back up, and stared him down. "Please hurry," he whispered, voice small.

The pair charged forward, Thomas whiping out his catalyst. "Spells!" he shouted to Solaire. He nodded in understanding, and traded his sword for his talisman. Thomas prepared a Soul Arrow, and took aim at the left Hollow as it reloaded. "PRAISE!" he cried loudly.

"THE" Solaire continued, a javelin of electrical energy forming in his hands as he stared down the right hollow. Then, the pair shouted together, firing their magicks as one.

"SUN!"

Their spells flew true, and the hollows fell. A third hollow underneath the bridge charged forward, but they had already moved to the side. Thomas whirled, his shield slamming into the Hollow's, and knocked it aside. Solaire kicked the undead squarely in the chest, and knocked it down as they drew swords, slicing at it's body. "Right," Thomas panted, gripping Solaire's shoulder. "Oscar." Speaking of, he crashed next to was largely alive, but he was, indeed, wounded. "Solaire, tend to him," Thomas said. "I've got distraction duty." He readied his shield, and looked to the boar to see shit was, once again, really south. For standing next to the boar was the Black Knight, his ultra-greatsword in hand. "By the way, if you could hurry up about that," Thomas said, "yeah, that'd be great." Standing in front of the Astoran Knights, Thomas stood alone against an impromptu Ornstein and Smough.

All right, Thomas, he thought. Time for those expert video game skills to come in handy. Knight and boar charged, and Thomas ran forward, aiming to the side of the boar. As the boar dipped it's head swiped upward, aiming to rend Thomas with it's tusks. He slid like a baseball player, narrowly avoiding it's blows, before pushing up off the ground in front of the Black Knight, it's blade already swinging. Thomas parried, catching the blade in his shield and turning it aside, and ran the knight through with his claymore. No time for flourishes, he thought, drawing his blade from the body. Pig. PIG! The boar ignored him, and bore down on Solaire, who was still tending Oscar. "SOLAIRE!" The knight looked up just in time, and managed to cover them both with his shield. The pig stopped it's charge, and started slamming it's tusks down on them. Thomas turned his back on the knight, charging the pig as he two handed the claymore, stabbing it in the boar's rear. This was what finished the pig, and Solaire threw a bolt into the knight's face, destroying it.

Panting, the party began to regroup, healing up when an orange soapstone message popped up at Thomas' feet. "What the...?" Thomas knelt down, touching the writing, which then became clear.

"Invaded by xXsCrUbSlAy3rXx"

Shit.

"Guys," Thomas said, standing up, "We have company." The sorcerer then spotted the enemy, standing in the doorway of the Parish.

"Prophet," Solaire asked, his voice tinged with worry. "What in the name of the Lords... is that?"

It's heavy brass armor, tinted red by the Darkwraith's aura, glinted in the light of the sun. It's blue cape fluttered in the wind. It wasn't a full set, consisting only of gauntlets, boots, and cuirass, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was the shield on the Darkwraith's back, granting him increased stamina regeneration. The problem was the zweihander in his hand, chaos flame wreathing the blade. The problem was the Mask of the Father looking at him with empty eyes. The problem was his arms, outstretched to the party, as though in a mocking welcome. The problem was that Thomas knew exactly what this build was. What it was designed for. The problem was he now faced The Legend.

And The Legend Never Dies.