Flynn

RL19 - 16 VIG - 10 MND - 14 END - 20 STR - 13 DEX - 9 INT - 9 FTH - 7 ARC

Resa

RL19 - 11 VIG - 13 MND - 10 END - 12 STR - 16 DEX - 9 INT - 18 FTH - 9 ARC

Flynn

"You're the one with the map, Resa…what's around here?"

She pulled out the scroll, splaying it out for both her and I to see. "Well, there's a large lake to the south of here…we didn't really pay it much mind as we made it to the church. Based on where the map falls off there's more land to the east and south, but I don't know how far we want to stray from the castle. There are also two things called 'Evergaols'...I don't know much about them. One's up past the Stormgate, the other's far to the south."

Hmm…Evergaols. The name alone was a bit daunting. "Let's just…explore around the lake. Surely there has to be some things of interest around there, right? Bernahl said there was a mine on the north end of it that might be useful to stop into, if nothing else. Get our weapons a bit up to snuff."

Resa nodded. "Sounds easy enough…and not too daunting. Probably best to head back to the encampment then, the road to the castle also leads down to the lake if I'm not mistaken."

"Alright. Let's head off." The two of us took a seat by the grace next to Bernahl's shack, and soon found ourselves back at the encampment. From there, Resa called forth Torrent - since we'd already explored the camp the last time, we didn't see much value in fighting our way through when maneuvering around them was an easy alternative.

And then, we were off. Another grace was just on the opposite side of the camp that we stopped to acquire, but then it was just long, open roads. Somewhat to be expected there were guards along the patrol route that we dispatched, leading up to a bridge with the lake on our right. On it was another one of the bandits from earlier, though this time he too was mounted atop a horse.

"Feel comfortable enough with your mounted combat?" Resa turned around, looking towards me.

"I can give it a try…don't see if we have much of an alternative."

With that resounding…lack of confidence, Resa urged Torrent forwards, and combat ensued. I swung out with my greatsword, clocking the bandit across the chest. At the same time he swung at Torrent, ripping a horrid gash with his blade through our mount's hide.

Trades like this continued to occur - I swung at him, he swung at Torrent. I was starting to worry just what would happen if Torrent fell - we summoned him, so was he…real? Could he die? Thankfully, the question never had to occur - with a final swing to the chest I threw the knight off of his horse. Before he could get back up I leaped down, plunging my blade through his torso.

"Not bad…you're learning rather quickly. It might make sense to attack their mount in the future - if we're fighting an unmounted combatant, it might give us an advantage. Thankfully, Torrent here is rather hardy, and we didn't have to be on the disadvantageous side."

"Speaking of, here. Dried raisins, from some of the fruit around here." I'd learned to make it with the tools Kale gave me. Torrent seemed to like them as well, when offered.

"Alright, off we gooowoah." Resa looked ahead, down the path we were traveling - I saw it too. Two of the…I think Bernahl called them 'trolls', walking towards us, slowly. Over the following few seconds I realized that their movements were because they were dragging something, and rather inhumanely. Large chains were attached to them through a giant spike in their chest, letting them walk forwards with their arms and legs free. As I looked at it further, I realized that what they were dragging looked very much like the carts we'd found the weapons in earlier, back at the encampment.

"You don't think…whatever's in there, it has to be of value, right?"

Resa swung her head to the side, looking back at me. "Want to check it out?"

"That's what we're out here for, right? Lead the way."

"This…might actually be easier off horseback…Those trolls are pretty massive, but they can't go anywhere." Resa blew the whistle again, the two of us dismounting - properly, this time. We walked forth, approaching the two trolls. If they looked inclined to defend against us, they didn't show it, simply trudging onwards.

That is…until I struck it. The reaction was instant, its foot raising up and slamming back down with enough force to cause a shockwave, sending Resa and I flying back. Even after doing so, it didn't pursue either of us, and neither did its pair come to its aid…they were simply defending themselves, warding off would-be assailants.

"They're…being used as slaves. Aren't they?" Resa and I both stayed back from the trolls, simply observing.

"It…certainly seems that way. Think we can find that chest without taking them out?"

Resa nodded. "Probably easiest if it stops moving. I'll keep one distracted, just in case. Go see what's inside."

I skirted around to the side, finding the rear of the caravan suspiciously unguarded. I hopped up the platform on the back, finding another heavy chest tucked just inside.

"Let's see what you're hiding…oh my." As the lid opened I was greeted by a weapon that by all accounts barely fit inside - a greataxe. It had a long curved handle topped with a thick slab of steel. Though the blade was sharp, that didn't seem like the focus - it was about hitting the enemy with so much force, so much weight, that they had no choice but to just be overrun. I tossed aside the halberd I'd been carrying with me up until this point - though this was a tad shorter, it was much, much more my style.

I hopped off, not wanting to keep Resa on her own, especially against two of those trolls. When I came back, I could see the eyeroll, as well as hear the groan, as I approached.

"You just can't help picking up the heaviest slab of metal you can find, can you? Would you like help in taking one of the wheels off the caravan? They look a little bigger." The question was clearly facetious, but I was willing to play into it.

"Depends, are they sharp and have a handle? Last I checked, wheels aren't known for being pointy…but I might consider it if the handle's good enough."

"You're impossible."

"Says the one whose first purchase here was getting a second blade. Throwing stones from a glass house, are we?" I gave her a nudge, smiling.

Resa looked at the scimitar she'd picked up, holding it in her left hand while the broadsword she woke up with was still in her right. "Well it's…alright, fine. It's nice to have something familiar after so much has changed."

"Precisely my thought. And, well…I don't have anything else familiar to fall back on." The anger of losing my pyromancies still stung, but I'd accepted that it was a fruitless want now after my questionable brash decisions with earlier - I still stood by what I did, though. For Resa, she didn't know that…would she tell me what she knew? She knew she had to at some point, that I couldn't keep living in an illusion.

"Flynn it's…you never know, right? Maybe we're not the only ones from Lothric that made our way here."

"Resa…there weren't that many people left in Lothric, or anywhere. It's…you're right. Until I know for certain, there's always a chance." The word felt awful to say…and in truth, I felt equally awful for leading my sister along like this. At this point though, I was waiting on her - to think that I could handle the truth, and that she should give it."

"Alright, well." She coughed, diverting her gaze from me to look at the scenery. "There looks to be more ruins ahead, up on the left. Think it's worth exploring?"

"Well, the encampment was certainly rewarding. I'm game to see what's around." She was so nervous…I couldn't let this go much longer. I'd breach the topic…soon.

Up the hill we went, towards the ruins. As we got up there, we found it overrun with plants - poisonous plants. They filled the somewhat narrow walkways, and as we tried to hack through them to get past they released gouts of noxious fumes. I felt it start to seep into my lunges and began coughing uncontrollably, taking a careful few steps back. "Watch your *cough* breathing. That's vile."

Resa struck one down with a dual strike from her two blades, cleaving it in half and granting us a way through as she too stepped back. "Breath in, breath out…get it out of your system. So long as it doesn't build up, you should be fine."

We stayed back for a bit until the coughing and retching subsided, then decided to push through. As we went further we found more, clustered around a much larger one - a plant taller than either of us in height, perhaps even when stacked atop each other.

"That's…not ordinary, is it?" As we both stood there, that answer became very much apparent - no, no it was not. The plant ascended in height, stalk elongating as the large flower stretched towards the sky. I heard a low hum building in pitch around both of us brandishing my shield defensively.

"What is - " Resa's question was cut off by a rain of white magic falling down from the sky. She dove out of the way as I raised my shield up above me, the shower still managing to pierce the shield's defenses. I rushed out of the way, looking at my sister with a look of bewilderment.

"Did that plant just…cast magic?"

As it rose up to the sky again, Resa and I split up, avoiding a second shower of magic, and then we approached. The multiple smaller plants around us released their clouds of poison, but this time I simply fought through it - I didn't want to keep dodging these missiles, it needed to be dealt with. Eventually it was…but by the end, I was hacking and coughing, my vision a little blurry.

"Resa I'm…oof." I put a hand on her shoulder for stability.

"Flynn, you're poisoned. There may be a grace nearby, hopefully some rest will do you good."

As we ventured away from the flower, I looked behind me, seeing a familiar staircase, leading down. I tugged on my sister's shoulder. "Hey, this way…back at the camp, this is where they kept the whetstone." Part of me hoped there would be another Ash of War in here…I'd just gotten this axe, and it was the only blade in my arsenal that didn't have one. Down at the bottom was a familiar heavy, iron door, and I lifted it up for the two of us to slip inside. Unlike the previous ones, it slammed down behind us…odd.

Except, we immediately identified why - inside was a towering creature clad in little more than a loincloth and cape - and a massive bronze helmet that completely surrounded its head. In one hand it wielded a nasty flail, crudely made and lined with numerous spikes.

"Uhhh…not treasure. Time to fight!" I swapped to my greatsword, holding out my shield as the giant charged at me, swinging with its flail. I needed to stay defensive - I was still a bit winded from the poison, and fighting recklessly wouldn't do me any favors.

"Alright, alright…let's see what Aurelia can offer." Right…the spirit that woman had given us. As Resa rang the bell, that spirit took the form of…a jellyfish? Indeed - large, about the size of one of us, and able to float above the ground. If I weren't busy fending off the giant, I'd have even more time to be perplexed.

"Hello…" The Jellyfish held up a tentacle waving at Resa. That was even…more odd. However, Aurelia then raised itself up, firing a jet of - well, something at the giant…this was a weird spirit.

"Uh, hello Aurelia…do what you can, I guess?" Resa came up behind the giant, both blades slashing across the back of its legs, swinging back to carve along its back. He swung behind him, flail whipping outwards and nearly catching Resa in the shin as she rolled away.

"Okay." Again Aurelia fired another spray, this time actually drawing the giant's attention as it spun around, rushing at the jellyfish.

"Eyes here..if you have them." I slammed the stone ground with my sword, wind roaring to my command as the giant tried to disengage. In a swift motion I dropped the heavy blade to the ground and grabbed my shorter one, firing a blast of wind that struck the giant in the back of the neck. Resa came up from the side, leaping into the air as both blades cut a deep slash into its arm, deftly tumbling into a roll and popping back up to cut at its leg.

Still the giant remained undeterred. It approached Aurelia and slammed its face into her, the metal cage sending the jellyfish floating backwards several feet from the impact. She retaliated with another jet, firing with pinpoint accuracy at the giant's chest.

It was at that point I noticed that, among the giant's roars and grunts…were coughs. "Resa, she's poisoning him. We can play it safe." I took a moment to drink from my flask, momentarily staving off the effects of the poison - though I could still feel it ticking away in my system.

"Yeah but…when have we ever done that?" Resa lunged forward, one strike against the arm, one against the back. She rolled through its legs as the giant spun around, slamming his cage into where Resa had just been - I heard something squelch upon impact with the ground…truthfully, I didn't want to know.

Well, if she was going to be reckless, I suppose I could afford to as well. I put my shield on my back and swapped to my greataxe, hefting the massive weapon in two hands as I charged forth. It was still distracted with Resa, and I took that opening to run forwards, holding the weapon over my shoulder and raising it up, letting momentum, gravity, and my own strength work in tandem to thrust the axe into its back. I planted my front foot down firmly and halted, letting my arms continue to travel forward as the axe impacted with a sickening thud, embedding nearly half of the blade into our foe. It let out a horrid roar in response, spinning around and swinging its flail at me. I tried to block the swing with my axe but only caught the chain, the head of the flail whipping around and raking across my forearm in a spray of blood. I stumbled backwards…couldn't let that happen again. This time, I'll leave the brashness to Resa, as I swapped back to my sword and shield.

Between the three of us, the giant didn't pose much more of a threat. Aurelia continued to barrage it with a constant spray of poison, drawing a fair amount of its attention - and despite the numerous hits she suffered as a result, the little thing never fell…I was surprised. I drew the rest of its attention with a selective barrage of wind whenever I needed, and Resa pirouetted around in a dance of swords, making the giant look even more the lumbering and clumsy foe that it was. A final blow as Resa plunged her scimitar into its shoulder and slashed downwards sealed the deal as the giant faded away.

"Thank you, Aurelia…you held up very well." Resa looked at the Jellyfish, its form starting to fade from this world…perhaps it knew the task we summoned it for was complete?

"You welcome…" with that, she faded, leaving the two of us to get a sense of what was in the room. The first thing I noticed was a grace…somehow, we'd been too preoccupied by the fight to notice it. I took a seat beside it, hoping that the rest would let me clear the remains of the poison from my system.

"Well, she surely was…surprising. No wonder that woman kept her around though, Aurelia did a lot better than I was expecting."

Resa nodded. "You and me both, Flynn. When she first appeared I thought it was some sort of pet…but I'm glad I'm mistaken. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah…I think the worst of it has passed now."

We stood up, Resa pointing out another door to the back. "If that whetstone was unguarded, surely this has to be of value, right?"

"Well, that…or it's round two. Let's find out." I walked towards the same iron door as before, hefting it open - and inside was a person. Immediately I brandished my weapons, only lowering them after it seemed this figure wasn't an immediate threat.

The person ahead of us was…odd, somewhat reminiscent of the giant outside, if only vaguely. They wore rich navy robes that completely covered her down to her ankles, punctuated with a red ribbon that hung around both shoulders, decorated with yellow embroidery. The odd part was her face - or rather, the face-like statue that she wore over her actual face. The statue depicted that of a comely woman with braided hair, a laurel around her head. At the top and splitting the hair were a small cluster of green gems, looking almost like a crown. Around her were all manner of books - piled in the corners, tables, and shelves. Most notable though were a vast number of blue crystals - scattered across the floor, held in bins, one even in a stand. As odd and non-threatening as it all looked, there was still only one question I had to ask.

"Greetings…who are you and why are you back here? There was a giant outside…did you create it?" I looked at Resa…the situation was just too odd to trust without more details.

"I am Sellen, a sorceress. And yes, I've been trapped here, against my will. Thank you for felling that rotten creature. Why did you come find me?"

"We…well, I suppose it was by accident. We were just traveling through and wanting to explore the ruins. How long have you been here?"

"Oh, longer than I dare to recall."

"And who trapped you here, and why?" Resa asked the question - I was thinking it too, but thought it perhaps a bit too blunt at this point.

"The Academy of Raya Lucaria." Sellen spoke it so matter-of-factly…but of course, we were wholly unfamiliar. We knew of Seath - a dragon who explored sorceries back in Lordran. But never had there been an Academy of magic.

Resa responded. "You'll have to forgive us…we're new to the Lands Between. We've never been to, or even heard of, this Academy."

"Ah, I see. All you need to know is that I wished to study something they disagreed with, and my unwillingness to turn back led to my exile from the Academy. Sufficient?"

Resa nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that, Sellen. Well now that you're free, what are your plans?"

"Hmph…in truth, I assumed I'd be here for quite a while longer. All my research and notes are here, it'd be a bother to relocate. I can teach you some sorceries, if you have the aptitude. I'll be frank, my resources are limited, but for a novice they are sufficient."

Resa shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm a practitioner of incantations, not sorceries."

"Very well, I harbor no ill will towards the Golden Order. And you?" Sellen turned to look at me.

For a moment, I considered it…and I wasn't sure why. Nothing could replace pyromancies to me - but undoubtedly they served a vital role in combat, letting me strike foes from afar when I needed to keep my distance. I lacked that now…and having a backup plan seemed crucial. Margit had thrown me around like a feather. If we were to find that 'spider', I couldn't let the past drag me down.

"I…well, I don't have a staff. But if I did, what could you teach me?"

Resa looked shocked, rightfully so. I heard Sellen chuckle before responding. "Ah, a true novice. As I said, the very basics. Launching a single glintstone from afar, or sending forth a crescent of magic. Since you look rather sturdy, I even have things to bolster your armaments - all specialties of the Academy.

Bolstering my armaments…now, that seemed novel. "I don't suppose you have a spare staff, do you?"

Sellen shook her head. "I have only mine, and I'm afraid I can't afford to even loan that. You find that some of the doddery old nobles outside carry them - cheap, flimsy ones, but given your inexperience I doubt you could make due with better. If you wish to learn, return to me with one, and I will take you under my wing. You're alright with that, I understand? To be tutored by an exile to the Academy?"

"It doesn't bother me. Thank you for the opportunity, Sellen. If I find a staff, I may well return." I wasn't fully committed to the idea of sorceries - there were also incantations, though that was predominantly Resa's domain. For now, as things settled, I wanted to keep my options open.

"I hope that you do, Flynn. For now, stay safe."

Resa and I turned back around, walking out the door back to where we'd fought the giant. As we neared the first door, I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Flynn, can we… talk?"

I let out a sigh of relief…finally. "Sure Resa. What's up? You've seemed a bit uncomfortable since the Hold, is everything alright?"

She nodded, though still couldn't bear to look me in the eyes. "Yeah it's…there's something you should know, I guess. I didn't think you'd ever be one to pursue sorceries…you seem like too much of a lug for them." She smiled, still looking at the ground. "But if you're going to, I guess you should probably know…the truth."

"I already do, Resa…don't worry." At that she looked at me, confused.

"But, how did…you weren't there?" She looked genuinely concerned - I could only assume she'd checked to see if I heard her exclamation, and came to the conclusion I hadn't.

I shook my head. "No…but I was just past the door. There was another woman down that corridor, Fia. She…well, she explained everything. About fire, about how it's…boring."

Resa's expression shifted from one of confusion to a hint of irritation. "But then earlier, you said - "

"I wanted you to tell me. I wanted you to realize you could trust me with that information. I'm sorry if I was being a bit manipulative or deceptive, but we're in this together…we always have been, always will be. Does that make sense?"

She nodded. "Yeah…I get it. So that's why you were interested in sorceries then? To replace what you knew?"

"Interested's a bit strong…more just curious. I'll miss it, my flame, but we both know it was more than just memories. I had a good throwing arm with those fireballs. Anyways…if we're sharing secrets there's something else you should probably know, something related."

"Oh?"

"Fia…I don't really understand it, but she sensed a 'warmth' inside of me. A flame…my flame, I think. I - well, that prompted the whole conversation about fire, and my head wasn't in a good place, so." I took a deep breath, still coming to terms with what had happened. "I let her take my flame…I don't know how she did it, but I let her. She had asked for warmth before she even knew I had it so…yeah."

"You what!?" Resa stared at me in utter disbelief, not saying anything for a long two seconds. "Flynn, I thought it was everything to you? How could you…to someone you'd just met?"

"I told you…I was emotional. The thought that all fire in this world is just a mockery of what I know…well, it pisses me off, even still. But it let me know, definitively, that the flame I held wasn't going to serve me any purpose except to remind me of a past that I can't have. I don't know if it was the right decision, but it's too late now to question it. All I can do is keep moving forward…and hope that Fia uses it as well as I have."

"That's…what you're saying makes sense, Flynn, but you and I both know that it wasn't well thought out." When I nodded in agreement, she continued. "So then, with all of that…where's your head at?"

I sat and thought, for a moment. "Well…fire here is a joke of an imitation, and I hate it…I really do, and I can tell you right now that I'm never going to touch it. Sorcery, Incantation…none of it. And anybody that does? Well…best get out of my way."

"You'd kill someone just for that? Flynn, these people don't know what you know…you can't hold them responsible for that."

"Maybe not…but if they try to stand in their way, they won't find any mercy from me." When I could see Resa trying to protest, I cut her off. "It's not up for debate, Resa. They may not know better, but that doesn't stop them from reminding me of what I've lost. You got to keep your incantations…if we arrived and this world was godless, with man's magic mimicking the powers you wield, would you react any better?"

That question made Resa think for a while…I'd been thinking for a bit on how to relate my plight to something she'd understand. "No…I don't suppose I would. I get it Flynn, you're angry, and I don't blame you for that anger. We've both had our weak moments, and we've always gotten stronger from them. Just stay true to who you are…who I know you are. You're my brother…and I'm always here for you."

"I know, and I appreciate it…now let's get out of here. I don't think we've even gone around half the lake."

She chuckled. "Guess not. Let's head down the road until we reach the edge of the map, and then go explore that mine. Sound good?"

"Lead the way." We returned back to the surface, saddling up on Torrent before heading off towards the south.

"You know, I've been wondering…if that's the Erdtree, then what are all those?" As we trotted along down the road, Resa pointed out several more massive trees - not nearly as tall as the Erdtree, but still larger than anything we'd seen before. I counted three - two to the east, and one to the south.

"Not sure…but that one to the East doesn't look too far off. We can head that way later and see what it's about…might give us clues as to the nature of the large one."

There was something else I'd noticed - I hadn't paid much thought to it earlier when I'd only seen the one, but now it was a pattern. Jutting from Stormveil was a massive tower, easily hundreds, if not thousands of feet tall. But as we traveled, I noticed four more in various locations along the skyline - most were too distant to make out the details, but another to our west looked nearly identical to Stormveil's. I had no clue what they were…but with all four seemingly spread around the Erdtree, I had no doubt they had importance in these lands.

On we went, down the winding path. We spotted another ruin up and to our left, though it looked a bit more heavily guarded than what we felt like fighting at the moment. As we passed it, we came to another grace, lighting it. Resa showed us roughly where we were on the map, and that venturing much more to the south would take us into uncharted territory.

As we took a break there, I noticed the guidance trailing off of the grace…and a couple things hit me at the same time. "Resa this…this isn't pointing towards Stormveil." I pointed it out to her - in fact, it was pointing almost away from Stormveil, towards the south. "And beyond that, I don't recall the grace near Sellen, or Bernahl for that matter, offering guidance."

My sister frowned, observing it just as I had. "Perhaps we're meant to do multiple things here, I don't know. I heard you didn't care much for guidance though…unless you're having a change of heart."

"Hardly. Just…curious, that's all. Might be worth exploring down there, and seeing what's there."

"Sounds an awful lot like following guidance."

"What, I - no! I want to go there because I want to, not because it's telling me to."

Resa gave me a wry smile. "But would you think to go there if it didn't tell you to?"

"I, well…I wouldn't know to, so probably not."

"Sounds an awful lot like following its guidance then, brother."

"You know, sometimes you're just impossible." I nudged her, both of us breaking into a small fit of laughter. It was good to be alongside her.

"I get it. You don't want to be told what to do here, want to figure out your own way forward. Me…Right now, in this new place, I don't think I mind having a nudge in the right direction. Anyways, let's head off to that mine. Actually…" She looked at the map. "One of the Evergaols is just south of here. Want to go take a look, see what they're about?"

"Sure."

The trek wasn't even that far, so we made it on foot up the hill to the south. As we went…at first I thought them pillars, but I realized that no…they were moving. Several feet taller than me, each one glowed with a purple light from the top. They were composed of various rocks, each hewn in the shape of a sphere roughly a foot across. All of the lights were facing the same direction…as if looking for something.

As we began cresting the ridge, I noticed several more of these living pillars…all angled towards something. Some of the pillars had fallen over and one, rather revoltingly, crawled across the ground like a worm.

"Well this is…unusual."

Resa nodded. "What are they looking at?' I continued forward, stopping at the top. In front of me were concentric rings of stone, dug into the ground to create a stone disk easily one hundred feet across. At its center was a glowing blue glyph…I didn't dare step into the ring and see what it was.

"I…think we should leave this alone, at least for now. If this is a jail, I imagine they're more than happy to admit more prisoners…and I don't particularly want to become one."

Resa nodded, equally as bewildered by the entire thing as I was. What was in there, why were these pillars around. There wasn't an explanation for any of it, but I wanted to know.

"Anyways, the mine. Yeah let's get out of here…it gives me the creeps." Resa grabbed my arm and pulled me back, quickly making our way away from the Evergaol.

From there, it was a quick jaunt on Torrent to get to the lake - and upon realizing that the water level was fairly low, we decided to trot across. Along the way we ran into several massive crabs that we easily skirted around. About halfway across we noticed a pyre off to our left, several people crowded around it in some sort of ritual. As I watched for but a few seconds, I picked up the faint beating of wings across the sky…and as I looked up, I saw a familiar sight blotting out the sun.

"Dragon!" The massive beast came crashing down at the pyre, sending bodies flying in all directions from the impact alone. It stomped around for a bit, seeing what else was nearby it could terrorize - and that's when its eyes landed on us. "Faster, Resa!"

"Torrent's going as fast as he can, hold on!" I clutched an arm around Resa as we galloped across the lake. The dragon lumbered towards us, clearly not satisfied with having killed only a few people - why not two more? It opened its maw, and I saw the familiar glow of red deep within its gullet.

"Hold on!" Torrent was galloping past - in the distance I could see the opening to the mineshaft, but we had more pressing matters. I clutched my shield with my left hand and tried to hold it behind me as the gout of fire blanketed the lakebed in a sweeping arc. I felt the fire lick the back of my cape and my helmet, no doubt singing Torrent's back legs - but to her credit, Torrent kept galloping forwards. The minehead was fast approaching - just a few more seconds.

Behind us, the dragon had lifted into the air, but only briefly. It used that height to beat its wings, trying to divebomb towards us in the same manner it had the pyre earlier.

"Prepare for dismount!" I heard Resa blow the whistle as I looked back to our front, the entrance to the minehead only moments from slamming into my forehead. As Torrent faded beneath us I stumbled to my feet, catching myself if only barely as we continued running. The dragon couldn't fit into the minehead but its maw could, and as we ran down the corridor I saw that familiar flame in its gullet again.

Up ahead was an elevator shaft. Resa was faster than me and reached it first, diving forward and slamming the mechanism in the center as it started to descend. I could see the heat of the flames behind me as I raced towards her, throwing myself forwards at the lip of the dropoff, falling down several feet to land on the elevator above. Only moments later the gout of flame roared past me, lighting up the shaft and bathing the back wall in flames.

As the elevator reached the bottom, we both noticed a grace just ahead, crawling towards it. "That…was close. When we're done here, we're warping out, not walking. Agreed?"

I nodded, still catching my breath. "Agreed. And the whole 'if you use fire get out of my way' thing…I think I have an exception."

"Good, good…because if you didn't you'd be on your own." Resa pulled herself back up, and we set off down the mine.

All in all, it didn't pose us much of a threat. The miners had rocklike skin but I was easily able to overcome that with my greataxe, and we found many of them mining deposits of faintly glowing rock, most of them a yellowish brown in color. It felt a little odd, killing simple miners - but we needed what they were mining, and they did seem intent to protect that. We found one stone, slightly different than the others - it glowed a brilliant white unlike the rest, and was tucked away in a very difficult-to-reach spot - I collected it, hoping it would be useful. At the bottom of the mine we found a massive troll, though this one had the same stone-like skin as the miners. It certainly held its own, but between me, Resa, and three wolves, we were able to subdue it. The troll stood in a glistening room that looked like it at one point had a plentiful amount of ore, but now had mined out. The miners now were likely just searching for what little was left…if there was any at all.

True to our word, we transported ourselves back to the Hold once we felt we'd sufficiently explored the place, and made our way to Hewg.

The blacksmith looked up at me - to my dismay, that look of recognition I'd hoped for simply wasn't there. "You…who're you again?"

"I'm Flynn…this is my sister, Resa. You told me you'd teach me a bit about blacksmithing if I brought you stones. We found some, at least I hope." I held out what we'd found - it was a fairly sizable collection, all things considered.

"Right…Flynn. I'll try to remember it this time. Anyways, what you've brought looks good, hand me your arms."

Resa and I set down the five weapons we had between the two of us - looking at it all, the word 'excessive' came to mind. "We found this stone as well - I hoped you could tell us what it was? It was hard to reach." I held out the white stone, and Hewg actually had a look of interest and respect.

"That's a rare thing you've found there, use it wisely. That will empower exceptional blades…the ones you have here won't do. Anyways, what you've brought here won't do much with all these arms. I'd say you've enough here for three, at most. It's low quality ore, but you have to start somewhere."

Low quality…well that was a bummer, but I suppose it was better than nothing. I looked at the three weapons I'd set out. I picked up the sword, sheathing it. "This one can wait."

Resa picked up her broadsword. "As can this."

Hewg nodded, grabbing the axe, greatsword, and scimitar. "Very well then, here's how it's done."

I watched in fascination as Hewg set to work - compared to Andre he didn't explain much, but I was content simply to observe. He explained bits - like how the ore was fused into the blade, and how to use it to sharpen it, but many details were simply left out.

The end product, however, was unmistakable. The armaments noticeably looked stronger, and even just feeling the blade I could tell it was sharper. Hewg handed them back to us. "Anything else I can do for you?"

I shook my head. "I appreciate the help, Hewg. We'll be back if we find any more…or if you just want to talk."

"Bring my arms anytime…smithing is what I do."

We turned back to the Roundtable, deciding where next to go. The decision was to head east, towards the Erdtree-like tree that didn't look too far away. The grace by Sellen was our closest jumping point, the two of us returning there before heading outside and mounting up on Torrent this time. We trotted north for a bit, finding where the road split.

We started along that northern path, Resa looking at the map. "This is where the map ends…past here, we're venturing into the unknown. Let's stay on our guard."

I nodded. "Well then, into the unknown we go."

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Total Word Count: 26749