Hello, fil03 here. This is a (loose) continuation of some previous stories of mine, Twin Humanities and Twin Embers. If you've read those, thank you for coming back! For everyone else, welcome. I'll be referencing the events of the prior two stories to some degree, but not enough to detract from the plot.

I'll be showing the characters' base stats at the beginning of each chapter. Partly so people can visually see progression, but also because it's important to me that the equipment that they carry is actually allowed and feasible.

Flynn - Starting Class: Vagabond

RL9 - 15 VIG - 10 MND - 11 END - 14 STR - 13 DEX - 9 INT - 9 FTH - 7 ARC

Resa - Starting Class: Confessor

RL10 - 10 VIG - 13 MND - 10 END - 12 STR - 12 DEX - 9 INT - 14 FTH - 9 ARC

Also, this is being written for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) 2022. The goal is 50,000 words on a new story by the end of November.

Finally, all characters and locations besides Flynn and Resa are property of From Software and Bandai Namco.

Flynn

The last thing I remembered was the First Flame. The searing heat surrounding me, claiming me as perhaps its final fuel. From there…darkness. It was a sensation I'd felt before, when we linked the First Flame back in the early days of Lordan…in the days of Gwyn. Time sped past, seconds indistinguishable from years. During that time, I felt nothing…and yet, everything? I sensed a calm within Lordan, that we'd given them a new hope - a painting, one where people could live out their lives…find an end to their lives, if they so chose to.

Then, came a fog over the tenuous grasp on reality that I held. It solidified things, if only barely. It was as if I could feel myself within it, but I was merely a blip within an endless gray expanse. Understanding little of my situation, I tried to push through it - to manifest myself as something, and traverse the fog.

And traverse I did - as best as I could tell. The meaninglessness of time began to fade as I pushed through the fog, seeking whatever was out there. Soon, color began to manifest far in the distance, a brief pinprick in an otherwise lifeless expanse. I changed course to maneuver towards it, perhaps seeking an end to this odd journey. The color drew closer and closer, until I could make out details. Chairs, shelves, books, a door - perhaps a library of some sort?

As I looked around, I realized I was no longer in the fog. I was real flesh and bones, sitting on the ground in a chamber populated with those very things. As I looked down, I saw things I didn't recognize - a small shield and sword, as well as gauntlets that looked like they'd seen better days. As I looked myself over I saw more, slightly less disheveled armor, a full suit of steel around me. The armor felt good - looking at it, it wasn't nearly as heavy as what I was accustomed to, yet it made itself known nonetheless. I must have been weak from…whatever had happened.

"...Flynn?"

I looked to my left, nearly startled by the other person in the room whom I'd failed to notice until this point. She wore much lighter armor than me, but only by weight - it was made from black cloth and leathers, a hood over her face concealing her features. Despite that, I recognized that voice - and as she peeled back the hood, the face, as well.

"Resa?" My sister - we'd been through thick and thin together twice now, facing countless formidable adversaries and traversing all manner of treacherous domains. I felt a sense of relief that she made the same journey as I had, that we were here together…wherever here is.

"Where…what happened?'

I shook my head, more closely scanning my surroundings. In truth, I didn't know. I assumed somewhere, or some time, in Lordran, but perhaps that was naive. As I looked behind me, I noticed a statue of a woman in heavy robes, one arm outstretched. My thoughts were still muddled from everything that had just happened, but I didn't recognize her.

"I…well, I don't know. I remember traversing fog, seeing a light, and then…following it. But I don't know where this is."

Resa gestured forwards, towards the lone door at the end of the chamber. "Perhaps we can head outside and see if we can get more information?"

I nodded, picking myself up off the ground. "Right…good idea."

As we walked, Resa noticed something else - a woman, slumped over in the corner. As she got closer, it was immediately evident that the woman was dead. A pool of still-slick blood coated the ground beneath her, and a clear puncture wound in her chest seemed to be the culprit. The woman didn't seem to be carrying any weapons, and only wore a very simple dress. Whatever had happened - she hadn't put up a resistance. Resa looked at me, drawing a sword from her sheath and gestured for me to be quiet. Resta stepped up to the door and placed an ear against it for a few seconds as she listened for any sounds of footsteps. She must not have heard any, as she tested the knob and then opened the door a few moments later. She looked right, then left…and then merely froze.

"Flynn…just come here."

I nodded, following her out the door, only to understand exactly what she meant. There did look to be some sort of castle up ahead, its many parapets dotting the horizon in an imposing configuration. However, almost all of that was irrelevant to the tree. There simply…weren't words. Taller than the castle to the point that it was scarcely comparable, and glistening with a yellowish-golden tint that illuminated the entire sky, it was simply imposing beyond belief. I couldn't even tell just how tall it was. Was it just beyond the castle, or was it miles and miles away? Both were plausible…it was simply too far away and too large to get a true sense of its scale. Now that we were outside, I could also see golden leaves filtering down from above, dotting the sky in a gentle, warm glow.

I looked at Resa, and then back at the tree. She looked at me as well, a similar look of disbelief on her face. In Lordran and Lothric we'd seen incredible, belief-defying places and creatures, and yet none of it could compare to this tree that towered above the very world itself.

"Flynn…I don't think this is Lothric. If so…well, if so I don't know where that came from."

I had to agree. We'd seen Lothric at the very end of its days, when nearly all the fire in the world had burnt out and all that was left was ash. This world, this tree…it felt alive, and healthy. This tree wasn't here at the beginning of our time, and it wasn't here at the end of it either…the only logical conclusion was that we were somewhere else entirely.

"But how?"

"How?"

I nodded. "How can we simply be…somewhere else? How does that even make sense?"

Resa shook her head. "I don't have the answers, Flynn…perhaps someone else does. Wherever we are right now - as in this small island - doesn't look that large. Perhaps there's someone here that has some answers…or can at least give us better questions to ask."

"Right…okay." As I looked further to my left, I saw the rest of the 'small island' we were on. A towering statue with what looked to be a knight holding a spear towered over everything else. Beyond that, there looked to be a courtyard further ahead. As we walked towards the courtyard, I noticed another statue at its rear - one of a woman, both hands to her sides at head height. A large swirling tapestry was hewn in the statue behind her, giving it an elegant backdrop. Despite being much smaller in size than the knight, this one looked to have more importance - as if this person, whomever she was, had meaning.

I stepped into the courtyard, seeing another doorway on the far side. Still no signs of any life here, and there wasn't much more ground left on the island…just one small area past a bridge -

"Flynn look out!" I felt Resa grab my cape and pull me back as I looked around, bewildered. The reason was immediately clear - crashing down on the far side of the courtyard was a completely unholy abomination. It sat hunched low to the ground, and yet was still taller than I was. It had a spider-like array of arms and legs - but as I took a quick glance at it I realized that no, it had humanlike limbs, just far more than normal…and not in the proper shape. One grotesquely elongated arm held a shield, while two, slightly more normal ones a pair of swords.

"Thanks…time to see if we're still good at this?" I leveled my sword and raised my shield.

Resa nodded, holding her blade and staring at the creature. "You keep it busy, I'll hit it where it's vulnerable."

I advanced towards the creature, unsure how to approach such a truly horrendous foe. It took a few swipes at me, all of which I managed to block with my shield. It wasn't as large or as sturdy as I would have preferred, but it did the job - it kept me alive. Meanwhile, Resa strafed around to its rear, looking to get the jump on it.

I advanced, thrusting my shield out to block one swipe as I closed the distance, thrusting my sword forwards and feeling it sink into the flesh of the creature. I withdrew, slashing across as Resa came in from the back, slicing at the creature's rear…arm? Leg? To be frank, I couldn't tell what was what.

As soon as Resa struck it, the monster spun around with practiced precision, extending both blades to its sides as it whipped around in a whirlwind-like maneuver, slashing at both of us multiple times in rapid succession. I tried to block it with my shield but the whirling assault was simply too much, wrenching my shield to the side as the final few slashes lacerated my armor.

Resa…wasn't so lucky. She wasn't anticipating the immediate counterattack, and nearly the full brunt of the slashes ripped at her armor. She rolled away at the last possible second, but it was clear she couldn't sustain that again.

"Flynn I said keep it busy!"

I rallied towards the creature once more, thrusting forwards at it once, twice, three more times before retreating, the monster slamming its shield into mine with enough force to push me back. "I can keep one arm busy, maybe two. Not…seven!"

"Okay, just give me a moment, I think I can…" She reached for something small that I couldn't quite recognize, clutching it in her hand. After a brief pause, a warm light surrounded her, and the cuts she'd suffered started to recede.

That was a relief…Resa had always been an accomplished healer, keeping her, and frankly me, alive when we needed it most. To know that, wherever we were, such miracles still existed and that she could use them, gave me a spark of hope.

With Resa back in the fight, I moved to the offensive once again. I took several more swings at the creature, Resa coming in as well to take more advantageous strikes whenever it seemed fully distracted with me. To say that it was a clean fight would be an overstatement, as I had a growing number of punctures in my armor from where my shield just wasn't quite where I needed it to be, or my sword just wasn't fast enough on the withdrawal. Still, it felt like we were making steady progress as we weathered the abomination's assault.

After a particularly nasty blow from Resa the creature withdrew, leaping back towards the statue we saw when we first came in. A flash of light emanated from the air, as well as a strange symbol - I didn't quite catch it. However, I immediately noticed that both its swords now glowed with a similar hue to the tree above, as well as how Resa had looked when she'd healed herself earlier. Was this creature - which by all accounts looked to be an unholy creation, capable of harnessing divine miracles?

When it swung me next, the difference was immediately felt. This shield, however sturdy it may be, wasn't capable of fending off the strength of the divine. Each swing tore at my stamina, biting into my core.

"We need to fight fast…I can't survive this forever!" I stowed my shield, gripping my sword in two hands - I'd never been partial to avoiding attacks, but if blocking wasn't going to do anything, perhaps it was time to turn over a new leaf.

I charged at the abomination, throwing myself at the ground as its swords swung above me, trying to quickly scramble back to my feet. I plunged my blade into its exposed underbelly, landing a solid blow. Resa came in from the side, hacking at a distorted joint in a leg, trying to bring it to a quick end.

It was as if the creature sensed our desperation, and acted upon it in kind. It held both blades out to the side and began contorting its body in a similar whirlwind formation as before. Sensing this, Resa immediately backstepped and rolled out of the way. I was…not so lucky. As the creature began spinning I threw myself to the ground, but far too early. The whirlwind of steel racked across my armor and into my flesh. Within moments, I felt everything fade to black as I was ripped apart.

Resa

I watched as Flynn was slashed by the strange creature…and then, nothing. I was used to this feeling. In Lordran and Lothric, when one of us perished, the other did too. Then, however, we were shunted back to a bonfire…and the last of those would have been the First Flame. Would we be back there? And if so, when?

As I felt my senses come to, I noticed that we weren't by a bonfire…and neither were we in the chamber from before. No, we were in some cave, littered with coffins all around the edges…it felt very similar to how we woke up in Lothric. However, I could tell that we were still in the same place as before - a small tree sprouted from the far edge of the cave, glowing a similar gold as the massive that we'd seen before. Beyond it was a staircase and a doorway, presumably leading out of here.

"Where…are we?" To my side, Flynn was flat on the ground, looking up at the sky. Despite suffering grievous injuries what'd felt like moments ago, he looked fine now. Most importantly - he didn't look hollow. I didn't know what to make of that. We'd always been Undead, Hollow, Ashen…whatever the term was. Our deaths always led to a slipping of our physical selves. If that was no longer happening…were we something else entirely? Every minute we stayed in this strange new world only seemed to spawn more and more questions, and we were yet to meet anyone…perhaps this world wasn't as alive as I'd originally suspected.

"It's alright, Flynn…we're safe here, at least for now. I don't know where we are, but we can head outside and try to get our bearings."

Flynn winced, taking my hand as I helped him up off the ground. The two of us stood up, noticing a small collection of vials sitting on the ground not far from us, four in total. I knelt down, picking them up and inspecting them. Two glowed with a blue light from within, the others red. I distributed them, one of each color to Flynn.

"Do you think it's like…Estus? I lifted the red one to my lips, taking a small sip of its contents. Immediately a surge of vitality and warmth flowed through me, racing through my core and out into my limbs before vanishing. "Seems to be…why is it here?"

"Perhaps left here by an unfortunate soul…perhaps left here for us? I don't know. Like you said…let's find a person and ask a few questions." Flynn started walking towards the stairs on the other side. As we went we passed by a lone chair, stationed oddly to overlook a deep pit in the cave. I swore I could see a ghostly figure in the chair, hunched forwards to look into the pit…but whatever it was, we didn't have time for it now. Up the stairs we went, opening up into a small chamber. We crossed through it, ascending another small staircase that opened up into a much larger chamber, about as large as when we first woke up.

Based on the architecture we looked to be in some sort of underground catacomb, large stone walls and ceilings with no windows and the occasional torch to light the interior. To our right, an odd statue of two imps sat about mid-way down the corridor's length, right at the end of a series of pillars that led out into an open chamber - but a strange, shimmering light blocked the way. As I walked towards it and pushed my hand against the odd barrier, I found it as firm as stone.

"And what…are you?" Flynn looked at the last remaining point of interest in the room - a small golden light, dancing above a small pile of sticks and dirt.

"Is it…a bonfire?" I walked towards it, puzzled as well.

"Well…let's see." Flynn did what felt natural, extending his hand, offering some of his own internal flame to light the bonfire.

Instead, something not entirely dissimilar happened. Another light sprung forth from the small pile, dancing in unison with the one that was already there for but a second, until the two merged as one, slightly larger than before.

"It's…calming. Perhaps we can rest here and recuperate, should we ever get injured. For now though, answers…let's try to get to the surface."

"Should we ever get injured? Sister, the one living thing we've seen thus far tried to hack both of us into pieces."

I rolled my eyes, walking towards the far end of the corridor, which opened up into an elevator chamber. We both stepped on it, beginning to ascend. "Fine. When we get injured. Better?"

"Just trying to set expectations, that's all. At the top of the elevator we walked forward, finding a heavy, iron barrier. Flynn knelt down, gripping it by the bottom and lifting it up, the door sliding into place and saying secured to the top when it came to rest.

"Woah…" The world was…alive. More than that, it was thriving. The door opened up to a sprawling landscape of grasslands and trees, dotted with rocky cliffs and numerous buildings. Of course, ever present was the massive tree that towered over everything, its light shining down from above. To its left looked to be the same castle we saw before - and indeed, to the far left of the skyline, I noticed the towering knight statue from where we'd just been…it was so far away. How'd we…end up here. Ahead of us was another of the small wisps of light…and then finally, a person.

I moved forward, extending my hand out to the wisp of light, feeling a slight pull as I fed it, a second wisp dancing about only momentarily. However, I paid it little mind, we'd finally found someone - anyone, that we could talk to. He wore exclusively white robes and indeed an expressionless white mask as well, and looked towards both of us as we approached.

"Greetings, Tarnished…and welcome to the Lands Between." As expected, I could see nothing while he spoke, his mask hiding any sort of facial features the man had.

"The…Lands Between?"

"Indeed…it seems you are new to these lands. Yes, The Lands Between, home of the Elden Ring. It seems you've found grace, fortunately for you…and yet you lack so much."

Flynn stepped forward, his hand clearly resting on the hilt of his sword. "You'll forgive us…we were just attacked and we have a…troubled history. Who are you, and why are you here?"

"Oh, my apologies. You may call me Varre. I guide many new Tarnished on their paths. You are not the first Tarnished, nor the last. And given that you are maidenless…I fear you will not make it very far in these lands.

"Excuse me…maidenless?" I stepped up to stand next to Flynn, discreetly moving his hand off of his sword. Varre was…unsettling, but he hadn't been hostile yet. For now…I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Yes, my dear. Maidens let you harness the strength of runes, to harness the shards of the Elden Ring. Without one, or an invitation to the Roundtable Hold, you will surely die in obscurity." On top of Varre's lack of expression, he barely even gestured when he spoke - no arm movements, no head motion, nothing. The longer we spoke, the more uncomfortable I got - but he was giving us information that all felt very, very useful.

"A-and so how do we find one? A maiden, that is." Flynn struggled with the words - Varre didn't know why, but I did. In our time in Lordran he became deeply infatuated with a woman there, Anastacia. I knew his heart still clung to her…it was a topic I didn't want to approach.

"I'm afraid I can't help you there - perhaps luck will find you, soon enough. I can tell you this. Follow the guidance of grace. It leads the path to a Tarnished's future - even if that future is to die. I cannot say - but there may be hope yet for you." Varre motioned towards the grace not far from him, pointing to this "guidance". As the light in the sky began to fade, I could see what he meant - a small wisp flowed out from the grace, in one clear direction. I followed its trail, finding that it pointed towards the ruins of an old building not too far ahead.

"Thank you for all of this, Varre…we don't understand this land…I suspect we may not be from here. One final question. What is a 'Tarnished'?"

At this, I heard the masked man actually chuckle. "My dear, a Tarnished is you, it is me, it is…many of us. Pay it no mind. If you are from another land, as you say, then a Tarnished you may not be. However, grace guides you all the same."

"I…think I understand." Thank you, Varre. We'll be on our way." I turned to Flynn, motioning towards the 'guidance', as Varre referred to it. "Should we follow it?"

"We lack any other options…might as well see where it leads." We set off, following a dirt trail amongst the grass in the vague direction that the grace had pointed us. We didn't get far, however, until we noticed what looked to be a guard patrolling the road - a knight mounted on a massive horse, the both of them clad in golden armor. In one hand it held a massive halberd, and the other an imposing greatshield

"Friendly? Not friendly?"

Flynn shook his head. "That…that thing from earlier could channel holy power into its sword. That man, that armor…I don't like it. It looks like we can try to skirt around to the left and perhaps avoid its attention."

"Well, at least I can." I gave Flynn a playful bump on the shoulder, jostling the various metal pieces of his armor. "You're pretty good at drawing attention when you least want it."

Flynn rolled his eyes. "Fine…you go on ahead. I'll stay behind and catch up. If he notices me…well, we start improvising."

I gave him a thumbs up, heading off. There was a small copse of trees as well as some stones that looked to be a good source of cover, and I set off while the knight had his back turned to us. Up and around I went, pausing briefly whenever the knight's patrol was near my location, chuckling to myself as I heard the faint clinking of metal behind me. However, I heard more, disturbing sounds amidst the night air - moans and wails, of creatures that were clearly suffering. Perhaps it would mask Flynn well enough, but it made me wonder just what was happening.

Eventually, the two of us made it to the ruined building, finding another grace inside. At the far end was a blacksmith's anvil and hammer as well as an odd figure in the back corner, sitting around a campfire. He wore red and white garb and held a strange instrument that he wasn't currently playing.

"Greetings, travelers. I am Kale, purveyor of fine goods. Is there something that catches your eye?

I greeted the man, taking a seat by the fire. "Perhaps…but you'll have to excuse us, my brother and I are new here. What currency do you use?"

Kale scoffed before responding. "I'm of a nomadic people…I accept many currencies. However, many here use trade with runes. I take it that means you have none?"

I shook my head, but Flynn came up alongside me, sitting down. "Perhaps an odd question. Have you come across a land that traded in…souls?"

Kale furrowed his brow, shaking his head. "What an odd question. Souls are not a currency. If you have nothing to trade with, be on your way."

Kale shooed us off and the two of us stood up, moving back towards the center of the church. There was another grace here. As I fed it, I noticed guidance begin to flow out from it as well - in a slightly different direction from before. I could only guess that meant that we'd seen what we needed to see - and that wherever this led next was where we were meant to go. Flynn and I continued off, leaving Kale alone.

As we set off, Flynn muttered to me. "Two people willing to talk, and neither were particularly friendly. What do we do?"

"Well…I doubt we can go back. And if we could…would we want to?" The question hung in my head for a while - we'd left a dying and empty world, only to come to one that seemed full of life. Perhaps it wasn't perfect, but I'd be hard pressed to see it as anything but an improvement. "We've been here less than a day, Flynn. In Lordran we woke up to being thrown in prison…give it time. The 'Lands Between' might grow on you."

"Alright…and be on your guard. I see men patrolling ahead."

As we walked, I could tell something was on Flynn's mind. I wanted to press - but not right now. We were still getting adjusted here, and we'd always had each other's backs. Starting conflict now wouldn't get us anywhere. We followed the road, running into some guards, each wearing green and red surcoats. As Flynn expected, they weren't content with letting us simply walk past. As much as we struggled to fight the strange abomination from before though, both of us knew how to deal with humanoids, especially in small numbers. We fought the ones that approached, leaving several dead bodies behind us.

"Flynn…did we just kill people?"

"Well…yes. Why?"

The thought hung with me for a few seconds before I responded. "Do we know if they will come back?" Violence had almost always been our first option…but as I looked at the body behind me, I questioned that. In Lordran, death was temporary, a slight setback. But was it in the Lands Between? Sure, Flynn was killed by the odd creature before, but perhaps we were…different?"

"I don't know, Resa. We did."

"But we aren't from here"

"He didn't know that, and he still came swinging a sword at us. Resa, I don't know…but I don't like it here. It all just feels…too similar."

"Similar…how?"

Flynn shook his head. "I don't know. I just…I don't know. We're just supposed to accept that there's some "grace" that knows our, what, our destiny? How does it even know? What if Varre's right? What if we are just meant to die quietly? Why, then, would I follow this grace?"

"I…I feel like we both ended up here for a reason, Flynn. Kale didn't know of Lordran…I imagine nobody here does. That makes us special…and yes, perhaps a bit dangerous." We'd made it to the top of a small rise. On the other end of it looked to be a small encampment, a soldier stationed to look in our direction. I pulled Flynn back from the edge, hiding behind the cover of the ground. "Is that what's bothering you? The whole 'guidance of grace' thing?"

"Well I…partially?" He looked at the ground…no, at his hand. That alone clued me off.

"Care to talk about it?"

"I…well, when we were fighting that, that thing, you cast a miracle. Several, I guess." I sheathed his sword, one hand covering up the other. "I didn't think about it at the time, but now…I've been trying. I can't feel my pyromancy flame."

"Oh, Flynn…" I held his hand in mine, pulling his chin up to look away from his hands and towards me. "When you woke up in Lothric, it was the same problem. Sure, this place is a little different…well no, it's very different. But don't lose hope so early. I don't know how I cast that miracle, honestly. It just came naturally to me." I held out the small implement that I'd used to cast it, a 'V' shaped object that fit snugly in the palm of my hand." And even if there isn't, maybe there's - "

"Don't." He shook his head, quickly withdrawing his hands. "Don't finish that. There's no replacing it, Resa. I can't replace Laurentius or Cornyx or…or Quelaag and Quelaan. I just can't."

"Okay, Flynn…I understand." I knew it meant a lot to him - perhaps everything. Flynn was a stalwart warrior, first and foremost…but second to that, he was a pyromancer. To lose something that close to your core identity…I looked down at the strange implement that I held. Would I be able to cope any better? I looked back towards Flynn. "Just know that you're so, so much more than that. You're an amazing warrior, brother…and friend. Okay?"

My words seemed to wipe the dour expression from his face, if only momentarily. "Thanks, Resa. Enough about my woes, though…let's keep going."

I nodded, moving back towards the top of the hill. I could see one guard blocking the entrance to the encampment, and maybe…four or five others strewn about. Definitely a bit tougher, but we'd handled worse. "I'll follow your lead. I think taking them one at a time's our best bet. Move quick, and don't take long."

When I looked back at Flynn, he had stowed his sword, pulling out a much longer and imposing weapon from his back - a halberd. "All these guards with spears…it's not what I'm used to, but I'll give it a try. Let's go."

He moved forward, down the hill. Within moments, we engaged the first guard, holding a spear and shield. Flynn charged at him full force, halberd glancing off the shield and coming in for another strike to the side, deflecting his opponent's spear in the same motion. I came around from the back and swiped at the guard's legs, tripping him and quickly ending his life with a follow-up strike to the chest. Quick, easy…and only five more to go.

We approached the next one, readying the same maneuver. Flynn came in for the strike, and knocked the guard off balance, I came in from the side and set up the kill. I turned around, the main avenue of the camp now in front of us. To my left I noticed another guard, this one looking straight at us - and he reached for a horn at his side, raising it to his lips.

My eyes went wide as I darted towards him, but I was much too late, the warning cry was sounded, the horn ringing out amongst the ruins of the camp. All around us I heard movement - we were caught.

"Find a defensible position. I'll hold them off as long as we can." Flynn raised his shield, interposing himself between me and anything else that was around.

I scanned our options. To our left, two guards and a wolf were fast approaching - no good. To our right, what looked like the commander of the fort clad in much heavier armor and a massive shield - no good, but better. I moved towards the commander as he leveled his spear and began charging towards me, and I ducked over to my right, leaping over a low wall. I nearly ran face-first into a wolf which I quickly executed with two slashes, and noticed a stairway leading downwards, dimly lit with torches. Defensible? Perhaps. "Flynn, over here!"

"Coming!" I heard the clang of steel on steel as he deflected a blow, retreating towards me as he smashed his shield into a guard, disorienting it long enough to properly withdraw. He leaped over the wall, and looked at the stairway. "Resa, a dead end?"

"Well we can't be surrounded, come on!" I moved downwards, ducking under a heavy swing from the commander's spear. Flynn followed after me, though I could tell he wasn't happy about the idea. The two of us standing side-by-side completely blocked the stairway, but that meant that we'd be fighting two against two…until we'd cleared out the whole camp.

And fight we did - a long, drawn out scrap that left both of us weary by the end. I had to step back multiple times and heal both Flynn and myself, ensuring that we had the stamina to continue through the fight. But soon, a veritable pile of guards were strewn about the stairwell - all except the commander's, it seemed. Only he knew better than to engage on disadvantageous terrain. As the silence settled though, Flynn ventured down the stairwell. It ended in a heavy iron door, same as the one we saw leaving the cave. "Hold position for a moment, I want to make sure we aren't going to get flanked."

I nodded, taking a few steps forward. The only thing I saw was the commander's helm and plume, glaring at me from the main thoroughfare. His message was simple: We weren't safe yet.

"All good." I heard Flynn coming up from below, holding a couple things in his hands. "Found a chest with a whetstone, as well as a…pile of ash? It looked well taken care of, so I grabbed it." He held it up - a small cloth filled with ash, one that could easily fit in the palm of his hand. "Not sure what to do with it - but perhaps we can use the whetstone at the anvil by Kale, try and shape up our weapons if we find some titanite…or whatever." I could see the frustration creep back into Flynn's face at the mention of titanite - at the thought that it might not exist. In both Lordran and Lothric we knew a magnificent blacksmith, Andre - he and Flynn had bonded over their love of weapons and smithing.

"Well, we can potentially take a look later. The commander wants our heads - probably moreso since we slaughtered all of his men.

"Well, I suppose the only option is to add one more to the pile. Let's see what we can do."

I followed Flynn as he headed towards the main thoroughfare, brazenly approaching the commander. Immediately he turned to us, holding up the very imposing shield he had, readying his spear next to it.

"With a setup like that I'm going to have to get around to the side. I hate to say it, but - "

"Yeah yeah, keep him busy…I know the drill."

I smiled. "You're the best, Flynn." The two warriors approached, halberd and spear crashing into shields almost simultaneously. Flynn swung again, the commander anticipating the move and thrusting his shield forward, the halberd glancing effortlessly off. In the same maneuver he lunged forward, catching Flynn while he was off balance and thrusting his spear deep into my brother's chest, puncturing the armor and leaving a gaping wound in his midsection.

I stepped in from the back, leaping from my vantage point to the side with sword drawn, holding it in two hands as I thrust it forward, catching on the knight's back and ripping a wicked gash into his back. "Flynn, mend your wounds, I got it!" My brother stepped back, reaching for the odd flasks we'd received earlier - time to find out if they truly were like Estus flasks, I suppose.

The commander bared down on me, swing his spear in a low and wide arc that I leaped into the air to avoid, coming down and immediately dropping to the ground as he followed up with a forward thrust, one that would have left me similarly wounded had I not narrowly dodged it. I rolled to the right as the commander bashed his shield into the ground where I'd been just moments earlier, and I sprung back to my feet in order to reach a neutral state once more. When I looked back I saw the horrid wound in Flynn's chest closing up, and my brother came in with a wild swing, halberd piercing through the gash that I'd left earlier.

The commander took a step back and pivoted, slamming the butt of his shield into Flynn before whirling around to swing the sharp end of the pole at him as well. My brother held his shield out to catch the blow, lunging forward in the same movement as his halberd now pierced the armored front of the knight as well - very similar to the maneuver the knight had pulled on him just a few seconds earlier.

With the knight's very wounded back towards me, I took advantage of the situation and lunged forward, striking where I could. I cut deep into the flesh and kept thrusting until I felt the hilt of my blade clink into the armor - and a few moments later, the commander fell.

I looked down, my breath heavy. "That was…one man. Just one man. And I think it took both of us. We're definitely out of shape."

"And out of practice…but he was also far better geared than either of us. I mean…I know I look a little rough, but…black's never really been your color. Speaking of gear though…" Flynn knelt down and hefted up the massive shield, barely even lifting it off the ground. "Alright…definitely out of shape."

I looked down at my garb. I'd already removed the gaudy hood that it came with as I always did, but other than that…black wasn't not my color. I'd struggled in Lothric with the whole 'good versus evil', 'light versus dark' thing, dancing between two covenants that called to me - the Warriors of Sunlight and the Blades of the Darkmoon. In the end, if they aided your goals, and your goals were right…it didn't really matter. "I think black suits me just fine, thank you. However, you raise a good point - we need gear. I have to imagine an encampment of this size has something of value. Let's maybe not jump straight into armor so heavy that you can barely move though - you're clunky enough as is." I gave my brother a teasing prod - he knew it was all in good fun.

"So long as you don't start picking up every fun little blade you find, I think I can manage. What do you think's in these big caravans? Looks fancy." Indeed, two massive wagons were on either end of the encampment, both of which I'd noticed had previously been guarded before the horn was sounded.

"I'll search this one - seems worth investigating." I walked up the road, towards a massive gateway just up ahead, an empty grace positioned just to its right. As I went, I passed an odd structure on my right, carved with numerous descriptions. As I read it, it looked to be describing the lay of the land, and in rather fine detail. I scoured the camp for paper and ink, beginning to draw out a crude depiction of what it was describing. It described many locations, some which made sense, some which didn't. We were in the Gatefront Ruins, it seemed…and we'd come from the Church of Elleh, where Kale was. There were other things that I didn't recognize, but scribbled in anyways - things called 'Evergaols', of which there were two in our immediate area. And another place - Stormveil Castle…which I could only assume was the massive structure that sat at the top of the hill. I kept the ink and paper - based on the descriptions, there was far more land that we'd be traversing.

With that little detail out of the way, I continued on towards the caravan. On one end was a heavy and intricate black iron chest, which I lifted up. Inside sat…a sword. A large one, far too heavy for me. For Flynn, however, it was patently below average - at least, compared to the unwieldy behemoths he was known to wield. For now, though, I'm sure he'd find it more than suitable."

I heard Flynn walking up behind me. "I found a flail…I'll be honest, I don't think I trust myself with it. Doesn't seem like your thing either, but maybe you're looking to turn over a new leaf?"

I shook my head. "Perhaps, but I'm not starting there. This might be of some interest to you, though? How would you describe it…has a nice weight to it?" I extended the blade to him, which he almost greedily took.

"Oh this, this is nothing." He gave the sword a few swings with one hand - if it was nothing, it surely didn't look it. The arcs were wide and slow. Any foe with a shield would have ample time to block it. "I know that look. Don't say it."

I couldn't suppress my smirk. "Looking a little flabby there, tough guy. Where are all those big muscles from before?"

Flynn shot me a death glare, positioning the sheathe to his greatsword next to the smaller sword he had. "I question why I put up with you."

"Because nobody else would take you. Don't worry, maybe you'll sweep some poor maiden off her feet so that you can get stronger - wait." My expression grew stern, a hand moving to my weapon.

Flynn looked at me, puzzled. "What?"

"Up ahead, a woman. I looked at that grace earlier, just moments ago. Nobody was there." Indeed a woman sat by the grace up ahead, looking intently in our direction. She wore a black hood and cloak like mine, though far more plain. From this distance, I couldn't see much more."

"Well…so far, 'attacks on sight' seems to be a good measure of people thus far. Let's approach and react from there."

The guidance from before had pointed almost perfectly towards that grace…perhaps it wasn't a coincidence that someone was watching and waiting for us there. I followed after Flynn, ascending up the hill and to the grace. As we approached the woman wordlessly gestured to the ground, for us to take a seat. We both did so, the three of us around the grace.

The woman pulled back her robes, revealing a mop of brown hair that hung down to shoulder height. Her most distinguishable feature was her left eye - even when looking right at us it stayed closed, an odd tattoo emblazoned above it.

"Greetings…Travelers, from beyond the Fog. I am Melina."

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