Riders

With minimal time to prepare before they were forced to depart, Lorian did what he was able in the time he had to coordinate with Elwin, Rimilda, Agnes, and Romund. Of the four of them, Romund and Rimilda had the most experience with the knights under their command while Elwin and Agnes were each newly promoted and had only done a limited amount of patrols with the knights under their command who were largely recruits.

They all knew and agreed that this task was unsuitable for knight recruits, so Lorian had inquired at the barracks for any knights with more experience that would be willing to go in the recruits' stead. Many were apprehensive, but a handful volunteered. The most senior by far, outranking even Agnes and Elwin were a pair of knights called Eadric and Wynfrith. They brought with them several of their companions - enough to replace the recruits with. Wynfrith agreed to help Agnes while Eadric would be working alongside Elwin.

It was a blessing in disguise that Lorian had found the dragon sanctuary on his first foray into the world, and it helped that this time he was well-equipped. Simply knowing the way and riding on horseback cut their travel time down significantly, but time meant nothing to the keepers of the sanctuary. As they grew closer, they were frequently ambushed by serpentine men and soon all their horses had been killed leaving them with only the prospect of a long walk back to Lothric unless they could truly tame these wyverns. The other knights had never encountered any creatures like these before, and so they were hesitant at first, they made mistakes. One of the knights - Brynstan, Lorian thought his name was - had been killed by one of the larger serpentine men, having underestimated the strength of the axe it wielded. In a single strike, it had cleaved straight through Brynstan's shield and armor.

Thankfully, Brynstan had not been one of the four designated knights set on the task of controlling the wyverns, and neither were any of the other knights that fell before they reached the sanctuary. Though as far as Lorian could tell, the designated dragon tamers did not fare much better. The four of them had been feverish from the outset; Lorian wasn't aware for certain of what his father had done to them, but he had his suspicions. At night, Agnes would cry out, her voice was different - changed. A side effect of the abyssal corruption Oceiros had forced them to undertake no doubt, if Lorian's guesses were correct.

Lorian sat guard most nights, often finding that he didn't need as much rest as the rest of the knights that travelled with him. Occasionally he would see some of the others awake, huddled together and talking by the fire toward the center of their makeshift camp.

At times, Lorian found himself wishing for the companionship of Ser Alva, his part-time companion. Usually it was the other man who held the conversation, telling Lorian of the next rumored cure he was chasing down, and how the previous one had once again resulted in nothing. He wondered, distantly, where the man was at this moment, what foolish cure he might be chasing.

"Sitting guard again tonight?" Came a voice from behind him. From the corner of his eye, Lorian saw one of the knights who volunteered moving to take a seat beside him. "Oh, right. Knight Captain Wynfrith, at your command, Prince Lorian."

Lorian took a moment to regard her before nodding in answer to the question. She was entirely plain and unremarkable - her black hair, gray eyes, and round jaw indicating that she was likely from one of the villages on the outskirts where he had seen so many similar faces before. "What reason brings you here?"

Wynfrith shrugged. "The others seem happy enough to take advantage of your watch, but it feels ungrateful to me. I figured I could keep guard tonight in your stead, or at the very least perhaps offer some conversation."

"I appreciate the gesture."

They sat in silence for a while before Wynfrith realized he had no plans to retire and she spoke again. "Shame about Brynstan. He was one of mine, only recently got promoted. I tried to convince him he wasn't ready yet," she sighed, "but he wouldn't listen to me. Kept saying how he was going to prove himself. Idiot."

Lorian could have mistaken her words for cruel if he did not see the glisten of unshed tears in her eyes as she looked away and stared at the ground.

"You knew him well?"

"Hardly at all," she said, shaking her head. "But we've been losing more and more recently. Easy patrols that were once good for the new recruits to manage have gotten too dangerous. It seems like everywhere has gotten more dangerous."

"Is that why you volunteered?"

"I suppose to an extent, yes."

"What other reason is there?" Lorian asked, genuinely curious.

Her gaze fell on a tent at the edge of camp. "Eadric and I joined together. Both of us were doomed to grow up in our little village on the outskirts where we would till the fields until we died - one way or another. We joined up because Lothric was the only place that would keep us fed, warm, and for the most part, safe. We seem to have a knack for surviving against all odds, so it stands to reason that we would be of more use than knight recruits who have barely learned how to properly hold a sword."

She paused before turning and smiling at him, "But, I suppose there is another reason too. You see, we joined shortly before you went hunting that wyvern, which meant we were regularly assigned patrol routes in the outskirts, and you were far from unknown to the villagers in the area."

"I rarely entered the villages. They should have had little to say of my presence."

"You fought all variety of monsters in the areas you travelled through, did you not?"

"I did."

"Some of those creatures had been plaguing those villages for months. Time and time again, Eadric and I were dispatched to patrol and investigate creatures in the area, but by the time we arrived, whatever monster had been plaguing them had already been killed. By you."

Lorian was silent at that.

"So, in a sense, you've been watching our backs for years now. It's only fitting we return the favor. And," she continued, tone lighter, "I wanted to see if all the rumors of the mighty Prince Lorian were true with my own eyes. I've seen you spar, but a spar is not a fight."

"Then I hope I do not disappoint." He replied with a faint smile before looking out to the horizon. From the edge of the camp came a ragged scream of pain. Lorian recognized it by now as Agnes.

Wynfrith stood at the sound of the scream. "I should check on her. Make sure she is going to survive until we manage to find a wyvern at the very least."

Lorian watched as she disappeared into Agnes's tent. After a while, the screams faded and Lorian was left once again in silence.

x

It was on their third day in the sanctuary that they finally encountered one of the wyverns. It was a white wyvern, but smaller and seemingly frail when compared to the one Lorian had fought on his first trip here. They had little time to come up with a strategy before it landed on the ground in front of them, rearing back to spit out its flames.

"Agnes! This one is yours!" Lorian called out as he grabbed her cape and dragged her behind one of the statues nearby. "You have everything you need?"

She stared at him wide-eyed and panicked. "N-no! King Oceiros gave me a sorcery - he said I would need to channel the bond through a scale of the wyvern I intend to bond with. We have to get a scale first!"

"Stay here," he ordered before moving out from behind the pillar, sword in hand. The other knights had scattered behind various forms of cover, but there was still one group close enough to hear him. "Romund! I need to get close to the wyvern; keep its attention on you and your group!"

Without waiting to see if he would listen, Lorian sprinted forward toward the wyvern. It turned its attention on him, and Lorian knew this would be a far more difficult task than if they had simply intended to slay it. This would also be far easier if Lothric were here, a simple teleport to the right location and that would be enough. But Lothric wasn't there and the other knights had never fought a wyvern before.

The wyvern drew closer, rearing back and slamming its front claws into the ground in front of Lorian. On pure instinct he had managed to time a swift dodge closer to the creature, rolling beneath its chest. In the distance he could hear Romund barking orders and trusted the knight was doing as he asked.

Sure enough upon losing sight of Lorian, the wyvern turned its attention to the next threat of the other knights. He used their distraction to sprint toward the back of the beast with the goal of grabbing a scale from its tail.

Careful of the wyvern's feet, Lorian approached the tail, found a scale and wedged his sword behind it and pulled. The scale loosened but didn't fall free before the wyvern screeched and whipped its tail, slamming into Lorian's side and knocking him off his feet.

Still enraged, the wyvern took to the air, the gust from its wings preventing Lorian from getting back to his feet. It reared back its head and Lorian realized the creature intended to engulf them all in flame. His father would undoubtedly want the wyverns uninjured and tamed, but the alternative appeared to be Lorian's untimely death by fire.

With little time to spare but the decision made, Lorian grabbed his sword and struggled to stand. He was out of time and options; the longer he waited to act the closer he got to being stranded in the wyvern's flames. He leaned back, sword poised in his hands like a spear, and threw it at the wyvern - it was still close enough to the ground that he had a chance. Lorian watched it soar through the air before striking the wyvern in its lower abdomen, causing the beast to throw its head back, spitting the fire airborn as it collapsed to the ground.

"Don't just stand there! Move!" Came a shout that Lorian realized belonged to Wynfrith. She wasn't shouting at him, however, she was shouting to the knights around her as she sprinted out of cover towards the wyvern. Romund and Eadric were a few steps behind her, and behind the two of them were the other knights.

Out of nowhere, an urn went careening overhead, landing at the wyvern's feet and crashing into an explosion of lightning. The wyvern screeched and crumpled low to the ground. "The lightning urns! Use them!" Wynfrith shouted, apparently having been the one to throw it.

Swordless and with the scale almost free, Lorian knew his only chance was to get his sword back while the wyvern was temporarily distracted. He stared at the massive creature before him, still dazed from the lightning, and rushed towards it. Lorian only watched for a moment as Wynfrith, Eadric, and Romund coordinated an attack on the wyvern's front legs and head before focusing back to his task at hand; he was focused on the creature's stomach where his sword was lodged. He grasped the handle and pulled - the sword had embedded itself deeper than he had thought - finally pulling it free before moving back to the tail.

Out from one of the statues nearby, Agnes sprinted towards him. "Where's the scale? I'll pull it free."

Lorian gestured to the bloody patch of scales. "There. I will anchor its tail while you grab the scale."

"Anchor it? How?"

"More lightning!", Lorian called out before he lifted his blade and slammed it through the center of the wyvern's tail using every ounce of strength to push it into the ground beneath. It wouldn't hold long, but they didn't need long. Agnes was already at work using her own sword to wrench the scale free and the other knights had gathered some of the urns and were throwing it at the wyvern to keep it stunned. Lorian struggled to keep his grip on the wyvern which was one move away from knocking them all aside.

With a victorious cry, Agnes sheathed her sword and held the scale in both hands. Her eyes shut and brows furrowed as she concentrated and when she opened her eyes again, they were the ghastly red of all abyssal corrupt creatures. The black abyssal pus oozed from her eyes, staining her cheeks like tear drops. She climbed on the wyvern's tail and scaled its back where she sat between its wings and pressed her head to the back of its neck.

The wyvern calmed and bowed its head, mimicking her motion. Lorian hesitated, but pulled his sword loose from the creature's tail and stepped back to where the other knights were gathering. They all stared in awe at the figure of Agnes on the wyvern, her eyes a haunting pit of red as she stared back at them.

She pointed to her regiment of knights and beckoned them forward, gesturing for them to climb on the creature beside her. Wynfrith, who had been assigned as part of Agnes's regiment, turned back to Lorian. "My Lord, as discussed, we'll proceed back to Lothric and report to the King."

"Keep an eye on Agnes, and inform the King that I was the sole one here to wound the wyvern if he inquires." Lorian wasn't entirely sure of how abyssal corruption worked - if the host could still hear them and react accordingly, or even whether the change was permanent. But he trusted Wynfrith and the others with his words, provided they could return safely.

"As you command."

Lorian and the other knights watched as the wyvern raised its wings and slowly ascended. His father would undoubtedly be pleased with the results if not slightly perplexed. The scale of what they had seen between the crystal lizard and the corrupted hollow was worlds away from what Agnes had achieved with the wyvern. Had Oceiros known it would turn out this way?

From the group of knights, Romund stepped forward. "What do we do now?"

Among the knights, Lorian could see several were injured and would undoubtedly need rest to recover before they track down the next wyvern. He himself was suffering from what felt like several cracked ribs; if not broken entirely.

"We set up camp here for the night. This is the general area where the wyverns tend to congregate at. With any luck the next three will come to us."

"And if they don't?"

"They will. Start setting up camp, I will find water and wood for the fire."

"Need help?" Romund offered.

It couldn't hurt to have an extra set of hands. "If you insist."

The two of them set off towards where they had initially entered the sanctuary. Though they were high up on a mountain, Lorian recalled there were streams nearby that they could gather water from. The trees in the area were also plentiful in supply, though old and many already dead.

They walked in silence for a while before Lorian spoke. "You did well out there; I am fairly certain at more than one point you saved my life. Thank you."

"I can hardly accept your praise, after all, we barely did anything. You were the one who did most of the work. All we did was try not to die."

"The others were hesitant, they would rather have remained hiding behind the various pillars and statues than face the wyvern directly. You managed to rally them into a coordinated attack."

"You really believe that, don't you?" Romund laughed and slapped his hand on Lorian's back. "They didn't do it because of me. They did it because of you, you crazy bastard. The moment they saw you running headlong toward that monstrosity they about shit themselves in fear. We all thought you were dead. Then you called out for us, and I promise you every single knight in my group would have happily died for you back there."

"Would you?" Lorian asked, guardedly. He wanted to refute Romund's words, but in truth he had never seen the knights engage anything in combat like they had in that battle.

"Willingly. Happily. You're an inspiration to us, you know? It can't have been easy growing up the way you did - the king all but disowned you straight out of the womb and your brother is set to be the savior of this land and holds all the power. You don't have anything like that." Romund stopped and jabbed his index finger to Lorian's chest. "But when you came back from your trip after most of us thought you were dead, dragging a wyvern's head behind you… you were the talk of the barracks for months. We all could see you were destined for greatness. The King's mad for not being able to see it."

Lorian was silent. What could he even say to such words? He had spent his whole life believing in his father's narrative that he was unfit for greatness - that was Lothric's destiny after all. To hear someone other than Lothric validate his worth... Lorian was humbled. "Thank you."

"If I may be so bold? I'd like to ask a favor."

"Ask."

"I'd like to be the last one to bond with a wyvern." Romund grew quieter as he spoke, turning away. "What happened to Agnes… It'll happen to all of us. The King told us all as much. We've all already got it, you see. The abyssal corruption. The King infused it with his own magic and that's how we're supposed to activate the bond."

"Can it be reversed?"

Romund gave him a wry smile. "If it could, it would also break the bond with the wyvern and the beast would perish. The King won't allow that to happen." He sighed and crouched at the edge of the riverbank they reached. "I've already accepted my fate. I'd just like to enjoy the time I have left as long as I can. It's already affecting the others - the corruption that is. Agnes's fits at night? That was it. Elwin and Rimilda aren't faring much better. Elwin's slightly worse off; he should be next."

"I noticed. Very well, I will allow you to be the last and will inform Elwin that he is to be the next to bond with a wyvern unless yours or Rimilda's conditions deteriorate further in the interim."

"Thank you, my Prince."

They each filled up the various water skins for the remaining knights, collected firewood, and returned to their camp. Rimilda and her group had apparently gone hunting and were at work skinning what they caught as Lorian and Romund worked on starting their fires.

x

Lorian found himself speaking with Romund often to pass time while they waited for the next wyvern to appear instead of sparring as he usually would. It gave his ribs a chance to heal and also gave him insight into the lives of the knights he often worked with but never had an opportunity to speak with.

It was apparently just as Romund claimed, the knights did look up to Lorian. As a way to show off, they forced him to remain on the sidelines when the next wyvern appeared, coordinating their attack so they could distract the dragon and create an opening for Elwin to bond with the creature. Elwin and Eadric had realized he could skip the step of prying the scale free and mounted the wyvern instead to reach the same end.

Rimilda ended up doing the same when the third wyvern appeared, leaving only Lorian, Romund, and his remaining group of knights to wait for the final wyvern.

Each night, Lorian and Romund travelled to the river together to collect the water, holding a light hearted conversation as they went, which only made it all the more apparent that Romund had something on his mind when he was silent. Lorian supposed it was only fair, given the circumstances. It would be difficult for anyone to come to terms with their impending loss of their sense of self.

"Do you mind if I call you Lorian? I mean no disrespect by it, but I feel like we've reached friendly enough terms. And who knows, tomorrow I may never have the chance again."

"If you wish."

"Then, Lorian, if I could ask another favor?"

"It depends on the indulgence you seek."

Romund looked away for a moment before turning back to Lorian with a renewed sense of determination in his expression, "I only ask that you make sure that the King doesn't make anyone else do what we've done here. This fate, this sickness, I wouldn't wish it on anyone."

It was not a promise Lorian could keep, he knew that already. But he could at least attempt to give the man peace of mind in the time he had left. "I swear I will do everything in my power to prevent it."

"Thank you," Romund said, practically deflating as he kneeled by the river and they worked together to fill the waterskins once more.

It turned out whatever instinct had led Romund to seek Lorian out that night had been correct as the following day the final wyvern they needed appeared. This one was closer in appearance to the first that Lorian had encountered alone, with crimson scales and tattered wings.

The battle went quickly with Lorian carving a path to the wyvern for Romund to follow. In an instant, the wyvern was tamed, and Romund was consumed. Lorian and the others climbed on the beast's back beside Romund and settled in for the journey back to the castle.

As they departed, Lorian saw another wyvern off in the distance, with what appeared to be a rider upon its back. The wyvern began flying towards them when Lorian saw a light emanating from the beast's back before it was flying towards them. It was the same as when he had defeated the wyvern all those years ago, but Lorian didn't have time to consider it before Romund deftly dodged the bolt and they flew harder and faster than they had before, until the figure was completely out of sight.

They managed to return in only a few days, with Romund landing the wyvern in the courtyard where they each dismounted. Wynfrith hurried to them and bowed to Lorian. "My Lord, if you'll allow it, I have orders to take the wyvern and its bound knight."

Lorian took one last glance at Romund who remained on the wyvern. Over the course of the trip back, Romund had managed to regain some sense of himself, though the corruption was still rooted deep within him. It was sobering to watch the man who had been so incredibly alive now a shell of the man he had been only a day ago. Lorian nodded to Wynfrith and moved out of the way for her to climb onto the back of the creature.

"Prince Lorian," called out a voice he did not recognize. "I am glad to see you returned safely. And with quite the prize."

Lorian turned to look at the figure and was greeted by a tall and imposing man. The robes he wore were derivative of the Cathedral of the Deep, yet entirely different, with a sword at either of his sides. One glowed a soft lilac color and the other was somehow burning despite no obvious source of fuel for the flame to burn from. Behind him stood an equally tall and imposing woman; her entire body was elongated and slightly hunched forward, with a similar pair of swords at her sides.

Beside the man stood Lothric, in his prayer robes as he always was, hands clasped in front of him. It looked as though this was one of his better days as he had some color in his cheeks. He met his brother's gaze as Lothric smiled at him fondly. Lorian would leave a thousand times to be greeted with such a sight.

Behind Lothric stood Kriemhild and the two hunters they had met back at Farron's Keep. Lothric's face and mannerisms were outwardly calm but Lorian could tell this entire situation had gotten under his skin.

"Pontiff Sulyvahn, I presume? I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

"The pleasure is all mine. I was just speaking to Prince Lothric when we heard your wyvern approaching in the distance. It is a truly magnificent creature."

"Welcome home, brother," Lothric said. "Join us inside. There is much to discuss."