I do not own Mass Effect or Dark Souls, any and all canon characters, lore, and so on belong to their owners, and legal teams.

Edit: Authors note. One of my reviewers pointed out that my usage of Elizabethan English was erratic. They were right. I have tried my best to fix this, however this meant using an online translation tool and we all know those can have issues.


Ariandel was silent, save for an erratic blast of fringed air, a bonfire flared dimly at the mouth of a cave, as the silence was broken by the clink and rattle of armor. A pair of soldiers strode out of the cave, snow crunching under their boots, their brilliant silver armor shone in the faint light. The first planted their spear into the snow, while the second held their blade at a ready position.

"Captain, come hither our path forward is clear." the sword wielder stated, their voice somewhat muffled by their helmet.

Out from the depths of the cave a third figure emerged. At first glance she could be taken for a normal if somewhat tall and slender human. However, if you looked closer there could be no mistake, she wasn't human. The traces of scales around her eyes and the tip of a tail peeping out from under her cloak, betrayed what she was.

Crossbreed.


Yorshka

She pulled her cloak tighter against the biting winds, shifting the tube of miracle scrolls as she did. Not for the first time silently lamenting the fate which had robbed her of most of her remaining family. Absently she fondled a fingerbone, with an engraved silver ring still upon it, suspended by a fine silver chain which hung around her neck, the last reminder she had of her brother. Gywndolin. Even her long-lost uncle, who's name had been cast out of record, had fallen. She had seen the raging storm from the tower where she had been imprisoned, and had received the ancient cross-spear from one visitor to her tower prison. That stranger had brought her news of other things, such as Sulyvahn's death, along with the spear which had been a symbol of her office within the church, before Sulyvahn had subverted Irithyll. It had been sometime since their last visit. Overwhelming loneness along with the appearance of two of Gywndolin's silver knights who still retained their minds had led her to abandon her prison and begin this search.

"So, this is the legendary Painted World of Ariamis…" the sword wielder said with wonder.

Yorshka shook her head correcting the knight "No tis the Painted World of Ariandel."

"Forgive me captain, but wherefore are we hither then, if tis the wrong painting?" the spear wielder inquired.

"We are hither because I believe that we may find something which wilt allow us to reach the painted world of Ariamis." Yorshka answered as another blast of freezing air tore past, causing her to shiver.

"Thou need warmer garb." the sword wielder stated.

"Your concern is appreciated but, I am fine Maulwint." Yorshka tried to inform him only to be betrayed by her own teeth beginning to chatter.

"Thou need boots at least." the spear wielder replied.

"Tis a little late to be hunting for such things Drandra." Yorshka pointed out as she started to withdraw toward the mouth of the cave.

Before either knight could respond a short spear flew into the center of the group. They all stared at if for a moment before looking the direction it had come. A single hollow, clad in a leather coat covered in small metal plates and a conical helm pulled another spear from a sleeve on its back and brandished it.

"One moment." Drandra stated as she charged the hollow with Maulwint bracing himself between Yorshka and the foe.

The hollow went down with a spearpoint in its throat, and Drandra dragged it out of sight. She was gone for a little while before returning to her companions, bearing a bundle of clothing, and handing it to Yorshka.

Yorshka accepted the armor from Drandra hesitantly and gave it a faint sniff. Oddly enough it just smelled like metal, leather, and cloth. No hint of rot, or of hollows at all.

"Thou should'st change Captain." Drandra stated nodding toward the cave they had recently exited. "I shall keep watcheth, maulwint thou hie and scout abroad." The other knight nodded and took off.

Yorshka sighed and retreated back into the cave, to change into the new set of armor. Once she had finished, bundled her dress up, and placed it into a bottomless box, she checked her ability to move. The armor was light, and she hated to admit, well insulated as she felt herself begin to warm up. She hadn't been surprised to find the leggings had had a hole to accommodate her tail, one of her visitors had commented on the oddity of armor or clothing always being the right size no matter the previous owner. She collapsed the box and tucked it into a pouch on her belt. Before slinging the scroll tube onto her back and wrapping her cloak tight.

As she stepped back out into the snow Maulwint rounded a hill on the distance coming their way. He had an extra sword with him.

"Captain art thou ready to head out?" he asked once he was close enough for easy conversation.

"I am now." she answered shifting the scroll tube under her cloak again.

"I retrieved this for thee." Maulwint said as he offered her the sword along with its scabbard "Were thou taught how to use a sword?"

She accepted the sword, took a step back and gave the saber a few practice swings. It was light and fit her hand well. "No, not really. I hast had some basic instruction but…" she pursed her lips as she looked at the weapon, missing the horrified looks both knights were sending her way.

"Thou weren't trained!" Maulwint exclaimed.

"I… Thou… I doeth not understand." Drandra muttered.

Yorshka looked up sheepishly, her tail swishing through the snow with embarrassment.

"Twas on the list of things I was going to learn afore Sulyvahn rose to power." She said meekly.

Drandra sighed "That won't aid us now. Stay between us in the meantime." She looked at Maulwint "Did thou seeth a way forward?"

He nodded "Unfortunately it looks liketh we must hie over a nearby cliff. Tis not a long drop but I fear we cannot come back the way we came."

"Let us press onward then." Drandra stated.

Unfortunately, Maulwint was a little too right about the cliff, the last several feet turned out to be a mass of hard packed snow which had been hollowed out by the wind.

Which collapsed under their combined weight. Adding to their problems, was a pack of ravening wolves, who had just happened to be at the base of the cliff.

While Drandra, and Maulwint dispatched the wolves with meticulous efficiency Yorshka found herself backing away from a pair of wolves who were trying to flank them. She was so focused on her enemies that she stumbled over something buried in the snow and fell.

One of the wolves lunged toward her, fangs bared, but she managed to get the saber up and the beast impaled itself on the blade. She was momentarily trapped with the body on top of her, before she shoved the dead weight off of her chest. Just in time to see the second wolf lunge and a snarl. She was barely able to free the blade before the second wolf reached her. She blocked the fangs by grabbing the blade with her free hand, and as the wolf tried to tear the sword from her grip, Drandra broadsided it.

The sliver knights spear blade sank deep into flesh and Yorshka caught a brief hint of burning fur before Drandra heaved the carcass away.

"Are thou hurt?" Drandra asked.

"Only mine pride." Yorshka answered as she stood and dusted herself off.

"Which way forward? Looks as though we can go over yonder hill or under that cliff face." Maulwint asked gesturing toward both paths.

"We seek a chapel but I am unsure as to where it lies." Yorshka replied, "Let us try the path below the cliff face withal any luck it wilt get us to our destination."


John Shepard

He flexed his hand experientially for what felt and may even have been the hundredth time.

It didn't hurt per say, but it felt off enough that it constantly bothered him.

"Such is the cost of coming back from the dead." He thought to himself as he looked out over the star map of the newly launched Normandy class "super frigate" Cerberus had "given" him. Illegal AI and all.

Not that he wasn't grateful to be alive but, his own body felt, foreign.

He grimaced slightly; meeting Tali on Freedoms Progress had been all kinds of awkward. Fortunately, their respective squads hadn't killed each other on the spot, which given what he had learned about an attack, by Cerberus, on the Migrant fleet he couldn't blame them for their reaction. Unfortunately, the quarian squad had still suffered heavy casualties due to the idiot who had been the squad leader. Which sadly said a lot about the status of the Migrant Fleet Marines, letting a fool be in charge, all in front of Cerberus operatives no less.

However, seeing Tali was, at least, alright had soothed a part of him, as the Illusive Man had been claiming that his sources couldn't locate either Alenko or Williams, and had been basically dismissive of the non-human members of his ground team.

Except for Wrex, as the old krogan had quickly become the head of a large number of the clans on Tuchanka, thus he guessed the Illusive Man saw Wrex as a potential threat. Another reason for him to dislike the Illusive Man, but it amused him, seeing the reports of Wrex kicking the krogan into shape, sometimes more literally than others. He was worried however about what little the Illusive Man had on Liara. An agent for the Shadow Broker? He didn't buy it, but it had been two years and then some since he had seen any of them.

He needed to think about something else and fast.

"Kelly any word from the illusive man about the first set of dossiers?" He asked his yeoman.

"Not yet commander." Came the cheerful reply "but there are a few messages on your terminal for you to review."

"Thank you, Kelly." He sighed as he checked the mail which had arrived for him. Most of the messages were in general spam as his account had really been idle since he had been dead for the last couple of years. However, a message from Admiral Hackett, of all people, dated less than a month ago caught his attention. He stared at the message processed what it meant. While visiting the grave of both his ship and twenty crew members, not to mention his own, was somewhat uncomfortable he had a separate concern.

"EDI where is Lawson?" he demanded stepped away from the terminal.

"Operative Lawson is in her office on the crew deck." The AI helpfully informed him.

"Thank you, EDI." He answered in a very calm voice as he paced to the elevator and selected the desired deck.

Less than a minute later he was standing outside of Miranda's office door. He took a few moments to calm himself before he pressed the interface.

"Come in." came Mirandas crisp response before the door slid open. No doubt EDI had warned her he was coming down.

The Cerberus operative was looking at a data pad as he entered the room, but she looked up as the door closed behind him.

"Can I help you with something Commander?" she asked calmly.

"Yes, I received a message from Admiral Hackett about the final resting place of my Normandy." He stated coolly watching her twitch slightly at my Normandy.

"I'm not seeing the problem Commander." She replied keeping her tone even.

"So, you aren't checking my emails?" He asked with more than a hint of sarcasm as he crossed his arms. "The problem Miss Lawson is the massage was sent a little over a month ago."

He paused waiting for Miranda to speak, when she didn't, he continued.

"At that time, according to your own project notes, I was still in a coma like state and officially dead. So, Miss Lawson why is Admiral Hackett sending emails to a dead man?"

Miranda lowered her eyes. Shepard narrowed his and glared at her. "I'm not going to like this am I?"

Miranda looked up, her posture defiant and met his gaze. "The Illusive Man decided that spreading rumors about your return and working with Cerberus would benefit the cause."

Shepard dropped his arms to his sides as his hands curled into fists. "And just how long have I been supposedly been working with Cerberus?" he asked his voice dangerous.

"Four to five months I-"

"Damn it, Miranda! Did you even think about how the Alliance, much less the Council, will react to one of their SPECTRES apparently joining a terrorist organization? Especially after Saren, their last golden boy, lost it, and nearly unleased the reapers on everyone?" Shepard demanded.

"The Council is denying the reapers exist and-"

"That's not the point and you know it!" Shepard took a deep breath before he did or said something he would regret. "If your, or the Illusive Man's, goals were to leave me without any allies except Cerberus. Congratulations. You probably succeeded, as no one is going to want to be anywhere near this situation." He sighed before continuing. "I'm telling Joker to set a course for Alchera, Hackett's message said there were twenty crew members unaccounted for. I'm going to go look for them, I owe them that much, and I'm going alone."

Miranda looked like she was about to object but Shepard stopped her. "This is not open for discussion." he stated as he turned and stormed out of the office.


Yorshka

"Methinks we went the wrong way." She gasped as they all looked up the series of small cliffs toward the angry form of a colossal wolf, which snarled down at them.

"I honestly thought great wolves were myths." Maulwint muttered with a hint of awe in his voice.

"We should leave before it decides to come down after us." Drandra urged them.

The beast howled its triumph as the three of them withdrew away from it, before it hopped onto the upper cliff face and out of sight.

"At least it did not followeth us. We would hast been in danger if it had." Yorshka sighed as they trekked up the hill only to find themselves facing a chapel between them and their goal was a massive gorge spanned by a swaying rope bridge.

"I doeth not trust this thing." Maulwint stated as he tested the bridge with his foot causing it to sway a bit more. "It looks as if it could give way at any moment."

"None the less our destination lies across it." Yorshka stated as she brushed past him and onto the bridge. Yet as her foot came to rest on the first plank, and unnatural roaring howl echoed off the cliff walls behind them.

"What was that?" Maulwint asked as he entered a defensive stance.

What little color had drained from Yorshka face as she replied. "One of Sulyvahn's beasts. I thought they were all dead."

"We must hie. Now!" Drandra stated as she hooked her arm around Yorshka's and began to pull her across, with Maulwint taking up the rear.

They had almost managed to get completely across when the creature appeared, all six orange eyes glaring balefully at them as the beast tested the bridge for itself, clearly as dubious as they had been on the stability of the construction. Its hesitation allowed them to finish crossing safely, with Maulwint taking up position to keep the creature from crossing.

With a snarl the beast began to bound across after them, and Maulwint brought his sword down onto one of the ropes which held the bridge up cleanly severing it. Yet the beast managed to leap off the bridge back to the side opposite their own and roared at them.

"Tis a shame we doeth not hast bows." Maulwint stated as the beast looked down the cliff face, appearing to be looking for another way across. "We could hast shot it from hither."

"None the less it cannot reach us hither." Drandra noted turning away while gently pushing Yorshka toward the chapel doors. "Come, captain let us be done withal this placeth."

"Aye let's – Waiteth what is it doing!?" Maulwint exclaimed.

Yorshka and Drandra looked back to see the beast shaking itself a bunch of what looked look snow flew into the air around it and formed into a haze which obscured it form sight. As they watched the cloud settled onto the ground. The creature had vanished.

"By the flames, what-" Maulwint never finished the sentence as a mist formed between Drandra, Yorshka and him. Before either Drandra, or Yorshka could warn him the beast bounded out of the cloud and swatted him off the cliff, into the chasm.

"Fly thou fool!" Drandra called as she took off dragging Yorshka for the first few steps toward the chapel, snow flying as they fled the beast dashing after them.

They managed to get inside and shut the heavy wooden doors in the creature's face, only for it to plow into them with all its might.

They staggered back before putting their efforts to holding the doors closed.

"I hope thou know what we are looking for, captain." Drandra said as the monster snarled and whined outside. "I doeth not know how long this door wilt hold."

"The painter should be in the tower somewhere." Yorshka answered as the sound of claws against wood reached them.

"Hile! The beast's assault is fierce." Drandra replied as the door began to buckle.

Fortunately, the ladder was somewhat easy to find as it was just around the corner, but she almost overlooked it the first time. Yorshka began to scale the ladder and called out. "Drandra I-" she was cut off as with a splintering crash the doors were forced in and was forced to scramble up as the beast bounded into the foyer.

She stayed still, not even breathing as the beast sniffed around, hoping that it would leave. The creature paused at the foot of the ladder and cocked its head, almost as if it was puzzled. She had only a moments warning as the creature gathered its hunches and lunged upward snapping at her.

She managed to keep from losing a leg but one of the beast's teeth caught her regardless and opened a deep cut. The speed of desperation helped her get to the top of the ladder despite the injury. Yorshka scrambled away from the opening as the beast lunged again managing to get its head through, teeth snapping, it gave an aggravated whine as it slid back once again.

Yorshka stared at the space for a moment before a voice distracted her.

"Thou art injured." Yorshka turned to look at the speaker. She appeared to be a young human girl sitting before a large canvas portrait, yet her eyes were anything but human. A pair of serpentine eyes gazed back coolly, assessing her. "Wherefore did thou come hither?"

"I seeketh a path to the Painted world of Ariamis." Yorshka replied as she dug in the bottomless box for something, anything to help stanch the bleeding. She realized that she didn't know what was in the box, it had been a gift from her last knight.

"Did thou?" the girl replied a little curious. "Wherefore would thou seek such a placeth?"

"I seeketh a person who dwells within. Mine sister, who I hast not seen in far too long." Yorshka answered plainly.

"Very well I can help thou in that task, but I shall need something in returneth." The girl nodded.

"What doeth thou require?" Yorshka could not help but ask.

The girl looked to the canvas and frowned slightly. "My work tis not yet complete, tis missing something." She hopped down and picked up a small cup and brush, before pacing over. "The blood of the old gods flows in thy veins. Through their machinations the cycles were formed, through their blood wilt a world beyond them be born. Let me finish mine painting and I wilt bewray thou the path to Ariamis."

Before Yorshka could respond the beast made another run at the ladder, several boards splintered as they were bent upward.

"What choice doeth I possess?" Yorshka asked looking toward the space where the creature was trying to ascend. The girl knelt and with a few movements collected enough blood to fill the small vessel, before setting it next to her other paints. She dug for a bit before coming up with a small painting which she returned with and presented to Yorshka.

"All thou need doeth, is touch the painting." She stated calmly as the beast slammed into the boards again several of them falling to the stone floor with it this time.

Yorshka reached for the painting but stopped. "Wilt thou be safe hither?" she found herself asking.

The girl simply nodded and gestured to the painting.

Yorshka inhaled deeply and brushed the ancient painted canvas with the tips of her fingers and suddenly the chapel attic was gone. Replaced by a small snow-covered section of cliff face crossed by a rope bridge. Her focus gone in the moment she forgot her wounded leg and fell hard. The bleeding was not as bad as it had been but it was still cause for concern. She pulled her spear from the box and using it as a walking stick began to traverse the bridge.


John Shepard

"You sure you want to do this alone?" Jacob asked as Shepard grabbed his gear and after a moment of consideration a grenade launcher.

"I'm certain. No offence Jacob, but I need to do this by myself." Shepard answered.

"Alright I'm just not sure this will require a full load out though." Jacob commented.

"I hope not, but I don't believe in being stupid either." Shepard said.

"Fair enough. You're good to go. Good luck commander." Jacob said encouragingly.

"Not a lot of luck this time, just a whole lot of searching." Shepard called back as he headed out of the armory.

The snow crunched under foot as he stepped out of the shuttle surveying the wreckage of his ship. This wasn't all of it, just a collection of large chunks, sections of the super structure stuck out of the land scape like giant metal bones, long pick over by scavengers. He sighed and set his omni-tool to scan for the micro locator beacons which all Alliance tags had.

The first one he found belonged to his XO Pressly along with a data pad which despite having fallen from orbit over two years ago was still useable, however he needed to transfer power from his suit before it booted up.

He took a few minutes to read what was still legible despite everything the pad had suffered some corruption. He couldn't help but smile sadly as he read how Pressly's opinions of the alien crewmembers had shifted. He was proud of Pressly, a first contact war veteran, overcoming his biases. He took a moment to stow the data pad in the shuttle before continuing his search.


Priscilla

She browsed one of the tomes she had snagged from the archives following the death of the Pale Drake, her fa-.

No, he wasn't her father, he had never loved her like a father should, he had used her and her sister, until they had grown too old for him to harvest scales from to sustain himself. When the ancient and terrible art of life-hunt had manifested; she had been banished by her mother's father to this place and her mother hadn't lifted a finger in protest. Leaving her sister alone to face the rest of their family.

She had been angry for a long time after that.

Her only guests were the other denizens who would occasionally attack her until one day they had simply accepted her, and the odd undead, who somehow wandered into the painting. She had learned to tell when that happened, there were subtle shifts in the magic of this place when someone arrived, that and the crow-folk flew into a frenzy. Thus, she had gotten well versed in avoiding such guests, but there hadn't been any visitors in a very long time.

So, she was very surprised when she felt that shift which signaled a new arrival, she shut the ancient tome gently and placed it under the protective cover which housed the spoils from her little raid, and swiftly retrieved her scythe as the crows began to caw with excitement.

Whoever had come would regret disturbing her peace.


Yorshka

She was limping badly when they appeared. Three of them, large humanoids, part human, part bird, with extremely long pointed beaks, and beady little black eyes which glinted in the dim light of the painting.

Yorshka backed away carefully as the trio stalked forward, trying to track all three of them meant she wasn't paying close enough attention when one of them lunged, pecking her injured leg. As the crippled limb finally gave up, she blindly swung her spear in an attempt to force them back. One of them contemptuously hopped up and onto the head of the weapon forcing it to the ground, and jarring it from her hands. With their main deterrent out of the way all three of them fell on her, pecking mercilessly. Some of their attacks bounced off the scroll case, one glanced of the metal plates of her armor, but most of them had not trouble piercing the plates and the leather they were bound to. She curled into a ball trying to protect her head and neck from their attacks, but that tended to be about as effective as the armor she wore, one particularly savage peck went through her arm and grazed her neck. There was little doubt in her mind that she would die here, when they stopped, and with a mass beating of wings flew off. She lay still, it hurt too much to even attempt to move, maybe they thought she was dead, but she didn't want to risk attracting their notice again.

She blinked and things were suddenly different. Maybe she had passed out? She still hurt, but there was someone walking nearby. As she watched a pair of bare feet entered her vision, along with the hem of a fuzzy white gown, a wicked looking scythe blade, and for a moment a hint of what may have been a tail.

"Who are thou, who dare trespass upon these grounds?" Demanded a voice which she once knew very well.


Priscilla

She looked down at the bloody heap of meat and armor without favor. Why couldn't those outside the painting just leave them alone. She shifted her grip on her scythe and was about to bring it down when the figure wheezed out several words.

"Pris cilla? Sis ter?"

She frowned as she knelt, the voice was familiar enough to check. The figure moaned in agony as she was rolled onto her back, and Priscilla dropped her scythe as she covered her mouth in horror.

"Yorshka?" she whispered as she reached out her hand but pulled back at the last moment. "Oh gods. What are thou doing hither?" she swallowed and corrected herself. "Nay, doeth not speak thou art severely injured."

She looked around, picking up her scythe and a spear which bore the mark of their uncle Gwyndolin which was nearby and were swiftly bundled together, before gently picking up Yorshka heedless of the blood which dripped onto her gown. She crooned to Yorshka when she whimpered as she was lifted up, and cradled in her arms.

"My home, tis not far, little sister." She soothed as she walked carefully away with her burden, sparing but an instant to glare at one of the crow-folk who was cleaning blood off its beak.


John Shepard

He eyed the Mako which was half embedded in the ice shelf but despite that, what scans he had taken so far were telling him that the Mako was likely salvageable. Provided they could get it out of the ice. It may not have been the one he had taken onto the final run to the conduit, that one he really had trashed, but light vehicle support was nothing to ignored.

"Shepard to Normandy." He said opening the comm link.

"Read you loud and clear Commander." Joker answered.

"I'm looking at an M35 Mako in fairly good condition, think we could dig it out and take it with us."

Joker was silent for a few moments before answering. "You do know most of the ground team hated that thing, right?"

"My driving was not that bad." Shepard replied somewhat indignantly.

"Hate to break it to you Commander, but most of the ground team would have rather had Wrex driving." Joker bluntly answered.

Shepard blinked; he really didn't know how to respond to that. "Look can we dig it out and take it with us or not?"

"According to your scans, extracting the Mako should not be to difficult." EDI informed him.

"Thank you, EDI." Shepard replied cheerly.

"Of course, Commander."

Shepard patted the hood of the Mako gently. "Don't you worry, we'll have you out and back in the field in no time."


Priscilla

She lay Yorshka down as gently as possible, trying not to wake her as she had passed out on the way over. Before summoning a bit of magic to clean the blood from both of them. While she was relived to see that Yorshka was no longer bleeding but she was also worried with how shallow her breathing was. She just wished that there was more she do to help her.

The power she could command was closer to that of their fathers than their mothers. Yet Yorshka had been showing some aptitude with miracles last time she had seen her, why hadn't she healed herself?

Priscilla sighed as she drew water into a vessel from a small spring which had worn its way into this area over the eons. Settling down next to Yorshka she propped her head up and carefully had her drink some of the liquid. Outside of a few small pained noises Yorshka didn't complain and drifted off to sleep shortly afterward. Priscilla quietly retrieved the tome she had been studying when Yorshka had arrived in the painted world.

This tome was really a fascinating treatise detailing Seath's experiments into something called trans-dimensional sorcery, from what she understood it involved some convoluted plot to steal scales from alternate copies of himself. It sounded totally fantastical, and completely like him at the same time.

As she read, fascinated and a little appalled by this knowledge Yorshka began to toss in her sleep, muttering to herself. Priscilla gently restrained her to prevent Yorshka from aggravating her injuries or worse harming herself further. Then she started to pay attention to what Yorshka was saying.

"Brother?" Priscilla frowned slightly at that; they had had no other siblings, least of all a brother. "Where are thou? The knights, the pontiff, he did something to them. They are not, they are coming for thou!"

Yorshka stilled, and Priscilla started to put her down, when she began to thrash violently.

"Brother! Brother? Oh, no. Nonononono… Please don't leave me, please don't leave me alone…" Yorshka sobbed her voice becoming very small.

Priscilla continued to hold Yorshka until she calmed down, softly singing a lullaby their mother once sang to both of them.

"What has been done to thou, dear sister." Priscilla whispered once she was sure Yorshka was deeply asleep.


John Shepard

He growled with annoyance one of the last couple of tags seemed to have fallen into a gap between the CIC's elevated walkway and that section of the super structure and it was looking like he would need to pull that section up to reach it. His ship had taken enough abuse and he hated adding to it.

"You alright down there, Commander?" Joker asked over the comm.

"Fine Joker just a little frustrated. I'm almost done here, any world from the Illusive Man?" Shepard replied as he stormed over to the shuttle and began to look for tools.

"Not that I've heard, but who tells me anything. I'm merely the pilot." Joker responded.

"Bored? Want to switch places?" Shepard teased as he pulled a couple of tools out of a kit located under one of the sets of seats.

"Running around in sub-zero temperatures, punching crates? No thank you, I'll keep my nice comfy leather seat, in my nice warm cockpit, thank you very much." Joker replied.

"Alright Joker, no need to be so touchy. I was merely offering." Shepard stated as he headed back to the obstreperous floor panel.


Yorshka

She blinked slowly, yawned slightly and began to stretch when her body informed her that wasn't a good idea. She relaxed, feeling safe for the first time in a long while, and as she took in her surroundings, she realized she was laying on something soft, warm, and furry.

"Did thy rest seeth thou well?" a voice gently asked from overhead.

Yorshka looked up into a face she had not seen in what felt like ages.

"Priscilla? Is that really, thou? I -" She flushed, suddenly realizing that she had been sleeping cradled in her sisters lap. Instinctively she tried to get to a somewhat less embarrassing position but her leg refused to cooperate.

Priscilla took pity on her, carefully placing her in a relatively comfortable position at her side, a look of concern on her face. Yorshka tried shifting back to Priscilla's question. "I remain sore." She admitted a little redundantly. "Yet I am grateful, to seeth thou again." She continued wincing slightly. "Thou became very, large. Since we last spoke." She added a little sheepishly.

"Tis good to seeth thou as well. Though i would thou were in better health. The crow-folk are not fond of visitors." Priscilla responded a little regretfully before nodding toward a scythe resting against a wall nearby. "As for mine size, the life-hunt granted power, along withal some other effects."

Priscilla looked back to Yorshka. "Yet I recall thou were showing some skill withal the power of miricales. Yet thou did not heal thy own wounds."

Yorshka looked away as she replied. "Uncle Gwyndolin forbade it, he claimed it would attract grandfather's attention. If I seemed weak and powerless, he would not send me to another painting, or anything else." She shivered and not from the cold.

"He protected thou?" Priscilla asked shocked. "I always believed he despised us."

Yorshka shrugged weakly. "I cannot claim to know his mind but yes he did. Perhaps e'en at the end…" She trailed off, hugging herself.

"Forgive mine prying, is that what drove thou to seek me, after so long?"

Yorshka blinked in surprise as her gaze snapped back to her sisters. "Thou spoke in thy sleep." Priscilla explained. "It did not sound pleasant."

Yorshka bowed her head and slowly unfolded the entire, sorry tale, starting with Priscillas banishment, through what little she knew of the fates of their various family members, the dwindling of the Darkmoon knights, culminating in her journey through Ariandel, and the deaths of both Drandra and Maulwint. She was in tears by the time she finished.

"I brought shame upon the company. I did not e'en looketh to seeth if Drandra was alive. I-, I just fled." She sobbed.

"Be honest withal thyself, sister. What could thou verily hast done?" Priscilla consoled her. "If thou were not trained in combat nor miricales then what use would thither hast been?"

"I should-" Yorshka began but was cut off as Priscilla scooped her up and gently placed her back into her lap.

"Enough sister. Beating thyself over the past wilt not help thou. Learn, and move toward the dawn, become stronger, so thou can protect thyself and those around thou." Priscilla lightly scolded.

Yorshka looked up and gave a small sad smile.

"What? Tis thither something on mine face?" Priscilla asked a little bemused by Yorshka's response.

"No, tis just that thou sounded much liketh mother just now. I miss her." Yorshka answered looking away.

"As doeth I some days." Priscilla admitted. "On some others I-" She stiffened suddenly as from beyond the walls there was a mass of eager cawing.

"What is wrong?" Yorshka quietly, afraid of being overheard now painfully aware of the creatures which had attacked her previously.

"Something just arrived, but tis different than anything I hast felt afore now. Curious I-" Priscilla stated before a roaring howl cut her off as the cawing reached its height.

"This cannot be right." Yorshka whimpered. "It should not hast been able to come hither. I hope it did not harm the painter." She stated as the sound of battle began, enraged roars, caws, squawks of pain all blending into one massive cacophony of noise.

"Wherefore doth this thing hunt thou, sister?" Priscilla asked as she set Yorshka aside and rose to retrieve her scythe.

"I doeth not know." Yorshka shuddered as another howl, louder and even angrier than the ones before tore through the air. "Perchance it seeks to returneth me to the tower for sulyvahn's master, perchance it hungers for mine flesh itself."

"Whatever its designs. It shall not touch you. I shall not allow it." Priscilla declared yet as she spoke the light such as it was starting to dim. "That is bad." She frowned as she looked up and through a damaged section of wall. "Sister thou said thou had a bottomless box."

Yorshka nodded. "Yes, I doeth hast one."

"Could I trouble thou for its use." Priscilla asked.

"Of course. What doeth thou need it for?" Yorshka inquired as she produced the object.

Priscilla took the box and opened it before bundling up the various tomes and stuffing the lot into the container.

"The abyss has come for Ariamis." Priscilla sighed. "I had hoped this would ne'r happen. We must leave."

"I just cost thou thy home, didn't I?" Yorshka mumbled as tears started to run down her face again. "Perchance thou should'st just leave me -"

"Nay!" Priscilla snapped glaring at her. "Banish such thoughts from thy head. Thou art not so heavy; I can carry thou well enough."

"I doeth not want to be a burden for thou." Yorshka protested weakly as Priscilla strode over and picked her up with as much care as her haste allowed.

"Thou art mine sister. Thou art not a burden." Priscilla soothed as she strode for the way out of the painted world.

Of course, it wasn't that simple. Figures in skeletal armor had begun to appear intermittently, blindly attacking anything they encountered, Priscilla was able to bisect the few which stood in their way with ease despite only using one hand for her scythe work.

Before long they stood at the place where lost souls had once returned from the painting to the real world.

"Thou must be careful, I doeth not know where the painting ended up." Yorshka warned Priscilla.

A howl drew their attention to the way they had come. Looking back, they saw six orange eyes staring at them from up the path.

"Then we shall find out together. Won't we?" Priscilla whispered as she stepped off the edge.


John Shepard

He eyed the twenty sets of dog tags which hung from their chains. His own were somewhat unsurprisingly missing.

"I wonder what happened to them." he mused idly to himself.

Among the other minor odds and ends he had located his old footlocker. Which as much as he wanted to check the statis of the contents of, he restrained himself until he was back on the ship.

"You almost done down there, Commander?" Joker inquired.

"Yeah, going to do one final sweep, and the plant the locater for the memorial." Shepard replied.

"Good. Cause TIM finally sent the first set of dossiers." Joker informed him.

'TIM?" Shepard asked.

Yeah, The Illusive Man, TIM for short. Can't expect me to say the whole damn thing all the time. To wordy." Joker expanded.

"TIM. I like it. Good work, Joker." Shepard grinned.

"Thanks, Commander! See you soon." Joker finished.

Still smiling to himself Shepard began his last circuit of the site.


Priscilla

She landed in some sort of black liquid which reached to her ankles and wrinkled her nose in disgust. Wading out of the mess took a little while but they finally managed to exit the room which they had ended up in.

The major issue they were having was there was absolutely no light.

Anywhere.

Yorshka swallowed quietly breaking the silence. "The flame tis gone." She whispered in horror.

Priscilla nodded unable to form any sort of response.

"What doeth we doeth? where doeth we hie?" Yorshka asked beginning to get hysterical. "We cannot live hither. The darkness it- it feels as an it gnaws at mine soul."

Priscilla swallowed, she felt it too. It was barely noticeable but it was there.

"We should find shelter, thither is something we can try." She answered.

"We appear to be in a section of Irithyll." Yorshka said as her eyes began to adjust. "Over thither, that building." She pointed. "Its doors should be large enough for thou."

Priscilla took off toward the chosen structure. Yet as they fled, they were forced to skirt several skirmishes between the skeletal figures and tall hollowed knights. Neither side paid them much heed, to engrossed in their own battles to care.

They managed to reach their destination without any major trouble. Once inside Priscilla shut the old wooden doors and barred them, before placing several of the statures which had been lying about in front of them.

"Where are we?" Priscilla asked breathing heavily.

"Tis the old irithyll church. I was imprisoned in the tower above this placeth." Yorshka answered. "What is thy resolve sister?"

"Tis something I found among the pale drakes research. I know not if it wilt work." Priscilla replied honestly as she dug into the box. "Withal a touch of luck. It shall deliver us from this lightless placeth." She continued as she found the tome she was looking for, and gave it a quick hard shake dislodging a section of parchment.

"Let us hope it doth. I did not realize just how dependent we were on the flame's presence, withal it gone, I feel-, I feel as an I am fading aroint." Yorshka replied shakily.

Priscilla nodded in agreement as she took a deep breath and began the incantation.


John Shepard

"Shepard to Normandy, I'm heading back. Over." He paused waiting for the reply. "Normandy do you read? Over?"

"Wha-hat-ommand-you're break-." Jokers voice could barely be heard over the static which was suddenly interfering with the comms.

"State of the art my-" Shepard muttered as he trudged back toward the shuttle. An odd shudder and a faint rumble had him checking his surroundings, he was momentarily shocked to see what looked like a massive blizzard like descending rapidly towards the site.

"Alert. Atmospheric anomaly detected." The shuttles VI helpfully informed him as he withdrew to the relative safety of the light crafts interior.

He barely made it in time to seal the shuttle against the storm's fury. Shepard moved to the cockpit and tried to get the craft to lift off.

"Alert. Atmospheric conditions make safe takeoff impossible. Please stand by." The VI chirped.

"Great. Just great." Shepard sighed as he leaned back in the pilot's seat and while waiting for the storm to pass, he dozed off.


Priscilla

She screamed as the magic she had unleashed tore at her very being. Tendrils of magic licked at her flesh, she had not hurt so in, she couldn't remember a time she had felt such overwhelming agony.

She thought that she had over estimated the power the spell had needed to such an extent as to have killed them both. Yet just as her vision began to darken the magic stopped seemingly sated.

She collapsed onto her knees, bruising them on the cold stone floor, but before losing consciousness she saw the faint glimmer of light breaking through the old stained glasses above the door.


John Shepard

"-mandy to Shepard. Come in. Over!" Jokers voice sounded a bit frantic.

"I'm here Joker." Shepard responded a little groggily.

"Damn it, Commander! You almost gave me a heart attack. You've been out of contact for a while." Joker sighed.

"There was something interfering with the comms." Shepard explained as he started to power up the shuttle.

"Sensors detected an anomaly shortly before your last attempted contact. Its origin point is a little over six kilometers away." EDI chimed in.

"I'm already down here I'll go take a look." Shepard said as the shuttle began to lift off.

"Are you sure you don't want back up?" Miranda asked. "After all we don't know what happened yet."

"Providing it doesn't take out the shuttle I should be fine Miss. Lawson. Also please make arrangements for us to get a second shuttle, only having one is just asking for trouble." Shepard replied as he punched in the new coordinates.

"Understood Commander." Miranda answered coolly.

Shepard could hardly believe what his eyes were telling him. Granted he was technically undead but still…

All reports on Alchera had said that it was a frozen ice-ball of a planet, devoid of life, and would likely stay that way until the local star exploded. So why in hell was he looking at a section of a city at the bottom of a shallow ravine. Had it always been here?

"Shepard to Normandy. Is the uplink from my helmet operational?" He asked still staring.

"Yes, Commander getting a clear… signal…" Joker trailed off, before he unexpectedly broke down laughing. "Jenkins was right Commander! Everything that happens to you, is weird!"

"Laugh it up Joker…" Shepard muttered as he scanned for a safe place to land the shuttle. "EDI how stable are the cliff above this place and do we have any clue as to how this place got here?"

"Hard to say Commander as some of the buildings seem to be fused with the cliff face. I would advise caution." The AI replied.


Priscilla

She blinked several times before screwing her eyes shut at the massive headache which pounded at the inside of her skull.

"Serves thyself right. Attempting untested magic." She rebuked herself as she pushed herself to her knees. She swayed slightly as she reached for her scythe to help her keep her balance.

To her shock the life-hunt scythe crumbled to dust under her grasp.

She stared at the pile of dust with mounting horror. She hadn't been without her weapon in so long she felt almost naked without its solid presence.

As she looked around, she remembered something extremely important, and found herself half stumbling, half crawling over to Yorshka.

She wasn't a healer but even she could tell that Yorshka looked bad, and that wasn't the end of their troubles, because either Yorshka had unexpectantly grown, or she had shrunk. Both options were disturbing.

"Priscilla?" Yorshka whispered blinking slowly.

"I'm hither." She answered softly trying not to look at the small pool of blood which was forming beneath Yorshka.

"I'm tired, it doth not hurt anymore." Yorshka mumbled causing the fur on Pricilla's tail to stand on end.

Priscilla chewed her lip slightly. She didn't want to leave Yorshka alone in her state, but if she stayed Yorshka would die. She sighed; she knew what she needed to do. "Yorshka I need to hie out to looketh for something to help thou. Doeth thou hast any weapons?"

"Uncle, uncles cross-spear should be in the box." Yorshka replied weakly.

As Priscilla dug through the box, she watched Yorshka from the corner of her eye, before long she found the spear along with a saber. Pressing the sabre into Yorshka's grasp she promised to return as soon as she could, before setting out through an unblocked door.


John Shepard

He stepped out of the shuttle and into the snow yet again. Miranda's and EDI's notification that Cerberus would pay for any artifacts he found not really helping his mood. Not just because he trusted them about as far as he could throw them, and he may need to rethink that saying, considering the cybernetics he had been augmented with. The technical details were beyond him but he understood the basics, reinforced skeletal structure, stronger synthetic muscle tissues, enhanced reflex boosters, synthetic adrenal glands, among others meant he was in theory stronger, faster, and tougher than he had been before he had died.

Now however he was doing part of what made him want join the Alliance when he had been a kid. The chance to explore.

He hadn't felt that since Mindoir.

No, he didn't trust Cerberus with his finds because they were all to likely to keep whatever they discovered to themselves to "defend humanity".

He'd bet Rear Admiral Kahoku, the 42nd frontier company, the nearly one hundred and fifty colonists on Chasca, along with the Rachni would argue about just what Cerberus was "protecting".

For now, he had work to do.

He pushed into the ruins with next to no trouble. The buildings were sound apparently made from stone despite the oddity of their location. It didn't take long for him to start finding things.

The problem was none of them made any damn sense.

The first thing he found was when his foot landed on something in the snow. Digging it out he found himself with a sword. Now he wasn't short at a height of nearly six three, but the sword he found himself with, was for starters, fairly heavy and damn near seven feet long. To say nothing of the style of buildings whose style bore more than a passing resemblance to gothic architecture. He leaned the weapon against a nearby wall tagging it for retrieval on the way out, unaware of the hostile eyes which were focusing on him.


Priscilla

She padded lightly over the cobblestoned streets of what had been the city of Irithyll, now scattered across the landscape. The cross spear, a reassuring weight in her grasp. The problem was, she had no idea where to go. A sudden mix of foreign sounds in the distance caught her attention, as something close by roared.


John Shepard

This was to much. He had fought cyber-zombies, plant-zombies not to mention those plant asari things, fought a supposedly extinct species of giant insects, talked to an ancient, sentient, omnicidal, ship, and come back from the dead, but real honest to god zombies were just too much.

Worse yet they refused to stay dead.

He gritted his teeth as he fired his shotgun point blank into the hollow face of one of his three attackers, nearly decapitating it, sending it crashing to the ground.

The weapon gave a pathetic beep, as he tried to fire it again letting him know that it had overheated and wanted another of those damned thermal clips.

With no other good options at the moment he reversed his grip and swung the weapon like a club at the next closest enemy.

His enhanced strength both helped and hindered him in that moment. The impact caved the metal helmet in along with the thing's skull, but the force was too much for the weapon which was not designed to be used in such a manor. The Katana shotgun exploded into a mess of shattered polymers and metal.

He dropped the broken mess as the last one armed with a spear charged him.

A quick sidestep let him grab the haft and punched the husk like thing in the face. Which gave him the wonderful experience of watching its head collapse around his fist, before it slumped to the ground.

His breath was coming in rapid pants as he looked around for more enemies, while he contacted the Normandy.

"Miranda is there anyway to get this planet quarantined? Cause I don't know what the fuck is going on down here but I know I don't like it." The sound of movement nearby caused him to turn, draw his sidearm and double tap the spear wielder who had started to rise to its feet.

"I doubt it, Commander. We're in the terminus systems. Without a central authority outside of possibly Aria a proper planetary quarantine is unlikely." Miranda admitted. "Do you need help, Commander?"

"At this rate? Yes." Shepard admitted. "Recall the shuttle and get down here, bring Jacob too. I'm going to look for high ground and wait for you." He finished as he began to search the bodies.

He came up with a couple of shards of a dense stone like material, along with a small green flask with a bit of some orange liquid within it. Neither of which his omni-tool could make any sense of. He slipped all three items into a pouch on his belt, before exiting the alleyway. As he stepped into a large area dominated by a frozen water fountain, something nearby howled.


Priscilla

She eyed the beast which had hopped off a building and into the courtyard she had entered, red-hot rage filling her spirit. This thing had harmed Yorshka, who had been deliberately kept untrained so not to be a threat, but she wasn't her sister, and this beast was in her way.

She leveled the spear blade at the creature as it pawed the frost covered ground, as if gauging the amount of ice, all six eyes focused on her.

So, she was ready when it lunged.

She danced to the side, cloaking herself in illusion even as the beast's paws lost traction and slammed into a stone wall, stunning it.

She didn't waste the opening, as the creature shook its head slowly, she cupped her hands in front of her mouth and exhaled, covering the beasts head in a thin layer of frost, which rapidly thickened.

Yet she had to back away swiftly as the creature began to flail wildly, she dodged away the creature's claws catching her gown for a moment, as the creature slammed into another wall before it started rubbing at its head with its fore limbs trying to free its head.

While it was distracted, she charged and plunged the spear blade deep into one of the beast's legs, twisting the weapon in an attempt to destroy the joint.

It gave with a popping snap which satisfied something within her, as she belatedly noticed that it was the same leg which the beast had damaged on Yorshka. As the beast collapsed its back to her, she yanked the weapon free and drove the spear into the spot at the base of the skull, causing the beast to go limp.

She waited, breathing heavily, for the beast's corpse to dissipate, but it just lay there.

"Perchance things are different hither." She thought to herself.

As she came down off the thrill of battle, a pain in her side made itself known. She pressed her hand to it and it came away bloody.

She needed to be more careful, as she would be of no help if she bled to death. Yet she found what she came for, one of the bodies in the courtyard still grasped a small green flask in its icy grip.

Once she had freed it, she began the trek back the way she had come, trying to ignore the ache in her side.

Behind her in the courtyard the beast, twitched.


John Shepard

He knelt behind the fountain using it for cover, occasionally sneaking a glance at the large lupine creature which had dropped into the area. There was something wrong with the beast, not that there had been a whole lot right with this place so far.

This thing took the cake. He wasn't even sure how it was even alive; a section of its chest had been torn open with rib bones jutting out at odd angles.

He grimaced slightly as he went for the small pouch of grenades on his belt. Hopefully with enough high explosives it would go down and stay there.

He tightened his grip on the first of the grenades but before he could lob it the creature reared up onto its hind legs, sniffing the air. It snarled and deftly leaped from its position to a nearby rooftop and dashed away, vanishing from sight.

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief as he moved across the area. He had seen a large building with an attached tower which would, with any luck, be assessable, or worst-case scenario he could just blow the doors open. He kept scanning as he reached the location he had chosen; however, he didn't encounter anything else as he walked up a set of stone stairs to arrive at a large set of wooden double doors.

He braced himself to push them open, but there was a muted crack as he started applying force, and the doors simply fell inward with a heavy thud. He dove for cover and waited to see if anything came to investigate, but nothing seemed to have noticed the noise.

The building he entered somewhat resembled a church, another thing he had given up on since Mindoir, maybe it was time to start attending again.

He banished the thought with a quick shake of his head, now was not the time.

He swept the building but the only thing he spotted was a figure propped against the alter at the rear of the building.

Shepard approached with caution but his omni-tool picked up something strange about this one.

A heartbeat. It was faint and erratic but it was there, which was more of a sign of life than he had gotten since he landed on this stinking planet.

As he knelt beside the figure which was wearing equipment like the others who had attacked him. It swung feebly with a saber it held in its grasp, he deflected the strike with ease, sending the sword skating across the stone floor, and as if it had used the last of its strength the figure went limp.

Shepard sighed quietly, he knew what he needed to do both as an Alliance officer and as a SPECTRE. He contacted the Normandy. "Miranda are you on your way back down?"

"We're about to take off. We should be down in ten minutes." She replied.

"Wait! I need you to get Doctor Chakwas as well. Tell her to bring whatever she needs to treat an unknown alien lifeform. I have someone alive down here, but they're in bad shape." Shepard explained.

"An unknown alien? Are you sure that's wise?" Miranda asked.

"Miranda, this is part of why you brought me back. I save lives if I can. We'll take precautions I'm not reckless." Shepard reminded her.

Miranda sighed. "I know, I can agree to precautions. It will take a little while to gather what Doctor Chakwas needs. Maybe 20 minutes out?"

"Alright I will do what I can down here until then." Shepard finished as he pulled a disposable medigel dispenser from his belt. "I just hope this helps." He muttered to himself as he started to use the substance to prevent further blood loss.


Priscilla

She hurried back toward the church as fast as she could, but she was hampered both by her wound and the fact that the path she had used had seemingly vanished into a maze of alleyways, and dead ends.

Costing her time Yorshka did not have.

She started to despair when something flew over head and a flash of red light shot into the air a short distance away.

Calling on what was left of her strength she did what she should have done earlier. She scaled the closest building to traverse the area on the rooftops. Not seeing the eyes which kept watch nearby…


John Shepard

It didn't take twenty minutes for Miranda, Jacob, and Doctor Chakwas to arrive, but he had to use the personal emergency kit's flare gun to signal his location. While Miranda and Jacob took in the scenery Chakwas was all business.

"Where's my patient Commander." Chakwas requested in her no-nonsense tone which could cow full marine fireteams.

Shepard led them all inside without any small talk. He remembered how Chakwas got when she was focused on doing what she was best at.

Saving lives, human and alien alike.

Shepard stood back and let his ships doctor do her work.

"Anything of note Commander?" Miranda asked.

"A few artifacts that I could carry without issue. I tagged a few things for retrieval earlier." He answered.

Miranda nodded. "The shuttles interface picked that up. Goldstein is unsure if how stable the cliffs are, we may-" She was cut off as something outside the building gave a roaring howl. "What was that?" Jacob asked warily.

"Trouble." Shepard answered. "Jacob, stay with Chakwas. Miranda you're with me."


Priscilla

She followed the rooftops until she reached the courtyard before the church, the glowing red light having faded shortly after she had noticed it. There was a strange box like object on the ground between her and the church. She was so focused on the strange object that she was completely blindsided as something hit her from behind. As she hit the ground, she heard a howl of triumph, and then nothing.


John Shepard

He led Miranda out of the building and they took cover looking over the clear space where Goldstein had set the shuttle, and where the creature he had seen previously was stalking toward something slumped on the ground on their side of the area, appearing to ignore the shuttle.

"Miranda can you handle a sniper rifle?" He asked her quietly.

"Yes Commander." She replied.

"Good I need you to cover me. We have to drive that thing off before we can evac." He instructed as he passed her the rifle and clips. "Go for the eyes if you can."

Shepard vaulted their cover, drawing his grenade launcher as he descended, toward the beast.


Priscilla

She blinked sluggishly, barely able to hear anything over the ringing in her ears. She tried to move but the pain in her arm almost made her black out again. The small orange flask was close but that wasn't what held her notice.

The beast was stalking closer all six eyes blazing hatred and malice. There was a sharp crunch as the creature stepped on the flask.

She closed her eyes in resignation.

She had failed.

A loud crack and a yelp of pain caused her to open her eyes. The beast staggered back one of its eyes having been blinded. A shout along with a muted whump followed by an explosion sent it back even further. It growled turning its attention away from her.

She was hurt enough to be glad of that as she slipped back to unconsciousness.


John Shepard

Miranda was a decent shot even managing to take out an eye with her first round, but she wasn't Garrus.

Shepard really missed his old crew but now wasn't the time for such thoughts.

He fired the grenade launcher again catching it in the muzzle blowing a chunk of it away. To his annoyance it stayed standing.

"Why. Won't. You. Just. Die!" He gritted out punctuating each word with a shot from the heavy weapon. By the time the last explosion had stopped echoing across the area there was not a lot left of the beast head.

He exhaled as he collapsed the weapon and holstered it.

"Jacob tell Doctor Chakwas that we are clear to leave for the moment," He looked to the other figure which the creature had been going after. "and that she may have another patient." He finished as he knelt by the alien. Like the other one the alien was humanoid but he really couldn't tell much more than that.

"You alright Commander?" Goldstein asked having left the shuttle.

"I'm fine for the moment. Help me get this one onto the shuttle."

Goldstein nodded as she shifted around some equipment to make floor space. Shepard lifted the alien easily and with as much care as he could manage, laying it onto the floor of the shuttle. Jacob and Chakwas arrived shortly with a stretcher carrying the other alien. Miranda turned up with both the sword the first alien had held, along with an odd spear like weapon which they began to secure.

They weren't quite ready when Goldstein gunned the engines, the inertial dampeners weren't fully active, as the sudden movement almost sent Miranda toppling over onto Shepard.

Shepard caught Miranda as he called out to Goldstein. "What's going on up there?"

"Sorry Commander!" Goldstein called back. "Its just that thing you killed, it started to move and the sensors detected another one." She sounded a little freaked out.

"Then get us out of here." Shepard replied as he settled down on an open seat.

"Yes, Sir!" Goldstein answered.

"The Illusive Man will want a report on this." Miranda stated.

"Shepard sighed. "I know. I just don't know what is safe to tell him." He muttered the last sentence under his breath watching Chakwas do what she could for the second alien.


Authors note

This is another one of my "experiment fics" where I type up an idea, throw in a few concepts I want to try out, and let it loose.

As always constructive criticism is welcomed. So, if you think I over did something let me know.

Review Responses.

Alby199800: I am glad you liked it. I'll admit I was a bit worried about this one.

Guest: Thanks!

The True Skull: I try to fix errors as I find them but you were right about the Elizabethan English. I hope that I fixed that.

Guest 2: *Shrugs* I thought about that but I was unwilling to make any massive leaps with the Dark Souls world. The cycles seem to keep that would squarely in the middle ages technology wise and hasn't progressed in any major way in three games.

I know I likely fiddled with linage and a few other lore bits by making Pricilla and Yorshka sisters but most people seem to think they are related to some extent. I also adjusted Yorshka's design a little, since she never stands up, I had to eyeball how long her tail likely was, the one concept artwork I found for her was no help. Her tail was longer than she is tall in that one and while interesting nowhere near its length in game.

Yorshka's usage of yes and no. While not proper Elizabethan English I figure that her interactions with the Ashen One could encourage small changes in her speaking patterns over a given period of time. Which means a bit of head-canoning. Like most people I tended only to visit to turn in a batch of ears in game, but I can see a more compassionate Ashen One visiting her, just because they could.

Also, despite what some of you may think at this moment I actually like both Pricilla and Yorshka.

Sulyvahn's beasts. Visually intimating, aggressive attack patterns, and drops like a sack of potatoes if you know what you're doing. I was kind of disappointed with these things, they had so much potential especially the fact they could appear from thin air but only one does that and we get two more who are just sitting in the open. It really felt like a waste.

One of the writing ideas I've heard bandied about is if you like/love a character, make them suffer. I'm starting to feel like this is compete and udder crap. Just like "If you're stuck kill a character." Cause honestly, I felt pretty horrible writing some of this.