AN: Of course I found out, doing research between chapter 9 and here, that Astora is actually supposed to have been destroyed by the Beast of the Evil Eye. I'm well aware of the fact now, but I couldn't ever find a timescale for when it happened, other than before the events of Dark Souls 1. As a result, I'm going to say that it was rather recent, from the point of view of this storyline. And so, I got off-track again, writing a chapter about Solaire exploring the ruins of his beloved city rather than trying to get back to Lordran. Enjoy!
Chapter Ten: Evil Eye
Solaire grinned jovially as he and Ornstein continued in their long trek out of the mountains and down towards Astora. While he knew that he was, ultimately, going to be sent back to Lordran for this journey, he relished the opportunity to see the city that had been his home for so long once more. Solaire and Ornstein were now into the foothills from the mountains, and Solaire knew from having made this approach multiple times in the past that they were nearly there. There were a grand total of two more hills to climb over, and beyond that only a few thousand meters to the city gates. He smiled as he crested the penultimate hill, continuing down into the valley. Solaire remembered his glorious view of Astora from the mountaintops - its towers gleaming silver and rising tall to the sky, just as ever. He hadn't been able to make out any details at that distance, but his mind was more than capable of filling in the rest.
Solaire briefly glanced over at Ornstein, the golden-clad lionlike dragon slayer easily keeping pace with him as he climbed the hill. Ornstein had every bit of the grace befitting the animal whose symbol he was dressed in. They crested a hill, and Solaire's jolly attitude instantly vanished. There, before him, was the glorious city of Astora... without any of its glory. The wall surrounding the city was crumbling and scorched, while most of the buildings inside of the city had been leveled. Only the peaks of the tall towers, the segments that Solaire had been able to see from the mountaintops, retained any of their beauty. Smoke rose from the entirety of the city, and Solaire gasped in horror. Instead of radiating beauty, glory, and safety, Astora radiated death and decay. With an angry shout, Solaire sprinted down the final hill, drawing his sword and shield with a scream of rage. He charged the city, determined to destroy the monster which had reduced his beloved homeland to such a state. That is, until he found himself flat on his back.
Ornstein watched with very limited patience as Solaire rushed down the hill with a scream, seeming as though he was trying to avenge the city. After a moment, Ornstein realized that the sunlight warrior wouldn't be coming to his senses of his own accord any time soon, and sprinted after him. Ornstein's larger strides and training with moving incredibly swiftly easily deposited him ahead of Solaire, who, in his rage, seemed not to notice the large dragon slayer. Since Solaire wasn't stopping, Ornstein responded by simply raising the butt of his spear to slam Solaire in the chest. The sunlight warrior was knocked clean off of his feet, deposited surely and efficiently on his back. Ornstein growled warningly as Solaire jumped to his feet, turning and preparing to charge the golden-armored spearman himself.
"I would advise against that," Ornstein said with a pointed look at Solaire. To further reinforce his point, he examined the tip of his spear, making it quite obvious that he was weighing its size against that of Solaire. The sunlight warrior picked up on the cue, and gulped visibly.
"Advice noted," Solaire said, "But why did you stop me? This destruction must be avenged!" Ornstein sighed inwardly; even now, Solaire wasn't getting the bigger picture. Ornstein began to explain patiently, knowing that himself getting frustrated would get the pair absolutely nowhere.
"First of all, your quest for vengeance is completely misguided. We've no guarantee that whatever did this is still here. Additionally, if it is, what chance do you have charging in alone with nothing but your sword and shield. It was able to do this to a rather well defended city, after all." Solaire nodded hesitantly, sheathing his sword and replacing his shield on his bac,
"So, what do you propose?" Solaire asked, looking at Ornstein hopefully.
"We proceed, but we proceed with caution," Ornstein said. Solaire seemed in agreement to this, and the duo walked towards the city together.
Astora looked even worse from inside the city walls. The cobbled streets, once polished to the point of shining, were now dull and tarnished, covered with ash and cracked far too frequently. Rubble from the smaller buildings was strewn everywhere, and it soon became clear that not even the towers, which appeared to still be standing strong and tall, escaped unscathed. Solaire was on the verge of tears as he walked through the ruins of his once-great city, restraining them only for the sake of Ornstein, who kept stride immediately at his back. The entire city, in the state that it was in, radiated despair and death, with just a hint of the lingering malice that had caused this destruction.
Over the next ten minutes, Solaire and Ornstein had covered almost an eighth of the city, confirming it to be completely empty. As they finished their search of the first octant, however, and were about to move on to the second, they heard a wheezing cough, followed by a weak cry for help. Solaire snapped to attention, noticing that Ornstein did the same, both doing their best to locate the source of the sound. Before very long, they managed to narrow down the source of the sound to a single, collapsed house. The pair began quickly digging through the rubble, and before very long, uncovered a man who was still alive, if only just. They hastily pulled him free of the rubble, and Solaire crouched down to take a look at him - the man was completely human, meaning that there would be no way for them to simply give him an Estus Flask and allow his body to heal itself. Reasoning this out rather quickly, Solaire did the next best thing; he pulled out his talisman, a personalized item made of feathers, and said a quick prayer for healing, kneeling over the man. The injured man's wounds immediately closed, and he took a deep breath, far healthier than the wheezing breaths that he had been taking just moments before.
"Thank you, sir knights. I think that this city may have a chance at justice after all," the man said, sitting up.
"How do you mean?" Ornstein asked, "How big is the army that did this?"
"Not an army. A creature. One single, massive beast, black as the night. It's like a dragon, but... not quite. It's gaze alone is capable of ripping the souls from the strongest of men, and it seems to be made of nothing but pure shadows. Not even the holy swords of the Astoran company of elite knights could harm it. But... there is a way. I determined that if the beast is naught but a twisted soul given form, it must be possible to trap this soul. I made this..." The man held up a ring, intricately worked silver, but with a blank faceplate, almost as if the crest hadn't been added yet. Ornstein gasped audibly.
"The magic infusing that is evil. I can have nothing to do with it!" Ornstein exclaimed, quickly backing away from the man and raising his spear.
"Relax, Ornstein. You won't have to. I'll carry the ring," Solaire said, taking it from the man and turning back to him.
"Now, if you would be so kind to explain how it works?" Solaire asked the man, as he accepted the enchanted piece of jewelry.
"It's quite simple, really. The ring needs to come into contact with the essence of the beast, and it'll be absorbed in instants. The ring will gain powers based on the nature of the beast, and it could come quite in handy later on down your journey," the man explained, "Now, go. Before you lose your chance. And... I'll let it slide that you're back given the nature of this city... Solaire." The sunlight warrior chuckled at being recognized, placing the ring in his left palm after slipping his shield onto his back.
"Come," Solaire told his dragon slaying companion, "Let's go find this foul beast of darkness."
Solaire spotted the beast within two minutes of setting out again, standing ominously over the ruins of the central palace of the once-great Astora. True to the man's word, the creature resembled a dragon, but was wreathed in darkness which writhed about itself, seeming never to be still even whilst the beast as a whole was completely static. Solaire glanced down at the ring, and back at Ornstein.
"How far away do you reckon I can throw this from?" Solaire asked the golden-armored dragon slayer, trying to judge their current distance to the beast. It would be a long shot from here, but he could pull it off, from relative safety.
"I reckon you can make it," Ornstein said, "I've seen your arm tossing those lightning spears before." Solaire was surprised that he had, considering that the two of them had never actually battled side by side, or truly against each other, as of yet.
Must be some observing magic of the gods, Solaire reasoned to himself, and readied his arm to throw the ring. After a final glance at Ornstein, who nodded, Solaire adjusted his aim one last time, and flung the ring towards the beast. The small trinket sailed beautifully through the air, glimmering as the sun's light reflected off of it's polished silver surface. However, as the shimmering speck arced away from them, it became obvious that Solaire's throw had fallen a few feet short. Solaire swore aloud as it hit the ground with a harmless plink. Maybe a tad bit too loud. No sooner had the curse left his lips than the beast growled, turning it's gaze towards them
"Don't meet it's eyes!" Ornstein exclaimed, ducking his head and placing his body between himself and Solaire. Solaire himself remembered very clearly his old friend's words about the beast's gaze. Ornstein fired a lightning bolt from his spear blindly, but whether it hit the beast or not, it had no effect. A plan formulated in Solaire's mind.
"I have an idea. I know where the ring landed, so if you could draw the beast's attention while I ran to grab it, I could give it another throw - I'd get much closer, this time around. I don't want to be missing again," Solaire announced, and Ornstein glanced back at him, nodding. Ornstein sprinted off in one direction, making no attempt to conceal the noise of his armor. The beast, being only that, took the bait immediately. As soon as it had moved off of the spot where the ring had landed, Solaire broke cover, making a beeline for the spot where the ring had plopped to the ground. With the excitement of the battle inside him as it was, Solaire managed to close the distance in a matter of seconds, stopping as he caught a glimmer of light inside of a pile of rubble. He had found it. Now, the trouble was reaching it; it was inside of a pile of rubble.
Solaire muttered a quick prayer for his companion's safety while he dove into the pile, digging around for the ring. He felt the cold metal on his fingers for a moment, before the ring fell deeper into the rubble. Solaire reached deeper in after it, and he felt his fingers brush just outside of their ability to pick the thing up. There was only one option left to him. He pushed down on the ring, as hard as he could, and grabbed his talisman with his other hand, creating an expanding wave of brutal force. The pile of rubble disintegrated, leaving Solaire standing with his fingers pinning the glimmering enchanted ring to a rock. Solaire grabbed the ring, and sprinted after Ornstein and the beast he was distracting.
Ornstein decided very quickly that fighting a foe which you could neither hit nor look at was incredibly difficult. Ornstein's main priority was avoiding the beast's attacks, but even that was difficult - he had to rely on the sounds that the creature made as it swung it's massive paws at him - paws that could somehow hit him, despite him being unable to touch them. Ornstein had lasted for almost two minutes now, and was beginning to wonder where the hell Solaire was with that ring. Just as the thought crossed his mind, however, he heard the beast roar and shriek in an earsplitting manner, closely resembling a cry of pain. Ornstein made the horrible mistake of glancing back over his shoulder. He saw the beast imploding, as if being sucked into the ring, as white lines ran across it's entire being. However, it's eyes remained intact, and Ornstein realized that he was looking straight into them. Not a single instant later, he felt a feeling within, something horribly wrong, and he screamed as that feeling morphed into one of absolute agony before his world went black.
Ornstein awoke to the sight of Solaire's concerned face, and sat up. It took him about three more seconds to realize that there was something seriously wrong. Solaire was almost a full three inches TALLER - the last time Ornstein had stood next to Solaire, he had been almost twice the height of the sunlight warrior. Shortly after that, Ornstein realized that his armor and spear were missing - he was dressed in simple cloths, probably the only things that could be found.
"What's going on?" Ornstein demanded, his red eyes fixing on Solaire and glaring at him.
"Ornstein... I don't know where to begin."
AN: Wow, that turned out differently than expected. Also took a hell of a lot longer than expected - I still am waiting on your guys' decision as to which ending you want to see. As for the last bit... Ornstein as human? (Or whatever creature he is if you take the piece of lord soul out of the equation)? I want to know your take on that, and how I rendered the beast of the evil eye. I'm so done setting deadlines... no need to give you guys false hope. I guess I'll get to the next chapter when I get to it.