AN: Oh, the amount of pain I went through to write this chapter. I had it written within a week of my last release, read over it to check for mistakes, decided that it was utter crap, scrapped it, and started over. That normally happens once or twice during my writing process, so I didn't think anything of it at the time. And then it happened again. And again. 17 times in a row, over and over until I finally just gave up for nearly an entire month. Then I came back to the chapter, and tried a few more times. Four more drafts went in the bin, I remembered why I had given up the first time, and I set it down again. Now, over the last few days, I've had absolutely nothing else to do pending new batteries for my wireless mouse, and I decided to fight through the misery of trying to get this damned thing written and finally give my readers some content. I make it a point to prioritize quality over quantity, but these last few months I've given you neither, and stumbled across a new saying - "Don't let perfect become the enemy of good enough." And so, I've told myself to publish the first iteration of this chapter that I come up with (spellchecked, of course, but not revised asides from grammar) before people forget that this thing exists.
Chapter Thirteen: Death and Glory
Havel panted as he slammed his dragon tooth into yet another Darkwraith, crushing it. Somewhere nearby, Siegmeyer was engaged with another of the monsters. They had been rushing about the city for several days now, trying to keep up with the enemies that were popping up everywhere. The had killed hundreds of the things, and had managed to get ahead of the tide for the most part, managing to find and kill the Darkwraiths as fast as they appeared. Even so, they were only two men, and could only do so much. As a result, the death toll on the city of Catarina had been pushed well into the thousands. Havel had outlined a plan to Siegmeyer that involved rounding the city's population up into one group in one location, Catarina's central keep, so that they could be easily guarded by a smaller force - potentially as small as two men. Havel watched Siegmeyer deflect a darksword off of his shield before ramming his Zweihander through his opponent's gut, before yanking the blade free and kicking the corpse to the ground. The plan was working so far, as Siegmeyer and Havel were picking off the Darkwraiths that appeared to give the city time to pile into the central keep, a massive stone structure which stood just behind them.
In reality, though, the plan's only purpose was to give the Catarinans hope - the city was already lost. Havel and Siegmeyer had both experienced the power of the Darkwraiths firsthand, and both knights had witnessed the monstrosities materialize in the midst of crowds using their red eye orbs. The largest problem was the nature of the majority of their enemies as red phantoms rather than physical beings. As phantoms, the Darkwraiths couldn't truly be killed, and would keep invading again and again until one of them got lucky against Havel or Siegmeyer, and then they could easily overwhelm the remaining knight. It didn't help that both men had discovered their estus useless and their darksigns missing earlier in the day; death really would spell the end if it came. The king had sent riders out into the surrounding countryside carrying a desperate plea for help, but it would be days, if not weeks, until help arrived. The closest city to Catarina which maintained a fighting force was Astora - and Havel had heard rumors of troubles besieging that city as well. Not that it would make any difference; the majority of the onion knights of Catarina had already been slaughtered brutally at the hands of the wraiths, showing that they were capable of overwhelming entire armies through their unnatural abilities.
"We're backed into a corner, friend," Siegmeyer shouted as seven red phantoms stalked towards the pair. Havel grunted I'm agreement as he hefted his dragon tooth; this very well could be the end for both of them. A group of four was the most that Havel and Siegmeyer had managed to defeat - and that, only with quite a bit of luck.
"Even still, we shall stand strong in the face of this new challenge. We'll have both death and glory at the end of this day!" Siegmeyer shouted, charging into the fray with a defiant battle cry. Havel grinned, charging after him to cover the onion knight's back. Songs would be sung of what they were about to attempt, if indeed any were left alive to sing them. Siegmeyer swept his Zweihander around in a wide sweeping blow, not aimed at any darkwraiths in particular, but rather designed to force the group onto the back foot. Havel followed up his attack with a more targeted strike at the darkwraith in the center, which was stopped dead as the wraith extended its left hand, forming a sort of rippling in the air. The hand itself radiated a sickly, dark red aura, the signature color of the art of life drain. However, the darkwraith's supernatural shield didn't save it, as Siegmeyer slammed his pierce shield forwards, its wicked central spike taking the wraith through the neck. Siegmeyer immediately pulled back again as two other darkwraiths struck at the pair of knights. Havel firmly raised his greatshield, taking both attacks with relative ease, before bringing his dragon tooth around for another overhead slam. The pair of darkwraiths casually sidestepped his attack, before the one on the right casually blocked Siegmeyer's strike as well. The left darkwraith as well as a third wraith slashed at Havel, who, suffering from the recoil of his whiffed attack, was unable to raise his shield in time. The first strike glanced off of Havel's right pauldron harmlessly, but the second was better aimed, slamming into the left side of Havel's gorget and cracking it, causing splinters of stone to fly up into the air, as well as a few to dig into his neck. That hurt like hell, but Havel had no time to reach for his estus, instead heaving his greatshield around to block the two strikes that were aimed at Siegmeyer.
"My thanks, friend, but I fear this is still a losing battle. Whatever can we do to even the odds?" Siegmeyer wondered aloud, even as Havel blocked a third strike. Siegmeyer spun to slash at the two wraiths who had begun to circle around behind the pair of knights, searching for a backstab. He was right. Havel knew that six was far too many, even if they had managed a quick kill of the seventh wraith. Then, the most beautiful sound Havel had ever heard resounded from an unsound location, even as the blade of a draconic looking straight sword erupted from the chest of one of the darkwraiths in front of him. The sound was Solaire's voice.
"Even the odds? Why, I figure that an extra companion or two might be a step in the right direction," the warrior of sunlight announced with his jolly tone, as the darkwraith he had just backstabbed dropped to the ground, revealing Solaire standing in his iconic armor. Another figure, wearing a gambeson and sporting long, vibrant red hair leapt from a nearby rooftop, skewering a second wraith on a sturdy but rather plain spear.
"Now it's four against four," the newcomer stated, "seems like evened odds to me." The voice and mannerisms of the red-haired stranger reminded Havel strongly of Captain Ornstein, but that was impossible; he was the wrong height, standing slightly shorter than Havel himself, and Havel knew that Ornstein had had his armor with him during the disaster - not that it would fit a man of this size anyways.
"All right, split up. Each man pick a target and take it down," Havel ordered, charging towards his own darkwraith. Solaire, Siegmeyer, and the stranger each picked their own target and moved to the offensive as well. Havel pushed their battles to the periphery of his mind, focusing in on his own conflict. Havel lead with his shield, preparing to block the slash which he knew the darkwraith would throw out as the stone-clad knight closed the distance. The attack that came turned out to be a thrust instead, but Havel blocked it all the same, before heaving his club forwards into a deadly slam. His club was once again stopped dead in its tracks by the supernatural shield created by the dark energies of life drain, but Havel was ready for it. He twisted his body to slam his greatshield into the darkwraith's face, knocking the creature prone, before twisting again to bring his club down to crush it, hearing the satisfying crunch of its bones being crushed the powder, before turning to survey the battlefield and checking on his companions. He nearly missed the red-haired stranger as the man lunged forwards in an inhuman burst of speed, skewering his darkwraith nearly through the chest before it had time to react - an action incredibly reminiscent of one of Ornstein's signature moves. Havel was growing increasingly certain of the man's identity, as impossible as it might seem. Havel turned his attention to Solaire next, as the warrior of sunlight gracefully parried the darkwraith's sword, before ramming his blade right through the creature's neck. Last, there was Siegmeyer, who overtelegraphed a swipe with his Zweihander whilst readying his pierce shield. The instant that the massive sword was blocked, the onion knight slammed his pierce shield straight into the darkwraith's face, the spike passing cleanly through the right eye socket of the darkwraith's mask. The four defeated phantoms faded away in tandem, leaving only the four mismatched defenders standing outside the keep.
An eerie silence settled over the city - the party's breathing was the only noise to be heard. Even with every phantom down, not a single screech sounded to indicate the arrival of a new darkwraith. Havel was the first to break the silence with the click of his dragon tooth settling onto his armored shoulder, a noise which under normal circumstances would be barely audible, but was now nearly deafening. The rock-clad warrior looked squarely at the newcomer, now convinced of his identity based on the posture the man held out of combat.
"So, Ornstein," Havel said pointedly, "What's your story? I seem to remember you measuring in at just under thirteen feet. Shrinking in your old age?" Ornstein himself let out a chuckle, confirming Havel's suspicions, as Solaire gasped simply at the audacity of the statement whilst Siegmeyer gaped in shock. Clearly, the knight of Catarina had not recognized the dragonslayer at all.
"That's quite the long story. I'll be happy to tell it, but not now," Ornstein replied, readying his spear again as a grinding screech indicated, finally, the arrival of another darkwraith. Havel had begun to worry that the phantoms had devised a method of masking the sound they created upon materializing. The four sprinted towards the source of the sound, trying to cut the wraith off before it gained access to the crowd inside the keep. Their worry grew as they moved, hearing more and more sounds of invasions in the direction they were headed. As the group arrived, they were met with a sight of horror; the legendary Kirk, Knight of Thorns, was standing ready, overseeing the amassing of a true army of darkwraiths. Over two dozen had already appeared, and they didn't seem to be stopping any time soon.
"This appears to be the end after all, friend," Havel said grimly to Siegmeyer, "But I'm glad to die beside my brothers." Havel raised his dragon tooth and greatshield determinedly, and along with his three fellows, rushed the amassing army.
Ornstein still hadn't gotten used to his smaller size and lack of powers. Even with a substitute spear, which served its purpose quite well, all things considered, not towering over his opponents, and, in fact, having many of them tower over him by so great a factor, was incredibly disorienting. Add that to the loss of his lightning abilities, and his combat capacity was effectively halved or more. Ornstein had, however, gained even more maneuverability and speed with his smaller stature. He was now able to effectively roll out of the way of certain attacks, and could perform his classic hit and run tactics to a greater degree than before, even if each individual strike had a tendency to do less damage.
He hadn't quite mastered that yet, either, and so he found himself struggling incredibly with even a single darkwraith now that his hand had been played, and the element of surprise lost. As a darksword swung towards his chest, Ornstein backstepped nimbly, before rushing forwards with his spear, only to find it stopped firmly by the wraith's unnatural shield. Ornstein had to quickly block the next strike on the haft of his spear, which left a noticeable nick where the darksword struck the handle. Fortunately, the dragonslayer was able to leverage the sword to the side and kick around his spear, causing the darkwraith to stumble and drop its sword, before Ornstein ran the monster through.
That single darkwraith, unfortunately, was the least of his worries. A group of three more appeared in front of him with the grating screech that he was sure would induce a panic attack in him should he ever hear it again, and Ornstein was forced onto the back foot once more. He backstepped out of the way of one strike, blocked a second on his spear, creating another nick, and thanked whatever god was watching over them that his gambeson was enough to stop the third. Ornstein stabbed at the wraith in the middle whilst backpedaling, and though the strike got blocked it gave him a bit of breathing room. The other two wraiths attacked at the same time, and their strikes bounced off each other, leaving Ornstein unharmed. It was a losing battle, however. Ornstein slashed his spear from left to right in an attempt to ward off his attackers, but the right darkwraith blocked the spear with his darksword instead of dodging, and the nicks in the haft finally added up. The spear snapped in half towards the middle, the business end flying off while Ornstein held onto the back end. Wonderful. Now he just had a stick - not even long enough to be used as a quarterstaff. Oh, how he missed his old spear. Ornstein danced backwards as the three darkwraiths, emboldened by the shattered spear Ornstein had been left with. Each of them swung several times, and Ornstein couldn't dodge all of the attacks. A few managed to hack through his gambeson, leaving him with a number of small cuts, each incredibly painful in the fashion of the darkwraiths. Even with the loss of his light soul fragment, he was still highly susceptible to the dark, it would seem. The dragonslayer ducked under one strike, before leaning left to avoid a second, and backstepping once more out of the reach of a third - only to find himself with his back to yet another darkwraith, who slashed at him from behind. The blow never landed, however, as a unique straight sword erupted from the chest of the wraith behind him. The standard darkwraith fell to reveal the phantom of Kirk, knight of thorns. Ornstein turned desperately to face the notorious darkwraith, but he knew he had lost. Then, the largest oddity of Ornstein's life occurred. Instead of cutting him down, Kirk turned to attack the four wraiths behind Ornstein, hacking them apart methodically. In seconds, the knight of thorns was the only phantom left standing. He then proceeded to pick up the two halves of Ornstein's shattered spear, sprinkle repair powder across them, and tossed it back to him, nodding. Ornstein was shocked as the knight of thorns turned away to hack through another crowd of darkwraiths, even as another wraith rushed towards Ornstein. Ornstein quickly overcame his shock, ducking under the darksword swipe and running the wraith through, before yanking his spear out.
Siegmeyer couldn't help but gawk as the knight of thorns, one of the most infamous and deadly darkwraiths in history, methodically hacked through the rest of the red phantoms in the courtyard. He, Solaire, and Havel each stood idle as the entirety of the darkwraith army swarmed around Kirk, unable to even touch him. Ornstein - Siegmeyer still couldn't wrap his head around that one - was still in the midst of the fighting, but didn't seem to be doing much besides picking off stragglers and taking a bit of the pressure off of Kirk. Within minutes, the entire army of nearly five score was reduced to rising red smoke, with the exception of Kirk. Ornstein leaned against his spear, panting and bleeding from numerous cuts across his body. Solaire rushed to his side, pulling out his sunlight talisman and muttering a prayer of healing. Many of Ornstein's cuts closed, and others were reduced from angry gashes to mere scratches or scars.
Kirk pulled out a bundle of cloth and tossed it to Ornstein, who nodded skeptically, before grabbing a black separation crystal and vanishing. Siegmeyer and Havel walked over to Ornstein curiously, as the dragonslayer opened the bundle. Inside was a large blue sphere, as well as a stack of several hundred paper slips which Siegmeyer recognized as indictments. For the first time since the beginning of this mess, they had a clear path to victory.
"Did they get the message?" Tarkus asked as Kirk faded back into existence beneath the second bell of awakening.
"I delivered the package. I don't know whether they understood or not," Kirk replied, "It was quite the mess I had to pull them out of. Something around fifty wraiths in one place. It was a bit of a challenge, even with their help."
"They're smart men. They'll figure it out. Was Raven with them?" Tarkus asked, still hopeful.
"No. She and the elite knight - Oscar, you said his name was - were missing, as well as the dragonslayer. There were four of them there, though. Solaire, Havel, and Siegmeyer, just as you described them, as well as a red-haired spearman you didn't mention. Must be someone they picked up along the way."
"Shame. We'll need to figure out some way to reach her," Tarkus said, "But for the moment, we're on the clock. We've got to unseal New Londo before they can invade, and they'll only be able to hold out for so long." With that, the black iron knight and the knight of thorns rose in tandem, jogging up the stairs and towards the drowned city.
AN: Phew, that felt good to finally get done. I'm so terribly sorry for making you guys wait this long. Feel free to yell at me in private messages if I don't publish the next chapter in a timely manner (within two weeks or so). Leave a review about whatever caught your eye, I'd love some criticism. And before you berate me, I know this wasn't my best work. Ok, go ahead and berate me now, I deserve it for leaving you guys hanging for so long.