Hey guys as promised here is your chapter for Dark Souls: Four Souls. We're getting closer to meeting our new character the third out of four. Though in case you are wondering if the woman from the prologue is one of the four, then you've guessed right and she'll reappear at a much more convenient time when the plot calls for it.
I do not own the character NPC's of Dark Souls I do however own the four created characters associated with the games story and plot.
Ch.3 Bell Gargoyles
Suren and Catarina exited from out the tower to find themselves at the bridge needed to cross into the Parish. Catarina looked to her right to see the sun shining brightly as its rays pierced the clouds. She smiled as it was a wonderful sight to behold, and she wanted to take a closer look.
However Suren noticed that they were several hollows on the bridge as well and a few were armed with crossbows, which would make it difficult to engage the ones wielding swords. Clutching the Gravelord Sword she slowly inched her way forward hoping to get the jump on them.
Catarina looked back and noticed that her companion was moving to attack the hollows on the bridge. However there was something else Catarina noticed as well. There were spots on the bridge that were as black as charcoal, and as she approached closer to the bridge the smell of burnt flesh became more apparent.
Realizing the mistake Suren was making she quickly grabbed the blue haired woman and immediately dragged her off the bridge.
"What are you doing?" Suren asked.
Her answer came in the form of a mighty roar. The next thing she saw was the bridge being covered in a sea of flames as the red Wyvern from before flew over and landed on the arch above the doorway across the bridge.
Suren sighed. "Well at least it got rid of the hollows for us."
Catarina placed her hand on Suren's shoulder. "Come on, maybe there is another way around." She said.
Suren nodded and followed the thief. They walked out over to the balcony and noticed not only was it a dead end, but there was also someone else standing there. The figure was male from Catarina and Suren could see. Catarina walked over approaching down the set of stairs to the man's left as not to startle him.
Coming into his view the man glanced her way. As Catarina drew closer she could see that beyond his iron helm and leggings he was wearing some sort of self-decorated chest piece with an image of the sun on it.
"Ah, hello! You don't look hollow far from it!" The man said apparently glad to see the thief as she walked up. "I am Solaire of Astora, an adherent of the Lord of Sunlight. Now that I am Undead, I have come to this great land, the birthplace of Lord Gwyn, to seek my very own sun!" He said with absolute honesty and a voice filled with pride.
Catarina could only raise her eyebrow and give an incredulous look as she played over what the man just said to her. 'Did I just hear him correctly? Surely his brain has been baked by that iron helm of his.' She thought.
"Do you find that strange?" He asked her, to which the thief slowly nodded. "Well, you should! No need to hide your reaction, I get that look all the time!" Solaire said with a laugh.
Catarina looked back to Suren who shrugged, to which Catarina signaled that Solaire seemed to have more than a few screws loose in his head. She moved back to ask Solaire if there was another way past the Wyvern up ahead but the knight spoke first.
"Ah-hah, so I didn't scare you?" He said. "I have a proposition if you have the time?" He asked Catarina.
She nodded hopefully so she could eventually get to her question.
"The way I see it, our fates appear to be intertwined. In a land brimming with hollows, could that really be mere chance? So what do you say? Why not help each one another on this lonely journey?" He asked.
Catarina thought he was going to ask her to join him in his lunacy quest for the sun, though in some way he actually kind of did. Then she got to thinking how can their fates be intertwined when they just met. If this was his way of asking her out, she had a big fat no ready for him.
She thought about it and thought since he was talking about helping maybe he could show them a way around their obstacle so to speak.
"Sure why not." She said finally answering his question.
"This pleases me greatly!" Solaire said ecstatic by Catarina's answer. "Well then, take this." He said and handed her a strange white stone.
"What is this?" She asked him.
"It's called a Whitesign Soapstone." Suren said as she held out one, while descending the stairs. "It allows you to summon and be summoned by others. But be mindful your humanity is what triggers the effect. You can't summon others if you were hollow." She said nodding her head back towards the burned corpses on the bridge.
"Indeed." Solaire agreed. "We are amidst strange beings, in a strange land. The flow of time itself is convoluted; with heroes centuries old phasing in and out. The very fabric wavers, and relationships shift and obscure." He told her now speaking with some sort of philosophical tone.
"There's no telling how much longer your world and mine will remain in contact. But, use this, to summon one another spirits, cross the gaps between worlds and engage in jolly co-operaption! Of course, we are not the only ones engaged in this. But I am a warrior of the sun! Spot my summon signature by its brilliant aura. If you miss it you must be blind!" He said laughing again.
"Now I was wondering if you could tell me if there is another way to the parish other than going across the bridge?" Catarina asked.
Solaire nodded. "If the drake is providing you problems you may take the path underneath."
"Underneath?" Suren questioned.
"Yes, but to access the path you must at least cross halfway along the bridge." Solaire said.
Both women groaned. Bidding Solaire a farewell that walked back towards where their obstacle awaited them. They exchanged glances and nodded. Taking a deep breath they charged out onto the bridge. The Wyvern catching notice of them growled as it raised its head to the sky. It released a torrent of flames onto the bridge that barreled towards them down the narrow path.
Acting quickly Catarina jumped to the left, while Suren dived to the right both landing in the pockets located right at the bridges center, watching the flames go past. When the flames subsided Catarina slowly stood to get a good look at the Wyvern. She looked over to Suren who was gesturing for her to get a move on and the thief nodded.
Catarina bolted across to the other side following Suren down the set of stairs as more flames from the Wyvern rushed overhead.
"I think my heart skipped a beat." Suren said panting heavily.
Catarina nodded and waited to catch her breath. "So did you see it?" She asked.
"See what?" The blue haired woman asked.
"The bonfire."
"Sorry I was too busy running for my life to notice anything else." Suren quipped.
Catarina sighed and began to look around. Checking the nearest exit it did not take her long to find out that they were standing above the bonfire near the entrance to the Undead Burg. They explored the underside of the bridge using it cross under the Wyvern, killing the few hollows that were present along the way. They entered a dark room, with their only source of light coming from the light outside. They were immediately greeted by three large rats.
"Why does it have to be rats?" Suren asked as she took several steps back. Seeing that Catarina only had her dagger to work with she took it upon herself to deal with the pesky rodents.
Waiting for them to surround her she quickly swung her sword in an arc that killed the creatures. Suren looked back to see Catarina just staring at her.
"After you." She told the thief.
Climbing a ladder they found themselves walking out onto an upward slope. To their right was a hollow and to their left was a locked gate with the bonfire Catarina spotted earlier. Looking at the thief Suren sighed.
"You want to go after that bonfire don't you?" Suren asked.
Catarina nodded. "Please and thank you." She said.
Looking up they could see the Wyvern still perched on the tower on the other side of the gate. Suren motioned to Catarina that she'll cover her from above from the tower they just emerged, while she charged the Wyvern from the front.
Catarina nodded, she knew she wasn't supposed to try and fight the creature, not unless she wanted to die a fiery death. Retracing their steps Catarina went back under the bridge. While she did that Suren ascended the steps of the tower. She clutched her bow and pulled out an arrow, preparing herself to take aim.
Upon reaching the top however she was greeted by a large shadow, and the last thing she saw was a giant great sword crashing down overheard.
XX
On the bridge Catarina had surfaced and peaked around the corner to see the Wyvern glaring at her. When she attempted to move the Wyvern shot out some flames. She wondered what could be taking Suren so long to climb a flight of stairs.
XX
Swords clashed as Suren found herself in battle with another Black Knight, this time it was wielding a great sword. She rolled out of the way as the sword slammed into the ground. She retaliated and slashed the knight with her sword.
She grazed him she needed to get him to show his weak spot if she wanted to finish this alive. She brought her sword up to defend the knight's strike. She felt the pressure of the swords weight as the knight applied more force. Backing off she avoided the swings and went in for another strike, but the knight parried her with his shield.
Stumbling back the knight ran forward and thrusted the sword forward. Dodging at the last second Suren rolled behind him and acted quickly piercing his armor with her sword. She removed the knight from her blade with his foot and watched the knight hit the ground dead.
She sighed and turned looking out at the view. As she caught her breath she caught sight of the Wyvern and instantly remembered Catarina. Speaking of thief she had run out on to the bridge challenging the Wyvern.
Quickly switching to her bow and arrow she took aim and fired gaining the Wyvern's attention for about a second. However it was far more interested in Catarina.
XX
Catarina made a break for the bonfire only for the Wyvern to take action. Luckily it was distracted by the arrow that was shot by Suren, but that didn't last long because the Wyvern refocused its attention back onto Catarina and jumped down onto the bridge.
Catarina stumbled as the Wyvern shook the bridge with each step. She backed up as the Wyvern advanced with a mighty roar. The Wyvern lunged trying to grab her in its jaws, but Catarina dodged rolling under it. She ran for the bonfire as the Wyvern turned and chased her.
"Catarina!" She heard a voice say.
Catarina looked back to see Suren emerge behind the Wyvern. The hunter froze in fear as the Wyvern now turned and faced her and she immediately screamed. Catarina looked around frantically for anything she could use and luckily found a sword lying next to a corpse. Upon closer inspection she found it to be a claymore.
Acting quickly she clasped the blade tightly and swung for the Wyvern's tail as it hung over head. In one mighty swing she cut through the its tail, the limb crashing right next to her. The Wyvern roared in pain and looked back to see Catarina glaring at her.
Growling, it took a step back as Catarina raised the claymore again. Its next move would be to fly off leaving the two women to live this time.
Suren walked over. "Are you ok?" She asked.
"I should be asking you that. You cut that beasts tail in one go." Suren said.
"I'm just as amazed as you are. I just didn't want to see the thing roast you alive, I guess you can say I panicked."
"Well I'm glad you did, now shall we?" Suren gestured towards the bonfire.
Catarina nodded and they rested at the bonfire and unlocked the gate that led into the Parish. They walked ahead and encountered their next obstacle. The area had hollow soldiers but alongside them was a huge boar and it was encased in metal armor save for a small area in its rear where the tail was.
Both women sighed if it wasn't one thing it was another. Behind their enemies was a gate and they needed to reach that gate.
"You're the thief, put your speed to good use and keep that gate open." Suren told her.
With a nod Catarina darted up the stairs to the right quickly killing the hollows as she did so. Catarina watched as Suren once again served as the distraction, gaining the attention of the ground soldiers and the boar. Looking ahead she spotted two hollows with crossbows and they were already aimed at her.
She also spotted a hollow soldier making a break for the gate to cut them off. Running faster faster Catarina took a chance and made a leap. She watched as the bolts from the crossbows flew past her as she sailed over the hollows. She tucked and rolled upon touching ground and cut the hollow down before it could close the gate.
"Suren!" Catarina called out.
Suren dodged to the side avoiding the boar's tusks and sprinted towards the gate. Catarina pulled on the lever, releasing the latches so the gate could drop. Now it was Suren's turn to make a leap of faith as the gate closed behind her, killing the hollow soldier and the boar.
Suren bent over a bit to catch her breath and looked up to see Catarina smiling. She smiled back. "You get a kick out of this don't you?"
"Sometimes." The thief replied.
They looked ahead and grabbed a key from off an corpse and walked into the church ahead of them and found themselves challenged by three knights, most likely superiors to soldiers before they all went hollow. It didn't take Suren and Catarina long to dispatch their foes so that they could continue on.
"It may not be stealthy, but it'll do." Catarina said looking over her claymore.
"Ok this is the spot we're me and Kasai split up. He should be at the bonfire just across from the church."
"Kasai?" Catarina asked. "I imagine that's the name of your traveling companion?" She asked.
"Yes." Suren nodded. "He went ahead to rest at the bonfire, while I went into the catacombs."
"Are you sure he came through here?"
"Positive." She said walking out into the next room of the cathedral. "He killed this guy our first time coming here." She said.
The body in question belonged to a giant knight clad in black armor, carrying a great shield and a giant mace. Catarina whistled, her companion must be something to topple this giant. Looking around Catarina decided it would be as good a time as any to see if this place had any loot.
"Hey why don't you go rest, I'll catch up with you in a few. I wanna look around a bit."
"Ok." Suren said thinking nothing of it.
Catarina inspected the place and quickly found a lift. She wondered if it still worked and decided to test it. Hoping that it wasn't going to collapse or anything. The lift came to life as she stepped on a plate in the floor and it took her down. Upon getting off Catarina immediately noticed that she had returned to Firelink Shrine. She took a brief rest at the bonfire refilling her estus as she wanted to quickly finish exploring the church.
Upon reaching the church again she took the set of stairs to her left from the elevator. She immediately met by another of the caped knights from before, and Catarina clutched her claymore. She rushed the knight only to be parried by the knight.
Wide eyed she stumbled back as she watched the knight take a special stance again. Growing impatient the knight went on the offensive and Catarina thrusted her sword forward piercing the knight killing it. She walked around the corner and was greeted by several hollows and what she assumed to be some sort of mage. The mage in question wielded a large trident.
It also noticed Catarina. It quickly began to chant and as it did a strange aura fell over the other hollows as they took notice of the ebony skinned thief. They charged Catarina and she started swinging her sword killing them one by one. She raised her sword to block and felt the impact from the hollows strength.
'These are no ordinary hollows.' She thought as she went back on the attack.
Impaling the hollows on her sword she pressed forward. She turned her sights onto the mage and she rushed him. The mage surrounded himself in light and right before Catarina could attack he vanished. She looked around stunned and searched around for him. When she was sure the mage had vanished she sheathed her sword at her side. She looked down at her waist at the two keys she held onto. One is a key that the two women had found earlier and one key was one Suren had found during her first trip to the Parish and the hunter entrusted them to Catarina for safe keeping.
After killing yet another knight she came to a crossroads. To her left was a hall at the end of the hall was a corpse trapped in a barrel with a glowing sprite on it. To her right was a door to who knows where. She ventured down the hall first to see that the sprite was another piece of humanity.
"Doesn't look like there's a short supply of this in these parts." She said.
Heading back she opened the door and found more stairs leading up. At the top of those stairs was a man clad in gold armor. His chest piece seemed to have arm designs on it, as if the arms were embracing him. He was locked in a cell and took immediate notice of Catarina.
"Oh? Still human are you? Then I am in luck. Could you help me? As you can see I am stuck, without recourse." He asked her, only for her to give him a suspicious look. "Please I have duties to fulfill, and I will reward you handsomely. Well? I am certain you stand to benefit."
"And how would you know that?" Catarina asked.
"We are both Undead, maybe we can help one another?" He said. "You see I dropped my guard and allowed myself to be tricked and imprisoned in this cell."
"Who did this to you?" She asked.
"Oh, just the sheer mention of his name makes me angry and don't get me started on his laugh."
Catarina thought it over, even if she wanted to she didn't have the key to his cell. She then immediately looked down to the mystery key she held onto. She wondered what it could open and she figured now would be a good time to test it. She grabbed the key and stuck it in the key hole, she turned it and heard the familiar clicking sound of the lock opening. Catarina was somehow disappointed she hoped the key unlocked something worthwhile, not some dingy door cell.
"Thank you, yes, sincerely." The man said catching her attention. "I am Knight Lautrec of Carim. I truly appreciate, and I guarantee a reward, only later." He said bowing to her and taking his leave.
Catarina couldn't help but feel something off about Lautrec, but she let him go off on his own, she just hoped he wouldn't stumble upon Suren. A few minutes later Catarina found herself climbing a ladder and upon reaching the top she was confronted by a fog gate.
"Now I definitely got a bad feeling about this." She mumbled.
Before stepping forward she saw something bright on the ground. Letters burned into the floor glowed magnificently and Catarina recognized it. She recognized it as the summon sign she was told about by Suren and Solaire. She reached down hesitantly and touched it, only for it to disappear seconds later. Much to her surprise a light shone from the floor making her step back. She watched as a figure emerged from the light covered in a gold radiant glow.
"S-Solaire."
Standing before her was the warrior of sunlight himself. He bowed before her, prompting a small smile from her.
"You wouldn't happen to know what's on the other side of this fog would you?" She asked.
Solaire shook his head. "You're guess would be as good as mine friend."
Catarina sighed so far her experience with Lordran has been nothing but chaos. Everything is out to kill her and she prayed that this was not the case. Stepping through the fog she and Solaire emerged onto the rooftop to the church. Looking ahead was a tower with a bell at the top, presumably one of the bells of awakening.
It also provided a nice view to look out from. However fate had something else in store for Catarina. The rooftop as well as the bell tower was lined with gargoyles, one of which located on the tower began to come alive. Fighting against the rigidity of its body the gargoyle roared as it stretched its wings, clutching its axe tightly.
Catarina stepped back as the gargoyle leapt down from the tower and onto the roof. Catarina quickly noticed that the gargoyle had an axe at the end of its tail and was clad in armor, covering its head and arms. Catarina quickly grabbed her claymore and the gargoyle rushed her as a response.
Gripping its axe tightly it swung horizontally just missing the thief as she rolled to the side. Solaire ran to her aide swinging his word at the beast. His blade grazed against its armored hide and the gargoyle swung its tail axe to counter Solaire.
Solaire quickly brought up his shield and blocked the attack. This time Catarina would come to Solaire's aid, but the Bell Gargoyle flew up into the air. It hovered above them for a few seconds before swiping at them with its axe. Catarina ducked only to be hit by the gargoyle's tail luckily for her she didn't get hit by the axe tip. She groaned as the gargoyle hovered above her.
It roared as it shot flames down upon her. Luckily for her Solaire quickly shielded her with his shield.
"Are you ok?" Solaire asked.
"Look out!" She shouted.
Solaire turned to see the gargoyle's tail axe coming straight for him. Not being able to dodge in time he took a hit from the gargoyle and rolled back grabbing on to the roof's edge.
"Solaire!"
"Don't worry about me….I'll be fine." Solaire said.
Catarina turned to see the gargoyle swinging its axe her way. She clashed blades with the beast as it pushed her back with a growl. Reaching out with its hand it grabbed Catarina and tossed her to the ground. Raising its axe again it brought the weapon down only to miss as she rolled to the side. She rolled under the gargoyle and struck quickly cutting its tail off.
The gargoyle roared in pain as fresh blood spurted from its newfound wound. It jumped back and landed near the tower. However now it was not alone as another Bell Gargoyle came to life and landed alongside its comrade it too wielded an axe, but had already seemed to have lost its tail beforehand. Catarina stepped back, wide eyed she was outmatched there was no way she could take the both of them.
The first gargoyle charged her catching her off guard with its speed only to be hit in its face with a bolt of lightning making it crash into the ground. Catarina looked to her right to see Solaire walking up beside her.
"You're ok." Catarina said relieved to see that the knight was still around.
"I'm not dying before I find my own sun." Solaire answered. "You take the one in front, I'll handle its friend."
Catarina nodded and the two took action. Charging the gargoyle right in front of her she raised her sword to strike but the gargoyle swatted her away. She rolled and quickly got on her feet just in time to clash weapons with the gargoyle. She swung again as did the gargoyle clashing one more time.
The sound of their blades clashing rung through her ears. The gargoyle pushed her back and roared at her. She panted hard as she thought of her next strategy, and then she remembered. Reaching into her pouch she pulled out the gold pine resin and quickly applied it to her claymore.
The weapon glowed brightly as it crackled with the power of lightning. She figured it worked against Taurus Demon it should work here. She charged the gargoyle and it did the same. Swinging their weapons to decide the victor, Catarina smiled as her blade cut through the gargoyle's axe and cut deep into its neck. Pulling hard she slit the creatures throat and killed it.
Panting she looked over to see Solaire engaging in ranged combat with the second gargoyle. Solaire stayed out of the flames reach while he threw more lightning bolts. She ran over to Solaire.
"Any bright ideas?" Solaire asked.
Catarina looked around and spotted the severed tail of the first gargoyle. She smiled. "I got one can you distract it long enough?"
"Can I? Just watch me!" Solaire said.
The gargoyle exhaled a mighty torrent of flames that covered a wide area and seemed to engulf its two opponents. It growled as it stared into the dancing flames watching them die down, gripping its axe tightly. Suddenly Solaire shot forth from the flames and attacked. The gargoyle was ready and blocked, clashing blades with the sunlight warrior.
The gargoyle looked up as a shadow fell over it. It saw Catarina coming down towards it with the tail axe in her hands. It pushed Solaire back as it attempted to defend itself but Catarina struck first and the axe embedded itself in its head. Catarina landed and watched as the gargoyle stumbled back as its blood gushed from its head, before falling forward, dead before it hit the ground.
Catarina dropped to her knees as Solaire walked up and raised his hands to towards the sky, gesturing in good faith.
"Well met friend!" Solaire said.
"Yeah thanks to you. Hey tell me how did you learn to throw lightning?" She asked.
"Tell you what friend, meet me by the sunlight altar in the Parish and I'll explain there." The knight said before he vanished.
Catarina stood as she finished taking in the essence of the Bell Gargoyles. She looked forward and proceeded into the tower to see if there was anything worth protecting seeing that the gargoyles fought with everything they had.
XX
Meanwhile Suren was well rested by a bonfire across from the church she left Catarina to explore. She was upset to see that her companion was no longer here and wondered what where the man could have gone. Deciding to wait no longer she thought it best to go retrieve Catarina so that they may find her companion. She stopped when she heard a bell ringing. It was coming from the church and knowing that the church was empty she only could've guessed at who rung it.
Ok guys hoped you enjoyed it and I hope you don't mind the exaggerating of the fights like in my first meeting with the black knight that wielded the great sword I got flattened a second after seeing him. Also I will most likely hold off from updating the story as I have three others that need immediate attention so that I might finish those as intended. As always leave a comment with your thoughts, check out my other stories if you're interested and have a nice day!