Chapter 42: The Final Blue Feast
"Wake up! Come now, time to rise, Erik!"
"Urg, not so loud," Erik groaned as his consciousness trickled back to him.
"Hush up, and don't be a baby. Besides, I'm practically whispering here." The voice, which the chef managed to decipher as Elana's, receded in intensity and volume. Pale light then decided to join in on the fun of tormenting him and the bright rays pierced through his eyelids.
With a strangled grunt Erik sat up and opened his eyes. He was in a circular chamber wrought from dark grey stone. Further away from him one of the Dark Altars stood, waiting to transport the chef and his group.
"Oh, lad, you're awake!" Benhart cried with joy, hastening over to the young Undead's side. He had been leaning against the wall chatting with Nadalia when Erik had stirred.
"I was worried! When you passed out none of us knew what had happened or what to do!"
"So you can slay a dragon but not care for a patient?" Erik said with a cheeky smile at the knight from Jugo.
"Hmph!" The swarthy man huffed but then grinned widely. "You had us panicking for a bit. The Ladies Nadalia and Alsanna were afraid your state was due to having all those secrets revealed. A defense from their mysterious Darksun."
"No, it was the name Elana said. Whoever that God of Peace was, my soul reacted to it," Erik said. With Benhart's help the chef got back to his feet.
"Never before have I seen anyone have such a reaction to the name," Elana admitted. "What did you see when you passed out? Were there any memories?"
"I don't think so. There were a lot of voices though. For some reason they were familiar, despite never having heard them before," Erik admitted.
"Well, regardless of what happened, all that matters is you are safe and sound," Nadalia said with a smile.
"Indeed. Now you possess the four Lord Souls necessary for fueling the First Flame. All we need to do is find it." Alsanna's voice was full of hopeful excitement. It had been too long since she had been on the frontlines fighting for the salvation of the world. The adrenaline from battling Sinh had reawakened old parts of her.
"First we travel back to the Black Gulch and light the Primal Bonfire. It acts as one of the main - I suppose you could call it arteries - for the First Flame. If it is not lit then when the renewal of the world occurs the region it governs may not be properly purified, leading to a quicker fading in the next Cycle," Nadalia explained. "It's happened before, and those were some of the more difficult eras to navigate."
"Alright then, let's go," Erik said, looking towards the twisted altar. He then paused, remembering something.
"What happened to the dragon's soul?"
"I destroyed it," Elana said, voice deadpan. "Ancient Stone Dragons are very durable. If their soul is not destroyed it will eventually reform and the beast will be reborn. Absorbing the soul helps little, nor does forging it into a weapon. Eventually the dragon will assimilate enough stray power to revive. If the soul is extinguished, however…"
"Understood," Erik said with a nod. It was hardly a loss. Plus, the chef was unsure what would happen if he absorbed it. Several souls within him detested it, and Sinh in turn had reviled them.
The result would probably be akin to spiritual indigestion.
With great speed the team, now augmented by a new eldritch being of the Dark, gathered their belongings and returned to the Primal Bonfire to light it. They felt themselves become wrapped into powerful magic and torn through time and space back to Majula.
Crackling golden sparks heralded their return and the residents all turned to watch. All but thrown from the local Bonfire Erik and Benhart managed to keep their footing, while the three Sisters of Darkness lost their stance. Being unused to this method of travel ended up falling into an undignified heap.
"Welcome back! I see you brought a new lady with you!" Vengarl called out. As he spoke three playful howls came from three gargantuan saber toothed tigers who hurled themselves at their returned mommy.
The result was a trio of ancient beings pinned beneath a mountain of fluffy fur.
"Please, babies, mommy needs her air!" Alsanna gasped, struggling under the weight of her pets and sisters.
"So cute… so funny… must not laugh…" Erik gasped out, trying to contain his humor. Benhart was also shaking with conceal mirth, as were a number of other people.
"Ahaha! Look at you all! I knew you sisters were a bunch of closet lesbians! Why else would you look so happy to be under a pile of pussy?!"
Mytha, it seemed, had no qualms about laughing or making crude jokes.
"Who the hell is that vulgar woman?" Elana demanded as she struggled to her feet.
"Former queen of Alken and a… friend," Nadalia claimed, hesitating a bit on that last part. The tall chocolate skinned woman just laughed and wrapped an arm around the Bride of Ash.
"Oh, so reserved! Nice to meet another one of the brood. The name's Mytha. Yours?"
"Elana. For a queen you're surprising relaxed," the Squalid Queen noted.
"My kingdom is dead and the only relatives left are in Jugo or that knight next to Erik. I have little care to give for protocols that are useless."
"Fair enough."
Over by the boulders, Shanalotte just stared opened mouthed at the collection of people who had graced her town. Two of the Dark Ones was strange enough, but three?
Erik caught her eye and walked over to her.
"I've retrieved the fourth and final soul. Now what?"
"You must find King Vendrick. He alone knows the location of the First Flame," the Emerald Herald explained.
"Wouldn't they know?" Erik asked, pointing with his thumb at the three eldritch siblings.
"Sorry, can't help you on that front," Nadalia apologized, overhearing the conversation.
"The First Flame exists not in a physical location but a severed dimension. Only those who obtain permission or bear the soul of a god can approach it and enter. And the boundary gate which seals it is not known to us. We literally cannot perceive it due to our nature as Children of the Dark."
"I see. Well, at least I know where Vendrick is," Erik said with a sigh. At that everyone fell silent, staring at him in surprise.
"What?"
"King Vendrick went missing centuries ago! He took only a few guards with him, including Velstadt! He told no one where he was going or why!" Shanalotte protested. "Not even my scrying can pierce the veil he wove around himself! He hides in a realm beyond the Flames reach!"
"Well, a giant skeleton told me he was 'hiding in a crypt' below Castle Drangleic," the chef revealed. Again, stares were his only response.
"That absolute nutter. He hid in the Crypt?!" Vengarl shouted, stomping over to the group.
"You know of it?" Erik asked.
"Of course I do! He made me kidnap a bunch of women from the Shrine of Amana one time!" More silence and awkwardness.
"Explain?"
"Do you want to know why Vendrick built his castle where it is today? Because it is built over the ancient Shrine of Amana, which is in turn built on top of the Undead Crypt. The Crypt is from some insanely ancient race, and controlled by the Children of Nito. He wanted some magical singing women, the Milfanito, to use their songs to suppress some sort of demon or dragon or something. I wasn't clear on the whole reasoning," the Undead Red Rust Knight explained.
"So he's literal just hiding in his basement?" Erik asked incredulously, and the crimson armored warrior shrugged.
"Seems like it. That whole region is full of weird magic. Not Dark, but definitely nothing based on the Light."
Erik slapped his face and sighed. "Alright, time to head to the castle, I guess. Nadalia, can you ask Raime if your last sister is docile, or willing to let us past?"
"One second." The Bride of Ash tilted her head to the side and let her eyes glaze over. After a minute she snapped back to reality and faced the Undead cook.
"She seems to be waiting. Probably for a chance to strike when you least expect it and steal the souls for herself, or something."
"Goody." The chef sighed and looked around. "Who am I taking with me?"
"Me, of course," Benhart declared proudly. "I'm just getting warmed up! One dragon isn't enough to slow down this knight!"
"I'll join as well. Haven't had a good fight in a long time and I don't want to get rustier. I feel something big is coming," Vengarl stated. He then turned to the Knight of the Blue Moon with a surprised expression.
"Wait, a dragon? You mean one of those Wyverns or Lesser Drakes, right?"
"Nope! An honest to gods Ancient Stone Dragon!"
It was absolutely hilarious to see pure jealousy spread across the Forossan knight's features while the knight from Jugo preened at the praise his many-great aunt lavished upon him.
Any further discussion was cut off when the Bonfire crackled to life once more and Gordin of the Blue Sentinels stepped out.
"Erik Potts, I've been asked to bring you to the base. The Orders have a proposition for you."
The chef from Lindelt blinked.
"What's going on?"
"The Twin Azure Orders are planning on launching an attack on Nahr Alma's forces at the Coliseum. We would like it if you joined us."
"…What?"
It took some coaxing but at length Erik agreed to meet with Targey and Saulden at the Cathedral.
Vengarl also expressed an interest in seeing what was going on, and after Gordin stopped acting like a fanboy around one of the legendary warriors of his homeland the Blue Sentinel agreed.
"We've managed to corner the Brotherhood of Blood in the Huntsman's Copse," Gordin explained as the hurried through the halls of the waterlogged base.
"How?" Erik inquired.
"Lots of Human Effigies," the Forossan claimed. "Burn one of those in a Bonfire and it creates a temporary barrier to isolate summons. It's taken a lot of Effigies but we've made a barrier that surrounded their base. Thanks to Carhillion's aide the effect is simple; no Phantoms can be summoned beyond the boundary of the wards. It is attuned to the Brotherhood's unique Red Eye Orb system so we can still use Blue and White Phantoms but they are limited to their own physical bodies."
"In addition to the Effigy Barrier, we have killed as many of the Brotherhood as possible to drive them back to their main base. We finally have a significant majority trapped and ready to be butchered. And, we've confirmed Nahr Alma is there as well."
"How?" Vengarl demanded, leaning over to his slightly smaller kinsman.
"After Erik showed us those unusual souls were sent in powerful sensors attuned to souls to investigate." It was a new person who spoke up.
The group from Majula had been led into the war room Erik had seen previously, and there was just as much activity going on in there this time as well.
Targey stepped up and shook Erik's hand in greet, doing the same to Vengarl and Benhart before continuing.
"With careful scouting we confirmed that someone with a God Soul was hiding in the Coliseum. Some more in-depth study revealed to us it was Nahr Alma himself, based on the sheer amount of red in the soul, and the way the others inside the Coliseum deferred to him. Now we are preparing to launch an attack on the base to wipe them out permanently."
"And you want me to fight?" Erik asked. Saulden was the one to speak next.
"Not at all. What we'd like is for you to cook us a pre-battle feast." Erik raised an eyebrow at that.
"That's all?"
"Yes. Your food buoyed our men last time, and we need all the support we can get. Your cooking will provide significant morale to the troops," Targey elaborated.
It took the chef of Lindelt less than a minute to decide.
"Show me to the kitchens!"
\ \ ~ ~ ~ / /
"Bring me more onions! And is this really all the flour you have?! Fetch more! And make sure we have plenty of meat stocked up, you people eat like you're starving!"
Erik was in his element. He could fight with monsters and Hollows, would stand against demons and try to light the First Flame to become a god of the world, but the kitchen was where he belonged.
He and a few other people, mostly from the Way of Blue, were cooking up a storm in the Cathedral as they prepped a giant meal for several hundred members of the Twin Azure Orders.
Some of the finest ingredients had been gathered by the various agents, though in the ruins of Drangleic, basic necessities for cooking like 'oil' and 'fresh produce' were considered luxuries. That they even had unspoiled grain products and meat was a small miracle, especially in these numbers.
But Erik made do. Oh, by the gods he made do.
"Take the curry off the main fire and put it in a smaller one! And take that cauldron of stew away before it boils over! Does anyone here understand the concept of kneading dough?! It isn't the skull of a Hollow, you massage it, not bash it!"
"Like a general leading troops," Benhart said approvingly of his traveling partner.
"Indeed. It's like watching Donovan Potts all over again," Vengarl said wistfully.
"Why are you two standing around like stuck pigs?! Those potatoes won't peel themselves!"
"Yes sir, sorry sir!" The two famous warrior cried, cringing as chef's attention fell on them. They quickly resumed cleaning and slicing the various vegetables, hunching over slightly to try and avoid the wrath of Erik Potts.
"In this place, I am king. In this realm, my word is law. I am already a god of my own domain! Mwahahaha!" Erik laughed maniacally, lording over the kitchens.
As one, dozens of battle hardened veterans shivered. Hollows and blood thirsty cultists were one thing. A chef letting loose and relieving stress was another.
After a veritable storm of activity, it was finished. Literal tons of food were brought out to dozens of massive, sturdy tables.
There wasn't enough room in the Cathedral for all the people in the two Covenants, so the golems around the building were cleared out with extreme force and furniture set up under the sky. Dusk was upon them by the time they finished setting up and cooking, and torches lit up the growing darkness.
"Brothers and sisters. Comrades in arms and companions of countless campaigns," Targey began, standing at the head of the largest table. He was joined by Saulden, Gordin, the Dragonslayer, and other high ranked members as well as their guests.
"We stand here in Drangleic, land of the gods, here on a mission to slay one. It is to avenge the dead and bring justice upon his evil deeds. It is for peace and a better future!"
"Our time here as not been easy. Endless battle has whittled away at our numbers. Many have lost their wills and their minds. Swallowed up by the crushing despair that emanates from this cursed realm. Yet when we were on the brink of collapse, our collective will faltering, we were saved!"
The Grandmaster of the Blue Sentinels turned to Erik who blushed under hundreds of eyes.
"When Erik Potts first came to me, I was surprised to see such a young man on such a harsh journey. But he proved his will to be strong, and his heart to be full of naught but caring. He fed us and shared with us his hope and his strength. He revived our spirits, renewed our purpose. And tonight, we celebrate his efforts! For tomorrow, there will be no more Brotherhood of Blood! The God of Murder will perish! Without this chef, our victory might never have come! So raise your glasses and mugs and cups to this man! Hurrah for Erik Potts!"
"Hurrah! Hurrah!" Their voices boomed over the landscape and Erik tried to sink into his seat in embarrassment. Vengarl did not let him do so and he lifted the young cook out of his chair with a single arm while the knight remained sitting.
Cheers and applause echoed before falling silent. The assembled figures leaned in, eager to hear words from their savior.
"Um, please enjoy the food, I made it with love and caring?" Erik said, his words unsure. But roars of approval rang forth regardless and Saulden offered the chef a pat on the back and a faint smile.
"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to work on giving speeches in the future," the Crestfallen Knight declared and the cook sighed.
Still, a smile etched itself on his face. His cooking had brought about this joy. Nothing was better for a chef than this.