And Then There Were Two
The drink she took from her Estus proved to be the last one, leaving the flask empty. She was no longer limping, but she was full of irritation. She'd have to wait until the next bonfire to fill it with more Estus and she had no idea how long that would be.
But she didn't need them. She could handle whatever this place threw at her. She'd made it out of the Asylum, she'd beaten not only the demon there, but another one here! Sure, she was a little worse for wear and all her Estus was gone, but she'd done it. And she'd gotten herself some more souls. Next time she'd get to a bonfire, she'd only be made stronger and be able to take on a hundred more.
Exiting the tower, she emerged onto the bridge. She guessed it was the one she'd seen from the Burg that appeared to lead to the church where the first bell was. There was another door directly across her, but a quick test showed that it was locked. A viewpoint was to her right, overlooking the vast forests and mountains beyond with the rays of the sun beaming down through the crowds.
But she wasn't the only one looking at the view.
A man stood there, his arms at his side, apparently gazing up at the sun. A great helm covered his head with a small red feather set atop it. He wore what looked like green fur around his shoulders and a dirty white tunic beneath that, with the symbol of a sun set with a face emblazoned on it. A similar symbol was on the large round shield he wore on his back. The belt he wore had a sheath and sword attached and his legs were protected by plate armour leggings.
Astrea drew her sword and approached cautiously. The guy didn't seem like he would try to kill her, but you could never be too sure. But even as she got closer, he didn't seem to notice her. He just continued to stand there, staring at the celestial body above.
"You know," she tried, "you're gonna go blind if you do that long enough."
Now, he noticed her. A pair of brilliant blue eyes appraised her from the visor of his helm.
"Very true," a bright, cheery voice responded. "But if I am to lose my vision, I take comfort that the last sight I see would be the wondrous body of the sun!"
"All well and good until the last thing you feel is the sword of a hollow running through your gut," she countered.
He laughed boisterously. "Oh hoh! When you put it like that, perhaps it would be wiser if I keep my vision intact for the moment."
"Good choice," she agreed with a smirk of her own.
"Still, it is something to behold, is it not?" He gestured to the sun. "Like a magnificent father. If only I could be so grossly incandescent…"
"Riiight…" she nodded unsurely.
The man continued to stare for a few more seconds. Suddenly, he whipped his head around to face her and laughed again.
"But goodness me! Here we are, engaged in conversation and I've not even had the common courtesy of introducing myself!" he realised. "I am Solaire of Astora, an adherent of the Lord of Sunlight."
"Yeah, I kind of guessed you were big on the sun," she noted.
"Really? How?" She only raised an eyebrow. He took a second, looked down at his chest and chuckled when he caught her meaning. "Yes, I suppose it does go without saying. And who do I have the pleasure of addressing, milady?"
"Okay, first: don't call me a lady," she said firmly. "Second, I wouldn't exactly consider it a pleasure, but I'm Astrea. Also of Astora."
"What an extraordinary coincidence," Solaire said cheerfully, holding out a hand. "Regardless of what you may think, I consider it a great pleasure to meet you indeed, Astrea of Astora."
She cocked an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"
"Completely," he replied brightly. His hand didn't waver.
"Uh… same here, I guess… Solaire of Astora…" She shook his hand, still a bit taken aback.
"So, Astrea, what brings you to this great land?" he asked.
"A giant crow," she answered.
"Good gracious!" he laughed. "Are you serious?"
"Completely," she echoed. "Brought me here from the Northern Asylum. Now, I'm off to ring the bell over at the church and see if anything happens."
"Oh, so you know of the prophecy then?"
"Yeah. Another guy from Astora was nice enough to let me out of my cell in some desperate attempt to get the ball rolling, I guess," she shrugged. "And since it's better than sitting around and waiting to go hollow, I figure why the fuck not?"
"A noble goal indeed," Solaire said.
"I was thinking more along the lines of completely desperate, but that sounds better. What about you?" she asked.
"Well, as with yourself, I too was a resident of the Asylum," he said. "Sadly, I was unable to acquire any avian assistance in my escape, so I had to come here the long way."
"Too bad," she smirked.
"But now, I have come here to the birthplace of Lord Gwyn to seek my very own sun!" he declared proudly.
"Huh?" She cocked an eyebrow again. "You mean like a son as in offspring? If this is you coming onto me…!"
"Oh goodness, no!" he said quickly. "Nothing like that! Not that I wouldn't want to, of course! You are an attractive woman and I'm sure… by the look on your face, I should probably cease this line of conversation?"
"Quickly," she replied through gritted teeth.
"Of course. No, the sun I seek is the one that shines above us!" He pointed to it. "As the great Lord Gwyn did when he found his soul within the First Flame and founded the Age of Fire, I seek a sun of my own!" He seemed to smile at the look of utter bewilderment on Astrea's face. "Do you find that strange?"
She blinked a few times. "Um, yes!"
"Well, you should! No need to hide your reaction," he added. "I get that look all the time."
"Gee, I wonder why," she remarked as he laughed.
She stared at him while he returned his eyes to the sun. She'd heard of people really losing their minds before they turned hollow, but this guy was really fucking nuts! Seeking his own sun? How the fuck was he supposed to do that? She should have taken this moment to back slowly away, then run for it when she was out of sight.
But then again, in a world of undying and madness, who really was crazy these days? At least he wasn't trying to kill her. And maybe this was he'd taken on as his purpose. One of the ways to hold off hollowing was to have a goal, something to focus your mind and put in effort towards obtaining. Fighting to achieve this goal kept Undead sane and kept them fighting against hollowing. Until they fulfilled it or gave up trying.
If this was Solaire's, crazy though it maybe, then she wouldn't try and stop him. Not like hers was any less crazy.
She was brought out of her thoughts by Solaire's cheery voice. He seemed to notice she hadn't left, something she guessed others had done at this point.
"Oh, ah hah! So, I didn't scare you?"
"Trust me, it takes more than some nut chasing the sun to frighten me away," she said confidently.
"I have no doubt of that," he agreed. "I have a proposition, if you have a moment."
"Please don't ask me to be the moon to your sun, I've heard that way too many times," Astrea begged.
"Fear not, this is nothing of the sort," he assured. "The way I see it, our fates appear to be intertwined."
"I thought you said it was nothing like that!"
"It isn't. Think about it. Both Undead, both from Astora, both on a quest that brought us to this land and both escaped the Asylum. In a land brimming with Hollows, could that really be mere chance?" he asked.
"Huh." She nodded slowly. "I guess that is a pretty big coincidence."
"But not an unwanted one. So, what do you say? Why not help one another on this lonely journey?" he proposed.
"No, thanks," she said at once. "Teamwork isn't really my thing. No offense, I mean."
"None taken, I quite understand," Solaire nodded. "But surely you saw the bull demon guarding the wall on your way. With that enormous drake flying around and a rumour I've heard of a goat demon living down below, who knows what else is out there? I notice as well that you've no Estus to spare in your flask."
"You saying I can't handle myself?" she demanded.
"Not at all. You seem a very capable warrior, but there is no shame in accepting a little help, especially against such terrors as these," he reasoned. "Also, there are only three ways to go. One we have just come from, one is locked, which leaves only the bridge. Since we would both be going in the same direction, would it not be prudent to make this a joint venture?"
Astrea frowned. She wasn't too comfortable accepting help like this but annoyingly, he did have a point. And, even more annoyingly, if she were to have more encounters like with that bull demon asshole before, having some help wouldn't be so bad.
Not that she'd admit that.
"So," Solaire pressed on, "why not band together, combine our talents in battle and engage in jolly cooperation, milady?"
"'Jolly cooperation?'" she repeated slowly. "Are you fucking with me?"
"I thought you made it quite clear you were uninterested in such activities."
"You know what I fucking mean!" she snapped. "And didn't I just tell you not to call me a lady?!"
"A slip of the tongue, I assure you. I meant no offense."
"Just… okay, fine! If you're so eager to help, you can come along."
"This pleases me greatly!" He pulled out his shield and drew his straight sword. "I relish the chance of fighting alongside you, milady."
"But first, a couple of rules. Rule one," she started, sticking her finger in his face, "don't get in my way. Rule two, don't call me milady. I have a name, fucking use it. And rule three: on no account ever, ever, ever say the words 'jolly cooperation' ever again. Got it?"
"Perfectly understood, mil- Astrea," he corrected quickly. "Then by your leave, shall we depart?"
Astrea said nothing, but set off, beginning to wonder if she'd regret this decision. They approached the bridge and she immediately saw about five hollows waiting at the other end. They guarded the entrance to a portcullis.
"We should be able to take these guys," she said confidently. "Try to keep up, Solaire."
"A moment, Astrea," he said. "I think we should proceed with caution."
"What for?" she scoffed. "I can run circles around these guys with just me. You're not scared of a few hollows, are you?"
"Not of hollows, no," he murmured.
"Of what then? Invisible hollows?" she snorted. "Look, I said not to get in my way. Now, keep up or stay here. I'm going. If we rush them, we can take them down."
"Astrea, wait!" But she was already charging across the bridge, her sword raised.
She could hear Solaire calling and running after her, but she didn't stop. She locked eyes on the first hollow and prepared to strike. He saw her and raised his shield, along with his fellows. Two at the back loaded crossbows.
Then she heard something else. What sounded like the rushing of a wind… and a very loud roar. She dared to glance back and saw a flash of red against the sky and a burst of fire, seemingly in slow motion.
"DOWN!"
Something tackled into her and she tumbled down a flight of stairs with someone else clinging on to her. Even down here, she could feel the heat of the dragon's fire.
Even so, her anger was burning even more than the dragon's breath and it wasn't directed at the flying lizard, but at the knight who was now picking himself off the floor.
"What the fuck was that?!" she demanded.
"As I understand it, it was me rescuing you from rather severe skin burns," answered Solaire.
"I told you not to get in my way!" she reiterated angrily. "I saw it coming!"
"I was not in your way, merely changing your direction of travel," Solaire countered brightly. "And perhaps you did see it coming, but I feared that you wouldn't be able to escape its breath in time. So, I decided it would be best to lend a hand."
"I didn't ask for your fucking help!"
"There wasn't really a large time window for such a thing. And we are on this venture together, are we not?"
"Yeah, but-"
"And would have preferred to have remained on the bridge and be burned, along with those unfortunate hollows?"
"No, but-"
"Then what is there to lose our tempers over?" he asked. "Perhaps I should have warned you sooner that I suspected the drake's presence, so I apologise for that. Right now though, should we not be thankful we survived unscathed?"
Once again, annoyingly, he was making sense. That must have been why he was acting so jittery before she charged across.
It's your own fault, really, a voice in her head seemed to say. One that sounded a lot like the asshole back at Firelink. Astrea ignored it.
"I guess," she mumbled. "How did you know, anyway?"
"The scorch marks upon the stone," he replied. "They seemed fairly recent and I feared this area was frequented by the drake. One of those times I wish I wasn't right."
"Ditto. Uh… thanks for the save, I guess," she said after a while. "But be quicker to warn me next time, okay?"
"You have my word on that," nodded Solaire. "Now, since it would seem a direct route across the bridge is out of the question, perhaps we can search these two doors for an alternate path?"
"Makes sense to me," she shrugged. "You take the one over there, I'll check this one."
Her search yielded the same room the bonfire at the Burg was in just below her. With the ruined stairs, she kicked down a nearby ladder to ensure if she did die, she'd have a nice shortcut back up here. She shimmied down, rested up, refilled her Estus and spent her souls, then re-joined Solaire, who found a way that would take them under the bridge and on their intended path without risking being burned.
Moving underneath the bridge's arched supports, they were careful moving along the ledges in between the arches and came across a hollow armed with a spear. She raised her scimitar, but felt a hand on her shoulder.
"May I request to take this one?" asked Solaire. "If we are to be travelling companions, I wish to show my worth."
She looked at him, then the hollow and shrugged. "Go nuts."
He bowed his head and advanced. The hollow thrust his spear, but it bounded off of his shield, leaving the hollow open. Wasting no time, he thrust his sword through the opening, pushed the tip into his chest, pulled it out and sliced off its head with another stroke.
Another came around the corner, swinging its sword. He blocked the blow, pushed his opponent away, slashed his chest and kicked him. The force was enough to send the hollow tumbling to his death off the side.
Solaire turned to look at Astrea. She nodded appreciatively.
"Not bad, Solaire," she said. "Not bad at all."
"Thank you, Astrea," he replied brightly.
"I mean, I could have done it with a little more style, but your way works," she added.
"Your modesty is quite admirable."
"Modesty's overrated," she dismissed. "Let's keep moving."
They shimmied along the next ledge and emerged into a small dank runoff. Swiftly dealing with the giant undead rats in there, they climbed up the ladder and found themselves at an upward inclining path. A quick glance to a portcullis on their left told them they'd made it to the other side of the bridge. Right under the drake's big, beaky nose.
Astrea allowed herself a smirk at the thought of sneaking by it completely unnoticed. It couldn't be much further to the church now.
They climbed the stairs on the right, rounded the corner and confirmed she was right. About a hundred paces away, the church and its steeple towered above. All that was between them and it was a set of stairs and another portcullis, this one open. Oh and two hollows with crossbows on the bridge before the portcullis, one hollow charging straight for them and a giant armoured boar.
"Well," remarked Solaire when the charging hollow was dealt with, "this is something of a predicament."
"Yeah, no shit," agreed Astrea. "Still, no biggy. We can take these guys."
"Forgive me for saying so, but that isn't the first time you've said that today," he noted.
"What? You see another dragon or something?"
"Drake," corrected Solaire. "And no, but that boar might still prove to be a formidable obstacle."
"He doesn't look so tough," she scoffed.
"Nevertheless, Astrea, may I suggest a different strategy, as opposed to simply running into the fray?"
She bit back an accusation that he was calling her simple and thought for a moment. He'd turned out to be right before about the dragon… sorry, drake and she'd almost gotten torched. Maybe it was worth giving him the benefit of the doubt this time. Being gored didn't sound like a nice way to die and she'd experienced quite a few.
If she didn't like his idea, they could always go with her plan.
She sighed. "What did you have in mind?"
"You see there?" He pointed to their right, where a set of arches led to a covered part and a staircase. "The arches there are too small for our armoured friend to fit through and I would suspect those stairs would take us to where those archers are currently positioned. I suggest we hurry to them quickly, take out the archers, jump from the bridge and through the portcullis, therefore bypassing the boar completely."
Once again, Astrea nodded her approval. "Okay, sounds good. How about you lead this time?"
"I am honoured, milady."
"What did I say rule two was?"
"Another slip, my apologies."
"Just go before I go without you."
Solaire lead the charge to the stairs, Astrea pausing to kill a hollow that was lurking in the corner. She caught up with Solaire, who was engaging a hollow armed with a spear. However, he was being kept on the defence by his buddies giving the hollow covering fire with crossbow bolts.
"Astrea!" He tried to lash out, but almost took a bolt to the side. "Some assistance, please!"
"On it!"
She rolled under another bolt and crouched behind the first hollow. He grunted when his partner accidently shot him in the back. Taking advantage as he staggered, Astrea shoved him off the side, cut off his partner's arm when he went for his sword and he swiftly followed him off the bridge.
But looking down revealed another problem. A hollow stationed behind the bridge was booking it through the gate, towards a metal lever just behind it.
"He's closing the gate!" Astrea called to Solaire. "Come on!"
She leaped off the bridge, rolled on her landing and darted forward. She made it as the spikes of the portcullis crashed down behind her. Another crashing sound made her turn. The boar had tried to charge at her on landing and ended up getting his tusks stuck in the gaps of the portcullis. He snorted angrily and tried to pull himself free.
Astrea dispatched the hollow at the lever and turned to look back through. Solaire had killed his opponent, but he was stuck on the other side. However, the sunlight warrior didn't seem perturbed. He cocked his head at the boar and put away his sword. He took something in his hand and raised it to the sky.
Growing out from his fist, a brilliant bolt of orange lightning took shape. When it extended to its full length, he threw it like a javelin at the rear of the boar. The bolt hit home and its energies surged through the metal armour. The boar roared in pain, jittering and shaking. After a few seconds, it collapsed, unable to stand.
Solaire jumped down, drew his sword once more and thrust it into the unprotected tail end. With one final roar, the pig expired and moved no more.
Astrea approached the gaps and smiled.
"Miracles, huh?" she asked.
"The benefits of a Warrior of the Sun," he said proudly, stowing away the talisman he used to perform the Miracle. "However, it seems our armoured friend has left this portcullis unable to open with his generous form wedged in it."
"Think there's another way around?"
"I happened to glance another passage leading down just behind me," he motioned with his head. "I shall investigate and see what it yields. Would be so kind as to wait for me this time?"
"I'll wait ten minutes," she answered. "If you don't show, I'll keep going."
"Then I shall endeavour to be as quick as I can," Solaire promised. He drew his sword and headed off.
"Wait." He turned again to look at Astrea. "Uh… sorry for ditching you."
Solaire just laughed. "There's nothing to be sorry for. I suppose I should have been quicker. See you on the other side, Astrea. Quite literally."
Sword and shield in hand, Solaire went off down the other passage. Astrea had to smile again. Sure, he was a little annoying, but she had to admit, his company was kind of nice. Having another pair of eyes watching gave her a sense of security she felt like she missed.
Silently hoping he'd be here at the end of these ten minutes, she propped herself against the wall and waited.
Unseen by the Undead warriors high on the roof of the church, many eyes watched their progress. It would have taken the time to attack them while their backs were turned, but it was ordered to hold its position and simply observe. So, that was what it did. It observed them approach the altar, battle with the Berenike and Balder knights and ultimately triumph.
Far, far away from the Undead Parish, in a cave filled with crystal, he who had given the order saw through the many eyes of his servant. These two both possessed much skill for Undead. And their presence at the church could only mean one thing: the prophecy. They sought the bell.
But which one was the Chosen? The male seemed a viable candidate, but the female too did as well. He had to be certain before any other decisions were made. His compatriot would want to know what was going on, but it was more prudent to gather as much knowledge as possible before relaying it to him.
"Follow them," he commanded. "Keep to the shadows and watch them."