Flynn

RL56 - 29 VIG - 14 MND - 23 END - 25 STR - 14 DEX - 13 INT - 10 FTH - 7 ARC

Resa

RL56 - 17 VIG - 15 MND - 12 END - 12 STR - 27 DEX - 9 INT - 34 FTH - 9 ARC

Resa

"Quick, to the left!"

I quickly pulled Torrent's reins, guiding our poor steed to the left just as yet another rain of arrows cascaded down. I didn't want to know how many times we'd been at this - long enough that Torrent was no longer spooked by the magical arrows, at the very least. We were making progress to be sure, but we hadn't made it to the Manor's entrance yet.

We'd learned that hugging the mountain wall to the west gave us the best chance of avoiding the arrows, and we once again managed to swing up alongside them, transitioning from riding north to riding east. From here, it was all about reaction time - could Flynn spot the trajectory of the arrows with enough time that I could guide Torrent away from them.

Left, right, pause, left, left - I made the adjustments as he called them out, arrows raining down a hair's breadth from Torrent's flank. We drew closer - close enough that I could once again see the grace resting on the Manor's doorstep. Just a bit further.

Flynn's reaction time was just a bit slow, and Torrent's back leg was clipped as a consequence. The steed kept riding, pushing through the injury. Another rain of arrows tagged her again - this wasn't Flynn's fault, Torrent's wounded leg prevented her from avoiding it in time. We were practically there, but I knew Torrent wasn't going to make it if we kept on like this.

"Dismount and split up!" I blew Torrent's whistle just as she took another hit to the leg, the two of us falling to the ground as our mount dissipated. It was a dead sprint from here, and I fanned out to Flynn's side so that the arrows could only hit one of us. It went after Flynn - he raised his shield aloft, pushing through the hail as arrows struck the shield, penetrating through and hitting the armor - and him - beneath it. I took that as a sign to launch myself forward as fast as I could go, praying that Flynn would continue to be the target.

I reached the staircase leading up, nearly tripping over my own feet as I ascended. I caught myself, scrambling on all fours up the stairs and threw myself at the grace. It lit up under my touch - I waited.

No more arrows came.

I turned back, looking at Flynn. He, too, seemed confused, keeping his shield held up but slowing his pace, walking up towards the grace. He came up beside me, letting out an exhausted breath. "Good call back there."

"I don't think we had a choice…Torrent was hurt. Let's…let's rest. We made it."

Flynn plopped down beside me, leaning against the low wall of the staircase. "We did. Now, I can only hope that it was worth it."

"It will be. Like you said…guard what's worth guarding, or something like that."

He chuckled, stretching his legs. "Something like that, yeah."

We took only a brief rest by the grace, recovering our strength. I still wasn't sure if we could truly call it safe, but momentarily that proved to be the case. Once we were ready I turned my attention towards the inside of the Manor, seeing just what was in front of us.

Fog filled the inside - odd, given that there was very little outside. Crystals were growing from the grassy grounds, similar to that of the cave we found Latenna in, though not quite as dense. Multiple statues of a hooded figure led towards a water fountain in the center, flanked by two large pillars leading to a bridge much, much higher up. The inside of the manor was wooded, oddly enough. I wasn't sure what to make of that.

We headed inwards, following the path. I walked towards the fountain, barely noticing another doorway on the far side of the manor, to the north. I passed beneath the bridge, noticing something resting atop the -

"What the f- look out!"

My head whipped around towards Flynn - and then panned higher, towards what he'd seen. A hand…a hand the size of a carriage. It had been clinging on the pillar like some sort of spider but was now clawing its way down. My head spun around as I heard movement behind me, only to find a second one descending from our rear.

"Watch your back, there's another."

The things were horrid, downright disgusting. They weren't even a normal hand, but rather looked like two grafted together, more fingers than I cared to count crawling towards us. I backed up, raising my Needle and katana - there was no chance I was going to fight this thing up close, not unless it forced me to.

I began poking at it from afar, launching icy projectiles at it when I could - my needles, as I took to calling them. Despite its size, the thing was fast - it was more than capable of scrambling towards me, forcing me to swipe at a leg-like finger before backing up. I glanced to the side, seeing Flynn get grasped by the other one. It clenched its fingers around him in a vice-like grip, trying to squeeze him alive. I launched a needle at it, and then another, but that wasn't enough to dissuade it.

I ran up, taking a more personal approach - out of force, not choice. Flynn was right, katana and rapier made for a very strange combination, but I was forcing it to work. The length of the katana let me stay at a decent distance, allowing me to poke and prod with the rapier in tandem. That seemed to be enough as the hand let go, giving Flynn up in favor of a more hostile prey.

"Alright, enough of that." Flynn held his cleaver aloft, a blue sword emerging from it, growing in strength a moment later. He slammed the Carian blade down on one, and that was enough to sever it. The other fell not long after, leaving us in momentary silence once again.

"What. Was. That."

Flynn shook his head. "I don't know…but now we know what to look for. Keep your eyes open, and watch for anything that looks…fingery."

Great…just what I was looking forward to. As we continued exploring, we found many more. Some were smaller, and offered little threat. We explored deeper in, finding a crystal mass along the eastern wall. Next to it was resting a shield, beautifully crafted. It was smaller than something either of us cared for, but it was carved with the shape of a snowflake on it. Flynn lifted it up, watching a dusty scroll slip out from behind it.

"Is this what I think it is?" Flynn lifted up the paper, opening it up. "I take it this is a sorcery…not that I can particularly make heads or tails of it yet. Can you?"

I looked over his shoulder. "I can't decipher it either. Keep it with the other one next time you see Sellen?"

He nodded. "Yeah, not a bad idea. Wonder why it was just sitting out here."

"That shield looks important - potentially a paired shield with the Frozen Needle. It might have been left here intentionally, in memory. We should leave the shield here, just out of respect."

He placed the shield down, and we continued on our way - but only for a brief moment. I spotted it first, and Flynn a moment later. A row of fingers just barely sticking up from the ground, suggesting the presence of another hand-spider beneath the surface. It hadn't acted yet, however - and after a coordinated strike from a Carian Greatsword and a lightning spear, it wouldn't. We saw several more underground as well - smaller ones that we quickly dispatched.

"Clinging to walls, burrowing underground…I loathe to ask this out loud, but is there anywhere these things can't be?"

"See, now I wish you hadn't asked that question…my eyes are already looking everywhere." I eyed the walls, the ceilings, the ground - progress was slow, because the last thing I wanted was to get ambushed again. Eventually we synced back up with the main pathway, now leading up a long slope with more hands along its length.

At the top was another large one - though most of the larger ones wore a pink-gemmed ring on its center finger, this was the first one that used it. A bright pink projectile launched out of the ring towards Flynn. He raised his shield up to block - but as the projectile exploded against it, that hardly mattered.

"Can't…move." My brother tensed up, struggling - I could see him trying to budge, but nothing happened. The hand predatorily advanced towards him, but I quickly intercepted. Two slashes of my katana and a thrust from my rapier was enough to draw its attention, and I resumed a familiar dance of backing up and firing needles when it was safe to do so. Eventually, the magical binds on Flynn faded - and together, we took it down.

"Lesson learned - a shield can't guard against everything."

I chuckled. "You only wish it did. Still, I suppose it was good to learn about that when there was just one of them. If the two by the fountain had caught us off guard by that, I think it might have spelled the end for us both."

"You're right…thanks for covering for me. Iji was right. Whatever used to be in here, it's long been overrun. I'm surprised we even found that shield - almost nothing else in here seems to have any value."

"Well…these things happen. Just think about where we came from. Nearly everything was overrun or abandoned. At least here, well…the factions at play are somewhat active, even if we're coming in near the end of it."

"That's a fair point. Let's head inside - get out of this fog." There was a doorway not far ahead, leading into a small library and study. Beyond that was a staircase leading up towards some sort of classroom, or perhaps a small chapel. Desks or pews - I couldn't tell which - lined a red carpet in the center, leading up to an altar in the center. A grace was nestled in the corner of the room - we weren't too injured, but a short rest never hurt. After the brief reprieve we set out once more, ready to explore more of the Manor.

When we stepped outside, we were high up enough now that we were walking on the bridges we'd passed under earlier - which left little room for exploration. Flynn and I walked side-by-side down them, not a single enemy in sight - finger-spider or otherwise.

That is, until about halfway across the bridge. Two spectral blue forms appeared further down, clad in armor identical to the Liurnian knights we'd seen on patrol and in camps throughout the whole region. We dispatched them easily enough…but something felt off.

"Do you think…are these ghosts?"

Flynn turned towards me, cocking his head. "How do you figure?"

"Well…Iji said that a great number of knights from Raya Lucaria died sieging the Manor. Given that…I have to wonder if perhaps they're being used here."

"Well…according to D, souls go to the Erdtree when they die. It's possible that that's been tampered with like the undead we've seen…but I wouldn't know how to prove that. Let's keep going for now…maybe we'll find some answers."

I nodded, the two of us carrying on. The bridge ahead of us split, continuing to the east and north. Through the fog, I noted a stairway further down the eastern path. As we continued our brief walk, more phantasmal soldiers attempted to stop our progress, but to little avail. We reached the stairway and climbed it, finding an elevator at its peak. Up we went - to the third floor of the Manor.

We arrived in another study-like room, several desks and chairs along the walls combined with piles of books and various equipment. Yet another grace sat in its center - we activated it but moved on.

When we exited the room, we found ourselves once more on grass, odd despite our elevation. The first thing my eyes fixated on was a small golden tree not far away, likely to have a seed within it that would improve our flasks. Next to it, however, was a wolf - much larger than the ones we'd seen up until now, and with thick fur along its spine. I noticed another roaming around, pointing them out to Flynn.

Nearly as soon as we descended the short staircase to the grass below, both pounced on us, sensing us despite never looking in our direction. Dispatching them wasn't easy - they were far hardier than the soldiers we'd faced, and much more nimble. Soon though, they fell, and I moved to pluck the seed from the tree, handing it to Flynn for storage.

The only way out of here seemed to be another staircase catty-corner to where we entered. As we ascended it, I peered through the archway, seeing another staircase further beyond. It was, well…crowded. Three sorcerers, each wearing a strange stone mask over their head like Sellen, as well as a large troll behind them, wielding a massive blade that looked similar to the one Flynn plucked off the carriage not too long ago. I quickly darted to the side, getting out of sight.

"If…if Raya Lucaria didn't break the siege, what are those people doing in here now."

Flynn shook his head, just as confused as I was. "Maybe…it happened after the Shattering? Whatever reason they're here, they don't belong here. Let's fix that."

"Alright. After you." I grasped my seal in my off hand, sheathing the katana for now - I had a feeling I'd want to fight at distance against that troll. Flynn marched in, unphased by the seemingly powerful threat just inside.

"I can aid you." I heard the call - it was distant and fleeting, but I recognized it immediately. Latenna. I paused for a moment, considering it. We certainly could use the assistance…and if I intended to fight at range, I could protect her if need be.

"Alright." I held up the bell, softly ringing it. Latenna swirled into existence beside me, her legs limp beneath her as she sat on the ground. There was no pause - she immediately notched an arrow, firing it at one of the casters as it split into three, all three homing in and striking her target true.

"I know of this place. I'll tell you what I know, but first we must handle the threat at hand."

"Very well…thank you for your assistance."

"It is the least I can do for the aid you offer me."

I didn't reply, instead I hurled a lightning spear at one of the casters as I ran forward, dropping to my knees and sliding along the ground as I slashed at its legs. It moved to conjure a sword to strike at me with but I managed to dodge it, instead knocking it to the ground. One thrust into its back wasn't quite enough, but several more were - it was dead before it was able to get back up again.

And then, the troll - in a violent and brazen entrance it charged forward, catching one of the other sorcerers and completely trampling it underfoot in the process. In a sense, that was a relief - as Flynn finished off the final one, it left us with only one opponent left. However, that meant it could easily do the same to us if we weren't careful…I took a step back in anticipation.

Latenna continued her archery assault, now turning her attention on the troll. Flynn closed in, keeping it occupied a massive sword crashed down on his shield but he held firm, knees buckling from the force of the impact. He struck back, his cleaver smashing into the troll's shin twice, each strike empowered by glintstone sorceries. I kept my distance, launching several more lightning spears as well as a few needles while Flynn kept the troll's focus locked on him.

It fought back - but against the three of us, there was only so much it could do against the three of us. The advantage of Flynn's new fixation with his cleaver was that he could wield his shield in tandem, letting him fight far more defensive than with the still-oversized halberd. It let him weather the troll's crushing blows far more successfully - and that longevity in battle made it all the easier for me and Latenna to rain a barrage of projectiles on the troll. Eventually, it fell - and that left our path clear. A few more foes were on the stairs, but compared to the troll they were trivial - soon, it was just us and Latenna.

I turned to Latenna, her spirit still kneeling on the ground. "You said you know about this place?"

She nodded "Some - I know what has been used to guard this place. It is the spirit of Loretta, a champion of the Albinaurics. You will cause her no harm in defeating her spirit…but if you would bring a spirit with you for the encounter, I wish it not to be me. I could not bring myself to launch an arrow even at her visage."

"I understand…is there anything we should know about this Loretta?"

"She is a skilled warrior of bow and magic. She is trained in Carian magic, but has adapted it for her own means. She will prove difficult, even her spirit will be fierce opposition for the two of you. I believe you two capable, however, should you seek to reach what is beyond."

"Do you know what that would be?" Flynn regrouped with us, cleaning his blade.

"The Three Sisters, home to three separate sorcerers. I know not all of them - the one I have heard of is a witch named Renna."

"Renna?" I remembered that name - I'd spoken to her. She'd offered me the bell as well as Argyn's spirit…when I'd spoken with her, it didn't sound like she expected to see me again. Perhaps…perhaps she was hiding back here. If that was the case, perhaps there was something for Flynn and I to learn within the Three Sisters.

"You speak as if you know her?"

"I've met her only briefly, yes…I wouldn't mind doing so again."

"Then you will need to fell Latenna's spirit. I wish you the best of luck. As for me…I have aided you as much as I can from here. Call upon me next time you need me…or I will let you know when I can aid you." With that, Latenna dissipated, her spirit returning to the Urn.

"Loretta…I suppose we'd best be careful."

"Potentially, but Latenna described her as an archer. I imagine if we can close in and keep the distance between us low, we stand a fair chance."

We reached the top of the stairs, and I saw all the tell-tale signs that something was waiting for us ahead - an archway with an iron gate at the top poised to drop, and a large courtyard beyond. "Are you ready?"

"Not yet…looks like perhaps there's one more secret in this Manor." Flynn motioned to his left - a small doorway was set into the wall, mostly obscured by the trees. I would have missed it had he not pointed it out. "Might as well see everything this place has to offer before continuing."

"After you."

He walked through it, leading out to a small precipice. There wasn't much to see, save for a few rickety wooden platforms set on the wall. At one point, stairs must have been connecting them, but they'd fallen away. That made any chance of traversal rather precarious, especially for -

As I sat in thought, Flynn leaped from one platform to the next, disappearing from my view. I was worried the platform would give way, but it didn't…that either meant that it would sustain my weight as well, or he'd just loosened it for me. I followed after him, leaping from one platform to the next, thankful that neither gave way as we descended down to another ledge at the base.

At the base was a jar - a massive jar. As we landed, it revealed to be far more than that, stony arms and legs emerging as it stood up, charging at us. We dispatched it, but more were coming. Beneath us was another ledge and we dropped down, only to find even more.

This continued several more times - for some reason, these strange jar-warriors had concentrated along the cliffside here. I continued following after Flynn as we descended, fighting off anything that got too close for comfort. Soon, we were at the base…the next drop down would be the ground floor of the Manor.

"Well…this turned out to be a bust."

"Not necessarily. Look this way." Flynn pointed over to our right, towards the top of an archway. With a well-timed jump it looked like we could make it - there wasn't much there, but it was somewhere we hadn't reached before. We hopped over, ending up on some sort of guard post.

As I suspected, there wasn't much here…but there was one guard, slumped over in the corner. Limply held in one hand was a piece of cloth, a few grains of ash spilling out of it.

"Is this…an Ash of War?" Flynn knelt down, picking it up. "I suppose it is…even more strange, it feels familiar."

"Familiar?"

He nodded. "Yeah…it's like I already know it. Let's get back to a grace I - I think I know what to do."

We moved back to a grace - the guard post put us pretty close to the main path of the lowest level of the Manor, so the walk back was mostly enemy-free from our initial exploration. We climbed all the way up to the second grace, across the bridges and closest to Loretta.

"Alright, just…give me a moment." Flynn pulled out his whetblade and cleaver, beginning to get to work."

"You're replacing Carian Greatsword?"

"Yes…I think. Maybe it's because I've been using Ashes of War for this long, but I'm starting to get a feel for them. What we picked up…it feels similar to that. I'm not saying I'll keep it, but I at least want to know what we've got."

I let him work, watching the care with which he handled his weaponry. Before long, it seemed like he was satisfied with his work, stowing Carian Greatsword away.

"Alright…I believe the activation principle is the same. So…time to see."

Flynn brought his cleaver back over his head - and like before, a shimmering blue blade erupted out of it, only slightly longer than the cleaver itself.

A moment later, it doubled in size, consuming the blade and shooting past it.

Was this…had we found another Carian Greatsword? Surely ashes of war weren't unique, if they were then -

It doubled again. Held above my brother's head was twenty feet of gleaming magic sword, thrumming with power so intense that it was awe-inspiring. He slammed the blade down into the ground, crushing an entire row of pews in one swing. His posture hung there, blade limp in his hands, his body knelt forward and his chest heaving.

"That…wow." Flynn righted himself but let the blade stay limp, the tip resting on the ground.

"So that's…that seemed like a lot."

He nodded. "It felt like a lot. That used a lot of my reserves just for that swing. I could maybe do it once more before I'd have to rest…but that's worth it."

"I'll say. I assume it's some advanced form of Carian magic, then? Given where we are, and its similarity to the greatsword?"

"Has to be. Perhaps Iji would know, or Renna. For now, though, let's continue on to Loretta. We made our detour - and even though it seems worth it, we should get back on track."

"Agreed. I'd like to meet Renna again…I've several questions."

We stood up from the grace, heading outside once again. As expected, our break gave time for the enemies to revitalize as well. We pushed through without Latenna's aid this time, making our way back to the gated archway, and the courtyard beyond. Flynn and I prepared for the fight, drinking our crystalline flasks and empowering our weapons of choice - my katana with lightning, his cleaver with magic. Once completed, we stepped through, awaiting our opponent…nothing.

Inside was a sort of reflection pool, encircled by what had to be fifty chairs, all interspaced perfectly around the pool's center. Surrounding that were trees, towering over even the Manor walls. It was gentle, peaceful…hardly the place to expect a fight.

With a few more steps forward though, that fight began. The first indication was the sound of the gate slamming shut behind the two of us, ensuring we couldn't back out. The second was a figure appearing in the center of the pool. It formed from a cloud of sparks, forming into a silvery-white shape very reminiscent of the spirits that I summoned. As she took shape though, Loretta was far larger than any spirit I could summon.

She rode a horse, clad in ornate but thick armor. Atop it was presumably Loretta herself, garbed in thick steel armor that likely rivaled Flynn, although hers was more decorative. Frills and flutes stood out on both her and her horse, as well as a large circle over her head, adorned with the symbol of a tree…given what I'd picked up, I suspected it to be the Haligtree. In one hand she held a shield, and in the other a sickle-like polearm, far from the bow and arrow Latenna had led me to expect.

As soon as her incorporeal form finished materializing, Latenna sprung into action. She leaped forward, her horse covering a significant distance in a single bound. She leaned to the side, swinging that sickle at both of us. I managed to step back while Flynn raised his shield in time, deflecting it. Despite her form, the impact against his shield felt very much real - even the clang of metal-to-metal contact rang out.

Loretta backstepped and then swung her sickle in a defensive retreat, a blue glow emanating from it. As that finished, 5 glowing blue swords began to float around her head, hovering. I moved behind Flynn, waiting, watching…before long, the swords flew from her towards us, Flynn catching the bulk of them against his shield.

"Sorceries and melee…definitely trained by Carians. I'll stay on top of her, try to break any casting she tries to do. What's your plan?"

I paused for a moment, thinking. I was, well, spoiled for options. Long range? Lightning spears. Mid range? Needles and other incantations. Melee? A katana and a rapier. "I'll figure it out as I go."

"That's…alright." Flynn pushed forward, shield raised as Loretta leaped forward, bringing her sickle slamming down towards Flynn. He withstood the blow, but just barely - the might of her swing pushed him back nearly a foot. My brother retaliated, lunging forward and dragging his cleaver up the side of the horse in response. There was no indication of pain - no blood, no wince. Loretta was a spirit - that meant we'd just have to overpower her will to continue fighting us here.

To start, I moved in close as well - her sickle was weighty and powerful, but that made it slow. So long as I could keep watch, I hoped I could avoid the brunt of her attacks. I slid under her mount, slashing at a leg while I thrust my rapier up beneath its chest. Once on the other side I stood up, Flynn and I now flanking her. She hardly seemed to mind - a horizontal slash with her sickle forced both of us on the defensive, and another five blades above her head kept us that way. I backed off while Flynn raised his shield, both of us intently eyeing the blades, as well as the sickle itself. Soon, they began flying towards the both of us. I managed to dodge one but got caught by the other, breaking the barrier shield from my crystalline flask. By the time I refocused, I saw the pommel of Loretta's sickle pointed at me, a blue glow emanating from it. A burst of glintstone magic flew towards me, far more powerful than the swords. I tried to dodge, but again…just barely too slow. It grazed my back this time, eliciting a grunt as it scathed me.

I needed to be further away…these weren't arrows, they were magic. They were flying towards me - and if I moved, so did they. Reaction time was imperative, since unlike Flynn I didn't have the luxury of solving all my problems with a shield.

I backed off, leaving Flynn to fight on his own in melee. He was faring far better than I was - after a couple swigs from my flask I was back on my feet, but I couldn't weather even stray hits like that too much more. I launched a volley of needles and lightning spears, sheathing my katana and pulling out my seal instead.

I felt more comfortable like this, able to stay just on the edge of combat, weaving attacks in whenever there were openings. Whenever Flynn suffered a particularly savage hit I immediately paused to mend his wounds, ensuring he didn't lose Loretta's focus. I was cognizant of my cerulean flask - I was steadily draining it, but I could only hope that I had enough to get us through the fight.

After blocking another sickle strike from Loretta, Flynn once again retaliated with an upward swing with his cleaver, targeting the horse far more than he was the rider. Loretta actually retreated, however, regaining her composure…progress.

Or so I thought.

After a quick sorcery, I noticed a faint blue glow began to emanate from her, following her as she moved. After that her horse reared its back legs, and Loretta raised her polearm to the sky. From that sickle formed a bow - a bow made of pure magic, spanning the entire length of her weapon. She brought her shield arm forward and an equally massive arrow formed, made of energy - identical to the hail of arrows that had been attacking us from outside the Manor. She pointed the bow at Flynn and my brother immediately went into a defensive stance, legs low to the ground and shield covering everything below his eyes.

When the arrow flew from the bow, it launched itself straight at Flynn. In spite of his shield, it sent him staggering backwards, his stance completely broken from that one strike as he quickly tried to regain his footing. Loretta took this opening to charge forward, the tip of her sickle beginning to glow the same blue as all of her sorceries. As her horse leaped into the air, she slashed upwards, raising the sickle to the sky - and when she descended, so too did her blade.

My brother fell limp on the ground - I didn't even want to consider just how powerful that strike was. I raised my seal to heal him, but Loretta had other plans. She pointed the butt of her sickle at me, and while I was expecting a single blast of magic to come in my direction, I was hardly expecting five. My healing managed to go through, but not with enough time for me to dodge the oncoming swarm - all five hit me across the chest, singing my garb and leaving more of that cold pain behind. I drank more from my flask - I was starting to run out of both, and it seemed that all we'd managed to do was make Loretta mad, not put her on the ropes. She finished her opening flourish with another swing of her weapon - and whereas five glintstone blades had formed previously, now there were eight.

She was defending this place…and at least it was showing that we were meant to be taken seriously. As Flynn got up and pushed back into the fray, I launched more attacks from range at Loretta, spears flying from my hand whenever I wasn't being chased down by glintstone magic.

I recognized the new cluster of five as glintstone stars - a sorcery I remember Sellen describing as being very adept at seeking their prey. I began trying to use the trees for cover, but before too long Loretta leaped in my direction, a single slash of her glaive wrecking a swathe of trees. I was running out of everything - out of cover, out of flasks, and out of options. As I launched one more spear, I reached for my blue flask to restore my magic, only to find it empty.

Loretta still had some fight left in her…and I needed to do more than simply launch needles at her if we wanted to come out on top. I scanned the area, looking for options. There wasn't much…a staircase led to a landing on the south side of the pool, but beyond we didn't have much to work with. I resorted to simply moving into melee with my brother - I'd had time to analyze how Loretta fought, but that didn't make it any easier to avoid a barrage of magic that sought me out.

Flynn, to his credit, was pushing through incredibly - I was surprised he was still standing given the sheer volume of attacks that he'd been through. I could tell he was running out of options as well - he had been using his flask more sparingly as of late, relying on the steady restoration of his flask to aid him when he didn't sense immediate danger. That meant we needed to end this quickly.

Loretta backed up, readying another sorceric projectile. This took time - perhaps our opening. As she drew her hand back I rushed in, not retreated - by the time she was ready to let it fly I was practically on top of her. I dropped to my knees and slid along the reflection pool, diving underneath her horse as the arrow failed to track me, erupting in a cloud of blue that sent a frigid chill down my spine. I whipped around, unsheathing my katana and cutting at both legs until my momentum came to a stop. I stood back up, now at the rear of the horse, the one place I'd noticed her sickle failed to reach. The steed reared up to try and kick me, but that I was more than able to dodge - and I knew from experience how long it took for horses to rotate themselves around. I slashed several times, Flynn joining in as well from the front as we put everything we had into one final push.

Loretta formed eight blades that encircled her, knowing it was her best defense in the current situation. Four flew at me, four at Flynn. I managed to avoid two, but the remainders caught me on my left arm - I gritted my teeth from the pain, my rapier barely able to remain clutched in my hand. I could barely see Flynn hold out as well, both of us not giving in just yet. Loretta leaped into the air, her sickle glowing blue as she sent it to the sky. I readied myself - if she swung towards me, even a glancing blow would surely mean death.

Rather than defend against such a blow, my brother prepared to attack - the attack. His cleaver was raised above his head, the empowered Carian Greatsword already reaching its second stage. As Loretta began to descend, it reached its third stage, thrumming with unimaginable power as Loretta's sickle turned towards him. Both blades swung at once in a clash of glintstone and steel. They collided with each other, Flynn's blade catching on the pole but unable to move further despite all the strength he was putting behind it. As for Loretta's…

It hit the ground…and as it did, the blue glow faded from both her and Flynn's weapons. Loretta stood near-motionless, the power of her sickle having intentionally missed either of us. There was no mistake - a warrior of her skill could have killed Flynn if she'd wanted to, which begged the question why she didn't. She brought the weapon up, letting it rest idly at her side.

"You may pass."

Those single words were uttered - and she vanished. Flynn and I looked at each other incredulously…we'd survived. Barely, but it was enough that Loretta had deemed us worthy of passage.

"I…think I need a break."

Flynn nodded. "I second that…I dare say ten more seconds and she would have put me down."

There was a grace in the very center of the pool, so thankfully we didn't need to walk far. As we sat down, Flynn noticed two items there beside us - a scroll, and an ash of war. The scroll we quickly identified as yet another sorcery that we'd take to Sellen soon. As for the ash, Flynn spent a short while learning about it, coming to the conclusion that it wasn't meant for any of the weapons he wielded - how he knew that I couldn't tell. He'd grown adept with these ashes - perhaps that was why Loretta let us pass. But now he was learning about them while they were still just an ash, not on a blade. Perhaps I could do that too with my ashes - spirit ashes. I still had to summon each one to learn what we'd found - and while I enjoyed the surprise of seeing our new potentially ally, I'd prefer simply…knowing

Once we were rested we stood up, a door on the far side of the pool leading to the Three Sisters. As we walked out, the fog that had enshrouded the manor only seemed to thicken, allowing for blue pillars of light to shine through from the sky above. Directly ahead of us was a Rise. I saw a frosted blue door in front of it…perhaps it was closed. As we got closer, I noticed that it wasn't the same sigil on the other Rises we'd seen - in fact there was no sigil at all, just a snowy white door. There was also no book, no clue, no puzzle…it seemed that whoever was in here actually was in there, and didn't want to be bothered.

That was fine…there were two other Rises, as the name suggested. We started walking over to the next one, passing through crumbling ruins and large shards of crystals that jutted out of the rock, the topology not changing much from what was inside the Manor.

As we drew closer though, I heard a heavy thud, and then another. Something large…but from within the fog, I could scarcely see what it was. It wasn't until we'd rounded a corner of a ruin that I saw just a flash of a wing, the brief sight of a tail. I held my arm out, grabbing Flynn by the shoulder.

"Dragon."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah…similar to the one from before. What's our play?"

"We…we have to fight it. We still need to get into the Academy. If we can't fight this one, well…we can't fight the other."

That was…they were the words I expected to hear, but that didn't make them much more digestible, not after so narrowly perishing to Loretta. "Alright. It's resistant to your glintstone sorceries, but I'm not sure about lightning…I know the dragon creature we fought underground was though."

"Then figure out…I can hold my own. Use the ruins for cover if it flies into the air. We should use this as practice…to see if we can defeat the one guarding the key."

"Alright…let's do it." We both drank from our flasks again, preparing for battle. Thankfully it hadn't sensed us yet, and that gave us an advantage. Flynn's forward charge gave away our position but not before he was able to reach its back legs and get a few mighty swings in. I followed from a distance, laying down a swathe of lightning before following up with a spear, gauging how it reacted. The lightning seemed to work - not nearly as well as it did against the dragons we were familiar with, but it wasn't completely ignored by its underground relative.

Before long, it took to the sky - and unlike last time, we weren't in the middle of the lake. Flynn ran behind a ruin while I ducked under a jutting wall of crystal, both of us avoiding the blast of glintstone breath that rained down on us from afar. As it flew into my view I continued the onslaught of lightning spears, now no longer constrained to just my blades. They pierced its wings with practiced precision, and soon the dragon descended back to the ground again.

Flynn closed in, once again resuming the fight. There wasn't much the dragon could do against him from its back legs - an occasional stomp of its feet or beat of its wings momentarily slowed my brother down, but he never seemed under much immediate danger. That was good info - so long as we could stay alive from its aerial assault, Flynn had solid control on the ground.

The fight continued on, not without its back and forths - the dragon took to the skies again as we hid, and then blasted us with more breath from afar even after landing. We pushed through, once again starting to attack it - and then, without any sort of signal, it vanished. A cloud of sparks was all that remained for a brief second, the mighty beast gone.

I was breathing heavy, all of the running, dodging, and ducking for cover taxing my stamina. I rejoined with Flynn, finding him in a similar state.

"Stay on guard…it's possible it's waiting to ambush us once we've dropped our guard."

"Yeah…not a bad idea. Good job out there. You taught it to stay off the ground."

Flynn chuckled. "And you, the sky. I think we have a good chance at the real thing…unless neither of them are real, and we're just fighting progressively more deadly illusions."

"Don't say that…just don't. Now come on, let's see if Renna's in that tower up ahead." The two of us walked forward towards the second rise, finding no seal on the door. The inside was far more spacious than the previous ones we'd found, with several additional chambers rather than just a ladder to the top. We found a grace about halfway up - a welcome sight after our run-in with the dragon, but something we could ignore for now. We continued on, finding an elevator that took us even higher up the tower. After a brief wait and a staircase around the outside of the peak of the tower, we reached the top.

Inside, I immediately recognized Renna - the fur cloak, the snow-white garb, the comically large mage's hat, as well as the unmistakable four arms, blue skin, and a reflected face. She looked towards the two of us, and then me specifically.

"Oh…so we meet again. I believe last time I introduced myself as Renna. I remembereth no memory of extending an invitation to thee. Pray tell, what brings you to mine abode?"

I played that back in my head…did that mean she wasn't Renna?

"We…were exploring the Manor when we were told that Renna used to live here. You are Renna, yes?"

The figure - I had my suspicions on who it was, remained stoic. "Intriguing. Then mayhaps this reunion is fated. I am not Renna. It is a name I use to hide. You may calleth me Ranni, the witch."

Flynn interjected. "Why the secrecy?"

"The name Ranni stirreth quite trouble within some. It is best if only those I trust knoweth my true identity."

"So you trust us?" I raised an eyebrow in speculation - it hardly felt that way.

"If it is trust that you question, then I shall confide within thee this. Long ago I stole Death, and used it to upend the world. Now, I seeketh to rid this land of all that came before, and usher in a new age. An age where the Erdtree holds no sway. An age of freedom. An age of choice."

Those words hung in the air…an age of…choice? An age without the Erdtree? I didn't even know such things were possible. I stood there, comprehending just what was being spoken - and as I did, Ranni continued.

"Ah…I see my words have left you intrigued. Carest thou to enter my service?"

For those following news, Shadow of the Erdtree was recently announced. Obviously there's only rampant speculation at this point, both in terms of the content and the delivery schedule. I won't commit to incorporating the expansion into this story yet - narratively, it may completely clash with where I'm intending to take Flynn and Resa. I'm open to the idea, of course - Ashes of Ariandel and the Ringed City made for very entertaining tales during the Twin Embers story. We'll just have to wait and see…