Dark Souls 3: Cinders of Power

by Blackdrag-rose

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark Souls, Profanity, Adventure, Crossover, Anthro, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death, Other, Tirek
Length: 275139

Tirek awakens to find himself in a state of undeath, in a foreign land, and must use everything at his disposal to survive the dangers that await him.

Tirek thought it was over when the mares he thought he had defeated used the powerful rainbow power of Harmony against him, stripping him of the power he had stolen from the ponies of Equestria, while no doubt sending him back to his cell in Tartarus. Fate, however, seemed to have other plans for him as he found himself buried under the ground, in a shallow grave that he had to pull himself out of, just as a bell tolled, and in a foreign land that he knows nothing about. At the same time he discovers that he wasn't the only one buried, as a fallen warrior also pulls herself from the grave and sets off on her own personal quest, while also finding out that they are both undead in some manner and that fate has big plans for them.

He and his unlikely companion must band together for the foreseeable future and tackle the dangers of this world, all while Tirek searches for the power that will allow him to break his condition, regain his true power, and then conquer the world, or die trying.

(Dark Souls 3/MLP Crossover)
(Part of the Demon War story series, but reading the others isn't required)

Published 2020-10-03 13:40:00 UTC
Last updated 2021-02-06 13:17:46 UTC

Firelink Shrine

Tirek had no idea how long they were actually sitting at the bonfire, readying themselves for what was coming next, but after what seemed like an hour, which was likely just two or three minutes, Sarana got up and glanced down at the path that would take them right to the entrance of the circular area they had seen when they reached the top of the hill, to which he pulled himself up and joined her. While part of him wanted to take the role of being the leader away from Sarana, since issuing orders was something he was more familiar with, he did understand that he knew absolutely nothing about this odd world, save for what she had told him so far, and suspected that he would get lost at some point if he was the only telling her where they were supposed to go, which was why he said nothing and let her take the lead. As they headed down the path that would take them directly to where the entrance of the area they had been looking at was located, so they could get this show on the road, Tirek noticed that there was another area below the where the bonfire was resting and that there just so happened to be a path that connected the one they were on to the new one he had spotted. At the end of the path they were following, which turned into a small crossroads of sorts, stood one of the grave tenders that they had fought so far, but instead of allowing it to even get close to them Tirek raised his staff and blasted it, knocking it down like the others he had loosed a spell at, taking down another enemy as they moved forward.

When they turned towards the path on their right, as that was the direction that Sarana wanted to head down, they found two more grave tenders sitting on the ground on either side of the passage, like they were tired or something, but the pair knew that they were faking, if the other grave tenders were anything to think about, so while Tirek blasted the foe on their left, and knocked him into the wall, Sarana cut down the second one in seconds. Interestingly enough there were two more grave tenders hiding behind some of the stones that were beyond the first two enemies that they spotted, but Tirek focused his magic for a moment and loosed two bolts at them, striking down both of the grave tenders before they could even reach Sarana, who simply focused on him for a moment before continuing. He wasn't expecting to be thanked for the assist, not since he didn't care and he knew that she wasn't the sort to show her emotions, so he wasn't outraged at all when she didn't thank him, rather he followed her down the rocky path they were following and even spotted yet another split, where one of the directions took them to the area they had been staring at and the other would allow them to explore an area that was below them. It didn't take Sarana long to make her decision, as she wanted to see what was on the path below them, and Tirek walked behind her, where they found two more grave tenders standing over a dead body that had a few small bomb-like items resting near it, though that was when she charged them with the intent to wipe them out, leaving Tirek to sigh as he loosed another bolt of magic from the staff and struck down the grave tender that was the closest to the body, leaving his companion to parry the incoming attack and then cut her foe down.

"So, what were they guarding?" Tirek inquired, something that was going to be happening every now and then while he was traveling with Sarana, as there was too much he didn't know about this world and knew that there was likely next to no one that would identify these items for him, so all he could do was ask the one person he actually knew and see if she knew what the items were.

"A couple of firebombs." Sarana replied, to which she stood up and tucked the bombs into a little pouch that Tirek hadn't spotted earlier, though before he could say anything she walked back up to where he was standing and started to make her way towards the other path they could have taken, "Basically, I can throw one of them at something or someone and it will explode, causing damage to an attacker or possibly setting an area on fire, if there are oil barrels nearby, so we have a way to clear out an area without engaging some enemies, depending on what's in that area."

"Interesting. Sounds like they were be useful at some point." Tirek commented, even though he really had no idea if Sarana was telling the truth or if she was pulling his leg and was just lying to him, as it was rather hard to tell when a being was lying when they had no emotions at all, though at the very least it didn't seem like she was annoyed with him as they returned to the path they happened to be following.

They discovered two more grave tenders between them and the entrance of the area that they had decided to check out, and by that Tirek found out that one was right in front of where they were standing and the second one was off to the side, to attack them from behind, so while Sarana stabbed and cut down the first one he turned around and blasted the second foe in the chest, allowing them to finish off their foes at the same time. One they were taken care of, and the pair was sure there were no more enemies in the immediate area, both Tirek and Sarana walked through the opening that was in front of them and discovered that there was a rather tall person that was currently hunched over in a kneeling position, or at least a statue made in the likeness of someone. The only reason that Tirek even considered that it was a living person was due to the rather intricate iron armor, or what he assumed was iron armor, that the being was wearing, including the halberd that was in the figure's right hand at the moment, though neither of them could see what the person looked like, due to the fact that their face was completely covered by the helmet they were wearing. Out of everything he was seeing he had to say that the oddest thing was the coiled sword that was sticking out of the being's chest, a blade that looked like the one that was in the bonfire he and Sarana sat at for a time, before coming down here, to which he glanced at his companion for a moment, especially since the only other entrance to this area seemed to be locked.

"This smells like a trap." Tirek stated, because while he might not be familiar with the workings of this world, and all of the things he had discovered so far, he could spot a trap when one happened to be staring him right in the face, as he felt that the moment one of them pulled out the coiled sword the being that it was attached to would get up and attack them, like a guardian or a judge of some kind.

"That's something I can agree with," Sarana said, showing that she actually meant what she said, though instead of worrying about the figure that was in front of them she focused on the other entrance that would allow them to head to the shrine that was off in the distance, the area that they were heading towards, and found that the door was definitely locked at the moment, which was followed by her returning to where Tirek was standing, "but it seems like we'll need to spring the trap to move on, otherwise this is where our adventure, as short as it was, will end. Are you ready?"

"A foolish question." Tirek replied, where he tapped his staff on the ground for a moment, to show that he was ready for whatever trap was waiting for them once they removed the coiled sword from the being's chest, when the reality was that he was nowhere near ready for whatever this world had the throw at them, but he had the feeling that he was going to have to adapt to what was coming in order to survive.

Sarana nodded her head for a second, showing that she was going to start moving, which was when Tirek watched as she approached the being and sheathed her own sword for a moment, where she gripped the handle of the coiled sword and carefully pulled it free from the being that it had been forced into some time ago, though the moment the weapon was freed the being shifted and started to move into a standing position. She instantly noticed that and dropped the now freed coiled sword, as she drew her own blade once more as she faced the warrior that was standing to face them, while at the same time Tirek readied his magic for what was coming next, though it wasn't long before the warrior stood at his full height and glared at them, before raising his halberd, as Tirek was sure that the being was male, and brought it down on where Sarana was standing. Fortunately she managed to roll out of the way and avoid the incoming attack, though in the same moment, while he was distracted, Tirek raised his staff and channeled a Heavy Soul Arrow, where he found that it took a little longer to charge than the normal Soul Arrow, which he sent flying through the air and let it collide with the side of their foe, seemingly damaging him in the process. It seemed that their foe didn't care about him at all and kept following Sarana around the area, jumping towards her whenever she got too far away from him, in an attempt to smash her into the ground, and whenever she was able to avoid the attack she lashed out with her own sword, letting Tirek focus on firing more of the smaller Soul Arrows at their foe.

At one point Sarana got hit with the handle of their foe's halberd and was knocked backwards, though after rolling away from the warrior she pulled out the orange Estus Flask and drank from it, healing her wounds in seconds, before she continued to attack their foe, which was what Tirek was doing, though they both stopped for a moment when he paused and shuddered for a moment... only for some sort of strange black substance to burst out of his body and wrap around his left arm, including his head, making him look even more monstrous than he had been seconds ago.

What Tirek discovered was that the move set that their foe was using really didn't change all that much, rather he had some additions to what he had been doing earlier by using his black gooey arm to pull himself around part of the area and lash out at Sarana, though where one would question why their foe was going after his companion, and not even coming at him at all, he wasn't going to do that and focused on loosing a few more Soul Arrows at the warrior. Of course that was when the warrior turned to face Tirek, despite the fact that he was focusing on Sarana, and leapt through the air, landing in front of with in a matter of seconds, barely giving him the chance to move as the halberd was swung down and cut into his chest, knocking him to the ground instantly. At first Tirek thought that the cut would have hurt and that he would have been screaming in pain, but what he discovered was that while the wound did ache a little he really didn't feel anything at the moment, meaning that he must have been cursed into the Unkindled state that Sarana was talking about, and from a glance it looked like their foe thought he was dead, which he could turn to his advantage. How he was able to do that was by charging another Heavy Soul Arrow, possibly the last attack he could manage before having to resort to using his Ashen Estus Flask to restore his magicka, so he made sure to blast the warrior in the chest with his attack and actually managed to knock it backwards, back onto the small circular area it had been resting on when they entered this area.

He and Sarana watched the warrior for a few moments, waiting to see what he did next, only for the black substance to pull back into the warrior's body and disappear, leading to their foe falling to his knees for a few seconds and then fell face first into the ground, where he burst into nothingness and left a bonfire behind for the two of them... and, at the same time, Tirek found that both he and Sarana now had fiery red spots on their bodies and their attire, like they were logs in a fire, and his wound had healed at the same time.

"What... just happened?" Tirek inquired, because that was something he had never seen before, where he got up and found that the ember-like appearance was over several parts of his body, and the same was true for Sarana, but he had no idea what to make of it, as he had never encountered any of this during his long life and figured that his companion must have some idea as to what happened.

"Our embers were restored, allowing us to regain our true strength," Sarana stated, though even as she said that Tirek didn't feel all that stronger, meaning that whatever had happened only meant restoring their power to whatever level it had been at when they died, confirming the fact that he was cursed, just like his companion was, and that it would take a long time for him to get his true strength back, before she walked over to him and stared at him, "But I have a question to ask you... why didn't you dodge that attack?"

"You must realize that this body is old and frail, hardly suited for that level of combat," Tirek replied, to which he stood up and faced his companion for a second, long enough to glare at her, before he approached the bonfire and lit the flames that came from these devices, as he determined that they might as well light all of the bonfires that they come across on their adventure, only to glance back at Sarana, who was focused on him, "now if I had my true form, on the other hand, I could have easily avoided that attack and I could have ended that fight in seconds. I will find a way to regain my old power and cast off this worthless form, but for now I'm cursed to wander the land as a old and frail shell of my former self, in terms of my body and my abilities."

"Whatever you say, old man." Sarana said, almost as if she didn't believe what he was saying at the moment, but that was when she looked around the area that they were in and spotted something interesting, even though Tirek found her picking up the discarded coiled sword for some reason, before she looked at the path they had been following, before they entered this area "Anyway, I think the way forward has been unlocked."

Tirek said nothing as Sarana lead him to the large ornate door that was on the side of the area that was opposite of the one they had entered through, where his companion rested her hands on the door and pushed, after slipping the coiled sword onto her back, allowing her to open the door and reveal a path that would take them right to the entrance of the shrine that they had spotted at the first bonfire. There was a glowing white ball in front of one of the graves to their left, where Sarana paused as Tirek investigated it, finding a broken blade of some kind, to which he shrugged and slipped it into the strange storage space that he and his companion seemed to share, as one moment the weapon was there and the next moment it had disappeared, and the only reason he was taking it was to see if there was anyone in this world that bought stuff from the Unkindled. The likeliness of such a thing was close to zero, he was sure of that, but that didn't stop him from making the attempt, even if Sarana felt he was wasting his time, but with the broken sword acquired the pair turned towards the path that was in front of them and continued to follow it, so they could enter the shrine and see what was inside it. There was a group of four grave tenders sitting on the path to the left, as the path they were following split and went in two different directions, no doubt meeting up at the same place, but instead of engaging them the pair just keep walking and ignored everything else, though they weren't allowed to do that as the grave tenders got up and lashed out at them instantly.

As such Tirek focused on blasting his pair of enemies with his magic while Sarana simply cut them down as she moved out of the way of their attacks, and once those foes were taken care of they were allowed to follow the path and head to the entrance of the shrine, though as they did that Tirek noticed that the cliff he had stared at earlier, when Sarana sat near the first bonfire, was a cliff that had a massive castle and city built on it, to which he stored the information away as he followed his companion into the shrine. The outside of the shrine looked like it was hardly maintained, save for the few torches that were on either side of the entrance, but he soon discovered that the inside was much better, as there was a set of stairs that lead down to the center of the shrine, breaking up into two paths so one could approach the center from the left or the right, though it was what was in the middle of the chamber that caught his attention. Resting in the back half of the shrine were five rather large thrones, each of them made out of stone and had some red cloth on them, no doubt for whoever sat on them, and all five of them seemed to have some sort of carving on the sides and back, to indicate who was supposed to sit on each throne, though the rather interesting part of all of this was the fact that the thrones were arranged in a half circle, with the closest two resting close to the center of the room, the next two being even higher than those two, and the final one, directly opposite of the entrance, was the highest of them all. The other interesting fact was that the thrones were of different sizes, to tell them just how tall each of the beings that sat on them were, and there just so happened to be someone on the second throne to their left, who had a crown on his head, meaning that he had to be important in some manner, but he would save that for later.

In that moment, as Sarana lead the way down to the center of the shrine, Tirek discovered a lady that was slightly taller than his companion was, happened to be wearing a black dress of some kind that came complete with parts that did cover her shoulders and the upper part of her arms, and even had an odd visor over the front of her face, as it seemed to be positioned over her eyes and the upper part of her face, but she did glance at them as they approached her.

"Welcome to the bonfire, Unkindled Ones." the lady said, addressing the pair as they came to a stop in front of her, which let Tirek spot another person that happened to be sitting on one of the steps in this area, looking totally depressed about the situation that he was in, before he returned his focus to the lady, as he was sure that she had something to tell them that was incredibly important, "I am a Fire Keeper, and I tend to the flame, just as I will tend to the both of you as you seek the Lords of Cinder, who have left their thrones and must be brought back to them, which is why I will be helping the two of you to the best of my ability."

"And how is it that you can help us?" Tirek inquired, mostly because he was lost as to what was going on, though he did like the sound of these 'Lords of Cinder', as they sounded like incredibly powerful beings that he could siphon the power of to regain what he had lost, maybe even allow him to take over this world and then return to Equus with a force that would take everything from those that beat him.

"According to the tales, a Fire Keeper can take the souls we've gathered and convert them into strength, depending on what aspect of ourselves that we want to improve," Sarana stated, showing Tirek that she knew what the lady was talking about and that she was more than willing to share what she knew about the subject, even if she felt that this was a waste of time for someone like him, or at least that was his thoughts on the matter, "and souls, from what I've heard, are the odd white bits of energy we've been gathering from each of the enemies we've taken out so far... and that warrior we just took out gave us a great deal of them."

"Iudex Gundyr was a good defender, and it is good to hear you got some souls for facing him," the Fire Keeper spoke up, informing Tirek that she was going to be talking as well, giving him an idea of what to expect in the future, before she considered what his companion was going to say next, especially with what they were talking about, "There are nine total aspects that I can empower with the souls you have acquired; Vigor, being the amount of health that each of you have so you can survive for longer periods of time in battle, Attunement, which grants you more Focus Points, Endurance, which affects your stamina and ability to dodge attacks, Vitality, an aspect that determines one's physical defense and improves a number of your resistances, Strength, which allows one to wield the heaviest of weapons and deal massive damage to their foes, Dexterity, a useful aspect that allows one to wield the more advanced types of weapons, Intelligence, which makes one's spells hit harder and raises one's magical defenses, Faith, an aspect that resonates with miracles, and finally Luck, which is a passive aspect that might influence if enemies drop anything other than souls."

Tirek stood there for a few moments, taking all that information in since it almost sounded like he was in a world were part of it sounded like a game of some kind, before sighing as he thought about the aspects of himself that he wanted to improve, since that seemed to be what Sarana was doing at the moment, showing him that they would need to do this in order to face the trials that were ahead of them. His best guess was that he wanted to improve the 'Intelligence' aspect and empower his spells, mostly due to the fact that Sarana appeared to be capable of facing whoever they came across while he stood behind her and hit them with spells, so he poured all of the souls he had acquired so far into that one part of himself. Truth be told he didn't feel that much stronger from doing that, nor did he really look all that different, but the one thing he did know was that he no longer had the souls that he possessed a few moments ago, meaning that the process must have worked, even if he didn't see any changes to himself or to his companion, which made him think about the beings that the Fire Keeper had mentioned when they first approached her. While he thought about all of that he heard Sarana mention something about Dexterity and Endurance, meaning those had to be the aspects she was going to be focusing on whenever she took her turn with the Fire Keeper, but all Tirek did was stare at the thrones and the one that had someone sitting on it, who didn't seem to be paying attention to him and his companion.

A few moments later Sarana finished up what she was doing with the Fire Keeper and walked away from her, which gave Tirek the chance to ask her something that he had been thinking about since the moment the lady had spoken to them, after they entered the shrine to be exact, and it seemed that she was willing to take a few seconds to rest before they did anything else.

"So, who are these Lords of Cinder?" Tirek asked, because he knew that there were a number of questions that he still needed to ask so he could understand what was going on with this world, especially when confronted with all of these terms that he knew nothing about, since he was sure that some of the people here expected him to know who they were talking about and might think he was a fool.

"They're figures that have linked the First Flame and prolonged the Age of Fire, becoming heroes to the people of this world in the process," Sarana replied, causing Tirek to raise an eyebrow for a moment, as that was rather interesting and he knew that, at some point, he would have to figure out what she was talking about right now, as he had no idea what the First Flame was or why the Age of Fire was important to this world, "From what I know there are four Lords of Cinder: the Abyss Watchers, Aldrich, Saint of the Deep, Yhorm the Giant, and Ludleth of Courland, who just so happens to be sitting on his throne at the moment. As you can see, there's supposed to be a fifth Lord of Cinder, a new one in the form of Prince Lothric, but the Prince decided not to fulfill his destiny and retreated to a place where none would find him, eventually prompting three of the other four Lords to abandon their thrones as well, hence why the bells have been rung and why we were called to seek them."

"Okay, so our quest involves hunting down the three missing Lords of Cinder, while hoping to find a way to locate the missing Prince and drag him back here," Tirek said, showing Sarana that he understood what she had told him and that he had an idea of what they needed to do once they left the shrine, even though it didn't look like there were any paths that would take them over to the castle that they had seen when they rested at the first bonfire, "though I don't see how we're supposed to get to the walled city from here, since I didn't see any paths leading over to it... not unless there's a secret path or something inside the shrine that I don't know about."

"I think the Fire Keeper mentioned something about presenting the coiled sword to the bonfire, but other than that I have no idea where to go." Sarana admitted, showing that she did know something that might help them out, while also having no real idea on where they were supposed to go from here, before glancing at the rest of the people that happened to be inside the shrine for a few seconds, "Maybe we should talk to the others and see if they have anything to tell us, before we try putting the coiled sword in the bonfire."

Tirek decided that he might as well follow her lead, since she knew the land and its rules better than he did, and the first person they approached was the rather depressed looking knight that moaned about his existence and the fact that they, as the Unkindled, weren't fit to seek the Lords of Cinder or even lick their boots, informing Tirek that he must have hated his life and hated his second life even more. In that moment Tirek decided that he didn't much care for the knight and it appeared that Sarana agreed with him, though potentially for different reasons, and it wasn't long before the pair found two more people down the tunnel that was near where the Fire Keeper was standing, where one was an old lady that was sitting in a chair, with some goods sitting around her, and a younger gentleman that was at the end of the tunnel, hammering away at something. The old lady, dressed in a red robe with a hood that covered a good portion of her head, seemed to be a general goods type of person and was willing to sell them whatever she had on her, provided they had the required souls to make the purchase, which neither of them had since they used their souls to empower themselves for the next area they would be heading to. The blacksmith, Andre as he called himself, was much happier to see them and informed the pair that he could take the Titanite they'll acquire during their journey, be they shards, chunks, scales, or even the incredibly rare slabs, if they could find any, and empower their weapons for the journey that was ahead of them, and also told them that he could help them with their Estus Flasks, something that Sarana would tell Tirek about if they found something to do that.

In the end Tirek and Sarana found themselves walking over to the occupied throne, where they found the small man, Ludleth of Courland to be exact, waiting for the other Lords of Cinder to be brought back to their thrones, and when they approached him, as they had to walk around to the back of where his throne was resting and then walk around the side to face him, he turned to look at them as they came to a stop.

"Oh, the two of you are Unkindled, are you not, while one of you is the Seeker of Lords." Ludleth said, where his tone revealed that he was pleased to meet them, even if his words seemed to cause the pair to tilt their heads for a moment as he spoke, before he gestured to himself, "I am Ludleth of Courland, though you likely knew that already. Do not look at me in bewilderment as I say that I once linked the Fire, a long time ago to be exact, becoming a Lord of Cinder, like those that had come before me, but you do not have to worry about me abandoning my throne, for it is as I said, I am a Lord and I know what my duty is. Tell me, Ashen One, Seeker of Lords, do you know of our purpose?"

Tirek stood there for a few seconds, wondering who the man was talking to, before Sarana elbowed him, as if she was indirectly saying that Ludleth was addressing him at the moment, even though this was the first time he had been called the 'Ashen One' since he arrived in this world, though once he considered that he straightened himself and faced Ludleth, as he might gain some answers from this.

"No. All I know is that we seek the Lords of Cinder." Tirek replied, and that was the truth, because that was all he had learned since he and Sarana had arrived in the shrine and started to talk with everyone that was here, so he was hoping that he would be able to learn more about the quest and what he needed to do, since this seemed to be the path that would allow him to regain his former powers.

"I had the feeling you might say that, so I will tell you what you need to know," Ludleth stated, where he focused his mind for a moment and thought about what it was that he wanted to say next, while at the same time Sarana did nothing as they stood there, before the man faced them once more, "Five thrones will take five Lords, who will act as kindling for the linking of the Fire, as the fast fading Flame needs such a thing to happen to preserve this world... basically, we will be re-enacting the very first time someone linked the Fire. You need to locate the other four Lords that have been chosen to sit on the other thrones, and once all five of us are present we can perform the reenactment."

Tirek was interested in what Ludleth had to say, but that appeared to be everything he wanted to talk about at the moment, so he and Sarana returned to the center of the shrine, where his companion pulled out the coiled sword they had taken from the knight that was guarding the area outside this building and returned it to the bonfire, activating it in a matter of seconds, and she proceeded to sit by it, though when Tirek did so his world went black as he was taken to an unknown area and would likely have words with his companion when they finally arrived at their destination.

The High Wall

Tirek had no idea how long he had been out, especially since he wasn't expecting the world to go black when he decided to sit down at the bonfire that Sarana decided to sit in front of, but eventually the world seemed to come back into focus and he was able to see once more, only what was around him wasn't what he was expecting to see the moment he regained his focus. Instead of being in the shrine, where the bonfire and the thrones were located, he was in a rather small chamber that only had one entrance, though there happened to be a few tapestries around him, all looking like time had gotten to them in some manner, even though it was hard to make out the symbol that was on each of them, meaning he had no idea where they were, if he asked Sarana anyway. Speaking of which he found her laying on the ground next to him, no doubt still experiencing whatever had happened to them, allowing him to pick himself up and look around the rest of the small area that they were in, where he found a bowl that had a coiled sword on top of it, though something told him that this time they wouldn't need to pick something like that up, hence the reason he left it alone. After looking around for a few moments he determined that his earlier thoughts were correct, that there was only one entrance and that all they could do was move through the wooden door that was in front of them, once Sarana was awake anyway, since he wasn't about to leave without the person that all of their enemies seemed to focus on.

As he thought about that, however, there was a light sound as Sarana seemed to come to, as her arms and legs started to shift for a moment, showing Tirek that she nothing terrible had happened to her and that she was fine, before she picked herself up off the ground and shook herself, appearing to be a little warn out from whatever had happened to them when they sat in front of the bonfire.

"What the hell happened to us?" Sarana inquired, showing Tirek that she was just fine, that nothing had happened and that they had likely been teleported to a brand new location to begin their search for the Lords of Cinder, though she did take a moment to look around and get her bearings, just like he did a few minutes ago, even if it was was possibility that she might not know where they were either.

"From what I can gather, we were teleported to another location, with no way to get back to that shrine," Tirek replied, though at the same time he moved towards the door that was in front of him, because he was eager to get this adventure underway so they could seek the beings that needed to be returned to their thrones, even if it meant killing everyone that stood in their way, "though I suspect that the bonfire is to blame, especially since it seems to have brought us to a place where we can start our quest to find those Lords of Cinder."

It didn't take long for Tirek to open the door, as it was rather easy to force it open despite the fact that it looked like it could have been sitting in that state for years, but the moment it was open Tirek gazed out at the massive city that was in front of them, a city that just so happened to be built around the large castle he had seen earlier, and it looked like there was a large church of some kind down below them, meaning whatever walls surrounded this place had to be tall, and they weren't even the highest point since parts of the castle were even taller.

"Great, we're on one of the high walls that surround the castle," Sarana said, where she looked out at the area they were in and kept an eye out for enemies, because she knew that there would be some between them and the three Lords of Cinder that they needed to find, before even thinking about the missing Prince that was the last Lord that needed to be returned to his throne, "I'm willing to bet there's a good number of hollows down there, standing between us and what we're supposed to find in this place, so you had better be ready for a fight this time."

"I have learned my lesson from that knight," Tirek stated, informing Sarana that he would be more careful as they explored the new area that they were in, as he could have been killed by that knight and was lucky that their foe didn't finish him off, but now it was time to see what sort of enemies this place had for them and what they would need to do to get through whatever they found.

Sarana said nothing as she followed Tirek down the stairs that were in front of them, allowing them to leave the area that they had appeared in and descended into an area that seemed to be the top of a castle's wall, where soldiers would gather and move around whenever the city was under attack, but there was no one down there when they reached the last step, to which they lit the nearby bonfire and considered their next move. From what it looked like there were two paths they could take, one to their left and one to their right, and from a glance the path on their right seemed to be the safer one, mostly due to the fact that there wasn't a dragon over there, even if it seemed that the dragon to their left was down for the count, as Tirek wasn't about to take the chance, not with the limited power he had at the moment. Despite the fact that he wasn't very knowledgeable about the ins and outs of this land, Sarana agreed with him, that waking up a dragon was a bad idea at the moment, especially when they couldn't take one out without exhausting themselves in the process, so she was thinking about taking the path on the right, just to see what was over there. While she thought about that Tirek noticed that there were a fair number of branches or poles that seemed to be sticking out of the ground, with ashy white corpses stuck to them in some manner, making him wonder if the land had delved into chaos once they heard that the world was ending, as that was what he determined from the fact that everyone seemed to be eager to link the Fire and whatnot, something that still confused him at the moment.

A few moments later, when it was time to move, the pair headed over to the stairs that would take them down into the stone walkway that was over there, which seemed to connect to two other locations from the looks of things, but as Tirek headed down the stairs Sarana remained up on top and found someone with a crossbow, who seemed to be readying the weapon in question, so she cut him down before he had a chance to fire the weapon. While that happened, and the hollow collapsed on the floor, Tirek noticed that none of the civilian looking hollows seemed to care about what was going on, meaning they could progress through the area without having to kill everything that was around them, and the only thing that might worry him were the two undead dogs that were wandering around the area that was ahead of where he and Sarana were standing. Interestingly enough Sarana did join him, though she only did so for a few seconds and dropped over the edge to his left, where he found a ledge that allowed his companion to remain out of sight for one of the enemies that were walking up the stairs, a set he hadn't noticed yet, and proceeded to backstab the knight that was walking up the stairs, removing a threat from their path. As his companion started to explore the area she had opened up, to see if there was anything they could use to get around this place, Tirek heard a growl and found that one of the undead dogs had gotten close to where he was standing, and seemed to be annoyed about something, to which Tirek raised his staff and prepared himself. The dog rushed at him not a few seconds later, not giving him a chance to actually cast one of his Soul Arrows at it and take it down, so what he did was use his staff when the dog leapt into the air, as he caught his foe in the chest and lifted him a little higher into the air, before turning around and slamming the dog into the ground, which let him pull out his blade and stab his foe until it stopped moving.

The second dog, on the other hand, was easier to deal with since Tirek was able to blast it with a pair of Soul Arrows, though once that was done he looked at what was behind the dog and found that there was a hollow that was carrying a large axe, maybe a halberd of some kind, who glared at him and readied himself, showing him that he had to do the same thing, which is what he did. It was in that instant that the hollow jumped into the air and crossed the distance between them, barely giving him time to move as the foe landed near him and brought his weapon down, essentially cutting Tirek in half, before his reality faded for a brief moment and he reappeared by the bonfire he and Sarana had ignited, causing him to look down at his body for a moment and discovered that it was just fine, like he hadn't been cut down. Not a few seconds later the air that was to his right seemed to change for a second before Sarana suddenly appeared, though in that instant he noticed that both of them had lost the odd ember state they had been granted after defeating the knight earlier, making him wonder what in the world had happened, because he was sure he had been killed by that one hollow.

"Fucking hell, I leave you for a minute and you go and get yourself killed." Sarana commented, though Tirek got the feeling that she was rather annoyed with him at the moment, even if she definitely didn't have the emotions to convey that to him, though it was hardly his fault that some of these enemies were moving so quickly, especially when his body was annoying him at the moment with its old and frail nature.

"I cannot help the fact that my current form is slow and can easily be brought down," Tirek replied, though even as he said that he turned towards the path they had been exploring and found that everyone they had just killed had returned to where they had been standing a few moments ago, even though he knew that they had taken them out and collected their souls, before spotting one hollow that had glowing red eyes and another that had glowing black eyes, "though I was not aware of the fact that we would be brought back to life when we died, nor was I aware of the fact that our enemies would come back if we were both killed in some manner."

"Yes, that's because we're undead, cursed to remain in this state until the day we lose our minds and become like the hollows we're fighting, unless we link the Fire anyway." Sarana stated, where Tirek turned and glanced at her as she came to a stop near where he was standing, so she could look out at the area they had tried to explore earlier, as if thinking of a way to take out the more dangerous enemies that were in their way, "When we die in battle, like we just did, we'll reform at the last bonfire we used, though at the same time all of our enemies will come back as well, which means that we will have to kill all of them all over again, and the enemies that killed us will be vessels for the souls we had on us, making them even stronger in the process."

"Dying sounds like its going to be a pain." Tirek said, where he sighed for a moment, something he rarely did before coming to this world, as he took in what Sarana had just told him, though the one thing he figured out was that it was the souls that they had been carrying at the time of their deaths and not all of the souls that they used earlier, to empower themselves, as his power was the same as when he had the Fire Keeper empower one of his aspects, before he glanced out into the area they had died in, or, to be more exact, the foes with the glowing eyes, "Of course the halberd knight would have my souls, which means his friend is the one you'll need to take out... its a shame that neither of them returned to their patrols after killing us, as that would have made things much simpler for us."

"Quit your whining. None of this would have happened if you weren't killed by that one hollow." Sarana replied, where Tirek watched as she took out the crossbow hollow once more, that way they didn't have someone shooting at them from behind when they headed down into the area that they had both died in, before she dropped down next to Tirek and, once more, headed over to the ledge that would allow her to get the drop on someone.

Tirek sighed for a moment and focused on the pair of dogs that were blocking the way, finding that he could take both of them out rather easily, but this time around he made sure not to pull the halberd hollow over to the area that he was standing in, as this time he was preparing a Heavy Soul Arrow and knew that it would do some decent damage to the foe that had killed him a few moments ago. Sure enough his attack caused his target to stagger for a moment, since he wasn't expecting the attack to happen in the first place, but even a single spell of that category wasn't enough to take down the halberd hollow and striking it alerted it to the fact that Tirek was even there, which happened to be the moment that it turned around and faced him, indicating that it was going to rush at him in the next couple of seconds. Fortunately he didn't have to worry about anything, as Sarana appeared behind the hollow and stabbed him in the back, enough to cause him to collapse on the ground and stop moving, though once that was done Tirek blasted the axe hollow that was right behind her, knocking it into the stairs that were behind it. With those two hollows taken out in rapid succession, and both Tirek and Sarana had their souls back, they proceeded up the stairs so they could see what their foes had been guarding the entire time, where they found a couple of the docile hollows praying to the odd branches that were growing out of the ground and a crossbow hollow that seemed to be protecting them.

Of course, as the pair started to approach the hollows, one of the docile ones got up and suddenly his back burst open as some black substance wrapped around him, much like what happened when they fought the knight earlier, and the force of the transformation took out the two other docile hollows that were near it and the crossbow hollow, meaning all they had to do was take out the transformed hollow and this part of the wall should be cleared out. What worked to their benefit was the fact that their new foe was focusing on Sarana at the moment, swinging its claws at her and trying to bite her with its new serpent head, allowing Tirek to stand behind it and blast it with a few Soul Arrows, as he was saving the heavier ones for later, when they encountered someone like the halberd knight. Still, he had to blast the creature five times, in addition to the couple of stab wounds that Sarana was able to inflict upon it, before it finally collapsed where it was standing and reverted back to its previous form, that of a hollow, which disappeared before their eyes, leaving a gem with a dark purple glow emitting from its core. The gem seemed to radiate some sort of dark energy, that much Tirek was certain of from just looking at the gemstone, to which he picked it up and stored it inside his pack, as he felt that they could do something with it in the future, before glancing over to Sarana, who picked up a longbow and some standard looking arrows that had been left behind, which she added to the weapons she was using at the moment.

"You sure you're going to need that?" Tirek inquired, as he felt that his magic was more than enough for them, in the sense of ranged combat anyway, but he was curious as to what Sarana had to say about the longbow and the arrows that she had added to her list of weapons, even if she had moved over to where the remaining docile hollows were praying after doing that, where she put them out of their misery.

"There are always enemies to be taken out from afar, and this will allow me to do so," Sarana replied, though once the pair of docile hollows were taken care of she headed back down the stairs and started walking back to where the bonfire was located, as it was time for them to explore the other path, since the one they had picked out was actually a dead end at the moment, even if Tirek was sure there was a shortcut they could open at some point in the future.

Tirek said nothing to that as they headed back to where the bonfire was located, not even bothering to rest at it this time as they walked down the other set of stairs and descended down into the area that the second path was in, where the pair spotted a number of docile hollows on the right side of the path, though near the area that the dragon's head was resting in stood a hollow with what appeared to be a bell of some kind, to which he held out his hand for a moment and stopped Sarana from heading down into the area.

"It seems that we may have a bit of a problem," Tirek said, where he pointed at the hollow he had spotted and made sure his companion could see the bell that he had focused on the moment he noticed it, though he could tell that Sarana was wondering what he was doing and might be hoping that he would get on with what he had to say, "that hollow seems to be the type that will incite the others, the docile ones, into attacking whoever enters the area, meaning we need to take him out first, before he has a chance to sound the alarm."

"And you thought we might not need the bow." Sarana replied, to which she crouched down where they happened to be standing at the moment, giving her enough room to draw her new longbow and nock one of the arrows that she had picked up, something she was going to have to keep in stock for the future, before carefully aiming at the hollow that her companion was worried about.

In the following moments Tirek watched as Sarana loosed the arrow and sent it flying through the air, where it struck the hollow in the head and caused it to fall down the stairs that it was guarding, meaning that none of the docile hollows would even care about what happened, though both of them waited for a few more seconds, just to see if anything else happened, and when the hollow didn't resurface they knew she had taken it out. With that hollow taken out the pair stood up and headed down into the area that was in front of them, were Tirek quickly found one of the warrior hollows walking around and used two of his Soul Arrows to put the creature back in the ground, allowing Sarana to attack the docile hollows that were around them, just in the off chance that another bell hollow was nearby, mostly so they didn't get overwhelmed by enemies while they were exploring this part of the high wall. What the pair discovered was that there were two paths they could take, one that seemed to go up to where the rest of the dragon was resting and once that went into the building that the dragon was perched on, though despite everything Tirek was of the opinion that the best was dead, as none of the sounds they had made seemed to be having any effect on the creature. Sarana decided to check out the top of the structure, where the pair found another bell ringer hollow and a few armored hollows that seemed ready for battle, which was fine with Tirek as both he and Sarana engaged their foes, dodging attacks to the best of their abilities and hitting their foes with their own attacks, and while that happened Tirek even blasted a hollow that was trying to throw small bombs at them, taking it out so it didn't hurt them at all.

Despite the fact that Tirek couldn't move as well as he would prefer to, since he liked having his full power and his not so old looking body, he and Sarana were able to take out the group of hollows in no time, allowing them to gather all of the soul energy that came from their enemies, as well as a pair of binoculars that neither of them really needed, though once all of that was done they headed over to the other route, as the one Sarana had picked lead to a dead end, meaning the other one had to be the correct path to take, to which they headed back towards the stairs in question, even though Tirek did find a stray soul resting a little bit above a body, one he collected for later.

As they headed down the stairs Tirek found that they were entering what appeared to be a storage area of some kind, due to the boxes and barrels that were around them, and that there was a ladder that would take them to the level that was below where they were standing, as the other entrance of this area seemed to be blocked at the moment by some rubble, though he also spotted two more hollows in the area, both looking depressed. Of course, as the pair expected, the two hollows were luring them into a false sense of security and lashed out at them the moment their guards were lowered even a little bit, hence the reason that Sarana parried the incoming attack from the first one and Tirek, instead of using one of his spells, used his staff to trip up his foe and then stabbed him with his sword, figuring that he might as well use it from time to time, instead of letting it hang there on his belt all the time. Sarana also took out the other hollow that was hiding behind some crates, out of sight so that it could attack them when they were least expecting it, but in the end they were able to take out all of the enemies that were around them and headed over to where the ladder was located, which allowed them to descend to the next level of the tower they were in, though Tirek went second so he could keep an eye out for enemies and blast them if they rushed at Sarana. Once she was down on the lower level, and indicated that the way was clear, Tirek moved off to the side and picked up some of the firebombs that he had seen her pick up earlier, to which he climbed down the ladder and joined her, handing over the items in question since she knew how to use them and when to use them, though once they were put away the pair moved forward and left the cell-like area that the ladder had brought them to.

The only reason Tirek considered it to be like a cell was because of the wall around the door frame, which looked like the wall of a cell, but without there being a door he and Sarana were able to walk through the opening and passed by the desk that was to their right, where Tirek picked up the lingering soul that was resting above a corpse, before they walked through the opening that was in front of them, so they could move to another part of the wall. On the other side of the opening they found another section of the wall they could walk on, provided they walk up the stairs that were to their left so they could get up to the area in question, but first they had to deal with a pair of hollowed soldiers that happened to be in the area they were in. Since one of them had a shield and the other had a crossbow Sarana had the bright idea to lure the hollow with the shield back to where they found the lost soul, where Tirek watched as the hollow in question turned around and followed them into the chamber that they had been in a few seconds ago, though while they did that Sarana hid by the entrance and waited for their foe to come at them. A few seconds later the hollow walked into the passage and turned to face Tirek, only to have Sarana appear behind him and cut his life to pieces, allowing him to walk outside again and blast the crossbow hollow twice, eliminating yet another foe from their path, which meant they could move again and he headed up the stairs, figuring that it was the best course of action.

What he wasn't expecting, on the other hand, was for a roar to sound in the area they were in, which was the instant another dragon landed on top of the building that was at the end of the walkway they had been heading towards, to which he backed off as the beast flamed the walkway and burned all of the enemies that were up on the level above them with its fire breath, allowing them to collect the souls of the fallen hollows.

"Great, there's more than one dragon and this one's alive." Tirek remarked, because while he knew that he and his companion could take out a number of enemies on their own, or take them out together if they needed to do so, this was a foe that neither of them could take out, not with the weak amount of power that he had access to, before he headed down the stairs, "Come, let us check out the other path."

"Whatever you say... and its a wyvern, not a dragon." Sarana replied, showing that she understood what Tirek was trying to do and that she knew what the beast was, even though he didn't care about what the locals called the winged beasts that were either guarding the castle or had been attacking it earlier, but it was information and he filed it away for the future, just in case they found more of them.

Tirek stopped for a moment as he spotted a number of hollows blocking the other path he wanted to use, meaning that he and Sarana would have to fight their way through them to get to the building that was behind them, though it was in that instant that the wyvern turned to look at the area that they were planning on walking through, where it flamed the entire area and took out the hollows that had been blocking the way. He stood there for a few seconds, waiting for the flames to die down, and the moment the flames died down both he and Sarana made a run for it, as neither of them wanted to be burned to death by the winged beast, and it didn't take them long to run up a set of stairs and reach the area that the group of hollows had been guarding. In the area beyond the stairs they found a fully armored knight that happened to be patrolling the area, someone who looked incredibly dangerous if either of them allowed him to get the drop on them, though while there seemed to be one other knight in the area, who wasn't as dressed up as the first one they found, they focused on the main knight for now. The knight's movements were quicker than what the pair was really expecting, though while he seemed to go after Tirek, like he thought that magic users were the first ones that needed to be taken out, which opened him up to being stabbed in the back by Sarana, causing him to stagger, though as he knocked her backwards, and turned to advance on her, that was the moment Tirek loosed a Heavy Soul Arrow into his chest, an attack that knocked him into the wall and made him collapse in a pile nearby.

The pair stared at each other for a moment as they regained themselves, before they headed up into the area that the knight had been guarding and quickly took out the other hollow that was up there, along with one they hadn't spotted earlier, before finding that the door to their left was locked, meaning all they could do was head up the stairs that the knight had walked down, though Tirek did make sure to pick up the lost soul nearby as he followed Sarana. What the pair discovered was what appeared to be another storage area with a hidden hollow that jumped out at them the instant they entered the area, where Tirek blasted it with the last bits of his magic and let Sarana finish it off, though it was a good thing he had the Ashen Estus Flask, as he was able to regain his power as they explored the rest of the area. Tirek found that the hollow they took out had a gem on him, a rather square looking one, so he pocketed it as Sarana located an item on a plank of wood that rested above the lower level, so if she fell it would be slightly painful, even if neither of them could actually feel pain thanks to their cursed states. In the end it appeared that she had found a few more firebombs, though once she put them inside her pack she returned to Tirek as he walked through the other opening that they would walk through and exited the building, where he found some stairs that lead to the roof, which just so happened to be the area that a new bonfire was located in, causing him to smile for a moment as he ignited it. While he did that Sarana found a metal or stone shard of some kind nearby, something that she pocketed, indicating that it must be important and that they would need it at some point in the future, but once that was done they headed back down the stairs and continued to look around the new area that they had found.

When they returned to the lower level Tirek found out something interesting, because when he and Sarana used one of the bonfires all the enemies in the area came back to life, though this time, since neither of them had rested at the new one, none of their slain enemies had come back, meaning they could progress a little further before having to rest at the bonfire and regain their energy. As they walked down the wooden ramp that would take them to the level that was below them one of the hidden hollows tried to attack them, where Sarana stabbed him before he could really do anything and removed him from their path, though not a few seconds later Tirek had to blast one as well, opening the way for them to move forward and continue exploring the area they were in. By that the pair walked through the opening that was near them and headed outside, where they noticed another fallen wyvern in the new area they had walked into, one that did appear to be dead, that had a few hollows praying near it, especially one that was approaching them with the intent to harm them. What actually happened next was another hollow pulled itself over the edge to their right, so Sarana cut down the new enemy while Tirek blasted the first hollow in this area, allowing them to take out both of their foes at the same time as they approached the ladder that was near the fallen wyvern, finding that none of the praying docile hollows even got up as the pair walked by them, which let them move down onto the roof of a building that seemed to be part of their path, which brought them to another group of docile hollows.

What neither of them were expecting was one of them to transform like the one they had taken out near the very first bonfire they had found in this entire area, with the force taking out the rest of the hollows that were around him, but they simply repeated what they had done earlier and brought down the transformed foe like it was nothing, though that did lead to an interesting development.

"We must return to the bonfire for a moment." Tirek stated, to which he turned around and started to head back to the new bonfire they had ignited, something that meant he had to climb up the ladder again, though he could tell that his companion had stopped and was likely wondering what in the world he was talking about, but as he did this he found yet another forgotten soul to add to his collection, maybe to use in some manner when they returned to the shrine to give themselves some additional power.

"And why do we need to do that?" Sarana asked, though she followed Tirek anyway, because she knew that even if they rested at the bonfire they were able to take out the various foes that were around them and could afford to bring all of them back, since it would give them more souls to use whenever they decided to talk to the Fire Keeper again, but she kept her eyes on Tirek as they headed toward the bonfire.

"I am out of magicka, and I used my only Ashen Flask earlier, so I must replenish both of them before we move even deeper into the city." Tirek replied, because while he didn't like the fact that he was out of magicka, since it left him with little to no actual defenses, he was glad there was a quick way for him to restore his limited power while they explored this land and sought out the Lords of Cinder, who were his tickets to restoring his true power.

It didn't take them long to return to the bonfire and rest at it, to let Tirek restore his magicka and his Ashen Flask to what they had been earlier, though he knew that after a few moments they would resume their adventure and that it was only a matter of time until they found something that revealed the location of the Lords of Cinder, which would really kick off this quest, and he was eager to find one and take it down for its power.

Passing Through the Great Gate

It did take Tirek and Sarana some time to make their way back down to where the church was located, where they had to fight off all of the hollows and knights that they had taken down so far, before either of them could even see the building that Emma had been resting in, or rather had been before Tirek put her out of her misery for being mostly useless to them in their quest to find the Lords of Cinder. Tirek was getting used to the idea that every time they died, or sat down and used one of the bonfires, the various enemies in an area would spring back to life and continue to stand in their way, like they were being resurrected from their own ashes or something, but the good part about it was that they could gather more souls to use later on. The other good thing about this was that they got better at figuring out what each of their enemies were doing and how to take them down, that way neither of them had to use more of their supplies than what they were comfortable with using, meaning they could save some items for later on, when they might need them for someone that they hadn't encountered yet, like the Dancer. Of course the two of them would rather find their way to the Great Gate and leave the castle, so they could begin looking for their targets, for real this time, but all they could do was cut and blast their way through the enemies that were between them and where the church was located, as that would allow them to locate the area they were heading towards.

When they finally reached the area that was near the church Tirek noticed something interesting, there appeared to be some sort of fog door that was blocking the entrance that allowed them to find Emma in the first place, and was blocking them from visiting the Dancer, though he had no idea what sort of significance the fog had and figured Sarana would be the one to tell him what they were currently looking at.

"A Fog Door... I've only read about them in the past." Sarana stated, not even bothering to give Tirek the chance to ask the question this time around, allowing her companion to stare at the fog for a few more moments, since it gave them a brief moment to relax before they headed down the stairs that were behind them, "Supposedly they act as barriers of some kind, between the Unkindled and the more powerful creatures of this land, meaning that once they've fought a foe once they won't allow someone to simply walk into their lair, rather a challenger will have to pass through the Fog Door, allowing the creature to prepare themselves for the incoming fight."

"I see. That's very interesting." Tirek said, though while he said that he focused on the other path that they would be heading down, as he knew that Sarana knew that they weren't ready to face the Dancer, hence the reason the pair turned to their right and stared at the stairs they needed to head down, "Well then, I suppose its time we headed down these stairs and see what's standing between us and the Great Gate, since I'm positive we might have another foe that might try to prevent us from leaving the castle, if what the priestess said before her death was to be believed."

Sarana said nothing to that as they turned to their right and started to head down the stairs, where they found two hollowed knights patrolling the area that was in front of the opening they were currently walking towards, though one of them were heading up the stairs and the other was heading down the stairs, meaning they could take one out before the other even noticed what was going on. Since these knights were the same as the ones that were guarding the entrance to the church, which they had taken out with some ease earlier, it wasn't hard for the pair to take down the first of the two knights and then waited for the second one to show up, someone that went down within a few moments after engaging them. With both of the knights taken down the pair continued to walk down the stairs that were in front of them and carefully walked to the opening they had spotted, where they spotted a number of fallen pilgrims that were laying dead on the ground, just like the ones that were near the church's entrance, making Tirek wonder if they had gone hollow and just killed themselves to avoid becoming like the knights they were facing. Once the pair reached the bottom of the stairs they walked through the opening, finding that this gate had been opened by someone else, though that was when they noticed that the area in front of them was a large rectangular box between them and a large metal door that was partly open, which Tirek assumed was the Great Gate they had been told about.

It took Tirek and Sarana a minute or two to walk across the area between the two gates, allowing them to keep their eyes open for any traps or ambushes, since they could never be too careful since the castle had a few wyverns resting all over the place, before they finally reached the larger gate and inspected the busted area, which looked like someone had tried to pry it open and failed. It was in that moment that they heard something move in the area behind them, where no one had been standing seconds ago, to which the pair turned around and found another strange gateway of some kind, made out some sort of energy that Tirek was unfamiliar with, in the area behind them, where they watched as a rather large and bulky creature, wearing silver armor that reminded them of the Dancer, crawled out of the area it was hiding in and only stopped moving once it was standing in the area they were in, which was when it raised its mace, which was in its left hand, and stabbed the floor with it, before it roared at them. Tirek and Sarana glanced at each other for a few seconds, as they knew that it had to be another foe for them to take out, so what they did was step back down into the area that was in front of them and readied themselves, as they both knew that their foe was going to hit them hard and as fast as it possibly could, meaning they would have to come up with a plan of attack in a few moments, before either of them were overwhelmed by their new foe. Interestingly enough it shifted its head as it looked at them, almost as if it was deciding who it should go after first, giving them time to space themselves part from each other, especially since it was only slowly moving at the moment, something that was bound to change when the fight actually started.

After a few seconds the creature rushed forward and swung its mace down on where Sarana was standing, where she had to jump out of the way to avoid the attack, opening the way for Tirek to blast it in the back with a Heavy Soul Arrow, but while it seemed to do damage the knight staggered for a moment before turning and glaring at him, before it turned back to Sarana and chased her some more. Thanks to her agility and reflexes it did seem like his companion was having a good time at dodging their foe's attacks, even though Tirek was sure that there was some sort of frost lingering in the air as the knight tried to smash them into the floor or the walls, but since the knight seemed to be avoiding him right now he could focus on blasting him with either normal Soul Arrows or Heavy Soul Arrows. Sarana also stabbed the knight every now and then, trying to weaken him so they could put an end to the fight, allowing Tirek to notice a few things as he loosed his spells at their foe, but that was when he discovered that the more damage the knight took the faster he seemed to get, meaning that the battle was going to get even harder for them and that they were going to have to be careful, least their foe take them down in the process. Of course Tirek understood that a warrior, even a hollowed one, needed to have a number of attacks and strategies to use in battle, something for the seemingly mindless husk or beast to use when they engaged their foe, and it sure seemed like the knight, who fought more like a beast, was able to use those tactics in their fight, which really made him realize that they had to be careful when dealing with their foe.

It wasn't long before the knight picked up the pace again as he, a decision that Tirek made in his head since he was a little tired of referring to their foe as an 'it' since they knew it was male from the body, rushed at his main target with the intent to crush them, though this time they discovered that it was Tirek who was under attack, who barely had time to move as foe barreled into him and knocked him into a wall, before smashing the area he landed in with his mace, which let the knight switch back to Sarana as Tirek's world went black again.

"Ugh, that knight is going to be annoying." Tirek moaned, just as he reformed at the first bonfire of the High Wall, the area he and Sarana had last rested in, to which he sat down and patiently waited to see what happened next, because if he was right his companion would return to this area and they would be able to go over the battle and maybe come up with a plan to take the knight down, without dying anyway.

He only had to wait a few seconds before the air shimmered and Sarana appeared nearby, showing that she, alone, had been no match for the knight they had faced and that they definitely needed a plan of attack to be able to bring him down, otherwise between him and the Dancer they would be stuck here, on the High Wall of the castle, meaning their quest would be at an end if they couldn't beat either of the powerful foes that were blocking the way.

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting another creature like the Dancer, so soon after that happened," Sarana said, though at the same time she figured that the massive knight was the easier foe for them to take out, since he didn't appear to be as fast as the Dancer had been, and she already had a good idea as to how they could take him down and move forward, provided he didn't have any additional moves they didn't know about, "but, based on what I saw before we died, we can hit him from below, as in roll under him when he pauses for a moment and then stab him when he's least expecting it, or at least I can do that, since with your body he'd crush you anyway."

"That sounds like a reasonable plan," Tirek replied, because with Sarana's reflexes and his magic he knew that they could, given enough time and focus, take down the knight and see what was on the other side of the damaged gate, which would allow them to continue exploring the land that they were in and see if they could find one of the Lords of Cinder at some point in time.

"Oh, and you should save your Heavy Soul Arrows for when he's casting his frost breath," Sarana added, causing Tirek to raise his eyebrow for a moment, as that wasn't an attack he had seen before their foe had killed him, but, even as he thought about that, he had the feeling that she wasn't lying to him, which meant that he had an idea of when to use that spell when their next attempt happened.

"I will keep that in mind for when we get back to him," Tirek said, to which he got up from where he was sitting, just as Sarana headed for the path that would take them back down to where the knight was located, as it was time for them to see if they could bring down their foe and move forward to the next area of this land, even if it took them more than a few times for them to fight the knight before they beat him.

Thanks to their knowledge of the other enemies that rested between them and their destination the pair found that it was easy for them to make their way, which made sense considering the fact that they had decent experience with all of the knights and hollows that were guarding the High Wall, so it didn't take them very long to retrace their steps and walk down the stairs that would take them to the area the knight was located in. When they walked through the Fog Door that their foe was behind the first thing the pair did was separate immediately, Sarana heading for the green cluster of souls that were to the left of the entrance while Tirek did the same with the black cluster, something that he really didn't care to think about at the moment as they turned and faced the knight they were here to defeat, who happened to be standing in front of the damaged gate and only moved when they got close to where he was standing. The first thing the knight did was roar at them, like he was supposed to be intimidating or something, before jumping back a little so he could launch himself forward and try to hit Sarana with his mace, something that she was able to avoid thanks to her reflexes and agility, while at the same time Tirek made sure to keep his distance and use his normal Soul Arrows for a time, just to see if their foe used a frost breath attack on them. This time around, however, Sarana stayed close to the knight and lashed out at his sides whenever he missed her, allowing Tirek to pick and choose when he blasted their foe, who, once again, liked to focus on Sarana, as if thinking that she was the tougher opponent, and it was possible that such a thought was correct, especially since Tirek knew he could be cut down in one or two well placed hits right now.

The knight seemed to be a fan of jumping backwards and then rushing at his foe, since he did that once to Sarana and on his return trip he brought down his mace on where she had been standing, though she did avoid the attack by rolling out of the way, allowing her to stab their foe as Tirek blasted him in the side, but this time it didn't seem like he was getting faster, making Tirek wonder if that had been something he had imagined in the previous fight. Sarana, despite the danger of what she was doing, stayed close to their foe's chest area and continued to stab him to the best of her ability, even if she had to roll to dodge some of his attacks and others were easily avoided thanks to where she was standing, but while all of that happened she could see the Soul Arrows fly through the air as they struck their foe, showing her that Tirek was following the simple plan that she had come up with after their first fight. Tirek had to admit that it was a rather nice tactic and it seemed to be working like a charm, especially since the knight failed to understand what his companion was doing at the moment, where it might be possible that he might not even figure out what she was doing since he was hollowed like most of the enemies they had fought so far, and this time he had the feeling that they were going to bring the knight down and finally open the damaged gate that he was guarding. Even the knight's attempts to smash Sarana with his other hand did nothing, as he apparently couldn't reach her in his current stance where he walked like a dog or a wolf, or any of the other four legged creatures, meaning that the fight was in their favor and made Tirek wonder if they were actually going to walk away with the win this time around.

Of course that was when the knight used his charge technique and forced Sarana to get away from him, as this move was rather painful if one of them were hit by all the armor that the knight was wearing, especially at high speeds when he happened to be charging around the area, but it appeared he could only do three charges before stopping, which was the moment that he arched back and seemed to gather the frosty bits that were in front of him. That informed Tirek of what he needed to do, as that was the moment that he switched to channeling the Heavy Soul Arrow and loosed one right into the helmet that their foe was wearing, knocking him out of the stance that allowed him to prepare his frost breath, and while the knight was stunned Sarana went on the offensive once more, lashing out at their foe as she targeted the opening that Tirek had revealed to her. Between the two of them, even in their weakened state, they were doing some damage to the knight and it appeared that they might be on their way to beating him, but neither of them dropped their focus for even a moment, as they knew that the moment they did so their foe would break them and they would have to come back and repeat the process all over again. To some that might be considered a good thing, as practice made perfect and it did give them more souls every time they had to run back to this location, but, at the same time, the pair decided that they would rather beat their foe and be done with it, so they could be on their way to a brand new area and see if it brought them to an area that one of the Lords of Cinder called home, even if they knew neither of them were quite ready for a fight with a being that was able to link the Fire, for now at least.

It took them a minute or two more of repeating the same moves, as in dodging his attacks, hitting the knight in a way to stun him for the other to attack him, and making sure to avoid his charge attack in general, since that was a painful move to be hit by, before Tirek and Sarana delivered simultaneous finishing blows that caused the knight to stagger before falling to the ground in the middle of the area, which did three things: it restored them to the state where they had the few ember markings on their bodies and armor, it revealed a new bonfire by the damaged gate, and both of them got the soul of the foe they bested, something that Tirek wasn't even going to question at this point.

"He's finally down." Tirek remarked, though as he said that both he and Sarana turned towards the damaged gate and walked over to it, where they lit the bonfire and stayed there for a few seconds, which was the moment that he glanced over to his companion for a moment, just as they finished absorbing the soul energy of their fallen foe, but at the same time the damaged gate opened, something he and Sarana would deal with later, "I must say, that was a good plan you came up with."

"Indeed. Now we can move forward at long last." Sarana replied, referring to the fact that they now had a path they could follow and that they didn't need to stick around the castle, giving them the ability to actually start their quest for the Lords of Cinder, without having to be stuck int he same area for an extended period of time, before she sat at the bonfire once more, "Let's return to the shrine and put these souls to good use."

Tirek nodded his head in agreement and followed Sarana's lead, where they focused on the shrine and disappeared from the area that was in front of the damaged gate, meaning they reappeared in front of the bonfire that was in the large shrine that was their base of operations while they were hunting down the Lords of Cinder, causing them to rise once more as they sought out the Fire Keeper, who was standing nearby and seemed to be waiting for the pair to return from their venture. As such the pair walked over to her and started empowering themselves with the souls they had acquired so far, since they first arrived in the High Wall area, though he refrained from breaking the soul of the large knight that had been guarding the Great Gate, as he had the feeling he might want to hold onto it for a period of time, where he could determine whether or not he really wanted to break it. He wasn't sure how many souls he was going to have to funnel into empowering himself before he actually felt stronger and left his old frail body behind, but even as he considered that he knew that it was only a matter of time until such a thing happened, he just had to wait for such a thing to happen, even if it would likely come from of the Lords of Cinder. Once the two of them were done empowering themselves with the souls they had acquired so far, a fair number thanks to the powerful creature they had taken out, they returned to the bonfire and used it to head back to the Great Gate, as it was time to check out the area that was beyond the gate and see what happened when they used the banner in the area that Emma wanted them to use it in.

It didn't take them long to return to the area in question, allowing them to stand up and approach the damaged gate that was now open, though when they reached the other side they found an interesting sight, a mountain range off in the distance, a village of some kind that Sarana seemed to stare at for a time, a large building that definitely seemed like they would be heading there at some point in time, and a broken bridge that rested between the castle and the village, where Tirek was sure there was a fallen wyvern over there.

"Let's use that banner and see what its supposed to do," Sarana commented, informing Tirek that while they could spend the next few minutes gazing out at the sights that were in front of them, and stare at the various landmarks that they might be visiting at some point in time, she was eager to get underway and continue their quest to find the missing Lords of Cinder, or at least that was what Tirek assumed she was feeling.

Tirek nodded his head and carefully put his staff away, where he switched it with the wooden staff that was attached to the banner in question, something that he raised into the air and showed the icon on it towards the area that was in front of them, since that seemed to be what they needed to do in this situation, though he had no idea what the banner was going to do for them, since Emma had told them next to nothing about it. A few moments later he heard some sort of noise in front of where they happened to be standing, where he and Sarana stared down at the broken area that was in front of them and watched as a white skinned creature, with long pointed ears, blood red colored hands, odd shaped wings and a long tail, crawled up to where they were standing, before four more appeared in the air behind the first one and they all stared at them. Sarana had him put the banner away, which he did so, before two of the creatures grabbed onto his arms and the other two grabbed onto his companion in the same way, before they were lifted into the air and the first creature, who was also carrying a staff, beckoned for them to follow him as he turned towards the village they had spotted earlier. In that moment the pair found themselves flying through the air thanks to the creatures, allowing them to get a good look at the area below them, though as that happened Tirek noticed that there was a fallen wyvern that was laying on the broken bridge, located at the end of the bridge that was near the village in question, though it was also slightly broken as well, meaning the center of the structure wasn't connected to the castle or the village. Another thing he noticed was that there were a number of fallen pilgrims that happened to be near where the wyvern was laying, though there were more of them in this area than there had been in the castle itself, making him wonder if it might be worth the while to investigate the area the new group was located in, just to see if there were any survivors this time.

Eventually the white creatures reached the area that they were taking them to, where they dropped Tirek and Sarana off at the top of the stone tower that looked like it once held a gate of some kind, or could have had a gate, and just so happened to be connected by a walkway to a second tower, and once the pair was standing next to a bonfire the group of creatures flew off into the distance, leaving the pair to activate the new bonfire.

"A brand new area to explore, with new dangers for us to encounter," Tirek commented, referring to the new area they had been brought to, even if it seemed like Sarana was lost in thought and only came back to reality when he opened his mouth to say something, or that's what it looked like anyway, before he started down the steps that were in front of where they landed.

Sarana nodded her head for a moment as they walked down the stairs, though the first thing they did was check out the area to their left, the other tower to be exact, and found a lost soul resting over there, to which the pair collected it and then headed down the main steps once more, as it was time to see what was in front of them and what they would need to do to get through the gate that was blocking the way forward. As they drew closer to the gate someone on the other side opened it and a number of hollowed dogs rushed out and tore into the unfortunate hollows that were standing in front of the gate, killing them in mere seconds, before the pack glanced up at the pair and rushed them, intending to bite them to death as well. The moment Tirek and Sarana knew they were under attack they separated from each other and faced the dogs, where Sarana dodged the dogs that were coming her way and cut into them as they tried to attack her, while at the same time Tirek used his Soul Arrows and blasted the mutts away from him, causing them to fall after the second blast. With those enemies taken out, and the area cleared, the pair headed towards the fallen pilgrims that were in the broken area that was near the ruined bridge, since Tirek was sure that one of them might still be moving, despite the fact that all of the others had fallen, and while they walked towards the area in question they found two more dogs that seemed to be feasting on something, but when the pair of mutts attacked them Tirek and Sarana quickly took them down and picked up the small blue skull items that were near them.

From there they walked into the area that all of the fallen pilgrims were in and found that Tirek had been correct, that one of them was still alive, so the first thing they did was pick up some interesting looking bones that Sarana picked up off the ground, meaning they were important, before they approached the pilgrim, who actually seemed to be sobbing as the pair got close to where he was praying.

"Please, grant me death." the pilgrim sobbed, showing that he must have been expecting to find death when he and the other pilgrims came to this area and began their prayers, but even his failure to do that didn't stop him from praying in this area and wishing for the end of his life to come, causing Tirek to raise his eyebrow for a moment, as he really wasn't expecting to find this when he decided to investigate this area, "Undo my shackles."

"I don't think that whoever you are praying to is even listening." Tirek commented, as he had decided that it was time to make their presence known to the pilgrim, even though he was a little sure he had noticed that they had arrived a few moments ago, and noticed that the person he was talking to shifted for a moment as he noticed the fact that he had some company, something he might not have been expecting.

"Oh… then it’s true… a Champion of Ash, as I live and breathe." the pilgrim said, where he actually got up from where he had been praying and stood at his full height, which was just about the highest point that Tirek could stand in the form that he was cursed with at the moment, while at the same time Sarana said nothing as they noticed that they couldn't see the pilgrim's face, "To be in your presence is a great honor. I am Yoel of Londor, a pilgrim as you can see, only… somehow, I've failed to die as was ordained... perhaps my calling lies elsewhere. Say, Champion of Ash, how does the idea of taking me into your service strike you? I was once a sorcerer, before becoming a pilgrim, surely I can be of use to you and your companion in your journey."

"Is that so?" Tirek replied, because he was limited to only a few spells at the moment and knew that the more spells he had the more choices he had to choose from, since he wouldn't be restricted to a single type of spells, and he could tell that his companion didn't seem to have any opinions on the matter, to which he turned towards Yoel, "Sure, I'll take you on as a servant, or as an instructor in the various spells of this world."

"Oh, I am honored." Yoel stated, his tone revealing that he wasn't lying, he was very grateful for the chance to be of some use to the newest heroes that were supposed to be gathering the Lords of Cinder and bringing them back so they could link the Fire, even if they had to bring their remains to do so, "I should be dead, as was ordained, but you have given me a new purpose and I shall do everything in my power to assist you in your endeavor."

Before Tirek could say anything Yoel seemed to disappear, like ash scattering in the wind, leaving him to think about what they had gained and what I might mean for the future of their quest, before he and Sarana turned around and made their way back to where the gate was located, so they could resume searching the area and see if they could figure out how to find one of the Lords of Cinder. It didn't take them long to reach the area that the gate was in, where Sarana pulled on the lever to their left and caused the gate to rise into the air, allowing them to walk into the area that was in front of them, which just so happened to be where a bonfire was located, something that was rather strange when they thought about the fact that there was one close to where they were standing. That was when Tirek noticed that there were two new foes for them to take out, one being a hollow that was dressed as a peasant and happened to be carrying a cleaver and a lantern, while the other one was taller than him and Sarana, was more muscular than most foes they had seen so far, and was wearing some interesting plate armor that was a deep green color, but all of this made him wonder if they might have discovered a new powerful creature to take down, so soon after the last one. Of course that was the moment he noticed that the knight was carrying a greatsword in one of his hands, where one side seemed to be the normal edge of a blade and the other seemed to be a small row of saw-like teeth, meaning that it would be bad to be cut by that edge, but that only worried Tirek that they were going to be stopped by someone else.

What surprised him was the fact that the knight didn't attack them, rather he lifted his large weapon and cut down the hollow that happened to be approaching him and Sarana, killing it in a matter of seconds, before he sheathed his weapon and faced the pair, though it was in that moment that Tirek assumed that the knight was staring at Sarana, meaning they might know each other.

"Martok, I was curious if we would see each other again," Sarana said, naming the knight that was standing in front of them, giving Tirek something to work with in case the knight turned to talk with him, though at the same time Martok did appear to be relieved that she was fine, or at least that was what Tirek assumed was going on, since he couldn't see the man's face thanks to his helmet.

"I am glad to see that you made it this far without harm befalling you, Sarana." Martok replied, where Tirek could tell that he actually had emotions and that he was different from his companion, even though they both seemed to know that he was referring to becoming a mindless hollow and not dying a few times, even though it took Tirek a few seconds to even understand that, before Matrok turned towards him, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Matrok, a knight that was part of the same company that Sarana was in before we fell and were buried in the Cemetery of Ash... only to be called back at different times to link the Fire."

"Tirek, a sorcerer looking for his true power, and other things." Tirek stated, deciding just to get this over with and see if there was anything useful the warrior could tell him, though at the same time he had the feeling that Martok, now that he had found Sarana, would be begging to join the group and help his former comrade in her quest, even though Sarana acted like he was the leader of their party.

"By 'other things' he means the Lords of Cinder, who I'm helping him find." Sarana added, because she knew part of what her companion was looking for, in terms of power, but so far she was focusing on the three beings they were hunting down, before they even focused on the fourth missing Lord, the Prince himself, before a thought seemed to come to her while they were standing there, "Maybe you should take Martok on as well, like you did with Yoel, only instead of him leaving for the shrine, like the pilgrim did, he can walk with us and help us fight the enemies that are in our way, leaving you to stand back and cast spells without endangering yourself."

Tirek thought about it for a moment, as it would be nice to have a knight that would fight the foes that were in front of them, allowing Sarana to scout out an area or attack foes with the bow she picked up while he could focus on blasting his targets with a Soul Arrow or two, making him remember that Yoel was a sorcerer and that he might have a few spells that he could purchase, to add to his list, before he glanced at Martok.

"It would be nice having a dedicated warrior in our group," Tirek admitted, as it would ensure that someone held the attention of the enemies that were in the area that was in front of them, allowing him and Sarana to deal with them from a distance and weaken them in the process, before he turned his full attention to the warrior, "Very well then, I'll take you on as well, to help us find and take down the Lords of Cinder."

"I won't disappoint you." Martok stated, showing that he was glad to be of help to someone, even though Tirek was a little convinced that with his armor and his weapon he could have cut his way through the area that was in front of them and could have potentially found one of the Lords of Cinder on his own, but decided not to question it, as adding a fine warrior to their group was more important at the moment.

With that done, and their party expanded, Tirek made sure to light the next bonfire, as it was time for them to see what this ruined village had in store for them and if it held any clues as to where one of the Lords of Cinder had done, as he was eager to find them and take one of them down, even though he was sure it would be some time before they were able to do either of those things.

Undead Settlement

With the bonfire activated, and a new ally joining the group instead of heading for the shrine to wait for them to return to trade in some of their souls for empowering themselves or whatever gear they need, Tirek, Sarana, and Martok walked away from the newly lit bonfire and followed the path that lead away from the gate that they had raised, so they could head into the ruined village. As they did that Tirek noticed something interesting, there were a number of metal cages and wrapped up people shaped objects, where he considered the fact that the residents of this village must have taken anyone that could become a hollow and caged them, like they were protecting the rest of their home from the mindless ones, which also told him that they would have to be careful, since their new enemies wouldn't like the fact that the three of them were coming to their village. Sarana and Martok barely glanced at the cages and bound people, meaning this was either very common in this world or they didn't care about what they were seeing, causing Tirek to turn away from the objects that had caught his attention for a few moments and followed them as they headed towards the entrance of the building that happened to be in front of them, where two of the peasant hollows, one holding a pitchfork and one wielding a cleaver, were patrolling the area in front of the entrance.

In that moment, as Sarana moved out of the way, Matrok raised his weapon and blocked the incoming attack from the pitchfork hollow, allowing Tirek to focus on the cleaver hollow in the back and blasted him with two Soul Arrows, though as that foe fell he was curious as to when his spells were going to be strong enough to take out a foe in a single shot, and it also reminded him of the fact that he should see what Yoel had to sell at some point.

With that done the three of them headed inside the building that was their current destination and found that one of the wrapped up bodies happened to have a leather shield of some kind, a small one at that, and Sarana took it, no doubt to add it to their collection of gear that they seemed to be gathering, before Tirek and Martok headed down the steps that would take them down to the lower level. While they did that Sarana seemed to explore the other part of the upper area, one that only she could access from the looks of things, and not a few seconds later a short being, with some sort of hood that covered its head, fell to the ground in front of them, dead from their companion ending the stealthy being's life in a matter of seconds, before she dropped down beside them as they continued to move forward. What they discovered was a dead person in a chair, some charcoal resting in a bundle, a balcony that would allow them to see outside the building they were in, and another wooden set of stairs that would likely take them to the lowest level of this structure, though while Sarana and Martok explored the floor they were on Tirek walked out onto the balcony. It was then that he saw a large number of hollows gathered around what appeared to be a massive fire, one that was burning a large tree for some odd reason, where a large lady happened to be in the middle of all of it, like she was the leader of the pack or something, but he suspected that she was a spell user, based on the book she was carrying, something he was interested in getting his hands on, as it might help them out in the future.

Once Tirek took that in he found that the balcony wrapped around the rest of the building and decided to follow it for a moment, where he found a wrapped up body with a glowing bone that he collected, a pitchfork hollow that was taken down before it even knew what was going on, and some sort of powder that was around the corner, though once all of that was collected he turned around and headed back to where Sarana and Martok were waiting for him. As it turned out the pair were waiting on the lower floor of the building, standing over one of the hood wearing hollows, dead from the looks of it, meaning they must have taken one out while he was exploring the outside of the building, before they started to move as a group once more, this time heading for the opening that would take them outside the wrecked building that they were currently inside. There just so happened to be two more of the thralls, as Tirek was going to call them, that were lurking inside the building, so while his companions quickly dealt with one of them he turned and blasted the other into the wall, though his target did drop his axe, meaning it was a weapon he could collect and he did so, mostly because they were in the habit of collecting everything that was useful and he had no idea if they would actually need an axe at some point in the near future, but it was better to be prepared for anything that might happen. The only other item that they found in this building was more of the charcoal bundles, though since he had no idea what they were used for he just picked them up anyway, knowing that either Sarana or Martok would tell him what their purpose was at some point in the near future, before joining his companions near the path that lead outside.

As they walked outside Tirek found that there was another path off to the side, just before the large cluster of foes he had seen earlier, and that it meant going over a bridge, though as they approached the area he had scouted out Sarana held out her hand and caused them to stop, something he followed after seeing what Martok was doing, before she took a moment to open her satchel and removed some of the firebombs they had picked up so far. It was in that moment that they watched as she palmed one of the bombs and then threw it at the barrels that were behind some of the hollows, an action that caused the bomb to explode and ignite the oil that was inside the couple of barrels, blowing all of the enemies in that first group away in an instant. A few seconds later she repeated her actions on the second set of barrels, where Tirek watched as that group was blown away as well, cutting down on the number of enemies they would have to fight in this area, since it left them with the evangelist that was standing in front of the burning tree and the couple of hollows that were near her. What that meant was that they had six hollowed enemies to deal with, three looking like they were holding cleavers and the other three having pitchforks, and the evangelist, to which Tirek gestured to the hollows for a moment, where Sarana and Martok nodded their heads as they approached their foes and started attacking them, where he raised his staff and blasted his target in the chest.

It was in that moment that Tirek discovered that his foe wouldn't be taken down so easily and that she had a rather large mace, one that had spikes on it, meaning he had to be careful if she got close to him, but all she seemed to do at the moment was launch bits of dark energy at him, which were a little annoying to dodge since they doubled back to try and hit him a few times, before disappearing. Of course that seemed to be a diversion so the evangelist could approach him and try to crush him with her mace, but he avoided the attack and then blasted her again, finding that it would take a few moments to bring his foe down, even though it appeared that Sarana and Martok were already done with their foes and were waiting to see if he needed any help with his enemy. From what he could tell his Soul Arrows were dealing some damage to his foe, though she could definitely take a few of them, because he had to resort to blasting her with one of his Heavy Soul Arrows just to cause her to stagger, but even then she got up after a few moments and continued the fight, showing him that these ones were going to be tough at his current level of power. Even though he didn't want to get hit by his foe, or more specifically the dark energy she was throwing at him, he ended up taking a hit at one point and was knocked backwards a little, though that only caused him to get back up and blast her again, all while mentally cursing both his old body and his lack of power once more. That was what he hated about this entire thing, he didn't have any of his true terrifying power and was reduced to relying on the spells of this world to help him out, to the point where he could regain a fraction of his former power, hence the hunt for the Lords of Cinder, as they seemed to be the key to doing that, even if it would take some time to find them.

It took him a full minute, possibly two, to bring down the lady, but his plan to take her book and discover even more of this worlds spells didn't work out, mostly because she ended up destroying the book with her last spell, so he picked up a gem that looked like some sort of holy power was attached to it, pocketed it, and headed over to the burning tree, as that was where Sarana and Martok were standing.

"If we're going from enemies that can be defeated in two hits, like the knights of the High Wall, to enemies that fall in six or eight hits, just like how that evangelist, we need to get stronger." Tirek commented, though that was mostly due to his annoyance over his lack of power, the fact that he was missing his true magical power and his true form, and from what he could tell neither Sarana or Martok even had an opinion on what he just said, causing him to shelve the thought for now as he faced them, "So, did your foes drop anything useful, or should we just move on?"

"They dropped nothing, but we did find something useful," Sarana replied, to which she held up a large glass shard, one that definitely came from a bottle of some kind, before Tirek realized that the coloration of the shard looked like it was a fragment of their Estus Flasks, meaning that it was possible to destroy them in some manner, not that he was thinking about doing that since they were so important to his quest, "this is an Estus Shard, an item that we can take to the smith back at the shrine and upgrade the number of flasks that each of us can carry, so we can go from four flasks to five, giving us another flask to use when we're in tough battle."

"So it would be in our best interests to find as many shards as we can and outfit ourselves with more flasks, which will keep us alive longer in battle and keep my magic reserves up." Tirek said, showing that he understood what Sarana was trying to tell him, as this was much simpler that anything he had learned so far since he showed up in this world, but, since these things appeared to be rare, that meant they had to be on the lookout for more shards, and possibly anything else that might help them out in the future.

"Indeed, and we should be on the lookout for Undead Bone Shards, which we can put inside the shrine's bonfire and increase the amount of healing each flask gives... or that is what I've heard, anyway." Sarana added, showing Tirek that there were more things that they should try to get their hands on as they explored the lands of this world, as both types of shards sounded important and now he wanted to find more of them, to boost their chances of surviving against the more powerful creatures in the future, since he knew they would find one at some point.

"Oh, that reminds me, I did find one earlier as well," Martok remarked, to which he reached into his own pack for a few seconds and then withdrew a second Estus Shard, one that he handed over to Sarana, like he trusted her more than he trusted himself, before he faced Tirek again, who had an eyebrow raised at what just happened, "I found that while I was exploring the High Wall, looking for a key to free Greirat from his cell, which I eventually did and accepted his aid as a merchant and thief, so he's probably at the shrine as well. Speaking of which he asked me to find someone called Loretta, whose supposed to be in this village somewhere, and give her a ring for some odd reason, though so far I haven't found anyone who goes by that name, though I did see some familiar faces that have been reduced to being hollows."

Tirek noticed that part of what Martok said had resonated with Sarana, but she said nothing as she took the shard and put it with the first one, though what he thought about was the fact that they would have to return to the shrine at some point in the near future, based on what he was learning from both of his companions, before he pulled out the bone he had picked up earlier and found that there happened to be a name engraved on it, the same one that Martok had said, so he handed that over to the warrior. With that done they started to explore the rest of the area they were in and found a lone soul lingering near a gate that couldn't be opened, which Tirek collected as they headed over to the path that would take them to the next building, even though there were a number of ruined buildings in this village, making Tirek a little curious as to how many of the residents had become hollows to make the settlement like what they were seeing. There were also a few more peasant hollows lingering around the area that the burning tree was in, ones that weren't with the evangelist and her group, meaning all the trio had to do was approach them like a group and take them out, with Sarana and Martok staying at the front and Tirek staying at the back to hit them with Soul Arrows. Near the burning tree, on the other side from where they found the Estus Shard, they located another ember, one that was added to their collection despite the fact that Tirek really had no idea why any of them were even gathering the items in question, though he didn't say anything as they determined which path to take next.

They walked down the road and found two more peasant hollows that wanted to challenge them, so Martok cut the first one down as the second was blasted by Tirek, allowing Sarana to scout the rest of the area out before they moved on, as she was the least likely to draw attention to herself and could be out of a zone before their enemies even knew she was there to begin with. It was then that the group headed for the short tunnel that went through one of the buildings, which also happened to be near the edge of the area the settlement had been built on, and started to walk through it as Sarana picked up another Titanite Shard, which they would use in the future, though when they reached the end of the passage they found two thralls waiting for them. Fortunately it didn't take them very long to beat these guys, as the thralls were rather easy to deal with since Sarana helped take down the one that went for Martok and Tirek simply blasted the other one that was in front of them, and once they were taken care of the trio continued walking, though as that happened Tirek did notice that some there were some easy enemies in this area and a few tough ones, meaning they had to be careful as they explored the Undead Settlement. He stopped as his companions stopped, as there was an abrupt end to the path and the only way to continue if they chose this route was to use the hole that was in front of them, to which they turned around and exited the tunnel, as there happened to be another path they could take, just up the road from where they were standing, meaning there was another path for them to explore and take in the rest of the wrecked village.

The other path brought them to a wooden door that allowed the group to enter part of the building that seemed to be attached to the tunnel they had decided not to take, though as they opened the door all three of them spotted no enemies at the moment and found more of the charcoal bundles over in one corner of the room, though before any of them could even head towards the stairs one of the cages, which had a bunch of hollowed bodies that looked like they had merged into a single being, came to life and attacked them. As it turned out the creature was really easy for them to take out, as all they had to do was let Martok stun it with a powerful thrusting attack and then both Sarana and Tirek could finish the job with their blades, as Tirek wasn't about to waste his magicka on an already weakened opponent like this, though once the creature was taken care of they headed for the stairs. Interestingly enough Tirek found a large soul on one of the hanging bodies, which he collected for when they headed back to the shrine, as it was something nice to add to what they would have to do whenever they went back there, and then they found a locked door at the bottom of the stairs, one that looked like it lead to a room that had some sort of soup cooking, not to mention a hole in the ceiling, which all three of them must have overlooked. He was then forced to rethink that thought as Sarana appeared on the other side of the door and quickly unlocked it, confirming in Tirek's mind that nothing seemed to escape her sight and that she must have slipped away while he and Martok were heading down the stairs, but at the very least it opened the way to some soup that looked like it was a bunch of Estus, meaning it could be a free potion while they were in this area.

From there they started to head down the tunnel that was directly behind them, where the first thing they did was take out one of the Cage Spiders, the best thing that Tirek could think to call this type of enemy, before they spotted what appeared to be a red eyed hollow that seemed pissed off, so instead of advancing toward it the trio simply let it walk over to where they were standing, a fatal mistake as it turned out. Matrok was more than ready to defend himself against the incoming attacks, stunning the hollow for a moment, which allowed Sarana to rush by him and cut into his sides, before Tirek finished the job and blasted him into the wall, though while the foe dropped nothing Tirek understood that they did work well as a team and that they could conquer whatever was thrown at them, even though they all raised their guards as they continued down the tunnel they were in. There happened to be two more Cage Spiders at the end of the tunnel, both trying their hardest to look like the inactive cages that were around them, but Sarana found them out and attacked the pair, allowing Tirek and Martok to finish them off after the first strike, which was the moment that the trio left the tunnel and followed the short set of stairs to a new path, one that almost seemed to be an alley between the two rows of buildings they were near. As they walked down the alleyway, however, Tirek discovered that there was an open door and found that the room it lead to was worthless, as it was a dead end and went nowhere, it didn't even have anything for them to use inside it, so he followed Sarana and Martok, knowing that at least one of them knew the way forward and that they weren't lost, not yet anyway.

They encountered two more peasant hollows that rushed at them, though Tirek focused on the more important foe, as there was one of the evangelists walking on a walkway that connected the two rows of buildings that they were walking between, so while Sarana and Martok cut down the two hollows Tirek quickly drank one of his Ashen Flasks and then used a few Heavy Soul Arrows to knock the evangelist out, so she wouldn't fire at them while they were walking through the opening that was below her. With that particular foe taken care of the trio were able to continue down the alleyway and focus on any additional foes that were in the area, like a peasant hollow that happened to be guarding a whip, along with one of the thralls that lowered from the ceiling of the room the weapon was in, though that was all that was in that area and soon they were back outside, continuing down the alleyway once more. There was one more peasant hollow in the alleyway, showing Tirek that they were spread out and didn't seem to be working together like the knights of the High Wall did at times, but while his companions cut that hollow down he explored a small path to the side and found another Titanite Shard, something he pocketed as he returned to the opening that was below where the evangelist had been standing and walked through it so they could access the tunnel that would take them to another part of the settlement, as he knew there was more for them to explore.

As they did that Tirek and Martok paused for a moment as Sarana climbed up a ladder to their left and headed up to the area that the evangelist had been standing, where she picked something up and returned to them within a second or two, though he found that she collected another Titanite Shard and said nothing as they went through the doorway that was in front of them and found themselves in a small building. From there they walked down the steps and kept their eyes open for enemies, where they discovered they were alone, oddly enough, and then headed through the other entrance so they could see what was on the other side, where they found that they were drawing closer to the tower and some of the other landmarks that were in this area. Sarana then headed to their right and that was when Tirek watched as she found one of those small Crystal Lizards, where she chased it down and killed it in seconds, returning to him and Martok with yet another stone type that Tirek had never seen before, but she pocketed the stone as they focused on the foe that just so happened to be walking through the area that was close to where they were standing. The foe in question was a large being that was dressed in red clothing and happened to be carrying something that resembled a saw that someone would use on a tree, the one that two people would have used, and there was a cage on his back, but he hadn't noticed them yet and that was how Tirek wanted it to stay, for now to be exact. He had no doubt that the three of them could take down the manservant, or whatever it was, but at the same time he was running low on magicka, even if he had one more Ashen Flask, and was silently hoping to find a new bonfire at some point in the near future, so they could skip a good portion of the enemies they had faced so far since they came to this area.

Fortunately the fork in the road that the manservant was patrolling on was long and his route made it so they could easily slip by him without drawing his attention, though that was when Tirek found that there was a bonfire in the area that the second path lead two, one that happened to be lower than the doorway they walked through, and he lit it in no time, as it was nice to have a new one, before the three of them headed back to the shrine.

"Ah, the shrine, its good to be back after waiting near that gate for so long." Martok commented, informing Tirek that he must have been waiting there for a long time, no doubt because he was waiting for Sarana to arrive so they could join forces for this quest, though Tirek turned his attention to his pack and pulled out the couple of souls they had found while they were exploring the Undead Settlement.

Once the souls had been pulled out, and had been crushed so their power could be absorbed, the trio appeared the Fire Keeper and empowered themselves with the power they had taken so far, though once Tirek had taken his turn he glanced up at the thrones and found someone standing by the middle one, meaning that it was someone he could talk to and see if he had anything to tell him. Sarana, after completing her own empowerment, touched the soul they gained from the large beast-like knight that was guarding the Great Gate, as if she was considering something important, before beckoning to where Ludleth was sitting, as if indicating that Tirek should talk to him as well, meaning that he might as well explore the shrine once more and talk to some of the residents, both new and old. He waited for a few more moments, so Martok could finish what he was doing with the Fire Keeper, though once he was done, and none of them were bothering the Fire Keeper anymore, Tirek started up the stairs that would take him to the throne that Ludleth was sitting on, not that he could move since it appeared he had no legs. He had to assume that something major had happened to the man at the time he became a Lord of Cinder, to make him like this, but at the same time he really didn't care about the reason behind Ludleth's missing legs, to which he pushed the thought out of his mind as he dropped down onto the throne that the old man was standing on and faced him.

What was interesting to Tirek was that Ludleth seemed to be waiting for him to return, or his entire group when he considered it, as the old man's head raised the moment he came to a stop in front of the throne, showing that he might have something important to tell him before he left to continue his quest to locate the other three Lords of Cinder that would open the way to the missing Prince.

"Listen, this might pique your interest. Before I was a Lord of Cinder, I was a student of transposition." Ludleth stated, where Tirek raised an eyebrow for a moment, as he had no idea what that was and was hoping that the old man had an explanation as to what transposition was, hence the reason he remained silent as Ludleth continued, "Transposition is the process of extracting and coalescing the essence of a soul. A forbidden art, that once left a foul stain upon Courland's honor, but it is an art that also grants powers that were once thought unattainable. Most of the transposing kilns were lost with Courland, but this place is a crossing for all manner of cursed objects... if you and your companions happen to find a transposing kiln in your travels, bring it to me, and I will do what I can to help you in your quest."

Tirek thought about that for a moment, wondering where they could find one of these transposing kilns and what sort of power they could grant him and his companions, but he ultimately said nothing to Ludleth as he jumped back down to where the bonfire was located, before he headed to the Prince's throne and approached the lone man that was leaning against the throne, who seemed to be wearing some odd looking leather armor, and both Sarana and Martok stared at the man as he stopped in front of him.

"Unkindled, are we... and fast on the trail of the Lords absconded? Then these red eyes are for you." the man said, as if he had been studying them for some time, which was possible considering that he had been here before they returned from their exploration of the Undead Settlement, before he held a hand out and dropped some red colored orbs into the hand that Tirek held out, "Use them to pillage embers, and briefly heighten your strength, for the duty that you have been called to complete... for what else are Unkindled ashes good for?"

In that moment Tirek had to assume that the man was mocking him and the rest of the Unkindled, even if he didn't care about the others all that much, and both of his companions remained silent as the man said that, so he assumed that either this was a common thing or no fighting was allowed in the shrine, so he pocketed the orbs and departed from the area, as he was eager to see if anyone else had arrived. As they headed toward the area that the blacksmith was in, even if they didn't have any weapons to modify or upgrade, as he was sure they didn't have enough shards to do so, Tirek found one of the thralls from the Undead Settlement resting near one of the walls, though he didn't appear to have any weapons on him at the moment and he raised his head as they approached him.

"Oh, hello, you're back." Greirat, as that was the name that Martok had given him earlier, said, though it was clear that he was focused on the warrior for a moment, which was fine since neither Tirek or Sarana had encountered him before, even if Tirek was of the opinion that welcoming Martok into their party had modified their shrine in some manner, which he would have to ask the others about at some point, "And in one piece. Well, now it's time I do my part. Whatever trinket you need, speak up. Just don't ask me where I got them."

"Actually, I came to tell you about Loretta," Martok stated, where he pulled out the bone that Tirek had recovered at the start of the Undead Settlement, and had given to him during their exploration, before handing it over to the man that was sitting in front of them, where the man took to the bone and stared at it for a few seconds, though with his hood over his head it was hard to tell what emotions he was going through.

"Heavens, she was already dead." Greirat commented, where he put the bone aside for a moment, though even as he did that Tirek got the feeling that the news didn't come as a shock to the man, but he said nothing as he waited for the pair to stop what they were doing, "Thank you. I... I'm not surprised, though. To be honest, its almost a relief. Oh, and you can keep the ring. As, well, a little trinket of thanks I suppose."

"I will. Oh, and one other thing," Martok said, where he shifted his stance and gestured to Tirek for a moment, which caused the man that was sitting on the ground to glance at him as well, though he assumed that this was to inform Greirat that they now served someone else, instead of it being that Greirat was helping Martok in his own unique way, "These are my companions Sarana and Tirek... though we have both sworn to serve Tirek and assist him on his quest."

Greirat didn't need to be told anything else, as he simply stated that it was a pleasure to have someone to serve, even if they didn't need his wares all that much, allowing them to walk around the rest of the shrine and see if anyone else had arrived since the last time they were here, though that was when Tirek spotted Yoel standing in a corner that was far from the others, to which he walked over to the pilgrim, so he could see what he had to say before they headed back to the Undead Settlement to continue their quest.

"Oh, our Champion of Ash, welcome home." Yoel said, where he bowed his head for a few moments, as if to show his thanks for what Tirek had done for him when he and Sarana encountered him earlier, before he quickly raised his head and focused on the three of them, as if there was more he had to say, "This pilgrim, with a debt in death, hardly deserves to behold this divine flame. And I never would have, had you not taken me into your service. I thank you dearly for this... and to assure you of my loyal and honest service."

"Its good to see that you're so excited," Tirek remarked, even though part of him really didn't care, as the main reason he had gone through the effort to bring Yoel into his service was for the spells that he might be able to give him, even if he needed to get some souls so he could trade them in for the various pages that the pilgrim had on him, as he knew Yoel had to have a few spells for him, "So, what else do you have for me, in addition to spells?"

"As I have said, I was once a sorcerer." Yoel replied, reminding Tirek of what he had said the first time he and Sarana found him outside the area they located Matrok, just in the off chance that one of them forgot that information, before he tilted his head for a moment, "Alas, the magic of Londor is a far cry from the wonders of Vinheim, but I can teach you what I know. Perhaps more importantly... I believe that I can help tease out your true strength. We pilgrims of Londor are keenly aware, that those branded by the Darksign possess something quite special..."

"Wait, you can draw out my true strength?" Tirek inquired, because if that was the case, and Yoel was telling the truth about his abilities, this could be the quickest way for him to regain some of his former power and his true form, something that would allow him to deal better damage to their foes and, in time, give him access to his true terrifying power, which he was missing at the moment, before he focused on Yoel, "Do it."

"As you wish, my Lord." Yoel stated, to which he raised his empty hand for a moment as he gathered his power, to do what the one he was sworn to serve was commanding him to do, before leveling his magic filled hand at Tirek, who stood there and waited for him to get this over with, even though he was clearly hoping for good results from this, "Bearer of the Darksign, let your true strength shine..."

At first nothing happened, though before Tirek could even voice his disappointment he felt something inside him for a few seconds, where he watched as his old hands seemed to have a little youth restored to them, and the same was likely true for the rest of his body, indicating that Yoel had been right, before the pilgrim eventually stopped what he was doing and lowered his hand. That was what he was looking for, a way to reverse the damage that had been done to his power and his body after being beaten by Princess Twilight and her friends, though it did look like doing something like that did drain Yoel of some of his own energy, possibly even his own life force, so it would be some time before the pilgrim was able to do that again, which was just fine. By his own estimates he had about five percent of his total power back, which wasn't a massive amount when he thought about it, but it was better than what he was currently using against their foes, as this would allow him to take down the majority of the hollows they were facing with a single Soul Arrow, since he knew those enemies were easy, and the evangelists would be slightly easier for him to take on, meaning he was making some progress in his personal quest. Sarana and Martok said nothing to him as they took what happened in, either because they had no idea what to make of what Yoel had done or they had missed seeing what the pilgrim had done to him, but to Tirek it didn't matter, as he knew that the pilgrim held the key to regaining his lost power, he just had to be patient and come visit him every now and then to see if his power had been restored to the point where he could do it again.

With that done, and there being nothing else for them to do in the shrine, Tirek and his companions headed back to the bonfire, as it was time for them to return to the Undead Settlement and continue their quest for the missing Lords of Cinder, as he had the feeling that they would find a new path soon enough.

Looking for Supplies

Instead of returning to the new bonfire they had discovered, and continuing on from that area, Tirek decided to return to where the second bonfire was located, which happened to be the one they found Martok standing near, and move on from there, though it didn't take him, Sarana, and Martok long to reach the area he wanted to start in and move away from the bonfire. Thanks to their recent session with the Fire Keeper, and Tirek's session with Yoel, they did find that it was slightly easier for them to take out the revived enemies that they had taken out during their first trek through this area, though the only one that Tirek kept his eyes out for where the evangelists, as they had been tough to take down before Yoel drew out some of his true strength. He found that his earlier thoughts were correct, that his new power was more than enough to take out one of the peasant hollows with a single Soul Arrow, even if the thralls took two to take down, though he was eager to see how many hits one of the ladies took before he could bring them down, especially after the last time he battled one of them. As such it didn't take them long to get through the first building that was after the bonfire, since those enemies were rather easy to take out, before they reached the area with the burning tree, where all of the hollows were praying and waiting for the evangelist to do something, but that wasn't the area they were interested in, as they headed for the bridge that was to the right of the tree.

As it turned out there were two more peasant hollows guarding the bridge, where Matrok parried the incoming attack as Tirek blasted the hollow that was hanging at the back, which allowed his companion to take care of the first one, before they headed over the bridge and approached the building that was in front of them, where they also spotted a path off to their right as well, with some barrels and boxes in the way. Matrok, understanding that they were here to look for anything and everything that could aid them in their quest, quickly smashed the items in question and revealed the side path that went around the building they could enter, which was when the three of them walked along the thin path, one by one, as they kept an eye open for items and enemies. As they did that Tirek spotted a few thralls in the area in front of them, each wielding a different weapon and appearing to be minding their own business at the moment, though as they stepped into the area they were watching over the thralls reacted immediately, attacking them in a matter of seconds, to which Tirek, Sarana, and Martok defended themselves. What happened was that Matrok raised his blade and cut down the foes that tried to attack them from the front, allowing Tirek to blast the ones that were hanging near the buildings as Sarana found her way onto the roofs that the dagger throwers were standing on, cutting the pair of them down so they wouldn't have to worry about them anymore. With the three of them working together it didn't take all that all to clear out the thralls, which allowed the group to search the area and see if there was anything worth grabbing, where Tirek found a fading soul, just like the others he crushed to gain their power, so he collecting it and added it to his pack, while Sarana found some more firebombs to replace what she had used earlier.

While they were doing that Tirek did notice that the Undead Settlement was larger than what he originally believed it to be when he and Sarana were looking at it from afar, as there was a brand new section that the building they would be walking through would take them, but for now they focused on clearing out the roof area and the rest of the side passage they had found, before returning to the main path. To the side of the final building on the side path they discovered an odd item, a shield made out of planks, so they simply stashed it in their shared packs, again something Tirek wasn't going to question since he'd likely drive himself insane, before he spotted one of the spider cages behind the building, one that seemed to be a normal cage and not a monster. Sarana, on the other hand, didn't share his opinion and struck the cage with her weapon, causing the creature to awaken thanks to the disturbance, where Tirek watched as she quickly dealt with the creature, mostly because it didn't even try to fight back all that much and just shook all of its arms at her, mostly in what he guessed was annoyance. Once she was done with that creature they carefully climbed the ladder that was at the front of this building and walked over the roof, where they found some more of the odd bones they kept finding, though after that they had no choice but to jump down into the area in front of them, which was when they found a tall being walking around, one that looked like the guy who was patrolling near the bonfire they had discovered before returning to the shrine.

The only major difference between the two was that this one was docile and didn't even try to attack them, as all three of them felt the first one would have attacked if they got close, so they searched the area the guy was in and quickly found that there was almost nothing in the area, save for a brass or golden ring that was on the corpse that was hanging near the ledge, one with a ruby in it, before they headed back to the main path.

"So what was the point of that?" Matrok inquired, because based on what he had seen there wasn't much of a reason for them to have explored the side passage they had discovered, despite the fact that it was because Tirek wanted to make sure they missed nothing as they moved through this area, though as he said that they found a drop off point that would allow them to return to where the group of thralls had been, even if it hurt them a little, before they continued walking back towards the bridge.

"Souls for the most part, and a ring that might help us in the future." Sarana replied, as they needed all the souls they could gather to empower themselves, or even purchase certain items from the various vendors that were gathering inside the shrine, and she knew that Tirek understood that fact at this point, hence that was the first reason she listed when she answered the question.

"Indeed, and the rest of Undead Settlement will be the same, more souls and potentially useful items." Tirek added, as he knew the more souls he collected the stronger he would become, once he empowered himself at the Fire Keeper to be exact, so making sure they collected all of the souls they possibly could was important, to make all of them stronger for the enemies that were after the area they were exploring.

It didn't take the group long to return to the building at the end of the bridge and enter it, where they found a few stalls that would have contained horses at some point and were currently home to two slumbering peasant hollows, but as they stepped into the stables the pair got up and tried to rush them in seconds, either annoyed about being woken up like that or because they were faking being asleep to ambush intruders. Sarana and Martok were more than skilled enough to take down one of their attackers, allowing Tirek to blast the other one into the wall, ending the threat in a second or two, which made him happy that he had commanded Yoel to draw out his true strength earlier, as it seemed to be helping them more than he thought it would, even if he was still weak and pathetic when compared to his fully empowered state, something that would have crushed most of their enemies in a second if he had that power. Once the pair of hollows were taken care of Tirek found a larger soul resting nearby, one that was collected instantly, before they headed for the door that served as a second entrance of the stable, which would allow them to access the other section of the settlement and whatever enemies were over there, and whatever items might have been discarded recently. What he then discovered was that the stables were small and they had to exit it to enter another small building, one that housed the door they were walking towards, but even as the three of them did that a new thrall, this one wielding a two handed sword, dropped down onto the ground in front of them and rushed at them, to the best of their ability anyway.

Tirek found it amusing as he and Sarana watched as the large weapon, a flamberge now that he got a closer look at what it was, struck Matrok's armor and seemed to do nothing, allowing the warrior to swing his own sword down and cut down the thrall that had lashed out at him, making Tirek wonder if Matrok's armor was far stronger than anything they had encountered so far or if the warrior was actually getting wounded, but the dead thrall did drop his weapon so it was added to the collection as they headed towards the door he had been guarding. It took Matrok a second or two to force open the door so they could walk through it, where the group found a new bridge that would take them over to part of the Undead Settlement that none of them were familiar with, though before they did that Tirek walked up the small hill that was to their right and found a round shield of some kind that had two snakes on it, so he simply put it inside his pack and then returned to where his companions were standing. As they started to walk across the stone bridge Sarana stopped, something that caused Tirek and Martok to pause as well, where she pointed out the oil filled barrels that were right at the end of the bridge, perfectly within range of a peasant hollow that seemed to be holding something he could throw, which would ignite the barrels in seconds and cause them to explode if the group approached them. Her solution was simple, she just pulled out a firebomb and threw it at the barrels, blowing them up and torching the pair of docile hollows that had been resting in front of them, allowing the trio to enter the new area that the bridge was connected to, even though Tirek did blast the peasant hollow that would have thrown something at the barrels in the chest, eliminating one threat even if there were two more of his type up on the walkway he was on.

The new part of the Undead Settlement, as they soon discovered, was rather small and the first thing they found, in addition to the pair of buildings that were around them, was an executioner's block, one that must have been in use over the last couple of days, mostly due to the soul that Tirek picked up as Sarana and Martok continued to scour the area for anything that might be useful to them. As he did that, however, they quickly found themselves under attack as the other two peasant hollows started throwing down firebombs at them, while at the same time one of the manservants, the tall guys they had seen a few times so far, walked up some steps they hadn't seen and seemed to be carrying a large pot that was full of severed limbs and body parts, something that he hurled at Sarana, who dodged out of the way and let it collide with the building that was behind her, before she and Martok dealt with him. That left Tirek with the easy job, using his Soul Arrows to blast the two peasant hollows off the area they were standing on, which was as easy as he expected it to be since the pair didn't even target him at all, so he had a smile on his face as he knocked them off their walkway, allowing his companions to focus on their foe without having to worry about additional problems. Once they were done taking care of that foe Tirek walked over to where they were standing and came to a stop when he reached the top of the steps that the manservant had walked up, though that was the moment that he discovered that they were close to two important areas of the Undead Settlement, as in front of them rested a grand building that seemed important, while off to their right, just a little further away, rested the tower they had seen some time ago.

"Hm, two important looking structures... how interesting." Tirek remarked, because while he knew that they were in the process of looking for the Lords of Cinder he knew that important landmarks were the way to reveal a path to whoever was on an important quest, and right now both of the buildings they could see looked rather important, so much so that it would take him a few moments to determine which he would want to investigate first.

"Where would you suggest that we search first?" Sarana asked, as she was curious as to what Tirek wanted to do first, as in visit the church and see what was inside it or head over to the tower and investigate whatever it had for them, as she was sure one of them held a path to one of the Lords of Cinder, while at the same time Martok remained silent as he kept his eyes open for any additional enemies that might try to attack them.

"First, I wish to scout out the area that's below the bridge we walked on," Tirek stated, as he knew there had to be a path that would allow them to get onto the building they had walked by, mostly because he wanted to see if the enemies he had taken out had dropped anything useful when he killed them, before Sarana nodded as they turned around and made their way back to the bridge in question.

Once they made it back to the stone bridge they found two more peasant hollows wandering around the area, which was the moment that Sarana jumped over the edge and raced down towards one of their foes, cutting into him with her blade before she jumped off, though Tirek readied himself and did the same thing, somehow actually hitting the other one with enough force to transfer all the damage to the hollow in question, even if it didn't kill either of them. Martok followed them not a few seconds later, dropping down onto the first foe, crushing it under the weight of his unique armor, before he spun around and cleaved the other one in half, allowing his companions to take in the soul energy as they started to move, even though they did find another Titanite Shard along the way. At the other end of the path, the one that actually lead somewhere, the group found a room that only had a bonfire in it, something that they lit right away, even if none of them actually needed to rest or restock their Estus Flasks, so they headed through the other entrance and found some wooden steps that allowed them to access the roof of the building that Tirek had been hoping to get on, meaning they could actually see if there was anything up here or not. As they walked on the roof they found another hanging corpse near the wooden path that would take them over to where the peasant hollows had been located, a partizan according to what Martok said, to which they knocked the body down and claimed the weapon, before following the path and finding that none of the hollows dropped anything for them, much to Tirek's disappointment.

As they explored the rest of the roof area, to see if the peasant hollows had been guarding anything useful, it took Tirek a few seconds to find a cage that had a man standing inside it, one that was dressed in a rather interesting set of clothing that had a collar that appeared to be made out of parts from a tree, the leaves to be exact, and seemed to have a white cloth around the area of his eyes, either because he was blind or because he didn't want to see what the rest of the world had to offer him.

"Ah ha, Unkindled are we?" the man said, where Tirek stopped as his companions did the same behind him, as he did know that Sarana and Martok were keeping an eye open for useful items and any enemies that they might have missed, so they didn't get attacked from behind, before the man seemed to think of something else to say as he focused on Tirek once more, "Welcome to my abode. I am Cornyx, an old pyromancer, though now I'm a crow in his cage as you see. But here we are, an encounter for the ages! I hear the Unkindled make for fine vessels. Would you like to learn pyromancies from this old man?"

"Pyromancies, interesting." Tirek commented, as while he hadn't actually learned anything from the people he had recruited so far, and had sent back to the shrine so he could purchase their wares at some point in the future, it was good to have them around, so he could learn the spells whenever he wanted to pick up what they were offering him, before he turned back towards the old man, since that was what Cornyx labeled himself as, "Sure, I'd like to learn whatever you have to offer me."

"That is most wise. A chance encounter like this should not be squandered." Cornyx replied, his tone revealing that he was happy to have someone to teach his spells to, even if he didn't seem to notice the fact that Tirek, in his current state, happened to be much older than he was, before Cornyx readied himself for something, "To reiterate, I am Cornyx, of the Great Swamp. The pleasure is mine."

Tirek, Sarana, and Martok watched as Cornyx disappeared rather suddenly, just like what happened when they took the time to recruit Yoel earlier, something that Martok hadn't seen, though that told Tirek that they would have a new ally whenever they returned to the shrine, to which they resumed searching the area and he discovered that there was an axe resting near where the cage was located. Once they had done that, and had explored this part of the settlement, the three of them headed back down to the roof that was above where the new bonfire was resting and dropped down into the area that was behind where the manservant had been positioned, meaning they could walk down the steps that were in front of them and head over to where the church was located. What they discovered was that there were a few enemies in the area between them and the church that was Tirek's current destination, as in an evangelist, two of the peasant hollows, and a pair of undead dogs, but even as they discovered what sort of enemies were hanging out in this area it just made it that much easier for them to know who to take out. As such Sarana focused on dodging the dogs and lashed out at them when they missed her while Martok pulled the peasant hollows away from their main target, allowing Tirek to gather his magic as he blasted the evangelist with some Soul Arrows, while doing his absolute best to avoid the spells that were being flung at him, something that was hard to do given his still frail body. Even with his power boost from Yoel he could see that his spells weren't having the effect he was looking for, as it still took some time to take down his foes, but in the end he was able to take out the major threat, even if he was the last one to finish since Sarana and Martok had taken down their foes in a matter of seconds.

Instead of focusing on his annoying his situation was, and how limited his power happened to be, Tirek headed up the stairs that would bring them to the church's entrance and paused for a moment, mostly to wait for his companions to catch up to him, before he pressed his hands against the door and tried to push it, only to find that it wouldn't budge and that when he had Martok try it nothing happened as well.

"Really? They locked the church?" Tirek commented, though that was rather annoying, as he was hoping to find one of the Lords of Cinder without having to work too much for it, but now that they had discovered that someone had locked what appeared to be the only way into the building he was going to have to rethink his plan, especially since he didn't know if there were any other ways to get into the structure in question.

"Some doors can only be opened from the other side, to prevent the Unkindled from having easy access to certain parts of the land." Sarana remarked, remembering what she had been told when she found this out for herself, since she figured it was time to tell Tirek the news about this, though that was before she considered what their companion was thinking about and how wrong that thought was, "Also, we won't encounter a Lord of Cinder here, as the places they must have run off to are quite different from what the Undead Settlement is."

"Then why are we wasting time trying to get into the church?" Tirek inquired, because the whole reason he had come to this building was because he was hoping to find a Lord of Cinder here, who was ruling the evangelists, peasant hollows, and everything else they had encountered so far, including everything else that they might not have found just yet, and yet now he was learning that there wasn't one here in the first place.

"Probably to find a clue as to where the Lords went, or possibly a key to enter their domains." Sarana replied, though as she said that Martok turned around and headed back down the stairs they had climbed up, since there was no reason for them to be in this area anymore, meaning that it was time for them to get going and locate another way to enter the church, "Besides, if we find another creature like that knight, or even the Dancer, we can beat them and take their souls for ourselves, to empower our bodies for the challenges that we'll encounter in the future."

Tirek, despite how annoyed he was at having to work a little harder to get into the church, sighed as he followed both of his companions down the steps as they continued to explore the rest of the area they were in, where Sarana quickly found an ember resting behind a tree and added it to their collection, though what caught Tirek's attention was the large number of metal cages that were near them. Based on what he had seen so far he was starting to think that the residents of this settlement were capturing people, be they hollowed or not, and might actually be sacrificing them in some manner, one that he wasn't sure about since he had no idea if his thoughts were correct or not, but so far all he could determine was that these people were weird and that they had to be doing something strange, before tearing his eyes away from the cages as they continued to walk. After the cages they found a small stone bridge, wide enough for Sarana and Tirek to walk across it if they walked side by side, which connected to the path that would take them to the tower Tirek had spotted earlier, one that he knew they would be visiting at some point in time, before spotting a few manservants on the other side of the bridge, three of them to be exact, where each of them seemed to be holding their own large pot in their hands, but they had to focus on two peasant hollows that didn't like the fact that they stopped to look at the area. It only took the trio a few moments to take them down, since Sarana and Martok were able to beat one on their own while Tirek just blasted his foe off the bridge and dropped him into the chasm that the bridge was above, a location that they might be able to explore if they so desired, before they headed towards the cliff side that the area with the executioner's block had been built on, where they found an opening and an undead dog protecting it.

The dog, as it turned out, was rather easy to defeat when they had three people to make sure it didn't move around and attack one of them from behind, though once the undead dog was taken care of the trio entered the opening that it had been guarding and discovered that it was a small sewer of some kind, one that neither Sarana or Martok appeared to be worried about, so Tirek assumed that everything was just fine and that it wasn't the nasty type of sewer. There was also a ladder they could use to get down into the area that the water was in, so while Sarana climbed down it, being the safest thing to do, Martok just jumped down the rather short distance and landed on the stone walkway that was just before the water, allowing them to focus on looking out for enemies while Tirek climbed down the ladder. When he joined them he found three small dog sized rats approaching them, to which he, Sarana, and Martok lashed out at the rats, as they were definitely aggressive and charged at them the moment they laid eyes on the trio, though it only took each of them two attacks to take one of the rats down, allowing each of them to follow the path that was in front of them and be on the lookout for any additional opponents. At first they found nothing as they walked through the ankle high water, or at least that was how high it was according to Sarana, but then they came to a stop when she found a new weapon, a pair of fist style weapons called caestus', something that she added to their collection of growing weaponry as they continued to walk through the water and headed for the other end of the sewer, as Tirek was sure there had to be another exit to this place and was hoping to find it soon. Of course what they ended up finding was three more rats, where two of them happened to be small ones and the third happened to be about Sarana's height, so what happened was that Martok took care of the large one while Sarana and Tirek took care of the pair that were coming at them, though it didn't take them long to knock out the smaller rats as Martok cleaved the larger one in half, almost as if he had done this sort of thing before.

Tirek discovered that the rat had an interesting ring inside its stomach, one freed thanks to Martok killing it like that, and nothing that there happened to be a path behind a locked gate, so with the ring in hand they continued forward and found the other ladder that he was hoping to find, where they climbed out of the sewer, opened the door that was up there, and returned to the bonfire that was near the very first manservant they had seen, though as they approached it he felt something in the air shift and turned his head to their right as they left the sewer.

"Is something wrong?" Martok asked, though at the same time he readied his weapon again, as right now the only foe he knew about was the manservant that was guarding the way into the area that might be connected to the side of the church that Tirek was so interested in, but he was ready for anything and knew that his companions would tell him if there was someone new they had to fight.

"I do not know, as there is a person standing nearby with a purple aura around him," Tirek replied, where he raised his empty hand for a moment and pointed at the path that the being in question was standing on, who looked like a knight of some kind, not like Martok anyway, before he glanced at the area that was around the creature and found that there were two hollows that seemed to be shambling around a ruined house that was near an arch that lead into the next area of the settlement, "and two odd hollows, one male and one female, that also have the same aura around them, only they don't seem to be as aggressive looking as the knight does."

"Is that so?" Sarana inquired, to which she glanced off in the direction of the two hollows and Tirek sensed that there was something more to this than what was being said, as not even a few seconds later she headed over to where the pair were wandering around, totally ignoring the manservant that was in the way, leaving him and Martok to deal with the knight that was coming towards them.

"What was that all about?" Tirek commented, because while he didn't know his companions all that well, and he knew that he didn't care enough to really learn their pasts and whatnot, one thing he understood was anger and while Sarana might not have the ability to convey her emotions to people he got the feeling that seeing those two had sparked some sort of fire inside her.

"Oh, those are her parents... you'll have to ask her the full story if you want to know anything." Martok replied, though at the same time he approached the knight that was coming their way and charged at it, intending to take it out before it could head over to where Sarana was heading, leaving Tirek on his own for a time, even though he could target the large manservant and take him down on his own.

As Tirek blasted the manservant with his Soul Arrows, and knocked him to the ground a few times, he knew that he didn't need to be told anything about Sarana's connection to her parents, because it seemed that it was a terrible one and had been the reason for molding the companion that he was sharing his journey with, and he saw the signs of anger in a matter of seconds, even if she couldn't express herself. Sarana had a burning hatred for her parents, that much he could see as she attacked them with more speed and power than what she did when they were going up against the various foes they had encountered so far, and even if the hollows in question didn't fight back that didn't stop her from trying to tear the pair apart. It was rather amazing, he had to admit that much as he watched his companion get her revenge, if it could be called that, on the parents that had wronged her, especially since this was likely the first and only time he would ever see her body display whatever emotion she was feeling at the moment, even if she couldn't do so herself, and it didn't take her long to break her mother apart, allowing her to move to where her father was standing. Martok, of course, had next to no problems taking out the knight that tried to attack them, and Tirek was able to take out the manservant without giving him the chance to be attacked in return, to which they watched as Sarana continued to vent her anger out on her parents, something that she would be doing for a time.

While they waited Martok said nothing, leaving Tirek to wonder if the purple figure had been a special attacker that didn't want anyone to progress further into this area or if they were guardians of the Lords of Cinder, or, as Sarana said earlier, whatever clue had been left behind to help the Unkindled find the Lords, but he pushed the thought away as he and Martok watched as Sarana finally rejoined them, leaving behind ruined corpses.

"Okay, I'm done with them." Sarana stated, informing the pair that she was finished with her business, and had made sure that neither of her parents would be able to come back from this, though Tirek did notice that she seemed to have calmed down, based on what he was feeling at the moment, and that Martok seemed ready to go the moment she said that, indicating that he was ready when she was ready.

"Very well, then I would suggest its time we got a move on." Tirek replied, because based on what he had seen so far neither of his companions seemed like they needed time to rest, nor did they really need to restock their Estus Flasks, so what he did was head for the arch, since that seemed to be the next area for them to explore, especially since it seemed to take them right to the side of the church, possibly giving them a way into the structure.

Sarana and Martok nodded their heads, as they knew that it was time for them to continue moving after Sarana had stopped for her little episode, to which Tirek headed towards the arch and found that the area between them and the next ruined building had a white tree growing in the middle of the area, some broken ledges to walk on, and seemed to be filled with massive arrows. It was an interesting sight to see, mostly because he wasn't expecting to find this sort of thing over here when he decided to come this way, though he did see that there were a number of items that they could collect and a number of hollows that seemed to be guarding the area, either in small groups or wandering on their own, but based on what he was seeing they should be able to take them out in no time. There were even a number of gravestones off to their left, where he was sure that they could find some useful items if they searched the area, especially since he could see a path of some kind near the tree, meaning that if they could get their hands on the items they could potentially make their journey that much easier for them, at least for the Undead Settlement. He knew that Sarana and Martok could see this as well, meaning they were likely thinking about how they were going to go about gathering the items and killing the hollows that were in front of them, though instead of wasting time he walked forward and stepped into the area that they were about to explore.

In the next few seconds a massive arrow slammed down into the area near the tree and crushed the hollows that he had been looking at earlier, though as he looked to the right, to see where the arrow had come from so they could track down whoever, a second arrow came crashing down in the area he was standing in, or, to be more exact, he had been punctured by the arrow and the world went black once more.

Visiting the Tower

Tirek said nothing as he reformed at the last bonfire he and his companions had rested at, the second one they had found in the Undead Settlement, and frowned for a moment as he considered what had just happened to him, as the act of suddenly reappearing at one of the bonfires, after his world went black for a short period of time, meant that he had been killed and that his souls were in the area with the white tree. As such he simply rested at the bonfire that he was standing near and headed back to the bridge area that his companions were waiting for him at, because he was assuming that neither of his companions had died, since neither Sarana or Martok had appeared at this bonfire after he did, meaning the pair was still near the area he had died in. It didn't take him too long to go from bonfire to bonfire, where Tirek got up from where he was sitting and turned towards the path that was in front of him, finding that the manservant that was patrolling this path was still alive, meaning that the enemies had to be connected to him, as in if he died they all came back, though as he walked over to the area that his companions were standing in he watched as Martok attacked the manservant and seemed to be the foe's main target for the moment. That allowed Tirek to gather his magic for a few seconds as he blasted the manservant in the back a few times, mostly because he was annoyed by what happened a not even a few minutes ago, and it wasn't long before his target fell to the ground and stopped moving, allowing the three of them to regroup.

"So, it seems that someone is firing large arrows down at the area the white tree is in." Tirek remarked, his tone telling both of his companions that he didn't like what happened earlier, where the arrow came down and killed him in seconds by puncturing his chest, though he did notice that neither Sarana or Martok seemed all that worried about what they just found out, since it meant that this area would be hard to pass through.

"Based on what I've seen, the arrow came from the tower you wanted to visit." Sarana replied, informing Tirek that, despite the fact that he had been killed by the large arrow, she had studied the area in question and watched the last few arrows that had rained down upon the hollows that had been patrolling the area in question, before they glanced at the large tower in question, "I'm sure that if we investigate the tower, even for a few minutes, we can find a way to either take down whatever is loosing those arrows or, if we're lucky, convince them to stop firing at us and actually assist us in the future, provided that we're near a white tree, since that seems to be the only area that gets attacked."

"Then that is what we'll do." Tirek stated, because while he had wanted to explore the tower in question earlier, to see if it held anything that might be useful to them and their quest, this gave him the perfect chance to do so and it appeared that Sarana was in agreement with what he was saying, even if Martok seemed to be silent and didn't seem to care what they were talking about, before he did something that might be considered stupid to some.

Tirek carefully walked into the area that his souls were in, the black mass that was connected to him while green was the color that was associated with Sarana, leaving him wondering what Martok's soul color would be if he died at some point during their adventure, where he looked at the tower in question and found that whoever was loosing the arrows was only focusing on the rest of the hollows that were gathered around the white tree. While that was happening, and the area around his souls was free of arrows, he rushed out as quickly as he could, gathered the souls that he had been in possession of when he died, and then hightailed it back to where his companions were standing, somehow avoiding being struck by another arrow, to which he let out a sigh of relief as he focused on their next objective. He knew that they could use the nearby bonfire and head to the one that was near where Cornyx had been resting, but instead of doing that he headed for the sewer entrance as his companions followed him, because he suspected that if they went this way they might be able to bypass the evangelist and her small group, even if that meant fighting a few rats. As such it didn't take the three of them long to return to the sewer and assault the rats that called it home, Martok cleaving the large one in half like last time while Tirek and Sarana dealt with the smaller ones that were trying to help the large one, before they reached the other side of the sewer and climbed out into the area that the undead dog was guarding, who was quickly taken out by both Sarana and Martok attacking it.

Once that was done, and they headed outside, Tirek noticed that his idea had worked out, the evangelist and her little group was nowhere near the bridge that they needed to walk over, to which he quickly pulled the peasant hollow that was on the other side of the structure to where he and his companions were standing, where the three of them took down the hollow and then moved forward. From there they carefully walked over the bridge that the hollow had been guarding and spotted the three manservants that were guarding the area in front of them, where two of them were rather close to the bridge and one that was near the edge of the cliff, so they decided to be careful and focused their attention on the pair of enemies that were near them, who tried to throw their pots at them and ended up missing. Sarana and Martok focused on one manservant while Tirek focused on the other one, blasting his foe with his normal Soul Arrows, since he wasn't about to waste the stronger ones on something who didn't need such a spell to take down, though he did have to be very careful since his reflexes weren't the best in his current form. Of course it didn't take the three of them long to take down the pair of manservants that they were fighting, where they focused on the last one and stopped as Sarana raised her hand for a moment, which was when she walked forward and focused on the foe that was her target, who didn't seem to notice her approaching him from behind, which was the moment she kicked him over the ledge and sent him down into the pit that was below them.

Tirek was impressed by that, since he had to assume that knocking a manservant over the ledge wasn't easy due to how fast the others had reacted to their presence, before Sarana rejoined them and they moved forward, even though he did find a large lost soul near the well to their right as they walked towards the tower... only to find a man, or at least what he assumed was a man, sitting on some rocks while being dressed in some rather impressive looking black armor and a large hammer of some kind.

"Hmm... Another group of those Unkindled, are you? All of you faceless Undead, behaving as if you deserve respect from everyone you encounter." the knight remarked, his tone showing that he didn't much care about the trio and the fact that they were heading towards the tower that was in front of them, though him talking did cause them to stop for a few moments, just to hear him out, "No matter. Heed my words. If any of you have any sense, you’ll go find a coffin to huddle up inside. In this land of Hollows, all of you are like frail maidens on the front lines, especially the old fool. If any of you are like the others, and are fool enough to play the champion… then go on ahead, traipse right past the abandoned church. You’ll face death, and it won’t be pretty... enough death to leave you broken, time after time, until you give up."

"Charming." Tirek said, as he wasn't impressed by the knight and his opinions of the Unkindled, especially since he felt that all of them were weaklings that deserved to be put down, before he walked away from where the knight was sitting and headed for the tower, which the man seemed to call a church for some odd reason, but as he did that he did spot a lone door off to the side and a lady that happened to be resting on the other side, like she was imprisoned, though right now it didn't appear that they could do anything for her and continued to move forward.

It was in the following moments that they walked up to the large doors of the tower and Martok opened the way for them to enter the structure, where they found a set of stairs that lead to where a lift was waiting, though as they walked towards it the lift suddenly moved into the air and headed towards the ceiling of the tower, before a second lift came up from the basement, baring a knight that seemed to be dressed in an onion shaped set of armor, was carrying a decent shield, and held a greatsword in his right hand that rested against his shoulder.

"Hmm... Mmmmmm... Hmm... Mmm... Oh! Pardon me, I was absorbed in thought." the knight said, showing that he hadn't been ignoring the group after he arrived on the level that they were standing on, even though he did walk off the lift he had been riding on, and that he was thinking about something that seemed to be bothering him, "I am Siegward of Catarina, though to be honest, I'm in a bit of a pickle. Have you ever walked near a white birch, only to be struck by a great arrow? Well, if I'm not mistaken, they come from this tower. Whoever it is, I'm sure I can talk some sense into them, but to do that I have to find a way up to the top of this building, and that's just the trouble. This lift, as you no doubt noticed, only goes down and... well, that doesn't get me anywhere... but you know... with a little warming up, eventually... No, no... I've got to use my head and think."

Tirek stared at the knight for a moment, who seemed to be thinking about the lift, before he stepped onto the lift for a few seconds and waited for Sarana and Martok to join him, though when they joined him he pressed the button that was in the middle of the lift and they descended into the basement of the tower, as he was curious as to what was down here, before they bothered visiting the top of the tower. It didn't take the lift all that long to reach the basement, where he and his companions found a large empty chamber in front of them, one that had a curved set of stairs to take them down to the lower level, which allowed them to notice that there was another opening, a doorway that would likely take them to another part of the land. When they tried to explore the chamber they found nothing, no weapons, no armor, and no loose items that they might be able to use, to which they headed through the doorway and found another chamber that lead them right to a door, though there were a few pillars in this area and it was being guarded by a small humanoid knight that was dressed in the same armor that the beast that was guarding the Great Gate and the Dancer happened to be wearing, meaning he had to be from the same place that those two had come from. The interesting thing was that this foe was holding onto a straight sword that seemed to have bits of frost rolling off the blade, confirming that all of the beings that wore this armor seemed to dabble in ice magic, though that also meant that they had to be careful, since the last two had been dangerous and this one was likely just as dangerous as they had been.

As it turned out the knight was almost as fast as the Dancer had been, especially since it was using all four of its limbs to move around the area that they were in, because it rushed at Martok and slammed the side of its weapon against his armor, while bits of frostbite seemed to spread around the area he was standing in, mostly in an arc to follow the icy blade the knight was holding. Despite how tough Martok's armor was, and Tirek was sure that it was pretty tough considering how it looked, it appeared that the frostbite was able to seep into his armor and chill his body, how he had no idea and he knew that he wouldn't have the time to question it since they needed to take this knight down quickly, which was why both he and Sarana separated so they could attack the knight from two different directions. Interestingly enough the knight didn't appreciate them doing that, as he switched from fighting Martok and lashed out at Sarana, who, with her athletics and grace, did her best to avoid the incoming attacks and make sure she didn't get hit but the knight's blade, though she couldn't swing her sword at their foe, meaning she was purely on the defensive right now. That allowed Tirek to focus his magic for a moment as he loosed a Heavy Soul Arrow at his target, hitting the knight in the back and sending him into the wall that Sarana was moving towards, who avoided being hit by their foe and the armor he was wearing the moment she noticed what was going on, before the three of them regrouped to see if their opponent had been taken down. Of course, as Tirek expected, the knight wasn't willing to give up that easily and picked himself up not a few seconds later, where he turned around and glared at the group for a moment, giving them time to split up again as a plan came into Tirek's mind, one that would allow them to take down their foe and see what was on the other side of the door.

The plan was simple, he was going to use Sarana and Martok as bait for the knight, since he seemed more interested in fighting those two at the moment, and while their foe was distracted he was going to blast him a few more times with his Heavy Soul Arrows, hopefully weakening the knight to the point where he either collapsed or they cut him down, be it by his magic or by the weapons his companions were using. If they had the time to stop and talk he was sure that the plan would have come up in conversation, as they talked about what the three of them were going to do with this guy, but in the end he knew that the best course of action was to keep blasting the knight and take it down, that way they could see what was on the other side of the door and keep moving forward. Despite his thoughts on the matter it almost looked like Sarana and Martok knew what he was doing and might be playing along, or he was just imagining things, though based on what was happening it did seem that they would be taking out the knight soon, which was good news since Tirek wanted the knight dead at this point, before their luck changed on them. As it turned out the knight was smarter than he was giving him credit for, because when Tirek loosed the third Heavy Soul Arrow the knight actually avoided the spell and turned around so he could rush him, where he swugng his sword through the air as he did so, which allowed him to cut right through the right side of Tirek's body, causing him to stagger for a moment as he reached for his Estus Flask, but that failed as the knight cleaved him in half seconds later, causing his world to go black once more.

A few seconds later Tirek reappeared at the bridge bonfire and frowned as he took a seat near the flame, making sure not to be too close since that could potentially influence the fight that Sarana and Martok were in, though he didn't have to wait long for the pair to return, either indicating that they had succeeded, found a new bonfire, and had returned to his side so they could move forward, or they had been killed as well, which was what likely happened.

"Well, that plan failed miserably." Tirek remarked, because originally he felt that using both Sarana and Martok as bait had been the right way to go, especially since it had worked for some time, but now that all of them had been slain by that knight, and their souls were inside the chamber that it resided in, he knew that his plan was a failure and that they would need to come up with something better for the next time they faced him.

"That's the way things happen sometimes, you just got to adapt to the situation," Sarana replied, where she glanced off in the direction of the ruined house the pair of hollows she had broken had been located, finding that neither of them had returned thanks to her and her companions returning to this bonfire, before she turned her gaze back to Tirek and Martok, even if she had nothing more to say about the situation.

"Still, I would like our souls back, before we do anything else." Tirek stated, as he needed those more than either of his companions did, even if they didn't know why he was so interested in gathering as many souls as he could before the next time they talked to the Fire Keeper, to which he got up from where he was sitting and headed off in the direction of the sewers, as it was time to repeat most of what they had just done.

Thanks to the fact that they knew how each of the enemies in their path was going to act the group was able to make it back to the tower in the same amount of time it took them to reach it the first time, though as they entered the structure Tirek noticed that the knight that they had met earlier, Siegward if he recalled the name correctly, was missing, either due to solving the puzzle of the lift or just growing bored of it and leaving on his own. Before any of them stepped on the lift, to take it down to the basement, Sarana ran over it and pressed the button as she did so, to which Tirek watched as it raised into the air and disappeared, showing him that the lift must have been linked to how they used it earlier, since he was under the impression that those sort of things didn't change when they died and were reborn at the bonfires. As such they waited for the basement lift to arrive, which only took a few seconds, and when it came up to where they were standing the group stepped on it before the button was pressed, sending them back down to where the icy knight and their souls were located. When the lift came to a stop they walked off of it and headed right back down the steps that were in front of them, but when they reached the area that was their destination they found that the knight was back where they found him and that there were three soul spheres resting near the ground, one green, one blue, and one black, indicating who they belonged to. This time around Sarana had a plan of attack, she was going to head in, distract the knight so that both Tirek and Martok could pick up their souls, and then once that was done they were going to retreat to the lift and head up to the top of the tower, where she would make sure to collect her own souls on the way back, to which the pair nodded their heads and let her move out of the chamber they were standing in.

Interestingly enough the plan worked as well as Sarana had planned, the knight chased after her and left the area the souls were in alone, allowing Tirek and Martok to carefully gather their souls and then, once they were collected, back out of the chamber as quickly as possible, to which their companion noticed and raced towards them, gathering her souls as she went, before they returned to the lift and sent it back up as soon as all of them were on it, allowing them to glance at the potentially annoyed knight as they returned to the entrance of the tower. Once the three of them were back up at the entrance chamber for the tower, and each of them got off the lift, Sarana stepped on the button once more and sent it back down to the basement, allowing the lift that would take them to the top of the tower to come down and stop as soon as it replaced the other one. The moment that happened the trio climbed on the lift and tapped the button, allowing it to take them up into the upper reaches of the tower, where Tirek found that this was really the only way to go between the entrance, the basement, and the top, though as they did that he also heard the familiar sound of Siegward, maybe halfway up the tower, and spotted some planks that would serve as a walkway. He was a little curious if the knight in question would be happy to see them or not, if they happened to head over to where he was located, but for now he pushed those thoughts aside as they reached the chamber that was the top of the tower, where he quickly found some stairs that would allow them to stand on the circular roof, though Sarana did find a soul to add to their collection.

From there they walked up the steps and headed outside, where Tirek came to a stop when they reached the top of the stairs and found an interesting sight, a large figure, a giant to be exact, that had chains around its waist area and some sort of helmet, who happened to be standing in an area that allowed him to see the white tree he kept firing at, and off to the side, not currently in use, was a massive bow with some large arrows, showing that he was the one that was wrecking everyone that stood near the tree.

"Who are you?" the giant asked, showing the group that he knew they were there and that he was curious as to what they were doing up here, even if he didn't actually say anything like that, but Tirek didn't draw upon his magic, no doubt confusing his companions for a moment, though they remained silent as he approached the giant and was the one that the being focused on.

"I am Tirek, and these are my companions Sarana and Martok," Tirek replied, making sure to gesture to himself and to the pair that was standing behind him, mostly because he suspected that this giant would view them as not hostile if none of them tried to attack it, since it seemed to be shooting at the aggressive hollows that were wandering near the birch tree, something he would keep in mind for the future, just in case there were more trees like it in this land, "Listen, we would... appreciate it... if you didn't loose those arrows at us when we walk by the white tree."

"I help anytime." the giant stated, apparently not even taking a moment to think about what Tirek had said, meaning he likely focused on the fact that none of them tried to kill him, to which he handed him a white branch that seemed like the ones that were around the tree, only it felt different from what he had seen earlier, before the giant went back to what he was doing and glanced down at the area that the tree was in.

Tirek honestly had no idea why the giant was acting this way, even though he hated the fact that he even said what he said to show him that they weren't going to bother him, but in the end he guessed that he had been successful, as now the giant wouldn't be raining down death upon them if they stepped into the area that the birch tree was resting in, to which he pocketed the branch he had been given and departed from where the giant was standing. From there he, Sarana, and Martok returned to the lift and started to ride it down to where the entrance to the tower was located, though instead of waiting for that to happen they jumped off it when they got really close to where the planks happened to be resting and found that they lead outside, to a roof that was much lower than the one the giant was one. Tirek noticed three things in the area he and his companions discovered, the first being that there was another part of the Undead Settlement in front of them, the second was that Siegward happened to be sitting near the edge of a path that would take them into the part of the settlement that he had discovered, and the third was the most important one, as there happened to be a large gray creature, a golem or demon of some kind, that was on fire and happened to be carrying a large axe in its hands, showing that it was ready in case someone attacked it. Of course he wasn't the only one that saw the beast, as he could tell that his companions were staring at the creature, no doubt wondering if they were going to fight it or if they were going to leave it alone, though Tirek knew that to truly explore the area that was in front of them they would have to end the fiery beast, to avoid it chasing them down if they found something interesting.

"Hmm... Mmm... Ah, oh! Don't disappear like that, you had me downright worried. But thanks to you, an epiphany has struck me square in the head. I've unravelled the riddle of this inscrutable lift!" Siegward said, showing that he was a little surprised to see them again, but then, after thinking about it, he seemed happy to be in their company again, as it was due to them using the lift that he was able to even figure out how the lift worked, despite the fact that Tirek knew it was rather easy to figure out what the solution was, "On some days, I begin to doubt myself. I went up the tower, or so I thought, then somehow ended up here... to be honest I'm not exactly sure what happened. Anyhow, do you see that? That humongous beast. I'm no coward, and I have a steady hand, but that thing makes my skin crawl. Now, now, think twice before you go down that road. I could try talking some sense into him... no, I think not. He's far too over-heated for that to work. I've got to use my head and think."

Tirek didn't even bother to see if Sarana or Martok were following him as he jumped down onto the roof that was in front of them and then did it again to reach the road that was part of the path that the beast was patrolling, though not a few seconds later his companions dropped down behind him, showing that they would tackle the fiery beast together and then, once it was taken care of, explore the area to the fullest, which was the moment their foe spotted them and roared at them, as if it was angry about them being here.

"No! You should have waited!" Siegward shouted, showing that even while he was thinking he had been studying the area and had noticed them drop down into the part of the settlement that they were near, as well as annoy the beast with their presence, before Tirek noticed that he seemed to accept what they were doing, "Well, it's too late now. I, Siegward of the Knights of Catarina, will fight by your side!"

What happened next was that Tirek, Sarana, and Martok scattered the moment their foe took a deep breath, as not a few seconds later he loosed a burst of fire to try and torch them, meaning that fire magic, which Tirek didn't have at the moment, would have been ineffective against him, which was why he was focused on using the Heavy Soul Arrow to attack their foe. As the first of those spells hit the beast, and didn't stagger it like it did to most of the enemies that were on the receiving end of the arrow, Siegward rushed into the area they were fighting in and joined Martok in attacking the beast's legs and chest, which let Sarana weave in and out as she attacked the beast, making sure she wasn't close enough to be hurt by their foe's massive axe. What was interesting was the fact that their foe had trouble even focusing on who was the more important target, which the icy knight from earlier didn't have trouble deciding, though while the beast couldn't be staggered by the Heavy Soul Arrows, a slight annoyance, Tirek did find that his spells were doing some damage and that their foe was weakening the longer they fought it. He had to admit that it was rather amusing that a large creature like this couldn't handle fighting four small enemies, especially with how big his axe was and the fire breath that he had access to, while a small foe like the icy knight was more than able to take care of that many attackers in rapid succession, but he was sure that he and his companions would be able to take out the lone knight that was guarding the way forward, they just had to be careful the next time they confronted him.

In the end it didn't take them all that long to topple the large fiery beast, as when the fatal blow was struck it tensed up and then crashed on the ground that was in front of it, giving Martok and Siegward enough time to get away from it as Sarana stood by Tirek, and when they were sure the beast was no longer moving, showing it was dead, Siegward laid his weapon on the ground and took a seat for a moment.

"That was quite the performance, but you mustn't get in over your head. As Unkindled we must put our duties first, and ignore everything else." Siegward stated, showing that he was happy to have fought by their side for a few moments, even if he felt that they needed to study an area before charging in like that, before he reached into his own pack for a few seconds and pulled a drink out, which he tossed one to Martok, before pulling a second one out for himself, "But for the moment, we've a toast to make. To your valor, my sword, and our victory together. Long may the Sun shine!"

Tirek was assuming that Siegward was giving them some sort of brew that the undead were supposed to enjoy, since he did just say he was Unkindled as well, but neither Sarana or Martok were interested in drinking it at the moment and that, oddly enough, didn't seem to upset the warrior, rather he seemed happy just to have something to celebrate, though as they started to leave he informed them that he was going to take a nap and that he might see them again at some point in the future. As they walked away from where Siegward was sitting, and happened to fall asleep, Sarana showed Tirek a new type of gem she found, laying beside the beast's corpse, which seemed to be a piece of Titanite that was infused with the power of fire, something that was like the other gems they had collected so far, to which she put it inside their pack as they started to explore the area they were in. One thing Tirek noticed right away was that there were a number of fires around this part of the settlement, no doubt the fault of the beast they had slain, though he followed his companions for as they looked around the area for anything that might be useful, where Sarana pulled out her bow and loosed two arrows into the air, knocking two hanging corpses to the ground. One of them had been strung up in their armor, something that Martok took in case either of them wanted better gear later, while the other had a really nasty item on it, a tongue to be exact, though Sarana didn't seem bothered by it as she stored it inside their pack, meaning that it must be useful at some point in the future, even if Tirek wasn't sure of how it would be useful.

After collecting those items the group headed for the only building that seemed to have an entrance, where they did locate a number of hanging cages and some pellets of some kind, one that Sarana knew about and would make sure he knew later, before they headed up the nearby stairs and entered the second floor of the building they were in, which was rather bare and seemed to serve as a way to enter a second building. The reason Tirek considered that was because there was a walkway that connected this building to the one that was next to it, though as he started to walk over there Martok found a short passage that had an item at the end, but when he reached it some of the cages came to life and attacked the three of them, meaning some cage spiders had been lingering in this area. Of course, since they were used to how these enemies fought, it wasn't hard for them to take the fight to the cage spiders and knock them down, even if Tirek was just a tad bit annoyed with the seemingly serious warrior suddenly calling enemies to fight the three of them, but his strength was great and he needed that for the quest he was on. Sarana returned to him a few seconds later with more of the blue skull items they had found before, useless items he was sure, though when she pocketed the skulls they headed over the walkway that was nearby and headed into the other building so they could see what was in it, before trying their hands on killing the icy knight or heading over to the area the giant had been guarding.

As they entered the other building they discovered that there happened to be a cage spider to their left, and the only reason any of them knew it was because the cage shifted when Tirek walked over to the chairs that were near the edge of the area they were in, leaving the pair of undead dogs, that happened to be guarding the inside of the building, to Sarana and Martok. The cage spider was easy to take out, mostly since it stayed back and didn't seem to be very quick, and both of the dogs were easy to take out as well, so it wasn't long before the three of them were able to head into the area that the pair of undead dogs had been guarding and braced themselves, as Tirek was sure there were some evangelists in this area, even if they hadn't seen those enemies yet. There was a chest in front of them, opposite of where the opening they walked through was located, though when Tirek moved to open it four more cage spiders dropped down the moment he did that, where Sarana and Martok lashed out the moment their foes landed, to which Tirek picked up the resin that was inside the chest and blasted one of the foes that was coming to attack them. It didn't take them long to take this group of enemies down, since the cage spiders were easy to take out, before they headed up the ramp that was nearby and came to a stop when they reached the next level of the building, where Tirek discovered a pair of evangelists standing near the doorway that would lead outside. Tirek focused on one of the evangelists as Sarana and Martok attacked the other one, as in they separated the pair and made sure that they didn't rush to the aid of the other, and it didn't take them long to bring the pair down, allowing them to walk over to the doorway and see what was outside the building.

With the way cleared they walked outside the building and found that there was a wooden set of stairs that would take them to the roof, which was what they did and headed up to the highest point in this part of the settlement, where Tirek discovered that there was another wooden platform, one that was more ruined than the one they just walked on to reach the roof, and a path that lead to the small tower that was near the church building he wanted to head into. What he and his companions discovered was that there was a ring on the other platform, probably brass or gold with a blue stone set in it, but Sarana pocketed it as they headed towards the backside of the roof, so they could see what the small tower had in store for them. It was then that Tirek discovered that there was a wooden platform between the top of the roof and the area around the tower that they needed to get to, so the three of them took turns dropping down to the short wooden platform, to make sure none of them had problems, before doing the same thing and quickly touched down on the area of the tower they could walk on, where Sarana found some more of the odd bones around the corner. From there Tirek noticed that the only way forward was for them to enter the tower and then carefully jump over to the platform that was over on the other side of the structure, where Sarana and Martok used one of their Estus Flasks to reverse any damage they might have taken so far, something Tirek replicated just in case, before they took turns jumping over to where the small ledge was located and then, once each of them touched down on the ledge, they dropped down into the lowest part of the tower.

What they discovered in the lowest part of the tower was another ring, this one baring the emblem of a blossom of some kind, and an interesting suit of armor that was missing the helmet, if it even came with a helmet, though Sarana and Martok made sure those items were stashed in their packs before leaving the tower so they could head back to one of the bonfires, as it was time to rest before they visited the area the giant had been firing at, though Tirek knew that soon they would be done with this area and they could finally move on with their quest.

The Cursed Tree

After gaining the assistance of the giant archer that had killed Tirek, who seemed rather friendly despite what he had done to them, and helping Siegward with his problems in the tower, both in terms of the lift puzzle that had bothered him and the fiery beast that was outside the tower, Tirek and his companions headed back to the last bonfire they had rested at, the one that was near the arch the giant liked firing arrows at. Since they had cleared out the sewer that would allow them to reach the area in question, as there were no more rats in that area, it didn't take them all that long to reach their destination, and that was including the fact that they had killed all of the enemies that had been guarding the outside of the sewer, even if they would be coming back once one of them rested at the bonfire. Now that they had found out what was inside the tower, and had discovered a path that was being guarded by an icy knight that had killed them, they knew they had to prepare for a tough fight if they wanted to progress to where one of the Lords of Cinder rested, as those powerful beings were the goal of their quest, or at least they were the main targets of Tirek's personal quest. Still, he was eager to see if Yoel had regained enough power to draw out more of his strength, as the last time he did that he gained five percent of his true power and it was possible that doing it a few more times might be the key to gaining the power to take out everything in his path, to make everything that much easier for them.

When they arrived at the bonfire in question, however, Sarana and Martok sat down by the bonfire and Tirek quickly joined them, to which they focused their minds and headed back to the shrine that was their main base of operations, as it was time to visit the Fire Keeper again and empower themselves with the souls they had gathered, as well as visit Yoel and see if he was ready. Just like the last couple of times they visited the Fire Keeper the group crushed any of the lost souls that they picked up along their journey, while not touching the soul of the large guardian of the Great Gate, before they used those souls to empower themselves even more than they already were, though Tirek noted that this wasn't the same as what happened when Yoel assisted him. Once that was done Tirek stepped back and studied the area that they were in once more, just to see if there were any new arrivals in the shrine that he wanted to talk to before he sought out Yoel, where he found the lone figure standing near the highest throne again, so while Sarana and Martok were finishing their sessions with the Fire Keeper he walked up the steps and approached the figure. While he wasn't terribly interested in the various people of the shrine, or their histories, he knew that some of them might be useful in some manner, just like how useful Yoel turned out to be to his quest, so he figured he would check and see if his thoughts were correct, before he did anything else.

"Well, hasn't it been some time. I'm Leonhard, the Ringfinger." the man stated, showing that he knew Tirek had to be coming up the stairs to talk to him and that he was eager to talk to him for some reason, though that made things much easier for Tirek, since he didn't have to say anything this time around, before he tilted his head a little, "You do remember me, don't you? I slipped you those red eyes some time ago."

"Ah yes, the red orbs you gave me." Tirek remarked, recalling the cracked orbs that he had been given the last time the two of them had spoken to each other, which had been the last time they saw each other, though he still wasn't sure what the odd red orbs were supposed to do, since none of them had used the orbs since they had been handed over to him, but he decided not to mention that fact.

"You're making quite an effort of it." Leonhard replied, to which Tirek raised an eyebrow for a moment, making him wonder if the tongue they had picked up earlier was the cause for the man to say something like that, even if it might be wrong of him to say it, but Tirek said nothing as the man continued talking, "So I thought you might want to know a small bit of information that might be useful to someone like you. If you yearn for a proper red eye orb, one that is uncracked... then kill the Darkwraith, survivor of the land swallowed by darkness. He has been a prisoner, for many ages, and is currently resting in the deepest cell in all Lothric..."

Tirek had to admit that this seemed interesting, not that he planned on even heading back to the castle, but he did accept the key that Leonhard handed to him and pocketed it, where it appeared that this was the last thing the man had to say for the moment, to which he headed back down the steps and rejoined Sarana and Martok as they made their way over to the side passage that Yoel was resting in at the moment.

"Yoel, you seem to have recovered from our previous session." Tirek commented, because while he really couldn't see anything that would suggest that, due to all of the material that was covering the pilgrim's face, his movements did look like he had been able to gather his strength and had recovered from what he was talking about, though at the same time the pilgrim turned to face him for a few seconds.

"Oh, our Champion of Ash, you have returned." Yoel replied, showing that he must have been lost in thought for a few seconds and that Tirek's voice was the reason that he had snapped out of his thoughts, though even as that happened he seemed to consider what had been said for a couple of seconds, before even saying anything else, "And yes, my strength has returned to me, so I am now able to draw out more of your true strength, if you still desire such a thing."

Tirek didn't have to hear that twice, as the moment Yoel said that he could draw out more of his true strength Tirek had him do so, where the pilgrim gathered his power and focused it on his body, where Tirek watched as more of his old youth was returned to his arms and legs, along with the rest of his body that he couldn't see thanks to his robes, before he felt his power rise once more, just like the last time. Based on his estimates he had to assume that Yoel had granted him the ability to use ten percent of his total power, still nowhere near what he was shooting for, but this would make many of their fights in the Undead Settlement that much easier, especially against the evangelists that seemed to be the problem at the moment. The other thing he determined was that he had to be around a seventy year old person, even if that might be wrong since he hadn't seen any old people like that in this world, due to it being hard to tell old people from hollows and the fact that most of the people that actually talked to them seemed to be covering their faces in some sort of armor, except for a rare few. Either way, he was on the right track to recovering his power and his former body, even if he was stuck in this new form of his, though he would have to wait for Yoel to recover some more, due to the fact that this took a lot of energy on his part, especially with how vast his former powers had been, so when the pilgrim stopped what he was doing Tirek simply nodded his head as he stood up, the only sign of thanks anyone would get out of him.

Once Yoel was done drawing out his strength, and huffed for a moment to indicate that he needed some time before they could do this again, Tirek and his companions headed back to the bonfire and used it to teleport back to the area that was just before the resting place of the white tree, as there were some items he knew they needed to collect before they even attempted to enter the church or face the icy knight again.

"Now that the giant is on our side, we can focus on clearing out this area, and then, once that's done, we can head for the side of the church that someone locked the entrance to." Tirek remarked, because getting a new level of power meant he would be able to hold his own for a time, at least against the foes they were currently facing, and knew that it was only a matter of time until they encountered a foe that would replace the evangelists and the icy knight, to which he stepped forward and headed into the area in question.

"And we don't have to worry about the hollows." Martok added, though as he and Sarana followed Tirek into the area that was beyond the ruined building, and the arch that rested next to it, they watched as the giant loosed an arrow into the air and smashed the hollows that were standing near the tree, proving that both he and Tirek were correct, though while their new ally focused on the enemies they turned their attention to the items that were around them.

Tirek didn't much care for the couple of branches that had fallen from the tree, and neither did his companions from what he saw a few seconds after he spotted the items in question, though he did find a weakened lost soul, one of the odd embers they kept finding, and a larger lost soul, but as he pocketed those items Sarana jumped over to the broken part of the ground, that one that was separated from the rest of the area, and actually found something of use, which Tirek found out was a bone shard of some kind, when she returned to him.

"I think its an Undead Bone Shard," Sarana informed him, knowing that Tirek would be interested in the shard, since she did risk falling into the gaping hole between this area and the rest of the settlement, before she stored the bone shard away as she started to move away from where they had been standing, "supposedly if we burn this at the bonfire at the shrine we'll be able to increase the power of our Estus Flasks, meaning they'll be able to heal more when we use them, which might come in handy at some point in the future."

That, in Tirek's mind, was definitely something to keep an eye out for, because as far as he was concerned anything that was connected to the Estus Flasks was important, as the bottle shards allowed them to add another bottle to each of their piles, meaning they could last longer in battle, and increasing the potency of each bottle meant they wouldn't have to use them as often, making him wonder how many more shards they could pick up in the future. After he considered that he noticed that Martok found a club of some kind, one that seemed reinforced despite the fact that none of them were going to use a weapon like that, before they headed up into the area that the graves were in and kept an eye out for any items that might be useful to them and their quest. It wasn't long before Martok found a group of items that made them pause for a few seconds, a set of cloth armor that looked like it had belonged to a cleric at some point and a wooden shield that had blue paint on part of it, though as he stored those items inside his pack Sarana jumped into the air and stabbed the thrall that tried to jump down and impale the large warrior, who Tirek was convinced was starting to act like he might have lost his mind, since he should have heard that coming sooner. Fortunately it didn't take Sarana that long to cut down the lone thrall, allowing them to explore the rest of the gravestones for any additional loot they might be able to use in the future, even if Tirek was starting to think that their luck was horrible when they did this, and all they found in the last reaches of the area were some ashes, which Sarana collected since she determined that they were different from the rest of the ashes they had seen so far.

Once that was done they headed over to the building that had a number of arrows sticking out of it, meaning that the giant must have been attacking someone before they even came to the settlement, and inside they found a lone peasant hollow that happened to have red eyes, but, as it turned out, it didn't take the three of them long to take the hollow down so they could walk up the ruined stairs he had been guarding. What they discovered was a path that would take them right to the side of the church, meaning they could get around the locked door with ease, though before they did that Sarana jumped over to another part of the building that they could access, where she quickly returned with a scythe, a weapon that was a pole with a curved blade at the top of it, but Tirek did notice that the pole was curved in some spots, making it a dangerous weapon to leave laying around. If Tirek was anywhere near his younger form, and didn't have the old and frail body that he was stuck with at the moment, he would have taken that weapon and let the heads roll, but for now he had Sarana put it with the rest of their gear as they headed through the side passage and finally entered the church, meaning they would be able to see if there was a Lord of Cinder here or if there was another powerful creature for them to take out and acquire the soul of. As they reached the area that the locked door was in, however, Martok stepped to the right and proceeded to open the door, just in the off chance they died during their visit to the church, as it would mean they could switch bonfires and take a shorter route to get back to their souls, before the three of them turned around and faced the area that was in front of them.

What they discovered was a massive courtyard that rested between where they were standing and the other side of the church, though the major thing that caught their attention was the large ugly tree that happened to be growing in the far left corner of the courtyard, which just so happened to be where a number of hollows were praying and worshipping the tree, but that didn't stop them from entering the area with their weapons at the ready. As they entered the area they discovered a few more trees that lined the other corners of the courtyard and a number of flowers that rested in the middle of the area, but Tirek knew that it was strange for all of this to be happening and readied himself, as he knew there was going to be an ambush of some kind happening soon enough. When they approached the halfway point of the area some of the hollows stopped praying and charged at them, intending to take them out before they could even approach the tree, or at least that was what the trio thought for a few seconds, hence why they engaged the incoming hollows and defended themselves, cutting down the couple of attackers that happened to be coming their way. What caught them by surprise for a moment was when the large tree started to move, revealing arms and legs like what a person had, along with some odd colored spherical objects in the groin area, but it seemed to turn and focus on them, indicating that they had found a powerful creature to take on, even if it wasn't a Lord of Cinder.

As it turned out the creature wasn't all that affected by Tirek's empowered Soul Arrows, as he struck the beast in the chest area and his spell seemed to break upon the bark that was protecting the creature, while at the same time Martok's blade bit into the wood that made up their foe's limps and seemed to do nothing, save for leaving a mark where he had struck the beast. The creature, in turn, had a few surprises for them, as it lashed out at them with its feet, intending to hit one of them and knock them through the air so they would collide with one of the walls in this area, and it even tried rolling at whoever it was targeting, something that Tirek wasn't about to question since he had no idea if the creature even had any eyes to begin with, and that wasn't the end of what this beast could do. Apparently there were even more hollows than what they had originally saw when they first entered this courtyard, as now that the creature was fighting them the rest of the guardian hollows rushed out to engage the trio as they worked to figure out a way to actually damage this foe, to which Tirek decided to leave that up to Sarana and Martok, the former dodging the incoming attacks as she studied the massive tree while the latter continued his pointless assault, even if that meant killing more of the peasant hollows that happened to reach him. What Tirek did was pull out the scythe they had picked up and focused some of his available magic into powering a telekinesis spell, where he made sure the weapon was moving through the air as he targeted the rest of the invading hollows, cutting the peasants down before they could reach him for his companions, thus allowing Sarana and Martok to focus on figuring out their foe's weakness, if he even had one.

It took them a minute or two to discover anything, but it was thanks to Sarana that they knew what sort of spot they should be focusing on, as she dodged one of the incoming attacks and decided to strike the balls that they had spotted when the tree started moving, which seemed to be the weak spot based on how the creature moved when she sliced into them the first time. Tirek nodded his head as both of his companions went to town on the area that Sarana had attacked, weakening the creature in the process while he used his magic and their new weapon to cut down any hollows that tried to interfere with what was going on, though that was soon followed by the sack exploding and the creature being forced to fall to one knee for a moment, showing that they had been successful. That was, however, when their foe pressed its arms and legs against the stone floor that they were standing on and pushed itself high into the air, though not a few seconds later it let go and crashed its rear into the floor, where they watched as the entire floor buckled and collapsed under them, dropping them down into a massive hole in the ground that seemed to be a second fighting area of some kind, though they didn't have the time to look at the area in question as each of them somehow survived the fall and landed a short distance from where their foe fell. That told Tirek that they weren't done, that there were more spots that they needed to destroy in order to bring the tree down and leave this area, to which he slipped the scythe back into his pack and focused on turning all of his magic into arrows, normal sized and Heavy sized, so he could help his companions, especially since he now knew how to damage the beast they were fighting.

Of course that was when they watched as the beast's chest area seemed to open and it produced a white arm, but in the process of doing that it also exposed another set of eggs for them to target, meaning they had three egg areas to pick from, the new ones on its chest, the ones on its back, and the ones on the elbow, which would be the harder ones to hit, and there was also the arm itself if they got desperate. As Sarana and Martok separated from where Tirek was standing, so they could target some of the other pods that would damage their opponent, Tirek made sure to blast the tree's chest and hit the pods that were below the white arm, as he was sure that hitting that area would deal great damage to their foe and make this fight end that much faster. In fact what happened next, just as his companions took their positions and waited for an opening to show up so they could lash out at the pods, the tree's white hand lashed out and grabbed onto Tirek before he could even move out of the way, where it lifted him up into the air and then slammed him down into the floor, smashing his face into the water in the process, before releasing him and pulled back, which was the moment that it came back down as if it was swatting a fly, crushing him into the watery floor they were standing on. Tirek, despite the fact that he was now one of the land's cursed undead, something he was still curious about, he could feel the pain his body was in from that beating, making him wonder if letting Yoel draw out his true strength might be nullifying part of the curse that everyone else in this land seemed to be afflicted with, save for some people based on what he had seen so far.

Once he recovered from the tree's attack, as it ignored him for a few moments, Tirek got up and gathered his magic for a moment, where he blasted their foe whenever he showed off the weaknesses that would do massive damage to it when one of them took significant damage to explode, but as he did that, however, the tree grabbed him once more and proceeded to smash him into the ground again, this time causing him to black out... where he reappeared at the bonfire with a frown on his face, mostly due to this getting annoying.

"Back here again... great, just great." Tirek commented, mostly because he was talking to himself at the moment and would have to wait and see if Sarana and Martok returned to his side or if they succeeded in taking down the tree without him, and if it was the latter it would make it seem like he was the weakest link of the group, once more making him focus on recovering his full power so he could dominate their enemies.

As he sat there, thinking about how useless his body was when it came to fighting the faster enemies of this land, the ones like the tree and the large ice knight they fought back in the castle, or even the Dancer for that matter, the air around the bonfire shimmered for a moment as both Sarana and Martok eventually returned to his side, where he glared at them for a few seconds, mostly because he hoped they had beaten the tree so they could move forward... though that was when he noticed that neither of them had the ember state, telling him what happened.

"I hope you didn't die because you pitied me," Tirek remarked, because he could handle if the tree had killed his two companions after he was slain in battle, as it made sense when he considered the power the tree held, but if they died to rejoin him, so they could tackle it again, he was going to be annoyed with them and would have some words for them if that was the case.

"No, the tree crushed Martok with its back and smashed me into the ground soon after that." Sarana replied, telling him that they had died in battle, just like how he had been slain by the tree after they fell into the open chamber that was below where their foe had been located the first time around, though at the very least they had survived a bit longer in the fight and knew more about the creature than he did.

"I see. Then I guess we had better get back to the tree and wreck it," Tirek said, to which he picked himself up from where he was sitting and headed back towards the path that would take them right back to the location of the church the tree was located in, as he mostly wanted his souls back and knew that would require waking the tree up, especially if their souls were in the bottom area they had fallen into, but time would tell.

It didn't take the three of them long to take out the manservant that was in the way, allowing their giant ally to loose a few arrows and knock out all of the enemies that were near the birch tree he seemed to be targeting, before they made their way through the ruined building and entered the side passage that allowed them to enter the church, even though it was in that moment that Tirek realized they could have used the other bonfire to get here quicker, but in the end he did prefer the path they took to reach this point. What they found, as they returned to the courtyard, was that there was one of the Fog Doors, as Sarana called them earlier, resting over the entrance of the area that their souls were in, to which the three of them passed through the door and entered the chamber that the tree was in, and this time it was more active than what it had been like when they first entered this area. The first thing Tirek and his companions did was make their way to the areas their souls were located in, allowing them to pick them up, before they focused on the tree and not the peasant hollows that weren't even a threat to them, as they knew that once the first set of pods was destroyed the tree would force them to fall into the lower area and that would kill all of its allies in the process. This time around, thanks to the knowledge that they had on how their foe moved around this area and the attacks he had, it was rather easy for them to target the first group of pods and then, when they had taken enough damage, forced them to explode and cause the tree to stagger, before it raised itself and then slammed its rear into the floor.

Tirek, Sarana, and Martok were more than ready for the floor to shatter on them this time around, to which all three of them made sure they were ready to go the moment they landed on the watery floor, as Sarana headed to the back to focus on the pods that happened to be on the tree's back and Martok focused on distracting the white hand, where Tirek gathered his power and used his Heavy Soul Arrows on the pods near the white hand. That actually proved to be a rather effective strategy for this foe, as not a few moments after they started the second phase of the battle Sarana succeeded in breaking the weaker pods on the tree's back and caused it to stagger for a moment, though as that happened Tirek did notice that there were two smaller pods on the tree's left hand, something that Martok seemed to be waiting for because the moment the hand came down near him he lashed at it and shattered those pods, causing the tree to shift in pain as that happened. That, in turn, allowed Tirek to focus his efforts on the large set of pods that the white hand had revealed to him and his companions, blasting them with his Heavy Soul Arrows so he could do the maximum amount of damage he could possibly do to them, especially with how limited the spells seemed to be in this land, though what was interesting was that the tree moved a little and one of his spells struck the pod that was attached to the underside of their foe's right leg, causing further damage in the process, much to the surprise of the entire group. With the tree stunned for a second or two, and the white hand doing nothing for those seconds, Tirek, Sarana, and Martok lashed out at the main pod area that remained and caused the entire thing to explode within a matter of seconds, causing the tree to fall backwards the instant the pods were taken care of.

The three of them watched as the tree dissolved before their eyes, along with their ember states returning to them as a mass of soul energy flowed through each of them, giving all of them the soul of the powerful creature they had taken out as well, to which they started to walk over towards the shrine that was near the bonfire that revealed itself, but as they did that Tirek found an odd crystalline object and claimed it, figuring that it had to be important if a creature like the tree had been in possession of it.

"I wonder if that is what Ludleth wanted us to find for him," Sarana commented, as she noticed the item that Tirek had picked up and pocketed, even if she really had no idea if that was the Transposing Kiln the Lord of Cinder wanted them to get for him, but even as she said that she knew they would figure that out when they got back to the shrine, before even attempting to head out and face the icy knight again.

"We shall see." Tirek stated, to which he and his companions came to a stop at the bonfire and lit it, where they rested at it and proceeded to envision the area that they would be heading to next, as he figured that making a quick stop at the shrine was in order, to spend the souls they had picked up, before they headed back to where the last foe stood so they could move into the next part of this land.

It didn't take the group long to return to the shrine, which Tirek still didn't know if it had a name or not, and when the three of them appeared in their destination they stretched for a few moments as they started to move towards the Fire Keeper, mostly so they could spend their souls and empower themselves for the future, where Tirek did feel some of his former power returning, a small fraction of what Yoel could give him, before he stepped away from the Fire Keeper and walked over to Ludleth was sitting.

"Ah, Ashen One, I see that you and your allies have returned once more," Ludleth commented, where his tone seemed to suggest that he was thinking about what happened the last time they talked, as in the fact that he mentioned what he used to do before he became a Lord of Cinder and that he had asked them to seek an item for him to use, though this time around Tirek had good news for him, "So tell me, did you and your companions come across anything interesting in your latest travels?"

"Actually, we found a powerful being in the Undead Settlement and slew it," Tirek replied, to which he reached into his pack and withdrew the crystalline item that they had recovered from the massive tree that had tried to crush them, even if it had killed them once before, before he held his hand out and presented the kiln to the Lord that was on his throne, "and this is what we found after slaying the beast... am I correct in assuming that this is what you were asking for?"

"Oh, let me see..." Ludleth said, where he picked up the item that Tirek was holding and studied it for a few moments, showing that he was interested in what they had found during their visit to the Undead Settlement, before he nodded his head for a few seconds as he focused on Tirek again, "Indeed, you and your companions have found a Transposing Kiln, one that has definitely seen better days, but... I think it shall suffice for our needs. Now that it is in our possession, you can bring me a twisted soul, found from the more powerful creatures of this land, like the one that was guarding the area that you found this in, and I can show you the art of Transposition."

"You mentioned earlier that Transposition is the art of extracting, and coalescing, the essence of a soul, right?" Tirek inquired, because that was what he recalled Ludleth telling him and his companions that piece of information some time ago, before he made the request for them to find one of the kilns that was now in his possession, though he had to admit that the art interested him a little and that he was curious as to what sort of things they could make.

"Indeed, though when transposing a twisted soul, much like the creature you fought, its true power is transferred into an item for you to use, be that item a weapon, a ring, or a spell." Ludleth confirmed, showing Tirek that he was correct in what he had said, even if he was just mimicking what he had been told earlier, before he considered something else as he gazed at his new kiln, "Your purpose is to seek the missing Lords of Cinder and slay them, so you can return them to their thrones. So, what is there to fear in a little Transposition?"

"Nothing, if it helps us out in our quest." Tirek stated, because he understood that if the various items a powerful soul could create were as powerful as Ludleth was making them out to be, even if he hadn't seen one of them yet, than having one or more of them in their possession might help him and his companions in their quest, though his statement seemed to appease the Lord of Cinder that was sitting in front of him.

Of course Tirek only had two powerful souls on him, the soul of the large knight from the castle, Vordt as Ludleth called him, and the soul of the Greatwood, the tree creature they had just beaten, where he had to assume that handing the souls over to Ludleth gave him an idea of who they belonged to some time ago, meaning that using his kiln was a good way to figure out the names of the foes they had slain. What he determined was that Vordt's soul gave him the ability to create a massive two-handed hammer, one that looked like the very weapon their foe had used against them when they tried to open the Great Gate, or he could create a ring with a black stone set inside it, while the Greatwood's soul could give him either a interesting looking spear or a greatsword, both of which looked rather interesting. In the end Tirek didn't transform the souls into something else, mostly because he didn't have the power to wield those weapons at the moment, and informed Ludleth that they would return once more twisted souls had been acquired, to which the Lord smiled as he returned the two twisted souls to him. With that done, and the pair of twisted souls were back where they belonged, he stepped down to where his companions were standing and then headed towards the area that the smith was in, as off to the right he spotted Cornyx sitting off to the side, to which he walked down to where the pyromancer was resting, mostly to see what he had to say now that he was in the shrine with the others they had recruited so far.

"Ah, there you are, Unkindled One." Cornyx said, informing Tirek that he must have been waiting for him to arrive at some point, especially after the pyromancer had agreed to teach him the knowledge of this world's fire magic, which could give him an edge in the future if they found an enemy that was weak to fire spells, "I wish to express my gratitude to you, for trusting a lowly pyromancer, and allowing me to gaze upon this majestic flame. As promised you earlier, I will impart my knowledge pyromancies to you, but first you will need a flame of your own."

"A flame?" Tirek inquired, though that was when Cornyx produced a red-orange flame from his hand, one that didn't look like an actual spell when he stared at it, and took it with his right hand when the man beckoned for him to take it, but as he did that he got the feeling that this item would allow him to access the fire spells that Cornyx had to offer him, which would help them in the future.

"Indeed, that is a Pyromancy Flame, the catalyst to use pyromancies." Cornyx replied, though at the same time he did smile as he watched Tirek look at the item he had given him, as it appeared that he might have been right about all of this being a fine chance meeting between the two of them, before he opened his mouth to say one more thing before Tirek and his companions, when they regrouped, left the shrine, "Just be careful... you don't burn yourself with it."

Tirek, upon finding that he didn't have any souls at the moment, realized that he wouldn't be able to use the flame at all right now, but that didn't stop him from nodding his head to Cornyx as he headed back to where his companions were waiting for him, as it was time for them to return to the Undead Settlement and make their way to the location of the icy knight, so they could progress towards a brand new area and, hopefully, eventually locate one of the three missing Lords of Cinder.

Road of Sacrifices

Once Tirek, Sarana, and Martok were done with their visit to the shrine, as in they were done empowering themselves and had talked to Cornyx and Ludleth, they returned to the bonfire and headed back to the Undead Settlement, as in they chose the bonfire that was near the bridge that would allow them to walk through the sewer area and get near the walkway that would take them up to where the tower was located. Now that the Greatwood had been defeated, and there was really no other way to go forward, they had to descend into the tower and face the icy knight that had killed them once already, as he was blocking the only way for them to progress, but before they did that Tirek was focused on taking care of the enemies that were between the two areas. Despite the fact that Tirek had been unable to gain any spells from Cornyx, making the Pyromancy Flame he had been given rather worthless for the moment, he had the feeling that if they cleared out the area between the bonfire they selected and the location of the tower, maybe once or twice, he would have more than enough souls to get one or two of Cornyx's spells, to help them in their journey. Sarana and Martok barely glanced at each other as he told them of his plans, which were just about empowering themselves with more spells, but, since it appeared that he was the leader of their little group, they decided to agree with his statement and followed him as he entered the sewer once more.

The moment they arrived at the bonfire in question, outside the sewer that would allow them to cross over to where the tower was located, the three of them headed into the sewer and fought their way through the rats that were waiting for them, but since they had cleared out the enemies in this area already they knew how to take them out and proceeded to do so as they dropped down into the area the rats were in. Martok did what he did the last few times they had come through this area and challenged the larger rat to a fight, cleaving the beast apart in the process, while Tirek and Sarana took out the lesser rats at the same time, and it wasn't long before all six rats had been taken care of, allowing them to leave the sewer and come to the area that was just before the three manservants. As such they had to take care of the evangelist and her pair of peasant hollows, including her undead dog, though none of them were really difficult for them to take out and it only took a few moments for the way to be cleared, allowing them to focus on the manservants that were in front of them. The group wasted no time in attacking their targets, first the two that seemed to be a small group of their own, and once those two were taken care of they focused on the one that was overlooking the cliff, who fell rather easily since it was three on one, but once that was taken care of Tirek had them backtrack to the bonfire so they could rest for a moment, something that was followed by their enemies coming back and allowing them to kill them all over again, just for the souls they contained.

Once they had cleared the path twice, and had acquired enough spells, Tirek returned to the bonfire again and left his companions behind for a few seconds as he headed back to the shrine, so he could approach Cornyx and traded him the souls he had just acquired for the Fireball and Fire Surge spells, before returning to where his companions were waiting for him to return.

The moment Tirek returned to where Sarana and Martok were located they headed through the path they had taken twice so far and cleared out the sewer, though this time, instead of wasting more time on the area that was between the sewer and the tower, they waited for the evangelist's group to walk towards the church and then rushed by the three manservants that were in their way. For some reason, as Tirek quickly discovered, the manservants only cared about the area that they were patrolling and didn't follow them to where the tower's entrance was located, allowing them to come to a stop at the lift and pause for a few moments, mostly to allow them to mess with the pair of lifts so that the one to the basement was in front of them. The instant they were ready to move forward they stepped onto the lift and headed down into the basement that was their destination, though it wasn't long before Tirek and his companions returned to the small chamber that the icy knight was located in, still guarding the way into the next area, to which they separated from each other and readied themselves for the fight that was going to unfold in the next couple of seconds. Tirek had no idea if the spells he had picked up would be useful in the battle to come, or if he wasted a few minutes gathering souls for them, but he had them now and there was no turning back, hence the reason he focused on their foe as he and his companions approached it, as it was time for them to move forward.

The knight was just as fast as Tirek remembered him being, so much so that all Martok could do at the moment was go on the defensive and parry the incoming attacks to the best of his ability, allowing Sarana to attack the knight from the back while Tirek gathered his magic and decided to use his new toy, so he pulled out the flame in his right hand and sparked a Fireball in seconds. What he found to be interesting was that when he used the Soul Arrows, be they the small ones or the Heavy ones, the knight would turn on him and lash out, but this time around their foe seemed to think that he was the weakest of the group and that he could put him off to the end, despite the fact that a Fireball hit the side of the knight's helmet. He wasn't about to question what was going on, especially after what happened the last time they fought this particular foe, so Tirek continued to gather his magic, spark more Fireballs, and then throw them whenever the knight paused for a few seconds, allowing him to accurately hit his target each time, even though he was incredibly tough and would take some time to truly take down. Sarana and Martok didn't seem all that worried about what they were doing and attacked the knight whenever an opening presented itself to them, something Tirek felt was hard to do considering the speed that their foe was moving in from time to time, but it seemed to be working more than he thought it would, so he kept his mouth shut and continued to ignite the knight with his Fireballs, mostly because the knight didn't pay attention to him when he used this spell and would turn on him if he used his Soul Arrows.

This time around, thanks to them being empowered by what they had done in the Undead Settlement since their first encounter with this knight, the three of them were able to bring down the knight and caused him to disappear into ash or dust once the killing blow was struck, though he did leave behind his blade, something that Sarana collected so they could add it to their collection.

"It was a good idea to focus on somewhere else for a time, since that allowed us to beat that knight." Martok stated, as he knew that they had done a good job in taking care of the enemy that had killed them earlier, and Tirek did agree with him on this matter, even if he still felt that Martok was a fool at times, based on what he's seen so far, though Sarana said nothing as they relaxed a tiny bit.

"Indeed, though now its time we moved forward." Tirek remarked, to which his companions nodded their heads and approached the door that the knight had been guarding, though that was when Martok braced his hands on the large door and pushed it open, revealing a path that would take them away from the Undead Settlement, even though it seemed more like one of those nature trails that ponies liked to walk or run along.

To their immediate right rested a rock wall, high enough to where they really couldn't see what was on top of it, even though Tirek assumed it was part of the Undead Settlement that was above them, but what interested him was the new bonfire that was near the rocks, one that they activated and rested at, mostly so it remembered where they had last rested in case something happened to any of them as they explored the new area they were in. There was also a raised section of earth to their left, meaning that they would be walking into a canyon or something and would need to keep their guards up while they were exploring the area, but Tirek also spotted a large tree growing nearby, one that seemed rather healthy despite the conditions of the area, especially since he didn't see any water nearby. Other than the two walls it didn't seem like there was anything else for them to focus on, to which the three of them got up from where they were sitting and started to follow the path that was in front of them, as it was time to see what the knight had been guarding and continue their quest for the missing Lords of Cinder. When they rounded the corner, however, Tirek found that there was a massive chasm between the area they were in and the area that seemed to be the exit for the zone they had walked into, though he also had the feeling that the chasm was pretty deep and that anyone who fell over the edge was pretty much dead, so they decided not to fall over the edge and continued to follow the path that would take them around this area and would deposit them on the other side.

That was when Tirek noticed a blackened creature that seemed to resemble some of the hollows they had taken care of back in the Undead Settlement, though what was interesting was that it seemed to be cowering at the moment and was wearing dark gray clothing over its chest and waist, but that was before he spotted something else, the creature's hands seemed to be pointed and, if he was seeing things right, it almost looked like its feet were a mix of a person's feet and a crow's talons. Sarana and Martok stared at the creature as well, as it seemed to be scared of them, but Tirek knew there was a good chance it would lash out at them if given the chance to do so, which was why he had a Fireball at the ready as he and his companions approached the knife wielding enemy, all of them ready for anything since they had no idea if this guy and the others were friendly or if they were hostile. As they approached the figure, however, it seemed to shudder in pain for a moment as a pair of crow wings burst out of its back, rather painfully and bloody Tirek might add, and that was quickly followed by a second pair, why he had no idea and he honestly didn't care, but once that was done the creature tried to fly through the air and basically flailing around as it tried to stab at them with its knife and claws. Both Tirek and Sarana ducked out of the way, by rolling to the sides and avoiding the cliff, before they attacked the creature as it went for Martok, but as that happened Tirek noticed that the Fireball he threw seemed to inflict a good deal of damage to their foe and smiled for a moment, as it appeared his purchase was going to be more useful than he originally thought.

Oddly enough Sarana picked up the dagger that the creature had been holding and added it to their collection, in the sense that she was wielding it in place of the weapon she had started with, before they headed down the path that was near them and kept their defenses up, as all three of them knew there were more of those enemies they would have to deal with before they reached the end of this area. What they discovered was that there happened to be one of the crow hollows off to their left as soon as they walked down the hill that was near where the first one had been located, who was trying to transform when they found it, so instead of letting it get out all four of its wings, and lash out at them, Martok cut off the wings that were already growing and let both Sarana and Tirek finish off the creature. With it dead they found a white stone of some kind, potentially another gem of some kind, so they added it to their pack and continued moving along the path, keeping their eyes open for anything and everything that might want them dead, even though it wasn't all that long before they found some carriages, or cage wagons, resting near a cliff that had some of the crow hollows resting near them. Off to the left, before that area, was another crow hollow that seemed to be minding his own business, but the group did notice that there was another one of this type of enemy hanging out in the middle of the path that would take them to the end of this area, meaning they had to be careful since it looked like a spell user, not that the others were to be underestimated since two of the crow hollows had some deadly looking scythes in their hands.

What they did was head over to the crow hollow on their left and cut it down before it could even transform, as all of them waited until any enemies were within a certain range of them before they revealed their wings, before they headed over to where the other three happened to be resting, which was when Tirek pulled one over to them by baiting it with a Fireball to the back. That was a rather effective strategy, as the one he hit transformed while the other one that was near it just looked out over the cliff, clearly trying not to get involved in the fight, and then rushed over to where the group was standing, where it quickly met its end thanks to Sarana and Martok standing at the ready, though Tirek honestly wasn't expecting his plan to work out that way. Since it did, and there were only two enemies left in the immediate area, it took them no time to break the other non transformed crow hollow, the one that was wielding a scythe, before they turned to where the staff carrying crow hollow was standing, who seemed to be in the middle of spraying a purple mist over the area that was between them and it, like it was trying to prevent them from moving forward. That didn't stop Tirek from using a few Fireballs on their foe, enough to send it over the edge and into the chasm that was behind it, informing them that the wings were mostly for a few seconds of flight and weren't sturdy enough to actually let these guys fly, which was good to know since there were a number of ledges around them that they could exploit. That was especially true for the area that seemed to be the passage to the next zone they had to move through, as he recalled seeing a stone bridge and plenty of space to do what they just did, meaning he and his companions might not have to worry about anything killing them in this particular area.

Before they moved forward, however, Tirek stepped back to where the two scythe wielding crow hollows had been positioned and found that one of them left behind their scythe, since enemies liked to disappear when they died and often left something behind, be it weapons or armor from what he's seen so far, to which he smiled as he claimed the weapon and added it to the collection, since he was sure it would hit harder than the other scythe they were carrying in what he now believed to be a Bag of Holding. That was the only way they would be able to carry all of the gear they were picking up along the way, by having a shared container that happened to be enchanted with the ability to hold an infinite number of items, though he was sure Sarana had acquired one from the Fire Keeper and hadn't told him, but he wasn't about to ask her about it or chew her out, as it was a welcome addition so they didn't have to carry everything on their backs. With the scythe in hand, and Tirek making sure it was the first thing he pulled out if they encountered a scenario that was similar to the hollows that rushed to the Greatwood's aid, the trio walked over to where the spell wielding crow hollow had been standing and found that there was a path directly under where they were standing, but instead of jumping down there, and potentially dying when they hit the ground, they headed to their right and found a path that, even though they did have to jump down a small ledge, allowed them to move forward. Fortunately the split that was beyond that meant they could head left and visit the lower path they had discovered, which was what they ended up doing since it seemed like it might have a few items for them to acquire, which included an axe of some kind and, more importantly, a female figure that seemed to be wearing no armor, save for some wrappings around her chest and waist, and was wielding a large slab of metal that looked like it could have been a knife at some point in time.

One would have assumed that the lady was a formidable warrior that would be hard for them to kill, especially after the icy knight that had blocked their way earlier, but the reality of the situation was that she was rather easy to take down as Martok caught his foe's blade, yanked it out of her hand, and then kicked her over the edge that was behind her, getting rid of an attacker in a matter of seconds as he pocketed the weapon. Further beyond where the lady had been standing was a set of armor that must have been what the lady had been wearing some time ago, before apparently ditching all of it like she did, before they found a pair of odd daggers that were resting at the end of the path they were following, which seemed to be a dead end at this point.

"So, that was the madwoman of the Undead Settlement," Sarana commented, where Tirek got the feeling that she only knew about the lady because it appeared that she and Martok had grown up in the ruined settlement they had gone through earlier, even if neither of them wanted to talk about their pasts, before she turned towards the top of the path and started to make her way back to the main path they were following, "well, if we succeed in our quest, whoever is left won't have to worry about her coming after them."

Tirek noticed that Martok nodded his head and decided not to say anything as they stashed the new items inside their pack, before they headed up the path that they had walked down a few moments ago, quickly returning to the main path so they could walk under the small stone bridge that connected two points above them, even though he did see a pair of crow hollows minding their own business on the other side of the walkway. As such the three of them decided to turn to their left after crossing under the arch and walked along it until they could see the pair of foes in question, because Tirek was sure one of their enemies would call all of these hollows to its aid and wanted to take them out before such a thing happened, and his companions seemed to agree with his decision. When they neared the crow hollows, who were trying to ignore them, Tirek raised his right hand and blasted the nearest one with a Fireball, causing his target to cry out as it transformed and then went berserk as it rushed at them, which was the moment that he stepped back and let Sarana and Martok cut into their foe, letting it drop to the ground once it was dead. Tirek was a little surprised that such a simple tactic seemed to work as well as it did, as all he had to do was pull one of the crow hollows and then let his companions finish them off, mostly because he knew that his frail body couldn't handle the enemies that they were fighting at the moment, and, at the same time, he was a little surprised that neither of his companions seemed to be arguing with this setup, as if they understood that fact and were making sure they all stayed alive.

Regardless of what the truth of the matter was the pair of crow hollows didn't stand much of a chance, not when they faced Tirek's tactic, and once the pair was taken care of they walked up to the end of the path they had followed and found that it overlooked the area the pair of scythe wielders had been in, along with a Titanite shard, before they turned around and headed to the stone bridge that would take them to the next area they had to explore.

When they reached the bridge in question, however, the group found a number of crow hollows on the other side of the stone bridge, appearing to guard the way forward so they could prevent the Unkindled from passing through the area, and when the three of them came to a stop, to survey the area for a few seconds, the one that was carrying a staff let out a screech that awakened all of the others in the area. The ones that were the closest to the staff carrier transformed in a few seconds and raised their weapons, while the one that was on the bridge seemed to be immune to what was going on, but that was a wrong thought to have as it tried to transform and rush them, only to be stopped by Martok and Sarana, which let Tirek focus on the rest of the foes that were in front of them. His first order of business, instead of blasting any of the crow hollows that were starting to approach the bridge, was to blast the staff carrier with a Fireball and caused it to shake for a few seconds, but since it didn't move much, and didn't force the other crow hollows to increase their speed, he raised his hand and kept throwing Fireballs at his target, eventually taking down his target before the others even reached where he and his companions were standing. The three remaining crow hollows charged at them anyway, to which Martok stood his ground and let the three enemies come at him, though as he stunned them Sarana and Tirek lashed out with their own attacks, where Tirek even saw one get hit by a Fireball and went over the edge it was standing near, meaning they only had two more to deal with, which was quickly brought down to none as his companions took care of the other two, meaning they were able to explore the rest of the area that they were in.

Instead of heading over to the opening that the crow hollows had been guarding, in a manner of speaking, Sarana and Martok walked back towards the opposite side of the bridge and stared down at the walkway that seemed to wrap around to the end of the area, where Tirek watched as they took turns jumping over the edge and landed on the edge of the area they had spotted. Since it seemed that they might be able to find more items that way, whether or not those items were at all useful to their quest, he walked over to the edge and did the same thing, where Martok caught him, mostly thinking about his frail body, and set him down so the three of them could explore the area that was around them and see what sort of items they could find. Interestingly enough they found a pair of dogs hiding in a small cave that the path brought them to, where one that was fatter than the other one was, so what happened was that they waited for the pair to rush at where they were standing, which was when Martok grabbed onto the fatter one, without being bitten in the process, and then hurled it over the edge, leaving the other one to Sarana and Tirek. The other one didn't stand much of a chance as Tirek used his Fireballs to distract the rapid moving undead dog, allowing Sarana to attack it from behind when it came to a stop, something that ended in them taking down their foe and opening the way for them to collect whatever they were guarding, which Tirek was interested in seeing since this was out of the way for someone to explore.

What Tirek discovered was that there happened to be a tome of some kind that was written in an odd alphabet that he didn't recognize, one that neither of his companions seemed to understand either, to which he pocketed it for later, in case they found someone that could translate it, before he found a ring, one that looked similar to what the knight they had seen outside the tower was wearing, but he did notice that it seemed to be more like the ring he was wearing and let a smile appear on his face as he slipped it onto his right middle finger, to empower his magic further.

Once they had explored the little side area, and collected everything that seemed to be around them, Tirek, Sarana, and Martok headed up the rest of the walkway, where they found one more crow hollow that didn't seem to have heard the call of the staff wielder crow hollow, so it was rather easy for them to wait for the creature to transform and then lash out when that happened, bringing an end to it in a matter of seconds. With that enemy brought down they reached the top of the path and then dropped down near the fortress walls that seemed to be built into the sides of the area that was the opening to where the next zone was located, though as they walked through the small area Tirek found that the area in front of them did look like a ruined fortress that was about to collapse into nothingness. Beyond the area he located was a large swamp or woods of some kind, with more walls that seemed to indicate some sort of grand fortress had been built into this area and, due to the age of the walls he had seen so far, the entire thing was in the process of falling apart and breaking, which would have angered whoever built it since they would have been sad to see the area in this state, but he didn't care about that and focused on the other thing he noticed. There were two beings resting near the bonfire he had spotted, one sitting and one standing, though while they were both wearing armor, showing that they were dangerous in their own right, he did notice that one seemed to be female and one seemed to be male, as in the one sitting on some of the rubble was the lady and the one standing near her was the male, and that neither of them seemed aggressive to him and his companions.

The first thing they did, after walking down the steps that were in front of them, Tirek made sure to ignite the bonfire and make sure it was working like the others that had come before it, and both Sarana and Martok did the same thing so they would be reborn at this one if they died, before he turned towards the two figures that were nearby and approached the pair, mostly to see if they were truly hostile or not.

"Oh, hello. How do you do?" the armored lady asked, her tone suggesting that she was much friendlier than most of the other residents of this world happened to be, or at least that was what Tirek was gathering based on everyone that he and his companions encountered since his quest started, but he said nothing as the lady beckoned to herself for a second as Sarana and Martok came to a stop behind him, "I am Anri of Astora, and this is Horace, a friend of mine and traveling companion, and yes, we are both Unkindled like you and your companions. Out of curiosity, are the three of you looking for the Lords of Cinder, like most of our kind?"

"That's correct," Tirek remarked, though based on what he's seen so far the pair in front of them were definitely not hostile and they didn't have to worry about the pair trying to attack them, so he honestly didn't see any harm in informing Anri that he and his companions were looking for the three missing Lords of Cinder, since that seemed to be the goal of every Unkindled that was awoken from their slumber, "though so far we haven't seen anything that would direct us to where one of the Lords is hiding."

"Well, maybe I can help you with that." Anri said, to which Tirek raised an eyebrow for a moment, as he was interested in what she had to say, including the fact that she didn't seem bothered by his unnatural features, but if she was willing to give him some directions to where one of the Lords of Cinder, his prime targets, rested, then he was willing to pause for a moment or two to hear her out, "We are well along the Road of Sacrifices, an old route that was used to transport people, or sacrifices as they came to be called, to another location that is nearby, the Cathedral of the Deep. Beyond where we are standing is the Crucifixion Woods, an area that is guarded by all sorts of dangers and the Watchdogs of Farron, who make sure that the Abyss Watchers are not disturbed... meaning that beyond the flooded woods that are outside this crumbling fortress lies Farron Keep, the home of the Undead Legion. Horace and I seek the Cathedral, home of the grim Aldrich, to do what all the Unkindled do."

"Interesting, so that means we're close to one of the Lords of Cinder, possibly two." Tirek commented, as he could tell that the Undead Legion had to be the Abyss Watchers, even if it seemed a little odd to have two titles for the same group of people, but, at the same time, he was correct and it appeared that Anri and his companions seemed to agree with him, before he noticed something odd, "Is there something wrong with your companion?"

"Oh, you mean, Horace... he's not very talkative." Anri admitted, which made sense considering the fact that he hadn't said a word since their arrival, though even as she said that he pulled out a piece of parchment with a moon and sword on it, something that he was giving them for some reason, which Sarana put in their pack, before Anri said anything else, like she had been thinking for a moment, "He's also an upstanding and kind-hearted knight, and he's a fine partner to have on this rather grueling journey... to be honest, I would have cursed this onerous duty long ago if he wasn't helping me."

Tirek found that to be interesting, in a manner of speaking, and made sure to give Anri both his name and the names of his companions, just in case they encountered each other again in the future, before walking over to the bonfire so he could rest and recover from their journey through the Road of Sacrifices, as he wanted to be ready for the trek through the Crucifixion Woods, since it would take them to the locations of two Lords of Cinder, once they got passed all of the foes that were standing in their way anyway.

"I'm not wearing an illusion spell of any kind, am I?" Tirek asked, because it finally dawned on him that Anri, like many of the other people they had encountered in this world so far, hadn't commented about something important and it was starting to make him wonder if he had done something to make himself seem more human, even though he could tell that his hooves and horns were still in their natural position, and that he had the bipedal stance still.

"No... why would you ask something like that?" Sarana replied, where she and Martok glanced at Tirek for a moment and found that he looked the exact same as what they remembered when they met him, even if his skin did look like it was slowly getting younger as more of his true strength was drawn out by Yoel, but neither of them could figure out why Tirek was asking that, as his horns and hooves were in the right place, even though they were a little interested in his strange half human half horse form, which he didn't seem willing to tell them about.

"Just curious, that's all." Tirek said, though it was mostly because he had been expecting a fair number of people to ask or comment on his strange form and appearance, especially with the horns, but from what he could tell, after seeing the odd crow hollows, this sort of thing seemed to be normal for this world and people didn't even stop to talk about why someone had hooves or horns, or his tail for that matter, so he decided to roll with it, even though he was sure Sarana would ask him about his body at some point.

Regardless of the fact that the people of this world didn't seem to care about his body, or were just blind and didn't see anything wrong that would make them ask the question, Tirek focused his attention on the fact that they were close to two of the Lords of Cinder already, meaning it was only a matter of time until he regained a significant portion of his lost power and let this pitiful form behind, which caused him to grin as he stared out into the new area they would be going through soon enough, once he was done resting at the bonfire anyway.

Journey Through the Woods

Tirek rested for a few more moments, just to make sure all of his flasks were restocked and his body was ready for the next leg of their journey, where Sarana and Martok joined him for a time so they could do the same thing, and once they were ready the three of them stood up and moved towards the opening that would take them into the Crucifixion Woods, leaving Anri and Horace behind. Sure enough one of the things that he noticed, as he and his companions walked through the lone opening, was that there was a large number of trees in the area in front of them and off in the distance he spotted three burning fires, which seemed to be above the rest of the trees, meaning they had to be important in some manner and that they would likely figure that out at some point in the near future. Off to their left, and resting some distance away from where they were standing, was a massive structure that looked like one he and Sarana had seen after they bested Vordt, one that had to be the Cathedral of the Deep, the home of one of the Lords of Cinder, Aldrich, Devourer of the Gods, which they would be visiting at some point in the near future. Their first objective, of course, was to make their way through the area that was currently in front of them and find a path that would take them to where the Cathedral was located, since he was sure that such a path existed, but for now all they could do was walk forward and see what the woods had to offer them, in both enemies and rewards.

As they walked along the rocky path that was in front of them, and turned around so they could continue towards the watery part of this zone, the group discovered that there were two hollows that were wielding pointed weapons, as in tree limbs that had been turned into pikes, and when one of them spotted the trio they tried to charge them, where Sarana and Martok dodged the attack, while Tirek moved out of the way, before they retaliated. Tirek blasted the second pike hollow in the chest with a Fireball, knocking it to the ground in an instant, while his companions quickly took care of the first one they had encountered, allowing them to move forward once more as they kept their eyes open for more of that type of enemy and any other enemies that might call the Crucifixion Woods home. After a few moments they came to a stop and noticed that there were a fair number of pike hollows in the area they were heading towards, ones that seemed to be slowly patrolling the area while holding their weapons up towards the sky, though off to the right were some strange purple creatures that looked like fungi of some kind, which did seem dangerous. As such they headed down the rest of the walkway and engaged the pike hollows that were in their way, two of them to be exact, though as Tirek blasted his foe he noticed something interesting, there were a few small crabs walking around in the water, but he had to assume that they were hostile towards him and his companions, even if they seemed to be normal at the moment.

When the first pair of pike hollows were taken care of the trio turned to their right and walked down to where another pike hollow was praying to a corpse with an undead dog next to him, where Sarana and Martok took care of the dog as he blasted the pike hollow with a pair of Fireballs, eventually allowing them to collect a Titanite Shard for their efforts, which was added to their collection as they turned to explore the rest of the woods. That was when Tirek spotted something interesting in the distance, a red colored being, just like the purple one they had seen near the white birch tree, that did seem to be female based on the body, but she was wearing some odd armor, including the giant cloth around her head, and had two weapons, a pick and a crossbow. The figure in question was standing near one of the trees, where Tirek did spot a massive crab further beyond her, so for right now they had to deal with the foe that was going to come at them and try to kill them, before attempting to progress through the rest of the woods, since attempting to progress with an invader seemed to be pointless. For a moment the lady actually headed back to where the large crab was standing and vanished for a moment, showing that being a great distance away from their line of sight must have allowed it to disappear, but even as that happened Sarana pulled out her bow and readied her arrows as she moved to another location, indicating that she was going to try and hit their new foe before she got close to either Tirek or Martok, who were going to be bait for the red invader and draw her out of wherever she was hiding.

The pair waited for a few moments, seeing if Sarana was right in what she was doing, before an arrow flew through the air and struck something, where the lady materialized before their eyes as whatever she had been doing to hide her presence had been broken, allowing him and Martok to engage her, as in Martok swung at her as Tirek stayed back, as he used his new Fireballs to do some decent damage to their foe. He did try out the Fire Surge spell for a moment, where he found that he emitted a stream of fire from the hand that contained the pyromancy flame he had been given, which did hurt their foe, but fortunately Sarana joined them and lashed out at the lady, even though Tirek stopped using the spell he was currently using and returned to pelting their foe with Fireballs. When confronted with the three of them, and the skills they possessed, the lady didn't stand much of a chance and eventually collapsed on the ground, where Tirek watched as she was reduced to dust and disappeared from the area she had fallen in, leaving behind her pick and her head piece, like a reward of some kind, to which Sarana picked them up and stored them inside their pack, even if they didn't seen them at the moment. Tirek was fine with the lady dying, since that meant the invader was dead and they could progress without having to worry about someone else trying to attack them in such a way, before he glanced out at the area that they were going to explore soon and glared at the large crab that seemed to be minding its own business, where he hoped it stayed that way, since he had the feeling that fighting the creature was the bad idea at the moment.

As he thought about that, however, he spotted a smaller crab that was near his hooves, which happened to be making the motions to pinch him with its pincers, to which he frowned for a moment as he blasted the crab in the face with a Fireball, knocking it backwards in the process, but as that happened, however, the large crab changed its course rather suddenly and started moving over to where they were standing.

"Oh, you are kidding me." Tirek remarked, mostly because that was stupid, that he hurt the smaller one because it was getting ready to hit him and the larger one rushed in to attack them, and neither of his companions seemed to think about what was going on at the moment as they readied themselves for what was coming towards them, to which he raised his staff and did the same thing.

It didn't take the large crab all that long to make its way around the trees that were in the area and enter the part of the zone that they were in, where it raised one of its claws and brought it down on where the group was standing, which caused the three of them to dodge out of the way as it came crashing down on the watery area they had been standing on, before they got up and readied themselves again. As they separated from each other, however, the large crab loosed a burst of foam at Martok, slowing him down so he would have a harder time to assist either of his allies, allowing the large crab to focus its attention on Sarana and Tirek, where Sarana lashed out at the legs to the best of her ability and Tirek used his Fireballs by throwing them at the crab's face, since that seemed to be the best place to target. Sarana did her best to dodge the claws that came near her as she did that, even though it seemed that the crab was trying to murder Tirek at the moment, and when he stepped into a hole that was hidden in the water, one that caused him to falter for a second or two, their foe seized the opportunity and crushed him into the ground with both of its claws, causing him to moan for a moment as he pulled himself up again. Of course, before he could even move out of the way and blast his foe, the large crab grabbed onto him with its right claw and trapped him between its pincer, which was when it lifted him into the air for a moment and started to crush him, no doubt in retaliation for what happened to the smaller crab, before it snapped him in half and his world went black for a few seconds.

When he was allowed to see again, just like the last couple of times he had been slain, Tirek found that he was back at the last bonfire he had rested at and sighed as he stared at the flames for a few moments as he thought about what just happened, as he was waiting to see if his companions died as well or if they succeeded in killing the crab so he could rejoin them and they could continue their adventure... but, before he could really get into what he was doing, the air around him shimmered for a moment as both Sarana and Martok rejoined him.

"Great... just fucking great... our foreign leader decided to piss off the local Great Crabs," Sarana commented, where Tirek got the feeling that she was annoyed with him, once more for causing them to die in some stupid manner, but it was hardly his fault since he wasn't expecting that to happen in the first place, before she let out a sigh as she leaned against the rock wall that rested behind her for a moment.

"Yes, its my fault... not like you could have warned us ahead of time." Tirek remarked, but before Sarana snapped at him again, like what happened when he blamed her for what occurred when they died to the Dancer, he raised his hand and stopped her in her tracks, because he was starting to understand her and how she acted in certain situations, "I'm not blaming you for what happened, those deaths are because of my actions, but now I know that we don't want to piss off the large crab, and the others of its kind... even though now our souls are being guarded by it."

"True, and based on how aggressive those creatures are, from what I've seen, we can either engage it and fight it for a time, now that we know its movements, or ignore our souls and move forward." Sarana replied, informing Tirek of what their options are on the matter, even though she had the feeling that he understood what she was talking about, though at the same time Martok was, once more, silent, since he preferred to listen and let her make decisions, or whoever they were following at the time, which was Tirek right now.

"I would like our souls back, as we need them for the future," Tirek said, even if it was mostly because they were the key to getting stronger, so he could survive for a longer period of time while they explored the areas of this land, especially since they were so close to the locations of two of the Lords of Cinder, or at least that was what Anri told them earlier and she seemed rather certain of that fact.

Sarana and Martok nodded their heads as they got up and waited for Tirek to stand up as well, though once he had done that they headed for the opening that was in front of them and headed down the path that the pike hollows were guarding, while at the same time keeping an eye on the Great Crab that had killed them, who seemed to be further in the water and didn't seem to mind them coming down to the swamp. Thanks to knowing how to take out these enemies, and the fact that they weren't as fast as some of the foes they had encountered so far, it didn't take the three of them that long to take out the hollows and the undead dog that had been cleared out earlier, and they were able to recover their souls without drawing the attention of the Great Crab, especially since Tirek refrained from hitting one of the smaller ones that were near them. Of course there was a second one off to their left, hiding behind some trees, so what they did was make their way to the left of where the walkway down to this area was located, being careful not to attract either of the Great Crabs at the moment, and when they found two more pike hollows Sarana left them to dive into the water and picked up a shield of some kind, one that she stashed in her own pack as Martok and Tirek dealt with their foes. From there the three of them focused on the remainder of the enemies that stood between them and an arch of them kind that looked like it belonged to a long ruined building, even if that meant taking out a few more pike hollows, like four or five, and an undead dog that was resting near the walkway Tirek had spotted. There was a good reason they weren't fighting the crabs just yet, even if Tirek would have felt better if they killed one or two of the larger ones, and that was because just beyond where the undead dog was resting, and off to the right at the top of the hill, rested another bonfire, one that would allow them to skip a couple of enemies and make it seem like they had progressed through the area, even if it didn't seem like they had gone very far from the last one they lit.

Fortunately it didn't take them more than a few seconds to clear out the undead dog and light the newest bonfire, as that meant they would come here now and not be at the one in the ruined fortress that Anri and Horace were at, to which they headed back back to where the nearest Great Crab was located, with the area still clear since none of them had used any of their flasks and hadn't rested at the bonfire, and readied themselves for what they were going to do.

What happened was that Martok raised his weapon and charged at the Great Crab that was near their new bonfire and baited it out of where it was hiding, allowing Sarana and Tirek to get into position as it rushed at their companion, but when it was out in the open Tirek started throwing Fireballs at the crab's backside as Sarana ran up the side of a tree and jumped into their foe's back. It was a rather effective technique, since it allowed her to attack the crab from the one spot that it couldn't reach, not easily anyway, and with both him and Martok attacking from two directions it was hard for the crab to even focus on Sarana, leaving her to do everything in her power to weaken the crab as Tirek blasted it and Martok cut into it with his greatsword. During that process Tirek discovered that the Great Crab hated fire and that his Fireballs did pack quite the punch, or at least he felt they did since it was hard to determine what sort of response the crab had to his spells this time, with one of his companions cutting into the crab's head, but regardless of what he was seeing and what he might not be seeing he continued to strike out at their foe, just like his companions happened to be doing at the moment. It seemed that the crab couldn't handle their new plan of attack and went down in front of them, crashing into the water that it had been protecting the entire time, and as that happened Sarana jumped off the crab's head and landed beside Tirek and Martok, leading to the three of them to backtrack a little so they could get away from the other Great Crab, who was likely furious that they had bested the other guardian of the area, even if it did cost them a few flasks each, which could be replenished at any moment thanks to the bonfire.

"Well, that's one of the bloody Great Crabs taken care of," Sarana commented, where they glanced at the watery area that was in front of them, one that they would have to search at some point, before turning her gaze towards Tirek, who was focused on something else at the moment, the Lords of Cinder she guessed, "So, should we engage the other one, the one that killed us to be exact, or should we focus on exploring the rest of the area and seeing if there is anything else we might be able to find?"

"Now that we know they can die, we might as well kill the other one," Tirek replied, mostly because it would be nice to get some revenge on the crab that snapped him in half, which had been a little overkill in his mind, but since they had a rather effective strategy to use against these things, even if it took some time to make sure they died, he felt that the three of them could do it again and see what the Great Crabs were guarding, besides the way forward.

Sarana nodded her head as they moved back into the water, where Martok baited the other Great Crab into charging to where they were standing and allowed her to jump onto the crab's back as he and Tirek attacked it with all their might, just like what happened to the previous crab, though it wasn't long before they were able to bring their foe down and let it crash into the water, though Tirek did find a ring that seemed to have been carved from bone, one that also boosted his magical power, so he slipped it on as well, adding it to his collection.

With the pair of Great Crabs taken care of the group turned around and explored the area that was near the bonfire they had discovered, where Tirek picked up a weak soul as Sarana and Martok dealt with a few pike hollows that just so happened to be lurking behind some nearby trees, before they found a rather heavy looking shield and a cluster of the strange purple creatures. Based on what he could tell the creatures were capable of producing a poisonous gas that filled their immediate area, if someone approached them and stood by them for more than a few seconds, but thanks to their skills all Tirek had to do was throw a few Fireballs at them and cleared out the area, allowing Sarana to pick up some resin and a couple of Titanite Shards, both found on the creatures and in the area they had been guarding. Once that was done they returned to the bonfire and headed towards the ruined fort that was near it, heading to the left side of the structure and not towards the opening that was in the wall that faced the area that the bonfire was located in, as there were a pair of pike hollows that needed to be taken out first, just so they didn't come running up at them from behind as they tried to explore the rest of the area. Interestingly enough there were another pair of pike hollows even further down the side of the wall, seemingly minding their own business in some manner, so when Tirek and his companions took the first set out, and made sure neither of them moved again, they headed over to where the second pair was located and struck them down as well, which was when the group paused for a moment and found that there were some new enemies in front of them, even if they had to jump off the higher point that they were on to do so.

What they did was jump down to the area that was in front of them and found something that interested them, one of the Estus Flask shards, meaning that when they returned to the shrine they could hand it over to the smith and he could grant them another addition to each of their flasks, which Sarana stored inside her pack as they headed up the hill that was in front of them and walked towards the fire that was raging at the moment. Sitting next to the fire was a tall being, humanoid like most of the enemies Tirek had seen so far, though he was wearing rag-like clothing and seemed to have some sort of wooden object, like a cross of some kind, chained to his body, meaning he was forced to move with the thing on at all times, but as they got close the hollow freaked out and got up to charge them. Martok took the brunt of their new foe's attacks, leaving the cross hollow vulnerable and opened the way for Tirek and Sarana to attack, where they found that fire was definitely one of the weaknesses of this type of enemy, as the first Fireball that hit it had the creature shudder in pain for a moment, leaving Sarana to attack it when its guard was open. With that knowledge under their belts it was much easier for them to deal with the cross hollow and drop it to the ground, leaving a second one, who was staring at the nearby wall, to glance at them for a second, but then decided not to bother them, so instead of challenging the second cross hollow to a fight Tirek left the area and walked through the opening that was in front of them, one that actually split the ruined fort in half.

From there they headed over to the hole in the wall that would allow them to enter part of the fort and found that the first room contained a couple of the grave tending hollows, the ones that had been tending to the Cemetery of Ash, back when Tirek first woke up in this odd world, and while most of them seemed docile, just like the previous times they saw these guys, there were a few that would cause trouble for the group. As such Tirek switched back to his staff and used a few of his Soul Arrows to blast the sorcerer grave tender in the chest, knocking him down to the ground, where he stopped moving, while both Sarana and Martok dealt with the rest of the enemies that were around them, as in they cut down the docile ones, since they could be enraged in seconds, and the bell carrying hollow that was the main problem. Once those enemies had been taken care of the group explored the lower floor of the room they were in, or what had been a room since there was no ceiling to this place anymore, leading to Tirek finding a wicked looking staff that had a number of points on it and, at the same time, it even seemed stronger than the one he was currently using, to which he put his beginner staff away and started walking with the new one, which caused him to smirk for a moment as Sarana and Martok looked for anything else of interest. It wasn't long before Sarana beckoned for him to come along, as there was nothing on the second floor, save for a walkway that connected to the other part of the fort, to which Tirek joined his companions as they walked over to the other section of the fort, walking above the area the two cross hollows had been in, which was when he noticed a grave tender with a spear and a shield blocking the way.

As it turned out a single foe wasn't able to really stall them all that much, not since Martok could take on the incoming attack and bash the grave tender backwards, opening the way for Sarana and Tirek to finish him off, but as they started to move forward, however, Tirek noticed a side passage to their left, if they came from the direction of the bridge, and found that it lead to a walkway that was outside the building, one that he followed, just to see where it lead him... and in the end it brought him to a second floor in the structure they were in, with someone they had never seen before standing near a table and some shelves that were covered with scrolls.

"Well now, this is quite unexpected, I don't often have visitors, much less three at once." the man commented, as that was what was standing near them, a man who happened to be wearing a black coat and pants, though based on the lack of enemies trying to kill him it seemed like the hollows of this area had no idea he was even here, meaning that Tirek and his companions focused on the black haired man for a moment as he glanced in their direction, "So, what is it that the lot of you want? I'll have you know that you have happened upon my study, though I don't care much for visitors. If this was an accident, and you didn't mean to find me, than turn around and leave so I can get back to my reading."

"Wouldn't your studies into the sorceries of this world be more successful if you were somewhere safer?" Tirek asked, mostly because he was interested in the fact that the man chose to be here, where the hollows might wise up and locate the path that brought the three of them to the man, and he was assuming that the man was a sorcerer since those did seem to be the only type of people that bothered to read in this world, even if he was counting Cornyx in that thought despite the other man being a pyromancer, "Like the shrine that the Lords of Cinder would have gathered in, had they not abandoned their thrones and whatnot... wouldn't that be a good place for your studies?"

"How intriguing. Clearly there is more to you than what I first thought." the man stated, where he turned his head more so he had a better view, which was the moment that he took in Tirek's sorcerer clothing and the weapon that he was carrying, even if the weapon was new, before he considered something for a few seconds, "Very well, I suppose I have a few moments to spare. Indeed, I am a sorcerer, with plenty of knowledge to share and so much more waiting to be studied and used. However... what sort of champion demands service without recompense? Clearly, despite how different you look from the others, you are not that sort of man. So, you will make me a promise. That in exchange for me imparting what I know to you, you will bring me knowledge, in the form of special scrolls detailing sorcery's secrets. Well? Can you assure me of this?"

Tirek had to raise his eyebrow when he heard all that, as he wasn't actually going to ask the man to teach him any of the spells he had learned over the years, and the most shocking part about all of it was that the oddly dressed man clearly thought that he was going to demand that he be taught without some sort of payment, which was something he couldn't do since this world seemed to rely on souls, before he chuckled for a moment, causing both his companions and the odd man to focus on him for a second.

"You know what, I like you more than some of the people I've met in this world," Tirek admitted, because while Sarana and Martok were helpful, as he couldn't complete his quest without them, most of the other residents of this world were rather annoying and he wouldn't be unhappy if they disappeared, though the Siegward guy was alright he guessed, before he returned to the topic at hand, "Sure, I can make a promise like that. If you would like to move to the shrine, and do your research there, I'll do my best to locate these specific scrolls for you and hand them over... provided we learn what sort of spells they have to offer together."

"Your no fool... I can respect that." the man replied, his tone indicating that he was not expecting such a response to what he had said, meaning the other Unkindled that might have come through this area had to have been fools in some regard, before he nodded his head as he turned to fully face the group, "Very well, I am Orbeck of Vinheim, and if you bring me scrolls I shall teach you sorceries, be they the ones I know or the ones gained from the scrolls... it shall be like our very own school."

Tirek nodded his head, mostly since it was a bargain to him if they could actually find any scrolls, before Orbeck took a moment to gather some of the more important scrolls that were around the area that he had been resting in, put them in his pack, and then teleported out of the area in the same ashy manner that Yoel and everyone else he had recruited had gone through to get back to the shrine. He wasn't sure if that was a spell the residents of this world seemed to possess or if it was something else, but at the very least when he saw the ashy teleportation he knew whoever they were talking to was going to head to the shrine and set up shop by the time they got back, but once he thought about that he and his companions headed back to where the split in the path was located. Once they got back to where the grave tender with the pike had been located they came to a stop and looked at the other two paths, one that seemed to be heading in the direction of the Cathedral of the Deep and one that seemed to be heading deeper into the ruined fort, meaning they could pick from finding one of the Lords of Cinder or looking for any helpful items that might turn the tide of the battles that were ahead of them. Instead of picking the path that he wanted to take, to focus on the Lords of Cinder, he was curious as to what else was inside the fort and headed through the opening that was opposite of the path that brought them to Orbeck's location, which brought them to some stairs that lead down to a ruined hallway, where one of the smaller crystal lizards happened to be waiting.

As it turned out the lizard actually lead them to where one of the grave tenders was waiting, who was standing in a doorway that none of them could see until they were on top of it, so while Sarana dealt with the lizard, and collected the item that was on it, Tirek and Martok dealt with the grave tender, opening the way to another part of the ruined fortress, though it looked more like another room that served as an entrance, the one that was near the crabs earlier. Tirek came to the quick decision that they should head back and see what was down the other path he had ignored, since he wasn't all that interested in heading back to where the crabs were located, to which his companions nodded their heads as they followed him back to the area in question, where they knew they would find a number of enemies to take out as headed in the direction of the Cathedral. The other path, as Tirek soon discovered, had a few grave tenders lurking in the sides of the room, mostly below where Orbeck had been standing and below the other side of the room, just opposite of the man's location, but the real problem were the pair that was standing near the other passage that entered this area, as they were both sorcerers by the circular hats they were wearing, meaning Tirek would be dealing with them soon enough, which was fine with him. As such Sarana and Martok attacked the four grave tenders that were in this chamber, with Tirek focusing on the pair of sorcerers that were blocking the way forward, though between the three of them it didn't take them all that long to actually take out the group of enemies that were around them, and while that happened Tirek did see a hole in the ground that might lead to another part of the ruined fort.

With those enemies take care of, and no more rushing at them, Tirek walked towards the other passage and headed outside the room they had been in, following the path up to a ruined courtyard of some kind, one that could have been an important area for this fort, and came to a stop as he noticed the open nature of the area he had come to, hence the reason he stepped back and prevented his companions from entering the area.

"Is there a reason we're not moving forward?" Sarana inquired, mostly because she knew that Tirek wanted the Lords of Cinder, why he hadn't said yet, and she knew that this path would take them to the Cathedral of the Deep, so she was a tad bit curious as to why he wanted them to stop and stare at the area that was in front of them, while at the same time Martok simply waited for the command to charge forward.

"There is a powerful creature in this area, much like Vordt and the Dancer," Tirek remarked, as he was getting used to how this world operated and knew that there had to be one of the more powerful enemies in this area, because it seemed to scream such a thing to him, before he turned around and started to head down the path that brought them to this area, so he could head back to a bonfire, "We might be able to take it on, but I would like to spend the souls we're carrying at the moment, just in case the unthinkable happens and we get killed by whatever powerful creature is lurking in this ruined area, since such a thing is possible."

Sarana and Martok glanced at each other for a moment, as they did know Tirek was partly right in what was going on at the moment, before they followed him back to the room the six enemies had been in, and followed him through the hole in the floor when he jumped down there to investigate what was down there, where they found a cross hollow that lashed out at them the moment they landed in the water. Martok engaged the cross hollow and help its attention as both of his companions hit their foe as well, though once it was taken care of they searched the room for a few seconds, where Tirek located a second set of sorcerer gear, the same robes that he happened to be wearing, a Titanite Shard that came from the cross hollow, and, what interested him the most, a ring that was resting on the other side of the room from where the sorcerer gear was resting, one that almost seemed crystalline in nature. He could tell that it was powerful, just like the other rings he had picked to wear, to which he grinned for a moment as he slipped it onto one of his fingers and added its power to his own, though once that was done they headed through the opening that was nearby and found that they were near the second entrance of the ruined fortress, the one that Tirek had decided not to check out, to which they retraced their steps to where the bonfire near the other entrance was located. This would allow them to return to the shrine, turn in the Estus Shard they had picked up earlier, spend some of their souls on whatever they wanted, and Tirek could see if Yoel was ready for the next round of drawing out his true power, which would be nice if they were going into a fight with a powerful enemy.

Sages and Invaders

Tirek, upon returning to the shrine with Sarana and Martok, was more than happy to empower himself with what they had acquired from the enemies they had faced in the Crucifixion Woods, even if it was nothing compared to what Yoel offered him by drawing out his true power, before he went out and visited the two magic users he had recruited to the shrine, as he was curious if they had anything interesting to offer him. As it turned out Orbeck, who reminded him of the promise that had been made earlier, had a few spells that interested Tirek to some degree, as in two great versions of the Soul Arrow and Heavy Soul Arrow spells he had been using since he found himself in this world, along with a few other spells that might be useful in the future, like one that released an orb that emitted a running sound, to distract enemies and make them head to where the sound was located. Cornyx only had two more spells that he could even purchase at the moment, since he apparently needed pyromancy tomes to reveal more spells for them to learn about, which were Great Combustion, an up close and personal spell, and Flash Sweat, which apparently increased one's resistance to fire, meaning that Tirek would have to, at some point in the near future, come back with more souls for the two, since some of the spells they were selling might be useful in the near future.

Once he was done talking to Orbeck and Cornyx, after seeing what they had to offer him, Tirek headed to the side area of the shrine that Yoel called home, where he found the pilgrim standing in the same area that he had left him in and, just by looking at him for a few moments, he could tell that Yoel had recovered his strength once more, meaning that he was ready to draw out even more of his strength, if Tirek told him to do so.

"Ah, Champion of Ash, you've returned from your adventures," Yoel said, which was something that interested Tirek a little, that he seemed to be one of the few people in this area that seemed to care about him returning safe and sound, he had no idea why that was the case, but at the same time he did act more like a servant in some instances, "I have regained enough of my strength to draw out more of your true power... just say the word, my Lord, and I will do everything in my power to appease you."

"You may proceed." Tirek replied, though at the same time he liked the fact that Yoel was starting to refer to him more as a 'Lord' than a 'Champion of Ash', since most of the people in the shrine seemed to think that he would do the same thing that the rest of the Unkindled seemed to be doing, hunting down and slaying the Lords of Cinder to restore them to their thrones, when he just wanted their power for his own purpose.

Yoel nodded his head and directed his energies towards Tirek once more, where Tirek felt his power rising to another level that was beyond what he had been using earlier, now fifteen percent if his thoughts were correct, and his body was now around the sixty year old mark, meaning that he was able to move with a bit more speed and agility than what he had been using earlier. He still had a long way to go before he reached the thirty year mark, the youngest form he was able to take, which would come when he got half of his full power back, but this was far better than what he had started with and he wasn't about to stop anytime soon, not when they were so close to where two of his targets rested, which would really boost his power once the two Lords of Cinder were taken down. Yoel, seemingly happy with his progress, lowered his hand to indicate that he had done what he was able to do and that he would require some more rest before he was able to do the same thing again, allowing Tirek to move from where he had been standing and head back to the center of the shrine, where Sarana and Martok were waiting for him to return. Tirek didn't care much for the other people that came to the shrine every now and then, like the depressed warrior that had been sitting off to the side when he and Sarana first entered this place, so he turned his attention to what he was doing and quickly came to a stop as he neared both of his companions, who seemed ready to continue their quest. The only other thing they could do was talk to Ludleth, since he was one of the Lords of Cinder, but for now there wasn't much for them to do, so the three of them gathered by the bonfire and headed back to the Crucifixion Woods, or the bonfire that was outside the ruined fortress, as it was time for them to make their way to the Cathedral of the Deep.

It didn't take them long to return to the bonfire in question, so the moment they appeared in the Crucifixion Woods Tirek left the bonfire and headed into the ruined fort that was in front of them, where he and his companions started to engage all of the hollows they had fought the last time they had been here, the grave tenders and the sorcerers that didn't want them to progress through the area. Now that the three of them knew where each of their enemies were located, and how each of them fought when they were confronted, it wasn't all that hard for them to make their way through the first structure and cross the short stone bridge so they could take on the second building, which had more enemies for them to deal with and, if Tirek was right, would lead them to another powerful opponent. Tirek was positive that he was correct on the matter, as the room in question screamed that something like Vordt or the Greatwood would be in that area, and would have attacked them if they went too much further into the area, but all they could do now was fight their way to the area in question and see what was waiting for them when they reached the arch he had stopped at. This time around he walked through the arch when they finally reached the walkway that lead to it, allowing him, Sarana, and Martok to enter the area that he felt a powerful creature was in, to which they kept their eyes open as he looked for the enemy that had to be hiding from them.

As they did that, however, an area directly in front of them, in front of one of the still intact stone walls, was a quick movement as a robed figure appeared before them, where the robes seemed to flow around the area and made their new foe look larger than what he or she actually was, and they happened to be wearing a large hat on their head, one that just so happened to be even larger than the ones the other sorcerers had on their heads.

The sage, as that seemed to be what sort of enemy this was, held a crystal ball in its hands and appeared to be using that as the catalyst so it could cast spells at them, as the first thing it did was summon a floating crystalline object that was purple colored and appeared to be dangerous, to which the three of them separated from each other and prepared for a tough fight, if the other powerful creatures were any indication of what they should be expecting. Sarana, seeing the orb coming after her, baited it into hitting one of the stone pillars that were in the area, releasing a decent magical explosion that would have hurt if she had actually taken it head on, but while she was doing that the sage made sure to summon a set of five smaller orbs around its head, ones that lashed out at Martok when he got near their foe. That caused him to dodge the attack to the best of his ability, since he didn't want to get hit by that sort of attack, and while that happened Tirek raised his new staff and blasted the sage with a Heavy Soul Arrow, figuring that such a powerful attack would do some good, especially with his new level of power. What interested him was the fact that their foe, while taking a decent bit of damage from the attack, wasn't phased by the arrow as much as he had been hoping, so he switched to his flame and hurled a Fireball towards the sage, one that did do a decent amount of damage, more than the arrow had done, which told him that fire was the way to go for this guy. Sarana, of course, lashed out at the sage whenever an opening revealed itself to her, which meant that it was a good thing that Tirek and Martok were their foe's current targets at the moment, but she also had to be careful when the sage loosed a beam in her direction and almost hit her, where Tirek noticed that the attack left a trail of crystals in its wake.

He had to admit that this foe was unlike the others they had fought so far and that it provided its own challenge, but even as he thought about all of that the sage loosed a crystal bolt into the air and that caused a burst of them to rain down on the battlefield, forcing the three of them to move so they didn't get hit by any of the bolts, before they retaliated with their own attacks as Tirek loosed a Fireball into their foe's chest, where he was just now noticing that he was able to cast his spells a little quicker, either due to the latest ring or his new power, but he focused on the fight for now.

Eventually the sage sunk into the ground and disappeared, causing the three of them to stand their ground for a few moments as purple and clue colored crystals burst out of the ground, in random spots to be exact that missed all of them, before the sage appeared in another part of the area, forcing them to follow their foe and zero in on where it was located, while dodging any attacks that it sent at them. Once the sage was above ground again Martok rushed over to their foe and started attacking it, allowing Sarana and Tirek to focus on it as well and continue what they had been doing so far, while Tirek kept his eyes open for anything that might endanger them, since there was no telling what the sage would do once they backed it up against the wall and showed it that they were stronger than it was. When the sage took enough damage it sunk into the ground again and disappeared, but when the crystals burst out of the ground, to indicate that it was in the middle of moving to a new location, Martok wasn't the one that found it this time around, as Sarana located their foe the instant it revealed itself and lashed out with her weapon, cutting into their foe as Tirek made sure a Fireball slammed into its chest, weakening it even more than they had done so far. From there they had a useful strategy of sorts, just wait for the crystals to appear and then either Sarana or Martok would find out where their foe was going to appear next, leaving whoever was the furthest of the two to keep their eyes open for any dangers while Tirek joined the other in attacking their foe, no doubt surprising the sage with how effective they were as a team.

When the sage took enough damage from the three of them, however, it disappeared like it did the previous times and more crystals sprouted from the ground, though this time around more than one sage appeared a few seconds later, indicating that it was using a cloning spell of some kind to make sure they couldn't easily detect where it actually was, and there happened to be five of them in the area, four fakes and the real one. The trick, as Tirek soon realized, was that all of the fake sages had blue colored magic and the real one had purple colored magic, meaning all they had to do was focus on the ones that used purple attacks, though to be on the safe said Sarana made sure to cut down one or two of the fakes so that he and Martok could deal with the real sage. That disappointed Tirek a little, as he was sure that the sage had a lot more spells that could be used in this battle, even if it was forced to run away from each of them when it suffered a decent amount of damage, but it seemed to be of the opinion that fighting this way was the best way and that the spells they had seen it use so far were the only spells that it would be using for the rest of the fight, which meant they wouldn't have to keep an eye out for any significant changes to their foe's routine. As such they continued the pattern they had established and made sure to keep an eye open for anything that would force them into submission, or cause their deaths, but Tirek found that the sage did nothing new and that was just fine in his eyes, because their current plan of attack was good and this meant they could take down their foe without any nasty surprises.

In the end they dealt the finishing blow to their foe and the sage staggered backwards for a moment, where it seemed to burst into bits and disappeared before their eyes, to which Tirek watched as all three of them regained their embered state, gained the soul of another powerful individual, and acquired a number of souls that they could use to strengthen themselves, where a smile appeared on Tirek's face as they lit the new bonfire that appeared in this area.

"Good, we have crushed another powerful creature and opened the way forward," Tirek commented, to which he took a moment to sit by the bonfire, mostly to replenish the flasks that he had used during that fight, as most of his were of the Ashen variety to replenish his magicka when he ran out of power, and the reason he wasn't focusing on Estus Flasks was thanks to his companions, since they faced their foes head on while he stood at the back of the pack.

"That we did, and, if what Anri said is to be believed, the Cathedral of the Deep is ahead of us," Martok added, where he gestured to the structure they were closer to, while at the same time showing Tirek that he was paying attention to what he heard and that he could make his own decisions on things, even though he and Sarana knew that they could either proceed along the path they had opened or continue exploring the woods that were behind them.

"Before either of you ask, we're returning to the woods for a time, as I know there are some items we should collect for our quest," Tirek stated, because while he wanted to continue towards the Cathedral of the Deep, and hunt down one of the Lords of Cinder so he could steal the power they held, he knew that they hadn't fully explored the watery area of the woods, thanks to the Great Crabs that had been in their way for a time, and he was curious if they could find anything that they could use in the future.

Sarana seemed to consider what Tirek was saying and nodded her head, showing that she agreed with his idea to take a few moments to backtrack to the woods for a time, but before they walked down the path they had used to reach this area, and headed back to the woods, the three of them used the bonfire and returned to the shrine, as they now had a good deal of souls and wanted to spend them. As such it wasn't long before they reappeared in the area that the Fire Keeper was in and approached her, taking their turns in using their new souls to empower themselves further, since this would aid them in their quest and against the other enemies they would be facing soon enough, especially since they had no idea what to expect in the Cathedral of the Deep and Farron Keep. Once Tirek was done with what he needed to do he considered seeing if he had enough souls to purchase the remaining spells that Cornyx and Orbeck had to offer, only to come to the decision that he would wait until he had a few more souls so the pair didn't even consider laughing at him if he didn't have enough souls to afford the spells. The moment he came to that decision, however, he returned to where the bonfire was located and patiently waited for his companions to finish up what they were doing, though as he did so the one knight who seemed to be moping did make small talk, where Tirek simply nodded his head as the man talked, but the piece of information that he found interesting was that to gain access to the Abyss Watchers they would have to douse three flames in Farron Keep, something to keep an eye out for in the future.

The moment Sarana and Martok were done with the Fire Keeper, and approached the bonfire, Tirek got up and joined them near the fire, where the three of them used the magic of the coiled sword and teleported back to where the sage had been located, so they could see what sort of items they missed in the woods and if any of them were even useful to them, or if they were wasting their time by searching the rest of the area, to which they headed down the path that had brought them here and braced themselves for what was in front of them.

As they walked down the path that they had chosen to pursue, instead of focusing on the Cathedral of the Deep, the first thing they did was attack the pair of sorcerers that were in their way, who definitely weren't expecting an attack from behind and didn't even try to defend themselves until the first one was nearly dead, and by the time that happened it was too late for the pair to save themselves as the trio finished them off. The moment that was done Tirek and his companions faced the rest of the grave tenders that were in in the area around them, where they quickly killed all of the enemies that tried to stop them and approached the hole in the floor, which was when the three of them jumped down into the area that Tirek had found the spare sorcerer attire and his fourth ring in, though he was the first one to head down there and he blasted the cross hollow that was waiting for them. It didn't take him long to bring down the cross hollow and clear the way for Sarana and Martok to join him, which told him that his power was definitely stronger than it had been some time ago, something that was good in the grand scheme of things, and when his companions were with him again they moved out through the opening that was nearby and returned to the woods, where he found that the Great Crabs were still alive, meaning that they were linked to the bonfires, just like the rest of the enemies they fought. This time around Tirek didn't hesitate to wipe out the smaller crabs that were around him, allowing his companions to ambush the incoming Great Crab that was annoyed with him, to which the three of them brought down the first of the pair and then walked out to wait for the second one to come towards them, before they ambushed and killed the second one.

With the Great Crabs taken care of the trio were able to explore the area as much as they desired, where Tirek found a suit of armor that looked like it belonged to a fallen knight of some kind, though directly beyond that was a structure that seemed to be the way into Farron Keep, if the pair of beings, knights he guessed since they were wearing black metal armor, were anything to consider. Instead of messing with those warriors right away, since he knew they would have to be taken down at some point in time, Tirek continued towards the other side of the area that the woods contained, as there was another part of the area they hadn't explored yet and, thanks to taking out the Great Crabs, they could see what else the area had to offer them. As such they found another set of magical cloth armor resting on one of the large roots for one of the trees in the area, one that looked like they belonged to a conjurer or something, but what was rested next to it was a tome of some kind, a pyromancy tome to be exact, to which Tirek grinned for a moment as he stashed it inside his pack, because he was sure that Cornyx would enjoy reading this and offering him new spells. From there they continued across the water and approached the opening in the wall that interested them, as Tirek had seen the stone wall from afar and knew that it had to be important, though it was being guarded by a cross hollow and a few poison mushrooms, which were Tirek's name for the odd purple poison creatures that rested in the woods, but, thanks to their new level of power, it didn't take them long to take down the cross hollow and the few poison mushrooms that were near them.

Once that was done they walked into the door-like opening that was in front of them and discovered that they had two paths to choose from, one that lead to the right and one of the mature Crystal Lizards, while the one on the left would take them down to where a knight in intimidating black armor was standing, and happened to be carrying a greatsword by the looks of it. Unfortunately, as Sarana soon discovered, the door to their right was locked from this side, meaning that it could only be opened from the other side and would no doubt serve as a shortcut back into the Crucifixion Woods, even if Tirek was sure they wouldn't need to come back here once they progressed into Farron Keep, so all they could do was head to the path on their left and see what the knight was guarding. The knight waited for them to get close before even walking up the stairs that it seemed to be guarding, though when it neared them it raised its weapon and tried to smash them into the ground, where Martok raised his own greatsword and parried the incoming attack, allowing Sarana to slip by their foe and stab into his sides, as Tirek was sure it was male, while at the same time Tirek used his Fireballs to blast their new opponent, even if it seemed like it didn't do all that much to him at the moment. Sure enough the black knight was incredibly fast and very dangerous, that much Tirek could tell right off the bat as they started the fight and both of his companions had to move before the knight impaled them with his blade, but even then their foe seemed to have a hard time fighting against three opponents at the same time, so much so that they were able to bring down the knight in a few more moments and opened the way forward.

With the knight taken care of the trio were able to explore the rest of the area that they were in, where Tirek paused for a few moments and glanced out at the open area that was just beyond the structure he and his companions were in the middle of exploring, where he got a good look at Farron Keep, or the trees to be exact, but he did spot the three flames he had learned about, so he knew the knight wasn't lying... though his mood did sour a little when he noticed that he and his companions had found a dead end.

"So, was he guarding anything worthwhile, or was this a waste of time?" Tirek inquired, because when he paused for a few moments his companions had moved forward, to see if there was anything else in this area or if the black knight was just there to trick them, though when he faced Sarana and Martok again it looked like they might have found something in this area, or at least that's what he assumed since he couldn't see either of their faces.

"I found a set of armor that looks like it belonged to a mercenary, along with the weapons to go with it," Sarana said, where Tirek noticed a pair of scimitars in her hands, in the manner that indicated that she was likely going to put them in her pack and stick to her main weapons, as if she was looking for something better to use in the future, something that he couldn't fault her for since he had switched weapons when he found something better.

"And this was at the end of the path," Martok added, which was when he held out a square metal container, one that appeared to fit in the palm of his hand, where Tirek glanced at it and found that there was some sort of flame or coal in the center of the container, though since he wasn't familiar with this world he had no idea what was so special about the item, something that his companions would have to explain to him.

"What is it?" Tirek asked, something that was starting to get rather old, as he was getting tired of having to ask this over and over again when they found an item or weapon that he wasn't familiar with, even though he was sure that those words would be leaving his mouth many more times in the future, since they were still at the start of their journey and he suspected that he would find more strange things to ask about.

"A Coal, used by blacksmiths to infuse weapons with special gems," Sarana explained, though she was expecting this sort of thing to come up and had an idea of what to say so she could answer Tirek's question on the matter, to which she glanced out at Farron Keep for a moment as she considered where they had found the Coal, "and, based on where we are at the moment, I would have to guess that this might have been used to forge the weapons of the Abyss Watchers... or the weapons of those that protect them, if nothing else."

"I see. So we should take it back to our blacksmith and give it to him." Tirek said, because it was sounding like if they gave the blacksmith this item he would be able to empower their weapons in some manner, even if he wasn't familiar with the entire process, to which Sarana nodded her head and caused him to take the Coal so he could put it inside his pack for now, giving them another item to hand over when they returned to the shrine, "Well, now that we've take the time to see what else the Crucifixion Woods had to offer, and picked up some rather interesting items, I think its time we headed back to where the sage was located and make our way to the Cathedral of the Deep, since we can always come back here later and take out the knights guarding the way to Farron Keep."

Sarana and Martok nodded their heads in agreement, showing that they were just fine with what he was saying, which was when the three of them returned to the watery area of the woods and started to make their way back to the structure that held the path that would allow them to access the Cathedral of the Deep, where Aldrich was supposed to be resting at the moment, but after walking by a tree he stopped and turned his head for a second, as he felt an odd disturbance in the air and wanted to see what it was.

"What's wrong?" Martok asked, though at the same time he gripped the handle of his weapon for a moment and cast his gaze out at the area that was around where they were standing, seeing the various pike hollows that they had ignored this time around, making him wonder why they had stopped in the first place, while Sarana silently scanned the trees as well, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

"I felt a disturbance of some kind, like someone was intruding on our world." Tirek replied, which was odd when he briefly considered the other colorful beings they had come across during their quest to find the Lords of Cinder, as none of them had been accompanied by this sort of feeling, hence the reason he stopped and braced himself, so he could give his companions some warning before something new attacked them.

"Shit, that means someone has invaded our world," Sarana stated, something that instantly told Martok why they had stopped and what he needed to do, as he lifted his greatsword and readied himself for the battle that was coming towards them, since they had no idea which direction the intruders were coming from, before Sarana did the same as she turned to glance at Tirek for a moment, "Listen, each of the Unkindled has their own version of the world that we live in, so that sad knight that was talking to you has one and Anri likely has one that she calls Horace to, and there are fissures between these worlds that allow spirits, be they helpful white phantoms or aggressive red spirits, to access different worlds, either to help someone out or hinder them to the point where that world crumples to nothingness... but, based on what you just said, I'm going to guess we're dealing with Invaders."

"Wonderful, so the other Unkindled don't want competition in the race to find and deliver the missing Lords of Cinder to their thrones." Tirek remarked, though he suspected that some of the Unkindled were killers at heart and this gave all of them the chance to fulfill their dreams, by chasing down and murdering those who lived in the worlds they invaded, but he made a note to ask Sarana about this later, since he needed to know more about the other worlds and what he was just now discovering, before she held up a hand to indicate no more talking for a time.

A few moments ticked by and the trio stood there in silence, observing the area they were in as Tirek felt a few more changes to the air, two to be exact, meaning that if what Sarana said was to be believed, and he had every reason to trust what she had said thanks to what they had been through so far, they were being invaded by three spirits and that meant they were here to ruin their day. Based on the fact that the three of them hadn't been invaded until this point meant that one needed to be in an embered state to receive the aggressive spirits, like a beacon of sorts for whatever magic allowed them to seek out the other worlds, something that he would have to get answers to once this battle was over, since he was sure Sarana had more information to tell him. His thoughts came to a stop as he spotted two figures off in the distance, on the hill that would allow them to access the watery area that the three of them were standing in, though what he quickly found out was that neither of the Invaders were red colored, like Sarana had said, rather they were blue colored and had a red tint to their bodies, meaning there had to be something special about them. One of the Invaders was wearing the armor of the knights that were patrolling Lothric Castle, as in the ones in front of the church that Emma had been resting inside, and had both the spear and the large shield that one of them had been carrying, while the other seemed to be a knight that was wearing the same armor that they found on the ground not too long ago, the fallen knight set as Tirek had called it at the time, and his weapon was an interesting looking katana.

Just as Tirek started to wonder if there even was a third Invader, like the feelings suggested there were, he glanced to their right and found a third blue colored and red tinted spirit standing by another tree, this one wearing some interesting armor that seemed to be made out of leather and was dyed to be black, or at least that was what he assumed since it was hard to tell with the color of her spirit, and the only reason he knew it was female was because she wasn't wearing a helm over her head, revealing her short light brown hair... though her weapon, as it turned out, was the scythe that they had picked up back in the Undead Settlement.

The moment his took his eyes off the other two Invaders, even if it was for a few moments to see what the third one looked like, the pair rushed down the hill and raced towards the area that he, Sarana, and Martok were standing in, which was the instant that the three of them raised their weapons and prepared to defend themselves against the Invaders that had found them. Tirek waited for a moment and then rolled to the side as the scythe lady lashed out at him, while at the same time Sarana dodged the incoming spear that was coming her way and Martok stopped the katana with his weapon, showing the Invaders that they weren't to be underestimated and that they could hold their own on the battlefield, even if it was possible that these guys might be stronger in some aspects. Sure enough Tirek's foe was much quicker than he had originally thought, because when he threw a Fireball at her, intending for it to blow up in her face and knock her into the water so he could cut her down, she avoided the spell will a forward roll, going under the attack and avoided making any connections with it, before she rolled onto her feet and lashed out with her scythe, where Tirek barely had enough time to move out of the way as the curved blade of the weapon cut into his chest. Fortunately he had one or two Estus Flasks that he could use to replenish his health, so he managed to get away from the lady and quickly downed one of them to heal his wound, which disappeared before his eyes as he turned around and hurled a pair of Fireballs at his foe, including a few Soul Arrows when he was able, but what was annoying was that she seemed to dance around his spells with the grace of a dancer, before she went on the offensive once more.

Based on what he could see neither of his companions seemed to be having trouble with their opponents, even if they were more used to this lifestyle than he was, but before he could really do anything his foe rushed at him again and swung her scythe at him some more, forcing him to take a few steps back as she seemed to deliberately miss several attacks in a row, only for him to trip over a small angry crab that had come looking for revenge, allowing the lady to swing her scythe and cut right through his body, where his world faded once more as he crashed into the water.

Exploring the Cathedral Grounds

It took a few moments for Tirek to reform near the bonfire that was in the area he, Sarana, and Martok fought the sage in earlier, where he quickly noticed that the embered look had disappeared from his armor and body, to which he sat down and stared at the flames of the bonfire, as he was going to wait and see if his companions joined him, in the sense that they had been killed as well. He had to admit that the Invaders had been quite skilled, or at least the lady with the scythe had been that way, mostly since he really didn't have the chance to see how the other two had fought, though he was hoping that Sarana and Martok were more than skilled enough to take them down, since having them in their embered states would make the trek to the Cathedral of the Deep that much easier. At the same time it was rather annoying to be making progress at long last, including the fact that he was able to stay alive for a longer period of time than when he first started this quest, only to get cut down by someone that was more skilled than he was at the moment, setting him back once more and forcing him to go back for his souls, since those were very important until he managed to find, defeat, and consume the power of a Lord of Cinder. Once he got his hands on that power he would be able to regain a decent fraction of his former magical power, enough to where he would be able to make Invaders like that lady regret coming to his world, but for now he had to deal with using only fifteen percent of his power, even if he was annoyed by that.

As he thought about all of this the air near him shimmered for a moment as Sarana and Martok reappeared, though this time around both of them still had their embers on their armor, making him wonder if they had been successful in taking out the Invaders, since that seemed to be the only real reason behind why they would be like this and he couldn't see either of them wasting what embers they had without talking to him first.

"I take it you killed the Invaders?" Tirek asked, as he didn't feel any disturbances in the air, meaning the three Invaders must have been sent back to their own worlds, where they would no doubt wait for the chance to invade someone else's world and kill whoever lived there, but he was eager to hear what his companions had to say on the matter, since he had been focused on his foe at the time.

"We managed to take down our opponents rather easily, as they were arrogant in believing that all of us were easy to take down," Sarana replied, where it wasn't hard for Tirek to assume that part of this was still his fault, in some manner at the very least, but he remained silent as he listened to what he was being told, since there was the chance that she might have something interesting to tell him, "however, it seems that you were the one the lady with the scythe was after, while her companions were supposed to kill Martok and myself, so since she killed you she was able to depart from this world and head back to her own, no doubt gaining some sort of reward for her hard work, while her fallen friends got nothing for what happened to them."

"I see. So when you invade another world you have to be successful to get anything," Tirek remarked, as while part of this was annoying, since he wished he could have been warned about it ahead of time and not be caught off guard when they were being invaded by a group of people, he had to admit that the prospect of invading other worlds and taking the souls of the various hosts, as he decided to call the other Unkindled, might be worth it, before he sighed as he stood up and headed for the path back to the woods, "Well, that's something we can worry about later. For now I want to retrieve my souls and head back to the shrine, so we can hand over some of the stuff we picked up in the woods and maybe get a few upgrades while we're there, before we resume our trek and continue towards the Cathedral of the Deep."

Sarana and Martok said nothing to that as they followed Tirek back down the path that would take them to the front of the ruined fortress, where they engaged the various peasant hollows and sorcerers they fought the last time they came down this way, and once they reached the outside of the fort they waited for Tirek to jump down into the area below them and collect his souls, so he could return to them. Thanks to where he had been slain they didn't have to worry about the Great Crabs trying to kill him, so he was able to collect his souls in peace and return to where the pair was standing, even if that meant avoiding the pike hollows and the rest of the enemies that might be in the area, save for the undead dog that insisted on trying to attack him, only for him to blast his target into the ground. Once that was done, and he was sure none of the other enemies were coming after him, Tirek rejoined his companions and approached the bonfire that was just right outside the fortress, which was the moment that they focused on the shrine for a few seconds and let the magic teleport them back to their base of operations, as it was time to give the residents of the shrine a few things before they even made an attempt on the Cathedral of the Deep. It took them a few moments to return to the shrine, where Tirek found that the knight that had told him about the flames was missing, for what seemed like the third time since they left for the High Wall, and that the Fire Keeper was sitting nearby, though neither of them were his target as he pulled out the tome he had found and headed to where Cornyx was sitting, even if it was sure to piss off Orbeck, since they hadn't found any scrolls to give the man.

While he did that Sarana and Martok headed over to where Andre, the blacksmith, was hard at work tending to the various weapons of the other Unkindled that the three of them had seen since they first came to the shrine, but as Tirek walked down the steps he focused on the person he was here to see and no one else, as he was sure that he would come back with a scroll for Orbeck at some point in time.

"Ah, Unkindled One, you've returned," Cornyx commented, indicating that he knew who was approaching him, which wasn't hard since Tirek was the only one in this area that had hooves instead of feet, something that did make wearing any of the footwear they were finding an impossible task, but that wasn't why he was here and the man sensed that, "Tell me, have you come to acquire the rest of the spells I have to offer?"

"No, I actually have a pyromancy tome for you." Tirek replied, where he handed over the tome in question and let the man see what he was being given, since he was sure that Cornyx would enjoy spending some time looking over the pages of the tome and seeing what sort of spells he could gleam from it, and, more importantly, the spells that he could offer Tirek once his own studies were done.

"Yes, here we are... it has been some time since I've seen one of these tomes." Cornyx said, his tone indicating that he might have been able to offer Tirek a few more spells at the beginning if he had something like this on hand, but since that wasn't the case Tirek had been forced to make due with the spells he had been using up until this moment, "With this I can teach you some of the more sophisticated pyromancies, which you seem to be ready for, and give you an even greater chance of surviving the battles that are ahead of you."

Tirek found that he had just enough souls to grab the Fire Orb spell, one that he added to his list of growing spells as he finished trading the majority of his very limited supply of souls to the man, but he was sure that such a spell was going to come in handy in the future and wasn't annoyed about how much the trade had been, to which he bid Cornyx farewell and headed back to the center of the shrine, as it was time for him and his companions to get going. Once the three of them were back together they used the bonfire and returned to the area they had fought the sage in, but this time they weren't heading back into the Crucifixion Woods, as that would come later, rather they turned towards the open path that was to the right of where the sage had been sitting, when they first entered this area, and started to walk up the hill, which would take them to their next destination. As it turned out the path seemed to be taking them away from the Crucifixion Woods and was directing them towards the Cathedral of the Deep, which was exactly what Tirek was hoping for, though as they walked up the rocky path Sarana spotted a pair of small crystal lizards off to their left, ones that would be rather easy for her to take out, while Tirek noted that there was a manservant at the highest point of the path. Instead of stopping his companion from taking out the lizards, and acquiring their goods for their quest, he let Sarana jumped over the side and hunt down the lizards, while he and Martok faced off against the lone manservant, which was rather easy due to the fact that he had to let Martok be their foe's target so he could blast the tall person in the chest.

In a matter of seconds the pair were able to bring down the manservant and see what was beyond the top of the path he had been guarding, where they discovered another manservant that was waiting for the nearby evangelist to give him an order, or something to do at the very least, but while that guy was focused on the fire, and his leader seemed to be looking at a nearby corpse, Sarana snuck up behind the first target, revealing that she had found a path to lead her to this area, and stabbed her target in the back, allowing Tirek and Martok to take the evangelist out before she even knew what hit her, clearing the area out in a minute or two.

"This was a great way to demonstrate how much stronger we have gotten since the last time we fought these types of enemies, back in the Undead Settlement," Tirek commented, though he was happy with what had happened, as the three of them had dealt with that group of enemies like they were nothing and had barely wasted any time fighting them, he did know that some of the enemies that were ahead of them might be even stronger than what they were expecting and that they might be back to square one for a time, before he glanced over to Sarana for a moment, "What did those lizards have to give you this time around?"

"Some Twinkling Titanite, an even rarer upgrade material," Sarana replied, where she pulled out a white colored stone that seemed even stronger than the normal Titanite they had been finding since their adventure started, giving Tirek a few seconds to study the item in question before he nodded his head, allowing her to slip it back into her pack, "but other than that, there was nothing else in the area I investigated."

Tirek was just fine with that information, as he had the feeling that the Twinkling Titanite might be for the weapons that could be created from Ludleth's Transposition Kiln, but right now none of the powerful enemies they had taken out so far had any weapons he wanted, even if they hadn't really checked what the sage could give them, something he would check out at some point in the future. Once he knew what Sarana had gained from investigating the side passage the three of them started to walk towards the stone bridge that was in front of them, where they made sure to pick up a new suit of armor that was resting near the rock wall to their right, where Sarana claimed that it had belonged to a herald, one that must have given up their quest and discarded their armor here, but they claimed it and continued moving. As such they crossed the bridge and kept their guard up, because there was no telling what sort of enemies would attack the structure as they were doing this, but, interestingly enough, the three of them were able to cross over the bridge without some sort of creature attacking them, and there was even a bonfire waiting for someone to lit it, which they did instantly. With that done, and a new bonfire added to their list of areas they could visit, the trio faced the stone stairs that were nearby, where they started to walk up it so they could see what was between them and the Cathedral of the Deep, but as they took a few steps all three of them noticed that there was a knight defending the opening that they were heading towards, which was the moment that Sarana had them stop for a second, as she had glanced back, to make sure no one was coming at them from behind, and found a short passage near the bonfire she could check out.

Instead of telling her to focus on the objective, like he would do to anyone else, Tirek let her head over there and see what she could find, though it didn't take her long to return to where he and Martok were standing and revealed that she had found some new ashes, which they could turn into the Handmaiden when they returned to the shrine, before she put it inside her pack as they turned their attention to the foe that was in their way.

Of course, as Tirek assumed that there was only one enemy for them to worry about, Sarana told him that there had been a second one in the area, as she had spotted one in the area that she had found the ashes in, but she also revealed that she had quickly killed that knight before he even knew what hit him, though to be on the safe side Tirek let her head over to another path, just to make sure there wasn't a third enemy in this area. That left the knight that was guarding the entrance to him and Martok, where he switched to his flame for a moment as his companion walked forward and rushed towards where their foe was standing, who readied the shield he was wearing and rolled out of the way to avoid the incoming attack, even if that was when Tirek launched a large ball of fire at his target, a Fire Orb to be exact, and chuckled as the knight rolled right into the attack, knocking him backwards in the process. Martok took the opportunity that was presented to him and swung his greatsword down towards their foe, who didn't have all that much time to dodge and ended up with a deep cut in his back, but even then he forced himself to stand and continued moving to the best of his ability, showing that he was going to stop them from progressing and that he seemed to be waiting for his ally to come and assist him. It was in that moment that Sarana dropped down from the area she had been exploring, which had let her get above them thanks to the ledge that was near the knight they were fighting, and then stabbed their foe in the back for a second, giving Tirek the opening he was looking for as he blasted the knight in the face with a Fire Orb, knocking him to the ground and taking him out, allowing them to progress once more.

One thing they found, as they walked by where the first fallen knight had been standing, was that he left behind his odd circular shield that had a spider design on it, to which Martok wordlessly put it inside his pack and continued walking towards the area their foes had been guarding, which Tirek was eager to get through since they were wasting time outside the Cathedral. In addition to that Sarana revealed a silver shield that had been guarded by the other fallen knight, which she also put inside her pack as they moved forward, where the three of them noticed that there were a few hollows in the area that were wielding crossbows and, not surprisingly, there were a few undead dogs in the area as well, so Tirek turned his attention to loosing spells at the ranged enemies as Sarana and Martok took out the enemies that were near them as all three of them moved through the area. What Tirek soon discovered was that these particular enemies, which seemed nearly identical to the peasant hollows they had faced earlier, were incredibly easy to face and that they had nothing to fear from them, so he let Sarana run off and do her own thing as they moved through the area, where she found a large soul to add to their collection, before rejoining him and Martok. It only took them a few more moments to take care of the four undead dogs and the three crossbow hollows, who didn't drop anything at all, so once the area was cleared out they walked through the opening that was in front of them, another one built into a stone wall, and found a path that would take them to their main destination... along with a hollow that set itself on fire and tried to hug one of them, but that failed since none of the trio let him get near them.

Tirek grinned as he walked forward and approached the small chapel that was in front of them, as they were closer to one of the Lords of Cinder than they had been when their adventure started, though while he did notice a statue off to the side, with some hollows praying to it, the three of them walked into the structure, since there was no door blocking the way forward, before Martok opened the door they approached and revealed a chamber that had two additional doors for them to use, along with a bonfire that they lit immediately.

"The doors are locked." Martok stated, as while Tirek and Sarana made sure the bonfire was lit, and connected to the others they had found so far, he took the time to approach both of the doors and check them out, finding that they were locked and that they were unable to proceed by using the paths that were on the other side of the doors, even if such a thing might annoy Tirek to some degree, though he did notice the fact that Sarana picked up a whip, a weapon that none of them really needed, and added it to their weapon collection.

"Of course they're locked, meaning those doors are shortcuts back to this location." Tirek said, showing Sarana that he was starting to understand this world and how certain things worked, since this sort of thing seemed to be common in this land, especially with how the areas they had been through so far had been laid out, meaning that they would be able to open the doors at some point, "Well, since we can't use these doors yet, that means we'll have to use the path that's right behind us and see what else there is for us to explore, since there has to be an entrance or passage we can use to invade the Cathedral and find Aldrich."

Sarana and Martok nodded their heads for a moment and stood by the bonfire for a second, mostly so the three of them could get their flasks back and recover their health, just in case they needed to anyway, before they headed for the entrance that they had walked through earlier and headed for the hill that Tirek had pointed out, once more taking notice the four hollows that were praying to the statue. Tirek also spotted a well of some kind near the doorway they had walked through, but for now he ignored it as they walked over to where the statue was located, where Sarana picked up another Estus Shard for them to add to their flasks when they got back to the shrine, and since none of the hollows seemed to mind the fact that they were walking by the trio were able to head up the path and leave the area. When they reached the top of the stone path, which was rather short based on the other areas they had been through, the group discovered that they were in a grave area of some kind and had a much better view of the massive cathedral, along with the fact that there were some pale skinned hollows wandering around the area, and pulling themselves out of the ground, but for the most part they seemed docile and could be ignored. The other thing that was interesting was the fact that there was a gap in the area between where they were standing and the area the cathedral was in, meaning there was a lower area for them to explore at some point, but the trio agreed not to fall over the edge as they walked forward and ignored the pale hollows as they looked for anything that might help them out, a path or some forgotten gear.

As they quickly discovered some of the pale hollows weren't docile and tired to fight the trio, where Tirek took out his flame and set them all on fire, causing their foes to back off as some of them burned, but as that happened Sarana moved forward with Martok right behind her, as she was going to pass by the enemies that were in their way as he made sure none of them tried to chase the group. Tirek found that the foes that were slain by his flames were replaced in a matter of seconds, meaning that there was no point to killing the pale hollows at all, so what he did was set fire to the area behind him, to prevent the pale hollows from following him and his companions as they moved through this area, though as they headed up a hill Sarana had him refrain from setting fire to part of the path, allowing Martok to pick up a greatsword that was leaning against a grave, one that seemed sort of useful, before they jumped down to the path that was lower than the one they were following, giving Tirek a few seconds to flame the area before following his companions. That path brought them to an area that was above a dead end, where they jumped down and claimed two items, a weak soul and a second greatsword, though as Martok did that more of the pale hollows rose from their graves and started to turn towards the trio for a moment, which was the instant that Sarana moved forward and made sure that Martok was following him, where Tirek stayed behind them and used more of his magic to burn the land behind them, torching many of the pale hollows as they headed towards the cathedral.

The path the group followed brought them to a bridge that connected to the structure that was directly in front of the cathedral, which was being guarded by a hollow that had a maggot monster attached to it's chest and walked around like it was the one that was in control, and in the watery area that was below them rested three true maggot monsters, ones that seemed dangerous, so what Tirek did was blast the one that was in front of Sarana with a Fire Orb and knocked it off the short bridge, allowing them to move forward. As they moved up the stairs that were in front of them, and made their way towards the large door that was their current destination, there were a few more semi maggot monsters and a hollow that seemed to be cutting into the pale hollows that were nearby, only to chase them the instant they entered the area, but that was when Tirek spotted a white birch tree nearby. The moment he mentioned that to his companions, who took a second to see where it was located, the three of them moved over to where the tree was located and waited for the couple of enemies to come at them, which was where they watched as a couple of large arrows rained down on the area and hit the various foes that were coming after them, showing Tirek that he had been right to trust that the giant had his eyes on any of the white birches and that he had remained true to his word. Once those enemies were taken care of they found a few large souls lingering on the ground, some yellow powder that seemed interesting, and another Bone Shard, which was added to their collection before they headed towards the main door of the Cathedral of the Deep, as it was time to enter it and find the Lord of Cinder they were after.

Before they did that Sarana walked over to one of the nearby structures and found that, in addition to a shield that she picked up, there was a ladder that lead down into the area that the maggot monsters were in, one that she knocked down so they could get back up here faster, before they headed for the massive door... only for Martok to try pushing on the door and found that something was preventing it from opening.

"Should have figured that it would be locked," Tirek commented, to which he shook his head for a moment, as he was expecting this at some point in time, before he turned towards the path on their right, because it looked like there was a route of some kind that they could take, one that might bring them to an entrance they could use to get inside the massive cathedral and start their search for Aldrich.

As Sarana and Martok followed Tirek they found some small containers of red pellet and picked them up, allowing him to summon a Fire Orb and throw it at a grave tender that was holding a crossbow, on a level that was above where they were located, so the hollow was blasted backwards as the pair took down the pair of grave tenders that were around him, quickly clearing the area in the process. From there Tirek stepped out and glanced at the area they were in, finding that the area they were standing on was a well crafted balcony of sorts that wrapped around the side of the cathedral, even if parts of it didn't seem to be connected to each other and there were a few towers that seemed like places they might visit at some point, before he found some planks that allowed them to walk onto the roof of a walkway and would take them to another section of roof, for the first floor of the building to be exact. One thing that Tirek noticed as, while they carefully took turns and walked on the walkway in front of them, was that there were a few thralls hanging from bits of the building and seemed to be waiting for people like them to show up, hence the reason he made sure that Sarana and Martok were ready for their enemies, since he was sure that the thralls would attack them in due time. Interestingly enough the thralls waited until the three of them reached the roof that they were guarding before they dropped down on where they were now standing, but as that happened Tirek switched to blasting them with his Soul Arrows as Sarana used her sword to cut into the ones that came at her and Martok crushed those that dared to rush him.

Interestingly enough there was a little circular balcony nearby that Tirek investigated next, leaving his companions to clean up the rest of the thralls, before he found a large soul being guarded by a number of grave tenders, including a few that pulled themselves up over the railing of the area he had come to, so he used his Fireballs to wake up those that were nearby and pulled them towards him, allowing him to direct them towards Sarana and Martok, who aided him in taking them down, before he collected the soul and they moved forward to see what else rested outside the cathedral.

From there they found a walkway that was diagonally connected to the platform that was below them and that there happened to be three crossbow wielding grave tenders, accompanied by a spear carrying grave tender, so what they did was let Tirek rain fiery death upon the ranged enemies as both Sarana and Martok rushed forward, though as Sarana cut down the spear wielder, the major threat in this area, Martok headed down the next set of stairs and headed for the foe that was standing on the walkway he had spotted. Sarana said nothing as she walked up a different set of stairs and found an item that was being guarded by two thralls, who she took out with a few swings of her weapon, before she collected the loot and returned to where Tirek was standing, as the other path wasn't all that interesting, so they followed after their companion and focused on the enemies that would be in front of them. As it turned out there was another grave tender, this one wearing a little more than the previous ones they had faced so far, that Martok was fighting at the moment, where Sarana moved in and cut down the couple of thralls that were trying to ambush their companion, while at the same time Tirek weaved his magic around the area and blasted a few of the other thralls over the edge of the balcony, sending them to their deaths as the three of them gained the souls they possessed. With the three of them working together it didn't take too long for them to clear out the area and continue walking forward, where they found some stairs that lead them up to a resting area of some kind, or that had been the function of this area in the past, though they had to pause as three more grave tenders revealed themselves from where they were hiding.

Since the three new enemies didn't work like a team, or have any sort of tactic to use against the group, it took Tirek, Martok, and Sarana a few moments to take them down and open the way into the next part of the balcony, where they found one of the oddly dressed grave wardens walking down to where they were standing, so Martok raised his weapon and stopped the twinblades their new foe was using, before opening him for Sarana and Tirek to take him down while his defenses were lowered, which allowed them to continued up the stairs.

Once they reached the top of the short set of stairs they found that the balcony was longer than all of the others and, just like Tirek was expecting to see, there was even a large metal door, identical to the locked one they had noticed some time ago, some distance in front of them, which would be their target location since that would allow them to enter the Cathedral of the Deep at long last. There was a hollow that set itself on fire and rushed at the area they were in, though to prevent it from reaching them Tirek used a Fire Orb and knocked it backwards, allowing it to expire when it hit the ground, which was when they walked forward and started to approach the massive door that would let them enter the building and continue with their quest. Interestingly enough there were a number of normal grave tenders worshiping something that was on the ground, where the group paused for a moment as Tirek stepped forward and launched a Fire Orb up into the air, letting it come down and blow up upon the cluster of enemies, angering them in the process, but as their foes got up, and readied their weapons, they also revealed another grave tender, one of the more armored ones, meaning they were ready for a fight. Tirek switched to his Soul Arrows to deal with the weakened grave tenders, while Sarana dodged all of the attacks that came her way and cut down any foes that came at her, though all Martok did was parry the attack that came from the main grave tender and quickly cut him down, allowing them take down all of their foes.

With their foes taken care of, and the ember the grave tenders were guarding was collected, the trio headed back to the door and Tirek stood back as Martok slipped his weapon onto his back and rested his hands against the massive door, where he and Sarana watched as he forced the door open, wide enough for a single person to pass at a time, giving them a glance at the inside of the cathedral. The first thing Tirek noticed, as they walked into the first part of the cathedral, was that there were some large candlesticks on both sides of them, along with another desk or something that had some half burning candles on it, but that was when he noticed the massive helmet that was in front of them, to which he walked over to the edge of the balcony and found that there was a giant humanoid creature in the area below them, and that the top of its helm was level with this area. Once he took in the sheer size of the massive humanoid creature, and the fact that it seemed was incredibly dangerous from a glance, he spotted a large chandelier that was attached to the ceiling, right above the giant, but based on what he was seeing it didn't appear that such a thing would hurt the giant, meaning that it would be on no use to the three of them. In fact the ceiling seemed to have what could be crossed walkways, which could mean that if they found a way up there they might be able to explore the upper reaches of the cathedral and see what was up there, but for now Tirek's focus was on the area below them, as there was an odd black substance that covered a good deal of the floor, something they would have to deal with at some point in the near future.

The only way forward was the passage to their left, where a black slime seemed to be in the middle of the passage they needed to take, to which Sarana and Martok stood back for a moment as Tirek summoned a Fireball and blasted the slime with it, where the creature withered in pain and agony as that happened, causing him to grin for a second as he readied a few more Fireballs and burned the slime to ash. With the slime taken out the group headed down the stairs that were being the creature and found a charm of some kind near the door into the next area, which Sarana collected while also avoiding the poison that came from the statue in front of her, but instead of worrying about that they focused their attention on the next room, where three humanoid creatures stood, both of them wearing blue robes with a thin golden center and they were wielding candlesticks, which seemed to be their catalyst for casting spells. The reason Tirek knew that was thanks to the fact that one of them fired a Fireball at them, to which Sarana rolled out of the way and cut down the one that was on their right, while at the same time Tirek parried the incoming spell with his own Fireball and let Martok rush forward once that happened, which was followed by him cutting the devout down, which let him strike the third foe down with a second Fireball. Tirek had to assume that these guys were the guardians of Aldrich, or at least one of the guardians anyway since there was a giant in the area, but so far these enemies seemed rather easy to take down and didn't appear to be much of a threat, or at least those three weren't much of a threat, so they moved towards the opening that was on the other side of the room and continued to explore the cathedral.

What was interesting was that the next passage brought them to a small chamber that was more like a crossroad, as the path to their right seemed to be heading down into the area that the giant was in, while the path on their left held a circular elevator or lift of some kind, one that Tirek approached and stepped on it, where he waited for a few seconds and let his companions step on it, before he tapped the button in the middle of it. That was followed by it taking them down a tunnel that eventually stopped when it came to another small room, one that had a passage leading outside, where they found a metal door that lead outside, one that Sarana opened as soon as they neared it so they could head through it and see what was on the other side. What they discovered was a balcony of sorts that overlooked part of Farron Keep, an area that people seemed to like looking at, based on what Tirek had seen so far, but what was more interesting was the short set of stairs that lead to a wooden door, one that Martok forced open the moment they neared it, revealing that they had found one of the shortcuts back to the chapel bonfire. Even though none of them had really taken any damage during their trek through the grounds that were outside the cathedral, since they had been careful to avoid taking on impossible odds, they did take a moment to rest at the bonfire and refill any of the flasks that they had used so far, before they got up and headed for the new lift they had found, allowing them to head back up into the cathedral and continue exploring the rest of the structure.

Once they were back to the crossroads room the group found another path that would allow them to head down into another area, but for now they headed out onto the walkway that was near where the giant was located, finding that the entire thing wrapped around part of the structure, meaning that if they reached the other side of the walkway they could access whatever was on the other side of the cathedral. As they walked out onto the walkway that was near the giant they found that the being moaned, or at the very least let out a noise that indicated he had noticed he had guests, and the first thing he did was bring down his fist on where they were standing, causing the three of them to move apart from each other to avoid the attack. As Tirek moved towards the first end of the walkway, to get out of the giant's range and wait for his companions to join him, the giant actually grabbed him and pulled him out of the area he had been standing in, where it lifted him up into the air for a moment and then crushed him into the floor of the walkway, barely giving him the chance to move before it crushed him with the palm of his hand. Sarana and Martok rushed forward and cut into the giant's arm and hand, to stop it from crushing Tirek into the floor and killing him, before the giant knocked them backwards with the backside of its hand for a few seconds, showing that its annoyed by what was going on, and as Tirek tried to move out of the way the giant grabbed him again and then crushed him into the floor again.

Tirek moaned for a moment as the world around him went black once more, showing that the giant had actually killed him without giving him a chance to fight back, and he found himself back at the chapel bonfire, to which he sat down and waited to see what happened to his companions, while thinking about the giant and how they were going to get around such an obstacle so they could explore the rest of the cathedral.

Searching for a Lord

Tirek knew that they were in for quite the challenge, since the giant that was guarding the walkway they needed to use was going to make sure none of them got by it, making him annoyed by the fact that none of his spells would be able to help him this time around, but there was one thing they might be able to do, as he suspected that if they just booked it, and headed for the other side, they might be able to make it without being hit by the giant. Fortunately this wasn't like all of the other times he had died, as they had the lift that would allow them to return to the area of his latest death rather easily, so he didn't have to worry about losing his souls this time around, but he knew that the being that was in their way was the thing he had to worry about, especially with the speed the creature swung his arms at invaders. Part of him had to wonder if he should return to the shrine and see if Yoel was ready for another round of drawing out his true power, as while twenty percent might not do anything to the giant it would allow him to take out the other enemies that were in their way that much quicker, but for now he remained deep in his thoughts as he waited to see what Sarana and Martok's fates were, since they had lashed out at the giant while he was under attack. He knew there was a chance that they would come through the now open door they had unlocked a few minutes ago, just like what happened when the invaders came into their world, but he would have to wait and see what happened when they finally arrived at the bonfire.

A few moments later the air near him shimmered and both of his companions returned to the bonfire that he had been resting at, though a quick glance at them revealed that they must have fought the giant to clear it out, like one of those foes that wouldn't come back if they killed it once, where the loss of their embered state told him that they must not have been successful in their mission.

"That giant is a tough one to crack," Martok commented, his statement revealing that fighting the giant was the wrong idea and that they needed to do something else, which was something that Tirek had been thinking about since he came back to life at the bonfire, though even as he said that both he and Sarana turned towards Tirek for a second, "So, do we try to kill the giant again, or are we going to attempt something different?"

"We're going to head back inside the cathedral and run past the area that the giant is guarding," Tirek stated, because he suspected that if they could get to the other side of the walkway, to the other entrance he had spotted earlier, the giant would cease to be a problem for them and they would be able to explore the rest of the cathedral however they wanted, allowing them to look for Aldrich, the first of the Lords of Cinder they would be encountering.

"That might work," Sarana said, where Tirek had the feeling that she might have some experience with these creatures and hadn't said anything since she wasn't expecting to find one in the Cathedral of the Deep, but, at the same time, he was somewhat pleased to hear that one of his companions agreed with what he was saying, which was when Martok nodded his head as well, something that Tirek was expecting since the warrior seemed to follow Sarana's every word, either due to love or because she was the superior of their little group.

Tirek nodded his head and got up from where he was sitting, to which the three of them headed back through the open shortcut and walked over to where the lift was located, where they waited for a few seconds and let the circular lift come to a stop in front of them, which was the moment that they climbed onto it and rode back up to the crossroads area that contained the path the giant was guarding. The moment they walked out onto the part of the walkway that was near the giant, the area that Tirek had been killed in to be exact, Sarana rushed forward and headed down the path that would allow them to move forward, while at the same time Tirek and Martok followed after her, which was the moment the giant woke up and raised himself so he could lash out at them once more. This time around, thanks to knowing what was going to be coming their way, the group were able to fool their foe into lashing out at certain areas to allow the other two to get by the giant, where Tirek found a lost soul, an interesting ring, and some bolts as they rounded the corner and headed for the doorway that was in front of them. There happened to be a grave tender standing in their way, where Tirek blasted the hollow out of the way and let Sarana and Martok rush into the opening that was nearby, to which he joined them and let the giant crush the grave tender, even if they would be focusing on the area that they had found and would put the giant out of their minds, for now anyway.

At the bottom of the stairs, which they found on the other side of the doorway they had gone through, they spotted a pair of paths they could pick from, one heading even deeper and the other heading off to their left, to which Tirek headed to the left and looked around for anything that might be out to kill them, where he found a ladder leading to an area that was above them and a walkway that lead to the other side of the room they were in. He had to assume that the other path they could have picked from would have taken them to the lower area of this room, to let them move further into the rest of the building, so for now he focused on heading for the walkway, which had some arches on the lower side, and found a thrall that dropped down from the ceiling. Instead of worrying about it he walked by the thrall and let Martok crush it a few seconds later, under the weight of his greatsword, while Sarana used her weapon to cut down the other two thralls that tried to attack them from behind, allowing Tirek to focus on the corpse that was resting near a wall and found something interesting, that it was holding a page detailing a new spell, which he collected. He found that the spell was called Seek Guidance, where the information on the page quickly revealed that it was one of the miracles, or lightning type spells, that this world possessed, though the spell was used to allow the user to seek additional help from the other worlds, without being in an embered state, something that would be useful if Sarana and Martok weren't helping him, but he added it to his collection of spells and returned to where his companions were standing.

While he did that Sarana headed up the ladder for a moment, where Tirek raised his eyebrow as he witnessed that, but he stood beside Martok as they waited to see what their companion was up to, before she slid down the ladder and rejoined them, briefly mentioning that there had been an evangelist at the top of the ladder and that there was no other path up there, meaning the other set of stairs was where they had to go.

Tirek nodded his head and headed over to the set of stairs in question, where they quickly came to a room that had a few of the church chairs resting in the area and had a chest off on the far right, though as he approached it Sarana held her hand out and stopped him, though as he started to open his mouth, to ask her what she was doing, she beckoned for him to be silent and beckoned to the chest. It was interesting that she would do something like that, but based on what he had seen from her in the past, since they started their quest, he decided to put his faith in her and glanced at the chest for a few seconds, where he found that the upper part of the chest, the lid, was slowly moving a little up and then headed back down, like something was sleeping and that they didn't want to make too much noise. As such she had him back up and he did so, where he stood by Martok for a moment as she pulled out the charm she had found outside the cathedral, by the evangelist that was outside, and jumped backwards for a moment as she smashed the charm on the floor in front of the chest, causing a white mist to cover the area around where it landed, something that caused the chest-like creature to yawn. In that moment Sarana rushed forward and took the item that was right inside the creature's mouth, a book of some kind, and moved back to where Tirek and Martok were standing, though instead of saying anything they headed for the other path they could take and entered a much larger area that was like the last room they had been in, and they did spot a tall knight, in decent looking armor and wielding a large shield, blocking the way forward.

"So, what was what?" Tirek asked, because he had no idea what sort of creature that was, even though he could make a guess as to what it was based on what he had seen, but he knew that Sarana would be able to tell him what that thing had been and, more importantly, the details on the item that they had picked up thanks to her quick actions, even though he was sure that they could have taken the creature down.

"A mimic... they take the form of chests to punish greedy looters, but they're weak to that charm I used." Sarana said, which Tirek found to be interesting and wondered if they might have seen a creature like it in some of the areas they had gone through, as it looked like Martok might have fought one of them in the past, before she glanced at the tome she was holding for a few seconds, "This, on the other hand, is one of those braille tomes I've heard about, which contain miracles that only the blind can read and translate, or someone who has gone through the effort to learn that skill, so, since we don't know anyone like that, its not exactly useful to us right now."

"Then we'll wait until we find someone that can translate it." Tirek remarked, as that wasn't what he wanted to hear right now, especially since this item had been guarded by a mimic that had assumed the form of a chest, but, at the same time, it was worth putting it into their pack and moving forward, as there was a chance that they could find someone to help them with the tome.

Sarana nodded her head and stored the tome in her pack, where they turned towards the knight that was still walking up and down part of the chamber that they were in, apparently ignoring them somehow as it did that, and rushed towards their next foe, who actually lowered his shield for a moment and seemed to bless his mace, based on the white light that danced around his weapon, which was when Sarana cut into his side, to indicate the battle was starting. When the knight lashed out with the mace he was holding, as in it hit the ground since he wanted to smash one of them into the floor, he left small white glowing spheres on the floor, where Tirek and Martok moved away from them as they exploded a few seconds later, showing them that they needed to be careful when dealing with someone that had this sort of enchantment on their weapon. As it turned our their foe made the wrong decision to focus on Sarana, because that opened him up to being attacked by Martok from behind and received a Fire Orb to the back, knocking him to the floor rather easily, which was the moment that Sarana landed on his back and stabbed him, bringing an end to the knight's undead life, despite the fact that he would be back when they rested at the next bonfire they found. The group glanced at each other for a second, as they knew that if they encountered more of those knights, like two or more, or a group with one of them, they would be in serious trouble, before the three of them found that there were two paths to pick from, one that lead into the room that was beyond where the knight had been patrolling and another that seemed to go into the massive area that contained the giant they had seen earlier.

As such they headed into the room that the knight had been guarding and found that it was a large area and that it was a dead end, though that was when a large six legged creature dropped from the area that was above the doorway the group had walked through and attacked them the moment it touched the ground, where it focused on Sarana and Martok for a time, leaving Tirek alone so he could use his new Fire Orbs on the creature, causing massive pain to the monstrous beast, to the point where it collapsed and died before their eyes.

"This spell is more useful than I thought it would be, especially against enemies that are weak to fire." Tirek said, even though a smile appeared on his face as he picked up a ring that was resting where the creature had been, showing that he was pleased by this turn of events, despite the fact that they had to backtrack for a few moments to get to the other path they had spotted earlier, before noticing that the ring had a sapphire in it, "Well then, I guess its time we checked out the area that the giant is in, while making sure we don't tick off the tall creature in question."

Sarana and Martok nodded their heads once more, something that Tirek was getting used to since there were times where they chose not to talk and times where they would talk, where this was the former, but as they walked out of the room he did notice that Sarana found an ember resting on the ground and pocketed it, not that it mattered, before they headed for the other passage and found themselves in the massive area that the giant could walk in, if it decided to move from where it was standing. Of course they walked out onto a path that rested between the doorway and the area that the giant was in, where Tirek spotted a couple of thralls hanging out in an area to their left, who didn't seem to notice them at all, before they walked down the stairs that were in front of them and noticed a few things, the first being the fact that there were actually two giants in this cathedral, the one off to their far left, which had killed them, and one off to an area on their right, but fortunately the pair hadn't moved yet, meaning they were in the clear. The next thing that Tirek noticed was that the area they were now walking in wasn't covered by the strange substance that the first giant was standing in, rather it seemed that the floor was separated into three seconds and they were in the part that was ankle high water, and then he noticed another area that they could explore, one that happened to be on the side of the cathedral that their shortcut was located on, only it was some distance in front of them. There was also the fact that there was some sort of gathering area off on their right, which rested above the black substance that the second giant was resting in, meaning that they had to pick from trying to find a second shortcut or trying to mess with one of the slumbering giants, something he would feel better about if they had a quicker route to this area.

What was interesting was that there was also one of the cathedral knights walking in the area that might hold a small shortcut of some sort, likely the other one that would take them back to the bonfire, and he had a few thralls walking with him, showing that engaging that particular foe meant challenging three foes at the same time, which might be a challenge based on what they had seen so far. Tirek had them wait for a moment, just to let the cathedral knight turn around and head back down the path he and his minions had come from, before he, Sarana, and Martok walked forward and headed for the doorway that the group seemed to be guarding at the moment, even though a thrall dropped down behind them as they passed by a wall, prompting Sarana to stab him before he could attack them from behind. Once that was done they walked through the opening and found a set of stairs that headed downwards, which brought them to a metal door that could be opened from their side and revealed an area that rested above another part of the outside of the cathedral, where one of the maggot monsters seemed to be resting in the water to their right. That was when they found another set of stone stairs that brought them to an area that had two large doors for them to open, one that happened to be the other shortcut to the chapel bonfire, which pleased Tirek more than he was willing to admit, while the other contained a room that had a lift in it, one that might be worth exploring at some point.

Tirek made sure that the three of them rested at the bonfire for a moment, even if they really didn't need it, before he got back up and headed through the door that they had walked through, as he intended on heading back to the inside of the cathedral so he could figure out where Aldrich was located, challenge him to a fight, and then kill him so he could steal his power for himself. Sarana, however, apparently seemed to be of the opinion that they might as well check out what the lift might take them to, since there was the possibility that it might take them right to Aldrich's quarters, or an area that was of equal importance to the cathedral, and while Tirek was sure she didn't know everything there was to know about this building he had to admit that it was worth checking out. In the following moment the three of them walked onto the lift and let it take them up to the top of the shaft that it was connected to, which happened to be the floor of the tower that one of the crossbow wielding grave tenders, near the main entrance of the cathedral, happened to be positioned on, but instead of letting their foe get his attack off Martok kicked him over the edge and let Tirek blast him, and the other grave tender, from where they were standing. Once that was done Sarana stepped out onto the small walkway that wrapped around the tower that they had found, where she found a ladder that would let them head to a higher level and started to climb up it, causing Martok and Tirek to do the same thing until they reached the top of the ladder, revealing another area for someone to stand on and found one of the devouts, a thin one, praying to something.

Sarana, after making sure the devout had no idea that they were there, raised her blade and stabbed him in the back, killing him instantly and caused him to drop a ring on the floor, before she walked over to the edge of the area and stared at the support pillar that connected to the cathedral, where she jumped down onto the walkway and moved out of the way so she could glance up at the pair. Martok wasted no time in doing the same thing, where he jumped over the edge and landed near their companion, to which Tirek picked up the ring and stashed it inside his pack, mostly so he could consider what they were doing, before he followed their lead and jumped over the edge as well, only to land on the tiled walkway like his companions had done. As the group headed up the tiled walkway, and approached the part of the roof that it was connected to, a thrall climbed up onto the area behind them, but this time Martok, instead of wasting his time to use his weapon, simply kicked the thrall over the edge and sent him into the lowest section of the outside area of the cathedral, killing him in the process. That, in turn, allowed them to walk up onto the flat walkway that they had been walking up, only for a hollow wielding a large axe to walk out of a side passage and walk towards the group, where Martok quickly parried the attack that was coming their way and broke the hollow's guard, allowing Sarana to cut into the hollow's side and put him down, though as they did that Tirek spotted another one, this one wielding a halberd, coming up the path that was behind them and hurled a Fire Orb at him, positioned so that it would hit the side of the stone pillar that was near it and send it flying off the roof, opening the way with little effort. With that done the three of them headed down the path that was now open for them, where Martok kicked off another thrall as it tried to climb up to where they were walking, before Tirek found an opening to their left that was rather interesting, as it wasn't something that he was expecting to see, even after what he had seen so far.

What was in front of them was the crossed walkways that Tirek had seen when they first entered the cathedral, which he had assumed they wouldn't be able to access the first time he noticed the area, but, at the same time, there were a few cathedral knights standing up here with them, including a few thralls, so that meant that Martok would be at the front of the line and he would be behind his companions, to throw magic at their foes. As such they carefully made their way over to the area that one of the cathedral knights were standing in, the one that happened to the be the left of the opening they had walked through, where Sarana let Martok use his greatsword as a makeshift shield to block the incoming attacks from the thrall that was in their way, before she lashed out and stabbed the guy while his defenses were open. Tirek, while they were doing that, summoned his magic and blasted the other thralls with a few Fireballs, deciding not to waste his power on the Fire Orb spell since his targets were a good distance away from where he and his companions were at the moment, and he could tell that the other cathedral knight didn't seem to care about what was going on. Part of him wanted to blast the other knight and push him off the walkway that he was standing on, just to make their lives that much easier, but since it appeared that the foe in question wasn't looking at them he had to assume that he either had a short attention span or he had hollowed with none of his companions noticing the difference in his attitude.

It didn't take Martok and Sarana long to take care of the cathedral knight that they had walked over to, and since they noticed the same thing that Tirek did, about the one that he had glanced at, they carefully made their way over the crossed walkways and headed for the flat area they could stand on, which seemed to be the next area for them to look at, but as they did that Tirek found that his thoughts were incorrect. By that he meant that the other cathedral knight moved as they walked by where it was positioned and, since he was caught off guard by that, it swung the side of its greatsword into his chest and knocked him clean off the walkway that he and his companions were on, where all he could do was fall through the air before colliding with the ground floor of the cathedral. As such his world went black once more and he reappeared back at the bonfire that rested inside the chapel, where he growled in annoyance as he sat down near the flames, because it was annoying to be killed twice in the same area and it was starting to get old, though he had the feeling that Sarana, at the very least, might be getting annoyed with him, meaning that Martok would likely follow her lead if she said something about it, based on what he's seen so far. What just happened to him meant that the cathedral knights had to be taken down the moment they were spotted and not allowed to do whatever they were trying to do, though that meant nothing if he kept getting crushed by everything they fought, especially since there was another giant in the cathedral and probably several more knights as well, meaning the trek to Aldrich was going to be hard.

A few minutes went by, showing him that both of his companions must have survived the sudden surprise attack from the cathedral knight, before Sarana and Martok walked through the opening that lead to the lift, confirming his thoughts on the matter, but instead of saying anything he got up and they lead him back to where they had been standing when he had been knocked off the crossed walkway, allowing him to regain his souls, before Sarana pulled out the white bones they had collected and told them to focus on the shrine... though when Tirek did that he found that he had been taken from where he had been standing and teleported back to the shrine.

Sarana, knowing what was coming next, informed him that what they had used were Homeward Bones, useful items for the Undead in the sense that they allowed them to teleport back to a previous bonfire they had used or even the place that served as their base of operations, where Tirek did wish that she had mentioned this sooner, but he decided not to worry about that and focused on what they were doing. Since they were back at the shrine, and had some time on their hands, Tirek took the opportunity that was presented to them and approached the Fire Keeper, where he channeled all of the souls he had acquired so far and empowered himself even further, even if this was nothing compared to what Yoel did for him, a thought that brought a smile to his face. Just thinking about the pilgrim made Tirek wonder if it was time to see if he was ready to unlock even more of his true strength, which, in turn, would allow him to decimate the enemies that were inside the cathedral, especially Aldrich once they found where the Lord of Cinder was hiding, so while Sarana and Martok took their turns with the Fire Keeper, to strengthen themselves as well, he went looking for the pilgrim. Sure enough Yoel was standing in the area that he had claimed as his home since he arrived in the shrine, an area far away from the others that Tirek and his companions recruited during their quest, and even as Tirek approached him, to see if he was ready for another round, he could see that Yoel was shaking a little, like he might have used too much of his energy to pull out his true strength, meaning that he might perish soon if this continued.

If it were anyone else that had noticed that, like Twilight and her friends, they would have stopped and found another way to empower themselves, so they didn't kill someone who was trying to help them, but he didn't care all that much and approached the pilgrim, who nodded his head and raised his energy filled hand as he focused on what Tirek wanted him to do, who felt his power become even stronger in the process, and his body was starting to look even younger, so much so that the old looking form was becoming a thing of the past.

"My Lord, I can draw out even more of your power, if you're willing." Yoel commented, his voice actually sounding like he was in pain from what he was doing at the moment, despite his best efforts to make sure no one heard the tone of his voice, though at the same time that interested Tirek, because the level of power the pilgrim had just brought him to was twenty percent of his total power, following the theme of five percent per session, and if he could withstand the pain of one more session that would put him at twenty-five percent.

"Good, then do so." Tirek commanded, because if Yoel was going to purposely push himself to his absolute limits like this, and potentially put his life at risk to draw out even more of his true strength, despite the pain that his body was in at the moment, he was going to take the offer and become even stronger as a result, granting him more than enough power to take down the Cathedral of the Deep.

"As you wish." Yoel said, where he braced himself and repeated the process that he just went through, where Tirek did feel even more of his power returning to him as his body got younger as a result, though once the pilgrim was done with what he was doing he lowered his land and coughed for a moment, showing that doing such a process twice had caused some damage to his body, more than the last few times they did this, before he glanced at Tirek, "My Lord, you have now obtained ample strength, as I'm sure you have no doubt determined on your own."

"Yes, I feel much stronger than I did earlier," Tirek remarked, where he stood up and stretched his arms for a second or two, as while he was still not close to what he looked like when he was at his full power, something that he was currently trying to reach, his power was far stronger than what he had been using when they first invaded the cathedral and he knew that it was time to continue on his quest, though as he walked away he paused for a moment, "You did good, Yoel, now rest and get your strength back."

That was one of the few times that he would even tell someone that they had done a good job, something that was very uncharacteristic of him, but Yoel had been instrumental in giving him a fourth of his true power back and this time he wanted to make sure the pilgrim knew that his help was appreciated, in his own way of letting people know that of course, before he headed back to where Sarana and Martok were waiting for him. For a moment they seemed surprised by what had happened to him, or at least that was what he was assuming since he couldn't see either of their faces, though that was followed by them gathering around the shrine's bonfire and headed back to the cathedral, as it was time for them to continue looking for Aldrich. As such they returned to the chapel and walked through the doorway that served as the second shortcut back to the bonfire, to which Tirek walked forward and left the area of the bonfire behind, where he and his companions moved into the cathedral and quickly returned to the area that the cathedral knight and his thralls were walking in. Tirek glanced at those foes for a moment before he ignited his left hand and hurled a Fire Orb at the cathedral knight, where it slammed into the knight's back and detonated with enough force to take out both of the thralls that were near him, and knocked his target to the floor, giving Sarana the chance to rush forward and put an end to the knight, so they could move forward without having to worry about the knight coming at them from behind.

Tirek chuckled for a moment as that happened, because this just showed that his power was even greater than what he was expecting it to be when paired with the magic of this world, before he stepped out into the area that was in front of them, though instead of heading over to the right, towards the giant that had killed them, he walked over to the giant that was to their left, where he spotted more of the black slimes they had seen earlier, which were hanging around the feet of the giant. The group glanced at each other for a moment before Sarana and Martok headed for the giant, as they intended on attacking the feet and seeing if they could bring it down, while at the same time Tirek let his hand catch on fire and threw some Fireballs at the slimes, causing all of them to wither in pain as they were set on fire, just like the last one they had fought, giving his companions a chance to cut into the giant's legs as it roared and stood up. Tirek watched what was going on and let a small smile appear on his face as his companions slashed into the giant's legs, eventually causing the being to collapse on the ground and break apart into souls, showing him that the way to bring down the giants in this area was to hack at their legs, before they started to walk through the black substance that coated the ground that the giant had been resting in. While they did that, however, Sarana picked up a few items that were around where their foe had been located, some leggings, a pair of gauntlets, and a chest piece that looked like they belonged to the same set of armor, a large soul, one of those odd tongues, and a pair of hammers with spherical orbs at the top of the handles, no doubt a pair of weapons, before they headed up the nearby stairs and continued moving through the rest of the cathedral as they continued their search for Aldrich.

At the top of the stairs they found a number of devouts, either standing around or sitting in the nearby seats, while a cathedral knight happened to be standing in front of the stairs that were in front of the large statue they had seen earlier, though this could be easy for them, since the only foe that might give them some trouble would be the knight, to which the three of them moved forward to confront their latest enemies. What Tirek did was focus on throwing Fireballs at the devouts that were resting around the area, though it was in that moment that he realized he had miscalculated the types of enemies they would be facing, as there were a few peasant hollows resting in the wooden seats and a cathedral knight that was resting in one of them, meaning that he annoyed the knight. Since Sarana and Martok were in the middle of dealing with the first cathedral knight, and were doing a good job since the knight couldn't hit either of them, he focused his attention on his foe and dodged the incoming swings that were being sent in his direction, allowing him to blast the knight with a few Fireballs as he pulled his mace back, and it wasn't long before the knight fell to the ground, letting him turn his attention to the rest of the enemies that were in the area. With the cathedral knights taken care of, and Tirek was sure that there weren't more of them in the area they were in, the three of them finished off the rest of the enemies that were in front of the statue and started to look around the area their foes were guarding, just to see if there were any items that might be useful in the near future.

In the end Tirek found that there was nothing else for them to pick up, but during their search they found a large set of stairs that lead down to one of the Fog Doors that represented an area that a powerful being was resting in, which told him that they had found Aldrich's hideout... but as they walked through the Fog Door, and entered a rather massive and impressive chamber, that had a large coffin in the middle of everything, Tirek found that there were a number of devouts praying in front of the coffin, before they got up and faced the group.

"Dammit, those guys aren't Aldrich... they're his Deacons of the Deep," Sarana commented, though at the same time she and Martok readied their weapons, because the enemies that were in front of them were glaring at them and looked like they were ready to do battle, hence the reason that Tirek readied his magic as well, before she glanced at Tirek for a second, "They aren't as important as their master is, but they might have a clue as to where Aldrich went... however, we'll need to beat the information out of them."

"That's perfectly fine." Tirek stated, because while he was annoyed that they had gone through all that effort to find Aldrich, only to get a large cluster of his minions by the looks of things, this was a good opportunity to test his new level of power out, just to get a good feeling for the power that Yoel had unlocked for him, hence the reason he was channeling another Fire Orb at the moment, "We'll just have to tear them down and figure out what they know."

Sarana and Martok nodded their heads before they scattered, as Sarana rushed around and stabbed a couple of their enemies with her weapon, while at the same time Martok marched towards the group of Deacons and swung his weapon at them, hitting multiple of them at once, though Tirek noticed something interesting as his companions cut into their foes, one of the Deacons had a red glow to his body. He had to assume that the Deacon in question was either empowered by something or he was the main target that they had to take out, though either way he didn't care about which idea was the right one and hurled the Fire Orb at the Deacon with the red glow, where most of the damage was dealt to his main target and the rest of it was transferred to the rest of the enemies that were near him. The second Fire Orb he hurled caused the red glow to disappear from his target's body and, interestingly enough, a red orb moved through the air so it could rest in a new host, allowing that Deacon to be empowered for the foreseeable future, even though that one was quickly mowed down by Martok, forcing the orb to move to yet another host. Tirek also dodged the incoming Fireballs that the Deacons fired at him, just like they did to his companions, and yet he found that his new and improved body was able to move just fine in the grand scheme of things, as he was able to avoid the incoming attacks rather easily, surprising him with how well his body operated at the moment, but even this wasn't his peak and it made him all the more eager for his true power to be returned to him.

Tirek and Martok spent the next couple of moments focusing on the area that the red glowing Deacon was located, as both of their attacks dealt damage to the area that was around their target, while Sarana focused on cutting down the rest of the Deacons, basically taking down one of them every now and then to limit where the orb could go, even if there were more of their enemies raising out of the floor for some odd reason.

Of course, as the group continued to cut and blast their way through the enemies that were in front of them, a group of three Deacons, these ones looking more important than the others they had seen so far, especially due to the fact that two of them were wearing finer clothing and one of them was even carrying a staff of some kind, meaning that he had to be the highest ranking person in the area. As such Tirek focused his Fire Orbs on that particular foe, more because of the fact that he seemed important and less due to the fact that he was the one that the red glow attached to, which he felt was a bonus in the grand scheme of things, leaving Martok to focus on clearing out any of the Deacons that were trying to cast the more powerful spells at them. Sarana quickly told him that it was due to the fact that these foes had to channel their power into a curse that would basically kill them in a matter of seconds, so with her and Martok focusing on the foes that were trying to power that spell, and most of the Deacons focusing on trying to kill them, Tirek was allowed to down one of his Ashen Flasks and restored his power, to which he launched a few more Fire Orbs into the cluster of enemies that were near his main target, where a smile appeared on his face as he blew them all up at the same time. It was rather amusing for them to do this to the cluster of enemies that they were fighting, despite the fact that the Deacons were trying their hardest to take them down, and it wasn't long before Tirek hurled a more powerful Fire Orb into the cluster of enemies and blew them all up, this time causing all of them to react at the same time.

He, Sarana, and Martok watched as the Deacons collapsed on the ground, their bodies disappearing one by one until a fused soul rested in the air in front of them, something that they were able to collect, signifying that they had beaten one more powerful creature, and as their embered states were restored Tirek found a small doll, which seemed to be a squire of some kind, that radiated magical power, like a key that went to a lock, before they returned to the shrine, as it was time to think about their plan and figure out what the next stage of their plan was.

Into Farron Keep

"So, what now?" Tirek asked, waiting for him, Sarana, and Martok to return to the shrine before he asked the question, as he had been under the impression that Aldrich, the first Lord of Cinder they were supposed to find, was going to be resting in the Cathedral of the Deep, but all they had found was a group of his Deacons and took them down, gaining the soul of yet another powerful creature for them to use in Ludleth's kiln.

"First, we empower ourselves." Sarana replied, as she knew that Tirek was annoyed by what they had discovered, and truth be told she was also annoyed by that information, because she was also expecting Aldrich to be inside the Cathedral of the Deep, but, at the same time, she had noticed something that would interest her companion, since Martok was the one that was speaking to the Fire Keeper right now, "While we're doing that, you can walk over to the thrones and talk to Anri, as it seems like she's returned to the shrine as well, meaning she might have some information for you to think about, though I'll also be thinking of where our target could have gone."

Tirek raised an eyebrow for a moment and found that Anri was definitely standing near Ludleth's throne, which was interesting since he wasn't expecting to see her again, along with the fact that Horace was positioned near her, no doubt to make sure she remained safe and sound until whatever quest they were on was brought to an end, to which he left Sarana and Martok to what they were doing and approached the lady that had told them about the cathedral.

"Anri, it seems that you're doing well." Tirek commented, making sure that the lady heard him and that she turned her head to face him, or at least the face of her helmet was shifted to look in his direction, while at the same time Horace took a moment to make sure he didn't mean her any harm before allowing him to approach his companion, even though Tirek was tempted to set the knight on fire for that glance.

"Oh, Tirek, we meet again." Anri said, showing that she did remember him, which wasn't hard to do since he was one of the more unique people in this world by the looks of things, but at the same time he could tell that she was preoccupied by something, as she glanced over at the throne that had to be Aldrich's for a few seconds, "I am pleased to see that you and your companions are safe. Horace and I reached the Cathedral of the Deep, just as we planned, and we had to fight our way to the final chamber, but unfortunately Aldrich's coffin was empty and was guarded by his Deacons. That means the man-eater must have left for his true home... the little doll that we discovered told me what we needed to know, even if we wish he had been inside his coffin."

"His true home?" Tirek inquired, though he supposed that such a thing made sense as he thought about it, that one of the first places anyone would think to look would be the place where something or someone was buried, while leaving the place the target in question came from to be one of the last places anyone would think to look, if the target didn't leave an item like the doll behind to let hunters figure out where they had gone.

"Yes, Aldrich is said to hail from Irithyll in the Boreal Valley, an ancient fabled city..." Anri replied, where she considered what she was saying for a moment, almost as if someone had told her that piece of information and she was having some trouble trying to figure out if that information was correct, before she tilted her head for a moment, "A pilgrim told me that the city lies beyond Farron Keep, where the Abyss Watchers rest, which becomes our next destination."

Tirek raised an eyebrow to that, as he wasn't expecting that information to be given to him, before he bid Anri farewell for now and headed for the area that Yoel had claimed as his home, because the mention of a pilgrim made him wonder if one of the other pilgrims had a hand in what was happening and figured that Yoel would know something... but when he arrived in the area that Yoel lived in he found the pilgrim laying on the ground, dead from exhausting his life force, and found a lady, who was wearing all black armor and a beak-like helm, standing nearby.

"...Oh, tell me... are you good Yoel's master?" the lady asked, her tone revealing that, while she was expecting one of the others to come and check on the pilgrim at some point, she wasn't expecting to be discovered so soon, and judging by how Yoel's body looked Tirek had to assume he had died shortly after his power had been raised to twenty-five percent, and that the lady must have arrived some time ago.

"I am the one that Yoel called Lord for some time, before his demise." Tirek answered, though even as he said that he had the feeling that this lady was important in some manner, hence the reason that he was even answering her question, as he suspected she wasn't the one behind what happened to Yoel, before be beckoned to himself, "I am Tirek, soon to be Lord of this world."

"I am Yuria of Londor, a close friend of his. Thanks to thee, Yoel's soul is redeemed." the lady, Yuria, replied, where she bowed her head a little, as if she was trying to show that she was grateful for what he had done, in allowing Yoel to use his power to awaken the true strength of one of the Unkindled that wandered the land, "Allow me to express my gratitude, in his stead. There is another matter, if you are willing to talk. You said that you are a Lord, correct? And, as it turns out, you bare the Dark Sigil, meaning that you might be our Lord of Hollows. For the time that you remain our Lord, we of Londor shall serve you, and I, of course, am also yours."

Tirek chuckled a little at that, as he wasn't expecting that he would gain some allies by allowing Yoel to draw out his true strength, but he informed Yuria that he would be back in the future and that they would talk about other things when he did that, to which he headed back to the bonfire and found that his companions were done with the Fire Keeper and were waiting for him to arrive, and Martok had a key to something they would check out later, where he used the souls he had gained and empowered himself even more, before they used the bonfire to return to the woods that they had been in earlier that day.

"Okay, according to Anri, the road to Aldrich lies through Farron Keep, which means we have to find and take out the Abyss Watchers first." Tirek stated, though at the same time they moved away from the bonfire that they had appeared at and walked down the path that lead to the water, letting Sarana and Martok deal with the undead dog and the pair of pike hollows that were nearby, only to pause as he felt something in the air, "But now we pay the price for entering this area in an embered state again, as we've got three more Invaders trespassing in our world... though this time around we're much stronger than we used to be and can handle what's coming our way."

Sarana sighed for a moment, as this wasn't what they needed at the moment, before they headed into the ruins that were behind them, since she had the feeling that any Invaders would arrive by the passage that would allow them to head into Farron Keep or the ramp that lead back to the Road of Sacrifices, basically trapping them in one area and preventing them from moving forward, but this time around she had a different plan than what happened the last time they had to deal with some Invaders. What she wanted to do was make sure the Invaders knew the area that the three of them were in, by leaving a trail of corpses for them to follow, so they could lead their unwanted guests to their deaths, allowing them to gain some souls for their efforts and then move towards the area that would allow them to move into Farron Keep, so they could find the Abyss Watchers. The area of the ruins that they would be drawing their foes to was the area that was right before the path that lead to the sage they had destroyed, especially the pit that the cross hollow was in, something Martok had to kill since Invaders were ignored by the enemies of their worlds, before Tirek jumped down there, as that was what Sarana recommended he do, before they took their positions behind some of the pillars and waited for their guests to arrive. Tirek knew that this was a good idea, as a trail of corpses would tell the Invaders where their targets might be and force them to walk into a trap that they wouldn't see coming, to which he remained silent as Sarana and Martok did the same, where they patiently waited to see if the plan was going to be a success or if the Invaders would catch on to what they were doing and turn the tables.

A few minutes later, just as Tirek was wondering if the Invaders might have left the area, he heard the heavy sound of someone walking into the area that they were hiding in, where he glanced up at the level that was above him and found that one of the Invaders had found them, as someone wearing metal armor, not like the Lothric knights, though Martok made sure to take him down in a matter of seconds, or her, as Tirek determined the first Invader was female. As it turned out all Martok had to do was walk out from behind the pillar that he was standing behind and swung his greatsword into his foe, doing a great deal of damage in the process, and while he did that a male wearing leather armor walked into the room as well, no doubt rushing to his ally's aid, only for Sarana to step out and run her blade over his throat, killing him before he even had the chance to fight back. He had to admit that his companions were quite skilled at what they were doing, which did make him take a moment to wonder how they had failed whatever quest they had been on before becoming Unkindled, and it wasn't long before their foes were slain, which was when Sarana beckoned for him to hide as she and Martok did the same, where he moved until he couldn't be seen if someone looked through the hole between the floors. It only took a few seconds for a female sorcerer to fall through the opening, or more like Martok had pushed her through the hole in question, and she crashed into the pile of stone that was right in front of Tirek, who grinned as he grabbed onto the back of her neck and raised her into the air, preventing his foe from even casting a spell at him since she couldn't see him, before he absorbed all the power that was inside her body and drained all the souls that she had on her, before dropping her now frail and old body to the ground.

In that moment the defeated sorceress tried to move, where she was totally caught off guard by what her body looked like now, before Tirek raised his hand and blasted her with a Fire Orb, blowing her frail body to ash that scattered around the water that was around him, which disappeared after a few seconds to show that she had been defeated and that she was being sent back to her world, something that, as Sarana described, would no doubt be ruined thanks to what he had just done, but that would be the lady's problem and not something he had to worry about.

"That's an interesting way to finish a foe off," Martok commented, though even as he said that both he and Sarana jumped down into the area that Tirek was in, who was in the middle of flexing the fingers that had been wrapped around the sorceress' neck a few seconds ago, even if he seemed more interested in something else at the moment, but that was all he said right now, since he was sure their leader had something to tell them.

"In the grand scheme of things, she was essentially a light snack." Tirek replied, though he knew that if he had been able to get his hands on someone like her earlier, at the beginning of this quest to be exact, a decent chunk of his power would have been returned to him, maybe five percent, which would have helped against Vordt and the foes leading up to that creature, before he turned towards his companions, "But the invaders have been defeated and returned to their own worlds, meaning we can now move forward and see what Farron Keep has to throw at us."

Sarana and Martok nodded as the three of them walked out of the area that they were in and headed over to the area that the first Great Crab was in, though instead of fighting it they moved towards the location of the passage that would take them into the next area they had to explore, where it didn't take the three of them long to locate the ruined part of the wall that they had seen earlier. As they approached the area in question Tirek found that there were two humanoid beings standing guard over the area, both wearing identical black armor and helmets, though one of them was wielding a large club and the other had a large sword, a greatsword to be exact, but even as he saw them he knew that both of his companions were ready for the fight that was about to happen. Martok rushed forward and focused on the foe that was wielding the greatsword, so he could parry the incoming attack that was coming their way, allowing Sarana and Tirek to face the club knight, even though they did have to jump backwards to avoid his first attack and then ready themselves for what they were going to do next. Tirek found that, while the club knight didn't have the withering reaction to fire that the slimes from the cathedral had when they were hit with fire, he still took damage from the Fire Orb that he tossed at him, and, despite the fact that the knight should have been heading after him, he was able to focus on throwing a couple more spells at their foe as Sarana dodged the incoming attacks and slashed at the knight a few times.

As it turned out the club knight and the greatsword knight were rather easy for them to deal with, as Martok was able to cut down his foe, even if he took a few hits and had to heal himself once his opponent was defeated, leading to Sarana and Tirek taking down their own opponent, before Martok collected the pair of weapons that were left behind and they used the nearby ladder to reach the chamber that was below them so they could activate the bonfire they discovered, but, in that moment, Tirek looked out of the doorway and frowned for a moment.

"So, this is Farron Keep," Tirek commented, taking a few seconds to stare at the area that the three of them would be walking through next, where he noticed the darkened coloration of the water, a vast number of rotting trees, bits of ruins scattered everywhere, and even a few fires that happened to be able the treeline, "Great, a poisonous swamp area that no doubt has a number of dangers and hazards for us to worry about, especially since we have to find our way to the three flames and put them out, especially since this water is going to mess with us in some way."

"And yet we need to get through here to find the Abyss Watchers," Sarana replied, as she knew that the only way for them to proceed was to make their way through this area and find the flames that the one knight had told Tirek about, but even she disliked heading through an area like this in the first place and would have preferred having another route to get to their destination, before she sighed as she and Martok stood beside Tirek, "Let's just get this over with and hope that we can get to the flames without dying to the poison... and hope that we avoid the Elder Ghru's, as those beings will be the death of us if they see us."

"Is it safe to assume that you'll tell me what they are when we see it?" Tirek inquired, because so far he knew that the information that Sarana had to share was valuable for their survival in an area like this, especially given the previous areas they had gone through so far, since they started this quest, though instead of saying anything to that Sarana stared out at the area that was in front of them, no doubt looking for the beings in question.

"Giant beasts with many horns, who live in the swamp and are immune to poison, and crush everyone that tries to locate the Abyss Watchers," Martok stated, as that was what he knew about the creatures in question and knew that what little he had said wasn't enough to really tell Tirek about them, but that information had allowed him to spot the creatures in question and he never tried to learn more about the beasts.

Tirek sighed as he heard that, because that didn't sound like something he wanted to mess with, before they stepped out into the darkened water and started to move towards the ruined stone wall that was some distance in front of them, or the land that was near it to be exact, and as they did that Tirek could feel the poisonous nature of the water seeping into his ankles and hooves. In that moment he quickly determined that it was an accumulation type of thing, that it took a few moments for the poison to really set in and for them to suffer from the effects, but for now they did the smart thing and only walked in the water when there were no other options for them to use, which would allow them to avoid being poisoned by the swamp. Sarana, despite her personal dislike for this area, lead the way along the path that was in front of them and then, instead of heading up the ramp that would allow them to leave the swamp for a time, headed to the left and quickly made her way through the murky water, where Martok followed after her and forced Tirek to do the same, as he wasn't about to remain alone in an area like this, with whatever enemies called this place home. All he had seen so far were some slugs that seemed to be minding their own business, so the three of them hadn't bothered the creatures as they moved through the area, though that changed when he spotted a ruined structure that was in front of them, one that had a humanoid being, wearing dark armor that make it look like a wraith, standing guard over the structure, meaning it needed to be taken down to see what was inside the small area that was behind it.

The being, despite what Tirek thought, didn't wither in pain when he was hit by a Fireball, and the same thing was true when a Soul Arrow hit him in the back, so while his spells didn't seem to be having that much of an impact on the being he could tell that Sarana and Martok were having better luck, and soon the three of them were able to bring down the warrior that was blocking their way, before they found that he was guarding a blue coal, something that they could give to Andre when they returned to the shrine.

With the coal in hand they returned to the previous structure that they had been walking towards, the one that would allow them to leave the swamp for a moment, and found that there was an item near the structure in question, which was an Estus Shard, something they needed to stay alive, so they pocketed it and headed up the curved path that would allow them to get above the swamp for a time. Unfortunately, thanks to the number of steps that they had been walking in the murky water, all three of them were poisoned by the nature of the swamp and that, in Tirek's eyes, seemed to annoy both of his companions, not that he could blame them since he was starting to hate this area already, despite the fact that they had only been here for a few minutes. At the top of the path Tirek found a pair of satyr-like beings, with a couple of avian features, making them look like goat-like humanoid creatures with fur, horns on their head, and a goat tail, though while one of them was wearing a cloth cape, while carrying a primitive spear and shield, the other had no clothing to speak of and held a curved sword of some kind in one hand. The first one they fought was the one with the sword, as it rushed over to where they were standing once it noticed them standing there, though while Martok parried the incoming attack, which let Sarana slice into the creature's side, Tirek noticed that they had discovered one of the areas that the flames seemed to be attached to, as there was an altar of some kind that had a basin with a lit flame, where he had to assume that if one of them were to mess with the flame they might mess with the larger flame that was above them.

Before they messed with the altar, however, Tirek summoned a Fire Orb and blasted the other foe in the back, which caused it to wither in pain for a couple of moments, showing him that fire magic was effective against them, and that brief opening was what Sarana used to cut him down as well, dropping both of their foes in seconds, before Tirek approached the altar and grasped the flame, snuffing it out... though as he did that both he and his companions glanced up at the tops of the trees and watched as the larger flame went out, bringing a smile to his face.

"So, Hawkwood was telling the truth," Tirek remarked, because while he was willing to listen to what the residents of this world had to tell him, about the areas and enemies that they would be facing, the only one that he was going to listen to and believe right away was Sarana, since she had a wealth of information for him to learn from and had been right on many topics they had talked about since this quest started, but it was good to see that no one else had lied to him so far, otherwise he would have been annoyed with the person in question, "Well then, that means we need to find the other two flames and put them out, and then locate the way to the Abyss Watchers... this just might be much easier than what we originally thought it would be."

Sarana and Martok glanced at each other for a moment, knowing that it would be best not to say anything in response to what Tirek had just said, before deciding that it was time to move forward once more, because now that the poison was eating at their health they could walk through the swamp without having to worry about it coming back to bite them, for a while anyway, since it always came back in time. Of course they would rather not be poisoned, since that weakened them as they walked through the rest of the swamp and located the areas that the remaining two flames were in, but this was the way that things were and there was nothing they could do at the moment, hence the reason they started moving and left the area of the first flame. What they did was head through the archway that was near the altar and found that there was a path to their left, one that would take them back down into the swamp, along with some resin that was sitting up on top of a small hill that was right behind the structure that the altar was attached to, though as Sarana collected the resin, to add them to their collection, Tirek loosed a Fire Orb at the satyr foe that was off to the right and set it on fire, where he watched it run around in pain for a few moments before Martok put the creature out of its misery. Upon seeing that short display, especially since it removed an enemy that would hunt them down later, Sarana let Tirek know that the enemies they were now facing were Ghru, and while these were the lesser ones it left him wondering what the larger ones were like, especially based on how his companions reacted upon hearing about them.

Once that was done, and Tirek had a name for the odd creatures they were facing, the group headed down the path that was to the left of the archway and followed it down to the swamp, where they sighed for a moment as they stepped into the murky water once more and quickly headed for the bits of land that were heading right for another path that, by the looks of it, would allow them to leave the swamp again. For a moment Tirek glanced to the area that was to their right and found a large creature, about half as tall as the trees that were around them, wandering around off in the distance, one that looked like the various Ghrus they had seen so far, and it was carrying a tree that had been uprooted, meaning it was dangerous and that they couldn't underestimate it, but that wasn't the direction they were heading in. Rather they made their way over the bits of ground that weren't covered by the murky water and headed for the other path that was opposite of the downwards path they had just walked down, where they found a weaponless Ghru standing upright near the curved path they needed to use. What interested Tirek was the fact that Martok let the beast jump towards him, like he was going to grab onto Martok's head and try to tear through the helmet that his companion was wearing, but what really happened was that he raised his greatsword and cleaved the Ghru in half, killing it before it could even reach him, which also let them continue up the path that it had been guarding. It wasn't long before they found a second altar for them to mess with, where Tirek grinned again as he grasped the flame and snuffed it out, breaking the connection between it and the tower that it was attached to, before they found a bridge that connected this area to another piece of ground, where a structure rested with a bonfire in the middle of it.

Resting on the bridge were three more Ghru, two that happened to be holding spears and shields while the other one looked like a ranged foe of some kind, so what they did was have Sarana pull the melee enemies to them, allowing her and Martok to fight them, while Tirek used another Fire Orb on the ranged Ghru, who was set on fire and fell into the murky water that was below them, so once those three enemies were taken care of they walked over to where the bonfire was located and lit it, before heading through the other opening the structure had... only for the three of them to quickly spot a massive stone door off in the distance.

"So, that's the door into the area that the Abyss Watchers are in," Tirek commented, where he came to that conclusion thanks to the three braziers that were near the door, as two of them happened to be lit and one of them wasn't, which was opposite of the two flame they had put out and one that hadn't been snuffed out yet, meaning that once the three flames were extinguished they would be able to move on, just like Hawkwood had told him earlier, before he glanced over to the area that was on their right, "and I'm willing to bet that the other fire is over there somewhere, we just have to traverse a bit more of the swamp to figure out where the flame is located."

"Sounds like a plan." Martok stated, his tone revealing that he would rather finish what they were doing and get out of this area, so they could hunt down and defeat the Abyss Watchers, though even as he said that the three of them headed over to the structure that was to their right and found that a number of slugs were gathered around the center of it, as if they were guardians of the treasure.

Tirek, seeing the slugs again, raised his hand and loosed a Fire Orb into the middle of the group, where he burned all of them at the same time, to which he and his companions watched as the slugs burned for a time, and Tirek made sure to use a second Fire Orb on them to put them all down, where Sarana found a Undead Bone Shard in the middle of their now dead foes, something they would use at the shrine later. Once that was done they moved out of the ruined structure and started to look for the final flame that needed to be snuffed out, though at the same time Tirek noticed a few slugs resting near a long ladder that would allow one to reach part of the massive bridge that used to connect Lothric to the Undead Settlement, an area he assumed was a resting place of some kind. Even Sarana seemed interested in the area in question, as she glanced up there a few times, as if she was trying to hear something that he had missed, which told Tirek that they needed to explore that area as well, just to see what was up there, before hunting down the Abyss Watchers, hence the reason they headed away from the ladder and kept an eye out for the final flame. From there they made their way over to the raised area that was off in the distance, where they had to deal with a few slugs that were in their way, something that didn't slow them down thanks to the weakness Tirek had discovered, but as they did that Tirek discovered a problem, one of the Elder Ghru was blocking the way forward, as it was standing near the curved walkway that would allow them to reach the area that the third flame was in.

What Tirek discovered was that the massive creature was much faster than what he was expecting it to be and that they had to separate from each other to avoid being crushed at the same time, as well as avoid the incoming red spheres that were released whenever it cast magic, if that was what it was doing, not to mention they had to move when it swung the large uprooted tree it was holding, as it seemed to be the beast's weapon of choice. It wasn't an easy battle for them to go through, not with the range of attacks that the beast could go through and the number of times that they had to dodge the incoming attacks that were designed to hurt them, and even the weakness that Tirek quickly discovered, fire thanks to one of the Fire Orbs he threw that actually struck their foe, only slowed it down enough so that Sarana and Martok could get a few attacks in before they had to back off. That became their plan of attack, he would loose a Fire Orb or two when a chance presented itself, setting the creature on fire and caused it to wither in pain like all of the other creatures he had set on fire, allowing his companions to move in and deal damage to the beast before it regained its senses, which was when they reset to waiting for Tirek to make a move. That plan allowed them to bring down the beast and open the way to the third and final flame, though the downside to fighting where they did was the fact that all of them were poisoned and that they had to use their flasks to deal with the fact that part of their overall health was missing, but at the very least they were able to walk up to the area that the final flame was in, allowing Tirek to snuff it out as well.

"There, the final flame is snuffed out," Tirek said, to which the three of them turned back and headed down the path that they had used to get up to the structure the final flame had been connected to, though as they headed back towards the bonfire that was close to the stone door, which was the path forward, he frowned at the murky water that they had to walk through and knew that his companions had to hate this area.

As he said that, however, all of them were affected by a new bout of poison that quickly came as soon as the last one was finished, something that was annoying him more than he was willing to admit and he was sorely tempted to unleash his power on this area and just blow it to pieces, regardless of the consequences, though he had to stop for a moment as he glanced at his companions.

"This fucking swamp... I absolutely hate it!" Sarana exclaimed, showing Tirek that she really disliked Farron Keep and that, for the first time since he had met her, she was actually pissed off about something, and even Martok seemed a little surprised by this turn of events, but he kept quiet as he listened to his companion, "I wish this whole bloody damn place would burn like the First Flame until it was nothing but a dry, cracked wasteland of ash and bone!"

Tirek chuckled for a moment, because he was of the same opinion and that he wished that this place would burn, but he filed that information away and focused on what they were doing next, which was heading back to the bonfire that was near the stone door, because once they rested, and made a trip to the shrine to turn in a few things, they would return to this place and either head up the long ladder or continue towards the Abyss Watchers, but he was pleased to see that they were making progress at long last.

Wolf and Demon

Despite the fact that they had to walk through the swamp, and suffer the effects of the poison some more, it didn't take Tirek, Sarana, and Martok long to return to the bonfire that was located near the stone door, which had opened now that the three braziers in front of it were lit, something that made sense due to the fact that they had extinguished the three flames that was connected to it. Instead of heading for the door, and moving forward, Tirek had them walk back to the bonfire and head back to the shrine, as they had an Estus Shard to hand over, a coal to give to the blacksmith, and one of the Undead Bone Shards to burn, not to mention empowering themselves with the souls they had picked up during their walk through the swamp. As such they quickly returned to the shrine and found that the Fire Keeper was waiting for them to return from searching the land for the missing Lords of Cinder, even if they hadn't found any of them yet, but as they did that Tirek noticed that Anri and Horace were gone, having returned to their version of the lands that they had been traveling through, though he let his companions talk to the Fire Keeper first. He was more interested in seeing if there were any new arrivals in the shrine, sort of like how Yuria was a new arrival when they returned from the Cathedral of the Deep, but as he explored the rest of the area he found that there were no new people to talk to, which was fine since it meant he could return to the Fire Keeper and take his turn.

Once his companions were done spending their souls, and were standing by the bonfire, he made sure to empower his body even further and stood up once he was done with the Fire Keeper, to which he walked over to Sarana and Martok and they used it to teleport back to the ruined structure that was near the massive stone door they had opened, as it was time to come to a decision on what to do next.

"So, do we tackle the area that the Abyss Watchers is in, or is there something else we should be looking at?" Martok asked, because he was curious as to whether or not they were going to remain in the swamp, an area that none of them were all that fond of, even though he was of the opinion that they should head through the stone door and see what was on the other side, since it likely held a path towards the first Lord of Cinder.

"I would like to see where that ladder leads," Tirek replied, mostly because it seemed to be out of place, when he took a moment to consider the vast swamp that rested all around them, and he wanted to see what it lead to, since he noticed that Sarana seemed interested in the area as well, meaning that there had to be something up there that might help them as they searched for the Lords of Cinder, even though he was hoping the Abyss Watchers were just beyond the stone door and weren't elsewhere, like what happened with Aldrich, otherwise he would be very annoyed.

Sarana headed out the moment Tirek was done talking, to which he and Martok followed after her and walked down the path that was in front of them, which brought them back down to the area that the tower with the slugs was in, where Tirek set them on fire with a Fire Orb and gathered the souls as they moved on towards the ladder, as this was a good way to show that he was getting some power from the various amounts of souls they collected. It wasn't long before the three of them came to a stop at the bottom of the ladder, where three more slugs were blocking the way, though Tirek quickly removed them by making sure to set all of them on fire with another spell, though he found that it was a rather good thing that he had picked up his fire spells before coming here, otherwise this place would have sucked even more than it already did. Once that was done Sarana jumped up onto the ladder and started to climb up to the area that was directly above the area they had been walking in, where Tirek and Martok followed after her and found that they were going to be higher than the rest of the swamp, but as they did that one of the Elder Ghru seemed to notice them and quickly rushed over to the area the ladder was in, though since it couldn't climb after them there was nothing for Tirek and his companions to even worry about. It wasn't long before they reached the top of the ladder and pulled themselves onto the stone walkway that it had brought them to, one that seemed to wrap around the entirety of the square support pillar that they were on the side of, even though Tirek wasn't sure they would be bale to reach the top of the bridge that their pillar was attached to, despite the fact that Sarana seemed to think that something was up there.

What was interesting was the fact that there just so happened to be an opening to their right, which would allow them to enter the insides of the pillar, though as they did that Tirek found something that was more interesting than what they had discovered so far, there was a massive old wolf resting off to the left of the entrance, who seemed to be sleeping right now, and it had a number of blades resting around it... though there was also a bonfire and a lift that might actually allow them to reach the top of the bridge.

"What is that?" Tirek asked, though he wasn't asking if it was a wolf or anything, since that would be stupid and would make him look like an utter fool in the eyes of his companions, but he was sure that Sarana or Martok might know a thing or two about the sleeping wolf and might be willing to tell him what they knew, just so he understood what he was seeing at the moment, especially since he was a little interested in the large blades that rested around the beast.

"The Old Wolf of Farron, the leader of the Covenant that watches over the Abyss Watchers," Sarana stated, where her words reminded Tirek of the trio of Invaders they had seen earlier, who had been lead by the scythe wielding lady that had killed him, though he wasn't entirely sure why they should even care about something like this and remained silent as she explained what was going on, "basically if we pledge ourselves to the Old Wolf, and he accepts us, we'll be able to join the Watchdogs of Farron, the group that came and attacked us earlier, meaning that we'll be able to invade other worlds and attack whoever is intruding upon Crucifixion Woods and Farron Keep."

"So we can invade other worlds, track down the other Unkindled, and kill them for trespassing in this area," Tirek said, though he did like the sound of that, because it sounded like if they killed one of the other Unkindled, while being one of the Invaders that intruded on other worlds, they might get some souls for their efforts, maybe enough to have the Fire Keeper empower themselves when they got back to the shrine, before a smile appeared on his face as he turned towards the slumbering wolf, "Very well then, I think we'll see how well we fare as Watchdogs."

Sarana and Martok said nothing to that as the Old Wolf seemed to stir for a moment, as he actually opened his eyes and turned his head to look at them for a second or two, something that neither of them were expecting to see happen, as the tales told that the Old Wolf slept all the time and barely opened his eyes to look at whoever stood before him, before he shifted his paws for a moment and pushed three medallions towards Tirek, only to let them go as he quickly returned to the sleeping position he had been in a few seconds ago.

"Well, it seems that he is willing to accept us as Watchdogs," Sarana commented, where she picked up the medallions and made sure that both Tirek and Martok had one of them, though that was when she slipped hers over her neck and watched as the others did the same thing, even if Tirek took a moment to stare at the wolf emblem that was on the round surface of the medallion, "Now, according to what I've heard, all we have to do is wear these medallions, marking us as members of the Watchdogs of Farron covenant, which will call us to the worlds of the various Unkindled that might be intruding on the areas I mentioned a few moments ago."

Tirek opened his mouth, so he could say something to that, before he paused and noticed a slight shift in the air as he and his companions seemed to be fading out of their reality, which had to be what Sarana was talking about, meaning that they were actually being called to the world of an Unkindled that was trespassing in one of the areas that were the domain of the Abyss Watchers. A few moments later they reappeared in part of the Crucifixion Woods, right outside the area that the two exile knights were guarding, and their bodies were blue colored and they had a red tint to parts of their bodies, just like the Invaders that had intruded upon their world after they defeated the lone sage that had been guarding the way to the Cathedral of the Deep. Instead of moving immediately, and starting the hunt for their target, Tirek remained still for a time and studied the area that was in front of them, because so far it looked like whoever this world belonged to hadn't even walked down the path from the fortress that they first found Anri in, meaning they could plan an ambush out and their target would have no idea what was going on. As such the three of them moved out and headed over to the area that was near the end of the walkway, that way they could move behind their foe, without them noticing that they even had company, and then they could box their foe between them and the natural enemies of this area, where Tirek found out an interesting development, that being that none of the enemies of the Crucifixion Woods seemed interested in attacking him or his companions.

He considered that to be a good thing, as it meant that they wouldn't be revealed that easily, and it wasn't long before he heard the sound of someone fighting the first couple of pike hollows, where they waited for a few seconds and found that their target was a young lady that was wearing the herald armor they had found after the sage's area, meaning she had to be a herald, and she had a spear in her right hand with a large shield in her left hand. She seemed to be taking the area one foe at a time, as she deliberately pulled one of the pike hollows to her and made sure the others didn't follow her target, where she shielded herself against the incoming attack and then lashed out with her spear a few times, stabbing the hollow a few times before it collapsed on the ground, definitely dead, before she moved forward again. Tirek had to admit that it was interesting to see a cautious foe for once, instead of how aggressive the Invaders had been when they were the ones being invaded, but that didn't prepare her for when they actually stepped out of where they were waiting and revealed themselves to the lady. She seemed ready for a fight as soon as she saw Sarana and Tirek, who dodged the incoming attacks that she sent at them with her spear, but Martok stood his ground and the tip of her spear bounced off his armor, where he retaliated by swinging his greatsword at her and it bit into the side of her shield, while also doing a bit of damage to her left arm as well, before Tirek loosed a Fire Orb at her back, giving Martok enough time to get out of the way before the spell hit his target.

As the lady rushed towards the water, to put herself out, Sarana noticed that head of time and got in front of her in a matter of seconds, where she lashed out with her blade and cut into the exposed parts of the lady's armor, showing Tirek that she was definitely skilled with her dagger, as she took the knife they found from one of the crow hollows earlier, and it wasn't long before the lady collapsed and turned to ash, returning the three of them to their world, surprising him for a moment since he was sure they would have been there longer.

"She must not have boosted the amount of damage she could take," Sarana commented, as she knew that Tirek was going to make a comment about what had happened to the lady and how easy it was for the three of them to kill her, even though they had just ruined her day, before glancing at the metallic leaf, which had a bloodstain on it, that they had been rewarded with for killing that lady, "and we got something that we can give to the Old Wolf, to show him that we've done our duty, or we can wait till we have more and turn them all in at the same time."

Tirek said nothing to that as he stashed the leaf in his pack and rested at the bonfire, mostly so he could wait and see how long it would take for them to be called to another world, to hunt down another Unkindled and kill them, but he had to admit that doing this was worth it, as he was sure they had gotten all of the souls that the herald had been carrying on her, or at least she had dropped her souls upon death and they got an echo of what she had been in possession of. That told him that the more Unkindled they killed the more souls they would get for their efforts, meaning they would be able to empower themselves a few times before even heading through the massive stone door and continuing on towards the area that the Abyss Watchers were located in. Martok didn't see to care about what they had just done, meaning he might be okay with them invading other worlds and killing the Unkindled that are there, but he said nothing as he and Sarana sat by the bonfire as well, allowing themselves to take a moment and rest while they waited for the medallions to react to another intruder that might have entered the area. Fortunately they didn't have to remain sitting all that long, as not a few seconds later they started to disappear from the area they were in and reappeared in a brand new area, as this time they were in the part of the ruins that Orbeck had been hiding in, meaning they had to leave the ruins and see if they could find the Unkindled that lived in this world.

This time around Tirek found something interesting as they walked out of the ruins that they had appeared in, there was a blue spirit off in the distance, by where the opening to the black knight was located, and there was a second one up on the path that lead down into this area, showing him that whoever they were here to kill had either summoned some allies or they were using that covenant item that Anri and Horace gave them earlier. Sarana, seeing them as well, told him that the blue spirits were Blue Sentinels, Unkindled from other worlds that came to the aid of someone that was assaulted by Invaders, meaning that as soon as they had come into this particular world the covenant had called two allies to aid this Unkindled against them, making it three versus three now. From what Tirek could see their target was a sorcerer this time around, which was good if he could get his hands on the man's neck, as the Unkindled in question was male, though the others were definitely female, the one near the black knight being a knight while the other seemed to have no identity, as it looked like she just put on whatever she thought was nice, meaning she was wearing a mismatched set of armor and didn't seem to care. Based on everything that he was seeing at the moment Martok would be more than capable of taking care of the knight, while Sarana could hunt down and kill the mismatched warrior before she even knew what hit her, so he could focus on taking care of the sorcerer that was their main target, to which the three of them moved out from where they were standing and headed out into the woods that were in front of them.

The plan was simple, Martok was going to make some noise and make the knight come over to where he was located, leaving Sarana and Tirek to take down their foes while the knight was distracted, and as such the three of them split up to make that a reality, where it wasn't long before their enemies noticed that Martok was even there and the knight rushed out to meet him in battle. Sarana, seeing that happen, took up a position that allowed her to see the air of enemies that were left and pulled out the bow that they had collected, back during their visit to the High Wall, where she nocked one of her arrows and focused on the warrior that was near the sorcerer, only to wait for a few seconds and then let go, which was where Tirek watched as the arrow went flying through the air and struck the warrior in the side, pulling her away from the sorcerer in the process. This time around Tirek stepped out and let the sorcerer see him, where they stared at each other for a few seconds as their companions fought each other, before they even reacted to what was going on, as both of them drew their staffs and loosed several Soul Arrows into the air, both the normal and the Heavy variety, where all of the attacks collided with each other and let out small explosions as that happened. Tirek had to admit that this foe was much better than the other sorcerer he had faced, even though that one hadn't been a fair fight in the eyes of the one he fought, since it was an ambush that Sarana and Martok had assisted him with, but, at the same time, he shifted his other hand and loosed a pair of Fire Orbs at his foe, who only saw them as they came out of the smoke that was created by the small explosions their Soul Arrows had created.

The Fire Orbs knocked the sorcerer back and forced him into the water that was behind him, where Tirek stepped up and grabbed onto his neck before he could move away from the area that he landed in, to which he lifted the sorcerer into the air and grinned for a moment as he drained all of the power from his foe's body, dropping the withered body into the water once all of his power and souls were his, just in time to see Sarana and Martok end their own opponents before they returned to their world.

"I might not be getting much power from them, but these snacks are worth the effort," Tirek remarked, as the power he was stealing from the various sorcerers that they encountered was barely even a percent in the grand scheme of his true power, rather they were mere fragments of a percentage, though the souls that he was taking from them was worth all of the effort that went into beating the various Unkindled they were invading the worlds of, as that would allow him to empower himself further whenever they returned to the shrine.

"Its good to see that someone is enjoying themselves," Sarana said, because she honestly didn't care about what they were doing at the moment, since they should have been heading to the area that the Abyss Watchers were waiting in, but Tirek was the leader of their little group and if he wanted to stay and harass some of the other worlds, or break a few due to breaking the Unkindled of that world, then she was going to wait until he was ready to go, even though she did glance at the stone elevator that might take them to the top of the bridge.

Tirek didn't have anything to say to that, even though it was partly true, as he was having a little fun breaking all of the Unkindled that they came across, regardless of the effects to the worlds that they were invading, but that was when they disappeared once more and appeared in the poisonous swamp this time, showing that whoever they were after was much further than their other targets had been. That interested Tirek more than he was originally thinking, though the part that he was focused on was the fact that they had been placed in the area of the third flame, the final one that they had taken out, to which they approached the edge of the area and started to look for their newest target, since there was no telling how many of the other flames had been extinguished, even if this one was still on fire. Of course that was before Sarana spotted their target and waved Tirek and Martok over, where they found the Unkindled in question, a knight that wore the armor of the knights from Lothric Castle, and happened to be carrying the sword and shield as well, that was in the middle of fighting a pair of Elder Ghru, the same two that they had seen earlier. As such Tirek held out a hand and beckoned for his companions to stay where they were, to which the three of them watched as the unfortunate knight dug his own grave as he fought the two foes at the same time, where they buried him in the murky water with their uprooted trees, despite the fact that he tried to use his Estus Flasks to heal himself, showing them that he was either wearing too much or he was terrible at fighting two opponents at the same time.

As it turned out they didn't have to do anything this time around, as their target was easily overcome by the dangers of the swamp and was soon slain by the pair of Elder Ghru, allowing them to return to their world with the rewards, as if they had been the ones to kill the Unkindled and not the inhabitants of this world, and it wasn't long before they returned to the chamber that the Old Wolf was in.

Tirek glanced at his companions for a moment, as none of them were actually expecting to be called to a world where such a thing was happening, but he wasn't about to complain about it as they sat around the bonfire for a few moments, or rather he and Martok did that as Sarana headed outside for a time, no doubt to look out at the swamp and wait for the next invasion to happen. What she actually did was walk along the edge of the walkway that wrapped around the outside of the area they were in and left his view for a moment, where he didn't have to wait long for some new light to enter the chamber and found that she had found a secret opening and had opened it, before she disappeared for a second and he heard the sound of something being cut, possibly a small crystal lizard. Once that was done she returned to them and sat at the bonfire, where she revealed a piece of Twinkling Titanite that she put in her pack, meaning Tirek's thoughts had been correct once he heard that noise, but before he could say anything their medallions sensed a new intruder in the area the Watchdogs watched over and pulled them to the world in question. This time around, instead of them appearing in an area as a group, Tirek appeared in the ruins near the lone sage and found that he was alone, meaning Sarana and Martok were either summoned to a different world or they were elsewhere in this one, to which he moved out to see if he could find the Unkindled that was his next target, and if his companions were here as well. What he discovered was that all of the enemies in the ruins were dead, showing that whoever he was here to kill had already come through this area and that they had to be elsewhere, to which he headed out of the ruins and walked over to the area that the crabs were in, as he would be able to see what was going on from that area.

That was before he came to a stop as he discovered a rather interesting sight, there were a number of phantoms that had the coloration of the Watchdogs gathered in front of the area that lead down into Farron Keep, at least ten of them by his count, something that he considered to be unheard of since three seemed to be the highest number he had seen since he and his companions started doing this sort of thing, and they were in the middle of fighting someone. His eyes widened as he noticed the Unkindled that he was supposed to kill this time, as there was a young lady wearing a set of black dyed leather armor, with a single metal gauntlet over her left hand, and had a tattered red cape while wearing no helmet, that was fighting the group of ten, and her weapon this time was still a scythe, only this time it looked like it weighed less than the scythe he had picked up earlier and seemed to have a frigid aura to it. Tirek came to the conclusion that the scythe was a frost type weapon, like Vordt and that smaller knight they had fought some time ago, though from what he could tell the lady was capable of moving with a level of speed and grace that nearly reminded him of the Dancer that had killed him and Sarana at the start of their adventure, as she was able to dance around the attacks that were coming her way and was able to lash out in response, cutting into her foes before they could hit her. What was interesting was two of the ten foes looked like the pair of warriors that Tirek had seen when the scythe lady invaded their world for the first time, the Lothric knight and the fallen knight as he recalled, and they seemed conflicted about what they were supposed to do, as in do they do their duty and kill their comrade or stand down and be slain in battle.

Such a thought didn't bother the lady at all, as she went to town on the Watchdogs that had been called to her world and cut them down as they tried to bring her down, showing Tirek that she was much more skilled than he thought he was when he first spotted her, and it wasn't long before the knights, warriors, sorcerers, and the rest of the Watchdogs were cut down and scattered upon the area around her, sending the defeated Unkindled back to their worlds.

It was in that moment that, as the last of the Watchdogs fell, Sarana and Martok, who had been placed somewhere else in this area, rushed out from where they were hiding and seemed to be in the mood for attacking the lady while her defenses down, especially after seeing how strong and quick she was, and the lady responded immediately, spinning the scythe so that the head caught the incoming attack that Martok was sending her way and knocked him backwards, which surprised Tirek a little and made him file that information away for the future. Sarana lashed out with her own weapon as that happened, intending on attacking while the lady's defenses were open, only for Tirek to be surprised when the lady used the handle of her weapon to parry the attack and knock Sarana backwards, showing him that some of the worlds they could be invading had really tough Unkindled and that they might be in over their heads. It was odd seeing both of his companions in this situation, where they were trying to hurt a foe and found that neither of them could really hit the lady that they were fighting, like she was a higher powered being that had come back to this area to harass anyone that invaded her world or something, and it wasn't long before she jumped into the air and landed behind Martok, where Tirek watched as the warrior's head rolled onto the ground, showing that the lady had cleaved his head clean off, before she got up and focused on Sarana. There the pair lashed out at each other, their attacks colliding with each other without either of them seeming to gain any ground in the grand scheme of things, which was why Tirek jumped down into the water so he could rush over to where his companion was fighting, intending on blasting the lady from behind so they could take her down and return to their world.

What actually happened was that the lady and Sarana separated from each other for a split second and then rushed at each other again, where the lady's scythe seemed to overcome all of Sarana's attacks and then cut her down, though as Tirek arrived in the area, and raised his hand to throw some Fire Orbs at her, the lady swung her weapon at him without even taking a second to see who he was... and the next thing he knew he was back at the bonfire near the Old Wolf, where his companions were sitting around it as well.

"Well, that's disappointing." Tirek remarked, though at the same time he gripped the medallion he was wearing and took it off so he could return it to his pack, something that both Sarana and Martok did as well, since they were following his lead on these sorts of things, before noticing that the only thing they had lost was their souls, causing him to growl for a moment, "So, since we lost our souls, I guess we have to return to the area that we were slain in to get them, just like if we were slain by the enemies of our own world, which is good, since I would rather not lose those souls."

"Indeed, it is as you say," Sarana said, showing Tirek that he had hit the nail on the head and that he was learning the way this world worked as he discovered more about it, before she paused for a moment as she considered what they had gone up against earlier, while Martok, of course, remained silent as he waited for them to stop talking and determine what they were going to do next, "You know, that lady would have made a decent addition to the Black Hand, if she wasn't from another world, not to mention whatever problems she might have."

Tirek raised his eyebrow for a moment, as this was the first time that Sarana had even mentioned the Black Hand, but right now he was more interested in getting his souls back and focused on teleporting back to the bonfire that was outside the ruined fort that lead to where the lone sage had been, though it didn't take his companions long to figure out what he was doing and joined him in moving themselves back to that area. Once they arrived it was a simple matter of jumping down into the watery area of the woods and started to make their way to the area that they had died in a few moments ago, where they found their souls resting where they had died in the lady's world and quickly recovered them, which Tirek was pleased with the fact that no one came for them now that they had taken off the medallions. With their souls picked up, and no reason to remain in the Crucifixion Woods, the three of them headed back to the bonfire and took out the Great Crab that was in their way, since those things were persistent and didn't want them to leave the area alive, as well as some of the pike hollows and the undead dog that was in the way. Once they returned to the bonfire it didn't take them all that long to return to where the Old Wolf was located, as Tirek was interested in seeing where the square elevator might take them and it seemed that his companions agreed with him to some degree, which was the reason that they walked over to the elevator and stood on it, allowing Sarana to press the button and let them ascend towards the top area that it was attached to.

When they reached the top of the shaft, however, the group found that they were near the top of the bridge, looking out at the water that rested outside the walls of Farron Keep, which also rested between the cliff that Lothric Castle was resting on and the area the Cathedral of the Deep was in, but as they walked out onto the walkway, and headed up the set of stairs that would take them to the top of the bridge, Tirek paused for a second as he spotted a large earthen creature that was patrolling the end of the bridge that rested in front of them.

"Great, there's a demon up here." Sarana commented, as while she knew there had to be something up here, mostly due to the fact that she had heard a number of groans and other noises coming from this area, she really wasn't expecting to see something like this in this area, though at the same time Martok raised his weapon and prepared himself, showing Tirek that they were in for a fight, "Look, demons are a dying race, born of the Chaos Flame, and without that particular flame they'll soon be gone from the world, which is the watered down version of what you need to know... just be careful, these guys are resistant to fire spells, so you'll need to switch back to your soul spells."

"I see." Tirek remarked, where he switched his pyromancy flame for his staff, which the latter allowed him to use the soul based magic of this world and the former only worked with fire type, something that he was used to now, even if he was interested in the other elements he might unlock at some point, but he pushed all of that to the back of his mind as the three of them approached the area that the demon was in, as it was time to take down the creature that was in front of them, search the area that was around them, and then make their way to their true target.

The demon roared as they entered the area that it seemed to be guarding, even if nothing was here in the first place, and brought its large earthen mace down on where they were standing, causing Sarana and Martok to roll to the sides to avoid the attack while Tirek jumped backwards and loosed a Heavy Soul Arrow at their foe, blasting the demon in the chest and doing some damage in the process. While he did that his companions attacked the demon and dodged the large mace that it swung at them, even though it appeared that they were targeting its legs and nothing else, which would have been interesting to Tirek if they weren't busy trying to fight the creature that they had pissed off by walking into the area that it was guarding. Fortunately it appeared that the three of them were more than enough to deal with the demon, as it was hard for it to hit any of them, and after a few moments of battling them, and missing, Martok hacked into the creature's left leg and shattered it, causing the demon to fall to the ground as the other leg shattered, limiting what it was allowed to do as it tried, in vain, to lash out at the three of them. That allowed the group to crush the demon with their might, where both Sarana and Martok continued hacking into the creature's rocky hide as Tirek loosed several more Heavy Soul Arrows into the demon's back and chest, weakening their foe even more as the seconds went by, something that allowed both of his companions to really deal some damage to the creature. As such it wasn't long before the three of them brought down the creature and it collapsed in a heap in front of them, where Tirek watched as it and the fragments of its body dissolved into a soul that all three of them gained, just like the powerful beings they had take out so far, something that was a rather nice surprise, as it meant more power in the future.

With the demon slain the three of them stood there for a moment, taking in the fact that they had defeated another powerful creature and taken its soul, even if this one was rather easy in the grand scheme of things, before they started to pick up the items in the area, finding a greataxe and a pair of embers in the process, allowing them to head back to where the stairs were located, so they could move out of the area, only for Sarana to stop for a moment.

"Is something wrong?" Martok asked, something that he seemed fond of asking, since Tirek recalled the same thing being said when he stopped when the first Invaders came into their world, though at the same time he gripped the handle of his greatsword and waited for Sarana to tell him what was going on, where Tirek stopped as well and glanced out at the area that was around them, since he saw nothing else to worry about.

"There's a walkway over there," Sarana replied, pointing at the path that was attached to the side of the bridge, above the area that the elevator was in, meaning that if they were careful they would be able to move beyond the strange locked gate that was right above the shaft they would be heading down soon enough, where Tirek noticed that the walkway was split into two or three fragments, "we might be able to find some Titanite over there, to strengthen our weapons, along with whatever else might be resting over there."

Tirek thought about it for a moment, as he was now curious as to what might be over there, to which he walked over to the area that Sarana was talking about and found that there was an area that they could jump down to, where he was joined by his companions not even a few seconds later, showing that even Martok was interested in seeing what was in the area that had been pointed out to them. From there they dropped down onto the ledge that was in front of them and then did the same thing again, which allowed them to walk forward and find a ruined part of the bridge that they could walk up onto, where a wyvern was collapsed on the bridge, probably dead from something, so that told Tirek that there might be something here they could salvage for whatever the future held for them. It was in that moment that Sarana rushed over to the area that the downed wyvern was in, where Tirek spotted two small crystal lizards in the area she was heading to, and watched as she slew the pair before they could get away from her, only for her to walk over to them with a pair of the large Titanite shards and a piece of paper that detailed the Lightning Spear spell, which interested him a little. The only thing he considered to be a downside was the fact that he didn't have a chime, the tool that allowed someone to cast the lightning spells, or miracles as some called them, meaning he would have to find one at some point to cast this spell and use it against their enemies, and it was possible that the Handmaiden might have one.

The only other thing they had to worry about was another small crystal lizard, a shield that was on the ground, and a group of hollowed peasants, like the ones that had been wandering around the High Wall, though it wasn't long before the three of them found a way back to the other side of the gate and headed back down to where the Old Wolf was located, as it was time to turn in some souls and then make their way towards the Abyss Watchers.

The First Lord of Cinder

Upon returning to the bonfire that was resting near the Old Wolf, and taking a moment to rest so they could replenish their supplies, Tirek, Sarana, and Martok returned to the shrine so they could empower themselves with the souls they had picked up since the last time they had come here, along with any Estus Shards and Undead Bone Shards that they might have found in Farron Keep. Tirek would have continued to plunder the other worlds and slay more of the Unkindled, stealing their souls and their powers, if they were a sorcerer like some of them had been, but after being killed by the same scythe lady his mood was ruined and he didn't want to waste time, especially since they were so close to the first of the three Lords of Cinder that had abandoned their thrones. They were the real targets in his quest, both because of their power and due to the fact that they would lead the way to Prince Lothric, the fourth and final missing Lord, and with all five of them returned to their thrones something interesting would happen, of that he was certain, and by that point he was going to be back at the peak of his power. The challenge was getting to that point and surviving everything this land threw at him, as there was no telling what he and his companions would have to face in the future, but he was sure that Sarana had learned her lesson and would tell him about places and creatures when they spotted them or discovered them, instead of waiting for a couple of seconds to do that.

It wasn't long before they finished what they were doing in the shrine and returned to the bonfire, even though Tirek made sure to grab a chime from the Handmaiden, which allowed them to teleport back to the ruins that was right outside the large stone door that they had opened with the extinguishing of the three flames that were scattered throughout the swamp, the one place Tirek disliked with all his heart right now, as they could move forward at long last.

Once they returned to the bonfire in question, and ignored the pack of Ghru that were resting on the bridge behind them, Tirek walked down the ramp that was in front of them and was joined by Sarana and Martok, where they jumped over to the path they had unlocked and made sure their weapons were at the ready, as there was no telling what they might discover next. The first thing they discovered was a row of weapons on either of side of, forming a path that looked like it might lead them to their destination, where Tirek discovered that the weapons were mostly swords and there were a few spears embedded in the ground, making him wonder if the Undead that joined the Abyss Watchers discarded their old weapons in favor of new ones, but ultimately decided that he didn't care. After that they discovered two paths for them to take, one that seemed to be the main path and one that seemed to be a side path, so Sarana headed up the side path as Tirek and Martok moved along the other one, where they quickly spotted some of the crow hollows that they had seen on the Road of Sacrifices, except they were really docile this time around. Of course that was when they spotted one of the sorcerer crow hollows, one that would incite the others into attacking them if it was given enough time to do so, but even as they thought about that Sarana appeared behind the sorcerer and sliced its neck open, before killing it without even giving it a chance to fight back, which was just fine with Tirek. As soon as that was done with that she jumped down into the area that Tirek and Martok were in, to which the three of them continued to follow the path as it brought them even higher into the area that they were walking through, only for Sarana to cause them to stop for a few seconds, when she spotted something that might complicate things.

Tirek glanced at the area Sarana was looking at and found that there was a humanoid creature slowly marching up the hill they were walking on, who didn't seem to know they were even behind it, but the being was wearing dark armor over its body, armor that looked like it might crumple at any moment, and it seemed to be incredibly dangerous, or that was what he was assuming, based on Sarana's movements.

"What is that thing?" Tirek asked, though they patiently waited for the being to walk forward, which was around the time that it rushed forward and started attacking a group of Ghru that were between it and the building that they were heading towards, but even as that happened he found a building to their right and headed towards it as slowly as he could, mostly since Sarana might be worried about something, but he was sure that they had seen a creature like this earlier and his companion hadn't said anything about it.

"A Darkwraith, and he's not alone." Sarana replied, where she pointed further along the path that they would have to walk up at some point in the very near future, revealing a second being, in identical armor, slaying a few Ghru while the other one caught up to him, so they could tackle their foes at the same time, "They were once knights to the Four Kings, a long time ago anyway, and now they're known as the oldest and the deadliest of invaders, supposedly invading the worlds of the Undead to steal the humanity from their targets, or just to kill whoever they wish. Basically they are great warriors and shouldn't be taken likely... the one we fought earlier was nothing compared to these two, so we might have a slight problem, since I'm positive the Abyss Watchers are inside that building."

"Good news, we have a bonfire." Martok commented, as while he knew that Tirek was interested in the Darkwraiths, and that Sarana was fine giving him the information he was after right now, he had found a bonfire inside the ruins that were to the right of the hill they had walked up, and it was a number of steps away from the opening, so the pair of beings wouldn't come charging at them if they rested at the bonfire.

To Tirek that was good news, as it meant that they didn't need to bother with running through the swamp or dealing with the crow hollows that were on the path leading to this area, so the first thing they did was light it, as the magic of the bonfire would remember that the three of them had been here and would revive them in this area, just in case the Abyss Watchers were stronger than they realized and were slain after the battle started. Once that was done they made sure all of their gear was in order, especially Tirek since he was adding a chime to his arsenal, since he needed that to cast his new Lightning Spear spell, but it wasn't long before he nodded his head and they stepped outside, where they started to walk up the path that would take them to the door of the building that their targets were inside. The Ghru, as the group found out, had put up a good fight, but in the end they were no match for the Darkwraiths and had been slain by the attackers, who were now standing some distance in front of the structure's only door, looking like they were ready to slay anyone and everyone that tried to approach the building, which meant that they would have to fight the pair before they could even face the Abyss Watchers. Of course something interesting happened as Tirek approached them, even though he was ready for a fight, as the pair of Darkwraiths looked at him for a moment and then, instead of rushing forward to do battle with him and his companions, they actually walked by where he was standing and headed down the hill, like they didn't care to fight him, or there could have been another reason, but he considered themselves lucky as he turned towards the door that was in front of him and his companions.

If what they had heard was to be believed the Abyss Watchers were on the other side of this door, and they could very well be since Tirek could hear the sounds of someone fighting inside the building, though as he did that Sarana walked off to the side and tapped a sign that was on the ground, where a man that was wearing black armor, leather of some kind, and had a hat on his head, appeared as one of the white phantoms he had heard about.

"Gotthard, he's an acquaintance of mine and his skill will be useful in taking out the Abyss Watchers," Sarana stated, where Tirek had to wonder if he was one of the Black Hand members that Sarana had ever so briefly talked about, despite the fact that she had said nothing about them and what they did, but he remained silent as Sarana made sure that their new ally knew that he could trust Tirek.

Instead of saying anything to that, other than nodding his head in acknowledgement, Tirek opened the door that was in front of them and they invaded the area that the Abyss Watchers should be in, where he came to a stop as he noticed a number of dead bodies resting all over the middle of the chamber that they were walking into, all dressed like the scythe lady, even though they were wearing a pointed helm of some kind. A trail of blood lead the way to a pair of Watchers that were in the middle of fighting each other, among the bodies of their fallen comrades, meaning they were either fighting to pass the time or some of them had gone totally insane and that was why most of them were dead, and if they were like all of the other creatures he had seen so far they would revive themselves in no time. Not a few moments later the fight that was going on came to a stop as one of the Watchers staggered the other one and drove his large blade, which rested in his right hand, straight into the chest of his comrade, who seemingly died as that happened, before the Watcher pulled his blade back and seemed to focus on something else, which was the moment that he turned towards them and glared at the area they were standing in. Based on the shape of the helm that he was wearing it was hard to see his eyes, or the rest of his face, but even as that happened he turned towards them and raised his right hand so that the tip of his blade was pointed at them, like he was issuing them a challenge or something, while moving his left hand, which held a small dagger of some kind, so that the blade of the smaller weapon rested near the side of his arm.

The Watcher rushed towards them as soon as he used his gesture, barely giving them the time to move, but they were able to get away from the area he landed in, because he stabbed down at them and ended up missing due to the fact that they had moved, causing him to stab the ground for a second, only for him to rip his blade out of the ground as Martok and Sarana moved around their foe, while Tirek stood back and readied his magic as Gotthard sheathed his sword and drew a bow with an arrow at the ready. Despite the cuts that Sarana and Martok delivered to the Watcher, before he had a chance to retaliate, their foe tanked the hits and lashed out with his greatsword, for that was what his main weapon had to be, where Martok parried the blow and was actually pushed back a tiny bit, demonstrating the power that just one of the Abyss Watchers had, making Tirek wonder what happened when the entire army was assembled. Tirek, taking advantage of what was in front of him, switched his casting tool to the chime he had collected earlier, where he gripped the golden item for a moment and channeled the power of the new spell he had found in the area near the stray demon, where a bolt of lightning formed in the chime, like a lance or something, informing him of what he needed to do. In that moment, while the lone Watcher had no idea what was going on, Tirek pulled his arm back and then loosed the Lightning Spear at their foe, where it disconnected itself from the chime and flew through the air, only to collide with the back of the Watcher, who staggered and shook for a second as the lightning coursed through his body, before returning him to normal.

That action told him exactly what he needed to know, there was a chance that the Abyss Watchers were actually weak to lightning based spells, and finding one before facing them was a boon to their chances of actually defeating them, but he made sure that his companions lashed out at the stunned Watcher before he had a chance to fight back, where Sarana and Martok cut into his chest and Gotthard loosed a pair of arrows into his chest, even though that didn't seem to stop the Watcher in the slightest. In fact the Watcher shrugged off their attacks and continued to chase whoever he deemed to be the most threatening foe of them all, which seemed to be at random as he tried to lash out at Sarana, who jumped away before she could be hit, Martok, who just parried the incoming attack with his greatsword, Gotthard, who had to retreat to avoid being hit, and Tirek, who had to tank the hit and blast their foe away with a Lightning Spear to the chest, forcing him to heal afterwords. The only reason Tirek had to do that was because his speed was nothing like the Watcher or all of his companions, mostly because his body was still old and it would be some time before he had the speed that his true form possessed, but at the very least using the Lightning Spear seemed to be the best course of action at the moment, as it did stun their foe long enough for the others to lash out without having to worry about hurting themselves in the process, only to pull back when the effect wore off, so they didn't leave themselves open to being harmed.

It wasn't long before something interesting happened to them, one of the fallen bodies, the very one that the Watcher they were fighting had slain before their battle started, rose from the grave and joined the battle with the same speed and grace that the first one had, meaning they had to divide their attention between the two, though Tirek focused on the first one as Sarana joined him, allowing Martok and Gotthard to go after the second one. The reason for that quick decision was due to the fact that Tirek believed that the Watcher they had started fighting was the main one and that hurting the other would only take down a single foe, instead of taking them both down if the Watcher that served as the main one was defeated in battle, and that was without knowing if he was right or not. He had to admit that this was a rather interesting fight for them to be in, where they had to split their forces and focus on individual targets, though even as he thought about that, and a few more moments passed as he blasted his target again, a third Watcher rose from the pile of bodies he had been laying on and joined the fight, just like the one that came before him. This time around, however, there was a red glow in the third Watcher's eyes, from the glance that Tirek spared him, and instead of targeting the four of them, like he thought their foe would, the newest Watcher turned his blade on his own comrades, showing that one of the insane Watchers had been brought back and that he was going to continue the fight that they had started earlier, despite the fact that his comrades were in the middle of something at the moment.

Thanks to that timely aid, and what they were doing so far, it wasn't long before the group and their new temporary ally, who they had to be careful of, toppled the Watcher that was Tirek's target and caused all three of them to fall to the ground, but as that happened Tirek felt a change in the air and his companions noticed the glance in his eyes, where they kept their weapons at the ready as they witnessed what happened next. It was in that moment that bits of power, ash, and blood filled the air as they left the piles of bodies they had been in a few seconds ago, where they carefully watched as all of it gathered around the main Watcher that had been the one they started fighting a few minutes ago, when they first entered the chamber, meaning he was regaining his power. The instant all of the power was in a single body, and was no longer moving through the air, the main Watcher's greatsword caught on fire as his attire took on the embered state that an Unkindled had when they were embered, before he raised his sword and stabbed it into the ground, allowing him to use it to push himself into a crouching position, only to remove it and swing it as he readied himself for battle. To Tirek this was just fine, because if all of the power of a Lord of Cinder was in one body, like it was now, it would be rather easy for him to finally get his hands on it, which was why he summoned a new Lightning Spear and hurled it straight into their foe's chest, knocking him backwards a bit as smoke came from the area the attack had struck, showing Sarana and the others that Tirek was no longer playing around.

This time around, how that the Watcher knew they were being serious, he rushed at them and dragged his blade on the ground as he tried to hit them, causing the four of them to disperse before he managed to strike them, and that even included the trail he left behind being lit on fire, demonstrating the sheer power that he was using at the moment, which told the group to keep their guards up as they fought him. They also had to be careful of the instances where the Watcher swung his flaming sword at them, as there were moments where nothing happened and he missed them, and there were other times where a burst of fire raced across the ground in the same direction that he happened to be swinging in, which did add a level of difficulty to what he had been doing since their battle started. Tirek and the others found that their foe's responses were much faster than what they had fought earlier, which made sense considering that he was in possession of all the power of his comrades and was fighting on a level that was befitting the status of a Lord of Cinder, hence the reason that he and Gotthard stayed some distance away from the Watcher so they could hit him, but Tirek was the only one that truly stayed away, as even the man that Sarana summoned charged into battle with his weapon drawn. Tirek did note that their foe liked to spin through the air, like he was rolling or something, and it was always accompanied by his greatsword moving towards one of his targets, but it was in the short moments that the Watcher paused, to take note of who he was fighting and deciding on who he wanted to target, that Tirek hurled his stronger Lightning Spears at their foe, blasting him backwards and opening his defenses for his companions to deal more damage to him.

Even so, despite the sheer power that the Watcher was using against them, it wasn't possible for him to fight all four of them at the same time, with the tactics they were using against him, as in stepping in to make sure someone could heal a wound or gather their energy, which eventually allowed Tirek to loose a powerful Lightning Spear into their foe's chest and knock him to the ground, only this time he collapsed on the floor and stopped moving, followed by a bonfire quickly appearing at the back of the chamber, proving they were victorious.

"We... we won." Martok commented, because while he knew that Sarana had faith in their abilities, especially with all they had seen from Tirek since they joined him, he had been a little worried that they might lose that battle, especially with the power that their foe had possessed in the second half of the fight, even though their foe left behind two things for the three of them to gather, as Gotthard bowed his head and disappeared as soon as the battle was over.

"Ashes of a Lord of Cinder," Sarana said, referring to the first item that they were looking at, which was a pile of ash that happened to be resting near the body of the main Watcher, something that she quickly packed up and tucked away for when they returned to the shrine, because this was how they were going to return the Lords of Cinder to their thrones, especially since they were unwilling to return themselves, before she and Martok looked at the other item that was in the area, the item that Tirek was more interested in.

Tirek was staring at the swirling bloodred energy that had been spread among the members of the Abyss Watchers, and brought into a single body in their time of need, before he ignited his magic and grabbed onto that power, where he sucked all of it up, making sure not to miss even a single drop, and he could feel his own power rise to new heights as this happened, as well as the youth returning to his body, before he eventually came to a stop as the sheer power of the Abyss Watchers had been added to his own.

"Wonderful, simply wonder. I'm at thirty-five percent now," Tirek remarked, though at the same time he noticed that his body was much younger than it had been when they started the fight with this Lord of Cinder, maybe between forty to forty-five years by his estimates, and while he still needed one of the casting tools to wield this world's magic he could tell that his power was much stronger than it had been moments ago, and he blasted a small hole in the wall he targeted, an action that charred some of the stone around it, "Yes, this pleases me greatly, and this is only the first of the four Lords of Cinder that we are seeking. Sarana, where do we need to go next?"

"Irithyll of the Boreal Valley is a hard place to access, and with that doll we should be able to get inside the city with no effort on our part," Sarana replied, as she knew the layout of the land that they had to go through and had figured out the path they needed to take so they could find the second Lord of Cinder, and potentially the third as well, even though she was thinking of something else at the moment as she answered his question, "to get there we'll have to go through the Catacombs of Carthus, an underground place that is said to have a number of entrances, most of which might have been sealed off over the years, but, as it just so happens, there should be one in the back of this chamber, where the alter is resting to be exact. However, before we do that, might I ask that we make a stop somewhere else?"

"Is the Dancer bothering you still?" Tirek inquired, as that was the only thing that could be on Sarana's mind right now, especially after they bested the first Lord of Cinder and were ready to start down the path that would allow them to find the area the next one was lingering in, but all it took was a nod from his companion to tell him what he needed to know, as he also had a score to settle with the Dancer, to which he turned towards the bonfire and lit it, "Very well, let us return to the castle for a moment and hunt our foe down, so we can repay her for slaying us at the beginning of our quest and use her souls to further empower ourselves for the Catacombs of Carthus."

For a split second Sarana was surprised that he even listened to her, but it wasn't long before she knew that he was seeing it more as a chance to really test his new power out, as he seemed far stronger than he had been earlier, to which she nodded her head as Martok joined them by the bonfire for a moment, where all three of them focused on the bonfire that was where Vordt had been resting, as it was the quickest route to the area their target was in. A few moments later they reappeared in the area that they had been focused on and walked away from the bonfire that they had appeared by, where Tirek stepped forward and headed for the stairs that would allow them to reach the church that the Dancer had to be waiting in, as he intended on breaking her with his new level of power. This time around the three of them were strong enough to deal with the weak soldiers and the knights that were guarding the area, as Sarana and Martok were more than capable of cutting down all of the weaker foes that were in their way, leaving Tirek to use his new Lightning Spear on all of the knights, of which there were three blocking the way forward, where he found that they didn't light this spell either and fell within a few seconds of him attacking them. It was possible that they were far stronger than when they ran through this area for the first time, or at least that was true for Tirek, but in the end none of the enemies that were in their way stood a chance and soon they were in front of the church that Emma had been in, where they stared at the Fog Door for a few moments before Tirek forced his way through it, allowing his companions to follow after him.

Sure enough the Dancer was lingering in the middle of the church that they had found Emma in, seemingly waiting for something to happen, as nothing happened when Tirek entered the area, which was rather interesting, but when Sarana and Martok entered the area their foe turned her head and started her slow walk towards them, showing that she must have been waiting for all of them to enter the church before engaging them. As such the three of them separated from each other and made their foe decide who she wanted to fight first, though it quickly became clear when she swung her long flaming sword at Martok, who decided to dodge out of the way this time, instead of taking the attack head on, but as that happened Sarana lashed out at the Dancer's legs as Tirek loosed a Lightning Spear through the air, striking their foe in the back. Unlike the Abyss Watchers, who had a reaction to being hit by this sort of spell, the Dancer didn't seem to care all that much, but he was sure that it had done some damage to her and was going to keep hitting her with that spell, as she was distracted by his companions and didn't seem all that interested in him this time around, which would bring about her defeat this time around. In fact their foe stabbed her sword into the ground near her, like she was trying to hit Sarana or Martok, and then curved her blade backwards in a half circle, cutting a light gash into the ground while bringing up a line of fire as an after attack, but both of Tirek's companions were on edge after the battle with the Abyss Watchers and were ready for whatever the Dancer threw at them.

Sarana, of course, was attacking the Dancer's legs as Martok did the same, or just dodging attacks while he looked for openings to exploit, though Tirek continued to keep his distance and loosed more Lightning Spears at his target, as while he knew he could use the other spells he had gained so far this one seemed to be one of the stronger spells in his arsenal and it seemed to be something that a good number of enemies were weak again. The Dancer insisted on swinging her blade at whoever was close to where she was standing, even if she was slowly moving around the area that they were in, and she even tried to grab whoever was near her, though Sarana avoided the movement and Martok moved to the side for a moment, just so he could cut into her arm and do some damage to their foe. She even had another attack where she gathered some fire into her right hand and blasted the area that was right in front of her, where Sarana and Martok made sure to get away from where she was standing for a moment, so none of the flames hit them, but even while they did that Tirek loosed another Lightning Spear and blasted the Dancer in the chest, knocking her backwards once more, something that didn't cause her to turn on him. That was something that interested Tirek, that their foe wasn't focusing on him at all and that she was more interested in the enemies that were the closest to her, where he would have targeted the one that was doing the most amount of damage, but he wasn't about to complain about how things were going, since it would be nice to take this being down and get some revenge for the quick death that happened the first time they fought her, back when Martok wasn't with them.

Eventually the Dancer raised her spare hand into the air for a second and then brought it down on the ground, which was the moment that Sarana and Martok backed away as a wave of dark energy burst outwards in all directions, from the area that she was standing in, and she pulled out an identical weapon to the one she was already using, only this one had an aura of darkness that matched the fiery aura of the other blade. She immediately went into a flurry of attacks, spinning around the area that she was in and started to move around the center of the church, so his companions backed off for a moment, letting their foe do whatever she wanted for a few seconds, and once she stopped they lashed out once more, as with two weapons her arsenal of techniques was limited and that meant they could take her down much quicker, since they didn't have to worry about a few of her other attacks. Tirek, once more, found that the Dancer seemed to be focusing on the wrong foe, as she was attacking anything that was close to hear, before he thought about the way Vordt fought the first time he and Sarana faced the 'dog' that had been guarding the Great Gate of the castle, he had acted like a total beast and didn't seem to have a rational thought in his mind, making him wonder if the Dancer was the same way, since all of her movements seemed to indicate such a thing. Still, he knew that Sarana, at the very least, wouldn't be caught off guard by this and would react accordingly, and that Martok would follow her lead when it came to what was going on, so he decided that he didn't need to worry about anything and focused on blasting the Dancer with Lightning Spears, as it would help them take her out all that much faster.

Despite the seemingly wild nature of the Dancer's attacks, even if they were graceful in some manner, the group was able to deal enough damage to their foe and caused her to fall to her knees for a moment, before she dissolved into a mass of souls that all three of them gained, just like what happened when they beat the previous powerful creatures that had been in their way, and came complete with a bonfire to take them back to the shrine.

It didn't take them long to return to the shrine, where Sarana handed Tirek the container that held the ashes of the Abyss Watchers and gestured to the throne one of them was supposed to be sitting in, where he simply took the container and headed over to his destination, while she and Martok walked over to the Handmaiden so they could likely buy a few items before they used the rest of their souls to empower themselves. Once he was at the throne he raised the container and watched as the ashes disappeared in a matter of seconds, where they reformed as four heads arranged in a diamond formation, what he assumed were the heads of the Abyss Watchers, and all of them came equipped with the helmets that they had been wearing earlier, causing him to raise an eyebrow to that, before deciding not to question it as he headed back down to where his companions were located. It was in that moment that he discovered that Sarana used a good portion of her souls to purchase some new armor from the Handmaiden, and by that he meant purchasing the same set of armor that the Dancer had been wearing, making him wonder how in the world the Handmaiden had gotten her hands on what their previous foe had on, but, at the same time, he decided not to worry about such a thing and knew that it was something that Sarana wanted, based on what happened after they saw the Dancer for the first time. Martok, on the other hand, spent a few of his souls to get a key that, according to him, went to the tower that was behind the shrine, meaning there had to be something there they could get their hands on that could help them in their quest, something that he gave to Tirek without wasting a second, who took the key and stared at it for a moment.

Sure, he wasn't expecting such a thing to happen, but at the same time he had to agree that they might find an item or two inside the tower that they might be able to use on their quest, so he decided that it would be the next thing they checked out, since it was just outside the shrine, and once that was done they would head back to where they had found the Abyss Watchers, so they could start the next leg of their journey and find the next Lord of Cinder.

Troublesome Catacombs

Once Martok handed over the key he had purchased from the Handmaiden, and Tirek put it away, they turned towards the Fire Keeper and empowered themselves with the rest of the souls they had on them, something that Sarana did after they took their turns, even though she had a lower amount than they did due to buying the new armor she was wearing right now, which Tirek knew she was enjoying. At this point Tirek really didn't get much of a boost from adding all of the souls to his collective power, not that he was expecting that right now since he had devoured the power of a Lord of Cinder, but that wasn't going to stop from from making sure every soul he gained was put to good use, to give him as much of an edge as he could for the future battles, as he suspected that he would be at thirty-five percent for some time. The reason behind that thought was because it had taken them a long time to locate the first Lord of Cinder, even with the skills that he had seen Sarana use over the course of their adventure, and he suspected that they would have to fight their way through a few more powerful beings before they found out where Aldrich was located, as it seemed that the Devourer of Gods was their next target, leaving Yhorm for later. If they found and killed both of those missing Lords, like they had just done to the Abyss Watchers, than it should point them in the direction of Prince Lothric, the fifth and final Lord of Cinder that they were in the middle of looking for, as Ludleth was the only one with common sense apparently.

It wasn't long before the three of them were done with the Fire Keeper and started to walk up the set of stairs that would allow them to leave the shrine and head out to where the tower was located, as Tirek had been a little curious as to what was inside the structure, since there was no way to get into it, and this provided him with a way to sate that part of him so he could focus on the rest of their quest. Sarana and Martok remained silent for the entire walk, where they walked up to the tower door and found that there was an iron barred door, like something that belonged to a cell in a prison, but that didn't stop Tirek from slipping the key into the slot and unlocked the door, where he found a circular set of stairs in front of him, which looked like it would take them to the top of this part of the structure. After a few moments the three of them reached the top of the stairs and found that it allowed them to walk onto a small walkway that lead over to the main tower that the bell was in, the one that had awoken all of them from their slumber, so they walked in a single file line to prevent someone from falling off the ledge. Interestingly enough the door to the tower was open, which Tirek guessed made some sense to someone due to the fact that the first door was locked, but as they entered the tower he discovered a larger walkway for them to walk on, along with a number of coffins filling the sides of the walls to their left and right, and all of them had bodies that looked like Fire Keepers in them.

After looking at that he found an elevator that had to take them to the area that the bell was in, to which the three of them stepped on the platform and Sarana pressed the button that activated the mechanism, where the platform started to move up the shaft and took them to their destination, but while that happened they heard the sound of a door closing below them, like someone had closed the door behind them.

"Great, we'll have someone to talk to when we leave this tower," Tirek commented, as he was assuming that there was someone else in this area, which Sarana seemed to agree with as Martok gripped the handle of his weapon for a moment, before he turned towards the top of the shaft, because he was more interested in that right now and not on whoever was trying to halt their progress.

Sarana said nothing as the platform came to a stop and they were allowed to walk outside, to which they stepped out onto a walkway that had some stairs on it, stairs that lead them up to the top of the structure and allowed them to stare at the bell, before Tirek noticed an orange soul resting below the bell, one that seemed of some importance, only to realize that it was the same type of soul that the Fire Keeper possessed, as there was a body of a Fire Keeper below it. As such he collected the soul and pocketed it for now, as he intended on giving it to the Fire Keeper that was assisting them right now, mostly because there was the chance that it would increase her own powers to some degree, something that could assist them at some point in the near future. While he did that Sarana and Martok discovered that there was nothing else in this area, save for the bell that didn't need to be rung, to which they walked down the stairs once more and headed for the lift, which took them back down to the walkway between where the platform had been located and the door they had walked through earlier, as it was time to see what was going on with the door. A few moments later, when the platform came to a stop, Tirek and his companions found that there was a bald headed man standing on the other side of the door, who was wearing some leather armor that was unlike what they had seen in the past, though he appeared to be grinning at the moment, like he had pranked them or something.

"Sorry, friends, you should be more careful! By the gods, curiosity is going to kill you kittens.... some places are better left alone, you know." the man said, sounding like this was supposed to be a sacred site or something, even if his tone told Tirek that he was being half truthful at the moment, that he was being serious about the death part, but he said nothing and moved his hand to stop Sarana from readying an arrow, as he wanted to hear what the man had to say, before he tried out his magic on the iron barred door, "Oh, sorry, am I a tad too late? Have no fear, there's beauty in death. Besides, you're surrounded by ladies, both living and dead. That's every man's dream, am I right?"

"No, that's something I'm not even thinking about." Tirek replied, as he could tell that the man was talking to him and was ignoring Sarana and Martok, for the most part anyway, but there was also something wrong with him as well, since he seemed to be of the opinion that he would have been interested in all the ladies that were around the area, something the man was definitely wrong about.

"Oh, no matter, I'll look after things." the man stated, his words indicating that he was going to pick up where they left off and continue the quest to track down the missing Lords of Cinder, but Tirek waited for him to put a wicked smile on his face as he considered something else for a moment as he looked at then, "and by that I mean stripping every last trinket off all of your corpses. The lot of you are going to make some lucky customers very happy."

Tirek and his companions said nothing as the man waved at them and turned around, indicating that he was leaving the area and would no doubt come back to check on them after a few hours, to see if they were dead or not, but once the man was gone, and Tirek was sure he wasn't going to come back if they did something, he turned towards his companions and watched as Sarana jumped over to one of the coffins. It was in that moment that he discovered a number of coffins that happened to be sticking out of the wall and that a few of them formed a path down to the lower level, something that Sarana was in the middle of following, to which he and Martok followed after her and copied the moments that she was making after she made them. Interestingly enough the path they were following came to a dead end that required that they drop down into the area that was below them, to which Sarana did so and then moved out of the way so Tirek and Martok could do the same, where they found a ring that looked like it was made in the same style as the Estus Flasks were made, green glass that must have been soaked in the healing potion, so they pocketed it for now as they turned towards the iron barred door that was in front of them. From there they opened the door, as it wasn't locked at all, and walked out onto a side passage that would, if they followed it, take them back to the front of the shrine and to where the tower was located, to which they walked out of the corpse filled room they had been in and headed back into the stairs that would let them return to the tower.

After a few moments, however, Tirek paused as he, Sarana, and Martok spotted the bald man they were looking for, as he was chilling up in the upper area of the shrine, as in he was down the way from the exit that allowed them to head out to where the tower was located, which was the moment that Tirek growled as he walked over to where his target was standing, as he disliked the man right now.

"Ah, oh, you, you guys are alive..." the man said, sounding like he was surprised by all of this, as he fully intended for the three of them to die in the tower, after tracking down and killing one of the Lords of Cinder, but that was when he took a moment to realize the expression that was on Tirek's face, "Now, now, hold your horses, let's have a nice talk about this. I'll come clean, I did you and your friends wrong. I didn't mean it, though, not one bit. You get these... urges... running the business and all... Oh, and I hate myself for it, I do. You know what I mean? Terrible, really. But I can see you'll forgive me. You guys are alive, after all, and that's what counts, right?"

"Well, that is where you would be wrong." Tirek remarked, where he gripped his chime for a moment and let a few bits of lightning dance around his fingers for a few seconds as he stared at the man, while at the same time both of his companions gripped their weapons at the same time, showing that they understood what he was doing right now and that they were willing to hit the man, "I won't forgive you for that little stunt."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, no need to jest with a face like that." the man stated, where Tirek had the opinion that he liked to live in his own little world and that whatever people said was interpreted as something else, where he moved one of his hands in a motion that seemed like he was dismissing what he been said, "You're still alive, and I'm here grovelling in the dirt, so to speak. Oh, I know! Here, a token of my sincerity. Right and proper, eh? We're just a couple of outcasts, let's make the best of it!"

The man held out a rusted golden coin for them to take, just one to be exact, and while Tirek didn't take it Sarana did, not that they really needed such a thing, causing the smile to return to the man's face as that happened, though before he did anything else Tirek turned around and left, where he made sure that Sarana kept an eye on the man whenever they returned to the shrine, as he didn't trust him in the slightest. Sarana nodded her head in agreement, showing that she had the same opinion on the man and had only taken the coin to make it seem like someone forgave him for his actions, while Martok simply didn't care and would follow their lead, just as he always did, so for now Tirek decided that it was time to head back to the bonfire and continue their quest. As they did that, however, he stopped at the Fire Keeper and handed over the soul he had picked up, where she seemed surprised by what they had discovered and accepted the soul that he was offering her, who could tell that her power increased as she absorbed the soul, meaning that, in time, her strength would be far greater than it was right now. Once that was done, and there was nothing else to do at the shrine, the three of them approached the bonfire and focused on it for a few seconds, allowing them to teleport back to the area that the Abyss Watchers had been fighting in, so they could progress into the Catacombs of Carthus and see what new dangers and obstacles awaited them.

As soon as they arrived in their destination the three of them approached the altar that was behind where the pair of Watchers had been fighting and watched as it pulled itself back into the wall, revealing a set of stairs that took them lower into the earth, to which they walked down the path they had discovered and quickly discovered a brand new area that was right below there the first Lord of Cinder had been resting. The Catacombs of Carthus, as Tirek discovered, was a massive area that had a stone floor, stone walls, stone pillars with torches on them, and, interestingly enough, a large chasm that would have separated the side of the area they were on from the other side of the area, and the only reason they were even connected were thanks to two stone walkways, one being a bridge and the other being a descending set of stairs that would take them to their destination. Sarana found that there happened to be a series of drops off on their right, ones she claimed that would allow them to potentially skip part of this area, but, at the same time, Tirek was willing to see what the Catacombs had in store for them and headed over to the bridge that would allow them to move on, as he was also sure that they might find an interesting item or two if they went that way. What happened as he approached the bridge was something he wasn't expecting, as the skeleton that was resting nearby picked itself and its sword up, indicating that it wanted to fight him, where Sarana lashed out at it as Tirek threw a Fireball at it, knocking it to the ground in seconds, only for it to get back up and attack them again, which only prompted Martok to smash it with his greatsword, this time putting it down for real, giving them a chance to pick up some resin that was resting on the wall behind it.

While they walked over the bridge Sarana mentioned that the skeletal undead didn't like blessed weapons, sort of like what the knights of the cathedral had been doing to their weapons, and without that sort of power all they could do was hit the skeletons until they stopped moving, which Tirek was fine with at the moment, but even as Sarana finished talking they found a more armed skeleton walking in their direction. This time around their foe liked to roll, where he seemed to vanish as he did that, but there was a flaw to his technique and that was the fact that some dust was kicked up while he did that, meaning all they had to do was focus on the area the dust was in and Martok would parry the incoming attack, to open the way for Sarana to lash out with her blades and cut into their foe's side. Tirek, on the other hand, noticed that an archer was getting ready to loose some arrows at them, while a pair of skeletal warriors came out from the opening that the bridge was leading them towards, so he left those enemies in the hands of his companions as he focused his attention on the archer, where he hurled a Lightning Spear through the air and blasted it to pieces, before loosing a second one as his foe reformed, taking out the archer before it could hit any of them. Once that was done he turned his attention to blasting the other skeletons with Fireballs, since there wasn't a lot of room for him to work with, but in the end the three of them were able to take care of the enemies that were in front of them and opened the way for them to progress once more, which was what they did as they kept their guards up, since there was no telling how many skeletons were waiting to kill whoever intruded upon this area.

The chamber they entered was just as tall as the first area they had walked into, which meant that this was going to be the norm for the Catacombs, and they had two paths to pick from, one that was heading down to their right while the second was on their left and headed up, and they both had a set of stairs for them to walk on, but in the end Tirek picked the one on the left, as he had the sneaking suspicion that it would bring them to the area on their right and wanted to see what they might miss. As they did that a headless skeleton, which only had one arm, somehow put itself together and picked up its blade, where it rushed at them with the intent of cutting them down, but as Tirek blasted it with a Fireball his companions cut into it with their weapons, breaking it down in a matter of seconds and opened the way for them to move forward, even if more enemies might be getting ready to attack them. Sure enough there was a single enemy to their left, where the archer had been located, and there was one down a path to their right, which involved turning around a corner to get to it, but even as they thought about which one to go down Sarana found a chest down the side path and cut down the skeleton that tried to rise from where it was resting, with Martok finishing it off as the other skeleton warrior was taken out by Tirek blasting it apart. Martok ended up smashing another skeleton into the floor as Sarana found a lost soul that was added to their pack, though once they were done with that area they rejoined Tirek as he headed for the opening the archer had been in, which allowed them to see another passage that could be taken, which was the one that he headed down, just to see if it was hiding anything interesting.

Sarana quickly discovered a button in the middle of the short passage, one that Tirek and Martok avoided as well once she pointed it out to them, and at the end of the area they found a ladder that would take them down to a new passage, to which Tirek let Sarana go first so she could make sure the area was safe, for the moment anyway, and it wasn't long before she popped her head back into view and beckoned for them to head down the ladder.

Tirek found another lost soul when he reached the bottom of the ladder, something that he put away while Martok joined him and Sarana, though once that was done they walked over to the next passage and found a chamber that held a skeleton that was already up and about, even if it seemed to be standing near one of the walls, so that meant they would have to fight it to move forward. Before they did that Sarana looked at a wall that was to their right and seemed to think that it was out of place or something, as she lashed out with her blade and it passed through the wall, causing the illusion to fall apart and reveal a short passage that lead to another section of the Catacombs, but as that happened Tirek threw a Fire Orb at the skeleton that was on the other side and blasted it into the wall. To their right rested a pyromancy tome, just like the one they had found in the swamp, to Tirek collected it with the intent of handing it over to Cornyx later, since there was a chance it might have some interesting spells for him to use, before they headed through the opening that was to the left of the passage Sarana had found and discovered a skeleton archer that was starting to form, only for Martok to hit it with the side of his weapon and knocked it into the abyss below them. From there, since there was nothing else in the area for them to worry about, they retracted their steps back to the chamber the other skeleton was in and engaged it, by Tirek throwing a Fireball into its face, where he continued to do that as his companions demanded the attention of their foe for the next couple of seconds, as it didn't take them all that long to bring him down and move on.

As they walked out of the area they were in Sarana also picked up a gem that looked like Titanite, or maybe one that had been messed with at some point in the past, before they walked through the opening that was in front of them and found another armed skeleton waiting for them, and this time he wasn't alone since there happened to be a second one rounding the corner behind the first one. Tirek switched to the Lightning Spear as his companions focused on the closest foe, where they lashed out at him while he blasted the one that was in the back of the area, while discovering that they were actually at the base of the other set of stairs he had seen earlier and that, to their right, happened to be a brand new opening, one that was connected to the long set of stairs that would allow them to actually progress through the rest of the Catacombs. Once the pair of skeletons had collapsed, and weren't getting back up again, they headed through another opening and found four more enemies, all broken skeletons, that picked themselves up and tried to attack them, but that was when Martok swung his blade through all of them at the same time, while making sure Tirek and Sarana were behind him, and scattered them like they were nothing, causing Tirek to smile as he saw that, as it was clear that the Catacombs weren't as bad as any of the other areas they had been in so far. The moment the group of enemies was taken out, and they were sure that none of them were going to get back up, the group headed down to the end of the passage and then walked down the stairs that were nearby, but when they did that Tirek found something interesting, Anri was standing in front of them and she seemed worried about something.

The reason Tirek even considered that thought was because one of Anri's hands was gripping the front of her helmet, though that was the minor thing he considered, as Horace was no where to be seen, meaning that Anri was alone and was without the Unkindled that had sworn to help her reach the end of her quest, making him wonder if the knight in question had been killed at some point in the past.

"Anri? What are you doing down here, alone?" Tirek asked, because while he was surprised that they had found the lady in a brand new area, even though that confirmed that they were on the right track since she was chasing after Aldrich for some reason, he was more surprised by the fact that Horace was missing, though at the same time Sarana and Martok readied themselves in case any enemies decided to attack them while they were talking.

"Oh, hello, how very fortunate. Have you seen my companion, Horace?" Anri said, where she lowered her hand as she discovered that she wasn't alone anymore, though it took her a few moments to even recognize Tirek, which was no doubt due to all the changes his body had undergone since the last time they saw each other, before she focused on something else and not on Tirek's body, "To my shame, I was snared by a trap earlier, and we've become separated as a result of my carelessness. I have been unable to find him since that happened."

"I have not seen Horace since you guys returned to the shrine earlier, when you mentioned where Aldrich's true home was located." Tirek stated, as that was the last time he had seen the knight that was always near Anri, hence why he was a tad bit surprised by the knight's absence, but he figured that he might as well tell the lady that he hadn't seen Horace and that the same was true for his companions, meaning they couldn't help her out in this regard.

"Yes, I see. Well, Horace is a valiant knight, and he can look after himself, there's no question about that." Anri replied, where she did seem unhappy about the fact that they didn't know where Horace was, even though she was more focused on her own blunder that had caused her to become separated from the knight that was helping her out, before she took a moment to glance at the area that was through the opening to her left, which was to Tirek's right, "He's probably searching for me right now, with twice the resolve. If you happen upon him, please tell him that I will remain in the Catacombs and that I will lay prism stones to guide him to me, as I have done in the past. Please send him my word. I beg of you... may the flames guide your way."

Tirek and his companions repeated the statement to Anri, mostly since it seemed to calm her down, before they even took a few steps though the opening she glanced at, where they found a small crystal lizard to their left and Sarana lashed out at it before it even had a chance to flee from the area, while at the same time Tirek spotted a skeletal archer off in the distance and loosed a Lightning Spear at it, blasting it to pieces as Sarana claimed some Twinkling Titanite for them to use in the future. With that put away, and there being nothing else in this area for them to really do, besides picking up some moss clumps that might help them out, the group returned to the chamber that was connected to the long set of stairs so they could move forward and progress through the Catacombs, though even as they returned to the stairs Tirek kept his guard up, as he had a feeling there was more to this than what they were seeing. All he could see right now were two more skeletons that were wandering around the middle part of the stairs and the area that was in front of the opening that they needed to go through next, so what he did was rush down towards the bottom of the stairs, prompting Sarana and Martok to run after him, but it was in that moment that he discovered there was something else for them to worry about, and that was a giant ball of skeletons, about the size of a boulder, that landed on the top of the stairs and came at them. What he did to that was, instead of even attempting to attack it, he jumped over to the ledge of the walkway that was in front of him and got out of the boulder's way, as he was of the opinion that the skeletons had wrapped themselves around a rock of some kind to do this, before his companions joined him, allowing the boulder to crash into the pair of skeletons and crush them... and then, not a few seconds later, it seemed to reverse itself and rushed out of the passage they needed to head inside, meaning they would have to be quick the next time the ball came by them.

What interested him was the fact that there was a skeleton that seemed to be minding his own business to the right of the opening, so Sarana quickly cut him down, in the off chance that he might try to attack them while their guards were down as they moved through the next part of the Catacombs, before they moved into the side passage and let the boulder smash into the barred passage that was in front of them, breaking into pieces and depositing an Undead Bone Shard for them to use when they returned to the shrine.

Tirek would have preferred finding another way to open the locked passage, as on the other side of the bars rested a bonfire for them to look forward to, but the contraption that was connected to it was broken, meaning they had to take the long way around and tackle a few more enemies before they made it to where the bonfire rested, which was why they started moving again, instead of wasting time in this part of the Catacombs. As they walked down the passage three more skeletons rose from their graves to fight them, though all of them had a glow in their eyes that meant they might be on a different level than the previous skeletons they had fought so far, so while Sarana and Martok focused on the foes that were in front of them Tirek blasted the one at the back of the pack with Lightning Spears. The reason behind that was due to the fact that his target threw a ball of some kind at one of the walls and that brought out three tracking spheres of pure darkness, which both of his companions had to dodge as well, in addition to their own foes, so he focused on blasting that foe down so Sarana and Martok could take out the other two, all so they could move forward and deal with the rest of the area that they were in. Fortunately it didn't take him all that long to blast the last skeleton to pieces, scattering the bones and stopping him from throwing those balls at the walls, allowing him to take a moment and watch as his companions wasted no time in breaking their own foes down, even if that meant killing them twice since they tried to reform after their first defeat, but in the end the three of them were allowed to move on once their enemies were defeated.

With those foes taken down the group headed to the right and found a more open area than they were expecting to see in this part of the Catacombs, even if they couldn't access part of the area, and some distance in front of them they spotted another skeleton that was armed with more of the small balls that would summon those dark orbs, so Tirek just blasted their newest foe to pieces so they wouldn't have to worry about it. The next part of the path they came to had a number of pots that were lining the floor and seemed to have something behind all of them, to which Sarana jumped onto the sides of the pillars and made her way over to where the item seemed to be resting, where she quickly grabbed it and returned to where Tirek was standing, revealing a golden ring with a white stone attached to it. He wasn't sure if it was a ring they needed or not, based on what he had seen so far, but he let Sarana pocket it as they walked further down the passage that they had been following, eventually coming to another area that had two of the ball throwing skeletons and one of the more armored skeletons, so he focused on blasting the more troublesome enemies while his companions cut down the other foe. What was interesting was that his foes decided to try and hit his companions, who were dodging the attacks from the skeleton that they were fighting, but that meant that he was able to blast the two of them to pieces and scattered their bones within a matter of moments, something that was repeated when they got back up to challenge him once more, allowing him to watch as Sarana and Martok to finish off their foe.

From there they discovered that the path they were followed was split, as they could drop down into an area that was to their left, and fight anything and everything that was down there, or they could head down the passage that was to their right and focus on the two armed skeletons, though it wasn't long before Martok picked for them, as he rushed at the pair of skeletons and sliced into them before they had a chance to react. That, of course, didn't stop either of the skeletons from stopping what they were doing, but since they were focused on turning towards the area that Martok was standing in, and only that, their backs were open to Sarana lashing out at them and cutting into their sides, before she landed near Martok and stared at their enemies as she readied herself for what was coming next. Tirek, taking advantage of the fact that both of the skeletons were distracted, threw a few Lightning Spears through the air and watched as they slammed into the backs of his targets, blasting them to the ground so that his companions could hack them apart and make sure neither of them got back up. It wasn't long before they determined that the skeletons wouldn't get back up and that they were allowed to move forward once more, where Tirek joined them and made sure that they avoided the button that was in the ground, even if this one was harder to see since there were bodies that were partly covering where it was, before they approached a hole in the floor that would allow them to drop down into the area that was below them, where Sarana found an ember laying on the other side.

Once that was done they headed through the opening that the pair of skeletons had been guarding and found that it brought them to another passage that had one of the skeletal balls rolling down to the other side, so they followed it and found a side passage that allowed them to access the area the bonfire they had seen was located in, to which they lit it and sat near it for a moment, as they were going to rest for a few moments before seeing what else the Catacombs had to throw at them as they searched for the other exit that would allow them to find Irithyll and their next target.

Shadows and Hazards

Tirek, Sarana, and Martok spent a few minutes resting at the bonfire they had discovered, listening to the sounds of the rolling skeleton ball that was in the passage they had walked through to get to this point in the Catacombs, though this was mostly to allow Tirek to recover his magicka, since he had spent the vast majority of what he had on the skeletons they had fought so far, and any flasks he had used along the way. Getting through this area was rather easy, when one considered all of the enemies that they had fought so far, but the true challenge was all the twists and turns that were in this area, not to mention all of the traps that they had seen since they started exploring the area, of which there had to be more lingering in the upcoming sections of the Catacombs that none of them had seen just yet. If those upcoming sections were anything like what they had seen so far they would have a great chance at getting through the rest of the underground area without too much delay, depending on what they encountered in terms of enemies and traps, but even then they knew to keep their guards up for whenever they started moving, since Sarana and Martok were waiting for Tirek to be ready to leave. He did consider leaving for the shrine, to spend the souls they had acquired so far to empower themselves even more, but then pushed that idea from his mind as he stood up, causing his companions to glance at him for a moment, showing that they were curious as to what he wanted to do.

Without saying a word Tirek shifted his stance and headed down the passage they had walked down earlier, as he was heading towards the area the skeleton ball was in, to which his companions got up and joined him, where they came to a brief stop as the ball rolled down the passage and headed down some stairs that were at the end of the passage they were following, revealing the way forward. What they did was move out and hide in the indents of the walls, allowing them to remain safe when the ball rolled back up the stairs and rolled towards the end of the passage that was behind where they were standing, which was the sign for them to move forward, as they rushed down the stairs and found a larger chamber that had two paths for them to chose from, as they could head to the left or the right. Tirek, on the other hand, also found two rats hanging out at the bottom of the stairs, far enough to where they didn't block them in, so what he did was move around them, which his companions did as well, and they watched as the rats screeched at them and were quickly run over by the skeleton ball, meaning they wouldn't have to waste time on those two enemies. Of course there was one of the larger rats over to their right, and it seemed that there might be another small one standing near it, but at the very least they didn't have to worry about the second skeleton ball that they had discovered, and, as they studied the area that was around them, there was one other path they could pick from, one that seemed to be resting in a forward direction, so they could just move forward and ignore everything else.

Of course part of the decision was made for them as the large rat turned around and rushed at them, where Tirek did the smart thing and moved to the side as Martok raised his greatsword into the air and brought it down on the larger foe, splitting the rat in half, leaving him and Sarana to deal with the smaller one, where he simply blasted it in the face, mostly to daze it, before Sarana cut it down with her blades.

What Tirek ended up deciding was that they should head down the path on the right, just to see what was down there, and the first thing he noticed, as they turned around the corner, was that there were several skeletons that seemed to be a mix of bone and a wheel, all spiked apparently, and on the roof of the area rested some of the slimes he and the others had seen back in the Cathedral of the Deep. As such he let Sarana and Martok head forward so they could cut down and deal with the wheel skeletons, as Tirek was going to call them, while he stood back and hurled Fire Orbs at the ceiling as his companions moved, blowing away the slimes before they even had a chance to fight back, which was just fine with him since that meant they couldn't fall on Sarana or Martok's heads. While he did that his companions progressed and found a few Titanite Shards off to the side, something that were added to their collective pack, before Martok lashed out and cut down one of the incoming wheel skeletons that were trying to roll them into submission, smashing it to pieces in a matter of seconds, while Fire Orbs raced towards the ceiling as all of the slimes were blasted into oblivion, showing that Tirek was getting better at fighting their enemies. At the end of the path they were following the group found a side path to their left and discovered that there was something resting near the wall at the very end, so Tirek called his magic to him and blasted all of the remaining slimes off the ceiling with some well placed Fire Orbs, allowing his companions to reach the wall and pick up yet another ring, this one looking like the last one, but with a red gemstone instead of a white one, but since that was the only item in the area they regrouped and headed back to where the skeleton ball was located.

As they returned to the area that the left and straight paths were in, however, they found that one of the armed and robed skeletons happened to be in the area and that it had spotted them within a matter of seconds, by throwing out a couple of knives at them, mostly to announce his presence, but as he rushed at Sarana, however, Tirek blasted him with a Lightning Spear and opened the way for Martok to smash him to pieces. From there they spotted a path to the side that allowed them to walk up to the level that was above them, where they found a few armed skeletons that looked like they were ready for battle, and one that seemed to be wearing a hat, so what happened was that Sarana cut down the one that was wearing the hat as Martok and Tirek engaged the other ones, one cutting into the foes and one blasting them before they had a chance to retaliate. The upper area, as Tirek discovered, was pretty much made in the same style as the rest of the Catacombs, just with some stairs leading up to this area and back down to the area they had been in earlier, and the area that the second set of stairs was in had two more of the armed skeletons, something that Tirek ignored as both of his companions rushed forward and struck them down, even though Sarana danced with her foe for a moment or two before cutting him down. It didn't take them all that long to finish off the rest of the enemies that were around them, of which Tirek counted four over all, before he found some ashes hanging out near one of the walls, contained in a jar of some kind, so that meant that they could take them to the Handmaiden and see what sort of new items she had to offer them, even if he was sure none of them would actually buy what she had to sell them.

Once the area had been cleared out, and there were no more enemies for them to deal with, Tirek headed back down to the area that the skeleton ball was rolling around in and realized that they only had two more routes to pick from, one that seemed like it would lead forward and one that seemed like a side path, so all they had to do was come to a decision and then head down the path they picked. What was interesting was that, as they walked down into the area that held the stairs back to the bonfire, Tirek discovered the remains of the skeleton ball that had been rolling through the area and located what appeared to be a piece of Titanite that was darkened, like it contained some dark power inside it, and there was one of the smaller crabs walking by the wreckage, who hadn't been there before, so he blasted it into the wall to clear the area of all the enemies that they knew about. In the end they decided to check out the direct path, even if it was likely to be something worthless to them, and as they entered the passage Tirek discovered that the direction they had picked was blocked by a number of iron bars and that the lever to move them was located on the other side, meaning that the path that he labeled as the side path, the left path, was the one that they needed to use to get to where the lever was resting, to which they turned around and started to retrace their steps. As they neared the entrance, however, Tirek felt a new invader trespass on their world and watched as a red colored warrior, this one being male and wielding a large blade that was definitely a greatsword, even if it looked like black slate that was twisted into a weapon, meaning that they might be in some trouble as they forced themselves back into the chamber behind him and faced their foe.

The warrior rushed at them and Martok was the one that blocked the incoming attack, as the warrior quickly put his shield on his back and lashed out with his weapon, forcing Martok to use the side of his own greatsword to stop the attack, something that actually pushed him back a little, more than anything they had seen so far, though while that was going on Sarana ran in and started to move around the warrior, looking for weaknesses in his armor so she could lash out at him and reveal an opening that Martok could use. Tirek waited for a few seconds before hurling a Fire Orb at their foe, where he found that the warrior did take the spell head on and didn't seem to be all that bothered by the flames that danced on his armor and weapon for a few seconds, and that he didn't back down when a Lightning Spear struck his chest, showing that his magic might not be all that useful in this fight, but even then his spells did open a couple of holes in the warrior's defenses, ones that allowed his companions to get a few good shots in. The iron armor that their target was wearing was, in some way, stopping their attacks from really doing any damage to him and that did annoy Tirek a little, but at the very least all of their attacks seemed to be hurting the warrior, while they had to dodge all of his attacks, since he knew that being hit by his greatsword would be painful, something that both of his companions shared his thoughts on. Fortunately, thanks to Martok guarding the majority of the attacks with his greatsword, causing a clash between him and the warrior, Tirek and Sarana were able to focus mostly on using their tools to hurt the warrior, be it with magic or weapons, and they could tell that three on one wasn't working in the warrior's favor.

In the end the group was able to break through all of the warrior's attacks and defenses, allowing Sarana to cut him down once that happened, causing their foe to stagger for a moment before he collapsed on the ground and disappeared as he returned to his world, leaving behind an odd ring for them to collect, one that didn't seem to have a complete iron circle that a small iron bar rested on, something that Sarana put away a few seconds later.

"We're getting a good number of items from this area," Tirek remarked, where he glanced in the direction that the last path rested in, because now he was curious as to what else they might be able to pick up before they made their way out of the Catacombs, while at the same time his companions seemed to be ready for any other foes that might try and attack them while they were resting, "Come, let's move on and see what else this crypt has to offer."

The other path brought them to a rocky area that had a clear walkway for them to follow, meaning that it wasn't like the rest of the Catacombs, and it wasn't long before Tirek spotted one of the small crystal lizards chilling out in the area that was right in front of them, where he did nothing as Sarana rushed forward and cut down her target before it was able to flee, giving them the gem it possessed, a fiery gem this time around. From there they found an opening that allowed them to see that there was a wooden bridge, one that looked like it was ready to collapse at any moment, resting above a hole in the cavern that they seemed to be entering, and one of the armed skeletons happened to be resting near the edge of the walkway they were following. Sarana took the chance and approached the potential enemy without making a single noise, showing Tirek that she was incredibly skilled and could have been an assassin at one point in time, but this time she just kicked the skeleton over the edge and they watched as he plummeted down into the area that was at the bottom of the large hole they had discovered. What interested Tirek wasn't the fact that they killed the armed skeleton, rather is was the fact that there seemed to be a knight standing down in the area that Sarana sent the creature into, meaning that there had to be a path down there that they either missed or would be coming up on at some point, to which he decided to keep moving and explore the rest of the area they were in.

As it turned out the opening to their right brought them to the other side of the barred passage that the knight had used as his ambush location, where they found a lever that would likely open the way forward, though they had to be very careful since there were a number of skeletons on the ground, all waiting to be reanimated by something, which became true when Martok tried to pull the lever, as he was able to do so and that caused two of the skeletons to rise from where they had been resting. As such Tirek and Sarana dealt with them, Tirek blasting his target a few times with his Fire Orbs as Sarana dodged the blade that was coming her way and then cut into her foe, breaking the skeleton she was fighting to pieces, and it wasn't long before they both smashed their enemies into the ground and scattered their bones once more, just in time for the barred passage to be opened. Before they moved forward Tirek also found a lost soul and a container that had black pellets in it, items that he stashed away inside their pack for later, though once that was done the three of them started to move along the next part of the path and found something interesting, they could either walk along the bridge or head up a higher path that Anri, oddly enough, happened to be standing at the peak of. Surprisingly enough the rest of the scattered skeletons hadn't moved yet, meaning they were either fully dead or were just playing around to lure them into a false sense of security, but, in the end, Tirek headed up the side path and walked over to where Anri was currently standing, mostly to see if she had anything new to say to them.

"Oh, hello, we meet again." Anri said, where she lowered her hand, which had been gripping her helmet like she had been doing the last time they found her, earlier in the Catacombs to be exact, though they didn't need to hear the tone of her voice to realize that she was still alone, as Horace was nowhere to be seen once more, making Tirek wonder if the lone knight was Horace, "Have you seen Horace anywhere?"

"Sorry, we haven't seen him yet." Tirek replied, mostly because that was the truth, neither he or his companions had seen the missing knight since the last time they had seen Anri, and he wasn't about to tell her about the area that was right below the bridge that they needed to use to get out of the Catacombs, mostly since he had no idea if the knight that he had seen was even Horace or not, due to the fact that they were so high up and it was hard to make out the form of the individual in question.

"Oh, yes... I see. I've searched high and low as well, with no luck." Anri replied, where she truly seemed sad about the fact that she had lost her companion, especially given the fact that Tirek was sure the two had shared some sort of history with each other before being reborn as Unkindled, a history that neither of them had seemed willing to share, before Anri considered something, "Perhaps he's left the Catacombs? Oh, Horace, where have you run off to? Have you abandoned me? No, what a horrible thought..."

"Well, we'll keep looking and, if we discover anything, we'll be sure to tell you," Tirek stated, but even as he said that he knew that the chances of such a thing happening were slim to none, since he was sure that Anri would move on before they discovered anything about Horace and where he might be located, though his words did seem to calm the lady down to some degree, almost like she trusted him, a fatal mistake if ever there was one.

With that done, and there was nothing else to talk about, the group retraced their steps back to the bridge and moved across it without wasting even a single moment, though as they did that Tirek turned around and found that the skeletons were starting to rise from where they had been resting, meaning the trigger to wake them up was taking a few steps on the wooden bridge. Instead of waiting around for their enemies to get up and rush the area they would be guarding, as it seemed like there were between ten to twenty of them, Tirek, Sarana, and Martok rushed over the bridge and eventually came to the area that would allow them to leave the Catacombs, or so they assumed anyway, before Tirek turned around and found that all of the skeletons were walking on the bridge. As such he gestured to Sarana and both she and Martok lashed out at the ropes supporting the bridge, where the structure shuddered for a moment before finally snapping, an event that caused the bridge to snap in half, causing the skeletons to fall to their final deaths in the area that the knight was standing in, and, at the same time, Tirek glanced over the edge and found a small path just below the part of the now broken bridge that was below them, meaning there was another path they could take if they so desired. He could tell that Sarana noticed the path as well and was making a note of it, just in case one of them really wanted to head down there at some point, before they moved away from the edge and walked up the path that was behind them, where they found a number of steps carved into the stone and that it brought them to a stone door.

Martok stepped forward and pushed it open without delay, where they found a large chamber that was filled with a bunch of urns and pots, along with pillars scattered everywhere, before discovering a set of stairs that were connected to another stone door, the way out, and in front of them rested an altar with a goblet on it, though since there were no foes in this area they carefully approached the altar.

Tirek glanced at his companions for a moment, who readied themselves for what was about to happen next, before they stepped forward and he approached the area the altar was in, where he reached out and touched the upper brim of the drink cup, which was metal merged with a skull, making an ugly thing in his mind, before bits of shadow started to seep out of the eye sockets. The three of them watched as the shadows poured out of the goblet and filled the floor that was around the altar, covering the stone and the candles that were around them, before it seemed like they were standing in the middle of a growing pool of darkness, though it was at that point that Tirek felt the energy of a powerful being that rested in the darkness, even if Sarana and Martok couldn't feel what he was feeling. It wasn't long before the goblet was the only thing that they could focus on as large bits of shadow started to really pour out of it, darkening the entire area while, at the same time, apparently pulling them into another smaller dimension, meaning that whatever creature they were going to be fighting didn't want to fight inside the chamber they had been in, rather they were going to fight it in the area it would have an advantage in. A few moments later they discovered that they were in a darkened cavern, or that was what Tirek assumed right off the bat, and that they were standing on some ground, even if they couldn't see the other walls that had to be around them, so he moved forward and raised his staff in one hand and his fire in the other, while his companions carefully followed him as they headed down the hill they were currently on.

The only thing they could really see at the moment was a tome that was some distance in front of them, but as Tirek walked towards it he noticed something interesting, there was a massive skeletal hand to his right, one that became clear as they drew near it, and the moment he picked up the tome, a pyromancy tome, a massive skeletal being, the upper body and the head, appeared before them, looking like it was the skeleton of a lord or something, based on the crown, and it had three golden bracelets attached to its arms, two on its left and one on its right.

As the group readied themselves for the battle that was clearly starting, as the sudden arrival of the massive skeleton was designed to lower their guard so the first attack could be given to their foe, to turn the tide of battle in his favor, Tirek noticed that it was pulling its head back and started to pull in some sort of mist or darkness into his mouth, where he and his companions backed off as he basically puked deadly looking mist into the area in front of him. What they discovered was that the mist only covered a specific portion of the area that was in front of the skeleton, or High Lord Wolnir, as that happened to be the name that Sarana gave him, something Tirek would have to ask about later, and once the mist was gone they were allowed to advance on the High Lord. It didn't take Sarana and Martok long to strike the arms with their weapons, nor did it take Tirek long to blast one of them with both fire and lightning, where he quickly discovered that none of their attacks really seemed to do anything, but, at the same time, when he lashed out at one of the golden bracelets with a Fire Orb he noticed the High Lord shift for a moment, almost in the defensive manner, since that arm was pulled back almost instantly. He then glanced at Sarana for a few seconds, where the assassin, as Tirek was going to think of her from this point forward, nodded her head in agreement and tapped Martok's arm, something that caused the warrior to nod his head as well, showing that they now knew what they needed to hit and that anything else could be avoided for as they attempted to bring down this powerful creature.

Interestingly enough the High Lord attempted to smash one of them into the ground with his left hand, as he quickly slammed his palm into the ground, causing the group to dodge before one of them was struck, but that exposed two of his golden bracelets and those where what the three of them lashed out at, striking the arm in question as they attempted to break one of their targets, before their foe pulled his arm back. What was surprising was that the High Lord must not have learned from his last mistake and tried to smite them with another pound attack, so he lashed out with his left hand again and struck the ground in a different area, as he was aiming for Tirek this time around, no doubt blaming him for finding out the one weakness that would spell his downfall. Of course he jumped out of the way and avoided the attack, where he and his companions struck at the same bracelet that they had targeted the first time an arm was in front of them, and this time around the entire thing shattered, causing the High Lord to recoil in shock and possibly anger, but it was clear that his total health was linked to the bracelets and that breaking the other two would bring the fight to an end. With the first of the three bracelets broken the High Lord loosed another wave of deadly mist into the area, something that caused Tirek, Sarana, and Martok to back off immediately and stop when they reached the edge of the small area it covered, where they waited for a few moments and braced themselves for when the mist disappeared, since that would be the moment to rush forward and return to the battle that was unfolding before them. In fact the High Lord appeared to be ready for what was coming his way, as he raised his right arm over to his left shoulder and tried to backhand them, somewhat succeeding in the sense that they jumped back to avoid the attack, but, in the end, his hand came to rest on the ground near the group and that allowed them to wail on the bracelet that seemed to be the most protected of the remaining two.

Of course their foe pulled the arm back after a few seconds, meaning that they would have to be careful when they went after it since the High Lord was keeping it in a permanent deadly mist by his chest, something that would hurt them if they got close to him, so they waited for him to make the mistake of striking at them again with that hand, while keeping an eye on what he was going to do next. What the High Lord did was raise his left hand and gathered his power for a few seconds, before slamming his palm onto the ground and the skeletons they had fought in the Catacombs, excluding all of the armed ones, started to rise before their eyes, but, at the same time, that was when Sarana rushed forward and swung her blades at the bracelet that was being exposed to them, while Tirek and Martok focused on breaking the skeletons that were rising to fight them. Now that they knew what Wolnir's weakness was, and that he was constantly exposing them, it didn't take Sarana all that long to break the second bracelet and then pull back as the High Lord roared in pain once more, repeating what happened when the first one was broken, and he even went into the motions to spew more deadly mist on the area, forcing her and the others to retreat for a time. Tirek discovered that the skeletons that Wolnir summoned didn't seem to be all that smart, as they stood in the mist and died before their eyes, meaning that their foe killed his own allies and didn't seem to care all that much, of course he was a skeleton as well and didn't display emotions all that well, but at least they didn't have to worry about being overwhelmed at all. With that done their foe raised his right hand and started to call on some holy based magic, summoning an interesting looking blade out of the ground, one that seemed to be a skeletal version of an actual weapon, and readied himself for battle, where the group readied themselves for what was to come as they waited for him to reveal his weakness once more.

As it turned out the High Lord didn't really use the weapon for much, because as soon as he summoned it he stared at them for a few moments before gripping the sword with both hands and then drove it into the ground, releasing a burst of holy energy that knocked them all backwards while destroying the blade for now, so while he lowered his hands the group healed their wounds with a quick swing of their flasks... before the High Lord make the mistake of trying to smash them into the ground with his right hand, allowing them to shatter the final bracelet in seconds.

When the third bracelet shattered, however, the High Lord slammed his face into the ground in front of them, likely due to the pain of losing all three of them so quickly, before the group readied themselves for whatever else he had in his arsenal, since he had to have some other trick or something to throw at them and make them regret touching the goblet in the first place. What actually happened was that he was dragged back into the darkness behind him, where it almost looked like he could have been terrified of something, but the group stood their ground in case this was a transformation into a stronger being that was capable of fighting them, before a powerful looking soul flew out of the darkness and came to a stop in front of them, allowed all three of them to claim it, meaning the fight had to be over, since that was usually when they gained the souls of the powerful creatures of this land. That was when all of the shadows and darkness started to be sucked back up into the goblet, where Tirek, Sarana, and Martok braced themselves for a few seconds as the world seemed to fade away, only for them to return to the chamber that the goblet had been in originally and the life, if it could be called that, seemed to fade away from the object, reflecting their success over the High Lord. As the shadows faded away from the goblet, however, the stone door that was up the stairs that were behind the altar started to open, showing Tirek that the only way forward would have been to beat the High Lord and destroy him, and he could see what appeared to be an exit that they could take. At the same time a bonfire appeared nearby, just like what happened whenever they took down one of the powerful creatures of the land, and that included the Lords of Cinder, meaning that they could either return to the shrine and empower themselves further, head down the destroyed bridge to visit a new area, or just move forward and head into Irithyll.

Tirek decided to return to the shrine, to hand over the tomes they had acquired and all the other upgrade items that they had found so far, to which it didn't take them long to use the bonfire to return to the shrine and see the Fire Keeper waiting nearby, though while his companions empowered themselves he headed to see Yuria, just to see if the odd lady had anything new to tell him.

"Yuria, we have returned from the Catacombs of Carthus," Tirek stated, not that the lady seemed to care about where he and his companions had been since they left the shrine, but, at the same time, it at least let her know they were making progress towards the end goal that she seemed to be working towards, even if he had a good idea what she was trying to do without her saying anything, before noticing something interesting about her posture, "I take it you have something you wish to tell me, before I continue to hunt down the remaining Lords of Cinder?"

"I do indeed, our Lord and Liege." Yuria replied, once more bringing a slight smile to Tirek's face, as it was nice to have someone that understood that he was a Lord and that soon he would have control over this world, once he took down the rest of the Lords of Cinder and found Prince Lothric, "Do you know of a maid named Anri? She is hollow, and will join you in wedlock, as a fellow of mine is guiding her at this moment. When the time is ripe, you may make your salutations to her... for what Lord takes no spouse?"

"That is most interesting." Tirek said, because he had to believe that there was a reason for such a thing to happen, as in Anri might have her own power that would be great added to his in some manner, which would be interesting to cover at some point in the future, before he noticed something else that seemed to be on Yuria's mind, "But that can't be all that you have to tell me. Surely there must be something else that's bothering you?"

"You are correct, my Lord," Yuria stated, not even surprised by the fact that Tirek was able to discern when she had something important to tell him, because she knew that he wasn't like the others she had encountered in the past and was eager to stay on his good side, since she didn't want to make him angry at her, "I'm afraid that it is Orbeck of Vinheim... he has proclaimed that he is, or will soon be, the Lord of Hollows, and if left alone he might one day endanger your rule and unravel everything we have done so far."

Tirek raised his eyebrow for a moment, as he was surprised to hear such a thing, before holding up a hand to indicate that he would be right back, to which he left the corner of the shrine that Yuria was in and walked over to the area that the man in question was sitting in, waiting for him to come back with one of the scrolls that he was looking for, who seemed a little surprised to see him again.

"Ah, Tirek, you have returned." Orbeck commented, showing that he must have finished whatever research he had been doing since the last time they had spoken to each other and was waiting for him to return, even if all of the books he had brought with him didn't look like they had been opened at all, before he seemed to focus on the main topic he liked to talk about, "So, have you found any new scrolls yet?"

"Not yet, unfortunately," Tirek replied, though at the same time his hands remained at his side, or rather one rested by his side and the other held onto his staff as he spoke, because he had the feeling that once he revealed his hand, and told him why he was here, Orbeck would try to kill him to save his own hide, "but I heard that you were calling yourself the Lord of Hollows earlier."

Orbeck frowned for a moment, clearly thinking about what Tirek just said, before sighing for a moment as he raised his staff rather quickly, where it was obviously charged with magical power so he could cast a spell, but Tirek was one step ahead and shifted his own staff for a moment, blocking the attack that was coming his way and caused the Heavy Soul Arrow to strike the wall behind him, before he loosed a Fire Orb right into Orbeck's chest, causing him to dissolve into a pile of ash... though as Tirek collected it, to present to Yuria, he heard Cornyx chuckle, as if he thought that pyromancy was stronger than sorceries, but decided not to worry about it as he moved towards Yuria's area.

"The deed is done," Tirek remarked, where he made sure the ashes were contained in a small container and held it out so Yuria could see what he had done to Orbeck, who clearly wanted to be the Lord of Hollows, which seemed to be the title that he would possess at some point in the future, before Yuria took the ashes from him, "All I did was mention what you told me and he attacked me, so I put him down... I don't like being challenged."

"I see, so his claims proved to be false... this is good, as decisiveness is the mark of a true monarch." Yuria said, where she seemed happy to see what happened to Orbeck, though once she looked at the ashes for a moment she put them to the side and then pulled out a sword, one where the blade seemed to resemble a tower of some kind and that it had eight branching blades that looked like thorns of some kind, "I present you with the Morion Blade, a treasure of Londor, a blade befitting the Lord of Hollows, to help you take down your foes."

Tirek grinned for a moment as he picked up the blade and moved it a few times, as it was a good sword to have and it moved quite well, given his limited reflexes, to which he sheathed it in the provided sheath and then bid Yuria farewell as he headed back to the bonfire, as it was time to rest a little and then determine where he wanted to go next in his quest to find and take down the remaining Lords of Cinder.

Descent Into Danger

With their business in the shrine finished, and Tirek determined that there wasn't anything else they really needed to do at the moment, he regrouped with Sarana and Martok not a few moments later, who happened to be standing near the bonfire, waiting for him to finish talking with Yuria and hand over the tomes that he had to Cornyx, where the man took the first tome they found, at the start of the Catacombs, and said that the other was forbidden. Tirek was sure that he would have jumped at the chance to see what was inside the tome, but, as it turned out, his thoughts were incorrect and the tome was back in his pack, until he found someone that was willing to open it and see what was inside it, where he returned to his companions and found them ready to head back to the area that they had been exploring earlier. Tirek had no idea if he would even find someone that would be willing to open the tome and tell him what the spells were, given how difficult is had been to locate the various merchants they had found in the world so far, even if he had taken one down to prevent him from taking the Lordship that he was working towards, but that was something for the future as he turned and looked at both of his companions. From there the three of them gathered around the bonfire and focused their thoughts on the chamber that they had found the High Lord in, or rather the goblet that had brought them to wherever he had been hiding, for however long he had been hiding there, and it wasn't long before they disappeared from bonfire in the middle of the shrine and headed to their next destination.

After that they reappeared in the chamber that they had found earlier and glanced at the two directions that they had to pick from, one that would likely take them to Irithyll and another one that would allow them to drop down to an area that was below the Catacombs of Carthus, an area that Tirek was glad to leave behind, and he could see that Sarana and Martok were waiting to see what his decision was.

"So, where do you want to go?" Sarana asked, where she glanced at the open door that was up the stairs that were behind the altar that the goblet was resting on, one that would likely take them outside the Catacombs and allow them to start the trek towards Irithyll, which may or may not be right outside the area that they were currently in, while Martok remained silent as she asked the question.

"As much as I would like to see if Irithyll is outside this chamber, and beyond the path that is behind the now open stone door we unlocked, I'm more interested in the bridge." Tirek replied, referring to the fact that if they cut the ropes of the bridge it would collapse and form a ladder of some kind that would allow them to find a brand new area to explore, one that might have some gear or items that might help them in their quest to take down the enemies between them and the remaining two Lords of Cinder they were currently hunting down.

Sarana and Martok nodded their heads as they followed Tirek as he headed back towards the large doorway that had allowed them to enter this chamber in the first place, where it took them a few moments to reach the bridge in question and he stood back as his companions cut the ropes that were on their side of the bridge, but as the structure collapsed in the next couple of seconds Tirek noticed that Anri must have moved on, either down the path they were opening again or through the door that was in the High Lord's chamber. Once the sections of the bridge had stopped moving Tirek found that they could climb down the planks like it was a ladder, though they couldn't ride down it like they could do to a normal ladder, hence the reason that he went down it first and eventually came to the end of it, which just so happened to rest just above a stone path, one that definitely lead somewhere. He paused as he glanced over the edge of the area he was on, to wait for his companions to join him, and found that the knight that was lingering in the bottom of the large hole, who he had spotted earlier, was still down there, meaning the three of them might be able to find him at some point in the near future, before Sarana dropped down behind him and caused him to continue walking. The path, as he quickly found out, was rather short and it brought them to another part of the Catacombs, which was annoying since he had been hoping for something different, before he walked forward a little more and found out that there was a set of stairs to his right, which would allow him to walk down into an area that a demon was standing in.

It was rather interesting to see another one of the stone demonic creatures, especially since it hadn't noticed him yet, and he stood there for a few seconds as Sarana and Martok joined him, pausing as well when they noticed the demon as well, before he spotted the chest that was off on the other side of the walkway and gestured for Sarana to move as they remained near the opening, just to make sure the demon didn't hear them. Sarana nodded her head and started to move across the area that they were in, making next to no noise once more, something that Tirek counted as a blessing since that meant the demon wouldn't be able to hear them at all, before she reached the chest and paused for a moment, only for Tirek to realize why she had stopped, as the blasted thing was a mimic. Instead of using one of her charms to stun the mimic, and steal the item it held, Sarana pulled out her bow and loosed an arrow into the side of the demon's head, which caused it to roar and loose a burst of fire towards the area that she was standing in, something that was followed by her dodging out of the way as the flames hit the mimic, waking it up and causing it to expand into its true form. Sarana wasted no time in returning to where Tirek and Martok were standing, allowing them to watch as the mimic rushed forward and headed down into the area that the demon was standing in, where it lashed out with its arms and legs as it tried to take down the demon that was blocking the way forward, and, at the same time, a skeleton rose behind the demon and lashed out at it as well, causing Tirek to nod his head as he watched what was going on.

The battle lasted for a minute or two, where the demon used its large axe and attacked its foes, before it took down both of its foes and scattered their bodies around the area that it was standing in, where it appeared that it had been hurt by the pair of enemies, allowing Tirek, Sarana, and Martok to walk down into the area that it was standing in and lashed out at it, quickly striking down a weakened foe and collecting its powerful soul for the future, along with a katana that had resting nearby, no doubt the treasure the mimic had held.

With that taken care of, and they were sure that there were no more enemies in their immediate area, Tirek walked over to another set of stairs that would allow them to walk down into an area that had a couple of skeletons that would no doubt rise in the near future, no doubt as they headed for the passage that was in the wall in front of them, so he, Sarana, and Martok readied their weapons as they walked down into the new area. As he expected the skeletons rose as they entered the area that they were resting in, so instead of rushing down the passage, to move forward, the group turned and faced the skeletons that happened to be approaching them, where Martok took the majority of them by swinging at them in the first couple of seconds, leaving the rest for Sarana and Tirek. Despite the fact that he wasn't used to wielding a blade, since he had stuck to using magic since he woke up in this world and let Sarana do most of the melee combat, Tirek drew the Morion Blade and lashed out at the skeleton that was approaching him, cutting into the bone without meeting any resistance, before he knocked his foe backwards and blasted it with a Lightning Spear, blowing the bones apart in the process. Sarana, of course, lashed out with her blades and cut into the enemies that were trying to get close to her, even if those that fell once rose again, but even then the skeletons didn't seem to be doing all that much to her and she was able to take down the entire group that was around her, before the three of them took down all of the skeletons and turned their attention to the items their foes had been guarding, some Titanite Shards and a lost soul.

Once the area was cleared of enemies and items, and they were positive of that fact, the group headed for the tunnel that they had found and discovered that it was a short set of stairs that lead into one of the passages they had seen in the main part of the Catacombs, where Tirek found a ring and a blindfold at one end while Sarana and Martok found a bonfire in a side passage, one that they immediately ignited.

"What did you find?" Martok inquired, as he was simply curious as to why Tirek was interested in the ring that he had just picked up, since the only rings he seemed interested in where the ones that allowed him to empower his magic and all the types of spells that were in this world, and he could see that their leader was staring at the iron ring he had spotted, while at the same time Sarana looked at the other opening and made sure no enemies were coming at them.

"I am unsure of what the name of the ring is, but it empowers my pyromancies," Tirek remarked, as he could feel that it would increase the power of his fire spells, just like the previous rings he had found so far, to which he held out his hand and slipped it onto one of his other fingers, adding its power to what he was using so far, meaning that whoever was weak to fire spells was going to be really annoyed with him in the future.

With that done, and a fifth ring donned, Tirek walked towards the opening that Sarana was staring at and found that it held a passage that belonged to a cavern and not the Catacombs, where his companions followed after him as he slowly made his way towards whatever was at the end of the passage, only to come to a stop when he found out what they were getting themselves into this time around. It appeared that they were going to be fighting their way through a lake of some kind, thanks to the rather low amount of water that was in front of them, and there were a number of large stone pillars that were growing out of the ground and seemed to be connected to the ceiling, before he determined that they weren't actually stone pillars, rather they were massive tree trunks that were smouldering. From what he could tell all of the trees must have been burned at some point in the distant past and they were still in an odd smouldering state, and he could have sworn that he felt a little heat from the tree that was the closest to where they were standing, though he noticed one of the Fog Doors off in the distance, revealing that another powerful creature was nearby, making him wonder if they should explore the rest of the area first, before heading for the Fog Door. The oddest thing about the entire thing was the sounds of something mechanical moving off in the distance, like a weapon or something, but from what he could see there didn't appear to be anything around them that was like that, so he walked down the ramp in front of them and his companions followed him as they started to head over to the area the powerful creature was in.

Of course he was proven wrong a few moments later, as a large metallic arrow struck the area that he was walking in and impaled him in the process, taking him down in a matter of seconds and forced him to reappear at the bonfire that had been activated not a few moments ago, where he waited for a few moments before Sarana and Martok reappeared as well, both appearing to be annoyed about something.

"There's a fucking giant ballista in this area," Sarana stated, showing Tirek that she had gotten some information from the zone they had discovered before she and Martok had been killed as well, meaning that the arrows were quite deadly and that the three of them needed to avoid them to the best of their ability, "the giants must have installed one here, to do war with the demons in an age we've forgotten about, and someone is either using it to kill whoever comes into this area or its set on firing on its own."

"So we have to be careful and find a way to take it down," Tirek remarked, though at the same time this was where he wished he had his full power again, something that he had felt when they were walking through Farron Keep, because that would have allowed him to do whatever he wanted to this area, be it freezing the entire place or doing something else, but that would have to wait for later, "Whatever, let's keep moving and see what else we can discover, provided that ballista doesn't kill us as we move through this place... this would have been a good time to have access to my full power, as that machine would have been reduced to a pile of pieces in a matter of seconds."

"We should keep moving," Martok said, knowing that Sarana didn't like the machine that they had discovered and that Tirek would remain true to his word, that he would have been able to wreck it if he had his full power, but he was more interested in moving through the area they had discovered, especially since the main thing they were interested in was locating that knight they had seen earlier.

Tirek nodded his head and they headed back through the opening that allowed them to head into Smouldering Lake, the name that he was going to give to this region, regardless if it was the true name or not, before they quickly returned to where the edge of the safe zone was located, where Sarana waited for a moment, to give the arrows a chance to fire at nothing, since they seemed to be aware of their presence all of a sudden, before she rushed forward and dodged the next set of arrows with a level of grace that Tirek had come to expect from her. Once she was behind the next tree, and had made sure to pick up her own souls along the way, Martok waited for a moment before running through the area as well, moving as soon as Sarana beckoned for one of them to come over to where she was standing, and he managed to make it to the next safe area as well, with his souls claimed. As such Tirek paused for a moment, to let the rest of the arrows to rain down in the area between him and his companions, before seeing the signal so he could move forward, where he ran across the gap, picked up his souls, and hid behind the tree as the arrows slammed into the area, showing that Sarana's idea had worked out quite well, allowing them to turn their attention to the next area they had to pass through. They were in luck, as it appeared that there was another tree close to where they were standing, one that happened to be near the wall of the area, even if the rest of the zone they were in was much larger and couldn't be explored, but even as Tirek saw that he spotted something that would endanger their chance of making it to the wall in question, as there was a massive sand worm of some kind in the way.

Instead of worrying about the sand worm, and the fact that it had lightning based powers, based on what they saw as it moved around the area, the group rushed over to the other tree and found that they were able to squeeze between the sand worm and the side of the wall, even if that was tricky since the creature was roaring at the ballista, due to it being hit by one of the arrows that were following them, before Tirek found a side path that seemed better than immediately going for the powerful creature, which turned out to be a good idea since that brought them to a bonfire.

"Well, I was not expecting to see another one so soon," Sarana remarked, though at the same time she walked up to the bonfire and lit it, where the three of them rested at the new bonfire for a moment, merely to make sure that when one of them died they would come back here, instead of the other one they had activated a few minutes ago, which was when they walked out and stared at the Fog Door, "but at least we won't have to jog through the ballista arrows."

Tirek said nothing as they walked down the ramp that had allowed them to reach the new bonfire in the first place and paused for a moment as he heard the ballista firing at something, where the three arrows seemed to hit the area that was near them, meaning that they would have to be careful, so what he did was rush forward and got near the sand worm as Sarana and Martok rushed over to the Fog Door, that way the arrows targeted the area he was in, and sure enough the projectiles came to where he was standing, allowing him to flee and pass through the fog as well. What he found on the other side of the Fog Door was a number of demon creatures that were piled so high that they formed a circular arena for them to fight in, along with two piles that just seemed to be piles of creatures, before any of them spotted a demon that was resting in the middle of the area, apparently sleeping by the looks of it, since its body wasn't dull and dead like the rest of the various dead demons that formed the walls and piles. Tirek could tell that Sarana and Martok were ready for a fight, since their weapons were at the ready, before he stepped forward and channeled a Lightning Spear in his left hand, a sign for his companions to spread out and wait for their foe to get up, which he hurled through the air and struck the demon in the head, causing it to moan for a moment as it lifted its head, gripped the large mace that was its weapon, and pushed itself into a standing position as flames danced around its body, indicating that fire spells wouldn't be that effective in the battle that was coming their way.

The first thing the demon did was breath a burst of fire that it arched towards them, covering a portion of the ground that they had to fight in, so what the three of them had to do was jump over the flames that were coming their way, which was rather easy, before Sarana and Martok rushed at the demon and sliced into the side of its legs, so it would focus on the two of them and leave Tirek to casting his spells. One thing that they had to be careful of was the demon's melee attacks, due to the fact that its mace was large and that it had a bit of fire that followed each of his swings, something that Sarana and Martok avoided to the best of their ability as Tirek focused on throwing Lightning Spears at their foe, doing some damage to the demon. The foe did attempt to crush him under the weight of its mace, by using an overhead type of attack, which he was able to dodge despite the state of his body, and while that was going on his companions lashed out and cut into their foe, causing it to roar in annoyance as it tried to attack them, something that opened the way for Tirek to jump onto its back for a moment and hack into it with the Morion Blade, annoying it further as he did that. After a couple of moments, and cutting a few gashes into the demon's back, Tirek forced himself backwards by jumping off his foe's back, giving him a chance to throw a few more Lightning Spears into the wounds that he had created, opening the way for both of his companions to hack into the legs for a moment, before they backed off and regrouped as Tirek landed on nearby, so they could be ready for whatever happened next.

What happened next was the fact that the demon raised its mace and turned it so that the head was facing the floor, where it pounded the ground twice and loosed a wave of fire in their general direction, causing the three of them to jump over the wave so they could avoid being hurt by the attack, only for Sarana and Martok to rush forward and slice into its legs again as Tirek blasted it in the chest. This time around the demon didn't like the fact that it had enemies that were in the middle of stabbing its legs, to which it raised its left hand and gathered some fire into it, casting a rather large ball of fire into the area that was in front of it, trying to hit Sarana and blast her backwards, but she was able to dodge the attack as Martok cut into the demon's leg, weakening it a little more, though it was clear that they would be here for a time, until they brought the creature down. Those weren't the only new tricks that the demon had in store for them, as it eventually raised its mace into the air and started to spin it around like it was a staff to call something to it, where Tirek noticed that their foe was summoning flaming orbs in the sky, almost like meteors, so what he did was gather his power and loosed a number of Lightning Spears into the air, blasting their foe's attacks out of the air and preventing them from even touching the ground, giving his companions the chance to deal some damage to the demon without having to worry about their foe hitting them in some manner. They also had to be worried about the fact that their foe had another attack that involved slamming the head of its mace on the ground, one that loosed a burst of flames that caused Sarana and Martok to roll away from the demon so they could avoid taking damage from the attack, and since Tirek was standing far away from the area their foe was in he was able to ignore the attack and just continued blasting it with his spells.

Interestingly enough the demon had a third attack that involved slamming the head of its mace into the ground, this one requiring it to hit the ground twice and summon a ring of fire around it, though instead of heading outwards the new ring formed some distance from their foe and moved inward, showing them that it intended to hurt them from behind while they were busy fighting it, but it failed due to the poor timing. As Sarana and Martok continued to hack into their foe's legs, after making sure to avoid the incoming attack that it had used, Tirek hurled a couple of Lightning Spears into the air and cancelled out the incoming flaming orbs, as their foe decided to try that tactic again while they were distracted by attacking it, even if Tirek caused that tactic to fail all over again. After a few more moments of dodging the incoming attacks, dealing damage with their own attacks, and Tirek blasting either the fiery orbs out of the air or just blasting their foe in the chest, the demon staggered for a second and fell to one knee, though as soon as that happened Tirek called for his companions to leave the area immediately, as he had the feeling that something would happen. His thoughts were swiftly proven to be correct, as not a few seconds after Sarana and Martok vacated the area that was around the demon, and returned to his side, the demon let out an explosive blast that consumed the entirety of the immediate area that was around it, where the flames inside its body died down to a mere flicker of what they had been earlier and made it look like a dying creature that was on its last legs, like it was done fighting and wanted them to leave it alone.

Unfortunately for the demon it was facing Tirek, who walked over to where the demon was kneeling at the moment, channeling lightning along the edge of his new Morion Blade as his companions watched what he was doing, before he paused and lashed out, driving the blade into his foe's skull and allowing the power along the edge to tear apart the last bits of life the demon had, and when the deed was done he pulled his blade back and sheathed it, allowing him, Sarana, and Martok to collect its soul for their efforts.

"I was not expecting another powerful creature, especially so soon after the last one," Tirek commented, though even as he said that he had to admit that he was curious as to what sort of power or weapon he and his companions could create by using Ludleth's Transposition Kiln, despite the fact that nothing he had seen so far had really been worth it, but he had a feeling that this time would be different, "but I'm not complaining, since that means we'll have more power for when we find Irithyll, since that will allow us to overpower the guardians that much easier."

"Well, if that's what is on your mind, than maybe we should return to the shrine," Sarana said, since she knew what he was referring to and had to agree with what he was thinking, that they might as well see what they could get from the new soul that they had discovered, even if she and Martok would likely take the soul and use its power to strengthen their own power for the future battles that were coming their way.

Tirek nodded his head for a moment as they lit the bonfire that arrived after the demon's death, something that they had to do after they beat each and every powerful foe they came across, be it the Lords of Cinder or ones that were like the demons and the High Lord, before he focused his mind on the shrine and he was joined by his companions, which was when they disappeared from the area and returned to the shrine.

"Back to the safety of the shrine, for a time." Martok said, speaking as soon as they materialized in the middle of the shrine and found themselves standing around the bonfire, just like all the other previous instances they teleported back to this area, before he walked away from the middle of the area, since he knew that it would be some time before they were even ready to depart from this area and continue their quest.

Tirek said nothing to that as the warrior walked over to where the Fire Keeper was standing, which was what Sarana was doing at the same time, though his reasoning for saying nothing to that statement was because it was, in a sense, true and he wasn't going to argue with it, before he focused on something else and walked over to the steps that would take him up to where Ludleth was sitting.

"Ah, most illustrious Lordseeker, you have returned... or should I say, Lord-Slayer?" Ludleth commented, showing that he was paying attention to what was going on and that it had been a while since Tirek or his companions had bothered to approach him, even though the last time he hadn't been interested in using the souls he had gained so far, before Tirek noticed that the tiny Lord was looking at something else, the throne that the Abyss Watchers had been placed on, or their ashes to be exact, "Tell me, have you come across a twisted soul?"

"I might have." Tirek answered, though he raised his hand and revealed the soul of the demon that they had just slain, because he was curious if there was something that he could gain from using the Transposition Kiln, where the little Lord pulled out the device in question for a moment, showing that he understood why he was here and that he was willing to assist him in his endeavor.

In the end he discovered that the soul of the old demon would yield the great hammer it had been using and a spell that was called Chaos Bed Vestiges, something that caused him to raise an eyebrow as he decided to check out a few of the other souls before he made a decision, but it wasn't long before he pulled away from the little Lord and walked down to where the bonfire was resting, mostly because he was thinking about what he had seen. Tirek had to admit that some of the spells he had seen in the Transposition Kiln, from the various souls he had shown it over the last few minutes, were interesting and might be worth checking out, since he didn't care about weapons due to the fact that such a thing was for his companions to worry about, but he was debating whether or not he should bother with the kiln. Of course, even as he thought about that, he had to wonder if Yuria might have something for him, given what she had done for him so far since her arrival in the shrine, and decided to head over there while Sarana and Martok were using the souls they had gathered to empower themselves. It wasn't hard to locate his new target, as Yuria was standing in the same area that Yoel had been located in, which seemed to be someplace that she liked to stand in since it prevented the others from seeing her and overhearing what they had planned, and when he walked into the area that she was in Yuria bowed her head a little, just to show some respect to her new Lord, as she preferred to call him.

"Our Lord and Liege, it seems that you and your companions have returned," Yuria said, though at the same time she stood up straight and focused on him once more, showing that she might be curious as to what he was doing here, when he should be seeking the remaining two missing Lords of Cinder, which Tirek knew he and the others would find in the future, especially since they were closing in on Aldrich, "Is something wrong?"

"No. We have found a few powerful souls lately, but I have yet to turn them into weapons or spells," Tirek remarked, as that was the reason he was here in the first place, as he was curious as to whether or not Yuria had something for him, before he made a decision in regards to the ones that would yield some interesting spells, though he supposed that he could always just take the power of those souls and give him some additional strength.

"I understand." Yuria replied, where she reached into a pack that she must have been hiding behind her, not that it really mattered to Tirek since he wasn't going to steal anything from her, before she pulled something out and turned to face him once more, revealing a tome that resembled some of the pyromancy tomes he had found so far, though all of the markings made it look like it could contain spells from every element, where she held it out towards him, "This is an ancient tome that I've been carrying for a time, one that supposedly contains all of the spells in the land and allows one to learn everything there is to offer, without having to purchase them from the various teachers, much like how Orbeck was going to teach you sorceries in exchange for scrolls."

"Is that so? Interesting." Tirek said, where he accepted the tome and opened it up, where he immediately found a few spells that he recognized, as they were the starting spells that he had found in front of him when he first woke up in this strange world, before he flipped through the pages and found some interesting spells that might be of some use to them in the near future, before raising an eyebrow, "So, Chaos Bed Vestiges is in here as well, that's good to know, even if there is something strange about the page in question, especially around the part of the page with the name."

"Ah yes, it seems the scholars changed the name of that spell over the years," Yuria commented, showing Tirek that she did know what he was referring to and that she was more than willing to share what she knew with him, even though he was interested in seeing what else the tome had to offer him, which would be after they returned to Smouldering Lake or the area that the High Lord had been in, "From what I know, the spell was once called Forbidden Sun by the sorcerers of Drangleic, a once prosperous and powerful nation that was eventually swallowed by a series of unfortunate events, and for some reason the few magic users that survived decided to change the name of the spell to something else. I have also heard tales about there once being a creature in that land that once used that spell in a manner that was different than what others used it in, as it supposedly could summon three of them at the same time and combine them into an even stronger version of the spell, but, according to the tale, it was taken down at some point. Anyway, it does not matter to me what you call the spell, since both of the names are correct, but that tome should be of some assistance to you and your companions, though I will apologize for not handing it over sooner."

"Its fine, I can use this." Tirek remarked, because he wasn't annoyed with Yuria not giving him the tome, because the spells he had started with and picked up so far had been more than enough to deal with everything that stood between him and the Lords of Cinder he was looking for, and with this tome in his arsenal he would be able to overcome the area that was just outside the arena the old demon had been in.

Tirek had to smile as he walked away from where Yuria was standing, because he was eager to try out his new spells in the area that was outside the arena that they had found the old demon in, even if there was nothing worthwhile in the ruins that they had found, and then, once that was done, they could leave and see if Irithyll was right outside the area that the High Lord had been resting in.

Irithyll of the Boreal Valley

With their business in Smouldering Lake finished, and Tirek was sure of that when he considered what they had been able to do during their time in that area, Tirek, Sarana, and Martok returned to the chamber that the High Lord had been resting in, where they appeared in front of the altar and stared up at the stone door that had opened when they beat the powerful creature that had been in this area. A few moments later the three of them stood up and walked around the altar, as it was no longer important to them, where the three of them walked up the steps that were behind it and headed through the doorway, which revealed a decent sized chamber that was carved out of the caves that the Catacombs had been built into, along with some stairs that lead towards the exit. Based on what they had seen so far the group readied their weapons as they started to walk up the stairs, mostly since they had no idea if there were any additional enemies in this area or if there was more to the ruins that they had to explore, so if someone tried to attack them they were ready for anything and everything that might come at them. When they neared the top of the stairs Tirek noticed that there was some sky that could be seen on the other side of the opening that they were heading towards, where he determined that they might be wasting their time in having their weapons at the ready, before they eventually headed through the opening and came to a rather sudden stop when they saw what was in front of them.

There was a majestic and seemingly magical city resting in front of them, across what appeared to be a river of some kind that was rather low at the moment and had a cliff off to their right, but as they stared at the city Tirek took in the bits of architecture that they were staring at and had to admit that it was a rather interesting place, especially with a rather large church or cathedral that was in the distance, before noticing that there was a city or something that was even higher to the left of the city that was in front of them.

"Allow me to introduce Irithyll of the Boreal Valley," Sarana said, where she could tell that Tirek was taking in what they were seeing at the moment, something that everyone did when they first visited this city, especially the architecture and the chill in the air, not that any of them were worried about the cold at the moment, "If what Anri said is correct, this is where Aldrich should be hiding."

"Its also where Vordt and the Dancer came from," Tirek remarked, because he remembered what he had been told when he investigated the souls of the two powerful creatures some time ago, even if his companions didn't seem to care about that fact, as it seemed like Sarana was more interested in finding their target and Martok didn't seem to care about the view at all, but he had to admit that Irithyll was rather majestic, before he turned to the path on their left and started to walk down the steps, "Come, its time to invade the city and see if we can't find Aldrich, or any other powerful creatures that might be guarding the way to wherever he's hiding."

The first thing Tirek found was a bonfire that was on a level that was below where the opening had been located, one that was odd to see considering that there was one in the chamber they had just walked out of, but he lit it and headed down the rest of the path without delay, eventually coming to a stop for a few seconds as he noticed that they were now on a stone bridge that was rather majestic looking, even if the part to their left lead nowhere due to a cliff collapsing on top of it. Despite the fact that he never even labeled anything this way, he had to admit that Irithyll was a striking place and could be considered beautiful in the grand scheme of things, something he would never tell anyone, before he and his companions walked through the opening and stepped onto the part of the bridge that would allow them to walk over to the city's entrance. Sarana and Martok followed after him, taking in the sights they were seeing at the moment, as it didn't appear like there were any enemies in the area and that meant they were allowed to take a short break before they reached the city itself, though Tirek knew that when they reached the end of the bridge they would be able to see if the small doll they picked up earlier would allow them to enter Irithyll or not. As they walked out onto the bridge, and were able to get about a sixth of the way to their destination, Tirek stopped and let his companions move forward for a few seconds, before they stopped and glanced at him as he glanced at the opening they had walked through earlier, where a large beast, with four legs, a crocodile shaped head with numerous teeth and three pairs of eyes, with grey colored fur and a curved tail, and a chest that had an intimidating and exposed rib cage, standing behind them.

The creature, which had to be a guardian of some kind, roared at them and rushed at the area that they were now standing in, where Tirek stood his ground and glared at the beast as it approached them, something that, as he quickly discovered, caused the beast to slow down and stare at him when it came to a stop in front of him, but when it lowered its muzzle Tirek realized what was going on and rubbed it for a moment with a smile on his face, before beckoning with his head and the beast jumped over the bridge, landing in the water to do whatever it wanted.

"Did... did you tame it?" Sarana asked, because while this was the first time she had seen this sort of creature before, and she had seen a large number of odd or dangerous creatures before, she normally would have assumed that such a beast would have attacked them until either they were dead or it was brought down by them, instead of staring into the intensity that was Tirek's eyes and bowing its head in total submission.

"It appears that the beast realized that it was unwise to attack us," Tirek replied, though at the same time he glanced at the beast for a moment and watched as it seemed to be chowing down on some odd looking creatures that were under the water, meaning that it would be busy killing some of the enemies that they would normally be fighting, and it wasn't long before it loosed a burst of lightning from its mouth at some of the foes its was tearing apart, "and, at the same time, it even realized that there was someone far stronger than it and submitted to me without delay, meaning we might have an ally during part of our trek through Irithyll."

Sarana and Martok glanced at each other for a moment, clearly not sure what to make of what they had just seen, but they said nothing as Tirek started to walk down the rest of the bridge, heading for the partly hidden barrier that he could see at the moment, where he held the doll they had acquired from the Cathedral of the Deep and readied himself for what they were going to do next. When the three of them neared the barrier Tirek made sure that both of his companions were close to him and forced his way through the magic that was in front of him, entering the courtyard that was on the other side of the barrier, and it wasn't long before Sarana and Martok appeared near him, meaning that his idea had worked like a charm and that they were free to scour the city for their target or a path that would lead them to Aldrich. The first thing they did was light the bonfire that was near the middle of the courtyard, which was even weirder to see since there was one right across the bridge, maybe three minutes away from where they were standing, before locating some clumps on a nearby body and two decent sized souls on other bodies, before heading for the stairs that would allow them to head into the rest of the city. As they walked up the stairs they found a ghost of some kind that was taller than they were and was wearing the armor of one of the foes that emitted frost at the area around them, though this one more looked like the knight that had been guarding the path to the Road of Sacrifices, but their attention turned to something else as they came to a stop at the top of the stairs and found the foes that they would be fighting next. There were three knights that were as tall as the ghost they had just seen and were wearing silver armor that looked like what Vordt and the Dancer had been wearing, and they seemed to be wearing a cape or something like the Dancer, while their weapon seemed to be a scimitar that had a few holes in it and one of them even had a nice shield to block attacks.

As they stepped forward one of the knights rushed at them and raised their scimitar to cut them down, where Sarana and Martok dodged out of the way as Tirek loosed a Forbidden Run right into the incoming knight's face, blasting it back onto the ground, where he discovered that fire must be the weakness of the knights that they would be facing for the next and that meant he had an edge over them, especially with the main fire spell he was using. Once they discovered that sort of weakness, which would make the battles to come easier for them, the three of them moved forward and Sarana picked up a soul off to their left, as in around the corner, before the next knight, the one with the shield, started to walk at them with its shield raised and the other tried to attack them from afar. Fortunately Tirek was ready for the ranged foe by using a Lightning Spear to obliterate the incoming orb of darkness and then used his other hand to throw a Forbidden Sun into his foe, allowing him to stand back and watch as Sarana and Martok cut down the knight that they were fighting, which opened the way for them to advance deeper into Irithyll. From what Tirek had seen the speed of the knights wasn't to be underestimated, based on what they had seen from the first group they had encountered, so he kept his guard up as they headed up the path that the three knights had been guarding, choosing to ignore a doorway off on their left that didn't appear to be all that important, since it only lead to an area that had a tree.

The path the knights had been guarding was made up of a couple of stairs and brought them to a higher level that had another fountain in the middle of it, one that didn't seem to be working at all, before they found two skinny looking beings that were wearing ragged robes and were carrying swords that they were two-handing, though their weird smokey hair and their white glowing eyes made them different from the various foes they had encountered so far. Tirek quickly found that a quick Fire Orb to the chest, and splashing out at both of them, was more than enough for bring his targets to their knees or to the ground, as both of the slaves, as that was what they were, fell to the ground after being hit by his spell, allowing Sarana and Martok to focus on the other enemies that were in this area. After that they found some items on the fountain, a few blossoms and a decent sized soul, both of which they added to their pack, before discovering that a new enemy had arrived at the edge of the area, revealing a path that would take them even deeper into the city, though this one seemed to be more armored than the other knights were and was carrying a flaming staff that seemed to be a banner or something for the three slaves that were near it. Not a few seconds later the knight raised her staff into the air, where Tirek knew it was female due to the bit of its voice that he could hear, and then stabbed it into the ground, where the three of them jumped out of the way as a pillar of fire erupted from the area that they had been standing in, showing him that these foes would be dangerous, just as the three slaves rushed out to kill them.

Interestingly enough the flaming knight was resistant to both fire and lightning spells, to an extent, as Tirek threw one spell of each type at it and watched as she staggered for each other them, all while dodging the line of fire that came from the knight swinging her staff in his direction, before blasting his target in the chest with another Lightning Spear, taking her down as Sarana and Martok finished off the slaves.

With that group of enemies taken care of the group moved forward and found a few more slaves guarding the area in front of them, which were easily defeated by Tirek blasting them with a Forbidden Sun, while Sarana picked up some more clumps that were added to their pack, before they walked up the path they had been following and noticed that there was another flaming knight on the walkway above them. Instead of worrying about that foe, however, Tirek found two more of the normal knights walking towards the area that they were in, so he let Sarana and Martok deal with the flaming knight as he hurled another Forbidden Sun into the chest of his target, allowing the other to be hurt as well and caused them to fall to the ground in defeat, since they really didn't like taking fire spells to the face. Part of him did have to wonder if the reason their new foes were falling so easily was due to the type of spell he was using, just like what happened when they were taking on the Ghru's of Farron Keep, or if it was more due to his true power being far stronger than he originally believed it to be, but at the end of the day he decided not to focus on that so much and watched as the flaming knight was crushed by his companions. From there they carefully explored the part of the city that was in front of them and found that there was a side path that basically lead up to a slightly higher platform that would allow them to look out over a good portion of Irithyll, something they could do if they really wanted to, but instead of worrying about that the three of them turned around and found that the church was some distance behind them.

Tirek found that it was rather interesting that they were almost to their destination, as he was heading for it since it did seem to be the area that a powerful creature would be resting in, or a Lord of Cinder if they were lucky, before finding that there was an arch way type of opening some distance in front of them, where some scimitar knights were standing near a flaming knight, at the top of a platform... but, instead of heading forward, they walked up a short set of stairs and found a second church, a smaller one, in front of them, which happened to have a bonfire in the middle of it, two paths to pick from, and, interestingly enough, Anri standing close to the wall to their right.

"Anri, its good to see you again, even though I wasn't expecting us to meet again." Tirek commented, because it was a little odd to see her again, especially after having encountered her twice in the Catacombs of Carthus, and he knew that his companions were surprised to see her again, even if they couldn't show their surprise due to their helms and their unique personalities, before he focused on the other Unkindled, "I trust that you are doing well?"

"Oh, Tirek, I thought it might be you." Anri replied, speaking to him and no one else right now, not that he was even remotely surprised by that, but Sarana and Martok remained silent as the two talked with each other, knowing that Tirek liked to chat with the other Unkindled once when they found them, "Its good to see you again as well, even though I never managed to find Horace, after searching the Catacombs twice... but my duty must be done, even alone, as an Unkindled Lordseeker. For the children I knew, bless their souls. We all have our reasons for what we do, don't we?"

"Indeed we do." Tirek stated, where he flexed an arm for a moment and called a bit of his magic to the surface, as his power was the reason he was even bothering with this quest, and he had the feeling that soon he would be back to fifty percent of his total power, which would allow him to blow down everyone and anyone he and his companions fought for the foreseeable future, before he returned his body to normal.

"Oh, please, take this, as recompense for my foolish request... and also a token of protection." Anri said, to which she reached into her pack for a moment and seemed to be looking for something, something that caused Tirek to raise one of his eyebrows for a moment, as he didn't feel any significant magic coming from her pack, so he doubted that it was an item he would even care about, before she pulled out a ring, one that was made out of silver and had a stone that looked like a cat's eye or something, which he took, "Anyway, you are incredibly brave, to face your duty alone and with your own power... I would do well to learn from you."

Tirek said nothing to that, because while someone would normally focus on the fact that Anri had ignored Sarana and Martok during their conversation, even though they were standing right behind him, he now understood what Yuria had told him earlier, about Anri hollowing, meaning that the reason she was only focusing on him was due to the fact that her mind was going and likely assumed that the pair were either phantoms of some kind or mirages. Fortunately both of his companions were just fine with what was going on and said nothing, to which Tirek bid Anri farewell for now and headed towards the other two paths they could pick from, one that seemed to be heading up to a level above them and one that seemed to be heading down towards another level, which did look like it might lead them outside, which seemed to be the correct path to take. As such he made sure Sarana scouted out the upper area and it took her a few moments to return to him, revealing that there was nowhere to go up there, meaning it was just a tower and nothing else, to which Tirek turned and started to walk down the steps that would lead outside, so they could see what else they had to deal with as they continued their search for the powerful creature that rested in this city, or Aldrich if they were lucky. While they walked down the steps Sarana found a side passage that was rather short and had a stone slab resting near the wall, one that had a number of names engraved on it, where Tirek didn't seem to care about it and let Sarana claim it, before they headed outside and discovered that they were on a section of ground that served as a graveyard between the building they had been in and the structures that were their next destination.

What was interesting was that there were two slaves hiding in the shadows, like they were using some sort of spell that allowed them to be invisible as long as no one was near them, so while Tirek collected the item that was in front of them, near the ledge of the area, Sarana and Martok dealt with the pair of enemies as they raised their weapons, though Tirek found it was a weak soul, to which he simply said nothing as he stashed it inside their pack. From there they headed to the right of the opening they had walked through, passing a tree or two, and arrived at a larger gravestone that had one of the crow hollows praying to something, where it transformed the moment they approached it, but that didn't matter in the grand scheme of things as Martok cleaved it in half. From there they found three more of the bones that would allow them to teleport back to a safe area, be it the shrine or the last bonfire, and, more importantly, another Undead Bone Shard, something that they claimed so they could empower their flasks the next time they returned to the shrine, which was when they turned around and headed back down to where the two slaves had been hiding so they could head down the other path they had seen. The path in question was a set of stairs that lead them down to another area, one that contained a hidden slave to their left and a lower opening that seemed to head into another building, so Sarana stabbed the slave and took it out, while ignoring the side area that was near her, before they headed into the next structure and discovered that they were in a darker area than what they were used to.

Based on what Tirek was seeing they were in a cellar of some kind and there were ten or twenty of slaves that were hidden in the shadows, resting between the end of the stairs that were to their right and the opening that would allow the three of them to head outside, but instead of heading down there immediately, and draw all of their enemies to them, Tirek raised his hand and hurled a few Forbidden Suns into the area that was below them, blowing away the slaves that were trying to hide from them. He had to admit that this spell was rather useful in clearing out large groups of enemies, regardless of whether or not his foes were weak to fire, and the slaves couldn't stand up to the power that it gave him, to which he and his companions walked through the burning area that the majority of the slaves had been hiding in and headed for the opening, choosing to ignore the side passage, even though Tirek did burn the other group of slaves so they didn't get ambushed from behind. The opening allowed them to step out onto a set of stairs that were to the left of where the bridge leading to Irithyll was resting, where it was easy to see that they were going to be heading down some stairs and that would bring them to the watery area that the beast had withdrawn to after Tirek tamed it, though he could see the beast off in the distance, crushing one of the white skinned monsters that seemed to live down here.

Two hidden slaves tried to stab them from the area in front of them, though they utterly failed due to Sarana hearing them coming and lashed out at their new foes accordingly, though once that was done they headed down the stairs and stepped down into the area that the beast was in, where it spared them a single glance before returning its attention to the enemies that were near it, tearing them apart with ease. Walking through the water was rather easy now that they had an ally taking care of the monsters that were in this area, allowing the three of them to approach another split in the path, one that lead into a building that was in front of them and one on their left that might head into a basement of part of the city, so the first thing they did was see what was inside the building, only to discover a bonfire and another route that was leading in the opposite direction, as it was going down instead of up. What they did was light the bonfire and then headed back outside so they could head into the passage that was too small for the beast to access, so they would have to take down whatever was in this area, which was just fine since Tirek was sure they would break whatever was resting in their way, just like they had done since they started their quest. The group discovered that they were more in a sewer like area than a basement, where a number of the odd white centipede creature that looked like ladies that had drowned, in a slight sense, were resting, the same creatures that the beast had been tearing up earlier, but they were incredibly weak to fire attacks as they soon discovered, because Tirek was using the Fire Orb this time around.

There wasn't much to find inside the area that they were exploring, except for some ashes that they could hand over to the Handmaiden when they returned to the shrine, before they stepped up some stairs and entered what appeared to be a kitchen of some kind, meaning they were definitely in a basement of one of the buildings, and there was some of that Estus soup they had found earlier, complete with bowls this time, but no sign of whoever made it. Instead of wasting time in the kitchen they found some stairs and walked up to a small room that seemed to be an area that servants prepared before they answered the call of their masters, before heading up a second staircase and entered a larger chamber that seemed like the living area for the entire building, and they weren't alone, as there was a knight in silver armor standing in front of a large painting of some lady. It appeared that the knight was either guarding the building due to it being part of the path that lead to the large church, even if they were going to find some doors or gates that would be shortcuts to use later on, or because it was taking a break before resuming the patrol that it was supposed to be doing, though since it hadn't noticed their arrival in the room the group looked around for a few moments to see if there was anything else they might need to be aware of, like an upper level that had two more silver knights, where one happened to have a bow. That meant one of the other two knights were waiting for enemies to enter the area and were planning on ambushing them as they tried to take out the first one, the one in front of the painting, so what happened was that Tirek hurled a Forbidden Sun right at the archer and blasted it back into the wall, giving Sarana and Martok an opening to attack the knight in front of the painting, who wasn't expecting to be attacked from behind, so it was easy for them to take the pair down.

Instead of going out of his way to crush the other knight, like he normally would, Tirek observed the paintings that were near him as his companions headed up a hidden set of stairs to deal with the remaining enemies, where he quickly discovered something interesting, the lady in the main picture had what he guessed was a large rack, in comparison to what he had seen so far, and guessed it might have something to do with what the knight had been doing, which was the moment that he shook his head and waited for Sarana and Martok to catch up with him. When his companions did return to his side he discovered that they found a ring of some kind, a large two handed mace that looked pretty dangerous, and a vial of some kind that looked somewhat special, though none of it seemed like items they would be using anytime soon and they made sure to put them into their shared pack before moving forward. Fortunately there happened to be an area they could walk through right behind where the silver knight had been standing a few minutes ago, like an entrance that lead outside, to which the three of them stepped outside and found themselves in a new part of the city, one that had a decent number of steps for them to climb up, no doubt with some enemies for them to take out. At first it seemed like there was no one for the three of them to fight, as they were able to get up the first set of stairs without anything coming out to kill them, but when they moved beyond that point some of the undead dogs rushed out from where they were resting and charged at the group, along with some invisible spell users loosing Soul Arrows at them, though that was the moment that Tirek focused on dodging the various magical arrows and blasted who was sending them their way, allowing his companions to cleave their way through the dogs that attacked them.

Once the first hidden sorcerer was taken out Tirek let Sarana and Martok continue forward and cut down the couple of dogs that were their enemies, allowing him to claim another large soul for their collection, before he marched forward and blasted the next couple of hidden sorcerers that were trying to hurt his companions, though as that happened he did find a side passage that looked like it had an elevator inside it.

As it turned out the area he had thought was a side passage was really a tower of some kind, a small one that did have an elevator that brought them back to the area that happened to be near the path that brought them to where they found Anri, and even opened a door to get there, so they road the elevator back down to the area in question and headed up the next flight of stairs to see what else they needed to cut their way through before they reached the front of the church and determined who was hiding within it. That allowed them to access another building that was more square shaped than what they had seen since they entered Irithyll, though at a glance it didn't seem like there were any foes for them to fight, before Sarana turned her head for a moment and Tirek nodded, where he channeled his power for a moment and started to blast everything that was in front of him as his companions stood behind him. At first it looked like he was blasting all of the pots and containers that were in the building, but that was shortly followed by a number of hidden enemies being knocked away from where they were hiding and fell to the ground in defeat in a matter of seconds, though he made sure to cover the entire chamber, just to be sure that he hit everything at least once, before he stopped throwing spells around and lowered his hand. With that done he walked forward and found that there were no items for them to worry about, as none of their enemies had dropped any and there had been none in the first place, so they found some stairs that lead them to an opening that held a short walkway that brought to an area that was near the church's front.

The set of stairs that they found a few moments later really brought them to the front of their destination, where they stared at the church and found two more knights that needed to be taken out, one wielding a scimitar and another that was wielding a scythe, one made in the same style as the other weapons, to which they readied themselves for battle, even if it was a one sided fight. The reason for that thought was due to the fact that Tirek could just wipe them out with a single Forbidden Sun to the chest, though this time around he decided to use the Fire Orb spell to take down the scythe knight in a matter of seconds, allowing him to claim a third scythe for his collection, while leaving the scimitar one to fall to Sarana and Martok's combined attack, opening the way for them to challenge the creature that was inside the church. Instead of doing that they explored the rest of the area they were in, finding a few summon signs near the entrance of the building that was their destination, one of which seemed to be Anri and another was Gotthard, while a third was a name that none of them recognized, a Shade of some kind, but instead of focusing on that they headed down some stairs that were on the opposite side of the area that they had walked up and discovered a door that served as a shortcut, one that would allow them to return to where the chapel they had found Anri in was located. Of course that was guarded by a pair of hidden slaves, who fell in seconds due to Sarana's attacks hitting them, leaving Martok to open the way forward, before Tirek returned to the front of the church and located an area he could walk off and drop down into a structure that was near the group of three they had seen earlier, the two scimitar knights and the flaming knight.

Those enemies fell in moments as Tirek sent a Forbidden Sun down into the area, at the very least weakening them so that Sarana and Martok could take them out, before he dropped down onto the structure they had been guarding, which allowed him to collect a golden ring that radiated magical power, so he added it to the ones he was wearing, on an empty finger, and then headed back to the chapel so he could rest for the big fight that was coming up.

Once that was done the three of them made their way back up to where the entrance was located and took out the scimitar and scythe knights that were guarding the way forward, which was when Sarana walked over to Gotthard's sign and summoned him to their side, almost confirming that she knew the man and that there was a reason she was having him join them, before Tirek pushed his way through the fog that was in front of him and entered the church. The very first thing he noticed, as his companions and their new ally entered the church after he did, was the number of seats that were in the massive chamber that made up the inside of the building, before he shifted his gaze and spotted the powerful foe that was standing in their way. It was a tall creature that stood on two legs, like all of the hollows and knights they had seen inside Irithyll, though it was dressed like some sort of figurehead for the church, and it seemed that it was waiting for something or someone to come near it, though Tirek was informed that this was Pontiff Sulyvahn, someone who followed the orders of Aldrich, meaning that if they beat this guy they would be one step closer to their true target. One thing Tirek spotted was the pair of greatswords that Pontiff Sulyvahn was carrying, one that seemed to contain the power of fire while the other one commanded the power of darkness, since when they got closer to the level that he was standing on both of his blades activated, revealing that he intended on preventing them from getting to his master.

The very first thing Pontiff Sulyvahn did was, when they got close to the area he was standing in, took a step forward and quickly crossed the distance between where he had started and the part of the chamber that they were standing in at the moment, where Martok rushed to the front of parried the incoming swing with his greatsword, something that pushed him backwards as Tirek, Sarana, and Gotthard separated from each other so they could assault their foe. The next attack was with the shadowy sword, as the first one was with the flaming sword, though this time around Pontiff Sulyvahn thrust his blade forward and pierced Martok's chest, much to Tirek's surprise, which was when he lifted the warrior into the air and blasted him with the energy of his blade, before tossing Martok to the side, leaving the warrior alone as he turned his attention to the others. That actually allowed Martok to sip from his Estus Flask and heal his wounds, but even as they saw that they knew that this guy was going to be dangerous, especially if he was able to do that to their tank, though that didn't stop Tirek from using his most powerful spells against their foe, since the knights outside had been weak to fire, and maybe even lightning, so he was going to focus on two spells at the moment. Pontiff Sulyvahn, as if determining what was going to coming his way, turned and rapidly approached Tirek, which did allow him to blast his foe right in the face with a Forbidden Sun and knock him backwards, but while it did seem that their foe might be weak to fire spells he seemed to shrug off the damage and continue his assault, causing him to dodge out of the way as Sarana rushed in and sliced into the robe that their foe was wearing while Gotthard loosed a few arrows at their foe's chest.

What was going to make this fight all that much harder was that when Sarana dodged one of the attacks that was coming for her, and managed to do it without being hit in Tirek's opinion, Pontiff Sulyvahn actually hit her with the back of his blade and knocked her a bit away from where she had been standing, where her head whipped around and Tirek could tell that she was ticked off about something. Tirek felt the same way, that he was getting ticked off by what was going on at the moment, as Pontiff Sulyvahn was fighting with a level of power and speed that was far greater than anything he had seen so far, even more than what the Abyss Watchers had when the four of them fought the first Lord of Cinder, and even if one of them tried to dodge an attack there was a high chance he would clip them in the backside, just to punish them for their actions, meaning they had to be careful when they were dodging whatever attacks came their way. Even when one of them were hit by the first sword swing their foe struck them again and again, basically forcing them to step back and use one of their flasks to heal their injuries, and Tirek was no exception, as he was the first one to suffer that series of attacks and all of them suffered taking that series of attacks, showing just how strong their foe was, despite the damage Tirek was able to do with his spells. There was even the fact that when Tirek tried to get some distance, so he didn't have to worry about being up close and personal almost all the time, their foe rushed over to where he was in a matter of seconds and hit him with the backside of one of his blades, showing the four of them that Pontiff Sulyvahn was paying attention and that none of them could escape his sight, which made him all the more annoying.

Things got even worse when Tirek thought they were doing well and knocked their foe to his knees, somehow since he wasn't even sure they had done enough damage to even get him to this level, before he loosed a shockwave of energy that Tirek determined was basically a light dark colored explosion that knocked all three of his companions backwards, but the moment that was done Pontiff Sulyvahn stood up and seemed to have some sort of wing-like appendages on his back, not that it seemed to be giving him any sort of power. Of course that was when things went from bad to worse as their foe raised his dark sword and brought it before his face, with the tip of the blade pointing at the ceiling of the church as his other blade was idle at the moment, which was the instant that he seemed to split in half, like his shadow came to life and took on a dark aura, basically doubling the amount of foes they had to deal with, which was an absolutely terrible development in the grand scheme of things. What happened next was the fact that the group had to split their attention between their real foe and the shadowy version of him that he had summoned, though it was hard to really do much due to the fact that both of them shared the exact same moves and that if one of them did one move, like the painful series of swings, the other one did it not a few seconds later, or if one of them did the quick step forward and the swing the other one followed after that. There was even an attack where Pontiff Sulyvahn loosed what looked like a really powerful Heavy Soul Arrow at whoever he was targeting, or maybe it was a different spell, but Tirek and Gotthard were the ones that were knocked back by that attack, forcing them to take another flask before they returned to the battle, even though Tirek was starting to wonder if they even had a chance this time around.

Pontiff Sulyvahn even had an attack where he jumped into the air and impaled the ground that was below him, or the unfortunate target that he happened to be targeting, which was why Tirek found himself impaled by their foe's blade and, to add insult to injury, their foe even loosed a burst of fire to keep the others away, before he removed his blade and advanced on the others.

Tirek coughed for a moment as he remained where he was laying, mostly because it seemed like Pontiff Sulyvahn was of the opinion that he might be dead or something, before looking at the battle that was unfolding before his eyes, as their foe was resuming his attacks and was scattering his companions, showing him that even the four of them might not have been enough to deal with this guy. As that happened he recalled something that Yuria had told him, where she mentioned a being that was able to use the Forbidden Sun spell in a different manner, one where they combined it with two others and created an even stronger version of the spell, though that was when he determined that it couldn't hurt to try out a new attack, because at this point they were going to have to admit defeat and retreat for a time. As such he forced himself into a standing position and channeled all of his power, instead of the power he had been using so far, and the air around him blazed for a few seconds as three large Forbidden Suns, about twice the size of his head, formed around him, one to his left, one to his right, and one above him. In that moment, while his target was distracted and didn't turn to see what he was doing, Tirek raised his left hand and linked the group of attacks together, where he watched as the three suns moved towards each other and started to merge into a single form, enlarging the main Forbidden Sun into a massive sphere that was half the size of the entire church, like a miniature sun of some sort. Once that was done, and his companions took notice of what he was doing, they struck down the clone that Pontiff Sulyvahn had summoned before backing away, where this time around their foe didn't rush at one of them as he stood near the right side of the church, from the entrance, and that was the moment that Tirek sent the powerful attack straight at his target.

Because of the size of the attack Pontiff Sulyvahn couldn't dodge it and was forced to take it as Tirek pushed both him and the attack into the wall that was behind where his foe was located, though when the sphere struck the wall itself there was an explosion that he and the others had to look away from, but when the light died down Tirek grinned as he spotted the massive hole in the side of the church and the fact that he had wiped their foe out.

"Serves him right." Tirek stated, showing that he was pleased with the results of his spell, as the main chamber of the church had been split into four sections, one for the four directions, and the one that was to the right of the entrance had been taken out, and even though the body was gone he did feel that they got the soul of the foe they had defeated, which he would use to empower himself later on.

Tirek did notice that Sarana and Gotthard were talking about something, before Gotthard returned to where he had been when he had been called to their world, but decided to focus on his victory and ignited the bonfire, as he knew they deserved a small rest before they explored the next part of the city and sought out Aldrich, though a trip to the shrine might be in order, just to prepare themselves for what was coming next.

Hollow Wedding

With Pontiff Sulyvahn defeated, and the bonfire lit, Tirek took a few moments to stare at the section of the church that was missing, thanks to the powerful attack that he had thrown at their foe, and he had to smile as he stared at it while both Sarana and Martok gathered at the bonfire, because this was the type of power he was after, even though he wasn't sure he would be able to replicate that for some time. He realized what had happened during the battle with their foe was that he must have drawn out a bit of his true power for a brief moment, long enough for him for him to summon three of the same spell into the area around him and combine them into a single entity that was powerful enough to wipe out the incredible foe that they had been facing, one that could have beaten them if he hadn't done that. A higher amount of his true power would be required for him to do anything like this again, especially to this degree, meaning that he had to be grateful for what had happened and not look a gift horse in the mouth, in a manner of speaking, so he turned his focus to what Sarana and Martok were doing and walked over to where the bonfire was located, showing them that he knew it was time for them to leave the area, for a few minutes anyway. He also knew that neither of his companions really cared about why he had been standing there earlier, just staring at the destruction he had caused, otherwise they would have made a comment about what he had done and they would be talking about right now, to which they focused their minds on the bonfire and headed back to the shrine at long last.

It didn't take them long to return to the center of the shrine and walk away from the bonfire that they had teleported to, where both Sarana and Martok headed over to where Ludleth was sitting, no doubt to check out the items that could be made with the new soul they had recovered, before walking over to where the Fire Keeper was standing, though while they did that Tirek walked down into the area that Yuria was waiting in, because now that they had found Anri in Irithyll, and had talked to her, it was time to see if there was anything else that needed to be done.

"Our Lord and Liege, you have returned." Yuria said, reminding Tirek that she was one of the few individuals in this world that actually spoke before he and his companions opened their mouths to say anything to someone, though it was something he wasn't annoyed with, otherwise he would have criticized that part of her, and she made sure to do her little bowing motion before Tirek came to a stop in front of her, "How goes your travels?"

"We've conquered part of Irithyll, found Anri, and beat another powerful creature." Tirek replied, because that was the basics of what happened after he tamed the beast that had been guarding the bridge that lead into the city, something he didn't feel like repeating at the moment, to keep it his little secret for now, before he focused on why he had come to this area in the first place, "You were right, Anri has hollowed, to a degree, as she thought my companions were phantoms or didn't even exist in the first place. Tell me, is there anything else I need to be told before I rejoin Sarana and Martok, use the bonfire to head back to Irithyll, and then continue the search for Aldrich?"

"Yes, I have news from the one that is following Anri at the moment," Yuria answered, where it didn't take Tirek long to remember that Yuria had sent a pilgrim or something to guide Anri and Horace to Irithyll, who might have had a hand in making sure Horace disappeared before Anri was able to reach the city, but he remained silent as he waited for her to finish what she had to tell him, "Your spouse is ready and awaits you in the hidden Darkmoon chamber of Anor Londo, so you may greet them and become a true monarch."

Tirek grinned for a few seconds, as this was good to hear, because if what had happened in the past, where Yoel was able to draw out his true power and bring him to twenty-five percent of his true power, was repeated he could use this to restore even more of his lost power and reach even greater heights, to which he bid Yuria farewell for now and headed back to where the bonfire was located, where he found his companions waiting near it.

"Sarana, do you know where Anor Londo is located?" Tirek inquired, though the reason that he was asking her this sort of question was due to the fact that she had a knowledge of the land that they were traveling through, giving him an idea of where they were at any given moment, so she had to know where the area that Yuria had mentioned was located and give him an understanding of how long it would take for them to reach it.

"Yes, its right above Irithyll." Sarana replied, revealing that she did know the answer to the question and that she was more than willing to give it to him, even if she didn't care why she was asked the question in the first place, though what she had said caused Tirek to recall what they had seen when they first left the Catacombs of Carthus and stared at the area that the city was resting in.

"So that's the name of the odd city that's above Irithyll." Tirek commented, as it wasn't hard for him to remember that fact, about the city that was resting above Irithyll, and that meant that they were close to the area that Yuria had told him about, meaning Aldrich had to be somewhere in Anor Londo and that Anri would be on the way to their target, "We need to keep an eye out for a hidden chamber in that area, a Darkmoon chamber according to what Yuria just told me, as that is where Anri will be resting."

Sarana and Martok glanced at each other, seemingly a little surprised by the fact that they would be dealing with the female warrior again, even if Tirek couldn't see their expressions and was guessing at the moment, before they returned to the bonfire and focused on returning to the church they had fought Pontiff Sulyvahn had been located in, where it didn't take them long to return to their destination. Once they were back in the church, and found that the magic of the bonfires hadn't restored the wall that Tirek had destroyed, which caused the grin to remain on his face for a few moments, the three of them headed up the stairs that had been behind where their foe had been standing and exited the church, to which they discovered a large balcony of sort that rested in front of them and a path to their left that seemed to be the main path they needed to take. The first thing they found were two small crystal lizards resting in the area below them, to which Sarana jumped down there and stabbed the both of them before they could even run from where they had been resting, allowing her to slay them and claim the stones that her targets were carrying, which she pocked them and quickly returned to Tirek and Martok's sides as they headed up another set of stairs to reach the next area they would be heading through and fighting enemies in. When they reached the top of the stairs the group looked out at the courtyard that was in front of them and found that there were a few giants resting between them and the structure that seemed to connect to a walkway that would allow them to reach an even higher level, no doubt the correct path that would allow them to reach Anor Londo and Aldrich, though there were also a number of deacons standing on a side walkway that was connected to the side of the church, the left side to be exact, which also seemed to have an opening of sorts to their left.

Based on what Tirek was seeing at the moment it was going to be slightly dangerous to get over to the structure that was their main destination, especially since there was no telling if the seven or eight giants were sleeping or if they might get up at some point and attack whoever entered the area, though that was before he spotted two additional enemies right in front of the structure they would be heading towards, each wielding two identical weapons in their hands, to which he paused for a moment as he took in what was in front of them.

"This is going to be a pain if those giants come to life and attack us, the deacons fire at us, and those warriors come charging into the battle," Tirek commented, as that was what he could tell would happen if they allowed all three types of enemies to engage them, even if that might give him a chance to reawaken what he had used against the Pontiff earlier, before he glanced over to Sarana for a moment, who seemed to be looking at something, "What do you think?"

"The side path is the safest of the two, while the main one will be more difficult." Sarana stated, showing Tirek that he was right in his thoughts about what they were seeing at the moment, though at the same time Martok glared at the area in front of them and gripped his weapon, indicating that he was ready to engage their enemies and take some of them down, be it the deacons, the giants, or the other warriors, "It all depends on what you want to do, as either way we'll end up in the exact same building."

Tirek said nothing to that as Martok took a few steps forward and entered the courtyard, where they found that some of the giants had to actually be dead, otherwise the sound of his armor would have woken them up, though at the same time the deacons started throwing fireballs down into the area and targeted the warrior from where they were standing, but even as that happened, and Martok hit some of the fireballs away with his greatsword, Tirek paused as he felt the air shudder once more, a sign that he was getting used to feeling.

"Great, more Invaders." Tirek stated, where he could see that both of his companions zeroed in on the word that he had just used, informing them that Unkindled from some of the other worlds were trespassing on their world and that there were more enemies they needed to be aware of, in addition to what was already in front of them, before he came to a decision on the matter, "Very well, we'll head over to the side path, make our way up to where the deacons are stationed, and then cut and blast our way through them, before sticking to the shadows to see if our new friends show themselves, which will give us an opening to take any Invaders down without exposing ourselves."

As soon as Tirek said that he, Sarana, and Martok rushed over to the side area and found that there were two paths to pick from, one that was to their right and seemed to end in a dead end, while the one to their left seemed to lead to a new opening that was closer to the church, where the latter was the one that they picked and headed through the opening a few seconds later, where they found some stairs to take them to the next level. That set of stairs brought them to the area that the deacons were walking on, the walkway that they had seen from the lower level a few moments ago, though at the same time, just as they walked up the stairs, Tirek swung his arm and used his magic to deflect the incoming fireballs, as the deacons were trying to hit them and they were currently failing, and his actions allowed Sarana and Martok to rush up to where their foes were standing. The deflection spell was one of the rare few spells he was able to use in his current state, as in the ones that didn't come from this world, but at the very least that opened the way for both of his companions to get to where their targets were standing, as Sarana was able to rush up to and stab several of the deacons with her daggers, while at the same time Martok heaved his weapon into the air and cleaved his targets in half, though both of them were clearly making sure that none of the Invaders heard what they were up to. That was part of the reason why he stayed away from the spells at the moment, due to the sound that some of them made when they were cast, something that wouldn't be a problem if he had half of his full power, at the very least, and stuck to actually cutting down their foes with the blade that he was carrying.

While they did that Tirek also spotted a lone tower off to their left, one that seemed to serve as a way to backtrack to this area from another location that was further ahead of them, a shortcut, and that meant they needed to find the path that would take them to the area in question, but for now he turned his attention to killing the deacons and doing what his companions were doing at the moment. The next set of targets the group had to worry about were the two knights that were rather close to the stairs, which happened to be to their right at the moment, meaning that one wrong move would alert the pair to the fact that they were nearby and they would be stuck fighting them, not to mention the fact that it could tell the Invaders where they were. Of course, interestingly enough, Tirek did feel a few more shifts in the air, a couple that were nearly identical to the first one he had felt, meaning more Invaders, but two of them were different, rather he got the feeling that whoever he had felt enter their world was here to help repel the various Invaders and then, once all of the Invaders were taken care of, it would likely leave them to their own devices. Not a few minutes later he spotted a pair of blue phantoms off in the distance that seemed to be looking for someone or something, the Invaders no doubt, though when he pointed them out Sarana informed him that the pair were either members of the Blue Sentinels or members of the Darkmoon Knights, like the ones in the swamp, with the mixed colored, had been the Watchdogs, but the important part about this was that they were here to assist them in taking down the Invaders.

Tirek paused for a moment as he and his companions stood back, where they watched as a couple of red and purple beings, the Invaders, rushed out of the structure that they had been planning on entering and descended down into the central area that seemed to be where everyone wanted to fight, as the red knight and the red cleric clashed with the blue Abyss Watcher, since it was someone wearing the armor and carrying the weapon, with the purple knight in spiked armor rolled at his targets, all while summoning the pair of knights by the structure and some of the giants into a battle, turning the entire area into a battlefield.

"Strange that we went so long without being invaded by some of the other Unkindled, only to be invaded now," Tirek commented, because that was something that had been bothering him since the last time they had been bothered by the other Unkindled in such a manner, mostly because he had been waiting to get his hands on some of them and break them for their actions, but this was just fine since it allowed the three of them to conserve their power for something that might be in front of them, "but at least we have some allies that can fight and die in our defense, for as long as they're here anyway, since there's no telling how long they'll last against these foes."

"Well, we should get moving either way," Sarana replied, because while she had to agree that it was good that they had allies this time around, unlike the last time they were invaded by some of the other Unkindled, she did know that the odds were stacked in the favor of the Invaders since the blue and purple phantoms had to contend with the enemies that the red phantoms, so she wanted to move before their enemies came after them.

Tirek nodded his head for a moment and silently walked into the structure that the Invaders had come from, making sure not to draw attention to them in the process, before discovering that the inside of the structure was just a room that had a set of stairs, one that would take them to the upper level of the structure and let them continue along the way to the path that would allow them to reach Anor Londo. While they walked into the structure he checked the walls that were around them, mostly to see if there were any Illusionary Walls in this area, before discovering that one of the walls to the left of the opening disappeared, revealing a ladder that leaded down into the depths that were below where they were standing, to which he raised an eyebrow for a moment as he used it. What he discovered was that the ladder was much longer than what he originally thought it would be and eventually came to a stop when he discovered that there was some water down in the area below him, though it appeared that Sarana and Martok were waiting near the opening, to take down any Invaders that came into the room that was now above him, but the really interesting thing came when he got a bit lower and was allowed to see the rest of the area. The massive chamber he discovered seemed to be a water reserve of some kind, no doubt for the rest of Irithyll, even though he had no idea how they were supposed to get all of it up to the city in question, but what he was really interested in were the two beasts, just like the one from the bridge, so he grinned as he reached the bottom and walked out to greet the pair, who roared as they noticed him and started to rush over to where he was currently standing.

Just like the last time his intense gaze was more than enough to stop the beasts that were coming at him and force them to submit to him, just like the last one had done, though this time around he didn't see a path for the pair to take, which meant that they would be down here for some time until he figured out a way to move them back to the surface, but as he started to move he felt another Invader appear in this world and turned to face the ladder, where a knight just so happened to appear near... but, as the knight faced him, Tirek stepped back and let the beasts rush forward, tearing into the unfortunate Invader before he had a chance to defend himself.

"Good, it seems the other Unkindled fear your kind, so much to pause in fear when they see you." Tirek commented, speaking to the beasts for a moment, even if they might not understand him as they focused on the area that they were guarding right now, a place that seemed rather boring when he thought about it, before he shrugged for a moment and headed back to the ladder, knowing that he would come for the pair of beasts once he found a reliable way to free them from this area, since they were useful in clearing out the invading Unkindled.

A few moments later he climbed up the ladder and reached the chamber that Sarana and Martok had been guarding since he headed down into the large chamber he had found, where they glanced at him for a few seconds and he nodded, to which the three of them headed up the stairs that lead to the next level of the structure, leaving the Invaders to deal with the guardians that had come to assist him and his companions. Once they reached the top of the stairs they found that they could turn to the right and drop down onto a square walkway of some kind, one that was attached to one of the diagonal pillars they had seen in the past, though they had to be careful as they walked up to the side of the building that was in front of them, as there were a couple of silver knights that had large bows in their hands, meaning that they would be firing at the three of them as they moved forward. Fortunately there weren't any knights in the immediate area that they started walking in, though there was one on the next platform that they needed to pass through, which happened to be in sight of some of the other knights, so instead of stopping and dealing with that knight they passed right by him and headed up to the side of the building that held a walkway for them to use. From there the next silver knight switched his bow for a sword and shield before rushing them, where Martok parried the incoming blow with his greatsword and let Sarana use that opening to get behind their foe and stab it a few times, showing Tirek that they had the situation under control and that he could focus on something else. As such he turned and hurled a Forbidden Sun right down the path they had walked up to get to this point, blasting the silver knight that was behind them and, at the same time, caused it to fall over the edge of the area and descend into the abyss below them, before doing the same thing to the next one that was standing on another platform.

With those three taken down, as both of Tirek's targets fell off of the area that they were standing on, they continued forward and quickly found another silver knight standing in their way, where Sarana quietly approached their new foe and stabbed him in the back, allowing her to push the dead body over the edge so they could continue moving, while proving that both of his companions could hold their own in a fight, something that he was no longer questioning after everything he had seen since this quest started. From there they turned a corner and found yet another silver knight that was hiding in the shadows, with an arrow at the ready for some odd reason, to which the group rolled out of the way and avoided the attack to the best of their ability, which was when Martok rushed forward and brought his weapon down on his foe, which allowed Tirek and Sarana to check out the rest of the area as he did that, where they found two more enemies in the area that was below them. As Tirek suspected the two foes were silver knights, which seemed to be the major enemies in this part of the city, so while Martok dealt with the one that had been hiding in the shadows Sarana walked down to where the next one was standing, who happened to be in front of a passage that would allow them to move forward, and stabbed her target in the back, killing the knight in a matter of seconds. While that happened Tirek gathered his power and hurled another Forbidden Sun into the back of the silver knight that was standing a couple of steps in front of where Sarana was standing, knocking it off the walkway that it was standing on, though as that happened he discovered that the diagonal walkway happened to connect to the top of the tower that housed the shortcut they had seen earlier, something that Sarana walked over to and opened the door to, even if it took her a few moments to do all that.

Once all of those knights were taken out, and they made sure to wait for Martok to finish his foe, the group walked up to the passage that was leading them into the building and quickly came to a circular room of some kind, one that had an exit to their left, but it was what rested to their right that caused the group to pause, as there happened to be a large opening that almost looked like it had been a Illusionary Wall at one point in the past... and, at the bottom of the stairs that were behind where the wall had been, was a passage that lead to a hidden area, with one of the pilgrims standing near an opening like they were waiting for someone to arrive.

"Welcome, our gracious Lord. Your spouse awaits you in the next chamber, but please, take the Sword of Avowal before you meet her." the pilgrim said, speaking to Tirek for a moment, just like Yuria and Yoel had done in the past, which was followed by the lady, something he determined by the voice, pulling out a sword that had a straight blade and hand a ring around the handle, while it also possessed a dull green color, where he gripped the handle and pulled it over to him once she offered it to him, "May you be the truest Lord of Londor yet."

Tirek said nothing to that as he walked into the passage that was just beyond the opening that the pilgrim had been standing near, where he found that the area he discovered lead to a large chamber, though after some time he gestured to the body that was nearby and had both of his companions stand near it, allowing them to take the armor that was on it, before he stepped down into the chamber. It was in that moment that he found Anri laying in front of the massive raised platform that happened to be resting against the edge of the chamber, though her helm was resting next to her and there was a cloth resting over her face, mostly covering her up so he couldn't see her actual face, but as he approached the altar that she was on he made sure to have the Sword of Avowal at the ready as his actual staff and sword were returned to his pack for a moment. The blade was all he needed at the moment, as it seemed to suggest something in his mind as he walked up to where Anri was resting, though the one thing he truly got from the image was that more power would be his if he went through with what the pilgrims and Yuria had prepared them for, hence the reason that he came to a stop when he reached the altar that was his destination. A few seconds ticked by before he knelt on the altar, in front of where Anri was positioned, and followed the image he had been shown by raising the Sword of Avowal and gripping it with both of his hands, with the blade resting above her head for a couple of moments, though once he was ready he drove the blade down into her head, the forehead he guessed, and the blade sank into her head. A few more seconds ticked by before he felt some sort of power, in the form of a dark mist, crawl up the edge of the blade and enter his power, like he was in the process of absorbing whatever power Anri had for himself, to which he grinned for a moment as he was covered in the darkness, allowing it to settle with the rest of the power he had gathered so far.

It took a few moments for the dark energy to completely surround his body, though that was when the air around him shuddered as his power rose to new heights, almost like what happened when he took the power of the Abyss Watchers earlier, and it only took a few seconds for the shuddering to stop and the aura to break off of his body, revealing a more youthful and well-muscled body, more lean than what he was used to in his centaur form, but he now looked far younger than he previously did and now had the proper posture that he had been lacking.

"It would seem that I have reached the transformed version of my full powered state," Tirek commented, referring to the large menacing centaur form that should have smashed Twilight Sparkle and her friends into the ground some time ago, and he would have succeeded if it wasn't for the power they used against him, but even as he said that he let go of the Sword of Avowal and stood up so he could admire his youthful body once more, knowing that he would be able to hold his own against the enemies of this world without having to rely on his companions, before he held a hand out and, without the devices that were necessary to channel this world's magic, summoned a Forbidden Sun, "and it would seem that I have been restored to fifty percent of my true power, which is more than enough for me to cast aside the catalysts I have been using so far."

"So basically we have to find the remaining Lords of Cinder and you can get the rest of your power." Sarana spoke up, as she and Martok had been watching and the moment Tirek stopped what he was doing, along with making sure to put out the Forbidden Sun that he had summoned, was when they approached him, though once again it would be hard for him to tell what the pair were thinking thanks to their masks, "Though we are close to Aldrich now, we just need to find the way up to Anor Londo and figure out where he's hiding, which shouldn't be all that hard due to the fact that he's a giant slime that can be seen a mile away."

Tirek nodded his head for a moment as he made his way back to where his companions were standing, as it was time for them to check out the other opening and see if they could find what they were looking for, though as he did that they did return to where the pilgrim had been standing and found that she was dead, like her life had been tied to Anri's for some odd reason, but that didn't stop him from claiming the spell page that she left behind, a Chameleon spell to be exact, to which he added it to his tome. From there they returned to the chamber that was at the top of the stairs and, instead of heading for the opening in front of them, Tirek turned to the left and headed back to the area that all of the Unkindled had been fighting in earlier, as from the area that overlooked a good part of this section of the city he could find that they were still trying to kill each other, which was just fine since it meant they didn't have to worry about the Invaders at all. Once he was done checking out what the Invaders were doing he, Sarana, and Martok headed back to the other opening and found that it lead to a walkway that seemed to just end, which was the moment that he spotted a lever and Martok pulled it not a few seconds later, something that caused the tower in front of them to shift and spin, allowing Tirek to see that there were two walkways on the structure in question. It didn't take the tower long to move into position and give them a walkway to walk on, so they could cross over to the center of the tower and use the stairs to get to the top, to which the three of them did that and moved quickly, as the tower did make noise when it was in use and that might have alerted the Invaders to the area that they were in, if they were familiar with the area anyway, and it only took them a minute or two to climb up to where the main control mechanism was located.

As Martok pushed the control mechanism into another position, and the tower started to move, Tirek grinned as he glanced at the city that rested above Irithyll, as it was time for them to find Aldrich, slay the second Lord of Cinder, and then continue on their quest to find Yhorm the Giant, allowing the three of them to get closer to their real target and, even more importantly, his true terrifying power.

Anor Londo

It took the tower a few moments to rise back up into the position that it had been resting in before Martok used the first lever that was right outside the chamber with the hidden passage, but it was worth the wait as Tirek stared at the walkway that connected to the front area of Anor Londo, the city that rested above Irithyll and, if everyone was right in what they were saying, Aldrich's current resting place. When the tower came to a stop Tirek could see that two of the walkways went nowhere, which was just fine since the third one did go somewhere, to which he and his companions walked around the control mechanism and approached the walkway that would take them right to their destination, giving them an even better look at the massive structure that was their destination. Tirek had to admit that this place looked more like a temple or a castle, instead of the city that he had been told about, but he wasn't about to argue with the ones that knew this world far better than he did and simply looked at the darkened area they were in, almost like it had been lighter at some point and had been reduced from whatever shining status it used to possess. From what he could tell there were only three openings they could walk through, one on their left, one on their right, and one in front of them, even though the large doors that were in beyond the steps meant that the central path was blocked off until they found something that would allow them to open the doors.

As such that meant there were only two paths for them to take and that they needed to explore their options before they picked one, hence the reason that Tirek stepped off the tower's walkway and walked on the short stone path that was in front of him, allowing him to reach the bonfire that was resting near the tower and light it as both Sarana and Martok joined him, even if they were more focused on the possibility of enemies following after them from the area they had just left, before glancing at the structure in front of them.

"So this is Anor Londo," Tirek commented, because despite his own thoughts it was nice to see the area up close and personal like this, especially after hearing about it a few times while having next to no information on what they might find when they reached this place, but after his recent power boost he was sure that they would be able to clear out the foes that were between them and their target, "the city that another city was built under at some point in the past, and just so happens to be where one of our targets had been hiding since they were brought back to life. Well, its nothing like that swamp we had to pass through earlier, so we should be able to make good time in clearing this place out and opening the large door that's in our way, before we find and kill Aldrich."

"Still, we should be careful, as there's no telling if there are more like Pontiff Sulyvahn in there," Sarana replied, as she knew that Tirek felt that his power was the greatest in the world, something that most of the sorcerers, pyromancers, and other magic users believed in until they were smashed by those that stood in their way, she also knew that being careful would allow them to reach the area that their target was resting in, once they entered the actual structure and started to look around for any clues as to where the large slime that was the Lord of Cinder was hiding.

"Well, there's a knight coming our way," Martok added, referring to the steps that lead up to the area that was right in front of the large door, allowing Tirek and Sarana to spot the silver knight that he was talking about, though he shifted his greatsword for a moment and readied himself, knowing that they would have to fight a few foes to get anywhere in this area, just like they had to do when they traveled through all of the other areas they had passed through earlier, though he was sure that the enemies in the cathedral would be ones they had faced in the past.

Neither Tirek or Sarana were all that worried when they laid eyes on the silver knight that Martok had spotted, as both of them could easily take one of those knights out with their individual abilities, and then Tirek raised an eyebrow when he spotted a second one further behind the first one, meaning that there were a few foes for them to fight through before they were allowed to get inside the cathedral building that was in front of them. Tirek wasn't surprised by that fact, due to all of the enemies they had to fight through so they could reach the Abyss Watchers, and he could even see a third silver knight in the area that was to the right of the large door, coming from their direction anyway, so he was more than ready for the foes that would be standing in their way, especially since they were getting closer to their target. Fortunately both of the silver knights that were patrolling the steps in front of them only went down a certain number of steps before taking a moment to turn around and head back up to the start of the path that they patrolled, meaning the group could either fight them on the steps or they could rush up the steps and fight them on the landing that they were guarding, where both of the methods worked for Tirek since he wasn't worried about their odds of winning. It didn't take them long to see what their foes were doing and moved towards the stairs, as it was time for them to take the fight to the silver knights and take both of them down, which would allow them to open the way into the cathedral and start the search for their target, which would prevent any of the Invaders from following after them once they located Aldrich and entered his domain.

The first thing they did, as they walked up the set of stairs that lead to the front door, was draw the attention of the first silver knight that was blocking the way, where Martok swung his greatsword and parried the incoming attack that was coming his way, preventing the knight from pushing him backwards as he forced his foe to remain where he was standing, something that allowed Sarana to stab the unsuspecting knight in the back and end that fight rather quickly. Tirek, while his companions did that, summoned a Fire Orb and hurled it at the second silver knight that was finally noticing what was going on and was starting to come over to where they were located, though while the spell didn't finish off his target he used the opening that the flames provided to lash out with his blade and cut into his foe's armor, because while he may not need the catalysts for spells anymore he did know that it was good to keep an actual weapon on hand, at least in this world it was. Of course a single cut from his blade wasn't enough to do the job, rather it took a few more and he had to dodge a couple of attacks in the process, but at the end of the fight he was the victor and actually emerged without taking any damage, meaning he had to be learning from watching Sarana and Martok fight, something he really wasn't expecting to discover during their quest, though he wasn't about to argue with the results. As he walked up the stairs, to join Sarana and Martok at the top, he felt the energies in the air shift as several new Invaders seemed to pop into their world, all in the area that they had been in a few minutes ago, to which he chuckled for a moment, as it was a bad day to be those fools, before the tower shifted and lowered into position for the path that lead up here, indicating that some of the Unkindled had figured out where they had run off to.

Instead of worrying about the Invaders that had caught up to them, since it would be another minute or two before they would be under attack, Tirek and his companions headed to their right and walked through the opening that was over there, since there happened to be one in the architecture of the area and was reflected on the other side of the walkway that was behind them. In front of them rested an extension of the walkway, while to their left rested a locked door that didn't seem like it could even be opened by anything, meaning they only had one direction to go in at the moment, though to their right rested a short set of stairs that lead nowhere, save for the red eyed silver knight that happened to be in the middle of patrolling the area he was in. The knight, seeing them at the top of the stairs, charged at them with his sword at the ready so he could cut them down and protect his master, which was why Martok swung his greatsword and quickly parried the attack, though as he forced this knight backwards, due to his height advantage, Sarana darted forward and cut into the silver armor a few times before backing off, which was the moment that Tirek snapped a Forbidden Sun into the area that was in front of them and blasted their foe in the chest, knocking him over the edge of the area. It was clear that he was dead a few moments later, due to the souls that they got for doing that, to which they turned around and headed back to the stairs that would take them back to the bonfire, even if they weren't going to use the rest point, allowing them to watch as the tower moved back into position and a pair of Unkindled Invaders, where both of them were red colored and they just so happened to be wearing the armor of the silver knights that were guarding this area, started to approach the area the group was standing in.

Tirek grinned for a moment as he focused his magic for a few seconds and summoned another Forbidden Sun into the air above his land, one that he hurled down into the area that their uninvited quests were moving towards and let it explode the moment it struck the walkway, knocking both Invaders backwards with the force of the explosion, opening the way for Sarana to jump down and stab the one on the right a few times, before knocking him over the edge, while Martok cleaved his foe in half, diagonally from the right shoulder to the left hip, and allowed the pieces to his foe to tumble off the walkway that they were standing on.

"Two more Invaders have perished, but more are on their way," Tirek stated, as he could feel the vibrations in the air and could tell that all of the Unkindled that were coming for their heads, be they Aldrich's defenders or scavengers looking for easy souls to pillage from weakened enemies, meaning that sooner or later there would be more enemies in this area, as it appeared that all of the Invaders had been deposited in the massive area that was beyond Pontiff Sulyvahn's church, to which he turned towards the path he and his companions had been following for a moment, "Come, let us continue our fight against the knights that are guarding Anor Londo, and, more importantly, Aldrich... once that's done we can deal with the Invaders as soon as they catch up to us, that is if any of them survive fighting each other to the death."

Sarana and Martok glanced at each other for a moment, as they both knew that with Tirek's new level of power, which seemed to surprise whoever they fought and left enemies stunned by what they were seeing, before nodding their heads as they followed him towards the opening that was to the left of the main doorway, as it appeared to be the only one that they could even use right now, but as they walked over there it was easy to find the body of a long dead giant, a yellow coal that it was holding onto, and a square shaped staircase that lead to the top of the tower that they were now in. Tirek started to walk up the stairs, since he didn't much care for the coal and it was only picked up by his companions, showing that his focus was on the fact that they were getting closer to where Aldrich was located, as the Lord of Cinder had lead the three of them on a merry chase through this world, since one would have assumed he would have been in his tomb for a time and not the structure they were currently invading, a chase that was coming to an end so they could focus on Yhorm, the last of the Lord's that the group knew the location of. Once they found where Yhorm and the Profane Capital were hiding, which would be right after they crushed Aldrich, Tirek was sure that it wouldn't be long before they figured out the location of the fourth and final missing Lord of Cinder, Prince Lothric, even though that would be followed by him breaking the cycle of this world thanks to the power Yoel, Yuria, and the others of their group had given him access to, hence why he was so focused on what they were currently doing.

At the top of the stairs Tirek found a diagonal set of stairs that lead into the main building, which did look like a large church or castle of some kind, and it appeared that there was an upper area to the structure they were walking in, where he could see a number of deacons patrolling the area that rested between the main door and the massive Fog Door that Aldrich had to be resting behind, as even from this distance he could feel a massive source of magical energy coming from it and determined it had to be the Lord of Cinder they were looking for.

Of course the Deacons didn't want the group to even be inside the structure, because they started to launch fireballs in their direction, from both the walkway that would lead Tirek and his companions to the area that the door was in and from the stairs that were in front of the Fog Door, though instead of allowing those spells to hit them Tirek used his magic to blow the spells out of the air so that Sarana and Martok could challenge the enemies that were currently standing in their way. By that Sarana jumped over the edge of the railing and quickly stabbed the Deacon that was standing near the bottom of the stairs that were to the left of the opening they had walked through, while at the same time Matrok ran down to the area that three of the Deacons were standing in and beheaded one before it had a chance to attack them, causing the other two to back up a little as he advanced on them, allowing Tirek to focus on somewhere else since his companions were already dealing with the enemies that were around then. As he did that he found a few more Deacons that were turning towards them, who just so happened to be standing near some of the slimes that seemed to be gathering around their feet, to which he grinned for a moment as he made sure that Sarana was out of the way and then bombed the areas his targets were standing in with a Forbidden Sun or two, blowing away the smaller blackened slimes while damaging the Deacons so Sarana could rush in and cut them down, which just so happened to be around the time that Martok ended the other two enemies and marched down the stairs to join them. While they quickly walked down to the walkway that was between the massive door and the Fog Door, and both Sarana and Martok dealt with the Deacons that were standing around them, Tirek noticed the mechanism that would allow them to open the door and access the area the previous bonfire rested in, which would allow them to rest before the battle with Aldrich, before he glanced at the ceiling for a few seconds and spotted one of the large spider beasts hanging on the ceiling, no doubt waiting for someone to try and open the main door so it could ambush them.

Tirek chuckled for a moment as he focused his magic on the spider beast and blasted it with a Forbidden Sun that hit the creature's chest, where the beast shrieked in pain for a few seconds as it dropped from the ceiling and crashed on the ground in front of the main door, but as it rushed at Tirek, who dodged the attack and then blasted it again with the same spell from the back, his companions quickly moved over to the mechanism and forced it into the position that allowed the main door to open, something that would allow them to return to the bonfire if they needed to rest, which was when Tirek blew up the beast and it stopped moving at last.

"Good, we can confront Aldrich at last," Tirek commented, though at the same time he noticed that the tower moved once more and several Unkindled started to walk off the walkway that allowed them to step foot in Anor Londo, where he found that there were knights, mages, rangers, and even a cleric in the group, and all of them were red colored that told him and his companions that they were truly Invaders that wanted them dead, to which he shifted his stance for a second as he channeled his magic around his arms and hands, "so, shall we engage our foes, or do you want to run towards the Lord of Cinder's chambers and face him instead?"

"There's ten of them and three of us, and right now they're standing between us and the bonfire," Sarana replied, as she had taken the time to count the number of enemies that were in front of them and she was a little surprised by what the number was, as that was far more than she was expecting at one time, where she had the feeling that if they engaged these foes it would be a close battle, even with Tirek's powers, to which she glanced back towards the chamber that their target had to be resting in, "We should make a run for it and fight Aldrich, due to the fact that such a thing would send the Invaders back to their worlds, as they can't follow the Unkindled of the world they're invading through the various Fog Doors that we've seen so far."

While Tirek knew that they could stand and fight the Invaders that were coming towards them, even if it was possible they would be mowed down by all of them, he decided to take Sarana's suggestion as he and Martok turned around and followed her towards the Fog Door, even though he made sure to blast the couple of Deacons that were on the stairs that were in front of their destination and knocked them down, allowing them to push their way through the Fog Door, which was followed by him sensing that the Invaders were being forced to depart from this world. After that he noticed that they had stepped into a massive chamber that must have been rather pristine at one point in the distant past, as the floor was covered by what he assumed was Aldrich's soul slime or something, the pillars seemed to be corrupted by the darkness of the being they were looking for, and, on the other side of the chamber, rested a tall humanoid figure, a male god based on what Tirek was feeling, that was halfway devoured by the sludge that was around them, showing them that Aldrich was in the middle of devouring a god, as per his title, and it might be the best time to kill him, while he was distracted by the vast hunger he felt. Since it appeared that Aldrich hadn't noticed them yet, which wasn't going to last forever, Sarana took the moment to inform Tirek that the godly being that their target was devouring was Gwyndolin, the Dark Sun based on what she remembered, which meant their foe would have access to several new powers, skills, and tricks, but even as she said all of that Tirek stepped forward and channeled his magic for a moment and hurled a Forbidden Sun through the air, one that struck the sludge that was devouring the god and caused it to shriek in pain, just like how the fragments of Aldrich had reacted whenever he flamed them in the past.

As that happened, and their foe turned to stare at the one that dared to attack it, Sarana and Martok moved over to the sides of the chamber so Tirek could stand in the center of the area, though that was when Aldrich swung the staff or spear that seemed to be Gywndolin's weapon, as it was hard to make out what it happened to be due to the dark magic that was resting along the upper most part of the weapon, and loosed small orbs of dark magic that rushed at the area he was standing in. That was the moment that Tirek grinned as he focused his power and the orbs struck him, as this was the power he was seeking and he was able to absorb the attacks as they struck him, adding small fragments of power to what he currently had, so while it was possible that he could just feed during a long fight he knew that taking Aldrich down was the better option for them, hence the reason that he nodded his head so Sarana and Martok leapt out onto the creature and attacked Aldrich with their weapons. Interestingly enough Aldrich didn't target the ones that were near him, rather he seemed to understand that Tirek was the greater threat at the moment and channeled the power of the god he was in the middle of devouring to form a bow with the staff his target had been carrying, one that allowed him to loose a number of arrows into the air over the period of a few seconds, arrows that rained down on the area that Tirek was standing in, but instead of moving Tirek kept the grin on his face as the magical projectiles pierced his arms, legs, and chest, causing him to stagger for a moment as his companions briefly paused, as they knew that if he fell it would be harder for them to beat the Lord of Cinder they were facing. Not a few seconds later the arrows glowed for a brief moment and broke apart as Tirek absorbed the power of the god that Aldrich was using to fight them, where his wounds healed in the process as he took a moment to lick his lips, due to the taste of the magical power that was being offered to him, before he glared at the being that they were in the middle of fighting.

"This power is... delicious. Give me more!" Tirek stated, as he found that the mix of Aldrich's power and Gwyndolin's own magical power was far better than what he had tasted so far, during his entire journey to recover his magical power and his true form, and he was willing to taunt his foe into focusing on him so he could be subjected to more attacks, as he could absorb the magic and heal his wounds while his companions dealt some damage to Aldrich's body, and the moment the time was right he would kill the second Lord of Cinder and take the combination of power that was being used against him right now, which would push his power to new heights.

Aldrich swung Gwyndolin's spear-staff and loosed some more of the orbs through the air, which Tirek absorbed as he blasted the Lord's tail with a Forbidden Sun since his companions were no where near their foe, something that prompted him to sink into the muck that was around them and reappeared in another part of the chamber a few seconds later, as in the right corner from the entrance, though he then loosed even more of the dark orbs as he moved across the top of the muck, making Tirek wonder how many times their foe was going to use this trick. Fortunately it appeared that their foe was either stupid or sluggish, either could be correct in this situation, and the reason behind that thought was due to the fact that he was ignoring Sarana and Martok as Tirek stood in the middle of the chamber, meaning Aldrich was targeting him and no one else, and that became clear when another burst of arrows rained down on him in an attempt to pin him to the ground, even though he absorbed the power and healed his wounds. In fact that was about the time where Aldrich tried a new technique, one where he swung the two handed weapon and loosed an incredibly powerful burst of magic at the area that Tirek happened to be standing in, to which he braced himself for a few seconds and let the attack strike him, not that it mattered in the long run since he was able to absorb all of the energy that was being used against him, which was when he hurled another Forbidden Sun into his foe's chest and knocked it backwards. Such a thing allowed Sarana and Martok to hack into the part of their foe that was Aldrich, something that apparently did the most amount of damage to the Lord of Cinder since attacking the half that happened to be Gwyndolin didn't do all that much, but, once more, it did seem like their foe was more interested in Tirek and not his companions, which was just fine with him since that meant all of the spells were coming his way and he could absorb the power that was used against him.

Of course the beam attack was followed by two more for good measure, like Aldrich was testing his stolen skills, but at the same time it was clear that none of the magical attacks were doing anything and the Lord of Cinder was still trying to break him, which Tirek was fine with since he could absorb as much as he wanted, though when Sarana cut into Aldrich's back their foe changed location and apparently set himself on fire, or maybe it was his embers taking effect, but all that seemed to do was empower his attacks as he loosed a more powerful burst of arrows into the air, all of them focused on Tirek and none on either Sarana or Martok. Interestingly enough Aldrich decided to try something else as he rushed over to where his target was standing and used his magic, by spinning in a circle while the weapon seemed to shift into a scythe that was made out of magic, so Tirek was able to channel his own magic into a barrier to stop the attack in its tracks, or at least from cutting him in half given the fact that he had been damaged by the arrows, while also absorbing the power of his foe's attack, before pushing Aldrich backwards so his companions could hack into him again. After that it didn't seem like Aldrich had any other tricks up his sleeves, rather he resorted to the same tricks and techniques the group had seen him use since their battle started, which was why Tirek started to consider his options on what to do so he could take their foe down, even though it appeared that using fire type spells seemed to be the most effective against their foe, so it was rather easy for him to determine what he needed to do as he rushed towards his target for once. Sarana and Martok did pause for a moment, as they were surprised that he was even getting close to the Lord of Cinder that they were fighting right now, where Aldrich swung the scythe at him and Tirek used his magic to stop it so he could use it as a stepping stone to get over his foe's head and fall behind the Lord of Cinder, which was when he gathered his power into one of the larger and stronger Forbidden Suns, two merged into a single entity, and blasted Aldrich in the back, causing the chamber to shudder for a moment as the Lord cried out in agony as he collapsed on the sludge colored ground and stopped moving, to which his companions breathed a sigh of relief as they walked over to where he was standing.

"He's dead, and that means the second Lord of Cinder has fallen," Tirek commented, though at the same time he took a moment to grin as Aldrich's body started to break apart before their very eyes, and that included the body of Gwyndolin, who seemed to have a light smile on his face, before the strands of magic transformed into a mass of energy that quickly took on the form of the powerful being's soul, three so each of them had one, a brilliant blue soul that radiated power as he and his companions collected their reward and the ashes that remained, which would be put on the throne when they got back to the shrine, "Go ahead, return to the shrine and give the Firekeeper the 'good news', if that is what the two of you want to do, as I'll be here for the next couple of minutes, increasing my power even further, before we consider the next area that we'll have to explore, for the third missing Lord of Cinder."

Sarana said nothing as she walked over to the area that Aldrich had been resting in when they first entered the large chamber that they were standing in, as that was where the bonfire just so happened to be resting, to which she ignited it so she and Martok could leave the area that Tirek was in, where Tirek watched as the pair disappeared and left him alone for a moment, which was fine with him since his focus was on the soul that was floating above his hands and he quickly tapped into the power of the second Lord of Cinder. Not even a few seconds later he grinned as he felt the power flow into his body and increase the vast amount of power that was inside his body, rapidly increasing the power he had access to, while at the same time the soul that he was stealing the power of started to decrease in size, though even as he did all of that he could feel that there was something else inside the soul, which interested him and wondered if he could steal it as well, which he would figure out in due time. In the end he managed to steal all of the power that was inside the soul, or at least ninety-nine percent of it my his estimates, and what he was left with was a small blue soul that happened to be the size of a small gemstone, one that was slightly larger than his knuckles based on what he was seeing, and based on what he could tell whatever power he had noticed was still inside the small soul, but even then, despite everything, he had an idea on how to craft something that would be useful to him. His idea would only work once Sarana and Martok returned to the chamber that he was standing in, provided they had their versions of Aldrich's soul, though while he did that he took a moment to study the soul and felt no new Invaders coming after them, meaning no one had come into their world and he had some time to kill before his companions returned to where he was waiting.

Sure enough it didn't take Sarana and Martok long to return to the area that he was standing in and they seemed to be studying the area that they had fought Aldrich in, as if they were recalling what the legends said about this area in the past, though he could also tell that they were glancing at the soul that he was holding at the moment, which was fine since he was going to be asking them for something that could give them more power for the battles that were in their future, if they wanted something like that.

"So, what did the souls give you?" Tirek asked, because he was interested in what he could have gotten if he used the soul to make a weapon or spell, thanks to the Transposing Kiln that they had recovered for the Lord of Cinder that just so happened to be living inside the shrine that was their base of operations, though as he said that both Sarana and Martok pulled out their versions of Aldrich's soul and held them out for a moment, which was a surprise for him since he was expecting them to have channeled the power of the soul into something useful for themselves.

"We could have gotten a new spell, something neither of us care about, or a longbow, though I'm fine with the bow I have been carrying," Sarana replied, where Tirek got the feeling that Sarana didn't like to change her weapons all too often and only changed when she found something that interested her, or whatever her reasoning was, while Martok was just a warrior who liked to get up close and personal, so he was likely leaving the magic alone and had no need for a bow, hence why he still had his version of the soul, before Sarana focused on what she was going to say next, "though I had the feeling that if we brought our souls back to you... well, that you might do something with them."

Tirek smiled for a moment as he channeled his magic through the air and levitated the versions of Aldrich's soul that Sarana and Martok were carrying, where they lifted into the air and surrounded the smaller soul like it was the core of a much larger item, before he focused his mind for a moment and the two whole souls started to spin around the smaller one for a few seconds, where the entire area in front of him started to glow in the process, though it wasn't long before all of that faded away and he found a sapphire, about the size of the soul he had drained, resting in the air in front of him, though he could tell that it was incredibly powerful, as when he grabbed it he could feel the power that was inside it.

"What... did you do?" Martok asked, speaking for the first time in a long while, as he was more of a silent type and let Sarana speak for both of them most of the time, though right now he was interested in what Tirek had done and why he had done it in the first place, while at the same time Sarana stared at the stone before something interesting happened, Tirek turned his head a few times, feeling the arrival of more Invaders that likely wanted their heads before they could find the third missing Lord of Cinder, something that prompted him to beckon for them to follow him as he headed for the first bonfire of Anor Londo.

Tirek lead his companions to the doorway that was near the main stairs that would lead them to the rotating tower, where they found ten new Invaders marching off the tower and were in the middle of approaching the stairs that were in front of them, to which Tirek grinned and grasped the sapphire for a moment as he tapped into the power he had felt earlier, where he focused on the flooring that was in front of the group of foes and a dark rift, with a blue center, opened beneath the feet of the Invaders, causing all of them to vanish like they had been teleported to another area, which was followed by them falling out of the sky, out of a second rift, and they fell all the way to the ground, when his grin widened a little as he closed the rifts with the power of the stone.

"A stone that allows me to open portals wherever I want, to move something from one place to another, in a matter of seconds by the looks of things," Tirek commented, where he opened his hand for a moment and stared at the sapphire he had created, as it was an incredibly powerful tool and he was sure that he could find a use for it, even though he pocketed it and resolved to create something that would allow him to carry it without having to worry about it going missing, before he glanced at his companions for a few seconds, "Come, let us continue on our quest... but first I must return to the shrine and make sure there's nothing else Yuria wants of me, even though I'm sure there's something else she might have in mind before she swears to follow me."

He wasn't sure why he had the thought about Yuria and her having something else for him to do, after the events of the Hollow Wedding and the power he had acquired, but right now it appeared that Sarana and Martok were willing to go along with what he was doing and they headed back to where the first bonfire rested, so they could head to the shrine and move forward with their quest to bring the Lords of Cinder back to their thrones and to restore him to his full power, even though he was sure Aldrich's soul, mixed with Gwyndolin's power, had pushed him to seventy-five percent, making him a little eager for what the future held for them.

The Painted World

It didn't take the group all that long to return to the shrine that the Fire Keeper and the rest of the individuals of this world gathered in, when they weren't busy tackling the dangers of their own worlds, though as they appeared near the bonfire Tirek noticed that two of the four vacant thrones had heads on their seats, showing him that Sarana and Martok had placed the ashes of Aldrich on his throne, though he decided not to pay it too much attention as he walked over to where the Fire Keeper stood and let her take the souls he had gathered so he could empower himself further. At this point he was sure that talking with her wasn't going to give him all that much anymore, due to the fact that his power was far greater than it had been the last time they saw each other, though he figured he might as well let her do her job as he considered their next move, as while he would like to chase down and crush Yhorm, to start the quest for the missing Prince, there was someone in the shrine that he wanted to talk to before he did anything else. While he did that he noticed that his companions were standing near the bonfire, meaning they must have traded in their souls while he was absorbing the power of Aldrich, which he was totally fine with, though it wasn't long before the Fire Keeper was done with her work and he was allowed to walk away from her, something that he did as he kept his eyes open for the individual he was looking for, even though he knew she would be in the same place she had been standing in the last couple of times he had seen her. One thing he noticed was that none of the others were terribly interested in him or his companions, something else that he was fine with since most of them were unhelpful in the grand scheme of things, save for the Fire Keeper and Ludleth, before he turned his attention back to what he was doing as he walked into the lower area of the shrine and turned towards the tunnel that would bring him to his destination.

Sure enough he found Yuria standing near the wall that was opposite of the area that Yoel had fallen in, where it was easy to see that the body of the pilgrim was still resting in the area that he had fallen in earlier, when his life force had been extinguished thanks to all the power Tirek had drawn from him, before he came to a stop near Yuria and faced her, which just so happened to be the moment where the lady did her little bow towards him, which she had done a few times in the past, before she readied herself for what she was about to say.

"Ah, our Lord and liege. I presume your holy vows have been sworn?" Yuria asked, though while Tirek was under the assumption that she might be able to feel the power that was currently coursing through his veins, the same power that Yoel had drawn out and Yuria had expanded thanks to the Hollow Wedding that had happened earlier, it was clear she was just asking to make sure things had progressed along the path she and her followers had set for him, one that he was eager to walk since it resulted in him rapidly regaining his former power.

"I have indeed, and the power Anri has 'gifted' me brought about the downfall of Aldrich," Tirek replied, because that was the truth of the matter, as he was positive that had he not done the Hollow Wedding and absorbed the dark power that had been inside Anri's body, which had given him a rather substantial power boost, the second Lord of Cinder would have beaten him and the others into the ground a few times, or at least those were his assumptions on the matter, before he focused on Yuria once more.

"Wonderful. Now you are the true and deserving Lord of Hollows." Yuria stated, where Tirek detected that she might have been happy to hear the fact that he had gone through with the wedding and gained the power that it gave him, even though most people in this world seemed to have problems with their emotions, hence the reason he said nothing as she braced herself for what she was going to say next, "With a spouse by your side, and her power is added to your own, you now have the strength to claim the Fire is yours... so, your Lordship, I pray that you will wrest the Fire from its mantle and take this world for yourself, where I, and all of Londor, will become your subjects and embrace your rule."

"And I will take all of you, and the rest of this world, as my subjects and my kingdom, once I find the areas the last two Lords of Cinder are hiding in and beat them," Tirek said, though his statement was correct when one thought about it, as there were two more targets for him and his companions to take out, in order to Link the Fire that Yuria and the others talked about from time to time, which seemed to be the ultimate power in this world, which seemed like a reasonable end goal for his quest, before he glanced back towards Yuria for a moment, "that is, of course, if you don't have anything else for me to do while I'm looking for Yhorm and Prince Lothric, since I have the feeling there are some loose ends you might want me to take care of before I find my targets."

"Well, there is something I would ask of you," Yuria replied, not that Tirek was surprised by that, as it appeared that all of the residents of Londor, or at least the couple he had encountered so far, had things that they asked him to do, so all he did was remain silent as he considered what in the world Yuria wanted him to do, which just so happened to be around the time that she resumed talking, knowing that his time was precious and that he didn't want to waste it, "I know you are unaware of this fact, but the Stable Church was founded by myself and my two sisters, Liliane and Elfriede, and that it rests in Londor, the land that Yoel, myself, and many others came from in our quest to find a new Lord to follow, but as of right now only Liliane and I rule the Church, as Elfriede... well, she was a poor wretch that was turned to ash, into one of the Unkindled, if you will, and she turned her back on us and the Church. Liliane and I have been searching for her since that fateful day, to either try and convince her to rejoin us or put her down if she tried to kill us, but the trail went cold.. or at least that is what we assumed, until now anyway..."

"Let me guess, you'd like Sarana, Martok, and I to track her down and kill her?" Tirek inquired, though even as he said that he realized that having a betrayer to the cause around was a bad thing, because if Elfriede learned that a new Lord of Hollows had risen, and that they were in the process of returning the missing Lords of Cinder to their thrones, she might try and gather some allies to her side so she can stop Yuria, Liliane, and their new master from succeeding in their quest to usurp the Fire and take the world for themselves.

"That's correct, and we have a lead on where you might be able to find her," Yuria said, where Tirek felt that she had only just discovered whatever information she was about to share rather recently, as in possibly before she had even met him, though at the same time he was sure that if he found and killed Elfriede it would ensure that everyone in Londor would follow him and his orders, without objecting to his rule, before she started speaking again, "I have heard that there is a wandering priest, or something akin to a priest, resting at the church that is outside the Cathedral of the Deep, as in the individual in question arrived sometime after you dealt with the Deacons that guarded the area, and that they have the key to figuring out where Elfriede wandered off to."

Tirek nodded for a moment and departed for the area that Sarana and Martok were standing in, where he informed them that they would be departing from what he had planned on originally and that they would be heading back to the Cathedral of the Deep, something that surprised the pair for a moment as they returned to the bonfire and headed back to the church that Yuria was talking about, though as they reappeared in the area in question they found a red hooded individual, whose robe covered most of his body, though Tirek determined he had long silver hair and a gray colored beard, but it looked like he was praying to something as they appeared near it.

"Ah, merciful goddess, mother of the Forlorn, who have no place to call their own... please, please bear witness to our resolve... Fire for Ariandel... Fire for Ariandel... and the ash to kindle the flame..." the pilgrim, as that was what the person was, not a priest like Tirek had been lead to believe, said, though they remained silent for a moment as they looked at the lone figure that was in front of them, even though Tirek was sure that Sarana and Martok were interested in what they were doing in this place again, especially since the pilgrim glanced at them for a second, "Wait, you... you have the same scent as that woman... then you must be an Ashen One. You must be! You don't know how long I've searched for one like you! Oh, oh... don't mind me, I didn't mean to fall apart like that. Now then, Ashen One, I have a kindness to ask of you: my lady lives in the cold land of Ariandel, and I need you to show her flame. A proper flame, that will burn the rot away. If you truly are Ash, then it must be fire that you seek?"

"Your lady?" Tirek inquired, where he took a moment to consider what they had learned and everything Yuria had told him when they were at the shrine earlier, about Elfriede to be exact, where he came to the decision that they had found the way to locate the missing sister and kill her before she could cause trouble for him and the others, and he could tell that neither of his companions seemed to care about what was going on at the moment, since they were waiting for him to tell them what was going on, "Sure, I will do you a 'kindness' and show your lady a 'proper flame'."

"Ah, thank you. They of Ash never fail. Just a moment, then..." the pilgrim said, where he reached into his pack, a small one that wasn't like the ones that Tirek had seen in the past, and produced something that Tirek assumed was a fragment of a painting, a small one that fit in someone's palm, where he held it out towards them for a moment, like it was a sacred item or something, which was rather interesting when Tirek thought about it, "The painting of Ariandel... well, its a rotten scrap of the painting, that's what this is. Go on, take it, touch it..."

Tirek made sure that Sarana and Martok were touching his back, as he had the feeling that the key to where Elfriede was located was the scrap of a painting that seemed to have some magical properties to it, and the moment he reached out to touch it the magic wrapped around all three of them and dragged them into the scrap that was currently resting in the pilgrim's hands, to which they disappeared from the world that they were standing in and traveled to whatever world or realm the scrap was taking them to.

What Tirek found, when he was able to see things again, was that he, Sarana, and Martok were standing in the middle of a tunnel of some kind, meaning whatever magic had been used on them had a clear destination that had been set up ahead of time, before he glanced backwards for a moment and found that neither of his companions were touching his back, to which he assumed that either they had stopped doing that when they appeared in the tunnel or the magic had forced it to happen, before he discovered some sort of corroded creature sitting near some sort of rot, only it looked docile and didn't seem in the mood to attack them.

"Ah, have you just arrived?" the creature asked, where Tirek found that it was one of the corvian enemies they had encountered in the past, like when they traveled down the Road of Sacrifices, only this one seemed to have no wings and, what was even more interesting to him, had the ability to speak, even though it appeared that it hadn't spoken to anyone for a long time, before the creature seemed to consider something, "How very unusual... just how long has it been?! Oh well, you should rejoice, my new friends, for this is a true haven of the Forlorn, the cold and gentle Painted World of Ariandel. Quickly now, go along, find one for yourselves... a sweetly, rotting bed to lie upon..."

Tirek glanced at the others for a moment, where Sarana and Martok had no idea what to make of the odd corvian that was in front of them, but at the very least it was kind enough to inform them that they had reached their destination, the land of Ariandel, or the Painted World of Ariandel as some apparently called it, something that interested Tirek since this was the first time he had heard of an entire world being inside a painting, before he heard what could have been chuckling as he turned back towards the creature that was sitting in the rot.

"Ah, yes, of course, you three are no exception... we've all seen and done terrible things in the past." the corvian said, where it was clear that there might be more for them to listen to before they got started on their new quest, which Tirek was going to share with Sarana and Martok once they left the tunnel that seemed to be the starting point of this world, or at least that's what he was assuming at the moment, before the creature stared at them again, "But you're safe now, all of you are safe now. Let that ease whatever burdens you might be carrying. Ariandel will make a fine home for you. So, go on ahead, find one for yourselves... a sweetly, rotting bed to lie upon..."

Instead of blowing a massive crater into the tunnel, and wiping the corvian out, Tirek turned around and headed for the front of the tunnel, as he felt that it was time for them to see what in the world he had gotten them into, even though he could tell Sarana plucked some clumps from the corpse that was resting near the creature that had talked to them, but as they approached the opening Tirek found that they were in a world of snow, as there was a lot of snow on the ground and it seemed like there was more snow slowly raining down on them, and right in front of the opening rested a bonfire, which was when they ignited it and rested at it for a moment.

"What the fuck did you get us into this time?" Sarana asked, something that surprised Tirek for a moment, more due to the fact that she had reverted back to using one of her more vulgar words when talking with him, though he guess he couldn't fault her for being angry with him since he hadn't told either her or Martok about the individual that Yuria wanted him to hunt down and kill, to make sure no one tried to make some of his soon to be followers turn traitor and attack the side that was helping him get the power he needed to fulfill his own goals.

"Yuria informed me that there is a traitor to the Stable Church, one that could undermine all of our efforts if she were to return to Lothric or Londor," Tirek replied, deciding that he might as well tell them the truth of the matter, since lying to Sarana was a bad idea based on what he had seen in the past, and while this might not lead them towards one of the two remaining Lords of Cinder he did have the feeling that they would be walking away from Ariandel with more power than when they went into this world, meaning the journey to find their last two targets would be a little easier for them, which all depended on the enemies that were in their way, "and she had it on good authority that the key to finding Elfriede was inside the church we were in earlier, meaning that our target is lurking somewhere in this world... we're here to hunt her down and end her life, and once that's done we'll head back to the shrine and resume our search for Yhorm."

Sarana thought about that for a few moments, where it was clear that she might not like the idea that Tirek hadn't told her anything about this mission, especially while they were in the middle of a quest to find the missing Lords of Cinder and return them to their thrones, before she sighed and simply shrugged, no doubt showing that she wasn't interested in even arguing with Tirek over his decision and that she was going to follow it, though Tirek had the feeling that she was going to be keeping an eye out for the individual they were here to kill, so she could get this over with. Once that was sorted out, at least for the time being, the three of them got up and walked away from the bonfire, where they stared out at the snow filled area that they would be exploring and noticed that there was a hill some distance in front of them, one that looked like it was climbable, though all of the trees looked like they were either dead or had lost all of their leaves due to what was happening around them. Sarana started to climb the hill, so she could see if there was a path she could spot, but as she did that she jumped backwards and Martok made sure to be a stepping stone so she could get back to the ground safely, without hurting herself in the process, though that was when Tirek found that their foes were undead that wore armor that seemed like it would do well against the cold, though while one of them carried a javelin and a shield, almost like a knight, the other carried a torch that it breathed on to send out bursts of fire. Of course the torch bearer was the one Tirek wanted to deal with first, due to the fact that it let out a sound that no doubt warned the rest of their kind that there were intruders for them to deal with, so he figured that putting the one with the torch down first was the better move, just to make sure they didn't fight an endless hoard of enemies, hence the reason he hurled a Fire Orb through the air and struck the torch bearer in the chest, knocking it backwards through the air as Martok rushed forward to deal with the one that carried a shield, allowing Sarana to make sure there weren't any others before joining the fight.

Of course that was when they spotted enemies that were carrying javelins, as in they wanted to throw them through the air and not wield them as their main weapon, though that didn't stop Martok from bracing himself for a moment as he launched Sarana into the air, as she had jumped onto the part of his weapon that wouldn't cut her and he swung it so she could rush towards the enemies that were further away from them, where she cut both of them down before they had a chance to react to the fact that she was there. It wasn't long before Tirek was able to join her and blasted another shield bearer in the chest with a Fire Orb, knocking it to the ground in a matter of seconds, which was the moment that the two of them glanced out at the area they were in and found that, for right now, there weren't any additional enemies in this area, to which they waited for Martok to join them before moving forward once more, this time keeping an eye open for any enemies that the torch bearer might have alerted with its earlier sounds. There were a few odd looking trees around them, ones Tirek had to wonder if they would come to life and attack them, but for the most part it looked like they were still and wouldn't come alive, to which they decided to walk over to where a body was resting, though as they walked onto the edge of the area the snow collapsed and the three of them dropped down into an area that was a little lower than the one they had been on a few moments ago, to which they shrugged as Sarana collected more of the frost clumps as Tirek and Martok walked forward. For the most part it didn't seem like anything was in this area, save for a cliff that was near the area the small avalanche happened in, though that was around the time that they found a white furred wolf that stood near the cliff, or maybe it was a dark gray furred wolf which had its fur altered by the snow, though it growled at them for a few seconds, no doubt as a warning or an attempt to scare them off, but when none of them moved it howled and Tirek glanced behind them for a moment, finding eight more wolves rushing towards where they were standing.

It was in that instant that Tirek withdrew the sapphire stone from where he had stored it and channeled its power into the area that was in front of them, or at least that was what he tried to do, as no portal appeared to make the hungry pack of wolves travel from where they were and head to the area that he had envisioned when he drew the stone, to which he returned it to the pouch and loosed a pair of Fire Orbs into the area in front of him, all while Sarana and Martok turned their weapons on their enemies. Interestingly enough the wolves were rather weak, maybe from the lack of food given the frozen nature of the land that they had found themselves in, so it was easy for them to blast and slash their way through all of the enemies that were around them, though while that happened Tirek did spot a larger wolf up on what seemed to be a cliff, on the left side of the area the avalanche had dropped them in, so it was high above their heads and it didn't look like there was a path up there, so all they could do was beat up the lesser wolves right now. Of course there were more than the nine wolves that had rushed at them once they found the first one, as a few more rushed into the area and tried to tear them apart, which was why the group continued to deal with their enemies as they determined what they were going to do next, even though the last of the wolves, the sixteenth by Tirek's estimates, fell and no more seemed to be in the mood to fight them, as in they thought there might be more lurking in the surrounding area, which may or may not be correct. Either way it gave them some time to gather themselves, heal any wounds that they might have gotten, as there was a chance some of the wolves might have slipped by their defenses and bit one of them, and look at the surrounding area, even if there was nothing useful for them to collect, allowing Tirek a moment to stare at the stone he had made not even an hour ago, as it was curious as to why it wouldn't work in this place.

"What's wrong with it?" Sarana asked, figuring that since Tirek was the one that created the item in question, almost like he knew what he was doing at the time of its creation, he would be able to figure out why it had suddenly failed to do what Tirek wanted it to do, as while none of them had been severely wounded by the pack of wolves she knew that moving some of them to another area, like beyond the cliff, would have made things a little easier for all of them, though if the blue stone was broken than there was nothing she could do about it.

"We're in another world," Tirek stated, because that was the only reason behind why the stone wouldn't work, like it had been made in the realm that was their world but, since they had traveled into a painted world, they entered an area that the stone was dull in, meaning it would be useless to try and wield it while they were inside Ariandel, before he found Sarana and Martok staring at him, to which he sighed, "From what I can tell, even if we have next to no information on this place, this Painted World seems to be a modified version of the world we were in a few minutes ago and the scrap that was offered to us served as the bridge between the two worlds, which would explain how Elfriede got here in the first place, and I'm guessing that the slight differences between our world and Ariandel are preventing this stone from working like it did when I tested it out... or at least that's the working theory at the moment."

Tirek wasn't sure if Sarana believed his explanation or not, even though it was possible that his idea could be wrong and that there was another reason for the stone to be silent in Ariandel, due to the fact that her helmet prevented him from seeing what was on her face, though before any of them could focus on the reasoning behind why the stone didn't work in this place they found that the greater wolf had jumped down into the area they were standing in and was walking towards them, no doubt to make them pay for killing the pack that attacked them. The greater wolf was faster and much more aggressive than the ones they had fought so far, as it dashed from one area to another while trying to strike one of them with its teeth, which included the fact that it was also more sturdy than the lesser wolves they had fought, as it took a few of Martok's swings and kept fighting like its life depended on it, before Tirek found that a Fire Orb to the face caused the beast to howl in pain, allowing his companions to quickly put it down. Once they took care of the greater wolf Tirek did notice that there appeared to be a few lesser wolves watching them, meaning all of them had seen the downfall of their pack mates and their pack leader, to which the other couple of wolves that were in the area around them turned around and departed from the area, allowing the group to focus on what else was near them as they continued the search for the individual Yuria wanted them to kill. From there the group determined that there were three areas that they could head down, three paths where any of them could be the way forward, so the first one they picked was the hill that was behind them, due to the fact that it was away from the cliff that the wolves fought them near, but as the three of them walked up to the highest point of the hill Tirek noticed that the odd trees were moving and reacted immediately as he spun around and hurled a number of Fire Orbs at his targets, burning the enemy trees down.

The reason he attacked them was due to the fact that he had noticed the magic that was gathering around them and that they were starting to loose small clusters of flame-like orbs, so his actions meant he had taken care of some enemies before any of them had tried anything, where they even discovered that one of the were guarding a large titanite shard for some reason, something Sarana pocketed as the three of them continued to explore their options as they searched the rest of the area they were in. One thing they noticed was the rotted area that was just below the top of the hill that all of the odd trees had been resting in, one that had a few fly-like enemies, which seemed to be a cross between a large fly and a human, due to the more human-like limbs and partial face, though Tirek hurled a Fire Orb down into the area and set fire to the enemies that were in front of him, to which he tilted his head for a moment as he considered the fact that most of the foes in this world seemed to be weak to his fire spells. It was an interesting thing to discover, and he was sure both of his companions were considering the same thing, or at least Sarana would be doing that, before they jumped down into the rotted area and investigated the area, even though part of it was currently charred by his attack and would be brought back to normal once they rested at one of the bonfires that were in this world, if they found another one anyway, but all they were able to find was a spell page that detailed the 'Frozen Weapon' spell, where Tirek assumed it added frost to the weapon the user was carrying, like a sword or axe or something.

From there they followed the path downwards, finding that there were a few dead ends that they might find a way back to them at some point in the future, if they explored the rest of the world they had discovered, something Tirek was positive the three of them would do at some point in the future, before they walked up a hill and discovered a rather long bridge that connected the area they were in to another area, one that held a church and possibly a small settlement, only they paused as they found a cave that contained another bonfire, one that they activated and decided to rest near so they could be ready for the next stage of their exploration of Ariandel.

"I'm going to scout the area for a few minutes, see if there's anything we might need to be aware of before we start to head over that bridge," Sarana stated, though before either Tirek or Martok could say anything she got up from where she was sitting and headed outside the small cave that the bonfire rested in, showing that she was remaining true to her word and that it would be a few moments before she returned to tell them what was going on, meaning the pair could get some of their energy back before they did anything else.

"So, since Sarana's goal is to kill the ruling body of Lothric, or that's what I'm assuming based on what I've learned so far, might I inquire as to what sort of goal you're working towards?" Tirek inquired, though this was due to the fact that he had learned nothing about Martok, save for whatever Sarana had told him in the past, and he was a little curious as to what sort of goals or objectives the silent warrior might have, hence the reason he even bothered to ask the question in the first place, mostly to kill time.

"Sarana... my heart belongs to her." Martok stated, where Tirek raised an eyebrow for a moment, because while he did have a few ideas on what sort of goals the warrior might have been working towards, like he was hunting someone down for a crime that had been committed against him, sort of like the fact that the first thing Sarana did was hunt down and kill her hollowed parents, before the warrior's head glanced towards the cave's opening, "I will help pave the way to the world you're working to create, as long as I can spend the rest of my life with her."

Tirek remained silent for a time, mostly because what he had learned was a surprise and he had to wonder if Sarana even knew that Martok had a crush on her, something that was hard to determine due to the fact that their rogue had no emotions to show them, before deciding that there was nothing he could do about it, because it seemed that Martok was willing to follow him to the ends of the world, if it meant getting the chance to live with Sarana when the new world came about, once he killed the other Lords of Cinder and claimed the power of the Fire for himself. He also wasn't sure if both of his companions had spoken to Yuria, back when he was creating the inactive stone that didn't work in Ariandel, which was one of the ways for them to even know he was working to make a new world, the other being him telling them about his plans at one point in the past, though either way it didn't matter, as his companions were on his side and it didn't seem like either of them were going to turn against him. As he considered that, however, he wondered how long it would take them to find the area that Elfriede was located in and end her life, since that was the reason that they were even here in the first place, though once Sarana returned from her scouting mission they would head out and continue their search, all so they could leave Ariandel and get back to hunting down the last two Lords of Cinder.

Crossing the Bridge

Tirek and Martok ended up spending a few minutes alone with each other, both of them staring at the opening of the cave the second bonfire of Ariandel was located inside, though that was around the time that a shadow fell over the entrance and Sarana stepped into the cave, meaning she was done scouting out the area that was around them, to which the pair stood up and walked over to the area that she was standing in, as they were interested in what she had discovered and if there was anything important they needed to look into before heading over the bridge that was near the cave.

"So, what did you find out there?" Tirek asked, because it would be nice to have an idea as to what might be in front of them, depending on which direction they went in since one of the options was directly in front of them and the other two were currently behind them, back where the wolves happened to be wandering around, even though he had the feeling that the three of them would be able to overcome the enemies that were in the areas in question, if what happened earlier was any indication of their skills and abilities.

"Well, besides the bridge, there's not much else in this area," Sarana replied, which was fine with Tirek since that meant they could just head over the long bridge and head towards the church that was on the other side of it, instead of wasting time on things that didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, before she considered what she had seen as they exited the cave and came to a stop for a few moments, "however, there is a ruined tower and some structures that are resting beyond the area that the greater wolf had jumped down into, while the path that's on the other side of that just has some of those trees and four of those follower hollows, since they seem to be the type that would follow the commands of something far greater than them... and won't instantly follow a newcomer, by my estimates."

"Basically, we've got enemies in one area, possibly more in a second, or the bridge to take," Tirek stated, though even as he said that he considered what he had just learned, because while he wanted to follow the path that was currently in front of them, like a normal Unkindled would, part of him wanted to make a quick run to the tower and see if there was anything they could find in the area, to aid them in their quest to find and kill Elfriede, hence the reason he shifted his stance for a moment, so he could look back at his companions, "I think we should check out the tower and the area that surrounds it, just to see if there is anything we can use to fulfill the quest we are currently on."

Sarana nodded her head and they headed back up the path that brought them to the bonfire in the first place, where Tirek found that all of the enemies they had taken out, the odd trees, the fly creatures, and the lesser wolves, had been revived, showing him that the revival function of the bonfires worked in this world as well, hence the reason he started to hurl Fire Orbs into the various areas that their enemies were standing in and blew them away like he had done earlier, all while allowing Sarana to lead the way towards the area the tower rested in. What they discovered, as they walked through the area the greater wolf had been guarding, was what appeared to be a ruined village of some kind that had the tower that was their destination, one that was partly ruined as well, and there was a warrior, dressed in what Tirek assumed was viking armor, patrolling the area, hence the reason they kept their guard up as they moved into the village and started to look around for anything that might aid them in their quest. The viking, seeing the three of them standing there, gripped his large axe and prepared his shield for a moment, which was followed by him rushing towards the area they were in with what appeared to be a shoulder bash, hence the reason Martok quickly stepped in front of the others and used his body to block the incoming attack, allowing him and the viking to clash as their weapons collided with each other, where this time around it actually looked like the warrior might have trouble with a particular enemy. What Tirek found was that the viking was rather aggressive in his attacks, so much so that it really did look like Martok was having trouble with his foe, but in the end he was able to cut down the viking, something that allowed the three of them to advance into the ruined village and see what they could find, all while being careful about any additional enemies that could be lurking behind the various walls that were scattered around the area.

As they explored the area Tirek noticed a pair of vikings that were patrolling the area beyond where the first one had been resting, though these ones were accompanied by wolves, as in one each, that looked like they had been tamed by the vikings, where one wielded a massive hammer and the other carried an axe and shield, so Tirek, falling back on what they had discovered so far, hurled a Fire Orb at the pair of vikings when they stopped near each other a few seconds later, only to find out that neither of the vikings were overly weakened by the attacks and the wolves were taken out. That told him that his earlier opinions were wrong, there were enemies in this world that appeared to be resistant to the fire spells that he had access to, meaning he would have to see what else they were resistant to so he didn't make the same mistake in the future, since he knew that they would be seeing these enemies more in the future, if the last areas they had traveled through were any indication, though him wiping out the wolves worked out in their favor. By that Sarana rushed forward and jumped into the air as she dodged the incoming attack from her foe's warhammer, where she slashed open his neck in a matter of seconds and dropped him to the ground, so she could finish him off, while at the same time Martok parried the incoming attacks from the other viking before he cleaved his foe in half, allowing Tirek to focus on the rest of the area as he kept an eye open for archers or anything else that might be waiting for them, even if something might be inside the tower that held his attention. He did, however, spot an area that had a number of odd trees that was at the top of a hill, to the left of the part of the village that they were currently in, though instead of worrying about all of them he focused on what his companions were doing and if there was anything he needed to help them with, even though it didn't seem like there were any enemies in the immediate area, allowing them to continue their progression through the ruined village as they marched towards the tower.

It was around that time that the viking that was in the upper levels of the tower loosed an arrow down into the area that they were standing in, where Tirek and the others moved to the side as it emitted a burst of energy that could have damaged any of them if they were standing near it, hence the reason that they rushed towards the tower so they could take down the viking and wrap up their search of the area, so they could head towards the bridge and see what was on the other side of it, since that had to be where their target had to be resting. When they approached the opening of the tower Tirek found that there were a number of dead vikings, either due to their life giving out on them, or being killed by those that were still alive, or crushed by some of the fallen pieces of the tower, before Martok stood at the front of the line as the three of them walked up the curved stairs that were in front of them, allowing him to be the main attention of the archer if it realized that they were inside the tower. Sure enough the archer was waiting for them and had heard them coming, as he had to switch to his axe and shield as Martok reached the floor that he was standing on and engaged him, even though that ended rather quickly as he pushed the viking off the floor thanks to one of the openings that were near them, which ended its life for the time being, allowing Tirek and Sarana to walk up to where he was standing so they could see what was up here, or see if they were wasting their time with this tower. There wasn't much on the second floor of the tower, save for the corpses that rested around the area, so Martok walked over to the ladder that was near them and started to climb up it with Tirek and Sarana following behind him, once more going first so he could intercept whoever might be up there and make sure the others didn't have to worry about being attacked while they were climbing up the ladder, which Tirek appreciated, even if he doubted there were more enemies waiting for them.

There was a second archer at the top of the stairs, standing next to the opening he loosed arrows through, which just so happened to be around the time that Martok barreled into the archer and knocked him through the opening as Tirek and Sarana finished climbing up the ladder, where they walked up the nearby stairs and found that no one else was in this area, so they found a walkway outside the next floor and climbed up yet another ladder, allowing them to reach the top of the tower and found no one was up there... to which they started to climb back down to the entrance, where Sarana made sure to pick up a few souls that were lingering on some of the corpses, some ashes, a battle axe, a shield, and a gemstone from one of the gem lizards, which was when they headed back to the second bonfire.

"That was a little interesting, but not really productive," Tirek commented, though even as he said that he came to a rather brief stop at the front of the bridge that they would be crossing, where he found that Sarana and Martok did the same thing for a few seconds as they stared at him, to which he gazed out at the frosty abyss that rested all over the area that was below the bridge, certain death if they fell over the edge of the wooden walkway, before he stepped forward and started to walk towards the church that was off in the distance, "though now its time for us to see what the church has to offer, than we can retrace our steps and investigate the odd village that's down to our left."

The only reason he mentioned that was due to the fact that there just so happened to be a village of some kind that was off to their left, on a lower area than the church that was their destination, though it wasn't long before Sarana and Martok stepped onto the bridge and followed after him, where the three of them made sure to brace themselves when the bridge shifted a little, since there was no telling if it could support having three individuals walking on it, though it did look like nothing major was going to happen. When they reached the other side of the bridge, where they were surprised by the lack of anything happening while they walked over the rigidity bridge, though when they reached the area that the church rested on they discovered some of the corvians praying towards the large structure that was in front of them, who were rather docile and didn't seem to care about them at all, meaning they could follow the path that rested right in front of them and approach the church at last, so they could see if Elfriede was here or not. What was interesting was that there was a knight standing near the door of the large church, whose armor seemed to be darkened a little, no doubt due to the fact that the wearer might be one of the Unkindled, or his armor was naturally colored that way, and there was some blue cloth over the chest and waist area, though it was easy to see that he was being a guard for the entrance, meaning they needed to talk to him before they were able to enter the structure. While they approached him, however, Tirek noticed something rather interesting, there was a hint of illusion based magic in the air and right now it seemed to be circulating around the knight that was in front of them, meaning it was either the one casting a spell or it was an illusion that was designed to slow their progress down, though he kept his guard up as he approached the knight, just in case he tried to lash out at him or his companions.

"Well, well... based on what I'm feeling, you must be Lady Yuria's Lord of Hollows." the knight said, showing Tirek that those that followed Elfriede must have a sense that allowed them to figure out what he was, where he suspected that his target must have taught the knight this trick at some point in the past, before the knight tilted his head for a moment as he thought about something, "No bell tolls, and yet you and your servants have slipped into the painting? Ah, no matter. If you've lost your way, as it seems that you have, then the words of Lady Friede will guide you back towards your path. Now, go on inside, show respect, and carefully listen to what the Lady has to say."

Tirek stared at the knight for a second before Martok opened the door that was in front of them, where they found that there were no seats inside the church, rather there was a bare area in front of them, a door off to the right, a bonfire near the back of the building, and a lady that was sitting in a chair that was near a number of paintings, who seemed to be of a lady that wasn't the one in front of them, and a statue that seemed a little important, though there was also a ladder near the bonfire, something that Tirek put at the back of his mind as he approached Lady Friede, who had to be Elfriede, if his thoughts were correct on the matter.

"Welcome to the Painted World of Ariandel. I am Sister Friede. I have long stood beside our blessed Father, and the rest of the Forlorn." the lady said, though she didn't do much as she sat in her chair, as all she did was glance towards the three of them for a moment, even though Tirek was sure she was looking right at him as she felt what the knight had felt a few moments ago, while at the same time Sarana and Martok remained silent as they waited for something to happen, as the pair knew something would be happening soon, "But you aren't one of the Forlorn. Lord of Hollows, I know not the missteps which led you and your servants to this Painted World, but your duty should be your main objective, and, based on what I know, your duty lies elsewhere. The bonfire that rests in this room will guide you back to the world outside this Painted World, allowing you to fulfill your purpose and leave us in peace."

"You know nothing about my 'duty', purpose, or goals, Elfriede," Tirek stated, where he could see that 'Friede', as she was calling herself now, seemed to freeze for a moment as she heard her true name for a moment, before he stood up for a few seconds and beckoned towards his companions with his fingers for a moment, so they activated the bonfire and stayed still as they waited for him to do something, to which he glanced at his target for a second, "but, if you wish to be left alone, we'll leave and investigate this world a bit more, before heading on our way."

Friede, as Tirek was going to call her until they returned to Yuria, said nothing as she reached into her robes and took a moment to toss a ring towards them, one that looked like it was made out of silver and had a sapphire set in it, like it was something to celebrate their encounter or a bribe to get them to leave, before the three of them climbed up the ladder so they could see what was up there, even though all they discovered was an attic that served as a painter's area, based on all of the canvases, frames, and paints that were resting around the area, including a painting that a stool rested in front of, though the painting itself was mostly white with red sides. It didn't take Tirek long to determine that heading up here had been a waste of time and that there was no reason for them to stick around, to which they climbed back down the ladder and headed through the main door of the church, leaving Friede and her guard behind, though once they started across the bridge again Tirek made sure that Sarana kept her eyes open for the knight, as he had the feeling that someone was going to be coming after them in the near future, especially since he told their target that he intended on exploring the rest of the Painted World before leaving. Technically speaking that wasn't a lie, he was a little interested in what the rest of this world looked like, due to the fact that such a place was unusual to him, but the part he hadn't said was that he'd be back to kill her when they were done exploring the rest of this place, something Friede either knew and made no mention of, for fear of revealing his hand early, or she was ignorant of what was coming her way, where he found that the latter was what he was hoping for.

Of course, just as Tirek expected, the knight approached the bridge while they were walking on it, and had only gotten about a fourth of the way to the other side, and swung his blade at the rope, where Tirek had to assume that either he was wrong about the knight being an illusion or this was one of those illusions that could actually interact with the real world, to which he and the others braced themselves as the bridge shook for a moment and then split in half, their side heading back towards the cliff wall while the other half collapsed and fell apart, though to make sure none of them were injured Tirek weaved his magic through the air and wrapped it around the three of them, before flinging himself and the others over to the area that was right below the bottom of their half of the bridge.

"You know, when you said to keep an eye out for danger, I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon," Sarana remarked, as she had been expecting the knight to appear in the village that they were planning on exploring, even though that was now put on hold until they either climbed the bridge turned ladder or found a bonfire that was somewhere in front of the area they were now standing in, which seemed to be an area full of large tree limbs and maybe a structure or two further below, or at least that was what she could see at the moment.

"We're in the same boat, though now I have one more reason to kill Friede and her little guardian," Tirek stated, as his plan for the Painted World remained unchanged, because he was still going to kill his target while they were here, but the act of destroying the bridge meant the knight had placed himself in harms way, meaning he would have to suffer at some point as well, to which he got up from where he was sitting, brushed off the snow that was on his body, and then glanced at the direction they were now heading in, "Come on, let's get moving before that knight, illusion or otherwise, decides to come and see what happened to us, even though we'll kill him later for what he just did."

The roots that were in front of them were partly covered in snow, so they had to be careful as they started to move down towards the structure that was far below them, though at the same time the group also discovered that there were a few of the vikings hanging out on the massive roots, either because they were bored or they had been deposited in this area at some point in time, but instead of wasting time on actually fighting the vikings Martok simply grabbed onto their heads and hurled them off the roots while they were still getting up. That allowed Tirek and Sarana to keep an eye out for any foes that might try to attack them from afar, as in Sarana would locate them with her own skills and Tirek would hurl a spell or two in the direction to knock their foes off the roots that they were standing on, which meant they didn't have to waste too much time worrying about enemies since it was easy to push them off the edge and defeat them, hence the reason Sarana was mostly focusing on the path they were currently following. Fortunately it appeared that there was some solid ground after the first few roots, something that would allow them to spread out if they wanted, though Martok was the first one to step forward as he cleaved a viking in half and opened the way for them to continue moving forward, while Sarana killed one of the lizards that dropped crystals, collecting another gemstone so they could add it to their collection, even though Tirek was sure they weren't going to be using any of them for some time, if at all. They also found a javelin thrower that was in their way, though while Sarana and Martok did that Tirek turned around and found an archer that was looking diagonally down at the area they were standing in, meaning the viking in question must have been above where the roots started, which was when he blasted the archer off the roots with a Fire Orb to the face, which meant there would be no arrows coming at them, at least from that direction.

When they reached the end of the roots, and Tirek blasted another archer off of them while Sarana and Martok dealt with some vikings that were blocking their way, they discovered that whatever structure they had seen was likely further ahead of where they landed, as the area that surrounded the three of them was more of an icy area that was also a valley, hence the reason Martok walked forward and kept his guard up while Sarana and Tirek followed behind him, each of them ready for whatever might be in this area, where the first thing they did was locate a bonfire near the end of the roots and activated it so they could head back up to the bonfire that was on the other side of the bridge.

"So, we have an icy crab resting nearby," Tirek stated, as there happened to be a crab near the bonfire, like around the corner from where they were standing at the moment, though it seemed to be sleeping right now, though even as he said that there was another movement in the area and a second icy crab burst out of the frosty ground, which looked like ice now that they were standing on it, who just wandered around the area while the first one slept, "well then, I'll take care of them while you guys figure where we're going."

Sarana nodded for a moment as she and Martok walked forward, where Tirek channeled his magic for a moment and hurled Fire Orbs through the air, striking down the crabs that were resting near the area they were in and blasted the pair of them into the walls that were nearby, allowing them to reach an area with a stone structure that seemed to be a grave of some kind, to which they jumped down into the area that was at the edge of the area, before spotting a couple of lesser wolves hanging around a grave, along with a warrior of some kind. The wolves noticed them immediately, where they got up and rushed over to where the group was standing at the moment, clearly intending on biting them and tearing all three of them down, though it wasn't too much trouble for them to cut and blast the wolves that were their enemies, all while the gravetender was walking towards them slowly, no doubt debating what he was going to do once he reached the area they were standing in. The three wolves were easy to deal with, though once they were done the gravetender rushed at them and swung his blade at them, where Martok parried the incoming attack and pushed their foe backwards, allowing Sarana to rush forwards and slash into their foe's side with her daggers, even though she added a kick that pushed him even further backwards so they could put some distance between them and their foe, which was just fine for Tirek as he manifested his magic and hurled a Lightning Spear through the air, one that separated into three individual attacks and slammed into their foe's chest. The gravetender staggered for a few seconds, clearly not expecting Tirek to do that, even though the reason he had switched to a lightning style attack was due to the fact that it was the only other element all of their previous enemies had been weak to and this proved his thoughts on the matter, though that didn't stop him from rushing at them and swing at whoever was the closest to him, revealing that he had to be hollowed and that he didn't even understand what was happening to him at the moment.

When Tirek released the second burst of Lightning Spears, and probably severely damaged the gravetender with the attack after his companions knocked him backwards again, there was a howl and a greater wolf, who could have been the true companion of the gravetender, jumped down into the area and rushed at them with the speed that the other greater wolves had used since their arrival in this world, to which Martok switched from their main foe and parried what the wolf was doing while Sarana and Tirek focused on the wounded gravetender. It didn't take the pair long to bring down their foe and drop the gravetender to the ground, where they turned their attention towards the greater wolf as it rushed through the air and tried to bring down Martok, who tanked the wolf's attacks and only attacked when he had an opening, which was a little hard given how the wolf was moving, but that didn't stop the pair from joining Martok, where Sarana gracefully moved forward and swung her blades at their foe's legs and Tirek gathered his magic to launch Fire Orbs when both of his companions were out of the way. The only difference between this greater wolf and the others that they had fought before this point was the fact that this one was capable of breathing frost in the general direction of whoever it was targeting, an interesting ability for something like it, hence the reason the three of them made sure to move away from each other as the wolf targeted one of them, meaning the others could attack the wolf while it was attacking one of them, something that proved to be an effective strategy as they soon found out. As such it really didn't take them long to bring down the greater wolf that they were facing, who staggered for a moment before collapsing on the ground, where it and the warrior it was likely bonded with faded away and left some bones behind, instead of a soul, and that was accompanied by a shield and a sword resting near them, indicating that the battle was over and that they had won, which they knew for a fact due to the increase of souls the three of them felt.

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting to fight a powerful creature down here, even if the pair was weaker than most of the creatures we've fought so far, but I'm not complaining," Tirek stated, where he took a moment to activate the bonfire that had appeared nearby, while at the same time Sarana and Martok glanced at him for a few seconds as they wondered what he was going to do now, something that was followed by him glancing back at them, "but, now that we've taken them out, we can return to the bonfire that's on the other side of the bridge and investigate the village that we spotted earlier, which will no doubt reveal to us what's going on and what Friede is even doing in this world, before we return to the church and put her down, so we can return to our true quest."

Sarana and Martok nodded their heads for a moment, as they agreed with what he was saying, before they gathered around the bonfire and accessed the magic of the device to take them back to the bonfire that was in the cave that was on the other side of the bridge, all so they could finish their investigation of the Painted World, as Tirek was putting it right now, before they completed their mission to kill Friede and then returned to hunting down the last two Lords of Cinder, so they could fulfill Tirek's grand plan at long last.

Into the Village

It didn't take Tirek, Sarana, and Martok all that long to reappear in the cave that the second bonfire of the Painted World rested in, to which the three of them waited for a few seconds, mostly to make sure no one wanted to return to the shrine and turn in some of their souls that they had acquired since they arrived in this world, before leaving the cave and walked out to the area that the bridge resided in, finding that the magic of the bonfire had restored that as well, because it wasn't in the terrible shape they had left it in earlier. Instead of wasting time with the bridge, which they might not need to use anymore, the group headed to the left of the structure and found the ladder they had spotted earlier, to which Sarana jumped down the short distance and let both Tirek and Martok take climb down to where she was standing, even though Martok was the only one that did that and joined her in seeing what the rest of the area had in store for them, due to the fact that Tirek jumped down to where they were standing a few seconds later. From there they found that there were two paths to take, one to the right and one in front of them, to which they headed to the right for a moment and found a few of the fly creatures hanging on the ceiling that was above where the three of them were standing, mostly since it was a curved open cave, so it didn't take Sarana long to cut them down and find that they had been guarding one of the shriving stones that they had found in the past, to which she pocked it before they turned around and headed back to the ladder. After that the three of them moved forward to see what between them and where the village rested, where they rounded a turn and found an area that two of the vikings were standing in, which was followed by Martok cutting one in half and Sarana moving the other one so Tirek could blast it off the edge of the area with a Fire Orb to the chest, allowing them to move forward again.

Of course that was when they stopped when they found that the path leading to the village was a diagonal ramp of some kind, one where Tirek had to wonder if he and his companions would have to slide down to the edge of the village, or at least that was his currently thoughts on the matter, though when Sarana and Martok did just that, by using their feet to slide down towards the edge of the village, Tirek simply shook his head and did the same thing, allowing him to catch up to his companions and come to a stop behind them when he reached the bottom of the ramp. From what Tirek could see it looked like the village was deserted, at least of the normal people he had seen since his arrival in this world, and by that he meant when he woke up in the Cemetery of Ash, with Sarana being reborn nearby, and it was hard to tell if there were some Hollows in this village or not, though after having seen a few corvians outside the church he decided that it was possible for the buildings to be the home of the crow-like enemies. While he thought about that Sarana walked over to the right for a moment and found one of the lost souls, which she added to their collection for later, when they returned to the shrine and turned in the souls they had collected so far, before she rejoined them and they advanced into the village, or at least the outskirts of the village, each of them keeping their eyes open for any enemies that might be waiting in the shadows or around any of the corners that might be in front of them. What was surprising, in Tirek's eyes, was the fact that there were no guards protecting the outskirts of the village, as in there happened to be no one near the ramp they had slid down, before they found a small cliff area they could jump down and explore part of the village, no doubt leading them to an area where some enemies had to be waiting for them.

The curved stone path that they landed on, a level above the area that was in front of them, had a few corvians that looked like parts of their bodies had decayed and none of them seemed to have the energy to attack them, which was just fine with Tirek since he didn't have to waste magic on any of the foes that were in front of them, even though Martok took a few seconds to cut them all down, just in the off chance that they might become more active once they did something, a smart move that caused Tirek to nod his head, though it was possible that such a thing was just common sense in this world and the warrior was following his previous training. While they did that Sarana found some green blossoms, which were the ones that restored one's stamina if Tirek's memory was correct, before they stared down at the area that was in front of them and found a number of dead corvians that littered the area that was in front of them, while at the same time there were one or two of the odd spider ladies that they had seen back in Irithyll, though that was the moment that Tirek held his hands out and stopped his companions from heading down into the area that they needed to progress through, as he had a plan in mind. What happened next was that he loosed a burst of Fire Orbs into the area in front of them, as he made sure there were enough for him to cover every inch of the ground that they would be exploring next, where he and his companions watched as the corvians screeched as he burned them down and the spider creature stopped moving a few seconds later, and once he was sure there were no more enemies he stopped casting the spell and the flames died down over the next couple of moments.

"Well, that's one way to clear an area of enemies," Sarana commented, though while she was getting used to Tirek's magic and what he could do with it, especially like what he just did to clear out the entire area of enemies so they could conserve their power for later, she did know that there were times where his magic might have surprised her, like their fight with Pontiff Sulyvahn, as that was one of the more intense moments she had seen, before she returned her gaze to the area that was in front of them.

"Indeed, and while that would have taxed by body earlier, like when I was below fifty percent, or even closer to fifteen percent, now it does nothing but take a little of my magic to pull off," Tirek remarked, because this demonstrated that he wasn't the weak individual that Sarana had started this quest with, something that should be clear to her given the rather powerful spells he had pulled off so far, to which he grinned for a moment as he jumped down into the area that was right in front of them, as they were now able to explore it without worrying about enemies, at least for the part that he used the mass of Fire Orbs to purge anyway.

From what Tirek could tell there were two paths to choose from, the one of their right basically heading back to the area that the sliding area rested in and the one that was a tunnel that lead through one of the buildings, so it was easy for them to decide on which path to take as they walked through the opening and left the area Tirek had torched behind, even though it was possible they might come back here at some point since he knew some places liked to backtrack and open up new areas for the Unkindled to explore. As it turned out the tunnel in question was really more like an opening for the three of them to walk through, so they were able to enter another part of the village and start exploring it, even though it was followed by Sarana stabbing a corvian until it stopped moving, as from what they could tell those particular enemies were just like the ones outside the Painted World, so it was better to defeat them and move forward than to allow them to get onto their clawed feet and come after them while they were busy fighting something else. Not even a few moments later they discovered that they were in what could have passed as the sewer system for the village, or maybe it was once a river of some kind, though there was some of the rot they had seen earlier growing under the bridge to their right and they even spotted a gate to their left, meaning the path on the right was the way to go, though as they headed towards the area on their right they spotted a humanoid figure that was definitely a corvian, only it was carrying a pair of weapons that it could grip and had the appearance of metallic claws. It was possible that the creature was an assassin, potentially sent by those who wanted Tirek to leave the Painted World, meaning Friede and her guardian, though that was when Sarana stepped forward and put herself between them and the assassin, which was followed by the two of them swinging their blades at each other, giving both Martok and Tirek a show as Sarana, despite the number of blades her foe possessed on each arm, was more than a match for the assassin as she rapidly moved around the area, avoiding attacks and dealing a bit of damage when an opening revealed itself, and moving with a grace that would annoy any living creature that was even trying to outdo her.

Even though the corvian assassin had some skill and grace with its weapons, enough to make Tirek consider the slim possibility that maybe it had been a lady who danced or something before their transformation into the being that was in front of them, though that didn't stop Sarana from dodging the next attack and swung her blades once more, taking her foe's head off in the process, allowing them to regroup and press forward as they explored the rest of the village, though Tirek did take a moment to congratulate her on winning the battle, despite the fact that he knew she would have won the moment the battle started. After that they found that there were two corvians beyond where the assassin had appeared, who happened to be guarding a lost soul that the group added to their collection, before they reached what appeared to be the edge of the area, which included a fall down to the area the gravetender and his wolf had been patrolling, though there was a ladder for them to climb up resting near where they were standing, one that seemed to stop in front of the entrance for one of the buildings of the village, which was why Sarana started up it first, to scout the area for enemies, before the others followed her. From there they walked into the building and found a room that had a number of tables and a cart or two, along with some really ragged cloth that was attached to the ceiling, before finding a body near one of the walls, which just so happened to have one of the small Embers in its hand, something one of them could use to restore themselves to their full power if they died, though Sarana pocketed it before they found a second door to their right and noticed that it would lead them outside. While they walked over towards the door, however, there was something odd to their right, another corvian that happened to be huddled in the corner, though unlike the others they had seen, the ones that tried to attack them once they entered a certain area, it was staring at them with some interest, so much so that Tirek walked over to where it was standing, because if it was like the first corvian they had encountered in this world, the one that loved rot so much, he suspected it had something interesting to tell them.

"Hmm..." the corvian said, once more proving that, despite their bird like appearance, the corvians were capable of speaking to those that were around them and, more importantly, that the ones they had faced in the past were hollowed to the point where they almost acted like the knights in Lothric Castle, or any of the other hollowed creatures the three of them had fought on their way through the various lands of this world, before it titled its head for a moment as it looked at Tirek for a few seconds, "well, there's nothing forlorn about you. You must be the other Ash, I suppose?"

"I am more than Unkindled Ash," Tirek stated, because since it appeared that his identity had been discovered by two of the residents of this world, their target and her guardian, he felt that there was no need in hiding what he was from the rest of the people and creatures that called the Painted World home, even though he wouldn't be staying for long, since it was only a matter of time until he grew bored of searching the village and returned to his mission, though he held his both of his hands out for a moment, "for I am the Lord of Hollows, the rightful ruler of the world outside this one."

"Oh, oh, finally, you've come!" the corvian replied, its tone sounding like a happy one this time around, almost as if it thought that Tirek was some sort angel or agent of the gods, one that had been sent to fulfill some ancient prophecy or something, though while he was sure some people would have ignored the corvian Tirek waited to see what else it might tell him before he, Sarana, and Martok got moving again, "Oh wondrous Ash, grant us our wish. Make the tales true, and burn this world away. My Lady must see flame, and you have only to show her. You are Ash, are you not? Is it not fire that you seek? Surely you've seen the rot that afflicts our world, brought upon us by the witch that fooled the good Father, and buried the flame. After we had all made up our minds, too. So, please, grant us one wish. Make the tales true, and burn this world away. My Lady must see flame, and you have only to show her."

Tirek said nothing to that as he and the others moved through the opening that was in front of them, where it was easy to find that they had reached part of the village and that there were a few corvians wandering around right now, like they weren't interested in the three of them, which was why they came to a stop nearby and glanced out at the rest of the area that they were in, mostly to see if there was anything that might be waiting to ambush them at some point during their visit to this part of the world they were in.

"So, one corvian wants us to leave the world alone and let it rot, while another wants us to burn the world that is all around us right now," Tirek commented, though at the same time he chuckled, because it seemed like the answer was so obvious to him and that he'd be leaving a burning world behind once he killed Friede, after seeing what else the Painted World had to offer or throw at him and his companions, before he chuckled for a moment, "Well, things are going to be getting more interesting from this point forward, since I'm sure there are those that don't want the Painted World to burn, in whatever manner that means, though they're welcome to try and stop us."

Sarana and Martok said nothing to that as Tirek resumed walking around the area that was around them, which was when the lone corvian that was wandering around the opening they had walked through a few seconds ago was cut down before it could lash out at them, even though it was Sarana who did the deed as she returned to Martok's side, though that was when Tirek turned towards the side of the building the burning corvian had been in and found a corvian resting at a dead end, so he blew it up with a Fire Orb and returned to the main path not a few seconds later. The building that was just beyond where the lone corvian had been walking just so happened to contain a bonfire, meaning none of them would have to use the snow covered ramp and slide down into this area again if one of them died or they had to backtrack for something that had been missed, so they ignited the bonfire and stood around it for a few seconds, mostly because none of them needed to actually use the bonfire this time around, so it wasn't long before they walked outside the building and resumed exploring the small village they were in. It was rather easy to determine that the only way forward was by using the bridge that was in front of the building that was in front of them, which allowed the three of them to advance into the next part of the village and they raised their guards as they did so, as there was no telling if there were any enemies for them to engage or if there was nothing here at all, as the buildings looked nearly deserted so the latter option did seem to be the more reliable. Not even a few moments later Tirek spotted an open door in a building that was attached to the building to their left, so for now they ignored the other buildings and found that there were two corvians waiting for them, where Martok cleaved one in half and Sarana cut the second down as it tried to cast some sort of poisoning spell, and the moment the pair were resting on the ground the group found there was a small bridge that connected this part of the small village to the earthen wall, which seemed to end in a dead end from the looks of it, so they didn't walk across it and returned to the main part of the village so they could figure out what else was in this area.

From there the group found an area that had what appeared to be a corvian knight, who wore a cloth around its head and shoulders, that cut down the regular corvians that were wandering around the area that was between them and the next part of the village, though when it spotted the group it rushed over to where they were standing and ran right into Tirek's Fire Orb, blasting it backwards while Martok and Sarana rushed at it while it was recovering from the attack, which was the moment that Tirek sighed, as he was disappointed in the fact that their new foe didn't even attempt to dodge his attack. From there they walked up the path that the corvian knight had been patrolling and found that it allowed them to reach a more important building that just so happened to have a locked gate, though Tirek found that, instead of being able to just jump over the railing and enter the area in front of them, there was some magic preventing them from passing the locked gate, and while part of him was tempted to obliterate the area in front of them, to really test his magic for a few moments and break the barrier, he decided to see if there was a key or something somewhere. As they walked down into the village, to determine what they were going to do next since there wasn't a clear path through this area, before both Sarana and Tirek spotted something interesting, there was a path above the stone path they were currently walking along, one that seemed to be connected to some of the buildings, to which Tirek grinned as an idea came to him as they neared the bridge that would allow them to return to the bonfire and he was sure his companions would agree with him, since this might get them over the locked gate and its magical barrier. What happened next was that Martok smashed through the door of the building that was to the right of the bridge, when coming from the bonfire to be exact, and that revealed a ladder which allowed them to climb up to the second story of the building, something that allowed them to find a walkway that had some access to another building and, if they jumped down to their left, they could ambush one of the corvian knights, which is what Sarana did without wasting even a single second.

That was for the best as Tirek and Martok joined her, even though they ended up climbing the ladder the knight had been guarding and reached the roof of the building that they had smashed the door of a few seconds ago, though when they reached the roof there were a few corvians, who looked like mages based on the staffs they were carrying, turned to look at them and Tirek blew them up with some well placed Fire Orbs, opening the way for his companions to join him so they could see where this path lead them. Interestingly enough they were able to locate an opening that had a ladder for them to use, one that brought them to the upper stone path Tirek had spotted a few moments ago. Interestingly enough there was a tower to the right of the path, when they were standing on it to be exact, which didn't seem to go anywhere and there just so happened to be one of the corvian knights sleeping like a bat on the edge of the roof, though what they did about it was Sarana ignored it and crushed the crystal lizard that was near it, allowing Tirek to loose a Fire Orb right into his target's face, knocking the corvian over the edge and dropped it into the chasm beyond the village. With that done, and the gem from the lizard claimed, the trio continued to walk forward and found their way to the top of a building, one that was either a church or a place of prayer from what Tirek could see by looking down through one of the openings that were on the roof, though instead of dropping in immediately the three of them scouted out the area and made sure they had a good idea of what was going on, and if there were any enemies inside the building they were walking on, before Tirek found a corpse that had a lingering soul, one he claimed for later.

Once that was done, and they were sure there were no enemies on the roof, the trio used the openings to drop down on the rafters of the building, something that allowed them to find a corvian knight that happened to be resting near the backside of the structure, not to mention a second one that seemed to be guarding the entrance, so Sarana and Martok dropped down on the one near the entrance as Tirek landed in the middle and quickly blasted the other one before it even had a chance to realize that enemies had invaded the structure, the Fire Orb knocking it into the back of the building before he loosed a few more to put down his target, even though his companions took their foe down as well. With both of their foes taken care of Tirek found a body that had a spell page on it, a spell called Way of White Corona that sounded like it fired off discs of lightning that sliced through the caster's enemies and then returned to the user to disappear, or at least that was his assumptions based on what the page told him, though the first thing he did was slip the page into his spell book and then gathered a few bits of his magic as he tried the spell out, which was when he summoned three discs in front of him and hurled them at the wall, cutting through whatever was in front of him before returning to him. He did stand there for a moment, knowing that this was the basic power of the spell and it didn't seem all that powerful, to which he shrugged and headed for the door Sarana and Martok were currently standing near, where they opened the door and appeared in the area that was between the locked gate and the next building, something that was followed by them taking a few seconds to unlock the gate and dispel the magic that had prevented them from climbing over the short walls, just in case they died and had to run back to this area, something he was sure wouldn't happen at this point in time.

Instead of heading into the building immediately, like anyone else would have, Tirek investigated the exterior of it and found that there was only a path to their right, one that ended in one of the lady trees guarding a branch, so Tirek loosed a Fire Orb at the hidden foe and blew it up before pausing for a moment, to stare down at a structure that wasn't the one he and the others had fought the gravetender and his wolf in, though since there was no way to get over there they headed back to where the building's entrance rested and walked inside, where Tirek found the knight from earlier, who had been standing outside Friede's church, standing inside the building.

"So, it seems that Elfriede, or Sister Friede as you call her, has sent you to kill me," Tirek said, though as he said that he held his hand out for a moment and beckoned for Sarana and Martok to stand back this time around, to leave this battle to him and not come rushing in to aid him this time around, before he twisted his hand and withdrew his blade from its sheath, showing his foe that he was ready to do battle with him, even though he knew that the knight was going to fall by the time this battle was over, "you'll soon find that I'm not an easy mark."

"I've seen your kind, time and time again." the knight replied, where he also drew his blade and took his stance as he said that, which was fine with Tirek since it allowed him to see what was in the area and plan ahead for when their battle started, even though he was determining which spells he could use while his foe was distracted by the upcoming fight and how much of the area he could wipe out before his foe was destroyed, "Every fleeing man must be caught... every secret must be unearthed... such is the conceit of the self-proclaimed seeker of truth... but in the end, you lack the stomach... for the agony you'll bring upon yourself..."

While Tirek had no idea if the knight was referring to him or what Elfriede had ordered him or the corvian residents of this world to do, though in the end he determined that it really didn't matter as he rushed forward and swung his blade at his foe's head, where the knight shifted his stance and put both hands on his blade, a greatsword Tirek realized, to parry the incoming attack before they separated from each other and smashed the tables that were around them, even though the bookshelves and the rest of the furniture were likely to follow in due time. Interestingly enough the knight shifted his stance again and revealed that he had some magic in his left hand, a red aura that reminded Tirek of the dark wraiths that he and the others had found in Farron Keep, the area they found the Abyss Watchers in, and he tried to grab onto Tirek's arm a few seconds later, even though it was beat back by Tirek's blade as they separated themselves from each other and waited to see what the other had in mind for the next attack. While that happened Tirek had an idea form, one that would allow him to take down his foe in a few moments if he timed it right, but for right now he focused on parrying the attacks that were coming his way and making his foe reveal a hole in his defenses, even though his foe did have a few tricks up his sleeves, like the one where he spun around while swinging his blade, one that smashed the rest of the tables that were around him to pieces even though Tirek avoided the attack altogether. The greatest thing the knight did was channel his magic into the greatsword and wrapped shadowy flames around it, or at least that was what Tirek thought was going on since this wasn't a usual tactic he had witnessed, though his foe's moves didn't change all that much and he parried a few of the attacks as they came at him, despite the fact that he had to be careful of the flames to make sure none of them even touched him, all while Sarana and Martok made sure no one interrupted the battle.

As it turned out that was followed by the knight reaching forward and grabbing onto Tirek's neck, where it appeared that his foe was in the middle of trying to absorb his health so he could heal all of the small wounds that had been dealt to his body, of which Tirek had done plenty of them in the short period of time they had been fighting, though in that brief moment Tirek readied his power and tugged, ripping out the knight's magic as he pushed him backwards and they stood apart from each other, allowing him to devour the magic he had claimed as the knight's magic faded.

"And with that, its checkmate." Tirek said, where he rushed forward and drove his blade through the knight's chest in a matter of seconds, showing that the loss of his magic seemed to have stalled whatever tactic he was going to use next, not that it mattered since he succeeded in dealing with his foe and watched as the life faded from his eyes, though as that happened Tirek collected the blade that the knight had been using and, more importantly, an odd key that seemed to be for something in this world, something none of them have discovered yet, which he pocketed as well.

"You've gotten stronger, in both physical combat and magical combat," Sarana commented, though while she knew that Tirek wasn't out to make it a one man assault on the enemies they would be facing, since even he knew that she and Martok could help him clear out the areas of the land that they would be exploring in their quest to take down the Lords of Cinder and return them to their thrones in the Shrine, she had to silently admit that his skills had improved since they first started their quest and he was skilled with his blade.

"That I have, and I'm almost back to my full power," Tirek remarked, because while this wasn't his full potential, due to the fact that he was missing only twenty-five percent of his power and that would be split between the remaining Lords of Cinder, it did appear that this was more than enough for him to deal with the enemies that got in their way, to which he took a moment and turned towards the pair that were assisting him with his plans, "though for now we should see what else this world has to throw at us, before we backtrack to Friede's church and put her in her place... then, once she's dead, we can head back to the real world and figure out where Yhorm is hiding."

As Sarana and Martok nodded their heads in agreement, to show that they understood what Tirek was saying, he took a moment to walk over to the contraption that was behind where the knight had started and found that it was missing the lever that went to it, hence the reason he looked at the key that he had picked up from his foe and discovered that it was more than a key, like he had thought it was, rather it was a small lever that went to the contraption, to which he attached it to the mechanism and pulled it down, causing a section of the ceiling to open and drop a slanted walkway for them to use, even if it smashed some ruined books into the floor... only to find a young lady resting on a table, or a canvas that had been turned into a table, looking like a painter or some noble that had been kidnapped at one point.

"I believe... I feel the scent of ash upon you." the lady said, her tone revealing that, while she wasn't actually looking at the three of them, she did notice their arrival and her focus was still on the canvas she was laying on, meaning whatever it was, or what it was going to be whenever she got around to painting it, was very important to her and it was worth totally ignoring whoever was in front of her, "You are the one who Uncle Gael spoke of... the one that would show me flame. This is good. When you have freed this world, I will return to my chamber, as the door is open thanks to what you did, and I did promise Uncle Gael I would complete my painting."

Tirek said nothing to that as he and his companions glanced at each other, as there was one part of this realm left for them to explore before they returned to the church and killed their target at long last, even if they had no idea how to get down to the area in question, but at the very least they knew that Friede was the one that needed to be taken down, if the Painter's words were anything to go by, and soon this world would be 'freed' from whatever was going on, hence the reason the group moved, so they could tackle whatever else was standing in their way.

Elfriede's Stand

After discovering the Painter and 'talking' to her, which really meant Tirek and his companions just listened to her so they could get some information on what was happening in this world, the group took a moment to explore the rest of the room that was around them, where they found a lever resting near an open shaft, one that seemed to be a shortcut back to this area at some point in the future since the device wouldn't move at all, a door that wouldn't open from this side, and a hole in the wall behind the lady that was laying on, which served to let them walk outside and see what else the Painted World had to throw at them, even though there was a bonfire resting to their right. As it turned out there was a small ledge of some kind between the area the new bonfire was in and the walkway that the hole in the wall brought them to, one that Tirek was sure would stop the Unkindled from just walking or jumping back up it, though that was when Sarana opened the door that rested near them and opened one of the shortcuts that existed in this area, meaning they could activate the bonfire and rest at it for a few moments. While Tirek didn't feel the need to do so, given that his foe didn't do that much damage to him, he joined Sarana and Martok as they sat near the bonfire for a few moments, just to make sure all of them were ready for what the next part of this world would throw at them, before his companions nodded and they stood up, showing that both of them were ready to depart from the area, which was perfectly fine with Tirek as he did the same thing. From there the three of them turned towards the mountain path that the edge of the building was connected to, as it was time to see what else they could find before heading back to where Friede was waiting and take her down, so they could return to their quest to take down the remaining Lords of Cinder.

What they discovered, as they walked up the mountain path, was two of the vikings guarding the first large area that they came to, where one was wielding a sword and a torch while the other had a javelin with a shield, so Martok focused on the foe that carried a shield while Sarana dodged the attacks of the torch carrier, allowing Tirek to focus his gaze on the rest of the area and see if he could find anything of interest, and by that he meant enemies, items, and the path that would take them down to the structure they had seen earlier. While he could see a short path on their right, or at least he was sure of that fact, he focused on the area that was directly in front of them and hurled a Fire Orb through the air, one that struck one of the javelin throwing vikings in the chest, who had been staring at them with the intent to harm them at some point, no doubt while they were distracted, and this was the best chance to take it down, before he and the others walked up the path and entered the area that their foe had been standing in. There was a large tree in front of them and a number of vikings seemed to be resting around the upper parts of the area, based on what Tirek was seeing, so he turned around for a moment and hurled a number of Fire Orbs into the air, striking down several of the vikings that had revealed themselves to him and his companions, which was why he let Sarana and Martok move out and cut down some of the remaining enemies on their own, even though he found some of the odd prism stones on the ground, which he decided to ignore for the foreseeable future as he joined his companions a few moments later.

When he found his companions it was easy for him to see Martok kicking one of the javelin throwing vikings off the ledge that it was standing near, killing it in a matter of seconds since rolling down the side of a mountain or falling into an abyss had to hurt, before they checked one of the side paths and found Sarana cutting down a pair of vikings that carried torches, though that was when he headed up through the area Sarana had found and continued to explore the area she had found, all while keeping his eyes open for any potential enemies. One of the things they discovered as they explored the area was a bell that seemed a little out of place, given the fact that they were in a forest of some kind, though there were a few vikings in the area and that didn't stop Tirek from blasting several of the vikings with a burst of Fire Orbs, due to the fact that most of the enemies in this world were weak to his flames. While he did that Sarana and Martok dropped down into the area below them and started to cut down the couple of vikings that remained in the immediate area, which gave Tirek a chance to glance at the top of the building the knight had been standing in earlier and noticed that there could be a path of some kind above where the Painter was resting, or maybe he was wrong, but he was sure they would come back to this building and check it out in greater detail at some point, which was when he focused on what both of his companions were doing as he joined them once more.

The bell, as it turned out, didn't have anything to offer them, other than revealing a few more paths for them to take, one ahead of them and one to the left of where the bell happened to be resting, and both of them had a viking that was guarding the way forward, hence the reason Sarana and Martok rushed forward to take their targets down, before Tirek decided which path they were going to take and wonder where each of them had to go, especially since neither of them seemed to be heading downwards anytime soon. The path ahead of where the bell was resting had a side path that just so happened to have a viking guarding a rotting tree, one that was more rotten than what they had seen in the past, so both Tirek and Sarana stepped to the side as Martok cleaved the viking in half, while making sure to push the body over the edge in case it was still alive after that attack, before Tirek loosed a few Soul Arrows into the rotten portion of the tree's trunk and blew it apart, causing the rest of it to fall backwards and form a bridge between where they were and the top of the structure the Painter was inside. As it turned out the makeshift bridge let them access a square structure that had a lift in the center of it, one that, when they stepped on the button in the middle of the platform, lowered them down to where the Painter was resting, revealing the shortcut they had tried to access earlier, which was followed by the three of them using the platform and returning to the new bridge they had created, before finding a stone walkway nearby, one that lead them back to the first part of this area, so if they wanted to explore the first part of this area the way was open for them to do so, hence the reason they walked over the makeshift bridge once more and pressed onward. Once they returned to the main area that the three of them had been exploring it was easy to walk up a hill and find another viking just resting off to the side, though as his companions took care of it Tirek spotted an archer on a ledge that was higher than where they just so happened to be standing, so he caused the area around his target to explode with a well placed Fire Orb, saving the vast majority of his magic for when it came time to deal with Friede.

While he did that he heard the sounds of Sarana and Martok fighting, tearing down the vikings that were around the area they were in, hence the reason he took a few steps back and headed over to the path that his companions were now walking along, this time staying at the back of the pack so he could keep an eye open for enemies or blasting the targets that Sarana pointed out for him to blast with his magic, showing that he was willing to trust his companions, even if some would think they were his minions in a sense. Interestingly enough there were a few lesser wolves in the area and the pack certainly didn't like any of them, though that didn't stop both of his companions from taking them down, as Sarana took a moment to dodge a few of their attacks before cutting her targets down while Martok just swung his weapons at his foes and made sure the wolves were the ones that landed on the ground a few seconds later, though while they did that Tirek hurled a few Fire Orbs down into a lower area, one that happened to be where the other path they had seen lead to, as he was blowing away a few vikings for the fun of it, especially since he didn't need to expand too much of his power to do such a thing, before following his companions once more. They did find one of the taller and more aggressive vikings a few moments later, though with the three of them working together it wasn't long before it fell down and collapsed, allowing them to claim a warhammer that was resting behind where their foe happened to be standing, before they returned to the main path they had been following and kept an eye out for any of the lesser wolves or the vikings that had been in their way up until this point in time.

Eventually they found two more of the taller vikings, though while Sarana and Martok carefully fought the first one on the narrow path that would take them to the lowest part of the Painted World, whenever they got down there, Tirek used his magic to take out the archer that was off in the distance, as he could tell it was using the arrows that released a burst of energy that knocked around anyone that was near the shaft, allowing it to fall off the ledge it was standing near and fall to its death, for now, before his companions dealt with the other one.

"I do hope we find the way down to that structure soon," Tirek commented, mostly because he was annoyed by the lack of downwards progress they should have been making since they left the building the Painter happened to be in when he killed the knight, since he was sure that the three of them would have found some way to get down to the structure they had seen before entering the building, but right now it really didn't seem like anything was going to happen if they continued to follow the path that was in front of them, "otherwise I'm going to call an end to this investigation and switch our attention back to our main target."

"Well, spending a few more minutes looking for a way down might be worth it, as there's no telling what we might find down there, but I would have to agree," Sarana stated, informing Tirek of her thoughts on the matter, that while she was interested in finding a way down to the lowest part of this Painted World, just to see what was down there before Tirek ended up destroying everything with his vast power, even she was starting to get tired of going up since they left the lone building that the Painter was located in and that she was fine with them calling it quits if they couldn't find a way down to the structure they were interested in.

Tirek said nothing to that as he grabbed Sarana and Martok with his magic for a moment before jumping into the air, where he used his power to slow their fall so they could touch the ground below them and then let go of his companions a few seconds later, where they rushed out and tackled the pair of tall vikings that were in this area, one that was lower than the area they had been on earlier, but from what he could tell it didn't look like there might be a way down into the area he wanted to investigate, and if that was the case he knew they could use one of their items to get out of here and return to one of the bonfires so they could tackle Friede at long last. With those foes dead, and the couple of souls in the area picked up to add to their collection, the group followed the path leading out of the area, something that caused Tirek to growl as he realized that the way out of this area just lead back to the rotted tree they felled earlier, though as he glanced out at the area that he and the others had been exploring, and moved a little to make sure they didn't miss anything, he discovered another rotten tree near where the two tall vikings had been standing and decided to blast it, causing the tree to fall so they could walk over to what appeared to be a tunnel they might have missed earlier. The tunnel was made out of brick and seemed to lead to what Tirek guessed was a burial place, something that was odd in a world where the dead eventually came back to life and could be revived until they hollowed and lost themselves, though the important part of the entire area was the fact that part of the area was covered in rot and there were a number of corpse flies in the area, meaning they had found something to do before they headed back to where their target was located. This time around only one of them needed to worry about the enemies that were in front of them, as Tirek channeled his magic and hurled Fireballs through the air, striking the corpse flies that were resting on the ground and any of them that were on the ceiling, just to make sure that all of them were taken care of, while at the same time Sarana tapped the walls as she looked for any illusions that might be hiding other paths and Martok made sure to pick up the few items that were around them.

While Tirek wiped out the enemies that were in the area Sarana managed to find one of the illusionary walls on the left side of the area they were walking through, though Martok happened to walk out onto some wooden planks and fall into the area that was off to their right, or the lower section to be exact, which was when Tirek found that Sarana's new passage brought them down to the area the warrior was now standing in and he opened fire on the corpse flies that were scattered around the new area they were wandering through, his Fireballs rushing out to strike down the enemies he could see while leaving the others to repeat what they had done on the level that was now above them. One thing that was interesting to Tirek was that all of the corpse flies were weak to fire magic, more than the other enemies they had fought so far, since they had come to this world, and the only good thing that came from it was that he could save his mana by utilizing the lower tier spells, like he was currently doing, but even then that didn't stop him from spotting a cluster of the corpse flies off in the distance and hurled a Forbidden Sun at them, blowing all of them away in a matter of seconds, which was totally overdoing it, though he felt better after doing that. The disgusting thing was that there were a vast number of corpses resting on the ground, either overtaken by the rot or just so happened to be what started the rot in the first place, so they were stepping on and crushing rotten bodies that had next to no substance to them, something he put at the back of his mind as they made their way through the area they were in, keeping an eye out for anything and everything that might help them locate the lower area, somewhere that Tirek was starting to assume was the top of the area he and the others had fought the gravetender in, but right now he wasn't seeing anything useful.

About the only thing Martok found was a blood gem, which Tirek wasn't surprised by given what was around them at the moment, before they found a suit of armor that looked like what the knight he had fought had been wearing, which was odd based on what Tirek had seen so far, though he let Sarana take the armor as he launched Fireballs at the rest of the corpse flies that were in the area, before they cleared out the entire area and discovered that there was a winch near one of the walls, where Martok stepped forward and turned the handles that moved the chains... which caused the ceiling to shudder for a few seconds as they heard stone moving and something shifting above them.

"I think the church, and Friede, are right above us," Tirek stated, where it was good to see that Sarana and Martok took a moment to nod their heads in agreement, which was the moment that Sarana started to lead the way back to the hidden passage she had discovered earlier, something that informed him they had found a way back up to the structure that their target was residing in, hence the reason he remained on guard as the three of them moved, just in case Friede attacked them while they were walking up the hidden stairs Sarana had found.

What they discovered was a curved staircase leading upwards, to what appeared to be a locked door, the same door that Tirek recalled seeing when they entered the church and spoke to Friede, though it wasn't locked and they opened it in a matter of seconds, where the three of them stepped out into the area that was between the church's entrance and the area that their target had been sitting in, which was when they found out something interesting, the statue that was near Friede had turned around and the base it was resting on had moved towards the wall that was behind it, which revealed a set of stairs leading deeper into the church, to a hidden area to be exact, and their target was no where to be seen, which wasn't surprising since they might have discovered her hidden secret at long last.

"You know, the fact that she's not here anymore means she's going to try and ambush us," Sarana commented, as she noticed that as soon as they entered the church and looked at the room their target had been inside when they first came to this building, meaning she had either fled the moment the way was opened or she was hiding herself somewhere and was waiting for them to expose their backsides to her, though as she considered that fact she turned towards Tirek, who just so happened to be thinking about everything that was going on at the moment, "So, what do you want to do? Head down those stairs and see whatever secret she's hiding from us, or head back to the shrine and turn in our souls, just in case we end up dying?"

"Let us rest at the bonfire, to recover for a few seconds, then we'll head down there and get this over with," Tirek said, as while he wanted to head down there and just blow Friede up, to complete his mission and return to the main world so he could find the third Lord of Cinder, he did know that resting at the bonfire would attune them to this spot again, in the off chance that they actually died from something when they stepped down into the hidden chamber of the church, but he had the feeling this was going to be an exciting battle and that it would be worth having all of his mana back.

Sarana and Martok, once more, nodded their heads in agreement before they sat around the bonfire, joining Tirek as he recovered the power that had been spent in the wilderness outside the building the Painter had been located in, but it wasn't long before he stood up and walked over to the hidden staircase that had been revealed, causing the pair to join him not a few seconds later, which was the moment that they walked down the stairs and started to investigate the hidden area that Elfriede might have been trying to hide from everyone... which was when they found a giant resting on the other side of the large hidden chamber, who seemed to be covered in feathers and had a small head, though it looked like he was chained to the chair he was currently sitting on.

"I see flame, flickering once more... I have not yet shed enough blood. My flail... bring me my flail!" the giant declared, where it sounded like he was talking to someone, likely Friede based on what they had seen and learned since their arrival in the Painted World, even though Tirek was starting to wonder if the name of the world, 'Ariandel', was drawn from the name of the one who either painted the world or was chosen as its protector, but in the end he decided that it didn't really matter as the giant tilted his head for a moment, "Ah, Friede. What stops thine ears? Please, my flail, right away..."

As the group stepped forward, and walked over to where the giant was sitting, Tirek had the pair walk over to the side of the chamber, mostly under the pretense that he wanted to make sure there were no ambushes down here, before he stopped in front of the giant, who glanced up to see what was going on and seemed interested in what was going on at the moment, before Tirek felt a chill in the air as he noticed the giant was staring behind him, hence the reason he turned around and glanced at the stairs he and the others had walked down a few moments ago.

"Fret not father, we have no need of your flail." a voice said, which just so happened to Friede's voice, something that Tirek expected as the lady emerged from the shadows of the staircase and approached them, though in her right hand she held a scythe, one that she made sure was sharpened as she entered the area, before she raised her head and turned towards the area that he was standing in, "This is only the flame, quivering at the actions of a misguided Ash. Please, good Father, avert your eyes, for I will snuff out these ashes for good."

"So, you want to fight me, Elfriede?" Tirek inquired, though even as he said that he raised his hand and readied some of his magic, something that was followed by a barrier wrapping around Sarana and Martok, who were standing on the left side of the chamber, coming from the staircase, before he drew his own weapon from its sheath as he stepped away from the giant, Father Ariandel, and focused on his main target, where he noticed that neither of his companions seemed all that annoyed by what was going on, rather they trusted him to take their target down, though he did notice that the giant had bowed his head, no doubt averting his eyes, like Elfriede had said, "Good, that's why I came to this world in the first place, to track you down and kill you for betraying Yuria, Liliane, the Church, and our plans."

"You should have left, Lord of Londor, when I told you to," Elfriede replied, where she did seem a little annoyed by the fact that Tirek was calling her by her true name, especially after all the effort she had put into making everyone that called this world home her alternate name, the one that Father Ariandel had used when calling out for her, though at the same time she quickly shifted her stance and held her scythe at the ready, knowing that since Tirek was the Lord of Hollows, or the Lord of Londor as she called him, he had to be strong and that this wouldn't be an easy fight, "now you will die and Yuria will lose everything she has worked to achieve."

Tirek said nothing to that as he started walking towards his foe, who did the same thing as she stepped over the stone floor that was below them, and it was easy to see that Elfriede shifted her stance by resting the handle of her scythe across her back as she got close to where he was located, though once they were close to each other Elfriede lashed out first as she went on the offensive, by swinging her scythe at Tirek, who parried the attack with the edge of his blade and found that there was a bit of frost following the blade of the weapon that his foe was using, before he kicked her backwards and rushed at the area that she landed in. After that happened Elfriede, instead of backing away like someone would have expected her to do, rushed forward as well and their blades came into contact with each other again, sparks flying as they struggled against the others strength for a few seconds, before the two of them separated from each other and Elfriede swung her scythe against the snow that was around them, as there was a hole in the ceiling of the hidden chamber and that allowed some snow to fall into this place, which kicked up some of the snow as her form shimmered and she quickly vanished from the area that they were fighting in. That action caused Tirek to chuckle for a moment, as Elfriede had a good plan on how to approach this fight, she was hiding her form and then leapt into the air while he searched for her, which would open his backside for her to attack him while he was distracted, but the problem with that tactic that was she used a bit of magic to make sure the snow hid her presence when she struck the ground, which was why he sidestepped to his right and avoided the scythe swing that had been coming his way, possibly surprising Elfriede with his actions, before he summoned his magic and blasted her in the chest with a Fire Orb, knocking her backwards.

Interestingly enough Elfriede, while shrugging off the damage of his spell, was able to get back up like nothing bad had happened to her, meaning that she might not be weak to Fire spells, like the rest of the majority of the enemies he and the others had fought over the course of their adventure in this Painted World, and that he needed to see which of the other three types of magic might do her in, be it Soul, Lightning, or Dark type magic, which was why he readied his sword while he waited for his foe to make the next move, so he could box her in and repeat what he had just did.

Sure enough Elfriede rushed at the area that Tirek was standing in and swung her scythe at him, where he parried the attack and found that one wasn't all she had in store for her, as she had a few dance-like movements in store for him and that seemed to put him on the defensive for a few moments as they fought each other, before she propelled herself away from her foe and quickly shifted herself into the shadows once more as she struck the snow, to which Tirek remained still for a few seconds as he felt the magic in the air. Sure enough he ended up sidestepping the attack that was coming at him, just like he had done a few moments ago, before he gathered some of his power and quickly formed a Lightning Spear in the space below his left hand, allowing him to blast Elfriede in the chest and knock her backwards, only this time around it took her a few more moments to get back up from where she landed, showing that Lightning spells had to be the type she was weak against, meaning he had a way to deal damage and actually turn the tide of this battle truly in his favor. Unlike all of the other enemies he and his companions had fought in the past it looked like Elfriede might be studying what was going on at the moment and was planning her next attack, something that was followed by her swinging her scythe and using her magic to crystallize some of the snow that was in the air, forming ice crystals that rushed towards where Tirek was standing in, though as that happened Tirek called his power into the area around him and lightning flashed, smashing the ice crystals that tried to reach him and scattered pieces around the chamber that they were standing in. It was hard to see if Elfriede was taken aback by that move or not, given the cowl that was covering the majority of her head, but he really didn't care about what she might be feeling as he slammed his hand against the stone floor and channeled some lightning across the floor, allowing it to spread outwards as he focused on Elfriede, who danced around the chamber and avoided his attack rather well, showing how skillful she was with her weapon and her moves, though despite all that Tirek had an idea on how to break her down and win this fight.

What Tirek ended up doing was jumping backwards the next time Elfriede did it, so that way when she hid herself with her magic he weaved a spell through the air that seemed to have no effect, when in reality he duplicated her spell and also used an illusion spell to make a copy of himself, so he was able to walk around while invisible as his foe rushed at his copy, which was followed by her revealing herself as she latched her weapon onto the copy's back and knocked it into the air, before slamming it into the ground. Just as that happened Tirek gathered his power around his empty left hand and let it form a bunch of lightning that danced around his hand, light a blade of lightning in some sense, where he rushed forward and pierced Elfriede's chest with his spell, surprising her in the process as the copy shattered and disappeared, though the moment she let go of her scythe Tirek ripped his hand out of her chest and let her body crumble to the floor, making more than enough noise in the process, though before he dispelled the barrier around his companions he noticed a pool of blood start to form around Elfriede's body. What was odd was that the blood started to move a few seconds later, heading down towards the large vessel or bowl that was resting in front of Father Ariandel, eventually gathering around the base of the vessel and, somehow, caused the giant to raise his head, where he zeroed in on the body of Elfriede, causing him to scream in anger, or what Tirek assumed was anger since he was having a hard time determining what sort of emotions the giant even had, before he shifted in his seat and started pulled out the restraints that were keeping the chair chained to the floor, causing him to raise his hands and mess with the vessel that was in front of him. Not a few seconds later Tirek watched as Father Ariandel slammed the vessel on the pool of blood that rested right in front of him, causing the embers to fall on the floor as he wailed for a few moments, something that was followed by a large amount of flames to fall to the floor as he struck the area once more, releasing a burst of fire that rushed out in all directions and knocked down all of the rotten sections of the walls that were around them... and, as an added bonus, Tirek watched as the flames danced over Elfriede's body, restoring her Unkindled status as she pushed herself up off the floor and stared at him.

In the next few moments Tirek discovered what was going on, as Elfriede seemed to stay back and swung her scythe to cast waves of ice crystals at him while at the same time Father Ariandel used his vessel as a melee weapon against his enemies, which Tirek just so happened to be, and even as a catalyst to channel some Fire magic, as there was a gout of flames that came at him a few moments later, as he dodged the melee attacks and put some distance between him and his opponents. He had to admit that facing two foes would normally be rather hard, especially against a foe that had the speed and grace of the Dancer while the other had the speed and power of Vordt, both of whom killed him and Sarana at some point during the early stages of their quest, but at this point in time he was used to his new body and how he was supposed to move, plus he had the power to back up both his physical attacks and any of his magical attacks, so now it was three powerful individuals fighting each other, even if it was two against one. For the first new moments of the fight he focused on figuring out the movements of his enemies, as while he had a decent understanding of what Elfriede could do, thanks to the first portion of the fight, she was changing up a few of her moves and was incorporating new ones that complimented what Father Ariandel was doing, so much so that their attacks passed each other without them hurting the other on accident, so his options were either area of effect spells, to take them both down at the same time, or take one of them down first and then lash out at the second before the first one stood back up, since he had the feeling that if he was able to kill one the other would try to revive them. Now one would expect that he would drop the barrier and bring both of his companions back into the fight, though he wasn't about to do that as he rushed over to where Elfriede was standing and used his blade to push her backwards, a simple swing that was followed by a Lightning Spear to the chest, though he rolled to the side and avoided being smashed by Father Ariandel, who was definitely following him and was lashing out at him whenever he had the chance to do so.

One thing he noticed was that when he decided to slow Elfriede down, by knocking her backwards with another spell after the Lightning Spear, the Forbidden Sun he hurled at her missed his target by a hair, given the fact that she dodged the spell and it crashed into father Ariandel's chest, knocking the giant backwards due to the force of the spell in question, though he had the feeling that the giant was weak to Fire magic, just like how Elfriede was weak to Lightning magic, so he jumped backwards, sheathed his blade for the foreseeable future, and channeled his power into both of his hands as both of his foes turned towards him, Fire in his right and Lightning in his left. From that point forward he lashed out at the pair with his magic as he moved around the chamber, making sure to hit Elfriede with several of his Lightning spells and took a chance to knock her backwards, while at the same time hurling Fire spells at Father Ariandel whenever the opportunity presented itself to him, even though it was a little interesting to see that he was even weak to Fire spells, not that Tirek was going to complain about what was going on at the moment. Another interesting thing was that whenever he did enough damage to Father Ariandel, and caused the giant to stagger for a moment, Elfriede actually knelt on the ground and took a moment to pray, where it appeared that she was restoring Ariandel's life force by either using one of the miracles or by directing her own life energies over to him, but it was wrong of her to do that as Tirek hurled several Lightning Spears into her chest, blasting her into the wall so she couldn't restore her ally to full health or reverse the damage he had dealt to the Father, which was when he hurled another Forbidden Sun into the giant and knocked it into a wall. This time around, when he struck his target, Father Ariandel fell to the ground and Elfriede did the same not a few seconds later, showing that they had been linked in some manner, before Tirek watched as the giant broke apart, like he was being converted into energy or something, while his main target fell near where Father Ariandel had been chained, though an ancient slab of some kind did land near the barrier and he shifted it for a moment, allowing an opening to appear so Sarana could take the slab before returning to the safety of the barrier.

There was a good reason for that, as the energy of Father Ariandel surged into Elfriede's body and granted her both new life, as she just so happened to force herself to stand once more, and new power, as this time around black flames danced around her scythe and her body, showing that she intended on fighting Tirek until she no longer had the energy to revive herself by using the undead curse that every Unkindled and Hollows in the world were affected with, though it did look like she had a second smaller scythe in her left hand that channeled her original powers, meaning she was going to be more formidable this time around. The only differences between this form and the previous two forms he had fought so far, that Tirek could see, was the fact that she was faster in this state, she carried two weapons that she used in unison with each other, and that she had black flame versions of the skills she had used in the first and second stages of this fight, so all he had to do was repeat what he had been doing so far and switched to channeling Lightning magic, as he suspected that taking in Father Ariandel's power wouldn't give her his weakness, which would have made things too easy for him, so he was just fine with what was going on. Tirek found something interesting as he dodged the incoming attacks and hurled his Lightning spells out at his opponent over the next few moments, Elfriede, despite her additional powers, didn't even consider the possibility that maybe, just maybe, it would be wise to change up her attack pattern and use movements he hadn't seen so far, so either dying twice and being revived through odd means had damaged her mind or this was all she had learned over the years and hadn't bothered to extend her skills after taking over this world, but, once more, he wasn't about to complain about what was going on at the moment as he continued to clash with Elfriede. In the end the battle ended with a repeat of the movement he used to end the first stage of this fight, as in he stabbed her right in the middle of her chest, exactly where he stabbed her earlier, and this time around she dropped both of the scythes and they turned into energy as her body broke apart before his eyes, something that ended in him holding a light blue soul, one that was tainted by bits of dark energy that had to be Father Ariandel's power.

With that done he dispelled the barrier around Sarana and Martok, who stood there like they were shocked by the fact that he had beaten them on his own, though that was when he beckoned for them to join him, as it was time to head back to the Shrine at long last and tell Yuria the good news, that the sister that betrayed her and Liliane had been killed at long last, before they resumed their search for the third Lord of Cinder, Yhorm, and the location of the final Lord that they needed to kill before everything was ready for him to make his move and steal the power of this world for himself, which was why they departed from this world not even a few seconds later and headed back to the Shrine.

Into the Dungeons

What happened when the group returned to the Shrine was that Sarana and Martok walked over to where the Fire Keeper stood and used the souls that they had gathered during their adventure in the Painted World of Ariandel, mostly so they could empower themselves for whatever enemies and trials stood between them and the third Lord of Cinder that the three of them were hunting down, though while they did that Tirek headed for the area that Yuria was standing in, so he could give her the good news and inform her that Elfriede was dead at last, even though he was happy to be back in this world, since that meant his powerful stone could be used again.

"Ah, our Lord and Liege, it is good to see you again." Yuria stated, turning to speak to Tirek the moment she noticed him coming towards the area that she was standing in, which was when he pulled out the twisted soul of her sister, the one that had betrayed her, Liliane, and the Church they had set up so long ago, where the movement of her head told Tirek that she was staring at the soul and understood what she was seeing, "That is, without a doubt, the soul of my sister, Elfriede... a poor wench who was turned into ash, who would later abandon Londor. If you would, please let her soul and it's power nourish you, and in return, do her a small kindness... remember those who stayed by her to the end, in the shadows cast by fire... and lastly, my Lord, take up your rightful mantle of Usurper."

"Elfriede was strong, and her techniques were elegant, but in the end she fell," Tirek remarked, though as he said that he studied the soul that he was holding, recalling the battle he had just finished with her and Father Ariandel, which was the moment that he gripped the powerful soul and siphoned the power that rested inside it, as he could add Elfriede's power to his own, even though it wasn't as great as the souls of the Lords of Cinder, before all that remained was a husk that had little power to it, which turned to ash and faded away, "and one more obstacle that stood between us and our goal has fallen, meaning all that remains is Yhorm and the missing Prince."

Yuria nodded her head as Tirek turned around and headed back to the area that the Fire Keeper was standing in, as it gave him a chance to channel his portion of the souls they had collected into his own power, even though he was sure that his immense power might be making the Fire Keeper worry about what he might be planning at the moment, though once that was done he stood up and joined Sarana and Martok near the bonfire, as it was time for them to get going and see what sort of challenges awaited them in the next area they needed to explore. The area they reappeared in was the lone building that had a path that was heading downwards, instead of heading upwards, to the area that they found the Pontiff in earlier, and stepped away from the bonfire as they headed down the stairs that were nearby, which appeared to bring them to a cellar of some kind, though Tirek quickly found some of the Irithyll knights patrolling the area, one of the more dancer-like enemies and one of the flame carrying enemies, not to mention a few of the slaves, though thanks to their boosted power it was rather easy for them to deal with these foes. That was why Sarana dodged the attacks of the more elegant foe and cut down her foe, while Martok cut down the couple of slaves so they wouldn't be in the way, leaving Tirek to hurl a Forbidden Sun right into the face of the fire bearing knight, taking it down so he and the others could walk right through the opening that it happened to be guarding and press onward, showing that the couple of slaves off to the side weren't worth the time and effort this time around. The walkway that they stepped out onto gave them a good view of a fraction of the watery area that was near the sewer, though none of them actually cared about that as they followed the path that was in front of them and headed for the hole that was in the mountainside that was in front of them, as that seemed to be the way forward, since the rest of the actual path just ended a few steps passed where the opening was, so that gave them a single direction to take.

As they did that, however, Tirek felt the air shift and an Invader stepped into their world, appearing between them and the opening they were heading towards, though this time around it appeared that the Invader was male, carried an odd looking crossbow in his left hand, and wielded a large sword that rested against his right shoulder as she walked up to the area that they were standing in, showing that he was ready to fight them and that he was going to use everything in his arsenal to take all of them down. As such Sarana rushed towards the area that their new foe was standing in and used her graceful movements to dodge the crossbow bolts that were fired in her direction, though that just so happened to be what she wanted as Martok advanced down the steps and brought his weapon down on the Invader, who shifted both of his hands to his greatsword so he could parry the incoming attack, even though it looked like he staggered for a moment, like he wasn't expecting Martok to have that much strength. This time around Tirek just stood there and watched what was going on, as it appeared that neither of his companions really needed his help, due to the fact that it seemed like they were already cornering their foe with their movements, giving him a few seconds to consider what they might find inside the area the opening was leading them towards, since there was no telling if they might find more residents of Irithyll guarding the place or if they might find the minions of Yhorm patrolling the area. Sure enough it didn't take Sarana and Martok all that long to bring down the knight that was standing in their way, who ended up dropping his greatsword as he was cut down, something that the group collected without delay and then headed through the opening that the knight had been trying to guard, as it was time for them to see what the next area they would be exploring happened to be and what sort of enemies stood between them and their next target, Yhorm the Giant.

The opening quickly turned into stairs that seemed to head into the heart of the mountain, which meant they had to be following the correct path since Tirek didn't recall seeing any other paths while he and the others were exploring the rest of Irithyll and Anor Londo, and it wasn't long before they reached a slightly larger area to walk in that lead right down to what appeared to be the start of a dungeon, based on the iron barred door that was on the other side of the chamber they had walked into and some alcoves that had candles that were half burned, even though most of them were still lit by the looks of things, and there was a bonfire that Sarana ignited a few seconds later.

"It appears that we've found the dungeons of Irithyll," Sarana commented, not that such a thing mattered to Tirek, as he had no idea what sort of layout this world had between the various provinces of the land, especially when he thought about the fact that they had gone to the Cathedral of the Deep to kill Aldrich, only to find that the Lord of Cinder had left for Anor Londo so he could devour a god, though he remained silent as she turned towards him and Martok, "the path to the Profaned Capital, the home of Yhorm the Giant, is supposed to be somewhere inside this dungeon, though I'm not sure where that path is located."

"Then we'll move through this area, kill the various enemies that are scattered around the dungeon, and see if we can find this hidden path to the Profane Capital," Tirek stated, where he made sure that the three of them sat around the new bonfire for a few seconds, just to make sure that the magic of this world remembered which of the bonfires he and both of his companions would be reborn at if they died, even though at this point he was sure nothing could take them down and knock them back to the bonfire, before he readied his magic as they approached the barred door, which was only bars, as the door itself was missing, and advanced into the new area that the three of them would be exploring during their search for the remaining Lords of Cinder.

One thing Tirek noticed, before they descended down the stairs that were in front of them, was that were happened to be an iron barred door to the right of the new bonfire, one that seemed to be a shortcut to some point in the dungeon, hence the reason he focused on what was in front of them as Sarana and Martok did the same, where they walked down into an area that had a few jail cells and carefully explored the cells, finding a rusted coin in one of the cells and a Titanite Shard in another, though while one of the cells was locked Tirek cut down a shambling undead that emerged from one of the open cells, before paused as he noticed a lady in black walking on the walkway that was outside the area that they were currently exploring. From what Tirek could tell the lady seemed to be silently walking from place to place, like one of the wardens he recalled form his time in Tartarus, and her weapon appeared to be a a branding iron, though as the three of them stepped into the area he took a moment to feel the magic in the air and realized that the warden was emitting an aura or mist that weakened those that she targeted, which was why he weaved a bit of his magic through the air and put up a rune on his body to prevent something from happening to him, before doing the same thing to Sarana and Martok, since they were incredibly helpful in the various situations they found themselves in. It was hard to see if the warden was annoyed or surprised by whatever she was trying to do, though he blasted their foe with a Lightning Spear and the lady staggered for a moment, opening the way for Sarana to rush over and cut the warden down before she could recover from Tirek's spell, though as they did that Martok headed down the part of the walkway that was to the right of the door they had walked through a few moments ago and started hacking apart the couple of mindless inmates that were in the cages that were leading deeper into the dungeons, showing that he was more interested in clearing out the area so both Sarana and Tirek could focus on the wardens and any other enemies that were in the surrounding area.

Tirek did notice that there was a lot more to the dungeon than the area that they were currently walking in, as there was a bridge that connected to the other side of the cavern that the entire dungeon had been carved into, and he noticed that the area Martok was walking towards just so happened to be on one side of the bridge, like an area that the wardens had sat in and used to keep track of who was where, before the curse claimed them and the inmates that they had been watching over, and that was when a second warden collapsed on the floor as Martok cut it down with his greatsword, to clear the area before he and Sarana caught up with him. From there they noticed that there was a second path for them to chose from, meaning they could either head over the bridge or investigate a side area that rested beyond the area that their second foe had been standing in, which was when Tirek nodded his head and they headed towards the window that was on their side of the cavern at the moment, finding another Titanite Shard near the window in question and a path to the right before where it rested, one that went to the walkways that were below them. As they started to see what the side path had Tirek noticed that the warden that had been on the bridge had spotted him and his companions and was in the process of following them through the dungeons, thought since he didn't want her doing that he hurled a Lightning Spear into her chest and knocked her backwards onto the ground, giving him the chance to draw his blade and cut her down before she even had a chance to get back up. With that done he rejoined his companions and they started to head down the path that they had decided to investigate this time around, where they found a warden standing near some of the odd spider cages, the monstrous creations they had seen back in the Undead Settlement a long time ago, back near the start of their quest to kill the Lords of Cinder, so what Tirek did was drop a Forbidden Sun into the middle of the area and blasted all of the enemies backwards into the walls that were around the area, which was followed by Sarana killing the warden as she dropped down on her head and Martok jumping down to cleave the spider cages apart.

It didn't take them that long to clear out the enemies that were scattered around the bottom of the stairs, especially given the power that Tirek commanded, where Martok tried to open the iron barred door that was nearby and found that it was locked, which was fine with Tirek as he and Sarana walked out onto the walkway so they could explore the rest of the area of the dungeon that they were currently in, where to the right they found one of the pest covered undead that stood outside the Cathedral of the Deep, so a Fire Orb was all that was needed to kill it, even though that was a dead end and they turned to the left side of the walkway to see what was over there. What they eventually found was that one of the cells was open and that there were a number of hollowed inmates standing inside it, where Martok mowed them down with a single swing of his greatsword and cleared out the entire room, allowing Tirek to walk inside and found an old set of sorcerer armor, something he didn't need and let Sarana stuff inside their pack, before they explored the end of the area, even though Tirek knew that they would be heading over the bridge soon enough. In the final cell that rested on this side of the dungeon the group found one of the more advanced pest covered hollows, which were more dangerous than the more humanoid ones, though based on what they were seeing it was easy to see that there was nothing important inside the final cell and that was followed by Tirek having them walk away from the area in question, as he saw no reason for him or his companions to waste their time on something that gave them nothing in return. As such it didn't take them long to return to the area that the bridge was located in and started to walk over it, each of them keeping their guards up as they kept their eyes open for any enemies that might want them dead, before discovering that the path to the left was sealed by a locked door, so they headed to the right once they had finished crossing the bridge and found a warden waiting for them, even though a quick blast from one of Tirek's Fire Orbs and Sarana's blade took her out.

From there they explored the area that the warden had been standing in and found an open cell that had a hollowed inmate inside it, one that Martok cut down instantly, before they discovered that one of the walls in the inmate's cell had been broken down and the one beyond that wall had been smashed as well, allowing them to reach the area that was on the other side of the locked door, though as they did that Tirek paused as he spotted a large hybrid creature, one that was a mix of a human and a lizard of some kind, minus all the scales based on what he could see, though as he stared at it he found that the creature had a quadrupedal stance with clawed feet, clawed hands, a massive frame that reminded him of the dragons outside the castle, a pair of undeveloped wings, and a large head that seemed like it was being twisted into what a dragon would have, despite its more humanoid appearance.

"Hm, it seems that someone has been experimenting on some sort of dragon transformation process, or the possible revival of the endangered species," Tirek commented, because since it appeared that the creature in front of them, which he was tempted to call a wretched based on what he was seeing at the moment, though as he studied the odd creature for a few seconds Sarana and Martok opened the door that happened to be near it and found that they could step out onto the other side of the locked door, which they could open, before he stepped away from the creature and followed both of his companions once more, "I'll have to keep this place in mind for later, as this guy, and however many more of its twisted kind there are, might be worth looking into once we finish our quest."

Sarana and Martok glanced at each other for a moment, not really sure if they should say anything to what Tirek had just said, even though he was thinking of using his special stone to teleport the creature and any others of its kind that he found outside the dungeon, before the three of them resumed moving and explored the rest of the area that they were currently in, first checking out the upper area that they were currently standing on, to make sure everything was cleared out before they headed to the right and headed down the stairs that had to be over there. They discovered a cell that they could actually open and the only thing of interest inside it was a key, one that made Tirek wonder if it went to the locked doors on the other side of the cavern they were in, though for now their focus was on the stairs and that was when they discovered three more wardens standing guard over the area in question, something that was easy for them to deal with as Tirek dropped another Forbidden Sun into the area, blasting all three of them into different walls. With that done the group descended on their targets, Martok crushing the warden near the stairs with the weight of his greatsword, Sarana cutting the second one to pieces with her blades, and Tirek quickly stabbed the third one in the chest, allowing them to take down all three of their enemies at the same time before they moved forward, though with those enemies taken care of it was easy to find an open cell nearby and they walked over to it, where Tirek started at the wretched that was guarding an item and his gaze stopped it from doing anything, since it apparently had a weapon in its right clawed hand and didn't get a chance to use it was Tirek stared at it. Sarana found a rather simple gemstone resting near the creature, who stood still as Tirek focused on it, though once they had the gem in their possession the group headed through the opening that was in front of them and Martok raised his greatsword to crush the spider cage that was resting nearby, just so Tirek and Sarana didn't have to deal with it, even though that was when Sarana cut down a second one that was to their right, only to find that there was a locked door beyond the area that the second cage had been resting in, hence the reason the three of them headed to the left and followed the path as they kept their eyes open for enemies.

There was a crystal lizard in the middle of the hallway that they were following, though instead of waiting for it to run away and lure them into a trap Tirek smiled as he pulled out the stone he had created after killing Aldrich and channeled its power for a moment, something that was followed by him nodding to Sarana, who stepped forward and caused the lizard to run away, heading right into a small portal Tirek opened up in front of it and moved it right to the area that was in front of them, allowing Martok to crush it and Sarana to collect the gem it carried, before he removed the portal and they advanced into the area that could have been trapped. It quickly became apparent why Tirek thought there might be a trap beyond the area the small crystal lizard had been starting in, because there were a few cells that had some of the oddly shaped wretched creatures they had seen earlier, though like the last one they had encountered these ones stopped what they were doing as Tirek stepped into the area in front of their cells, allowing Sarana and Martok to walk forward and move further into the area that they were in the middle of exploring, before he joined them once they were cleared of the area the cells were in. From there the three of them walked through the open doorway that was at the end of the passage and headed down some stairs before coming to a stop at the edge of a ruined walkway, which just so happened to lead to another part of the dungeon, though that allowed them to view the area that was just beyond the walkway and it was easy to see a circular structure that looked like a tower, one that had been ruined at some point in the past, yet as they stared at it Tirek could feel some traces of power in the air and realized that they had to be staring down at the Profaned Capital, the home of Yhorm the Giant, meaning that as soon as they found a way down to the walkway that was attached to the tower it was only a matter of time until they found their way to the Lord of Cinder and killed him.

"The Profaned Capital, that was... well, it was easier to locate it than I thought it would be," Sarana admitted, because while she did have a good understanding of where the Lords of Cinder would be hiding and the areas that made up the land both she and Martok called home, it was highly possible, and possibly very likely, that this was the first time she was even laying eyes on the Profane Capital, though there was no way for Tirek to know if his thoughts one the matter were right or if he was wrong, before she turned towards the path on their right, "Well then, we should get moving and locate the path that will allow us to get down there, so we can put an end to Yhorm and start our search for the missing Princes, to fulfill our main quest."

Tirek nodded as he and Martok followed Sarana as she walked to the right, following the path that was off to the side as it brought them to another part of the dungeon, where they found three more wardens guarding the area, one that seemed to be slacking off and two that were actually walking around, so that allowed all three of them to have their own foe to focus on as Tirek marched towards the door that they had been guarding, which had a small room on the other side of the door that had a chest resting nearby. Given what he and the others had seen in the past, among the various chests they had encountered over the course of this journey, he was tempted to think that this was one of the mimics that were fake chests, and while Tirek could see that the chest's chain was pointing in their direction he channeled a bit of his magic and formed a Fire Orb that he pressed into the top of the chest, something that caused the mimic to whine in pain for a few seconds before it revealed itself to them, leading to Sarana and Martok cutting it down. What they discovered was that the mimic had one of the Estus Flask shards inside it, meaning that when they returned to the Shrine one of them could take it to the blacksmith and have him add it to their flasks, which would grant them another usage of the healing potion, one that none of them had used recently since none of their enemies had hurt any of them enough to require the use of such a thing. With the shard in hand they walked up the stairs that were beyond the mimic's location and found out that there were a few window openings to their left, which seemed to give them a decent view of a giant that seemed to be trapped, like the one in the Cathedral of the Deep, before they spotted six more wardens walking out from around the corner that was ahead of them, though since their foes happened to be near each other Tirek used a Forbidden Sun to knock all of them away from each other, something that allowed him and his companions to cut their foes down as they moved throughout the area the wardens had been guarding.

There were two more wardens off to the right, at the end of the path they were following, but neither of those foes stood much of a chance against them and it allowed Sarana to pick up another soul for when they returned to the Shrine, before Tirek noticed that they had three openings to chose from, one that would drop them down near the giant's arm, another that would allow them to drop down away from the giant, and another that had a ladder that seemed to lead to a hallway of some kind. As it turned out they decided to use the ladder path and quickly discovered that the hallway that it brought them to had a door at the end of it, one that Sarana opened and revealed a rather ruined walkway that the giant happened to be resting its arms and head on at the moment, though since it was sleeping that meant they either had to backtrack to the opening that would allow them to drop down on the other side of its arms or attack it and run before one of them were smashed by its powerful attacks. Instead of doing either of those two things Tirek decided to just take down the giant and move forward, which was the reason that he gathered some of his magic and focused for a moment, though this time around he decided to do something different as three orbs, each as big as a Forbidden Sun, appeared around him, though these ones were Lightning based and not Fire based, before he combined the three spheres into a single mass of energy, sort of like what he did when they fought the Pontiff, and hurled it at the giant, slamming it into his foe's chest and knocked it backwards with enough power to take it out. Tirek grinned for a moment as that happened, as he was pleased that the spell had worked as he intended and that it was powerful enough to take down a giant in one shot, though once the giant was gone Sarana and Martok continued forward and focused on the crystal lizard that happened to be in the area, where Tirek considered calling the move 'Lightning Nova', since he was sure such a spell didn't exist in this world and might only be possible because of what he had done, before he followed after his companions as they spotted a stone walkway that looked rather ruined and happened to lead right to what appeared to be a sewer of some kind, one that had to be the way forward.

As the three of them expected there were rats inside the sewer area, and oddly enough a pickaxe that rested before the entrance to the sewer area and they ignored entirely, though it wasn't long before they lashed out at the small rats as they sought out everything that was inside this area, where they discovered that there were two paths to chose from, one that some of the rats had emerged from and a set of stairs that seemed to be heading upwards, though Tirek decided to take the hole in the wall that the rats came from, where a small tunnel brought them to a chamber that had two larger rats resting inside it. The group wasted no time in taking them down, as Sarana and Martok lashed out at one with their weapons while Tirek blasted the other one with his magic, though once that was done the three of them approached the iron barred door that was on the other side of the chamber and Martok forced it to open, where they found a massive chamber that looked like the holding area for some of the more dangerous criminals of this world, though there were a fair number of wardens patrolling the chamber they had discovered. Fortunately it seemed like the wardens hadn't even spotted them yet, so Sarana rushed out and headed to the other side of the chamber, entering a massive cell that just so happened to have an opened door, where Tirek watched as she disappeared for a moment and then reappeared a few seconds later, though when she returned to him and Martok she revealed that she found a number of the wretched inside the chamber and, more importantly, a skull shaped container that had a sinister red coal inside it, something that could be given to the blacksmith, which should complete the collection of coals. With that done Tirek realized that they had two new options to pick from, either the three of them headed through the opening to their left and followed the path that was in that area or they could head into the area that the wardens were guarding and press on, where he was sure the latter had to be the correct path and that the former had to lead back to the first part of the dungeon, hence why he decided to leave the wardens alone for the moment and head over to the passage he had picked out.

What they discovered, after following the short hallway and the stairs that Tirek had picked out, was a balcony of that looked out of place, given the humanoid dragon-like statue that was resting nearby, in a stance that suggested that it was meditating for some odd reason, which had suits of armor resting near it, though what interested Tirek was the fact that he found a carved stone of some kind, one that had a carving of a dragon's upper body and radiated power that seemed to connect to some area that was beyond where they were standing, and as he grasped it he could see a temple of some kind, one that seemed to resemble one that he and the others could see off in the distance, making him wonder if he could use this knowledge with the stone he had created.

"Let's check the rest of the area first, before we try this stone out for real," Tirek commented, because there was a lift nearby and that seemed important for them to check out, since it might lead back to the start of the dungeons, though as the three of them stepped on the platform in question, and Sarana pressed the activation button, Tirek watched as they headed upwards for a moment and spotted a spell page that he claimed with his magic, one that allowed the used to take a chime and empower their weapon with Lightning, which made sense due to the fact that it was called Lightning Blade, before he put in inside his spell tome and waited for the lift to come to a stop.

Not a few seconds later they found that the lift didn't actually bring them all the way to the start of the dungeon, as in near the bonfire, but it did bring them to a locked door that was on the side of the dungeon that was near the doorway that lead back to the area that the bonfire rested in, not to mention a soul that was added to their collection for later, to which they quickly opened the door that was in front of them and headed back to the bonfire, just to make sure they were correct in their assumptions, before stopping at the rest area. Instead of resting, like Sarana thought they would, Tirek had her and Martok follow him back to the area that the lift was located in and used it to head back down to the area that they had found earlier, the odd meditation section that really looked out of place, before they came to a stop and stared at the area that was around them, showing Tirek that both of his companions were curious as to what he might be doing and why they weren't moving through the part of the dungeon that was near them. In that moment Tirek pulled out the blue stone he had created and focused on what he had seen in his short vision of the area that the dragon stone had shown him a few moments ago, where he focused for a few seconds and a circular blue colored hole in reality appeared before them, one that had to lead to the area that he had been envisioning, which was the moment that he nodded his head and both of his companions, despite their hesitance in the face of his power, stepped through the portal he had created and quickly disappeared. Once he was sure that both of them were on the other side of the portal he did the same thing and stepped through it, appearing in what appeared to be a rather well lit location, totally different from what they had been in earlier since it had been night out while they were exploring the dungeon, and they were standing on a rocky path that was on the edge of the area that he had seen the temple in earlier, though there was no telling what was in front of them and what sort of enemies might be waiting for them.

"So, what are we doing here?" Sarana asked, because while she knew that Tirek had a habit of heading out to areas so he could take down certain foes or claim their souls for his power, she had no idea what sort of place this was and paused for a moment as she heard the roar of a dragon, due to the fact that there was one location that spoke of dragons and, at the same time, held a rumor about an ancient and powerful figure who was either hollowed like everyone else or was still sane and might be looking out for intruders at this very moment.

"For now, scouting the area," Tirek replied, though at the same time he focused on the blue stone, which he was going to start calling the Space Stone for its powers over distances and the ability to open portals between two locations, and closed the portal he had created, before slipping it into his pouch as he stepped forward, even though he also weaved his magic through the air and applied a small Lightning Aura to both of his companions' weapons, "meaning we find a bonfire and get back to the dungeon, so we can focus on Yhorm, though this will give us a chance to understand what's in this area for whenever we decide to come back here."

Sarana and Martok nodded their heads, as while Sarana felt that they should just head back through the portal and return to the dungeon, she did know that Tirek was the only one who could use the stone, given his immense power, so it was easy to see that they needed to make sure he survived this venture, hence why the two of them went out first and let Tirek follow them, no doubt because he was studying the area that they were now in before he used the stone, but she was pleased he had enchanted their weapons ahead of time, in case a dragon attacked them. The only thing that they had to be careful of, that they could see at the moment, was the area to their left, as there was no rail to the path they were walking on at the moment, though it wasn't long before they reached a split in the path and noticed that there was an odd hunched creature that seemed to be patrolling the area that was in front of them, who seemed to be wearing ragged clothing and carried a curved sword and a round shield, though it had a more serpent-like head, like a snake or a dragon, and what he guessed were scales. Tirek tilted his head for a moment as he stared at the individual in question, a serpent knight he guessed, who rushed at them and swung at Sarana a few times, attacks that were avoided with the greatest of ease before she kicked it backwards and brought it within range of Martok's blade, who cleaved their foe in half and made sure there were no enemies left in the area, allowing them to move forward and start investigating the other part of the area they had appeared in, each of them keeping their guards up for whatever dangers it might have for them. There was another serpent knight off to the right and Sarana cut into it a few times, using the enhanced power of her blades to cut it down as Tirek moved forward and spotted what appeared to be a sorcerer version of the serpent knight standing near the outside of the main part of the structure that was their destination, so he loosed a small Lightning Spear and knocked it backwards, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about it for now, even though he was sure it was dead and wouldn't come back until all three of them rested at the bonfire, wherever it was located.

From there they approached the area that the serpent sorcerer had been standing and Tirek let Sarana and Martok cut down the pair of serpent knights that were guarding the area, along with the one that was hiding behind some rocks a few moments later, before he spotted the bonfire resting off to the left of the bottom of the stairs that the path had lead them to, even though it appeared the stairs lead to the entrance of the temple, so he turned to the left and activated the bonfire for later, something that was prompted by him opening a portal back to the meditation area, as it was time for them to locate the way down to the Profaned Capital and the current Lord of Cinder they were hunting.

Lord of the Profaned Capital

Once Tirek, Sarana, and Martok were ready to go, which was easy to do given what they had just been through, they took a moment to head back down the stairs that were in front of them and entered the area that all of the wardens had been in earlier, which was why they had found the shortcut back to the entrance of the dungeons in the first place, not to mention the temple off in the distance that Tirek used his Space Stone to access, though as they reached the bottom of the stairs it was easy to see that all of the wardens were still patrolling the area, no doubt keeping an eye out for enemies or inmates that were trying to escape, even if the latter wasn't going to happen. Of course, since there was a large number of them, around ten by Tirek's estimates after watching the wardens for a few seconds, the problem the group faced was that once all of their enemies realized that their health draining enchantments didn't work at all, due to the power Tirek weaved over the three of them earlier, they would come rushing and attack them at the same time, from different angles no doubt, and there was no telling if the wardens would release some of the inmates or not, but he was hoping to take that chance from them in the next couple of seconds. The reason for that thought was because Tirek held out his arms and channeled his power for a few moments, creating three Forbidden Suns in rapid succession, but instead of combining the spheres together, like he had done some time ago, he held the spheres apart and hurled them into three different locations, making sure to maximize the damage he could do to the wardens that were in the areas he targeted, knocking all of their enemies backwards as soon as his spells hit the ground.

The moment that happened Sarana and Martok rushed forward and started slashing at the enemies that were standing in their way, with Tirek joining them a few seconds later so he could cut one or two of them down with his own weapon, before the smoke cleared and all of the wardens were laying on the ground, totally dead from what he could tell, which was when they started to see what else this area had to offer them before they found the path that would lead them to the walkway that would let them access the ruined tower that was part of the Profaned Capital. From there they took a few seconds to explore the area that was around them, to check out everything else that was in the massive cell covered chamber that they were in, though Tirek found that they discovered two loose embers resting nearby and a suit of armor that reminded him of the knight that they had fought outside the dungeon's entrance, though he let Martok claim it and stash it inside their pack before they moved once more. As soon as the three of them were done checking out the rest of the area, and found that one cell couldn't be opened since they didn't have the key while ignoring some of the locked cells since there didn't seem to be anything interesting in most of them, they moved forward and carefully looked at the part of the massive chamber that was beyond where the wardens had been standing, before they found an opening that seemed to lead out towards the tower Tirek was interested in exploring, hence the reason he and his companions were heading towards it at the moment. Not even a few seconds later Tirek paused as they stepped through the opening and found that they had found the correct path that would take them to the tower he was interested in, and, of course, the Profaned Capital, though that meant crossing over a stone bridge that looked like it might break if something bad were to happen to it, hence the reason they headed down the stairs that rested to the left and walked down into the area that was on their side of the bridge.

As they walked down to the area that would allow them to walk across the bridge, however, Tirek spotted a massive crack in part of the mountain wall and discovered that he and the others could see sunlight enter the area they were in, though as that happened Sarana found a lost soul resting nearby and collected it in seconds, but when they stepped onto the bridge itself they paused as a roar sounded and a stone creature, like a gargoyle of some kind, landed near the other side of the stone bridge and brandished a staff of some kind as it stared at them. Instead of attacking the gargoyle as it landed right on the middle of the stone bridge, just in the off chance that beating it did something to the weakened bridge it was on, Tirek had the others back up and they took a few steps backwards as it stepped towards them, though when it stepped into the area they were standing him Sarana and Martok lashed out at the gargoyle as Tirek pushed himself even further backwards and hurled some Lightning Bolts at their foe, where he noticed that the element did weaken their foe, something that pleased him since he had no idea how many more gargoyles they would be facing in the future and it was good to know what their weakness was. He did think about the Way of White Corona spell he had found earlier, back when they were exploring Ariandel and were fighting all of the enemies that were in that world, but right now he was of the opinion that he didn't need such a spell as the gargoyle shuddered for a moment and fell to one knee, something that was a little interesting as they stared at the foe, though that was when Sarana jumped onto its back and drove her daggers into the material that made up the creature's neck and separated it, allowing the head to collapse on the ground near them as she stepped down from where the gargoyle had been standing.

"Good, another foe taken care of," Tirek remarked, though as he said that both he and his companions started to walk over the bridge that was in front of them, making sure to keep their eyes open for any enemies that might be waiting to ambush them and knock them off the bridge, while at the same time he was impressed by how quickly they had taken down the gargoyle in the first place, since it wasn't a common foe for them to fight, before they reached the other side of the stone bridge and stared at the center of the ruined tower.

What they discovered was that there was no floor in front of where they were standing, due to the fact that the small stone platform that was in front of them was all there was, not counting the wooden platforms that had been set up by someone at some point in the past, though the way down consisted of two different paths, one being to their right and involved jumping down a few stone steps while the other was a ladder that was to their left, where Tirek jumped straight down to the bottom floor, which wasn't too far of a jump, while both of his companions used the stone slabs that he had seen as they entered the tower. From there they found a long ladder that reached the top of the wooden platform that he had seen a few moments ago, which seemed to be the way forward, though he investigated a hole in the wall and noticed that it could drop them off on a ring that wrapped around the tower, with stone statues scattered along the ring, but he decided not to bother with the area in question and followed Sarana and Martok as they climbed up the ladder, as it was time for them to see what was on the platform and, more importantly, if it held the way forward. As it turned out there was a bonfire waiting for them when they reached the top of the ladder, to which Tirek, Sarana, and Martok activated it and paused for a moment, mostly to regain their energy from everything they had done since they first entered the upper part of the dungeons, and once that was done they weighed their options on which path the three of them should take, as there was the hole in the wall that would allow them to walk on the ringed walkway that Tirek had been looking at a few moments ago, one that could have a hallway leading somewhere else, before Sarana noticed that there was a body resting nearby and found one of the bone shards that were supposed to empower their Estus Flasks, meaning that they could take a moment to return to the Shrine and give them to the blacksmith, so he could use the bone shard and the flask piece that they had found so far, but Sarana shook her head and indicated that she would rather move forward.

Once that decision had been reached Tirek approached the ladder and started to climb down it, where he spotted what appeared to be a stone walkway between the tower they had been walking around and the structure that had been carved into the mountain wall, though there was a large chalice of some kind near an opening that had to lead into the area that Yhorm was resting in at the moment, though the interesting thing was the couple of white robbed individuals that were standing around the chalice and were manipulating the flames, no doubt either keeping the fire lit or preparing for battle with some invaders. He suspected that it was the latter, where the robbed figures, possibly handmaids based on what he was seeing, meaning that they had to be careful since he was sure those figures were enemies and were waiting for the three of them to get closer to the area their projectiles could reach, though as he stepped on the bridge itself that was when a decent sized fireball rushed through the air and struck the area he was standing in, as he backed up a little and it changed course, meaning they would have to be careful this time around, as those handmaids were dangerous and their attacks meant they would have to cross the bridge in one swift motion. In that moment Sarana did something she usually didn't do, she pulled out one of the bows they had found over the course of their quest, the one that they found in the Smouldering Lake, and pulled out the strongest arrows that went to that type of weapon, where Tirek watched as she aimed down at the area the handmaids were standing in and seemed to be locking onto one of them, hence the reason he and Martok stepped onto the bridge and let the fireballs rush towards them, even though he used his magic to cancel out the fireballs as they rushed towards them. That also meant that Martok would have to deal with the gargoyle that landed on the other side of the stone bridge that the two of them were standing on, though that was when Tirek watched as an arrow went flying through the air and struck one of the handmaids in the head, taking her out in seconds, where none of the others of her group moved out of the area they were standing in, allowing Sarana to focus on the other three that she could see at the moment, something that was swiftly followed by several arrows flying through the air as she struck all of them down and took out the enemies that had been controlling the chalice.

With the handmaids taken out Tirek focused on the foe that was in their way and watched as Martok cut down the gargoyle on his own, showing him that the warrior was rather skilled and that he didn't have to worry about him, not that he worried about Martok given the armor that he happened to be wearing and the greatsword that he carried into battle, to which the three of them regrouped on the bridge and walked across it, where Tirek found some large arrows that had to go to one of the larger bows they had recovered since their quest began, but since it appeared that they were too large for Sarana's bow he let her pocket them and said nothing as they moved forward. From there they reached the end of the bridge, even though there were some ruined stone slabs that seemed to form a path in the middle of the bridge that lead down to the end of the walkway that would take them to where the chalice was resting, something that Tirek ignored as he and his companions stepped into the structure at the end of the bridge and quickly passed through the opening that was in front of them, where they entered the temple that had been carved into the mountainside. From there they found that they were at the top of a chamber of some kind, one that just so happened to have a set of stairs leading down to the lowest part of the area, but what was interesting was the four handmaids that were to the left of where the steps came to a stop and, unless Tirek was mistaken, there was a gargoyle to their right, resting in the ceiling of the hallway that just so happened to connect this chamber to what he assumed was another one, though something that interested him was all of the ruined metal that seemed to be held by a vast amount of charred bodies, meaning something must have burned this place and this was the result of what had happened.

As such Tirek did things the smart way, and by that he meant hurling a Forbidden Sun right into the heart of the small group of handmaids so he could blast them apart from each other, something that allowed Sarana to rush in and cut all four of them down before they had a chance to get back up and attack them, while at the same time Martok raised his greatsword and engaged the gargoyle as it flew down to see what was going on, showing that he was ready for their foe and that he was able to handle himself while the others cleared their area of enemies. What was interesting was the area that was just beyond where the gargoyle had appeared, as there was a path in front of them that lead to another chamber of some kind, one that was just as large as the one they had been in a few seconds ago, a path to their right that lead to the chalice the group had seen while they were walking on the stone bridge earlier, and a rather important path to their left, one that lead to the Fog Door that had to be what Yhorm was hiding behind, even though that was surprising since Tirek was expecting there to be more to the Profaned Capital than what he and his companions had seen so far, but he wasn't about to complain about what they had just discovered. Instead of heading for Yhorm immediately, like Tirek had planned, the first thing they did was cross over to the other chamber that was in front of them and found a number of handmaids standing near the backside of the chamber, eight of them according to what he was seeing, so he did what he had done earlier and hurled a Forbidden Sun right into the middle of the group, something that knocked all of them away from where they had been standing and allowed both Sarana and Martok to step forward and cut their foes down, which was when Tirek noticed that there were three chests resting in this area, though the chains were hidden well, making it a little hard to tell if any of them were mimics or not. Of course that was when a gargoyle dropped down into the area that they were standing in and Tirek frowned for a moment as he channeled his power for a few seconds, where he quickly loosed a few lightning discs into the space between them, the spell he had considered earlier, and they struck its stone arms, legs, and its body before disappearing, allowing him to cleave the gargoyle into fragments in a number of fragments that fell into the hallway behind him.

As soon as that was done he turned his attention towards Sarana and Martok, who were waiting for him to test all of the chests that were in the chamber they were standing in and he used a small amount of fire on the pair of chests that were resting in front of them, on the right one to be exact, which caused the mimic to get up and attack, even though it fell within seconds due to the pair being ready and dropped a few golden coins, before they did the same to the other chest and found that it was a mimic as well, where the second dropped a massive shield of some kind, though the third just had an Ember inside it and they pocketed it before heading towards the passage that lead to where their target had to be, so they stared at the Fog Door for a few seconds as they prepared themselves.

"I hope you two are prepared for the fight that's ahead of us," Tirek remarked, though even as he said that he realized that it was a rather stupid comment for him to make, because both Sarana and Martok had been ready for everything that they had faced since this adventure had started and he knew they were more than ready to face the next Lord of Cinder, despite the fact that they had no idea what was going to happen when they entered Yhorm's lair, so the moment he saw both of his companions holding their weapons at the ready he passed through the Fog Door and headed into the area that their next target had to be resting inside.

What they found on the other side of the Fog Door was a massive chamber that looked like a giant, which was exactly what Tirek had heard Yhorm was supposed to be, would feel right at home in, which came complete with eight large stone pillars that seemed to hold the weight of the ceiling and prevented it from collapsing, though that was when Tirek noticed the massive throne that was on the other side of the chamber and spotted the armored giant, who bore a crown on top of its head, meaning this had to be Yhorm and he seemed to be carrying a massive cleaver of some kind. As Tirek stared at the Lord of Cinder, who seemed to be annoyed by what he was seeing at the moment, Sarana and Martok followed him into the chamber and stopped when they were right behind Tirek, something that prompted Yhorm to get up from where he was sitting and step down into the slightly water filled area of the chamber that was between them, which was why the group readied themselves for whatever was going to happen next. The moment Yhorm charged at the entrance of this chamber the group separated from each other and Martok rushed towards the throne, where Sarana danced off to the side and loosed an arrow at Yhorm's face, where Tirek noticed that there was a purple aura to the arrow and wondered if she had poisoned her entire stock of arrows at some point, and found that the Lord of Cinder didn't even bother to make an attempt to dodge the attacks as he swung at her, narrowly missing her in the process. Tirek, as that happened, took a moment to gather his magic and hurled a number of lightning discs through the air, where they rushed towards the area that the giant was standing in and watched as they struck his side, not cutting him apart like the gargoyle had been done in earlier, though Yhorm did stagger for a moment before turning his attention towards him for a moment, which was just fine with him as he noticed that Martok was now carrying a greatsword that had been resting near Yhorm's throne, one he felt contained a decent amount of power inside it.

Tirek jumped backwards and narrowly avoided the incoming attack that was headed his way, as it appeared that their foe was attacking everyone that struck him and Yhorm didn't seem to care whoever happened to be his foe, even though it was clear that if one of them slipped up their foe was going to smash them into the ground and seriously wound them in the process, though that was when Martok, who seemed to have noticed something, held the new greatsword at the ready and seemed to charge the power that was inside the blade, before he swung it vertically towards Yhorm. What happened next was that a wave of energy, possibly wind based on what Tirek was seeing, rushed out from the area that Yhorm was standing in and struck the giant's chest as he turned to stare at the next opponent he would be focusing on, causing the Lord of Cinder to stagger for a moment and happened to be the opening that Sarana was looking for as she jumped onto the giant's back and ran up it, before leaping off Yhorm's head as she turned around and fired a pair of arrows into his head, no doubt to increase the amount of poison that was coursing through his body. Tirek was sure that their foe would need far more poison than what had been forced into his body before he was taken down by that, but it did appear that whatever Martok had done was the key to quickly defeating the giant Lord of Cinder, something he felt was a little odd and a tad bit disappointing when he took a moment to consider it, but even as Yhorm picked himself up Tirek jumped back a bit and hurled several more lightning discs thought the air, which struck the giant's chest once more. He was finding that their search for Elfriede, even if they really didn't learn anything about the Painted World of Ariandel and everything they had seen during their time in the painted world, but he had to admit that the Way of White Corona spell, which he was sorely tempted to call 'Lightning Discs' or 'Discs of Lightning', was very useful and he was happy he had picked it up before they left the world that his target had fled to when she betrayed the Church.

Sarana landed a few moments later and was just in time to see Martok, having discovered that the greatsword might be the key to defeating Yhorm, swing the blade at the advancing Lord of Cinder and struck him in the chest with another burst of energy, causing their foe to stagger for a moment as Tirek blasted his chest with some of the lightning discs, all so he could deal more damage, while Sarana found a good spot to fire poison tipped arrows from, which struck both Yhorm's head and his chest, pushing more poison into his body, not that it appeared to be doing anything. From there the three of them maintained being separated from each other and used the openings that each of them provided, making sure that each of them took a turn dealing damage to Yhorm so he would focus on whoever attacked him, something that opened the way for the other two to attack him while he focused on the one that was pissing him off at the moment, which was just fine with Tirek as they dealt some damage to their foe and continued to make the giant stagger as he was struck by all of their attacks. After the next couple of moments Tirek watched as Yhorm, in what could be an instant controlled by the poison that was coursing through his veins, struck the pillar that was behind Sarana and smashed it to pieces, where she managed to avoid the fragments without being smashed in the process, and Martok's incoming attack staggered the Lord of Cinder while he was going on a rampage, not to mention the fact that Tirek's spells were starting to have an effect on their foe at long last, no doubt due to the poison that was coursing through his veins, and it wasn't long before Sarana switched to her blades and slashed into Yhorm's arms and legs as he staggered, showing that they were in control of this battle at long last. Once they established true control over the battle the trio made sure Yhorm couldn't swing his massive blade anymore and even forced him to drop it at one point, something that was followed by Sarana cutting open his neck, Tirek blasting his chest with Lightning magic, and Martok delivering the final blow with the greatsword, causing Yhorm to collapse into a mass of ashes and a skull that would go on his throne and, more importantly, the soul that Tirek started to drain the moment he got his hands on it.

From what Tirek could tell absorbing the power of Yhorm's soul, which actually wasn't as grand as Aldrich's soul, was enough to push him to being at eighty-five percent, adding ten more percent to what he currently had and informed him that the Twin Princes of Lothric would have the remaining power that he needed to achieve his full power... though as he finished doing that, and both Sarana and Martok pocketed their souls as Sarana collected the ashes, they were teleported out of the chamber that Yhorm had been located in and dropped off in the area that the old lady, who gave them the one flag a long time ago and Tirek stabbed in the chest, had been resting in, finding a spirit of some kind, who looked like the lady in question, powering down a summoning circle.

"Prince Lothric is in your hands," the spirit declared, where she pointed at the basin that had been dropped when she had been stabbed by Tirek so long ago, something that looked the exact same as Tirek remembered it, showing that it was important in some manner and that she needed them to do something with it, before she faced the three of them as they shrugged off the effects of her spell, even though Tirek admitted that using his Space Stone would have been much better for them in the grand scheme of things, before she glanced at the statue that was behind her for a moment, as if she was trying to tell them something, only to glance back at them for a few seconds, "Please, save his soul... tell him what he must be... a Lord... of... Cin..."

It was in that moment that the spirit, as if her energy had dissipated, vanished from the church chamber that she had brought the trio to and the energy disappeared entirely, though at the same time Tirek picked up the basin with his magic and placed it in front of the statue, a statue that was a kneeling knight that seemed to be in the middle of cutting open its neck with a greatsword, where the placing of the basin beneath the stone figure's hand caused the upper arm, the one that was gripping the stone weapon, to move and cut into the figure's neck for real. What they discovered was that a black liquid, possibly blood from the looks of it, poured out of the cut and flowed down from where the wound happened to be located, something that accumulated in the basin as it moved down the side of the stone blade and flowed down into the bowl, which only made Tirek wonder if there was someone was trapped inside the statue and this was their life until the day the ruling family allowed the individual to die, though part of him then wondered if Sarana knew the truth and if she would be willing to tell him what she knew on the matter, before deciding that it didn't matter at all. From there the three of them watched as the basin filled to the brim in a matter of seconds, which caused the bleeding to stop and allowed the liquid to settle after a time, something that was followed by the statue sinking into a small indent that was below it and then it moved backwards into a slot that just so happened to be resting behind it, before a metallic ladder descended into the area they were standing in, meaning it was a good idea that they avoided standing near the statue, something that caused Tirek to glance up at the top of the ladder and found a path that lead into the castle itself. That caused him to grin for a moment, because this meant the old lady had been hiding the path to the missing Prince from him, his companions, and the rest of the Unkindled that were running around the other versions of this world, and that his slaying of her earlier was likely a just punishment based on what he had discovered, before he glanced at Sarana and Martok for a moment, who nodded their heads as they stared up at the top of the ladder, each of them knowing that they had found the way to the final Lord of Cinder and, more importantly, the end of their quest.

As such Tirek made sure they rested at the bonfire that was nearby, the one that appeared when the Dancer had been brought down, that way all three of them would have their energy for whatever was standing between them and their last target, even though he did have to wonder if there were any other powerful foes to take down before the path brought the three of them to where the final Lord of Cinder, or the rebellious Lord of Cinder, had to be resting, and once that was done they would be able to bring this quest of theirs to a end, before Tirek put his plan into action at long last.

Corruption in the Castle Gardens

Once Tirek was done resting by the bonfire, which only took a few moments since the magic of the device was potent and acted quickly, he got up from where he and the others were resting and headed for the metallic ladder that had dropped into the area that the old lady had been sitting in earlier, before he stabbed her, which was followed by Sarana and Martok doing the same thing as they readied themselves for whatever was ahead of them, even though Tirek was sure that both of his companions had a better idea of what this castle would throw their way. He was still surprised that a statue would be designed to cut its neck open, especially since there were two nearby that held decapitated stone heads in their hands, though for right now he really didn't care about the statues as he climbed up the ladder that would allow them to reach the area that was above where the old lady had been sitting, something that seemed like a wooden walkway that had to lead to part of the castle, something that Sarana could help him with this time around. At the top of the ladder he found a balcony that seemed to look down at the area that they had been standing in earlier, and where they had faced the Dancer back in the early stages of their quest to hunt down the Lords of Cinder, before he noticed that there were three walkways for them to pick from, one that headed to their right and didn't seem to go anywhere due to it hitting a dead end, another that seemed to lead right into a chamber that seemed to be the correct path forward, as Tirek was sure there was one of the Lothric knights in the area, and the path to their left appeared to lead outside, to an area they hadn't explored yet and might lead somewhere interesting.

"So, Sarana, which path should we take?" Tirek inquired, asking the moment she and Martok reached the area that he was standing in, giving her a few seconds to study the area that they had discovered, mostly so she could get a sense for the area of the castle they were in, though at the same time he kept his attention on the path that would take them to the lone knight that he had spotted, just in the off chance it noticed them standing there and rushed over to where they were currently standing, but for now it didn't seem like it had noticed the three of them yet.

"It depends on what you want to explore," Sarana admitted, though even as she said that statement she glanced over to the path on their left, the one that headed outside the church building that they had been called to by the spirit of the old High Priestess, showing Tirek something interesting, that while she knew that he wanted to find the last Lord of Cinder and bring his quest to an end, and then put his plan into motion at long last, she seemed to be focused on something else at the moment and that something had to be in the direction she was looking in, "based on what I remember, the path in front of us should take us right to the part of the castle that allows the Twin Princes, or whoever the ruler of the castle is, to look out over the land that surrounds the city, while the path to our left should take us to Oceiros' garden, which is the area that the previous King could be found in whenever he wasn't busy ruling the city. So take your pick, we can either go explore the gardens of the previous King or we can follow the main path and hunt down the Twin Princes, I honestly don't care which path you decide to take."

"The Princes can wait, because if one of them is strong enough to become a Lord of Cinder, even if the one in question abandoned their duties, their father has to be powerful as well," Tirek remarked, because he had to admit that the sheer possibility of there being another powerful being resting in the area of the Twin Princes were hiding in, even if they were only interested in one of them, excited him and it could either empower him further, to prepare for the final battle before his plan went into motion, or he might have found a soul that could be useful for him, though even as he said that it did look like Sarana seemed pleased with his decision, or at least that was what he understood by her body language that he had learned since this quest had started.

Sarana nodded her head to show that she understood what Tirek was saying, while Martok seemed indifferent to what they were talking about, which was followed by them heading towards the path on their left and climbed the short bit of stairs as it lead them out to a balcony of sorts that had a door nearby, no doubt locked due to it being a shortcut for a later part of this area, a short winding path that seemed to lead towards a circular tower, and a garden that appeared to be twisted by the sinister darkness that they had seen in the past. At the end of the path that they were following, which would bring them to the tower in question and Tirek was sure one of the elevators was located inside it, was one of the knights from the Cathedral of the Deep, the ones that carried either a greatsword or a mace and large shield, and based on what he was seeing this appeared to be the latter of the two, even though this time around he was more experienced in the art of fighting powerful enemies and knew that such a foe really didn't stand much of a chance this time around, not with his power and the skills that his companions possessed. As such Tirek didn't even bother to head down to the area the knight was standing in, where Martok stepped forward and parried the incoming attack with his greatsword, where he was able to repel the incoming blow that the cathedral knight was sending his way and then twisted his blade so he could cut into his foe's armor, causing the knight to stagger for a moment as he fell to a knee and dropped his weapons, which was when he took his foe's head clean off and let the helmet roll to the side as the body crumpled to the floor, allowing both Tirek and Sarana to rejoin him, even though the former was focusing on all of the corruption that was in this garden and what element would be perfect for this place. As they walked down the stairs Sarana found one of the lost souls that they would be adding to their collection, which is what she did, before they regrouped with Martok and entered the tower that was at the end of the path, something that was followed by the three of them stepping into the more elegant elevator they discovered inside the structure, one Tirek knew how to descend into the corrupted area he had been staring at while Martok faced the cathedral knight.

As soon as all three of them were in the elevator Sarana tapped the button in the middle of it and let it descend down towards the area that was Tirek's current destination, though as they did that Sarana leapt out onto a walkway, almost as if she had seen something that was useful, before the lift came to a stop in what appeared to be an area that reminded Tirek of Farron Keep, the swamp to be exact, which was why he focused on channeling his Fire based magic this time around as Sarana rejoined him and Martok, revealing that she had found another Estus Flask shard, which they would use when they went back to the blacksmith. What Tirek discovered in the area that was beyond where the elevator rested was a structure that seemed to have four sets of stairs leading to the platform that rested above the corruption, and beyond that had to be the area that would take them to where the King was resting, according to what Sarana told him, and he was positive that the elegant structure that was to their right had to circle back to the locked door he had seen a few moments ago, but as he considered what was in front of them he stepped forward and touched the corruption that was in front of them as he focused on the task he had set for him and his companions earlier. Based on what he was feeling it did appear that they were in a place that was similar to the poisoned swamp that was known as Farron Keep, though at the same time he found that there were a few of the dark snake-like enemies he and Sarana had seen back at the start of this quest, as in the ones who exploded out of their enemies and seemed to control their bodies, where he recalled Sarana calling them the 'Pus of Man' or something, not that he ultimately cared what their official name was. The only thing he cared about right now was the fact that the pus snakes were weak to his Fire type spells, something that he recalled from the first couple he and Sarana had faced, which was why he hurled a Fire Orb right into the face of the first foe that was in front of them and blasted it backwards into the ground, though while the ones that were in the corrupted garden were far stronger than the first ones he had faced, from what he could see, as a single blast from that spell didn't kill it outright, but that was fine as Sarana and Martok rushed forward and cut it down before it could lash out at them.

From there they headed for the raised section of the area, where the cathedral knight was standing, because it would give them an idea of what was in the corrupted garden and let them plan out what they were going to do next, though as Martok stepped forward to deal with the knight in question, who carried a mace and shield, Tirek and Sarana focused on the pair of pus snakes that happened to be wandering the area between them and the large structure that seemed to be where the King might be, not to mention the fact that one of them was near the structure that would likely give them the shortcut Tirek had spotted earlier. As such he channeled his power for a few seconds and hurled a pair of Fire Orbs at his targets, blasting the pus snakes in the sides of their bodies and knocking them to the ground, where Sarana rushed out to where they were resting and used her daggers to end their lives in a matter of seconds, meaning she was able to clear the area between them and the structure that Tirek was interested in, before Martok stepped up to where Tirek was standing and indicated that he had beaten the knight, clearing out the middle section of the area for them. Before they moved out of the area they were in, and headed for the side path to unlock the shortcut, Sarana dipped under the platform for a few moments and returned with another suit of armor, one that seemed to belong to someone who cared more about stealth than anything else, but since none of them really had any need for it, especially since she liked the Dancer's attire and had no plans on changing anytime soon, it was stuffed into their packs and they headed for the building that was to their right, just to see if Tirek's thoughts on the matter were correct about the shortcut being tied to it. When they stepped into the building it was easy to find some stairs that lead up to an elevator, to which the three of them stepped into it and pushed the button as soon as they were ready, where they spotted a pathway just above the area that served as the entrance for this particular building, so instead of investigating it they decided they would check it out on their way back, because once they unlocked the shortcut they would be making their way back to the main structure.

Once the elevator came to a stop the group moved out through the opening that was in front of them, which let them walk over a short walkway so they could reach the area Tirek wanted to explore, before they stepped through an opening and entered a large area that seemed to lead right to the locked door they had seen earlier, though there were a few of the slaves that they had seen back in the Undead Settlement, the ones that crouched close to the ground and wore next to nothing except their hats, and maybe some clothing from time to time. What happened was that Tirek used a small bit of his power to knock the slaves off the walls that they were climbing on, leaving them for Sarana and Martok to cut down as they moved up the stairs and explored the small levels of this area, though for the most part there wasn't much in this area for them to worry about, especially when he spotted a pair of priests that seemed to be praying, either for the couple of slaves that were being killed or for the King that was lurking in the main building they would be heading to as soon as the shortcut was opened. A quick Fire Orb knocked the pair of priests to the side and allowed his companions to put them down, before the priests had a chance to get back up and cast whatever spell they had been preparing, though once the area was cleared of enemies Tirek walked up to the locked door and pulled the bolt that was in front of him out of the way in a matter of seconds, where he pushed open the door and revealed the path that was near the opening that would take them back into the church, meaning it was a shortcut like he had originally thought. As soon as that was open, despite the fact that he knew it wasn't totally necessary given their experience with most of the powerful creatures of this world, Tirek turned around and headed back towards the lift that had brought them up here, though as the three of them started to ride it down towards the bottom level they jumped off and landed on the walkway that they had spotted earlier, since it might have something important for them to collect.

What Tirek found was a ring that had what appeared to be a dragon scale set in the place that a gemstone of some kind would normally rest in, though Sarana informed him that this was one of King Oceiros' rings, one that, according to all the rumors she had heard, supposedly protected the King from backstabs and usually lead to the death of any assassin that was send to end the King's life, though since it was out here, and not with the one that wore it all the time, she knew it would be easier for them to kill Oceiros and take his power for whatever Tirek was planning. With the ring in hand Sarana walked passed where Tirek was standing and found one of the priests resting near a ledge that would allow them to drop down into the courtyard of the structure that happened to be their destination, where she stabbed it in the back and then, before it had a chance to defend itself, silenced it by removing its head, something that was rather impressive when he considered what she had done in the past, but once the priest was dead the three of them jumped over the ledge that was in front of them and focused on the pair of cathedral knights that were guarding the area. Martok held up a hand, almost as if he was saying that he was going to deal with the pair of greatsword wielding knights that were in their way, though the interesting thing about what Tirek watched was that the knight that was guarding the stairs that had to lead down to where King Oceiros was resting stood still while the one that was off on the left side of the area, coming from the entrance that they had ignored, removed itself from the area it happened to be standing in and marched over to the middle of the area, which happened to be where Martok came to a stop as he faced his foe. As it turned out what Tirek had seen over the course of their quest was repeated before his eyes, as Martok used his own weapon to parry the incoming attacks as he stared at his foe, where Tirek was tempted to believe that the warrior was actually smarter than he let on and preferred what he had shown in the past, though it didn't take him long to cut down the first knight and then repeated the motion on the second knight, opening the way for them to invade the area that King Oceiros was hiding in.

As they walked down the stairs, however, Tirek heard what appeared to be something crying, something that almost sounded like a dragon that was in pain about something, though as they passed through the Fog Door that was in front of them, at the end of the downward set of stairs, they discovered that the area their target might be hiding in was a massive chamber that reminded them of Yhorm's domain, only slightly smaller, before noticing the large beast that happened to be resting in the middle of the chamber, one that looked like a dragon that might be missing all its scales, though right now it was sitting in a stance that seemed to be more like what he and the others did whenever they sat at a bonfire, as if it was a human turned dragon or something.

"Ah, you ignorant slaves... you've finally taken notice, haven'y you? Of the power of my beloved Ocelotte, my child of dragons." the creature said, where Tirek glanced over to Sarana for a moment and gave her a look that was basically him asking if this was King Oceiros, who appeared to have been consumed by something and might have been driven mad at some point in the past, though that was followed by his companion nodding her head to show that this was their target, despite his odd appearance, before he noticed that the translucent beast was turning to look in their direction, all while picking up a crystalline staff of some kind, "Well, I will not give him up, for he is all that I have left."

"Ocelotte?" Tirek inquired, figuring that he might as well ask the question before the battle started, though even as he said that he could tell that the former King seemed to be getting ready for a fight, something that was mimicked by Martok and Sarana as a few seconds ticked by, showing him that everyone was preparing for the other side to make the first move while he was focused on learning more about what their target had said, even though he made sure that bits of lightning danced around his arms, due to the fact that dragons were weak to the element.

"The youngest child of the King and Queen, younger than Princes Lothric and Lorian," Sarana replied, though this time around Tirek was sure that there was something between his companion and the King, not to mention the Twin Princes he was targeting, though he kept the idea to himself as he prepared himself as well, as he filed away the information on there being another member of the royal family that either needed to be taken down or removed at some point in time, though that was when Oceiros fully faced them and held his left hand near his chest, like he was holding something that wasn't there at all, which could confirm the fact that he had gone mad.

What happened next, and started the battle between them and the Consumed King, as Tirek was going to call him for the foreseeable future, was that Tirek hurled a Lightning Spear through the air and struck Oceiros in the chest, causing the translucent dragon to stagger for a moment as Sarana and Martok rushed to the sides so they could get into position for whatever was going to happen next, which was when Oceiros charged at Tirek and swung his staff at him, instead of using his magic against him, though he dodged the attack that was coming at him. Of course that was when Oceiros stabbed the base of his staff into the ground and summoned a circular field of crystals around him, something that the three of them avoided by jumping backwards, though the crystals didn't last all that long and broke after a few moments, something that was followed by Martok charging in and swinging at the dragon's legs for a few seconds, but it was Sarana who lashed out at the beast's head by running up its back so she could do that. That was another moment that told Tirek that Sarana had to be mad at the royal family, or maybe just the King himself, based on the fact that her swings seemed like they were a tad bit angry, or maybe he was misreading the situation and there was nothing different between her and the royal family, but at least she was able to deal some damage to Oceiros' head before she jumped off of their foe and landed near Tirek, where the three of them stared at the Consumed King as he tried to regain himself. As that happened Oceiros turned and swung his staff downwards at the area that they were standing in, where the trio separated from each other and let the head of the weapon hit the area they had previously been in, though as the Consumed King shifted his stance, so he could lash out at them again, Sarana let Martok launch her at their foe and cut into his face as she flew passed it, something that was followed by Martok hacking into the outstretched arm that held the staff, while at the same time Tirek lashed out with his magic and struck their foe in the chest with a pair of Lightning Spears, causing him to stagger again, just like what had happened when the battle started.

While they were doing that something interesting happened, Oceiros started to call out to Ocelotte, the missing child since it appeared that the youngest child of the royal family was missing, though that weakness allowed Tirek and both of his companions to lash out at the Consumed King, pushing him backwards as their attacks struck him several times, but due to the fact that Oceiros was a dragon it was clear that it was going to take them some time to bring him down and see if there was anything else in this area for them to see before they headed for the main path that lead into the castle and would allow them to find the Twin Princes. As they did that Oceiros lashed out with his rather thin whip-like tail and missed Tirek by a few inches, either due to the fact that he wasn't familiar with this body or due to the fact that Tirek had dodged the attack before it had struck him, though he was just fine with what was happening as he lashed out with another pair of Lightning Spears and struck the dragon in the chest, determining that as long as he didn't revert to standing on four legs, like the rest of the dragons of this world, it would be rather easy for him and his companions to bring him down. Sarana and Martok understood what Tirek's plan was and lashed out at the Consumed King while he tried to strike them down with his staff or with his crystal attacks, where the latter appeared to be stuck with creating a field of crystals around him so he could keep them away from them for a few moments, even though that allowed Martok to pull his greatsword back and hurl Sarana through the air so she could cut into their foe while he was distracted, bringing them even closer to the end of this fight every time they did that technique. Oceiros even added a tactic that involved him jumping into the air for a few seconds so he could bring his weapon down on whatever he was targeting, something that was rather easy to avoid as the group discovered, especially since it was easy to read everything he tried to do, though at the same time they made sure not to be overconfident, since messing up would lead to their foe gaining the upper hand and would have Tirek pull out the stone he had created from Aldrich's soul, just to get them back on track.

When Sarana struck Oceiros' head again, however, the dragon let out a roar of rage as he screamed Ocelotte's name and then, in what was an act of madness, smashed whatever he thought he was holding in his left hand into the ground in front of him and even discarded his large staff as he assumed a more dragon-like stance as his arms touched the stone he was standing on and growled like a beast, before the Consumed King lashed out with his claws as he quickly spun around, trying to catch them with either his claws or his tail. This time around Tirek could tell that Oceiros' attacks were stronger than what he had been using earlier, since it appeared that he had switched from using magic to using the power of a true dragon against them, even if he was more like a fake dragon, though as he rushed around the chamber they were fighting in it was easy to tell that his madness had opened a number of weaknesses for the group to exploit, such as Tirek moving to the side so he could blast Oceiros in the side with a barrage of Lightning Spears. As it turned out either the madness was making their foe consider some terrible decisions as their fight progressed or the pain from the attacks pushed him to rush forward, instead of being blasted to the side by his spell, though that didn't stop Sarana and Martok lashed out at the Consumed King before he smacked them into the walls that formed the chamber, though when he smashed his head into one of the walls near the entrance that opened the way for them to lash out at the dragon's exposed limbs so they could deliver some additional damage to him. From that point it appeared that Oceiros was fighting more like a wild beast and less like how he had been fighting when they first entered this chamber, especially since he smashed one of the pillars as he rushed around the area that was around them, something that included seemingly ignoring them while he smashed the area that was around them with no regard for the fact that if he did enough damage he'd bring down the ceiling on all of them and crush them, even if Tirek was planning on using the Space Stone if such a thing happened.

It was in the following moments, as Martok smacked their foe with his greatsword and Tirek blasted him with another barrage of Lightning Spears that caused Oceiros to stagger once more, that Sarana jumped onto the dragon's back, where she started at the tail and rushed up the Consumed King's back, where she swung her blades at his back and cut into his flesh rather easily, so much so that Tirek held a hand out to make sure Martok didn't get involved in this fight, before she reached the top of the head and paused for a moment, as if she was thinking about something.

"King Oceiros, you're unwanted servant has returned, just like I said I would... and I have only one thing to say to you at this point in time..." Sarana said, where Tirek was sure that if she had emotions her voice would be full of anger, which he could imagine after spending all this time fighting by her side, while at the same time Martok nodded his head as they watched what was going on, which was where Sarana switched the grip on her weapons and drove them right into the top of the dragon's skull, driving them right into Oceiros' brain, "What do you think of me now, you royal fuck!?"

Oceiros staggered as the blades pierced his head and struck his brain, where Sarana had to hold on tight as the King did that for a few seconds, before he collapsed in the middle of the entire chamber and seemed to go still as a couple of moments ticked by, something that was followed by Sarana yanking her blades out of their foe's head and rejoined Tirek and Martok as the body broke down before their eyes and swirling around a central point to create the soul that would let them either gain more power or obtain a weapon, piece of armor, or a spell to use against their future enemies... but as that happened Tirek held his hand out towards his version of the soul and made it give off an emerald green shine for a few seconds, something that seemed to resonate with the sapphire blue Space Stone.

"I see, the soul of the old King, despite its normal coloration, can be forged into a Stone of Power, as I have privately taken to calling the Space Stone," Tirek remarked, as that was fascinating to some degree, and he put some emphasis on the word 'old' when he said it, almost as if he was talking about time and not something else that the word could mean, though that was followed by something interesting, both Sarana and Martok raised their hands and let their versions of Oceiros' soul float over to where his was resting, where the magic washed over them and gave them an emerald glow as well, before he smiled as he realized what was going on, "Very well then, let's forge a second Stone of Power and add its strength to our growing arsenal."

Sarana and Martok watched as Tirek drew in both of the other versions of Oceiros' soul and made them spin around his for a few seconds, something that was followed by the three souls merging into a single entity before it was condensed into a smaller form as he worked his magic, but once the deed was done, which didn't do anything to the chamber that the three of them were standing in, they watched as an emerald gemstone, the same size as the Space Stone, appeared where the souls had been located, to which Tirek grasped it for a moment and a green magical ring wrapped around his right wrist as he did that, something that was followed by him turning towards the ruined pillar and turned his hand as if he was turning back the clock... where they watched as the ruined pillar put itself back together, like he was actually rewinding time itself, causing him to smile as he stopped messing with the restored pillar.

"A Time Stone, how interesting." Tirek stated, where he opened the pouch that he normally kept the Space Stone in and deposited the new Stone of Power inside it, before he sealed it and walked over to the new bonfire so he could light it, even though he was joined by the others a few seconds later, causing him to turn towards them and showed the pair the smile that was on his face, as he was very pleased with what they had discovered, "I would say that exploring this area was worth the time and effort, and now I'm curious if there's more for us to find beyond the area the Consumed King had fled to when he decided to become a dragon."

Sarana and Martok said nothing to that, which Tirek had been expecting based on what he had seen in the past, so he remained silent as he considered what else they might find as they explored the dark depths of the castle, since there had to be more for them to discover before the three of them headed up to the main part of the castle and started the hunt for the Twin Princes, so they could bring their quest to an end and see what happened when he usurped the Flame that everyone was talking about.

Secrets in the Darkness

"Okay, let us see what else is hidden beneath the castle's foundations," Tirek stated, because he, Sarana, and Martok only needed a moment or two to rest and recover from their battle with Oceiros, the Consumed King of Lothric Castle, as none of them had been weakened by the previous fight, despite their foe's best attempts, though as he said that he noticed that both of his companions nodded their heads, showing that they understood what he was saying, to which the three of them got up and headed for the locked door that was near where the bonfire had been resting.

One thing that Tirek noticed was that the door in question appeared to be a heavy stone of some kind and it had what he guessed was some of the ancient writing of this world on its surface, though since he didn't care about it, and Sarana had no idea what had been written on the door, Tirek nodded his head and Martok pressed his hands on both sides of the door, pushing it open with all of his might, like some of the other doors they had opened since this quest began, which revealed a passage of some kind that lead to whatever secrets the mad King had been guarding, even though he knew that Sarana would say he wasn't guarding anything. The passage had a set of stairs that they walked down without wasting any time, though that was when the three of them noticed that there were a few dead bodies that happened to be lining the way forward, only they seemed to be the serpent knights from the mountain temple Tirek had opened the way to with his Space Stone while he and his companions were hunting down Yhorm, who seemed to be the weakest of the Lords of Cinder, which only made him wonder if they might discover something interesting down here, one that was linked with the area that he did want to explore at some point before the end of this quest. While the three of them followed the path that was in front of them they made sure to keep their eyes open for any hidden enemies that might be waiting for them, because despite the fact that all of the serpent knights appeared to be dead they knew looks could be deceiving, especially in this world, and that there could be some living enemies for them to fight as Tirek had them delve deeper into the depths of the castle's foundations, all so they could find whatever secrets the royal family had left behind, though once they were done in this area he knew they would head back to their main objective at long last.

As it turned out there happened to be one of the serpent knights wandering around after they turned around a short corner that was in front of them, though it appeared that the creature had no idea that the three of them were even there, which was rather odd since Tirek was sure that it was a guardian of some kind and figured that it would be more wary of what was around it, though he said nothing as Sarana rushed forward and cut the serpent knight's neck with one swift slash of her weapons, opening the way for them to move towards the area it was guarding.

"After seeing what they did outside that temple, I was sure this one would have attacked us on sight," Sarana said, as she had been expecting the serpent knight to attack the three of them when it noticed them, but that had to mean that its eyesight had to be gone or something, though she knew that Tirek didn't care about whatever the creature had been up to as they walked beyond the area it had been guarding and walked into the chamber that happened to be in front of them, just so she and Martok could satisfy Tirek's curiosity.

The chamber, as they discovered, was of a decent size and the walls appeared to be made from fragments of stone tablets, or possibly whole tablets that were put into slots, though while Tirek couldn't read the language that was on them he did notice the large chalice that happened to be resting in front of them and spotted a corpse that happened to be right in front of it, assuming a meditation stance that seemed important in some manner, but he allowed Sarana to loot the chest that was off to their left as he climbed the stairs that were behind the chalice. From what he could tell this area did seem to be designed like a dead end, one that would cause adventurers and the other Unkindled to turn around and leave the area, almost like there was something hidden in this area, hence the reason he walked over the lone chest that was in front of him and approached the wall that was opposite of the entrance, where Tirek tapped the wall for a moment and his magic rolled over it, causing the illusion to break apart before his eyes and revealed a short passage that seemed to lead outside. Tirek grinned for a moment as he walked through the passage and came to a stop when he reached the end of the path, where he was joined by Sarana and Martok a few moments later, though that was the moment that he noticed a very familiar area that happened to be in front of them, as it looked a lot like the Cemetery of Ash that he had appeared in some time ago, at the start of this quest, only it was totally dark out, like the Flame had been snuffed out and the Age of Dark had risen in this area, either showing them an alternate world if no one attempted to Link the Flame, which was bleak as they stared at the darkened area, or it could be showing Tirek that they had failed, where he was willing to believe that the former was correct and that this was an alternate reality of some kind. From there he jumped into the air and started to slide down the short cliff side that was in front of where the end of the passage had been located, something that was followed by Sarana and Martok doing the same thing, even though Tirek found that there was some light being given off so they could see the path that was in front of them, though not enough to light the entire world, but once the three of them were back together they walked forward and carefully explored the area they had discovered.

The first thing the group found was a bonfire that would save their progress in this version of the Cemetery of Ash, where there hadn't been one in the original cemetery and that meant the bonfire Tirek and Sarana had first rested at, the one that allowed him to learn about these things, would likely be gone, though once it was lit the three of them moved forward and headed up to the fork in the path, where the path to their left seemed to head to where he had arrived in a long time ago while the path on their right seemed to be the one that would lead them to where the first powerful foe had been found. Along the way Sarana picked up one of the shriving stones that they just stuffed into their pack and left alone, but when they reached the fork in the path they decided to see if there was anything interesting for them to collect down to their left, something that allowed them to see that there were four corvians standing around a coffin and none of them seemed to even notice them, or if they did it didn't seem like they cared all that much, which was why Tirek used a few Fire Orbs and knocked all four of their foes backwards, something that allowed Sarana and Martok to rush forward and cut into their foes, eliminating them in a matter of seconds. What Tirek found was that three of the corvians had been carrying scythes, just like the one he had taken from them some time ago, while the main one was a sorcerer of some kind, before he found a ring that seemed like it would increase the power of one of the flasks they had access to, so he pocketed it and they returned to the main path, something that allowed them to head into the area that they found their first flask in at the start of their journey, though now that they confirmed that there were enemies in this area all three of them kept their guard up as they waited to see what else was in this area. One thing that was interesting was that there happened to be a lost soul near the stone chalice that was in the center of this area, yet another one that Tirek collected for their collection, before he found that the enemies of this area happened to be the grave wardens from the outside area of the Cathedral of the Deep, or at least there were two or three of them in this area, though they were joined by the dogs that seemed like they were totally dead, something that caused Tirek to hurl a number of Fire Orbs out into the area they were fighting in and blasted their foes backwards.

Once he knocked their enemies around with his spells, even if he only did it for a few seconds and limited his power in the process, he let Sarana and Martok clear them out with a few swings of their weapons as he explored the side path that was near where some of the dogs had been resting, which would have taken them to where a large crystalline lizard had been located back in the Cemetery of Ash, though as he entered the side area in question he found two of those creatures hanging out near the back rock wall of the area, but since they didn't seem interested in him he turned around and left the pair alone, mostly due to the fact that he could likely assert his dominance later, once he had cleared this area out, after he and his companions investigated this twisted area. From there he returned to where Sarana and Martok were standing and they headed through the opening that had lead them to the first bonfire they had used in the past, but as they walked up the hill in question, so they could see the darkened area that was out in front of them, Tirek felt the change in the air and watched as an Invader, a lady that was carrying a staff, appeared near where the first bonfire had been located, as if she was trying to stop them from getting to the area that was off in the distance, which appeared to be a darkened version of the Shrine. Interestingly enough their foe was using crystal versions of several of the spells Tirek had used over the course of his quest through this world, as in she sent out a burst of crystals into the air that rained down on the area they were standing in, summoned crystal spheres that would fire out at them, and loosed a burst of magic that was surrounded by crystals at them, though for the most part Tirek used his magic to parry the attacks as he opened the way for both of his companions to get close to their foe. He had to admit that this Invader had some decent strength, but she was nothing in comparison to some of the enemies that they had fought since this quest started, especially when he considered what had happened when he fought Aldrich or Elfriede, so it was rather easy for them to bypass their foe's defenses and Sarana scored a few good hits on the lady, who, in an odd decision, actually threw herself over the ledge to get away from them, which was hilarious when Tirek considered everything.

From that point forward the group followed the path that was between the area the odd Invader had appeared in and the structure Tirek had faced his first powerful creature in, though as they did that the weaker wardens that had been the first enemies they had encountered appeared in their path once more, where Sarana and Martok lashed out at their foes while Tirek kept his magic at the ready, cutting them down as they moved towards their destination, even though that did give them some decently sized souls in the process, something that stopped when they reached the opening and found that Gundyr was in this area, only he seemed slightly different this time around.

"Ah, it appears that we have found another version of Iudex Gundyr to fight," Tirek remarked, though even as he said that their foe shifted for a moment and rose from the area that he had been kneeling in, for however long he had been in this area, and gripped the halberd that was his weapon of choice, while at the same time Sarana drew her blades and held them at the ready while Martok readied his greatsword, where he debated which element he should use this time around, as he had no idea which one their foe was weak against, before he shrugged for a moment, "Very well then, let's remove him and see what's in the dark Shrine that he's guarding."

It was in that moment that Martok ran forward and drew the attention of their foe, where he rolled out of the way and let the head of the halberd hit the area that he had been standing in a few moments ago, before lashing out with his own greatsword as he tried to cut into Gundyr's chest, where it seemed like he he did some decent damage despite the fact that it didn't pierce the armor and it was followed by their foe kicking him in the chest, knocking him backwards a tiny bit as Sarana moved into the area and hacked into his back for a few seconds. As that happened Tirek moved to the side and loosed a Fire Orb right into Gundyr's chest, where it looked like it didn't do a lot of damage and that meant their foe wasn't weak to his Fire based spells, though he moved out of the way so he could avoid being crushed by the elbow bash that was aimed at his face, showing him that their foe had more attacks in store for them and that they had to be careful, which he was fine with since this was how they tackled the foes they had faced so far. That especially came true when Gundyr took a moment and jumped into the air, where he seemed to pause for a few seconds before rushing down to the area that Sarana was standing in, who rolled out of the way as their foe crashed into the ground and had to yank his weapon out of the hole he had created, though it was that opening that allowed them to lash out at him, even though this time Tirek took a moment to gather his magic and hurled a shadowy sphere of energy that slammed into his foe's back, which did nothing this time around, meaning Gundyr was resistant to Dark based spells, something that he wasn't okay with but would have to accept as his companions got away from their enemy. Based on that Tirek realized that Fire only did a decent amount of damage and Dark did nothing, leaving him with Ice and Lightning based spells, which was when he gathered his magic for a few seconds, even if he had to move so he could avoid the incoming halberd bash that was coming his way, where it was easy to see that this version of Gundyr was more aggressive than the other one they had faced, so it was a good thing he seemed to be switching between the three of them, because Tirek was a little concerned that if Gundyr focused on one of them it would be bad for the individual in question.

The Ice Burst that Tirek fired a few moments later seemed to slow down Gundyr's movements for a few seconds, as if he was weak to the element in question, though to be on the safe side Tirek also channeled a Lightning Spear and sent it flying into their foe's chest, which did seem to leave a lightning mark on his chest and caused him to stagger, meaning that Tirek might have discovered something interesting, their foe was weak to two of the four elements that happened to exist in this world and it gave him multiple spells that he could use against Gundyr.

One thing they had to be worried about was the powerful swings that came from when he used his halberd against either them or the surrounding area, especially since when he used the latter he pulled his weapon free and the pieces of rock rushed outwards like projectiles so he could hit whoever he was targeting, and there was the fact that their foe could slam the base of his weapon into the ground near his armored feet, something that created a small shockwave of sorts to knock back whoever was near him and open their defenses so he could swing at them. Gundyr even seemed to enrage after some time, or at least that was what Tirek assumed when he noticed the sinister red glow that suddenly appeared in the warrior's eyes, which was the moment that Martok switched to attacking their foe once whenever he dodged an attack, as it seemed like Gundry lashed out with a kick whenever he did that attack and both Tirek and Sarana followed his lead when it was their turn to engage their foe, because he was a dangerous opponent and they needed to be careful, due to the fact that Tirek almost believed that they were fighting the version of Gundyr that was in his prime, instead of what he and Sarana had faced in the past. As they did that, however, Tirek made sure to apply as much pressure as he could with his magic, switching from blasting Gundyr with his Ice Burst and Ice Hail, so he could slow their foe down and open a few holes in his defenses, and hurling Bolts of Lightning and Lightning Spears at his back whenever Gundyr turned to swing at either of his companions, something that worked to their benefit and was incorporated into their pattern without delay, as it would allow them to turn the tide against their foe. Gundyr staggered for a moment while the barrage of attacks hit him, even though it didn't appear like he was actually taking all that much damage, and continued to lash out at whoever was the closest to him, but Tirek quickly noticed that they were actually turning things in their favor as he blasted their foe right in the back and allowed his companions to lash out at him without wasting time, cutting into his arms and legs while also aiming a few swings at his chest, to maximize the damage they were dealing to him, before their foe collapsed before their eyes and broke apart, the energy transforming into a soul of power.

With Gundyr defeated Tirek, Sarana, and Martok watched as a bonfire appeared nearby and they lit it, allowing them to rest for a few seconds and regain any energy they had spent on the fight, even though Martok walked over to an area that was near the entrance of this area and returned to where Tirek was sitting, revealing what appeared to be a spear of some kind, a glaive to be exact, something that they added to their pack before facing the door that Gundyr had been in the middle of guarding, because Tirek was interested in what was on the other side of it. While they walked over to the large metallic door that would take them to the darkened Shrine, and Martok pressed his hands against the door, Sarana informed him that the glaive was a weapon of the Black Knights, an ancient group of warriors that wandered the land and fought demons, something that was interesting given the fact that they had seen what was potentially the last demon in the depths of Smoldering Lake, but that was the moment Martok opened the door and they stepped through it, finding a path that would take them straight to the Shrine that was their destination, an identical one to what they had seen when they walked up to their main base of operations. As they stepped through the opening Martok had created, however, that was the moment that Tirek spotted a knight in black armor, one that reminded him of the one they had seen in the same area he had seen the last demon in, like a blackened version of the knights that guarded Anor Londo, though while the one that was in front of them had a shield and an axe while a second one, who was closer to the entrance of the Shrine, had a greatsword in place of the axe, but Tirek was sure that there were one or two more knights guarding the area that they were investigating. Based on what he had seen of the silver knights, who had been rather powerful in their own right despite the fact that they had dominated them, it was easy to tell that these knights would be a pain if they started to fight him and his companions, even though he knew his magic would wipe them out if he decided to do so, though that was the moment he weaved his magic through the air and tried something he hadn't attempted yet, where he shielded them from the foes' sight and they seemed to vanish, as this was an Invisibility spell, one that hid them from the knights so they could walk forward without getting into a fight.

Of course they had to be careful, as the knights did stop when they heard Martok walking due to the heavy nature of the armor he was wearing, though that fact was perfect for Tirek and Sarana to slip into the area that the entrance was in and waited for Martok to join them, and once he managed to make it passed the knights, how Tirek would be questioning for some time, the group walked down the steps and discovered that this Shrine was truly a darker version of the one they were used to, which made sense given what they had seen outside the building, before they noticed that no one was here, as in Ludleth, the crestfallen knight, and everyone else seemed to be gone... until they walked down to where the bonfire had been in the main Shrine and found that one person was here, the Handmaiden that sat in the chair.

"Well, would you look at that deary, a group of lost lambs have wandered into this shrine, without a peep or sound from the bell." the Handmaiden commented, where Tirek was sure that the 'deary' part of her comment was her talking to herself and not to one of them, which was perfectly fine since there was no telling how long she had been sitting here with no one to talk to, so it was possible that she had gone mental at some point, before she tilted her head as she sighed for a few seconds, "Well, you should know of my purpose, if you've come here without the bell sounding at all. What can this old handmaid provide the three of you with?"

"I require nothing, though my companions might say otherwise," Tirek replied, because he really had no desire to talk to the Handmaiden, while at the same time it was possible that Sarana and Martok might check out what she had, just to see if there was anything they might need for the future, though that was followed by him glancing at the area they were in as he kept his eye open for anything that might be useful, where the first thing he did was head for the area that the bonfire was located in, or at least in the main Shrine anyway.

Tirek really didn't find anything near the center of the darkened Shrine, save for a fragment of the coiled sword that he and Sarana had pulled out of Iudex Gundyr's chest when they entered the area he was guarding, though as he checked it out he came to the conclusion that the blade had a bit of power to it, something that seemed similar to the homeward bones he and the others had picked up over the course of their quest, meaning it likely had the same function and would return whoever used it to the last bonfire they had used, which was irrelevant thanks to his Space Stone. Even so he made sure to slip it inside his pack, since he knew his companions, or at least Sarana, would want to take some stock of what the three of them found in this darkened Shrine, even if he was sure there wasn't a lot in this place, though once he did that Tirek continued to explore the rest of the structure as both of his companions finished speaking with the Handmaiden, as he could see Martok heading for the area the blacksmith was usually in and Sarana seemed to head for the empty thrones for some odd reason. As Tirek carefully explored the lower area of the Shrine, where all of individuals they had recruited were resting in the main Shrine, he noticed that there was no one else in this version of the Shrine, and what he found was that there was no one in Yuria's part of the Shrine, before he considered what might be on the other side of the area and walked over to where the blind girl rested, where he paused when he spotted what appeared to be a wall that stood in his way, which he knew wasn't in the main Shrine. In that moment he raised his hand and smashed the illusory wall that was in front of him, revealing the area that the blind girl rested in, when he thought about his version of the Shrine, though in this darkened version of the world it appeared someone else called this area home, as it seemed like the Fire Keeper had been sealed away in this area, like their final resting place or something, before he noticed that her eyes had been ripped out of her head and had been stored in a small container of sorts, though there was a bit of power resting around them, almost like the Fire Keeper soul he had given their own Fire Keeper some time ago.

In that moment a thought came to his mind as he collected the eyes that were in front of him, making sure to pocket them in seconds, before he turned around and headed back to the main part of the Shrine so he could regroup with them and see if they found anything useful, which was unlikely, though it was easy to find them standing near the entrance of this Shrine and they informed him that they had acquired nothing of interest, so he reapplied the Invisibility spell and they walked back to where Champion Gundyr, as Tirek was going to call this version of Gundyr, had been resting, so they could teleport themselves back to the main Shrine.

"So, I take it you're ready to invade the castle?" Sarana inquired, speaking when they returned to the Shrine, as there was a reason Tirek had come to this place, instead of heading back to the area the Dancer had been in, and she was a little interested in seeing what that something was, especially since it seemed like there was a reason for everything Tirek did, or at least that was how it looked to her, while at the same time Martok said nothing as they returned to the Shrine and started to walk away from the bonfire, simply waiting for Tirek to tell them what was going on.

"Not yet, as there are a few things I must do first," Tirek stated, though in that moment he stopped by the Fire Keeper for a few seconds and withdrew the container he had found inside the darkened version of the Shrine, which caused both of his companions to pause for a few seconds, as they had no idea that he even had them in the first place, though as he did that he turned towards the Fire Keeper and held his hand out for a moment, "Fire Keeper, I have something for you, to help you fulfill your duty."

"Ashen One... no, Lord Tirek... are these... eyes?!" the Fire Keeper inquired, showing that, even though she seemed to be blind in some manner, that she was able to see and understand what was around her and inside those that stood right in front of her, the latter being how she tapped into one's power to turn the collected souls into power, before she bowed her head for a moment, as if she was grateful for what she had been handed, especially since she took the container from him without delay, "You honor me, my Lord, for giving me the very things that we Fire Keepers lose when we take up our role as an aide to the Unkindled of our world... however, as I hold onto their container, I must tell you that it is forbidden for a Fire Keeper to have eyes in the first place, and that these eyes reveal to me, through a silver of light, images of this world being plunged into darkness, creating a world without light, brought on by one's betrayal... is... is this the world that you want to create?"

"No, I do not wish to create such a world," Tirek replied, though while it was interesting to see that the Fire Keeper had seen a vision of the world they had just been in, or at least that was what it sounded like, he wasn't interested in creating such a place and held a hand up to stop her from saying anything else for a few moments, due to the fact that it was very possible that she would have asked him to kill her, as he needed to say something before he moved onto the next thing he had come to do, "The reason I have given you those eyes isn't for the vision they would show you, rather its more due to the fact that when I gave you the soul of the other Fire Keeper, after we killed the Abyss Watchers and before we even started our trek through the Catacombs of Carthus, your power was doubled, if not tripled, from absorbing the soul we had found at the top of this Shrine's tower, so I figured that if you took in the part of another Fire Keeper, and took in the soul as well, your power would be boosted to new heights in the process."

"Why go through the effort to do that?" Sarana asked, because she really wasn't seeing the point of Tirek boosting the power of the Fire Keeper to such heights, mostly due to the fact that the lady in question didn't fight and would certainly die if she stepped into the field of battle with the three of them, so she was hoping her new Lord had a good reason for wanting to waste time on someone like the Fire Keeper, in the sense of empowering them and not using the lost souls the three of them had collected to empower themselves for whatever the future had in store for them.

"Because of these," Tirek remarked, where he held his hand out for a moment and the pouch containing the Stones he had created earlier opened, allowing the blue and green gems to float out into the area that was above his palm as the Fire Keeper, despite her blindness since she hadn't actually put the eyes into the empty slots that her eyes had been in, as the eyes were considered the windows to one's soul based on who was asked, before he focused on what he had to say to both Sarana and the Fire Keeper, "I made these two Stones, a Space Stone and a Time Stone, from the powerful souls of two of our enemies, who shall not be named, and I have the suspicion that I might be able to make another one from yet another powerful soul, one that can manipulate the souls of this world..."

"I see... my Lord, you wish to turn my power into a weapon to use against your enemies," the Fire Keeper said, where her tone showed them that she understood what he was saying, or rather what he was implying with the words that he had said, before she raised her empty hand and removed the silver visor that was resting over the upper part of her face, where she dropped the visor and turned around for a few seconds as she fiddled with the eyes, something that caused the group to wait for a few moments, since they were curious as to what she was doing, before she turned around and faced them, allowing them to see that she had slipped the eyes into her empty sockets and could see now, "Very well, allow me to offer my empowered soul and my services to your quest, my Lord, if that is what you truly desire."

Tirek was slightly taken aback by what he was hearing, mostly due to the fact that he was expecting the Fire Keeper to be stubborn and hold her ground against what he had been suggesting, but before she got cold feet, since he was thinking that was the version of the saying in this world, Tirek weaved his magic through the air and made sure that it wrapped all over the area that the Fire Keeper was standing in, who closed her eyes as he did that, showing that she was letting him do what he had planned on doing from the moment he returned with the 'forbidden' eyes, before the Fire Keeper was quickly engulfed in a blinding light and when that faded the three of them found an orange gemstone resting in her place, which was the same size as the other two he had. With the Soul Stone complete, as that was the name he was going to give it, Tirek held a hand out and it floated over to the other to the top of his palm, where the other two rested, though instead of putting them inside his pouch, like he did after they were completed and tested, Tirek walked down the nearby stairs and headed over to the area that Yuria was standing in, as there was something he needed to retrieve from her, before he went over to the blacksmith and asked him something. Sarana and Martok followed after him, as they were curious as to what he was doing and why he needed more than two powerful Stones, though neither of them were remotely saddened by the sudden loss of the Fire Keeper, as at this point they knew that nothing really stood a chance against them or Tirek's power, especially the latter, and they weren't the only ones that felt that way, as none of the other residents of the Shrine seemed bothered by her disappearance, before they came to a stop as they found the area that Yuria was standing in, no doubt meaning there was something that Tirek needed to tell her or ask her before they moved forward and headed back to the castle that the Twin Princes were hiding in.

"My Lord, I was not expecting you to return so quickly," Yuria said, making sure to do her usual bow while she spoke, even though when she raised her head she noticed the three Stones that were floating above Tirek's hand and that was when she tilted her head for a moment, just small enough that both Tirek and Sarana noticed it, but they said nothing as they waited for her to speak, even though the latter had no idea why they were even here at the moment and would no doubt learn what that something was in the next couple of seconds, "What can I assist you with at this time?"

"I need Orbeck's ashes," Tirek stated, though as he said that he raised his other hand and their shared pack opened a few seconds later, where Sarana and Martok watched as all the crestfallen souls emerged from the pack and floated in the air around him for a few seconds, even though he was focused on what he was doing, talking to Yuria, and less on what his companions were thinking about at the moment, "After discovering the power of two of these powerful Stones, and I have a few ideas as to what the third can do, I thought about what other Stones I could create and realized that Orbeck, despite his desire to become the Lord of Hollows and usurp my position, had a rather intelligent mind and, if I combine his soul with these souls, who belonged to powerful warriors or fallen Unkindled, I can create another powerful Stone that will let me smash my way through the guardians of the castle."

Yuria stood still for a moment, apparently thinking about what she had just learned, before she nodded her head and pulled out the container that she had put Orbeck's ashes in when Tirek gave them to her earlier, which was when he took the ashes and walked out to a larger area for what he was going to do, the area that the bonfire was resting in, though as soon as he reached the area in question he tossed the container into the air and grasped the Time Stone as he activated its power, where the ashes swirled around each other as they reformed the individual in question. Yuria, who had followed him and the others up to the area that he had picked out for this motion, was likely surprised by what was going on and so was Orbeck, who had just enough time to glance down at himself before Tirek grasped him with his magic and suspended him in the air as the Time Stone died down, but that was the moment that his new Soul Stone glowed as he grasped his target's soul and the crestfallen souls that were floating around him. It was in that moment that Orbeck's soul glowed just as bright as the Fire Keeper had done when Tirek transformed her into the new Stone, where his life ended as his form was broken down into a brand new Stone and the crestfallen souls rushed forward to lend it their power, where he was merging many souls into one, just like he had done in the past, and when the light cleared there was a yellow gemstone in the place where Orbeck had been floating a few seconds ago, a brand new Mind Stone, something he would test once he and the others left this place. With that done Tirek let it float over to where the other three were floating, causing a smile to appear on his face in the process, but before he said anything he walked over to where Andre, the blacksmith, worked, because based on what he knew the blacksmith was rather skilled and that he was the only one that might have the skills to do what he was thinking, something that would allow him to truly channel the power of these Stones without having to use his magic to activate their power.

"Ah, Lord Tirek, I was wondering when you would come and talk to me," Andre commented, where he stopped what he was doing, which had been hammering a weapon back into shape even though he didn't have an actual workshop to work with, something that could be fixed based on what Tirek and his companions had seen over the course of their quest for the Lords of Cinder, and glanced at the area that he was standing in, even though he did look at the Stones that were floating near the one he was focusing on, "so, what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you could forge a special pair of gauntlets for me, one to contain and use six Stones of Power in combat, while the other is just to make a matching set," Tirek replied, something that caused his companions to tilt their heads for a moment as they listened to what he had to say on the matter, since everything he was saying was new to them and they were interested in what else he might have to say, where he shifted his hand and caused the four Stones to float over to where Andre was sitting at the moment, "the blue one contains the power of Space, the green controls Time, the orange one manipulates Souls, and the yellow one is supposed to manipulate the Mind. I would like the left gauntlet to be the one to wield the full power of these four Stones and two more that I'm thinking of making in the near future, as in a Power Stone and a Reality Stone... can you make such a weapon?"

"Hm... maybe, but not with any of the metal that I have access to," Andre stated, where he took a moment to study the four Stones that were in front of him and listened to what Tirek had to say about the powers they commanded, which was when he glanced at his own forge for a moment and realized that it wasn't large enough for what Tirek had in mind, as it was only an anvil and not much else, before he returned his gaze towards the being that was standing near him, "to make such a weapon we would need the metal of the gods, the metal that was used to create some of the strongest weapons in our world, and from what I know there are only rumors of where one can be found, in someplace known as Archdragon Peak, in the hands of a warrior called the Nameless King... and to work it I would need to take some things from the castle, to replace this workspace with a more appropriate workspace."

"Good, then go do so," Tirek said, where he pocketed the Stones that were in the air and sealed the pouch, before he turned towards his companions and Yuria, who seemed interested in what he had to say next, especially since they had no idea what he was planning this time around, even though he was focused on the bonfire and the area he had seen when he used the Space Stone to take him, Sarana, and Martok to a new place, "We'll be back as soon as we have what you need to make my gauntlets."

Tirek had no idea that the temple area they had found was Archdragon Peak, though he knew it was the area that the blacksmith was talking about because it was the only place in this world that had a number of dragons flying around it, not counting the part of Lothric that a few of them had been resting in, though as he thought about that he headed for the bonfire and readied himself, as he was sure that he, Sarana, and Martok would have to fight some skilled enemies so they could find the one he was looking for, before they resumed their main quest.

Archdragon Peak

"You know, I really didn't think we'd be coming back here," Sarana stated, though as she said that she, Tirek, and Martok appeared at the first bonfire they had found in the lit up mountainous temple area that was known as Archdragon Peak, a place that was hard to get to without the proper meditation stance and was ruled by the dragons, though it was rumored that there were cultists of some kind here, people who worshiped the dragons still, as she knew the various rumors Andre knew, before she glanced at her companions for a moment, who were staring at the part of the temple that was in front of them and were on the lookout for any enemies that might be waiting for them.

"Yes, I was willing to chalk this up to being an area we wouldn't be exploring," Tirek remarked, as he had thought there was nothing worthwhile in this place, since it was so far from where the Irithyll Dungeons were located, but after talking with Andre in the shrine he had learned of a powerful type of metal that had been forged into a weapon and was supposed to be somewhere in this odd mountain temple, in the hands of someone called the 'Nameless King', meaning all they had to do was fight their way through this area and overcome whatever obstacles were resting between them and the person that held the weapon he was after, "but, to make what I have in mind, we need to tackle whatever is guarding this place and locate the person that Andre mentioned, then we can return to our hunt for the final Lord of Cinder."

Martok, of course, maintained his silence as the three of them walked forward, even though that was where they heard the sound of a bell ringing somewhere in the temple, either due to the residents of the structure doing something that was important to them or because they knew enemies were here and wanted to warn everyone else in the temple, meaning it was likely that the three of them would have foes to fight in the near future and that was why they kept their guard up as they walked forward and headed for the gateway that lead deeper into part of the temple. As Tirek and his companions walked up the stairs that were in front of them, however, they noticed that none of the enemies that were off on their right came towards them, meaning either they didn't care that enemies were in this part of their domain or they were just being unobservant, where it was likely that the latter was correct, before they found a fallen soul to their right and one of the Titanite Chunks down the short bit of stairs to their left, something Sarana collected in the off chance they needed it later on. The stairs that were beyond where Sarana found the chunk happened to lead them up to the top of the walkway that Tirek would have walked through without much thought about a potential trap, or at least that was what his companions would have thought despite the fact that he had spotted one of the serpent brutes, the larger version of the enemies that were in this place and carried larger weapons, standing on top of the walkway, on the far right side if one was staring right at the walkway, so what he did was form a Lightning Spear and hurled it right into his target's chest, an attack that caused it to stagger before glaring down at him. The reason Tirek had done it that way was because, despite his foe's larger frame and it's large weapon, it walked down a set of stairs that were behind it and had to walk around a small corner before descending down towards the area that he was standing in, something that caused Tirek to smile as Sarana dropped down from the walkway and cut its neck open, causing the serpent brute to drop its weapon as Martok stepped out of the area he had been hiding in and drove his blade into their foe's chest.

Tirek appreciated the action, as it was an effort to make sure the serpent brute died from their combined attacks and that it didn't survive, so it could come at them from behind while they were distracted, but as soon as the foe was taken down the three of them explored the rest of the area that was in front of the massive gate, one that looked like a dragon could fly through it if they wanted to, when it was opened anyway, though that was when Sarana checked out an area to the side and found one of the serpent knights, which she cut down and returned a few seconds later with one of the rings that was shaped like a dragon's claw, which had a yellow gem inside it. Based on what he remembered these rings were designed to increase one's damage output, in terms of the element the gems were attuned to, so Lightning was the one this ring was attuned to, but at the same time the rings damaged one's ability to take damage from attackers, so it was yet another dual-edged sword that existed in this world, one that he allowed Sarana to pocket as they headed back to where the gate was located, as there wasn't much else for them to explore before they headed through the gate. In the end Tirek decided that it was time for them to move forward and that was what the three of them did, where Sarana walked over to the left side of the gate's structure and pulled the lever, which happened to be out in the open and not hidden at all, that was no doubt connected to the gate itself, something that was confirmed as the gate started to move up and opened the way for them to move forward. Once that was done they walked through the area the metallic gate had been in and took a moment to look out at the massive area they would be exploring for the foreseeable future, a massive walkway of sorts that lead up to where a bell rested, a small one to be exact, where Tirek noticed that the size of the walkway seemed to be the size that a dragon of this world would use if they were walking and not flying, though his attention was drawn to the area that was above them, what looked like a stone walkway that had large dragon statues on it, while the walkway they were currently walking on had a few humanoid statues of what he assumed was either a powerful enemy or someone who gained their respect, and his weapon was a spear of some kind.

When they reached a certain point, however, there was a roar as one of the gray scaled wyverns, this one appearing to be somewhat different than the ones that Tirek had seen on the High Wall of Lothric, emerged from an area that was just beyond the structure the small bell was attached to, where it landed on the top of the stairs and glared down at them for a few seconds, giving Tirek and his companions a chance to see that it was going to attack them, before it opened its mouth and loosed a burst of fire at them. Tirek, seeing that coming, weaved his magic through the air between them and where the fire was located, drawing on the power of the Space Stone, figuring that now was the best time to test the four Stones out, against a powerful foe that seemed rather ancient and would likely strike fear into the hearts of its enemies, where he used the Stone to create a small point in the air between them and the wyvern that the flames were drawn into, though it also created a light shield of sorts over them until either he stopped channeling the magic or the wyvern stopped trying to breath fire on them. It was in that moment that Tirek diverted part of his attention to Sarana, who was staring up at what appeared to be part of the stone walkway, a part of it that happened to be resting above the wyvern's head, before they locked eyes with each other and he nodded, showing her that he was fine with what she was planning and even used a bit of his power to hide her for a while, an Invisibility spell so she could get up the stairs and investigate the upper parts of this area without the wyvern stopping her. While they did that Martok rushed passed the flames and sliced into one of their foe's legs, since that was the only thing he could target due to the fact that the rest of its body was mostly out of his reach, but that was just fine since it forced the Ancient Wyvern, as Tirek was going to call it, to stop breathing fire and switched to trying to smash Martok with its feet, showing that it was irritated by what the warrior was doing below its body and that it was in the process of trying to remedy the situation they had forced upon it.

Once Tirek was sure that Martok was the main focus of the Ancient Wyvern's attention, which he was able to figure out after a few moments of watching them, he switched the flow of his magic for a second and loosed the flames he had collected inside the little vortex he had created when the battle started, which struck the side of the wyvern's head and caused it to roar, though he knew that such an attack wouldn't do much in the grand scheme of things, especially since he knew that the dragons and wyverns of this world were rather weak to Lightning spells and he had access to several of them, all of them powerful and would likely cause some decent damage to their foe. While all of that happened Tirek was sure that Sarana was running through the rest of the ruined area that they were fighting in, moving through the structures and crossing the bridge that was far above the opening they used to enter this area in the first place, so all he and Martok could do was distract their foe while Sarana did her thing, so he refrained from the Lightning spells for now and focused on using his Ice spells so he could slow down the Ancient Wyvern's movements to the best of his ability. From what he could tell it appeared that three of his Stones were useless in this fight, or at least two of them since he hadn't felt the need to mess with time yet, but he also didn't have much of an occasion to use the Space Stone due to the wyvern trying to smash Martok into the ground, so much so that it seemed like he was forgotten entirely, meaning that he could walk up the stairs and explore the area if he really wanted to, but he decided not to do that in the off chance it caused the wyvern to turn towards him, not that such a thing mattered since he could use the Space Stone to absorb and redirect the flames once their foe stopped attacking him. Other than what he had seen so far it appeared that this was a standard fight with a wyvern, meaning someone had to distract it while another hit it with ranged attacks, in this case his spells, even if he was sticking to his Ice type spells to slow the beast's movements to the best of his ability, though all of this was to make sure the Ancient Wyvern didn't see or hear what Sarana was doing and try to interrupt her before she was able to drop down on their foe's head.

It was in the following moments that Sarana jumped over the edge of the area that Tirek had spotted and drove both of her blades right into the Ancient Wyvern's head, where he guessed a weakness existed and could be exploited by those that knew of it, though as their foe staggered and shifted, like enough damage had been done to crush it, Tirek called out his Soul Stone for a moment and channeled its power towards the wyvern's chest, where he latched onto the creature's large and rather potent soul, something he felt would be lost if he allowed it to disappear, and used the power of his new gem to draw out what he was reaching for... something that ended up with the Ancient Wyvern disappearing in a familiar flash of light, where an amethyst, the same size as the other four gemstones, appeared.

"You and your gems are full of surprises," Sarana commented, where she dropped down into the area that their foe had been standing in, before she dropped on top of its head to be exact, and walked over to where Tirek was standing, as Martok was doing the same thing, mostly so they could join him and move deeper into the temple, as she had seen a path or two they could take if they climbed the rest of the area, before noticing that Tirek was staring at the new gemstone he had created, meaning it had to be one of the two remaining Stones he wanted to create.

"Yes, and this is a good place to test out some of their powers, before we invade the castle," Tirek remarked, though as he said that he stared at his new Power Stone, as he was sure that the purple gemstone was that particular Stone and not the Reality Stone he had thought about, because this would be a good chance to test it out and see just how strong it really was, before he weaved his magic through the air and returned his Stones of Power, of which he now had five, to the pouch he kept them inside and then turned his attention to the area that was around them.

It was in that moment that he paused for a few seconds as a golden summoning circle appeared around him, Sarana, and Martok, sort of like what happened when they took down Yhorm and were teleported to where they had found and beat down the Dancer, to which the three of them stood still as they left the area that the Ancient Wyvern had appeared in and quickly reappeared on a ledge that rested near a doorway, even though Tirek had no idea where they were, but there was a bonfire nearby and they lit it, so they could mark this area as their checkpoint, which was followed by them entering the large chamber that was beyond the doorway. On the other side of the doorway they found that the chamber had two sets of stairs leading up to the upper level, where Tirek was sure they would find the lever and lift that would take them back to the first bonfire of this temple, and there were a number of humanoid dragon statues, the same size as the one they had found on the balcony of Irithyll Dungeon, along with a statue that looked more like a slumbering dragon, despite the fact that they knew it wouldn't wake up while they were in this chamber. A few moments later Sarana and Martok took a moment to turn their attention to the other side of the structure they were inside, where another doorway rested and was currently covered by a Fog Door, though that was when a knight, who carried a greatsword and wore armor that was dark gray colored, was summoned into this area and readied himself for battle, to which Tirek turned away from it as both of his companions rushed forward to deal with their foe, as he was interesting in seeing if there was anything else they needed to worry about before they moved forward. From what Tirek could tell there was a serpent foe on the level that was above where they were standing at the moment, one who was dressed like a sorcerer, meaning he'd be calling it a serpent summoner, due to the fact that he was sure the serpent in question had summoned the knight, and that meant that if they took it down they wouldn't have to worry about more enemies in this chamber.

As he determined what to do next, however, Sarana and Martok joined him as the air near the area the drakeblood knight, his name for the knight he had seen when they walked into this area, had been summoned had magic wrapping around it, meaning that the serpent summoner was calling someone else to this area, where Tirek watched as a knight, this one wearing what he assumed was armor made out of incredibly durable rock, a shield made of the same material, and a weapon that looked like a dragon's tooth club, meaning it would be tough to take down.

"Well, that's not good, Havel, or someone wearing his armor and carrying his gear, just showed up," Sarana said, not that Tirek was surprised that she knew something about the individual that had been summoned to this chamber, even if he was expecting more Invaders and not what they were getting, before she glanced at Martok, who nodded his head for a moment as he shifted his grip on his weapon, before focusing on the knight that was watching them, no doubt waiting for them to make the first move before it attacked, "Havel the Rock was a general in Lord Gywn's army, in ancient times to be exact, and it is said that he was a steadfast and resilient man, carrying a weapon made from a dragon's tooth while at the same time donning an entire set of armor, complete with a shield, that is supposedly hewed from a large boulder, one that was large enough to give him everything we're seeing right now... I was not expecting to run into someone like this while we were here..."

"You say that like he's going to kill us," Tirek remarked, to which he held up a hand as he walked down the stairs, as he was going to have Sarana and Martok stay where they were standing as he focused on the knight that was waiting for the three of them to determine what they were going to do, even though he guessed this was Havel from what Sarana said, as he couldn't see many people trying to imitate the knight by wearing the same armor, before he weaved his magic through the air and withdrew his new Stone, "This is the perfect chance to test this Stone out."

What Tirek did was grasp the Power Stone, as in wrapped his hand around it so that the Stone rested in his palm, and felt a wave of power rush through his body, mostly centered in his right arm since he was holding it in his right hand, as he approached Havel, who started to walk towards him as he readied his weapon, though in the next few seconds Havel took the first move and swung downwards at Tirek, who sidestepped the incoming attack with ease and then swung his fist at his foe's shield, where the power of his enhanced punch smashed through the shield, crushed part of the chest armor like it was nothing, and sent Havel flying into the wall that rested behind him, something that was followed by him vanishing as Sarana, true to form, beheaded the serpent summoner that had called him to this area.

"Well, it seems that you were successful," Sarana commented, as she dropped down into the area that Tirek was in and stared at the part of the wall that Havel, or the knight that was wearing his armor, had been forced into, which now had the appearance of a crater, something that informed her of the power that was in the purple stone, especially since it looked like there was some smoke coming from his fist, though it wasn't causing him any pain from the looks of it, which could mean that his pain threshold was stronger than she originally thought.

"Yes, and now I'm even happier that we came here," Tirek stated, though as he said that he opened his fist and pulled the Power Stone out with his magic, where he studied the fact that his hand was just fine and no damage had been done to him, something that made him grin for a few seconds as he slipped the Stone back into the pouch he had withdrawn it from earlier, before he returned the pouch to where it usually rested and turned towards the stairs that would allow them to move deeper into the temple as they sought out the individual that held the item he was looking for, so he could forge the weapon that would topple everything inside the castle the Twin Princes were hiding inside.

Once he was done talking Tirek headed up the stairs with Sarana and Martok following after him, where they headed for what looked like the way forward, an opening in the upper floor of the chamber that had a locked gate in front of them, which happened to have a spear of some kind stuck between some of the square shaped bars, though as Tirek pulled it free Sarana informed him that this was the Dragonslayer Spear, a weapon of the gods that was once wielded by a warrior called Ornstein the Dragonslayer and was imbued with the power of Lightning, but it wasn't what they had come here for, otherwise that would have been too easy for them. Tirek nodded his head and tossed the weapon to Martok, who took a moment to slip it into their pack, before they headed down the rest of the stairs and discovered a tunnel that had no cover to their right, so if they were to stumble over the ledge they would be falling to their deaths, especially since there were a few serpent knights, the ones that carried curved swords and large shields, standing between them and the other side of the tunnel, so they would have to fight a few enemies before they were able to move forward. It was in the next couple of seconds that Martok slammed the tip of his greatsword down into the space between them and the first serpent knight that was in front of them, stopping the incoming attack from hitting one of them as their foe stepped out from behind one of the indents that were on the left side of the tunnel, something that was followed by Sarana cutting into their foe's neck, which had extended as it tried to bite into them like a snake would, causing it to pull itself backwards as Martok shifted his stance and cleaved the serpent knight in half. While they did that Tirek focused on the pair of serpent knights that were at the other end of the tunnel and hurled a pair of Lightning Spears through the air, where they rushed forward and avoided both of his targets' shields as they slammed into their heads, shocking both of the serpent knights and knocked them out in seconds, once more confirming that the enemies of this temple were weak to Lightning spells, though he smiled as he walked forward and kept his eye out for any additional serpent knights.

Interestingly enough there were no enemies in the other indents that the group walked by, which was fine with Tirek since it meant they didn't have to spend too much energy while they kept an eye out for enemies, though as the three of them entered the other side of the tunnel one of the dagger wielding serpent knights rushed out and tried to stab them, only to be stopped by Sarana as she parried the incoming attacks and then hacked into her foe's neck, removing its head in a matter of seconds, causing Tirek to nod as he and Martok kept their guards up. There was another one hanging out in the shadows, like it was scared of the sun or something, though as it stepped out to attack them Martok cleaved it in half, allowing them to move through the opening that was nearby and found that there was one of the larger serpent brutes waiting for them on a wooden bridge that seemed to be the way forward, so Tirek and the others jumped to the side as their foe stepped forward and swung its axe at them, where they allowed it to strike the ground and lodge itself into the stones for a few moments. That was when Martok swung his greatsword forward and hacked into part of their foe's body, cutting into the chest and knocking it away from where they were standing, driving it right into Sarana's ambush as she drove her daggers into it and forced it backwards, while at the same time Tirek slammed a Lightning Spear into a serpent knight with daggers that was hiding off to the side, knocking it off of the area that they were fighting in, as there were a few openings in the walls that rested near the wooden bridge. Once those two enemies were dealt with Sarana spotted a ladder and headed up it, to investigate it while Tirek and Martok stared at the structure that was on the other side of the wooden bridge, where Tirek noticed that there was no rails on either side of it and that it was curved a little, almost like it was damaged in some manner, but while he didn't see any enemies waiting for them Sarana joined him and Martok not a few moments later, revealing she had found a ring up on the small area that was above them, so that meant that the way forward was the bridge.

As they started to walk over the bridge, and approached the structure that was in front of them, Tirek spotted what appeared to be a ruined tower of sorts off to their right, which seemed to be attached to the walkway that they would be following once they were outside the building they were heading towards, though the claw markings made him wonder if the dragons of this area landed on it from time to time, even though he would be ready in case any dragons landed on it and tried to attack them. When they entered the structure it was easy to find a crystal lizard hanging out near a short set of stairs, something that prompted Sarana to kill it and claim the gems that it possessed, before opening the chest that was at the top of the stairs, which had a rail to prevent someone from tumbling into the depths of the cavern that the rest of this building had been built near, even though whoever had built this area had carved the design of the temple into the insides of the mountain cavern, but all that was inside the chest was a few of the Titanite Scales, which she pocketed as Tirek kept his eye open for additional enemies. One other thing that Tirek noticed was another set of stairs that lead to an alter or a stone table, he honestly wasn't sure which one it was, before they headed through the other opening, the one that would allow them to move through the rest of the area that was outside the structures that made up the temple, but as they moved outside they found something interesting, there was a rock creature that happened to be resting nearby and when it spotted them it waddled over to them, before rolling forward to crush one of them into a wall, despite the fact that it was the size of the chests they found in this world. The rock lizard, as Tirek was going to call it, was rather easy for them to dodge, as they just had to move out of the way when it rolled towards one of them, though at the same time they found out that it breathed short bursts of flames at whoever was in front of it, which was also easy to move out of the way of so Martok could smash it into the ground, along with the next one that rolled down the stairs to their left, where it did seem like the rock lizards, despite their rocky appearance, were easy to break apart, especially when Martok used some of his heavier blows against them, allowing Tirek and Sarana to walk up the nearby stairs as they kept their eyes open for any additional enemies that might be in this part of the temple.

What happened next, as they stepped up into an area that could be a landing place for a dragon, one of the wyverns flew out of the air and landed in front of them, though while it did that it loosed a fireball down at them with the intent of blasting them into the walls or knocking one of them, or all of them, off the walkway that they were standing on, though as that happened Tirek wasted no time and threw up a brief shield to intercept the incoming attack, something that allowed Sarana to rush out from where they were standing so she could get up on the wyvern's back and attack its head, while at the same time Martok hacked at its legs while Tirek targeted the wings with his Lightning magic, to keep it grounded so his companions could hit the beast.

With their combined powers it was rather easy for them to bring down the wyvern, without relying on one of Tirek's Stones of Power, so once it crashed into the ground and stopped moving they moved over its body, where Sarana found a pack containing some upgrade materials, no doubt either stolen from those that invaded this place or taken by the couple of wyverns that flew out to the rest of the land, before they walked up some stairs and headed for the next section of the temple, where they found four of the rock lizards waiting near the arched opening that would allow them to progress into the area they were heading towards. Tirek quickly found out that the rock lizards weren't weak to Lightning, Fire, or even his Dark types spells, rather they were weak to his Ice style spells, something that allowed him to slow them down so both of his companions could lash out at them with ease, Sarana dealing light attacks as she rushed around all four of them while Martok used his heavier attacks and crushed them while they were weakened, opening the way for them to move further into the temple as they sought out the Nameless King. The part of the temple that they walked into didn't seem to have any enemies for them to take down, and it didn't appear that there were any traps that any of them needed to be worried about, so they were able to walk forward without anything happening and were able to pass through the opening that was at the end of the passage, where it looked like they found a u-shaped walkway of sorts that seemed to lead to another part of the temple, maybe an important part since there was a serpent summoner standing on the upper part of the walkway, just above where they happened to be standing. As Tirek expected their foe called forth one of the knights that the other one had summoned earlier, something that Sarana and Martok lashed out at while Tirek hurled a Lightning Spear right into the more important foe's chest, blasting the summoner into a wall so it couldn't summon any additional foes while his companions cut down the lone knight that had been called into this area, allowing them to regroup at the top of the upper area that the serpent summoner had been standing in, something that revealed two paths, the one that was in front of them was a walkway of sorts, like a connection between two towers or structures, while the one that was on the right seemed to head to another part of the structure, by walking up some ruined steps.

Instead of investigating the side path Tirek headed out onto the walkway and found out something interesting, there was a large lever of some kind off on the left side of the path, one that had to be connected to the massive bell that he and his companions could now see, which rested just outside what appeared to be the large walkway or bridge that they had seen while they were fighting the Ancient Wyvern, and when he reached the end of the path he found a short set of stairs that went down to a bonfire, to which he grinned for a moment as he activated it, as it would be a good spot for them to rest before they resumed the hunt for the Nameless King and the weapon he held.

Invading the Castle

With his work inside the Shrine complete Tirek appeared in the structure that the Dancer had been in and walked away from the bonfire that Sarana and Martok were now standing by, where he turned his attention towards the metal ladder that would allow someone to climb up to the next level and chuckled for a moment as the Space Stone glowed, which was the moment that his companions watched as he manipulated the ladder and the walkway it was connected to so he could make a makeshift set of stairs, even if he also ripped out some of the tiles that were around them to get the job done. From there he walked up to the area that would lead him in the direction of the Twin Princes, who just so happened to be the last Lord of Cinder that they needed to hunt down and kill, where both of his companions followed after him as he ascended the short bit of stairs that were in front of him and entered the decent sized structure that they lead him to, one that happened to have a number of stone coffins or containers that likely held some of the knights who protected the city and castle, no doubt having fallen before the world was turned into what he had seen since his arrival. What he could see as he entered the chamber was that it could have served as a small chapel or something at some point in the past, maybe before the rest of the castle had been built, though there was a much smaller chamber on the left side of the building that seemed to be the area that a lift could be in, even though that would require them finding the lift later on and using it to get back down here so they could use the Dancer's bonfire with a shortcut, despite the fact that none of them needed that anymore, not with the Infinity Gauntlet and the five Infinity Stones Tirek was wielding at the moment. After discovering the area that the lift could be in he found one of the Lothric knights praying at an alter of some kind and a black robed figure who was walking near the kneeling knight, meaning the second one was more like a priest, though as he stepped into the chamber the Lothric priest cast some sort of enchantment over him and the knight, who stood up and marched over to where Tirek was standing with its weapon drawn, intending on smiting him.

The knight did swing at Tirek the moment it was close to him, though Tirek kept the grin on his face as Sarana and Martok noticed that the Space Stone was glowing again, this time with a blue aura surrounding the arm that held the weapon and the weapon itself, apparently stopping the sword before it could reach its target, something that was followed by Tirek swinging his right fist right into the knight's chest, where he crushed the metal armor that was in his way and sent his foe flying right into the alter that it had been praying in, displaying the sheer power of a gauntlet forged from the godly metal that went into making the Infinity Gauntlet. The priest seemed surprised by what happened, or at least that was what the movement could have been if the hollow was alive and could react like a normal person would in this situation, though as that happened Tirek seized the opportunity that had been presented to him as he accessed the power of the Power Stone and blasted the priest in the chest, knocking it into a wall and taking a chunk out of the stone it connected with, nothing he wouldn't be able to fix once he had control over this world. Once that was done Tirek stood there for a few seconds, all so he could make sure neither of his foes got back up and tried to challenge him again, something that was confirmed when neither the knight or the priest moved over the next couple of moments, which included Sarana making sure both of them were truly dead, before she collected one of the crestfallen souls and rejoined the group as Tirek headed over to the right side of the chamber, where a path and some stairs rested, which seemed to be the start of the path that would take them to where the Twin Princes were hiding. For a moment it didn't appear that there was anyone else in the area beyond the opening that lead them to the stairs, save for some unlit candlesticks which likely lit up the passage, though when Tirek glanced to the right of the top of the stone stairs he found one of the priests standing off to the side and noticed that it seemed to be of the sort that would attack them from behind if they left it alone, so he blasted the priest with a burst of purple energy from the Power Stone and moved forward.

As he moved forward Tirek found two more knights, one holding a spear and another carrying a sword, walking towards him and his companions, to which he allowed them to do so before activating the power of the Space Stone as both of his foes swung at him, stopping their attacks in their tracks with the same blue aura that he had used in the previous part of the structure they were walking through, which was when he punched the spear knight in the chest and let it strike the wall that was behind it, no doubt killing it instantly, before turning the Infinity Gauntlet on the sword knight as he used the power of the Power Stone to punch it into the wall that was right behind it, creating a crater that collapsed once he took a step away from the wall.

"Your Infinity Gauntlet is impressive, despite the Infinity Stone that's missing," Sarana commented, though as she said that she and Martok followed their Lord, as there was no denying what their true relationship with the powerful being was, into the chamber that the path lead them to, where they discovered a larger room that seemed to be a meeting place of sorts and had an opening that would allow someone to drop back down onto the walkway that connected to the path that they had just walked through and the path that took them to where Oceiros had been hiding, before they located a bonfire in the middle of the chamber, which even she had to admit was a little odd since there was one not a minute or two away from the area they were now standing in.

"Yes, which is why I asked Yuria to keep her eyes and ears open for anything or anyone that has the power to affect reality, so I can forge the final Infinity Stone," Tirek stated, allowing Sarana to know what he had done before they left the Shrine and came to this castle, because if the lady was able to find the area that her traitorous sister had fled to, not to mention how he could follow in her footsteps so he could hunt her down, he was sure that if he gave her such a task she would, in time, tell him exactly what he wanted to know, even though he was sure the soul that possessed the power he was after might be in another world, like the Painted World they had explored, before he activated the bonfire and turned towards the stairs that lead out of the area they were in, "but, from what I have seen, five Infinity Stones seems to be more than enough for the enemies that are standing between us and the Twin Princes, despite the fact that I'm currently using two of the five Stones at the moment."

Sarana said nothing to that as she and Martok followed Tirek up the stairs that were near the bonfire, where they found a chamber that happened to have a pair of chairs, a fireplace that wasn't lit, and a chest that was resting on the right side of the room, though what Tirek was interested in was the open walkway that was to the left of where he and the others were standing at the moment, especially when he noticed that the coloration of the sky had changed from the last time they had seen it, making him interested in what might have happened to this world. While he did that Sarana opened the chest and pulled out a set of robe armor that she seemed to recognize immediately, as it was made from aged cloth that was used in ancient prayers, which Prince Lothric had worn for the longest period of time, due to the fact that it was all he had worn since the day he was born, though she simply sighed and stowed it inside their pack before she walked over to the area that Tirek was in, since he was advancing on the path that would allow him to invade the castle. The walkway just so happened to connect to a set of stairs that had two hollowed soldiers walking down it, one of them carrying a sword while the other had a crossbow, though this time around Tirek tried something else as he approached his foe, as the one that carried the sword was stopped in the normal manner, with the aura stopping its attack when it swung at him, while the bolt that was fired from the other hollow's crossbow hit a blue barrier that he put around himself and disappeared, even though the bolt appeared behind his foe and hit the hollowed knight in the back of the head, sending it flying down the stairs and right into Tirek's punch as he swung his right fist at it. Once that was done he crushed the other hollow with a short blast from the Power Stone and advanced up the rest of the stairs, something that revealed some fortifications that a couple of hollows had to be guarding, along with a room off to his right that might have someone wandering around in it, as he heard something walking around near their location, though for now he focused on the other enemies that were standing around the area they were now in.

Before the enemies noticed them, and started to lash out in their direction, Tirek noticed that there were some creatures, which seemed to look like flying nervous systems in a sense, flying through the air, before he glanced in the direction of the sun and noticed that it had turned black, almost like the moon had eclipsed it at some point, and that there was a ring of fire around the black sun, a short one from where he was standing, though he felt that it was connected to the Flame that everyone in this world was interested in. He had to admit that it was rather interesting, since it was different from the sun he was used to seeing, though once he thought about that he turned his attention towards the enemies that were all around them and focused as the Space Stone glowed again, this time wrapping the blue aura around two of the hollowed knights and crushed them with the power of the Infinity Stone, not even giving them a chance to fight back this time, but as he did that the depressed hollowed knight that was to their left got up and started to walk over to where he, Sarana, and Martok were standing, who didn't get very far as Tirek blasted it in the chest with the power of the Power Stone not a few seconds later. While he did that Martok walked into the room that was off on their right and emerged from it with one of the large fat knights following after him, who happened to be carrying two axes from what he could see, which was the moment that Tirek paused the knight's arms when it swung at Martok, who backed away immediately as Tirek walked up to the knight and punched it in the chest, shattering the armor and creating a crater in the wall that was behind it when it hit the stone, once more displaying the sheer power of the normal gauntlet, before he turned away from the room and continued to move forward, his movements showing Sarana that he didn't care about the room and that she was more than welcome to explore the room in question if she wanted to. After taking care of the chubby knight Tirek found a path that lead to a dead end and a hollowed knight broke the wood posts that seemed to be in the way, which was fine with him since it allowed him to crush his foe with the Space Stone's power, before he found three weaker hollows climbing up the sides of the dead end and kicked all three of them over the edge, as there was no reason to waste the power of any of his Infinity Stones on them.

As he cleared out the area that was around him, and opened the way so he could walk up the stairs and head towards the part of the castle that was the next area he needed to explore, Sarana and Martok caught up with him, revealing that they had found a piece of Twinkling Titanite, the armor of the chubby knights, and a circular shield that was added to the vast collection they had accumulated since this quest had started, though once they informed him on what they had found the pair fell in behind him and followed Tirek as he moved into the next part of the castle. While they walked up the stairs it was easy to see that there was a hollow that was aiming at them from an area that was above them, though Tirek used the barrier power to stop whatever was thrown at them and dropped it on their foe, who didn't die or take damage from the attack, something that was followed by a blast of power from the Power Stone striking it in the chest and knocking it off of the area it was standing on, killing it in seconds, allowing them to move forward once more, even though there was an area off to the left of the path that he decided to ignore, since it looked like a dead end. Instead of worrying about the side path Tirek turned his attention towards the main path and found that there were two crossbow hollows waiting for him, or someone at the very least, to walk into their line of sight, as they raised their weapons and fired at him instantly, despite the fact that he stopped the bolts with the barrier and knocked both of them forward as they were hit in the back of their heads with their own attacks, something that was followed by him punching the two of them into the walls that were near them and defeated them in seconds, allowing him to walk forward once more. Tirek also discovered a large hollow that was standing on the stairs he wanted to walk up, where the foe carried a large axe that was swung in his direction not a few seconds later, to which Tirek stopped the attack with the blue aura and then punched the hollow into the wall, which created a brand new crater in the process, before he walked beyond his fallen foe and headed up into the area that it had been guarding, which was a large area that served as a resting spot for him and his companions, especially with a brand new bonfire off to their left.

What was interesting was that there was a dragon resting on part of the section of the oddly designed castle that he and his companions would be walking through, who seemed to have dull green scales and might be pinned to part of the area it was resting in, like a foot or something had something stuck in it, but as he walked up the stairs and stepped up to the bridge, leaving Sarana and Martok a second dragon, who had a dull white coloration to its scales, landed on the other side of the area that the first was in and together they breathed a massive torrent of flames down on the area between what seemed to be an entrance for the structure and the bridge he was standing on. Tirek quickly tapped into the power of the Space Stone and a vortex opened in the air between him and the dragons that were aiming at him, where the flames were sucked into the space he had created and he kept it open for a few moments, mostly until the pair of dragons ceased their foolish attempts to take him down, and once they stopped breathing fire in his direction he redirected the power of all the flames he had taken and charred the area that was below the bridge he was standing on, burning all the hollows that were resting down there, including some of the Pus enemies that had been lurking in the shadows, reducing them to ash with the redirected fire. As the dragons realized that he wasn't targeting them with their own flames, something that they might have been worried about, the Mind Stone glowed for a moment and he sent out a pair of yellow strands of magic, which rushed through the air and struck both of the dragons in the middle of their heads, causing them to stagger for a moment and go still as they stared at him, even though it was clear that both of them were still alive and were simply waiting for him to do something, which was why he decided to find what was chaining them down. Because he used the Mind Stone he knew that the dragons had been seized by his power and would follow whatever orders he had for them, just like what had happened to the large crystal lizard that he had tried the Stone's power on earlier, so it was nice to have them waiting for his command, to which he decided to check out the area to the left of where the bridge was located and jumped down into the walkway that was just above where the Pus hollows had been hiding.

"What did you do to them?" Martok asked, though at the same time he and Sarana jumped down into the area that Tirek was in, which was rather odd since they could have walked right through the area that the dragons had been guarding with little trouble, thanks to the dragons stopping due to whatever power their lord had used on them, but while they did that Sarana kept her eyes open for any items that she could collect on the way, to add them to their collection, even if it was possible that they might not need them anymore.

"I took over their minds, obviously," Tirek stated, knowing that Martok was a little slow in some instances and that he had to explain some of the things he did to the imposing warrior, despite the fact that Sarana understood most of the things he did and didn't need him to tell her what was going on at any given moment, before he turned his attention to the area that was in front of them and spotted some enemies that appeared to be in their way, "basically they'll serve me until I use the power of the Mind Stone to release them, but for now we should focus on clearing out the enemies that are in front of us as we hunt down the Twin Princes."

The next area had four more hollows for them to deal with, or rather for Tirek to deal with, one who threw charms down into the part of the area it happened to be watching over, a crossbow hollow that would snipe them from afar, a halberd hollow that seemed too eager for a fight, and an axe hollow who was as aggressive as the one that they had found right before the last bonfire, though none of them really did anything until Tirek stepped into the area of the structure that they were guarding, which was the last thing they did. The reason behind that thought was due to the fact that the Space Stone glowed not a few moments later, a barrier forming around Tirek to stop the ranged enemies from hitting him while at the same time an aura appeared around the weapons of the melee hollows that were rushing at him, which was followed by him loosing two blasts into the air, purple bits of energy that locked onto his targets and blasted the hollows into the walls that were near the areas they were standing in, before he punched the other two hollows with both his normal gauntlet and his Infinity Gauntlet, which was focusing on the Power Stone, leaving a pair of craters in his wake. Once those enemies had been taken care of Tirek walked over to where the short bit of stairs was located and discovered that there was what appeared to be a dead end just beyond the stairs, where two knights seemed to be watching over the body of a third, but since neither of them had noticed him or his companions he decided to continue into the building and discovered that it had a staircase that lead down into a basement, one that, upon closer inspection, had one of the Irithyll knights wandering around the area, who swung at him the instant it laid eyes on him, which Tirek was fine with as he quickly activated the Space Stone's aura power and prevented the first swing from reaching him, something that was followed by him punching the knight in the chest with his left fist and sent it flying into the wall that was behind it, creating a crater behind it while forcing it to drop the rapier that it was carrying, something that Sarana would collect as she collected whatever was inside the couple of chests that were down here.

From there he marched up the stairs and entered the area that rested below the dragons, who turned their heads to look at them as they walked out into the open, though since Tirek had dominated both of them it was easy for them to head over to the other side of the area and enter the next part of the structure they were exploring, even though he could easily smash his way through any and all barriers that might be in his way, before discovering that the chamber that was next on his list was massive and that there were a few hollows that seemed to be getting ready to hurl things at him. Instead of using the power of the Space Stone to freeze their arms, like he did for the majority of his enemies, Tirek used the Stone to create small portals to gather the bombs that were being thrown at him and made sure that the exits of his portals were placed near his targets, blasting every single hollow in the structure that dared to attack him to bits, or at least knock all of them into the walls that were around the area, allowing him to see what else the area had to offer him while Sarana and Martok kept an eye open for items to add to their collection. He found a set of stairs that lead up to one side of the large chamber and a ladder that lead up to a lower area than where the stairs lead, so what he did was quickly jump up to the top of the area that the wooden ladder was connected to and found that the dull green dragon's foot was stuck in, due to the fact that he could see the foot resting in the doorway, not to mention the Pus that seemed to be chaining it to the area it was in, to which he used the Space Stone to carefully extract it from the dragon's foot and hurled it into a wall, which was the moment he used a Forbidden Sun to reduce it to ash. With the first of the two dragons freed, where the dull green one roared for a moment before taking off, giving Tirek a chance to watch as it flew around the area and then landed near the bonfire he and the others had ignited a few minutes ago, before he took the two of them over with the Mind Stone, where the dragon bowed its head and waited for instructions, something that it wasn't going to get until Tirek was in control of this world, hence the reason he headed to the highest point of this building so he could see where the path forward might be resting and what he needed to do to overcome his enemies.

As it turned out Sarana and Martok had decided to head over to the highest point of the building and had taken down one of the mimics that had been posing as a chest, which Sarana revealed had some Titanite Scales for them to claim, but once that was done Tirek headed through the opening that was to the left of the top of the stairs, facing the direction the mimic had been in to be exact, and walked out into a chamber that was on the other side of the large iron gate that he had seen earlier, which came with a lever that, when pulled, opened the gate in question. While he allowed Sarana to pull the lever, just so they didn't have to go through anything they had cleared out again later on, Tirek noticed that there was a knight that was carrying a greatsword and a priest that seemed to be walking near it, buffing the knight every now and then while they waited for enemies to come at them, to which he jumped down into the area in question and caused his main foe to turn towards him, who showed the same aggressive behavior that the rest of the enemies in this area had shown him, not that it mattered in the grand scheme of things. What the knight did was thrust its greatsword forward and it passed into the portal that Tirek opened not even a few seconds later, where the exit portal was right in front of the priest's chest and he forced the knight to slay its own ally, though as he did that he spotted a second priest walking up to where he and the knight were standing, so he allowed his target to pull its weapon back and shift its stance as they walked around in a circle for a few seconds, both of them daring the other to make the first move, even though this was mostly Tirek playing with his foe and not taking it seriously at all. Not a few moments later the knight swung its greatsword down at him and it was forced to watch as the attack passed through yet another portal, cleaving the other priest in half, which would have made a normal person upset at being played like that, but since this was a hollow all he got was silence and a head tilt, so what he did next was wait for the knight to pull its weapon out of the portal before punching it with the normal gauntlet, which sent it flying into a stone coffin and smashed the area around it, something that caused a bit of stone to fall on it and bury it under the weight of the fragmented stone.

With that done Tirek ignored the spear carrying knight that was off to the side on the lower level, as it hadn't noticed them and he figured he could leave it alone without it coming back to bite them, before he headed up the staircase that both the knight and the priest had been guarding and passed through the doorway at the top of the stairs, which was when he and his companions found three paths they could take, one on their left that might give them access to whatever was keeping the white dragon pinned down, a path to their right that almost seemed like a backtracking area for a place they hadn't discovered yet, and a set of stairs in front of them that lead to a Fog Door, which had to be the correct path since this had to mean a powerful creature was on the other side of the fog. Sarana found a lift nearby that, when activated by pressing the pressure plate in the middle of it, would take someone down back to the first chamber Tirek had taken care of when he started invading the castle, though it wasn't long before she returned to where the pair was standing and took her place behind Tirek as he studied the rest of the area and made his decision on which path he wanted to deal with first, even if there were only two options since he wasn't counting the Fog Door yet. What he did was head over to the ledge that allowed him to look down at the area that the white scaled dragon had landed in and found that it was being pinned down by one of the Pus enemies, so what he did was repeat exactly what he had done to the other Pus foe, he carefully removed it and then reduced it to ashes with a Forbidden Sun, something that allowed the dragon in question to take to the sky and then land in another part of the castle that was near the bonfire the other one was resting near, showing that it was doing the same thing and was waiting for instructions, to which Tirek turned away and focused on the ladder that rested near his position. The building that the ladder was resting against seemed to be a church or chapel, where Sarana found that the door they had walked by was locked and that it could only be opened from the other side, if Tirek cared to see what was inside the structure in question, which was followed by Tirek jumping up to the top of the building, thanks to his enhanced power, and he started to walk over the bridge that was connected to the structure, which had a roof that he happened to walk on a few seconds later.

He found two crossbow hollows guarding the other building that the roof was connected to, which included a large hollow that carried an axe, so what he did was use the Space Stone to redirect the incoming attacks into the chests of the pair of hollows that fired some bolts at him, before freezing the swing of the axe carrying hollow and delivering a powerful punch to its chest, causing it to collide with a wall that was nearby, which was followed by him heading over to the building that the group of enemies had been guarding. What he found was that the inside of the building seemed to be a study of some kind, or at least that was what he assumed based on what he was seeing, and that there was a walkway for him to follow, so he could use a ladder to get to the level that was below him, though instead of worrying about that he jumped down into the area he had been staring at and turned around as he determined how many enemies were in this area, since he figured that there had to be someone nearby for him to take down before walking over the bridge that lead back to the chapel area. It took him a few seconds to determine that there was only one enemy left in this area, which happened to be the guardian of the bridge itself, and that the lower floor he had jumped down to was just an part of the castle that he and his companions would pass through without even caring about, something that was followed by him focusing on the lone knight that was guarding the bridge, who just so happened to be carrying a greatsword and started to move the moment Tirek reached a certain point, not that such a thing mattered as he grinned when his foe swung its weapon down at him and he stopped it with the Space Stone's power, which allowed him to deliver a punch from the normal gauntlet into his foe's chest and sent it flying. Interestingly enough the damage from the attack sent the knight flying into the locked door Sarana had tried to open and smashed it open, meaning it ruined the door and stopped moving not a few seconds later, to which Tirek walked into the small building that the knight had been guarding and found that it had been protecting an area that had a chest and a ruined statue, one that they could see the feet and part of the chest of, though Tirek noticed the swordspear that seemed to have been the statue's weapon, which was similar to what the Nameless King had carried into battle, despite looking different, before he walked through the ruined doorway and headed towards the Fog Door, as he didn't care about the other area at all.

What Tirek discovered, when he walked through the Fog Door, was that there was a cluster of the nerve creatures resting in the middle of the stone bridge that would allow him to access the next part of the castle, though as he came to a stop the cluster took to the air and revealed something interesting, that they had been covering a knight of some kind that was dressed up in a silver version of the dragonslayer armor that he and his companions had found earlier, though Tirek could see that it was carrying a massive axe and an interesting shield, both appearing to be weapons that were designed to take down dragons, before noticing that the knight was getting up and was turning to face him. A few seconds later the knight rushed forward and swung its weapon down at the area that Tirek happened to be standing in, though the attack didn't get very far as Tirek activated the power of the Space Stone and stopped the large axe before it could reach him, despite the fact that it paused a few inches from where his head was located, though what was interesting was that his foe also used its shield against him, as in it raised its shield into the air and proceeded to bring it down on Tirek's position, even though that attack was stopped by the power of the Stone Tirek was currently using. Once both of his foe's weapons were stalled by the Space Stone's ability, something that seemed to confuse the knight, Tirek accessed the Power Stone's power as he punched the knight in the chest, where the force of his attack launched his foe through the air and made it drop its weapons, while at the same time causing it to smash into the fountain that was in the middle of the bridge, a fountain that seemed like it had been broken for a long time, so there was no reason to worry over smashing it to pieces. As he downed his foe, however, the cluster of nerves, or whatever they were, gathered in the air to the left of the bridge and started to launch what seemed to be darkened Fireballs, at best guess, and were preparing a laser beam, to which Tirek shifted his stance for a moment and all of the attacks struck a number of portals that he opened up, though once that was done he opened the exit sides of the portals and struck down all of his enemies with their own attacks, where they fell out of the air with a cry of some kind, even though he didn't care as he approached the fallen knight and found that he had busted open the armor's chest, revealing that it was a reanimated suit of armor that apparently had its own soul, but it was unable to stand against his power and he added another soul to his collection.

Once the knight and its allies were taken care of, and Tirek was sure of it as Sarana lit the bonfire that rested near the end of the bridge, though once that was done he walked through the opening that the rest area was near and noticed that they had reached an area that looked like the entrance to an archive of some kind, even though there happened to be a bonfire nearby, which seemed redundant given the placement of the last one, before Sarana moved forward and, after a minute or two of looking, pulled a key out of a hiding spot, one that went to the Grand Archives, the area that was in front of them right now, to which Tirek grinned as they moved forward, as they were drawing one step closer to the Twin Princes and all that stood in their way was whatever was inside the Grand Archives.

Locating the Twin Princes

Once Tirek was ready to move, which didn't take all that long since he had taken no damage and had expanded little of his energy during their invasion of the castle, Sarana stepped up to where the door was located and inserted the key she had found into the lock, where he and Martok heard the sound of something click before their companion carefully pushed open the door, though once the way was open she walked back down to where they were standing, knowing that Tirek was going to use his Infinity Gauntlet on anyone that happened to be inside the Grand Archives.

"So, out of curiosity, how did you know where to find that key?" Tirek asked, as he figured that he might as well as what was on his mind before they moved forward, though at the same time he was beginning to suspect that there was more to his main partner than what he originally started out with knowing, especially when he considered how she acted when they had been joined by Gotthard, one of the Black Hands he had heard about earlier, a group of hunters or assassins that served the rulers of Lothric, even if her actions had been the same as what she did all the time.

"When we took out Pontiff Sulyvhan, Gotthard told me that he'd stay with Kamui until our arrival and that he would place the key to the Grand Archives in one of my usual hiding spots," Sarana explained, though at the same time she shifted her gaze so that it was focused on the bridge that seemed to be connected to the top of the Grand Archives, a pillar that no doubt held a lift that connected this area to a later one, and to the stairs that would take them to where the Twin Princes rested, before she sighed for a moment and returned to staring at Tirek and Martok, like there was something that she needed to tell them before they moved forward, "let me remind you that Kamui and Gotthard are members of the Black Hand, the group that serves the ruling family of Lothric in whatever manner they desire, but, in truth, there are three members... and I am the third. When Prince Lothric turned his back on his duty, to become the next Lord of Cinder, Martok and I, as well as a number of others, were chosen to take his place, though each of us failed to take Prince Lothric's place, which caused the rise of the former Lords of Cinder to Link the Flame and prolong the Age of Fire, something that was followed by the Abyss Watchers, Aldrich, and even Yhorm turning their backs on their duties as they joined the Prince in his desire to plunge this world into darkness... which caused a number of Unkindled to rise from their graves, all so each of us could hunt down and return the Lords to their thrones, even if it picked those that had a bone to pick with the Lords that had run away."

"Like how Anri was hunting down Aldrich... or how you've been hunting Prince Lothric, for his crimes against you and the rest of the world," Tirek said, showing that he sort of understood what Sarana was talking about, making him wonder if Hawkwood, the depressed knight who sat around the Shrine, was connected to the Abyss Watchers in some manner, due to his weapon of choice looking like the greatsword of the Watchers, or if Siegward had some connection to Yhorm, not that he could figure that out since he had lost track of that knight a long time ago, though even as he said that he noticed something interesting, Sarana seemed to tilt her head a little, almost like she was annoyed by something, which was when he turned towards the doorway that was in front of them, "well, that gives us one more reason to take down Prince Lothric and whoever is guarding him."

Sarana said nothing to that as Tirek walked passed her and invaded the Grand Archives at long last, where he stepped up the stairs and started to glance around the area, finding books, scrolls, and everything else that one would find inside an ancient place of knowledge and learning, complete with candlesticks, though that was when a sage, like the Crystal Sage they had beaten before they reached the Cathedral of the Deep a long time ago, appeared in a flurry of cloth and stared at him for a moment, something that caused Tirek to tilt his head for a second as one of the Stones started to glow. Not even a few seconds later the sage loosed a crystalline blast of magic at him, where Tirek snapped open a set of portals and sent it back at his target, who quickly dived into the ground and teleported to another part of the archives, allowing the blast to collide with the wall that was behind it and left a trail of smoke behind, meaning this sage had to be scared of him, or at least that was his assumption on the matter, but from what he could see the sage had taken matters into its own hands as a number of copies appeared all over the upper reaches of the archives. Each of the sages appeared to be preparing their own spells to strike him down, not to mention Sarana and Martok for that matter, though that was when Tirek decided to change things up by using the Power Stone to unleash a burst of energy that was designed to target all of the copies that were in the building while, at the same time, channeling the power of the Soul Stone to locate the real sage, where each of his enemies recoiled at the touch of the mighty Power Stone and the copies were exterminated with ease, before he used the Space Stone to open a portal near him so he could grab the sage before it fled and yanked it though the opening he had created. As soon as he had the sage in his grasp he blasted it with a Forbidden Sun and torched part of the archives, which was no big loss since it would be restored when they rested at a bonfire, or maybe not since he was using several Stones that were resting inside a gauntlet forged from godly metal, but for now he turned his attention to the rest of the area and kept his eye out for enemies, just so he could plan out what he was going to do as they made their way up to the highest point of the archives, all so they could reach the area the Twin Princes were hiding in.

As soon as the sage was dead Tirek found that there were three paths to pick from, or what looked like three paths despite the fact that one of them connected to the one on their left and the one on their right seemed to serve as an area for them to backtrack to, especially since he felt that there was a hidden passage around here for later on, to which he headed over to the path on his left and followed it, though he ignored the crystal lizard that scurried away since that was something Sarana hunted down with ease. What was interesting was that part of the path forward seemed to be broken, as in it was a drop and nothing else, so Tirek just jumped down into the area that the lizard ran into and walked along the rest of the path, allowing his companions to deal with the lizard in question, where he came to a section of the archives that had what appeared to be a massive pool of wax in the center of the area, even if he had to round a corner to see if, before he found a few scholars standing near the odd pool, where each of them had wax covering their heads, something that made him tilt his head in confusion for a moment. Once he was done staring at the weird scholars, who turned towards his position when he came to a stop, he weaved the power of the Space Stone around the area that was in front of him and caught the magical soul bolts that were sent his way from the scholars, which were redirected back into the chests of his enemies a few seconds later, before he hurled miniature Lightning Spears that took care of the scholars as each of them were struck in the chest, allowing him to continue his march forward as Sarana and Martok claimed whatever he left behind, as well as take out some of the small thralls that seemed to be wandering around the archives. Tirek did find what appeared to be a path leading backwards and happened to have a lance knight patrolling it, who rushed at the area that he was standing in as soon as it spotted him, to which Tirek turned his head for a moment as he engaged the Space Stone and summoned a portal between them, though this time around the exit portal appeared behind the knight and it was stabbed by its own weapon, since it thrust its lance into the portal in front of it, where it basically killed itself in a few seconds and allowed him to continue moving without having to stop at all.

What Tirek found was that there was a ledge to his right, one that appeared to have been a rail at one point and had been broken at some point before he and the others arrived outside the archives, before he walked into a room that had some instruments that seemed important for stargazing, instead of working to preserve the tomes that were in this structure, to which he turned around and walked out of the room, as it didn't seem like there was a path in this area and that the area he had to be walking through was near the scholars he had taken down. The room in question looked like it was dark and that there were next to no lights in it, not that Tirek minded that all that much as he walked into the room and found that there was a lever off on the left side of the room, something for Sarana and Martok to worry about since they were busy collecting everything that he left behind, before he headed right over to where a set of stairs rested and found that there was a scholar over to the left of the top step, who stood no chance against his power as he hurled a Fire Orb into the chest of his foe and knocked it backwards, right into the wall that was behind it. From there he walked over to the doorway that would allow him to explore the rest of the archives and found another scholar waiting on the other side, one who he just threw off the walkway that he was walking on and he even kicked a ladder that dropped down into the first section of the archives that they had walked through earlier, to which he turned to the left and walked over to an area that seemed to be the correct path forward, even though he was sure that the open nature of this area would have allowed the sage he had beaten earlier to rain death upon him and anyone else that entered this area. As he walked over to a balcony that might allow him to climb to another part of the archives, however, Tirek spotted some thralls preparing some bombs as all three of them focused on him, to which he barely focused on them as he used the Space Stone's portals to hurt them with their own attacks, knocking all of them around with the force of the small bombs, before he walked up a set of stairs that led him up to the floor that was above the one he had been walking around, finding that the new floor had some scholars that needed to be taken out and the top of the ladder that connected the balcony that was outside this floor to the one that he had seen a minute or two ago.

He took a moment to study the area that was around him while channeling the power of the Space Stone so he could take the incoming attacks and redirect them back to those that hurled them at him, though once all of the scholars were done for the count Tirek resumed moving as Sarana and Martok made sure to collect the items he was leaving behind, where he headed up the nearby set of stairs and used the portals to redirect the bombs that a pair of thralls sent at him, blowing the pair away in seconds, before discovering that there were some cursed books resting on the ground in front of him, all so it would slow them down, even though Tirek used his magic to lift the tomes off the floor and returned them to the shelves that they had been resting on. Interestingly enough one of the books hit a scholar in the head and caused it to turn in the direction that Tirek happened to be standing in, who used the Space Stone to disappear from the area he was standing in and reappeared behind the scholar, where he switched to channeling the power of the Power Stone to punch the scholar in the chest and knocked it over the edge of the area he was walking in, causing it to fall and leave a crater in the ground that it landed in, allowing Tirek to chuckle for a moment as he continued forward. As he checked out what else there was to see in this area he found two things, the first being a ladder that lead to part of the floor below him, something he left for Sarana or Martok to deal with, while the second was a hidden wall near the ladder in question, one that happened to be hiding another Irithyll knight, one that rushed at him the moment it noticed him phase the wall that had been hiding it out of existence, though he stopped the incoming blade with the Space Stone's power and then punched his foe right in its chest, channeling the power of his Power Stone into the armor and sent it right into a wall that was right behind it, slaying the knight in seconds, though it appeared that enough of the armor had survived and Martok claimed it, as according to Sarana the armor of an Outrider Knight, the knights they had faced outside Irithyll, were rare and hard to claim, so this just mean they were better than some of the other Unkindled. Tirek, of course, didn't care about that sort of thing and left his companions do whatever it was that they wanted to do, so what he did was head through the opening and discovered a lone chair that had a spell resting on it, Soul Stream, which apparently was a burst of energy that took the form of a beam the user could direct, to which he added it to his spell tome and headed over to where the previous ladder rested, as he was sure the way forward was near it.

As such Tirek jumped down onto the wooden walkway that was below him, by using the busted rail section that was near where the newest ladder rested, where he noticed a lever resting off to the right and Sarana pulled it when she caught up with him, moving some bookshelves to reveal a way back into the other side of this floor, before he headed over the rest of the walkway and moved through the opening that had some stairs behind it, which brought him up to an area that just so happened to have a lift that had to go back to the start of the archives, something he was leaving to his companions as he headed for the other opening that was near the top of the stairs. On the other side of the opening he found another set of stairs that lead up to an area where a number of tables rested, not to mention a good number of bookshelves were resting near him and three scholars seemed to be patrolling the new area, though he paid them little mind as he used the Space Stone to redirect their attacks back at them, effectively taking out all three of his foes in rapid succession before he headed for the other doorway that was near him and headed up the stairs that rested on the other side. It took him a few moments to reach the upper floor that the stairs were connected to and found a doorway that was open, as in someone had opened it before their arrival and had decided to leave it open, though it let him walk out onto a stone balcony that did have a small section of the left side smashed open, allowing him to jump down a rather small drop and and walk away from the balcony he had just been standing on, as it appeared that he was now walking on part of the roof of the archives and was making his way up to the large bridge that was his destination. As he followed the path that was in front of him Tirek did notice that there were a few gargoyles scattered around the roof, as in one landed near him and tried to smash him into the roof, though he dodged the attack with ease and then punched it with the Power Stone's power, blasting it to pieces in seconds and scattering the fragments, before following the rest of the path so he could get to the higher levels of the roof, since he was sure there was an area that had a doorway back into the upper floor of the archives.

It didn't take him all that long to reach a section of the roof that two gargoyles decided to ambush him in, though neither of them lasted more than a few seconds as he lashed out with his left fist and smashed them to pieces with the Infinity Gauntlet that was infused with the power of the Power Stone, before moving forward and reached the part of the roof that was just above the stone balcony, even though that allowed him to reach another part of the archives' roof and found two more gargoyles guarding the area. Of course either of them lasted all that long as he forced them to stab each other, thanks to the Space Stone's power, before he punched the two enemies into the wall that was to his right, smashing them to pieces while leaving small craters behind, before he found a ledge that he could jump off of and land outside the glass of a part of the archives, where he was able to find that part of it was shattered and allowed him to enter the upper part of the last area they had moved through, complete with a scholar off to the right, who collapsed after Tirek redirected a spell into its chest. One of the things he discovered was that there was a chair that had someone resting on it, totally dead from what he could tell by looking at it, before he moved over to the area that a doorway rested in, as it seemed to be the way forward, though he kicked a ladder that happened to be along the way and that opened up a brand new shortcut for him and his companions to use, not that he cared about that since he knew none of them were going to be dying to the foes that were in his way, which was when he headed through the doorway so he could see what else he would have to take down before he reached the large stone bridge. What he discovered on the other side of the opening was an open area of sorts that had a few stone pillars that were holding up the part of the archives that were above them, a statue that looked like it was totally covered in wax, for some strange reason, and a set of stairs off in the distance, a rather wide and long set of steps from what he could see at the moment, before he discovered something interesting, there were four individuals standing on part of the stairs, clearly a last line of defense for the Twin Princes: one of them was Gotthard, who seemed like he had done this to save his life, another was the lady who attacked them outside the dark Shrine, the third was a knight who was decked out in different armor from what they had seen so far and had a large axe as his weapon, and the fourth was a man who wore dark armor, like Gotthard's attire, and carried a unique pair of blades.

"Kamui, Gotthard, Albert, Kriemhild, stand aside, our battle isn't with you." Sarana stated, where she and Martok came to a stop behind Tirek and stared at the figures that were standing in their way, not that such a thing mattered since their Lord had the power to overcome whatever attacks were sent his way due to the power of his Infinity Gauntlet, the five Infinity Stones he had inserted into the gauntlet, and the immense power that rested inside his body, a power that would have convinced the others of this world that he was a Lord of Cinder, something he clearly had no interest in, "We seek the Twin Princes, Lothric and Lorian, not a fight with our former allies."

"And that is why we must fight, because we won't let you kill the Twin Princes," Kamui replied, which was the moment that he, Kriemhild, and Albert readied their weapons, showing that they were ready for a the fight of their lives, though it was in the following seconds that Gotthard walked forward and left those that he had been standing near, surprising those that he had been standing with, even though Tirek was more impressed by the fact that the three guardians had retained some of their sanity and hadn't fallen into the mindless hollow state everyone else in this world was afflicted with, though not a few moments later Gotthard came to a stop near Sarana and turned to face those he had been standing with, "Gotthard, you would betray us as well?"

"No, I'm siding with the one Lord that will take over this world, especially since he's gotten far stronger since the last time I fought along side him," Gotthard said, referring to the battles he had joined as a helpful phantom, answering Sarana's call to take down one of the Lords of Cinder and one of the guardians that had been protecting a second one, though even as he said that he didn't draw his weapons and simply waited for Tirek to make the first move, since that seemed to be what Sarana and Martok were waiting for, before glancing at the last member of the Black Hand and the two allies that were trying to protect the Twin Princes, "I would suggest that you do the same, otherwise you won't be able to survive what's about to come your way."

Instead of saying anything Kriemhild raised her staff and loosed a burst of crystalline magic at them, where it failed to hit any of them as Tirek grinned, the Space Stone glowing as he redirected the portal into one of the walls that were near him and the others, as this time around he wanted to see if it was possible to convince these guardians to join him and allow the Twin Princes to be slain, though as the three of them watched was going on, as Tirek stepped away from the others so they wouldn't be bothered by their foes, they lashed out at him with haste. Albert was the first one to come at him, where he brought the axe head down on the area that Tirek was standing in, though the attack was stopped in its tracks by the aura of the Space Stone, something that surprised the knight as soon as it happened, though that was when he punched his foe in the chest with his normal gauntlet, sending him flying into the stairs that were behind him and his allies, though that fact didn't stop Kamui and Kriemhild from lashing out with their attacks. Kamui lashed out with a pair of swings from both of his blades, as in he jumped into the air and tried to perform a slash attack that would have formed an x, but Tirek didn't let that happen as both of his foe's blades were stopped in their tracks with the Space Stone's power, which was also true for the five homing soul spheres that Kriemhild fired at him while he was distracted, even though her thoughts on the matter were wrong and he was aware of what she was trying to do, hence why a portal opened and he swallowed all five of the spheres in seconds, before hitting her in the chest with her own spell. As Kriemhild stumbled Tirek opened a portal behind Kamui and launched the Black Hand through it, even though the exit side was right in front of his ally, so he ended up hitting Kriemhild in the chest and the two of them were knocked backwards, which caused them to hit the stairs and had to cough as they struck several steps, where Tirek waited for a few seconds, so all three of his foes could be looking at him and what he was about to do, before Kamui and Kriemhild separated from each other and Albert rushed into the spot that was behind him, forming a triangle around him, something that was followed by Tirek grinning as he channeled the power of the Power Stone and slammed his left fist right into the floor that rested below him.

The result of his attack was that the floor shattered as he blasted a hole into the archives' roof, one that easily stretched from one side of the area he was in to the other, scattering the three guardians as they were struck by the force of what he had done, though when each of them finally mustered the strength to stand, or push themselves into a sitting position to be more exact, Tirek could see that two of them, Kamui and Kriemhild, were shocked by what they were seeing and Albert, who was wearing a helm, seemed to be replicating the same expression that his allies were showing.

"This is a sample of my power... surrender and swear to serve me, or die where you stand." Tirek stated, where he turned around for a moment and walked on the air that rested around him, as he had used his magic to walk on the air as soon as he blasted the hole into the floor, displaying the sheer power that he was capable of commanding, even if this was just the power of the Power Stone and his magic at work, while his statement indicated that there was no middle road, either any or all of the guardians would submit to his power and accept them as their Lord, as Sarana and the others had, or he would channel his magic and wipe them out of existence, before using the Soul Stone in some manner, though he silently waited for them to tell him what was going to happen next.

The seconds ticked by as the guardians glanced at each other, appearing to be concerned about their chances now, before each of them knelt and made sure they were facing Tirek, showing that they understood that none of them would be able to take him down and that it was best if each of them swallowed whatever pride they had, or whatever might be fueling them to continue fighting, to which Tirek turned towards Sarana and nodded his head, mostly so she could rouse the three guardians and accept their oaths, since she likely knew them, before he engaged the power of the Time Stone and let it wash over the area as he walked towards the top of the stairs, allowing its power to return the area to what it had been like and that the wounds the guardians had sustained were healed. Once that was done the Stone in question returned to its normal state as he reached the top of the stairs and turned back for a moment, seeing that everything he had done had been reversed and that the three foes had been healed, before he marched into the small structure that was at the top of the steps and found that it was just a study chamber of some kind, complete with a lift that seemed to head back down to where the entrance of the Grand Archives rested, though his focus was on the opening to his left, one that was at the top of some steps and happened to bring him to the start of the stone bridge that would bring them to the Twin Princes, the final Lord that he needed to take out. Of course he had to walk up a second set of stairs after walking up the first set, even though there seemed to be a path or two around the opening, not that he cared about them, before he discovered that the rest of the enemies that were defending the last Lord of Cinder were a number of knights, wielding either swords or a greatsword, and a number of stumbling hollows, enemies that Tirek didn't really care about as he walked forward and had the Space Stone glow as he did so, where the blades of his enemies were stopped as he walked over the bridge and he tossed a few small orbs into some other portals, spells that struck his foes in their chests and scattered them around the bridge he was walking on. The knights were more imposing, since they had more skills than the hollows, but they suffered the same punishment that all of the hollows suffered, with Tirek's minor attacks scattering his targets into the walls that were around him, smashed several of the wooden barricades that were near him, and even threw a few of his foes into the stairs when he finally reached the other side of the bridge, leaving Sarana and the rest of their team, with all of their new allies watching his display of power.

In the end it didn't take Tirek long to reach the front of the castle area that seemed to be the last place of the entire world, or at least of Lothric itself, where he gathered his magic and pushed open the massive door that was in front of him, one that allowed him to notice that there was a carpet behind it that went right into a massive chamber, one that could have been a bedchamber or something, or at least he hoped he was right in what he was seeing, before he noticed a figure at the top of the highest level of this area, who was wearing a dark robe of some kind.

"Oh dear, another dogged contender." a voice said, where Tirek was certain that it came from the figure that he was now staring at, especially since the figure seemed to be moving as the voice echoed all over the chamber they were in, though as Tirek stepped into the open area he made sure that Sarana and the others were standing by a side of the chamber and made sure to put up a barrier around them, at least for now since he knew what one of them wanted, before he focused on the Prince that was talking as he heard the sound of shifting metal, where another figure seemed to be entering the chamber they were standing in, "Welcome, Unkindled One, purloiner of cinders, I knew one of your kind would be coming at some point... mind you, the mantle of lord interests me none. The fire-linking curse, the legacy of lords, just let it fade into nothingness at long last. You've done quite enough since you were brought back to life, now let us give you your well deserved rest as the world fades."

As the Prince finished talking, who Tirek could tell had to be Prince Lothric based on what Sarana had told him in the past, the other figure, a large imposing armored figure that seemed to be walking on his knees, came to a stop in front of where Prince Lothric was resting and stabbed the ground with his large greatsword before roaring, or at least that is what Tirek would have assumed the gesture was even though no sound came from Prince Lorian's mouth, before he vanished a few moments later in a flash of light and then appeared in the space to Tirek's left, standing on his feet, meaning he could walk normally, and brought the weapon down on where he was standing. As that happened Tirek caused the Power Stone to glow as he swung his fist up into the air, allowing the greatsword to make contact with the Infinity Gauntlet and there was a struggle between them as the two energies struck each other, causing the chamber to shudder for a moment as they did that, though in addition to that Tirek channeled his magic through the air and created a Lightning Spear that he threw into the air and let it strike his foe's chest, where it passed through the energies of the Power Stone and empowered itself so it knocked Lorian backwards, causing the massive Prince to crash into one of the pillars and smash it to pieces, which was when he returned to his kneeling stance and disappeared in a flash of light. It was easy for him to realize what was going on, the Prince he was fighting was using some form of magic to rapidly move around the chamber that they were fighting in and was trying to catch him off guard, so he could crush him into the ground and fulfill what his brother had said, that all of them were going to die, even if he was referring to the first person that had entered the chamber, before he switched to the Soul Stone for a moment and let its power flow throughout the chamber, seeking his foe's soul, which was when he moved to the side as Lorian swung his blade down on where he had been standing, the greatsword striking the stone and breaking part of it in the process. Given the fact that Prince Lothric was set on killing him, not to mention the others, Tirek knew that his brother had to be the same way and it was true a few seconds later as he yanked his weapon out of the floor and swung it at him a few more times, something that Tirek dodged for a few moments before his foe disappeared again and reappeared close by, where he swung the blade and loosed a wave of fire at him, which was when he switched to the Space Stone and used the vortex power to suck the flames up before they could reach him, something that was followed by him redirecting the flames towards Prince Lothric, who was either protected by a barrier or used his magic to stop the attack from hitting him, which meant Lorian had to be beaten first.

Of course their battle didn't last all that long, which was rather disappointing for Tirek, as Lorian thrust his blade forward and that was when the front half of it passed into one of Tirek's spacial portals so he could force his foe to stab himself in the back, something that caused his foe to shudder for a moment as that happened, before he collapsed on the ground and went still, hence the reason that Tirek walked away from where his first foe had fallen and stared up at the area that Prince Lothric was resting in, figuring he would either come down here and fight or he'd have to blow up most of this area and crush him after that.

"Oh, dear brother... I'm on my way..." Prince Lothric said, where it appeared that he raised his hands in a prayer motion as he said that, or at least that was what Tirek assumed he was doing, before he disappeared from the area that he had been resting in, and had been observing the battle from, and reappeared in the area that his brother had fallen in, to the left of his head to be exact, which was when he started to channel whatever power he commanded into his brother's body as he lowered his head to where one of his ears was, even if Tirek caught what he had to say, "My brother, unyielding sword of Lothric's prince... rise, if you would... for that is our curse."

What happened next was that Prince Lothric wrapped his arms around his brother's neck and the power raised Lorian, as in he was revived from where Tirek had dropped him and took up his kneeling stance once more, only this time around his brother remained wrapped around his neck, meaning that if Tirek were to take Lorian down it would give him a chance to deal some damage to Prince Lothric while the weak brother went to revive his brother, if he didn't want to target him while Lorian was moving, though this made things much easier for him and Sarana, who was patiently waiting for her chance to lash out at the Princes, as while the first revival was happening he opened the barrier a bit and allowed her to leave the area the others were being contained inside for the rest of the fight. The other thing that happened was that the embered state returned to the Twin Princes, just like what happened when all of the Abyss Watchers had been taken care of and the group of warriors had pooled their power into a single body, meaning that the brothers must be taking the fight seriously at long last, and Prince Lothric started by releasing a mass of light spheres into the air, before both he and Lorian vanished thanks to the light power they apparently had access to, where Tirek stood still for a moment as he engaged the power of the Soul Stone to seek his foes out while using the Space Stone to ready some small portals. A few moments later Tirek moved to the side for a moment and dodged the incoming attack as Lorian crushed the area he had been standing in with his greatsword, which was followed by Tirek redirecting Prince Lothric's attacks right into Lorian's chest, even though he also added a burst of smaller Lightning Spears into the mix to inflict some additional damage to the larger brother, due to the fact that he wanted to see what else the brothers had to use against him, before he brought them down and reduced them to ashes, after Sarana got her revenge anyway. His thoughts were proven a few moments later as Prince Lothric took a moment to gather his power for a few seconds and then fired a beam of light energy at Tirek's chest, who stood still as it came at him and grinned as another portal opened up, this one aimed right at Lorian's chest and was sharpened by a bit of his own magic, the force of which knocked the elder brother into the air for a moment and sent him flying into another stone pillar, one that was shattered as both of them took some damage from what Tirek had done.

Lorian's response to that attack was to teleport himself and his brother into the air so he could thrust his greatsword right down into the area Tirek was standing in, who weaved his magic into the Power Stone for a moment as he hurled his fist upwards, just like he had done earlier, where their powers collided for a moment and the entire chamber, and possibly the rest of the castle that was in their immediate area, shuddered under the weight of their powers fighting each other, and it was even more true since Prince Lothric had added his power to his brother's attack, so it was one against two right now, but while he wasn't using his full power against them he knew that he didn't need to do so, as he was able to push both of his foes backwards, causing the air to shake for a moment as everything died down. From that point it seemed like Prince Lothric understood that the homing light attack was useless in the grand scheme of things and focused solely on adding his power to what his brother was doing, so whenever Lorian lashed out with his greatsword Prince Lothric made sure to help his brother out, resulting in them clashing with each other and causing the chamber to shudder whenever their energies came into contact with each other, where several of their collisions actually opened the way for Tirek to hit the larger brother in the chest and knock him to the ground, something that caused Prince Lothric to fall off and rush over to where his defeated brother was resting, all so he could raise him again. Tirek took advantage of that as he channeled the power of his Forbidden Sun spell and blasted the weak Prince in the chest, sending him flying through the air and let him collide with one of the cracked pillars, not enough to do any damage to the pillar in question, but that was followed by Prince Lothric teleporting back to where Lorian was standing and raised him to do battle once more, making Tirek wonder if the weaker brother held his older brother's soul or if they were connected in some way. Either way it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, as regardless of what Tirek did the weaker Prince managed to revive his brother and resume their fight, which he was fine with since the collisions of their powers was enough to shake and crack parts of the chamber, all while opening the way for him to deal some decent damage to his foes, and there was even a time where the brothers combined their flames and light into a single wave attack that carved up the ground and rushed at Tirek, who used one of the Space Stone's power to catch the attack and redirect it into Lorian's chest.

This time around, when Prince Lothric rushed forward to raise his brother for what seemed like the fifth time, despite the fact that Tirek wasn't really keeping track of that sort of thing since he could overcome their combined power on his own, though as the brothers tried to get back into the game Tirek grinned as Sarana jumped out of the section of the chamber that she had been hiding in and swung her blades through the air, slicing off the heads of the Twin Princes in the process, something that was followed by a flash of light as they transformed into some ashes that they would place on the empty throne that rested in the Shrine... not to mention the fact that Tirek greedily absorbed the power of their souls, just like he had done with the previous Lords of Cinder, restoring him to his full power at long last.

"The deed is done, the Twin Princes are no more." Tirek stated, though as he said that he waited for Sarana to collect the ashes of their foe, just like she had done after they defeated the other Lords of Cinder, before channeling the power of the Space Stone once she was ready, creating a portal that would take them back to the Shrine without using the bonfires, to which he glanced at the rest of the group for a moment and beckoned for them to head through the portal, "Come, let us head back to the Shrine and bring an end to this quest."

Sarana and Martok nodded their heads, as they were used to what Tirek was capable of doing and walked forward, which convinced Gotthard and the rest of their new allies to follow suit not a few seconds later, where they were surprised when they appeared inside the Shrine that held the five thrones that the Lords of Cinders, or their ashes in this case, which was followed by Tirek stepping into the building not a few seconds later and made sure to close the portal as soon as everyone was on this side of the portal, before noticing that Yuria seemed to have moved, as she was standing in the area that the Fire Keeper had been standing in, though she seemed to have something to tell him.

"My Lord, I have done some searching, and I believe that I have found something that can become the missing Stone that you mentioned earlier." Yuria said, where Tirek could easily tell that she was referring to the fact that he had might have said something about the Reality Stone he wanted to create, something that would allow him to complete his great Infinity Gauntlet and truly take control of the entire world, once they set the final ashes on the last throne and did whatever was supposed to happen after that event, "I have discovered that there is a second bonfire in the chamber that you fought the traitor in, one that should allow you to access the Ringed City, where you will find something to twist into the Reality Stone you mentioned some time ago."

Tirek grinned for a moment, as the thought of completing his Infinity Gauntlet was more than enough for him to head over to the area that he had fought Elfriede in and see if Yuria was telling the truth, which he believed she was doing since she had no reason to lie to him, to which he approached the bonfire that was in front of them and accessed it's power, as the power of the Stones didn't work in the Painted World and he was sure that the same would be true for this Ringed City, but he was fine with that as he and his companions started to head out once more, leaving Gotthard in charge of those that had just joined them, even though they would be back in due time for Tirek to claim this world.

Into the Dreg Heap

It didn't take Tirek, Sarana, and Martok all that long to leave the Shrine behind and head to the area that Elfriede had been resting in, or rather the chamber that Tirek had fought her and Father Ariandel in, where they discovered something that was a little odd, none of the fires had died down since the last time they had been here, but that wasn't the reason behind why they had returned to this area, rather the reason they were here was because of the second bonfire that Yuria had told him about when they returned to the Shrine, after defeating the Twin Princes to be exact. Sure enough they found a brand new bonfire that rested at the end of the chamber, in the area that was directly across from the area that the stairs that let them walk down into this area in the first place, so what they did was walk over to it and came to a stop as soon as they reached it, something that was followed by them accessing the magic of the bonfire, something that allowed them to vanish from the chamber they had been standing in and took them to the area of the Ringed City it was connected to, if what Yuria had said was correct. Not a few seconds later they discovered that they appeared inside what seemed to be a hallway that was mostly covered in ash, as in some of the passages that fed into this hallway were filled with ash and bricks, which also meant that the ground was broken as well in some places, before they found a bonfire in front of them, so if they wanted to head back to the Shrine they could do so, which was when Tirek checked the Infinity Gauntlet and found that none of the Stones wanted to do anything, just like what happened when he tried to use the Space Stone after they arrived in the first area of the Painted World, to which he said nothing as Sarana activated the bonfire and they marched outside the hallway that they had appeared in.

Once the group had a chance to see what was around them, which wasn't all that much, Tirek walked forward and passed through the doorway that was at the end of the hallway, where he paused for a moment as he stared out at what seemed to be a ruined castle of some kind, one that was covered in ash and was in the process of collapsing, like the world was in the middle of ending, and off in the distance rested the blackened sun with the red flaming ring around it, before he found a pilgrim sitting on a chair that was near the edge of this area.

"Oh, your heads are square on your shoulders, eh?" a voice commented, where the group glanced at the pilgrim for a few seconds, even though Tirek was able to tell that this pilgrim was female based on what they were seeing right now, which was when the pilgrim sighed for a moment as she shifted her head so she could stare out at the ruined area, one that now seemed like a melting pot of civilizations and cultures, since Tirek could see things from every location they had been to since their quest to take down the Lords of Cinder had started, "I thought that the clamoring tin can was going to be the last visitor, but here we go again... what is it that you want from this old stone-humped hag?"

"I seek the source of power that sleeps in this place," Tirek stated, because there was no need to fear telling the pilgrim the reason he and his companions had come here, due to the fact that if she tried anything Sarana would either remove her head or Martok could cut her down where she sat, which wasn't counting what Tirek would do to her if she tried anything, but for the most part it looked like she was thinking about what she had just been told, something that was followed by yet another sigh escaping her mouth.

"I have nothing for you, then, not even a smithereen." the pilgrim replied, where she shifted her head and glanced at the area that was in front of them, where she could either be staring down at the lower section of the area that they would be passing through or she was staring at the sinister sun that was off in the distance, though either of them didn't matter to Tirek, not since it appeared that she was going to be of no help to them, something he was getting used to since he knew there were a number of individuals in this world that didn't care to aid him and his companions, "I just like to sit here and take in the view that's in front of me."

Instead of cutting the pilgrim down for being useless, like Tirek had done to the Priestess at the start of their journey, the group walked over to the edge of the area and found a ledge that was between where they were standing and what looked like the path that would allow them to move forward, to which Sarana and Martok jumped down onto the ash covered ledge first and made sure it was stable, along with checking for enemies, before descending to the next level of the area, which was where a stone walkway, a pillar that had collapsed at some point in the past, where Sarana nodded her head a few seconds later. That, in turn, caused Tirek to head down to the area that his companions were standing in, finding that the ash was more than enough to prevent him from taking damage from the second fall, and none of it stuck to his attire, which was rather interesting, where they walked onto the stone pillar and headed over to the area that it connected to, as it appeared that there was part of a castle or something they could walk on top of to their left and a drop to their right, so they headed to the left first, just to see what else was in this area. What they could see was that there was a summoner of some kind near the drop, who channeled its power for a moment and called up a number of shadowy figures that filled the area with shadowy figures that seemed to be crawling along the ground, murkmen as Tirek was going to call them until someone told him otherwise, which was followed by him channeling a Fire Orb and blasted the murk summoner before it could flee from the area it was in, even though Sarana lashed out with her blades and cut through a few of the crawling enemies while Martok cleaved some of the others in half, something that was followed by Sarana finding another of the summoners and cut it down before it turned and faced them. Tirek had to wonder if the enemies of this area were weak due to the world ending, though as they climbed up the stairs that the second summoner had been standing on it was too easy for them to spot a larger knight, with a massive greatsword, that had to be a harald knight or something, even though its head was wrapped in some sort of darkness and it had chains and branches wrapped around its body, but as it noticed them it jumped down from the stairs it had been standing on and started to approach them, which was when Tirek used a wave of Ice magic to freeze its legs, allowing Sarana to jump onto its back and stab its head, something that actually took out the knight in a matter of seconds.

The only items that were in this area were a Titanite Chunk and a dagger that had an aquamarine crystal embedded inside it, one that Sarana claimed was supposedly engraved with a prayer that was used to ward off incident, though with it and the chunk in hand the three of them headed over to where the drop was located and found that there wasn't much for even one of them to walk on, rather it looked like if someone walked on the stones the walkway was going to collapse on them, to which Martok claimed the crestfallen soul and let the walkway collapse, while Tirek wrapped his magic around him and Sarana so they could follow their companion. What happened was that the path shattered and Martok fell down to what appeared to be a church or something, where he smashed through some stained glass and landed in an area that was filled with ash, even though it wasn't long before Tirek and Sarana landed nearby and the barrier disappeared, but after that happened Sarana pulled out her bow for a moment and loosed an arrow that put down another summoner as it started to appear nearby, allowing Martok to head over to an opening and cut down one more, meaning they didn't have to worry about murkmen coming to kill them for a time. The only things Tirek even found in this area were two pieces of Titanite, a scale and a twinkling version, so he let Sarana add them to her pack as they headed outside the structure they were in, something that was followed by a few murkmen dropping down on the walkway they were now walking on, even though a burst of Fireballs knocked all of them down a few moments later, though as that happened the group found a new foe to deal with, a humanoid creature that they could barely make out, or at least the main body of, and it had white wings that made it look like an angel of some kind. As it turned out the angel didn't want them here as it floated in the air that was near where they were walking, because it fired a few bursts of light energy at the area they were standing in, to which Tirek summoned a barrier in front of them and made sure it covered the rest of the walkway that they would be using to move forward, allowing Sarana and Martok to move forward first before he followed after them, though he took a moment to fire a Lightning Spear through the air and found that nothing happened, which meant that they needed to find something that would help them take it down, and any other angels that might be here.

Tirek quickly discovered that part of the path he had covered also had a drop that was protected as well, where they were able to find a vial of some kind, a divine blessing according to Sarana, that was added to their collection, before reaching an area that seemed to be part of a city, one direction heading towards the area the angel was in and another heading into one of the buildings, so Sarana picked up a few urns that contained the power of lightning as they headed for the opening that was in front of them, since the angel path seemed to be less important at the moment. Tirek found that there were a few statues lining the walls of the inside of the building, a church or something, and there were two lothric knights, who had had the chains and branches that the harald knight had been wearing, though one carried a banner that allowed it to empower the other knight, though what happened next was that Martok rushed forward and cleaved the first knight right in half while Sarana stabbed the second in the back, showing Tirek that some of the enemies in this place really had to be weakened by the fact that the world seemed to be ending, something that made him wonder if they had been thrown into another Painted World or part of the future, given the state of his Infinity Gems. At the same time, however, the fact that all of the foes that were around them seemed to be weak wasn't a good sign, not when he was after an individual of power that he could twist the soul of into the final Stone, the Reality Stone, but part of him was willing to believe that this was due to the fact that he and his companions were incredibly strong and that was why things were this easy, but even as he took the time to think about that his companions headed through the opening that was on the right side of the building, which seemed to be the way forward. Outside the building they found a number of knights that seemed to either be resting near a fountain or all of them had left their armor and weapons near it, where the latter was likely more true than anything else they could have considered, though that was when Sarana lashed out at a summoner that appeared behind the fountain, cutting into it three times so it would fall into the ground and not call any of the murkmen into the area, before they took a moment and headed up towards the building that the foe had been standing near, where a summoner appeared inside it and was blasted into a wall by Tirek, who used a Fireball this time to do it.

What they discovered was that, after a point, the murkmen and summoners started to appear on their own, as in none of them were connected to a summoner anymore and they were all angry at the group, which was why Tirek left Sarana and Martok to figure out the path they should be following while he blasted every murkmen and summoner that dared to step or crawl towards them, even though it seemed like they were heading right towards a dead end that was on the floor they had walked up to, but it didn't take Sarana long to find a hidden passage, which turned out to be a set of stairs that were protected by a illusionary wall. That set of stairs seemed to bring them to a second floor that was hidden, though they did find more enemies up on the second floor and it caused Sarana and Martok to lash out at them as Tirek caught up with them, even though the stairs at the end of the area they had found brought them to yet another floor that had a more open area for them to explore, even if it was contained inside the same building that they had entered earlier, where Tirek found a spell page for something called Great Soul Dregs, something he might think about using later on, before he and the others moved out of the area they were in and dropped down into a walkway that was in front of the path they were following, something that ended up bringing them to one of the silver serpent rings. Once that was done the three of them jumped over the ledge that was nearby and landed some distance in front of the statue, even though it was clear that all of the enemies that were reappearing in this area were slowly making their way towards them as they marched out of the building they had been in earlier, to which the group headed down the path that was nearby and left the murkmen behind for the time being, hopefully never crossing paths with them again while they explored this place. As they did that part of the building to their right cracked and a small circular tower collapsed, falling and striking the building to their left before coming to a stop in a straight line that connected the two buildings, even if it meant nothing to the group, though on the other side of it they found what appeared to be either part of a castle that was shifted due to the end of the world or a small keep of some kind, but in the end the group determined that it really didn't matter as they headed over to where it rested, since it seemed to be where they had to go next.

The biggest problem of the area the keep was in was the fact that the angel from earlier, or a second one since there was always a chance there was more than one in this area, glanced over to the area that they were standing in and loosed a burst of light energy at them, where Tirek used his own magic to summon a barrier and stop the attacks in their tracks, all so Sarana and Martok could reach the structure in question, before he repelled the attack and rushed over to the building that was next on their list of places to explore while they searched for what he was looking for. As it turned out they didn't enter an actual building, rather it was more like it was the front of a keep or an arched walkway that had been twisted by the end of the world, though as they reached the safety that was behind part of the pillar Sarana had stopped near they were able to see a weird creature withering near Tirek and his companions were standing, something that was followed by Tirek burning it with a Fire Orb, which caused the Angel that was targeting them to scream in agony for a few seconds and then disappeared after a few seconds. That caused him to grin for a few moments, because this meant the angels weren't as immortal as he had originally assumed, rather they had a vulnerable weakness that they could be used to kill them, to which he nodded towards Sarana and Martok, who did the same thing and headed down the path that they had picked out a few moments ago, where they headed down the ash ledges and spotted a summoner that was ahead of them, one that was blown apart by Tirek, allowing his companions to deal with any murkmen that were called into this area, which was followed by a harald knight pulling itself from some of the murky water that was near them. Martok made sure to cut down the knight before it could get out of the water, while at the same time Sarana cut into a few of the murkmen as well, though while all of that happened the appearances of their foes, despite the fact that they had seen them a few times, did make Tirek wonder if their forms were the result of this world and the fact that it was ending, before deciding that there was no reason for him to worry about such a thing as they reached the edge of this area and jumped over the edge that rested in front of them, allowing them to fall down to an area that was covered in ash, but seemed to be the right way for them to move forward.

From what Tirek could see it appeared that part of a castle was off to their left, a wall to be exact, though instead of even heading over there the three of them headed down the path that was in front of them and kept their guards up in case they discovered any additional enemies, of which they were certain they would find some at some point, hence why they focused on the bonfire that was down in front of the area they had landed in and made sure that they activated it, even if none of them were planning on falling anytime soon. Once that was done they headed further down into the area that was in front of the bonfire and approached the area that the massive tree roots, as it appeared that a massive tree of some kind had been uprooted and laid on its side, though one thing that they had to be careful of was any angels that happened to flying off on the left side of the area, where the first one had been flying earlier, so when they headed down the path that was near the roots Tirek channeled his power into blocking the angel's power as Sarana and Martok headed for all of the ruined buildings that were nearby, which appeared to be houses and shacks of some kind. The interesting thing Tirek found was that all of the ruined structures also gave them additional cover from the angels and their light based attacks, something none of them had been expecting if they were being totally honest with themselves, since these were enemies Sarana hadn't encountered in the past, but this allowed Tirek to pick when to use his magic and when they had to duck in the protected areas that had been set up by the world's shifting, all while they searched for the correct path that would let them reach the Ringed City, their ultimate destination. There was one building that happened to have a pair of thralls on one of the walls, who seemed to be hiding from the angel as well, to which the trio ignored them as they kept their eyes on the angel, or rather Sarana watched the angel while the others waited for her to indicate that it was time to move, and it wasn't long before they were allowed to move once more, heading right into a ruined structure that rested near them, one that was followed by Tirek grabbing a thrall that was rushing at them and hurled it outside, just in time to take the force of the angel's blast while he and the others ducked behind the walls that were half buried in the ash, even though they went over to the ledge that was deeper inside the structure and walked over it, allowing them to drop down into an area that looked sort of like a swamp, even if they were on the outskirts of the area in question.

The reason Tirek knew it had to be a swamp was due to the fact that there were a few of the poison creatures hanging off to the right of the area they had landed in, with Martok crushing a thrall in the process, though there was another angel in this area and it seemed to be looking in their direction, to which Tirek made sure to stop the incoming attacks with a quick burst of his own magic, while the other thing they were able to figure out was that there was a curse of some kind in this area, one that, if they stayed in one place for too long, would start to effect them and eventually crush them if they stood still for too long. The massive problem that they discovered was that the lone angel that was in this area seemed to be far more aggressive than the last one, as in it hurled far more light arrows, or whatever its attack was called, down at them as they made a break for it, choosing to ignore the cavern that was off to the right or the area that was near the area they had dropped down into when they were escaping the previous angel, though the amount of attacks made it seem like they were being attacked by more than one angel, something that required Tirek's full attention to defend against as Sarana quickly scouted out the area they were in and picked which path they were going to take. The area that she picked out was one of the large roots, as it appeared that they could get out of the angel's line of sight for a time, to which Tirek nodded as they headed over the swamp, making sure to touch as little of the sickly water as they could, given the poisoned nature of these areas, before heading up the root and disappeared from their foe's sight, allowing them to take a few seconds to catch their breath and figure out where in the world they were going, even though Sarana could tell that the path that was near them wouldn't do much, as it appeared to backtrack right into the angel's view and would leave them sitting ducks until one of them found another place to hide. Fortunately there happened to be another set of roots resting nearby, one that seemed to connect to an area that the angel couldn't see, but they didn't have a lot of time to hide due to the fact that the angel loosed the curse aura over where it had last seen the three of them, which was the area they happened to be in, to which they emerged from their hiding spot and headed for the other root that Sarana had spotted, quickly climbing up to where three thralls happened to be hiding, not to mention a lady who was wearing next to no clothing and seemed to be commanding the power of fire.

Tirek, knowing that the angels were more of a threat than this lady was, gathered his power for a moment and grabbed the sorceress before she could do anything to stop him, where he hurled her out into the open area that he, Sarana, and Martok had come from and watched as the angel opened fire on the area that she landed in, though while that happened the three of them continued along the path Sarana was leading them down, where she cut down the thralls who were in their way while leaving the heavier enemies for Martok, who was patiently waiting for the knights to get in their way so he could cut them down. While they did that Tirek noticed a spell page appear where the lady had been standing and he took a moment to use his magic to levitate the spell over to him, finding that it was a Flame Fan spell, to which he added it to his spell tome before catching up to his companions, though as it turned out the path Sarana had picked out was the roofs of the houses that were near the root that had brought them to where the lady was standing, something that put a smile on Tirek's face as he spotted the withering mass that was connected to the angel and flamed it, causing the angel to do what the other one had done as it faded out of existence. Of course there was the bad news, there just so happened to be a second angel in this area, meaning that they still had to be careful while they were exploring the rest of this area, which was annoying since that meant there was another withering mass that needed to be destroyed so the angel would fade to nothingness, though in the next couple of seconds Sarana ran out into the root covered area that they had seen the new angel in and headed for the ruined castle walls that were off in the distance, where Tirek and Martok followed after her a few seconds later, the former using his magic to make sure the angels couldn't hit them at all. Once they reached the area that Sarana had picked out it was easy to see that there was a small passage of sorts that allowed them to walk on a root, one that descended down into the depths of the outside area of the swamp, which just so happened to bring the three of them right to where a withering mass rested, something that was torched as soon as Tirek laid eyes on it, because he really didn't like these angels and their inability to actually take any damage from his attacks, before they heard the sound that an angel made when it faded away, allowing him to grin for a moment as Sarana and Martok made sure there was nothing else in this area before they resumed searching for the way forward.

The only other thing in this area seemed to be a root that went nowhere, save death if the angels were still around since it was hanging above the abyss, to which the three of them turned around and headed back up to the structure that held the path that allowed them to come down here in the first place, as there might be a clue as to where they had to go in the previous area they had rushed through, which allowed them to find an area they could jump down into, also covered by a layer of ash that would break the brief fall they would be going through, that had a bonfire inside it, along with a ledge that looked like it would allow them to leap down into the abyss that was below them.

"How odd, two bonfires so close to each other," Tirek commented, referring to the fact that the second bonfire was rather close to where the new third one happened to be resting, because he was sure that the angels didn't come back when an Unkindled used one of this lands bonfires to rest or teleport to another part of this land, though that could be false since this area seemed different from everything else they had seen so far, before he turned his attention to the walkway that was resting near where the new bonfire was located, "What do you think?"

"Based on everything I've seen, the path forward might be down there," Sarana replied, knowing that Tirek usually didn't bother to ask her for her opinion on things, not after obtaining the majority of his power, his Infinity Gauntlet, and five of the six Infinity Stones that he used to turn the tide against the enemies that had been standing in his way when he truly started their trek through the castle, though that was when she glanced out at the open area that was beyond the ledge as she thought about something, "those giant knights are from the Harald Legion, seekers of the Dark Soul... I wonder if that is what Yuria was talking about, turning the Dark Soul into your Reality Stone..."

"We won't know until we find it, or whatever we're looking for," Tirek said, though while he could question what the Dark Soul was, since it seemed rather important based on the way Sarana mentioned its name, right now his attention was on what else they would be facing before they found the Ringed City, since he was sure a powerful foe was resting down at the bottom of the crater, as from what he could now tell this looked more like a meteor impact site and the meteor was no longer here, leaving a massive crater in the ground that he couldn't see the bottom of.

Sarana nodded her head in agreement, something that was followed by her and Martok walking behind Tirek as he walked over to the end of the short stone walkway that was near the bonfire and stared down into the heart of the crater, where he jumped into the air and headed down into the area that was far below where they had started, which allowed him and his companions to see that some ruins had either been built down here or had fallen due to the world ending, though that was also when they found two demonic enemies, the odd stone-like enemies that had pulsing red veins in their bodies, which confirmed that there were some powerful enemies for them to take care of. From what Tirek could tell the demons looked nearly identical to each other, save for the fact that one had wings attached to its hands and the other one seemed to have normal hands, which lead to him labeling the winged demon as the 'Below Demon' and the normal demon as the 'Pain Demon', but even as he and his companions landed on the ground, where he was sure some sort of magic had made sure none of them took any damage, the demons picked themselves up from where they were slumbering and turned to look at the group, he rushed over to where the Below Demon rested and nodded to Sarana, who did the same thing as she and Martok rushed over to the Pain Demon's location. Tirek's plan was to divide them into two groups, him dealing with the Below Demon while Sarana and Martok dealt with the Pain Demon, without allowing either of the demons to leave and regroup with their companion, though the first thing that they had to do was dodge the beams of fiery energy that raced over part of the ground, blowing part of the stone away, though as Tirek got his foe to follow him, and Sarana did the same thing, his demonic enemy came to a stop for a moment and loosed a burst of wind pressure, in essence a roar, that would have hurt if he was standing near it, but since he wasn't standing near it the attack did nothing at all, though even as that happened the Pain Demon struck the ground with its claws as it chased Sarana into another part of the area. Tirek focused on dodging his foe's attacks for a few moments, mostly because one of the first things he did was try to use one of the Infinity Stones, the Power Stone, to beat his foe into the ground, but nothing happened, reminding him of the fact that all five of his powerful Infinity Stones were lifeless in this land, possibly due to this being similar to the Painted World or being far in the future, to which he rolled to the left, to dodge an incoming claw slash, before loosing a spear made of Ice at his foe, striking the demon in the chest and knocking it away from him, which only seemed to make it angrier than it already was, something Tirek was perfectly fine with.

The interesting thing about the Below Demon's elemental breath was that Tirek was sure it was poison related, as in when it wasn't breaking the ground it was also poisoning the area around it for a few seconds, which was why he made sure to stay away from his foe whenever that happened and then lashed out by calling forth five spheres in the air around him, all containing the same element of his last attack, which was when he hurled them into his foe's back and blasted it into the ground, despite the fact that the demon quickly picked itself back up and rushed back into battle. While the Infinity Stones were useless, and none of their powers could be used right now, the Gauntlet itself, forged from godly metal, wasn't the same way, as he was able to dodge one of the Below Demon's attacks and struck his foe in the arm, something that forced the demon through the air and created a small crater around it when it finally landed on the ground, not that such a thing meant anything since it forced itself back into a standing position, or what passed for it standing, and rushed back into the area that Tirek was standing in. At one point the Below Demon stopped and roared in anger, where Tirek found that it was due to the fact that Sarana and Martok had brought down the Pain Demon, who was no longer moving, though this was an opening that he wasn't expecting and was one he was going to put to good use as he summoned three ice spheres into the area he happened to be standing in, combining them into a larger attack, just like he had done earlier with some of the other elements, and struck his foe the moment the attack was ready, sending the sphere flying down at his foe and blew up the area that was around it, leaving a pile of icicles and blue energy around where the Below Demon had fallen, where the unmoving forms of the demons meant that this battle was over. However, not even a few seconds later Tirek and both of his companions found out that they weren't allowed to rest just yet, even if none of them were considering that, as the Below Demon's body started to shudder for a moment as all the demonic energy in the cavern seemed to gather inside its body, which was followed by a pair of large demonic wings ripping out of its back as it forced itself to stand once more, all while issuing a challenge to those that were in its resting place, though the demon's new appearance made Sarana say something about a 'Demon Prince', meaning it had to be important in some manner.

Tirek knew their new foe, the Demon Prince as Sarana called it, meant business when it gathered its fire for a moment and jumped into the air, where it seemed to spin around and hurled what appeared to be an enemy seeking Fire Orb through the air that was in front of him, something that rushed towards where he was standing, to which Tirek gestured for Sarana and Martok to remain hidden for now as he fired an equally powerful Fire Orb into the space that was in front of him, one that was followed by the two attacks colliding in the air and caused the entire cavern to shudder as their powers clashed against each other. The Demon Prince was powerful, that much Tirek could tell from the clash that was going on, making him wonder if Prince Lorian had faced it at some point in the past, something that Sarana would be able to prove at some point if he cared enough to find out, though as soon as both of their spells exploded, and left a smouldering crater in the cavern's floor, which was followed by his foe rushing through the air and rapidly approached the area Tirek was standing in as it brought its claws down on him, even though Tirek swung his right fist into the incoming attack, another collision that caused the cavern to shack. Doing that seemed to cause the Demon Prince to lash out at him a few times with both of its claws, either forcing a collision between their powers or just smashing up the area that was around them, which really made Tirek glad he had silently ordered Sarana and Martok to stand off to the side as soon as the Demon Prince revealed itself to them, because he was sure this would be too much for them, or at least for one of them, but most of his attention was on the Demon Prince, who decided to leap backwards and put some distance between it and Tirek, where Sarana and Martok stood near the ruins that seemed to be the way forward while Tirek fought his foe on the other side of the cavern, which seemed to be the best course of action for them. It was in the following moments that the Demon Prince loosed an intense beam of fiery energy, one that it weaved back and forth in the area that rested right in front of it, something that caused Tirek to jump backwards and put some space between them, before the demon focused on him and fired a much more intense beam of energy through the air, this one aimed right at him, to which Tirek raised his hands and combined his magic with the godly metal of his gauntlets, preventing the beam from barreling through his body and doing a great deal of damage to him, before he forced his arms apart and split the Demon Prince's attack in half.

Of course the Demon Prince wasn't the only one to go on the offensive, as Tirek made sure to use several of the Soul spells he had used so far, even if most of them looked like ice or crystal spells to him, and hurled them at his foe, who he failed to stagger, possibly due to the fact that his foe seemed totally mad about something, though when the Demon Prince did the beam of energy again Tirek did the same thing, firing a blackened beam into his foe's attack and blew it up, before the rest of his attack barrelled into the heart of his foe and blew it apart, leaving what appeared to be a sinister flame-like soul in its place, meaning it must have been using too much of its power to overwhelm him and it cost it greatly. Once that was done Tirek headed over to the area that Sarana and Martok were standing in, where the next bonfire was resting, where he made sure it was lit before they headed through the ruined structure that was near their location and found a banner, one of the small ones that looked like a black version of the banner Tirek and Sarana got at the start of their quest, which was collected as soon as they entered the ruin and proceeded to head down the path that was behind it, as Tirek was sure they would find a place to use it in. Tirek was also sure that this could have been a shrine of some kind, at least before the end of the world that they had seen when they were above ground, though his focus was on what might be in front of him and his companions as the three of them headed down into a tunnel that might lead them outside, something that ended in them standing on what appeared to be the very edge of the area they had started their new quest in, even though it was hard for them to see anything other than clouds at the moment. It was in the following moments that Sarana pulled out the new banner and held it out towards the open area that was in front of them, reminding Tirek of what they had done after Vordt was defeated, which was followed by the white winged creatures that had carried them into the area that they had found Martok in, the Undead Settlement, flew into the area and grabbed onto their arms, hauling each of them into the air before heading away from the area they had been standing in.

Tirek grinned for a moment as they flew off into the distance, as it appeared that they were finally going to reach the area that the Ringed City was located in, something that would allow them to truly start their search for whatever powerful foe or relic that would be twisted into his Reality Stone, regardless of how long it might take them to search for it, though once that was done they could bring an end to their main quest and he could take over the rest of the world, before starting his rule over Lothric and the various lands that were around it.

The Ringed City

Originally Tirek assumed that the flight was going to take them some time, given that they had no idea where the Ringed City was even located, though he was proven wrong not even a few moments after their flight started, as the winged beings that were carrying him, Sarana, and Martok through the air were able to bring them to a point that allowed them to stare down at a massive crescent inlet that just so happened to be the resting place of a massive city, one that had to be their true destination and rested in a light that wasn't anything like what they were used to in the first area of this world, though the sheer size of the city meant it would take them some time to find their target. Tirek had to admit that the city was actually rather impressive, more so than the city the Twin Princes and their family ruled over, and that this place would have been a good place to set up a seat of power, or at least it would have been if it was placed somewhere close to the areas that both he and his companions were used to exploring and fighting in, but he shelved that thought as they headed down towards a stone mountain of sorts that seemed to rest in the middle of the city's area. The winged creatures dropped them at the end of a path that seemed to head down the mountain and would allow them to reach the outskirts of the part of the city they would be exploring, though once the three of them had been dropped off the creatures turned around and flew out of the area that they had come to, leaving Tirek and his companions to start exploring this city as they searched for either the Dark Soul or whatever powerful being Yuria had discovered in her search for his Reality Stone. Sarana found a Titanite Scale on the corpse that rested behind them, not that such a thing really mattered since none of them needed it, though once that was done they started to walk down the path that rested in front of them, one that quickly transformed into a stone path and lead the way down to a large area that appeared to be the way forward, given the path that they saw off in the distance, even if it had a large person sitting in a chair at the end of it.

"This place is impressive." Tirek commented, as he felt that he might as well tell his companions his thoughts on what they were seeing at the moment, even if one of them wouldn't care in the slightest since he was more focused on the battles that they would be fighting from this point forward, which he was fine with since Martok could take down any foe that stood in their way, as long as he wasn't overwhelmed by a large group of enemies, while Sarana didn't seem to care all that much, rather she was joining them purely to help him recover his final Infinity Stone.

"The Ringed City was supposedly given to the Pygmies by the Great Lord Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, and it was said that he even gave the Pygmy Lords his youngest daughter, Filianore," Sarana replied, showing Tirek how much she knew about the city and those that likely ruled over it, though even as she said that he glanced over at the odd tower that seemed to be all by itself, even if there had to be a way to get to it from inside the city, which was where he assumed the godly child had to be resting, if she was still alive anyway, before she glanced out at the Ringed City a few seconds later, "regardless of all of that, whether it was lies or the truth, I do know one thing: the Dark Soul is here, guarded by the Pygmy Lords and those who serve them... it might be worth claiming it while we're here, as the power of a Lord Soul might empower you far more than what the souls of the Lords of Cinder gave you."

Tirek really had no idea if that was true or not, since he had no idea how strong a Lord Soul was, though he said nothing to that as they made their way down to where the first bonfire of the Ringed City was located, as it was time to lit it and start exploring the city, before they were stopped as Sarana found a hollow, who was wearing a white robe that covered most of its body, a robe that looked like it was tattered and ruined by time, though the hollow seemed to be praying to either the gods or the Pygmy Lords that ruled over the Ringed City, whose head shifted as they came to a stop.

"Hark! They brought you three here, did they not? Dost thou the gods serve? Or merely that role affect?" the hollow asked, speaking the moment that the group came to a stop in front of him, and Tirek was sure it was male based on the rather raspy voice that came from the figure's hood, though the question was rather odd since the hollow spoke like most of the other people he had seen since he started his quest to absorb the powers of the Lords of Cinder and regain his power, but this one didn't modify his speech pattern all that much.

"He wants to know if we serve the gods." Martok commented, speaking for the first time in a long time, not that Tirek was surprised by what was going on, because the warrior had a habit of remaining silent while they explored the lands of their world and let Sarana do most of the talking, though when he did talk it was usually to share something important or his opinions on whatever they were talking about, with this one being the former when Tirek thought about it, which made this that much easier for him so he knew how to respond to the hollow's question.

"We do not serve the gods... in fact, the only god I've seen was being eaten by Aldrich, even though the god in question is dead at this point," Tirek replied, because he had the feeling that the hollow didn't like the gods at all and if they claimed that they had come here on a mission from the gods it would have attacked them without delay, so by revealing that they weren't allies of the gods, as he would have gone after their power if they were still around, that should tell the hollow that all three of them were allies to its cause, since that seemed to be how things worked in this world.

"Yes, of course. How would one such as yourself bend the knee and serve the gods?" the hollow inquired, almost as if he was making a point of saying that Tirek would never serve someone like the various beings that the people of this world saw as gods, even though the one in Anor Londo had been rather powerful and Aldrich had wielded its power well, despite the fact that Tirek ate all the attacks, before the hollow seemed to tilt its head as it looked at them, meaning it had more to say before they moved forward, "I have intimate knowledge of your kind, as I know what you want... it is the Dark Soul that you seek, is it not? Why else would one such as yourself visit this dung heap? Give your nature, I would be an ally to you and share what I know with you."

"Is that so? Then share your knowledge with us." Tirek stated, mostly due to the fact that he was a little annoyed with the hollow, for brazenly assuming that they were here for the legendary Dark Soul and whoever held it, without him or either of his companions even mentioning the item in question, but since the hollow was willing to share some information with them he figured that they could take a few minutes to see what sort of information he had to offer them before they left the area and headed out into the part of the Ringed City that was near them.

"If it is the Dark Soul you desire, then seek out Filianore's church, which rests at the base of the cliff. There you will find the sleeping Princess and awaken..." the hollow said, referring to the youngest daughter of Lord Gwyn, who Sarana had told him about a few moments ago, though this did inform him that Filianore had some decent power and that she happened to be doing something to the Ringed City, or at least that was what his thoughts on the matter were, "though her slumber is a deceit... a lid covering an overgrown privy; a prop to keep those who seek the Dark Soul from what they desire. Like I said, I am a true friend to you and your servants, and I can tell you that if you were human the urge would soon begin to swell within you... an urge to curse the gods, and bring ruin upon this accursed heap of dung. Now, quickly make your way to Filianore's church at the base of the cliff, to rouse the sleeping Princess from her slumber... that will allow you to seek out the Dark Soul and fulfill your quest."

Tirek said nothing to that as he, Sarana, and Martok headed down to the area that the first bonfire was resting in and lit it not a few seconds later, though as he did that Sarana carefully walked over to the top of the stone stairs, allowing them to watch as the giant that was off in the distance stood up and a wave of magic seemed to quickly roll over the long walkway that was between them and the area it was sitting in, something that was followed by a large number of orange phantom archers appearing all over the walkway, where they aimed in Sarana's direction and hit the small wall that was behind the new bonfire, showing them that this was a safe area before the archers disappeared. That informed Tirek that they had to be careful as they walked through the area that was in front of them, as the giant was going to summon the archers when one of them stepped onto the stairs that lead down to where the walkway rested, where he glanced down at the Infinity Gauntlet and realized that not having the Space Stone was going to make this difficult, because with it he would have been able to redirect the attacks into the giant and take him out, but without it they had to play by the rules of the Ringed City, at least until they returned to the Shrine, once they found what they were looking for. However, even as he thought about that he noticed something else, there just so happened to be a circular area for them to run off of and land on a second walkway that just so happened to be below the main one, meaning that, if he was right in his thoughts, they would be able to get around the archers and reach the main path that would allow them to delve deeper into the Ringed City, an area he pointed out to Sarana and let her study what he was looking at, where she nodded her head a few seconds later, showing that she agreed with what he was thinking about. As such the three of them stood on their side of the threshold that the giant responded to, their side of the top step anyway, and quickly charged down the steps as soon as they were ready, as there was no telling how quickly it would respond to what they were doing, before Sarana dived behind a half circle made out of gravestones and the others followed her, where the phantom archers rose from the ground and fired at the area they were standing in, striking the gravestones that were protecting Tirek and his companions, which meant this plan was already working in their favor.

Once the first volley of arrows was done, and the archers faded away while the giant readied another set to replace those that had disappeared, the group rushed over to the circular area and jumped over the ledge that Tirek had spotted, which allowed them to drop down onto a thinner walkway that seemed to head around the end of the main walkway that they had seen the giant on, even though Sarana was able to find a crestfallen soul nearby and collected it as they headed along the path that was in front of them, each of them having their weapons at the ready in case there were any enemies that needed to be taken out. Fortunately this area was definitely out of the giant's line of sight, since it looked like it switched to sitting on the area that it was resting in, and the first thing the group spotted was one of the small crystal lizards, one that Sarana quickly took out before it could get too far, though once that was done they carefully walked around the circular ledge that the lizard had been running to and followed it, even though Tirek did stop and glance out at the part of the city that was below them, where he found that his earlier thoughts about this place being impressive were true, before he and the others took turns climbing up the ladder that was at the end of the walkway. What was interesting was that the area the ladder brought them to was just out of the giant's sight, which meant they could hide themselves near the stairs that would lead up to the giant and attack it before it had a chance to summon the army of archers that had been guarding this area, which was exactly what they did and when they reached the area in question Tirek loosed a Lightning Spear into the heart of the giant, something that knocked it backwards and smashed into the ground, killing it in seconds, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about any additional forces being summoned, at least until they rested at one of the bonfires and let the magic revive those they had defeated so far. With the giant defeated the group headed over to the other end of the platform it had been resting on and found some stairs that no doubt led to a new part of the city, even if the stairs coiled to the left and they followed it, though not a few moments later they found some indents where statues of knights were resting, like the black knights they had seen in the past, before stopping as they found some sort of bug creature that was hiding behind part of one of the indents, meaning it had to be someone that wanted to talk to them.

"Many of us are by the Fire forsaken." the locust-like creature said, speaking in a tone that matched what Tirek had heard from several of the other people of this world, though at the same time Sarana and Martok kept their guard up, just in the off chance that the creature attacked them, before the creature tilted its head as it looked at Tirek, almost like it was eager to understand what it was, or maybe something more sinister than that, "I speak of your kind, and mine. Behold this city! We are kindred, belike two eyes which gaze upon the other. Fear not, the dark, my friend. One was a wayfaring knight, on an endless, forbidden search. Only the Abyss granted closure, if not reunion with his beloved. Fear not, the dark, my new friends... and let the feast begin."

Tirek raised his eyebrow for a moment, as it appeared that the locust creature was implying that they should embrace the Abyss, one of the primordial forces of this world if what he knew was correct, and accept whatever fate was in store for all of them, a 'feast' that likely meant it and the others of its kind were going to swarm them and devour them, which he said nothing to as he, Sarana, and Martok headed down the rest of the stairs that were behind the creature and decided that he might as well ignore the creature, something his companions copied as they resumed walking. Of course that was when they noticed something lurking in one of the indents that were at the bottom of the stairs, a hollowed cleric who just so happened to be wearing a red tattered robe, though it wasn't in their way for long as Martok heaved his weapon into the air and cleaved the undead cleric in half, killing the mindless creature before it could even do anything to them, which was followed by Tirek walking forward as Sarana kept her eyes open for enemies, because now that they had normal foes to deal with she drew her daggers so she could be at the ready as well. After the first undead cleric Sarana found another one in front of them, who seemed to be sitting near the edge of the walkway they were following, before seeing one that was hanging on the wall that was near the second, meaning that if she went for the second the third was going to fall and attack her in seconds, to which Tirek stepped out with her and hurled a Lightning Spear into his target's back, knocking the undead cleric off the wall instantly, all while opening the way for Sarana to approach her target and kick it in the back of its head, something that sent it over the ledge it was sitting on and forced it to descend into the depths of the city, killing it in a matter of seconds. Once that was done the three of them walked along the rest of the walkway that was in front of them and headed down the stairs they found at the end of it, though as they did that Tirek spotted an undead cleric hanging on the edge of the next walkway, where he hurled a Lightning Spear through the air and struck his target in the side, which caused it to let go of the area it was holding onto and fall like the one that had just been kicked off the ledge, which was when the three of them reached the new walkway and started to follow it to whatever it was leading them towards, even though that was when Martok spotted another undead cleric hanging on the wall in front of them and cleaved the hollow in half before doing the same to another one that pulled itself up the edge of the walkway that was in front of them, which allowed Sarana to pick up some purging stones she found near a corpse.

Once that was done Tirek found an opening that allowed them to enter a chamber that seemed to be the correct way for them to move forward, especially due to the bonfire that rested nearby, to which he and his companions lit it and stared at the area they were in for a few seconds, where he found two normal paths and a locked door, meaning that they needed to see what the other two paths had before they were able to open the short cut that was to the left of the bonfire, though that was when Sarana determined that the path on their right went nowhere, so they headed over to the central path and walked into the small chamber that was in front of them. That was when they found one of the undead clerics waiting for someone to invade this area, though it didn't last very long as Martok cleaved it in half, allowing them to head down a set of stairs that seemed to be leading them deeper into the Ringed City, which might hold the path up to the tower that the Princess was resting inside, but as they did that Tirek found a new version of the cleric enemy for them to deal with, one that happened to have a number of dark crystals growing out of its body, so a dark cleric in a sense since it appeared to be one that inflicted those that were near it with that death haze he had seen in the past. As such those were Tirek's targets, due to the fact that he hurled a Lightning Spear at the first dark cleric that was resting in the middle of the path that they were following, while at the same time Sarana ducked under the spell and cut down the undead cleric that was close to the area they were standing in, opening the way for them to advance down the stairs that were in front of them, where Martok cleaved the next undead cleric in half and knocked down another dark cleric, who fell as his blade cleaved it in half, all so Tirek didn't have to worry about wasting his magic on it. At the bottom of the stairs Tirek found that they had delved a little deeper into the Ringed City, which was good since it meant they were on the right track, before the three of them headed down the staircase that was to their right and found out that it seemed to bring them into the city proper, though as they walked along the area they were in it wasn't long before the three of them discovered a knight with some dark armor that covered its entire body, with a Darksign mark on its chest, while it seemed to be carrying a shield with the face of a dragon and a deadly looking sword, and once it spotted them it slowly marched over to where they were standing, showing that it was definitely aggressive towards them, regardless of its hollow status.

Martok parried the incoming attack that was coming their way and then lashed out at the ringed knight, so named because it was a knight that was guarding the Ringed City, where they found that their foe staggered for a moment and stood back up not a few seconds later, which informed the group that the ringed knights were far more dangerous than the various clerics that they had seen so far, though Tirek assisted him by blasting their foe in the chest with an orb of darkness, which was just a dark version of the Fire Orb, and blasted the knight into submission. With the knight defeated, and Martok was able to confirm that in a matter of seconds, Sarana told Tirek what she knew about these particular enemies, mostly so he could understand what the knights were doing, and he found out that the ringed knights were said to have fought by Lord Gywn's side at one point in time, but they weren't recognized or commemorated for their efforts, in fact the only 'reward' they were given was the gods branding them with a seal of fire, a mark on their armor that resembled the Darksign, even though the reason behind such a thing happening was due to the armor and weapons allegedly being forged in the Abyss before all of the knights battled the dragons. If these ringed knights had actually fought dragons, and Tirek was sure that such a thing was true due to the appearance of the shield their foe carried into battle, that meant they were stronger than all of the previous enemies they had faced, except for a select few when he thought about it, and that he, Sarana, and even Martok would have to be careful this time around, something that they kept in mind as they headed down the stairs the ringed knight had walked up before facing them, even if Tirek had to blast one more dark cleric with a Lightning Spear as Sarana cut down an undead cleric that was standing in the middle of the stairs, allowing them to head down into the area that was in front of them. Once they reached the area at the button of the set of stairs it was easy for the group to see another undead cleric waiting in the opening that would allow them to enter one of the structures that were inside the city, which was followed by Martok cleaving the cleric in half before the three of them stepped into the building and found that there were a few more undead clerics inside the circular chamber that was the next area they had to pass through.

As it turned out there were three undead clerics inside this building, one for each of them, so Sarana rushed forward and cut hers in half, Martok easily cleaved his foe apart, and Tirek blasted his in the chest with a Lightning Spear, though once that was done he found a curved set of stairs that headed down into the rest of the building, where they found a second floor below them and Sarana jumped over to the side to cut down another undead cleric, even though Martok parried the incoming attack from a ringed knight that was at the bottom of the stairs, which was purely so Tirek could blast it with a Dark Orb while it was distracted, besting it in seconds. Tirek knew that the ringed knights were dangerous, and that taking them out quickly might seem like they were too strong for this area, but he had the feeling that the majority of the knights would be much harder than this, especially when they reached the part of this city where there were two or more ringed knights patrolling an area together, something that would cause him and his companions to spread out and focus on their individual foes, which they would think about later, when they reached the area in question. Once he was done thinking about that he, Sarana, and Martok headed over to the tunnel that contained some stairs that seemed to be the way out of this structure, especially since there weren't any openings on the upper levels, though the short set of stairs brought them to a massive staircase that seemed to head in two directions, the right heading up to another structure that must have a locked door waiting for them, if the past was anything to consider, while the path on the left seemed to head out into a massive area for the three of them to explore, one that might be the correct path. The massive area seemed to be more of a dark swamp of some kind, or maybe it was just a dark watery area that lead to a cavernous section, and it happened to have a pair of harald knights patrolling the bottom of the stairs, though they had no way of knowing how many enemies were in this area, not until they headed down to where the two harald knights were standing, so what they did was head up to where the locked door was located, mostly to prove that it was locked and that the way forward would require them fighting their way through the two enemies they could see and the other enemies none of them had seen yet, as Tirek was sure there was something powerful in the area in question.

When they reached the top of the stairs, and Martok turned around to keep an eye on the harald knights that were in the middle of heading up towards where they were standing, Sarana raised her hand and knocked on the door they found at the top of the stairs, which seemed to be locked and unable to be moved, which made sense when Tirek thought about it since there were all sorts of locked doors in this world and some of them even made their quest that much harder, but as he shook his head, to indicate that it was time to leave and deal with their true enemies, he heard something on the other side of the door and paused for a moment.

"Whoever is there, speak the name of God... or any god, if you can't recall the name of who I'm referring to." a voice said, one that clearly belonged to a lady based on what Tirek knew, though at the same time it was rather easy for them to tell who the lady was referring to, as it appeared that those that were able to talk in the Ringed City only cared about Gwyn and what he had done to them, or at least that was his thoughts on the matter since Sarana kept mentioning the Lord of Sunlight's name every now and then.

"You must be referring to Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight," Tirek replied, because if it was any of the other gods he only knew one other by name, the one that had been eaten by Aldrich before he and his companions had arrived to kill the Lord of Cinder, though even as he said that Sarana and Martok remained at the ready, mostly because there was no telling what was going to happen when the mysterious lady responded to what he just said to the door, even if Martok was staring at the three harald knights, not a pair like the group originally though, who were in the middle of slowly walking up the stairs that were in front of them.

"Ah, then you have not forgotten what is important... perhaps we may converse, for a time." the lady stated, where Tirek was of the opinion that it sounded like she was talking to herself and not to them, which meant she was likely speaking out loud and not actually thinking about who or what might be on the other side of the door, though while that happened the harald knights seemed to turn around and head back down the stairs, either because they reached the end of their patrol path or they had magically been told to leave the area alone, before the lady spoke again, "I am known as Shira, servant to the Princess Filianore, matriarch of the church. Those who know God's name must surely know of the terrors of the dark, of the Abyss, and to that I say this: please, I would ask you not to visit the Princess' tower and rouse her from her peaceful rest, because as the Fire wanes she lies in the dark, all for the sake of Man. However, I sense that you are a kind heart, to speak with a captive such as myself, especially since you recalled the name of our God, so I have a kindness to ask of you, in addition to what I just asked: perhaps you have seen the lone dragon that inhabits this city? Midir is his name, and the Archdragons of old are his forebears... he once fought against the darkness, but was afflicted by the Abyss that he fought, and now he has returned to the city, to watch over the sleeping Princess and keep true to the old accord... and yet, despite his deeds, I would have you put the good dragon to rest, before the dark completely consumes him and makes him forget his vows to the Gods."

Tirek said nothing to that, leaving Sarana to tell Shira that they would consider the request, which was enough to cause the knight to pass a chime under the bottom part of the door, a reward of sorts he guessed, before they headed down the set of stairs that were in front of them and walked down towards where the harald knights were patrolling, even though he did take a moment to blast the couple of clerics that were to the right of the stairs, an undead one and a dark one, into the wall before spotting another pair of them, these ones being the undead variety, sitting on a walkway that bridged to sides of this area together, so he knocked both of them out with the same Lightning Spear spell. Once that was done Sarana and Martok took up their positions on the walkway he had freed and descended on the harald knights as they walked back up the stairs, as they were heading right towards the area Tirek was standing in, due to the fact that he was taunting them to make a mistake and it cost them dearly as his companions landed on their dark orb-like heads and put them down, even if Sarana had to stab one and then jump over to the second before it had time to react, though it wasn't long before all three of the harald knights were dealt with and the way down to the dark swamp-like area was open. From what Tirek could see it appeared that the other area that the walkway could bring them to was just a dead end, given that he had seen no side paths in the last couple of areas he and the others had walked through, to which he turned his mind towards the area that was in front of them and focused on what they might find inside the cavernous area that the swamp was in, even though he was more focused on the fact that there was a dragon in the Ringed City, one sired by the powerful Archdragons, who had to be like the massive dragon corpse that had been resting in Archdragon Peak, meaning they might have just found a second objective, finding the powerful beast and reigning it in, or destroying it like Shira wanted. Even though he hadn't seen the dragon yet, and hadn't seen its power in action, Tirek was hoping that they could find a way to beat some sense into the beast and tame it, as it would be nice having a massive beast to intimidate the rest of the world into submission, though he was drawn out of his thoughts as Sarana found a side path that had a few clerics, at least two of the undead variety and two more of the dark variety, to which he sighed and rejoined his companions as he blasted both of the curse inflicting clerics into the walls that were near them.

What they discovered was that there were a few more hanging out on a wall to their left and a wall that was above them, which were the ones that Tirek lashed out at with a pair of Lightning Spears, though as he did that they walked out into an area that allowed them to stare down at part of the swamp area, but that was when they found a ringed knight walking up to where they were standing and caused Martok to rush forward to he could parry the incoming attack, though this time around he made sure to swing at his foe twice and not once, something that allowed him to slice through his foe's armor and take it down without having to rely on Tirek helping him out. Tirek was sure that if any of them were slower at reacting to what was going on the ringed knights would have been able to do something to them, but right now it sure seemed like fighting them one on one like this, or maybe three on one in their favor, was working out to their benefit, though even as he thought about that Sarana found a spear that looked like the ones that some of the ringed knights carried, as the one that Martok took down on his own was definitely a spear wielder, which she stored inside their pack as they moved over to the area that would allow them to reach the bottom of the stairs and start exploring the dark area that was the next area they had to explore, for now anyway since Tirek knew there had to be more waiting for them. What was interesting, or at least it was to Tirek, was the fact that there were three more harald knights walking up the stairs, who seemed to have emerged from the swamp area and appeared to be marching up towards Shira's location, though that was when the three of them found another locust creature on top of the structure that was on the other end of the walkway the harald knights were walking under, to which Tirek sighed for a moment as he and his companions came to a stop, as they had missed the opportunity to take the three knights out with ease and would have to wait for them to come back to take them out, so he figured they could listen to the locust creature and ignore what it had to say, mostly since he really didn't care for it and was only allowing it to talk since he figured that taking it out would cause the others to be hostile towards them.

"One met the dark with learning, but, in the end, learned his knowledge wanting." the locust creature said, though at this point Tirek really had no idea what it and the others were even talking about, nor did he care since he was sure he had no idea who the locusts were talking about, as it was clear that they were talking about someone whenever they said 'one' at the start of their statements, though since he wasn't doing anything Sarana and Martok kept their eyes on the three harald knights, who were currently in the process of turning around so they could head down the stairs and return to the swamp, all to repeat their patrol pattern, "The world began without knowledge, and without knowledge will it end... does not this ring clear and true? One poor girl slew her own kin, but, even so, was embraced, enveloped by the Abyss. It was a comfort that neither the moon or the sunless sky afforded her before. Fear not, the dark, my friend. And let the feast begin."

Tirek glanced at his companions for a moment, who shrugged as they listened to what the locust creature had to say, but that was when they turned their attention towards the three harald knights and leapt off the walkway as their targets did what the three of them were waiting for, to which Tirek, Sarana, and Martok stabbed their targets in their dark orb-like heads and took their targets down in a matter of seconds, allowing them to straighten themselves and head out into the true area that they wanted to explore, even though they kept their guards up as they did so. One thing Tirek spotted out in the swamp area was one of the black robed giants, making him wonder if there were more of those phantom archers that he and his companions had gotten around when they first arrived outside the Ringed City, not to mention a building which could have been a church of some kind, or something else, and a number of structures that were either mostly sunk in the water or partly sunk, with the one Tirek had spotted appearing to be the one they wanted, or at least that was what he could tell from where they were standing. The other thing the three of them noticed was that there were a number of the locust creatures wandering around the watery area, far more than what Tirek was expecting to find when he noticed just how many there were in this place, which was why he focused on the Lightning Disc spell, the one he picked up while they were in the Painted World of Ariandel and went by a different name, and sent out a number of discs as he targeted all of the white locusts that were around them, allowing the lightning-like edges of his attacks to cut through each of his targets as Sarana and Martok to focus on finding the way forward. The reason he was killing these ones was due to the fact that it looked like they were munching on someone's corpse, likely someone that had tried to fix things in the Ringed City and had been killed by either the giant, the harald knights, or even some of the ringed knights, so he was being cautious, even if it meant eliminating all of the white locusts that were around them, scattering the fragments of their bodies as he and his companions advanced deeper into the swamp-like area, which was far better than the previous one they had walked through, on account of the fact that there weren't any angels in this area, or at the very least there weren't any angels for them to worry about right now.

While he did that Sarana found a set of stairs that lead into a chamber that happened to have a bonfire inside it, one that she lit without any delay, before reporting the same old thing that Tirek was used to hearing, that there was a door near it and it was locked, just like all of the other ones they had encountered in the past, though with the bonfire lit the three of them continued to march over the watery area that was in front of them, where the giant did as Tirek expected and called forth an army of archers to attack them, even though Tirek lashed out at the giant with a Lightning Spear as he surrounded the three of them with a barrier to stop the arrows from hitting them, allowing them to survive the attack and clear out their foe at the same time. With those enemies taken care of Tirek resumed walking forward as Sarana and Martok looked out at the rest of the area they were in, finding a number of black crystals resting around the zone as well, though it wasn't long before they found something interesting, a knight in dragonslayer armor, just like the animated armor Tirek had beat up while he was in the middle of invading the castle the Twin Princes had been hiding in, but he sent his companions out to find the correct path forward as he approached his target, as the power of his normal gauntlet was more than enough to deal with it, given that it was forged from godly metal. The reason behind that was due to the fact that he could use the gauntlet to block the incoming axe chop that was aimed at him with a punch, showing that he really didn't need the Infinity Stones to face his foes, rather the Stones only aided him in wiping out those that opposed him, and once the dragonslayer paused, to understand what was going on, Tirek formed a fist with his other hand, the one with the inactive Stones, and delivered an uppercut that knocked his foe backwards, where the dragonslayer staggered for a few seconds, to recover from the attack, before it gripped its axe and rushed back towards Tirek. In the next couple of moments the two of them danced around the area they were in and engaged blows with each other, which was mostly Tirek parrying the attacks that were coming his way and lashed out with his own attacks every now and then, pushing the dragonslayer backwards as the fight progressed, before he channeled the power of his Lightning Blade through his right hand and pierced his foe's chest, something that caused the armor to go lifeless and fall apart, leaving the entire set of armor, somehow pristine since it was missing the hole he punched into it, to which he added it to the pack he shared with the others and moved over to the area that Sarana and Martok were standing in.

What he discovered was that his companions were standing guard over the larger structure that he had seen earlier, when they first looked out at the area they were now exploring, and it looked like they had taken down three ringed knights as he fought the dragonslayer, though as the three of them started to walk towards the back of the large building they found a large dragon, far larger than any they had seen in the past while being smaller than the Archdragon corpse, with black scales and leaving a trail of darkness fly through the air and land on part of the stone path that was on the other side of the cavernous area they were in, where it was clear that it was staring at them, to which Tirek grinned for a moment, as he could tell that Midir was intimidating from what little he had seen and he wanted to meet the dragon, face to face, before they headed out, as this had gotten a lot more interesting than he was originally expecting.

The Church's Secret

With Midir making his appearance in this area, even if it was far away from where Tirek and his companions were standing, the group jumped over the side of the roof of the section of the structure they were standing on and landed on the ground that was in front of them, where it was easy for them to see that there was a stone bridge to their left, which seemed to be the way forward, and a path that lead to a chamber that had been carved into the cliff that part of the city was built on, to which Sarana stepped forward and headed towards the cliff face that was in front of them. The reason behind that swift decision was the chamber that she had spotted the last bonfire in earlier, where they found a few statues lining the walls before she stopped in front of the iron door and opened it, allowing them to double back to the bonfire if they wanted to rest, but since none of them really needed to stop and recover their energy the three of them headed back to where the stone bridge was resting, even though Tirek noticed there was another thicker stone bridge up in the air above them, one that seemed to link a section of the city they hadn't been to yet to a church or something. They paused for a moment as they stood at their end of the stone bridge that seemed to connect to a mine, as that was what Tirek assumed they were seeing on the other side this area, though the reason for the pause was due to Tirek staring at Midir, as he was studying the dragon that was doing the same thing, no doubt waiting to see if they would progress towards the mines that would likely allow them to access the Princess' tower, or maybe just the church he had seen a few seconds ago, and it was likely that if they crossed this bridge Midir might attack them. Since there appeared to be no other way forward, not without finding the way to the wider stone bridge anyway, crossing this more ruined stone bridge seemed to be their only option, to which he glanced over to Sarana and Martok for a moment, who nodded their heads to show that they agreed with what he was thinking, before he took a few seconds to ready his magic before stepping forward, as it was time to see what Midir would do as they invaded the area he seemed to be guarding.

Sure enough when Tirek and his companions stepped onto the ruined stone bridge, and started the trek across it so they could reach the path that would take them to the mines, Midir roared as soon as they did that, a roar that would have no doubt intimidated any lesser being in seconds, before he took to the air and flew in their general direction, where it didn't take Midir long to breath fire on the path that was in front of them and rushed it towards the area the three of them were standing in, something that was followed by Tirek throwing up a barrier around them. It was interesting to see what sort of damage the flames did to the barrier, as it actually put a decent number of cracks into the magic, and that was from just washing over the barrier, meaning that a quick barrier to block a direct burst of fire would work in Midir's favor, which did confirm one thing in Tirek's mind as the dragon flew somewhere else and the flames died down, the dragon was strong and that a battle between them would be legendary, along with the fact that if he were able to calm down and tame Midir he would have the most intimidating dragon in the entire world on his side. Another thing that Tirek was sure of was that there had been a few clerics standing along the path that was in front of them, as if they were supposed to be the guards of this area or something, but with Midir taking them down that meant Tirek, Sarana, and Martok could make a beeline for the opening that would allow them to enter the mine, a place where they could remain safe from the dragon's attack and plan their next move accordingly, though even as that happened they had to stop two more times as Midir circled back to attack them, where another quick barrier was thrown up each time and both times Tirek found that the damage to both of his spells was consistent with the damage to the first barrier, confirming his suspicions on Midir's power, before they were able to reach the entrance to the mine and dived inside to avoid a fourth attack, something that likely caused the dragon to stop for a moment and then take off as soon as he realized that none of them were coming outside. Of course the three of them did spot a few items that had been resting along the path they had used to reach the area they were now standing in, but with Midir staring at the path, from wherever he decided to land for the foreseeable future, the group determined that it was better for them to see what rested inside the mine and claim whatever was inside here as they looked for the path that lead up to one of the structures they had seen earlier.

"So that's Midir... such an imposing and powerful dragon," Tirek commented, deciding to go back on his own thoughts for a few seconds so he could see what the dragon was doing, even though it appeared that he was roasting some clerics that were heading for the opening they had gone through, but as he did that he could confirm that Midir was massive, in terms of his size, while it also appeared that he had four wings, each of which were a little tattered due to damage from all of his battles with the Abyss, and his scales were definitely black, either darkened by his exposure to the Abyss or that was just the scale coloration that he was born with, "Yes, he would make a fine ally once we forge the Reality Stone..."

"Well, before that can happen we have to get out of here first," Sarana replied, knowing that Tirek knew how dangerous it was to be standing near the opening they had just run through a few moments ago, though she and Martok were looking at the mine area that was the next hurdle that they had to overcome, which was looking more like a catacomb than what they had been thinking earlier, meaning it was possible they might have some of the undead enemies lingering in the side chambers that they could see from where they were standing, even though the coiled staircase made her wonder if there was a second one in this area, for the other side of the cylindrical area they were in.

What they did next was head up the stairs to their left, as it seemed more important than what was possibly to their right, or at least it could be, though as Tirek glanced up the path Martok stepped onto a ruined part of the walkway and part of it collapsed as that happened, dropping them down onto a walkway that was below them, possibly placing the three of them further away from the tunnel that had to take them up to where the church, or the walkway leading to it, was located, but instead of worrying about that the group walked forward and kept their guards up. As they walked up the stairs that were in front of them Tirek felt a change in the air and realized that someone was invading their world, though it was more like the weaker Invaders and not like the other Unkindled that they had faced in the past, though the false Invader happened to be a heavily armored knight with a massive mace of some kind, someone who Martok parried the attack of and then gripped the handle of the weapon, which his foe didn't let go of for some off reason, and then hurled it off the walkway the three of them were standing on, showing that he didn't want to waste time on it since they were in the middle of a rather important mission, finding the Reality Stone and whatever Tirek wanted to do with Midir, either tame him or crush them if the first option failed. They passed by another chamber, one that just had some odd skeletal enemies that were painfully easy for the group to take down, as a single swipe from Martok was enough to knock them down and Sarana killed them with a stab of her own blades, allowing them to head up the next part of the path that was in front of them, even if that meant they had to drop down into a lower section that didn't appear to be an area they had explored yet, before the three of them noticed that it brought them back to the opening that allowed them to enter this place in the first place, which caused Tirek to sigh in annoyance for a moment. From there they headed down to the right of the catacombs opening and dropped down into the area that was below them, where all three of them had to be careful not to fall over the edge of the walkway that was below them, before heading up the path that was to their left of the chamber that they had found and found another hole in the stairs they were following, which allowed Tirek, Sarana, and Martok to drop down onto the next section of the stairs, even though it was rather interesting that there weren't many enemies for them to deal with, before Sarana found that the stairs below them lead to a dead end, which had a blessed gem that she claimed, to which Tirek and Martok walked up the part of the stairs that were in front of them as their companion joined them.

The next chamber that they found had a mimic chest inside it, where Tirek and Martok stood near the opening of the small chamber so they could ambush it when Sarana awakened their foe, though what was interesting was that the mimic took a moment to rush out after Sarana and actually fell off into the abyss that was below them, to which the group glanced at each other for a moment and sighed, as this meant they would have to come back to figure out what had been inside the chest, before they headed up the stairs and found another chamber that was actually a tunnel, one just so happened to have three of the skeletons waiting for them, one in front of them and two on the stairs passed it. The previous pattern held for these foes, one swing from Martok's greatsword was enough to weaken them to the point of death while a second swing from Sarana killed them, pretty much allowing Tirek to not waste magic on any of their current foes, and once all of their foes were taken care of the three of them headed up the stairs that the skeletons had been guarding and found that it brought them to another part of the stairs and let them appear next to a crystal lizard, which was slain by Sarana's quick blades and the stones it carried were collected for later, not that they needed them at this point. At the top of the stairs they found a bonfire that would allow them to skip over the bridge that Midir seemed to be guarding, to which they made sure to lit it and headed through the short bonfire that was behind it, which brought them to a pathway that rested far above the stone bridge the dragon was watching over, but as that happened Tirek found that his thoughts had been wrong as Midir landed further on the walkway that they were now walking on and growled at them for a few seconds, something that was followed by the dragon loosing a burst of fire in their direction, prompting Tirek to raise a barrier to stop the attack in its tracks. Just like what happened the last time he did that he found that his barrier was cracked by Midir's flames striking it, though it allowed them to reach a small covered area to the left, one he could use a barrier around as the dragon lashed out at them with another breath of fire, though once that attack was done the three of them rushed over to where Midir was standing, which turned out that he was half on the walkway since his bottom half was off the walkway and his claws seemed to be digging into the stone that rested in front of them, where Tirek allowed Sarana and Martok to lash out at the dragon's claws.

What was rather impressive was that Midir, in addition to having his fire breath, could focus his inner power and turn his fire breath into a beam of dark energy, something that was aimed down at Sarana as she lashed out at his claws, to which Tirek channeled his power for a moment and summoned three barriers between them and the dragon, while making sure Martok had the same protection that they had, and discovered that he was right to do so, as the dark beam smashed right through his barriers and they only emerged unscathed due to the amount of barriers he had thrown up, before Martok's next attack caused the dragon's grip on this area to loosen and was followed by it falling into the pit below them, but even as that happened Tirek was sure they would see Midir again in the very near future.

With Midir taken care of, for the time being anyway, the group headed into the structure that was at the end of the stone walkway that the dragon had been guarding, even though Tirek did note that they were closer to the wider stone bridge that lead to the church, where they found a large chamber that had some pillars, chairs, and some statues, before they located some stairs to their left that happened to have one of the crystal lizards resting on some of the steps, who Sarana slew as soon as she spotted it and made sure to collect everything that it had been carrying. At the top of the stairs they found a circular chamber that had a number of knight statues resting in the indents that circled around the chamber, all of those ones being the black knights they had fought in the past, while in the center of the area rested another statue that looked like a regal man who was bestowing a crown on a lower being, where Sarana informed Tirek that the regal figure was Lord Gywn and that the kneeling figure was no doubt the first holder of the Dark Soul, the Furtive Pygmy based on what she had learned over the years. After that Tirek found a platform that seemed to head upwards, as Martok stepped on the button and climbed off it so they could see where it went, making him wonder if it lead right back to the first locked door they had found in the Ringed City, before he shook his head and headed for the opening that would lead them out to the wide bridge that was connected to the church, where they found a ringed knight, this one wielding two greatswords and no other weapons, standing between them and the front door of the structure they were heading towards, though as they stepped outside it was easy to see that this was possibly the last foe that was between them and the church, to which all three of them readied themselves as they walked forward. What was interesting was that this ringed knight swung both of its weapons around with a level of grace that one wouldn't have expected from how heavy the weapons had to be, as it was capable of swinging its blades around pretty fast, something that caused Sarana to maintain some distance from their foe while Martok parried the incoming attacks to the best of his ability, all while Tirek loosed a Dark Orb through the air not a few seconds later and struck the knight in the chest, who staggered for a moment before picking itself up so it could charge at them once more, this time lightning its blades on fire as its combination swings resulted in sending out waves of fire that were short lived.

In the end the group was able to bring the knight down, even though Sarana and Martok did have to use one of their Estus Flasks this time, proving just how dangerous their foe had been, before finding that the knight had actually dropped both of its weapons on the ground, which Martok claimed and stored inside their pack, though once they were ready to go the three of them marched on the church's front door, as it was time to see what was on the other side and if there was even a powerful creature in this area, besides Midir and Lord Gwyn's daughter, who they still needed to find a path to, since all of the paths they had seen so far brought them nowhere near the lady in question.

"Unknowing visitors, return from where you came from." a voice said, stopping the group before they were able to open the door that was in front of them, which would allow them to enter the church and see who was talking to them, but the three of them remained silent for a time as they waited to see if the voice had anything else to say before they barged into the structure and interrupted whoever happened to be talking right now, "The Abyss runs deep in this place, and by the King's decree none may distress our mistress's slumber."

Tirek and the others glanced at each other for a moment before Martok opened the door in front of them, which revealed a waiting area of sorts for the church, minus the missing seats for some odd reason, before they noticed the Fog Door that was in front of them, indicating a powerful foe was definitely resting on the other side of it, to which Tirek invaded the area that was on the other side and found one of the giants in a black robe standing near the end of the room, though unlike all of the other giants in the Ringed City this one didn't seem to be summoning an army of archers to deal with them, along with the fact that the chamber was slightly dark and it didn't seem like anyone else was here.

"Such foolishness! The King's decree is no trifling matter! I, Judicator Argo, shall deliver justice to all of you." the giant said, showing that he wasn't pleased with the fact that they were in the middle of invading the church and were ignoring what Lord Gwyn had ordered the residents of the Ringed City to do so long ago, though even as the giant said that Sarana held her daggers at the ready while Martok did the same thing with his greatsword, before he channeled his power into the rest of the chamber that they were standing in, "Spear of the Church, sworn defender of our Princess Filianore! Harken to the call that summons you! Make haste!"

In that moment Tirek loosed a more powerful Dark Orb into the air and struck the giant, Judicator Argo, in the chest, which caused the giant to stagger and crash into the wall that was behind it, though not a few seconds later he noticed that the air shifted for a moment, like they were being invaded, before seeing someone in the painted guardian armor appear in the middle of the chamber, something that was followed by Martok rushing over to it and engaged with its his greatsword not a few seconds later, though as Tirek blew up Judicator Argo with another Dark Orb he felt another Invader, this one being one of the other Unkindled, breaching their world to answer the giant's summons. That was when Tirek found a very familiar sight, the Invader that was coming into their world was the scythe wielding lady who was wearing the attire of the Abyss Watchers, still missing the head piece since she didn't seem to like it all that much, before he noticed that she had a new weapon to use against those she fought, the scythe of Eldriede, complete with the second smaller scythe the traitor had summoned when she tapped into the shadow fire form that had been her last ditch effort against him, where it was clear that they stared at each other for a few seconds. In the next few moments Tirek discovered that the scythe lady still had the same skill and grace that she had used earlier, because once the painted guardian was done for, and Tirek made sure Judicator Argo was dead as well, the three of them rushed at her and attacked her before she had the chance to do the same thing to them, though she was capable of dodging the blades that belonged to Sarana and Martok, though Tirek found that the only thing that was capable of hitting her was one of the homing spells, hence the reason he picked the icy Soul version of the spell and struck their foe in the back, something that slowed her down to the point where both of his companions could lash out at the scythe lady before she had time to react to what they were doing. Even with that spell helping them out their foe was able to overcome their attacks for a few moments and swung her scythes at them, which caused Sarana and Martok to avoid the attacks at all costs, basically making this a stalemate right now, even though Tirek was sure that keeping the painted guardian alive would have allowed their foe to have a way to heal herself, but even as he thought about that he considered something as he created a sphere of each of the four elements, as in Fire, Soul, Dark, and Lightning, and combined the four spheres into a single attack.

Once he was sure the attack was ready, even if it would likely blast a hole in one of the walls, Sarana parried the incoming attacks and opened the lady's defenses so Martok could whack her right into the wall that was to the right of the entrance, though that was when Tirek hurled the Reorigination Sphere, his name for this attack, through the air and let it collide with the lady's chest, blowing a massive hole into the church, one that was likely around the same size as what was used when they fought Pontiff Sulyvahn, and since the lady was blown apart by the attack the only way they knew they had won was due to a Titanite Slabs appearing nearby and the fog preventing them from moving forward disappeared.

"Such an interesting powerful creature, we didn't actually fight such a creature and faced another Unkindled," Sarana said, though at the same time she headed through the door to the left of where Judicator Argo had been standing and found a set of stairs that lead right to a bonfire, one that she lit and beckoned for the others to sit around it with her, where they took a moment to rest and allowed the power of the flame to reform the wall that Tirek had destroyed, even though she knew that such a thing didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, especially when once they found the item Tirek was looking for, as once they found his Reality Stone they would be leaving the Ringed City.

Tirek nodded his head in agreement, as it had been a little refreshing in some manner, even though he had been thinking they would have fought a powerful warrior or even a wizard, not the same scythe lady that had bothered them a few times in the past, though once Sarana was ready the three of them walked over the short walkway that was in front of them and stepped into the passage that an elevator pad was resting in, one that they stepped on and tapped the button that was in the middle of it, which allowed it to rise up to the highest point it had access to, a diagonal set of stairs that lead them up to Filianore's resting place, something that was rather interesting when they discovered that. At the top of the stairs they found a door blocking the way, even though the three of them did think that it was rather surprising that the top of the tower was much smaller than what they had seen while they were wandering through the Ringed City, though that was the moment that Tirek nodded his head and Martok forced open the door, allowing them to enter Filianore's tower so they could figure out what was going on with this city and what else they needed to do, since Tirek was interested in finding a way down to the area that Midir had fallen into. When the door opened they found a large lady, who was wearing a white robe and happened to be resting on what the group assumed was a circular bed, even if she was propped up against the head area of the bed, though it didn't take a genius to figure out that this was Filianore, the sleeping child of Lord Gwyn that everyone in the city wanted to prevent them from reaching, and it appeared that her arms were resting on top of an egg of some kind, one that was cracked and seemed to have a hole in the upper part of it. In that moment the sound of the door opening didn't seem to do anything to Filianore, to which Tirek stepped up to where she was resting and lightly touched the shell, something that was followed by part of the shell breaking and then the entire thing shattered, even if he had don't done anything to make it happen, before the absence of the shell caused Filianore to stagger for a moment as she woke up and opened her eyes, but as she stared at them something interesting happened, a light emitted from all of the shell fragments and they had to cover their eyes for a moment.

When they were able to see again Tirek could see that things had changed, the windows of the tower's chamber had been broken, a section of the roof had collapsed, the room looked like it was decayed to some degree, and Filianore was dead, as it looked like her body had withered away and looked like a corpse while her dress had aged and was tattered in places, before they glanced outside and found that they were in what appeared to be the true end of the world, full of dust and ruined buildings, with a bonfire resting nearby that Sarana lit.

"So, she was using her power to keep an illusion over the Ringed City... interesting." Tirek commented, as he was able to figure out what was going on just by looking at the area they were in, even though he was sure he could see several ruins that were scattered throughout this endless desert, before he glanced through the opened section of the wall that was off to the right of the bonfire and wondered if it was the right way to go, as it seemed like there were some tracks that lead away from the structure they were in.

With that done the three of them walked through the opening that was resting nearby and headed outside, where it was easy to find someone off in the distance, crawling towards the area they were in, though from what the group could see it seemed like it might be one of the Pygmy Lords, the rulers of the Ringed City, only it seemed like someone had attacked it at some point and drained a whole lot of blood from it, possibly tearing out most of its soul in the process, or not if Tirek was wrong in his thoughts, though while it looked like the Pygmy Lord was heading towards Filianore's resting place it also looked like the creature was going to die before reaching it, before they eventually found an area that looked like a bowl and had several thrones resting around it... only to find a bloated figure, looking like the one that allowed them to access the Painted World, devouring the blood and soul of another Pygmy Lord, only to pause once his work was done.

"What, still here?" the knight commented, where he turned and faced the group as they stopped on top of the hill that let all of them stare down at the bloated and seemingly mental knight, though that was when he raised his left hand and held it out towards them for a moment, almost like he was going to beg them for something, something that caused Tirek and his companions to raise their weapons and their defenses, as they had the feeling that the knight was going to charge at them at some point in the very near future, "Hand it over... that thing, your dark soul. For my lady's painting."

Tirek had no idea what the knight was referring to, since he wasn't very familiar with the Dark Soul and what was going on in the Ringed City, though in that moment the knight seemed to lower his hand and then yanked his greatsword, one that looked like it was broken in half and happened to have a Pygmy Lord impaled on it, out of the ashen ground and hurled the corpse of one of his slain targets towards the group, where Tirek used his magic to knock the corpse away from them before they jumped backwards and put some distance between them and their foe, as they wanted to fight in the center of the bowl shaped area and not where the knight had been standing. While they did that Sarana made a comment before their foe caught up with them, as she recalled someone calling this knight 'Gael' at some point, be it someone from part of the Painted World or someone from their world, possibly Yuria given what she had told them in the past, before they had to move out of the way as Gael brought his greatsword down on the area Sarana was standing in and paused for a second as he noticed that he had missed his target, before glancing at his foes once more. That was followed by Gael jumping into the air and lunged forward, where he smashed into one of the stone thrones that were in this area, as Martok had been running behind it so he could attack his target from the side, so that meant the warrior had to dodge the attack and make sure he was out of Gael's range, which was when Sarana rushed by where their foe was standing and slashed into his arms for a moment, finding that their foe didn't seem to care and only jumped away before focusing on them once more, while at the same time Tirek blasted Gael in the chest with a Dark Orb, despite the fact that he still had to test the other types of magic to see what their foe was weak against. One thing Tirek discovered was something he knew that was going to make this battle harder than it needed to be, as Gael was much quicker than he thought the bloated figure would be, which did make him wonder if the power of the Dark Soul that happened to be inside him was allowing him to do things that would normally be impossible for him, like bending reality in a way, though one of Gael's next attacks ended with Martok actually being impaled by the ruined greatsword, where Gael lifted him up into the air for a moment and then hurled him through the air, something that made the warrior uses one of his Estus Flasks while Sarana cut into his back and Tirek loosed a set of Homing Soulmass at his foe, striking it with five icy spheres in a row before Gael jumped away from them.

Tirek found that Sarana also suffered the same attack, as Gael was faster than she was and was able to impale her just like he did to Martok a few moments ago, causing her to curse for a moment due to the fact that she was sure she had dodged the attack, though as Gael threw her through the air Tirek caught her with his magic and made sure that she was placed on the ground nearby, mostly to give her a chance to heal herself like Martok did, before he hurled a Fire Orb through the air and followed it with a Lightning Orb, where he came to determine that Gael was weak to Fire and Soul based spells and could resist Lightning and Dark spells. For a moment it seemed like their foe wanted to impale all three of them at some point, though Tirek did his best to dodge the incoming attacks and then threw his fist forward to parry the slash that Gael was sending his way, the collision of their attacks shaking the area they were in for a few seconds, before he repelled their foe and opened the way for Sarana and Martok to attack Gael for a few seconds before they backed off so neither of them got hit by the incoming attacks, but instead of their foe heading after either of them Gael focused solely on Tirek, almost as if he realized who was the more dangerous foe, which was actually just fine with them since it allowed Sarana and Martok to attack while their foe was distracted. As such Tirek made sure to empower his gauntlets with both of the elements that their foe was weak against, that way when he opened Gael's defenses he could punch him in the chest or maybe another part of his body in an effort to stun their foe, though the bloated part of his body seemed to be a bad idea given what they had seen earlier, and it wasn't long before he parried an incoming attack and knocked Gael backwards, opening the way for him to punch his foe's body several times as he pushed him across the area they were in, though once his foe seemed to regain himself Tirek moved out of the way and let both Sarana and Martok cut into him while he was distracted. That was when all of them went on the defensive as they did their best to avoid Gael's rapid attacks, even if most of it was all on Tirek and not on his companions, but doing that allowed him to turn the tide against their foe as he knocked Gael back a bit and opened the way for his companions to cut into his chest, before he blasted the lower part of his body with a Fire Orb, something that knocked him backwards and forced him to stagger as he fell to his knees for a few seconds, which was when the group kept their guards up since they had no idea what was going to happen next.

"Ah, what is this?" Gael inquired, though that was when he coughed for a few seconds and dark blood seemed to fall down onto the blade that he was carrying, where the group remained still as they waited to see what was going to happen next, all while Tirek watched as a decent amount of blood fell on the blade and the sky that was above them, which had been a bunch of sun rays, started to transform into something different, almost as if a storm might be starting to develop above them, before Gael shifted again, "Is this the blood... of the Dark Sign?"

As the sky darkened and lightning flashed, indicating the change to the environment that Gael and the power of the Dark Sign had to be causing, where it appeared that he had some sort of crimson mist emitting from the rest of his body as he thrust his ruined greatsword into the ground and pushed himself into a standing stance, though instead of taking on the more bestial stance that he had been using earlier, when the fight started, Gael stood straight like a true knight would and gripped his weapon with both of his hands, even though it was easy to see that he might have more planned for them this time around. This time it appeared that he was slowly walking over to the area that Tirek was standing in, who raised his gauntlets and channeled the two elements that would win this battle, which was around the time that Gael pulled out what appeared to be an arbalest and fired a bunch of arrows through the air, all of them rushing over to the area that Sarana and Martok were standing, where they avoided the incoming attacks as Tirek advanced on their foe and socked him right in the chest, knocking the bloated knight backwards and caused him to fire off a burst of the Way of the White Corona, or Lightning Discs as Tirek called it, though the interesting thing was that they eventually bounced backwards and headed back to the area that Gael was standing in, meaning he had to avoid the attack twice this time around. The big thing that Tirek had to worry about, in addition to all of the new tricks that Gael had added to the battle, was the fact that it seemed like the cape that his foe was wearing, which was also infected by the crimson mist, might actually be lashing out at him whenever Gael swung at him, so whatever part of his cape was pointing in Tirek's direction would result in another attack coming at him at the same time, meaning two attacks for the price of one, something that eventually caused Gael to stop for a moment and stagger as something happened. What happened was that Gael released a burst of crimson energy that would have knocked away anyone that was standing remotely close to where he was standing, even if they formed heads and rushed over to the area that Tirek happened to be standing in, who used a barrier to stop the incoming attacks, which was where he found that his magic cracked under the strain of the attacks, before Gael seemed to take off for a moment and flew right over to where his target was located, smashing through the barrier with ease as Tirek rolled to the side, all to avoid the incoming sword swing, fore blasting his foe's back with a Forbidden Sun.

Even as all of that happened eventually the lightning flashed and slammed down on the area they were fighting in, as in it was striking all over the bowl shaped area that they were fighting in, where the ruins had fallen due to the collision of their powers, though Tirek had the feeling that the rather aggressive attacks that were now coming his way meant that Gael had shifted into a third phase of sorts, based on what he had seen in the past from some of the other powerful creatures he and the others had faced, and that he was far more aggressive this time around. The shift into this phase added another skill to his foe's abilities, not counting the lightning that rained down on all of them while they fought, which was where he would spin through the air and fire arrows down on the area that Tirek was standing in, where all of the projectiles came from behind the cape Gael was wearing, something that required him to keep his guard up as he blasted his foe and used his gauntlets to parry whatever attacks were coming at him, which usually opened the way for Sarana and Martok to lash out at their foe, who was still ignoring them for some odd reason. After a time Gael staggered and did the burst of crimson energy that transformed into skulls, which rained down on the area that he happened to be standing in, before he rushed through the air and zeroed in on the area that Tirek was standing in, who used the Infinity Gauntlet and parried the attack, something that caused the entire they were in to shudder as their powers came into contact with each other, even though he was sure it was more of the fact that the Dark Soul's energy was colliding with the five Infinity Stones that were resting inside the gauntlet, like it might have realized what he was carrying, before he pushed Gael backwards and caused the flames to wrap around his right hand as he pierced Gael's chest with a fire version of the Lightning Blade attack he used a few times in the past. Gael coughed for a moment as Tirek did that, something that caused the sky to return to normal as he faced his own death, which was when he ripped his hand out of his foe's chest and watched as the blood of the Dark Soul started to gather in the space that was between him and Gael, where the knight's soul, which was mixed with all of the blood and souls he had devoured, served as the base for what was going on, even though Tirek focused on making sure that the fragments and power transformed into a ruby that happened to be the same size and shape of the other five Infinity Stones he had collected, before he slipped it into the final socket.

A surge of power rushed through both his body and the gauntlet as the Reality Stone was inserted into the final socket, to which he raised the Infinity Gauntlet and shifted his grip as he accessed one of the Infinity Stones, the Space Stone to be exact, and a portal opened in the space that was in front of him, meaning that the others would work as well and that he had gotten what he had come for, but once he was done testing the gauntlet he returned to the bonfire that appeared as Gael was defeated and they used it to return to the Ringed City, as there was one more thing he wanted to do before they brought an end to their main quest at long last.

Darkeater Midir

"We already got the Reality Stone, so why are we staying here?" Martok asked, mostly because he was sure that Tirek had gotten tired of the Ringed City and that he wanted to bring an end to their quest at long last, though at the same time he wasn't all that sure of what they were doing back in the city that they had been exploring earlier, even though they had picked out the bonfire that rested just beyond the first giant of the city, the one that summoned the large army of phantom archers to put them down, so he was hoping Tirek or Sarana would say something and tell him what they were still doing in this place, especially since they had completed their Lord's mission.

"Lord Tirek wishes to find Midir and see what might happen when the two of them are face to face," Sarana explained, as she knew Martok better than anyone else in the world and also understood why they were still in the Ringed City, but even as she said that she glanced at the area they were standing in as they headed over to the area that the previously locked door was resting in and stared at the elevator that would take them back down to the statue of Lord Gwyn they had seen earlier, before she sighed for a moment, "I understand that you want to bring this quest to an end, but we have one more errand to run before we return to Firelink Shrine and put an end to our quest, so just be patient and we'll be back in the Shrine in no time."

Tirek said nothing to that as he stepped onto the platform and waited for his companions to catch up to him, though the moment all three of them were on the elevator he tapped the button in the middle of the platform and let it lower them back down into the chamber that they had found earlier, as he was positive they might find the path to where Midir was resting by backtracking through part of the Ringed City they had explored earlier, though there was no telling where the path in question was located and if they didn't find what he was looking for then they would return to the Shrine and put an end to their main quest. Once the elevator came to a stop the group walked out into the chamber that it was connected to and headed down the set of stairs that would take them down to the second bridge that they had forced the large black dragon off of earlier, before they reached the church and discovered where his target was resting, though as they stepped into the chamber that was near the end of the second stone bridge Tirek felt an Invader breach their world, to which he sighed for a moment and shook his head, as this was something he could do without, before deciding to leave this in both Sarana and Martok's hands. Of course that was when they found a red knight, wearing the armor of the ringed knights and a weapon from one of the Twin Princes, appearing in the middle of the chamber that they were entering, to which Tirek stepped to the side and allowed his companions to step forward, though that was the moment that the knight seemed to have second thoughts about what was going on and actually ran around the chamber that they were standing in, dodging the incoming attacks that were coming its way, but what Tirek found to be interesting was that one of Martok's swings on a section of the wall that rested to his left caused an Illusiory Wall to fade away, which revealed a small room of some kind that had a undead cleric inside it, something that he blasted into the wall that was behind it with a Fire Orb, which also did some damage to the wall and revealed a second opening that appeared a few seconds later, one that contained another room that had a spell page for him to collect, one that detailed the Lightning Arrow spell and was added to the spell tome he was carrying, before he headed outside and found his companions kicking the knight off the stone bridge that was just outside the area he was in.

Once that was done, and Tirek was sure that no more Invaders were coming to annoy them, he thought about something for a moment and returned to the passage the elevator was located in, where he glanced upwards for a moment and did find something interesting, there was a passage they must have missed and he had both of his companions wait near Lord Gwyn's statue for a few moments, to which he rode the elevator back up to the area the bonfire was in and stepped off the elevator so he could step into the hidden passage they had missed earlier, before finding a room full of statues that he placed a portal in and allowed Sarana and Martok to step through so they could join him. Sarana ended up discovering that there was a hole in part of the tunnel that was beyond the area Tirek had brought them to, one that lead down to the statue they had been standing near and decided not to waste time picking up the ring that was resting on one of the stone hands, to which she returned to where the others were standing and they stared at the rest of the statues, as even she realized that there had to be something special here, as it didn't make sense to put a hidden chamber like this in an area and not have a hidden passage. That, of course, was when Martok noticed that one of the statues wasn't like the others, due to the fact that part of it seemed to be missing, which appeared to be the sword, though he beckoned to it and Sarana struck the statue with her daggers, which caused it to disappear not a few seconds later and revealed a hidden set of stairs that seemed to head down to another hidden chamber, something that was followed by Tirek walking down it while both of his companions followed after him. As it turned out there wasn't much to the stairs, as it just turned into a rather short tunnel that brought them to a square hole that had a ladder resting inside it, complete with an area that was just beyond it that seemed to have nothing inside it, save for a spear fragment of some kind that Sarana picked up, but once they were sure that there was nothing else in this area Tirek gripped the side of the ladder and propelled himself down to the area it would take him to, which, as it turned out, happened to be a small church or chapel, where he found the attire of someone who once prayed in this area, a bracer that seemed to go with it, and a large hole behind the altar, which seemed to be what he was looking for.

As soon as he spotted the large hole in the wall that the altar was in front of, and noticed that there were no other paths to pick based on what he was seeing, Tirek walked over to where the hole was located and found that it was a rather long drop into a cavernous area, from what little he could see right now, to which he waited for Sarana and Martok to catch up to him before he jumped into the hole and sailed down into the area that was far below them, where he discovered that the hole brought him to what was definitely what he had seen a few seconds ago, where he found that there was a thin amount of water below his hooves and some rocky areas around him, though for the most part this area seemed to be bare and there were no places to hide, not that he needed such a thing.

"There he is, resting from what we did to him earlier," Sarana commented, where she and Martok landed behind Tirek and took a moment to take in the cavern that the hole had brought them to, though it was easy to locate the powerful dragon that had claimed their Lord's interest the moment he laid eyes on it some time ago, who definitely seemed to be resting near the area they were standing in, though at the same time she and Martok walked in the opposite direction, mostly due to the fact that this battle was one they didn't need to participate in, especially when they eventually came to a stop and their Lord summoned a barrier around them, one that had to be far stronger than the others they had seen him use when they faced the dragon earlier, even though this would keep them safe from any stray attacks.

Tirek said nothing as he stepped into the area that was in front of him and approached the area that Midir was resting in, while at the same time bits of lightning danced around his right hand for a few moments, as he knew dragons were weak to Lightning based attacks, though as he approached the massive dragon Midir's eyes snapped open as he heard Tirek approach and pushed himself into a standing state, once more showing off its rather impressive and imposing form as he did so, though once the dragon was prepared for battle he roared for a few seconds, giving Tirek a chance to grin before the two of them engaged each other. The first thing Midir did was loose a burst of flames in the direction that Tirek was standing in, one that seemed to morph into a rather powerful Fireball, or rather it seemed to be a torrent of flames based on what he was seeing, to which Tirek used the Power Stone and punched his way through the flames that were coming at him, something that was followed by Midir rushing forward as he clawed the air that was in front of him, which was when he jumped to the side to avoid the incoming series of attacks, due to the fact that Tirek was sure that getting caught by one of Midir's claws would be devastating, regardless of the power his Infinity Gauntlet possessed. The reason he didn't just use the Space Stone to redirect the incoming flames into his foe's backside was due to the fact that he assumed that Midir was resistant to that element, just like he was probably resistant to Dark based spells and attacks, though while he knew that Lightning based attacks were the way to go that left the Soul based attacks, or Ice as he was starting to think of them as, as the only element he hadn't tried yet, so when Midir turned to face him, and seemed to be setting things up so he could loose a torrent of flames and then rush into a series of claw swipes, Tirek gathered some magic and hurled an Ice Orb through the air, something that hit Midir in the head and did absolutely nothing to the dragon, something that was followed by Tirek moving out of the way so he could avoid being run over by the dragon. That action told Tirek everything he needed to know about Midir's weaknesses, as it appeared that the dragon had a high level of resistance towards the Fire and Dark elements and seemed to be immune to Ice entirely, meaning Lightning was the only element he could rely on at the moment, not counting the powers of the Infinity Stones he had gathered, which he could now use in the Ringed City thanks to the power of his Reality Stone.

As he considered all of that, however, Midir charged through the space that was between them and seemed to be ready to use his head as a battering ram, to knock Tirek into the ground or something, which was the moment that Tirek raised his hands and channeled the power of the Power Stone for a few moments, mostly to increase his own strength so he could be ready for what his foe was doing, before the two of them came into contact with each other and the cavern shook for a moment as that happened, which was understandable when he considered the dragon's power, though he followed that up with an uppercut to knock Midir away. The dragon, however, flared his wings for a moment and caught himself before he could move too far away from where Tirek was standing, something that was followed by him flying forward as he let out a burst of flames down on the area that he happened to be standing in, causing Tirek to call upon the Space Stone and make a vortex in the air above him to suck up the flames and teleport them elsewhere, since he knew Midir could resist his own flames, so he dropped them on the swamp area as he focused on his foe, who landed nearby and rushed forward as he clawed at the air that was in front of him, making Tirek dodge again. This was a rather interesting tactic when he took a moment to think about it, as it appeared that Midir was attacking him fast enough to make sure he didn't have a chance to fight back and basically force him to defend against all of the attacks that were coming his way, though as he figured that out Midir landed nearby and gathered his fire once more, just like he had done in the past, before loosing another burst of fire at him, though this one transformed into a beam of dark energy that raced across a section of the ground as Midir maneuvered his body and was followed by a wave of explosions, especially when he seemed to target the ceiling and then snuck up on Tirek from the left. Tirek found that the only way to avoid the attack, besides jumping backwards and possibly opening himself up to being attacked while he was distracted, was to use the power of the Space Stone to open a slightly modified portal that covered his entire area and soaked up the majority of Midir's Dark Beam, dropping the energy on top of the inhabitants of the swamp, even though he found that part of the ceiling was open and must have been the area that Midir had fallen through some time ago, before the attack was over and he was allowed to lower the portal he had created to make sure he didn't get smashed to bits.

All of this confirmed one thing in Tirek's mind, Midir was a powerful dragon and part of his power likely came from all of his battles with the Abyss, potentially darkening him in some sense if what Shira had told them was to be believed, even if he didn't believe the mysterious figure that had talked to him and the others before they entered the swamp, though as Midir rested his claws on the ground, and seemed to pause for a few seconds, Tirek gathered his power for a moment and hurled a pair of Lightning Spears through the air, blasting the dragon in the side a few seconds later, where it seemed like he did some damage, despite the fact that Midir was ready to go not even a few moments after he shrugged off the smoke that rested around him. After shrugging off the smoke the dragon rushed through the space between them and Tirek used his hands to catch the charge before it could reach him, even if it pushed him backwards a little, which he followed up with an uppercut to the head and then punched Midir's snout a few more times to knock his foe backwards, though that was the moment that Midir swung his claws down at him, where they clashed with each other and the cavern shuddered while that happened, something that was eventually followed by them forcing themselves apart and landed with some space resting between them. Once that happened Tirek rushed forward and hurled a pair of Lightning Spears forward, blasting Midir backwards a little when the spears hit him, though that was when the dragon loosed a torrent of flames at him once more, something that was followed by a red glow coming from the Infinity Gauntlet as Tirek tapped into the Reality Stone this time around, forming a shimmering wall in front of him that the flames slammed into, only for a bunch of bubbles to appear on the other side of the wall and rush out towards the area that Tirek was standing in, who chuckled as Midir took a moment to stop and tilt his head in confusion, showing that what just happened confused him, and Tirek could see that even Sarana and Martok were surprised by what he had done. The interesting thing was that some of the bubbles moved into the air that was above Midir's head and Tirek channeled the power of the Reality Stone again, transforming the group of bubbles into a mass of Lightning Spears that rained down on the dragon's head, something that caused Midir to move backwards in shock before he growled and rushed through the air, where this time around Tirek dodged the attack that was coming his way by jumping into the air, spun around once he was above his target, and hurled a more powerful bolt of lightning into Midir's back, blasting the dragon into the ground and caused Midir to jump to the side before loosing a burst of fire in Tirek's direction, who fell backwards and landed on the watery ground as the attack missed him.

"You are incredibly powerful, Midir, and I can see why Shira is trying to have you destroyed," Tirek stated, as Midir was one of the strongest dragons he had seen in this world, one that he was sure would have required a decent number of heroes to take down normally, and he could understand why the mysterious lady wanted him to be wiped out before the dragon could fall to the darkness of the Abyss, but even as he said that he smiled for a moment as he faced Midir, "but, if you ask me, that would be a waste. Come, join me and you can be a god to the next age."

Midir growled for a moment before he rushed through the space between them and swung his claws down towards the area that Tirek was standing in, which meant that he was going to have to beat some more sense into the dragon over the next couple of minutes, until either Midir was able to make a decision on his own or he was forced to put him down, but as he dodged the incoming attack the dragon gripped the area around his claws and spun where he was positioned, which just so happened to be the time that he used his tail like a whip to hit Tirek. In the following moment Tirek channeled the power of the Space Stone and slowed down Midir's attack, so much so that his tail came to a stop before it could hit him, though that was when Tirek summoned a Lightning Spear and channeled the Power Stone's power into it, something that he hurled into the dragon's chest and knocked it backwards through the air, where it crashed into part of the ground on the other side of the cavern that they were fighting in, before Tirek walked over to where his foe landed, keeping his guard up since he knew Midir wasn't done yet, especially since he didn't channel that much power into his attack. When he got close to where the dragon was resting, however, Midir seemed to shudder for a moment before releasing a burst of dark energy into the area that was all around him, something that caused Tirek to jump backwards to avoid the blast, where all of the bits did nothing to the dragon, which made sense due to the fact that he was the one that had channeled the attack in the first place, though once the attack was done Midir regained himself and resumed attacking Tirek with every tactic he had used since this battle had started, while occasionally throwing in the brand new technique whenever he got close to where Tirek happened to be standing at the time. That wasn't the only other attack that was added to his list of tricks, as the dragon also cast a power of sorts that involved summoning a dark version of the Soulmass spells that Tirek had used and had seen in the past, where the dark spheres rushed out and focused on him as they flew through the air, which he countered with the power of the Space Stone, opening portals in front of some of the spheres and then sent them flying into some of the others, though for the most part it appeared that they were evenly matched, in terms of base power since Tirek wasn't using the full power of the Infinity Gauntlet against the dragon, but even as he thought about that he could tell that Midir was getting exhausted and that he seemed to be thinking about something.

In the following moments Midir placed himself near one side of the cavern that they were positioned in, where Tirek found that the barrier protecting Sarana and Martok was holding up just fine and the dragon seemed to be totally ignoring them, before Midir took a deep breath and started to gather the dark energy that he had access to, almost like he was going to perform the Dark Beam attack he had used earlier, though this attack was much stronger than the previous version had been and it seemed far more dangerous than the low powered Dark Beam. Tirek, seeing that attack being prepared, took a moment to jump backwards and land a few steps further back from where he had been standing earlier, though once he did that he focused for a few moments and all six of the Infinity Stones glowed, because while his original plan would have been to use the four elements in a Reorigination Beam, to cancel out Midir's attack and possibly blow up the area his foe was in, the dragon had a great resistance to two of the four elements and of the remaining two he was totally immune to one of them, so going this seemed to be the best course of action. Once the two of them were ready to go, and neither of them were backing out of this battle, Midir loosed his Empowered Dark Beam through the air and it rushed towards the area that Tirek was standing in, while at the same time Tirek thrust his left hand forward and fired an Infinity Beam, where the two attacks rushed through the air and slammed into each other in the middle of the cavern, something that caused everything around them to shudder for a time, even though rainbow lightning branched out in all directions, which had to be coming from the Infinity Beam, though it wasn't long before the rest of the cavernous area started to shake and he was sure that it was spreading out into the rest of the area, transferring over to where the swamp rested and possibly the rest of the Ringed City. In fact cracks started to form in the ceiling and parts of it seemed to fall to the ground, shattering when they struck the stone that was below them, and the watery area they were standing on also seemed to be breaking under the sheer power that Tirek and Midir were throwing at each other, where Tirek assumed that it was the power of the six Infinity Stones clashing with whatever power of the Abyss the dragon was capable of using, though that was when Midir's power weakened and the beam faltered, allowing Tirek's attack to push against the Empowered Dark Beam and make its way to where the dragon was resting.

In the end Tirek's attack smashed through Midir's Empowered Dark Beam and blasted the dragon in the chest, something that pushed the dragon backwards and caused him to crash to the ground for a time, showing that he was dazed from the attack that had hit him square in the chest, possibly feeling the effects of the six Infinity Stones wreck havoc on his body as he laid there, which was followed by Tirek rushing forward and delivered an uppercut to the dragon's head, knocking him up into the air for a moment, and then loosed a few more punches that knocked his target's head until he paused and let the dragon's head crash onto the ground that was in front of him.

"Its time for you to decide what you want to do: continue living and become one of the gods of the new age, or perish here and be forgotten." Tirek stated, because right now it sure looked like the dragon was exhausted from the battle that they had just gone through, not to mention from the effects of the Infinity Stones being used on him, hence why he walked over to where the dragon was resting at the moment, though he kept the barrier around Sarana and Martok up, just in the off chance Midir tried anything funny, and had some of the Infinity Gauntlet's energy at the ready so he could put an end to the fight if his foe decided to perish in this cavern.

"I... submit..." Midir replied, revealing that the powerful dragon could talk, which Tirek had been expecting due to the fact that the dragon was supposedly raised by gigantic, and possibly immensely powerful, Archdragons that existed during the days of Lord Gwyn and the other Lords that probably started though at the same time he realized something important, that Tirek was far more powerful than he was, especially since Tirek hadn't used all of his magical power in this fight, and to show that he meant it he did nothing as Tirek came to a stop in front of him.

"Good to hear." Tirek said, where he raised his right hand for a moment and undid the barrier that was around Sarana and Martok, as it was cracked and had been progressing to the point where it would have shattered under the weight of all the power they had been using in the fight, though once that was done he raised the Infinity Gauntlet and started to channel the power of the Time Stone on Midir's body, restoring his strength to what it was before they started to fight, while at the same time repairing the damage to the dragon's wings and any other broken part of him, before lowering the gauntlet and channeled the Space Stone's power again, creating a massive portal that even Midir could walk through, "Come, its time to bring an end to our quest, then we can focus on the future of this world."

Sarana and Martok nodded for a moment as they stared at the dragon that was standing near them, as Midir had raised his head as soon as Tirek was done fixing him up, showing that they were concerned about him and only trusted him due to the fact that their Lord trusted him, before the four of them headed through the portal and reappeared in the area that they had faced Iudex Gundyr in all that time ago, as it was the biggest area they could bring Midir to, though the dragon took one look at the door that stood between them and the Shrine and smashed it with a swing of his claws, even if he did push some of the rubble off the area to give himself some room.

"What... in the world..." a voice said, where Tirek and the others glanced in the direction of the Shrine and found that all of the residents that had been inside the structure, minus the only remaining Lord of Cinder they hadn't slain, had heard the sound of the wall and door being smashed and had come out to see what in the world was going on, though they had all stopped when they noticed the massive dragon that was standing behind Tirek, Sarana, and Martok, who was staring at all of them in turn and wasn't attacking because Tirek indicated that they were friendlies, before Tirek noticed that it was Yuria that had started to talk, "Lord Tirek... I must admit, I'm a little confused..."

"We found something to transform into the Reality Stone, so the quest was a success," Tirek remarked, where he raised his left hand for a moment and revealed the sixth and final Infinity Stone he had added to the Infinity Gauntlet, to which some of the people that were in front of him paused for a moment as they noticed what he held and recalled the power of the other Stones he had collected, before he gestured to Midir for a moment, who was still staring at the people that were standing in front of them, "but along the way we learned about this powerful and imposing dragon, who we also learned was called Midir and was sired by the Archdragons, where one of the residents of the Ringed City wanted us to find him and kill him before he was corrupted by the Abyss... however, after sampling his power for myself, and the battle that we engaged in, I determined that killing him would be a waste and that he could help bring order to the era that follows the end of this one, be it as a god or whatever he desires."

"I see. That's good to hear." Yuria replied, though while she said that Tirek could see that the warrior known as Hawkwood was staring at Midir, meaning he might be fascinated by dragons and the power they wielded, especially after hearing that this one was sired by the Archdragons, possibly trained by those imposing creatures, and had been fighting against the Abyss for a time, even if that last part he needed to expand upon to tell them what was going on, before Tirek focused on Yuria once more, as it was clear that there was something on her mind, "My Lord, are you ready to place the cinders of the Twin Princes on the final throne and fulfill your destiny?"

Tirek nodded before he advanced on Firelink Shrine, while Midir stayed in the area they had appeared in, as it was time for him to see what happened when all five Lords of Cinder that had been revived to link the Fire, or one living Lord and the cinders of the four that betrayed their duties, had been placed on their thrones, though while Sarana and Martok walked behind him he knew this was something he would be tackling alone, despite the battles they had been through together, and he was eagerly looking forward to bringing this quest to an end.

Kiln of the First Flame

As Tirek entered Firelink Shrine this time he could tell that there was a different feeling to the air, as everyone knew that the time had come for the way to the First Flame to be opened so he could, in their eyes, sacrifice himself to extend the Age of Fire that they were used to, even if it wouldn't be long before they needed to do this all again and raised more Unkindled and Lords of Cinder to make another worthy warrior to add more life to this Age, even though they were all wrong in why he was doing this, as he had no interest in their Ages of Fire and Dark. He was interested in the First Flame and the power that it had to possess, especially since Yuria and her allies had painstakingly sought out someone to mold into their Lord, a Lord of Hollows that would rule over the world to come once the Flame was usurped and claimed by someone, which he knew he could do now that he had access to all one hundred percent of his power, which he swore had been enhanced from what it used to be, and the power of his complete Infinity Gauntlet, meaning whatever guardians he would be facing wouldn't be much of a challenge for him. Part of him almost felt sorry for those that Yuria and her allies hadn't converted to their cause, as he knew there were some that stubbornly held fast to the notion he was going to bring the Age of Fire to life once more, but that was when he chuckled as he pushed the thought away, because now that he was so close to his goal he wasn't about to change his mind and do something stupid, as the power was almost within his reach and all he had to do was let the five Lords of Cinder do whatever it was they needed to do. As he thought about that he could see that everyone was currently gathering around the center of the Shrine, resting opposite of where the five thrones happened to be sitting, and it was easy to see that Ludleth, the only living Lord of Cinder, was eager to get this over with, while at the same time Sarana, who carried the cinders of the newest Lord, the one that had run away and started this whole mess, Prince Lothric, walked up to where the highest throne rested.

Everyone watched as she approached the throne and placed the cinders of the final Lord of Cinder in their place, where it was clear that nothing happened as soon as they touched the stone surface of the throne, causing her to walk down to the area that Martok was standing in, as she wanted to see what happened next as well, before Yuria stepped forward and stared at the assembled group for a few moments, as without the Fire Keeper they had no idea what was supposed to happen next, even if Tirek knew that Yuria had an idea of what she needed to do.

"As you all can see the five Lords of Cinder now sit on their thrones, and it is all thanks to you, Lord Tirek." Yuria said, as she took a moment to turn her head towards Tirek and perform the gesture she used whenever she was talking to him, an action that caused everyone in the Shrine to kneel where they were positioned and lowered their heads towards the five thrones, even if Tirek knew that they would be focusing their eyes on what was going to happen next as Yuria turned back towards the bonfire and the thrones, "Normally a Fire Keeper would tell their champion, who they then called the 'most worthy of Lords', to kneel before the bonfire's coiled sword, but we'll be skipping that part, as Lord Tirek kneels to no one, rather all shall kneel to our Lord in the days to come, and would ask that the Lord's embers acknowledge him as their true heir... a true Lord, fit to change the fate of our world."

Tirek noticed that, despite the alterations to what the Fire Keepers were supposed to say at this point, the inhabitants of the Shrine bowed their heads and showed that they agreed with what Yuria had said, no doubt assuming that she meant he would link the Fire, before noticing that Ludleth lowered his head for a moment and his entire body was reduced to a pile of cinders that matched what was now resting on the other four thrones, meaning that the Lords of Cinder that were called from their graves would have their bodies reduced to an amount of cinders, though that was when Yuria nodded her head for a moment as he stood in front of the bonfire.

"Noble Lords of Cinder... the fire fades, and the Lords go without thrones. Surrender your fires," Yuria continued, showing Tirek that she must have been studying what was supposed to be said by the Fire Keepers, something that revealed that they didn't need an actual Fire Keeper to do whatever was going on at the moment, though that was when he noticed that each pile of cinders had some flames dancing around them and those fires seemed to be in the process of leaving where they had been resting and the area around their thrones darkened as they gathered above the bonfire, which was where Yuria beckoned to him for a moment, "to your true heir and our true Lord. Let him grant death to the old gods of Lordran, deliverers of the First Flame."

In that moment Tirek watched as the flames gathered into a single spot and came to a stop, where he raised the Infinity Gauntlet and activated both the Space Stone and Mind Stone, where he could feel the destination that the flames seemed to be focused on, like they were the key to getting to where the First Flame was located, before a portal opened in front of the bonfire, leading to what appeared to be another version of Firelink Shrine, not the one that was resting in an alternate time where the Age of Fire had gone out, to which he stepped through the portal and arrived in his destination not even a few seconds later. From what he could tell this area, which he believed to be the Kiln of the First Flame, was broken in a couple of places and it appeared that the way forward was through the entrance that allowed him and Sarana to enter the true Shrine when they first started their quest, though while he didn't need it he tapped the bonfire that rested near him with his right hand and it activated, and the reason it didn't matter was due to the portal he had opened to get here in the first place, where it was clear that Sarana and Martok, at the very least, were following him through so they could see what the end of the line looked like. Once he understood what was around him Tirek headed up the stairs and headed for the entrance to this structure, though while the beginning of the path heading outside was the same as what was resting right outside the true Shrine he quickly found that the rest of it was different, as the path quickly ended and he noticed that the area he was in looked a lot like what he and his companions had found when they first started their trek through the area before the Ringed City, as it looked like the various structures of the world were melding together as they faced the end of the entire world, though there was an oddly placed bonfire resting near him, one that seemed to be connected to the start of the path that lead to where the First Flame was located. In that moment he made a portal for himself with the power of the Space Stone and moved himself over to the area he was staring at, leaving Sarana, Martok, Yuria, and whoever else was coming to watch the battle for the legendary First Flame standing outside the entrance of the Fireless Shrine, which he had decided to call the Shrine he had appeared in a few moments ago, before he walked up the seemingly diagonal path that was in front of him and headed for the opening that would take him to his target.

What he discovered at the top of the path was that he could see the darkened sun that had the Darksign around it, but it wasn't what held his attention, as he found a massive sized graveyard of sorts resting in front of him, where there were all sorts of weapons, as in swords, axes, lances, spears, maces, staffs, and everything else that someone could use to defend themselves while they traveled through the lands of this world, meaning this had to be where those that linked the First Flame might be sent, to join their power to those that linked it in the past, but sitting in the middle of this area was a large figure that seemed to be wearing an imposing set of armor that looked like it was an amalgamation of sorts, even if all of its armor appeared to be charred. Even from here Tirek could tell that this creature was immensely powerful, almost like he was staring at a godly manifestation of those that had linked the First Flame, meaning Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, was part of it and that he had to be careful in how he approached this battle, though with the power of the Soul of Cinder, as that was what he was going to call this creature, and the power of the legendary First Flame he would be able to have no equal in this world, to which he stepped into the graveyard that his foe was standing in. His actions caused a Fog Door to appear over the entrance of this area and was followed by the Soul of Cinder getting up from where it had been resting, as it had been sitting with its sword, which looked like a coiled sword interestingly enough, sticking in the ground, so it pulled its weapon out of where it had been resting and flames danced along the edge of its weapon as it faced Tirek, who walked down into the area the knight happened to be standing in before they rushed at each other not a few seconds later, where the Soul of Cinder thrust its sword forward and Tirek used the Space Stone to pause the attack before it could reach him, all so he could punch his foe in the chest with his stoneless gauntlet, knocking the Soul of Cinder backwards, even though it stopped itself by stabbing the ground with its weapon and then rushed back into the battle, which showed Tirek that he did have to be careful since this foe was likely going to be relentless, meaning it was going to be sort of like his battle with Midir, only he wasn't fighting a dragon this time.

The Soul of Cinder lashed out with a number of swings as soon as it was near Tirek again, just like the knights he and the others had seen in the past, to which Tirek raised both of his hands and parried the incoming attacks by punching them as the blade came at him, where the graveyard they were fighting in shuddered as both of their energies came into contact with each other as their weapons clashed, especially since the Soul of Cinder tried to twist its sword around so it could get passed his defenses and stab him, resulting in Tirek punching the blade backwards and causing them to separate for a few seconds before they rushed back at each other. Instead of relying on the Morion Blade, which he received from Yuria and was sure that there was something negative about it, like it might harm the wielder or something, which he might have paid no attention to while he was using it earlier, he grabbed a blade that happened to be resting between him and his foe as he moved forward, where he found that it was the weapon of a knight that protected Lothric Castle, as in the normal sized sword and not the greatsword, though at the very least he was able to parry the incoming attack as he stared at the Soul of Cinder, who didn't tilt its head as it focused on him. Tirek made sure that the blade was in his right hand before he pushed his foe backwards and found that the Soul of Cinder rapidly sprung back at him and thrust its blade forward, to which shifted his stance for a moment and forced the blade away from him, though that was when both of them swung at each other and Tirek found that his movements were mirrored by the Soul of Cinder, because if he swung diagonally at his foe it did the same thing from its direction, a thrust was met by another thrust, a swing was parried by an identical swing, and pretty much every other move that could be used with a normal sword, something that showed Tirek that his foe had to have the knowledge of those that had linked the First Flame in the past, so it had all the techniques, spells, and fighting styles of those who prolonged the Age of Fire. Based on everything that Tirek had seen so far, and would likely see as their battle unfolded for the watchers to observe for a time, the Soul of Cinder was going to be the hardest foe he was going to fight in this world, with Midir being a close second, before he raised his left hand and blasted his foe in the chest with all four of the elements he had access to, finding that his foe was resistant to Fire, which made sense, but it seemed weak to Soul, Dark, and Lightning spells, which he was perfectly fine with.

What happened next was that Tirek and the Soul of Cinder clashed with each other once more and jumped backwards not even a few moments later, which was when the darkness flickered for a moment as Tirek loosed a Dark Spear through the air and watched as his foe dodged the attack before it struck it, though he grinned for a moment as he engaged the power of the Space Stone and redirected his spell right into the back of his foe, causing the Soul of Cinder to stagger for a few seconds before it stood back up and swung its blade, where its power shifted for a moment as its sword transformed into a scimitar, almost like it was indicating a change in its attack pattern. The reason he knew that, besides the new weapon it was using right now, was due to the spell his foe decided to pull out while they were fighting, a spell that caused his foe to raise its empty left hand and form a Fireball of some kind, one that was pressed into its chest and quickly followed by a red aura taking over the majority of its body, something that seemed to empower its body and likely meant that all of the Soul of Cinder's attacks would be stronger than they had been a few moments ago, which was when it hurled a Great Chaos Fire Orb at Tirek, who used an equally powerful orb of darkness to counter the spell. This time around when they fought each other, as in crossed blades once more, Tirek found that the Soul of Cinder used quick slashes, both horizontal and wound-up vertical types, when it was attacking him and used what he assumed were ninja moves to dodge his attacks that overcame its own slashes, as his foe used backflips to get out of the way, something that was greatly interesting and made Tirek wonder which of the previous Lords of Cinder, as he was sure once someone linked the First Flame and sacrificed themselves they became known by that title, had used these techniques against their foes, before he focused on his foe once more and parried the incoming Great Chaos Fire Orb with a Dark Orb, causing the area between them to shudder for a few seconds as they rushed at each other and clashed with each other with their blades. Right now Tirek was going easy on the Soul of Cinder, mostly so he could see what sort of move styles it had access to and all the tricks his foe had to use against him, as he had the feeling that they would cycle through every move set the amalgamation of the other Lords had in its arsenal and then return to the first one it started with, which would be around when he bothered to go full power to smash it into the ground and secure the First Flame.

Another move he wasn't expecting his foe to use was one where it swung its scimitar to parry Tirek's incoming attack and then, after they were pushed back from each other from the initial collision, the Soul of Cinder spun around where it was standing and swung its blade at Tirek again, who threw his left fist forward and used the Infinity Gauntlet, with none of the Stones activated, to parry the incoming attack and knocked his foe backwards, to which the two of them quickly landed on the ground that was behind where they started and started to move around in a circle formation as they waited for their opponent to make the next move, especially since Tirek knew of his foe's strength and didn't want to be caught off guard at any point over the course of this battle. Of course there were two other spells in the Soul of Cinder's arsenal, or at least in the arsenal of the scimitar form it was currently using, and while they were incredibly minor, since his foe only cast the spells once, Tirek recognized them for what they were, as the first one was a blast of fire it directed towards his face, which was the Great Combustion spell, and a purple mist that reminded him of the Ghru from the swamp, meaning this was the Poison Mist spell, but he was able to pretty much dodge both of the spells without wasting any of his energy on them so he could focus on what the Soul of Cinder was doing at the moment. After some time of their battle going nowhere, even if Tirek was holding back to learn what his foe was capable of, the Soul of Cinder swung its weapon when there was some decent separation between them and its scimitar transformed into a pike, or at least that was what he assumed that was what this form was, something that was followed by it charging at the area that Tirek was standing in, who decided not to take the attack head on and moved to the side so he could blast his foe in the side with a Dark Orb, even though that only caused his foe to stagger for a moment as it got back up and charged at him once more, where it swung its pike as a sword and also thrust it at him every now and then, just like a pike, leaving Tirek to parry the incoming attacks and dodged those he couldn't parry, putting them on equal footing once more as they slowly moved around the graveyard that they were fighting in. As Tirek expected his foe also had a few spells to use against him, one where his foe gathered energy inside its body for a few seconds before releasing it when Tirek got close, something that involved him using the Space Stone so he could move part of the shockwave into another part of the area and avoid being hurt, a spell that allowed his foe to take less damage, and two spells that actually healed it, one that was over time and one that was instant, though when it used those spells Tirek reversed it by using the Time Stone until the Soul of Cinder ceased trying to use them.

It was actually highly amusing to watch the Soul of Cinder realize that he had reversed time and undid the healing that it had just done, since Tirek didn't want his foe to suddenly undo all of the damage he had been able to do since they started this battle, only to raise its pike to repeat the healing spells it used a few moments ago, to which Tirek used the Time Stone again to undo what it was doing and was followed by them repeating that about five more times before the Soul of Cinder stopped and seemed to stare at him with what could have been an unamused look, to which he chuckled as they rushed at each other once more, something that was followed by his foe not using the healing spells, meaning it realized that he wasn't going to allow it to use them, allowing the battle to progress as normal.

After some time the Soul of Cinder backed off for a moment and swung its weapon once more, this time transforming its pike into what Tirek assumed to be a staff, as his foe was how holding onto the area that was near the top of the weapon, where all of its spells would be coming from if what he had seen of the past magic users was anything to go by, though it was in that moment that his foe charged its power for a few seconds before releasing the Farron Hail spell at him, as in a surge of forty darts in four waves of ten and all of them were Soul blue colored. Tirek parried that spell by loosing a near identical one at his foe, this time his darts were made out of the Dark element and made it a Dark Hail spell, to which both of their spells clashed into the middle of the area they were standing in, though even as that happened the Soul of Cinder continued to go on the offensive as it moved to the side and loosed a massive crystalline spear at him, which had to be the Crystal Soul Spear Tirek had heard about, or at least read about from his tome at one point in the past, where he hurled a Dark Spear to counter the spell, blowing the area the two spells clashed in apart a tiny bit, something that wouldn't stop the Soul of Cinder from attacking him. Sure enough his foe went on to cast another spell not even a few seconds after the collision of their spears, where it created a crystal version of the Soulmass spell, complete with seven crystalline orbs that floated around it, instead of the usual five that most spell casters used, to which Tirek chuckled for a moment as he took a moment to gather his power and created a dark version of his foe's attack, where they stared at each other for a second or two and then rushed at each other, allowing their Soulmass spells to collide with each other in the air, though Tirek did find that the Soul of Cinder didn't actually attempt to strike him down with hits staff, meaning this form was a ranged form and his foe was going to maintain its distance for the foreseeable future, or at least until it changed back to one of the other three forms he had faced so far, even if there was no telling how many more forms it might use before they started to repeat what it had already used. Of course that happened to be when the Soul of Cinder came to a stop and raised its staff so that the tip was pointing at Tirek, where his foe started to gather its power for a few seconds as several strands of Soul energy started gather around the tip of its weapon, to which Tirek stabbed his borrowed sword into the ground and did the same thing not a few seconds later, where he fired a beam of crimson energy that slammed right into the Soul of Cinder's spell and came to a stop as soon as that happened.

The two of them stayed in that formation for a time, allowing their beam attacks to struggle against each other for a time as they attempted to see who the stronger magic user was, and it wasn't long before Tirek's spell started to push the Soul of Cinder's spell backwards, something that had to surprise his foe when it saw what was going on, something that caused him to grin as he continued to push his foe backwards, before his beam smashed his foe's to pieces and slammed into his foe's chest, detonating the area around the Soul of Cinder and had likely done some decent damage to it, but even then he knew not to lower his guard, since there was no telling what else his foe had up its sleeves.

From what Tirek could see the Soul of Cinder ended up falling to its knees for a moment, as if the damage he had done was enough to topple it and make it admit defeat, but instead of doing anything he paused for a time and watched what his foe was doing, which was swiftly followed by the imposing creature forcing itself back onto its feet so it could stand up and face him, though what happened next was that its body had an aura of flames gather around it as it raised its weapon for a moment and then stabbed it straight into the ground, releasing an explosive blast of energy into the area that was all around it, but once that was all done his foe pulled its blade out of the ground and started to handle it like it was one of the greatswords he had seen in the past. What was surprising and interesting was that the Soul of Cinder quickly jumped over to where Tirek was standing and swung its greatsword at him, an attack that he parried with the borrowed sword he was carrying and found that his blade shattered under the intensity of the blow, so much so that all of the fragments were knocked away from him, even if the weapon reformed so it could return to its place in the graveyard, before he jumped back and avoided the rest of the attack that had been sent in his direction, where he could tell that his foe was faster and was much stronger than it had been earlier, making him wonder about the new form it was currently using. His thoughts on the matter were confirmed not a few seconds later as the Soul of Cinder swung his greatsword in a manner that could have knocked a foe into the air, to which Tirek did something else, he used the Reality Stone to make a perfect duplicate of himself and then used the Space Stone to move into the area behind his foe, all while making sure the Soul of Cinder was unable to see the real him for a time, to which he watched as his foe knocked his duplicate into the air with one swing of its greatsword, before it swung at the area the duplicate was resting in several times and then dropped the duplicate on the ground so it could perform the ground stabbing motion again, by using both hands on the hilt of its weapon, though that caused another explosive blast to rock the area they were currently fighting in. Tirek made sure that the duplicate was still standing and caused it to move around like he normally would, something that prompted the Soul of Cinder to lash out at it with a variation of the Lightning Spear that he had never seen before, one that was much stronger and incredibly more potent than the ones he was used to seeing, a Sunlight Spear he guessed, which caused him to instantly realize who he happened to be fighting as the duplicate was shot in the back with the spell and disappeared once Tirek reactivated the Reality Stone to dispel what he had created earlier.

"Lord Gwyn, the first Lord of Cinder and the Lord of Sunlight, its an honor to fight you," Tirek said, because while he was sure that his foe had no idea what he was talking about, and it sure looked like the Soul of Cinder was that way as it took a moment to pause and tilt its head towards him, he decided that he might as well be a little respectful to the first being that had linked the First Flame, though it was in that instant he focused on his magic and the power of the Infinity Gauntlet, as he had the feeling that the borrowed blade would be useless in the next stage of this fight.

The Soul of Cinder rushed right over to the area that Tirek was standing in and jumped into the air when it was halfway to where he was positioned, where it sailed towards him and swung its greatsword down at him, to which Tirek swung his fist into the air and parried the incoming attack with the Infinity Gauntlet, though as he knocked his foe backwards he loosed a Lightning Spear into his foe's chest, just to do some damage, which was when the Soul of Cinder rushed forward and tried to grab him with its outstretched left hand, causing him to dodge the incoming motion and avoid the hand, figuring that it would have allowed his foe to grip him and maybe blast him while he was in the air. For the next few moments the Soul of Cinder tried to slash his chest open as it swung its greatsword at him, to which Tirek used the Space Stone to prevent each of the swings from hitting him as he moved out of the way and punched his foe in the chest, even if he also switched that up with using one of the elements that it was weak to, but it seemed that the Soul of Cinder was learning what his moves were and used that to its advantage not a few moments later as it gathered lightning in its left hand and hurled the spear right at the ground, basically trying to make it an area of effect spell this time around. Instead of sticking around to take a bit of damage, like his foe was expecting him to do, Tirek jumped backwards and landed on the group that was nearby, to which he paused for a few seconds and then charged back into battle as he hurled some Lightning Discs at his foe, who just swung its greatsword through them and shattered them in a matter of seconds, which was just fine with Tirek as he appeared behind his foe and punched it in the back of the head, using the power of the Power Stone to smash it into the ground that was below it, before he flashed off to the side and reappeared nearby, giving him a chance to see what sort of damage he had done to the Soul of Cinder and what his foe was going to do next. What happened next was different from what Tirek was expecting, as the Soul of Cinder hurled a Sunlight Spear at him, but that was only a distraction as it readied a second Sunlight Spear that it hurled into the sky and it quickly disappeared after it left its hand, though Tirek was ready for anything as he activated the Space Stone and redirected the first Sunlight Spear that was hurled right at him, which just so happened to be when a thunderclap sounded and a bunch of spears rained down on the area he was standing in, even though he made sure to redirect those spears as well, before dropping all of them down on his foe, burying the Soul of Cinder in all the Sunlight Spears it had thrown at him in the last minute or two.

What happened next was that the Soul of Cinder rushed at him and swung its greatsword at him, though this time Tirek let that attack push him into the air and used his own power to get away from the area that his foe was standing in, to which he summoned the four elements of this world into the space around him, creating three spheres made of Fire, three made out of Soul, three made of Dark, and three made from Lightning, meaning there were twelve spheres around him and that he was going to replicate something he had done to Midir. Each of the spheres had the same size and contained the same amount of power as the Forbidden Sun spell he had used in the past, though what happened first was that he made all the suns of the same element merge into a much stronger version of the spells in question, which resulted in him creating a large fiery Forbidden Sun, a large icy Forbidden Sun, a large dark Forbidden Sun, and a large Forbidden Sun that looked a massive ball of lightning, before he focused on the next step of what he was doing as the Soul of Cinder stared up at him, something the observers had to be doing from where they were standing. With the Nova class spells prepared Tirek willed the four spells to merge into a single sphere, starting with the Dark sphere as the core of his attack and made sure that it merged with the Lightning one, causing the entire area around him to shudder for a moment as the sheer power of what he was doing rolled out over the area they were fighting in, and that feeling intensified not a few seconds later as he had the Soul sphere merge with the mass that was in front of him, where the multicolored sphere, containing three of the four elements of this world, caused the entire graveyard to shake for a time, even though that was when the Soul of Cinder did the same time, it was preparing its own immensely powerful Sunlight Spear to take him down. Fortunately he was able to weave the Fire sphere over the other ones and allowed the sphere to take on the coloration of the Reorigination Beam he had fired at Midir during the end of their battle, making this incredibly powerful and destructive sphere more like a spell that shouldn't be used at all, which made him wonder if he should refer to it as Forbidden Reorigination or Reorigination Bomb, but for right now the name didn't matter as he hurled the attack down at the Soul of Cinder, who had moved over to the edge of the area so the middle wasn't wiped out by what was going on, and that was when it hurled its powerful Sunlight Spear into the air to count the sphere.

Sure enough the two spells came into contact with each other and the entire area, including the air, vibrated as the spells clashed against each other, though since Tirek had used his full power in creating this attack he had to grin as his sphere either smashed through the Sunlight Spear or absorbed it outright, where it eventually slammed into the part of this area that the Soul of Cinder was standing in and detonated the payload that it was carrying, causing a massive explosion to appear in the area that Tirek was staring at... though when the smoke cleared he could see a massive crater that covered the majority of the left side of the graveyard, where the Soul of Cinder, its body totally charred and its armor looking like it was going to fall apart, collapsed on the ground and vanished, resulting in a new bonfire appearing in the middle of this now ruined area, meaning he had won the battle.

"Finally, the last guardian has fallen," Tirek remarked, though at the same time a flaming, almost lightning-like, crystalline soul appeared in front of him, something that he claimed as he landed on the ground near the bonfire, to which he took a moment to grin as he realized that he now held the soul of the Lords that came before him, one final power boost to make sure whoever linked the First Flame was as powerful as they could be so the Age of Fire lasted longer than the previous ones had done, or at least that seemed to be the hope, before he gripped the soul and the power surged into his body, no doubt pushing his power to new heights, before he turned towards the final bonfire he would light as he sensed its innate connection to the First Flame, "and now for my prize!"

In that moment he accessed both his own ability to absorb the magic of whoever he was targeting and the power that had been integrated into his body by doing what Yuria wanted, by stabbing Anri and taking her Dark Sigils for himself, though once he was ready he focused his power on the bonfire that was connected to the First Flame and started to started to put his plan into motion, to which he started to steal the power of the Flame that almost everyone wanted him to link, which was when a surge of immense power rushed through his body as he tapped into the power he sought. As soon as he came into contact with the First Flame he had to admit that he had assumed the power of the fire had almost been out, due to the fact that everyone was in a rush to relight it and whatnot, but it sure felt like that was wrong, as cracks started to form in his arms and legs not a few seconds after he connected to the power of the First Flame, with red energy pulsing through the cracks, but after everything he had gone through to get to this point he wasn't going to just abandon his mission and let the First Flame consume him, like it had all of the others that linked it. That was followed by a surge of fire that rushed out and surrounded the area Tirek was standing in, where it appeared that the power of the First Flame was trapping him inside a sphere of flame of some kind, though his focus was torn away from what was going on around him as he felt the power surge into his body once more as it tried to tear his flesh from his bones and reduce him to cinders, but Tirek stood his ground and fought back the First Flame's desire to defeat him, regardless of the pain that it inflicted on his body since all of that could be healed once this was over. As he stood his ground, however, he noticed something interesting, which just so happened to be where the ground cracked under the intensity of what was going on, almost like the power of the First Flame was tearing this entire area apart for what he did, but that was when he pushed through what it was trying to do to his body and drew even more power into his form, as he intended on stealing every drop of power that remained inside the seemingly weakening First Flame, something he knew due to the fact that the pain was lessening. It wasn't long before a flickering flame appeared in the air in front of him, one that appeared to be just like all of the other flames he and his companions had seen over the course of their quest, though the weakened nature and what he was feeling informed Tirek that this was all that remained of the First Flame, which made sense given what he had done so far, which was when he grasped what rested in front of him and absorbed the rest of the First Flame, allowing the power to surge through his body as he felt the Age of Fire going out at long last.

In that instant, as the power of the First Flame rushed through his body and pushed his power to even greater heights, he raised his left hand and focused his mind on the Infinity Gauntlet, where the six Infinity Stones started to glow as he took a moment to think about what he was going to do, as with the power of the First Flame and his Infinity Gauntlet it was time for him to do what he was here to do, though as soon as he had a firm grasp of what should happen next he snapped his fingers and watched as a flash erupted from the area he was standing in.

Yuria, Sarana, Martok, and everyone else from Firelink Shrine watched as a flash erupted from the area that their Lord was standing in and witnessed a black light move out across the rest of the world that they called home, where the sun, which had previously had a red ring around it, now possessed a white ring that seemed totally different from what they had been expecting to find when Tirek finished what he had been doing to the First Flame, especially since a normal morning sky just appeared in the air above them, almost like the Flame had been linked, which they knew wouldn't have happened since it was Tirek they were thinking about. As they witnessed that change, however, Sarana also discovered something else, Tirek had done something after claiming the power of the First Flame, as she felt a slight urge to serve and obey their new Lord, which she was sure that the rest of the group had to be feeling right now, where she knew that the new feeling had to be influenced by their standing with Tirek, as she and Martok were the two that had given him the most help, with Yuria and the rest of her allies being the ones directly below them. The reason she knew that was due to the fact that Hawkwood and the others commented on the feeling and the various levels that they seemed to be experiencing, though Yuria, on the other hand, returned to the normal Shrine and seemed to leave them alone for a time, not that such a thing mattered as she returned not a few minutes later, where Sarana found that there was a second lady standing by Yuria, who wore the same armor that she was, meaning it had to be Liliane, the third sister who founded the Stable Church of Londor, not to mention a force of Hollows, or at least that was what she assumed they had been at some point before Tirek absorbed the power of the First Flame and asserted his dominance over their world, as each of them seemed to be aware of what was around them and who they were, though it also appeared that there was a coiled black flame marking on their left arms, a new marking that no doubt displayed Tirek's control over their world. In fact she, Martok, and everyone else took a few seconds to remove whatever was covering their left hand, since the tip ended on the back of their hands, and all of them found the marking, where Sarana had to assume that Tirek's style of Hollows was different from what they were used to dealing with in the past, though she wasn't expecting to see Anri again, even if it appeared that she was confused by what was happening, so either Yuria told her what had happened and she was having a hard time understanding it or she had been told nothing and was just confused.

The next thing that happened was that the ground shuddered for a moment as a walkway formed in front of them, which connected to the bottom of the path that Tirek had used to reach the area he had fought his foe in, to which Sarana and Martok walked forward and were followed by Yuria, Liliane, and the rest of the group that had come to this area to watch Tirek fight for access to the First Flame, though when they reached the area that Tirek had been fighting in the flames that were in front of them pulled away and revealed that their Lord was standing there, causing everyone to kneel and bow as that happened, even though Sarana noticed that whatever attire Tirek had been wearing over his chest was gone, maybe reduced to cinders, while his white hair had been transformed into a long flowing mane of flames, or that was what she assumed they were seeing.

"A new god has awakened, and this world is mine," Tirek stated, though while he was pleased by the power that was now coursing through his veins, as it was beyond what he had been expecting to reach when he planned on taking the power of the First Flame for himself, he knew what the next phase of his plan was and it was time to carry it out, something that caused him to turn towards his new subjects, who were kneeling towards him, before he started to move, even if he took a moment to notice that Anri was present and that she was confused, which he would fix once his plans were done, before he focused on what he was going to do next as he activated the Space Stone and opened a portal to the right of where the group was kneeling, "Come, its time we let the world know whose in control of it now."

Even as the group lowered their heads a little more, to indicate that they understood what he was talking about, Tirek was more than pleased with what he had just done and knew that this world was going to be totally different from what Yuria and the others were expecting, especially given the change to the sky and the sun, and he was looking forward to asserting his dominance over the rest of this world and the various races that called it home, before making it into a world that he could rule over for the rest of his life, however long that might be since he had no idea how long his lifespan was after all he had done to himself, but that was a matter for another time as he focused on his main mission and the people that were on the other side of the portal, as what happened next was going to be fun for him.

Taking Over

The area that Tirek opened a portal to happened to be the streets of Lothric, as in where the first bonfire of the city rested, and stepped out into the large area that surrounded the bonfire, though while the rest of his group entered the area that he had appeared in he found that all of the enemies that he and Sarana had faced in the past had calmed down, which showed him that his modifications to this world were already being felt, as some of the Hollows that were off to the right seemed to be confused as to how they were back to normal, especially since the sky had to be different from what it was supposed to be after someone linked the First Flame. Once everyone was on this side of the portal Tirek closed it and started to walk down the path to the left, where he combined the power of the Time Stone and Soul Stone to awaken all of the fallen knights that had been slain long before he arrived in this world, as that meant he hadn't absorbed the power of their souls and, more importantly, that they could be roused from their slumber and rejoin the world of the living, where those he revived looked around as they came to terms with what he had done to them, even though it took them some time to figure out that he was the one that had messed with their bodies and souls. While he did that he spotted the fallen wyverns that were scattered all over the part of the city they were in and directed his power towards them as well, where Yuria and the others watched as he raised the fallen wyverns from where they were resting and restored each of them to the point they had been at before something had felled them, though this time around the knights of the city, along with the former Hollows who were near them, saluted Tirek as he and his group walked by them, because even if he didn't use his new power to mess with them and make it so they saw him as their new ruler, their new god, he knew that having the dragons and wyverns on his side was also enough to do the same thing. He also couldn't wait to show them Midir, just to display the sort of power he had access to in being able to have a dragon sired by the Archdragons on his side, though he planned on heading back to Archdragon Peak at some point so he could raise the massive fallen dragon from its slumber, as having a second immensely powerful beast on his side meant whoever resisted his rule, as he was sure there would be some who might resist his decrees, this would make them think twice about their foolish actions.

As he walked along the path that would allow him to reach the church that was in the middle of the city, and the rest of the group followed after him, Tirek could tell that Anri was thinking about something as she glanced out at the rest of the city and watched as some of the fallen residents were revived to what they had been like before they tried to get Prince Lothric to link the First Flame, which he refused to do given everything he had seen and heard, which resulted in the last couple Lords of Cinder being revived and a number of Unkindled being pulled from their graves to hunt down and kill the ones who were supposed to replace the Prince.

"Is something wrong, my Queen?" Tirek inquired, as he was slightly interested in what could possibly be bothering Anri at the moment, especially since there was nothing that could challenge him or harm anyone that was following in, and that wasn't counting the fact that Aldrich had been slain, so Anri didn't have to worry about the Lord of Cinder returning from the grave, since to bring that sludge creature back would mean the end of the Space Stone, though most of his attention was on the path he was following as he revived all of the fallen so they could embrace the new life that he was giving to this world, since they wouldn't have to worry about linking the First Flame anymore.

"...yes, you could say that..." Anri replied, where it was clear that something was definitely bothering her, even though that was when Tirek had to wonder if she was missing Horace, who he and his companions had slain due to the fact the knight had been hollowed when they found him in Smouldering Lake, though even as he thought about that he knew reviving her childhood friend would be easy, especially since he knew where to find him, before Anri sighed as she focused on the area that was in front of them, as Tirek was manipulating the city to form walkways for them to reach the lower areas that they would have had to climb down a ladder if it wasn't for him, "Lady Yuria didn't have a lot of time to tell me everything that happened since we last talked to each other, but she told me that the two of us engaged in a wedding designed for the Unkindled, or maybe it was Hollows, that basically tied the two of us together or something like that... I just find the fact that we're, um, married to be unreal, since I wasn't expecting such a thing to happen when I set out with Horace to find and kill Aldrich, which Yuria tells me you and your pair of subordinates accomplished with ease."

"Yes, you and I performed a specific ceremony to link ourselves together in some manner, and yes, Sarana, Martok, and I hunted down and killed Aldrich," Tirek remarked, letting Anri know that everything she had been told, or what little Yuria had told her since he was sure the dark sister had refrained from mentioning the fact that he had stabbed her in the head to absorb the dark power that had been gathering inside her body, which had been the entire reason behind the wedding based on what he could tell, but there was one thing Yuria had gotten right and that was the fact that every rightful Lord, or in his case the soon to be King of Lothric, had a partner of some kind, and it appeared that Anri had to be his, as he did know he could have done a lot worse based on everyone he had seen since the start of his quest, "Whatever terrors have been lurking in your past have been put to rest, as you won't have to worry about him returning to do you harm, so be at ease and take comfort in the fact that your foe has been cut down as his cinders used to open the way to the First Flame, all so I could complete my quest."

Anri said nothing to that as she and the others followed Tirek over to the area of the city that the church rested in, as that seemed to be their destination based on what they were seeing right now, and it wasn't long before their growing group reached the church, where they found a number of knights and citizens standing near the structure in question, where all of them saluted Tirek as he came to a stop in front of the church, to which Sarana, Martok, Anri, and the others came to a stop behind him as they waited for him to do what he had come to do. In that moment Tirek focused his power into some of the Infinity Stones and turned his hand into a fist as his power rolled out from where he and the others were standing, something that caused the entire plateau or mountain that the city and castle had been built upon to shudder for a few seconds, before he rushed up into the air, positioning himself away from the others for a time, before setting in motion his plans for the kingdom of Lothric. The first thing he did was restore all of the massive stone bridges that rested around the city to their former state, lifting the fallen bodies from where they had fallen and revived those who met their end on each of them, though once each of the bridges was restored to its former glory he shifted his magic and the city shook for a moment as the outer ring, with the high wall, lowered into place, demonstrating his power to those that were watching him work, as he was sure that those he had revived were totally shocked by what he was doing, and this was just the start of his renovations to the city. The castle, for instance, was positioned in the middle of the entire city, while he made sure to put the church somewhere near his new residence as the rest of the city shifted to better suit his desires, though part of him was amused when he noticed that what he was doing was starting to make Lothric City resemble Canterlot, a dark version of the city Princess Celestia and Princess Luna called home, but as he considered that he focused on the castle for a moment and shattered the various chambers and rooms, scattering the individual sections for a moment before even bothering to rearrange the castle into a more realistic layout, as there needed to be an entrance hall, a kitchen, the royal bed chambers, a servants quarters, a dining area, maybe a ballroom, a library that the archives took the place of, an area for the guards to live and train in, and the throne room, the most important room, not to mention a few other odds and ends, like the fact that he transformed the Consumed King's garden into an area for the devil beasts of Irithyll to reside in, so they could be near him if he wanted to dispose of someone.

Once he was done transforming Lothric City, and it actually resembled a realistic city and not the ruined kingdom he had seen while he was traversing it with Sarana at the start of their quest, he turned his attention to the lands that rested just outside his new seat of power and started weaving his magic over the ruined lands, as in he repaired all of the structures that were scattered throughout the Undead Settlement and made sure that all of the hollowed residents were restored to their normal forms, just like he had done for everyone that was scattered throughout his new city. From there he turned his attention away from the settlement, or whatever it was originally called, and moved onto the next area that was on his list, where he fixed up certain structures and restoring those that had fallen before his arrival in this world, though while all of that happened he came to a stop when he reached a certain area and upheld his promise to Sarana, even if he didn't actually promise her anything when they were last in this area, where he waved his and and set fire to the vile swamp that rested inside Farron Keep, transforming the entire landscape into a place of fire and ash as he heard the Ghru scream in agony, or their version of it anyway, even though he knew that it would be a barren wasteland at some point in the future, which would be replaced with something else in due time. Once that was done he made sure to weave his magic over the path that lead to Irithyll, where he restored the broken path to what it had been in the past and made sure to modify it so that it wasn't cutting through the now burning Farron Keep, though as he did that all of the hollows that called the icy city home started to regain themselves, and that included the silver knights that guarded Anor Londo, an area that he waved his hand towards and purged it of all of Aldrich's taint, which he transferred back to the Cathedral of the Deep, since that was where it belonged, and made sure the small city where the gods once resided was restored to its original glory, as he knew that there were a few gods remaining in this world and that this would be a good place to let them rest, if they didn't want to rest in his new castle anyway. The moment he was done fixing the mess that Aldrich had left all over Anor Londo, and he was sure that he was leaving nothing of the sludge Lord of Cinder behind, he used the Space Stone and opened a pair of portals so he could transport the three devil beasts that were resting in Irithyll to their new home in his new castle, where he made sure to check on them and make sure they liked the new area that they would be calling home, before he moved to the next location that was on his list of places to revisit.

That was when he reappeared in Smouldering Lake, an area that he loosed the chill of winter upon and froze the entire underground area, and he meant everything since he didn't like this place at all and let the large crabs that called this place home be encased in ice, which also included the giant weapon, but once that he had done that he headed over to the side cave and located Horace's body, to which he moved it to the area of his city that he had set aside for a graveyard, all so the knight could be laid to rest without Anri knowing. With that done he decided to check out the Cathedral of the Deep for a few moments and quickly purged the maggot monsters who were still lingering in the area, which was mostly due to the fact that he disliked them as well and was rather happy to see them disappear, but he was more interested in all of the knights, grave wardens, and deacons, as asserting his dominance over this world would have caused all of them to acknowledge him as their new Lord, or god given that he had stolen the power of the First Flame and carried it inside his body, and from what he could see it appeared he was correct in his assumptions, as those that were below him took a moment to pray in his direction, to which he nodded and departed from the area so they could return to whatever it was that they were doing, possibly heading for the swamp so they could journey to his city. From there he used the power of the Space Stone to head back to Archdragon Peak and weaved his magic through the air for a few moments, where the massive Archdragon that was leaning against a mountain stirred as its horns and other damaged pieces were restored to their former glory, before the crimson nature of its scales returned not a few moments later as it freed itself from where it was resting and glared at Tirek for a few seconds, who happened to be floating in the air and was focused on it, though he used the Mind Stone to share his knowledge of what might have occurred since the Archdragon had fallen and this point in time, allowing the beast to understand that he had taken control of this world and that he had Midir on his side, who the Archdragon might know, though it would take some time for it to recall what it had known. The powerful beast came to understand that the world was different from what it remembered and that most of the land that the temple it had been resting near now belonged to Tirek, where it decided to remain in this area and would chat with Tirek whenever it recalled enough of its memories, as it didn't know its name, suggesting that it might have been dead for a long time, to which he nodded his head and headed for another part of the world to check out, just to see what sort of effects the residents were dealing with, in addition to what he had done to them.

One of the places he decided to check out ended up being the Ringed City, where he found that, due to them waking up Filianore and shattering her illusion, that the city seemed to be entirely ruined, unlike what happened when he went out to find and tame Midir, meaning that he must have fought the powerful dragon before the illusion totally unraveled and, as such, might have actually saved his life, though thinking about that made him think about Gael and the painting that he was trying to help someone make, to which he opened the way back to the Painted World of Ariandel and quickly found that it was definitely burning in some sense, meaning the fragment Gael had been carrying would disappear in due time, to which he landed outside the church and headed up to where the attic room rested, something that allowed him to find the Painter, the little girl he and the others had seen earlier, sitting up there without a care in the world.

"I thought I might find you here," Tirek commented, where he came to a stop in the attic room and found that part of this area was on fire as well, as part of the structure had flames licking at it and would, in time, ruin this area and possibly drop the girl into the area he had first seen Elfriede in, not that the Painter seemed all that bothered by such a thing since she was staring at a blank canvas, which meant she was either waiting for the paint to be delivered, no doubt by Gael, who he knew wouldn't be returning to this area since he had perished earlier, or for inspiration to come to her, "So, are you going to remain here for the rest of your days? With Elfriede and Father Ariandel dead, and their power over this world broken at long last, I would think that you would want to leave this world and see what lies outside the painting, especially since it seems that the fire is spreading and might consume what remains of the painting that serves as a portal to this world, as in this world might perish in the near future."

"I have a painting that must be painted," the Painter replied, showing that she wanted to work on the painting that was in front of her, even though it was perfectly clear that she was lacking a number of items that were necessary for her to even do such a thing, most notably the paint that would be used on the blank canvas she was sitting in front of, though that was when the girl glanced over in Tirek's direction for a moment, where he found that he had missed something the last time he had seen her, as there were scales on her legs and feet, not to mention some on her face, near the forehead, where she also had red slitted dragon eyes, "I am waiting for Uncle Gael to return with the pigment, one colored like the dark soul of man, so that I can paint a cold, dark, and very gentle place, to make a goodly home."

"Well, I'm afraid that you wont be seeing Gael again, as the Ringed City is no more," Tirek said, figuring that there was no harm in him telling the Painter that the one she was waiting for wasn't going to return and that the area he was heading to had perished at some point in time, despite the fact that he was sure he could use the power of his Infinity Stones to find and retrieve a version of Gael that hadn't gone insane from hunting down the Dark Soul, though his news certainly caused the Painter to pause for a moment as she thought about what that meant for her painting and its completion, though that did give him an idea, "however, there is a new world outside the painting for you to experience and take in, and it might give you some inspiration on what to paint next, and that's not counting the fact that you might find a new pigment to use for whatever painting springs into your mind."

The Painter seemed to think about that for a moment, even though Tirek could see that she was lost and might not fully understand what he had said, before she nodded her head and started to collect all of the painting tools that rested in the attic room they were in, which was around the time that he noticed that there were some scales on her arms and hands, ones that he had missed due to how she had been sitting when he stopped in this area, though he also spotted something swaying under her dress, something that turned out to be a small white dragon tail. Instead of questioning it, since he had seen some crazy stuff during his quest to regain his power, forge a gauntlet to handle the power of the Infinity Stones he ended up creating, and steal the power of the First Flame, all Tirek did was open a portal nearby and channeled a bit of his magic to lift the canvas so the Painter didn't have to do that, but while all of that happened he came to feeling something that was coming from the girl, though it didn't take him long to determine that it was the power of a god, or more like a demigod based on what he was feeling. The reason he knew that was due to what he had felt earlier when he, Sarana, and Martok started to fight Aldrich and discovered that the sludge Lord of Cinder was in the process of devouring one of the few remaining Gods of this world, Gwyndolin he finally recalled, meaning this girl definitely had some godly blood inside her body, though whose daughter she was he had no idea, since he honestly had no idea which of the Gods were still alive in this world, despite the fact that he knew several were still alive, so his best bet was to have the Painter follow him out into the real world and see who her parents were when they came for her, because he was certain that such a thing would happen in the very near future. Part of him did take a moment to wonder if the Painter might be Ocelotte, the missing heir to the Lothric throne, someone Sarana would likely want to kill since she had a vendetta against the entire royal family and had dealt the killing blow to the three they were able to find inside the castle, Oceiros and the Twin Princes, Lothric and Lorian, though if the Painter was Ocelotte, and she really was the daughter of a goddess, it would be hard, if not nearly impossible, for Sarana to take them down as well, to which he decided not to say anything for a time, not until one or both of the Painter's parents came to pick her up.

The moment the Painter was ready to leave, and she made sure to double check that she wasn't leaving anything behind for the flames to take and burn, Tirek waved his hand for a moment and used the Space Stone to open a portal back to the part of the new version of Lothric City that he had created, where it was easy for him to see that everyone was standing in the same spots he had left them in, even though he knew that he hadn't been gone for long, before he walked through the portal and appeared in front of the group that had followed him earlier, but before he closed the portal he made sure that the Painter followed him through it, where she looked around with wonder in her eyes, and he waved his hand as soon as all of her stuff was on this side, closing the portal and leaving the burning Painted World behind.

"I take it that you reshaped the land according to your desires?" Sarana inquired, because it was easy to determine that he might have gone out to use his new power to reshape the lands that they had traveled through in the past, before making it to this point, though while she said that she, along with a number of the other members of their group, noticed that their Lord had returned with a little girl, the Painter of the Painted World of Ariandel she realized, something that made her take a moment to wonder why Tirek would have gone out of his way to bring her here, before deciding that he had his reasons and would tell them what they were if he felt like revealing his reasons.

"In addition to fixing some areas and cleaning Anor Londo for the other gods that reside in this world, so they can live in a place that isn't defiled by Aldrich's filth," Tirek replied, giving Sarana and the others a brief idea of what he had done to the rest of the lands that rested around the castle and the city, though that was when he glanced over to the Painter for a few seconds, as she seemed to be what was interesting everyone at the moment and he couldn't blame any of them, not after what he might have discovered earlier when he went to convince her to leave the Painted World behind, "I also checked out the Painted World of Ariandel, since we left it in a burning state the last time we were there, and that's the start of a fire to be exact, and convinced the Painter to come with me, so she didn't perish along with the rest of the Painted World, which is why she and her painting materials are here. I'm expecting someone to come looking for her in the near future, so for now she can remain inside one of the guest rooms inside the castle, and she also needs a haircut at some point, but we can discuss that later, depending on how long she ends up staying inside the renovated castle."

As the group nodded their heads to show that they understood him, and the Painter did the same thing when she realized that Tirek was actually talking about her, Tirek walked over to the location of the new castle entrance and showed the rest of the group that it was made out of the same stone that the previous castle had been made out of and that it had taken on a brand new style, the style that belonged to Princess Celestia's residence in Canterlot, even though they were stunned by his changes to the interior of the castle. He had transformed the interior of the Twin Princes' castle into something that made sense, as one could see the markers that would allow them to head to the various wings of his new castle and all of the rooms that had been created while he was reassembling this structure, such as the new library that was basically the Grand Archives and an area that Andre could work in, the latter being more due to the fact that the blacksmith would need a new profession that wasn't repairing the armor and weapons of the Unkindled, even though Tirek had taken a chance to use a few of his Infinity Stones to take his smithy from Firelink Shrine and bring it here. In addition to that he made sure that there were areas for the warriors of the group to hang out in, areas for the magic users to learn and practice in, and a number of other areas that were common in some of the other castles he had seen in the past, even though the relaxation area where he could look out at the area the devil beasts were residing in was his own addition to the castle, making the most of the Consumed King's garden, before the tour ended in the throne room he had created, where they found that he had added a set of stairs between the lower part of the room, where people entered and talked to the ruler of the city, and the upper part of the room that was slightly higher than the lower section, which just so happened to have two thrones on it, one large one with golden material and a red cushion while the other one was slightly smaller and was made from silver while having the red cushion. With the tour over Tirek made sure to inform Sarana and the majority of the group that he would speak to all of them later, once they had a chance to settle into whatever rooms they wanted to take, or even just leave and claim a house somewhere in the city if that was what they really wanted, basically meaning that he knew some of them would want to take a break and clean themselves off, or something to that effect, to which his companions and the majority of the group departed for now, though though he headed off to a bedroom that was fit for a king and queen to sleep in, along with a bathroom and everything else that such a place had.

The only one that followed him to this room was Anri, who seemed confused about how she should feel about what was going on at the moment, while the Painter was escorted to a room by Sarana while Martok carried the canvas, before he took a few seconds to investigate all of the clothing that was in part of the bedroom and discovered an elegant shirt that actually went with his pants, even if parts of it were purple colored, though he made sure to enchant it to resist the flames that were his new hair and did the same to the pants, since his tail happened to be the same as his hair, though once that was done he noticed that Anri was standing near the entrance, unsure of what to do next, and she was still wearing all of her armor as she looked around the bedroom.

"Surely you would feel better wearing something that doesn't weigh you down so much," Tirek commented, which caused Anri to pause for a moment as she looked down at the armor she was currently wearing right now, showing that she was still in shock over something, no doubt the fact that she was married to him due to the 'wedding ceremony' Yuria and her allies had the two of them perform, but in the end she sighed for a second and raised her hands to her head, where it only took her a few seconds to pull off her helm and revealed that she had shoulder length blond colored hair, possibly wheat colored, and light blue eyes, "See? You look better this way."

Anri said nothing to that as she took a moment to look through some of the dressers and found a silver colored dress that seemed to stand out to her, where Tirek said nothing as she walked behind one of the furniture pieces that made it hard for one to see what she was doing, though the fallen armor that hit the ground gave him more than enough information on what she was doing, and not a few moments later she walked out with a blush on her face, as if she never imagined that this would ever happen, before they headed back to the throne room and claimed their thrones, as it was time for Tirek to start ruling his world and the glorious future that was ahead of them and their allies.

Dawn of a New Age

The first thing Tirek did, after he and Anri took the thrones of the remodeled Lothric castle, was order some of the knights that had been guarding the original city and church that it was time for him and the others to speak about his plans for the future and if any of them would accept new roles, to which the knights headed out to search the castle and find the rooms both of his companions and the others were resting in, though the only one that could be left out was the Painter, as he had no need to bother her right now, not until his suspicions were either confirmed or denied, and he made sure that none of them arrested Greirat, since he'd like to see what the thief did with his new life. While they did that he also had a few of the other knights keep an eye out for the man called Patches, giving them a description of what the man looked like so they, or those that were going to be in charge of guarding the city, could know what he looked like in case he showed up, as he was almost positive that Patches would show up at some point and he wanted to be ready for his arrival, to which those knights nodded their heads and departed from the area so they could share their information with the rest of the guards, which gave him and Anri a few moments to be alone until the others that had been in Firelink Shrine returned. One thing he could see was that his new Queen was trying to come to terms with what was going on at the moment, which made sense since he hadn't given her all that much time to settle into her new role, but due to his modifications to this world he knew that those who called Lothric City home would need guidance and that was why he was setting things in stone now, so the guards and those that decided to serve him would be able to protect the residents of the city and those that decided to join them in some manner. He knew that once all of this business was taken care of, and they would be able to rest before settling into their new roles and learned how to rule this city, Anri would eventually come to terms with everything that was going on and accept her role as the new Queen of Lothric, though for now he would have to wait and see what happened once this day was over and they had a chance to sample the challenges that the future had in store for them.

It didn't take Sarana, Martok, Yuria, Liliane, Greirat, Andre, Hawkwood, Cornyx, and those who had been trying to protect the Twin Princes to arrive in the chamber that the thrones rested in, where the group stopped at the base of the stairs and knelt towards both Tirek and Anri, even though it was easy to see that each of them had their own styles for when this sort of thing happened, with the two sisters of the Stable Church doing their respectful bow, which they had done after he had stolen the power of the First Flame, and they were patiently waiting for him to say what was on his mind before they tried to find new duties to work towards.

"I know that all of you are eager to get down to business, before getting your first real night of sleep in a long time, so I will keep this as short as I possibly can," Tirek stated, as he didn't want to waste too much time on discussing things with those that were resting in front of him and Anri at the moment, due to the fact that he believed that the first true day that this world had experienced in a long time should be enjoyed for a time, before they got to work restoring total order to both Lothric and the rest of the world, especially since there was no telling when the other Gods might show up, "The first order of business I want to discuss is the knights who are going to be guarding and protecting both the city and this castle, as while they did a good job protecting the important figures of this land, even in their hollowed state, there is always more to learn and improve upon, so I would like three of you, Martok, Hawkwood, and Albert to be exact, to start instructing the knights in your own styles, enough to give them the basics and allow them to form their own opinions on which style they might prefer, but I'd also like for you to try and make them into a group that can work together when the need arises, if such a time arrives."

"As you wish, so it shall be," two of the three named individuals replied, while Martok was the only silent one, something that Tirek expected would happen and indicated that he wasn't annoyed by the warrior remaining in his usual state, but he could also see that his statement made the rest of the group wonder what he might have to tell them, though some, like Andre for instance, didn't have to worry about such a thing since they had a limited role and they were fine with what they did for a living, before the Twin Princes tried to ruin the world anyway.

"Yuria and Liliane, the two of you will be royal advisers, along with two more chosen by the Pillars that watched over the city before Princes Lothric and Lorian betrayed us," Tirek continued, referring to the three recognized Pillars that watched over the castle and the city, as in the Knight, Scholar, and Priestess Pillars, with two possible Pillars that might not have the same representation as the other three, one being the Black Hand, the Hunters who served the throne, and a possible fifth that was linked to the golden winged knights who actually had white angel wings, "which leads me to the next point: after seeing the skill that all three members of the Black Hand currently have, after having fought alongside two of you and even faced the third in battle, I would like the three of you, Sarana, Gotthard, and Kamui, to expand the secretive group that is supposed to serve the King of Lothric, and, at the same time, I would like to formally recognize your group as the fourth pillar that supports both the rulers of the city and the other three pillars."

"I have seen some promising candidates, and with some training we might be able to do such a thing," Kamui said, where it did look like he might be a little caught off guard by what was going on at the moment, but at the same time, after seeing how Tirek had taken down the Twin Princes and the manifestation of the Lords of Cinder following them, not to mention using the power of his Infinity Gauntlet, though as he said that both of the remaining members of the Black Hand, Sarana and Gotthard, nodded their heads as well, and it was followed by the two sisters of the Stable Church doing the same thing to show they understood his reasoning.

"Cornyx, Kriemhild, I'd like the two of you to train new magic users, regardless of the type of magic, and I'll see to seeing if I can recruit more teachers to fill the schools you don't know or can't teach," Tirek added, as he knew that there were four elements to the magic of this world and that some people only preferred to learn one school of magic, but there was also the slim chance that there might be more like him in the world, who ignored the rules and learned everything that there was to learn, before he glanced at the rest of the group that was kneeling in front of him and Anri, as in he turned some of his focus to Greirat for a moment, "and Greirat, while your skills might not be the most impressive of everyone else that is kneeling around you, I do believe that you can hone those skills to match, in part, the stealth of the Black Hand, so I would like to try creating a sect that specializes in stealth and stealing valuable information... but, should you and whoever you take under your wing betray either my trust or the trust of the Pillars, I will make sure to hunt whoever broke that trust and punish them accordingly."

"I would be honored to become a permanent instructor," Cornyx replied, while at the same time Kriemhild nodded at the same time that Cornyx did, showing that the two of them understood what was going on right now, but as they did that it was clear Greirat was surprised by what Tirek had said, before he nodded his head as well, showing that he also knew the consequences if he tried anything that would upset the new rulers of Lothric or the Pillars that served them, something that brought a smile to Tirek's face, as it was good to see that everyone understood his desires.

Despite the fact that he had covered everything that came to mind at the moment, as Andre didn't need to be told that his services as a smith were required for the armor and weapons of the knights and those that served the new rulers, but as he opened his mouth to say something, mostly to inform them that it was time to disperse, the door to this area opened a moment later and a pair of knights marched into the throne room, though that was when he found that they were holding a very familiar figure, as it appeared that someone had found Patches not all that long after he gave the order for them to look for him, to which he nodded his head for a moment and the kneeling group got up and moved below the thrones, all to give the knights some room as they forced the man to his knees.

"Patches, nicknamed the 'Unbreakable', its good to see you again," Tirek remarked, because he had been expecting this to happen at some point in the future, after he took some time to restore the city to its former glory and give the residents the same amount of time to do the same thing, so he wasn't actually expecting someone to find the man and capture him so soon after the order was given, before he glanced at the pair of knights that had brought Patches to him, "So, how did you locate him so quickly?"

"He was found outside the city, trying to trick someone into jumping off the bridge to get some treasure, one that he said was hidden by an Illusory Wall," one of the knights said, even though it was clear that he wasn't used to talking, maybe due to the fact that he had been a Hollow for a long period of time or had been one of the fallen corpses that hadn't become a Hollow like everyone else, to which he and his companion glanced down at Patches for a moment, who seemed annoyed by what was going on at the moment, before they focused on Tirek once more, "we captured him and informed the poor wretch he was trying to trick that there was no treasure down there, before hauling him to the castle."

"She was an insatiable wretch who deserved to be punished..." Patches started to say, though in that instant Tirek frowned and the knights stopped him from speaking any further, where the man growled for a second as he waited for them to let him go, but the knights had done the smart thing and confiscated his weapons, not that such a thing really mattered since Tirek could stop any assassination attempt with the power of the Space Stone at any moment, though it was nice to take his weapons and shield, as they could be added to what Andre was working on or go to the knights who would be learning from his greatest warriors.

"I see that you are as unpleasant as ever, though I think I'll just skip to your punishment and set a reminder for those who might draw my ire," Tirek stated, as this had been the reason behind him wanting the guards to find Patches, because he had a unique punishment for the man that annoyed him at one point in the past, to which he stood up for a moment and beckoned to the pair of knights that were standing near Patches, who bowed their heads to acknowledge what he wanted, pulled their hands off his shoulders, and then walked backwards for a moment as several of the Infinity Stones started to glow as he accessed them.

Sarana and the others watched as Patches was grabbed by the power of the Infinity Stones and Tirek surrounded the man with a shroud of darkness, something that happened to be followed by the man screaming in pain as they heard several of his bones crack and shift over the course of the next few moments, before he waved his hand and the darkness started to peel back, where she and Martok noticed a very familiar muzzle and head, where the creature had six eyes, before seeing the familiar claws and twisted ribs of the creature in question, where it was easy for them to determine that drawing their Lord's ire might result in him transforming them into the devil beasts that once guarded Irithyll, though the beast, which showed no signs of the man it used to be, bowed its head before Tirek sent it to the others of its kind.

"There, now there are four of them, and let it serve as an example to the rest of my realm," Tirek said, though as he turned to take his seat again, however, he paused for a moment as he felt a shift in the air, like a being of godly power was near his current position and he was sure that it wasn't the Painter, to which he glanced in the direction it was coming from and found that it seemed to be coming from the direction of the castle's entrance, which just so happened to be when a pair of silver knights walked into the room, where he gestured to his knights and had them move out of the way as he sat down in his throne so he could focus on the large doorway, "and it would appear that we have our first guest. Open the door and let her into the throne room."

It was in that moment that the silver knights stepped out of the way as they and Tirek's knights opened the door, after the Lothric knights needed to be told something in whisper, to which a rather large lady, who had a fair body that was rather busty in comparison to all of the other ladies of this world, while possessing a kind face, shoulder length red hair, and was wearing white cloth that seemed to resemble a robe of some kind, even if it showed off a decent portion of her chest for some odd reason, though the soothing nature that radiated from her was enough to convince Tirek of who she was, even after what he felt from both Gwyndolin and the Painter.

"Ah, Lady Gwynevere, its nice to meet you at long last." Tirek stated, because that was the truth of the matter, as while he had been expecting some of the remaining Gods to seek him out at some time, to see who had broken the cycle that their world had been plagued with for who knew how long, he wasn't expecting to see one of them so quickly, making him take a moment to wonder if they had been on their way once they felt him enter their world and she was the first one to arrive, but he offered her a smile, which was different from what the others might have been expecting.

"Lord Tirek, its nice to meet you as well," Gwynevere replied, her tone suggesting that she was rather kind and that it was possible that she didn't share her father's desire for battle or fighting, based on what Tirek had heard from the others and what he had seen when he fought the Soul of Cinder, before she glanced around the throne room, where it was clear that her expression revealed that she was surprised by the change to the area, once more making him wonder if she had been the Queen of Lothric at some point before Oceiros went insane, before she focused on him again, "There is a matter that I would like to discuss with you, in private if at all possible."

"Of course. Would you prefer to talk here, or in another part of the castle?" Tirek answered, though the reason he wasn't ordering Gwynevere around, even though he was the one who had stolen the power of the First Flame and had more than enough power to shatter the order that this world had been following, ever since the days of Lord Gwyn from what he had discovered during his time with Sarana and Martok, was because she was a fellow Goddess, even if he was sure the rest of the existing ones would have to acknowledge him to confirm what he had done to this world as a whole, so being on her good side for now might be the best thing for now.

"A walk sounds nice right now... maybe to an area near the gardens?" Gwynevere inquired, something that informed Tirek that one of his suspicions about her had to be correct, as while she might be a Goddess he knew that there was next to no way for her to know there was a garden of some kind in the old version of the castle, or the fact that he had kept it for the new version of the castle, meaning she was either someone who visited any of the previous rulers or, what was more likely in his eyes, she had to be one of the previous Queens, possibly even Oceiros' wife when he thought about it.

Tirek nodded and informed the majority of the group that they would return once they were done with their private chat, meaning Sarana and the others were free to either rest or gather with those that each of them would be working with in the future, while at the same time making sure Yuria and Liliane kept the throne room ready for his and Anri's return, as he had the feeling that this might include his Queen as well, and it wasn't long before the three of them, as the two silver knights remained behind, to walk down the hallway that was to the right of the throne room's door. As they walked down the hall Tirek was glad that he had reshaped all of the passages and halls of his new castle to match both his height, as he now stood at the height of the Soul of Cinder, or at least a little taller than the being in question based on what he recalled, and the height of any visitors that might come knocking at one point, specifically the various Gods of this world, as Gwyn, even in the Soul of Cinder state, was quite tall and so was both of his children that he had seen, referring to Gwyndolin and now Gwynevere, though he suspected the Nameless King was the same now that he thought about it. Out of the three of them Anri was the smallest of them, being much smaller than Gwynevere was and was likely half Tirek's height, or around that point anyway, and it was clear that walking behind two Gods, one of the ancient ones and a new one that had used his power to change the world, had to be freaking Anri out, especially since she couldn't measure up to either of them, as in terms of power, height, influence, and everything else that made someone in this world be recognized by the citizens that called the lands of this world home. He wasn't the only one that noticed how she was feeling, as even Gwynevere noticed it while they were walking and made no mention of it while they headed to the area that she wanted them to talk in, though at the same time Tirek took a moment to though about the possibility of chairs being necessary for all three of them, just in case they decided to sit in the area in question, but he'd keep that in mind for later as he gracefully navigated his new castle, which was easy to do since he had reassembled the entire structure and set all the new wings into the locations his allies and servants had discovered earlier, to which they quickly came to the area that overlooked the former gardens that the Consumed King had been hidden in.

One thing he had done earlier was use his power to purge the gardens of the Pus enemies and made sure the four devil beasts had everything they needed, before he turned Patches into the newest member, though he had also created a few metallic railings so no one would fall into the gardens, not unless someone had decided to end their lives by falling down there anyway, though when they reached the area he was leading them to Gwynevere took a few seconds to look out over the edge and glanced down at the gardens, which had also been cleansed of the corruption that had taken root in it, so at some point in the future it would grow and return to what it might have been before the Princes and the other Lords of Cinder abandoned their duties, which was when Tirek noticed a brief movement and knew Sarana was nearby, keeping an eye on him and his guest.

"The screams have stopped, meaning Oceiros has been given the peace he deserved," Gwynevere commented, to which she sighed for a moment as she glanced in the direction of the stairs that lead to the massive chamber that the Consumed King had been resting in when he, Sarana, and Martok found him, before she turned around and focused her attention on Tirek and Anri for a moment, even though it was clear that she was focusing on Tirek right now and was letting Anri stand opposite of where the ledge was located, as she didn't want to look down at the devil beasts, "Lord Tirek, I'm sure that you have figured out that I was once the Queen of Lothric, the former Queen anyway, making the previous castle my home for some time, while also making Oceiros my latest husband after Flann, the God of Flame, died in the past, which also makes Lorian, Lothric, and Ocelotte my children... I'm not here to avenge the deaths of my eldest children, though I will grieve for them later, rather I am here to talk about my youngest child."

"While I was exploring the Painted World of Ariandel some time ago, hunting down a lady called Elfriede, my most trusted followers and I located a young girl who was trapped in a building," Tirek explained, figuring that Gwynevere didn't need all of the details about why he was even in that world in the first place, even though it was clear she might have figured out it was due to hunting down a traitor or something, while at the same time Anri just listened to the tale, since she hadn't been there for it due to the fact that he had stabbed her in the head and she just disappeared, before reappearing after he took the power of the First Flame, "at the time I didn't have the power I have now, as I was missing several bits of the power you are no doubt feeling at the moment, so I had no idea of her heritage and ignored her for a time, allowing her to make her way back to an attic room inside the Painted World, where she remained so she could use, eventually, use the blood of the Dark Soul to paint a new world, after the current land she was resting in had been set of fire. Once I claimed the power of the First Flame, giving me the power I now possess, I shattered the order of this world, the order that everyone was used to following all the time, and now no one will have to worry about having to link the Flame anymore, but after I did that I remodeled this castle, some of the surrounding lands, and then visited the Painted World, only to discover that the flames were spreading and that the remaining scrap of the world might be overtaken in the very near future, so I had to convince your daughter, Ocelotte, to move out of the Painted World and come to this world, even though it seems that its her first time, meaning she was either hidden at a young age or her memories were taken to keep her safe. After I figured out that she was the child of a God or Goddess, well, I made sure she followed me back to this world, since I knew that whoever her parents were would come for her once they realized that this world had been changed and that whatever reason had been behind her being placed inside the Painted World had been undone... given that she's your daughter, however, it was easy to determine that she might have been hidden to prevent the likes of Aldrich from getting at her, which was also the main reason that you and most of the other Gods fled as well, even if you were unable to take Gwyndolin with you and had to leave him in Anor Londo, which is now cleaned of Aldrich's taint."

"Then it would seem that I owe you some form of appreciation, for making sure my dear Ocelotte remained safe, even if you didn't realize it until recently," Gwynevere said, which was what Tirek was expecting and had a poker face on when she said that, as he didn't want her to know that this had been the main reason why he even bothered with the Painter, who he knew for sure to be Ocelotte, though what happened next was that the Princess of Sunlight, as that was Gwynevere's title from the ancient days and was likely still her title these days, turned towards Anri and gathered some white light in her right hand, where she and Tirek remained still for a moment.

What happened next was that Gwynevere placed her glowing hand on Anri's stomach for a moment, reminding Tirek that she was also known as the Goddess of Bounty and Fertility, before she raised her hand and placed it under her chin so she could look Anri in the eyes for a few seconds, which was when she kissed her forehead not a few seconds later and then pulled back to admire her handiwork, where Tirek watched as Anri actually groaned for a moment as her body shifted for a few moments, growing to a height that nearly matched his own, before her small chest and rear enlarged before his eyes not a few seconds later, making her chest much larger than it had been a few moments ago and her rear, while not given the same treatment, was twice its original size, though a spell must have been placed on her dress to avoid tearing all of it apart in the process.

"You saved my child, so allow me to help you two for when you decide to make your heir," Gwynevere added, picking up from where she left off, even though Anri looked at her body for a moment and even took a second to lift her larger chest as she came to understand that her small chest had been replaced, which brought a smile to the Goddess' face as she and Tirek watched that happened for a few seconds, where Tirek found that Anri, while not possessing the grace and beauty of a true Goddess, was still stunning and he was sure many in the city would feel the same way, even though he was a little surprised by Gwynevere's version of appreciation, before the Goddess glanced at him again, "also, since you have taken over Lothric City and its castle, not to mention changing everything to match something only you know about, I'm going to leave this land to you, your Queen, and those that follow you, while Ocelotte and I will move to Anor Londo, to restore it and the city of Irithyll to what they had been like before all of the Gods were forced to flee."

"I'm sure she'd like that, since she doesn't remember anything at all," Tirek replied, though at the same time he took a few seconds to wrap an arm around Anri, to show his support for her new form and to calm her down since she was totally in shock about what happened to her body, but as Gwynevere nodded her head, so show that she was ready to walk to the room that her daughter was resting in, both she and Tirek paused for a moment as they felt a shift in the air, as it felt like there was another powerful being approaching them, and it only took him a few seconds to realize who was coming, as he had stolen the power he was feeling from its wielder at one point in the past, to which he glanced at Anri and their guest after figuring out who was coming, "My Queen, why don't you and Lady Gwynevere go on ahead without me, as I'll tend to our uninvited guest and send him packing once he's said his peace, then we can find Ocelotte and introduce her to her mother, and answer whatever questions she might have."

Both Anri and Gwynevere seemed interested in might be coming towards them, but after seeing that Tirek didn't care for the individual in question, even if he gave them no reason to assume anything one way or the other, both of them nodded and departed from the area that they had been standing in, where Tirek knew that he could just use his magic to find the pair once he was done with his interrupting guest, to which he turned towards the space that was in front of the ledge and watched as a figure appeared in the space he was currently staring at, where it wasn't long before Discord, in his chimeric glory, appeared before him.

"Tirek, there you are, I've been looking for you for ages... well, not really, but it sure felt like a long time," Discord said, as if the two of them were old friends or something, which at this point Tirek knew they weren't anymore since he figured that it was due to the meddling of the mad draconequus that he had lost to Twilight and her friends, but, even as he thought about that, he realized that maybe, just maybe, this would be one of those times where he might actually thank Discord for everything he had done, as being teleported to this world had been a good thing, despite his terrible start, though that was when Discord paused for a moment as he started at Tirek, "I have no idea what you've done, but your power is far beyond what it used to be, though that isn't the reason why I tracked you down across the stars, as its time for you to stop whatever adventure you're on and come back home."

"Sorry, but I have no interest in facing Princess Twilight and her friends again," Tirek remarked, though the emphasis he put on the title was because, after seeing everything that he had seen recently and all of the enemies he had faced that had a great deal of power to their name, Twilight Sparkle was nothing compared to the likes of Gwynevere and all of the others he had encountered so far, be they princesses, dragons, or the Lords of Cinder, before he shifted his stance for a moment as he held his gaze on the draconequus, which was when something else came to mind, "much less be blasted by the Elements of Harmony and their 'Power of Friendship'. I have found a new world to call home and rule over, without having to listen to any of your annoying princesses or whatever is ruling you these days, and I have modified the world and the Hollows that call it home in my image, so you can just go back home and leave me, and this world, alone... before I use my new powers and this Infinity Gauntlet to send you back to Equus, or maybe to a spot that's close to it, if you decide to test my patience."

"Really? Well, that's a shame..." Discord replied, where it was clear that he was pretending to pout in response to what he had just been told, more due to the fact that Tirek was brushing him off and didn't want anything to do with Equus at this point in time, before he thought about something that put his stupid smile back on his face, the smile that annoyed Tirek to some degree, though he found another source of magic happening in the nearby area, one he knew to be unfamiliar, so he focused on Discord while his magic searched for the intruder that was in his world, "What if I told you that you weren't the only one to be sent away from Equus, and that there were others you could meet and talk to for a time, to learn their stories, struggles, and the powers that they developed?"

"My answer is still the same, Discord. I. Don't. CARE." Tirek stated, though as he said that he had to admit that such a thing was interesting, while giving off the feeling that he meant what he was saying, but before he could say something else he spotted someone standing on top of the wall that was opposite of where he and Discord were standing, a figure that was wearing a black coat of some kind over its body, one that looked like it had a zipper going all the way from the neck area to the end that was near the ankles, even if the lower half was unzipped and the upper half was zipped, while the figure also had a set of ebony black gloves and boots, though it had silver ornaments near the head and its hood was over its head, making it hard to tell who the figure was or what it looked like, before he glanced over to Discord, " A friend of yours, Discord? Or do I have another invader in my world?"

As Discord glanced in the direction of the being that Tirek was talking about, however, the figure stood still as a shadowy oval shaped portal, one where some of the lower section had to be in the ground or something, opened behind it, where it stepped backwards and disappeared from the area that it had been standing in, meaning that whoever the figure was had either seen enough of what they were doing or fled before it was blasted into the ground or something, though Tirek took a few moments to make sure it was gone for good, something he was able to determine after a few seconds, before he focused on Discord once more.

"I've seen that figure before, but I have no idea who it is," Discord replied, almost as if he knew that Tirek would call him out if he lied about whatever he was thinking about at the moment, though as he opened his mouth to say something he stopped as he noticed that Tirek had raised his eyebrow while they were talking, to which he sighed for a moment as he backed off and put some distance between them, showing that he might have come to terms with what he had been told before they noticed the out of place figure, "Very well, since you're content to remain here, I guess I can leave you alone and go find the rest of the displaced... great, She's going to chew me out when I get home."

Tirek said nothing to that as Discord disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, apparently heading out into the rest of the universe that Equus and this world happened to be part of, and took a moment to wonder who this 'She' Discord had mentioned was, because it could be any of the Princesses, namely Princess Celestia, her sister Luna, or the newcomer, the Princess that had beaten him last time, before a thought came to mind as he considered the might of his soldiers, knights, wyverns, and everything else he had claimed since imposing his will upon this world, along with everything else that might be further beyond the borders of his new kingdom.

"Lord Tirek, what will you do next?" Sarana asked, because she was interested in what her new Lord had in mind now that he had told that odd creature to leave this world and go do whatever it was that it happened to be doing, which seemed to be searching the stars for additional 'displaced', though while some would be interested in those terms, such as one of the magic users, she had no interest in them and would follow her Lord's orders, just like everyone else that called this world home, even though it did look like he was lost in thought.

"First we rest and start training, as we have an army to build and a world to explore," Tirek remarked, where he grinned for a few moments as he answered Sarana's question, because while he told Discord that he didn't care it was, in reality, just another lie and the Spirit of Disharmony had bought it with ease, though if he was to invade Equestria once more, to take it over and impose his will upon every creature that called Equus home, he would need an army to demoralize them and make his conquest that much easier, and he suspected that there might be other lands out there, full of unsuspecting Hollows to fill his ranks, before he faced Sarana again, "then, once we're ready, I'll open the way back to Equus and force my will upon my former home."

That was the next stage of his plans, to build the greatest army this world had ever seen, using his Infinity Gauntlet and all of the Stones to forge a force that would lay waste to his enemies, and the Elements of Harmony, though for now, instead of worrying about Discord and the mysterious figure, he turned his attention back to Anri and Gwynevere as he started to walk away from the rails, as he would finish entertaining his guest and then take a small rest before starting the next stage of his plan, though he couldn't wait to see what the future held in store for him.

The End and the Beginning

Today was the greatest day of Tirek's long life, as not only did he escape from Tartarus some time ago, and remain hidden for a long time until Discord found out where he was lurking, he had finally absorbed the power of Princesses Celestia and Luna, who had defeated him a thousand years ago with the help of his own brother, along with the power of the newest Princesses, Cadance and Twilight Sparkle. A few days ago this would have been impossible, as his time in Tartarus had left him weak and he had to be careful about how he went about stealing the magic of the ponies around him, but when Discord found him it had been the best opportunity he could have asked for, as the chaotic being turned his back on the ponies he had befriended and joined him, allowing him to steal the magic of the earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns in rapid succession, leaving the alicorns as his only targets. Of course the only downside to his plan was that he had no idea there was a third alicorn, the Princess of Love, much less a fourth alicorn, one that Discord went to great lengths to hide from him, but in the end it didn't matter, as he assaulted Ponyville, fought the small alicorn that was empowered by the magic of all four alicorns, and then, when it was clear that they had reached a stalemate, he used his greatest bargaining chip against Twilight Sparkle, that being her trapped friends and Discord.

That had been the best decision he could have made, because that allowed him to take all of the magic he had been looking for, and that also included the power of Discord as well, just to make sure that there was no one that could stand against him, which crippled the heroes and left them as shells of their former selves, giving him the power to do anything and everything, with absolutely no limits.

When he started this quest, when Discord found him, he had been twice as tall as a normal pony and his body was frail, despite being a centaur, meaning he had four legs and an upper body that seemed similar to the minotaurs that called this land home, while the colors of his arms, legs, and body were muted due to having no power. Over the course of his quest to steal all the magic in the land his body had returned to what it had been in the past, as it became more muscular, his color returned to his form, and his horns, which started as small things in the beginning, curved up towards the sky, allowing him to fire energy blasts from between them, which he used against Twilight Sparkle. Now that he had the magic that his entire quest had been centered around, making him the strongest being in existence, he towered over everything that happened to be around him, be it the forest or even the nearby mountain, and there was no one that could stop him at this point in time. He could do whatever he wanted, crush anything that he didn't like, and rule over this land as he searched for Scorpan, the brother that had betrayed him a thousand years ago by joining forces with the sisters and helped them seal him away in Tartarus, thus reducing him to his pitiful state. Revenge was the one thing that had kept him going while he was imprisoned, but now that he was free from both his prison and his frail body, and the fact that he had the power to do whatever he wanted, he could finally have his revenge on those that had wronged them, of which only Scorpan remained, and he made sure to lock both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna away in Tartarus when he and Discord invaded their castle earlier.

While Tirek was thinking about what he was going to do first, with the power that was coursing through his body at the moment, he glanced to the side for a second and found a rainbow light emitting from it, which reminded him of the power that Twilight had used against him, and focused on it. That was when a sphere of energy emerged from the crack in the ground, which was actually a gorge or chasm between where he was standing and the piece of earth in front of him, and moved into the air near him, where he found Princess Twilight and her five friends resting in the center of the sphere, each of them looking different than what he remembered. All of their manes and tails were longer than what he had seen in the past, though some of the colors were different than what he remembered, there were some odd markings on their hooves, why he had no idea and he didn't honestly care about them, and those that had wings also had different colored feathers from what was closer to the main part of their bodies. Instead of wasting time, and allowing them to do whatever it was that they were planning on doing, he charged up his magic between his horns and blasted the six mares as soon as they came to a stop, only to find that his beam of energy struck the sphere and didn't seem to do anything to his targets, eventually causing him to stop and glare at them.

"How is this even possible?" Tirek demanded, because from what he knew there was nothing that should have be able to stand against his magic at the moment, not with the power of every type of pony and four alicorns currently coursing through his veins, which was why he growled as he stared at the six mares, as they were annoying him and he needed to come up with a way to take them down, "You have no magic left in your bodies!"

"You're wrong, Tirek," Twilight replied, a smile appearing on her face as she and her friends stared down at their foe, as they were focusing on what they were about to do and wanted to make sure his attention was on them, so he didn't run off with all his stolen magic before they were ready, "I may have given you my alicorn magic, but I carry within me the most powerful magic of all!"

In that moment Tirek took a step back as six strands of energy burst out and struck where he was standing, before combining into a powerful beam of rainbow energy that covered him in a blinding white light, but that was followed by all of the stolen magic he had accumulated over the last few days being forcefully pulled out of his body. It was painful for a few moments, something that he really wasn't expecting when he considered the power that was being used against him, and he watched as his arms and his body decreased in size, losing the mass that he had added to his body since he started stealing the power of the ponies he came across. It only took a few seconds for him to regress back to the smaller form he had been using during his battle Princess Twilight, though that was quickly followed by him losing both the alicorn magic and the rest of the magic from the three types of ponies he had encountered, his body shrinking back to what it had been when he first escaped Tartarus. That informed him of something he didn't want to see again, that he was likely going back to his cell in the realm that he had been imprisoned in, and since there was nothing he could do against the power that was being used against him, not with the stolen power being taken from him, he closed his eyes and braced himself to find himself back in his cell, with a brand new sentence for his crimes.

What he wasn't expecting, however, was for the magic to weaken him to the point where he started to pass out, but at the very least he wouldn't have to witness his return to Tartarus, to be laughed at by the other inmates or whatever was waiting for him on the other side, before he passed out completely and slipped into the darkness for what was the second or third time in his long life.

Tirek had no idea how much time had passed since he got hit with the rainbow beam, or whatever the ponies were going to call it since they liked naming things, but when he finally thought about what happened to him he seemed to snap back awake, expecting to find himself back in Tartarus, imprisoned in his cell once more so he could be subjected to an endless amount of laughter by the other inmates. What he found, on the other hand, was more strange that anything he could have considered before that moment, as he wasn't in the realm of Tartarus, rather he was in some strange place that looked more like a cemetery of some kind, one that was littered with gravestones, walls of stone that seemed to be in the process of falling apart, small bits of water that seemed to form a path away from where he was resting, and a number of trees that looked like they were in the process of dying. It also appeared that the graves that were the closest to him were either freshly dug and hadn't been covered back up, allowing them to be filled with dust as they waited for a coffin to fill them, or they were covered by layer upon layer of ash, as that was the first thing that came to mind when he glanced over to the grave that was to his left. From what he could tell this world was unlike anything he had seen so far, since all he had seen were Equus and Tartarus, meaning that his first order of business was to figure out where he was, how to use the magic of this world, and then gather all the power that he could get his hands on, before attempting to head back to Equus so he could smash Twilight and her pitiful friends.

It was in that moment, when he tried to get up and walk, that he discovered two things, the first being that he was back to his old and frail self, not that such a thing was much of a surprise given what happened to him earlier, while the second thing was that he no longer had the body of a centaur, rather he looked more like a minotaur, which was going to be rather odd when it came time to leave this area, especially with how weak this form was. The next thing he noticed was the fact that he was now wearing some sort of long ash colored robe that covered his chest and seemed to go all the way down to his waist, which was where it opened up and revealed that he had some sort of pants that covered the lower half of his body, not to mention that there was a blue undershirt under the robe and that the main attire had a hood that went over his head. Of course that made him question the need for the red hood that was beneath the ash colored hood, and then he spotted the blackened gloves that were on his hands, with silver medallions on the back of them, which informed him that whatever had brought him to this world had given him some gear for his stay, and he even found some rather odd and interesting items nearby. A rather simple looking staff rested near him, one that had some power inside it, and had two pieces of paper resting under it, for a pair of spells known as Soul Arrow and Heavy Soul Arrow, though near them rested a short sword that looked pretty dangerous, even if it appeared to be without an edge, and a ring with a blue stone that had a dragon emblem on it.

Tirek waited for a few seconds, to take in what was going on at the moment, and picked himself up from where he was resting, where he picked up the ring and slipped it onto his right pointer finger, which was accompanied by feeling a sight power boost to his magic, before he picked up the sword and found a sheath resting behind it, one that he attached to his new attire and then slipped the weapon inside it, which was when he picked up the staff and held it in his right hand, and he made sure to collect the pages, just to see what the magic of this land was like.

As he took his first step, however, he paused as he heard a rather loud bell go off in the distance, one that continued to ring for a good minute or two, though that was before one of the nearby graves shuddered for a moment, which caused Tirek to turn and glance at it, where he found a figure rising out of the ground, through the ash that had been placed over all the graves in this area. Based on the mounds that were on the figure's chest, even if they were rather small, he had to assume that the figure was female and noticed she seemed to be wearing some sort of leather armor, though the other thing he noticed was that she preferred to cover her face, as she happened to be wearing a veil of some kind, leaving only enough room so that her emerald colored eyes could be seen, informing him that she was either ugly or was scarred in some manner and didn't want to show people what had been done to her face. The lady also seemed to be wearing a rather large weapon on her waist, one that was longer than his sword was, though Tirek discovered that most of her body was covered by her armor, meaning he couldn't see her skin at all, not that he actually cared since she was a total stranger and he didn't trust her at all at the moment, and this could be the only time they even saw each other. The only interesting thing was that the lady seemed to be looking down at herself, as if she was surprised by something, which was hard to tell since he couldn't read her emotions at the moment, but he waited for her to say something before he left the area and started to explore the new world he had found himself in.

"Fan-fucking-tastic, I'm alive... again." the lady said, though Tirek noticed that her tone lacked any sort emotion at the moment, because where most people would be happy that they were alive, after some horrific accident or something, she sounded like she didn't care at all, nor did she sound annoyed, before she shook her head as she finally finished pulling herself out of her grave, before noticing that she wasn't alone, "What are you looking at?"

"I was merely observing someone come back to life, that is all." Tirek replied, where he focused on the path that would lead him out of the area that he was in, since there seemed to be a walkway of some kind that would bring him right to a ruined fountain, because he didn't care about the lady and suspected that she felt the same way, even if she didn't seem to be the sort to feel emotions, "Now I'm going to leave this area and find someone who can tell me about the land that is all around me, before I do anything else."

"We are in the Cemetery of Ash, where all of the Unkindled rise after they have been buried, depending on the ringing of the bell," the lady answered, though she stepped forward and stared at the area that they were in, almost as if she was looking out for enemies to take down, while not appearing to care much for Tirek or the fact that he was there, "I would wager that a good number of Unkindled have been resurrected in the last few days, each following their own path in this dying world... oh well, we had best get moving, least we get ambushed by anyone that is still lingering in this area, looking for scraps to aid them in the future."

"What is this 'we' business?" Tirek inquired, as he raised an eyebrow to that, like he was questioning it, but even as he said those words he knew that he could take total advantage of this situation and follow the lady's lead, allowing him to drain whatever power he could from those that were around him, before eventually taking her out and going wherever he pleased, but before all that he needed some of his old power back and that would take time.

"Listen, old man, we were raised by the bell at the same time, and in this land that means we're bound to the same objective, whether we like it or not," the lady stated, where she merely glanced at him for a moment, like she couldn't believe that he had no idea what she was talking about, but that was because she had no idea that he wasn't like the rest of the beings that called this realm home, before she glanced at the path in front of them, "not that I want to be on this quest again, but this is apparently my fate for the foreseeable future."

"I see..." Tirek said, though at the same time he started to walk away from where he had been resting before suddenly waking up, where he found that moving with two legs, instead of his usual four, was rather odd and would take some time for him to master, regardless of the fact that he had the staff to assist him, before he glanced at his new companion, even if he really didn't see her in that light at the moment, "Well then, lead on."

The lady barely glanced at him as she walked into the area that was in front of them, where Tirek slowly followed after her thanks to his old and frail body, though they didn't get too far before the lady stopped, as there was another figure, a male he guessed, resting nearby with a dark blue gown over his body with a hood that was covering his head, but when he raised his head he got up and rushed at them. The lady drew her blade and parried the attack that was coming their way, as the figure was using a blade to attack the pair, and she managed to push the figure backwards a tiny bit, before she swung her sword down and cut through her foe's chest, dropping him to the ground, where Tirek watched as both of them got some white strands of energy, only for the lady to turn towards him.

"You do know how to use magic, right?" the lady inquired, as she was looking at him and the staff he was carrying at the moment, like she was expecting him to help her clear out anyone that tried to attack them while they were leaving the cemetery, before glancing at the path that was in front of them, where Tirek spotted another foe resting in front of the ruined fountain that was in their way.

"Give me a moment." Tirek stated, where he stepped forward for a moment and focused on his magic, though what he discovered was the pages he had picked up glowed for a second and he pulled them out, allowing him to see how to use both of the spells that had been given to him, before he lowered them and raised his staff, where a light blue glow appeared as he loosed a light blue arrow of some kind that raced through the air and slammed into his target, knocking him down and releasing some more energy into the air, "I would say that I do know how to use magic. Now, what do you think this thing is?"

What he was referring to were the pair of light blue colored containers, which looked like a drink of something, that were laying near the fallen figure that had collided with the fountain, hence the ruined nature of the object, and the lady stared at the items in question, as if she was thinking about what they were as she took one of them, allowing Tirek to hold the second one, even though he noticed he had an orange one on his belt at the moment.

"It's an Ashen Estus Flask," the lady answered, causing Tirek to raise an eyebrow for a moment, showing that he had no idea what she was talking about and that she would need to explain this to him, where she shook her head and simply handed one over to him, allowing him to put it with the other one, finding that it was the color of the liquid that was blue and not the glass itself, as the glass was a dull green for this container and the other one that he hadn't noticed until this very moment, "These are valuable for the Unkindled, as the orange ones allow us to restore our health, so if we get cut or have a broken limb this will restore our bodies to what they had been before we were hurt, and those are just the normal Estus Flasks, as the blue ones replenish someone's magic supply, if they happen to run low or run out. Though anyone from this land would know that, so, since you didn't know that information, it means that you aren't from this land... so who in the world are you?"

"I am Tirek, and, as you said, I'm not from this place." Tirek replied, where he looked out at the area that they were in and kept an eye out for any enemies, because he was sure that there were more than two foes out there and that they had to be careful if they wanted to get out of here alive, only to glance back at the lady for a second, who seemed to be studying him at the moment, "What about you?"

"Sarana. That's my name." the lady stated, though as she said that she used the tip of her sword and lifted the edge of Tirek's new robes, locating his hooves, as she could have sworn she heard something like a horse move in the area and had yet to find the source of the sound, but now she knew where it was coming from, causing her to glace back up to her new companion with her emotionless face, "Care to explain why you're legs are like that?"

"I do not know why they are like this, but I can walk just fine." Tirek said, because while he was more than willing to tell Sarana his name, to learn hers at the same time, he wasn't going to spill the beans about his home world and what had likely brought him to this world, and likely never would, before he continued walking down the path they were following, as standing around was getting them nowhere.

As Tirek explored the area near the fountain he found that there were a few more enemies in the area, one just so happened to be to the right of the ruined object in question, while there was another one to the left side of the object and at least one more in front of them, but these grave tenders, or whatever they were called, seemed to be rather docile at the moment. Sarana took the opportunity that was presented to them and headed towards the foe on their right, where she snuck up behind her target and stabbed him right in the chest from behind, instantly killing the enemy and alerting two more that were behind the wall that Tirek couldn't look over, while at the same time the other two foes he had spotted seemed to be aware of a battle happening and raised their weapons, one wielding a sword and the other a crossbow. In a split second he knew who he needed to take out first, as he raised his staff and blasted the grave tender that happened to be carrying the crossbow in the chest, knocking him down like the first target he had taken out a few seconds ago, before shifting his stance to blast the other grave tender, who went flying into one of the walls, causing a very small grin to appear on his face. Once his enemies were taken care of, and he was sure neither of them were moving as he collected the power from them, or whatever the energy was, he found that Sarana was done with her opponents and that she hadn't taken any damage in the process, but what they did next was walk along the path to their right, to see what was down that way, as they were both sure the path that aligned with the fountain was the correct way to go and they wanted to see if they could find anything useful before heading that way.

The path in question made then wade through knee deep water for a few seconds, something that Tirek was a little surprised by since none of the other sections that had water were like this, before they reached a dead end that consisted of a large grave area, which happened to be home of a large lizard-like creature that was made of earth and light blue crystals, though it seemed to be eating something and was ignoring the direction they had come from, but as Tirek made a move to step into the area Sarana held up a hand across his chest to stop him.

"Don't. That's a Crystal Lizard, an adult one by the looks of it," Sarana said, though her eyes were on the creature and the fact that it hadn't noticed them at the moment, as if she was thinking about something while they were looking at it, causing Tirek to stare at it as well, as he was curious as to why she stopped him, "the younger ones are docile and don't fight back, but when they get to this age and size they're incredibly strong and can take down an unsuspecting traveler or adventurer in no time. We're freshly reborn, meaning we are weakened from what happened to us, and that means we cannot face something like this at the moment, but we can come back at a later time and face it, if you so desire, because I honestly don't care about coming back here in the future."

Tirek said nothing to that, choosing to take Sarana's advice on the matter and dropped the idea to invade the Crystal Lizard's home, to which they turned around and turned back to the area they had been in a few moments ago, and when they returned to where the fountain rested they headed to the north, as it was time to see what else this place had in store for them. As they walked through the opening that was in front of them, which was rather small since the two cliffs were rather close to each other, Tirek found that they would have to be careful from this point forward, as there was no railing or safety measure in front of them, rather it was a sheer drop off a cliff if they weren't careful, so he stayed near the rock wall as they walked up the path to their left. The interesting thing was that it appeared the Cemetery of Ash was high up in the mountains, if the far away peaks were anything to take into consideration, but that told him nothing since he had no idea where in the world he was, since he was sure a native of this land would be able to tell, at a glance, where in the world they were located at the moment. The other thing he noticed was that there was a walled city or something to their right, one that they wouldn't be able to climb up since it looked like a sheer cliff, though as they followed the path he came to a stop as he spotted a large temple or shrine off in the distance, with a path leading out of it that seemed to connect to some sort of fighting area that was on the other side of the hill they were climbing, even though the area in question was lower than where they were standing.

At the top of the hill rested an odd object, as Tirek found a coiled sword of some kind that had been embedded in what appeared to be a pile of ash or something, though when Sarana held her hand out a fire burst to life and wrapped around the blade, making him wonder what in the world was going on, especially since his companion took the chance to sit down at the fire.

"What is this?" Tirek inquired, because while he couldn't believe that they were stopping already, since they had barely started their journey through this land, he was also interested in the strange fire that Sarana was now sitting at, almost as if it was someplace special that he needed to know about before they headed down into the circular area that was at the bottom of the hill.

"A bonfire, another important tool for the Unkindled," Sarana replied, informing Tirek that she had heard about them before becoming what she currently was, though at the same time she gazed through the fire and stared at the area they were heading towards, almost like she couldn't believe that this was happening to her, "Here we can rest and recover our health, not to mention the magical energy a sorcerer uses, and we can even replenish the flasks that we are carrying, so if we used one before this point we can refill it in seconds... oh, and if one of us were to be killed by our enemies, they will come back to life at one of these bonfires, more specifically the last that was used. You should rest for a few seconds, just to be sure your old bones don't give out on you."

Tirek noticed that Sarana didn't sound concerned for him at all, rather he had to guess she was annoyed at having to undertake whatever quest they were no on with someone that was as old and as feeble as he happened to be right now, but he said nothing as he sat down with his back resting on some of the gravestones, because he had the feeling that he needed to be ready for whatever happened next, once they went down the hill anyway.

Locating the High Priestess

When Tirek was ready to move he and Sarana got up and walked down the steps that would take them down to the area that was right below them, where they carefully avoided the armored knight that was patrolling the outside area and took out the hollows that were lurking in the shadows, before heading for the doorway that would take them outside, to the part of the wall they had stopped in when Tirek ran out of magicka. It wasn't all that hard for the pair to repeat what they had previously done, clearing out everything up to the transforming hollow, though once they had taken out the hollow for a second time they found that he dropped another shard and what appeared to be an ember of some kind, so Sarana picked both of them up and made sure to grab the firebombs that were resting nearby, before they resumed exploring the area they were in. As the pair explored the roof Tirek found something interesting, a much smaller version of the large crystal lizard they had found in the Cemetery of Ash, though this one seemed to be more docile than the other one did, though that didn't stop Sarana from stabbing the creature before it could flee from the area, killing it in a matter of seconds before she collected a gem that looked like the square one they had found earlier.

"Crystal Lizards, as you have seen, carry gems and Titanite pieces, which we can use to upgrade our weapons at some point in time," Sarana stated, showing Tirek that there was a good reason for her actions, even if he actually didn't care for the lizard in the first place and just listened to what she was saying, before she glanced at the rest of the roof that they happened to be standing on, "and I think I found the way forward."

As Tirek followed her he gathered yet another forgotten soul, one that seemed slightly stronger than the others he had found so far, and added it to his collection, before discovering that the path Sarana had found was a ladder that would take them down into the area that was below them, to which he said nothing as his companion descended to the level that was below them. While Sarana was climbing down the ladder Tirek looked over the edge that was to his left and gazed down at what appeared to be a courtyard, where he found a large knight patrolling a courtyard of some kind, one that had a number of dead bodies scattered everywhere, meaning that at some point they would be walking through that area and that they would have a foe to avoid, since he was sure they wouldn't be able to tangle with something like that at the moment. Since it didn't take his companion long to reach the bottom of the ladder he was able to follow once Sarana reached the end, though as he descended down the ladder Sarana lashed out at a crossbow hollow that was taking aim at the ladder, to attack him while he couldn't fight back, though the hollow was unable to fire a bolt at him thanks to what Sarana had done. Once Tirek was standing beside her they headed around the corner that the crossbow hollow had been hiding behind and found another one, which Tirek just blasted with a pair of Soul Arrows, though as he did that two more hollows pulled themselves up to the walkway they were standing on and tried to attack them, but Sarana was faster and took the pair of them out in seconds.

With those enemies taken out Tirek and Sarana found a second ladder, this one much longer than the first, that went down to an opening that would allow them to enter the building that they had been on top of moments ago, to which Tirek kept an eye out for foes to blast with his magic as his companion descended to the area that was below them, where a few dead knights were resting, and once the way was clear he joined him in a matter of seconds. One of the fallen hollows got up the moment they were back together, including one that climber up over the edge to their left, so Tirek blasted one to pieces as Sarana snuffed out the life of the second one, allowing them to collect the soul dust that came from each of their defeated foes as they headed inside the building at long last. Of course that was when Tirek discovered that the opening they had discovered lead to the courtyard area he had seen from above, as he recognized the large knight that was some distance in front of them, a foe that he didn't think they could take on at the moment, though he found that Sarana was heading into the area that was ahead of them and noticed that she seemed to be crouching as she drew close to the foe in question, almost as if she was making no noise. She waited for a few seconds before waving Tirek over, who did everything in his power not to make a sound as he approached her, following her lead as she headed to the left as the large knight walked around the other side of the fountain, where they dropped down into a lower walkway that had a number of dead knights inside it, just like the rest of the area they were in, and carefully moved for a few seconds before stopping. That was due to the large knight entering the section of the area that they were in and seemed to get close to where they were located, but didn't seem to investigate the walkway and continued his patrols, allowing the pair to slowly move through the rest of the area.

Tirek did use a small amount of his power to levitate two more embers over to them, because he was sure they were important and wasn't about to leave them behind, while Sarana found a decent rapier resting in the water, even though she had to stop a hollow knight from rising and giving away their position, though when they determined that the larger knight hadn't heard the sound they finally emerged from the walkway and headed through the opening that was in front of them, where they hid behind the walls to make sure the knight didn't see them. Of course the first thing they found out, as they tried to come to a stop, was that they were closer to the church than they had been earlier, in fact it was probably a minute from where they were standing if both of them walked, though the second thing was that there was a crossbow hollow to their right that seemed to annoy Sarana, as she was quick to take him out, before he could loose a bolt at them and hurt one of them. While she did that Tirek blasted another hollow that rushed at him from the shadows by the stairs that his companion was on, though once those two enemies were taken care of they headed up the stairs and found that it had two directions for them to pick from, where Sarana decided to look and see what was to their right for a moment, which brought them to an area that overlooked the courtyard and the large knight, though Tirek did find yet another large soul to add to his collection. At the same time he watched as his companion carefully jumped over to a wooden platform that was in front of the area they were standing on and seemed to pick something up, where she went still for a moment as the large knight paused and looked around the area, before jumping back over to the area that Tirek was standing on, where she revealed that she had found a ring of some kind.

"What did you find?" Tirek inquired, because it must have been an important ring for Sarana to nearly give away their position to the large knight, or at least that was how it looked from his angle, though all he could see was that the ring had a reflective surface of some kind where the stone would be, making him wonder if it was worth having or if his companion had wasted her time trying to get it.

"A Ring of Sacrifice, which prevents the wearer from losing their souls when they die... or at least that is what I have been told this type of ring does." Sarana replied, where she studied the ring for a few seconds, no doubt because this had to be one of the few times she had actually seen one of them, before slipping it into her pouch not even a moment later, as if to say that she was ready to leave, "Come on, we should keep moving."

Tirek nodded his head as they headed back down the steps they had walked up a few seconds ago and then headed up the other path they could have picked, where they walked up to an area that had a few dead knights, as well as a single hollow that he blasted into the ground, before they approached the circular tower that was in front of them, prompting at least four hollows in rags to climb up over the edges of the area and attack them. It took the pair only a few moments to take these enemies down, as Tirek was able to blast them into the ground with ease and Sarana could dodge their attacks like they were nothing, before cutting them down seconds later, allowing them to clear the area of foes so they could see what the tower had in store for them. What they found inside the tower was a lift of some kind, one large enough for two people to stand on, or three depending on how the people were positioned, with some kind of switch resting to their left, to which both he and Sarana stepped on it and found that there was a pressure plate of some kind that allowed them to activate the pulley system without actually pulling the lever themselves, where they remained still as they were brought to the top of the tower. It only took them a few seconds to reach the top level of the tower, where they found a body with some throwing knives, which Sarana collected, before either of them discovered the iron door, which had openings that made it look like it belonged to a cell of some kind, one that they were able to unlock from this side thanks to whoever had locked it, since they had left the key in this side.

When they unlocked and opened the door, however, Tirek discovered that they were close to where the first bonfire rested, as if he and Sarana had gone in a circle and had opened up a nice shortcut so they wouldn't have to deal with the wyverns or the knight that were near the second bonfire, though since they had taken a moment to rest at the second bonfire that meant that all of the enemies they had taken out in this area had returned as well, not that such a thing really mattered when his companion stabbed the axe wielding hollow in the back before he even knew she was there.

"Interesting, I was not expecting to open a shortcut during our adventure," Tirek remarked, though at the same time he blasted the other hollow that was down here as he followed Sarana back up to where the halberd hollow was standing, but since the pair now knew his tactics it was rather easy for them to take him down, even if he focused on the pair of dogs that were nearby first, so neither of them were taken out in the process.

"At least that makes things easier for us, if we die anyway." Sarana replied, showing that she might not care about the fact that they had found a shortcut, though that didn't stop her from taking out the last enemy that was in this area as she headed back to the first bonfire, which was the first crossbow hollow, and sat next to the flames for a second, which was the moment she glanced back to Tirek, "Come on, I want to try something out."

Tirek raised his eyebrow for a moment as he sat near her, which was when he got the vision of the shrine that they had been in some time ago, before his world went blank for a few seconds as he disappeared from the area that he and Sarana had been sitting in, only for them to reappear beside the bonfire in the shrine, causing him to look around for a few seconds, just to be sure he understood what was going on.

"Oh, I see how it is. The bonfires also act as waypoints, allowing us to move from one location and head to another one, as long as we activate the respective bonfire of course." Tirek said, though that made things interesting, because now they knew how they were going to transport the Lords of Cinder back to their thrones, as he had the feeling he and Sarana were going to kill each of them and drag part of their corpses back to this area, to put them back on their shrines, and he had the feeling they were going to make the most out of this system.

Sarana did nothing to show that she had an opinion one way or the other, making Tirek assume that she understood what he was talking about, before they headed over to the Fire Keeper and had her take the souls they had gathered over the course of their adventure on the High Wall to empower themselves, though before doing that Sarana made sure to smash the souls that Tirek had been gathering, showing him that it was the only way to release their energies, allowing the two of them to make use of their power as well. It took them a few moments to get everything done, but in the end they poured all of their souls into empowering themselves even further, not that Tirek felt any different still, and Sarana took him over to the blacksmith, who could actually switch out the properties of their flasks, as in he could take a health flask and make it into a magicka flask or he could take a magicka flask and turn it into a health flask, so Tirek switched his ratio to two and two, in terms of health and magicka. With that done Sarana made sure their weapons were just fine and that none of them were near breaking, not that Tirek had noticed any cracks forming in the blade of his sword, even if he didn't use it all that much to begin with since he was just blasting his foes with magic, but he figured that he would let Sarana do whatever she needed to do before they returned to the High Wall and continued their search for any clues that would tell them where the Lords of Cinder went. From there it would be a simple matter to follow the clues and locate the three Lords that would lead the way to the Prince that had fled from his duties, but first they needed to find the start of their trail and then follow it, to the furthest corners of the land if need be.

Once Sarana was done making sure their gear was in proper order, and that nothing had broken, they returned to the shrine's bonfire and sat in front of it, this time knowing what they were doing as they focused on the first bonfire of the High Wall, though not a few seconds later they found themselves back at the start of the area in question. That told Tirek that the system worked as it was supposed to, or at least how he assumed it was supposed to work, before he and Sarana tackled the foes that were standing in the area that was near the shortcut they had opened a few minutes ago, this time not letting their attacks catch them off guard. The moment those enemies were taken care of it was no problem for the pair to use the lift and return to the lower entrance, where they had to contend with the one hollow that seemed to be the guard for this area and his four surprise allies, though since both of them were aware that the surprise attackers were even there it wasn't hard to deal with them. Or course that logic also applied for the crossbow hollow that was further down the steps and the hollow that was hidden in the shadows of the stairs, both being enemies that the pair took out in a matter of moments thanks to knowing what their foes would do ahead of time, which was around the time that they made it back to the part of the path that went to where the courtyard with the large knight was located in and the area that was in front of the church that seemed to be their main target. What surprised Tirek for a moment was the fact that Sarana didn't head to the right and see what sort of enemies they would have to fight, rather she headed to the left and returned to the area that the large knight was patrolling, meaning that she likely wanted to take him down, to which Tirek sighed and followed after her.

As Tirek expected the large knight noticed Sarana and started swinging his large halberd at her, though to his surprise his companion started dodging the attacks like they were nothing, making him remember that Sarana was an assassin, or at least that was his assumption on what she was, though since the knight's attention was on her, and nothing else, he was able to blast it a few times in the back, weakening it to the point where his companion was able to bring it down.

Sarana said nothing as she returned to Tirek's side, where the two of them followed the other path they hadn't taken yet and headed for the church, where he made sure to pick up another lost soul that they could use later on, before they both focused on the knights that happened to be between them and the church, meaning it was going to be quite the fight before they reached their destination. Tirek decided that since there were at least two knights patrolling the area in front of them, meaning they couldn't really see all of the other enemies all that well, that he would step forward and beckon for one of the knights to chase him, to which he walked down the stairs and patiently waited for one to spot him, though it took all of two seconds for one of the knights to spot him and start approaching where he was standing. What Tirek found to be interesting was that the knight didn't even consider this to be a trap at all, he just followed him up the stairs as if he was the only target his foe had to worry about, which left him open to Sarana attacking him from behind, weakening him as she moved away from the knight, allowing Tirek to blast their foe in the chest and knock him down the steps, removing one foe from their path. Despite the fact that there was now a corpse resting at the bottom of the steps the second knight did the exact same thing that the first one did, meaning it was rather simple for Tirek and Sarana to take him down as well, which allowed them to see what else was in the area, besides the church that seemed to be their main destination and would no doubt be the first location they checked out. As they walked down the steps they found that there was one other place they could go, one that happened to be a gate of some kind that might lead to an area that was outside the castle walls, which could be where the Lords of Cinder were located, but first they headed over to where the church was located and focused on the task at hand.

As they approached the church Tirek also noticed some pilgrims, with what appeared to be dome shaped packs on their backs, that were dead here and there, why he had no idea, so he put it out of his mind as he followed Sarana into the building that was their destination, where they found a large area that had most of the church stuff pushed off to both sides of the room, leading the way to an old lady that was sitting in a chair, which rested in front of a statue.

"Ah, the wait has been long, Unkindled One. I am Emma, High Priestess of Lothric Castle." the old lady said, where it was clear that she was talking to Tirek, as apparently he was the one that people were referring to when they used that set of words, or when they used 'Ashen One', so he focused on what she had to tell them, "Allow me to speak frankly, you will not find the missing Lords of Cinder here. They have left this place, as they have returned to their churning homes, which happen to converge at the base of this castle, though to get there you will have to go to the bottom of the High Wall. To do that, you will have to forge on through the great gate and raise this banner to proceed. Oh, and there is a small farewell gift for you as well, an insignia of an old covenant... if you fear that trespassers, dark spirits drawn by the embers, might come to do you harm, then etch this upon your heart and the old concord will beckon noble Blue Sentinels to come and hunt down these foul spirits."

The banner was a piece of cloth of some kind that happened to have a circular shaped icon on it, while her 'farewell' gift was sort of similar to the banner, where it was a piece of cloth that had a blue moon of some kind on it, though he had the feeling that Sarana would be able to tell him what both of the items were at some point in time, though right now it seemed that the old lady was of no use to them, even if she seemed to be mentioning some sort of guard dog... which was the moment that Tirek drew his sword and drove it right into the lady's heart.

"Is that wise?" Sarana asked, though Tirek could tell that her voice was emotionless and she didn't seem bothered by what he was doing right now, even though the lady seemed absolutely surprised by what he was doing and coughed a few times as she dropped a basin of some kind on the ground next to her chair, something that the pair ignored as Tirek made sure the lady was dead.

"She was useless to us, so I removed her." Tirek replied, though he waited until he was sure the old lady was no longer breathing, but once that happened he withdrew his blade and cleaned it on the lady's robes, before he sheathed it and turned to move towards the entrance of this church, since he had the feeling he knew where they needed to go next, since there was only one other path for them to take, "Come, its time that we leave this castle and follow the path that will take us to the first Lord of Cinder..."

In that moment Tirek stopped walking as he faced the door that would lead them outside, where he and Sarana got to see the large door close before their eyes, making him wonder what was going on, before bits of what appeared to be either water or acid dripped onto the area in front of the door, causing them to glance at the ceiling, since that was where the bits were coming from. That was the instant the pair spotted what appeared to be a gateway of some kind on the bare ceiling, one that appeared to be magical in some form, though coming from it was a tall female figure that seemed more lithe than what Sarana was, though the newcomer struggled against whatever was on the other side of the gateway, only to break free a few seconds later, allowing her to drop onto the floor. As that happened Tirek noticed that the being was wearing some interesting silver looking armor, which seemed to cover the entirety of her body, or that was what he got from looking at her, and it didn't appear to be slowing her down at all, even though the odd part about this was that she had a shroud that seemed to come from the hood. A few seconds later she stood up in an odd crouching position and turned to face them, though as that happened she also drew a large flaming sword that was held in her left hand, which meant that she was planning on fighting them and wouldn't let them leave this area, something that told Tirek that they needed to be ready for what was going to happen next.

As he readied himself, however, Tirek noticed one thing and that was the fact that Sarana seemed transfixed by their foe's armor, or at least that was what he assumed since he didn't know her all that well, though what happened next was that the being attacked them, as in she rushed over to where they were standing within a few seconds, where she swung her sword up towards the ceiling and delivered a diagonal cut to Sarana, who only seemed to snap back to reality as her life ended again, and before Tirek could even move the being turned and thrust her sword forward, impaling him before he even had a chance to do anything... forcing him to return to the bonfire.

"Are you serious?" Tirek inquired, because they were back at the first bonfire he and Sarana had activated, since it was the last one they had used in the High Wall area, before he glanced to his side for a moment and found that Sarana had reformed as well, not that he expected to find himself in this area without her standing near him, though he did see that she seemed to be thinking about something else at the moment, "What happened back there?"

"I, um, was ensnared by the beauty of her armor," Sarana admitted, referring to the dancer-like being that they had encountered, as that was what Tirek gathered from the few seconds they had laid eyes on the foe that had cut them both down in rapid succession, though while she might not have any emotions he got the feeling that Sarana would have been annoyed by what happened a few seconds ago, "I cannot believe that I did that in the first place, because I've never found any sets of armor to be interesting, or even beautiful for that matter... I'm fucking stunned by what I just did."

"Yes, so am I." Tirek remarked, showing that he wasn't at all happy with the fact that his companion, who was far more alert than he was right now, thanks to how weak his body and powers were, had fallen for the allure of the armor of a foe they would have to destroy at some point, even though he was sure neither of them would be able to beat that dancer at their current level, "Its rather annoying to have a companion who freezes when they see something they like, to the point where our enemies are able to cut us down because of a weak link."

"A weak link? Is that what I am to you, a fucking weak link?!" Sarana replied, though once again Tirek found that while she couldn't actually display her emotions, based on whatever had happened in her past, he got the feeling that his words had pissed her off to some degree, before she got up and walked over to one of the walls that was nowhere near where he was standing, where she leaned against it and glared at him, "Go on, old man, go find the Lords of Cinder on your own, without the assistance of someone who knows their way around the majority of this land... you'll be lost, or possibly even hollow, in a few short hours."

Tirek opened his mouth to say something, to show that he was even more annoyed with Sarana, before pausing as he thought about what she had just said, that he wouldn't be able to find his way around this land and would get lost at some point, once he left this castle and headed to wherever the old lady's banner would take them, as it was a rather sound thing to say and he absolutely hated himself for admitting that fact. As much as he hated to admit it, he was never going to find the Lords of Cinder without someone helping him traverse the land that he was in, not before someone else found them and returned each of them to their thrones, so in the end he actually needed someone like Sarana to help him make his way across this land and help him fight off his enemies, just to get the power he desired.

"You're right..." Tirek said, where he sat down by the bonfire and stared at the flames for a moment, as he knew that Sarana wouldn't want to look at him for a time and would likely never want to be his companion on this quest from this moment forward, meaning he had to think about his options and how he was going to go about gaining the power he needed so he could face beings like the Dancer that took them both out.

"What was that?" Sarana inquired, almost like she didn't hear what Tirek had said, though he wouldn't blame her if that was the case, since she had every right to be angry or upset with him, even if he was assuming all of this as he went, though out of the corner of his eye he did see that she was looking his way again, but he didn't dare think that she was going to forgive him that easily.

"I said that you were right," Tirek stated, as he did hate it when he had to repeat himself when he was talking, be it to someone he was threatening or someone like Sarana, but at the very least it would let his companion know what he had said and that he realized something very important, something that he couldn't get rid of at the moment, "I cannot do this quest on my own, not with my limited knowledge of the land, my frail body, and my lack of power... so what I'm saying is that everything you have said is correct."

"Finally." Sarana said, to which she walked back over to where Tirek was sitting and lifted him onto his hooves, though he could tell that there was something different about her, something that he couldn't quite place a finger on right now, but he had the feeling that it was far less important than whatever had come over his companion, "Listen, I'm not foolish enough to take on that dancer again, not with our level of power anyway, so we need to get moving and find out what's on the other side of the Great Gate... maybe we can gain some new skills or power, before trying to fight her again."

"Now that sounds like a plan." Tirek replied, and it was a good one at that, because he had been thinking the exact same thing, as in neither of them were strong enough to take on the Dancer at the moment, even together they fell rather easily, so they needed to get stronger and that meant following the path the old lady, Emma, had set them upon, as he was sure that if they found one of the Lords of Cinder he might have enough power to take out the Dancer.

Tirek knew there was no way they were going to get about the souls that were inside the church that the Dancer was waiting in, but as far as he was concerned she could keep them, as he and Sarana were going to go elsewhere and find out where the Lords of Cinder were resting, then they would come back, when both of them were ready, and take her out so they could move on to the next area, but first they had a gate to investigate, along with wherever it lead them.

Into the Ruins

With their business in the shrine concluded, and there was nothing else for them to do at the moment, Tirek, Sarana, and Martok used the bonfire to return to the ruins that were near the area that the old demon had been resting in, since there was no reason for them to teleport over to where they fought the demon, and it wasn't long before they appeared in the area in question. Sarana, upon arriving at their destination, headed outside and headed over to the area that the sand worm was located in, where Tirek and Martok stood up on the stone ledge that was above her and waited to see what she was even doing, since they were more interested in heading through the ruins and finding a way to take out the ballista that was firing at the rest of the area. What Tirek soon discovered was that Sarana was standing at the middle part of the stone hill that was between the sand worm and the chamber the old demon had been in, though because of that the ballista fired its arrows into the area that she was standing in, only for those arrows to strike the sand worm as it burst out of the ground and coiled around itself for a moment. One thing that was interesting was the fact that the ballista seemed to reload itself in a matter of seconds and continued to fire bursts of three arrows at the area Sarana was standing in, forming a loop where she forced the ballista to damage the sand worm and could just wait in the safety of the area she was currently standing in, until her target collapsed and fell apart, where she collected a few items before retreating to the area that Tirek and Martok were waiting in.

As it turned out killing the sand worm gave them another Undead Bond Shard and a spell page, one that gave Tirek the knowledge of the Lightning Stake spell, one that seemed to be rather simple, the user summoned a bolt of lightning, just like the spear spell, but instead of throwing it they stabbed the ground it with, meaning it was designed to hurt the area and enemies that were around them, where Tirek took it and added it to the tome.

With that done the group returned to the bonfire and approached the opening that was just beyond it, one that was short and brought them to a set of stairs that allowed them to walk down to another chamber, one that reminded Tirek of what they saw back when they were invaded by that one red phantom, only there was more fire than what they had seen earlier and there were small tree roots everywhere. That was when they heard a growl to their left that reminded them of the Ghru they had fought back in Farron Keep, to which they turned and discovered that there was a Ghru over there, only it had different horns that were twisted, was wearing a beak shaped mask over its face, and happened to have four arms, two that seemed to be channeling a pyromancy while one held a machete and the other had nothing, but it didn't seem all that happy to see the three of them. Tirek saw it raise its empty hand and stab the orb of fire that it was charging, where it pulled its hand out a few moments later and put a floating orb into the air, one that seemed ready to fire blasts of fire at them, so while Sarana rushed at it, to cut it down, he summoned a Lightning Spear and blasted the orb to pieces, allowing his companion to cut down the Ghru before it could get angry at them. Martok, on the other hand, stood near the passage that was leading away from the opening that they had just walked through, keeping an eye out for any additional enemies as they took that foe out, so Sarana found an ember and picked it up, before she and Tirek returned to Martok's side and continued to move through the ruins that they were now in.

There was a set of stairs that would take them down into the chamber that was the middle of the area, or at least of the area that they could see at the moment, but instead of heading down there Tirek walked down the rest of the hallway and found one of the Ghru from Farron Keep, as in one of the poisoned foes and not one of the twisted smouldering ones that were in this area, walking around. The spear wielding Ghru got annoyed the moment if spotted them and rushed over to where they were standing, where Martok raised his weapon and cleaved their foe in half, allowing Tirek and Sarana to round the corner that was ahead and to their left, where they found one of the poison spewing Ghru and two of the blade wielding Ghru, in positions that made it clear that they were ready for battle. Instead of giving their foes a chance to even raise their spears, and defend themselves, Tirek held his hand out and focused his mind for a moment, summoning a ball of fire that was different from the others he had used so far, as this one looked more like a small sun that was as big as his head and had fire swirling around it, which he loosed right into the middle of the group of enemies. The Ghru had only a few seconds to realize that he was doing something and start to move, though the moment the spell hit the ground that Tirek had targeted it exploded and knocked all of them away from it, though that brought a smile to Tirek's face, because now he was glad that they had taken down the old demon, as Chaos Bed Vestiges, or Forbidden Sun as he was going to call the spell, mostly because that was way cooler, had made sort work of their foes.

He knew that the Ghru were weak to fire damage, based on what he had seen back in Farron Keep, which meant that it was a bad thing that they were here in the first place, for the Ghru anyway, so he was interested in seeing what the other foes were resistant against, just to see which spells he could use in this area and which ones he would have to hold off on for the future areas they would be exploring.

"That... was an interesting spell." Sarana commented, because while she knew that there were some interesting spells in the land, and she had seen a number of them before she even encountered Tirek, but this one happened to be one of the few that she hadn't actually seen before, though she had to admit that it was rather powerful and had wiped out an entire group of enemies in an instant.

"Chaos Bed Vestiges, or Forbidden Sun as I'll call it from this point forward... a useful reward for our effort," Tirek said, referring to the fact that they had taken down the old demon and took its soul, even if he hadn't used the soul to get the spell in the first place, causing him to assume that the tome allowed him to use spells that he met the 'requirements' for, since he was sure there were a few he couldn't use right now.

Sarana and Martok glanced at each other for a moment, mostly because they weren't sure what to make of why Tirek was going to call the spell something else, before deciding to move forward as they ignored the second set of stairs that lead down to the lower chamber and walked around the corner to find a passage that brought them to an area that two of the weaponless Ghru, the more dangerous ones as Tirek knew them to be. Instead of giving their foes a chance to fight back, since there was a chance that these two could actually do some damage, Tirek wiped them out with another burst of his Forbidden Sun, blasting them back into the walls that were around them at the moment, allowing his companions to walk out and make sure they were dead, of which Sarana determined that he had killed both of them. As they started to move towards the other doorway in this area, to see what else the ruins had to offer them, Tirek paused for a second as he stared at the large four armed Ghru that was resting in the corner that was behind where one of the weaponless Ghru had been sitting, though as he stared at it, and where the arms were located, he discovered something that would have been unsettling, it was a mutated Elder Ghru, but it was dead. Based on what they had seen he knew that the versions of this foe that they had seen in Farron Keep were very dangerous, and the only reason they had been able to get through the swamp was because of his fire being the weakness of their enemies, but part of him did hope that there were no Elder Ghru in the ruins, otherwise they might be in a bit of trouble.

He could see that his companions stopped to stare at the seemingly dead body as well, even though Sarana did make sure that it wasn't moving at all, before they walked into the opening and found that it was a tunnel, though above them rested a slime that seemed to be smouldering like everything else in this area, and to their right rested a statue that might have been made in the style of the demons they had seen so far. As such Tirek switched his magic tools for a moment and used his chime to summon a Lightning Spear that obliterated the slime in a matter of seconds, allowing him to pull back as Sarana took his place and slashed into the demonic statue that was trying to spew fire in their general direction, quickly breaking it before it could do anything to them, mostly because Martok couldn't really swing his sword in the confined space of the tunnel they were in. Sarana also found an ember on the ground, between the area that both of their foes had been standing in, before they discovered a gap in the tunnel to their left, meaning that they would have to head down the stairs that they had walked by earlier if they couldn't make the jump, so what they did was let Sarana jump over to the other ledge, since she was the only one that could do that, and picked up an Estus Shard that was laying on the ground, before returning to where Tirek and Martok were standing. From there they turned around and headed back to the area that the pair of stairs to the lower area were resting in, where the group walked down the first set of stairs and found that the lower part of the chamber had a number of statues lining the walls, before focusing on the couple of Ghru that were in this area, who had to be annoyed by their presence.

For now Tirek could see that there were two of them at the moment, so while Sarana and Martok dealt with the foe that was in front of them he focused on throwing Lightning Spears through the air and blasted all of the floating orbs that their foes had summoned into the area they were guarding, where the closest mutated Ghru fell in a matter of seconds as its companion that was further down the chamber continued to throw fireballs at them, something that Tirek stopped with his magic to allow Sarana to take him out.

After that they walked down towards the other side of the chamber and found a number of corpses resting around the area, more demons based on what Tirek was seeing, before they found an item that was being guarded by a slime, to which he blasted the foe with a Lightning Spear to wipe it out, allowing Sarana to pick up another Undead Bone Shard for them to use when they returned to the shrine, which she put in her pack not a few seconds later. Once that was done they moved away from the area and found a tunnel that had a hole in the floor, one that lead to another passage that had a large rat waiting in it, but instead of even attempting to jump over the gap this time, which was too large and would force them to walk along the side of the wall, Sarana shook her head and backed away from the area, showing Tirek that they needed to find another way to explore the part of the ruins that they were in. From there they headed to the opposite end of the chamber, in terms of from where they found the Undead Bone Shard, and found two more passages for them to pick from, one that headed to the right and might head down to where the large rat was located, while the other headed forward and seemed to hold another path for them to take. Sarana ended up picking the forward path, something that Tirek agreed with, mostly because he was curious if they could find a better bonfire than the one that was at the start of the ruins, but as they walked down the tunnel in question the three of them discovered that one of the weaponless Ghru was walking around the side passage. This time around, since the Ghru knew they were there by the sound they were making, it rushed towards the area that they were in, but that was just fine with Tirek as he raised his pyromancy flame and blasted the Ghru in the chest with a Forbidden Sun, knocking it backwards and caused it to collide with the wall that was right behind it.

As the Ghru died, however, the wall it struck disappeared before their eyes, revealing another Illusionary Wall as Tirek was going to start calling them from this point forward, and it revealed a chamber that seemed to go nowhere, though it did have one of the Ghru fighting a black knight at the moment, where the battleaxe wielding knight cut the Ghru apart in a matter of seconds, before being pushed back by Matrok's incoming attack. Fortunately he required no assistance in his fight with the black knight, as their two weapons collected a few times before Martok pushed his foe's guard back and then swung his greatsword in the opposite direction, cutting through the knight's armor and dropping him to the ground, which was the moment that he picked up another greatsword that was lying nearby, from a dead black knight that looked like it had been crushed at some point in the past. From there they returned to the passage that they had walked through to get to this chamber and then turned down the part of the passage that the weaponless Ghru had been walking down, where it brought them to another chamber and caused them to be on their guard, because they knew that if the Ghru ambushed them it would spell the end of their current trek through the ruins and force them to restart from the beginning, which would only annoy two of them, since Martok didn't seem to care about stuff like that. It was a good thing that they did that, as there happened to be a pair of weaponless Ghru in the next chamber they were heading towards, along with two of the demonic statues, so Tirek had his companions wait for a moment and watched as the two Ghru got close to each other as they seemed to scout out the area that they were in, leading to a predictable end result, him wiping them out with a well placed Forbidden Sun in between them.

That, of course, lead the way for his companions to deal with the pair of demonic statues that were in the chamber as well, where it took them a few moments to clear out the area of enemies and found that nothing was there, to which they walked forward and found another passage that would allow them to move deeper into the ruins, where a lone Ghru with a dagger was walking around. Sarana, seeing a new foe enter the chamber that they were entering, rushed forward in a matter of seconds, making no sounds while she did that, and severed her target's head in moments, before Martok found a second one over to their left and cut it down before it even had a chance to attack them, which was fine with Tirek as he looked around the new chamber that they were in. While he did that there was something interesting he discovered in no time, the opening in the floor they had seen earlier, near the Estus Shard, lead to this chamber and would have likely caused the three of them to be take out in a matter of seconds, before he spotted one of the spear Ghru resting near the wall to his immediate right, down a path he hadn't seen before this point, and simply hurled a Fire Orb down to where his target was resting, blowing it away in seconds. That was still a surprising thing, that enemies that were lingering in an area like this would be weak to fire, but, at the same time, he wasn't about to complain about things since that weakness made it easier for him to take his targets out, before he pushed the thought from his mind and focused on what his companions were doing at the moment. After that, and they were sure there were no more enemies in the immediate area, they found a passage that brought them to a dead end that had an ember at the end, another one to add to their collection, before they discovered some stairs that brought them to yet another chamber that was right above the one they had been in a few moments ago, which had to be on a level that was at the same height of the area the first mutated Ghru had been standing in earlier.

A few seconds later they spotted a bonfire that happened to be in this chamber and quickly lit it, where none of them bothered to sit at it this time around, not when none of them had actually been hurt, despite the nature of the area that they were in, and Tirek still had more than enough power for his spells, enough to where he wasn't worried about falling to what else might be in the parts of the ruins they hadn't explored yet.

With the bonfire lit they quickly searched the chamber that they were in, where Sarana approached the wall that was on the opposite side of the room from where the bonfire was located and stared at part of the wall for a moment, where Tirek understood that she was thinking back to what they had seen and recalled an odd passage they hadn't seen yet, to which she swung her blade and cut into the wall. Not a few seconds later the wall shimmered, revealing that Sarana had found another Illusionary Wall, before revealing the passage that they had seen earlier, one that allowed them to walk out to an area that let them glance down at the area the mutated Ghru with the fireballs had been resting in, the one that was connected to the hole that would allow them to drop down into the passage the large rat was in. For the most part Tirek didn't see a reason to mess with the seven slimes that were hanging on the ceiling of the side passage Sarana discovered, mostly since it appeared that they found the other part of the tunnel the Estus Shard had been in, but, even then, he took a moment and blasted them all off the ceiling and blew them away, clearing the area out so they could head to the other opening that was near the new bonfire. One of the mutated Ghru was on the other side of the short tunnel, where it did look like it was ready to lash out at someone with a fireball, but before it could do anything Martok swung his greatsword and cleaved through his target's body in seconds, opening the way for Tirek and Sarana to join him as he kept an eye open for any additional enemies. Tirek found that they could either move forward and enter the chamber that was right in front of them, or head down the passage that was to their right and head to a new area, to which he headed down the passage and decided to save the chamber for later, where his companions simply followed after him and said nothing as they waited to see if more enemies were waiting for them.

What they discovered was that the passage had no enemies, even though Tirek did stop shortly after the first turn to stare at the wrecked portion of the ceiling that would collapse if something massive struck it, before they eventually found a small crystal lizard at the end of the path they were following, which seemed to be a dead end, where Sarana killed the lizard and claimed the odd fiery gem that it was in possession of, one that was different from the fire gems they might have found in the past. Once that was done they retraced their steps and returned to the part of the passage that would allow them to enter the chamber Tirek had decided to check out later, where they found one of the dead large mutated Ghru resting against the back wall, but that wasn't what he was focused on since there seemed to be a few living Ghru in the chamber, waiting to ambush whoever entered the room. There were three enemies in total, where Sarana rushed to their right and cut down the spear Ghru before it could even get up, Martok parried the incoming attack from the foe that was resting to their left, and Tirek just blasted the one that was in front of them, the one that seemed to be the type to poison them while they were distracted, using a single fireball to put his target down. The moment the last foe fell Tirek walked forward and stopped when he reached the area that was in front of the dead large mutated Ghru, where he found another pyromancy tome and added it to his collection, because now that he had the tome that Yuria had given him he really didn't need the other tomes anymore, to which he turned around and watched as Sarana tested the walls, finding that there were no more Illusionary Walls for them to break.

The moment the chamber was cleared of enemies, and the lone item, Tirek headed back to the bonfire and started to retrace his steps as he headed back to the split in the path that allowed him and his companions to reach the area the new tome had been in, where he quickly found his way to where the passage with the rat was located and waited for Sarana and Martok to reach him before they entered the next part of the ruins. The rat that was in front of them didn't last all that long, as a quick slash from Sarana put it down, though instead of turning down the path to their right Tirek continued to the turning point and found a hole in the floor that prevented them from going forward that way, which would drop them off into a pool of lava that would kill them in seconds. As such they started to make their way back to the split in the path that Tirek had originally ignored, even though he did blast the rat on the other side of the hole and made sure it was dead, and it took them a few seconds to reach the other passage and entered an ashy grey version of the ruins that they had been in so far, with three rats getting ready to charge at them, which fell as Martok slammed his greatsword down on them and crushed them. Tirek paused for a moment as Sarana checked out the chamber that they were in for a couple of seconds, where she found an Illusionary Walls for them to investigate, one that brought them out to the other side of the passage that the large hole was in, the one that allowed them to stare down at the large rat, before they turned to the left and approached the stone-like spider statue that was at the end of the passage and found another pyromancy tome, one that Tirek added to his collection.

For a moment the three of them headed down the tunnel that was near the stone statue and walked down the stairs that were in it, before coming to a stop when Tirek spotted the pool of lava that he had seen earlier, by looking down the hole that was near the rat earlier, to which he turned around and headed back up the stairs as Sarana and Martok made room for him to do so. From there they returned to the chamber that the three rats had been in and headed down the short passage that they had been guarding, heading down another set of stairs and discovered the rat that was on the other side of the hole they had seen a few moments ago, even though it was head, to which they turned to their right and headed down another stair filled tunnel, something that Tirek was getting used to seeing. At the end of the tunnel they found the passage that the large rat was in, which really didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, along with a path that lead downwards and rested to their left after a few seconds, one that seemed to lead down to another area, which seemed to be a common thing in the ruins they were exploring. Before heading down the stairs Tirek stepped forward and held his hand out, summoning a Lightning Spear that he hurled right into the large rat's eye, shocking it to death in a matter of seconds, before switching spells as he spotted a cluster of smaller rats behind it, to which he loosed a Forbidden Sun into the middle of the group and blew them all away. After he was done clearing out the rats, and he was sure that there were no more coming after them, Sarana checked the walls once more, just to be sure they didn't miss any of the Illusionary Walls, and found one that caused a section of the wall to their left, if they were facing where the large rat had been located, to disappear, revealing a chest for them to open, where Sarana did so as Tirek and Martok watched her back, just in case anything tried to attack them.

Sarana found three of the large Titanite Shards inside the chest, which was rather plain in comparison to everything else they had found in chests so far, before she glared at the wall behind the wooden chest and struck it with her blades, causing it to disappear as well and reveal a side passage into the chamber that the other set of stairs lead to, though this one was a drop off of sorts, to a slightly lower area, meaning that once they walked over the edge there would be no going back for a few moments.

Tirek wasted no time in walking over the edge and landed on the platform that was below them, where he found a powerful staff that was as long as a greatsword, meaning he might have found a weapon to replace his current staff, but as he did that Sarana and Martok jumped over the ledge that was in front of him and descended down onto the couple of slim lizards that were clearly an ambush if they walked through the chamber from the other set of stairs. As the first two fell to his companions, dying before either of them could even attack anything, Tirek raised his hand and blasted the next lizard that was rushing at them, killing it in a matter of seconds, allowing him to jump down into the area that Sarana and Martok were in so they could move forward once more, especially since there had to be more of the basilisks lingering in the chamber they were now in. There happened to be three more basilisks in their immediate area, where Sarana made no noise as she approached one from behind and killed it, Martok simply cleaved his in half, and Tirek just blasted his as it realized that they were under attack, before finding a fourth one that didn't seem to realize that its home was under attack and was killed by Tirek blowing it up, allowing Sarana to pick up a Titanite Scale for their efforts. From there they headed forward and quickly found another split in the path, as there was a set of stairs that headed upwards to another level and a side path, where they headed to the left and ended the side path that seemed to be taking them towards a brand new set of stairs that was connected to a ruined platform that was near some lava.

It was in that moment that they discovered the same warrior that had invaded their world earlier, before they even faced High Lord Wolnir, where Tirek and Sarana let Martok rush forward and attack the incoming knight, where both of their blades collided with each other, as they parried each others attack, before they pushed each other backwards and started moving around the area that they were in as they tried to take each other down. Tirek knew that he and Sarana didn't need to step in to assist Martok, as he was able to dodge the in coming attacks with the same grace as the last time they engaged this particular foe, and it wasn't long before he swung his weapon and cut his foe down, where the knight fell to the ground and allowed them to collect both his strange greatsword and his large iron shield. Once that was done he took a moment to look at the area that the knight had been guarding and found that there was nothing here for them to take, to which he headed back up the stairs and retraced his steps until he and his companions were at the base of the stairs that at the last split in the path that they had ignored, as it was time to see what was at the top of the steps. As it turned out the path at the top of the stairs brought them to a stone bridge that connected their side of the large chamber, which was above where the knight had been hiding, to the other side of the chamber, where a black knight with a large blade seemed to be waiting for something to happen, hence the reason that Tirek let Sarana and Martok rush over to the other side of the chamber so they could deal with their new foe. Fortunately the knight couldn't handle the power of both of his companions and was quickly brought down, clearing the area in the process, to which Tirek picked up a soul that was resting to the right of the bridge and stuffed it inside their pack, before turning his attention to the next section of the area that they needed to pass through.

What they discovered was a wide horizontal passage that seemed to go quite a ways towards the ceiling of the entire cavern that the ruins were in, and came complete with a ladder that seemed to be connecting where they were standing to the uppermost part, to which the three of them started climbing and didn't look back, as there was nothing behind them that required their attention anymore.

At the top of the ladder Tirek found a platform for them to stop on and another ladder, this one shorter than the first, that would allow them to reach the top of the passage, to which he quickly reached the highest point and found another passage that might actually lead them to the area that the ballista was in, something that he was keen on taking care of so they could see what else the Smouldering Lake had to offer. As Sarana and Martok joined him, however, Sarana jumped to a side platform and found a bow of some kind, one that she stashed into her pack before returning to the platform that the two ladders connected to, allowing her to return to where Tirek was standing in a matter of seconds, which was when they walked forward to see what else was waiting for them. The stone passage that was in front of them lead the way to a massive area that was between the cave and the area that the ballista was in, where Tirek could see that the weapon was starting to train on the area that they were in at the moment, so instead of heading towards the ruined structure that happened to be in front of them Tirek headed over to the ledge that was diagonally to his left. His reasoning was because the ruined structure didn't look like it would even hold back the power of the massive arrows that the ballista would fire at all of them, rather they would be in harms way if they hid behind it, and it wasn't hard to see that Sarana and Martok were following him, which was good because he jumped over the edge and dropped down into a walkway that was covered by some rocks, meaning they were safe for the moment.

The path that Tirek found brought them to yet another split in the path, something that was starting to become more annoying since it was repeating so frequently, where he found three of the wheel skeletons to their right and two normal skeletons to their left, to which he focused on the normal ones since they seemed to be on the path that would take them right to the base of the ballista. As such he threw a pair of Lightning Spears through the air and struck both of the foes that were in their way, drawing them from where they were standing and allowed Sarana and Martok to lash out at them in his stead, as he was more interested in stopping the ballista, which couldn't target them from where they were standing, only to find another pair of armed skeletons blocking the way forward. Fortunately his Lightning Spears were more than though to hurt his targets and take down down, allowing him to take down his foes as his companions did the same thing, where they regrouped not a few moments later and moved up the hill that was in front of them, which was the moment that they finally approached the ballista, the bane of their existence in this area. It was when they walked up to the weapon, and didn't stop for anything else, that they discovered that the ballista wasn't even being operated by anyone, as the giant that was supposedly using it was dead behind it, but that didn't stop Tirek from noticing that there was a switch in the middle of the underside of the weapon and had Martok move it into the off position, silencing the weapon so they could see what the rest of Smouldering Lake had to offer them. By looking over the ledge of the area they were on, which had a good vantage point over the entirety of the smouldering area, they could see a number of smouldering crabs wandering around and, more importantly, a cave that was near the path that had brought them to this area, to which Tirek jumped down the stone platforms that were to the side of the area they were on and rained down Lightning Spears on the crabs, blasting all of them before reaching the bottom of the lake.

The next thing they did was scout out the rest of the lake, mostly collecting the Titanite pieces that were scattered all over the area and an elemental gem as well, before they reached the cave that Tirek had noticed earlier, where they found two more small crystal lizards that Sarana rapidly took out, and then reached the area that they had seen earlier when they were talking to Anri, when Tirek found a knight down here... before he realized that Horace was the one that was down here, something that was strange since Anri was looking for him.

As it turned out Sarana realized what was going on immediately and informed Tirek that the knight was hollowed, as in he had totally lost his mind and was raging out at whoever was near him, meaning he must have realized this ahead of time and purposely distanced himself from Anri, so she wouldn't get caught by his mindless rampage and be killed by her own ally, which would have shattered her own will to continue. Tirek held his arm out for a moment, to stop both of his companions from trying anything, before he stepped forward and raised the new staff he had picked up in his left hand while keeping his sword in his right hand, showing that he was going to prove that he could take care of some of their foes on his own, where Horace seemed to notice him and started to move towards him. Instead of allowing Horace to even hit him, due to how his body looked in terms of age, Tirek dodged to the side and let his foe's sword hit the spot he had been standing in earlier, which was when he lashed out with both his sword, cutting a light gash into the back of his armor, and then loosed a Lightning Spear right into the gash, blasting his foe backwards a bit. He was using the skills he had seen both Sarana and Martok use over the course of their adventure, not to mention the techniques he had seen their foes use as they moved through the areas of the land they had passed through, though even as he did that Horace pulled his shield out and approached him slowly, no doubt to lure him into attacking at the wrong moment. Tirek grinned as he tapped into his magic for a moment, as in what part of his original power that he still had, and jumped into the air, allowing him to sail over Horace and land behind him, where he lashed out with another Lightning Spear and blasted a hole in the back of his foe's armor, before driving the Morion Blade right into Horace's back.

Of course that wasn't enough to put Horace down, given that he was hollowed and was trying to kill them, but that was followed by Tirek dodging the next attack that was coming his way and then blasted Horace in the chest with one of his Forbidden Suns, by switching to his Pyromancy Flame for a moment, and that caused his foe to stagger for a moment, before he drove his blade into Horace's chest and snuffed out his life, which was followed by his body turning to ash not a few seconds later, allowing him to sheath his weapons.

"Well, now we know what happened to Horace." Sarana commented, though she had to admit that she was slightly impressed by the fact that Tirek was able to move with the state that his body was in, because she would have assumed that he would have been restricted by the age of his body, but this proved that, despite how old his body was, Tirek was able to overcome the challenges that were thrown at him, be they powerful creatures or hollowed individuals, "So, since we found him at last, I guess we can tell Anri what happened to her former friend."

"No, we shouldn't tell her what happened to him," Tirek remarked, as he remembered what Yuria had told him some time ago as he glanced at the area that Horace had fallen in, about how Anri was hollowed and that she was important to whatever plan Yuria had set in motion, a plan that he was more than happy to follow along with, since it looked like their ally was practically handing him more power on a plate, before he started to head back through the passage that had lead them to this area, "she'd probably go hollow, just like Horace did, if we told her what happened to her friend, so we won't tell her what we discovered and continue on our quest to find the remaining missing Lords of Cinder."

With Smouldering Lake cleared out, for the most part, Tirek knew that it was time for them to head back to one of the bonfires and return to the chamber that the High Lord had been located in, so they could see what was on the other side of the path that was behind the altar and continue their quest to find Aldrich and Yhorm, the missing Lords of Cinder that needed to be slain, and maybe discover what Yuria was planning at the same time.

Facing the Nameless King

Once Tirek was done with his short rest at the bonfire, and both Sarana and Martok had joined him, he stood up and headed back to where the large lever rested, mostly so he could investigate something about the rest of the temple and whether or not he should care about it at all, to which he came to a stop near the ledge that was near the lever and stared out at the rest of the temple, even though he was sure that the area that the Nameless King was located in was behind him, as in beyond where the lever was resting, as it seemed like there was a large area for them to fight in and he was sure that both of his companions would agree with him. What was in front of them seemed to be a large force of serpents, a number of knights, brutes, and dagger carriers, showing that something important to them had to be at the end of the path, despite the fact that looking at it seemed to go nowhere interesting, save for the fact that it looked out at a large mountain that a rather massive corpse happened to be resting on, a massive wyvern or dragon of some kind, meaning that if someone revived it they would have one of the greatest powers in the world at their disposal. Such a thing made Tirek wonder about what could happen if he used his magic and the power of some of his Stones to revive the beast in question, especially given the abilities that were packed into them, but for now he was going to have to set that on the back-burner and make it something to do once he was done putting together his gauntlet and taking out the last of the Lords of Cinder, to which he glanced back at the lever and what was just beyond it.

"So, what do you want to do?" Sarana asked, because while she knew that Tirek would be focused on hunting down his target and taking the weapon for his gauntlet, so it could wield the power of the Stones that he had made, part of her had to wonder if he would take the time to investigate the path that seemed to lead to a dead end, though as she said that both she and Martok stood behind him as they waited for him to reach a decision, especially since she had the feeling that once the lever was pulled, and the bell was rung, there would be no turning back for them.

"Pull the lever. We're hunting down the Nameless King, and he's got to be beyond the bell." Tirek stated, as while he knew they could explore the other part of this temple and see what was at the end of the path that he had been staring at for a few moments, just to see if there was anything useful over there, he honestly didn't care and knew that their target had to be beyond the large bell, so he wanted to make their foe appear so he could tear him down and take the weapon that he used in battle for his purposes, something that would allow him to forge his gauntlets, one the container for the six Stones and the other to complete a matching set, and focus on the Twin Princes.

Sarana and Martok glanced at each other for a moment, no doubt thinking about his decision on the matter, before turning to look at him as they nodded their heads, something that was followed by them walking over to where the lever was resting as Tirek walked up the stairs as well, even though Martok gripped the handle of the lever and pulled it back towards where the stairs were located, something that caused the gear that was connected to it to shift, though as he let go of the lever, and it moved back into position, the circular stone contraption that was right behind the lever started to move as the metallic lever came to a stop. That, in turn, caused the large metallic gears that were connected to the rather massive bell to move and even caused the bell itself to move, as in heading towards the direction the group was standing in, until it reached a certain height and quickly headed back to where it had been resting a few moments ago, even if that meant it moved like an actual bell as it reached an equal height on the other side of the structure it was attached to, which was when it let out a large ring as the massive mallet struck the sides of the bell. At first nothing happened, making Tirek wonder if this had been an elaborate method to make whoever was invading the temple to waste their time and lower their guards for a few moments, though it was around the fifth or sixth chime that the wind picked up all around them as it surged through the area they were standing in and forced the three of them to brace themselves as they waited for the wind to stop whatever it was doing, though they were forced to close their eyes for a few seconds, or at least Tirek was since he was the only one that wasn't wearing a helmet like his companions were. Once the wind died down the three of them stood up and discovered something interesting, the entire upper part of the temple looked like it was in the center of a storm or something, not to mention the storm clouds that were resting in front of where the lever was resting, which was rather odd when Tirek thought about it, seemed to form a pathway for them to get over the gate that had been down below the lever, something that lead right to a massive Fog Door, meaning a powerful creature had to be resting beyond it, and he was sure it was the Nameless King.

Tirek grinned as he saw that, something that caused him to pick himself up and jump over the edge of the ledge that the lever was resting on, where he landed on the clouds that formed a walkway for them to walk on, where Sarana and Martok landed behind him and stood up as well, both of them looking like they were ready for whatever was behind the Fog Door, to which they pushed their way through the magical door and stepped out onto the walkway that rested above the stone bridge with the dragon statues, which was around the time that a massive winged beast, who had a main pair of wings, like the wyverns, and a pair closer to its tail, though it was more of a bird or something, though the being that was on the beast's back was the same figure that had the statues in the chamber they had fought the Ancient Wyvern in, and that came complete with the weapon Tirek was after.

No one did anything for a few seconds, while at the same time Tirek locked his gaze with the Nameless King for a few seconds, before the bird, he guessed the King of the Storms or something like that, a creature that Sarana claimed was a Stormdrake, whatever that happened to be, took to the air and started to fly around the arena that they were going to be fighting in, apparently for short bursts based on what Tirek was seeing, to which the three of them spread out and made sure that they forced their foe to pick and choose who to attack so the others could focus on doing damage, even though it quickly became clear that two of them were going to be targeted at the same time. The reason behind that was due to the fact that the Stormdrake lashed out at Sarana, who was able to dodge it thanks to her skills, while at the same time the Nameless King hurled a Lightning Spear at Tirek, showing that they were capable of fighting multiple enemies by having one of them focus on one and the other focusing on another foe, though as that happened Tirek revealed the Space Stone again and did something different with it, as in he opened a small portal in front of him and let the spell disappear as it passed through it, only to close it and open another portal near their foe, where the spear rushed out of it and struck one of the Stormdrake's wings. The resulting shock to the beast's body indicated that it was weak to Lightning spells, though even as that happened Tirek knew that the Nameless King had to be resistant to that element and that he had to be weak to one of the other three, possibly Fire or Dark spells based on what he had seen in the past, though he wasn't ruling out Ice magic either, but for right now he was going to study what the Nameless King did and redirect his attacks until they forced him off his mount, which would be when they would focus their attention on him and take him down, even though Tirek was thinking of doing it by himself. Martok rushed at their foe while he was distracted by what Tirek had done, or at least that was what it looked like he was doing, and struck the Stormdrake in the side of the head, doing a bit of damage to it in the process, before the Nameless King swung his weapon down at him and forced the warrior to raise his greatsword to defend himself, even though such a thing pushed him backwards a tiny bit.

While that was going on Sarana lashed out with her daggers and cut into the side of the Stormdrake's head, due to the fact that she had come to the decision that trying for the Nameless King was out of the question based on the fact that he had his mount move from place to place, something that forced Tirek to calm down as well and focus on waiting for their foe to come to a stop before he used a Lightning Spear to weaken the Stormdrake, though when the beast landed Martok noticed the lightning that danced around their foe's large spear and jumped backwards to get himself out of range of the blast that came from him channeling the power of a lightning blast into the ground that was near him. What Tirek found to be interesting was that the Stormdrake didn't take damage from that attack, meaning that the Lightning Blast, or whatever their foe called his attack, had struck a single point and not a wide area, which informed them that he had greater control over lightning than what they had originally been thinking and that they needed to be careful as they fought him, as one slip up could very well mean the death of one of them, if Tirek was late in getting a barrier up or using one of his Stones to stop and redirect the attack. At the same time there was one other thing for them to keep an eye out for, because while the Stormdrake was in the air it would occasionally loose a burst of fire down at whoever had been attacking its feet, or not depending on what the Nameless King wanted it to do, meaning the group had to be careful in what they did, as there was no telling what sort of tactic their foe was going to use against them until he actually attacked, which was why they stuck to the whole staying apart from each other and attacking when someone was targeted by the Nameless King or his Stormdrake, as that seemed to be the best course of action at the moment. What Tirek found to be impressive was that Martok was able to hit the beast's head while it was attacking him, something that actually knocked its head backwards, as if he had staggered it or something, which was the moment that Sarana rushed forward and drove one of her daggers right into the Stormdrake's right eye, dealing some decent damage while partly blinding it, though Tirek did have to use a portal to intercept the Lightning Blast that the Nameless King had aimed at her, which he then used to blast their foe's mount in the chest and knock it away from them.

For the next couple of minutes the pattern stayed the exact same, the Nameless King picked which attacks he and his mount would unleash on the group, something that was followed by Tirek and the others responding accordingly, while at the same time the Stormdrake smashed through all of the dragon statues that were up here, before he hurled a Lightning Spear right into the beast's chest and knocked it out of the air, forcing their true target off of his mount and caused him to get up, while collecting his weapon and coming to a stop by his mount's body as it started to break apart... something that was followed by the Nameless King impaling the Stormdrake's skull with his spear and unleashed a torrent of lightning on the area that he was standing in, either taking in his mount's power or blasting its body to pieces, though when all of the wind and smoke died down it was only them and the Nameless King.

"Good, we've beaten the Stormdrake, which means the main event is coming our way," Sarana stated, though even as she said that, and Martok stood beside her for a moment, Tirek tilted his head for a few seconds and snapped his fingers, which was followed by a spherical barrier surrounding the pair, something that reminded them of what happened during the fight with Elfriede and caused the pair to stare at him as he weaved his magic through the air and pulled out all five of his Stones of Power, as he had the feeling that he might need all of them, "Lord Tirek, what is the meaning of this? Even with those gemstones you might not be able to fight him on your own."

"Normally your lack of confidence would annoy me, but allow me to show you the true power of the Lord of Hollows and my Stones of Power," Tirek remarked, though as he said that he stepped forward and focused his attention of the foe that was in front of him, where it appeared that the Nameless King was somewhat curious about what he had done and why he was leaving both of his companions behind, but that didn't stop him from spinning his golden spear for a second as he faced Tirek and started to walk towards him.

What was interesting was that the Nameless King went on the offensive not even a few seconds later, where he took a moment to swing his spear and it sent the wind flying towards Tirek, like an energy attack of some kind, something that he could easily jump over even though that was followed by a vertical slash that did the same thing, where he used the Space Stone's portal power to suck up the attack and sent it flying at his foe, who titled his head for a moment before repeating the attack to cancel them out, showing that he either understood what Tirek was doing or this was his way of making sure none of his attacks actually hit him, though Tirek really didn't care which option was correct at this point. A few moments alter the Nameless King shifted his stance, where it looked like he was going to thrust his weapon at Tirek's chest, meaning he was likely going to use the wind to propel himself forward and rush at him with the highest speed he was capable of using against his foes, especially one that helped bring down his mount, which was why he switched to the Power Stone as that happened and grasped it with his right hand, something that caused the power to course through his right arm as he swung his fist to intercept the incoming attack. The collision of the Nameless King's Lightning based thrust attack and his Power Stone infused punch caused the air around them to shake for a few seconds, showing Tirek that his foe was just as strong as he had been hoping he would be while white lightning seemed to dance outwards from the area that they were fighting in, before a little more pressure was applied and they separated from each other, each of them jumping back a bit so they could put some distance between them, even if that was to wait and see what their foe did. That was followed by the Nameless King using the wind to actually lift himself into the air, something that allowed him to rush around in a short crescent pattern and end up behind Tirek, all in a few seconds, only to thrust his spear forward and pierce Tirek's attire with the tip of his weapon, something that knocked him backwards as the lightning tore into part of his body and charred some of his flesh, but at the very least the Nameless King didn't pursue him immediately, giving Tirek time to switch to the Time Stone for a moment as he focused on channeling its power to his body.

Tirek discovered that the power of the Stone in question reversed the damage that had been done to his body, which returned it to what it had been before his foe had struck him with his attack and caused the Nameless King to tilt his head for a second, though not a few seconds later Tirek stopped channeling the power of the Stone and stood up, where a grin found its way to his face as he called his upon his magic and formed a Forbidden Sun, one that he applied the power of his Power Stone to and transformed it into a sphere that was twice as large as its original form and changed its color to the same purple coloration of the Stone. The Nameless King, seeing the attack, raised his empty left hand and called upon the power of the storm or whatever was around them, where he hurled a potent Lightning Spear through the air and it rushed towards where Tirek was standing, who shifted his hand and did the same thing, where the Forbidden Sun collided with the Lightning Spear and the two spells detonated with a power that would have likely shattered part of the arena, had the two of them been fighting on the stone bridge, so what it did right now was scatter some of the clouds for a few seconds, before returning to normal so the pair could continue their battle with each other. Of course, while they did that, Tirek came to the conclusion that it might be best to let the Nameless King attack first and then retaliate with his own attack, but at the same time he kept his options open, because if his foe gave him an opening he was going to exploit it, where he had to return his attention to the fight as his foe rushed up to where he was standing and raised his spear high into the air, as if he was going to swing it down on where he was standing, something that caused Tirek to channel the Power Stone's power into his left arm as he raised it into the air. A few moments later, when the spear came down on the powerful gem, the weapon stopped a few inches above the gem as it struck a field of purple energy, meaning it was either protecting itself from harm or it was integrating its power into Tirek's magic and the spell was of his own creation, something Tirek didn't worry about as he created a Power-infused Forbidden Sun above his right hand and blasted his foe right in the chest with his attack, knocking the Nameless King backwards with smoke coming from his chest.

He wasn't expecting his foe to stand down after that, in fact the Nameless King stood up and pointed his spear right at him once more, which was just fine with Tirek as he braced himself for what was coming his way, as his foe rushed at him and thrust his spear in his direction a few times, something that Tirek parried with his empowered fist and then bashed the weapon to the side, an event that caused the Nameless King to stagger for a second, which was followed by Tirek using a variation of the penetrating Lightning Blade spell he had used against Elfriede, where his now flaming right hand, which he had sharpened his magic around, pierced his foe's chest and caused him to look down, something that was followed by Tirek leaving a Power-infused Forbidden Sun in the opening and did nothing as the spell detonated, blowing the Nameless King to pieces while causing the clouds to ripple from the force of the blast.

"What... did you do?" Martok asked, though at the same time the barrier protecting him and Sarana faded away a few seconds later, allowing them to walk forward as the fragments of the Nameless King swirled around the area that was in front of Tirek and took on the shape of a soul, a glorious sunlight colored soul, where both he and Sarana got one as well, even if he thought that it was unnecessary for them to even get their own since they hadn't faced the Nameless King, as it had been all Tirek's doing.

"I killed the Nameless King!" Tirek stated, where he claimed the soul and both of his companions did the same thing a few seconds later, though as soon as that was done the wind kicked up and they braced themselves for a few seconds as the walkway they were on lowered into the ground and the storm disappeared over the course of a minute or two, which returned the rest of Archdragon Peak to what it had been before the bell had been rung, where the magic of the storm brought them back to the area that was below the bell, along with a new bonfire for them to light.

Once the storm was over the three of them stepped forward and walked along the rest of the bridge, as it was time to see if there was anything interesting that could be claimed before they headed back to the Shrine, where Tirek found one of the rare Titanite Slabs resting a few steps away from where the bonfire rested, not to mention a suit of armor that was connected to the Dragonslayer Spear they had picked up earlier, making it the Dragonslayer Armor according to Sarana, before they reached the now opened doorway back to the structure they had appeared outside after they slew the Ancient Wyvern earlier. The moment they were done seeing what the bridge had to offer them, and Sarana collected everything that might be useful to them, the group headed for the bonfire that they were close to, which was now the one they had appeared near earlier, which was followed by Tirek walking down the steps and hurled a Lightning Spear into the chest of the serpent summoner that had been resting up there, allowing Sarana and Martok to cut down the drakeblood knight it was able to call into the part of the temple they were passing through, meaning they were able to make it to the walkway that held the bonfire he was focusing on. As soon as they reached the bonfire Tirek readied himself as Sarana and Martok joined him, where he made sure all five of his Stones of Power were inside the pouch before they used the bonfire to head back to the Shrine, something that was going to change as soon as he had his gauntlet, where the temple vanished a few seconds later and they reappeared in the middle of the Shrine, though Martok moved to head to where the Fire Keeper had been standing and stopped when he remembered that the maiden was gone, reduced to being the Soul Stone that Tirek had forged before they headed to Archdragon Peak. Sarana simply shook her head at that while Tirek turned to look at the area that Andre had been working in since he informed him of his plans to make a gauntlet that would allow him to harness the full power of his Stones of Power, though he had to smile as he noticed that Andre had gone out and claimed a number of items that belonged to a blacksmith, no doubt stolen from the city, as he had a working forge with flames, a bellow, and everything else he needed to melt down some weapons and forge his gauntlet, not to mention the matching gauntlet for his right hand, to complete the set.

As such he walked over to where Ludleth was sitting and withdrew the soul of the Nameless King, where he had the little Lord of Cinder use his Transposition Kiln to transform the soul into the golden spear that he had seen their foe use, as that was the weapon he had been looking for, and once that was done he grasped the weapon and headed down to the area that Andre was waiting in, who perked up the moment he noticed Tirek coming and stood up so he could get to work on the pair of gauntlets.

"Lord Tirek, it appears that you were successful," Andre said, though as Tirek came to a stop he raised his hand and let the blacksmith take the weapon that he had informed him about earlier, who looked over the golden spear for a moment and nodded his head, where Tirek assumed that he was pleased with the weapon and the fact that it had been recovered from the one that had been carrying it, even though there did seem to be a part of him that was saddened by the need to smelt it down and forge it into an entirely new weapon, before he beckoned to some blocks and clay that looked like they were designed to make a mold, "Now then, if you would place your hands in the areas I've prepared, we will be able to make the molds that I will use to create the gauntlets that you wanted me to make, along with fact that I will make one of them into something fitting to contain the six gems you mentioned earlier."

Tirek nodded his head and stepped forward, where he came to a stop in front of the materials in question and placed his fists, going from the tips of his fingers and stopping partway up his arm, in the area that Andre had mentioned, which was when the blacksmith started to get to work making the mold of the gauntlets that Tirek wanted him to make, but even as that happened he did notice that Andre had set aside some items that would allow him to manipulate the material so he could make the six indents, which would be the areas that the Stones would be resting in. A few moments later Andre had him remove his hands, gently so he didn't ruin the molds that were in front of him, before he stepped forward and went to work modeling exactly what Tirek wanted, focusing on the left gauntlet for the most part while mimicking some of the designs on the right gauntlet, showing that he understood what had been asked of him and that he was going to do everything in his power to make the weapon that Tirek wanted him to craft. While that happened Tirek stood nearby and kept an eye on what was going on, as he wanted to be nearby the moment it was completed and ready for the Stones he was carrying, though Sarana and Martok walked away from where he was standing and did whatever they wanted to do while they waited for the blacksmith to finish his work on the weapon Tirek was after, which he was fine with since this was more of a relaxation period while they waited for the gauntlets to be made, something that would take some time for Andre to do, especially since he had to manipulate the mold to fit his designs. One thing Tirek could tell was that Andre was making sure all of the joints were accounted for and that they had something covering them, even though he had to walk over to where Tirek was standing so he could get an accurate measurement of his fingers, the rest of his hands, and the part of his arm that was in the mold, something that would ensure that the gauntlets would be as accurate as possible and that he wouldn't be wasting time on a pair of gauntlets that wouldn't fit, which would have resulted in him starting the entire process from square one.

After some time Andre lifted the swordspear, as Sarana had corrected Tirek by informing him what the weapon was, and placed it inside the forge, or possibly a vessel of some kind that all the metal would be contained in once he melted the weapon down and was left with molten metal, which he could then pour into the molds that were waiting nearby, so while he worked Tirek manipulated his magic and glanced at the five Stones he had created, marveling at their power and what they were able to do, something that made him wonder what would happen once they were inserted into the slots that Andre was putting into the left gauntlet, which should allow him to wield the true power of the Stones, without having to channel his magic through them. Interestingly enough Andre didn't seem too worried about anything, as he worked the forge like a master and this gave him a chance to actually show just how skilled he was, even though Tirek had no idea if there were any other blacksmiths that weren't hollowed yet, so he was the best person to do this deed at the moment, so Tirek remained silent as Andre worked on melting down the swordspear into the metal that would go into his gauntlets, as once that was done he would slip the Stones into the gauntlet and see what happened next. While he was doing that both of his companions seemed to be wandering around the Shrine, where they talked with the remaining residents of the area and informed them as to what was going on, or at least Sarana did that while Martok kept his guard up, as there was no way of knowing how people would react to the death of the Fire Keeper and Orbeck's second death, but for the most part it looked like everyone else was just fine with what had happened, making them wonder if Yuria had been telling them all the information that she had obtained from Tirek. Eventually the pair came to a stop as they waited for Andre to finish his work on the gauntlets, where they simply waited near the bonfire and watched what was going on at the moment, though they weren't the only ones that did that as Yuria joined them not a few moments later and Ludleth, despite the fact that he couldn't move from where he was sitting, expressed an interest in seeing what the finished product was like, to which those that were interested remained near the bonfire, since that was where Tirek would go once he had done what he had set out to do.

It took Andre some time to break down the swordspear, even though Tirek learned that the blacksmith had gone out and gathered some items from several of the other provinces he and his companions had passed through, especially Anor Londo, but in the end the weapon was broken down and transformed into molten metal, where Andre carefully withdrew the container that it was in and pulled it over to where the mold was located, something that he had worked on while the weapon was melting down and had made a replica of Tirek's hands, though once he was ready he started filling the mold with the material and Tirek smiled, as progress was being made at last. Andre carefully worked for a few minutes, making sure every part of the mold was filled by the material that was inside the container, before he nodded his head and pulled the container away, though once that was done he beckoned for Tirek and the others that were close by to give him some space, as he would come to them once the gauntlets were ready, to which the group walked into the part of the Shrine that the bonfire was in and simply sat around the bonfire, all of them waiting to see what Andre did once the metal had cooled down and he made sure both of the metallic gauntlets could be worn, not to mention make sure every joint could move like they were supposed to, something that would take time to figure out, including the fact that he would no doubt make sure both of them would fit on Tirek's arms. Some time passed before he stepped out of the area that he had been working in and approached the area that everyone was standing in, where they turned to face him as he carried a tray of some kind, one that happened to have two golden gauntlets resting on it, which seemed rather impressive and had some inlay that made them look like a master smith had made them for a god, even if the inlay was ebony colored, meaning he must have acquired the metal before Tirek and the others had returned from their mission, where Tirek found that what he had asked for had been made, as the gauntlet that would go over his left hand had six indents in it, five positioned at the knuckles of the gauntlet and the sixth resting in the middle of the backside of his hand, while the right one had nothing like that and was totally smooth, even though being hit by something like this was going to be painful.

"Lord Tirek, allow me to present your Infinity Gauntlet and its counterpart," Andre said, where he held the tray out and made sure that the gauntlets were resting near Tirek, so he could pull them off the tray and slip them on, before getting to putting the Stones he had created into the slots, which had been measured to the same size of the gemstones, as he had taken a moment to measure them when they had been showed to him earlier, though while that happened the rest of the residents of the Shrine gathered around to see what was going on.

"Infinity Gauntlet?" Tirek inquired, though at the same time he realized that it was a good name for the gauntlet, as it brought a smile to his face for a moment as he picked up the normal gauntlet and studied it for a few seconds, which was when he made sure nothing was on either of his hands before he slipped it over his right hand, finding that it went on with ease and that when he flexed his fingers everything moved like it was supposed to, meaning that Andre had done well on the basic gauntlet and that made him wonder about the main one.

"Yes, its what I decided to name the gauntlet, since you wanted it to command the true power of the six Infinity Stones you were collecting, which is my name for your Stones of Power," Andre explained, showing that he had taken some time to think about what Tirek wanted him to do and had created his own name for the Stones Tirek had been creating from the souls of some of the powerful creatures they had fought, though at the same time he noticed that his new Lord was quite happy with the first gauntlet and was focusing his attention on the main one, the one that he had spent more time on, since it would do exactly what Tirek wanted it to do, in theory anyway.

"I see... Infinity Gauntlet, I like it." Tirek remarked, showing that he liked the name that Andre had come up with, as he knew it was better than anything he would have come up with if he had been pressed into making a name for it, though it was in that moment that he focused on the six slots that were in the main gauntlet as he pulled it on, where he glanced at Sarana and the others, something that was followed by her making sure they backed up to give him some space as he used his magic to pull out the five Stones, Infinity Stones according to Andre, out of the pouch they had been stored in and let them float in the air for a few seconds as he readied himself, "Very well then, its time that I inserted the Stones into their slots and see what happens."

In that moment Tirek drew out the newest Stone, the Power Stone crafted from the Ancient Wyvern they had taken out during the early stages of their assault on Archdragon Peak, and slipped it into the slot that was near his left pointer finger, where there was a surge of power as the energy within the gemstone pulsed through his body for a few seconds, something he honestly wasn't expecting, though the rush eventually died down and everything faded away, where Tirek felt even stronger than he had been moments ago, where he blamed it on the gauntlet allowing him to harness the power of the Stone. The Infinity Gauntlet, as he quickly discovered, did exactly what he asked Andre to make it do, it allowed him to house and channel the power of all six Infinity Stones, even if he only had five of them at the moment, something that made him wonder what he could do with the gauntlet and its properties, where he glanced over to the other Stones for a second or two and grasped the Space Stone next, which was inserted into the socket that was near the middle finger and let the power rush through his body once more, even though a bit of power rushed out from where he was standing and had the others stand back a little more as he reigned in the energy. With that was done he glanced at the remaining four sockets and decided that the socket that rested near the ring finger would be reserved for the Reality Stone, the Stone he didn't possess right now, so he picked the Soul Stone out of the air and slipped it into the socket near the little finger, to which another rush of power pulsed through his body for a moment or two, a rush that died down after a time, just like the last couple of rushes he had felt earlier. Once that was done he focused on the Time Stone and repeated what he had done earlier, slipping it into the socket that was near the thumb, and as soon as the rush had died down he pushed the last of the Infinity Stones into the socket that rested on the back of his hand, allowing the Mind Stone to join the others he had claimed, before he flexed his fingers for a moment and grinned as he stared at the others, who seemed eager to see what he could do with the gauntlet and his Stones.

What he did was access the power of the Space Stone and opened a portal to where the first massive crystal lizard he and Sarana had seen had been resting, though as he stepped out into the area he had picked out the creature seemed to sense his arrival and growled as it picked itself up, which was when Tirek switched his focus from the Space Stone, which stopped glowing, and picked the Power Stone, which started glowing, as he loosed a burst of power that struck his target and caused it to fall face first on the ground, before he channeled the power of the Mind Stone to calm down the lizard, so he could place it under his control, but once that was done he grinned, as this meant he would be able to invade the castle and hunt down the final Lord of Cinder they needed to take down, as he was eager to bring this adventure to an end so he could take over this world.