Ashes

When the haze settled, we were back in the courtyard, standing and staring up at the high wall. I almost expected the giant to come charging at us from some unseen place, but it appeared he was well and truly gone. I thought about that little light I’d taken from him. Maybe that kept him from coming back?

While I stared at the pile of debris and contemplated, Mister Knight started walking toward the outer gate.

“So, how come he didn’t come back?” I asked.

Mister Knight kept walking. “Couldn’t say. Just be grateful.”

I ran to catch up with him. “That’s all you have to say? Aren’t you curious?”

“Curiosity doesn’t mean much to me anymore.” He stopped, crossed his arms, and studied the gate. It stood almost the height of the wall itself. It appeared to be solid metal, meaning that neither of us would be able to move it. We might be able to slip through a crack in the door where tree roots were growing through, buckling the metal.

“Hold on, you’re telling me that you’re not curious in the slightest?” I asked, putting a hand on my hip.

“I’m telling you that spending the energy to question it is pointless.” He turned to look at me for the briefest of seconds. “Even if I do find an answer, it won’t be long until I lose it again.” What’s the point in learning when you’re just bound to forget it all?”

“I guess.” I chewed my tongue.

“Besides, I don’t think I was ever much of a scholar.” He tapped the blade hilt at his side.

“You could’ve been both,” I suggested.

Before he could say anything, he was interrupted by the sound of machinery cranking in the walls around us. The gate inched open, nearly blinding me with the sunlight behind it. As they reached the end of their arc, they grinded to a halt.

“You ready?” Mister Knight asked.

I tightened my grip on my spear. “Yeah.”

Without another word, he started walking again. I fell in line just behind him.

At one point, the gates might have led out over a bridge and into the countryside. Now, though, they only lead to a dead-end. I stood at the edge of the broken bridge and hazarded a glance downward. Far below, I spied another bridge, ruined and collapsed. The height difference made me dizzy.

“I guess we’re not going this way,” I muttered.

Mister Knight reached into his pockets and pulled out a banner. I watched him stroll over to the wall and snap off a piece of the roots growing across the stone. As he returned, he wrapped the banner around the wood, forming a crude standard.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“What the priestess asked of me.” He hoisted the flag over his head.

“Priestess?”

“At the cathedral up there.” He nodded back toward the courtyard behind us.

I figured he must’ve meant the cathedral I saw from the wall. I didn’t know who this priestess was, but who was I to argue. I sat down several steps from the end of the bridge. As time passed and my boredom grew, I found my eye drawn outward, to the land.

I saw the bridge from earlier, reaching out from some unseen lower part of the city. If this flag didn’t somehow help us out of this bind, that would probably be our next destination. It wasn’t much better, though. Even from here, I could see that the bridge had collapsed in several places along the path, but at least they were smaller gaps to clear.

Beyond the collapsed bridge, I could see a forested plateau. Among the land’s greenery, I could see plenty of spires and collapsed ruins. In the center of the island looked to be a small town. Beside it, a tower reached into the sky, almost high enough to match us here on the city bridge. Some of the buildings still looked intact. To the right, I could see a large structure. It reminded me of Firelink with its tall spires and bell tower.

Beyond the plateau, a mountain range formed the horizon. Those snow-covered peaks might very well have been the same ones I’d seen from Firelink. Maybe we’d find our little shrine somewhere out there in the forest.

The most curious sight laid to the left, against the mountains. Though a cloud of smoke or fog obscured the land, I thought I could see the faint outline of a castle.

The longer I looked, the more uneasy I felt.

I couldn’t deny that the view was beautiful. But the land looked . . . wrong. It wasn’t just the buildings and bridges that had collapsed. It looked as though the earth itself was cracked and falling apart. The worst part of it all, though, was that it didn’t look destroyed. It wasn’t some great beast or violent calamity that had passed through.

No.

It was simply withering. Like a flower. Or a corpse.

That thought made my skin crawl.

“How long are we going to wait here?”

“As long as we need to.”

I drummed my fingers against my spear and pursed my lips.

“What exactly are we waiting for?”

“Them.”

With a clatter, he tossed the banner down.

“What are those?” I asked, scampering backwards.

In front of us, crawling up from below, appeared a . . . creature, some . . . unholy blend of mosquito, bat, and a man. Its bloodied claw scraped against the stone as the first one hauled itself up onto the bridge. Another followed close behind.

I went for my spear, but Mister Knight stopped me.

“Sunset, wait. They’re not dangerous.”

“How sure are you about that?” I asked as a third and fourth came scrambling over the rock.

“They’re messengers. Like the ones in the stories.”

The first two grabbed the knight by his arms. A third one grabbed him from behind. All three flapped their leathery wings in unison, lifting him off the ground. He didn’t try to resist.

“I don’t know what stories you’re talking about,” I said, backing away.

Two of the demons circled me in opposite directions, forcing me to turn constantly between the two of them. One of them lunged. I raised my spear in front of me, blocking those long, raking claws with the shaft. While I was distracted, the second one rushed from behind. It wrapped its claws around my chest. Before I could even register what had happened, it lifted me into the air with its wings.

I squirmed in its grasp, but the flailing allowed the second demon to slip close, where it helped restrain me. I felt the ground beneath me vanish as they carried me higher. My body tensed as they hauled me over the broken edge of the bridge. I went from scrambling to escape to scrambling to hold on as the stone beneath my feet turned to forest miles below.

One of them hissed in my ear.

“Look, just don’t drop me,” I said, white-knuckling my spear. My two escorts shared a glance.

Over the next few minutes, I sailed through the air, a mouse, trapped in a hawk’s talons. In my desperation to escape and then hold on, I’d somehow lost track of my companion and his escorts.

They carried me over the second bridge I’d seen from the front gate. Below me, I could see a giant stone creature of some sort, pacing back and forth along the destroyed remains of the bridge. On my flight, I also saw another dead dragon lying in the rubble.

The demons carried me over the collapsed sections of the bridge. They stopped above the last section, where the bridge connected to the broken landmass beyond. Their descent took us to a tower overlooking the gate. From here, I could see the knight sitting beside another bonfire.

“Hey!” I called out. I tried to wave, but that just made one of the demons hiss.

“Oh, good. I was worried they dropped you,” he shouted back.

I flinched. “Don’t give them any ideas, Ashes, they don’t like me as it is,” I howled.

My escorts hissed in agreement as they hovered about ten feet over the bonfire. I looked up at them, some smart ass remark on my tongue. I didn’t get to say anything before they dropped me. I landed feet-first on a pile of discarded bricks and tumbled face-first onto the stone walkway, only to land sprawled at Mister Knight’s feet staring up at him.

“Assholes,” I muttered, rolling onto my side in an attempt to catch my breath.

Mister Knight crouched down beside me. “You did try to stab them.”

I held my stomach. “You’re an asshole, too.”

“What did I do?” He said with a tilt of his head.

“You could have told me that was going to happen.”

In what was hopefully a show of remorse, Mister Knight dragged me over to the bonfire and dropped me. I laid on my back, staring up at the hazy, afternoon sky. The heat from the bonfire seeped into my aching body.

“You alright?” Mister Knight asked.

“I think so,” I said. I closed my eyes for a moment. “Think I might have broken a rib on the way down.”

“I’m sure you’re exaggerating.” He paused. “Would you like me to check?”

My eyes snapped over to him. “I’ll live. Thanks.”

He shrugged. After another moment of silence, he spoke up. “What did you call me?”

I raised an eyebrow.

“When they were carrying you, you called me . . . Ashes?”

I clicked my tongue. “Did I?”

“You did.”

“Isn’t that what everyone else calls you?”

“Ashen One?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “That one.” I sat up. “Is that a problem?”

“Do you know what it means to be an Ashen One?”

“I . . .” I frowned. “There’s a lot of things I don’t know,” I said. “Look, if you don’t want me to call you that . . .”

“I have no problem with it.”

“Then . . . why did you ask?”

He seemed to consider the question. “I was merely curious if you knew.”

With a sigh, I shuffled closer to the fire. I didn’t know much of anything about this world. I’d heard so many refer to him by that name, and they spoke it with a sort of reverence. The thought had never crossed my mind that it might have been some sort of insult.

“Tell me,” I said.

He looked up from the fire. “What?”

“We’re going to be traveling together, working together. Might be helpful for me to learn a bit about the world.”

He stood and wandered over to the edge of the tower. From here, I couldn’t see much of the area around us over the brick walls. But from where he stood, I imagined he could see the whole valley in front of us. As he stood with his back to me, I couldn’t deny the slimy suspicion that I’d somehow offended him.

“We serve the flame,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Is that . . . the royal ‘we’?”

“We, as undead, exist to serve the flame.”

I pursed my lips. “Maybe that’s a good place to start. What is this flame?”

He shifted his weight to his other foot. “In the beginning, the world was shrouded in darkness. The great arch dragons ruled the world. Until the day the First Flame appeared.

“Creatures of all sorts came crawling from their holes, drawn by the magnificent power it held. Of them, four creatures claimed the power of the Flame, imbuing their souls with great power.”

“But what was it?” I asked.

He didn’t turn to look at me. “I have no idea. Not sure anyone really does. All we know is that those that claimed that power became the Great Lords. The First of the Dead, the Witches of Izalith, and the Lord of Sunlight. And with the power they found, they ended the reign of the dragons and brought about the Age of the Gods.”

Already, my head was spinning. Souls. The same things Ashes made me use to strengthen myself. These ancient heroes used that power to fell dragons. I think I understood, even if I didn’t quite realize it yet. Still, one of those names gave me pause.

“Who is the Lord of Sunlight?” I asked.

For the first time since his speech began, Ashes looked at me.

“Gwyn.”

“Can you tell me about him?” I couldn’t help but make the comparison in my head. A Lord of Sunlight? Was he anything about the Lord of Sunlight that I knew? I didn’t doubt that Celestia could put down dragons, but it didn’t seem like something she’d do.

“He was the greatest of the lords. With his lightning, he tore the dragons from the sky and used their strength to build a kingdom in his image. His subjects worshiped him and worshiped the Flame.”

Lightning? I snuck a glance down at my chime. Could it be?

“Though his kingdom prospered, his reign could not last forever.”

“What happened? Did something attack them?”

Ashes shook his head. “The Flame started to fade.”

“Like it is now?”

I couldn’t help but feel my questions were grating on him.

“Not quite.” He finally turned and returned to the bonfire. He stared into the flames as he spoke, as though he were addressing it directly. “Gwyn sacrificed his soul, his power, to keep the Flame burning. But his sacrifice only delayed the inevitable. The flame started to fade again. Then the curse appeared.”

My hand reached up to my breast, where the burning symbol was carved.

“Eventually, an undead rose, strong enough to slay the gods and take their souls. He brought them to the Flame, and used that strength to keep it burning.”

“But it didn’t work.” I didn’t ask it as a question.

Ash shook his head. “Not forever. The cycle has repeated countless times. A champion rises, gathers the strength of the great souls, and offers them to the Flame as kindling. The world prospers, but the Flame eventually starts to fade again.”

Questions swam through my head, but I bit my tongue and let him continue.

His voice dropped nearly to a whisper. “This time . . . things are different.”

“How so?” I asked, the pain in my back all but forgotten.

“The undead chosen to link the Flame . . . abandoned his duty.” He glanced up at me. Even though I couldn’t see his face, I sensed an aura rife with sorrow and dread. “The prince, Lothric.” I followed where he pointed, up to the castle we’d just left.

“Has that ever happened before?”.

“I can’t say.”

“Okay, we’ll, even if he doesn’t do his duty . . . does that mean there’s nothing that can be done? What’ll happen?”

“The undead curse grows stronger.” Ash shook his head. “Then rise the Lords of Cinder.” I recognized that name. The ones we were meant to hunt. “The Lords were beings who used their power to feed the Flame once before. They were to use their strength to fulfill the role of the undead. But they too, have now abandoned that path.”

He hadn’t been kidding around when he called them powerful. I tried to imagine a being strong enough to bring down Celestia, to bring down the sun. Was such power even feasible? Still, that wasn’t the question at the forefront of my mind.

“What about us? You? The Ashen One?”

“We . . .” Hanging his head, he stared at the floor between his legs. “We came back next. The ultimate expression of the curse’s desperation.”

The way he spoke about the curse almost made it sound alive.

“How so?”

“Because . . . we already failed.”

I glanced around. “We did? How?”

Ash shook his head. “The Lords of Cinder were the ones who linked the Flame. The Ashen . . . we were the ones who failed. The ones who weren't strong enough.”

It finally dawned on me just how badly I screwed up. The Ashen were the ones who failed? And I’d called him that— Many people had called him that directly to his face.”

I turned away, feeling the shame burn my cheeks. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“What do you have to be sorry for?”

“When I called you that, I didn’t . . . I didn’t know what it meant.”

“You . . . you don’t have to apologize.”

“I do.”

“No.” He shook his head. “It’s the truth. It’s what I am.” With a sigh, he craned his neck upwards. “It’s one big cruel joke. I don’t remember my past, my name, my family. All I remember is that I failed. It’s the one piece of my history that this damned curse hasn’t taken from me.”

“But it’s not who you are,” I muttered. I wasn’t sure if he heard me or not.

“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change what I have to do.”

Shaking, I raised my fist and slammed it down, rattling my spear next to me. “It absolutely matters,” I shouted, jumping up to my feet.

Mister Knight jumped at my sudden outburst.

“Just because we screw up, doesn’t mean that we’re a failure,” I said, my breathing growing heavy. “Maybe you failed before, but that doesn’t mean you’ll fail again.” I plopped back down. “Believe me, I know. I’ve screwed up a lot of things in my life, too.” My lungs burned, forcing me to draw a shaky breath. “I can’t change the wrong I’ve done. I can just keep going and hope that I can redeem myself from it.”

“What are you saying?” He asked.

What was I saying? I wasn’t even sure at this point. I just know that I could feel my anger boiling in my chest. I was furious. But there was something else there, too. Something hidden beneath the anger. I felt grateful. For the first time since I’d landed in this Celestia-forsaken world, I understood why. I had a purpose, a reason to be here.

“That we can’t give up,” I finally said.

“You don’t have to be a part of this–”

“That’s why you tried to stop me before, isn’t it?” I asked, my gaze shooting toward him. “You’re scared that you’re going to fail again. And you don’t want me to get dragged along with you?”

I stared at him, daring him to deny it. He didn’t.

“Well I don’t want you thinking like that anymore.” I skirted around the edge of the bonfire and sat down beside him. “Especially now that I’m here with you.”

“Sunset, this isn’t your fight.”

“No, it’s yours.” I closed my eyes and put a hand on his shoulder. “But I’ll be damned if I’m going to make you go through it alone. It doesn’t matter what you say. I’m here. I’m going to help you.”

“Even if you put your own life at stake?”

“Of course. It’s what friends do.”

I stretched out my hand towards him. He refused to meet my gaze.

“You’re crazy, Sunset.”

“Maybe. And maybe a little crazy is what you need on your side, huh?”

I stood for a minute or two, my hand outstretched. It felt more than a little awkward, but I couldn’t change my mind now. “So, are we doing this or what?”

“On one condition.” He glanced up at me.

I raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“I want you to keep calling me Ash.”

I frowned. “Did you listen to anything I said?”

“Yeah.” I could feel him watching me from under his visor. “But I know what I am. I know what I’ve done.”

“But–”

“Let me speak,” he barked. I stopped talking. “You’re right. But that doesn’t change what I am. But that’s not my point. Whenever I hear that name, it reminds me of my failures, it reminds me of what I am. And it reminds me that things are going to be different this time.”

A smile crept across my lips. “That’s the spirit.”

I moved to draw my hand back, only for him to reach out and take it.

Grunting, I pulled him to his feet.