When I came to, I found myself someplace dark. A bleak, featureless abyss. I wandered the emptiness for I don’t know how long. No matter how far I walked I found nothing but emptiness in every direction.

No. This didn’t make any sense.

I was dead. A blade, though my chest. A fall. Right?

I closed my eyes, though it barely changed anything in the dark. My thoughts were hazy. Like insects, twisted and trapped in a web of static noise. Occasionally, I thought I could make out an image in the fog, but it never lasted long enough for me to get a good grasp on it.

I remembered a name. Sunset. I think that was my name.

At least I remembered that much.

No. There was more than that. Another name.

Twilight.

Something about it sounded familiar, but I couldn’t picture her face.

Cold started to creep into my body, numbing my hands and feet.

Twilight.

Twilight saved me, didn’t she?

Twilight. Twilight. Twilight.

The name repeated over and over in my head. My last thought had been of her. Of finding a way home to her. I promised.

My eyes snapped open. The endless dark was gone. Instead, I stood on a small overlook at the edge of a cliff. A bonfire crackled beside me, its heat chasing away a cold that I hadn’t noticed until now. A man dressed in armor sat beside me, staring into the flames.

I put my hand to my chest. Where the giant’s blade had cut right through me. No blood. No tears in my clothes. In fact, they almost looked cleaner than before, suddenly freed of the mud and muck that had stained it before. Nervously, I tugged my collar far enough that I could look down at my own body. Not even a scar to mark the wound.

“Was that . . . a nightmare?” I asked out loud.

“No.” Mister Knight shifted slightly. “You died. As did I.”

“What?” I shook my head. “No. I’m not . . . I’m dead?”

“You were dead,” he corrected.

“And now . . . I’m not?” I asked hesitantly, as though just pointing out the strangeness of the universe would somehow reverse it and drag me back to the grave.

“Such is the fate of the undead. Not even death will let us rest.”

“What?” I jumped up from my seat. “No. That can’t be right. I’m not . . .”

“You were dead. Now you’re not,” Mister Knight pointed out.

I started to circle our camp, my hand pressed to my forehead, searching for any other explanation for my resurrection. I didn’t look any different. Nor did I feel any different. Not like any zombie I’d ever seen in the movies before. But I had seen us both die. As much as I wanted to write it off as a nightmare, that didn’t explain how Mister Knight remembered too.

Maybe it was a hallucination. Like a fever dream.

Or maybe Twilight’s machine had caused some sort of dimensional visions.

I was desperate, but in the end, I couldn’t find any other explanation. Defeated, I slumped back down beside the fire. Mister Knight’s helmet turned toward me for only a moment before he returned his gaze to the fire.

“You should count yourself lucky.”

I crinkled my nose at him. “Why?”

“Not all of us come back whole.”

The way he said it made me queasy. I gave my body a quick inspection. Based on my observations, I appeared to have all of my parts. “I suppose you’re right. Dying’s bad enough, but at least I didn’t lose a leg in the process.”

Mister knight shook his head. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh.” I frowned. “What did you mean, then?”

“You saw those things down in the valley.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What did you call them? Hollows?”

He nodded. “This damned curse strips away everything. Your thoughts. Your memories. It leaves you a mindless husk. A Hollow.” He paused.“Tell me, do you remember your name?”

“Sunset,” I said. “What about yours?”

It didn’t cross my mind how inappropriate the question could be until it was already out. I couldn’t gauge his reaction behind that suit of metal he wore. But He didn’t answer my question. That was enough to make me understand.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Don’t be.” His words sounded melancholy.

Thinking about that darkness from before, I felt my stomach drop. Is that what I had experienced back there? My memories being stripped away? With a start, I realized what it had taken first: my memory of Twilight. Of the way she looked. Her face. Her smile. Whenever I thought of the time we spent together, there was just a gap where she should have been.

“What is so important about twilight?” Mister Knight asked.

My gaze snapped to him. “What?”

“Before you woke, you kept muttering about it.”

I closed my eyes. “Twilight is the name of a friend from home.” I curled up, tucking my knees against my chest and wrapped my arms around them. “Before I . . . died, I was thinking about her. About how I’d get home to her.”

“Sounds important.”

“She is.” My eyes opened. “She’s my closest friend. I saved her and . . . I think she kind of saved me, too. She’s probably worried sick about me. Just another reason I need to get home as soon as possible.”

“All the more reason we shouldn’t waste anymore time.” He rose from his seat and gathered his things the same way he had before. Similar to my clothes, Mister Knight’s shield and armor showed no sign of the destruction that the giant had rained down upon them. Strangely, though, they still retained their battle-scarred appearance.

“Hold on a second.” I jumped to my feet. Mister Knight stopped at the edge of our campsite. “We didn’t stand a chance against that thing. You’re just going to march back in there?”

“I made a costly mistake,” he explained. “But this time, I know what to expect. I won’t let myself be caught off guard like that again.”

“And what if that’s not enough?”

“It’ll have to be.”

He didn’t give me a chance to respond before continuing on toward the arena. Our path through the valley wasn’t quite so easy this time around. All the bodies we’d passed were back on their feet, waiting for us. Mister Knight side-stepped the first one, countering with a slash that took the Hollow’s head clean off. A second swiped at him, only for him to catch it with the hilt of his blade. A quick kick sent the Hollow reeling to the ground, leaving his neck exposed for the Knight’s heavy shield to slam down on it.

As the violence played out in front of me, I refused to look away.

Dying had changed something in me. Or maybe it just opened my eyes.

This wasn’t my home. The safety and security I’d grown so accustomed to in high school were gone. Even back in Equestria, a land where monsters roamed the lands, there were always heroes ready to step in and save the day. This world was different. Sure, I had the Knight to accompany me. In a way, he definitely fit the role of a hero. At least, from what I’d seen of him. But I couldn’t rely on him. And he couldn’t do this alone.

As I passed the dead Hollow, I knelt down and pried his fingers from its weapon’s hilt. A sword, broken nearly half a foot from the handle. In its current condition, it wasn’t much more than a jagged hunk of metal. But it was light and still carried a razor edge. The Knight had continued without me, seemingly oblivious to my stopping. When I caught up with him again, we were back at the arena doors. Instead of the tall wooden gate, we were met with a strange white mist filling the doorway.

We would have to deal with that later, though. For now, we had another pair of Hollows to contend with. The Knight killed the one nearest the door. And just as I remembered, another approached from behind. As I watched it crawl out of the grave toward me, I tightened my grip on my sword. It snarled as we squared up to one another.

I hesitated, leaving the Hollow to take a swing at me first.

With just a small step back, I avoided it. Without a pause, it brought its blade back the other direction. I muttered a curse under my breath and tried to take another step back, but my heel caught against something solid. Before I understood what was happening, I was staring up at gray clouds with a throbbing ache in the back of my head.

A snarl broke my daze. I sat up just in time to see the Hollow coming at me. As it came closer, I threw a desperate kick, catching it in the chest and forcing it onto its back. That bought me enough time to roll back and get to my feet.

“You okay?” The Knight asked. He stood behind me, his sword ready.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about me,” I said, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt.

Shaking off the daze from my head wound, I picked up my sword and steadied myself. Thoughts from another life came to me. I could still hear my instructor in my ear, berating me for my poor form and even worse footwork. I widened my stance and hiked up my grip as an idea came to mind.

Predictably, the Hollow charged at me again.

This time, I caught his sword against mine and deflected it. No time to back away now. I pressed forward as another blow came down. Our weapons clashed again. My sword twisted in my hand, pressing the flat of my blade against the edge of the Hollow’s and allowing me to slip in closer.

Its sword might have had the reach and heft to outclass mine, but here, at this range, those benefits became a hindrance. Meanwhile, I didn’t need a heavy swing to make my blade deadly. That didn’t stop it from trying to swing anyway. And there was my opening.

I didn’t hesitate to plunge the knife into its chest, straight through the heart.

Wounded, the Hollow started to fall. I threw my weight into my knife, using it to drive him to the ground with me on top. From here, it only took a single twist to put the monster down. I didn’t realize it was over until I felt the warmth of his blood splatter against my cheek.

I released my grip on the knife and fell backwards into the dirt. My breaths came slow and shaky, each one accompanied by a tremor. My hands were stained with blood. I had it smeared across my shirt and on my face. I understood what I had done. I had killed another living being, one that used to be human just like me.

It had to be done, I knew. The problem was just how easily I did it.

I didn’t hesitate. One quick stab and it was over. No pomp. No ceremony.

Just death and then nothingness.

Clanking footsteps walked up behind me. “Are you—”

“I’m fine!” I snapped before letting out a long breath. “I’m fine. It didn’t hit me.”

“That wasn’t what . . .” The Knight reconsidered his words. “Come on. We should keep moving. We still need to face the judge.”

“The judge?” I stared blankly down at the corpse beside me. With a shaky hand, I pulled my knife free. “You mean that big guy? I don’t suppose you thought of a better plan on the way down here?” I barked. Honestly, I couldn’t really bring myself to care right now, I was just hoping he’d be able to take my mind off . . . things.

“Yeah.” The Knight put his sword away. “Take these.”

He held out a burlap sack. Taking it, I set it on the ground next to me and opened it. Inside were five glossy black orbs slightly larger than an apple. At first, I thought they might have been cannonballs, but they were too light for that.

“Be careful with those,” The Knight warned.

I picked one of them up and rolled it in my hands. My bloodstained hands. “What are they?”

“Firebombs. I wouldn’t toy with them.”

“Fire . . .” As I played with it, I could hear something inside it moving. Sand, I thought at first. But as I thought over the name, I realized it was probably a form of black powder. My cannonball theory hadn’t been too far fetched after all. It just so happened that they were the actual cannon, too.

“They’re volatile. Throw one hard enough, and they’ll explode,” The Knight said, kneeling down to my level. “I’ll get in close and keep him distracted. Meanwhile, you just keep your distance and toss a few of these.”

“Where . . . where did you find these?” I asked.

“On one of the graves.” He stood. “They were probably left behind by another adventurer or left there as some sort of burial gift. Either way, we can use them.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

“If you’re ready, we should—”

“Mister Knight?” I interrupted. He looked down at me. “Do you mind waiting just a bit longer? I . . . I think I need a minute.” Though he didn’t say anything back, he stood firmly in place and waited.

I wasn't entirely sure why I asked for it.

A minute. Five. Ten. Did it matter?

It wouldn’t change what I’d done. More importantly, it didn’t change what I still had to do. This was the first life I’d taken, but I knew it was far from the last. So, with the moment I’d requested, I did nothing more than just stare down at the body, at the sunken, vacant eyes that stared off into the void. I tried not to think. About it, or anything else.

I wanted to go home.

A soft whimper escaped me as the tears started to fall.

After a while, the Knight stepped past me, kneeling down beside the Hollow’s body. Wiping the tears – and the blood – from my face, I tried to turn away from him. Fortunately for me, he appeared more interested in the dead man. I watched him take what I thought was a golden bell from the thing’s belt.

I swallowed a sob before speaking. “What is that?”

The Knight tossed a glance in my direction. “I noticed it while we were . . .” He cleared his throat. “It’s a cleric’s chime.” He reached out his hand to show me his prize. I was right, for the most part. It appeared to be a handle with large golden bells on either end. The bigger end, the bottom, I assumed, had a trio of smaller bells branching off from the big one. They rattled in his hand as he showed them to me.

“Is that something we can use?” I asked.

“It explains why all of these creatures are staying around here.” He scratched a bit of dirt off the polished gold. “They must have been clerics before they lost their minds. It’s why they keep coming back here when they resurrect.” He sighed. “I doubt it will be of too much use here. Unless you know anything about magic?”

“Magic?” My shoulders straightened up. “This world has magic?”

He grumbled something under his breath. “I’ve come across clerics before in my travels. They use these sorts of things to channel the magic of their gods. Healing, mostly, but they’ve got other tricks, too.” He shook his head. “At the very least, it might be worth something to someone. I think we’d better hold on to it for now.”

Before I could stop myself, I blurted out: “Can I carry it?”

Even if it being magic-related was only a thin thread, it reminded me of home.

Of my real home.

“I suppose so.” He held it out for me to take. I obliged. “Can you use it?”

I shook my head. What were the odds that this world’s magic was anything like my own?

The Knight stood and offered me his hand. “We need to get going. If we stay here too long, we’re bound to be found out.”

“Can you tell me something, first? All of this . . .” I nodded towards the body near me. “Is your whole world like this? Just . . . blood and violence and death?”

He stayed silent for a long time before uttering a simple: “Yes.”

I could feel his eyes on me. Part of me wondered what he must think of me, a stranger that he’d saved more than once now. In a world this brutal, I must have been nothing more than a nuisance to him, and I really couldn’t blame him for believing that. Like it or not, though, I needed help and this man was the first thing in this world that hadn’t tried to kill me yet. If I wanted his help, I would have to learn to pull my own weight.

“Alright.” I took his hand, and let him pull me to my feet. After a moment of rubbing my thumb across the smooth gold, I slid the chime into my jacket pocket. The bell on the end stuck out and it jingled when I walked.

We stepped up to the fog wall that blocked our path. Though the roiling white clouds obscured anything on the other side, they didn’t appear solid and wouldn’t block our path. The Knight tightened the straps on his shield and armor. I adjusted the grip on my knife. Out of the corner of my eye, I could still see the occasional blood drop fall from the tip.

With a deep breath, we shared a glance and stepped inside.

The arena looked almost exactly how I remembered it, even down to the giant armored soldier kneeling at the center. The Judge, as my companion had called him. The only difference, he didn’t have the sword in his chest. As we started down the stairs, the Judge’s head lifted. He tore his halberd from the stone and rose to his full height, but stopped there. With a start, I realized that he was waiting for us.

“You ready?” The Knight asked.

“I’ll do my best,” I promised.

Apparently, that was enough for him. He put his shield up and stepped onto the arena. The Judge rocketed into action, his footsteps shaking the arena as he charged. As he drew close, he took a running jump and slammed his weapon down, narrowly missing my ally. Taking advantage of the distraction, I sprinted past the both of them, only stopping when I reached the opposite end of the arena.

The Knight danced around his larger opponent, sidestepping and rolling when he could, and throwing up his shield when he couldn’t get out of the way. With his larger weapon, the Judge could put more power into his swings, but couldn’t defend against the occasional slashes slipping past his defenses.

Something about the way the Knight moved caught my attention. Despite the heavy armor and shield, he didn’t seem to rely on them when he could avoid it. Instead, he slipped and weaved past attacks in ways that left me in awe.

I’d seen soldiers in my time. I’d fought a few of them, in fact.

This Knight wasn’t just some nameless footsoldier. Not with skill like that.

But even he couldn’t handle this fight on his own. I reached into the bag he’d given me and pulled the first of the bombs out. No fuse. No pin. What was it that he’d said? Throw them hard enough and they explode? From where I stood, the Judge had his back to me. I could see the black sludge dripping through a crack in the back of his armor. A perfect target.

Licking my lips, I took a few steps back and exhaled. Suddenly, I wasn’t so upset about Rainbow’s insistence that I learn softball. With a few long strides and a skip, I put my full strength into an overhead pitch. I felt the faintest hint of pride as it landed dead center.

The Judge impaled the bladed end of his weapon into the stone. Before he could pull it out, he was interrupted by a splash of fire across his back. Snarling, he turned his head towards me.The gaze was enough to turn my blood cold.

“Hey, I’m not finished with you,” The Knight roared. With a running jump, he brought his sword down hard, rending a deep gouge through the Judge’s chestplate. The beast shrieked and flailed. The Knight managed to duck under his halberd swing, but stood back up in time to catch a back-hand with his shield. Despite catching it, the force of the hit still sent him rolling back head-over-heels.

After taking the Knight out of commission, the Judge turned to me. Kicking up a few puffs of dust, he turned and sprinted towards me. I felt my muscles harden, rooting me in place as this freight train barreled down on me. I didn’t have time for the same fanfare as I slung the second and third bombs towards the giant. He swerved, narrowly avoiding the first, and swatted the second out of the air with his blade.

This felt familiar. My body freezing up, my weakened knees buckling beneath me, my weapon slipping through trembling fingers.

I was about to die. Again.

The monster launched himself into the air, bringing his weapon down in a single, two-handed strike. I couldn’t see anything aside from that sharpened tip. For a moment, I felt my breath catch, felt the pain as the metal tore through my flesh. My death played out before me in flickering memories.

The Judge’s swing rained down. But it didn’t hit me.

Crunching metal stirred me from my stupor. The Knight stood before me, his shield up and braced with both hands to catch the Judge’s final blow. Even from here, I could see the bloodied end of the halberd pierced through both the shield and the soldier’s arm.

“You . . .” was all I could sputter out.

“Sunset, focus!” The Knight growled.

Still trembling, I felt my fingers brush against something smooth sitting beside me. Another of the bombs. Gritting my teeth, I tightened my grip on the bomb and climbed back to my feet. With a scream, I pulled back and launched the bomb as hard as I could. It struck square against the Judge’s jaw. The fiery explosion knocked him back. His halberd ripped free from the Knight’s shield with a sickening sound.

Freed, the Knight tossed down his shield. Without anything to pin it in place, his arm fell limp at his side. His good hand reached to his belt and drew his sword. I could see his shoulders heaving as he tried to breathe through the pain.

“I-I’m sorry,” I said.

“Sorry isn’t going to get us through this,” he shot back.

“What are we supposed to do?”

“We stick to the plan, I’ll–”

Our conversation was interrupted by an ear-splitting howl. The Judge staggered back. A black, oily fluid started to leak through the cracks in his charred helmet and broken armor. The fluid did not spill across the ground, though. Instead, it curved inward and upward, forming a black geyser that rose higher than the arena walls.

“What’s he doing?” I asked, wide-eyed.

The Knight said nothing.

Tendrils of the black substance met and knitted together into a rough, bulky shape. The Judge’s left arm exploded through his armor as the limb stretched out into a long, disfigured claw. The darkness consumed the monster’s body from the waist up, forming itself into a massive, swaying serpent’s head. Two glowing red eyes watched the two of us from behind the slithering mass.

“Get back,” The Knight yelled. He only managed a single step forward before the serpent’s tail flicked around, knocking him aside and leaving a dent in his chestplate. The serpent head reared back and roared, shaking the whole of the arena with just its voice. The Knight lay nearby in a crumpled heap, unmoving.

I didn’t have much of a choice now. I had thought this beast giant before, but now it stood as tall as a building, writhing and screeching. Swallowing my fear, I leaned down, taking my sword and the final firebomb. The Judge did likewise, picking his halberd up from where it had fallen.

Without warning, the serpent head plunged downward, biting a chunk out of the floor where I had been standing only a second prior. Time slowed to a crawl. My heartbeat hammered in my ears. My body moved on reflex. I sprinted past the beast, ducking low to avoid a swipe from its claw. From behind, I pitched the last of my bombs into its back. The fire ignited, blazing up the creature’s oily skin.

The serpent hissed and flailed around towards me, but I was already moving again.

Its head twisted around until its glowing eyes were on me. Its jaw opened wide and swept across the arena. I threw myself forward, diving out of the way as its teeth snapped shut, crushing the stone inside to dust.

By now, the flames from my bomb had died down to embers.

I needed another plan. My fingers tightened around my knife.

It was desperate. Stupid, even, but I didn’t have many options. I would need to get in close, slip past its blade and claw and try to . . . what . . . I didn’t even know if my little knife could hurt this thing. I needed something stronger, something with a kick to it.

My thoughts were interrupted by a quiet jingle. The chime.

Maybe I wasn’t completely hopeless.

I pulled the chime from my pocket and studied it for a moment.

The beast wouldn’t wait for me, though. Its head came down for another slam. This time, I sprinted towards the body. It tried to catch me with its halberd, so I dropped lower, sliding across the stone. I didn’t make it though before its claw came down on me. It squeezed me like a toy as it lifted me into the air. It held me high enough that I was level with its beady red eyes. It graced me with a deafening roar. I was close enough that I could feel the heat of its breath as it painted me with specks of black spittle that burned through my clothes and into my skin. Wiggling my arm free from its grasp, I lifted my knife and hammered it down repeatedly against the claw, severing one of the fingers.

The monster shrieked and whipped its arm around, launching my body. I hit the wall of the arena, where I landed with a dry-sounding crack. Searing pain surged through my spine, knocking the wind out of me and forcing me to my hands and knees. Still, I could feel the smoothness of the golden chime still locked in my fingers. The Judge’s cries died down and I doubted it would take my offense kindly. I only had one shot at this.

I reached deep into myself, just as I had so long ago, calling upon my magic.

Just as Celestia had taught me.

I remembered the feeling of energy welling up inside me, gathering in my horn and waiting to be unleashed at my command. I couldn’t do it in the human world, but I had never forgotten how. This time, though, the energy started to gather in my hand. I could see sparks of lightning arc between the branching bells.

Grinning through bloodied teeth, I struggled to my feet.

The beast noticed me, lowered its head, and charged.

I pulled my arm back, just as I had with the bombs. Light flickered from the chime.

With a screech, the Judge leapt into the air. My broken body didn’t stand a chance.

With a primal howl, I lifted the chime above my head. Magic surged, filling my body with the intoxicating thrum of power. The chime in my hand glowed with lightning the color of the burning clouds against a setting sun. I poured every ounce of my strength, of my will, of my soul into one final swing.

The bolt of lightning rocketed forward, connecting with the serpent’s head before erupting in a blinding flash. The crack of thunder tore through the arena, the shockwave kicking up a storm of dust and debris as it rippled across the battlefield. And when it finally settled, I could see the fruits of my struggle:

The beast cowered on one knee, its serpent head slumped to the side, stunned. The way it was bent revealed the Judge’s crowned helmet at the core of the creature’s body. I held my knife tight as I stumbled forward. It tried to stand, to escape my slow advance, but its body still convulsed with magical energy. New black tendrils spawned, trying to fill in the holes that had burned through it.

But I was only focused on one thing. As I neared, the Judge’s helmet turned to watch me. It stared up at me, powerless as I lifted my knife. With a few deep breaths, I summoned my strength and brought my knife down, plunging the point through the helmet’s forehead.

The serpent gave one final roar before collapsing back to the ground. The oily substance melted into black goo. What little survived retreated back into the Judge’s body. I ripped my dagger out and stepped aside, allowing the once-great knight to fall face down into the dirt and muck. And there it stayed, lifeless and still.

Author's Note

Okay, so I wanted to take a moment here to address some things:

As some of you may have noticed, this story is a crossover with Dark Souls 3. I'm a huge fan of the game. During a recent replay while I was working on a different story, I had an idea for a crossover that would combine the two.

But there's a few things I would like to point out for readers as the story goes on: Dark Souls lore is pretty confusing. A good chunk of it is more theory based, time is strange and convoluted, and sometimes, the lore I reference in the story here might not line up perfectly with some theories out there. As I said, I'm a fan of the games and love the lore, so I've done my best to keep it intact as well as I knew how.

Some of you might also notice that there are things in the story that line up with the game's mechanics and some that don't. I try to put a narrative to certain points, such as resting at a bonfire, but its not always going to be perfect, and there are times when I'll have to put story ahead of game logic.

Anyways, I hope this disclaimer helps shape your expectations for this story, and I apologize if you decide that it isn't for you. Either way, I appreciate all of my readers that stop by and would love to hear what any of you think in the comments below, be it positive or negative.

Until next time,
Arkane