With the strength of Lords, they challenged the Dragons. Gwyn's mighty bolts peeled apart their stone scales. The Witches weaved great firestorms. Nito unleashed a miasma of death and disease. And Seath the Scaleless betrayed his own, and the Dragons were no more.
Thus began the Age of Fire. But soon the flames will fade and only Dark will remain. Even now there are only embers, and man sees not light, but only endless nights. And amongst the living are seen, carriers of the accursed Darksign.
Yes, indeed. The Darksign brands the Undead. And in this land, the Undead are corralled and led to the north, where they are locked away, to await the end of the world... This is your fate.
Only, in the ancient legends it is stated, that one day an undead shall be chosen to leave the undead asylum, in pilgrimage, to the land of ancient lords, Lordran.
I sat in the cold, dark prison cell. There was a slight jingle, I tilted my head up and saw a person wearing armor, drop a set of keys before disappearing.
The keys landed in front of me. I leaned forward and reached the keys. I got up and looked at the cell door before I looked at the keys. I walked up to the door and used the key. The door opened, leading into a hallway.
I slowly walked down seeing that there were other like me. They seemed to ignore me as I walked by. I headed up the stairs and entered a flooded room. I proceeded through the room and managed to find a ladder leading up.
I climbed up and found myself outside. A sigh of relief escaped me. I was standing in an open courtyard, there was a sword sticking out from under the ground. Orange writing was next to it.
I knelt down and read the message. Bonfire. I reached towards the sword cautiously. My hand was a few inches away before it exploded into flames. I jumped back and stared at the sword. I warmth emitted from it that brought me closer.
I sat down next to it and decided to rest for a bit. I stood back up and saw giant double doors in front of me. That was the only means of leaving the courtyard. I walked up to them and pushed them open.
I slowly walked into the large room. I couldn't really do anything. I only had a broken sword hilt and some black fire bombs. I pressed forward.
A giant creature landed in front of me. I was knocked back from its rough landing. I scurried onto my feet quickly and prepared for battle. The beast towered over me, wielding a giant hammer.
The beast launched itself to me. I jumped out of the way and went into a roll. I pulled out one of my black fire bombs and chucked it at the beast.
Black flames engulfed the creature as it roared in pain. The beast turned around and swung its large hammer at me. The crushing blow caused me to fly a few feet away.
I pulled out another bomb and threw it at the creature. It seemed weak against the black fire bombs. I got up to my feet and strafed around it. I took out another bomb and chucked it at it.
The beast, roaring in pain, began to fly up into the air. I watched and backed off a few feet. The best then fell down. The floor rumbled and caused me to fall back down. I quickly took out another bomb as I got up to my feet.
The beast jumped towards me, its hammer hanging over its head. I pushed forward and dove right under it. I quickly turned around as the beasts back was facing me and threw the fire bomb.
The beast roared angrily as it fell and disappeared. I sighed and hunched over, trying to catch my breath. I felt a strange weight though.
I looked around and saw the beasts hammer attached to me. my eyes grew from how heavy it was. I looked back down at the sword hilt and shrugged to myself as I dropped it on the ground.
The hammer would be enough to over power enemies. It was extremely heavy though and the only way to somewhat use it was if I held it with both my hands.
A white mist surrounded me too before disappearing. A lump of some sort appeared in my pocket. I reached in and took it out. It was a tiny black sprite.
There was a door leading out of the room. I walked into it and found another Bonfire inside the room. I reached out to it and it lit up exactly like the first one. I continued through the dark room and found a corridor. At the end was an undead with a bow.
Next to the door frame of the room I was in was a cell room. I walked into it and found a corpse holding onto a shield. I picked up the shield and printed down the corridor as I held my shield up. The arrows hit the shield as I ran, the undead ahead stopped shooting and ran way.
I stopped and saw another cell. I entered it and found a sword. I bent over and picked it up. It'd prove useful until I'm able to wield the giant hammer. I swung the sword at the undeads back cutting it badly.
The undead turned around but before it could do anything I lunged forward and stabbed my sword right through its chest. The undead groaned and fell back. I pulled my sword out and continued up the stairs.
At the top was a white mist. I stared at it confused on what to do. I stepped up to it and reached into it. My fingers slid inside, I walked forward and my body slid right through. As I passed the white mist it dispersed.
I found myself in a large three-story courtyard. I continued forward and found myself at an intersection. I looked to the left and found nothing so I went to the right. I now found myself at a stairwell.
Seemed that if I headed downstairs it would lead to the first bonfire. I decided to go up instead. The sound of stone grinding against each other filled my ears. I looked up the stairs and saw a giant boulder rolling my way.
I panicked and without thinking, dove out the way. The boulder rolled on and crashed into the wall that was about to fall. I got back on my feet and stared into the wall. It lead into a room.
I stepped over the ruble and saw the person who helped me out, laying on some ruble. I walked up to him. He seemed badly hurt, he seemed perfectly fine when I first saw him, did he fight the beast thing from before?
He slowly turned his head and looked at me. "…Oh, you… You're no Hollow, eh?…Thank goodness……I'm done for, I'm afraid……I'll die soon, then lose my sanity……I wish to ask something of you……You and I, we're both Undead… Hear me out, will you?"
I stayed quiet but gave him a nod, "…Regrettably, I have failed in my mission……But perhaps you can keep the torch lit……There is an old saying in my family……Thou who art Undead, art chosen……In thine exodus from the Undead Asylum, maketh pilgrimage to the land of Ancient Lords……When thou ringeth the Bell of Awakening, the fate of the Undead thou shalt know.…Well, now you know… And I can die with hope in my heart……Oh, one more thing…Here, take this.…An Estus Flsk, an Undead favorite.…Oh, and this…" He handed me a key exactly like the one I had gotten from the beast I had fought earlier. "…Now I must bid farewell……I would hate to harm you after death…So, go now……And thank you…"
I nodded once again and left the man. Before parting he had given me his name. Oscar...Oscar, knight of Astora.
I began to leave the room. I stopped and looked back at Oscar, without a word I gave him a small nod and left.
I was soon facing another pair of giant double doors in the room me and the beast had fought in, I figured I'd try the keys on this door first. I used the keys and pushed the door. The doors slowly opened and I was outside once again.
A path lead up. I followed it and stood at the edge of a cliff. I looked around and saw nothing but a huge pitfall of death in front of me.
I leaned out and looked down. I gasped and quickly stepped back as a giant crow flew up, its wings spreading out and talons pointing out.
In an instant it swooped down and picked me off of the ground. The bird flew away with me into the distant lands away from this asylum.
The crow had carried me far off into some other land. The crow lowered itself and opened its talons, letting me go.
I looked down and landed going into a roll. I caught myself and slowly looked around. Where was I?
There was a man sitting down by himself not too far from where I was. I stood next to a well with a body hanging on the edge. A few feet in front of me was another Bonfire.
I looked back at the body and saw it was slightly glowing. I walked up to it and searched it only to find more of those tiny black sprites.
I slid them into my pocket and ignited the Bonfire before sitting down and resting. I took out one of the black sprites and stared at it.
I slightly squeezed it and its light expanded before it disappeared from my hand. My eyes slightly grew from what had happened.
I started to feel weird, my body was going through something. It felt as though my skin was being filled. A few seconds went by. I looked at my body and didn't see and rotting skin.
My face turned slightly red and a slight moan left me as my armor pressed against my chest tightly. I took a minute and re-adjusted it.
I sat there silently. I didn't look undead, I looked... human. I pulled back and tucked a loose lock of light blond hair behind my ear.
A light sigh left me. A familiar sensation came across my lips.
I was smiling.
I didn't know where I was. Or what my purpose here is. Or why I need to ring those bells.
The Dark Sign was etched onto my palm. I've heard stories about it. I was an Undead. How I came to be here is well beyond me but if what Oscar said was true, my mission was to ring those bells and find out my fate.
Next Chapter: FireLink Shrine.