This is the third part of an ongoing series inspired by my girlfriend's first experiences with Dark Souls.
Else Somewhere Else
A tale of Elseweyr's adventures in Lordran
Part three
Part three
She hesitated at the fog door - she knew something bad lay beyond it. So when she finally stepped through it she had her shield raised high in front of her in a cramp-like stance. She had emerged on top of the huge stone wall, and the sun was very bright here.
Crossbow bolts clanged against stone somewhere above her. There was a ladder to her right, which led up the outside of the tower she'd just climbed, and she climbed up to see who, or what, had made the sounds. Sure enough, two Hollows brandishing crossbows and clad in pitifully damaged armor stood at the top of the tower shooting bolts in her general direction, without much success. So two more Hollows were done for. Else's newly acquired Katana was such a fearsome weapon that even armor in much better repair wouldn't have saved them. Next, she climbed back down the ladder to continue her way along the wall. I rather like this place, it's so--
An impossibly large creature leaped in front of her from the top a tower twenty feet in front of her. It had a bull's head with horns and dangerous eyes, which was all Else had time to register before turning and bolting for the ladder as fast as her feet could fly. Up the ladder, quick, faster dammit! She reached the top of the ladder and turned to regard the bull-demon below. She had a sudden moment of clarity. I'll not miss my jump this time, I've got this. She jumped--
Her head hurt. Her eyes watered, and she itched all around. She had to get used to this dying - but death was so inconvenient! She was ugly and rotten again; fine, she'd go on like this for a while. Of the fight against the bull-demon she remembered very little, only that she'd landed on its head quite successfully this time, but then got totally wrecked by some ridiculously large weapon it had wielded. But all in all her mind wasn't as jumbled as it had been the last time she had died. Was she getting used to dying? That was such an absurd sentence that she just put it out of her mind.
She knew where to find the monster, and she was ready to have her revenge. Up the spiral staircase, through the fog, up the ladder, slice the revived Hollows. Okay, now then.
The demon had retreated to the top of the adjacent tower, and she had to run quite near it to get its attention this time. She used the same tactic as before, retreating up the ladder to higher ground. This time her jump was timed perfectly! After landing a heavy blow to the demon's head, she dropped to the ground and immediately rolled behind it. She dodged and slashed furiously. She got hit once pretty bad, but got up and continued laying into the beast. And suddenly it was over -- she'd felled the demon. She was thankful that her Hollowed state didn't seem to cause any more blanks in her memory; she would want to remember this triumph.
After a while of catching her breath and admiring the magnificent view, she was ready to continue. Descending a set of stairs, she was ever vigilant for more enemies. Then there was a wide bridge to her left which seemed to reach a fortified structure on the far side. The bridge was entirely scorched black, very strange… Loud wing-flaps heralded the enormous red dragon-like creature she'd encountered earlier, as it swooped down with terrifying speed. She managed to avoid a huge gout of flame that torched the entire bridge. She dashed to her right instead, away from the inferno. Here, on the ramparts of the wall, she once again encountered a beautiful sun-drenched view out over the foggy lands below. There was a knight in peculiar silver and emerald armor also seemingly admiring the view. Else was hesitant -- she'd only encountered hostile creatures so far -- but this knight didn't seem to mind her presence. She took a few tentative steps forward, then threw all caution to the wind, and went to talk to the mysterious figure.
End of part three
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