Outside of the cathedral, everything was as they had left them, as if the world had been stopped in time, which wasn’t that far from the truth apparently. Lordran and the other kingdoms had been turned into graveyards and want it or not, with only the dead in residence, the once mighty towns and cities now looked ravaged by the elements. And yet, they stood tall and proud every day, like a still painting that the author had left unfinished. Lifeless, with only the minimum of colors and brushes to make it look like a town, but anyone that looked at it could see how lifeless the painting was. That’s what went through Sunset’s mind as the group walked from the cathedral and across the arcs.
The sight was lovely, with trees growing everywhere and the presence of ivy branches twirling around the lovely arcs of stone, but this was not by design, but by letting nature conquer back territory stripped from it by humans and gods. The pathway then went into another building, one with a pleasant surprise for Sunset. It was a bonfire, abandoned for who knows how long, with its cinders squashed and a chipped and rusty sword signaling how dead the flame and the world were.
“I suppose you can get more usage of this thing than me in the end,” Andre said and Sunset noticed his words. Looking at his body, Sunset couldn’t find any clue of a Darksign in the tall smith which made her think about her own, hidden underneath her clothes. It didn’t hurt, but it was a presence that Sunset couldn’t keep out of her mind, like the sting of a mosquito. It was always there, reminding her of what she had become, mocking her with the dark circle of her curse, of waking up over and over, never finding true rest, until at last, she will lose her mind and become one more walking ghost in this forsaken land.
The redhead shook her head, sending her red and gold hair fly around her. Thankfully, her companions had kept on walking, with only Madeleine standing close to her, watching her and asking her with her eyes if she was okay. It was a true testament of how much time she had spent with the silver armored woman that Sunset could recognize the look, but it was exactly what she needed to get back from that dark place she was about to jump into.
This was no time to lose hope, unless of course she desired to turn hollow, so, no thank you.
Taking the steps down, the group of five reached the obvious workstation of Andre, consisting of an anvil, tools, steel and many other materials and among all of that, a small box with a bright light emanating of it. Looking at it closely, Sunset could see small embers fly out of what appeared a small flame.
“Had to walk all the way to the cathedral. It was impossible not to hear the rumbling and crashing followed by the bell ringing after who knows how long,” Andre laughed, obviously finding the whole situation hilarious.
“So, this is where you work?” Madeleine started the conversation, with Andre taking place behind his anvil and taking a set of prongs, took a longsword and with his other hand holding now a hammer, began to do his job.
“This is a good place as any these days,” the mountain of a man said, the thundering strikes of his hammer resonating across the small building. “It’s far enough that no hollow comes close, yet a nice place for many undead to walk by so I’m never idle.” That was definitely new.
“Wait, what do you mean by other undead? So far we haven’t seen many, except for Solaire," Sunset could count with one hand the amount of undead she had met, including the Way of White members that had walked to their doom. She knew Madeleine was human and wasn’t even sure if Oswald was even real, with the way he looked as if everything was a big joke.
“That’s what you think. After all, Lordran is always pulling other worlds together. Dozens of travelers can cross our path and all of them are always looking for something; a friend, a treasure, the cure of the undead curse. I can recall only a handful of them that had truly conquered their paths and even they could go so far before they also fell.”
“So, is that why you are here? To help these errant souls?” Solaire knew about the way in which the worlds could sometimes connect with each other. After all, that’s how Sunset and Madeleine had met the solar knight and since then, well, the redhead hoped that same fog wall didn’t separate them again.
“It’s the least I could do. Besides, I cannot let myself become idle, gotta keep my art alive as long as I can, so show me your weapons and equipment. I’ll get them as good as new.”
“No need for me, my weapons and armor are something unique,” Madeleine said placing a hand over her masquerade, confirming the fact that the seemingly frail accessory was something important to the other woman. Still, Sunset wasn’t quite sure if it was magical reasons or sentimental ones that made the woman keep on using it.
“Meh, magical, demonic or made by humans, all weapons can still be modified and repaired; you only need the right titanite for it.”
“Wait, what? Excuse me, titanite? What’s that?” As with all new information, Sunset’s ears had basically zeroed on the new word, almost like radar, or maybe it was the years of experience in new technology and esoteric information that she had gained after years of studying and practice. If there was still a thing that she loved like nothing in the world was new information. Andre meanwhile just took a small piece of something that looked like metal. It was rugged and reminded Sunset of a scale due to the way it was shaved.
“This little thing is a small piece of titanite. There used to be hundreds of these things around if you believe the books, but now, well, you’re lucky if you find any of the original slabs,” he said, throwing the small piece in Sunset’s direction, who quickly caught it in midair.
“What are they made of? This doesn’t look like any metal that I know of.” It was indeed a weird discovery to be made, one of so many that could fill a whole library, of course, if she could survive the ordeal.
“Who knows. After all, the ones who made them are gone or dead. Either way; no one alive knows how to create more so there is always short supply. But with their power, mixing them with souls, well, the ways in which one can modify a weapon is only restricted by another source of power.” Andre then pointed to his embers box sitting down among his tools. “There are very powerful embers, tools that can help you change the properties of a weapon. They can be imbued with the power of lightning or you can even enchant it with pure magic, but those embers are also a lost art.” Andre’s face showed how much that thought truly affected him and Sunset understood well why. After all, all knowledge lost was something worthy of sadness. It was a light that had been snuffed too early and even though she did know nothing of things like souls or smiting, she hoped they could find lost knowledge and return it to this dying world.
“So far we have seen many strange artifacts and remnants of the old world, like the armored boar, a drake… even Havel,” Madeleine said and every set of eyes in the room were now fixed on the elegant figure of Madeleine. “We found him underneath the tower in the Burg. He had gone hollow for… I don’t even know how long, but it was obviously a very long time ago considering he is now just a legend for some.”
“Are you saying that thou fount Lord Havel? Well, I guess that if thou are here and he is not, thou finally granted him rest,” Oswald said placing his hands behind his back, deep in thought and memories. “I suppose it does not count as a sin to put down a hollow as strong as him, so it’s not a sin, but mercy that you granted him.”
“Did you know him Oswald of Carim?” Madeleine had that look on her face, the one that Sunset sometimes had when there was something intriguing around. After the days traveling with the silver armored woman, she had seen first-hand how curious she was about new stuff.
“Oh yes, but that was a life before I became a priest, something I left behind me to being the word of Velka. Still, it’s good news to know that someone we thought lost was found, just not in the way most would find joyful.”
“But what was he doing there? I mean, I don’t think he simply wandered around and got himself trapped by mistake, so who put him there?”
“Sunset, I can only think of two creatures that could have done that. One would be Seath since Havel was said to hate all dragons, so working alongside one must have rubbed him the wrong way.”
“But we know that cannot be since Lord Seath never leaves his library, so who is your other culprit?” Solaire was enjoying the talk as much as the others. After all, it was bizarre to see so many people side by side, be them undead or simple human beings; Solaire was sure that something like this was not something that happened every day in Lordran.
“To be sincere, there can be only one person that could do something like that; Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight.” Madeleine’s words were like the final nail of a coffin, strong enough that no one dared to contradict it. After all, someone as strong as Havel could only be betrayed by someone equally strong or important. Still, there were no real facts and soon the talk moved along to weapons and armor.
“Well, I do hope you took care of his armor. That beast is a relic and a masterpiece of protection,” Andre said while both Madeleine and Sunset smiled at the precautions they took. “Wait, you have it?”
“It’s back at the Burg, at one of the houses we turned into our base, but yes, we have it.”
“Now that is some good news for you. After all, that armor could withstand more than enough damage, just not good enough to stop a piercing weapon between the seams, but it’s an armor that many would pay handsomely just to see it. You need to give that to me so I could repair it for you if you want to, although, it is way too heavy for most people.”
“Well, now that you mention the weight of the armor, I do believe something else that we found on his body has been useful for you Sunset, remember the ring we found on his body?”
“Yeah, I’ve been wearing it. I liked the design.” Sunset showed them all her hand, with two rings already on her fingers, one was a featureless ring with dull stone, the other, had a set of stones in a circle with a bigger one in the middle.
“Havel’s Ring. No wonder you are capable of using that Claymore with one hand Lady Sunset. That ring is a powerful relic you have found.”
“You know what this thing can do Solaire?” Sunset looked at the ring in her possession, still surprised that the ring was important.
“From what I know, that ring was used by Havel to make his armor and weapon weigh less, almost as if another force was fighting the weight. Still, the armor is still heavy in all accounts, even with the usage of that ring.”
“But if you have become stronger with both fights and ring, then you may grow even stronger with time, so what do you say? Want me to check your weapons? Your journey is still long, you will need stronger weapons.”
“And while you do that, I think it will be a good idea to see the power of your flame. After all, Pyromancy is a powerful weapon that could be useful in the future,” Madeleine said taking her own spear and placing it in the floor alongside Sunset’s claymore and axe.
“Why don’t you practice with the demon underneath us? That thing is blocking the road to the forest.”
“Wait, what demon? What forest?”