//------------------------------// // The Chariot // Story: Dark Souls 2: Rarity's Trials // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// Instead of heading into the passage that they unlocked after defeating the Skeleton Lords, and likely finding a new area to explore after the area that they were in, Rarity and Edric agreed to head back to the locked off bonfire, now that they had the key to open the door, and retrace their steps. The reasoning behind this was because they knew that there was a path that they had chosen to avoid earlier, one that was likely to take them right to the second powerful creature that called this area home, as Rarity was positive that there was another one for them to fight. Since they had already killed all of the hollows that rested between where the Skeleton Lords called their home and where the bonfire they wanted to awaken was located, they were allowed to relax their nerves for a few minutes, though that didn't stop Rarity from making sure that nothing tried to sneak up on them while they walked. It took them a few minutes to reach the cell like area that the bonfire had been locked inside, though after Rarity used the key to open the door she noticed that they weren't the only people visiting the bonfire, as there was a warrior with some decent armor on, and covering his face in the process, sitting on the ground across from where the door was located... and he only looked up when he heard the sound of the door opening. "Who are you two?" the warrior asked almost immediately, though while he made no move to arm himself yet, as that was what Rarity was expecting him to do, the two of them knew that they had to be careful before they annoyed the man more than he already was. "My name is Rarity, and this is my companion Edric," Rarity replied, waving a hand towards herself and then towards Edric, allowing the man to know which of them was such, just in case he was confused as to who was who. "Sorry, I thought you were that bastard for a moment." the warrior commented, to which he nodded his head for a moment, indicating that he now knew who they were, before he noticed that the door we definitely open, "You've set me free, and now I can find him. The cheeky prick... he won't know what hit him." "Cheeky prick..." Edric mumbled, to which he and Rarity shared a glance with each other, as they had a faint idea of who the man was referring to, as when they had encountered him they both believed that there was something wrong or off about the man, "Who might you be?" "I am Creighton, of Mirrah. I travel from land to land to hone my blade." the warrior said, to which he tapped his weapon for a moment, indicating that he wasn't afraid to use it if he needed to use it, "I've heard this land was full of danger. I thought it would suit me perfectly. I joined forces with a man on the way, but he was no more than a back-stabbing knave. He took the first chance he had to try and off me. I decided to set a trap for him here, but then I got trapped myself. I can't believe that I was so dense. Thank the stars that you came along." "It was our pleasure to help you out," Rarity stated, though at the same time she knew that she and Edric didn't mean to save him, as they had no idea that he was even here to begin with, but at least Creighton would be able to leave this area whenever he wanted to now, "You mentioned that you allied yourself with someone sometime ago, but you never mentioned the name of this person." "You be careful of him. Pate, I think he said." Creighton stated, though as he spoke the name both Rarity and Edric shared a quick glance with each other, as the person that betrayed him was the same one they had been thinking about since they started talking, "He wears this rather unusual ring, one that you'll know when you see it. I've seen his type before, the type that kills entirely for the pleasure of it. I'm sure I won't be his last victim. The man's better off dead, I tell you. He's a slick talker, so don't let him fool you. And don't you believe a word he says. I'll find the common footpad, and put an end to his roguery." With that said, and his dislike for Pate renewed thanks to talking about him, Creighton got onto his feet, lifted his weapon from where he had placed it, and moved towards the doorway, where Edric moved out of the way and let him head into the unknown. The two of them watched the warrior for a few moments, watching him disappear in the distance, where they wished him well in his quest to track down Pate and kill him for what had happened earlier, before they turned their attention back to the bonfire. They chose to rest by the bonfire for a few seconds, to get their strength and energy back, before they teleported back to the second bonfire they had discovered in this particular area, the one that rested near the fallen tree that Edric had kicked down. Of course resting at the bonfire meant that all of the enemies they had killed so far would have come back to life, and would be waiting for the perfect chance to kill the two of them, but Rarity and Edric were more than ready for whatever was waiting for them. They crossed over the stone bridge that was near where the bonfire they selected was located and Rarity loosed a few Emit Force spells at the poison creatures that lingered in the trees, while at the same time Edric dealt with the warrior enemies that were charging at them. From there the two of them turned to the right and walked up the hill once more, though instead of heading even higher, and passing by the sealed off dome shaped building, they turned towards the second stone bridge and walked across it. The moment they crossed over to the other side of the bridge Edric dealt with the two hollows that were wandering around the area, though at the same time a larger hollow, wearing the clothing that Rarity assumed marked him as an executioner of some kind, dropped down into the area they were in... to which he started swinging his large two handed axe at them. Fortunately the executioner seemed more interested in Rarity than Edric, to which Rarity dodged the attacks that were coming her way and loosed two minor Soul Arrows into her opponent's chest, opening his back up to Edric's rapid slashes, which caused him to fall to the ground moments later. Once their opponent was dealt with they walked up the path near them, but this time around the two of them were more careful and stayed on their guard, because the executioner was more dangerous than the other minor enemies they had encountered so far and knew that one of them could die if they weren't careful. As they walked up the hill they both noticed that there was a path on their left, to which they agreed to move up the new path they had discovered, as they were both sure that this was the way to whatever powerful creature they had ignored earlier. A few moments later the two of them came to a flat area that would clearly bring them to a wooden bridge, which had to take them towards the powerful creature that lived in this area... and the only thing standing in their way were the four executioners that were protecting this area. Before they moved forward, and annoyed all of the executioners, Rarity stopped Edric in his tracks as she studied how their enemies were positioned, where she determined something that would make this entire area much easier on the two of them. "Edric, be a dear and draw the first executioner towards us," Rarity said, beckoning to the axe wielding executioner that was the closest enemy of the four, to which Edric seemed to notice what she was seeing. Edric nodded and took a few small steps forward, though when the executioner noticed him, and started walking towards him, he immediately retreated and pulled their foe away from his friends, while at the same time Rarity prepared herself for what was going to happen. When the executioner got close to them Rarity raised her hand and sent a Lightning Spear flying through the air, piercing the hollow's chest and causing him to stagger for a few seconds, which allowed Edric to cut him down from behind. As the first executioner fell the second one, who appeared to be carrying a whip instead of an axe, approached the duo, though as that happened Rarity noticed that the other two executioners had noticed their friend's death and were coming towards them. One thing that Rarity had to be careful of was the fact that the executioner's whip actually cut small lines into the ground around him, to which she and Edric timed their attacks so they could hit him when he was in the middle of two attacks, allowing for the maximum amount of damage before they had to back away. It took them a few more seconds to defeat the whip wielding executioner, though as he fell the other two joined the battle and attacked them, but this time around Rarity and Edric separated from each other and forced the two executioners to separate as well. They then purposely lined the two executioners up, without them knowing anyway, before Rarity threw a Lightning Spear through the first one and pierced the second one as well... to which she and Edric attacked the staggered executioners with their weapons and finished them off. "You know, I would have hated to fight these guys without you," Edric commented, as he was beginning to see that, despite the fact that Rarity didn't have a lot of experience in being an adventurer of sorts, she had the ability to make quick plans that actually benefited them and their quest. "I would have to agree with you on that," Rarity said, though at the same time she flexed her fingers for a few seconds, where the Dark Magic twisted around her fingers before she dispelled the magic entirely, "I mean, I could have easily killed them with the foul Dark Magic that I have awoken, but if I had fought them without that sort of magic they would have flanked me and put an end to my life... before I woke up at the bonfire again." Edric nodded and together the two of them progressed onward, crossing over the area that the four executioners had been guarding, to which they approached the long wooden bridge and carefully walked across it, because there were parts of the bridge that were falling apart and they had to walk across some planks to continue onward. When they reached the other side of the bridge, however, they spotted a red specter of a warrior, carrying a large sword and a shield, blocking their path. Directly behind the specter rested another fog door, indicating that they had found the home of the other powerful creature that they had been searching for... and had discovered that this one was also being guarded by another guardian that wanted them dead. The two of them found that, while the size of the warrior's blade slowed him down a little bit, he could still deliver some decent attacks that left gashes in the ground around them, but they were pleased to find that he couldn't stand against a few of Rarity's spells... though once he was down for the count, however, they paused for a few seconds before passing through the fog door. As they walked into the area they had discovered, and looked around for some enemies that would be the creature they had been searching for, Rarity discovered a large hole on their right, which prevented them from heading in that direction. That was rapidly followed by the sound of a large gate of some kind opening and the sound of some hooves charging against the floor that they were standing on, though that was when Rarity noticed some indents on the walls and pulled Edric into one of them. A few seconds later they found that their opponent was a skeleton warlord of some kind that was riding on a chariot, though that chariot was being pulled by a two headed horse that had an aura of death surrounding it... and that the spikes on the chariot's wheels cut apart the unfortunate skeletons that were in the way. As the chariot passed by them, and continued down the direction they had come from, Rarity and Edric emerged from their hiding spot and continued up the path in front of them, though when they saw the light of the chariot coming they dived back into a hiding spot to avoid being run over. As they advanced through the area they also took out the skeletons and necromancers that were in their way, as they didn't want to be wrecked by someone from behind, but their plan to take this one step at a time seemed to be working quite well. It didn't take them too long to reach the lever that apparently controlled the gate that the chariot had been resting behind, though once they reached it Edric pulled the lever and lowered the gate into position. Once that happened he and Rarity moved as far back as they deemed necessary and waited for the chariot to come towards them once more, though that was immediately followed by the chariot running right into the gate... to which the entire chariot, and its rider, were destroyed, though the horse hit the ground and quickly got back up, before staring at them with a look of anger in all of its eyes. It was in that moment that Rarity discovered that the two headed horse had to be the powerful creature that they had come to kill, which was something that Edric seemed to understand as well, though that didn't stop them from keeping their guards up as they approached the beast. Rarity was right to think that they should keep their guard up, as when Edric drew close to the horse and cut into the creature the horse quickly turned around and reared its hind legs, to which it kicked him hard in the shield and knocked him into the wall. Rarity growled as she saw that happen, as Edric was in a great deal of pain due to the attack, but she lashed out in her anger and blasted the two headed horse with some Dark Magic, causing the beast to stagger and gave Edric the opportunity to heal before he entered the fight once more. From that point onward Edric demanded the attention of the two headed horse, rolling out of the way when the beast charged at him and made sure to avoid the horse's hind legs when he was behind it, while at the same time Rarity decided to use her Lightning Spear to do massive damage and end the fight quickly. What she discovered, however, was that the spell she had chosen didn't do as much as she originally thought it did, to which she wondered which spell would end this fight quickly. After a few seconds she decided to use some of her other spells, instead of relying on her Lightning Spear, to which she picked the Soul Arrow spells and cast as many of them as she could while her companion kept the horse as busy as possible. It took them a few more minutes of following the same pattern, while somehow avoiding all of the horse's attacks, before Rarity and Edric brought it down... though as they collected their hard won souls they knew that it was time to visit the Emerald Herald, after they found the next bonfire anyway.