Flame of Disparity

by Cinders of War


Chapter 13: Unlit Abbey

Sunset Shimmer immediately realized just how dark the inside of the cathedral was as soon as she entered. It wasn’t even just regular dark. It was as though the light was being sucked through the doorway before her very eyes. The moonlight’s rays were shining from outside, lighting up the slit between the doors, but none of it penetrated the darkness within.

“How odd… And troublesome…” Sunset grumbled.

Thankfully, her flame still worked in lighting a small radius around herself, so at least she could see where she was going if she proceeded slowly.

The floor under her was stone, but there were carpets laid out, leading off further into the darkness. With nothing else to go on with, Sunset decided to see where they led, keeping her star sword in front of herself just in case something were to jump out from the darkness to kill her.

“Sure wish I had my torch with me right now…” Sunset had been glad to get another torch when she entered Folstad Prison earlier, but it, like the rest of her gear, had been taken when she had been captured by that snatcher.

Up ahead, Sunset found rows and rows of candles on the sides, all of them unlit.

“Curse my inability to know how to start a fire…” Sunset muttered to herself. Perhaps she should’ve paid more attention to survival guides when she could.

Going on, Sunset found a wall of stone with carvings on it, depicting things like people holding objects and even one with some kind of flying creature with a long neck and horns.

The girl decided to follow the wall, using it as a guide as she traversed the large room. She eventually came across two tables with more unlit candles. That was where Sunset found her first orange sign left by someone else in this place.

Dark therefore, try good luck.

“Huh. How… helpful.” Sunset blew up at her fringe and proceeded on.

Eventually, the wall on her left disappeared and Sunset came upon a staircase, leading up into more darkness. Looking back, she didn’t even know where she had come from anymore, so with a shrug, she decided to head up, taking things slowly.

Just in the stairwell, Sunset met her first enemy. It was some kind of hollow, though it was dressed in robes, holding a knife that looked like it also doubled as a candlestick. It stabbed Sunset through the side, making the girl double over and yell in pain.

Sunset quickly threw her star sword and teleported out of the hollow’s dagger, then spun around to cut it across the chest, killing it. Falling to a knee, Sunset dug around her satchel as she cursed herself for being so careless. It had leapt out of the darkness beside the staircase, which led to a small alcove. She didn’t know what this hollow was doing, just waiting here for someone, but she learnt not to question things in this world. Sunset found one of her estus flasks and downed the contents, sighing as the citrusy taste filled her mouth.

When she was ready, she continued on, walking even slower now, just in case there was another alcove with another hollow waiting for her. Instead, there was an odd echoing noise in the distance and an uncomfortable feeling within, similar to the resonating feeling back in the Keep of Glass when… that spiked knight of a red phantom had invaded. Then there was a faint shuffling noise, almost inaudible but somewhere close by.

A red phantom.

Sunset put her hand on the hilt of her star sword and backed away slowly, making her way to a cluster of tall clay pots and stands with unlit candles. She crouched down behind them and peeked out through a gap. She waited.

Just when Sunset was beginning to think that it would be safe to emerge, a tall, thin figure outlined in red light breezed past her hiding place. In its right hand it held a short, crooked dagger and in the other, a complicated-looking crossbow like contraption.

Sunset held her breath as the invader passed. It looked like an adult; tall and slim, and clothed in dark robes with soft, slipper-like shoes that masked their footsteps. In their wake, the red phantom left an ever so faint trail of glowing letters that spelled out: Queen’s Executioner-

“Psithyra?” Sunset mouthed. The Psithyra? She knew this name well. In fact, it was a name she had been hearing for quite some time as of late. She'd been working from behind the scenes for as long as Sunset knew her, with the woman still being quite a mystery to them all, but Sunset knew her enough to know what she truly was.

A ponytail stuck out at the back end of the woman’s hood, swishing around as she searched for Sunset. She ghosted right past Sunset’s hiding place and disappeared into the darkness. Sunset breathed a sigh of relief. As she made to stand up, her foot bumped against something. Sunset looked down and jumped.

In her haste to get to a hiding place, she had forgotten to check it out first. There was a dead hollow lying on the ground at her feet, and clutched in its hands was a small glass orb the size of an apple, with metal ribs. There was a stub of candle inside. Sunset pried it from the hollow’s fingers and examined it. It looked like a tiny lantern. As she looked at it, the candle suddenly lit itself, providing a small circle of warm orange light around Sunset.

“Mmm,” Sunset said appreciatively, holding the lantern up to her face.

It was nice to have this light in the unnatural darkness. It made Sunset feel just a little bit more confident. Then again, she thought, looking down at the dead hollow. That had probably been how the lantern’s previous owner had been feeling too.

The girl clipped the lantern onto her belt and left her hiding spot. There didn’t seem to be anyone or anything else around, so she crept along the same passage, lifting her feet off the ground as little as possible to minimize the amount of noise she would make.

She didn’t know where the red phantom was now, but hopefully, she was far enough to not return this way just yet.

It was slower going, being quiet, but Sunset had a feeling that walking loudly would only attract unwanted attention. In her tiny circle of light, Sunset could see cobwebs and dust all over the furniture and walls. Occasionally there would be a dead hollow, clutching an extinguished torch or an unlit lantern. Something was here, in the dark, killing all these hollows.

A faint clatter from above caught the girl’s attention. Then she saw something plummeting down toward her, and she dived out of the way just as a huge iron chandelier came crashing down on the spot where she had just been standing. From above, a larger human in thick grey armor dropped, his mace already aimed for Sunset’s position. Rolling again, Sunset managed to get out of the way as the mace cracked down into the stone floor, putting a sizeable dent into it. Along with the armor and the mace, the armored knight also had a huge shield, almost as big as himself, and much larger than Sunset.

“Come on…” Sunset grumbled as she rolled to the side again, dodging the mace.

She tried to attack him, but the knight brought its shield forward and her blade deflected off its surface, rattling Sunset’s whole arm. Dodging again, she threw her sword behind him and teleported to it, using the chance to spin around and slash him across the back. The knight stumbled, but turned and charged at her, smacking Sunset across the room with his shield.

The girl fell against a couple of raised candlesticks, knocking them over as she rolled to a stop. Blood dribbled down a cut on her brow, but she wiped off what she could and stood again.

She had faced bigger and scarier things than just a man in armor, and she was determined not to let this new foe win.

The knight’s defense was formidable indeed. Even attacking from the rear seemed to have little effect; she was going to have to do something risky.

The knight swung his mace at Sunset, but she backstepped out of the way. She dodged again, waiting for a backhand swing, as that would have less force behind it.

Left. Right. Left. Right.

And then finally, a backhand swing. Sunset swooped forward and caught the mace with the side of her sword, knocking the weapon wide. The knight seemed to stumble, stunned that someone of such small stature could have parried him. Wasting no time, Sunset stabbed the blade of her star sword into the knight’s chest, piercing through his armor. There was a sickening squelch as her sword pierced something inside him and the knight fell to his knees, then to his face after Sunset pulled out her sword.

“Not too bad…” She searched her pack for another estus flask, but then decided against it. She couldn’t keep using them for every little injury. She’d run out before finding a bonfire. “Guess I’ll keep going for now.”

Finding another staircase in the dark, Sunset crept up slowly, keeping an eye on the sides for any hidden alcoves. Near the top, she found one, where she could see a hollow’s feet protruding from the corner, waiting for her to walk closer.

Throwing her sword, Sunset appeared before it in a shower of blue sparks, surprising it. Smiling, Sunset cut it down before it could even react, saving herself the trouble of having to fight it.

Moving on, Sunset walked through what looked like two dining rooms, with big tables in the middle that were almost as long as the rooms, at least, from what she could see with her limited view.

Sunset was halfway across the second long room when suddenly she felt the urge to turn around. Perhaps it was nothing, but she could have sworn that there had been a noise behind her. Like… shuffling.

Sunset wheeled around, then threw herself aside as three quarrels flew at her chest. Two of them struck the table next to her, but the third struck her in the upper arm, embedding itself in her flesh and causing a stain to grow on the cloth.

And standing at the far end of the darkness was the red phantom, reloading her crossbow for another volley.

Sunset did not wait for her to fire again. She scrambled to her feet and vaulted over the table on the right, sprinting for a small door there. She sprinted inside just as another three bolts stuck themselves in the wooden door frame.

Sunset pressed herself against the wall and readied her star sword. The red phantom would no doubt follow her inside, and if she did, Sunset would strike. The girl held her weapon high, ready to bring it down on the neck of the red phantom.

But no one followed her. Sunset was not sure how long she stood there waiting, but nothing came through the door. No shuffling sound, no click of a crossbow being readied.

Sunset waited until she could stand it no longer. She poked her head out from her hiding place for a peek.

Nobody was there any more.

Sunset blinked and surveyed what little of the room she could see in the gloom. All appeared to be quiet and still. No hollows, no phantoms, red or otherwise.

Sunset exhaled and slid down the wall into a sitting position. The crossbow bolt in her arm was starting to hurt. What kind of a crossbow could fire three bolts at once?

Shutting her eyes, Sunset gripped the end of the crossbow bolt and snapped it off, muffling her cry as best as she could. This time, she really needed a flask. Digging in her pack, she pulled one out and downed its contents, already feeling the bolt in her arm disappearing. She didn’t know how that worked, but it was certainly better than cutting it out herself.

When she was good, she got up and pressed on, finding herself now in a large squarish room where the ceiling was high enough to disappear into the darkness. On her left, her dim lantern lit up a row of statues, each one of a strange winged creature with a serpentine body. It had the face of a man and its stone smile sent chills down Sunset’s spine. Something about it just looked very disturbing, so she decided to move on.

And then she saw them. Three hollows in robes approached, two having those candle daggers and one of them having a long golden staff. The third one stood behind a bonfire, which filled Sunset with hope. She could rest after she dealt with them.

The first hollow swung its candle dagger at her, but Sunset parried it, finding it much easier than with the heavy knight earlier, then slashed it across the chest, at the same time, letting go of her sword and then teleporting away to avoid the hollow with the staff. The other candle dagger one approached her slowly, shambling on its two wobbly feet, which Sunset easily took care of with a slash to the chest. Her blade ripped through fabric and skin and the hollow went down.

Looking up, Sunset threw her sword over the final hollow, teleporting to it when it was high in the air. From above, Sunset couldn’t see the hollow through the darkness, but as she began to descend, she caught sight of its red robes and slashed vertically, landing behind it. The girl stood up as half the hollow’s staff and its body slid to the floor.

Sheathing her sword, Sunset wasted no time in rushing to the bonfire, but when she tried to light it, nothing happened.

“Huh?” Sunset held out her hand like she usually did, but the bonfire refused to ignite.

She knelt down next to the unlit bonfire and examined it. It looked the same as all the others, with a small pile of kindling on the ground and a sword sticking up like a flagpole.

“Why won’t you light?” Sunset muttered. She needed an estus refill, especially after her encounter with the red phantom.

She looked around, at a loss for what to do. Then she saw another statue sitting out in the open. It looked oddly out of place, as all the other statues were pushed up against the wall.

“Huh,” Sunset said, walking over to the statue. It depicted that same winged creature from before, and it still gave her the creeps in this dark place. She circled around the statue, but found nothing helpful.

“Maybe if I walk away and come back…”

Sunset retraced her path backwards, heading back to the room with the long tables. Then she walked back to the bonfire, keeping an eye out for any sign of the red phantom as she did so.

The bonfire still would not light, but as Sunset scowled at the ground, she noticed two things. First of all, the oddly placed statue was gone. Second, there was something small and shiny glimmering in the dark just beyond the bonfire’s reach. Sunset looked closer. It was a coin.

Sunset hadn’t seen any money since she had arrived here, and was curious to see what kind of currency they used in this strange land. Bending down, she picked one up. It was silver, with an image of a flame engraved on one side, and a man’s face on the other. The face gave Sunset a weird feeling, like she knew him from somewhere but couldn’t place quite why. Putting it in her pocket, her eye was caught by another shiny coin a few meters ahead. She went over to it and picked it up as well, noting the similarities to the first coin, though this one was gold and a little bit heavier and larger.

Another coin sparkled a short distance away, making a trail. Figuring that the money might be useful for later, Sunset followed, picking up the coins and putting them into her satchel, where they clinked merrily against one another.

Sunset did this for about five minutes, the coin trail leading her to an empty room that had a small pot in the center, surrounded by other, taller clay pots. Picking up the last coin, Sunset went over to the small pot and looked inside. She smiled.

Inside was a veritable pile of coins, shining back at her. They were reflective enough for Sunset to see her face in them. Sunset picked the largest coin off the top of the pile and held it up, feeling rather pleased with herself.

Then she paused. In the coin’s reflection, one of the tall clay pots seemed to have moved just a tiny bit. Staring at the mirror image, Sunset stood up and was about to turn around when there was a breath of wind and something short and sharp stabbed her in the back.

The pain was indescribable. It felt like an icicle had been driven into her ribs, and she screamed as the object was withdrawn, blood beginning to flow from the stab wound. Sunset turned around, falling onto the pot and spilling coins everywhere, the air filling with their tinkling as they rolled all around.

It was the red phantom, holding its crooked dagger that now had Sunset’s blood dripping from it. Then the phantom tossed a small object onto the ground. It broke and an inappropriately jolly ‘Very good!’ was released into the air.

Estus. She had to drink some estus or she was done for.

Finding her last bottle, Sunset brought it to her lips just as her fingers lost their feeling. The bottle and its contents fell over her face, coating her in its orange liquid. Swallowing what she could, Sunset immediately felt her strength return and she rolled away just as the invader tried to stab her again with her dagger.

She had to get away from this Queen’s Executioner. She was just too strong. Sunset scooted backward until she hit the wall, with the invader advancing on her with the dagger. Then at the last minute, Sunset threw her sword past the red phantom and out the door.

The phantom cocked her head, looking puzzled. Then Sunset teleported to her weapon outside and made a run for it.

Three crossbow bolts whizzed at Sunset as she fled. Two of the struck the ground between her feet, and the third one glanced off the crossguard of her star sword. Sunset didn’t stop. With limited light, she could only see so far, but unless she wanted a bolt between her shoulders, she needed to keep going.

She ran into the wall twice, then eventually finding herself in a study room of sorts, complete with two hollows in robes. Sunset ran at the nearest one, running it through before grabbing its candle dagger and knifing the second one in the face, causing it to groan and fall to the ground.

All was quiet, apart from Sunset’s ragged breathing. The girl took some time to gather her breath, at the same time, listening out for any signs of the red phantom. After running for so long, she didn’t even know where she was anymore, so making her way back to that unresponsive bonfire was out of the question, though she didn’t even know if she could get it to work.

She needed to keep moving.

The coins in her pouch jingled as she went. Then Sunset had an idea. These coins, she could use to mark places she had already been to.

She pulled out a silver coin and placed it on the floor of the study.

“Been here, done that.”

She went through a few rooms that held shelves and shelves of books, placing a coin on one shelf in each room to make sure she knew she’d been this way. Only after the third shelf, did Sunset find a coin on one of the shelves. She’d been this way before.

That’s odd. I don’t remember turning around. How’d I end up back here?

Sunset figured she must have made a wrong turn somewhere in the darkness, and that truth soon proved to be true as a trio of bolts thudded into a bookshelf beside her. The Queen’s Executioner ran out from the dark, her hand already loading another few bolts into her weapon.

Gritting her teeth, Sunset threw her sword at her invader, but as she began teleporting to it, the red phantom knocked it away with her own dagger, sending Sunset teleporting into a bookshelf, knocking everything over in a cloud of dust.

As the fiery haired girl looked up from her position, she noticed something. Beyond the bookshelf, was more darkness.

A secret passage!

Looking back at the phantom, who was steadily approaching her, Sunset didn’t need to think twice. Getting up, she sprinted down the new tunnel, running face first into the wall at the end, but then making a right turn as she grabbed for her bleeding nose. She heard the trudging of footsteps echo in the space behind her, so she didn’t stop. The tunnel eventually led to a flight of steps leading up and Sunset bounded up them two at a time, almost slipping once in her mad rush.

At the top stood another of the robed hollows with a staff, but Sunset used her star sword to teleport behind it and kick it down, hopefully slowing down the phantom in the process.

And then she was in another large room, this one with elegant red carpets decorating the floor and at least a dozen wooden tables and chairs equally spaced out from each other. It kind of resembled an office or at least a working area, but then again, she didn’t know why anyone would come to work here.

Just ahead, as Sunset ran, there was a set of gigantic double doors, flanked by two unlit braziers on the sides, plus more unlit candles marking the corners of the floor.

This room, however, was a dead end, and the only way back down was the long staircase she had come from.

Sunset was about to consider either going back down or to search the shelves for another secret entrance, but then something red appeared at the doorway and she no longer had the luxury to decide.

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” Sunset asked, keeping her sword in front of herself. The red phantom would’ve already loaded in new bolts into her weapon.

The phantom dropped another small object on the ground, and as it broke it released a deep-voiced, “Hello!”. Besides that, she didn’t say anything else.

Instead, she lifted her crossbow and fired, but Sunset had already anticipated it. Throwing her sword high, she teleported up to it, avoiding all the bolts, which bounced off the metal doors and clattered to the floor. Aiming her sword, Sunset tossed it down at the phantom, watching it spin like a disc before teleporting to it, delivering a swift slash towards her head in one quick motion. The phantom’s dagger was quickly replaced with a long, thin staff, and a blast of white energy radiated out, knocking Sunset Shimmer’s head against a pile of books. When she looked back up, the phantom was gone again, with a tall statue in place where it used to be.

“Not falling for this trick again.” Sunset got up and charged at it, sword raised over her head.

The statue went sliding across the floor and out of reach, then slid off into the darkness most unnaturally. Then from the gloom came a volley of crossbow bolts.

Sunset dodged them, then readied her sword as the red phantom came walking back into view. However, it made no move to attack. Instead it dropped a glowing golden bag on the ground, then threw another carving on the the floor, this one breaking and saying, “Thank you!”

Sunset was about to charge at the phantom, but the invader took out a large black crystal wrapped in white cloth and knelt. A circle of light formed around the Queen’s Executioner, and then she vanished completely.

“What in the world… Why do these weird things keep showing up and then just… Okay. Whatever.” Sunset was left scratching her head, wondering what the point of that phantom attacking her was even about.

She went over to inspect the bag that the phantom had dropped. She reached inside it, feeling around and her hand touched wood and metal. She pulled the object out, which was much bigger than the bag would have allowed. It was a crossbow, the same one the red phantom had been using. Also in the bag were two bundles of twelve bolts and a note.

Present ahead, therefore praise the queen.

“Well, I’m not complaining…” Sunset strapped three bolts into her new weapon and put the rest in her satchel. It wasn’t too heavy, but it certainly wasn’t light either, but at least she had an alternative to dealing with threats from afar now, besides her amazing star sword.

With the red phantom finally gone from her world, Sunset turned to face the giant double doors. They were big enough to look important. Perhaps it was where she needed to go.

She walked up to the doors and examined them. There was no lock, and through the crack in between them she saw only darkness. But darkness had become rather unremarkable to Sunset in this area, so she shrugged, put down her weapons, and pushed the doors with all her might. Slowly, they began to inch open, grinding against the floor with their weight.

Sunset’s arms and legs were exhausted by the time the door was open wide enough to go through. Not too far ahead, she could see something glimmering in the dark, at the end of the long hallway that these doors had hidden. She walked closer.

It was fog. And that only meant one thing.

“Great… Of course…” Sunset rolled her eyes. At least the passage ahead was devoid of enemies. There was just one problem. “I’m out of estus flasks…”

If she were to get severely injured again, there was no recovering, though, if she were to die, she would simply reappear at the last bonfire, at least, that was what she had been told. It was yet to be proven.

She could try to go back to the bonfire, but after the chase with the red phantom, she had lost her bearings and wasn’t sure which way was the right way back. And she did not want to risk being invaded again while searching.

“Well, nothing else for it. Let’s go, Sunset.”

And she pushed her way through the fog and into the darkness beyond.

From what she could see, she was no in some kind of chapel, with wooden pews on her sides. There was a red carpet leading up into the darkness, where Sunset could barely make out an altar of some sort. Unlit candles lined the walls like with the other rooms, their wax unmelted. She didn’t even know what those candles would be used for.

At first, Sunset was just going to walk on to look for the way out, but then something flashed purple in front, near the altar. At first, she thought maybe her eyes had played some kind of light trick on her, but then she remembered there weren’t any lights. It was so dark in this place. So very dark. Then what had that been?

A line of purple flashed toward the girl and she slipped and fell over backwards. It was good that she did, for once she was on the floor, she saw a shining sword blade whistle overhead where her neck had been.

“Ha!” Sunset said. But she had chosen to crow too soon. A line of violet streaked down like a thunderbolt, and Sunset had to roll as the glowing sword scythed down at her.

Sunset shrieked embarrassingly loudly and scrambled to her feet. She had no idea where the sword would come from next. She hadn’t been able to see who was wielding it either; she hoped it wasn’t another invisible creature like the one on the Road of Penance. This room was far darker than any of the other rooms she had been in yet, so it was hard to see, but Sunset swore she saw a set of reddish robes as the purple blade swung at her again.

Almost as soon as it appears, the purple sword would disappear again and Sunset could not see where her attacker had gone.

“Come on, come on, where are you?” Sunset muttered. She stood in her pathetic little circle of light and waited for her enemy to show itself again.

And then there it was. A brief flash of purple light on her left. This time, Sunset caught a humanoid shape darting left as the light faded, once again hiding the figure’s presence. If only she had some form of light. That would certainly make this fight easier if she could see her enemy.

And then there was a flash just to the right of her head and Sunset leaned back, watching a purple blade spear past her face, just over her nose. This time, however, she managed to react in time, throwing her star sword into her attacker, hearing a scream of pain before she teleported to her weapon, getting a better footing. Her sword was lodged deep into the robes of a tall figure. Its face was featureless, sporting only two large reflective eyes, which stared back at her, unblinking. And then one of its arms, too long for its body, grabbed Sunset around the neck and threw her back against one of the many pews, shattering it.

She had shifted herself around when she heard a clinking at her belt. Looking down, Sunset remembered she had a lantern there, which had gone out.

“No wonder it’s so dark.” She wanted to slap a hand in her face.

Quickly turning it on, a small radius of light immediately lit up a small area around her. It still wasn’t very good with knowing where she was, but it was certainly better than complete blackness.

Sunset settled into a defensive stance and shuffled herself backward. She figured that if her back was up to a wall, nothing could leap out from behind and attack her.

And then it came again. The sword with purple magic, appearing very close to her right, and this time, with her lantern lit, she could see a foot sticking out of the darkness. Remembering how tall the figure was, Sunset was ready to strike.

As the sword hovered there, the girl pointed her new crossbow and fired, a volley of three bolts ejecting from the weapon. The sword and Sunset moved at the same time. While the figure was able to cut two of the bolts down with its purple sword, one bolt struck home, now sticking out of its side, with dark blood staining its robes.

With the figure still reeling from her attack, Sunset used this chance to thrust her sword into it, then pulling it back out and spinning around for a wide slash. The tall figure bellowed an unearthly cry, then began blocking Sunset’s attacks, its sword flashing purple each time their blades connected. Sunset tried to press the offensive, cutting it one more time across the left leg, but her attacks didn’t go on just like that. She had felt the figure’s sword tear through her upper right arm, her cheek, and even her left side, but she reminded herself she didn’t have anymore estus flasks to drink from. If she was going to win, she would have to end it before bleeding out.

Throwing her sword up, Sunset teleported high and already retrieved a crossbow bolt from her pack. Loading it into her weapon, she teleported back down, her sword aimed for the figure’s head, but when she re-materialized, a rough hand grabbed her around the throat and she was stopped. Sunset slashed at the figure with her star sword, cutting it across the shoulder, but before it let go, it slashed her across the chest, the magic blade going right through her armor and muscle with ease.

“Aah!” Sunset grasped for her chest and fell back a step. Blood seeped through her fingers and her armor, colouring the steel a dark red. Her time was running out.

Lifting her crossbow, Sunset watched as the figure approached, its blade raised high, ready to end it. And then she fired, watching the bolt go, thudding right between the figure’s eyes. Its sword remained up high, unmoving as its form began to shudder. And then it fell back, dissolving into white sparks. Its body never touched the ground.

Sunset Shimmer smiled and coughed, her life seeping away. She had done it. And then much to her relief, the darkness in the room seemed to clear slightly and a bonfire had appeared near the altar.

Using the last of her strength, Sunset threw her star sword over as far as she could, teleporting closer to the bonfire. She needed to use it fast. She didn’t know how much longer she had. Even now, she could feel her eyes beginning to close. She was losing too much blood.

Hopefully this one works…

She stretched her arm out to the sword in the bonfire, but before she could see any spark of flame, her consciousness drifted away, and everything went black.