//------------------------------//
// The Ringed City 
// Story: Dark Souls 3: Cinders of Power 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Originally Tirek assumed that the flight was going to take them some time, given that they had no idea where the Ringed City was even located, though he was proven wrong not even a few moments after their flight started, as the winged beings that were carrying him, Sarana, and Martok through the air were able to bring them to a point that allowed them to stare down at a massive crescent inlet that just so happened to be the resting place of a massive city, one that had to be their true destination and rested in a light that wasn't anything like what they were used to in the first area of this world, though the sheer size of the city meant it would take them some time to find their target. Tirek had to admit that the city was actually rather impressive, more so than the city the Twin Princes and their family ruled over, and that this place would have been a good place to set up a seat of power, or at least it would have been if it was placed somewhere close to the areas that both he and his companions were used to exploring and fighting in, but he shelved that thought as they headed down towards a stone mountain of sorts that seemed to rest in the middle of the city's area. The winged creatures dropped them at the end of a path that seemed to head down the mountain and would allow them to reach the outskirts of the part of the city they would be exploring, though once the three of them had been dropped off the creatures turned around and flew out of the area that they had come to, leaving Tirek and his companions to start exploring this city as they searched for either the Dark Soul or whatever powerful being Yuria had discovered in her search for his Reality Stone. Sarana found a Titanite Scale on the corpse that rested behind them, not that such a thing really mattered since none of them needed it, though once that was done they started to walk down the path that rested in front of them, one that quickly transformed into a stone path and lead the way down to a large area that appeared to be the way forward, given the path that they saw off in the distance, even if it had a large person sitting in a chair at the end of it.

"This place is impressive." Tirek commented, as he felt that he might as well tell his companions his thoughts on what they were seeing at the moment, even if one of them wouldn't care in the slightest since he was more focused on the battles that they would be fighting from this point forward, which he was fine with since Martok could take down any foe that stood in their way, as long as he wasn't overwhelmed by a large group of enemies, while Sarana didn't seem to care all that much, rather she was joining them purely to help him recover his final Infinity Stone.

"The Ringed City was supposedly given to the Pygmies by the Great Lord Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, and it was said that he even gave the Pygmy Lords his youngest daughter, Filianore," Sarana replied, showing Tirek how much she knew about the city and those that likely ruled over it, though even as she said that he glanced over at the odd tower that seemed to be all by itself, even if there had to be a way to get to it from inside the city, which was where he assumed the godly child had to be resting, if she was still alive anyway, before she glanced out at the Ringed City a few seconds later, "regardless of all of that, whether it was lies or the truth, I do know one thing: the Dark Soul is here, guarded by the Pygmy Lords and those who serve them... it might be worth claiming it while we're here, as the power of a Lord Soul might empower you far more than what the souls of the Lords of Cinder gave you."

Tirek really had no idea if that was true or not, since he had no idea how strong a Lord Soul was, though he said nothing to that as they made their way down to where the first bonfire of the Ringed City was located, as it was time to lit it and start exploring the city, before they were stopped as Sarana found a hollow, who was wearing a white robe that covered most of its body, a robe that looked like it was tattered and ruined by time, though the hollow seemed to be praying to either the gods or the Pygmy Lords that ruled over the Ringed City, whose head shifted as they came to a stop.

"Hark! They brought you three here, did they not? Dost thou the gods serve? Or merely that role affect?" the hollow asked, speaking the moment that the group came to a stop in front of him, and Tirek was sure it was male based on the rather raspy voice that came from the figure's hood, though the question was rather odd since the hollow spoke like most of the other people he had seen since he started his quest to absorb the powers of the Lords of Cinder and regain his power, but this one didn't modify his speech pattern all that much.

"He wants to know if we serve the gods." Martok commented, speaking for the first time in a long time, not that Tirek was surprised by what was going on, because the warrior had a habit of remaining silent while they explored the lands of their world and let Sarana do most of the talking, though when he did talk it was usually to share something important or his opinions on whatever they were talking about, with this one being the former when Tirek thought about it, which made this that much easier for him so he knew how to respond to the hollow's question.

"We do not serve the gods... in fact, the only god I've seen was being eaten by Aldrich, even though the god in question is dead at this point," Tirek replied, because he had the feeling that the hollow didn't like the gods at all and if they claimed that they had come here on a mission from the gods it would have attacked them without delay, so by revealing that they weren't allies of the gods, as he would have gone after their power if they were still around, that should tell the hollow that all three of them were allies to its cause, since that seemed to be how things worked in this world.

"Yes, of course. How would one such as yourself bend the knee and serve the gods?" the hollow inquired, almost as if he was making a point of saying that Tirek would never serve someone like the various beings that the people of this world saw as gods, even though the one in Anor Londo had been rather powerful and Aldrich had wielded its power well, despite the fact that Tirek ate all the attacks, before the hollow seemed to tilt its head as it looked at them, meaning it had more to say before they moved forward, "I have intimate knowledge of your kind, as I know what you want... it is the Dark Soul that you seek, is it not? Why else would one such as yourself visit this dung heap? Give your nature, I would be an ally to you and share what I know with you."

"Is that so? Then share your knowledge with us." Tirek stated, mostly due to the fact that he was a little annoyed with the hollow, for brazenly assuming that they were here for the legendary Dark Soul and whoever held it, without him or either of his companions even mentioning the item in question, but since the hollow was willing to share some information with them he figured that they could take a few minutes to see what sort of information he had to offer them before they left the area and headed out into the part of the Ringed City that was near them.

"If it is the Dark Soul you desire, then seek out Filianore's church, which rests at the base of the cliff. There you will find the sleeping Princess and awaken..." the hollow said, referring to the youngest daughter of Lord Gwyn, who Sarana had told him about a few moments ago, though this did inform him that Filianore had some decent power and that she happened to be doing something to the Ringed City, or at least that was what his thoughts on the matter were, "though her slumber is a deceit... a lid covering an overgrown privy; a prop to keep those who seek the Dark Soul from what they desire. Like I said, I am a true friend to you and your servants, and I can tell you that if you were human the urge would soon begin to swell within you... an urge to curse the gods, and bring ruin upon this accursed heap of dung. Now, quickly make your way to Filianore's church at the base of the cliff, to rouse the sleeping Princess from her slumber... that will allow you to seek out the Dark Soul and fulfill your quest."

Tirek said nothing to that as he, Sarana, and Martok headed down to the area that the first bonfire was resting in and lit it not a few seconds later, though as he did that Sarana carefully walked over to the top of the stone stairs, allowing them to watch as the giant that was off in the distance stood up and a wave of magic seemed to quickly roll over the long walkway that was between them and the area it was sitting in, something that was followed by a large number of orange phantom archers appearing all over the walkway, where they aimed in Sarana's direction and hit the small wall that was behind the new bonfire, showing them that this was a safe area before the archers disappeared. That informed Tirek that they had to be careful as they walked through the area that was in front of them, as the giant was going to summon the archers when one of them stepped onto the stairs that lead down to where the walkway rested, where he glanced down at the Infinity Gauntlet and realized that not having the Space Stone was going to make this difficult, because with it he would have been able to redirect the attacks into the giant and take him out, but without it they had to play by the rules of the Ringed City, at least until they returned to the Shrine, once they found what they were looking for. However, even as he thought about that he noticed something else, there just so happened to be a circular area for them to run off of and land on a second walkway that just so happened to be below the main one, meaning that, if he was right in his thoughts, they would be able to get around the archers and reach the main path that would allow them to delve deeper into the Ringed City, an area he pointed out to Sarana and let her study what he was looking at, where she nodded her head a few seconds later, showing that she agreed with what he was thinking about. As such the three of them stood on their side of the threshold that the giant responded to, their side of the top step anyway, and quickly charged down the steps as soon as they were ready, as there was no telling how quickly it would respond to what they were doing, before Sarana dived behind a half circle made out of gravestones and the others followed her, where the phantom archers rose from the ground and fired at the area they were standing in, striking the gravestones that were protecting Tirek and his companions, which meant this plan was already working in their favor.

Once the first volley of arrows was done, and the archers faded away while the giant readied another set to replace those that had disappeared, the group rushed over to the circular area and jumped over the ledge that Tirek had spotted, which allowed them to drop down onto a thinner walkway that seemed to head around the end of the main walkway that they had seen the giant on, even though Sarana was able to find a crestfallen soul nearby and collected it as they headed along the path that was in front of them, each of them having their weapons at the ready in case there were any enemies that needed to be taken out. Fortunately this area was definitely out of the giant's line of sight, since it looked like it switched to sitting on the area that it was resting in, and the first thing the group spotted was one of the small crystal lizards, one that Sarana quickly took out before it could get too far, though once that was done they carefully walked around the circular ledge that the lizard had been running to and followed it, even though Tirek did stop and glance out at the part of the city that was below them, where he found that his earlier thoughts about this place being impressive were true, before he and the others took turns climbing up the ladder that was at the end of the walkway. What was interesting was that the area the ladder brought them to was just out of the giant's sight, which meant they could hide themselves near the stairs that would lead up to the giant and attack it before it had a chance to summon the army of archers that had been guarding this area, which was exactly what they did and when they reached the area in question Tirek loosed a Lightning Spear into the heart of the giant, something that knocked it backwards and smashed into the ground, killing it in seconds, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about any additional forces being summoned, at least until they rested at one of the bonfires and let the magic revive those they had defeated so far. With the giant defeated the group headed over to the other end of the platform it had been resting on and found some stairs that no doubt led to a new part of the city, even if the stairs coiled to the left and they followed it, though not a few moments later they found some indents where statues of knights were resting, like the black knights they had seen in the past, before stopping as they found some sort of bug creature that was hiding behind part of one of the indents, meaning it had to be someone that wanted to talk to them.

"Many of us are by the Fire forsaken." the locust-like creature said, speaking in a tone that matched what Tirek had heard from several of the other people of this world, though at the same time Sarana and Martok kept their guard up, just in the off chance that the creature attacked them, before the creature tilted its head as it looked at Tirek, almost like it was eager to understand what it was, or maybe something more sinister than that, "I speak of your kind, and mine. Behold this city! We are kindred, belike two eyes which gaze upon the other. Fear not, the dark, my friend. One was a wayfaring knight, on an endless, forbidden search. Only the Abyss granted closure, if not reunion with his beloved. Fear not, the dark, my new friends... and let the feast begin."

Tirek raised his eyebrow for a moment, as it appeared that the locust creature was implying that they should embrace the Abyss, one of the primordial forces of this world if what he knew was correct, and accept whatever fate was in store for all of them, a 'feast' that likely meant it and the others of its kind were going to swarm them and devour them, which he said nothing to as he, Sarana, and Martok headed down the rest of the stairs that were behind the creature and decided that he might as well ignore the creature, something his companions copied as they resumed walking. Of course that was when they noticed something lurking in one of the indents that were at the bottom of the stairs, a hollowed cleric who just so happened to be wearing a red tattered robe, though it wasn't in their way for long as Martok heaved his weapon into the air and cleaved the undead cleric in half, killing the mindless creature before it could even do anything to them, which was followed by Tirek walking forward as Sarana kept her eyes open for enemies, because now that they had normal foes to deal with she drew her daggers so she could be at the ready as well. After the first undead cleric Sarana found another one in front of them, who seemed to be sitting near the edge of the walkway they were following, before seeing one that was hanging on the wall that was near the second, meaning that if she went for the second the third was going to fall and attack her in seconds, to which Tirek stepped out with her and hurled a Lightning Spear into his target's back, knocking the undead cleric off the wall instantly, all while opening the way for Sarana to approach her target and kick it in the back of its head, something that sent it over the ledge it was sitting on and forced it to descend into the depths of the city, killing it in a matter of seconds. Once that was done the three of them walked along the rest of the walkway that was in front of them and headed down the stairs they found at the end of it, though as they did that Tirek spotted an undead cleric hanging on the edge of the next walkway, where he hurled a Lightning Spear through the air and struck his target in the side, which caused it to let go of the area it was holding onto and fall like the one that had just been kicked off the ledge, which was when the three of them reached the new walkway and started to follow it to whatever it was leading them towards, even though that was when Martok spotted another undead cleric hanging on the wall in front of them and cleaved the hollow in half before doing the same to another one that pulled itself up the edge of the walkway that was in front of them, which allowed Sarana to pick up some purging stones she found near a corpse.

Once that was done Tirek found an opening that allowed them to enter a chamber that seemed to be the correct way for them to move forward, especially due to the bonfire that rested nearby, to which he and his companions lit it and stared at the area they were in for a few seconds, where he found two normal paths and a locked door, meaning that they needed to see what the other two paths had before they were able to open the short cut that was to the left of the bonfire, though that was when Sarana determined that the path on their right went nowhere, so they headed over to the central path and walked into the small chamber that was in front of them. That was when they found one of the undead clerics waiting for someone to invade this area, though it didn't last very long as Martok cleaved it in half, allowing them to head down a set of stairs that seemed to be leading them deeper into the Ringed City, which might hold the path up to the tower that the Princess was resting inside, but as they did that Tirek found a new version of the cleric enemy for them to deal with, one that happened to have a number of dark crystals growing out of its body, so a dark cleric in a sense since it appeared to be one that inflicted those that were near it with that death haze he had seen in the past. As such those were Tirek's targets, due to the fact that he hurled a Lightning Spear at the first dark cleric that was resting in the middle of the path that they were following, while at the same time Sarana ducked under the spell and cut down the undead cleric that was close to the area they were standing in, opening the way for them to advance down the stairs that were in front of them, where Martok cleaved the next undead cleric in half and knocked down another dark cleric, who fell as his blade cleaved it in half, all so Tirek didn't have to worry about wasting his magic on it. At the bottom of the stairs Tirek found that they had delved a little deeper into the Ringed City, which was good since it meant they were on the right track, before the three of them headed down the staircase that was to their right and found out that it seemed to bring them into the city proper, though as they walked along the area they were in it wasn't long before the three of them discovered a knight with some dark armor that covered its entire body, with a Darksign mark on its chest, while it seemed to be carrying a shield with the face of a dragon and a deadly looking sword, and once it spotted them it slowly marched over to where they were standing, showing that it was definitely aggressive towards them, regardless of its hollow status.

Martok parried the incoming attack that was coming their way and then lashed out at the ringed knight, so named because it was a knight that was guarding the Ringed City, where they found that their foe staggered for a moment and stood back up not a few seconds later, which informed the group that the ringed knights were far more dangerous than the various clerics that they had seen so far, though Tirek assisted him by blasting their foe in the chest with an orb of darkness, which was just a dark version of the Fire Orb, and blasted the knight into submission. With the knight defeated, and Martok was able to confirm that in a matter of seconds, Sarana told Tirek what she knew about these particular enemies, mostly so he could understand what the knights were doing, and he found out that the ringed knights were said to have fought by Lord Gywn's side at one point in time, but they weren't recognized or commemorated for their efforts, in fact the only 'reward' they were given was the gods branding them with a seal of fire, a mark on their armor that resembled the Darksign, even though the reason behind such a thing happening was due to the armor and weapons allegedly being forged in the Abyss before all of the knights battled the dragons. If these ringed knights had actually fought dragons, and Tirek was sure that such a thing was true due to the appearance of the shield their foe carried into battle, that meant they were stronger than all of the previous enemies they had faced, except for a select few when he thought about it, and that he, Sarana, and even Martok would have to be careful this time around, something that they kept in mind as they headed down the stairs the ringed knight had walked up before facing them, even if Tirek had to blast one more dark cleric with a Lightning Spear as Sarana cut down an undead cleric that was standing in the middle of the stairs, allowing them to head down into the area that was in front of them. Once they reached the area at the button of the set of stairs it was easy for the group to see another undead cleric waiting in the opening that would allow them to enter one of the structures that were inside the city, which was followed by Martok cleaving the cleric in half before the three of them stepped into the building and found that there were a few more undead clerics inside the circular chamber that was the next area they had to pass through.

As it turned out there were three undead clerics inside this building, one for each of them, so Sarana rushed forward and cut hers in half, Martok easily cleaved his foe apart, and Tirek blasted his in the chest with a Lightning Spear, though once that was done he found a curved set of stairs that headed down into the rest of the building, where they found a second floor below them and Sarana jumped over to the side to cut down another undead cleric, even though Martok parried the incoming attack from a ringed knight that was at the bottom of the stairs, which was purely so Tirek could blast it with a Dark Orb while it was distracted, besting it in seconds. Tirek knew that the ringed knights were dangerous, and that taking them out quickly might seem like they were too strong for this area, but he had the feeling that the majority of the knights would be much harder than this, especially when they reached the part of this city where there were two or more ringed knights patrolling an area together, something that would cause him and his companions to spread out and focus on their individual foes, which they would think about later, when they reached the area in question. Once he was done thinking about that he, Sarana, and Martok headed over to the tunnel that contained some stairs that seemed to be the way out of this structure, especially since there weren't any openings on the upper levels, though the short set of stairs brought them to a massive staircase that seemed to head in two directions, the right heading up to another structure that must have a locked door waiting for them, if the past was anything to consider, while the path on the left seemed to head out into a massive area for the three of them to explore, one that might be the correct path. The massive area seemed to be more of a dark swamp of some kind, or maybe it was just a dark watery area that lead to a cavernous section, and it happened to have a pair of harald knights patrolling the bottom of the stairs, though they had no way of knowing how many enemies were in this area, not until they headed down to where the two harald knights were standing, so what they did was head up to where the locked door was located, mostly to prove that it was locked and that the way forward would require them fighting their way through the two enemies they could see and the other enemies none of them had seen yet, as Tirek was sure there was something powerful in the area in question.

When they reached the top of the stairs, and Martok turned around to keep an eye on the harald knights that were in the middle of heading up towards where they were standing, Sarana raised her hand and knocked on the door they found at the top of the stairs, which seemed to be locked and unable to be moved, which made sense when Tirek thought about it since there were all sorts of locked doors in this world and some of them even made their quest that much harder, but as he shook his head, to indicate that it was time to leave and deal with their true enemies, he heard something on the other side of the door and paused for a moment.

"Whoever is there, speak the name of God... or any god, if you can't recall the name of who I'm referring to." a voice said, one that clearly belonged to a lady based on what Tirek knew, though at the same time it was rather easy for them to tell who the lady was referring to, as it appeared that those that were able to talk in the Ringed City only cared about Gwyn and what he had done to them, or at least that was his thoughts on the matter since Sarana kept mentioning the Lord of Sunlight's name every now and then.

"You must be referring to Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight," Tirek replied, because if it was any of the other gods he only knew one other by name, the one that had been eaten by Aldrich before he and his companions had arrived to kill the Lord of Cinder, though even as he said that Sarana and Martok remained at the ready, mostly because there was no telling what was going to happen when the mysterious lady responded to what he just said to the door, even if Martok was staring at the three harald knights, not a pair like the group originally though, who were in the middle of slowly walking up the stairs that were in front of them.

"Ah, then you have not forgotten what is important... perhaps we may converse, for a time." the lady stated, where Tirek was of the opinion that it sounded like she was talking to herself and not to them, which meant she was likely speaking out loud and not actually thinking about who or what might be on the other side of the door, though while that happened the harald knights seemed to turn around and head back down the stairs, either because they reached the end of their patrol path or they had magically been told to leave the area alone, before the lady spoke again, "I am known as Shira, servant to the Princess Filianore, matriarch of the church. Those who know God's name must surely know of the terrors of the dark, of the Abyss, and to that I say this: please, I would ask you not to visit the Princess' tower and rouse her from her peaceful rest, because as the Fire wanes she lies in the dark, all for the sake of Man. However, I sense that you are a kind heart, to speak with a captive such as myself, especially since you recalled the name of our God, so I have a kindness to ask of you, in addition to what I just asked: perhaps you have seen the lone dragon that inhabits this city? Midir is his name, and the Archdragons of old are his forebears... he once fought against the darkness, but was afflicted by the Abyss that he fought, and now he has returned to the city, to watch over the sleeping Princess and keep true to the old accord... and yet, despite his deeds, I would have you put the good dragon to rest, before the dark completely consumes him and makes him forget his vows to the Gods."

Tirek said nothing to that, leaving Sarana to tell Shira that they would consider the request, which was enough to cause the knight to pass a chime under the bottom part of the door, a reward of sorts he guessed, before they headed down the set of stairs that were in front of them and walked down towards where the harald knights were patrolling, even though he did take a moment to blast the couple of clerics that were to the right of the stairs, an undead one and a dark one, into the wall before spotting another pair of them, these ones being the undead variety, sitting on a walkway that bridged to sides of this area together, so he knocked both of them out with the same Lightning Spear spell. Once that was done Sarana and Martok took up their positions on the walkway he had freed and descended on the harald knights as they walked back up the stairs, as they were heading right towards the area Tirek was standing in, due to the fact that he was taunting them to make a mistake and it cost them dearly as his companions landed on their dark orb-like heads and put them down, even if Sarana had to stab one and then jump over to the second before it had time to react, though it wasn't long before all three of the harald knights were dealt with and the way down to the dark swamp-like area was open. From what Tirek could see it appeared that the other area that the walkway could bring them to was just a dead end, given that he had seen no side paths in the last couple of areas he and the others had walked through, to which he turned his mind towards the area that was in front of them and focused on what they might find inside the cavernous area that the swamp was in, even though he was more focused on the fact that there was a dragon in the Ringed City, one sired by the powerful Archdragons, who had to be like the massive dragon corpse that had been resting in Archdragon Peak, meaning they might have just found a second objective, finding the powerful beast and reigning it in, or destroying it like Shira wanted. Even though he hadn't seen the dragon yet, and hadn't seen its power in action, Tirek was hoping that they could find a way to beat some sense into the beast and tame it, as it would be nice having a massive beast to intimidate the rest of the world into submission, though he was drawn out of his thoughts as Sarana found a side path that had a few clerics, at least two of the undead variety and two more of the dark variety, to which he sighed and rejoined his companions as he blasted both of the curse inflicting clerics into the walls that were near them.

What they discovered was that there were a few more hanging out on a wall to their left and a wall that was above them, which were the ones that Tirek lashed out at with a pair of Lightning Spears, though as he did that they walked out into an area that allowed them to stare down at part of the swamp area, but that was when they found a ringed knight walking up to where they were standing and caused Martok to rush forward to he could parry the incoming attack, though this time around he made sure to swing at his foe twice and not once, something that allowed him to slice through his foe's armor and take it down without having to rely on Tirek helping him out. Tirek was sure that if any of them were slower at reacting to what was going on the ringed knights would have been able to do something to them, but right now it sure seemed like fighting them one on one like this, or maybe three on one in their favor, was working out to their benefit, though even as he thought about that Sarana found a spear that looked like the ones that some of the ringed knights carried, as the one that Martok took down on his own was definitely a spear wielder, which she stored inside their pack as they moved over to the area that would allow them to reach the bottom of the stairs and start exploring the dark area that was the next area they had to explore, for now anyway since Tirek knew there had to be more waiting for them. What was interesting, or at least it was to Tirek, was the fact that there were three more harald knights walking up the stairs, who seemed to have emerged from the swamp area and appeared to be marching up towards Shira's location, though that was when the three of them found another locust creature on top of the structure that was on the other end of the walkway the harald knights were walking under, to which Tirek sighed for a moment as he and his companions came to a stop, as they had missed the opportunity to take the three knights out with ease and would have to wait for them to come back to take them out, so he figured they could listen to the locust creature and ignore what it had to say, mostly since he really didn't care for it and was only allowing it to talk since he figured that taking it out would cause the others to be hostile towards them.

"One met the dark with learning, but, in the end, learned his knowledge wanting." the locust creature said, though at this point Tirek really had no idea what it and the others were even talking about, nor did he care since he was sure he had no idea who the locusts were talking about, as it was clear that they were talking about someone whenever they said 'one' at the start of their statements, though since he wasn't doing anything Sarana and Martok kept their eyes on the three harald knights, who were currently in the process of turning around so they could head down the stairs and return to the swamp, all to repeat their patrol pattern, "The world began without knowledge, and without knowledge will it end... does not this ring clear and true? One poor girl slew her own kin, but, even so, was embraced, enveloped by the Abyss. It was a comfort that neither the moon or the sunless sky afforded her before. Fear not, the dark, my friend. And let the feast begin."

Tirek glanced at his companions for a moment, who shrugged as they listened to what the locust creature had to say, but that was when they turned their attention towards the three harald knights and leapt off the walkway as their targets did what the three of them were waiting for, to which Tirek, Sarana, and Martok stabbed their targets in their dark orb-like heads and took their targets down in a matter of seconds, allowing them to straighten themselves and head out into the true area that they wanted to explore, even though they kept their guards up as they did so. One thing Tirek spotted out in the swamp area was one of the black robed giants, making him wonder if there were more of those phantom archers that he and his companions had gotten around when they first arrived outside the Ringed City, not to mention a building which could have been a church of some kind, or something else, and a number of structures that were either mostly sunk in the water or partly sunk, with the one Tirek had spotted appearing to be the one they wanted, or at least that was what he could tell from where they were standing. The other thing the three of them noticed was that there were a number of the locust creatures wandering around the watery area, far more than what Tirek was expecting to find when he noticed just how many there were in this place, which was why he focused on the Lightning Disc spell, the one he picked up while they were in the Painted World of Ariandel and went by a different name, and sent out a number of discs as he targeted all of the white locusts that were around them, allowing the lightning-like edges of his attacks to cut through each of his targets as Sarana and Martok to focus on finding the way forward. The reason he was killing these ones was due to the fact that it looked like they were munching on someone's corpse, likely someone that had tried to fix things in the Ringed City and had been killed by either the giant, the harald knights, or even some of the ringed knights, so he was being cautious, even if it meant eliminating all of the white locusts that were around them, scattering the fragments of their bodies as he and his companions advanced deeper into the swamp-like area, which was far better than the previous one they had walked through, on account of the fact that there weren't any angels in this area, or at the very least there weren't any angels for them to worry about right now.

While he did that Sarana found a set of stairs that lead into a chamber that happened to have a bonfire inside it, one that she lit without any delay, before reporting the same old thing that Tirek was used to hearing, that there was a door near it and it was locked, just like all of the other ones they had encountered in the past, though with the bonfire lit the three of them continued to march over the watery area that was in front of them, where the giant did as Tirek expected and called forth an army of archers to attack them, even though Tirek lashed out at the giant with a Lightning Spear as he surrounded the three of them with a barrier to stop the arrows from hitting them, allowing them to survive the attack and clear out their foe at the same time. With those enemies taken care of Tirek resumed walking forward as Sarana and Martok looked out at the rest of the area they were in, finding a number of black crystals resting around the zone as well, though it wasn't long before they found something interesting, a knight in dragonslayer armor, just like the animated armor Tirek had beat up while he was in the middle of invading the castle the Twin Princes had been hiding in, but he sent his companions out to find the correct path forward as he approached his target, as the power of his normal gauntlet was more than enough to deal with it, given that it was forged from godly metal. The reason behind that was due to the fact that he could use the gauntlet to block the incoming axe chop that was aimed at him with a punch, showing that he really didn't need the Infinity Stones to face his foes, rather the Stones only aided him in wiping out those that opposed him, and once the dragonslayer paused, to understand what was going on, Tirek formed a fist with his other hand, the one with the inactive Stones, and delivered an uppercut that knocked his foe backwards, where the dragonslayer staggered for a few seconds, to recover from the attack, before it gripped its axe and rushed back towards Tirek. In the next couple of moments the two of them danced around the area they were in and engaged blows with each other, which was mostly Tirek parrying the attacks that were coming his way and lashed out with his own attacks every now and then, pushing the dragonslayer backwards as the fight progressed, before he channeled the power of his Lightning Blade through his right hand and pierced his foe's chest, something that caused the armor to go lifeless and fall apart, leaving the entire set of armor, somehow pristine since it was missing the hole he punched into it, to which he added it to the pack he shared with the others and moved over to the area that Sarana and Martok were standing in.

What he discovered was that his companions were standing guard over the larger structure that he had seen earlier, when they first looked out at the area they were now exploring, and it looked like they had taken down three ringed knights as he fought the dragonslayer, though as the three of them started to walk towards the back of the large building they found a large dragon, far larger than any they had seen in the past while being smaller than the Archdragon corpse, with black scales and leaving a trail of darkness fly through the air and land on part of the stone path that was on the other side of the cavernous area they were in, where it was clear that it was staring at them, to which Tirek grinned for a moment, as he could tell that Midir was intimidating from what little he had seen and he wanted to meet the dragon, face to face, before they headed out, as this had gotten a lot more interesting than he was originally expecting.