//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 Recovery // Story: Hollow // by Demonfire463 //------------------------------// Chapter 5 "He's gone," I manage to choke out, "It's safe now everyone." I sit down at the bonfire, as does Arthur, and Joshua lies down on his back. That fight was exhausting to say the least. The ponies approach us cautiously, and they have a right to be cautious. They had just witnessed one of the most difficult fights I had ever had thrust upon me. Even a fight which rivals that of killing the great Dragonslayer and head executioner of Anor Londo. I thought for sure we would've died. We probably would have if they didn't come in and help us. They had saved our lives. "T-Thank you all." I choke out. "We did what we could sugarcube" Applejack says to us. "That magic you used, to halt his weapon in midair, could you teach me how to do that? It could come in quite handy as you've proven." Arthur asks Twilight. "I might be able to teach you sometime." Twilight answered. "You probably saved our lives, we cannot thank you enough" Joshua reinforces. "Raymond could have killed you" I think aloud. "Raymond? That was his name? How do you know him anyway?" Rainbow asks me. I sigh. This is going to be difficult, but they should know if we plan on staying here in Ponyville. "Alright, I'll tell you I suppose." This isn't going to be easy. "Raymond is my brother." They all gasp. "We were invaded by Knight Kirk the Murdurous," they shudder a bit when I mention his name,"and Raymond the Dark, my brother. Kirk was the one in the spine-covered armor, Raymond was the one wearing the Dark Armor, the armor that looked like a skeleton and which is the symbolic armor of their covenant, the Darkwraiths." "What are covenants?" Rarity asks me. "A covenant is a group of undead that are dedicated to a certain purpose or cause." I explain. "So it's like a team then?" Rainbow asks. "Somewhat" Arthur responds,"There are nine covenants, I walk the Path of the Dragon, Joshua is a Chaos Servant-" "You serve chaos?!" Twilight asks with a tone of sudden anger. "Chaos in Lordran is a special type of pyromancy, based on the daughters of chaos and the Witch of Izalith's powers. I work to make one of the daughters well again. She has fallen ill and when I offer a humanity to her she becomes healthier." "So ya don't really serve chaos or disharmony, but ya work to heal one of the daughters of chaos in Lordran?" Applejack asks. "Correct" Joshua states. "And I am a Darkmoon Blade. I serve the god of the moon, Gwyndolin, and take revenge on sinners for the deaths of the innocent. I serve the moon, and use the blue eye orb to destroy evil. You mentioned chaos and disharmony, well the covenants behind that are the Darkwraiths and the Gravelord Servants." "We thought you meant disharmony, like a lack of peace." Twilight explains. "But if you serve the moon god in your homeland, you should meet Princess Luna, and Arthur, you should meet Spike." "Who is Princess Luna?" I ask, intrigued. "She is the moon princess of Equestria. Celestia is the sun princess, and Luna's older sister." "Interesting, and what do they do?" I ask. "Celestia raises the sun, and Luna raises the moon." Twilight casually explains. My eyes widen in disbelief of this. "She raises the sun?! And Luna raises the moon?! That's amazing! Do they use magic to do it?" I'm very interested now, a single being that can raise the sun, turn day to night and night to day! I am astounded! "Yeah, that's why they're the princesses. They're the most powerful beings in Equestria. They're alicorns, so they have the parts of pegasus, unicorn, and earth pony." Twilight explains further. "Is there any royalty in Lordran?" Fluttershy asks. "Well, yes, but...well, it's hard to explain. There's Lord Gwyn, Lord of Cinder and Sunlight, his son Gwyndolin, god of the moon, and Gwynevere, his daughter, goddess of sunlight. Lord Gwyn has been corrupted by the first flame. He sacrificed himself to fend off the Age of Dark, which the Darkwraiths want to bring about. I was attempting to kill the last being in which I needed to reach Lord Gwyn before I came here." "Back to the covenants though," Joshua says, "there are nine covenants in total. The Warriors of Sunlight, the Darkmoon Blades, the Way of White, the Princess' Guard, the Chaos Servants, the Gravelord Servants, the Forest Hunters, Path of the Dragon, and the Darkwraiths." Rainbow Dash is lying on the ground, she seems to be in pain. "Are you alright?" I ask. "I'm fine, it's just a scratch, it'll heal in no time." "Let me see." I tell her. She lifts up one of her wings and reveals a deep cut near the joint of the wing and in her back. "Why didn't you say anything sooner? You've probably lost quite a bit of blood." I inform her. I give her my estus flask. "Take a sip of this, it should work." Honestly I don't know whether it will work or not, as it is an item made for the undead. She shuddurs at the taste and the fiery feeling. She gives my flask back and grunts from the pain of the flesh and bone moving back to it's original place."You're going to need some rest now that you've gone and lost all that blood." I glance at the area around her wing, dampened with her crimson blood. "The guilty pay the price, and they always shall" I mutter under my breath. "What was that?" Twilight asks. "I said it's getting late, we should find a place to stay for the night." "Arthur can come with me back to the library." "Oh excellent! And perhaps I can learn some spells whilst I stay." Arthur says excitedly. "You can stay with me at my cottage Joshua, um, if you want to I mean. You don't have to if you don't want to." "That sounds excellent, Fluttershy" Joshua says. "Would you like to stay with me Agroth dear?" Rarity asks me. "I think that's a splendid idea, as for the rest of you, I'll see you tomorrow then." Then we all say our goodnights and go to where we were invited. 'Tis a shame I will need to leave for a while.