//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Praise the Sun! // by Distrance //------------------------------// PRAISE THE SUN! In the Age of Ancients, the world was unformed, shrouded by fog. A land of grey crags, archtrees, and everlasting dragons. But then there was fire, and with fire came disparity. heat and cold, life and death, and of course... light and dark. Then, from the dark they came, and found the Souls of Lords within the flame. With their power the once proud human race had been utterly annihilated. The land of Lordran is scorched and destroyed; It's former inhabitants either dead, or horribly demented. The once majestic and bountiful land ravaged by the demons that rose from the ashes of the cities crumpled walls. Solaire remembers the day they came, the day the whole world was devoured in the ensuing darkness. Through an unspeakable fate did Solaire survive the demon's initial taint. But he, like many others who still draw breath; who's souls have yet to be corrupted, are branded with the accursed darksign. Forever shall he be haunted by the death and decay of his world. Through the endless darkness had Solaire contemplated the end. The defeated knight of Astora sat slumped upon the edge of a castle, the chasm below enticing to an insane man's final will. But to leap from this very spot to end it all, to what honor would he be left upon? His insane thoughts would cease upon this moment, as the bright glow of an unknown force blinded his eyes within his bulky helmet. He raised his hand to cover it's ray; his once cold and damp armor suddenly became warm and pleasing to his sullen body. Through a revelation of a higher hope, Solaire stood from his perch. A shimmer of hope wandered in his mind as he could only gaze at the awe-inspiring sky above him. The sun, oh how it shines so brightly in the face of evil and terror. How it's gaze effects all the land in perpetual beauty. If only I could be so grossly transcendent. Solaire quizzed in his thoughts. One man alone would surely go mad; but a companionship of fellows could only move forward. Solaire smiled from under his squared helmet, a new decree set within his heart. "Thank thee, oh bountiful sun. My this quest be entitled to your glory. For freedom, for victory, for cooperation, for the warrior of the glorious sun!" He declared, unsheathing his sword and holding it at level with the sun. Twas many months after the formation of the Warriors of Sunlight. The wandering souls of many lost men had relinquished themselves to Solaire and his cause, assisting all those who's soul faces the wrath of a demon's corruption. With every trial and tribulation, they inched a path slowly and steadily towards the root of all evil, the 'master' of the flame itself: Gwyn, Lord of Cinder. Solaire of Astora stood beyond the gate of the demi-god's lair. The bodies of the hollowed dark knights, that once served Lordran with an unquestionable faith, littered the floor. Behind him, the faintly orange glowing figures of men, that stood armed and ready. In the land of Kiln, it's features would distinguish a holy-man's views of Hell. Any normal man would shriek at the sheer terror of it's boundaries; but the Warriors of Sunlight were far beyond normality. Solaire turned to his men and exclaimed to them: "My fellows, we are at an end on this day. The very demon who had imprisoned ourselves within this cage of death is only a door-smashing away." He began pacing himself back and forth among the group of stalwart phantoms. "Let thine never forget thy training, and let not the knights of dark overtake you... The sun continues to shine brightly upon ourselves, and the prowess of cooperation has led us to where no one man could of done alone." He took a moment to eye of a his soldiers, whom kept their gazes forward; just as they should be. "Now..." Solaire paused, unsheathing his sword and raising it above himself. "May our last salute end in glory!" The accompanying phantoms nodded, and raised their various weapons in salutations before setting off to the bronzed embroiled gates below them. They stood at the gate, weapons in hand and shields hoisted forward. Inches from the source of the chaos, an eerie spark of energy jolted the hearts of the soldiers; An essence of power unknown to their mortal knowledge. Solaire closed his eyes, and drew in a gust of breath. The shield in hand, emblazoned of the insignia of the sun itself, heaved forward with all of his might, breaking the locked grip of the gate, as a faint, orange glow illuminated the room ahead. Solaire jerked his head forward, signaling their advance. One by one they stepped silently inside, unbeknownst to their surroundings. The room was enclosed in darkness; in the middle of the room sat a single pyre of flames which danced in an unnatural fashion. "How amusing." A soul-shattering voice bellowed from the darkness. "The children of the pygmy have come to relinquish my power." He cackled. The phantom soldiers remained unwavered at the insult. From the darkness stepped a giant of a man... To be a creature of 7 feet tall, the ancient being approached us from the shadows. His skin had been rotted and simmered from his immortal decay. His body, adorned in the tattered wears of an ancient king, to which a disfigured crown sat upon his scarred face. Solaire could only stay transfixed at the weapon that the god clenched within his hand. A longsword the size of himself that erupted into a cloud of flames, all to his impressiveness. He towered over the men and with a faint chuckle he continued: "On this day I am merciful; Leave now and perhaps you shall only remain a hollowed soul for my ever-growing army." Solaire clenched his teeth as the god spoke. His mere presence light a fire of ate within his heart that wished for him to simply fall under his own blade. "Nay, Lord of Cinder! Our quest is mighty and righteous! On this day you shall fall under the light!" Solaire confidently boasted to the amused king, who exchanged a stare among the sun-emblazoned knight. "Very well mortal, your fate.... is sealed." He declared, and with the prepared crack of his neck, he lunged. To think that such a withered man could contain such speed was unexpected, to say the least. To a single phantoms own positioning was an unfortunate soul caught off-guard, to which his head lopped cleanly off from it's mantle. Now is not the time to falter. There is no surrender! Solaire uttered to himself consistently, motioning his men to regroup upon himself. Gwyn weaved endlessly in and about the group of tired soldiers, pausing for small bouts of moments to recover. Solaire caught notice to his pattern and turned to his men to shout: "My boys, aim for when he is weakest! Strike at the pause!" ordered Solaire to his withering forces. Gwyn routinely weaved in with his sword, slicing at the shields wall the group had formed, with Solaire acting as their eyes. On expectation, Gwyn paused on his third strike. "NOW!" Solaire screamed, clambering on the back of one of the phantoms to heave himself towards Gwyn. The group dispersed to thrust their weapons at the unmoving behemoth who held a smirk upon his withered face. "Pathetic!" Gwyn shouted, while charging the thrust of his sword, motioning it backwards. Solaire's blade made an incision through Lord Gwyn's arm, which left Gwyn unaffected by the flesh wound. Gwyn threw his sword forward in the direction of the charge. Those unlucky enough to bear the burden of cumbersome armor were felt the full strength of the god's burning sword. A phantom dropped and dissipated as the entirety of him was impaled and thrown back. The other received a gash that penetrated his armor as Gwyn's sword ripped through his fellow comrade, sending him to the floor in agony. Solaire cursed at his odds; His small warband of brothers had been halved, twas only a few that still drew their swords. Without hesitation, Solaire sprinted to the edges of the room in preparation as the Warriors of Sunlight continued to fiercely battle the demi-god. "O' spirit of god, maker of the sun, grant me strength to banish thine evil." he chanted to himself. He relinquished the sword from his hand, and from his satchel he pulled a strangely coated talisman, wrapped in cloth. A pressing light began to form over the talisman as Solaire guided it above himself. He stepped from the shadows to meet eyes with the battle-engaged demi-god, the small glow had now erupted into a strand of gleaming lightning, as if stolen from dark clouds above. "GWYN, LORD OF CINDER, TO THE END WITH YOU!" Solaire shouted, who's act had attracted Gwyn's view. As the lightning bolt reached the peak of it's power, he released it; throwing it with every inch of might towards the old king. Lord Gwyn halted his attack to brace for the incoming bolt of heavenly magic. His eyes began to glow with the ember flames of the pyre. Gwyn cackled madly as he uttered to knight: "What a fool you are, Solaire of Astora..." A burst of light... That is all that he could remember from the limited view of his helmet. He did not know if he had succeeded or failed with his final stroke of power. Solaire could not feel his body, almost as if he was but the air, and his body was the feather that carried lightly across the plains of nothingness. O' by Solstice's light have I failed in my quest? Solaire's mind wandered. Had he finally met the warm touch of death upon the whiteness of the world around him? But where was 'here,' the void of space that he floated aimlessly about; A heaven not depicted by the priests and missionaries of his former world. A beam of divine light cascaded from the void above him, showering Solaire in it's gaze. An unearthly force tugged at his soul; he was being dragged towards it's center. There was no resisting his ultimate fate, for an eternal existence in the pitch of whiteness did not appeal to him. Solaire... A voice rang in his mind, its gentle tone was of an angel's guise as it spoke abruptly to the contemplating soul. My holy child... Solaire slowly hovered closer and closer to it's source before reaching it's peak. He closed his eyes in anticipation as he felt his whole essence slowly drift out from where he began. Find peace...