//------------------------------//
// Chapter I 
// Story: The Heir of Cinders 
// by CheezitLover69 
//------------------------------//

	Ulric awoke in complete and utter darkness, and he instantly began wondering where he was. He tried to move his arms, but they could barely move, along with his legs. He knew where he was; a coffin or sarcophagus of some sort. That damn lady put him there, most likely as punishment for using the First Flame to give him power. He knew that she would try to stop him, but no prison shall hold him.

Using his hands, he set them against the smooth surface in front of him, and pushed with all his might. He heard a creaking sound, and kept pushing. Soon, he saw a sliver of light pierce the darkness, and he could finally see himself. He saw that he was still in his armor, from the looks of things, but he needed to know where he was, so he pushed until the lid was off of him.

Once it was, he arose from where he was and hopped out of the sarcophagus, taking in his surroundings. He was amazed to see green grass and trees, never before had he seen such things in Lordran. No, he couldn't be in Lordran; the whole nation was turned to ash and rubble after the Lords of Ember were defeated. He was in a new land, a land he could conquer. But was he willing to take away this abundance of life just for power? He continued taking in his surroundings, and saw that there was just more trees behind him, but there was a trail. Maybe even civilization? Hopefully the land wasn't full of Hollows, otherwise he wouldn't care if he had power or not.

Walking towards the trail, he heard the wildlife of the forest; birds chirped, water ran down streams, vines hung from trees. It was all too good to be true! But here he was, standing in a non-hostile forest, where nothing would kill him unless provoked. He heard a loud howl come from behind him, quickly turning and finding wolves. However, they weren't ordinary wolves, but wolves made... of wood? He reached for his sword, only to find it wasn't there. Taking a glance down, he tried finding his sword, but to no avail. So he did the only thing he thought sane in the matter...

...fight with his fists.

He studied his enemy; there were ten of them, easy if he had a sword, but he doesn't, so it'll be a tough fight. They seemed a bit apprehensive at attacking him, but they still growled which meant they would. Ulric was armed to the teeth in armor, so he doubted the wolves could do that much damage to him. His gauntlets were made of stainless steel, so it would hurt if he hit them. Badly. The odds were in his favor.

One of the wolves jumped at Ulric, but he was prepared, and grabbed it by it's forelegs and used the momentum to slam it into a nearby tree. Another jumped at him while his back was turned, but Ulric has fought more clever foes. He quickly rolled out of the way, watching as the wolf landed in front of him. He then charged at it and threw his fist at it's face, surprising it with his courage and force. His punch was so strong, that it went straight through the wolf's head. Two decided to attack him, and he quickly used the decapitated wolf as a weapon; he pulled his hand out of it's head and grabbed onto it's neck with both hands, twirling it in a horizontal circle. The two jumped at him, to which he hit the first one across the face with it's fallen brethren, while the other jumped onto his back. He quickly dropped the dead wolf, reaching back and pulling the wolf off of him and throwing it onto the ground in front of him. He then stomped on it's head, sending green blood everywhere. He glared at the other six wolves, who backed away apprehensively. Ulric was not a foe to be taken lightly; he didn't fight five of the most powerful beings in his land just to be killed by wild wolves.

The wolves then howled sadly as they retreated, fearful of the creature in their forest. Ulric stayed still to see if anything else was going to attack him, but nothing tried. He then decided to let his guard down, and walked over to his sarcophagus and search for his sword. It was a powerful blade that he had Andre enhance for him. Andre's Magnum Opus, if you will. Upon finding nothing, Ulric slammed his fists on the sarcophagus, breaking the stone. He had to find the blade, otherwise he was going to be defeated by whatever powerful beings reside in this land.

He began studying the area around his sarcophagus closely; whatever took his sword must have left a trail, maybe it was some tomb raiders or something, he didn't know. His eyes locked onto a track that wasn't the wolves or his, but that of a large dog's, maybe it was Sif? No, he killed the poor dog. What would it be? It only seemed to walk on two legs, so it had to be another one of those anthropomorphic animals, like that horse he saw.

He saw that the tracks led elsewhere, and followed them closely, not wanting to be thrown off by the wolf trails. The trail led him throughout the forest, past a river, and into a cave of sorts. It was wide enough for a dragon, but the smell of brimstone wasn't there. Nor was there any ash. No, it had been occupied recently, as the tracks were fresh, and whatever is in there has the intelligence to make a home in the dark, perfect for an ambush.

Ulric readied himself, cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders. Once he was sure he was ready, he began his walk into the dark cave. If there were any... monsters, he would most likely die, but once he got his blade back, he'd would slay any and take their souls.

He entered the cavern, and saw that it wasn't as dark as he thought; there were torches along the walls, along with bones below them. He still continued, hearing loud, happy howls. It couldn't be the wooden wolves, so it may be another type of wolf. Or maybe a dog. He doesn't know, but he did find out as he peaked around a corner and saw a mess hall.

Dogs sat along the mess hall, eating... gems? Ulric didn't know dogs could eat gems. Hell, he doubted they ate gems back in Lordran. No, this new land poses a threat to him if dogs can eat gems. He looked around for his sword, his eyes crawling to the end of the room, where he saw a large mastiff-like dog who sat on it's throne with Ulric's icy blade in it's sheath. It literally had it's own snowstorm appearing around it, and if it hit enemies, it would freeze them or at least slow them down. If used on Ulric, it would slow him down a little, but not much to where it would be a challenge to fight the dogs in his current state.

By the looks of things, he could easily say these dogs haven't made it past the stone age, as they were living in a cave. Although they did have chains, he believed that they stole them from nearby civilizations and towns. But that didn't matter, all that mattered was that Ulric found his sword in the paws of a idiotic mongrel, and he would not stand for that.

He walked around the corner, his eyes on the mastiff who had taken notice of him and spoke in a low voice. "What is that?" All the dogs turned to Ulric, but he continued walking past each one and towards the mastiff. "Don't stare at him, get him!"

Every dog stood up and tried to block Ulric's way, but he simply grabbed onto their muzzles and squashed them into dust. When one stood directly in front of him, he punched it's stomach, sending it towards the mastiff. The mastiff arose and pulled Ulric's sword out of it's sheath, getting into a stance. Ulric simply glared at the dog, criticizing the dog's stance internally; the dog was too open, easy for an attack from behind, his footing was wrong, and he held the blade too far from himself. He would die if they were attacked by any novice warrior.

As Ulric got closer, the dogs began backing up, letting Ulric stand directly in front of the mastiff, who spoke coldly, "What are you?" Ulric simply stared, pointing at the dog. It seemed to understand and answered spot on, "I am Chief Bone Grinder of the Grey Rocks, King of the Diamond Dogs." He looked down at you, "And who are you, if I may ask?" For a creature who still hasn't gotten past the Stone Age, he spoke clearly and politely. Ulric pointed at the blade then at himself, and the dog saw the motion, replying with a questionable look, "What?" Ulric did it again, and Bone Grinder looked past Ulric and at the dogs behind him, "Which one of you dogs brought me this blade?"

One greyhound arose, his skinny, frail body looking as though it would collapse in a second, "I, Your Majesty."

"Where did you get this blade?"

"I found it in dead thing chest, next to dead thing."

Bone Grinder nodded, "Ah, I see now." He looked down at Ulric, "This your blade?" Ulric nodded, but Bone Grinder shook his head, "I can not return this blade to you, creature. It has dark magic on it, I can sense it." He turned to Ulric, to which he could hear a quiet growl, "But I can give a different blade-" He was cutoff when Ulric punched him across the face, causing him to drop the blade and be sent flying against his throne. Ulric picked up the blade and twirled it in his hand, looking back at Bone Grinder with a calm smile that no one could see. "You bastard!" Bone screamed, standing up. But stopped halfway when he found that a blade was pointed at his throat. "What is the meaning of this?!"

Ulric simply glared, pointing his thumb at his neck and dragged it across till it reached the other side, making a cutting noise. Bone understood the notion, and growled at Ulric, "You coward! Can't fight me dog-to-dog?!" Ulric stared at Bone and cocked his head, stabbing his sword into the ground, cutting through the stone. Ulric respected battle traditions of different cultures, and this was an interesting one. Ulric then turned on his heel, walking over to the tables and kicking them away with his boot. He then turned to Bone, making the 'come-and-get-me' motion with his hand.

Bone chuckled, "I see that you have some respect, letting me die with honor." He walked towards Ulric, "I know you'll be a tough opponent, but let me lay down the ground rules." Ulric nodded, folding his arms. Bone continued, "You will win if your opponent is broken and can not fight no more or your opponent is knocked unconscious. There are no weapons but your fists, and magic is not allowed. Understood?" Ulric nodded, getting into an aggressive stance. Bone did the same, a smug look on his face, "Good. Now let's FIGHT!"

Ulric charged Bone, and Bone did the same. As they were about to meet, Bone swung his fist, but Ulric saw this and quickly rolled to avoid the attack. Ulric then jumped onto Bone's back and began punching the side of the mastiff's head with powerful strikes. Bone reached back and grabbed Ulric, throwing him across the room. Ulric smiled behind his helmet, looking at Bone; it was going to be a fun fight.

Bone charged Ulric, roaring at him the entire time. Ulric stood his ground, preparing himself by digging his feet into the stone ground. If he was lucky, his plan would work and the mastiff would lose. Bone continued to charge Ulric, preparing another swing. Ulric held his hands back, preparing to use his hands as a weapon. Bone then sent a jab at Ulric, and in an instant, Ulric sent a powerful strike towards Bone, making contact with the mastiff's fist. The result was astounding to the dogs watching; a loud crack was heard as they saw Bone pull back from the punch, seeing as Bone's right hand was now limp. Bone began screaming in agony, knowing what had happened, while Ulric smirked triumphantly behind his helmet. It had worked, Ulric had shattered Bone's paw; the stainless steel took most of the force, allowing Ulric to not do much as his stance did the rest. He watched as the mastiff looked at him fearfully, backing up. "Stop! I yield!" Ulric stood triumphantly, looking at Bone with an unimpressed look. He expected more of a challenge from a savage dog like this, but it seemed the dog wasn't savage enough to fight through the pain. Ulric walked past the mastiff, walking up the stepping stones that lead to the throne. Mastiff lost, and from previous cultures, should mean that Ulric was now Chief and King of the Diamond Dogs.

Once Ulric reached the top, he sat on the throne, pulling the sword out of the stone and leaned it against his new throne.

However, Bone was confused, "What do you think you are doing?!" Ulric decided to reeducate the filthy mutt.

Ulric arose from his throne, grabbing his sword, and walking over to Bone Grinder maliciously. Bone tried to back up, but the momentum moved his paw, which hurt him greatly. He could only watch in terror as Ulric tapped his leg with the blade. The effect was instant, as ice began crawling up his leg like a snake. Once it reached both legs, he knew that he couldn't move any longer, and watched as the ice crawled onto his arms and finally reached his head, to which he was finally frozen solid. The other dogs watched in horror as Ulric leaned in and tapped the ice-statue of Bone Grinder with his stainless-steel gauntlet. They heard Ulric chuckle, before he leaned back and kicked the frozen dog, sending pieces of frozen dog everywhere. The dogs stood still, shaking with anxiety and fear. For this... thing killed their leader and kind king, but ancient law means that this thing is now king, as it was the only one to defeat Bone Grinder.

Ulric didn't pay attention to the dogs, instead sitting upon the stone throne and leaning back with a blank look on his face. He looked around the room, seeing all the dogs staring at him fearfully. His eyes wandered the room, then he saw a map of some sort next to him. He saw that it was a map of the land, as the cave he was in was marked as, 'Diamond Dog Alpha Cave'. He saw that there were many cities and towns, the nearest one being Ponyville... he sighed at the stupidity of the city name, but continued searching the map. He saw that there was one in the center that appeared to be on a mountain, labeled Canterlot... he sighed once more at the stupidity of the names. He pushed those thoughts aside as he focused in one Canterlot, seeing as it looked harder to build than the other cities. So that was where another leader was, and every leader has a throne of sorts. Ulric always liked thrones, but he needed to take things slow. This 'Ponyville' was going to be his first target. He held the map high for all the dogs to see, pointing at Ponyville.

The dogs saw this, and one strong looking dog stood (a Rottweiler) and saluted, "Your Majesty, you are saying that you want to attack the pony town of Ponyville and start a war with Equestria, correct?" Ulric nodded, and the dog continued, "Do you want to come along during the raid?" Ulric nodded once more.

Another thing that Ulric likes; his hunger for power and his devotion to do so.