Chapter 3
With a weary groan, the last of the Pinwheel guards fell to the searing edge of the Chosen Undead’s blade. Watching as the multi-masked body was consumed by flames, the warrior reached for some repair powder and applied it to her weapon. Her travels through the catacombs above hadn’t exactly been pleasurable, and the time she’d spent traversing the dark, danger ridden caves of this place, the so-called ‘Tomb of Giants’, had taken its toll upon her spirit. Had she not gotten assistance from another soul that had left their summoning sign down there, then found sanctuary with an amicable skeleton blacksmith (why he’d chosen to set up shop there of all places she could only guess) and gotten him to forge her the new chaos sword she’d been making good use of, the undead husk doubted she’d still have the strength to keep going.
Nevertheless here she now stood, before another fog gate, surrounded by numerous static skeletons kneeling in eternal silent prayer.
This was Gravelord Nito’s lair all right.
Checking her gear, the Chosen Undead took note of what she’d spent to reach this point, and what she still had left. Her chaos blade for the lord of the dead himself, a divinely enchanted scimitar for any other members of his covenant that might be lying in wait, a shield with magical enchantments to defend against his fabled miasma, and a few swigs left in her estus flask. Assuming she stayed focused, she could still feasibly get through this in one piece.
Feeling a tug on her boot, the undead warrior looked down and grimaced. A few of those damn baby sized skeletons had snuck up on her while she was distracted, to claw at her legs like loathsome rats. Telling herself she had no choice, the warrior wasted no time in raising her sword and driving it repeatedly through their little bodies, till they lay in a mess of broken bones at her feet. They had little to offer in repentance besides the souls that had kept them animated but it was better than letting them wear her down with their toxin ladened bones.
Sighing to herself, perhaps in regret, perhaps in aggravation, the warrior raised her blade again and forded through the fog gate to where her next target lay.
***
“Yes I now see I probably won’t be able to carry all of that back by myself. Just please put it aside and I’ll be right back with something to haul it all to the castle. No it can’t wait till later, Princess Twilight needs all of this now!”
Spike dashed out of Elixir Mixer’s Fine Tonics and Potions, silently cursing under his breath as he looked around the Ponyville Marketplace.
“Sheesh, who’d have guessed there’d be such a massive demand on dangerous, volatile chemicals? What the heck are ponies getting up to when I’m not around?” The young dragon muttered as he spied Applejack and Big Mac at their usual stand, with one of their ever-trusty carts parked behind it. Breathing a sigh of relief, Spike ran over waving his arms. “Applejack! Hey, Big Mac, over here!”
Both ponies turned in curiosity at the sight of one of their dearest friends charging across the marketplace to them, a red, flustered look dirtying his features.
“Well howdy there, Spike! What’s got yah in such a rush today?” The stetson adorned mare queried as Spike grabbed the edge of her stand to catch his breath.
“We had a….*pant*…unexpected emergency at the castle. Can I…*pant*….borrow your cart for a moment? Please?” The dragon breathlessly asked. Applejack looked to Big Mac, who duly grabbed a basket behind the stand and began offloading apples into it.
“Course yah can, Spike. Jest, mind if Ah ask what for?” Applejack queried as the dragon jumped onto the car and hurriedly helped empty its load.
“Twilight and Fluttershy need supplies for..uh...medicine, as apparently does everyone else all of a sudden. I need to grab what I can before the apothecary runs out.” Spike rolled his eyes as he grabbed the cart and dragged it across the marketplace.
“Oh dear. They need any extra help or…” Applejack began.
“No, no, it’s fine…just need to hurry back.” Spike parked the cart outside the apothecary and ran back inside, returning moments later carrying a mountain of glass jars and bottles all filled with various kinds of chemicals. Applejack narrowed her eyes upon seeing many of the bottles were marked with warning labels stating they were dangerous.
“It’d be no problem. Big Mac can watch the stand if you need another set o' hooves…” The orange mare continued.
“Eeyep!” The red stallion behind her agreed.
“Seriously I’m good! Just need to arrange these so they won’t fall off and…” Spike jumped back off the cart and made to pull it out of the marketplace. Unfortunately, he quickly realized a slight hitch in this plan when the cart refused to follow his lead, too heavily loaded as it now was for him to move it on his own. True to his heritage, the little dragon stubbornly tried, thereby giving Applejack time to gesture for Big Mac to take over manning the stand while she crossed the marketplace and watched as Spike finally slumped onto the ground in defeat.
“Actually, on second thought, yes I could use your help.” The exhausted drake meekly replied.
***
“So you n’ Twilight were out in the yard when a black hole opened in the sky and a dragon fell out on top 'o' you?” Applejack queried as she pulled the cart up the road to Twilight’s Castle.
“Yeah pretty much, though it wasn’t really like it fell out so much as something threw it at us.” Spike explained. “Also I’m not entirely sure if it’s a dragon. I mean it looks like one…sort of…half of one at least.”
Applejack glanced over her shoulder at the bottles and again arched her eyebrow at the various hazard warnings stating the contents within were only to be handled with the utmost care.
“And…how exactly are Twilight an’ Fluttershy plannin’ to nurse this poor beast back to health with these?” She asked.
“Follow me, and all shall be revealed.” Spike led the mare around the castle perimeter to the back, to where the mysterious white dragon now lay reclined on top of several oversized pillows taken from the castle, with Fluttershy maintaining a vigilant watch over him while Twilight frantically jotted down notes on a scroll.
“Oh Spike, you’re back, great!” The lavender mare exclaimed as she rose and ran over. “Roped Applejack into helping you along too, I see!”
“Well, I grabbed as much as I could of the ingredients you listed, she was kind enough to haul them back.” The little dragon replied as several bottles were levitated off the cart. “Speaking of which, try to make those last if you can. Mr. Mixer said he wouldn’t be able to get any more in till next month. Something about a travelling showpony having bought up a large amount of the same ingredients earlier this week, right after Zecora stopped by for her usual supply.”
Twilight nodded without thinking as she began mixing the chemicals together in her emerald flask, eyeballing the vessel as it again took on a fiery glow. “Well Fluttershy says he’s out of danger now, so hopefully he shouldn’t need many more of these to make a full recovery.”
Applejack peered with cautious curiosity at the massive drake, taking note of the numerous ugly scars that criss-crossed over his otherwise flawless skin. Some monster had indeed roughed him up badly, though that paled in comparison to the sight of Twilight levitating the brightly burning flask out of the bonfire and up to the drake’s lips. Her stomach promptly lurched as said drake slurped the disgusting mix of unappetizing chemicals down like it was mother’s milk.
“Many more?…uh..Sorry to butt in here, Twi, but how many o’ those has he had?” The orange mare felt ashamed of her rudeness, but she needed some clarity to what she was seeing.
“Five so far…” Fluttershy replied as she flew up and mopped the dragon’s brow. Applejack’s jaw promptly hit the ground.
“Five things o’ these?” She turned back to the contents of her cart. “So…you’ve got a dragon here that gets…better by drinkin’ poison?”
“Estus, actually. Least that’s what he and my book call it.” Twilight replied as she peered at the scar etched across the white beast’s tummy. By now it had mended itself to the point where it was little more than an ugly blemish of pink tissue fouling the purity of the white, and as the estus took effect even that ceased to be the case as it glowed orange then slowly vanished from sight. “I know it sounds stupidly dangerous but so far it’s worked wonders to bring him back from the brink of death, not to mention given me a chance to document a new study in the chronicles of alchemical history! ”
Twilight levitated the scroll over and resumed jotting down her observations of the drake’s recovery. Applejack politely bit her tongue so as not to dampen her friend’s enthusiasm at having another scientific venture to explore.
“So, this drake o’ yers, he got a name to go with the body?” She asked.
“Not yet, well he didn’t answer me when I asked.” Twilight tapped her quill against the scroll in idle thought. “I’ve made a list of names we could call him if he in fact doesn’t have one. I quite like ‘Snowy’, but ‘Pallid’ also has a nice ring to it. Fluttershy suggested ‘Alabast’…”
“We could call him ‘Crys’, short for crystal, cause…well take a look at what’s growing out of his body. Not many other dragons with that ability.” Spike explained.
“We could call him ‘Sleek’ too. He does have the smoothest and most perfect skin I’ve ever seen…” Fluttershy softly mused, right before her patient let out an aggravated roar and flailed blindly at her. “Eeek! Wha…Mr. Dragon what’s wrong?”
The white beast slammed his hand on the ground, clawing at the dirt in search of something.
“Maybe he needs another estus…” Twilight made to levitate the empty flask back to the fire, but the dragon beat her to it. Rolling the emerald vessel between his fingers, he apparently deemed it unworthy and tossed it aside, resuming his frantic search till he at last felt the warm texture of the orange soapstone he’d made previously.
“Maybe he ain’t too keen on yer names and wants to suggest his own?” Applejack said with a little snicker as the drake began etching letters on the ground again.
“I…a…m….I am…c..a..l...l….I am called….S…e…a…t…h. Seath!” Twilight read the burning message. “Huh…not what I’d have picked but it does sound suitable.” She looked up as the dragon gave a retching cough and pushed himself up to a sitting position. “So you’re Seath huh? Well hello! I’m Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends, Fluttershy, Applejack and Spike!”
Seath clutched his chest as he drew in a breath, relishing how for once there was no pain to accompany the action. As frustratingly barbaric as these creatures around him had proven themselves to be, he couldn’t ignore that they had at least done a decent job of healing him up. It seemed a small price to pay if they wished to actually converse with him.
“I hope you’re feeling better now. I’m excited to know more about you!” Twilight replied. Seath pinched the bridge of his nose, silently cursing the fact that he didn’t have any of his channelers around to help lend a more visual perspective on the situation. Despite his misgivings, he was genuinely curious about this strange new land he’d been abruptly thrown into, and any information these beings could offer was invaluable.
“Permit me…*cough* a little more time to rest….and reclaim my…*cough* voice.” He grunted hoarsely, giving everyone a surprise. It seemed they hadn’t been expecting he could actually talk. Granted it had indeed been a very long time since he'd actually used his voice for anything meaningful so the task felt as alien to him as it no doubt sounded to them. “I shall…*cough*…enlighten thee…*hack* soon enough…”
***
So far, so good…the looming mountain of skulls and bones was still upon her, but it couldn’t last much longer at this rate. A few more hits from her chaos sword and she could finally get out of this dark and dreary tomb, this time with her victory and prize intact!
Weakly, Gravelord Nito raised his blade for another strike, summoning two more skeletons to his aid. The Chosen Undead simply rolled safely out of the area of attack and stored her shield so she could draw out her divine scimitar. Dual wielding still felt strange after spending so long adhering to the traditional mode of combat, but she’d had plenty of opportunity to practice during her trip through the catacombs so at least she had a basic understanding of what was needed. Strike with the right hand, defend with the left, then alternate so as to keep the enemy guessing. The skeletons proved to be of little worry as she spun and danced between the fall of their blades, soon putting both down permanently as their master screamed in utter loathing. Retrieving her shield, the Chosen Undead advanced on the Gravelord again, her flaming sword poised to run him through his gut (well, the collection of ribcages below his pile of skulls at least). He launched another wave of miasma at her, but she just crouched behind her shield and endured the worst of it before resuming her attack. This was it! The final blow!
And then suddenly the undead warrior was witness to a scene of déjà vu as the chamber’s air was suddenly disturbed by the opening of a great black void, so utterly devoid of light that even against the chamber’s dark walls it still stood out. Unable to comprehend this was happening a second time, the Chosen Undead halted her acts and looked up at the portal. She quickly found this an unwise course of action as it put her in the perfect spot to receive a giant fist to the faceplate of her helmet. Knocked down for the count, she dropped both her weapons and shield as her body was forced into the ground by a massive weight, over and over again. Once it deemed she wasn’t getting up any time soon, the hand grabbed for Nito, crushing the wounded Gravelord in its grip and yanking it back up into the portal. Yet again it seemed fate was to deny the Chosen Undead what she needed…except…
…except she hadn’t entirely discounted the fact that if such could happen once, it might just be possible for it to happen again. She doubted such would occur, but ever the prepared soul she was, the warrior had taken an extra precaution. As her opponent was brutally ripped from this realm of existence she painfully clutched her hand into a fist, causing her gauntlet to glow with an aura of dark red flames. Through the smashed mess of her faceplate, the undead warrior spied her target and promptly let loose a firestorm barrage. A sound unlike any made by any creature known in Lordran shook the tomb as the hand was set alight, and so too was its load. It dropped the burning Gravelord and violently thrashed about to try and extinguish the flames. In grim satisfaction, the Chosen Undead watched as Nito finally succumbed to his injuries and dissolved into a mess of fire and sparkling white light, allowing the Lord Soul he had been harboring to escape from its bonds and be absorbed into her body. She had triumphed, and could now breathe a sigh of relief!
It was a sigh that was so nearly also her last.
Though her body ached and cried from how badly hurt she was, the Chosen Undead still sensed danger was upon her and forced herself to roll over again, narrowly avoiding the fist that smashed into the floor in an attempt to vent the fury of its owner. With another roar that made the walls crumble in fear, the burning hand yanked itself back into the portal and vanished from sight.
Warily, the Chosen Undead forced herself to sit up, feeling her rotted bones creak and snap as they gave into the beating she had just endured. That had been a call that was far too close for comfort, and if the developing pattern was anything to go by, she could look forward to more encounters with the strange intruder as she hunted down the remaining Lord Souls. It had Seath, and now she’d made it angry by preventing it from taking Nito. If nothing else, it’d be back for her blood now.
A dry, feeble laugh echoed through the warrior’s helmet as she pulled it off and surveyed the damage. Light armor was good for mobility, but it didn’t do much to protect one from all-out assaults. Ah well, she could visit a blacksmith and get it repaired, or maybe even see about buying herself something more durable.…that is, once she’d consumed a few dozen flasks of estus and had a nice long rest.
Weakily, the husk crawled over to retrieve her swords and shield. A small shudder rocked her body as she contemplated what might have happened had she gone with her original plan of not taking the time to rescue (and in some cases re-rescue) the various people she kept running into. A costly mistake that could’ve been; she’d have to rectify it. Definitely have to see about having another session with that Laurentius fellow once she got out of the tomb. Pyromancy was proving to be an increasingly valuable skill to have.
Struggling to her feet, the Chosen Undead looked to the giant coffin that Nito had emerged from and saw, to her delight, that a bonfire had appeared in front of it. Hobbling over she set it alight, then collapsed in relief as the flames eased her pain and cleared her mind. That loathsome void intruder would not hinder her quest, she would get the remaining Lord Souls that still lay in Lordran.
And after that she’d go back and find Seath again.
And then she’d kill him, just like she had all the other ancient relics of the crumbling world around her.
For any Gravelord Nito fans who may be reading this and lamenting he only got a brief appearance before getting skewered, I apologise and promise he'll reappear further down the line. 
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5955494 it is his attempt at adding dialect to AJ' s voice. It is extremely annoying, especially because 'yew' sounds the exact same as 'you'.
You just can't keep a good necromancer down. Literally.
Please, just stop. That accent you've given AJ is absolutely annoying to read, and adds nothing to the story. I mean, why would you replace 'you' with 'yew'? They sound exactly the same to begin with.
Everything else seems fine so far, it's just the accent that's a problem. Also, the completely out-of-place swearing on Twilight's part.
I live in Texas. This offends me heartily.
Let me fix it.
Now it doesn't hurt me to read. please, read Of Mice and Men for a good southern inflection.
Are you...not having the Chosen Undead respawn at bonfires when she dies?
6222791
Iron man run stronk, chosen undead too kool 4 skool
Nice story so far, good work.
Aw poor Nito, the but at leas we will see him again. . . so why does Trixie need such ingredients i wonder
as does apparently everyone else all of a sudden.
Or, better yet, just take out the word apparently.
7605386 or "as does everyone else apparently"
not sure if there should be a coma before "apparently"
Drop your shield...perfect! You know what I mean?
7194764
Explosives? Revengeance?
I’m not sure which is worse - this Chosen Undead killing off all the awesome bosses... or Nito in Equestria
Aww, was hoping for Nito in Equestria and making his entrance by being hurled at Seath because holy shit that would have been hilarious. Also, the Ravelord raving with Pinkie and Vynal. Wonder why Manus is kid napping and displacing the Lord Souls.