Flame of Disparity

by Cinders of War

Chapter 15: High Cathedral - Part II

Sunset lost count after thirty seven, but eventually, she found the steps ending off at a new level, this one carpeted, along with four statues of the horrible Doland at the four corners of the room, all of them smirking at her as she arrived. Fortunately, she was too tired to think too much about them and collapsed on her back, breathing heavily.

Rainbow Dash’s face popped up above her, a amused smirk on it. “Gee, Sunset. You sure are tired.”

“You don’t… say…” She covered her eyes and groaned. “You’re… not tired?”

“Nope!” Rainbow puffed her chest out and pointed a thumb to herself. “Let me tell you, if there was a competition of who could run the fastest and longest, I’d win.”

“Uh huh…”

If it meant anything, at least she hadn’t met anymore monsters on the way up. It would’ve been a pain to have to fight them when she was this tired.

“Come on, hurry up. The light awaits us! And look, there’s a bonfire there. That’ll help.” Rainbow pulled at Sunset’s arm.

The word bonfire got Sunset to crack open her eyes. Slowly, she pushed to her feet and wobbled over to the pile of stones with a sword in the middle. Stretching an arm out, a spark ignited around the sword and soon, the familiar warm glow of a flame emerged, rejuvenating Sunset, who fell back to her bottom and smiled contently.

“Yeah, that’s the stuff…” she said, glad for yet another break, especially after that long climb up. Strength returned to her arms and legs and she felt she could climb another hundred flights of stairs. Not that she would want to though.

“Hey, check this out,” Rainbow called from one corner of the room.

Sunset turned and looked over. While two sides of the room had no walls, the other two did, and one of them had a literal wall of text on it, carved out by something sharp, flanked by two of the Doland statues.

“What’s it say?” Sunset asked as she walked over to join Rainbow by the wall.

It was really a whole lot to read, but Sunset did it anyway, though it didn’t help in making her feel better about this world.

Long before the Age of Fire, there was no known land. The world of Equus was but grey and desolate, populated only by the ancient drakes of old. And then the Flame of Life sprang forth, and with them, the five kingdoms of Equus, who created their lands from the bones of the drakes.

For a time, the kingdoms knew peace, but everything changed when the Abyss came to be, springing up from the grounds within the Throne of Flames itself. From its ever growing darkness, it cast out the Flames of Death, a counter against the life giving flame, and only those strong or insane enough would have the power to wield them.

Four journeyed to the Abyss, taking the flames for their own. Amongst them was Doland, Light of the Sky. A mighty sorcerer from the kingdom of Vinhorse, Doland soon became our great light and has since taken up residence here in the High Cathedral, leading others to the light. The Abyss is the true way forward. We must all accept it to gain its power. The Age of Fire has ended. The Age of Dark is here.

“Well, that’s a rather depressing piece of work, isn’t it?” Rainbow gave Sunset’s shoulder a pat.

“Yeah. This Abyss, whatever it is. It seems to be the source of all these troubles.” Sunset looked at the carved words again. These people were deluded, worshipping this Doland like he was some kind of deity. “What happens when we kill Doland?”

“You know, I don’t even think people come here anymore.” Rainbow shrugged. “We didn’t see a single human on the way up. Just those strange things. Though… I’ve seen stranger.”

“You don’t think that just like Doland, they’ve transformed into ugly monsters as well, do you? They did say it was the way forward.”

“Perhaps?” her friend replied and pulled at a piece of meat in her multi coloured hair. “Unless you wanna ask one the next time you see one, we can only guess.”

“No thanks.”

Sunset stared into the bonfire for a few while, thinking about what the wall had said. The Abyss. Whatever it was, it was definitely the source of everything wrong with this world. Perhaps that was where she needed to go to end it all.

“Man, I wish I could traverse the Abyss, Sunset,” Rainbow said, almost like she had read her thoughts. “Imagine the treasures we might find there. Unfortunately, you need a special item to be able to enter. I don’t know what it is, but stepping into the Abyss without it will just kill you right out.”

“Oh. Uh… huh.” Sunset looked back at the fire. “Even with my Flame?”

“Well, I don’t know. I don’t have one.”

“That’s true,” Sunset sighed. There was just so much she couldn’t know here. “Well, okay, I think we need to move on. Where to?”

Rainbow pointed to the opening beside the wall with the carved words. “I saw a ladder there. We could use it to go up.”

“Great, more climbing…” Sunset wasn’t too pleased to hear that, but they had to be near the top now.

Stepping out onto a ledge that was almost too narrow to walk on, the girls made their way to a wooden ladder leading straight up to what looked like a square roof. By the looks of it, there didn’t seem to be anymore after that; they had finally reached the top of the cathedral.

“Is that it?” she called back behind her, where Rainbow was just starting her climb.

“Don’t look at me. I’ve never been up here!” Rainbow's answer came back.

Sunset grabbed ahold of each rung, steadily hauling herself up as she kept her eyes on the open sky. Those creatures she’d encountered on the way up had wings; she would never know if one decided to fly around and attack her right now. This world was very tricky and deceptive like that, playing on one’s paranoia at almost all times.

By the time she arrived at the top of the cathedral, the sky was a vibrant yellow; the sun’s descension felt as though it was closer to the cathedral. The winds blew around her, whipping up the cloth bits of her armor and her fiery hair.

Before her was a flat expanse of tiles, one type bordering the roof, while the other one filled up the rest of the space. Spikes also stuck out from the sides of the roof, like they were meant to keep people from climbing up here without using the ladder.

As if anyone would be crazy enough to free climb all the way up here.

And then there was an oddly shaped bell on the opposite end of the roof, its shape almost like a snake, though the tail swelled up into what the bottom of a bell would normally look like. A lever stood beside it, and for some reason, Sunset felt the need to pull it.

Rainbow Dash soon popped up beside her, swiping at her rainbow coloured fringe and spitting out a gob of saliva over the edge of the building. “Phew. So this is it, huh? The summit of it all. Not what I expected. I expected something more awesome.”

“Yeah, well, what do we do now?” Sunset looked around, but her eyes focused on the strange bell on the other side of the roof again. “Do you think we have to ring that or something?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Worth a try.”

Sunset walked over to the bell, taking a closer look at it first. Its surface was partially rusted and there was a crack going down from the serpent’s mouth, but other than that, it looked to still be in quite a good condition. Reaching a finger out, the girl ran it down the crack, for almost no apparent reason. The bell seemed to have some kind of mystery about it, at least, Sunset thought so. There was just something within her, something that made her want to touch it.

As her finger lingered on the bell, Sunset felt the wind pick up around her. There seemed to be a strong gust of sorts coming in from the north, where she could faintly make out some kind of spire in a mountain range ahead. Something was wrong about it, though. Sunset rubbed at her eyes. There seemed to be a thick blackness creeping up the spire, along with much of the mountains around it, almost like the sun wasn’t casting any light down there.

“Hey, you can see my house from here,” Rainbow said from behind her, looking down over the east side. “Well, my town at least. And hey, look at that!” She ran over next to Sunset and pointed over to the spire. “You know what that is?”

“Should I?”

“Of course! It’s the Throne of Flames itself!” Rainbow slapped her on the back. “Well, it used to be. Now we’ve all taken to calling it the Throne of the Fallen Hearth, seeing as the Flame’s no longer there.”

“That’s the throne? So does that mean all that darkness there, that’s-”

“The Abyss.” Her companion nodded. “See how it continues to spread? One foot, Sunset. One foot into that growing darkness, you’ll just keel over and die. Normal people can’t go there. But… maybe you can.”

“So that’s it…” Even though she could barely see it, the creeping darkness sent a shiver down her spine. It felt so… evil.

“Yep…” Rainbow gazed over to the spire beside her. “Well… enough of that. Go on. Ring that bell. I’ve been wanting to do it for some time now.”

“Yeah, me too.” Sunset took the lever in both hands. “I don’t know why, but I have a compulsion to do so.”

“Meh, that’s how it is with everything in this world. Well, important things at least. They make you just want to touch them.”

“Right, let’s see…”

Sunset took the lever in her hands and with a quick intake of air, she pulled it back, listening as the gears turned and clicked somewhere below her feet. In no time, the bell was drawn back and with an almighty boom, its sound rang out across the open air, traveling for what seemed like miles. Looking back over to the Throne of the Fallen Hearth, Sunset guessed if anyone was currently there, they’d be able to hear the bell as well.

The air around them seemed to shift, almost like… something was coming. Sunset hit herself on the head, then drew her star sword. Of course something was coming.

“Here we go.” Rainbow drew her daggers and grinned madly. “Are you ready, Sunset? It’s time. Time to get a light of my own!”

“Are you even sure it’s here?” Sunset looked around the tower.

“Of course, Sunset. This is Doland’s tower. Those bugs are all over him. He’ll have one for sure!” Rainbow licked her lips. “A light of my own! At long last. I can’t wait. Let’s do this, Sunset.”

“Right…”

And then there was a mighty blast of wind from above them, blowing Sunset’s hair all over her face. She pushed what she could aside and looked up, now noticing a black shadow had fallen upon them. Above, a serpentine body swirled and slithered, a humanoid head attached to the tip of it, tentacles sprouting from its hideous chin. A grim smile spanned from one ear to the other, and four large feathery wings continued to flap, making it hard to keep her feet on the ground.

This was Doland, Light of the Sky. One of the Flames of Death.

“Flame… A Flame of Life… Give it to me…” Doland reached a clawed hand out towards the girls.

“You go low. I’ll go high.” Rainbow bent back into a crouch and raised both daggers before her face.

“How are you supposed to go high? I’ll go high. You go low.” Sunset aimed her sword at Doland’s reaching arm and flung it, watching it spin for a second before she was magically transported to it, cutting out at one of his fingers.

Her blade easily made its way through the monster’s feathers and flesh, drawing blood, which splattered across Sunset’s armor. Doland let out a bellowing screech, similar to that of a hawk combined with a bear, and then swished his tail up, which sported three long tentacles, wrapping one around Sunset’s waist.

“Hey!” Sunset squirmed, her sword arm trapped beneath the thick tentacle.

“Come on! Come down here and fight me!” Rainbow jumped up and down, at times slashing up with her daggers, unable to reach the winged beast. “Just wait, Sunset! I’ll get you out!”

Sunset squirmed in Doland’s grip, still unable to free herself from the beast. And then one of his hands lifted to her face, one talon drawing threateningly close. And then Sunset hatched a plan. Letting go of her star sword, she let it fall a couple of feet before transporting herself to it, vanishing from Doland’s tail in a flash of blue sparks, before materializing below it, delivering a swift upward cut, drawing more blood from his tail.

Doland swiped at her again with his tail, but Sunset was prepared this time. Throwing her sword high, she teleported over near his face, swiping at his chin and severing one of his tentacles. Doland roared in anguish and opened his mouth wide to take a bite out of her, but Sunset was already gone, now on one of his wings. Lifting her sword high, she brought it down, spearing right through to the other side. With a yell, she yanked her blade out from the side, cutting a sizeable tear in the beast’s wing.

Doland let out another screech and began to fall. Rainbow dashed backwards and rolled away just as he landed in a heap where she had been standing, his face scrunched up in pain. Sunset ran over to his face and speared her star sword through one of Doland’s eyes. He writhed on the cathedral’s roof as Rainbow went around back, cutting through his body with her daggers, repeatedly slashing away through feathers and flesh.

With one more screech, Doland whipped his tail around and caught Rainbow in the side, knocking her over to the edge of the roof, where she broke one of the roof’s pillars on impact. Sunset teleported skyward to avoid it, but Doland shook his body, sending a swarm of glowing beetles out of his feathers, which now flew up after her.

“Really?”

One landed on Sunset’s exposed shoulder and bit into it, its sharp mandibles easily cutting through her flesh.

Sunset yelled in pain and smashed at its head with the butt of her sword. These were the bugs Rainbow was talking about, but they weren’t as harmless as Sunset had anticipated them to be.

Teleporting back down and away from the swarm, Sunset parried one of Doland’s chin tentacles and cut up, wounding him across the nose.

“Aaarrrrghhh… The Flame fights me. It will not give itself up.” he growled and slithered his body up, rising on both arms. “If you will not give it to me, then may death consume you and your Flame.”

As Sunset began to cut away at his left arm and the swarm of beetles, something began to radiate out of Doland. Her senses taking over, Sunset threw her sword over to where Rainbow was and got out of the way just in time as Doland’s entire body burst into bright blue flame, a shockwave radiating out and crackling the very fabric of the sky.

Dark clouds moved in from nowhere, immediately darkening the yellow sky, with Doland’s Flame of Death now the strongest source of light up here.

“Your Flame will be mine, girl. I am Doland, Light of the Sky. This is my cathedral. Here, I am worshipped. I am revered. You will bow to me or die.”

“No chance.” Sunset picked out an estus flask from her pack and poured it down Rainbow’s mouth.

Her friend sputtered and coughed, but was quick to return on her feet, her daggers already in hand. “Did we win? Oh.”

“Yeah. I don’t know how we’re going to reach him. He’s burning all over.” Sunset eyed the beast’s face, fingers, and the end of his tail. Those were the only places where the fire seemed to stay away. “There, we need to hit those spots.”

“Not going to be easy. We’re still going to get burnt when we get close. How many estus flasks do you have left?”

Sunset dug in her pack and raised two fingers. “Two more. I really need to find more vials.”

“Then we’ll have to make it quick. Those sunlight maggots will be mine!”

Sunset nodded, but watched as the swarm of beetles returned. “We’ll have to deal with those too. Watch their bites. They hurt.”

“I’ll take them on. I’m awesome, remember? I got this.” Rainbow gave Sunset’s shoulder a pat. “I’ve got your back, Sunset. You’re my friend. I protect my friends.”

“Glad that you do, Dash. Let’s finish this.” Sunset smirked.

With a flap of his wings, Doland sent a wave of blue fire at them, with Sunset teleporting through it and Rainbow sliding under it. The freezing flame frosted over part of Rainbow’s leather armor, but she kept going, her daggers already getting to work on the beetle swarm, each one slicing one of them in half.

Sunset aimed for Doland’s tail first, where he seemed to have less attacks. The tentacles lashed out at her, but with a spin, Sunset dodged through them and cut in a circle, tearing flesh off the imey appendages. The fire around Doland’s body began to burn at her exposed skin and frost her armor, but Sunset kept attacking, slashing at his tail and cutting off another tentacle.

Doland swung his head around and tried to bite her, but the fiery haired girl threw her sword into Doland’s other eye and warped to it, pushing it deeper in.

The Flame of Death’s voice bellowed across the air, shaking even the roof they were standing on.

Rainbow dodged one of the bugs and speared one with her daggers, before sliding under one of Doland’s arms, which smashed against the bell, knocking it right off with a loud ding. Two of the sunlight beetles dug into Rainbow’s back, but she fought against the pain and sliced Doland across one finger, before leaping over the swarm and cutting at them again, more of them biting on to her.

“Flame…” Doland growled again as one hand reached for Sunset, with both eyes now rendered blind.

The flames continued to hurt Sunset, forcing her to down an estus flask to keep her skin from burning off from the intense cold of the flames.

With a spin, she kicked off his face and slashed her star sword through a finger, then threw her sword straight up, appearing high above Doland. With a mighty shriek, Sunset cut down as gravity brought her back towards her adversary, cutting right through the front of his face, stopping only when her blade cut into the flooring of the High Cathedral’s roof, sending chips of marble and stone into the air.

“No. I cannot die…” Doland’s flames began to dissipate, returning his feathers to their grey-white. “I am Doland… I am worshipped, I…”

And he began to flake away, his body fading out into the dark sky as blue cinders. The bugs that were all over Rainbow all suddenly fell over and died as well, those latched on to her letting go and falling off.

“We did it…” Sunset fell to her knees and looked up at the cloudy sky. “We actually did it…”

A blue orb was left behind, where Doland had vanished, along with a strange purple grub that writhed on its back, its body casting off a bright yellow glow. Beyond them, near the spot the bell used to be at, a bonfire burst into existence, its flame going strong in the darkened sky.

“Hey, the maggot!” Rainbow limped over, blood dripping down one side of her face. Her hair was stained red as well, along with most of both arms. “This is it, Sunset! A light of my own. At long last…” She picked it up and stared at it.

“Yeah, that’s great, Dash.” Sunset cupped the second Flame of Death in her hands. “And that’s two down for me. I’m halfway home, Rainbow.”

She placed it inside her pack and sighed with relief. She felt closer now. Closer to getting out of this deadly world. It felt so long since she first set foot here, waking up in that decrepit house and it was even longer since she had last killed things. Just when she had thought she left it behind, she had to resort to killing again. It had become almost too easy to do so and she didn’t want that.

“Hey, what if I put it on my head?” Rainbow lifted the maggot over her rainbow hair, its legs squirming grotesquely over her.

“Really? You actually want to put that on?” Sunset eyed it with disgust. “I wouldn’t even want to touch it.”

“But it’s so bright.” Rainbow placed the grub atop her head, its legs grabbing her scalp and latching on tight. The light it was radiating got brighter, and it stopped wiggling. “Look at me! I’m so cool right now!”

“Yeah. Come on. The bonfire can take us back to Fyrlon. When we’re there, we can get some rest.” Sunset began to walk over to the bonfire. It felt like ages since she last sat back and relaxed.

Rainbow was about to follow, when suddenly, she bent forward in pain and screamed.

Sunset quickly turned to her, her star sword already in hand, but there were no enemies around. Rainbow was just doubled over like she got punched and stumbled a few steps forward.

“Dash, what’s wrong?” Sunset was quickly by her friend’s side, her head turning from left and right just in case there was some sort of invisible enemy. “Dash! Aaah!”

Sunset looked down to where she had suddenly felt a flash of pain. There was a dagger sticking out of her abdomen and Rainbow Dash’s hand was still holding on to its handle.

“D-Dash?” Sunset was shocked. Surely it was an accident.

Rainbow slowly lifted her head and looked at her, only, it wasn’t exactly Rainbow Dash anymore. Her eyes were now a burning red, and her sclera had turned black, almost like some kind of monster.

“Light… the light is mine now…” she grinned wickedly and stood up, pulling on the dagger, forcing Sunset to move along with her. “I have it… I have it! But no. I want yours now!”

“Aaagh! Dash, stop!” Sunset tried to pry the dagger from her abdomen, but Rainbow just pushed against it harder. “Stop! I’m your… friend!”

“My only friend is the light that I want!” she twisted her blade sideways.

Sunset felt weak. She fell to one knee, blood seeping down from her armor and staining her cloth segments a dark red. She didn’t want to harm Rainbow. She didn’t even know what had happened to her.

Struggling to find a way to free herself, Sunset felt a blade slide under her chin. Rainbow’s second dagger tipped her head up and made her look into her friend’s dark eyes, which were now filled with evil and malice; a sharp contrast to the brightly glowing bug on her head.

Suddenly, she stalled, her eyes screwing shut and her teeth gritting against one another. “S-S-Sunset… The maggot… Quick… kill… me… Before I…”

A growl escaped her throat as her head swung from side to side. Rainbow was fighting against it.

With her grip on the lower dagger loosened, Sunset pushed away from Rainbow, the blade leaving her abdomen with a wet schlick, and scrambled back, her hnd already finding her last estus flask in her pack.

“Rainbow, no. Fight it. Don’t let it win,” she said after a gulp of the flask’s contents.

Sunset lifted her star sword and held its tip out in front of her, pointing it towards Rainbow. She really didn’t want to have to use it.

Rainbow screamed again and with one stomp, she charged Sunset, both daggers at her sides, ready to strike. Sunset threw her sword under Rainbow’s legs and materialized behind her in a flash, her other hand retrieving the crossbow from her pack. Perhaps she could immobilize her with it.

Aiming at her friend’s leg, Sunset fired a trio of bolts, watching as one lodged into Rainbow’s left thigh, while the other one bounced off the roof tiles and the third one completely missing her.

The rainbow haired girl didn’t seem to even register the bolt in her thigh and advanced again, her daggers swinging for Sunset even before she got close enough to use them.

She bobbed and weaved, dodging all of Rainbow’s slashes, trying to gain some distance between them so she could reload her crossbow. After running two more lengths of the roof, Sunset had managed to reload her crossbow and fired a few more times, getting another two in Rainbow’s right leg, but still she kept going.

“Rainbow, just stop! Please!” Sunset begged, hoping to get through to her. “This isn’t you!”

The sunlight maggot shone brighter on her head and Rainbow leapt at her, spinning like a deadly top, her blades clashing against Sunset’s and echoing across the expanse around them.

“I must have it!” she screeched and pressed the attack, forcing Sunset back close to a portion of the roof that had been smashed apart.

Missing one step, Sunset’s foot slipped off the side and she fell back, dancing in the air for a second before plunging down, her left hand grabbing the ledge at the last second.

Her crossbow plunged down and out of sight, while she hung on for dear life, reaching her other hand up to grasp the ledge. Rainbow was soon over her, bending over one knee with a leering smile on her face.

“What a situation you’re in. But I can’t have you fall. I would lose your light. So why don’t you come back up.” She plunged a dagger into one of Sunset’s hands and pulled on it.

“Aaaah!” Sunset gasped, trying not to lose her grip on the ledge.

“Your light will be mine. One way or another. It will be mine!”

Using her other hand to grab Sunset’s arm, Rainbow hauled her up, but before she could deliver a finishing blow to her head, Sunet slid her sword across the floor, disappearing just as the dagger speared down into the concrete, cracking it.

Appearing on the opposite end, Sunset picked up her weapon and got to her feet, her left hand weak and bloody. She was losing blood fast and she was out of estus flasks. She needed to find a way to end this, fast.

“Rainbow, stop. No more. I don’t want to have to fight you!” she begged one more time. “Fight it! You can win this! Don’t let it control you!”

“I want your…” Suddenly she grabbed for her head and slammed her eyes shut. “I want… I want… Stop. Stop this… Sunset…”

“Come on, Dash. Fight it! You’re stronger than this bug! You’re the best athlete in school! If anyone can beat this, it’s you.”

Rainbow struggled, trying to pry the bug off her head, but it didn’t budge. And then she snapped back to Sunset, her eyes burning again, a snarl on her face.

“Light! My light!” She charged, brandishing her daggers. “Give it to-”

Sunset had raised her sword to defend herself, but Rainbow had stopped again, her daggers still raised to attack, but her eyes screwed shut, internally trying to fight off the maggot’s control.

“I-I’m sorry, Sunset.” Rainbow regained control, doubled over as she fought to maintain it. “I can’t… End this, Sunset. You’re the only one… who can end it all…”

Sunset didn’t get what she was trying to say, until Rainbow raised a dagger and brought it back down into her abdomen, plunging it as deep as she could.

“No!” She was quick to be by her side, but the damage had already been done. As the athlete fell to her knees, she tossed the dagger from her gut and grinned, the sunlight maggot on her head already beginning to lose power, its light fading away. “Rainbow, no. Why? I could’ve found a way.”

The rainbow haired girl shook her head. “No… No other way… This is it. You wouldn’t… kill me. So I had to do… it…” She coughed out blood. “Sunset… Find the one responsible… And free us all. I know… you’ll do it.”

Rainbow began to flake away in the wind, starting from her shoulders.

“No, no, no!” Sunset tried to grab what she could, but they just slipped away through her fingers.

“Do it for all of us…” Rainbow smiled as her face disappeared into the wind.

“Rainbow, no! No!” Sunset scrambled after the ashes of her friend all the way to the edge. “No…”

There was nothing more she could do. Her friend was gone. She had sacrificed herself to save her. To the end, Rainbow Dash was as loyal as ever and somehow, that hurt Sunset more, knowing that.

As Sunset sat there and let her tears flow, a wind blew around her, coming from the north where the Throne of the Fallen Hearth was. The girl flashed her tear-stained eyes on the spire and growled. She was halfway there now. She vowed to find the last two Flames of Death and stop the Abyss from spreading any further. She owed it to Rainbow Dash to rid this world of its darkness once and for all.

“I won’t let you down, Dash. I’ll do what I set out to do. And I’ll return home and see you all again. I promise.”

Author's Note:

Achievement Unlocked:

Doland, Light of the Sky - You defeated Doland, Light of the Sky!
Here's a picture of Doland! It's not much, just a quick sketch, but it gets his image across!

Comments

[Red Rackham]

9428148
Oh really? Why not? It reads pretty much like a story to the rest of us.

[Venerable Ro]

I'd have tried stabbing the bug. It's right there on her head and everything, just a quick shave off the top yeah?