Dark Souls 2: Rarity's Trials

by Blackdrag-rose

Dangerous Enemies

After resting at the bonfire for a few minutes, so they could regain their energy from their trek through the fog area and the forest area that had been in front of it, Rarity and Edric pulled themselves onto their feet and left the area that the bonfire was located in. Instead of heading forward automatically, as one would expect them to do, they walked up the fallen stone ramp that covered the bonfire and walked up to the level above them, where they found a Lifegem resting near the edge. Once the gem was in their possession the two of them returned to the path that they had been facing and continued forward, though at a certain point they had to move quickly to avoid something that was trying to poison them, which Rarity believed happened to be some sort of large pot that rested on a level above them.

They ignored the pot and moved up into the area they had been heading towards, one that was larger than what they had been in earlier, though at the same time Rarity spotted a fair amount of enemies scattered everywhere in front of them, indicating that this was going to be a hard place to fight through.

The first opponent that they encountered was another one of the strange frog like creatures, though this one was much larger than the previous one they had fought, to which Rarity decided to use a Lightning Spear this time around and put the creature down before it could harm them. Unfortunately her attack didn't seem to do much to the creature, as it shuddered for a few seconds before turning on where they happened to be standing, to which she had to gulp as her target faced her while Edric prepared himself. At the same time, however, they found two warriors, which appeared to be lions that were granted an anthro form like Rarity was using, advancing towards where they were standing with an axe in their right hands and a decent looking shield in their left hands.

When one of the lion warriors swung its weapon at Edric, who dodged out of the way, and second one disappeared as Rarity focused on the frog like creature, though that was before the second warrior rapidly returned with more of its kind and started walking towards the duo. Rarity took a moment to count the number of enemies, finding at least six more enemies following the second warrior, though at the same time Rarity was beginning to think that this was the wrong place for them to come. Her opponent landed near her and knocked her backwards, though as she regained herself she watched as Edric was set upon by the group of lion warriors and was hacked apart before her very eyes... though that was followed by the eight of them turning their attention to her.

As much as Rarity didn't want to give into the Dark Magic that had awoken inside her, as she knew what could potentially happen to her at some point in time, but considering how fast these enemies had taken out Edric she knew that now wasn't the time for her to have second thoughts. She got onto her feet and jumped backwards, before any of the warriors could crush her as well, before she sighed and opened herself to the Dark Magic that was inside her, to which she briefly felt the dark mist return for a few seconds as she prepared herself for what was coming next. Something else she could feel was her own shadow moving behind her, spreading itself out while she readied herself, while she recalled the crystal spire that she had created to kill the Pursuer.

When the first warrior came at her Rarity swung her left hand forward and a crystal spire struck her target in its chest, lifting it into the air before it went limp and died, which caused the other warriors to charge at her with a look of anger in all of their eyes. Rarity pulled her sword out and shattered the spire she had summoned, to which she swung her arm and sent the fragments flying through the air, where they collided with the remaining seven warriors and sent them into the ground. The warriors got back up and charged at her once more, though as they approached Rarity stood still and let their attacks come at her, where she seemed to fade into a shadowy form for a few seconds, allowing her to drive her sword into the chest of her chosen opponent before backing away.

The six remaining warriors, clearly annoyed by what was happening, continued their charge and followed after her, to which Rarity used the shadows around them to maneuver around them and deliver several strikes against whichever target she decided to attack. The frog creature joined the battle a few moments later, though instead of allowing it to do anything, however, Rarity snapped her fingers and the creature was impaled by several crystal spikes, allowing her attention to remain on the enemies that were in front of her. A few more minutes passed, where she shattered the spikes that killed the frog creature and used the fragments to wound all of her remaining enemies, which allowed her to take them down without resorting to using more crystals.

When all of the lion warriors were defeated, and the frog creature was dead, Rarity sighed as she retraced her steps towards the bonfire and watched as Edric reappeared, to which she escorted him back to his souls, claimed them while the area was clear, before they headed back towards the bonfire.

"Well, that was a bust," Edric said, to which he rubbed his arm for a moment, because he wasn't expecting the enemies in this area to be this powerful, though at the same time Rarity nodded her agreement, "and I have the feeling that the rest of the enemies in this area will be the death of us more times than I'm willing to count... which means we picked the wrong path."

"We still did the right thing in saving Rosabeth," Rarity replied, knowing that the lady they had saved would be thankful for the next couple of days, though at the same time she recalled something else, "Edric, do you remember the path we took to reach Heide's Tower of Flame?"

"Yeah, I remember it," Edric said, as it was hard to forget that small passage considering that it had eventually led them to the area where the Lost Sinner had been resting, "Why do you ask?"

"I recall seeing a second passage in that area, one that we couldn't access at the time," Rarity answered, to which she smiled when she saw a look of interest appear on her companion's face, something that told her what her companion was thinking about, "I'm curious as to whether that passage is available now and, if it is, whether the area it leads to might be somewhat easier on us than what we just went up against with those lion warriors."

Edric paused for a moment, as he was curious as to whether Rarity was onto something or if it was wishful thinking on their part, but at the same time he knew that his companion had been right about a few things and decided that if she had seen another path, then she had likely seen another path. Instead of speaking he nodded his head and the two of them knelt beside the bonfire for a few seconds, to which they moved themselves back to Majula, surprising the Emerald Herald in the process. From there they got onto their feet and headed towards Shalquoir's shop, though instead of entering the building they turned towards the passage that would take them to Heide's Tower of Flame... where they stopped when they noticed Licia standing in the middle of the chamber.

"Ah, I remember you two," Licia commented, to which she offered them a smile as they stopped in front of her, though at the same time she glanced at the contraption that she was standing near, "This room is not what it seems. There are two, not one, pathways leading out of this area... and this lovely thing reveals the other pathway. However, this only runs on miracles... shall I perform one for the two of you? It will only cost two thousand souls."

Rarity, having more souls than Edric did at the moment, held out her hand and transferred the required amount of souls to Licia, because she was sure that once they killed a few more of the enemies that were in the new area she would be able to get them back with little effort. Once the transfer was complete Licia nodded and closed her eyes as she swiped her hand across the contraption, which was when she got into a prayer position on the floor as the pathway to their right was closed off by an iron gate of sorts. That was followed by the wall in front of them, opposite the direction they had entered the area through, started to move towards the entrance that would take them to Heide's Tower... until that entrance was blocked off and the other entrance, the one Rarity remembered, was wide open for them to walk through.

Once the wall stopped moving, and the gate had opened so they could pass through the pathway, Licia got onto her feet and opened her eyes, to which she offered them another smile as she turned her attention to the doorway they had walked through earlier... though at the same time Rarity and Edric approached the new pathway and walked into the unknown once more. As they walked forward the duo stopped by the corpse that was in front of them and picked up the strange water container that they discovered, where they determined to take it to Shalquoir when they next returned to Majula. They then continued along the path and were mindful of their surroundings, especially when they reached a point with a large circular hole to their right, before they finally reached the exit... where they found someone sitting in a chair, while at the same time staring at the wall that was opposite of where they were walking.

Out of curiosity Rarity approached the chair and found that the person was male, though at the same time he was wearing something over his head that prevented her from identifying his face, but while she stared at the man he turned and looked at her in turn.

"The Dark stirs…" the man commented, though his voice seemed to echo a tiny bit, but Rarity could tell that he was studying her for a few seconds, no doubt searching for something or trying to understand what he was seeing, "I see… The Dark has sparked within you… My name is Felkin. I will trade with you, and you alone. What do you need?"

Rarity quickly found that Felkin sold some sort of magic, no doubt the hexes that she had learned about when she first discovered that she was a sorceress, and that all of the spells the man sold involved what he referred to as the Dark, which only made her think of the Dark Magic she had awoken. Since she would actually use hexes with her staff, the catalyst for all of her spells so far, she didn't mind picking up something that might help her and Edric against specific enemies, as she was sure that the larger frog creature she had fought earlier was more resistant to lightning than its smaller counterpart. As such she traded some souls for the Dark Orb spell, which apparently fired a dark ball of energy at whoever her target was and either stun her opponent or break their guard if they happened to be guarding, which sounded useful considering that some of their opponents did that while they were fighting.

At the moment that appeared to be the only spell she wanted to pick up at the moment, as she was running low on souls thanks to the two thousand she had given to Licia earlier, though before she could depart from where Felkin was sitting he raised a hand and stopped her... to which he summoned a set of clothing, which happened to be some robes that matched what he was wearing with the leggings and shoes added into the mix, and floated them over to Rarity.

"A gift... for your progress..." Felkin said, though that was followed by him reaching into another dark storage area, a spell that he didn't sell, and pulled out a staff, one that appeared to be made out of some sort of metal and had several rings that rotated around the tip of the weapon, "and a staff as well."

"Felkin... thank you," Rarity said, as she honestly had no idea if this was an act of generosity or if this was simply because she met some of the man's requirements, but at the same time she knew that the staff he had given her would be put to great use in the near future.

"Come again…as you like…" Felkin commented, to which his hands returned to where they had been when she and Edric had stopped beside him, though at the same time Rarity could have sworn that she noticed a faint smile on the man's face, but she couldn't be sure of that fact, "The Dark… is always within you…"

Rarity, despite knowing that Felkin was talking about this world's Dark Magic and not her own, didn't like the reminder about the Dark Magic that was inside her body, as she reminded herself about it all the time... and yet she knew that she was going to have to use it much more often to avoid falling at the hands of their enemies. She only hoped that there weren't anymore enemies like the Pursuer, otherwise she was sure that something was going to explode over the course of that fight.

Comments

[Ze1a7in]

Given that Sombra was also displaced by the mirror portal, I'd bet dollars to donuts that at some point after his and Rarity's returns to Equestria, he gives her some mentoring on using Dark Magic in combat, as well as refining the powers she already has.