Dark Souls 2: Rarity's Trials

by Blackdrag-rose

Huntsman's Copse

The first thing that Rarity and Edric did, after meeting Felkin and receiving a gift from him, was depart from the cave they had been traveling through and walked outside, where they found a bonfire waiting for them, which represented the fact that they had found a new area to explore. Edric stared out at the area around them, or more like the area that they could see from where they were standing, while at the same time giving Rarity the opportunity to slip into her new robes while his back was turned. She stared at the headpiece that she had been given for a few seconds, after slipping the robes, shoes, and gloves on, though she could already tell that she would need to modify the item before she could actually use it without piercing it with her horn.

Once she was wearing the majority of the new armor, however, she spun the new staff around and studied the weight of it, as it was slightly different than the one she had been carrying so far, before she stashed her original staff in her bag... before she tapped it against the floor and drew Edric's attention to her.

"You look more dangerous now," Edric commented, studying Rarity's new appearance for a few seconds, noting that the gear that Felkin gave her seemed to decently blend with the new coloration of her eyes and the strange mist that refused to leave her eyes alone, "If I wasn't traveling with you, and came across you on a battlefield, I would run in the opposite direction and live to fight another day."

"I don't really feel that much more dangerous," Rarity admitted, though at the same time she hoped that Edric's feeling towards her, the slight amount of fear he had for her new form, was felt by their enemies, before she glanced at the path on their right, "So, shall we get started and see what sort of powerful creatures call this place home?"

They walked up the hill that the path was taking them towards and approached the next cave entrance that was in front of them, where Edric, taking a chance, raised his sword into the air for a few seconds before bringing it down on the hollow that was faking being dead to the left of them. The hollow barely had any time to react as Edric removed it from their path, as he and Rarity were sure that he would get up the moment they entered the cave and block their escape, though now they were free to move on again. As they walked into the cave they were set upon by another hollow, one that Rarity blasted back with an Emit Force spell, though as the two of them walked along the stone path they ignored the plant in the air that was spewing poison into the air... though as they reached the other side of the cave the two of them removed the next hollow that was in their way before emerging once more.

To their immediate left, and heading nowhere, were a set of tombstones that looked like they were about to break, though on their right, and directly behind them as well, rested some ruins that they would need to fight their way through before they got anywhere fast.

Together Edric and Rarity followed the path that was in front of them, which brought them to a stone set of stairs that led them to the entrance of the ruined building that they had been staring at for a few seconds, though when they entered the building they were set upon by another hollow. As Edric dealt with the warrior hollow that was in front of them, and blocked the attack that was coming their way, Rarity dealt with the two archer hollows that were on the opposite side of the room they were in. Instead of using any of her old spells, or the ones associated with Dark Magic, she channeled the Dark Orb she had purchased and sent two flying through the air, immediately knocking one into the wall and slaying it in seconds as the second one staggered backwards. A few seconds later Rarity heard the sound of a door falling apart and Edric fighting it, indicating that it was another warrior hollow, though at the same time she used a simply Soul Arrow to take out her target.

Once the immediate enemies had been taken care of the two of them walked down into the area below them and explored it a little bit more, where they engaged the six warrior hollows that were hiding down there, leading to Edric blocking attacks and cutting his foes down while Rarity used her new staff to parry attacks and blow her foes to bits with her magical spells. The instant their enemies were taken care of the two of the climbed up some stairs and found a ladder leading them up to the roof for this part of the building, where they found two more enemies waiting for them the moment they had both climbed the ladder... though they were easy to take care of, considering that they could each take one and take them down with their own methods.

It took a few seconds for them to clear the area, though once the area was clear Rarity spotted some moss and a Lifegem, which she claimed before she followed back down to the area that they had just cleared out... before they walked over to the door that the hollow had broken.

From there Rarity and Edric walked out of the building and found a path on their right that would allow them to progress onward, to which they climbed down the ladder that they discovered and prepared themselves for whatever foes were waiting in the forest area ahead of them. Before they went too far, however, they circled around the corner and spotted a tree that Edric could easily fell by pushing it with his foot, so while he did that Rarity spotted a new bonfire and activated it as he opened a way for them to go backwards without passing through the ruined building again. They then paused for a few seconds, allowing themselves a moment to rest, before they left the area that the bonfire was in and walked towards the forest that was near the ruins.

As they walked forward they prepared themselves, as three more warrior hollows engaged them, though at the same time Rarity noticed that these enemies didn't actually wear armor and that made it much easier for her and Edric to take them out. From there they approached the stone bridge that was in front of them, but before they did that Rarity moved to the left and appeared the edge of the cliff area they were apparently walking on, where she found a soul and some sort of orange item that she knew nothing about. With those items in hand she returned to Edric and they advanced over the bridge, though at the same time they noticed another hollow, one carrying two weapons, approaching them... while Rarity also noticed some poison creatures lingering in the tops of the trees.

Rarity, seeing the enemies that could impede their progress, took a step back and focused her energies into some spells that would allow them to take care of the poison creatures, though at the same time Edric attacked the larger enemy that was coming their way. A few moments later Rarity sent her magic flying through the air and struck all of the poison creatures that there around them, allowing them to fall to the ground and fade away like all of the other enemies that they had encountered so far. That was followed by Edric taking out the hollow that was in front of them, while at the same time attracting the attention of the other large hollows that were in the area around them, which caused Rarity to spot the hollows and she blasted one of them backwards with a Lightning Spear.

Once the remaining large holows had been taken care of, as there were only two more at the moment, Rarity and Edric turned to the right of the bridge they walked across and continued up the path that they had chosen, where they came to a circular structure of some kind... one that didn't have a clear access point, so they decided to move onward.

As they walked up the next part of the hill they had to deal with the two warrior hollows that were in their way, though a few seconds later Rarity noticed a side entrance to the dome shaped building... which happened to have a lever that they immediately pulled so they could progress onward. When they walked out of the building, however, they spotted a decent sized bridge lowering into place in front of them, to which the two of them waited for a few seconds before the bridge came to a complete stop. As they walked across the bridge Rarity noticed a pyre, that acted like a light source for this area, that was made out of bodies that apparently fueled the fire and brought a terrible smell to the area, though they had to pass by the bonfire that rested in this area, as the door was locked.

Edric inquired as to why Rarity didn't use her Dark Magic to pierce the lock and get the door open, though she merely said that she shouldn't be using this type of magic for something that they could easily remedy once they figured out where the key to the door was located. In reality she was worried about the constant use would corrupt her in some manner and didn't want to use the Dark Magic unless it was really necessary, and she was sure that something like that was coming their way in the near future.

They decided to cross over the bridge that was in front of them and Edric cut down the warrior hollow that was approaching them, though at the same time Rarity summoned a Dark Orb and blasted another one off the cliff that it was walking on. Since the way in front of them was large enough for one person to comfortably walk forward they quickly agreed that Edric should take point, allowing Rarity to walk behind him and keep her eyes peeled for any additional enemies that might be in front of them or sneak up from behind them. They followed the path in front of them and fought off the hollows that were in their way, where Edric dealt with the warrior hollows that were directly in front of him while Rarity focused on blasting the archer hollows that tried to hurt Edric.

That was another interesting fact about their enemies that Rarity had noticed, all of their foes preferred to take out Edric first, as he was the warrior and could easily stand his ground against anything they threw at him, provided his opponent wasn't someone like the Pursuer. They eventually came to a split in the path and decided to head up the path on their left, where they quickly came to an area that had three more warrior hollows that happened to be guarding a dagger of some kind. Rarity swung her staff and struck one of the hollows in the back of the head, causing it to stagger for a moment, before pressing an Emit Force against its chest and blasted it into the air, allowing it to fall into the abyss behind it... while at the same time Edric dealt with the remaining two warrior hollows.

Once that was done, and they collected the clearly poisoned dagger, the two of them returned to the split in the path and took the path that they hadn't chosen the first time, where Edric dealt with the warrior hollow in front of them while Rarity blasted the archer hollow that was firing at them. They then passed by another circular building that had two hollows waiting inside it, which meant that they had to take some time to deal with them, though once their enemies were dead Rarity picked up a key that she suspected might go to the locked door they passed by a few minutes ago. Instead of going back, and unlocking the other bonfire, the two of them pressed onward and took out the next hollow that was blocking their way... where something interesting happened; they were invaded by a red specter, who happened to be a lady that wielded a scythe of some kind.

Edric immediately went on the defense and blocked the incoming attack, where he noted some strength behind the attack, though at the same time Rarity used her magic and attacked the invader, blasting her backward and revealing an opening that Edric could exploit... though it took them a few more instances like that to take the invader out and banish her back to whatever realm or world she had come from.

Once the invader had been dealt with Rarity and Edric approached the ruins in front of them and chose the path on their right, which allowed them to pass by the waterfall and see what else awaited them... which included a fog door that indicated that they had found the home of a powerful creature. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, as they were curious if they even had the power to take on whatever was in front of them, but with the number of spells that Rarity had access to, and the fact that they hadn't drank any of their flasks yet, Edric quickly determined that they could easily deal with the creature that called this place home. When they walked through the fog door, however, they came upon three large skeletons, dressed up as lords of some kind, that happened to be sitting upon three thrones that were made of bone... and they descended to the ground the moment they noticed that they had company.

Edric rapidly decided to claim the attention of the two of the left, meaning that Rarity had to deal with the one on the right, but something she found to be interesting was the fact that a few Soul Arrows to the chest caused the Skeleton Lord to fall to pieces... which caused some of the skeletons in the piles around them to awaken and come after her. It didn't take her long to understand that taking out one of the Lords meant that a group of at least ten skeletons would spawn in order to deal with the two of them. Something else she noticed was that the enemies she had summoned were basically the same type of enemies that she and Edric had fought so far, warriors and archers, which meant that they were rather easy for her to take down with some Soul Arrows.

The moment the coast was clear she called for Edric to take out the second Skeleton Lord, as he had been holding them off while she killed the lesser skeletons, though not a few seconds later Rarity watched as more skeletons rose from the piles and attacked her. A new type of skeleton appeared as the second Skeleton Lord died, skeletons that rode in wooden wheels, but at the same time all Rarity had to do was jump out of the way and blast her chosen target to pieces, so she played the waiting game and took them out one at a time until it was only her, Edric, and the final Skeleton Lord. Rarity noted that the remaining Skeleton Lord happened to be the one that was wielding the scythe, as the one she had targeted had been carrying a staff and the other one had been carrying a spear... though instead of focusing on Edric the final Skeleton Lord chose to come after her.

Together she and Edric brought down the final Skeleton Lord and his minions, though once all of them were dead, and nothing else happened, the two of them let out a sigh as they left the area and sat on the steps as they looked at the waterfall that was in front of them. Sure, this had been an easy creature for them to take out, but they were sure that a more powerful one was lurking somewhere else in this area... they only had to find it and take it out, after they took a slight break and regained their energy anyway.

Comments

[TheSwordSage]

If i remember the area correctly the first poison spewing thing was a moth of some kind, not a plant?