I walked up the stone path leading to the terrace the dragon had landed in. I did a quick observation of my surroundings. There was one hollow soldier to my right and a hollow archer shooting arrows from the top of a small tower at the end of the terrace. Perhaps ‘tower’ isn’t the best description. It was more like a raised platform. The hollow soldier slowly creeped towards me as the archer fired arrows every few seconds. I decided to go after the archer first. The arrows themselves were quite slow, and it was easy to dodge them; however, I would be distracted while fighting the soldier and could end up being shot in the back. That constant threat had to be eliminated first.

I waited for an arrow to lodge itself in my shield, and then started running towards the raised platform. I easily ran past the hollow and proceeded to the platform. Out of nowhere, two hollows crashed through wooden barricades on the sides of the terrace, attacking me from the left and right. I rolled through their slashes and ran up the stairs to the platform. My plan wouldn’t change: I would still kill the archer first. I approached the same level the archer was on and it nocked an arrow back, shooting it at me. I veered to the left and avoided it, then maneuvered behind the archer while it tried to load another arrow, and killed it with a quick knife to the back.

I left the platform to deal with the remaining three hollows. Luckily, the stairs leading up to the platform were only wide enough for the hollows to walk up them one at a time. The hollow closest to me leaped forwards to try to attack, and in the brief moment where it dropped its shield I kicked it off the side of the stairs. Its arms flailed through the air as it fell to its death(remember this is all happening on the level above the town).

A few meters away from me, was a building with a bonfire I spotted earlier while climbing up the stairs. I pulled out my catalyst because I wanted to end this quickly. I channeled a soul arrow and it crashed through the hollow’s wooden buckler, killing it instantly. The hollow crumpled to the ground, allowing me to shoot another soul arrow at the one behind it. I turned around from the stairs and began to walk towards the building. But then, a wall of mist of mist shot up from the ground, closing off the entrance to the building. A small, black vortex appeared on the ground. I raised my shield and backed away slowly, towards the stairs.

A red hand shot out of the vortex and used the floor to hoist the rest of its body out of the vortex. The figure stood up and the black vortex closed below it. It wasn’t that its hand was red, but rather, its whole body looked like it was made of blood. From its armor, to the gigantic zweihander on its back, everything looked like it was made of blood, and exuded a red glow.

The being looked at me. I could feel it sizing me up. Using both hands, it grabbed the handle to the zweihander on its back, and lifted it into the air. I was amazed at its size. It was probably around six feet, and weighed god knows how much. I quickly snapped out of my astonishment and rolled backwards. The edge of the zweihander crashed into the spot where I just was, sending pieces of debris everywhere. I rolled down the stairs and got back up in the pavilion, cold sweat dripping down my body. That was too close. A hit from that behemoth would either kill me, or leave on the brink of death.

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The red phantom swung the zweihander over its shoulder and ran down the stairs. I raised my catalyst and fired a soul arrow at it. The phantom simply rolled forwards and the orb of mana passed over it, crashing into the wall behind it. At this point, we stood facing each other at different ends of the pavilion. I fired another soul arrow and it took a few steps to the side. That was the problem with soul arrow. It moved slowly, and even though it has a certain degree of homing, once the target changed its position a few meters, the spell wouldn’t be able to keep up. And if I tried using the spell at a closer distance, I would quickly be inside the range of phantom’s zweihander. It’s still somewhat unfair to complain though, as soul arrow is the most basic spell for sorcerers. For now, I should be glad it still works on hollows.  

The phantom ran towards me. As a sorcerer, close range would naturally be my area of weakness. I put away my catalyst and swapped in my knife. I didn’t have much confidence, but perhaps I could take advantage of my superior speed. The phantom jumped and delivered another overhand swing. I rolled away to the side and dodged it. I sprung to my feet and tried attacking it, but it took too long to dodge its attack. By the time I attacked it, it raised its zweihander again and effortlessly blocked my attack. I backed away and gained a little more distance between us.

The phantom used another overhand attack and this time, I tried something different. Instead of dodging to the left or right, I moved closer. Maybe if I could block the attack and get within distance, I could attack him while he recovers.

I was wrong.

The blade crashed into my shield with unimaginable force. Even with my feet firmly planted on the ground, I was pushed back a meter and it took all that I had to not topple over. The hand I used to hold my shield went partially numb. Trying to block a full frontal attack was out of the question.

I lowered my shield and ran to its side, trying to find an angle for a backstab. Sensing what I was trying to do, the phantom swung its weapon in a large horizontal arc. I rolled backwards and the blade whistled through the air, barely missing me.

At this point, the only option I had was to parry it. I took a deep breath and tightened my grip on my shield. I pretended to try the previous tactic once more and ran towards its side. The phantom delivered another horizontal swing, as expected. It felt like an eternity went by as I anticipated the perfect timing. Just as the blade reached me, I angled my shield and deflected its attack. It was a successful parry. The zweihander veered off to the side and the phantom lost its balance. I took advantage of this opportunity and closed in, planting my knife into the chest of the phantom and completing the riposte.

The phantom fell to its knees and I put my foot on its chest, pulling my knife out of its ‘body’. Surprisingly, that didn’t kill the phantom. However, I was prepared, and wouldn’t miss another perfect opportunity. As the phantom tried to stand up, I pulled out my catalyst. I wouldn’t miss at this distance, and it couldn’t counterattack either. Mana gathered at the tip of the catalyst and shot towards the phantom, exploding on its wounded chest.

The phantom screamed as it fell to the ground, finally dead.

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Might be a bit before I upload another chapter. I'm on the cusp in so many classes where I have to get an A on the final to keep my grade, and I'm also trying to write a little mini-arc.

Also, never thought I'd be doing so much research for Dark Souls, especially for this mini-arc. I'm trying to stay as true to the video game as possible, but the lore is all over the place, with random facts and peoples' theories blending together.