Return of Sunlight {Dark Souls III Fanfic}

Chapter 1

Heavy boots trudge through the dirt. A man looks up at his torch, the only fire he has ever known, held at the end of a stick and cloth. Beyond its light stretched darkness, everlasting and true, whistling yet still and dark as pitch. He marches, determined to find the fabled land of Lothric, hoping it may hold secrets to help cure his kingdom of its eternal sickness and curse, the accursed dark sign, although said to be just a legend, many still search, he being no different from any others.

Not long after he trips, startled but not hurt, he looks around himself for on what he misstepped. Soon spotting the white of whatever it was, sticking from the ground, jutting out from the grey. He moves to uncover it, but is stopped short, being thrown backwards. His torch falling from his failing hands. The man lands with a thud, piling into the loose soil. He whimpers a prayer as he stands to face whatever foe he has encountered, unsheathing his blade accordingly. Straining his eyes to see anything around his torch, only to find nothing at all. This frightens him even more, the man runs for his torch, his legs failing him with each frightened and hasty step. Upon reaching it, he raises it high over his head, searching for his attacker. He screams out at it, not knowing if there is anything even there, his second guessing conflicting his instinct. He searches nervously, there is no where to run, a world of darkness leaves no hint of where safety may be, and he is a rarity shining out too its inhabitants, abyssal or earthly.

He panics and attempts running away blindly, not knowing that his threat stood right in front of him. Quickly a flash of steel pierces the dark and drags across his chest, blood following ensue. He starts running even faster tears forming in his eyes, more from fear than pain.

Is this how I hollow? Afraid and a coward? He asks himself, his pace slowing slightly, heart racing faster than he could ever run.

I haven't come this far to just lose myself, have I? He stops in place, clutching at the brandished steel in one hand and his torch in the other.

No! my family, my kingdom needs me! I cannot die! He turns angrily, although still afraid. He looks down upon his gashed chest, and the blood flowing from it. He looks out into the searing dark, this land of betrayal he has grown up in, and shall die in. The man denies it, but knows his fate draws near.

"I s-shall not die a coward! I am a knight of! Of..." He strains to remember home, so long ago he left it, dying many times since as well. He has been well on the teetering edge of hollowing for awhile.

"I won't die running... I am a proud knight..." He exclaims, saddened by his lost names for home and family. Only remembering his love for both. The hollowing knight is charged by his attacker, a knight in much the same garb as himself. A knight that had hollowed on the very same journey. He screams out at it, charging as well. Blade meeting blade, as the two pass, the hollowed knight spins back as it swings at him, only to be wearily deflected, the man then goes to stab the hollowed knight through his abdomen, only to be grabbed by the throat and thrown into the dirt downwards, continuing to hold his throat after the fact, nearly breaking his neck. The hollow then let's out a cry of pain as the man attempts to cut off its arm, only going half way through. It growls and pierces the knight through the heart. He shouts out in pain. He rips his sword from the hollowed knights arm, and slits it's throat. The hollowed knights body goes limp, slumping over the dying knight. He lays there, trying to stop his blood from oozing out from around the sword sticking from his chest, as futile as it is. He begins coughing up blood, tears soon start flowing from his eyes.

Are there no gods? He asks, mouthing only half the words and thinking the remainder. His grip around his wound begins to grow weak, while his eyes flutter closed.

My dear, I am so sorry I have forgotten, I am so sorry... He whispers. Just On the edge of death, he reopens his eyes from the shock the sound of an explosion. He looks towards the sound, head falling to the left. And he sees, fire...

So great and so mighty, it envelopes the kingdom it grows inside of, Lothric, the lost, fallen legendary kingdom. He watches in awe as a godly roar is heard, one of revenge and rage. The twisted flames spread out ward, dancing across the land, and lighting up the sky. The ground shakes violently as the kingdom blows itself apart and forms into the landscape, twisted by heat and power. And for the first time in thousands of years, faint sunlight breaks through the darkness, in the form of a twilighted eclipse. Soon, the roar of rage falls silent, only the howling of fire can be heard as the ground shakes under its amazing power. The man managed a weak smile as he drifts away, just as the wave of the flames washes over him, burning him to ash along with the hollow beside him.

At the epicentre of the cataclysmic event kneels a knight, whom's roaring scream has fallen to a low pitched growl. It stands, dust and ash falling from its armour, while clutching a coiled sword in its right hand that burns just as hot as the rage within its wielder. The plate armour of the knight clangs against its chain mail as it leaps from the shattered remains of Firelink Shrine. After falling hundreds of metres it lands with a hard thud, sending ash into the air from the impact site. The knight soon makes a break from the cloud of ash, fire following it's every step, even now the flames that surround this mighty being are singeing the surrounding area for miles around. It burns, with anger and hate, running as fast as a dragon can fly across the dull landscape, towards a foe from so very long ago.

In the kingdom of Catarina far away from the now ruined Lothric castle. Stands a lord in a kingdom that is not his own, The Lord of Londor. Staring out unto the light on the horizon with a deeply embedded grief. He knows what is coming and why. The Soul of Cinder has returned for what was its own...