The Bloodying of Heide

Dark Souls Fanfic

I could smell it on the wind, the moment I stepped from the bonfire's warm embrace, onto the cool, ocean slicked stones I'd walked across so very often. My boots hit the bright and multi-coloured mosaic tiling with purposeful intent, the clatter of plate on rock carrying through the desolate place.

Long defeated knights of old lay crumpled here and there, where the wind had not carried their fallen, ashen forms and oxidized armour into the accepting embrace of the sea, no longer hindering my progress the the slowly crumbling cathedral that dominated so very much of the skyline, standing opposite of the blazing tower.

Blood stained the normally salty scent the breeze carried, and it sent a shiver down my spine as I moved, my eyes flitting about behind the visor of my helm. Ephemeral pools of crimson, ethereal here, unlike the rest of the world, twirled about in a way that one might be able to describe as beautiful.

Opaque tendrils of crimson swirling briefly, lashing at the world around them before fading from view entirely, only to be replaced by a compatriot mere metres away, painting the ground and speckling the stone walls to my left and right. The chaos that had been unleashed here was impressive, and in my mind's eye, as I stepped through the blood, saw the vague outlines of hand and bootprints, I could see their final moments, clutching at their last vestiges of life before fading.

For a brief moment as I walked however, it struck me that I still did not know of this place's name, if it did infact have a name. Merely, I'd known it as the Tower of Flame, when I'd spoken with my comrades in the past, or perhaps more colloquially, 'The Cathedral'. Perhaps it had a true name somewhere, as it seemed to have once been a city at some point or another in the distant past, eons before the ocean has sloughed off layer after layer of stone, sinking the place down into the ruins it now was represented by.

Soon enough however, I arrived at the doorway of the cathedral, my eyes narrowing slightly as a figure stepped into view, dressed entirely in white and bearing a blue glow about her, I readied my sword. Brief recognition flashed infront of the white maiden's face, only to be replaced by utter disgust, her own blade coming to hand in an instant.

The battle was brief, as they tend to be, my blade piercing her flesh, and spilling her life-blood across the doorstep of that great building, her final gasps echoing in my ears as he form faded to naught but ash, until nothing but her blood remained. Without so much as a thought, I stepped over what was once the woman, and through the immense worship area long abandoned.

Targray turned to face me with a fond smile as I stepped onto that balcony, only for it to slowly fade from his face as I neared, that pleased expression he wore mere moments before shifting into utter disgust and horror. A mere moment later, my weapon had buried itself in his gut, gore and viscera coating my arm as he clutched at my breastplate in utter futility.

"Ooh... Oooooh... Unthinkable...."

He gurgled, blood sputtering from between his lips in a manner most pleasant to watch, crimson dribbling down his chin to catch in his beard.

"Be gone... And be forever transient..."

In a manner, I hadn't expected less of the hypocritical old man, who had long set sentinels against those guilty of only the most minor of sins, who had his 'brave knights' fight one another to the death over mere trivialities. For him to curse me as his life trickled away, dribbling down my swordarm, in a way it was hardly surprising.

"Great Sentinel... lead me home..."

As his form began to fade to ash, I freed my blade with a swift kick to his no longer shining breastplate, sending him toppling over the railing and down into the cold, unjudging waves. I didn't bother to clean my weapon, or myself, as I stepped out, leaving deepred bootprints along the tiles.

What, I wondered briefly, as I looked over that bloodied landscape, awaited me now? A small smile came to my face behind the metal of my helm, as I slowly stepped past the threshold, and I took in a deep breath of that heavily bloodied wind, that the disciples of Nahr Alma had seen to supplying.

"That is such a rather enjoyable scent..."