Ornstein calmly opened the doors and strode collectedly through the pandemonium erupting around him. Couriers were running every which way, relaying orders to commanders and generals. These in turn were hunched over the map, arguing and adjusting figures that represented troop placements. It felt like this situation should be irritating, horrifying, or both.

He observed this thought from the other side of his mental window.

At approximately sunset yesterday, some calamity unlike any he had ever seen had befallen the city of Oolacile. The darkness that had arrived with the setting of the sun appeared to have lingered over the city. Scouts had been sent as soon as possible to ascertain the conditions of the citizens, bringing back strange news.

A scout bowed to him. "Captain."

"Report."

"The darkness still clings to the city, my lord. It's not harmful as far as we can tell, but…" the man stared into nothing, chewing his tongue.

"Yes?"

"Apologies, my lord. We found… some civilians. They were immediately inside that dark aura, sir. They- they couldn't leave it, the humans that is."

That was an interesting development. Oolacile was almost entirely populated by humans. "And this darkness isn't harming them in any way? Surely we weren't alerted over a non-issue."

"Well… they were terrified, sir."

"At being trapped?"

"At what seems to have trapped them, my lord." The scout wrung his hat in his hands, seemingly unaware that he was crushing it.

Ornstein gestured for him to continue.

"We didn't see them ourselves, b-but the locals told us that there are monsters in the city now that move in the darkness. They search for humans, and… and drag them off." His stare reflected the fear he had been relayed. "Oh Lords, Captain; they begged us not to leave. We couldn't help them, sir, we couldn't—!"

"Pull yourself together, scout. Facts will help matters here; not fear."

"Yes, my lord." He managed hoarsely.

"Have we located the King or Princess yet? Any of the Council?"

"No. There were a few Watchmen amongst those we found though."

"And do the remaining humans know where these… creatures have been taking their captives? Are they eating them?"

The man turned a bit pale. "They, ah, they seem to agree that the captives are t-taken towards the center of the city."

The Captain nodded. "Alright. Anything else? No? Very well; as you were."

It was likely that this task would involve the Knights of Gwyn, if half of what had been reported to him today were true. Artorias was hovering around New Londo currently, but he could be recalled. His skills allowed him to effectively harass the activities of the cult that was boiling in that city's guts, but he could only do so much with the majority of the city not being sized for him. Ciaran was already poking into Oolacile, and he expected her report before sundown today. Gough was stationed as defender of Anor Londo at the moment, and subsequently unlikely to be able to be spared. The silver knights were spread too thin as it were with the demons in Izalith making another series of charges.

Gods, what a mess.

Just then, the door was kicked open to admit the Knight Artorias himself.

The Captain turned to face him. "Artorias, you're away from your post."

"Great Lord, Ornstein; you've heard the news I presume?" He appeared to brush off the accusation. Troublesome.

"I have."

The Wolf Knight pulled up a chair, holding his head in his hands. "I was just there, you know. Just a little over a month ago. They threw me a feast. Me. Princess Dusk herself was there." He still hadn't seemed to grasp the fact that his position granted him a status higher than any human noble. That was likely due to his upbringing, he supposed.

The man's misery was palpable, so Ornstein waited.

"We have to help them, Ornstein."

"I've already made plans for you to go there, Artorias. We need boots on the ground and control of the situation immediately. Take what you need and depart as soon as possible."

"I…of course."

Why was he looking at him with that pained expression? Ornstein had noticed these from the other Knights as well, but there was no time to address it. There was work to be done, and if whatever this was didn't affect their efficiency, then it could wait.

He almost didn't notice when Artorias left.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

A few days later, the city of New Londo detonated.

Blood ran thick through the streets as the residents raged against one another. What scant silver knights that could be spared were slain almost immediately as it was discovered that a massive percentage of the population carried some manner of undying curse upon them. In a matter of hours, it was reported that a new flag was flying over the citadel in New Londo. It was a nightmare of a situation. The positioning of the city made it perfect to defend, the timing of the apparent revolution effective.

Alas, the Great Lord had foreseen this possibility.

Even as Gwyn had granted a fragment of his own soul to the Four Kings, he had instructed the giants that had excavated the cavern to allow for a failsafe. An enormous reservoir of water had been diverted from a nearby underground spring, maneuvered into position should the need arise.

Ornstein had looked into the faces of his commanders and delivered the judgement.

Flood the city.

Where once had been chaos and screaming, a spark of rebellion about to truly burst into flame, now there was silence. The water had come roaring down from it's hidden reserve, thousands and thousands of tons of it. There were very few buildings above the water level now, and those that were showed significant damage. The geography that had made it so defendable also made it an excellent container for a great deal of water.

At least that problem seemed to have been wrapped up.

Over in Oolacile, Artorias was becoming more and more irritating. He actually wanted to stay inside the aura and defend the humans inside from the monsters that were hauling them off. Ornstein had had to personally order him to move his encampment farther away from the city, and for a moment he wasn't certain that he would be obeyed.

With the constant stress of handling what remained of the Great Lord's armies, suppressing rebellions, and combating whatever new creature arose, he had occasionally prayed to Nito to end the situation in Oolacile. The humans were more trouble than they were worth in his book.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The man clutched his family tightly as they whimpered.

Artorias sheathed his sword tiredly. This had been the most recent in a nigh on innumerable amount of abductions he had prevented. The creatures had long arms with grasping fingers that would snatch up humans in a flash and an impressive amount of agility. Their grotesque heads were dotted with eyes at seemingly random intervals. These would reflect hauntingly in the light of the lantern he had strapped to his belt to navigate the dimness of the city.

He, Sif, and Ciaran had split up to attempt to protect as many humans as possible, but they were still only three. Sometimes a creature would spring out of a seemingly impossible space and drag a screaming victim off into the darkness. Originally, they would fight him viciously and to the death when he stood in the way of their abductions, but their tactics had changed recently.

When the bloated heads of the things appeared, they would stare at him and do nothing other than remain at the edge of the lantern light. The most recent one had pointed at him with its claw and made a strange burbling noise.

Were they trying to communicate or was it a sort of curse? Neither were particularly cheery implications, but a battered sense of hope was kindled at the thought of being able to speak with these things. Perhaps they could be reasoned with and convinced not to attack?

Probably not with my luck.

"Alright folks; we're going to move towards the edge of the city—"

The man's child piped up excitedly. "The barrier is lifted?"

"I… it is not. But the edge of the city will put more distance between you and where we think the monsters are coming from. It will also keep you closer to us, where we can protect you." He tried his best to smile.

The child began to cry again, and Artorias couldn't blame them.

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