True Strength

Chapter 5

Jericho flinched, waking himself from the dream. He sat upwards and shook himself fully awake, remembering the dream in full detail. He was still clad in his armor, and he realized that he had never taken it off, nor could he remember going to sleep. There was just the dream, playing over and over again. He had never had dreams like this before, and it unnerved him, especially considering that he felt as if it had actually happened long ago. But at the same time, it seemed so much more real than a dream, like a vision.

Standing, Jericho stretched all he could beneath his armor, putting the dream out of his mind for the moment. He looked around to see Christo and Lindel sitting by the fire, speaking quietly. Walking over, Jericho sat down on the other side of the fire, opposite of them. They both looked at him, Lindel giving him a warm smile.

"Good afternoon, Sir Jericho." She said, the smile still on her lips. She emphasized the Sir, knowing that it would irk the knight. "I hope you enjoyed your nap. You were asleep for three hours."

"I did, thank you." Jericho said politely, before adding playfully "And don't call me Sir."

"Right…" Lindel said sarcastically. "Anyway, Christo and I were just discussing what to do next. I mean, I know we are here looking for something, but I don't know what. But whatever it is, we think we will have to go down the hole. The doors are locked and won't budge."

"Well, maybe I can explain what we are here for." Jericho said, getting their full attention. "I talked with the Herald last night. She told me that there are two powers here we need to find. Apparently, they are incredibly strong, leading me to believe that we will have to meet up with the soldiers that came here if we want a chance of getting what we need."

"Do you trust her?" Christo asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Not particularly." Jericho said truthfully, before adding. "However, I don't see a reason for her to lie. Also, those soldiers came here for a reason, and it probably is similar to our own. And, I really don't have a better idea."

With the matter settled for the time being, each took a moment to prepare for the next step of their little adventure.

"We're going to want to stay quiet." Jericho said as he rechecked the straps of his armor. "No telling how many of those bastards are in this fort, and I would rather not die again."

The two others nodded their accent, and with nothing left to do, Jericho walked to the hole and descended the ladder, listening carefully for anything that would be amiss. Above him, Christo and Lindel listened in rapt attention. The ladder was old and dry rotted, causing Jericho to constantly worry that it might break and cause a huge disturbance.

However, Jericho eventually dropped to the ground lightly, trying to be as quiet as he could. To his left was a heavy wood door with no handle, obviously opening on the other side. Scanning to his right, he saw a hollow soldier with a halberd walking across a small stone bridge, oblivious to him. Also, there was the corpse of a long dead soldier laying against the wall, unmoving. And below Jericho was what used to be an atrium, but was now covered in pillars of fire and ash, and what looked like fire breathing lizards. He did a double take to make sure that he was indeed looking at reptiles that breathed fire, and resolved to stay the hell away.

As he waved Christo and Lindel down, Jericho kept a sharp eye on the roaming halberdier, who still appeared to be oblivious to his presence. As soon as the other two touched the ground, he pointed to the halberdier, motioning for them to be silent. He then led them quietly forward, always watching the roving undead.

He moved slowly, his booted feet making a soft slap on the decayed and broken stone floor. There was various rubbish scattered around the floor, forcing the group to pick each step with agonizing care.

Jericho was just stepping over the corpse of the long dead soldier when the hollow turned around, hearing him. Jericho reacted quickly, bounding up the stairs and grabbing the hollow's halberd. They struggled with it for a moment, the hollow being stronger than the more common foot soldier's found down below in the forest. Eventually, however, with a final heave, Jericho was able to toss the hollow off of the bridge, and watched as it fell down into the fiery pit bellow and was incinerated by one of the flaming pillars.

Turning to Christo and Lindel, he was about to speak when he saw the 'long dead soldier' had risen from the ground and was about to slice Christo in half. Reacting quickly, he threw the heavy halberd as hard as he could, impaling the soldier through the abdomen and smashing it against the wall. Christo, turning and seeing what had happened, immediately stabbed the monster in the throat, cutting off any sound it would have made.

They stared at the now very dead soldier, aware of just how close they had come to disaster. They were also now nervous, as the hollows apparently had retained enough intelligence to lay in wait and ambush, meaning that they were at least a modicum smarter than the foot soldiers had been on the way into the fort. This meant that they had lost one of the few advantages over the possible army that could have been waiting for them inside the fort.

Moving quickly, they went to the one open door at the end of the balcony, going into a small, destroyed room. There were two doorways, but one was covered with debris. The other led outside, and they immediately went for it. Next to the doorway was a soldier, slumped dead on the ground. On a hunch, Jericho stabbed it through the back, earning an exhale and a rush of souls as the ambusher was eliminated.

As they stepped outside, the feeling of fresh air touched all of them. It was a relief, and gave them a small moment to look around. They were positioned over a flooded section of the fort, and the multiple houses in the middle caused Jericho to believe that it was likely where the barracks had been. In front of them, a massive root ascended to the next level of the fortress, breaking through the ancient rock effortlessly.

Nodding to Christo, he watched as she quietly moved forward and up the massive root, ever vigilant for hidden soldiers. Once she got to the top, she disappeared over the edge for a few minutes before returning and hurriedly motioned for Jericho and Lindel to come up. Once they got there, Jericho saw a few weapons lying on the ground, indicating that Christo had met some resistance.

"We need to go up the ladder. Too many at the end of the battlement to handle quietly." Christo said in a whisper, earning a nod from Jericho, who took the lead again and quietly went up the ladder, followed closely by Christo and Lindel.

Once up top, the group started to walk towards the other side when they heard a piercing cry loud enough to cause them all to reach up and cover their ears.

"Was that an eagle?" Lindel said, hands to her ears, obviously in pain.

"Look!" Christo yelled, pointing to the sky. Above them, a massive eagle circled, watching them. As they looked, something detached from the massive raptor, hurtling into the ground in front of them with an explosion of force strong enough to send dust and rock into the air.

"What in all the hells?" Jericho questioned, blocking the sun with his hand in an effort to see what had been dropped in front of them.

As the dust dissipated, a figure came into view. It was rising from the crater, and appeared to be a massive hulk of a knight. Jericho would have guessed that it probably stood at ten feet tall, easily, and was as wide as a merchant's wagon. Its armor was dark grey, and looked very near impenetrable, with no noticeable openings, and was complete with a helmet and visor that looked near permanently fixed to the hulk's head. On its back was a sort of holster, holding various weapons, likely from his victims. However, all of this paled in comparison to the knight's personal armaments. On its left arm was a shield that looked thick and large enough to block a cannon, and on it's right, a sword that could have easily doubled as a table.

And, while the group looked at the mastodon in awe, it finally rose to its full height. And then rose off of the ground, levitating.

"Run." Jericho said, pushing Christo and Lindel back, though they still stood in shock. The knight, meanwhile, was preparing to charge, stooping low and moving his sword to the side, ready to slice anything in front of him in two.

"RUN!" Jericho screamed, shocking the other two out of their thoughts and into action. They bolted, not wasting time with the ladder, instead leaping to the ground. Without a pause, Jericho bent down and scooped up Lindel, carrying her as he and Christo sprinted around the corner, hearing the crunch of stone as the knight leapt after them. They rounded the corner, Jericho seeing the knight charging from the edge of his vision before coming face to face with the hollows that Christo had mentioned.

"DOWN!" Jericho yelled, not wasting time with the hollows and simply ran past, jumping down from another ledge and grunting in pain as the force of the impact ran up his legs. They hollows were just processing the confusion when the massive knight blasted past them, smashing them into the walls and into oblivion.

As they landed and went to their right, they came upon a heavy iron gate that had been dropped down, with no way to raise it. Turning back, they were just about to run into a room on the left that looked too small for the goliath knight when they saw, on the right, a man waving to them. He was peculiar, wearing leather armor and a tight, leather helmet, and carried a strange, curved sword. He looked absolutely terrified, knowing that the monstrous knight was right around the corner.

Jericho took a split second to decide, then leapt forward, towards the man, clearing the distance with Christo just a fraction of a second behind. At the same time, the knight burst forward, missing Christo by an immeasurable margin and colliding with the gate, ripping it from the wall with the force of the impact. The group ran across a small courtyard to another doorway, the man with the curved sword leading the way. As they burst through the door, Jericho set Lindel down and turned to peer out the door at the beast, breathing heavily. The doorway itself was small enough so that the knight could not get through without breaking the wall. Unfortunately, as Jericho looked at the armored brute, he realized that the knight was fully capable of doing so. However, just before charging, the knight tilted his head and looked around the courtyard, searching for something. Jericho, confused, looked as well. It took a moment, but Jericho realized what was going on quickly. Barrels had been placed in the courtyard, and Jericho could smell the black powder and sulfur emanating from them. Looking around more, he saw, in windows above the courtyard, the corner of a man's helmet, though he obviously tried to hide. The whole thing reeked of a trap, and apparently the knight realized it as well. Giving one last look at the group, it lifted its large sword and pointed it at them before hovering back where it had come, never looking away.

"No….." The strange man said, watching the monster go. "I thought we had it that time."

"What on earth is that thing?" Jericho asked, breathing heavily as he watched the corner where the knight had disappeared.

"We don't know." The man said, slumping back against a wall, looking defeated. "It attacked us as soon as we got into the fort. Just dropped down and started swinging before we knew what was happening."

"Are you from the group that left from Majula a few days ago?" Christo asked, moving to the doorway to watch for the creature.

"I'm afraid so, my friend." A voice said from the right side of the doorway. Peering out, Jericho saw the man that had been hiding now dropping down from the balcony. As he landed, his metal and leather armor muffling the sound somewhat, he reached to the ground and retrieved a dark wood and metal tower shield and a common looking spear. The man appeared to be a common warrior, if his armor and weapons were to say anything.

"Terribly sorry about my friend here, but we were both hoping to kill that monster with our trap." The warrior said apologetically, walking over to the other man and resting a hand on his shoulder. "He destroyed our friends, and stole their souls. We want revenge... And his power."

The man looked up to the warrior, something shining in his eyes before nodding his ascent.

"Well, I am pretty sure that whatever that is, it qualifies as one of the great powers here, so our goals are similar." Jericho said, getting the attention of both of the warriors. "We are trying to collect the power here. That knight has to be part of it."

"Well then, it seems as though it would be advantageous for us to cooperate." The warrior said, finishing Jericho's train of thought. After a few seconds, the warrior extended his hand. "My name is Pate, sir. This is Cale."

"Jericho." The knight said as he took Pate's hand, genuinely happy to have some more people on their side. "This is Christo, and the girl is Lindel."

"Hello." Lindel said quietly, still recovering from the goliath knight's attack. Christo nodded at the two new members of the group, deciding to stay quiet.

Before any other introductions could be made, there was the sound of rock crumbling, and the group of warriors realized that they were most definitely not safe standing in the hallway. The hallway itself looked to be falling apart, with the back wall destroyed, and showing a giant stone sword that was sticking out of the wall below, extending out for a few hundred feet. The open ness meant that the goliath knight, who apparently could fly, would be able to get in, if given enough time.

"We have to move." Jericho said, taking control. Looking to his right, he noticed a door set against the back wall, underneath a balcony. "Is that thing unlocked?"

"No." Pate said quietly, shaking his head while returning to the courtyard door to keep watch. "And it's probably 4 inches of iron wood. No chance of breaking it down."

"Left it is then." Jericho said, taking the lead and drawing his sword. Christo was right behind him, followed by Lindel, Cale, and finally Pate bringing up the rear.

At the end of the dilapidated hallway, there was an archway set into the wall, with no doorway. Feeling some relief, Jericho quickly passed under the arch, looking for a way forward.

It was almost his last mistake.

Perhaps it was years and years of finely tuned senses that warned him of the ambush. Perhaps it was a barely audible clink of armor. Perhaps it was the training of the knight that he had defeated earlier. Or perhaps it was some sort of sixth sense that some people can tap into at the last possible moment in order to avert disaster. Whatever it may have been, it caused Jericho to notice the two undead spearmen, each right next to him, about to jab their spears into him.

Reacting with a mixture of finely tuned training and agility, Jericho ducked back as the two spears skewered the air where he had been the second before. Capitalizing on the confusion of the undead, he stabbed his sword into the chest of the hollow to his right, his sword tearing through the chainmail that protected its chest. However, the awkward angle made it so that he could not draw back his sword quickly enough to deal with the spearman to his left. Letting go, Jericho simultaneously let go of his shield, letting drop to the floor as he grabbed the hollow's spear. He then brought his forearm down on the hollow's hands, breaking its fingers and causing it to drop the spear. Seeing his chance, Jericho grabbed the hollow's armor around its neck, pushing it back to the wall. The thing gave a ragged gasp as it tried to fight, slapping Jericho's arms with its broken hands. Jericho then raised his fist and started to punch the hollow's face, his gauntlets caving it in with just a few strikes.

As the hollow fell to the ground, its body bursting into souls, Jericho turned to see the rest of the group looking at him with faces ranging from surprised to pleased. Pate, in particular, regarded the knight with a new found respect, and, perhaps, caution. Shrugging them off, Jericho retrieved his shield before ripping his sword out of the hollow, watching as it burst into souls. Sheathing his blade, he picked up one of the spears that the undead had been wielding. The shaft was in the process of rotting, and the head was dull, but it was still usable, and Jericho appreciated the amount of distance it would give him.

"Look at that." Cale exclaimed as he pushed past the knight, walking to a strange looking contraption that looked like a lift. "Its an old elevator. Looks like I just pull this lever, we go down."

"Well, that appears to be our only option, unless that door is unlocked." Pate said, causing Cale to jog to the door in question, only to find that it was indeed locked. "Well, down we go."

"Agreed." Jericho said as he tentatively stepped onto the elevator. "Anybody want to stay behind to cover our backs?"

"I will." Cale said, nodding. "Just yell up when you are ready to come up.

As everybody crammed onto the elevator, sans Cale, Jericho worried that they might break the thing, and was about to voice his concern when Cale pulled the leaver and they were sent down.

"You know what doesn't make sense?" Lindel asked, not fazed in the least as the elevator creped downwards. "If I remember my history right, Drangleic fell when they were invaded by giants, meaning that this fort was likely sacked by them towards the end of the war. So why so many locked doors?"

"How does one have anything to do with the other?" Jericho asked, trying to take his mind off of the death trap he was standing on.

"Well, doors are locked to keep things out, but giants seem to make their own, so it is kind of redundant." Lindel reasoned, getting a sound of acknowledgement from Jericho. Neither realized that Pate was paying particular attention to each word said, filing it away for later.

Suddenly, the elevator slowed even more, and they came to a long, narrow cave that seemed to lead into a larger room. Again taking the lead, Jericho walked quickly but cautiously along the narrow cave, keeping an eye out for any traps. However, they reached the room without incident. Stepping into the room, they were surprised to find it was incredibly wide, and was littered with broken weapons, bones, and bodies of soldiers. The room was lit from a hole in the ceiling, which had apparently been caused by a tower falling and crashing through it, as the back of the room was littered with brick and some remaining parts of the large stone structure. And in the center of the room, a giant's body kneeled, impaled by various swords and other instruments of war. It seemed to be staring up at the ceiling, unmoving.

"That's peculiar." Pate murmured, drawing Jericho's attention as they spread out to search the room.

"What is?" Jericho asked, walking up to the head of the dead giant and peering inside of the hole where its face should have been.

"Well, this giant." Pate said as he walked forward until he was standing in front of the giant, beside Jericho. "There are no other bodies. Only trees where they fell and died. And yet this one, it still maintains its form. It's almost as if… Oh dear."

They all put the pieces together the instant that the giant roared, seeing the undead before it. It swiped an arm around, knocking Pate and Jericho into a wall before lifting itself off of the ground, swords still stuck inside of it. It was truly a reviling creature. It stood about twenty five feet high, its limbs were thin, its skin seemed to be made of something akin to tree bark, and it had a hole where its face should have been. However, the thing that made the giant truly revolting was the rage that emanated from it. It was absolutely mindless in its anger as it tore swords from itself so it could move better, bellowing a terrifying scream that would have given even dragons pause.

"Out of the frying pan…" Pate moaned as he got up from the wall, surprisingly unharmed.

"The door's blocked!" Lindel yelled, a grey fog blocking where they had come in. She tried to pound against it, but instead of air, her hand came into contact with something as hard as granite.

Knowing that he needed to act, Jericho launched himself at the creature, jabbing his new spear into the mastadon's leg, embedding it into the skin as if it were indeed wood. However, its skin proved to be too tough, and Jericho's spear broke when he tried to pull back.

"Christo, get us out of here!" He yelled, working his way back as the giant's hand smashed down where he had been moments before. Pate, sensing an opportunity, launched forward and started to jab at the giant's leg, taking its attention away from Jericho. Drawing his sword, Jericho started to jab into the giant's massive leg, trying to rip the bark away in hopes of there being something softer underneath. The giant, roaring, kicked back, sending Jericho flying back into a wall. He landed with an audible crunch, and knew immediately that he had broken a few ribs.

Struggling to sit upright, he pulled out his estus flask from the pouch on his waist and drank, watching the battle. Christo had given up on looking for an exit, and instead started to dive between the giant's legs, slashing as she went. Though she couldn't do much, as both of her weapons were not heavy enough to cut through the giant's skin, she did succeed in agitating it, drawing its attention away from Pate, who in turn jabbed forward with his spear, getting deeper than Christo could. However, it was ultimately ineffective on the giant. It had weathered being stabbed, slashed, and crushed by an army. The simple fact of the matter was that they had nothing that could kill it. If something didn't change soon, the giant would start to overwhelm them.

He sensed movement beside him and saw Lindel shuffling towards him, dragging something. He struggled to his feet, the estus healing his ribs and getting him back into the fight. Running towards the girl, he saw what she was dragging as soon as he got close. It was a massive axe, with a head as big as the girl's torso.

"Perfect!" He yelled, reaching down and ripping the axe off of the ground. Pushing Lindel against a wall, he turned sprinted towards the giant, who was looking away from him. As soon as he reached the giant's leg, he started to whack away, embedding the axe deeply again and again. In a few swings, he had withered away more than the entire battle before. Of course, the giant felt the pain, and brought his hand down where Jericho was standing.

Jumping back, Jericho was about to charge again when something terrible occurred. The giant, seething with rage at being hurt, grasped its left arm and, with a sickening tear, ripped it off of its own body. While the group was initially confused at this, when the giant wielded its arm like a club, it became clear what it had planned. Now, it could keep them at a distance easily, meaning that they couldn't hurt it.

"Rush it?" Pate asked, raising his shield and spear.

"I don't see any other choice." Jericho agreed, holding his axe in two hands. Christo nodded her agreement, raising her blades.

And so they charged, spread out in hopes of at least one of them reaching the giant, distracting it so that the others could get to it.

The giant, however, had other plans. Putting his club on the ground, he swept it from side to side, knocking Jericho and Pate back, and sending Christo to the ground.

She was knocked senseless, and didn't even see the giant looming over her, its rage radiating off of it like the light from the sun. Jericho rose, slightly better off that Christo and Pate. He started to run as the giant raised its arm club, about to crush the swordswoman.

He knew that he wouldn't make it.

Christo looked up at the giant, realizing what was about happen. Knowing that she could do nothing to stop it.

The creature roared.

And then a fireball hit it inside of the hole on its head, turning the roar of triumph into one of agony. And then another hit it, this time in its remaining arm.

Jericho, seeing this, changed direction, and instead of running at the beast, ran towards Christo. Reaching her, he grabbed her by her shoulders and dragged her back towards the wall and away from the monster. Looking back, he saw Lindel, standing with a ball of flame in her hand, preparing to throw again. He watched as the flaming ball sailed towards its target, hitting the giant in the chest, and engulfing it fully in flames. Reaching the wall, Jericho fell back, leaning against it, trying to breathe, Christo at his feet. They watched the creature writhe in pain, falling over and rolling, trying to get the fire off of itself. However, his skin would not extinguish, and it was forced to bear the pain for minutes on end until the fire had burned everything there was to burn, leaving a charred ruin behind.

Once the flames went out, Jericho approached the giant, axe in hand. The fire had reduced it to a mere shell of what it had been, scorching it beyond repair. Getting to the creature's head, he saw that it was still alive. It turned its head towards him, anger somehow still driving it on. It weakly lifted its arm to try and swat at Jericho, but could not reach him.. Steadying himself, Jericho raised the axe and brought it down onto the giant's neck, chopping it. He repeated this until the giant's head was separate from its body, and it was finally dead. The body burst into souls, some going to each member of the party.

Turning, he was greeted with the sight of Lindel, ringing her hands and looking embarrassed and scared. He stared at her for a moment, trying to think of what to say.

"So you're a pyromancer?" Jericho asked, fatigue getting into his voice. The girl, meanwhile, couldn't look at him, and only nodded in return.

She was probably expecting to be hit, or thrown out of the group for keeping the secret. Or to be stabbed in anger. After all, most people looked upon pyromancy with fear and suspicion, with good reason. So when Jericho laid his hand on her shoulder, she flinched back before looking up and seeing a tired smile on his face.

"Next time, lead with that." He said simply. No malice or anger in his voice. Lindel's eyes teared up as she nodded in response.

"Of course, Sir Jericho." She said under her breath, still composing herself. Jericho lifted his hand and ruffled her hair before moving on.

He walked over to Christo and Pate, who were slumped against a wall, recovering. He joined them, staring at where the massive creature had fallen. No one spoke for a minute, as no one really knew what to say. Finally, Pate spoke, still staring off into space.

"So, I guess we're giant slayers now." He said, a bit of humor in his voice. "I suppose that puts us one over on the Drangleic soldiers, yeah?"

"I suppose so." Jericho replied, a ghost of a smile coming to his face. "Thanks for your help. You both did well."

"Of course, Jericho." Pate said, something humorous making him smile. "You can count on me, if you get into another scrape like this."

"Thank you." Jericho said shortly, a bit put off by the reply. Though it seemed innocent enough, there seemed to be some other meaning to it. He couldn't put his finger on it, but the way he spoke and looked seemed to be a little bit off. He resolved to watch him closely, and to end their relationship as soon as he could.

They stayed there for a few moments longer before Jericho rose and started to walk back down the tunnel, Christo, Pate, and Lindel on his heels.

"Hey Cale, send the elevator down! You are not going to believe what we just went through." Pate yelled once they reached the contraption. After a full minute of no response, Pate yelled again, concerned this time. "Cale, are you all right up there?"

After a few tense moments, they heard the elevator start descending. However, they all could sense something was very wrong, and had their weapons ready. The elevator, however was empty, and they all cautiously got on, now worried about what was waiting for them at the top. Pate yelled again, and the elevator started its upward trip slowly. The few moments on the elevator seemed to stretch for half an hour, and each warrior was tense and nervous about what awaited them.

Well, writer's block is a fun time. But, I'm back, and hopefully next chapter should come a bit quicker. As always, reviews, comments, and tips are welcome. And no, I didn't forget about Melentia.