The Fall of the Arisen

"Master, please don't!"

I heard the voice, but I couldn't place an identity to it.  Regardless, I paid it no heed.  My hand was already gripping tightly the hilt of my new sword and yanking it from its sheathe, perhaps a little faster than I meant.  I missed the heft of my old broadsword, I admit, but what this new blade lacked in density, it more than made up for it in sharpness and speed, impressing even me with the ease that it felled our recent foes.  For that alone, there was no chance that I would not turn this opportunity down, this chance to test my new weapon on an old foe.  Perhaps it was misplaced anger, but since that night that neither I nor my companions spoke of, I found that I could not control my rage when presented with an Ogre.  Seeing one now in the bright light of day, of the wide open space that this cliff-side offered us, it was my chance to slay yet another of them, if only to sate my own irrational distaste.

My feet were running long before I intended to and my blade was already thrust outward - I found myself standing next to my quarry with sword hilt-deep within its thigh before I knew what was happening, allowing me only a moment to pull back as it lurched in surprise and anger.  It wheeled on us in a hurry, growling and announcing its displeasure, but I simply didn't pay attention - I was much more focused on my sword as it re-entered the flesh of the beast again and again.  A frown drew across my face as I realized that it rent flesh from muscle and bone on this creature just as well as my broadsword did, or at least the improvements seemed minimal at best here.  Though this was not, of course, its most sensitive area to strike.  Only then, after realizing that much did I look up, did the voices of my partners start ringing in my ears loudly once more.  Only then did I feel a tinge of regret for my decision.

"They hold the advantage!  We must flee!"

'They' was the operative word, indeed.  I know not how, nor where a second Ogre appeared, but there it was before my eyes, real as the sky was yet blue.  My resolve weakened for but a moment before I gripped harder, set my jaw and grinned a grim smile.

I laughed.  I'm not sure why, really, given the context.

"Bring them all on!  We'll slay the lot of them if we must!"  My boast was near-hollow as I truly worried for our chances with the second Ogre, but as leader, I had to put up a strong front, I suppose.  Or perhaps I simply had to talk myself into it, into the realization that two of them were no match for us, seasoned as we were now.  Though the situation had changed, my desires had not, which I swiftly expressed through another slash at the ankle of the Ogre I fought before my feet left the ground and my hands sought purchase of its flesh.  As I had time and time before, I climbed my way up the creature as I heard the clashing and the clatter of my teammates fighting as well, feeling relieved that they were yet by my side even though my attentions had not been on them for some time.  My hand reeled back and I stabbed forth just as I heard Zero grunt with a similar attack below.  Our coordination sent him back in step, but my assault did not halt until I fell the strength leave my left arm and I toppled to the ground below, shaking my weary appendage to breath life back into it.

It was....a strange battle, to say the least.  I'm not sure how, but we had seemed to communicate a team effort between the four of us, with Zero and I taking one Ogre and Yoko and Aya taking the other on for a time.  After a series of particularly rough hits, I saw Yoko collapse to the ground and rushed to her side once more, finding myself able to bring color back to her cheeks and even life back to her bones.  It had something to do with the connection between Arisen and Pawns, I was sure, but that was where my assumptions ended, unable to surmise anything else about the phenomenon as it occurred.  We both had to roll away as one of the Ogres charged forth and I found myself then teamed with Aya and Zero teamed with Yoko for a time.  Our combat experience seemed to be paying off, as our efforts spoke of a trained unit and not of a mob which surprised me to no end.

I was the one to break rank first, however, as I saw Zero grabbed up in the large hand of the beast she fought, who then began to run off to do nothing I cared to think of.  I gave chase and counted myself and Zero lucky as it stopped and stood straight to gaze over its 'prize' in my companion held firmly in hand.  We were lucky, because it presented an opportunity that I capitalized on, leaping onto its back and climbing around to slash down with the express purpose of separating arm from body.  I failed in my task, unfortunately, but Zero found air in her lungs and ground beneath her once more with energy to spare in battle.  She let out a loud shout as her sword, my old sword, lurched back and struck forward, sinking in deeply to the bone of its knee, causing it to stagger back and even fall to the ground.  I moved swiftly as it fell and found myself level with the top of its head as it was dazed from the fall.  It was simple.

Much as Zero had, I found myself bringing my sword back for a strong thrust forward, sinking my blade deep into the skull, into the brain of our conquest, killing it utterly and completely in one decisive blow.  It had been showing wear, but I shuddered to think of the idea that such a blow would not have been deadly otherwise.  There was no time to rest, however, as the second Ogre was in a frenzy and I turned just in time to see Aya knocked through the air as if she weighed nothing, toppling to the ground with a thud and rolling before finally coming to an all-too-still stop.  While I still did not understand the link I had with these beings, I was thankful that a mere touch awoke them from what would be a deathly slumber otherwise as not only Aya, but Yoko again lay in crumpled heaps on the ground in the wake of the frenzied creature they fought.

I knew it was time to end this, and that simple thought surged through my mind, propelling my tired body forward towards the back of the beast that yet roared and fit, perhaps at the death of its companion or perhaps at its own wounds.  When my blade sank into its back, into its flesh, my thoughts went away as I cared not for its being, its reasoning, but only of its death. 

I was not prepared for how swiftly, nor how strangely, my desire would be met.

The beast lowered itself to all fours which brought vivid flashbacks to my mind of that night in the mines, but I did not get a chance to relive them as it charged forth towards the cliff-face that our battle had precariously took place near the precipice of.  My eyes widened in....surprise, fright, I don't know what, as we drew nearer and nearer.  My sword slashed viciously at the back, the spine of the beast I could not seem to let go of, trying merely to steer it off to the side or stop it altogether.  I knew what was coming, yet perhaps I didn't truly understand it, but then again, what happened was something that is perhaps simply not understandable in the first place.

I'm not sure what is supposed to flash through one's mind when they understand that death is not but a minute away.  For when there was no longer earth beneath the feet, the paws of the Ogre I rode, that is what I realized in an instant.

I was going to die.

I, the Arisen, the supposed hero of the land could see only water below myself and the creature.  Water that we were falling towards at an alarming speed.  Water that I knew held a creature, the 'Brine', would be the cause of my death all the same as it was the death of thousands of others who braved the seas, the oceans of the lands, perhaps foolishly in knowing such a beast existed.  I had seen the beast's handiwork up close when I kicked a goblin off of my sword, launching him into the sea only to witness as a pillar of blood erupted from the depths not a moment later.  It was....terrifying.  Because of this damned creature, that was to be my fate as well.

I suppose it would have been grander if my last visions of this world were of the expansive vista I could overlook from the sky that I was falling through, but my battlelust saw fit to ensure the thing I saw before my death was the demise of my foe.  I'm not sure if the repeated stabs I managed actually finished the Ogre off, but it was a way to vent the frustration I felt in the final moments of my life, in the final moments before our freefall came to a stop.  Though it came to a stop with a lot less of a splash than I anticipated and more of a bone-crushing impact that was thankfully cushioned by the newly-dead Ogre I found myself laying atop.  I stood, frantically looking around to let loose a cackle that surely sounded mad.  We had managed to land on a narrow bank of the massive, deep river that was no more than a foot away from my feet where they stood.  I hurried onto the land as the Ogre was drawn in and disappeared before my very eyes and did not look back as I ran along the narrow earth for I saw a shore and I was going to get to it.  My breath hitched and as my feet stepped in the solid sands of land that offered security from the depths, I allowed myself a reprieve, bending at the waist, hands to my knees as I wanted to laugh, to cry, to retch all at the same time.

I was alive.

I rode on the back of an Ogre as we fell through the air - a distance that I could only squint to see the top of now, it was that far - and managed to survive.  A chuckle escaped my lips after a gasp of breath that was as soothing as the hand that touched my shoulder just then.  I turned to look, expecting the face of Zero, but found that it was Yoko instead and as I straightened and turned fully, I saw only her.  There was a grimness to her eyes that made my question moot, but it had to be asked.  It had to be breathed, to exist, to be communicated that we both knew why it was stated.

"Where's Zero?  And Aya?"

When she said nothing purely because she did not have to say anything, anguish crippled my form and my face dropped into my hands.  Flashes of things I had seen but not registered finally seared into my brain now.  I had looked up during my descent and had seen my three companions similarly falling, though I could not, even now, assume to know why.  Nor how Yoko had survived it as had I.  The Mage spoke now, but I didn't hear it, at least not until her voice was firm, attempting to stem my despair.

"Sir...fallen pawns can be recovered at a Riftstone."

My eyes shot up to hers which seemed to hold confusion in my emotions, but in truth it was my turn then to be confused.  She spoke as if it was nothing, as if their lives were nothing.  I didn't believe her, simply, but I remembered all the times I breathed life into these beings simply by picking them up off of the ground and my doubt wavered.  I allowed myself to hope as we left the beach we had stumbled upon and headed straight for Gran Soren, to the Guild where many Pawns had congregated, had come together for the arrival of the Arisen.  To the Guild that was built around a Riftstone that I had every intention of getting to and nothing was going to stop me.  We made record time, I'm sure and as I saw the odd rock, I almost couldn't approach it.  No, I almost dared not to, fearing the worst.  Still, I drew near to the Riftstone and placed my hand upon it, causing a bright light to shine not only from the stone, but to my left.

I turned to see a form I knew all too well emerge from the light.  With something of a meek wave and a smile, Zero had appeared before my eyes once more, alive as could be.  The rush of emotions surged through me anew and I could not help myself.

I struck her.

She seemed genuinely confused as she straightened from the punch across her face I'd delivered, but that expression melted into one of understanding under my withering gaze.

"Of all the stupid things you could do...", I began, but could not muster the effort to complete the thought.  Nor did I have to as she looked down, understanding the level of disappointment I held in her lack of worth for her own life.  My hand pressed to the Riftstone again and moments later Aya reappeared as well, though I spared her the attack, merely expressing the same amount of disappointment to her in a steeled glare.  All three of the women I had surrounded myself with, entrusted my life with and protected in our travels were back together again.  Our party was complete once more, just that easily.

Yet I made it obvious as I left that I wanted nothing at all to do with them for the time being.

Bonus Post - This is the Best Thing

I know this is technically coming -before- the post, but it's just this picture because this picture is amazing.

it's also true

Let Me Actually Talk About Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

I have really said a lot about Dragon's Dogma:  Dark Arisen, without saying very much -about- it at all, I think.  Mostly that I really like it and still really like it a couple weeks later.  I like those stories.  I liked writing them, I like reading them over, and, thankfully, I don't seem to be the only one who likes them, so I will probably continue to do them.  More as a testament to the fact that a game like Dragon's Dogma can inspire me to write those by simply playing it.  I just really don't want there to be any misconceptions associated with my stories and the game itself, because I understand that someone who has no knowledge of Dragon's Dogma:  Dark Arisen might read those stories and go "Well, gee, I wonder how much of that actually happened in the game?".  It's a fair question.

The answer is 99% of it.  I give myself a 1% margin of embellishment for adding character to the pawns, cutting out the bulk of big-bad fights and the occasional NPC interaction.  Which I'll explain in a bit.

Dragon's Dogma is an interesting breed of game that allows -so much-, and you're not really sure as to how it manages to do it.  It is this living, breathing world in a sense, with so much of a background to it that, at times, it almost asks you to sort of 'know' things already.  I assume some of these things are in the Digital Instruction Manual, but I didn't read that because my time with the PS3 is short when I use it and I can't be assed to 'waste' some of it reading inconsequential things that I will eventually figure out on my own.  However, the point is simply that the game is large and impressive alone for that feat, but it offers so much more than that in a way I'm struggling to really explain.

The easiest way around it, I believe, is simply to point out the embellishments that I made in my two little stories to allow you to re-read them and find the full breadth of what Dragon's Dogma actually has and can do.

• Pawns talk a lot more - Seriously, if there's one singular gripe that every single person to play Dragon's Dogma (and Dark Arisen) has, it's that Pawns do not shut the fuck up.  99% of the time, it's inconsequential nonsense that you wish they would stop spouting constantly, and that 1% of the time is the first time they say something useful about a situation or enemy.  Every instance thereafter becomes part of the 99%.  So while I sort of made Rook seem like a twit with the shit he was spouting, the sad fact is that Zero kept saying the same things too.  They both did.  Constantly.  Over and over and over again.  Through the entire ten to fifteen minutes spent on the Cyclops fight alone.  The absurdities of the context with Rook are why I high-lighted them - while I could've used magic items, I assume, neither my character nor Zero can wield magic, being the melee-focused Fighter vocation.  I shouldn't have to say why telling me the eye of the creature is vulnerable while I am literally attacking it is absurd.
• Big fights take a long time - I sort of allude to it in the latter post at least, but if you come across a big beast, you're in it for the long haul if you don't run away.  The fun of it lies in the fact that every big creature that I've encountered so far has a sort of Shadow of the Colossus quality to it where you -want- to climb on them and attack the weak spot for massive damage.  Not only because it makes them go faster/smoother, but because it's badass.  Only thing is, you'll end up doing that a lot, because your stamina only lasts so long and your weapon doesn't do a hell of a lot of damage, even on the weak spot, initially.  (Mind, I'm not super geared out or anything)  So I cut a lot of time by simply inferring time spent, because I don't want to write something that will have a Minutes to read : Minutes to do ratio of 1:1.
• Your pawn is just as dumb as the rest of them - Worth saying again - I really like Zero, but I more like the -concept- of Zero than anything.  (Yes, she is based on Drakengard 3's Zero and yes, my MC is based on Drakengard's Caim.  They are ~Murder Buddies~)  Functionally in Dragon's Dogma, she is the same as any other pawn - there's no real special abilities or anything granted by having her around as opposed to not/having others around.  It just makes for a better story to have these two characters matter, obviously, so it just makes sense to do it that way.
• You cannot murder NPCs - NPCs are invulnerable to a point, from what I can tell.  So while my second story ended with Caim running that merchant through and leaving him for dead, in reality it was just me being frustrated and striking out at something.  I might as well have hit a wall, all told, because the result is the exact same.  The Merchant didn't get mad at me or anything - just sort of got up and went back to his spot.  It's....anti-climactic, unfortunately.

Really, aside from the personalization bits that I added to my main character, those are the only things I really had to change in the transition from what happened in game to what happened in what I wrote.  Which I think is damn impressive, personally.  Everything you do feels personalized, feels like your -own- encounter or scenario, which allows you to have these little stories in your head like this.  For me, that's one of the neatest things that a game -could- do, so it's no surprise that I'm basing my urging on people picking up the game on that alone.  (Relax, Chance, it's not going anywhere so you don't have to get it -now-)  Really, that's -why- I'm probably going to write a few more of these little stories from my DD experiences before all is said and done.  Not just because I like them and enjoy them, but because it's just that easy, and it's just that possible to do so.  I just wish I had played this game -last year- when it came out.  But I wouldn't have gotten the Dark Arisen version (which adds a host of improvements, I'm told, as well as, you know, the big DLC) if I did, so it's something of a wash.

So, as stated, you haven't seen the last of the Arisen.

oh, okay, so really it was less flowery when I yelled at Rook, too.  "ROOK.  SHUT THE HELL UP.  I AM ATTACKING THE EYE YOU DUMB FUCK" is basically what I said, but that didn't fit too well

In Which I Still Enjoy Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

I was still a little befuddled as to how this damnable contraption was supposed to work.  It seemed simple enough; I was absolutely sure that it was a weighted plate of some sort, yet even with the combined weight of myself, Zero, and our two other traveling companions, we were not able to push it down.  It occurred to me that all three of the women with me were rather slight, but I have my doubts that four men of my weight would be able to push it down either.  It seemed a little more....specialized, but as to what, I wasn't sure.  All I knew was that it stood in my way and the way of a wayward merchant who had bid me to find a way through these mines for him.  If anyone had coin worth its actual weight, it was a merchant to be sure, so I was rather eager to see his task done.

Still, it was proving difficult and I could only think that there was something to it, something that I was missing.  Something I would have to search for.  As I looked, however, I came across nothing that struck me as different, as out of ordinary, which was still a surreal feeling.  All of this, so far, had become normal for me, for my life as the Arisen.  Yoko's magic enchanted my sword with a sheen of fire before I gutted a dead man walking, setting him ablaze and returning death's embrace to him.  Aya's twin daggers stabbed into the final of a score of bandits we had encountered that set up shop in these mines.  Zero griped that there was nothing worth our effort as she cleft a pesky bat in two with a single slash.  I shared her sentiments briefly, but recalled some of our more difficult battles, and at that moment, I did not hope to relive them.

Of course, fate had other plans for us.  Down one of the labyrinthine paths of the cave, we came across the hulking figure of an ogre, crouched over and not paying attention to us.  Granted, we could have simply left, simply ignored the beast and continued on, but I could see the desire burning in Zero's eyes and I know she saw the very same in my own.  It was not the smart thing to challenge the creature, but it was what we wanted to do and very soon, the simultaneous whine of our blades being drawn rang out through the mines.  Our partners shared in the coordination, as I already heard the low chanting of Yoko, and the similar sound of Aya's knives coming from their sheathes.  But it was brief, as I was already on the move.  We had surprise on our side, and I intended not to waste it.

He heard our approach, but could not react swiftly enough and a leap allowed me onto his back.  Fistfuls of his fur were gripped tightly in my hands, allowing me to scale the beast higher, who was already objecting to my presence.  His flailings were nothing new to me - better creatures had tried to shake me off, and some even succeeded - but they were futile, because I felt the rush of combat pumping through my veins.  I was going for the kill already.  Nearing his shoulders, my hand raised back and prepared to surge forward at the ogre's neck, eager to end things before they became trying.

The sudden movement upward was a surprise, however, as was the disorientation I felt when my eyes saw the roof of the mines and not the walls.  I had only a moment to realize what was going on and let go, a foot allowing me to kick off from his back before it connected with the hard, stone floor.  My landing was not graceful, nor was it painless, but I found comfort in the fact that I did not land with the full weight of that being atop me as he intended.  It was a strange tactic to be sure, one that I had not honestly considered he would attempt, but I cannot argue the worth of the move.  It succeeded in removing me from his back, after all and now as I struggled to my feet, I began to re-think my approach.

"Master!  Are you alright?"  Zero's eyes were on me, not the ogre we fought, and for a brief moment, I felt frustration.  I never disliked the woman's devotion to me, but at times, I wished she would show it when it was more opportune.  Still, she was not in immediate danger, as the ogre was only now getting to his feet, a fact that I thrust my hand towards to point out.

"Yes!  Worry about that for now, not me!"  Thankfully, there was not even a hint of reproach in her gaze as she gave me a single nod and turned her attention to the monster we fought.  The other two 'pawns' in our ensemble did not share Zero's concerns quite so loudly, but I imagined that that was more because they seemed to defer most of that to her, as she was my main companion.  From what I could tell, all Pawns served the Arisen equally, but they were human enough that a pecking order had been created without my input. All it meant to me was that Aya and Yoko were concentrating on felling this creature we had engaged, and that was all I desired.  I was a warrior just as they were, and I could hold my own without any of them fawning over me.

It quickly became obvious that fire was something of a bane to him, which was fairly standard with the monsters we'd fought to this point and soon I found my sword ablaze as it had been so many times before.  Learning from my mistake, I stayed on the ground for now, slashing at his feet and his hands whenever they were available.  If I could not end this with a single strike, I would simply settle for a thousand if that's what it took.  So long as I drew blood, enough blood to kill him, it mattered not just how it happened.  It was combat for survival, not some duel for some petty reward.  This was kill or be killed, and I did not have to be fancy, did not have to be graceful, nor did I have to be merciful.

Our battle raged on for minutes that felt as days, yet we were the only ones tiring it seemed.  He was surely injured severely at this point, perhaps mortally, but there was a fight within him that was almost respectable if it was not detestable as well.  Frustration mounted as I stabbed him once more, wondering to myself why he just wouldn't die after countless stabs, slashes and blasts of fire from our group.  So it was no wonder that I finally gave in, shunned common sense, and repeated my earlier maneuver.  I climbed onto his back, stabbing with every pull before he did something much different than before.  Rather than lean back, he leaned forward, to all fours and began sprinting away from us, or rather, away from my three companions.  I still held firm to the fur of his back, only barely ducking the stone opening that passed for a doorway as he ran under it.  Once more, I let go and kicked off of his back, landing on my feet this time, as I looked around.  The room was familiar somehow, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Click.

My gaze went back to the ogre and I instantly recognized the device he stood on.  I couldn't help but let out a laugh as I looked to the door behind him and saw it raise up.  His weight was certainly enough to collapse the pressure plate, and thanks to the happenstance of the scenario, the path was now open, even if it wasn't clear.  With renewed vigor, I charged even before I heard the footsteps of my group catching up.  By luck, his charge had worn him out and his head bowed close to the ground.  It was my chance.  I held the sword down instead of up and grabbed the fur of its cheek, as if I could control or limit its movement before my other hand stabbed in, sinking the steel of my blade into his face.  Not once, not twice, not a number of times that I counted, but rather simply 'enough' times, as before he could stand, before he could fling me away, he was finally defeated, and was in fact on the ground, dead, before my hand had stopped.  Only Zero's calming hand on my shoulder stopped my assault, and her gaze not on me, but on the path that had opened to us reminded me of our charge.  It was time to see if this did indeed lead to the other side.

The path was rather long, though all we encountered were overgrown spiders, thankfully.  Hideous beasts they were, they were not particularly dangerous.  I did spot a curious higher path that could be climbed to along the way, but paid it little mind and in time, we came across the wooden door that lead out of the mines.  We all heaved a sigh of relief before a heavy impact shook the very walls around us, coming from the direction we'd just been.  My first instinct was to worry that the door had fallen again - after all, I had not thought to prop it open or anything of the like - but the reality was much, much worse.  We ran back down, expecting the scenario I presented, but instead we ran into a rather familiar sight.

It was not the same ogre, but it was an ogre all the same, and it was not amused.  Wearily, we readied our weapons and entered combat with just as we had the last one, meeting with much of the same success - the lack of it, honestly - as the battle raged.  I could feel the energy draining from my body as we fought.  My vision became hazy, my head light.  It became harder and harder to lift my sword up.  It was no surprise when I opened my eyes to see a rather large hand heading in my direction and I could do nothing but watch and feel the impact of it as it sent me flying, rolling along the ground before I came to a stop.  The world was black behind my eyes shut against the pain, but the sight was hardly clearer when I finally opened them, feeling a wheeze of breath pass my lips as I did.  Perhaps this would be where my journey would end, where I would find death again.  Death from which I would not awake this time.

"Help me!"  The exclamation hit my ears and sent a power through my body, power enough to allow me to stand and look over at the battle.  In one of its gigantic hands, the ogre now held Yoko tightly, much too tightly, as if he were squeezing the very life out of her.  I felt myself gripping my sword tighter, setting my jaw with energy that I simply did not have.  While I did not fancy myself a hero, Yoko was fighting for me and I was not about to let that be one-sided.  I was not about to let this beast take her from me, take anything from me.  It's arm was too high for me to simply slash at, so my eyes went beyond the creature, to the ledge that I only now realized it had come from.  There was no time, so I sprinted towards it and climbed up the rock face.  As I turned around, I could almost see the last of Yoko leaving her body and that alone sent me forward.  That brought my arm up and, more importantly, down on the ogre's arm, causing him to drop her to the cold stone floor with a thud that sent a shiver through me.

I wasn't sure how, but she was not dead.  More surprisingly, as I touched her, I pulled her up slightly, she smiled to me, pleased that I was paying the attention to her that I was.  What I was not prepared for, however, was to see the color return to her cheeks, and to feel her moving to her feet with a strength she should not have had at that moment.  She spoke appreciation to me and instantly turned her attentions back to the beast, to vengeance, leaving me momentarily baffled.  It seemed these Pawns had more secrets to them than I thought, but I simply shook the thought from my head, just in time to see that Zero was carrying in my stead, bringing steel to the skull of our quarry, and bringing a smile to my lips when I saw that it lay still, indicating that it was finally over.

Our path was secure, we learned, as we moved back towards the entrance through which we had come in initially, what felt so long ago.  Yet, I found surprise in the fact that the sky was dark when we exited.  Night had fallen while we fought within, and that fact drew a groan from my lips, knowing just how dangerous the landscape became when the sun set.  Still, the merchant we had talked to was here and he would likely be glad to know he could enter the mines now, instead of stay out here and have a run-in with any sort of creature.  At least, that is what I had thought his opinion would be, but his response drew an ire from me that I didn't know I possessed.

"There were monsters in there, you say?"  He sneered a little at that - he knew as well as we did what lay within the mines, and I cannot fathom why he played stupid - and looked us all over for a moment.  "Well, I'm glad you opened the door, but I'm a little worried that it's still dangerous.  Best not to leave the job half-finished, hm?  Why don't you go back in and clear out the rest of the monsters so I can go through in peace?"  A growl rumbled low in my throat as my blood boiled.  My gaze was smoldering, I'm sure, yet he never shrank under it, which angered me even more.  After what we had gone through to ensure he would be able to pass, and he had the nerve to suggest that our mission wasn't complete?  After I explained to him that he could move from one door to the next unmolested?  This would not do.

It was a different feeling, pulling out a blade against man who did not have weapon drawn.  The fact didn't even seem to register to him that he was the target, not some goblin nor some corpse granted movement.  I am not sure why, and I don't think I will ever know how he didn't realize what was coming before it happened.  Perhaps he simply was that daft.  All that I know, all that I remember is the pure look of surprise in his eyes as I ran him through with my broadsword, clean to the hilt.  He screamed, or tried to, but it was much more of a gurgle than anything else.  There were only a few twitches from his form before he went limp and I brought a foot up to banish him from my blade, looking on with disgust as he crumpled to the ground in a dead heap.

It was.....an overreaction.

Yet, as I looked at my companions, I saw no judgment in their eyes.  They understood.  They wished the man as dead as he was now; I was simply the first to draw steel and see the deed done.  It was only then that our injuries caught up with us and we looked around to take stock of our situation.  The dark of night surrounded us and the scent of rotten flesh wafted to my nose.  I could see the fires of goblins on the horizon.  This was not a place to be in right now, especially not after the battles we'd fought.  The irony was that now the mines would serve as our refuge until morning, when I briefly considered they would be the place that would keep me from seeing a blue sky ever again.  Yet it was the danger we knew very well at the moment, when put against the unpredictable nature of the night.

As we settled in on the crates just inside the mine, to catch the slightest bit of respite, nobody spoke of the merchant that lay just outside.

In Which I Really Enjoy Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

We were exhausted.

The weathered sword in my hand felt suspiciously heavy as I stared up at the beast more than twice my height, looming over us with a weapon that could have simply been a tree re-purposed, smoothed from days, perhaps weeks of use into a cudgel.  Days ago, I had been a simple man, and yet here I stood among two others, beings who I still don't comprehend, with a Cyclops as our quarry.  And now, locked in battle with it as we were, only now did I consider the notion of it as ridiculous.  Not when my blade had tasted the blood of two foul harpies before our current foe announced itself.  Not when I watched a man, or what looked to be a man, appear from nothing and introduce himself as Rook and as my servant.  Not when I awoke with a hand to my chest, yet felt no heart beating within.

It was a bad thought to have, of course, as I barely noticed the club coming down on a location that would have held me, had I not run to the side to avoid it in time.  I barely had time to catch my breath, knee-deep in the waters of a stream running off the nearby cliff, before a voice I knew all too well already ripped the air about us.

"Be careful!  The beast is wrought with fury!"

I watched with a grimace as Zero did not heed her own warning, finding the wind knocked out of her by a sharp blow that sent her flying feet behind her and intently looked to see if she still drew breath.  The poor girl, I felt for her so.  She had appeared much as Rook, and upon introducing herself as Zero, I could almost see the wince that years had not yet trained her expressions to contain.  I knew that her name troubled her so, that it hung over her head as almost a curse, a silent reminder of what she could be in the eyes of any.  Yet I had come to learn that it was more powerful a motivator than anything I, the Arisen, the man she swore the utmost fealty to, could have provided.  It was her life's goal to see that her name was not an indicator of her being and, much to my benefit, it made her a warrior that was as much my equal as any could have hoped to aspire to.

Relief washed over me, mixed with my anguish, as I saw her struggling to stand, panting heavily with the effort the action took.  The fire burned brightly and hotly in her eyes and said to me that she would die before she ever willingly failed me, even though I had not wished as much of her.  It was that fire, that passion, that brought new life to my body once more, a new grip to the hand that bore my sword and a new intention to every stitch of my being.

Kill.

I am no hero.  I am sure I will be hailed as one, that I will be spoken of as a saint, a God among us, but I am no such thing.  I am simply a man, apparently caught up in the cruel threads of fate, who is doing the only thing I can in these times.  I fight.  I destroy.  I kill.  Any who stand in my path, be they wolves, be they beasts from the beyond, or even a giant as we fight now, I will end them, because it is what I must do.  Because the very tale, the legend, of the Arisen, tells only of violence wrapped in the shroud of 'justice'.  I care not for it.  I care for nothing in this moment but to sever the tie of this Cyclops to this Mortal realm.  Yet it was a harder goal than I would have liked.

"The creature is most dull!  Magic will be effective against it!"

Rook shouted this to myself and Zero, only to find the both of us silently glaring at him.  He knew that he was the only one among the three of us that could weave the arcane and oftentimes I wondered if he touted his ability as a mark of superiority.  Zero and I, we had naught but our swords, our shields for combat, yet he could summon fire from nothing and set our foes ablaze as if it were simple as a yawn.  He could set our blades alight with fire that did not harm us, but made us more deadly, that burnt the insides of our foes as we ran them through.  Truly, magic was something that was all at once amazing and terrifying, and it had not been my boon to bear it.  I am thankful, however, for I would likely see it a curse.

As ill-suited as his information was for us both, the momentary lapse did bring new vision to my eyes as I looked about the field where we fought.  By no small fortune, the creature stood next to a cliff that I could climb to, and I knew that if I timed a jump correctly, I could land upon him and bring him a swift death.  I already knew that my hands could find purchase on the beast's leathery skin, that I could climb his back that I might sink my steel into the flesh of not his legs, not his feet, but his chest, his shoulders.  My earlier attempts had hacked off the two tusks he bore that made attempts at his eye difficult, yet now it stood open.  With my new course in mind, it was almost providence.  This whole battle had been drawing to this very moment, and it was my time to grasp victory.

My feet worked faster than my mind and I swiftly found myself charging towards the hulking brute, currently focused on Zero and Rook below who did their best to distract it.  Perhaps they knew of my intents, or perhaps they simply expected more out of me than I would myself.  Or perhaps they simply only knew of fighting til the end, not of retreat, and that ignorance shielded them from any action but the one they took at this time.  I ran up the rock that almost seemed built for this very purpose, this single moment and leapt as time slowed for me.  The wind whipping through my cloak, my hair, it was if I could feel every wisp that breezed by before I landed upon the shoulder of the Cyclops, gripping tightly to stay attached to the beast.  He thrashed, he fought with rage, but I was unshakable.  I drew my blade, I hefted it back and surged it forward.  I hacked away at the single eye of the beast, over and over again, bringing shrieks of pain to the hills around us.  I was winning this fight.

"Master!", Rook again.  My mind told my ears to not listen, to allow my single focus to remain on my task, but I was too late.  "Its eye is vulnerable!  Strike it!"

I could not help myself.

"Rook!", I shouted through gritted teeth, staring down at the man, the 'pawn' of mine with a look of fury that out-paced that of the creature I was trying to slay.  "I swear by my very title of Arisen that the next blood my sword tastes will be your own if you do not be silent!"  It was the wrong thing to do.  Not because of any effect it might have had on the man who looked quite chastised below, but rather because it gave the creature a moment of respite and that was all it needed.  My hand failed as it shook this way and that, throwing me from it and very nearly off of the waterfall that I could not even see the bottom of.  Drenched in the waters of the river, yet burning with rage, I climbed to my feet once more.  I would not be denied.  My sword would not be denied.

I scarcely remember the details now, but Zero did later describe to me the vigor that I displayed in my assault.  Caring not for his weapon, not for the high ground, for strategy, not even for my own regard it seemed, I charged the beast and jumped til I gripped the flesh of its belly.  I slashed my sword along its skin as I climbed up and up, seeking my prize once more.  She spoke with pride the next part, the three sword strikes to the eye that I landed next, followed by one last strike that surely would've rent the beast in twain had it been a much larger blade.  She described the creature as dead on its feet, yet only for a moment, as my final strike, the final touch that brought our conquest to the ground was a single swipe of steel along its heel, taking the very footing out from under it.  I do remember it crashing down, the sound of it, the shock it sent through us, being so close to it.  And I remember the breath I took thereafter and exhaled in a sigh.

And then I remembered the Guild charge that bid us to slay one more of its ilk.