The Ashen Keeper

Chapter 93

She entered straight into the lair of Alduin. She noticed several eyes focused on her as soon as she teleported here. Although she should have gotten used to it by now, it was chilling. The rest of the everlasting dragons were ready to slaughter whoever came here without permission.

They retreated their gaze when they found out it was her teleporting into a dragon's den with no permission. The everlasting dragons gave out a different form of power compared to the Abyss.

If the power of the Abyss resembled an endless ocean that would drown you with no hopes of escape, the sheer power emitted by the everlasting resembled a natural disaster like an earthquake or a tsunami. You can try to fight against it but there is only one end, death.

She slowly walked to the lair of the king of the dragons.

"Come ahead, keeper. It has not been long since we last met. What have you need of me?"

She looked upon Alduin. He was as mighty as ever with every inch of his body bursting with power. This was not a projection. It was him in all his glory.

"Yes, I fear I do have a request for thee. One thou might find hard to accept."

"Name your requirements keeper and I shall do all in my might to meet them. We still owe you a debt to pay."

"I ask for thee to save someone."

"Save someone? You know full well that saving someone is not something so serious. Let all out of your worrying heart."

"I wish for thee to save a knight. A knight of Gwyn who goes by Artorias."

"Artorias, one of the four knights of Gwyn. He was famous even back when we roamed the lands of Lordran. Is that him you wish for me to save?"

"Yes, it is him my dear Alduin."

"Dragon slayer Ornstein. He was also one of the four knights of Gwyn. His name alone tells his tale of how he treats dragons.

Hawkeye Gough, the one who personally shot down Kalameet the Black Dragon and lead to the demise of last one of us that roams Lordran.

Ciaran, Gwyn's head assassins who would lay waste to many of us by stabbing us in the back with no sense of honor or pride.

Artorias was one of them and you would have us save him?"

His voice was filled with silent threats less like a snake ready to bite and more like a volcano about to erupt. The calm before the storm would be an accurate description.

Indeed, asking them to save the subordinate of their once eternal enemy was too much to ask of them but she wishes to cause as much damage to the Abyss as possible. Maybe, there was even a small possibility of destroying it although she holds doubts over this.

She could have asked help from Sif and Falkor, but she did not wish to take advantage of their kindness. Also, she wishes for there to be as much destruction as possible.

"I implore thee to take it as less than saving a knight of Gwyn and more of destroying the Abyss. Please, let the task of saving him be left to me. I wish for thee to cause as much destruction and mayhem as possible."

"So, you changed your wish. Why should I attack the Abyss? It holds no significance to us."

"Doth thou really believe that the creatures of the Abyss will leave the dragons alone after devouring everything in its path?"

"Nice comeback. Very well then, keeper. Consider me intrigued. How many dragons would you want for this job?"

"As much as possible."

"It might not be much. Most of my dragons are out there still looking for the Abyss Watchers."

"Please leave the matters of the Abyss Watchers to me. They are duty bound to fight against the Abyss no matter what."

"Then, go and deal with it at this moment. Return here after you finish the affairs. And we shall aid you if you can prove yourself worthy of our help. Consider this a trial from me."

She nodded at this. She could understand the need for a trial. She held little doubts that if it were Alduin alone, he would help her with little hesitation. But he was also the king of the everlasting dragons, and she did not believe all dragons to be as forgiving as the likes of Alduin, Sif or Falkor.

He needed an excuse to help her. One that would firmly set all dragons on her side and use their full might to eradicate the darkness of the Abyss.

Getting the Abyss Watchers on her side was an easy thing. All she had to do was show them Sif and they would kneel before her. After all, the Abyss Watchers were a band of undead legion with Artorias as their center. They worshipped him like a god.

But there lies the difficulty in finding them. They have spread out in hiding all across the nine realms. She did not even know how many of them were there in total. And that is when she remembered again. She only had to find one of them. They essentially shared one single soul.

Taking inspiration from the Artorias, the Abyss Walker, the Abyss Watchers themselves sought to utilize the techniques of Artorias and partook of wolf blood to do so.

Equipped with the strength of Artorias, they became intensely strong and agile, fighting in a coordinated and sporadic pack akin to wolves. Although they would split up, they would still go around in groups of at least three.

Their wolf blood did more than enhance their bodies, but their very essence, for all those who partook in it were linked to the soul of Artorias himself. As such, instead of each body hosting distinct souls, all that partook the wolf blood share the one soul distributed among them.

They also recruited acolytes, who provided support via miracles and sorceries. So, she would have to be careful of that too. Acolytes would be the first opponent that used pure sorcery.

Finding them all was hard but finding just a single one of them was not hard by any means. She teleported straight to the nearest one she could sense over the nine realms.

She was only greeted with a sword charging straight at her neck.