Her warm smile
A short story inspired by "Dark Souls" (2011)
"Gambas, how long will it take? I'm cold."
"Almost done," said Gambas to his partner. But he was lying.
He had been hunched for hours on the fireplace he had set up in that alley. He, Ariel and Ferrik had stopped in that dark, isolated corner when Ariel wasn't able to walk anymore.
I will light a fire, Gambas decided shaking off the desperation that had gripped him. He arranged small stones in a circle and poured the ashes he kept in his pocket in the middle. The only thing left was to light the fire.
But he couldn't. Meanwhile, Ariel was getting colder, and her mind was dying in her hollow eyes.
"Gambas! Gambas!"
It was Ferrik yelling. He looked excited.
Gambas had sent him looking for pieces of wood to burn; it was just a ruse to keep him away. When things went badly, Ferrik used to ramble and that always got on Gambas' nerves.
"Lower your damn voice," hissed Gambas. "We don't know what listens to us in these alleys."
"Oh yeah, yeah, sure. But Gam, Ari, you have no idea what I saw. Ari, I need to tell ya this one."
"What, what did you see?" the undead asked faintly.
"I was in the sewer, right? Wait, actually, I had climbed to the Depths."
"Down there? Are you crazy?" said Gambas.
"But I had to look for the wood, you know. So I was like, you will find something among the basilisks. Then, I went even deeper and reached the treshold of the hall of the dragon." He laughed, like a rascal ditching school.
"But did you find it? The wood, I mean" asked Gambas, losing his temper.
"No. Yes. Oh, wait: I left it down there."
Gambas was on the verge of losing it, then he noticed how Ari was trying the hide the shaking of her body as she listened to the story. He had more serious business to take care of rather than listening to that idiotic rambling. After all, he didn't need the wood.
"Wait Gam, don't make that face," said Ferrik. “It's just, you won't believe what I'll tell you. As I was searching the wood, I run into a woman. I hide, of course. But it seems that the lady isn't hollow yet.
Sure, I don't buy it at first: what business does a sane person have down there? Then, of course, I suspect she may be searching pieces of wood too. But that wasn't a regular one, I'll tell you. She was covered in metal: axe, shield, helm, and armor. She was an actual warrior, that lady.
Picture her. Ari, she looked like she had come out of a tale. She slowly walked down the drainage ditch, tilting her head left and right; she was looking out for hollows or things to attack from the dark, of course! And as soon as she found one of them... she cut it in two! It was incredible, you have no idea. It looked as if she, she..." He paused, painstakingly looking for the right word. "As if she had a plan."
"But weren't you scared?" asked Ariel.
"Sure I was! Indeed, I stayed hidden all the time, and followed her from a distance. At a point, I wanted to leave. But I saw that she was heading towards the hall of the dragon. I dunno what got into me. I just came out and let her see me.
You can't go in there lady, I explained. There's a dragon. The dragon was old, dirty, sick, and all the like but... it was still a dragon! You go there, you die. I told it to her just like this, mind you."
"Then?" said Ariel, but she started coughing. She tried to speak, but the coughs became stronger. Soon, she started trembling. She looked in pain.
"Ari, Ari, wait till I finish the story. It'll cheer you up, I swear! Do you know what the warrior did at that point, uh? She smiled, thanked me for my concerns but stepped into the hall nevertheless. Really, Ari, you need to stop coughing if you want me to finish the story."
But the coughing didn't stop. And Gambas had enough of it. He throw away the flintstone and the stick of wood he was using.
"Stop tormenting her!" he shouted.
"Sure, but first I need to finish the story. She'll get better, trust me!"
Gambas grabbed Ferrik by the robe and slammed him against the wall. "Had enough of your horrible stories, prick! Want us to make fun of a lunatic who got herself killed by the dragon? Think it's funny?"
"Gam, lower your voice! The alleys, the things, you said that!"
Gambas closed his hand into a fist. He didn't want anything but to hit him. Nothing else. That stupid face of Ferrik.
Before he could hit him, however, two cold, shaking, small hands gently grabbed his wrist.
"Leave him alone," whispered Ariel. "I want to hear how the story ends."
"But it's useless, you know that."
"I know. All is lost. At least we shouldn't hurt each other," she said. "And you're losing your mind."
Gambas looked at his hand, closed into a fist, like a stone. He looked at poor Ferrik, scared to death. At the cold fireplace, over which he had spent hours mindlessly repeating the same gestures.
The hate burned down.
He let Ferrik go. Ariel's legs failed and she collapsed to the groud. Ferrik run to hug her, sobbing.
"I'll go looking for wood" said Gambas and left. The sun was setting.
He stumbled through the alleys of the burg for the entire night. Everything was quiet and he didn't run into anything. Or maybe, he pondered, it was how the hollow ones saw the world: a silent, desert place with no one but themselves.
He cried, yelled, and rambled. He resolved to kill the first creature he would encounter; he had never killed anything or anybody. The cloudy sky seemed to hear his resolving, because he heard steps from a narrow road shortly after.
He grabbed a sword from the ground and placed himself behind the corner, ready to strike. As the thing was approaching, he realized by the creaking that it wore metal .
Then, she came out of the corner. She was just like Ferrik described her, save for a huge chunk of meat she was carrying on her back: it was a tail covered in scales. Gambas lowered the sword.
Their gazes met. Gambas saw that she had his same skin: the dry skin of a corpse. But across the opening of the helms there were two proud eyes. He felt the piercing gaze of those eyes.
He felt ashamed of his lousy thirst for blood; he let the sword fall, saw the great axe in the hand of the warrior and closed his eyes. He hoped to be slain on the spot.
Instead, he felt a hand gloved in metal on his shoulder. He opened his eyes. The warrior was smiling at him.
"Good morning to you" she said. Her smile was so warm.
Then, she resumed her journey. She took a descending path without turning back.
In that moment, the sun rose and the light touched the face of Gambas. He felt some warm.
"Ferrik! Ariel!" shouted Gambas, excited.
But his companions weren't there anymore. There were only their bags and the dead fireplace.
Gambas was going to run ahead in search of them when he heard a gasp. In a nearby ditch, he found a maimed body whining.
It was Ferrik.
"I-I told Ari the end of the story. She liked it a lot."
"I believe that" said Gambas holding back the tears. What little life remained in Ferrik was fading away.
"So I told it again. She enjoyed it, but she couldn't see anything at that point. Again, I told the story to-to make her feel better. But she didn't answer anymore. I was exhausted and went to sleep. I-"
He trembled. He was in great pain. Or maybe it was what was recounting to be excruciating.
"You don't have to tell me anything. Just rest" pleaded Gambas.
Ferrik shook his head. "She started screaming and I woke up. I tried to protect myself but I couldn't. I knew she was gone, but I couldn't harm her. She threw me down here, then left. I-I don't know where she went. Couldn't stop her. Sorry."
"You did what you could. You stayed with her. Don't be sorry."
"The story! I didn't tell you the end."
"Rest, please."
"No... it's important! The warrior entered the hall of the dragon, and I heard it roar. I thought she was killed in a glimpse, but she came out in the end. She killed the dragon and cut its tail off! I saw her!"
"Don't tell me" said Gambas, pretending to be surprised.
"I swear... I know how you feel right now, but you're wrong. I heard her fighting... it was incredible. Things can change. Not all is lost."
Then Ferrik died. When he came back, he was hollow.