The Ashen One took a final glance around the Firelink Shrine, gazing upon the five thrones that surrounded the Bonfire that sat in the middle of the room, upon each throne sat the remains of each Lord of Cinder or more specifically their cinders.

Standing not too far away was his travelling companion, a man he had met during his adventures through the lands of Lothric, his name was Angmar the Marked, the man was an eight foot tall beast wearing heavy plate armour, he was once a Knight but had been struck with a curse by none other than the Crystal Sage, the curse lingered even after the sage's death at the hands of the Ashen One, his eyes glowed a vibrant orange colour as his black hair hung down to his neck it was short at the sides and long in the middle, his muscled arms were covered in runes that would meet on his back and always ready to draw his sword which hung from his belt along with his shield.

The Cinders of Yhorm, Aldrich, the Abyss Watchers and the twin princes of Lothric were in their thrones along with Ludleth of Courland, a small, man with ashen skin wearing tattered royal robes and a golden crown on his bald head.

The Ashen One knelt before the Bonfire as the Fire Keeper looked to him, she wore a white crown that covered both of her eyes and a long black robe, her long blonde hair tied back in a long braid, she stood close to her master and friend as she began the ritual to help him become a Heir of Fire.

"Noble Lords of Cinder" the Fire Keeper addressed the Cinders of the lords, Aldrich's Cinders burned with fire.

"The fire fades..." she continued as Ludleth was engulfed in flames and became naught but a pile of ash with a crown atop the pile.

"... and the Lords go without thrones" she finished as the Cinders of Yhorm, the Abyss Watchers and Lothric also burned in their thrones.

"Surrender your fires..." she said as five tiny flames left the Cinders and floated towards the Bonfire that the Ashen One knelt at, the candles that surrounded the thrones went out plunging the room into darkness, the only light coming from the Bonfire in the middle of the room, Angmar moved away from the darkness and watched in silence as the embers floated towards the Fire Keeper's outstretched hands.

"... to the true heir" the Fire Keeper said, the tiny flames came together to form a small flame, which the Fire Keeper held gently in her hands illuminating her face with a warm orange glow, she turned towards the Ashen One and held the flames above his head making the ashes of the flame fall upon his head, the Ashen One bowed his head and closed his eyes as the power of the First Flame went into his body.

"Let him grant death..." came the Fire Keeper's voice through the darkness.

"To the old gods of Lordran, deliverers of the First Flame" the Fire Keeper said, the Ashen One then felt a pull on his body, like he was being brought somewhere else, after a few minutes the feeling passed and he opened his eyes to find himself in the Kiln of the First Flame, he stood up and readied his weapon to fight noticing that his friend Angmar was not with him this time he would have to face this challenge alone, he had heard that the First Flame had a guardian he had to overcome before he could access the Flame, he checked his Estus Flask and saw that it was full, he lit the Bonfire he stood in front of and exited the building which seemed eerily like the inside of the Firelink Shrine, when he exited the building he saw an endless sea of clouds, above it was what looked like the Dark Sign bleeding red light into the land below, he looked to the left and saw the ruined city of Lothric as well as another Bonfire which he quickly went to he touched the flames and was quickly engulfed in a cloud of smoke and ash.

The Ashen One was released from the cloud and found himself at the bottom of a high mountain peak with pillars lining the right side of the path, behind him was a collapsed wall from the city the only way was up.

The Ashen One lit the nearby Bonfire and began to run up the mountain, he passed a few pillars until he reached a partially buried set of steps leading to a pair of columns, the Ashen One stood between the pillars and took in the sight before him, a wide open area littered with hundreds of swords and other weapons stabbed into the ground, there were also patches of glowing flowers and stalagmites and dried stumps from trees, in the middle of it all sat what the Ashen One had to guess was the First Flame, guarded by a very tall knight smouldering with power and fire, it was the guardian of the flame the, Soul of Cinder...

The Ashen One stood in the archway into the arena he placed his shield on his back and focused his power into his left hand, the magic conjured burning flames which he dragged over his weapon, a massive Claymore that would rest on his shoulder, lighting the blade on fire.

The Ashen One took out his shield and walked into the arena, ready to challenge the Soul of Cinder and finally reach the First Flame, the Knight suddenly stood up revealing his full height of ten feet, his armour was badly worn and charred in places and flames burning atop the helmet that covered it's head, it reached into the Bonfire and pulled out a massive coiled sword wreathed in flames then it charged towards the Ashen One intent on destroying him and keeping the First flame safe.

The Ashen One and the Soul of Cinder charged towards each other, intent on landing the first blow, the Soul of Cinder raised it's Coiled Sword up into the air for a downward slash but the Ashen One jumped and rolled past the ten foot tall knight, landing behind the giant burning spirit the Coiled Sword slammed into the ground with so much force that dirt flew into the air, the Ashen One quickly recovered and managed to land the first hit on the Soul of Cinder however the giant spirit quickly shifted into a two handed thrust, the Ashen One jump-rolled to the right avoiding the thrust and went to attack again but the Soul of Cinder kept a hold of the Coiled Sword in his right hand and swung the blade at the Ashen One, the swing hit the Ashen One hard in the chest sending him to the ground from the force of the blow, the Ashen One groaned and stood up only to be caught by a strong upward slash that hit him hard the Soul of Cinder then attempted a downward blow, but the Ashen One quickly raised his shield and blocked the blow, the force of the blow made his arm shake and the heat of the spirit's Coiled Sword was intense, the Ashen One quickly put away his Greatsword and tapped into his Pyromancy spells, he conjured a Fire Orb into his right hand and hurled it into the soul of Cinder causing minimal damage it seemed lie it didn't do anything at all! The Ashen one backed away and took out his Estus Flask before drinking down a mouthful, the clear orange liquid quickly healed his wounds and eased his pain as the Soul of Cinder held it's Coiled Sword in a two handed position, the Soul of Cinder then swung the blade upwards as it blazed with flame, the first swing the Ashen One managed to avoid, the second swing landed a strong hit that made the Ashen One flinch, the third strike was blocked by his shield as he drew more magic into his right hand he saw that using normal fire wouldn't work on this enemy and so he had to draw upon the black flame magic he had acquired in his travels with Angmar, he conjured a Black Fire Orb into his hand and threw it towards the Soul of Cinder.

The Soul of Cinder took the blow which cause a bit more damage than the previous fireball and swung it's Coiled Sword at the Ashen One, the warrior managed to avoid most of the strikes by rolling away, others he blocked with his shield but a few managed to land harshley, however the Ashen One managed to land several blows of his own causing some considerable damage, the Soul of Cinder went for a downward slash again but the Ashen One rolled aside to avoid the blow, the Ashen One managed to get some distance between himself and the Soul of Cinder however his eyes went wide under his helmet when he saw the Coiled Sword burst into flames and instantly transform into a very long lance! The Soul of Cinder swung the lance in a wide arc catching the Ashen One in the arm before he jumped back and avoided the second swing, the Soul of Cinder then charged him with the lance positioned to impale the undead warrior, the Ashen One raised his shield and the tip of the lance hit the shield pushing the Ashen One back several feet but luckily he managed to avoid getting hit, the Ashen One dug into his reserve of magic and cast the Black Flame spell landing a strong hit on the Soul of Cinder, which quickly retaliated by landing a heavy blow with the lance and sending the Ashen One rolling across the ground into a stalagmite, the rock formation was shattered from the force of the Ashen One's body hitting it leaving the PyroKnight laying in a pile of rubble.

As the Ashen One recovered from the blow the Soul of Cinder changed his weapon once again, this time the weapon reformed into a burning curved sword and the spirit back flipped away to gain some distance, he raised his left hand and a flame appeared before he jammed it into his own chest and the spirit's body gained a red aura, the Soul of Cinder then saw the Ashen One manage to climb back onto his feet before it charged at the undead Pyromancer and begin a rapid series of slashes that burned with ancient flames, three of the slashes hit the Ashen One before he pulled up his shield to block the other attacks and counter attacked with his own weapon, making the Soul of Cinder jump back before it struck the ground and a poisonous mist rose up shrouding the tall spirit in purple clouds, there was a flash of flame from within the mist indicating that the Soul of Cinder's weapon had changed once again, the Ashen One drank another draught from his Estus Flask as the poison mist dispersed revealing the Soul of Cinder with a Catalyst in his hand.

The Soul of Cinder raised the catalyst above his head and conjured seven small, glowing orbs above it's head and shoulders, then it summoned a large blade made of glowing light from the catalyst it held and swung the blade at the Ashen One, the glowing blade was quickly deflected by the Ashen One's shield but when he lowered it he was hit by the glowing orbs and a follow up slash from the same glowing blade spell, the Ashen One knew he would have trouble if he stayed too far away from him in this state and rushed towards the Soul of Cinder to engage it in close combat, the undead PyroKnight closed the distance avoiding a Soul Spear spell as well as a Farron Hail spell the Soul of Cinder threw at him, at the last foot he saw the Soul of Cinder raise the staff above his head and charge soul magic into the weapon, the Ashen One knew that such a spell would be very troublesome to survive and dodgerolled towards the tall spirit, he reached the point just behind the Soul of Cinder as he thrust the staff forward and a bright beam of magic was fired from the staff, the Ashen One breathed a sigh of relief at avoiding the powerful attack and quickly drew his blade and slashed at the Soul of Cinder, the Soul of Cinder's staff burst into flames and changed into the Coiled Sword again, the Soul of Cinder rushed to attack the Ashen One with it's Coiled Sword, the two traded blows with the Ashen one blocking two of them before landing two strong hits to the spirit's body, suddenly a burst of bright light came from the Soul of Cinder's body pushing the Ashen One back and stunning him, as he tried to recover the Soul of Cinder's weapon changed again into the Lance and he thrust the weapon into the Ashen One causing massive damage, the Soul of Cinder went for another thrust but was quickly sidestepped by the Ashen One who drank another draught from his Estus Flask and healed the damage he had received, the Ashen One quickly went on the attack and landed three more blows to the Soul of Cinder's body before it recovered and switched weapons to the staff again, the Spirit used Soul Magic to attack the Ashen One but the Ashen One stayed close to avoid the more damaging spells and after what seemed like an hour managed to damage the Soul of Cinder greatly, the Soul of Cinder switched it's weapon back to the Coiled Sword and went to fight again landing two strong cuts to the Ashen One before he struck back with a blow that fored the Soul of Cinder onto one knee, the Ashen One quickly rushed in and attacked the Soul of Cinder managing to land five powerful two handed blows before the spirit stood back up.

The Soul of Cinder stood still amidst a large patch of white and red flowers that grew in the scorched battlefield amidst the abandoned weapons and blackened earth, it took it's Coiled Sword and placed the tip of the blade upon the ground and held the hilt with both hands, the Ashen One watched as power seemed to flow through the Soul of Cinder's body and it's Coiled Sword burned with fire, the Soul of Cinder raised the blade into the air and stabbed the blade into the ground causing a massive fiery explosion, the heat from the explosion burned away a large patch of the flowers and even melted the weapons that were stabbed into the ground even the Ashen One who was partly Pyromancer was amazed at the power of these flames, the Soul of Cinder stood before the Ashen One renewed with the power of the First Flame it pulled it's Coiled Sword from the ground and swung it to the side before leaping high into the air towards the Ashen One, it's sword raised high above it's head in a two handed swing as it's armoured body flew towards the Ashen One, the Ashen One's eyes widened in shock before he jumped aside the blade crashing into the ground with so much force it left a indentation shaped like the burning Coiled Sword, the Soul of Cinder didn't relent and slashed at the Ashen one three more times before raising it's Coiled Sword into a high stance, the Soul of Cinder then struck with four strong slashes, the first slash was deflected by the Ashen One's shield, the second strike stunned the Ashen One making his shield arm fly to the side as he stumbled back, the other two were upward slashes which struck the Ashen One full on in his body, the flames that followed after the sword strikes burning the Ashen One as he fell onto his back, the Soul of Cinder stood above him and plunged his blade downwards into the Ashen One's chest causing another explosion which thankfully was weaker than the one caused by it powering up.

The ashen One lay on the battlefield clinging to life as his body was wracked with pain, the wounds burned from the power of the First Flame which the Soul of Cinder wielded, any mortal champion would have been instantly killed from such blows but the Ashen One managed to survive but was severely wounded, he needed to drink from his Estus Flask quickly or he would die! As the Ashen One pulled the flask from his belt he saw the Soul of Cinder draw lightning into his hand much like the Forgotten King could, he saw the Soul of Cinder raise the bold above it's head for a downward stab and knew it would be over if he didn't dodge, however his legs couldn't respond and he knew he didn't have enough time to avoid the blow!

Suddenly there was the sound of metal crashing against metal as the Soul of Cinder was knocked back, standing above the Ashen One was his companion Angmare the Marked, holding his Burning Sword and Tower Shield ready to fight, his orange eyes glowing within his horned helmet as he stared down the ten foot tall spirit that pointed it's burning sword at the newcomer.

"What in the dreaded Abyss are you waiting for?! Drink from your Estus Flask and get back into the fight! HURRY!" Angmar yelled, the Ashen One nodded his head and gulped down the glowing orange fluid restoring his vitality and vigor, the Ashen One quickly stood back up and joined his travelling companion in battling the Soul of Cinder, the two worked well with Angmar keeping himself in close combat to block the Soul of Cinder's attacks and tank his flames, while the Ashen One went into his Pyromancy and hurled chaos flames at the massive spirit, the Soul of Cinder jumped over Angmar and attempted to strike the Ashen One with another downward stab, whick the Ashen One quickly dodged by rolling aside, he cast aside his shield and held his sword in his left hand while conjuring the black flames into his right hand, this was the final stretch it was time for an all out attack!

The Soul of Cinder summoned another bolt of lightning into it's hand and threw the bolt into the sky, it quickly rushed towards the two undead and was intercepted by Angmar who blocked it's burning thrust with his shield, the power behind the thrust caused Angmar to stumble when a barrage of lightning bolts struck both warriors, Angmar yelled in rage and pain at the electricity coursed through his body the heavy metal armour seeming to make the electricity worse, the Ashen One yelled in pain as the electricity blasted him then he was hit by a two handed overhead slash that rent his armour and left a burning cut across his chest from his left shoulder to his right side just above his groin, the ashen One yelled in pain from the burning wound as the Soul of Cinder went to strike again, however Angmar recovered from the lightning and struck the Soul of Cinder in the helmet with his own sword stunning the massive soul, the Ashen One knew he had to take this chance to finish the battle and rose to his feet charging into the battle as the cut on his body smouldered and burned, leaving the sickly sweet stench of burning flesh hanging in the air.

The two warriors fought bravely with the Ashen One using his best Black Flame Spells as Angmar struck the Soul of Cinder with his sword, the Ashen One hurled three Black Fire Orbs at the Soul of Cinder weakening it greatly before casting the Black Serpent Spell and burning it with black flames, Angmar threw his shield down and struck the Soul of Cinder with his sword in a series of powerful, two handed strikes, after the barrage of attacks the Soul of Cinder fell to one knee once more signifying that it had reached a weakened state, the two warriors saw this and charged at the spirit together both with their weapons raised, Angmar approached it from the back while the Ashen One attacked from the front both warriors thrusting their blades towards the Soul of Cinder.

The Soul of Cinder stood back up and got ready to cause another explosion to save itself, but it was too late, Angmar's sword struck the Soul of Cinder in it's back making the ten foot tall spirit's arms fly open seeming to embrace the open air as it fell to both knees, the Ashen One saw the chance to finish the fight and charged towards the Soul of Cinder before jumping into the air with his sword arm pulled back for a final thrust, with a fierce yell the Ashen One thrust his blade forward and stabbed the Soul of Cinder through the chest where a man's heart would have been, he gazed into the Soul of Cinder's helmet where it's eyes should be as it's body fell forwards, the Soul of Cinder let out a final breath before it's body turned to ashes and vanished, the Ashen One and Angmar stood in the battlefield breathing heavily before they both let out a loud, booming victory cry.

"That... was... a hell of... a fight..." The Ashen One said as he tried to steady his breathing, he stood up tiredly as he looked towards the burning ring in the sky, and collected the Soul of the Lords from the ashes of the Soul of Cinder, as well as 100,000 sovereignless souls.

"Well, it would make sense they place something that powerful as the guardian of the First Flame, wouldn't you agree (Y/N)?" Angmar said in a deep voice, the helmet he wore giving a metallic tone to his voice.

"I suppose your right old friend, at long last the journey comes to and end... but I cannot help but doubt the course we were set upon" the Ashen One known as (Y/N) said as he turned his gaze towards the Bonfire that had been relit upon the defeat of the Soul of Cinder.

"How so?" Angmar asked as he sheathed his blade and picked up his shield before placing it on his back.

"I have heard from many others about how the First Flame has been losing it's intensity with every linking, the link before this one seemed to have barely any power to it, so I wonder if it is worth prolonging this fate rather than trying to see if something new could emerge..." (Y/N) said as he gazed at the Bonfire, Angmar stood beside him and saw that indeed the flames were rather small and weak.

"What other option do we have? How do you know that doing anything other than linking the flame, won't result in our deaths?" Angmar asked in a wizened voice, despite not being a mage he held great wisdom from his many years of living in this world.

"We could just allow the fire to fade... and see what is to come" (Y/N) said as he gazed into the fire.

"It is a gamble to be sure, but you are the Heir of Fire, not I... whatever your decision, I shall not abandon thee" Angmar said with confidence in his deep voice.

"I believe it is time for the Age of Fire to end... I shall summon the Fire Keeper, and have her finish this age, whatever happens old friend, we shall face it together" (Y/N) said as he held out his hand, Angmar locked hands and the both squeezed before letting go.

(Y/N) walked to the runes set in the ground and raised his hand towards the runes, a bright light began to form from the words and the Fire Keeper faded into existence from that light, she stood tall and gazed to the Ashen One with a small smile her eyes still covered by the crown upon her head, she slowly turned herself towards the First Flame and walked towards it with determination in her stride.

(Y/N) and Angmar watched as she went down on both knees before the Bonfire, she carefully reached into the Bonfire and plucked the tiny flame from the Bonfire and held it in her hands, she brought it closer to her breast and held the First Flame as it began to fade away...

"The First Flame quickly fades, darkness will shortly settle" the Fire Keeper said as darkness began to close in around the three undead, Angmar and (Y/N) stood close to the woman as the flames grew smaller and the darkness seemed to grow closer.

"But one day, tiny flames will dance across the darkness" the Fire Keeper said, this somewhat reassured (Y/N) and Angmar as the light from the dying flame grew smaller, the darkness creeping in closer as the First Flame faded further from existence.

"Like embers, linked by lords past" the Fire Keeper said in a quiet voice, the darkness crept closer and closer to the three undead, the mountains and sky fading into black as the First Flame sputtered and finally died out in the Fire Keeper's hands plunging the world into infinite darkness, suddenly (Y/N) felt himself falling through the darkness, he heard Angmar give a surprised yell (Y/N) assumed he was falling too but couldn't find him, (Y/N)'s fear grew as he felt the darkness shift around him, he feared he and Angmar had fallen into the Abyss and would be consumed by it's evil!

"Ashen One, hearest thou my voice, still?" came the Fire Keeper's voice through the darkness, suddenly the fear he felt was replaced by a sense of peace, he knew that the Fire Keeper would watch out for him and his companion and allowed himself to relax as he fell.

He fell for what seemed like eternity, he fell, and fell, and fell...

It felt as if centuries were passing him by as he plunged through the darkness towards an unknown fate, his thoughts drifting to his decision back at the First Flame if he was right to allow the flame to die, suddenly there came several glowing lights from within himself, he looked and saw the Souls of the defeated Lords of Cinder, as well as the fallen Heirs of Fire glowing and fighting their bonds, (Y/N) didn't know what to do since he didn't know that Souls could suddenly start to vie for freedom! (Y/N) was about to try to contain the souls when they all broke free of their bonds, the souls coalesced into small flames that flew away through the seemingly infinite void, as (Y/N) fell through the darkness he thought back to the Fire Keeper's words.

"But one day, tiny flames will dance across the darkness. like embers linked by lords past" the voice of the Fire Keeper repeated within his head, he could only watch as some of the souls drifted away towards parts unknown, their light glimmering like stars in the void, the larges lights were those of the souls of the past lords, the Soul of Yhorm the Giant, the Soul of the Blood of the Wolf, the Soul of Aldrich, even the soul of the Twin Princes burned in the darkness surrounded by smaller embers that were the Heirs of Fire.

The last thing (Y/N) saw was the souls drift away like embers upon the wind, before a bright light overcame his vision and he fell into unconsciousness...