Post 6

We had strode on in silence for a time; seeking another bonfire by whose warmth we could rest. Here to, he defied the laws that governed most Phantoms, remaining at my side until death temporarily tore him from me.

"You spoke of breaking the cycle, Ordo," I exhaled softly, the bonfire's spasming flames quivering beneath my undead breath. "But we cannot so much as imagine why it was created."

"Whatever it was that created the Flame, and the Lords to govern it, forged this cycle to trap us here. They fear us, or perhaps are merely wary." He mused. "The Flame burned away the darkness, and the Lords were those strong enough to survive it, and wield its strength. Whether Dragon with scale of stone, or beast for which we haven't name nor mind vast enough to grasp, all were cast down, and the Flame reigned. Beyond that, I know not why the cycle was born, only that there exist a countless if not numberless multitude of worlds parallel to this one; the frenzy of guarding the Flame, binds us as surely as any cage."

"Then how," I asked, leaning forward to peer through dancing flames and into his no less radiant eyes. "How do we free ourselves?"

He shrugged. "I've slain countless Lords in my time, and for it only pale understanding has dawned. This I know: we must slay the Firekeeper, replace her with another more suited to our cause, one who is no pawn over the Flame."

"Yuria?" I asked warily.

"Not her, yet in time she shall be part of our plans as well."

"I do not trust her," I murmured. "There is a darkness, a hatred about her that unnerves me."

"There, is a sentiment I understand well. In time you will come to understand her, to know her. The  animosity she harbors is not toward our kind, nor the Lords, but those who bound us here; it is they for whom she reserves her true wrath."

"If not Yuria, then who?"

"One who is steeped in the light, a teacher of miracles who can if given the power, take mantle of Firekeeper." He said enigmatically.

"Irina of Carim?"

"Aye."

"Slay the Firekeeper and replace her; no easy task."

"Few tasks of importance, are easy, my friend." Ordo murmured. "And those that are, seek only to delude and lure."