Dark Souls- The Depths

The Depths

         I remember first stepping into the dank staircase. Coming from the small undead settlement, I was winded from countless attacks from the local hollows. As I descended the stairs, the air got increasingly cooler, and it felt good on my hot face. But the air soon turned sour, a stench like I’ve never smelled before. Almost instantaneously, my stomach flipped and I vomited. I pulled up my undershirt to cover my face, but it barely helped. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I moved quickly across a room that had one lone torch on the wall, lighting up a dog carcass. Moving by it, I realised something strange; the dog actually smelled better than whatever was in the air.
         Some time later I found a ladder going down. I slid down and landed in ankle deep sewer water. Before I took another step, I saw a small horde of rats come out of a hallway. I readied my shield just in time as one rat jumped forward. I deflected it downward, and stomped its head. Another two closed in on either side of me, so I swung horizontally, missed one but sliced the other’s blotchy body. I then grabbed a few firebombs I had tied at my belt, and tossed them at the group. I rolled backward just as the flames engulfed the horde. Sheathing my blade, I continued on my way as the rats burned alive.
         I reached a doorway that didn’t look like it belonged in a sewer, and stepping through, I saw the sewer must have been made from an old fortress of some kind. I was now on the outside of the building, with stone pillars that held a roof of sorts. Looking over the edge of the wall, I could see a large opening below, and I took the staircase down. The opening was enormous, big enough for a small town to fit in. It took a while to cross it, but when I did I saw that the stony floor disappeared, leaving a colossal chasm. Listening to the water that was trickling down from the sides, there didn’t seem to be a bottom. Suddenly the ground started shaking. I backed up immediately when I saw a snake-like figure emerge from the darkness below. It slowly rose up, climbed onto the ledge of the floor, and it just kept coming. Its small, thin head eventually became a thick neck, which turned into a giant, almost bulbous, body. I noticed large, torn wings. A drake of some kind? It was abnormally long, but finally, the tail ended. By this time I was across the open space, watching the beast in awe. Slowly, its small head curled up and back, onto its body. It stood on its hind legs, and that’s when I saw the large body split down the middle. It parted like hair, to reveal a gaping maw of bones. This was the Gaping Dragon. Suddenly, the wide open space felt cramped.
         The enormous dragon started forward, towards me, and I ran to my right, towards a thick, crumbling pillar. I got behind it and took deep breaths, taking my helmet and gauntlets off. I needed to be fast. I dropped my shield, as it would serve no purpose for a beast this size. The thundering footsteps stopped, and I peeked around the pillar, just in time to see the massive tail whipping around. The stone exploded, sending me reeling backward. The pillar was gone, wiped from existence, just like I would be if I didn’t move. The Gaping Dragon roared, a sort of deep screech if such a thing is possible, and then its head slammed down. The gigantic bone teeth gouged the stone floor. I quickly got up and sprinted to the side. The beast dragged forward surprisingly fast, destroying the floor of where I just stood. I saw my opportunity as the dragon tried to free itself from the ground. I ran at its tail and brought my sword down vertically. I was sprayed with blood at I pierced its scales. I slashed again, then stabbed. The monster freed itself, and the head curled back again, looking at me slashing its tail. In that moment, my body worked faster than my mind as it grabbed my last firebomb from my pouch and shoved it into one of the wounds I’d made in its tail. My arms were already raised as I understood what I was doing. I powerfully brought down my blade on the firebomb. With a scream, I was launched backward again. When I opened my eyes and got on my feet, I saw the large beast’s tail laid lifelessly on the floor. It had been blown clean off. The dragon was screeching and writhing on the ground, and I took this time to rush forward, towards its head. Bringing back my sword, I swiftly drove it into the small skull of the gigantic beast, and, slowly, its movements ceased. After a period of resting, I pulled my blade out, gathered my armour, and left the mythical Gaping Dragon.