Everything in this place seemed to be pretty dead, most probably from the curse of the Undeath that was lingering in the entire region of the Orange Shore. From the moment they entered the Orange Shore, Valkorion was feeling the uncanny feeling of death all around them.
The ever-present decay was undeniable, and it was rather uncomfortable just to be there, though Mellisandre seemed to be even more uncomfortable in this place than he had initially predicted.
"What exactly are we even searching for?"
Valkorion asked the red priestess as he was walking side by side with the dwarven Slayer Gotrik Gurnisson, who was already in the battle-ready state, because, since he heard that there were countless Udead buried deep under them, he was somewhat nervous yet thirsty for the combat.
"The main ruins of the former Firelink Shrine should be the entrance to the Firelink Shrine complex, which is deep under the ground and is the true destination where we are heading."
He knew that it would take them some time to find the exact location of the Firelink Shrine or, at least, what was once the Firelink Shrine, because, due to the decay and destruction, everything looked the same in this place.
Valkorion looked around the way as they were walking to the heart of the Orange Shore; he noticed small creatures darkening quickly from one shadow to another. While he didn't want to go from the road, but he could see that those were lizards.
They were pretty small, smaller than most of the desert lizards in the Essos, most probably due to the lack of food in the Orange Shore; in the end, there was almost nothing for the lizards to hunt for.
Their scale mimicked the color of sand almost perfectly to increase their camouflage and success during the hunt. Everything in the Orange Shore has been adapted to the extremes, from the lizards to the insects.
Valkorion observed how the small lizard moved with exact precision and swiftness as he attacked the nearby insect and ate it in one go.
"How long will it take until we arrive at the place?"
While he appreciated the niceness and panorama of the Orange Shore, he was already becoming pretty bored after walking through the decaying panorama of the Orange Shore for a few hours.
Fortunately, it wasn't really that bad, but it would be soon, at around two or three hours.
"The closest entrance is located several kilometers away from our current position, and we should be there within two and a half hours at max. The entrance that I chose for us is the closest to the place where the coachman dropped us."
Mellisandre did extensive research on the Orange Shore and the Firelink Shrine, so she chose the entrance to the Underground Catacombs that was the closest to the location where they were dropped by the coachman.
The underground complex that was built by the Pyromancers of Izalith was enormous, and it had multiple entrances across the entire Orange Shore, so she picked up the one that was closest to their location, so they wouldn't need to walk for a long time.
The Red Temple had carried out reconnaissance of the Orange Shore several times already and was very well aware of the safest and fastest path to the target.
***
As they entered the deeper parts of the Orange Shore, the day waned, and the colors of the desert deepened with each passing hour, shifting to rich ambers and dark reds.
Long shadows carved sharp contrasts into the terrain, and the ruins take on an eerie, almost regal air under the dimming sky. Valkorion had to admit that the Orange Shore had a certain weird appeal to him as they were finally nearing one of the major points of the former glory of the Izalith.
The entire Orange Shore was a place that whispered to the wanderers, a voice both beautiful and foreboding, speaking of the inexorable passage of time and the fragility of everything, filled with decay and seduction, as even one single move would result in death.
It was a wasteland.
"And here we are... the place where the past is laid bare and present is reduced to the dust, all under the gaze of the watchful, eternal gaze of the desert sun. Welcome to the lost glory of the Pyromancers of Izalith and their capital, Firelink Shrine."
Melisandre stated almost dramatically when they all came in front of the ruins of something that seemed like a palace or something like that, at least. It certainly was a palace in the long-forgotten past.
Anything that was built in this place was now just a crumbling remains of an ancient palace, once a grand marvel, now reduced to ivy-covered stone pillars and scattered debris. The entrance to the underground catacombs was hidden in a shadowed corner where the remains of the great hall meet the cracked and broken courtyard.
Everything was covered in some weird desert plant or something that at least seemed like a desert plant of some kind that Valkorion wasn't able to recognize, but he was rather sure that it was something made of wood.
Nevertheless, Melisandre conjured a small fireball in her right hand as she burned down everything in the entrance, revealing a partially collapsed archway, framing an ancient iron gate that is slightly ajar and rusted with time.
"And here we go... from here on, we can expect resistance and Undead probably on every single move."
The priestess of the Lord of Light stated that both Gotrik and Valkorion had readied their weapons and were ready for the combat. The dwarven Slayer already had one battle axe in each of his hands, and Valkroion had already drawn out his Excalibur.
The Sealed Artifact that was like a poison to the Undead would be especially effective right now, and Valkorion felt that he could easily destroy even some powerful Extraordinary Undead with the help of Excalibur.
The stone of the narrow pathway had several intricate carvings of the flame and fire, of various Pyromancies of the Izalith. The air in the pathway was damp and carried a musty, earthy scent mixed with the faint hint of incense long since extinguished.
Peering inside, stone steps worn smooth by countless feet descend into darkness, the last glimmers of daylight casting elongated shadows on the walls that seem to breathe with stories untold.
"Hopefully, there would be some powerful Extraordinary Undead... these old bones are itching for a good fight."
Out of the three of them, the dwarven Slayer was the most excited person about the potential fight and conflict, especially the prospect of slaying a powerful Undead. Valkorion wasn't really that keen on the idea of fighting unnecessarily, but the Undeads were rather problematic in this area.
One of the most characteristic features of the Undead was that they hated everything that lived, so they would never ignore something or someone that lived and would immediately attack anything that had Life Force with strong prejudice and intent to kill at any cost.
"Have you prepared everything in case we encounter some powerful Undead?"
The last thing that Valkorion wanted was to meet some powerful, Extraordinary Undead and die in this wretched place.