Duke's Dear Freja

I had periodically returned to fight the spider boss in Brightstone Cove a few times without much success. I was getting better though. I found that I was best off getting close and risking being caught be her jumping attack then to keep running in and out.

With the NPC summon things were easier as he was adept at taking out the small spiders leaving me to focus on Freja. My eventual winning strategy was to alternate between getting in her face and hitting her with pyromancies. My +10 Gyrm Armour allowed me to take a big hit without fear of being one-shotted. The attempt on which I killed her saw her almost paralysed for the second half of the fight whilst I weighed in to her rear face as she was distracted by the Ashen Knight I'd summoned.

Upon defeat her soul is left as a light on the ground in a change from the usual auto-aquisition. No idea why. As I was basking in a post-boss relaxed mood the appearance of another enemy was a bit of a shock. The Duke only took one hit however but did drop the Brightstone Key. In my post-post-boss relief I was even more startled by the dual-wielding oaf waiting for me at the bonfire. I cautiously battled to ensure my 50k of souls stayed intact, nerve-wracking stuff! He dropped the excellent Vengarl set which may outperform my Gyrm armour when upgraded.