[quote name='skinkrawl']First play-through I am at the point where you run across the bridges with the dragon shooting fire at you. I was doing well until I got killed, then killed again, without realizing that if you get killed before you regain your first bloodstain, you lose all those souls (around 4000).
So then I decided to start over and get it right, but that time I found a new path I didn't discover during the first game. Came across some blue-eyed knight with a huge sword who mauled me, same thing again, lost all my souls and haven't felt like playing back through a bunch of guys I've already killed ten times before.[/QUOTE]
You've either got to get really lucky with the dragon, or injure it. You don't have to kill it, just knocks it's health down a fair amount. Takes quite a few arrows if I remember correctly, but it's been a while since I was on that level.
Did you already get the Cling Ring? It's a little out of the way but it's insanely helpful in the first level.
Oh, and once you go back to it and beat the Blue Eyed Knight, there's a spot near him where you can drop down from a ledge and get a crossbow. It's right across from where he's standing, there's an open ledge that you can drop down from.