Chapter 55: Teaming Up (Patreon)

“Its just one tarnished! Cut her down!”

Torrent slowed his uphill sprint, barricades of sharpened wood blocking the cracked stone pathway ahead. A simple hop over and they’d finally be at the entrance to Stormveil, the castle’s massive structures reaching far above them. Simple enough for him and Torrent. The many knights spread throughout the defenses, some brandishing sword and shield while others took up positions behind heavy ballistae, wouldn’t be worth much consideration.

Except a great number of them were already rushing downward, charge accompanied by desperate war cries. Those cries were quickly silenced, blood filling the air.

Matching pair of axes in hand, a lone warrior met their superior numbers without a second thought, each swing of the weapons cleaving through armor and flesh alike.

“More of them!” The distant blow of a horn followed that yell, various clicks coming from ahead.

The Grafted Blade pulled from Torrent’s saddle, Onyx swung. The enlarged bolts from the set up ballista splintered and broke apart as they met the blade while the bolts and arrows that flew from the dense greenery on both sides of the trail were knocked off course by the force of the swing.

He dropped off Torrent while Melina jumped, dagger drawn as she disappeared into the darkened brush. Many of the knights rushing the axe wielder broke off to meet him, a half circle formed with their raised shields as they closed in on him. More were behind them, intent on overwhelming up with sheer numbers.

He’d wanted to see if that warrior could handle them all on her own, but he wasn’t going to deny a fight coming right at him.

Two stepped forward from opposite sides, sending their long swords forward along the top edge of their shields. He swung again, blade far faster than theirs, swords and shields of all four pushed aside. Another swing saw the defenseless group bisected. He rushed past them before they fell apart, ducking beneath the stabs of the spearmen just behind them. Slipping behind them was easy enough, the towershields they wielded far too cumbersome for them to keep pace with him, and a quick swing of the Grafted Blade left them in similar states to his initial attackers.

All others who fell upon him went down just as quickly. The disparity in strength was greater than he expected considering he wasn’t using all that much mana.

Side effects from that electricity?  He guessed, his gaze wondering towards the axe wielder despite the battle he was wrapped up in.

Slipping around the slashes of her opponents, she hooked one of her axes on one of their shields and forced it downward it. A swing from the other axe beheaded her unlucky victim, the swift decapitation shaking a number of the knights. That was used to her advantage, the woman rushing forward, narrowly avoiding desperate slashes and cleaving through one knight after the other. The fire of the uphill ballistae, any shot his way sliced apart, could only slow her, the woman sharp and quick enough to avoid them.

Her approach to combat was ferocious. Like him she paid their armor no mind in her assault, the unrelenting swing of her axes able to sunder them to get at whatever they protected, be they entire limbs or vitals. An impressive feat of strength especially for someone dual wielding.

That strength, her footwork, the unflinching advance. Not even Edgar would be the woman’s match and he was leagues beyond any of these knights.

Another horn overpowered the spilling of blood and clashing of weapons.

“Retreat!” The already shaken knights broke ranks without any regard for tactics, backs completely exposed.

Onyx didn’t bother giving chase or cutting down any still within his reach, stepping up past the bodies around him until he was level with the woman, a good distance kept between them. The woman let them go as well, watching their distant retreat for a moment, he kept in the corner of her eye, before fully turning to him.

“Tarnished, are you? Clearly not one of Godrick’s lot.” She said, giving him a quick one over. He took the chance to do the same.

Like him, she favored the simple approach to clothing others would’ve dubbed barbaric, furs and leather spread across her body, the only metallic bits being the spiked pauldron over her left shoulder, the forehead protector of her black headdress, and the chain-like belt around her waist, one of her axes returned to the handles connected to them. Countless scars were spread across the light brown skin of her defined muscles, the most prominent being the one traveling across the lid of her right eye.

Between all that, the blood, and skill he’d seen firsthand, she was a through and through warrior.

“I am Nepheli Loux, warrior and tarnished like you.” She said once their eyes met again, hers a grayish brown.

“Onyx.” He said, both of them exchanging slightly nods.

“I am here by decree of my, in pursuit of the Elden Ring. I assume you’re here for the same?” He nodded. “Then you intend to challenge Godrick, same as I.” As Melina descended from the barricades, Nepheli gave her the same up down before refocusing on him. “Shall we join arms to breach the castle? The matter of Godrick and the shard can be decided once we reach that point.”

Marika’s impatience oozed throughout their bond. It’d been strengthening the closer they got to Stormveil and this woman’s offer only rustled it further. She’d already tried to convince him to jump the walls entirely to reach Godrick.

Onyx nodded.

“Then we fight together.” Nepheli said, her free hand offered as she stepped up to him, looking up at him. A short but firm handshake marked their partnership, the both of them walking forward together, Melina silently falling into step just behind him.

As they passed the spiked fences and left behind the blood site of their respective battles they passed several more bodies. Bows and crossbow laid beside their fallen bodies, one limply slumped over the handle of a ballista. None had gotten the chance to unsheathe their swords or put up a fight of any kind, put down with merciless efficiency by stabs to the neck.

“Upon reaching Limgrave I’d heard tale of a tarnished fighting alongside his maiden. I’d disregarded such talk.” Nepheli, glancing between the bodies. There were quite a few just out of sight amongst the greenery around the trail. “It appears I was wrong to write it off.”

“Where’d you hear that from?” Onyx questioned. He didn’t mind a reputation, it was bound to happen, but it was a little surprising how well information was getting around in such a sparsely populated land.

“The knights.”

He raised a brow. “They talked to you willingly?”

“It was that or death.” Nepheli said as they came to stop in front of a brick laid tunnel, lit torches lining its length. She craned her head back, looking up at the grand structure just beyond it. “Few retain a steadfast loyalty to Godrick. For good reason.”

Without further elaboration she stepped forward, leading them through the wide tunnel. Those that fled had left in such a hurry that some fallen bolts and arrows littered the far more intact stone beneath their feet. He’d somewhat expected the castle of all places to an exception the neglect the roads and ruins across Limgrave faced but even Stormveil’s immediate defenses were suffering from it.

At the very least, someone was defending the place. A presence far more power than the knights they’d sent running awaited them.

The severity of the neglect became clearer as they reached the other end of the torch lit tunnel, stepping out from it and into the light of the distant Erdtree and Sun. Distant walls and ramparts that were falling apart. The stone ground of the courtyard they stepped into broken up and chipped. Countless weapons, swords, spears, axes, and everything in between were stabbed into the dirt beneath the displace stone. Rusted, they’d all been left out here for quite some time.

Was it supposed to act as some kind of warning? It wasn’t for security at least, the fragmented path ahead free of the strange choice in decorations.

“Foul Tarnished. In search of the Elden Ring.” A voice came from above, carried down to them by winds sweeping through the courtyard. Golden energy gathered atop one of the few fully intact towers that overlooked the courtyard, solidifying into the distant figure of tall man, a cane held upward across their chest like a sword. A ragged brown cloak was draped across their form, fluttering with the wind. “Embolden by the flame of ambition.”

Horns that curled and twisted, going as far as to even pierce the skin of the figure itself, grew out of their head.

A familiar sight.

Marika’s rage consumed everything. He’d put two and two together fast enough to prepare for it and yet his heartbeat quickened, thumps filling his ears. His grip on the Grafted Blade laid across his shoulder tightened, breath hitching.

Whoever that was up there, their relation to the people he’d seen in Marika’s memories was fuel enough to turn the bubbling lava pit that was her constant rage into an erupting disaster.

That abomination’s long awaited death would be carried out here and now.

XOXO

(A/N: I hope no one was expecting me to twist and make Marika's hatred for hornsent of any kind, even her children, in anyway more sympathetic than what little the game gives. The things she hate is going to be a big part of her character and future decisions so I refuse to water it down just to make her likeable. Will she ever get over it? Doubtful. I know I wouldn't in her situation but who knows? The characters be surprising me sometimes.)