Chapter 3: The Snake
Her name was Eleana of the Boreal Valley, but she was more commonly known as the Snake of Irythill, a nickname fitted for an assassin. As her name suggests, she was born in the frigid tundra and lived in the mystic city, under the eye of the Gods of Anor Londo. She raised herself and, as an Undead, she had to learn to survive alone and to deal with the cruelty of this world on her own. She quickly became fond of an activity that only a few appreciate: murder. Indeed, she became a killer, and a good one at that. As a young, pale girl of Irythill, she wielded her dual blades with grace and executed her targets without mercy. She was cold-blooded, literally. When she entered her teenage years, she continued her activities and became the pupil of a sword master, who teached her battle arts and strategies to kill more efficiently. Then, she finally became an adult and had to leave her homeland as an Undead. She journeys around the world and finds peace in working for others, as long as they have a lot of money to pay her.
"The Shaded Woods..." she mumbled to herself as she climbed up a small rock to have a view on the surroundings. A grey mist covered the land and only the branches of the trees were visible through all this fog. "Perhaps I'm gonna have to be careful while going through here, hm." She added as she took out her binoculars and looked through them. Far away, she could see the keep of the forest, her next objective, where she was hoping to find Majula, the fabled town of Drangleic, known for it's small amount of inhabitants. She had been to a settlement like this before, near Lothric, but she didn't find any interest in the small, musty town, especially since all those Evangelists had arrived.
She put back her binoculars in her backpack and jumped down from the rock, immersing herself in the haze that filled the air. She was wearing a simple dark blue coat with a black cape flowing behind her, a hood to hide her face and some leather boots that climbed up to her waist, along with a hard-hide tasset (A kind of medieval skirt made for knights and warriors that covers your waist and thighs). She wore this simple outfit when traveling, mostly because it is both comfortable and efficient. Attached to her belt, inside some sheaths, are her deadly, poisoned dual-blades that she crafted when she was young. She can easily modify the liquid that covers them for another poison, making them appropriate for any situation.
She advanced between the trees, careful not to trip on any root or fallen branch, and reached a small stone platform, surrounded by pillars and covered by moss. It looked like it might have been an observatory for the forest, but the roof was broken and vines were growing all over the structure. A glimmering light attracted her attention and she approached a dead body, laying on the cold ground. A shiny item was laying on his belly and, with a steady hand, Eleana grabbed it, slowly, as if she feared that the dead would wake up. It was a skull whose pale aura reminded the Snake of her homeland. "An alluring skull. Huh, this might come in handy." she said before placing the tool in her bag and continuing her walk through the creepy woods.
It's like she could feel she wasn't alone, like she was watched and observed. She could sense eyes looking at her back, figures moving in the mist, invisible. She grabbed her swords and continued to walk in a straight line, knowing exactly where to go. Her footsteps echoed in the seemingly empty grove and, when she finally arrived at her destination, she heard steps right behind her. She quickly turned herself only to receive a punch in the face from the air. What? Who hit her? She looked everywhere, only to receive another hit, this time in the stomach. She bent herself under the pain before quickly dashing backwards. "Show yourselves, dammit!" she spoke before she suddenly saw a deformation in the air. She blocked a hit with her right sword before kicking the transparent mass and pushing it to the ground. The creature fell and Eleana pressed her knee against his torso before planting her knife in his forehead. The "thing" silently disappeared, filling the air with it's translucent, crystalline ashes and leaving a trail of blue blood on the Snake's dagger.
The woman got back up and coughed a little, still hurt by that kick to the belly. "No wonder nobody wants to come here." she said before receiving another hit, this time from a blade. Eleana fell on her waist and shouted in anger before slashing the air endlessly with her weapon, furious. "Another one of you?!" she yelled before striking the hidden warrior in the head. But, it was too late. Her injury was fatal and, after two or three sputters, she felt her humanity slip away from her, leaving her empty.
She rose back at the last bonfire she ignited, dizzy and light-headed, free of her souls. She got up on her foot, a persistent pain in her head, and she noticed she had gone back to her rotten state. Her skin was green and moldy and her eyes were white, like a dead fish. "Dammit...I should have been more careful..." she mumbled before filling back her bottle of estus. The flame altered it's form and filled slowly the flask with the bright-orange liquid, known for it's medicinal abilities. "I guess I'm gonna have to take another approach." she said, grinning.
She was back at her last camp, where she had left her tent and her empty bags around the bonfire she installed. From the hill, she had a...reasonable view of the woods, and of the surroundings. Of course, nothing could have prepared her to those freakish invisible knights that wandered the foggy forest. Now, the real question was: how would she deal with them? Her swords were mostly inefficient because of their short range so, maybe a change of arms was needed. She took out her second favorite weapon, her scythe which she bought to a merchant back in the Undead Settlement. The curved blade was sharp, pointy, and could hit enemies from a decent range. Eleana liked to have different kinds of tools, items, consumables for different kinds of situations. The strength of assassins is that they adapt to their environment and deal with their enemies efficiently. They are versatile, fast, quick, and aren't afraid to use different techniques to defeat their opponents.
She headed down the path with her new weapon in hand and entered the Shaded Woods once again, this time better equipped. The mist engulfed Eleana and she could feel the coldness of the air around her. Well, it wasn't as freezing as the Boreal Valley, but it was still chilly. She arrived to the circular platform and looked around for her souls. She saw the blazing, green ball floating atop of her bloodstain. Observant, she noticed movement near the exit of the woods and, quickly, she scythed the air in front of her, but she didn't hit nothing. "Come on, come on, I'm right here!" she said to attract attention to her. The wind blew and the leaves sitting on the ground flew in the air, only to stick to a transparent figure who was running in her direction. Using this as an advantage, the Snake rushed forward and slashed the man, who rolled under the blade and made the lady trip.
She quickly got back up and spun the weapon around her to push enemies out of her way, before severing the warrior's head. The knight stopped mid-attack and fell to the ground, dead, before disappearing like his friend did. Eleana didn't waste one minute and ran to her souls. At her sight, the little orb exploded into small, white sparks that were absorbed by the assassin, giving her some sort of comfort. "Oh, it was definitely worth it to get you little guys back" she said, exhausted, before traversing the archway and entering a circular dome, overgrown by nature. She walked down some stairs and sat down near a broken stone statue that resembled a woman. She leaned against the sculpture and relaxed to get her energy back. Her journey had only just begun.
Tell me what you think of this chapter! Now that I've introduced my characters, chapters will start to be much more longer and developed, I just wanted to get the basics out of the way.