Chapter 1 - The Awakening

Stirring. Writhing. Gasping. Screaming. The darkness had an unbreakable grasp.. An endless sea of shadows, which neither light nor sound would penetrate. None heard. None saw. The torment was spent in eternal solitude. And a recurring torment it was.

It always began with flashes before the mind's eye. Flashes of gold and brightness. Brightness the darkness had never seen, nor would it ever. Then came the sounds. They were always distorted, distant, pulled apart and stitched together by unnatural forces to create an indistinguishable cacophony of madness. While the sounds couldn't be determined in clarity, their impact was felt. It felt as though something had been ripped away, something crucial and fundamental to the very state of being. Then, the flashes came again. Gold and bright. Warm and oh so fleeting.

It happened again, and again, and again. For how long? That question was not to be answered. Time had become irrelevant and forgotten, a concept unknown to the darkness. Thoughts had halted. Memories had ebbed away, like a drying river. All that was unknown to the darkness. The darkness was the only constant there ever was and ever would be.

But then…a change.

It began with true sounds. The sounds of grinding and rumbling. Something touched the skin, something small and coarse..skin…yes…skin. There was a body. Her body. Yes, it was hers. A body wreathed in darkness, but a body nevertheless. The sounds grew louder and louder, until a dull impact on solid ground could be heard.

And the darkness vanished.

Rays of true light flooded towards her, ripping the solid shadows apart like mere old curtains. She gasped. A true gasp. She felt air enter her dry lungs, and it felt as though she was consuming the purest of elixirs. The light was warm; it stirred thoughts within her. Memories. The most prevalent one…a name. Her name.

Neria awoke.

As though a lightning bolt had struck her, she sat up and opened her eyes. For the first time in an eternity, the darkness had vanished. She couldn't make out her surroundings, her vision was blurred, her head was spinning. But she was alive. She was breathing.

For an unintelligible amount of minutes she just…sat there, her eyes closed, her breath steadying. Thoughts were filling up her mind, which had been so empty mere moments ago. The thoughts were chaotic and her head began to ache. And while she was sitting there, she was almost certain that a strange tone held her thoughts together. It almost sounded like…shattering.

Neria slowly opened her eyes again. This time, her surroundings made sense. She was in a chapel, a ruined chapel with broken windows, moulding furniture and blackened walls, but a proper chapel it had once been. What was she doing in a chapel?

She leaned forward and a flow of long white hair cascaded down her shoulders. Oh yes…white hair. Almost silvery. The sight of it brought one of the thoughts back into place. White hair. They used to both admire and mock it. They…who were they?

Neria looked around again. And that's when she finally noticed where she was actually sitting. She was sitting, and had formerly been lying…in a great black coffin. Neria gasped in horror and stood up faster than she could think. As she tried to quickly step out of the coffin, her legs gave in and she tripped. The cold ground made itself known all too well. Dull pain spread through her body, but somehow…she didn't mind it. Pain meant life. She was alive. She had no place in a coffin.

Something fell over her face, and she realised she was wearing a hood. As Neria removed it and slowly stood up, using the coffin as support, she registered her attire. She was wearing a plain grey hooded cloak, and underneath a long brown robe, covering a black blouse. Her legs were clad in black trousers and knee-high boots made of a strange dark leather. She also noticed that she was wearing strikingly white gloves. The clothes were dusty but at least she had clothes at all. She could already feel a chill creeping in from outside.

Neria leaned against the coffin's walls, trying to simply make sense of what was going on. Why had she been lying in there? Had she been dead? If so, why was she walking again? What had opened the coffin? Why was she in a chapel? Why was the chapel so ruined? And why was she dressed like a noble scholar? The realisation that she would probably not find any answers to those questions ignited a strange frustration within her. She wasn't used to having no answers. She gnashed her teeth. If she wasn't used to having no answers, that could only mean that she had been learned at some point. Why wasn't it coming back to her?

Letting out a quiet sigh, Neria looked back into the coffin. Maybe she could find some answers in there. Her surprise at what she saw was not miniscule and she quickly reached in to pull out the items. And they couldn't have been stranger: a short sword with a brown leathery hilt, a bright wooden shield with scriptures she felt like she should know but didn't, a leathery pouch with an empty blue-covered book, and…a staff. The staff intrigued her the most. As Neria took it, she felt a strange sensation rushing through her. As if she was touching a severed limb that was still somehow tied to the rest of her body. A strange blue stone was embedded in the tip. As Neria lightly touched it, it produced a momentary blue glow.

Glintstone.

The word flew through Neria's mind like a beacon of light. Somehow, she knew what this little stone was. Out of everything, this was an answer she had. Glintstones, catalysts for sorcery. Was she a sorcerer? Was that why she looked the way she did? Neria cautiously held the staff up high. Nothing. She swung it left and right. Nothing again. She pointed it forwards. Still nothing.

With a sigh, she lowered her new acquisition. It would come back to her later, probably. Hopefully.

There was nothing else to be found and seen here. Neria figured that it was high time to vacate this premise. If she wanted answers, she would need to find them herself. So she put the sword into the hilt, attached it to her belt, threw the pouch over her shoulder, used the leather straps on the shield to tie it to her back, and let the staff remain in her grasp. If she couldn't make use of it, it would at least prove itself as walking support. She could still feel the weakness in her legs. At least the equipment was surprisingly light, barely noticeable even.

She turned to the chapel entrance and noticed that the door was missing. Had it been destroyed? It would certainly be no surprise given the poor state of everything else here. There was light streaming in from outside. She also thought to hear the sound of waves clashing against rocks in the distance. The thought of water made her realise just how dry her lips and throat were. And how empty her stomach was. She needed sustenance. That was certainly another compelling motivation to exit. With no more intention to waste any time here, Neria began to walk, slowly at first, leaning on her staff. But then, her step became more certain, more energetic. She crossed the chapel and stepped outside.

First, Neria felt the wind. It stroked and carressed her skin and hair, which had both been bereft of nature's touch for an unknown stretch of time. Neria found herself inadvertently smiling. For a reason evading her, wind made her feel…at home. Then she heard the waves again, clashing somewhere deep beneath her.

The chapel had been built on a great precipice, overlooking a vast and stormy ocean. Far in the distance, Neria could make out land. Great white cliffs, green grass and trees blooming. Further to the left, she made out the barely distinguishable form of an immense castle. Further inland, she spied hills, lush forests, lonely ruined buildings…and furthest of all, yet more visible than anything else, throning above the lands and the seas, gargantuan in size, its canopy as bright as the sun, stood…

"Erdtree." Neria's voice came as a whisper. It was as though a strange force had compelled her to speak, for she herself had only noticed after the word was spoken. She was lost, confused, her memories were an incoherent chaos. And yet she knew. She knew the Erdtree. The towering beacon in the heart of the Lands Between. The symbol of the Golden Order, where the Elden Throne stood.

Her eyes widened. The Lands Between. That's where she was. That was the name of this realm. She remembered now. But it was also a strange memory, as though it belonged to another place, another time. The memory was one of light, one of hope, one of order and safety, promises of a wondrous future. And yet, ever since she had awoken, Neria felt none of those things. Instead, she felt cold and an overwhelming sense of grief that wasn't hers to feel.

And yet…the sight of the Erdtree was awe-inspiring. Upon looking at it, Neria felt wonder and authority in one. She studied the snowy white trunk and the enormous canopy crowned by golden leaves.

A great wind blew from the cliffs and carried a strange warmth to her. And with the wind…came the leaves. Falling leaves. Golden leaves. The leaves of the Erdtree, blown across the realm to the ends of the seas. Almost absent-mindedly, Neria stretched out a gloved hand and watched one of the leaves land in her palm. It was almost like holding a small living flame. The leaf, even though it had fallen from its tree, felt alive. Neria studied it intently. Then, a cold chill from behind the chapel blew the leaf out of her hand. Neria watched it descend into the abyss below, until it disappeared beneath the dark waves.

She turned around to observe her surroundings and found that only one path was leading away from the ruined chapel, across a bridge to another set of ruined buildings. Well, if she was hoping to find any answers, she had to get across the water. Perhaps, a path would be revealed to her, or a boat.

As Neria made for the bridge, it was as though she could see a faint golden line, similar to the light of the Erdtree, tracing towards the buildings ahead. It was but the faintest of moments, but enough to compel Neria to increase her pace. Still using her staff for support, she wandered onwards.

The bridge was shaky, but stable. Neria did her best not to look down, for she knew what she would see if she did. And she didn't require her legs to grow even weaker. What she did see, though, was that the chapel was standing on a lonely rocky island. Behind it, there was nothing but the vast open ocean. Why was she here? Why had she been placed in a coffin far away from the mainland? And why was everything so…dead?

Reaching the other end, Neria passed a great statue of an unknown knight. She stopped and looked for a moment. If all her thoughts were in place, would she recognise the figure? Was it someone she had learned about? With a resigned sigh, she proceeded on her way, which led her through a stone archway.

She was now standing in what appeared to be a courtyard of sorts, overgrown with moss and roots sprouting from a tree behind another statue. This statue was different. It depicted a woman in a crucified position, her head looking down. It was an image of both pain and regality. There was something…incredibly familiar about her. Neria slowly approached, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Movement. Movement behind the statue. Neria froze on the spot. What she saw next made her question whether she was truly walking or whether this was some perverted dream conjured by the eternal darkness and she was still lying in her coffin? Right in the moment, she wished it was the latter.

A…being emerged from behind the statue. Hulking, great, terrible. Its arms and legs were those of a human, but they were elongated and moved like the limbs of a lame spider. It was carrying two swords, each longer than her, and a shield that looked like it could decimate a wall within an instance. The creature's back was cloaked in a leathery cape, but even like that it was obvious that it had a great hunch. But the worst and most terrifying detail about it was the head. Neria was gazing into the face and eyes of a young man, almost a boy with pale skin, dull grey eyes, messy black hair and a black headband. A foul stench was emanating from the being, and Neria was grateful for her empty stomach.

The creature crawled over the statue and silently set its naked feet onto the ground. It rose up in front of Neria like a mountain. She wanted to run, wanted to hide. But her feet were glued to the spot, her eyes wide with terror.

"Thou has't awoken. Most unwise," the creature spoke. The voice that came out of the beast's mouth was hoarse, raspy, an unnatural contradiction to how a young man was supposed to sound. "Thy presence is unwelcome here." Every word was strained, as though the creature found it painful to even speak. It croaked and contorted its mouth, until a dark bile ran out, wetting the ground.

Neria tried to speak, but her words were simply lost in the face of this absolute abomination. "Well, all that is lesser has to end," the thing said. "Lord Godrick shall be pleased, indeed." It brandished the shorter of the two swords, raising it high, preparing to strike. "Mayest thou perish truly and return to darkness, Tarnished."

As the sword raged down on her, Neria's legs suddenly remembered how to move. She jumped out of the way and landed on the hard ground, as the creature's blade pierced the spot on which she had stood. Trembling, she got up and raised her staff instinctively.

The creature, upon seeing this, stood still momentarily, brief doubt flashing over its face. But nothing happened again. Neria wanted to curse. Why had this staff been buried with her if she couldn't use it? Then she felt the sword at her side, and the shield on her back. Those had also been in the coffin. Had she been a fighter? Had she trained it? Well, if the head couldn't remember, perhaps the body could.

She dropped the staff, readied the shield and brandished the sword. The doubt disappeared from the creature's face. With a hideous grin, it advanced, going for a sweeping strike. Neria dodged it only by inches with a quick duck. Before she could fully straighten, the blade came again, ready to impale. As though her arm was moving by itself, Neria raised the shield.

The impact should have shattered the wood. But the strange symbols engraved upon it suddenly glowed white. The blade collided and Neria felt as though all the bones in her body quaked. But the shield held. Neria quickly surged her own sword forward and sliced the creature's fighting hand.

The monstrosity growled and hissed. It jumped back several yards and regarded Neria with a contemptuous sneer. Then, all its limbs moved as one. Like a spider caught in a stormwind, the thing whirled into the air and descended upon Neria, blades spinning in a deadly dance. Only at the last second did Neria manage to jump away again. The ground shook as the creature made impact. Neria stumbled and fell next to her staff.

She couldn't win this, not in a thousand years, not like this. She spotted another archway, leading further down the island, grabbed her staff and jumped up. This fight had made her body feel alive. She had to keep this life. She had to escape.

Neria ran as the creature pursued. Blades swung, Neria ducked and slid and jumped. Her sides ached, her breath came short. But she couldn't stop running. Stopping would mean death. Stopping would mean a return to darkness.

A thunderous shock hit the ground. The creature must have used its shield. Neria fell. For a moment, the golden trace from before flickered before her, urging her to go right. Neria followed, rolling to the right, just in time to escape the greater of the two blades impaling and ripping out a piece of ground.

Without looking back, Neria ran through the second archway, followed down a rocky path…and found herself at a dead end. Right before her feet, the island simply stopped. If Neria would take one step further, she would plummet into the cold dark sea below. She gave the distant Erdtree a longing look, as though pleading for aid.

A shrill screech tore through the air and she turned around. The creature launched itself into the sky, once again assuming the form of a living hurricane, and shot down, its shield aimed at the ground. When it struck the rocky surface, the ground began to shake. Crevices opened up, stones began to fall. Neria felt the ground crumble beneath her boots as she struggled to maintain balance.

The abomination spat more dark bile, before aiming with both blades. There was no way to dodge now. No way to run. No way to escape. Except…

Neria gave a quiet whimper. Then she turned around, gave the Erdtree one last look, spread out her arms…and let herself fall, joining the several rocks and stones of the now destroyed cliff. She fell, and fell…and returned to darkness.