It was an honor, to have been entrusted by the Tarnished who became Elden Lord with Stormveil Castle and granted the title of Lady of Limgrave, but honor alone wasn't enough to satiate the warrior's fire within her. Especially with how much it was clawing to be let out from the confines of the throne.
"...and onto the matter of the bridge," Kenneth Haight, lord of Fort Haight, her vassal and currently acting as her senchal, listed off the next petition in a plain, almost monotone voice, "The engineers have requested the allocation of additional resources to the project. Specifically, they had hoped to be able to acquire some of the trolls-"
"No." Nepheli reflexively cut the nobleman off, "I've already made it clear that the trolls are to no longer be bound to us as slaves." It had been at the request of the Tarnished, but she herself had more than welcomed the notion after bearing witness to the Albinauric's plight. "If they find the strength of pack mules lacking, then perhaps they should carry some of the burden on their backs!" She added with a voice laced with more venom than intended.
She saw Kenneth recoil at her words, and she mentally winced at her undue aggression towards someone just doing their duties. She tried to compose herself, but the nobleman was able to regain his sooner.
"...My apologies, Lady Loux, but perhaps I should've made it known first that the engineers were requesting for the trolls still remaining in your retinue to act as guards for the supply caravans." He bowed slightly, "Bandits still plague the land, as you know."
Nepheli internally winced a second time. Indeed, she did know of the bandit problem in the Lands Between. With a new Elden Lord having ascended, it left many tarnished deprived of their grand goal. Some settled down, others ventured back out to their homelands across the fog, but for most? They carried on with what they've been doing for so long – conducting violence.
"There is nothing to apologize for, Lord Haight." She stated as her way of showing penitence. She cannot apologize expressly; the man himself had told her that. "I will need time to consider that petition and seek the counsel of the Captain of the Trolls." She sighed, "Now, what's next on the agenda?"
Kenneth looked at the list in his hands and then back to her, "...Actually, I think we're just about done here, Lady Loux." He held the list to his chest, "There's naught left but petty concerns. WIth your leave, I am sure I could manage them myself."
Nepheli didn't even think about her answer. "Yes, please do." She told the nobleman who bowed as she stood up from her throne, her fine noble dress rustling as she did so, "If you have any need of me, I shall be conversing with the Captain of the Trolls."
The Nobleman nodded in assent, "Of course, Lady Loux."
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Nepheli huffed as reached the top of one of Stromveil's towers, the midday sun prickling her skin in a welcome and familiar way as she stepped onto the shadeless turret and leaned on the parapet. Normally there would be a few sentries up and about, but the situation in the Lands Between was still precarious even after the ascension of the new Elden Lord and thus had necessitated most of the garrison to be deployed out in the field.
She probably would've already called Leyndell for aid, had she not known that the situation there was also bad, if not worse. It wasn't shattering-bad, per-se, but the once-great capital was still recovering from the war and the massive arson that preceded the ascension of its new lord… who then up and promptly left for the stars, presumably to fight even more gods if how Nepheli knew him was anything to go by.
He was insane, yet he was the sort of insane Nepheli had spent a number of nights dreaming of being with.
Oh well.
The talk with the Captain of the Trolls had gone well. More than well, in fact; the Trolls who had stayed with the guard were itching to go beyond the immediate area of the keep, and so were more than happy to do escort duty. Nepheli could sympathize with them, and also felt guilty over being the one responsible for keeping them here. She does envy them, however, for there was no higher authority she could hope would order her out of the field but herself, and she was bound by duty to overseeing Limgrave…
There was the sound of someone climbing up the stairs behind her, and Nepheli turned her head to see Gostoc emerging from the steps. The commoner looked better now than when she had first seen him; with pillory having been done away with and a fresher set of clothes having been supplied, his unkempt hair was the last vestiges of the servant she had found angrily stomping on the head of his former lord.
Well, that and his deceptively timid nature.
"Milady," Gostoc bowed to which Nepheli nodded in return, "I have a matter that I thought to bring to your attention…"
Well, so much for a moment of solace. Nepheli didn't bother hiding her sigh this time, "What is it, Gostoc? I swear, if it's another one of the servants making a fuss about wanting to dig-up Godrick to spit on his face, I'll find a witch and make his ghost haunt all of your dreams."
"N-nothing of the sort, Milady!" Gostoc quickly answered, "Forgive me, but what I thought to bring to your attention was a rumor I overheard…"
Nepheli raised an eyebrow. Well, far be it from her to engage in gossip, but a rumor is certainly a welcome break from all the courtly hub-hub Kenneth and the occasional noble refugee went on and on about. "Oh? Do tell."
The commoner rubbed his hands as it is his habit to do, "Well, I've been keeping close to the caravans arriving into the keep, you see, and I overheard talk amongst the caravan guards who had to pass by Mistwood – one of strange sounds and, sometimes, strange and vicious creatures." The commoner then shrugged, "I normally would have dismissed these rumors out of hand, but when the same talk emerges from another caravan and then three, it is reasonable to suspect fire for the smoke, no?"
Nepheli drummed her fingers on the parapet she was leaning on, "Indeed it would," She agreed after a moment, her mind going over the state of the garrison, "But what would you have me do about it? Stormveil's stretched thin as it is, Gostoc; we've barely enough soldiers to defend the castle, and with most of our trolls out in the field some opportunistic tarnished may want to try their hands at breaching the gate." She said as she looked at the commoner who had once apparently offered a way around the castle's defenses. She hadn't even met him until after the fight against Godrick, but the Tarnished spoke to her of Gostoc's deviancies after he'd already made his place in her fledgling court as someone who knew the castle from inside and out.
Marika's tits, what was that thing doing in the lower levels of the castle…
"Ah, well, that is indeed true," Here the commoner rubbed his hands again, this time looking a bit more nervous, "But I was thinking… Lady Loux... of how you are a capable warrior yourself…"
Nepheli stared at the nervous-looking commoner. What was he…? "Are you saying that I should go and investigate this matter myself?" She asked, a little incredulous at the suggestion.
The commoner faltered a bit under her gaze, "M-milady, please don't take this the wrong way," He started, "B-but… I do believe that I see it right when I say that I do not think you'd be suited for a life forever confined in this castle." He stopped rubbing his hands and put them to the side as a placating gesture, "I've seen this before, Milady! Lord Godrick always had a bit of a nasty temper, but it wasn't until the stifling madness of the shattering forced him to be cooped up that he finally broke!"
WIth his piece said, the commoner nervously looked at his liege, squirming in the silence that followed his words. His worries were unfounded, however, as Nepheli was merely giving his words some thought. Was it that bad already? She knew she was poorly suited for castle life, but her sense of duty and honor had allowed her to power through so far. In fact, she had thought that, maybe, she would last long enough to allow herself to acclimate to her new life. But that obviously hadn't gone well, hadn't it?
Nepheli sighed. Damn her, Gostoc was right. "I'll think about it." She finally offered.
The commoner sighed in relief, "O-of course, my Lady." he said and then bowed as Nepheli Loux made her way back down the stairs.
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Nepheli divested herself of her courtly dress and wore a more comfortable set of traveling apparel. She missed her old furs dearly, but Kenneth had been appalled by her choice of apparel and had insisted – quite vehemently, in fact – on something more 'civilized' and befitting of her station as the Lady of Limgrave. She couldn't stomach the restrictive apparel he had initially offered, so in the end a compromise had to be reached – her furs were stitched anew and paired with her chains into a thick cloak, underneath which she wore a cuirass emblazoned with Stormveil's sigil over a light tunic. Her new pants were loose enough to not restrict fast movements, and she had actually taken a liking to her traveling boots. The crown of Limgrave that sat atop her head completed her new ensemble.
Her cloak was too hot to be used most of the time in the temperate weather of Limgrave, and she frankly saw the cuirass as more of a hindrance than an asset, but appearances must be kept and in the end this was what she and Kenneth could more or less begrudgingly agree on – so it will have to do.
Kenneth was already talking to the knight acting as the captain of her escorts when she reached the courtyard, his voice insistent and attention so focused on the conversation that he didn't notice her until she was already upon them.
"... and I care not if the Lady orders you to allow herself to be put in harm's way," Kenneth pointed at the captain, "you WILL be taking her back to the Castle if there's so much as-"
"Ahem." Nepheli coughed, catching the attention of both men who whirled around in surprise to see their Liege standing beside them, "Kenneth. Captain Mullbart." She nodded to both who quickly bowed in return. "I see that my escort party has already been assembled. It did not take too much out of the garrison, I hope?"
"There is no such thing as too much when it comes to ensuring your safety, my Lady." Captain Mullbart immediately declared, "In fact, I think we should be traveling with at least a full score of men!"
"That would compromise the castle's defenses too much but I do agree on principle." Kenneth added, raising his head to look at Nepheli, "My Lady… far be it for me to tell you what to do, but are you sure this journey is wise? Captain Mullbart and his men could scout the Mistwood for these rumored creatures well enough. Why must you come along?"
Nepheli resisted a sigh. Kenneth had opposed this journey when she first bought it up, and in-fact had wanted to come along as he 'knew the path' through the Mistwood had she not pointed out that Stormveil needed a regent while she was gone. She had resisted the nobleman's attempts to convince her to stay then, but it would seem that he still wanted to try one last time.
"This Lady wants to see her demesne, Lord Haight." It was an excuse, but one that does contain a part of the truth, "And I do not wish to follow the footsteps of the late Lord Godrick and cower within my castle while the land turns lawless." She walked past both men and reached her steed, one that appeared similar to that of the Tarnished save for it being wholly composed of flesh and blood, and began stroking its mane. "Besides, it is not good for one's soul to be confined within walls for so long."
Kenneth appeared like he wanted to argue further, but eventually saw the futility in questioning his liege and reined himself in. "I see. Well, I've already made my displeasure known, my Lady. I only now wish to soon see you arriving back here safe."
"I will." Nepheli responded confidently as she mounted her steed, with Captain Mullbart following suit on his own. "Take care of the castle while I'm gone, Lord Haight… And thank you."
The nobleman seemed surprised by her last words, but he recovered quickly enough to give her a deep bow. "Of course, my Lady. Farewell and safe travels."
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The Gatefront, once a run-down set of ruins with a motley collection of tents and soldiers encamped within it, had been partially restored into a defensible redoubt. There weren't as many soldiers here as there were in the castle, but there certainly were more people – Merchants, refugees, servants… and anyone else who could not be granted express access to the Stormveil stayed here to trade, rest or both. It was a bustling place – generously speaking and relative to the state of the rest of Limgrave – and Nepheli mused that there might be more people here than the number she had met in her journeys before her ascension as Lady of Limgrave. Still, her entourage only briefly stopped to pick up some more supplies and a couple more hands as escorts, and she was back on the road and heading eastwards before long.
"We should be near Mistwood by last light, my Lady." Captain Mullbart spoke from where he was riding beside her, "We could hurry up and shave off an hour or so, but I would advise against it."
Nepheli nodded, "Worry not. We may keep our current pace – I'd prefer for us to arrive there near dusk and search in the morrow well-rested anyway."
The road to Mistwood was largely uneventful, save for a herd of goats that had stubbornly refused to move out of the way until Mullbard had charged in to scare away the animals. It had been an amusing sight, and Nepheli would've wondered where the goatherd was had she not known that Limgrave's agriculture was only starting to recover – there were still many groups of wild goats up and about, among other things.
Her entourage arrived near Mistwood just as the sun was starting to set, exactly as Captain Mullbart had estimated, and they immediately went about finding a good place to set up camp. A wide, open spot near the road and near the edge of the mist-shrouded forest was eventually chosen and her escorts hurried to establish camp. She moved in to help, but Captain Mullbart had stopped and told her of how such things are far beneath her.
She ignored the knight and helped her soldiers in setting up her large central tent.
Once all the tents were set up, they unloaded the rest of their supplies and got a few fires started about the camp for vision and warmth. Sentries were posted, and it was only then that the rest of the soldiers either settled down to rest or gathered around the fires to converse with their comrades. Nepheli made her way into her tent and set about igniting the central firepit and then moved to get some rest, but only ended up sitting on her bed to stare at the fire as she didn't really feel tired.
"Well, I suppose I should see if I could catch any of these strange creatures the caravaners had talked about…" She muttered as she got up from her bed and exited her tent. There were a couple of guards outside who bowed when she exited and nodded in return, but she made an effort to not disrupt any of the other soldiers going about the camp. Captain Mullbart was nowhere to be seen, probably asleep in his own tent.
She reached the perimeter and walked up to a sentry who was obviously bored as he kept watch on the dark forest, with his spear being used as makeshift post to lean to as he fought off the onset of drowsiness. He perked up when he heard her approach.
"About time ye got back here Oggsby, now gimme the damn chai-" He started, but then his eyes widened when he turned his head around to see his liege standing before him, "M-milady!" He hastily gave a bow, "My apologies, I had mistaken ye for-"
"Don't fret about it." Nepheli interjected and waved a hand to dismiss his concerns, "As you were, soldier. Tell me, have you seen anything strange in these woods?"
"Erm…" The soldier stood in attention but his eyes were diverted in thought, "I can't rightfully say, milady, Mistwood is a strange place by itself that I'm having a hard time telling if something is a mundane sort of strange or a noteworthy sort of strange." He shrugged, "Oggsby was here before me, though, so he might've seen something that I didn't."
"Mmm." Nepheli looked off to the side to see a soldier carrying a chair making his way towards them, "And would that happen to be him?"
The soldier turned his head to look as well, "Ah, yes, milady." He then raised a hand and beckoned towards the other soldier, "Oi, Oggsby, hurry up! The Lady wants to ask ye a question!"
The soldier named Oggsby hurried forwards at the prompt and then went wide-eyed once he clearly saw who his senior was conversing with. "Lady Loux!" He bowed, "How may I be of service to you?"
"Be at ease," Nephel calmly ordered, "I was merely here to ask whether you've seen anything strange in Mistwood."
The young soldier – a rarity in the aftermath of the shattering – thought over the question for a moment before then answering, "Well… I didn't see anything too strange, milady, what with the thick fog and all… but I did hear a bear from seemingly deeper in."
"A runebear?"
He shrugged. "I know not what a runebear sounds like, milady, but it did sound like a mighty beast and was struggling fiercely, too." He looked off to the trees, "It didn't last long though – it either calmed down or was somehow put down by someone… or something."
Nepheli raised an eyebrow. Runebears, while not unmanageable for her, certainly took time and effort to be put down; and she liked to think of herself as among one of the more skilled tarnished in the Lands Between. It was only the Tarnished who became Elden Lord whom she could think of being able to take down such a beast with any sort of haste.
"...I see." She eventually stated, her mind going over the possible implications of such a report, "Thank you for this information. I shall leave you now to your duties."
Both soldiers bowed as she turned around to return to camp. Was the silencing of that runebear caused by the rumored creatures? It would only make sense that they'd eventually run afoul of the native beasts if those creatures were intruding into Mistwood, yet it sounded like these creatures were vicious to a degree that was enough to be concerning – the Mistwoods was near enough to the crossroads leading to the Weeping Peninsula for the threat of these creatures waylaying passing caravans and travelers to be a very real one – She didn't need that atop of the banditry already going on.
Nepheli entered her tent and sighed as she rested on her bed. In her mind, she couldn't help but think back to Captain Mullbart's remark about how they should've set out with a full score of men – but hopefully they wouldn't need it when they got started on finding answers come morning.
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They set out early the next day and scoured the woods, and there they discovered a disconcerting situation hidden by Mistwood's foggy shroud and lush green leaves – A plague of some sort had seeped into the forest.
It was blood-like in its color, and at first Nepheli had feared that the rot had somehow propagated into Limgrave, but it soon became evident that it was something else. For one; wherein the rot had turned once-lush Caelid into a reddish-pink wasteland, the vegetation they found here seemed healthy… too healthy, in fact; with leaves like the thick petals of bloodroses crowning trees, and trunks that bled with red-tainted sap that looked like honeyed blood.
Next were the creatures that had made this place home.
A slime, one seemingly composed of coagulated blood and soft flesh, writhed underfoot before Nepheli cut into it with her axe. The flesh parted easily until the axe bit into a solid nucleus, which caused the disgusting creature to stop struggling and lose cohesion as it melted into the crimson ground.
A bolt was launched from somewhere and it hit another creature – one that had been airborne until the bolt dug into its carapace and sent it careening downwards – Nepheli saw it spiraling downwards towards her and moved out of the way just in time to let it crash into the dirt. She approached it then and beheld a creature that looked like a disproportionate and overfed centipede that, somehow, was able to fly. Its maw was open, displaying rows of razor-sharp teeth between which blood flowed as the creature profusely bled out of its mouth and from the bolt stuck through its gut. Nepheli ended its misery with a swing of her axe.
Standing up straight and feeling a slight roll of disgust, she looked around and saw her men more or less handling what remained of the creatures. Captain Mullbart thrusted forwards with his spear, precisely skewering two of the slimes' nucleus and causing them to melt on his shaft. The crossbowman who Nepheli now recognized to have been the sentry named Oggsby loosed another arrow and again downed another one of the flying centipedes. Soon, there was only them left and the carcasses of the creatures they had slain.
Nepheli found some bits of slime still stuck to her axes and swung the repugnant things off. The things smelled bad enough whole, but Nepheli found whiffs of their innards to be a whole new degree of disgusting largely thanks to how it had smelled like the butchering stations where Godrick had kept his 'spare parts'.
"Is everyone alright?!" Captain Mullbart called out after he seemed sure of the creatures' flight and received various affirmations in return. "Good!"
"Sir!" A soldier emerged from the bushes and called out, an urgent tone to his voice, "We've found something you might want to see!"
Nepheli joined Captain Mullbart in investigating what the soldiers had found and they're led through some bushes before eventually emerging into a clearing – in the middle of which sat a sight that had both of them wincing as they resisted the urge to gag.
"M-Marika's grace!" Captain Mullbart spat out, "What… is that what I think it is?"
Nepheli looked back to the thing in the middle of the clearing to get a better look, "...Aye, I think so."
Runebears, although wild beast, were still majestic to a degree; they were strengthened by grace, imprints of runes forming on their very hides and, if some campfire talks Nepheli had heard from her travels are anything to go by, were apparently also lent the strength of dragons. All of this inspired a sense of awe to anyone who faced them, and Nepheli could admit to still feeling it in some way when she had to fight one some time before her ascension to Limgrave's throne.
But the sight before her now? It was disgusting.
The runebear's carcass had been desecrated, with the once mighty beast having been reduced to a pungent and repelling carcass that seemingly had been partly melted and left out for the vultures. That fact alone wasn't enough to raise too much concern, but paired with the fact that they only heard of its demise last night? It gave rise to many concerning questions.
Such as what could've caused this.
The most immediate possibility would've been the slimes and flying centipedes they'd just fought, but Nephli doubted that any number of those creatures could've taken down a runebear so quickly – they were just too weak, and they were able to handle them despite their greater numbers; the closest thing she'd give those things credit for was taking part in devouring the runebear overnight.
So no. Something else, something greater, had fought the runebear, silenced it quickly, and then proceeded to devour a large portion of its carcass and left only a pungent mess behind. If the threat of these 'strange creatures' terrorizing the roads had only been floated as a possibility before, then this had definitely escalated it to inevitability.
"Is it dead?" A nearby soldier asked.
"It's rotting worse than Radahn, of course it's dead, idiot!" Came another soldier's reply.
Other such exchanges were happening around the clearing as the soldiers beheld the remains of the once-mighty beast at the center. Nepheli let the chatter go on, mainly because she needed to speak to Mullbart about what they've found.
"Do you have anyone that could track whatever did this?" She asked the thoughtful-looking Captain.
"...I think I do, my Lady," He gave a slight shrug, "but it might take them a while to scour our surroundings for any clues as to the perpetrator."
Nepheli nodded in acknowledgement, "Then have it be done. We finally have a chance for a proper lead in this invest-"
"Oggsby, by the graces, what are you doing, you fool?!"
A commotion arising from the soldiers around the clearing caused Nepheli to cut herself off and both she and Captain Mullbart turned around and was surprised to see Oggsby carefully approaching the carcass.
"I told you, I saw the thing move!" The young soldier hissed insistently, "It wasn't a trick of the light, man, this thing's still alive, I know it!"
The argument looked like it was going to continue and so Captain Mullbart stepped up to control the situation, "Soldier! Distance yourself from the carcass immediately!" He ordered with a booming voice, causing the young soldier to flinch and snap his attention to his superior.
"A-aye, sir!" He stuttered and then moved to follow his orders.
Nepheli kept her ears on the exchange, but her eyes were fixated upon the carcass. Say what you will about it being ruined to the point that common sense would point at it being dead – she had fought a demigod who had cut off their own arm to replace it with a dead fire-breathing dragon's head. It was this fact that allowed her to tense when she saw a slight movement within the ruined, fleshy mess, and it was why she was able to immediately dash forwards and bring her axes up when the 'dead' carcass writhed and shot out an arm towards Oggsby.
A hand composed of melting and decomposing flesh wrapped around the young soldier, and he screamed as the appendage began to crush him in its grip with a surprising strength. It would've been a gruesome death, had he not been saved by Nepheli roaring out a war cry as she swung both of her axes overhead and had it cut through the arm, cutting it off at the monster's wrist. It was a testament to the state of the carcass that Nepheli was able to cut through the arm of what was once a runebear at all.
The monster roared in pain, or at least tried to – what came out was a loud, gurgling noise that inspired a deep sense of disgust and unsettled everyone around the rotting, yet animated remains of a once great runebear. It swung a Nepheli with its other arm, but she was able to jump away and keep her distance.
"Spears, now!" The voice of Captain Mullbart boomed out with orders from behind her, "Keep it corralled, tighten the noose!"
All around her soldiers rushed about with spears and shields as they surrounded the monster, intending to keep it from escaping yet also unintentionally forming an arena between her, the monster, and Oggsby who was still trapped within the monster's severed hand. Nepheli wanted to move towards him and get him to safety, but was worried that the monster might take its attention away from her and notice the trapped soldier – and it was far closer to Oggsby than she was.
Damn it, she should've jumped towards him instead of away. Nepheli briefly berated herself for the mistake, but then gave herself no further trouble and charged forwards to once again engage the monster – perhaps she can correct her mistake this time around.
The monster swung its ruined arm towards Nepheli but she was able to leap over the bloody appendage and immediately rushed forwards to plant a swing of her axes into what's left of the living carcass' neck. Unfortunately, there was still enough of it left to prevent her from decapitating it right there and then. The monster gurgled and turned its head around to snap a rotting maw towards her and she jumped back, but she failed to notice the monster's good hand following-up the attack and Nepheli let out a cry as she was swept to the side by the beast.
Her world spun, and she soon felt herself impact and tumble across the ground gracelessly before she was able to use the momentum to jump back to her feet. She brought her axes at the ready, teeth gritted and intending to charge back even as her vision swam in brief disorientation. The creature wouldn't give her the chance, however, as it seemingly took stock of the ever-tightening forest of spears surrounding it and decided to cut its losses. It gurgled and then rushed forwards, causing some of the soldiers to stop and brace for a charge – but the attack never came as the monster merely made off with its severed hand before doubling back and barrelling through a surprised and less prepared section in the encirclement, sending some soldiers into the air and then back onto the ground, unmoving.
It was all punctuated by Oggsby's fading scream as he was taken away.
"My Lady!" The voice of Captain Mullbart sounded from behind Nepheli and she soon found herself surrounded by a number of guards with Captain Mullbart himself taking up the front, "Men, regroup! My Lady, we must-"
"After the monster!" Nepheli cut the Knight off, knowing well that he was liable to call a retreat in the face of this significant danger to her person, but she cannot just let this one slide! "Take priority of the monster, we must put it down now that we have the chance!"
"But, my Lady-"
"But nothing!" Nepheli cut him off, irritated. She'll be fine; she had fought worst creatures, and this one had just killed some of hers and then took away one of their number. "We are not leaving one of our own to that thing, Captain, especially if it subjects him to a fate worse than grafting," She insisted, "Have our healer look over our wounded men and leave a few to help handle the dead. The rest of us shall continue to pursue."
The Captain looked like he wanted to argue further, but Nepheli saw him purse his lips underneath his helmet before he gave her a small bow, "As you command, Lady Loux."
/-/
The trackers made short work of the trail left behind by the monster – the bloody, rotting thing having left behind a literal trail of blood for them to follow as it tore its way through the forest. Nepheli thought the path to be passingly familiar as they went deeper in, but it wasn't until they made it near the foot of the minor erdtree that she was able to put a name to the place – the trail they were following was heading towards the Siofra River Well.
Or at least it was supposed to.
Nepheli had never gone down the well, but she had passed by the elevator's housing during her travels back when she had been exploring the place at her father's behest. It had been a circular stone building with an obviously magical dias at the center, the construction having been sturdy enough to withstand the test of time despite the years of neglect brought about by the shattering.
It was not, however, a formation of dark rock and red veins of some substance that formed the shape of a skull jutting out of the ground. It had its maw wide open, and within lay a dark cavern leading deeper into the skull-cave.
"Captain Mullbart," Nepheli called out as she procured and ignited one of their torches, "Stay here and guard the entrance against any more of those creatures. I will go in to investigate."
"My Lady, I must protest!" Captain Mullbart stepped in-front of her, and Nepheli could see that the knight wasn't going to allow her to just order him out of her way this time, "I apologize, but this is too much of a risk! If upholding my duty in ensuring your safety means going against you on this matter, then so be it."
Nepheli was tempted to just snap at the knight, but she reigned herself in. Far be it for her to spit on the honor of another warrior by ordering them to disregard their duties and let her do whatever she wants.
"Fine, then." She eventually let out, "Your men shall stay behind to guard the entrance. You're coming with me." She ordered and then took the opportunity to push past the flabbergasted knight.
"Lady Loux-!" The Knight tried to reach for her, but she had already moved outside his grasp. "Damn it… Sergeant, take command! I must ensure our lady's safety!"
It didn't take long for the Knight to catch up to his liege, the light from the torch she was carrying and her slow, careful pace lending themselves towards that fact. To say that the Knight was displeased would be an understatement, and he felt that that fact needed to be said with his liege's most recent action.
"My Lady, I am doing my utmost to ensure your safety," He started in a polite but firm tone, "but you are making it far too-"
"Be silent," Nepheli cut him off with a hushed voice, "the slightest of whispers echo all the way down to the bottom."
And indeed, it would seem that it does. Captain Mullbart listened as a subdued echo of his words bounced back from the darkness further beyond. He pursed his lips, still displeased but now knew that he cannot express it lest he put both him and his liege at further risk. He silently followed along as she tracked what he belatedly realized to be a trail left behind by the monster they had earlier faced, the light from the torch reflecting off the trail of fresh blood painted across the cavern floor. He gripped his sword tightly, having forgone his lance at the entrance in expectation of a tighter space inside the cavern. He was surprised to find himself proven wrong though, as the cavern revealed itself to have space enough to have odd-looking, fang-like stalactites and stalagmites to form all around the cavern walls. Frankly, it looked like they were going straight into the gullet of some massive creature…
…In fact, now that he thought about it, they might just be walking down the gullet of some fearsomely massive creature.
Captain Mullbart stopped worrying himself over increasingly horrifying scenarios that his mind had unhelpfully conjured when he saw his liege stop and crouch down at the precipice of what the torchlight revealed to be a steep cliff with a bottom neither one of them could see. His liege fished something out from her various pockets and he watched intently as she retrieved a brightly colored rainbow stone and let it fall over the edge, both of them leaning over and looking down as the glow from the rainbow stone got smaller and smaller in the sea of darkness until, with a shrill sound, it shattered into multiple pieces upon impacting the very distant cavern floor.
"That… is a very far fall." Captain Mullbart felt the need to say, "What will you have us do now? Lady Loux? The trail ends here yet we cannot proceed any further."
He could not see her face, but he did hear her let out a frustrated growl as she tried to think of a way to overcome their latest problem. They both knew there wouldn't be one forthcoming, however, and so Captain Mullbart wasn't truly surprised when his liege stood up and made a cup around her mouth with her hands.
"Soldier?! Oggsby, do you hear me?!" She shouted out. But as expected, nothing but her own echo came as a reply. Captain Mullbart remained silent as his liege cursed in frustration as she ran a hand through her hair. She can be impulsive, that much he knew, but anything about the previous lord had always ticked her off to another level – and she had outright stated what she thought the fate of that foolish young soldier was.
He let her be for a moment more before moving forwards, intending to put a gauntlet on his liege's shoulders and convince her that they need to go back up to the rest of their party, but he froze when something liquid fell down as a drop and splashed on his bracer. The light provided by the torch was dim, but he was able to see enough color to make out the liquid as blood.
"What…?" He trailed off as his attention wandered upwards the red-black stone, past the teeth-like stalactites and up towards the part of the ceiling overlooking the ledge they were on now. There was something up there, hiding at the bare edges of the light from the torch, Captain Mullbart strained his eyes for a better look but they immediately widened upon recognition.
"My Lady-!" It was all he was able to shout out in alarm to his liege before the monster gurgled and dropped down from the ceiling, kicking up loose stone and slimy, unpleasant bits all around. Captain Mullbart rushed to place himself between the monster and his liege, and he barely had the time to plant his feet and brace himself before the monster swung an arm and swept him back with a hit that sent him up into the air and drove his breath out of his chest. His liege, who had been readying her axes, neither had the time nor space to move out of the way before he slammed into her and sent both of them careening down towards the void below. He heard her scream in alarm and he would've, too, had he the breath to do so – but as it was, the only thing that he saw he could do was to grab a hold of his liege, shield her with his body, and prayed to whatever gods are left that it would be enough to at least let her survive the fall.
/-/
Nepheli now faced the consequences of her exceeding foolishness.
All because of her impulsiveness, all because of how her blood yearned for a chance at battle, and her soul for justice; Captain Mullbart, a loyal retainer, lay broken before her feet. The man wasn't dead – but he wasn't far from it either.
This could've been avoided had she thought her actions through, but therein lie the problem – she had been riding a wave of righteous fury ever since that monster had kidnapped young Oggsby, and now she finds herself here, down an arm and a limp leg along with the person she owes her life to dying by the second.
Marika's tits, the rest of her men were still up there by the entrance facing grace-knows-what… or maybe even the monster if it decided to head back up to clear out the rest of her party! And there would be no one else responsible for putting them into that situation other than her….
Foolish, foolish! She should've fortified herself and stayed in the castle, now her eagerness – desperateness, really – for an escape has loyal soldiers hurt or dead, along one of her few knights with a foot in the grave. With nothing but her axes, her wits and a torch, it would be a neigh insurmountable task to get out of this pit alive… If she gets out of here alive.
…No, she has to get out of here alive, to get both of them out alive – she owes Captain Mullbart that much, at least.
"Captain Mullbart?" She asked the still-unmoving Knight and expectedly received no reply. She needed to get him mobile, but was unsure if dragging him by the arm across the jagged surface of the cave would be wise. She needed a stretcher or something, but looking around has her seeing nothing that could be used as such.
Except…
Nepheli felt for the clasp around her shoulders and undid the chains to her thick fur cloak. The cave was chilly, but she wasn't going to freeze to death without it. Her cloak came off wIth a clank of metal, and she wasted no time in setting it down onto the floor and flattening it as best as she could. Next, as gently as possible, she dragged Captain Mullbart by his shoulders onto her makeshift sled. It wasn't ideal, moving the man after such a fall, but better this than leaving him behind to die.
Grasping the chains, Nepheli began dragging the Knight along with her, trusting the thick furs to be able to stand against the rough cavern floor while she led the way with a torch in one hand. She knew not where to go, but it wasn't like staying put was going to give her any answers.
The cavern was silent, eerily so, in fact – the ones Nepheli had delved into always had something going on; whether may it be the sound of water dropping down from a gap somewhere, the rush from the wind that had blown into it, or the sounds of insects and animals skittering about in the dark. But here there was nothing, almost as if it was empty… or because everything else was hiding from something.
Nepheli could make a good guess for the latter.
She knew not for how long nor for how far she limped with Captain Mullbart behind her, but somewhere down the line her already limping leg started to give out. A couple of times now she had to stop and rest till she could feel the ends of her toes lest she risk falling over, and grace knows what will happen to them if she fell and knocked herself unconscious in this pit as well.
Nepheli stopped upon feeling her leg start losing sensation once more. Letting go of the chains, she settled down along with it and breathed heavily through gritted teeth. She'd massage her leg, but it really didn't do much and all she could do was to spend precious time letting herself rest. She remained that way for a moment before looking towards Captain Mullbart, and then deciding to move closer to check up on the Knight.
He was still alive, still breathing – but it was in an alarmingly shallow way. Nepheli growled, anger flaring towards herself over her inability to do anything. Perhaps had she a flask of crimson tears she could've risked it and poured the healing liquid down the unconscious Knight's throat, but her flask had long remained empty after her retirement from adventuring, and she couldn't have been bothered to find a refill before setting out. She'd thought that she'd just rely on the other, more easily sourced healing items that they'll bring along for the trip – yet now all of those things were still up on the surface, in the packs of their mounts and not on her belt.
Foolish!
There was a crunch of stone from behind her and Nepheli snapped around with her torch in hand. In this silence, that crunch may have as well been a trumpet announcing the arrival of an army. She strained her eyes to peer into the darkness and was soon able to make out something illuminated at the edges of her light – and then blinked for she couldn't believe what she saw.
"Who goes there?!" She demanded towards what she thinks is a soldier wearing the colors of Stormveil. Had one of her soldiers gone down to retrieve them? Foolish, but right now she'll be glad for it. However, what fledging hope that had blossomed within her turned into suspicion when the soldier didn't respond. She allowed him a moment longer, thinking that perhaps the soldier had been confused in the darkness, but soon it was too much and she opened her mouth to demand an answer once more.
But it was then that the soldier shuffled forwards into the light, and Nepheli's words died in her throat.
It was a soldier of Stormveil – or, rather, was someone who was once a soldier of Stormveil. His surcoat and armor was still there, but the man's face it… it… his mouth was ajar, and it was elongated all the way to his chest in a sick and unnatural way – with skin being torn apart as the flesh underneath stretched and grew beyond its mortal covering. His eyes, too, seemed glassy and unseeing, but there were still enough of the man's features left for Nepheli to still be able to recognize who the soldier once was.
"Oggsby…?" She asked as horrible recognition began to dawn in her mind. "Oh- oh grace, what has that monster done to you?!"
She knew better than to hold out hope, but it still twisted her gut when the abomination that was once Oggsby gurgled and growled as it raised a hand towards her direction and shambled forwards. She shifted the torch to her bad arm and pulled out her axe, holding it towards the creature that was once Oggsby as she stood between it and Captain Mullbart. She could've struck immediately, but a combination of guilt and a tinge of naive hope had her hesitating until the monster was only a few paces before her.
It lunged forwards, yet Nepheli was able to evade it despite pain shooting up from her leg. That distraction did prevent her from immediately pressing her advantage, however, and the creature whirled around to lunge at her again. She wasn't quite sure if she had it in her to move out of the way, and so she instead relied on the strength of her good arm and swung at the creature, burying the axe into its chest. The creature let out another terrible, water-logged growl as it nonetheless pushed forwards to claw at her. A normal man would've been gasping for air and drowning in his own blood at such a wound, but whatever had twisted Oggsby into this creature obviously didn't need it – in fact, Nepheli would say that it strengthened the once-soldier as she found herself struggling to push him away.
Grasping the torch as best as she could with her bad arm, she let out a yell as she clumsily swung the metal scone at the creature's face. She caught it just by its unnaturally elongated jaw, sending sparks and embers all over the cavern floor and, more importantly, down the creature's wide and hungry mouth. It roared in pain as it pushed itself away from Nepheli to nurse its burnt maw, but she didn't give it a moment to recover before rushing forwards once more, planning to do an overhead strike only for her leg to flair up and pain and causing her to lose her balance mid-sprint and forcing her to body the creature and wrestle it to the ground. It thrashed at her, and Nepheli winced as she felt its nails scratch at her cuirass and dig at her skin, but she held the creature still as she lifted her axe and then, with a yell, hammered it down the creature's neck. Hard metal bit soft flesh, and the creature's growling turned into gurgling as Nepheli worked her axe through its neck. She kept yelling even as blood spewed everywhere, and she didn't stop until her voice was hoarse and the creature's head was separated from its body.
It rolled away, and she let go of the hilt of her axe and let it clatter on the floor, Her breathing was heavy from the excretion and the screaming – but the latter wasn't done out of fear, rather, it had been screams of anger directed at herself over the reminder of the cost of her foolishness – one that now lay dead by her hand in this dark and alien cavern.
…Graces, was she going to end up the same way? Become an abomination like the creature she'd just slain?
Whatever ruminations she might've had came to a halt when there was the sound of impact in the darkness. Nepheli felt tired, but her head nonetheless snapped back up, letting her feel the wetness on her cheeks. Was it blood? Was it tears? She doesn't know – and she knew that she wouldn't have the time to know when the monstrous form of the thing that was once a runebear dragged itself into her view. It gurgled upon crossing the threshold between the darkness of the cave and the light of her torch, and Nepheli thought that its deformity had somehow gotten worse – with the creature's eyes having fused into a single milky orb, and more of its flesh having melted off to the point that most of its innards were now visible.
Nepheli grabbed her axe, but she feared that it wouldn't be enough to face down the monster in her current state. Her leg protested badly when she pushed herself up, and her lone good arm ached at the weight of her axe. She didn't even bother picking up the torch from the cavern floor – her bad arm had lost all sensation a while ago.
So this is how she dies…
Her heart hardens with resolve. If this is how it ends then she'll make damn sure that she'll go down fighting. Gripping the handle of her axe as best as she could, she shuffled to a ready stance and prepared for the inevitable attack.
But it never came.
The monster rushed forwards, likely aiming to just bowl over Nepheli with its far greater form and strength, but it only reached halfway before something – someone – landed atop of it with the familiar sound of metal piercing flesh, causing the creature to stop and let out a gurgling roar. It whirled around, or at least tried to, but its unexpected attacker had both surprise, leverage, and the strength to make their blade sing as it cut cleanly through the monster's neck and sent its head sailing through the air, a trail of blood following it.
The creature remained upright for a moment, seemingly unable to comprehend its own death, but it did eventually fall over and Nepheli caught herself letting out a sigh of relief. She was tired, battered, and wanted nothing more than to sit down and allow her ragged self some rest, but she forced herself to remain standing as her savior jumped off the monster's corpse and landed on the cavern floor, allowing the light to shine on their red armor, and a pair of intense red eyes.
"I- you have my thanks, stranger," Nepheli stammered out, wanting to give her savior a bow but not trusting herself to not fall over in the process, "But who-"
"So the massive skull that makes for this place's entrance wasn't enough to ward you away." Her mysterious savior, a woman by the sound of it, abruptly cut her off with a level, and borderline bored tone as she stepped away from the corpse and flicked the blood off her glaive. Nepheli saw her spare a glance towards the unconscious Mullbart and the dead Oggsby at her feet, "Fools, the lot of you."
/-/-/-/
A/N:
This was supposed to be the first chapter for a longer (short) story for NaNoWriMo, but this thing took more than half a month to write and that basically left me with no confidence being able to write anything substantial. I may still add to this, however, depending on my muse.
If you are wondering who that person was at the end and what they look like – she would be the Crimson Guardian, one of my Terraria characters, and I actually have her as my pfp.
Also, this was originally meant to be a Stellaris crossover, but I felt there was too little conflict for it to be interesting and I instead pilfered off an idea from my RWBYxTerraria crossover idea – that line at the end there was meant to be spoken to Leonardo after he and team SSSN get themselves into the same situation, but I've lost interest in RWBY to bother with that idea.
Anyways, this A/N is getting long. I'm actually quite pleased to have exceeded my longest story – Predator – even if just by a few words, and I hope I can continue this sort of pace as there's a lot of stories in my head that I want told, but often times my brain feels like it's pushing against a brick wall...