Chapter 3- Godrick the Grafted
Alden's POV
Let's review what happened, I got the crowns, I defeated Nashandra and Aldia, I got away from the cycle, I was transported to a strange land, I lost most of my equipment, and I defeated a spider made of human parts, I fell off a cliff, I was called maidenless, I got a maiden, I was put on another impossible mission, I met a ghost witch, I almost died in a fight with an old man with a giant cane, and now I'm here about to storm a castle simply because a golden ray guides me to that place.
A good story isn't it? All I want now is to see the sunrise in Majula, maybe have a little chat with the pyromancer girl and the old wizard, but no, I'm here instead! In a place, that I don't know! With people, that I don't know! In search for something, that I don't even know what it is! A pleasant situation no?
Well, it's no use standing here complaining, I need to get into the castle, the gates are closed, but strangely there's an open door on the left that's open, there's only one place to go, "You there, can you come over here?" someone called to me as I walked through the door, it was a skinny, pale man with his left arm missing, a victim of Godrick.
"You're Tarnished, aren't you? I would advise against taking the main gate into the castle, it is heavily guarded by hardened old hands. Try the opening right here. The guards don't know about it. You'll breach the castle undetected." A safe passage is welcome, but better be careful, it can be a trap "Very well! I'll use the passage".
"Yes, that's the spirit!... You are exactly the type of Tarnished that I like, I pray for your success" I entered the passage, and the castle is in terrible condition, the castle wall is full of holes, following the outside path and climbing the rocks, I came to an open area, I heard a noise, it was a huge bird coming towards me, with its claws aiming at my eyes, they weren't claws, but blades.
BOOM!
The bird's burnt body fell to the ground after receiving a Great Combustion in its face, irritating creature, continuing, I found another place of Grace, the path continued upwards, climbing a wooden ladder, I heard a bugle playing, I was attacked by two men wearing hoods, carrying swords and shields, I threw a Dark Orb at each one, they dropped dead, they're weak.
The man with the bugle tried to cut me with his sword, I dodged the blow and kicked him off the stairs, throwing him to his death, very well there are lookouts around here, nothing a few rings and spells can't fix. I equipped Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring, my leggings are enchanted to silence my footsteps, but there's no harm in precaution, Ring of Whispers to hear nearby enemies, and Simpleton Ring makes me invisible when I dodge on the ground.
I entered through a door ahead, the Ring of Whispers made a noise, it meant that there are enemies ahead, inside that place there were two men on the floor, they seemed to be sleeping, and there was a ladder on the other side of the room, I rolled forward two times, the rings making me invisible and silencing the noise, I climbed the stairs, came to a room full of barrels, smelled a familiar smell, gunpowder, abundant in the Brume Tower, a hooded man in an upper part of the room threw a torch in the barrels.
"SHIT!"
I cast Repel with my staff, for just a moment I became invulnerable, long enough to survive the blast, I threw a Dark Orb at the man who threw the torch, he dropped dead, I climbed several flights of stairs until I reached a dark room I used Cast Light, a small ball of light appeared on top of me, illuminating around me, when I entered the room the door closed behind me, I tried to open the door, but it didn't move.
In the room, the Ring of Whispers started to make noise, there is someone here, I heard heavy steps and the noise of armor, from the back of the room a fully armored knight shot towards me with a wave of wind, I rolled to the right, staying invisible, the knight was confused for a few seconds, long enough to receive a Dark Orb on the side of his head, he staggered backward but managed to regain his balance and darted towards me again.
I rolled to the right, but this time the knight stomped on the ground creating a circle of wind and knocking me back, I was thrown into a pile of boxes, and the knight tried to impale me with his sword, I launched Firewhip, a spiral of fire hit the knight, he screamed in pain, the metal of the armor melting over his body, wasting no time I pulled out one of the ornate blades and drove it into his neck, the knight struggled for a while until finally, his body disappeared in souls and runes.
In the room, I got a rusty key, and in the corner, there was a chest, I hit the chest, but nothing happened, opening the chest, I got a kind of talisman with the design of a curved sword. With the key, I unlocked a door that was further down the way I came, opening the door, I went up more stairs.
Going to the left I heard a noise, the Ring of Whispers, someone was hiding ahead, I approached slowly, a man jumped from the left corner with a knife pointed at my neck, I grabbed his arm and threw the man off the platform where we were, towards the lower floors, I heard his body colliding with the floor, following it out to an area outside the castle and guess what, more stairs.
Going up the stairs, I came to a room with a hole in the center and inside that room, another knight, this time with a halberd, I wasted no time, I took out my Chime of Want and used Wrath of the Gods, the shock wave knocked the knight down in the hole in the room, going up, even more stairs. I came to a place of grace, I touched the grace and kept going up, and finally, I am in the castle I thought as I looked at the place, I am in a kind of tower inside the castle.
A hooded man tried to blow an alarm horn, I launched a Dark Orb, and I don't need the whole castle to know I'm here, now let's see. Arriving at the edge of the wall I realized that I came the wrong way! There was a way down! DOWN THE STAIRS!
I finally got to the place I wanted.
More of those birds with blades in their legs tried to attack me, nothing a Dark Orbs can't fix, out of nowhere a bird carrying a powder keg came towards me, I threw a fireball into the barrel, and the bird exploded in the air.
Now that I have some time to rest, I decided to look around the castle, gray clouds covered the sky, and a strong wind was blowing all over the place, strong enough to be seen crashing into the tall towers that seemed to touch the skies, remnants of fortifications and weapons were scattered on the ground, it seems that this place was under siege, vegetation covered the stones and castle walls, strangely if I were to describe this place with one word, that word would be Grey.
A depressing and lifeless place.
I went down a ladder and reached the roof of a building, I passed inside a bell tower, it seems that this place is a church, further ahead I went down a wooden ladder, to my right there was a patrol of soldiers, so let's go left, I entered the church, and near the altar, there was a man, a sorcerer judging by his hat, he was wearing yellow and green clothes, a person that doesn't suit this place.
"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you. Rogier is my name, a sorcerer, as you may have guessed, I'm looking for a little something here in the castle when. I'm not running from the troops, I mean." Looking for something in the castle? I'm not the only one interested in this place.
"A pleasure Rogier, my name is Alden, a sorcerer." Said while bowing a little, I'm happy to find a brother wizard here.
"But enough about me, what are you doing in Stormveil castle ?" This place is full of Tarnished hunters, you know? They sacrifice our people to make grafts. Not exactly the place I would wander around without a purpose in mind..."
"I'm here to defeat Godrick, I think, I'm not sure, I just followed Grace to this place." This is true, before meeting Roderika I just followed Grace.
"You can see it, am I correct? Grace's guidance. Well, enjoy it while you can. I'm a Tarnished, like you. But unlike you, I don't see that guidance for a long time. Still, I won't forget how I felt when I arrived here in the Lands Between. I own some magical battle arts. Would you mind learning one? As a fellow Tarnished, once guided by grace, I would love to help you, please." Let's see what he has for sale.
"I'll want the Spinning Weapon; I don't have many runes at the moment." With the purchase made, it's time to proceed with "See you later Rogier ".
"Be careful out there Alden ."
Where are we going now? There is only one way, the place where the guards are patrolling, let's do this carefully, there were two hooded ones and a knight, they have their backs turned to me, I crouched and slowly approached one of the hooded ones, quickly put my hand under his mouth preventing him from screaming, so I cut his throat with the ornate blade, threw the body out of the wall, did the same process with the second hooded one, now only the knight remains, I removed f the golden halberd from my bag and stabbed him in the back, the knight got caught in the halberd, I turned the halberd away from the wall and let the knight's body slide out.
Continuing, I came to a room, it was as if I was in Aldia's Keep again, severed arms and legs were hanging from the ceiling, leaving the room, a kind of giant was hanging upside down without a leg and an arm, below the body, a pile of limbs being eaten by dogs. I came to some sort of library, a knight with a halberd was in the room, but he didn't notice me yet.
I stabbed him in the back, an ornate blade in the heart and another in the neck, in that room there was a chest, I hit the chest, seeing that it was not a mimic, I took its contents, a veil, passing through a door on the right, I arrived at a kitchen, and there I found another spider made of human limbs, just like the one on the island.
The spider hasn't seen me yet, I hid behind one of the pilasters in the kitchen, lit my pyromantic flame, and threw a Chaos Fireball on top of the spider, the same thing that happened on the island happened here, the spider's cloak caught fire, the lava melting the spider, I didn't stop there, I shot a second Chaos Fireball, the spider struggled until it finally dropped dead, runes and souls came to me.
In the kitchen there was a giant painting on the wall, it was a tall man wearing armor, he carried an axe and had a lion coming out of his back, I approached the painting and saw a name in the frame 'Godfrey, First Elden Lord' Elden Lord, isn't that what the Tarnished want to become? So Godfrey was the first, one more thing I need to find out, I'll ask Melina later, I took an axe that was in front of the frame.
In a door at the back of the kitchen, I found an elevator, stepping on the pressure plate the elevator started to rise, I arrived in the room with the hole in the center, great, a shortcut to Grace, I rested in Grace, healed my wounds and restored my spells I went down the elevator and went back to the kitchen. I entered the place where the giant creature was hanging upside down.
When I entered the place I noticed that they were not limbs piled on the floor but whole bodies wrapped in cloths, and two dogs were eating the corpses, I launched a Dark Orb at each one, something was glowing in the pile of bodies approaching it, it was a brooch wrapped in red cloths, little spirits floated on top of the brooch, this seems to be what Roderika wanted me to find, so this is the fate of those captured by Godrick, all the more reason for me to finish him off.
I walked out of the kitchen towards the castle courtyard, and when I took a step outside I was face to face with something that made my eyes widen, wooden fortifications, staked barriers, ballistae, hooded man equipped with crossbows, carrying swords and shields, glad I didn't enter the by the castle's front door, I'm beside these defenses, not noticed yet I cast Chameleon and was turned into a barrel, now I've slowly crossed the courtyard around the corners.
I hid near the trees and entered a wooden building, I walked along the stairs, I passed behind a hooded man carrying a torch he turned and looked at me, seeing it was just a barrel he kept looking ahead, I walked little more, the hooded man turned around again, I stopped walking, he was staring at me for a while and turned around, without wasting time I walked to an entrance further on, I left the Chameleon and entered a room with a painting, it was shining.
Touching the painting it lost its shine, but something entered my mind, it was the place of the painting, for some reason this place was etched in my memories, I couldn't forget it, I need to visit this place later. Leaving the room I hid behind a tree, blocking my way there was a fat creature carrying a giant blade and a dog, let's see what I can do, I took an Alluring Skull from my bag, threw the skull to the other side of the courtyard, the creature and the dog stood up and stared at the skull.
Taking advantage of the distraction I crouched and climbed the stairs, I found a spot of Grace inside a room, touched the Grace and pulled a lever in the room to call an elevator, and I continued up a staircase, two birds with blades in their paws tried to attack me, one received a Great Fireball, and felled burnt to the ground, the other tried to cut me in the chest, I rolled to the right becoming invisible, the bird was confused, and that was his mistake, when I reappeared, I launched a Great Combustion in the face of the bird, with everything finished I entered a door on the right, down the stairs, I found a woman.
It was a dark-skinned woman, with visible muscles, she was wearing a barbarian outfit, as she approached me she said "Be proud, you are a good warrior, your only mistake was in choosing a master. Let the winds take you." She wasn't talking to me but the dead knight on the ground. Finally, she noticed me "Well what we have here? A Tarnished? Clearly not from Godrick's group, I'm Nepheli Loux, Tarnished and Warrior, just like you" when they'll stop calling me Tarnished.
"Happy to meet you Nepheli, my name is Alden, Undead and Sorcerer", I said while doing a Duel Arc, Nepheli stared at me for a few seconds, she crossed her arms and looked me up and down, another person who never heard of Undead or she doubts my strength.
"I am here by my father's decree, how horrible, these Godrick grafts are not fit for a Lord, he has corrupted even the winds. If you intend to challenge Godrick, I beg you to call me, the winds are impure with his deeds. I'm sure my father would allow me to help you in the fight" All help is welcome, I learned a long time ago to not to be ashamed to ask for help "Very well! Nepheli, when I get to Godrick I will call you, until we see each other again" I waved to Nepheli as I went upstairs, I heard Nepheli say "Until we meet again Undead Sorcerer, a good fight for you" I gave small smile, now I need to get to Godrick.
Climbing stairs with statues on both sides I reached a gate, entered the gate, and went through a corridor, on the right I found a place of Grace, I rested in the place, on the left of the corridor, I found a beetle rolling a ball of dung, killing the beetle I got another Ash of War.
Following the corridor I stopped in front of a golden mist gate, it seems that Godrick is on the other side, something in the corner of the corridor caught my attention, a golden summon sign, I touched the sign and Nepheli appeared, she gave me a nod with her head and I nodded back, together we walked through the mist.
Alden's POV
We entered an open area full of tombstones, in the center of this area was a dragon impaled on a statue, next to this dragon was a man if he can be called that.
"Mighty Dragon, thou'rt a trueborn heir. Lend me thy strength, o kindred. Deliver me unto greater heights." we approached, I cast Affinity and lit my flame.
"...Well" Godrick grabbed two axes with his left arm, the cloak on his back fell away revealing six grafted arms "A lowly Tarnished, playing as a Lord" Godrick slammed his golden ax on the ground "I command thee, kneel! I am the Lord of all that is Golden!"
"YOU! I REMEMBER YOU!" Godrick pointed at me "Have we met?"
"DON'T BE AN FOOL! YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID, GETTING INTO MY DUEL WITH MALENIA, THAT BITCH! AND BURNING MY FACE!" Godrick ran his hand down the left side of his face and looking closer, the left side of his face was severely burned, his left eye was unusable, and his cheek and mouth were burned to the point where I could see muscle and bone exposed.
"YOU MAY HAVE DISAPPEARED AFTER THE DUEL, BUT NOW AFTER SO MANY YEARS, I WILL HAVE MY VENGEANCE AGAINST THE ONE WHO DARED TO HURT ME! THE FLAME IN YOUR RIGHT ARM! I WILL RIP OFF YOUR CORPSE AND GRAFT IT INTO MY BODY! AND WITH THAT POWER I'LL FINISH THAT RED-HAIRED ROTTEN WHORE!"
I have no idea what he's talking about, but I don't have time for it, Godrick swung his axe, and waves of wind flew towards me, he was completely ignoring Nepheli.
"Nepheli! Godrick is focused on killing me, while I distract him you approach him from the sides." Nepheli, drew two axes, and began to walk around the courtyard, hiding behind tombstones scattered around the site.
The waves of wind came towards me, I ran to the right, the wind following my movements, but they couldn't reach me and ended up passing by my side, I launched Black Orbs towards Godrick, the orbs impacted his body, Godrick screamed from pain "AND I REMEMBER THIS SORCERY, THIS CURSED THING IS AN OFFENSE TO MY GOLDEN LINEAGE!" Godrick came running towards me, his golden axe dragging on the ground.
The Affinities above me shot towards Godrick, and his massive body ended up becoming an easy target "AAAHHH!" this is weird, Godrick is the second person my abyss magic does more damage than usual, another thing to investigate later. Godrick swung his axes at me, slashing from right to left, I rolled out of the attack, the Simpleton Ring making me invisible, I am now on Godrick 's right side, I cast Black Hail at point blank range, the pieces of darkness ripped off pieces of Godrick 's flesh and buried themselves in his body.
Godrick tried to crush me to the ground with his left arm, I jumped back and launched a Great Fireball towards him, Godrick swung his axe, and a tornado formed around him stopping my fireball, Godrick stomped on the ground and a wave of wind threw me back, the wind was so strong that managed to cut me, Godrick didn't stop there, he rolled on the ground and threw himself up, coming down with the axa aimed at my neck, I rolled out of the way "I REMEMBER THAT FLAME! THE FLAME THAT HUMILIATED ME, I WILL TAKE THAT FLAME AND DESTROY THOSE WHO DARE TO CHALLENGE ME!"
I noticed Nepheli on top of the statue where the dragon was impaled, she was getting ready to leap "Tell me Godrick, you seem to know me, but I don't know you. My Undead mind is unreliable, could you refresh my memory?" This seemed to irritate Godrick even more. "HOW DARE YOU! DOING LITTLE OF OUR BATTLE! I AM SO INSIGNIFICANT TO YOU, THAT I AM NOT WORTHY OF BEING REMEMBERED !? Nepheli made the leap and landed on Godrick 's back, with one of her axes thrust into Godrick 's back, Nepheli used the other axe to cut the hands grafted onto the spider's back.
"AAAHHHH!"
Godrick screamed in pain as three of his six hands were cut off, he rolled to the ground knocking Nepheli down, but taking the chance I threw Chaos Fireball, this time Godrick didn't have time to summon the wind and was hit full on by the ball of chaos fire, Nepheli came running to my side.
Godrick did something that confused me, he raised his axe and went down with all his strength on his left arm, Godrick screamed in pain as he put more strength into the blow, Godrick slammed his left arm on the ground cutting off part of his arm, the piece cut flying into the middle of the arena where we're fighting "Ahh, truest of dragons. Lend me thy strength…" Godrick thrust the stump of his severed arm into the dead dragon's neck, he ripped off the dragon's head, which was now connected to his body, and the head began to move.
"FOREFATHERS, ONE AND ALL…!"
"BEAR WITNESS!"
Godrick lifted the dragon's head and it breathed fire into the heavens.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Godrick 's laughter echoed through the castle as he cast fire towards us, I used Flash Sweat pyromancy on myself lessening the damage I take from fire, Nepheli and I dodged the wave of fire, and I used my chime to conjure a Great Lightning Spear " Nepheli go! I distract him." Nepheli ran toward Godrick, and I released the miracle, the spear flying through the air and hitting Godrick in his s dragon hand.
I kept firing spear after spear, Nepheli managed to get close enough to attack Godrick with her axes, blow after blow Godrick's blood flew through the air. Godrick tried to bite Nepheli with the dragon's head, but he was stopped by one of my spears, and the slaughter Nepheli was doing continued.
Godrick swung his ax summoning another tornado and using the dragon's hand he added fire to those winds, Nepheli was thrown backward, and Godrick stomped on the ground wounding Nepheli even more, then he rolled on the ground and jumped. Toward me!
"Shit!" Godrick tried to hit me with his axe, I rolled out of the way and became invisible "NOT THIS TIME!" Godrick slammed his ax into the ground, creating a shock wave, and knocking me backward, a second blow came, the earth was ripped from the ground and I was thrown upward, falling back to the ground.
Godrick approached me with his ax raised "Last words?" giving me time was you biggest mistake Godrick "Yes. Two actually. Lingering Flame" a small ball of fire floated in front of Godrick's face.
"But what pathetic thing is this?"
BOOM!
"AAAHHH!"
Godrick screamed in agony as the small fireball exploded directly into his face, I saw that Nepheli had recovered "Nepheli with me", together we ran towards Godrick, me with the ornate blades in my hands and Nepheli with her axes.
We launched a flurry of blows at Godrick, I finished using the blade weapon art and thrusting both into Godrick 's body, Nepheli did the same with her axes, we took our weapons away from Godrick and he started to fall.
"I am the Lord of all that is Golden. And one day we will return together... To our home, bathed in rays of gold... "
Most of Godrick 's body disappeared, leaving only his torso and head on the ground, souls and runes came to me, but there's something else, I got a type of rune more powerful than the others, and a magic item, an orange light formed in my left hand and from that light came the image of Godrick, this may be useful later on, I kept both items in my bag, the invocation of Nepheli was disappearing, I waved goodbye to her, Nepheli did the same, soon she disappeared.
Well, this fight took a while, but there's something weird about it, I hurt myself more fighting Margit than fighting Godrick, but that begs the question. If Margit is stronger than Godrick, why was he defending the entrance to the castle? More mysteries arise.
It's no use thinking about it now, I used a miracle to heal my wounds, when I was going to move on I saw small green dots coming out of Godrick's corpse, bright bugs, I took my Ashen Mist Heart from my bag and approached the corpse, I felt the fog enveloping me, I wonder what memory I'm going to enter.