Chapter 12 — In Search of the Key
Alden's POV
"Serious? You again?" I asked the bald man in front of me.
"Oh well! It's been a long time. It is me. Patches. I'm still in business if you can believe it. Now I'm my only supplier, so I don't have a lot, but everything here is top notch. Patches Emporium, now open in Raya Lucaria." Patches said with a smile, it was like our cave fight never happened.
"What the hell, I don't have the patience for this. Show me what you have to sell." I said with an irritated sigh.
Patches gave me a smile and showed me his wares, I ended up buying some golden fowl foot, according to Patches this item temporarily increases the amount of runes I acquire. Before I could leave. Patches gave me information that caught my attention.
"You're…going to Erdtree, aren't you? Well, I heard something that might help. A special way to reach your destination. Have you ever seen an iron virgin? The clumsy contraptions are swirls of scythes and spiked wheels... but long ago, they were gifted with a spell of transposition. And take this. A surviving virgin sits at the bottom of the great water wheel in the Academy of Raya Lucaria. Your transposing powers fully intact. So if you get caught on purpose… She'll throw you straight into the Erdtree base… Or so I'm told… Ha ha… ha ha…"
"Hm! Thanks for the info…" I called Torrent and rode away.
"I don't trust this man." Godwyn said beside me.
"Neither do I, but I've learned that every lie has a grain of truth to it, let's just say I've had experience dealing with crooks, but I still don't plan on following Patches' advice."
"A wise decision. Would you mind telling me where your experience came from? I sense a story behind it."
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter, it might help pass the time while we look for the key. Let me tell you the story of a crook named Pate and a murderer named Creighton."
TIMESKIP
Godwyn and I continued riding across the lake, on the way I got a crystal tear which according to Godwyn, increases my dexterity, at the moment I kept it in my bag.
Currently nothing very interesting was happening, until we reached a church and next to that church I found a familiar man wearing a white mask.
"There you are. You claimed a Great Rune and had your audience with the Two Fingers at the Round Table. What was your impression?" Varré asked me.
How does he know about it? News travels fast across the Lands Between or Varré has been watching me.
"They didn't seem like bad people, but the Two Fingers bother me, I don't trust that thing." I replied to Varré.
"Ah-ha, your intuition serves you well. My doubts were piling up, you know… Two Fingers' words are unreliable. Truly nothing but ramblings, senile delusions. I believe that when the Elden Ring was broken, the Two Fingers were corrupted, their guidance; skewed. Worse yet, the Fingers harbor no love for our kind. That's the most annoying part."
"Your kind, you mean."
"Oh! Sorry, I forgot you refer to it as Undead." Varré said.
"If you have nothing more important to say to me, I will leave." I said to Varré as I turned around.
"Oh, I have a gift for you, something fit only for the wise. A means to circumvent the pull of the Two Fingers. Try it, no? And if it's to your liking, we can meet again. I have high hopes for you. My lamb. Be sure to try that finger I gave you. There is no reason to hesitate." Varré interrupted me as he handed me a set of fingers, bloody fingers.
I accepted the fingers without giving Varré an answer and walked away from the church "Godwyn, what is this?" I asked as I showed Godwyn the fingers.
He frowned and looked at the fingers in disgust "Bloody fingers, used to invade other worlds, if I were you, I would throw them away."
Something similar to the cracked red eyes "So Varré wants me to invade other worlds and kill their hosts?"
"Certainly." Godwyn answered.
I kept the fingers in my bag, I'll probably never use them, I'm no stranger to invasions, after all I've had my world invaded and invaded other worlds when I was part of the Blood Pact, a pact made up of murderers and madmen looking to bathe in blood, I wasn't at my best, the curse was almost consuming me, I couldn't be called sane at that time.
"Let's ignore Varré; we won't gain anything good from him." I said to Godwyn as I called Torrent.
"I agree with you, I think you better pretend you never found him here." Godwyn said to me.
While leaving the church I killed another scarab, this time I got a Blood Flame Blade enchantment, our search continued, until we reached the ruins of a temple, I touched Grace in these ruins, in the ruins there was a chest, I hit the chest, but nothing it happened.
"Why do you always attack the chests you see ahead?" Godwyn asked me curiously.
"Mimics." I answered.
"Mimics? The people who paint their faces and do imitations?" Godwyn asked me in surprise.
"Not! What the hell are you talking about? Mimics! The monsters with chest-shaped heads, a mouth full of teeth the size of daggers, arms and legs!"
"A monster that disguises itself as a chest? Never heard of one of those."
"Be glad you never found one, I had just settled a couple fight between a scorpion man and a giant scorpion woman, when I finally helped the scorpion man to defeat his mate, I entered a cave full of doors and found a chest, I opened a chest hoping to find treasure only to be faced with a giant mouth full of teeth, after dying eaten alive I killed the mimic and got a rapier that causes poisoning."
When I looked at Godwyn, he just gave me a faraway look.
"Wait a minute! Scorpion man? Giant scorpion woman? Cave full of doors? And how did you die? I know you are someone who lives in death, but there is a limit to how many times one can come back to life and to varying degrees, Marines and Skeletons being an example. The Tarnished have only recently begun to come back to life due to Grace. So how did you come back to life and kill the mimic?" Godwyn asked me.
"Curse." I told Godwyn as I opened the chest and took the weapon inside, it was a hatchet with the blade encased in ice.
"And does that curse go with the mark on the back of your neck?"
I took a deep breath, despite his carefree attitude; Godwyn is a smart and perceptive person, at some point I have to tell him about the curse, Godwyn is already connecting the dots.
"Yes." I answered.
"I can see that you don't feel comfortable talking about this, I won't keep pushing."
"Thanks." I said as I walked away from the chest and observed the ruins, let's test my new weapon a little.
"Oh! I never thought I'd see that kind of weapon around here." Godwyn said as he watched me take a few swings in the air with the hatchet.
"Is this weapon really that important?" I asked.
"One of several gifts given by Castle Sol in the far north. Known as the "freezing mist", the blade is believed to be the scale of a dragon, inflicts a powerful ice effect and is effective against dragons." Godwyn replied as he watched the weapon.
"Interesting, I also have other weapons made from dragons."
"Serious? Which are?"
"Black Dragon Sword, Black Dragon Greatsword, Drakewing's Great Sword, Curved Dragon Greatsword, Black Dragon Greataxe, Black Dragon Hammer, Dragon's Tooth, Malformed Skull."
When I looked at Godwyn, I saw him staring at me with wide eyes and an open mouth.
"How the hell did you get all these weapons?!"
"What can I say? I made a nice collection in Drangleic. I also got some dragon slaying weapons and ice weapons in Eleum Loyce, but for some reason the ice weapons did magic damage." I said as I shrugged.
"And where are those weapons now?"
"Do you remember that man, Patches?"
"Yes."
"Well, when I got to the Lands Between I woke up in an abandoned church, but all my weapons were gone, thanks to Melina I discovered that Patches had suddenly acquired an abundance of equipment, when I confronted Patches he had sold all my equipment, weapons, armor, all were sold."
"That rascal! But you know where your gear is, don't you?"
"No. Patches doesn't ask questions about his customers, he just sells his products to those who pay."
"A shame, really. And who is Melina?"
"My maiden."
Godwyn then grabbed me by the shoulders and started rocking me, or at least he tried to since his hands went through me.
"You had a maiden this whole time?! And you didn't even tell me?! Seriously, I could have given you some advice!"
"I didn't think it was important at the time!" I replied.
"What do you mean you thought it wouldn't be important?!"
And what followed was a series of complaints from Godwyn that I hadn't mentioned Melina to him sooner.
TIMESKIP
"Well, that could be a problem." Godwyn said as he crouched down next to me.
"Never were words spoken so true." I said while crouching and using my binoculars to observe what was ahead, near a rock formation there was a sleeping dragon with glinstone crystals coming out of its body, but what interested me was what was behind the dragon.
With my binoculars I could see a corpse; there was something shiny in the hands of this corpse, a blue key, probably made of glintstone.
"At least this time I have the advantage of the element of surprise." Said while equipping my Prayer Ring, Lightning Ring, and Sun Seal.
"So are you going to fight the dragon?" Godwyn asked.
"Yes, it's not the first time I've fought a dragon."
"Serious?" Godwyn asked while raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, it must be the seventh time I've faced a dragon."
"I have a feeling that I could write a book of your accomplishments alone."
"You can't even imagine." I said to Godwyn as I equipped my chime and placed the strength and resistance tears in my physique flask.
"Will you tell me about your adventure in Drangleic? I'm sure it would make a good book."
"Hm! Maybe. It's a sensitive subject, you know?" I equipped the Lord's Worn Greatsword and prepared a series of miracles.
"More than you might think." Godwyn said as he placed a hand on his back.
I took a deep breath, and cast the miracles, Sacred Oath, Sunlight Blade on my sword, and pointed the bell at the dragon and cast Sunlight Spear, the miracle flew above the water causing ripples, while the spear flew part of its lightning flowed across the surface of the water, finally the spear struck the dragon directly on its head generating an explosion of lightning and ripping off scales.
The dragon roared in pain and started to rise, but I didn't stop my attack, I conjured a second and third spear, they hit the dragon in different areas of the chest as it rose, removing even more scales.
I quickly rang my spirit summoning bell and invoked the Jellyfish Ashes, immediately the spirit began to spit venom at the dragon.
So I called Torrent and rode towards the dragon.
"Give me a good show Alden!" I heard Godwyn yell behind me as he sat on a rock and watched the fight.
The dragon to see me took a deep breath and opened his mouth, instead of the orange light of the fire I saw a blue light forming in the dragon's mouth; I pulled Torrent to the right, when the dragon released his breath instead of the orange flames I saw blue magic flames passing by my side.
When I got close to the dragon I passed under its left wing and cut it on the left side of its torso, the dragon raised its left paw and tried to crush me against the ground, I shook Torrent's reins causing him to ride faster and pass directly by the dragon's paw, blow hit the ground behind me, I pulled Torrent to the left going around behind the dragon until I reached his right side.
The dragon raised its right wing and hit it repeatedly against the ground, I managed to land a blow on its wing, but I ended up being hit by one of the dragon's wing strikes, it wasn't enough to knock me off Torrent, but it caused me some damage.
"HÁ!" I jerked Torrent's reins causing him to back away from the dragon, pointed my bell at the dragon and cast, Great Spear of Lightning, the spear struck the dragon in its chest, the dragon roared in pain and flapped its wings taking flight.
The dragon then dove towards me "HA!" Torrent rode faster, thus managing to get away from the dragon causing him to only hit the ground when landing, I turned around with Torrent and taking advantage that the dragon was recovering from his landing I cast Celestial Thunder as I approached, I do not control where the thunder will hit, but the dragon being a big something ended up being hit by all the thunder.
The dragon was hit in the head, neck, back, wings and tail; scales flew away with each blow. The dragon let out a roar and hit its right wing on the ground dragging it from left to right, due to my proximity I ended up being hit by the blow, I grabbed Torrent tightly so as not to be knocked down, I pointed my bell at the dragon's face and cast Blinding Ray, a sphere of lightning came out of my bell and collided with the dragon's face, generating an explosion that shot lightning in all directions.
I pulled on Torrent's reins and rode away from the dragon that struggled to be blinded by the miracle, taking enough distance to start preparing for the rest of the fight.
"I'm sorry for the hits we took Torrent, I'm not great at fighting on a mount." Said as I patted Torrent on his head, Torrent gave a confirming whinny accepting my apology.
Looking at the area around I saw that the spirit of the jellyfish was here spitting poison on the dragon, I believe that there is little left for the dragon to be poisoned, with my bell I cast Advanced Healing Torrent and me, then I drank from my Flask of Cerulean Tears to restore my spells.
The dragon finally recovered from its blindness, seeing me it let out a roar, hit the ground with its wings and opened its mouth, blue light appeared and unlike before it was not flames that formed in the dragon's mouth, but a magic projectile.
"HÁ!" Torrent rode towards the dragon, the first projectile passed over our heads hitting the place where we were previously, I saw a second projectile approaching I pulled Torrent to the left with all my strength, the projectile grazed my body, but that ended leaving me wide open for the third oncoming projectile.
In a few seconds I turned my mind in search of some spell, miracle, pyromancy or sorcery that could help me, it needs to be something quick to conjure, but as there was not much time I conjured one of the first things that came to my mind, I lit my pyromantic flame, I pointed it towards the magic projectile and cast Forbidden Sun, a gigantic ball of fire came out of my flame and collided with the projectile generating an explosion of magic and flames.
The explosion opened a crater in the ground, splashed the water from the lake upwards and created a large cloud of smoke, suddenly the ground began to shake and a silhouette formed on the other side of the smoke, suddenly the dragon jumped out of the smoke and he threw himself towards me with his mouth open, I couldn't dodge it in time, the dragon ended up biting me and pulling me off Torrent, I had my right hand and part of my torso, trapped in the dragon's mouth.
The dragon then started hitting me repeatedly against the ground, with each blow my head was below the water causing it to enter through my helmet to my mouth and nose, when I was removed from the water the air returned to my lungs only to be suffocated as the dragon plunged me into the water again.
In one of the moments when I was pulled out of the water I could see Godwyn looking at me with a worried look, I don't understand why he's looking at me like that, I'm a living dead if I die here I'll just get up to fight again . Wait a minute... He doesn't know... Now I feel bad for making him worried, at some point I need to tell him the truth.
Grabbing my bell with my remaining hand I cast Dragonmaw, a dragon's head formed above me and bit the dragon in its neck, blood spurted onto my helm, I was finally released as the dragon opened its mouth to roar in pain.
"Not so funny when it happens to you, is it?!" I shouted to the dragon, the dragon was then surrounded by a mist; it seems that the poison had taken effect.
I grabbed my sword with both hands and approached the dragon that was now weakened by the poison. I cut him across the face just below the left eye, the dragon raised its left wing and tried to squash me, and I rolled backwards, then did a slash across the dragon's wing, then slashed across its chest.
The dragon jumped back and blue flames formed in its mouth, I started to run towards the dragon, as I ran, I grabbed my bell and cast Fragmented Lightning Spear, I threw the spear above the dragon, a circle of miracle appeared above the dragon and lightning rained down on their backs.
The dragon roared and fell forward without the strength to fight, I used the ash of war on my sword, the blade was surrounded by a white aura, as I approached the dragon's head that was now lying on the ground, I plunged my sword into its eye, the dragon roared one last time, its head being thrown back until the dragon disappeared in runes and souls absorbed into my body.
In the place where the dragon was there was a dragon's heart, I kept it in my bag, then I returned to the rock formation from before and took the key that was on the corpse, I kept the key in my bag and called Torrent.
"Are you okay?" Godwyn asked me as we rode away.
"Yeah, nothing I'm not used to." I said as I drank my Crimson Tears.
"If you say. For a moment I was worried when the dragon started to slam you to the ground."
"No need, but thanks anyway." I said to Godwyn.
"You're welcome." Godwyn replied with a smile.
So we continued riding, I decided to go around the academy; I'd like to see what's on the other side of Liurnia.
TIMESKIP
As I walked around the academy I heard a flutter of wings, looking up I saw a giant bird coming towards me.
"Not again!" I yelled as I pulled on Torrent's reins, bringing him to a stop.
The giant bird landed in front of us, it was similar to the skeletal bird I faced earlier, but this one had wings made of a type of dark flame.
"Godwyn, this bird is different." Said to Godwyn.
"Sure enough, this is the Death Rite Bird, a stronger version of the Death Bird." Godwyn answered.
Great, that's just what I needed.
The bird let out a shrill cry and pointed its poker at me, dark flames formed on the poker, then an orb of flame formed in front of the bird, the bird swung its poker and a trail of flames came towards me.
I jumped out of Torrent making him disappear before the attack hit him and landed on the ground to the left.
"I'm tired of this! I just fought a dragon and now I have to deal with another giant bird?! Listen here you big pigeon, I'm having a bad night, so why don't you go off and look for some birdseed before I lose my temper?!" I yelled at the bird.
The bird's response was to send another wave of flames towards me; I rolled to the left dodging the flames.
"So this is how it will be?! So be it! I will show you which one of us has the strongest flame!" I equipped the Golden Halberd in my left hand and lit the pyromantic flame in my right hand.
"KKKYYYAAAHHH!" The bird let out a cry in response, presumably accepting my challenge.
"AAAHHH!" I let out a war cry in response and ran towards the bird.
The bird leapt towards me, its poker covered in flames, I rolled to the left dodging the blow and slashed the bird across its neck with the halberd, the bird then swung its poker towards me and flapped its wings taking flight and doing a slash from bottom to top with the poker towards me, I jumped back causing the flames to pass a few centimeters from me.
Strangely I felt cold when the flames approached, while the bird was in the air I threw a Chaos Fireball at the bird, he was hit in the face being burned by the fire and lava that was in his body.
The bird then came towards me with both legs outstretched trying to crush me, I rolled backwards dodging the blow, then the bird delivered a series of flaming blows with its poker, from right to left, from left to right and one coming from above, I dodged the two blows and in the third I ran towards the bird making its blow hit the ground and I made several cuts in its chest.
The bird raised its poker and flames started to accumulate in it, the bird then slammed its poker on the ground creating an explosion of fire and throwing me away, trails of flames formed in the lake, when I got up I saw the bird flap its wings and a series of flaming feathers came towards me.
I slammed my flame onto the ground, casting Chaos Storm, pillars of chaotic flames erupted from the ground, incinerating the approaching feathers, the few that managed to get past I simply dodged by rolling away.
The bird took flight once more, with flames in its poker it tried to hit me with a spinning swing as it landed, I rolled under the swing letting the bird pass me, when the bird turned towards me I aimed my flame at face and I cast Fire Whip, a fiery spiral shot out of my flame and hit the bird in its face, it screamed in pain, which gave me time to slash it with the halberd.
But due to my proximity the bird managed to give me a series of pecks forcing me to back off, so we stood there staring at each other. Wasting no time, I used the Ash of War from my halberd, Golden Vow, raising the halberd a golden symbol formed in front of me increasing my attack and decreasing the damage I receive, and then I cast Flame Weapon covering my halberd with flames.
The bird, upon seeing this, decided to carry out its attack, taking flight and flapping its wings, a series of projectiles in the form of a spear were shot upwards, I noticed that on the ground where I was, white circles were formed, marking the place where the spears would reach , I started running towards the bird, the spears passing a few centimeters from my back, then a series of circles formed in front of me forcing me to roll to the left, but when I finished rolling a series of circles formed where I was forcing me to roll to the right.
The circles appeared again, this time I pointed my flame upwards and cast Fire Whip; the flames burned the spears giving me time to keep running, the bird seeing that I was approaching started accumulating flames in its poker ready to strike me.
I started to spining the halberd above my head, when the bird dove towards me, I stuck the tip of the halberd into the ground, using it as a jumping pole and launched myself upwards, and making sure I was above the bird when it landed, when I started to fall I pointed the tip of the halberd down, sticking it in the bird's back, the bird let out a shrill scream, I could feel the death blight trying to consume my body, but before that could happen the bird finally died disappearing in runes and souls.
My feet hit the lake when the bird disappeared below me, in the place where the bird was there was a sheet of paper of a spell, I kept the spell in my bag and used the halberd as a support while breathing heavily, a dragon and a giant bird the same night, and I need some rest.
"That was impressive! Why have you never fought like this before?" Godwyn asked me as he clapped his hands.
"Despite my strength I am a sorcerer above a warrior, fighting like this with jumps and acrobatics makes me tired." I said to Godwyn with a sigh, there was a place of Grace next to where I fought the bird, touched the Grace, removed my helmet, began to rest.
"Well, I could help you with that." Godwyn said as a rapier appeared in his hand.
"A rapier? I expected something…" I didn't know how to respond to Godwyn without offending.
"Something…" Godwyn asked.
"Something bigger. Judging by your size, I would expect you to wield a Zweihander, a Greataxe, or your own fists." Said to Godwyn.
"HAHAHA! I wish it were that way, but my mother insisted that as a demigod shouldn't wield barbarian weapons like my father, or so she said. Which is a little unfair since my mother used a hammer when she fought." Godwyn answered.
"I understand. Since you are offering to train me, then I accept your offer."
"I'm glad you accepted, at least that way I feel like I'm helping you on this journey."
"Don't feel that way Godwyn, you've been helping me since we met." Said to Godwyn as he smiled.
Godwyn smiled back, "As soon as we finish our business on Raya Lucaria we will begin your training."
"Cannot wait." I said as I looked up at the night sky.
TIMESKIP
After I finished resting I started riding until I reached a city that was sinking at the gates of Raya Lucaria and there I found Diallos.
"Lanya… Lanya… It's me Diallos. Answer me please?" He was on top of a ruin next to a woman's corpse.
I approached Diallos "Diallos, what happened here?"
"Hello friend. Tell me if you know, would you. The whereabouts of the hidden house of those despicable demons. The recusants who hunt their fellow Tarnished ones, they have laid their hands on my servant Lanya, and I refuse to let the insult remain." Diallos asked me with anger and sadness in his voice.
"I'm sorry about what happened Diallos, but I don't know who these recusants are and where their hiding place is."
Diallos clenched his hands tightly and averted his gaze, "They laid hands on my servant Lanya, and I refuse to let the insult remain. The history of House Hoslow is told in blood. I, Diallos, swear to deliver the message."
Diallos then walked away.
"Poor man, he is filled with rage and seeks revenge; I hope he is not taken by it." Godwyn said beside me.
"I would like to help, but I have no experience with anger or revenge situations." I said to Godwyn.
"Have you never felt extreme anger before?"
"I wouldn't say anger, but frustration, frustration at having to traverse an area full of annoying enemies or at not being able to defeat a powerful opponent."
"Really? I find it difficult that you have never been furious before."
I stopped to think for a minute "Well, there was a time… Lucatiel…"
"Who?"
"Lucatiel, I met her several times around Drangleic and she helped me in several battles, Flexible Sentry, Lost Sinner, Smelter Demon, she helped me in all those fights."
"Oh! She wouldn't be a lover would she?" Godwyn asked.
"No, a friend maybe?"
"Hm! And where is she now?"
"I don't know, let's say Lucatiel found herself in a difficult situation and upon learning what the problem was, I think for the first time I felt real anger, when I solved the problem I returned to Lucatiel, she handed me her equipment and asked me to make a promise, we sat down in front of a bonfire, but when I looked to my side Lucatiel was gone, but I keep the promise to this day and will keep it until the end."
"And what would that promise be?"
"To not forget her name."
TIMESKIP
Time to figure out how to use the key and enter the academy, in the city near the gates I touched Grace, got a golden seed, a map fragment of northern Liurnia and a stone key.
"We could try the waygate." Godwyn said to me.
"And how do we get to the waygate?" I asked.
"We'll have to go up." Godwyn said as he pointed to the high ground that surrounded the lake.
"And how do we do that? Climbing?"
"Don't worry about it, just call your steed and ride south." Godwyn said as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
I shrugged that off, called Torrent and rode south.
TIMESKIP
"And now?" I asked Godwyn as we were standing in front of a kind of circle of air that was swirling in front of us.
"Now ride your steed toward the circle." Godwyn replied with an amused smile.
I took a deep breath "HA!" I shook Torrent's reins and rode forward, as Torrent stepped into the circle I was suddenly launched upwards at great speed.
"AAAHHH!" I screamed as I was launched, when the jump lost its strength I landed next to a place of Grace.
"Are you okay Torrent?" I asked, Torrent gave a confirmation whinny.
"HAHAHA!"
Looking to the side I saw Godwyn laughing, I gave a grunt of irritation. I touched the Grace; I think I better prepare myself. I approached the Grace and called Melina.
"Melina, are you here?"
Suddenly, Melina appeared in front of me removing the hood from her head.
"Hello Alden, how can I help you?" Melina asked as she gave me a small smile.
"Good to see you again Melina. I would like you to improve the flasks for me." Said as I handed her the Holy Tears and Golden Seeds I acquired.
"Sure, just give me a minute." Melina then took the ingredients and my flaks, turned around and started doing something with them, again I tried to see what she was doing and again she wouldn't allow it, Melina returned the improved flaks.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. Tell me Alden, are you going to Raya Lucaria's academy?" Melina asked me.
"Yes." I replied.
"I have news that might interest you, as we know Patches has sold all of your equipment, but I believe I may have identified some of his customers." Melina told me.
That got my attention; my eyes widened under my helmet "Tell me please."
"Well, various magic category items have been purchased by the sorcerers of Raya Lucaria, from staffs to equipment that increases a sorcerer's power, weapons have been sent to the recusants of Mt. Gelmir, rumor has it, Rykard's men are trying to kill something down the Mt. and they're acquiring all sorts of weapons to do so. Among some of these items are two crowns, one was sent to Raya Lucaria and the other to Mt. Gelmir."
I held both of Melina's hands in my own "Thank you Melina, you don't know how important this is to me."
Melina gave me a surprised look and quickly released my hands, "As your maiden it is my duty to help you Alden, I am glad you are satisfied." Melina said with a small tinge of red in her face.
"Thanks again, I'd like to stay and talk, but after this news I need to hurry."
I called Torrent and started riding "HA!" Shaking the reins, Torrent raced north.
Melina's POV
Well, there goes my Tarni... I mean Undead, I understand he wants to retrieve his equipment, but there's something I don't understand, his obsession with retrieving these crowns, according to Alden, the crowns have enchantments to help him, but if it was just that I believe he wouldn't be in such a hurry to get them back, Alden isn't telling me the whole truth.
In the end it doesn't matter, I have my secrets too, as long as Alden keeps his end of the deal, I'll keep mine.
Another strange thing about Alden is how he acts, I've watched him from afar, he doesn't sleep, eat or drink like the other Tarnished ones, not to mention of course his hands, they're cold as a corpse, but that's not bad to hold them.
Hm! What to do now? Maybe when Alden returns I'll ask him to tell me more stories.
I suddenly had the feeling that I was being watched, I slowly brought my hand inside my cloak and grabbed my blade, out of the corner of my eye I could see a faint red glow coming from a bush in the distance, I quickly drew my blade and turned around toward the bush, but the glow had faded.
When I approached the bush, I found only grass, burned leaves and a pile of ash. Who was watching me?
Alden's POV
"Stop!" Godwyn yelled beside me.
"Is this the place?" I asked Godwyn.
"Yes."
We were in a ruin and in that ruin there was a small stone construction with a circular hole in the middle, inside that hole there was a whirlpool of magic.
"Now what should I do?"
"Just touch the portal."
I hope this isn't another one of Godwyn's pranks, I put my hand on the swirling portal, I felt my body being pulled into the portal, there was a strong light and when I opened my eyes I was facing the academy gates.
I touched Grace who was in front of the gate and approached it, there were blue magic symbols covering the gate, I removed the key from my purse and approached, as I approached it the key glowed more and more, until I suddenly crossed the gate.
END OF CHAPTER
Hi! Thanks for reading this far, leave your comments on what you think of the story, tips and suggestions. At the moment I don't have any announcements to give, I just wanted to wish you all a happy new year, so here we go...
A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!
Until the next chapter!