Blade of miquella
(This is a fan-made story for Elden Ring by NovaFrexus.)
"The Rune of Death is unbound,
And the Lands Between are shrouded by Death's dark fate.
But the flames will also burn the impenetrable thorns.
Farewell, it is, then.
You'll be Elden Lord yet." – Enia.
CHAPTER 1: Scarlet Daughter.
A fallen leaves tell a story. The great Elden Ring was shattered. In our home, across the fog, the lands Between. Now, Queen Marika the Eternal is nowhere to be found, and in the Night of the Black Knives, Godwyn the Golden was the first to perish. Soon, Marika's offspring, demigods all, claimed the shards of the Elden Ring. The mad taint of their newfound strength triggered the shattering. A war from which no lord arose. A war leading to abandonment by the Greater Will.
Arise now ye, tarnished. Ye dead, who yet live. The call of long-lost grace speaks to us all. Hoarah Loux, chieftain of the badlands. The ever-brilliant Goldmask. Fia, the Deathbed Companion. The loathsome Dung Eater. And sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-knowing. And one other. Whom grace would again bless. A tarnished of no renown. Cross the fog, to the Lands Between.
To stand before the Elden Ring, And become the Elden Lord.
"Don't worry torrent fortune is on his side. We found him here, after all. One of his kind is sure to seek the Elden Ring… Even if it does violate the Golden Order…" – A woman in robed.
In a different Reality, there exists a destined path that will be a tale across the fog. In the Lands Between, a tarnished with no renown seeks the Elden ring to become Elden lord. As he rides with his trusted steed torrent along the path to Caelid he meets one particular person where a different plot will start in motion.
It begins in Caelid, a land infested with rot after the battle between two great warriors, Radahn and Malenia. Malenia released the rot that plagued the island, nearly rendering it uninhabitable with an endless plague. Whatever transpired after the war, only left death in its wake, you or anyone else don't know who won the war in the end. This is where you headed next, riding your steed torrent along the road you closer to one of the ghost towns in Caelid called Sellia, it's known as the town of sorcery. Before Entering the town of Sellia you found a letter on the ground saying "Find me at the southern gate." Before you even open your map suddenly out of thin air someone appears and tries to kill you, torrent manages to evade on time and you start riding into the southern area, escaping those enemies that suddenly start appearing out into the thin air. As you approach the southern area near the castle gate not from afar you spot a shack, you find an elderly man sitting on a chair as though he's waiting for someone or something.
"A stranger? In Caelid? A Tarnished, no less. Welcome, warrior. I am Gowry, a great sage in my day, anyway."
As you stand in front of him, staring back at Gowry as if you're waiting for something, he then follows and says.
"You heed my message perhaps? Did you cross someone from the church? No? Well, I wanted to ask you a favor. But of course, I will provide recompense, what would you say? Would you accept?"
You nod at him approving that you will take his favor.
"Then you're willing to lend a hand are you? I need your help with something, help to heal a certain young girl. Her name is Millicent. You will find her atop the cliff, resting at the church. How do I know? Well I made her to run an errand for me, but something happened, she was stricken by rotting sickness."
You ask, "What happened? If I may ask."
"Oh, so you can talk! Ahem. I know you encountered Sellia, didn't you? She might have come across those mages and tried to make a run for it, but was perhaps caught by those rot monsters while escaping. I saw her figure running atop the cliff. I don't know what to do to get her back. I'm old now and not used to running, you know. That's why I'm thinking right now until you come. Perhaps it's fate after all."
"What would you want me to do?" You respond.
"I want you to get something for me. You see Millicent's rot sickness has no cure. But I have something to stop that rotting sickness afflicting her. You need to find a certain needle. Seek the scarlet swamp of Aeonia, find the unalloyed needle. Be careful, it's dangerous, but I pray that you will be successful in doing so."
You ride towards the swamp near Sellia and approach the scarlet swamp, an invader suddenly appears a red-haired woman. She emerges as a character of striking presence and undeniable prowess. Ready to strike, she runs towards you and attacks, attempting to cut you down, but you dodge it. You don't know why this woman is trying to kill you, but the only thought running through your mind is to stop her. She may be out of her mind due to the rot sickness. Everyone afflicted with it either loses sanity or succumbs to it.
As your two blades clash, she suddenly leaps, preparing to strike you with her unique technique, one you've never seen before. It's difficult to avoid her attack; you sustain cuts and bruises on your arms, body, and other parts, but all you can think about is finding a way to stop her. You successfully parry her strike and sever one of her arms, causing her to scream in pain. She looks at you menacingly before retreating to wherever she came from. You hope to yourself that she won't return and attempt to kill you again but if she does, you'll be ready for it.
You continue searching for a safe spot to heal your bruises and can resume your search for the needle until you encounter someone from the swamp—a merchant. You've crossed paths with them frequently around Limgrave, but you're surprised to see someone so close to the swamp, where dangers lurk.
"Ahh, a customer in Cailed? Either you brave one or a fool. Cast aside what I'm saying. You perhaps wanted to buy something that alleviates Scarlet, eh?"
You walk closer and sit beside him, and then you open your bag and take out some items, starting to patch your bruises.
"Hm, here take this." He lends something to you. "Just to make sure those bruises you get had no sickness from scarlet rot?"
"What is this?" you asked as you received the item from his hand.
"Oh. No one told you? Well, it's Preserving Boluses, it will stop the rot from building up in your body, stopping the sickness you see." He answered.
"I see. Thank you, then I pay for this one" You give your runes for the payment.
"Now I'm happy merchant trader hehe, I lend you an ear. Near this area in the middle, you will come across someone. His name is Commander O'Neil, he's tough, one of the commanders in Radahn's troops. Even after his lord had fled, Commander O'Neil continued to brandish his flag in the devastation of the rot-eaten field of battle, the sole veteran who remembers that battle with pride. So if you ever cross him. Run. It will be foolish to fight him but if you can manage, well good luck about that stranger."
Once you feel rested you stand and head to the swamp where Commander O'Neil is to be found. Maybe he knows about this needle and also you can feel that he has already succumbed to the sickness as he stands there staring blankly. You try to approach him hoping his sanity is still intact, but you stop in your trail. He suddenly looks back at you, you don't know what will happen next but he readies his weapon and summons his exiled soldier spirits.
You had no choice but to summon Aurelia. Aurelia's spirit's form is of a jellyfish, Roderika gave this summons to you, a token for giving her back the Chrysalids' Memento from her soldiers in Stormveil Castle. Aurelia spews poison into the commander. A great distraction, giving you an open opportunity to kill his exiled soldiers. As you focus on killing his soldiers, you didn't notice that commander O'Niel swings his great axe at you, you have not prepared to dodge and it will end you once it lands on you so you prepare to block his blow. You know it's going to hit hard and more likely it's going to kill you or leave you heavily wounded causing a hard time for you to attack and enough for him to kill you easily.
Suddenly, his great axe flies out of his hand as the other blade clashes with him. A red-haired woman appears, and you're confused because you remember she tried to kill you when you crossed the swamp earlier. Now, she's helping you? You cast aside your thoughts and strike back at Commander O'Neil. Your attack hits him, but he doesn't flinch. Instead, he jumps back, picks up his great axe, and summons more Exile Soldiers, this time armed with great axes as well. This proves it will be a challenging fight, as Commander O'Neil boosts his soldiers' morale with cries of "Glory, brave knights! — Offensive."
As your spirit continues to poison the Exile Soldiers, you focus on taking them down. The red-haired woman concentrates her attacks on Commander O'Neil. Once his soldiers are defeated, you catch your breath and turn around joining her in attacking Commander O'Neil. With your combined efforts, you and the red-haired woman finally bring down Commander O'Neil. As he kneels silently, slowly drifting away into ashes, you know his battle has finally ended.
You look at her and say. "You, Who are you?" as you point your sword at her while catching your breath. "Last time you wanted to kill me and now you're helping me?"
"So you meet one of my sisters." She answered and looked away. "She's succumbed to the rot then." You can feel the sadness in her tone. "Perhaps I'm destined to the same fate." She added in a lower voice.
"Did you say something?" You sheath your weapon. She didn't answer back "I guess thank you for the help, I thought it would be my end."
She sheathes her weapon and takes a deep breath. "Name's Polyanna," she says, then starts to walk away without looking back at you. You watch her until she disappears from view, then turn to look in the direction where Commander O'Neil was slain. You spot something on the ground and pick it up. Upon closer inspection, you realize it's the needle Gowry wanted you to get. Once you secure it, you call your companion steed and begin heading back to the shack through Sellia town.
"Oh, welcome back." You present the needle to him. "You've found the unalloyed needle. As promised, I will tell you a secret, I've detailed the secret of Sellia right here." He Hands you a parchment of letter. "Go on, it's yours. Now, look at this needle. While you unravel it's secret. Let me fix this needle. Come back once you're done, good luck." Before you start heading out, you stop on your trail and turn to look at him.
"Something amiss?" he said. "No, I wanted to ask you a question, I met someone at the swamp, and she told me her name. Polyanna ring's any bell to you?" you asked.
"You meet Polyanna? He said. "Maybe she knows what I'm trying to do." He whispered to himself. "Of course, I know her, she's one of my daughters." You nod at him and start heading out, towards Sellia. You open the parchment and read what's written on it. You need to light the flames atop the candle towers to break the seal. You notice several seals around the area, especially the large one blocking the way forward. You engage in battles with the mages more carefully than you experienced before they were invisible and slowly proceed to light each flame atop the towers one by one, gradually removing the seals from each area. Eventually, you fully lift all the seals around the area and loot those items you found while exploring the town, allowing you to cross atop the cliff. Before heading out, you rest at one of the graces pass the seals area that is now opened, and then start heading back to the shack, riding your steed.
"Now you're here. The needle is repaired, I hope you're having a good time removing those seals eh? Ahem, Now this needle will forestall the rotting sickness I'm sure." He smiled. "Will you take it to her? I will reward you in kind." He sighs. "A Wretched fate indeed. The Poor girl, she never wished for any of this." You take the repaired unalloyed needle from him. You start heading back once again towards Sellia crossing to the unsealed gate to get atop the cliff.
You spot a dilapidated church with two witless pests guarding the entrance. Charging with your steed, you ready your bow and shoot one of the pests, then leap forward, lunging with your sword to stab the creature. One of the creatures spews scarlet rot, but you block it with your shield and counter with a piercing attack, stabbing it in the stomach. The creature howls in pain, but you ignore it, instead swinging your weapon to sever its head. With determination, you defeat both creatures and head inside the ruined church.
You spot a person, a woman leaning back into the wall. You approach her it's the red-haired woman with a beautiful pair of golden eyes, one of her arms is severe as you see she's clenching trying to hide the pain.
"Ah… Ahh. Ngghh… Wh- Who's there?" She said. You put your hands into your sword while you continue looking at her, you recognize that she's the one who attacked you earlier. "well, it matters not. If you're wise, y-you will leave, immediately. M- My flesh writhes with scarlet rot. It is a curse. Not to be meddled with by man." You calm yourself and lower down, you look at her. You put out the unalloyed needle from your bag pack and showed it to her, you explained that this needle would help her.
"You want me to stab myself with th-the needle… To quell the scarlet rot?" she looked at you. "But. How? No, never mind. I've decided. I would rather trust you than simply continue to spoil from within." She grabs the needle from your hand and takes a deep breath.
"Would you mind… Averting your eyes for a moment?" She said. You sit beside her, you look up at the skies as you wait for her to be done with whatever she gonna do. "Well. That was easier than I expected I thought it would kill me."
You look at her. "But… Why do I feel so…" Then she lost consciousness, you checked if she still breathing thinking that Gowry may lied to you about curing her from the sickness. While she rests you decide to shave your blade and clean your shield. Looking at the shield it looks like it needs a repair from the round table. But first, you headed back to Gowry at the shack.
"It's done." You said to Gowry. "Welcome back, Thank you kindly for giving the needle to Millicent." He stopped for a bit and then "Now, she too, can begin her journey and stare her fate straight in the eye. Ahem, you've been a saint, through and through. As thanks, I vow to impart to you my knowledge of the lost sorceries of sellians, the descendant of the Eternal."
You take your time learning sorcery from gowry as Gowry guides you on how to use such sorcery. After a few hours passed he said. "Do you find it peculiar? That I would show such concern for the girl? Well, she's my daughter, after all, I found her in the swamp of Aenoia, a mere babe she is." Gowry smiled as he reminiscence the past. "She is one of my daughters. But the rotting sickness erodes one's memory. I doubt that she would remember the first thing about me." He laughs in a faint. "Oh, I must be getting old. I didn't always worry so much." You stand up.
"I must go back she might be awake." You said as you headed outside. "Don't worry about me, young man." He said, he gives you an approval gesture and you start riding your steed heading back to the church.
She noticed your arrival. She opens her eyes. "I… hoped to see you again. My apologies for the last time we met, I fainted before I could even say thank you." She smiled.
"I'm glad you're okay, looks like you can think clearly now," you answered.
"Everything is as you said. Since inserting the needle, the scarlet root has ceased to writhe." Then she followed said while looking straight at you. "Even the nightmares have abated... A-And now I though I can scarcely believe myself, I can move as I please. It is all thanks to you." She smiled and averted her look to the side, the cutest smile you saw for a while. "Not that I could ever truly repay you, but I would like you to have this, by way of thanks." She hands you a talisman. She stands up with confidence. "I'm considering leaving on a journey." She said. "With the needle buried in my flesh, I've started to recall, but dimply… My destiny… O-oh by the way, My name is Millicent. I pray our fate permits us to meet again." She starts headed out.
As you watch her go, you prepare yourself, you fast travel back to the round table through the grace asking Master Hewg to repair your weapons and armor. It's time for you to embark ahead again but first, you want to check Gowry before going. You fast-travel one of the graces near the southern gate, ride your steed torrent, and gallop back into the shack once again.
"Oh hello again." Millicent looked back at you smiling, she slightly raised her hand and waved at you. "Something about this place felt familiar to me. So I decided to stop by and pay a visit, hoping to find someone else. But I've only found emptiness." In her sad tone. You look around hoping you will find Gowry but alas his nowhere to be found. She gives out a big sigh "Perhaps before my departure, I needed someone to say farewell to." She put both hands on her cheeks. "I must focus on my journey, for which I have you to thank." She looks at you with determination. Then she headed out to continue whatever journey awaited her.
After a while, you saw Gowry headed back to the shack. "Oh, you noticed, did you? Indeed, Millicent did visit this hovel of a home. It seems the memories eaten away by rotting sickness yet remain but faintly." You said back. "Why did you hide? You don't want her to see you?" He looks at you. "However, she does not need me anymore."
"Maybe? But still-." He cut you off from finishing your sentence. "No, she must embark on her journey, and stare her fate in the eye. I mustn't impede. As I've aged, I've found the best way to aid the young… is to be forgotten. By the way, you must continue in your journey young tarnished but please make certain that little Millicent goes unharmed. Like her mother, she has the stuff to be a great warrior, but commands only one arm, and is yet preciously young." He smiled. You say goodbye to him and begin your journey towards the Red Mane castle to participate in the Radahn festival. When you almost arrived you were fired by some kind of artillery, so you hurried up to find yourself some covers and avoid the artillery from hitting you at the edge of the land By doing so you will fight a lot from Radahn's soldiers, you hold back nothing and continue towards the castle finding a way inside. You slay some soldiers here and there, even manage to take down a giant.
You manage to slip inside and fight more soldiers, they have solid positions to defend and they are even organized in the castle, you're having a hard time but you manage to push forward, defeating the tough crucible soldier and one of the tough creatures. You headed into a stair and you found someone sitting inside, blocking the doorway towards outside.
"Oh, Tarnished, are you? How did you slip inside, with the gate closed? Hmph. No matter. If you can fell one of them, you're a champion, in my book." Looking at you with an approved expression. "I am Jerren. Foolish old warrior, and witness. Incidentally, do you like a good festival, from time to time? Well, it's true, this fortress houses only the vanquished. But when the stars align, we celebrate. A war festival honoring the last battle and death of General Radahn, the mightiest demigod of the Shattering, and bearer of a Great Rune."
"Well. I'm not a festive kind of person." You answered. "Well, you're not much fun, are you, chum? No matter. One day you will see. That true warriors bask in glory at the festival." You look at him as if you waiting for something from him. "What? There is something wrong with my face." He said. "No nothing, i would like to ask you a question, Can you tell me about iji? Perhaps you know him?" with a curious look on your face. "Well, I haven't heard that name in an age. Then you must serve Princess Ranni? (Maybe a story for another time. Who knows if you like reading this I might consider creating another one related to Ranni) The next time you speak to Iji, tell him this: The festival of Radahn will surely set Ranni's fate into motion. By the way... Is that old fool still hammering out weapons? His enormous frame, cramped in that little place... Bit of a haughty sort. Strange fella, when I knew him. And the funny thing, his swords were all blunt as stone. But not one of them decayed when faced with the scarlet rot... But enough chitchat maybe you have matters to attend to right? Head down now greet your fellow warriors because the festival is about to begin boy." He laughs.
You headed down and you saw Blaid, Alexander, and other tarnished gathering together and one particular figure of a person you were familiar with.
TO BE CONTINUED.
I'm new to writing stories so expect some grammar or sentence errors typos. Feel free to give criticism I'm eager to learn. Disclaimer: This is non-profit writing and only purely entertainment for readers :)