Chapter 6: Melina's Fetch Quest
Melina
Need she wait any longer?
The couple have been rutting for the past six hours now, when will this suffering end? If this was to be the consequence of her hasty actions, then Melina would never have come close to them until they reached their most desperate point, at least then, the two would have a sense of urgency when it came to their actions.
'I digress. Besides, it couldn't get much worse from here.' She sighed, peering at the sleeping pair from above the gate. 'Yeah. What's the worst that could happen? Being a few days off schedule? Psh~, nothing a little enticement can't curb. Though, his spells seem to align with that of the old Fell God's… a trouble sort. But no matter, nothing a few spare runes can't fix."
Trying to cope after having watched all of her Tarnished's antics, she ran away with a heavy hue of red painting her face. She traversed the lands between at an immense speed, taking full advantage of her incorporeal form. Through buildings, rocks, and a multitude of other objects, she eventually made it into the rot bursting swamps of Caelid.
Red as far as the eye could see, and the pungent smell of decaying flesh permeated the air like a disease. She took a moment to pity the poor souls who inhabited this hellhole, only to have it thrown away at the thought of who those individuals were, massive dogs with a craving for flesh, and dragons. Neither of whom were friendly in the slightest.
Dashing towards Fort Gael, Melina stealthily walked past the multitude of guards standing by, taking shelter in one of the sites of grace to catch her breath. Her objective for coming here was simple, but had the potential to leave her dead should she fail to sneak through the chariots wielding barrels of flame. And seeing as there were two of them, she had to be extra careful, lest she die in a blaze of glory.
Fortunately, they had a weak point, an easily exploitable one at that. Right at the back of their head, laid a sort of exhaust port, one that could explode if struck from above.
With a plan in mind, the maiden took her golden dagger and marched towards the castle walls.
*swish*
'What was that!?' She inwardly screamed, turning back and forth to find the source of the noise.
*swish swish swish!* x200
In a split second, arrows came falling from the heavens, pelting the ground with their sharp heads. 'An archer? But where could he-' Her thoughts were immediately cut off as wave after wave made impact with the dirt, inching closer and closer to her with each projectile.
The bowman's skills were scarily good, as even the path his arrows took bent in order to follow her. Likely a form of gravity magic, something most associated with General Radahn… "Oh dear."
Running out of another barrage, Melina stared at their origin, finding a tall heavily-armored man, holding a greatbow in his hands, and brandishing a greatsword on his back. And while, yes, she had the option of simply running away from it, but that choice wouldn't totally guarantee her safety, seeing as this single enemy saw through her incorporeal form.
Inconsequential as it were, it did leave a valuable question to plague her mind. "Who else can see me…?" An odd sense of curiosity burned within her, as she clenched her fist and dashed out of the way of a gravity-imbued arrow.
Previously, Melina could just rely on Torrent to do all of the running, but that card left her hand when she passed it to her Tarnished. Now, she had to play this smart, or else fall bef-.
Tossing those thoughts to the wind, she set her sights back to the soldier, watching as he notched yet another arrow into his drawstring. Aiming up into the sky, she observed as they once again fell into the floor, creating a massive trail, all of which sought her blood above all else.
Weaving between cover, the enemy suddenly paused his actions, not a single attack being thrown at the maiden. With confusion brewing in her mind from her foe's questionable battle tactics, she fished out a mirror from out of one of her pockets, using it to peek over the corner-.
Breathe in… breathe out… Everything was all under control. It wasn't blood leaking out of her hand. No, it was Rowa juice.
"Who am I kidding? Even a child wouldn't fall for that!" She chastised herself, nursing her wound with a bandage. "Either way, continuing to go stealthily is doing no one any favors. Why don't I just heal now and worry about that late-."
*HOOONK!*
"By the Great Will! Can this day get any worse!"
It was starting to become a disaster. While nobody, save for the archer, could see Melina, it also wouldn't be too hard to find her thanks to the trail of arrows following after her. Now, two routes present themselves before her. Either she kill the archer and continue with the plan, shaving off most of the risk that came along with it. Or, run. Run as fast as she could, leaving everyone behind and making a mad dash towards what she originally came here for.
The answer, was obvious. Melina was no muscle-headed fool after all. And with the injury she received, only a blind, naive, ignorant fool would do such a-.
*WHISH*
Cutting through the air, the noise was followed by a loud crash, then rumbling. Furrowing her eyebrows, she turned her head to see what had been hit. Only to discover an empty hill, free of any obstruction that might give her cover. He wasn't making it any easier for her, then again, why would he?
In the end, she could only let out a tired chuckle, the absurdity of the circumstances wrought before her, proving to be far more comedic than she had initially thought. Letting out a sigh, Melina leapt through the air with reckless abandon, zipping around in a zig-zag pattern attempting to lose the projectiles following her. In due time, she made it to the dastardly bowman in question, in the midst of another one of his shots.
And as so obviously predicted, it flew out, ripping through the wind like it was butter. From the milliseconds allotted for her to react, the maiden was able to spot an ominous purple glow emanate from the arrow, this one glowing far stronger than the rest. She had to dodge, and immediately at that. Lest this little side-quest of hers turns into a funeral.
Passing energy through her dagger, it also began glowing, and as opposed to the heavy violet hues, golden light radiated from her weapon as she bent into a low position, just barely avoiding the attack aimed for her. Relief passed through Melina, who only applied an even greater amount of energy through her blade, her negative emotions bubbling to the top as she did so.
Rising into the air, she swiped her weapon in the direction of the enemy, firing a golden arc from the blade. Leaving no time for her foe to recover, she rushed back in, blitzing past his defenses and stabbing at his chest piece.
Her efforts were met with resistance, as the knight pulled out a dagger of his own, having pulled it out just in the nick of time. But, while he was able to block, the same couldn't be said for her holy projectile, as it made contact with the upper half of his body, cutting through his armor and lacerating large parts of his left shoulder and face.
Jumping back, she repositioned herself for another attack. However, as though they didn't affect him, the knight of Radahn, equipped his mighty greatsword and rammed at her, hoisting his weapon as you would with a lance.
Moving to the sides was no good, seeing as he could simply direct his blade with nothing more than a push, so the only way to avoid it, ironically enough, was to get closer. Invading his space, she snaked her way onto his back, wrapping her legs around his chest, and poising her dagger high.
"May you return to the Erdtree, in peace."
Hammering her weapon into his helmet, a loud clang echoed as metal met metal. Though, unlike most other daggers, hers was able to pierce straight through the layer of protection with little to no effort, slaying the foe in an instant.
"One down. Now, I get the pyromancy itself." She heaved, taking many deep breaths. "Whatever it is, the incantation better be worth it. Lest I become a jester in the eyes of the Tarnished…"
…
Dave
Not to sound rude… but why do I have to deal with another crying woman?
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[A/N: Been a bit busy, finals are in less than a week. Chapters will be coming out slower. I just barely got this one done. The omake will be out both publicly and on patreon, enjoy.]
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Semi-Canon Omake: Red Mark of the Hunter
Fire, death and destruction. And all that was left in his path was a mountain of corpses. The figure wore a white mask, a veil of crow-like feathers on his shoulders, and in his hands was a pair of katana.
The man was just standing over the corpse of his newest victim, any ounce of emotion hidden from the world. "Another fool who thought he could parry my sanguine blades… In the end, he was nothing more than a Moonveil user… Pathetic." He sighed, shaking his head. In the next moment, his body flickered, as the world around him dissipated.
It was just another mission to the man, nothing more, nothing less. And as one ended, the next began, his surroundings coming into view as he arose from the earth, his breath hitching at the new smells.
"A man… and a woman..." His body craved for their blood, a trail of saliva dripping down from his mask. "Both… faith. I shall show them the true power of the arcane arts…"
He set chase, running towards them with his arms spread wide, and his swords trained on either one of them. The man pushed his companion back, drawing forth his greatsword. This did not matter to the murderer however, as a howl reverberated from his vocal cords, pushing back the massive weapon through sheer force of will.
His opponent looked astonished, but quickly set his sight back on the battle, placing a miniscule shield in his offhand as the crazed man swung his katana high.
*Clang*
The first two hits were blocked, but not totally. He was able to lacerate a significant portion of his foe's arm before carefully backing away with a quick step. The distance between the two of them was quite large, enough to make either one's attack extremely telegraphed.
They both stared each other off, eyeing the other keenly. Only for that focus to be broken when a bolt of lightning came crashing into the blood thirsty man's body, shocking him to his core.
"You bitch!" He angrily roared, growling at the maiden who had thrown it at him. "I will not be thwarted by mere cosplayers! I can't accept this!" Breaking character, he swiftly dashed towards the woman, instantly moving behind her with his blades poised to strike. "Die!"
Just as his strike came crashing down, a black flame trailed between their legs, flaring up at his crotch. "Black Serpent" The pyromancer uttered, his hand firmly placed on the ground.
*Boom*
The beast was thrown off his feet and into the air, crashing back into the earth just as quickly. The oxygen in his lungs was shot out, leaving him breathless in the wake of the attack. "Ha- half?" He sputtered. "Bu-t I have magic-resistant armor… I'm even wearing the anti-magic talisman for crying out loud!" Ranted.
Absolutely seething, he got off the ground, only to taste the earth once more when the swordsman pushed his blade into the mad man's chest, piercing straight through his body as it ignited.
Moans of pain left his throat, his hands clawing at the air as he tossed and turned on the ground, cries of revenge cursing both he and his companion as the fool died a dog's death.
"Get good."
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