Fort Haight.
Like Castle Morne it sat along a cliff overlooking the coast, its tall walls worn down by time but remaining firmly upright compared to all the ruins strewn about. At a glance Onyx could tell the place wasn't nearly as big or expansive as that castle though it did earn it's title as a fort, ballista stationed along its walls, a single rounding incline outlined by craggy stone that allowed clean access to it, the spiked barricades set up throughout said path forcing any attackers to bunch up in the chokepoint or waste time bashing the barricades.
Several snaps filled the air, followed by the piercing of flesh and blood splattering both grass and barricades.
"It appears as though that mortal did not see fit to explain the true extent of all that is occurring here." Marika noted, floating just behind he and Melina as they watched the ongoing battle taking place just beyond the fort's walls from a distance.
Dozens of demihumans were making an attempt to rush up that incline. Speeding bolts from the overlooking wall pierced clean through their bodies and crashed into the ground below them, killing and sending much of their number flying. The barricades and ballista only slowed, not deterred, many of them making it below the weapon's range only to be stabbed and cut down by a shield line of knights at the ready.
A skirmish of sorts. The demihumans had numbers on their side, and the knights' superior tactics and positioning.
"Had thee been of meager strength as most tarnished, that mortal would've been sending thee to a swift death." Marika said. "It would be unwise to fulfill his request. It would serve only to propagate such treatment."
That all assumed that noble, Kenneth, was even aware of what was going on. If he and his knights had been desperate enough to flee through the Mistwoods with so few among their number, he doubted they spent much time hanging around its edges to keep tabs on the fort. In his experience the demihumans might veer on the simple minded side of things but they were opportunistic.
They'd probably seen Kenneth be pushed out of the Fort then decided to take their shot at it afterwards. Still, that noble and his knights could've mentioned more than that commander. They'd made it sound as if he took the entire place himself.
It's not like it mattered though. He didn't come here to fight their battle for them. All he wanted was a look at that blood magic.
"What do you intend to do?" Melina questioned as a breeze blew downwind from the battle, the smell of spilled blood drifting past.
Seeing as none of the knights manning the ballistae or the one's holding the pathway into the fort sported the plume helm that signified commanders under those who wore Godrick's colors, the one he was looking for was probably behind the walls.
"We'll be heading in." Onyx said as he shifted the Grafted Blade into a one handed reverse grip, careful to keep its pointed ends away from him. He placed a hand on Melina's back and with another shift swept her off her feet, positioning her in an effortless princess carry, her weight barely registering with mana strengthening him.
He took a step forward, bending his knees slightly. The craggy mound they observed the battle from cracked as he shot off it, soaring clean through the air and towards the ongoing battle. He landed on the grassy mounds that shaped the chokepoint the demihumans were persistently funneling themselves through.
One of the knights manning a ballista didn't waste a moment, moving the take aim the moment they took notice of him.
They didn't get a chance to fully line the shot up, Onyx already taking off into another bound, this one more of a leap. Both his and Melina's hair rose as they reached the apex of the leap, a momentary weightlessness taking hold before gravity reintroduced itself with a vengeance.
They landed on the roof of one of the tall corner towers the fort sported, the stone cracking beneath his feet but holding firm. He stepped over to the edge, the position providing a perfect overview of the fort in its entirety.
The corpses of knights were scattered across the grass, stone, and even the wooden staircase leading up the fort's walls. Left out to decay, a pungent stench wafted up from the place, small gatherings of rats and birds feeding upon what hadn't gone completely rotten.
This place might've been taken but there was no plan beyond that by the looks of things. That or they were too preoccupied fighting off demihumans to truly hunker down.
His gaze rose up from the courtyard and towards an open space the staircase led up to. A single knight, a sword in hand with a plumed helm covering their face, stood at the center of a bloody massacre. Just as many bodies were laid around him, blood covering all the stonework.
Strangely enough the knight stood over one of the bodies, constantly stabbing different parts of the body at his feet, only stopping to watch the blood slowly ooze from the already nearly drained body.
An odd way to pass the time. It looked like the trend of blood users being oddballs was going to hold true in this world.
Onyx bent his knees and leaped. He landed behind the knight, a web of cracks spreading from his feet.
"Afternoon." Onyx greeted as he placed Melina on her feet. She hadn't been the least bit frazzled by the leaps, blankly regarding the knight before them as her cloak shifted, a hand on her dagger. "You're the knight that's using blood magic, right?"
The commander delivered one final stab into the corpse at his feet then slowly twisted. First the torso, then the shoulders, and finally the neck. The commander was quite slow and deliberate in the motion, audible cracks coming from his bones as though it were the first time he had moved from that previous position all day.
It would be threatening if he was, well, threatening.
"…You have heard of my gift?" The commander questioned, voice gravely and rough. "Who are you?"
"Onyx." He said. "Mind showing me some of that magic? I'd like to see it for myself."
"You…you want to see it?" The commander questioned. With a firm yank he ripped his longsword from the stab riddled corpse and turned fully. "Yes, yes, of course you do." His voice rose, hands following as if paying respects to some unseen force in the sky above them. "My revelation, my gift must be shared with all!" His voice climbed to a full on yell, raised hands falling to his face and fingers hooking into different parts of his helm's darkened visor. "I shall allow you to experience it firsthand!"
A crazed threat if ever Onyx heard one. And he'd heard plenty.
The commander abruptly pulled his longsword to his side as he rushed forward, gloved hand gripping the bare blade.
Onyx stepped in front of Melina, raising the Grafted Blade.
Stopping just shy of reaching him, the knight swung, slicing open his palm. Blood flowed along the arc of his wide slash and crashed into Onyx's weapon, the force far surpassing everything the knights he'd encountered so far managed.
It'd have been quite the force to be faced with not long ago.
Onyx lowered the Grafted Blade slightly, brow raised as he looked over the guard. "Anything else?"
A crazed, almost snarl like, grunt left the commander, who was quick to cut himself once more, another bloody slash sent Onyx's way. Then another. And another.
Aside from the fact he was physically harming himself, the power on display wasn't all that different than incantations or sorceries. With each cut to himself the commander drew upon his own energy, mingling it with another as he focused it into his blood. That other definitely stemmed from some unseen greater force.
Once could be shrugged off. Twice was a coincidence. Thrice was a pattern.
He'd yet to encounter any in these lands who drew upon their power alone. It'd be one thing if they were all willingly making use of these outer forces to boost their respective capabilities, aware of the influence they were exposing themselves to, but those of this land were completely reliant on those outer forces with little knowledge of how far the relationship could go.
No matter how strong an opponent he encountered in this world, he'd never be able to fight them at their full potential. A shame.
Taking deep breaths, the commander finally leapt back, the barrage given a rest. Onyx took the chance to twist the Grafted Blade upright and release the handle, quickly recatching it in a proper grip rather than the lax reverse grip he'd used to block that bloody mess.
"Well, I've seen enough." Onyx said.
"You've…you've seen enough?" The commander repeated, crazed edge replaced by disbelief.
"Yep. I just wanted to get a look at your magic. Now that I have, I'm done here. Good luck with whatever you're doing."
"You-You bastard! You don't get to decide any of that!" The commander shifted, leveling his longsword beneath his profusely bleeding palm. This wasn't going to be one of those quick slashes. He was allowing it to gather, slowly drawing his sword back so that it's entire length would be coated red. There'd be far more power behind the slash to come.
But it would still just be the same old basic manipulation of blood.
"Hey." Onyx said. "If you swing that blade you'll be starting a fight."
"You arrogant fool." The man all but growled. Satisfied with his bloodied sword he raised it overhead, the trail of blood dripping down onto his gloves and armor. "This will be a slaughter."
He stepped forward, bloodied blade tipping forward.
Onyx pulled the Grafted Blade across his chest and swung.
The commander's bloodied blade continued forward, clattering to the stone below. The commander himself managed one more shaky step before following after his weapon, torso and legs falling part, waist reduced to bloody pieces. The Grafted Blade's many sharp ends ensured an evisceration no matter how it was used.
Its inherent brutality was a match from the anger it housed.
"Foolish." Marika said, appearing over the body, arms crossed and lips curled in disgust. "Rather than turning to another, this mortal should've done away with faith entirely."
Rapid steps and clanking armor didn't give him a chance to respond, the few knights able to withdraw from the fort's defense converging from the walls as well as the courtyard below.
Grafted Blade twisted into a reverse grip, he picked up Melina and with a leap, landed on the tower he scouted the fort's interior from.
"This is unnecessary." Melina said plainly as he crouched once more. He leaped again, climbing high into the sky.
"Obviously!" He yelled over the whipping winds. She could do away with her physical form at any moment and follow him easily, her tether to him ensuring that'd she'd keep pace. "Disappear if you want but don't you thinker there's something great about traveling like this?"
As he reached the very height of his latest jump, Melina took a moment to look about.
And she had plenty to look at. The shifting waves sliding upon the sands of the beach just beyond Fort Haight. The mounds of grass and wild vegetations below. The distant Mistwoods, the brown bark and golden leaves of that minor Erdtree she spoke of visible from this high up.
She might not be able to enjoy the winds traveling through their hair but from here the beauty of the land itself could be appreciated from a view few would ever get.
Mana truly did trivialize many of the entertaining aspects of long travel, but it opened just as many doors.
Melina didn't say anything, but she didn't fade away either, eye glued to the sight before them.
As he landed, Onyx glanced back, not at Fort Haight, but at the overlooking cliff, flashing a smile, before taking off in another bound.
XOXO
An exhale left Blaid's snout as he watched that tarnished shoot him a smile before bounding off with his maiden.
He'd followed out of vein curiosity, expecting to watch a bloody display once they reached that fort along the coast. Instead that Onyx character jumped in, allowed that blood crazed knight to attack him before preparing to leave, all without a single act of retaliation. That knight hadn't realized how far out of his depth he'd been and pushed for more than he could handle. Still, the tarnished restrained bloodshed to that man alone.
What an odd warrior.
That spectral steed that accompanied them had been reason enough to report to her, but Lady Ranni would want to hear about such a person immediately.
That strength of his might be the thing behind all those flocking to Limgrave.
XOXO
(A/N: Almost had it but didn't quite stick the landing of updating the whole week. Either way I've decided to settle on an actual schedule for this story. I'll be posting Monday/Wednesday/Friday at 9:00 a.m pst, 12:00 p.m. est, etc(Convert for your relevant time zones).
You'd think it'd be all the writing that burns me out but nope, its editing. I never really explained my process but just know I do that crap manually. I usually enjoy rereading my own works but having to turn on my critical eye and nitpick through everything while ignoring the story itself is some of the dullest work ever. Literally kills my motivation. I've considered using things like Grammarly or other corrective tools but half the time they're just trying to edit out my writing style and intentional things I've done to try and make it perfectly adhere to rules or be more concise. Much easier to use my own judgment even if it is tedious.
The strangest thing, is I can hop between ideas and edit back to back but try to get me to continuously edit for the same story for too long and I start hating everything. Creative work is very weird. Or maybe I'm weird.
Basically I'm too antsy to sit around editing day after day without loosing all my drive to write so no daily posts. However, whenever I'm looking to have a free weekend with no overtime schedule or a hangout with my friends, I'll drop a powerstone goal at the start of the week for an extra post that weekend. Best middle ground I can find that doesn't absolutely demolish my motivation.
Shout out to authors who manage that and more. You're better than me.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Finally got to allude to our dear Ranni so I'm happy.)