//------------------------------//
// Meeting the Untethered 
// Story: Elden Ring: The Deaths of Tirek 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Following his defeat at the hands of Margit, and his desire to not go back in since he'd be slain again and again, Tirek did the only thing he could do right now, he warped out of the area before the ruined bridge and returned to the Grace that was near the area that the dragon was resting in. He was going to focus on the lake and the rest of the area for some time, as it seemed like a good place to explore and maybe raise his power in, provided he didn't encounter another powerful being that killed him in one hit or overpowered him in some manner. With the ruins already checked off his list that left two more areas for Tirek to check out, one being the cave in the wall he had noticed to his right, just before the dragon arrived, while the other was a channel that must have been carved out by a river at one point. He also realized that, at some point in time, he had to figure out where in the world he could learn more spells, since he needed more than what he had right now, as two spells wasn't enough after what he had seen so far, he just had to be patient he guessed.

With his choices in mind he whistled for Torrent and rode down the path to the lake, though this time he decided to head off to the left, towards the gap that the bridge was built over, where he noticed that there were a few skeletal warriors hanging from the underside of the stone structure.

Sure enough they dropped down from where they were resting and showed that there was more life in them, as they were brought to life by some dark magic, animated to fight until they were utterly destroyed in battle, and there were some in the bushes future beyond them. Tirek wasn't even surprised as he climbed off Torrent and loosed some of his magic at them, striking the skeletons in their chests and knocking them down, though in the following moment he found that the one that remained still had a dark aura around it. He rushed at it without delay, where he swung his blade at the energy and cut right through it, where he heard the sound of something breaking and watched as the skeleton dissolved before his eyes, which put a smile on his face as he turned towards the other. This allowed him to realize that if he struck the magic he could take them out, he just had to do a bit of damage to make that opening, and while he found that they lashed out with swords, a spear, and even a few arrows, he found that they were incredibly slow, enough for him to gain the advantage.

As such he was able to wipe out the skeletons without losing too much of his health, even though they didn't drop anything for him to take on his journey, to which he climbed onto Torrent once more and continued down the small river that he was currently investigating, or at least until a point where he was forced to dismount.

"What in the world is going on?" Tirek asked, once more knowing that no one was really doing to answer the question, but it was due to the fact that he couldn't whistle for Torrent to come back so they could get out of here, before he felt someone trespass in his world, as it felt like someone had invaded the area he was in, or the world itself.

He found the culprit with ease, as there was a black and red robed figure that was approaching the area he was in, one who had an ugly helm and seemed to be carrying two daggers in his hands, meaning the invader had come to him and he could punish him accordingly, without wasting time. That idea was ruined instantly as Tirek loosed some spells and the figure just dodged out of the way before one could hit him, reminding him of Margit a little when he thought about it, though he did the same as the invader tried to cut him with his daggers. While that happened he discovered a few other things as he fought the figure in front of him, the first being that he felt another presence intrude on this world, the second was that the invader had a red aura, the third being a golden figure rushing to his aid, and the fourth being that crescent waves of blood could be loosed from the invader's weapons. That last one came as a surprise as he was struck by them, something that seemed to inflict his body with some sort of condition as he was hit, though after two more his body ruptured, like his blood vessels had exploded or something, with the world fading as he fell into the water behind him.

He returned to the last Grace he had activated and realized that it must have been some sort of bleed effect, one that was easy to build up based on the battle that had just ended, to which he climbed on Torrent and headed back down to where he had been invaded. Sure enough he found that he was forced off his steed once more, though this time around he made sure to pick up his Runes before backing off, allowing his unexpected ally some time to appear in his world before the foul invader could kill him again. Once his ally was back in this world, who seemed to be a samurai with a metal hat that was in the style of the wide straw hats, the pair turned on the invader and attacked him, where this time Tirek made sure to avoid his blood waves and fire a spell every now and then, when the red figure's back was turned. Together he and the samurai were able to take down the invader and banish him from this world, maybe even killing him outright in his own world, where the golden figure gave him a slight nod of his head before disappearing, returning to his world as Tirek moved on with his own mission.

He did, however, find that his prize from killing the intruder was one of his daggers, a useful weapon that he might use in place of the sword he was carrying right now, before he found a cave off to his left and headed inside, finding a Grace that allowed him to rest up and spend his Runes in peace.

With that done he continued deeper into the cave and found that it was more lit up than what he expected, based on the caves he had seen so far, though as he moved into the next part of the cavern he heard a crystalline alarm of some kind, like a noise trap, that alerted the inhabitants of the cave. He wasn't too worried as he discovered that his foes were just a group of Hollows that were responding to the noise, and since they were grouped together his arc spell was more than enough to deal with them in no time, clearing the area in record time. After that he found two paths that were open for him to explore, one that seemed to head to a larger cavern and one that seemed to be a dead end, so he checked out the dead end first and found a chest that contained a bunch of mushrooms inside it. Tirek stood there for a moment, as he had to wonder who in their right might would store such items inside a chest, which usually held valuable loot, before he let out a sigh as he added them to his stash of items, figuring that he'd find a use for them at some point.

After that he headed into the other cavern and found that there was what appeared to be an abandoned camp resting off to one side, in fact there was another chest waiting to be opened, making him wonder if this was the invader's place and that he had been slain for real, to which he opened the chest and found a cloth shirt and pants.

"Well, well, well? Did you think that you could just help yourself to another man's personal belongings?" a voice asked, one that was unhappy and seemed to be coming from a ledge that was above him, where Tirek found a bald man in leather armor, carrying a spear and a metallic rectangular shield, jumping down to face him, "You scheming little thief. The gods demand repentance! Cough up your coin, all of it!"

As Tirek opened his mouth, to challenge the man's words and offer a way to stop this madness, he found that the figure was unwilling to listen and lashed out with his spear, causing him to back off before lashing out with his magic, which did hit his target and forced him to back off a little. From there he found that the figure continued to press the attack, a fact that annoyed him greatly, though he also discovered that the shield was a great annoyance as well, blocking some of his attacks and allowing his foe to gain the upper hand in this battle. In that moment he changed his mind and switched out his weapon, changing the sword for the bloody dagger he had picked up from the invader, where he cast his spells like he usually did following that, only this time he had a new tool to use against his foes. While his foe held his shield up, mostly to defend against his spells, Tirek focused and swung the dagger, releasing a crescent wave of blood that slammed into it and earned a scream from the figure, no doubt in annoyance for his actions, causing him to grin as continued to attack his foolish opponent.

Eventually he heard the pained gasp as blood burst out of his foe's body, just like what had happened to him back when he fought the original owner of this weapon, causing the figure, who was still alive, to cower behind his shield and claim that he was surrendering, but Tirek dealt the killing blow to him anyway.

"Well... it was bound to happen... some day." the figure said, where he fell to his knees for a moment as he looked up at Tirek for a moment, only to sigh as he set down his spear and his shield as his body started to evaporate, likely a sign of a person fading from the world, true death in a sense, and let out a weak chuckle, "What a shit show..."

As the figure faded away Tirek sighed, as he didn't get a lot of Runes from him and that was what he cared about, before he collected the set of armor that had been left behind, all leather, plus a small ball of some kind and the spear, though as soon as that was done he returned to the upper Grace near the lake and rested, as there was more to explore before he was ready to face the powerful beings that stood in his way.