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// Godrick the Grafted 
// Story: Elden Ring: The Deaths of Tirek 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Following the brief rest Tirek and Blaidd used the lift that brought them back up to the Grace to return to the chamber that the Grafted had been waiting in, where he found that there were some exceptions to the world resetting rule of the Graces, as certain enemies, such as the Grafted, didn't return. He guessed those foes were more like checkpoints or something, just to see if the Tarnished had the power to survive what was beyond them, or maybe he was overthinking everything and there was no reason other than luck, which was entirely possible at this point. He also stopped to admire a painting that was in the chamber, one that depicted a great warrior with what appeared to be a large spectral lion latched onto him, doing battle with whatever foe he happened to be fighting at the time. Just by staring at the painting he got the sense that the figure was a rather skilled and powerful warrior, while also possessing the heart of a noble, based on his attire and stance, who also screamed like he might be either another Demigod or even a God himself.

"Godfrey, the First Elden Lord, Queen Marika's first consort." Blaidd commented, where he stopped to look at the painting as well, either reciting information that was common knowledge in the Lands Between or sharing information that was best kept as a secret, but it seemed like the former to Tirek, "It is said that Godrick is a member of the line Godfrey and Marika started, though I guess we'll find out when we discover where he's hiding."

"Godrick is probably a weak Demigod, given that someone tried to protect the bridge to stop Tarnished from entering this castle in the first place." Tirek remarked, though while such a thing would have disappointed him, even if there was no way to tell if his thoughts were true or not, he did know that taking down a Demigod would grant him untold power, to aid him in his search for the other Demigods, "Come on, let's find him and get this over with."

After leaving the chamber that the painting was in the pair found their way to a courtyard that Tirek stopped to stare at, as there were all sorts of Soldiers guarding the path forward, some manning what appeared to be ballista, some having their own bows at the ready, and others readying their melee weapons. In addition to all of that he found what appeared to be a large figure, with an equally large weapon, who reminded him of Margit due to all the horns he had, an Omen according to Blaidd, though he was blocking the way to an area that might have a Grace in it. It wasn't that they needed another one after just finding a way back to the Grace he had rested at, it was just that his experience with this world, and how unfair it could be at times, told him that with this many enemies there had to be another one somewhere nearby. He told Blaidd his thoughts on the matter, while they were still safe since it appeared that none of the Soldiers had noticed them in the doorway they had stopped in, and he found that the wolfen warrior agreed, which meant their target should be over by the Omen.

A few moments later the pair emerged from the building they had been standing in, Tirek lashing out with his magic as he targeted the Soldiers that preferred to stand still, leaving all of the others for Blaidd to tackle as the wolfen warrior rushed at them and swung his greatsword, cleaving his way through them. Some of the Soldiers gathered near each other not a few seconds later and readied their weapons, intending on firing at the pair while they were distracted, causing Tirek to turn towards them without delay as he gathered his magic and loosed a burst of flames at them. He had to admit that his acquisition of a dragon's power had been beneficial to him, meaning if he found more of their power he would become far stronger in due time, especially since it caused a great deal of destruction for the Soldiers. Blaidd, of course, slashed at his foes and cut them down without delay, before he leapt over to where the Omen was standing and clashed with it, both of their weapons clashing as they fought for dominance, leaving Tirek to hurl spells at some undead dogs and some of the Hawks that dared to investigate the noise.

In the end, as Tirek expected, Blaidd cut down his foe and made sure that the Omen wasn't blocking the way at all, where they regrouped and approached the area that he had been guarding, where he found that there was definitely a Grace in the area and activated it without delay. With that in hand they turned and headed down the rest of the path that the large number of Soldiers had been guarding, where Tirek found some Hawks resting on explosive containers and ignited them before the birds could do anything, blasting them to pieces. While he did that, and made sure that the rest of the area was clear of similar enemies, Blaidd dealt with the couple of Soldiers that were in the way, hacking and slashing at them to be sure they could move forward without wasting too much time. Tirek did have to stop at one point, as there was an open door that lead into one of the buildings on their right, where he found a lady in what appeared to be barbarian armor and who happened to standing over a silver Knight that she must have killed while they were busy.

He instantly beckoned for Blaidd to leave her alone, because if she was able to take down one of the stronger foes that resided in the castle, without breaking a sweat based on what he could see, and if that was the case she might be in the middle of looking for Godrick, another useful ally he could use to his advantage.

"Be proud, knight, for you were a fine warrior... your only mistake in life was your choice of master." the lady stated, as if she knew who was inside the armor, in fact that explained much in an instant, before she picked up her axes from where they rested and attached both to her belt once more, "Let the winds lift you, to a higher place... who in the world are you two?"

"Tirek, and this is my companion Blaidd." Tirek replied, as the lady had turned towards the doorway while she was talking and spotted them without delay, though both of them did nothing to her, to show that he wanted to talk and that they meant her no harm, not unless she attacked them first, "We seek Godrick."

"A Tarnished and his wolf companion? How interesting." the lady said, where she took a moment to eye Tirek, no doubt to see how worthy he was of the title of 'Tarnished', before she sighed and removed her hands from her weapons, showing that she was willing to talk, for the time being, "I am Nepheli Loux, and I am here to end this repulsive grafting that Godrick has decided to partake in, as decreed by my father... if you are seeking him, maybe my father would permit me to join the fight."

"By all means, join us in our venture." Tirek remarked, because while he would have been worried about another warrior stealing the Great Rune and power of Godrick, ruining the reason he came here in the first place, he knew Blaidd didn't get Runes like him and he suspected that Nepheli was like Rogier, her status as Tarnished was broken.

In the end Nepheli decided to join him and Blaidd in their quest, where they headed down the rest of the path that the pair had been following and found that there were two Soldiers and a Troll blocking the path forward, causing Tirek to let out a brief sigh as he loosed some magic into the Troll's chest. Blaidd rushed forward after that happened and swung his greatsword at the Soldiers that were in the way, leaving Nepheli to zero in on the Troll and hack into it's feet, weakening it to the point that it collapsed, allowing Tirek to finish it off. Following that Tirek walked up some steps and found what they were looking for, a golden mist wall that had to be where Godrick was hiding, and in a small room to the right of the slim walkway he found a new Grace, where he activated it, rested, and used his Runes to empower himself. Such a thing gave him a chance to see that Nepheli didn't do anything like what he did, before reminding himself that she didn't seem to have her Finger Maiden anywhere, confirming that she must have been forsaken by Grace, meaning he didn't have to fear her taking what he was after.

In the next moment, once he was ready, Tirek walked over to the golden mist and walked through it, finding that it lead to a ruined courtyard that looked like it was full of graves, with a fallen dragon resting on a stake, before spotting the large figure who was kneeling by the beast's small corpse.

"Mighty Dragon, thou'rt a trueborn heir... lend me thy strength, o kindred, and deliver me unto greater heights." the odd figure, who had to be Godrick, said as he raised a hand towards the beast's corpse, while at the same time showing that his limb seemed messed up, as a result of his grafting no doubt, before he turned to face them, "Well now, what do we have here? A lowly Tarnished, playing as a pitiful lord... lowly intruders, I command thee, kneel! I am the lord of all that is golden!"

As he talked Godrick pulled off the cloak he was wearing and revealed that his entire body was grafted and that he had far too many arms, not to mention hands, on his back, while he carried two large axes into battle, one of which he slammed the head into the ground on his 'kneel' command. With that done the trio rushed down to where he was standing, where Tirek rained magic down on Godrick while Blaidd focused on swinging his greatsword at their foe, utilizing the frost power it possessed to deal damage, and Nepheli made her way around to attack the Demigod in her own manner. The part that was shocking was that the foul Demigod that was in front of them was able to roll and move with some level of ease that Tirek thought was strange for someone of his size, though he still suffered damage when all three of them struck him, a fact that he either ignored or didn't care about. There were some instances of him swinging his weapons that affected the wind, like he was creating a tempest or something, and when he struck the ground it seemed like he was causing parts of it to shake, like an earthquake, but if they were able to time their movements right they could avoid being hurt.

All of this greatly annoyed Godrick as they slashed at him and Tirek blasted him, to the point where he went mental and cut off part of his left arm with an axe, something that caused him to stick his stub against the dragon's neck, somehow transferring it to his own body as it crashed, head and all, onto the ground. What weirded Tirek out was that it worked and even brought the head back to life, allowing him to loose a burst of dragon fire into the air before Godrick attacked them again, showing them that he had totally lost his mind and that putting him down would be a mercy at this point. He was even able to add flames to his tempest power, in addition to loosing bursts of flames at his foes, though with three foes it became hard for him to do much since it looked like he had to focus when using the dragon's powers. Such a thing meant they were able to do far more damage to him than they did previously, but without any additional resources to grant into his body Tirek was able to deal a powerful blast to his chest, combining his own dragon flames with his magic, that caused their foe to explode, with the pieces disappearing into a golden mist.

What he left behind was a dull golden circular item with a circular trinity symbol, a Great Rune he realized, and a carving that resembled Godrick in some manner, not to mention a lot of Runes for his efforts, though all he could do was smile as the first leg of his journey was over at last and he looked forward to what the future held for him now.