Elden Ring: The Deaths of Tirek

by Blackdrag-rose

Storming Stormveil Castle

Once Tirek was done with the Grace, and had spent his Runes to be sure that he had none left in case things went south, he and Blaidd traversed the rest of the bridge, allowing him to see that Stormveil Castle was massive, far more now that he was right in front of it. Such a thing meant that finding the Demigod who owned this place might be harder than he thought at the beginning of his quest, in fact Godrick, if he was remembering the name right, might not even be here right now, since he knew the continent was massive. Even with Blaidd on his side he understood that it might take some time for him to find his target, since there was no telling what the inside of the castle looked like, though he could see that the main gate had been lowered, meaning they would have to find another way to infiltrate the castle. As he considered what to do next Tirek activated the next Grace, which was just odd to have three so close to each other, before spotting an opening to his left that seemed to head into a room that could have been a check in station at one time.

Fortunately for them there was a massive hole in the other end of the chamber that seemed to head outside, meaning it would be possible for Tirek and Blaidd to walk around part of the castle's exterior wall to reach their next destination, likely a door leading into the inside of the structure.

"A Tarnished? Finally, I never thought anyone could cross the bridge." a figure said, where Tirek found an old man off to the right that looked like he was a prisoner of some kind, due to the odd thing around his neck, though he and Blaidd came to a stop for a moment to focus on him, "I would advise against using the main gate, as it is guarded by old hands that would see any visitors slain on sight... however, might I suggest using the opening right here to get around them and enter the castle undetected?"

"It is a worthwhile strategy, and we might get closer to Godrick than if we take the main gate." Blaidd commented, as he knew that while he and Tirek might be able to deal with the force that was currently guarding the main gate, even though it might take some time and end with them more bloody than usual, taking the side path would save them time, "He's still in the castle, right?"

"Yes, the weasel is still here." the figure replied, something that caught Tirek's attention with ease, they knew that the first Demigod on his list of targets was still somewhere in the castle, causing him to glace at the opening that would bring them to wherever Godrick was hiding, after fighting off his minions, anyway.

"Good. Let's hunt us a Demigod." Tirek remarked, as that was all he cared about right now, tracking down his target and claiming his power, since it would allow him to become far stronger than before and also grant him access to the various people of the Roundtable Hold, or their services anyway.

Blaidd nodded and together the two of them headed through the opening, finding that it was a simple matter to walk on the outer ledge of the castle's wall, or a path that had been carved into the stonework by either an intense battle or some dark force. Tirek honestly didn't care which was true, the only thing he cared about was the fact that they were going to bypass the main gate and get inside the castle to begin their search, though they didn't have to walk along the ruined bit for too long and touched down on solid ground after a while. It was in that moment that they discovered more of the foul grafting that was going on inside this place, as there were large birds nearby that no longer had their feet, rather they had been replaced by blades, designed to make them guards of the exterior of the massive castle. Fortunately they didn't have to confront such a creature, as Tirek found a Grace off to their right and discovered a wooden walkway leading over to an opening that had to go inside the castle itself, so the pair walked over there, activated the Grace, and then started to move along the path he had spotted.

Sure enough they found some Soldiers guarding the outside, likely in the off chance that someone dared to come this way and not use the main gate, though there were fewer enemies by taking this route and Tirek summoned his magic without delay, blasting one into oblivion as Blaidd cut down a second. The third raised a horn to alert the rest of the team, but it wouldn't do much in the grand scheme of things since the main force inside the castle wouldn't hear it at all, leaving the pair to take him down before heading inside. From there Tirek found that he and Blaidd would have to head up several floors before reaching the peak of this part of the structure, dealing with Hollows that were hurling small pots full of fire at them, and barrels pull of powder that detonated upon impact, so they just let their enemies take care of the barrels first, to eliminate a threat, before moving in to deal with them. With him focusing on taking out the ranged Hollows, and Blaidd taking care of those who got too close to them, Tirek knew that it was only a matter of time until they figured out how to enter the castle and hunt down Godrick, he just had to be patient.

As they carefully made their way through this section, however, Tirek found a door that lead to a room that had a ladder inside it, one that seemed to go up to the final floor he could see from down here, only to discover that it was locked, an unfortunate thing since it meant they had to find the key.

One of the doors happened to be unlocked and the pair headed into the chamber it lead to, where they found a Knight who attacked them as soon as the door slammed shut behind them, though Blaidd proved to be more than enough for it, as he slashed his foe to pieces. Tirek discovered a key among the wreckage, in addition to a new talisman that was inside the chest the Knight had been guarding, but since this was a dead end he opened the door, which opened without delay, and made his way back to the locked door he had discovered. He quickly found that he was able to unlock the door they had passed by earlier and did so without delay, allowing him to head up the ladder before Blaidd followed after him, after making sure he had enough room to do so. From there they found another path that lead outside, which was guarded by two Hollows that were nothing compared to their might, before Tirek discovered something good, it might be leading right to another part of the castle, possibly another entrance.

Inside it, however, they discovered a silver Knight with a halberd standing in their way, to which Blaidd rushed at him as Tirek launched spells from the sidelines, since he could tell that the new enemy had great speed and that his companion was the only one who could deal with him.

After taking him down Tirek was able to walk up the stairs to his right and found that there was a lift in the center of the area they had discovered, one he didn't see how to activate, before discovering a doorway that lead to a new Grace, one he ignited and rested at to set their point. Once his Runes were used up they left the room by using the other doorway, as it lead outside and the pair discovered that it brought them out onto one of the ramparts above the castle's main street, a street that had a fair number of Soldiers guarding the area. The other thing the pair found out was that there were several Hawks who were hauling around explosive barrels, meaning it was their duty to kill enemies by hurling bombs at them, a fact that Tirek disapproved of, hence why he had Blaidd stay behind him as he hurled magic at his targets. His actions lead to the barrels detonating and tearing the Hawks apart, not to mention blasting the remaining barrels into oblivion as well, opening the way for them to head down to the roofs of some of the nearby buildings.

While they did that Tirek found an opening into what appeared to be a church of some kind, or maybe a building that had been designed in a similar manner, causing him to drop down and find someone standing nearby, a man wearing a robe and sorcerer hat, who seemed surprised to see them.

Rogier, as Tirek discovered, was definitely a sorcerer and he was looking for something specific in the castle, in addition to the Great Rune that Godrick held, even though he couldn't see the light of Grace anymore, and told him to enjoy it while he could, meaning the power that brought them to life would abandon them if they were unworthy. It was good to know, as it meant he had to do something none of the other Tarnished did, claim the power of a Demigod, or maybe even two or more depending on how many there were on this continent, before he lost the power to revive himself. Rogier, however, didn't need assistance finding whatever it was that he was after, since Tirek was sure that it was important as well and the act of finding it might give him more power, but since he wanted to be left alone the pair departed, crossing paths with a few Silver Knights and a few Hollows. They weren't the most important foe Tirek and Blaidd discovered, rather it was one of the Grafted, the monster he had seen when he emerged from the tomb, after being killed in that tree area, where the pair focused on Blaidd playing defense as Tirek struck it with magic, eventually bringing an end to it.

After that Tirek found a lift that brought them back up to the Grace he had activated not that long ago, where he decided to rest for short period of time, to restock his flasks and spend his newly acquired Runes, before worrying about the rest of the castle and the Demigod they were hunting.

Comments

[OP Omni God-Emperor Doom]

Why is nobody else commenting about this more recently?

[Blackdrag-rose]

11482035 Honestly, I have no idea.