The Four Belfries

After eternal rest, a light, as small as a speck of dust or the seed of a dandelion, has descended upon the hand of a man, whose body, resting in his hands, bore only a shield and an axe.

This was a warrior in the service of Hoarah Loux, ancient Lord of the Elden, without name, without achievement. No one knows his origin or his end.

Having been banished to the Wastelands, the Tarnished could do nothing but die one after another, for it was Queen Marika who left them to their fortunes without mercy for any of their kind.

But he has no hatred. He has no contempt. For his axe always fought in the name of Godfrey, The First Elden Lord. And surely he fought to the end to honour the name of his former lord.

The reason for his awakening... should be attributed to Queen Marika, who somehow had to revive this former champion from the dead. Granting him once again the right to return to the Lands Between, and the opportunity to perhaps become the next Elden Lord.

Despite being a little confused, the Tarnished man gets back to his feet, relying on his old, worn-out gaiters to walk back upright around his location.

He has no memory of the day of his death, but from the location, you can tell it was a very painful one throughout that process.

Without further questioning, he adjusts the rope holding his leather shield, and decides to walk out of the dark place where he lay.

He crouches down, and with a strength worthy of a warrior, he lifts the large stone door that obstructed his path. And only then is he able to see outside.

There are powerful wind currents all around him, blizzards that could blow someone away at any moment of carelessness.

The Tarnished exits what appeared to be a mausoleum, and heads left from the exit. It was the only point he could go to.

The sky is overcast, perhaps due to the weather conditions at the location. He also notices how dilapidated the place is, with almost nothing but some old blood marks on cornices and elsewhere.

With his advance, he soon crosses a shaky bridge of weathered wood, and upon reaching the other side, he is greeted by a stone structure, resembling a small fortress.

The Tarnished continues to advance until finally, what was expected happens.

Immediately the Tarnished takes up his axe, and blocks the cloud of dust with his small shield from entering his eyes and blinding him.

A monster of great size, bearing a long shield in one of its many hands, this beastliness carries several swords in all its other hands.

It is known as the "Grafted Scion" and is a very difficult monster to deal with because of the way it was designed, for it will seek to take down or break the stance of any warrior with multiple attacks.

But with the determination of a formidable warrior, the Grafted Scion does not back down and takes a fighting stance.

"Grafted Scion" roars fiercely, as if trying to show superiority against the Tarnished.

The monster is the first to launch an attack, it thrusts forward and immediately seeks to stab the Tarnished, to which the warrior immediately responds by deflecting the attack with his shield.

Here, the Tarnished takes the opportunity to launch an attack with his axe, a simple downward slash that takes off one of this enemy's arms.

The monster screams in pain, but the Tarnished could care less how this beast feels, and lashes out with another axe into the centre of the monster's body.

Blood sizzles everywhere, for the Tarnished's blow was effective.

Feeling threatened, the "Grafted Scion" begins to throw various blows into the air, with which it barely manages to make a few cuts on the Tarnished's body, as the Tarnished is trying its best to dodge it.

Fatigue sets in, so Tarnished steps away for a moment to catch his breath.

But the Grafted Scion wasn't going to leave him alone at this point, for he was already angry.

Raising his shield again, Tarnished blocks a lunge, the shield managing just enough to not be penetrated by this brutal attack.

However, this weapon got stuck in the small leather shield, and Tarnished realised this quickly enough.

Using the full force of his left arm, he pulls the Grafted Scion towards him, just enough to bring its head down. Alarmed, the Grafted Scion tries to put up its shield, but it is too late.

The Tarnished strikes the final blow, splitting the monster's head with a brutal axe blow. The contents of the monster's head scatter from side to side, staining the ground with blood and its corpse.

The fight was decided too quickly, a mistake would have cost the Tarnished its life. He is now breathing through his mouth, for all this fighting would have worn him down.

He sits for a moment on the stone floor to catch his breath.

...

Once rested, the Tarnished ransack the corpse of the monster, without being able to find much. So he decides to simply take the beast's shield and one of the swords he was carrying with him.

The shield rests on the Tarnished's back, while the sword was strapped to its left side.

He may look rather burdened, and he certainly has no idea how to store these things elsewhere.

The only place he can go from here is a ledge... he might be able to find a way out of this place if he looks hard enough.

However—.

His footing was so careless that the moment he reached the ledge, the stone came loose, throwing this warrior into the void, out of sight.