(A/N: Damn, I'm actually going to have to lock in and do some extra writing and editing for this weekend. You guys are crazy for throwing me all those stones. Keep it up.)
XOXO
A bridge, large and wide, connected the southern end of Limgrave to the southern most landmass of The Lands Between. Time and weather wore down detail and its edges, but the structure held fast over the shifting waters below.
"How…How does it look?" Irina hesitantly asked.
"Well-" He began, still scanning the distant bridge through his telescope. The knights she said were supposed to be holding it were strewn about, lying in dried pools of their own blood. And it wasn't a simple case of being bested in battle. They were carved into pieces and disemboweled, many of their corpses missing limbs. Even now, the ones responsible loomed over their bodies, rusted saws and axes further eviscerating the remains.
An act meant to feed malicious desires and satisfy a deep seeded fury.
"-we'll probably be attacked if we try to pass." He finished as he lowered his telescope, glancing up to Irina who sat on Torrent's saddle, all of them at the end of a cliff overlooking the bridge. She locked her hands together, frowning. If the bridge leading to this Castle Morne was in such a state, things weren't looking good for the knights there.
Including her father.
"Torrent? Mind staying with her?" Onyx asked, taking a moment to check his weapons and tools. A neigh came from the horse, snout bumping his shoulder. "I'd have them ready for you either way, buddy."
Mist brushed past as he finished making sure his crossbow was properly loaded with a bolt before pulling his sword free to check the blade over for any damage. "Do you truly intend to converse with them?" His one-eyed stalker asked as she appeared just out of arms reach behind him.
"To make an attempt at least." He said without looking back.
"For what reason? You have already witnessed the cruelty they are capable of."
"Why not?" Silence followed his answer. He glanced back to find her unblinking stare focused solely on him. Well, he was just as curious about her as he was about this world. Giving a serious answer wasn't asking for too much.
"While there are certainly some who are malicious by nature, I have found that for most people, whatever their race, it tends to be reactionary. An answer to an opposing force." He explained. "From what I've heard so far, these misbegotten were slaves. A little brutality against their former masters is natural. It's not a reason to treat them as monsters."
Her stare held for a moment before a low hum of acknowledgement left her. Her unchanging expression betrayed little so he couldn't be sure, but it seemed to appease her to some degree.
Maybe the curiosity was mutual. Even the brutal scene ahead stirred nothing from her and yet she went out of his way to get his opinion.
"Hey?" He questioned, attention returned to his blade. "Can you protect her while I'm down there?"
"…I am not a warrior." Melina said after a moment's pause.
He raised his blade, the sun straight above reflecting light off the length of the weapon.
He shifted his grip.
Took a slow breath.
And twisted into a swing.
Her short reddish hair swayed alongside the gust produced by the blow. The end of his sword hovered just over her shoulder, a nudge away from the curved blade of a strange dagger.
He'd given her little warning, that slash more than capable of dropping all matter of fighters had he followed through, and yet she'd managed to pull that blade out from her cloak and prep a defense without batting her eye.
Even at this body's current best, this woman was more than capable of killing him should she wish to.
"I never said you were." He said as he returned his sword to its sheath. "Will you do it?"
She lowered the weapon, hiding it beneath her cloak as she stared. He smiled. He doubted a little stunt like that was enough to get under the skin of someone so stone faced.
Finally, she nodded.
"Thanks, Cyclops." He said before looking to Irina. She'd been quiet, stuck between anxious concern and uncertainty, blissfully unaware of the near exchange of blows. "I'm going to check the bridge out myself, Irina. I'll be back."
"Y-Yes." She squeaked, jolted from whatever was going through her mind. "Please, be safe."
"No promises." He said while rolling his sore arms and peaking over the edge of the cliff. There were odd tombstone like structures jutting out the side of it. Their purpose?
He stepped over the edge, dropping on one, a flash of soreness racking his body that he promptly ignored before dropping to the next.
He had no clue, but right now they served as the perfect scaffolding to make his way down.
XOXO
Melina thumbed the handle of the dagger beneath her cloak, silently watching as Onyx approached the bridge taken over by misbegotten.
She'd come to believe him to be of the shallow, irresponsible sort. He acted according to whims, self preservation and logic barely even an afterthought. Constantly putting himself at the mercy of those who would sooner kill than exchange words with him, his constant offers of meals to Torrent as well as herself, his original desire to look into the ruins that merchant spoke of.
This latest choice was just another reckless decision that supported that.
Yet, faced with the same bloody scene that would've inspired fear and mistrust, both sensible reactions given the brutalized remains of the knights decorating the bridge, he showed understanding. Perhaps even sympathy.
A sentiment she wasn't sure was deserved.
Queen Marika had her reasons for spurning the misbegotten. Some dark history or cruel event coming to pass that cemented them as enemies against the entire Golden Order. But, whatever her reasons, in this age, all, be they members of The Order or those without the blessing of Grace, suffered the same.
Could the misbegotten truly be deserving of such suffering? More than anyone else struggling to survive?
She closed her eye, wind brushing through her hair and fluttering her clothes.
A truly pointless question. So long as things remained as they were that suffering would continue for all. Finding one who could fill the throne was essential to changing that.
"Hello?" Melina reopened her eye, looking at Irina who sat helplessly on Torrent's saddle. Even having recovered from her injuries, she was no less defenseless. To any who undertook the task of looking after her she was dead weight.
If he thought the misbegotten's actions were justified why bother continue helping her? She'd briefly considered the idea of it being some attempt to appease a baser desire but that had no legs to stand on. At least not in regard to Onyx. She'd seen what the more desperate were capable of and he hadn't leveraged his power over her for anything of the sort.
Other than chalking it up to one of whims, she could not fathom why he readily took on such a responsibility.
Torrent neighed, gaze turned upon her.
"Yes?" Melina answered Irina's call.
"Ah." Her delayed response was met with surprise, Irina's attention focusing more closely on her location. "I'm sorry if I'm bother but is sir Onyx okay?"
Sir Onyx as she called him, had, predictably enough, ending up being attacked by the gathered misbegotten. Rather than using that absurd combat prowess of his and fighting for some slim chance at victory, he showed sense for once, avoiding their attacks and fleeing.
She wondered if it had more to do with his previous injuries or sympathy. How did he intend on delivering on his offer of aid if he didn't fight?
Torrent neighed again.
"He was attacked by the misbegotten and is currently fleeing." Melina said.
"Was he hurt?"
"No."
A sigh left Irina, her curled hands loosening. "That's good." She muttered. "If you don't mind my asking, why is that you and Torrent follow, sir Onyx?" She followed up before the silence between could return.
"He is-" What was the right word? Was there a word that encapsulated someone like him? "-different." Melina settled on the one constant observation she made about him. He shared stories of creatures and lands she'd never heard of with Irina, acted like no one else in the Lands Between, and made little sense overall.
"He really is, isn't he." Irina agreed, a smile spreading across her face.
Unsure of what to say or if there was any more to be said, Melina kept quiet, letting silence return.
Anyone who came across Onyx would agree with that assessment. The man was a departure from everything that was the norm in The Lands Between and held great potential.
But none of that meant he was as special as Torrent believed.
XOXO
Onyx shifted, bringing Irina along with him, a feathered arrow soaring over their shoulders as Torrent galloped across the trail. Back at the bridge and now all across the southern region, all the misbegotten roaming about were quick to attack, too lost in their rage to bother with conversation.
A shame really but luckily, swift as Torrent was, he got them around the groups with ease. He had little interest in fighting them and was far from being in any position to engage in back to back battles.
The latest group attempting to converge on them were left in Torrent's dust. Probably the last group they'd need to bypass to get to their destination.
"We're almost there." Onyx announced as Torrent began to slow.
Dark brick walls higher than any other he'd come across. Large ballista and other equipment lining their edge. A distinct lack of lookouts or any signs of life alongside the unmanned weapons.
Castle Morne, a large, fortified structure positioned along the cliffs of the Weeping Peninsula's south stood tall, the passage of time withstood unlike the ruins dotting the land. It was far too quiet for place that should've been wrapped up in a battle.
What really caught his interest was the giant stone structure lay just outside the castle's entrance. It almost looked humanoid.
Something that only became truer as they closed in.
An enormous bow embedded into the dirt beside it. Countless misbegotten corpses around it, many crushed into a dried bloody paste. The thing looked humanoid by design, not some structure but some kind of golem. From he'd seen and heard the people of this world didn't have the technology to build something like that through the use of machinery alone.
Was the enormous thing a product of what they called sorcery here?
As Torrent stopped beside it, Irina's shaky hands grazed his.
He could examine that thing later. Now was the time to focus on finding her father.