The Fallen Leaves Fall Yet Again..

The Dangers of A Side Quest

"Ow." The Tarnished pushed Ordovis off of him as he stood up. "You've gotten a lot stronger Ordovis." The Tarnished helped the Crucible Knight to his feet, and then lightly punched his chestplate with a smile. "Now, because of you, Irina will live and her father will return to a daughter that lives."

Ordovis nodded, triumphantly standing there with his sword and shield. They then heard the moans of what sounded like a wounded animal, looking to where they landed to see a boss they had killed a few thousand times before. "Leonine Misbegotten, seems we wounded it." He walked over to the crushed demihuman, picking up the sword it had stolen, the Grafted Blade. A giant sword made out of hundreds of other randomly sized blades.

He looked at the blade with a curious gaze. "I should have the skill to do what Im thinking of." He gripped the blade hard as he put his focus into doing something to it. Ordovis watched silently from the side, trying his hardest not to question his lord. The blade itself had no change, until a small creaking noise occurred. One by one the blades of the blade began to detach and float about. Once all of the blades were in the air circling, the Tarnished let out a sigh of relief.

"Marika makes it seem so simple, she truly is strong." The blades shot down and ended the Leonine Misbegotten. Ordovis looked surprised, and looked wary of the blades, still worried his lord could be overtaken at any moment. Then they all fell to the ground, and he looked to his lord who threw the hilt of the blade to the ground, before reaching behind him and grabbing at nothing, pulling an even stronger version of the blade from his inventory.

Ordovis was dumbfounded as even sharper and stronger blades detached from the "sword" until it was just a hilt again and the blades floated. The blades began to float low to the ground and lined themselves up just above the ground. They were in a perfect line, so much so that his lord was capable of standing on them.

The Tarnished looked towards Ordovis and beckoned him to step onto the platform crafted from the blades. Ordovis looked at the sword being used as a flying rug and then back to his lord, choosing to instead head towards the gate that originally led to the Leonine Misbegotten. 

The Tarnished rolled his eyes, and flicked his finger upwards. The blades shot him into the air stopping their ascent when they were  just a bit higher than the platform that the Lord of Castle Morne rested on. He used the blades like a staircase stepping down to where the Lord and sending the blades back to his inventory in their original form for later use.

Edgar, the lord of Castle Morne, stared cautiously at the Tarnished, and gripped his blade at the sight of the Grafted Blade he was supposed to keep. "Who are you?" The Tarnished kneeled to Edgar and stood up, smoothly pulling the letter out for the man to read. Edgar read the letter and shed a tear as his heart began to pound in worry for his daughter. The Tarnished laid a hand on his shoulder, and spoke to the man calmly. "Do not worry for her, she is well guarded. All of her pursuers have been slain by now, just come with me and you and Irina will be together again." Edgar shook his head, and stubbornly planted the tip of his blade into the stone floor. 

"No, a lord must remain with his keep. I will not tarnish my honor by abandoning my pla--" The Tarnished slammed the Grafted Blade down in front of the man. He stared at the stunned lord, and stared him down. "Godrick, the Grafted, will not stand for much longer, I will come to rule the Lands Between, so abandon this castle, it will be returned to you another day." His presence was threatening, comforting, and it stole the very breath from Edgars lungs. The man nodded and stood up, as if the Tarnished had spread his memories of endless triumphs over into the lords head. The Tarnished nodded but was interrupted by Ordovis being slammed into the ground in between him and Edgar. The spirit returned to the abyss, and Edgar looked confused at the Tarnished wondering what a crucible knight in spirit form was doing here. "Nothing here was capable of killing Ordovis, something is different. Edgar, go to Irina, she rest near the bridge to leave the Peninsula."