Castle Morne: Part 3

Edward POV:

'Sigh'

...

'It has been already 3 days since the menials have all rebelled. The situation is really terrible. I have failed you, lord Godrick. I'm sorry. I ... You entrusted me to be the warden of this castle, to protect the treasured sword… '

I grit my teeth and made a fist.

'Those foul creatures, they betrayed me! How could they! I hate them for this! … However, it's all useless. The rebellion came completely unexpected and totally caught us off guard. How didn't we notice what they were planning to do. Those creatures actually managed to coordinate themselves. Unbelievable! I don't believe that they were able to do that all by themselves without any help. They don't have the necessary intelligence for it. I'm sure that it's the Leonie Misbegotten's, that arrived here recently, fault. I knew that we shouldn't have kept it here!'

…

'Damn it! I can hear the sounds of a battle nearby. My last remaining soldiers are still fighting. It's a losing game. Not only are we outnumbered, but also tired from the constant fighting of the past days. My last meal was around 30 hours ago. … Oh, Irina, my dear daughter. I hope that you are safe, I sincerely wish that at least you are doing ok. '

...

'I just heard a scream. It's probably from one of the last remaining soldiers. I could hear the rage in it. The desperate will to survive. I don't even want to watch it, as I already know how it's going to end. ... The battle is over. It appears that with this soldiers' death, I'm the last one left. Oh Irina, please be safe.

...

I could hear footsteps on the stairs, coming towards me. However, the sounds are not similar to the ones of the creatures, but instead of a human.'

I didn't have much time to think, as I looked up and saw a tarnished standing in front of me, he was covered in blood and had a fearsome aura around him. He was wearing the same armor as my soldiers, but I don't remember seeing his face before.

"Ah, there's a face I've not seen before. Who are you?"

He answered with a clear voice:

"My name is Max. I am looking for a man called Edgar, the commander of this castle."

"Well, you are standing in front of him. I'm Edgar, warden of this castle as ordained by Lord Godrick himself. But you can see how things have turned out. The menials have all rebelled. They gave me good service, or so I thought, but it seems it was all an act. Foul creatures, as it's said. And true enough, they're foul inside and out. I'm sorry to disappoint you, But whatever you've come here to do, I'm afraid Castle Morne won't hold much longer. Take this, by way of apology."

I proceeded to very carefully give the warrior in front of me a sacrificial twig, in fear that it might break because it is so slender. It is believed that it is a twig pruned from the Erdtree long, long ago. When he took it, I could see that he clearly wasn't happy about this, but there isn't anything more I could give him.

"That wasn't necessary but thank you, in exchange, I have something to give to you that might interest you."

I then curiously looked at him, as he took out a silken handkerchief.

"It's a letter, from your daughter, Irina. I have met her on my journeys, and she instructed me to give it to you."

I couldn't believe what I heard, as I took her letter and in the meantime asked:

"From Irina? How is she?"

"Her caravan had been ambushed, however rest assured, when I last saw her, she was uninjured and alright."

"I see, from Irina... Thank you. I'm in your debt. But I can't leave yet. Even if the castle should fall, as commander, I must remain. To ensure the treasured sword of Morne does not fall into the wrong hands. If you see Irina, do tell her. That her father will come for her, once he's fulfilled his duty."

I couldn't look him in the eyes, and therefore continued to stare at the floor.

"Then what are you going to do? Sit here? To protect a sword? You? All by yourself? Foolish!"

As I heard his words, I suddenly became enraged and stood up. The atmosphere became tense.

"I'm the commander of this castle! How dare you talk to me like that. If not for the favor you did for Irina, I would have you executed!"

"A commander has soldiers under him. But where are yours? Where are they? I don't see any of them! The castle is lost, you should leave your duties behind you and go to your daughter. She needs you."

I continued to look him in the eyes, but a few seconds later I unconsciously diverted my eyes as I couldn't handle his stare and I said in a quiet voice.

"I am the commander, and I shall fall together with this castle."

Silence ensued.

"Then, as a commander, stand up and fight with me."

I didn't answer immediately. Not only that, but I hesitated. Like I'm searching for an excuse.

"If you just continue sitting here, doing nothing. Just complaining and cursing the creatures, you are just proving what failure of a commander you are. Reclaim your honor by at least fighting to the death, just like your soldiers who you abandoned. Free your castle with with me and then go to Irina, or you stop pretending to be a commander, and leave right now. Now choose one option!"

He didn't give me any choice. Furthermore, I knew that he was right, just sitting here won't change anything.

"Fine, you are right. I shall fight, since it is my duty, as the warden of this castle. But reclaiming castle Morne won't be easy, as recently we took in a Leonie Missbegotten, and I believe that it's this foul beast that had been coordinating this revolt. This beast is especially dangerous and cunning, if we were to encounter it with his other missbegotten underlings, are chances of survival would be very slim."

"I see. Do you perhaps know exactly where the beast is?"

"Yes, when the revolt stated we managed to divide this place into two areas, by collapsing a few ladders. This way we successfully isolated the area by the beach, and the creature is trapped down there, as there is no way up."

General POV:

'Alright. The boss location is now confirmed to be in his arena. Furthermore, with Edwards help, getting there will be a lot easier than, if I were to tackle the area alone. The only thing that worries me is, how am I supposed to leave this castle once I dropped down and defeated the missbegotten? Well, I will think of something, in the worst case scenario, the best thing to do would be to jump in the sea and to swim around the castle.'

"Alright. Then let's get going.", said Max.

The two then proceeded to walk towards the place where the site of grace could be found. When they passed the area where Max fought, Edgar went to his soldier's dead bodies and paid his respects to them. While he was doing so, Edgar noticed that they all were missing their runes. Therefore, he looked at Max, who in return didn't even budge his prying eyes. Ultimately, Edgar choose not to comment on this specific topic.

The reason he chose no to say anything, was because it would hurt their recent established relationship and furthermore there aren't any benefits to it.

Soon, they arrived where the site of grace is and stood by the edge. There, the two had to jump down multiple times until they arrived at the top of a building. There they made their way to the place where a part of the wall was collapsed, and from this position they were able to observe their surroundings . They were counting their enemies and discussing their plan. They could see many missbegottnes, in fact there were only four visible, three smaller ones and one big one. At the time, the creatures weren't doing anything special, they were just slowly aimlessly walking around.

The atmosphere was deadly silent, the sun was slowly going down and the wind was blowing strongly and was additionally very cold. Max and Edgar continued to watch them, and after a few hours the missbegottens were sleeping calmly under the moonlight.

It was then, that the duo decided to take action and start the first phase of their plan.