10 May 2023

Here it is; the last of the Elden Ring fanfic shorts. This one explores a pretty common idea to play with; what must it be like for the enemies when the player character comes back over and over and over again, no matter how many times you kill them?

The fight, if it could even be called that, barely lasted an instant. Strangely, Malenia felt… disappointed by that. The armor he wore, with the stylized lion on the chestplate, should have meant he would pose more of a challenge.

No matter. The warrior was dead, now, faded to mist as tarnished soldiers werre wont to do. Malenia had nearly put the whole series of events behind her when a bright glow beamed at the entrance to her grotto.

She spun, and there was the tarnished, performing Golden Vow with the iconic halberd of the Tree Sentinels. He shifted it to his off hand and swung another halberd, in a style Malenia recognized from Morgott’s Night Cavalry, to his right.

This fight lasted barely any longer than the first, but still the tarnished warrior returned.

8 May 2023

This one’s pretty short. I was traveling at the time, attending a wedding, so I was squeezing things in were I could. I think that’s another reason I went for fanfic; I didn’t want to spend too long figuring out what was happening. So here’s my take on what’s going through Malenia’s head during the opening cutscene to her boss fight. There’s one more of these I’ll post tomorrow (10 May 2023), which would eventually lead into the alternate route/side story for Malenia. I don’t know if I’ll ever get back to it, though; I’d prefer to prioritize my own stories.

When she woke, everything, especially her memory, was blurry and indistinct. She had the feeling that a piece of her was missing, but she didn’t have the foggiest idea what it was or where to look for it.

One thing she did remember, though, beyond the flashes of gold and rotten red from her dreams, was him. Her brother. He was… gone. But he heart beat with hope; he had promised he’d return.

By the time she had fully roused, she realized someone was standing before her. She didn’t recognize him, but there was something… His armor, in particular, made her incredibly wary of him.

She narrowed her eyes and drew her sword. “...Heed my words. I am Malenia. Blade of Miquella. And I have never known defeat.”

7 May 2023

I don’t typically write fanfic. It feels… strange to me, I guess? Regardless, Elden Ring sparked something, and I think a lot of that has to do with Malenia. I find her fascinating, both as a boss fight and as a character, and I low-key wanted a Malenia ending on top of the existing ones. Even after playing with the idea for a year and a half, I’m still not positive what that looks like, but I at least had a general idea of how it started.

Then I heard Aviators’ amazing song Half-Wolf about Blaidd, and I had a thought; would the needle free him from the Elden Beast’s influence? So I decided to write a scene about it.

Malenia followed behind the tarnished warrior, looking warily around as they strode through the Carian Manor. “Was this not the lair of the witch, Ranni? I rather doubt she would be pleased to see me…”

The tarnished grimaced. “She… isn’t here. I have reason to believe she’s on the Moonlit Plateau, actually.”

This only confused Malenia even more. “Then why lead us here? The Carians hold no love for me and my brother, not that I can blame them.”

The tarnished stopped, then turned to look at Malenia. “That needle, from Miquella. It can remove the influence of the outer gods?”

“Yes, generally.”

“And would that extend to the Erdtree and the Greater Will?”

“It should. Though… No matter the entity, if the hooks are deep enough, you may have to kill the source…”

He chuckled darkly. “I doubt that will be and issue.” He turned ahead, his eyes distant. “There Is… a good friend I want to save. He is one of the fiercest warriors I’ve ever known, and loyal. So loyal, in fact, that he sacrificed his own sanity rather than betray his lady.”

Malenia’s eyes grew wide. Memories flashed, of a pair of half-wolf soldiers. Brothers. They’d been loyal–more loyal than she’d thought possible. At least… until Miquella had slit from the Golden Order to create the Haligtree. Malenia still remembered the feel of their flesh on her sword.

She shook herself out of her reverie. “You can’t mean…?”

“Blaidd. His name is Blaidd.” The tarnished breathed in deeply through his nose, and readied his halberds. “Could I ask you to stay back and watch? If it’s at all possible, I’d like to avoid killing him.”

She almost denied him, but the tarnished so rarely asked for anything. “Very well. But if you die, I will kill him. I don’t care if you’ll come back, touched by grace.”

That earned another chuckle. “Thank you.”

Malenia watched as the tarnished found his half-wolf friend. It was an intense fight, in large part because the tarnished was pulling back on his attacks. He kept baiting the half-wolf warrior, waiting for the perfect opportunity.

And then it came. Blaidd thrust with his sword, and the tarnished narrowly dodged. He dropped his weapons, and with one hand grabbed Blaidd’s wrist, while with the other, he pulled out the needle and jammed it in the opening just under the armpit.

The half-wolf staggered, almost collapsing into the tarnished’s arms. When he pulled back, the madness was gone from his eyes, replaced with a growing anxiety.

“Old friend?” he said quietly.

The tarnished flashed him a sad smile. “Come. There is much to talk about. And not all of it good news.”

Malenia watched them enter the rise and decided to station herself at the door. It felt… intrusive, somehow, to involve herself further. Not for the first time, she wondered exactly what connection her savior had with the hated Lunar Witch.