Sunset woke with a groan, rising to her elbows to see the same church she fell asleep in. The air was misty but even with that hindering, her Sunset could tell that it was early morning. After all, every morning she had been roused by Princess Celestia’s raising of her sun, and not even ending up in another land could change that.

The merchant Kale still sat at the campfire, except instead of playing his instrument he simply read a paper. His yellow-golden eyes slowly moved across the parchment with not a lack of understanding, but an obvious intent to commit the knowledge within to memory. At his guest’s groan he glanced up for a moment, his eyes shimmering with mirth.

“Good morning Kale.” Sunset let out a small yawn before getting to her feet, trying to stretch her unfamiliar body’s muscles. “Thank you for letting me sleep by your fire. Out of curiosity, what is the name of this building?”

“This is the Church of Elleh.” Kale shrugged, his cloth masking his expression but his body language loud and clear. “Once it was a temple to Marika, but those times have long since passed. Now it is simply an old shell, one that can do no more but offer a bit of refuge to merchants.”

Sunset nodded once before frowning. “And who is this ‘Marika’. Is she some kind of goddess?”

Kale laughed long and hard, just light enough to not come off as truly mocking. “Who is Marika? Ha! Yes, she is the goddess of these lands, the holder of the Elden Ring. She once ruled these lands alongside Radagon the Elden Lord, but no one has seen hide nor hair of both since the War of the Shattering tore these lands asunder.”

“Hmm.” Sunset frowned at the implications. After all, she knew what a god or goddess was from conversations with griffons and deer, but a physical one was something new to her. The closest she could think of was her teacher, but Celestia would deny being any kind of divinity no matter what. “And where could I find her?”

Kale jerked a thumb behind him. “See that giant glowing tree? That’s the Erdtree, how the ‘Greater Will’ influences these lands. Its roots burrow into Lyndell, the capital city. If she’s still alive, that’s where she’d be.” He spoke the words ‘Greater Will’ like a curse, almost spitting them out.

Sunset couldn’t help but smirk slightly. “Not a fan of the Greater Will, huh?”

Kale huffed and shook his head. “Why should I? It and the Golden Order shunned my kind and forced us into our nomadic lifestyle. They’ve never given me a reason to like them, and so I won’t.”

Sunset nodded once and sighed, glancing back at the Campfire, still glittering with its golden magical light. A faint arc came off it, pointing out of a hole in the side of the ruined church. Sunset dusted off her clothes and retrieved her knife and blade, securing them both to her side. Once armed she stepped over to the side of the church...which had less of a hole than a whole missing swathe of brick and mortar.

“I’ll see you when I have more money, Kale.” Sunset nodded her goodbye before heading out of the ruined building.

In front of her lay a dirt road with broken bits of fencing around it, having long forgone maintenance. A few sheep walked around the sides of the road, baa-ing their hearts out as they grazed. Farther ahead of the road the grass became shaded by a small forest, with the dirt road continuing onwards.

Sunset paused though, frowning at the sight of one of those bipedal creatures coming out of the forest. Humans, something within her mind clarified. That human was wearing iron armor that covered them head to toe, although the chest seemed to be ringmail instead of plate. On his chest he had a surcoat with an insignia split down the middle: his right was green with a golden tree while the left was red with a golden lion on it. On his hip sat a longsword while he held a torch in his left hand.

“Sentry...” Sunset grumbled as she crouched behind a bush, careful to not be seen. Thankfully her clothes were simple denim and leather, allowing her to move without too much noise. “Considering almost everypony else I’ve met has been hostile, its best to move with caution...could be friendly though, like Kale.”

Sunset kept one hand on the hilt of her blade as she stepped out of the bush, boldly walking towards the sentry as he came down the path. As he saw her he drew his longsword, calling out loudly through the iron mask he wore on his face. “Intruder!”

“Welp, so much for that!” Sunset yelped and thrust her left hand forward, her hands glinting with magic. A beam of force pulsed out of her hand towards the sentry, but he was just fast enough to dodge it.

With a battle cry, he ran towards Sunset and took a swing, forcing her to dodge under his blade. Using her momentum she drew her own blade and thrust forward, impaling him through the back. The sentry cried out in pain and fell to one knee, pulling the sword out of Sunset’s hands as he did so. She yelped in surprise but pulled out her knife, plunging it into the back of the sentry’s neck. He gave one last sigh and sagged, seemingly dead.

However, Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise as instead of simply lying there, the sentry’s body collapsed into ash, armor and all. Her sword clattered to the ground as his body vanished, the ash drifting away in the wind. Sunset shook her head and grabbed her sword, shoving it back into its scabbard.

Once again she stepped into the brush, sneaking her way down the left side of the road. After a dozen or so meters she saw another armored guard on one knee by a campfire, one hand out towards the flame. Sunset couldn’t help but grit her teeth as she snuck closer to the guard, pulled out her knife, and stabbed him in the back as well.

This one fell with a simple groan, his body also turning to ash as he died. However, instead of leaving nothing behind, he left behind his rusted iron greaves. Sunset raised an eyebrow at the oddity but shrugged and reached for them, after all, armor was armor. Strangely enough, as Sunset tested their fit they seemed to almost mold to her body, even though the sentry was far bigger than her.

“This place keeps getting weirder and weirder...” Sunset grumbled under her breath.

One more guard stood in her path towards the end of the road and this patch of the forest: a sentry off to the right looking into the distance with his torch. Just like the one before Sunset snuck over and stabbed him in the back, earning a quick kill for her stealth. He also left nothing behind, making her roll her eyes.

At the edge of the forest, the path dipped down, the ruins before her sitting in some kind of basin. It looked like a hollowed-out shell of a fortification now long broken and destroyed, save for the large gate and battlements carved into the hills to her right. Squinting her eyes she could see several sentries wandering the ruins, lit by the glow of campfires and torches. Several banners raised over the broken stone walls adorned with the split sigil of a golden tree and lion.

Further to the right next to the furthermost edge of the gate from where she stood was another one of those magical Campfire things. Gritting her teeth in concentration Sunset crouched down and stealthily made her way around the edge of the woods to not attract any attention. Once she ran out of the woods she moved from bush to bush, hugging the side of the rocky hill the gate itself was hewn from.

Once Sunset reached the gate itself she sprinted over and touched the Campfire, activating its protection with a pulse of magic. She sighed and lay next to it, somehow knowing in her soul that while she sat or lay next to the magical light she was safe from attack. She did open her eye as a woman in a dark grey cloak materialized a few feet from her, stepping forward before kneeling by the light across from her. As she parted her cloak to allow herself to kneel, she revealed the light brown and white tunic underneath, making Sunset feel like she recognized her.

“Greetings, traveler from beyond the fog. I am Melina.” The woman reached up to her hood, pulling it back to reveal a pale face framed by shoulder-length dark pink hair. Her right eye was a light brown, while her right was closed with some kind of tattoo of a claw across it and down part of her cheek. “I offer you an accord.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow and moved to her own sitting position, her face guarded like her mentor always taught her. “An accord?”

“Yes. Have you heard of the Finger Maidens? They serve the Two Fingers, offering guidance, and aid, to warriors like you. But you, I am afraid, are maidenless. I can play the role of maiden, turning runes to strength. To aid you in your search for the Elden Ring. You need only take me with you, to the foot of the Erdtree.” She held out her hand towards Sunset. “After all, I can only imagine a warrior like you is in search of the godly power the Elden Ring holds.”

Sunset rubbed her chin, scrunching her nose in thought. That godly power sounded like what she was after in this realm, the destiny that Princess Celestia took from her. But gaining so much while the other gained so little sounded...odd. “No offense, but how come you can’t get there yourself?”

Melina offered a small, sad smile. “I am limited by my own power. I am a mere shadow of what I once was, and must be brought to the Erdtree by one I have struck an accord with. Once we have done so, I can be summoned at any Site of Grace like this one to converse with as you make your journey.”

Sunset frowned at the almost lack of an answer but shook her head. “Very well then. I shall accept your accord.”

Melina smiled again, this time a small smile of happiness. “Then it is settled. Summon me by grace to turn runes into strength. And one more matter...” She reached into her cloak and pulled out a small golden ring. “I bequeath to you this ring.” Sunset took the ring from her outstretched hand, having to fight back a small blush at such a provocative gift. “Use it to traverse great distances. It will summon a spectral steed named Torrent. Torrent has chosen you. Treat him with respect.”

Sunset blinked in surprise but nodded, putting it on her ring finger. “I will do so, don’t worry.”

“Good.” Melina nodded and rose to her feet. “We shall see each other again soon, then.” With a shimmer of magic, she vanished, turning into faint blue specks that disappeared in the wind.

“...what the hell did I make a pact with?” Sunset muttered under her breath. “And damn, I forgot to ask what runes were....”

Author's Note

And so Melina the Finger Maiden has entered the picture! Out of curiosity, would it help if I added images of the various bosses and NPCs alongside their descriptions? I am trying my best but a picture is worth a thousand words after all.

As for the Godrick Soldier Greaves Sunset gained - funnily enough played the path Sunset would have to take and got them as a drop so decided she would as well. Rng helped her this time!