Chapter Text
Your boots sloshed heavily through the lake water as you made your way deeper into the mist. The lakes of liurnia had always been difficult to navigate for you, but today the mist had settled in a particularly stubborn manner, forcing you to walk with your hand stretched out into the thick fog. With every couple of steps, you stubbed your toe on a rock or walked straight into a tree that had somehow appeared from the fog. And every time you tried to stifle the small noise of pain you made for fear of what lied waiting in the fog. Even if you hadn’t admitted it to yourself yet, you were lost and you knew it. But in your stubbornness, you spurred yourself on, firm in the idea that eventually, somehow, you would find your way out of the mist yourself. A dedication you would come to regret.
Still trying to navigate the seemingly infinite fog, you suddenly found yourself facing the lake bed instead of the fog for a change! Fun! At least it would have been for anyone watching, but for you, falling face first into the water just made you even more miserable. As you pick yourself up, picking out bits of lake plants from your hair, an almost disbelieving smile appears on your face when you notice a clearing in the fog. You quickly got up and sprinted towards it, desperate to for any sort of ability to at least see a couple inches in front of you. But as you ran into the clearing, you were disappointed to see even more trees and fog beyond what was visible. And even worse, the fog began to slowly creep forwards, filling the clearing and enveloping you in its ominous clutch.
Before, you would’ve just been annoyed, but now you were wary. You were out in the open, with low visibility, and to top it all off you were exhausted from navigating the lake.
The perfect conditions for an ambush.
All your instincts as a fighter screamed this was dangerous territory, and you drew your sword as you took careful, tentative steps into the fog. Without warning you felt the air get knocked out of your lungs as you were tackled from behind. Lanky, but unnaturally strong hands forced your face into the shallow water, drowning you. Your hands flailed madly for your sword, only brushing it briefly before the creature pinned your wrist with its bony, clawed hand. This is it. This is how you would die. Not in a glorious battle with a demigod, or saving a friend from certain death, but drowning in a puddle. So much for becoming Elden lord.
But on the brink of unconsciousness, you felt the hand leave your head with blinding speed, their claws scraping your scalp for purchase as they’re pulled away. You roll over, hacking up dark lake water as you gaze up at the muted clouds. You hear the sounds of a struggle, seemingly not ending well for whatever attacked you, as you hear bone cracking impacts that wring loud screeches from the creature. And as dark spots fill your vision, you saw an enormous figure of red gold loom over you, it’s hands reaching down to your prone body being the last thing you see before you slip into unconsciousness.