Elden Ring:After the end

"Um, um, um, um. Umm, um, um, um. Um, um, um, um. Umm, um, um, um..."

Quietly humming an unrecognizable tune over a carriage, a young man with dirty blond hair and dressed in rather elegant clothes focuses his eyes on the ramshackle fortress ahead. 

"If you're done, what tune is that, Aldrich?"

"No idea... It only seemed apt for the occasion. I guess Paul was right, about this place being used as an immediate reaction fortress and it's been the first to fall."

Overlooking the haughty tone of the woman behind him, Aldrich simply shrugs and delivers an empty reply. Giving up on that topic, Aldrich points towards the structure that can be seen ahead and continues speaking. 

The young man's words were certainly correct, the castle ahead has no residential area in its vicinity, its walls appear to be much more heavily reinforced than normal and the surroundings seem to have suffered a hard battle.

"I see you not only have the eyes of a dragon, but you've also got his forgetful mind."

"More than forgetful, my memories are a little dusty and rusty. Anyway, Lansseax, have you done aerial reconnaissance?"

Giving up on the subject about his memories, Aldrich turns around to see Lansseax who is standing on top of the carriage and asks him a question. 

"I'm here for a reason, aren't I?"

"It was unnecessary for you to say it, but you're right. Now are you going to tell me what you did or didn't see?"

"Tsk, you can't... Right. I've done the reconnaissance from the skies of the mill village up on the hill, there are between about four and six hundred crazy fur skinners, but there are enough houses for about two hundred more to hide in."

Answering with a rather annoyed face, Lansseax gives an accurate report according to what she has seen and then sits quietly again. 

...Aldrich pov….

Currently we are facing the second fortress, unlike the first and third, this is used to reinforce both in a situation of danger. Each fortress is located in the vicinity of a village of the molinar, in order to have control of it and to be able to exploit its resources more easily.

Fortress number one was the one we have secured with Lansseax and from which Lhutel got the grains, so by controlling the road they charged us for passing it to Leyndell. The second fortress is where Lhutel troops are currently located, it is also where the resistance seems to have become the greatest. 

"Open the gates!"

"Open the gates! Open the gates!"

Shouts are heard from inside the walls, only to have the main gate slowly begin to open after a few minutes. Looking through the opening of the gate, what you managed to see was as expected. Stone structures with the sole purpose of being useful, soldiers running around, wounded troops being moved and small feeding camps for the troops.

While I was analyzing everything I saw, a person makes his way through the passing soldiers and quickly finds himself in front of us while gasping for air. He was easily recognizable as an administrator, the lack of armor and weapon gives him away, plus his physical condition leaves much to be desired. 

"Ha... HaHa... Let me, let me breathe for a few seconds. Ready, now yes."

Finishing fixing his breathing, he wipes the sweat from his forehead with one hand and quickly takes a polite smile, then begins to speak. 

"Commander Lhutel has tasked me to lead you to her, you can also leave the wagons in charge of the troops here and we can get going."

"I understand. Men, leave the supplies with them. Lansseax, let's go."

"As you wish."

Having to give them such mechanical orders was certainly a bit awkward, but their beneficiaries outweighed such small things. Finishing with that, I spoke to Lansseax who was beside me and we both started walking after our guide. 

...Minutes later…

Thanks to the guy we were given as a guide, in a few minutes we reached the area of the fortress where Lhutel is located. The room from where she commands everything, can be summarized in two big words, simple and useful. 

"My lord."

Speaking in a commanding voice that easily gives her away as someone natural to the military, Lhutel rises from her simple wooden chair that sits behind a table full of reports and does a visual scan of the two of us. 

Yes, visual... I'm wrong or Lhutel wouldn't have to be decapitated. Not that I'm complaining about her having a head on her neck, we could even say it's quite refreshing to see the black shade of her hair and brown eyes.

But the feeling that this shouldn't be happening is killing me, the same thing happened with the grandeur of the world, of the map, the main gates of Leyndell open... Strange... Strange... Very strange. 

"Lhutel... You look different."

"Really, Aldrich? You just had to be more indirect to ask."

Why be indirect if it's someone you trust, it's easier to just ask and that's it. Obviously I couldn't convey that message with my eyes to Lansseax, so I prepare to open my mouth, though Lhutel beats me to speak first. 

"Your confusion is understandable. Those of us who are in charge of guarding the mausoleums, we part with our heads as a ritual and demonstration for the cause that is to carry out their protection."

Narrating up to that part, Lhutel makes with his fingers a gesture cut right on his white neck and continues without delay with his words. 

"Thanks to that ritual our bodies are anchored to both the physical and spiritual planes, making us succeed in protecting the wandering mausoleums forever."

When he gets to the "Wandering Mausoleums" part, Lhutel places his index and middle fingers on the table, before making them appear to run. Yes, she seems to quite like being expressive with her hands. 

"But all of the above is over, now that the physical and spiritual planes are mixed at a level never seen before, besides that taking advantage of your great power my lord... Retrieving my head from the spiritual plane was easy. 

Finishing his words, he brings both hands to the side of his head and gestures as if he is putting it back in place. 

"We are already beginning to see repercussions of the merger between these two planes. Though I must admit, the first thing I see from this certainly is a benefit."

"Thank you my lord!"

Phew, thankfully I managed to fix that. My first words had been rather inconsiderate if we consider the Lhutel, but luckily there's nothing a good compliment won't fix... I hope so. 

"Tsk. Shipper."

Ignoring Lansseax's displeasure, I give Lhutel a smile and took a seat in one of the nearby chairs, to talk about what matters.