Maidenless No Longer (Elden Ring)

Bonus Chapter #11: Blaidd

Blaidd had had every intention of following the Tarnished down into the Eternal City and seeking out the Fingerslayer Blade for his Lady right alongside the man. He'd said as much to him at Redmane Castle, in the wake of Radahn's defeat.

But before he could... Iji had locked him away. Even now, even after all this time and all that had happened, Blaidd couldn't help but be a little bitter over that betrayal. In the grand scheme of things, he could and had forgiven old Iji for what he'd done, but it still hurt. Oh, how it hurt.

He was his Lady's shadow. He was Mistress Ranni's ever loyal hound. To think him capable of betraying her... old Iji had flat out told him that he'd bring naught but bale to Lady Ranni, if he was left free. Blaidd didn't want to believe it. But, trapped as he was in the Evergoal by his old friend's duplicity, there was not much he could do.

Until they came along... and let him out. The assassins of the Two Fingers, their agents, freeing him from his prison. He knew not why, but he'd fought his way clear of them, making his way back to the Three Sisters and Lady Ranni's Rise. He had to make sure his Mistress was safe. He had to return to her side. He had...

... He had lost his mind for a bit there. All these months later, removed from the situation, Blaidd could admit that it had happened. Something had invaded his thoughts, taken over... and ultimately turned him against his Lady. Old Iji had been right. Blaidd had been a threat to Mistress Ranni. Or at least, her enemies had tried to turn him into one.

He still remembered that moment, standing outside of her Rise, waving his sword around at anyone who dared approach. In a blind rage, he'd slaughtered not only the Two Fingers' assassins, but also Lady Ranni's pet wolves. He'd killed everything around him in a bid to keep her safe, to protect his Lady. Or so he'd been thinking, in the moment. Except, when even she'd approached him, he'd barked at her, and taken a swing at her.

"Heel, mine loyal hound."

Thankfully, his Mistress was no pushover. Thankfully, she had finally come into her own. Blaidd was quite confident that even as Ranni the Witch, his Lady would have easily put him down. But she could not have saved him, as she'd been, trapped in that doll's body. Alas, when she finally came before him... she was so much more. Lunar Princess Ranni, reborn. A gestating Goddess coming into her own, right before his eyes.

She had caught his blade upon her hands with ease and wrenched it from his grasp. She had taken him to his knees with but a thought and brought all four of her hands upon his face. While the lower two had stroked through his fur, the upper had laid upon his brow, where she had focused her power.

"Let thee be calmed, mine leal shadow. Let thy mind be quieted, mine vassal."

She'd healed him... freed him even, from the last lingering influence of the Greater Will and its dogs. Blaidd had gone so mad he'd tried to attack Ranni herself, and yet still she had saved him. Still, she had healed him before taking him to Iji, leaving him in the old blacksmith's care. Iji was apologetic of course, but in the end, Blaidd's bitterness over the blacksmith's decision was utterly eclipsed by his gratitude. If not for old Iji's actions, who could say what Blaidd would have done, before Lady Ranni completed her path and ascended at long last.

And what was the lowly Tarnished of no renown doing, while Blaidd was trapped in the Evergoal, only to eventually be driven half-mad by the Two Fingers' whispers? Heh, whatever the fuck he wanted, it would seem. The Tarnished had retrieved the Fingerslayer Blade for Blaidd's Mistress. To hear Ranni tell it, he had then been dismissed from her service... only to show up later on, completely of his own accord.

Blaidd was glad for that. From what he'd been able to piece together, even if Lady Ranni would never say as much, her situation had not been great, after Iji made the decision to imprison him for her sake without actually warning her. At the same time, she'd been forced to slay Seluvis for his despicable plans regarding her personage.