Melina

A/N: Ohey Melina, whatcha doing visiting the Tarnished at that Site of Gra-oshit!

Aaaanyways, this is the actual end of Act 2. Onto Act 3 in Chapter 20, meaning finally time to go to Altus Plateau!

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She jumps him, the next time he sits down at a Site of Lost Grace. Unbeknownst to both her and a certain Deathbed Companion, they were having similar thoughts about Melina's Tarnished. Why? Why did he not initiate anything? Melina had followed her chosen Champion across the Lands Between, from Limgrave to Caelid, onto Liurnia, and then back again to Caelid.

The kindling maiden had watched as he went about his travels with a single-minded intensity. On the one hand, it looked at times like he was just wandering, and happened to run across these women that he then went out of his way to help and save. On the other hand, it sometimes seemed so purposeful that Melina couldn't begin to comprehend how he knew what he knew, why he always seemed to be right where he needed to be for everyone BUT her.

She had given of herself to him, had she not? In absence of the ability to turn runes into strength for him, she had believed that maybe her body was enough. But when he took her, he was just so damn GENTLE. She had seen him act differently with other women. The warrior woman, a descendant of Godfrey for instance, seemed to awaken something of an animal in Melina's Tarnished.

And he'd been quite the savage with both Queen Rennala of the Full Moon and the Lunar Princess Ranni as well! Taking the first in the middle of her Grand Library, and then engaging in an orgy with her bastard daughters besides. Meanwhile, Ranni got her turn atop the corpse of the Two Fingers she'd slain, with them surrounded by the corpse's blood.

Where was that savagery with Melina? Where was that surety, that confidence? And so… she jumps him. Even as she's turning corporeal, she's already leaping through the air with the grace of an assassin, her cloak flaring up and revealing her body as she lands on her Tarnished and takes him to his back. She holds no weapons in her hands, but instead grabs him by the front of his armor and yanks up hard, snarling at him.

"Why?! Why am I not enough for you?!"

The solemn way he looks up at her makes it seem like her words are untrue, and she should know it. But rather, it's the opposite for Melina. She knows why she's not enough for her champion. Why she will never be enough. She… she was never meant for anything more than her purpose. As a kindling maiden, it is her role, her DUTY, to burn.

Obviously, she hasn't told the Tarnished this. But she sometimes gets the feeling that he somehow knows already. That she's not supposed to survive this… any of this. Ah, she's being a fool, isn't she? Hesitantly, Melina lets go of the Tarnished's armor, shaking her head.

"S-Sorry. I don't know what-eep!"

Before she can finish her apology, however, he's suddenly on top of her, suddenly has her on HER back, and is pinning her down. The movement is so fast, so ferocious, that Melina is taken completely off guard. She's no slouch herself, she knows how to fight, how to grapple, how to tangle with enemies. But in that moment, as the Tarnished bares his teeth at her in a snarl for the first time, she freezes up, feeling like a prey animal facing down the apex predator.

A blush spreads across Melina's face. Her lower lip trembles in response. But she does not cry. No, rather… she moans. Squirming underneath him, not out of a desire to flee but something quite the opposite, Melina bites her lower lip and wiggles.

"D-Do it. Take me. Use me, Tarnished. And… make it HURT."

She needs it. She needs it to hurt. That was what was missing the last time. He'd taken her so softly, so sweetly, and so gently… but as good as it had been, she'd still felt like a part of her was unsatisfied. Like something was missing. This was what was missing. An element of… fear.

Following her command wordlessly, her Tarnished reaches up and grabs the front of her dress. He is the epitome of strength, so Melina isn't at all surprised when he pulls, and it comes away with a loud tearing noise.

RIIIIIIP~

A gasp does leave her lips though all the same, as he exposes her body to the elements, but more importantly his eyes. In mere moments, she's clad in nothing but her cloak and boots, her voluptuous chest on display, along with the rest of her. Moaning throatily, Melina begins to run her hands up and down her body, giving into the strange sensation that's been building inside of her ever since she'd originally given herself over to her champion.

Rearing back one hand, she slaps one of her one soft mammaries, squeaking at the impact as she effectively smacks herself around. The pain… the pain feels good. She goes to do it again, only for the Tarnished to stop her. He seizes upon her hands right then and there, and Melina stares into his eyes as he pins her with his gaze.

After a second, he spins her around and, using rope that seems to come almost from nowhere, he binds her wrists back behind her before she can even start to react. As he ties her up, Melina wiggles but doesn't truly resist. The binding feels nice, in a way. Almost as nice as hurting herself did. She… she doesn't mind giving up some control, if it's her Tarnished. And of course, there is the simple truth that it's all just a charade. She can escape this bondage at any time. She won't though. She wants to see how far he'll take this.

After he's done tying her up, he spins her around and stares at her in silence for a second longer. It's almost as if he's saying to her in that moment… 'You don't get to hurt yourself. Only I get to hurt you.' Smiling thinly right back at him, Melina thrusts her chest in his direction.

"D-Do it then. And don't you DARE hold back."

That's how she finds herself slammed back against the base of a tree a moment later. The Tarnished's large mast comes out, as he yanks her legs up into the air. With her hands bound behind her back, Melina can't exactly stop him… not that she wants to. When has her Tarnished ever been this… domineering with her before? He's acting like a savage, but also as quite the firm-handed lover. She's enjoying herself more than she cares to admit.

Her legs up in the air and spread to either side, her sex is left on display, assailable and helpless in its open and exposed location. Her Tarnished wastes no time in taking advantage of this fact. His phallus, long and throbbing and as hard as ever, prods against her entrance. For a moment, Melina thinks he's slowing down again, that he's having second thoughts about being as savage with her as he can be.

She opens her mouth to egg him on, to goad him, but the words never come out. Instead, SHE'S the one rendered speechless, when he finally thrusts into her. It's nothing like the last time, but then that was sort of the point, wasn't it? He pierces all the way into her core, and for a moment the kindling maiden has the rather embarrassing thought that she's… well, she's lighting up early, so to speak.

But no, that's not the case. While she feels like every fiber of her being is on fire, that's solely the sensation of him beginning to slam in and out of her. With the hearty trunk behind her, and her cloak acting as a barrier between her back and the bark, Melina is stuck between a tree trunk and a thick, hard, veiny member.

Her Tarnished knows exactly how to treat her now, at least. With her hands bound behind her back, her clothes torn away from her body, and his member driving deep into her core again and again… why, anyone who happened upon them right now might think he was assaulting her. He wasn't, of course. She wanted this. She wanted every last moment of this.

"Yes! Give it to me! Gi-mmph!"

But of course, her Tarnished apparently wasn't in the mood to hear her talk. Blinking, Melina takes a moment to realize… he's stuffed her undergarments in her mouth. She blushes and very nearly spits them out, but after a moment's hesitation. Decides not to. Instead, staring at her Tarnished with her one open eye, the kindling maiden moans through the piece of fabric, even as her body jolts and bounces with every thrust he delivers into her core.

He's neither gentle nor soft with her. He's firm, and rough, and altogether in complete control of the encounter. Her silent champion, her stoic and stalwart hero… has such a delicious dark side. Melina knows this desire is unbecoming of one such as her. When did she become such… such a lewd woman, truly? Ah, but she can't help herself.

The more he… he FUCKS her, the more the kindling maiden loses the plot, so to speak. Eye rolling back in her head, teeth biting down hard on the makeshift gag stuffed between her lips, she groans and moans. Her inner walls clench down around his pistoning member, and her body shudders as she gushes her arousal all over his mast.

Tis quite the shameful display, on her part. And yet, she gets the impression he does not judge her for it. She almost wishes he would. She deserves no less than his judgment. All of this… and for what? She has ensnared him into her game, pulled him into her plot, and strung him along to this point. And she'd dared to get uppity, when he'd taken the time to help others who almost definitely deserved it more than she did.

Not once had he balked at what he asked her to do… and in truth, twas not like they were on any sort of time table. How long had it been, since Queen Marika shattered the Elden Ring and set Melina on her journey to fulfill this duty? How long had she looked for someone half as capable as the Tarnished who even now was relentlessly plowing her silly?

Too long. Too long, had Queen Marika's children made a mockery of the world. Too long had the demigod offspring of Marika, Godfrey, Radagon, and Rennala run rampant across the Lands Between. Not a single Tarnished had ever managed to acquire more than two Great Runes before her champion. And now? Now he had three.

If it were not for her true purpose, she wouldn't really know why he would even need her at this point. He was well on his way to becoming Elden Lord without her. But of course, she knew better. She was crucial to his ascension… and she was keeping that from him, lying to him.

Did she not deserve this then? Did she not deserve to be treated like the trash she was? Melina groans through her gag, her fingers flexing behind her back as the Tarnished grabs hold of her chest with both hands, squeezing and kneading her flesh. His mast, meanwhile, surges inside of her, growing even thicker, throbbing even harder as it pushes up into her deeper than ever before.

The kindling maiden cries out, her hips bucking and the gag finally falling free of her lips, albeit unintentionally on her part. Her mouth just opens too damn far, and the bunched up cloth falls free, soaked in her saliva… and other fluids, from before it was torn from her body.

With her mouth suddenly unoccupied, the Tarnished leans forward and captures it with his own. She almost wants to protest, almost wants to turn her head away. She does not deserve his lips, not now. But there's a savagery even in this, and when he bites down on her lower lip almost hard enough to draw blood, Melina lets out a keening whine.

Her insides clench down around his member one final time, and that seems to send him over the edge. He spills his essence deep inside of her… her, a kindling maiden. This was not her duty. She, who walked alongside flame, was meant only for Destined Death.

And yet… and yet, in that moment, Melina lets herself imagine a world where she doesn't have to complete her duty. Where she doesn't have to burn, so that the way might be open for her chosen champion. Her eye drifts shut, as she pictures it. As she lets herself dream for half a heartbeat. Of growing old together with her Tarnished. Of growing heavy with child, HIS child. Of a life spent in his arms, in his warm embrace.

… Ah, that last bit isn't just a daydream, is it? Melina blushes and opens her eye to realize the Tarnished has moved on from their rousing bout of savage intercourse. No longer buried inside of her, he instead holds her back against his chest now, having interposed himself between her and the tree he'd pushed her up again.

Blushing prettily, Melina squirms in his lap, before ultimately letting herself lay her head back against his chest and relax. Still, tis a reminder… a reminder that she cannot and will not ever have the fantasy she'd just envisioned. That sort of life isn't for her… it was never for her.

"There is something for which I must apologize. I've acted the finger maiden, yet I can offer no guidance. I am no maiden, Tarnished. My purpose… my purpose lies at the end of our road together. At the Erdtree."

Slowly, she lifts her gaze and looks her chosen champion in the eye.

"I cannot be what you deserve. It was selfish of me, to try to confine you. I accept you now, for who you are, and ask that you never change. For you, Tarnished… are the best man I have ever known."

Averting her gaze, she lays her head to rest on his chest once more, rubbing her cheek as she stares out into the distance, speaking somewhat absently.

"Those you help deserve your assistance. And you deserve your happiness, wherever you can find it in this cold, cruel world. After all, as much as I might wish it otherwise… your happiness can not be found with me. Not forever. You deserve a love that will last longer than I."

She shuts down, after that, feeling like she's already said too much. She can't have her Tarnished getting ideas, after all. Can't have him trying to save her in direct defiance of Marika's Will. Melina's Destined Death will open the way. Tis what she was made for. She's always thought she wouldn't have it any other way… but only now, as she rests upon her Tarnished, as he rubs soothing circles into her back in direct juxtaposition with the firm, domineering treatment he'd visited upon her before, Melina can only wonder… what if?

Ah, but best not to let herself get distracted by such things. There was only ever one way any of this could end. Best to enjoy the moment while it lasted, rather than fret about what could have been.

-x-X-x-

A/N: Melina is a mess. A masochistic, fatalistic mess. She needs therapy. Unfortunately, there's no such thing in the Lands Between.

As always, please give me your feedback! All comments, Reviews, and Power Stones are greatly appreciated!