Elden Ring:After the end

The afternoon sky is completely clear, revealing the beautiful blue color and the imposing Golden Tree in the distance. 

The conquest of the center/west of the Altus Plateau was completed a few days ago, leaving only the northern zone with reduced resistance and much easier to take. 

These were not mere words, the northern zone is obviously the easiest, as it had previously been attacked by Lhutel and Aldrich's troops.

...Aldrich pov...

"Any progress, Kristoff?"

"As expected, we managed to take the urban centers easily... But the situation is worse than believable."

Closing the small book that has been a continuous companion for a few days now, I lift my body from the command chair and walk out of the tent next to Kristoff. 

Outside the command tent, a small town bathed in the afternoon sun and completely deserted of any voices or people is visible. 

"We acted too fast together with Lhutel, our moves left a power vacuum and this is the result."

Basically and in a nutshell, currently the entire northern part of the Altus Plateau is in a civil war. 

It was expected, the strongest nobles were eradicated by the fur-skinning madmen, while we took the three most important fortresses. 

With all that uncertainty, anger at unfair treatment and the hope of reconquest by Leyndell, it was the perfect recipe for widespread uprisings. 

"It wasn't just the power vacuum, people had endured for too long. They saw the opportunity and they took it."

"I know, I don't intend to blame myself for what happened. Now then, have you been able to tell the revolutionaries from the nobles?"

Unexpectedly Kristoff is someone quite sentimental, not that he is bad, but his 6'4" body, chiseled face and sharp eyes, make him look like someone who hits head on with whatever life sends his way. 

Eyes can be deceiving, as they say. On the other hand, figuring out who are rebels and who are loyal to the nobles is proving to be a problem. 

"It's almost impossible, they all carry the same banners, armor and weapons in their respective armies. So when we go out to intercept we don't know if they are enemies or friends, making it difficult to act at the start."

"First impressions are of the utmost importance."

"Yes, the previous time, we went out to intercept an army coming from the north. They saw us coming with guns blazing, so without thinking they started hostilities, with us responding in kind. In the end they were rebels."

That's the bad thing about such a chaotic war, you don't know who are friends or if they are enemies, making the battle many times more difficult. 

Perhaps I should just halt the advance of my troops, let the news of my arrival spread and wait for the rebels to come and join me. 

Although I could leave these verification jobs to Tiche and his black knives, they must be experts in the art of infiltration, information theft and much more. 

"Sir, to the front."

"That 's... A hawk?"

It was a rhetorical question, since I can see it in detail, but it still doesn't take away from the strangeness of it. The strange thing is that it's not a normal hawk, but one of those that live in Stormy Veil. 

Noticing our presence, the bird seems to increase its speed and in a couple of flaps, it finally passes over our heads dropping an envelope with precision. 

"Who is the letter from, Kristoff?"

"The wax seal marks it as coming from Leyndell, considering that proud hawk Deehn, it most likely came from Al."

Accepting his explanation, I took the letter from his hands, as he had intercepted it before it reached me, and opened it. 

There are only a few words, which are written in beautiful calligraphy and they only say. "The blue witch is in Leyndell."

There are moments when you want to doubt what your eyes see, this is one of those moments and even more so when he noticed the date of sending written on the letter. 

"Kristoff, can you read it out loud?"

"It says here:The blue witch is in Leyndell."

Well, that wasn't me imagining strange things. Ranni crazy conspiracies, she's in Leyndell... Something must be done. 

"Kristoff, I'm leaving you in charge of everything here."

"Understood, my lord!"

...Elsewhere…

The capital of the kingdom, Leyndell, had not seen such good days since before the devastation. The markets were full of different faces, the streets were full of vitality and every place seemed to bustle with human activity. 

It was a radical change from what it was at the beginning, and thanks to the new waves of population, the tension that existed was slowly being eradicated. 

Not at the root obviously, but people don't seem to be interested in getting into a new conflict and erasing all the current progress. 

"How are we doing?"

Looking down at the city below from the top of Leyndell Castle, Al the mimetic tear, asks a question towards the man behind him. 

"Difficult, not by the standards left by Commander Kristoff, but by the currents of thought."

Responding to his words, stands one of Kristoff's second-in-command, just like Max. He was a young man, obviously without any experience beyond training.

"They may be more than expected, but didn't we manage to find Ranni's followers?"

"We already know how to recognize Ranni's followers, but... There is another huge group."

The doubts could be noticed in the young man's tone, perhaps he was doubting if this new group fell into the same category as Ranni's. 

"What could it be, followers of the God of Death, well possibly not. Perhaps of the Goddess of Rot, but we haven't noticed any movement... Maybe."

"Sir, they are the followers of Queen Marika."

Interrupting Al's loud thoughts, the young man speaks softly and with obvious respect in his voice.

Nothing can be done, he is originally from Leyndell, where Queen Marika's influence is greatest and everything revolves around her. 

"I understand your doubts, but everything will be resolved when the Lord returns."

"Understood!"

Raising his voice and lowering his head, the young man's will seems to be stable again, before he withdraws from the room.