Fire Emblem: Fall of Radiance

[Ragnell]

Here is my story, The Fall of Radiance. Leave all feedback in the feedback topic of the same name. This story takes place at the same time as PoR and RD from a different perspective, and will involve original characters and some from the game. At the moment, the story may be slightly confusing for those who have not played the games, but I will try and include as much info. as I can. The story will be in a format similar to FE10. There will be 3 parts, each with a prologue, several chapters, and an endgame. Now to get this out of the way...

There Are Major Spoilers for Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn in This Story

Fire Emblem: Fall of Radiance

Part 1: Warrior Rising

Prologue: Training

Allen ducked under the upward slash of his sparring partner’s wooden sword. He twirled his sword around and swung his blade upward towards the boy’s waist, which was now left exposed. The boy stopped his own sword above his left shoulder and swung it down, pushing the trust aside. He in turn slashed at Allen’s right side. Allen twisted his sword around and held it upside-down behind his right shoulder, blocking his partner’s thrust. Allen twisted around, flicking his sword outward and up, flipping his opponent’s sword upwards. Wasting no time, Allen stabbed and made contact with his partner’s chest.

Allen grinned, “Got you again, Creid. How many times do I have to beat you before you admit that I’m stronger than you?”

“At least once more,” Creid replied, holding his aching chest. “Let’s go again.”

“Again? I just stabbed you in the chest. You can’t fight like that,” Allen laughed, knowing it wouldn’t persuade his friend.

“A little jab like that can’t hurt me. And anyway, it’ll remind me what I get for losing,” Creid answered, raising his sword into his fighting stance and staring expectantly at Allen.

“All right, if that’s what you want. Where should I hit you this time? Not in the chest, that’s already hurt. How about your arm? Waist? Or would you like me to whack you in the leg?”

“How about I get you?!” Creid cried, slashing at Allen.

Allen’s sword shot up to meet Creid’s, quick as lightning. “I don’t think so,” he whispered. Then Allen flicked his blade upward, throwing Creid’s sword sideways and opening up most of his body to attack.

“Your leg huh? I can do that,” Allen cried as he stabbed forward at Creid’s left leg.

Creid kicked his leg up, avoiding Allen’s stab, and hopped backwards losing his balance. Allen didn’t even bother slashing him, but just held his sword to Creid’s currently planted leg.

“WHACK!!!” Allen yelled enthusiastically.

“Hah, you got me. Hey, who’s that over there?”

Allen rolled his deep blue eyes and retorted sarcastically, “Yeah, I’m really going to fall for that one. As soon as I turn my back, you’re going to hit me.”

“No, seriously. That man walking up to your house, who is he?”

“Huh?” Allen said, cautiously turning around to look. “Oh wait! He was coming today?! Oh no, I’ve got to get back to the house.”

Creid looked quizzically at him, “you still haven’t answered my question. Who is he?”

Allen started to sprint back towards the short iron gates surrounding his father’s property with Creid jogging after him.

“Oh, it’s General Gawain, of the Four Riders,” Allen shouted over his shoulder. “I’ve got to go. I’ll practice with you again later.”

Creid slowly stopped jogging and muttered to himself, “Why is Gawain at his house?” He stared up the narrow, winding path to the house as Allen reached the front door and slid inside.

Edited February 7, 2009 by Urvan

[Ragnell]

Allen carefully pushed the front door shut behind him. He could hear his father’s booming voice throughout the house, and thought he could make out the gruff voice of General Gawain as well. Allen tiptoed over to the finely carved staircase across the entranceway from the door. He gripped the polished banister and slipped quietly up to the second floor, where he silently entered his room.

Allen mumbled to himself as he yanked off his beaten sparring tunic and slid on his slightly more appropriate purple dress tunic. He strapped his finest belt around his waist and removed his worn boots, replacing them with smaller silver shoes. He walked over to the mirror in the corner of the room and slowly ran a hand through his long, tangled brown hair. Satisfied with his appearance, Allen sprinted back out into the hallway and back down the stairs, remembering to jump the second to the bottom step, which always creaked loudly. He followed the sound of voices to his father’s study on the far side of the house.

Inside, his father was seated behind his large desk, with Gawain standing behind him, looking over his shoulder at whatever paper was currently on the desk. The general was tall with wide shoulders and a black cape upon his back. He had brown hair that was cut short and revealed a large scar on his forehead which ran parallel to his left eyebrow. He had a dark chest plate on and wore a black tunic underneath with gold lacing. Allen silently stood at the doorway until he was noticed by Gawain, who happened to look up from the paper.

“Ah, you’re that boy that was out sparring when I arrived.” Gawain said, while Allen watched his father glare at him, “Is this your son?”

“Mmm, yes. This is Allen. Allen, this is General Gawain. He has been sent by the king to prepare for his next battle strategy. General, I hope Allen will not be a bother.”

“Oh, no.” Gawain replied, chuckling. “You are quite the swordsman already, how old are you?”

“I’m ten sir, and I will be eleven in five months.”

“You are very talented for your age. Do you have a good teacher?” Gawain asked, now more interested in Allen than the paper that Allen’s father obviously wished he would pay attention to.

“No, he doesn’t, and he should spend more time in his studies than he does currently. If you wish to become a tactician, then you must forget your need to spar,” his father said, bothered by the question.

“In my humble opinion, he has as much potential to become a general in the army then he does a tactician. I hate to be an irritant, but would Allen like to take lessons with me in the sparring field? I frequently visit there to train and work with my other student, Zelgius. If you wished to study the sword as well, it would be no bother to me.

Allen turned quickly to his father, his eyes lighting up, and asked, “Please father? May I train with him? I know I can become a strong warrior if I get a good teacher.”

Knowing this would end in argument, Gawain interrupted again, “It will only be once or twice a week, and I will be absent when I’m serving on missions for the king. And if he is performing poorly in his studies, then I can end the lessons.”

“I promise I will study harder and learn more if I can learn to fight,” Allen practically begged.

“Very well. I shall send him to the field to practice with you twice a week. But your performance in your studies must not suffer as a result. Now, Allen, go to your room and prepare for your lesson today.”

Allen turned and walked out into the hallway, trying not to skip or seem too happy. Just as he had returned to the staircase, the door opened across the room. A young man, who looked no older than twenty-eight strode into the room, with a large sword strapped to his back. He had a pointed face, with his short blue hair hanging down about to the middle of his forehead. He turned and looked at Allen coldly and then walked past, towards his father’s study. Allen watched his golden cape swish around the corner of the hallway, and then ran up the steps towards his room. He knew this was his chance to become a real warrior and protect Daein.

Edited March 17, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

To all those reading, sorry for the huge break since I last updated this. I've been trying to figure out an ending, and I've had a lot of stuff going on around the house. So now, I plan to extend this story through the events of Radiant Dawn, instead of ending at the end of PoR. And now, back to the story...

Chapter 1: How to Fight

Allen sat impatiently in his seat inside the coach until his father opened up the ornately designed wooden door, allowing him to come out. He spun in his seat and slid to the ground, stopping for a moment to reach to the floor of the coach to grab his sword. Allen’s father closed the door behind him and strode briskly towards the gate of the sparring field, holding Allen’s shoulder tightly in his hand as the horse-pulled coach was led away by one of his father’s many servants.

Allen drew the blade partway from its scabbard to look at the golden designs on its hilt. The blade was a one-handed sword and was approximately two feet long, reaching from near his waist to the ground. He glanced quickly at the glimmering steel of the blade, which he had spent all morning shining, and then strapped the scabbard to his belt.

As the two of them reached the tall, stone gates of the field, Allen noticed the vast number of people either practicing or talking outside. Underneath the shade of the stone archway, a crowd of people had gathered around two men who seemed to be scanning the area above the heads of the crowd. As Allen neared them, he noticed that one was General Gawain and the other was the man he had seen before at his home. Gawain had talked about his student Zelgius, so Allen assumed it must be him.

As Gawain noticed them, he stepped away from the crowd of people and jogged over to Allen’s father. “Ah, Lord Karaton, I’m glad you could make it. And Allen too.”

Allen’s father looked reluctantly at Allen and then turned to Gawain. “Yes, when should I return for Allen? We must be back at the manor by five o’ clock.”

“Our lesson will not take more than two hours. We don’t want to pull any muscles by straining ourselves.”

“Very well, I will return in two hours. Allen, do as General Gawain asks you. And if I hear you’re misbehaving, you’ll never have another sparring lesson again.” With that, Allen’s father walked off towards the coach, which was now ready to leave for their manor.

Gawain turned to Allen and led him through the gateway towards the large, grass field inside. “Allen, this is my student, Zelgius. You may have met him before. For the time being, you will be sparring with him while I observe. When you’re ready, you can fight me instead.” As they reached an open portion of the field, Gawain pulled a small wooden sword from his back and tossed it to Allen. As he caught it, Zelgius pulled a larger wooden sword from his back and took his fighting stance.

“All right, Allen, just show me how you fight normally,” Gawain said as he took his place away from them. “I want to see what you know, and what you still need to learn.”

Allen grumbled to himself about having to use wooden swords, and then lifted his sword to his side, ready to fight. The two of them stood completely still for nearly a minute, neither willing to make the first move, until Allen’s impatience finally got the best of him. He leaped at Zelgius thrusting at his right leg, which seemed most vulnerable, only to be thrown back by a vicious counterstrike by Zelgius.

Zelgius laughed and quietly said, “You’re going to have to do better than that, boy. Show me what you’re capable of.”

Infuriated, Allen let loose a flurry of blows, aimed at every part of Zelgius’ body. Allen knew he couldn’t block all of them.

But Zelgius did, and took advantage of Allen’s bad positioning, hitting him hard in the left leg. Allen fell to the ground with a yelp as his leg buckled out from under him. He lay on the ground, holding his injured leg and wincing at the pulsing pain shooting from his shin.

Gawain walked forward and knelt down beside him, grinning. “The good news is, you’ve already mastered many of the basics, and you have no trouble physically. The bad news is, you’re much too impatient. When you’re in a battle, you must learn to relax. If you don’t control your emotions, your enemy will take advantage of them. Now here, get up and I’ll teach you a new stance. Yours isn’t bad, but it leaves the lower parts of your body undefended.”

Allen stumbled to his feet and picked up the sword he had tossed to the ground.

Edited June 17, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Nearly an hour later, Allen was sitting, exhausted on the ground with Gawain and Zelgius in front of him. Sweat was dripping off his brow into his eyes, which were now red, and stinging harshly. He pulled his now soaked tunic up with his hand and wiped the sweat off his face. He sighed as he felt even more sweat from his shirt cling to his face.

Gawain smiled and said, “I hope you’re not tired already, we’ve still got another hour before your father returns.”

“I’m not tired, I’m just…ok, so I am a bit worn out. But I’ll be ok after a quick break.”

“Very good, then you and Zelgius should fight again,” Gawain said, now grinning mischievously.

“What, but I just said I was-!”

“Exactly. Now that you’re tired, it means you should push yourself more. That’s how you build muscle. So get up and let’s go.”

Allen climbed to his feet and bent over to pick up his sword from the ground next to him. As he leaned over, he saw Zelgius spring at him from the corner of his eye. He whipped the sword out from under him and blocked the savage strike at the last second.

“I wasn’t ready yet.” Allen moaned. “C’mon, give me a second to get in my stance.”

“Allen, you won’t have time to prepare on the battlefield. You must always be ready for an attack. Learn to get in your stance immediately and without warning,” Gawain said.

Allen ducked a swipe from Zelgius and shouted, “But I’m not on a battlefield. I’m just learning the basics of sword-fighting.”

Gawain yelled back, “These are the basics! If you can’t even prepare to fight without time, you’ll be dead no matter who or when you’re fighting. This is one of the most important lessons I have to teach you.”

Just as Gawain said that, Zelgius swung down and slammed his sword into Allen’s shoulder. It collided with a lound smash and Allen crumpled to the ground crying out in agony. A razor sharp pain spread throughout his arm as he cradled it in his other hand. Allen tried to stop sobbing as Gawain walked over to investigate the injury, but his voice still shook and his eyes were watery and bloodshot.

“Hmm. It doesn’t seem to be broken, you should be fine. Can you move it?”

Allen swallowed loudly and lifted his arm up above his head and lowered it back down again, wincing in pain.

Gawain squatted down beside Allen and helped him slowly to his feet. The two of them stumbled over to a stone bench near the edge of the wide grassy field while Zelgius remained in the center of the field to practice his thrusts.

“We’ll relax here until you feel ready to fight again. I guess I may have pushed you a little too hard for your first practice.”

Allen frowned and stared and Zelgius as he stabbed forward again and again. “It wasn’t you, he was the one who hit me too hard. Does he not like me for some reason?”

“Oh, no. Zelgius has nothing against you in particular. He just doesn’t like people in general, although I’m not sure why that is.”

“Would it be ok if I fought you next, General Gawain?”

Gawain looked thoughtful for a minute. “No, you have one more step before you face me. But we’ll get to that next practice.”

Allen perked up, “Next step? What is it, so I can prepare?”

“Real swords. Next time you won’t be using practice swords. Make sure to bring your sword next time.”

Allen gasped, “REAL swords?! Don’t I have to practice for a few months before I use those? I’m just a beginner.”

Gawain chuckled quietly, “I’ve never liked those wooden practice swords. And you already seem to understand most of what

I would teach you with them. I think you are competent enough at fighting to use an actual sword.”

“Thank you General!”

Gawain laughed loudly and then his face straightened again, “All right, let’s continue our lesson. Since you still seem to be recovering from your injury, I will explain some of the strategies of sparring with you until you are well again.”

Twenty minutes later, Gawain and Allen were back out on the grass and Gawain was demonstrating a new technique to Allen. After Allen was able to perfectly replicate the move, Allen turned to Gawain and asked, “General, can I fight Zelgius again? I’ll be ready this time.”

Gawain looked at Zelgius’ emotionless face and turned back to Allen, “Very well, take your positions.”

[Ragnell]

Allen slowly strode with his father through their front door and into the large manor house. Allen was about to head to the kitchen to find some food to eat, when his father dragged him over to the staircase.

“Go wash up and come down in a half an hour. We’ll be dining with General Lanvega tonight. I want you to look clean when they arrived, not like you were just fighting for two hours, are we clear?”

Allen nodded and jumped up the steps, two at a time until he reached the top. Just as he did, his father called out from below, “And comb out that mess of hair you have!”

“Yes, father!” Allen called out behind him as he reached his room. He walked inside and gathered up his silk dress clothes from his bed and strode back outside towards the wash room. He saw that the large steel tub inside was already filled with water, so he stripped off his sweaty shirt and tossed it to the floor. He was turning around to pull down his pants when he spotted something in the mirror. Allen let go of his waistband and stared at the strange mark on his right shoulder.

He stepped closer to the mirror to look at it, but all he could see were some strange lines in what seemed to be black ink weaving around each other. He touched it lightly, but felt nothing strange. Then he remembered the blow he had taken to that same shoulder in his fight with Zelgius. Maybe Zelgius did something to his shoulder to make the mark appear. Despite what Gawain said, he knew that Zelgius disliked him quite a bit more than other people. With the other people in the practice field, Zelgius just ignored them, but with Allen, he stared at him with his cold dark eyes and scowled. Allen was going to find what was strange about that man, and he would figure out how to get rid of that mark.

He shook his head and finished stripping down and laid in the tub. The warm water soothed him and washed his questions about the mark on his arm away. Just as he was about to forget it completely, an idea hit him.

“Maybe I can just get it to wash out,” he thought to himself.

Allen picked up a cloth next to the tub and dipped it in the water until it was completely soaked. He then turned his right arm until he could see the mark on his shoulder. He started scrubbing furiously at the mark and continued for several minutes, until the area was red and raw. He lifted the cloth, but found that the mark was still there, and as dark as ever. He frowned and laid back down in the tub. He dropped the cloth back into the tub and began washing himself.

Several minutes later, he climbed to his feet and waited briefly for the water to drip off his body before steeping out of the tub. He grabbed and towel and wiped himself down before yanking on his underwear and trousers. He was reaching for his shirt when he remembered the mark again. He took a thin cloth hanging on the wall and ripped a strip off of it, then proceeding to tie it around his arm above the mark. He then gathered up his dirty clothes and dropped them in a bucket full of water near the door. He knew that his father’s servants would clean them and return them to his room later.

He turned and pulled open the door to the wash room and returned to his room. He strode across the room, around his small bed, and to the tall stone window facing the front of the house. When his father had first bought this manor outside of Nevassa, he had insisted on getting this room solely for the view out the window. He could see a horse-drawn carriage in this distance, headed slowly towards the house, across their property. He assumed by the escort of horses surrounding it that it was General Lanvega.

Allen hated it when his father had guests over, with General Gawain being the exception, of course. Whenever they were over, his father wouldn’t pay any attention to him, and wouldn’t even allow him to eat dinner with them. And since this was one of the Four Riders, he assumed this wouldn’t be any different. So instead of pestering his father, he decided that he would visit their library downstairs to research the mark on his shoulder.

Allen jogged out of his room, down the hallway, and down the stairs, hoping to escape the notice of his father. He had made it all the way down the stairs, when he heard his father yell something from the other room.

“What was that? I can’t hear you!” Allen yelled, walking out of the entrance hall into the hallway to the rear of it.

His father came bustling past him and shouted as he turned around, “You should head to your room. I don’t want you to be a distraction for the General.”

“Father, I’m just going downstairs to the library. I’ll stay down there, and I promise I won’t get in the way.”

His father thought quickly and agreed, before running to the door to greet their guests, who had now arrived at the front door. Allen turned away and ran to the stairs down to the basement, where the library was. He sprinted down them and slowly turned the corner into the massive single room full of old books and scrolls. He knew that the information on his mark was somewhere here, but finding it would be the hard part.

Allen spent the next two hours sifting through a small mountain of tomes he found that looked promising. As he pulled “Magical Signs and Runes” onto his lap from the heap next to him, he laid back and rested for a moment. He was currently seated on a small stool in the back of the room right in front of a large wooden desk. His father had worked here for many years before he had moved to the study upstairs. Now Allen used it when he needed to look for information in the many books that had not been moved upstairs. Probably due to the fact that Allen preferred fighting to reading, the desk was hardly ever used, and was covered with a thick layer of dust.

Allen lifted the book onto the desk and dropped it in front of him. A cloud of dust shot out and Allen started coughing as he pulled the worn book open to the first page. The book seemed to be about three to four hundred pages long, so he knew that just reading the whole thing was out of the question. He found a list of the different sections of the book and flipped to a section titled “Inflicted Curses”. He spent several minutes sifting through the monstrous chapter, but found nothing that sounded like what he had. But just as he reached the last page of the chapter, something else caught his attention. The next chapter was titled “The Spirit’s Protection”. Below the title was a large picture of a mark very similar to Allen’s on someone’s back.

Allen bolted straight up and quickly read through the first paragraphs. It said the Spirit’s Protection was a mark that appeared on the body after one enters into a pact with spirits for magical abilities. The mark usually appears when one verbally makes this pact, but could also appear at birth, if the child is particularly powerful. He frowned, because he neither entered a pact nor got the mark at birth. He looked back at the book and read the next part. It said that the mark is not harmful in any way, but is often confused with the brand on the body of the Branded. The Branded were a group of people who have both beorc and laguz blood in their veins.

Allen wrinkled his nose at the thought of a half-breed. How it must feel to look human yet still have beast blood in your veins. The sub-human laguz sickened him. But he froze completely and his heart shuddered at the thought, what if he was a Branded? It couldn’t be. Wouldn’t you know if you were part beast? He wasn’t a monster.

Allen slowly returned to reading, scared at what he may find. It said that the brand appeared after birth, usually in the mid to late teens. Allen slowly relaxed himself, he wasn’t anywhere near his teens yet. It couldn’t be possible for a ten year old to have a brand. His mark must be something completely different.

Allen sighed deeply and placed the book in a pile with all the other books he had read. He lifted the next book onto the desk, and flipped it open, now beginning to wonder if the information he needed was anywhere in these books.

Edited March 17, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Chapter 2: Birth of a Warrior

(One year later)

Allen slowly woke himself as he heard his father’s call from downstairs. He climbed out of bed and stumbled lazily over to the clothes that his father’s servants had left out for him. He had told them many times that he could dress himself, but they continued to place clothes out for him, and he continued to wear them.

He tried to pull off the pants he was wearing currently wearing, but almost fell over, so he sat down. He replaced his soft pants with some rough trousers and his light shirt with a tan tunic made specifically for sparring.

Allen knew his lesson with General Gawain was soon, but he still took his time walking downstairs. It seemed to him that, when you’re as tired as he was at that moment, the world should slow down instead of you speeding up.

But he eventually reached the kitchen downstairs and wolfed down a small breakfast of eggs before heading out the front door with his father. A horse-drawn carriage was waiting for them already, and the driver was sitting up straight in the front seat. As Allen climbed in the back seat, he wondered how early the driver had to wake to prepare to take him to this lesson. That was his problem, he thought, he couldn’t ignore other people’s feelings, even when he was supposed to be enjoying himself.

The carriage set off for Nevassa, and Allen turned to his father, who was staring out the window with a stern glare. He knew what his father was thinking about, without even trying to. It was him, as usual.

The time was fast approaching that Allen should leave for Nevassa to attend a war tactics boarding school for young boys. His father had attended it many years ago, and he had always expected Allen to do the same, even though Allen didn’t particularly want to. But since Allen was still attending sparring lessons, his father was growing worried that he would try to make it as a soldier in the Daein army instead.

They sat in silence, with Allen on the verge of speaking for the remainder of the ride to Nevassa. When they finally spotted the stone walls of the sparring field in the distance, his father turned to him.

“I’m…I’m sorry to tell you this Allen…but…I think it best that… that, well… This will be your last lesson with General Gawain. I’ve registered you to attend Daein’s finest tactical school, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself there.”

Allen nearly leapt from his seat, “ What!!! You can’t! That’s totally unfair! I don’t want to be a stupid tactician like you!” Just as the words left his mouth, Allen regretted them.

“You will become a tactician, Allen. I’m not going to let my only son chase some dream of being some legendary warrior. You will earn a real living at a real job. And that is my final decision.”

As he said that, the coach stopped and the driver opened the door for Allen. He stepped outside, turned to glare at his father briefly, and walked off towards where Gawain was waiting for him. Gawain had obviously heard the news from Allen’s father already, because he seemed less happy than usual.

“Alright, Allen. I assume you’ve heard that this will be your last lesson. I know you may not agree with this, but your father is doing what he thinks is best for you. But that doesn’t mean we will not make the most out of our last lesson together.

While this may be a tad late, I think it is finally time that you fight me instead of Zelgius.”

Allen looked around for Zelgius, but couldn’t see him anywhere. “Where is Zelgius today?”

“He’s taking care of some personal matters, but he will arrive eventually. But in the meantime, let us spar together. Take your stance.”

Allen drew his sword and took up his most recent stance. Gawain lifted his massive sword from his back and held it out in front of him in some stance that Allen had yet to learn. Gawain slowly moved toward Allen with a large grin on his face, and then drew the sword behind his back. He swung the sword over his head and sent it crashing down towards Allen.

Allen knew he couldn’t block a swing that powerful, so he dodged to the side and stabbed his sword forward towards Gawain’s side. Gawain swung up his huge sword and blocking the thrust and throwing Allen off balance. Gawain laughed and swung the sword around to hit him.

Allen could see no way of blocking this attack either, so he ducked, holding his sword above his head. The swing hit his sword and threw it backwards, but Allen still managed to keep his grip on it.

“You’ll need to do better than that to fight me!” Gawain yelled. “Show me what I’ve taught you!”

Allen screamed loudly and sprung up to his feet, letting loose a flurry of well-timed and well-placed blows. Gawain blocked all of them effortlessly, and slammed his sword into Allen’s, throwing it from his grip.

Allen yelled out and then turned to Gawain, who was holding a sword to Allen’s neck. “Sorry kiddo, you’re not quite as good as me yet.”

Gawain returned the sword to his back, and turned to see Zelgius walking towards them. Zelgius reached them with a large package in his hand. The next thing Allen noticed was that there was an enormous, new sword on his back. It had a tall golden hilt and a long blade that was about a foot wide. Now that he looked at it, Allen saw that the package in his hand was almost exactly the same size as his new sword.

Gawain walked over to Zelgius and took the package from him. “What is this, Zelgius?”

“That, General, is my gift to you for the training you have given me. I hope you can put it to good use.”

Gawain pulled the wrapping off the package to reveal a beautiful blade. The hilt of this sword was a dark purple and the blade itself was a bright shade of gold.

“That sword is called Ragnell,” Zelgius said. He pulled the sword from his back out, “And this blade is Alondite. Both are extraordinary swords, commander.

“I can see that, this is a very powerful blade. Thank you very much, Zelgius. But I must ask, what is the occasion?”

Zelgius grinned, “Why does there need to be a special occasion for a student to thank his master?”

“Very well, thank you again for it. Now Allen, I believe we have a lesson to return to.”

Edited January 13, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Allen leaned over, pressing his straight arms against his legs, panting heavily. The sun had now made its way high into the sky, and the midday heat was beginning to exhaust Allen. He was standing in the sparring field where he had just lost yet another fight against General Gawain. He straightened up and walked over to where his sword was now laying, several feet away. He yanked it out of the ground where it was stuck and stumbled back over to Gawain and Zelgius.

“General Gawain, can we take a break now? I’m worn out.”

Gawain smiled, “This is the last chance you’ll get to fight me, are you sure you want to quit already?”

“Whew! I’m just so tired. How about I fight Zelgius instead.”

Gawain turned to Zelgius, who was staring emotionlessly at Allen. Zelgius nodded, and he walked sever feet away from Allen, ready to fight.

Gawain stepped between them, “I’m am going to get some water for us while you fight. Allen, I expect Zelgius in one piece when I get back.” He grinned and walked off towards the entrance to the field.

Allen turned back to Zelgius, who still maintained his blank gaze at Allen. Allen raised his sword and ran at Zelgius, ready to be pummeled by viscous counter-strikes. But Zelgius did not understand Allen’s approach, so he took a defensive stance and prepared to block Allen’s obvious suicide attack instead of take advantage of it. Allen turned his blade at the last second and his sword stabbed around Zelgius’ shoulder, ripping a cut in his sleeve. He cursed and turned around, preparing to make a massive horizontal swing.Allen seized the opportunity to attack his unguarded back, and slashed quickly, cutting a portion of his shirt up.

As Zelgius stopped his attack, Allen stared in awe at a large black brand on Zelgius’ back. He was about to ask what it was when Zelgius followed his gaze to his back, and glared furiously at him, pure hatred in his eyes.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” Allen managed to stammer out.

“Never speak of this. EVER!” Zelgius growled. He sprinted over to his small bag near the corner of the field. He yanked out another shirt and quickly pulled it over his current shirt, not even bothering to take the first one off. Zelgius then turned and walked out of the stadium, sword in hand. Allen remained behind, staring, confused, at where Zelgius had been standing seconds ago.

What was so bad about him seeing that mark? If Zelgius was trying to hide it, then he wouldn’t give it to Allen, would he? Just as he thought this, Gawain returned with a wooden bucket full of water over his shoulder.

“Where is Zelgius?” Gawain asked, utterly confused.

Allen knew he shouldn’t mention the mark yet, so he quickly replied, “I don’t know, he just left. Said he had something to do.”

“Very well, then I guess we’ll have to finish this practice without him. Here take some water.” Gawain handed the large bucket to Allen, and Allen raised it to his head to drink as Gawain explained that he would teach him one last stance before the lesson ended.

But before they could practice anymore, Allen spotted his father, slowly making his way across the field of warriors toward them. He arrived and ignored Allen, walking straight to Gawain.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I think it would be best if this lesson ended a tad early. Allen has much to do before he leaves for tactical school.”

“What!? No! You can’t pull me out of my last lesson!” Allen yelled at his father.

Gawain looked sadly at Allen and replied, as if not hearing Allen’s protests, “Feel free to take him. I’m glad I could teach him this past year, take care of him.”

Allen’s father nodded, “Thank you very much. I’m also grateful for you giving him these generous lessons, I hope we will meet again.”

“Hah, warriors should pass on their knowledge to younger generations. That’s our duty. Goodbye Allen.”

Allen smiled sadly and was led away by his father. They exited the field and made their way back to the coach, which took them back to their home outside the city. Allen looked back in the distance, knowing this was probably the last time he would ever see Gawain or Zelgius.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

[Ragnell]

Endgame: Fight or Flight

Allen shoved his last clean shirt into the large bag that now held all of the belongings he was taking to tactical school with him. He had already packed several recreational outfits, his toothbrush and comb, a pair of sandals, and two books. One of the books had information on battles, and the other was about the mark on his back. He looked over at the sword on the bed and quickly decided to put that in as well. He was not allowed to bring it, but he didn’t care. If he got kicked out, he wouldn’t mind.

He grabbed the bag from below and staggered under its weight. He stumbled into the hallway and slowly climbed down the stairs. He dropped the bag in the entrance hall, next to the door, and walked slowly through the house, getting one last look at it. He made his way through each room until he heard his father’s cry from the door.

Allen sprinted to the door and followed his father outside, through the light drizzle of rain, to the coach that awaited them yet again. A servant followed behind them and placed the bag in the coach beside Allen.

Allen’s father did not get in but said, “Allen, I will not be able to ride with you. I am needed here when a new Daein commander arrives for his orders…I will miss you. I may not have always shown it, but I love you very much. I promise you’ll enjoy it there.

Allen just looked back at his father with a blank stare, to mad to say anything more than, “Love you too.”

His father made his way back to the house, out of the rain, and a servant closed Allen into the back of the coach by himself. Allen tried to look out the window, but the water on the glass made it nearly impossible to see anything. He sat back and just relaxed, trying not to think of anything.

Unfortunately, Allen’s mind could never think of nothing. His thoughts wandered back to the sparring field, and Zelgius’ mark. It must have been a brand. The Spirit’s Protection was nothing to be ashamed of, so he wouldn’t try to hide that. The only explanation for his actions was that he was trying to hide the fact that he was Branded.

If only Zelgius wouldn’t have left so fast. He might have been able to ask Zelgius about the mark on his shoulder. He knew it couldn’t be a brand, or at least not a normal brand. He desperately hoped it was something completely different, or at least a strange Spirit’s Protection. But no matter what he did, whenever he thought of his mark cold chills shot down his spine.

Just as Allen cast the mark out of his thoughts, the carriage jerked sharply, and he heard the horses yell out from outside. He heard what sounded like metal clinking against metal, and then the carriage stopped all together.

Allen slowly drew his sword out of his bag and pulled open the right door of the coach. The rain was now falling heavily, and obscured his vision of the surrounding area. He could tell by the buildings around them that they were in Nevassa, but he couldn’t tell where in the city they were. Allen crept outside of the coach and saw a lone figure standing in front. It was a knight encased from head to toe in shining black armor. He had large, metal plates over his shoulder and a flowing red cape around his neck. In the knight’s right hand, he held a golden sword that seemed incredibly familiar to Allen.

The knight turned to look at Allen, and silently started advancing towards him. Allen looked around the front of the carriage, and saw that the horses were lying dead, and the driver of the coach was also killed. Allen looked back at the knight, who was now much closer to Allen, and started to sprint away. As he ran, he looked desperately for a building with a light on, but he found none. Just as he decided to try and break into a house on his left, a strong force slammed into his back and knocked him to the ground.

Allen gasped while whipping around to block the knight’s attack. It took a moment for him to notice that the knight was still standing several yards away. The knight began advancing again, and Allen stumbled to his feet. There was no running from this foe, so he raised his sword and prepared to fight.

The knight let out a loud laugh and swung his sword in a wide ark in front of him. A wave of blue energy shot out of the sword and threw Allen’s small blade out of his hand. The knight dashed forward with surprising speed despite all the armor he was wearing, and pointed his blade at Allen’s head.

“I’m sorry boy, but I can’t let you live. It’s nothing personal, but I’m moving up in the world. I don’t need you interfering.

Allen gasped as he remembered both the sword, and the voice of the knight. It was Zelgius.

But before Allen could say anything, Zelgius slashed viscously across his chest, tearing both cloth and skin. Allen screamed out in agony and fell over to the wet, stone road. It was pain beyond pain, and everything except the pounding pain became irrelevant. Soon, he did not even realize was crying out, but just clutched his bleeding chest. He looked down at the wound, and just saw a blur of red blood and torn skin.

Allen glanced up towards Zelgius, his body not registering the pain that was shooting across his chest. Zelgius stepped away from Allen’s body and pulled a cloth bag from his armor. He poured a small amount of powder around him, and he disappeared in a flash of light. Allen stared at where Zegius had been standing moments earlier as his vision tuned black and all his thoughts began fading away.

Edited January 21, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Allen slowly began regaining consciousness, and his surroundings started to come into focus. He was in a small wooden room, laying on what felt like a soft bed. He turned his head and looked across the room, which was empty besides a small dresser in the corner and a blue rug on the floor.

He began sitting up, but cried out when a sharp pain shot through his chest, and fell back to the bed. Allen moaned quietly until he heard the door open, and a young woman entered the room. The woman had short blue hair and was wearing a light purple dress that extended down to her ankles. The woman pulled a stool out from under the bed Allen was lying on and sat beside him.

“Don’t try to move, or all the healing I’ve been doing will go to waste. What is your name?”

He cringed as more pain hit his chest, “I’m Allen. Who are you?”

“Allen? Hmm… I recognize that name from somewhere. Oh well. My name is Elena. I am the wife of General Gawain of the Four Riders.”

Allen bolted up, but yelled out and fell back again.

“I said don’t move. You’re going to hurt yourself even more. You might even cause a permanent injury.”

“I’m sorry. But General Gawain was my teacher in the sword. I’ve been practicing with him for the past year.”

Elena smiled, “So that’s where I remembered you from. My husband has said a lot about you.”

Allen smiled, but then frowned as he remembered what happened before he blacked out.

Elena looked concerned, “So what happened to you out there tonight? I just found you lying there, bleeding, on my way home today. Did someone do that to you? It looks like a sword wound.”

Allen quickly decided not to tell her about Zelgius. If he let it out, Zelgius may find that he was still alive. As long as Zelgius thought he was dead, he was safe. “A knight in black armor did this. I couldn’t see his face, he was wearing a helmet.”

“Oh dear! I tried to call my husband to help with you, but my messenger only found Zelgius there.”

Allen gasped. “Oh no!” he shuddered with dread. He knows I’m still alive.

Just as he thought this, the door opened again and Zelgius stepped in. Zelgius looked at him with fake concern and turned to Elena, “Will he be all right? It sounded like the boy was seriously hurt.”

Elena gestured towards the door, and led Zelgius outside to talk. She turned to Allen; “You get some rest while I tell him what happened.”

Allen couldn’t tell Elena that Zelgius attacked him. If he did, Zelgius may kill her as well. Allen sat up slowly, and looked around for a way out of the room. There was one window, but no door beside the one Zelgius and Elena were standing outside of. He could fake that he needed to use the bathroom, but Zelgius would take advantage of him being alone there.

He stood up silently and stumbled over to the door where his sword was. He could hear Elena describing his wounds outside. Allen pulled up his shirt and saw that there was now only one large scar across his chest. She had done a very good job of healing him. He grabbed the sword and tiptoed over to the window.

Allen pushed the window open as quietly as possible. He slid outside onto a large overhang, biting his lip hard to hold back a painful yell. He turned and pulled the window closed behind him, before sliding out of view of the window. Allen crawled slowly across the roof, knowing that Zelgius would know where he was as soon as he entered the room. After all, there was only one way out.

Allen looked both ways across the tiled overhang, but saw no reasonable way down. He saw two shadows move inside the building, and knew that Zelgius and Elena had found the empty bed. Without thinking, Allen lowered himself down, over the edge of the overhang. His feet dangled below a story above the ground, as only his fingers remained visible from the window. He tried to find a foothole, or some way to reach the ground, but found nothing within reach.

After several brutal seconds of holding himself up with nothing but his two hands, Allen pulled himself up high enough to swing one leg over the overhang. He sat up and walked across the overhang to the side of the tile where he saw a wagon sitting in the alleyway. Yet again, Allen lowered himself over the edge, and this time prepared to let go. He took and deep breath and released his grip, sending himself falling down towards the wagon. He bent his legs and winced as he hit the hard wood of the wagon.

Allen bit his tongue hard as he landed, and fell onto to his back. His sword pushed hard into his side. He rolled over in pain, but staggered to his feet. It didn’t matter how much pain he felt now. If he didn’t get away, Zelgius would kill him immediately. Allen climbed out of the wagon and sprinted into the alley as he heard the door open in front of the home and Elena calling out for him.

He hated to leave her there without any knowledge of what was happening, but his life was on the line.

Edited January 22, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

For those who read the last post a while ago, I noticed a plot hole I had to change. So to save you trouble of rereading the whole thing, I'll just tell you that Allen grabbed his sword before he crawled out the window of Elena's home. Elena had retrieved it when she brought his injured body. Just wanted to avoid any confusion. And Luxord, you're the first member to make an appearance! Yay! Don't worry, though, you'll get to the age you told me before. This is just a early cameo.

Allen dashed around the corner of the ally and out into the still wet street. He looked both ways and saw a lone carriage moving down the street. He ducked back into the alley until it passed, before running across the street into a large church.

He didn’t have any connections with the church, but he remembered that churches had always been a sanctuary for those fleeing the government. While he knew that it couldn’t keep him safe for long, he hoped it would at least help him survive the night.

Allen pushed open the large steel doors as quietly as possible, and slipped inside. He squinted through the dimly lit cathedral and saw that only one person was inside this particular room. It seemed to be a young boy, probably about the same age as Allen.

Allen walked up to the boy who was crouched over in prayer, “Hello?”

The boy mumbled his prayer a moment longer before he turned around, “Hello, sorry about making you wait. I’m Luxord.”

“Hello, Luxord. I-I’m Allen,” said Allen, quickly deciding to trust this one boy with his name. “Do you know who runs this church? I need to speak to him.”

“Yes, he’s in that room over there,” Luxord said, eyeing Allen’s sword. “I’ll introduce you to him. By the way, why do you need to speak with him? No, never mind. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. It’s none of my business.”

“I’ll tell you, but you have to tell me what you’re doing here as well. You seem to know the abbot well.”

Luxord smiled, “Oh, that’s no secret. I am visiting here on my path to becoming a priest myself. I hope to one day become the bishop of my home town.”

Allen frowned now reluctant to explain his predicament, “I’m here seeking shelter. I-I don’t have a home to go to now. Well, I do, I just can’t go there.”

Luxord gestured for Allen to follow him, and knocked on the small wooden door that the abbot was supposedly behind. “Abbot! There’s someone here to see you!”

The two of them sat in silence for several minutes before the door creaked open and a middle-aged man walked out. He had a short grey beard and was balding on top. He was wearing an ankle length white robe and was carrying a staff with at his side.

“Hello young fellow. What can I do for you?” The man asked with a cheery grin.

“I was wondering if there was a place for me to stay the night. I haven’t got anywhere else to go for the night.”

“Hmmm…well there is space enough in Luxord’s room for the two of you. Will you allow this boy to share your room tonight?”

“Of course. What Ashera has given to me, I will give to others.”

Luxord grabbed Allen by the shoulder and led him through a few hallways to his room. Allen memorized the way there in case he needed to escape during the night.

Luxord stopped before the door to his room, “My room isn’t all that big, but you can have the bed. I’ll use some blankets on the floor.”

“No way! I’m the one who’s stealing your room. I’ll be the one to sleep on the floor.”

“I won’t have my guest sleeping on the ground. That would be insulting.”

“Either you let me sleep on the floor, or I’ll go sleep on the street outside.”

“Hmmm…fine. You can sleep on the floor, but I’ll get some extra blankets.” Luxord walked out of the room and turned to the left, towards an area of the church that Allen hadn’t gotten to see. Allen set down his sword and pulled up his shirt to look at his scars again. There was a massive, dark line from below his left shoulder to his right hip where he had been stabbed. Then Allen turned around to look at his back in the mirror. There was a faint bruise in the same shape as his scar. Apparently, Elena had more important injuries to heal than one bruise.

Just then, Luxord returned with two large quilts. Allen yanked his shirt down and took the blankets to sleep on. He laid one down of the quilts, and then sat on it. He then pulled the second over himself. Luxord stripped down, and pulled on his pajamas, before climbing into his bed.

“Goodnight, Allen.”

“Goodnight, Luxord.”

“See you in the morning,” Luxord said, rolling over.

“Eh...”

Edited June 17, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Allen slowly opened his eyes, but then closed them when he was blinded by the early morning sun. He rolled over and looked up at Luxord’s bed. The boy was still sound asleep, and was snoring very quietly. Allen looked around and climbed to his feet. He tiptoed around the room, gathering his things, and then padded out the door.

Allen felt bad about leaving Luxord and the abbot without repaying their kindness, so he grabbed a few gold coins from his bag and dropped them in the doorway. He wished he could say goodbye, but he wanted to leave the town before many people were awake and could see him.

He made his way out of the church, the way Luxord had showed him the night before. When he reached the front door, he found that the abbot was already there, praying quietly.

When the abbot noticed him, he looked up at him and smiled, “Trying to leave without notice? Don’t worry, I won’t get in your way.”

Allen looked sheepishly at him, “I-I’m sorry. You were so kind to me, and now I wasn’t even going to thank you properly.”

“You already have. I think the goddess fated us to meet. I’ll tell Luxord you said goodbye. Now go.”

Allen muttered one last thank you and fled out the door. Out in the brisk, morning air, he took a deep breath and jogged towards the gate that he could see in the distance. Now that he wasn’t being pursued, Allen began to wonder what it was that he planned to do next. He had no shelter, no supplies, and most importantly no food. He may have escaped Zelgius, but now he had to find a way to survive in the wild.

Allen knew he couldn’t hope to live by himself, so he began formulating a plan to hitch a ride with some travelers. There were many merchants in the area, and some of them might be willing to help take him to Crimea or to Begnion. When he got there, he could find a family to live with or a job to take.

So Allen reached the gate and strode past the guards, slowly deciding how exactly he’s convince traveling merchants to take him with them. He could say that he was a merchant who would help them, but they wouldn’t believe that. He was too young to pass as a merchant. He could say that he was a warrior. They might need protection from bandits. And he had a sword with him. If he showed them his sword skills, they’d believe him.

So Allen smiled and headed off into the woods, keeping his eyes peeled for any other travelers.

[Ragnell]

Allen kneeled down against a tall tree, in a forest a few miles away from Nevassa. He had been walking for nearly two hours, and he had yet to see anyone that looked like a merchant or group of merchants. He had found this dirt road about a quarter of an hour ago, and had followed it ever since.

Allen was beginning to question if he should give up and return to his home. His idea of hitching a ride with merchants was sounding more ridiculous by the second. Why was he even here? If he had just told the soldiers that Zelgius attacked him, he would be ok.

Just as Allen was about to turn back towards Nevassa, he spotted a group of people walking down the path. They were dragging a cart behind them and had a rugged look to them that reminded Allen of pictures of merchants he had seen. He jogged towards the group and stepped from the grassy slope of the hill he was on to the dark dirt of the road. He was nearly in front of them when he noticed that they were all armed with swords, axes, and lances, and that the cart was filled with more weapons. These weren’t merchants, they were mercenaries.

The leader of the group looked to Allen, “Do you need something boy? Or are you just going to stand in our way. We’ve got places to be.”

Allen froze and slowly pulled his sword from his sheath.

The leader of the mercenaries stepped forward and nearly doubled over laughing, “You’re going to fight us? Did someone hire you to fight us? Hah, you’re just a boy!”

Allen held his sword up in his fighting stance and slowly backed away from the group.

The mercenaries stopped laughing abruptly. The leader again stepped forward, now looking dumbfounded, “That stance…who taught you that?”

Allen growled, “My teacher is no matter to you.”

“There’s only one man that I’ve ever seen using that stance. He was an old friend of mine.”

Allen slowly lowered his weapon, “My teacher was General Gawain of Daein.”

“Hah! I knew it! Gawain and I fought in the Battle of Oribes. How is he?”

“I-I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in several days. I used to take lessons from him.”

“Well then, where are you heading? We can escort you there.”

Allen stammered for a second and then let out, “I’m not headed anywhere. I’m just trying to survive.”

The leader laughed, “Trying to survive, huh? Aren’t we all? I’m Cade. And you are?

“I’m Allen.”

“Don’t have a last name? No never mind, you’re not going to tell me it anyway. Now, do you have any shelter or place to go from here?”

“Umm… no I don’t.”

“Any family, friends? Some abandoned place you can live in?”

“No. And I can’t be seen in Nevassa. It’d be…bad.”

Cade winced, “Well…I guess… you can come with us for now. But only for the time being. We’re not a babysitting service. But I’m not going to leave my old friend’s student out in the wilderness.”

“Thank you, I don’t know what to say!”

“How about yes commander? From now on, I will be your commander, not just your friend. You’re going to have to work for your stay.”

“Anything’s worth it,” Allen said, smiling. “Commander.”

Part 1 Fin

Edited January 25, 2009 by Urvan

[Ragnell]

Part 2: Rise to Radiance

Prologue: Crimea's Fall

(19 years later)

Ninji secured his axe to the side of his saddle as his horse galloped through the tall, stone gates of Melior. He rubbed a small cloth across his armor, wiping away the grime, so he wouldn’t get any hassle from his commander.

As he and his two partners passed by a large cluster of small homes, a young boy cried out, “It’s the Crimean Knights, they’re back again!”

Ninji sighed, he hated his job. Riding around all day pretending you’re doing something worth doing, and acting all noble. It sickened him. All he ever did was kill small bandits and solve petty disputes between peasants. Even his supposed “important task” was pointless. Why did he care about some stupid child of the king’s? The little brat was no concern of his. If she was such a big problem, why wouldn’t they want someone to off her?

The rider to his left sped up until he was next to Ninji, “Our orders were to proceed to the Commander, why are we heading to the barracks?”

Ninji shrugged, “We should get washed up before we meet up with him. Don’t want another lecture, do we?”

The rider to his right obviously heard, and pulled up as well, “We cleaned ourselves BEFORE we got to Melior. It’s not our problem that you’re too lazy to do what you’re told.”

“I’m your superior officer, you’ll treat me with respect!” Ninji growled. It was one of his few luxuries, he got to boss around new knights all day.

“Being second from the bottom isn’t anything to brag about,” the left knight joked.

Ninji rolled his eyes, “Very well, if you whelps want to follow your orders by the letter, we’ll do that. But don’t expect Geoffrey to be happy.”

“That’s an order I can follow,” the right knight saluted and picked up his speed.

The three knights reached the palace at the heart of Melior and dismounted their horses at the gate. They gave the reigns to two servants and jogged up the stone steps. They stepped out of the bright sun and into the dimly lit hallways of the palace. Ninji led the way as the three of them proceeded to a small room with nothing in it except a small desk and a torch. Behind the desk was the only thing Ninji hated more than his job, his commander, Geoffrey.

Geoffrey looked up from the map he was examining, and glanced to each of them in turn. “Well?” he inquired.

The knight to the left of Ninji, Han if Ninji remembered his name correctly, responded, “All four of the bandits were eliminated and the rebel group has been disarmed and brought to the royal court.”

Geoffrey stared at Ninji, “Ninji, that’s your name is it not? Why is your armor filthy and your skin uncleaned? You are in the royal castle, do you have no respect for the king? And when you captured the bandits, did you give them a chance to surrender? No, you simply charged their base, without restraint. I am tempted to demote you from the royal guard.”

Ninji was tempted to yell back in protest, but replied simply, “Do these two need to hear this?”

“Want to hide your shame? Too bad, you should have thought of that before your decided to break the army’s procedure…again.”

“Sir, I really must say that this is a trivial-”

Geoffrey stood up quickly, “I will decide what is trivial and you will return to your barracks to await further instructions. We’ll decide what’s to come of you later.”

“Yes, commander,” Ninji hissed. The three knights left the room and strolled across the palace to the entrance, where they exited towards the barracks.

“So…” the soldier who’s name Ninji forgot started.

“That was no business of yours, forget it,” Ninji growled.

“I was wondering, what does the royal guard exactly do? Do they earn a higher pay?”

Ninji laughed, “No. It is supposedly honorable to accept little pay. But I don’t know what man would be considered dishonorable for wanting to live nicely. The only thing the royal knights get is to escort stuffy nobles around all the time. I would be happy to quit them. I would be happy to quit any of this if I didn’t need the money.”

The three of them came to the door of the barracks, which were four long, narrow buildings just east of the castle gate. They walked past the four guards standing before the doorway and lifted their saddles, which were sitting near the door where the servants had left them.

Ninji walked down the hallway and entered the third room on the right. He tossed the saddle under his bunk and pulled off his armor, piece by piece. He slid the axe under his bed as well and just sat back ready to relax. He hadn’t had the chance to just rest for nearly a week, after chasing rebels halfway across Crimea.

Ninji had just laid his head down and was preparing to drift off to sleep when he heard the scream of a wyvern high in the sky.

Edited February 28, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Ninji jumped to his feet and ran out of the room, down the hallway, and out of the barracks. He looked to the sky and saw nearly endless amounts of black wyverns flying directly towards Melior. As he looked to the ground, he could also see a large army of soldiers clad in black armor approaching the east castle gate. A crowd of white clad soldiers was charging out to meet them. But even from his bad vantage point, Ninji could tell that the meager Crimean force could not hold the Daeins back for long.

Ninji looked up and saw Geoffrey, in full armor and riding his snow-white horse towards them crying at the top of his lungs; “All soldiers assemble! Royal knights, to arms! Meet me at the west gate! All other knights to the east gate!”

Ninji sprinted back into his barracks and quickly suited up for battle. He grabbed his axe and exited out the back entrance of the barracks to the stables. He ran across the hay covered ground to the third horse on the right, named Valor, and pulled open the gate. He mounted Valor and galloped out of the stables towards the west gate.

Along with approximately ten other riders, he weaved in and out of civilians running about and slowly made his way to the gate. When the gate was in sight, Commander Geoffrey rode up to them along with another knight, who had a passenger on his horse. Ninji recognized the passenger as Princess Elincia, the secret heir to the Crimean Throne.

Ninji called out, “Commander, where is King Ramon and Duke Renning?”

Geoffrey pulled up beside him, both still riding at a quick pace, “The king and duke have elected to stay behind. Duke Renning shall be commanding the rest of the Crimean Knights.”

Ninji nodded and was about to pull away when Geoffrey spoke again, “Ninji…what was said before has no bearing now. Neither of us should let personal grudges get in the way of saving the princess.”

Again Ninji nodded, but this time it was just to appease the commander. He would escort the princess, but not because he felt any duty to her at all. He would do so because that was the only way that he could stay alive at the moment. If he let the Daeins get him, they’d kill him, and if he deserted the knights, they’d kill him as well. His only option was to flee with the princess.

The knights galloped under the massive gates of Melior which were now flooded with people trying to escape. He nearly knocked down a young boy in black robes and had to swerve to avoid a merchant who was desperately trying to bring his cart of goods with him.

Ninji yelled out, “Move out of the way! Make way for the Crimean Royal Knights!”

Geoffrey shot him a sharp look, but couldn’t deny the success of his cry. A small path emerged as people moved to the side of the road to allow the knights through and attempt to get a view of whatever nobles rode with them. With a new path to ride on, the knights took off at breakneck speed southward through the meadow surrounding the capitol city.

They rode nearly a two miles before slowing their pace. The group gathered in a circle while Geoffrey briefed them on their mission.

“Men, our duty is to protect Princess Elincia and escort her to Gallia in the south. Once she is safely there, we shall request reinforcements from the King of Gallia. Regardless of whether we get them or not, we shall ride back to Melior to aid Duke Renning. If any of us should be hurt, he shall be left behind. If we turn back, we may all end up dead by Daein’s hand. Now, let us ride to Gallia!”

Ninji rolled his eyes at the obvious moral building attempt, while a man named Kieran who was sitting beside him shouted “Huzzah!” at the top of his lungs. The group turned back to the road and again rode off towards the south.

Edited February 3, 2009 by Urvan

[Ragnell]

Nearly a half an hour later, the group had proceeded southward several miles and was currently riding on the capitol highway of Crimea. Geoffrey was leading the group, Kieran was taking up the rear, and Elincia was riding in the middle of the group’s formation.

Ninji could tell that the group had mostly let down their guard, for the group had only met one person in the last mile. But that immediately changed when they passed a small home that was lit on fire. The group paid it no mind until Ninji spotted a small black flag planted in the yard in front of the home. It was the flag of the Daein Army.

Geoffrey glanced around in alarm and shouted, “Faster men, pick up the pace. We must arrive in Arbor by nightfall.”

Ninji patted his horse and then picked up his speed to match the pace of the rest of the group. They traveled another ten minutes before they ran into a problem. In the middle of the road stood a knight clad in heavy black armor and carrying a javelin. Ninji and the Royal Knights pulled to a halt in front of him.

Geoffrey slowly moved before the mysterious man, “Daein knight, you have to authority here. Move or we shall end you quickly.”

The man grinned, “I’m sorry but you Crimean curs will be the ones to die! The king needs that girl,” the man gestured towards Elincia. Then the knight swung his javelin forward and a small army of Daein soldiers dashed out from the bushes surrounding the road.

Geoffrey pulled back, “All right men, break through their ranks and get Elincia to safety!”

The royal knights screamed a loud battle cry and rode forward as fast as they could. Ninji steered towards a myrmidon who was looking the other direction at Kieran. He pulled out his axe and swung it in a wide arc, cutting across the sword-man’s chest. The myrmidon cried out in pain and then crumpled onto the ground.

Ninji laughed, this felt really good. He dashed over to a soldier and knocked the lance out of his hand with a swing of his axe. The man yelped out in pain as his arm was thrown left, but then became silent as Ninji slammed his axe against his gut.

Around him, Geoffrey was fending off two soldiers and a myrmidon with quick slashes of his Brave Lance. Ninji saw an archer taking aim at his horse, so he rode over and dispatched him with two slashes of his now red axe.

About five minutes later, when about a half of the enemy soldiers had been eliminated, Ninji noticed that the Crimean knights were pulling back and preparing to break through the remaining soldiers. But before they had the chance, the Daein commander signaled and about fourty more soldiers emerged from their hiding places. Ninji groaned, but sat up quickly sat up as the rider bearing Princess Elincia approached him.

The man shouted, “Commander Geoffrey says we are to take Elincia and ride east through the woods. He will lead the rest of the knights south as a decoy, allowing us to escape. Once we are two miles to the east, we are to ride south towards Arbor, where they will meet us.”

Ninji glanced at the other knights who were still in the heat of battle and then nodded. The two of them turned towards the woods, and rode away as quietly as possible. But a lone Daein archer spotted them and fired an arrow at the rider who was carrying Elincia. He rolled off his horse, dead, with an arrow in his chest.

Ninji rode up to Elincia, who was now alone on her horse and shouted, “Get off the horse and climb on mine, I’ll escort you eastward.”

Elincia did as she was told, and was soon seated behind him on his horse. Ninji turned and shot off into the forest, riding as fast as was possible in the dens greenery. He steered around trees and lept over a small ravine near the edge of the woods. He had almost made it a safe distance away from the fight when he spotted a small group of Daeins who were sneaking through the woods. Distracted, Ninji didn’t see a low branch, which slammed into both he and Elincia. The two of them tumbled off the horse, and Ninji fell down a small hill, before crashing into a shallow hole.

Ninji climbed to his feet and sprinted back up the hill. He mounted his horse and whispered, “Elincia, where are you? Elincia!”

He scanned the area, but could not make out her green dress, which matched the trees and bushes surrounding them. Still, she did not respond. Ninji figured that she might be knocked out or dead, so he dismounted his horse to look for her. But before he got the chance, he saw the Daein soldiers crawling nearer to him. They couldn’t see him, but they would be right next to him within a minute.

Ninji glanced around one last time, looking for Elincia, before climbing back on his horse and riding off into the woods.

Edited February 3, 2009 by Urvan

[Ragnell]

Adam hopped off of the stump he was standing on and jogged back through the woods until he could see the figure of his friend, Trent. Trent was wearing a light blue striped shirt with a darker blue vest over it and a black headband around his head, which held his long light brown hair out of his eyes. At his side, he was holding a short iron axe.

Upon spotting his friend’s approach, Trent shouted out, “Hey, Adam, did you see anything?”

Adam twisted around and clipped his bow to the side of his quiver as he walked up next to him, “No, nothing here, but there’s more of those Daein soldiers farther to the north. They’ve even taken over Fort Nados. With those kind of numbers, I bet the capitol’s already fallen.” Adam paused and looked around him, “Where’s Hannah, I thought she was with you?”

“Oh, I don’t know, she probably just wandered off after some stupid rabbit or squirrel. She’ll show up soon.”

Adam turned around furiously, “I’m not just gonna let my sister wander around the countryside while it’s swarming with Daein soldiers. Where’s Allen?”

Trent shrugged again, “I don’t know. I think he’s back at our last camp. Unless he left for something.”

Adam sighed, “You don’t pay attention to anything do you?” And then he turned around and jogged back towards their camp, with Trent right behind him.

“I do to pay attention, I just don’t worry about every little thing like you do. Everything’s not a crisis.”

Adam looked at him, “I didn’t want to bring Hannah here. I was going to leave her in Daein. She shouldn’t be tramping around in the wilderness with us, it’s not safe.”

“Oh yes, leaving her alone on the streets of Nevassa would have been much more preferable. What a caring brother you are,” he laughed sarcastically. “Remember how much trouble we were in before Allen found us? Do you want that to happen to her too? When he found us, we were running through the woods with half a dozen pirates and soldiers after us!”

The two of them proceeded in silence until they found the clearing that they had camped at for the past two nights. Between the two small tents they had pitched, two figures were sword-fighting. One was Hannah, Adam’s younger sister and a myrmidon-in-training, and the other was Allen, their commander.

Adam let out a relieved sigh and called out, “Commander, the closest soldiers I can see are at Nados Castle to the north. We’re safe here for now.”

Allen blocked Hannah’s upward slash and let loose a massive swing, which knocked Hannah’s sword out of her hand. He turned to look at them, “Good, Erik will be returning soon with word from the south. If things are well there, then we’ll camp here again. If not, I’ve scouted out a place to the west of here that has very few soldiers. Enough, at least, that we can take care of them.”

Adam walked even closer, so he could see Allen and Hannah more clearly. Allen was wearing a long, dark brown tunic that flowed below his belt and part way down his thigh towards his knee. On his back was strapped a large steel blade, and on his shoulder he wore a single brown spauldron. He also wore a cape that was black on the side facing outward and yellow on the side facing his back. Allen’s brown hair hung down almost to his eyes in the front and down to the start of his neck in the back. His bright blue eyes were sitting in the shadow of his long bangs.

Hannah was wearing a simple dark purple tunic that came down to her knees and wore a short, thin sheath at her side to hold her slim sword. Underneath her tunic came a pair of off-white pants that came down to meet her short brown shoes. Her long, dark brown hair matched Adam’s almost perfectly and hung down halfway down her back where it was pulled away from her forehead and behind her ears.

Adam walked up to the duo and asked Allen, “Where should we go next, commander?”

Allen looked around and, finding nothing that needed work, he said simply, “Do as you please. For tonight, we finally can rest.”

At that moment, the four of them heard the clamping of hooves coming from the forest in the south. Adam pulled out his bow and knocked an arrow, ready to pick off the rider if they were not friendly. But it was their friend Erik who rode over the short hill, galloping on his brown horse. Erik’s curly brown hair bounced as he rode, and he had already stowed his sword on the saddle.

When Erik pulled up next to them, he hopped off the horse and said simply, “There are a fair amount of soldiers south of here. At the moment, they are only watching the Mugill fortress on the Crimean/Begnion border, but I wouldn’t want to be around if they ride north by us. They've easily got enough numbers to overwhelm us.”

“Very well, pack everything up, and let’s head to the west,” Allen sighed.

Edited March 17, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Princess Kilvas stared blankly out the hazy window, through the light drizzle of rain outside, and down to the docks below the castle. She was not looking at anything in particular, but just trying to pass the time until she was able to leave this god-forsaken mound of dirt called Kilvas.

While Princess Kilvas was not really the princess, it had become her affectionate nickname throughout the nation after her father, the King Naesala’s brother, died. In fact, the appointment of the new king of Kilvas usually had nothing to do with bloodlines. The strongest raven in the country usually got the position, and that most certainly was not Princess Kilvas.

So she was now staying at a small castle in the northern region of Kilvas so she could attend a meeting between the king and a few Daein representatives. Apparently, Naesala planned to ally Kilvas with the humans, so she had to be present as a figure-head.

The princess sighed as she saw a large boat pulling into the harbor. For a second, she was unsure of what boat it was, but then she caught sight of the red Daein flag atop its mast. It was several minutes before the boat was anchored and the people aboard had exited onto the dock, but Princess didn’t move the entire time. Only when the first group of passengers reached the front gate to the castle did she move from her spot on a stool by the window.

She stood up slowly and wandered out the door and down the staircase that was just outside. Her room was in a tall tower on the north side of the castle, far above the main gate and facing towards Begnion. Princess jogged down the steps and avoided all the other ravens, who treated her so humbly it almost made her sick.

When she reached the entrance hall nearly three minutes later, most of the Daeins had already left towards their rooms or towards various meetings. In the middle of the large hall there only stood three humans, who were carrying several bags and two small crates.

Kilvas stared with interest at the three, and noticed that they were probably a family. The oldest man seemed to be in his mid to late fourties, and was giving orders to the younger two. The next man was clad in sleek, black armor that covered everything from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. He was even wearing his helmet, despite being indoors. The third man seemed to be much younger, probably in his mid teens, and had spiky, bright orange hair and a red cloak that dropped to his feet.

Princess Kilvas stared at them strangely, she had never actually met any beorc, who most other people here called humans. They were so…different. And yet so similar. Princess Kilvas looked much like the people of Daein, except for one huge difference: she had wings. She was a member of the bird laguz clan. Her people had the power to change into ravens at will, but retained their wings in human form.

She listened in to their conversation and heard the older man say, “All right Rad, you take our bags upstairs. Arc and I are needed to demonstrate our wares to the king.”

The boy in black armor, Rad she assumed his name was, nodded and watched the other two carry away the two crates. He turned and looked blankly at the four bags that were now sitting alone on the floor. He hoisted the first over his shoulder, held the second under his arm, squeezed the third between the other two in front of his chest, but couldn’t even reach the fourth bag, let alone carry it.

Princess Kilvas tried not to laugh when he bent over and dropped two of the bags he was carrying. She hopped down the steps and walked up next to him.

“Do you need some help? That’s a lot of bags you’ve got there.?”

The boy turned and looked at her, and she could see his dark brown eyes under the shadow of his helmet, “Yes, thank you.”

The two of them each grabbed two bags, and Princess led Rad through the twisting hallways to the chambers where they were to be staying. They dropped the bags in the corner and Rad walked over to the window, which happened to be about forty feet below the window Princess Kilvas had been looking out scarcely ten minutes before.

She looked up at him and asked, “So… do you need help with anything else?”

He looked back to her, “No, I think I’m good. Thanks again for the help…uh…what did you say your name was again?”

Princess smiled, “I didn’t. But it was no problem. Are you going to be staying here long? Were those men you were talking to before your family?” She tried to steer the conversation away from her name as quickly as possible. She knew that he wouldn't treat her the same if he knew her name and title.

“Yeah, they were. Arc is my brother and the other man is my father. We’re hoping to sell some weapons to the king. Explosives, particularly. My father is the leading expert in explosive technology.”

Princess laughed, “Is that so? Well, why aren’t you with your father?”

His smile faded, “Well…there’s not much I can help with during the sales. My brother is a fire sage, so he can demonstrate the power of our explosive powder. And my father has to be there, of course. But I’m just a dracoknight. No use for me.”

Princess felt bad for asking such a personal question, so she tried to cheer him up, “So, you ride a wyvern? Is it here? Can I see it?”

Rad looked up, “Sure you can. He’s still on the ship, unless they’ve moved him to the caves in the mountain with the rest of the wyverns. His name’s Gharlog.”

The two of them made their way down to the docks, where the crew of the ship and several servants from the castle were helping to move the horses and wyverns on board. Rad brought her up on board the ship and showed her down into a large stable-like room. She watched each of the wyverns with interest, she had only read about the beasts. But when they reached Gharlog, she gasped.

Gharlog’s scales was a stunning shade of white. Even in books, she had never heard of a white wyvern. It must be incredibly rare.

She looked to him, “A white wyvern? I’ve never heard of such a thing? Is it a rare breed?”

He petted the beast’s scaly head and smiled, “You bet he’s rare. From what I know, he’s the only one of his kind. My father won him in an auction for quite a high price.”

Just as Princess was about to ask if anything else was different about him, a loud bang rang out from the castle. Rad looked strangely at Princess Kilvas, and they both ran up out of the boat.

Edited March 14, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

As they exited the boat, the two of them looked to the sky, where a tall column of smoke was billowing out of where Princess’s room used to be. The stone of the tower was shattered, and blocks of rock had fallen on the castle below. Rad seemed puzzled, and ran back under the deck.

Princess Kilvas yelled at him, “Where are you going?! Someone just bombed my room! Uhgggg!”

She lept into the air and began morphing into a raven. Her arms shrank into her sides, and a large orange beak grew from her face, stretching her mouth outwards. Her legs thinned and shortened into viscous talons. Finally, her clothes melted into her body and feathers sprang up across her torso.

Spreading her wings, Princess shot up towards the tower, shrieking at the top of her bird lungs. She flew into the smoke, and within seconds couldn’t see hardly anything in front of her. She also noticed that it was becoming very difficult to breathe. If it weren’t for the size of her bird lungs, she would probably suffocate within minutes.

Through the smoke, she caught sight of several bright tongues of flame, which were rising up along the side of the stone walls of the tower. And behind the fire, silhouetted in the light, was a single thin man. One hand was at his side, and the other held a curved Wo Dao sword. He wore a sleeveless jacket that fell all the way down to his ankles and was strapped underneath his belt. He had short black hair that was blowing in the light breeze. The man stood silently until Princess Kilvas landed next to him, shifting back to human form so she could speak with him.

Princess Kilvas could make out a small grin on his face as she stepped forward and he spoke, “It is unfortunate that you weren’t in your room a moment ago. I’m sure you would have much preferred that death to the one you must suffer now.”

“Who are you, and why are you trying to kill me?” she demanded.

The man laughed, “Who am I? You don’t need to know that. Why do I pursue you? That I can divulge. It is simple, really. I am an assassin. I was ordered to kill you by my commander, so that is what I shall do. Sorry that you must receive the short end of this stick.”

Just as the man began to approach her, the wind began blowing harder and a series of small shock waves rattled the duo. Above them the smoke cleared and a large, white wyvern dropped through the ruins of the tower.

From atop his steed, Rad shouted, “Sorry, sir, I’m afraid I can’t let you kill her.”

The assassin stepped back, “Heh… so you have acquired a bodyguard. How cliché. I hoped to just finish this right away, but I guess I’ll have to kill your boyfriend too, eh Princess Kilvas?”

Rad gasped, “Princess?! You’re a princess?! Why didn’t you tell me you were royalty?”

Princess cried back, “Later! Right now, let’s worry about this thug.”

But before either of them could make a move, the assailant dashed around the ruins of the doorway and lept through the floor. Princess Kilvas sprinted after him and jumped down the hole, ignoring Rad’s cries for her to flee. Rad hopped off Gharlog, signaling for him to leave and followed her with his killer lance in hand.

As Princess strained her eyes looking for the mysterious man, she could still hear Rad’s shouts from behind her.

“It’s a trap. Just escape while you can. He has the advantage here!”

Princess wanted to respond, but couldn’t risk giving her position away. The other man had just as much trouble seeing as she did. She froze and listened intently for any sound that would give him away. Her ears were much stronger that any humans, but all she could hear was the clank of Rad’s armor behind her.

The man must have moved to a lower floor, there was no way he could be that silent. But before she could chase him lower, Rad’s cries abruptly ended. Instead, she heard him coughing violently and heard a thump and clank as he hit the ground. The princess sprinted back to him, and found his barely conscious body lying on its back. He was coughing weakly still, but she saw that his eyes were flickering closed. She dragged his body up and hugged him tightly as she dove out of a nearby hole in the wall.

As the fresh air outside shot past them, Princess Kilvas flapped her wings as hard as she could, but to no avail. She fell in short bursts until they finally hit ground lightly. Around her, several bystanders sprinted up to her, gasping at Rad’s unconscious body.

Ignoring their offers to help her, she lifted him and slowly made her way into the ground floor of the castle. Despite the explosion on top of the building, the bottom was still intact. She lugged him halfway to his room before he slowly started coming to. She lowered him to the ground and helped him slowly to his feet. With her arm around his shoulder, she led him the rest of the way to the room, hoping to see his father or brother.

She pulled the door open to find no one else in the room. Rad stumbled and clucked over to the bed and sat down with a groan.

“So you didn’t get him,” he wheezed.

“No, some brilliant beorc went and started suffocating himself,” she said with a smile.

He laid back and managed to say, “No, I saved you. If I hadn’t passed out, he would have lured you into the fire and made your death look like an accident.”

“So you did it on purpose?”

He laughed a forced, gagging chuckle, “No. I don’t think many people out there would purposely try to suffocate themselves in a fire like that. I hoped you would listen to reason. Apparently, I didn’t know you well enough…” His face seemed to light up as he remembered who she was. “Er, are you sure you should be here? I mean, being a princess and all.”

She looked at the foot of the bed, “I’m no princess. It’s just a nickname. But people treat me like royalty. I hate it.”

Rad simply sighed and closed his eyes.

[Ragnell]

The fast footfalls of Taksh echoed off the stone walls of the hallway as he sprinted around the corner and into a small courtyard. He jogged over to the middle of the grassy area and turned to a thin, robed man sitting on a short stone bench. The man slowly stood up and bowed to him.

“Lord Taksh, right this way. Duke Numida will see you now.”

Taksh nodded and strode behind the man through the sunny open area to the large stone gate just beyond the courtyard that led to one of the meeting halls of Begnion’s Senate.

As the steel door opened slowly, and he entered the dark room, Taksh noticed that the room was kept very cold. Then he remembered that the senators usually wore heavy white robes, so they would be hot if it was kept the same temperature as outside. Of course, it may also be to unnerve those being interrogated or sentenced.

As they walked down the center of a large, long room, Taksh looked up towards the ceiling, which was covered with paintings of the goddess and previous lords of Begnion. On the sides of the room were rows of tall, white pillars that stretched to the ceiling. Between every two pillars was a bust of a famous senator. On both sides of another door at the end of the room stood the many busts of every current senator. Taksh was almost tempted to laugh at the arrogance of the senators. They couldn’t get enough of themselves.

The thin assistant stopped at the entrance to the second room and stood to the side of the doorway, “Here you are Commander Taksh. The duke is awaiting you in the next room.”

Taksh nodded to the assistant who bowed back and scuttled away. He pushed open the door, just to find himself face to face with a tall man in a black robe. Underneath the shadow of his hood, Taksh could make out his blonde hair and two purple lines that extended under his eyes from the side of his head. The man stared for a brief second at him and then hurried out of the hall.

Taksh watched him leave, before proceeding into the next room. Inside, he found two robed men standing behind several rows of elevated desks set up to surround a tall chair sitting in the middle of the room. This was obviously where speakers, or him in this case, would stand before the Senate. Taksh walked forward, bowed to the men, and sat down in the tall, wooden chair.

He recognized one of the dukes as Duke Gaddos, or Vice-Minister Lekain as he was known among the elite, but could not recognize the second man. This led him to believe it was Duke Numida, who he was scheduled to receive his assignment from. Duke Lekain looked at him sharply and then exited the room via a short, wooden door behind the senators’ seats.

Duke Numida took the seat in the center of the room that extended forward slightly, placing him closer to Taksh than in any other seat of the Senate. He cleared his throat and declared, “Commander Taksh of the Third Platoon of the Begnion Knights, the Senate of the Theocracy of Begnion now officially promotes you to the rank of Lieutenant General of Begnion’s Holy Knights. You shall receive all orders and powers through the Senate, and will now take orders directly from Senior Senator Numida.”

Were Taksh not so overjoyed, he would have rolled his eyes at the laughable attempts by Numida to pat his own back. Speaking in third person like that and praising himself did nothing but humiliate him. But he relayed none of those feelings, and simply sat still, waiting for the duke to finish.

“You shall lead the First Battalion of the Begnion Knights, once you have returned from your first task.”

Taksh stood, “First task, sir? Might I have the luck to be graced with the knowledge of this new task?” He bowed as low as he could, and stared through his hanging blonde hair at Numida.

“Hmmm,” the duke mumbled, rubbing his chin. “Ah, yes, I suppose you should know the nature of this task. You see, the Senate greatly looks forward to your service, remembering fondly the great leadership of your father, General Carle. But several senators wish for you to perform one last task before your promotion. You have been assigned the mission of escorting the Bishop of North Gaddos to the territory of Crimea. Taking into account the recent attack on Crimea by our neighbor, Daein, we find it imperative to send an envoy from the Begnion Church to receive control of the currently halted Church of Crimea.”

Taksh stood up straight and asked in a complete monotone, making sure not to display any fear or longing, “Shall I be accompanied on this journey, or am I to make it alone?”

The duke smiled, “You will be traveling with the newest candidate for the Begnion Holy Guard. This will also be the last task for her before promotion. You shall be meeting the Bishop and receiving further orders tomorrow at the Mainal Cathedral,” and with that, the senator stood and strode out the back door.

Taksh let out a sigh of relief and made his way out the back of the room, trying not to run. Coming in here, he had been tired and exhausted, but now he could hardly contain his energy and excitement. A Lieutenant General, his father would be proud. Of course, Lieutenant General was nothing compared to General of the entire Begnion Knights. Or a weapons master like his mother. He had a long way to go before he could step out from their shadow. If he could at all.

Edited March 2, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Chapter 1: The Greil Mercenaries

Erik pulled on the reigns of his horse, and turned back towards the town to the north. He rode around a large ravine and down the lightly trodden dirt path that weaved south of the great river that cut through the middle of Crimea.

As he spotted Trent and Adam ahead, he slowed down, and hopped off his horse. Still holding the reigns, he led it to the duo, who were now waiting for him. Adam was holding his steel bow in hand and Trent had his iron axe strapped to his back.

Erik stopped before them, “I’ve seen many soldiers travelling to the south. It looks like something’s happening there. My guess would be-”

“Hey, Allen will want to hear this. We better go find him,” Adam interrupted. “Apparently he’s with Hannah looking for a place to stay the night.”

Trent whirled around to look at Adam, “Really?! Yes! We’re going to sleep in a bed again. I’m so sick of sleeping on dirt.”

“Listen when Allen’s talking and you might learn something,” Adam laughed sarcastically.

Erik remounted his horse and led the other two back to the town of Caldea on foot. When the three of them passed under the low arch that marked the entrance of town, they began scanning the small crowd of people for Allen.

Adam turned to Erik and Trent, “Why don’t we split up? I’ll go left here, Erik you go straight, and Trent you go right. We’ll meet back here in ten minutes with or without Allen and Hannah.”

“Sounds good,” Trent and Erik said together.

Erik slowly rode through the densest group of villagers and continued on until he found a large wooden building that looked to be the center of the town. Eric did a double take as he saw that the windows were shattered and some of the outside had been scratched and smashed. He dismounted and tied up his horse before entering the building.

Inside, many people were wandering about and chatting about the town’s latest gossip. In the corner, there were several maidens whispering together, in the middle of the room several young men were eyeing the girls, and sitting on some benches on the other side of the room, several old women were laughing together while several of them were knitting. All about the room, wooden beams were shattered and bits of roof had fallen through. A couple of muscular men were on a tall ladder fixing a section of the roof that had completely collapsed.

Erik walked up to the boys in the center of the room, “Hey, what happened here? Why’s this place such a mess?”

A young man in the middle with red hair answered first, “Bandits attacked us the other day. They would have destroyed the town if it weren’t for the mercenaries the mayor hired.”

Erik cocked his head to the side, “Mercenaries? What mercenaries are there around here?”

A blue-haired lad spoke up, “It was the Greil Mercenaries. They have a base a mile or so from here. They help protect us villagers and give good prices for their services. This town would be in bad shape if they hadn’t helped. Their commander, Greil, is a very generous man.”

“Greil, huh?” Erik questioned.

“Yeah, but Greil didn’t come to this last mission. It was the deputy commander, Titania and some boy named Ike. I think it might be his son, ‘cause they looked a lot alike.”

“I’ll have to tell the boss. Hey, did any of you see some travelers passing through here? A man slightly older than me and a young girl.”

“Hmmm… yeah. Yeah I did! They were over by the inn. But that place is in pretty bad shape after the bandits’ attack. Probably the most damaged building besides Joe here’s house. They burnt his to the ground, they did.”

Erik smiled as he retreated from the room, “Thank you all very much.”

Edited September 20, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Trent scanned the crowd of people passing by the home he was standing in front of. He was looking both for Allen’s yellow-brown cape and Hannah’s bright purple tunic. But in the past five minutes, he had seen neither. Adam had said to meet in ten minutes, so he was beginning to become anxious and antsy.

Trent stretched and jogged into the middle of the street and farther towards the edge of Caldea. If Allen was this far out, he probably wasn’t having any luck finding a place for them to sleep. Trent was completely sick of having to sleep outside. Even during the few years before he joined Allen, there had always been somewhere indoors for him to stay.

As he shaded his eyes with his hand, he spotted Allen’s tall figure approaching him with Hannah at his side and sighed in relief. Allen spotted him and strode up beside him.

“Hello Trent. Where are Adam and Eric?” He asked.

“They’re looking for you. We’re meeting back up at the center of town in a few minutes.”

Allen nodded, “Very well then, let’s go meet with them. I’ll explain things then.”

So Trent, Allen, and Hannah headed back to the center of town in silence and found Adam sitting on a bench and waiting for them. He perked up when he spotted them approaching and stood up to meet them.

“So Allen, what’s going on? Did you get a place to stay?”

Allen looked past him around the town, “No I didn’t, everywhere was full or destroyed. Where’s Erik?”

Trent groaned, and Adam replied, “He’s somewhere in that direction.”

And just as Adam pointed in the direction Eric had left in, Erik rode around the corner on his horse. He galloped up to them and dismounted.

“So, what’s happened?”

Trent couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice, “No place to stay. We’re out in the forest again.”

Erik laughed, “Maybe. I actually found some good information. The townsfolk say that there are some mercenaries a mile or so from here. They sound very friendly, maybe we could strike an agreement with them.”

Allen stared, deep in thought, “I don’t remember any mercenaries around here. Do they have a name?”

“Yeah,” Erik replied. “They’re called the Greil Mercenaries, and got their name from their leader, Greil.”

Adam brightened up, “Yeah, I’ve heard of them. They run around helping all of the villages nearby. They’re almost like paid vigilantes. And their leader is supposed to be an incredibly strong warrior.”

Allen nodded, still looking off into space, “Of course. Why didn’t I think of that…”

Trent looked at him strangely, “Think of what? How do you always know all the mercenaries we come across? You know pretty much every sell-sword on the continent.”

Allen smiled, “I’ve been a mercenary for longer than you’d suspect. I got around a lot more before I ran into you three.”

Adam laughed at his obvious dodge, but instead asked, “Did you work with any company, or just by yourself?”

“Oh, I worked with a small group led by a man named Cade. He taught me a lot about fighting and being a mercenary.”

This time Trent asked him a question, “Why’d you leave them? I mean, if it’s not too personal.”

“Oh, no, it’s not. I left because Ashnard had risen to the throne and he was gathering an army of mercenaries. Cade decided to join him, so I left. And that’s where I met you and Adam. Now if you’re done interrogating me, I think we should pay a visit to the Greil Mercenaries.”

The four of them nodded and followed Allen southward, towards the exit of the town. They had nearly reached the gate when they heard a loud horn sound and several screams from ahead of them.

Allen pushed the four of them behind him and dashed through the crowd, shouting for them to stay put over his shoulder. Ignoring them, Trent led Adam, Erik, and Hannah after him. As they shoved away the small crowd circling whatever was happening, they spotted the black armor of nearly fifty Daein soldiers.

The group was formed up in five rows of ten soldiers, with a thin man on a black horse in the front of the group. His pointed face was almost completely masked by a feather-topped helmet and he held a longsword in his left hand.

The man turned to a young Daein boy on his right and relayed some orders that Trent couldn’t quite make out. The boy wore the garb of an archer and had a short bow strapped to his back, with blue, spiky hair hanging down to his eyes. Trent watched as the commander pointed at the villagers surrounding them and the boy next to him pointed to them as well. Then the boy gathered a group of twenty soldiers around him and gave some quiet orders to them.

The twenty soldiers ran out towards the crowd and drew their weapons. They pointed at the villagers started screaming for them to get on the ground and not to resist. Most of the townsfolk did as they were told, but a few valiant young men remained standing. Trent ran forward with Hannah and Erik, while Adam stayed behind, readying his bow.

The tallest soldier brought his lance out and slammed it into the chest of one of the boys screaming, “Get on the ground, worm! Don’t make us kill you.”

They dragged the boys over to the middle of the road along with several other women and children. A large wagon pulled by two horses moved up to them, and a large door on the back fell open. The soldiers roughly shoved the villagers into the wagon and returned for a few more people.

Trent saw a soldier to his right trying to pry a young girl away from her mother out of the corner of his eye. The mother was sobbing uncontrollably and refused to let the girl go. Another soldier ran over to him and began hitting the woman with the wood of his spear. She was hurled back and let her daughter go. Before Trent could do anything, Hannah ran forward and pushed the soldier away.

She shouted, “Stop it, she didn’t do anything!”

The soldier punched Hannah in the stomach and yelled, “No one opposes Daein. You can come with us as well.”

And just like that they dragged Hannah onto the cart as well. Adam sprinted past Trent and almost reached the soldiers when Allen tackled him. Adam fell on the ground, tears streaming from his eyes, as he thrashed about, trying to escape.

“They’ve got her!” he cried. “They’ve got my sister! We’ve got to stop them! Let me go!”

The wagon pulled away and the soldiers formed up and marched after it. The archer Trent had seen before lingered a moment, staring directly at Adam and Allen, and then returned to his fellow soldiers.

Edited September 20, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Erik ran up to Adam and Allen, who were laying sprawled on the hard stone of the street. Allen rolled off of Adam and climbed to his feet, brushing off his tunic. Adam crawled over, with tears in his eyes, and stood up while shaking violently.

Adam muttered, “They’ve got her… I couldn’t…I should have…now I…”

Erik looked concerned at him, wondering what he could say to comfort him. Since they had left Daein, Adam had gotten so protective of Hannah. Every time he couldn’t see her, he got nervous. And now she was kidnapped by a hostile army. Erik hoped that Trent would know what to say to Adam. He was his best friend after all.

But Trent remained standing beside Adam, doing nothing more than holding a hand on his shoulder. Even Trent had no idea what to do.

Meanwhile Allen had turned the other direction, and was staring off into space, apparently deep in thought. Erik looked back to Adam, who had abruptly stopped sobbing. Adam glanced at both him and Trent, and then turned and ran for the gate of the village. Allen heard his footsteps, and spun around, sprinting after him. Again, Allen tackled Adam, this time sending Adam down hard on his face.

From beneath Allen Erik could hear, “I’m going to get her. I’ll kill them all.”

Allen grabbed Adam’s arm and pulled it hard behind his back saying only, “You’re going to stay right here. If you chase them now, they’ll catch you, and I’ll have to go after you too.”

Adam yelped out in pain and cried, “She’ll be dead by the time you get to her. We’ve got to get them now!”

Allen flipped Adam onto his back, “Pull yourself together, Adam. Think for a second. They wanted those villagers for a reason, and it wasn’t to kill them. At least not right now. The only reason that Hannah will die is if you go running in there trying to save her, getting both of you killed. Now get up, and help me find a way to follow them. We’ll need another horse, or we won’t be able to keep pace with them. Or at least not finish with enough energy for a fight.”

Adam sobbed one last time and wiped the tears from his face while standing up, “O-ok. Whew. I-I bet the villagers around here will likely have a horse or two. Especially any travelers from elsewhere in the country. If we ask the villagers in the square here, they may sympathize with our cause. Maybe they will even hire us for the job.”

Allen clapped Adam on the back and strode over to the center of the square. Erik watched as he drew his sword and lifted it high above his head. The gesture immediately got the attention of all the civilians in the area, who turned to look at directly at the wielder of the weapon.

Erik and the other mercenaries joined his side as he shouted out, “The Daein curs have gone too far. They attack our country, throw our capitol in ruins, send their soldiers across Crimea, and now they even kidnap innocents. When will they stop? I say we stop them now! My company will help those who have been abducted. We are mercenaries from abroad, but this monstrosity cannot be overlooked, even by us. We will pursue the army and retrieve those who were taken. But we cannot do it alone. On foot, they will outstrip us and escape without resistance. We need mounts, horses if possible. Any aid for both us and the people of Caldea would be greatly appreciated.”

With that, a small score of people rushed at Allen, screaming and thanking him for the help. But from within the crowd, the mother who’s daughter Hannah had tried to save stepped forth. She strode up to Allen and said simply, “I have an old horse. He is not as strong as many others, but he can follow the Daeins easily enough. Please… save my daughter.”

Allen nodded, “Thank you. We will get your daughter and all those who were kidnapped and will return the horse as soon as we do. Now where is the creature?”

The lady led Erik and the other mercenaries back a ways into town and stopped at a small home with a thatched roof. She brought them around the back and showed them to a wooden fence that surrounded a small yard that contained a tall brown horse. It was tied to a post that was staked next to the house, and its saddle sat beside the post. Next to the saddle sat a trough were the horse could drink.

Allen jumped the short fence and walked over to the horse. He grabbed the saddle and strapped it onto the horse with some help from its owner.

Allen turned to her, “Will it let me ride it? I don’t want an uncooperative horse.”

She smiled, “It’s used to other folks riding it. I don’t ride it much myself. I lend it out to folks ‘round here who need help.”

With that, Allen mounted the horse and gestured for Adam to sit behind him. He rode the horse out of the fenced area and said to Trent and Erik, “Erik, grab your horse and meet me at the east gate of the city. Trent you go as well. You’ll be riding with Erik.”

Erik and Trent nodded and dashed off towards where Erik had tied up his horse, while Allen and Adam rode away towards the gate.

Edited October 16, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Chapter 2: The Daein Camp

Adam looked towards the slowly setting sun that was currently dropping below the low hills in the distance and tried as hard as he could to not think about Hannah. Despite his efforts, he couldn’t keep his thoughts away from her, no matter how many distractions he came up with.

First he had tried to think about their plan of battle, but he couldn’t imagine what they could do without first seeing where the fight would be. Then he tried to watch the villagers, but everything they did reminded him of Hannah. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t forget Hannah.

Adam was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard the clatter of horse hooves from behind. He turned and saw both Allen and Eric approaching him.

Adam jogged up to them, “Where did you go off to, Allen?”

“I was just running this horse around for a bit to see what it can do. I met with Erik when I was coming back. Now, Adam, hop on behind me. You’ll be riding with me for now.”

Adam climbed onto the horse and Allen ordered to Erik, “Follow me, we’re heading east after the Daeins.”

The two horses exited the town and followed a dirt path for several miles through the lightly wooded Crimean countryside. Adam kept his eyes peeled for any signs of the Daein army while Allen kept his eyes on the path, making sure that the horse was well. When Adam shifted his weight, he felt several large lumps in the bag strapped to the side of the saddle. He pulled the bag open and found several torches and a few lumps of flint. Obviously, Allen wanted to start a fire at some point. Adam closed the bag and returned his gaze towards the road.

Adam immediately noticed the rough footprints of the many soldiers who had traveled through here less than an hour ago. He followed the deep prints in the dirt with his eyes and saw that they led to a smaller, less used path that forked right of their current path. He tapped Allen on the shoulder, and pointed to the path. Allen nodded and turned their horse and rode down it for another minute or so.

When the group emerged over a small, grassy hill, they saw the Daein soldiers’ camp in the distance. The tents and horses were set up in an oval formation in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by a denser forest. There seemed to be a few less than a hundred soldiers currently at the camp, almost double the number that were in Caldea. The soldiers were most highly concentrated at the center of their camp, and thinned out near the edges.

Adam scanned the camp for the wagon that Hannah had been taken in for a few seconds, but Trent spotted it before him.

“There’s the wagon! Over to the left side of the camp, near the end. Right by the edge of the woods.”

Allen nodded, “Let’s get off the road. I doubt they’ll be sending scouts in this direction, but we can’t be too careful here.”

The group rode to the edge of the dirt path and dismounted from their horses. They journeyed a quarter of a mile into the woods, with Erik leading his horse and Allen leading their loaned horse. When they found a ditch in the woods, all four of them crawled down and prepared their plan.

Allen started, “We need to come up with some kind of plan here. There are too many of them to simply overwhelm. We’d be dead in minutes. We’ll have to come up with something better.”

“We could go for a stealth approach,” Adam offered.

Allen shook his head, “There’s no way we can just sneak into a camp of a hundred Daein soldiers. Especially when we try to escape with a crowd of civilians.”

Trent coughed, “A crowd? I thought we were just saving Hannah.”

“No. I promised we’d save all the villagers. And I don’t think there’s a way to just help her anyway. We’ll have to get out with all them.”

There was silence for a moment, then Erik spoke up, “What if we offer some sort of distraction. If we can get enough of the soldiers to leave, we may be able to use a combination of stealth and force to free them.”

Adam smiled and nodded, “Yeah, that’s just what we need. If we can get them away from the wagon, we can get in with no casualties. And the woods here are perfect for hiding from the army.”

Allen shook his head, “There’s no way we can get all of them to leave. There are about a hundred soldiers out there. We’d be lucky if we could fight off twenty. They would never send that many people after us.”

Adam, Erik, and Trent all sighed together, and stood for a moment, trying to come up with a new idea. But the loud echo of a horn through the forest soon interrupted the momentary quiet. All four companions climbed out of the ditch and made their way through the forest to a point where they could see the army. About half of the soldiers were marching away from the far side of the camp. The wagon was still in place, but guards had been placed around it.

Trent turned to Allen, “Where could they be going? And they’re leaving half the soldiers here. It can’t be too far from here. What’s nearby here? I can’t think of anything.”

Allen thought for a moment before nearly yelling out, “The Greil Mercenaries are near here. Remember, the villagers said they were a few miles away. That would be around the other side of that hill in the distance.”

Adam interrupted, “We don’t have time to question their motives. The sun is setting, and we’ve got to act fast. Let’s just hope Greil can hold them off long enough for us to rescue the prisoners.”

Allen nodded, “I’ve got a plan. Adam, you ride with Erik to the north side of the camp. I’ll go with Trent to the south side, near the wagon. Erik, you wait a fair distance away from camp. Adam, you’ll sneak closer, through the forest, and find a good spot to snipe from. Take out a few soldiers, and change spots a couple times if you’d like. When the soldiers near you, run back towards Erik. Erik, I’ve got some torches in my saddlebag for you. After Adam leaves, light these torches. Find a suitable spot, and when you see Adam returning, light the forest on fire.”

Erik interrupted, “We’re not trying to destroy the forest. Shouldn’t we keep the forest intact? It is our only cover after all.”

Allen replied, “No, the Daein army will most likely preoccupy themselves with putting out the blaze. After all, if it intensifies, their camp could be in danger. Plus, just deciding what to do will buy you more time. Now as I was saying, Adam return to Erik. Both of you head southeast, and then turn southwest once you are free of pursuers. Trent and I will meet you west of the town, Arbor.”

Adam agreed again, “That sounds good. But one last question, what do you plan to do?”

Allen stood up and walked back towards their horses while talking, “Trent and I will hide in the woods to the north of the camp, and we’ll wait for you two to do your jobs. Seeing as they will suspect an attack from the south, I assume most of the soldiers will move to that side of the camp. Especially since there are so few soldiers left here. They won’t risk leaving too many on different sides of the camp. And that’s when we’ll move in and eliminate whatever soldiers are still guarding the wagon. We’ll free the villagers and move northwest. After we’re west of the camp by a few miles, we’ll go directly south and meet you.”

The three others nodded together as Allen finished tying up his horse and handed Erik the flint and torches. They prepared their weapons and gathered one last time.

Allen looked at each of them in turn, “This is by far the most dangerous mission we’ve ever attempted, but I think we can pull it off. May the goddess be with us all. Good luck Erik and Adam.”

Then the two groups separated, Trent and Allen running on foot through the deep underbrush and Adam and Erik crossing to the other side of the road and remounting Erik’s horse. Adam glanced one last time towards where Allen and Trent disappeared and then yanked his bow off his back.

He looked to Erik, “Let’s show these Daeins what they get for kidnapping my sister.”

Edited October 16, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Adam quietly dismounted Erik’s horse and nodded one last time to his friend. He slowly crept into the darkness that had now fallen upon the forest, and could faintly hear Erik rummaging through his saddlebag, searching for the torches, behind him. Adam had already pulled an arrow from his quiver as he climbed off the flat land they were on to a small hill below.

He was forced to feel in front of him with his feet and hands as he made his descent, because it was almost absolutely dark around him. The tall trees blocked out all but a few shreds of the bright moonlight above him. Adam used the branches of trees protruding from the ground as support as he climbed down an especially steep portion of the hill.

Once he was within a hundred feet of the camp, Adam crouched down and crawled behind a particularly large bush, which he saw silhouetted against the orange glow of the camp. Once behind the bush, Adam turned and knocked an arrow, and picked out another bush several feet away that he could also shoot from behind. If he shot from multiple places, he knew they might think that more than one person was attacking.

So Adam got up and kneeled behind the bush, surveying the camp from his new location. The wagon where the villagers were held was on the other side of camp, so Adam couldn’t see it from his spot. But around him were several tents, including a rather large one that he assumed was for one of the generals or tacticians. There were only a few soldiers at this end of the camp, and they were probably just watchmen.

But before Adam could guess more about the location, an armor-clad man strode out of the large tent and walked over to a soldier fairly close to Adam’s hiding spot. It was the knight that Adam had seen leading the army that kidnapped Hannah the previous day.

Before the knight could say anything, however, the archer Adam had seen in town jogged up behind him. From what he could see, the boy seemed to be about his age, and possibly slightly younger.

“General Maxey, I hoped that some of my petitions had gotten through to you, but I see they did not. As I’ve said before, we need more guards at this and the other side of the camp.”

The general snorted, “Not this again. And why is that? No person in their right mind would attack our camp. It is ridiculous to even think about.”

The boy stepped forward again, “Did you see the villagers after we captured the hostages? They aren’t in their right mind. I’m sure they will try to rescue their friends. And what of the Crimean soldiers who still evade us? If they were to join and lead the villagers, they could very well take this camp. Especially if we are as unprepared as you have left us.”

General Maxey strode directly before the archer and said almost too quietly for Adam to hear, “I will not have my soldiers defending against an imaginary enemy. No one would dare attack our camp. Now know your place and return to your fellow sellswords. The hostages will be taken up to the enemies’ fort momentarily.”

The boy laughed, “You have no power over me. I am not a sellsword, I work for the king himself. So we are equals here. However, these are your soldiers and this is your mission, so I would like to refrain from humiliating you before them. Now, please post more guards both at the wagon holding the hostages and at this end of camp.”

“Indeed you are correct, these are my soldiers, not yours. So if you do not wish to be detained for the duration of our mission, I would suggest you do as I say. I will post several more guards both here and by the wagon, just to please you, so do not bother me with this matter again. Now as I was saying before, we are about to begin our siege of the fort, so I suggest you get together your companions.”

The boy nodded, “And what if the enemy does not agree to our terms?”

The general smiled, “Then we eliminate them. But how could they not agree? Is the life of one princess truly more valuable than an entire wagonload of peasants? I think not. And the mercenaries do not even have any evidence that this truly is the princess. After all, she was kept a secret.”

“Except that we are here. Why would the Daein army seek someone who is not the rightful heir to the throne? As soon as we demand that she be turned over, they will know that she is the princess.”

“These are mercenaries, not scholars. No, they have no evidence about her claims. And if they do, it still will not matter. It’s their choice: her or the villagers. It’s that simple.”

“But what if they pick the princess? You say you will eliminate them, but I cannot allow that to happen.”

The general gasped, “What do you mean, of course we will destroy them. Except the princess, that is.”

“No, you must spare another person. Actually, two others. The leader of the company must survive. He has…information that the king would like to obtain. And what better way to obtain it than to torture his children. So one of them must be spared as well.”

General Maxey sighed, “Hmmm, I don’t know if that can be done. We will try to keep them alive, but I doubt it will happen. You have my sympathy.”

“What!! You have to capture them. It is an order by the king!”

“Tsk, an order by the king to you. It is not my business. I was ordered to kill all but the princess. After all, what information could a mercenary have?”

The boy turned around and cursed, “Bah, what a fool. I have to do everything myself.”

With that, the general strode away towards the western end of the camp, and gave orders for five nearby soldiers to remain near the edge of the camp. The archer, meanwhile, remained where he was. He turned towards the area of the forest Adam was hiding in, and slowly looked the whole place over. Adam ducked as he glanced right at the bush he was crouched behind. But the boy must not have seen him, because he simply turned and began talking to one of the soldiers.

Adam crawled above the bush again and took careful aim at one of the soldiers nearby the archer. This was his chance for a perfect distraction. And he might be able to pull the commander into it as well. He took a deep breath and released the bowstring with a twang.

Edited February 28, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Adam’s arrow shot out from behind the bush, across the open field that separated him from the camp, and buried itself in a short soldier’s waist. Within seconds, Adam drew another arrow and shot for another soldier to the right of his first victim. The soldier had raised his shield, so Adam aimed instead at his leg. Again, the arrow hit its target, and by now both soldiers had fallen to the ground.

Neither was dead, because Adam was not aiming to kill. He knew that a dead body would be ignored, but an injured soldier would need medical treatment and help escaping. He hoped this would distract even more soldiers.

Adam leaped to his feet and turned to run towards the second bush he had picked to hide behind. But as he turned towards the camp, he saw the archer sprinting towards him with an arrow knocked and ready.

The arrow flew by Adam and missed him by several feet. Adam whirled around and ran up the hill as fast as possible, while firing an arrow back at the archer. The arrow missed, but the archer slowed a bit and began ducking behind bushes and trees as he made his way up.

As Adam desperately ran up the hill, sometimes crawling on his hands and knees, he began to regret his choice of hills. This one was difficult for pursuers to follow him on, but made him an easy target for enemy archers. He had figured that most, if not all, of the archers would have been brought for the attack on the Greil Mercenaries that was under way at that very moment.

Adam twisted around as an arrow hit a tree just two feet to his right. As he looked back, he could see several dozen soldiers scrambling up the hill. A few sat at the bottom, unable to make the climb. The commanding archer was much closer to him than any of the others, and he was dashing up the hill with bow in hand. Adam stopped for a moment and fired an arrow at a soldier behind the archer.

The arrow missed his intended target, but instead hit a swordsman farther down the hill. Adam watched as he tripped and fell with the arrow in his side. Adam looked back ahead and leapt over a large log and onto the flatter ground atop the hill. He could see the small silhouette of Erik a ways away, but there he had not lit either of the torches.

“Erik, where’s the fire?!” Adam cried. “Get it going, now!”

Erik hopped on his horse and yelled back, “I couldn’t get it to light! We’ll have to do without it!”

Adam nodded and half walked, half crawled over the tall bushes surrounding him and jumped over yet another fallen log. Just as he had almost reached Erik, his foot caught on a large root and he quickly toppled over. Thanks to his quick reflexes, however, he was able to fling his arms in front of him to break the fall.

Adam rolled over and climbed to his knees, looking behind him at the tall shadow of the Daein archer, who had just made his way over the crest of the hill. The archer scanned the flat area, looking for Adam’s body. Adam froze completely, as the archer’s gaze moved over him. Adam’s bow was lying on the ground a few feet in front of him, but he didn’t dare make a move to grab it. The other boy slowly walked forward, crouched over with his bow in hand.

The archer slowly neared Adam’s still body, and Adam shifted his weight slightly, ready to spring at the boy. While he couldn’t be sure, Adam guessed that Erik and his horse were hidden by the trees that extended past both of them. The young boy finally came before Adam, and scanned the ground before him. Adam held his breath as his eyes slowly moved right to him.

Once Adam could see directly into the boy’s eyes, he leaped up and tackled the archer. The two of them flipped over and fell backwards to the ground. Adam clawed the bow out of the other boy’s hand and tossed it back down the hill. The archer rolled on top of Adam and twisted his left arm behind his back. Adam yelped out in pain and kicked at the boy’s back. He made contact instead with the boy’s head. The archer rolled off Adam holding the back of his bruised head. Adam jumped to his feet and jumped again at the archer, who felt the full crush of his weight come falling down.

But before Adam could do anything else, the archer gripped Adam’s right wrist and twisted it around. Adam spun with it and flipped off the boy’s chest. The archer pinned Adam to the ground and sat on his back, holding both his arms behind him.

The boy leaned forward, “Sorry, but I win. I’ll just crush your neck and it’ll be over.”

Adam whimpered and prepared himself quietly for his imminent death. But as the boy’s grip began to strengthen on Adam’s neck, a tall shaft of wood shot around and slammed into the archer’s head. Adam looked up to see Erik holding a tall stick in his right hand, without his horse.

Adam climbed to his feet and gasped, “Thanks, I was in trouble there.”

Erik looked at the unconscious body of the archer and asked, “Should we kill him? He could cause some trouble for us later.”

Adam turned and jogged away while explaining, “No, as it is he will need some medical supervision. He is a sort of commander after all. It will be a good distraction for the soldiers who are probably below that hill right now.”

As if on cue, about a dozen soldiers streamed over the hill. They spotted the body of their commander in a small shred of moonlight and rushed over to help him as Adam and Erik mounted Erik’s horse and rode off into the darkness.

Edited September 20, 2009 by Ragnell