Fire Emblem: Fall of Radiance

[Ragnell]

Allen walked slowly forward to where Trent was sitting among the bushes just north of the Daein camp. He crawled up to Trent and lightly tapped his shoulder, signaling him to stand up.

Allen whispered, “I see a lot of activity on the south side of camp, I think Adam and Erik have started.”

Trent glanced quickly south, scanning above the trees for the smoke that would signal that Erik had started a fire. But there was nothing but a handful of stars dotting the night sky.

Erik turned back towards Allen, “I don’t think so. There’s no fire, and that’s the signal.”

Allen shook his head, “That worries me too. But look how many soldiers are moving towards that side of camp. Something’s going on over there, and I hope it’s going favorably for those two.”

“Hmmm… we should get closer.”

Allen nodded, “I was thinking the same thing. At least we can get a better idea what’s going on.”

The two of them jogged through the woods for a minute or so until they could clearly view everything going on in the camp below. To Allen’s surprise there were only two guards in front of the wagon holding the prisoners. The wagon was situated almost directly next to the woods with only one tent was closer to the trees. Allen signaled for Trent to follow him closer.

“I’m going to move in right now. You sneak around that way,” he said gesturing towards their right. “I will try to creep towards the wagon. When I signal you, sprint up behind them with your axe drawn. We’ll take the two out easily.”

Trent nodded, “Can you see if they have bows? I don’t want to run at them if they have bows.”

“I can’t see any bows, but I’ll make sure to check before I call you.”

With that, Allen crept ever closer to the wagon. When he was about thirty feet from the edge of camp a horn echoed throughout the forest. He could hear cries from the other side of camp, but couldn’t make out what they were yelling. Allen assumed this meant Adam had done his job.

He took a few more steps, but stopped dead when a group of three more Daein soldiers ran up to the wagon.

From his hiding place, Allen could hear the first soldier say, “We’re here on orders from the general. He believes this wagon may need some extra protection. Something about some peasants and Crimean soldiers.”

The two soldiers standing beside the wagon nodded, happy to have a larger force after hearing the horn just seconds ago. The five soldiers spaced themselves out in front of the wagon, facing the woods where Allen and Trent were hiding.

Allen ducked down below the bushes and leaves that surrounded the edge of the woods. He thought quickly for a way to overcome the soldiers. He couldn’t fight off the five of them, even with Trent’s help. And while a distraction would help, he still could only take out one or two of them before the others overwhelmed him.

As he rapidly struggled for a plan, another soldier ran up to the guards. Allen watched as he whispered something to one of them and pointed at a torch mounted on a pole several feet away. The soldier nodded and grabbed the torch, carrying it towards the woods. The new soldier turned and sprinted back towards the middle of camp.

The soldier carrying the torch signaled to the soldiers behind him, and two of them raised their bows, ready to fire. The soldier walked along the edge of the forest holding the flame against the grass and bushes. It soon lit fire, and the flame spread slowly back towards where Allen was hiding. The soldier returned to his place in front of the wagon and sat the torch to his left.

Even from a distance Allen could hear him order, “If anything moves, shoot it. We’re going to draw out those brigands.”

Allen gulped as the flames crept ever closer. It could be another half an hour before the flames reached him, but any movement from him meant certain death.

Edited March 5, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Hekan stared blankly off a tall balcony as a young Begnion Knight made his way down the crowded street towards the knight’s barracks. He pulled his black hood up over his short, spiked blonde hair as the man entered a small shop along the road. Hekan had first seen the knight when he had exited the meeting place of the Senate, where he had received his most recent orders.

Of course the orders were not really orders at all. Unless you consider being told to go elsewhere to get orders actual orders. So now he was standing on the balcony of a tall tower, ready to get his true orders. Hekan shook his head, laughing at the nobles. He thought that for as much money as he was receiving, the senators could never anger him. But they were testing his patience.

Hekan sighed and walked off the balcony he was standing on to the tall private tower for the senators. He continued out of the large room inside to a tall spiral staircase that made up the center of the massive tower. Looking up the middle of the white marble staircase, he could see no other people beside himself.

Surveying the steps, Hekan quickly decided that there was not time for him to climb them. So he pulled a short staff adorned with two angelic wings from under his black cloak. He waved his hand over a small red gem atop the staff, and it glowed brightly. A large magic circle appeared on the floor at Hekan’s feet and he was jerked forward and seemed to disappear in a flash of light. Then his feet touched ground ten floors above where he had been standing seconds ago in yet another blinding flash of light. The warp circle around him quickly faded away. He tied the warp staff within his cloak and entered the brightly-lit room before him.

Within the room, there were several sofas, a long, fancy rug, and a single tall throne covered in gold engravings. Of course it was not really a throne, Begnion did not exactly have a royal family. Besides the apostle, that is, but she was chosen by the goddess. No, the man seated on this tall chair was Vice-Minister Lekain, the Duke of Gaddos. Of course, Hekan chuckled, he would like to think he was royalty.

Hekan stepped forward and bowed on the red rug before the duke. The duke stared at him a moment, trying to see under his hood, Hekan figured, before speaking up.

“You are Hekan, the dark mage, am I correct?”

Hekan nodded, “Indeed I do practice ancient magic. You called me, my lord?”

The duke almost grinned, “Yes…I did. We have orders for you. Ten days from now a small company of the Senate’s dracoknights will travel across the Gallian border and attack the sub-human savages in the town of Susa several miles into Gallia. The beasts have lived across the mountains within range of attack for far too long. They will eliminate the monsters and then return back here, to the capitol. With Daein controlling the local Crimea, Gallia is in too dangerous of a situation to retaliate and start another war.”

Hekan stood, “Will the apostle and the Prime Minister know of this as well?”

The duke’s face turned red, “No, I will not tell that stupid, interfering little girl and her lordly protector of our matters. She does not understand how to run a country. That is why we, the Senate, must do all the hard work behind her back.”

Hekan nodded again, “Very well, they will not hear a word. When and where will I meet before my departure?”

“In ten days, at nightfall, at the Begnion dracoknight barracks. For the meantime, you can stay at your typical place. Now go, I have pressing matters to attend to.”

Hekan bowed again and exited the room, not looking back until he had moved down one flight of steps. Once he was out of view, Hekan pulled his warp staff out from under his cloak again. He stopped for a second, remembering when Senator Lekain himself had given the staff to him, before waving his hand over the gem on top and muttering his magic words. The staff glowed, and again he disappeared in a flash.

This time, however, he reappeared in a small, dark room with no windows or doors. In the corners were five large candles, but nothing else lit the room except an eerie mystic light that seemed to have no source except the middle of the ceiling. Hekan smiled, he had placed a spell for light in the room the first day he got it. The room was made so none of the Apostle’s servants could find him, and no one but he could enter.

Hekan walked over to a small bed sitting up against the wall. He sat down and chuckled briefly. The Vice-Minister, a man supposedly chosen by the goddess herself, had just hired him, a practitioner of the ancient arts, to help with a behind-the-back attack on a neighboring country.

What a hypocrite.

Edited March 17, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Trent could see Allen staring steadily at a small flame that was creeping across the grass towards him. It wasn’t moving fast, it had taken about five minutes to move the last foot or so, but it would soon reach Allen and he couldn’t move to either get out of the way or put it out. Trent was about fifty feet away, also knelt down in the dirt. But there was no fire in front of him. In fact, the only danger to Trent was that the soldiers would see him move in their peripheral vision.

Trent slowly edged towards his right, while his eyes remained on the soldiers. Every twig was a possible danger, and twice he caught his breath as he stepped on large clumps of leaves. Even so, he managed to move slowly enough that the five soldiers patrolling the wagon couldn’t see him in the dark forest. Trent slowly stood upright as he reached a non-guarded area further around the camp. He quickly checked to make sure he was out of the five Daein’s sight as he strode out of the forest and into the camp.

Trent scanned the camp and crept over to several stands, which held many spears erect. He thought for a moment using the weapons, but decided to use his axes instead. Leaving the spears, he walked back towards where the wagon was sitting, trying his best not to look suspicious or nervous.

When Trent rounded a tent and the five guards came into view again, he drew his two hand axes from his back. The fire in the forest beyond them was growing by the minute. And while Trent couldn’t see Allen through the trees, he knew approximately where he had been sitting. Trent walked up behind the wagon with both his two hand-axes in hand, and a loose plan still forming in his head. But now was not the time to question details, Allen was about to roast alive or end up target practice for two trained archers.

Trent shouted out around the wagon, “Hey, you there! Where is your commander?”

All five soldiers spun around to look at Trent, and both archers directed their bows towards him. Upon seeing only him, one archer turned back and watched the forest again and a second soldier returned to his post as well.

The archer still aiming at him called out, “Who’re you?! What do you want?”

Trent gulped, still thinking things through, “I-I’m a mercenary your commander hired. You know, to bolster your ranks for this attack.”

A second soldier walked forward with a sword in hand and asked suspiciously, “We’ve heard rumors that there’re soldiers invading this camp. So I’m going to have to ask you, what did the commander look like? You better not be lying!”

Trent’s mind raced, he didn’t know who their commander was. Then he remembered the tall horse-mounted knight who had led the soldiers into town the previous day. Trent stammered, “He was a… a tall fellow who rode a horse. He had an…uh… long sword with him and his armor was black with an orangish outline. There was an orange feather in his helmet.”

“What was his name?” the third soldier asked.

“Um… I don’t know. He failed to mention it actually. All he said was that you’re were attacking the Greil Mercenaries over there. Said he needed more soldiers to assure victory. Now, if you guys don’t know where I need to go, I can go find the commander again.” Trent silently prayed that they really were attacking the Greil Mercenaries, and hoped he didn’t sound too shaky.

The man with the sword eyed him one last time and then said, “No, just watch that other side of the wagon. We need more people here. Commander’s orders. And if he shows up and says differently, just go where he directs.”

Trent nodded and turned his back towards the other side of the wagon. The three soldiers watching him turned back to face the forest as well. Trent waited for what seemed like several hours, but was actually only a minute, before making his move. He needed the soldiers to be as focused on the forest as possible, but needed to act quickly to help Allen.

Trent slowly looked to the five soldiers to his right. He turned and looked back at the forest where Allen was and nodded quickly. Not enough that the soldiers would notice, but enough that Allen could see if he was watching. Then Trent spun away from the wagon and flung one of his throwing axes at the farthest archer from him. The axe spun in air and successfully buried itself in the archer’s chest. His body collapsed to the ground as Trent swung his other axe at the second archer, who happened to be standing directly to the right of him.

But rather than killing the archer, Trent slammed the handle of his axe into the archer’s head. The archer fell to the ground, probably unconscious, and Trent backed up, axe still in hand. To his left, Allen leapt from the flames with his sword drawn and landed in front of the remaining three soldiers. The soldiers yelled out at the top of their lungs for help, but got no response. Two of them raised swords and the third had a short lance. Allen and Trent moved together and dove at the soldiers as fast as they could. They needed to get the villagers out before the chaos on the other side of the camp ended and reinforcements came.

Allen blocked two attacks by the soldiers with swords, and spun his blade around to hit the soldier on his left in the chest with the broad side of his sword. Allen kicked the soldier in the chest and bashed him on the helm with the hilt of his sword. The second swordsman lunged at him, but Allen blocked his attack and punched him under their crossed swords. Allen proceeded to knee the soldier in the stomach. He then swung out with the broad side of his sword and made contact with the soldier’s helm. He too dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Meanwhile, Trent sidestepped a stab by the lance soldier as he tried to interfere in Allen’s duel. Trent slammed his axe down onto the lance, and the wooden shaft shattered in half. Trent took his second hand axe and threw it directly at the soldier’s leg. The axe slammed into his leg, but it was the handle that hit, not the blade. The soldier still flinched and Allen took this chance to run up and knock the soldier to the ground with a bash to the head.

Trent stared with open eyes at the four soldiers who now lied on the ground, knocked out and the one, dead, with an axe in his chest. Trent retrieved his second axe, and returned to Allen’s side. Allen sprinted to the wagon, and tried in vain to lift a large wooden beam that held the door shut.

“Hey, Trent!” Allen yelled. “Get over here and help me. We’ve got to get out of here now!”

Trent turned and helped lift the beam. It was indeed heavy, and both of them staggered under its immense weight. They dropped it on the soft ground and Allen slowly lowered the wooden door. Inside the wagon, there were about twenty villagers. Several of them were young children, and most were sitting on the floor.

Right by the door, Hannah sat on the hard wooden ground with her knees wrapped up in her arms. When the door came down, she climbed to her feet and pushed her long wavy brown hair from her eyes. Upon seeing it was Allen and Trent there, she cried out in delight.

Hannah sprinted down the ramp and hugged Allen who yelled to the villagers, “We’ve got to go now! We’re here to bring you back home. If you want to see your family again, come with us now!”

A murmur ran through the wagon about them lying, but Hannah’s display had mostly silenced the idea. So the peasants all filed out of the wagon to the grass of the camp. Allen grabbed the torch the soldiers had used to light the forest on fire and held it on the wagon until it lit as well. He then proceeded over to the tents and lit four of them as well. Allen set the torch down and grabbed one of the fallen soldier’s swords, handing it to a strong-looking man in front of the group.

“You’re in charge now. It’s your job to get these people back to Caldea safely.”

The man looked stunned, “You’re not coming with us?”

“No, our job was to free you, and it’s done,” Allen explained as quickly as possible. “We’ve got other work to do, and I think you can handle it from here. So just take everyone through the forest in that direction and keep going until you hit the main road. That will lead you straight to Caldea. When you get there, wake everyone in the town. These soldiers are going to want revenge. My opinion would be that you should flee to other nearby towns and hide there. But if you’d like, you may be able to hold off the meager army they will have left after the battle with the Greil Mercenaries and us. So gather all the weapons in the village and arm yourself. Oh, and there is a horse tied up in the forest on your way to the road. Bring that back to Caldea, an old lady there owns it. Just…stay safe.”

The man just stared at him for a moment before asking, “W-What, by chance, are your names?”

Allen stopped for a second, “I’m Allen. This is Trent. And that is Hannah. We’re… We’re actually from Daein. But we’ve been in Crimea a time… but now’s not the time for this, let’s go!”

The man nodded, “Thank you. We’ll get home safely.”

With that, the man turned and ordered the villagers to follow him through the forest. They sprinted off, with the young children on the older, and faster, ones’ backs. Allen, Trent, and Hannah ran off into the woods in the opposite direction, heading west of the camp.

Hannah looked to Allen, “Where are we going now? Where’s Adam?”

Allen replied quickly, “We’re going to the mercenary fort over there. If the Greil Mercenaries held out this long, we’ll either help them or meet with them.”

Allen looked up the hill they were moving up, and spotted many soldiers running down the hill towards them. Several of them were crying things like, “Retreat” or, “Fall back!” Allen smiled, it looked like the Greil Mercenaries were able to take advantage of the chaos and hold out against the Daeins. In fact, they may not have even noticed the other fight going on across the hill.

Trent jogged up to Allen, “It looks like the fight is over. Are we going to visit them tonight?”

Allen shook his head, “No, I think we should rest tonight. If we approach them tonight, they may mistake us for Daein mercenaries and attack us. And I think we’ve had enough stress for one night anyway.”

They walked in silence for a moment more before Trent spoke up again, “So I wonder what the Daeins were attacking the Greil Mercenaries for. I mean, what did a bunch of mercenaries do to start this fight?”

Allen sighed, “I don’t know. Hopefully, we’ll find out tomorrow.”

Edited March 7, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Chapter 3: Riddle of Swords

Adam reached in front of himself and tapped Erik on the shoulder. Erik slowed the horse to a stop and turned to listen to Adam.

“Where are we right now? It’s daybreak already,” Adam asked.

“Ummm… we stopped for the night, so I bet we’re about halfway to Arbor by now. I’m not sure exactly, though. All there is here is trees, trees, and more trees.”

“Oh… I wonder how Allen and Trent are doing. I hope Hannah is safe.”

Erik sat thoughtfully for a moment before saying, “Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same thing. I think we should go back.”

“No, Allen said to go west of Arbor. We should do what he says. What if we go back and they go south and we miss them?”

Erik turned his horse around and said, “No, they could be in trouble. We should go and help. It’s what they’d do for us. And anyway, they don’t have a horse like we do. If we get there and no one’s there, we can just turn back.”

Without waiting for Adam’s reply, Erik turned his horse around and rode off towards the north, and the Greil Mercenaries’ fort.

--------------------------------------

Allen reached out along with Trent and helped pull Hannah up the tall ledge jutting out of the hillside. As Hannah reached the top, she grabbed a small branch and pulled herself the rest of the way up. The three of them turned and walked up the remainder of the hill to the large fort on the top, where the Greil Mercenaries dwelled.

As they reached the fort, Allen saw a tall pillar of smoke floating out of the middle of the fort, emerging from an open window. The group walked to the front door, but saw no one inside or outside.

They banged on the door with their weapons and Allen yelled inside, “Hey! Is anyone here? Is commander Greil here?”

No one replied, so they walked inside. The halls were dark, but the three of them could find their way thanks to the glow of light streaming through the windows. They made their way to a small mess hall down the hallway, and stopped to survey the place.

Hannah frowned and said, “It looks like we missed them. No one is here, or at least not right now.”

Allen grimaced and replied, “Looks like you’re right. But let’s take a look around anyway. There’s bound to be something useful here. Especially keep your eyes peeled for food. Any supplies they have here could help us out a lot. I don’t want to have to do any mercenary work around here right now, and I really hope to avoid stealing. I’ll look around that way, it seems to be the commander’s study. You two just pick where you’d like to search.”

Allen walked across the hall, his heart beginning to pound. This could be the moment he had been waiting for. What he’d been looking for throughout the past nineteen years. He opened the door and stepped into the small room, which reminded Allen of his own father’s study back in his home in Daein. There was a single desk in the back of the room and bookshelves and maps lined the left and right walls. The floor was bare, and made of a light-colored wood. A single window sat to Allen’s left, illuminating the room.

But Allen ignored all of this, because a single item in the room had caught his attention. A massive two-handed sword sat upon a metal rack on the wall behind the desk. It was covered in a thin layer of dust, leading Allen to guess it probably hadn't been moved in the past month at least. But Allen knew that sword. He had last seen it nineteen years ago.

Edited October 16, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

Trent looked to Hannah, whose gaze was locked on the door behind which Allen had just disappeared. She turned to Trent and then crept over to the door. Trent followed her, and they both peered through the small crack in the door and watched as Allen walked over behind a desk and lifted a large sword off a steel rack. He held the sword in front of himself and swung it through the air twice. He looked the sword over one more time and picked up its sheath, beginning to strap it on his back.

Trent and Hannah looked at each other and ran back away from the door, towards an exit on the other end of the mess hall. They slid through the door and ran down the hallway to a large room on the right.

Once inside Hannah whispered, “What do you think that was? He seemed to recognize that sword.”

Trent replied, “I don’t know, but I think he’s looking for the owner of that sword. Whoever it was must have been in these mercenaries. I think it may be the commander, Greil. Allen acted funny when he first heard that name. I wonder how Allen knows him?”

“I don’t know either. Maybe he ran into the man when he traveled around before he met us. He said he met a lot of people back then.”

Trent shook his head and replied, “Naw. That was just a cover-up to conceal how he knows everyone. It may be partially true, but that’s not the main reason. Well… huh. I guess we should do what Allen said before he comes back.”

Hannah agreed, and Trent left the room and jogged into a room across the hall. Inside this room were several bunks lined up against he walls, probably for the different mercenaries. But none of the mercenaries’ possessions remained, only their empty beds. He remembered briefly their plan to sleep at this fort, so he tested the beds to see how comfortable they would have been.

It turned out, Trent probably would have been just as happy to sleep on the ground as on the beds. They were hard and uncomfortable no matter how you laid on them. So Trent stood up and left the room, making his way to the next room down the hall.

As he pulled the door open, the strong smell of burning paper met his nose. A cloud of black smoke poured out of the door as he opened it. Inside was a stack of smoldering books, piled in the middle of the small room. It seemed to be a library, but all the books in the room were pulled to the ground and burned.

Trent left this room too, and saw Hannah further down the hall. She had just exited a room on the left side of the hall, and waved for Trent to come over.

“There’s still some food in here. It looks like it used to be a pantry of some sort. Most of the stuff’s gone, but some bread and fruits are still left.”

Trent ran over to the room and followed Hannah inside. The room was mostly bare, but there were still several mounds of bread sitting upon the shelves that lined the room’s walls. There was also a small table in the middle of the room, with a bowl of fruit on top.

Trent called for Allen, who sprinted into the room with a bag for the food and the mysterious sword on his back. He gave the bag to Trent and left the room to explore some more.

Hannah began stuffing the bread in as Trent wrinkled his nose, “There’s no meat here! There’s only a bunch of dried-up bread and nasty fruit! I’m a pirate of the sea, I need some meat to survive.”

Hannah snorted, “Yeah, you’re a real pirate all right.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Trent growled.

“Well, look at you. You’re skinny, and not all that strong--”

“What do you mean I’m not strong?”

“Well, you’re stronger than me for sure, and probably Adam too. But you’re not nearly as strong as Allen is, and he’s a sword-fighter. You’re an axe user, you’re supposed to be really strong and burly.”

Trent frowned, “Of course I’m not stronger than Allen, he’s older than me. And he swings that gigantic sword around like it’s nothing! I don’t know anyone else who can use a two-handed sword with one hand, do you? That’s what I thought! So don’t compare me with him, I’m plenty strong.”

Hannah giggled, “Sorry mister big, strong pirate… Wait a second! Why do you call yourself a pirate? You don’t ride around on a boat with a bunch of crazy brigands. And you don’t ever steal, except from Adam and I that is. In fact, you can be down right polite! That’s not pirate-like behavior at all!”

“Hey, I may have been raised a pirate, but that doesn’t mean I have to act like one. That’s just the style of fighting I use.”

Hannah suddenly turned serious and asked, “Really, you were raised by pirates? Were your parents, you know, pirates?”

Trent shook his head, “No, my father was a wealthy captain, and my mother stayed at home most of the time. My mother became ill and passed away, though I don’t remember her all that well. So I had to travel about at sea with my father. One day, we ran across a ship commanded by the infamous Gark Pirates. They ride about the northern waters pillaging and attacking innocent merchant ships. They attacked our vessel and soon defeated us. When they killed all the crew, they struck a deal with my father about me. He said that if they would take me back to shore alive, then he would give them the key to his vault in the bank and access to all his fortunes.”

“So they returned you to land all alone!” Hannah interrupted, “That’s awful!”

“No actually, they didn’t. That’s what you get for trusting filthy pirates. They kept me on board after they collected the money and used me as an extra crewmember. I was like a slave to them. I had to do all the dirty jobs that didn’t require too much manual labor, ‘cause I was still just a boy then. That went on for what must have been a year before I managed to escape. I think that since I hadn’t done anything to escape yet, they thought I didn’t intend to ever run. So when they got involved with a big fight at a port in the northwest part of Daein, I was able to easily flee from the ship. I ran for a days or so before I came to a small territory called Marado. There were many horsemen there, and they agreed to take me to the capitol on their next trip. Once I was there, I tried to go to my father’s old home. But I found that it had been sold to another family after remaining vacant for a year.”

“What did you do then?” Hannah asked.

“The only thing I could do, I explored the back alleys of Nevassa for a while. And that is where I met you and Adam.”

“Oh, yes! I remember when we were really young and lived in the alleys with the older thieves and that other boy our age. Ohhh, what was his name? Edward! That was it. He was so nice!”

“Yeah,” Trent mumbled. “He was… interesting.”

Trent tied the now full bag and slung it over his shoulder. He walked over to the door and pulled it open, ready to head out of the empty fort. But Hannah stood, staring out the sole window in the room. She gasped suddenly and screamed for Allen and Trent.

“Hey, there’s some soldiers coming up to the fort. They’re wearing black armor!”

[Ragnell]

Just a note that I thought you all should know. Arc in this story is not, and is not supposed to be anything like Metal Arc from here at Serenes. I just came up with that name, and then remembered that he was named that as well. But the name fit with my character, so I kept it.

Rad leaned back in his chair as Princess Kilvas entered the room. Behind her were two raven guards, both in the traditional Kilvas uniform: a black shirt and dark colored pants with a brown headband.

She turned to them and said, “I don’t need you to follow me into the room. Rad isn’t gonna’ try to kill me.”

The soldier on the left bowed but said, “I’m sorry milady, but our orders are to follow you everywhere for protection.”

She rolled her eyes, “Then I need to go to the bathroom. Are you going to follow me in there?”

The soldier sighed heavily, “Point taken, we’ll wait outside the room. If you need anything, just yell for us. We shall also post a guard outside this wall of the castle.”

She smirked, “There’s no need, but thank you anyway.” With that, the soldiers exited the room.

Rad was leaned forward and smiled at Princess Kilvas, “Good of you to come. How are things for you lately?”

She sighed, “Oh, fine. But it’s very annoying to have a bunch of guards chasing me about. I wish they would leave me alone. I can protect myself, I’m a laguz after all.”

“I don’t know, those guys the other day seemed really sinister. I don’t think they’ll fail again. It’s best you be ready the next time they attack.”

Princess laughed, “Who says they’re even going to attack again? Maybe they just failed and left.”

Rad stood up and said, “No, they’ll be back. He was an assassin, and he won’t stop attacking until you’re dead.”

Princess Kilvas sighed deeply and sat on a chair on the opposite side of the room as Rad. She only looked at him for a moment, and tried to see his face under the helmet, which he currently had on. He also was wearing the rest of his suit of black armor, despite only lounging around his quarters.

“You’re wearing your helmet,” she commented to break the silence.

“Yeah,” he responded. “I always wear my helmet.”

She frowned, “Why is that? Are you preparing for a fight?”

“No, I… I don’t want to talk about it.”

She smiled, “That’s fine, I didn’t mean to make you depressed.”

He smiled back, “That's ok, Princess... Hey, I just thought of something! You’ve never told me your real name!”

She laughed, “Hah, I guess I never did!”

“Well?!” Rad asked. “What is it already?!”

“My name’s Jenn.”

“Well Jenn--” Rad began.

But he never finished, because at that moment a young boy with bright orange hair and a flaming red cloak burst through door shouting, “Hey Rad, do you think we should--”

Both Rad and Jenn looked to him as he blushed and fumbled, “Uh… sorry. Was I interrupting something?”

Princess smiled, “No, we were just talking.”

Rad spoke up, “I think it’s time I introduce you two. Princess, this is my brother Arc. Arc this is Jenn.”

Arc gasped, “Wait, did you say princess?! She’s Naesala’s daughter? I never knew he had any kids.”

Jenn interrupted, “No, I’m not a princess. It’s a nickname. I’m actually Naesala’s niece. And we don’t choose kings and queens from the current rulers descendants like you beorc.”

Arc stepped forward and said proudly, “Yeah, I knew that. I’ve read a lot about laguz. You hold fighting contests to determine the ruler, am I correct? And Naesala won the last one in a match with his own brother, your father, many years ago, making him king.”

“Yes,” Princess responded. “You’re very well informed, Arc. How did you come to know all this?”

Rad snorted, “’Cause he never gets his head out of books. It’s a miracle he manage to see where he’s walking, because he reads even in the corridors.”

“Hmph. Well,” Arc explained, “I’m actually a full-fledged Sage of Daein. I studied magic for many years at the various universities across Daein, and was awarded with a Guiding Ring. It’s the symbol of a true sage, and I always wear it.”

Arc raised his right hand and directed their attention to a dark blue ring on his ring finger. It was made of blue and black stone with a dark blue gem on the top. It seemed to glow faintly.

“These rings were made hundreds of years ago by some powerful sorcerer. He imbued them with mysterious magical powers. They allow you to further channel your magical powers and use stronger and more complex magic.

Princess asked curiously, “Do they know who made them? How many are there in the world?”

Arc answered, “No one knows who made them. But whoever it was is also thought to have created several other magical seals. The legendary Hero’s Crests, Orion’s Bolts, Knight Seals, Elysian Whips, and so on were all thought to have been made by the same person. They each have a similar, but slightly different effect on their possessor. And no one knows how many there are. The Council of Sages in Daein has nearly a hundred, but many have either been lost or have been buried with their last owner.”

Rad coughed and interrupted, “Well Arc, what are you here for?”

“Oh, yes” he replied quickly. “I thought about what you had said yesterday about the Jenn’s predicament, and I came up with a solution. I spoke with father and several of the crewmembers of our ship, and they both agreed. They said that you could travel at sea with us over to several Begnion ports, to buy time and hope the assassins give up. After a while of traveling with us, you could ride back to Kilvas, when they are better prepared to capture the killers and stop their attacks.”

Princess Kilvas sat silently for a moment, “Would… would I be the only laguz on the voyage?”

Arc smiled, “No, there will be a few others that will ride with us to sell their goods at the ports. As you probably know, Kilvas takes part in a bit of trade with beorc nations, unlike Gallia, Phoenicis, and Goldoa. ‘Course Goldoa doesn’t trade with anyone.”

“Yeah,” she said shakily, “I’ll go. But, I intend on coming back sometime, I’m not going to ride around forever.”

“Of course, Princess--” Arc started. But before he could finish reassuring her, there was a hard knock on the door.

“What is it?” Princess Kilvas shouted.

A guard answered back, “Some of the kings advisors have come to speak with you about your current situations. Lord Nealuchi is among them.”

“Very well, I’ll be right out,” she called back to them. Then she turned to Arc and asked, “Should I tell Nealuchi about our plan? They’ll think I’ve gone missing otherwise.”

Arc stopped for a second, “Yeah, I thought about that. Try to get him to let you come with us, but in secret. I’m sure he could make sure no one comes after us. And if the assassins don’t even know you’re at sea, it’ll be easier to stay safe.”

The princess agreed and left the room, meeting up with her two bodyguards. They escorted her away, back into the depths of the castle.

“So, do you think this is a good idea?” Arc asked Rad.

“Yeah, it’s ok,” he replied.

“Heh, you like her, don’t you?”

“No…not especially.”

“You’re such a bad liar.”

[Ragnell]

Allen sprinted to the window and looked out, scanning the forest. There were about ten men running up the hillside towards the fort. In the front of the group Allen spotted the same sniper he had seen in town the day Hannah had been kidnapped. The boy was still wearing his black tunic, but he now wore a black headband under his blue hair as well. Around him were about seven soldiers, followed by two men in black tunics and mysterious head garments. The two weren’t Daein soldiers, but they looked even more deadly to Allen.

Allen turned to Trent and Hannah and ordered, “We need to get out of her! Now! Trent, you carry the food. We’re going to have to sneak by these guys. Did anyone see another exit in this place?”

Trent shook his head and replied, “No, I’ve only seen one way out. But there are three exits to the walled-in area outside here. If we can get out of this building, we can escape the rest of the fort.”

Allen gestured for them to follow him as he exited the room, a plan forming in his head. The soldiers would soon be storming the fort. It was most likely that they did not know that the Greil Mercenaries had left. So they wouldn’t know if the building was currently occupied. If the soldiers decided to enter the fort, Allen could slip out the door they had come in from.

Trent crept forward ahead of Allen and eyed around the corner. He silently stepped into a room on the right side of the hallway despite Allen’s whispers to stay put. Allen held back a yell and dashed after him into the room. Inside were several bunks, and a large rug. Across the room, Trent was staring out a small window.

“Allen, you can get a better view of the front of the fort from here. They’ve separated and blocked off all three exits of the fort. They’re yelling out for the Greil Mercenaries to come out and negotiate.”

“Huh, so they’re planning on attacking again if the mercenaries are still here.”

“What do you mean?” Trent asked. “They’re just going to negotiate.”

Allen shook his head and replied, “What do you think the Daein Army has to offer the Greil Mercenaries? All they can do is threaten to attack again, with a stronger force. And we won’t be here to mess things up the next time.”

“Oh,” Trent said lamely.

“But after they get no reply, the soldiers will most likely storm the fort and search the place for clues to the mercenaries’ new location. So we still need to get out of here fast.”

“Uh-oh! We better get working on that! They’ve reached the front door.”

Allen turned and ran from the room with Trent at his heels. They sprinted down the hallway with Hannah and stopped at the entrance to the mess hall. Through the half open door they could see five soldiers were currently inside, including the archer. Luckily, all of them were looking at the commander’s quarters, and not behind the door on the other side of the room where Allen was standing.

Trent turned and led the way down another hallway going to the right, away from the mess hall. They turned two more corners and found themselves near the fort’s exit. Allen motioned for Trent and Hannah to go outside as he crouched next to another door to the mess hall, on the opposite side of the room from the door they were just peering through. If the soldiers found any clues about the Greil Mercenaries’ current location, Allen wanted to know about it. Inside the room, the archer boy ordered his partners to search different ends of the fort. The boy then turned and examined the rest of the room, one wooden wall at a time. But he said nothing of interest to Allen.

So Allen stepped back, and had almost stood all the way up when his foot touched a loose floorboard, which made a loud creak. Normally, he would not even have noticed such a quiet sound. But the fort was almost empty, and the creak seemed to echo off the walls like a cannon blast. He turned and ran for the exit, ignoring the large amount of noise he was making. Behind him, Allen heard the archer throw the door open and follow him down the hallway, yelling for him to halt. But Allen ignored this and burst through the front doors, showering the hall with a burst of bright light. He quickly shoved the doors closed behind him and ran forward, only now looking where he was going. There were still five of the soldiers guarding the fort's three exits. Trent and Hannah were currently standing in front of them, with their weapons drawn. But neither dared make a move, because one of the five guards was aiming a drawn bow at Trent’s chest.

“Hey, Allen, what do we do?” Trent asked quietly.

Allen thought furiously before whispering back, “Uh… nothing yet. I’ll get us out of this. When I run forward, get behind me and run for the exit straight ahead of us. Take out the archer and get out of here as fast as you can.”

Hannah whimpered and said almost silently, “But what about you? They’ll…”

Allen nodded and replied, “Yeah. I may not make it out of here. But I think I can talk myself into a position where they’ll keep me alive. Assuming, of course, that the archer isn’t accurate enough to kill a moving target.”

Allen whispered, “Get ready. G-”

But as he said this the door behind them was cast open and the archer-boy ran out into the grass along with the other two black-robed men. The other two soldiers he had been with seemed to have remained inside. The boy drew his bow and pointed it at Allen.

He yelled, “Hmmm. I should have guessed I’d see you again soon. What are you doing here and where are the Greil Mercenaries?”

Allen lied back, “We are here on business for the Greil Mercenaries. They’re gone, and we’ll never say where to.”

The boy laughed, “Not even for the safety of your other two friends who you sent so foolishly to the other end of the Daein camp?”

Hannah cried out, “Adam! No!”

Allen pushed her back behind him and responded, “I don’t believe you. You didn’t capture them.” He actually wasn’t sure if Adam and Erik were safe, but he guessed that they had made it away safely because a majority of the Daein soldiers had remained on the opposite side of the camp the night before. If the two had been captured, the soldiers would have moved back across the camp. And even if they were alive, he could negotiate for their release.

The boy smirked and walked forward while saying, “Are you willing to gamble with your friend’s lives? Even if I am bluffing, I can kill you whenever I want. Or I can kill that irritating twit of a girl right before your eyes. Would you like that?”

“If you touch either of them, I’ll never say anything,” Allen growled. “We’re on even ground here. If you kill my friends or me you’ll never find the Greil Mercenaries. If I don’t do as you say, I’ll never escape. You might as well stop threatening me, we have equal power over each other.”

A flicker of anger darted across the boy’s face and he shouted, “We’ll see about that. Seize them!”

The soldiers around him walked forward slowly, and the boy stepped back, grinning menacingly. Allen drew his sword, but stopped Trent and Hannah from drawing their weapons. He moved slowly towards the four advancing soldiers, with his sword raised up almost like a shield. The Daein archer stood where he was, smiling and aiming his bow at Allen’s exposed side. Allen was so close to the archer that both of them knew shooting around the sword was easy work. Allen gulped as the boy let the string go, propelling the arrow forward towards Allen.

But the arrow missed its target by several feet, striking the ground behind Trent. The archer, however, fell over to the ground with a yellow-feathered arrow in his back. And from behind where he had been standing, a brown horse rode through the gates of the fort, with Adam and Erik on its saddle. Adam pulled another arrow from his quiver as the horse approached the archer-boy. But the boy had already drawn his bow and knocked an arrow. He shot at Allen, and his arrow did not miss its target. Allen spun around, however, and used his massive sword to block the attack.

Adam shot his arrow, and it embedded itself in the archer’s left companion. The man crumpled to the ground as the archer-boy fled into the fort. Erik’s horse stopped and Adam leapt off it, dashing towards the fort’s entrance.

As he ran, Adam shouted, “Allen, you take care of the thugs out here! I’ll get the boy inside.”

Allen tried to yell a warning to him, but Adam had already shut the door behind him.

[Ragnell]

Adam pulled back the string of his bow as the heavy wooden door closed behind him. All of his nerves stood on end as the closing door muffled the loud cries and noises from outside. Adam breathed deeply and stepped forward into the dark, windowless hallway. He couldn’t hear any noise from down the hallway, or from the rooms on its sides. There was no sign at all that the enemy archer was in the building, but there were no exits he could have escaped through. For a moment, Adam even considered the idea that the boy might have leapt out a low window to flee.

But as Adam stepped forward, he felt a tingling sensation running down his spine, which told him he was being watched. He had no proof, but he knew that the boy had not fled. He was here, in the building. And now, he was hunting Adam. Adam gulped and thought briefly of turning back and leaving the fort. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The archer had led the kidnapping of Hannah and all the other villagers and had fought Adam on the hill that night. He had to pay for that. And he knew the boy would strike if he turned his back and fled.

So Adam slowly made his way down the hall, stopping at the first door on his left. He waited briefly and spun into the doorway, ready to fire at anyone in the room. But it was empty. Only a desk and two chairs were inside. He stepped out and made his way to the next door, on the right side of the hallway. He leaned against the wall, but couldn’t pull together the courage to turn into the room. Further down the hallway, another open door stared straight at him. If he tried to look into the room next to him, the boy could pick him off from the other room.

Instead of entering the room, Adam came up with another idea. He could swivel far enough that he could see a small sliver of the room through the doorway, and fire an arrow through the door into the back wall. If the boy was in there, he would most likely react to the shot. And Adam could keep his eyes on the other door across the hallway the whole time, never exposing himself.

Adam focused himself and stepped a foot or two away from the wall. When he could see the far wall of the room, he shot his arrow and spun back against the wall. He heard the arrow hit the opposite wall, but heard no noise from any occupant of the room. Adam leapt into the doorway and found no one inside the room. He dove into the room, taking cover from any shots coming from the room across the hall. But none came.

Adam retrieved his arrow from the wall and returned to the door. He shivered and peered out of the room, bow still ready to fire. He couldn’t see anyone in the other room. Adam launched one of his arrows into the room, hoping for a reaction. But again, none came.

Adam breathed deeply and slumped against a wall, and trying to calm himself. He hadn’t done anything to tire himself out, but his heart was racing, and his breaths were becoming more rapid and ragged. He thought of the outside, trying to drown out the frightening thoughts racing through his head. Every creak of wood sounded like a footstep of the archer, and every blow of wind sounded like an arrow, streaking towards his heart.

Adam jerked around and stared at a wall across the room, but found nothing unusual. He could have sworn he had heard breathing. But maybe it was his own. His breath was as quiet as he could make it, but Adam knew the archer could hear him. Every breath sounded like an explosion of air, echoing off the wooden walls of his hiding place. Adam shook his head and leaned upright again. He returned his focus to his task and pushed the thoughts of fear out of his mind as best he could.

Just as Adam was about to leave the room, he heard footsteps approaching the hallway. Two soldiers rounded the corner and approached the door he was hiding behind. They were talking in low voices to each other. Adam did not bother to listen to them, but prepared to shoot the closer soldier.

He heard a loud yell echo from the mess hall at the end of the hallway, “Stop! Don’t go that way! Get out of here!”

Adam grinned as he recognized the voice of the archer. But it was too late for the soldiers. Adam killed the first with a shot to the head. The second, startled by the death of his companion, ran for the mess hall. Adam shot him as well, knocking him to the ground with an arrow in the back.

From the mess hall Adam could hear the boy laugh and yell, “Very well done, mercenary. But I think you might as well give up now. You know where I am and I know where you are, but I am better with a bow than you. Turn your tail and flee, and I may not kill you.”

Adam cried back, “How do you know you’re better with a bow? I’m just as good as you.”

“Ha! I hope you’re joking. I’m quite sure that my skill far surpasses your own. But if you wish to continue, I will have no problem killing you. In fact, this might even be fun.”

Adam grimaced and peered into the hallway. The door to the mess hall was open just a crack, but he couldn’t see the boy through it. He must be hiding inside, waiting for Adam to walk in on him. But Adam wouldn’t do what the boy wanted.

He crept into the hallway as quietly as possible, making his way towards the door with his bow pointed at the crack. The only way he could get the upper hand was if he lured the boy out into the hallway. Adam tiptoed over to the door and leaned against the wall on right side of the door. He knocked an arrow and held another in his hand for later.

The plan came to Adam instantly, as if he had known it all along. He could lure the boy out by pretending to enter the room. The boy would reveal himself, and would come out into the hallway when he didn’t find Adam behind the door. Then Adam could pick him off.

Adam waited a moment, finalizing his plan, and then turned and kicked the door as hard as he could. He fired one arrow into the room, on the off chance that it would hit the boy, making his job much easier. But, as Adam expected, it did not hit anything except the back wall. Adam then ran back to the end of the hallway and hid himself partially around the corner. An arrow fired out of the room and hit the wall across the hallway from the door. Adam quivered and held his bow up, ready to shoot the boy down.

But the boy did not come through the door.

Adam waited for another three or four minutes, which felt like hours, before moving. He sighed and was about to leave when he heard laughter from behind his back. Adam twirled around to see the boy with his bow drawn. Adam dove around the corner, and an arrow narrowly missed his right leg. He crouched around the corner with his bow drawn.

From around the corner, Adam heard the boy say, “Fool. You tried to lure me out, but all you did was expose your position. You should have taken my offer and left earlier. Now I won’t be as merciful to you. Walk out right now and tell me where the Greil Mercenaries are and I may spare you. Otherwise, you die.”

Adam gulped and replied, “I won’t tell you anything. All I’ve got to do is hold out until Allen finishes off your stupid cronies and I get to go free. Did you ever think of that, you stupid Daein sellsword?”

The boy snorted, “Sellsword? Is that what you think I am? Ha! You’re dumber than I thought. But no matter, I did, in fact, think of your friends. The only problem with your strategy is that your friends won’t be able to defeat my soldiers. You only got away the other night because it was dark and you had surprise on your side. And even if your friends get here… You’ll be dead!”

With that, the boy leapt around the corner, bow pointed above Adam. Adam fired his arrow, and the archer shot his as well. The archer’s arrow shot above Adam’s crouched body, and flew down the hallway, while Adam’s pierced the boy’s chest. Adam jumped forward and tackled the boy, throwing the archer’s bow to the side. The archer pushed Adam off his chest and moved several steps backwards.

“Hah!” Adam yelled, “Look who’s better with the bow now!”

The boy looked down at the arrow protruding from his breast with little interest and replied, “Hmm. It does seem that you have won this spar. I admit, you are more formidable than I thought. However-”

“Spar? More formidable than you thought? I just shot you! You’re dying! I won, now and forever!”

The boy laughed now, but stopped as he felt pain from his chest where the arrow was embedded. “Yes, you did shoot me. That I will not deny. But, I am not dying by any means. In fact, I feel more alive now than I ever have. Here’s a gift for you, for that entertaining fight. I pray that should we meet again, you will have grown even more skillful, though I doubt you will be able to defeat me again.”

Adam was about to mention the fact that he had an arrow in his chest and was dying fast, when the boy pulled a small leather sack from his belt. He untied its white fastenings and dropped a fistful of powder onto the floor.

“Hey!” Adam cried, “What are you doing?! Who are you?”

The boy stared at him for a moment and said only, “My name is Chaz,” before disappearing in a ring of bright, flashing light.

Adam stared wide-eyed at the spot where the boy had stood for several seconds before noticing a small object on the ground. He walked over to it and stared at the item curiously, wondering if it was the gift the boy had spoken of earlier. As Adam picked it up, he found that it was just a small golden figure with two white feathers on its sides. As he was about to put it away, Adam thought he saw it briefly glow. He shivered and headed back outside. Allen would need help back with the rest of the Daeins.

[Ragnell]

Hannah stepped back quickly as one of the tall men in the black cloaks advanced towards her. Most of his face was hidden behind a strange mask, and his hood covered the rest of his head, but she could still see his dark eyes. No armor was visible above his black cloak, but in his hands he held a long wooden spear.

Hannah took another step back as he continued to move towards her. She knew she was no match for a trained soldier like him, and he also could strike from a distance with his spear. She drew her slim steel sword and held it up in front of her, in the stance Allen had taught her.

The man raised his spear as well, and suddenly dashed at her. She dodged his first stab by leaping sideways, but was knocked to the ground by a second strike with the shaft of the spear. She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the man, who now had pointed his spear directly at her chest.

Hannah faintly heard the man whisper, “Goodbye,” before she shut her eyes. There was a loud smash, and something struck her in the cheek.

She opened her eyes and saw Trent above her, with his iron axe in hand. In her lap was the front end of the enemy’s spear. The other end was still held by the man, who was trying to fend off Trent’s furious attacks with the stick. Just as Trent was about to finish him, an armor-clad Daein soldier ran up and struck at Trent with his lance.

Hannah leapt to her feet and grabbed her sword from the ground. She rushed at the soldier, stabbing him in the arm. He howled in pain for a second before Trent slammed his axe into the man, silencing him. When Hannah turned around, the cloaked man was gone.

After a moment of frantic scanning, she found him retreating to the other end of the fort. He had made a signal to the other cloaked man, who was running as well. Several feet away Allen and Erik had just finished off the last of the armored Daein soldiers.

The two cloaked men surveyed Allen and Erik briefly before turning and sprinting away from the fort. Erik began to chase after them, but Allen yelled for him to let them go. Hannah jogged over to where Allen was standing, and sheathed her sword. She looked back over her shoulder and saw Trent run for the door to the fort’s main building, remembering that Adam was inside.

Hannah dashed over to Trent and almost reached the door with him when it burst open. Impulsively, Hannah drew her sword and jumped to her fighting stance. But it was Adam between the two doors, so she again placed it in its sheath. Adam smiled at her and she bounded up to him and gave him a hug.

Trent patted Adam on the shoulder and asked, “What happened to that boy you were fighting? Did you kill him?”

“No,” Adam replied, “I only injured him.”

Allen ran up to them asking, “Is he still in there? There are no other exits, are there?”

“He didn’t escape out a door or window. There was just this bright flash and he was gone,” Adam replied.

Allen nodded and said, “There was a circle of light below him, wasn’t there? Yes, I thought so. I wonder where the boy got warp powder.”

“Warp… powder?” Trent asked. “What’s going on, Allen?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve only ever seen one other person use warp powder. Adam, what else has happened to you and Erik? I need to know anything that could explain what we’re up against.”

Adam thought for a minute and then began, “Well, I shot several men in the camp like you asked. Then I ran back to Erik, but he couldn’t get the fire started. That archer-boy made it up the hill ahead of his army, but Erik managed to knock him out. We headed south like you ordered, but decided to come back and help you out. While we were outside the Daein camp, I heard some stuff from their general and that boy, though. He said that the Greil Mercenaries have the princess of Crimea with them.”

“Wait a minute,” Trent interrupted, “Crimea doesn’t have a princess! The only heir is Lord Renning.”

Adam shrugged, “Apparently not. The princess must have been hidden to avoid disputes for the crown. But now she’s with Greil’s company, and the Daein army is after her. And from the sound of things, King Ashnard of Daein has hired mercenaries to help in the search. Those men in hoods and that boy seem to be those mercenaries.”

“So they are looking for the princess too?” Hannah asked.

“Yeah, but they seemed to be after something else as well. The archer-boy said that the commander of the Greil Mercenaries has something else they want, and they plan to torture him to get it.”

“Where are the Greil Mercenaries?” Erik asked Adam.

“I don’t know,” Adam responded. “No one in the Daein army said anything. And like we saw today, they still thought the Greil Mercenaries were here in the fort. I’m not sure where the mercenaries would go. I guess we could look around for clues, but I think we should head away from the Daein soldiers, towards-”

“Gallia,” Allen said quietly. “The first place someone fleeing the beorc would go is Gallia. The Crimean royal family had ties with the Gallian king, so the princess would be able to get help there. We should head towards Gallia to find the Greil Mercenaries. I don’t know how we’ll find them inside Gallia, but at least we don’t have to worry about any Daein soldiers getting in the way.”

Hannah nodded, but Erik shook his head and said, “Who says those Gallian laguz will be any more kind to us than the Daeins? We’re all beorc, and they’ll probably think we’re spies. I think we should go west and avoid getting caught up in the Greil Mercenaries’ affairs. There’s no way we can fight off Daein forever.”

Allen turned and walked away from the camp while saying over his shoulder, “We should get out of this fort, at any rate. Those cloaked mercenaries will probably get reinforcements. We should discuss this further at a safer location.”

Trent spoke up before Allen could exit the fort. “We’ll go to Gallia if you want to, Allen.”

Hannah agreed, “Yeah, I’ll go wherever you go. It would be cool to see another country. And we’d meet laguz too!”

Adam looked at Erik before he said, “Sure, whatever you want’s good with me, Allen.”

“I’ll go with you,” Erik responded. “I just don’t want us to get mixed up in things that don’t concern us. We’re just average mercenaries, not some kind of heroes. I don’t plan on dying for some princess.”

Allen stopped and thought for a moment before answering them, “Very well, we’ll go to Gallia. Not necessarily to help the Greil Mercenaries, or the princess, but to get away from the Daein army and to figure out what’s going on right now. And I would still like to talk to Greil.”

“Yeah!” Hannah cheered. “We’re going to Gallia!”

Adam smiled and whispered to Trent, “I wonder if we’ll ever figure out what’s going on in Allen’s head.”

Trent laughed and replied, “I bet he knows this Greil guy. He really seems to want to talk to him, and he took a sword from Greil’s study.”

“I guess we’ll find out in Gallia.”

[Ragnell]

First of all, I would like to apologize for my laziness in writing this story. I've actually had this section written for some time, I just never felt it was complete enough to post. I've finally decided that I'm never going to feel happy with this chapter, so I will just post it as is. I was thinking about ditching this story completely, but reading it over has rekindled my interest in writing it. And again, sorry those readers (if there still are any) who haven't got anything new from me all summer. (btw, I reorganized the chapters because chpt. 1 was massive)

Chapter 4: The Secret Cave

Taksh looked about himself quickly as he stepped off the bustling main street of Sienne, the capitol of Begnion, into the grassy garden in front of the Mainal Cathedral. He followed a short stone path, and jumped up the curb to the massive cathedral that marked the center of Sienne. Besides the Tower of Guidance, which loomed in the distance, the Mainal Cathedral was probably the most recognized building in all of Begnion

The Cathedral itself was several stories tall and seemed to be made of a white stone. Taksh carefully dodged around a group of white-robed men and strode through the tall archway that made up the entrance. Inside, the white walls of the massive entrance hall were decorated with valuable tapestries, rugs, and gold etchings. There was a large marble staircase that ran up the center of the room to a second floor, which surrounded the first with a series of balconies. Below the balconies were several large arches that led to other areas of the cathedral.

Taksh walked to the right, through an archway, and down a hallway that led to several large oak doors. He walked past the doors, and up a set of stairs to yet another hall of doorways. He entered the first door on the right and found himself in a spacious meeting room. Inside the room were three tall chairs and a large table. A single man stood staring out a window in the back corner. Taksh sat in a chair and stared across the room at a man by the window. From behind, Taksh could tell the man was quite tall, had short blue hair that fell to his eyes. He was wearing some sort of red armor from head to toe, and was also wearing a golden cape, which signified his stature in the army. This was not a senator, Taksh knew, but neither was he in any position that Taksh recognized.

The man waited for nearly a minute before turning to face Taksh. As he did, he strode over to the other side of the table which Taksh was seated at and sat in the taller chair opposite him.

The man folded his hands and said to Taksh, “The senator will be here in a minute. I hoped he would be here for this first part of this meeting, but I suppose I can start without him.”

The man whistled and four soldiers walked in. The first two on the right and the man on the far left wore the red armor and the insignia of the Begnion Royal Knights, while the middle right soldier wore a slimmer red armor that only covered her chest and shoulders. Taksh guessed she must be a member of the Holy Guard, Begnion’s pegasus-mounted knights. As he thought this, the memories of his last meeting returned to him. Duke Numida told him he would have only one companion, a candidate for the Holy Guard. Taksh was about to ask why there were four soldiers before him, but decided to remain silent and wait for the man to explain.

The man across from him stood and walked over to the four soldiers. He raised his hand and gestured to each soldier from left to right while saying, “This is Marc, Tasha, Aaron, and Lorn. They will be accompanying you on this mission as subordinates to you, in order to test your leadership abilities. They have been ordered to do as you say, and their actions will be held as your responsibility. Do you understand?”

Taksh replied shakily, “Yes sir. But may I ask a question?”

The man nodded and said, “Of course, but keep it brief. We do not have an unlimited amount of time to discuss.”

“Of course, sir,” Taksh replied. “It was just that, after hearing Duke Numida’s quick briefing before, I was under the impression that I would have only one companion. A new recruit from the Holy Guard.”

A look of surprise appeared on the man’s face, and he replied, “Is that so? Well I don’t know what he might have said then, but you are scheduled to have four knights with you. I would assume it was a bit of a joke on the senator’s part. He is ever fond of practical jokes.”

“I see,” said Taksh, still slightly confused. As he sat down, the real reason for the senator’s lie dawned on him. The duke knew he would train harder if he was told he would only have one companion, while he might relax if he had more partners. It was a trick to get him to work harder.

“Ahem, Back to more important matters,” the man started. “You five knights shall be tasked with delivering the Bishop of North Gaddos to a church in Caldea, Crimea. All the churches in that area have been halted by the Daein army until further notice, so we find it urgent that a Begnion representative be sent to continue their services. The Senate has contacted the King of Daein, and he has agreed to allow our Bishops to govern Crimea’s churches for the time being.”

The man continued, “You will ride up through Serenes Forest and to the fortress of Flaguerre before entering the southern portion of Crimea. From there, ride northwest along the river until you come to its northernmost crossing. Cross the river and continue on to Caldea. A marked map will be supplied to you for the journey, so don’t worry if you have not memorized what I just said.”

Taksh nodded and said, “Thank you, sir.”

As the man was about to speak again, the door that Taksh had entered the room through opened, and two men walked inside. The first was a large man wearing beautiful white robes and a short golden cloak over them. Taksh recognized him as Duke Numida, who had first briefed him on his mission. The second man also wore white robes, but wore nothing over them. He was average in height, had short blond hair, and held a staff in his right hand. Taksh assumed this must be the bishop whom he would be escorting.

Duke Numida slowly walked to the red-armored man who had been briefing Taksh and said, “Ah, Zelgius, I am glad to see that you have started the meeting already. The bishop here just arrived from Gaddos, so I was forced to wait for him. That Lekain is ever the talkative one.”

Taksh’s jaw dropped when Numida addressed the man. Zelgius? The General Zelgius? Zelgius commanded the entire Begnion Central Army and served under none other than the Prime Minister of Begnion, Sephiran. Taksh suddenly felt foolish, interrupting Zelgius and not showing proper respect. He wondered if Zelgius was offended or even noticed his lack of formality.

Numida walked to the front of the room, behind Zelgius, and gestured to the bishop, saying, “This is Bishop Luxord from North Gaddoss. He has served under Vice Minister Lekain, the Duke of Gaddoss for nearly 10 years, and will be sent to run the churches in Caldea. Your mission is to escort him safely there. You should receive no trouble inside of Begnion borders, but watch as you near the Gallian border. The sub-humans of Gallia are vicious, and would love nothing more than to snuff out one of Begnion’s most reputable bishops. Inside of Crimea, you will have the protection of the Daein army, but you still will not be completely safe! There are many rebels fighting the Daein army inside of Crimea, and several have sub-humans aiding them. They will surely attempt to capture the bishop.”

Zelgius interrupted, “Yes, and the Daein army may not accept you willingly. After all, Begnion has favored Crimea over Daein in recent affairs. The king may have ordered that you be allowed to pass safely, but common soldiers may still hold a grudge.”

“Nonsesne!” Numida cried. “The Daein army has granted us free passage. Do not worry yourself about the Daeins, worry about the Gallian sub-humans. That is why Crimea is where it is now: they associated themselves too closely with those sub-humans and eventually lost the support of their human allies. It’s a pity, really, the nation was fine until the foolish King Ramon came along.”

“Indeed, sir,” Zelgius interrupted. “Stay alert at all times. You will be supplied with any weapons you may need, and money for food on the trip. Enough money will also be given for you to stay the nights at inns along the way.”

“Yes, we wouldn’t want to dirty the bishop’s fine white robes!” Numida said, laughing heartily.

Zelgius stood up and backed away from the table as he said, “Now that you have all the information you need for the journey, I think I will leave you some time to talk with your companions. The duke and I have some other business to attend to, so we shall leave you here. Get to know each other and finalize your plans for the trip. You may take as long as you like, there are no other meetings planned in this room today.”

The five knights stood up and saluted enthusiastically as the general and duke exited the room via the back door. As soon as the door had closed, Taksh turned to investigate his new companions. He had already forgotten two of their names, but he could still remember Aaron, Luxord, and Tasha.

Aaron was tall and thin and carried a sword at his side. Taksh thought he could see some blond hair underneath Aaron’s helm, but he couldn’t be sure. Tasha was average height with long, wavy blue hair and a white skirt. Her small plates of armor were red, and she carried a slim lance in her right hand.

Rather than awkwardly avoiding the two names he had forgotten, Taksh openly asked, “So what are all your names again?”

The two on the left said their names were Marc and Lorn, while Aaron and Tasha repeated their names. Taksh sat in silence for a second more, trying desperately to think of something to start a conversation. He hated trying to start casual conversations. He’d been raised as a soldier, and soldiers don’t usually have time to chat about meaningless things.

“So…” Taksh started, “where in the army do you serve?”

Lorn spoke up for the other three, “I’m a member of the first platoon of the Begnion Knights, along with Aaron and Marc. Tasha here is a member of the Holy Guard. Right?”

“Well, I will be if I succeed in this mission,” Tasha agreed.

“Oh.” Taksh replied lamely. “Well… what weapons are you proficient with?”

“I use lances and spears,” Tasha said. “I specialize in thinner, lighter lances. I ride a white, six-year old pegasus named Gust.”

“Which hand do you use?” Taksh asked, desperate to keep her talking.

“My right hand. Why do you need to know?”

“Oh, no reason. I just want to know as much about your abilities as possible before we leave. What about you three, what weapons do you wield?”

“Aaron and I use swords,” Marc said.

“And I use a throwing axe with my left hand,” Lorn added. “But I can use normal axes too.”

“Oh,” Taksh said, again thinking of something to talk about.

As Taksh was thinking, Luxord spoke up, “Um… I would just like to say how grateful I am for all your assistance. Without you, there’s no way I could make it to Crimea.”

“No need to be thankful, Bishop, it’s all part of our job. Now I think we should all rest up for the journey. We won’t be able to get as much sleep as I’d like on the trip, so we should relax while we can.”

“Are you serious?” Tasha asked. “Already?”

“Well, we’ll have plenty of time to talk on the trip. And I think I know everything I need for now.”

“It’s fine with me,” Tasha said hastily. “I just thought you might need a little bit more information. Y’know, get to know us.”

Taksh coughed and said, “We’ll have time for that later.”

“Ok,” Tasha said, as she exited the room. The other three knights filed out after her, leaving the bishop and Taksh alone in the room.

Taksh walked over to the bishop and asked, “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” he said weakly. “I’m just a bit nervous for the journey. I’ve never left Begnion before, especially not during dangerous times like these.”

“Don’t worry,” Taksh said, patting him on the back. “We’ll make sure nothing bad happens. After all, the king of Daein said he’d let us safely into Crimea.”

“Yeah,” Luxord agreed weakly.

*****

Rad paused for a moment on the stairs in the entrance hall as he heard Arc’s voice echoing in the narrow passageway behind him.

“Hey, Rad! Rad!”

“What is it Arc?” Rad asked, turning around to see Arc running down the stairs behind him.

“Have you seen the princess anywhere?”

“Y’mean Jenn?” Rad asked. “No, I haven’t seen her. Why do you need to find her?”

“Remember our plan? Have you seriously already forgotten?”

“No, but what has that have to do with anything?”

“What do you mean what has that got to do with anything?!” Arc shouted. “We’re leaving tomorrow! And she still hasn’t told us what Nealuchi thinks of our plan.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, I’ve been looking everywhere for her!” Arc said, slowly growing quieter.

“Well I can help,” Rad said. “I’ll search the docks and the outside of the castle for her. You keep checking inside. Meet back here in one hour. We’ll find her, don’t worry.”

Arc agreed hastily, and they set off in opposite directions. Once Rad was outside, he began to scan the top of the crowd of people moving in and out of the castle. In all, there were probably about a hundred people at the entrance to the castle.

Rad slowly pushed his way through the crowd, not once spotting the princess. As he reached the docks, he spotted his father carrying several boxes of explosives.

“Father!” Rad shouted. “Father! Have you seen the princess?”

He turned to Rad and replied, “Yes, I think I saw her on our ship a couple of minutes ago.”

Rad thanked his father and ran through the crowd to the plank that led to the largest ship in the harbor. As he reached the top of the plank, he bumped into a girl wearing a long, brown cloak, which bulged behind her back.

“Hey, wait!” Rad shouted. “Jenn, is that you?”

The figure stopped and turned to look at him. Underneath the hood, Rad could see Jenn’s long black hair.

“Rad? Why are you out here?”

“Why am I out here?” Rad asked, puzzled. “I’m looking for you. You never told us if you can come with us or not. Remember, you were supposed to ask Nealuchi.”

“Yes, yes, I remembered. It’s just that…um…I…get your wyvern.”

“My wyvern?” Rad stammered.

“Yes, your wyvern. Get it and follow me. Now!”

Rad turned and ran onto the ship’s deck. He dashed down a set of stairs to the wyvern stable and threw his saddle on Gharlog. At the last minute, Rad thought to grab his lance as he pulled on Gharlog’s reigns and lifted off the ground. Rad flew him over to the middle of the hallway and landed next to a man operating the exit door.

“Sir, can you open the door? I need to get out of here with my wyvern.”

The man leaned back in his chair, pulled the lever to open the hatch in the ceiling, and mumbled, “Whatever. Be back soon.”

Gharlog rose into the air and shot out of the opening door. Once outside, Rad rose above the mast of the ship and scanned the sky for Jenn. He spotted her further to the south, and rode over to her. As he reached her, Jenn morphed into a raven and flew to the west without saying a word. He kicked Gharlog’s sides and headed off after her.

Jenn flew about a mile to the west, and into a grouping off tall rock structures jutting from the water along the coast. She landed and quickly transformed back into her human form, lowering the hood of her cloak.

Rad landed beside her and dismounted Gharlog to walk over to her.

“What’s this all about?” Rad asked.

“Nothing, it’s just… well, follow me.”

“With Gharlog?”

“Um… yeah, he could probably fit.”

“Wait,” Rad said, growing more alarmed, “what do you mean ‘fit’? Hey, is that a cave?”

“Yes,” Jenn said, gesturing to a huge hole in the side of one of the protruding rocks.

Rad grabbed Gharlog’s reigns and guided him to the cave’s entrance, where he and the princess slowly climbed down the sharp rocks. Gharlog stopped at the entrance, but Rad was able to slowly coax him inside.

Once the two were inside, Jenn sat down on a rock opposite Rad, who leaned his lance against the wall. Jenn spoke first and said, “This is my secret cave. No other people come here, and I can’t find it on any map, so I come here when I want to be alone. I didn’t want to say anything in the middle of the crowd.

“What do you need to tell me?” Rad asked.

Jenn shifted her wait for a moment and hesitated, before she blurted out, “I didn’t get Nealuchi’s approval. I asked him, and he flat out said no.”

“What? How could he say no when your life is in danger?!”

“I don’t know,” Jenn said. “But I do know that there is no way I can change his mind.”

“So what do we do now?” Rad asked. “You can’t just sit around here and wait for the assassins to attack again.”

“I don’t know. I thought that maybe I cold get some supplies and hide out here for a wile.”

“In this cave? You couldn’t stay here! You’d be all alone, just perfect for the assassins.”

“Yeah, I guess, but I feel nervous whenever I’m in the castle.

“Wait, you’re nervous?” Rad asked, beginning to grin. “You said that you knew they weren’t coming back.”

“Yeah, I did, didn’t I? I-I don’t know why… I know I said that they weren’t going to attack again, but I keep getting this weird feeling that they will. I don’t know, maybe I’m getting paranoid.”

“No. If there’s one thing you aren’t, it’s paranoid,” Rad said, while climbing up a tall rock to look out the entrance. “If you think you’re in danger, then we need to get you out of Kilvas.”

“But how? Nealuchi will be expecting me to leave now. He’s probably alerted all the guards that I’ll try to board your boat.”

“True, but there’s got to be a way. Let’s go get Arc, he’ll be able to think of something. I’m sure he’s read a book about escaping on boats when you’re pursued by both the government and assassins,” Rad joked.

Jenn smiled weakly and climbed off her rock, and up the sloped entrance of the cave. Rad hopped off the rock he was perched on, grabbed his lance, and followed her with Gharlog. When Rad made it to the dim light of the outside, he found Jenn hovering a few feet over the ocean, looking down at the murky waves crashing against the rocky cliff below. Rad mounted Gharlog and kicked him in the sides to take off. Gharlog soared over the princess’ head and shot off into the gray clouds above, followed closely by Jenn in her raven form.

The two flew in silence all the way back to the port, where Rad distanced himself from Jenn and attempted to seem as though he was not travelling with her. Rad flew to the docks, and slowly glided into the open door on the deck of his ship. After he tied up Gharlog, he ran out of the ship and down the docks to the entrance of the castle outside. Jenn was waiting at the steps, with her hood drawn up over her face.

“Do you happen to know where Arc is?” she asked.

“Yeah, I sent him to search for you inside the castle. He should be here in a minute.”

The two sat in silence for several minutes before Rad spoke up and said, “If Arc doesn’t have a plan, I could stay here to help protect you. I’ve been discharged from the army, so there’s nothing else for me to do now.”

Jenn blushed, but said nothing. Rad turned and looked at the opposite wall, embarrassed at his request. Just as he was about to break the awkward silence, Arc ran up and shouted, “Thank the goddess, princess, you’re here. Whew, I’ve looked everywhere for you. Where’ve you been?”

“She was avoiding you,” Rad answered, grinning, while leading Arc down the hallway with Jenn behind them. “Now c’mon, we need to go to our room,”

“A-avoiding me?” Arc asked, sounding hurt.

“Of course not,” Jenn hastily replied. “I was just keeping a low profile and looking for you guys. I need to ask you something in private.”

The three almost sprinted down the hall to the door to their room, which Rad quickly threw open and slammed behind them. Rad moved his way around the room, examining every nook and cranny for a way that they could be spied on. After he had searched the room, drawn all the blinds, and locked the door, he pulled up three chairs in the middle of the room, which Arc and Jenn sat in with him.

“So what’s happened?” Arc asked.

“Nealuchi won’t let me leave the castle-” Jenn began.

“And we need your help to find a way to sneak her out with us.” Rad finished.

“Wait a second. So Jenn’s still coming with us? And now we have the entire castle keeping an eye on her, ready for us to try something? Are you guys insane?! There’s no way we can get past all the guards!”

Rad swore, “You’ve got to be kidding. You’re Arc, you can think of something. Come on, Jenn’s life is on the line. We’ve got to help her escape.”

“But they’ll stop us the minute she tries to get on the ship. And if they see us with her in a disguise, they’ll suspect it’s her because she’s with us. There’s nothing we can do.”

“Hey, but what if you wore her cloak onto the ship, and they stopped you, thinking it was her. Then she could come aboard later wearing it without any suspicion,” Rad suggested.

“No, they’re not that stupid. They would still… oh!” Arc shouted. “I’ve got it! Rad, Jenn, I’m going down to the ship. I’ll be in our cabin. You two come down in about an hour. And make sure she’s wearing her cloak! This could work!”

With that, Arc leapt to his feet and dashed out of the room and down the hall. Rad and Jenn stared together at the doorway for several seconds before Jenn asked, “Is he always this… excited?”

“Yeah,” Rad answered. “But let’s just hope he really does know what he’s doing.”

Edited October 16, 2009 by Ragnell

[Ragnell]

All right, I'm officially canceling this story. Sorry to anyone who wants to read more, but I'm barely active here anymore, and this story was growing much too massive for me to write in my spare time. This past chapter was finishing up the exposition. Yeah, the exposition was that long. I just don't have the time or drive to write more. Again, sorry. If you're pissed, and want to rag on me for not following through with the story, go ahead.

BUT, I do have a reason for posting this here and not in my feedback topic. Unlike most people, who just up and leave their readers to wonder what would have happened later in the story, I will leave a quick overview of the plot here.

Part 2

All right, to start things off, Allen is a double-branded, meaning he has a branded parent on both sides of the family. That is why his brand appeared at a strange time. Allen is trying to find Greil, but he lost track of him after Gawain left Daein and changed his name. Before Allen meets Greil, however, he comes across Zelgius, who leaves without a fight, knowing Allen wouldn't reveal that Zelgius is a branded, since Allen is also a branded. Hours later, Allen finds Greil and Zelgius fighting. Ranulf and Caineghis stop Allen from interrupting the fight, and Allen watches Greil get stabbed, and sees Ike take Greil away. Allen follows the laguz back to Gallia, where he is contracted by Caineghis to follow Ike and protect him. Allen decides to go to Begnion through the gap in the mountains near Flaguerre.

Meanwhile, Arc hides inside the ship in Kilvas. Jenn wears her cloak and enters the ship with Rad. Arc then wears the cloak and leaves the ship, pretending to be Jenn. He then re-enters the ship without the cloak. But before the ship can leave, it is attacked by the swordmaster assassin, Karino. The ship is destroyed, and Karino is injured before he can escape with warp powder. Jenn returns to the castle, but finds Karino talking to Nealuchi. She overhears that the assassination was under Nealuchi's orders, who thinks that if the people of Kilvas don't like Naesala's alliance with Daein, they will rally under Jenn. Jenn flees with Rad and Arc, heading for Begnion.

At the same time, Hekan flies with the Begnion army to Gallia. They attack a small town just beyond the border, but find that the Gallian army is waiting for them. In the battle, Hekan is knocked off a cliff, but is rescued by Jenn, who has just reached the coast of Gallia. Hekan agrees to travel with Jenn, Arc, and Rad in order to find his spellbook again (it was taken by a fellow Begnion soldier after he was knocked off a cliff). Their group flies to Begnion, and finds that the book has been taken to a small mansion near the desert border. They steal the book, but find that this is where Arc was originally from. He is only the adopted brother of Rad, and was found in the desert by the owner of the mansion. It is also revealed that originally he had twin, but his twin disappeared mysteriously. His twin is actually Tormod. They travel into the desert to try and find what happened to Arc's twin, but run into Allen and his mercs, who are waiting for Ike to cross the desert. After a quick clash, the two groups leave. After their fight with Jenn's group, Allen and his companions meet Stefan, who recognizes that Allen is a branded and suggests that he come and stay in a branded colony in the desert. Allen declines.

While that is happeneing, Taksh arrives in Crimea with his five companions. When they reach Caldea, the Daein army is attacking the village, attempting to destroy it for sending Allen's mercs to fight Daein earlier. Taksh helps the village fight back at first, but after Lorn is killed, he advises the villagers to flee. Taksh and his companions go into hiding for a while, organizing attacks on the Daein army.

Before Ike leaves Begnion, Daein sends an order for him to be assassinated. Karino, Chaz, and a new character named Avery are all ordered to kill Ike by the head of their assassin group. When Avery enters the camp with the knife Baselard, however, she has a change of heart and refuses to kill Ike. She purposely gets herself caught by soldiers, but pretends that she is a common thief. Ike releases her, but she doesn't leave the camp immediately like he orders. She convinces two soldiers in the camp, Ninji (who joined the Begnion Knights after fleeing Crimea) and Rasde (a Begnion soldier who longs for fighting action) to help her save Ike from Karino and Chaz. The three leave the camp and attack Karino and Chaz, who flee. After the fight, Avery leads her comrades into the desert, to avoid any soldiers from the Begnion army. There, they meet Allen's mercs. The two groups fight, but a sandstorm starts up, interrupting them. Baselard is lost in the snad, but the two groups discover that they are both trying to protect Ike.

Avery reveals to Allen that she was a member of the Lost Shadows group, who was hired by Ashnard to kill Ike. They follow Ike's army to the border of Daein, and follow them through Daein. After Ike takes the capitol, Allen hears that a man in Ike's army was a spy for Daein. Hoping that the man would know about the whereabouts of the Black Knight, Allen frees Nasir, and helps him escape from Ike's camp. With Nasir, Allen leaves his companions and closely follows Ike's army into Crimea. There, he enters into the battle at Fort Nados. He finds Ike inside the castle dueling the Black Knight. But before he can join the fight, Ike defeats the Black Knight. Nasir rushes in, and leads Ike and Ena out of the castle. The Black Knight gets up as the castle begins collapsing. Allen duels him, but the BK warps both Allen and himself out before the entire castle collapses. They duel outside, and the BK defeats Allen, shattering Greil's sword. Zelgius leaves Allen alive, so that if Ike dies he will still have someone to train and then defeat.

Allen's companions find him after he is defeated, and they head for the capitol. But before they can reach the capitol, they encounter Taksh, who tells them that a huge group of Daein soldiers was stationed at the border of Gallia, and that group is marching towards the capitol. Allen agrees to help stop the soldiers from reaching the capitol, so he rides from village to village, gathering townsfolk to help fight. In his travels, he comes across Jenn again. Under Allen's orders, Jenn flies to the capitol and blackmails Nealuchi into sending Kilvas troops to help Allen (she threatens to tell the people of Kilvas how Nealuchi was involved in her attempted assassination). Taksh also gets a troop of Begnion soldiers to help in the fight. With an army of ravens, townsfolk, and Begnion soldiers, Allen meets the Daein reinforcements in battle.

In the battle, Allen meets his father, who is still a tacticion in the Daein army. Refusing to betray his country by defecting to the other army and refusing to kill his son, Allen's father attacks a large group of laguz, who promptly kill him. Allen's army defeats the Daein reinforcements shortly after. After the battle, Allen receives word that Ike won the fight in the capitol. He and Avery leave the battlefield without a word, abandoning all their companions to find and kill the surviving members of the Lost Shadows organization.

End Part 2

Part 3

Honestly, I haven't figured all of Part 3 out. I obviously have lots of ideas, but they are all just that, ideas, so I'm not going to go into much detail on the events of Part 3. In a nutshell, Trent, Adam, and Hannah go in search of Allen, and cover most of the continent in search of him. Meanwhile, Taksh, with his new position, is stationed at a fort in Daein, where he captures Daein citizens. He doesn't like the job, but he follows his orders. Erik, who joins the Daein Resistance under Micaiah, attacks the fort and fights Taksh (who he met in the last war). They both survive the fight, and Erik meets up with Adam, Hannah, and Trent near the end of the war. He leaves and travels away with them.

Jenn is helping out in Crimea with Arc and Rad, who are rebuilding they. They fight for the queen and help defeat the rebels. When Trent, Adam, Hannah, and Erik travel to Crimea, they join with Arc, Jenn, and Rad. When Trent and Adam meet Rad, they remember him from their childhood. Years ago, Rad was sent by the Daein army to kill a group of thieves in Nevassa. he killed several older thieves, and then attempted to kill Trent and Adam, even though they were young children. The two boys escaped the city, and were found by Allen, who fought off Rad. Realizing what he was doing, Rad left the military, and swore to always wear his armor as a reminder of what he had tried to do.

As the huge group travels to Begnion in search of Allen, they come across Hekan, who was beginning to become corrupted by dark magic. The group then runs across the Begnion Central Army, who sends a large group of soldiers to kill them. Hekan sacrifices himself and uses a dangerous spell to wipe out all the soldiers and himself. Taksh returns, and reveals where the Lost Shadows' headquarters is. There, they finally meet Allen and Avery again.

Together they enter the network of caves, and face Karino and Chaz (who are revealed to be brothers). Chaz and Karino fight Allen, but are convinced by Avery to disobey their orders. They leave Allen to dispose of the leader of the Lost Shadows. Allen finds the leader, but never gets a chance to fight him. Sephiran uses a warp staff to appear in the room, and kills the leader. He then reveals that he ordered the Lost Shadows to obey Daein, and has been pulling the strings all along.

He leaves, and Ashera's judgement rains down on everyone in the cave. Allen and Avery are left unharmed (because they are branded), but everyone else is turned to stone. The goddess Yune appears to Allen and asks him to join Ike and his army to defeat Ashera. Allen, finally realizing how much his friends mean to him, asks if she can turn his friends back to normal. She says she can, but she will not be able to bless him like she was planning to. He tells her to bring back his friends, so she heals them.

The once-again large group travels to Sienne and finds that Ike has already entered the Tower of Guidance. But the battle outside the tower is not going well. More and more enemy soldiers appear, no matter how many Ike's army defeats. Allen joins the battle just in time for Zelgius' corpse to be ressurected after being killed by Ike. Ashera blesses the corpse, and gives it incredible power. Yune then tells Allen that she can bless him equally, as it will still leave her and Ashera matched in power. She blesses Allen, and then Allen duels Zelgius' body. He reaches a point where he could stab Zelgius and prove that he is a better swordsman than Zelgius, but decides to forget his pride and just keep Zelgius occupied (since Zelgius would just get ressurected again). Zelgius slashes Allen, and knocks him to the ground, but then drops over dead, along with all the other undead soldiers (Ike has defeated the goddess). Allen's friends rush over to him, but they find that only his arm has been injured. Luxord heals the wound, but the muscle was already too extensively damaged. His sword arm is forever crippled. Without waiting for Ike, Allen and all his friends leave. Allen goes to live with Stefan in the Branded colony.

Epilogue

Months after the war, Ike hears of Allen's exploits outside the Tower of Guidance and goes to visit him in the Grann Desert. Ike tells Allen that he will soon leave the continent, and tasks Allen with passing on Greil's style of fighting. Allen agrees, and teaches the children of his colony the way of the sword. He is eventually made king of the Grann colony, and it becomes an official country. He marries Avery.

Whew, done. Now you can probably see why this story was getting too long. Anyway, again, I'm sorry I couldn't write more of it. I hope you liked what I did write...

Edited December 30, 2009 by Ragnell