Chapter 7: The Pirate Ship         Chapter 9: Dragon’s Gate

 

Loooong chapter is long, mostly because it deals with the aftermath of Chapter 7 and then stuff two side-chapters into it. Also will edit tomorrow. Last line is lame. Entire chapter stuffed with llamas. Dramallamas.

EDIT: I found the perfect picture for part of this!

 

Chapter 8: The Dread Isle

“Hello, lovely ladies,” Sain said, attempting to grin like his whole world wasn’t currently hanging by a thread.

Rebecca shied away from him, her lip curled. “Your wife just got kidnapped and you’re hitting on-!”

“Don’t mind him,” Serra said, for once being the voice of understanding and reason. “He’s trying to pretend everything’s normal. Even last year when she was right there, he would flirt with anything female. And, come to think of it, she would flirt with all the boys, too.” She moved over. “Sain, honey, it’s okay. Keep your hope alive. She’s surely wreaking havoc on the Black Fang right now, toying mercilessly with their affections.”

Sain broke slightly. “But… she’s not. He’s probably… I can’t even…”

Serra slapped him in the face. “Pull yourself together! This is just what he wants, to use her to break your spirit. You’re a man and a knight, and even if you can’t save her, you’re going to destroy him, understand? You need to hold it together until then. Understand me?”

Sain’s face set, though he was still swallowing violently. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Do be careful, Sister Serra,” Lucius said. “It won’t do to turn him into a vengeance-fuelled angel of death, either.”

“I’m fine,” Sain said. “I… I won’t lose myself.” He took a deep breath, and when he let it out, he seemed to come back a little. “I’m not broken, not yet. Nearly, but not yet. Nor is my sole desire to destroy Lord Darin in the most brutal of ways. I have my friends to lean on, and there’s still hope. Right? There’s still hope that she’s still all right, and we’ll… sail across… this long voyage…”

“Shh,” Lucius said, getting up and resting both hands on Sain’s head. “Don’t talk about it, you’ll kill your hope, and that is what you need right now. There is always hope. Trust in Saint Elimine’s mercy.”

“But what if-”

“Then we can decide what to do when it comes up,” Lucius said firmly. “For now, pray. Come, pray with me. Sister Serra, would you join us?”

Ceniro moved away from the door where he had been watching quietly and climbed back to the deck. Few of their rapidly-growing band were there; it was mostly sailors as the army was still stowing their gear and supplies in a more-manageable fashion after the hastiness of their departure. Well, Guy was hanging over the railing, being solidly sea-sick. Ceniro felt sorry for the Sacaean. It was disconcerting to be on such shaky footing. And it was a fairly calm day, too.

Hector and Lyn were standing near each other near the stern of the ship, and Eliwood and Fargus near the bow. Ceniro glanced between both of them, and chose to walk towards Eliwood and Fargus. He wasn’t sure what Lyn thought of him right now, though she seemed to have accepted the whole ‘pirates’ deal. Still, better to stay away from her until she was less angry.

“Listen to me, laddie,” Fargus said to Eliwood as Ceniro approached. “Men are strange beasts. We can’t resist a challenge. Something appears in the horizon, and we immediately set sail. Some dreams we conquer, others we abandon.” He paused and looked out at the cloudy horizon. “…I’ve grown old. I haven’t had a good challenge in many a year. Then you mooncalves appear seeking passage to the Dread Isle. I was impressed with your courage. I think you may be the ones to survive the Dread Isle.”

“We won’t disappoint you,” Eliwood said. “We’ll return for certain.” He nodded to Ceniro, who hovered on the edge of the conversation.

“All right. Then we’ll weigh anchor and wait for you. Light a signal fire when you want to return, and we’ll pick you up.”

“Thank you.”

The white-headscarf pirate hailed from the main deck, and Ceniro saw Hector and Lyn approaching as well. “Captain! There’s a dory adrift to port! It looks like there’s someone aboard. What’re your orders?”

“Bring ’em aboard,” Fargus ordered. In a lower voice he said to Eliwood: “Odd, finding anything in these waters…”

“Why’s that, captain?”

“Anything floating about here would have been carried by currents from the Dread Isle…”

“Oh… that is odd, I suppose.”

“Shall we greet our guest?” Fargus invited with a gesture, and Eliwood and Ceniro preceeded him down to the deck, where Lyn was helping Dart lift a cloud of seafoam-green out of the dingy. Hector had just cracked some joke or other, and was grinning while Lyn told him to shut it.

“You done talking to old man Fargus yet?” Hector asked Eliwood as the red-head came within discrete talking distance.

“Yes. We were right to trust him; we’re lucky.”

“Hmm. If you say so.”

“Wait, is that… Ninian?”

“You know her?” Hector asked in some confusion, glancing between his friend and the pale girl lying in Lyn’s arms.

“Ninian, wake up!” Lyn said, shaking her gently. Ceniro came and knelt by her, and she cast a more-friendly glance in his direction.

“She’s how I met Lyndis a year back,” Eliwood said to Hector. “I rescued her from a band of villains. I’m sure I told you about it.”

“Oh, that girl that you rescued from a band of villains. You do that so often, how am I supposed to keep track?”

Ninian groaned as she cracked open her crimson eyes and gazed hazily up at Lyn.

“Ninian! You’re okay. You’re safe. It’s me, Lyn.”

“…Lyn…? …I…”

“Where’s Nils, why wasn’t he with you? Why were you in that boat?”

“Hello, Ninian,” Eliwood said, kneeling beside Ceniro. “Do you remember me?”

Ninian moaned again and moved her hands weakly and fretfully. “W-who…”

“Lyndis, there’s something wrong,” Eliwood said, though his expression didn’t change from his carefully-compassionate smile. “Let’s get the healers-”

“Captain!” Dart called again. “Pirate ships approaching from the northwest!”

“They dare challenge Captain Fargus and the Davros? They must be mad!” Fargus bellowed. “Call the crew to battle-stations!”

“What flag are they flying?” Hector asked, squinting at the distant ship bearing down on them. “I don’t know that pattern. Black Fang, perhaps?”

“Neither do I, laddie, and I’ve been sailing a sight longer than you’ve been alive,” Fargus said shortly. “It doesn’t matter. These are our waters, and none sail belligerently here without our leave! You whelps better watch your own hides. It’s going to get messy here and none of my crew can spare time for you!”

“Lyndis, take her below,” Eliwood suggested. “Take her to Lady Priscilla.”

“Good idea,” Lyn said. “Ceniro, can you help-”

“I got her,” Hector said, taking her from Lyn before she could protest. Ninian looked tinier than usual in his arms. “You guys stay here and keep an eye on things. I’ll be back.”

“Thanks, Hector,” Eliwood said, and Hector nodded absently as he departed down the hatch.

“He’s not that bad,” Lyn said reflectively as she went to stand beside Eliwood, watching the approaching ship and the sudden bustle on deck. “For all his gruffness…”

“You just have to get used to him,” Eliwood said, smiling. “He’s a good person, really.”

“What’s going on?” Wil’s head poked out of the other hatch. “Do you need us? Can we help?”

“I think we’re fine for now, Wil,” Lyn said. “I’ll- we’ll call if we need you.”

“You got it!”

“What on earth is that ship doing?” Eliwood said. “What are those things?”

“Cannons,” Fargus said, in the middle of roaring orders at his sailors. “Black-magic tears the hell out of a ship’s hull. Haven’t seen one of those since I defeated my arch-nemesis twenty years ago. These fellows are dangerous, to be sure!”

The cannons fired, but instead of a crack or a boom like Eliwood was expecting, they made more of a ‘poot’ noise and a wad of black energy arced out at the Davros.

Hector was back. “What is that?”

Eliwood told him.

One of the balls of energy struck the side of the ship, which shuddered. “We need to close, fast,” Fargus muttered.

But that seemed what the enemy was interested in, as well – just they wanted to cripple the pirate ship first.

“How about we call up our army?” Hector suggested. “You’ll need all your sailors to deal with… sailing things.”

“It’s fine. We have this under control!”

Fargus spoke too soon. Another blob struck the ship, and Ceniro heard a crack of wood. Leaning over the side, he could see a hole in the side of the ship, uncomfortably close to the waterline.

One of the pirates screamed from below decks. “Captain! We’re taking on water! Lots of it! It’s bad, we need every hand below decks to pump and repair, or we’ll sink!”

“Blast,” Fargus growled. “I’d love to go over there and tear those bastards a new one with me cutlass, but I’ll take you lot up on your offer now.”

“Go,” Eliwood urged. “Fighting is what we’re good at. Sailing, not so much!”

“All battle-ready people on deck, please,” Ceniro said into the farseer, and saw a surge of allied movement from below-decks. “Leave the horses, but Florina, you might want to bring your pegasus. Serra, Priscilla, one of you must stay with Ninian; decide between yourselves.”

He heard scattered acknowledgements, and in seconds, soldiers were scrambling on deck as fast as pirates were leaving it.

The enemy ship was heaving boarding ramps in their direction.

“What do you need me to do?” Florina asked in her little voice.

“Nothing specific yet, just wait until I can get a look at what they’re planning. Ah, I lied. They have pegasus knights. I need you to lead them in front of Rebecca and Wil. If you want to tangle with them yourself, go ahead, but leave some for the archers as well.”

“Understood.”

“Kent, Lowen… Sain, swords today. Canas, Lucius, may I ask you to take places here?”

“They’re charging,” Hector remarked tightly.

“Oswin, Hector, take the charge. Knights, pincer on Hector. Axemen, pincer on Oswin.”

The battle went so far in their favour, they managed to cross over to the other ship and capture it, despite the enemy captain being an adept shaman. Lucius felled him without much difficulty; the monk was looking much more alert and healthy than he had when Sain had liberated him from Caelin’s dungeon.

Fargus came up from patching the breach, and had no use for another ship, so they let it drift away, full of the Black Fang’s dead.

While the army licked their wounds, Ceniro’s attention was caught by a soft gasp from the hatch.

“Ninian, you can’t come out yet!” Lyn cried, seeing her. “There’s blood everywhere!”

“Blood?” Ninian asked, and suddenly turned green. Serra was behind her, and hastily helped her stagger across the blood-slick deck to be sick in the ocean. She apparently didn’t have a lot to be sick with, though, and Ceniro made a note to ask Serra to feed her – although Serra was competent enough and was probably already thinking that.

“I’m sorry,” Ninian said at length, breathing sea air deeply.

“Are you okay, Ninian?” Eliwood asked, touching her arm.

She looked at him in worried confusion. “Is… that my name?”

“Oh dear,” Lyn said. “What’s happened to you? You can’t remember anything?”

“My head is so… foggy… We’re at sea?”

“Yes, we found you in a small boat.”

Fargus beckoned Hector aside. “When you go, would you… take her with you? The men are afraid she… she might be cursed, you know?”

“Cursed?” Hector frowned, unconvinced. “I’ll ask Eliwood what he thinks.”

“We’re not leaving her behind,” Lyn said. “We can’t do that to her.”

“We’re going to the Dread Isle,” Hector retorted. “It’s called Dread for a reason.”

“We can’t leave her behind. That ship was definitely full of Black Fang members, and they bear a remarkable resemblance to the men hunting her and her brother last year. I’ll protect her personally, but we are not leaving her where they can just pick her up.”

“Understood.” Eliwood touched Ninian’s hand to get her attention. “We’re going to an island to rescue my father from some wicked men. Would you like to come with us? It will be dangerous, but we can protect you.”

“Yes… I would like that. Please… take me with you.”

They landed on Valor a day later.

“We’ll wait two weeks,” Fargus said. “Light a signal fire, like I said, and we’ll come get you.”

“That’s great,” Hector said. “Thanks for all your help.”

“And I’ve a half-wit sailor who wants to go sight-seeing.”

“That’s me!” Dart said, saluting with a grin. “Ready to serve!”

“His only redeeming feature is his sturdiness. Maybe he’ll come in handy.”

“We’re pleased to have you,” Ceniro said.

“We can’t thank you enough…” Eliwood began.

“Come back alive, that’ll be all the thanks I need,” Fargus grumbled, and strode back to his boat. “And take care of that scrawny, nervous little tactician of yours. Feed him something, would ya? He needs it.” Ceniro sort of giggled in nervous embarrassment as the boat pushed off and rowed back to the Davros.

“There are good people, even among pirates,” Lyn said, which Ceniro guessed was a huge thing for her to say, to change her mind so completely about someone.

“I don’t think the old man and his crew are your average pirates,” Hector agreed.

“Now to find the Dragon’s Gate,” Eliwood said, stepping slightly away from the group. “There doesn’t seem to be a road of any sort…”

“Dragon’s Gate?” Ninian asked.

“What is it?” Lyn asked her, checking her sword at her side – the island was covered in thick forest, and the heavy clouds did not help dispel the foreboding feeling the group was getting from it.

Ninian shook her head, frustrated. “I don’t know…”

“Well, we have to head into the woods one way or another,” Lyn said. “And it should be soon… it’s getting foggy, and we don’t want to get separated.” She glanced back at the army, making sure they heard the last part.

“It feels like there should be a sign saying ‘Enter and be lost’,” Hector said, scratching his head as he looked at the twisted trees. “’Abandon hope all ye who enter here’. ‘Those who enter never return’.”

“Hector! Are you trying to curse us?” Lyn demanded.

“No, just scarin’ the kiddies a little bit,” Hector said with a grin.

“Well, stop it! There’s someone right there!”

“That’s… Leila! What are you doing here? Nice work, finding your way here-” Hector broke off suddenly, and he and Matthew stopped short in their walk as Leila’s body sagged and fell to the ground. Ceniro could see even from where he stood that she had been dead for a few hours at least.

Matthew, after the first horrified moment of silence, dashed forward to cradle her body in his arms. Ceniro heard a clatter of armour behind him and knew that Sain and the other Ostians were reacting badly.

“I’m sorry, Matthew,” Hector murmured.

“Why do you apologize, my lord?” Matthew asked, looking up with a blank face. “Leila blundered in her assignment. That’s all. It happens.”

“Matthew…”

Matthew passed an arm over his eyes. “After she got back, I was… I was going to ask her to consider putting this life behind her. Waited too long, I guess. Ah…”

“She was one of our best,” Hector said.

“My lord… might I rejoin you later? She must be buried. While it would be nice to take her back to Ostia… the climate and our mission prevent that.”

“Yes, of course. Take the time you need.”

When Matthew had vanished into the forest, Lyn clenched her hands and ground her teeth. “They put her here for us to find. What foul beasts they are!”

“I agree completely,” Hector said, his expression even darker than hers. “Wait-”

Hoofbeats were upon them, and before anyone could react, a Sacaean horseman had dragged Lyn away by her long green hair. She shrieked and clawed at his hand before remembering her sword.

“If you value her life, hand the girl over,” the horseman demanded, pointing with his other arm at Ninian, who flinched and hid behind Eliwood.

“Fat chance,” Lyn spat, even as the Sacaean wrestled with her and seized her slender wrists. “You’re Sacaean, aren’t you?”

“That’s correct… I am Uhai of the Black Fang. I’ve been sent to capture the girl… And to kill the lot of you. If, however… you hand over the girl and depart the island at once, I’ll grant you your lives.”

“I’m more concerned about your life, right now,” Hector said, watching Lyn foam at the mouth and fingering the edge of his axe.

“You know nothing, little lord. Nothing of Nergal’s might. Nothing of his terrible power. You are ignorant, and so you hope to oppose him. You are insects railing against the heavens. Your actions will change nothing. Speak no more foolishness and begone!”

“…Maybe we don’t know what it is we’re fighting…” Eliwood said slowly. “But if we flee, our loss is assured. So we will continue to struggle, and we may yet prevail!”

“What fools you are,” Uhai said, and gave Lyn a shove back towards the others.

“You let me go?” Lyn asked the obvious.

“It’s wrong to hold a woman hostage during a battle. And you, too, are of Sacae… I will allow you the mercy of dying with your sword in your hand. Rest assured… I will kill you all here. But be of good cheer! In dying, you shall all be spared the calamity that is to come!” He gestured, and though the fog was thickening, Ceniro heard enemy forces moving in the forest. A glance at his farseer did not tell him much, though Uhai flinched at the flash that it gave off. The fog and trees were too thick to pin-point enemy troops. Time to do this the old-fashioned way, then.

“Ninian, go stay with Merlinus,” he said quietly to her. “We’ll protect you-” He stopped as Matthew stepped out of the forest again. Ninian hurried off.

“Matthew?” Hector said. “You’re back so soon?”

“What are you talking about? Look at this eerie place, this thick fog… This is exactly why you brought me with you.” His eyes and nose were red, and at Hector’s searching look, he went on. “If Leila… If Leila knew I was shirking my duties, she would never have forgiven me. I’m fine. I will work twice as hard for Ostia in her honor.”

“…Right. I’m counting on you, then. Tell me where my enemies are! Ceniro, tell me which one I should attack first!”

 

This was not a battle that would be won quickly. An hour later, there was still no end in sight, not least because the fog was settling in quite thickly and nothing would dispel its effects, not the lighting of fires nor the vantage point of Florina’s wings nor the sharpness of Matthew’s grief-stricken eyes.

Still, when a new pegasus knight showed up, from the cliffs to the northwest, the farseer went ‘bloop’ very deliberately, as if to remind Ceniro that it was still useful.

“Fiora? What on earth – Florina, go talk to the new pegasus knight, find out what she’s doing here. Ask her if she’ll come talk to me or if she wants to keep fighting out there.”

“Okay. Excuse me, our tactician… Fiora?!?”

“Florina? How did you come here? I thought you were safe in Caelin! What’s happened?” Fiora’s voice had an odd note to it.

“Caelin was attacked by Marquess Laus. We’ve chased him here. What happened to you? You look awful… Come, our tactician wants to talk to you. I think you know him, right?”

“How should I…”

“His name’s Ceniro. He told me he saw you in Etruria!”

“Oh, that tactician! Yes, take me to him. He can tell me how to best avenge the Fifth Wing…”

“Oh dear, what happened to them?”

“Just take me to Ceniro and I’ll tell him everything.”

When Fiora landed, she was a sight. Bedraggled and muddy, with her beautiful teal hair a tangled mess and a bloody bandage on her arm that she had probably put on herself, and her pegasus wasn’t much better off. Ceniro stared at her. “What happened to you?”

“Hello to you too,” she tossed at him tiredly.

“Priscilla, I need you at my position immediately. Fiora’s here and she’s hurt. Fiora, how did you even get here?”

“Pegasi can fly, can’t they?”

“It’s a long way from the mainland. Can you start at the beginning?”

“Can I go out and slaughter those murderers instead?”

“No. Sit. Eliwood, you can go on ahead. Dorcas, Raven, come escort Fiora and me.”

Fiora drooped wearily. “Fine. I suppose I’m too tired to do any more of that today.”

“Start from the beginning. What brought you here?”

“Lord Pent,” Fiora said immediately. “He hired us for odd jobs off and on over the last winter, but in the spring he called us with a large commission. He said he was going to study in the Nabata desert, but he had heard that there was a powerful elder magic user living here on the Dread Isle, and wanted us to verify that. But, it being the Dread Isle, he warned us to be careful as no one knew what dangers it could hold. We should have listened more carefully…” She sniffed.

“Fiora, I know you. You would have listened carefully to everything he had to say. You don’t have to tell me any more if you don’t want to.”

“We fell one by one… We buried our own and continued on. But they laid a trap for us, and out of eight knights, I was the only one who survived…” Fiora broke down completely and sobbed. Priscilla went to her and hugged her before raising her staff. Fiora clung to the healer. “Hello, Priscilla. I’m sorry for our meeting again like this…”

“It’s nothing,” Priscilla whispered. “I’m sorry you were all alone…”

“Anyway, I have been harrying them as best as I could for a few days now… I was running low on food, so I thought today would be the day to take as many as I could with me… But now you are here.”

“We’re here, and you can help us defeat them,” Ceniro said. “Ensure that the memory and the honour of the Fifth Wing lives on. Although…”

“What?”

“One minute,” Ceniro said; it was time for another round of orders. They didn’t seem to be too threatened in their current position by one of the small swift rivers winding down the island slope, and every now and then he could catch glimpses of allies running through the undergrowth.

When he was done, he turned back to Fiora. “I’m not really sure what to do with you…”

“What to do with me?” Fiora demanded. “Let me fight! I’m good at it, you know that!”

“Yes, but I really want you to keep being alive, and I’m not sure you’re very good at that right now. Listen! I don’t want to keep you back; I don’t need you going crazy with inaction. But you’ve been through a lot, and you need rest. You’re not yourself right now, and revenge isn’t going to fix that. Same with Sain. I have to keep him busy enough that he doesn’t go to pieces, but out of danger enough to ensure that he won’t get chopped to pieces instead. I trust both of you to fight your hardest, but I don’t trust you to show a healthy amount of self-preservation right now.”

Fiora stared at him for a minute. “What you say… makes sense. I will admit I don’t know what I would do if you put me on the front lines right now.”

“You’re definitely not going there.” Ceniro made a helpless little shrug. “I haven’t actually done this before; pulled someone back because they were emotionally compromised. It was talked about at the Academy, but exercises aren’t close to the real thing, you know?”

Fiora finally let go of Priscilla as he did some more battlefield management, and actually managed a smile. “I sometimes forget how little battlefield experience you have. You always seem so wise.”

“Haha, thanks. Anyway, I have an idea for later. For now, can you do guard duty? At the back of our forces is a little cart with a merchant and a girl in it. They’re very important, and this bunch of Black Fang is trying to take the girl.”

“I understand,” Fiora said. “They will not get past me. What allies will I have there?”

“General Marcus of Pherae and his apprentice Lowen, Bartre, Dart, Rebecca, and Priscilla will be going with you. She can lead you there if you miss it in the fog.”

“I’m a professional,” Fiora said. “Thank you, Ceniro. We’ll talk later.”

“Yes,” Ceniro mumbled under his breath. “We certainly will.”

“Ceniro!” Eliwood called. “We defeated… Uhai. He gave us directions with his dying breath…”

“Sacaeans are so dramatic,” Hector grumbled, and then gave a little yelp. Lyn had probably punched him.

“Okay,” Ceniro said. “It’s getting dark, though.”

“I know,” Eliwood said. “And it’s hard to tell if the enemy are truly routed.”

“I’m not sure, but I’m not seeing any movement besides us. I would guess that they ran and will come back with reinforcements later.”

“We should find a safe-ish place to camp for the night,” Hector said.

“I’ll find you a place,” Lyn said. “Just leave that to me.”

 

In camp, Ceniro went in search of Fiora. She was talking to Florina, and already looking better than she had. “Um, excuse me.”

“Hello, Ceniro,” she said. “I have to apologize-”

“No, don’t,” he said. “There’s nothing to apologize for. Instead… I have someone I think everyone thinks you should meet.”

Kent bowed. “Greetings,” he said, in full-blown courtesy mode. “I am Kent, Knight Commander of Caelin. I am told that we are much alike in temperament.”

Florina giggled. “See?”

Fiora looked at Kent with curiosity. “I would tend to agree, by your salutation. I am Fiora, ex-commander of the Fifth Wing of Ilia’s Pegasus Knights, and I am pleased to meet you.”

“Kent will be helping you get settled,” Ceniro explained. “And the two of you will be tasked with keeping Sain out of trouble, if that’s all right with you.”

Kent nodded. “It’s what I was doing anyway. May I sit with you?”

“Should I go?” Florina asked.

“You’re not afraid of him?” Fiora asked in surprise. “Stay, if you would.”

“I’ve… gotten used to him over the last year. And he’s like you. He’s… nice. They’re all nice. We’ll introduce you to Sain, and Wil, and Lady Lyn, and all the rest of the people that I know…”

 

The next day, Hector and Lyn were at each others throats the longer they travelled together. Eliwood was walking ahead of them with Ninian, and a cordon of various light-armoured fighters was in front of them.

“You make so much noise when you walk,” Lyn complained. “Can you tone it down at all?”

“Is this better?”

“Not really. You’re still clanking a lot. Why do you wear that heavy armour, anyway?”

“Because I’m not ridiculously fast and cocky like you,” Hector grumbled. “I need to be able to take a few hits. And I certainly can’t be quieter; I’m already being as quiet as I can while still moving forward.”

“I am not cocky! I fight as a Sacaean. Armour just slows us down. Guy fights the same way.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but I’m just saying, the reason I wear heavy cavalry armour is to stay alive, and I’d rather be alive and noisy than quiet and dead.”

“I just think you can do better.”

“A little clanking-”

“Will you both stop?” Eliwood turned and glared at them. “We have many heavily-armoured units, and horses and pegasi aren’t exactly inconspicuous. There just isn’t anything we can do about it. But armour or no, if you keep sniping at each other like that, every hostile soldier between here and Pherae will hear you!”

Hector glanced at his mud-stained boots as Lyn bit her lip penitently. “Sorry.”

“Just stay calm,” Ceniro said from behind all three of them. “The Black Fang will ambush us sooner or later…”

“Eliwood,” Lyn said, pointing. “I see ruins. Is that the Dragon’s Gate, do you think?”

“Hard to say until we get there,” Eliwood said. “Hm?”

Ninian was looking at him with suddenly luminous eyes. “Danger… approaches…”

Ceniro checked his farseer again. “I don’t see anything new… Do you know from where, Ninian?”

“The ruins,” she said, and pointed. “They are not the Dragon’s Gate.”

“I’m tired of fighting on the defensive,” Hector said, and strode past both of them. “Yesterday’s bout in the fog was more than enough for me. Let’s get out there and send them scurrying home!”

“Oh, I am finally getting something,” Ceniro said. “Looks like a fair number of magic users. Fiora, Florina, you’ll be busy today. Also Erk, Lucius, Canas.”

“Bah…” Hector grunted. “I hate fighting mages.”

“Perhaps you should not charge out so recklessly today,” Eliwood began.

“What nonsense is that? I can’t fight from the back! And I’m not going on guard duty!”

“I just meant-”

“Hector-!” Ceniro tried to put in, but Hector was walking away, rolling his eyes. “Ninian, you’d better go join Merlinus. One moment and I’ll assign you an escort-”

The farseer suddenly gave off a sputter of sparks, and Ceniro dropped it, startled.

“What happened?” Lyn asked.

“I don’t know,” Ceniro said, kneeling beside it and poking it cautiously. “It’s… blank. Like it suddenly shut off?”

“It’s a magic seal,” Ninian said. “A being whose very existence nullifies magic…”

“Odd,” Eliwood said. “Why would they cripple their own forces?”

“A third party?” Hector said. “In any case, it makes the Black Fang easier for us. They’re prisoners of magic now. I can take the field now, yes?”

“Ah, one moment,” Ceniro said, and began shouting orders the old-fashioned way. Ninian hurried to the back of the formation, while the three lords and various of their knights and followers formed up, ready to take the hurt to the Black Fang.

The leader of the Black Fang forces was a sage, Ceniro would guess a noble-man by his richly-embroidered robes, but the magic seal was still in effect, and his plea to the heavens for thunder to devastate his enemies went unmet. Fiora cut him down.

With his passing, the rest of the Black Fang scattered, and after a few minutes, the magic-nullifying effect disappeared as well. The farseer popped a couple times, displayed every possible display all at the same time, and reset, working, but all the data he had previously entered, all the allies and maps and information about past battles, completely blank. Ceniro sighed at it. At least it still worked. He had been worried that it wouldn’t; Lord Pent had really only made it shatter-proof.

“Is everyone all right?” Eliwood asked, looking around cautiously.

“Somehow, yes,” Hector replied, looking around equally cautiously.

“Both of you, I’m sorry,” Lyn said. “I was saying things I really shouldn’t have.”

“I apologize too,” Hector said. “I was just shouting without thinking. We’re both at fault.”

“No, I don’t think either of you were at fault,” Eliwood said. “There was an odd feeling in the air, an eerie power, when the magic-nullifier appeared, right? I think it affected more than just magic.”

“You think so?” Hector said.

“Now that you mention it, I was so irritable…” Lyn said. “I couldn’t let even the smallest thing go by without complaining. …What could that have been? The Black Fang couldn’t use magic either. So it wasn’t an ally of theirs…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Hector said. “We should press on while we still can. The next battle won’t be so easy.”

“Hang on,” Ceniro said. “I’m having to reset everything, but it doesn’t show Ninian. Wil, where’s Ninian?”

Wil’s voice was fuzzy; the farseer must have been still slightly damaged. “Ceniro? Oh, thank goodness! They said the farseer broke, but I’ve been trying to get a message to you for ten minutes now!”

“We’ll talk about battlefield communication and how not to use magic as a crutch later,” Ceniro said. “What’s your message?”

“She ran off! Matthew ran after her, but I couldn’t keep up, and the forest is too thick for-”

“Sir!” Lowen rode up, a little unsteady as he tried to dodge low-hanging branches. “I bear an urgent message from Sir Wil-”

“Thanks, Lowen, I’m receiving it.” He forced himself to stay calm. “It’s all right. It’s not your fault. Go… uh… stand down for a bit.”

“Yes, sir,” Lowen said, obviously unhappy at everything.

“I can find Matthew, just not Ninian… odd… Matthew?”

“Here,” the thief’s voice came back, hushed.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m all right, she’s all right… but you lordly types – and Ceniro – should come as soon as you can…”

“On our way. Stay there so we can find you.”

Matthew was waiting outside a low, crumbling building of white stone. “She’s inside… It’s… eerie…”

Lyn was the first inside. “Ninian?” she called in a low voice.

Ninian was standing like a pale statue in the middle of a wide courtyard, overgrown with grass and vines. She turned at Lyn’s call, and the sun, appearing through the finally-lifting clouds, shone on her head. “Lyndis?”

“Ninian, what are you doing here?”

Ninian shook her head, confused. “I… I don’t know… But it’s very familiar, somehow…”

“Why would she be familiar with anything on the Dread Isle?” Hector muttered to Ceniro. “And what about the Dragon’s Gate? We’re way off course now…”

“Hector, you’re very insensitive,” Lyn hissed at him, and Ceniro saw him bristle slightly.

“If it restores her memory…” Eliwood said. “It’s a very old building; it’s definitely been here for centuries.”

“Listen, aren’t we in a bit of a hurry here? While we’re wasting time, your father could be-”

“It’s all right,” Eliwood said calmly. “I’m sure it won’t take long.”

“He’s too nice for his own good,” Hector grumbled. “You agree with me, right, Ceniro?”

“I-” Ceniro began, and then turned as someone teleported in behind him with a ‘ffft’ sound. The army, startled, raised their weapons

“Eph-” began Hector, and stopped. The young man in the dark robes was not the Ephidel Leila had described; his robes did not shadow his face ominously, nor did his eyes glow inhumanly golden. And he smiled disarmingly at all of them as he made his way over to Hector, Eliwood, and Ceniro. Lyn and Ninian were still in the centre of the courtyard.

“Hello,” the man said. “Fellow travellers?”

“That’s right,” Hector said, wary. Ceniro knew as well as anyone that there were no casual travellers on the Dread Isle. “What brings you here?”

“I was resting here. This building seems to have been empty for a long time.”

“Is that so?” Hector said. “In that case, would it bother you if our group took a rest here, too?”

“Not at all.”

“Do you know anything about this place?”

The man smiled again. “These ruins, or Valor?”

“These ruins, actually,” Eliwood said, sheathing his rapier and sitting on a broken pillar. “You appear to be a scholar, do you know anything you could share with us?”

“It’s a ruin from the Scouring… The residence of a dark sorcerer. I’ve found several ancient tomes here. Fascinating stuff, really. If I can unlock their secrets, I can move closer to the darkness. From what I’ve gathered so far, I must make further reparations.”

“What does that mean?” Hector asked.

“It’s the fate of those who study dark magic. If you covet the dark, you must enter it of your own free will. You must erase yourself and become an empty vessel. Only then will you be able to receive the dark and master it. If your disposition is weak, the dark will overwhelm you. You will be… lost… Often, you will forget why you seek the power to begin with. Only a few people ever gain true power. To win such a prize, one’s self is a small and insignificant sacrifice.”

“Is that so…” Hector glanced skeptically at Ceniro, who shrugged.

“I’ve heard rumors…” went on the man. “Bramimond, one of the eight legends, devoted himself entirely to the dark. All emotion, all memory… dissolved in a river of dark. That is how he received the power to best dragons.”

“I don’t understand,” Eliwood said. “Why would you give up your very identity? How could that be worth any power?”

“Every living soul has felt that desire… the desire to have something at any cost. Sure you have felt it too, Eliwood of Pherae.”

Eliwood leapt to his feet, his sword once again in his hand. “Was it you who-?”

The robed man also rose to his feet and drew his hood over his face, laughing. “Uhai and Aion’s deaths were convenient… Your exhaustion is even more convenient… I, Teodor the Shadow Hawk, lay claim to the deed of killing the young noble of Pherae. When I’m done, I will continue to examine this building’s treasures at my leisure.”

He launched a massive black magic spell at Eliwood, who couldn’t move – if he dodged, the spell would hit Lyn and Ninian, and he knew it.

 

Chapter 7: The Pirate Ship         Chapter 9: Dragon’s Gate