Chapter 4: Unfulfilled Heart         Chapter 6: Battle Before Dawn

 

I’m not finishing this story before November 30th unless I really move on it, which is not likely to happen. XD But it will be finished soon after, don’t worry. I’m not going to let it languish! Just the last couple of days I’ve been busy with actual work and been too tired to write decent stuff. But here is another chapter.

 

Chapter 5: Pale Flower of Darkness

 

Hyperion nose-dived into the rocky soil, screaming and clawing the whole way down. Heath was flung off and lay unmoving. Priscilla was rapidly moving out of position, no longer screaming Heath’s name, urging her mare to a gallop.

“Pegasus knights, give Priscilla some cover!” Ceniro called. The rest of the battlefield was fortunately more or less taking care of itself, and right now he just cared about saving Heath and luring Vaida into a trap that would at least force her to withdraw, if not kill her.

Priscilla got to Heath’s side, dropped off her horse, and knelt beside him. Vaida was swinging around, when a trio of lightening-fast white flashes got in her way. Her wyvern snapped at them, but they were too quick and dodged away.

“Careful, Fiora,” Ceniro urged them. “Don’t go anywhere near the hill to your southwest, there are archers there. Louise, Rebecca, there appears to be a small abandoned tower to your north – get as high as you can and they’ll lead Vaida across your line of fire.”

“Yup!” Rebecca chirped, already sprinting for the tower.

“Wallace, Lowen, give the ladies some cover. Bartre! Geitz! Eliwood’s about to be attacked by another wyvern rider. Give him back-up! Farina, Vaida’s about to lose interest in your group and go after Dart. Get her back on track. Fiora, Florina, pull back a bit so she doesn’t feel boxed in. Raven, Rath, go protect Priscilla.”

Vaida was yelling her own orders to her troops as she dove at the hapless axeman, who was distracted by the mages he was facing. Farina landed behind him, facing Vaida. “Look here, you’re too slow! What do you feed that thing, iron weights?”

“What a pleasant greeting, buzzing featherduster!” Vaida cackled. “Perhaps I will start with you after all!”

Farina laughed abrasively. “I bet I can fill you full of holes before you even get close!”

“Whoa, whoa, what’s going on?” Dart turned, confused, and would have been fried by a fireball if Lucius hadn’t shoved him rather hard – for his size – at that moment.

Farina’s pegasus sprang into the air, showing superb handling, and Dart gaped after the two women as they zig-zagged their way across the battlefield. “Dart!” Ceniro cried, and the pirate started before turning back to his real opponents.

Farina banked around the tower, coming dangerously close to hitting it. Vaida had no such concerns and plowed through half of it, continuing out the other side with her wyvern barely scratched. Rebecca and Louise’s arrows were accurate, but it wasn’t doing nearly as much as Ceniro thought it would.

“Rebecca! Louise! Are you all right?”

“We’re fine, but I’m not sure what’s wrong with our arrows,” Louise said, next to the twang of her bow. Ceniro could see them, crouching exposed in the new hole Vaida had left in the tower.

“I do,” Pent said. “She has some sort of magic shielding. Some kind of dark magic…”

“Lucius! Serra! Need you front and centre!”

“Hello!” Pent greeted the two of them. “Here’s what we’ll do.”

“Is that possible?” Serra asked. “We have, like, five seconds to figure it out.”

“Follow my lead,” Pent said, and an instant later a thunderbolt crashed down from heaven, leaving blue and white sparkles in its wake, and sizzled through Vaida’s wyvern’s wing.

Vaida instantly jerked her wyvern around. “Umbriel! Grrr… if I had more time, you’d pay for that! And I’m losing too many men… Everyone, retreat! Back to HQ! Move it!” Unsteadily, the wyvern came about, labouring painfully through the air. One of Vaida’s allies healed it, but still she flew away, leading her troops north.

“Is Heath all right?” Ceniro asked into the farseer.

“He’s fine,” Priscilla said. “It’s poor Hyperion who’s in trouble now…”

“He’s alive, but his wing is torn, and the healing is going slowly,” Heath himself reported. “Thank you for not killing her.”

“Wasn’t for lack of trying,” Rebecca snarked. “She really is strong. I hope we don’t have to fight her again.”

“Well,” Eliwood said from behind Ceniro. “I guess that worked out.”

“It did, didn’t it?” Ceniro said. “Where did Ninian go, anyway?”

“Lord Eliwood!” Ninian called, and Ceniro turned to see her descending from the mountain beside them.

“Ninian!” Eliwood scrambled up to her and took her hand to help her down. “Wasn’t it dangerous up there?”

“I’m sorry for leaving momentarily, Lord Eliwood… I had… some things to sort out.”

“I understand, and it’s good you remained hidden during the battle. That woman was targeting you and Nils.”

Nils, too, approached them, riding behind Isadora. He slipped off and stood next to his sister. “What are we going to do, Lord Eliwood? Nergal’s power is slowly returning. That woman was shielded by his magic.”

“It won’t be long,” Ninian said, fretfully. “His full power… We won’t be able to withstand it.”

“He’ll shield all his forces that way?” Hector asked. “That seems like it would take a lot of power. If he’s goading King Desmond into a war with someone, then he just might get that power…”

“I don’t know,” Nils said. “I mean, obviously he’s trying to get someone to start a war. I don’t know if he’ll bother shielding all his people. He might try, though. Since we’re the only ones that know about him, we’re the only ones his people have to fight, so not many will really need shielding.”

“I see…” Eliwood said.

“Where are they getting all these people, though?” Ceniro asked in slight exasperation.

Eliwood looked at Hector. “Those mercenaries you told me were disappearing?”

“Obviously, but… how?” Hector considered. “How much would they have to pay to field several armies worth of mercenaries to fight us to the death every other day?”

“There are a lot of wicked men in the world,” Lyn said. “And greedy ones. And women, too. There’s only, what, thirty-five of us? And not all of us are fighters. They’re not fielding full armies.”

“That was an expression,” Hector said. “Still, they don’t seem to have limits on their manpower. And that bothers me.”

“It bothers all of us,” Ceniro said. His gaze drifted to where Serra and Farina were arguing about jewelry. “Well, all of us who bother to think about such things…”

“It would bother them, too, if we mentioned it,” Lyn said, smiling, “and then they wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it. And you don’t want to do that to either of those two, do you?”

Ceniro looked up at her, startled. “I wasn’t intending to imply some in our group are… slow.”

“I know, just teasing. But you know what?” Lyn said. “We’re all idiots. We should be following her. She might go fast on her wyvern, but she had footsoldiers with her. Ceniro, you can find them, right?”

“I can, but they might see the occasional flash. I think it might be more expedient to send some of our own after them. For instance, perhaps if you go with Rath, you can give me oral reports. The farseer can handle that. I’ll turn off its scanning function.”

“Right.” Lyn swung up behind Rath. “We’re off. We’ll be in touch. Don’t fall too far behind!”

“We’re right behind you,” Eliwood assured her, and the two Sacaeans rode off.

 

Two days later, Lyn and Rath had led them high into the mountains north of the Bern Castle. The Black Fang headquarters, the current ones at least, were situated in a massive but crumbling old fortress in a cold, windy region that was currently covered in snow, despite it still only being late summer or early fall.

As Eliwood, Hector, and Ceniro and a select number of their soldiers caught up to Lyn and Rath, Vaida was winging away in another direction, a black look on her face.

“Stay low,” Ceniro warned the army, both the ones up the mountain and the ones at its foot, yet again.

“Well, you were right on,” Eliwood murmured to Lyn.

She grinned at him. “You doubted us?” Rath’s lips curved upwards in a smile briefly, before returning to his normal impassive expression. “I must admit, partly they’ve let down their guard. You can see their tracks in the snow plain as day. The entrance is this way.”

“Right! Let’s see what we can find!” Hector, too, grinned and began to crouch-walk towards the gate, followed by Lyn.

Eliwood shook his head at Ceniro. “How is it those two always seem to be having so much fun?”

Ceniro shrugged as a smile tugged at his own lips. “Good friends make anything fun, I suppose? Let’s not fall behind.”

Hector looked around at the fortress as they began to slip inside. “What a complicated place.”

The guards were not many – not expecting attack, considering it was a secret place – and easy to subdue without much noise. When they were done, Eliwood held up a hand and listened. “I hear… voices. That woman… Sonia… she’s here.”

“Good,” Lyn said. “Then it’s likely that she has the Fire Emblem with her.”

“This way,” Eliwood said, although they could all hear the faint murmurs on the wind.

They crouched below a window, one of many in a colonnade between buildings. It was horribly exposed from the walls of the fortress, but there wasn’t much choice for hearing inside. A young girl squeaked for joy. “A mission! A mission for me, truly? Oh, Mother, thank you!”

“Yes indeed,” said Sonia, her voice kind and proud, but Ceniro didn’t trust it somehow. “And it’s a big job, for the King of Bern.”

The girl gasped. “The king? Why… such an important job for me?”

Someone shifted, someone in heavy armour. “Sonia, such a dangerous mission for this child… This is not a good idea.”

“Father?”

“You’re right,” said Sonia. “This is really a job for your sons. However, since they have gone missing…” Hector mouthed an ‘oh shit’ at Eliwood, who nodded, grim-faced. “…my daughter will see to it. And I will have no complaints from you about it. After all, she will not be alone. Jaffar!”

All four of them stiffened, and their guards, a little way away and out of sight of the enemy, glanced at them anxiously.

“Oh, Jaffar, should you be up?” the girl asked anxiously. “Don’t your wounds hurt?” Hector made an incredulous face. Whether it was that the assassin had been wounded, or that someone cared enough to inquire, Ceniro didn’t know.

“Must you be so rude?” Sonia said to her. “It really is quite irritating. Jaffar, you know the mission, yes?” There was the sound of the armoured man moving, and a door opening and closing.

“The king wants his son assassinated,” Jaffar said monotonously.

“The prince?” the girl questioned, still anxious. “But… why? He’s his son, isn’t he?”

“Nino! Be quiet!” Sonia snapped, and the girl stifled herself, apologizing. “Jaffar, this mission is yours, and you’re to take Nino.”

“You’re not serious?” Jaffar asked, surprise leaking into even his voice.

“I am. She is my daughter, and the time has come for her to prove herself.”

“…Don’t do this,” Jaffar said. “This is too much for her.”

“If you’re there, there should be no problems. I’ll brook no disagreement. We must have the king in our debt. Those are Lord Nergal’s explicit orders. Nino! You understand the consequences if you fail, don’t you?”

“Um… yes.” Nino still sounded subdued.

“Then we’ll be off to investigate the prince’s manse. I’ll give you further details once we are closer. Kenneth! You are in charge while we are away. You know how vital it is that nothing happens to it.”

“I will guard it with my life.”

There was the sound of teleportation, and Ceniro’s farseer showed the room to be empty.

“Unbelievable,” Hector muttered, after Ceniro showed him they were clear. “They mean to assassinate the prince, too? On the orders of the king? That was what he was asking about…”

“Having the Fire Emblem becomes useless if the prince is dead!” Lyn said. “We have to find it as quickly as possible and intercept them! Or just intercept them. What do you think?” she asked Ceniro.

“If we talk to the girl, Nino, she might be sympathetic,” Eliwood said first. “Jaffar may be incredibly dangerous, but we’ll just have to work around that.”

“We could split up,” Ceniro said. “Take the fast units back towards the manse and try to intercept when Sonia isn’t looking, leave the others here to clear the castle and find- ah!”

Someone had teleported to the snow in front of them. “Hello, trespassers. I bid you welcome. Imagine, the stronghold of a guild of assassins, infiltrated. Quite amusing, isn’t it?” It was the man Sonia had named Kenneth, to judge from his voice; he was a bishop of St. Elimine from his robes. “However, you shall not leave. I have power and authority while Sonia is away!”

“But you’re a bishop!” Eliwood said, distracted. “What are you doing in this place, with these people?”

“Are you referring to my relationship with the “gods”? Are you still held in thrall of such a concept? You’ve met Lord Nergal, haven’t you? Then there is something you must know. Gods are lies created by the weakness in all mankind. …If a god truly exists, then it is my lord Nergal. Only him.”

“Eliwood, don’t waste time with the crazy person,” Hector said, standing and drawing his axe. “Let’s get out of here!”

“You can’t!” came a cry from the gate, and they turned to see Ninian, Nils, and Legault and Isadora – on foot – approaching them quickly.

“I am so sorry, my lord!” Isadora called. “I could not stop them, so I came to protect them!”

“Ninian- Nils-”

“He’s evil!” Nils cried, pointing at Kenneth. “He’s raised a barrier around this place!”

“Nothing is more beautiful than the suffering of men,” said Kenneth, smiling in a way that made shivers run down Ceniro’s spine. “When I’m watching, I’m afloat in an ocean of pure bliss… I will watch you for a long, long time.” He teleported away again.

“He’s still here,” Ninian said. “But… close. Still in the fortress. You will have to kill him to raise the barrier.”

“Got it!” Eliwood said. “Ceniro! Your orders?”

“Nils, how are you feeling?” Ceniro asked.

Nils smiled. “I think I can actually assist you, if you need me!”

“Fantastic. All right. We must search this whole place…” Ceniro breathed a long sigh as he looked around at the buildings towering around them and down at his farseer. “Right. Legault, you’ve never been here before?”

“Nope, sorry. But I can open doors for you if you need them.”

“Okay. There’s one around the side of this building. Isadora, Hector, you’re with him. You’ll be facing a general with a lance and two mages. Eliwood, Lyn, Guy, head down that way; there’s some more mages heading in this direction. Dorcas, Rath, Raven, Priscilla, head down that other direction – there are wyvern riders waiting at the end of the corridor. Take them by surprise if you can, I don’t think they’re aware of us yet. Ninian, you go with Eliwood, Nils, you go with Rath.” He himself followed Hector.

“Ceniro!” Pent said in his ear. “What about us?”

“Can you get through the barrier? If not, stay put. General Marcus, you’re in charge while we’re in here. I’ll bring everyone out alive, just wait for us. If you’re looking for Isadora, Ninian, Nils, or Legault, they snuck in just now; they’re fine.”

“…No, we can’t get in,” Marcus said at length. “I don’t understand it, or like it, but we will wait.”

Hector booted in the door the instant Legault gave the all-clear, and they rushed into a bare, square stone room. The general was in motion, primed to attack; Hector parried and twirled his axe around to aim the lance in another direction. The mages were casting, cards from a card game still fluttering through the air around them. Isadora flung herself at one, cutting open the mercenary’s arm, and Legault high-kicked the other one in the chin. Ceniro belatedly realized that he was capable of physically helping his allies as well, so after a moment to check that no one was headed into a trap, probably, he grabbed his staff and clocked Legault’s mage in the head; the man fell like a brick.

“Why, thank you, kind master,” Legault teased. “Shall I make sure he doesn’t wake up and cause us trouble later?”

Ceniro hesitated. The proper thing to say was ‘yes’, and Legault would have no trouble carrying it out. However… it never sat well with him. “Um… no. I’ll deal with him. Hector, there’s a swordsman incoming from upstairs. Isadora, you take point. Hector, we’ll need your strength, but he will have the advantage so go carefully-”

The swordsman burst into the room, his sword raised to strike, and Isadora caught it on her blade. For a moment or two, the two battled, seemingly equally matched. Then suddenly Isadora’s eyes widened and all the strength seemed to go out of her hand. “Harken!?”

Ceniro, who had been trying to direct the rest of the groups while not being distracted by the knights duelling in front of him, looked up sharply.

The swordsman pulled up his helmet to look into Isadora’s face properly, and then pulled it off completely. “Isadora!? What are you doing here??”

“I could ask you the same thing! And fighting for them? Harken, what happened to you?”

“I… I failed in my duty… I am no longer worthy to be a knight of Pherae. Before that villain’s magic, we were annihilated… and I watched my liege be taken away, powerless…”

“And so you joined them? Why?” Tears were beginning to fall from Isadora’s eyes, but her expression was still murderous.

“I wanted revenge… but I could do nothing alone… so I joined them, to strike them where they’re vulnerable. I swear, Isadora…”

“What do you swear?” she spat, and punched him in the face. “That’s for making me think you were dead, and that’s for not sending word, and that’s for joining the enemy, and that’s for not coming to help Lord Eliwood, and that-”

“All right, Isadora,” Hector said, and grabbed her arms. “Ease off the man or you’ll find him just to kill him again.”

“That’s the point!” Isadora sobbed. “He’s my fiancé, and he let me think he was dead while he went off to play anti-hero! Harken, I don’t even know you anymore!”

“Isadora,” Ceniro said gently. “Go join Rath’s group. Legault, make sure she gets there. Raven, come to the tower.”

“On my way,” grunted the other swordsman. Legault took Isadora’s arm and pulled her quickly to the door.

Harken was sprawled at the bottom of the tower’s stairs, his eye swelling, bleeding from the lips and nose. Isadora had not pulled any punches. He blinked up at Hector. “What will you do with me?”

“What happened to Lord Elbert is not your fault,” Hector said, giving him a hand up. “Join us. I know Isadora’s mad at you, but we actually have a pretty big group, and we’re fighting against Nergal. Eliwood’s with us.”

Harken looked away. “But I am no longer a knight of Pherae.”

Hector rolled his eyes, then schooled his face to calmness when Harken looked up again. “I’m not of Pherae, so maybe it’s not my place to say anything. But do you think Lord Elbert would want you to throw away your life like this? Eliwood was waiting for you, any of you, to return. We’re in a war now, a private, secret war against Nergal. If you were ever a true knight of Pherae, you need to be with him.”

Harken set his jaw in determination. “Then my life is his. May it serve him better than it served his father. …Thank you, Lord Hector of Ostia.”

“You’re not just going to commit suicide under Ceniro’s command, either,” Hector said. “This is our tactician. You will follow his orders, and try not to get yourself killed.”

“Understood.” He bowed to Ceniro. “I am at your service, sir.”

“Okay,” Ceniro said. “We need to move on to the next building. There are wyverns in it, so Hector, you’ll need to take point again. Raven, H-harken, you’ll flank him. Do you have a vulnerary? You might want a vulnerary. And, um, don’t call me sir.”

“There’s a lot of guys here,” Dorcas interrupted as they began to move out. “I’m not sure we’re enough for them.”

“You’ll be fine. Head behind the pillar to your left. Rath, charge down the hall, make a loop, and come back. Trust me. Priscilla, Isadora is severely emotionally compromised right now so try to keep an eye on her.”

Harken cast a curious eye at him, but said nothing. Ceniro thought of explaining why he was talking to people who weren’t present, but the knight was intimidating him. He would get Eliwood to do it later.

They were running through the snow to the other building when white lights appeared around them.

“Crap!” Ceniro yelled. “Purge! Get out of here!”

“That’s no joke,” Raven growled. “He’s tougher than he looked!”

“Agreed,” Ceniro said. “And he can see us, or he has a spotter. Get under cover! Those alcoves, go!”

Light magic was slamming into the snow, sending it flying everywhere, as the four men sprinted for cover in the shelter of the side of the fortress wall.

Ceniro peeked out to accurately judge the distance to the doors they were trying to reach. They were shut. “Legault, how close are you to the big double doors across from the main gate?”

“Ehhh… I could be there in two minutes. Dora here’s doing okay, but she’s still occasionally screaming with rage and then the baddies here start trying to target her.”

“Understood. Rath, move into Isadora’s six and stay there. Try to hook up with Eliwood and Lyn’s group – should be two chambers north of you. Legault, we’re going to need you to open this door – while we’re getting Purged on.”

“Are you sure it’s locked?” Legault asked smoothly.

“Um… no. But if it is, we can’t stick around waiting for you to get here.”

“Fair enough. On my way.”

Ten seconds later, Legault’s head appeared around the corner of the building to their left, caught sight of them, and came running over lithely. “That door?”

“Yeah. We’re going in five… four… three… two… go!” They rose to their feet and ran for the door. A blast of light caught Hector and knocked him head-over-heels into the snow, but Raven – after the barest hesitation, which puzzled Ceniro – hauled him to his feet and pushed him along.

Legault glanced at the lock and pushed the door open. “After you, gentlemen.”

Ceniro laughed shortly. “Thanks. Stick around, we might need you again. Harken, get that guy.”

“Sir.” Harken was not going to shake that habit, was he?

The room they were in was large and full of pillars. Ceniro flattened himself against the wall and wondered if the bishop would use Purge indoors. Under his orders, the four fighters fanned out and engaged the enemies in the room, smoothly moving from point to point, subduing the enemy.

“Ceniro!” Lyn said softly from wherever she was, but he pricked up his ears.

“Yes?”

“Some really creepy Sacaean with the longest hair I’ve ever seen just told me I need to get stronger, and he would join us to make sure I did. He didn’t seem to be with the Black Fang, because he was killing them, too. He’s terrifyingly good. Or maybe just terrifying. What do you make of that?”

“Is that… the Sword Demon?” Ceniro gaped. “You convinced the Sword Demon to join us?”

“Who? Is he really good? He looks dangerous. Feels dangerous. He says his name is Karel. Are you sure he should join us?”

“I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised that you convinced him to join just by being yourself, I’m just amazed that – Rath, there’s a mage trying to sneak up on Dorcas – he was even here. What’s he doing here?”

“Ceniro! Stop babbling.”

“Lyn, he’s the kind of man to face down entire armies and leave none alive. He’s incredibly dangerous. No one in Elibe can match him. If he’s fighting for us… we might have a way to deal with Jaffar. If he’s willing to take my orders.”

“Why don’t you talk to him and find out?”

Ceniro gulped. “Y-yes, I suppose I should…”

“Stop being nervous! I’m standing right next to him, for crying out loud!”

“Ah! That doesn’t help!” Ceniro took some deep breaths. “You’re fearless, not like me, and possibly in danger, which makes me even more stressed! You know what? I’m going to come join you and hope that I don’t freeze up talking to him. Less awkward than my voice appearing out of thin air. Head through the door on your right and I’ll meet you there. It’ll take me a few minutes.”

“Okay. This way,” she said, presumably to the Sword Demon, as Eliwood, Guy, and Ninian had received the tail end of Ceniro’s message.

“This way,” Ceniro said, pointing, and Hector and the two swordsmen followed him. There shouldn’t be any enemies in their way, so he really run –

…and dodge the arrow that hissed out of an alcove at him. It snagged in his cloak, barely slowing him, but he yelped anyway. Harken dove into the alcove and reappeared with a bloody sword a moment later.

“Thanks,” Ceniro gasped, and let Raven take the lead.

But there were no more incidents, and they nearly collided with the rest of the group in the antechamber to a narrow hall. Ceniro saw Eliwood do a double-take at the sight of Harken, but the lord wisely saved his questions for later.

Lyn pointed to the tall, slim man with his strongly-built chest partly exposed through his robes. “Karel, Ceniro. Ceniro, Karel.”

“H-hi,” Ceniro said. “Um.”

“You are weak,” Karel said in a low gravelly voice, with a smile of contempt. “And you lead us?”

Lyn rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t have to be the greatest fighter ever to have the greatest brain ever.”

“Everyone move!” Ceniro yelled, as suddenly Purge began to form around them once more. “Get in that room! Go!”

Kenneth was waiting for them, apparently unconcerned that they had defeated most of his forces with their tiny band, and that none of his spells had taken them down – at least for long.

“You’re doing much better than I had anticipated. But it’s about time to put an end to this.” He raised his hands and began to chant.

“Did you know we had the Sword Demon with us?” Hector asked, swatting at light sparkles with his axe. The bishop’s face did not change. It was possible he hadn’t heard Hector.

“K-karel, get him!” Ceniro said. “Eliwood, there’s reinforcements coming through the door on the left; take Rath and deal with them. Lyn, Hector, door on the right. Harken, Raven, Dorcas, watch our backs. Priscilla, Hector could use your staff. Isadora, Legault, on me.”

Karel leapt forward, his dark hair forming a comet-tail behind him. Divine exploded around him, and Ceniro lost sight of him. Then a crimson katana flashed once, and the bishop fell to the floor.

Priscilla healed Karel, who was mildly bleeding, as the others stopped the last of the enemy forces.

“I wonder,” Lyn said, kneeling over the body. “I wonder if it’s at all terrifying to lose yourself entirely… To fall completely under the sway of Nergal’s power…”

“You could ask Canas about falling to darkness,” Ceniro suggested. “Probably not the same thing.”

“Nergal’s driving everyone mad,” Eliwood said softly. “Another reason to stop him…”

“I agree completely,” Lyn said, and stood. Her boot brushed the body as she turned, and something thumped to the floor. “…Hey! What could this be? ”

She picked up a large, ruby-like stone from the floor beside the bishop. A golden dragon was wrapped around the stone, and it nestled in the palm of her hand like a glittering red star.

“Is that the Fire Emblem?” Eliwood asked, staring at it.

“He had it all along?” Hector groaned. “Well, let’s take it and go! Two objectives down, two left to go!”

“Which two?” Ceniro asked. “We’ve lowered the barrier and recovered the Fire Emblem…”

“Save the prince and return the Fire Emblem,” Hector said. “And then we’ll be one step closer to our real objective.”

“Very goal-oriented,” Lyn teased. “You’re right. Let’s get out of here!”

 

Chapter 4: Unfulfilled Heart         Chapter 6: Battle Before Dawn