Chapter 6: Battle Before Dawn          Chapter 8: The Berserker and Valourous Roland

 

Holy crap, a chapter. When was the last time I updated this blog? It’s definitely time for a design overhaul. And to upload all the stuff that’s only been on DA for the last year. But first, NaNoWriMo! First goal this year – finish this dang story! Second goal this year – write the alternate ending sequel! Third goal – more Rifted Riders stuff. Release the dramallamas!

This chapter is pretty long, but looking ahead, the next chapters shouldn’t be TOO bad. The last couple chapters will probably be pretty long again, though.

 

Chapter 7: Cog of Destiny

 

Ceniro felt something tackle him, and he and his rescuer tumbled heavily to the floor as the CRACK-BOOM of a lightning bolt struck just where he had been standing. He narrowly missed cracking his head or the farseer on the floor, but that was a small matter.

The person on his back rolled off and a green armoured hand was extended to him. “You all right?” Sain said.

“Yes, thanks.”

“Thank Kent, he’s the one who got you out of there.”

“Thanks, Kent. Everybody, move forward as fast as possible! Pegasus knights, help transport people if necessary. Louise, can you send a few arrows towards – never mind.” Jaffar was cutting through his opponents like a river through the mountains. Ceniro partly regretted not being able to see the end of the duel between him and Karel, except he wanted both of those swordsmen alive. “Priscilla, you have that staff I gave you?”

She reached back and pulled out the Silence staff. “This one?”

“Can you use it on Sonia?”

“She’s still too far away for me…”

“That’s fine. We’ll get you closer. In fact… Florina! Take Priscilla up to that platform. Have her cast and then come back.”

“There’s no guarantee the staff will work,” Pent warned him, as Ceniro followed Eliwood across the gap in the platforms – and the missing tile rose again to the surface, while other tiles elsewhere in the maze disappeared beneath the water. “It depends on the willpower of the respective users.”

“It’s worth a shot, though,” Ceniro called back. “Everyone, move up while the path is clear! Don’t let those wyverns get close to us!”

“Pathways and courtesies?” Hector said, looking at the maze alter itself before their eyes. “I suppose she’s being a gracious hostess, is that it?”

Jaffar snorted as they caught up to him. “Hardly. She wants to toy with us like a cat and her prey.”

Hector rolled his eyes and Nino started apologizing again and Lyn began comforting her again.

“It’s not working,” Priscilla said. “I’m draining the power of the staff. Maybe if I get in really close?”

“We’ll have to dodge Bolting all the way there is the only problem,” Ceniro said, as Pent reached up to shield his wife from another lightening bolt. Canas was struck full on by one, but all he did was reach up to smooth down his purple hair that was suddenly standing on end. It must be nice, Ceniro thought, to have an affinity advantage against such a long range attack.

“I’m sorry,” Priscilla said.

“Don’t be. Florina, bring her back. Lucius, there’s some shamans requiring your attention to your far right…”

 

“Nino,” said Eliwood, kneeling beside her as they approached the final stage, “we must defeat Sonia and sever the connection between Nergal and the Black Fang. So they can go back to who they were, if they can. For a better future for all of us.”

Nino sniffed and nodded. “I’ll do it.”

“You don’t have to,” Ceniro said. “That’s why I brought Canas. Arrows, I think, will just bounce off her… Jaffar might have a go, if Canas’s magic isn’t enough…”

“No…” Nino said. “It has to be me. I have to be the one to do it…”

“In that case, I have something for you,” Ceniro said, and fished around in his belt pouch until he found the Afa’s Drops. “I’m not sure how this is supposed to be used, but it’ll help your abilities and talents.”

“Oh! Wow. Thank you!” She peered at them. “I drink it right?” She looked around at Canas and Pent for confirmation, and pulled the stopper and tipped it into her mouth. “Okay. I’m ready, then.”

“Be careful,” was all Ceniro could say. If she wanted to talk to Sonia yet again, that was her own affair. “Jaffar, watch her.”

Jaffar nodded and followed Nino up the steps to Sonia, staying always several feet behind her – but Ceniro knew he could cross that distance in the blink of an eye.

“You look so much like your parents,” Sonia said quietly as Nino approached her. “And just as naive – so naive it made me want to vomit.”

“I always thought you were my true mother… But Eliwood and Lyn are right. No true mother would treat her daughter like you treated me.”

“I dressed in rags and entered their house with a child in my arms…” She snickered. “They were truly concerned. Trusting strangers is foolish! Oh, they came to regret their trust, but it was too late!”

“Ahhh!” Nino cried in pain and disgust. “You’re no perfect being! You’re a monster in human form!”

“She’s a morph,” Jaffar said, and Sonia’s hand flicked out. The assassin was knocked down the stairs by a pile of ice. At Ceniro’s gesture, Canas healed him, and he rolled to his feet and hastened up the steps again.

“Jaffar knows nothing of the matter,” Sonia said coldly. “You say I am a monster, but who are you to judge, you worthless infant?”

Nino clenched her little fists. “You’re getting nothing from me! No mercy! No forgiveness!”

The two spellcasters said no more, but went to their deadly work. Sonia stood tall and slim in her black silk gown, letting Nino’s spells blow past her while concocting larger ones of her own – Fimbulvetr to counter Nino’s Elfire. Nino ran back and forth, her natural childish energy serving her well in dodging Sonia’s attacks.

“She’s draining herself quickly,” Pent murmured to Ceniro. “She’s a prodigy, but not even she will outlast Sonia.”

“Let me know when she’s getting close and I’ll have Jaffar pull her out and have the Pegasus knights triangle attack-”

A stray mass of ice exploded over the group as they watched, and when the shards had finished raining down into the water around them, Lyn was down, her face white as chalk, and Jaffar was clutching his chest, an icicle embedded there.

Nino screamed. “Don’t hurt my friends!” Tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks as she flung her hands out towards Sonia blindly. An immense wind blasted around her and towards Sonia, a wind filled with ice and flames.

“How could you… I am… perfect,” Sonia gasped, and fell to the ground. Nino staggered away, lightheaded, and flung herself on Jaffar.

“Jaffar! Please… please don’t die!” She sniffled, and sagged, passing out over the wounded body of her guardian. Her headband had fallen off in the battle and her neat green bob was mussed and tangled.

“She’s exhausted,” Pent observed, having healed Lyn and turning now to Jaffar. “She’s used far more of her energy than is safe. But… Saint Elimine, that was incredible.”

Jaffar grunted and stirred, sitting up with Nino in his arms. She gasped as she came to. “Jaffar? You’re all right! Oh, thank goodness… Thank goodness…” She made no protest as the assassin stood, still carrying her.

“Come on,” Eliwood said, smiling at her. “You did it; you saved us all. Let’s go back to camp and rest. We’ll need it.” The maze appeared stable now, a winding solid line back to the door.

She nodded sleepily. But after they had gone a few paces, she wriggled. “I can walk, Jaffar, put me down. You did so much fighting, you must be so tired…”

“No,” he said. “The mage said you used too much of your energy. I will carry you.”

Florina made gestures at Fiora, who translated for Jaffar. “She could ride with Florina. It will be no trouble for Huey.”

“It’s no trouble for me either,” Jaffar said monotonously, and Fiora rolled her eyes and left him alone.

A lone squat figure peered through the front gate and Nino gave a cry of joy. “Uncle Jan!” Now Jaffar put her down, and she ran to the old man and flung her arms around him. “You’re all right! After what Sonia said, I was so afraid for you…”

“I’m all right, lass. I’m happy to see you alive. Is… is that woman…”

“She’s dead,” Nino declared, raising her head with an angry look. “I killed her.” And she burst into tears again. “She was going to kill everyone! She already… She already killed Father, didn’t she?”

“I’m sorry, Nino… I’m just a cowardly old man. I could do nothing to help your father…”

“She won’t hurt anyone anymore,” Nino sobbed. “She can’t hurt me anymore. She wasn’t even my real mother. She has no hold over me!”

“Shh, shh,” Jan soothed her, holding her close. “So you learned the truth. The commander looked into it, and… I have something for you.” He reached into an inner pocket on his vest and pulled out a small golden pendant.

“Oh!” said Nino’s mouth, and her hands made a similar shape.

“This belonged to your mother. It was in the keeping of a woman who once worked for your house. It gave her much happiness to know that you still lived. This is yours now.”

Nino opened the pendant and stared as if transfixed at whatever was inside. Then she looped it over her head and gave Jan a blinding smile. “Thank you so much! I will treasure it.”

“What will you do now, lass?”

She glanced over at Lyn and Eliwood, waiting patiently closer to the door. “I’m going to go with them. Sonia’s master still wants to destroy the world, and I can help them.”

“That will be very dangerous.”

“I know. I’ll be all right. Maybe we’ll meet Lloyd and Linus! You don’t know where they might have gone, do you?”

“I don’t know… but what’s left of the true Black Fang, the ones who are still human, they’re with them. I hope they’re all right. They could rebuild the guild back into who and what we once were.”

“I hope I get to see them again. What about you, Uncle Jan?”

“I’m going to retire for good,” said the old man. “My adventuring days are long gone.”

“Stay safe!” Nino said. “When this is over, I will come find you again, I promise. The Black Fang… the old Black Fang, before Sonia ruined it… you were my family. I want to see you again, when it’s safe.”

“Saint Elimine be with you,” Jan said, and waved.

Nino waved back, smiling as bravely as she could, and trotted to the door.

Hector made an ‘I’m watching you’ sign to Jaffar, and followed Eliwood in the same direction.

 

“So,” Pent said to Canas. “You are the one called Canas, aren’t you?”

“Indeed I am,” Canas replied.

“Then you are the one Ceniro told me to speak to!” Pent said with delight. “Truly, your control over elder magic is astounding.”

“My goodness, thank you,” Canas replied. “I am truly only a scholar at heart, not a fighter. I’m sorry, I missed your name…?”

“You must be really absentminded,” Hector said. “This is only the guy our tactician has been fanboying over since we set out on this journey.”

Canas blinked at Hector.

Pent laughed. “Don’t mind him. My name is Pent.”

Canas stopped walking. “Not… Lord Pent, Mage General of Etruria?”

“Well, I suppose that’s true,” Pent said, with a brief bow. “But I’m always happy to meet a fellow scholar…”

“Lord Pent! In the flesh!” Canas cried. “My wife will not believe this! She’s an anima magic user, you see. Why, she thinks you’re the bees knees.”

Pent laughed again, somewhat embarrassed. “Indeed? I must admit that personally I would dearly like to hear your story. It’s not every day that one meets a scholar-turned-shaman…”

“Um, excuse me…” Nino spoke up.

“Yes, child?” Pent asked.

“Um, forgive my rudeness, but if you’re the Mage General of Etruria… I, um, could I ask for some magic lessons? Canas is going to teach me to read, but he can’t help very much with my magic…”

Pent smiled. “I’m not sure how much you might need after your display back there! But certainly, I can give you some lessons. Have you met Erk yet?”

“I saw him today in camp? But no, I haven’t really met him…”

“He is my student, too. I can teach you both at the same time, if you so wish.”

Nino clapped her hands. “That would be amazing! Thank you so much! I don’t wish to be a bother, but I really want to get better.”

“I am pleased to be of service,” Pent said, bowing to her. She giggled and skipped ahead to walk next to Jaffar again.

“Such a sweet child,” Canas said fondly. “I hope my son is something like her… I’ve only known her a short time, but she just draws one to her with her kindness.”

“I’m glad our leaders decided to help her,” Pent answered. “You have a son? Louise and I have been hoping for children, but no luck so far.”

“Yes, his name is Hugh, and he is nearly two years old. My mother is hoping he’ll also become a shaman like me and the other members of my family…”

“It’s a little early for that, isn’t it?” Pent asked.

Canas frowned quizzically. “Well, she raised us the same way, and we turned out all right? Although, my three brothers have succumbed to the darkness, it is true. But that is always the risk with elder magic…”

“Oh dear,” Pent said sympathetically.

“But although it scares me, I must continue; my curiousity drives me.”

“It’s the curse of knowledge. I am the same way; I do understand.”

Canas began to poke around in his book bag. “Here, I shall lend you this book. You are interested in elder magic, yes? I bet you have not read this one yet.”

“It feels very old,” Pent said as he took it. “Who wrote it?”

“Oh, my mother…”

“Your mother?”

“Yes, indeed…”

“Who is your mother?” Pent asked in bewilderment.

“Her name is Niime, though some know her as the Mountain Hermit. She-”

“Canas!” Pent interrupted him. “Your mother is the Mountain Hermit!?”

“Er… yes? You know of her?”

“Every mage knows of Niime the Mountain Hermit!” Pent cried. “Excuse me, I must go tell my lady wife Louise. She will never believe this! Louise?”

 

“Eliwood, do we really need to still be wearing our disguises?” Hector complained the next afternoon. “Can’t we wear our own crap for this part of the journey? We’re not supposed to see anyone who’d recognize us.”

“No, we need to keep wearing them,” Eliwood said calmly. “It really wouldn’t do to be identified so close to our goal, would it? Just in case.”

Hector grumbled but subsided. They were tramping along a dusty path among rolling hills, lightly wooded but mostly covered with brush. The land was desolate; all that day they had seen nothing but birds disturbed by their passing. Yet the land felt remote, rather than ominous.

“My problem is not with the weird clothes, but the fact that we’re on such a tight time limit and there’s no time to wash anything,” Lyn said, brushing at her skirt. “Everyone stinks so much.”

“It’s a human thing,” Nils said cheekily, and she laughed.

“I suppose it is. And a horse thing, and a pegasus thing, and a wyvern thing. But I will feel better when we finish this mission and get to a river.”

“Do I stink?” Hector asked, sniffing himself.

“You stink most of all,” Lyn teased, making a face.

“Do I stink?” Ceniro asked, making puppy eyes.

She reached out and ruffled his hair, covering his eyes and reminding him that he needed a haircut soon. “For you, not so much.”

“He’s not fighting,” Nils said. “The rest of you are always running and jumping and swinging around those giant weapons or casting spells. He’s just running.”

“So it’s not your boyfriend’s fault he’s not as manly as the rest of us,” Hector said, grinning.

Ceniro shook his head in befuddlement. “It’s a good thing that doesn’t bother me.” Then the words caught up to him. “Boyfriend?”

Lyn snorted. “Wait, you thought it was a secret?”

“Um.”

Hector laughed. “It’s about a secret as much as my best friend and his girl.”

“And what about you, Hector, got a girl in mind?” Lyn poked him in the arm.

“Nah, not really. Besides, there’s a lot of crazy in this army and I was always told not to date crazy.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, young master!” Matthew’s voice came faintly on the wind.

Lyn’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying I’m crazy?”

Hector smirked down at her. “You’re crazier than Serra.”

Ceniro tensed, ready to break up a fight, but Lyn relaxed. “As long as it’s in a good way.”

“Just don’t let your craziness get you killed,” Hector answered.

“Who’s that?” Nils asked, pointing suddenly, and Ceniro’s farseer appeared in his hand.

“He’s reading as neutral,” he said. “Though that could just be because he’s not close enough to be hostile.”

“Where’s Eliwood?” Hector asked, looking around at the army trailing after them.

“Right here,” Eliwood said, jogging up to them. “I got a little sidetracked, sorry. What’s wrong?”

“Probably nothing, but there’s someone waiting for us up ahead. You should be here in case it’s important.”

Behind them, a ripple of quiet spread through the army as they too noticed the man waiting for them.

The man hailed them when they were halfway up the hill to him. “Are you Lord Eliwood of House Pherae?”

Eliwood blinked at Ceniro, who shrugged. “And if I am?”

“We are the Fang, the last loyal servants of Lloyd the White Wolf! You will atone for your sins with blood! You have been given fair warning, now prepare yourselves for death.” He turned and vanished over the hill.

“Did he say… Lloyd?” Nino cried, from close behind them. “My brother is here? And more of the Black Fang?” She turned to Ceniro. “Let me go on ahead. I know that man said they were going to kill us, but I can talk to Lloyd. We don’t have to fight.”

“Wait and see,” Ceniro said grimly. “We don’t know if Linus talked to anyone. It doesn’t seem like it. So stay close for now.” He activated the farseer’s scan and stared at it. “Lloyd has a lot of troops. We-”

“Ceniro,” Lyn said, touching his arm, and he looked up to see a broad valley stretching northwest with a low brown stone structure at the other end. “I think that’s our destination.”

Ceniro glanced around. “Straight killing ground from here to the Shrine. That is the Shrine, isn’t it? And if Lloyd is smart, he’ll be waiting there for us, throwing his lackeys at us to slow us down. We’ll need to strike hard and fast to get to him without losing any of our own – and possibly not slaying to many of them, either.”

“I want to go on ahead,” Nino said again. “I can talk to them! They’ll know me, and we can prevent this!”

“Nino,” Jaffar growled from beside her, “look at them. Their battle-lust is not normal. They hate us with all their conviction.”

“But we… I…”

“We were never Fangs,” the assassin said grimly. “I served Nergal and you were attached to Nergal’s lieutenant Sonia. Lloyd may still hold fondness for you but to the others we were never companions in the first place.”

Nino’s face crumpled. “I wish that wasn’t true… I cared for everyone!”

“But not everyone has your light.”

Nino’s head dropped and she shuffled back to stand against her bodyguard.

“Your orders?” Eliwood said, at attention beside Ceniro.

Ceniro looked down at the farseer for a good few seconds before taking a deep breath. They couldn’t afford to mess this up. “Lots of heavily armoured units dead ahead. We need to smash through them with our cavalry and hit the axemen behind them with our swords. Due west there are a lot of light swordsmen, but also archers, so I won’t send out the Pegasus Sisters… North are their cavalry. All right. I’m ready. Nino, stay close to me – we’ll get you to your brother.”

He turned. “Eliwood, do you want to give them some quick encouragement before I give my orders?”

“I can try,” Eliwood said, smiling. “Everyone! This might be a difficult battle, but we’re very close to our current goal. Just stay strong a little longer, and fight with all your heart!”

“Of course he’d say something about heart,” Hector grumbled, and Lyn giggled.

“Well, what would you say?” she asked.

Hector looked surprised. “Uh… I hadn’t thought about it. Public speaking is really not my thing. Probably ‘go kick some butt’.”

“Very inspiring,” she teased him.

“Ceniro?” Eliwood said, having rambled on a little more.

“Marcus, you are leading a charge against their heavy infantry,” Ceniro said. “All horse mounted units, form up on Marcus. Eliwood, Lyn, Hector, Nino, Jaffar, we’re in their wake. Oswin, you and all the axemen are our northern flank with Canas, Erk, Pent, and Louise for backup. Harken, Raven, Guy, Lucius, Serra, Wil, and Rebecca are our western flank; hold off the swordsmen as best you can. The rest of you, guard Merlinus as he moves up behind us. Except you, Karel – come with the front group; we might need you to fight Lloyd for us.”

“I look forward to testing his steel,” Karel said with an evil smirk.

“Heath, Fiora, Farina, Florina, there’s a wyvern rider behind us. Take them down and then patrol the perimeter until I call you in. Everyone stay together as much as you can! Don’t get isolated or you’ll get picked off. I’ll help as I can. Marcus… charge!”

 

The battle went as planned for about the first twenty minutes. Ceniro jogged with Lyn and the centre group on foot until they reached a slight bump in the valley floor which gave him a decent view of the Shrine of Seals. If he squinted he could distantly make out the miniature figures of Black Fang soldiers. He wondered which one was Lloyd, the White Wolf, and assumed it was the tall lean one pointing in various directions.

He checked his farseer to see where these directions might send the enemy forces, but it was too early to say for certain. He wanted to get closer, to see what kind of man Lloyd was, to see his eyes with his own eyes, but after the scare Linus had given him, he wasn’t sure that was such a good idea as it seemed. Perhaps when more of the underlings had been cleared away, he’d chance it.

He took a deep breath and let it out. Lyn and Eliwood glanced at him, and he nodded. The centre group left him and went on their way in the wake of the mounted knights. He was fine – in a few minutes, Merlinus and his group would join them, and for now he was alone and could see everything both with his own eyes and with the farseer.

The north side of the map was fine. Perhaps he’d fortified it overly much, but the heavy armour and axes of his allies was absorbing the onslaught from the heavy armour of the enemy, and it was definitely where Canas was being most effective. Ahead, to the north-west, the charge of the knights was shaking the ground beneath the enemy assassins, and while the Black Fang members were decently good at dodging, they were not counter-attacking very successfully.

It was to the west that his concern was. He had thought that the army’s swordsmen, backed by quick, sharp, accurate light magic, would be enough, but as he watched, they began to be outnumbered and several enemies began to flank them and charge at Lucius and Serra. That was bad, very bad – he hadn’t had those two in direct combat in some time. Wil and Rebecca’s covering fire was not going to be enough to slow them down. He trusted that Lucius and Serra could evade for a while, but not long enough for Raven to take out their attackers – not while he was locked with two swordsman at one time. Harken was fighting like a hero, with discipline, precision, and power, and was drawing most of the enemies to himself, which helped. “Isadora, I need you to head south immediately – do a sweep to give Lucius and Serra a breather, and then return-”

“Ceniro!” he heard a cry from Fiora and Florina, just before he half-heard, half-felt an immense whoosh – and suddenly he was plucked into the sky by a great claw.

To his credit, he didn’t scream – much – but he was certainly panicking. All right. What was holding him?

He glanced up and saw a wyvern. Not the unknown that had been lurking around earlier? Had it evaded the pegasus sisters? Not just any wyvern rider, either. He caught a glimpse of a high-heeled crimson boot, and as the rider leaned over, a flash of bright blonde hair. Vaida!

“What are you doing?” he yelled at her in alarm.

“Don’t panic, little man,” she called back to him. “I just want to talk.”

“There’s other ways to talk to a person!”

There were concerned noises from just about everyone in the army, and he realized that he had been shouting over an open channel. He blushed crimson. Not only would that worry Lyn, Eliwood, Hector, and his other close friends, but it was undoubtedly distracting everyone from their fighting.

Vaida’s wyvern deposited him on a ledge half-way up the side of a small mountain to the east of his previous position. He staggered at the less-than-gentle landing, his cloak tangling around his arms, before he managed to regain his balance and turn to face her.

She made a tight loop and came in for a landing of her own. Ceniro backed away in a crouch as she dismounted with a graceful bound, her heeled boots crunching on the stone.

“What do you want?” he asked nervously. The wyvern hissed at him and he flinched, backing up slowly as Vaida paced towards him. He could see the distant forms of the pegasus sisters and Heath in the sky, but he was essentially a hostage in this situation. At least he could turn off the open transmission on the farseer and stop distracting everyone, especially the people on the west side of the valley – which he really needed to be overseeing…

“Will you relax?” Vaida growled. “I’m not here on behalf of the Black Fang.”

“I guessed that part,” Ceniro said, thinking back to how she had left the Black Fang when they had last seen her. “Why did you attack me?”

She laughed, less harshly than he had expected. “You think that was an attack? No, little boy. I’m here on my own agenda, from loyalty to the King of Bern. Tell me, was it you and your playmates who stopped the assassin on Prince Zephiel?”

Ceniro’s eyes widened. “How did you know-”

She smiled in satisfaction. “So I was right! I have decided. I will serve you.”

“What!?” Of all the things she could have done, that one he was least expecting. He caught movement behind her and held up a hand. “Wait! Fiora, don’t attack!”

“What the hell?” Farina’s voice carried as the four friendly fliers broke off their attack and shot past the mountainside. “I thought you were attacking this woman before?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” Ceniro told her. “Heath, you should join us. Ladies, the archers are gone; the western flank needs your spears now.” He turned back to Vaida. “Why!? Why would you join us?? We’re not exactly on King Desmond’s side…”

“Prince Zephiel is the future of Bern,” Vaida said shortly. “You saved him when he needed saving. Now I will join you to repay the personal debt I feel for your actions.”

Ceniro stared at her. She seemed sincere enough.

Heath landed behind Ceniro. “Commander Vaida is always true to her word. My own word may not be much, but I offer it.”

“Shut up, Heath,” Vaida sneered.

“I trust Heath,” Ceniro said to both of them. He glanced back at Heath, and the rider nodded his shaggy green head. “Then Vaida, you can join us.” He took a look westward across the valley. The view was even better from up here, across miles of open ground and little forests. Northwards, beyond even his sight from here, was somewhere the mountain border with Sacae. He had walked beyond the horizon with Lyn, once upon a time.

Which was irrelevent, he reminded himself, a sudden gust of wind making him shiver. “Vaida, you and Heath are going to also support the western flank. Isadora, thanks for the assist, you can return to the other mounted knights; we have more allies incoming.” He turned back to Vaida. “But first… get me down from here!”

Vaida mock-bowed. “Your wish is my command. Where would you like to go, my lord?”

Ceniro made a face at her sarcasm and glanced down at the battlefield again, both from the mountain and on the farseer. “I need to micromanage the north side. Drop me off near Oswin and then go keep the west from collapsing again.”

“Done.” She grabbed his arm and bodily hauled him onto the wyvern behind her.

“Maybe I should have gone with Heath,” he muttered to himself.

After straightening out a tangle involving Dorcas, Bartre, and a ring-around-the-rosie with three Black Fang fighters and a deadfall of oak trees, he began attempting to make his way back to the lead group with Erk for company.

“Cavalry, form a cordon around the footsoldiers behind you. Don’t let Lloyd’s guards, second-in-command, anyone, get at the lords while they’re talking. Karel, wait for them to finish talking before you begin.”

“So dull,” Karel answered.

He heard nothing but intermittent clashes until he and Erk broke through the trees and came to the foot of the Shrine. There was a set of steps leading up to a shaded portico, but Lloyd had come down with his closest guards to face Eliwood’s group’s approach. Legault had been speaking to him, but now he slipped away, and both looked regretful and sad.

“Brother!” Nino cried, running forward.

But Lloyd put up a hand, barring her approach. “Come no closer, little Nino. I am going to kill the people you travel with.”

“Why?” she gasped. “They’ve helped me. They saved my life, and Jaffar’s life – they helped me against Sonia!”

“So that woman is no more… That’s one piece of good news I can take to Linus, then. If she hasn’t already brought it herself.”

“Lloyd, they’re good people, and you’re leading what’s left of the good people in the Black Fang – except Uncle Jan, he’s okay too. Can’t we stop fighting?”

Lloyd shook his head. “Run away, little Nino, run far away. Run from this fighting, because though Eliwood’s group has superior numbers and clearly a clever general, I will kill them all myself in revenge.”

“We are not your enemy. We didn’t kill your brother!” Eliwood cried. “ We are fighting those who killed him. Please, the best thing you can do for Mad Dog Linus is to join us, and help us find the ones who did kill him!”

“I received a message from my brother informing me he was engaging Eliwood’s band. Hours later, I found only his body and the corpses of his loyal band. I ask you what conclusions you would draw!?”

“We may very well be the last people to see him alive, but we sure didn’t kill him!” Hector growled. “Sonia has a master, a man named Nergal. He wants to do a lot more than kill a few good-hearted vigilantes.”

“Shut up!” Lloyd shouted, and Nino cowered. “There is nothing left for me in this life!”

Eliwood stepped forward, his weapon lowered. “If you kill us, what then?” Ceniro tensed; it wasn’t what he would do.

Lloyd raised his chin, cool as ice. “We shall have to see, won’t we?”

Even as Lloyd began to launch into a blur of motion, another blur darted past Eliwood and flung itself at Lloyd.

“Please stop,” Nino sobbed, clinging to Lloyd’s middle. “I’ll come with you, if you want, just please, don’t kill them. They’re not bad. They couldn’t have done it.”

Lloyd carressed Nino’s green hair. “It’s all right, little one. This is the only way. Don’t come with me. I am going to die. You must live for the future. Run away, don’t look back, and live.”

“No… No! I don’t want to! Lloyd!”

“I won’t hurt you, these men were Linus’s enemies. If you get in my way again, I won’t hold back.”

“You will do no such thing,” Jaffar said, appearing behind Nino, ready to snatch her away.

“Angel of Death… I always wondered how we would fare in straight combat against each other. It is time to see who would win, is it not?”

“Please…” Nino said. “Not him…”

Lloyd sighed. “Little Nino, you see good in the oddest places…”

“Enough!” Karel strode forward. “I’m getting bored. If you’re so good, White Wolf, then face me! My blade hungers and the tiny tactician promised your blood.”

Ceniro gulped. That sounded… really bad the way Karel said it.

“The Sword Demon, huh?” Lloyd was back to ice. Jaffar tugged Nino away as Lloyd readied his sword. “So Eliwood would employ even a demon in his pursuit of our destruction…”

There was a blinding flash as the two master swordsmen leapt at each other, the sun flickering off their blades.

Nino clung to Jaffar, whimpering “No… no… why…?”

 

 

Chapter 6: Battle Before Dawn          Chapter 8: The Berserker and Valourous Roland