Chapter 9: Sands of Time         Chapter 11: Light

 

~*SPOILERS*~ So, just to get you up to speed here… I drew this in May 2004. It’s now 2014 and I’m putting a version of it into print. How unbelievable is that!?!? XD This is actually really, REALLY satisfying. Although maybe that’s just the badass music I’m listening to (see below).

Also… Chekov makes an appearance. The literary device, not the Star Trek character. ~*END SPOILERS*~

This chapter owes a lot to Aldnoah’s No Differences and other bits – AZPV, A-0pictures, MKAlieZ, AZ-Kat, and R0B0T. Also I should point out that I do listen a lot to the FE7 (and bits of 8 and 9) OST(s) to get the right tone, but when it comes to getting pumped for drama and/or fighting, I need other resources to fully unlock my abilities. : P

These chapters are getting longer again. The last chapter will probably be long. I don’t know how long the epilogue will be, but I hope not too long. ONE MORE CHAPTER AND EPILOGUE. I’m so close to victory I can taste it. …Although maybe that’s the butterscotch chips I’ve been eating. But I’m ON. I want to talk more about my excitement but it must be getting dull by now and you probably just want to read the dang story, no? GO READ IT it’s not terrible!

Anyone looking at my NNWM wordcount today and wondering why it’s so high, it’s because I included a bunch of in-character roleplaying that I did with a friend on Skype the other day. Hey, it’s fiction writing, ja? : P

 

Chapter 10: Victory or Death

 

It was as Hector predicted – he looked unrested the next morning, though he tried to conceal it with a cheerful, or at least confident face.

Too confident. Ceniro thought back to how Hector had seemed a few days ago, and again yesterday when he asked after his brother, and wondered if it was still bothering him. He didn’t think he should ask Matthew of it, as the roguish spy would take things into his own hands – too far, Ceniro worried.

Eliwood and Lyn didn’t seem to notice, though Eliwood of course still looked worse, with red eyes and a pale face. Lyn was eating breakfast with Ceniro, and Eliwood ate with Hector – not a lot, but food was going in, and that was what was important. Ceniro watched their leader, watched his steady hands as he took in porridge, and wondered how much inner strength he had to be able to keep going even now after everything.

Nils, on the other hand, still was not eating or responding, locking himself in his room. Even Florina couldn’t get in to be with him.

It was a beautiful day, an unexpectedly beautiful late summer day, and Ceniro thought it was a pity they had to spend it marching quickly towards Badon. He would have preferred to walk in a leisurely fashion, taking the time to look at everything… But Nergal wasn’t waiting around, so neither could they.

Hector, unexpectedly, was the one with a suggestion that appealed most to him. “Hey, Ceniro, Lyn, c’mere, I have an idea.”

“What is it?” Lyn said, hopping her chair over to their table. Ceniro followed more slowly.

“We’re going to need lots of supplies for a campaign on Valor. I sent word to Badon yesterday asking if Captain Fargus would take us again, and I’m waiting on word back before we set out. I figure we could use the time to…”

“Go shopping?” Lyn asked with a cheeky smile. “Hector, you shouldn’t have!”

“As long as you don’t blow the country’s GDP on frilly dresses and jewelry, it’ll be fine,” he groused. “Took me long enough to settle on a reasonable sum with Oswin as it was.”

“Hector, since when have I been a girl for frilly dresses?” Lyn said, raising a delicate eyebrow.

“You’d look good in them,” Hector mumbled, looking somewhere off to the side, away from her.

She giggled. “I’ll take that into consideration when looking for armour.”

“Plenty of women do,” Eliwood said.

“What, like Serra?” Hector snorted.

“I was thinking more like Louise,” Eliwood said.

“She does dress very pretty,” Lyn said. “Far too pink for me, but it suits her. But I’m going to stay with my Sacaean dress. So you don’t have to worry about your… what did you call it? Your GPD?”

“GDP,” Hector said. “It’s a money thing.”

“So you were paying attention in class,” Eliwood said mildly.

“What else was I going to do?”

“What you normally do?”

“I was bored enough to pay attention some days, shut up.”

Ceniro smiled. “So, new weapons for everyone?”

“New high-quality weapons, from the city’s best smiths,” Hector said, glad to get the conversation back on track. “Not only that, but healing and other staves, vulneraries, regular bandages, and enough food to feed us for a month. Which, with the two wyverns and all the horses, is going to be a lot.”

“Better tell Fargus to bring an extra boat,” Lyn teased.

“I did, actually,” Hector said, in the same vein.

“Why, I’m more and more surprised! Hector planned ahead?” She smiled incredulously at Eliwood, who couldn’t help but smile back.

Hector rolled his eyes, but he too saw the smile on Eliwood’s face and withheld his retort.

“I’ll ask Marcus and Oswin to help us pick the best places, and get the stronger soldiers together to carry things,” Eliwood said.

“And discourage pickpockets,” Ceniro added. “Though I guess if your funds are as deep as you suggest they are, you’d notice large bags of gold leaving your person.”

“I’m not bringing physical gold,” Hector said. “I’m bringing a lot of IOUs, and leaving a note with my brother’s treasurer.” He smirked, and Lyn laughed, but Ceniro couldn’t help but think there was a hesitation in the smirk.

“I’ve heard that in Etruria, they call those ‘cheques,’” Eliwood said. “Apparently they’re becoming very popular.”

“But kind of silly if you just need new boots or something,” Hector said. Ceniro glanced at his own. He probably should get new ones again soon. But not yet. He’d mention it to one of the lords after they won.

Eliwood smiled. “But Etrurian boots are very expensive.”

“All right, what if you just wanted a snack?”

“That’s a better comparison…”

Ceniro felt in his own pockets and paused. “Hang on a minute…”

“What is it?” Eliwood asked.

“I’m not sure,” he said, bringing out a brown, rounded disc. “Matthew gave it to me ages ago, I think. I forgot about it. I should probably use it.”

“What does it do, though?” Hector said.

Ceniro thought back, and his grey eyes got very big. “I think it explodes.”

Hector shoved his chair back from the table. “And you’ve been carrying it on your person!? What kind of-!?”

Ceniro looked more closely at it. “Oh, there’s instructions on the bottom. That’s convenient.”

“I would agree,” Eliwood said. He hadn’t jumped as much as Hector, but he still looked alarmed, and Ceniro felt guilty.

“It says… to use this, turn the centre dial once counterclockwise. When it clicks, it is ready and will go off when stepped on.”

“Nasty,” Lyn said. “Please don’t keep that in your pocket anymore.”

“I’m not going to,” Ceniro said. “I honestly forgot about it. It’s not that heavy or anything, and…”

“No one cares about how heavy it is, we only care that our friend has been walking around with his life literally in his pocket,” Hector said, holding out his hand. “Give it here. I’ll find a place for it. It sounds vastly useful and a lot of fun, but you’re not keeping it.”

Ceniro gave it up with a sheepish smile. “I understand. But let’s not keep it in Merlinus’s cart, either. That sounds like an equally bad idea.”

“Matthew gave it to you, eh? Maybe I’ll give it back to him. As punishment.”

“You’re so cruel,” Lyn said.

“If you’re done eating and scaring me half to death, we could get moving,” Hector said, and stood, holding firmly to the bomb. “I’ll get Oswin and Marcus, and give this to Matthew. Ceniro, you pick the people to carry things, and don’t say Vaida’s wyvern. Or Farina’s pegasus. Or Serra. Anyone else, you can take. Eliwood, Lyn, I’ll meet you at the front gates when you’re ready.”

“See you there,” Eliwood said calmly.

 

They set out about ten minutes later, the six of them and five of the strongest in their army – and Merlinus. They were heading down the hill into the city towards the northeast, where the smiths were to be found.

Marcus admired the place. “Ostia’s castle town is as impressive as ever. Shops and items of all types imaginable.”

“For generations, our ancestors dedicated themselves to a sort of frugal militarism. Nobles and commoners alike shunned extravagance,” Hector said. “’Corrupt neither the body nor the mind,’ they cried! Since the time of Roland, this has been the dominant ideology of Ostia. At least, it used to be.”

“I heard that when Lord Uther first participated in the Lycian Council as Marquess Ostia, he gave a scathing indictment of the peer system,” Marcus said. “Now I understand, his philosophy had its roots in the history of Ostia itself.”

Hector chuckled. “I was only a kid then. But that’s what happened. Yet this thinking… it threatens the lifestyles of many of our aristocrats. So some groups view my brother with enmity.” He frowned, thinking. “I must grow wiser so that I can sit at my brother’s side and aid him.” Ceniro and Lyn raised eyebrows at each other, and Eliwood’s mouth curved into a slight smile. “Of course, my fighting skills are not yet what they should be…”

The end of that sentence trailed off far too quietly, and the other three looked at each other. Ceniro realized, they knew. They knew something was wrong with Hector, or at least his brother. He didn’t know what, but he knew it would undoubtedly have something to do with Lord Uther. Was he ill? Had he even died? But if that were the case, even Hector would have said something.

Hector himself interrupted his thoughts. “Anyway, it’s not time to worry about that. Come on! There’s our first destination.”

His friends, though, hung back. “Curious,” Lyn said to Eliwood.

“What is?” he asked.

“Hector. He acts like such a moron sometimes, but he takes his duties seriously.”

“Hector has always been a man of firm character. I’ve always envied him for his ability to conceal any doubts he feels about himself or his actions…”

Lyn nodded. “I know. I’m a little envious too.”

“How so, exactly?” Eliwood asked.

“He doesn’t second-guess what he must do. No hesitation. I mean, I wouldn’t hesitate about anything concerning my grandfather’s health. In fact, I’d be happy to do anything I could. I thought I was all alone in the world, and now that I’ve found my family, I don’t want to lose him.”

“I know what you mean,” Eliwood said. “I can’t bear to think of losing my mother. If I survive all of this, I want to be at my mother’s side… to do anything she asks.”

“We’ll fight to make sure you get there,” Lyn said, smiling at Ceniro, who nodded. “Yet… despite the fact that family is so dear to me… Yet in my heart, the plains still call me… The neverending oceans of grass… The memory of that wind-blown scent alone is enough to leave me weak… I’m torn…”

“Lyn…” Ceniro said.

Lyn shook herself. “But you know, Eliwood, like you said, you’re not so weak yourself. Even with all the horrible things that have happened to you, more than anyone else in our group except perhaps Nino, you’re still here. You didn’t run away. Through all the battles and injuries… you’ve held your head high and marched on. Your… your strength, I admire. We all admire it.”

“You’re not only strong, but kind,” Ceniro said. “And you’re not afraid to show it. Isn’t there a saying… ‘Evil runs when a good man goes to war’? That’s you, Eliwood. Nergal won’t stand a chance against you.”

“Thank you, my friends,” Eliwood said, noticably embarrassed. “But I could never have gotten here without the rest of you.”

“Well, that’s a given,” Hector said, having come back to look for them. “What’s holding you up now? It’s not time for introspection either. Why are you all flushed? Hey, Eliwood, I found this really sweet sword, I think I want it even though I’m not giving up my axe…”

“Now who’s wasting their canton’s taxpayer’s money?” Lyn teased, and Hector snorted.

 

Shopping for weapons, medical supplies, and food took most of the morning, and they split up a few times to cover more ground. When Ceniro saw Hector again, he was looking more sombre even than before, though it was only moments later that Lyn snuck up on him and tossed his cloak over his head, making him yell at her in amused exasperation.

“So… I’m sorry,” she said, hands demurely behind her back, as he struggled to right himself.

“For ambushing me with my own clothing? I should think so!”

“No… for… When we first met, I criticized your fighting style, remember? …I wanted to apologize…”

“What, that?” Hector asked, honestly confused. “That was ages ago. I’d forgotten about it. Why bring it up now?”

“I used to think you were selfish, oblivious to others’ needs. Even now, after all this time, I think you’re often crude and insensitive.”

Hector frowned. “Hey now… Is there a point to this?”

Lyn lowered her head. “…I used to be like that, too. I relied too much on my own strength and stuck to myself… All I did was cause problems to the people around me. …I think you’re like that, too… So, sometimes, I feel I’m looking at the old me. Sometimes… I treat you horribly.”

Hector chuckled. “Yeah, that’s true. Sometimes you really lay into me.”

“…But aboard the pirate ship that time… and just now when we set out shopping… what you said made me realize I was wrong. So… I’m sorry.”

“Look,” said Hector, uncomfortably. “You apologized once before. I’ll admit that I’ve got a bad attitude a lot of the time. Just… forget about it, all right? It’s not a big deal.”

“Forget about it?” Lyn cried, suddenly glaring at him – though not angry with him, Ceniro though, but with herself. “I can’t just forget about it! It’s not good enough somehow… I… Hit me, it’ll make me feel better!”

“What!?” Hector cried.

“Lyn…” Ceniro said. “I think… just calm down for a minute…” Clearly she wasn’t as mature as she thought she was, if she still thought that way.

“Yeah! Just do it! Come on, I won’t move.”

Hector ran a hand through his blue hair and sighed. “You… Hahhh…”

Lyn tilted her head. “What is it? Are you afraid? It’s not a trap, I promise.”

“Self-flagellation is not…” began Ceniro.

“Shush,” she shushed him. “Hector.”

Hector sighed again. “It’s not… Give me a break, here, you think I can hit a woman?”

“We’ve been sparring for ages! Just don’t think of me as a woman!”

“I can’t hit a woman that I…” Hector trailed off, with a sudden guilty glance at Ceniro, who flushed and ducked his head.

Lyn seemed not to have noticed. “That you what?”

“Never mind!” Hector turned and strode off, his long legs making strides the two of them had to jog to keep up with. “Let’s go find Eliwood!”

“Wait!” Lyn cried. “What were you going to say…?”

“It’s fine,” Ceniro said, almost equally flustered. “He’s right, Eliwood’s been gone quite a while…”

“Sorry, were you looking for me?” Eliwood’s voice came from behind them, and they turned.

“Ah, there you are!” Lyn said. “Hector! We found him!”

“Need me for something?”

“Nah, just making sure you were all right,” Hector said, and Lyn sighed.

“Way to make me worry for nothing!” she said, and Hector shrugged.

“Ah well. Let’s keep moving, all right?”

“Did something happen?” Eliwood murmured in a low voice to Ceniro.

“I’ll tell you later,” Ceniro murmured back, still trying to process it himself.

 

The only other thing of note that happened was that Bartre returned late, looking beat up, with a young-looking Sacaean woman who was also rather scuffed. It seemed they had gotten in a duel, a yet-unresolved duel, spurred by a past unresolved duel, and it also seemed that she was Karel’s sister Karla. Ceniro called for Guy to show her the way to her brother, and she stared at him in surprise. Apparently she had been on a long journey to search for her brother and hadn’t expected to find him so suddenly or easily.

They also returned to find Fargus’s answer: he was in Badon again, and would gladly take them back to the Dread Isle.

Hector said he forgot something at the castle, but told the rest of them to go on ahead. Ceniro tried not to look worried. It was probably some talisman or something. He rejoined them less than thirty minutes later, so it couldn’t have been anything terrible.

Even with their footsoldiers riding carts, it took them the rest of the day and most of the next to read Port Badon. They finished the day by loading their supplies onto the ship and prepared to depart at dawn. Though Ceniro posted a heavy watch during the night, no morphs attacked and nothing was amiss by the time they weighed anchor and set sail the next morning.

“I hope that kind of luck lasts,” Lyn said, standing hand-in-hand with Ceniro at the ship’s rail.

“Not too long, I hope,” Hector said. “We’re hoping to thin down his army before we fight him. Just… not on the continent, where there are civilians and such.”

“Exactly,” Lyn said. “But say, if we landed on a day with no fog, or if they were suddenly all afflicted by an illness that affects only morphs…”

“Now you’re mocking me,” Hector said.

“You’re used to it,” Ceniro said, and Hector snorted.

They reached the Dread Isle on time, though it was foggy as usual. But Matthew and Legault remembered the way, and carried torches to lead the rest of the group.

As they disembarked with their massive piles of supplies, Hector, Eliwood, Lyn, and Ceniro stuck around to talk to Fargus. “We can never thank you enough,” Eliwood said earnestly.

“No need to worry about that,” Fargus said jovially. “Are ye sure you don’t need our help from here? Fargus’s pirate crew makes women smile and villains revile! We could be helpful.” Indeed, Lyn smiled in amusement.

“Thank you for your concern, but we’re going alone,” Ceniro said.

“We don’t have any idea what will happen. We’d like you to deliver a message, if you would,” Hector said.

“Even if we successfully defeat Nergal, there’s no saying if we’ll survive the battle,” Lyn explained.

“If we don’t return…” Eliwood said. “I apologize for the inconvenience, but…”

“I’ll worry about that when the time comes,” said Fargus. “Have no fear!”

“Thank you,” said Eliwood. “Also… about Nils…”

“Yes, I’ll take good care of the lad. You going to say goodbye to him afore ye set out?”

“We’ll do that now,” Lyn said, walking over to where Nils sat alone and silent by the sea. “Nils…? We’re going now…”

He made no motion. Behind them, Ceniro could hear Fargus scolding Dart and telling him gruffly and awkwardly to make sure he came back.

The others followed her. “We’re going to shatter Nergal’s ambitions and bring him down!” said Hector. “You just hang out here and take it easy until we get back, okay?”

“Nils…” said Eliwood, kneeling beside him. “I… don’t think you’ll ever be able to forgive me for Ninian, and… I understand. But even though our power is no match for Nergal, we can’t give up. I swear to you, that as long as my heart beats, I will try to prevent anything like that from happening again to anyone.”

Nils made no answer except to pull up his scarf a bit more against the light wind.

“So…” Eliwood went on, “when… when things get… better for you, when you’ve moved past the pain a bit, please… keep going. I think that’s what Ninian would want, too.” When Nils held his silence, he stood and moved back towards Fargus. “…All right, we’re going now…”

“Hey,” Fargus said. “Don’t mess this up, pups!”

“Leave it to us!” Hector said, grinning, and saluted him casually.

The three lords and the tactician followed the rest of their group into the forbidding forest.

 

Ceniro found himself walking beside Pent, Louise, and Fiora again.

“This place simply emanates hostility,” Pent said. “It’s fascinating.”

“It’s rather creepy, is it not, Lord Pent?” Louise said, her hand ever on her husband’s arm.

“It is, but why? That is what I am curious about… Is it only from Nergal’s influence, or is it an innate feature of the island itself?” Pent turned to Fiora. “I can only apologize again for what happened here…”

“You have no need to apologize, my lord,” Fiora said. “We were careless and overestimated our abilities…”

“That’s hardly true,” Ceniro said. “You are a fine commander, Fiora, and a cautious, thoughtful person. And Pent certainly didn’t know what this place was like. Neither of you are to blame.”

“I’m not sure I can accept that,” Pent said ruefully.

“You really should, my lord,” Fiora said. “I have spent many sleepless nights over my Wing. I don’t need you doing the same. Ceniro doesn’t need you doing the same.”

“I suppose you have a point,” Pent said. “Though it only makes me feel more… ah… guilty, in a way.”

“Lord Pent,” Louise said, hugging his arm.

“I’m all right, Louise. Don’t mind my gloomy talk.”

“Besides, we are much stronger now,” Fiora said. “Not only in numbers, and the diverse range of our skills, but since I joined this group… I have been tested in a way that I never have before, and I am far stronger personally for it.”

“That is true for all of us,” Louise said. “Although I once swore to protect Lord Pent with my bow, I never had cause to do so in such seriousness before. And… I am rather glad of it.”

“Why is that?” Pent asked, looking confused at his wife.

“I can prove my worth,” Louise said. “Perhaps not to you, for you have always valued and loved me, but to myself. Perhaps that is selfish, but…”

“A sense of self-worth is not selfish,” Pent assured her. “And I am glad that you are glad, eh, Louise?”

Louise smiled. “What do you suppose we shall find ahead of us?”

“Why don’t we ask Ceniro?”

“There are plenty of mysterious ruins on this island,” Ceniro said. “Assuming we defeat Nergal, and assuming we survive, I’m sure you might want to visit again someday to have a look at them. Just… watch out for other people doing the same thing, all right?”

“Want to come with me?” Pent invited, half-joking.

“I’m not a huge fan of this place,” Ceniro answered in the same manner. “But if you paid me lots of money…”

“Done!” Pent said, and laughed.

“I was kidding,” Ceniro said, smiling. “What would I want with lots of money?”

“Ssssh!” Guy hissed, popping up beside them out of the forest. “Do you want the bad guys to hear us and ambush us?”

“I’m sorry,” Ceniro said. “We’ll keep it down.”

To all of their surprise, they travelled to within sight of the Dragon’s Gate unchallenged. The white ruins rose out of the forest ahead of them.

“There they are,” Lyn said. “So far, so good.”

“Looks like that luck you were hoping for held,” Hector said. “But it’s odd…”

“He’s probably saving his forces to meet us head-on in a defensible position rather than spread them across the island,” Ceniro said.

“Humph. That makes sense.” Hector looked up. “It’s not so cloudy as it was, is that a good thing?”

“I don’t know,” Ceniro said. “I don’t know if Nergal really controls the weather. But if it raises our spirits, I’ll take it for the time being.”

“Sounds good,” Eliwood said. “Do you think we should wait for Lord Athos here, or press on to the Gate itself? It’s only another hour’s march, looks like.”

The sky suddenly darkened, and there was a yell from behind them. “Lord Eliwood! Move!!”

Eliwood kicked his horse and it jumped ahead, half a moment before a lightning bolt fell from the sky and made a crater where he had been standing. They all looked around for the attacker, but saw no one. Ceniro checked the farseer – there was nothing on it, and that spooked him.

Hector clutched his chest. “Geez, don’t scare me like that…”

Eliwood and Lyn were looking back. “Nils!?”

“Nils!” Lyn cried. “You came!”

“I did!” Nils chirped, his youthful face full of determination as he ran up to them. The determination was subdued by his having to bend over and catch his breath. It looked like he had been running after them the whole way. But he straightened up again, his eyes clear and serious. “I’m not running away anymore. I have to take Ninian’s place. No, I have to do Ninian’s part and mine! I’ll fight with you, and we’ll change the course of fate!”

“Well spoken!” Hector said, and slapped him gently on the back. “Now you sound like a man!”

Lyn hugged him. “I’m so glad to see you!”

“I’m sorry for worrying you,” Nils said. “I’m all right. But we have more important things to deal with first.” He turned to the valley before them. “Stop skulking and come out! I know you’re there!”

A morph stepped from behind a tree. This one was even more beautiful than the rest, with long, shining wavy raven hair, and serene – if expressionless – golden eyes.

They all started with shock written on their faces, and Ceniro checked his farseer in alarm. It had only just registered that the morph was present.

“Who is that?” Lyn asked.

“Limstella,” Nils said. “The one who is always at Nergal’s side.”

“You’re a morph, right?” Hector said. “You sure look like one.”

Limstella’s eyes didn’t even flicker. “I’ve come for your quintessence. My servants will harvest it from you.”

Ceniro looked down at the farseer and jumped. Suddenly, the valley was crawling with red-marked figures. They were outnumbered three-to-one.

The others could see some of what he saw with their own eyes, but it didn’t matter to them. “We’ll fight our way through, no matter the numbers!” Hector said.

“We certainly can’t retreat!” Lyn agreed.

“He hasn’t called any dragons yet,” Nils said. “We might still be in time to stop him!”

Limstella turned and walked a few paces, then teleported away. Ceniro saw she reappeared at the entrance to the Dragon’s Gate, about the same place they had encountered Darin last time.

“I guess her ambush failed,” Ceniro said.

“I’m not really sure what Limstella is,” Nils said to him. “I’m not sure she… it has a gender.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Hector said. “She’s in our way. We can take her, even with that powerful magic.”

“That was very powerful magic,” Ceniro mumbled to himself.

“By rights, no living creature should be able to use magic like that,” Pent said, coming up behind him. “I suspect she will have more tricks up her sleeve. Be careful.”

“It’s you and Canas who will have to be careful,” Ceniro warned him. “You’ll be the ones taking her on, so start planning now.” He turned to the field, stepping forward from the group. “Time for the greatest challenge of my career…”

“You can do it,” Lyn said, smiling at him.

“Oh!” Nils cried. “Before I forget… Captain Fargus gave me this. It’s the excuse I had to come.” He held out his hand, and in it was an Earth Seal.

“Fantastic,” Ceniro said. “I know where to use this. We’ll have to thank him on our way back. All right, let’s get started. Eliwood!”

“On your order!” Eliwood answered, straightening in the saddle.

He divided the army into three groups. “There are three effective passages to the Dragon’s Gate, and we should probably take all three in one sweep so as to not leave any morphs at our back when we assault Nergal himself. So, each of you will lead one. I’ll coordinate so that we all end up at the Gate at the same time, but you’ll have to trust me on it.”

“We trust you,” Lyn assured him, smiling. “Who am I leading?”

Ceniro considered his map. “There a lot of ballistae scattered through the valleys; those weren’t there last time, were they? Lyn, you’re leading the Caelin soldiers for sure, including all three of the Pegasus sisters. Nino, Jaffar, and Canas will round out your group. You’ll head north. There’s archers, swordsmen, and wyverns up there.”

“Got it,” she said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before taking a few steps north to wait.

He smiled involuntarily. “Hector, you’ll take Oswin, Matthew, Serra, and also Pent, Louise, Erk, Karel and Guy, Raven, Lucius, Vaida, Dart, Geitz, and Merlinus will go with you. You’ll head east. There’s heavy infantry, axemen, and more wyverns on that side.”

“Aww, why do I gotta take Merlinus?” Hector grumbled.

“Do you think he’s a liability?” Ceniro asked calmly.

Hector hung his head. “Nah, he’s fine. I was just hoping to, you know, cut loose without having to worry about the luggage as well. I’m just being a brat. I’m fine.”

“Good to hear,” Ceniro said cheerfully. “Eliwood.”

“Here.”

“You’ll be leading the knights of House Pherae, as well as Rebecca, Lowen, and me, and also Priscilla, Hawkeye, Legault, Heath, Karla, and Bartre. We’re going up the middle valley, directly northeast to the Dragon’s Gate. Ahead of us are light cavalry, archers, and a lot of magic.”

“Where did Nergal get wyverns?” Vaida demanded. “Has he stolen them from Bern?”

“I have no idea,” Ceniro answered. “But I’m sure it’s been part of his long-term planning. Perhaps he stole them from mercenaries?”

“It’s an insult to the pride of Bern, is what it is,” Vaida snorted.

“You’re telling me!” Farina cried. “What about those pegasus riders over those hills!? No noble beast of Ilia should have to bear a morph! How did he enslave them so?”

“Questions you will have to ask him in person,” Eliwood said firmly. “Let’s move!”

“Come on, everyone!” Lyn cried to her group. “Do what you do best, and we’ll arrive in one piece!”

“No pressure or anything,” said Hector. “See you at the end!”

 

Despite the worry Ceniro had about a super-powered sage waiting for them – to say nothing of Nergal himself – the first part of the battle was quite smooth. Perhaps it was because he couldn’t see the other two groups, but even the ballistae didn’t worry him all that much. They kept to the trees as much as they could, until he could send someone to take out the ballistae at an angle the morphs couldn’t target.

The Pheraean cavalry, now including Harken, met the morph cavalry head-on, and though he heard cries of injury, the morphs disappeared. He sent Priscilla to heal them with Karla and Bartre as escort. Was he being too clinical? He felt he lacked sufficient concern for his friends and allies.

Or maybe he had no room for that kind of thinking. Any slip-up now could be fatal to someone. He made it look easy, but… against opponents of this caliber, it truly wasn’t. Even if his friends were injured, he’d get them all through alive – so if Sain taking a possible lance in the leg meant that Kent would avoid getting flanked and shot in the back, he would take it. His brows lowered in determination. He had to concentrate. He owed them no less. Though of course, fewer injuries were better.

He should probably stop introspecting and send Vaida to pull some of the axemen facing Hector’s group into a trap with Guy, Karel, Raven, and Louise at the end of it.

Heath was finally in a position to take down the main ballista aiming down the central valley, and Ceniro gave him the order. Now, they could move ahead much quicker. He gave the order, and the knights galloped across the open space of the valley to clash with more mounted morphs. There was a splintering of lances on shields and a ring of swords on swords. Then Hawkeye barrelled into them from the flank, his giant axe dealing catastrophic damage. Ceniro sent Legault to cut him an escape route before the Nabatan was surrounded and severely wounded. On the other side of the valley, Priscilla called down thunder on a lone lost morph, whose crispy charge towards her was halted by Rebecca’s arrow.

And that was only Eliwood’s group.

He would have liked to be with Lyn again, like old times, to see her fly with her sword like a green dart at her enemies, and to see the rush of the pegasus wings as they swooped on their prey like great white eagles. But he wanted a central position, and this was the route that made sense for Eliwood’s group, not Lyn’s.

It was fine. He’d see her in action again as they came around the hills.

There was a lull, and Ceniro took the opportunity to pull his head out of the farseer and breathe for a minute. Eliwood was circling around to him, having just finished off a morph light-magic user. Ceniro nodded encouragingly at him and got a strong smile in return.

Suddenly, he felt like someone or something punched him in the chest. Curious, he looked down, and saw about a foot and a half of arrow protruding from his chest, just under the breastplate Hector had once given him.

He blinked at it. There was no pain, only a pressure, and… he couldn’t breathe, and all he saw was clouded sky, and Eliwood’s shocked face hovering over him, and he was so close, he was so close to the end, and he couldn’t breathe, HE COULDN’T BREATHE-

 

“Priscilla!” Eliwood’s frantic scream echoed through the valley. His tactician lay unmoving, eyes staring sightlessly up at the sky. He couldn’t lose him now, not one of his closest friends. Ceniro had said this battle would be the greatest challenge he had faced, and it seemed like his orders were more direct than ever, his tactics tighter. Could they even win without him? And the next battle, which was sure to be even greater?

Even more than that, could he himself continue as he lost another person dear to him?

It seemed an eternity he contemplated that dreadful thought, before Priscilla came, hastened on her way by Heath and Nils.

She looked at the body and tears welled up in her eyes. “I… I can’t… I can’t help him, Lord Eliwood. He’s… It’s…”

“I know,” Eliwood said quietly. “I knew it when I saw him fall. I… What do I do now?”

Priscilla couldn’t answer him; she was crying. Rebecca and Lowen were rushing over; Isadora, Harken, too.

Eliwood gradually became aware that he could hear people, people he shouldn’t have been able to hear. His gaze slowly turned towards the farseer, fallen into the grass beside Ceniro.

“Ceniro?” “Ceniro, you there?” “Everything okay over there?” “Sir Ceniro, we need your orders.”

Eliwood took a deep breath and picked it up. “Everyone…” The entire group fell silent hearing his voice. “Ceniro is dead.” He couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“No!” Lyndis cried, her voice cracking. “He- he can’t be!”

“It’s true,” Eliwood said numbly. “An archer…” The archer was probably still around. Eliwood jumped to his feet and drew his sword again, in time see an archer step from behind a tree and target Priscilla. With a cry of anger, he charged the archer on foot.

The archer’s arrows whizzed by his shoulder, and one of them struck him in the arm. But he kept going. It was all he could do in this moment. The morph showed no fear at his approach, no reaction when Eliwood reached him and stabbed him through the gut, only turning to dust as they all did.

He turned back to Priscilla, his arm hanging limp. “Priscilla. We still need you.”

She looked up, sniffling, and attempted to dry her tears as she picked up her staff to heal him. “Yes… Yes. We will keep fighting, won’t we?”

“We can’t do anything else!” Eliwood’s head came up, and he looked towards the northeast with fire in his eyes. He grabbed the farseer again. He had to keep the army together before they all became disorganized and demoralized and possibly killed. “Everyone! We can’t give up now. Ceniro’s trained us well, and we’ve learned much from him. We have to keep going, to defeat Limstella, and then Nergal!” He pointed at Rebecca, Isadora, Lowen, and Harken, and they saluted and hurried off as Eliwood swung himself back into his saddle.

“Right on!” Hector said. “He got us this far, and we’ll take him the rest of the way with us! Now go rip apart every morph you see!”

“I… I still don’t believe it…” Lyndis said. “How can… He was… I am going to tear the Dragon’s Gate stone from stone! I-it won’t bring him back. But how-! How!” Everything else she said was only screaming, and the farseer automatically made her voice quieter so he could hear the others clearly still.

“Lord Eliwood,” Priscilla spoke up, still struggling with her tears. “I’ll… I’ll take him with us, if I may.”

“You may,” Eliwood said. “As long as you can keep up your healing at the same time. I can always have Lowen take him.”

“Yes, sir. I can do it.”

“I might not be even in Ceniro’s sphere… but I’ll do my best to both fight and lead,” Eliwood said, grabbing his lance. “Hector, Lyndis, let’s split the command. I don’t think I can… you know. Manage everything.”

“Got it,” Hector said. “I’ve got things over here. Just… are we about ready to turn north yet?”

Eliwood glanced at the mysterious farseer. “Uh… yes? I think so. Why not have Vaida spot for you?”

“You think that dame will listen to anything I say?”

“She’ll have to now,” Eliwood said. “I’m officially putting you in charge.”

“Ugh,” said Vaida. “Now we’re not only being led by a child, but a child with no tactical experience.”

“We have lots of experience!” Hector objected. “We just used to leave the decisions up to Ceniro. Now get up there and get us oriented towards the Dragon’s Gate!”

“I’m here,” Lyndis said, her voice hoarse and grating. “I don’t think I’m fit to command.”

“You are, Lady Lyndis,” Kent said earnestly. “We’re here to assist you.”

“We have… a bit of a situation?” Fiora’s voice came through. “There’s a man here, a bishop. He is offering to join us because… we’re being too noisy and disturbing him with our fighting?”

Lyndis cleared her throat. “We can use everyone. He doesn’t look like a morph, does he?”

“I think he is sincere,” Fiora answered. “He looks nothing like a morph.”

“Then yes, he can join. Now… just try and keep up with me!” Lyndis’s figure launched into action, sprinting across the landscape. Morphs fell before her sword like grain before a scythe, and none of them could touch her. “Kent, Sain, Wallace, Dorcas, I saw archers on the right. Florina! You said there were some magic users to the north, right? Take the new guy, Nino, Canas, and Jaffar and elimate them. I’ll take care of these wyverns. Wil, Rath, follow me.”

“You’re doing great, Lyndis,” Eliwood said. “I see a druid up ahead. We should attack him with someone fast and agile, right? Karla, Legault, can you stop the druid from attacking Marcus and the rest of the cavalry as we head to deal with this group of axemen?”

He spurred Oren and the great white horse leapt forward, ever closer to the Dragon’s Gate.

He was nervous. Not for his group, so much, but he had the farseer. The other didn’t, and they were working relatively blind. He thought back to what Ceniro had sometimes said about the magical tool being a crutch, and wondered if there was a way he could help while still paying enough attention to his own fighting.

“Hector, we may have a problem,” Pent said, his voice scratchy and distorted. “Our magic just stopped working. I believe it is the magic seal again.”

“Ohhhhh shit,” Hector said. Eliwood could barely hear him. “Well, you guys …… north. All you magic users, …… swordmasters, and you two pirates, head north and try ……… from his influence. The …… you, follow me! We’re …… destroy this thing … and for …”

“… not a pirate,” Geitz mumbled.

“Good luck, Hector,” Eliwood said, leaning down to stab a morph but only succeeding in meeting its axe. Hector didn’t answer. He probably couldn’t hear him.

Once he had killed it, he looked at the farseer, worried that it might be broken again like the last time they had encountered the magic seal, but it was still clearly showing the landscape and the dozens of tiny figures scattered across it – though, now he noticed that Hector’s group was not showing up, nor were any of the enemy towards the southeast. As he watched, a small group of figures began to appear, led by Lord Pent, heading north towards him.

“We should send a few of ours south to help him,” Eliwood said to no one in particular. “Hawkeye, Isadora, Harken, and Heath, go south and find Hector. Help him destroy that magic seal! I won’t be able to help you or even speak to you while you’re inside its sphere of influence.” He wondered what coincidence meant that he had mentioned everyone in the group whose name began with an H in the same sentence.

“Understood,” Isadora said crisply, and turned to lead the reinforcements south.

“Lyndis, we have to take care of the rest of the morphs by the time he finishes.”

“Way ahead of you,” she answered grimly. Yes, it seemed that she personally was closer to the Dragon’s Gate than anyone in his group.

“Lady Lyn, be careful!” Nils said. “Limstella has bolting; it’s how she targeted Lord Eliwood before.”

“I’d like to see her hit me,” Lyndis said. “However… Florina, you and your sisters watch out. You may be resistant to magic, but Pent said that Limstella’s magic is greater than a normal person’s.”

“Yes, Lyn,” Florina said. “Look out for the cavalry approaching from the north.”

“Nino, Canas, help me out here.”

“Hector’s been gone a long time,” Eliwood muttered to himself.

“Not to worry,” Pent said, dodging archers and retaliating with Elfire. “I think they were in a good position when I left. Atch!” He stopped behind a tree, an arrow in his leg. Serra healed him, as Karel appeared out of nowhere and cut through the archers from the side, as Geitz drew their fire with his own arrows. Erk and Lucius kept their heads down, sending magical flak at the enemy when they could.

They were all playing it a bit more cautiously now.

They suddenly heard Hector give a triumphant cry, and Eliwood grabbed urgently for the farseer. All his group was still there, suddenly appearing in a cluster in a ruin to the south. The number of morphs left on the field was very few, and all ahead of them, around the main ruins.

“Well done, Hector,” Eliwood said.

“You didn’t doubt me, did you?” Hector asked.

“Not at all. Come on north. We’re about done up here.”

 

Limstella was waiting for them. Dressed in elegant black and white, she stood motionless in the entrance to the Dragon’s Gate.

“You have come far,” she said as Eliwood rode up, Lyndis and Hector beside him. “But it does not matter. I will take your life and your essence, all for the sake of my master. My master… and the one who already gave his life for him.” She raised her hands, and an immense wind began to swirl around all of them. “Excalibur!”

At first it was only gusty, and the lighter members of the army clung to heavier ones – Priscilla to Heath, Rebecca to Lowen, Nino to Jaffar. “Lyn, get behind me,” Hector said, and Lyndis did so, shielding her face with her arm. The wind began to sting, picking up more and more in speed. Already it was unnaturally strong and sharp, and show no signs of slacking – nor did Limstella’s arms drop. Leaves and small stones were whipping at them, and soon the very stones were groaning.

“We didn’t come all this way just to get blown away by some wind!” Lyndis cried, planting her sword in the ground and clinging to it. “What did Ceniro say about her?”

“We need all the magic users!” Pent said, inching his way over to Eliwood. “Canas, Erk, Nino! Priscilla, Lucius, Serra, and you, sir, Renault! We’ll fight her together!”

“Don’t forget us!” Fiora cried, the pegasi buffeted terribly by the wind, yet still soaring more easily than the wyverns. There was no way Heath’s Hyperion was taking off here, and Vaida had been forced out and away from the rest of the group. “You give us an opening, and we’ll take her down!”

“I’m not sure we can, but understood!” Pent shouted over the wind. “Help me!” He began casting something, and the others seemed to have some sort of plan, as they began joining in.

Eliwood hoped they’d be done in time. In the meantime, he clambered off Oren, who was bracing his legs and neighing unhappily, and began forcing his way forward on foot. Hector and Lyndis were right behind him, but soon Hector was in front, since his heavier armour and sturdier frame gave him better support.

Hector reached out to either side and took their hands, and together, step by step, they pressed on through the storm.

The magic users were building some kind of magical shield for most of the group. It was a mismatched barrier of light, dark, and ice. Eliwood worried about the ice, but if Pent was building it, it would hold without splintering as long as he had magic in him. At least, he guessed so – he knew almost nothing about magic.

Lyndis gave a cry and almost let go, blood running down her leg – something had hit her. Hector gripped their hands tighter. The very wind was beginning to cut, and Eliwood and Hector’s cloaks were beginning to shred.

Hector gave a roar and hauled Eliwood and Lyndis to the edge of the storm, where they took cover behind a pillar hastily. Lyndis felt her waist for a vulnerary on her belt.

The storm heightened to a shriek, pummeling the outside of the barrier. Eliwood watched in fear – anyone not inside the barrier would be killed in moments.

When someone tapped him on the shoulder, he jumped and almost cried out.

Matthew was there. “My lords…” He held out the bomb Ceniro had held until they left Ostia. “Now might be a good time to use this.”

“Great thinking, Matthew!” Hector said. “Lyn, you’re probably the best shot of all of us. Think you can get it under her feet somehow?”

“Leave it to me,” Lyndis said, her blue eyes hard and full of resolution. She took it, turned the dial on the bottom until it clicked, then peered out from behind the pillar at Limstella.

Limstella was beginning to add other elements into her storm, lightning, ice, and fire. “That’s not possible,” Hector said. “Is it?”

Lyndis braced herself, then sprinted from behind cover.

Limstella’s head whipped around towards her, but Lyndis was already moving too fast.

Limstella’s hand began to move.

Lyndis dropped the bomb by Limstella’s foot and pressed it.

Both Lyndis and Limstella went flying, a fiery blast erupting from the small disc.

Both women twisted gracefully and landed in a ready crouch, facing each other. Their clothes were torn and charred. Lyndis’s hand was burned, but it was already on her sword. Flame flickered around Limstella’s hands. But her storm had ceased entirely, and Eliwood couldn’t see any casualties.

“Here!” Fiora cried from the sky, and everyone looked up. The three pegasus knights darted in from three different directions, three shining lances cleaving the air towards Limstella.

Fiora – Florina – Farina – the three knights hit one after another in quick succession, each deeply wounding their target.

Limstella staggered, the magic disappearing from her hands. But she lifted her head and looked at them. “I am not human. This body and this heart are constructs. Yes… as is this sorrow.”

She wavered and fell sideways, but her body was dust before it reached the ground.

 

 

Chapter 9: Sands of Time         Chapter 11: Light