The Wolves Coming

This should have been the age of peace.

That was one of the reasons she went back; to ensure the dark future of her timeline didn't occur and – if she survived, in which she was – enjoyed an era where instead of blood and steal, peace and happiness are what common.

To be honest, she only thought about the latter part when her mother suggested it. She had been so focused on her task that she didn't think about what she would do in the aftermath.

Well, one thing she knew that she would do was to disappear from her parents and their friends' lives. Her mother already promised that she would find a way so that she and others could stay, but she has no intention of burdening her with an almost impossible task.

So, when nobody was looking, and after saying goodbye to her "sister," she went off to another adventure alongside her friends and brother, who more or less share the same view as her. Though there were some who decided to stay, like Noire.

"Luci, you're ready?"

"Huh?" She stopped her thought and looked at her brother.

"The others are about to start. I believe we should join them now."

"Right."

After delivering the news, her brother went off earlier. She picked up the sword that she put beside her before joining him. Along the way to their destination, they saw other soldiers preparing their weapons and armor for the upcoming battle.

When they reached their destination, they saw that a woman was looking at a map on a table. Noticing the arrival of two individuals, she diverted her attention from the map and into them.

"Tactician. Marth." Said the woman.

"Raider." Said Marth back.

As both women stared at each other, Tactician approached the map that Raider was looking at earlier. Alongside the map were several parchments with information written on them. He looked at some of the parchments before pointing his index finger at several parts of the map.

"Enough?" Asked Raider towards the boy.

"Yeah. Should be." Replied Tactician. "Why needed tactic? You strong enough to bash everyone's head."

"I yes. Many not. Preserve their lives."

Upon hearing that, Tactician refocused himself on the map and the parchments. After that, he talked with Raider about the tactics that will be used in the upcoming battle. With the talking done, Marth decided to remind Raider about one important fact.

"The deal?" Asked the blue-haired woman.

"Help us in battle, we bring you home." Stated Raider.

"And…?"

"Warborn will not raid your home."

"Good then." Marth suddenly took a step forward and jabbed her finger at Raider's chest. "Don't keep your words, you'll pay."

Rather than feeling intimidated or being angered, Raider merely smiled and nodded her head. Marth withdrew her hand and took a step back before walking away from the Viking, with her brother following soon after.

"Do you think it's a good idea to antagonize Raider? We're going to need her help to return home." Stated Tactician.

"The Vikings prefer straightforwardness and to-the-point attitude. Not so dissimilar from the Feroxi." Replied Marth.

"Still…"

"No matter. It's already water under the bridge. We better prepare for the battle." Marth then patted Tactician's back. "Come, Marc."

The Tactician, Marc, rubbed his back for a while before smiling and followed her sister.

Half an hour later…

In front of a wooden gate, four Vikings footmen and a Raider were currently chatting with each other. However, their conversation was interrupted when something crashed near them. One of the footmen looked at the thing and found out that it was a vial. A few seconds later, the surrounding area was engulfed by flame.

After the flame extinguished, Marth and Marc led a group of Vikings towards the now-nothing-but-ashes gate. As they ran through the gate, archers began to fire at them from the towers. Marth immediately grabbed Marc and hide behind a house as their Viking allies were shot down by the arrows. Marc opened his tome and searched through the pages before finding the correct one. He waited for the next volley of arrows before emerging from his cover and used a fire spell on a tower.

The effect was instant; the tower was immediately engulfed in flame. The archers in it jumped from the tower, taking a possibility of surviving from a fall rather than being burned alive. Not long after they jumped, however, the tower fell, killing those unable to escape from the falling debris.

The fall of the tower sow chaos among the hostile Viking forces; a chance that was used by Marth and Marc to attack them. They drew out a longsword Sirius and a gladius Optio respectively and cut down any Viking footmen and archers in their way. Their advance was halted by two Viking lieutenants. The siblings looked at each other and nodded before fighting the lieutenants.

Marth let the lieutenant attacked her first. She blocked three strikes from him before parrying the last strike. The Viking lost his balance and was unable to do anything to protect himself from Marth's strikes. She slashed his chest before stabbing his knee. As he fell to his knee, the woman grabbed the blade of her sword and struck the lieutenant with the pommel, ending his life.

Unlike his sister who waited for an opportunity, Marc immediately attacked his opponent. The lieutenant effortlessly blocked all of his striking. Frustrated, the blue-haired boy gave another strike. This time, however, the Viking parried his attack and managed to slash him in retaliation. March though was able to dodge the next attack, which would be fatal as it was directed at his chest.

Seeing her brother in danger, Marth tried to give him a help. "Tried" being the keyword as she was stopped by a throwing axe that almost hit her head. She looked at the direction of where it was coming and saw a Berserker approaching her, flanked by several footmen. Marth gritted her teeth, knowing that she would be unable to help Marc. She then gave a command to the Warborn footmen behind her to help her, which they did.

Marc gritted his teeth in frustration as his opponent laughed at him. He slowly approached the Viking lieutenant, who stopped laughing and ready for another fight. This time, it was the lieutenant who struck first. Marc dodged the attacks, bidding his time until the Viking was out of breath. Once he did, the boy immediately struck the lieutenant at his left foot. The man dropped to his knee, giving Marc an opening to slice his throat before jamming his gladius at the chest.

As he pulled out the blade, Marc looked at his sister, who was currently cleaning her longsword. Scattered among her feet were the corpses of the enemies. She looked at him as the Warborn fighters pushed further into the settlement.

"Come on, Marc. Let's go." Said, Marth, as she followed the Warborn.

"Right behind you, Luci." Replied the brother before following the sister.

For several minutes, they didn't need to do any fighting as most of the hostile Vikings in the area were too busy fighting the Warborn. When they arrived at a house full of wooden barrel, Marth – or Luci, as her brother called her – broke one of them to reveal the potatoes inside it.

"That's a lot of potatoes." Commented Marc.

Luci diverted her attention to the only crate in the house. When she opened it, she found out that it contained several vials. She grabbed one and threw it at Marc, who almost dropped it.

Holding the vial tightly in his hands, Marc went towards the street and looked around. When he saw a large group of hostile Vikings approaching some Warborn footmen, March immediately threw the vial at them. Those Vikings were engulfed in flame alongside a house. From the house, several more Vikings emerged as they tried to extinguish the fire on their bodies.

"We should bring these vials when we go home." Stated Marc excitedly.

"Yeah, no. Last time you have a large supply of them, you created a forest fire." Said Luci who had finished inspecting the house.

"Oh, come on. It's…"

"Hey!" The siblings diverted their attention to the yeller. "Less talking, more fighting!"

"Of course, Runa." Said, Luci, as her brother and she began to run.

The Valkyrie let out a snort before returning to her own business.

"So, what now?" Asked Marc as both Luci and he were stopped by several Viking footmen.

"Find the leader of this Viking clan. A man called Bjord." Answered Luci as she cut down two footmen.

"Ah, Bjord the Warlord." Marc dodged an attack before stabbing a footman in her throat. "So, that one, then?"

Luci looked at where Marc pointed his gladius at. There, cutting down any Warborn footmen that dare to cross his path, was a Warlord. Judging from the fact that the color of his clothing was different from the Warborn as if his own actions weren't enough as identification, the man was none other than Bjord.

As if feeling the gaze, Bjord turned his attention to Luci and Marc. He cut down one more man before charging towards the siblings. Seeing him coming, both of them made a short work of their remaining opponents. Marc was about to open his tome when a shield hit his head, knocking him down.

"Marc!" Exclaimed Luci. However, her worries soon disappear when Bjord tried to strike her. She blocked the attack, only for him to broke her guard before throwing her away.

As Luci stood up, Bjord went towards his shield and picked it up, ignoring Marc who was incapacitated. He bashed his sword on his shield while shouting something at her. Luci didn't know much about Icelandic, the language used by the Vikings, but she could guess that he was mocking her.

Before any of them could make a move, someone ran towards Bjord. The Warlord noticed it and managed to block an attack. He and Luci looked at the attacker and saw that it was Raider. With her axe embedded in his shield, Bjord tried to disarm Raider, only for her to pull her axe back in the last second.

Both the Warlord and the Raider have their attention on each other, ignoring Luci. The swordswoman didn't complain though, as it gave her an opportunity to drag Marc from danger. Bjord let out a war cry and charged towards Raider. He managed to land several hits, but most of his attacks were blocked by her. Then, Raider decided to parry instead of blocking. It resulted in Bjord losing his balance. Combined with his fatigue, he was now vulnerable.

Sensing an opportunity, Raider smiled as she buried her axe in Bjord's shoulder. The Warlord cried out in pain, but she was not done yet. Raider grabbed him by the collar and pushed him towards iron spikes. She then let him go, leaving the momentum to did the last part.

From the side, Luci and Marc watched as Raider almost effortlessly dealt with the Warlord.

"That was…anti-climactic." Commented Luci.

"You have to admit, that was a good tactic though." Stated Marc.

The siblings were not the only one that watched the fight; there were also Vikings from both sides. Happy with the victory, Raider raised her axe and let out a war cry, which was soon followed by the Warborn doing the same thing and the enemies surrendering.

The battle was over.

The next day…

On the pier, Marc and Luci watched as some Warborn sailors prepared the ship that will take both of them back to Ylisse. Behind them were Raider, Runa, and Helvar. As they waited for the ship to be ready, Marc asked something important towards Luci.

"You sure we should go home now? We haven't found the Falchion yet, Lucina. I know how important the sword is to you." Stated the boy.

"No. It's been more than a year since I lost it. I know it's still somewhere on this continent. I just…I don't think I'll ever get it back." Replied Luci – or Lucina – as she put her head on her hand. "By Naga, how will I tell father this?"

"He will understand. The situation was out of our control."

"That doesn't make it any better!" Lucina's exclamation made Marc flinched back.

"Oy! Ship ready!" Stated a sailor suddenly.

Upon hearing that, Lucina turned her attention towards the three Vikings behind her. She put the best glare that she could make.

"Remember, no raiding our home!" Stated Lucina with as much intimidation as she could make.

"You have my words. I swear to the Allfather!" Declared Raider.

Lucina didn't erase her glare. She turned around and headed towards the ship, with Marc following soon after. Without any delay, the ship began to sail towards the ocean, leaving the trio alone on the pier.

"So…" Said Helvar unsurely. "…we really won't raid their home?"

"In the name of Allfather, I swear that the Warborn will not raid the home of Marth and Marc of Ylisse!" Stated Raider with a smile before walking away from the pier.

Confused, Helvar looked at Runa, wondering whether she could offer a better explanation. The Valkyrie let out a small laugh before following Raider.

"The wording." Said Runa simply.

Still confused, Helvar scratched his head before following his companion. Oh well, there were still many places where they can perform a raid.

And this chapter is over.

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