A/N: God, I can't even write a single chapter without digressing and doing a one-shot.
Ilyana, Sage Extraordinaire, looked out over the bridge. Daein was pulling out all the stops, this time. There were traps under the bridge to force them to march in a straight line and everything. The ballistas had been set up, as had walls preventing them from charging the snipers operating them.
Tactically, it was bad news for Crimea, and by extension the Greil Mercenaries, and by extension of that, the Merchant Caravan she traveled with. Aimee, Jorge and the rest didn't make any money if there was no one to sell to, after all. Of course, no opposition meant there was no need for weapons or staves or vulnerary's, which was also bad for business.
It was odd, the circumstances that had led Ilyana to this point. She was captured by Daein, and forced to fight under their flag and assault the Griel Mercenaries' base. Of course, Ike had offered her salvation with him, and she readily accepted. Aimee would have been furious with her if she hadn't, and gotten herself killed.
In a way, Ilyana had a debt to repay to that merchant caravan that had taken her in, no questions asked, and given her all the food they could reasonably afford. It was wonderful, the way they were so accepting, so welcoming. So she had a life-debt, and she would repay it to the best of her abilities.
And right now, that meant fighting in this battle on the bridge. Her orders were to kill General Petrine so that Ike may claim the castle for Crimea, and she supposed that would be easy enough. Petrine, an admittedly attractive woman, was also a dog to Ashnard, and was famed for her Flame Lance, which had the ability to surround any foe with fire, burning them to a crisp. Ilyana smiled when she received this particular order. It would be easy, so easy. The thing about Petrine was, she was hardly a caster by any means, and did not have the adeptness with magic required to break through a Sage's honed and tested resistance to magic. And, unfortunately for Petrine indeed, the Flame Lance operated on a magical level.
It was time.
The battle proceeded quickly and efficiently. Each order was perfect, and the ballistae soon ran out of bolts, not harming anyone past their ability to heal. Ilyana had dodged one herself, in fact. Then she had rushed forward, and charred the archer to a crisp. She smiled, and left the corpse there for now. Soren had advised them to throw the corpses over the bridge so that they may poison the water supply, but Ike had steadfastly refused. Soren had conceded readily enough--poison would be bad for diplomacy later.
And so that was how the battle was won. Jill had flown back to speak with an old friend about halfway through, and he, like Ilyana before her, turned on the wyverns he had rode in with, and killed them. Ilyana only smiled again.
Soon, they were at the keep, and they received reinforcements from the last of Crimea's forces, who decimated wyverns that had come from Daein. And now it was time for Ilyana to shine.
Petrine barked her little taunt, but the Sage didn't pay an ounce of attention. She was focused, sure of what she was about to do. Petrine tossed her lance, and halfway through the air, it turned to the fire that it was so famous for. Ilyana watched it come, and made no move to avoid it. She continued to stare intently at Petrine, and took a deep breath.
The flames licked at her, surrounded her. The temperature around Ilyana rose to unbearable degrees, and others in that situation would have screamed in agony as their skin melted off. But not Ilyana. She focused her magic, her commune with the spirits of the world, and endured. The flames continued their assault on her, but soon they died out, having nothing to burn. And Ilyana was fine, save for a few marks here and there, but they could easily be cured.
And now it was time, time for the counterattack. Ilyana retrieved her tome from the band by her hip, and opened it. Half the words had already been erased, their magic already used, and they had disappeared instantly. But not these. Ilyana glanced at them, and smiled. This particular incantation would be particularly effective. She put her tome back on her hip.
Ilyana danced. There was no other word for it, that was the way she moved. Her arms reached in, and out, and she spun. One hand raised into the air, as if calling the thunder that would soon be racing down onto General Petrine, one of Daein's Four Riders. The electricity crackled around Petrine, as did four small bolts of lightning, dancing around her as Ilyana did. But these small bolts were really just for show.
The main bolt, the bolt that Ilyana had summoned through nothing but her own power, raced down from the sky. General Petrine glanced upwards, and did not even try to move out of the way, for she knew very well that time had only seemed to slow down as the bolt, and her death, raced towards her. There would be no time.
She wondered if this was, perhaps, judgement.
CRACK--OOOM!
Ilyana lowered her arm, her work done. Petrine was no longer, and now she only needed to wait for General Ike to capture the fort. But in the meantime, she "did her duty" and dragged the corpse of Petrine away from her horse and into the trees to the south.
Later, the celebrations of a battle well-won were underway. The Feast had already been had, and Ilyana enjoyed herself very much. Now came the music and the dancing. Ilyana was not one for music, so she had slipped away from the camp, and back to the trees that the fort overlooked.
Back to her quarry.
Ilyana brought a well-worn tome of Fire from her belt, and made herself a makeshift campfire. She then threw Petrine's body on the fire, grunting from the effort. Ilyana wondered why no one had ever questioned why she was so very strong, for a Sage.
After a few minutes, she removed the magic of the fire, and begin to eat.
Ilyana devoured the corpse like a woman possessed. Meat was meat, she didn't give a damn what animal it had been before. She moaned as the skin slithered down her throat. It was delicious. There was something about this meat that enticed her more than any beef or pork could. This meat was delicious.
All too soon, the meat was gone, but still Ilyana hungered. Then, she looked to her right, and saw a whole bridge just full of corpses ready for the taking.
Tonight, Ilyana would finally be rid of her hunger, at least for a while.
A/N: WHAT THE HELL, BRAIN?!
This was pretty damned creepy. I got the idea when Ilyana and Mia got their support in which Ilyana gnaws on Mia's foot.
I was so mad when Ilyana ended up sucking in Radiant Dawn. L
Holy shit this was written in 40 minutes. Why can't I write Heir that fast?