Edward Elric sat upon a pile of dusty books, nestled in a blanket. A large tome of highly advanced alchemical equations rested on his knees. He had been reading for awhile inside the deep, freezing cold confines of the National Library stacks. His focus finally began to fade under the weight of so much knowledge. His eyelids felt as heavy as the large encyclopedia at the base of his seat. Unable to think of anything but his want for a soft bed, he allowed himself to drift off.

The unexpected chime of the library clock, and the flop of his alchemy book onto the cobblestone floor, brought him back to his senses. He rubbed his face with his prosthetic hand. The coldness of the metal helped shock him back to alertness. He counted the chimes.

Two in the morning.

"Getting tired, brother?"

Ed looked up at his little brother. Alphonse Elric, once a human boy but now just a soul tied by alchemy to a giant suit of armor, stood a short way up the aisle. He held in his steel hands another ancient tome of alchemy.

"Just a little bit. Nothing a hot drink won't solve." Ed responded.

He reached for mug of hot cocoa, which sat on top of a precarious stack of scientific periodicals. Every once and awhile, he kept the drink warm by instructing the slowing molecules of the liquid to speed up again. It was an easy procedure, one of the first learned by every student of alchemy. It was not so easy for Ed's weary left hand to pick up the drink.

"Whoops!"

The mug fell to the ground and shattered into piece. Al rushed forward.

"Brother! Your cocoa!"

Al clapped his metal gauntlets together, and then stooped to touch the pieces of the mug. This surprised Ed for a moment, until he remembered that Al could perform alchemy without a transmutation circle too. Al, just as his brother before him, had seen the Gate of Truth. The sight of the Gate granted wisdom, but it came at a tremendous cost.

Years ago, when the brothers made a terrible decision and tried to resurrect their beloved mother, the Gate almost separated the boys forever. It took Alphonse's body and Edward's leg as a price for their sin. It cost Edward another limb, his right arm, just to get his brother's soul back.

The horrible pain brought on by the destruction of his body caused Alphonse to forget the sight of the Gate. But just weeks ago the blood of a dying chimera touched the sigil that bound Al's soul to the armor, which caused his memories of the Gate had returned to his mind. Soon after, he discovered he possessed many of the same abilities wielded by his brother.

Al could not deny that alchemy performed with but a clap felt much easier than drawing out all the necessary symbols, although he did continue to pride himself on his skill with chalk. Either way, a broken mug was an easy fix.

"Here you go, brother" Al presented his brother with the remade vessel, which still contained a piping hot drink, "Better drink it now; I heated it up for you."

"Thanks, Al" Ed smiled as he sipped the warm, frothy liquid.

Ed let the blanket slip off his shoulders as he stood to stretch his legs. Even with his brother kneeling, Ed could only see the top of Al's helm while standing on top of a sizeable almanac.

"You know, I like it this way. You ought to shuffle around on your knees more Al."

"And let you gloat about being the tall brother? I think not Ed. You wouldn't shut up about it, after all these years." Al rose to his metal feet. His helmet stood at eye level with the top shelf of books.

"Oh yeah!?" Ed set down his cocoa and proceeded to scale the bookshelf behind him like a ladder. He scrambled up seven levels as quick as a monkey, so he could face his brother without having to crane his neck. He smirked confidently.

"See how determined I am? I'll catch up with you someday!"

Ed's smirk quickly faded to an expression of concern as he felt the bookshelf shift beneath him. Then he stifled a yelp as the whole shelf plunged backward into the next aisle.

Ed rolled free from the shelf, but the damage was done. His shelf slammed into the next one, which toppled into the next after that. The shelves went on falling like dominos until the brothers could see the wall of the library, many yards away.

"Nice going Ed," Al sighed. Ed just stared, dumbfounded by the disaster.

"Hey, who goes there!" a far off voice shouted.

Ed cringed "Oh no, it's the night-watchman. I should have known all that would wake him."

"Brother, if he finds us, we'll lose our library clearance for sure. The whole place is closed and we're not even allowed to be in this area," Al whined.

"Ahh! Run for it!" Ed cried.

The two brothers sprinted through library. They could not go towards the front entrance, as the watchman's desk stood there, so they headed deeper into the building.

"How are we gonna get out?" Al squeaked over the clank of his armor.

"Gotta be back entrance. Emergency or something. C'mon!" Ed puffed.

"Whose in here!? Show yourself!" the watchman's voice sounded nearer. Every watchman knew their way through the library. The brothers also had the misfortune of being pursued by a particularly young and spry watchman. Their apprehension of getting caught began to rise to uncomfortable levels.

Several minutes of unbroken sprinting soon got the better of Ed and he needed to take a breather. He bent down, gasping for air.

"Do I need to carry you brother!? We're going to get caught if we don't hurry." Al glanced around worriedly, on the lookout for the beam of the watchman's flashlight.

Ed put out a hand to steady himself against the wall. Surprisingly, his hand touched a wooden door frame instead of stone. Ed looked up and sure enough saw a small wood door. A small sign on the door read in bold letter: CLOSED & FORBIDDEN.

His hand moved to the doorknob. To his surprise, once again, it was unlocked.

Ed opened the door. An unlit candle lay on a small table within. Beyond that, he could make out a spiral staircase leading down into the darkness.

"Al, this way." Ed moved through the entrance, but his brother saw the sign on the door

"Ed, are you crazy? We'll get in even more trouble if we go in there," Al quibbled.

"Hey, I can hear you! No use hiding from me!" the watchman was definitely near now.

Ed gave his brother a quizzical look and said "Does it really matter at this point?"

Without further hesitation, Al ducked through the door and shut it. He heard the watchman come pounding up by the door. He could see the flashlight through the cracks.

"Lost 'em," the watchman grumbled to himself, unaware that his quarry was hiding close by, "They were in the special clearance section. Better call for backup."

The light and the footsteps went away, but the boys knew they were not safe.

"Why do you always go and get us into trouble like this, brother? It makes being related to you difficult." Al complained, half-jokingly.

"I'm supposed to get you into trouble, brother. Otherwise you'd never have any fun."

Ed clapped and proceeded to light the candle. His superior in the military, Colonel Mustang, specialized in fire alchemy. Very popular amongst the rank and file, Mustang earned the nickname of Flame Alchemist. Ed respected the man just barely, for merit of his rank if nothing else. Ed thought the Colonel insufferably arrogant and demanding. He invested plenty of time in trying to learn the secrets behind Mustang's abilities. Someday, Ed hoped to show up his superior publicly.

The two brothers descended the narrow stair in the hopes of finding their way out of the library. The cramped space could hardly contain Al's massive bulk, so he needed to walk sideways or risk getting stuck.

Just when they thought the stair would never end, the brothers emerged into an open space. The air felt damp and heavy. Al broke the silence.

"I don't think I know how many meters underground we are, Ed. What do you think this place could be?"

"Not sure," Ed responded. He held the candle up, shedding as much light as possible. About three meters up he discerned a great dome ceiling crafted entirely from solid stone.

"Incredible construction," Ed muttered to himself, "We've got to be deep underground and yet the roof doesn't show a sign of wear. That stone must be thick."

"Brother, look, more light!" Al clapped and put his hands out towards something next to the staircase. Immediately, a large candelabrum flamed to life. It had been sitting in a small nook in the wall.

"Great. So what's in here?" Ed asked as the brothers looked about.

The room was round, the wall lined with bookshelves. In the center of the room there stood a large table and a few chairs.

"Hmmm, so this is another branch of the stacks. But what's up with it being hidden and closed off, not to mention forbidden?"

The brothers moved to the nearest bookshelf. Al held up his light for a better view.

"That's weird. Most of the books here have rotted away. They're nothing but dust and cobwebs."

Ed pulled one of the few remaining volume off the shelf. It was a sorry excuse for a book, as the writing within looked completed faded and illegible. He replaced the first book and started to pick up another one, but it disintegrated at the touch of his hand.

"Clearly, this place is very old. Why has no one been down here to even take care of this area?" Al asked in a concerned tone, pitying the neglected books.

Ed wasted no more time with the descript contents of the shelves and moved towards the table at the center of the room. He found another candelabrum there, lighting it with his one candle. Then he noticed some other things on the table.

"Hey, Al! Come look at this."

Al crossed the room and peered over his brother's shoulder. On the table, the candelabrum held down the corner of a very ancient looking map. And just to the side of the map, Al saw an immense tome. The front cover of the book was almost as broad as his brother's shoulders, though Al kept that statement to himself. Ed's small stature meant that plenty of things outsized him, though books did not normally come so close.

Ed looked over the map first. It displayed only part of a large continent. The land seemed to continue into the east, off the right side of the map. He could see no name for the land on the map, but many of the features within it possessed names. At the center of the map stood a great mountain range, extending from the north to the south shores of the land. He read the name aloud.

"Cloudspine."

Much of the land to the east of the mountains was bare and uninhabited, including a desert area named the Barrier. The west of the mountains looked more promising, featuring several settlements and a handful of cities along rivers or near the coast of the western ocean. Ed saw this area too held a name; the Province.

"I don't recognize any of these places, brother," Al had been reading the map too, "And what's with this city. I think its pronounced Muirthemne. Why build a city in the middle of a desert?"

Al pointed at the place on the map. Ed saw the place. It was almost in the middle of the Barrier.

"An oasis maybe. Or perhaps that area wasn't always a desert." Ed shrugged.

He moved down the table towards the great tome. Al leaned over the map some more, reading the names of cities.

"Tandem, Madrigal, Tyr, Covenant, and Scales. Oh, and then there are these places far to the east of the Barrier; Myrgard and Stonehiem. But those are up in another group of mountains. Cities in mountains, hmmm. Brother, what is this land? There's no where in the world like this at all, so it can't be something that the ancients drew."

Ed, meanwhile, looked at the cover of the closed tome. An incomprehensible symbol made up of long, thin strokes marked its surface. He needed both his hands to lift the large volume. While not heavy, the book carried weight. He realized that the book had been sitting atop some notes. While these papers looked almost as decayed as the rest of the room's contents, he could make out words at the top of the first page: The Total Codex.

Puzzled by the strange name, Ed put the book back down on the table. He opened the Codex, intending to skim the first few pages and get a grasp of its contents.

But suddenly the Codex began glowing with a bright white light. Ed backed away from the table in shock. Al looked up from the map. If a suit of armor could look astonished, Al certainly looked so.

"What the—"

The brothers began to hear a ringing noise. It grew louder quite quickly, and before either boy could do anything the noise overpowered their senses. Ed collapsed to the ground, trying to block out the noise with his hands. Al sank to knee and leaned against the table, barely able to support himself.

"Edward!!" the younger brother screamed out in fright.

"Alphonse!!" the elder screamed back, equally terrified.

They could hardly hear each other over the noise, as the white light of the Codex blotted out everything.

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Grass. The first thing Ed felt as he came out of his stupor. Nice, soft, yet firm grass. This was the kind of grass one could find at the highpoint of summer. But Ed knew that it was winter in Central. Not to mention he recalled being indoors before fainting.

Slowly, Ed opened his eyes and confirmed that he no longer was indoors. He saw the grass beneath him. He turned over onto his back and found treetops above. Through the leaves shone moonlight. A warm breeze caressed his face.

"What the hell is happening?" He could not help but say it.

He looked around and found himself in a forest glade. To his joy, he discovered Al sitting against a tree nearby. He went over to his brother and tapped him.

"Al. Hey Al. Wake up. We're alright."

Al stirred and shook himself, noisily. He looked up at Ed.

"Brother!" he exclaimed happily.

Then Al noticed where they were.

"Umm, brother, why are we outside?"

"Oh, uhhh," Ed rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I don't know, ummm, I guess I opened that book, and somehow we're here?"

Al punched Ed squarely in the chest, sending the boy flying through the air for a good distance.

"Dammit brother! Why is it always something that you do that gets us into these messes?" Al shot up to his feet, shaking his armored fists in frustration, "Why don't you listen to me before you do something stupid!? Like opening some weird book in a creepy part of the library that has been forgotten by everyone except the people dumb enough to blunder into it, like you!"

Ed struggled to his feet, clutching his sore chest. He did not resent his brother for hitting him. He knew Al only used a bit of his strength in the blow. And Al had a right to feel frustrated at Ed. He had almost gotten them both caught by the watchman, and then he went and opened the Codex. Then again, he never suspected that the Codex would transport them somewhere far and away.

"How was I supposed to know this would happen?" Ed grumbled, "Why didn't you tell me this would happen?"

"I didn't know," Al fired back, "But if you hadn't just opened that book without saying anything, maybe I could have told you to stop. I thought I'd had enough of your impulsivity for one night, but this is just ridiculous. You need to work on thinking things through, brother."

Ed hung his head and smiled sheepishly. His brother knew him so well, especially his flaws. If Al did not scold him, no one would.

"I guess curiosity got me once again. You done ranting, Al?"

"Just about I guess," Al crossed his arms, "I hope you're proud of yourself. Now we're lost and we might never see any of our friends again. What will happen to Winry once she realizes that we're missing? And now my kitties…"

Al trailed off for a moment, lost in thought.

"My kitties! My kitties, oh no!" Al put his hands on his helmet in worry, "Who is gonna feed my poor kitties?"

"They aren't your kitties!" growled Ed, flabbergasted by his brother's histrionics, "They're strays that follow you around because they know you're a big softie who'll feed them whenever they like. They'll all be obese by the time you're done! Except they'll move onto mooching from someone else unless we start trying to get our bearings!"

Al stood stock still for a minute. If his brother still had eyes, Ed guessed he would be blinking at that moment.

"Ok, we've both been thoroughly frustrated with each other long enough," Al spoke in a calm voice as he lowered his arms to his sides, "Let's find our way out of here and get home."

The brothers set off through the woods and continued walking for a long time. They felt sure several hours must have past when they finally found a clear break in the trees.

"At last," they both exclaimed and rushed forward.

They quickly hushed themselves once they could see out into the open territory. They could see a small river, about a hundred yards away. On the near side of the river, just before a bridge, they could see a large group of people moving about.

The group moved with a coordination and efficiency that suggested military. They kept to an orderly column on the road, with scouts moving out in the lead. Amongst the crowd, the brothers could discern a couple very short forms amongst mostly tall ones. This perplexed the boys, since it seemed odd for a group of soldiers to keep children amongst their number.

The soldiers moved down the dirt road leading away from the river, past the Elric brothers. The group made no effort to disguise their presence, as the brothers could hear the thump of their step and the clink of their chain mail. They could even hear an officer barking orders in a human sounding voice.

"Alright, keep up the pace. We need to hit the village Comfort quickly and then move onto the enemy encampment. C'mon lads."

This lack of discretion perplexed the brothers even further. Surely a force moving close to an enemy stronghold would want to move as cautiously and as silently as possible, yet these soldiers did not seem to care if they alerted the enemy of their presence.

"What a bunch of fools," Ed remarked "They're going to get themselves killed with that racket."

Al shook his arm "Brother, look at the river."

Ed turned back towards the water. The brothers watched as several shapes began to emerge from the depths the water. These new figures did not seem human. They moved at a shambling gait, and the bright moonlight clearly showed their grotesquely bloated forms. The creatures began to slowly but quietly follow the marching band of troops.

"Damn, that's it," Ed let his fist hit the ground at the realization, "Those idiots have walked right into an ambush."

He checked the progress of the moving troops. They were still on the road, which wound through the plain towards a small hamlet off in the distance. Ed noticed that the woods also extended to the border of the village.

"C'mon, Al. Let's get going then," Ed rose to his feet and started running.

"Have you thought about how we're gonna explain ourselves to those soldiers," Al caught up with him, "It is the right thing for us to do, warning them. But how do we keep them from chopping us up? They might think we're enemies too."

"Cause we're not just going to warn them, Al. We're going to rescue them."

"Funny, brother. How do you plan on fighting enemies we don't know anything about?"

"We don't need to analyze them right away Al. I'm perfectly confident that our superior hand to hand fighting skills will do the trick, at least for awhile."

"At least you've remembered to run your crazy scheme by me this time, Ed. And though there's no denying that its crazy, if it will save some people, then I'm for it."

The boys continued to run in silence, keeping to the trees as they made their way towards the village.

00000000000

Captain Bernard kept his men tight and alert as he ushered them on to Comfort. Before taking his force out on the mission almost an hour ago, the legion commander had instructed him on the importance of making his checkpoints on time. Bernard's force had been tasked with staging a diversion, and a delay of even a few minutes could render the whole operation useless. Moving in with stealth served no purpose to their mission, so he did not mind that the hurried movement of his warriors in full armor made so much noise. At Bernard's estimation, they would reach Comfort a little early, which would give them time to mop up any of the enemy's remaining pickets before moving on to feign a strike at the enemy camp.

Bernard felt a new presence at his side and turned to find the leader of his archers. The old fir'Bolg, used to stalking game through the Ermine, moved so quietly that it almost took Bernard by surprise.

"What is it ii'Shuul?" asked Bernard, knowing that the archer tended to approach him only when necessary.

The fir'Bolg lifted his head a bit, sensing his surroundings, before responding.

"We're being followed," ii'Shuul spoke in the silky smooth accent native to deepest part of the Ermine. His voice betrayed no fear either. A hunter would had also been hunted, only to eventually outwit his predator, ii'Shuul knew to keep a cool head while enduring pursuit.

"Oh, the wights? Thanks, but I already know. I suspected the enemy would leave some in the river to follow us after we crossed," Bernard responded with careful politeness. Although he respected ii'Shuul's vigilance, for once Bernard privately congratulated himself for topping the fir'Bolg at his own game. At least, so the captain thought.

"Your foresight with regards to the wights is admirable," ii'Shuul approved, and Bernard could not believe his good fortune. Praised publicly by a fir'Bolg elder; Bernard smiled at the realization.

"But I wasn't talking about them," ii'Shuul continued, and Bernard's smile faded faster than a cowardly ghol, "There's something else out there, in the trees."

"I've been smelling it too," one of the nearby dwarven grenadiers piped up, "Smells like a human. And yet not quite human."

"There's more than one out there, Jar," ii'Shuul responded, "Definitely two. One is human, but his feet make a highly distinct noise. The other sounds…strange."

The last statement impressed Bernard. Fir'Bolg usually could describe anything, and rarely did anything ever take them by surprise. Although this did not please Bernard as much as the thought of ii'Shuul's praise, at least he could tell his companions something new over the next campfire.

"What do you mean strange?" Bernard inquired.

"Armor to be sure, yet without a man inside. Hollow. It sounds hollow."

Now Bernard felt confused. Armor without someone to wear it could not move, unless someone used magic.

"Seems like there's some new sorcery a foot here," Bernard declared, "Keep your ears on it, ii'Shuul. Let me know when it, and its distinct-footed accomplice, get close."

The archer nodded, and then moved back to his place in the column. Bernard noticed that the pace had slackened a bit during his conversation. The men felt nervous about getting so close to the enemy in the middle of the night, especially since darkness made no difference to the undead. Bernard understood, but he could not tolerate delays. The fate of an entire army, perhaps the whole city of Madrigal, rested on his and his troops' shoulders. Not about to fail in such a critical responsibility, Bernard raised his sword and waved it to signal double-time. Getting some more distance from the wights would help the men feel more comfortable anyway.

00000000000

Comfort was not impressive, really just a collection of shabby farmers' hovels. A small, unadorned shrine stood just off the village square. Comfort's only noteworthy feature was the stone that paved its square, made from the remnants of a great road that once ran through the area. The mayor once loved that town square, as it reminded him of Madrigal's fair streets, which he often visited to represent the community on market day. But now he lay dead, along with all his neighbors, murdered by horrors that the brothers Elric could only begin to imagine. Soon the boys would come face to face with those horrors.

The brothers darted out of the woods next to the village. Had the villagers still lived, and been awake at the late hour, they might have seen two dark shadows flitting between the hay stacks in the pastures. Luckily for the Elrics, the new occupants of the village directed their attention on the troops making their way up the road.

The boys crouched in the shadow of an abandoned wagon, just before the first set of houses. Ed peeked through the wooden wheel spokes, watching as the troops came around the final bend in the road before the village.

"Hey, brother," Al whispered, "I know this isn't the best time, but I've been thinking…"

"Yeah?" Ed continued looking out towards the road.

"Well, we're clearly in another world of some sorts. That means all the rules are different."

"Meaning?"

"Well, our alchemy might not work here."

Ed turned to his brother, a mortified look upon his face.

"I hadn't thought of that. You…you could of died!"

Al realized his brother might go on punishing himself for his error unless he gave some reassurance.

"Well, like you said before, you had no way of knowing. And besides, I'm still here, right? So forget about it, I forgive you."

Ed hung his head, glad to have his brother's support though feeling a bit undeserving.

"Ok, go on."

"Well, my point is," Al continued, knowing Ed would feel better, "that obviously some of our alchemy must still work. And of course your automail still functions great. But that doesn't mean everything is the same. It's a whole new world, so we might be at a disadvantage. I'm only saying this to keep us from relying on alchemy. We can't trust it in this place yet, not until we know more."

"Yeah," Ed stood up, his left hand stroking his jaw in thought, "I agree. We better be cautious with alchemy here."

"It's the enemy! To arms men!" The brothers heard the roar of the officer, accompanied by the noise of swords drawn from scabbards.

"C'mon, let see what's going on," Ed dashed into the village.

"So much for saving the day," Al said to himself, as he bounded after his brother.

As the boys picked their way between the houses, they came across a high stack of barrels next to a home with a sturdy looking roof. Desiring the best view of the action unfolding in the village square, Ed and Al ascended the barrels and crawled to a spot next to the chimney.

Their house stood just off the square, at the midpoint of one side. To their right, they could see the troops fanning out into the open space. The officer kept giving orders.

"Swords in front! Jar and Nori, ready a salvo! Archers to the rear, watch for flankers!"

"Thrall!" someone shouted.

"Single line! Jar and Nori, I want one good bombing on my signal, then get yourselves clear, alright? Form up!"

The couple small figures the brothers saw earlier scurried out from the mass of armored warriors. They were not children but little bearded men.

"Dwarves!?" the brothers jaws dropped in amazement.

"Mom used to tell us fairytales about them. Don't they bring presents to orphans or something?" Al asked.

"I don't think those two are in the gift giving business," Ed shook his head, not sure he could believe his eyes.

The dwarves did not look benign in the slightest. In fact they appeared quite militant, clad in leather gear, sporting feathered berets and backpacks. With scowls on their hairy faces and arcane-looking grenades in hand, they stood boldly before the warriors' shield wall.

"Here they come!" someone else shouted.

The Elrics turned their attention to the opposite side of the square. They could see things shifting about within the dark houses. Then, from a home featuring a decent flower garden by the porch, out stepped a monster.

The thing had a silhouette like a man's, and from a fair distance one might mistake it for a man. But the Elrics were close enough to see its greenish-gray skin, which looked rotted and stitched together in places. Its head had hardly any hair, and had eyes that looked dull and lifeless. The creature, however, did not look decrepit but muscular. It wore rusty armor over its shoulders, and frayed pants over its legs. It carried in both hands a large axe.

"What…is that…thing?" Ed gasped.

"Let that thrall come men! Wait till they are all in the open!" the officer shouted.

The thrall grunted loudly, and then more of its brethren began to pour out of the houses. The thrall did not appear very organized, merely gathering in a mob. But they clearly outnumbered the troops.

"Steady! Steady!"

The lead thrall issued a guttural moan, and then the entire group moved towards the soldiers. The creatures did not so much charge as limp, but their advance did not seem any less imposing.

"Grenadiers, now! Now! Now!"

On the officer's order, the dwarves let fly their grenades at the thrall. The brothers dug their fingers into the straw roof as the explosions rocked the house. But the attack devastated the thrall. Some of the creatures were vaporized, while many others lay motionless and severed limb from limb. Still, a sizeable group remained and continued onward.

"Dwarves, fall back! Swords at the ready!"

One of the dwarves turned on his heel and quickly retreated behind the line of warriors. The other, however, ignored orders and moved forward. He began to prime another grenade.

"Nori, that's an order! Get back here now!"

Nori did not seem to either hear or care. As the dwarf prepared to heave the grenade, Ed noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye. He glanced over and saw a four legged creature bearing down on the dwarf.

"Nori, beware the ghol!" the officer shouted desperately.

In almost a blink of an eye, Ed hurled himself off the roof of the house into the square below. Before his feet touched the ground, he changed his metal hand into a razor-sharp blade.

He rushed toward the dwarf, than leapt over the blur of the fast moving creature, slashing downward with his blade.

0000000000000

Nori tensed up and shut his eyes, waiting for the ghol to pounce and hack away. The dwarf knew he let his desire for thrilling heroics overwhelm his better judgment too often, and this time it looked like he finally managed to kill himself.

He waited a moment. Then two. No stinking ghol breath and painful dismemberment. Nori opened his eyes, wondering if his grenade went off prematurely.

In his hand he held the grenade, still burning but intact. He wiggled his toes in his boots. He still lived.

Less could be said of the ghol. The thing lay decapitated before him, cruel scythe still in hand. Nori spat upon the beast and cursed it. Like all true dwarves, he kept a fierce and bitter grudge for the ghols.

Nori looked about for whoever killed the ghol, suspecting that one of the warriors ran up and sliced the thing just in time.

"Did I cut it too close?" someone beside him said.

Nori looked up. To his surprise, he saw not one of the seasoned warriors in his company, but a youth. The lad wore a red cloak over mostly black clothing. One of his hands looked entirely metal, with a large blade protruding from the end. He kept his blond hair tied in one braid at the back of his head. The boy's light green eyes at first displayed fierce determination, but Nori could see a certain friendliness appear in them as the boy grinned down at him.

"Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, at your—"

Before the boy could finish speaking, three thrall loomed up behind him.

"Look out!" Nori lobbed his explosive and pulled the kid after him. They both hit the ground just as the grenade went off, obliterating the thrall.

"Quick now, gotta get back to the line," Nori hopped to his feet as the boy started to pick himself up.

But then Nori realized that they were in the middle of a circle of snarling ghols. The beasts licked their lips hungrily. The dwarf slowly started to reach into his pack for a grenade. He felt sorry for the boy, but the blast would surely kill them both faster than the ravenous ghols.

Suddenly an enormous shadow loomed over them all. In the next instant, half the ghols went flying into the air while the rest turned tail and made for the way out of the square. Nori hurled his grenade after the beasts and chuckled as they endured annihilation.

"Don't go leaping into a fight without me, Ed!" a new voice spoke.

Nori turned around, and barely managed to swallow a gasp of awe. Next to the blond lad was a gigantic man, clad head to toe in full plate armor. As a dwarf, Nori felt used to looking up to people, but he needed to crane his neck uncomfortably to see the man's head. The visor of the helmet was down, so Nori could not see a face. The dwarf felt sure that the man was very strong; the armor looked extremely heavy and yet the man tossed aside half a dozen ghols like pebbles, without even using a weapon. The man looked like a seasoned warrior, standing in a confident fighting pose. However, it did perplex the dwarf greatly when he thought he heard the armored man speak with a voice like a child's.

"You know I'm the better at hand-to-hand. I almost always win when we spar."

"Yeah, well, I'm not exactly bad myself," the blond lad responded, "I've never given up easy, have I?"

"That you haven't brother." At this point, Nori felt sure that the armored man spoke with the voice of a child. He began to worry that the years of tinkering with volatile substances had damaged his sanity.

A bone javelin bounced off the armored man's chest. Nori quickly deduced that the projectile came from a nearby rooftop. He looked over and saw a couple of skeletal shapes hovering on top of a farm house.

"Soulless!" the dwarf exclaimed, "C'mon now lads, back to the lines!"

Nori took off for shield wall of warriors, who only just finished hacking apart the last of the attacking thrall. He felt the steps of the two newcomers behind him, but could also hear javelins thumping in the ground around them.

"Make way for the dwarf, plus two!" he shouted.

The warriors quickly made a hole in their formation. Nori scurried through, followed closely by the blond lad and his armored companion. The warriors then reformed and raised their shields against the attack of the soulless.

Nori heard Bernard before he saw the captain.

"Archers, target those soulless!"

As the fir'Bolg opened fire on the undead missile troops, Nori suddenly felt Bernard grab him by the collar. He found himself at eye level with a very angry man.

"You stupid, fat midget! When I give you an order Nori, you obey!" the captain bellowed.

"Unhand me, you overbearing lout! Has the air up there gotten to your brain!" Nori's dwarven pride flared dangerously, "Nobody insults a dwarf, not even an officer."

Bernard dropped Nori, but his anger did not abate.

"Insubordination and insolence before an officer! You'll suffer the consequences of your actions when we return to camp dwarf."

Nori simply brushed himself off, unfazed by the threat of punishment. The legion had much better things to do currently then clap troops in irons for minor offenses. Madrigal required every available soldier if the city's defense had any hope of success.

"For goodness sakes, Nori," Bernard's softer side began to show, "You're fortunate to still breathe."

Nori did not begrudge that point. He looked gratefully at the two strangers.

"I have these two to thank for my hide," the dwarf nodded.

Bernard sized up the newcomers. He kept hidden his astonishment at their appearances, as well as his respect for their efforts. They had saved one of his soldiers. And they single-handedly repulsed an entire pack of ghols, something many men could not boast of. Still, one needed to carry suspicion of strangers found in the middle of a war zone.

"I am Captain Bernard of the 13th legion, and you will answer what I ask you," Bernard began interrogating, "Who are you? What are you doing out here?"

"We're the Elric brothers," the short, blond one spoke, "I'm the older one; Edward, the Fullmetal Alchemist."

Edward motioned to his large companion.

"This is Alphonse, my younger brother."

"Hello," Alphonse spoke in an almost absurdly happy tone, and waved. Bernard could not stifle his confusion that a grown man could possess such a childish sounding voice and be the younger sibling to an adolescent.

"Wait, how come he's younger and yet so much taller than you?" Bernard asked Edward.

"Didn't you have a more important question?" the youth sneered at him.

"Wha—," Bernard sputtered at the boy's disrespect, "I am the one asking questions here!"

"Go on then," the boy spoke, slightly less impudent in tone.

"What are you doing out here? This is enemy territory."

"Oh well, uh," Edward smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. Bernard realized the youth lacked any kind of respect for adults.

"Answer me, boy!"

"Actually, I should probably let you know that a group of guys followed you most of the way here," Edward nodded his head towards the river, "They looked like enemies."

"Huh? Oh!" Bernard exclaimed, remembering the wights.

The captain looked down the road. The small bunch of wights was shambling up the road behind his force, edging inexorably closer. They were still at a safe distance.

"Easily dealt with. Archery captain!"

ii'Shuul appeared promptly, and notched an arrow to his longbow. He cast the projectile into the center of the wight cluster. All of the undead fiends burst in a mighty explosion of putrid flesh and pus. The force of the discharge caused a nearby house to cave in.

"Soulless been dealt with, ?" Bernard's attention turned away from questioning the Elrics to more pressing military concerns.

"Yes sir."

"Very good."

The captain began tasking out orders, sending teams of men to scour the houses for survivors; rescue any civilians, kill the Fallen. He assigned two of ii'Shuul's archers with watching the road to the enemy camp. When his warriors reported back from searching the empty homes, he set the dwarves busy stuffing Comfort full of satchel charges. At any moment, Bernard's unit might need to beat a hasty retreat, and with all the farmers dead he took some consolation in knowing no one would complain when his men put the village to the flame.

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The Elrics felt quite relieved that Captain Bernard had quickly forgotten them, since coming up with a good story about their origins would require more time. For the moment, they stayed out of the way of the busy soldiers and leaned against the wall of a nearby hut.

"This is intense," Ed groaned, watching as men hurried back and forth.

"We've certainly stumbled into the middle of a major war," added Al, feeling just as tense as his brother.

"Yeah, but what are these things?" Ed looked over the enemy bodies, "Most of these look like they should be in graves."

"They were once, lad," said a gruff voice.

Ed looked down to see the dwarf he rescued earlier, Nori, burying an explosive in the ground.

"You must be from far away, or you musta been living under some massive rock," Nori continued as he finished with his explosive, "not to have known anythin' about the Fallen or the Great War."

"The Fallen? The Great War?" Ed cocked his head to one side, inquisitive.

"They're coming!" someone shouted.

Two archers came running into the square from the other side of the village. Ed had not gotten a good look at them during the fight earlier, but now he could see them clearly.

The archers resembled human warriors much more than the dwarves, their height and basic form similar to that of well built men. The similarities stopped there however. Instead of heavy mail, they wore the light cloth apparel of hunters. They had long beards, not scruffy like the dwarves but fine and combed. They kept their hair in a similar fashion. Ed found the archers' facial features most striking, as they had chins and foreheads much broader than humans. Their almond shaped eyes displayed keen focus. They pricked their pointed ears from time to time, listening intently to their surroundings.

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"Report!" Captain Bernard approached the scouts. The rest of his soldiers began to gather round him.

"We haven't much time," one of the archers spoke, a young fir'Bolg called un'Gar, "As we speak, there are soulless pouring out of the trees down the road. They're covering the flanks of a large body of thrall moving up towards us. By my guess, we're looking at a battle group in excess of five-hundred."

"Excellent!" Bernard looked to the skies, both to give thanks to the gods and to check the position of the moon. The time was almost two o'clock. With the enemy coming in force up the road towards Comfort, Bernard felt he could claim his diversion a success. The Fallen would be looking focused on their rear, and would be caught unaware when the legions came storming down on the right flank. Now Bernard need only focus on getting his unit back to safety.

"We're moving out, now!" Bernard surveyed his troops, "Jar and Nori, set a timed fuse for the satchel charges. Be ready to light it once I give the order to withdraw. Owen and Devon, get the men into lines and choose scouts. ii'Shuul, bring in your archers, remind them to stay on the lookout for wights. Quick now, move!"

While everyone bustled about with their orders, Bernard made his way over to the Elrics. The strangers needed to be dealt with, one way or another.

"You two," he made himself as imposing as possible, making sure to glare down at the short boy, "you're to come with us. You still have plenty of explaining to do; we'll sort it out at headquarters. You saved my dwarf, so I'll grant you a little trust. You can keep your arms and defend yourselves. But one false move and –"

"Alright, alright, we get it!" Edward seemed unfazed by Bernard's show of authority, "We might as well go with you anyway, don't have many other options."

"Young man, don't make me tell you again to show some respect!"

The boy merely cocked his eyebrows and moved off towards the gathering body of soldiers.

"C'mon, Al!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"Please don't mind my brother," the great armored man, or boy, said to Bernard, almost pleading, "He just gets uncomfortable when people treat him like a child. Or when they make comments about his height, just for future reference. You'll see, he's really a good person."

With that, Alphonse strode after his brother. Bernard shook his head at the odd pair as he moved to the front of the troop column. He gave the order to move out.