AUTHOR'S NOTE: IF THE DESCRIPTION DIDN'T TIP YOU OFF, THIS FANFIC IS THE SEQUEL TO MY EARLIER WORK 'GALLIAN NIGHTS.'
YOU CAN EASILY ACCESS GALLIAN NIGHTS THROUGH MY PROFILE.
THANKS A BUNCH FOR READING! XD
Crimson Arrows
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Chapter 1: Frost
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Ice.
It smashed against the walls of the towering spires of Castle Nevassa, the howling winds helping it pound and boom. The cold winds blew through all the little cracks between the bricks of the castle, but as Pelleas shivered from the winter cold, there was no frost worst than the look in Izuka's eyes.
The black-robed advisor smirked.
"My prince, for too long have you stood idle when armies pounded across the land and when countless souls died in vain. Thus, thy servant believes that it is time for a change..." His smirk twisted into a sneer as he pulled out a dark violet tome and began to chant some jumbled dialog.
"Izuka, what are you doing?" Pelleas gasped, sweat pouring down his spine.
Ashnard's former aide laughed. Here was the Prince, no, the King of Daein, staring up at Izuka like some wounded deer. The facade had been in effect for too long.
Staring deep into the prince's eyes after he muttered the opening incantation, Izuka laughed. "Pelleas, it is for your own good. Lord of the Darkness, grant me the power to crush my foe. Balberith!"
A ring of violet fire burst from the ground and surround Izuka. Once they rose to his eye level, they shot high into the air and flew down towards Pelleas, closing in on the younger man from every angle.
"Izuka!" He screamed, covering his face as the violet flames danced ever closer. "Please, I never wanted to... Gah, please! Ashera have mercy!" The young man howled as the flames finally waltzed on his skin, consuming his entire body. As pain rushed through every nerve in his body, as his vision abruptly faded into darkness, and as he felt limbs and muscles melt away, Pelleas let out a final gasp "Mother," before collapsing on the ground.
Izuka laughed as he looked at the corpse. Here he was, standing before the Daein throne, in the halls where mighty kings once stood stalwartly to face any foe, and he had killed the last of Daein's royal line. But the scholar knew the truth behind the facade he'd used for so long. Pelleas was no king. He was an orphan, plopped on the throne as a puppet for the scholar's own ambitions. The real prince of Daein was out there, beyond his grasp perhaps... But would the world ever accept a stray branded as royalty?
--
A young, black haired lad was curled up in a little ball on a bed three times his size. His eyes suddenly shot open, and he felt a jolt of electricity run down his spine. "Strange," he thought, his fingers caressing his spine, "there shouldn't be any static now..." Soren yawned and forced himself awake. As the tactician for the Greil Mercenaries, he could not afford to be tardy.
Only months had passed since he last fought in the Gallian Civil War, and, yet, life seemed to have returned back to normal. Mia was, once again, forcing someone to train with her at all times, Rhys would always wince during a job and during training, Shinon would always complain, and Gatrie would always flirt with the nearest female, single or no.
His red eyes scanned the tent. Unlike the past, where he had nothing except Ike as a friend, there were neatly piled stacks of his belongings: tomes, trinkets, books, and a wide variety of things that were rather eccentric and wouldn't really belong in any category. Soren got off of his bed, walked forward and picked up a laguz stone that was placed neatly in the corner of the tent. As he caressed the strange stone he felt a surge of energy rush through him. It wasn't that surprising, for, after all, no matter how much of a beorc he appeared to be, Soren was a branded, a hybrid of beorc and laguz.
He sighed. The woman he loved was a beorc, and in the eyes of the beorc, branded were considered abominations. Even though the laguz began to be respected by beorc in some beorc nations, the fact remained that the very concept of branded was still taboo. Soren sighed, he hoped that Lucia would be willing to look beyond what he was biologically and fall in love with his soul, but he could never put his hopes up. After all, if you put too many expectations on someone or something, you are bound to get disappointed.
The young mage heard a minor scuffling outside of his tent, and Soren rolled his eyes. His ears were far superior to any beorc's, and he could tell that this 'intruder' wasn't an actual enemy. If it was a threat, this person would be much more careful when trying to sneak up on him, unless this was an amateur... However, if that was the case his other comrades outside the tent would have probably spotted the intruder by now.
Soren had mastered wind magic, so he merely muttered an incantation that he memorized. It was the incantation for the spell "Wind," the weakest of its kind. Pointing his fingers towards the noise, he let out a shout and the spell rammed itself into the intruder.
Sprinting out of his tent, Soren found that Boyd was sprawled on the ground.
"What are you doing?" Soren gave the axeman a glare, crossing his arms in a haughty manner.
Boyd got up and laughed embarrassingly. "Erm, nothing, Soren. Er, I should go now."
Soren stepped forward and grabbed Boyd's collar. He knew that he was much weaker than Boyd, but also knew that Boyd wasn't the kind of person who would attack him for no reason. The fighter, though a little brutish, was an honorable man.
"Tell me." Soren's eyes narrowed.
Boyd shivered, and immediately broke. "Ok, ok. Shinon wanted to make a bet that I could break into your tent, and he'd give me sixty coins if I pulled it off. Now, I lost, so when I get back I have to polish his bow, clean his tent, and do that kind of stuff. He's going to kill me if I'm gone for too long, so I'll see ya."
Soren blinked, and shook his head. "I really have to speak to Shinon personally some time, that pompous wretch." He sighed and retreated back into his shelter.
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Ike, Titania, and Oscar were sitting around, bored as ever. Along with Soren, they were the commanding officers of the now famous Greil Mercenaries. This Mercenary troupe was now responsible for the survival of two of the nations of Tellius: Crimea and Gallia. Had it not been for Ike's leadership and Soren's tactics in the Mad King's War, Crimea would be a province of Daein. Had it not been for Soren's strategies, the current royalty of Gallia would have been replaced by a violent usurper who would completely support the slaughter of beorc in order to avenge the past enslavement and torture of laguz by beorc.
Titania yawned as she turned to Ike, the primary leader of the Mercenaries. "So, Ike, what now? We've made certain that the supply convoy made it safely, just as our employer wished. We've got our money, but we're quite a ways away from the fort. Mia, Rhys, and Gatrie are back there, but if we were to try to reunite with them, we might end up engaging some random bandit group who would love to steal from groups like us."
Ike shook his head. "We've been though so much, Titania. Don't you remember the hordes of bandits we've beaten up ever since my father first founded this Mercenary group? We'll be fine! What could bandits do compared to Daein or Begnion soldiers?"
Oscar blinked. "Erm, Ike, you sound as though you're unmoved by them. Remember, these guys burn villages as a hobby."
"But don't soldiers do the same in total warfare? Besides, at worst these bandits have had some experience trashing cities and killing off those who'd resist, but soldiers have been through wars and tend to use brilliant strategies. Few bandits are truly bright people, if they were they'd be the people in charge. We've had easy times taking out bandits, so I'm hardly scared of them."
"Now, now, Ike. Do not get cocky. You know what happens to warriors who are too confident in their own abilities." Titania pointed out, her eyes beginning to show concern for the younger warrior.
Ike sighed. If Titania and Oscar were both trying to get him to be more serious, Soren would probably magnify their worries tenfold.
--
He spent his life for her.
Geoffrey polished his brave lance as he stood on the battlements of Castle Delbray. Here he was, in armor and fully mobilized with a retinue of soldiers at his command. If only he could sit down and have a cup of tea with his sister, or stroll in the garden beside her, but her majesty insisted that he post himself close to the border, for strange things were happening in Daein.
The Daein army had mobilized at its border, as though they intended to strike past The Great Bridge. Elincia, extremely worried about this possibility, sent Geoffrey to Delbray to watch over the situation. Of course, the Lady Lucia, Geoffrey's elder sister, requested that she'd be allowed to tag along with him.
Brother and sister stood vigilant on the walls of Delbray, and it was a good thing they were prepared. Thirty squadrons of Pegasus Knights flew over the mountains towards them, dropping off an equal amount of armored knights. Crimea's finest General and his sister were in for another fight, one just after Lucia's exhausting ordeal in Gallia.
Raising her blade, Lucia smirked. "These Begnion fools think they can take this castle with both of us here. Come, brother, let's make them flee back to Telgam with the lesson that they should never strike the nation of Crimea!"
--
In the capitals Sienne and Nevassa, storm clouds began to brew as radical changes began to take their toll... Because of these changes the land of Tellius would be cursed with a war that would change everything. Many old veterans would be forced out of hiding, forced to fight for some meaningless banner, and many lives would die in vain. These were the beginnings of the second global war on Tellius, the War of the Confederacy.