Soren watched, wide eyed, as Lethe fell slowly through the air. The spell that he had started faded to a small spark within him and his mind went blank.
Soren SCREAMED.
The sound was completely feral, enough to make even a Laguz general proud, and certainly enough to terrify the three doomed swordsman. Soren's spark of magic exploded into a wave of energy, which he poured into the wind and hurled at the man who dared to strike his companion.
The man was knocked off his feet and blown into his two allies who missed their opportunity to attack. Before they could get to their feet the mage struck again. This time he drew even more magic from the tome. It was twice as powerful as the strongest spell he had ever tried to cast, draining every last bit of magic from the tome and fuzing it to all of the power he could fit in the spell.
"Die!" Soren commanded as he cast the spell. An enormous windstorm crashed into the three enemies and lifted them into the air. Their bodies were shaken like rag dolls and ejected so far into the distance that their attacker could not even hear the sound of their bodies landing on the earth. And though they might have survived, to Soren they were dead. It was the only way to calm his rage.
Without another thought Soren rushed to Lethe's side. She lay, face up, in the grass. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn't unconscious.
"Soren," she groaned. He couldn't guess what she was trying to tell him.
"Don't worry Lethe," he said. He was crying, he realized. Useless. That's what he was. He couldn't see the ambush. He couldn't protect Lethe. And now, because he had wasted their last vulnerary Lethe was going to...
No. As long as she was alive he would not lose hope. Soren took out what was left of the last vulnerary and carefully pulled back Lethe's shirt. The wound looked deep and was still bleeding badly. Soren choked back a sob and started to dress the wound. Lethe didn't move.
When he was finished he picked up Lethe, with one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back. Ignoring the pain in his arms he brought her into the forest to hide her. Meanwhile his mind raced to figure out how he was going to save Lethe.
There was no way around it: she needed healing. Soren didn't have enough medical knowledge to use any of the herbs in the area, and there were no allies in the area. They had used all of their supplies, and the swordsmen, if they had anything useful with them, were long gone.
But, being in enemy territory, there were other enemies around who were bound to have healing supplies. Using the time since the battle had started and his current position, Soren quickly calculated where the nearest enemy should be. After carefully laying Lethe down in a hidden spot, he burned into his mind the her location and took off towards where he hoped he would find enemies.
Soren usually moved at a quick pace, but now he was absolutely flying through the forest. Branches snapped at his face and roots struck his feet, but he ignored them, straining his senses to find an opponent.
With one final burst of energy the mage crashed through one final line of trees and into a large clearing: his first chance to find opponents. He was in luck. One ideal enemy, a weak female cleric, was resting in the clearing, most likely tired from the battle. Her robes were stained with blood but she seemed uninjured. Though he was not confident with his abilities with a staff, Soren could at least keep Lethe alive with it. But defeating the cleric would have to come first. She took one look at Soren and pulled out her lightning tome. Soren swiftly retrieved his fire tome from his robes, but his opponent struck first.
Her aim was a bit off; the spell hit his shoulder. He felt a sting but it seemed to do no serious damage. Soren's spell followed quickly, and his delayed action payed off. By taking his time to cast the spell he was able to put more force behind it, and the grand fireball he conjured crashed into the cleric with enough force to knock her off of her feet-
But Soren's excitement quickly faded. Other than pushing her to the ground the spell had done almost nothing. Her resistance was too high and Soren did not have time to slowly wear her down. The mage reached into his cloak to retrieve a more powerful spell, but even as he did he knew that none of his spells were strong enough.
And then his hand hit a small metallic object that he couldn't place. Soren took out the object and held it before him: a silver knife, given to him by Lethe. It would be the perfect weapon for the situation, but could he really bring himself to use it? This time he didn't hesitate. Drawing the knife, Soren fell upon his opponent and struck!
It wasn't graceful or efficient. Without knowing what he was hitting he stabbed again and again, fighting back the cleric's hands. As he hacked at the cleric beneath him she screamed, but Soren thought of Lethe and ignored her. Blood splattered on his robes and face, but he thought of Lethe and ignored it. His muscles became weary and burned with pain, but he thought of Lethe and continued stabbing until the cleric moved no more.
Despite doing so well up to that point, Soren had to stop and look at the cleric he had killed. It was terrible, all torn and bloody, and he realized that he must look terrible as well. He took a moment to clean himself using the cleric's robes and returned to the task at hand.
And he stopped a second time when he realized the lack of a staff in her possession. Suddenly his epic battle seemed pathetic; if he hadn't killed her for healing supplies then why had he done it? How could he have forgotten the most important part? The mage tore through her robes searching for anything, anything at all...
And there was something! A full vulnerary, tucked away in her robes, that just might be enough to save Lethe! Without a second thought Soren pocketed the medicine and took off towards Lethe's location in full sprint.
This time the roots and branches on the way seemed only to push Soren forwards. Now that he had what he needed he wouldn't let anything stop him. His legs were tired, his arms were dead, and his lungs felt like they were drawing lead instead of air, but he ran on. Before he knew it he was standing before the Laguz, who was unconscious but still clinging to life. Soren wasted no time in beginning his second treatment of the wound.
Vulneraries were wonderful things, thought Soren, and he decided never to leave camp without one. Though Lethe was in critical condition before, after using a second vulnerary she began to stabilize. The mage felt a huge weight lifted from him; finally he could rest. Without another thought he threw himself to the ground next to Lethe and let sleep creep over his senses.
As he began drifting out of consciousness Sore heard a noise. Fighting, he thought. Good thing I'm not part of that. Or at least, I'm safely behind enemy lines. Wait, that didn't sound right. With much pain and complaining he pulled himself back to alertness. If Ike's army was winning, which was very likely at this point, then the enemy retreat would go right through his position. Would they kill him along the way? No, none would recognize him as an enemy, and why risk killing an innocent fellow Beorc? But if he were a Laguz...
Damn! He couldn't let Lethe die after everything he had done! Distant shouting roused Soren's mind, but his body still refused to move. With a gargantuan effort Soren pushed himself to his hands and knees, and then slowly to his feet. Looking at Lethe gave him some encouragement, and despite the screaming in his arms he managed to pick up Lethe and throw her over his shoulder. The entire forest seemed to be pushing him down to the earth, and he staggered. Could a weak mage possibly carry this heavy Laguz to safety? He had to try.
One foot was raised into the air, moved forwards, and then dropped to the earth. The other foot did the same. Two steps done. Soren didn't even know where he was going. He couldn't outrun the opposing army. Was there a place to hide? If there was then Soren probably wouldn't make it there. He was past his breaking point. A gust of wind, a single tree root, or any disturbance would bring him crashing to the ground.
The mage traveled on, barely standing. At first he was looking for a place to hide, but before long the forest blurred into a mass of green and brown. Leaves, trees, dirt... and something blue? He staggered on towards the blue light. He wasn't even sure why anymore.
Ah, of course. As he passed through the last line of trees he made it out to be a lake. There was no way to hide in a lake, but he walked towards it anyways. For once he had no plans or logical reasoning. He felt wood beneath his feet and realized that he had walked onto a small pier. Looking up he saw a single rowboat docked at the pier with a rope lazily looped around a post. That, Soren decided, was his destination. His hands pulled the rope from the post, freeing the boat. His arms lay Lethe in their vessel and his legs gave out from under him. He fell on top of Lethe, finally able to rest.
As Soren was drifting to sleep he looked one last time at Lethe's face. She smiled and brought a hand to rest on the back of his head.
"Useless Beorc." She said. Soren smiled back.
"Selfish Laguz."
And the boat drifted towards the center of the lake.