"Is this really all that we're going to eat tonight?" Lissa glared intensely at the bear hanging over the fire. "Why didn't we bring some food with us from the town?"
"Milady, we can't ask the townsfolk to part with what they have left after dealing with a bandit attack. Even if the food may not be quite what we are used to, it will be a good experience for us." Frederick stated, glancing over towards Chrom who seemed content in his recently hunted meal.
"I don't see you partaking in this 'good experience' Frederick." Lissa grumbled pointing towards his reluctance to grab a piece of the bear.
"Ah well I had a large lunch today milady…"
Looking over at the two, I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. It looked like they heard me though, with Lissa instantly diverting her attention to me.
"You look like you're having a bit of fun there Mr. Mercenary!" Lissa huffed.
"Traveling around, you get to try a lot of different food. Fortunately, bear is not the worst meat to find out here in the wild." Pointing over to Robin, she seemed occupied in finishing whatever remained of the bear. "However, if you are not too keen on bear meat, I usually carry some supplies with me in case food becomes scarce." Opening my pack, I pulled out some bread, cheese, and dried meat. Lissa glanced at me before staring intensely at the rations I held in my hands. "I might be willing to part with some of it if someone is willing to ask nicely."
I don't think I ever saw someone move as quickly as Lissa did in that one instance. By the time I blinked, she was already in front of me hands clasped in front of her. "PLEASE spare some of that food for me Terry!" I only chuckled before breaking off some bread and handing her a few pieces of my cheese and meat. She was more than content to begin nibbling on the food in relief.
Glancing over to Frederick, I saw that he was also eyeing my rations. "Would you like some as well Frederick? Even with a large lunch, I'm sure a few snacks wouldn't hurt huh?" I mentioned with a slight chuckle. It looked like he was having an inner argument with himself before walking over and grabbing some bread and cheese as well.
"My thanks." Frederick seemed content with just those words and moved away before sitting himself back down.
"Not the talkative type is he?" Chrom and Robin looked to have eaten their fill and were conversing quietly to the side. Since everyone seemed to be occupied, I pulled out my blades and began to wipe them down with a cloth. There still seemed to be a few stains on them from the previous battle.
"Those blades you have seem quite interesting Terry. I thought they were steel swords at first, but they looked to be much stronger than that." I heard Chrom's voice and turned to look at him. Looking back at the two swords I currently had. Although they looked like normal blades, it was easy to see that there was a bright sheen to them when held up to the moonlight.
"Yeah, these swords were forged with a type of metal called tungsten." I explained, holding up one of the smaller blades for Chrom to look at.
"Tungsten?" He asked, holding up the blade to the fire.
"Indeed. In its raw form, the metal itself is relatively brittle, but when purified, it has a hardness that is comparable to, if not better than steel." It's pretty reliable and I have used these blades for a few years now."
"So you use two blades just like Robin…" Chrom seemed to be in deep thought before turning towards me. "It is an interesting style of combat; would it trouble you if we sparred sometime once we reach Ylisse? I am curious to see how I would fare against a dual blade user."
"Of course, that is not an issue. I would even be willing to give you some tips if you were interested in pursuing something similar Chrom." I said before placing the blades back into their sheaths.
"I thank you for the offer Terry, but I am quite comfortable with what I have. I am sure there are some soldiers who may be interested in learning though."
I only nodded my head before turning to look at the moon. "It looks like its getting pretty late. We should probably head to sleep if we want to make good time to Ylisse tomorrow. I can stand watch for a little bit before sleeping myself."
"How are we supposed to trust you with protecting us while we are sleeping. It would be more likely that you would attack us while we are unaware." Frederick seemed to still have some trouble trusting me I guess.
"If I had any intentions of hurting you, I would have done so much earlier. It looks like Lissa over there wants to go to bed as much as the rest of us. Let's not delay it any longer than we need to." I stated, laying my back across a tree in clear view of the surrounding area. Frederick turned around in a huff and walked away.
"Is it really alright for you to stand watch?" Robin's voice projected over the camp fire. It looked like was worried, but I only waved her off.
"Don't worry about it, I'll be sleeping soon enough. Make sure to relax for the next day." Robin seemed to hesitate, but nodded and slowly laid down and began to nod off to sleep.
"Sleep is probably going to be the last thing on my mind right now though." I knew that at this point, it would come time for the Lucina and crew to make there appearance along with the presence of the risen. "I wonder if I was ever present in their timeline. It would probably be unlikely unless a different version of myself died back then."
Glancing over at Robin, it looked like she was sleeping, but it didn't look to be so peaceful. "Is she trying to remember her old memories or are they nightmares associated with Grima's memories?" I walked over to her and patted her head a bit. It looked like she calmed down from that and seemed to be sleeping peacefully. "I'll figure something out Robin…"
It was quite some time before I heard some shuffling. I saw Chrom slowly sat up and seemed to be mumbling something over to Lissa.
"Is there something wrong Chrom?" I whispered slowly making my way over.
Chrom looked surprised to see me before remembering that I was keeping watch. "Yes Terry, I feel that something is a little off and was about to look around and see what it was. Lissa was offering to accompany me."
"I see…" Looking back at Robin I was sure that she would be safe with Frederick for the time being. "Then I'll offer my hand as well. You don't get far without trusting your instincts at the very least."
"Thank you, Terry, I appreciate it." Chrom slowly stood up with Lissa and we began to make our way through the forest perimeter.
"It's really quiet, the silence is almost deafening." I mentioned while looking around cautiously.
"Yes, something is definitely wrong here." Chrom muttered. Suddenly there was a large earthquake and we began to quickly lose out balance. I pulled out one of my swords and stabbed it into the grab. It looked like Chrom was telling Lissa to head back to camp, but she quickly looked behind me and pointed to something.
It can't be what I think it is…" I felt a chill behind me before turning around. In front of me there looked to be a dark being covered in armor. The game did not do the risen justice. "It's only a single risen, but its presence is nauseating." For all intents and purposes, it looked like a soldier, but there was a purple miasma that seeped out of its mouth and a distinct smell of rotting flesh. Shaking my head, I pulled out my blade and quickly charged at it. It swung its blade at me from the side, but I quickly swatted it aside and dug my blade deep from its shoulder into its chest.
"Did that do it?" I suddenly felt a sharp pain to my side as the risen simply punched me away. It continued to walk towards me, albeit at a slower pace. "Alright that didn't work." I charged again, but aimed for the neck instead. That seemed to do the trick with the risen falling back, lacking a head.
I didn't get much time to celebrate my success before I heard a scream and saw a risen standing over Lissa blade raised. I quickly ran forward, but she was too far away for me to catch up. "I need a distraction" I pulled out a dagger and tossed it into the risen's back. It only glanced up at me for a mere moment, before turning back towards Lissa and swung down.
The blade looked like it was falling in slow motion before I suddenly saw a blue blur move itself between the risen and Lissa, a resounding clash of metal echoing through the clearing. "It looks like Lucina made it here in time." It looked like Chrom was able to come to Lucina's assistance and they defeated the risen by the time I reached them.
"Glad to see you guys are safe. I was caught off guard by how resilient these monsters were." Chrom nodded, probably having had a similar experience.
Lucina seemed content to just stand to the side, looking at Chrom before glancing at me. Although her face was hidden behind the mask, it felt like she was glaring at me.
That can't be good, she seems to be a bit wary of me for some reason…
"Terry are you alright?" I heard a shout in the distance and saw Robin running towards me. Looking behind her, I saw Frederick arriving soon after.
"Yeah, I'm fine, these guys were a little tougher than I thought." I muttered, pointing towards the decomposing body of the risen next to us. "Fortunately, it looked like we had some help from the boy wonder over there."
"Who are you talking about Terry?" Robin seemed confused. I turned around and noticed there was only an empty spot where Lucina was standing previously.
She certainly likes to make a hasty exit, doesn't she?
"Uhh, I guess he left already, but we should probably worry about the chance of dealing with any more of these monsters around us."
"Yeah, Terry is right. We have to clear the forest of these strange beasts." Chrom started moving deeper into the forest with Frederick and Lissa following close behind.
Walking up behind them I noticed that there were many risen moving around in the forest. Definitely a lot more than what we could probably handle normally. "So, any plan on how to deal with this group Robin?" She looked to be deep in thought before glancing around the forest.
"Yes…they outnumber us easily 10 to 1, we need to take advantage of the environment to cut down their numbers. Do you know anything that could be useful here Chrom?"
"Yes, there are some old forts that were made in the previous war, we can probably use those to possibly funnel these creatures."
"That should be good enough, we can probably split into groups and occupy these forts to deal with the risen. Let's have you, Lissa, and Frederick take the fort to the north while me and Terry can take the ones to the south." Robin explained her plan. Frederick seemed to approve of staying with his charges, but Chrom looked a little hesitant splitting up the group.
"Don't worry Chrom, I'm sure these monsters will have little chance of breaking past us. We should move quickly before they converge on us." I started making my way to the other fort with Robin in tow.
Once we were past the gates I moved over to Robin. "This is a good chance to work on your magic arts. I can hold the gate and support me from behind."
"Are you find holding the brunt of the force at the gate?"
"Yeah, I have a bit of experience dealing with multiple enemies at once. Just make sure none leak past me and watch my back." Looking over, I saw a few of the risen were already beginning to approach.
The first couple of risen to charge in tried to swing their swords in wide sweeping strikes. I sidestepped an axe aimed for my head and moved to block the sword moving towards me. There was a quick clash of metal, my teeth gritting at the force behind the risen's strike. I swung my blade up and removed the risen from the doorway before turning my attention to the axe wielder. Fortunately, it looked like I had nothing to worry about if the burning body of the risen next to me was any indication. Glad Robin is still as good a shot as before. The strength of these risen are definitely abnormal. It felt like I was blocking one of Garrick's strikes for a second there.
I didn't have much time to think before the next group of risen came at us. Although their numbers were high, the coordination of the risen were pretty abysmal, and the bodies began to stack up along the entrance of the fort. However, the wave of risen seemed to be never-ending, throwing body after body at us.
We need to do something soon, it is tough to keep going like this without a healer. I can feel myself getting tired and it looks like Robin is beginning to lose focus as well...
Glancing behind me, I can see Robin trying to focus her magic, but she looked a little dazed. Her strikes no longer being lethal hits, but only minor annoyances to the risen. "Robin, we probably need to escape and regroup if we want to get out of this alive." Without a healer we are only fighting ourselves into a corner here."
"Do you have any suggestions Terry? If you haven't noticed, there is only one entrance into the fort and a bunch of monsters who would be happy to kill us on the other side."
"I know it sounds a little risky here, but we are probably going to have to push back into them and escape that way. As long as we don't get encircled, we can at least run and hopefully meet up with Chrom and the others."
"Terry, you and I both know that plan sounds terrible."
"I'm open to suggestions if you have any." Robin gritted her teeth, but nodded, knowing we were in a tight spot. "Alright, I'll follow your lead then."
I nodded to her and began to charge forward out of the entryway. Cutting my way through, I looked around and saw that there were still a decent number of risen moving towards the fort.
"Move ahead Robin, I'll watch our backs." We began to run north towards where the first fort was supposed to be. However, the risen were quick to follow us.
I don't remember the fort being this far away or maybe we are just a lot slower. I could feel exhaustion creeping up on me and saw Robin was beginning to slow down as well. "Robin, this isn't going to work. You go on ahead"
"What do you mean?"
"I can see that you're getting tired, these monsters will definitely catch up at this rate. I can hold them back for a bit so you can reach Chrom and get back here." Robin looked like I just asked her to kill me herself.
"Look, you are the tactician of the shepherds now, I know for sure you will have an important role in the future. I am just a mercenary. People like me are a dime a dozen. It's best that at least one of us gets out alive rather than both of us dying here." Robin simply stood there before turning around. She only shook her head, looking at the ground. I walked up to her before ruffling her hair.
"Go." Robin slowly nodded before running ahead into the forest line. Good girl. As long as Robin lives, the story will go as intended. I turned around and saw the risen breaking through the tree line.
The first to reach me looked to be an axe wielder. It charged in with heavy blows aimed center mass. Scoffing, I dodged to the side and brought my blades up, dismembering one of the risen. He could only look on in confusion before I spun around and tore my blades into its side, tearing the body in two. I didn't get much reprieve before a pair of risen were already on me, aiming to take my head off. I barely knocked away the blade of one of them before having to roll away from the second. Running in, I swung at the legs of one of the risen, toppling it over and quickly ending it life. The other risen roared at me before charging forward with a heavy overhead blow. I took a step forward into the risen's stance with my short sword held upwards, knocking aside the blow and leaving him wide open with its head flying a moment later.
Easy enough…just have to hold on a bit longer.
I was broken out of my thoughts when I felt something approaching me fast. I ran and dodged to the side before a heavy noise impacted where I was just standing. Looking over, I saw what looked like a risen holding an oversized axe, but it was much larger than the previous risen I have encountered. It definitely looked like this was a risen chieftain, if it's size was anything to go by. I prepared myself before it ran over to me again, raising a large axe and bringing it down on my head.
Fast! I sidestepped the blow and slashed into the risen's side, but could only gape as the sword barely cut into it. It bent its head towards me, as if mocking me, before swatting me aside.
"Damn…what is this bastards skin made of?" Looking at my swords, I saw there was a slight chip in the blade. I don't recall the game mentioning risen chieftain being this powerful. I didn't have much time to think though before the chieftain was on me, bringing its blade again.
I can't take a hit from this guy! I dodged again and aimed at his wrist this time. That seemed to do the trick, my blade cutting a bit deeper and making him drop the axe. The risen groaned and swiped at me. I quickly stepped back before moving in again, this time aiming for a blow to the neck. I was rewarded with the sound of my blade cutting into flesh, but then I heard a sharp cracking noise and saw my blade snap in two right in front of me.
You got to be kidding me…
The chieftain stared at me with my broken blade still in his neck and slashed at me with its hands. I couldn't do anything except roll away from the strike, hitting a tree in the process. I coughed a bit before glancing down and seeing 3 angry lines cut into the side of my body.
Shit I am losing blood fast. I need to kill this guy now! Looking back at the chieftain, I stood up quickly and prepared myself. It looked like that previous blow did seem to have an effect since it was moving quite a bit slower compared to before. Taking the short sword in my hand, I tightened my focus before kicking off the tree behind me and jumping into risen's guard before it could even swing. It seemed caught off guard and that gave me enough time to swing my sword for the same neck strike. This time, I was successful, with the blade cutting in the ripping through the chieftain's neck. The body took a few steps back before dropping and dispersing into miasma.
I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing I got rid of the immediate threat at the very least. That was close, I need to patch these wounds and regroup before things get bad. I was broken out of my thoughts by a sharp pain in my shoulder and saw an arrow shaft sticking out. What!? Suddenly my whole body shook, and it suddenly became hard to breathe. Looking down, I saw a blade sticking out of my chest and the smell of rotting flesh behind me. Shit, I must have missed them…
The risen ripped the blade out of my chest and I stumbled forward, turning around before hitting something and slumping forward. I tried to hold up my blade, but I could barely even lift my arms. Staring up at the risen, it looked like it was sneering at me before shuffling forward and raising up its blade.
So this is how I die, in some godforsaken forest against a random risen.
My vision began to blur from the blood loss and I heard the familiar sound of sword cutting through air, but instead of feeling the blade in my chest, a loud clang resounded through the forest. Looking up again, I saw a blue blur blocking the blow aimed at me before knocking it aside and killing the risen.
So she came in time after all… I could only chuckle before the world grew dark.