Hey, guys. Yep, another chapter of Dragons Lost in Time. I may have fun writing these stories, but they mess with my nerves so much.
Anyway, the past few weeks, I had to deal with some college stuff, including final exams. But now they are over and I can put some more focus into doing these chapters. So please bear with me as I continue to write, post, and wait for the reviews. But I can't do the last one on the list if you don't send in reviews. Anything that will help me to be a better writer and make a better story.
I do not own the Fire Emblem series.
As Corrin and Spencer headed to the commander's private quarters, they passed by many others getting ready to leave the astral fort and preparing to face any potential foes. Some were fitting armor on their bodies and polishing their weapons, others were packing for the trip ahead, and the rest were finished getting ready for both scenarios.
Spencer wondered why he was not going to his quarters to do the same as the rest of the small army and instead going to Corrin's quarters. He had asked why multiple times but was left without an answer. He figured that he would get an answer as he followed the white-haired man up the ladder to the tree-house.
It wasn't a bad sight inside the small room, but it was nothing to write home about. It seemed livable, but not entirely cozy. Spencer was about to ask the reason for coming here again when he saw Corrin searching for something in the room.
"Corrin? What are you looking for?" Spencer asked. Corrin still didn't answer after a few moments as he continued his search. A minute later, Corrin grinned as he pulled out a bundle of dark fabric from under his bed and turned to the other male.
"I was looking for this." Corrin finally answered. "After our spar, I saw that you could take a hit from a blunt weapon, but you lacked armor or some kind of protection so I figured that this would be fine for now." He unfolded the bundle and let it hang from his hands. It seemed to be a dark cloak, with purple and gold detailing along the black fabric, with the purple depicting strange eyes along the arms. Spencer raised his eyebrow in confusion. How was this a good substitute for armor?
"This cloak was left behind by a travelling tactician that helped us during the Vallite war. He said that it was to be a gift for us if we had need of it." Corrin started explaining. "This fabric has magical qualities that can repair minor tears itself and has a high magic resistance. It's also supposed to be durable against weak weapons, so it should be good enough as light armor until we can get or make you some chainmail to put under it. I think that you should use it, since we never thought to prepare any spare armor before we came to get you." Corrin placed the cloak in Spencer's arms and stepped back to give him room to place the article of clothing on himself. Spencer stared at it curiously and turned it around, finding two large slits in the back of the cloak. It was a strange item, as the fabric felt a bit thin, but it also felt soft, probably for the comfort of the wearer.
He folded his wings closer to his back and lowered his tail to the floor as he engulfed his body with the article of clothing. He wiggled his wings around until they found their way through the holes and stretched out. His tail felt like it was sagging a little as he coiled it around his shoes on the floor; he couldn't lift it too much without lifting the cloak but he figured that he could make do.
"How does it feel?" Corrin asked. The brown haired dragon turned around once, twice, and then a third time to try to get a good look at himself. He had to admit that even though someone else had owned it, the cloak felt like it fit him almost perfectly and comfortably.
"It feels great, but how…?" Spencer trailed off with his question, gesturing to his back and his wings, which were able to move freely. Corrin waved off his question as he started to explain again.
"I had someone retrieve it and sew those holes while we were out in the village. I think it should work for the time being." Corrin answered. Thank the gods Caeldori knew how to sew, being the prodigious daughter of a great man; Corrin did not want to wait for Oboro, the actual seamstress, so Spencer would be ready for a battle. "I'm thinking that you should hide your wings and tail while we're travelling, but you can use them as you see fit in battle; the reason being that I'm worried that the Vallite soldiers could be more intelligent this time. I don't want to take any risks if the public sees you and starts to gossip, no matter whose ears are listening. If Vallite soldiers catch wind of you, they could try and kidnap you again." Corrin explained. He saw Spencer nod in understanding after thinking about it before he started explaining again.
"I'm also asking that you carry a Fimbulvetr tome to better your proficiency with ice. We might even be able to fill that sheath you carry around with a real cutlass for your disguise. Does that sound all right with you?" Spencer looked down in thought for a second before nodding again.
"Sounds fine. So, I'm just a normal soldier in your army now?"
"I was thinking that you could pretend to be my new tactician, since many people recognize the cloak anyway."
"Tactician?" Spencer asked, slightly panicked. "As long as I don't have to give many orders or advice, I'm fine with that. I'm not really skilled in strategy."
"Don't worry about that. You'll only be acting like it. And if you want, I could teach you about tactics if you ever want to play the part. Now go get ready, we set out at dawn and you'll be marching with me and a few others." Corrin said. Spencer shifted his tail to coil around his torso and folded his wings inside the cloak. He gave a strange salute to the Commander before walking out the door and down the ladder.
After exiting the portal, the small army started heading northwest. Setting out at dawn was something that the army would have to get used to again. They were told that if they hadn't run into trouble by dusk, they would continue to march until an hour after darkness had fallen. It was now early afternoon and the sun was high in the sky.
Corrin had decided to head to the Hoshidan capital first, since it's the closest from their current location. Some of the soldiers had gotten into groups and talked amongst themselves as they marched, all except for the quiet dragon and the white haired man beside him. There were also two women near them; one of the females Spencer knew was named Sakura, the other woman called herself Sakura's retainer and was named Hana. She was a bit reluctant with letting Sakura be close to the draconic stranger, even if Hana was protecting her liege personally. The dragon, at the moment, was too tired to notice any of the swordmaster's inspecting glances thrown his way.
Spencer yawned as he looked through a strange book he had obtained from an elderly knight named Gunter at the armory. Using a hand to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight, Spencer regretted not getting much sleep the night before. He had yet to put this tome down since he got it late last night and read it until he fell asleep.
He had been given the Fimbulvetr tome for his disguise, but reading it was far more interesting than just having it. He expected that to use it, he just had to say the name of the tome and it would happen. Reading the tome itself, he found that it was a lot more complicated. It instructed that the user had to concentrate on what kind of spell one would want to cast, gather the tome's power, and focus it into one point on the body, like the palm of the hand, before releasing it. This reminded him of his own powers, though it was taxing on his body after he used his own power too often. A tome could be used multiple times and the user would not be exhausted in the slightest, if their skill level corresponded to the kind of tome they were using. His thoughts of the tome were interrupted when he heard the man next to him speak up.
"You really seem to enjoy reading that book, don't you?" Spencer looked to his left at Corrin and nodded.
"Yeah. It's weird, like I can't stop reading it."
"Is it because it's an ice tome?" Corrin asked.
"A little. Ice is my favorite element to use."
"Your favorite element? Is that implying that you use other elements?" The commander asked. Spencer nodded, prompting Corrin to ask again. "What other elements do you use?"
Spencer seemed to ponder for a moment as they continued to walk, and then spoke to Corrin after he finished his thoughts. "How about you try and guess my other elements? Do you remember what the markings on my wings were?"
Corrin nodded, a little confused at why Spencer would ask about his wings when asked about his powers. The noble dragon thought hard about the wings until he understood why. Corrin remembered seeing patterns of ice and snowflakes, and other patterns, on the scales of the wings. He recognized the red patterns instantly. "Is one of them fire?" He asked.
"Yep. One more to guess." Spencer answered, holding up one finger. Corrin rolled his eyes at the behavior before trying to remember the wings again.
"Some of the patterns look like the effects of tomes like Thunder and Lightning… Am I close?"
"You actually already guessed it. It's lightning."
"Interesting." Corrin mused. "But why do your wings have those markings?" Spencer scratched his chin in thought. Corrin wondered if it was difficult to explain. Or maybe the draconian never thought about it before?
"Try and imagine my body as a clay jar and my powers are the water inside that jar." Spencer said, trying to explain. "Now imagine that jar having cracks and the water leaking out through those cracks. The markings on my wings are my powers leaking out a bit. The same goes for the markings on my tail and the colors in my hair." Corrin nodded in understanding, but once again asked after getting a look at the hair behind his head.
"What about those white and black strands? What elements are they for? And I don't see any white and black markings anywhere else on your body." Spencer remained silent for a moment and pulled at the white strands of hair at the nape of his neck. His other hand hovered around the black dagger strapped to his hip.
"They're latent powers. But right now, they're not really important. Maybe I'll tell you about them another time."
"I see. I'll hold you to that." Corrin said. He knew that he was prying into the stranger's personal information, but he couldn't help his curiosity. "What about your fire and lightning? What can you do with them?" Corrin asked again. Spencer seemed to ponder for a moment, looking around at the trees, before answering again.
"I think it would be best if I told you another time, when we're alone."
"Oh, because you don't want us to know about it and exploit your weaknesses in sparring?" Both males turned to their marching companions and saw the female swordmaster glaring at the brown-haired dragon. Corrin expected at least a little anger or even annoyance from the other man, but he only saw a flash of confusion go across Spencer's eyes.
"…No. About my weaknesses, maybe, but not to you." Spencer said slowly, confusing all three present. "You never know who is watching and listening, especially since we're in enemy territory." Corrin's eyebrows shot up as he realized where they were, indeed. They still had to travel through bandit territory, and possibly fight them. If anyone gave away their secrets, they would be vulnerable. Did that mean that what Spencer told them was basically common knowledge? Maybe the Outrealmer knew more about strategies than he thought. And judging by her facial expression, Hana realized it as well. She huffed and turned her gaze forward again as she walked by the silent Sakura's side.
Spencer sighed and yawned again as he tried reading from the ice tome again, but a mumbling voice caught his attention. "You… Are you okay?" He heard the soft voice say, emanating from the Priestess beside the warrior woman. Corrin raised in eyebrow in confusion, wondering why Sakura was looking at the dragon, let alone speaking to him.
"I think so." He answered. "Why do you ask?" Sakura was shocked to hear him say that. She looked at his eyes, seeing the dark circles under them. She saw the hand not carrying the tome shaking and twitching. This man was clearly sleep deprived and he asked why she was concerned? Being concerned for someone else's health was her duty.
"Well, I care about the health of all people in our company. And you…" She stopped, her ears filled with a pounding sound. "You look exhausted. Did you… How long has it been since you've had a comfortable sleep?"
"Maybe… a few days ago? Before Selkie and Kaden found me…" Spencer answered, causing Sakura and Corrin to gape at the man.
"A few days?! How… Why did you not get any sleep?!" Sakura raised her voice at him and inched toward him. Face paling, Spencer backed up slightly from her and tried to answer again.
"A lot has happened in the past few days. I was found by Kitsune, fought for their safety, and joined an army. Would you be able to get any sleep after that?" Sakura let the short explanation sink in, before nodding.
"I-I guess so…" She said, in that soft tone again. "Just promise me to try and get a full night's sleep the next time we stop for the night. Please?" She pleaded. She didn't care if he was a stranger to her, no one should be putting themselves through something like that.
"…I promise." He answered. Sakura sighed in relief before noticing that she had gotten closer to him, causing her to blush and back away from him.
"Thank you."
Spencer gave a shallow nod in return. He turned his gaze back to the trail and the few soldiers in front, acting as guides for the rest of the company. At the front of those few soldiers was the green-haired ninja from before, Kaze. He was the one with the most knowledge of the area and one of the best soldiers at sensing danger, so Corrin appointed the man as their guide. His skills spoke for themselves, when, in less than a blink of the eye, he deflected a throwing star with his own kunai. His eyes shot from treetop to treetop as he detected multiple presences around them. He turned around to the rest of the soldiers, screaming one thing that made the entire company halt in their tracks.
"AMBUSH!"
If you are thinking "Not another cliffhanger", just let me explain. I don't really know what a good chapter length would be and this feels more like my average chapter length, about two thousand or 2,500 words. If you have any suggestions about how long the chapters should be, leave a review or PM me. I will try to keep my cool and take into consideration any and all advice thrown my way.
Dragon out.