Disclaimer: Own nothing
A/N: I'm back! Sadly I actually ended up doing stuff on the vacation, however, and it'll probably only be this chapter. Enjoy! Oh, and I do try to slip in some things from Seth and Erika's view, please excuse that, had to be done, however horribly it was.
Seth's POV
My heart sank as Ross entered the broken camp. That would be all of us. I knew that I was the only one really qualified to give this speech at the moment, but that did not ease my dread any. It had not been an easy speech to hear, and I didn't believe it would be an easy one to give. Ross walked up to the horse at his father's side and mounted. Everyone looked to Erika and I, silently expecting us to lead the way. This was the quietest I had ever heard the group.
Okay, here goes. I wish I were only better at speeches. "Before we leave, there is something to be said. We have suffered our first loss to this unit. I am aware that some of us were close to her, that this unit is like a family, but war doesn't care. I guarantee that along the way we will lose many more. It is a sad, irrefutable part of war. Knowing this, and now having seen it, anyone may now leave this unit." I stared at them for a moment, as if waiting for someone to turn and leave, but I knew none would. They had all lost some to the war, they knew the risks.
"Let's go." I said, turning to Erika.
Agatha's POV
I watched as the Princess' unit galloped away, heading right in the direction I had hoped.
"Ha. They're heading straight to Riev, just as we planned." I spoke softly, stroking the tip of my sweets finger, who now rode in a pouch attached to a string around my neck. Back behind Serafew, in the woods, was a new army we had assembled. We would follow behind the group, closing in on them just as they ran into Riev. Then I would have revenge for my sweets…my children.
Lute's POV
I felt saddened, and more than a little scared at the death of Vanessa. I had joined this mission mostly because I had thought it would be more fun to improve my magic while doing something worthwhile, and with the aid of hindsight I will admit I had been far too rash. I was just grateful there was always Artur. He would always be by my side, and with his level of conviction, I knew he would keep me from harm if I were to slip up.
I turned to look at Artur. He was sitting astride his horse, his eyes closed. Probably meditating or having a philosophical moment, completely confident in the ability of his horse to follow the group. I smiled. Of all the things I had studied and mastered, the behaviour of men was not one of them. And monks had to be the strangest branch of men. But, in my estimate, they could be some of the best.
Suddenly I had a thought. What if Artur were to end up like Vanessa? He couldn't watch over me if that were to happen. At that moment I made a vow to myself that I would not let that happen, I would watch over him as much as he did me.
During some point in my musings Artur had opened his eyes. "Lute, you're staring." He said, his voice full of laughter.
"Just musing on how strange men are. Especially monks. Falling asleep on your horse, seems a useful talent, I suppose." I answered, deciding to leave out the second part of my thoughts, in case he somehow twisted those as well.
"I somehow doubt that. It's clearly due to how charming you find monks." He jested.
"No, maybe because they're bizarre, but only that."
"Sure that's what you say." He replied, obviously intent on keeping the banter alive.
I decided not to grace him with another denial, he would only keep pushing. And here I had thought this was where monks were different than most men.
"Here, we should probably set camp." Seth called from the front.
Suddenly, ahead of me, just about where Seth and Erika were, I felt a large shift of balance, dark magic was being operated. Seth and Erika's horses jumped back as a robed figure suddenly appeared in front of them. Also feeling the employment of dark magic, Artur rushed to the front of the group. I followed close behind.
"Princess Erika of Renais!" I heard the robed figure exclaim. "Accept your fate, you've nowhere to flee!"
"Wh-what? Who are you, and where did you come from?" Princess Erika asked, clearly disturbed by the man appearing from nowhere.
"You're as beautiful as I'd heard, and you're even wearing your bracelet."
"My bracelet? Why would you care about my bracelet?" Erika questioned.
"It matters not. I follow the emperor's orders." He answered, "Now, tell me, you came all this way to aid Ephraim, am I correct? A fool's errand. Ephraim fell before the emperor's might. As we speak he wastes away in a cell in Renvall, meekly awaiting his execution."
Erika looked stunned. "Renvall?" she whispered.
"Yes. Now comes the fun part of the game." The man laughed out. "Come, child." A child stepped out from behind him. "You see, there have been some large spiders spotted in this region, bael, I think they may be called. Perhaps they would like a nice hot meal, hm? The game is simple, you rush in and attempt to rescue the children, we kill you, I get the bracelet."
Beside me I felt the air fill with energy. I knew Artur loved children dearly. I readied my own magic, in case a duel broke out. The man let out a little chuckle, then began to open the void between his two destinations.
"You monster!" Artur yelled out, simultaneously sending a wave of energy at the man, in a line above the child's head. The shaman had clearly felt Artur preparing his magic as well, and he created a void between him and the bolt. He had underestimated Artur's magic, however, and some made it through, though only enough to give a deep cut on the man's cheek. Still laughing, the shaman jumped into the void, the child in tow.
A few seconds of stunned silence later, fog came racing from the direction we had just come. There was obviously more than one magic user about.
"Lute, c'mon! He must be this way!" Artur shouted, dismounting and running towards the origin of the fog. I wanted to tell him that it couldn't be the man with the child casting the fog, as that was a trick learned by users of anima magic, but he would have just argued the man could be a dabbler in two arts. And who knew, he could be right. So I followed, the two of us leaving the rest of the group behind.
Erika's POV
I was appalled at the idea of this man calling all this a game. I instantly went to follow Artur and Lute, as they would know best how to fin a magic user, but Seth stopped me.
"Erika, the fog is a ploy, it is only used by mages, that man was a shaman. And besides, I see an enemy there. He seems the type of man to hide behind others." He yelled, pointing northeast. There was indeed an enemy silhouette in that direction. "Erika, my instinct tells me the largest evil is in that direction. Come with me." He pleaded. I turned back to him. If his instincts said that way, then I would go.
I ran beside his horse as it cantered, telling myself to ask him to teach me how to fight from horseback after the battle. Franz pulled his own horse up beside Seth, and behind us Gilliam was moving as fast as I'd seen him go. I prayed Seth was right. If that girl died…
Colm's POV
I watched as most of the group split into two different directions. I groaned as I saw they were heading essentially nowhere. I scanned through the fog, the vague shapes completing themselves in my mind. The concentration of enemy units was definitely to the east, there we would find the shaman.
"C'mon, Neimi. He's this way." I said, jumping off the horse. She followed right behind me. Seeing revenants among the Grado soldiers, I called back. "Neimi, sticks to the human soldiers, your arrows don't affect the monsters."
Just behind us Ross and Garcia followed, having an argument all the while.
"I trust Seth's instincts. We should follow him!" Garcia shouted after Ross.
"The murderer went with them, and besides, Colm can see in this stuff." Was Ross's reply.
Neimi and I outdistanced them enough to ignore the argument. As we drew nearer the enemy soldiers, I was surprised to hear their shouts.
"What are they doing here?" One called out to the others.
"Novala never said anything about bringing revenants, did he?" Another called.
"And where did the fog come from?" The first continued.
They didn't know about the revenants? Or the fog? I did not view this as fortunate news. Suddenly there was a whirring noise, closely followed by another. One of the Grado cavaliers cried out, then fell from his horse.
"What was that?" The other one shouted. We hadn't even been spotted yet.
Suddenly, before Neimi could ready another shot, the silhouette of a revenant shot at the cavalier. I saw as the cavalier severed one of the undead's arms in a startled defense. The monster continued, undeterred, sinking its claws into the mans leg. He let out a terrible scream, dropping his sword and attempting to remove the revenants claws with his hands. It was clear the man would not make it, however, and Neimi gave him a quicker death.
The horse turned to see the revenant, and shot off in a panic, dragging it along as it was still clamped to the cavalier. Behind were two more.
"Neimi, stay back!" I shouted, readying my short sword. I rushed at the closest revenant and severing one of its outstretched arms. As I spun to keep the monsters in view, I saw Garcia run at it, chopping its head off. Ross was close behind, removing the revenants last arm.
All three of us were rather taken by the bizarre appearance of the headless, armless body. None of us noticed the second revenant, and Neimi's shout came just a little late. "Ross!"
The revenants claws raked down his back, tearing long, deep gashes. Ross fell to the ground, hard.
"No, Ross!" Garcia yelled out, tackling the revenant before it could fall on Ross and finish the job. The two rolled for a yard or two, then broke apart. Garcia was on his feet in an instant, sporting only a few shallow scratches down one arm.
Suddenly something whistled past my ear, and I swear I felt something clip it.
"Colm! Watch the battle!" Neimi chastised me. I turned to see a downed axeman behind me. Curse it all, if Neimi was paying more attention to the battle I was in trouble.
I turned back to see Garcia had practically finished the revenant, and Moulder was kneeling beside Ross, both were surrounded in a cool blue light. Behind Moulder, Neimi was drawing another arrow. I walked up to the two, quickly joined by Garcia.
"Ross? Is he okay?" Garcia asked, sounding panicked. He kneeled next to Moulder.
"I'm fine, dad, it's nothing." Ross said, sitting up.
"The wound was truly insignificant. It healed perfectly." Moulder said, standing up.
"Then let's move, the shaman can't be too far." I instructed. Indeed, after a few steps I saw his silhouette, along with three others.
Erika's POV
I was completely unnerved by the fact that the first three enemies were revenants. It seemed almost as if they had been placed where they were on purpose, and were working in concert with the shaman. If this were true, our mission had suddenly become harder.
On a good note, Joshua and Natasha had also followed us, and Joshua was proving to be a fair swordsman, taking one of the monsters by himself. Another was dispatched by Gilliam and Franz, Gilliam holding it in place, skewered by his spear, while Franz hacked away at it. I aided Seth, though minimally, with the last one, the rapier style swords were not quite fit to properly cut through them.
From there we continued on, fighting our way through a growing number of revenants, though they were all fairly weak. I wondered if the man at the end of this wanted to meet us in battle.
"Erika, we're close, I can feel it." Seth called over after reducing the last revenant in our sight to useless chunks of meat.
Suddenly the fog around us disappeared, revealing a very weathered old man clad in the robes of a bishop.
"He he he. Princess Erika." The man cackled. "I'm so glad you have come to me."
Sure the man freaked me out, but at the moment he didn't look particularly dangerous, and he was a holy man.
"Sir, there are children, they need-"
"Erika" Seth interrupted. "He's the evil, you can't trust him."
"Ah. Novala's playing one of his little games again. The fool. He's going to get himself killed one day. Maybe today, I see some of your group is absent.
He knew of our group? Maybe Seth was right. I felt Joshua walk up next to me, then half a step in front, he was now the closest to the man. "Who are you?" I asked.
The man seemed to ponder the question. "I need not concern you with that now. In fact, we should be bringing our meeting to a close. The King is not patient. It was nice meeting you, Erika of Renais, goodbye."
His sudden farewell threw me off balance mentally, and the sudden yellow orange bolt flying towards me did nothing to help. I cringed back. "Erika!" I heard Seth yell. I opened my eyes to see that he had jumped from his horse and in front of the bolt. A split second later it made contact, blowing Seth back into me and sending us both into a roll across the ground. At the end of the roll I was pinned down by the dead weight of Seth. I prayed he was only unconscious.
Joshua quickly closed the distance between himself and the man, swinging his sword for the throat. Even more quickly, however, the man produced a staff, striking Joshua's hand and knocking his blade off course, then swinging it back around to land a blow on the back of Joshua's neck, sending him sprawling.
Then Franz came, leaping his horse above us. He had been staying behind with Gilliam, and had finally caught up. He was obviously looking to land a blow while the man's back was turned.
The bishop seemed to sense Franz coming long before we could have expected, however, and whipped around, sending out a long horizontal stripe of energy. I gasped as it made contact just below Franz's throat just as his horse landed. The boy's severed head spun through the air, flashing crimson, and landing beside me, a look of rage still etched upon his young face.
I felt like I was going to puke, and quickly looked around it to see who would fall to the priest next. Joshua was back on his feet, looking more warily at the bishop's back. I wondered for a moment why he was waiting, then saw the javelin flying at the bishop. Gilliam had joined the battle.
The old man swung his staff up to parry the javelin, and at the same instant Joshua swung his sword, holding it out particularly far. Somehow the old man kept his tempo above that of Joshua, and he expertly spun the staff around to strike away the tip of Joshua's sword.
Then I saw what Joshua had been planning, holding his sword out so wide. As the staff whipped the sword back the other way, Joshua used the force used the force to initiate a spin, holding out one foot. His kick struck the bishop's side with rib-cracking force, knocking the man to the ground.
Bringing his sword back around, he spun, bringing the sword down above his head. The bishop held his arms out above him, catching the sword on one forearm and receiving a horrible gash that would have completely made it through his arm if he had not been preparing his spell. A small fraction of a second after Joshua's sword made contact he was blown backwards by a large, though crudely constructed, force.
The old man looked up to realize Joshua was not very hurt, and Gilliam was approaching. With broken ribs he would lose. Cackling, he bid farewell. "Farewell, princess Erika. I can't wait until we next meet. Two less to fight." And suddenly he opened one of the portals allowing him to leave. He was gone before Joshua or Gilliam could come close.
Lute's POV
Artur was running a few steps ahead of me, destroying every revenant he came across without thought or a second glance. I was both touched by his ability to care and aggravated by his power of observation. Why did he not see that, although we were supposedly fighting Grado at the moment, it was revenants he was blasting away. Was this to mean Grado was somehow allied with the undead?
Just as the power of the fog ceased I caught up to Artur. In just a few second the fog would reveal the caster. I saw a robed silhouette walking towards us.
"You killed my sweets." It was an old woman, judging by the voice. She was thrown into relief as a sudden wind came through, blowing away the fog. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar. "You killed my sweets and now you must pay. They did nothing to you, and you killed them." She was slowly walking towards us, furiously stroking something hanging out of her necklace.
"Agatha?" Artur asked, recognizing the voice as well. I was quite surprised he had named her before I had, however.
"Lute, you were so perfect, I am sorry this young man has tainted you. But revenge must be taken. Goodbye."
"What?" I asked before I felt a sudden up swell of power from her. She was preparing to attack us. Before I really knew what was happening she had sent two bolts of energy at us. A split second later she also had a fireball sent towards Artur, just under the light magic.
Artur jumped out of the way of both the energies directed at him, and in front of the one headed towards me, absorbing its energy and grounding it. A second later my mind kicked in, and I seized control of the forces of the fireball Agatha had abandoned, swinging it back around at her. Artur had also sent his own beam of energy at Agatha, sparking a random thought: light magic was not very creative.
Agatha locked wills with me for control of the fireball, shattering my control after only moments. At the same time she absorbed the energy from Artur, redirecting it at me. She sent the fireball flying at Artur.
Artur brought a shield up, largely stopping the momentum of the fire, and sustaining only small burns along his arm. I mentally slapped myself, remembering my vow; I was supposed to protect him from anima magic especially. I stepped to the side, avoiding the beam of energy she had sent towards me.
"Ha ha ha, you two have knowledge." She cackled. Suddenly, with an upward gesture from Agatha, roots rose from the ground, wrapping themselves around my ankles. I quickly searched my mind for the energies of plants, not quite familiar with them. Then she shot out the largest bolt of light energy I had seen yet, nearly blinding me with the light. Seeing that I was trapped, Artur jumped in front of me. He began to absorb the energy, channeling it into the ground as fast as he could. She just continued to feed the bolt, the plants around her beginning to die. She had run out of the earth's natural energy in the place already, there was no way Artur could withstand that much longer.
"Artur, leave. She's too powerful, we can't beat her." I pleaded, knowing if he continued he would be cooked alive.
"No!" Artur shouted, redoubling his efforts. Instead of grounding the energy, he redirected it back at her. His last mistake, the effort caused him to slip in his ability to block himself from the rest of the energy, he was burnt alive.
I would have suffered the same fate, if not for the last distracting bolt, Artur's last. Agatha simply dodged over to the side, evading the bolt completely. Artur's body collapsed to the ground, the soft plumping sound bringing me out of my shock. In its place was a burning fury. She had killed Artur, she had made me break my vow.
Without knowing how I had done it, the roots were suddenly loose. I stepped forward, summoning up my fury, never before having felt such an exhilarating experience. This was better than the day I had first performed my magic. Agatha laughed, sending another fireball at me, though she took a step back.
I allowed the fireball to close in on me, slapping it aside at the last second. The futile gesture only angered me more; suddenly I felt the earth calling to me. Earth magic was one of the most complicated, powerful forms of anima magic. It took the most accomplished sages complicated incantations and hand gestures to accomplish the simplest tasks of moving earth. But I was a prodigy, and the earth was calling.
With a simple upward motion of my hands I erected two rock pillars. Another sweeping motion, and they flew at Agatha. Somehow knowing those two would be blocked, I summoned another mass of stone, sending it right down the middle.
Agatha held her hands out, at the two pillars, seeming to physically shatter them, though I knew she had used her magic. Still, it looked to be a bone-jarring experience. The last one hit her square on, before she had any chance of shielding herself. She was knocked flat, and I heard the crunch of many bones. The boulder continued on its course, leaving a quivering mass of old flesh and crunched bone behind. She was still alive. I walked up to her, intent on fulfilling revenge for Artur.
Neimi's POV
We all followed as Colm led the way to the shaman. I could barely believe that between Seth's instinct and the magical knowledge of Artur and Lute, Colm had been the one to go the right way. But then again, I could, he may be rude about it at times, but he was usually right. I trusted him more than anyone, and this only served to prove my trust was well placed.
"Neimi, take the cavalier" Colm instructed, pointing to a shape I could barely see. Raising my bow, I aimed at the bulk of the shadow. I released, and quickly knocked another arrow. The cavalier backed into the fog, though, and I had no target to shoot. Then a cry went up, they knew we were here.
Hearing the cry, the two axemen of our group let out their own, no longer worried about giving up position, and rushed to where the figures were. Apparently being injured already in this battle did little to deter Ross. Colm and I quickly followed, Colm shaking his head in disbelief at the men's antics.
We caught up to find that one mage was already done, having been taken by surprise, having two axemen rush him, and another axeman quickly fell to the father son duo. Seeing the cavalier off to the side, pulling an arrow out of his arm, Colm ran over and quickly finished him before he had the chance to defend. Now the shaman was our sole enemy.
I loosed my current arrow at him, scoring a hit on his arm, and distracting him from the spell he had been casting towards Garcia. It was clear he would fall easy to the four of us. Garcia rushed up as the shaman was holding his arm, and sliced his axe into the shaman's side.
"Don't kill him quite yet!" Colm exclaimed. He hurried over to the fallen shaman. "Where are the children." Colm asked. I wanted to take a step back, I had never before heard Colm sound so dangerous.
"I'm a dead man either way. You really think I would tell you? At least I may relish this one last bit of victory." The shaman groaned back, attempting to laugh. Suddenly screams issued from the forest to the south.
"We'll see who has total victory." Colm said, shoving his sword into the man's throat, then turning to the forest. "If we hurry, we may be able to save them."
"Then let's go!" Ross exclaimed, running off in the direction of the screams. The four of us followed close behind. It was only through a short plot of woods before we ran into the clearing, just in time to see to giant spiders bearing down upon three unarmed people. One was only feet away from one of the children.
"Yah!" Ross yelled, charging at the spider and choping off one of its forelegs in one swipe of his axe, causing it to lose balance and trip, allowing the child time to run back. Moulder quickly ran to attend the children. As Garcia went to aid his son in the chopping of the large spider, the two working almost seamlessly as the destroyed the monster, I loosed an arrow into the eye area of the other spider, not knowing how many eyes it actually hit. Colm took advantage of the monster's sudden pain, and hacked away one of its legs in two swings, then cutting a large incision down the thing's body.
Crippled before they had even been aware that the small creatures before them were dangerous, the spiders were finished quickly. I looked over to Colm, covered in spider fluids, and saw his smile as he watched Moulder console the children. There was nothing more beautiful than the satisfaction in that smile.
Riev's POV (omg, I can't believe I'm actually doing this. Eww?)
I arrived where Agatha had been supposed to be waiting, should they attempt to double track for their escape. Believing that they had not, however, the scene before me was rather surprising, and amusing. The group's young monk lay dead, and only feet away the little mage was standing above Agatha, clearly the victorious duelist. I chuckled to myself, defeated by a mere mage.
I walked silently behind the two, quickly severing the head of the mage, who had had no chance to sense it coming, and had obviously been too distracted to notice anyhow.
"Why, Agatha, look at you, almost as beautiful as the day we met." I said, looking down at her. It was true; she had always been one ugly hag, though a powerful ugly hag. Yes, she had been quite useful. Not anymore, however.
"R-R-Riev. You saved me." She said softly, clearly unable to muster any breath. Her face contorted into a horribly ugly smile.
"No, not quite. You see, I really don't feel like wasting any energy to heal you. You have just about used up your usefulness. I'm afraid I'll have to leave you here like this." I said, enjoying the look of terror that crept upon her face.
"R-Riev?" She asked.
"Farewell, Agatha. It seems death shall not bring us together after all." I said, before turning to leave. As I stepped into the void, I heard one choke filled sob.
A/N: Sorry it took so long, vacation kinda took it out of me, I'm not one for long trips, I can only sleep, so writing never really happened. Thanks to my constant reviewers: Sorenfangirl104, Black Lotus Flower, 73ayay, and LoneWolf69. Also a thanks to Yami01, who favourited it, even if they didn't review…
I feel horribly dirty from this chapter. So many killings, and one from Riev's POV. Also makes me feel kind of sorry for Agatha. Maybe the next one will be lighter, considering two of the deaths in this were moved up (try to guess which two, unless you're LoneWolf69, cheater.) Anyways, hope it was somewhat enjoyable.