As you can hopefully tell, I am not the type of author who likes to keep people waiting. And good news! I'm about to have a second nephew! His name, I swear on this one, is going to be... Thor! That's right, I'll be the only one who I know who'll be able to say, "Thor? My nephew or the God of Thunder?" But anyway, Chapter 7!
Chapter 7
An Exalted Death
Chrom and company were nearing the spot where Emmeryn was supposed to be executed. Help had come in the form of Basilio and Flavia from Ferox, and Link was training at every chance he got, the anger and determination evident in his eyes. Chrom noticed his behavior and decided to ask Robin about it.
"Hey Robin, have you noticed anything off about Link? He's been focusing more about training than even basic needs. It's been a while since I've even seen him eat!"
Robin nodded, then looked to the green-clad warrior. "He claims he doesn't need food, but I doubt it. He's even- OH MY GODS!" He was starled at what happened to Link. One second he was training violently, the next he was on the ground, vomiting.
Chrom called for Lissa and Maribelle, who were there within minutes. They checked him over, and returned with news.
"He won't die, but he's in need of food, water, and rest. It seems like weeks since the last time that guy has had anything he even needed to live."
Chrom nodded, then walked the Hero over to his tent.
"No! I told you, I don't... Need... any HE-" He was cut off by him heaving onto the ground, getting rid of what little food he had left in his stomach. "On second thought..."
Chrom had Stahl ready some food for Link, mainly because he was one of the only people in the camp actually capable of cooking, though Link has shown he was willing to eat anything at that point. Once Chrom left the food, he went outside to give some orders, and then came back in to see the tray and plate licked clean. Even Stahl couldn't clear a plate that fast! He looked at Link, who was somehow sleeping soundly. He was wearing nothing but a simple pair of hide shorts and a make-shift bandage shirt. He noticed several tattoos adorning his right arm, several hidden under the shirt, some creaping up his neck, and well as several things written in another language he couldn't understand. He decided to ask him later.
Eventually, he was feeling better, so he could go back to raining, albeit nowhere near as hard as he was before, as he had just gotten better. Anything more would just hurt him even more. He decided he wanted to join the sparring matches that were taking place at the training grounds, so he gathered his weapons and headed out to the spot and got ready. Since Link was even more accomplished than him, he decided to train himself a little by going against him in a fight.
They drew their swords and charged. Chrom leaped high into the air, and procedded to spin rapidly with his sword held out. Link side-stepped and took a swing, but Chrom was ready and blocked it with his Falchion. They were using their usual swords, as anything else would simply break from the force of the blows they traded.
Link began doing something similar to what Chrom did, only his began with him catching Chrom off-guard with a shield bash. Something Chrom still debates to this day. Afterwards, Link switched to rolling around Chrom to catch him from behind. Eventually, Chrom got tired and began tripping over his own feet, so they decided to settle this fight later. Chrom slept that night trying to come up with ways to beat this swordsman. He didn't come up with anything.
OOO
After reclaiming his sword from the unconcious wyvern riders, Ganondorf decided to have a talk with the Mad King.
"Damn it, Gangrel! Tell your blasted soldiers to stop pranking me! It's happened three times this week, and it's getting annoying."
Gangrel sat up in his throne, and smiled maniacally. "Sorry, Ganondorf, but it seems that pre-battle jitters have settled in."
Ganondorf cocked his head to the side. "Battle?"
Gangrel laughed a little bit at that one. "Did you really think that we would kidnap their precious Exalt and get away scott-free? No, they're getting closer by the day! And I hear that the green one is with them from my scouts!"
Ganondorf got in the Mad King's face. "Yet you do nothing!? He is possibly the greatest warrior that army has, and here you sit, making jokes about it! Ready your troups! Send EVERYTHING! He can't be given even he slightest chance to live, or he will prevail!"
Gangrel was caught off-guard by this, and seeing the reasoning behing his words, called his tactition to his side. She was a small woman with tan skin and long white hair, with an all-to-revealing set of clothing.
Gangrel turned to her. "Aversa, I need you to ready our troops for the arrival of the foolish prince's forces, and ensure that we win, agreed?"
The woman, Aversa, bowed and left with a sinister grin on her face.
Ganondorf looked back at the Mad King shaking his head. "My, is she an evil one. I could swear if it weren't for my immortality, she would have killed me by now."
Gangrel nodded. "Indeed. She is like a rose. While she is beautiful, she has some deadly thorns."
OOO
Chrom and company finally arrived at Emmeryn's execution grounds, which turned out to be the Plegian capitol's courtyard, near an immpressive effigy of a massive dragon skull, which both Link and Robin claimed made them uneasy. They noticed the large amount of Plegian soldiers taking up arms, then restrained a healthy Link from running in and fighting them all. While they were confident in his abilities, they just couldn't take the risk of him being caught off-guard by a lucky soldier.
"Hmph. Fine, I'll stay with the main group. But if I see any individual soldiers, I'm taking them out."
Chrom nodded, and surveyed the field with Link and Robin. They noticed several wyvern riders, mages, and a few archers as well as a resonable number of soldiers, along with a General at the entrance to Emmeryn's exectution perch, which was literally a stone perch overlooking the entire battlefield. Gangrel himself, along with his tactition and Ganondorf were standing beneath the perch. Then Gangrel gave the order.
"Kill them. Kill their friends, kill their precious Exalt, KILL THEM ALL!" They then went in the direction of the capitol to oversee the battle. Link was all-to familiar with the tall, armored man.
"Ganondorf!? He survived!?"
Chrom looked to the swordsman in confusion over his outburst about the tall man. "Who's Ganondorf?"
Link calmed down, however he was still clenching his Master Sword tightly. "He's the King of Evil who slaughtered hundreds of my people. I thought I stopped him, but I guess I merely put him to a rather temporary rest. I warn you, do not engage him."
Chrom shrugged. "He doesn't seem that tough. That armor probably slows him down alot, so I don't see him as a threat."
Link shook his head. "He is deceptively fast, as well as possessing strength of an unparalled caliber. He is a very accomplished swordsman, easily my equal, though just slightly less developed than me. He is also a powerful sorcerer. Watch out for distance attacks from him, as they stun you while hurting you. He is also a master hand-to-hand fighter."
Chrom blinked is wide eyes at Ganondorf's resume. Was he really that strong? Anyone of that size must be very strong. He made Frederick look like a child!
Meanwhile, someone on the Plegian's side of the battlefield, one of the soldiers was contemplating what the king had said.
"Why should we just rush into battle just because we have orders to do so? I mean, long-live the king and all, but I'd rather be the one to chose who I kill. Besides, I've always been able to chose who I hate on my own." ...She was smiling pretty creepily for that last part.
Right after that, everyone moved out. Most of the Shepherds were having trouble with the sands, except for the mages, fliers, and Link, who had been in environments like this before. Chrom, who had paired with Sumia, flew in and began picking off the archers that would otherwise pose a decent threat to his soldiers. Link had marched his way to the enemy-occupied forts to the south to gain control of them, as well as get the vantage point for his bow, which has surpirior range to enemy bows, so he didn't have to worry about return fire. He began aiming for the less armored soldiers, as his arrows weren't as effective against more armored foes. He was in the middle of sniping a soldier when a shadow loomed in from behind him.
OOO
Chrom made way to the entrance of the courtyard, and he encountered a young woman dark mage named Tharja.
"You there, you seem reluctant to fight!"
She flung a small spell into the wind, only for it to start raining on Chrom. Only on Chrom. "We all die at some point, so why rush it by fighting?"
Chrom brushed the wet strands of hair from his face. "Maybe you're just not fighting for the right side?"
Tharja looked at him, but shrugged. "How would you know this isn't just some ploy to sink a knife in your back?"
Chrom gestured at the form of Emmeryn standing on top of the pillar of stone. "My sister, I feel like she would trust you, so I'll try to trust you as well."
She looked at him with slightly wider eyes, and gave a devilish smile. "Odd. Ususally, when I bring up the back-stabbing bit, the conversation's over. Very well, you van consider me your ally... For now. Hehehe..."
While an odd soldier for his army, Chrom would take whoever he could get.
OOO
Link was caught off-guard, but calmed down when he realized it was Lucina.
"Gods and Goddesses, Lucina! You startled me!"
Lucina crouched down next to him and surveyed the scene. She noticed the numerous soldiers downed by Link's arrows, and nodded in aproval.
"You're doing a magnificent job here. There are few soldiers that have escaped your glance."
Link looked back at his companion for a moment, then went back to picking off the soldiers that his allies couldn't. He even got a few wyvern riders off Chrom's back, much to his confusion when his opponents died randomly. Link will tell him later. For right now, he'll just keep taking down his opponents for laughs. Even Lucina was laughing at the prince's confusion.
"I'll tell him about this later, after the battle."
He couldn't help but continue his onslaught on Chrom's opponents.
OOO
Chrom eventually made his way to the leader of the group, a General named Campari.
"You shall not pass! I will ensure that your Exalt atones for the travesties she caused for our nation!"
Chrom decided not to ask, but to simply fight him. He drew his rapier and rushed in, attempting to pierce his armor with the slim weapon. Eventually, he finished him. Or at least he thought he did, until he noticed the armor-piercing arrow embedded in the man's helmet. But the only person in the camp with that type of arrow is... That crafty dasterd! He just decided to wait for later to talk to him about it, as right now he had to save Emmeryn.
"Everyone! Their general is down! Move in and face them!"
Just as soon as he had given the order, everyone moved in on the courtyard. Chrom saw the apparent executioner, and gave the command. "Flavia, now!"
The East-Khan didn't need to be asked twice, and thus she hurled an axe at the offender, knocking him out with the single hit, much to Gangrel's displeasure.
"Not fair! How dare you execute our executioner! That type of irony is for me and me alone! Aversa, do something!"
She smiled evilly. "Don't worry, Gangrel... I can play dirty as well."
As if on cue, large amounts of Risen archers began spawning all over the area. Phila, who had flown in to retrieve Emmeryn, was quickly shot down in a single hit, terrifying Cordelia.
"Phila, NO!"
Link, overseeing this, drew his bow and was about to fire at the Risen responsible, but was stopped by Gangrel's voice.
"We know you're out there, Hero! If we see so much as another soldier fall, your precious Exalt will be nothing but and arrow riddled corpse!"
Link hesitated, but slowly returned the bow cord to it's original position, and took the arrow off. He couldn't chance the fact that Gangrel doesn't usually bluff.
Gangrel, however, would take full advantage of this. "Now, we come to a decision!"
At the word 'decision', everyone tensed up.
"You either give me the Fire Emblem, or she falls! Chrom, which will it be?", he said in a rather mocking tone. "Your Emblem or your Exalt?"
Chrom was torn, and turned to Robin, who said to keep Emmeryn. Chrom nodded and turned to Emmeryn. "Emm, I know that there might be a time when we need the Emlem, and maybe it would come in handy then, but we need you now!"
Emmeryn shook her head. "No, Chrom. Who you need is not me, but yourself. Plegians! Hear my words! Do we not fight for the same thing? Do we not fight for peace? If so, then fighting is not the answer. We were all blessed with life, so we must not be so quick as to take it from another!"
Hearing nothing from the group, she sighed. "No reaction. Was I wrong then? Chrom. This is some torch I'm passing you." She smiled. "So be it."
She stepped forward to the end of her perch, spurring Chrom to run twice as fast to her position. Suddenly, she jumped.
"Chrom... Lissa.. and all my people. Know... that I loved you."
Chrom arrived too late, as by the time he got there, Emmeryn had completed her fall.
Angered beyond words Chrom's usually laid back demenore was swept away by the overpowering hate.
"DAMN YOU, GANGREL!"
"EMM, NO!"
Lucina, witnessing the event, was beginning to tear up. "No... our bleak future is re-written..."
Link had begun to move in slowly to the courtyard, the anger simply flowing from him. Coincidentally, lightning struck in the background as he moved in. Gangrel, however, was simply ecstatic.
"HAHAHAHAHA! My word, she is elegant even in death! I've never seen anyone fall so gracefully! ...and I've seen many fall."
By then, Link had gotten to the courtyard, but Basilio stopped him.
"We can't, were outnumbered."
Chrom's rage had turned to grief. "But, I have to get her body..."
Basilio shook his head. "I'm sorry, but we just can't as it is. We need to wait, get a little stronger, then we'll beat this dasterd down to hell, I'll make sure of it!"
With that, the Shepherds retreated.
*Sniff* Poor Emmeryn... She was always such a nice person! Why did you have to take her! Why, Gods, WHY!? But, just like usual, please review and say what's on your mind. OniHelix out!