With the new threat now known as Risen appearing as far as north, nowhere is safe. Though recently assigned as the Shepherd's tactician, Robin has already gained the group's trust by securing their first victory in their diplomatic mission. However, as they approach the gate guarding the borders of Ferox and Ylisse, the Shepherds are refused entry by a wary guard captain. Determined to test if Chrom was the real prince of Ylisse, the group must now fight as the snow storm rages on.


Chapter 5: Dance of Ice and Blades

Regna Ferox, a land ruled by strength and tears of winter. On an average day, ferocious snow storms pelt stray villages scattered throughout the northern barren land and the border between its neighboring country, Ylisse. What seemed like a normal occurrence in Ferox impeded spectators from watching the massive battle boiling over Longfort.

"Incoming!" Robin's voice scattered before the icy wind. He alongside Vaike scampered desperately to the nearest tree for cover as the snow blurred the projectiles flying above their heads.

The sound of wood crashing and branches snapping under the barrage of javelins barely registered into anyone's eyes as the snowy wind deafening screamed.

"Ha, I owe you," Vaike flashed a mad grin, beating his bare chest with a thumbs up.

How the man could endure the cold, Robin could care less. All he could do to suppress a shiver was tuck his bare arms closely together to hoard what little warmth his body could provide. Glancing over a nearby tree, Robin couldn't help but cackle. Wrapped tightly in his oversize robe was Lissa who miraculously remained unscathed in the fight. The young princess whom the young tactician remembered in their first meeting was someone who shook and paled at the sight of violence. Instead, her eyes and grip were replaced that mirrored his with intense concentration.

When the battle began, Sumia's unexpected timely arrival saved Chrom by a hair's breathe from becoming a royal javelin cushion. The winged mount the brunette knight commanded through the skies was the same mare the Shepherds found after the battle of Northroad. It seemed leaving Sumia's natural gift with animals hastened the nursing time back to full strength.

After watching Chrom and Sumia soar together in the air, another important memory forcibly resurface that nearly cost him his arm and head. Upon landing to safety, Robin approached Chrom with the idea of having the Shepherds work in pairs.

'Individuals are flawed. Let your allies add to your strength and hide your weakness. In turn, act likewise.'

Implementing his tactician's advice, Chrom remounted Sumia's Pegasus while the Shepherds lead by Robin and Frederick organized themselves to counterattack. The tricky part, however, was to follow Robin's most important order: they had to immobilize, not kill their enemy in their current battle.

"Easier said than done," Chrom's teeth chattered, his sword grasped tightly in his hand while sidestepping a lance thrust where his head used to occupy.

With a stroke from his sword, a new gash etched onto the knight's shield much to the Feroxi's Guard annoyance. The young lord was abusing his speed by continuously attacking the areas the Feroxi could not see with his armored visor before weaving away to renew his assault. Unbeknownst to the knight, a large shadow high in the air was nose-diving towards him at breakneck speed. With the knight's back finally turned, Sumia used her pegasus's momentum to crash into him. With a pained groan, the knight skidded across the brick floor where he remained still.

As the two Shepherds searched for the key, Frederick, Virion, and Sully were trying their best to advance towards the east staircase. Hindering their patch were a small detachment comprised of light-armored infantry. With the item secured in his glove hand, Chrom raced back to Sumia's Pegasus before kicking off the wall's edge soaring towards their comrades below.

"Where is Kellam?" the young lord scanned the forest ground below for any hidden casters or archers. He remembered momentarily speaking with the barely visible knight before his two-man assault on the large middle gate.

"I don't know," Sumia muttered, grasping her mount's rein as the sound of screams drifted to their ears. "He usually shows up when we least expect it."

"Hmm, I guess you're right," the young lord nodded, returning his attention to the battle at hand.

Meanwhile at the West Gate

Another hit. Another scream. Robin smiled at the warm tingly sensation ripple up his sword arm. The flat part of the pommel beating a Feroxi archer to the ground, the flashing steel, the struggle of life and death was simply exhilarating. Nothing chased the boredom of marching so easily. However, the tactician knew he still had a job to complete. With the last of the defenders finally subdued, Robin searched the unconscious archer's satchel for a key of sort. Feeling the cool metal pressed into his palm, the tactician grinned to his group comprised of Vaike, Lissa and Miriel.

"Let's go!" Robin raced up the large stone staircase followed by several footsteps.

For the current battle, the black-hair tactician's strategy involved a two pronged strike where both gates fall simultaneously. By doing so, Robin intend to crush the morale of the remaining defenders. With the key set in the gate hole, Robin thrust his hand upward and shot a red spark through the air. Immediately, both gates swung open and the Shepherds stormed the upper portion of the gate.

"Move! Stay to the walls!" the tactician roared as a javelin slammed viciously into the stony gate, allowing members scattered in the wake of projectiles hurled in their direction.

Robin continued running with spell after spell leaving his fingertips. His new objective is diverting the knights' attention from his comrades and adjusting his implemented strategy based on his surroundings. Pausing to rest, the tactician's ears instinctively twitched in the direction of scuffling footsteps from a nearby staircase. 'Crap. Reinforcement.'

"Look out!" Lissa screamed.

Seeing his surrounding suddenly blackened, Robin turned to see a Feroxi knight already bearing his war hammer down onto his face.

'Damn it!' Robin raised his arms but the horror that awaited him instilled his reflex to slow time down for him. 'Weapon swung halfway to destination. Strong against armor but it's going to hurt regardless.'

Cursing himself for his lack of awareness, the tactician barely watched from corner of his eyes a hurtling empty armor crashing headfirst with a large shield into the enemy knight. As everyone stood in shock, the armor turned to the fallen Robin.

"Are you alright?" a soft voice asked the black-hair man.

"Huh?" Robin shook his head. 'There's no way armors can talk. And that voice. Didn't I hear it before I left Ylisstol?'

Inspecting the armor up close, Robin noticed the face of a tall but thin man who looked as his armor was swallowing his entire figure. Even odder were the closed eyes of his savior.

"Hi, my name is Kellam. We've met but no seemed to notice me" the talking armor…err man called Kellam quietly mumbled.

"Thanks for saving me," Robin got to his feet with a respectful. "I-GAH!"

"Robin! Thank the gods!" Lissa pulled her tiny frame from her tackling hug. "Don't do that again!"

Teary specks formed at the corner of the blonde cleric's eyes instigating the black-hair man to mentally berate himself. Unknown to him, Lissa could barely control herself after seeing someone she knew nearly die in front of her. Hearing the concern of his life, Robin steadied Lissa's trembling shoulders.

"I'm alright Lissa," Robin smiled. "I'll watch myself better."

When she still looked unconvinced, he looked into her eyes with a steady gaze. "I promise."

Silently accepting his answer, Lissa wiped her eyes gripped her staff. "I expect you to hold it. Pinky promise?"

Seeing the hand offered to him despite the battle raging around him, Robin chuckled. Bringing his marked right hand, Robin's pinky entwined with the blonde princess. "I promise."

"Oi! Get over here!" Vaike yelled over his shoulder as several knights emerged from the staircase.

After the small fiasco, Robin's group worked to repel the wall defenders while forcing the additional reinforcement back into the staircase. In the midst of the struggle, Kellam manage to explain the usefulness of hammers in battle. Seeing an opportunity to end the struggle, Robin secured the unconscious knight's weapon and directed everyone to meet up with Chrom's side. In the center of the massive brawl, the tactician spotted the blue-hair lord struggling to break past the gate captain's shield.

The armored knight. Huge, bulky, and deadly. Sacrificing mobility for extra-protection, even a volley of arrows wouldn't leave a dent on the specialized equipment these individuals adorn. Armed to decimate light units, the armored knight was truly intimidating. However, they had several weakness.

Tossing the hammer to Vaike running past, Robin hurriedly paired himself with Miriel. Both Shepherds concentrated their minds allowing the familiar glowing rings to rapidly circle around their figure. A fire bolt followed by a thunder bolt, agitated the female knight to turn her guard towards them. However, the blonde fighter swung with all his strength punching a hole in the middle of shield. Hissing in pain, Chrom drove his sword through the exposed dent while Frederick hacked the lance head of his lord's opponent. With a roar, Chrom toss the shield overhead before driving his foot into the knight's chest.

With a grunt, the captain of Longfort barely rose to stare back the face of axe-heads, lances, and blades. Seeing her men subdued and nothing left to defend herself, the female knight raised her hands in surrender. "Parley?"

As soon as Chrom and his Shepherds stepped into the khan's throne room, they were immediately grateful for the castle stonewalls that shielded them from the battering snowstorm. Some like Frederick and Stahl remained fine after an hour of fighting outside in freezing temperature. For those like Vaike and Virion, they didn't fare so well. The gate captain whom the Shepherds defeated introduced herself as Raimi. Upon Raimi exiting the throne room to alert her khan, Robin began to openly imagine what he believed would be the khan's appearance: a stereotypical buff macho looking hairy man. Much to the tactician's embarrassment, the Shepherds were introduced to a young woman instead. Lightly dark skin and blonde hair tied into a pony tail, the female khan status as a powerful warrior was the equipment she wore. A unique red tinted plated with a shield arm that covered her entire right side, the tactician knew only individuals who earned their right through enduring struggles were allowed to bear the title of a hero.

Introducing herself as Flavia, the female khan explained to Chrom that her lack or authority in giving aid because of one specific reason. Rather than a lineage system, Regna Ferox's khans implemented a tradition that allowed only one of two khans to act as the true ruler while governing their half. After a few years, the title would be wagered again in a tournament once every five years where each side recruited outsiders to represent their side as their champion. Much to Chrom's relief, the tournament was happening the very year and the date was quickly approaching. Accepting Flavia's offer to represent and win her the rights of ruling in exchange for Ferox's war aid, the Shepherds stayed one night at the khan palace before establishing their base of operation along the road leading to the stadium known as Arena Ferox.

"Gods. What was Frederick thinking?" Chrom grunted, his foot treaded the icy snowy forest ground.

The Shepherd's morale had slightly dropped from the sudden battle at Longfort and Robin's selected choice of participant in the quadrennial tournament. After a rather interesting talk with his great knight, Chrom was left to deal with the horrendous aftereffects. With an angry hiss, the young lord ripped off a poster stuck to Robin's tent flap.

Apparently, Frederick's idea of raising morale was to stick posters of his nude prince striking a bold pose. Emblazed at the bottom of each in bright red were three simple words: 'CHROM WANTS YOU'. To add insult to injury, the abomination of a poster could be seen in the dark and were strategically posted where most people would pass through in the encampment. But fortunately for the young lord, he could hide Frederick's mortifying efforts while everyone busied themselves in the mess hall. Fate, however, planned misfortune for Chrom as the wind blew the poster he had taken down out of his grasps.

As the parchment fluttered in the air, the blue hair man could see a large silhouette approaching from the direction of the mess hall. To Chrom's horror, a male voice echoed the cold peaceful night. "Huh?"

Casually drinking cider from his water-skin was none other than the mind of the Shepherd.

"R-ROBIN?!" Chrom stuttered, hiding the collected posters behind his cape.

"Huh? Chrom?" the black hair tactician looked to his friend before feeling an object landing on his feet.

"WAIT!" Chrom scrambled to save his fleeting dignity, dropping the rest of the recovered poster all over the forest ground.

His actions, however, were for naught as Robin's fingers had already encircled the poster of doom. Sealing his waterskin, the tactician glanced at the paper content. Robin's pupils grew as his vision focused the obscene details and outrageous content imprinted on the paper.

"PWFTH!" Robin spewed cider messily. Nothing until now would scar him for rest of his days.

As the black hair man's coughing subsided, an awkward silence hung between the two friends. Chrom silently cursed his overprotective great knight while the dropped poster scattered into the void of the frosty forest.

"…I can explain…" Chrom quietly mumbled.

Before the crack of dawn, loud cheers echoed from the massive dome that hovered over the eventful stage of Arena Ferox. The electrifying atmosphere was the result of hundreds of spectators gathered to observe world-class fighters duel for their respective khan. As the announcer walked out onto the circular arena stage, the audience cheers magnified the intensity of the friendly duel. With a finally huff, Chrom looked to his team consisting of Frederick, Sully, an armor-suit (Kellam), Lissa, and Robin.

These were the people his tactician had chosen to fight. For Ylisse. For Emmeryn. A normal person would have doubt the efficiency of this group but the blue haired lord was no ordinary man. Flashing a bright grin, the representatives for the East-Khans nodded to their leader before walking together out into the light.

Minutes later, a new wave of cheers blasted into the young lord and his Shepherd's ears as the West Khan champions stepped into the light.

"Chrom! Look!" Lissa motioned her brother towards the end of the arena.

Standing in the middle of the West Khan representatives under the cover of the shadow was a young man with blue hair and armor wearing a butterfly mask. There was no doubt in the minds of the four Shepherd's present that the figure was 'Marth.'

'No way?!' Robin's grimly scanned the arena.

The plans the tactician had spent nights crafting prior to the match had accounted for skilled opponents but not of someone who can stand evenly with the Shepherd's best fighter. Taking a deep breath, the tactician's eyes flashed with devious purpose. If he couldn't use his old strategy, he would have to improvise and adapt a new strategy.

'This is going to be a tough one,' Robin grasped his tome and readied his sword, their weight feeling heavier as the fate of Ylisse now truly hanged in the balance.