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Eight
End's Beginning
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As soon as the sun set, Henry escaped the Table, returning to the Shepherd camp. "Halt, fiend!" the guard called.
"Aw, Owain, it's me," the sorcerer said, lowering his hood. "Don't cut me to bloody ribbons!"
Owain frowned, dropping character. "Um…gross?"
"Nyahaha!" Henry moved off into camp, finding Nykolai and Chrom hard at work in the planning tent, forming a strategy. They looked up as Henry entered the tent. "Mission success!"
"Good," Chrom replied. "And?"
"The place is loaded with Grimleal. When we fight them, there's gonna be lots of blood and death!" Henry held back a laugh at the thought. "Ryker's also an idiot. I spoke straight to his face and he didn't seem to think I was a spy."
"Well, that changes some things," Nykolai stated. "And Morgan? Did you find her?"
For the second time, Henry's smile faded. "I did, but she's in a bad way. No blood or anything like that, but it was still really sad." He quickly gave the details, seeing his friends' expressions falling with each sentence.
Nykolai nodded, his face expressionless, save for his eyes, which showed sorrow and anger mixed together. Then he got this look on his face that showed he was completely determined to succeed. "I've got an idea. And it just might work."
"That's music to my ears," Chrom said. "What do you have in mind?"
Nykolai sat up straight, mentally shaking off his grief. "Alright, here's what we're going to do, and Henry, you'll be playing a big role. With the possibility of blood."
"Yeah, blood! I'm in!"
Nykolai grinned and told his plan.
An hour later, Henry returned to the Table to wait out the night. Back in the camp, the Shepherds were given the order to prepare for battle the next day.
Morning couldn't have come fast enough. Henry, on only a few hours of sleep, slipped down to the room where Morgan was being held, under the pretense of giving Morgan her ration of food and water. Unfortunately, there was already a Grimleal sniper in the room. He turned and frowned. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
Henry hesitated, but walked over, as if there was nothing odd going on. Morgan glanced up at him, her eyes widening in surprise, before pulling over a mask of indifference and returning her gaze to the floor. Henry didn't miss the spark of hope that had flashed through her eyes. "Just giving the prisoner some water, like I was ordered."
"That is my job, and it has already been done, isn't that right, chickie?" He roughly nudged Morgan with his boot. Morgan protested feebly, trying to edge away as the Grimleal gave a short bark of laughter. "Now," he said, turning back to Henry. "Who are you?"
The gig was up. Henry dropped the waterskin and raised his hands toward the archer. "I am your worst nightmare. Nyahaha! Ruin!" The man was sent flying into the altar, knocked unconscious for now. "Aw, I was hoping for some blood." He knelt by Morgan's side, extracting a set of lock-picking tools he had borrowed from Gaius just before he left the camp – he had noticed the cuffs had been hexed the day before. It took him longer than he would have liked, but he managed to get the cuffs undone.
Henry helped her stand. "Let's go, quickly, otherwise this will be a lost caws." Morgan couldn't help but smile at Henry's crow jokes. But there was no time for japes. They hurried from the room, winding through halls and taking down every enemy they saw. They hadn't even made it to the exit when alarm bells began to ring.
"Time's up," Morgan gasped.
"Not quite. This way!" He led her down a side passage and suddenly they were out. They started running toward the Shepherds' camp, but stopped in their tracks when they saw what was ahead. Morgan swore while Henry cackled.
The Grimleal forces stood between them and the Shepherds' camp.
"I might not be able to help you," Morgan panted, doubling over so that her hands rested on her knees, "but I'll try."
Henry nodded, eager to start slinging spells. But even he knew that he would die if he didn't get help. "Come on, Chrom, where are you?"
Lucina sat on her cot, hugging Mor close to her as she watched Nykolai don his armor. She, along with Lissa, Cherche, and a few others, would not be going out onto the battlefield, instead protecting those who couldn't fight or couldn't fight well at the moment.
"Nyk," Lucina said softly.
Nykolai turned, struggling to get one of his bracers on. "Luce?"
Lucina moved Mor gently from her lap to the cot, helping her husband with his armor. "I love you," she whispered as she finished, letting her hand slip into his.
"I love you, too. And don't worry. I'll be fine." He gave her a cocky smile.
Lucina hugged him. "Just…promise me you won't do anything stupid."
"By stupid you mean…?"
Lucina scowled half-heartedly at him and lightly tapped the side of his head. "You know exactly what I mean."
Nykolai grinned. "I know." He kissed her briefly, then let her go, letting his hands travel to her stomach, which was finally showing signs of the unborn child she was carrying. "I'll try to be as not-stupid as I can be. I'll make sure I'm here for our baby, and our Morgans."
Lucina nodded. "See that you are."
Nykolai moved over to Mor, who had been watching silently. He hugged her, and she returned the hug. "Be careful, Daddy," Mor said.
"I will. I love you, Mor. Remember that."
Mor nodded and let her father go. She sniffled.
A distant set of bells began to ring and Nykolai frowned. "Alarms," Lucina said.
Nykolai nodded. "Something happened." He gave one last look at his wife and daughter before sprinting from the tent. He could hear Chrom shouting for the Shepherds to form their ranks. Nykolai joined him, Basilio, Flavia, and Arata on the front at the crest of a hill, and saw what they saw. The Grimleal had pulled their army.
"Gods, look at them all," Arata said, his few guards making similar remarks. "Chrom, when you said Grimleal, I thought you meant a handful. This is a sizeable force." Chrom could only nod.
"Look!" Flavia explained, pointing with her sword to the base of the building. To figures were sprinting from the Table, only to stop as they took in the enemy army.
"Morgan and Henry," Chrom muttered. "We need to help them."
"Rush the Grimleal," Nykolai said. "Catch them off guard."
Chrom nodded turned to the gathered Shepherds and drew his sword. Falchion gleamed in the sunlight. "Charge!"
The Shepherds did so, each shouting a battle cry. They raced over the hill and toward the enemy's back line. Grimleal turned, giving cries of surprise and scrambled to defend themselves. Beyond them, Morgan and Henry began to move, aiming to get behind the Shepherd lines.
Henry was crazily sending off spell after spell, cackling as each one hit or killed a Grimleal. Morgan, weak for lack of food despite the small amount Henry had given her the previous night, tried to help out. But the most she could muster was an occasional Elfire spell, which didn't so much damage against the enemy.
Henry cleared an opening and pulled Morgan along. "This way, come on!" Morgan looked up to a distant hill, eyes widening as she saw the Shepherds pouring over it towards the startled Grmleal.
Enemy after enemy jumped in their way. Henry blew them away with a couple well-aimed spells, but one of them managed to cut Henry's arm. The strange sorcerer grinned wider. "Oh, look! Blood!"
"Not now!" Morgan protested, picking up a sword and blocking just in time. The Grimleal snarled at her, pushing their locked blades closer to Morgan. She gasped and staggered, unable to keep the blades away.
"Me, me, me!" Henry cried, killing the swordmaster before Morgan was overwhelmed. They ran fast, so close to the Shepherd front. Suddenly Henry seemed to trip, falling to the ground. Morgan turned, and saw Henry struggling to rise, blood soaking his clothes from a nasty javelin wound. "Agh…it hurts…so nice…" Morgan looked up in horror, seeing a general raise his ax as he stepped over Henry.
"Time to tip the scales! Thoron!"
A bolt of lightning seared the battlefield, slaying the Grimleal where he stood. The enemy collapsed, nearly falling on Henry. Morgan, tasting the metal now lacing the air, turned and saw one of the people she had longed to see for days now. "Father!"
Nykolai grinned. Behind him, Inigo and Chrom were fighting the Grimleal off. Father and daughter started towards each other, only to stop as a flash of light flared between them. Nykolai scowled. "Ryker."
"Hello, Grima-slayer. Come for you pathetic little girl, have you? It's a waste: she's utterly weak and useless…at least, as she is now. Still, she was incredibly easy to break. I don't think she's pulled all the pieces back together, have you, my dear?"
"Shut up, you!" Morgan shouted, pointing her sword at him. Her hands shook, and the Sorcerer smirked.
Nykolai drew his sword, a blade of shining silver that glinted in the sun. "Let's end this."
"Very well." Ryker raised his hands, black magic surrounding his arms. The two charged each other, attacking with all the ferocity each had. Each time their blows met, sparks flew. Morgan watched fearfully before running to Henry's side.
"Agh, so much…blood….So cool!"
"You'll be alright," Morgan assured him, helping him to his feet. She winced as a bolt of Thoron seared the air and glanced at her father.
He was holding his own fairly well, but so was the Sorcerer. Both backed off, their feet kicking up clouds of dust as they circled, waiting for the other to strike. Nykolai let loose another bolt of thunder magic which the Sorcerer deflected into the sky. Thunder rolled over the battlefield. Morgan saw her father's eyes gleam. He had a plan. He began to throw bolts of Thoron at Ryker, who kept deflecting them as best he could. Clouds of sand rose up as several bolts crashed into the earth.
Then it all stopped. The dust cleared and Morgan saw Ryker standing stiffly, the point of Nykolai's sword protruding from his back. Nykolai pulled the sword free, his face expressionless. Ryker, gasping, fell to the ground, his blood staining the ground. Nykolai stared him down for a moment before sighing, flicking the blood off his sword.
He was only able to take one step before Morgan saw Ryker rising from the ground. "Father, look out!"
Nykolai turned, and felt a burning in his middle. He gasped, looking down. Ryker had stabbed him with a bolt of lightning, the magic sending waves of pain through his entire body. "See you in hell," Ryker spat, before collapsing, his energy gone. Nykolai stumbled backward, coughing. He tasted blood as he fell to his knees.
Morgan, wide-eyed, felt an uncontrollable wave of rage and despair crash over her. Her left hand burned and she lost control, flinging spells at any Grimleal who dared come take revenge for their leader. Henry backed away as best he could, catching a glance at her eyes, which had turned red, like a Risen's…or like Grima's.
Morgan shot a spell at an incoming Shepherd, who dropped to the ground just in time. "Oy, Morgan!" Gaius complained. He glanced at Chrom, who seemed at loss at what to do. Inigo, however, had an idea. He charged Morgan, rolling and side-stepping to avoid the spells being thrown at him. He grabbed Morgan's arms and held them down, planting a full kiss on her mouth.
Morgan's eyes closed, and she went limp, falling into Inigo's arms. With his safety ensured, Chrom ran to Nykolai, who had fallen completely to the sand. "Get her out of here!" he shouted. Inigo nodded, hoisted Morgan into his arms, and ran. He didn't stop until he had reached the Shepherds' camp.
Author's notes: I've discovered how...entertaining it is to write Henry. I've just finished writing a one-shot with him, and, while it's not perfect (I need to study up on his character and the way he speaks a bit more) I think it's rather amusing. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Edits made to this chapter: Fixed sentence structure and typos, as usual, added a few details to make it more like the previous chapter, and added a few other details.
I wanted to address something real quick here, brought to my attention by a kind guest reviewer about an hour after this chapter was posted. In the previous chapter, Henry tells Ryker he was once Grimleal, and has joined the cult once again. This, of course, is a lie, made so that Henry can sneak about without causing suspicions among the enemy. I did some quick research into his background, and it doesn't seem to be canon that he was once Grimleal, making his lie about being apart of the cult a lie, like I said, to gain some freedom to find Morgan. Hope that helps!
Originally published 12/23/2013, edited 4/14/2014
