Fire Emblem: Valiant Dawn
Author's note:
Hello readers, this is the last chapter in Port Toha, I swear. I know I originally said it would be two chapters, but I had to change because I ended up adding more to the chapter than I had originally intended. This will be the last battle chapter for a while, as I will be focusing more on character developement (support convos and bonus exp, yay!) while the Greil Mercenaries are at sea. Don't worry, I got stuff planned that I think will be pretty good. Speaking of which...
**Please Read!**
Okay, so I have been kicking this idea around in my head for a while, and I think it would be cool to insert another OC from Earth (not right now, but down the road a bit). Here's the cool bit; I really appreciate all of you awesome people who read and/or review this story, so I thought that I would give you guys the opportunity to make the aforementioned OC. I've got a rough OC template on my profile to give an idea of what I am looking for. PLEASE PLEASE let me know what you think of this idea in a review/PM. If it's a terrible idea and/or no one shows interest I will scrap it, but if people like the idea then I might be putting an official request for OC submissions in a future chapter.
Disclaimer: Fire Emblem, along with all its characters, settings and plots, belongs to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. Firefly and Serenity, along with all their characters, settings, plots and pretty pretty spaceships, belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. 'Frack' belong to those people who own Battlestar Galiactica. I own nothing.
Chapter 9
Desperate Flight
I lay in the street, an infernal ringing in my ears and my head feeling as though it were about to explode. The metallic tang of blood filled my mouth, and my tongue and cheek hurt like hell. My limbs felt sluggish, unresponsive. I could see, but it was all blurry, and for the life of me I could not fathom how I had come to be here, in the street when I had been over there just moments... Explosion. I remember now, Daein soldiers after us... us? No, the others... my friends! Some small part of my mind was putting the pieces together; Impaired motor skills and cognitive function plus a cloudy mind could mean a concussion, a mild one... maybe? I thought. Hopefully, 'cause I gotta check on the... the others, right. My friends could be hurt. I knew I needed to take it easy, but my concern overruled all sensibility.
I pushed myself into a sitting position and as my vision cleared a bit I could see the alley, or what remained, directly ahead. The explosion had blown massive holes in the adjacent buildings, and flames were rapidly consuming what little support remained. As I watched the wall of one of the buildings groaned and collapsed inward, sending up a cloud of dust. Debris covered the ground all around me. Glancing to my right I saw Nephenee, looking just as disoriented as me.
"Y-you okay?" I asked Nephenee. She had a few nasty cuts, but nonetheless I received a groggy nod in response. She looked no worse off than me, so I moved on.
Using my sword for support until my head cleared, I walked over to Boyd. He was on his hands and knees, and he had blood running out of his ears. That would be... blown eardrums? Probably, considering even through the ringing in my ears I could hear him freaking out that his ears weren't working. Rolf must have been far enough away from the blast to have suffered minimal effects, because he seemed okay and was trying to calm his brother. They'd be fine. I heard shouts faintly, and there was a high pitched sound, almost like cries of pain coming from the direction of the alley... what? Oscar and Zihark ran past me towards those sounds, but that made no sense; The injured were all over here and all the Daeins were dead, had to be dead. The only thing over there was... something, but my mind was too clouded and confused, I couldn't place it. What would... the explosion was too intense for anyone in the alley to survive and we were all around the corner so nobody would've taken the full force of the blast. The blast? ...It was caused by... magic, spells from the Daein mage and... Ilyana!
All pain and unsteadiness forgotten, I stumbled as fast as my feet would carry me to where Ilyana had cast that last thunder spell, where she now lay in the midst of the rubble. She was pinned under a wooden support beam that Oscar and Zihark were trying to pull off of her, and she was covered with cuts and burns. My hearing cleared a bit and I could hear the pained cries clearly whenever the beam moved, no longer just high-pitched noise. I knelt next to her, trying to assess her injuries and calm her down.
"Adam," she wheezed, her voice little more than a panicked whisper. Her breath was shallow and strained, not a good sign. "I... I think I'm-"
"You're gonna be fine," I lied, fighting to keep any worry from showing on my face. I did a cursory inspection of her cuts and injures. Most of them seemed superficial, and the burns looked painful, but not as bad as they could have been. None of these explained her weakness or the pool of blood she lay in. There had to be something I couldn't see. "Just try to hold still, they'll have this off you any minute now."
"Hurry... can't... breathe!" she gasped. I grabbed one end of the beam and helped them move it faster. We lifted the beam, taking pressure off Ilyana's chest and allowing her to breathe easier, but revealing another wound as well. A nail sticking out of the beam had punctured her upper thigh, and without the nail in there the wound began to bleed profusely.
Veteran warriors and no strangers to wounded comrades, Oscar and Zihark sprang into action. I froze though, shock and worry and fear for my friend paralyzing me. She's gonna die, that's arterial bleeding. No way we could stop that fast enough to... Dammit Adam, snap out of it and FOCUS! Oscar had a tourniquet tied off and Zihark was pouring the contents of a blue vial into the wound. It must have stung because Ilyana's eyes went wide with pain. I had no idea how this magical potion-y healing stuff worked, so I just grabbed her hand and started talking to distract her.
"What kind of crazy, stupid move was that?" I asked, saying the first thing that came to mind. Terrible thing to say to comfort someone, stupid me.
"It wasn't deliberate," she replied. God, she was pale and her hand was getting cold. That's just the body restricting blood flow to the extremities to make up for blood loss, I reminded myself. She's not dead, so keep it together Adam!
"Well, you kinda wiped them all out in one shot," I said, trying to keep her spirits up.
"Oh, well in that case it was my plan all along," she said with a half-hearted smile. She cringed suddenly as Zihark poured more of the elixir into the wound. I looked to him and Oscar expectantly, hoping for some good news. To my surprise and relief the flow of blood had almost completely stopped and the wound looked to be healing, albeit slowly.
"The bleeding has slowed down for now," Oscar said, his voice audibly relieved. "But she's lost a lot of blood. We need to get her to a healer soon."
"Mordecai will carry the little one to the ship. Mordecai cannot fight well with these burns," the big laguz volunteered. His left arm and leg were badly burned from the fire mage's attacks, but nonetheless he scooped Ilyana up gently and with little apparent effort. Zihark offered him some of the elixir, but he declined.
"Mordecai has felt worse, and there will be more soldiers to fight; Others may need it more."
"Alright everyone, let's get moving before the Daeins figure out we're still alive," Oscar called as he mounted his horse. We got everyone together and headed up the side street, Rolf pulling Boyd along since he had no idea what was going on. Oscar rode ahead to make sure the main road was safe.
"ADAM, I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING!" Boyd yelled when he got close to me. "I THINK MY EARS GOT BROKEN." I waved him away, his yelling assaulting my already aching head. Nephenee groaned and covered her ears.
"Shuddup you stupid meathead, every Daein in Crimea can hear you!" Rolf snapped in an attempt to shut him up. It didn't work.
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? I STILL CAN'T HEAR YOU! OH GODDESS, AM I GONNA BE LIKE THIS FOREVER?"
"Boyd, SHUT UP!" Rolf yelled, really and truly annoyed.
"STOP TALKING SO QUIET, RUNT! DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME SAYING MY EARS ARE BROKEN?"
Okay, his ranting was pretty damn loud and it was making my headache even worse, so I grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him to face me and motioned to my mouth. I mouthed 'Read my lips.'
"EW MAN, I'M NOT GONNA KISS YOU!"
Ugh, stupid meathead. I tried again. 'I said read my lips, you idiot.'
"HEY THAT WAS MEAN- WAIT I CAN READ YOUR LIPS! JUST LOOK AT ME WHEN YOU TALK AND I CAN UNDERSTAND YOU!"
'Boyd, you're fine. Shut up.' I mouthed. He got it, and entered a sullen silence. Finally. We marched in silence until our side street rejoined the main road, at which point Oscar came riding back. The rest of us took the opportunity to stop and rest for a few moments.
"A large force of Daeins just passed by along the main road, they're probably going to check out the explosion, and I can hear fighting getting closer to the docks, so Ike and the others must be getting close. C'mon, we won't get a better shot at the ship," he called.
"There will still be a lot of men to fight, and I'm afraid you guys aren't in any shape to take them on," Zihark replied, glancing around at us doubtfully. Ilyana was going in and out of conciousness, Boyd, Nephenee and I were still a little disoriented and stumbling along, and despite his protests that he was fine, Mordecai's limp was getting worse. The only people truly fit for battle were Oscar, Zihark and Rolf.
"Well, we've gotta do something!" I replied. I checked Ilyana's pulse, and it was slow and weak. Same with her breathing; Not good. "She's getting weaker."
"Alright, alright, just give me a second..." Oscar paused, thinking. He glanced around at our ragged group, and it was clear he didn't like our chances any more than Zihark. "Can you guys fight?"
"Yeah," I replied, trying to convey confidence that I didn't feel. Nephenee nodded, but she looked no more sure of herself than I did. Boyd just mumbled something about not being hungry. Not sure why.
Oscar gave a resigned sigh. "Alright, you three hang back then. Defend Mordecai and Ilyana, but don't engage the enemy if you can help it. Zihark and I will lead the charge and carve a path to the ship. Rolf, focus your arrows on any groups that might get in our way, but stay close to us."
Rolf nodded as he nocked an arrow and moved up to a position that gave him a good view of the bridge leading to the docks. I drew my sword and took a moment to compose myself. My disorientation was finally fading, and I could ignore the ringing in my head for a little whie. With effort, I pushed aside my exhaustion and any worry for Ilyana and Mordecai, and reminded myself that mercy and hesitation would only get people killed. I couldn't do much about the knot of fear in my gut, but for once I was focused and I was more or less ready for battle.
Oscar led the way, Zihark close behind. There were six soldiers guarding the bridge, and just as they spotted us one of their archers fell with an arrow in his chest. Another archer loosed an arrow in Rolf's direction, but he was already moving to catch up with us and the shot was well clear of him. Oscar's lance speared the archer while his mount knocked aside a second soldier. Zihark caught another pair of soldiers, cutting them down in short order, while Boyd, enraged at the attack on his little brother, finally summoned the focus to bury a hand axe in the last man's skull. We reached the other side of the bridge, and finally came within sight of the docks. Between us and our ship, however, lay a huge square filled with Daein soldiers and none other than the Daein Commander himself. Fifty stunned sets of eyes turned themselves on us, and we all froze in our tracks. For a few confused moments, all was still and silent except for the far off sounds of the riot in the market.
"Goddess..." Nephenee finally breathed, voicing all our thoughts. To say we were royally fracked would have been putting it lightly.
"GET THEM!" Commander Mackoya screamed, and all his men sprang into action. Ten mounted knights charged first, their hooves clattering noisily on the cobblestones as they approached. Instinctively we all shrank back from the heavy cavalry, looking about for any way to escape them. The Daein foot soldiers began to follow, but a powerful gust of wind blasted through their ranks from behind, followed by a fireball that immolated a pair of axemen. Ike and the rest of the mercenaries had arrived at the other side of the square, and they tore into the rear of the enemy ranks with a fury. The oncoming horsemen slowed, glancing back uncertainly at this new battle. A shadow fell over them, and suddenly Marcia swooped down from above, the hooves and wings of her pegasus buffeting the riders and throwing several from the saddle.
"Now's our chance. CHARGE!" Oscar yelled, lowering his lance and urging his destrier forward. Boyd and Zihark made a beeline for the nearest groups of infantry, while Nephenee and I stayed close to Mordecai. Ahead, Oscar's lance tore a Daein knight out of his saddle just as Marcia came in for another pass. The two of them went to work, and in seconds half the knights were dead or unhorsed. One knight with a bow drew a bead on Marcia, but a pair of Rolf's arrows thudded into the soldier's back before he could shoot her down. Seeking easier targets, a trio of knights turned towards Mordecai, Nephenee and I.
"Look out!" I yelled. I motioned for Mordecai to keep moving as Nephenee and I interposed ourselves between the riders and our wounded comrades. Nephenee hurled a javelin at the first one and speared the horse through its chest. The second rider veered around the dead animal, but an arrow buried itself in his mount's flank and forced him to turn away. The third charged on unscathed, his lance leveled at Nephenee. She blocked the blow with her shield, and jabbed her lance in under the man's raised arm as he passed. I ran toward the downed rider, hoping to get to him before he untangle himself from the stirrups of his fallen mount. I was a bit too slow and he staggered to his feet, but he had no weapon and his helm had fallen off. One slash to the head, and he fell back down with his horse. One more face for my nightmares, I thought grimly as the corpse fell. Wonderful.
The last rider circled around for another charge, this time looking at Mordecai and Ilyana. Before he could get any momentum. though, Rolf got off another pair of shots. One clinked off the knight's armor, but the second punched through his neck. He slid out of the saddle as our group ran by. Ahead, the Ike's group had fought their way to the ship and the healers, princess and merchants began to board, but there were still scattered pockets of Daeins between us and our only means of escape. Ike promptly turned his forces around to deal with the remaining Daeins. Mackoya was still alive, but his retinue of knights were either separated from him or dead. As I followed Mordecai toward the ship I saw Oscar, pulling his lance from the chest of his latest kill, turn his attention to the enemy commander. Mackoya saw the attack and charged to meet it, sword raised to deflect the oncoming lance. Mackoya only partially succeeded, the lance glancing off the sword to strike him in the shoulder. Oscar wheeled his mount around when he passed, brining hs lance around and stabbing down from overhead. Mackoya reacted similarily, once again deflecting the lance as he turned and countering with a slash that struck Oscar's breastplate, but didn't penetrate. Oscar snapped his arm down and grabbed his opponent's sword arm before he could retract, and brought his lance crashing into the side of Mackoya's head. The man slumped, and Oscar tugged the sword from his grasp and drew it across Mackoya's neck.
By this time, Mordecai had carried Ilyana right to the bottom of the boarding ramp for our ship. I let out a relieved sigh when I saw Rhys' distinct white robes waiting at the top of the ramp; Ilyana was gonna make it. We were safe.
"Adam, behind us!" Nephenee yelled. I glanced back to see a pair of Daein swordsmen running for the ramp, intent on preventing any escape. Limping and weighed down by Ilyana, Mordecai had no chance of outrunning them, so Nephenee and I turned back to buy him some time.
"Mordecai, get Ilyana to the ship!" I yelled as we turned to face the new threat. I blocked the first attack, but before I could even think as much as a 'Yay, me!' the man struck with his shield and sent me staggering back. I kept my sword up defensively and just managed to keep the ensuing hail of blows at bay. Advantage gained, the Daein drove me back and to the right, bringing me back to back with Nephenee. The clash of weapons behind me told me she was making no more progress than I.
"Adam, switch!" she called between attacks. What?!
"What?" I yelled back. My enemy's sword almost slipped through while I was distracted, but I whipped my sword down and parried.
"Switch!" she reiterated, her voice taking on an almost desperate tone. Dammit, what does she mean? I managed to regain even footing with my attacker, then smashed my sword into his shield several times, forcing him back a step and buying me a couple of seconds.
"What are you saying?!" I yelled back at Nephenee in frustration.
"Ugh, just turn ta yer left. Now!"
Fine, whatever. I felt Nephenee spin around to her left, so I disengaged and copied her. When I completed the turn, I found her opponent facing away from me as he tried to catch up with her. His shield and sword were aimed at Nephenee, offering a target any idiot could hit. Oh, I get it now. Clever girl, I thought as I brought my sword down hard on my opponent's back. He fell to the ground, screaming but not quite dead. I cringed at the cries of pain and looked away as I reversed my grip on the sword and drove it down, finishing him off quickly. With that death a sudden silence and stillness settled over the square, the last few Daeins turning tail and fleeing from the combined might of the Greil Mercenaries.
"I think that's the last of them," Nephenee said breathlessly, breaking the silence. Looking around, I could see that the square was littered with the bodies of horses and soldiers. Miraculously, all the mercenaries were still standing, although most of them bore wounds. Ike led the way back to the ship as they regrouped, sporting a bloody gash on his forehead but nonetheless helping a limping Brom along. Kieran was coated in blood, but whether it belonged to him or his enemies remained a mystery. Titania, Boyd, and even Soren were all a little battered as well, although Zihark and Mia had somehow remained unscathed; These two seemed more concerned with cleaning the blood off their swords before it could dry.
"C'mon, let's board the ship," I said to Nephenee. I cast one last, sad look at the carnage in the square before turning away and heading for the boarding ramp. I made it two steps before I heard a strange whistle and an arrow flew by, embedding itself in the ground ahead of me.
"Reinforcements!" Ike yelled from behind us. I turned back to see Daeins pouring into the square, returned from quelling the riots in the market. Leading them was a massive figure in black armor that could only be the legendary Black Knight. Dammit, I knew I forgot something important about Port Toha, I thought. I watched in frozen horror as the massive knight closed in on the mercenaries, moving far ahead of his soldiers despite the weight of his armor. Before he caught them , though, a blue blur shot through the Daein ranks and blocked his way.
"Get to the ship! I'll hold them off!" Ranulf yelled. Ike looked torn for a moment, but gave in and headed ran for the ship. Ranulf engaged the Black Knight, and though the fight was too far away for me to get a good look, it seemed like he was holding his own. Of more concern to me was the line of archers who, after that first shot for range, took aim at the ship. More specifically, they aimed at the general area I was standing in.
"Shitshitshitshit SHIT!' I screamed. I scooped up a shield from the ground and held it above my head as I made a dash for the ramp. Arrows began to rain down on the ship and all around me and Nephenee. They must have attacked the other mercenaries behind me as well because I could hear cries of pain and surprise coming from them as well. The shield I held took several arrows, and I felt a jolt of pain shoot through my leg when I reached the top of the ramp. Omygosh I got shot, oh man it hurts it hurts it hurts! I thought in a panic. I took a few steps onto the deck of the ship and promptly dropped behind cover. Nephenee joined me a second later.
"They frackin' shot me!" I grunted, looking down at the arrow sticking through my calf. Oh man, it hurt. The other mercenaries began to board the ship, and the wounded were quickly pushed down into cover. The ship's captain approached Ike.
"All of your people aboard?" he asked anxiously. "I need to get this ship moving before any more of my crewmen get shot."
Ike looked sadly out towards where Ranulf was still fighting, but Lethe assured him that Ranulf would be able to escape on his own. "Yes," Ike replied. "Let's get underway."
The healers of the group were going through all the wounded, treating the most severely injured first. Mist assured me that my wound was minor, and gave me a quick jolt of healing magic for the pain before moving off to treat more seriously wounded people. With the pain mostly gone, I just sat back and watched the sails unfurl as the ship got underway. Another volley of arrows came in, but Soren used wind magic to blow most of them off course, and the sails absorbed the rest. The ship was well out of range before they could fire a third volley. The danger past, the ship's captain (Nasir, if memory serves) moved the ship out to the safety of the sea. At long last, we had escaped Crimea, and the princess was out of Daein's reach.
Author's Note:
Well, I think I have set a new personal record for procrastinating with my writing, but I have finally gotten this chapter done. Please leave a review let me know what you think of the chapter, I'm always happy to hear from you guys. Also, please let me know what you think of the OC idea I mentioned in the author's note at the beginning of this chapter, because I absolutely need feedback about that.
Before I finish typing this, I just wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas (or happy holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas), and a happy New Year in case I don't get another chapter posted before then. You guys are all awesome, and I am lucky to have such kind and helpful readers. I go forth now to devour turkey, so until next time, seeya!
