And we're in very good hands here. We had two references to Slavic mythology in the last chapter, and this time, they're not generic enemies! So, let's begin.

Alyosha refers to Alyosha Popovich, better known as one of the three main bogatyrs of the mythology. Basically, think of him the way you'd think of Theseus and Odysseus and all those other guys. From Wikipedia, this is what he did:

"In this bylina Alyosha Popovich and his servant, Yekim, set out for Kiev to meet Prince Vladimir. When they arrive at Kiev, Prince Vladimir is having a feast. Prince Vladimir offers Alyosha Popovich to sit next to him, but Alyosha Popovich refuses and decides to take the lowest place in the social hierarchy by sitting next to the stove (Bailey, p. 121-122). At the feast, the monster Tugarin insults the Prince by sitting between Vladimir and his wife. Tugarin also does not pray to God and gorges himself at the feast. Alyosha Popovich, who is disgusted with the way Tugarin is acting, insults the creature with stories about the deaths of a dog and a cow (Bailey, p. 122). Tugarin is provoked by these stories and throws a dagger at Alyosha Popovich. Then, Alyosha Popovich accepts Tugarin's challenge to fight. The battle takes place in an open field, and when Alyosha Popovich arrives, Tugarin is already flying in the sky on his wings made of paper. Alyosha Popovich prays for rain, and Tugarin falls to the ground because his paper wings get wet. Finally, Alyosha Popovich knocks Tugarin's head off with his staff, sticks it on a spear, cuts his body into small pieces, and presents it to Prince Vladimir's court. (Bailey, p. 122-129)."

So that's all about him. And as for that girl he was defending? I won't get into her until later...

And for the second one? That's Solovey, better known as Nightingale the Robber. This was the brigand that was a villain of a different bogatyr (who goes by the name of Ilya Muromets). He was half-human and half-bird (though how much he was part human is apparently just a bit ambiguous), and his whistle was said to level everything in sight and kill people that were just standing there doing nothing. I downpowered the whistle a little here, so you won't be seeing too many people dying, and yes, his wing does grow back eventually.

So that's all on that. With that knowledge, I give you this next chapter. Enjoy!


Chapter 9: The Tricks of the Spirits

"Milord, they're here!"

"The spirits?"

"Yes! Whatever those things are!"

"Should have figured they'd show up this soon. Eh, whatever. They're on our turf, and now we've gotta show these people who's boss. Everybody! Ready your weapons!"

"Yes, sir!"


Ike stood outside of the castle of Jehanna, Ragnell at the ready as he stood outside of the clay palace with Maria, Seth, Eirika, and Willie all flanking the mercenary. The cat laguz nodded before shifting into her animal form, Ike looking at Eirika and Seth as they readied their rapier and lance. Finally, Ike looked to Willie, who gave the mercenary a thumbs up sign as his way of saying that they could go on as they wanted to.

"Okay, so we go outside and defeat these spirits," said Ike. "And meanwhile, Gaston and Kuranga will be helping out."

"And as soon as Joshua gets Adhulma out of its resting place, he shall be back to help us," said Eirika. "I am very sure everything will work out just fine."

"I hope you are right, milady," said Seth. "We would be in a bad situation if we lost this battle."

"I kin see dat, Governor," said Willie.

Suddenly, he heard the familiar chirping of Bonnie from the distance, and then the linnet bird flew onto the Cockney boy's shoulder and warbling frantically.

"Whoa, calm yer bloomin' arse!" exclaimed Willie. "Wet is it?"

The linnet bird chirped a little slower this time, and Willie's expression cocked to the side in curiosity.

"Oh?" he replied. "Well den, waddye say we do?"

"What's she saying?" asked Ike. "And where has she been all this time anyways? I haven't seen that linnet bird on your shoulder since we crossed the border into Rausten."

"Oh, I sent 'er roight down Souv, I did," replied Willie.

"Into Grado?" asked Eirika. "What did you hope to find there?"

Willie opened his mouth to reply, closed it in hesitation, then shrugged and opened his mouth again.

"I den't no, mu'um," he replied. "I didn't dink somevin' was roight wit all dis, so I went roight and sent 'er down dere."

"And what did she see?" asked Seth.

Before the Cockney boy could answer, Maria snarled and their attention was turned to the sky women that were flying through the air and heading towards the group quickly.

"Tell us later," said Ike. "We've got some spirits we need to take care of."

"Gotcha, Governor," replied Willie, raising his hand in the air to cast a fireball on a moment's notice.

A moment afterwards, the sky women were very close, and Ike frowned in concentration, preparing to swing Ragnell at them.

And as soon as he was able to, the mercenary swung his blade, sending out a wave of energy that successfully managed to cut a sky woman in half.

Willie took this as a cue, and letting out a yell, he conjured a fireball that flew at another sky woman and burned her until she was nothing more but air again. The Cockney boy quickly charged up another fireball as he and the rest of the group ran forwards, Ike slashing at the air again and sending another wave of air at another sky woman. Bonnie flew right off of Willie's shoulder, sensing something was wrong with what would happen.

By this time, the spirits had begun to swoop down on them, and Gaston was now visible taking out several sky women that were still hovering in the air. As soon as the sky women were at level ground, the fight really began.

Maria took to lunging at certain sky women, getting them where it counted with a swipe of her claws and causing them to return to thin air before moving on to another one. All this, she did so fast that she was quite literally a lavender blur that caused enemies to die upon contact.

Eirika and Seth, meanwhile, were engaged in a fight with many sky women that descended upon her at once. The two of them fought with their backs to each other, cutting up the enemies in front of them with a strange kind of skill rarely found in such a strange team. The sky women still went down to either Eirika's rapier or Seth's lance, and they fought with a strange kind of chemistry not commonly found in a pair of warriors.

Willie noticed this trend as he sent fireballs flying all over te place. The Cockney boy simply shrugged, figuring that could also be something they could get to later.

Ike, meanwhile, was having no difficulty at all cutting down any sky women. He was slicing them apart at a much faster rate than Eirika and Seth were defeating them, his movements fluid and his sword seeming several sizes smaller than it actually was as he moved around cutting enemies down.

For a while, they seemed to be winning this battle, the soldiers around them being of very much help to them as they hacked away at the sky women with their axes or whatever other weapons they were using. However, as time went on, Willie noticed that there seemed to be no end to the amount of sky women that were coming down upon them. He looked up at the sky, pausing for a minute to see that the sky women were still moving about.

It was at that time that the doors of the castle of Jehanna opened with a soft boom, Joshua running out with a sword whose blade was tinted a very vibrant blue. Bonnie also flew back onto Willie's shoulder, chirping as loudly as it could over the somewhat overbearing sounds of battle as the king walked up to Willie and listened to the bird chirping.

"A spewn get?" asked Willie to Bonnie after a long bout of the bird's song. "I denno wet yer tolkin' 'bout, I don't."

"A 'spewn get'?" asked Joshua, bringing his hand up to his chin and rubbing it as he thought. "You mean a spawn gate."

"'Owever deh genteelty say it," said Willie.

"Oh dear," said Joshua, looking forward at the direction the sky women were coming in. "Willie, you're coming with me. We've got a gate we need to destroy!"

Before Willie could protest, the king grabbed the boy's wrist, and then the two of them ran off into the desert. Willie gave a small yelp as he was tugged by the larger man, Bonnie struggling to keep up with the two of them as they ran towards the center of the battle.

They had been running for around a minute when suddenly they saw a swirling purple portal hovering several feet above the ground. Joshua stopped, glancing at it for only a moment before he felt Willie crash right into him from not stopping on time, his blade falling into the sand.

"Oh, sorry Governor!" exclaimed Willie as he stood back up. "Wadde we do 'ere?"

"Don't worry about it," said Joshua as he stood up, sand sticking to some of his clothes. "Now, I need you to send the most powerful fireball you've got and aim it right in there."

"Deh most, yeh say?" asked the Cockney boy, his eyes lighting up in glee as he thought about it.

"Yes," said Joshua with a nod.

"Well den, Governor, yeh got it!" shouted Willie, holding his hand high in the air. "Avter all, it be me payback fer wen dey took de girl I'm likin'!"

Willie did not give Joshua a chance to ask what he meant, for then he let out a yell as he charged up a fireball so huge it literally took up the space of the entire warp gate. As the fireball burned several sky women that were unfortunate enough to be in the way, Willie's hand suddenly darted forward. The purple portal that was hovering in the air suddenly dissapeared with a bright flash of light as the fireball sank into it. And when the light dissipated, the reinforcements had stopped coming.

The Cockney boy suddenly felt just a little dizzy after that fireball, and so he fell onto the sands, his butt hitting the ground hard as he looked up at the sky. Seeing this, Joshua's eyes widened quite a bit and he knelt by the Cockney boy as he laid down and chuckled lightly.

"Willie, are you okay?" asked the very concerned king.

"Well, governor, if yeh ask me, I can say I ain't feelin' bad roight about now, I ain't," replied Willie, his eyes still open and his consciousness still apparent within him as he spoke.

"Good to hear," said Joshua.

Before anything else could be said, Joshua suddenly jumped up, swinging Audhulma in a wide arc that managed to cut through a sky woman that had tried to creep up on the king and failed. Joshua then turned around to find that he was surrounded by several sky women.

Smirking, the man then entered a sort of strange dance with his blade, cutting down all of the sky women surrounding him with an otherworldly kind of ease that was amazing to the eye. He simply became a crimson blur, hacking away at the sky women as one by one they all disintegrated into the air from whence they had come from.

And then, when the final sky woman had been killed, Joshua stood still for a second as Willie sat up slowly, groaning as he did.

"Wet was dat?" he asked simply. "'Ow did yeh do dat?"

"Oh, practice," scoffed Joshua as he walked over to Willie and offered him a hand.

The Cockney boy nodded with a somewhat confused expression, taking the hand as Joshua helped him back up onto his feet.

"Dank yeh, Governor," said Willie.

"Hey, don't worry about it," said Joshua. "I think the others could use our help. Let's get back over there, yes?"

Willie nodded quickly, and then the two of them ran back over to the castle of Jehanna to help Ike and the people he was taking charge of take care of the remaining sky women.


The battle had ended quickly after Joshua and Willie had stepped back into the battle. And the first place Gaston had gone was straight to Kuranga's bedside where the dragon had rested the entire time.

The dragon was still recovering from the aura shock he had experienced the other day and had opted out of the battle. So therefore, Gaston was more than happy to walk into Kuranga's quarters.

When the raven pulled up a chair, the two of them sat in silence for quite some time, Kuranga's mind seeming to be several thousands of miles away. They never really spoke when they got the chance to talk to each other in private; rather, they let the silence take hold before anybody said anything. It was out of respect more than anything, and in this particular case it was a silence that he could appreciate.

Finally, Gaston shifted in his chair a little before he spoke.

"You know those dreams I've been having?" asked Gaston. "With the lady and Maria?"

"Yes," said Kuranga. "You never remember most of the details, though."

"I had that dream last night," said Gaston. "But I remember everything the lady said now. She was being all suggestive and stuff. I still couldn't remember what Maria had said..."

"She was?" asked the dragon.

A mischievous thought suddenly crossed the dragon's mind, and Gaston did not notice the malevolent glint in his eyes as the dragon glanced at the raven.


Ike and Maria were both in Seth's company, Eirika, Cormag and Willie both walking next to the cat laguz as they walked through the surprisingly lush garden of the castle courtyard. Ike, Maria, and Willie had all been relating their tales on Greljedo to the queen of Renais and her knight, the six of them having a jolly good time of it as well.

"And den we went roight and scullied dat brat," said Willie, gesturing with fists and his arm as he spoke.

"Well, that must have been some adventure you had," said Eirika in reply. "I mean, getting to know a goddess?"

"It was pretty cool," said Maria. "Thinking about it now, there were plenty of good times to be had even if the continent was in danger of being taken over by evil people."

"That's almost what's happening here," said Cormag quickly.

"Yeah," said Ike. "Except this time we seem to have a better idea of who we're fighting here."

"I dent no, Governor," replied Willie. "Dem dreams yeh been tellin' us abut..."

"Oh, those," said Seth with a short nod. "Those can be quite a problem, yes?"

"Of course," said Maria. "Cormag."

"Yes?" asked the wyvern knight.

"I've been thinking a little lately," said Maria. "About what you did with that evil general the other day. You were so angry over Tana."

"Well, when a knight has his duties, he is bound to follow them," replied Cormag.

"I denno..." added Willie. "I'm beginnin' teh dink dat maybe wet 'e said was roight."

"Uh..." said Cormag, his mind fumbling to find a good enough excuse for them as they all sat on a bench.

"Oh, so there is something more," said Seth.

"Mayhaps you have a crush on Tana?" asked Eirika in the best voice she could muster to calm the wyvern knight down.

"I... yes, I do," said Cormag so softly that nobody could hear it.

"Aha!" exclaimed Maria triumphantly, the wyvern rider slapping himself in the face mentally for not realizing Maria could hear him. "I knew it! You did have a crush on her after all!"

"Okay, okay, I do," said Cormag, louder this time as he walked away. "But it's between a knight and a lady. How can it be right?"

"Well, you can always make things work," said Ike with a gesture. "Who knows?"

"Mebe deh mu'um feels deh same way yeh do, Governor," added Willie with a smile.

"But still, I can't help but wonder--" began the knight.

"That bitch!"

Everybody was startled by Gaston's incredibly loud yell. However, what was even more astounding to them was the fact that Gaston leapt out of a window and into the courtyard, landing right in front of Maria with the worst glare the cat laguz had ever seen.

"You..." huffed Gaston in his anger, chestnut eyes burning with pure rage. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me?"

"W-what do you mean?" asked Maria, stammering a little as she saw Gaston's fury and knew that somebody had leaked the information.

"Don't play stupid with me, you dumb bitch!" yelled Gaston, pointing his finger angrily at the cat laguz. "I know that you sold me to that lady in the forest for sexual favors!"

"Wait, Gaston, you've got this all--" interjected Ike as he stood up.

"Shut up, Ike!" screamed the raven, his scream loud enough to keep Ike from walking to Gaston. "This is between Maria and I! You don't need to be standing up for her when she knows she's wrong!"

"No, Gaston, you don't understand!" yelled Maria, clinging on to the last threads of her friendship with the raven.

"What's there not to understand, huh?" asked the raven. "I don't see how you selling me to all of those spirits has anything else to it!"

"Gaston, please understand!" shouted Maria. "It was between life and death!"

"Your life, you mean?" asked the raven angrily. "You sold her to me to save yourself? How could you be so fucking selfish?"

"Gaston, that's enough!" exclaimed Ike with as stately a voice as he could muster against Gaston's mighty fury. "Stop this now and let us explain!"

"I don't need you to explain anything to me, loverboy!" shouted Gaston.

Ike took a step back, taken aback at what the raven had just said.

"What?" asked the mercenary.

"What?" shouted Gaston, his anger mounting. "You didn't think I hadn't noticed by now? You two are never away from each other!"

"Gaston, please!" cried Maria, agitated and on the verge of tears as she fell to her knees in front of the angry raven. "Let us explain!"

"I don't need to know anything else, bitch," said Gaston, raising a leg and kicking Maria in the stomach. The groan of pain from the cat laguz sent Ike kneeling by her side and grabbing her shoulders.

"Gaston!" exclaimed Eirika as she saw this scene, getting progressively angrier by the minute at the raven's irrational behavior. "Stop this nonsense right now and let her explain!"

"What does she have to explain?" yelled Gaston. "I was her best friend! We've known each other since we were little, we kept all our secrets, we went under Kuranga's training together, and we even promised never to betray each other! I was kind to you!"

The raven turned to face the cat laguz, who laid on the ground frightened and about to cry any second.

"And this is how you repay me..." said Gaston through gritted teeth. "You repay me by selling me to some bitch bound on getting me completely and by going after that... that human!"

Maria let out a choked cry of anguish, Willie glancing up at the raven with a determined anger never before seen in his eyes.

"'Ey!" yelled Willie. "You be worse den dem blighters--"

"Shut up, Willie!" screamed Gaston, smacking the Cockney boy across the cheek and leaving a mark there.

The raven looked at Maria again, amber eyes once again burning in pure rage and pure hatred.

"So that's how you repay me?" asked Gaston. "I'm going back to Greljedo. Even if I die. And I'll tell everyone about how you betrayed your best friend for your own benefit! And you'll be sorry you ever fell for that lousy human, when I could've been everything you could ask for! I was your friend, Maria! I was your friend!"

"Gaston, wait!" exclaimed Maria, tears beginning to erupt from her eyes.

But it was too late, for then Gaston shifted to his raven form, and before anybody could blink, the raven was out of the garden, taking a flight to the west. Maria lost it at that point; she barely managed to crawl a few inches away from Ike before she completely fell down onto the sand and cried hard into it, a few grains of sand staining to her face.

Ike slowly crawled forward, tapping Maria's shoulder lightly. The cat laguz looked up, and no sooner had Ike leaned in towards the woman he loved than she literally jumped on him, sobbing her eyes out onto his shoulders. Ike, without protest, wrapped his strong arms around her torso as it rose and retreated with each sob Maria let out.

Willie felt he could not be left out of the action, so he walked over to where Maria was, kneeling down and patting her on the head with his left hand. When Maria looked up, the Cockney boy gave her a reassuring look, understanding jade gazing into sad lavender as the cat laguz pulled Willie into the hug.

Eirika, who had noticed the crowd that had walked into the garden, turned around to look at her surroundings once before frowning.

"Well, what are you standing there for?" asked Eirika authoritatively. "Clear the area at once!"

Almost instantly, the people dispersed from the garden, casting confused glances at each other as to what had just happened. Seth, Cormag, and Eirika all looked at each other, and then they too left the garden, leaving the laguz woman alone with the only two friends she was sure she had on the entire continent.