Authors Notes-

100,000 words!

After the uploading of my previous story I discovered that I submitted a little over 100,000 words. Whooo! It's a great feeling! I never thought I'd get this far, so CHEERS to all!

Character Notes-

Anatak- I though it was a good as time as any to add a myrmidon to the group. A quick note: I could think of an original name for him so I just spelled Katana backwards and got his name. (Aren't I so clever, durrr…). I also borrowed the cutting hair from Game of Thrones to justify why he had short hair, (in all of Fire Emblem games I played I never seen a myrmidon with short hair, at least none that I could remember, call me out if I am wrong, (Note: I have only played: FE, Sacred Stones, Shadow Dragon and a little of Radiant Dawn, so all other games I am oblivious to.)

Anyway, Anatak is a stereotypical swordsman, devoted to improving himself and his skills as one. He wears a light green swordsman robe that offsets the color of his jade green hair. His katana is the same length as his arm, and the hilt is a simple coloring of primarily red with a touch of green in the threads.

Veriden- Veriden is a named that I made up on the fly, I believe it was based of the word "Verde", where ever that name is from. He is a big man, not as big as Micas but big enough to be noticed. He has wildly placed dark brown hair and a heavy scruff on his cheeks and chin. His accent is a mix between Irish and Scottish, (I apologize in advance if I butcher it or forget all about it.) He wear heavy armor of green and gold armor, with a rusty lance, not his supposedly that he randomly picked up, for his weapon.

Fire Emblem

The Casting Shadow

Chapter 9

Nightmares

The night was falling fast, and the sun's face was slowly disappearing beyond the west. Quint and the rest of his group slowly drudged along on the path going what to them was a snail's pace. They had been walking since the previous night when they had encountered the Viceroy of Edge, and had managed to defeat him; and had not stopped since then.

If there was a word to describe the group's mood, it would be: exhausted. Walking for a day and a half, the group had to eat lightly on the road, causing the group to have less energy then they should. By the end of the day, Quint realized that the rest of the group was tired. Seeing the exhaustion in everyone's faces, he then decided to have them camp. Although he felt rushed to get the tablets, he knew there was no point in making everyone miserable. After announcing they would make camp, everyone sigh a cheerful sigh. As they pulled up the side of a plain grassy area and began to settle down, a dreaded question came up: the watch. No body wanted to do it yet, it needed to be done. Thankfully Micias stood up and offered to do it all tonight, since he was on his wagon most of the trip me managed to save most of his energy. All agreed to that, and they all went to their bedrolls. Quint was one of the last to head off to bed. He was asleep just seconds after his head reached the ground.

Quint usually did not dream, but tonight was special. After he had drifted off, his dream came slowly. Quint found himself surrounded by a black mist. It was thick and dark, preventing anything beyond it to be seen or recognized. Quint then reached out his hand to touch the mist. As soon as his hand came close to the mist, the mist moved away from him. Quint then continually ran at the mist trying to get through it, changing his direction whenever he could to try and trip up the mist. But not of it was any good. After several attempts, Quint then began to pant heavily, out of energy.

The Quint heard footsteps, they had no origin all Quint could tell was that they were getting closer to him. He began to peer all around him, looking for the source of the footsteps. Then a figure walked out of the mist, it was Cid. He was wearing his armor, and had his sword drawn. He just stopped just outside the mist, but the footsteps continued. The one by one all of the others from his group walked out of mist and joined Cid to from a circle around Quint. All had weapons ready, and dark expressions on their faces.

"What is the matter?" Asked Quint uneasily. They did not answer; instead they readied their weapons. Quint reached for his sword, but found it missing. He then shoot a glance at all of them, before they all said unison, "Die." All together they attacked Quint. Quint could feel each stoke of every weapon, the heat from a fire spell, and finally the cold steel of a short knive. He then fell to his hands and knees, and held is side, burning with pain. Pulling his hand away for a moment, he saw blood covered his hand. "They've killed me," he said almost sobbing.

"No…" came an evil voice, "you killed them."

Quint's head shot up, and the mist was gone. What replaced it was a moor swamp, covered in bodies. The pain in his chest had disappeared and he was able to stand. Getting up, he then walked over to the battle ground. Walking through it he then saw Gwen on the ground. He ran over to her to check on her. After moving her cape, Quint stood up in shock, she was covered in blood, and covered in the cold of death. Looking around, he then saw that all the other bodies where from his group. He saw Anatak, Veriden, Skye, Clare, Lily, Fang, Micias, Cathlyn, and Benson. All of then were covered in blood, their own blood. The he saw three figures on their own, he moved up to see them. The first one he saw was Brath, still holding Aptz despite death claiming him. Then Cid and his horse was next, he lay there on the ground, his lance broken to the side of him, and his sword haft drawn for his stealth. Then he could see the final figure, Shadow. She was on the ground; face up, with her hands holding the source of her demise, a sword in her chest.

Quint then to spin around frantically looking at all of them, the he realized, the look on their faces was…betrayal. Then he looked at his hands: the blood was still there, and then he looked at the blade. Walking over to the sword, he pulled it from Shadow and recognized it, it was his… and then he realized the blood on his was not his, it was theirs.

"You killed them," came the voice again. Quint looked around for its origin. "They are dead because of you… and your "quest"" The he looked back down at the sword, it had changed into the tablet. Started by the change, he dropped in on the ground. Then he dropped on his knees and began to cry. Then a voice said, "You killed all of them, even Salem."

Then Quint realized something, he never once blamed himself for what happened with Salem. Rather he was sad he couldn't see him one more time. Someone was manipulating him, in his dream.

"Who are you?" Shouted Quint.

After realizing the illusion, the battleground then faded into a dark night. It was pouring rain, and occasionally a flash of lightning would light up the sky with a bolt. Within a flash of one lighting bolt, Quint could make out the rail of a ship: he was on a ship. Slowly getting up, he could feel the effects of the storm on the ship by the rocking of the ship from the waves.

Quint recognized the ship, but could not place it. The he saw two figures beside the guardrail, one of them was a towering white hair man, and the other was about no older the fifteen. They appeared to be conversing. Then for no reason the elder, placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. The he grabbed the boy, and lifted him over his head. "NOOOOO!" Shouted Quint from the middle of the ship, but his cry was deafened by the sound of thunder. The elder men then walked over to the rail, then a flashed of lightening blinded Quint. After recovering form the flash he saw the elder man there…without the boy. Then Quint remembered what this was.

"Stop, it!" He shouted out loud. The dream then went black, and he was now alone. The he felt like something was crawling through his head, prying for something. "What are you hiding…?" said the voice curiously. "No, no…" said Quint in pain. Then Quint forced an image to his head, "I can play your game too," he said.

Instantly, the image he thought of appeared before him. It was a warm room, warmly lit with candles, the room was adorned with luxurious flowers, paintings and decorations. In the center of the room, two people sat, one was a lovely young woman, the other was a young boy at her feet, listening to every word she had to say. The woman was talking to the boy and crafting a crown of flowers for the boy.

Quint felt happiness from this vision, but then looked around and saw what he was looking for. A black robed figure stood in the corner, very out of place from this illusion. Acting facst, Quint rushed the figure and was able to grab the cloak of the figure. Pulling of the hood, Quint relieved the figure merely to be a black featureless face. After touching the cloak, the figure then evaporated through Quint's hands and into the wall, causing the illusion to end.

"Very good, Quinthantheus. I expected a fight from you…" came the voice. "We will be seeing each other very soon it seems…heheh… "

"Who are you?"

"It matters not…" Then a white light appeared in the distance, and began to rush towards Quint, who now could not move. "We will see each other again…Quinthantheus."

Quint then awoke with a start. He jumped up and sat up in his bedroll. Clare was kneeling beside him and Cathlyn was standing in front of him. "Are you alright?" Asked Clare.

"Yes," replied Quint gathering his nerves, "I am fine. Did I wake you?"

"You were tossing and turning terribly," replied Cathlyn in a meek tone, "I was worried and asked Clare to look at you."

"I assumed you were having a nightmare, and I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"Yes," said Quint, "it…was a nightmare. I'm sorry to have worried you two."

"It's not just you," came another voice. Looking over his should he saw it was Skye, also up. "Shadow has the same thing you had." Then she motioned them over to Shadow's bedroll. She was lying on the ground, tossing and turning. Sweat seeping from her skin, breathing heavy and she had a look of discomfort on her face. "Do we dare wake her?" Asked Skye.

"Best not…" said Quint. "If she is suffering from the same thing I was, only she can beat it." "What do you mean?" Asked Clare. Looking down, Quint sighed deeply, "I was attacked in my dreams by some unknown magic user. He wanted to scare me from this quest." The he looked over the three of them, recalling how he saw their bodies dead on the ground. "He also tried to bring up some painful memories. I had to force him into the open, and I almost had him…but he is careful." "Was it the same mage that hurt Brath?" Asked Cathlyn. Quint shook his head, "No, this one had an "evil" feel about him. More so then the other one did."

After saying that, Shadow then shot and said, "Twilight!" All four of them looked at her, startled. She slowly turned her head and saw the four of them looking at her, realizing she was awake, she then straightened up and asked, "What are you four staring at?" And not even waiting for an answer, she began to walk away from the camp.

"Where is she going?" asked Cathlyn.

"Not far," replied Quint, "I doubt she will sleep anymore tonight, so she just needs to walk around to stay awake." Then he turned to the three girls, "you three better be off to bed."

"What about you?" Asked Clare.

"I doubt I will be able to sleep as well, I'll relieve Micas and let him get some sleep, ok?" The three girls looked at each other concerned, but nodded to his request. Quint then relived Micas, and sat beside a fire he had made to keep warm. Leaning back on the grass, he looked at the stars, and reflected on the nightmare.

Then he found something strange, Why did Shadow have one? And what is "Twilight"?

He peered over his shoulder and saw that she did not return. He then dropped the matter for now and returned to the watch, still tired from the long few days, but too frightened to go to sleep.

-End Notes

Fastest written Chapter EVAR

Not to toot my on horn by I managed to write this in under a day! Whooo, yeah.

No Character Notes for Next Time

Since there really was not a recruitment for this chapter, I do not need to include one for the next chapter.

Still in the Dark?

I wanted this chapter to reveal a little more so you might have an idea as to Quint's, and a little bit of Shadow's, past. But not enough to where you cannot say for certain. Hell, even I'm not certain!