Chapter 10: Dual Rescue Mission
The sun was rising, and Tibarn was getting even weaker. He simply tried to evade and talk to Lethe, tried to talk her out of it. However, she obviously didn't want to talk, or actually, though Tibarn didn't know it, she couldn't. Zihark sighed before yelling Tibarn's way,
"There's some kind of bug on her right forearm Tibarn! Kill it and she'll return to normal!"
"Oh? That's all I need to do?" Asked Tibarn, dodging another attack shortly after. He looked at the indicated location, and growled in frustration, yelling as he continued evasive tactics,
"Hey! There's nothing there!" This shocked Zihark, but it didn't last long because he sensed Kurthnaga approaching. It didn't take long before he came into view, and when he did he changed to his Demibeorc form and dropped from the sky. He landed on his feet and ran forward, stopping beside Zihark and yelling to Tibarn,
"Knock her unconscious! That's the best way to reveal that kind of parasite! It is revealed when the host is unconscious, asleep, or dead!" Tibarn looked at the dragon, then at Lethe, and took up a new stance, going on the offensive. Lethe however, had had enough, and ran into the forest. Zihark gasped as she heard the cat, clearly fighting in the distance, and then the sounds died down and were replaced by Lethe running through the mossy-floored forest. Out of the forest at the location where Lethe disappeared, Naesala came out, rubbing the back of his head. He sighed and said,
"Sorry, I wasn't fully truthful with you. That Sotile character was wasting his time fighting a fake me actually. The real me was watching from above. I can't believe he didn't notice me, but I'm lucky he didn't. Oh, but get this. I found out the reason why he wouldn't die at the Dragon Palace. He was actually a fake Sotile, and considering that, we have one hell of a predicament on our hands. You see, the ability to create a fake cuts your full strength by 25%, and that strength is what the fake has. When the fake is destroyed in whatever way, the strength is returned to you. In other words, the real Sotile is four times as strong as that fake we all struggled against." Zihark stared, but after a while he said,
"Oh great, and on top of that the guy's spiritually aware. That's the only way he could make a fake of himself. So does anyone else get the feeling that they know this Sotile character?"
"Not as far as I know. Why?" Asked Naesala.
"Because he looked...familiar...." Said Zihark. He then gasped and said,
"It can't be!"
Meanwhile...
At Ike's camp, everyone was ready to move. With a wave of Ike's arm from up front, the group continued deeper into Gallia, though they planned to head further south into Goldoa. Their hope was that they could meet up with Lethe and whoever she had been travelling with before Sotile and whatever thugs he had with him found her first. As the group continued its trek, Ranulf insisted on keeping his distance from Lyre. In fact he wanted no more to do with her as of that point. This realization upset Lyre greatly, and she hung her head as she walked behind Soren. Before they reached what had been determined as the turning point of the journey, Lyre, Ranulf, and surprisingly Ike, felt as though something was amiss.
"Everyone, let's tighten the formation." Said Ike.
"Yeah, good call commander! I was thinking the exact same thing! Something is definitely wrong, and we don't want to be ambushed so far apart from each other." Said Ranulf.
"What are you talking about? We probably just scared any would-be adversaries off, that's all!" Said Shinon.
"Uh, Shinon, I really think we should listen to Ike. He's never steered us wrong before." Said Gatrie.
"Are you crazy? By siding with him you're siding with those damn Sub-Humans!" Yelled Shinon.
"I don't care who I'm siding with Shinon, as long as I get to keep myself alive! Stop being difficult! And for your information, they are not Sub-Humans! They are Laguz! Just because they aren't hu-I mean Beorc, does not make them any less great than us! If anything, they should be calling Beorc Sub-Laguz, not Human; especially scum like you! At least then it would be a worthy argument!" Yelled Gatrie. Shinon was shocked and speechless, but as he regained his composure, he yelled,
"Fine! You can all rot in hell when the Sub-Humans put you there! That's exactly what'll happen! I'm outta here." And with that he stormed off. Gatrie growled, and said,
"People like him are the only things keeping Beorc and Laguz seperated." Ike was shocked at the argument, but soon ran over to Gatrie. Patting him on the shoulder, he asked the armored man,
"Is it safe to assume that you'll help me see this through?"
"Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way commander." Said Gatrie. Ike smiled, and then heard Gatrie again, this time talking to Ranulf.
"Hey Ranulf! One of these times we stop could I speak to you privately?" Ranulf cocked an eyebrow, confused, though he couldn't help but smile.
"Sure. I think I can trust you enough for that." He said. Gatrie smiled back, and then Ike cleared his throat.
"We keep losing time. Can we get going soon?"
"We can go now if you're ready." Said Gatrie. Ike sighed and smiled, then they were back on the move. They had agreed to huddle together to decrease the risk of getting seperated, and as they continued, Rolf was now feeling really down that his teacher had deserted the company. Boyd went to check on him, and tried to console him by telling Rolf to 'forget that jerk'. Yet all it did was make matters worse. As the sun was starting to set, they had reached the turning point, when suddenly a deep, gruff voice came from afar.
"Sir Ike! Please wait!" Ike turned to face the source of the voice, and saw none other than the Gallian king's loyal shadow, Giffca.
"What is it, sir?" Asked Ike. As Giffca got closer and slowed to a stop, he said to Ike,
"I'm sorry to interrupt whatever you're doing, but Gallia has a crisis right now, and we need all the help we can get. I sincerely apologize to hold you up, but I sought you out immediately when I heard the Greil Mercenaries were within our borders."
"A detour to help an ally in need? I can live with that, but we have a bit of a problem. Hmm.... I'll take a fraction of the company and follow you to Gallia, the rest will continue south." Said Ike. Giffca smiled, and stood back to let them decide how they would divide.
"Soren, I'm counting on you to lead the journey to Goldoa. Can you handle it?" Asked Ike. Soren nodded before saying,
"Of course commander. I'll take Titania, Gatrie, and Mia. The main threat is no doubt in Gallia right now, so everyone else is yours to command Ike." Ike looked at everyone who was going with Soren and said to them,
"Remember, Soren is leading the three of you. I don't want any complaints. Is everyone okay with their duty?" The entirety of the Greil Mercenary company yelled,
"Yes sir!" Ike nodded, and then turned to Giffca, who said
"I thank you for your help. The palace is the main point of concern, unfortunately. His majesty is in no danger yet, but our most experienced fighters are struggling as we speak to keep the threat from entering the palace itself. He appears to be beorc, from what reports say."
"Beorc? No way!" Said Lyre, though in her current form only Giffca could understand her. Giffca looked at Lyre, then saw the leash, which his eyes followed to Soren. Growling, GIffca said,
"I should have expected it to be only a matter of time. So you finally show your true colors, eh? Lowly Halfbreed!"
"Giffca?" Asked Lyre, suddenly feeling uneasy about the situation. She had heard the term Parentless before, but Halfbreed? Then it happened; in a flash Giffca was lunging at Soren as a Lion, and as Soren stood there in shock, Lyre observed the situation, and lunged forward. As she did, she intercepted Giiffca, taking the hard hit for Soren. She tumbled away until she stopped on her belly, groaning and struggling to stand.
"Giff...ca. Don't blame...the mage..." Lyre said through heaving breaths. She coughed violently, spewing small amounts of blood.
"Lyre!" Yelled Soren, feeling an unusual amount of concern, considering that he wasn't feeling it for Ike's sake. He ran to the cat's side, checking for injuries. He found a few broken bones, but nothing more serious than that.
"You...protected me?" Asked Soren, confused and full of a sense of guilt. He removed the Demiband in case there was something Lyre wanted to say.
"Heh...no sweat. I'm the one on the leash, anyway...remember?" Said Lyre.
"That...that shouldn't matter. Come on Lyre, listen to what you're saying! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let myself be talked into this, and because I did, Giffca could have killed you." Said Soren.
"You know as well as I do that I can take a hit like that a lot...a lot more easily than you can." Said Lyre, beginning to calm down her breathing. While this was going on, Giffca was confused.
"Hey Giffca, what's wrong with you? I'll have you know that Soren helped me help Lyre not too long ago. The rest of the Greil Mercenaries were asleep, and even though Soren was unbelievably busy he offered to help me. Lyre and I had been seperated, and Lyre was found by some slavers. Soren was the deciding factor of Lyre's fate that day, and here you try to attack him like he's at fault!" Yelled Ranulf. Ike had no idea what Ranulf was talking about, so he decided to change the subject.
"And the fact remains that Soren is a Greil Mercenary. If you had injured him, who would I be able to trust to lead the fraction to Goldoa. Now I don't know how dire the situation at the palace is, but there's a chance we won't be able to stop whoever this invader is unless we hurry."
"Before we do, Soren, release Lyre." Said Giffca. Soren was shocked that the lion had the gall to start ordering him around.
"Not on your command!" Yelled Soren, defiantly.
"Soren, calm down." Said Ranulf. Giffca turned to Ranulf and said,
"You seem to be on good terms with Soren. Have Soren release Lyre, would you?"
"Sorry Giffca, but based on the circumstances I don't think it's my place, or yours for that matter, to decide whether or not Lyre gets off the leash. I'll tell you why later, but for now we need to hurry to the palace." Said Ranulf. With everyone finally in agreement on that, the majority of the Greil Mercenaries followed Giffca to the palace.
'His majesty will not be pleased.' Thought the lion. Soren, left with Titania, Gatrie, Mia, and Lyre, said to them,
"Okay, we have our orders. To Goldoa!"
Sorry it took so long. I finished this chapter a while ago but circumstances prevented me from putting it up until this moment. What is Zihark thinking? Where did Lethe go? Will Lyre be okay after what happened? What will Caineghis say about Lyre? All these questions and perhaps more, to be answered in the next chapter! Oh, and this chapter has only the first referrence to what happened in Chapter 9.