Seeing the negative reactions I got for giving the Tacticians weapons, I'm going to change that. Rachel only uses Dark magic, while Adam uses lances. Now please get off my case. It was an experiment, just testing the waters. Also, I was thinking of them being able to promote right near the end. Give your thoughts please.

Chapter 10: Magic Locks

We went deeper into the thicket, and thankfully, the fog faded as we got away from the coast. Luckily, the forest had little undergrowth and was easy to make progress through. As such, we sent out our cavalry to scout ahead, since the forest was open enough for them to move quickly.

We slowly marched forward as we waited for our scouting parties. The first to return were the Pegasus sisters, Florina and Fiora. "Anything to report?" Rachel asked the two, and received simple shakes of the head. "No Black Fang movement to the north, just more forest." The second group back was Marcus and Lowen. They reported much the same in the south.

Finally, Kent and Sain returned. "What news?" I asked, not expecting much. "We heard the heavy footsteps and clanging of armour near a mountain ridge." Kent replied. Sain spoke up. "We figured only the black Fang would be mobilizing here." We nodded. "Alright, it is the direction Uhai told us to go, and even if we're off-course, we can nip this in the bud." Rachel and Hector readily agreed, while Eliwood seemed apprehensive.

Rachel and I walked near the front, behind Kent and Sain, who were acting as guides, as we saw the mountain range come into sight. If we strained our ears, we heard the clank of metal armour moving, and we were sure it wasn't Hector or Oswin, We set Merlinus' tent and started to survey what we could of the field until Ninian called out, "Sir Adam! Lady Rachel! Move quickly!" We both jumped back as a lightning bolt struck where we were just standing.

"What on earth was that?" Priscilla asked. "A Bolting Tome." Rachel said. "We learned about them under Count Regley." I continued. "They're extremely rare, and if they're using one here, then we better not take them lightly." We were interrupted by a nearby shouting match between, not surprisingly, Lyn and Hector.

"Walk quietly! Your armour is too noisy!"

"… How's this?"

"You're still clanking!"

"This equipment is not light! How do you propose I walk 'Quietly' in this?"

"Stop yelling at me! It's because of that clattering armour you're wearing! I'm just saying we have to move cautiously!"

"I know! And I'm saying I'm doing my best!"

Luckily, Eliwood stepped into to intervene. "Do you two mind? Armour or no, if you two keep shouting, every enemy from here to Pharae itself will here you." Lyn checked her voice. "Alright. I understand. Sorry."

"Hate to interrupt this," Rachel said, "But they already know we're here." She said, motioning to the smouldering patch of grass hit by the Bolting. "We've decided that we need to strike quickly, so we're going to use Florina, Sain, Bartre, you three, Raven, Priscilla, and Erk. Kent will stay behind to guard Merlinus." The first question from Lyn was, "If you want us to be fast, why leave Kent?" I smiled. "Well, these mountains form a barrier passable only by Pegasi and wyverns. And that is why we need to leave someone who can use swords and lances. Flying units primarily use lances, but may be carrying Axereavers."

Lyn smiled and nodded, finding that answer acceptable. We lined up for battle, with Rachel on Florina's Pegasus, and I was behind Sain on his horse. What we saw arrayed before us was a series of Mages and Armour Knights. "Lovely." I said sarcastically. "Erk, Hector, you two get to work in the knights! Raven, use the Armourslayer and help them!"

Florina, Rachel, Lyn, Eliwood, Sain and I went to work on the mages, while Bartre went to attack the Knights with the others there. Priscilla healed when necessary.

About twenty minutes into the fight, an eerie presence settled over the battlefield, as all magic ceased. Rachel's Flux vanished, mid-cast, and the flurry of fireballs from the mages ceased. Rachel flew down in a panic. "My magic! It's not working!" I got off and boosted her onto Sain's horse, against my better judgement. "We still need Florina in case magic starts up again. You two should visit the ruins over there, maybe you'll find something nice."

Rachel and Sain rode over there, and met an Elimine Bishop. He handed them a Goddess Icon, saying it may help us "survive longer". He clearly has no faith in us. What a prick. I hope we never encounter him again, but, I digress. The magic seal stayed in place, so Erk and Priscilla determined the range of it, then kept outside of it to cast spells on anyone within range, or to heal up anyone who needed it.

As we got closer, I noticed the source of the seal. There was a hooded figure surrounded by two Knight and two Snipers. I also noticed a flock of Pegasi flying over the mountain. "I knew it. And Kent should be fine. Merlinus has plenty of Vulneraries and weapons to give him."

By this point, I noticed that some fighters performed better when they were near others, such as Will and Rebecca, or Lyn and Florina. I decided to write it off as they felt comfortable around the person, but when I noticed it with Lyn and Eliwood, I couldn't help to think there was a little more to it.

Hector took down the boss, Aion, with relative ease since his spells were disabled. His last plea before he was slain was, "Thunder! Thunder, hear my cry!" Finally, it was just the cloaked figure and his guards, but Rachel caught up with me, and decided we should take out the seal, just in case.

He hastily took out the guards, I even took down one of the Snipers, just let the more experienced fighter attack the Seal, to make sure we didn't miss. Raven, Florina, Lyn and Eliwood together made it fall, and it appeared to have suffered a deathblow as it fell, but the body warped away.

We had little time to ponder this, however, as we had Merlinus pack up and headed into the depths of the ruins Aion was guarding, which would hopefully lead us to the dragon's Gate.

So, tell me what you think. Oh, and I should have mentioned this earlier, but Rachel and Adam are technically not OC's. Adam is me, or at least as close to me as possible, and Rachel is my best female friend. I just superimposed our personalities on these characters. Anyways, please, R&R