Chapter 10 – Tactician part II
Maribelle just watched as the exchange between the two leaders unfolded. She didn't even think of any words to say. She couldn't. If she hadn't been so eager to pursue the trespassers, all of this could be avoided. And she might have to pay this grave mistake with her life. But did she regret doing what she did? No, not in the long shot. Noblesse oblige, her father always said. It is the duty of those that have to serve those that doesn't. His voice played through her head as she looked at her friends. Lady Emmeryn tried her best to convince the Plegian King to spare her, but everyone knew that wasn't going to happen. She shifted her gaze on the Sheperds one by one until she came upon the youngest of the royal siblings. Her best friend Lissa. Sweet Lissa. The only thing she regretted would be her dragging the royal house when they should've leaved her. Let's hope the new tactician the prince hired is smart enough not to get his employers killed. Maribelle snapped out of her thought when she noticed the Mad King pointed his swords at her. Another barbarian walked towards her, axe in hand. She closed her eyes, waiting for what was coming.
"Wind!"
Maribelle opened her eyes and found the man earlier was lying on the ground. Blood spewed out of the numerous small cuts on his naked chest. She fell headfirst when the man holding her pushed her to the ground, shouting "why you little" behind her. She turned and let out a sigh of relief when she saw Ricken and Donnel behind her.
"Wind!" Ricken shouted once more, unleashing a barrage of aircutters from his hand. The axe-wielder sidestepped the young mage's attack and lunged towards the Ylisseans. Donnel jumped in front of his friend and thrust his lance, trying to maintain their range advantage. The Plegian dodged his attack as well, and with a heavy cleave, cut the spear tip from shaft clean off. He kicked the farmer in the gut, sending both Donnel and Ricken to the ground.
"You're dead boy!"
"Guess again!"
The Plegian fell backwards, seemingly by himself following the mysterious, yet strangely familiar voice. Maribelle couldn't believe her eyes when the man gagged a few times and coughed out blood. She squinted to make sense what was happening, and found a spear tip sunk at the man's throat. She had to trace the thing that saved her from the spear all the way to its wielder.
"Kellam? What are you doing here?" Ricken asked, helping Donnel to his feet.
"Actually, that's my question." Kellam walked towards Maribelle. "Saving her was my job, and didn't the captain and Robin ask you two to stay at the castle? So what are you doing here?" The armored knight cut the rope binding Maribelle's hands and helped her up. Ricken and Donnel only managed to smile sheepishly at the question.
"Thank you. All of you," Maribelle said. "Oh Donnel, you're hurt. Here." The blonde reached for her staff on the ground and activated her healing magic for the farmer-turned-soldier. "Now, let us go help our friends shall we?"
"Here," Kellam handed Donnel a spear and pulled the one from earlier out of the Plegian's throat, "I'll take the lead, you guard the back," he said.
Donnel nodded at the instruction. The four Sheperds proceeded down the hill using the route closest to them. Plegian soldiers sprung from the thicket nearby and went on to block them.
Robin looked at the Plegian soldiers coming out of the forest in front of him. Half went straight for his group and the other went to intercept the Sheperds coming down from the mountain. Another group of Plegians showed themselves from behind the Mad King and came down using the other route.
"Cover the Exalt! Lon'qu, Vaike!" Robin shouted, blocking and parrying the incoming arrows with his shield. Frederick and Phila stuck close to Emmeryn. The falcon knight also parried the arrows with her sword while the great knight used his whole body as a wall. Chrom and Lissa supported each other while retrieving alongside their sister.
Robin eyed his surroundings, dodging and blocking the attacks from the Plegians in front of them. He blocked another blow from an axe-wielder and pushed the bigger man with all his might. The tactician planted his sword in the man's chest, ending him right there. He looked beyond the lifeless corpse towards the soldiers spewing out from the thick bush between the two roads. His eyes stopped at the last man coming out from the green. He was gripping a sword very similar to the Mad King, staring straight at the tactician. Robin smiled. Lazlo, he thought to himself.
"Chrom, the riders should arrive soon. Tell Miriel to block the other route." Chrom looked at the path on the left now plagued with the enemies and nodded. "Let Virion provide cover fire while you, Sully and Stahl round up the mobs."
Finished with his instruction, Robin went straight for Lazlo.
Lon'qu and Vaike went out of their hiding spot at the signal from their tactician. Robin had sent them earlier utilizing the hidden trails in anticipation of an ambush from the Plegians. Kellam was to use another path to rescue Maribelle. With the knight's group on higher ground, and the swordsman and the fighter attacking from behind, they had the enemies surrounded.
Lon'qu paced upwards towards the unsuspecting Plegians. He readied his sword, gripping the blade with both hands. He pointed the tip forward when he entered his range. With blinding speed, he stroke.
The man tugged at the blade protruding from his chest. His comrades were disarrayed by his sudden state. Some walked straight towards their original targets, some turned around to face their new attackers, one didn't even know what to do and halted for a moment. A moment that proved to be fatal when an arrow pierced his neck from behind.
Lon'qu pulled his sword from the lifeless man as swift as he sunk it. Red liquid came gushing from the body along with the tempered steel, but he hardly care. The sight of blood no longer flinch him, no matter the volume. Plus, he had his mission. Kill anyone that moved that aren't friend, Robin said. Vaike had already started with his side.
The Feroxian grunted and dodged a blow from an axe-wielder. Too slow, he thought, and moved to the man's side. He crossed his blade under the man's arm and raised it with lightning speed. The blade slowed down when it met its target, but came out with ease nonetheless, leaving behind a trace of blood and an axe-holding arm on the ground. The swordsman clicked his tongue through the Plegian's scream and blocked a sword strike on his left. He kicked the now one-armed man and pushed the soldier away. He sunk his blade at the new attacker's neck, killing him immediately. Lon'qu pulled his killing edge and made a wide slash with one fluid motion. "Be quiet!" he yelled to the body missing a head and an arm in front of him.
The flock of Plegians coming out from the forest stopped. Lon'qu looked around to find Vaike smashing the side of his axe against another fighter's face and Kellam impaling a mage with his spear. Only a handful more and they'd be able to regroup. The swordsman reverted his sights in front of him when two fighters approached him.
Miriel laid her eyes on the battle playing on the ground. Robin was locking blades with another man while other Plegians poured out from the forest. Chrom and Frederick were deflecting the attacks coming towards them while Lissa provided support. Phila stayed with the Exalt all the time, carrying out her duty in keeping their leader safe. Sully and Stahl, taking advantage of their mobility, intercepted the enemies before they could reach the royals. Virion, sitting behind the male cavalier, picked up the ones coming down from the hill.
"Hang on tight, we're going in." Sumia's voice reached her ears, breaking her focus from the ground. Miriel moved her body closer towards the pegasus knight in front of her and primed an arcfire spell in her right hand.
With Kellam and Lon'qu's team handling the descending Plegians on one route, their job was to make sure their enemies didn't pincer their comrades from the other. Sumia tugged the rein of her pegasus and lowered their altitude. She moved the steed left and right, avoiding the occasional arrows and spells coming their way. Miriel released the spell as soon as they entered striking range. The impact of her spell broke the rocks on the higher ground and blocked the second route completely. Some even landed on the Plegians on the base, giving the Sheperds some needed breathing room. The forest started burning following the fire attack.
Sumia turned the pegasus and landed close to Chrom and the others, readying themselves for the remaining enemies.
Robin never broke his eyes from the man locking blades with him. It was said that a well-trained warrior could see his opponent's next move from his eyes. Of course, it was also said that any well-trained warrior could mask his true intention from the enemy just as well. And Lazlo was definitely a well-trained one. Maybe much more than Robin, given his origin.
The men broke out from their position and resumed the fight. Slashes blocked, attacks parried, and they soon found themselves in a stalemate once more.
"You should've come with me," Robin said through gritted teeth.
"And abandon those that had done so much for me? You must be joking. My loyalty's not so cheap you could buy with a few coins." Lazlo pushed Robin, sending the tactician backwards a few steps. He raised his sword, now emitting a golden glow, and brought it downwards, as if cleaving an invisible log.
Robin took a big step backwards, barely dodging the shot of lightning from Lazlo's sword. He lunged forward, slashing downwards at the opponent.
Lazlo parried the attack and followed with one of his own, which the tactician blocked with his shield. The impact from the metals clashing sent Lazlo a step back. Robin took the chance and let out a horizontal slash. Lazlo blocked the attack and brought it in front of him. The men locked their blades for the third time since their fighting started.
"Admirable, but blind loyalty is just ignorance. You don't even know what you're fighting for this time."
"Robin!" Chrom's voice rose from the back amidst the sound of clashing steel and burning trees. "We got her, time to go."
The tactician let out a smile and pushed Lazlo with all his weight. He took two large backsteps and turned around to the retreating Sheperds.
Lazlo just watched as Robin and the Sheperds became smaller and smaller. "Stop. We've got what we came for, no need to go after them." He looked around to the bodies of his comrades lying lifeless on the ground. "His highness is waiting. Let's go."
That night, Robin was summoned to the throne room. As usual, the three royal siblings and their stalwarts were present. The tactician turned to see Sully and Stahl stood at the entrance instead of the usual guards, and he was almost positive Kellam was also in the room somewhere. He turned around once more to face his employers.
"Am I fired? Or am I really to become your prisoner now?"
"No, nothing of the sorts," Chrom said. "It's just, we really want to know. Gangrel said you and the Sanctum won him the throne of Plegia. Was it true?"
"That, would be true."
"Do you mind telling us why?"
"Isn't it obvious? He paid us to." Robin smiled seeing the surprised looks on the faces present in the room.
"I… see. Do you mind telling us about it?"
"To be completely honest with you, I'd rather not."
"And why is that?"
"Well, it's not exactly a story you'd tell your family over dinner. I mean, Gangrel was in it. And most importantly," Robin raised his head and looked at the royal siblings from the center of the room. He set his gaze on Chrom, then to Lissa, and finally to Emmeryn. He could've sworn the eldest royal flashed him a sad smile when their eyes met, but that might just be his mind playing tricks on him. He took a deep breath and continued, "it's how we killed your father."
Finally! If only you guys know how long I've been waiting to write that last scene.
This is the big question that started this whole thing. Robin didn't lose his memories just so he can deliver that last line. It's also the reason the timeline for the last war was moved forward. I want the current players (Robin, Gangrel, etc) to play a role in the last one as well, so you got a mercenary Robin.
And just so we're clear, the next chapter will be full on backstory mode, as in, it'll take place around eight years prior to the start of the story.
One other thing, yes, Lazlo's also one of the OCs in the prologue. If you've read Awakening (self plug ftw), you'll probably already guess where I'm going with him and Robin. If not, then there's one more thing to look forward to (I hope).
Anyway, as usual, thank you for the reads/review/favs/follows.
Until next time.