Chapter 10: Turn a Blind Eye

It was amazing how things could go from bad to worse in only a couple of hours. The other night I was waiting at deaths door…. I thought it was over but somehow I survived. Something out there didn't want me to die, at least not then. Then once that problem had resolved and I felt more like my self, another arose. Or maybe it was all still the same problem and it was never truly solved…well either way I was labeled bad luck from a crest on my wrist. However, I wasn't entirely sure I was ready to believe such a superstitious thing.

"I don't buy it," muttered Sothe. We stood in a patch of woods just outside base. Pine trees canopied over us with white clumps of snow hanging off the branches.

"I don't know…. he wasn't lying I could just tell," I replied. There was something that seemed genuine about what Soren said. What reasons would he have for lying anyway? He didn't seem like the type of person to do something like that out of spite. There was also the crucial fact that the last time he hinted danger…he was right on. I knew I couldn't take him lightly.

"You're right he wasn't lying. I'm sure he's read a book on just about every subject there possibly is but…." He paused for a moment and pondered something.

"But…"

"BUT think about it like this…doesn't this strike you as just a little irrational?" he asked. I let out a long breath.

"Well yeah but nothing in this world is rational," I responded truthfully. Nothing ever seemed logical anymore, especially after what happened. If logic were applied to anything I wouldn't have been talking to Sothe. I wouldn't have even made it halfway through the night.

"Point taken. But…hmm….hey did you ever used to believe that if you broke a mirror it would bring you bad luck?" he asked. I raised an eyebrow in confusion, not entirely sure what he was getting at. But I did use to believe in silly things like that when I was younger, more so than I would now. In fact I did recall actually breaking a mirror once by accident.

"Well actually one time…" Sothe clearly didn't want to listen to my story because he almost immediately interrupted me.

"Okay, good. You were probably a lot younger when it happened, right?" he asked. I had been very young at the time. I didn't remember it very clearly but it was one of the first times Muarim and I had broken in to a noble's home and freed laguz slaves.

"Yeah! When we first started the Laguz Emancipation Army…" Sothe interrupted my story again, still not interested in it.

"Okay. You probably were scared you'd flock bad luck, right?" Sothe questioned. I still didn't understand the point of this but I immediately nodded my head, I had been terrified.

"Oh yeah, you bet I was scared! Every time I fell or scraped my knee I'd blame it on the mirror. Oh and this one time…"

"Exactly as I thought. Tell me…if you broke a mirror right now would you even be half as scared?" he asked.

"Well, no not at all. It's just an old superstition that you believe in as a kid," I answered honestly. Sothe folded his arms over his chest and turned towards the direction of base.

"So what makes breaking a mirror any different than what Soren just said? They are exactly the same. If you believe you have bad luck it makes you paranoid. If you choose not to believe in something…then what is there to worry about?" he philosophized. Sothe had a very good point. If I chose to believe that the crest was a bad omen then surely bad things would happen, but if I chose not to believe it then life goes on. It made perfect sense.

"So if I believe it, I'm screwed and if I don't believe it then there's no worries?" I asked to make sure I had everything right.

"Exactly. I say for now we turn a blind eye to this and see how everything plays out." I supposed it wasn't a horrible idea. There wasn't much we could do about it anyway. It was worth a shot.

"All right..." I said apprehensively.

…

Back at base everyone made preparations to march even further through Daein. After the fall of Tor Garen Crimea seemed to slowly creak to life once more. As we trekked through the snow, chills bit at our skin. My boots began to dampen, just another reason why I couldn't stand the cold. Most of the army marched together deeper into heart of Daien until we all came to an abrupt halt.

The hawk, Janaff turned to Ike. "So, General…there looks to be a lot of enemy soldiers ahead. Mostly Daein but there are some crows from Kilvas as well," he said.

"More than our last fight?" asked Ike. Janaff slowly nodded his head.

"Yeah, there's a lot, but the most troubling thing is that King Kilvas is with them." King Kilvas was on the battlefield? I felt my stomach churn at the thought. I could tell Muarim, who was at my side, was uneasy as well.

"The crow king himself is cooperating with Daein?" said Ike in bewilderment. Janaff tensely looked towards the Daein army then back at Ike.

"Yep. And compared to the other crows, the king is in a class by himself." I made a mental note to stay out of his range. Janaff cleared his throat. "Obviously, he's no match for our king, but anyway, you should move carefully," he added proudly.

"An entire unit under the command of King Kilvas? I think that bodes ill for us," Ike muttered restlessly. Soren sped up so he stood at Ike's side.

"The outcome of the battle hinges on how we deal with them," he said. Ike sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The red haired paladin saw Ike's uneasiness and casually approached him.

"Kilvas soldiers, hm?" she began. Titania looked towards Janaff who was scanning the perimeter. "As fellow bird tribe laguz, what can you tell us about them?" she asked inquisitively. Janaff narrowed his eyes and scoffed in disgust.

"Please don't lump us together with those carrion birds," said the hawk in disdain. Ulki, the hawk king's ears, moved towards his companion.

"We're not partial…to the crows," said Ulki. Ike didn't seem to be in the mood for the usual "I'm not like those laguz, you beorc know nothing" rant.

"As you know, we are outmanned by the Daein troops. Is there any way to get the ravens to withdraw? That would be a tremendous help," he emphasized.

Janaff moaned uncomfortably and rolled his eyes. "Well…I suppose I could go meet with King Kilvas…if I had to. I don't think that my speaking to him is going to make a difference, though." Ulki stepped towards Ike and gave a disapproving grunt.

"If you like, we will try…but don't expect anything to come out of it," Ulki advised. Then, Reyson who had been mostly quiet spoke out.

"No matter the circumstance, I will never again speak to a crow," he swore bitterly. I couldn't help but to think that all this bickering was wasting time that we could be using to attack or strategize. Soren spoke up and read my mind.

"No matter what we decide, sitting here like this is giving the enemy more time to prepare," said Soren. I couldn't have agreed more, it was like he took the words out of my head. We already wasted enough time and I was ready to fight. Prior to the battle Muarim had asked me…no begged me not to fight. Sincerely, I felt fine and more than well enough to fight. Muarim seemed to worry about me more than usual after the incident. It was starting to get out of hand. I knew he wouldn't let me out of his sight at all during the battle and I wasn't looking forward to it.

"You're right. Come on, let's get moving!" shouted Ike as he rallied all of the troops into a battle formation. Muarim had refused to be put anywhere that wasn't near me. Ike understood and didn't fight it, although I wished he did. Sothe was to the left of me with a knife readied in his hand. Suddenly, I could hear a roar of battle cries coming from the Daein soldiers.

"It appears the enemy has spotted us," said Nasir. Ike put a hand on his scabbard and clutched the hilt of his sword.

"Well, a group this large is hard to miss," Ike replied.

"How will you proceed?" he asked. Ike had that determined look on his face that he always wore whenever he made up his mind.

"No tricks. Nothing fancy. We'll hit them from the front—fast and hard," he stated boldly. Nasir seemed unimpressed.

"I'm sure you're already aware of this, but if you don't do something about Kilvas, you're at a disadvantage," he cautioned. Ike pulled his sword out of his scabbard slowly.

"Yes, I've heard about the ravens…but even so, it's not as if we can turn tail and run." Nasir was silent for a moment. He looked like he was thinking hard about something.

"Now that I think on it, King Kilvas and Prince Reyson used to be close friends. Did you ask him to speak to the king?" said Nasir. Ike chuckled darkly under his breath.

"He was most empathetic in his refusal. It seems that Naesala was responsible for Reyson's capture at the hands of Duke Tanas. I can't really blame him."

"And the hawks? They too, are of the bird tribes. Surely some connection can be found there," said Nasir. Ike sighed in frustration.

"They…weren't excited about the suggestion," said Ike. Nasir took a few steps closer to the commander and looked him in the eye.

"You could command them to do it," he suggested. There was something about the way he said those words that I didn't like. Ike was the commander but he would never force anyone into anything.

"There's an antagonism between the tribes that we don't understand. I'd rather not force the issue. Trying to coerce them into it would be…unfair. I will let them do as they please," he countered. I let out a breath of relief. Everyone knew they put their faith in the right guy. Ike always knew what was right. Nasir had a wry smile.

"That is so very like you. However, giving orders that are unpopular is often necessary when one is in command and…" Nasir's stubbornness was starting to get to me and especially Ike. After all, Ike was the commander, he made the decisions and we could always trust that it was the right choice. I hated to see anyone question his authority.

"Maybe so. But I can only do things the best I know how. My own may. Come, it's time to go!" he shouted. Nasir left without another word and everyone prepared for battle. I held an elfire tome in my hand and marked a page with a spell on it. Muarim had already been shifted for some time now. He rubbed against my side comfortingly as if to say "be careful".

I opened my mouth to tell Sothe to stay safe but as I turned my head I noticed he had already bolted. It wasn't too much of a surprise he always did say "thieves are loners" so I never really interfered.

The sound of metal clashing and soldiers shouting woke me from my trance. I moved out with Muarim following me like a shadow. I heard the noises of footfalls and heavy breathing so I hastily opened my tome to the page I had marked. I closed my eyes and cleared my mind to concentrate my energy on the spell. I muttered a few words under my breath and screamed "Elfire!" at the top of my lungs. When I opened my eyes a myrmidon had fallen to the ground, cringing in pain.

Muarim growled fiercely so I turned to him to see what was wrong. Two archers equipped with laguz bows stood before him with their arrows raised at him. Before they could release an arrow Muarim pounced on them ferociously digging his claws into their necks. I slightly cringed but shook it off. He clearly didn't need my help so I continued on else where.

Suddenly the screech of a crow rang through my ears. I turned my head skyward to see a jet-black Kilvas crow diving towards me. My heart nearly popped out of my chest but before he reached the earth I safely rolled out of the way and opened my tome. A warm feeling bubbled in the palm of my hand as I lit a small flame. "You'll regret that!" I said. I raised my flamed palm in the air and used all my strength to cast a critical elfire spell. The crow disappeared in the flames and I brought down my hand.

Immediately after, a wave of tiredness hit me. I hunched over and put my head between my legs to catch my breath. My eyes had a heartbeat of their own and I found it difficult to focus. I knew then that I had over exerted myself but I had to keep fighting. I couldn't just take a break in the middle of a battle. Suddenly, it was like I was given all of my energy back. The tiredness disappeared and everything was sharper. Focusing was made possible when a blood-curdling scream tore through the air. My legs seemed to move on their own and I didn't even think about where I was heading or what I was doing. None of that mattered because I had recognized that voice…it was Sothe's.

My legs should have buckled but they didn't. I should have been puffing for air, but I wasn't. The scream seemed to echo through the whole battlefield. It was all I could hear and all I could think about. Sothe, Sothe, Sothe, where are you? I thought to myself repeatedly. My sprinting ceased as I nearly crashed into a tall black figure with shiny blue hair and shimmering black wings.

"Well…well…well….what do we have here?" It took a few seconds to process that I had bumped into Naesala, king of Kilvas. He smiled mischievously at me. His dark eyes screamed a thirst for blood. I froze where I stood. My muscles were motionless. I held my breath and sealed my eyes shut. There wasn't anywhere to run now, it was over. Abruptly, I heard the screaming again, but this time it was much louder. I carefully opened one eye and slowly turned my head in the direction of the scream. That was when I saw him. That was when I understood what the monster in front of me was capable of.

For the moment, I forgot I was in the presence of King Kilvas. I sprinted swiftly to where Sothe was laying down. Reflexively, I cupped my hand over my mouth to muffle any screams. I fell to my knees and a feeling of nausea engulfed me. I couldn't look…I just couldn't. Sothe let out another shrill cry and I forced myself to look.

He held his hand tightly over his left eye. His other eye that wasn't covered was closed. A warm red liquid seeped between his fingers and stained his cheeks. He dug his other hand into the ground and bit his lip so hard it began to bleed.

"Sothe!" I yelled desperately.

"Who is this?" he asked weakly. I drew in a sharp breath and leaned closer towards him.

"It's me, Tormod! I don't know what happened but you're going to be okay. Come on, let's get out of here!" I suggested. Sothe moaned in exasperation and agony.

"No…get out…of here…" he mumbled. The blood from underneath his hand trickled to his mouth. He coughed and spit it up involuntarily.

"Sothe tell me what happened!" I roared. I put both my hands on his shoulders and shook him lightly. He never once removed his hand from his eye. Then it hit me. "Sothe…take your hand away from your face," I demanded. He shook his head instantaneously.

"I…I can't," he whimpered.

"Yes you can, just let me see," I replied. He shook his head violently.

"No! Just run, get out of here!" he shouted. I placed my hand on top of his that was shielding his eye. "STOP IT!" he cried.

"Move your hand or I'll move it for you!" I yelled. A lone tear slid down his cheek of his other eye. I gaped my mouth; Sothe almost never cried.

"I CAN'T!" he objected savagely. I hated to do it, but he left me no choice. I mumbled an apology and tore his blood stained hand away from his face.