Chapter 10

It wasn't long before the group found themselves at the port of Notre Sagesse, having arrived safely in the distant land. The smell of the ocean was almost quite relaxing, were it not for the feeling of uneasiness Corrin simply couldn't shake. Something felt…off, but he wasn't sure what it was.

"Something wrong, Corrin?" A voice inquired from next to the man. The young Prince turned to see Silas standing nearby, a concerned look on his face. "If you're feeling uneasy, I can see why…these villagers seem suspicious of our presence. Perhaps it's just the fact that we're Nohrian, but-"

"HALT, NOHRIAN SCUM!"

Corrin, Silas and the others turned to see a squad of Hoshidan samurai marching towards them. As they drew their weapons, the enemy split apart down the middle, allowing a single, white-haired archer to step forward from the crowd.

"Takumi!" Corrin called, instantly recognizing his brother. "What are you…"

"YOU BETRAYED YOUR FAMILY…AND HOSHIDO!" The man cried, as he raised his bow. "NOW PAY…FOR YOUR BETRAYAL!"

"Hoshidans! Everyone, scatter!" Silas barked, before Takumi sent a white arrow flying in his direction, which the knight barely managed to dodge. After that, pandemonium ensued.

Corrin and the others were able to drive Takumi and his group back slightly, buying enough time for them to set up a few makeshift barriers around the town. They had the advantage, forcing the Hoshidans to try and break through their formation. However, these foes were not ones to go away without a fight.

"Hey, watch yourself!" Silas yelled, pulling Odin out of the way of a stray arrow. The dark mage sent a blast of magic as return fire towards the enemy archer, causing the man to lose his footing and tumble into the water of the port.

"Many thanks, young warrior," Odin panted, giving Silas a slight nod. However, the grey-haired knight was already galloping off, heading to help secure another one of their barricades.

"Well, I suppose I can hold them off here for a while…" Odin muttered to himself, readying his purple tome once more. The battle had begun so abruptly that there was no sort of strategy involved. All that was known was that they had to keep the Hoshidans away from the town, and drive them back to their ships within the port.

Corrin jumped out of the way to avoid a tossed shuriken, managing to roll next to Odin behind one of the barricades.

"I've got a few ninjas on my tail," The Prince panted, wiping some sweat from his brow. "Care to help me out?"

Before the dark mage could reply, the ninjas in question flew in, jumping off a nearby rooftop and landing in front of the slouching pair of Nohrians.

"Damn!" Corrin cursed, quickly grabbing his dragon stone while scrambling to his feet. As the ninjas launched a barrage of shuriken towards Corrin and Odin, the Nohrian Prince managed to transform into his dragon form, using his thick scales to deflect the ninja stars aside.

"Now, Odin!" The Prince roared, his voice turning into a low growl. The Dark mage quickly clambered his way onto Corrin's back, while sending a wave of dark magic to take out the Hoshidan ninjas.

"Haha! It will take much more than that to take out the legendary Odin dark, and his trusty dragon steed!"

Corrin gave out an irritated grunt, bucking slightly. "I'm not going to let you ride me," The Prince huffed. "Get off."

"Oh, come on, we'll cover much more ground together this way!" Odin whined. "And besides that, we'll look just like the heroes of old!"

Corrin thought to himself for a moment, before slightly nodding his transformed head. "All right…I'll let you stay on my back…on one condition," He declared. "This counts as one of your 'trials of justice'. Deal?"

"W-what?" Odin stammered, before letting out a frustrated sigh. "Looks like Arthur won't be helping me out after all…" He grumbled, before petting Corrin's head, simply making the Prince even more annoyed at the situation.

"You have yourself a deal, dragon prince…" Odin conceded, slightly disappointed yet also excited to ride around on Corrin's back. What a story this would make for when he got back to Ylisse!

Elise and the others looked on to see Corrin galloping about the battlefield in his dragon form, but were shocked once they noticed Odin on his back, blasting the Hoshidans with his tome. As strange of an arrangement as it was, the others observed that it was working out with an absurd level of efficiency. Corrin easily tackled aside enemies who got too close, with the Hoshidans breaking their blades upon his thick scales, while Odin dealt with ranged enemies via his dark magic.

"Another on your left, Sir Corrin!"

"Yep, I see him!" Corrin growled, lowering his head and using his silver horns to fling the Hoshidan samurai far away. "Hey, look out, Odin!"

The Dark mage turned his head and saw a white arrow headed his way, shot from Takumi's Fujin Yumi. He began to try and conjure a spell to shield himself, but the shooting white energy was deflected out of the way by a steel sword, wielded by a red-haired woman that Odin instantly recognized.

"Keep your head up, you bumbling dork!" She yelled at the dark mage, with a bit of a glare. That gaze quickly softened as it turned into a sly smile with a bit of a playful wink. "Oh, and…nice to see you again…Odin."

"L-lady Sev-er, I mean, Lady Selena!" The man stuttered in reply. "When did you arrive?"

"Hold up," Corrin interjected, quickly transforming back to his human form and sending Odin tumbling to the ground. "Aren't you one of Camilla's retainers? Does that mean she's here?"

Selena nodded, before entering a battle stance once again. "We've still got work to do right now, so worry about that later!" She snapped, before rushing back into the thick of the battle.

"R – right!" Corrin quickly replied, dashing off after the woman. This left Odin standing alone, with a look of irritation towards Corrin.

"H-hey!" He called, as he rushed after the Prince. "We didn't finish! Transform into a dragon again! Get back here, Sir Corrin!"

Sorry for the late update, full-time job + midnights over the weekend = not a good time. I'm trying to find a groove and get more done for the story, but I've been having a hard time. However, I'll try to continue to get at least 1 chapter per week going for now.

As always, thanks for reading and leave a review of what you thought!

-Nate