FIRE EMBLEM: THE ELEMENT MAGES
Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem.
Chapter 12: Le Marais Allume
"What do you think makes it light up like that?" Holly asked Ike as the company of mercenaries strode along yet another dirt road. Their way was illuminated by an eerie green light. The sun had set nearly an hour ago but as no one was tired and the road was so well lit, they trod on. It was the sort of night upon which one might expect a monstrous creature to emerge from the swamp grass.
"It's caused by the phosphorus content in the water which, when exposed to oxygen, creates an eerie glow." Ike said matter-of-factly. Holly smiled at him and laughed lightly.
"Only a freak would know that." Cody mumbled. Alycia heard and hit him upside the head.
"Shut up. You're just jealous." She laughed.
"Cooody is jealous of Hoooolly!" Gatrie laughed.
"No I am not!" Cody fumed. Shinon walked behind the group with a look of despair on his face.
Leading the group, Holly and Ike had barely heard any of their bickering. Even though they had been walking along in silence.
"Is anyone ready to settle in for the night?" Ike asked.
"No, not really." Alycia replied. She had the agreement of the rest of the mercenaries. "The lights are really fascinating." She sighed.
"Be careful not to look at them too long, they might drag you in." Cody snickered.
"No, they're going to drag you in because you're so annoying." Alycia replied angrily.
"It's one of those nights you expect to see a swamp creature or a Will 'O' the Wisp." Holly shivered.
"What's a Willy of the Wisk?" Cody asked curiously.
"It's a Will 'O' the Wisp. According to legend, it's a ball of fire that floats about in dense woods. It compels the person who sees it to follow it into the heart of the wood. Supposedly, the person will get lost and starve to death in the bowls of the forest or if they ignore it, it will burn them to a crisp." Ike said, continuing his intelligent spree. Holly shivered again, only more violently this time. "Are you cold, Holly?" Ike asked.
"No. I've just been frightened to death by those ever since my brother told me about them a few years ago." She sighed.
"I wouldn't worry." Ike smiled. "We're all together. If we get lost, we'll be able to find our way. Besides, its only a legend." He laughed.
"Yeah." Holly echoed.
They walked on together like that for nearly a mile when Holly spotted a light floating down the path nearly half a mile ahead. She gave a little scream and shouted hysterically, "Look! Just up the path, there's a light! Ike, you don't think it could be a…" she couldn't finish the sentence. Ike looked stunned for a moment and then said
"It…it can't be…it's just a legend…that's all…just a legend…" in a dazed tone. Then Gatrie added to the growing panic by adding, "Don't look at it! We'll get lost in the swamp grass!" Cody put in,
"NO! Then we'll all be burnt to a crisp!" He shouted in an equally hysterical manner. Shinon, ever the voice of reason, said,
"Wait a second. There's too many of us! It couldn't get us ALL lost! And it certainly couldn't burn us all at once! Stop panicking! Ike just said they only live in FORESTS!" He was quite angry and nearly hysterical himself (a rare display of emotion for him) by the end of his speech. They all agreed that this had to be the answer and walked on. They never gave any thought to what else it could be, only to the fact that it wasn't a mythical ball of fire. They had almost come into sight of the light's master when a rustling sound came from the swamp grass. This caused another wave of panic and hysteria. Alycia jumped back and shouted, "In the grass! Left side of the path!" and everybody whirled around to face to the left and began their hysteria anew.
"It's a swamp thing!" Cody shouted. Ike drew his sword, Shinon drew his bow, Cody jumped behind Holly and Gatrie fell over. Shinon, not bothering to reason this time, fired an arrow blindly into the grass and received a muffled cry.
"Wait!" Ike shouted. "That was human! That's no swamp creature!" Everybody lowered their weapons a little at this, but none of them dropped them to their sides. Shinon put another arrow on the bowstring as he called,
"Come out, or I'll shoot you again!"
"Shinon!" Gatrie said in disbelief. "You just shot someone who could have been completely innocent! He may not be able to move and you're threatening him again!"
"Shut up!" Shinon yelled harshly. "If he was innocent he would have walked up and called out. He wouldn't have been lying in wait in the swamp grass."
"Ummmmm…" Gatrie said knowing he'd been outwitted. "I guess you're right…But it I could have been right!" He said lamely. Before there was any more discussion, the light rushed forward and fell to the ground. A lantern shattered and went out as it was dropped in favor of a weapon handle. The swamp grass was roughly parted and several men spilled out, one of them with an arrow in his throat. That man quickly became the first casualty as he fell on his face in the eerie green glow of the water. Thus, the battle in the swamp commenced, the combatants fighting by the glow of the swamp lights.
"Hah!" Shinon gave a short barking laugh. "Even firing blind, my arrows are still the most accurate!" He cried with a note of triumph in his voice. They fought against garishly attired men in the narrow road who had obviously not made an attempt to disguise their presence. The enemy carried an assortment of weapons, axes, bows, swords, and lances. In spite of their great number, there were no mages. The would-be assassins were obviously poorly trained and fell easily to the battle-hardened mercenary's weapons. When the battle was nearly over, a man in a large robe, who Ike assumed to be a bishop, stepped into the glow of the phosphorus with a tiger muzzled and chained.
"You seem to have done quite well against our HUMAN assassins, but let's see how you fare against BEAST assassins shall we?" The man sneered smugly. He raised his hand, and when it fell a beam of light incinerated the beast's chains and revealed about ten more in the keeping of the garishly clad assassins behind him. Finding that they were free, the beasts promptly destroyed their handlers.
"NOOOOO!" The bishop cried in terror as a particularly nasty looking tiger overtook him and shredded though robe and flesh with its razor claws. With the annoying keepers dealt with, the beasts turned to the mercenaries in the road.
"Uh oh…" Gatrie said dubiously as be backed away.
"This…is not good…" Shinon agreed as he also backed away.
"…" Said the others as the also began to back away from the beast warriors.
"These are Gallians…" Ike finally said, "We're allied with them…why would they try to kill us?" Ike asked nobody in particular. There was no reply. There was only the roar from the beasts as they rushed forward. Ike and Holly stood in front of Alycia fighting off about three of the beasts. Gatrie had two of the beasts on him while Shinon fired in arrows from a distance. Cody was following Gatrie, taking advantage of his massive armor to protect himself from the tigers. He had tried to hide behind Alycia, but she had hit him upside the head. Even though they fought well and efficiently, none of them came away with less than two wounds. Alycia and Cody, having the lowest health of the group, were both near death while the others probably could have taken on another three tigers. The silence that ensued the harsh battle was deafening. Even the bugs and the other sounds of the night had stopped. All that could be heard was the rough breathing of the mercenaries.
"Is everyone alright?" Ike asked after a moment. Everyone indicated that they were indeed alive. "Let's set up camp just down there." Ike pointed down the road a ways further. When the tents were set up, and the wounds were tended to, everyone bid another good night. The glowing swamp lights illuminating the otherwise pitch black night.