Chapter 12

Douchebags on Dragons

"How many more innocent people will you kill, Plegian?!" I shouted angrily as I gripped my blade.

"We were suppose to have a meeting," the general said, "No weak people are allowed."

This cliff side area is a good place for wyvern riders to ambush earthbound troops. There were a few archers too, and the trademark Plegian barbarians. I equipped myself with my Elthunder tome, as most of these people have low resistance, especially the wyvern riders. Ricken and Miriel are equipped with Wind tomes, powerful weapons against airborne opponents such as wyvern riders. I brought Virion, though he was alone, but arrows are always good anti-air. Chrom is naturally equipped with an anti-dragon weapon, which is also effective against wyverns: his Falchion. Though Frederick will be Chrom's companion in battle, his silver lance is strong enough to heavily wound a wyvern. Stahl has a Wyrmslayer, and Lissa by his side to heal him. Vaike will be another front-line fighter, with Maribelle behind her and providing much needed healing on the endangered fighter.

With all this set, Sumia helped me up on her pegasus and we got ready for war.

Due to the potential ambushes of the wyverns, I decided to take a more cautious and defensive approach to the general.

"Alright Shepherds, here's the plan..."

My plan I affectionately call the Bulwark, involves the bulkier fighters take the front lines and absorb most of the damage, while the ranged fighters clear out anyone who isn't finished by the front-line fighters. We were to take small steps to the end of the pathway and clear out the boss.

"Well planned," Frederick nodded as he clutched his lance.

"Shepherds, to arms!"

With Vaike, Stahl, and Frederick in the front, they are able to tank most of the damage while most of the ranged people can finish off those who were damaged by the shield. Maribelle and Lissa did their work by healing the front line people. Sumia and I took some of the wyvern riders head on. The progress was slow, until I accidentally exploited Virion to a wyvern rider to the south. Oh crap!

"You fiend!" Virion weakly said.

He ran away a good distance and weakly aimed at the wyvern. His arrow pierced the soft underside of the wyvern's neck, causing the rider to drop down to the ground. My side was fine, so I gave Sumia a signal to help Virion. The rider slowly got up and charged at the defenseless Virion. Virion attempted to dodge it, but a steel lance already impaled the wyvern rider. A red haired beauty riding on a pegasus was the lancer. I heard Sumia breathe in deep as if she was about to shout.

"Cordelia!" Sumia shouted happily.

"Sumia!" Cordelia said with a smile.

Sumia told me about one of her friends who joined the Pegasus Knight Troop of Ylisse. Cordelia is one of the youngest and most talented of all of them. But why is she helping us out if Ylisse is being protected by them? Unless...

"Guys, we've gotta end this battle quick!" I shouted. I have a bad feeling about this.

"Virion, go with Cordelia," I commanded, "This might be good practice for horseback archery."

"Horseback archery is quite a boon, especially with-"

I put one finger on my lips, telling him to shut up. Cordelia seems like the person to like order and austerity. I already knew what Virion was going to say.

"Let's just go."

Cordelia and Virion proved to be quite a deadly force against the wyverns. With Cordelia's mobility and strength with the javelin plus Virion's arrows and natural strength and skill, they were able to kill off most of the wyverns camping on top of the mountains. The ground forces were doing well. After I bought two reeking boxes using almost half of our treasury, I put them through actual combat to make my troops grow strong. Because of this, the ground combatants could easily mow through, but the more fragile yet powerful units like me can't take much damage.

Virion and Cordelia locked on to the leader. They both shot their projectiles, only this time, the arrow did some damage, while the javelin was simply blocked. He grabbed his axe and threw it at Cordelia with vehement strength. Cordelia is much more powerful attack-wise, but she can't dodge as much as Sumia. The axe heavily damaged her, forcing her to stay on the ground for now. The pegasus was too damaged to fly, but could survive as long as it isn't being focused by axes.

"Cordelia, stay with Maribelle and Lissa for now," she nodded to my command. I looked at Chrom and Frederick, "Us four will take care of the leader."

I turned to my left, only staring at the two magicians with my left eye. I did a small hand gesture, signaling them of emergency assistance. Since I told them of the plan before this whole fight started, both complied immediately, shown through their nods.

"Gah, where're my reinforcements?!" the general shouted to the skies. Then, he looked at me with his head leaning back, "I am Vasto, and my wyvern's been hungry for some horse and human meat."

This time, I initiated the attack. Sumia flew up high and I held my sword and Elthunder tome tightly. Vasto proved to have deadly precision that parallels his strength. Sumia managed to dodge it, nearly having the short axe shred Tana's pelt. The wyvern proved to be fast, closing in to us in mere seconds. Vasto already had another steel axe at his disposal, which he used to try and swing at us. I swung at his axe with my blade, causing his weapon to recoil. He still held that axe strong, allowing him to swing back. This time, Sumia's iron lance handle blocked the steel axe swing. As weak as she is in strength, she proved to be able to hold her lance strong from a steel axe's swing.

"Sumia, if you hold on longer then..."

My eyes widened in surprise, reliving the dream I had yesterday. Sumia, suddenly killed by many wyvern riders who came from all sides. But it all started with her lance breaking.

"I'll help!" I carefully stood up on her pegasus and hopped onto Vasto's wyvern with a lunging slash. The wyvern immediately panicked from the sudden alien presence.

"Alec, catch this!" Frederick tossed to me Stahl's wyrmslayer.

Chrom suddenly shot into the air and up to Vasto's height and threw a mighty swing at his wyvern with Falchion. The wyvern cried in pain and dropped a few meters before recovering. I still hung on to the wyvern, but Vasto grabbed my collar brutally and stared at me menacingly. Even with the turbulence, the wyvern rider still hung on.

"What do ya think you're gonna do, ride my wyvern?"

The wyvern's tail grappled my neck, causing me to struggle out. Vasto rubbed the edge of his axe playfully on my neck as he giggled cruelly.

"You've got guts, kid," he commented, "I want a better look."

I grabbed my wyrmslayer on my left hand and put it in dagger grip. Before the axe could sever my neck, the tail of the wyvern was severed first. The wyvern shrieked in pain, losing control of its flight and dropping down. I fell off the steed with Vasto, but the rider still held on to a rope that attached to the wyvern's gag.

"Whoa there, calm down, sucker!" he commanded the wyvern.

"Alec!" Ricken shouted, "Don't worry, I'll help you!"

He grabbed his Elwind tome and formed a steady tornado on the ground. When I landed in the tornado, I was gently carried by the winds of the spell.

"Thanks, Ricken," I said with a gentle smile, "Do you think you can control the tornado to launch me back?"

"Um, I'll try," he strengthened the tornado's size, causing me to elevate higher into the sky.

"Hey, mage, thanks for the target," Vasto shouted.

He was about to charge at me, but then he redirected the wyvern to Ricken. Wait, crap! I'm falling!

"Uwwaah!"

"Alec!"

Sumia grabbed my hand with both of her hands. She was about to fall, but I grabbed her arm and I told her to pull me up through an upward head tilt. She pulled me up and soon, I found myself straddling on her. I immediately pushed myself away and went behind her on the pegasus saddle.

"Gotcha!" Ricken extended his palm at the wyvern, launching a blade of wind at him, yet the wyvern rider dodged.

"Such agility and reflexes that scaled winged beast contains," Miriel said as she cleaned her glasses, "Oh, if I must."

She used her Rexcalibur to create a powerful pillar of wind to launch the wyvern (and Vasto).

"Hey Miriel, when did you get that Rexcalibur tome?" Ricken said with a raised brow.

"I think that was the time when I used that reeking box in Border Pass," I said weakly.

"Ugghh, Maribelle, Lissa, I need some help..." I groaned painfully, "I hope staves can cure nausea."

A sudden crashing noise was heard. Vasto's body lay down on the ground, dead.

We looked eastward and saw a band of wyvern riders, axes ready. Chrom and the others prepared their swords and charged at them. They're seasoned enough to fight those riders, so I decided I should stay with Sumia.

As I expected, the battle was over within a matter of minutes. Chrom and Stahl's anti-wyvern weapons were the game breakers. With a smile, I fainted, nausea and dizziness taking over.

Camp Site

"Oh, Alec, you're awake," she said with a relieved smile.

"How long has it been ever since I fainted?" I groaned weakly.

"It has only been a few hours, don't worry,"

"Anything I missed out?" I asked.

She scratched her head nervously.

"Well, you see, do you remember Cordelia?"

The red haired girl on the pegasus? I guess so.

"I'm guessing her little escape has something to do with what you're about to say?"

"Yeah, Gangrel and his forces invaded Ylisstol while we fought against Vasto's forces. Cordelia was the only one from the Pegasus Knight Squad to go away."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Sumia," I hesitated for a moment, "I mean Estella."

"Well, the Estella persona just seems awkwardly childish now..."

The klutzy pegasus rider looked away nervously.

"I... I just made that little persona just because Verdant Nocturne was so cool, so I just wanted to imagine a less klutzier yet cooler me."

As much as I'd outburst from embarrassment, I didn't want to. Aside from Lissa, I think Sumia is the closest girl to me. Realizing she still had my notes on Verdant Nocturne, I decided to even the odds.

"Sumia, I like both you and Estella, heck I want to know more about this Estella character," I said smiling, "If you were to ditch your own persona, I'd really miss the kind and caring person you are."

Sumia blushed from the latter. She put her hands on her chest as if she got some sort of palpitation. Her eyes showed deep surprise.

"Am I kind? I usually just do things because I have to," Sumia is showing low self-esteem again.

"I'm so sorry I can't really relate, Sumia," I said apologetically, "My clouded past can't be used as justification, and these random memories I have can seem biased."

I sat up from the futon and stared at her eyes. She was looking away, so I can't really see her irises. She seems to have a melancholic expression. Is she sad because of something bad in her past? She even admits that sometimes she reads to get away from reality. But this will only add to her low self-esteem. As if I was about to cry, I decided I should resort to the most reasonable affection.

"Sumia..."

She looked at me with an inquisitive look. I dove into her and wrapped her with my arms. I can tell from her body language she showed immediate surprise. Initial surprise shifted into tender affection as she hugged me back.

"Please don't change who you are," I muffled on her shoulder, "I'll always miss you, Estella or not."

She patted me on the back and gently pushed me away so I could see her face.

"Say, Alec um," she was blushing madly, putting her hands on her cheek to cover it, "Do you want to go on a date to town when we're free?"

With a refreshing chuckle, I sat cross-legged and nodded.

"Of course, we've been hanging out for a long time, you know,"

"Thank you~," she said with a giggle as she cuddled next to my shoulder. An extremely warm feeling on my face suddenly took over. Despite the warmth of her cuddle, I pulled her in closer.

"This experience is good for our novel," I said softly.

"Our novel?!"

She immediately got up and was about to run for her tent, but she halted herself and turned to me.

"Oh, sorry if I ruined it."

"Continue, sweetie, working together on our novel will bring us close, no?"

She nodded with a fervent smile and whisked away to her tent. A surge of positive energy is flowing inside me like a river system of purely fresh water. It seems I'm still in my usual combat garbs: the beige sleeveless shirt under a dark purple hooded coat and white slim pants with boots. My red shoes were unsuitable for movement, so I only wore them on casual occasions. To prevent any perverted moments, I looked outside the tent if Sumia was near. Fortunately, she wasn't, so I decided to my wardrobe and switch into pajamas.

Sumia came back in her own pink nightgown as if she's going to some sort of slumber party. Before we could start, I ran to the mess tent to grab some spare drinks and snacks (much to my surprise, the snacks weren't stolen by Sticky Fingers Gaius). We continued to spew our imaginative juices into this story, splattering ink into fine text and sentences. When we were hungry, we started to feed ourselves and sometimes each other for fun. We're nearing the end of the story, but we both agreed to stop for now.

"Whew, I'm exhausted," I yawned, causing Sumia to follow suit.

"Well, I guess we should go to bed?" I said.

I slowly crawled to my futon and absorbed myself in my blanket. I looked at Sumia and raised my tired eyebrow. She was still sitting down.

"Something wrong, Sumia?" I asked.

"Well... um," she had a blush on her face and was tapping her fingers together.

"Bye~"

She left my tent and left me alone to sleep. It usually takes me a bit of time to sleep. For some reason, it was harder for me to sleep. She's been on my mind lately. Sumia...

Notes

Well, you can say that Alec's at A level support with Sumia.

So for the Ships at the moment, here they are:

AlecxSumia

SullyxKellam

StahlxLissa

VaikexMaribelle

VirionxCordelia

Also, thank you readers for having the time to read my story. Thanks to you guys, I hit over 3k views in only a few chapters. This is a new record for me, and your views give me the inspiration to write much more.