Corrin roared, and the Vallite soldiers before him quailed. A single arrow streaked past him. Corrin paid it no mind. Instead, he leapt off the pile of rubble that had once been a wall. The impact shook the entire courtyard, knocking anybody near him off their feet. The Vallite soldiers broke formation then, separating into a dozen smaller groups. One of the Vallites, an officer, Corrin guessed, based on its more ornate plume on its helmet, raised his sword and pointed it towards Corrin. A line of archers on the far side of the fort let fly a volley of arrows towards Corrin. Arrows bounced off his chest as he roared and reared. A single spearman decided to charge him at that very moment, so as Corrin fell back on his front feet, he raked his right paw through the air, nearly cutting the unfortunate Vallite in twain.

Corrin ducked his head instinctively as another volley of arrows fell around him. He knew he had nothing fear from such paltry attacks, but this action was more out of human instinct than actual precaution. Corrin snorted and shook his head as a single arrow rebounded off Corrin's face with a metallic ding. For a split second, the white silhouettes against the blue background of his vision blurred before sharpening again.

Another Vallite spearman decided this was an opportune time to charge him. He stabbed at Corrin's shoulder blade, hoping to penetrate through his scales. Unfortunately for him, even the thinnest of Corrin's scales was stronger than even the finest armor plating. The blade and shaft shattered and splintered in his grip, leaving the spearman with a useless stump of wood in his hands. Corrin looked down at the spearman, almost in contempt, before rearing and goring the Vallite with his antler-horns. Once he had finished off the spearman, he turned his attention on the officer, who had managed to brand a shield and spear since Corrin last saw him and was now charging towards him; his spear leveled towards Corrin's chest.

Corrin swung a paw at the spear, hoping to knock it aside and kill the officer. To his irritation, the officer managed to raise his shield just in time to deflect the mighty blow, leaving the shield mangled and about as useful as a piece of plywood. Corrin used the following opportunity to catch the officer with his antler-horns, throwing him up and over the walls. As soon as he was sure the officer was finished, Corrin turned on the rest of the Vallites in the courtyard.

Over the course of the next few moments, Corrin decimated all of the Vallites. He didn't remember much about the fighting except for the spray of blood whenever he cleaved a Vallite in half with his mighty paws, or the incessant pinging of arrows ricocheting off his armored skin. As soon as all of the Vallites in the area were dead, Corrin crouched over the corpses of his kills. Beads of blood clung to his scales, the drops of red and black in startling contrast against the white of his scales. Corrin threw back his head and roared his triumph, a baying cry that sent the birds in the trees fleeing.

Once Corrin felt satisfied with the length of his roar, he snapped his false-jaw shut and perched himself on a pile of rubble overlooking the entire courtyard. As he admired his "handiwork," the rage that filled his mind slowly faded away.

Corrin shook his head, as if ridding himself of an annoying fly. Transforming into a dragon wasn't hard, per se; remaining a dragon, however, was the problem. Azura told him before that whenever Corrin was in his draconic state, he would be subject to the temptations of that of a dragon; namely that of the urge to destroy and rampage. Corrin found that it took a great deal of concentration in order to suppress these urges, but it also took a great deal of focus to retain enough of these temptations in order for him to remain a dragon.

Corrin leapt off the pile of rubble and landed with a heavy crash in the middle of the courtyard. As soon as he landed, Corrin reared as a thick cloud of smoke rose from beneath his feet.

Corrin coughed and gasped for breath as his eyes shot open. Corrin groaned as he clutched his head. He had a killer headache, and the horrific odor rising from the bodies of the Vallites did little to relieve his headache. Corrin struggled to his feet, using Yato to help him up.

Once he was on his feet, Corrin looked around at the courtyard. The fighting had polluted the entire courtyard with a series of horrific smells, which seemed to press against Corrin like a wet blanket. How the smell didn't bother him when he was a dragon, who had a sense of smell infinitely sharper than a human, continued to elude Corrin as he covered his nose and mouth with the sleeve of his tunic, trying to filter out some of the smells. Corrin had barely managed to bring his arm up to his face before his vision suddenly turned black. Corrin found himself back on his knees, a pile of vomit spreading out from beneath him. Disgusted, Corrin jumped backwards and shook his hands free of the sick.

Looking around at the courtyard again, Corrin couldn't help but be reminded about that day in the castle town, in Hoshido. The rubble strewn about everywhere, the thick fog of dust that pervaded everywhere, the corpses and bodies scattered about, limbs and torso torn in such ways that they were could barely be seen as human anymore. All of this, and more, reminded Corrin about the aftereffects of his first transformation.

Corrin forced himself to look away as he felt his stomach churn. Throwing up over a memory would do little to help him forget that day.

Pressing his tunic sleeve against his mouth and nose again, Corrin walked off towards the dragon vein. Corrin had difficulty describing…what it looked like. Usually, it looked like everything else around it: a patch of dirt, an upturned tree. Sometimes, however, Corrin found that a dragon vein would have…a certain allure to it, some sort of glow that made it stand out from the rest of the land around it. This particular dragon vein took the appearance of a circular rune on the ground, with ancient texts enscribed around it. Hesitantly, Corrin placed his hand in the middle of the "rune" and closed his eyes in concentration.

Almost instantly, Corrin withdrew his hand. The power that this dragon vein contained…it was more than any other dragon vein Corrin had interacted with before. Corrin placed his hand back on the dragon vein and willed it to activate.

For a moment, nothing happened. For several heartbeats, nothing happened. Corrin withdrew his hand. Maybe it had been activated before? Or maybe its effects weren't super obvious at first. Suddenly, a brilliant golden light started shine. Corrin covered his eyes as the light grew brighter and brighter.

"What the—?" Corrin blurted, as he backed away from the dragon vein. This was no ordinary dragon vein. The power…the light…it could only mean one thing.

"What's going on?" Corrin asked. Corrin's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen.

"Oh, shi—"

Without hesitation, Corrin turned around and sprinted as fast as he could towards the teleportation rune that would take him back to the clearing. As he sprinted, Corrin thought furiously about what had happened.

Xander, Ryoma, and Azura had told him several times before that because of their direct blood line with the divine dragons, they were able to use dragon veins for anything they wanted. What they didn't mention, however, was Corrin's higher levels of dragon blood in his veins comapred to theirs. He was half dragon, for god's sake. Of course it would make sense that any dragon vein he activated would be more powerful than the ones Xander, Leo, Camilla, Ryoma, or any of his royal siblings could use. If this particular dragon vein's purpose was to create a spell strong enough to blast apart a stone statue, Corrin didn't want to be near it when it activates.

Panting, Corrin pushed his way through a bush. He could just barely see the teleportation rune up ahead. Just a few minutes ago, all they had seemed like one way for Corrin and his forces to travel from Point A to Point B. Just a few minutes ago, they were the key to attack the mage summoning the Vallites. Just a few minutes ago, they had been the object of speculation among the scholars in Corrin's forces.

Now, all they seemed like was a safe haven.

As Corrin sprinted, he heard a deafening boom resonating from behind him. A blaze of yellow and orange emanated from behind Corrin, though he did not dare turn around to look back.

The world went black for the third time in as many minutes. An unbearable heat pressed against Corrin's back, and everything turned and twisted around him as he tumbled forward through a formless space.

A bright orb of light flew from over the tops of the trees surrounding the clearing and slammed into the face of the statue. Azura coughed as a thick layer of dust fell over the clearing. She waved her hand in front of her face in a futile attempt to clear the air around her. Her eyes bleary from the dust, she cast her eyes over the statue. A massive crack ran from the top of the statue all the way down to the base of it. As she watched, a part of the statue's right arm broke away and cracked into pieces on the floor.

Beside her, Leo coughed and tried to sit up before Sakura forced him back down onto the floor again, urging him that he should stay still in order to let her finish healing his broken ribs, courtesy of falling off of his horse when it had taken an arrow to the shoulder.

"S-Sakura! Its fine! So long as you cast a spell of healing over it, the spell will automatically finish repairing my ribs so long as you remain conscious and in close proximity!" Leo protested.

"I-I don't care!" Sakura retorted. "Even if what you say is true—"

"I know what I say is true because I spent nearly an entire month focusing just on healing and mending broken bones!" Leo furiously shot back. "All I need to do is to cast some sort of spell that can clear away the dust—" Leo broke down into a fit of coughs. "—clear away the dust in this courtyard! I'm sick of not being able to breathe whenever one of those accursed dragon veins activate!"

Azura sighed in exasperation. Normally, the Nohrian prince and scholar acted aloof, respectful, and collected. On the other hand, Sakura was shy, timid, and usually tried to avoid any sort of conflict to the best of her ability. Lately though, however, whenever either one of them got caught up in a conversation where their opinions differed, all of that went out the window.

Azura rubbed her eyes. "Leo, Sakura, please! Enough with the bickering! Sakura, let Leo cast his spell. Leo, just make sure you don't strain yourself too hard. As soon as you feel any discomfort, I want you to stop whatever you're doing and rest," she said. Inwardly, Azura cringed.

She hated being so…off-putting. Normally, she let Ryoma, Corrin, or Xander sort out this sort of thing. All three of them were infinitely more gifted than her at the art of negotiations between two hostile forces. As for her, Azura preferred to stay in the background, away from any arguments out of fear that the argument may turn towards her. She knew her fears were unjustified, but growing up in Garon's court had taught her that any sort of caution could end up saving her from an embarrassing "accident" later on.

Sakura crossed her arms. Leo smirked towards her as he tried to sit up. He barely managed to get his elbows underneath him before he blanched and fell back onto the floor, gasping.

"Maybe…later…" he panted. "Ribs…still sore…"

Sakura shook her head. "See? I told you that—" Sakura's eyes bugged out as she realized that Azura was still standing solemnly behind her. She stood up and immediately bowed, her face turning as red as her hair.

"Oh! I-I'm so s-sorry, big sister! I p-promise you w-won't ever hear me t-talk to anybody like that a-again!" she stammered, embarrassed.

Azura blinked, unsure of how to handle this. She had been basically living with the rest of her royal siblings for the past year, and yet she was still unsure of how to respond whenever they tried to apologize for something so trivial.

"Uh…alright, I guess? I accept?" she said haltingly. Sakura bowed again, lower this time, and turned her attention back on Leo, who clenched his fist as Sakura ran her hands down his chest. Azura bit her lip as she realized a faint shade of red blossomed across both Leo's and Sakura's faces.

Azura looked away, embarrassed. Surely, it was nothing, right? And even if it was anything, why should it be considered bad? Sure, they may be in the middle of a battle where they had no place to retreat to, but why that was no reason to avoid making friendships. Azura felt her face twist into a wry smile involuntarily as the image of Corrin streaked across her mind for a split second.

Azura shook her head and closed her eyes as she tried to focus. How many was that? Six? Seven? I think that was seven. If so, then we should be on to the last one, she thought to herself.

"Lady Azura?"

Azura turned to see Silas dismounting his charger. As he planted his lance in the ground, Silas grimaced as he clutched his arm.

"Damn archers…" he muttered under his breath.

"Oh! Silas! Please, don't push yourself!" Azura said. She hurriedly rushed over the Silas' charger and proceeded to help Silas off.

"No, please, Lady Azura. I can…take care of myself!" he protested.

"Nonsense," Azura scoffed. "You're hurt!"

Despite her objections, Azura let go of Silas just as he dismounted his charger, causing him to fall to the floor amid a jumble of armor and curses. Azura pursed her lips, trying to stifle her laughter.

"Damn!" Silas blurted. "You had to let go right then and there?"

Azura gave him a wry smile. "Well, you did say you didn't need my help, so I took your advice and let you get off your horse with a wounded hand."

Silas rolled his eyes. "Forget it."

Azura pursed her lips but said nothing. Instead, she turned back around to stare at the statue. Silas sighed and pushed his hair back.

"Well, according to our most recent reports, Camilla, Ryoma, Xander, Kaze, Hinoka, Takumi, and I managed to activate our respective dragon veins. All that's left is Corrin's dragon, but I guess he has an excuse for his delay. I mean, he did send both Leo and Sakura back here, so I guess that might be part of the reason," Silas said.

Azura did not respond but crossed her arms, her finger toying absentmindedly with a strand of her trademark azure hair. Silas sighed.

"Listen, I know this isn't exactly the best time to talk about this, and that it isn't really even my place to talk to you in such a casual manner at all, but I just have to know. Is there anything wrong between you and Corrin?"

Azura froze, her mind racing. "What? No!," she replied. "Why do you ask?"

Silas frowned. "Well, you know. If I have may have your permission to speak to you casually, while I was treating my wound, I couldn't help but notice that…you seem…more distant than usual."

Azura raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? And how do you know that?" she asked.

Silas grinned sheepishly. "Well, as you know, Corrin and I are pretty good friends," he chuckled. "And, I couldn't help but notice that it was pretty easy to tell whether or not Corrin had talked to you recently."

Azura cocked her head curiously. "What…what do you mean?"

"I mean, before you two…you know, started courting, he was always really social and charismatic and whatnot, as you know pretty well. But it was only after you two started courting, he started smiling a lot more all of a sudden, and you know… he had this vibe to him," Silas said, chuckling.

"At first, I didn't really notice. I just thought he was happy to be finished with organizing the army and waiting for the rest of our allies to arrive and whatnot. But when I was talking to Corrin about something, it clicked! I noticed that while Corrin was a lot more spirited than usual, people also started to…kind of notice you," Silas said.

"I mean no disrespect towards you, Lady Azura, but it's kind of hard for you…to stand out to others whenever you're by Corrin." Silas grinned apologetically.

Azura frowned. "Explain," she said curtly.

Rubbing the back his head, Silas continued, "I mean, before, whenever people saw you two together, I'm pretty sure most people noticed Corrin first before noticing you, you know? I don't know, it's just…you have this sort of aura around you that makes it really hard for people to notice you," Silas said sheepishly.

Azura's frown deepened, and she instinctively crossed her arms and turned away from Silas. Silas cringed.

"Eh—, I mean, that was before you and Corrin were together," he hastily added. "Now, I couldn't help but notice that now, I find myself sometimes noticing Corrin first, and other times, I found myself noticing you first, Lady Azura."

Azura froze. "W-what do you mean 'you found yourself noticing me?'" she asked.

Silas bit his lip. "Ah—I meant that in no disrespect—oh, forget it." Silas pushed his hair back as he took a breath to steady himself.

"What I meant to say, Lady Azura, was that whenever people see you being happy and whatnot, it just…resonates within us, you know?"

Azura continued staring into the distance, unsure of how to respond. Behind her, Silas continued to drone on, his words slowly blurring into obscurity as Azura thought about what he said. Azura was absolutely terrified about any sort of attention directed towards her. It took her nearly a month before she was able to clearly speak without her stuttering and blushing after she admitted that she and Corrin were indeed courting.

The rational part of her mind insisted that her fears were unfounded. The rest of her stood stock-still. Growing up, getting someone's— anybody's— attention was tantamount to basically begging for a month's worth of bullying, hair pulling, beatings, and blackmail.

On the other hand, what Silas said about her looking happier than usual was true. Azura did enjoy spending time with Corrin. She enjoyed all of his goofy remarks, his childish charm. Yet despite all the time they spent together, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was secretly leading Corrin and the rest of his allies closer and closer to their deaths.

It's one thing to invade an empire that people knew nothing about. It's a completely different thing to invade an empire whose ruler happened to be a dragon. A deranged, madly insane, violent dragon, at that. Azura shuddered.

What if this whole endeavor was destined for failure? After all, she was directly responsible for convincing Corrin that he shouldn't choose Hoshido or Nohr over another. Instead, she convinced him to help her free Valla from Anankos' rule.

And so far, she's been doing a damn poor job at contributing to the war she basically brought up. She was, by far, one of the weakest people in Corrin's forces when it came to any sort of physical fighting. Not only that, but Azura couldn't feel that Corrin felt…underwhelmed by her.

On one hand, sure, she was a songstress, and Azura considered herself comely enough, at least to her standards. On the flip side, she was a complete flop at anything besides singing. She rarely came up with any viable ideas or suggestions during meetings, if she even came up with an idea at all.

"…but I couldn't help but notice that now…now you seem…different. Now, you act and feel the same before you and Corrin started courting, except this time, there's like, I don't know, this hidden buffer beneath you," Silas finished. "Why is that? Lady Azura?"

Azura flinched. "W-what? I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

Silas raised an eyebrow. "I was saying that recently, you've been a lot more distant, and I was wondering if anything was wrong. Is it because of you and Corrin? Is there anything wrong between you two?"

Azura shook her head. "No! No. It's just…" Azura paused as she tried to find the right words. "It's just…"

Azura turned around and grabbed Silas by his lapels. "Promise you won't tell Corrin? Or anyone else for that matter?"

Silas blinked. "Eh—of course! You have my word."

"Good." Azura released Silas. "Oh, and, um, sorry for grabbing you like that," she apologized.

Azura turned back around. "Oh, and I also want you to promise me this," she said.

Silas raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

Azura rubbed her arms. "I…I want you to stop addressing me so…formally," she said.

Silas cocked his head. "I-I'm not sure where you're going with this," she said.

Azura pursed her lips. "It's just that…whenever you call me 'Lady Azura,' or whatever, it just doesn't feel right. I mean, you're Corrin's best friend, and you always address him so casually! So why don't you address me the same way you address him?" she asked. Gods, could she sound anymore like a child?

Silas laughed. "Well, I'm not sure if you're familiar with Nohrian tradition, but traditionally, if a knight has managed to keep a good friendship with his lord, he can drop all the fancy titles and whatnot. On the other hand, as a Nohrian knight, we all have to follow this set of rules, if you must."

Silas shrugged apologetically. "One of these rules involves always speaking politely and formally to women, especially women of noble birth. Of course, I'm aware of your situation and your status as Corrin's beloved, but it's just sort of…engrained in me to…you know—follow this code."

Azura raised an eyebrow. "In all my years of growing up in Garon's court—"

Silas blanched. "W-wait, what?"

Azura waved a hand dismissively. "Nothing. I'll explain later, once we're out of danger. In all my years in growing up in Nohr, I never heard of such a thing."

Silas rubbed the back of his head. "Well...you see, there's a reason for that, and unfortunately, it's one of those things I can't really talk about. I mean, Corrin also grew up in Nohr. Maybe you should talk to him about this. But you still haven't answered my question. Is there anything wrong between you and Corrin? And if so, what can I do to help?"

Azura shook her head. "No, there's nothing wrong between me and Corrin. He's been amazing these past few weeks, it's just that…"

Azura rubbed her arms in embarrassment. "It's just that…you know I have a difficult time trying to get myself to open up to others, and recently, I've been feeling pretty guilty about this…whole endeavor." Azura threw her arms up and gestured towards the statue.

Silas raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, confused. "I don't see what you're going with this, Lady Azura."

Azura purse her lips. "I thought I asked you to stop being so formal with me? You're one of Corrin's best friends, and if you're his friend—" Azura shuddered. "—then so are we."

Silas shook his head, grinning. "Very well, I promise to stop being so formal around her, but only if you tell me what troubles you."

Azura gazed at the statue. "I mean, there's so many things wrong with this whole situation. I just don't know how to tell you this. I mean, it always seemed so easy whenever I talk to Corrin about this kind of stuff, but with you…I'm sorry, I just don't know."

Silas looked at her and sighed. "Lady, er, Azura. I know what you're going with here. Gunter and Felicia once told me that Corrin was once as shy and reserved as you are. Back when Corrin and I were playmates, we had these kind of conversations all the time. He wanted to tell me something, but he just couldn't bring himself to open up about it."

Silas crossed his arms as he furrowed his eyebrows. "Trust me, when I say that I know what you're going through right now, and the only advice I can give for you…is to be direct."

Azura sighed. "Fine. I guess if you're so curious about what keeps me up at night, I guess I'll have to tell, don't I?" she said harshly.

Silas cringed. "Ah, I mean, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine, but all I'm saying is that if you ever need somebody to talk to besides Corrin, I'm always available."

Azura shook her head. "No, no. Sorry for snapping at you like that. I'm…happy…to tell you, it's just that I'm not really used to opening myself up to others so easily. I hope you understand."

Silas shrugged. "Hey, I get it. If now's not a good time, perhaps we should talk about this some other time?"

Azura shook her head. "No. In all honesty, we might not have 'another time.' The closer we get to Anankos, the less time we're—"

"Eh, Anankos?"

Azura froze, before resuming. "Not important, er, I mean, yes, he is important, but he's not relevant right now." Azura turned away, embarrassed. "I'll explain him later."

Silas raised an eyebrow. "If…you insist? But what were you saying before?"

Azura bit her lip. "Well, recently, I was thinking about how I pretty much convinced Corrin to ignore both Hoshido and Nohr, and truth be told, I'm starting to feel a little hesitant about setting him, you, Ryoma, Xander, and the rest of Corrin's forces on this path."

Silas nodded, understanding dawning on his face. "Ah, I see. You feel guilty about talking Corrin out of supporting either side and convincing him to follow you on this path and planning an invasion into this unknown land where everything goes wrong almost immediately?"

Azura gritted her teeth. "I mean, it sounds a lot worse when you put it that way, but yeah. That's basically the gist of it."

Silas frowned. "Surely, that's not it, right?"

Azura raised an eyebrow. "What? Of course that's it. What makes you think otherwise?"

Silas shook his head. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

Silas knelt down and started absentmindedly drawing in the dirt with his finger. "Well, I know I wasn't there from the very beginning, but Corrin gave me the gist of it after we first fought against each other in Port Dia."

Azura looked at him in confusion. "When did you two fight?"

Silas shrugged half-heartedly. "Ah, it was a pretty long time ago. I was still a knight of Nohr, and I received orders from Garon to kill Corrin. At first, I didn't realize he meant Corrin Corrin, but I digress. Either way, after we fought and I joined, he told that basically, there was this huge evil that threatened to disturb the world, and he needed my help to fight against it. At first, I thought he was being melodramatic, what with talk about a third hidden kingdom and whatnot, but now that we're actually in the third hidden kingdom, I see Corrin was telling the truth all along."

Silas sighed. "Anyways, I have some idea of why you feel this way about the whole thing, and quite frankly, I think you're being a little bit too hard on yourself."

Azura blinked. "W-what do you mean?"

Silas rolled his eyes. "In my opinion, you shouldn't be feeling bad about this whole 'invasion' plan going south. None of us planned for us to meet such hard resistance right off the bat, and quite frankly, even if we didknow about it, you still couldn't be blamed for it."

Grunting, Silas pushed himself back up. "Listen, if you're getting cold feet just because we got off to a bad start, I don't know how you managed to convince Corrin to give up on both Nohr and Hoshido. All of us knew what we signed up for, and we all agreed to serve under both Corrin and you, at least until this whole thing is over. We're with you to the end, Azura."

Azura rubbed her arms. "Maybe, but there wouldn't have been a need for you to risk your lives anyways if you didn't follow me and Corrin," she said.

Silas shook his head in exasperation. "Yeah, and I'm sure that if you didn't convince Corrin to help you, everything would've been just fine up in Hoshido and Nohr, right? If you hadn't convinced Corrin to follow you, we would've never gotten Hoshido and Nohr to unite together!"

Azura looked away as Silas continued. "It's only because you appealed to Corrin that Hoshido and Nohr were able to unite together, something that hasn't been done in dozens of generations!"

Silas brushed his hands against his legs, rubbing off the dust and dirt on his fingers. "And besides, one of the first things Corrin said to any of his potential allies was that he needed their help in sealing away some sort of ancient evil. If you didn't get Corrin to fight for you, do you think this 'ancient evil' would've gone away by itself?"

Azura slowly shook her head.

Silas stopped to take a breath, a smug smirk on his face. "Well?"

Azura looked at him. "Well what?" she asked.

"Was that sufficient enough to lift your troubles off your shoulders?" Silas said, still grinning.

Azura looked away, troubled. "I guess? I mean, I wasn't expecting for it to actually mean anything. Usually, whenever I ask someone for help, it's usually always the same thing. 'Go bother someone else with your troubles.' 'Come back later, I'm busy right now.' 'Why do you think I should care?'"

Silas looked at her in horror. "W-what…what type of childhood did you grow up in? I know being the daughter of a noble can be stressful at the best of times, but I've never heard of anyone being so cruel."

Azura flushed. "Well, I guess you know why I never talk to others about my personal problems," she said.

Silas nodded. "I can see why."

For another moment, the two stood awkwardly. Azura fiddled with a strand oh her hair. Silas coughed and pushed his hair back. Finally, Silas broke the silence: "So…is there anything else you had problems with?"

Azura cracked a small smile. "Well, recently, I've been thinking that Corrin is feeling pretty underwhelmed by me, both emotionally and—"

Silas interrupted her with a wave of his hand. "Ah! No! Sorry, Azura, but if we're going to be talking about Corrin, it's going to have to be something besides your relationship. I don't know the nuances and details between you two, and I'm hardly someone you should talk to about relationships, seeing as I'm hardly in one."

Azura smiled. "Yes, I know. I was simply joking," she said.

Silas chuckled and sighed in relief. "Ah, yes. I knew that."

The two continued to stand, gazing up at the statue. This time, it was Azura who broke the silence.

"How do you think Corrin is doing right now?" she asked.

Silas rubbed the back of his head. "Eh, it's tough to say. On one hand, he sent Leo and Sakura back to the main group, which meant that he's going to take a bit more time clearing out the area around the dragon vein, so—"

Silas was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of another bright orb of light. Unlike the others, this particular orb was much larger and hotter than the rest. Azura could feel the heat shedding from it's surface as it crashed into the statue. With a mighty crack, the statue shattered. Silas' charger balked and ran, retreating to a safe distance. Silas grabbed Azura by the shoulder and pushed her away from a particularly large piece of falling rubble. Azura pressed herself flat to the ground as she waited for everything to settle. Finally, after what appeared to be an eternity of rubble falling and people shouting in alarm, she opened her eyes.

Where the statue once stood was a circular pad, akin to the teleportation pads they used to transport themselves to each of the dragon veins. Azura was dimly aware of Silas helping her to her feet and Ryoma and Xander rushing over to her, asking if she was alright. She nodded mutely to each of their questions and tried to brush off their concerns. Azura just kept staring at the remains of the statue, unsure of what had just happened. She had never seen a dragon vein so powerful, so forceful.

Azura blinked as Leo snapped his fingers in front of Azura's eyes. Irritated, she turned to look at him.

"What?" she asked, though not unkindly. Leo pointed towards a slumped shape on the ground.

The shape was too contoured and smooth to be a piece of rubble from the statue. The shape suddenly made a groan and rolled over. With a start, Azura realized that it was a person. With an even bigger start, Azura realized that it was Corrin.

Azura raced over to him, Ryoma, Leo, Xander, and Silas following close behind. Azura knelt down besides Corrin and checked to see if there were any wounds. Corrin coughed and cracked open an eyelid, his red eyes slowly focusing on Azura.

"Oh, hello there," he whispered.

Azura stared at him. "What was that?" she asked.

Corrin coughed again. "The eighth dragon vein," he said.

Azura blinked. "Then why was it so powerful? None of the other one's were like that," she said.

Leo cleared his throat. "Sorry for the interruption, but I think I have a guess. If only people with dragon blood can activate and use dragon veins, since Corrin is half-dragon, I'm guessing that whatever dragon veins he activates will be much more powerful and potent compared to the one's we activate."

Everybody stared at him. Xander crossed his arms as he looked down at his boots, deep in thoughts. Ryoma rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"I suppose it would make sense," the samurai said.

Silas knelt down on the other side of Corrin. "Hey, are you hurt?" he asked.

Corrin frowned as he tried to sit up. "N-no, I don't think so. I think I have a few burns on my back, but I think that's the most of it," he said.

"What happened?" Xander asked as he extended a hand towards Corrin.

Corrin gratefully took it and pulled himself to his feet. "I'm not really sure. I transformed into a dragon, I wiped out the Vallites, I transformed back, I activated the dragon vein, realized something was wrong, and bolted for the teleportation pad. That's all I really remember."

Corrin grinned sheepishly. "Oh yeah, and I also teleported through just as the dragon vein activated behind me, so I'm guessing that explains the burns on my back."

Ryoma frowned. "Well, there's no burns on your back, though I suppose it could be under your armor, on your skin. Also, what is that stain on your gloves?" Ryoma pointed towards a greenish-orange stain of Corrin's gloves.

Corrin grimaced and hid his hands behind his back. "You don't…want to know," he said.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Whatever. This conversation is irrelevant. Now that Corrin is back among us, our forces are up to full strength. Since the barrier has been cleared, we can proceed to attack that mage whenever we're ready."

Corrin shook his head. "Maybe we should wait a few minutes? If only to let me wash my gloves and treat my burns real quick?"

Xander covered his nose. "Yes, I do believe that you should go wash your gloves. We can spare a few minutes. Take your time. As for the rest of us," he gestured to Silas, Leo, and Ryoma, "we should take this time to make sure we're ready before we go through this portal. Since this portal is many times larger than the others, I'm guessing it can also transport more people at the same time."

Everybody nodded. Corrin broke off and headed towards Elise. Azura watched him go.

"Azura, I want you to remain here. If my guess is correct, the interior of that fort is going to be tight. There's going to be a lot of brutal, short-range swordplay in there, and I'm not sure you're capable or skilled enough to keep yourself safe in there."

Azura opened her mouth to protest, but before she could get a word out, Corrin suddenly nudged in between them.

"Eh, actually, big brother, I would much rather prefer Azura come with us than for her to remain here. That mage could potentially summon Vallites behind us as a surprise, and they could potentially be summoned right here in the clearing. Trust me; I believe it's a lot safer if Azura sticks by me than if she stays here."

Xander raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about this, little prince?"

Corrin nodded. "Yes." Corrin looked over at Azura. "Promise you won't wander off, alright?"

Azura frowned. "Wait, what do you 'I won't wander off?'" she asked. "I thought you were the one who decided to order his allies back so that he could face the enemy all by himself?"

Corrin shrugged. "Don't worry about it, Azura. So what if I did? I was in no danger. Surely, one dragon against a dozen Vallites would have no trouble at all, right?"

Azura's frown deepened. "That's…not the point! And besides, that's a very dangerous way of thinking! You know what happens to people who overestimate themselves."

Corrin opened his hand to reply before he was cut off by Xander raising a gloved hand. "Enough. Corrin, Azura is right. You shouldn't think like that. Even harboring that way of thinking could potentially spell doom for you one day. It's better to be cautious and methodical than reckless and quick. Now go, wash your gloves, that stench is getting worse by the second."

Corrin shook his head but headed off towards Elise. Azura looked up at Xander.

"Thank you, Xander," she said.

Xander smiled. "Think nothing of it, little princess. I'm simply trying to keep my family out of unnecessary danger," he said.

Azura gave a small smile and nodded. She looked towards Corrin, who was grossing out Elise by waving his gloves in her face. "Xander?"

Xander looked down at her. "Yes?"

"Do…do you think Corrin feels underwhelmed by me? I mean, physically and emotionally?" she asked sheepishly.

Xander frowned. "What do you mean?"

Azura bit her lip. She probably sounded like a petulant child. "Nothing, nothing. Forget I said anything. I'm going to talk to Corrin."

Xander looked at her with a confused expression. "Um, alright."

As Azura walked away, Xander called out her name. Azura turned around.

"Azura, I wouldn't worry too much about this whole situation. Believe me, we wouldn't have followed you and Corrin if we didn't trust you two."

Azura paused for a second before smiling, nodding in gratitude, and turning back around to follow Corrin.