School is starting and I won't be able to update fast anymore… As a matter of fact, the next update may be in 3 weeks! Plus, for the title of this chapter, read the whole chapter before you decide what it means...
The Gamer: Hmm… interesting way to introduce Mark to Roy… What should I do when Mark meets Sophia? And thanks for pointing out my typo! Another thanks for the review!
Some guy: Yeah, school is so annoying… The mayor of my area wants to extend it by another two hours… That had better not happen! Thanks for reviewing!
KiraYamato1: Ah, it's good to hear from you again! I know the rest of your story will be great! Thanks for reviewing!
Aweirdguy: I actually thought about that when I wrote that chapter… I'll just make Wallace leave Caelin so he can 'hone' his skills or something… Either ways, thanks for reviewing!
The Phoenix of Etruria: Yes, I know… I tend to rush my chapters and overload everything, don't I? Most things you see in this story will have a purpose being there. I'll give you a hint; think back on Kent's thoughts two or three chapters ago. I put them there for a reason. Kent isn't out of the picture yet! Well, thanks for reviewing!
DISCLAIMER: Let's see if you are smart enough to know what comes here…
The Battle Wizard Chap 10:
Underhanded Tactics
The sounds of blades clashing rang through the forest as Lyn and May sparred with each other using wooden swords. Mark surveyed how each one of them used their skill and speed to hurt the opponent. May's fighting was very fast and it took a good eye to see how she was moving. However, Lyn's battle stances were very beautiful and looked she were one with her blade and they belonged in the lush forest around them.
'She looks as if she were dancing along the trees…' Mark thought to himself. 'The way she fuses with nature… She looks almost like Sophia. That brings me back to another subject… How on earth can she keep a secret like that without being found out by others! Unless… there's a whole village of them! But… that would be impossible. Someone would have found out about it! After this is over… I will search for you… I will see you again Sophia!' His thoughts were soon interrupted by Lyn, who had saw him thinking and found that he wasn't paying attention on the match.
"Mark, are you alright?" Lyn asked concerned. It wasn't often Mark stopped paying attention to a sparring match. 'Was my technique so awful that he decided to stop watching?' Lyn thought to herself.
"Huh, yeah, I'm alright. I was just… thinking…" Mark replied awkwardly. He immediately felt ashamed for thinking about another girl while he already had a perfectly fine woman in front of him.
"Are you sure, Mark?" May asked as well, thinking what on earth could divert Mark's attention from their fight.
"Yes… please don't question me about this again… I was thinking something private and that's that," Mark finished and walked away. 'I don't like to keep a secret like this… but everything must go as it was or else someone may go berserk and end up killing the children even if they were innocent… But what if they have evil intentions? No… I will trust Sophia… If they were bent on taking back the world again, I'm sure Sophia would have just left me for dead… I hope I'm right…'
"May, have you ever seen Mark seem so lost in thought before?" Lyn asked May. During the last four days, Lyn had gotten to know May better for who she was. They agreed on many things and got along much better now. Although May still does occasionally shy away from Lyn, and there was once where Lyn still saw a longing glance May gave to Mark. 'I feel so sad for her… She says she has gotten over Mark, but I can tell she still loves him a lot. I hope there will be a day where she will find someone just as wonderful.'
"Only when he's coming up with battle strategies before… Yet this time is different. I can see a bit of sadness in his eyes too… I have no clue what may be bothering him though," May replied. 'Lyn does care a lot for Mark; I can see she will treat Mark with care… Yet…' She left her thoughts at that and decided to walk to a nearby lake to take a bath.
Lyn was walking back to camp when she came across Mark's tent.
'No, I can't… But I really want to know what's bothering Mark. He won't tell me. He says he loves me and trusts me, yet he won't tell me what's wrong! It's so infuriating! That's it! I'm going in!' Lyn went against her better judgment and marched into his tent. She saw many organized books in a pile near the wall of the tent. She saw that they were on battle strategies. There were also a few sheets of bark on a small desk that had drawings of advanced sword techniques and one with a hand sketched drawing of Ninis' Grace. Yet there was another detailed painting that caught her attention. It was a rather large parchment that contained a drawing of a beautiful girl that had long hair that reached her feet. More notably was her sad expression on her face. On the bottom of the parchment was only one word: Sophia.
Near a lake that reflected the color of the pine trees, May was taking a bath in there. Yet she felt something was wrong. She looked around and saw a bush move.
'Odd… there was no breeze…' May thought to herself but did not dare get up to investigate for fear of someone seeing her naked.
Dorcas, Rath, and Wil hunting for food when they saw something move behind some nearby bushes, so they stopped and looked closely at what it was; yet it seemed to camouflage with the surrounding.
"I wonder what it is," Wil whispered to Rath, who remained silent as usual. Wil took out an arrow aimed at the figure. After he was sure he would hit, he shot the arrow. What came out of the strange green figure's mouth was unexpected.
"Hey, it almost sounds like Sain!" Wil remarked excitedly.
"……….It is Sain………." Rath replied indifferently. They saw as he ran around with a wound near his shoulder like he was going to die. He was quite lucky that he had his armor on, which prevented the arrow from hitting anywhere major. But his armor wasn't going to protect him from what happened next.
May had just resumed her bath when she saw Sain jump out of the bushes she had just turned back from. She immediately grabbed a towel to wrap herself in and grabbed her wooden sword.
Sain turned around just in time to see a beautiful figure in a towel beating him with a wooden sword. Sain ran around trying to dodge her blows and ran into a tree. While on the floor, May continued her beating.
"Ok Wil, I think we've seen enough," Dorcas said, dragging an open mouthed Wil back to camp. Rath followed silently along.
After two hours, May came back, fully clothed, dragging a badly beaten Sain and throwing him in front of Serra who started screaming as if she saw a monster. Lucius took out a holy book and started praying.
"Hey, I'm not going to heal him," May said nonchalantly, then left to get her lunch. Serra poked Sain with her staff to see if he was still alive.
Lyn was sitting on a log nearby when Florina came along and saw her.
"Lyn, you seem upset…" Florina asked concerned.
"Huh? Oh… yeah… it's just I have a lot on my mind. Like whether my grandpa is alright or not…" Lyn said, conveniently forgetting to mention Mark.
"Oh, well, that's what I thought as well. But you should be happier! It wouldn't be good for the other's morale if their leader were so upset," Florina reasoned. 'Lyn's hiding something… I've known her for years and I know that can't be the only thing that's making her upset…'
"Um yeah, of course, thanks for watching out for me! I'll try to be more confident from now on! Now let's go! We're almost there aren't we?" Lyn said with a fake smile on her face.
"Yes milady. It should be a week's journey to Caelin… assuming we don't run into any… distractions," Kent said professionally. He felt so guilty… even when he tried to hold it in, he couldn't help but think about her all the time. 'There is no hope for me… She loves Lord Mark, not me… Why? Why must I be in love with one that I am not to?'
"Thank you too Kent. You, Florina, and… Mark have always been there for me when I needed support. I will award you, all of you… when we see my grandfather in Caelin. Now let us proceed!" Lyn jumped off the rock and went back to camp to gather everyone and head back on trail. It made her heart jump when she saw Mark talking to Ninian. But Lyn ignored it and announced that everyone was to head back on the road and pack up.
"Please Lord Mark! Promise you will not tell anyone!" Ninian pleaded with Nils.
"Why? You will not tell me why you are here?" Mark shot back.
"We… we have problems of our own… As for this other 'woman' you speak of… We have never heard of her before. We have answered as many questions as we can. So please promise you won't tell Lady Lyn or anyone else our secret!"
"…Very well… If you promise us no harm… I will keep your secret," Mark said reluctantly.
"We promise… Thank you, Lord Mark," Ninian replied gratefully. 'How did he know our secret? We may look different than others, but surely that is not enough for someone to figure out what we are! Maybe it was the ring? I better hide it better from now on.'
As Lyn lead the group towards the direction of Caelin, Lyn noticed that one of the members was missing.
"Where did Matthew go?" Lyn asked, looking around for him. It was Mark who replied.
"Oh, I sent him to go gather some information on what's going on in Caelin. It would be nice if we got a good idea of what Lundgren is planning so we don't rush into the battlefield without some knowledge," Mark said. 'Wait, why is Lyn looking like that? She looks as if she wants to… slap me or something.'
"Good. That was smart thinking. I should have thought of that," Lyn said without looking at Mark.
"Uh… Lyn…" Mark started, but was interrupted by Ninian, who was red from limping on her ankle.
"Lady Lyn! Lord Mark… I sense a danger, get down, NOW!" Lyn got down when just barely, an arrow sailed through the air and hit where Lyn was standing only a second ago.
"What… What was that?" Lyn asked, not at all shaken, but curious.
"That must have been a ballista! It appears Lundgren is taking no chances!" Sain remarked.
"What's a ballista?" Lyn asked again.
"It's a weapon used in siege. It can only be operated by professional archers and can hit a target 50 yards away. The good thing is that it is not a very accurate weapon. It's odds of hitting a moving target is 1 to 5," Mark explained.
"I see. Alright then! I want everyone to move as much as possible on the battlefield, is that clear!" Lyn shouted. Everyone replied with a firm yes. "Florina… maybe you should sit this one out. You won't be much use to us in this one… I'm sorry."
"Don't worry Lyn! I'll wait until you take out the ballista. Then I'll join you!" After saying that, Florina retreated to the rear of the party.
"Alright, this is absolutely pathetic… People, this is going to be so easy, I'm not even going to give a second thought about this. I want Lucius, Erk, and Wil to take out the men that are approaching us right now while Lyn and May will protect them. As soon as they are taken out, I want Kent, Sain, and Rath to storm down and cut your opposition. It's as simple as that," Mark said carelessly.
"But sir, what about the ballista?" Kent asked mystified.
"You don't have to worry about that. The trees will provide shade for the long range fighters. As for you horseman, you will be moving all the time and therefore there is only a 2 percent chance you will get hit. And even if you do get hit, it won't be injured seriously. If you do, however, get medical help from Serra or use a vulnerary." Mark explained quickly. "Florina… I believe I see a reinforcement fortress down south. When the horseman take out the ballista, take out the reinforcements. Understood?" The party started to move out and attack.
Like Mark had predicted, the battle was nothing. The enemy foot soldiers relied on the ballista to bring down Lyn's Legion which was a big mistake since the arrows were far from their target. Wil was more frightened of the arrows aimed for Lucius than the ones aimed for him. Having experience from the previous battle in the woods with the Taliver, Wil knew just where to shoot and where to hide to dodge the arrows and kill the enemy.
Lucius, who only arrived at the end of the battle with the Taliver, was less experienced, but he was learning quickly. 'Ah, the poor souls that are dying… I couldn't bear the blood from the previous battle so I retreated… but not this time. I know Elimine would want me to help these kind people in succeeding in their goal. I must pray for these men after the battle is done... Maybe give them a burial too…' His thoughts were interrupted quickly when a mercenary approached him, but May put an end to him.
"You have to concentrate on the battle! I know you're a monk and everything, but you don't want to get killed do you?" May snapped. Then she left before Lucius could even mutter thanks.
"Must remember to thank her later…" Lucius said to himself.
Sain was plowing through enemies and soon reached the ballista.
"Take this!" Sain said before beheading the archer. 'I don't like this… Not one bit… The man I just killed. I recognize him from Caelin. He even talked to me once. Why do we have to fight with former comrades? This isn't right. Lundgren, I will make sure you will get what you deserve!' Sain thought to himself before seeing Florina approach. 'Ah, what a wondrous sight to see during a heart wrenching battle! I think I'll go woo her now…'
After the soldiers were killed and the only ones remaining were the leader and four of his henchmen, Wil took control of the ballista.
"Now Wil, do you see that big fat object over there?" Mark asked Wil.
"Um… yeah… is that a rock?" Wil asked nonplussed.
"Uh… no… that's the leader of the platoon we faced. Take aim and fire at him. He will be impaled upon his own weapon," Mark said gleefully in a way that scared Wil. But nevertheless, he took aim, and shot the big fat rock straight in the neck.
"Whoa! That was great aim! You got him right in the neck even from this distance! Wonderful!" Mark praised.
"It must have been luck!" Wil said modestly. He even blushed slightly at his tactician's comments. The other four men retreated, and Lyn's Legion won the battle.
"That was easier than expected! At least it was when we were up against more than 30 soldiers!" Sain remarked.
"Lord Mark?" came an enigmatic voice. Mark turned around to see that Matthew had returned.
"Matthew, it's good to see you have returned. What news have you brought to us?" Mark asked with anticipation.
"Ah, Lord Mark, I'm sure you'll be pleased if not glad!" Matthew said secretively.
"Alright, get on with it!" Lyn said, getting impatient. 'I don't understand, we could have just as easily gone to the village ourselves. Why did he send Matthew?' Lyn wondered suspiciously.
"Alright… alright… don't blow your top! Anyways, when I got to a nearby village, I saw that the people seemed a bit uneasy. None of them would talk to me… until I fed a coin to a hungry innkeeper. Apparently, Lundgren has been saying that the groups of people headed towards Caelin are a bunch of fakes and traitors."
"What? How dare they! Us? Traitors!" Sain said irately.
"And they say I'm a fake? That Lundgren! He's gone way too far now!" Lyn said furiously, vowing to bring Lundgren to justice.
"Wow, if you're that angry just because I said that, than I guess I should withdraw my other information…" Matthew said.
"More? Hurry up and spill it out!" Lyn said. 'What more could there possibly be?' She thought to herself.
"Well you see, it appears Lord Hausen of Caelin is being poisoned every day, and is now in a very critical condition. And as you can guess… Lundgren is the suspect. However, none oppose him for fear of their relatives or family members being executed by him… That is all I found out…" Matthew said, but not before shooting a curious glance at Mark. Something Lyn missed in her outrage.
"Impossible! I don't believe it! We have to get to Caelin and fast!" Lyn said furiously.
"Wait, we've been branded as traitors. If anyone else sees us, I'm afraid they will attempt to kill us without hesitation," Kent reasoned.
"But we can't just sit here and nothing while my grandfather is dying!" Lyn shouted. It hurt Kent to know that there was nothing he could do for his mistress.
"I have an idea," Mark said. "Eliwood is a very powerful member of the Lycian court being the son of the Marquess and all. If we could persuade him to convince the rest of Lycia to stay put, than we don't have to deal with this problem of other countries interfering. It will just be us and Lundgren. As for anyone else that stands in our way… Simple… We will crush them."
"I guess this is the only way… Eliwood said he was in Kathelet right? Well, I really don't want to waste time considering my grandpa may die any moment, but everyone is tired and I know it won't be any good to push on now that it's almost evening. So let's go and set up camp." Soon, Lyn and the others had staked out their territory and were eating dinner caught by Wil and Rath. Unfortunately for May, Sain was not considered dinner.
"Ah, mistress May… I have been looking for you ever since the battle. I have come to say thank you," Lucius said humbly.
"Oh, it's you. Um… I guess I should say you're welcome! Is that all you've come to see me for?" May asked politely; she respected monks more than most people did. 'Wow, he sure does look like a she…' May thought to herself despite that respect.
"I believe so… but other than that, I also have to say… You are so ruthless in battle… You and everyone else… Do you ever pray for your victims?"
"Pray for them? Ah, the fact that I look like a cleric gets people, doesn't it? I'm not. While I do feel sad for my victims, I don't pray for them. Doing so would make me feel sympathy for them. Mark has taught me that sympathy causes one to lose focus and eventually lose their life," May responded automatically.
"I see… Yes, I have heard of what your teacher has done… But maybe you should take time after battles to pray for them. This way, they will be able to rest in peace and you will be able to take some burden off your shoulders."
"Maybe… I've never really prayed for years… not since my parents died… I prayed for someone to save me… no one came… not for 2 years at least. Not until I met Mark," May said sadly. 'Why am I telling him this? The only other person to know was Mark… But his face… It looks so innocent and kind. It makes me want to tell him everything.'
"Ah… your parents are dead? So are mine… We have something in common now! Let's discuss this… some more!" Lucius said brightly.
"Really, you want to listen to me? Thank you! But it will have to wait… I have to train right now. Is that alright with you?…" It almost hurt May to say no to him.
"Hmm… very well, but will you pray for the dead souls now?"
"…Yes… I will. Until next time then…" May resumed her training while Lucius went back to his prayers. Meanwhile, Mark was talking to Matthew…
"Matthew… did you do what I asked you to do?" Mark asked. 'Here it comes…'
"Yep! I think I got some good news too!" Matthew replied happily as usual.
"Really! What did you find out?" Mark said as if he were an eight year old child that had just found a giant stash of sweets.
"Ha, I've never seen you so excited before! Tell me, who was this 'girl' you told me to find? Was she your lover? I don't think Lyn would be too happy if she were."
"Never mind who she was! What did you find out!" Mark asked, getting extremely impatient. 'I've been waiting to hear this for hours! Just couldn't get Lyn out of hearing distance. And now Matthew is teasing me!'
"Getting very impatient now, aren't you. Very well, I'll tell you. A local villager said she saw someone who matched the descriptions of the 'girl' you mentioned and saw her heading west. He wasn't sure, but he thinks she was headed towards Nabata desert. That was all I found out. But the villager did say that there was no mistake that the girl he saw was the one you described. He said that the sad expression was all he needed to recognize her."
"I see… Thank you Matthew, and don't forget our deal. Don't mention a word of this to Lyn. Is that clear?"
"As clear as the moon in the sky, I would think!" Matthew said, with the same happy expression that always made Mark believe he was planning something. Either ways, what Mark didn't know, was that Matthew didn't have to say anything. A heart broken Lyn was behind a nearby tree.
Author's Note: Maybe this should become May/Lucius! Of course, it wouldn't be intimate since Lucius is a very dedicated monk. As I have said many times before, school's here, so the next time I update will probably be in two weeks or more! Sorry! But nevertheless, please review!