So. I hope that this chapter's quality is better than the other chapters. Which is saying something considering this fanfiction is utter cancer. I realized that I may need to start practicing other forms of writing soon. Like smut. I have no idea how to write smut at all. So after I post this chapter, I am going to go read some top rated smut fanfics and go practice writing that lemon. Sadly it isn't lemon pledge but porn. Why am I even saying this to you guys? I'm so going to get mocked for this. Ah well. Here's your chapter you jokers.
Chapter Twenty One: Stealth
"Hey Anna."
"Yes handsome?"
"Why the fuck are we here?"
"To get that treasure silly! Why; are you getting cold feet?"
"Well I may be getting cold feet due to the large horde of Risen in front of our little treasure spot." Yeah. It's one of those days ladies and gentlemen. I have joined Anna in a little expedition to find some treasure in a ruined castle. I thought it was going to be really simple; just watching out for crumbling structures or traps. Not at all. Instead, I have to deal with a literal horde of Risen, all classes included, and gods know what else inside those ruins that hold the treasure, at night as well. Why does things like this happen to me?
"Come on Aiden, it will be alright. Just imagine all the glowing gems, mountains of gold, and so many other treasures we can find in their!" Anna says, flushing in pleasure at the thought of getting rich from this venture.
"Unless we get killed on the way to the treasure that is." I say, scanning the entrance of the ruins. There are about two dozen Risen just standing outside, most likely guarding the place. Me and Anna couldn't even hope to take them head on seeing how they have the advantage in numbers. Plus I can count a good number Soldiers and Archers among the ranks so we would already be in serious shit right there.
"Don't worry cutie, with this map I got from my sources, there is a secret way inside. We can bypass all of those Risen easily." Anna holds up the little treasure map that she apparently bartered for. That was two weeks ago when she told me about this venture. The location of the treasure is was in the southern part of Plegia so excuse me for not notifying you on where we were headed.
"I'm not only worried about them Anna. I'm worried about the Risen that could be inside the ruins."
"Well we can easily handle them with one of these!" Anna pulls out two, serrated daggers and hands one to me. "Seeing how your other dagger isn't really up to the task, I might as well give you one." I may have left my dagger back in that village during the raid. At least she didn't flat out said it this time. I take the dagger and was about to say "Thanks" when Anna starts to sneak towards the ruins. I guess it's go time right now. This is going to be so much fun! I'm being sarcastic in case you are wondering.
I catch up to Anna and we start to sneak past the horde of Risen towards a little wall on the western wing of the ruins. I spot two Fighter Risen walking towards us, still unaware we are here. I duck and hide behind a crumbling wall while Anna hides behind a lonely pillar. The Fighters pass us and we continue on our way. I spot an Archer, all alone, banging his head on a stone wall. I have no idea why he is doing that. I look down at my knife and twirl it in my hand. I guess it couldn't hurt to get rid of one Risen. I divert from anna's course and sneak my way towards the Archer, Anna stopping to look at what I am doing.
"Get back here! We don't need to kill them! If they find out that one of theirs is dead then we are screwed, get back here!" Anna whisper-screams at me, looking around for no incoming Risen. I give her a thumbs up before going back heading towards my target. I reach the Risen, who still hasn't noticed me as of yet. I am going to have act quickly for this. I lunge up and clamp my free arm around its throat. It lets out a soft, strangled gurgle before I jam my knife through its temple. I rip my knife out of its temple and it disappears in a cloud of black smoke. I head back to Anna, Anna giving me a little death glare, before we go back to what we were doing before. We manage to go a few more feet when I hear the sound of hooves.
"Hide." I say to Anna, quickly darting and crawling into a little hole in the ruined castle walls. Anna joins me in the hole and we watch as a battalion of Risen Cavaliers storm pass by, screeching and growling like no tomorrow. Looks like they are going on a little raid with how many there are. That is good because there will be less guards for us to deal with. After the Risen pass us, Anna wiggles out of the hole; kicking my face in the process. I squirm after her, my face aching from where she kicked me.
"That was pretty close. Sorry about your face handsome but it was quite the tight squeeze in there." Anna says, rubbing the place where she kicked me.
"Yeah, you owe me a drink after this. Let's just get back to the action." I say, blushing slightly at Anna's touch. She's got some pretty soft hands to be honest. I wonder why girls always have soft skin… I bet it's some special potion they drink daily or something.
We finally make it to the wall and there isn't a hole or something that would qualify as a door in sight. I look to Anna to ask "Why did we come here if there is no door," when she starts to touch a series of stones in the wall. She finishes and a little doorway appears next to me. I guess that's our door. We head into the hidden door and I cringe at how dark it is inside the secret hallway. We start to walk through the tunnel in silence, touching the left wall to make sure I wasn't in the void itself. After a while, I feel something grab my hand and I let out a little yelp of fear.
"What? Scared handsome. I never thought that a girl holding your hand could make you pee your pants." Oh it was just Anna, thank the gods!
"Would you kindly shut up beautiful? I want to get this over with before those Cavaliers come back." I say, frowning while Anna simply giggles in enjoyment. We continue down the tunnel, holding hands to not get separated. We suddenly stop as a secret door suddenly opens up. That is some spooky shit right there. We step through the door and see that we are inside the castle. Thankfully the moonlight shining through the holes and cracks of the ruins is bright. At least we can see now. Anna lets go of my hand and we go back to our sneaking ways. Can never be too careful.
Anna looks at her map and starts to lead us towards the area where the treasure rests in. I look around and spot five Warrior Risen patrolling the stairway that Anna is walking towards. I grab her by her cape and pull her behind some rubble. We watch as the Risen slowly lumber away from the stairs and into another room. I let go of Anna and we head upstairs. I notice a lone Mercenary Risen, fucking trying to read a ruined book, near the corner of the hallway we have to go down. I walk ahead of Anna and slowly approach the Risen, absorbed into his book. I didn't know Risen could fucking read! I better stop that before they start speaking.
I twirl my dagger in my hand and again and reach the Risen. I punched it in the face and slammed my dagger through the back of the skull where is connects with the spine. I rip my dagger out and the Mercenary dissolves into a cloud of black smoke like the others.
Anna catches up to me pat me on the head, saying "Good job Aiden," before leading the way again. I sigh contently at Anna's current attitude and follow her. We manage to make it down the hall and and we go into this room. It looks to be a private library for some old rich noble. Anna starts to pull random books off of the dusty, moldy shelves. I bet she is trying to activate a secret door. I look around and see a decrepant vase sitting among the books on the shelves. I bet it is a secret switch. I walk around to it and twist it in place. It makes an unlocking sound and a secret door opens near Anna. We both go through another dark, secret tunnel again and then find ourselves in the castle's throne room. I scann the area and find no Risen anywhere near our location.
"Hey Aiden, look at this." I turn and see Anna standing by the throne. I walk towards Anna and notice that on the throne is a skeleton wrapped in fancy Sage clothing. It the skeleton's hands is a wonderfully designed staff that it is obviously designed for a princess or something. "Poor noble, was gutted while sitting on throne." Anna says, gazing down at the stomach of the skeleton. I look down and notice a rather large, very crusty tear in the dead Sage's robes. I guess that how the noble died. I shift weight on my feet and accidently kick something. I look down and see another skeleton, this time a Soldier, lying on the ground before the throne.
"Guess this guy was either an enemy or a guardian of the noble here." I say, crouching down and touching the part where the skeleton's head was cut away from the rest of its body. Anna nods before looking at the staff again.
"Well seeing how this noble doesn't really need this anymore, I'm going to take it." Anna grabs the staff and pulls it out of the skeleton's grasp. She is right. We walk away from the throne and go back to Anna's following the map guide. We make it the door we need to go through when we hear something hum. We turn and see something that was fucking horrifying. The Sage skeleton was standing up and look at us. In it's hands was a very moldy tome that is definitely some old magic. I am about to pull my sword out to engage the Sage when it casts a spell at me. A chunk of rock appears and comes hurtling at my head. I duck but the rock somehow activated a hidden switch in the wall I was standing in front of. The ground belows me opens up and I fall into the hole; I'm flailing around trying to grab onto something. I am unable to grab onto something and I fall down the hole, leaving Anna alone with the Sage.
I bounce around the little slide the hole has opened me up to, the stones bruising with every bounce. The slide becomes wild with turns, twists, and other crazy moves of geometry that I didn't even think was possible. On one turn, my head slams into the stonework and cuts my head open, blood pouring out of the wound like a stuck pig. My vision blurs and I can only remain half conscious as I continue to slide down the slide.
The slides ends with dumping me down a good couple of feet above a large chamber. I barely hang on to reality before I slam a pillar, my left arm breaking from the impact. I scream in pain and hold my arm as the floor gets closer and closer. I glance off a stone ledge while falling, my ankle definitely shattering or something. Everything finally turns to black before I hit the ground.
So. I decided to do a cliffhanger. I bet you really hate me right now. Also love me with those other older Fire Emblem games references I dropped in there. But I think you mostly hate me right now. I'll leave now seeing how you might want to kill me for doing this cliffhanger thing. Bye.