Disclaimer: I will never own FE7
With the Fire Emblem in hand, the company soon departed the forsaken snowy mountains. They were low on time to return the Fire Emblem to the Queen of Bern. Every horse they owned had two riders on it. In Merlinus' caravan rode the few extra people who didn't have a horse or another's to ride: Cormag, Matthew, the newest addition to the group Karel, and the body of Cynthar.
It was a silent journey, Karel appeared to do more talking with his sword than his mouth. Matthew was a silent as ever, and Cynthar was of course, still unconscious. It gave Cormag the time to think. And it wasn't about pleasant thoughts.
He cast his thoughts back to when Lloyd killed him. The person in that chamber had told him the price of immortality. A life for a life. His first death had cost him his eye. The second death cost him Leila. Cormag glanced at Matthew, having to turn his head more than usual because he sat to his left. Damn my eye!
Were the people would die in his place known to him? Would it always be a friend? Perhaps a random citizen? And when would they die? Immediately? A month? A year? Or was it unpredictable? He thought about asking Vincent, who hadn't spoken more than a few words since he showed Cormag that memory. He decided to, Vincent?
-…-
Vincent?
-…What?-
I have a few questions.
-Fine, I need something to distract me.-
When I die, who dies next? Is there any way of knowing?
-…No, but the person will always be a friend of yours, someone you love or something that will ruin a friend's life.-
So like Leila for Matthew?
-Yes, he'll never be the same, even when he goes with you to Ma-, wait…that's too far into the future.-
What's the point of knowing the future if you can't tell me?
-Prophecy's a bitch huh?-
Dammit.
Cormag could here Vincent's chuckle. –Kid, just don't die again. The person who dies next, yes I know who, won't die for a while. That's good and bad. Good because you spend more time with them. Bad because you can't do a damn thing about it. Perhaps once you've finished saving three continents you can convince her to lift your immortality.-
Her?
-The person in that chamber is a woman.-
…Strange, her voice seemed… not human.
-Just don't die, and for that last question, the time varies. Sometimes it could be a day, or other times five years. With this kind of magic, it's hard to tell.-
Is there a way to get my eye fixed?
-In all my years as a warrior, the only thing I've learned about healing magic is that it heals people. Perhaps on your future travels you might find something, but my knowledge of the future doesn't go that in depth.-
Shame.
-So cheer up! Don't be like Matthew. Actually, don't even talk to him in the caravan here. The way it will play out will hurt him in more ways than you can afford. Cynthar will be fine too. Just watch for Hector when he confesses.-
Confesses what?
-As much as I would like to tell you, it's his secret.-
Cormag sighed, Vincent seemed to always be like this. Knowing the future, Cormag now understood, could be harmful. If he had known that Lloyd would maim his eye like this, he wouldn't have gone after him. But if he hadn't killed Lloyd then he might have killed many others in the company. Cormag was the only one suited for that task.
Cormag groaned, he had no idea how much longer the ride was. He wished Guy had decided to go in the caravan, but Priscilla offered him a ride on her horse. They must be getting serious. Good for them. Even Sain would be acceptable company. But he had a horse of his own to ride, and Lyn had asked if she could ride with him. Like he would turn down that offer. Though in the future, as long as it isn't Lyn he might. Last night, he saw Sain and Lyn holding hands and talking where they thought no one could see them. Ha! I always seem to be the one to find out the interesting stuff!
Cormag sighed once again and looked at Cynthar's body. I wish you were awake my friend. You could help me with my eye problem then. Cynthar was the most logical person to ask, he did have an eye patch.
Let me know when we get there Vincent. Cormag began to close his eyes.
-Sure thing.-
At last, they arrived at the royal manse. It was dark by time they did however.
But instead of being greeted by lights at the manse, all the windows were dark.
They knew something was wrong. And their fears were confirmed when they heard the sounds of fighting.
"Quick! To the Prince! We can't allow anything to happen to him!" Eliwood cried.
They all rushed in except Merlinus who stayed back with Cynthar's body. Cormag unsheathed his sword. Time to fight!
Corvus was having a difficult time fighting in the dark. His skill with a blade actually required him to see, believe it or not.
"DUCK!" a voice behind him yelled.
Corvus dove for the ground. He could hear an arrow pass over where he was moments before. He turned to see who had told him to duck. Sure enough, it was Cormag who had already moved forward and was killing some Black Fang soldier.
Damn it all mate, am I ever going to not owe you my life?
Cormag moved like the wind. He may not be able to see, but neither could the enemy in the dark. Vincent seemed to not be able to see in this dark of night.
-Any other time, any lighter light, and I could do it.-
Cormag's ears were still as good as ever, they served as his eyes. Every footstep, every breath he heard he leapt at sword swinging. Reckless yes, but was Cormag ever not reckless?
-You know, I could set your sword on fire. It would give you light.-
And make me a target for every archer in the area. Not to mention my sword is made out of metal. It would melt.
-Eh…maybe.-
Cormag laughed at that. To everyone else, it would have looked like he was laughing as he killed people. Good thing it was dark.
They had split up into two groups. Cormag's proceeded down the east wing of the manse where they found a young girl with green hair named Nino. She told them about a plot to assassinate the Prince as well as another person who was fighting to protect the Prince. Her friend was on the west side of the manse, too far to get there and help. Hopefully the other group would make it in time.
"Someone needs to run ahead to the Prince!" Eliwood yelled out. Seeing as most of the other members of the party were engaged in combat of some form, Cormag found Karel and Wil to run ahead with him to protect the Prince.
When they got there, four Black Fang assassins were in the Prince's chambers. The Prince, Zephiel was holding off against the first one admirably, but was soon to be surrounded by the other three. Wil shot an arrow hitting the nearest assassin through the heart, killing him instantly. Karel leapt into action, bloodlust in his eyes. He was more reckless than Cormag. Zephiel's chambers were lit up, so Cormag could see Karel's fighting style. He fought with the clear objective of satisfying his bloodlust rather than to protect the Prince.
Cormag attacked the last assassin, who held a lance and was heavily armored. Wil's arrows couldn't penetrate the armor of the assassin. The assassin was surprisingly good, he blocked all of Cormag's strikes. Cormag was astounded, his style consisted of random moves that were made up within the moments between strikes. No one should be able to block all my moves this long! His thought process became useless when Karel stabbed the assassin in the back. The Prince had killed the fourth assassin.
"Prince Zephiel?" Wil questioned. When Zephiel nodded, Wil continued, "We're here to protect you, don't worry, not to kill you. As long as we live you're not going to die."
The Prince nodded. He wiped his sword clean on an assassin's robes. "Zephiel?" When Cormag had Zephiel's attention, he continued, "You may want to stand behind that pillar, don't want to get by a stray arrow now, do you?" Zephiel moved to obey.
Karel went back to the entrance of the Prince's chambers to further satisfy his hunger for death. Wil questioned Cormag when they were out of the Prince's range, "Wasn't it a bit disrespectful to not use formalities with him? He is the Crown Prince of Bern."
Cormag shook his head, "He hasn't shown me he deserves them, all he's shown me is that he's good with a blade. Hardly a cause for formalities." Cormag continued forward into the fray.
After what seemed like hours, maybe it was, they had cleaned out the rest of the Black Fang troops and the Bernese guards arrived to protect the prince. The three Lords, pent, Louise and Kaitlyn went to meet with the Queen of Bern. Cormag went back to the caravan to see if Cynthar had awoken. He had not.
Silently swearing, Cormag carried Cynthar's body to a bed in the manse where they were staying the night.
Author Note: Congratulations! You've just won a bonus update! I guess this is my way of saying sorry for no update a few weeks ago. Not much to say for once (HA!). Thanks for the reviews! During every other chpt, I would get a review every other chpt or so, but this time, I got four! I tried to address your suggestions in them, but you be the judge, you are the reader. And remember to vote on my pole (Yeah, I won't even write one of those for over a year, shoot me)! Oh! READ THIS: If you are looking for a good fic to read, check out Gingalain's FE fic! It's really good! And guess who's betaing! Me! Man, just one more chpt to go before the chpt that I reveal what the hell Cynthar's problem is. 100 percent chance you won't see it coming! (Heh…that's probably my fault). Also, I miscalculated, I should be finished with TS mid or late May! Wow…its weird to think I actually wrote something people like! Keep on readin'!
-CR, …ran out of accolades, crap!
"There are hundreds of certainties in this world, getting out alive is not one of them."
-Unknown
(Heh, I love this quote!)