Disclaimer: Don't own Fire Emblem.

~The Fourth Tale~

~By Enilas~

~Chapter 18: The Dread Isle II: Advance~

How is she?" Hector asked Serra. It was about an hour after they had found Leila, and the cleric and healed her well, but she hadn't yet woken up.

"She's lost a lot of blood. I've healed her wound, but she need time to recover." The cleric responded, "There shouldn't be any permanent damage."

Hector let out a sigh of relief, "That's good to hear. Keep an eye on her."

Serra nodded, "Of course Lord Hector."

The blue-haired Ostian left the clearing their little 'army and taken over. He found Matthew just outside the clearing. He was sitting on a stump, his cheerful aura gone as if it never existed.

"I was going to ask her after all this was done…leave this life behind…And now…" he just went quiet; his melancholy mood permeated the air around him.

"Matthew…" Hector said slowly. "She's going to be fine."

Matthew's head snapped up. "What!"

Hector nodded, "She's still unconscious, but Serra says that she'll be fine."

Matthew sagged with relief and happiness. "Thank you." He said quietly, and then got up, heading to the clearing, and Leila.

That done, Hector looked around for Eliwood, and found him speaking with Alkeni.

"..the woods are far too dense for Florina to see much, and I didn't want to send her too far ahead. From what she said, we have about three hours of travel in the woods, and then two more hours across some open grassland, until we hit some pretty high hills. She didn't go any farther."

"I hate to go forward so blindly, but until Leila wakes up, we don't have much to go off of."

"We can't wait here. The only thing we have going for us is speed and surprise. We can't exactly lay siege to them. And my father is somewhere on this island. I won't wait while his life is in danger. We move out in half an hour."

Alkeni nodded. Eliwood's reasoning was sound. He turned to go speak with the cavaliers.

Hector walked up next to his friend and nodded in Alkeni's direction. "What do you know about him? For some reason, the name Synair sounds familiar…but I can't quite place it."
"He says- when he says anything on the subject- that he the son of a prominent Bernese Merchant. I believe him…but he seems to be omitting something. I think Lyn knows more, but she's known him longer, so that stands to reason." The Pheraean shrugged, "It doesn't matter to me overmuch, if he keeps his background secret. I consider him a friend, and I don't think we'd have made it this far without him."

Hector was about to respond when Ninian, who had been sitting against a tree, suddenly stood up. She spoke, her voice was low, but everyone in the clearing heard it perfectly.

"…Ah…danger…approaches. Beware!"

Everyone halted what they were doing, and then reached for their weapons. Lyn was standing near the clearing's edge, when a tall man stepped out from the shadows of the trees behind her.

"Lady Lyn! Look-" Wil said, but too late.

"Ah!" The tall man grabbed her arm with his, and held a sword up to her neck.

"Lyn!" Alkeni reached for his knife and started to step forward.

"If you wish her dead, by all means, keep moving forward." Alkeni froze as the man pressed his sword against Lyn's neck every so slightly harder. "Now, if you value her life, you'll hand over the girl." He indicated Ninian. Alkeni got a closer look at the man- he was a Sacaean, and he had the Black Fang symbol embroidered on a sash across his waist.

"Who are you?" Lyn asked, masking her fear as the blade pressed against her neck.

"I am Uhai, the Soaring Hawk. I've been sent to capture the girl…and kill the lot of you. However, if you hand over the girl, leave the island, and promise to never return…I will spare you life."

"And if we refuse?" Lyn asked, firmly but carefully. Everyone's grip on their weapons tightened. In the silence of the clearing, the only thing that could be heard was the stretching of Rebecca and Wil's bows, the slight scraping of weapons about to be drawn, and the low chirping of birds in the background.

Uhai let Lyn go and shoved her towards the group. She stumbled for a moment, but Alkeni kept her from falling and she regained her footing.

"Why did you…?"

"Holding a hostage is shameful…" Uhai stepped back one, the shadows of the trees somehow growing deeper, unnaturally so. They heard rustling all around them, surrounding the clearing.

Time seemed to stop altogether as the group stood in the clearing, black fang soldiers gathering around them.

Raven, while still facing Uhai, coolly flipped his blade and stabbed behind. They heard an agonized scream and a black-robed swordsman fell sideways to the ground, a gruesome gash in his stomach.

Eliwood nodded at Uhai, and drew his rapier, "I believe you have your answer. We will not yield."

Uhai shook his head, "You are fools. You will not leave this island alive." With that, he fell fully into the shadows of the clearing and his soldiers attacked.

Furious, wild melees ensued, a series of small engagements, as black fang soldiers fell or were pursued from the clearing. In one corner of the clearing, Guy and Matthew were fighting back to back against a ring of pikemen. Alkeni shouted at Dorcas and Bartre as they felled a horse archer.

"Help them!" He pointed to the beleaguered myrmidon and thief, then as an enemy axeman swung at him, he ducked and rolled, drawing a knife, about to cut him, but Kent had already removed the axeman's head.

"Thanks!" He said, as he got up and ducked another attack, this time cutting his foe's stomach on his way down.

In another section, Oswin and Marcus took on several shamans, their sheer endurance allowing them to hold against the shaman's magic. As one of the shamans gathered his power for another Flux, Lucius hit his back with a light spell, disrupting his casting. Oswin finished the foe, and Priscilla took advantage of the opportunity to bring her staff to bear on the wounds of the knight and paladin.

Alkeni chanced a glance upwards, to look for Florina, and saw a Pegasus flying above. It dove down, and Alkeni got a very brief look at the rider. And the rider was most certainly not Florina. But she attacked an enemy soldier. Who the…?

The battle raged for nearly an hour more. There were no more enemies to be found- save one.

"You…have beaten me…" Uhai whispered, a deep gash in his chest. Blood was trailing out of his mouth. His lungs were probably starting to fill with blood. He had only moments to live.

"Priscilla, Serra! One of you- get over here!" Eliwood shouted hurriedly

"Nnn…don't bother…your skill…I give…a final warning…the Black Fang…not all… is as it seems…" He went still, and his head slumped down.

"He's…dead…" Lyn said quietly. "He was honorable, to the end." She lowered his eyelids and said a quiet prayer to the spirits, to Father Sky and Mother Earth.

Alkeni turned from the scene. He surveyed the battlefield, littered with the corpses of the enemy. Serra and Priscilla were tending to the wounded- none of theirs had died.

He saw Florina land her Pegasus outside of the clearing- he headed in that direction. That other Pegasus Knight- maybe Florina knew who it was…for that matter, where was the other one?

"…Fiora?! Is that you?" Florina asked, a cross by incredulity and happy excitement.

"…Little sister? What are you doing here?" Alkeni saw the both of them. Florina was talking with a tall blue hair woman…and as he looked, one that looked quite similar to Florina. She has a sister? He just stood nearby, in pretty much plain sight, but neither knight seemed to notice him.

"I'm here with Lady Lyndis. We're helping Lord Eliwood search for his father." She paused, "…what are you doing here? Where's your wing?"

The other knight- Florina had called her Fiora- turned from her sister a little, and closed her eyes for a moment. It seemed that she would cry…but it was though she had no tears left. "My wing…we were contracted to explore the Dread Isle. It went well for a while…but we were ambushed. Black Fang. I…I fled...I didn't fight with my soldiers…I am not a true Knight of Ilia."

Florina grabbed her sister's wrist, "Don't stay that! You're the best Knight I've ever seen! You're the reason I joined the Knights!"

Alkeni turned from the two sisters- now that he knew who the newcomer was- there was no reason to intrude on a private conversation. He went back into the main clearing.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

It was night…well, it always looked like night in the oppressive fog of this place, but it was most defiantly nighttime. Just a half hour ago, Leila had woken up. She still wasn't a hundred percent with it, but after double checking her health, Serra had deemed her fit to at least give a report. Alkeni, the three lords, and Matthew were there.

"Leila…what happened?"

The spy closed her eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She started giving her report, doing her best to maintain an objective detachment for the report at least. "After we spoke at Castle Caelin, I met up with some other Black Fang and we came here. I saw Nergal here…he…he's like something out of a nightmare. That place…the Dragon's Gate…it was built by the Dragons, before the Scouring. He…wants something there…something of power, and he needs two things to get it done…a human sacrifice…" She paused, and looked at Eliwood. "…that's what he intends to use Lord Elbert for…it has to be someone of strong will apparently…"

"…a sacrifice? What kind of monster…a war is one thing…but…a sacrifice?" Hector was unable to believe what he was hearing.

Eliwood looked at the ground, his expression indescribably pained, and said nothing.

"You said that he needed two things. What was the other?" Lyn asked

Leila nodded, "From what I can gather, the power he wants is…sealed or something. To access it he needs these two siblings. A brother and sister. They have the ability to do… whatever it is he wants done. Just before I escaped, He had found out they'd escaped. He has minions crawling all over the island for them."

That was far too familiar sounding for Alkeni's comfort. "…these…siblings…do you know their names?" He asked, masking his anxiety at what he knew the answer would be.

Leila nodded, "Ninian and Nils."

SSSSSSSSSSSSS

A/N:

*Dramatic music*

BUM BUM BUUUUM

Again, I know my update speed is absolutely terrible, and I don't have any real excuses. Just…life.

But anyway, I really do need pairing suggestions from you guys, apart from the ones I locked out last chapter. So far, I only have Heath/Priscilla suggested (not to say that is actually a guarantee), and I do need more.