Disclaimer: Fire Emblem? Not mine. Alkeni, Kaila, Kalaius and all Ancillary Information not in the games? That is Mine. And I place a personal copyright on it.

Author's Note: Gunlord500 requested some more battle scenes, and this chapter will be chock full of them.

Author's Note # 2: If you have trouble keeping track of which group Alkeni Assigned everyone to, there is a list at the bottom of My profile.

The Fourth Tale

By Enilas

Chapter 35: The Dread Isle IV: Again

"Nergal has the entire are between here and the Dragon's Gate covered in morphs. There must be hundreds." Heath reported what he had seen from the skies. "And at least a dozen Bastilla. I had to avoid a few bolts while I was scouting. Fortunately, I saw only a few wyverns, and no Pegasi, so his air support is limited."

"Where are they, approximately?" Alkeni asked.

"They were in four groups, three each. Two groups are over past the far side of those mountains. on either side of a rather dense forest. One set is in the valley just ahead, and the last is in another set of ruins, a miles and a half before the Gate. I didn't scout heavily beyond the ruins- the Bastilla there nearly hit Hyperion. I didn't want to take my chances any more."

"Good. You're too valuable to risk losing, especially before the battle even starts." Alkeni's mind was already working out a plan. "I'm going to keep you, as well as all three Pegasus Knights grounded for now. Hopefully we'll be able to take some of those Bastilla out and then we can bring you to the fray." He turned, looking through the assembled soldiers of their rag-tag band. Each and every one of them tested in the fires of battle, their mettle forged in the hottest heat. Many of them were far from professional, unorthodox in their methods and their attitudes. Certainly far from the hardened, disciplined conscripts, levies and veterans of Bern that he had been trained to lead. But he'd led them thus far, and he would continue to do so. They may not be soldiers in the purest sense, but he'd take this group of thirty-some unorthodox warriors over a company of real soldiers any day.

Alkeni used his dagger to scratch out some diagrams in the dirt, made some quick changes and then turned back to Heath.

"Were the heavily dug in, or did their positions appear more mobile and/or recent?"

"There were only a few points of heavy emplacements- around the Bastilla and at the entrance of the valley." Was the reply.

"Okay." He turned to the entire group. "The four fliers will stay here with Merlinus for the moment- Lucius and Bartre, I want you to remain here as well. I don't trust that this is all Nergal has. Its a big Island, and he might have more soldiers ready to come at us from our rear." Then he took out a bag and removed a small clear stone from it. He handed it to Lucius, and then handed one each to Pent, Erk, Serra, Canas, Nino and Priscilla. Kaila was the only caster not to get a communication crystal. "Each group will have at least one caster with them, and every caster will have a com crystal. Erk and Nino, both of you will stay with me while we advance, so I can keep in contact with the other groups." The two younger mages nodded. "Pent, Guy, Kent, Rebbecca, Hector, Jaffar, Lowen, Serra and Raven." He began. "All Nine of you will go around the valley through the pass along the river to the second Bastilla emplacement, on the near side of the forest. Pent, Serra, I want one of you to contact either Erk or Nino the moment before you attack the emplacement, and the moment you take them out. Don't take stupid risks either- any of you. I want every one of us alive when we get to the Gate."

"With me, Erk and Nino as we move on the valley: Lyn, Sain, Oswin, Matthew, Kaila, Dart, Rath, Karel and Hawkeye. Once I get a closer look at those fortifications, I'll know better on what to do about them." He gave orders for the last group. "Eliwood, Marcus, Priscilla, Dorcas, Wil, Canas, Leagult, Nils and Louise. You'll take the other pass, and make your way to the Bastilla emplacement on farther side of the forest. Priscilla, Canas, same contacting rules I gave Pent and Serra apply to you." He turned back to Lucius. "Keep ready in case I need to contact you with a call for reinforcements, or to unground the fliers. Once I give you the order to tell the fliers they can go up and into the fight, I want you, Bartre and Merlinus to make your way towards the valley, and join my group there." He paused. "Everyone understand?"

Everyone replied in the affirmative, all at once.

"Alright then. Lets move out. Once the three initial objectives are taken, we'll move on the ruins, and from there, the Gate."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Alkeni and the 11 members of his group reached the fortifications on the valley entrance, just out of the reach of the enemy archers. Alkeni took at look at the defensive emplacements, trying to figure out how to bring them crashing down.

"I just received word from Pent." Erk interrupted Alkeni's thoughts. "They're beginning attacking on their target." Moments later, Nino spoke up.

"Canas's group is beginning the assault as well." Alkeni nodded, and then reached into his cloak. He pulled out a small glass bottle with a rag stuffed into the top of it. He also withdrew a small piece of parchment.

"Mathew." The thief looked up. "I want you to get up to that wall, right by the bottom. You should be able to use the cover around here to get there without being noticed, and you can dodge nearly any arrow anyway. Take this," he handed the Ostian spy the bottle and the parchment. "and place it just at the wall, where it meets the ground. Read the words on the parchment out loud, and then get away from it as fast as you can. Its something I had Canas and Pent design. Anyone can activate it by speaking the command words. Merlinus has more in his wagon. I only grabbed one. Looks like we can give it a test in an actual combat situation now. It'll blow a hole in the wall and we can get through."

Matthew nodded and made his way into the field of arrow fire. The archers immediately began peppering him with arrows- and immediately, they began missing. The thief didn't even receive a scratch- the closest was when an arrow punched a hole in his cloak, but it still missed him by half a food- his cloak was billowing all over the place as he jumped and dashed. With a smirk, Matthew drew two dirks and as he got closer, began to chop the arrows as they came to him. Finally, after several minutes of acrobatic motion and graceful dance through the hail, he reached the wall.

He planted the bottle and read the chant. With a high jump, he leapt away from the wall and behind the cover of a tree.

KABOOOSH! The bottle blew, and their view of the wall was blocked by an explosion of smoke, fire and shattered rock. The stench of burnt flesh assaulted their senses. As it all cleared, they saw what was left of the wall. It was now shorn in two, each half on the ends of the valley entrance, but a gaping hole, nearly 10 feet long, not even any rubble left to stand testament to the barrier that once was there.

"Lyn, Sain, Hawkeye! Through the breach! Rath, Kaila, provide support!" Sain led the charge, his green armor gleaming in the morning sun. His lance raised, he bucked his horse forward, into the breach, impaling a sword-wielding morph through the chest, leaving it to break apart in a burst of expended magic. And that was just the beginning. Throwing his lance down, the Caelin Knight pulled his saber and his horse reared up, its hooves smashing down on another morphs skull as Sain brought his blade across another morph, not destroying it, but heavily damaging its Essence Pattern.

Hawkeye spun his enormous axe around, cutting three morphs in half, their broken bodies flying against the valley edges before dissipating. Another morph charged through the hole his wild attack left in his defenses- only to meet Lyn's Mani Katti, as it pierced his legs, removing them, leaving the foe to bleed out as she carried her attack through to another. Soon she appeared to be all over the battlefield, dancing the dance of the Iron Death, her hair flying wildly as she darted in, through and around the fray.

Those three warriors did not have all the fun. Kaila began to cackle with glee as she called down fire, ice and thunder, demolishing the remnants of the wall and the archers still on those remnants in a burst of magical power. Fire danced around her as she waded right into the fray, hurling attacks left and right. Rath brought his almost perfect accuracy with the bow to bear, bringing down the foes at the far end of the valley before they could reach the fray.

With another shouted order from Alkeni, Oswin, Matthew, Dart, Karel, Nino and Erk entered the fray. Rolling right underneath the battle, Karel made his way right through the fray. He ended right as his goal- the three Bastilla. Ignoring the archers who were struggling to bring their own bows to bear on this new foe. With a bloodcurdling cry, he brought his blade to bear, cutting not through the morphs, but through the siege weapons themselves, snapping the ropes and destroying the bolts that were already there. The weapons were useless. Karel gave another bloodcurdling war cry and joined the fray.

Alkeni smirked when he saw the Bastilla fall. He grabbed a hold of Nino. "Get our air support over here now!" And they needed it. They may have the advantage now, but there were reinforcements on their way. Nino nodded and transferred his command through the crystal. Alkeni heard the roar of Hyperion as it flew up, and knew they were on their way.

But he was not able to enjoy that moment's victory for long, as an axe flew towards him. He darted to the side, but still did not avoid it in it's entirety- the blade of the weapon clipped his shoulder and with a groan of pain, he fell down against the valley edge, holding his shoulder as blood stained his green cloak. Alkeni staggered back through the fray, crouching down at the edge, cursing himself for not keeping a vulnerary on him.

Hyperion roared over the fray, its shadow falling on the battle. Heath threw a javelin down on a soldier about to crack Oswin's armor, and the morph fell gurgling as the weapon went entirely through it's throat.

Heath was not alone atop Hyperion. With a roar of glee, Batre jumped down into the battle, landing on the head of a morph and crushing him. "It looks like there's still room in THIS party!" He began to swing wildly, sinking his axe into his foes.

Lucius too was on Hyperion, and he dropped down as well, crouching as he landed on the ground. He saw Alkeni wounded and after regaining his footing and using a trickle of energy from his staff to heal his sprained ankle, he rushed over to the tactician.

"Alha Kan Am ana Elekanahman" He muttered quickly, and a bright light flowed from the crystal atop the staff, his wound closing, the flesh knitting itself back together.

Three loud 'neighs' pierced above the din, as Fiora, Farina and Florina dove down into the fray, their lances gleaming, the wings of their pegasi in full spread.

It was only a matter of time before the battle was won.

In another part of the vast space, approaching the Bastilla on the farther side of the forest, were nine more soldiers, these under the command of Eliwood.

The enemy were arrayed in a loose circle around the Bastilla, mostly heavily armored knights and paladins.

"Alright. Its not going to do to just charge right in-" Eliwood began.

"Milord Eliwood, If I may? I believe I have a spell that may make this task easier."

"Go ahead Canas." Eliwood told the Elder Magic user.

There was a legend that Canas knew. It was a common legend actually, passed down from the days before the scouring. It told of a great warrior, who spent his whole life seeking to better his skills in combat. He fought opponent after opponent, until he was the unmatched master of the axe, the sword and the lance. But he had not yet mastered the bow. But when he took up the bow, he found that his strength was so great that every time he tried to use a bow, he snapped it. It would never work. After much effort, he had someone forge a bow that was thick enough that he could use it. But the force behind it was still too much. The bow fired, but the arrow, a massive weapon the size of Bastilla bolt broke apart under the stress of the bow, becoming a massive storm of fragments and shards, hitting many enemies at once.

When Canas had come upon the legend into his research, he immediately saw the potential a spell modeled off of that bow. And so he designed it. He had only used it a few times before, the last time before now had been at the Dragon's Gate, before the entered the main complex. He used it only sparingly because of the immense cost to his own personal magical energy.

The shaman closed his eyes and began to chant, his voice low.

"Etrekalve, Tridelic, Zazz'tla'ck. Etrekalve, Tridelic, Zazz'tla'ck. Etrekalve, Tridelic, Zazz'tla'ck." He repeated the chant over and over again, building the power as the purple-black orb of dark power formed and grew in his hands. "Etrekalve, Tridelic, Zazz'tla'ck." Again. "Etrekalve, Tridelic, Zazz'tla'ck." Again. Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again, his voice slowly getting louder with each repetition. "ETREKALVE, TRIDELIC, ZAZZ'TLA'CK!" He shouted, his eyes opening, his pupils black and purple with the power. The orb flew out towards the enemy, growing quickly to the size of a large horse. And then, it burst. It burst and the power contained within formed hundreds, thousands of little balls of energy that pelted the assembled morphs.

As the smoke and magic cleared, Canas slumping down against a tree, it was clear that the few morphs who had managed to survive were not in any shape to put up a real resistance to the forces of Eliwood and the soldiers with him.

The sun was beginning to set when all three groups met again in the narrow dip in elevation before the last obstacle that stood before the Gate. The ruins that held the last set of Bastilla.

All of them were tired, exhausted, covered in minor cuts and bruises that weren't worth healing with their limited supply of staves and vulneraries. But all of them were ready to fight at least one more battle. Grim determination was within all of them.

With a roar, Hyperion shot up into the sky, and the Bastilla all fired at him- but to their shock, the massive damage that should have been wrought on the wyvern was not dealt. The bolts simply did not actually hit the beast, missing by the barest of inches in one case. The magic of the Delphi Shield protected the wyvern and its rider. As the Bastilla crew hurried to reload their enormous weapons, all four fliers rose up over them and dropped small bottles, speaking a few quick words as they did so. The bottles, more of the magical explosives like that used on the valley wall, exploded mere moments before they collided with the ground, wreaking the weapons. In response, three morph wyvern riders rose up to challenge their counterparts. Only to find columns of fire rise up to hit their monsters' bellies, as Erk, Pent, Nino, Priscilla and Kaila brought their own magic to bear.

With a cry of 'FOR PHERAE' Marcus reared his horse back and led a charge through the ruins, leading Lowen, Kent, Sain and Rath on a charge at the ruins, scattering their opposition, as the foot soldiers followed up to mop up the remnants.

The strategy, as the four fliers continued to rain fire bottles down on the ruins, whole sections burning wholesale. So intense was the magical force behind the flames that the stone itself began to melt, becoming molten slag.

This was the vengeance that was wrought on those who served Nergal. And the vengeance that would be wrought on Nergal himself. Complete and total ruin. Total devastation and destruction. Death, death and more death. Nergal would see his plans collapse all around him before his death.

Author's Note: Whew.....that took a lot out of me. I did the battle in valley entirely in one sitting, and everything after than in a short span as well. Its ironic. The reason is I want to get the Nergal Arc done ASAP so I can do a few chapters of The Nightmare War. Thats what really kept me motivated enough to stay on Open Office and keep hammering at that keyboard.

And I know I didn't do the battle with the third group, but I was just too mentally exhausted to do that, and the last scene. *Takes a deep breath*. I may start working on the next chapter earlier than planned (I plan to start writing December 26) IF I get 5 or more reviews for this chapter. So, if you want the chapter sooner, review, and get your friends to review as well.