Chapter 52
Rivals Under Attack

Vineis read the report.

He put it down on the table.

He picked it up and read it again.

He put it down again.

Sheuth was watching him carefully. The rogue, who knew Vineis well, was thinking of making a run for it when the wizard said, "No activity at all."

"Yes, Vineis."

"All spies report the same thing."

"Yes, Vineis."

"They're not going anywhere."

"Yes, Vineis."

"Isn't this a little suspicious?" asked the wizard, looking up at Sheuth. "Why is the Raulus not doing anything? The next War of Emperium is tomorrow, and yet they show no signs of discussion or preparation."

"Fairly suspicious, in my opinion," said Sheuth. "It's not like them to suddenly stop. I doubt the soiree would have changed Valkron's mind about maintaining the ranking."

"Well, it is quite an intimidating event," mused the wizard. "But you're right. Valkron is not easily swayed by events or people."

"Maybe there should be a closer investigation on him," suggested the rogue.

"Our spies are already risking their lives on this, Sheuth. Valkron has spies too, you know." Vineis sighed. "Well, whatever they do, we'll be keeping an eye on. I'm sure no one wants another Eye of Odin to try us."

Sheuth nodded briefly and left.

As he walked along the passages of Gondul to his room, he decided that it was time.


It was true that there had been no discussion or anything of the sort in the Raulus. Spies had commented seeing Valkron send falcons off to Greenwood Lake, but the knight did it on a weekly basis, as a method of corresponding with his guild extension. There was no change in the peaceful atmosphere in Britoniah.

Winter had passed quickly, and now spring crawled along at a snail's pace. No one complained - spring was wonderful enough on its own. New life burst out everywhere, and birds sang from dawn till dusk.

However, there was something the spies did not account for.

Valkron watched in the distance as a small dot of light flashed in the distance. He was muttering under his breath.

When the light had stopped blinking, he turned to a hunter behind him. "Send as follows."

The mirror flashed. Then there was silence.

After a short while, there was a brief series of flashes in reply. Valkron nodded.

"Good, it's gone on. You can go," he added, to the hunter behind him.

The mirror signalling was good, but there had to be an alternative for the night. That was what he thought as he made his way back down to the ground floor of Repherion. Therefore Valkron had asked Aramithar to help design and build a small lantern that could be purposely made for such use.

He met Iruna and Emeth in the meeting room.

"How is it?" she asked.

"Shen will gladly do what I told him," answered the knight. "We don't have to worry about Greenwood Lake for now. Looks like we're all set."

"We're using the alternate troop method?" asked Emeth.

"Yes. After all, Adiemus, Raven and Selvatinius can't try to focus on two areas at once."

"You do know that the Repherion Alliance has seven hundred troops at its disposal in total," said Iruna. "That's even more than the Fire of Heaven Alliance."

"I'm not taking a risk with the combined forces of the Seven Eyes and the Black Cross," explained the knight. "Even if we have more troops, it doesn't necessarily mean we have more strength. Strength by numbers is not good enough."

"True," agreed Emeth, nodding.

"Does the entire Britoniah region know about this proposal?" asked Iruna, raising an eyebrow.

"Why are you giving me that look? I've just conveyed the message to Albrecht; he'll pass it on to Bergel and Yesnelph. It's not like I'm going to hide information." There was a pause, and then he added, "Again."

"He's telling the truth, Iruna," said Emeth. "I saw him go up to the battlements."

Iruna snorted, but said nothing in reply.

"Right, I'm going to go and have a shower," said Valkron, walking off. "Don't bother me."


Alya was in Bright Arbor the next day, preparing for the war. Her spies had notified her that several smaller guilds were going to invade their castle. Although she did not need to be around in Greenwood Lake, it had been her decision to see to them.

The great horns blared just as the Seven Eyes' much feared Gatekeepers had taken up position in front of the gates. Several minutes later, the gates crashed open, letting through a massive flow of lesser guild troops, all shouting in enthusiasm.

Alya, a Gatekeeper herself, shook her head. "Wizards! Defend!"

Fire, ice, wind and lightning crashed down on the invaders. The wizards on the attacking side raised their staffs, but Alya had already sent out a wave of energy that left ripples in the air at them. One after another, they fell.

And then the full force of the invaders slammed into the Gatekeepers head on.

Alya fought so hard that soon there was a little clearing around her. People did not dare take her on at close range. Apart from the occasional peco-mounted, spear-wielding knight, no one tried anything. As for said knights, they were forcefully thrown off their pecos by several monks who kept an eye on Alya nevertheless.

It was during the mess and chaos that she heard screams from the invaders, and suddenly found herself standing in the midst of equally mystified guild members. The small guilds were withdrawing, fleeing for their lives.

In front of her stood a grey-haired hunter and a white-haired knight.

"Good day, Alya," said Valkron. He was leaning on his sword casually.

The sage bristled. "What are you doing here, Valkron? Don't tell me you came to help me clear those worthless guilds! We're perfectly capable on our own!"

"Ouch. You can really sting when you want to, do you?" The knight got off his sword and sheathed it. "Well, no. We're really not here to help, however friendly we look at the moment."

Alya stared at Valkron, the truth dawning on her.

Then, in a split second, she had turned and shouted, "Gatekeepers, to me!"

But it was too late. The small guilds had drawn most of the Seven Eyes out of Bright Arbor, and now the troops of the Right Wing of the Phoenix were coming in from behind like a vengeful river. In front of them were troops from Britoniah.

The sage gritted her teeth. "I am not going to let you through, Valkron!"

To her amazement, the knight shrugged.

"I'm not doing it for myself, Alya," he said. "You thought I'd be taking Bright Arbor for myself? Well, this is where the man you thought was too old and too nice as a knight becomes someone else."

Alya screamed, fury steaming off her, and charged. Valkron smiled.

"I'm not the only one here, Alya," he said, and pulled out his scythe.

Knight and sage whirled in the middle of the battle, as all around them Gatekeepers and the Right Wing of the Phoenix's Heavy Arms tussled for the upper hand. Valkron lunged forward, parried, slashed and scythed at her without pausing, as if everything had been planned beforehand. Alya was forced to defend herself over and over again, and any hit she aimed at him was always thrown off.

She couldn't believe it. Valkron was old, she knew. The crescent scythe, a much coveted weapon, was heavy. And yet here he was, moving as if everything was perfect, with eyes like glittering emeralds, and with a speed she had never experienced before.

Alya knew that Valkron was human, but somehow...he was not as human as she had expected.

She made one last desperate move - she slammed her staff into the ground. Massive spikes erupted from the ground and ripped the soil apart as it headed for the knight.

Valkron shook his head and slammed the tip of his scythe into the ground.

The spikes hit the scythe with such a powerful impact that those fighting nearby were thrown off their feet as the ground shook. The spell was still driving forward, but Valkron was not moving backwards, and neither was his scythe.

The spell died off. Alya's jaw had dropped. Her Heaven's Drive equalled that of a wizard's, but Valkron had easily broken through it as if it had been nothing but a rock thrown haphazardly at him

"Sometimes you've got to think about strength in terms of experience, Alya," said the knight, freeing his scythe from the ground and hooking it over his shoulder. "Adiemus told me you had doubts about me, because I was old and I'd give up my position to someone younger than me. That's not really true." He looked over her shoulder. "Ah, the way is clear."

"What are you talking about?" asked Alya, in despair.

"This."

Valkron raised his scythe. Light played along the dark, curved blade, and finished with a wink in the sunlight.

"That's your real rival, Alya," he said. "Behind you. I was just here to clear the path."

The sage turned around.

Selvatinius bowed. "Greetings, Alya. I hope you found Valkron entertaining. It is now my turn."


Lucius held up the recent spy report by his forefinger and thumb, as if it was something disgusting. "You misjudged the Raulus again, Sheuth."

The rogue stared. This was not easy to do, considering that the report was two inches from his nose.

"You did not tell Vineis, but you thought that the Raulus was not going to attack this time," continued the assassin. "And this time, the Repherion Alliance is working its strength."

Sheuth stared. At length, he said, "Apocalypse Ultima...has reclaimed Bright Arbor."

It was not a question.

Lucius threw the report at Sheuth; the rogue caught it, still stunned.

"You had better go and report to Vineis now," he said. "Before Alya informs him."

At the mention of Alya's name, the rogue turned on his heel and ran. Lucius watched him until he turned a corner and disappeared from sight, before turning to the others standing behind him.

"Still suspicious about Sheuth?" he asked them.

"Obviously," said Reita. "Why would he be so lax about the spies? Since when did he not care about the Raulus' activities?"

"I just can't quite put my finger on him," remarked David. "But we can't do anything, because Sheuth and Vineis share quite a close bond, after all."

"True," agreed Lucius. "Vineis will protest if anyone tries to take action on Sheuth. I do not know why."

"No one wants to know why," remarked David.

Lucius looked at the others, which consisted of Sedir, Naobi and Kuroihi. "Nothing to say?" he asked.

Kuroihi shrugged. "What is there to say?"

"I thought you could contribute."

"I know Sheuth as much as I know about magic," replied the knight. "There's not much of a point in saying anything if I don't know what it's about."

"Fair enough." Lucius frowned. "So what are we going to do about the Raulus? They seem very determined on taking everything from us."

"Their intention is to help the world, and therefore help the people. They need positions in the kingdom, however...and this means that they'll be invading every other region." David huffed. "They're driving a hard bargain on us."

"We don't have anything to worry about unless the Raulus pushes us," said Reita. "As long as they stay out of the Valkyrie Realms--"

"I will not have the Raulus invading Luina."

Everyone looked at Naobi. His soft voice had taken on a particularly venomous hiss to it.

"Luina is ours," he said, his green eyes narrowed. "The Raulus can have Greenwood Lake and Britoniah, but not Luina."

After a short silence, Kuroihi reached out and patted Naobi on the shoulder.

"We'll not let them," he said. "This is our stand. Don't worry, Naobi."


The extension of the Black Cross in Greenwood Lake was led by a very strange knight. Most people avoided him if they could. He had long, spiky black hair and very blue eyes. Although people had described him using numerous adjectives such as 'dashing', 'charismatic', 'dignified', and 'fascinating', no one dared to go near him.

Valkron knew him as a colleague. Adonis – for that was his name – was also a senior knight commander. Most knights avoided him as well; the black-haired knight had a reputation for being sadistic.

And two days after he had helped Apocalypse Ultima reclaim Bright Arbor, he was now facing Adonis.

"Good day, Adonis," he said, leaning on his sword.

The knight had permanently half-closed eyes, no matter how many times Valkron tried to catch him off-guard. He looked as lazy and uninterested as Seyren.

Adonis looked at him for a long time. Eventually he said, "Are you sure?"

The white-haired knight shrugged. "I'm not doing it for myself."

The horns blared.

Valkron sheathed his sword and pulled out his crescent scythe. "As much as I regret doing this, I can't really say no."

The two knights stared at each other. Valkron looked at Adonis and knew...

...he was going to enjoy this.

Adonis used a massive zephyrus as a main weapon. Therefore there was much risk, as the weapon cast Thunderstorm on its own, randomly. Valkron swore, later on, that he had never had so much fun from dodging the spell and the spear at the same time. He received several looks from his guild troops later on.

But for now, they slammed into each other and strained to push each other off. Adonis was more well-built and younger than Valkron, but the older knight used experience to his advantage.

And soon the Exodus Faction and the Defenders of Prontera arrived.


Sheuth covered his eyes with one hand.

"All right, I berated you for being lax with spies, but how did this get past them?" asked Vineis, staring at the spy report. "And how did Adonis lose to Valkron? He's one of the best spear knights in the kingdom!"

He put the report down. "The presence of the Black Cross and the Seven Eyes in Greenwood Lake has been completely wiped out by the Repherion Alliance. Now here we have Sacred Palace and Bamboo Grove Hill occupied by the Right Wing of the Phoenix, Scarlet Palace and Holy Shadow reclaimed by the Exodus Faction, and Bright Arbor under Apocalypse Ultima. Before we know it the Defenders of Prontera are going to come after us."

Sheuth coughed. "Raven has expressed that he has no wish to reclaim the Valkyrie Realms, Vineis. At any cost or any price."

"I am not taking any risks, Sheuth," the wizard said, giving his right-hand man a glare. "I want to see Adonis. I don't care where he is, call him by falcon."

It did not take long to summon the knight to Gondul, as he had returned to the Chivalry and therefore could easily warp himself into the castle by its respective guild flag sitting in Prontera Plaza. The only problem was that no matter how many times people had told him Vineis wanted to see him urgently, his deliberate, slow walk did not change speed.

The wizard shooed off Sheuth before talking to Adonis. Sheuth quietly closed the door and then pressed his ear against the cold keyhole to listen.

He heard Vineis say, "I am disappointed with you, Adonis. You let the Raulus, of all guilds beat you down and allow its allies to retake the agit. I want an explanation for this behaviour now."

There was a short silence. Adonis was a man of few words; it was clear he did not like being told to speak. When he spoke, Sheuth pushed against the door even further to hear him.

"Valkron used his skills to gain the upper hand in our fight. Before our fight was over, the Exodus Faction and the Defenders of Prontera had arrived."

"And you didn't try to stop him before anything else happened?" asked Vineis. Sheuth could imagine him watching Adonis with his fingers steepled on the desk in front of him.

"I attempted to do so. I did not expect my troops to give up so quickly. I continued fighting with Valkron in order to delay him, but to no avail."

There was a very long silence. Sheuth found himself holding his breath.

Finally, Vineis said, "This has gone too far. People around here are getting lax with their defences. Just because the big guilds have decided not to be involved with the Black Cross my own troops are beginning to think that guild life isn't so hard after all. It looks like there's a need for cutting down around here now."

The rogue heard the sharp intake of breath.

"Sir, you don't mean--" began Adonis. From his tone, his usually dull outlook had turned into something close to shock.

"Unfortunately, you have to be the first one to go." Sheuth heard the creak of the chair and the scrape of wood against carpet as Vineis got to his feet. "Leave the Black Cross, Adonis. You have failed my expectations of you, after all this time."

Sheuth peered through the keyhole. Adonis was standing very still. Vineis had moved over to the window; most of the keyhole blocked him out, but Sheuth could see his cloak.

"This is unreasonable," said Adonis, after a while. His voice had gone back to its flat, dull tone.

"Don't question my orders," replied Vineis.

"You don't know how it is like to fight with Valkron, do you?"

"Adonis, you have failed me. I have had enough failures, more than I can stand. It may be unreasonable that I am expelling you from the guild because you appear to be the failure that crossed the line, but it is a necessary decision that has to be made for the future of the guild." Vineis whirled around. "Leave, Adonis."

After a little while longer, the knight turned and made for the door. He went out without looking at Sheuth, who had quickly moved away from the door far enough to look as if he hadn't heard anything.

The rogue watched the knight disappear into the dimly lit corridors of Gondul. And as he watched, an idea, tiny but wicked, hatched in his mind.


Valkron spent the next day rubbing down his peco and brushing its feathers. From time to time he would get an occasional protest about taking care of pecos, to which he would usually reply, "You don't know how much your peco's worth till you lose it, so shut up and take care of it." But it was true. Without proper cleaning a peco was vulnerable to many illnesses and infections, and pecos were not 'just beasts', as some said.

The knight knew how valuable his own peco was to him. He'd bought it for 2,500 zeny from the trainer at the Chivalry, but to him Evlor was priceless. He doubted he'd ever have got out of tight situations without the peco. The bird had even saved his life several times, and Valkron felt slightly indebted to it. All he could do was feed it and see to it that the bird was well looked after.

As a result, Evlor had developed a sort of affectionate bond for his owner. Valkron accepted the bird's enthusiastic beak rubs and happy honks with grace, because he didn't want to disappoint the bird, and also because he couldn't outrun it.

Currently he was using a large brush to remove dirt he had missed. Evlor closed his eyes and enjoyed the slow, sweeping strokes along his back. Valkron worked until he had reached the short, almost non-existential tail. He gave the tail a few thorough brushings before going off to wash it, pausing on his way to scratch Evlor under the chin. The bird honked happily.

Finally he put away the grooming tools and patted the bird on the head. It nuzzled him before trotting off to its stable. Valkron watched it go.

After a while, he said, "Whoever is that behind me, get out into the open where I can see you when I turn around."

The silence was broken by footsteps on the fresh grass behind him. The sound grew louder, and then stopped when it was directly behind Valkron.

The knight scratched his head. "Kind of harsh of you to sneak up on us when we're not even armed or armoured, hm?"

The person behind him said nothing.

Valkron turned around and looked into a pair of navy blue eyes that seemed dull and uninterested in anything around them. He looked surprised for a minute, and then raised an eyebrow.

"What can I do for you," he said, "Adonis?"


And I'll leave it there for the next few days.

If you know about horses, you'll know that Valkron is grooming Evlor using a technique that is also used on horses. Reasons being 1) birds have natural oils in their feathers, and water will just run off (and therefore not collect any dirt), and 2) because the birds are like horses for the knights, anyway.

There won't be any chapters up for at least a week, mainly because I'm going off to France and then home. Once I get back home I'll resume the writing.

Hope you've enjoyed everything so far.

note for FFNet: I've left a poll on my profile page for research purposes - about which character of WotW is your favourite. It's just something I'd like to know. Don't ask me why. Even I don't know why I'd like to know.