Chapter 32) Together


Well, no turning back. We've jumped into battle and committed ourselves to the war. Gods, help us all or something. Is this a good time to pray? Might be. Regardless, we spend most of the night packing, with Aideen helping us out as she was an old hand at it. She broke down crying a couple more times, but that was fine. All of us cried some point during packing too, and not even Larcei denies it. I mean; it was hard to hide how much she cried when Aideen showed her the dresses she'd made for her, based off of some of Aunt Ayra's clothes, the ones in the portraits we had. All of the portraits came with us. Even that lone picture of Deirdre that Seliph had.

Early in the morning, Aideen made us all a warm breakfast and had us check that we had everything we needed and wanted. Because, once we left, we… we weren't going to come back. Not for a long while. ...I might just be sick. Great start, right?


Under the pale, sparkling light of dawn, amidst the early morning fog, the resistance fighters of Tirnanog, led by the Scions of Light and their Imperial Prince of Light, stood, ready to depart. Or, well, they would if the people of Tirnanog ever stopped hugging and saying goodbyes! For some reason, whenever I imagined us marching off, I imagined much more… something much more stoic. Quiet. Serious. I should've known better. For all of its isolation, Tiranog had always been a lively and warm place. So, of course, our departure would be the same.

"I'll be sure to send Oifeye, Lester, and Diarmuid after you lot when they return from their patrol," Aideen reassured, hugging me because I happened to be 'first' in the accidental lineup. Because she could see my nerves, though, she decided to also tease a bit. "You sure you don't want me to keep your stuffed-dog safe here, Riona?"

"Aideen!" I protested, flushing in embarrassment. Then I just shook my head. Nope, it wasn't leaving my sight, especially since its absence had cost me Conall. Besides, Seliph was taking the stuffed-bear Mom had gotten him when he was a baby. And I felt like… it made me feel like Dad was watching out for me. "Mean."

"When you return, you can pull a prank to get me back." She kissed my cheek and then brushed the hair out of my face to study me. "You really do look like Alicia. It's easy to see Chulainn, but you definitely took more after her."

"Did I?"

"Yes. Though you're much brighter, happier, than she ever was. Than he ever was. I'm glad for it. Makes me think I did an okay job, raising you."

"You were the best. Are the best." Honestly, the only people I could even think of… if my parents had lived, if they had survived, I would've probably have preferred being raised by them, because they were my parents. But they had died, and Aideen had filled that void easily. Given the circumstances, given everything… "There is no one that I'd rather raise me."

"Living, that is." Her smile was kind, and a touch sad. She missed my parents too. She missed everyone in that army so very dearly. "I wish they could've seen you. They would've been so proud."

"They're still watching." Or so I hoped. It made me feel less… I didn't know. I've never been lonely; you couldn't with this crazy little family. But I guess it did make me feel less 'abandoned', even though I knew my parents never had a real choice in the matter. They chose to send us to safety, and then had died, proving that they had been right to send us away. "If we hear anything about Brigid, we'll send word back right away."

"Only if it's safe." Her eyes did will up with tears at the thought, though. The last anyone heard of Brigid was that she'd disappeared during the Belhalla Massacre, one of the many missing, presumed dead. "I've waited this long for word. I can wait longer."

"Of course." I hugged her tightly. "Love you, Aideen."

"Love you more, Riona." She kissed me on the cheek again and then went to the next of us in the line, Seliph. I struggled to not cry and, instead, looked around at the… at the very sizable crowd, actually. Before the next person came to hug me, that is.

Practically the whole town had come to see us off. In fact, I swore the only ones here were the ones too wounded to safely stand, like Deimne, and Muirne, who had kindly taken the first few shifts in the infirmary so that Aideen could see us off worry free. We'd said goodbye to them earlier, when we visited the infirmary to do one last shift and to let the wounded know we were leaving. Their eyes had lit up and, almost heartbreakingly, each of them had given us something, one of the few things they still had. I got precious dolls from children, small tokens some adults had held onto for good luck. And we couldn't refuse them. This was their way of helping us. This was their way of saying, more than anything else, 'I believe you will save everything'. Those little tokens held the weight of their worlds. I was honestly terrified I'd break under the weight, and not be strong enough to carry it. But you couldn't show that to them. You couldn't show your fear to the people who believed in you so, so much...

"Ah, I wish I could march with you," Creidne murmured, giving me a hug like so many others. Everyone got hugs, even Seliph and Ulster, though she was noticeably more hesitant with them still. But that she could was wonderful. "But Aideen thinks it'll be bad for my healing."

"I'll kill your share of soldiers too," I replied, smiling at her. It kept me from crying, and not just because I seemed perpetually on the edge of tears this morning. Creidne had been our first friend and I had always assumed that during that Mythical Someday, she would be with us. But her health took priority. "And if I see that one, I swear I'll rip him apart."

"Good." She flinched at the mention, and I gave her another hug to make up for it. The worst of her… attackers… hadn't been there when she was rescued, and likely was still alive. She'd babbled out a description in the hours that followed her rescue and she was in too much shock to process anything. I'd made sure to remember. I knew Larcei and Lana had too. "He deserves it."

"More than deserves it." I kissed her cheek and winked. "Just you wait! We'll be back, victorious, before you know it!"

"I look forward to your triumphant return!" She kissed my forehead and then ducked behind Dalvin, who talked with Seliph. I could see the strain on her. Being around so many people was taking its toll. But she endured for us. She endured to see us off. Gods, did I ever adore her.

"If only my injuries were healed enough, but like this, I'll just slow all of you down," Dalvin murmured to Seliph, catching my attention. He smiled forlornly, yet proudly, at us, and I had to fight to keep the smile on my face. Like Creidne, I had always assumed he would be with us too. But, also like Creidne, his health took priority. "I think, by the time you all liberate Isaach, I'll be healed enough to at least guard Isaach while you all go free the rest of the continent." The smile became a confident grin. "So, don't worry about your backs."

"Then we know we've got the best of guards," Seliph replied. He hugged Dalvin gently, to not aggravate his injuries, and Dalvin did his best to hug him back. "Nothing to fear, except what's in front of us."

"As it should be." Dalvin moved to give us all hugs, each one tentative not from hesitancy, but because of his injuries. "As it should be."

Others swung by to give us hugs, and even some little treats to eat along the road. But, eventually, I reached the one goodbye I kept putting off, and knew I couldn't avoid it forever. "Well, here we go," I whispered to Hestia, crouching down to get her one last pet. She licked and nuzzled my cheek. "Keep Aideen safe while we're away, okay?" I kissed her nose and winced as she whined. She didn't like this, and I'd miss her terribly. "It won't be forever. I'll see you soon." I nudged her to Aideen. She sat down to make it more difficult. "I love you too. We'll be back." Aideen helpfully reached down to grab Hestia's fur. Hestia continued whining and whimpering. I simply kissed her head. "See you soon."

There were a few more goodbyes, a few more hugs, but as the sunshine began dispersing the fog, we all left because, otherwise, we really wouldn't ever leave. A few of the fighters began crying as we walked past the front gates, determined to push forward and fight, but unable to fight off the ache in their hearts. I lingered near a few, doing my best to cheer them up, though I felt like crying too. But I didn't. I kept my smile. I had to. From this point forward, keeping the smile was going to be very important. I mean; we were leaders now. Leaders had to be confident or something. And given everything, I really didn't think I had a right to be sad. Maybe later, when the war had been going on longer. But now? No, not really.

So, I'd always keep smiling. Someone had to.


"You're so forlorn!" Seliph teased me, some time later. I had no idea how long we had been walking, or how far had gotten. I just knew the sun was high and we'd walked enough that people were starting to wince from hurting feet. "We can still turn back and get Hestia, you know."

"Who brings a wolf to a war?" I immediately retorted, scowling. Maybe because he was bored, or maybe because he was nervous, but Seliph decided to tease someone in our group, and with Larcei and Ulster quietly talking, and Lana further back with one of the carts to check her healing supplies, I was the target. "Don't be ridiculous."

"You're drooping like a wilted flower."

"I am not!" I scowled up at him, and outright glared when he snickered. "Ugh… anyone who thinks you're just a sweet and gentle child has never spent more than five minutes with you."

"You're especially easy to tease today!" He continued snickering. "If we were younger, wouldn't the older people say-"

"If you mention anything about that bullshit of 'oh, they are only bullying you because they like you', I will conveniently step on your foot." I rolled my eyes and Seliph laughed outright. "They weren't saying that after I punched the idiot."

"Oifeye was so torn between 'wow, that was a good punch' and 'Riona, please do not be like Larcei and use violence to solve every issue'."

"Aideen agreed with me!" Well, she did once I explained that, no, I didn't punch that boy at random. I did because he was picking on me, and then made Lana cry when I kept on ignoring him. "What was his name? I can't remember."

"Neither can I." And all humor about the situation disappeared when we remembered why that was. He and his family had been caught by soldiers while traveling to visit family in a nearby village and taken as prisoners 'suspected of rebellion'. The adults had been executed. The children had been 'relocated to a safe area', a gilded prison that apparently hadn't been so bad, all things considered. Food, shelter, and just a few more guards than a typical village. Easy to play off as a good thing. But it had become the first of the labor camps after Deirdre died, and we never saw that boy again. "I wish I knew the names of all who had…"

"Same." Both of us fell silent then, unsettled by the reminder of everything we were fighting to prevent. He reached over to take my hand, and I stepped closer to briefly rest my head on his shoulder. Just a little bit of comfort. In the silence, I tried to focus on everyone else, with my attention being drawn to Larcei and Ulster, still talking nearby.

"Stop bouncing about so much," Ulster chided, smiling in fond exasperation at Larcei. He reached over to snag her collar to keep her near him. "You'll trigger a trap or something."

"Gods, Ulster, you're maybe a minute older than me, so stop acting so old!" Larcei groaned, rolling her eyes. She did settle down a bit, though. "I'm just glad to be finally… you know…"

"Yes, yes. Be careful not to burn yourself out."

"Well, someone has to make sure your patient ass actually gets moving. Otherwise, you'd wait forever!" Larcei stretched her arms out, sighing happily. "Hey, maybe we can learn what happened to our parents." She glared when Ulster opened his mouth. "Don't you dare say they're dead. They're definitely alive."

"Right, right." Ulster smiled sadly. "Of course."

"They are."

"Of course."

"I mean it."

"I know."

They went back and forth like that for a while longer and I stopped listening as I thought about Aunt Ayra and Uncle Lex. I'd heard a lot about them growing up, of course. Ulster and Larcei's parents… Shanan's uncle and aunt… dear friends of Aideen… people Oifeye had highly respected… I wasn't related to them by blood. Well, I supposed technically I was with Aunt Ayra, Od blood and all, but it was very distant. So, I really wasn't. But I called them that anyway, most days at least, because Uncle Lex had been Uncle Azel's best friend and Aunt Ayra had been one of Mom's dearest friends, and a childhood friend of Dad's. It just… felt right to call them that. I was sure, if I'd gotten more time with them, I would've called them that and they would've been happy at it. I mean; Aideen had never corrected me. In fact, she would give me odd looks when I didn't call them that.

Regardless, we hadn't heard much about them in years, not since we lost Conall. In fact, we had been so close to Isaach Castle because we had heard they were near. And since then, the most had been something about them maybe being dead because of bandits. Maybe. Larcei believed that if they really were dead, Danann would claim credit for it and celebrate. I knew Ulster believed Danann would keep it quiet, to maintain plausible deniability, especially given that, at the time, the Empire wasn't all that bad and Danann might not have been able to get away with it. I personally thought that when it came to our parents and their friends, they were dead or missing and presumed dead and to hope for anything else was… it was just setting yourself up for pain, when we were already setting ourselves up for a lot of pain anyway, what with going to war and all.

Aunt Ayra and Uncle Lex had died. I was certain of it. Not to bandits, because that seemed too 'common' of a death when compared to everyone else. But soldiers? Landslide? Trapped and ambushed? I could see any of those easily. But regardless of how, they had died, and right now, they were watching over us like the rest of our parents. I worried when we'd get it confirmed, because I knew it would burn Larcei terribly. I knew Ulster would try and hide the ache, because he'd been proven right and gods, he did hope that he was wrong.

"I'm surprised at how cheerful everyone is," Seliph murmured. He smiled sadly at everyone. "I wish I could be so chipper. I'm…"

"Hey, it'll be okay," I whispered, nudging him. I saw a couple of fighters glance at us worriedly, so I smiled and winked at them. To my amusement, the younger of the couple blushed, while the older one just rolled their eyes. I almost remembered names for both, but they fell back before I could remember. "You know; considering we spent ten years in Tirnanog, you'd expect I remember more of their names."

"Samson and Charles, brothers." Seliph, however, rattled that off easily. So easily that I couldn't help but sulk a little. "I'm better with names than you."

"I suppose." It was still annoying. "Which one blushed?"

"Samson. Though I think most blush when you and Diarmuid decide to be charming."

"Should I test that on you?" I giggled when he choked on a laugh. "Feeling better?"

"A bit, yes. Though, sadly, the weight of knowing we'll have to kill more people..." Seliph sighed and looked at his free hand. He could still see the blood on them. To be fair, so could I. That was a memory not going away soon, even if I knew they deserved it. "Did you notice how, during the fight, you just stopped caring? You became too tired to care."

"I did." It was very unsettling, to just… not care about people's lives. Even if they were the enemy and trying to kill us. Someone had loved them, right? Not all of our enemies could be psychopathic loners, no matter what stories liked saying. "We still threw up afterwards, though. In the moment, it's all about survival." Like those first kills. It had taken a bit for it to click. "I'm worried there might be more of those priests in Tirnanog."

"Same here, but I trust the others."

"True." Though now I was a bit nauseous, remembering those priests. But as I remembered, I realized something very… "Seliph, do you remember what the priests said?"

"More or less." He glanced at me with a frown. "Why?"

"Did that priest say that they couldn't kill me because of their prince? Not their emperor?" I distinctly remembered that, and that was odd. "Why would my cousin's opinion mean more to them than my uncle's?"

"You know; it always surprises me to hear you refer to him as your uncle."

"Because I hate him or because he's technically your stepfather?"

"I… that…" Seliph grimaced and sighed. I just laughed. "My family tree is so tangled."

"One of these days, we should really try to plot it all out. All of ours." I continued laughing before smilingly warmly. "And yes, I hate him. But I feel like denying him is like denying Mom. And I love her. I'm proud to be her daughter, and I'm proud to have her blood in my veins, just as I am proud of Dad. I can tolerate being related to that asshole if it means I'm related to Mom." Besides, it also meant I was related to Uncle Azel. I didn't remember anything about him, but Aideen's stories were always so sweet. He and Aunt Tailtiu had disappeared after everything. I wondered if they had kids. If they did, that meant I had cousins! Cousins I had a decent chance of meeting without having to fight! "Though we got distracted."

"We did and, I agree, that is odd. Maybe it's a sign that Arvis no longer cares about anything?" Seliph frowned worriedly. "I hope that means my siblings… half siblings…"

"Are you worried about them?" I had to grin. "Despite never meeting them?"

"Regardless of my feelings about my mother, they are still my siblings, and I'd love to meet them." He looked up at the sky, like the fluffy clouds held answers. "I'd also love to learn why my mother made the choices she did. But I doubt I will, since she's dead."

"Maybe someone in Belhalla can tell us." I laughed, more to cheer him up than for any sense of humor to the situation. "Hey, maybe Conall will!"

"That would be amusing, and then we can badger him on why we haven't heard anything about him!" He laughed as well, but it soon faded. "I hope we don't have to fight him."

"I do too." It was honestly my biggest nightmare. Conall had lived so long in Belhalla. It would make sense if he had people he wanted to fight for. It was… it was also possible that he didn't care about us, anymore. Even though my heart ached and I felt sick at the mere thought, I couldn't deny that possibility. We had to acknowledge even the things we thought were impossible. Not doing that… not doing that had cost our parents. "If we do, can we try to capture instead of kill?"

"We can certainly try." Some shouting up ahead caught our attention, and worry spiked through me. Like smart people, we had sent soldiers ahead to scout, so… "Here we go. Damn."

Within seconds, the scouts returned, yelling about enemies, no doubt the first wave of reinforcements to the group that attacked Tirnanog. Sadly for us, between timing and the open area, we saw them before long, and, more importantly, they saw us. And while they weren't a large group, I winced when I saw the heavily armored soldiers. None of us had any real way to deal with them. Well, technically, I did, but hell if I knew how to use it. But when people looked at us worriedly, I made sure to smile. So long as we pretended, everyone else would believe. You know; in the hands of a less moral person, that would actually be more than a little scary. And I did have to wonder if that was how Arvis managed to seize control and get people to support him for so long. Then I had no time for wondering anything because battle.

"How do people do this for most of their lives?" I growled at one point during the fight. It was a small group, especially compared to what we fought in Tirnanog, but the heavily armored soldiers caused us no small amount of trouble, just as predicted. Worse, they knew it, so they took point, despite their slower movement, to crash into us. "How do people join the army knowing and willing to do this?" They had to be some form of insane, or absolutely desperate. Gods, this was exhausting. I was too exhausted to even be sick. I was too exhausted to be upset by the injured. Numbers alone kept our people from dying, for now. But… "Hey! Back off!" But rambling thoughts weren't good for a battle. My distraction just led to people almost dying, meaning I had to be all dramatic and cut down enemy soldiers 'right in the nick of time' or whatever the phrase was.

"Lana!" I wasn't sure who yelled, but I whirled and saw an armored soldier attacking her. So far, she'd avoided any major injuries, Ulir luck kicking in likely, but she had suffered some and she had no means of defending herself. Luck couldn't hold forever.

So, since I was close, I darted forward, intending on being a distraction. It was just… it was startling how calm I was by all of it. I should be panicking. My friend, basically my little sister really, was in danger. Yet, for some reason, I was just… calm. She was in danger, and I had a goal. I had to get there to protect her, to distract the soldier so that she could get away. And I did. I set what bit of cloth I could see on the soldier on fire to throw off their guard and threw myself forward as Lana scrambled back, intending on chipping at the soldier until I could get a lucky hit.

But then my blade sparked with blue stars and a rush of cool, strangely gentle power flooded through me. Two steps later, the soldier's corpse was falling, blood spewing everywhere, because I had used Luna, on accident, and cut through the armor like wet paper.

Of course, I was so stunned that it had actually happened that an archer managed to get my leg and it crumpled from the pain. Just in time for another soldier to bear down on me. They were lightly armored, so I grit my teeth, braced myself to try and block or burn something or… well, anything to get their guard down. But then I stared in shock as a mottled-grey shape leapt over me to tackle the soldier to the ground. They had just enough time to scream in shock before having their throat torn out, and I was left staring at Hestia as she growled and snarled at the nearby soldiers.

"Hestia?" I called hesitantly. She didn't react. She continued growling, hackles up and fur bristling, warding off the nearby soldiers through sheer intimidation. "Hestia." That time, her ear twitched and she glanced at me, muzzle bloody from her kill. After a moment, she relaxed slightly and trotted over to me, licking my nose. "...You silly girl…" I reached up to pet her, fighting back tears. "You're supposed to stay safe with Aideen." She yipped and nuzzled my cheek, a little more forceful than usual to convey her annoyance. "Yeah, I guess it isn't fair for most of your pack to leave you behind and leap into danger." I hugged her, still trying to not cry. I had wanted her to be safe. No matter how much I'd miss her. But I… I was so happy to see her. Seliph was right. I'd been miserable. "Okay. Okay, we'll go together. But you better not die on me, Hestia." She barked, as if to say 'no dying on me either'. "Agreed." I shouldn't have given up so easily, but I knew better. Once Hestia made up her mind, there was no stopping her. She was my wolf, yes, but she was still a wolf. She was no tamed dog who obeyed every order. She was a wild animal who had claimed me as pack, family. "Agreed."

"Riona, leg out," Lana ordered, scrambling over. I swung around so that my legs were in her lap, clinging to Hestia as Lana removed the arrow. There was nothing for the pain, so I tried to not whimper when she snapped the arrow and wiggled out the pieces. "Thank you for coming to my rescue. Knight in not-so-shining armor."

"Have you seen how heavy that armor is?" I joked back, a little breathless from pain. Not fighting, and the shock of seeing Hestia again, had knocked the battle-fever right out of me, so I felt every little bruise and scratch. "I wouldn't be able to even move with it!"

"Well, thankfully, it's armor and keeps you from getting hurt."

"Except magic."

"Except magic." She sighed, grimacing. "I wished I'd paid more attention to how you quickly cleaned the area around wounds. Gods, I swear I'll have bunches of infection to deal with later." There wasn't a single clean face on the battlefield. Sweat, blood, mud… the worst part was how used to it you got. Not to mention the smell. "Okay, let me check this later." She leaned over my legs to poke Hestia. "And you! You big… big silly!" She tried to be scolding, but her smile gave her away and, anyway, Hestia always could see through us. She just barked and licked her face clean. "Ugh… you're going to be the worst to heal up. I just know it. And your breath is going to be absolutely horrid. You're getting teeth cleanings every day! I mean it!"

Lana pretended to grumble a little more, before clinging to Hestia for the comfort. I stroked her hair a few times before standing up, hopping on my formerly wounded leg to make sure it was fine. Lana sat back on her heels, ready to be the healer again, and as soon as she stood up too, Hestia loosed a loud howl, one that echoed on and on. The enemy soldiers yelped at it, and I saw some of our fighters look a little stunned. But they knew of Hestia, and they recognized her at my side, so they recovered much more quickly. That let them take advantage of the soldiers' shock and tear into them mercilessly.

Hestia was very smug about that. I wasn't going to 'hear' the end of this. I just knew it.


Ulster, being the calmest and most stoic of us, did actually try to get Hestia to go back home. She, in typical 'I am a wolf and, thus, I am a little shit and a technical wild animal', completely ignored him and instead, charmed her way into getting some treats from the fighters. Ulster got points for effort, but by nightfall, even he had given up. Hestia celebrated by helping with the hunting, chasing some deer near the hunters for easy shooting. The extra meat did wonders for morale, which was already rather high. No deaths, surprisingly. Then again, small forces. By the time we captured Ganeishire, or whatever the name was because damn I was tired, I knew we'd have many graves and bodies to send home for burial.

"Aw, do you feel better now, Hestia?" I cooed, rubbing at her neck. Hestia barked happily before tearing into her… whatever it had been. Thought it might've been a deer's heart. Once. Now, it was Hestia's 'dessert'. "I bet it's nice to get the taste of human out of your mouth. Must've tasted horrible."

"Well, someone's mood has improved considerably," Seliph teased, sprawled out on the grass. Supposedly, it was to look at the stars, but really, it was because he was too tired to properly sit. "I told you we could've gone back for her."

"Oh, shut up." I glowered at him. "Don't act like you weren't happy to see her too."

"I am. And deathly worried. But, hey, that seems to be what war is about. It's not like I'm not deathly worried about everyone else anyway." He sighed, closing his eyes. "First night away from Tirnanog. Feels weird."

"It does." I looked around, noting where Lana was tending to some scrapes Larcei had picked up. Ulster was doing a patrol, and wasn't here with us. Yet. "For the first time in ten years, we're sleeping outside."

"Well, not quite true. We did have those little campouts. But I get what you mean." He sighed and sat up. And promptly yelped and nearly fell back because he'd accidentally pinned his hair. "Ugh…"

"Over here." I stopped petting Hestia and snagged a hairbrush from his pack. "We need to brush it anyway."

"Thanks." He moved to sit in front of me, wincing when I found some bad tangles almost immediately. "Well, here we are. Marching to war. Yet some things don't change, huh?"

"Nope." I giggled, amused. "But I'm glad for it."

"Same."

All of us sat in relative silence, save for Larcei's continued grumbling about how much her cuts hurt. If I closed my eyes, it would have been easy to pretend we were in that little house in the woods. Brushing Seliph's hair after training… Hestia curled up asleep next to us… Larcei complaining because she managed to trip and hurt herself because she didn't watch what she was doing… Lana tending to her with a smile and a laugh… Diarmuid teasing her… Ulster helping Lana with medicine and bandages… Lester fretting over everyone… Aideen making dinner… Oifeye making more medicine by the fire… maybe even Shanan sitting and watching all of us with a warm and tired smile… it was so easy to pretend. But then the cold wind would blow and make it clear that we were outside and, from there, the happy little memory faded away. It would be a long time before we had days like that with all of us. Maybe… maybe we would never have them again, not like that at least.

"Everything is clear, so watches are set," Ulster reported, joining us as he finished his patrol. He leaned over Larcei's shoulder, frowning as Lana fixed up the last of the scrapes. "I told you to not rush forward like that."

"Shut up," Larcei grumbled. She kissed Lana's cheek in thanks and then bounded over to curl up with Hestia. "Ah, my favorite pillow!" Hestia barked happily, tail wagging, and leaned around to lick Larcei's cheek. Only the blood on the grass remained of her treat. "Though, Lana's right. Her breath is horrible."

"We don't have any of her stuff with us." Ulster sat across the fire from Hestia, still pretending to be mad at her for this. "No grooming, no teeth cleaning… we'll have to buy some, when we next see a village. Town."

"It's not like we can't afford it."

"We do need to maintain our weapons. Some of ours are very expensive to maintain, you know." Ulster looked pointedly at Seliph and me, but we both ignored him. Yes, silver weapons were costly. But they were strong enough to offset it. And, you know, the weapons had been our dads'. "Not to mention Lana's staves."

"Oh, don't worry about my staves," Lana laughed, rubbing her hands. I guessed to ease any aches. "Mother gave me some tips for getting a good bargain. She learned from her friend Dew. So, I'll be fine~"

"Wait, really?" Ulster asked. He looked at the rest of us curiously, but we shrugged. Had no idea what she was talking about. "Wonder why she taught only you."

"Because it involves taking advantage of a very pretty face." Lana's deadpanned retort made us all laugh. "So, I mean, Seliph could probably make it work." And that just made us laugh even harder. I barely finished brushing Seliph's hair before falling on my side, laughing so hard. Seliph nearly fell on me because he was laughing so hard. "But Larcei is to excitable to make it work because it does involves some patience, the last thing we need is a more charming Riona…"

"I don't know. Between her and Diarmuid, we might be able to flirt our way through some battles." Ulster smirked when I yelped in protest. "Sorry, 'being friendly'."

"Don't kill me with laughter!" I complained, wheezing. The worst part was that, even through the laughter, I could see Ulster and Seliph actively considering that. "Seriously!"

"Ah, we'd better calm down before everything thinks we're insane," Larcei managed, rubbing at her eyes. Hestia briefly 'helped' via licking her cheek. Then Hestia came over to nuzzle me. "And yes, I said everything. I'm sure even the grass is thinking we're crazy."

"We are. Who else launches an attack against an Empire?" I swung around so that I could rest against Hestia, coughing a bit. I'd laughed way too hard at that. "I mean…"

"Hey, the Crusaders did."

"Does anyone claim that they're sane?"

"Mmm… actually, no, I don't think I've heard that." Larcei crawled over to Seliph, who was laying on the ground, since I'd moved. "Meh, whatever!" And Larcei promptly began tickling Seliph, making him practically shriek with more laughter. "Got you!"

Ulster quickly leapt to Seliph's defense, tickling Larcei while Seliph 'escaped to safety'. I was tempted to join in, but I noticed Lana kept rubbing her hands, digging in a little. That… worried me. So, instead, I watched her a little longer, even as Larcei, Ulster, and Seliph called a 'truce', and I frowned when I noticed she… she was actually rubbing her skin raw. Like she was quietly, yet desperately, trying to scrub something off her hands. Maybe the blood of the wounded...

"Lana, over here," I called quietly, waving her near. She came over immediately and I rummaged through my pack for some of the lotion Muirne had made for us. 'Leaders need to look nice and neat, just like healers,' she had shyly explained when she gave them to us. I wasn't quite sure what she meant, but I did know I could use them now. "Hands out."

"Okay?" she replied, frowning a bit. But then she smiled when I began rubbing the lotion into her hands, paying special attention to the places she'd been digging. "Oh…"

"You're done for the night, and you've gotten all the blood off." Absently, I saw the other three watching us, and quickly began dividing duties. Ulster and Seliph handled medicines. Larcei first cleaned the last of the blood off Hestia's muzzle before sitting down to weave some bandages. Things Lana would've been doing later, but she needed a break. "Unless there's an emergency, you get to relax."

"...Right…" Lana laughed sadly. "I do hope we can recruit someone else who can use staves. I understand now why Mother always mentioned how crazy things were with the injured, and that was with three people." And this was with much less people.

"According to the stories, none of the healers really had 'free time' until almost everyone knew how to use a staff." Okay, that was an exaggeration, but still. "We'll keep an eye out, and maybe we can teach people, once we're settled in a defensible castle."

"That would be fun."

"Wouldn't it?" I grinned at her. "But until then, or even afterwards, if you notice you're digging into your hands, we'll do this. More than any of us, you need your hands." Lana's hands didn't kill people, like ours. They saved people. I thought it wonderful, though I knew I could never be a healer. Healers had to be neutral, and I couldn't do that. I knew I couldn't heal people I hated. "You're the strongest of us, really. Let us spoil you."

"Okay." She leaned forward and rested her head against my shoulder. "I'm tired…"

"I know." All of us would have to make a point to keep an eye on her. "I know."

"You know; I was about to ask why no one had bothered us, but now that I'm looking…" Larcei began, half to change the subject and half because she was already bored with weaving. She nodded at the other fighters, and I tried to not wince at the noticeable distance. More than noticeable, even. Our group had our own campfire. We might as well have been two separate groups entirely. "Already started, huh?"

"Looks like it," Seliph murmured, carefully grinding out some of the herbs we'd brought with us. He handled prepping; Ulster would handle the mixing. Ulster was very good at measuring. "Ah, well, we've been expecting it."

"I know." Larcei looked down at her weaving, movements a little sharp from frustration. "I just thought… you know… it would be a while longer."

"Yeah…"

We all fell silent again, this time from the sadness of realizing how isolated we were going to be in the coming days. I finished rubbing lotion into Lana's hands, and put the lotion back in my bags. Lana went to Larcei to help with the weaving, but I remained where I was, petting Hestia absently, watching the group. It just seemed… I wasn't sure. Just because we were leaders… well, Seliph might have to stand apart. The others might choose. But me? I felt like if I distanced myself, I would lose something. Sight of what we were doing. A part of me. Something else. I wasn't sure. But I… I knew I'd lose something. And I didn't like that. Oifeye's stories about war always talking about how everyone lost some part of them as the battles wore on. Some lost their lives. Others lost their sanity. Friends, family… once war came, everyone lost. Just some people happened to survive. But I did want to minimize what all I lost. Perhaps it was selfish, but I was sure… I was sure it was important nonetheless.

So, I hunted through the group, caught the eye of someone I knew by face and name, and smiled at them. "So, Cathall, are you here to hide from your lady love?" I asked teasingly, with a wink. Cathall, infamous for the bantering-bickering he and his girlfriend had, groaned. "Oh, dear, what happened this time?"

"You are mean, Lady Riona!" Cathall complained. The other fighters laughed. "Very mean, at that!" But slowly, he began telling the story of the latest argument, and that sparked other stories. Carefully, after a few stories, we crept closer until we were part of the main group. No one thought anything of it. Some even joined in to help us with medicine and bandage making. The people prodded stories out of us, laughing and joking. The distance between 'us' and 'them' closed and we were able to enjoy a night by the campfire with everyone, just like any other soldier.

As things went, the chances of us being able to do this would diminish. More people. More battles. More reports. More everything. If this gained the momentum everyone was so certain about, then things would eventually get too large for us to do simple things like this with everyone. So, I wanted to do it now, while things were still small. It just… felt important.


I was worried when we marched off the next morning, wondering if Hestia would be able to keep up. I wasn't sure why I worried about her. If anything, she kept glanced at us in annoyance because we were moving too slow for her! But she stayed faithfully at my side, and I did have to admit that having her near was very relaxing for me. Plus, it helped me really feel like my parents were watching out for me. However, there were a few problems. One, she was still a brat and I had to deal with waking up to half-eaten animals hitting me in the face because she decided I'd been sleeping too long. Two, none of our training involved incorporating a wolf in our fighting. For some reason, it never occurred to us.

"I wonder if Hestia should stay near Lana," Seliph mused as we walked. Once again, the two of us ended up by each other. This time, I was sure it was because Seliph wanted to pet Hestia. She walked between us, just to sneak more pets. "She'd be a good guard for her, and could fetch things for her?" Hestia barked and leaned into my side. "Or she'll be staying near you."

"Or that," I sighed, kind of wishing Hestia would at least mildly cooperate. "Because gods know she won't listen when she's particularly convinced she knows more than her dumb humans." I scratched Hestia behind the ears. "Though, I do worry about Lana, Hestia. You like her too." Hestia licked my hand. "Yes, yes. Well, we'll figure something out." Some shouting caught our attention, and I saw one of the scouts coming back. "Already?"

"It could be that the ones we fought yesterday were just a scouting group. Would explain the small numbers." Seliph sighed anyway, though. It would've been nice to have gone a little longer without having to fight. "Based on the lack of panic, I'd guess they hadn't seen us yet…" He glanced at our surroundings, mostly hills and even mountains. "Say, Riona…"

"Ulster, Larcei, and I can easily scaled the steepest parts." All three of us were good at climbing, as was Diarmuid. We teased he was an honorary Od for that, but really, it was just Hezul's strength letting him compensate. Athletics versus acrobatics. "We can help others with the less steep, if they can't make it on their own."

"Let's gather the others, then."

Seliph quickly confirmed his suspicions while I found everyone and we all began carefully setting up. Lana and her infirmary were the hardest to figure out, though ultimately it was decided she'd set up on a bit of elevated ground to sacrifice some accessibility for protection. It was a hard decision, and I had no doubts we'd regret it later. But with our numbers still so few, we did have to prioritize safety. Her being up high also let us all hide a little better as we waited for the soldiers to march through. My eyes narrowed as I studied them, noting they were quite the mixed group and much larger than yesterday's. That group really must have been a scouting party, though I questioned the wisdom in sending heavily armored soldiers in scouting. But that didn't matter. The enemy made their decisions, and we made ours. I was sure the enemy would question the wisdom in us attacking, though we were determined to even our odds slightly.

When the entire group, minus some possible stragglers, had gathered in the middle of our 'set up', Seliph gestured sharply and a bright light burst right in the middle of the enemy soldiers to blind them. As they screamed, I sighted as many bits of clothing I could and set them aflame, just to cause even more confusion. Because as bad as being blinded was, and as bad as being on fire was, both were infinitely worse. In fact, the only thing worse was attackers from above, jumping down to slaughter your fellows. Which is exactly what we did, with Ulster and Larcei leading the assault, though Seliph and I followed quickly, with Hestia keeping close to me.

Oifeye and Aideen taught us how to keep our morals during a battle, during a war, to make sure we didn't lose ourselves to the fighting and be nothing more than unrepentant slaughterers. Shanan taught us that anything went when it came to a fight, that when your life was on the line, you had to use everything you had because your enemy was going to do the same. Balancing both was the name of the game when it came to leading a war. It was easy to see how many nightmares and unsettled stomachs we'd have for a long while. When, you know, we weren't actually fighting for our lives.

One soldier grabbed me and tried to push me into the nearby rock wall. I stepped in close and rammed my knee into their groin, pretending I was aiming at their stomach to trick my body into putting even more force in it. Their face went ghost white and they crumpled, curling up in pain. I flipped my blade around and stabbed them in the neck, twisting for good measure. Another soldier tried to strike, but Hestia caught their leg in her jaws and crushed it, so they fell screaming instead. I knelt down and used my sword as a lever to cut off their head. I grimaced at all the blood, but Hestia licked the worst of it off my face and I stood up to continue fighting, with her assisting me as she could.

Hestia and I just… fell into that pattern as the battle wore on. She'd harass and harry the nearby soldiers, scaring the living hell out of them and confusing them into leaving protective formations. I'd take care of the ones who left, often by scaring them further with some flames before killing them. The ones Hestia did catch in her jaws, I mercy-killed. I mean; it wasn't as if Hestia had a lot of options. Wolves had two things for a fight: their feet to run and their teeth to bite. That meant a lot of her prey would die slowly. That all said, it wasn't so bad, really. Certainly more coordinated than I would've thought. Made me half-think that, while I had been practicing and training, she had been watching, always planning to leave with me. But that might've been a little much to expect from a wolf, even one as clever as Hestia.

"How are you holding up, girl?" I asked her when we got a brief moment to breathe. She leaned into my side, panting but strangely not all that tired looking. Certainly, she looked better than I felt and, even better, she wasn't showing any injuries. "You fall back to help Lana if it gets too much for you, okay?" She barked, and I hoped that was in agreement. Knowing her, it honestly could've been anything. "Okay… where to next…?"

'Next' ended up not coming up, or at least as I expected. Because as I was figuring out where to go next in the chaos, Hestia's ears perked up and she looked down the road, back towards Tirnanog. I wondered why for a moment, but then I saw three shapes coming our way, fast, and I laughed brightly because I knew who they were. Even before the forms solidified into three horses and their riders, I knew. Diarmuid, Lester, and Oifeye caught up with us. And so, I laughed, because finally, our group was together again.

Oifeye immediately rode around the edges of the field, skirting around battles before galloping close towards the heavily armored soldiers. At first that confused me, but then I figured it was because he knew it would give our group the most trouble. And then I saw his sword: an armorslayer, made specifically to break through armor, with a wider tip to hook underneath the armor and cause even more damage. A bit convenient he had it, but again, he had to know they'd be the soldiers we'd have the most trouble with. He probably brought it specifically for that reason, and had it on hand just in case. Dozel's soldiers were known for their strong defenses, both in armor and formation. It made sense.

Lester, meanwhile, also rode the edges of the battlefield, though in his case, it was because he was best suited to hit and run tactics with his bow. A… different bow than his usual one, actually. It was red and gold, and there was definitely some sort of enchantment on it as he was firing much faster than he normally did. A good thing, since the sudden covering fire bought time for the wounded to escape, and the less wounded to take the kills. But it was still a little odd. Quite a few soldiers tried to target him, but he weaved through easy, Ulir luck kicking in. You could seriously make strategies around it.

Diarmuid, however, went for what had to be the showiest entrance ever. As he rode straight through the battle, not giving a single damn, he leaned over to pick up one of the soldiers and tossed them up in the air. And then killed them as they fell via stabbing them in the side and letting gravity do the rest of the work. Because he could.

"I know Hezul is all for strength and all, but wow, that was dramatic," I laughed, catching up to him. Diarmuid simply slowed to a stop and grinned at me. "I think you made it for the tail end of this."

"I'm pleased we made it at all," Diarmuid replied, leaning down to squeeze my shoulder. Then he noticed Hestia, sitting next to me with her tail wagging happily. "Uh… why is Hestia here?"

"She decided her dumb humans couldn't survive too long without her."

"That makes sense. Also explains why Aideen didn't call for her when we briefly stopped in Tirnanog." He gestured to his packs. "We've got a few things from Aideen that were apparently forgotten."

"Somehow, I'm unsurprised." I sighed and looked around, noticing that with the additional three rattling the enemy, we more or less had the battle. "Let's finish up."

"Sounds good." He ruffled my hair, and I made a face at him. "Oh, by the way, Lester and I are annoyed."

"Look, they attacked us! What were we supposed to do?" I rolled my eyes. "Oh, go on, child!"

"I'm not even a full year younger than you!"

"You're still younger!" I was the second-oldest in our little group, after all. Seliph was oldest. "So, off you go."

"Fine then, grandma." He rode off before I could retort, so I rolled my eyes and whirled on an archer trying to shoot Diarmuid in the back.

Another archer then tried to attack me, but Hestia tore their arm off. More or less literally. It was more of 'she used all of her considerably strong bite to crunch their arm bones into bits, which had the side effect of the arm tearing off'. But the first was easier to explain. It also reminded me to keep an eye on Hestia. If she ever decided to turn on us, or people in general… that would be bad. That would be very bad.

Still, when I called for her, she returned to my side in an instance, ready to continue helping me, and when the enemies all fell, she instantly ran to the side and munched on some wild berries to get the taste out of her mouth. Afterwards, she helped out in Lana's infirmary, just as she usually did, though she did pause every once in a while to go catch and eat a snake that slithered near. I gave up trying to stop her after the first, mostly because once things wound down, and we got ourselves mostly cleaned up, Lester and Diarmuid rounded on us.

"I can't believe you left without us!" Lester complained. His hair was still damp from his quick wash. "Seriously? All that talk and…!"

"We needed to keep up the surprise! We didn't know when you'd return!" Larcei protested at once. All of our little group, save Lana and Hestia, had gathered outside the makeshift camp we set up to tend to the wounded. Surprisingly, we still had no dead. No way that was going to keep up, but for now, it was nice. "Look, Ulster was the one who came up with this idea!"

"We sure that's not because you would've charged?"

"Hey!"

"Now, now, we do have to pretend to be mildly, somewhat respectable while in public," I half-teased, mostly because I knew it could turn into a full-blown argument if we kept at things. I wasn't sure why I was the one playing peacekeeper, what with Diarmuid and Seliph also here, but whatever. "Still, you're here sooner than expected. Honestly wasn't sure you'd get here before Ganeishire."

"Ah, well, we…" Lester began. He hesitated before passing over his strange new bow over. Confused, I inspected it and discovered what had to be the most ridiculous, stupidest, yet also incredible, coincidence ever. It had the crest of Jungby carefully carved into it. "We ambushed a patrol of Jungby soldiers, likely there to harry and subdue the Silessean pegasus knights." Okay, maybe not as ridiculous and stupid as I thought. "Oifeye thought it looked like the Brave Bow Mother bought Father. And… I mean…"

"I understand." Midir had been one of the confirmed dead from the Belhalla Massacre, apparently dying to protect Brigid and Jamke. "You had to see…"

"Yep. And it was. It's the weirdest damn thing ever." Lester smiled, but it was certainly tearful. "Wonder if it was Father's way of saying. 'Here, you are strong enough now.'"

"It's nice to have something like that," Seliph quietly agreed. He rested his hand on the silver sword, then winced and looked at Larcei, Ulster, and Diarmuid. "Uh…"

"Don't worry about it!" Larcei scoffed, grinning. Whatever trouble her temper and energy could bring, it did also mean she was quick to reassure people. "I mean; our parents are definitely alive somewhere."

"I highly doubt that's the case," Diarmuid instantly retorted, earning a scowl. Diarmuid was like me, and believed that any of our parents who were missing were dead. There were rumors of his parents being in Leonster, but Leonster fell and there had been nothing since. Diarmuid was certain both died, or died soon after. "Though, if we do make it to Leonster, I might be able to find something from them. Maybe. Depends on how much was stolen and sold off."

"Gods, why do you have to be so cynical?"

"I prefer 'realistic'. I think anyone who charges off to fight for the world can't be entirely cynical."

"We did hear rumors of some sort of uprising in the south, though!" Lester pointed out brightly. Talks like this always made him feel awkward. He had a surviving parent. "So, maybe… uh…"

"Let's talk about other things before we get into another argument," Ulster suggested, running a hand through his hair with a tired sigh. He'd long since gave up on such arguments. Diarmuid, though? He'd argue with Larcei constantly over it. "Come on, Seliph. Smile and make them feel bad."

Someone cleared their throat before Seliph could even protest, and all of us slowly froze as we noticed that it was our turn to 'feel bad'. Because Oifeye was standing near, clearly had been for a while, and now watched us so, so sadly.

"Oifeye…" Seliph began. The rest of us squirmed and tried to ignore the awkwardness, while contributing to it as well. "We…"

"You know; during the Silessian Civil War, I was asked to be a messenger," Oifeye replied, his voice soft and his eyes almost distant. "I had helped as a tactician, been near battles many times, but that was the first time I had a 'mission' of my own. Riding through the dead of night, in the snow even, to let Sigurd and everyone know that Silesse Castle was under attack. And I was very proud of it, but the others… they didn't seem quite so happy."

"That does… sound dangerous…" Seliph looked down briefly and I looked around to see the resistance fighters slowly gathering around. Watching this. Knowing what this meant, because they knew Oifeye. They knew us. "But we…"

"I couldn't understand that look of bitter pride on Alicia's face when she saw me off that night. Now, though, I do. There is little as bittersweet as seeing the children you watched grow up begin walking their own paths, especially when those paths lead to danger." He smiled then, and it was still so sad. It was scared. But it was still a smile, just for us. "I wish we were more prepared. I wish you all never had to deal with this. But that is neither here nor there. War came to you, and you decided to fight back. I couldn't be prouder." His expression became more serious, but that smile didn't change. It hurt to see, and it hurt even more to know we couldn't do anything to really change it. "This isn't the only uprising. There's small ones all over the continent, and that can be our distraction. If we move quickly, we might be able to secure Isaach before reinforcements arrive."

"Then let's do our best." Seliph smiled warmly and turned to the other resistance fighters, who also looked at us proudly. "Check with the wounded, then, and gather our things! With Lana's permission, because I'm not crazy enough to fight a healer…" That got a ripple of laughter out of everyone. "We're going to liberate Isaach!"


Larcei

Class: Myrmidon; Skills: Pursuit, Astra, Nihil, Vantage, Paragon

The 19 year old daughter of Princess Ayra of Isaach and Lex of Dozel, the younger twin of Ulster. She's keenly aware that her uncle is the one hurting her home, and she loathes him with a passion because of the feeling of betrayal. Though, when she's at her calmest, she can acknowledge that Danann likely wouldn't see it that way, at all.

Has Holy Marks for Od and Neir on her upper left arm, intertwined and wrapped around like armlets. Their blessings give her boosts to stamina and the ability to take damage, skill, and the ability to resist physical damage. Due to her Od blood, she has very keen sight, allowing her to track movement easily and allows her to quickly determine weaknesses in an enemy's guard. No one is quite certain how the Neir blood allows a resistance in physical damage, with theories from 'miniature barriers' to 'extra strong skin', but it allows her to block weapons barehanded.

Like most trained by Shanan, she is a pragmatic sort of fighter, though she and Ulster were both taught the 'royal family style' since… well… they're part of the royal family. She favors it a bit more than Ulster, though she does make sure to take advantage of her Neir blood to do blocks she normally wouldn't be able to do.

Hotheaded and passionate, she's been dreaming of the day they would go into battle, though she recognizes that it's no joke. She hopes that it'll help the adults to stop treating her like a child, and recognize that she, and the others, have grown up and need to find their own paths. And she hopes to tear some soldiers into pieces for what they did to Creidne and some of the other village girls.


Author's notes: So, on turn 2 (or 3, can't remember), Oifeye, Lester, and Diarmuid appear as reinforcements (a bit reminiscent of the Prologue, actually). Hezul Blood gives a +30% to strength growths, hence Diarmuid being able to easily throw a soldier up in the air. (Fun tip: the trick Riona uses to knee the guy in the balls since he was so close is a really good self-defense tip. If they're farther, you'll want to aim to use your shin instead.) Lester having Midir's Brave Bow is a nod to how random enemies in Gen2 will conveniently have non-inherited items as their droppables (well, some make sense, but still). I do not know where the brave bow is dropped (I want to say Game-Chapter 8?), but since in-game, Lester is goddamn useless without it, we're having that conveniently happen before. (Lester is a child unit who is very easy to mess up.)

Yes, Hestia is coming along; I'll be treating her a bit like a Beastmaster!Ranger's Companion in DnD. Wolves howl for three primary reasons, including letting pack members know where they are and warning non-pack members away. Wolves are also built for very long distance travel (capable of traveling 50+ miles per day in search of food) thanks to quite a few factors, but especially their relatively long legs and even longer stride. Though wolves are primarily carnivorous animals, they're known to supplement their diet with fruit.

Oifeye mentioning of uprisings in other countries comes from his in-game talk with Seliph, as does his wish that they had more time to prepare. His remembrance is from the events of Chapter 21) Dance in the Skies.

Larcei firmly believing Ayra is still alive comes from her sibling-talk with Ulster (I switched it to both parents here). And yeah, look at that skill line up. Aside from Pursuit (which is a class skill), all of the rest are inherited (Astra and Nihil from Ayra, Paragon and Ambush from Lex) Astra is five consecutive, full powered normal hits in the Jugdral games, unlike FE9, FE13, FE14, and FE15 (which halves damage) and FE10 (which negates critical hits). Also unlike those games (save FE15 where it's an activated weapon skill), the activation rate is (skill)% instead of (skill/2)%. (I think I mentioned this before, but FE4 is almost hilariously unbalanced sometimes.) Nihil protects from battle skills, like in future games, but also protects from critical hits and effective damage (so if a flier has it, bows don't deal effective damage, and it protects from Wrath crits). Paragon works just as it does in future games. Vantage in Fe4 works much like how it works in FE13 and FE14 where the unit attacks first only when below half-health. Larcei favoring the Isaachian Royal Swordsmanship more than Ulster is simply my explanation for why she shares a promotion with Ayra (and Shanan), while Ulster doesn't (Ulster, actually, shares his promotion with Chulainn).

(People have asked this enough times that I'll just have it here. Alicia's growth rates [with Holy Blood Bonus] were: Hp - 60%, Str - 15%, Mag - 55%, Skl - 30%, Spd - 45%, Lck - 30%, Def - 10%, Res - 10%. For those curious as to why these values were chosen, a friend did them for me.)

Next Chapter - Siege