As has been established, I am not very good at fighting. I'm better off than your average peasant, but I was more than willing to believe that Maribelle could beat me up with an umbrella. My skills lay elsewhere- I'm an actor and engineer, the latter of which I hadn't had an opportunity to utilize. Thermodynamics and manufacturing would come in handy some day, hopefully.

So, because Robin is a reasonable woman, she stuck me in back with the mages and support group. There was more to it than that, obviously, but the plan as she explained it to me was a bit complicated. It also involved the Feroxi, who I had completely forgotten about. Good thing I'm not a tactician.

:|:|:Robin:|:|:

The War Tent was not meant to hold all of the Shepherds. The Shepherds should not all be here, but as Panne slipped into the tent, I realized all of the Shepherds were here. Even Andrew and Nowi- the latter was sitting on the former's shoulders, waving at me enthusiastically. She was a good kid, and Andrew had done a good job of keeping her out of trouble.

The War Tent was not meant to be this quiet, either. There was a tension in the air, drawn taut like a bowstring.

"I know we're all invested in this going right," I cleared my throat loudly, raising my voice, "And I fully intend for it to go off without a hitch. As you may have heard, King Gangrel intends to execute the Exalt at Noon- and his flair for the dramatic is something we can take advantage of. The Feroxi contingent got their orders last night, and are coming in from the north with Phila's Pegasus Knights. Their job will be to engage the main army, allowing us to push in and engage Gangrel's retinue. If Gangrel starts the execution early..."

[][Andrew][]

Gangrel, it turns out, is very loud. We could even hear him from the rear of the Shepherd group- and we were partially hidden from his sight by the crumbling stone walls ringing the fortress. He was probably aware that we were here, just not how close we were- and frankly, he looked nuts enough not to care. The man was standing on the crumbling stone walls that ringed the courtyard, a Levin sword held in a loose one-handed grip as his absolutely ridiculous cape drifted behind him.

"Good people! Warriors of Plegia! Welcome, welcome one and all!" King Gangrel bellowed, the riblike cliff Emmeryn stood on looming tall behind him. His red eyes gleamed madly as he looked down on his retinue- and us, but from his angle we weren't particularly visible. "Your anticipation is simply electrifying. I can taste it- just as I can taste the blood Ylisse has spilled on our sands," he licked his lips, and I heard Maribelle mumble something beside me.

"Mad king, they say. Mad king would imply the man has some humanity left!" She huffed, brushing sand off her boots.

"Well, it could be an act. I've seen some pretty sane actors play even crazier characters than this guy," I shrugged, "No argument on the humanity bit, though. Dude's a monster."

Maribelle gave me an odd glare. "If you start acting like that, I will strap you to a bed."

"Fair enough."

"We alllll remember the crimes of Ylisse, don't we?" Gangrel said, gesturing behind him. A soldier stepped up behind Emmeryn, hefting an axe. "What do you say we have this witch answer for them? Here! Today, and now!"

"Yup," I nodded, "He's starting early."

:|:|:Robin:|:|:

"...Flavia's contingent should be close to the executioner's overlook at that point, unless Plegia's soldiers are more resilient than usual. She'll be able to hit the executioner, or at least stall out the execution," I continued, tapping my finger on the map. If they weren't close enough, we had other solutions, but our group only needed to know the gist.

Vaike leaned in, frowned, and then counted something on his fingers. "That's a good arm she's got on her," he concluded, "But what about us, Robin?"

"We're going to secure the courtyard, of course. This won't be easy- we have Gangrel's retinue and whatever soldiers he has on hand to push through, including a handful of dark mages. Vaike, you, Sully, Stahl, Panne, and Nowi will actually be swinging around the side with a flanking group, but we'll get to why later," I added, raising a hand as the question formed on his lips. "The main formation- that's pretty much everyone else, with exceptions for healers, archers, mages, and Andrew-"

"Hey Nowi, looks like I'm special!" Andrew whispered. Nowi giggled, patting Andrew on the head.

I glared at them, and they didn't look the least bit apologetic. "As I was saying, the main formation's going to engage Gangrel's retinue the moment Emmeryn is not at imminent risk of execution. Chrom will call the charge, but I'll be there too."

[][Andrew][]

Moments of monologuing later, the would-be executioner was knocked off the ledge by a well-placed throwing axe. I had to wonder how many of those Flavia had on her, given they had durability in-game. Not very relevant, though. She had impressive aim, in any case.

"Take out their soldiers first!" Chrom intoned, his voice carrying cleanly across the Shepherds and soldiers. "Gangrel can wait."

"Oh I do so hate waiting," Gangrel roared back, his words dripping with rich, honeyed bloodlust, "Let's spoil my surprise! Kill the little Prince, kill his men, kill his sister, and kill anyone else you see too. Kill them all!" He cackled madly, flipping backwards off the battlements.

"Oh he is nuts," I agreed, crossing my arms, cane held in one hand, "Backflipping with a cape is a terrible idea."

"Andrew," Maribelle sighed, striding forwards as our group started to move, "There are better ways to handle your nerves."

I could hear my heartbeat roaring in my ears, and my stomach was a roiling mess of knotting fear and anxiety. "My nerves are quite fine and handled," I lied, wincing as my voice cracked, "Perfectly fine!"

A dainty hand patted my arm, squeezing it for a second. Lissa stepped past me, flashing a warm smile even as the bags under her eyes darkened. "You don't have to be fine, you know!" she said kindly, spinning around to face me as she walked backwards, "You'll get through it."

I had a strong urge to hug her. Limping forwards, cane in hand, I smiled back. "We'll get through it," I agreed, "It'll be over soon."

And with that, the battle was joined. The Shepherds rumbled forwards, streaming around obstructions and dunes as they engaged the Plegian soldiers. Steel clashed with steel, magic crackled and burned across the battlefield. Blood soaked into the sands as death made itself known.

We- the 'support group'- watched from behind, advancing as the front line of the Shepherds pushed further forward. The mages, led by Miriel and coordinated in part by Ricken, unleashed sparse waves of fire, wind, and lightning at their backlines. The rest of their time was spent trying to snipe plegian spells- matching their magical might in midair, cancelling them out completely. Miriel's hasty explanation of this had left me with a headache, so all I really knew was that it looked cool.

All the while, Virion and his contingent of archers were picking off stragglers, favoring accuracy and lethality over speed. It was working out quite well- though my stomach churned at some of the nastier hits.

The Plegians were good, but not good enough. The Shepherds forced them back, step by step, dealing death and receiving bruises. Before long, I was stepping around bodies just to move forward. Most were plegian- but some were our own soldiers, dead or dying. The healers, led by Lissa and Maribelle, took a little time to staunch wounds before moving on themselves.

So one might wonder why I was back there- other than being a hazard to my allies in battle. I wondered as well, given they sent Nowi off to flank without me.

Lissa screamed.

:|:|:Robin:|:|:

I turned to look at Andrew, meeting his eyes. "Andrew, for this part of the battle, I'm asking you not to work with the mages. You'll be on watch for fake casualties, along with a few disguised soldiers."

He looked at me strangely. "Why me, and why not someone more competent?"

A valid question, if self-deprecating. I couldn't spend too much time on this. "We can't spare many able-bodied soldiers, and Miriel says you're actually a decently fast caster," I explained quickly, "Moving on..."

[][Andrew][]

No more running away. Not this time- not when it's so much easier to do the right thing.

Before I really knew what was happening, I had my Wind Tome in hand and a painful amount of mana dumping into it. Concentrate, concentrate, breathe in, and shape the spell.

Lissa staggered backwards, just barely keeping her balance as a 'dead' soldier lurched off the ground. Blood oozed down his sword, dripping off his hand. "Idiots," he croaked, lifting his blade to strike, "Should've-"

A wobbly blade of wind slammed into his chest, nearly tipping him over. Before he could speak again, a 'healer' sidled up and stabbed him through a chink in the armor.

Putting a hand to her chest, Lissa let out a tense breath as Maribelle hurried towards her. "Jeez. That got my heart going, didn't it?" She chuckled, not sounding particularly genuine. "Thanks, Andrew. Thanks, Clove."

The soldier flushed, nodding. "Y-you're welcome, Princess. I-I didn't know you remembered me."

That same soldier received a light bonk on the head from Maribelle's umbrella as we resumed our march forwards. "And I remember you quite well, perhaps better than I would like. If you cannot eat shellfish, stop eating shellfish, you buffoon."

"But it's so tasty..." he muttered, cringing under Maribelle's intensifying gaze, "Of course, Lady Maribelle, no more shellfish," he agreed hastily, practically running away.

It was around then that my heartbeat calmed enough for me to look away from the body. "Hopefully we won't have too much of that," I said, struggling to keep my voice level, "We're flying a bit too close to the sun already."

Lissa frowned, waving off a worrying Maribelle as she looked at me. "Andrew, did you get heat stroke? We're on the ground."

My chuckle felt good, even if it hurt a little. I shook my head. "It's a figure of speech, referencing a myth from my, uh, homeland. A man with wings of wax flew a 'too close to the sun,' so his wings melted off and he fell to his death. Bit morbid, but it's a good phrase," I explained, stepping around another body. Dead for sure, and not one of ours.

"Huh," Lissa mused, bouncing forward, "I like it, even if it is a little dark!"

She took that easily. I was fully prepared for an interrogation later, after the rescue of Emmeryn. We crested another dune, giving me a brief moment where I could survey the battlefield. The Feroxi were doing quite well against the main army- they were less than a hundred meters away, at this point.

Oh, and there was Libra, delivering axe-shaped judgement into someone's face. I'll spare the gory details.

Crap. I didn't tell them about Libra and Tharja.

Seems to be working out well enough, though. I could see some dark magic- black flame, purplish light, the works- coming from our side of the field, so Tharja was in there somewhere. That could have gone very poorly. Or not. Chrom is quite friendly.

I was getting distracted again. Shaking my head, I steadied myself and marched onwards. My crippled leg ached, but that was to be expected. If my game knowledge was to be trusted, Chrom and Gangrel would be having their 'negotiation' soon. And, if Robin's suspicions were to be trusted- and of course I trusted them- I needed to turn around.

Wyverns roared, and against all common sense, I didn't fire a Wind spell at them. I didn't know how many I had left in me, and I needed to be on hand for... later.

:|:|:Robin:|:|:

Leaning over the table, I tapped a point west of our entry location. "We know for a fact that Gangrel has Wyvern Riders available to him. Once we get boxed in- or once it looks like we're boxed in, I have no doubt we'll see some coming in from behind. Virion, you'll help bait them out with the usual tactic-"

"We'll pretend to be low on arrows, as usual," Virion nodded, smirking faintly, "It is as good a time as any to work on my aim."

[][Andrew][]

Those poor, poor wyverns. We didn't have many archers, but once they started firing as quickly as possible, they went down uncomfortably quickly. One after another, five wyverns and their riders came crashing down to the ground- tossed to the winds of the mages and riddled with arrows.

"That was... underwhelming," Maribelle muttered, turning back around, "It bodes well for our future."

Wyverns didn't look much like dragons. Only a passing resemblance; enough for me to envision how easily Nowi could be picked out of the sky. My heart ached, but I pushed the feelings away. We had work to do.

:|:|:Robin:|:|:

"Now, we received some key information yesterday- and, as you may know by now, there is a Deadlord on the loose. To briefly address both topics," I took a breath, looking back at Chrom. Yet another way I was putting my closest friend at risk. Raising a hand to stall any questions, I continued, "A Deadlord is a powerful Risen that is almost entirely beyond our ability to fight. If you see a Risen with burnt hands that uses dark magic and a sword, run. Find Chrom and Tiki as quickly as possible."

Lon'qu raised an eyebrow from his corner of the tent- far away from me and all other women. He might be fast enough to keep up. Amending my plans, I sighed.

"Lon'qu, you'll be on hand for dealing with him as well," I added, drumming my fingers on the table, "But we don't know if that Deadlord will actually show up. The more important matter is the new intel. It is possible that Gangrel's mages are capable of summoning Risen. Our primary concern is that he'll have Risen archers to shoot down our Pegasus Knights- as such, all pegasus knights will be grounded until my signal. That signal will be weak Fire spell, cast upwards. Chrom?"

Chrom nodded, stepping forward and giving me a moment to catch my breath. Gods, this was exhausting.

"Without all of you, we wouldn't be able to pull this off," Chrom praised them, "And I ask that you all trust me for this next part. When we secure the courtyard, I'm going to demand Emmeryn's release. If Gangrel declines-"

[][Andrew][]

The main line of the retinue collapsed, and the battle ended with surrender from the small company of soldiers remaining. They held minimal loyalty to Gangrel, it seemed. As we approached the courtyard, Robin fired a burst of ruddy flame into the air.

At this point, we could see the Mad King being Mad. He was out of reach, unfortunately; standing on a balcony within the massive courtyard.

The 'courtyard' in game hadn't made much sense. It made a bit more sense now that I was standing here; this space looked like it would serve as something of a market, a nexus for trade. Right now, though, it just held us, Gangrel, and Aversa.

I was more concerned about Aversa, who lurked in the shadows behind her king. Her brown-red eyes locked with mine, and she offered a sanguine grin.

I shuddered in response. Leaning to the side, I whispered, "Can you believe that woman's outfit? I've heard of deep collars, but that-"

"Now is not the time," Maribelle hissed back, thumping me on the arm with her umbrella.

The knot in my gut tightened. "Sorry," I mumbled.

Practically frothing at the mouth, Gangrel pointed at Chrom. "Oh, I will enjoy killing you, little Prince. Stand down, or your sister will take a dive!"

"King Gangrel!" Chrom began, his voice booming across the sandy stone, "Return my sister and surrender. We've won."

Gangrel looked around, eyes twitching as he toyed with the jagged sword in his hand. "Won? Won? Absolutely not!" He chattered, "Where are my Wyverns?"

:|:|:Robin:|:|:

Frederick snorted. "When he declines, milord."

"If Gangrel refuses to release my sister," Chrom continued, "We'll start with the old plan: deploying the pegasus knights."

Leave it to our Prince to say things the wrong way for the right reasons. Andrew frowned, but he was actually one of the few to remain silent. Most of the Shepherds asked their questions all at once- they trusted me, but Chrom's statement sounded insane. The noise was nearly suffocating, and I pulled my coat tighter around myself.

Lady Tiki snorted, sending bluish-white embers out of her nostrils. Gaius and Virion, standing closest, shuffled away. Slamming her hands on the table, she cleared her throat. "There is more," she intoned, voice filling the air, "Do elaborate."

That bought us a moment of dead silence. "That came out wrong," Chrom admitted, rubbing the back of his head with one hand, "Robin made it sound so smart..."

I blushed. "I can take this, you know," I murmured, "It's my plan, after all."

Shaking his head, Chrom scanned the room. "The only way to bait out their Risen is to give Gangrel what he wants- but on our terms. Robin will fire the signal, and Phila will fly in. If they have Risen, that's when they'll be summoned. Phila and the Knights have been given orders to fly in evasive formation, and they'll scatter the moment the Risen arrive. I thought this next part was pretty clever," he paused, gesturing to Frederick and then to me, "And without Frederick and Robin, we wouldn't have even thought of it. Once the second signal is fired-"

[][Andrew][]

"Your Wyverns are dead," Chrom replied, looking straight at Gangrel, "And we've already won." He turned, nodding to Robin.

Robin shot up a second burst of flame. Ten pegasi dove in over the wall bare moments later, carrying ten pegasus knights. The lead- Phila, I assumed, started flying towards Emmeryn.

Gangrel sputtered. "Pegasus knights? How did you... ugh. That- you! You don't play fair at all, do you?"

Aversa nodded, strutting forwards and tossing her long white hair over her shoulders. "Neither do I," she said smoothly, lifting up a strange wooden box. Purple fog sloughed out from the top, fading into nothing.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Gangrel looked like he was about to stab Aversa. Turning on my heel, facing the main company of mages, I readied my Wind Tome for the next stage of the plan.

A purple miasma oozed from the sands and stone, swirling in unearthly patterns as it darkened. Groans started to echo from within, and before long, a full compliment of Risen archers had formed, bows already drawn.

"Now!" Miriel barked, voice somber and sharp. All of us unleashed our Wind spells, splitting between the handful in the courtyard and the much larger number outside of it. At the same time, the Pegasus Knights scattered, flying off in different directions as a few loose arrows whizzed past them.

The gouts of tumbling Wind went right over the archer's heads.

We weren't aiming for them, after all.

A lethal wall of arrows, soaring upwards, were swept out of the sky by our combined efforts. Not a moment later, a giant rabbit and a dragon crashed into the archers with the subtlety of a gunshot in a library. Sully, Stahl, and Vaike joined them shortly after, managing to be even less subtle. I grinned. We were doing it. We were going to save Emmeryn.

I could feel Robin's joy from here. My heart felt a bit lighter, and the ache in my leg wasn't so bad after all.

:|:|:Robin:|:|:

Chrom stepped back, patting me on the shoulder. "How'd I do? I'm not the best with this tactical stuff, but I think I'm getting the hang of explaining plans."

"You did great!" I assured him cheerfully. My excitement was starting to bubble. I could practically taste our victory, right from the start. Turning to face the Shepherds, I spread my hands. "That's pretty much it. Once the Risen are dealt with, our Pegasus Knights will come back in and rescue the Exalt. At that point, we'll disengage, retreating with the Feroxi through Midmire- and the next time we're here, it'll be to end the war."

Cheering filled the tent.

I'd done it.

[][Andrew][]

Gangrel bounced forwards, cuffing Aversa on the shoulder as Emmeryn clambered onto Phila's pegasus. He said something I couldn't hear, and as we started to disengage, I didn't much care.

Aversa's wavering grin sent chills down my spine, even as she rubbed her shoulder. I couldn't quite hear what she said either, but her hesitant expression was part worrying, part thrilling.

And then his hands were on her throat. "A witch will die today, Aversa," Gangrel screamed, slamming her against the balcony. I winced sympathetically. "If not her, it will be you."

There was a pause. "Robin," I said loudly, "We need to get out of here, but- um." I paused. Aversa was recruitable in game at a later point, but I never much liked her. Should I even speak up about it?

Robin looked at me, just barely visible through the crowd of soldiers and Shepherds. Once she was certain I saw her, she rolled her eyes. Fair, I suppose. That was the plan all along. I turned, looking away from Gangrel and Aversa as we started to leave. Phila had just gotten Emmeryn on board, too. What more could they...

Something inhuman screamed, shattering the air and nearly driving me to my knees. Right on its tail was a symphony of tearing flesh and far more human screaming. My heart froze, aching in my chest and turning my legs to jelly. I just barely managed to stay standing as I turned around, looking back into the courtyard.

If I hadn't been too nervous to eat that morning, I would have vomited on the spot.

A single pegasus wing lay on the ground, oozing crimson into the stones. I could barely force myself to look upwards.

A looming, patchwork-armored figure stood where Emmeryn had moments before, their massive and pitted metal blade held loosely in one hand. A cracked, silvery mask oozed reddish light onto-

Onto Emmeryn, held against the Deadlord's armor with a rusted blade at her throat.

"You know," it drawled, sandy voice tearing at my thoughts, "I'm kind of upset that pegasus didn't fall straight down. Not every day you get to crush someone's hopes using a horse."

I wanted to run. I needed to run, but I couldn't. Robin's face was paler than ever, and for the first time since the beginning of the battle, I could see Tiki. Her lips were curled into a fanged snarl, fingers twitching around an axe.

"Oh, Andrew's here too! I remember you."

Not again, not again, not again, please not again.

"So, what're your orders, servant of Grima?" Drych cackled, his voice hounding my every step, "Don't worry, I'll get my best dead men on this."

Gangrel patted Aversa in the head, dodging her swipe as he grinned. "Well, well, well, little prince," he crooned, practically dancing as Chrom glared at him, "It looks like we're at an impasse once again. I'll spare you the usual dramatics-"

"You don't have a normal, undramatic bone in your body," Drych laughed, tightening his grip on Emmeryn. "I'd like to break every. Single. One of them. Pity I'm on your side today."

Through it all, Emmeryn didn't look the least bit afraid. I admired her, and... my heart sunk. I wouldn't get to speak with her, would I?

"I see why this was a last resort," Gangrel huffed, crossing his arms, "Now, little prince, the deal is simple. Hand over the Emblem, lay down your pretty little toothpick, and you'll get your sister back."

Aversa, massaging her throat, said nothing. She glowered pretty intensely at Gangrel, though, so it seemed we were all in agreement on one thing.

Chrom opened his mouth, then closed it again. "I-"

"Plegians!" Emmeryn declared, will unbroken and spirit unbowed, "I ask that you hear the truth of my words."

No, please no. This is too fast. Maybe there's some way we can-

Tiki put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it. I looked at her, then behind us. Soldiers of Plegia, who'd started closing in once they heard the scream. "I-I'm sorry," I whispered, "This is my fault." It had to be my fault. I was the change, I was the butterfly effect. If it wasn't my fault, then how much control did I really have?

She shook her head, but said nothing. Nothing needed to be said.

"Stop her, you imbecile! Aversa, tell the Deadlord to shut her up," Gangrel barked, spinning around to face Aversa again.

Aversa slapped Gangrel across the mouth and stormed away. I had mixed, but mostly negative, feelings about all of that.

Drych just shrugged.

"Wars," Emmeryn said slowly, the whole world churning to a stop around her, "Will win you nothing but sadness and pain; both inside your borders and out." Her voice wavered, each word a hammer blow to my heart. My face felt wet- when had I fallen to my knees?

"Emm. No, please don't do this," Chrom whispered hoarsely, the Falchion loose in his hands.

"Please. Free yourselves from this hatred! From this cycle of pain and vengeance. Do what you must..." she trailed off, tilting her head up to look at her captor. She said something quietly to him.

My heart froze when he nodded, lifting his sword away and releasing his grip.

"As I will do. See now that one selfless act has the power to change the world!" Emmeryn declared, her voice commanding the world to silence.

She took a step forward.

"Emm, no! No!" Chrom shouted, sprinting forwards, hand outstretched.

And she fell, a trail of glittering tears in her wake.

[][][][][][][][]

Author's Note

Something something LifeAlert.

See you in two weeks- or, if things go really well on my end, one week. Come join us on the Treehouse Discord: 9XG3U7a

Cheers,

Narwhal Lord