By the time Byleth returned to her companions, it was clear that they had started to become worried about her.

'Professor!' Dimitri strode forwards towards her as she loomed out of the mist. 'Where have you been?'

'Is Catherine back yet?' Byleth grabbed at his arm, steadying herself as she stumbled in her haste to get to them and assure herself that they were all alright.

'Yes, a while ago…' Dimitri sounded concerned, adjusting himself slightly due to the weight that Byleth was putting on him. He tenuously gripped at her hand on his arm. 'Is everything alright?' He asked in concern.

Byleth squeezed his fingers briefly before letting go of him and striding into the group.

'We need to retreat. Now.' She ordered.

'Excuse me… What?' Catherine appeared in front of her. 'I have scouted all the way to the village ahead, the first one that we need to pass through. It's much closer than we imagined. We can wait out the weather there.'

'No!' Byleth shook her head vigorously. 'Lonato escaped Castle Gaspard, he moved out with his troop and hid them in this conjured fog.'

'How in the hell would you know that?' Catherine queried harshly.

Byleth's mind raced for a reply.

'I overheard two scouts talking…' She improvised quickly. 'That's why I was gone so long.'

'Where are they now?' Catherine demanded.

'Dealt with.' Byleth looked away. 'Point is, Lonato is on the move, he has all of his warriors, mages that are keeping this spell up to obfuscate their passing and he has apparently recruited some of the commonfolk to bolster his numbers from the village he has already passed through. He will likely do the same from the one you just scouted. We don't have the resource to deal with those kinds of numbers, Catherine. To try would be folly.'

'You are suggesting that we allow Lonato to escape?' Catherine challenged. 'Blue Lions…' the Knight turned slightly to address the students. '… It would appear that our mission is now changed. We must prevent Lord Lonato from escaping justice. I assume…' Catherine turned back to Byleth, '… That Captain Jeralt and the bulk of our forces are in pursuit and will shortly be joining with our effort.'

'We have no idea how far behind they may be.' Byleth objected. 'We are already down one of our party, we can only assume that Ingrid is waiting out the weather somewhere safe.' Worry gnawed at Byleth's stomach over that unknown. 'We can't possibly hope to face…'

'I am in charge here.' Catherine said firmly. 'We will make our way to the village where we know the ground is safe and make a stand there. I refuse to allow…'

'Professor!... Mercedes!' Felix screamed the names as he burst suddenly into motion. Byleth lept to his side and stared in momentary horror at the fallen form of Sylvain prone on the ground while Felix engaged with the pikeman who had obviously dealt the blow that had toppled Sylvain and a swordsman who had appeared suddenly out from the gloom. Other shapes, too many to count, were also pushing ominously forward.

'SOTHIS!' Byleth roared internally.

'On it.' Byleth felt the tug of time rewinding, and a split second of pain and dizziness lanced through her.

'I am in charge here…' Catherine was saying as Byleth threw herself towards where Sylvain and Felix were stood on the edge of the group of students. Her sword came to her hand as she moved, and it deflected the wicked pike thrust that lunged out from the fog just enough so that only the pike's edge scraped against Sylvain's ribs instead of it opening up a gaping hole in his chest. Following her momentum, Byleth pushed Sylvain protectively to the floor and charged down the man that was wielding the weapon. Two effective slashes ended the pikeman efficiently, while in her peripheral vision, Byleth noted Felix take down the swordsman who had also appeared.

'Sylvain, get to Mercedes… get that looked at. Felix with me.' Byleth ordered as she rushed to meet the next wave of foes that pushed themselves out from the gloom. Orders flew from her lips, arranging her troops, all the while wielding her blade with consummately detached ability. Catherine sent her Knight to the rear to watch for anyone routing their position.

'With this fog, it's impossible to tell where the enemy might be or how many they number.' Catherine swore, bringing her brightly glowing weapon thundering down on an attacker and nearly splitting him in half. 'They could be trying to surround us. They will know the lay of the land far better than we can hope to.'

'Don't look to push forward.' Byleth commanded. 'Take anyone that attacks and make sure you call where they are coming from.'

For several long minutes, chaos reigned as the first of Lonato's army stumbled into the sights of Byleth, Catherine and Felix. Dimitri, Annette, and Dedue had been moved to the right-hand side and were handling a group of assailants admirably. Annette's rapid spellcasting brought brilliant flashes of light to the dark shadows as she split the enemy ranks with her magic and had them cowering for cover only to be assaulted by Dimitri's spear.

Mercedes had Sylvain back on his feet, and he was hovering protectively by her side, as Ashe and Ignatz looked for the opportunity to loosen arrows into the fray.

'Lord Lonato doesn't deserve such sadness and anger! Now it is your turn to suffer, church scum!' A man carrying a cleaver ran impotently at Byleth as Ashe yelled out a warning to him.

'No!... No, don't!' The Archer called desperately. 'He is one of the townsfolk, I know him!' He begged.

Byleth pulled back her thrust and punched out at the man instead, dealing him a nasty uppercut to his chin. 'Get out of here!' She growled in warning.

'You think we are just going to stand by and do nothing while you try and kill our Lord?' The man spat out and staggered forward with his cleaver held high.

'I said… get lost!' Byleth pulled her fist back to punch him again, but Catherine got there first, running the man through cleanly.

'Don't be foolish.' The Knight demanded over Ashe's distraught wails. 'You gave him a chance.'

Byleth nodded tersely, already fielding blows from her next opponent.

'Are we seriously going to be killing civilians now?' Dimitri demanded through gritted teeth.

'If they are a danger to us, then yes.' Byleth replied tonelessly.

'It is on Lord Lonato.' Ashe's voice was breaking up. 'He is the one that has dragged them into this.'

'Less talk!' Catherine demanded. 'Concentrate.'

'Professor!' Sylvain's call was frantic, and he was gesturing to the right urgently as several arrows let loose from the marshy grounds. Dedue had his shield up and over Dimitri as quick as lightning, and he pulled Annette in close to his side. He took a number of hits from the projectiles, staggering helplessly under the assault.

'Help.' Byleth demanded and was thrown back in time once more. She pulled her sword free from the body of her current foe and bolted towards the marshy land.

'Cover me, archers!' She called. Dedue's unit, retreat…'

There was a moment when no-one moved except the Professor, then the arrows started to come down, both those from the foes and the ones hastily loosened from the bows of Ignatz and Ashe. Byleth weaved madly forwards into the fog, and out of the sight of her companions.

'What are you doing?' A voice called out behind her, but Byleth couldn't make out who had spoken as she concentrated on trying to keep her footing and find a safe path as she plunged towards the dull lights that must be marking the archer's position.

There were six of them with bows and a few more men with melee weapons. Byleth headed straight for the group, ignoring the freezing water that was sloshing up her legs and soaking her tights. Her first engagement brought confusion as she appeared from the hazy blanket of mist, surprising them all. She managed to bring down two archers before they could even register what hit them. The odds were definitely not in her favor, though, as the other of her foes took stock of the situation.

'Seriously?' Byleth hardly recognised Jeritza's voice as he appeared by her side. It was deeper and more sibilant than she was used too. 'Which part of "don't do anything stupid," did you fail to understand?'

Instead of bothering to reply, Byleth twisted sharply away to avoid an incoming blow and smashed out a response of her own. They fought in silence, rapidly disposing of the enemy under their ferocious ballet of swordplay. When the last archer went down to Jeritza's blade, he pushed the body back with ease, and his weapon flicked immediately towards Byleth. She parried the blow staring at him unflinchingly. His dead eyes were shining, and a grim grin split his uncovered face. Jeritza appeared to be gone completely from the man staring back at her.

'At last, I meet the true Ashen Demon.' He said, his words amused. 'You really are quite remarkable, you know.'

'I don't have time for this.' Byleth stated expressionlessly.

Jeritza bowed his head in acknowledgment. 'I look forward to making you mine, Demon. Spilling your blood will be such a sweet pleasure and the anticipation of such…a pure pleasure. Next time perhaps…' He stepped slowly away, but his gaze continued to burn into her as he moved. 'Just think of my help here today as a token of my devotion.' He finally declared. 'This particular hunt I chose to dedicate to you.'

'Do what you want; just stay away from us please.' Byleth began to back away carefully.

'You really ARE a trouble magnet.' Sothis huffed sarcastically.

Once Jeritza had disappeared from view, Byleth made her way back to the others. Relief swept over her when she saw that they were currently alert but not actually engaged in fighting.

'You're bleeding.' Dedue was by her side as soon as she stumbled, wet and muddy from the marsh.

She shrugged. 'What's going on?' She asked. 'Is everyone okay.'

'We are all a little worse for the wear.' Catherine strode towards her. 'There hasn't been an enemy attack in a while, though. I think they must be regrouping or rethinking. I guess they don't know how many of us there are, and we haven't let anybody return alive, so Lonato is definitely on the back foot with that.'

Byleth nodded her understanding and took in her weary and beat-up students, and watched as Mercedes moving through them all with serious, compassionate care. Byleth directed herself towards Ashe and went to where the lad was sitting dejectedly on the ground, his head in his hands, while Ignatz hovered like a mother hen at his shoulder. Byleth crouched down beside him and placed a hand on his arm. He looked up at her blood-soaked and muddy appearance and flinched noticeably.

'You are holding up well.' She told him stoically.

'Thanks.' He murmured, looking away.

'Nobody here wants to be in this position.' Byleth continued quietly. 'Anything that can be done to prevent further bloodshed…'

Ashe whimpered loudly, and he suddenly threw himself into her arms. She rocked backward and sat so that she could hold him.

'I know it's not over yet…' He sniffed. 'They are going to have to attack us again, aren't they.'

'Well, they'll realise that Captain Jeralt will be just behind them so yes. I believe they have no choice but to try and get through us.' Byleth agreed including the others who had gathered close around them in her comment. Catherine also nodded her agreement at the Professor's assessment.

'Why do you think they have stopped now then?' Ashe's openly honest face stared at her, his eyes brimming with tears.

Byleth bit her lip anxiously. 'I think most of those that attacked us already were Lord Lonato's actual troops.' She said gently. 'If he is now reliant on untrained townsfolk, he is going to have to be organizing them. They won't have the experience to know what to do like a trained unit would.'

'Could we try and negotiate with Lord Lonato - before they send anyone at us again?' Dimitri spoke up. 'I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are really not enamored with the idea of killing civilians.'

'Those people have made their own choice to follow their Lord.' Catherine frowned. 'I agree it is not ideal, but…'

'Do you believe that Lord Lonato would listen if we tried to contact him Ashe?' Byleth cut Catherine off.

'I would have said so, yes… but then I can't believe that he is doing any of this at all.' Ashe replied sadly. 'I guess I am not the best person to ask…'

'It could work.' Byleth appealed to Catherine. 'If his remaining fighters are completely inexperienced, they are probably less of a threat in a parley situation.'

Catherine thought about it then finally nodded.

'It's got to be worth a go.' She agreed, hopefully.