The Battle of the Eagle and Lion. Such a pivotal point in the summer of 1180, and a prelude of what was to come. The battle itself showed how far I and the Ashen Wolves had come, and what our shortcomings were as well. A taste of violence against potential allies and enemies and a bid for the future...before the future got turned on its head.


With a week to spare until the Battle of Eagle and Lion, my house and I wasted no time in gearing up and developing battlefield strategies. A four-way conflict presents a unique challenge as Seteth explained to us that the victory condition is eliminating the opposing forces and or being able to control the high ground of Gronder Field for at least 30 minutes. Neither condition provides an easy path without exposing yourself to a foe.

While we were away on our mission Seteth also had a random drawing to designate our position on the battlefield from the high ground, and the Ashen Wolves were assigned the Northern sector, but the other houses starting locations remain a mystery to each other until the start of the battle. With a small river dividing us from the rest of the greater battlefield we have a strong defensive position, but poor pushing potential for the high ground due to the risk of other houses creating choke points at the West and East crossings.

Each house member is provided a battalion from their respective region, so naturally, the Ashen Wolves have hired out the guards to Abyss, some of Yuri's agents and thieves, and some knights and clerics from the Church of Seiros. To keep things relatively fair, each contingent has 10 soldiers and then an assigned captain from the house members. Winning by sheer numbers isn't the point of the mock battle, it's to force you to think tactically around your opponents. If the officer of the contingent falls, the contingent is rendered defunct and is required to stop fighting.

As for equipment, everyone is using training weapons and wearing full gear. Seteth and some of the church wyvern riders will be patrolling to airlift defeated people to the staff of clerics that will be on stand by near the Northwestern ridge.

The last thing nagging on my mind as the Ashen Wolves and I marched towards our staging area was the last time I visited this field I nearly died. I'm hoping this will be a much kinder experience this time around on the old plains where Sothal left my body.


Getting set up with the rest of the Ashen Wolves and watching the soldiers suiting up in our small forward camp is interesting. On one hand, it gives me small flashbacks to the only other organized military invasion I've been apart of in Dagda a few years. And on my other metaphorical hand, it's nice to see the Ashen Wolves collaborating. It fills me with a bit of pride that I've managed to help them a bit in the small amount of time that we've been together.

As I finish strapping a gambeson on and sliding into my Ashen Wolves robes that Constance made awhile ago, I feel a bit bulky and warm due to the extra padding but protected. I look around the camp to see how everyone else is gearing up and how the contingents of soldiers are doing as well.

The archer group led by Monica seems fully prepared with Monica decked out in gray and black leather armor with a longbow strapped to her back and a few daggers strapped to her crossbody bandolier. Besides them, I can see Yuri giving some instructions to his gang of thieves and cutthroats. No universal skillset is identifiable by their varied choice in weapons and armor, but it suits Yuri's unorthodox style nonetheless.

Constance hosts our lone Pegasi rider group as does Hapi with our lone cavalry group. The one worry I've had about our group setup is while we have sizable strength and magic, we lack a great deal of mobility in comparison to many of the other houses have.

The strategy we developed is that once we have the all-clear from Seteth is we will sweep to the East to the heavily forested side of Gronder Field as one large group to attack as one, and hopefully eliminate one house before shifting our attention to the high ground. Our forward scouting group is Yuri followed by Monica and Balthus. Lysithea and my company bring up the next part of our regiment as being the most magically damaging and having the most healers. Our rearguard consists of Felix to prevent someone from following us from the West and as our failsafe to retreat towards. With Constance's pegasi group providing us with aerial intel and Hapi's group being the most mobile ground unit to provide support to anywhere that needs it, we feel pretty solid moving like a slow wedge-like formation with strong recon. With the forest slowing down calvary forces, we are trying to play to our strengths first and foremost.

I finish up strapping on my wooden sword and placing three vulneraries in my pocket, I begin to make my way to the middle of the camp. With Seteth coming any minute, it's time for one last meeting before things get crazy. I get to the middle of the camp and shout, "Everyone, circle up!"

The side chatter dies down as most people stop their activities and begin to make a circle around me. I clear my throat and feel a bit of nervousness creep into my mind. "Listen up! We are going to start soon, so let's get a few things clear! First, follow your commanding officer. It's not for personal glory, this is a mock battle. Second, don't try to be a hero. While we are using non-lethal force and toning down the power of our spells, I still don't want to see the infirmary packed to the brim later. These are still our allies." I give a knowing look to Monica, Yuri, and Felix, "And finally, let's go kick some ass. Let's show the other houses and the church that we deserve to be here!"

The camp cheers and disperses as the put the finishing touches on their gear and I see Yuri approach me with a grin. "How are you holding up professor?" He asks me with his usual air of confidence.

I shrug and shake my head. "Like I'm out of my goddamn mind. I don't know the first thing about actual warfare besides my studies. Practice and theory are quite different in my experiences."

"Perhaps, but we did collaborate on the idea you spawned. I managed to cover up the weaknesses in your initial assessment," Yuri pats me on the shoulder roughly, "So relax, Santos. Whoever in that forest is going to be in for a rude surprise. And then after that? Well, let's just see how we're standing and take that hill. Today's our day to show Fodlan what they've been missing out on."

I nod and smile, "Thanks, Yuri. Now, let's get ready. I think I see Seteth in the sky heading this way."

I see Seteth flying towards our camp and land a few feet from Yuri and I. I bring up my arm to protect my face from the wind and dirt being kicked up by the wyvern, which I still think anybody that willingly rides a winged lizard into battle needs their mental health checked. Pegasi I get, but dragons? Forget about it.

"Professor Capetillo. We will commence shortly. Are you prepared to move your troop to the staging area?" Seteth asks as scans my camp from the comfort of his decorative wyvern saddle.

"All good here. I'm ready for the horn whenever," I respond with a thumbs up.

Seteth curtly replies, "Good. I shall be off then. Good luck, and stay safe. I'll be doing my best to keep an eye on things with my group."

Seteth immediately ascends after finishing his sentence and I'm forced to cover my face once again from the lift the wyvern creates. As he flys into the distance, I shout, "We move! March!"

The Ashen Wolves troop immediately begins to organize and mobilize as I hear my students shouting orders to their troops to fall in line and ready themselves. My troop is primarily a group of clerics line up before me and I instruct, "Remember to fan out. I don't want us bunched up together to get hit by the same arrow volley."

My clerics reply in unison, "Yes, professor!" I smile at their eagerness and attitude.

I march down with the Ashen Wolves to the bottom of the slopes where we can see the river and the elevated platform across the field that's maybe 2 football fields away. On top of it, I can make out a sort of ballista type device that's mounted in the center. Above the turreted system, I see Seteth hovering on his mount with a large warhorn. He seems to be looking around in each direction towards the houses and after about 30 seconds of tense anticipation, he blows the horn signaling the mock battle has commenced.

I can hear Yuri barking out orders to his forward camp as we begin marching Southwest towards the crossing bridge. The bridge will be the first and possibly the most difficult obstacle for our group if our opponents in the forest shore up their border with a lot of troops. If they bring a lot of ranged units we will be left at a disadvantage with our lack of fliers, bows, and them having the forest. We need a quick crossing into enemy territory so we can ambush them from behind if they went East to take the tower, and hopefully pinch them between another house.

We manage to make it to the bridge within 10 minutes of the horn being blown and we see no signs of people guarding the bridge, though the noise of conflict can be heard far off in the distance. I hear from above Constance depressingly declares, "From my vantage, I see no enemies in sight. If you suggest proceeding I will follow your command."

Yuri responds with a loud, "Got it!" and he commands his company to rush across the bridge to secure the other side of the river for the rest of us.

As our scouting company crosses, I hear Yuri announce, "Enemies in the trees incoming!"

My company hurries our pace to cross the bridge while it's still clear and I can see through the trees Yuri and his forces engaging with an enemy. I can make out some vague blues in their uniform telling me it's the Blue Lions. Dimitri will certainly be a force to deal with, especially when tempered with Hanneman's knowledge.

As I get closer to the action and see Monica and Balthus's contingents engaging in the action I can vaguely see Annette and Sylvain through the brush commanding their groups of Kingdom spearman and mages. I hold up my hand to cause my clerics to hold our position on the outside of bridge leading into the forest as I see Lysithea's group charge ahead towards the spearman under Sylvain's command.

From the looks of it, these two were the only companies sent over here to guard the bridge but considering we blitzed the bridge with our whole company of soldiers, they are quickly being beaten back. The forward company with Yuri is carving through Annette's ranks and Sylvain is losing ground from being jammed up by Balthus's close-combat fighters and being picked off by Monica's archers and Lysithea's mages.

"Move up! We need to capture the officers!" I shout as I see Felix's group finally cross the bridge and hold a defensive position. Good, now I can move up and see if anyone got scratched up.

We push deeper into the forest chasing after the distressed Blue Lions soldiers. Nearly all of Annette's mages were taken down while Sylvain easily lost half his men while taking some licks from Balthus before retreating. As we delve deeper into the forest I command to Hapi as she is passing by, "Hapi! Take Lysithea and scout the center area! Constance is too far ahead to do so right now."

Hapi nods and spurs her horse into action to catch up to Lysithea and her mages. After a couple of minutes, we manage to catch up to Annette and Sylvain with Constance's fliers boxing them. After that, we cleaned them up with minimal losses, only Balthus's group losing about half his knights, but otherwise, we are unscathed. As the defeated soldiers head for the hills outside of the battle area we converge towards the rear guard of the Blue Lions, which sends us into an immediately into Mercedes and Hanneman's group of mages.

From there it's a collision of swords, arrows, and magic. I find myself pushing my group up to get in the range of healing as people are getting knocked around left and right. I manage to spot Hanneman through the chaos and smirk. As I see Hanneman commanding his troops I pour a large amount of mana into a Rescue spell. Considering how strong Hanneman is, this will most likely drain me of Rescue for the remainder of the battle, but it'll be one less professor to contend with.

"Knights, point your sword here!" I instruct as I unleash the spell and feel an incredibly strong resistance from the old scholar. I grind my teeth as my mind strains and I finally feel myself gain a slight edge on Hanneman as I rescue him to the center of our forces with wooden swords aimed at his throat.

Hanneman puts his arms up. "Very well done professor, I concede. Remarkable power you have in the faith magics. It seems I underestimated you. I surrender."

I smile and reply, "Thanks Hanneman, you certainly made me work for it." Hanneman adjusts his monocle and smiles as he escorts himself off the battlefield. Even with a dozen blades pointing at him, he manages to still keep himself composed like a true gentleman among scholars.

I refocus on the battlefield as Hanneman escorts himself to the hillside camp, and I see the bulk of the Blue Lions forces retreating to meet the Ashen Wolves forces. With the Blue Lions caught between two fronts, we charge full force into the rest of their ranks.

I managed to spot Dimitri, Dedue and Mercedes' companies colliding with our front lines and both houses start to unravel. Our coordination and structure begin to fray as the melee becomes muddled with soldiers from each side clashing blades, numerous spells cast and arrows zip through the air. I motion for my clerics to disperse and spread out to the other companies as I begin to search for the officers of the opposing forces.

As I run through the forest I manage to spot Balthus engaged in a duel of brawn with a heavily armored Dedue, Monica is bullying Mercedes and a few archers in melee combat with a wooden sword and dagger combo, and I see in the distance Dimitri tearing through Yuri's company with the leftovers of his lance company.

I rush over as fast as my legs can carry me while avoiding getting to close to any other skirmishes that might attract any wayward attackers. As I get near the frontline I see Yuri and Dimitri have engaged in one on one combat, though it looks like Dimitri is having a much different experience than the time they fought in the swords tournament.

Facing a relatively fresh Dimitri is quite grueling as each swing of his lance, even though it is wooden, seems like it could break bones and leave you incapacitated as Yuri focuses more on dodging Dimitri's attacks, but is losing ground and is slowly running out of options. I cast my Physic spell to help aid any injuries Yuri might have, but I don't feel a great improvement in his condition as he isn't injured, just getting tired from having to work harder to not get hit.

Well, two against one is always better so I charge into the fray joining Yuri as I unleash a Thoron spell aimed at Dimitri, who manages to backstep away from the lightning bolt and bring the battle to a temporary lull. Yuri looks to me with a grimace and wipes his sweat laden hair out of his face, "Finally here to help?"

"Unless you think you've got it handled," I quip as I ready my blade like Yuri had previously shown me.

"Well, since you're here…"Yuri remarks as he charges at Dimitri with me skirting around looking for openings to cast Fire and Thoron.

We do a decent job of forcing the intimidating lance wielder on the defensive as most of his strikes now are slower and more telegraphed due to having to keep an eye on me. Yuri scores a few glancing blows on the prince while I'm not able to land a direct hit due to trying not to hit Yuri in the crossfire, and as we are backing Dimitri up into a deeper glade my mind races as I recognize this place. This was the place the Sothal led me to so many weeks ago when I passed through Gronder Field with the Black Eagles.

My lapse in concentration and awareness punishes me though as a large blunt force manages to crash into me sending me airborne. I lose grip on my wooden blade and land roughly on my back. Coughing a bit as the wind was knocked out of me I look up to see a very winded Dedue standing shakily a few feet from me with his giant tower shield. Explains why it felt like a building collided with me.

I run a quick Heal spell on myself, and thankfully nothing is broken but I'll have some bruising tomorrow from that maneuver. Dedue lumbers forth and mutters, "Apologizes for the surprise, but I have you defeated."

I frown, "Not quite." I unleash my Nosferatu spell on the Duscar giant as he tries to close the distance, but luckily the draining spell manages to sap the last amount of his strength.

About a meter away Dedue falls to his knees and then onto his face as I manage to sap the last bit of energy from the loyal retainer. Feeling almost back to normal with a slightly sore ribcage I scramble to my feet to see where Yuri and Dimitri are fighting. Unfortunately, that little interruption from Dedue managed to cost us dearly as see Yuri getting slammed into a tree. From the looks of it, he made Dimitri work for it by his labored breathing but Yuri looks to be out cold.

"Well, shit."

Dimitri looks to me after Yuri slumps to the ground and shouts, "Looks like it's just you and me, professor!"

"It would appear so," I reply as I look around at the other unconscious soldiers from both sides groaning on the ground. It looks like I'll certainly have my work cut out for me in the infirmary later, considering Dimitri doesn't send me there early.

Dimitri grips his lance tightly and walks quickly towards me. "I've been meaning to fight you. Consider this a retribution of sorts and yourself lucky that this is a friendly battle. I'll make sure you're still able to walk once the medics are done with you."

"You know Dimitri, there is a saying where I'm from that you should be aware of."

Dimitri and I close more of the distance until he's about five meters away. The echoing sound of battle rattles through the forest as he tartly asks, "And what would that be?"

"No empieces la casa por el tejado."

Dimitri's brow furrows in confusion as he grunts and charges at me. I take a deep breath and cast my Warp spell on Dimitri as he enters melee range with me. With a rough tug at my mana that saps a large amount of my mental fortitude, I teleport Dimitri behind me. Thankfully, Newton's second law still applies in Fodlan as I can imagine a face of shock of Dimitri as I turn around to see him trying to stop his full momentum as he heads towards a grove of large oak trees.

I cast Cutting Gale on Dimitri to bolster his movement and manage to send him reeling into a large tree that manages to stop him in his tracks. The thud is evident and loud as his head bounces off the tree and sends him to the ground. He most certainly has a concussion from that maneuver and hopefully, he will sit out from here.

"Is...that all you have?" Dimitri grunts as he wearily grips his lance to help hoist him up. His body shaking a bit as he puts a great deal of his weight on the lance which draws a bit of pity out of me.

I frown, "Stay down Dimitri. You've probably suffered head trauma from that collision and this is a mock battle. I will defend myself if you come at me again, so don't make this some personal vendetta."

Dimitri's eyes look less like the cordial prince I'd usually see around and more like a feral animal as he spats, "You...you let Ashe die. You have hurt so many people I know, and even now Felix has left and refuses to talk to me." Dimitri pauses to look at his hands and then back to me in his mania, " The answer was so clear…"

I'm starting to fear I may have given Dimitri brain damage as I put out my hand and warn, "Dimitri. Look at me." Dimitri's wide eyes make contact with my own and it's like I'm looking through the poor boy, like something deep within him as come unhinged as I continue, "Just lay down and take a breather. I can even give you a vulnerary to help soothe-"

"You're mine!" Dimitri shouts as he bolts from his crouched position with lance in hand towards me. While his speed is impressive, his judgment is lacking as he's given me ample time to conjure up a spell as I cast Thoron nearly point-blank with his lance inches away from me.

I grit my teeth as I focus on the lighting jetting out from my hand that sends Dimitri stumbling back into the tree. I can see lighting arcing off his body as he collides into the tree he crashed into moments before. My Thoron spell ends as Dimitri slumps down and I can see some smoke coming off him. I did warn him, and yet here we are.

I walk over to investigate the still steaming body of Dimitri and sigh. He's certainly unconscious now with his eyes closed and limbs hanging loosely to his sides. I check his pulse real quick and thankfully he's still stable. He can certainly take some punishment, that's for sure. I leave Dimitri a vulnerary on his chest for when he wakes up and I look around the area. No other soldiers are in the immediate area, friendly or hostile so I follow the sound of combat to the South. I'm also thankful I can leave the glade that harbors some unpleasant memories where I almost died.


I leave the area in a hurry to meet back with the rest of my house and after about 10 minutes of weaving through branches and underbrush, I manage to find what of them remains. I see Felix's company nearest to me and I manage to catch Felix's attention by waving him over. He and a few swordsman jog on over to me and Felix asks, "Where were you?"

I stop to catch my breath for a moment and rattle off, "Was off fighting with Yuri, who is now eliminated. But, Dimitri is taken care of. So is Dedue."

Felix raises an eyebrow and smiles. "Is that so? Good. Maybe it'll humble the boar."

I hold my hand out and give Felix a 'so-so' gesture and reply, "Yeah, we'll see. How we holding up here? Who's left?"

"Our forces have been thinned considerably. Balthus and his group have been eliminated along with Constance and her Pegasi getting hit by arrows when scouting to the west. Monica's group is at half strength and so is Lysithea's. Mine has not lost anyone, but we've seen the least amount of action. The bulk Blue Lions have been defeated except for Sylvain who fled deeper into the forest, Ingrid was seen walking back to the church camp with some clerics from the Northeast, and we haven't seen Flayn. Probably injured from another battle," Felix reports as he casually flourishes his blade.

"And what about Hapi?" I ask to Felix. The whole point of our strategy was to stick together as one large unit, and not splinter off and try and take on individuals. Her unpredictability and indulgent behavior is starting to bite us all in the ass, especially since we've lost Constance's pegasi corps.

Felix shrugs with a frown. "I don't know. She's probably off scouting or hiding in the woods for a nap."

I sigh, "I highly doubt she would take a nap."

"Would you like to take that bet?"

I pause to consider the odds before hesitantly responding, "...No."

"Exactly. Let's go, professor," Felix demands as he shouts at his troop to follow. I look around for my clerics and manage to spot a few mixed in with the other groups that are trying to catch up to my position.

I manage to see Lysithea and Monica's groups marching through the forest, though with infinitely less pep then when we started, sans Monica. That girl doesn't even look winded or damaged, while Lysithea fatigue is visible in her face and walking form.

With our group switching our front with Felix's fresher fighters taking point as we march towards the high ground in the West, the first group to catch up to me is Monica's as she slinks beside me with a smile on her face. "Professor! This is fun! I'm so glad you included me in this!"

Monica's manic eyes share some qualities with Dimitri's from earlier, her's don't reflect the anger and disdain that Dimitri harbored, rather her eyes have a disturbing child-like excitement to them. A bit uneasy to look at, but a definite improvement over unrelenting bloodlust.

"Don't get too excited, we still have two other houses to worry about," I caution to the eager redhead who rolls her eyes giggling, "That's what I'm counting on. It'd be a shame if we won after just one little battle!"

I look back to some of the archers in Monica's contingent who simply shrug and shake their heads. It looks like they don't understand their commanding officer either. Great.

I fall back as Monica's eyes focus on the elevated terrain ahead and the soldiers behind her give her some space warily. Lysithea manages to catch up to me and I pat her on the shoulder, "How are you holding up?"

Lysithea exhales deeply and huffs, "Could be better. Let's...proceed carefully. I imagine Claude will still have some tricks up his sleeve."

I nod and reply, "I couldn't agree more. Each house possesses a large threat, so let's see who's at the top of the hill. Together."

I continue with Lysithea's group of mages towards the elevated ground as the sound of battle grows louder with each step we take West. After a few minutes of marching, I can hear Felix call out an order to attack as he engages with an enemy near the apex of the hill. Lysithea and I exchange a glance as we hustle up to meet Monica and Felix on the frontlines.

The elevated wooden watch zone is scorched with markings of fire and lightning, blunt arrows scattered around and many soldiers lying around unconscious and being escorted away from the battlefield by church clerics or Seteth himself. As Felix and Monica dive headfirst into the fray I see that it's complete mayhem with the Golden Deer and Black Eagles already present here fighting.

I look to Lysithea and order, "Tell your mages to keep their distance. We don't need you getting sucked into that mess of melee combat. I'm going to go in and heal."

Lysithea nods as she reiterates my orders to her mages as I hustle forward to get a feel for the battle. In short; it's a bloody mess. Everyone is fighting each other with blade, bow or magic. I feel as my head needs to be on a swivel to just keep track of the chaos. As I creep closer to the top of the wooden structure I join up into Monica's group who is fighting Leonie of the Golden Deer. I can spot Hilda and Raphael fighting against Caspar and Dorothea of the Black Eagles, and Felix is fighting Petra's group of the Black Eagles.

I look around to see if I can spot the other house leaders and professors but unfortunately, I'm coming up short with no answers to where they might be. I refocus on the battle in front of me and begin dispersing Physic spells to Monica and her troop of archers. Both groups collide as I slowly wade my way through the frenzy to Monica. Trying to be heard through the sound of clashing weapons and other orders I shout, "Monica! We need to take out Leonie. How would you like me to support you?"

"Rescue her to me?!" She shouts as she dodges and arrow and throws a dagger at a would-be assailant, nailing him in the forehead.

"Can't. Anything else?" I shake my head as I launch a Thoron spell towards the bulk of the Golden Deer swordsman to our North.

"Okay, how about you Warp me? I want to surprise her!" Monica insists and I nod. I cast Warp on Monica to send her about 15 meters away to Leonie, who is finishing off a trio of Monica's archers with a wooden halberd.

My little gambit works in surprising Leonie as my carefully placed Warp drops Monica directly on top of the auburn-haired girl. Part of the surprise and Monica's quickness with a dagger, she manages to incapacitate Leonie with relative ease and a bit of ruthlessness that makes me want to cringe. Monica's victory is short-lived as she stands over Leonie triumphantly looking down on her defeated colleague with glee, at least until a stray arrow nails her in the head knocking her out cold.

I look around frantically for the origin of the arrow and notice a ways away is Claude with a smirk on his face. I sigh at my student's showboating as I rush towards the lone Claude near the bottom of the northern ramp. Not wanting to waste one of my few remaining Warp spells I opt for Fortify as I try and zigzag my way to the wily archer who manages to pepper me with a few well-placed shots in my torse.

I finally get within close distance of Claude that he's starting to backpedal to keep me in bow range, and I sense a spell be cast on Claude from farther North. I look back to see Marriane and another cleric casting some kind of support spell on Claude, and judging by the magical feel of the aura it's either Fortify or Ward. Considering they know me as a magical caster I'm going to gamble on thinking it's Ward so I pick up my pace into a full sprint which draws a curious look from Claude who stops backpedaling to take a direct shot at me since I'm now running straight for him.

"You're too late, doc! I've got you right where I want you," Claude comments as he nocks his arrow. I look around to see none of the clerics or other Ashen Wolves followed me, and I want to mentally slap myself for pursuing an enemy by myself like this. Trying to think of a way to close the distance I cast Cutting Gale at the ground to kick up a large portion of the dirt in front of me to obscure Claude's vision.

I race toward Claude as I hear him loose the arrow that nearly hits me, and would have...if I had a left arm still. I emerge from the dirt cloud only about a meter from Claude as he's hastily trying to set another arrow in his bow. I can see Marriane in the distance trying to position herself to safely cast reason magic that will hit me and not Claude, so I make a break for Claude. I can see him tense waiting for me to cast a spell on him, but with the aura around him still active I opt for the alternative.

I rush Claude and land a solid punch in his face causing him to drop his bow and stagger backward. Looks like all those sessions with Balthus is starting to pay off as I tackle Claude to the ground and begin to do my best to ground and pound the slippery Riegan heir. He manages to get a few wild blows in on me, but I can already tell that this kind of dirty combat is not Claude's forte. We grapple and punch for nearly 30 seconds before Claude exclaims, "I yield! Sheesh...and people ask me why I don't like going to the doctor. I'm...just going to lay here and relax for a bit."

Breathing heavily I nod and manage to push myself off of him. I notice I've given Claude a solid black eye and some other bruises, but that's nothing the medics can't handle. He'll be sore, but he'll be fine after a healing session. As I get my bearings and stand up I'm immediately pelted with a fireball to my chest that nearly sends me onto my back.

I look to Marriane and the Alliance cleric who are focusing their magic on me. "Right back into the fire…" I groan to myself as I cast Heal on myself to alleviate the pain, though my limbs are beginning to feel heavy and my mind hazy from the repeated use of magic and running around the battlefield.

I brace myself for another barrage of spells from Marriane, but oddly enough I see both of them get slammed with purple dark magic that knocks them off their feet. I wearily turn my head to the West and see Hapi with only two of her calvary mages left. Hapi looks quite worse for wear as her hair is messier than normal, I can see char marks on her uniform and she seems to be favoring her left arm greatly. I smile as she casts another Swarm Z spell on Marriane to knock her an her allies out.

Hapi steers her injured steed towards me with an exasperated expression. "You looked like you could use the help. You look terrible."

I stifle a laugh and reply, "You're one to talk. How goes the rest of the battle? I was wondering where you went."

Hapi shrugs. "Decided to do a flanking maneuver. Found Hubert waiting for us near the river, and things got ugly. We managed to take down most of the other's forces, but I had to retreat once Bernadetta started shooting arrows at me. Where's Yuri-Bird?"

"Dimitri took him out, but I managed to take down Dimitri. The Blue Lions are defunct at this point I'm pretty sure, but the Deer and Eagles are still pushing hard."

Hapi nods, "Makes sense. Are we going to the high ground?"

"Yeah, we should. Lysithea and Felix were the only ones up there with quite a few other soldiers from the other houses. Let's go."

Hapi gestures to behind her and insists, "Hop on, it'll be faster this way."

I hesitantly approach the gray steed who bristles at my presence a bit and I hear Hapi chuckle, "Are you afraid of horses?"

"No! It's just...never really rode before. At least successfully," I shamefully admit. Being directly on a horse is still something that freaks me out a bit. I seriously need someone to help me get over this damn phobia considering I've been in Fodlan for awhile now.

Hapi raises an eyebrow replying, "Santos, I mean this with respect. You're a weirdo."

I roll my eyes and clumsily clamber onto the horse. Luckily the saddle is big enough for the both of us as Hapi whips her horse into a gallop and I hold onto her as if my life depends on it. Forget fighting Dimitri, Claude or anybody else today. This is easily the most frightening and worst experience of battle. I swear I'll never be a cavalry caster like Hapi, or god forbid a goddamn pegasus or wyvern caster. Casting magic is hard enough, why would I want to risk falling to my death on top of that? I shudder as Hapi's steed propels us back into the action near the top of the structure.

As we crest the top I tap Hapi's midsection that I'm holding onto with a vicelike grip. "Okay. lemme down now. Please."

"Jeez, alright! Looks like the numbers have thinned up here, I hope you are done being a baby," Hapi sasses back as I dismount and shoot her a glare. She returns a disapproving look that usually is reserved for a parent that is disappointed in a child.

Just as I'm about to reply I see a wooden tomahawk get thrown from across the way hitting Hapi right in the abdomen and right off her mount. The spooked horse disperses back to down the ramp to the North as the other two riders with us go to engage from what I can see is Edelgard and a few Empire troops. I kneel and cast Heal on Hapi who is hissing from the pain of what I imagine is broken ribs.

"You think you can still go?" I inquire to Hapi who is clutching her ribs.

"Ugh, yeah I guess. I'm not going to brush off another hit like that though," Hapi retorts as she holds her arm up to be hoisted.

I help pull Hapi to her feet as Edelgard's forces take down the rest of Hapi's contingent. I look around for other signs of battle and see Felix dueling against Byleth with each side having about a quarter of their forces remaining, and I see Lysithea dueling against Dorothea and Hubert. On the far side, I can see Ferdinand fighting against Hilda, though Ferdinand seems to be alone while Hilda has most of her folks still and is pushing hard against the noble boy.

My mind races to think of our options and I whisper to Hapi, "Think you can handle Edelgard? I need to go find someone."

"I don't know, who do you need to find?"

"Lindhardt. I guarantee he's hiding somewhere to the west, but I'll need to circle this structure to find him. We have no chance of winning without taking out the Black Eagles healer," I argue as Edelgard begins jogging towards Hapi and me. I cast one more Heal on her and shout, "Got that?"

Hapi doesn't reply as she waves me off and picks up a wooden lance from a defeated soldier to brace herself for Edelgard's ax skills. I use Warp on myself to send me to the West of the raises wooden structure and back into the forest and underbrush. I focus my mana to see if I can seek out the familiar aura of Lindhardt as I tread carefully and quietly as I can in the Western woods.

I search for a few minutes trying to get a grip on Lindhardt's aura until I feel that I'm damn near on top of his presence yet I don't see him. I sigh and look up in frustration, though I quickly begin to smirk as I see the green-haired mage sitting in the tree branches fully focused on casting Physic on his allies several meters away.

I cast Thoron at Lindhardt, which doesn't seem to damage him that much thanks to his natural resistance but spooks him enough to knock him out of the tree. He tumbles out of the branches and lands roughly on the ground near me with a thud.

"You know professor Capetillo, that's a rude way to greet someone," Lindhardt whines as he rolls over onto his back a brushes his hair out of his face.

I walk over to him with another Thoron spell at the ready. "Do you concede? Also, where is the rest of your unit?"

"I gave my unit to Hubert. Anyways, I think I'm going to take a well-deserved nap. I've been overworking myself. Good luck, professor."

"Thank Lin."

I leave the sleepy mage to his business as I begin my march back to the control point and the sound of battle has certainly died down in my absence from the scene. As I hike up the incline I can see that everyone is now on the top-level duking it out for the final spot. I see Hapi is unconscious as well as Lysithea since both have been pulled to the side by clerics, as well as Hubert and Ferdinand.

Seeing Felix as the last of my students standing fighting against Sylvain, who seems to be trying to make one last gamble to win for his house I also see on the south side of the platform Edelgard struggling against the dual threat of Hilda and Byleth. I haven't seen Manuela thus far, so I have to assume she was defeated early on as well as the other students I haven't seen.

I cast Physic on Felix as he delivers a front kick to Sylvain, sending the ginger-haired lancer away from him. With Felix and I flanking Sylvain from each side we both cast Thoron on Sylvain, making sure to avoid his face as he twitches sporadically from the combination electrical currents. Sylvain drops to one knee as Felix and I finish our spells, and Felix holds the sword to Sylvain's throat and grunts, "Concede."

"Ahhh, you got me. Next time though, a little less power? The static is not good for my hair. Really," Sylvain mocks as he drops his weapon and begins pawing at his frizzy hair.

"Get a haircut then," I offer with a goofy grin. Of all the things to be worried about, your hair should be relatively low on that list.

Felix simply glares at him and looks to the other source of action and shouts, "Get down!"

I drop to the deck as Felix struggles to bring his sword up in time to parry Hilda's wild ax swing. I go to cast a spell on Hilda but Instead, I feel a hard impact on my head that sends me to the ground. I look up to see Byleth standing over me, and I begin to put it together. Seems she was able to sneak up on me and bash her pommel over my now throbbing skull. I tilt my eyes and see Edelgard is being helped by clerics, conscious but clearly not with her all wits about her as I see she's barely able to sit up. Must've done the same thing to her.

I turn to look up at Byleth who puts her foot in the middle of my back and with her sword at my face stating, "You lose," Before delivering another swift pommel strike to the back of my head causing me to see black.


My eyes flutter open as I can feel someone pouring a Heal spell into me as I hear in the distance the chanting of, "Hilda, Hilda, Hilda!"

I can feel hands on me and someone says, "His vitals are stable now, let's get him out of here."

The pain in my head has subsided down to a dull ache at this point, and I throw up my hands declaring, "I'll be fine, I can take it from here. Just help me up."

The clerics exchange a look and shrug before helping me up. I helped train most of the medical staff at Garreg Mach, so they're not very keen on denying me. Granted, I should probably take it easy considering my injuries and exhaustion, I'm still too curious to hear about who had won.

As the clerics help steady me as I sit up I can see Seteth near the center of the wooden surface talking with Byleth and a very excited Hilda. I grunt as I raise to my feet and begin to trudge my way to them. I can see Felix is unconscious but being tended to, and off behind Seteth is Bernadetta looking a bit timid.

I approach the group and hear Seteth say, "Ah, you're up. Feeling alright, Dr. Capetillo?"

I roll my shoulders and neck. "I've been better. What are the results?"

"Ah, yes. The first place honors go to the Golden Deer, second is the Black Eagles, third is the Ashen Wolves, and fourth is the Blue Lions," Seteth explains as he gestures to the happy duo of Byleth and Hilda.

I raise an eyebrow and respond, "Third? I would've thought second considering who was left."

"It would make sense from your perspective, but the last person to be eliminated was Bernadetta via surrender. She managed to get a shot off on professor Eisner before she got charged and promptly surrendered," Seteth informs me as I look to Bernadetta who immediately averts her gaze and looks off into the distance.

"It was a good test, I think this was a wonderful demonstration," Byleth adds. Her thin smile manages to hide some of the glee I can tell she is experiencing as her eyes are wide and excited looking.

"Yeah! Though I do wonder where Claude went…" Hilda murmurs as she taps her chin delicately.

I snort and rub the back of my head. "It may have something to do with me punching him."

Byleth looks at me calmly with a blank gaze, though I swear I can see some tugging at the corners of her mouth. "That would make sense. Hopefully, he can learn from that."

"Oh, this is great. Claude got humbled a bit and I can tell my brother I won the Battle of Eagle and the Lion?! Whoohoo!" Hilda cheers.

Seteth clears his voice rather loudly and responds, "Indeed. I suggest we head back to the main camp to gather the others and then prepare for our way back to Garreg Mach. We should return by tomorrow given the weather and the state of our ranks."

Seeing no complaints with Seteth's reasoning we all agree and begin to make our way to the church's forward camp where Rhea and all the others are located. Time for a night of festivities after making my rounds through the medical tents.


Upon arriving back to the camp I was told I didn't need to help in the medical tent, but I helped out for an hour anyways looking at some of the rogues from the Abyss and some of the more serious injuries, like broken hands and fractured legs. I tended to avoid any Kingdom and Empire soldiers as once word got out of who I was some of the men and women began to give me the stink eye. The camp itself was designed like a cross with the Church located in the center with each house forming a prong of the main camp.

With the evening coming to a close after my mini shift I found my students nursing their injuries and chatting it up in our little nook of the camp. Everyone was fairly banged up, but thankfully no long-lasting injuries thanks to the highly responsive clerics of the church.

With the general debrief finished Yuri approaches me. "Hey, Santos. Now, I did sneak this here for our victory, but considering we could all use a pick me up anyway and it is celebration time…" Yuri beckons me over to his tent where I see a small crate that he kicks the lid off of to reveal an assortment of booze.

I lean down to investigate the various brands of liquor as Yuri narrates, "I managed to throw this together last minute, and I was thinking I could maybe share."

"You're goddamn right you're sharing," I respond as I pull out one of the aged whiskey bottles. "Where did you get stuff of such high quality?"

Yuri crosses his arms and smirks. "Do you really want to know?"

I open my mouth to reply but immediately close my mouth to pause and consider the notion. After a moment I look back to Yuri. "No, I think I'll be fine not knowing."

"Exactly. Now let's get the others. It's nearly dark and I want to hear some good stories."


A/N: Hello again! So, the Battle of the Eagle and Lion is settled, with a silly follow up chapter. For more information, It will be in the next chapter where I'll have more extensive notes for what's to come and what to expect.