Sorry for the delay. I'll keep this short. Y'all know Fire Emblem isn't mine.

MIKHALUS GREIL

A cold, whistling wind blew across the plain, carrying the stench of death through the flatlands of Northern Plegia. We were close enough to Ferox that the chill from our northern neighbor crept past the border, especially this time of year. The dark clouds overhead cast shadows over the sparse trees-none of which offered cover on our side of the muddy riverbed-and threatened to break a storm over our heads, the same kind that bogged us down last time we brought the frontline here.

And of course, the Feroxi were accustomed to the cold.

"Gods, I hate this place," I grumbled. It had been a massive pain to get out of here last time. Setting up camp was hard enough, with the wind pulling at our tarps and rain and sleet beating over them throughout the night. The muddy ground did neither us nor the Feroxi any favors, however. At least we had wyverns this time. But that fact did not do my rage any favors. "How did we manage to get pushed back this far?"

I could see the enemy encampment thanks to how flat the land was, but only barely. They set up far enough away that I wasn't able to catch any details. Probably didn't want to push too , if I could see them, then they could see us.

We landed in the clearest spot available, which wasn't saying much with how crowded everything was. The flow of things was disrupted, choppy. People moving left and right, no coordination. Not a single man moved faster than a hobble. I could see how tired they were even before we landed, what with how sluggishly they cleared out. The few whose eyes I did meet were dead and weighed down by dark bags. More than all of this, however, was the fact that this camp was crowded despite how few people occupied it. It was small. A skeleton crew.

"Ugh, being this close to those barbarians makes me sick," Gangrel moaned, sliding off of Yael's wyvern. He dusted himself off and stood tall. His bright outfit was a mismatch to the muddy landscape and dismal atmosphere. He stood out like a sore thumb. If I was lucky, some Feroxi sniper would pick him out from the crowd.

Even now, the sight of the gaudy king caused a commotion. Soldiers crowded around us, but to my amusement, none of them showed the slightest hint of awe. None bowed to Gangrel. They merely stared at him with jaded eyes, keeping their distance. If I had to guess, none of them knew what to think. It took him a moment to realize that they were watching him, but once he did, he sneered. "What are you all standing around for? Don't just stop and gawk at your king. Make yourselves useful!"

I hopped off Salem's wyvern and took a sweeping look around as the gathered soldiers began to disperse at their leisurely pace. They all wandered off in their own directions. Watching them move, I had my doubts that any of them had much use left. Still, despite the desolation of my army under the "leadership" of Gangrel's bitch, I still had an issue of higher priority.

I waved to stop the soldier closest to me. He almost didn't pay me any attention, his eyes gliding over me before he did a double take and gave a panicked salute. "Sir!"

"Tell me where Dawn is."

"Her tent is near Lady Aversa's, sir."

I nodded. Of course it was. As if the witch would let Dawn camp anywhere she couldn't monitor her every move. Behind me, bags thudded to the ground as Salem untied them from her saddle. "And what of Reever?"

His brow furrowed, his voice shaking. "Uh, Reever? Lieutenant Reever, sir?"

"I would assume so."

"Sir, he and the majority of his crew fell in battle." His words were quiet with shame. "They were targeted by a battalion of archers and shot down."

"I see. Thank you." I turned from him and let him go on his way. Perhaps I had given Aversa too little credit. Throwing an outfit of wyvern riders into an archer squad? That's a hard mistake to make, and I knew damn well she wasn't that stupid.

I walked over to Salem. "Have you forgotten something, sir?" she asked.

I got close and spoke in a hushed tone. "I want you to take Yael and go for a quick lap over the Feroxi camp. Keep high, stay out of sight and away from trees. They have archer companies and I can't have you two getting shot down. Report to me a numbers estimation and any potential hideouts between us and them."

She nodded, swinging herself onto her wyvern and waving for Yael to do the same. He hurried to unload his last few bags. Within seconds, they were mobilized and in the air.

"Where are they off to?" Gangrel asked, gazing off at the wyvern captains.

I didn't look at him. "Scouting mission." I pulled another soldier aside and ordered him to get our bags moved to the stables-or wherever our mounts were being kept in this ragtag excuse for a camp. "Figured we may as well offer whatever assets we have-our situation is clearly dire."

"Uh...huh." Gangrel narrowed his eyes at me as I walked away. He followed close behind, tailing me like a mangy dog. "That's all you're having them do?"

"Yes." We drew eyes as we walked through the camp. It was hard to ignore the king, and his voice was as tell-tale as his outrageous outfit. "I'm not sending them off on some reckless attack or… anything stupid. I know what I'm doing."

"And you didn't think of consulting me on this?"

"What do you suspect I'm trying to do, Gangrel?" I stopped in front of Aversa's tent and reared on him. I got close, not quite in his face but close enough that I knew he couldn't look anywhere else but at me. "Despite what you may think, I have this army's best interests at heart, and that is more than Aversa, Validar, or any other advisor who's clinging to your feet."

His eyes widened, teeth bared in a snarl. "You've got a lot of nerve to speak ill of my advisors when you're the one who left me on the eve of an ambush."

"I admit I made a mistake, but it is not my job to babysit you."

He jabbed a finger into my chest hard enough to push me back a step. "Keep that tone up and you won't have a job at all." Did he just threaten me?

I opened my mouth to bite back at him, but he ducked into Aversa's tent, and I heard her greet him. She kept her tent hexed to be silent; as soon as the flap closed behind him, all I was left in was silence.

Did he just threaten me? Me? I closed my eyes, took a deep, hissing breath, then spun on my heel and barged into Dawn's tent. It was dark inside, with little more than her bedroll on one side and her bags tossed into the corner. I had no patience to keep this bottled up in me any longer. I was about to explode, and the silver-haired girl laying on her bedroll with a glass blade resting on her lap would always listen to my complaints.

"Is your tent silenced?"

Her eyes whipped over to me at the sound of my voice. Her face lit up with a shining smile the same color as her hair. "Mika!"

She jumped to her feet and ran to me. As she threw her arms around me and pushed her face into my chest, I dropped my bag and asked, "Is your tent silenced?"

"Si, certo," she said, voice muffled in my coat. "I figured it someone attacked me while I was camped, I'd make sure no one could hear and I'd be able to have some fun. War is no good for that, you know." She nuzzled her face against me. "Grima, mi sei mancata."

"Gangrel is a blind fool." She looked up at me as I spoke, unmoving until I pushed her off. I tore off my pauldrons and cowl and pitched them to the floor, as well as a sheathed Kurokaze. Despite the cool autumn air and the threat of rain, it was too damned humid and I was too damned flustered to be wearing anything warmer than my tunic. I was halfway through pulling my cloak off when I said, "These soldiers are tired and starving. They've been worked to death and I'll be lucky if a third of them have the will to fight after Emmeryn's hop, skip, and jump."

Dawn nodded, plopping back down onto her bedroll. She watched me like a cat as I paced back and forth across her tent. "In the last battle, more soldiers than I could count on both hands dropped their weapons and surrendered. Don't know what happened to the ones that got away from la strega."

I stopped pacing for a breath. So they weren't casualties. A lack of morale was one thing, but even with a high casualty rate, there was too little meat left on the bones of this company for that to be the only case.

Of course Aversa murdered anyone who disobeyed. "Figures," I scoffed. "Anyone who won't drool at her heels is better off dead. Can't convince someone to die for you if they won't even fight for you."

As many pieces as it put together, however, it was still worrisome. Emmeryn's jump had a profound effect on Plegia and its citizens-the ones not following the Grimleal, that was. Even if I managed to take control of the reins, this war was going to be a difficult beast to control. No one was going to want to march into Ferox like this, let alone with the cold season approaching. We'd need a swift victory-not something I saw happening with our meager forces.

We still had Ylisse to worry about, as well. There were still Ylisseans fighting back, cornered dogs hiding and striking in small forces. No matter how many we took down, there was no telling how many still lingered in the woodwork or the dilapidated streets of Ylisstol. It made it hard to search for the Shepherds, too. Spreading our troops even thinner to search for them was perhaps Gangrel's worst idea before coming to the frontline. Scouring the country had earned us nothing. But really, how could he have expected to find them? He had enough trouble smoking out the guerilla fighters. If I was over there, I would be able to clear them out in no time. Unfortunately, our own borders were more pressing.

I'd need to somehow rally everyone. A victory, even small, could assist in that, but it would take motivation to get them to fight. The gaunt faces we'd passed on the way here flashed in my mind. They were done with this war. The only thing keeping them fighting was the price of the alternative. Once Aversa was gone, who knew what they would do?

And that was if I regained my spot at the forefront. I bit my thumb. This was a rough situation.

"Are you alright?"

I looked up to Dawn. She was watching me, brow furrowed in concern. "Pardon?"

"Are you alright?" she repeated. "You were muttering under your breath and your eye was twitching. It only does that when you're worked up."

I held my hand to my face. I couldn't feel it twitching, but she wasn't lying. It was a slight tick, not one a lot of people noticed. Dawn was never one to miss those things, though. The muttering was less subtle, however. These past months had not been healthy for my temper. Each error was a file chipping away at it. Gangrel and Aversa getting in my way here was worse. Their intrusion had all the grace and subtlety of a hammer. I hadn't been this upset since the Shepherds first disappeared. I felt hot despite the chill in the air. Taking a moment to collect myself and steady my rampant, excited heartbeat, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a second. This was no time to lose myself.

I apologized. "I'm fine. Thank you. I'm just… stressed."

She kept an eye on me, finished with cleaning her sword. "Why?" I waved at the tent flap, to the ghost-filled walkway of the camp. She shrugged. "I still don't see why. This war is not our problem. Win or lose, our road does not change, does it?"

I rubbed my hands over my face. "No, it does not. But we need to make sure this war follows its own road. Too much deviation and…" I waved my hand, "it makes a mess."

"It is already off-course, no?"

"Sadly, yes."

"Then why-"

"Are you arguing with me?"

She winced, curling her legs up to her chest. "I'm sorry, sir. I wanted to make you worry less over this."

"I need to worry. t's too late to be complacent, Dawn. Not only have the Shepherds disappeared, but they have actors that shouldn't be on the stage." She failed to hide her grin. "We are here to balance the scale. Every irregularity they cause, it falls on us, on me to counteract that. There is a struggle in Ylisse. They are putting up a fight. On our end of the war, we must do the same until the Shepherds come back to tend their sheep."

"You make it sound like a…" she pursed her lips, thinking of the word, "grand duty."

"Is it not?"

She opened her mouth, then stopped and sighed. "What I meant was-"

"General?" Dawn paused, and we both looked to the voice coming from outside the tent. "General Greil?"

I pointed at Dawn. "Don't disable the silence."

Salem and Yael were waiting outside. They saluted in unison. "Sir." Yael stood with his arms crossed behind his back, head tilted up. He was a statue, that one. "We've completed a run over the enemy encampment. They-"

I held a hand up, cutting him off. I was hesitant to cut him short. That one sentence was the most I'd heard him speak since the start of our trip. "Wait. Come in here."

I ducked back into the tent, holding the flap up for them. Dawn scowled when Salem entered, but held her tongue. I walked over to the mage and held out my hand. "Give me a knife." As soon as a leather-bound handle hit my hand, I offered it to Salem. She took it with a cautious hand and a curious, narrow look. I pointed to the dirt floor in the center of the tent. "Show me what you've found."

AN:

So. It's been a long time. I have nothing for you except a sincere apology. I know this chapter is short, too. For that, I also apologize, but it is also easier to follow. It follows a single character. Every chapter from now on is going to be that way. The only breaks will be little skips within the chapters, and hopefully those will also be few and far between.

Chapters will take longer than the weekly schedule I used to follow. By now, I suppose that isn't a surprise. But, I want to make chapters (and an overall) story that I'm proud of, so I need to take the time and care to do that.

Thank you guys, again, and I hope you enjoyed this return to the story. Doctrine of Valor is not dead and will not die until it's done.

All of the Oats have been harvested.