Ahh, the bliss of sleep. The endless darkness that envelops you in its cool embrace. With the warmth of your bed, these two components can become the prison of self-indulgence for many students and hard workers alike trying to keep on living in today's problematic society.
This bliss was suddenly interrupted by my alarm clock in my smartphone playing a tune way louder than what you configured it into something that shouldn't wake up everyone in your house.
With quick reflexes or as quick as I possibly could with the groggy state I was in, I got out of my bed, pushed my chair away, and bolted to my desk. The phone was on the other side of my decently sized room, laying on one of my desks.
I grabbed my phone, immediately put my thump to cover the speaker, and then turned off the alarm. For me, this was the best way to wake up. It wasn't pleasant, that's for sure, but it got the job done.
It took me a minute to get my bearings, but a quick chug of cold water followed by a sip of my still warm black ginger tea woke me up in no time. With a few stretches and loud pops of my bones, I looked around my room.
It wasn't anything special, it had everything I need to go on with my daily duties. Two desks, one with a computer and a laptop, another for writing, a closet, a bed I recently woke up from, and shelves, lots of them filled with fantasy books, video games, gaming consoles, and other things.
It was your stereotypical bedroom of a male teenager although I no longer was one.
I turned around back to my chair and saw it filled with clothing I prepared for today's endeavor. Since I was a student at a university, our schedule was completely thrown out the window due to certain circumstances that plagued us in this day and age.
Every fourth week we are scheduled to visit the university. It was mostly to just grab our homework and timetables for the next four weeks. It sounded extremely boring and it is, nothing happens during this 'event' if you want to call it that. It just takes more money away from me because sadly I did not live close to my university. It usually cost me around forty dollars just to get there and make sure I didn't die of hunger.
As much as want to talk about myself, I need to get prepared. I left my bedroom as silently as possible because it was barely morning. One quiet step at a time I closed the distance between myself and the door to the bathroom and managed to get there without making a sound and close the door behind me.
It was there I realized that my attempt to not wake my mother up with my silent steps was going to prove fruitless. Because I smelled horrible, and our shower was extremely loud.
"Wow, I really can't plan things ahead, can I?" I muttered to myself as I flicked a switch to turn on the lights. It was there I saw someone in the mirror staring right back at me.
My reflection.
A young-looking man in his early twenties, with sky blue eyes, long brown hair with hints of platinum to snow-white colors, and a scruffy bush that goes along his chin and down to his throat called a 'beard' that looked absolutely awful.
"Need to shave this," I exclaimed. I grabbed a shaving set to get rid of this nasty beard and after the shave, a shower, and a quick check of smelling my armpits to make sure that the horrible smell of sweat and grime was gone I went back to my room.
I didn't even try to be silent with my steps anymore because it was no longer necessary. My mom was either awake or was trying to fall asleep again. I checked the clock to make sure I have enough time to get my clothes on, pack my bag, and get to the train that leads me to Prague. I did have enough time, so I didn't have to rush.
With my clothes on which included a turquoise polo and dark blue jeans, I moved to my favorite piece of clothing I currently own, a coat to be exact.
It was a classic deep blue almost black woolen winter coat with three buttons that goes down to my kneecaps, it also had a pin depicting a lion standing on his hind legs with two tails and roaring into the sky.
I always swell with pride whenever I put this coat on. It assures me that if I set my mind on anything, I will be able to prevail no matter what.
Putting my pride aside I gathered my necessary things inside my bag. Paper, pens, some snacks, water, sunglasses, napkins, phone, sun-powered power bank, headphones, an extra sweatshirt, pretty much everything a millennial needs in this day and age, also shouldn't forget the face mask.
However, before I headed out, I went to check on my mother to make sure she knew I will be gone for some time. She can be a bit overprotective sometimes and I tried to be as responsible as possible, but I still feel like she babysits me way too often.
I opened the door to my mother's bedroom and see that she was still fast asleep. How? I had no idea. I knew my mother was a light sleeper. She could wake up to almost any noise possible, so it slightly baffled me to see her still asleep.
Well, I leave her sleeping without telling her anything, but I wasn't like that.
I slowly made my way to my mother's bed and nudged her slightly to see if she stirred. My mother turned on her back and looked at me with groggy eyes, processing for a second to see who was in front of her. Once she realized it was me, she looked at me with the most affectionate smile she could currently muster.
"Hi, sweetheart." Said my mother in a soothing voice despite being awoken just a few seconds ago.
"Hi, mom. I'll be gone for a while in Prague. Need to settle a few things there." I said to my mother with a hushed tone to make sure she could get a few more minutes of sleep after this conversation was over.
"Please be careful. Do you have everything with you? Phone, keys, a wallet?" My mother said worriedly.
Like I said, a bit too overprotective.
"Yes, I do have everything. See you later mom." I said as I moved out of the room and waved my mother goodbye.
"See you later, sweetheart," she said in a slightly less worried tone as I slowly closed the door behind me. I made my way down the stairs and to the exit, put on my black leather boots, and set off to the train station.
The walk to the train station was peaceful because not a lot of people are awake this early in the morning. I don't know why but I always liked this time of the day.
As I said, it's the most peaceful time of the day where people weren't rushing to their jobs or seeing students run to their schools. The hue of the sky was getting brighter with each passing second, nudging people to start waking up and the color shifts from cold dark blue to warm orange to eventually sky blue.
Once I reached the train station, I was greeted by an old building that wasn't a spectacle, like at all. You could see the worn paint on the walls slowly crumble away, roof tiles discoloring to a sickly green hue, glass windows were foggy and unclean and filters from cigarettes and chewed chewing gum were everywhere on the ground.
But that wasn't the only thing that was unnerving about this place. You get used to seeing old buildings crumble away here in my hometown but when I looked inside and outside of the train station, there wasn't a single soul in sight.
I know I said people are still asleep, but there I people like me who need to wake up this early. There was always this one friend that I always meet here since we both wake up early but there were no signs of him either. The only person I was able to find was the cashier for tickets inside the building, but he was expected to be here.
The inside of the train station wasn't much better. While it looked a lot cleaner on the outside, there were still specks of dust, hair, and thrown away plastic bags under vending machines that are half-full, no filters from cigarettes though, so that was a plus, I guess.
I walked up to the cashier behind a counter, putting my face mask on, and asked "Good day, sir. Do I even need to buy a ticket right now?".
It took a second for the cashier to turn around while sitting in a wheelchair to face me. When he processed the question I asked, he looked at me with a baffled face that pretty much said 'Are you serious?'.
"Of course you have to. Just the price had dropped. Did you really expect that public transport would ever be for free?" He asked with an annoyed tone and a frown to boot.
I just shrugged off his little more than necessarily aggressive response and replied "Eh, a man can dream. A return trip to Prague, student over eighteen.".
Seeing that both I and the cashier didn't want to continue this conversation he got to work on my ticket. You couldn't see a whole lot behind the counter, the only thing you could see was the cashier typing something on a keyboard for a few seconds and then on a small screen, you were able to see the price of the ticket as well as the ticket itself when the cashier was done.
"Ten crowns." Said the cashier with a look of indifference, while I looked taken back by the price of the ticket.
Normally, a return ticket to Prague from here would cost around one hundred fifty crowns which were equivalent to roughly seven dollars.
Which was a lot of money for, you know, just a ticket.
But with a student's discount, it goes down to only forty crowns, add the certain circumstances into the equation, and it came down from seven dollars to not even two quarters.
Well, don't mind if I do.
I gave the cashier ten crowns, and I didn't feel like trying to amend our conversation, so I left him with a Czech equivalent to a "Have a nice day.".
And now we wait for the train.
"Let's see, Prague... Prague… Prague…There! Station three rails number twenty-three. Has a half an hour delay…whelp." Seeing as my train had delayed, again. Seriously, we wouldn't be joking about our trains not being here on time if it wasn't happening all the time. Like, come on, how the hell do you have a half an hour delay when there was no one around here to be picked up.
I digress, let's see what could I do? Hmm, might as well have a smoke, I have enough time. I started fishing for my electronic cigarette when out of the corners of my eyes I spotted a figure.
When I tried to focus on the person, I saw a hunched old man leaning on a wooden cane, probably reaching his seventies. He was bald with many wrinkles and had a lengthy white beard that went down to his chest. He was carrying some sort of box and it looked like he was having trouble with it, probably because of its weight.
Well, it looked heavy enough to me.
Seeing as the train won't come any time soon, I ended my search for my device and made my way towards the old man so I could help him with the probably heavy box. On the way there I was able to get a closer look at him and my assessment from far away was honestly spot on, so I moved on to check the box.
It was made of wood. It was a case of some sort, but for what I could only guess.
It seemed that the old man spotted my curiosity and chuckled. I tried to give him a wary stare but keeping that was hard when he started to downright laugh although it wasn't loud since his lungs probably weren't what they used to be.
"Ah, I see you are eyeing my case, young one." Said the old man when he saw my eyes filled with curiosity through my wary façade. And who wouldn't be, the case looked a little old but it sure was pretty to look at. The box looked to be made from mahogany wood, quite uncommon here in the Czech Republic, with gold trimmings and two silver hinges to make sure it was locked, the case was in good condition.
Man, now I was really curious about what was inside.
As the old man said, I was eyeing the case for much longer than I would have liked. Seeing as this was a bit rude of me, I should have probably stated my purpose before I started to ogle something in his possession.
He probably thought of me being a thief, although a very bad one.
"Excuse me for staring, you have quite an interesting case, and couldn't help myself. I'm sorry, I just wanted to help with it because it looks pretty heavy." I said, trying to amend my situation of not being a creep or, as I said before, a thief.
"It's alright, young one. A lot of people think this case is heavy, but it isn't. My bones and muscles are maybe old, but I still got the strength to spare. However, you seem interested in not in the case but what is inside, are you not?" Asked the old man with a raised eyebrow that was waiting for my obvious answer.
Hmm, quite perceptive of the guy. Might as well be frank about it.
"I kind of am, but in all honesty, I was just bored because my train was delayed for half an hour and I had nothing better to do. Seeing you sir, being pretty old and holding a case, I thought I could help but since you said you had no problem with it, there goes my potential ten to fifteen minutes of used time before my train arrives."
"Hah, you sure don't hold back with your words, young one. You should know there is merit to being careful with them, you could easily hurt someone with that silver tongue of yours." Warned the old man. Though it wasn't meant to be a threat, just some wise words from a literal old man.
"And as for telling me being old…." He trailed off. He shifted a little bit and got a little closer to me within arm's reach. Before I could react, he readied his cane in his right hand and with a quick thrust stabbed me with it into my stomach.
I yelped, staggered, and wobbled away from the old man, holding my gut with my hands, looking at the ground. For being old he sure knows how to stick people with his cane. It took me a second to get my bearings from that thrust.
Damn, that hurt.
"Hey, you know that really…hurt?" I wheezed out but before I could berate him more, he was gone. When I looked around the train station, he was nowhere to be found. Wow, he either was extremely quick on his feet or he is a goddamn ninja or something. There was a small glint coming from the ground I directed my sight to it and spotted the very same case the old man carried.
He also left a note.
"Meet me at the Charles Bridge, bring the case with you. I wouldn't open it if I were you, you could get into trouble."
Well, this wasn't ominous at all.
I meet an old guy, who berated me for my choice of words, stabbed me with his cane, and then left his prized possession with a stranger with a note saying there could as well be a weapon inside. He also specified the location but not the time. Did that mean he will wait for me no matter when I come? People were not that patient to wait for someone for who knows how long.
I really sometimes hate how people could easily manipulate me, but I also wasn't someone who would steal for profit, giving this case back to the old man may yield me a reward, however, I wouldn't be so blind to not see some foul play here.
Well, sometimes the best way to avoid a trap is to spring it.
With the train finally arriving and me hoping in with the old man's case, I tried to find a place to sit where I would have enough space for myself. Since almost no one was around I opted for a cabin that usually is for six people. It's your typical train cabin with cotton seats, one huge window, and a hanging place for coats, bags, and such.
Nothing interesting happened during this one-hour trip, not even the guard showed his face who usually checks for tickets.
Getting to the university didn't take long. Since I know the way there by heart, I always find some way to distract myself, be it with a phone, songs, or speaking to myself in foreign languages. Well, might as well divulge into that, right?
For those who still didn't figure out, yes, I came from the Czech Republic. Then why were you thinking in foreign languages instead of your native one? Well, truth be told, I am proud to be Czech, but believe me when I say that Czech is a mess of a language.
There are so many rules and exceptions to keep track of that it can get confusing and annoying at the same time.
Did you know that we have an extra letter in the alphabet called 'CH'? Yeah, it's a weird amalgamation of 'C' and 'H'. If you want to try and pronounce it, try to say the word 'character' without the 'K' sound at the beginning, it may be hard, but you get used to it in time.
We also have more letters like 'Č' and the infamous 'Ř', but I am not going to bother explaining those, if you want to find out, just google it. We have a saying in our university where when someone asks too many questions, they don't google enough.
Anyway, after the whole debacle of getting papers, homework, and timetables from our professors, we got one last speech of 'staying safe at home' and 'not underestimating the current climate'.
Well, if the school wanted to encourage us to stay home, why not send everything via email? Seriously, sometimes I wonder how the school system can keep up with modern technology if stuff like this was still necessary, but I digress.
It was time to head to the Charles Bridge and give the old man the case which I didn't open, although it was tempting to peek in. I didn't want the risk of being seen and possibly being interrogated by police or other people if the thing inside was a weapon or something equally dangerous.
Getting to Charles Bridge was going to be a pain though, since I was currently on the west edge of the capital city, while the bridge was in the center. It will take at least half an hour before I get there so might as well indulge you in more Czech trivia.
Charles Bridge was founded by King Charles the Fourth, who during his reign wore four crowns of four different nations. When the bridge was suggested to be built, because people got tired of crossing the Vltava by boats, there weren't enough materials for grout circulating through the market for the bridge to be completed in a reasonable time.
So, instead of waiting for the materials, Charles the Fourth suggested using one material that was abundant during his reign, eggs.
Mixing grout with both eggs and eggshells, they were able to complete the bridge in under five years. Now that sounds ridiculous and it is, however, it is yet to be confirmed if the bridge was built using eggs or not.
It was also yet to be seen if the Charles Bridge will, with all these rumors running about, crack under pressure.
Heh.
With that little banter out of the way and my horrible pun aside, I finally managed to get to the bridge. While I wasn't on the bridge yet, there were a few things that I noticed that made this place extremely creepy.
First of all, there were no people around, not on the bridge nor near it, no sounds of traffic either. This was the capital for a reason and it wasn't five in the morning or the people would be so scared to leave their homes.
Second, the river was silent. Now I didn't live here so I didn't know if this was common or not, but a river should make at least some sloshing noise or something, right?
With all my instincts screaming at me to not go on the bridge, I continued to take one step at a time up to the bridge, compelled to see this trough so I could get rid of this case because I didn't want to explain to anyone from my family where I got the case in the first place.
After a minute or two of walking, I spotted a figure leaning on the railing of the bridge. It's the old man and now I could see him much clearer. He was still bald with many wrinkles and a long white beard, but as I got closer to him, probably four meters away, he turned around and I could see into his milky eyes meaning he was blind.
That certainly explains the cane, I guess.
"Hopefully, you weren't waiting for me for long." I tried to say in a casual tone to hide my inner fears of this being some sort of foul plot. Even after checking my surroundings many times over, I still was on high alert.
"No need to be so wary, young one. There are currently only two souls on this bridge and both of us know who those two souls are." He said, somehow picking up on my anxiety.
"Now onto the matter at hand, do you have the case I left you?" He asked.
"How would you know I have the case with me no matter what I told you?" I voiced one of many questions out loud, and I could see that the old man didn't even flinch, probably even expecting I would ask that.
"I have my ways, but I guess it would be better for us if you would ask all of those questions in your head right now before we continue." He replied.
Could this guy see into my head or something? Because that would be creepy. Also, might as well use the invitation for more questions.
"Ok then, I am not going to bother with questions that don't relate to this situation. So, I ask, why? This entire day I was thinking about our interaction back at the train station. It was extremely puzzling, not to mention weird." The age-old question of 'Why?' summed up pretty much everything I needed to know.
The old man shifted a little bit, probably to have a better look at me, but I didn't see the point of the movement, since he was blind.
"Yes, our meeting wasn't something ideal and I hope I didn't give an impression of an old man being crusty about his age." He replied with a smile.
"Well, you did stab me with your cane after that whole debacle." It was then I saw behind the old man a table with two chairs right in the middle of this bridge.
Did he seriously bring a table set with him?
"Point taken; now would you mind sitting down with me for a while? I brought some refreshments and you brought us a game." He offered.
I did what? I didn't remember ever bringing cards or anything like that, nor ever bringing a game that needs a… table. I looked back to my left hand where I held the case and then it became clear to me. He played me like a fiddle.
That old man sure was cunning or I was just that oblivious. It was at this point that there was no escape from the old man and so I obliged by sitting on the other side of the table. It was also next to the edge of the bridge railing meaning we also had decent scenery.
"I thought you would be more reluctant to join me." He said in a matter-of-fact tone and he was not wrong. It took me a second, but he looked like he was just seeking company.
"I was, but it's been some time since I played a board game so I shall indulge myself. But can I just ask where is everyone? This place is way too empty and eerie to boot." I asked, which was another lingering question I needed an answer for.
"Don't worry about it. I made sure no one will come and disturb us. You can put the case on the table and while I am at it, can I ask for the name of my acquaintance?" He replied.
"The name's Radko, a pleasure to meet you, sir…?" I waited a moment to let him finish the sentence for me.
"Alexander, but please don't call me sir, I haven't done anything to be called that. You can open the case." He prompted me with a hand gesture, and I obliged.
When I unlocked the hinges and slowly open the case, I was greeted by something resembling a chess set. However, upon a closer inspection, the pieces were detailed and couldn't find any resemblance to any chess piece.
This was more equivalent to a war game type of board game. I always wanted to get into board games like Warhammer, but the paywall you needed to get through was just too much for me, even if I went for the more budget options.
"Intrigued, are we?" he asked me with bemusement in his voice, but I was only bewildered by his comment.
"How can you tell? As far as I can tell, shouldn't you be blind?" Another lingering question. Ok, I can see that the 'Why?' question didn't give me the answers I was looking for.
"You weren't saying anything for a while when I heard you opened the case. I even called your name, but you didn't react at all." Alexander chuckled at my blunder, but that didn't stop me from admiring the craftsmanship of the individual pieces.
There was another thing I found out about the case. There were only pieces inside, but after a quick inspection, the case could unfurl itself into a gameboard for the pieces, but the gameboard itself was something that I wasn't familiar with at all.
"I hear you were able to find the gameboard. Without any instructions might I add. It's nice to see young people like you being perceptive and admire the little details." He pondered out loud for me to hear which warmed my heart because people usually get creeped out when I inspect anything that holds my current interest. I always inspected for details and this board game was filled to the brim with them.
"And who wouldn't, the woodwork and craftsmanship of this set are incredible. I can already tell this isn't something you can buy in an everyday game shop. This is homemade isn't it?" I half stated because there was no way this wasn't homemade. If not, I would want to know where he bought this.
"It is, but we are getting off track. Here, take this paper and arrange the pieces on the game board according to it." He gave me a paper with instructions on how to set the board.
However, with the way the pieces were set, this wasn't going to be a match on equal ground. Heck, it won't be a player versus player at all, this was more like a situation or a scenario, a fight happening between two different groups with different strengths and weaknesses.
After a minute or two I was able to set all pieces in place. The instructions on the paper were well detailed and easy to follow. How Alexander was able to write such a manual, I had no idea. Probably had some help with him, or he was just that good.
The dude vanished right in front of my eyes just a few hours ago after all.
"Ok, all the pieces are set, but is this supposed to be a match of some sort or just a talk about a potential scenario?" I asked Alexander.
"No to the former, yes to the latter. I am going to tell you what the scenario is and your goal is to create the best strategy to overcome it. You are also going the have a time limit of ten minutes. Sounds good?"
"Sure, a brain puzzle on a time limit is something I can certainly manage." I boasted. I played my fair share of strategy games and this didn't look like a hard scenario, so I believed I could do something about it.
"I like your confidence; we will see how you will fare. You are within a group of mercenaries as a strategist. Your company is currently in town looking for a job when it is suddenly attacked by bandits. Thanks to a scout of your group, they were able to find out that all exits are blocked by said bandits. There is no hope for reinforcements and the town is being put to the torch. Your goal is to make sure you escape the town with minimal casualties." He explained.
Wait, that was it? Well, I guess with the board arranged like that it kind of made sense the scenario wouldn't be too complicated. But there were several things that I needed to watch out for. The number of bandits exceeded the number of the mercenaries meaning fighting the bandits head-on would a stupid idea.
If I wanted to go for smaller skirmishes there was always a chance of someone escaping to alert more bandits which would result in the company being quickly surrounded. When you need to escape a place, going Leeroy Jenkins will not work. You would expose yourself to the bandits and reveal your location, information was key in situations like this.
Having a scout was also good since he could give us more information about our surroundings, but since I had a bird's eye view, the scout was just another soldier at my disposal. With the north gate being the closest, but also the most fortified, the possibility of the company escaping without casualties was rather minimal, and the south gate was too far away to escape before the flames of the town would be too much to bear.
The only reasonable strategy would be this one.
"So, have you come up with a strategy, Radko the Tactician? The time limit is almost up," he asked with bemusement as he took a sip from a cup that holds black ginger tea. This guy knew his stuff when it came to tea.
Coincidentally, his taste was the same as mine, with a small amount of honey and lemon to make sure the raw flavor of ginger didn't overpower the overall taste of the tea. I took a quick sip of the tea and got ready to unveil my strategy.
"I am ready," I exclaimed proudly.
"Then tell me your perfect strategy." He prompted me to speak and so I did.
"Since the north and south gates are out of the question since one is heavily fortified and the second is too far away, the logical conclusion would be to choose either the west or the east gate. Since I have the bird's eye view, it makes the assessment much easier, the east gate would logically be a better choice." I tried to continue with my explanation, however, Alexander stopped me with his raised hand.
"Why would you choose the east gate than the west when you can clearly see the number of bandits is greater there?" Alexander asked. I could hear in his tone that this is a question he wanted to ask immediately if I chose the east gate and not the west gate.
"The reason is simple; the west gate is much easier to defend than the east gate," I said like it was the most obvious thing in the world and I saw Alexander smirking.
Oh no, now I didn't like where this was going.
"Oh, then tell me why?" he asked with the smirk still in place. I got slightly intimidated by his expression, but I steeled myself and continued my explanation.
"Even though the gameboard is flat there are several stylistic changes to the environment. For example, I can see that the west gate looks a little bit different than the east gate. There are forts for archers to have the high ground in the west gate. I am not going to rule out the thought of bandits not having archers just because they could be dumb. Survival is key, and even though the mercenary company would have to fight little more than expected, fighting on equal ground or in an advantage is crucial. The west gate would pretty much be a suicide endeavor." I explained and I could see the shift in Alexander's expression. Did it go from a smirk to a smile that radiates with… pride?
"Yes, you are correct. The west gate would be a suicide plan and I am happy to see your intention for details helped you in that regard. You wouldn't believe how many people would choose the west gate instead of the east gate. Some people would even choose the north gate saying 'I am pretty sure the company is skilled enough to handle it' or start asking questions like 'What about the village itself?' or start trying to be heroic and handle all the bandits with small skirmishes but you already knew that is just simply not possible."
What, I didn't say anything about the skirmishes, how did he know? He was either good at reading people or… no. I was thinking about it sure, but I didn't indicate anything about trying the tactic itself.
"How did you know that I would rule out the possibility of trying skirmish my way through the bandits?" I asked in bewilderment.
"I have my ways," Alexander replied in a vague tone, but I scoffed as he finished his answer. I rose from my chair and started to ventilate.
"As if, there was no way for you to know what I was thinking, at first with the case I just ruled it out by you being persuasive, but this is getting weirder by the second. Not only there are no people around, but the river is still not making any sound, it is almost as if it isn't moving!" I franticly tried to get my situation under control, but there was no hope. I started to draw short breaths, hearing my heartbeat getting louder and louder.
"First, you should calm down and start breathing properly, I don't want my new acquaintance to faint on the spot." I heeded his advice to calm down and started to draw deep breaths, but he still hadn't answered any of my questions.
"Just, answer the questions," I said weakly after my little episode.
"To put it simply, the time has stopped," Alexander explained with a casual tone to a ridiculous situation. Time had stopped? No, that's impossible. There was no way this was real. I regained a little bit of my composure after such an outlandish claim.
"What are you, a maniac? Please, there is no such thing as stopping time. That's just pure fiction." I called out my thoughts.
"Why don't you look around to see for yourself." Alexander prompted with a hand pointing to the scenery on my left side. I hesitantly turn my way to where he pointed and leaned on the railing for a better view.
At first, I didn't spot anything out of the ordinary, but after a few seconds I saw several grey dots in the distance suspended in the air and upon closer inspection, I could tell that those grey dots were in fact pigeons.
"What the hell?" I asked nobody in particular. And it didn't stop there. When I looked down at the river, I could finally understand why I didn't hear any noise coming from it. It was also suspended; I could even see a few drops of water hanging in the air like they are tied to some string.
"What is happening?" I voiced another question aimed at Alexander in particular. He did not look even phased by what was happening around us. He was to my left side also leaning in the railing of the bridge.
"The requirements are met; a soul has been found and the gate shall open. It seems the time has come for someone to intervene." He responded.
"What are you even talking ab-!" Before I could finish my question, Alexander threw me a long narrow object that I barely caught between my hands and then said vaguely "You are going to need this where you are going.".
"Again, what are you tal" Because the universe hated me or something, I got interrupted again not because of Alexander, but the railing I was leaning on suddenly disappeared with the floor below me.
I was hanging in the air for fraction of a second before I started to plummet to the cold waters of the river below. But after a few seconds where I screamed my lungs out, I didn't feel the water at all.
I was falling and falling and falling until it felt like I wasn't falling at all. I didn't know how much time has passed since I started to fall. I still felt the object Alexander gave me in my right hand, but all other thoughts and feelings slowly but surely left me because I was starting to fall asleep and my mind felt like it was drifting away.
When I looked around, I only saw myself and the darkness around me. Slowly but surely, and probably for the last time in my life, I fell asleep as the darkness enveloped my eyes as well.
{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}
"Are these creatures common here?" Asked a bewildered tactician. They aimed the question at a blue-haired man wearing a blue regal outfit that seemed impractical at first for fighting but after the battle back at the village, they reassessed that statement.
He had a blue chemise with only one long sleeve that goes along his left arm, exposing the entire right arm with a strange birthmark on his right shoulder.
With blue tight pants, shoes, gloves, a single silver pauldron on his left shoulder, a white cape billowing in the wind and a sheathe for his two-handed broadsword, he fitted the build of a typical lord of a country or a duchy.
It also looked like he liked the color blue.
"They are not from Ylisse, I can assure you that." He replied with a worried tone. He has never seen these creatures, but after overcoming one in single combat, he could tell they felt like a puppet on strings if the puppet looked like a ragged human being with falling flesh and exhaling purple smoke.
No, they weren't human beings, that's for sure.
"So, nobody is hurt, thank the gods." Exclaimed a knight on an armored horse, relieved to see his charges without any injuries. He looked like a stereotypical stalwart knight, who was willing to go to any length to ensure safety for those he protects.
He had brown hair and looked like to be in his thirties, although he wore a stoic face almost the entire time, so it was hard to determine that. With blue and white full-plated armor and surprisingly, a butler suit under all that armor, he was ready to trample anyone who dared to cross his path.
"Yeah, thanks to the masked man, we are safe and sound. Here let me… hey, where did he go?" Pondered a young blond girl with two pigtails about a mysterious individual.
Since the tactician didn't know who she was talking about they let it slide for now, but they were pretty sure the stalwart knight won't let the masked man slide off as easily next time.
Back to the girl who seemed unaffected by the fact she probably almost died, she wore a pale-yellow dress with an apron and a… corset?
They were baffled at first with the blue-haired lords' outfit, but this was just screaming impractical for the bubbly girl.
How could she fight in that?
Granted, she didn't fight because she was the cleric of the group but marching with that thing on must be a pain.
No wonder she complained a lot on our way into the woods.
"We can worry about our masked vigilante after we put these… things to the blade." Exclaimed the knight as he readied his lance. Everyone else followed suit, but the tactician noticed something that could help them to survive this horrible night.
"Is that an abandoned fort I can see in the distance?" They asked no one in particular. It surprised them that the one who answered the question was the very knight who always was suspicious of them and was reluctant to follow their commands back in the village but now was willing to put aside his agenda to make sure everyone survives tonight. The monsters seemed way too eager to chop their heads off.
"Seems like it, we should seek shelter inside. It will be easier for us to defend ourselves from this menace." Answered the knight in question and everyone nodded, however, the tactician saw fault in that logic.
While yes, they would be able to hold off in the fort, they didn't know how many of these monsters were running amuck, meaning they could get easily surrounded if it proved they were too many for them to handle.
While they were on their way to the fort, they encountered a group of three of these monsters. Two wearing an ax and the third a sword. The tactician noticed that the weapons they wield were rusty and probably ready to break but even a broken weapon can be dangerous.
"Frederick, deal with the sword wielder. I and Chrom will face the others. I don't see any more of them in our vicinity so Lissa should be safe for now but stay close behind us because we will charge them immediately. Anything that needs to be added?" The tactician ordered with a calm and collected tone as if it were second nature to them. They got nods from all of them and got ready to execute the plan, but before they did so, the blue lord made a quick but crucial remark.
"Aim for the kill, these monsters don't know the meaning of pain and they fight until they are dealt with." Warned the lord named Chrom. This bothered the tactician because they didn't know if their magic will have any effect on them.
Thunder magic was a bit different because it doesn't burn like fire nor does it slice like the wind. So, in case the monster wouldn't react at all to thunder magic, they brandished their bronze sword instead.
How did they know so much about tactics and magic but not about themselves was a mystery, even to them. Amnesia wasn't something they would wish on their worst enemies.
"Alright then, let's go!" the tactician shouted and Frederick, Chrom, and themselves charged at them with Lissa close behind.
The fastest who got there was of course Frederick. With a mighty thrust of his lance, he impaled the sword fighter with ease and lifted him as if the monster didn't weigh anything and slowly but surely disappeared into a cloud of purple smoke. The knight flinched a bit, probably from the smell.
In the meantime, when the sword fighter was being impaled by Frederick, the tactician and Chrom charged at the two ax fighters.
The fighters were a bit bewildered about what happened to their ally, so the living combatants used the opportunity to deal with them as quickly as possible. Chrom handled the first fighter with a practiced slash, beheading the fighter, the blade itself cut through the monster like a hot knife through butter.
The tactician opted for a simple charge with their bronze blade pointed straight at the fighter and collided.
Stabbing the fighter took a lot more force than the tactician expected but the blade went through none the least, however, the monster didn't die. They inspected the position where the blade went through, but the monster didn't let them ponder on it for long by swinging its ax around with no grace.
The tactician backed off and immediately drew their tome. Looks like they will test if thunder magic does affect them or not. They opened the tome and brush their hand against it and mana started flowing through their body. The smell of ozone filled the air and sparks started to form in the tacticians' hand.
They always liked that smell, wait... always? Did they use this magic often in the past?
"No, now is not the time to ponder about that." thought the tactician. When the magic was ready, they extended their hand, aiming at the soon-to-be black smoke, and unleashed a storm of lightning in a small ball that sailed through the air, landing perfectly at the head of the undead.
It exploded, leaving a small smoke cloud that quickly dissipated and a headless corpse was what remained of the Risen that turned to the aforementioned black smoke. Then they heard a small thud, probably from the impaled bronze sword falling to the ground.
They went to pick up the sword, which let the tactician pondered about something. While they were able to defeat the undead, if they will be outnumbered, killing them will get harder and harder, since it took some time to kill one and made sure they stay dead.
"Be careful next time Robin, what you did there was quite reckless, but you did well nonetheless. The fort is close, let us get inside so we have better cover than this forest." Said Chrom in a worried tone.
"Yes, let's." replied the tactician named Robin, although it may look like the worried tone went unnoticed, Robin silently berated themselves for such a reckless act. When they got to the fort, the earlier worries that clouded Robin's mind resurfaced over how easily they could get overrun.
"If we just had more people…" muttered the tactician.
As if on cue, the four of them were able to hear a call from the south of them mixed in with the sound of a galloping horse.
"Captain Chrom!" shouted a feminine rider that got ever so closer. Chrom turned around to see who called his name, peeked out of the fort, and sighed in relief from seeing a friendly face.
"Sully! We are here in the fort. Come, we need every able man and woman we can get!" Chrom shouted back and in just a few seconds, they all resided in the abandoned fort.
The red-haired rider named Sully is a knight just like Frederick but with less armor on her and the horse as well. She looked quite menacing, with toned arms and a tomboyish haircut, this woman would probably be able to arm-wrestle most men and drink them under the table.
However, she didn't come alone.
"Great, the more people we have, the better the chances we will survive this night!" thought Robin in their head, happy to see any form of reinforcements.
"I see you also brought a companion with you, Sully. Who is he?" asked Frederick the Wary, no wonder he got that title.
"Ruffles? He insisted that I should take him with me. He kept on talking about being good with a bow and offered me so many marriage proposals it would leave Chrom and Lissa speechless. So, I gave him a piece of my mind and boot, but he still followed me anyway." Responded Sully in a no-nonsense tone.
Like the tactician thought, drinking men under the table.
"Why sweet lady you hurt my pride, but I shall overlook that and introduce myself, for I am a prodigy, I am myth and legend, the one who puts the 'arch' in 'archer', Vi-!" He was interrupted by a kick into the stomach by Sully. Everyone winced a little bit except for Frederick who remained stoic as ever. She grabbed him by the collar and started to almost shout at him.
"Ruffles, we got undead monsters running around this fort and we need an archer on the high ground. Get a move on or I'll kick you in the arse so hard you would fly up to the tower!"
'Ruffles', after being kicked in the stomach, mustered enough strength to tell them his name before slowly trudging away to get in position "V-Virion…".
The archer now known as Virion made his way to the tower before he could be analyzed by the tactician, but probably will be because he will share his position with Robin soon enough with providing ranged support with their tome.
Robin turned back to the group and started shouting orders.
"Sully with Frederick will block the front entrance, none of these monsters will be able to pass through. Chrom, you will handle any of them who get past Virion's cover fire and go through the back entrance and be ready to switch with either Sully or Frederick if they get injured. Lissa, you know what your job is. I will help Virion with cover fire."
Everyone started to follow Robins' orders except for Sully, who looked at Chrom with a pointed finger at the tactician and asked the obvious of "Who the hell is this?".
Chrom chuckled but didn't want to leave the red cavalier in suspense so he replied "If all goes well tonight, this will be our future tactician. Just follow the orders just like you would follow mine.".
Sully wasn't someone who would question the captain's orders, so she decided to let it slide for now, but she always had a nose for suspicion and the tactician reeked of it.
With everyone ready for the incoming onslaught of undead monstrosities Robin and Virion were together on a single tower the fort provided that wasn't collapsed yet.
Now, they could get a better view of Virion. He was a teal-haired man that just screamed nobility. Not only his posture gave it away but also his choice of garments.
He wore a teal leather vest and under it a shirt with ruffled sleeves and leather gloves. With an armguard on his left hand, knee-high leather boots, blue baggy pants, and a quiver, he fitted the build a typical archer.
If his skills are even half as good as he boasted, he will be an asset in this fight. Also, why was he wearing a bib?
"So, Virion, you say you are good with a bow?" calmly asked Robin and trying to break the silence, even though this was not a situation for casual talk.
"Am I good with a bow you ask? Well, why won't you see for yourself?" Virion also casually fired back and readied his bow and notched an arrow.
When Robin looked in the direction, where Virion is aiming, they saw one of the fighters that are beelining for the fort. The fighter was still too far away, but Virion patiently waited for the fighter to get in range.
When Virion saw he was close enough he fired his arrow, and it flew with grace until it hit the fighter right between its glowing red eyes as they flickered in and out until the fighter became nothing more than smoke.
"That is more than a hundred-meter shot… and a bullseye on top of that." Robin thought, and slightly awed at the display the archer showed.
"So, does this answer your question, tactician?" Virion remarked with pride and Robin will let him have this one. There was someone else behind the façade of a philanderer.
"Yes, yes it does." The tactician smirked and opened their tome and was ready to let spells lose.
"Fire at will, Virion." Was the only sentence Robin needed to say to the archer as they both started a barrage of arrows and thunder magic that destroyed one hideous creature after another.
While they were holding their position in the fort admirably, there was one problem. There seemed to be no end to these things. Whenever they killed one it looked like two more took their place. With Robin running low on mana and Virion slowly but surely fired all his arrows, they will lose the crucial cover fire and be easily overrun by sheer numbers.
There had the be a source of these creatures.
When Robin scanned their surroundings, they couldn't pinpoint the source, but he spotted something else, or rather, someone else.
An individual was running through these monsters and was cutting down any who got in their path, each strike and slash almost preordained, like a morbid version of a beautiful choreography.
"Looks like I found our mysterious ally," Robin remarked in their head.
They were heading somewhere and from the looks of it, towards another one of these monsters, but it looked a bit different than the rest. It showed a lot more exposed black sewed skin and inhuman bulging muscles. Those arms would be able to pop someone's head like a grape.
It was probably the leader and most likely the source since it looked a lot tougher than the rest and seeing the masked swordsman recklessly charge to it put a sour taste in Robin's mouth. Seeing as they weren't making any progress in defending this fort to try to reduce their numbers, Robin opted for a different strategy, a more heroic and reckless strategy.
"Come down Virion and reserve your arrows, we are changing our approach to this problem." Urged Robin and Virion followed them down to the ground level to see how their other companions were holding up.
"It seems there is no end to them, but I can see you have a solution to our problem." Prompted Virion the tactician that they would reveal their plan, but Robin didn't want to repeat themself, so they waited until there are within ears reach of others.
Looking around to address the situation, Sully was currently being healed by Lissa having a nasty cut on her left leg. Robin got worried and immediately checked for others, but it seemed Frederick and Chrom were holding up relatively well, although it seemed they are getting tired of the fighting.
"Alright, change of strategy! Everyone, I was able to find an extremely probable source of these monsters so we will make a beeline for it. I was able to spot one more individual also charging ahead for this source, so we will meet extra reinforcements! Chrom and I will be the frontline while Frederick and Sully will be covering our flanks and with Virion and Lissa in the middle, we should have enough force to break through and reach our target!" Robin shouted at all of them.
At first, people were skeptical about this plan, especially Frederick but the one who voiced their objection was Sully.
"Do you want us to die out there or what!? These things can take a beating and you want to charge through all of them to this potential source, I call horsecrap!"
"Unless you want to die here in this fort because of an endless onslaught, then be my quest, but I would like at least a chance at survival than none at all!" Robin shot back at Sully and after she registered what Robin said to her, Sully's frown formed into a smirk, completely changing her demeanor.
"So, you want us to charge to almost certain death to reach something that might not even be important enough for our survival, did I miss something?" Sully asked, which was a question that was currently on everyone's mind, but with how things looked, they begrudgingly accepted the truth, Robin didn't like it, but what other choice did they have?
"Heh, I never would have thought that one of your first strategies for the Shepherds would be a death charge!" Chrom remarked offhandedly while being in a deadlock with a swordfighter which he breaks from with a surprising amount of force before beheading said swordfighter.
"Well, do you have a better idea Chrom!?" Robin shot back.
"No, I don't, everyone gets into the formation Robin suggested. We will bring all our might at them and leave this place alive!" With his little encouraging speech, everyone's dim light of hope had increased tenfold.
The Shepherds got into position after Sully's leg was fully healed and eagerly waited for the obvious command, but before they headed out Chrom called out to Robin and asked sheepishly "Um, you do know where the target is right?".
"Yes, I do, just charge straight ahead, we will find what are we looking for soon enough," Robin assured, a small chuckle escaping their lips. How was Chrom leading his Shepherds before they joined was not something they need to think about right now, even though the thought was a bit amusing.
"Alright, is everyone ready!?" Chrom shouted to the group, getting a roaring "Aye!" from said group. He smirked and got ready to say probably his favorite line since forming the Shepherds.
"Then charge!" with Chrom leading the charge with Robin, Virion, and Lissa behind them and Sully and Frederick watching their flank, they rammed into the mass of monsters like a bull charging into a crowd while seeing red. They slashed, pierced, and stomped their way through to the potential source of all these undead.
It took some time, but when they got there, all were surprised, except for Robin, to see the hulking mass that was the chief, who was already in a fight with the masked swordsman.
While the vigilante put up a really good fight, they always got distracted by other fighters forcing their way into the duel.
"Everyone, we found our target! Frederick, go help the swordsman to make sure they don't end up dead. Chrom and Sully, you will deal with the fighters trying to force their way between the chief and swordsman and eventually Frederick, when you deal with them join the fray against the chief, but be on high alert, because the probability of an ambush is high. Me, Virion, and Lissa will stay close by and support you from far away and if the situation demands it, I will join in the melee! Whoever gets hurt will immediately come to Lissa for healing! Go!"
Everyone had their orders and sprang into action. Frederick was an instant boon in the fight against the chief, while the masked swordsman needed to be high alert before, he now had the freedom to go all out against his enemy.
Chrom and Sully quickly dispatched the fighters, but more were hiding in the forest, giving them more combatants to work with. Chrom overestimated with one of his swings with his broadsword and suffered a deep gash from an ax fighter, but then was quickly dispatched with the help of Sully's thrust through their thick skull.
"Get that checked, I will handle the rest." Sully urged Chrom and he quickly headed towards Lissa, although a little begrudgingly.
"Hey, I leave you for just a minute and you already managed to get yourself hurt, well at least you got your sister to patch you up, hmm?" Lissa remarked smugly at her brother, who quickly berated her because this was not the place nor the time for jokes.
"Now is not the time Lissa, just get to it. I need to get back to Sully to help her. There were more of them than we expected."
"How is Frederick doing?" asked Lissa, who was treating her brother's wound.
"Good enough I guess; I can't tell if I am being honest. I was focusing on my fights rather than his." Chrom replied, who inspected his now treated arm, stretched it for a little bit, and seeing nothing wrong with it anymore, he rushed back into the fray to help Sully who, despite being outnumbered, was holding up well.
"I can see he is the heroic type, it suits him well, as well as being born a natural leader." Virion remarked, as he notched another arrow and hit another bullseye on one of the fighters trying to sneak up on the red cavalier.
"Well, those are his good virtues. I can think of few others. Like being extremely dense". Lissa snickered at her observation of her brother.
"Joking on Chrom's obliviousness aside, did you notice something odd, Virion?" asked Robin as they turned their gaze towards the archest of archers.
"I don't know what you are referring to, Robin. What did you observe?" Virion asked back, prompting Robin the speak up.
"The monsters didn't chase us when we charged from the fort, which is weird, is it not? They should have been upon us by now if they did chase us, but they didn't, which then leads me to believe that these monsters probably work on some kind of hive mind and the chief must have given orders to storm the fort and since the chief is being preoccupied with Frederick and our mysterious companion, the chief doesn't have enough time to order his soldiers around unless he wants to get killed."
"So, you are suggesting that we handle all the monsters that are close to the chief, so we can focus all our attention on the said chief and defeat it to see how it will affect the rest of them." Virion finished Robin's thoughts which surprised them. Well, looks like Virion was a clear example of 'Don't judge a book by its cover.'.
"Yes, and from the looks of it, Chrom and Sully are just finishing the last of the fighters. Let's go." Robin urged both Lissa and Virion to come with them and they both followed suit.
"Hey, shouldn't y'all be watching our backs?" Sully asked the trio when they reached them.
"The monsters didn't chase us after we escaped the fort, so there was no need to cover our backs, more importantly, how is Frede-!" before Robin could finish their sentence, a piercing howl was heard from the chief, urging everyone to cover their ears. The howl was equivalent to a man screaming in agony as if the undead was trying to be alive.
As everyone turned their attention to it, they could see that Frederick was battered and bruised, however, the masked ally was fairing much better. For Frederick, there were many dents in his armor and was tired while the latter seems fine.
It was like he already knows how to fight these enemies.
"Frederick, pull back and get yourself checked! Sully will stay here to protect you just in case. Me, Virion, and Chrom will finish this." Robin commanded the knights and both did as they were told, while the trio went to face the chief.
"Virion, you get into a position where you will have a clear shot at the chief's legs and tendons. I have a gut feeling they still need muscles in an order to move. When you do, your signal will be to fire the arrow when you are confident you will hit him. I and Chrom will wait outside of the chief's field of view, he seems to be fully occupied by our ally. When he gets hit with the arrow, we will flank him from both sides to make sure he has no room for movement and our ally shall finish him." Robin explained the strategy.
Chrom was impressed by how quickly Robin comes up with these plans. Not only do they make sense but were also easy enough to follow. He was happy he offered the position of a tactician to Robin and was relieved they accepted without hesitation, which put a smile on Chrom's face.
"I see you make use of my fine skill in archery, so I shall not disappoint. Which tendon do you want specifically?" Virion asked with a bit more flourish than necessary.
"Both if it is possible for you. It will be easier to keep him down. Now go!" Robin replied and Virion tried to find a suitable place for his two perfect shots.
Climbing on a tree where he had a much clearer view of the battlefield and the chief, he readied his two arrows and notched one of them, aiming at the chief's left leg tendon and was waiting for the perfect opportunity.
He was also able the spot the fort they defended not long ago and just like Robin said they didn't chase them far, quite the opposite, it looked like there are trying to siege the fort even though no one was there.
These creatures were getting weirder by the second.
In the meantime, Chrom and Robin make their way to the chief. They didn't exchange any words, since both of them want to end this horrible night as quickly as possible.
They got to the chief and saw that the masked swordsman was starting to tire. Even though the chief was filled with visible cuts all around his body, some of them being in lethal spots, he pressed on as if the cuts didn't exist.
Chrom and Robin got closer, not close enough to alert the chief, but not too far from their target. Their probable ally spotted them; though he didn't make any indication that he did.
After an agonizingly long minute of seeing the masked swordsman trade blows with the hulking chief wielding an ax, the first arrow came from Virion's position, landing exactly at the left leg tendon.
The chief staggered not because of the probable pain, but because he found out his left leg could no longer support his massive body, and not long after the first shot, a second one flew through the air, piercing the second right leg tendon, forcing the chief to land on his knees.
However, he was still swinging wildly with his ax left and right, stretching his ax arm to inhuman proportions, forcing the masked warrior to fall back and Chrom and Robin were forced to act.
The tactician readied another and probably the last thunder spell for today. Sparks formed into a ball in their hand and launched it at the chief, hitting him in the back and stunning him in the process.
Through the short window of opportunity, Chrom rushed against the chief. Tightening his grip on his blade, with an overhead slash he bisected the monster's ax arm, falling ungracefully on the ground.
With the chief being left without a weapon, the masked swordsman seized the opportunity and jumped into the air and came down with a horizontal slash to finish the job, leaving the chief's head plop on the ground as he slowly vanished away in purple smoke.
Unbeknownst to most of them, when the chief was defeated, Virion spotted that the rest of these monsters in the fort also started to disappear. Breathing a sigh of relief, he came down from the tree and went to check on Sully, Frederick, and Lissa.
"I got to thank Virion for those shots, they were quite impressive. I can already tell Chrom, you are going to try and recruit him, don't you?" Robin remarked out of the blue after a hard-fought battle that they weren't sure they would survive.
"It is like you already know me, friend. Of course I will, we need talent like his shortly if these beasts will become a problem." Chrom replied to Robin's remark as he put his blade inside its sheath but before Robin could say something back, their masked swordsman interrupted their conversation.
"They will become a problem." Said the masked swordsman to the duo as he sheathed his blade as well. Both of them turned to him with frowns, indicating they didn't like the answer he gave them.
"You are the one who saved my sister, back near the portal. On behalf of her, thank you for your timely intervention. May you tell us your name?" Chrom asked the vigilante, trying to sound as sincere as possible to make sure not to anger said savior. He looked like someone with a short temper.
"You may call me Marth." Answered the vigilante, which surprised Chrom, but did not even phase Robin.
Did Chrom know him? Or was the name uncommon? This was something Robin will ask Chrom about in the future, but they did not expect to get the answer from him right now, although indirectly.
"Marth? After the hero-king of old? Well, you certainly fight like a hero. Tell me, where did you learn your way with a blade?" Chrom asked, trying to undug any information about this Marth fellow. He was a young-looking lad with short blue hair and a figure that looks more feminine than manly.
With a blue attire not unlike his and a butterfly-shaped mask, he can't tell anything else out of his posture nor his facial expression, since the face is covered.
"I am not here to talk about myself. This world is teetering on the edge of a calamity. What you have seen today was nothing but a prelude. You have been warned." He dismissed the question with some sort of prophecy and started to briskly walk away, which confused both Chrom and Robin, prompting Robin to speak up "Wait, what do you mean by tha… and he is gone.".
"Not much of a talker, is he? And he leaves us with such a horrible message as well." Chrom stated with a frown, but it quickly changed into a smile when he turned around to see his companions.
Seeing Frederick having a scowl on his face meant he had seen Marth ran away without Chrom or Robin interfering, but instead a berating the prince he stated the following "As much as I want to give chase to this mysterious individual and ask him several questions, we need to make haste towards the capital. This incident is something we must report to the Exalt."
"What!? He already left!? I wasn't even able to thank him for rescuing me or ask his name!" Lissa ignored Frederick's call and gave the Shepherds the biggest pout she could muster and crossed her arms, further exaggerating her annoyance, prompting her brother and others to chuckle, except for Frederick.
He remained stoic as ever.
"Don't worry, Chrom already thanked him for saving you. As for his name, he calls himself Marth." Robin explained to the princess, but before Lissa could ask more questions about this mysterious Marth, Frederick urged others to start picking up the pace, so they could get to the capital faster "Wherever his allegiance lays, I am sure we will hear of him again, but let us tarry here no longer.".
"Frederick is right, this is something that needs to get sorted out immediately, and with what that man said I don't think this is the only time we will need to fight these monsters." Chrom agreed with Frederick and started to urge the group to start marching, although it is just a small group of five soon-to-be six Shepherds.
With the sound of affirmative grunts and a complaining one from Lissa, they went their way towards the capital and were glad to end this horrible night at last.
