Chapter 5 – Unyielding Bonds

As they pushed through the last of the underbrush into the Crimean camp they nearly collided with a huddled group headed in the opposite direction, headed by a tall knight with short bristly hair. His eyes locked onto Elincia with an uneven fusion of worry and relief.

"Geoffrey!" Elincia exclaimed, "What are you doing out here?"

"Majesty! Thank the goddess you are safe!" he cried out as his rigid posture relaxed almost imperceptibly. "I had just awakened for my turn at watch when I heard the cry of some animal. I burst out of my tent to see a massive shadow soaring over our camp towards Sienne," he explained, nodding upward. "I went to your tent to inform you, but you weren't there. Fearing the worst, I was heading over to Sir Ike's…." It was then that he noticed with widening eyes the figure next to the queen. "Sir Ike! What is going on?"

Elincia shook her head. "We don't have time to explain the details right now, Geoffrey. I will leave that to Lucia. The empress is in danger, so Ike and I have to get to Sienne as soon as possible."

Geoffrey looked at her as if she had just asked him to dance with his horse. "Your majesty, I must protest. This could all be a ruse to lure you into a trap."

"Then I suggest you get ready and follow as soon as possible. My mind is made up," she said as she brushed passed him toward her pegasus.

"But that thing in the sky…"

Lucia came up and grabbed her brother by the elbow. "Come on, let's get ready." She turned her gaze to the puzzled faces around her. "That goes for you as well! Come on, move it!" she snapped. Lucia's words hit the crowd like a stone against a vase, breaking it apart as everyone hastened to make their individual preparations. Lucia called out one more time to Elincia. "Please be careful your highness. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you."

Elincia flipped around. "You'll never have to find out," she assured her friend with what she hoped was a confident smile.

Lucia took her leave, dragging a reluctant Geoffrey with her. "Sir Ike, please protect her majesty," he called out, his gaze still latched onto the white clad figure.

I always do," Ike responded distractedly as he turned to Elincia, who was rummaging through some gear behind him. "So, do you think I will fit into the saddle, or should I try to ride outside it?"

"Actually," Elincia replied as she pulled something up out of a bag and held it up before him. "I thought you could have your own saddle."

Ike studied the object before him. It appeared to be a saddle, or at least part of one. There was the seat and the stirrups hanging from the side, but the entire front part was missing. There was no horn or gullet, just what appeared to be leather straps and metal clasps dangling from the front edge.

"It's a special attachment I've been working on for a while now, so that Lucia could ride with me," she said as she beamed out a satisfied smile. "It won't take but a minute to put on," she continued, walking over to Dalidion and gently laying it over him. "You're a lot bigger, but I think you should be able to squeeze in."

Ike said nothing as he regarded the imposing form of the Dalidion. Despite being around him so much, he had never really studied the pegasus up close. It's a lot bigger than a regular horse, he thought to himself as he studied the steed. The massive frame was thick and curved with elegant muscle, supported by powerful, stamping legs. Its wings, tucked snugly at its sides, began to unfurl like spring leaves in response to Elincia's touch, which in the dark conjured up images in Ike's mind of a giant white bat. His eye caught Ike's, prompting a disdainful snort.

He cleared his throat. "I don't know about this. Maybe Lucia should go with you."

"Why do you say that?" Elincia asked as she fixed the saddle in place.

"I might be too heavy for him. With that extra saddle and all, it might be too much for him to carry."

"Pegasi are not the same as horses, Ike. They are much stronger. I've seen them carry much heavier loads over longer distances without tiring. Trust me, I wouldn't do this if I thought there was any risk to Dalidion."

"Is the saddle itself safe?"

"Come and see for yourself," she replied, patting it proudly. He approached and felt the saddle, tugging and pulling on it. "It seems just like a part of your saddle."

"Exactly!" she exclaimed excitedly, "I've had the idea for awhile but…" She broke off as she surveyed his shifting stance and concerned expression. At least she thought it was concern, it was hard to say because she could not remember seeing it on him before. "Ike, is something troubling you?"

He sighed. "It's just that me and horses haven't really gotten along. My father tried to train me on them when I was a kid, but it didn't work out too well."

"What do you mean?" she inquired while she untied the tether.

"Well let's just say that that the ground and I were close friends that summer. Horses just don't like me for some reason."

"As I said before, a pegasus is not the same thing as a horse," she pointed out as she slid her foot into the stirrup and hoisted herself smoothly into the front saddle.

"I'll say. They're bigger and the ground's a lot farther away if they decide they don't like you."

Elincia couldn't help smiling as she gathered up the reins. "That's not what I mean. It's not just physically. Pegasus are more patient, more tolerant, and more intuitive than horses are. They never throw off a person who has good intentions."

Ike raised his brow. "Seriously? Well that explains why you can ride it so well. But I'm not so sure that'll apply to me."

Elincia stretched out her hand. "Well if you can't have faith in Dalidion here, can you at least have faith in me?"

Ike stared at her hand for a moment. Then in response, Ike reached out and clasped it firmly.

"Good. Now, put your left foot in the stirrup. Ike complied. Now, on the count of three, hoist yourself over the saddle. One, two, three!"

Elincia pressed her leg hard against Dalidion to keep her balance as Ike slung his heavily muscled frame into the saddle behind her. Dalidion jerked and whinnied as Ike struggled to balance himself in on the mount, his hand still firmly in hers.

"Shh…shhh…. Elincia whispered as she caressed his mane with her free hand, while adjusting herself to the heavy yet reassuring presence of Ike pressed up behind her. "It's okay, we're all friends here. It's just Ike, remember him?" she cooed softly. Soon the whinnying stopped, and Dalidion was once again the essence of serenity. "There. You see, Ike? You just made a new friend."

"Indeed he has."

Both figures on the Pegasus straightened sharply at the sound of the deep voice that boomed over them. Their sharpened senses honed in on the source, which was a broad, armored figure slowly approaching their position. His features seemed to have been borrowed from Elincia and hammered into something rougher and more somber by time and experience. The flush of green hair, which together with his expression marked his membership in the Crimean royal family, swayed gently in the breeze as he studied Elincia with an amalgamation of pride and curiosity.

"Uncle Renning! Elincia called out in a relieved voice, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"There was never a point where I wasn't ready," he answered lightly as he gently rubbed around Dalidion's ears, causing the steed to emit a pleased whinny. His gaze slid backward to the figure behind his niece. "You must be the much-vaulted Ike," he proclaimed as he held out his hand, "it seems that I have much to thank you for, including the current position of my niece."

Ike accepted his hand and shook it. "It's an honor, sir."

Renning chuckled. "No, the honor lies in having the one who freed Crimea and defeated Ashera call me sir, especially after I endeavored to the best of my ability to eliminate you."

The shake stiffened into a cold clasp. "I apologize for that, sir. If I had known…."

"I want no apologies for doing what you had to do to see her highness through to this day."

"Uncle," Elincia cut in, "I wish more than anything that we could talk more, but time is very tight. We must leave immediately."

"I am fully aware, and it was not my intention to delay you. I only came to beg your leave, and Ike's, to confer with the deputy commander of the Greil Mercenaries in regards to an arrangement which may be advantageous to both our parties tonight, and perhaps expedite our success."

"Of course you have my permission," she replied as she regarded her uncle with affection. "And just for future reference you will never need my permission to do something sensible."

"That goes double for me," Ike added. "I trust Titania's judgment. If she agrees, then go ahead with your plan."

Elincia reached down and clutched her uncle's hand firmly between hers. "And please, be careful," she pleaded. "You just returned to us from a horrifying ordeal, and you haven't yet recovered all of your strength."

"Tell that to the pile of enemies he left behind in the tower," Ike muttered.

A slight grin formed under Renning's mustache as he regarded Ike one more time. "I would offer the same advice to you two, but after seeing you in action I see little point. I have fought my way across many battlefields and have been witness to many extraordinary feats, but the courage and strength you bring out in each other is a rare and precious gift. The greatness which you have achieved to this point is nothing compared to what awaits, and I feel privileged that even after everything I have done that I may be allowed to witness it." Before either could respond to these unexpected words, he withdrew his hand from Elincia's and spun around, disappearing through the silent pillars.

"Is your uncle always like that?" Ike asked as he looked out over the spot where Renning had disappeared.

"Not usually," she responded as she gathered the reins back into her hands. "I mean, he's always been kind, but… She shook her head. "Anyway, it's time to go. Are you settled in back there?"

Ike squirmed in the saddle made for someone much smaller. "I think it's a little tight."

"Well, that may not be such a bad thing. Are your feet in the stirrups?"

"Yes."

"Now just a few tips," she advised as she readjusted herself. "Hug the pegasus gently with your legs, and try to keep a straight posture."

"What do I do with my hands?"

"You should wrap them around me. Especially during take-off, which can be a little bumpy."

She could feel Ike shifting uncomfortably, as if he were sitting on a pebble. "Can't I just hold on to the edges of the saddle, or something?"

"Don't be silly. Dalidion will not throw you off, but you can very easily fall off."

With no small amount of hesitation, Ike slid his arms around her, locking them together in the front, his skin barely brushing the fabric of her outfit.

She smiled as she smoothed her hands along the reins, feeling pleasantly tranquil. "Ready?"

"Ready."

She nudged both her heels against Dalidion's flanks as she made a slight clicking sound, and in response he began flapping his resplendent wings, slowly at first, until he had achieved a forceful rhythm that propelled him and his riders upward in a smooth motion.

Geoffrey paused from his preparations to watch Dalidion angling off the ground into the persistent darkness of the early morning sky. "So is something going on?" Geoffrey asked Lucia, who was shoving various items into a sack as if she could no longer bear the sight of them.

"Of course there is!" Lucia snapped. "Weren't you listening when I explained it to you?"

"I don't mean in Sienne."

"What do you mean then?"

"I mean with her majesty. It's not like her to leave you behind."

"She made a sound decision based on the available options. If there is trouble, Ike is probably the best one to deal with it," she shot back, her attention focused on choking the bag shut with a tight knot.

"But…."

Lucia fired a gaze at her brother that would have cowed a lion. "Enough. Concentrate on getting ready. Her majesty needs us."

Even his bravery had limits. Geoffrey turned his attention back to his steed, unanswered questions still prodding against the corners of his mind.

Ike continued watching as the figures on the ground slowly diminished in size until they became nothing more than shadowy dots scurrying about among the shrinking light of campfires, until they were finally swallowed up in the somber blanket of trees that spread out larger and wider before his eyes. Although the night was cool, he could feel slippery beads of sweat tumbling down his forehead as he swallowed deeply.

"Just how high are we going?" he asked, unsure if his words were heard over the pounding drum striving desperately to push its way out of his chest.

"We need to get high enough to avoid any potential obstacles and evade attackers. And we're in luck, there are some low hanging clouds tonight that will be useful as cover."

"You call this low?!" Ike asked, watching the landscape shrinking desperately beneath him.

A few moments later they stopped rising, hovering just above some billowy clouds. Ike exhaled heavily. "Okay, now what?"

"Now," Elincia sighed, this can be a little tricky, so hold on tight."

"What do you mea…" Ike didn't have a chance to finish, as Elincia deftly maneuvered her fingers on the reins, tapped her right heel on Dalidion's flank, causing his wings to shift position before abruptly surging forward in the direction of Sienne.

Suddenly, Elincia felt a tightness in her chest, constricting her breathing as Ike clung tightly against her like a sailor would to the only piece of driftwood in the vast, empty ocean. She felt his chest pressed firmly against her back, the frantic thrumming within his torso quickening her own pulse as she struggled for air. "Ike…" she gasped.

She heard Ike swear softly next to her ear as he loosened his grip. "Elincia, I…I'm sorry. It just happened so fast."

She shook her head as she inhaled some deep breaths. "I should apologize to you. I should have warned you about how rough the transition from vertical to horizontal motion can be."

She felt his hands slipping away. "Actually, she added quickly, it may be better if you hang on to me. I don't think there will be any more problems, but you never know when something unexpected might happen, especially if you're not used to flying."

"Well, if you don't mind after I nearly crushed you."

"Not at all." She felt his hands once again lock around her, hands that had rescued her, fought for her, comforted her. Elincia felt a calming weightlessness engulf her as they breezed gracefully through the lolling, moon-doused vapors that drifted with a lazy indolence over the sleeping landscape, their silky coolness brushing lightly against her skin.

"How long will it take us to reach Sienne?" Ike asked.

"About ten minutes." But I wish it were longer. But then she remembered the urgency of their moonlit flight and felt a surge of guilt. She silently rummaged through her thoughts for another topic of conversation.

"By the way, Ike, thank you for your kind words back in camp."

"Huh? Oh yeah. Well, I was just telling the truth. I don't know why she was so hostile to you."

"She may have a good reason for it, but I am grateful all the same."

"And I can't believe that she actually expected one of use to ride that thing of hers. Did you see that beast? It looked like it could just decide to reach its head around and have you for a snack."

"Agreed. I may be a little prejudiced, but I think Dalidion provides a better ride." Ike grunted in agreement, but it was hard to say if it was to agree with her or to express some other emotion. She glanced back him, noting that his attention was focused down over the speeding landscape, his body tense.

"Say Ike, have I ever told you how Dalidion came to be a part of our family?"

She felt Ike shrug. "I remember something about how she belonged to your grandmother."

"That's right. That was back when Crimea was still part of Begnion. My grandmother was the daughter of a minor nobleman. Since her parents were pretty much focused on grooming her brother to take his place as lord of the manor, she was pretty much left to her own devices. One of her favorite pastimes was horseback riding, which she mastered at an early age."

"Horses? I thought she was a pegasus rider."

"You have to walk before you can run. Anyway, one day she was out riding in the woods when she heard a pitiful neighing emanating from behind some shrubs. She pushed through them to discover the tragic, magnificent form of a full-grown Pegasus lying on its side, an arrow jutting out of its chest."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "As she approached the animal, she realized that there was a smaller bundle laying against the larger form, its head draped over the drooping mane. She realized it was a colt, and the stricken Pegasus must be its mother."

She paused for a moment, expecting a reaction from Ike, but he said nothing. She carried on with the story.

"The colt did not move as she approached and examined the mother. She was dead. It was then that she heard the crashing of several forms thundering through the undergrowth, making no attempt to hide their presence. When they emerged, she saw that they were the sons of a count who lived nearby. They were the ones who had shot the mother, and now they were there to collect their prize. Seeing the colt, the closest nocked an arrow. Before she knew it, there was a branch in her hand, which she sent crashing into the hand of the youth. Surprised by this unexpected attack, the stricken youth and his friends fled. She then knelt back down beside the colt and stayed with it until her father and his men came looking for her much later that night."

"I see now where your courage came from," Ike finally responded.

"Anyway, she refused to budge unless they took the colt as well, so they put it in a cart and brought it back to the manor. She was very diligent with it - feeding, brushing, even sleeping next to him. But given what had happened to his mother, he was not anxious to interact with anyone. But she didn't mind, and she became more confident as for the first time she was completely responsible for another living being. It took a long time, but eventually the colt warmed to her. She named him Dalidion, after a character in one of her favorite stories. When it had grown, she let it mingle among the other Pegasi that her father raised on their lands. But they seemed to shun it, sensing it was different from them. Her family was nearly as bad. They told her that it was a wild beast, that it would never fit in with well-bred, tame animals. Not to mention that it had put them at odds with what had been up till then friendly neighbors. She should let it go, they told her, and they would give her a trained pegasus, one better suited for her.

At first she stubbornly refused. However, as time went on, her newfound confidence allowed her to make new friends. Between that and the increasing number of duties that her father assigned to her she had less and less time for Dalidion. One morning, she went out to feed him, and realized he was gone. The hatch to his door was open, and she could never remember if she had latched it or not, or if someone in her family had released it. In any case, Dalidion was gone."

"Well, I assume she got him back somehow."

"Yes, But not without a lot of time, effort, and heartache. I'll be honest, the cost was high. And even after she did find him, the trust that had been lost was not easily rebuilt."

Ike was silent for a moment. "It's a nice story, but I can't help but wonder if they wouldn't have been better off if they had remained separated. They may have needed each other for a time, and each one benefitted from the relationship. But the truth of the matter is they belonged to different worlds. Maybe Dalidion sensed this, and decided it was time for each of them to make their way on their own."

Elincia shook her head. "After all the experiences that my family and I have shared with him, it's impossible for me to believe that their…friendship was a bad thing. The bond he forged with my grandmother was powerful, and he has graciously passed it on to her descendants."

His arms felt looser, more relaxed around her, yet at the same time comfortably secure. ""Is that story really true?"

"It's the story my mother told me when I was a child."

He looked past her, in the direction of the imperial capital. They had passed through the last of the clouds, and were now gliding through clear, silent skies. "You're right. The special connection your grandmother formed with Dalidion was, and is, amazing. Such bonds provide us with a reason to fight and are the reason for our victories; and as such should not be given up easily." He paused for a moment. "And my gut tells me that they are going to be especially needed in the coming struggle."

"More than ever," she replied softly. "Say Ike, there is something I wanted to ask you…"

"I think we're here," he cut her off, gesturing past her shoulder.

Elincia looked to where he was pointing. Sure enough, the massively curved form of the imperial capital's wall began to rise before them, the jutting forms of the buildings behind it giving it the appearance of a giant crown thrusting upward out of the murky landscape. "Hang on, I'm going to dip lower for a closer look. Keep an eye out for any archers."

She heard him unsheathe his sword, his other arm still wrapped snugly around her. "Okay, I'm ready," he muttered.

She nudged Dalidion slightly on his left side, and he dipped gracefully downward.

Ike studied the sliding cityscape as they coasted overhead, making out the sharp glows of several large bonfires dotted around the random open spaces between the clustered outlines of the variously shaped and sized structures that, taken as a whole, made up the ordered confusion that was Sienne. Around the swirling flames were the hovering, unsteady forms of revelers, still celebrating their return to life from a stony sleep. As they passed over one such scene a few of the forms looked up and saw them, pointing and yelling out what sounded like rude jokes.

"See anything unusual?" Elincia asked.

"Nothing but some idiots who really should be in bed by now," he muttered with a hint of disgust in his voice as he watched one of the waving figures lose his balance and fall back against the person behind him, causing both to topple to the ground.

"Well if nothing is wrong in the city itself, then we better get to Mainal Cathedral. That's where Navina said the attack would be directed."

Ike nodded solemnly in agreement, as Elincia guided Dalidion towards the majestic, shadow-draped mass he knew to be the home of the empress. Behind it, the looming, spiral form of the Tower of Ashera surged upward as if attempting to pierce through the dark, twinkling veil of the night sky.

As they departed the city proper and entered the Senatorial district, the warm glows and sounds of laughter died out, to be replaced by a dark, determined quiet. Below them, the massive forms of the lofty abodes of the senators huddled together in an expectant stillness, as if waiting for their masters who would never return.

As they neared the walls of the Empress' residence, Ike studied what even he had to admit was the impressive grandeur of the empress' spiritual palace. The cathedral itself rose out of the center of the edifice with the stern elegance of a bishop about to give a sermon to his awe-stricken flock. From both sides of this monument flowed the gracefully curved wings of the structure, where the Apostle and her retinue resided.

As they drew nearer Ike's ears once again picked up the sound of shouting. But what he heard was not the careless, drunken carousing of merrymakers. It was the desperate, angry cries of men pressed together in fierce combat. As they flew over the courtyard, Ike looked down to see an enormous mass of troops pushing hotly against a desperate clump of imperial guards grouped around the entrance.

"It looks like Navina was a little off about the time of the attack," Elincia observed.

"I wonder what else she was off about," Ike muttered in response. "Can you land on the roof so we can check on the empress?"

"That may not be so easy. Look!" Elincia pointed to the roof of the north wing, where the battle in the courtyard was being played out on a smaller scale, but with no less intensity. Ike strained his eyes as he tried to make out what seemed to be a familiar figure among the defenders on the roof.

"It's Tanith!" Ike yelled out. "Can we help her?"

"Hold on, Elincia cried out as she flew over the fighters, then drawing Dalidion up in a slight curve around back toward the melee. "Okay Ike, I'm going to take a dive past the enemies. I assume you know what do?"

He tightened his grip on his sword. "You know it."

Upon hearing those words, Elincia brought her steed down in a swift, steep dive towards the roof, towards the rear of the enemy line. Ike felt the surge of air all around and through him as the blood rushed to his head. He reveled in this new sensation, savoring it. He had never felt so alive, so energized. The closest he had come was when Yune had infused him with her power, but even that borrowed strength could not reach the sheer heights of dizzying energy flowing from and through him. He was the embodiment of righteous power, and to the enemies below him, he was a nightmare made flesh.

One of the enemy soldiers saw them coming and yelled out a warning, but it was too late, and the screams of surprise and pain welled up and raged in his ears as his sword made contact.

"Yeah!" Ike cried as they arced back upward, Dalidion easily dodging a few arrows fired from the melee at the gate. "Did you see that?!" he called out to Elincia, exulting in the victorious sweep as the imperial troops cheered below. "I must have taken out at least…" Ike stopped short and looked over her shoulder, noting the terse, anguished stare twisting across her features.

"Elincia," I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. He tried to put a hand on her arm, but then remembered he was still holding his sword, glistening with thick, sickening wetness. "I know how you feel about all this, and well, sometimes I just get a little carried away. Sorry."

Elincia smiled reassuringly. "After all the death that I have seen and caused, I should be used to it, but it still affects me. Please don't feel bad on my account for doing something that needs to be done."

"Make me a promise Elincia," he said suddenly.

"What?"

"Don't ever let it stop affecting you. It's part of what makes you such a great person, and a great model for what this world should become. More like you, and less like me."

"Ike…. I…I promise. And Ike…"

"Enough of that for now! They still need our help down there."

"Right," she agreed, quickly wiping away a tear as she veered her steed back towards the west for another pass.

The enemy soldiers below tried to make more of a defense this time, but defending against a Pegasus on one side and Tanith's forces on the other proved too much to handle, and as Ike looked back, he saw their line starting to buckle.

"One more pass ought to do it!" he cried out with muffled elation.

As Elincia swung around for the final pass, she thought to herself how much more effective this strategy was, having one person fly and another attack. Why haven't I considered this before? she thought to herself as Dalidion surged downward at the disintegrating enemy line.

"What's that?" Ike called out, gesturing to one of the trees that ringed the cathedral. Elincia looked down on the gigantic oak that stretched almost all the way to the roof of the building over which they were about to pass. For a moment she saw nothing, but then through the rushing blur of the dive her eye detected what appeared to be a long shadow quickly ascending the sweeping height of the tree towards the crown. Suddenly the icy hand of realization seized hold of Elincia's heart and squeezed, sending its numbing chill coursing throughout her body.

"Ike, hang on!" she screamed as she frantically tried to pull up and away from what she now recognized as a mortal threat.

But it was too late. As they swept inexorably over the treetop the sleek, colossal form of Molu lunged towards them, claws extended.