The Coyote, the Stone, and the Emblem has been revised 2020/02/01. Originally published in 2016.
Thanks once again to randomadorablepikachu for proofreading and thank you to everyone for your follows and reviews! I really appreciate all of them, thank you so much for reading!
The Coyote, the Stone, and the Emblem
After what felt like days of travel, the army finally made it to the outskirts of Aurelis. Even from far away, the enemy military was obvious in their view—clad in red armor with their weapons glinting in the sunlight, speckled across the fields like collections of red ants. The enemy had unfortunately been notified of Marth's presence, for they had readied their ranks for the inevitable battle to come.
However, the enemy wasn't the only force aware of Marth's presence—Hardin, a powerful warrior widely known as the Coyote, had heard of Marth's plight and brought his own army to fight the enemy from the east side of the fields, beyond the rivers.
As Hardin fought in from the east, Malledus had everyone go through with the tactics planned out a few nights before to fight through to the northwest. During their fight inward, Marth and his small group of Jagen, Ogma, Matthis, Abel and Roy were able to escape across a bridge more to the north. There were still enemies in the field beyond the bridge, but the forces were lighter. With Marth's order, the group split into pairs.
Jagen was paired with Roy, much to Jagen's reluctance. The prince had sent Jagen a glance before putting them together that seemed to communicate something along the lines of "please get along." Though Jagen did not like Roy, he would not let his aversion to the mercenary affect his ability to fight. Jagen may have been a suspicious person, but he was not petty.
Roy seemed to understand why Marth had placed Jagen with him, but that did not stop him from being on edge.
"Let's go together now," Jagen said to the redhead. "I see a village off in the distance… perhaps we could head there first."
With a slight nod, Roy started on his way out into the fields. It didn't take them long before they were attacked by a wave of enemy soldiers. For an ordinary foot soldier, being attacked by a group would most certainly prove to be fatal—but for two skilled soldiers like Jagen and Roy, it was easy to wipe them out.
Jagen kept careful note of Roy and his fighting style as they fought together. He did this for two reasons: he needed to keep an eye on Roy due to his own suspicions, and he also wanted to observe his sword techniques to try to pinpoint where Roy may have come from.
With swift swipes of his blade, Roy was able to cut through the enemy soldiers with relative ease. The way he handled his sword was much different from any other soldier that Jagen had seen— Roy would often hold the blade backwards in his hand, jabbing and slicing through their thick enemy armor with only one blow, as if he were elbowing his enemies with his sword. His style was refined as if he had been formally trained at one point, but it was still wild and confrontational enough that it made him hard to read. Part of Jagen wanted to chalk it up to Roy's youth that made him so different, but there was something about Roy that, overall, made Jagen more confused with him.
It didn't take the pair long to make it to the village along the outskirts of the fields. They were greeted by a small group of villagers at the entrance.
"Thank you for coming to help us," an elderly woman said. "Those soldiers in red were terrifying. We couldn't fight back…"
"It is our honor," Jagen spoke. Roy nodded in agreement.
"Were any of you hurt?" Roy asked politely as he looked over the group. They shook their heads and Roy smiled. "That's good to know."
A younger man approached the two of them. "I reckon I haven't seen vigor like yours since that time I saw a manakete in Pyrathi!" he spoke and grinned at Roy. "Man, wasn't that a rare sight, huh?"
"Oh? A manakete?" Jagen responded with a quirked brow.
"Yeah, y'know, I had heard of dragonkin before, but I always thought they'd look like parakeets or sumthin'. It was mighty crazy, you know what I'm sayin'?" he looked from Jagen back to Roy. Roy only nodded, not quite sure of what to say. In a way, being compared to a manakete was flattering, but it was also rather awkward.
". . . Say, what is that?" Roy asked and motioned to the glinting object in the villager's shirt.
"Wha? Oh, this?" he said and pulled out the object, which was a red, polished stone orb. "Y'know, I have no idea. I found it in Pyrathi. It kinda gives me the creeps, but it is pretty nice lookin', and it glows. You want it?"
Both Jagen and Roy were interested. "It is a very intriguing stone," Jagen said.
The young man grinned. "Yeah, ain't it? Y'know what, you guys can have it. It might be worth somethin', and I'm thankful for you two helpin' us out, so here."
The villager held out the stone to Jagen, who carefully took it. "Thank you. We'll see if we can put it to good use for our army. Roy, would you mind keeping it with you?"
Jagen's question surprised Roy. "With me? Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes, do you have room for it in your pouch?" Jagen asked him.
Roy nodded. "I do…" he said as he moved to touch his pouch, ensuring that he did have enough free space in it.
"Good. Then could you keep it with you for safekeeping?" Jagen asked again, politely.
Roy hesitated before slowly nodding. "Sure… I can do that."
Jagen held out the stone to Roy, who carefully took it in his right hand. He felt something almost like a warm wave wash over him as soon as the smooth sphere touched his palm. A small shudder went down his spine and he brought it closer to himself to look at it.
". . . It's almost like the stone at that old woman's shop," he thought to himself. His eyes narrowed slightly at it before he put it into his pouch.
"Alright," Jagen said, "We need to head to the western bridge, Roy. Prince Marth and the others shall meet us there."
"Right," Roy said. "We shouldn't keep him waiting."
At that, Jagen couldn't help but smile faintly. "Then let's get going."
With a farewell, the duo left the village. As they trudged through the field to the bridge, Roy felt slightly more awake than before, almost like a veil of fog had been lifted off of him. Not but a short while later, the two of them made it to the bridge, where Marth and the other three were already waiting.
"I'm glad to see you two made it here so quickly. Were the villagers safe?" Marth asked as soon as they arrived.
"They were all safe, sire. Thankfully the Medonian soldiers hadn't hurt any of them," Jagen responded.
"Good. Now then, the six of us will head across the bridge to meet with Hardin and his forces first, and the rest of our forces will come shortly after, led by Cain and Caeda. That's when we will storm the castle," Marth explained to them. "Hardin's forces are not very far from the other side of this bridge, so thankfully, we will not have to fight alone for long."
He smiled slightly and the others. "If any of you need to use a vulnerary, now is the time to do it. We'll be crossing over in a moment."
Ogma took the chance to use one of his own vulneraries as Marth went to survey the fields across the bridge. Roy watched Marth as he scanned the western fields. He felt a strange burning sensation in his chest and glanced down before gently resting his hand over his chest and gripping it. He was ready to continue onward and liberate the castle.
Thankfully it didn't take long for the group to head off again. The six of them quickly made a beeline to the battlefield where Hardin and his forces were fighting the enemy.
Upon their arrival, Hardin made note of Marth. "Ah!" he called out. "You've made it here quickly!"
Marth nodded curtly. "Of course! Let us make quick work of these enemies," he said.
With the power of Marth's forces and Hardin's forces at their disposal, the allies quickly routed their foes. The others in Marth's army—led by Caeda and Cain—made it across the bridge about halfway through the fight, and with them there, it was like the battle had ended in the blink of an eye. The enemies had been totally outmatched—not even Merach, the man appointed by Princess Minerva herself to hold the grounds outside of the castle, stood much of a chance against them.
Once the area was deemed safe enough, Marth sheathed his rapier and made his way over to Hardin. "Lord Hardin, it's a pleasure to meet you. As you know, I am Marth of Altea… I've come to help however I can."
"And I am grateful for that, young price. For someone your age, you have achieved much. I feel as though I've gained a thousand allies in one," Hardin responded.
"I've heard quite a bit about you as well, Coyote. It is my honor to fight alongside someone so courageous," Marth spoke with a smile.
"The same to you," Hardin said. "I've left Princess Nyna in a safe place for the time being. Since we will be fighting together, it seems one of us will have to command… I was hoping you would be willing to lead the charge."
Marth blinked slowly. "Me? But you are far more qualified, Sir—"
"Nonsense," Hardin said. "It does not matter which of us is listed in the history books as the leader here… take command so that we may rout this Medonian scum and be done with it."
Marth hesitated before slowly nodding. "If you are certain…."
"I most definitely am. I fancy myself a good judge of character… if you acted out of selfishness, I would not have the faith in you that I have now. You have earned my trust," Hardin spoke with a smile.
"Thank you, lord Hardin… I am honored. I feel as though we will make good friends," Marth said.
"Of course. May our friendship be a long one," Hardin said with a nod.
Marth and Hardin then came back to the others.
"Prince Marth shall be leading the charge of the castle," Hardin said, mostly to his own soldiers. "Fight with all your might, soldiers of Aurelis! We are to rescue the king, liberate the castle, and finally free this place from Medon's influence!"
Hardin's forces let out an incredible battle cry. Roy couldn't help but smile slightly from it—it was uplifting to him, and though he did not know anything about this land, he also wanted to fight his hardest to help free it from its oppressors. A fire ignited in his chest and he was more than ready to take on whatever lied ahead of them within Aurelis Castle's walls.
There was shouting, cursing, and clashing of blades as the rebel forces challenged the Medonian intruders that had managed to take control of the castle. Roy had made it a point to fight with as much might as he could muster—so much so that he was practically plowing through enemies left and right. With a forceful slash of his sword, he cut down another enemy soldier—his sword was cutting through their metal armor almost like a hot knife through butter, though Roy didn't take much note of it at the time.
One of the enemy archers couldn't help but let out a shriek as soon as he saw Roy run at him. They were too close for the archer to be able to draw an arrow fast enough, and Roy ran him through with a swift lunge of his blade. The archer let out a pained shriek as the heat of the sword singed his skin and he looked to Roy with angry eyes.
However, upon locking eyes, the archer's once defiant anger seemed to crumple back into fear. "Y…ou… You're one of those…!" he coughed up blood as Roy pulled out his blade. "Y… ou… monster… you're on the wrong… side…"
The archer fell to his knees before dropping forward, slain, and Roy stared at him for a moment with his eyes narrowed. The archer's words made no sense to him, but something about what he had said made Roy slightly agitated.
"Monster?" he quietly questioned to himself.
"Roy!" came Jagen's voice from not too far behind him. Roy quickly looked back to see the old paladin surrounded by about four different enemies, one of which being another archer he couldn't reach. The archer had an arrow drawn, poised to shoot Jagen as he was busy keeping the other soldiers at bay.
"Jagen!" Roy yelled as the archer let his arrow fly. With a sudden burst of energy, he dashed to the arrow and swung his sword upward, cleanly slicing it in two before it reached Jagen. He turned quickly, his sword ready, and cut the Medonian archer down. Jagen was able to take care of the other enemies that had been surrounding him as well.
"Thank you for your help," Jagen said to Roy.
Roy quickly nodded in response. "You're welcome."
Jagen stared at Roy for a moment, as if thinking about something, before he shook his head. "We're almost to the throne. I am sure Prince Marth and Sir Hardin will make quick work of whoever is leading these soldiers. In the meantime, clear out these halls so they can make it to the throne room with ease."
"Right, I will," Roy responded. He turned on his heel to run down the hall, where more enemies awaited.
Jagen's eyes narrowed as he watched Roy run off in the other direction. His gaze shifted to the arrow—now in two pieces on the floor not far from his horse.
"How did he manage to do that…?" Jagen mumbled.
There was a lot of bloodshed as the rebel army routed the castle of Medonian enemies. Just as every other war up to this point, the opposing general—in this instance, Emereus of Medon- was too angry and haughty for his own good. Marth and Hardin took Emereus down together, their combined might and skill proving to be too much for Emereus to handle.
"You damned rebels…" Emereus groaned out, wounds littering his body. "You might take us down here… but Doluna is still… powerful enough to wipe you all off of the face of this earth!"
Hardin frowned deeply. "I suppose we will see then when we face Doluna itself, but we do not plan on losing."
"Foolish... idiots," Emereus said and rose his silver lance.
Marth gripped his rapier. "Perhaps, but we will not back down from opposing Doluna's tyranny," he spoke, "Your control of Aurelis ends here!"
Hardin charged Emereus with his horse and rose his steel sword over his head. Emereus spun his spear and stabbed at Hardin, but Hardin pulled his horse to the side quickly enough to dodge the blow. He swung his sword and sliced into Emereus' arm, which caused Emereus to stumble back a step. Marth dashed in with his rapier just as Emereus started to regain his footing and lunged the slender blade right through his enemy's gut.
That, of course, was the final blow necessary to fell the Medonion general, and as Marth withdrew his blade, Emereus fell back onto the ground, no longer able to keep himself standing.
"Rrgh… Why…?" he grunted out before letting out his final breath.
Marth pursed his lips before slowly sheathing his rapier. "That's it," he said. "Aurelis has been liberated."
After checking on the king and ensuring his safety as well as reclaiming some of the riches that had been stolen from the castle, Hardin led Princess Nyna back to the castle from her hiding spot in the nearby fortress. Marth, as well as everyone else, bowed with respect as she came into the throne room.
"Prince Marth… finally, we meet," she said and smiled. "I am Nyna of House Akaneia. It is my land's duty to protect the world from strife—a duty I have striven to fulfill. Even so…. Doluna has laid waste to my kingdom, and now the world is falling to ruin. I can't help but find myself feeling powerless as I watch this happen around us."
"Princess Nyna, it is not your fault," Marth said to her, a small frown on his face.
"Maybe, but I am the one responsible for this kingdom, and now look at it," she responded sadly. "Prince Marth… please, pick up the banner where I have let it fall. Fight against Doluna to liberate us all from the darkness that has begun to swallow the land whole."
"You have my word, Princess Nyna. I vow to slay the darkness and destroy Medeus, just like Anri did before me," he said. "It may be difficult… but we will not fail."
This made the princess smile once more. "That makes me glad to hear," she said. Then, she turned to one of her subordinates and he passed her what looked like a shield.
"Let me give you this," she said as she turned to Marth once more, holding the shield out to him. "This crest… it is called the Fire Emblem."
Marth, surprised, hesitantly held out his hands to receive it. "The Fire Emblem?"
"Yes… Akaneia will only bestow it upon the one that we believe has the power to save the world," she said.
From the other end of the hall, Roy, amongst all the others, watched the passing of the Emblem to Marth. Something in his chest tightened into an almost painful knot, and his hands tensed.
However, he nor anyone else in the room seemed to notice the red stone in Roy's blade glowing softly.
Princess Nyna rose her gaze to Marth's, her expression one of resolve.
"Never give up, Marth. Fight, until the day you restore light to our world."