They marched on until sundown. Morgan and Malin guided them to a nice area where they had a number of advantages against any attackers. Just as they finished setting up the camp, Eisso noticed the sound of…chanting? A quick look around him confirmed that it was none of the others; but it also confirmed what he feared.

Hundreds of Grimleal soldiers, maybe more. In front of them, leading them, was a heavily armored man. He looked like he had already won, savoring a victory that was not yet gained. They were a ways away, yes…but they were moving quickly.

Everyone had already taken notice and were gathering their weapons, taking up a primarily defensive position. Eisso didn't even need to say anything.

Malin walked up to Eisso's side, handing him a tome. "That's the Grimleal general," he said, gesturing to the man leading the opposing army.

"How do you know that?" Eisso asked, looking at Malin.

"I was in Plegia for a while. Attended some of the underground Grimleal rallies. I was noticed, and I started making my way back to Ylisstol—that's why they were following me when I met you guys. I was hoping to make it before they actually went into action. As you can tell, that didn't happen," Malin explained. "But I am glad I met up with you. Even if you hated me for a while."

"I still do, sometimes," Eisso admitted. "But if you can help protect the others, you'll have my trust."
Malin nodded firmly. "And, a little piece of advice: a little rallying speech never hurt anyone."

"Everyone wants a speech, huh?"

"It could boost morale, if nothing else. Just try it."

And then he left. Eisso wasn't sure if he wanted to be mildly annoyed or not, but he turned to everyone else nonetheless.

After a deep breath, he tried to encourage them, "The Grimleal general is leading them. This could be the last battle of the war. If we can take down the general, we can scatter and spare everyone else. We may have to take lives. We may lose some. But after this—once we claim a victory, defeating the general and thus ending the war—we can go home. We're close to victory. The odds may be against us, but we can do this. I know we can. So get rid of all the doubts in your mind; focus on what you'll be coming home to, who you'll be able to see once we make the trip back. Use that image of your family and friends to push through their defenses and fight onward. When the general is defeated, the other Grimleal should start retreating—if not, drive them back. Let's win this battle, and end the war!"

He was a bit surprised when it seemed to work; the more enthusiastic of the bunch gave shouts of agreement, and almost everyone seemed to be in better spirits. It was contagious among the small group.

Morgan arranged everyone into groups to effectively dispatch the enemies as quick as possible. Malin joined Eisso again, along with Kjelle and Nah. The four of them were going to go straight for the general—that was the plan, at least.

The Grimleal got closer, their chanting fading into silence as their general got closer.

"I am General Dyrsun of the Plegian Grimleal," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear him. "If you do not want to fight, devout yourselves to the Fell Dragon and join our ranks."

"We will fight," Eisso replied. He sounded more confident than he felt. "You threatened
the peace when you declared war. People have died because of a personal rivalry. In one way or another, this war will end today."

"Very well," Dyrsun said. He turned to his troops. "Grimleal! Today is the day we right a wrong; today is the day we will avenge Grima!"

He looked back at Eisso, lifting his lance. And all his soldiers moved forward.

Eisso and his group pushed onward. Dyrsun was lost in a sea of half-armored people; but he couldn't have backed up. The soldiers were moving in the opposite direction. They were trying to corner Eisso and the others; but everyone was fighting back.

They made good progress. Between Nah and Malin, most of their opponents were down in moments. They must have had the same orders as last time; as soon as their wounds looked even remotely fatal, they took their own lives.

Eisso tried not to watch.

Eisso, Malin, Kjelle, and Nah made decent progress. They found Dyrsun fairly quickly; he was simply watching the battle play out, ready to deploy more units. Eisso was able to get in a single attack before he noticed.

Dyrsun smiled. Everyone but Malin made attempts to break his armor. He was attacking quickly, fiercely, but he seemed to have trouble landing or dodging hits. They used this to their advantage, driving him down to his knees. The closest Grimleal were already starting to falter.

Eisso prepared to deal the final blow, but hesitated.

"Scared?" Dyrsun asked, his voice taunting but weak. "Is the little boy scared? Well? Is he?"

"He is not," Eisso replied. And then he did it. He closed his eyes, and didn't open them until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's get back to the others. Once the Grimleal realize their leader is dead, they'll retreat," Malin said.

"Good job."

And the four of them made their way back. There was no need to fight. Those closest to Dyrsun were leaving, and others looked to see why and they left too. By the time Eisso could see his friends, there were almost no Grimleal in sight.

"The war is over," Eisso told them. "We can stay here for the night and start traveling back to Ylisstol in the morning."

Everyone cheered. It was as good of a time to celebrate than any. Just the thought of going home made Eisso feel rewarded.

(A/N: And with that, this story is over. But it's not done yet! Besides this, there will be a few bonuses that will cover reunions, explanations, and maybe even a future-story teaser. Once those are written and posted, this story will be officially fully-written. I can honestly say that I'm proud of this fanfic. It may not last, but for now I would like to think this is one of my better ones.
Also! I have some bonus art on my DeviantArt—my username there is Pink-Rose06. So far, these bonuses only include character info sheets for Eisso, Kenzie, and Lucina, but I hope to do more in the future. Feel free to check those out; some of them might have backstory bits not mentioned in the story!)