Chapter I – The Voice of Naga
"So we have to go find Naga?" Lissa asked. "I didn't know she was still… you know, around with us normal people."
"We're searching for Naga's Voice, not Naga herself," I explained.
"Ohhhh, the Voice! I've heard of her before," Lissa said.
"Who is she anyway? I have no memory of the legend," I asked.
"She's supposedly the daughter of Naga. The divine dragon herself doesn't live in this world anymore, and so her daughter is the main way for her to communicate with humans," Chrom explained, "or at least, that's how the stories go."
"And Say'ri actually knows the Voice?" I asked.
"Apparently so," Chrom said. Say'ri had told us that she was the Voice's bodyguard for several months after Walhart's conquest began. I was hesitant to believe that a random swordmaster was responsible for protecting a goddess, but there was little reason not to follow her to the Divine Dragon Grounds to put her claims to the test. After all, if the Voice was an ally of Say'ri and she did have as much power as the legends say, then she would be an unstoppable force in battle. We had to have her on our side.
"Milord, if I may," Frederick walked up near Chrom and me.
"What is it, Frederick?" Chrom inquired.
"Do you not think it unwise to follow this swordmaster to the Divine Dragon Grounds?" Frederick spoke with a grave tone. "We have only just met the woman. What if she is leading us to a trap?"
"We watched how she cut her brother down, Frederick," Chrom reminded him. "He was fighting for Walhart. If she was willing to do that to help stop Walhart, then she is certainly a friend of ours."
"Yeah, Frederick! Besides, it's not every day you get to meet a divine oracle," Lissa hopped beside him.
"I suppose. But what will the Voice do for us? Surely we cannot ask her to fight alongside the Shepherds," Frederick replied.
"Say'ri says that the Voice is performing a ritual to regain her full divine power," Chrom said, "but during the ritual she will be defenseless."
"And we can't risk any brigands or more organized foes targeting her during that time," I continued.
"Has the ritual started already?" Frederick asked.
"According to Say'ri, yes. Nobody should have prior knowledge of it, but this isn't something to take risks with," Chrom said as he pulled out a map of the area. "There are multiple different possible routes of attack for any would-be assailants. We need to prepare for all eventualities."
"I agree. I've already prepared a defensive formation for us," I said and pointed to the central point on the map. "If the Voice is here, then we should arrange our troops in a square around her."
"So we're going to be a wall?" Lissa laughed.
"Basically, yes. We're going to need the most heavily armored troops in the front of the formation. The enemy could come from three different sides, and we have three units with decent armor. Frederick will take the left side, Stahl will take the right, and Kellam will take the front, since I imagine the majority of them will file toward the front and Kellam has the best armor," I explained, marking the map to show the locations for each unit.
"What about Sully?" Chrom asked.
"I don't think it's a good idea to put her in the front of the line. She'll still be grieving over the loss of Basilio, and I don't want her emotions to cause her to lose focus and take a hit unnecessarily," I said.
"I can't begin to imagine how she must feel," Lissa's shoulders dropped as she looked down in sorrow. "Losing your husband is unthinkable, even in times like this."
"Remember that this is war, milad—Lissa. Tragic as it is, it could happen to any one of us," Frederick patted her on the shoulder. I chuckled. They'd been married for a year now and Frederick still reflexively called his wife "milady."
"War or no war, you'd better come home safely!" Lissa glared.
"I will do my best, Lissa, but understand that—"
"No, no, no! We are all fighting for our fellow soldiers, Frederick, but you take it too far. You must stop when you are injured," Lissa lectured, though her gaze softened as she spoke. "I don't think I could handle almost losing you again."
"I… apologize for being so stubborn. I only wish for you to understand my fear that if I do not give my all, then there will be no future for you to enjoy, whether I'm here or not," Frederick said calmly, though his expression remained stoic.
"I feel the same way as you, Frederick, but everyone has their limits. We are stronger as a group than as one. If you need to retreat for your own sake, then know that the rest of us will work doubly hard to make sure we don't lose," Chrom said, giving a firm slap on the back to the knight.
"You are most kind, Milord," Frederick said, sounding unconvinced.
"That goes for me too. You're an integral part of this army, Frederick. If it means that everyone else has to work a little harder for the sake of protecting your health, then so be it," I repeated. "And purely from a personal standpoint, I'm confident that everyone would agree that you contribute to the group in ways that nobody else does."
"Robin's right," Lissa said, "even if we weren't married, you're still like family to all of us, Frederick. Everyone admires you!"
"Right, I get it," Frederick sighed. "Though I do not think my contributions to be so significant, I will make sure to not put myself in a situation like the one on the searoad again."
Frederick had been gravely wounded once before. The Shepherds, himself included, had thought him to be all but invincible. But during that fateful battle on the searoad, one battle I shall never forget, he nearly lost his life when he tried to take on a group of enemies alone. Frederick wasn't stupid—far from it, in fact. Sometimes I thought him to be more cautious than I was. But he was courageous to a fault, and when the enemies began to overpower our forces, he charged forward and took the brunt of the enemy forces' attacks on his own. His daring move broke the enemy lines and allowed us to gain an advantage in the battle, but many feared his wounds would be too severe to heal. Fortunately, with the combined attention of our expert healers, he lived to fight another day.
Lots of people were injured during our assault on the Valmese navy that day. It was the first time I felt like I had failed as the Shepherds' tactician. None of the Shepherds died in the battle, but dozens of rank-and-file soldiers did. Compared to the thousands of Valmese that had to choose between burning alive on their ships or sinking in the waters below, our numbers were inconsequential, but not to me. Even a single lost life was unacceptable. I'd never have been able to forgive myself if something happened to anyone, but especially if something happened to Frederick.
Frederick was the part of the Shepherds that no one gave enough credit to. Everyone knew Chrom. His face was displayed all over the streets of Ylisstol, after all, on various insignia, flags, and banners. Chrom certainly deserved every bit of attention he received. He was the most compassionate man I knew, and I owed my life to him.
Then there was Lissa. Technically not an official member of the command, Lissa provided a more informal function to the Shepherds. She was the one who helped us all stay in high spirits no matter how bad things became. For that, everyone knew her and most liked her. Even Lon'qu, with his debilitating fear of women that I still didn't quite understand, acknowledged that losing Lissa would cause an immeasurable decrease in morale.
And of course, there was me. Not nearly as popular as Chrom, but still more known than Lissa amongst the public, I was known for being the so-called master strategist of the Shepherds. My work didn't measure up to Chrom, though. I really only helped in the heat of battle. Outside of that, I did what normal members of the army did; I cleaned up the camp, prepared meals, and stood watch. But everyone played their own unique part in battle. Surely I wasn't that special, I thought.
Frederick seemed to be the total opposite of me. It'd be easier for me to write a list of things that Frederick didn't do, and even that would be difficult. He spent more hours on guard than any other soldier, attended leadership meetings with Chrom, myself, and other influential members of the army on a daily basis, maintained the weapons in superb condition, made sure all of the soldiers were doing their training every day, and personally mentored everyone who asked him to. And all of that was just when he wasn't waiting on Lissa hand and foot, something he notably had been doing for her long before they had any kind of personal relationship, and something that I suspected he still did for Chrom, though Chrom protested being treated so highly, resulting in Frederick focusing much more on his other duties and working himself harder to make up for time he wasn't directly supporting Chrom in some way.
But the thing was, few people knew that side of Frederick. Even though he interacted with most members of the Shepherds on a daily basis, they saw so little of him individually that they drastically underestimated just how much he did. Chrom, Lissa, and I did our best to appreciate his work, but with or without words of gratitude, he worked hard all the same. I didn't know how he did it, but I wished I could have been half as good as he was.
That had long been my mission. I knew nothing of my past before my time in the Shepherds, but I knew that if it weren't for them, I'd likely have died to the first group of brigands I came across. I spent every day trying to repay the kindness they had afforded me, and everyone told me that I had done more than enough, but I still didn't feel that I had truly repaid my debt to them. They had changed my life for the better, and I wanted to do the same for them. Their lives wouldn't truly be changed until I had ended this war and prevented Grima's return.
The only problem with that was that nobody knew how to fight Grima. Nobody, except Lucina, even knew what Grima was like. All the knowledge of him we knew of before Lucina traveled from her future to meet us was passed down exclusively through folk stories. The legends told of a destructive and all powerful fell dragon that sought to destroy our world and recreate it to match his dark vision. Lucina's future was much like the legends, according to her. She talked so casually about a world devoid of greenery, civilization, and order. It was heartbreaking to imagine that she grew up in a world like that, and I knew that all of the children of the Shepherds would grow up in that world too if we didn't stop Grima.
The legends also told of a sacred object known as the Fire Emblem. The shield-like object had been passed down through the Ylissean royal family for centuries, and was now guarded by Chrom. Supposedly, the Fire Emblem could awaken the goddess, Naga, and she would bestow the power to banish Grima upon Chrom's sacred sword, Falchion. Lucina confirmed that this was true, and she also possessed Falchion from her future.
In her future, Chrom, and indeed all of the Shepherds, died during the war against Grima. Her father's death meant that Falchion was in her care in the dark future. Lucina's Falchion had already been blessed by Naga, but for reasons that were far too complex to wrap my head around, it couldn't be used on the Grima of this age. Something about the timeline and needing the present-day Naga's blessing to activate Falchion's true power in this time period.
And that was why we were going to see the Voice of Naga. Walhart the Conqueror threatened the lands too, but compared to the threat of Grima, Walhart could wait. It was only a short detour to the Divine Dragon Grounds from the Demon's Ingle anyway. We had the Fire Emblem in our possession, yes, but as for how to use it, we had no idea. The stories never mentioned the specifics. We could only hope that the Voice would be of help.
"Robin?" Chrom said, snapping me out of my thoughts. Our troops neared the Divine Dragon Grounds as we marched steadily onward. "You were saying about the strategy?"
"Oh, r-right." I had been caught off guard. I was prone to getting lost in my head sometimes. "Behind each of the armored soldiers, we'll need the other swordsmen, lancers, and axe fighters backing them up. Gaius, Vaike, Donnel, and Gregor can all take up positions near the front."
"What about the pegasus knights and other fliers?" Chrom asked.
"I wanted to plan for any number of enemies, so I want the fliers to be ahead of everyone else, preferably a few hundred feet ahead," I elaborated. "Once they're that far out, they can scout for enemies and take out some of them to reduce the crowd that is down by the main group. I'll need Cherche, Sumia, and Cordelia. Cherche is pretty tough on her own. Nowi can go with Sumia and Panne can go with Cordelia for support."
For a moment, I thought back to Frederick's injury on the searoad and thought better of my choice. "On second thought, Lon'qu can go with Cherche. It'll be dangerous so far out from the group, and I don't want anyone to get hurt. He's not quite as mobile as a manakete or a taguel, but he is one of our best warriors and so I know he'll be fine with Cherche's help."
"Sounds good. Anything else?" Chrom noted.
"Just two things. We want all of our mages and healers to be in a protective ring around the Voice. If Say'ri is right and she can't move during the ritual, we'll need to make sure no archers or mages from the enemy forces can land a hit on her. Speaking of Say'ri, I want her right next to the Voice. She is her personal bodyguard after all and if something goes wrong, I should like to think she'd be the most prepared to help."
"Right. I'll start giving out the orders then. Thank you, Robin," Chrom nodded to acknowledge the plan.
"Of course."
From there, we marched the final steps toward the Divine Dragon Grounds and I recoiled in horror. Atop the pristine pavilion sat who I could only assume was the Voice herself. Just as I had predicted, from all three sides a hundred or more well-armed Risen rapidly approached her.
I could only hope this plan worked.