Cynthia and Gerome were flying behind the pegasus knights. The chill was stronger in the heights. If their mouths weren't covered by their coats, they could see their breath due the condensation.
It was strange for them when the Shepherds and Lucina took their time to enter the Feroxi territory, but as soon as they did, the flying units crossed the wall as well.
There was not much difference in the other side, all they could see were snow, pine trees, and not so far of them, the city.
Suddenly, a blizzard blown towards them, destabilizing all the mounts. The air was so thick, that the riders nor the mounts couldn't see a thing.
"Woah-woah! Easy, girl" Cynthia talked to her pegasus while trying to regain control.
"Come on, Minerva, you can do it!" Gerome talked to his wyvern, also struggling to stay on air.
The blizzard suddenly stopped, allowing the flying units to see again. Gerome was the first one that recovered the balance. The dark wyvern knight realized something dreadful.
Now, on the wall, there was a numerous group of archers, and all of them were aiming at them.
"EVERYONE, MOVE!" Gerome shout.
In a fast movement, the wyvern rider led his mount higher, allowing him to avoid all the arrows. Unfortunately, all the pegasus knights couldn't move, because they were still trying to control their mounts.
Gerome watched with horror how a bunch of arrows landed on Cynthia, causing the pegasus to fall. Gerome hurried Minerva to reach Cynthia's pegasus, but the effort was in vain, Cynthia's pegasus was falling miles ahead the Wyvern rider.
The pegasus entered the forest, hitting some pine trees on its way down, until it landed on the floor. Minutes later Gerome landed on the same spot. With his heart racing, Gerome got off his mount and ran towards Cynthia. Minerva followed him from behind, the wyvern was tense, she could feel his owners' affliction.
Gerome kneeled in front of the lying pegasus, there was blood everywhere. It was obvious that the creature was dead. Gerome took Cynthia on his arms, the girl was unconscious. Gerome noticed a lot of bruises on her face, arms, and legs. The wyvern rider got alarmed when he saw blood coming from her head. He led his ear towards her face and heard her breath. That was a relief, but he was sure that I wouldn't last if he didn't do something quick. But he didn't know what to do…
"Please. Don't die on me" The wyvern rider begged. He couldn't lose her. After all, she was the light that helped him to endure his parents' separation, and if it weren't for her, he would have never mounted a wyvern.
Minerva growled at something between the trees. When Gerome looked at the same direction, a group of three archers came out slowly, aiming with their bows at them.
Minerva extended her wings to cover Gerome and Cynthia, and the wyvern was in a menacing position.
"Minerva, no! Go away! You can't fight them!" Gerome screamed at his wyvern, but the beast didn't move a single inch.
Out of the blue, Cordelia came out of the forest, and fast as a cheetah, she incrusted her lance in one of the archers. A lot of blood came out of it, specially when she removed the lance. The other two archers hurried and shot at Cordelia, but the woman used the dead archer as a shield.
With all her strength, Cordelia shoved the corpse towards the other two archers, making them fall and dropping their bows. Quickly, Minerva approached them and with her jaws took one archer and threw it towards a tree, and then, she did the same to the other archer. After hitting the tree, both archers fell to the floor unconscious.
"Thank you, Minerva" Cordelia thanked the wyvern with relief. Gerome looked at Cordelia. The woman was clearly in a bad state too. She had bruises all over her body, and an incrusted arrow on her left arm.
Cordelia looked at the two teenagers, she got alarmed when she noticed Cynthia's state.
"Gerome, let's get out of here. Quick!" Cordelia ordered, while mounting Minerva. The wyvern rider got surprised because Minerva didn't usually let anyone mount her. He realized that maybe his wyvern understood well the situation.
Gerome got up, carrying Cynthia on his hands. The guy gave some steps towards Minerva and Cordelia, but suddenly, other soldiers came out of the forest.
"More of them!?" Cordelia asked.
In this occasion, there weren't archers, but four swordsmen and two armored knights.
"Don't move!" one of them shouted.
As they were getting closer, Gerome noticed a familiar purple glow in their eyes.
"There are too many, I don't know if I can handle them all" Cordelia thought.
The redhead looked at Gerome and Cynthia, then smiled. "Gerome, take her out of here, we will buy you enough time to escape" she ordered the boy. Gerome just stood frozen where he was, he couldn't believe what he heard.
Cordelia petted Minerva, "It's an honor to die with such a loyal creature" she told the wyvern. Cordelia and Minerva were ready to fight the swordsmen, but they got distracted by a sound of something big coming from the forest.
Everyone looked at the same spot, fearing from what was coming. Then, a giant feral bunny appeared, who charged immediately at the swordsmen.
"A taguel!?" Gerome exclaimed. He had heard from his parents that it existed a humanoid specie that can turn into a giant bunny, in fact, his parents fought alongside one of them during the war.
Cordelia decided to help the giant bunny and attacked the two knights. The bunny beast with kicks and scratches defeated all the swordsmen, without killing them. Cordelia flew towards one knight, their lances crashed, and while they were struggling, Minerva used her legs to take the knight. The wyvern elevated to the sky, and there she left the knight fall. They then proceeded to do the same with the other knight.
When they were over, Cordelia and Minerva landed close to the taguel, who was standing on its hind legs and looking at them with curiosity with its red eyes.
"Panne! I'm glad to see you" Cordelia exclaimed with happiness.
"I'm not her. I'm her son, Yarne!" the bunny beast talked. It was strange because the voice wasn't coming from its mouth, and it sounded unnatural.
Cordelia's eyes widened at the beast's statement, but soon she assimilated the information. "We need help, this girl is seriously wounded" the pegasus knight told Yarne.
With little hops, the beast approached Gerome and Cynthia, and smelled them. "Jump on me, I'll take you to a safer place" the giant bunny assured.
Gerome glared at Cordelia, asking her with his eyes if it was safe. Cordelia just nodded, then Gerome made an effort to mount the bunny with Cynthia on his hands. Gerome was sitting on the bunny as if it were a horse. With one hand he was holding Cynthia and the other was hanging on the purple armor that the bunny had.
Yarne started to advance with larger and faster hops, Cordelia and Minerva followed him from behind.
Morgan was in the castle dinning hall, having dinner with all the people that he met on Ylisse. Everyone was laughing and happily chatting.
Morgan looked at his father, who was sitting at his left. The king was chewing a perfectly cut piece of meat. Chrom noticed that his son was looking at him and smiled.
"Father, why things can't be like this?" Morgan asked Chrom.
Then, the young tactician felt a pair of hands over his shoulders, and a face approaching his right side.
"Because you are not one of them" he heard so close to his right ear.
Morgan recognized that voice. He looked at his right, and there was Sebastian, the old man from Plegia's library. Suddenly, everything went black, and all his beloved friends and family were replaced for the people that he saw in Plegia's prison.
"You are one of us… you are one of us…" all of them repeated, making Morgan to cover his ears with his hands, but that didn't stop the sound.
"Wake up…"
"Join us in the dark…"
"It's just a nightmare, wake up…"
"The fell dragon awaits you"
"WAKE UP!"
Morgan opened his eyes, he was clearly confused. In front of him, there was a girl, of his age. The girl had brown hair with two braids that fell over her shoulders. She seemed shorter than him. She also had purple eyes and strange pointed ears.
"Are you an angel?" Morgan asked the girl, with a somnolent voice.
The girl shook her head, with a disappointed expression. "If I were an angel, I would be in heaven, and not in this cell" was her answer.
"A cell?" Morgan asked without understanding. Then, he remembered everything, and abruptly got up and went to the cell's door. The door was made of steel, it really looked sturdy. The door seemed to have a panel that could be opened from outside. Morgan guessed that it was for food. Definitely, he could not open that door with his bare hands.
He looked at the rest of the cell, the walls and ceiling were made of brown blocks. The light was coming from a little aperture on the upper part of wall. The aperture seemed to be on a ground level, indicating that they were in an underground prison. Outside was dark, indicating that night has fallen upon them, Morgan could see tiny snowflakes coming inside from that opening.
On the adjacent walls, there were a hanging bed and a wall torch. Morgan wondered if that was enough to keep warm a person in such cold weather.
"Who are you?" the girl asked.
"My name is Morgan, I'm the Shepherd's tactician."
The girl's eyes widened, "Shepherds? Like the squad that defeated the fell dragon Grima?"
Morgan felt chills with the mention of that name, "Yes, but we are not as skilled as the original members."
"Wait, what are the Shepherds doing here? Do you know what is happening out there?!" the girl asked abruptly, coming closer to Morgan, who felt nervous with the proximity of the girl.
"Not really, we had just arrived when the Feroxi ambushed us" Morgan answered, but as he keep looking the girl, there was something concerning about her. "But, why do they have captive such an innocent and small girl like you?" the tactician asked.
The question took by surprise the girl, who started to laugh, "Innocent? I don't think so… Small? Well, not all the time" the girl said between giggles, her right hand was covering her mouth and the other was on her stomach.
Morgan felt frustrated, because he didn't understand the answer. When the girl composed herself, she looked at the tactician again a told him, "Thanks, I haven't laugh in days, exactly in four days, that's the time I have spent here."
"But why?" Morgan questioned.
"I don't know exactly why, but maybe it has to do with me being the Khan's daughter" the girl answered.
"You are the Khan's daughter!? What happened to you father!? Why did he request king Chrom's aid!?" the tactician asked desperately while placing his hands on the girl's shoulder.
The little girl made a confused expression, after meditating for some seconds, she spoke. "I'm sorry, but I have no idea, Morgan."
The girl's answer disappointed Morgan, who released the girl's shoulders. The young woman noticed the boy's expression, so she spoke again, "Listen, I'll tell what I know. Four days ago, I woke up in the middle of the night. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that people who I know were surrounding my bed. They took me and brought me here. I don't know what happened with my parents or why the Feroxi people rebelled. But if I know one thing, is that they seemed different, they had a strange purple glimmer in their eyes…" the girl explained.
Morgan placed one hand on his head, and the other one on his hip. He certainly looked worried. "Oh no…" he muttered.
"What!? Tell me!" the girl ordered.
"I'm afraid that a Plegian is behind all of this. Lately, some of them have been using a spell that helps them to control people, that's why they had the purple glimmer. That spell can only be used by people who were blessed by Grima." Morgan explained.
"How is that possible? Grima is no longer here!" The girl complained.
The boy crossed his arms and shook his head, it was difficult for him to talk of the topic, "Well, it seems that now that Grima is gone, the blessing that they had, became a curse. That curse makes them use the remaining power that they had to cause the most damage as possible, until they die or kill themselves."
"So, the people of Regna Ferox are being controlled? My parents are being controlled? Please tell me that there is a solution!" the girl begged.
"Yes, the solution would be killing the Plegian, but there is something really strange about all this…" Morgan said, then he placed his left hand on his chin and looked at the girl, from head to toes. "Why would they leave you here instead of controlling you?" he wondered.
"I have no idea…" The girl answered, she immitted the boy's pose, and both started to think for some seconds.
Then the girl's eyes shone, and she transmitted confidence to the boy. "Do you think that it has to do with my race?" she asked.
"Your race?" Morgan asked, clearly confused.
"Yes, you know, I'm half manakete" the girl added.
"Manakete? The ones that can turn into a dragon?!" Morgan exclaimed.
"Yes, I thought it was pretty obvious" the girl mentioned while signaling her ears with both index fingers.
Morgan gave a little slap on his face, "Oh, you are right! I totally forgot that manaketes have such strange ears."
"Strange?" the girl asked, her voice sounded offended.
"And cute too. I would totally die for having the same ears as yours!" the boy assured. The girl giggled at the answer. Morgan smiled, now he could enjoy of the girl's laugh.
"Well, now, let's focus on the important" the boy turned to face the door. "How to get out of here."
The boy started to think in escape plans, he looked at each corner of the cell, but it seemed like there was not flaws. Suddenly, the boy realized something.
"Hey, I don't know your name" Morgan asked the girl.
"Nah" she answered.
"Come on, I already told you my name!" Morgan complained.
"No, my name is Nah. N-A-H" the girl explained.
"Oh, very creative" the tactician rubbed the back of his head. Then he composed himself.
"Then, Nah. I will confess you something." Nah's eyes filled with curiosity.
"The curse that I previously mentioned… Well, I have it too…" Morgan confessed while removing the glove of his right hand, showing the mark to Nah.
Nah gave some steps back as her face filled with worry. "Are you a bad guy too?" she asked.
Morgan rubbed his right hand with sadness. "No, not yet. I don't know when. But in some future, I'll probably become crazy, if I don't find a cure first. But right now, I just want to help. And maybe I can do it with the power that Grima conferred to me."
"What are you going to do?" Nah asked.
"To awake the power that I have been hiding my whole life."
Morgan placed his nude right hand on the door, as well as his forehead. He closed his eyes and started to focus on his nightmares and dark feelings.
Lucina woke up, she entered in panic as soon as she noticed that she was in an unknown place. She seemed to be in an office. There were bookshelves with documents and books. On her right, there was a window, that showed that it was already night. In front of her, there where three people, two she recognized well. In the middle was a man, with brown hair and a sharp gaze, he was wearing an elegant blue coat, behind that was a uniform of a fine swordman. That man was wielding two swords. He was the one and only khan Lon'qu.
On his right was a woman, she looked older than the other two persons. She was blonde with gray hairs. Her outfit consisted of a white and red armor. She was wielding a sword and a shield. That woman was the other Khan, Flavia.
At Lon'qu's left was a man that she didn't recognize, he was taller than the other two people. His hair was orange, and he was wearing a simple outfit, though he was wielding a sword.
The three of them were standing still, looking at the front. None of them bothered in looking at Lucina.
The girl fastly tried to approach Lon'qu. "Khan Lon'qu, I demand an explanation of this!" Lucina exclaimed. She soon realized that she was tied to a chair.
She struggled to free herself, but nothing had an effect. She looked with desperation at the three people in front of her, "answer me!" she demanded.
"He won't do it. Not if I don't order him to do it" Lucina heard a male voice behind her. She recognized the voice as the man in the armor who received them in the wall.
She couldn't turn her head to look. She just heard a chair move, then steps. Slow and steady steps. From her left, Lucina saw a man appear. The man was tall and covered in black clothes.
He walked until he was in front of her. Lucina couldn't see his face because it was covered in a black hood.
Slowly, the man removed the hood, revealing a face with dark eyes and a light brown skin tone. His hair was white, and it was tied in a braid that reached his back.
"Who are you?" Lucina asked.
"My name is Arune" the man said.
"What do you want? Why are you doing this?" she asked again.
The man's face, that was serious at first, became angered. "This is vengeance. Naga sent your father to kill Master Grima. Now, it's my duty to kill her best soldier."
The man approached menacingly a few steps to Lucina. "And I was wondering…" the man inclined his torse towards Lucina. Leaving his face a few inches separated from Lucina's face.
The girl could feel the breath of the man. She started to shiver.
"Do you think that sending him your tiara will be enough for him to come…" he said while rubbing the object in Lucina's head. "…or will I need to send a finger too?" he ended his question by touching Lucina's fingers.
The girl was about to cry, but she held back her tears. She didn't want to seem fragile in front of that guy.
Out of the blue, Arune straightened his back. "What the…?" he asked as he turned his back to Lucina and looked at the ceiling. Some seconds passed and his face became completely stunned.
"Someone is interrupting my spell!" he exclaimed.
Arune walked towards the door, Lon'qu and Flavia followed him. The three of them exited the room. Leaving Lucina with the unknown man.
Thanks for reading!
Special thanks to:
Mysterious guest: Wow, I never thought I would see the day where you run out of predictions hehe. But I think after this chapter, you can start guessing again. Thank you so much for the support, you and the other readers are my reason to continue.
YellowHello1: Omg! I such an honor that my fanfic is your favorite from this site. I'm also a reader and I have seen really good fics in here, so being the favorite of one person it really makes my day, week, and month. Thank you so much! Stay safe you too!
Duke: Yes, with curse or not, Morgan still is a worthy royal member. And yes, the secret is going to be revealed soon or late. Thanks for your comment!
Yoman66: Yes, I think Kjelle and Morgan look cute together. I love that their S support is similar to Chrom and Robin's. But if I'm honest, I don't ship Morgan with someone specific, I was planning in some MorganxNah because I think that's the most popular ship for Morgan, but I don't have any problem in changing that for MorganxKjelle. Your poem of that ship was cute, thanks!