"What could have done this?" Lucina stared at the still smoldering ruins that were once a grand temple. Now it was little more than warm stone. Something or someone had done a number on the place, and there was not a living being to be found.

"Nothing good," Chrom narrowed his eyes as he looked over the scene. They had rushed out upon hearing news of an explosion on Mount Prism. It had been a somber flight over, but the reality was almost as bad as they had feared. They were still left with the question of who could have done something like this though.

"There were no signs of a large force moving through the area," Robin spoke with a level voice, "Whoever did this was working with a small number. Perhaps even one person."

"This being the result of one person does not put me at ease," Chrom folded his arms and closed his eyes. "We should probably seek out Tiki."

"No need," All three looked back to see said dragon landing and shifting back to a humanoid form in a fluid motion.

"Lady Tiki," Lucina bowed slightly, "My condolences. How did you know?"

"I could feel it," She looked out over the destruction, "Something like this is hard to miss if you are attuned to it."

"Do you know who did this?" Chrom sought answers.

"No."

"I knew you'd come."

Everyone was suddenly on high alert upon hearing the new voice. It sounded augmented in some way. Almost as if it were brimming with power. Needless to say, they drew their weapons if they had them all sensing the imminent danger with their finely honed senses.

"There!" Lucina pointed her Falchion at a figure walking towards them through the wreckage. He was clearly heavily armored, and the closer he got, the more unusual his armor seemed. It was a dull gray with imperfections littering the surface. It almost looked patched together, yet at the same time even Chrom and Lucina could feel the magic emanating from it.

"Did you do this just to draw us out, fiend?" Chrom practically growled at the man as he drew his strange blade. It had two large spikes that curved upward on each side attached to a round hilt with some sort of object embedded in it. The weapon seemed composed of the same material as his armor.

"Not you," Came his augmented reply, and then his armor and sword began to glow with a purple light. Then he moved so fast all they saw was a trail of purple lightning that trailed off into a more prismatic light.

By the time their eyes caught up to him, it was too late. Lucina gasped at the sight of Tiki, wide-eyed as she looked at the sword impaled through her heart. The armored man callously pulled the blade free and watched as the dragoness staggered back before collapsing lifelessly.

"Fiend!" Chrom was the first to act as he charged forward, rage in his eyes, but the man effortlessly blocked his blow. It was hard to tell through the slitted helmet, but he seemed to almost be inspecting Chrom before his armor glowed again and he effortlessly pushed him back.

A thoron bolt got his attention next, though he did not seem particularly impressed by it. However, Robin was not alone as Lucina joined the fray to avenge their fallen friend. Her swift actions got her a blow on his armor, but even Falchion harmlessly bounced off.

Chrom was back in action quickly and he once again swung for the man, but instead feinted and struck his side. Though even his superior strength was not enough to so much as scratch the armor. Gritting his teeth, Chrom swung again only to have his blade blocked by his opponent's.

Lucina tried to capitalize on the seeming opening, but the man simply caught her blade while still effortlessly holding Chrom at bay with one arm. With both royal warriors held off, Robin fired off a few more spells, this time aimed at his feet to stir up the dust.

Whether it worked or not, he moved away from the bluenettes and strode towards Robin. The tactician drew his blade and stared down with the approaching menace. He was in no hurry it seemed. Robin could almost feel like he was staring at him before Chrom and Lucina moved to surround him. Though, Robin knew they were far from being at an advantage.

Then, without a word, a magic circle appeared beneath his feet. As the magic surrounded him, he spoke, "Stay out of my way. Only two more and I'll be done with this world." With that warning, he disappeared along with the circle.

"Just what was that thing?" Chrom huffed, "Not even Walhart was that strong, and what did he mean about two more?"

"Two…two," Robin muttered to himself looking at their fallen friend when his eyes suddenly widened, "Manaketes! It's a stretch, but remember, he didn't do this to call us out. He did it to get her here. She was his first target, and his sword discharged faintly when he struck making me think his sword is a dragon slayer. Even after that, we were clearly no threat, but he didn't stay around to finish us off, so I don't think he's Grimleal."

"If that's the case, we can presume his next targets would be Nowi and Nah. Do we know where they are?"

"Nowi is with Donnel at his village. It's a poorly defended area, they wouldn't stand a chance. Nah is-"

"Ylisstol!" Lucina realized in dread, "She, Cynthia, and Morgan were going to hang out while she was in town."

"Ylisstol is much better defended," Robin noted, "But I don't think it would matter a whole lot given what we saw. We may need to rally the Shepherds anyway. We can pick up Nah and the girls while we're there."

"Right," Chrom nodded before turning to their ally, "Sorry, but we don't have a lot time for a proper burial. I refuse to lose another of our own today."

With that said, the trio raced a bit further down the mountain where Sumia was tending to the pegasi.

"Chrom, what happened? What's the rush?" She was a bit worried as Lucina and Robin were already taking off and Chrom effortlessly swung himself onto the back of her mount.

"I'll explain on the way, but for now we're in a hurry."

"Copy that," Sumia went back into Shepherd mode and with ease they were off. She caught up to Lucina along the way, but she was able to tell that she was panicked. It was not easy to set her off like that. Something was dreadfully wrong. She did not need Chrom's explanation to understand that much.

A/N: Okay, so, the villain is not an OC, technically at least. I've left a few hints for him and his gear, but not enough for someone to reasonably figure it out, but by all means, guess away.