UGH! So if I told you, "I've been dealing with writer's block for the past month," it would be downplaying the amount of creative hell I've been trapped in for the past two months. I'll return to The Princess's Dragon Bride as soon as possible. This story came to me as I forced myself to write something, anything. So I decided to try doing something I've been telling myself I would do ever since I finished posting the original. Enjoy this mess.

A Legacy of Ashes

Chapter 1

The Castle was under attack and ablaze. The Exalt and his adviser darted down the many twisting pathways leaping over bodies and cutting down any foe that crossed their path.

The man in darkened robes raised his arm and cast out a torrent of winds that cleared the way through some paths blocked by walls of fire. The King leaped through the light of flames making his armor gleam brilliantly.

A monster leaped out from one of the hall's many doors. "Chrom, your left!" his blade met his foe without hesitation.

Chrom countered an attack from another foe that jumped out of its hiding place. "Where would I be without those keen eyes of yours?"

"Most likely dead," his adviser gave him a smug smile as he tossed a bolt of lightning past his head striking another foe. "And what a waste that would have been."

Chrom only gave the mage at his side a smirk of his own before he cut down the last of the three bizarre-looking creatures that attempted to catch them off guard. "How much farther?"

"It should be on the other side of that wall," he motioned to the left. Unfortunately, the rubble had collapsed before the door blocking the only entrance.

Chrom tightened his grip on the blade and turned sharply. "Hang on, Lucina, I'll be right there." Then, in a feat of strength almost inhuman, he charged forward and slammed his blade into the wall breaking through.

The room was a mess of debris; corpses of those monsters littered the grounds, still clinging to some sense of life as they seemed to be slowly burning away. There was no doubt the bodies of a guard or nursemaid amongst the chaos. Still, Chrom's eyes scanned the room frantically for something else.

"Chrom," the Exalt's attention was drawn away from his frantic search as the mage beckoned him over. He knelt, his hood still pulled all the way. He tossed aside more of those beasts, leaving them to lose the last of their life energy. Once they hit the ground, they would vanish in a puff of dark miasma. Chrom rushed over and helped clear the way. Slowly he discovered a small figure huddled under a table. Blue and black flames lapped at the air around them. Unlike the ones that engulfed the castle, these didn't spread. It was almost like a protective aura.

"Ren, it's alright. I'm here." His adviser reached upwards and pulled down the hood of his coat, revealing his pale skin and hair. "It's Robin. His highness is here too,"

Robin lowered himself a bit farther, getting dangerously close to the blue flames. Then in the softest voice Chrom had ever heard him use, he whispered, "please calm down."

Slowly the blue fire died down, revealing a small boy with frizzy dark hair clinging to a young girl just a bit smaller. She had her face betrayed in his shirt and refused to look. When he opened his eyes to see the two of them, he charged forward and clung to Robin's chest.

"You're safe now," Robin soothed the young boy.

The girl then charged forward, and Chrom embraced her, cradling her to his chest. Her hair was the same deep shade of blue as his own. Aside from a few spots of ash on her dress, she looked otherwise alright.

"We need to get out of here now; this place won't hold for very long." Chrom turned to look at Robin as he spoke. Still keeping his daughter close to himself.

Chrom nodded, and the group made a mad dash to Chrom's private study. Once they entered the space that mainly stood unaffected by the raging flames. Chrom lowered his daughter and motioned for her and the other to pass through while he watched the door.

Robin tossed the fancy rug aside to reveal a patch of stone, unlike the rest on the floor. Robin then walked into the center of the strange tiling. Robin began casting a spell that activated the rest of the floor. A mess of magic symbols slowly burned their way into the ground, starting at Robin's feet and sprouting outward until they engulfed the entire strange space. Ren took Lucina's hand and rushed to Robin's side, already knowing what came next.

Suddenly there was a loud crash, and Chrom turned to look Robin's way. He returned the King an unsettled expression, already knowing what the king meant to ask him. Unfortunately, the spell wasn't finished and would take more time.

He approached the group and knelt down to give his daughter a tight embrace. Placing a kiss on her forehead before standing up. She didn't want to let him go, but he removed her arms from around him, ever so gently. "Be good, okay, Lucina? Daddy has to go now."

"But-" there were tears in her eyes as Chrom stood, "Dad."

Chrom shook his head and turned his back to his adviser. "Robin, make sure Ren and Lucina make it out of here.'' Then, he ran off.

Robin let out a low hiss as his eyes flashed a deep red hue before he shook his head, and then they were gold again. He closed his eyes again and whispered, "you know I can't and won't leave your side."

He opened his eyes again and slowly looked back down at Ren. He knelt down and rested a hand on the young boy's shoulder, "deep in the kingdom's shadows, you will find allies."

"Tell them, 'The Shepherd sent you to guard the Light.'"

To Lucina, he simply reached into his coat and pulled out a small sigil, "keep this. It'll protect you."

He embraced them both before standing, "be careful around other nobles, don't let them find you, Lucina. They will only use you."

He then reached out and ruffled the boy's hair. It was only then that the tears started in the boy's eyes. "Take care of her as well as yourself, Little Rebel." He turned his back to them then and began to walk out of the spell circle.

Ren watched on; only when Robin was at the door did he reach out to stop him; by then, the light had burst from the markings swallowing the two children in its warmth.

After hearing the spell go off, Robin peeked back into the room, and thankfully, they were gone and safe, far from the battlefield their home had become.

Robin broke out into a sprint. Summoning the wind, he launched himself down the path, following the sounds of combat. When he burst into what was once the throne room, he found Chrom on the floor. His once-white clothes and armor were stained in blood.

Robin rushed over to the King, cradling him close to himself. He overlooked the King's injuries; it was gruesome but not impossible to come back from. Thankfully Chrom was still breathing.

"Not you …" Robin placed his hand to the wound, trying desperately to keep the king's life force inside. He began conjuring his magic. He could still heal him; he still had time.

Chrom made a faint noise, but Robin's mind was preoccupied. He hadn't noticed the figure looming in the back. He only registered it when he heard something behind him. He had hoped that their foe had been cut down by Chrom, but clearly, that wasn't the case. He tried focusing on his task. He wouldn't lose his King.

Chrom reached a weak hand outward and gently caressed Robin's face. Capturing the mage's attention immediately. Robin steered at his King and noticed he was trying to say something and so he leaned close to hear him. "I release you from your mortal prison." Robin's eyes flashed a deep crimson as Chrom spoke his true name in all but a whisper.

By then, though, there was only fire and smoke within the castle. The floor crumbled and collapsed, and Falchion plummeted into the new ravine now beneath what was once Ylisstol Castle.

The town was in absolute chaos as they watched the castle go up in flames. The symbol of power and peace in Ylisstol was crumbling before their eyes. The Exalt had yet to make it out of the flames.

Then there was a noise, a loud and deafening screech that morphed into a deep and horrifying roar. A pillar of bright light shot up from the fire core, and suddenly the town was surrounded by a dark and oppressive storm.

Thunder shot down from the heavens striking mercilessly. The people were not stupid and ran far from the city, leaving everything but their loved ones. As quickly as the lightning started, wherever it struck, the ground would summon fissures making rubble and small carts plunge into the abyss.

Then the earth began to quake as a massive chasm ripped open underneath what remained of the mighty castle.

Ever since that day, the storm clouds haven't stopped. An ever-present vortex of dark storm clouds circled the ruins of Ylisstol castle. It's said that the Exalt's guardian cursed the land for his master's final breath.

Author's Notes/ I should probably mention that this is really only to give me a quick break from my main fic. Taking a break from writing all together stresses me out, so … I'm making this. So I guess what I'm trying to say is don't expect this to take away from my main fic. This is so that I don't get rusty. Well, thank you for reading chapter one. Have a wonderful day.

~ S. Rosey (5/4/22)