Author's Note- Here's another chapter, but this might be the last chapter for a while. Once winter break is over, it's back to school for me... blech. Anyway, I hope to continue this when I get a chance to, but there's no telling when that will be.

Disclaimer- I do not own Fire Emblem, nor any related characters, events, etc., except for the few original characters that may, and eventually will appear over the course of the story.

Ewan, Enthusiastic Student

Chapter 5- Embracing the Light

Ewan was sorting out his belongings in the lobby of the inn after getting a free room thanks to the selfless act of Lorian, Ewan's newest dream girl. He found his Fire tome, Artur's Lightning tome, and two vulneraries, but his gold was nowhere to be found. The young apprentice sighed at the loss of his money, and prepared to head for his room.

"Are you feeling alright, Ewan?"

The mage looked up and saw his pious friend, Artur, coming down the stairs to meet him. He glanced at Anthony's desk and saw him absent, meaning he was free to have a private talk with his virtuous pal.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Ewan responded. "Just thinking." One part of Ewan wanted privacy, so he started to walk past Artur to try to stall the conversation until the next day.

"She sure is something, isn't she?" Artur inquired. His words rang in Ewan's brain, and he looked back at Artur with a giddy smile across his face.

"Yeah!" Ewan exclaimed, "She sure is! You like her too, Artur?"

"She sure seems nice enough," Artur explained to the love-struck boy, "You don't find many strangers willing to help one another with no form of compensation. Quite an act is truly admirable."

Ewan started to question his friend's tastes in girls, but nonetheless, he had to agree with him on Lorian's charity. "Yeah, it's nice to see some good people away from home." Sensing that the topic at hand was not one Artur enjoyed to talk about too much, he switched to one of more importance.

"What do you plan to do at Cataris Island?" Ewan asked.

Artur began to scratch his head in thought. "Well, right now I'm thinking of praying for a while. I hear there are several altars, as well as a temple there." The monk started to pace back and forth. "I might meditate there as well. Not many people inhabit the island, so it would be nice for some quiet meditation."

"And what about Lute?"

Artur smiled and said, "She'll find something to do. Nothing will stop her incurable drive for knowledge."

"And I guess she'll just ward those spiders away, huh, Artur?" Ewan teased him.

"W-well, I can handle spiders. It's just those b-b-baels," Artur spoke and shivered at the thought of the oversized monsters, "Those hideous creatures… With their legs, and their venom… ACK!"

Ewan was chuckling at Artur's exaggerated fear of arachnids, but realized he struck one of Artur's sensitive spots.

"I'm sorry, Artur." Ewan placed his hand around his friend's shoulder to comfort him.

"It's alright," Artur said, "I've… I've had much worse experiences with spiders."

Lute was content with how her day had gone. She was bringing all her belongings with her to her new room. Her possessions included a new Thunder book, a worn out Shine book, a vulnerary, and a small satchel filled with gold. She didn't expect to have to fight on her trip, but it was uncommon for such a brilliant mind such as hers to be ill-prepared.

"Ewan should prove to be a valuable asset," she thought to herself, evaluating her newest ally. "His skill in magic is on par with mine, although mine is clearly stronger, and he could heal as well. That is, if he were to buy a Heal staff…"

On the second floor, the mage in purple looked around for her room. She held a bronze key in her hand with the number "10" on it.

"That girl…" Lute continued in her mind, "Lorian is more than she seems. Beneath her cheerful façade, there is another side to her. And of course, I will figure it out, because I am superior to her."

As if some outside force was toying with her destiny, Lute saw Lorian, smiling and humming to herself, unlocking the door to her room.

"You." Lorian looked to her side and saw Lute, small but serious, looking almost intimidating even though she seemed to most people like only a young girl in purple and blue mage robes.

"Weren't you from downstairs?" Lorian questioned the mage, but she was ignored.

"You're an archer." Lute talked like a detective cornering her main suspect. Lorian was surprised, but she still sounded cheerful.

"Hm? How can you tell?"

"You hide your bow and a quiver of arrows under your cloak. Those possessions confirm that you are indeed an archer," Lute concluded.

Lorian smiled as if she was playing a child's game. "You have good eyes, my friend." She quickly glanced at Lute's robe. "And I suppose you are a mage, with your two magic tomes and all."

Lute was surprised at the accuracy of Lorian's judgment, but she hid her surprise under an unmoving face.

"Why did you help Ewan earlier?" Lute had now gone from child's play to criminal interrogation. "You had nothing to gain from paying for his room."

Lorian's smile seemed to be stuck to her face. "So Ewan's his name? Ah, that's a good name for a good-looking guy like him." Lorian had taken her key from the doorknob and opened the door. A single lighted lamp was the source of light in her hotel room, which was probably the case for all the other rooms. Lute could spot a bed, a window, two chairs and a small round table, and a painting on the wall above the bed.

"Anyway," Lorian continued nonchalantly, "I figured an act of generosity wouldn't do me much harm."

None of this made sense for the inquisitive Lute. No ulterior motive? No advantage or compensation? And if she was as happy-go-lucky as she seemed, why was she carrying weapons? Better yet, why was she hiding her weapons?

"Now if you'll excuse me," Lorian walked inside her room and said, "Good night!" She shut the door before Lute could mutter another questioning word at her.

Ewan was unable to sleep peacefully on the first night of his journey. His room was comfortable enough; it had a comely appearance and was well-furnished to say the least. But nothing in there was able to calm his apprehensive soul. For what seemed like hours he looked toward his side at the open window. He saw the endless darkness, but saw many twinkling stars smiling back at him.

"When there is darkness, there shall be light."

Those were the words that the young man muttered before he drifted uneasily into the dream world. He immediately found himself in a familiar sight; he was in the mountains and several small homes were scattered around him. The summer sun blazed overhead, heating the normally cool mountain air immensely. Few trees could be seen in the village, and most of the ground was rocky with only small patches of grass strewn in the area.

"Caer Pelyn?" Ewan was amazed at what happened to him. Surely he could not be back home after only a mere day on his journey?

Taking a few steps forward, Ewan then heard something that bothered him greatly.

"Silence." Around him, no signs of human or animal life could be seen. A dead eerie had replaced the friendly atmosphere of the Caer Pelyn Ewan had known and loved.

"Ewan!" The trainee sage had looked behind him and saw the familiar faces of Artur and Lute running urgently toward him. Just then, the sunlight had died down, and a slow darkness began to take over.

"What's going on here!" Ewan asked frantically.

"This phenomenon is unnatural.," Lute explained, calculating the situation. "An outside force is either tampering with the sun or causing an illusion of dark fog."

Artur shivered as if chilled to the bone. "This darkness… It is evil. I have not sensed a dark like this since the monsters of the Demon King were still around."

Within a minute, the haunting darkness surrounded the three friends and his everything else from sight. The silence was broken, however, by some unseen person in the distance.

"Be gone!" Gasps and yells could be heard far away; the sounds of one person winning a battle, and the other person losing. Ewan recognized the voice immediately.

"Teacher!" Without thinking, Ewan took his Fire tome from his robes and grasped it tightly in his small hands. Immediately, he ran toward the source of the noise, hoping the best for his beloved teacher.

"Ewan! You must be careful!" Fearing the safety of his comrades, Artur brandished his white Physic staff and began to follow Ewan.

"Wait," Lute commanded. She tossed Artur her old, but still effective Shine tome. "We must make sure we are able to fight properly."

Artur nodded and the two of them, tomes in hand, ran off to join Ewan in confronting the evil that threatened all of them.

With a head start, Ewan was the first to find the great sage Saleh locked in a desperate battle with a lone figure.

"Ewan!" The usually impassive sage yelled to his only pupil, "Stay back!"

The red-haired mage froze in his tracks once he saw Saleh's assailer. Tall with dirty blonde hair, the man stood with two shining knives in his hand and a sadistic smile on his face.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance." After his words, the thief sprung toward Ewan, eyes glaring at the boy's petrified face. Ewan stood there frozen, his wide eyes staring into what he thought was his early demise.

"Divine!" The gray-robed sage held his hand out toward the thief and blasted him with a beam of holy light. The light had come from above and the immensity of it blinded everyone, including Artur and Lute, who had just arrived at the battle scene. Ewan used the time bought by Saleh's spell to run far from the thief and cast a spell of his own, and Artur and Lute both brandished their respective tomes as well.

"Thunder!" Lute called out, aiming her spell toward the spot where the beam of light had hit. An enormous bolt of yellow lightning had crashed down on the same spot that the light had fallen on. All was silent as the four allies stared intently at the spot where the spells had struck, hoping they had halted their enemy.

Not a figure stood there.

Before anyone could react, the thief sprinted toward Saleh and jumped, ready to strike him with one single, killing blow. With his heart burning with rage, Ewan had raised his hand above him and shouted, "FIRE!" With that single incantation, a flaming fireball flew and headed for the attacking thief. He screamed out in pain as the fireball burned his skin, and fell to the ground blackened in several places.

"Quick!" Ewan shouted to Artur and Saleh, "Dispel this evil darkness with your light magic!"

Artur and Saleh both took out their tomes and closed their eyes in concentration.

"Light, gather among us and save us…" Artur prayed, summoning the light from his tome.

"Divine powers, purge the land of evil incarnate!" Saleh recited, his Divine tome in hand. With the combined effort of the two magicians, a brilliant white light began to surround everyone. The holy sphere grew and grew until it encompassed the land as far as any of them could see. Ewan and Lute both stood steadfast, their eyes locked on the fallen thief in case he rose again to fulfill his evil mission. The light continued to sparkle and shine around them, and an explosion of white light immediately blinded everyone. The darkness continued to dissipate and the light had brought back the welcome sight of Caer Pelyn. Everyone remained where they stood before the explosion, but the thief had disappeared once again.

"Is he gone?" Ewan questioned his master, hoping the danger was finally over.

"Yes, I do not sense his evil presence anymore," Saleh reassured him. The learned sage looked around him and saw everyone relative unshaken.

"Nor do I," Artur added, "I believe that we have rid ourselves of the dark once and for all."

Lute shrugged as if the whole ordeal were something that barely challenged her. "It was expected that we would emerge victorious. After all, I was with all of you."

Ewan closed his eyes; he was tired and exhausted, unable to keep up with what had just happened. "I… I must…" And the young mage collapsed on the ground without warning.

"Ewan!"

And so Ewan continued to slumber through the warm summer night, though he spoke unconsciously of his own fears and worries.

"I must protect them. I must not fail…"