Disclaimer: I don't own FE and whatever. The technique X-Strike is owned by Square or whatever they're called now.
Thanks for those that keep on reviewing.
THE TACTICIANS' WISH
Eliwood's and Hector's tale Chapter 9: The Dread Isle
The room...no, the place was more like a dimensional hole. There sat the remaining divine dragons. Their leader, a large, grey scaled dragon with lighter grey belly scales looked tiredly at his companions, and suspiciously at the yellow scaled one. Bahamut was tired; Idoun's recent death didn't help at all. Alexander had left to collect her soul recently.
A large gate appeared in the middle of the area; and a large old silver dragon walked out, Alexander. On his left claw there was a black ring which held the soul of the black divine dragon. He then walked and took his seat in this place. Not long after, another gate popped out, but this time, the dragons were surprised. Alveen slowly rose out of the gate.
"What do you want, scum..." the red divine dragon, Salamandra, spat at his descendant, but weakly; this realm weakened the powers of the dragon drastically.
"Now, now, great lord of fire, that's no way to treat a guest," Alveen said mockingly.
"What do you want?" Salamandra repeated.
"Something simple. Just your cooperation in this matter. Do you remember, o divine dragons, the swords that were created with your blessings?" Alveen asked, looking around at the remaining divine dragons. "They have all been awakened by their humans, and this means that the final step of my plan is soon going to be unleashed upon the human world."
"We won't let you..." Leviathan said weakly. She was also heavily weakened; more so than Salamandra because she was one of the weaker dragons. Bahamut, Salamandra, and Tiamat are the most powerful three, in that order.
"What can ANY of YOU do? You're all weak. Nowhere near the state of your prime. Your time here has assured that. I could get my army here and they would wipe you out easily," Alveen snapped at her. "So why don't you just give me your cooperation? This will make things so much easier..."
"I accept," Tiamat said quickly. He certainly didn't want to die now. Alveen grinned evilly.
"I hope the rest of you will be as smart as that one," Alveen said, and left, closing the dimensional hole behind him.
"What have you done?" Salamandra asked the yellow dragon angrily.
"Fool. I just saved our lives. In our current state, there is no way we could take on his army. It would be best if we listen to him," Tiamat replied.
"...Coward," Salamandra spat.
"...He may be right, however. But, I have a plan to save both humankind and dragonkind from Alveen's mad scheme," Bahamut said.
"Why would you want to save humankind? The world is rightly ours," Tiamat spat.
Bahamut ignored him, and continued on. "Our time is nearly up; remember that our prison here has taken away from us the gift of immortality. I suggest that we sacrifice ourselves, so that our efforts and Idoun's death will not have been in vain. Alexander, seek your black dragon descendant, who has recently left for the human world to look for the half-dragon children. Bring Idoun's soul with you; I suspect both the Einharjar and Etherion are in the same place; if not, then look for the Einharjar's wielder after you have found the wielder of the Etherion. The rest of us will search the world for our corresponding swords and sacrifice ourselves to give our power to their owners. We must make haste."
After that, the dragons walked through the portal, to leave for the human world. Tiamat left last, but he instead went to the world of dragons; to Alveen's home, to be exact.
Dragon world:
"He's there again, Idoun. Make sure you get him this time. Why did you not enter the spring the last time?" Alveen asked the young clone.
"I...I...I'm sorry, father, I don't know what came over me," Idoun apologized. The last time she went, she just sat there hidden in the bush, looking at Rodrak, not moving, until he left. And then she returned empty-handed. So at her father's command, she left out to redo her mission.
Human world:
"So where to now, milady?" Elena asked Karla after they walked out of the arena.
"For the...something-th time, I'm Karla now. I...want to look for my brothers," Karla replied.
"Oh...right...which ones?"
"All three of them, but I think we should start with Karel, since he most likely hasn't crossed paths with my other foster brother and Hiro. And the Sword Demon's trail would be the easiest to follow, as well."
"Wait...HE'S THE SWORD DEMON? THE GUY THAT KILLED A THOUSAND KNIGHTS IN A SINGLE BATTLE BY HIMSELF!"
"That's him."
"But...but...he's psycho!"
"You don't have to come if you don't want to..."
"Oh...fine, I don't think I can have this on my conscience if I let you look for your psychotic brother only to get killed by him..."
Nergal's Lair:
"Shame on you, Marquess Pherae. You freed THE REMAINING 3!" Nergal asked the red-haired noble in rage; after Kuro escaped, Elbert freed Nils, Ninian, AND Serene.
"I will not let you move unopposed!" Elbert snapped.
"Wh-What shall we do, Lord Nergal? With both siblings gone, we can no longer hold the ceremony..." Darin said nervously.
"How many times must I tell you, Lord Darin? You are being used by this man! By helping him bring dragons back into this world, you are helping him destroy mankind! Do you understand?" Elbert asked the general angrily.
"Pah...ha ha ha... Destroy mankind? Dragons may have been a threat to mankind in ages past, but with Lord Nergal's power, we've got nothing to fear! Lord Nergal can control dragons! Ha ha...ha ha ha..." Darin laughed nervously.
"Lord Darin... You're already lost..." Elbert shook his head sadly.
"I'd planned to start a war in Lycia. The war I was plotting in Lycia would've generated a glorious amount of quintessence in one blow. You were not equal to the task, it seems. Not to worry. I've other means at hand," Nergal said.
"Black hearted fiends! Guuuh!" Elbert yelped and clutched his stomach in pain.
"Hold your tongue. There is still a task you must perform for me. Ephidel! Limstella! My beloved morphs, my beauteous works of art. I've new jobs for you, my pets. First Limstella. You will go to Bern and contact Sonia. I want you to arrange a meeting with the king," Nergal instructed. Limstella nodded and teleported out of the lair. "Ephidel, take this... man, Marquess Laus, and go. I want you to exterminate the mice who've landed on the island." Ephidel nodded and teleported with Darin. "That leaves you, Marquess Pherae. It seems your legacy is one of endurance," Nergal commented.
"What do you mean?"
"...The mouse who interfered with my conquest of Lycia is named Eliwood. Should he be congratulated on making it this far?" Nergal asked maliciously.
"Eliwood? My son is here? Stop! Do with me what you will, but let my son be!" Elbert pleaded.
"Hm? Heh...Hehahahaha! Remember the siblings and the girl you freed? The girls are here, too. As a matter of fact, they're with your son, Eliwood. Quite a delicious twist of fate, wouldn't you say?" Nergal laughed maniacally.
"... This can't be..."
"Eliwood will die in these woods. The girls will be returned to me, and the ceremony will take place. Hm... Despite those long hours of torture, you remain undaunted. Such courage will make you the perfect sacrifice, Marquess Pherae," Nergal congratulated Elbert.
"Eliwood... Turn back... Take the girl and flee... ...Please..." Elbert pleaded, hoping that somehow, his words will reach his son's ears.
Leila watched the whole thing, and started walking out of the lair. 'I can't believe it's come to this. I must inform Lord Hector of these events... If I hurry, I may be in time... What?' Leila turned around, as she heard someone move behind her.
"Leila... Where are you going?" Ephidel appeared from out of the shadows.
"Lord Ephidel... The sentries... I'm going to check on..." Leila lied nervously.
"You overheard, did you not? ...And I had such hopes for you. Jaffar!" Ephidel called, and a red-haired assassin in black and grey robes appeared from behind him. "The punishment for traitors is death." As he said this, Jaffar disappeared. A few moments of silence; and after that, Leila's body fell motionlessly to the ground.
"Aa...Ma...Matthew..." these were the thief's last words before her eyes closed for the last time.
"...Impressive, Jaffar. Your power is beyond compare," Ephidel congratulated the assassin, who stayed silent. "Take this woman's corpse and leave it in the forest. Let it serve as a warning to those fools."
Beach of Dread Isle:
"We've arrived," Fargus told Eliwood, who has recovered from his little dilemma.
"Thank you very much," Eliwood offered his hand, and the big berserker shook it.
"We'll wait two weeks. Finish up by then."
"That's more than enough time!" Hector said cockily.
"And I've got a half-wit sailor who wants to go sightseeing. C'mere, Dart!" Fargus called the young pirate with the white bandana and striped light blue and white shirt.
"I'm here, Captain! Ready to serve!" Dart greeted the group.
"We're pleased to have you," Eliwood bowed.
"His only redeeming feature is his sturdiness. Maybe he'll come in handy," Fargus told Eliwood.
"Come on, Captain! I'm better'n that!"
"You've done so much. I can't thank you enough..." Eliwood bowed again.
"Come back alive! That's all the thanks I need," Fargus just laughed.
"All right. Farewell! We'll be back before you know it!" Eliwood waved goodbye as he walked down the ramp to join the rest of the group.
"...There are good people, even among pirates," Lyn commented.
"I don't think the old man and his group are your average pirates," Hector said. Then he looked towards the large looming forest in front of him. "Somewhere within that forest is the Dragon's Gate. Eliwood! No matter what it takes, we're coming back with your father!"
"...We'll surely find him. We'll all do our best to make it so," Lyn assured him.
"You're right. Let's make preparations to enter the forest," Hector said, and walked back to the tacticians to plan their search.
"Let's get through these woods. It's starting to get foggy... Try not to get separated," Mark said, walking quickly with the rest of the group.
" 'Enter and be lost.' It feels like we're not coming back," Hector commented.
"Hector! Are you trying to curse us?" Lyn smacked him.
"Are you well, Serene?" Eliwood asked the girl. She nodded silently.
"Ah!" suddenly, Ninian and Serene yelped in surprise.
"...Someone's here!" Eliwood readied his rapier. He saw a woman's figure leaning against a tree.
"Who? A sentry? Leila! Is that you? Impressive work, finding your way here!" Hector walked up to her to congratulate her.
"... Something's wrong, Leila? Lei...!" Eliwood held his friend back.
"...She's...she's dead..." Lyn told the rest of the group.
"...This can't be. She was one of our best spies, Leila..."
"WHAT? LEILA? WHERE IS SHE! WHAT'S WRONG!" Matthew rushed to the front of the group, pushing everyone out of his path. He stopped in his tracks, dumbstruck at the sight of the corpse of his lover. He slowly walked up to her, and kneeled beside her body, which fell to the ground as he walked closer, making the thief jump back. And he cried, as he held her in his arms.
"...I'm sorry, Matthew," Hector said awkwardly, putting his large hand on the thief's shoulder, trying to comfort him.
"...Why do you apologize, my lord? Leila blundered. ...That's all," Matthew tried to hold back the rest of his tears.
"Matthew... Leila was...She was..."
"After his mission, I was going to ask here to put this life behind her... Waited too long, didn't I? Ha... ...My lord, might I... rejoin you later? She has to be buried..." Matthew stood up, carrying Leila's limp body in his arms.
"...Of course."
"Ah... I'll go with you..." Lyn offered.
"...Let them be alone. There's nothing else we can do..." Eliwood held his hand out to stop her.
"Blast! They put her out here for us to find like this!" Hector punched the tree where Leila's body was set upon.
"Unforgivable! This is... a foul deed. Beyond foul," Lyn spat.
"Let's go. The foe is somewhere in this forest. We must stop this before any more die!" Hector said, clenching his fists.
"...Look...man...I'm sorry," Guy said, trying to comfort his friend.
"...No...Leila...we...we were close, you know?" Matthew said sadly, as he started digging Leila's grave. "And...and she doesn't even get a funeral...she deserves so much better..." Matthew continued to dig with tears sliding down his cheeks.
"Ah! ...Beware! Something comes!" Ninian warned the group as she entered a trance.
"What? Kyaa!" Lyn yelped as a ranger rode out from the forest and grabbed her. He then held a sword to her throat.
"Uhai!" Lucifer called to the ranger.
"If you value her life, send the girls to me," Uhai held his sword steadily.
Ninian hid behind Kuro and Serene hid behind Eliwood. The two lords readied their weapons.
"You, you're Sacaen!" Lyn looked around to see the features of her captor.
"That's correct... I am Uhai of the Black Fang. I've been sent to capture the girls... And to kill the lot of you. If, however... you hand over the girls and depart the island at once, I'll grant you your lives," Uhai told the group.
"...Since when have you started using hostages?" Lucifer clenched his fists.
"And if we refuse?" Lyn asked him.
"You know nothing, little lord. Nothing of Nergal's might. Nothing of his terrible power. You are ignorant, and so you hope to oppose him. You are insects railing against the heavens. Your actions will change nothing. Speak no more foolishness and begone!"
"... Maybe we don't know what it is we're fighting... But if we flee, our loss is assured. So we will continue to struggle, and we may yet prevail!" Eliwood roared.
"Folly," Uhai shook his head, and he released his grab on Lyn. "Holding a woman hostage during battle is shameful. You, too, are of Sacae, and I've a mind to show you mercy. I will let you die with a sword in yourd hands. But rest assured... I will kill you all here. But be of good cheer! In dying, you shall all be spared the calamity that is to come!"
"Uhai...what happened to you...?" Lucifer clenched his fists even tighter.
"You knew him?" Lyn asked the mercenary.
"Yes, but now's not the time to explain. Knowing Uhai, he probably already has his men surrounding us," Lucifer commented. "This is bad."
"...Hmph! Fog! You should take thieves with you... and torches will make things easier, too. I sense the foe has a strange item... watch you possessions closely...Take the orchid-haired sky rider... There is someone she should meet," Hannah said in her trance.
"There's one problem. Matthew's...incapacitated right now," Hilda said.
"We'll just have to make do without him. Let's do this," Mark told her.
"You're Hiro, right? I'm Dart, leader of Fargus's suicide squad! The captain's ordered me to follow your commands. So, who do you want me to take care of?" the young pirate from before greeted the tactician.
"...Suicide Squad?" Hiro cocked his eyebrows. Dart nodded and grinned. "...No comment... Be prepared for battle."
"Brother!" Rebecca ran up to the pirate and hugged him. "PLEASE REMEMBER US!"
"I TOLD YOU I'M NOT YOUR BROTHER, DAMMIT!" Dart shook her off angrily. "This is like, the hundredth time, you ran up to me, hugged me, saying that I'm Dan or whoever. I'M NOT DAN, THE NAME'S DART!" he roared, and calmed himself. "Ahem...yeah. It's Dart."
"Well...uh...fine then. My name is Rebecca. I wanted to apologize for earlier...You just look so much like my brother who ran away from home..."
"Don't worry about it."
"I suppose so... But I'm still sorry."
"I said it's fine. ...Urp. Oog... The beast in my belly is growling again..." Dart's stomach rumbled VERY loudly, getting some notice from Wil and the others.
"Oh! Here. Have this! It's a special lunch I make. Fresh fruit, roasted fowl, herbed bread, and..." Rebecca never finished as Dart took it out of her hand and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Uhh, all right, then. So now we're even? Is that fair?"
"Sure!"
Somewhere else near on the beach, a blue armored Pegasus knight with long flowing aquamarine hair flew into the forest. From her place in the sky, she saw the groups' battle in the forest. "I found them... These men are Black Fang... Look, everyone. Your sacrifices were not in vain. I'll fulfill our duty, even if I must do it myself. I am a true knight of Ilia!" She flew at a faster pace to join the fray.
"There's a Pegasus knight coming from the north!" Kyo told the rest of the fliers. "What do we do, Mark?"
"...Wait, that's my sister!" Florina exclaimed.
"That's...that's Fiora. She's Florina's oldest sister," Fiaa told the wyvern rider.
"She didn't notice the archers there, did she?" Odin asked them.
"Archers...? Oh, crap. We have to warn her!" Kyo, Fiaa, and Florina, with Wil riding on Huey, flew towards the coming Pegasus knight at maddening speed. Odin kicked his mount to follow them. Mark rode on Odin's horse along with the cavalier.
Hector just finished off an enemy knight, but was getting pushed back and was starting to get overwhelmed by an onslaught of attacks coming from 3 mercenaries. "...Damn!" he cursed. Then, one of them just fell to the ground dead, and surprised the other two. Hector took this chance to strike one down as the last one fell dead...and revealed Matthew behind him.
"I'm back, milord," Matthew greeted Hector.
"Matthew! Are you sure? You don't have to..."
"What are you talking about? Look at this eerie place, this thick fog... This is exactly why you brought me with you."
"Yet..."
"If Leila... If Leila knew I was shirking my duties, she would never have forgiven me. I'm fine. I will work twice as hard for Ostia in her honor."
"I understand... I'm counting on you!" Hector then walked off to rejoin the fray.
"As well you should, my lord!" Matthew said, and looked at the sky. "Tell me, Leila... This is what you'd want, right? You wouldn't want me to give up. I'll mourn for you when our batle is won. I must fulfill my duty. So rest... I promise I will take care of everything."
"I see you're back with us," Guy walked up to his friend, along with Rebecca, Dart, and Kain. "...We'll help you too, as your friends. Don't need to use up a favor for this."
"...thanks, man," Matthew said, nodding his head. "Let's kick some ass. It'll be good stress relief..." Unfortunately for him, a group of 3 nomad troopers and 4 snipers surrounded them. "Well...crap. Well, if we're going to die here, we might as well go down fighting."
"Oh, I don't plan on dying yet," Guy smirked. "Let's do this. X-STRIKE! (Square please don't sue me)" Guy's sword started to burn up with fire, and Matthew's sword was gathering wind energy. Both disappeared in a flash of light respective to their affinities; but left a trail of energy behind them as they sliced through a nomad trooper, shredding him into tiny bite-sized pieces. The trail, obviously, looked like an X.
"Arrow Shower!" Rebecca aimed her bow up high and rained down arrows upon their enemies, stunning them for the moment. Dart threw a hand axe and Kain a Javelin, taking out 2 snipers. "Guy! I think I see the fliers getting attacked by archers! We need to help them!"
"Can I trust you to beat these ones on your own?" Guy asked Matt.
"Do you like Rebecca?"
"...I hate you," Guy said, frowning, as he chased after the archer.
Matthew disappeared into the shadows, with Dart and Kain following behind him, confusing the bow-users. Matthew slit the throat of another sniper, and Dart sliced another one, while Kain impaled one from behind, leaving only 2 nomad troopers left. Matthew hid in the shadows again. Dart twirled his axe around to block the arrows one of them was shooting at him. Kain stuck his lance into the ground while running, pulled on it, and lifted himself into the air while bringing the weapon up with him. He righted himself in the air, and threw the lance down on the unsuspecting nomad trooper, who was aiming at the soldier, and disarmed the bow-user. Matthew reappeared from the shadows and slit his throat.
"It's an ambush!" Kyo noticed too late, as he saw more snipers and archers coming out of the woods. "CRAP!"
"FIORA! DIVE! DIVE!" Fiaa called to the Pegasus knight flying towards them.
"...Is that Fiaa?...Dive?...EEEK!" Fiora screamed as she saw a hailstorm of arrows flying towards her. She dipped, dived, and did whirls in the air to dodge the arrows, but a few managed to clip her pegasus's wings. "Damn! CALLY!" she screamed as she fell. Odin noticed her fall.
"Damn!" Odin cursed, and quickened his mount's gallop. He electrified his sword to cut the trees in his way, and charged forward. As he gained speed, his whole body and his sword became engulfed in a magnetic aura, pushing away everything in his path. This resulted in many trees flying out of his way as he rushed to save the falling Pegasus knight. As he came into the clearing, he blasted through the rank of archers, and the magnetic aura repelled any arrows coming towards him, as he broke through and trampled the enemy archers. "RAH!" he yelled, swinging his sword hard, while pulling his horse to a stop, sending the magnetic aura forward and shaping it like a bed to stop Fiora's fall. Seeing that the Pegasus knight is safe, he turned around to face a bigger problem: a whole battalion of archers and snipers all aiming at him. "Oh...shit!" he cursed, and put up a magnetic barrier to repel the archers' arrows. However, he had to move back so that none of them would hit Fiora behind him.
"...Thank you for saving me..." Fiora said quietly to Odin as she tended to Cally's wings. Florina and Wil descended, as Wil sniped the enemy while in the air as they flew down to Fiora's location.
"Sister!" Florina got off her Pegasus to hug her sister.
"Florina! What are you doing here?" Fiora asked her younger sister.
"I'm working here for Lady Lyndis. Why are you here?"
"...I'm here to avenge my comrades. They have fallen to these men; all of them."
"Then come with us; we could use your help!"
"Thank you, but Cally's not in any shape to do battle right now..."
"Hold on, maybe these will work..." Wil said, walking up to the sisters with a bottle of colorless liquid. As Fiora was about to say something, Florina held her and Wil started applying the liquid on Cally's wings. The arrows fell off, the blood and wounds were gone, and the feathers were shining. "This medicine never fails," he commented. "However, don't have her fly yet. She'll need to recover; so she can only run."
"...You guys done yet?" Odin asked them.
"I guess so," Wil told him. "I'll set up a distraction; you 3 escape." Odin nodded, and led Fiora and Florina.
"Flash Bolt!" Wil shot an arrow high in the sky, and it exploded in a loud bang and covered the whole area with bright light, blinding the archers. He then sprinted to catch up with Odin and the others.
Meanwhile, Fiaa and Kyo were taking the archers out while flying low as the bow-users were distracted by the light.
"It seems that they're all right now..." Guy commented.
"You're right. Let's go back to...EEK!" Rebecca yelped and jumped back to see that there were 3 heroes behind them with their swords and axes out. One of them threw a hand axe at Rebecca, but she turned around just in time to dodge it. "We're gonna die..."
"GAH!" Guy yelled in pain, as he parried a blow from one of the heroes, but another hero went to his side and struck his side. He rolled away and clutched his bleeding side. "That hurt..." The two heroes kept on attacking the myrmidon at the same time in a fury; Guy had no chance to fight back. Rebecca was having a hard time dodging the blows of the last hero; she couldn't get far enough to be able to aim and fire her bow. Eventually, Guy regrouped with Rebecca, but Guy was now covered in blood and slash wounds, and Rebecca was bleeding at the mouth from a kick to her gut.
"Guy?"
"...Yeah?"
"...I should have told you earlier...but...ARGH!" Rebecca was hit by a hero's killing edge while she dashed backwards on her thigh. "At least...if I die here...I'll die...with you..."
"NO! I'M NOT GOING TO GO DOWN SO EASILY! UGH!" Guy was sent flying back as a hero tackled him with his shield. "I swore to be the best swordsman in all of Sacae, and I'm not going to lose to some two-bit nobodies!" Guy's hand went into his pocket, and he snatched out the Orion's Bolt Matt gave him earlier. "Rebecca! Use this!" Guy called to her, and tossed her the badge. Then he took out the Hero Crest Matt gave him earlier. 'I owe you big time for this, man,' he thought. "HERO CREST!"
"ORION'S BOLT!"
However, before the lightning bolt could strike, the heroes with swords impaled both Guy and Rebecca in the gut. The two fell down, but then the lightning bolt struck, pushing away the heroes.
'...Did I...die...?' Guy thought, as he saw his life flash before his eyes. Rebecca was thinking and doing the same thing. In the giant flashback, however, one thing stood out for Guy; Rebecca was standing in front of him; apparently they were in some giant spherical theatre showing their entire lives. '...Rebecca?' Guy tried to say her name, but ended up only thinking it. He then realized; this is what Eliwood and Serene experienced a few days before. 'So what's the test?' he thought. Then, in front of him, Rebecca split into 5 different copies of herself, and all began talking at once. '...I had to ask.'
'So...I just have to figure out who the real one is?' Rebecca thought, seeing the 5 Guys in front of her, all talking to her at once.
'Um...hmm...' Guy thought hard; the Rebeccas talking made it very hard for him to concentrate, until he heard one of them say; "Next time you want to look at the night sky, please take me with you?" Guy walked up to that one, and touched it. Then everything went black.
Rebecca had the same problem Guy did until one of the Guys said; "I'm going to be the best swordsman in all of Sacae, and I'll do it for you." Rebecca walked up to that one, and touched it.
The lightning bolts subsided; and in their place, a swordmaster and a sniper stood tall, brandishing their new weapons. Guy's shirt was replaced by a looser light blue Sacaean jacket, unbuttoned in the middle, and went down to cover most of his legs, and it was tied at his waist. His pants became a darker light blue. He readied his Killing Edge in one hand and his new Silver Sword in the other. Rebecca had her hair unbraided and didn't have her bandana on anymore. She wore heavier sniper armor, and her boots are now higher, but her skirt became shorter, as well as a lighter shade of brown. She readied her new Silver Bow.
"DIE!" one of the heroes yelled, as he threw his hand tomahawk at Guy. Guy disappeared. The axe then disintegrated, and Guy reappeared behind the hero. The hero started choking blood, and died as many sword wounds appeared on his chest. Another hero attacked, but was parried by the two swords. He slammed his shield into Guy, who recovered by doing a back flip in midair. As soon as he landed, he disappeared again, and reappeared in front of the hero, with his swords in the hero's gut. Rebecca parried a sword strike from the other hero with her metal bow, and kicked him...hard...where it hurts. The hero reeled backwards in pain, and Rebecca took out an arrow from her quiver and stuck it in his head.
"...Uhai," Lucifer said quietly as he came face to face with the nomad trooper. "Why are you doing this? This isn't like you."
"You should know why," Uhai replied.
"...Sonia's orders. Am I right?"
"You are correct. Now, do not expect me to hold back because we were former comrades," Uhai told Lucifer, and readied a killing edge. "I am the Soaring Hawk! Come!"
"Your funeral!" Lucifer yelled back as he unsheathed his Etherion. Uhai galloped towards the mercenary, and swung his killing edge at Lucifer's head. Lucifer held up his sword just in time to block it, but the momentum of the strike made him fly backwards. He rolled on his back to stand back up quickly, and turned around to face his opponent again. He ran around Uhai's horse to strike its flank with his sword, but Uhai parried the blow, making him lose his balance. Uhai struck again, but Lucifer ducked under the blow, and swung his sword upwards, hitting the horse's side, and making a huge cut. Uhai tried to hit Lucifer again, but the mercenary rolled under his horse. Lucifer stood up quickly, and unsheathed an iron sword. He then took his second sword to stab the horse in the heart, making it leap uncontrollably, and finally falling in a heap, kicking Uhai off.
"Not bad," Uhai commented, and readied his Killer Bow, and shot. Lucifer repelled the arrow with his sword. Uhai kept on shooting to keep Lucifer away from him; the mercenary couldn't get close enough to strike Uhai down.
"Before I kill you, tell me one thing," Lucifer said, as he repelled more of Uhai's arrows. "Is...Limstella still there; does she still work for Sonia?"
"The girl is rarely seen around here anymore. Most say she's by Nergal's side most of the time now," Uhai told him. "And what makes you think you can defeat me?"
"This," Lucifer smirked, and took out something from his pocket. After he parried another arrow, he threw it right in front of Uhai. "ACTIVATE LIGHT RUNE!" he yelled as Uhai shot another arrow. However, the wall the light rune created just made it bounce back towards Uhai, and impaled his foot into the ground, making the nomad trooper wince in pain. Now that Uhai is incapacitated, Lucifer charged his sword with dark energy. "FALLING STAR!" he yelled, and his sword trembled like crazy. It lifted itself up, bringing the mercenary up with it. Above Uhai, Lucifer swung the Etherion down hard.
"BOOOOOM!" a loud explosion could be heard from where Lucifer was.
"What was that?" Mark asked Hilda. "...Was that Uhai?"
"I think Lucifer got him..." Hilda remarked.
"Guuu... Well...done... You are... stronger... stronger than I expected. Out of respect... ...a final gift from me... From here, go south...Turn at the rotted tree. Head... west. There lies the path to the...Dragon's Gate... Unnh..." Uhai told the mercenary with his dying breath, as he too soon lost his life.
"...Uhai...thanks...damn that bitch Sonia," Lucifer said angrily, and walked back to join the group.
"I guess that's all of them..." Erk panted; he was exhausted. It was hard work protecting both Priscilla and Serra at the same time. "Let's go back to camp," he said, and leaned on Priscilla's horse.
"Walk with me Erky, please?" Serra didn't wait for a reply as she pulled Erk away from the horse to lean on her instead.
"It's all right, you can sit on the horse too," Priscilla pulled Erk back to her horse, and the human tug-o-war round two has started.
Erk looked at Raven with a look that pretty much meant SOS. Raven laughed at his predicament, and gave Erk a look that said 'You should be happy that this is happening to you,' and laughed.
"Shall we get a move on, then, while the sky is still bright?" Hiro asked Eliwood as the group finished gathering.
"...Yes. Let us move on," Eliwood agreed, and led the group onwards according to Uhai's directions. "But...Uhai...can we trust him?"
"Uhai is a man of Sacae. He would not lie," Hiro told the lord. "At least, I hope not..."
Ostia:
"Villa," Jonah called from his new office in the arena. "How is our project doing?"
"...Not good at all, Jonah. She is staying as far away from the group as she can. However, there's one good thing; she has found someone else with a sacred sword, and is currently traveling towards Ostia," the assassin told him from the shadows.
"Hmm...This is both good and bad. We must rid ourselves of Hiro as quickly as possible, but...Well then, I leave the myrmidon's death to you," Jonah said. "Go back to the Dread Isle and finish him."
"Yes sir," Villa replied, as he was teleported back to Valor. "...Am I doing the right thing, mother...?" he said quietly as he arrived, knowing full well that dead people can't reply. The Black Fang had killed her, but they recruited him after seeing his potential. He wanted revenge. He wanted to become the best in the Fang, take over the whole organization, and kill the people that killed his mother. But this plan seems impossible now that Sonia is here. "...Damn it."
Valor again:
"This way..." a red haired mage wearing a red cloak ran through the hallways with a swordsmaster and a sniper behind her. Soon, they escaped the castle, and found that it was windy outside. Her long hair flowed against the wind as they ran against it. "Damn. It's too windy; we'll just tire ourselves out if we go on...Ayla, what's wrong?"
"...I thought I heard people. Coming from the northeast..." the sniper replied. "...I feel...weird...It's like someone we know is in that group of people."
"Your feelings are usually right; let's go check it out," the swordsmaster suggested. "Cierra, will you come with us? You don't have to, you know; you've helped us a lot more than we did you."
"Of course I'm coming. I can't survive on my own out here..." the mage replied. "Yuan, Ayla, let's go." And with that, they left to meet the Eliwood's Elite, although unknowingly.
Dragon World:
"...Why have you come here, lord of lightning?" Alveen asked the great yellow dragon.
"I want to make a compromise," Tiamat smiled. Tiamat told Alveen of Bahamut's plan.
"This could prove disastrous...but it wouldn't matter much. The power of the divine dragons has dwindled significantly over the centuries. I doubt this would be any threat to me," Alveen said calmly.
"That is, only if Jonah's little experiment succeeds in killing the main link first," Tiamat told him. "And by the looks of it, it's not working very well, as my sources tell me."
"Hmm...And what do you suggest?"
"Restore my power; or at least some of it; I will take care of the humans. I want to feel strong again," Tiamat told Alveen. "I want the world to be ours; that world that should have been ours..."
"Ask and ye shall receive," Alveen said, grinning wickedly.
End Eliwood's and Hector's tales chapter 19
Please R&R!