Chapter 14 – Battle of Tarbes Pt. 1

Hey guys, here is the first part of the Battle of Tarbes. The entire second half of this chapter is action. Hope you like it. And also, one of you readers left a comment about the types of ships that I used to describe the Armada and Navy. In response: I wholeheartedly agree. I do not know much about naval ships and such things. I will do some more research on the topic and will change it when I have more knowledge on the subject. I reasoned that Albion, who are more focused on their Navy than anyone else, will probably be more advanced in that field, hence the dreadnoughts. Just felt like I needed to explain my descriptions. Anyway, this chapter marks the beginning where I start to stray a little bit away from canon; the main events are going to stay the same though.

To all of you that gave me your ideas for OCs, I thank you. The winning character is Jacob the Forger. Congratulations! Also, his signature spell, the Forge, seriously reminded me of the Unlimited Blade Works from Fate/Stay Night, and so I gave him his own aria for the spell. For those of you who I did not chose: don't worry, they might show up later in the story.

Named Spells used in this chapter

Twister = Wind-Wind-Wind-Wind

Steel Golem = Earth-Earth-Earth-Earth

Earthly Skin = Earth-Earth-Earth

(Karin's) Sphere of Winds = Wind-Wind-Wind-Wind

Spike Storm = Earth-Earth-Earth

The Forge = Earth-Earth-Earth-Earth

Steel Will is not a spell, it is a skill

Holy Fortress = Void-Void

As always, read, comment, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon's Dogma or Familiar of Zero.

Tarbes

"Welcome back Rex Victoriae," Eclair saluted. Mikhail curtly nodded at her and then departed to his destination. Eclair watched her commander leave and then promptly went to fulfill her assignment.

She wondered around a bit and finally found her current charge. Louise was currently spewing obscenities about Mikhail while Kirche and Tabitha wer trying to calm her down. Eclair walked up to the trio and cleared her throat.

"Lady Louise, mine commander hath plac'd me in charge of thy safety. We art to move towards the Princess's location and hold out thither," Eclair informed.

"… And where is he right now?" Louise questioned with a hint of contempt in her voice. After things calmed down after their first encounters with each other, Louise and everybody else had learned that Mikhail used to be the woman's commander. That solidified their hunch that Mikhail used to be in the military. They had also discussed about her peculiar speech pattern and now knew that Mikhail was actually the odd one out in their home country. Both Mikhail and Eclair refused to discuss in details about their past though.

Eclair hid her oncoming scowl underneath a stoic facade before replying, "Mine commander hath depart'd to deal with the foe."

"The enemy's here already!?… And the Princess too!?" Louise yelled in surprise. Kirche also looked surprised as well while Tabitha did not react to the news. Before Eclair could reply, a soldier ran around shouting at people to get to battle positions. Eclair frowned a little bit and then walked up to Louise and pulled her towards the Princess.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Let me go!" Louise yelled. Unfortunately, the woman did not respond and only pulled Louise harder. "I said: let me GO!" With that, Louise pulled out her wand and was about to blast the woman when it suddenly disappeared from her grasp. The woman sighed and kept pulling Louise, the wand held in her other hand. Louise, frustrated at the turn of events so far during the day, pulled out her trump card: her original wand. Kirche gasped at the danger that she was in and leapt away. Tabitha also stopped following the duo and whistled for her dragon; Sylphid flew in and picked up her Master and Kirche before flying high into the air. Eclair noticed the reactions and felt the gathering magic behind her.

The female Pawn immediately pulled the girl close and jumped away. She scanned over the area and failed to see any danger. When she landed again, about 10 meters from her original position, Eclair looked at the girl that she had wrapped in her arms and noticed the hostile aura originating from her.

"Is thither a reason f'r thy hostility?"

"R-Release me you-"

Before Louise could complete her insult, the ground began shaking again. Louise clearly felt it this time, she was too busy being upset earlier.

"Look! It's the Albion Army! They're advancing!" Kirche yelled from atop Sylphid. Eclair clicked her tongue before running towards the last location that she saw the Princess; Louise was being carried like a sack of potatoes and screaming the entire way. The blue dragon was about to follow the female Pawn but her Master told her to stay.

"Hey, why aren't we following?" Kirche asked.

Tabitha pointed to the villagers running around and muttered, "Help."

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Princess Henrietta had just received word that the first half of the Tristanian Navy, with Prince Wales, was not faring so well against the Albion Armada. Even though the Tristanian Griffin Knights were also there to help out, they were slowly but surely losing to the opponent. Not only did Albion possess the better ships, they also had way more aerial units: the Albion Dragon Riders. Although the Griffin Knights were sturdier, the Dragon Riders were swifter and could easily outmaneuver them. With the air battle turning for the worse, Princess Henrietta scowled more and more. Chevalier Agnes had deployed most of the Musketeer Squadron into the village to prepare for battle and only had seven, including her self, to protect the Princess. As the ground shook, Henrietta looked towards the horizon and saw the enemy army advancing. The sheer size was enough to make her despair. With such an enormous gap between the two armies, the chances of winning this battle became slim if not impossible. It would take a miracle to turn this around, and unfortunately, Henrietta was not exactly a religious person. Fortunately, she had a plan.

She turned around to gaze at her men; most of them were either praying or looking around suspiciously. She couldn't let her army fall into despair now or else they would surely desert. Trying to think of something inspirational, she spoke.

"Men of the Tristanian Army! I speak to you today not as your Princess, your idol, nor your superior. I speak to you as one of your fellow Tristanian. I speak to you as a fellow soldier protecting our great nation. I know that the situation looks grim. I know that we are outnumbered at least 10 to 1. And I know that many of you are afraid because I am as well. Today will be the day that most of us will die. That is for certain. I understand if you want to leave and I cannot stop you. In fact, any who chooses to leave right now will be fully pardoned. I will not hold this against you. However, I you do choose to leave, know that you will only be weakening our defense here. When this village falls, who do you think will be next? The next battleground could be your village with your wives and children at stake. Know that Reconquista will show no mercy for any of us. They will use those who you hold dear against you and force you take your fellow countrymen's lives. After that, they will torture your loved ones slowly and painfully before they turn their blades against you. Is that truly what you wish to happen? Is that what you want for the future? If not, then stand your ground here and fight. Stand beside me today and fight for your family if not for your country. Fight for this village today so that you can prevent the deaths of others tomorrow. This is our only chance to stop them and we will stop them! They will learn to regret their foolish decision of invading us and they will be defeated!"

The men of the Tristanian Army roared as morale skyrocketed. Many were simple farmers conscripted to fight just a few hours ago, and now they were ready to march to Hell and back at a moment's notice.

"Aptly put Thy Majesty."

"Halt! Do not take any more steps forward or face the consequences!" Agnes barked. In the blink of an eye, all of the Musketeers in the vicinity had their firearms pointed at a woman in silver armor. The woman only responded by moving her hand a little bit closer to the sword at her hips. Agnes noticed the subtle movement and fired, causing the others to fire as well.

In response to round pieces of lead traveling towards them, the pink-haired girl fell to the floor covering her head while the woman drew her sword. As the sword was drawn, it emitted a bright light, effectively blinding the gun wielders. The woman then swung the sword around her. As the sword touched the flying pieces of lead, they were completely disintegrated. As the woman completed her spin, she sheathed her sword and stood stoically once more.

Agnes was stunned at what she had just caught sight of. She had been blinded but quickly recovered to see the armored woman somehow defend against 14 bullets with one continuous movement. After that, she had even put away her sword, as if to signify that she approached with no ill intent. Regardless, Agnes drew her sword and held it threateningly in front of her.

"Louise!" the Princess said while dismounting her unicorn. She then ran up to said girl and brought her back to a standing position. Louise was still shocked about being shot at but soon recovered when the Princess hugged her. "Louise, what are you doing here?" Henrietta inquired.

"Princess! Am I glad to see you. I was here on personal matters when the village was attacked," Louise explained.

"Oh thank the Founder, you're alright. Where is Mikhail? And who is this woman?"

"That idiot went somewhere and sent his wife to babysit me," Louise's disdain for her current situation was quite obvious.

"His wife?" The Princess then looked over at the woman who was surrounded by her bodyguards, who had their weapons drawn and pointed at her. The woman was staring at the Chevalier, as if she was daring them to make the first move, one that they would likely regret. Then she turned towards the Princess and looked her right in the eyes. The Princess had never felt so vulnerable and fearful ever before. Somehow, it felt as if the woman before her was an even bigger threat than the approaching army.

"Yeah. Her name's Eclair Fraegh Ritus Serolius. Apparently Mikhail was married before he came under my service," Louise introduced.

"Greetings Princess Henrietta. Mine commander hath order'd me to protect you and Lady Louise above all others," Eclair said. Agnes still held her sword at the woman and was trying to analyze her. Similar to Mikhail, the woman held a sense of military discipline about her. The only difference was that while Mikhail had the feeling of a confident commander, this woman gave off the feeling of an elite soldier.

Agnes felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see her Princess smiling at her, implying her to withdraw her weapon. As she did so, Agnes kept an eye on the armored woman; she still did not trust Mikhail and so this woman, said man's wife, was not exempt from her scrutiny as well. The Princess then approached the woman and was about to speak when a messenger ran up to deliver a letter. Agnes read the letter, which brought an annoyed look to her face. Henrietta noticed and took the letter to read it.

According to the letter, several glory-hungry nobles had already marched their men, even though the Princess had clearly told them to not make a move until she ordered it. The Princess then apologized to Eclair and left to reassert her control over the army. Louise followed her and Eclair proceeded after Louise.

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It took just about twenty minutes for the ground battle to begin. After Henrietta put some nobles back in line, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Armored Brigade of the Tristanian Army moved to form a line, four rows of a thousand each for every brigade, between the Albion Army and the Village of Tarbes. The 1st and 2nd Cavalry Squadron were positioned behind the Village in order to have them close by but remain relatively unseen. The 1st Tristain Magics Company were placed within the village itself to serve as a healing center. The 2nd through 6th Magics Company were directly behind the Armored Brigade to provide long range spell cover as well as to combat any enemy mages. Half of the conscripts were equipped with spears and formed a wall of spears in front of the village and behind the Magics Company. The other half were integrated into the 2nd through 7th Infantry Regiment, which flanked the Armored Brigade with three on each side. The 1st Infantry Regiment was guarding the evacuating villagers who stayed behind to prepare the village. The Musketeers Squadron was split into two and were positioned behind the left and right flank of the formation.

Tristain's trump card, the legendary Heavy Wind and the recently revived Manticore Knights, was placed within the village to await the right timing for deployment in order to break enemy morale. Princess Henrietta was currently pacing through the village to make sure everyone was in position.

She had developed a battle strategy that she knew would seize victory if properly performed despite the gap in numbers. She had spread the Army out just thin enough to allow the flanks to completely circle around and trap the approaching army inside without compromising their ability to defend. After the enemy is trapped within, the Manticore Knights will take to the air and bombard the inside while the ring of soldiers will slowly constrict the enemy, pushing them tighter and tighter together. The Magics Companies will defend the encirclement from any magical attacks while the Musketeers Squadron will defend it from any who was not trapped within. After the villagers have left, the 1st Infantry will move in to help defend as well. The Cavalry Squadrons will take care of the enemy cavalry with the help of the Heavy Wind before turning around to help defend, too. Hopefully, they will be able to defeat the enemy army before the Albion Armada can arrive. The second half of the Tristanian Navy will arrive shortly and reinforce the first half and buy time for the plan to succeed.

After that is the tricky part. The Armada will inevitably defeat the Tristanian Navy due their superior firepower and naval technology. However, by the time that the Navy has been defeated, the Germanian forces should have arrived and the combined forces of Tristain and Germania will be able to repel the Armada. Ultimately, the fate of Tristain is going to be decided by how fast Germania is.

Finally, the time for battle has arrived. The enemy mages have started to fire volleys of spells; the Magics Company were doing everything in their power to defend the formation. Despite the flying spells, the Albion Army kept marching forward. Several enemy golems had already arrived and were being cut down as fast as possible while ally golems were also deployed to weaken the enemy. The spell battle resulted in a stalemate and now it came down to melee combat. The Albion Army charged as they got within a hundred meters of the defensive formation.

Shouts of commands were given and horns blared with orders.

50 meters. A deathly silence fell within the ranks of the Armored Brigades. They knew that many will not survive this initial charge.

40 meters. Final prayers were whispered and the men positioned themselves.

30 meters. The shaking ground grew in intensity. The men planted their lances into the ground, tips pointed at the enemy, and were committed to the defense.

20 meters. The incoming army raised their weapons, ready to breakthrough the defensive line.

10 meters. The men looked at their enemies in the eyes to see fear, confusion, and determination. The Tristanian Brigadier General inhaled. "BRACE!"

Impact. Immediately, the first row of men crumbled under the sheer weight of incoming men. The long lances did their jobs at holding against the enemy, but many snapped due to the huge numbers. The second row had an incremental increased rate of success at holding back the still-charging army. Soon enough, the second row was also broken. The third row was finally able to stop the charge. The conscripts charged forward, past the Magics Companies and reinforced the line. Horns thundered across the plains, signaling the second phase of the plan.

The formation moved, beginning to encircle the enemy and constricting them. The Musketeers Squadron on both sides fired shots repeatedly into the enemy army, incurring zero misses due to the close proximity and the dense crowd. Waves upon waves of men fell to the muskets while the infantry fought desperately to make the strategy a success. It was slow and gruesome, but the enemy slowly began to withdraw into themselves, making the innermost individuals unable to fight while the long lances of the Tristanian Infantry killed many of them.

The enemy commander saw what was happening and easily comprehended the simple, yet ingenious design of the plan. He knew that with the smaller number of rows, the men had to hold or else everything will fail. The magic units also had to defend against any spells that could break the formation as well. And that was the weak link. The commander then sent in his cavalry to charge the magic units.

Horns blew, signifying the approaching enemy cavalry. Princess Henrietta gave the Cavalry Squadron their confirmation and they departed to engage. Unfortunately, the enemy had more troops than at first estimated and she had to deploy the Manticore Knights early to engage the enemy cavalry as well. The Princess moved into the village to try and find the Heavy Wind, who was currently scolding her daughter.

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Eclair watched as one of the strongest person she had ever met glared icily at her own daughter. The female Pawn had expected to hear the mother screaming at the daughter, but all that had happened so far was a glare from mother to daughter. Louise had visibly wilted after she tried to hide behind Eclair. If looks could kill, the young Valliere would have vaporized instantaneously. Suddenly, she felt the ground tremble. The ground was always trembling due to the nearby battle, but this one seemed to be of a different origin. The Heavy Wind felt it as well and began to search for the source. Both Eclair and the older Valliere jumped away, with Eclair taking Louise with her, as fast as possible right before a steel hand erupted from the ground and slammed into the spot they were just standing on. The steel hand then grew and formed into a ten meter tall Steel Golem.

Eclair was surprised and slightly annoyed at the sight of the Steel Golem; surprised at how fast it formed, and annoyed at how hard it was to take down one with just a sword. The older Valliere immediately fired off consecutive Triangle-class wind spells at the construct. The spell, while not doing any damage physically, were able to stagger the golem. Eclair drew Ascalon and charged. She swung the sword at it, not really expecting to do any damage except maybe denting it. And so it came to her as a surprise when she felt no resistance as the sword simply flew into its left leg and out the other side, completely severing the appendage. The Steel Golem fell onto the ground due to the lose of its leg; Eclair stared at the sword held in her hands. Apparently, Ascalon is much more powerful now and yet it feels the same.

Before she could inspect the holy sword any further, the Steel Golem was back on its feet and threw a punch towards her. A wind spell managed to divert the oncoming attack and Eclair was able to safely regroup with Valliere and Louise. The other mages within the village began attacking the golem to no effect. The steel construct rampaged around but was ground to pieces by a Square-class Wind spell.

"Twister," Valliere muttered. Sparks flew as the spell impacted the golem and grinded it away. For some reason, the golem began to crack and break apart. When the Wind spell was extinguished, the golem continued to decay. Metal spikes suddenly erupted from the crumbling golem and injured or killed many of the surrounding mages. Eclair was able to swat away any of the projectiles heading in her or Louise's direction while the older Valliere encased herself in a wind dome similar to Tabitha's but significantly stronger.

From the crumbled remains of the golem, a man in a blue robe over a suit of armor emerged. He had gray hair and blue eyes. Despite the armor, it was clear that he was more muscled than the average soldier. The man walked towards Eclair and Valliere before slightly bowing to them.

"Greetings miladies. My name is Jacob Goffe. It is unfortunate but I must request that you leave. I have no business with you, only with Princess Henrietta. Do you perhaps know where she is?" he said.

The Heavy Wind quickly released a spell towards the man. In response, the man formed an earthen wall before him to block but was surprised to see the wall completely shatter when the wind spell impacted. Goffe quickly rolled out of the way and had to reevaluate his opponents.

The woman with the glowing sword seemed to be the most dangerous at close range, mostly due to how the sword had cut through his Steel Golem like clay. The taller of the two pink-haired ladies was extremely dangerous. Her spells, even the basic ones, seemed to be lethal. The other one was still an unknown but was clearly an important person to have these two to defend her.

'Perhaps I could use her as a hostage,' he thought. 'No. That's dishonorable. Why did I even think of that as an option?'

The man stood up and then waved his wand, "Earthly Skin." The spell caused the man to be encased in a layer of earthen armor. He ran forward with his sword, ready to attack. Eclair charged forward to meet the man with a thrust. The man saw the abnormally fast attack coming and refocused his magic to strengthen the area of impact. The glowing sword managed to penetrate six inches into the constantly shifting armor before being stuck.

Eclair tried to pull back the sword, but the armor held it firmly. Normally Ascalon would have easily gutted the man, but because of his repairing armor that seemed to be almost alive, the sword met much more resistance than she expected. The moment the sword touched the armor, several layers of paper-thin earth, each with the durability of ten inches of steel, moved to intercept it.

The man then grabbed Eclair's wrist and held tight, preventing her from withdrawing her arm. The man then brought down his sword to sever her arm at the elbow where there wasn't any armor but watched as his sword broke upon impact with the woman's uncovered joint.

"Steel Will," the woman proclaimed. The sword had cut through her sleeve and bit into her arm a little bit, but it was only enough to draw a trickle of blood. The man withheld his shock before being blown away by a wind spell. As he hit the ground, it shattered under his weight. Ascalon was thrown off his armor when the spell had hit; Eclair quickly picked it up and charged at the downed man. Several metal spikes flew out of the dust cloud that formed from his impact, causing the female Pawn to defend and stopping her advance.

The Heavy Wind unleashed several spells at the hidden man to no avail. The man had dug underground and disappeared. She immediately casted Sphere of Winds that encompassed a 20 meter radius sphere around her. The spell prevented anything inside of it from escaping and stretched on for 20 meters in all directions from the caster. Anything that touched its wall would be cut apart.

Goffe stopped dead in his tracks. The Sphere of Winds prevented him from escaping for at least 30 minutes. While he was confident in his skills, he wasn't crazy. He knew he had no chance against the female mage. He had deduced that she was the infamous Heavy Wind.

'What can I do? I can stay hidden here and wait it out. No, she'll simply make the sphere smaller and force me out. Confront? Very high chance of death. Hostage? Never. Steel Golem? Didn't work the first time. Earth armor? Too slow. …That one spell? That one spell.' With that, Goffe made up his mind.

He was forced to keep moving when a drill made of wind pierced close by. He emerged onto the surface to see a glowing sword coming for his head. He ducked under it to meet a knee to the face, causing him to stumble back. Another thrust flew towards him and he tried to dodge it. The sword clipped him on the chest, destroying his armor in the process. He leapt backwards only to sense several wind spells coming at him. He started chanting.

"The fire roars, the hammer pounds, the water squeals.

Metal is shaped, giving life. Metal is wielded, giving death."

Five swords appear out of thin air to intercept the wind spells.

"The people grieve, the blacksmith protest.

Turned towards the domestic, away from the battle."

Goffe lands 10 meters away and scorching heat erupts from his body. Eclair charges forward to attack. The man pulls a spear from nowhere to defend, forcing the swordswoman to defend against a sword's natural enemy. Several wind spells fly towards him but are again destroyed by swords. Ascalon cuts through the shaft of the spear only to find itself facing against yet another spear.

"And yet there is no difference.

Blood is spilled, hopes are crushed."

Weapons of all kinds start to rain down upon Eclair, forcing her to make a steady retreat. Goffe closes his eyes and focuses on his spell. Valliere's spells continue to be intercepted by the weapons. Frustrated, she unleashes a stronger spell that destroys all of the weapons. However, more simply appear right away.

"Determined, broken, hopeful, despaired.

The blacksmith weeps but accepts in the end."

The created weapons fight for dominance against the dome of winds. For every one that is destroyed, two more take its place.

"There is only one truth:

Metal is shaped, given life to deliver death."

Valliere is shocked when she sees that her Sphere of Winds is forcefully destroyed. The created weapons now completely block the entire sky, with no signs of stopping any time soon as they continue to rain down upon the two.

"The fire roars, the hammer pounds, the water squeals

from within The Forge."

The falling weapons finally stop, but the weapons remain. A metallic scent fills the air. Jacob exhales and opens his eyes. What was once light blue eyes were now deep red. With a silent command, all of the weapons in the sky vanish. Louise, who was outside of the dome of wind the entire time, takes a step forward. Suddenly, a claymore slams down right in front of her, causing her to fall on her bottom. The Heavy Wind narrows her eyes at the man and sent a spell flying. As soon as the spell exited the wand, it is destroyed by three spears erupting from the ground.

Eclair performs the same technique that she used on Tabitha and Kirche a day earlier, Piercing Air, and shatters five shields that materialized to take the attack. Goffe raises his right hand and materializes ten cannons before him. He swings his hand down, "Fire."

Eclair sprints towards Louise and then shields the girl with her body.

The older Valliere shouts, "Shield of-"

Before the spell could be completed, five heavily armored people fall from the sky and lands in front of the three of them.

"""""Holy Fortress!"""""

AN: Here are some extra information about the battle

Battlefield Information (In-story information possessed by Henrietta)

Tristanian Army: 39,100

-Armored Brigades: 4,000 each

-Infantry Regiment: 2,000 each

-Cavalry Squadron: 500 each

-Magics Company: 250 each

-Musketeers Squadron: 500

-Conscripts: 10,000

-Manticore Knights: 100

Expected Germanian Reinforcements: 50,000

Albion Army: 211,000