This chapter is brought to you by Lady Gaga, and a metric shitload of the fastest flamenco music I could find. Hope you're all ready for a wild ride!
Chapter 34: The Sled Incident
Tensions in the empty house we're hiding in run high. Lon'qu is watching restlessly out the window, peering through a gap in the curtains. Vaike is pacing nervously further back, rushing back and forth in front of the fireplace. I sit at the table with Gregor and Nowi, flipping idly through my spellbook, staring at the few pages I've managed to fill. Nowi leans over to watch on occasion, kicking her feet idly, but her expression is pensive. Only Gregor seems unbothered, leaning casually back in his chair as we wait for news.
A light knock comes at the door and Lon'qu hurriedly opens it to let Gaius in. "Bad news, everyone." He says gravely as he lowers his hood and dusts himself off. "That lady wasn't kidding. The outskirts of town are crawling with Grimleal now. I can't take two steps without running into one of the cloaked bastards. We're caught in a net, no mistake."
"Damn." I sigh. "I thought this was going too smoothly."
"So what now?" Vaike asks, pausing in her pacing to look over at us worriedly. "Can we just wait and sneak out when it gets dark? It's not too long until sunset, right?"
"Dark doesn't do us enough good if we don't have any cover." I shake my head. "The Grimleal is full of spell casters, remember? If they spot us making our escape we'll be sitting ducks for them to fling dark magic at."
"I don't suppose you know of any good routes out of town that could give us some cover?" Gaius looks to Gregor hopefully. "A drainage ditch or something?"
"If Gregor knew of such a thing, Gregor would have been heading for the hills long ago!" The mercenary scoffs, staring thoughtfully up at the ceiling.
We bounce ideas off each other for a while longer, but fail to come up with anything useful. Finally, Gregor, still lounging in his seat, makes a comment beyond shutting one of us down. "Perhaps we should be asking Grimleal how to be leaving."
I stare flatly at him for a moment, about to ask him what the fuck he's talking about, when I notice the sly gleam in his eye. The connection is made a moment later. "Lon'qu, remember what you were saying earlier? About transportation?"
"I remember. Did you think of something?" Lon'qu looks over at me in interest.
"How do you suppose the Grimleal got here?" I ask with a smirk.
"Ha!" Gregor claps his hands excitedly. "Now you are with the proper thinking! Come, come! Gregor has idea."
The path Gregor takes us on is a winding one. He seems to know easily where the Grimleal will have their people waiting, and the best way for us to avoid them. No hopping over walls this time thankfully; I doubt any of us want to take the risk I can safely pull that maneuver off again.
Finally, as houses give way to marketplaces and the oasis at the center of town is nearly in sight, Gregor climbs a ladder onto a rooftop. It takes him only a moment of peering over the edge of the roof before he deems the coast to be clear, and waves us hurriedly up. The roof is encircled by a short wall, and covered with boxes. Some sort of storage space, I guess.
We still have to keep our heads down, too many Grimleal keeping lookout from other rooftops, but Gregor's chosen position grants us a proper vantage point over the bulk of the Grimleal forces, and the center of town as a whole.
It isn't a pretty sight.
"Cripes!" Gaius hisses through his teeth, "They must have the whole town held up down there!"
The villagers are apparently not flourishing under Grimleal control. They've been assembled in the town center, seemingly forced to stand at attention while the Grimleal take their time scouring every inch of the place. The empty houses and streets suddenly make a great deal of sense.
"Gregor, how long has this been going on." I ask, watching as many in the crowd sway drunkenly in the heat.
"Several hours now, by Gregor's reckoning." The reply comes calmly, though I note that the warmth has left Gregor's eyes as he watches the mass of innocent people forced to stand in the blazing heat.
"What the hell?" Vaike snarls, barely able to restrain himself at the sight. "We've gotta do something! If this keeps up they're gonna die!"
"And we're going to do something." I reply, looking around the square. "We're going to get the hell out of here." Vaike whirls around at me angrily, but I cut him off. "Use your head, Vaike. We don't stand the slightest fucking chance of taking these guys on. We need the Shepherds, hell, probably the Feroxi Army if we're going to fight so many Grimleal."
"They can't wait that long!" Vaike protests, looking back to the civilians desperately.
"Then we make a scene while leaving."
The rest of us turn to Lon'qu, who stares out across the square resolutely. "Our chances of leaving quietly were already slim. If we draw their eyes to us, there is a good chance the villagers will find a chance to retreat indoors and recover."
"Gregor likes how you Shepherds are thinking." Gregor nods approvingly. "Now then, see near Oasis? That is being our way out of this place."
I follow his gaze and pause. The Grimleal seem to use a sort of cross between a wagon and a sled for traversing the sand, which is not what I expected, but certainly handy. What's really surprising to me though, is what they have pulling the damn things. They're large, plated creatures, roughly the size of wolves, with narrow bodies that gleam an off-white color in the sun. "Are those… lizards?"
"Oh, I know about those!" Nowi chimes in eagerly. "The Plegians call them axle dragons, because they get around by curling up and rolling around like wagon wheels! Grimleal use those crazy harnesses to hook them up to their sleds so they can get around the desert really fast!"
I stare blankly at her, an awed smile creeping across my face. "That is… just ludicrously cool."
"I know, right? They're a ton of fun, though they aren't much for conversation." Nowi then leans in, cupping a hand to her mouth and saying in a hushed voice, "Between you and me I don't think they're very smart."
"Hmm. I'll be sure not to mention that around them," I reply bemusedly, "We wouldn't want to hurt their feelings, after all."
"Right!" Nowi grins, oblivious to the bewildered looks Gaius, Lon'qu, and Vaike are giving her. Gregor just gives me a knowing wink when I meet his eyes. He's the only one other than me who knows what Nowi really is, and seems to have realized that I have an idea as well. I had considered leading the conversation in such a direction earlier, but decided against it. If anyone asks I'll just say I read about it. Honestly the whole 'steer conversations so I don't have to act oblivious' thing is getting really fucking annoying.
"Okay, so I think our best bet is to take a sled out of town as soon as possible." Gaius says, shrugging his confusion away. "I doubt any of us have what it takes to steer a high speed chase down these roads. Unless you've got some experience with these things, Gramps?"
"Gramps? Oi, Gregor is not being that old!" Gregor replies indignantly.
"Alright, my bad, I'll keep workshopping." Gaius sighs, looking rather put out. Guess he was fond of that one. "Seriously though, you know how to steer these things?"
"Gregor has never been driving one of these sleds before." He shakes his head, still looking somewhat annoyed.
"Let's have Lon'qu drive then." I shrug.
"What? Why me?" Lon'qu looks over with a frown.
"If none of us have any experience, then you're our best choice. We're going to be chased once we get moving, and you're the only one of us without a ranged option. I have spells, Vaike has his throwing axes, Gaius has knives, and… actually do you have something to hit from a distance Gregor?"
Gregor claps a hand to a pouch on his belt confidently. "Do not be worrying! This old merc is having many surprises."
"Well there you go, then." I shrug to Lon'qu. "I don't think your sword skills will be as useful in a situation like this. If they are, then it would mean we've already fucked up."
Lon'qu nods. "Sound logic. I'll do my best, then."
"Let's hurry." Vaike nods, creeping back to the ladder. "Sooner we go, the sooner we can get some reprieve for those folks down there."
The rest of us nod, and move to follow. Though as we start moving, I see a rather contemplative expression on Nowi's face. "Everything alright there?" I ask curiously.
"Hmm… maybe?" Nowi says uncertainly. "I guess I'm just worried things won't go to plan. Those Grimleal are really creepy. And dangerous."
"Don't worry about it." I shrug. "We've dealt with Grimleal before. And as far as plans go… well they never seem to work out when I'm involved. But I'm still standing here well enough. We'll get through this."
She nods, looking a bit cheerier. "Okay. I trust you guys. And if things go badly, I'll make sure to protect all of you!"
"We'll be counting on you." I reply seriously.
Though I still hold on to hope that we won't need a dragon's help to get out of this situation.
It's been a long, painstaking process getting within reach of the sleds. The trek involved creeping through a lot of empty houses, narrowly avoiding multiple Grimleal pursuers, and not one but two terrifying runs across empty streets as we desperately hoped the Grimleal wouldn't spot us.
But now, the better part of an hour later, we're in sight of our goal. A massive cluster of sleds left on one end of the town square, on the opposite side of the oasis from where the civilians are being kept. Apparently it took quite a lot of transport to bring enough Grimleal to take over the town; there have to be dozens of the damn things, and they're hardly small vehicles.
"Alright, we want the closest sled to the main road that's facing the right direction." I say quietly, scanning the abandoned vehicles that have been scattered haphazardly around the town center. "Let Lon'qu have some time to adjust before we have to start making tight turns."
"That would be best." Lon'qu replies tersely, apparently still unsure about the idea of being the one to drive.
"Over there." Gaius slaps my arm to get my attention and points. "That one on the far side is in the best position for us to ride out in a hurry."
"Naturally." I grumble. "Alright Gaius, you take the lead on this one."
Thankfully, once we reach the sleds themselves we're relatively safe. They're built about chest high, so we only have to duck our heads a little to stay in cover. Hell, Nowi doesn't have to duck at all. And the axle dragons, though still attached to the sleds, seem entirely content to ignore us.
The axle dragons grumble a bit as Gaius hops into the back of the sled, but otherwise remain calm. "What's this canvas for, you suppose?" He asks, looking at the thick layer of fabric on the sled's floor.
"Some sort of canopy to keep the heat off, I'm guessing." I reply, hauling myself up. "Leave it down, we don't want to be riding blind here."
"Can we bundle it up at least? I don't want to get tangled up when everything gets crazy." Vaike complains, staring at the fabric dubiously.
"…Actually that's probably a good idea." I begrudgingly admit. "Leave it near the front, if we get clear early enough we might want it."
Unfortunately properly removing the canopy from its holdings proves to be more trouble than its worth. After a minute or two of struggle Gaius and Vaike lose their patience and just start cutting it free, despite my protests. We still keep it, mostly because I'm feeling stubborn about the idea, and leave it in a pile on the sled which is promptly taken over by Nowi, who lounges on it like a sofa.
"Ready to go, Lon'qu?" I ask, looking to the driver's seat.
"This controls nothing like a carriage." Lon'qu grumbles, staring at a strange lever system attached to the axle dragons. "I have no clue where to begin."
"They gotta curl up before we can move anywhere." Nowi points out helpfully.
"Obviously!" Lon'qu snaps irritably, leaning away from Nowi's gesturing arms. "But I don't know which of these damned levers I should pull to make them do so!"
I'm starting to think this whole plan may be leaning rather heavily on the side of stupid. Five Shepherds all sitting around trying to figure out how a sled works, with Grimleal swarming around the square. Seriously, what the fuck were we thinking?
…
Five Shepherds.
"Hold the fuck on! Where the fucking fuck is Gregor!?" I snap in frustration, looking around anxiously.
"Who said that? Who goes there!?" A voice calls out from my left.
My palm slams into my face at top speed even as Vaike and Gaius tackle me to the floor of the wagon.
"Did they see us?" Vaike asks worriedly, pressing my head down with, in my opinion, far more force than necessary.
"You there! Get your hands in the air!"
"Nope." Gaius says quietly with a grimace. "Just Lon'qu, apparently."
Ah yes. The back of the sled has short walls to hide behind, but the driver's seat does not. Lon'qu is completely exposed.
"You know, I was hoping we could wait until we had started moving before getting the attention of the fucking Grimleal."
"Ah well," Gaius says, getting to his feet. "You know what they say…" He throws a knife off the side of the wagon. A gurgling cry can be heard a moment later, as Gaius looks down at me and shrugs. "No plan survives contact with the enemy."
"No plan at all, huh?" I muse, shrugging Vaike's arm aside. "I was starting to think it was just my own bad luck causing it."
"No plan survives contact with the Benemy!" Nowi exclaims cheerfully, causing Vaike to burst into laughter.
Gaius snorts, but puts what I'm starting to recognize as his 'business face' on as more Grimleal start shouting. "Right. You guys need to figure out the controls for this sled in a hurry. I'm going to take a quick look around for Gregor. If they start shooting at you all before either or both of us are back, just haul ass out of here. I'll just hide myself when things kick off."
He dives over the side of the sled and vanishes in an instant, and I immediately move up to sit next to Lon'qu. "Alright, how many levers are we dealing with here?"
Lon'qu makes a frustrated gesture in front of him. "Too many!"
I look the setup over. There's nearly a dozen levers. None of them are labelled. "What fucking moron designed this thing!?" I cry in disbelief.
"Would you stop yelling already!?" Vaike snaps from behind me.
"Vaike, maybe you haven't noticed, but the Grimleal are already coming!" I gesture to the hooded figures approaching across the square. "We've been very thoroughly noticed! It doesn't matter if I yell anymore!"
"And whose fault it that!?" He accuses.
"I am not dealing with this right now!" I yell. Situation's bad enough without having to lose an argument to Vaike of all people. I'd much rather focus on figuring out how-
An arrow suddenly thuds into the seat between Lon'qu and I, causing all four of us remaining in the cart to leap nearly a foot into the air. "Holy shit!" I exclaim in shock. In a snap decision I reach for the biggest lever I can find and give it a sharp pull.
The other end hits one of the lizards on the left, which snaps irritably back at me.
Nothing else happens.
"I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING!" I exclaim in panic, ducking as another arrow flies by.
"That is not helping, Ben!" Lon'qu yells in answer, looking nearly as frantic as I'm feeling. The archer trying to stop us fires another arrow as Lon'qu is berating me, and he swats the offending projectile out of the air with his sword without looking.
"Is it okay if I drive then?" a voice cuts in during a brief lull in our argument.
All eyes turn to Nowi.
"…You can drive one of these things?" I ask incredulously.
"I think so." Nowi says, looking over the levers. "It's a little different from what I remember, but the fundamentals should be the same."
"Well why the fuck didn't you say something!?" I explode with frustration.
"Nobody asked me!" Nowi protests indignantly. "And I figured since you were all so serious about saving me I should give you a proper chance before stepping in."
My hand slams into my forehead yet again. She's totally right. We only asked Gregor if he could drive the sleds, not Nowi. "God damn it!" I groan. "Alright then Nowi, you have my blessing to get up here and save our hopeless asses!"
"Yay!" Nowi exclaims, clambering towards the driver's seat.
"No! Get back!" Lon'qu practically shrieks in panic. "Away with you, woman!"
"Lon'qu, this is not the time for that!" Vaike snarls, grabbing the swordsman by the shoulders and physically hauling him into the back of the sled.
"Alright!" Nowi says, looking the levers over with a grin. "Most complicated part of driving this thing is poking the lizards so they curl up properly, so I never learned that part."
"Wait, doesn't that mean we're still fucked?" I gape in horror.
"It's fine, I've got my own system." Nowi's grin turns feral as she cracks her knuckles loudly. "You guys probably want to cover your ears for this part." She starts to take a deep breath.
I clap my hands to my ears just as Vaike and Lon'qu look over in confusion. "Cover our ears for what?" I see Vaike ask, as Lon'qu starts moving to copy me.
Unfortunately neither of them manage to react properly before Nowi roars. Not a cute little girl fake roar either. She goes full dragon. It damn near deafens me even with my ears covered, and is powerful enough to knock Vaike and Lon'qu flat on their asses. The axle dragons are scared shitless by it, and curl up immediately out of fear. Even the Grimleal pause for a moment, shocked into stunned silence.
I take my hands from my ears, head still ringing a little. There's a brief moment of blissful peace in the aftermath of Nowi's yell, as everyone in the town square seems to be processing what just happened.
Then everyone explodes into action at once. The handful of Grimleal heading our way are suddenly joined by every other one of them in the square, at least a dozen hooded bastards all running for us at once. The villagers take this as their cue to flee, and promptly run screaming from the unseen monster roaring in the town square now that nobody's keeping them there. Lon'qu and Vaike start drunkenly stumbling around in the back of the sled, trying to recover from Nowi basically deafening them.
And as Nowi starts prodding the sled into motion, Gregor vaults over the side in one smooth motion, grinning broadly at us. "Is it time to be making a disturbance already?"
"Goddamn it Gregor, where the hell did you go?" I snap back at him, probably louder than necessary since I'm only a little less deaf than Lon'qu and Vaike at the moment.
"Gregor decided to help little rolling lizards while you were getting ready." Gregor replies, completely shameless despite my irritation with him. He gestures back in the direction we came from, and I see at least a dozen axle dragons rolling away, eager to escape the dragon lady making a racket in the middle of town. "Gregor figured that things would go much smoother if these Grimleal are having less sleds to chase Gregor and friends!"
Palm, meet forehead. Oh what's that, you say you're already acquainted? Then you simply must take the time to catch up, I insist!
"That's a brilliant idea, Gregor. Really." I groan, rubbing at the increasingly sore spot on my head. "But since you didn't tell any of us beforehand, Gaius left to try to look for you!"
Gregor's smile drops in a hurry. "Oi! You are being right! Gregor has made terrible blunder! Now we are having to- GET DOWN!"
Gregor dives towards me, and I find myself thrown to the floor of the sled yet again. Just in time too, because a black orb of dark magic flies past where our heads would have been mere seconds later.
"Shit!" I snarl, scrambling back up. "Okay, that settles it. Nowi, you need to get us out of here, and you need to do it yesterday!"
"Okay!" Nowi's head nods so fast she practically seems to vibrate. Her hands start flying across the levers, and the axle dragons on our sled lurch into motion.
"But thief boy!" Gregor protests, looking behind us worriedly. "Gregor cannot be letting us with the leaving him behind because of mistake made by Gregor!"
"He's far less of a sitting duck than we are at the moment!" I reply heatedly, looking over to the Grimleal, who are either preparing more spells or practically on top of us already. "Nowi, we are way past out of time, you gotta speed this thing up in a hurry!"
"Working on it!"
Gregor grimaces, conceding the point, even as Lon'qu and Vaike catch on to what's happening and make their misgivings known. Up front I can see Nowi frowning deeply, clearly no more comfortable than we are. Were it not for her earlier promise to keep us safe she'd probably be hunting Gaius down herself right now.
It's fine though. Gaius is perfectly capable. One of the most capable Shepherds we have. Not like he's going to get himself… killed…
I suddenly find myself remembering the first real conversation I ever had with Severa.
"The first was Gaius, during the first war in Plegia…"
"GAIUS, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!" I bellow, panicking as I remember my daughter's recounting of the other timeline. We're already well off of the course that would have led to his death, but I suddenly find that my mind can't focus on anything else.
Gaius dies first. Gaius dies first. Gaius dies first.
The sled gets even faster. The Grimleal grow closer. Nowi is tugging at levers even as she glances over her shoulder for any sign of the thief.
"GAIUS!" I yell a second time.
"Cool it with the shouting, Chuckles! I'm coming already!" A voice calls faintly over the din.
Gaius emerges from the mess of sleds at the same time as we do, but on the opposite end. It looks like while he was looking for Gregor he wandered all the way back to the alley we first emerged from.
"Over there!" I point, probably unnecessarily. "Can we go pick him up?"
"Not without cornering ourselves!" Nowi replies. "The best I can do is meet him at the road over there!"
I make a big show of pointing in the direction she mentions and Gaius smoothly changes course to try and intercept us, sprinting as fast as he can manage. He's going to have to run like he's never run before if we're going to get him. The Grimleal are still too close for comfort, so Nowi has no choice but to continue accelerating.
Several of the Grimleal have noticed Gaius as well, and I see a group of them hot on his heels as he moves for the sled. "Covering fire." I mutter, grabbing my spellbook from my belt. I slap Vaike as I flick through pages and point in Gaius' direction. "We need to cover him!"
"I can't hear a damn thing you're saying!" Vaike yells back.
Gregor stands next to me in the wagon. A sudden whistling sound echoes in my ears. When I look up I see Gregor whirling a sling above his head. "Gregor will be covering for thief boy."
The stone howls like a banshee through the air as it leaves Gregor's sling, striking one of the Grimleal as fast as any arrow I've ever seen. The crack it makes as it smashes into the hooded man's head seems like it echoes nearly as much as Nowi's roar did, and the unfortunate bastard slumps to the ground on the spot, likely killed on impact.
"Ben should be dealing with spells now." Gregor says, guiding my head in the appropriate direction with one hand as he fishes another stone out of his pouch. "Gregor is professional, can handle a few Grimleal."
"Right…" I reply, mouth still gaping. I see one of the dark mages readying a spell and throw a weak thunder spell his way to disrupt him. Another echoing crack from behind me tells me the old mercenary is putting his experience to good use.
I'm still not sure if it's going to be enough though. We accelerate faster and faster, but more Grimleal are pouring into the square in pursuit of us by the second. I throw out spell after spell, but everywhere I look there's another caster preparing to blast us all to smithereens. And for every cart Gregor sabotaged, there's a good three or four still operational, many of which are already moving to pursue us.
We have kicked a fucking hornet's nest with this one. This is almost laughably extreme.
And for some reason my brain just started playing Americano by Lady Gaga in my head.
Good energy. I approve.
My foot starts tapping a beat on the floor and I accelerate my casting to match, throwing spell after spell into the pursuing mob. As I continue to drive them back, Gaius approaches out of the corner of my eye. The last of the Grimleal pursuing him falls to another sling stone from Gregor, and he moves to my side immediately to start hurling stones into the crowd chasing us.
"You're really fucking good with that thing!" I comment as Gregor shoots down another hooded figure.
"Gregor has much practise! Gregor is preferring sling to other ranged weapons. Is good for budget. Rocks are being much cheaper than arrows!" He gives me a cheeky grin as he reloads the sling.
"Well you're certainly getting your money's worth." I reply, leaning off the back of the sled as Gaius closes in.
"Gregor is always sure to do this with all things. Money, booze, weapons, Gregor always makes most of. Good life lesson for Ben, yes?"
"Absolutely." I grin, before reaching out to grab Gaius' hand, the thief finally getting within reach. "Come on you crazy bastard, let's get you on board!"
Gaius is exhausted, but has a triumphant look on his face as I haul him up to the edge of the sled. "Don't mind if I-" He pales suddenly. "Look out above you!"
I whirl around in shock to see what Gaius is panicking over. Looks like Nowi's steered us too close to the buildings, because one of the Grimleal just threw himself off of a rooftop to attack us. The lunatic is screaming like… well, a lunatic, brandishing a knife as he falls from the fucking sky. Gregor leans back in the sled, narrowly avoiding the flailing maniac even as he leans dangerously far over the edge of the sled. As he wobbles though, he retaliates. The Grimleal has barely landed in the sled before Gregor's whirling sling smashes the stupid fucker in the eye.
I'm still struggling to pull Gaius into the now racing sled, so I can't do anything but watch as the Grimleal is sent staggering towards the others. Thankfully, while Vaike and Lon'qu may still be somewhat deaf, they're far from defenseless. Vaike doesn't so much as blink as the lunatic falls towards him, pausing in the middle of throwing an axe at one of our other pursuers to slug the dizzy attacker in the face. He's sent flying right back towards us, arm flailing about with the knife, and Gregor leans to the side almost casually, watching as the Grimleal hits the edge of the sled, drops his knife and tumbles over right next to me.
What Gregor failed to account for, however, is the fact that Gaius is still dangling off the back of this thing. So when this flailing lunatic falls off the back of the wagon, there's still ample handholds. "Chuckles!" Gaius yelps in a panic as the Grimleal starts dangling off of him. "A little help hee-aaaahh!" His head suddenly twists to the side as the hitchhiker grabs him by the corner of his mouth and tugs, his mouth stretched by the desperately scrabbling hands of the crazy cultist.
My mind races through options, but since the crazy guy is hanging off of Gaius' back I can't really do much with my sword that doesn't run a serious risk of hurting Gaius in the process. Same goes for my spells; the only spell I can cast that isn't likely to kill him is the damn temperature control spell.
Oh, hold the fuck on.
I cast the temperature spell. And Gaius shows that he continues to be a fucking heat sponge, especially after all the running he just did. His body practically explodes with vented heat, and the Grimleal roof-jumper is suddenly very interested in not touching Gaius anymore. He throws himself away from the sled screaming, hands suddenly looking very blistered.
I toss the spellbook aside and haul Gaius into the sled. He sits up, leans off the side, spits to get the taste of Grimleal fingers out of his mouth, and then flops down next to me. "Next time I'm staying with the sled." He mutters. "I don't care if it's Prince Chrom himself who goes missing, I'm not going through that again."
"That was ridiculous!" I agree, getting back up to start casting spells again. "Seriously, jumping off a rooftop like that. Who the fuck even does something like that?"
"Didn't you jump off a roof one time?" Vaike asks. "I coulda sworn Lissa said something about that."
"The Princess is a lying mischief maker!" I declare, retrieving my book.
Vaike opens his mouth to protest, then thinks on it a moment longer. "Actually that's kinda true, huh? So you didn't jump off a roof in Southtown?"
"No, that happened." I say, flipping through the book to some of the newer spells Miriel has been teaching me. "Unlike that amateur though, I killed the guy I landed on." I pointedly ignore the look Vaike and Gaius are giving me, focusing on my book instead. A nice El-fire perhaps?
"Is true, was very sloppy." Gregor sighs, shaking his head. "Noble art of roof-diving is being polluted by bad jumpers!"
"If you're all finished?" Lon'qu snaps, "We're about to crash and die here!"
I look ahead. The Grimleal are pouring onto the street near the exit of town, and seem to be crafting a barricade. "Huh, that could be bad." I muse. I look down at the freshly summoned fireball I'm holding. "Guess I know where this guy's going, then!"
The barricade is promptly blown the fuck up, sending several slower Grimleal flying, and Nowi steers us straight through the gap left in the wreckage. The sides of the sled scrape against smashed wood, and I see a cloaked person rolling frantically on the ground to put out the fire on their robes.
"Okay, that was satisfying." I grin, calling on another fireball. "Guys, I think I'm starting to see the appeal to this whole 'pyromania' thing!"
"Yes!" Nowi crows from the driver's seat! "A kindred spirit! Do it, Ben! Burn them all!"
I turn back to regard the sleds chasing us down the street. My grin becomes feral. "As the lady wishes!"
The Grimleal burn nicely. Must be the robes.
"Uhh, Chuckles?" Gaius asks nervously, looking up at me with bulging eyes. "You're, uhh, you're doing that thing."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Yeah, that! Cripes you freak me out sometimes!"
"Is good thing, thief-boy. Sense of humor on battlefield essential!" Gregor grins, clapping me on the back hard enough to jar me out of my laughing fit.
"I'm just taking the time to appreciate my handiwork!" I say, gesturing to the burning wreckage. "They're going to have a hell of a time chasing us through all that! Heheheheh…"
"Please don't start again!" Gaius begs. "I don't know if I can- CRIVENS!" He ducks as an arrow whizzes past his ear. "Aww shit, they're closing in on us!"
"Well, we can't have that, can we?" I whirl around, eyeing the cloaked figures starting to pop up along the rooftops on either side of the main road. "Nowi, how long until we're out of the fucking streets?"
"Like, thirty seconds?" Nowi muses. "It kinda depends on whether they blow us all up or not!"
"Can this thing go any faster?"
"Not if you want to keep blowing things up in the back!"
I muse on this for only a second. "I demand the best of both worlds! Gaius, hold my legs steady! Nowi, accelerate!"
Nowi starts cranking levers eagerly. "If you say so! Never been the responsible one in my life, so I'm not gonna start now! Let's do something stupid and dangerous! YEAH!"
It's at this point that my brain kinda switches off, and I just start going through the motions without thinking about them. I start to go through a sort of dissociation with myself, an out of body experience. Suddenly I'm not watching the rooftops for casters, or staring down the road at the rapidly growing exit to town. Instead it's like I'm floating in the air above the sled, watching as Nowi pushes the contraption harder, drives the axle dragons to increase the pace.
I can see Grimleal racing across the rooftops, converging on the road. I see Gregor whirling his sling, easily keeping his balance on his own even as Gaius struggles to keep me from flying out of the sled. And as the sled flies forward, I watch as I start casting.
If Miriel saw what I was doing she would lock me up with her theory books on proper spellcasting form for the better part of the next year. My motions are barely identifiable as the proper steps for casting an elthunder spell, mostly because of how fucking fast I'm going through them. To the untrained eye, it must look like a whole lot of ridiculous flailing. But that flailing is also sending bolts of lightning flying out every couple of seconds, so…
The last few dark mages in a proper position to cut us off start casting spells, and Nowi takes that as a cue to get crazy. The sled starts weaving back and forth as it races down the road, narrowly dodging explosions. Our intrepid driver has started cackling as she weaves around, even as a blast of dark magic tears a chunk out of the seat next to her.
"Holy shit, is that a fire wall?" I blink in shock, watching the dark mages erecting their final ploy to trap us in the city, a massive wall of black fire that reaches taller than the sled. The mage who casts it is old, withered looking, and has a mad gleam in his eyes to match Nowi's.
A clear case of unforgivable hubris, since Nowi's crazier than this punk by a long shot.
There's a cart resting on the ground near the fire wall. The wide sort with a single pair of wheels for dragging loads around on the main roads.
Nowi ramps it.
I repeat.
Nowi. Fucking. Ramps it.
The sled's twice as wide as the cart is, but the axle dragons are going too fast to care. There's a brief moment of weightlessness as the sled achieves liftoff, but in that time I realize it won't be enough. The lizards could probably clear this thing on their own, but the sled is going to drag us all back down into the fire.
I flip to the next page of my book without thinking, and prepare to cast a spell that I am not in any way properly trained for.
Arc level spells are technically supposed to be beyond me, at the moment. I'm not even supposed to have them marked in my book yet. But desperate times, and all that. Really, with my tendency to get into bullshit situations, how could I be expected to not fill my spellbook with highly dangerous spells I haven't been tested for?
The arc-wind spell I cast hits the bottom of the sled, knocking it into the air with enough force to slam us back into the floor. For a brief moment, the sled is actually flying higher even than the lizards pulling it. It's enough to clear both the wall of fire and the mage who cast it.
The world slows to a crawl. The sled flies through the air, still led by terrified lizards who remain attached despite everything that's happened. Nowi is shrieking giddily like a lunatic, with a grin that seems unnaturally wide and filled to the brim with sharp fangs. Lon'qu has noticed this, and looks like he's about to run screaming from the vehicle, his worst fears about women suddenly confirmed. Vaike has a hand on Lon'qu's shoulder, and is using that as a brace to push himself up over the edge of the cart so he can swing his axe at the elderly dark mage below us. The dark mage is staring up at us uncomprehendingly, even as the axe comes for his face. Gregor crouches calmly next to me, loading another stone into his sling. Gaius is weeping. My brain is still playing Lady Gaga.
Then the world returns to the original, completely ludicrous pace it was moving at. The dark mage's head explodes as Vaike's axe tears through it. We feel another moment of weightlessness as the sled falls for a second time. My brain kinda overloads for half a second as we hit the ground in an explosion of sand, and by the time it's started processing again the sled is outside of town, Lon'qu is hauling Vaike back onboard, and Gregor is loading his sling again.
"Okay, we're out!" Nowi shouts, working the levers to get the axle dragons back on track without sacrificing too much speed. "Where do we go from here?"
"Which side of the town are we on?" I yell over the sound of explosions and my own internal soundtrack.
"The south end!"
"Well, our friends are on the north, so let's keep doing stupid shit in that direction!"
"Can do!" Nowi replies eagerly, grabbing a lever to her left and heaving it with all her strength. By the time she's told us all to hold onto something the sled is already balancing on one runner as it makes the sharpest fucking turn of my life. Not the most effective of warnings. I am suddenly sitting sideways, flailing to try not to fall off, with my arms almost skimming the sand below me.
"No Ben, You must be leaning this way, like Gregor!" A rough hand pulls me back, and I find myself with my back to the floor. To my right, Gregor leans casually next to me, resting his head on his hand. "Be with the weight thrown like so, and vehicle not be tipping, see?"
I have enough time to blink in confusion exactly once before the gravity shifts again and suddenly we have both runners on the ground again. I'm tossed around once more, and end up lying on my back next to Lon'qu. Gregor is already back to slinging stones like nothing has happened.
"Where the hell did he learn to do that?" I ask, feeling quite bewildered by this point.
"I doubt even he remembers anymore." Lon'qu grumbles, pulling himself back upright. "In the stories Khan Basilio has told me, Gregor has been travelling and fighting since before any of us were born."
"Yeah, that holds up." I reply, letting Lon'qu help pull me back to my feet. "I can't say that's even slightly surprising."
I look around to regain my bearings. Nowi is taking us on a wide loop around the town, so as to keep us a good distance away from those Grimleal still hoping to fire at us from the rooftops. Behind us the few sleds that were able to keep up with us through that crazy ride have fallen behind, unable to keep up with Nowi's driving for the moment.
Looks like we've got a moment of calm. Time to do the other important thing I'm supposed to be doing on this trip.
"Gonna send the emergency flares." I declare to the others, flipping to the right page of my spellbook.
It's a color-coded system devised by Miriel and Robin, which was then taught to Ricken and myself for communication on the battlefield. Of course, if the plan here had worked as Gaius made us think it would, I never would have needed to cast them at all, but obviously that didn't happen.
I skip right past the green one, for obvious reasons. Instead I send up blue, to represent an objective acquired, yellow, indicating a retreat, and red, indicating enemy pursuers. From the three signals, and the fact that they're fired out a significant distance apart due to our speed, I figure Robin should be able to put together a general idea of what's happening.
"Are you sure this is time to be making pretty colors?" Gregor asks uneasily, watching the magical lights hovering in the air behind us.
"Better now than too late." I shrug. "It's a bit of a double edged sword, I know, but if I don't do this there'll be no chance of getting backup if this goes to shit."
"What do you mean, a double edged sword?" Vaike looks over and scowls.
"The lights indicate the direction we're moving in, and our general speed." Lon'qu explains. "We've effectively communicated the enemy's objective to them better than they ever could."
"Yeah, but we definitely need the help at this rate." I reply. "Frankly speaking, the only reason we aren't all dead is the fact that we've probably broken the laws of physics at least a dozen times in the past five minutes."
"Not being Gregor's highest count, but still very good!" Gregor chuckles. "Okay, let's be meeting with Shepherd friends!"
"Well, I guess this is alright." Vaike frowns watching the sleds still chasing us in the distance. "Not like they'll be able to catch us at this rate. They're way behind!"
"Oh, they'll catch us alright." Gaius says, finally looking a little less shaky as he watches the town uneasily. "They've got plenty of options to cut us off. There's more than one road out of that town."
"They've already made use of them." Lon'qu points ahead. "Dust cloud approaching up ahead. Far too early for it to be a Shepherd."
"Alright." I move to the front of the sled and ready a fire spell. "Careful, Nowi. Let's try to make sure I get a clean shot."
Nowi nods seriously, expression far more intense than I would expect to see from her.
We ready ourselves anxiously as we see the other dust cloud getting larger. For a brief moment all we can hear is the constant hiss of sand beneath us, as the axle dragons toss it into the thin stretches of canvas placed on the rig to protect the driver. It's a steady white noise that undercuts everything now that we're in the desert proper.
"Steady." Lon'qu's voice cuts sharply through the moment of quiet. "They're approaching from behind that dune. Be ready to fire."
I grimace at the announcement. The approaching sand sleds are almost brutally quiet; I can't hear the enemy at all beyond vague shouting. I can only imagine that Lon'qu is tracking them by watching the way the dust clouds are moving, but I'm having trouble gleaning anything from that myself. Still, I should probably ready my spell all the same…
Apparently I'm a half second too late. Not that it really matters, since what erupts over the dune above us is not one, but four sleds, all packed to the brim with Grimleal. My spell is loosed just as they scatter above us, and as a result only one of them takes the brunt of the hit. The spell is hastily thrown, and erupts against the sled's rigging instead of the basket full of cultists.
The axle dragons seem to be very resistant to heat while curled up like they are, but the rigging is torn apart by my spell. The result is a sled full of Grimleal slowly sliding to a stop, as their axle dragons go careening off into the desert. They make their opinion of that very clear, hurling everything they can after us as we leave them behind.
"Ho!" Gregor comments, examining the array of bladed weapons now sticking out of the back of the sled. "This is being good axe!" He hurls it at one of the other sleds and hits the driver in the side of the head. The man's arms spasm against the levers, and his sled veers sharply into the sled next to his. There's an explosively loud crash, coupled with horrified and pained screaming as the Grimleal are tossed about like ragdolls. Gregor nods approvingly.
Oh hey, the music started again. My subconscious must be loving this shit.
"More sleds incoming!" Lon'qu roars, swatting a dagger out of the air with his sword. "Left side!"
"The one behind us has spellcasters!" Vaike yells as well. "Ben, get your ass back here and roast these bastards!"
"Shit!" I snarl, scrambling back to the rear of the sled as fast as I dare. It's far too late, unfortunately. The fucking dark mages are already about to fire. Gregor takes a shot with his sling, but apparently even the super soldier doesn't have perfect aim, because he hits the hood next to the mage he's aiming for instead. He snaps angrily in a language I don't recognize, but the meaning is obvious enough. I throw out a thunder spell as fast as I can, but the dark mages have already fired. My spell collides with one of the flux spells thrown at us, causing a massive explosion. The other is thankfully fired just a bit too low, colliding against the back of our sled instead of the people inside.
I stare blankly at the other sled, marvelling at what just happened, even as Gaius slaps at the burning wood of our sled with his cloak.
Did that just happen? Was that a coincidence?
This requires further experimentation. I ready my book and fire another thunder spell at the next spell to fly from the Grimleal casters. Another midair explosion. The wave of childhood memories that flow over me at the sight is overwhelming. It's just like the old cartoons I watched every afternoon.
"Oh my God, the Pokémon anime spoke truth!" I exclaim in shock, blasting another spell out of the air.
"The what?" Vaike looks back at me in bewilderment. "Did you finally lose it?"
"This is incredible!" I cheer, blasting another spell. "Look at that bang!"
"Err, Gregor is happy that Ben is being happy." Gregor looks over at me worriedly. "But perhaps Ben should be using spells for blasting Grimleal instead of making the explosions?"
"Oh!" I blink in surprise. "Right! Here, let me just," I throw out an arc-fire spell that blasts the sled and turns the sand around it to glass. "There. Sorry about that."
"I totally get it!" Nowi calls back, "It was the same for me the first time I learned how to blow stuff up!"
"Will you people focus!?" Lon'qu snarls in exasperation, pointing at the approaching sleds on our left. "They're practically on top of us!"
"This fire is not acting normal, guys!" Gaius says nervously, tossing aside his cloak as black flames creep across it. "I can't put it out!"
I look down at Gaius to see him backing away nervously from the black fire creeping across the tail end of the sled. Gregor stares at it with an expression of deep thought, then grabs his water skin from his belt and upends it over the fire. The water hisses as it evaporates. The fire isn't dissuaded in the slightest. "Hmm…" Gregor says, frowning intensely.
"Oh, that's a problem." Vaike comments, looking back at the fire with a frown.
"I hate to say it, but we might have to ditch the sled." I scratch the back of my head in puzzlement, watching the fire draw closer. "If this keeps up we're going to burn alive."
"They're about to hit us!" Lon'qu all but screams. "Why are you all ignoring me?"
"Lon'qu, we have a bit of a problem we're trying to deal with back here, could you stop yelling?" I wave at him dismissively, not really registering his words. "Think the canvas will be enough to smother this?"
"My cloak was a lot bigger than the fire when it was starting." Gaius shakes his head. "I think it might be a magical thing."
"That would be explaining the color." Gregor nods, thinking deeply. "Black is not normal look for-"
"What is wrong with you all!?" Lon'qu interjects furiously, getting our attention properly.
"Oi! We are trying to be doing the solving of a crisis!" Gregor snaps irritably. "What is making Lon'qu act with the snarling?"
"THE GRIMLEAL!" Lon'qu roars, gesturing angrily with his sword. The other sled sideswipes us to punctuate the declaration, sending us all staggering from the impact.
Oh right, those guys.
The Grimleal aren't much better than we are at weathering the collision thankfully, so they're sent stumbling as well. And as they fall over each other, Vaike bounces back to his feet, an inspired gleam in his eye.
"Oh, I getcha Lon, great idea!" He declares, running forward and jumping into the other sled. He lands on top of them just as they're starting to recover, knocking them about and tossing them bodily from the moving sled.
"Gregor agrees, Lon'qu is very impressive with the thinking!" Gregor laughs boisterously, clapping the swordsman on the back hard enough to send him staggering again. "Everyone else be joining with the Vaike, Gregor will follow with Nowi once is being safe!"
Gaius leaps nimbly across and cracks a Grimleal across the head with the pommel of his short sword, swiftly helping Vaike clear the new sled. I follow a moment later. Lon'qu is last, which is a bit weird since this was his idea. When I say as much his only response is to glare daggers at me. Probably embarrassed it took him so long to get up after hitting that sled.
The last Grimleal to get kicked off the sled is its driver, whom we promptly replace with Nowi. She adjusts the levers on the new vehicle, and I take the opportunity to blast the rigging of the axle dragons on our old one so they don't get caught by that evil fire.
"Alright, are we clear now?" I ask as Nowi picks up the pace again.
"I think so?" Gaius looks around nervously. "Hard to tell with all the dunes, but I don't see any more dust clouds…"
The Grimleal choose to respond to that tentative statement by rushing over the dunes behind us. There's half a dozen new sleds to contend with, all packed to the brim with people brandishing weapons and spellbooks.
"Shit!" Vaike cries out, reeling back in shock. "How'd they catch up without us seeing them coming?"
My mind races as the sleds approach. "They're using their casters!" I shout, pointing to the back of the nearest vehicle. "They've been stopping the dust they're kicking up with wind magic!" And that revelation gives me another idea. "So let's keep them busy with that trick, then!" I declare, flipping to my wind spells. I send a blast into the sand behind our sled, taking the cloud of sand we're kicking up and effectively tripling it in size and thickness. "Can't hit what you can't see, motherfuckers!" I cheer, blasting again to blind the Grimleal pursuing us.
"If you do that we can't hit them either!" Gaius protests, squinting into the dust cloud.
"Eh, Gregor is running out of rocks anyways." Gregor shrugs. "Can kill two, maybe three? Is being much harder to restock in moving vehicle than Gregor remembers."
"And I ran out of axes before we were even out of town." Vaike agrees. "Only brought three of them, and it's not like they return after I hit somebody with them."
Well shit, it's not like I can keep this up forever. "So, new plan?" I frame the question casually, but feel a jolt of panic as one of the sleds accelerates enough to emerge from the cloud and drive parallel to us. "Quickly!?"
"Nowi, slow us down and keep our course as straight north as you can! Ben, kick up the sand in front of us instead." Gaius calls in a panic. "That way we can blind them and also hide ourselves!"
"Might be approaching time to let Nowi be fighting as well." Gregor muses gravely, as I rush to follow Gaius' directions.
I hop into the driver's seat, thankful this one doesn't have a hole blasted in it, and turn to Nowi as I prepare the spell. "Are you capable of dealing with numbers like these? I have no idea what you can do once you bust out that magic rock of yours."
"You know about all that stuff?" Nowi blinks in surprise, staring at me wide-eyed as she slows the sled and plunges us into the sand cloud trailing behind us.
"I read a lot of books." I reply tersely, shooting a blast of wind far ahead to create more cover to drive into. "None of them really tell me what you're actually capable of once you get big and scaly though."
"Um, I'm not really sure either!" Nowi frowns. "This sort of thing doesn't actually happen to me very often. You'd think it would have after being alive for like, 1000 years, but…"
"1000 years and you've never been in a big fight like this?" I stare at her in shock for a brief moment before the sand flying about forces me to squint.
"I don't know a lot about what it means to be a Manakete, but I know bad things tend to happen when people find out about it." Nowi replies, a faraway look in her eyes.
"Okay, never mind then!" I wince, not expecting that conversational landmine. "Alright, big guns are out Gregor, any other ideas?"
If Gregor is confused by my use of a phrase from my old world, he doesn't show it. "Hmm. Pull up close to other sleds? Then we make with the stabbing!"
"That is a terrible plan!" Gaius exclaims in frustration.
"Not like we have a better one!" Vaike snaps back.
"Anything is better than running at sleds full of Grimleal over and over and hoping for the best!" Gaius replies, throwing his hands up in frustration.
"So Gaius is having better idea then?" Gregor asks, staring at Gaius expectantly. "If so Gregor is very much wanting to hear it."
As the three of them continue to argue Lon'qu approaches Nowi and I. "Ben. Just had a thought."
"What's up, Lon'qu?" I toss another wind spell and look back at him.
"You guessed earlier that they were smothering their dust trails with wind magic, right?"
"Seems like the most logical explanation, yeah." I nod, pulling my hood a little lower as the sand flies around my face.
Lon'qu nods gravely. "So what's stopping them from doing the same with yours?"
I ponder over the question for a moment. Then feel my heart drop into my stomach. "Now that you mention it…" I look around at the sand flying past us. "Wind's getting awfully strong all of a sudden, isn't it?"
"I suppose that answers my question, then." Lon'qu grimaces. "There's nothing stopping them at all."
"Shit fucking hell!" I punch the seat next to me and rise to my feet. "Nowi, accelerate. One last push, drive these damn geckos as fast as they can go! Roar at them some more if you have to, we need to cover as much ground now as we can!"
"Maximum recklessness, got it!" Nowi replies, grinning nervously.
I take Lon'qu's hand and let him help me back into the bed of the sled, wobbling unsteadily between the increasing speed and the steadily increasing wind. "Everyone brace yourselves!" I bark, scrambling to the back of the sled. "Cloud cover's about to be gone! Gaius, Gregor, get ready to use whatever ranged options you have left. We're going to need them!"
"Is being that time already?" Gregor sighs, loading his sling again. "Oh well, was fun ride while it lasted."
Gaius grimaces, grabbing a throwing knife. "Chuckles, if we live through this, remind me never to try to lead a mission ever again. I'll take pitched combat over this any day."
"Gaius, if you ever try to lead a mission again I'll kick your ass personally as a reminder of this day." I grin in response.
The wind is howling in our ears now, and the sand cover is growing faint enough that I can see the faint outlines of the Grimleal sleds. I open my book and get ready, knowing I'll have to start throwing fireballs like a maniac the moment I have a clear view.
The only warning I receive that the Grimleal lack the same patience is a faint glimmer of light in the distance, and a panicked yell from Gregor. Then the sand is blown aside by a tidal wave of black magic. Either the first few sleds just happened to be filled with their weakest members, or they've been seriously holding back on us.
I pull out the strongest spell I know. Arc-Fire. Miriel warned me if I used this before I was ready it could drain my energy fast enough to kill me. As half a dozen sleds full of Grimleal blast us with dark magic, I make the decision to cast it, and sustain it.
There's a roar of colliding energy as fire meets shadow. My spell hits the black magic and is scattered in all directions, sustained by the continuous fire I'm pumping out. The result is a sort of dome of flame that stretches around the back of the sled as it's pushed aside by blast after blast of dark magic. The sound has no comparison to anything in this world. It's a lot like hearing an airplane taking off from point blank, a roar of rushing wind and energy that stays constant as I hold out against the bombardment.
My arms tremble from the power I'm channelling through them. A familiar ache in my throat makes it clear that at some point I've started screaming, though the noise of magic clashing with magic drowns it out. My body starts to slide back across the sled, only to be stopped by Vaike and Gregor, who I can see visibly straining to support me on either side. Gaius suddenly appears in view as I move backwards, pointing to something off the side of the sled.
Despite myself, I look in the direction Gaius is indicating. Another sled has pulled parallel to us. Their mages have already cast something. Gaius looks back at the rest of us, eyes wide with fear, but he knows as well as I do that there's nothing I can do at this point. Nothing any of us can do.
The sled seems to jolt beneath us. Gaius is thrown into me as his side of the sled explodes. My casting is stopped as his body knocks my arms aside.
There's another sudden jolt, then the back of the sled explodes. Suddenly I'm flying through the air. The only one with me is Gaius, who I seem to have grabbed at some point after he crashed into me. The sled is gone, though I see scraps of wood hurtling around me. No sign of the others, though with the way I'm spinning I have little chance of focusing enough to see anything.
I hit the ground on my back and skip, sand flying around me to join all the wood. The second time I land I feel a burning pain which signals to me that my desert clothing has been shredded. Then I land a third and final time and feel my back dragged across the sand by my momentum. I start to tumble, and lose my grip on Gaius.
My head spins as I come to a stop. I see blue sky above me, the sun burning down against my face. I hear screaming coming from somewhere nearby, but my head is swimming too much to tell where.
After a moment or two of lying on my back, the nausea finally catches up with me. I vomit a little, start choking, and frantically force myself to roll over so I can puke my guts up properly. I rest on my hands and knees a moment as I puke up what's left of my breakfast. When I try to wipe my mouth I find I don't have the strength to balance on one hand, and fall to my elbow. Then have to rub a few times more to get rid of the sand I just smeared all over my face.
What the fuck happened? Where did everyone go?
I look up blearily, trying to see the others. Gaius is next to me, though the way he landed makes it difficult to tell how he's doing. His shoulders are shaking, so he's probably not in great shape. The only other people I can see are part of a sled full of Grimleal, stopped a distance away. Several of them have already left the sled and are approaching me. The rest are watching warily from a safe distance.
Then a few of them look off to the side. One of them points and says something. The lot of them suddenly move to scatter. The few Grimleal who dared to go after me look back just in time to see the sled explode. They watch in horror as a large gold and green dragon falls from the sky and tears apart a Grimleal who got off the sled in time to escape the brunt of the blast. Then the dragon turns to face the others.
The closest of the Grimleal who were coming for us whirls away from the dragon and turns to face me. He draws a knife and rushes towards me, apparently intent on finishing the job before Nowi can stop him. Nowi realizes his intent and rushes in my direction, trying to catch him before he can do anything with the knife. She can't use her fire without risking my safety.
I stare helplessly up at the sprinting cultist, willing my body to move. My body is like lead though. Arms can't do much more than hold me off the ground. Nowi swats aside the other Grimleal in her path and hurls herself into the air to try to close the gap faster. The cultist has a pretty significant lead though. He'll definitely have enough time to bring the knife down at least a couple of times before she can stop him.
Fortunately for me though, there's somebody else who's more able to intervene than Nowi. Chrom explodes into view before either myself or the cultist really register it, and the cultist is suddenly sent tumbling to the ground in pieces. The prince whirls away from me to face the approaching dragon, but hesitates when Nowi returns to her human form. She entirely ignores him, and myself as well, running to Gaius' side.
Chrom pales as he looks past me towards the thief, and I feel my blood go cold at his expression. Suddenly the source of the earlier screaming is made startlingly clear. He must be in even worse shape than I thought. I scramble in the sand, dragging myself to face the other direction, and see Nowi rolling Gaius onto his back.
It's not pretty. The explosion that tossed him earlier seems to have torn him up pretty badly. His chest is a mass of burns, and I can see bits and pieces of wood sticking out of him. He's stopped screaming, a terrible sign given his state, and is gasping for air, eyes barely open as he struggles to stay conscious.
Chrom stops to my left, then bellows into the distance, "WE NEED A HEALER OVER HERE, NOW!" After a moment his hand comes into view. "Ben, can you stand?"
"Maybe?" I rasp uncertainly, taking Chrom's hand shakily. When he drags me to my feet my knees immediately buckle, and I collapse into his shoulder. "Okay, looks like that's a no."
"Any medical problems I need to know about?" Chrom asks, looking me over worriedly as he props me up.
"Don't think so?" I reply faintly. "Pushed it too hard with the magic. Dizzy as fuck. Back's probably bruised to hell. Other than that?" I pause to spit the taste of bile from my mouth. "One of my better days."
Stahl appears suddenly at my side, and takes my weight off of Chrom, careful to avoid the area where my clothing was shredded by sand. A moment later Maribelle rushes past me, kneeling next to Gaius and immediately going to work.
"I've got him, Chrom." Stahl says. "You go find Lon'qu and Vaike."
"Gregor." I cut in. "A mercenary. He helped us escape. Older fellow, red hair, odd accent."
"I'll find him." Chrom nods, clapping me on the shoulder. "Rest for now, Ben. We'll handle the rest." He's gone a moment later.
Around me the other Shepherds start to appear, rushing past me to enter the fray. Many of the Feroxi soldiers are there as well, most looking red from heat and exhaustion, but eager to fight. No doubt Khan Flavia sent some volunteers ahead to help out. Lissa stops to help with Gaius, falling in next to Maribelle without a word. And Cordelia pauses next to me for a moment, placing a hand on my arm and looking me in the eye. I give her a smile and a weary nod, and she nods and rushes off with the others, seemingly content to see me in one piece.
"I guess my job here is done." I say, still feeling somewhat disoriented.
"From what I've seen, you've done plenty." Stahl chuckles. "You need anything?"
"Water would be good." I reply. "Think I lost my canteen when I got tossed from the sled…"
Stahl lets me sit down to rest and hands me his water. "Here, you need this far more than I do at the moment. Anything else?"
I drink greedily, and fix what's left of my cloak. Most of it is gone, but the hood provides a welcome bit of respite from the desert sun. A part of me wants to cover my back as well, but I figure that should wait until it's been checked. And Gaius needs to come first. Speaking of which, "How's Gaius? He going to be okay?"
"He's badly injured, but not beyond repair." Maribelle says firmly, leaning over the thief and pointedly ignoring Nowi's anxious hovering. "You needn't worry; I'll see to it the fool survives."
"Well shit." I sigh in relief. "Guess I'm completely useless now. Think I'll take the time to just pass out then."
"Go ahead and rest." Stahl chuckles, patting me gently on the back. "Chrom and the others will take things from here."
I take him up on that, and let my exhaustion claim me.
Yeah... might have gotten just a bit carried away by this one. Original goal was to include another scene after this one, but I was having a bit too much fun with the chase scene, so... here we are. 10K words of nonsensical action. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
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