Zornhut: Chapter 9


Author's note: Zornhut, or Guard of Wrath, is one of the main guard positions in medieval sword techniques. Also, I've opted for the game's default name for the tactician, Mark.


Raven was in a foul mood, and so was a good third of the company he was travelling in. Their quest to find the location of the Shrine of Seals had been delayed by not one, but two battles with the Black Fang. The first was an attack that was led by Lloyd, the White Wolf himself, while Pascal Grentzer, the former count of Landskron, had led the second.

It was the latter particularly that did nothing good for his temper. Hector had insisted on going after the thieves who stole the Fire Emblem from the palace at Bern, claiming that he had received the information of the thieves' hideout from a reliable source. Eliwood had been rather wary of the idea and had proposed going straight to the palace itself, but Hector had stood firm with his own plan.

Hector's source was reliable in a way, for it was information planted by the thieves themselves. The company's quarry was more than ready for them, for the thieves--yet more of the Black Fang--had prepared themselves in an ambush. Even though the company emerged victorious in the battle, they were no closer to the location of the Fire Emblem than before. Raven decided that he now hated Hector even more for making him go on a wild goose chase, not to mention into an obvious trap.

So much for Ostian intelligence. Not that I actually had much faith in it.

The party had moved deeper into Bern and reached the capital, glad for an opportunity to replenish their equipment. None of the local inns could take them in, for most of the rooms were full, but an innkeeper had helpfully directed them to a field just outside the city that made an ideal campsite. Some few miles away from the field stood the royal palace of Bern and personally, Raven found that fortress would be a more fitting word.

From what he could tell, the building was well built and occupied a well-defended site. Mountains guarded the castle on three sides and the only point of entry was from the south, where any attackers would first have to deal with a massive twin-towered gatehouse well-guarded by in-built defences in the buttressed walls and of course, by Bern's own wyvern knights.

Raven found himself wondering how anyone could steal anything from the palace and apparently, so did the lordlings, for all three of them, with Mark in tow, had left for the palace to see if they could find any vital piece of information. Mark had left orders that the troops should wait for their return at camp and be ready for battle at a moment's notice, should something happen.

"And knowing our luck," the tactician had said wryly before he left, "something usually does."

-------------------

It was about noon when a group of wyvern riders appeared in the skies without warning. The leader of the riders, a tall woman with a scar on her face, had swooped down in an intent to capture Nils; only the timely return of the lordlings saved the boy from being carried off.

At the time most of the company members were busy with minor chores and thus a trifle scattered all over the field, but most importantly, all were armed. When Nils had shouted in alarm they simply dropped whatever they were doing, drew their weapons and readied themselves to meet the enemy. To their surprise, more opponents emerged from their hiding places in the mountains. Most were brigands, but there were also a few archers and a magic-user or two.

Raven did not like the odds one bit, especially when he spotted more wyvern riders flying in. And judging by the grim look on Mark's face as the tactician sped back to camp, shouting orders to assorted people as he ran, the mercenary was not alone in his opinion.

"Raven, get to the north," Mark said. "Wil and Lucius are to go with you, but don't get too close to the palace. Go!"

Raven nodded to show that he understood and moved as fast as he could to where Mark had indicated. "You're with me, Lucius," he said when he saw his friend; Lucius nodded and hurried after him. Wil was already ahead of them both, for the archer stood some ways ahead, waving one hand in excitement.

The three men reached their position just in time to see Hector dispatching off a shaman with his axe. "What took you so long?" the Ostian lordling said crossly.

"Hector," Lyndis said in reproach.

Wil made a nervous chuckle that was meant to be an apology of sorts. "Lyn--I mean, Lady Lyndis, Mark said you and Lord Eliwood should move to the rear, more of those brigands have appeared. Lord Hector is to remain here. Lady Louise, we need you at the ballistae with Rebecca. Lord Pent is to guard you both. There are wyvern riders everywhere and Mark says the further we can keep them away, the better."

"Understood. Shall we, Lyndis?" Eliwood said. The swordswoman nodded in reply and both hastened away, Pent and Louise trailing after them.

Raven drew his axe, forced himself to focus on the situation at hand and ignore his distaste of having Hector close by. As much as he loathed the man, the idea of getting injured--or worse, dying--in battle because he made a foolish mistake, was something he liked even less.

"This ought to be interesting," Wil said cheerfully.

"Shut up, " Raven growled.

The archer only grinned and moved a bit to the rear to find a better spot for him to shoot. He nocked an arrow in his longbow, drew the string back and aimed at the approaching group of six wyvern riders. His expression was that of intense concentration, and it was a long moment before he finally let his arrow loose. Raven watched the projectile soar before it sank into the left wing of one of the wyverns, drawing a loud pained growl from the beast.

Raven knew the routine; Wil would deal as much damage as possible to the riders from afar, while he and Hector were to finish them off once they were close enough for a melee. Lucius was to deal with magic-users should any appear, but he would serve mainly as a healer. Mark always made sure each group had one in close vicinity, now that most of the company's magic-users were able to use healing staffs, thanks to their Guiding Rings.

Arrow after arrow flew from Wil's longbow; the archer had managed to sink at least one into each of the wyverns before they were finally close enough for both Hector and Raven to engage. The wyvern riders were mostly armed with lances, but Raven spotted two at the rear with javelins. "Lucius, stay back!" he yelled over his shoulder before he moved to meet his first opponent.

The wyvern rider dove sharply, his lance aimed at Raven, while his mount roared in a challenge. Raven knew that the roar from the animals was only meant to distract him, for wyverns rarely attacked on their own--they left that all to their masters. He stood his ground until he judged the moment was right and sidestepped, and then swung his axe in a roundhouse blow.

The axe blade bit deep into the wyvern rider's unprotected arm. The man yelled in pain, then veered his mount sharply upward before diving in for another attack. He aimed slightly higher this time, but Raven was ready. The mercenary moved a step backward and deflected the lance thrust with his shield, before he turned and delivered a powerful back-swing that was aimed roughly at the rider's waist; the man toppled from his seat, lifeless, and his wyvern fled.

Raven risked a look around and saw that Hector had already disposed of one rider and was currently engaging another. Wil was firing shots at a few brigands at the cliffs, who were rapidly making their way down, with Lucius casting spells at them when the archer was occupied with the business of nocking his arrows. Satisfied that all seemed well, Raven turned his attention to his next enemy.

His second opponent proved slightly harder to deal with; Raven earned more than a few cuts and small wounds from the wyvern rider's lance before he finally managed to kill the man with a hard blow to the torso--a blow that effectively ruined his axe. He tossed the weapon away, for it had been rendered useless, the edge horrendously gouged and ruined when it made contact with part of the rider's armour.

He thought that it did not matter much, for the last enemy he had to deal had met with three of Wil's arrows; two in the wyvern's wing and belly, and one in the rider's own upper leg. He reached for his hand axe; one good throw would finish the rider off once the man was in range.

He had time to check on his comrades, so he did, and was alarmed at the sight of a brigand creeping towards Wil and Lucius from behind. His two friends did not notice the man, for they were still occupied with the ones making their way down from the mountains.

"Behind you!" Raven yelled in warning.

Fortunately, Wil already had an arrow nocked and ready to fire. The archer turned and an instant later, he loosened his arrow at the would-be attacker. The brigand staggered when he took the hit in the shoulder, but it was not enough to kill him; outraged, he rushed towards the two young men, his axe brandished in the air. Wil frantically reached for another arrow, while Lucius started to chant, but it was unlikely that he would have time to finish casting his spell before it was too late.

Raven flung his throwing axe at the brigand with all his might. His aim was true; the weapon struck the man in the head, killing him instantly. Raven had no time to indulge in relief however, for he felt a sudden stirring of air from behind, and he heard the distinct sound of the flapping wings of a wyvern. Instinct made him throw himself to one side, sparing him from being skewered in the chest by the wyvern rider's thrown javelin.

Unfortunately for him, he was not fast enough to dodge away completely. The javelin missed its intended mark--his chest--but scored a hit in his upper leg. The wound was deep and Raven could not help but utter a cry of pain. Gritting his teeth, he rolled to one side and somehow managed to get on his feet before he drew his sword. He ignored the pain and the bleeding in his leg; his wound would have to be taken care of later.

The wyvern rider flew in retreat, more interested in saving his own hide rather than risking a duel with Raven. His remaining compatriot was currently trading blows with Hector and certainly looked soon to be the loser in that duel.

A shout of challenge caught Raven's attention. One of the brigands descending the cliffs had altered his route down and instead of trying to get to Wil and Lucius, he had moved closer to Raven and was now charging madly, his iron axe ready to swing in attack.

Raven deflected the first blow with his shield and winced from the force he took on his arm; then another blow, then another. His opponent seemed to have gone somewhat berserk, continually raining blows, and it was almost all he could do stand his ground. A wild upper swing from his enemy gave him an opening and he aimed a quick thrust at the man's exposed side, but his blade failed to find its mark.

Raven instantly knew that the wound in his leg was weakening him and that he had to finish the brigand off quickly, while he was still able to stand. Unfortunately it was not as easy as it sounded; his enemy gave him no room to strike, and his own movements were getting more sluggish. He raised his shield to deflect a downward blow, but the bandit altered the swing in mid-air, and Raven was forced to try and block the attack with his sword.

It was at that moment disaster chose to struck. When one is forced to try and deflect or block an attack made with an axe with his sword, one had to meet the axe's wooden shaft with the flat of one's blade. But with the pain from his wound, and exhaustion seeping in, Raven made a grave error.

He caught the axe's sharp edge with the edge of his own sword.

A hard-tempered sword like Raven's was indeed strong, but its edges were delicate. Edge to edge parrying not only ruined the blade, gouging nicks in the blade's edge, but it could also break the blade itself. It was unfortunate for Raven that the latter came about; he felt a sharp pain in his wrist as he blocked the brigand's attack, and then the sharp metallic clunk of his sword breaking into two halves. He flung the useless half in his grip away and held his shield with both hands.

"Wil!" he shouted, hoping that the brigand was in range of the archer's longbow. Apparently it was not so, for he thought he heard Wil utter a loud curse. He also heard rapid footsteps heading towards him, probably Lucius rushing in aid, but he was not sure he could hold out any longer.

His attacker delivered a blow to his shield that nearly drove him to his knees. His injured leg was about to give, and Raven felt sure he was going to collapse when suddenly, he heard his attacker gave an odd little croak, and the attacks stopped. He lowered his shield to the sight of the brigand collapsing slowly to the ground, a small throwing axe lodged firmly in the man's side.

The pain was almost excruciating now; he closed his eyes and willed himself not to black out. His leg did give out at that moment and he would have collapsed to the ground, if it were not for his rescuer's arm reaching out to support him by the waist. He feebly tried to push the supporting arm away, but all he got in return for his effort was an annoyed reprimand. "Will you keep still?"

He felt his arm being drawn over his rescuer's shoulder, and he was helped to a spot where he could sit down and lean against a tree, while his leg was mended. He heard someone utter something about their enemies retreating, but he could not tell whom. Someone else gently probed his wound, and he sensed healing magic being worked on him.

He could feel muscle and flesh gradually becoming whole again, and the pain slowly faded away to nothing more than a dull sensation. His mind cleared, he opened his eyes and saw the face of his rescuer, looking at him with great concern, and the first thing that came to his mind was the thought that he would rather be dead.

It was Hector who had saved his life.