8/27 Verdant rain Moon
"Edelgard, wake up"
She felt a hand touching her shoulder. When she opened her eyes she was face to face with him.
"The storm is giving us a break, we must return before it starts again"
"You are right" she said getting up, using the hand he was offering to her. The world above them was grey, covered in clouds. They remained silent, each of them lost in their own thoughts.
Edelgard was intrigued by her Teacher´s sword. The sword that was meant for her due to the experimentations she had endured had seemingly chosen her Professor as its owner. Despite barely touching it, she had felt that a strange power was hiding its surface. The fact that the monsters that had destroyed her family were so eager to made her use it casted in her doubts about the real properties of the sword. She looked at her Professor. He was apparently fine, but she couldn´t really now if he was pretending or not.
They finally arrived to the village with a no soul to be seen outside.
"I guess we have arrived earlier than expected"
"In 30 minutes I want all of them outside, we will be the vanguard in the attack and I want each of them leading their group of soldiers. I will go to talk to Gilbert. I leave you the task to tell the rest"
"Leave it to me Professor"
She entered the house where they were staying. When she entered the dormitory of the girls everyone looked asleep until a voice whispered to her ear.
"Edie, I was worried about you"
"Dorothea, don´t surprised me like that" she replied to her, slightly surprised.
"Where have you been?"
"I just had trouble sleeping and decided to take a walk"
"A walk with this weather? It was pretty bad last night and you don´t seem to be particularly affected"
"I came across with the Professor and we were in our way to return when the storm released all its force and we weren´t able to return"
"Are you saying that you spent the night with our handsome Professor? You must tell me everything!"
"Don´t take out of context things Dorothea" she said feeling her cheeks getting hot "And please be quiet" she implored her.
"You get so cute when you get embarrassed Edie" Dorothea giggled. "If I were you I would have taken an opportunity"
"Do you like the Professor, Dorothea?" she didn´t want to admit it, but she felt a strange tension waiting for her answer.
"If I must say if like him or hate him I guess that I like him. Don´t worry Edie, I won´t steal it from you"
"Stop implying things Dorothea"
"Just joking" she said with a singing voice.
"The Professor wants everyone to get ready in 30 minutes. Wake the rest of them I will tell the guys too. I beg you to remain silent. I wouldn´t like Hubert to know about yesterday´s events"
"A secret talk then" Dorothea smiled. "Don´t worry Edie, this little secret is safe with me, we are friends after all"
"Friends" she thought, a warmth feeling extending through her body.
"Thank you Dorothea" she smiled to her.
She then left the room and knocked the door in front of her. A few moments later an already prepared Hubert opened the door, bowing at her as he saw her"
"Good morning Lady Edelgard"
"We have to be outside in 30 minutes. Orders from the Professor"
"Understood. Linhardt will be the most troublesome, but I might persuade him to change quickly for his own good" he chuckled.
"Don´t be too harsh on them"
…
The students gathered around him, already wearing their battle armors. Even Linhardt was ready, although he was muttering something about unnecessary threats.
"Good morning everyone, today we will have the battle against the bandits. Our objective is to eliminate them and recover the Lance of Ruin. Each one of you will be in charge of a battalion. We will be at the vanguard and there is only one way to access the Tower so expect resistance from our enemy"
"Understood Professor"
"Fight with decision and victory will be ours, but don´t put yourselves at unnecessary risks. Don´t leave holes between your formation and we will get over this quickly. Now march!"
….
"Archers above us!"
"Don´t worry I will handle this" shouted Byleth releasing the power of the Sword of the Creator. He used the sword as a whip, impaling one of the archers and bringing him down to his death, smashing him to the ground. He did the same to the rest of the archers until they started to retreat.
To his right Hubert was casting spells that were causing havoc between the armored units of their enemies. To his left Edelgard was leading her troops to break a counterattack that the thieves were preparing.
"Healing over here!" shouted Caspar
"Said and done" could hear Linhardt´s voice.
One brigand was charging at him when he was stopped by Felix´s quick attack, swiftly finishing him off.
"They fight like cornered rats, disgusting. Show me your strength with your sword!"
Byleth rushed to Felix´s position and parried one of the thieves, taking his life with a swift counterattack.
Looking at the numbers of the enemy troops, it seemed that Miklan had established his own army. They were slowly advancing, but Byleth knew they had to be careful; there were lots of blind spots at each corner they crossed.
"It seems that my brother has been really busy gathering his own army. If he didn´t try to kill me he could have been a good general"
"There is no time to talk about ifs Sylvain" said Felix. "This is a battle"
"I know, I know" he said as he pierced a thief through the heart. "I was just thinking aloud"
Byleth was constantly checking the state of his students. He was relieved that everyone seemed uninjured, but he couldn´t neglect the threat ahead them.
"Reinforcements from behind" he could hear Gilbert´s shout. "We will hold them! Continue your advance Professor!"
They continued their advance. He could sense that they were almost at their objective.
"They are retreating, the cowards" grinned Felix
"They can´t withstand our force" smiled Ferdinand.
"You mean that they can´t withstand Lady Edelgard´s might"
"Hubie now there is no time for…AH!"
A group of thieves suddenly appeared through a semi collapsed door.
"An ambush!" thought Byleth, he rushed to Dorothea´s position but he arrived too late, she was bleeding heavily from her stomach.
Killing the thieves around him he rushed to her.
"I didn´t expect it to end like this" said, her face growing pale.
"Stay with me Dorothea!"
He searched for his wound and applied the magic he had learned at the monastery, but nothing happen. When she looked at her eyes she realized she was already gone. "Magic can heal all kind of injuries, but it can´t return someone from death" he recalled Rhea´s explanation the first time they were practicing magic.
Looking at Dorothea´s lifeless eyes he felt an intense wrath. Using his divine pulse he returned back in time and rushed to Dorothea´s position. The moment the door was opening he released his entire wrath with a fire spell.
The area in front of him turned into a living hell. The air was filled with screams and the smell of burnt flesh. Thieves covered in flames were running, trying to extinguish the flames. Some of them jumped to their deaths in a desperate attempt to end their suffering. He silently approached one of the few that were able to avoid the flames.
"We surrender!" he said one of them, dropping his axe. Using the Sword of the Creator, he sliced him in half. Seeing they had no other choice the survivors charged at him and they were slaughtered as well.
"Impressive" he could hear Felix´s voice.
"You are again covered in blood Professor. I´m about to throw up" said Linhardt.
"Be careful Dorothea, I don´t want to see you hurt"
"Thank you" she said, her face paler than usual.
"You mustn´t abuse the power of the Sword!" Sothis shouted to him. "That amount of wrath you have just had. It was like an explosion of energy. I know that you wanted to protect your student, but there is something strange with this sword" Byleth looked at the Sword of the Creator. It was unnaturally clean, and the light emanating from it was brighter than usual. "You are right" he thought sheathing it.
….
Edelgard was shocked by the slaughter in front of her. She wasn´t the only one.
"I didn´t expect the Professor to have such powerful magic he said, looking at one of the burnt corpses. There are areas that are partially melted." said Hubert, a surprised look on his face.
Edelgard was also surprised by her Teacher´s expression. She had never seen him with such a scary face. "I didn´t expect he could manifest such anger". Her eyes then moved to the Sword of the Creator, which was shining stronger than usual, yet it was spotless. "Definitively it's not a normal relic" she thought. She advanced to his position as Byleth sheathed its sword, unsheathing a normal sword.
"Are you right my Teacher?"
"I´m fine. I just have the feeling that I mustn´t abuse the Sword of the Creator"
"Wise decision, even without using that sword you are a more than capable warrior" she said feeling a bit of relieve. "We must keep pressing forward and we must be careful about future ambushes"
"You are right" he said. "Check your surroundings!" he shouted "There could be more enemies hiding around us!"
As he said, they had to endure several attempts of ambush, but they succeeded at repelling them. They were starting to arrive to the highest level of the tower. Before they could arrive to its entrance they were welcomed by a rain of arrows. The remaining archers of Miklan´s army were preparing a last line stand against them.
"Take cover behind the rocks" she shouted, blocking some arrows with her shield.
"We need a counterattack!" he could hear her Teacher´s voice a few meters from her.
"Bernadetta! Shoot at will! Hubert and Dorothea, cover us with your magic"
"Understood!"
The air was suddenly filled by arrows and magic and the screams of those who got hit by them. After a few minutes of exchange she and her Professor leaded the spear head against the bandits' formation.
"Cursed nobles!" said a red haired man in the middle of the enemy formation. "All of you want to steal what is mine by right! I will kill you all!"
"Take it easy brother" said Sylvain, rushing to their position "Just be a good boy and return the lance to me. I promise I won´t tell our father"
"You ruined my life! I won´t let you take it, I will kill you by my own hands"
"It´s not my fault that I was born with a Crest and you weren´t, you know?" he sighed. "You are just delusional if you think that I am the source of all your problems. You have dug your own grave, brother"
Their forces clashed against Miklan´s last line of defense. Her Professor was the first to clash against Miklan, who was holding the Lance of Ruin.
"Be careful Professor! That´s a Hero´s relic"
Miklan was using the Lance of Ruin with great strength, but it didn´t release any glow. "Being crestless means that he can´t use the lance to its full strength" she thought.
…
"Miklan, we should surrender" cried one of his soldiers.
"Fool, there is no way they will forgive us. Die fighting or die like a coward!"
Taking advantage of that moment of distraction, Byleth discharged a potent blow against Miklans. Next to him Sylvain was trying to poke his brother with his own lance. The fight was already turning in their favor.
"You aren´t really bad" Miklan smirked to him, catching his breath, when something strange happened.
The orb of the Lance of Ruin started to glow with an ominous appearance. A strange substance started to emanate from the orb, reaching Miklan´s body.
"What the hell?!" realizing what was happening Miklan tried to drop the lance, but he couldn´t, dark tentacles grapping his hand. In a few seconds he was covered in the black substance.
The surviving members of Miklan´s gang started to disband the moment they saw what was happening.
"Stay closer to me, all of you!" shouted Byleth.
A beast emerged from the dark substance, Miklan and the Lance of Ruin nowhere to be seen. The beast was covered in white spikes with glowing red eyes covered by a bone like shell. The monster picked one of the remaining thieves and started devouring it in front of them.
"Is that thing my brother?"
"It doesn´t matter what he was, if we don´t kill it we will find our end here" said Edelgard. She then looked to Byleth with a decisive glare in her eyes. "Under your command Professor!"
"Be careful Byleth" said Sothis inside his head. "That´s not an ordinary beast, I can sense an incredible strength within it, we will need to weaken its defenses if we want to destroy it"
"Hubert, Dorothea, Linhardt and Bernadetta support us from the distance. The rest wedge formation behind me!"
Spells and arrows were starting to impact against the beast, which was advancing towards them. Byleth unsheathed the Sword of the Creator and used it as a whip to draw the monster´s attention.
It worked. The beast roared and tried to impale him with its horn, but it was avoided by Byleth. The rest of the students were starting to surround the beast with their squadrons. Avoiding another attack from the beast Byleth used the Sword to climb a column. When the monster smashed it he climbed to its back.
"Attack all at once now!"
Spells, arrows and close combat weapons impacted against the beast shell, which was in a frenzy state trying to shake him off its back.
"The defenses of the beast are lowering! It's the time to strike back!" shouted Sothis.
Byleth jumped to the beast head and attacked the weakest point of the beast, its eyes. The moment the Sword of the Creator cut through it the monster howled in an unnatural way. Its howl was a mixture between a beast and a human. Without a second to lose Byleth jumped to the other side of the beast face, leaving it blind.
Critically injured the beast stood on its legs. With a horrific roar it released a rain of spines from its body, killing some mercenaries and soldiers of the church in the process. The beast then smashed the ground with all its strength sending Byleth flying.
The impact made him feel dizzy, blood dripping from its head. The monster, guiding by its smell was approaching him its mouth wide open.
"Stay away from him!"
Edelgard was standing in front of him with its axe. Using the power of her crest she released a brutal blow to the beast´s face, blocking its advance. But it wasn´t enough to kill it. With a surprising speed the monster grabbed her. It was about to devour her when Byleth jumped into its mouth.
"It´s over!"
Using all his strength Byleth pierced through the beast´s palate, he felt an intense pain on its left arm but he pressed forward. The beast released Edelgard from its grip as its pain was unbearable. Then the beast closed its jaws.
….
"The Professor has been devoured?" she could hear someone´s voice.
"It cannot be! It can´t end like this!" she thought. "Kill it, we have to save him!" she commanded.
The blind beast was standing again on its legs. It looked as it was about to make an attack when it suddenly stood still. A faint light was emanating from its chest. The light was getting brighter and then it appeared; the tip of a sword. The sword of the Creator slowly cut through the beast´s flesh. It looked like the first rays of sun cutting through the darkness of the night. An instant later her Teacher jumped to the ground, the Sword of the Creator on his right hand and the Lance of Ruin on his left. The beast collapsed behind him and started to dissolve, leaving Miklan´s corpse in a pitiful state behind.
She rushed to his place. "My Teacher, that was impressive!" she stopped suddenly when she realized that her Professor´s left arm was pierced by one of the beast´s fangs. He was breathing heavily.
"Linhardt come over here! The Professor needs healing!" She approached him and embraced him "You will get fine, my Teacher I promise"
Linhardt almost lost its consciousness when he saw the injury that Byleth had sustained.
"Don´t stay still, the Professor needs your help"
"It will serve no purpose if we don´t extract first the beast´s fang"
"Edelgard" said looking at her, "Pull it out for me"
"It´s going to hurt"
"I know, that´s why I´m asking you"
Edelgard took her dagger and cut a part of her cape giving it to him.
"Thank you" he said, putting it in his mouth.
Edelgard then pulled the fang out with all her strength. She needed various tries and she could feel Byleth´s hand grabbing her, but she continued until the fang was out of her Teacher´s body. Linhardt then applied his white magic in the area affected but he did so with his eyes closed. When he finished, the area of the wound was of a different color to its surroundings but it was closed.
"You must rest for a few days Professor, even with magic the wound may open again if you make too much effort"
"Thank you Linhardt" said Byleth, using Edelgard to get up. "Sylvain, take the Lance, it's yours after all. It´s over, good job everyone, we will be returning now"
….
They left the Tower. They had some casualties between the Church members and the mercenaries, but all of her classmate were alive and her Professor and Gilbert too.
They were welcomed at the village by its inhabitants that seemed relieved to know that the thieves attacking them were gone for good.
"Good job Professor" said Gilbert approaching them. "I will stay here a few more days to make sure that there are not more menaces roaming the area. You can return with your students. If you don´t mind I will keep the mercenaries and the soldiers of the Church with me"
"Understood, we will be leaving now"
"You can take these horses; they are fresh so your return will be faster"
"Thank you"
Byleth was about to climb one of the horses when she stopped him.
"Professor, it would be wiser to avoid unnecessary efforts, you can ride with me if you want"
"You are right" he sat behind her, his hands slightly touching her waist. She felt a bit of warmth in her face, but she was relieved he couldn´t see her.
"Follow us" shouted Byleth. "To the monastery"
They left behind the village and headed to the south, a gentle breeze coming to them.
"This battle has ended, but there is too much we don´t know yet" commented Edelgard.
"You are right about it. I will ask the archbishop about it. You are free to accompany me when we arrive"
"I certainly will, but rest for now my Teacher"
"Thank you for worrying about it"
"It's only natural my Teacher, you are of great importance to me"
"You too" he said whispering to her ear.
….
8/31 Verdant rain Moon
They arrived to the monastery the last day of the month. They were faster than when they started their expedition but Edelgard had advised him to avoid making unnecessary efforts.
When they arrived most of the students went straight to the baths, exhausted of their journey.
"Edelgard, Sylvain I would like both of you to accompany me"
"Of course my Teacher"
"Me? Why?"
"I have to report the archbishop about our findings and as one of the most affected persons by these events I think you should accompany me"
"You are right about that, I will bring the lance then"
They headed to the audience room, where Rhea was already waiting, apparently informed about their arrival.
"You have done a wonderful job Professor, I am sure that the Goddess itself has given you her protection. I am glad to hear that no one of the students lost its life."
"We had some casualties within the ranks of the Church"
"Don´t blame yourself about their deaths. They died for a just cause."
"Miklan is dead. He turned into a monster by the Lance of ruin"
"I feared that something like that would happen. That´s the punishment that the Goddess prepares for those considered unworthy of her blessing"
He could sense that both Edelgard and Sylvain were tense hearing Rhea´s explanation.
"Did you know about that?"
"I did, that´s why I wanted to recover the lance as soon as possible. I beg you to restrain of telling the tragic events that unfolded in the Tower. The truth would cause panic across all of Fódlan"
"Does it mean that it may happen to me too?"
"You don´t have to worry about that Professor, the Sword of the Creator has chosen you as its rightful user. You have nothing to fear from it. I beg you to give me the Lance; I will make sure that it's returned to its rightful owner when the situation stabilizes in the north"
Byleth looked at Sylvain and then at Edelgard, when he returned his gaze to the archbishop he had already made his decision.
…
"She knew all along and her face hasn´t changed a bit" thought Edelgard, looking at the archbishop. "And now she is asking for the lance"
"No"
She was surprised by her Teacher´s response. She looked at him, but his expression didn´t change a bit.
"May I ask why?" The archbishop was visibly upset by her Teacher´s answer, her warmth tone already disappeared.
"Sylvain is the heir of House Gautier, he had fought alongside me and he has proven his courage in battle. I can´t see no one else more capable than him to take care of the lance. The decision is up to him"
The archbishop looked at him for a moment, her eyes colder than usual.
"I will follow your advice this time Professor, as recognition of your services for the Church. You will come here tomorrow to be informed about your future assignment. You are all free to leave now"
They left the room and remained silent for a while. The first one to talk was Sylvain.
"Professor, you have surprised me, but I thank you. I will take good care of it. You can count with me if you ever need my help. For now I would like to take a bath. I don´t enjoy being covered in mud, even if it is from my own country. Bye Professor, Edelgard" said Sylvain wavering a hand to them.
"Professor I would like to talk with you" she said, opening the room to an empty room. "Can I take some of your time?"
"Of course Edelgard"
They entered the room. When she made sure that no one was around there she looked at him.
"I must admit that I´m surprised by your response my Teacher, was it right to refuse the archbishop´s command?"
"I did what I thought was right. The lance belongs to Sylvain and he had already paid a high price for it"
"You mean the death of Miklan. It is regretful that someone´s existence can be conditioned by the existence of a crest. Miklan was a criminal, but he wasn´t useless, given the right circumstances he could have lead armies in battle. The crests might grant extra capabilities, but a skillful person can overcome those advantages with enough talent. Hubert and Dorothea are both crestless, yet they have high capabilities. Don´t you think Professor that the world would be a better place without crests?"
"I respect your ideals, but the world as it is won´t accept them easily"
"You are right that it´s just wishful thinking as long as the world remains as it is, but things won´t necessary stay the same eternally. The archbishop knew that people can be turned into monsters by the relics, yet she told us nothing about it. What kind of Goddess could make such punishment to humanity?"
She stopped talking when she heard someone coming to them. It was Hubert.
"Professor, I would like to talk with Lady Edelgard about a private matter, may I have your permission"
He looked at her one more time and nodded.
"I will see you tomorrow Edelgard, I will think about what you just told me"
"Rest well Professor"
When Hubert made sure that the Professor had left, he looked at her with a serious expression on his face.
"You are playing a dangerous game Lady Edelgard"
"I told you before, with my strength alone I won´t succeed. My path is full of obstacles and the more help I can get the better. Besides, if trusting the Professor allows me to strengthen my position against them so be it"
"That´s just a bet, a dangerous one I must say. The Professor´s capabilities are surprising, but that makes him more of a menace. It may be wiser to get rid of it"
"Don´t even consider that. Even if he doesn´t support our cause he has done nothing against us. Furthermore, he holds no position of political power so his death would only catch the attention of the archbishop and the blade breaker."
"I´m only worried about your wellbeing Lady Edelgard. I will respect your wish as you command." He bowed to her before leaving here alone.
"Is it wrong to want him to join me?" she asked herself, hope and reality clashing inside her.
I´m ill. I don´t know if it is the unfamous bug, but I will stay in quarantine (by my own will). Only area affected is the throat (dry despite drinking a lot of water), but apart from that you could say I´m fine. I will keep busy writing and studying (currently checking my old laptop to work from my room). I will keep posting as I finish writing, so expect more from me here.
Take care and stay safe!