11/10
"This place is strange" Byleth thought as they rode through the Valley of Torment. The place appeared to be an ancient battlefield, completely destroyed. Trees long ago dead were the only witnesses of what had happened there, but unfortunately there was no way to know the truth, yet the lava and the scorched terrain made him think about a catastrophe of cataclysmic levels.
"The more we look into this guy the more I´m certain he is a monster. I think we have everything we need to know to call off your wedding."
"You were right; we should be leaving this place as soon as possible."
"Why are you leaving so early?" asked an unknown voice.
The moment they looked around a group of rogues appeared in different places, surrounding them.
"Hand over the girl and we will let all of you go"
"Surely you can´t mean me. Wait…did he send them?"
"I told you he was a rotten apple. He intends to kill all of us just for his own benefit. We can´t let them take my precious Ingrid"
"They have chosen a bad day to do something like this" his father smiled looking at him. "They will know what happens when they mess with the Blade Breaker and the Ashen Demon"
"They are dumb enough to come to attack our group; I guess that we will have to get rid of all of them" Shamir said preparing her bow.
"Make a circle around our perimeter" he ordered. "Those who can fly, back us from the heights"
"Said and done Teach"
The first wave of enemies arrived to them. Fighting alongside his father on the ground his first adversary was a warrior wielding a heavy axe. The attacks from the warrior were strong, but they lacked precision and he was shortly after beheaded after he missed a critical hit. His father was doing fine next to him. His lance already covered in the blood of the enemies he had crushed.
"Why do I have to get dirty again? This is not the place you should be bringing a lady like me Professor" complained Hilda as she smashed one of the enemies to the ground.
"If we come through this I will give you an accessory in exchange" He knew that Hilda was fond of accessories and she even made her own.
"That´s a talk I like more, Professor"
"At this rate you will have to give us all something in exchange." Linhardt said as he casted healing spells. "This place is too hot, I´m getting sleepy"
"It´s not time to take a nap, Linhardt, even if I want to take one too" Flayn said next to him.
"Oh Goddess please forgive what we are doing" Marianne said in a whispering voice as she casted her own spells against the enemy units.
Their flying units were doing well too. Ingrid and Edelgard were using their Pegasi in a hit and run strategy and Claude was using his bow against the enemy archers that tried to approach them. Petra and her new mount were causing havoc across the enemy lines, her wyvern a formidable foe against the thieves and mercenaries fighting against them. After the last fights they had to endure this one appeared to be easier than expected.
"They are too weak!" shouted Caspar as he punched another enemy on its face with his battling gauntlets. The enemy appeared to be running away as they crushed their frontline.
"This is too easy" he thought.
"Ambush!" shouted Leonie.
The moment he turned around he saw a group of several warriors attacking the group from behind. Attacking them from behind, their archers didn´t have a chance. Shamir was able to counterattack with her lance, but it was too late for Bernadetta and Ignatz.
"No Ignatz, Bernadetta!" he shouted as he used the power Sothis to revert the outcome of the attack.
"Ambush!" he shouted as he ran to the position of their archers, counterattacking the hiding enemies alongside Raphael and the mages.
"Be careful around here. There might be more ambushes nearby"
They slowly advanced their way through the enemy lines. They had to face more ambushes, but he didn´t need to use divine pulse to avoid fatal outcomes.
"That must be the fancy noble we were searching about" said his father looking to a scarred hill a few meters from him.
"We must catch him. Leave it to me" he said as he started approaching him.
Noticing the advance of their group the enemy mercenaries and thieves prepared to make a last stand against them.
"All the gold you can imagine if you can kill them! Show no hesitation!" shouted the rich man.
"Killing for a contract is something I can understand, but doing it for kidnapping someone is disgusting" Shamir said as she prepared another arrow.
"I will never let them my dear Ingrid. It´s time to electrify this place" Dorothea said as she casted Thoron.
They were advancing when he noticed a group of barrels falling on them.
"Explos…!" He couldn´t end what he was saying as the explosion of the barrels surrounded them. Byleth was trying to get up when one pair of hands grabbed him.
"Are you ok son?" asked his father, slightly coughing due to the smoke.
"I´ve seen better days" he looked around to check the rest of the students. Some of them were injured, but fortunately there were no casualties among them.
"Cast healing spells. We can´t back down!"
The enemy was preparing more barrels on the hill. They still were too far away to reach them.
"Lysithea! Warp me there"
"Understood Professor" she said. A few seconds later she was engulfed in a purple cloud, appearing in front of the enemy.
"What the hell?"
Casting a fire spell he destroyed the barrels prepared for them. The blast of the explosion sent him to the ground, but their enemies weren´t that lucky as most of them died from the range of the explosion.
Taking care of the remaining enemies he started to approach the rich man.
"How did you do that?"
"There are more things you should be worry about than asking such questions. Are you ready to die?" He said as he approached him with his sword.
"Wait, wait! Don´t kill me. I´m rich. I have a lot of money. I could give you all kind of imaginable luxury for the rest of your life. Just consider it"
"You were trying to kill us all and now you are trying to buy me. I don´t have dealings with people like you"
The rest of the students were starting to arrive to the hill, but he was more focused on the disgusting man in front of him.
"A blood debt should be repaid in blood." Hubert chuckled as he saw the rich man panicking in front of him.
"Mercy!"
"You will find mercy after your death" Byleth said as he raised his sword.
"Wait!" Ingrid shouted as she landed besides him.
"He had tried to kill us all and we have discovered that his wealth is based on the suffering and death of innocents. Wouldn´t you want to kill him?"
"He is an evil and corrupted man, that´s for sure. Killing him would be the easy option. He must pay with the rest of his life for all the suffering he has committed." She then looked to the rich man on the ground. "You will have to accept our conditions if you want to leave this place alive"
"I will comply, please keep that sword away from me!"
"First of all the wedding plan will be called off."
"Of course"
"Half of your money will be sent to House Galatea, the rest to the Church and the Alliance."
"Then I will be left with nothing!"
"You will be left with your head on your shoulders. I consider it a fair trade"
"Spoken like a true merchant. You could be a worthy member of the Alliance, Ingrid" Claude said laughing.
"Do we have any papers to make sure he complies?"
"I´m always prepare for such occasions" Lorenz said offering her a white paper.
The merchant was at first reluctant to sign up the papers, but he was quickly convinced when Byleth´s sword dangerously approached his neck. They also took away the money he had and the expensive weapons he was carrying.
"Do you think he will comply?" Ingrid asked as they saw him leaving in a pathetic state.
"I don´t think so, but if we don´t receive any funding I will make sure that Judith pays him a visit" Claude said with a mischievous smile. "I didn´t expect to have such a profitable battle, although we should leave this place. It is too hot"
"Better hot than cold, but I agree" Petra said.
"I want to tell my father about this. If you don´t mind we could make our return through the Holy Kingdom"
"No problem, let´s leave this valley already" He said as they continue their march.
…..
Sun was starting to hide behind the clouds as they left the boundaries of the valley. They were welcomed with a chilly breeze, some areas around them covered in snow. The harsh contrast of temperatures was making most of the students shiver.
"It appears than winter has come to the Holy Kingdom" Claude observed.
"This is nothing compared with what is going to come. If you stay here for a few more weeks you will understand"
"No planning to be here for that long, Ingrid. Teach you don´t seem to be affected by it"
"I´ve seen worse things"
"You are right son. Do you remember that time when we were fighting against those savages from Sreng?"
"It was so cold that we crossed the frozen sea to attack the enemy lines from behind"
"Remember me not to go with you to such a place Teach, I prefer warmer places"
"Me too! Brigid is warmth and it is full of life. This place seems so empty"
"I guess I could give it a little visit when I have some time to spare"
"Of course!" she said with a genuine smile.
"If we continue at this rate we will be arriving to the castle of my father before the sun sets."
"Hurry up everyone. A warmth bed is waiting for us"
After a while the castle appeared in front of them. It was a sturdy fortification, but Byleth knew from his last visit that the inner rooms needed to be repaired in some areas. "Perhaps with the money obtained from this battle they can used it to improve the situation of the castle"
Ingrid flew ahead of them to tell his father about their arrival. When they finally arrived Ingrid´s father was waiting for them, although the servants were nowhere to be seen.
"Welcome once again to my home. I see that we have a lot of new faces" he said observing all of them. My daughter has told me about the terrifying events you had to endure. You have my everlasting gratitude. Feel yourselves at home. My servants will guide all of you to your respective rooms. If you excuse me I want to discuss this matter with my daughter alone" he said as he left accompanied by Ingrid.
"We finally made it" Linhardt said. "I won´t be doing anything for this month, Professor. I need to rest for a few weeks."
"I´m hungry. I can´t wait to eat something" Raphael said as he took off his heavy armor.
"This place will surely be terrifying at night" Alois said looking the towers around him.
"You may be able to see a ghost walking around you"
"That´s not funny Shamir. We don´t know what you can attract saying those words"
"A man of the Church and afraid of ghosts? You could make a joke about it" Shamir said, covering her mouth as she laughed.
"Ghosts don´t exist. Only children believe in things like that" Lysithea said in a confident tone, although she screamed when Claude touched her cheeks with his hands covered in snow.
"Sorry I just couldn´t avoid it" he said laughing as he was chased by her around the courtyard.
"They might be warriors outside the monastery, but they are just a bunch of kids" Jeralt said laughing watching the scene unfolding in from of them. When he realized he was smiling he rubbed his hair. "I think I understand now why you have changed so much since you started working at the monastery. We will make sure that they stay unharmed."
"I will protect them with everything I have"
"I couldn´t expect less" he smiled. "We should enter. We don´t want them to catch a cold"
….
"The food might be modest, but it will keep all of you warmth. Winter is coming and in a few weeks we will know the really meaning of cold"
"I hope I will be sitting next to the fireplace at the monastery when that happens" Claude commented in front of him as he ate a piece of meat.
"You don´t have to worry about that. I don´t think we will have snow for the next few days, although only the Goddess really knows about the future" he then looked at Byleth. "The money we have obtained from the merchant will certainly help us during these harsh times, especially when the rest of it arrives. You have my gratitude for your help"
"I´m happy to have lent a hand"
The dinner continued with nothing remarkable to say, except when Alois and Jeralt started to compete to see which one of them was more capable of enduring drinking schnapps. The final result was that they had to carry Alois to their chambers, since he was incapable of moving by its own.
He was about to leave when Ingrid approached him
"Professor, may I have a moment to speak with you? You can come too Dorothea"
"Of course"
"I must thank you for assisting me in this trip. If it weren´t for all of you I can only shiver at the thought of being married to such man"
"Thanks Goddess. I´m so glad it all worked out" Dorothea said with a relieved smile. "I told you I would do everything to protect you, my dear Ingrid."
"My father has also told me to keep well protected the relic of my family" she said as she showed them a lance. "Its name is Lúin, one of the Hero´s Relic. This weapon has been passed down for generations within my family, but it´s been kept hidden for years since my father and siblings were born crestless. I guess it will have a better use with me, but you are free to use it if you ever need to, since you have my gratitude for helping me"
"I will consider it"
"Don´t worry Ingrid we were just happy to help you. I couldn´t forgive giving away my Ingrid to someone else, especially a corrupted man like him."
"Have I just turned into your property?" Ingrid asked a bit embarrassed. "I have something for you too, I don´t know if you have one of these, but I thought you would like it" she said, showing her a ring.
"Is this a proposal?" he asked, looking at the ring. He didn´t know that Ingrid was feeling forwards Dorothea in that way, but he was happy if they were happy too. "I wish you a life full of happiness"
"Oh my, Ingrid! I´m so happy! I will gladly be your spouse from now on. I will treasure you until my last breath on this world" said a seemingly excited Dorothea.
"Wait, wait! This is just a misunderstanding" Ingrid said blushing. "I was just searching for something to give you among my belongings when I came across with this ring. It´s an enchanted ring that heals a bit its wielder. It won´t be of too much help against life threatening injuries, but it is better than nothing"
"I got my hope too up then" she sighed. "You are too cruel Ingrid, you shouldn´t do something like that to a poor girl like me"
"I said nothing though…Anyway if you want to use it, feel free to keep it. I just wanted to thank you. Good night" she said as she left them alone.
"I can really feel magic within it, although it isn´t very powerful" Dorothea commented as she looked at him. "Do you want to use it, Professor? I don´t really mind. I´m just happy with the detail that Ingrid had just had with me"
He touched the ring. He felt a faint energy, probably related to the healing magic within it. "It won´t do too much, but I can find it a good use"
"Have you thought about someone in particular? You could give it to…"
"I was thinking about Caspar. He is usually in the front line and he may need it more than anyone else"
"Professor, that would be a waste of such a beautiful ring." Dorothea complained. "Why are you so interested in battling?"
"I just want to protect all of you"
"The answer I expected from you. I guess that I will have to give my best the next days"
"What do you mean?"
"If I told you it wouldn´t be a surprise anymore" Dorothea said with a teasing smile. "Good night, Professor. I hope you sleep well"
"You too Dorothea"
"What are you going to do now?" asked Sothis inside his head after Dorothea had left.
"I have nothing much to do. I guess I could go on a walk since I´m not tired yet. It´s been a while since the last time you spoke to me"
"That´s your fault. Every time you abused your powers I grow extremely tired. You are a powerful warrior, but you shouldn´t abuse your power"
"I know. I had no other choice that time."
"I know that you worry about them, but you must understand that one day you may not be able to save them all. You must realize that my power is limited."
"I hope that day never comes" The mere thought of losing one of his dear students was depressing.
"By the way, that place you were before. I felt a strange energy coming from it"
"Do you mean the valley of torment?" It was definitely a strange place. The area was completely destroyed yet the surrounding areas appeared to be intact. "As far as I know it has always been like that"
"Isn´t that quite strange? I don´t think it originated from natural causes. No, there must be something more behind it. I wonder what or who originated that landscape"
"The ire of the Goddess?"
"Have you just turned into a pious man? I don´t really know about it. It could the Goddess of the Church, a giant beast or a powerful magician. The only thing I know that whatever caused it must have been really powerful"
Fódlan was full of areas with inexplicable elements, but he was confident that the valley of torment was at the top of that list.
"We can only make hypothesis about it"
"I know, I was just thinking aloud. I will take a nap. You should be resting soon"
"Good night Sothis"
…..
"What are you doing here at this time of night Monica? You should be staying in your room. Don´t be a nuisance" Hubert had been controlling her during their expeditions, but he was already exhausted so she had no other option than to control her for now.
"You should congratulate me Edel. I didn´t kill anyone. You should be happy about it"
"How many times do I have to tell you that I don´t want you to use my name in such a casual manner?" she said in an exasperated tone. It was true that Kronya didn´t hurt any of the students, but it was evident that it wasn´t out of her good will. "Your kind has been recently silent. What are you planning to do?"
"Why should I tell you? Friends should trust each other without making such questions. Some people would consider that we are enemies by the way you are talking to me"
"Don´t imply things where there is nothing. We are just cooperating for the time being." She suspected that Kronya didn´t really know about the real plans of Solon and Thales, at least she wouldn´t trust her plans to a creature with such sadistic tendencies.
"I must admit that I was surprised when your Professor came to save me. Such efforts for someone like me, I´m moved beyond words" Kronya said touching her face with her hands in a passionate manner. "And when I saw him covered in blood, surrounded with all those corpses… I did my best not to lick the blood from his face. Oh, I think I´m falling for him" she said laughing maniacally.
"Disgusting, don´t ever dare to lay your hands on him" she said. "How can they use a creature like this for their objectives? Kronya is a danger to everyone around us" she thought.
"Why are you so defensive about him? Are you jealous? I´m a generous being, we could share it. I´m only interested in the taste of his blood. Thinking about it I´m just getting aroused"
"Keep quiet, someone is coming" Edelgard said as she heard the sound of footsteps coming closer.
"Good evening Edelgard, Monica" greeted them her Professor. "What are you doing at this time of night?"
"That´s something I could ask you too" Monica said with a mild smile. "You sustained heavy injuries when you fight against those giant wolves. You should take some rest. Besides, you saved me" Monica said with a singing voice that made Edelgard shiver.
"I did what I had to do to save all of you. I didn´t expect you to be so skillful taking down enemies"
"I told you. I may look frail, but I have some experience with weapons. I could find some time to practice with you alone…" Monica said in a teasing tone, but her eyes were cold as ice.
"I´m afraid I cannot allow you doing that, Monica. As you know the Professor is already busy with all kind of individual practices so you will have to wait, don´t you think Professor?" she said looking at him.
"You are right. This month is going to be difficult, but we can find some time later"
"Don´t worry I can wait. I will be going for now. Good night Edel, Professor" she said with a gentle smile as she left them alone.
"That creature really gets on my nerves" she thought, as she saw her leaving.
"Is there something bothering you, Edelgard? You look tired"
"Don´t worry my Teacher. Guiding Monica can be exhausting at times."
"I don´t think we will be having more expeditions for this month so you will be able to rest more, but don´t push yourself too hard"
"That´s the same thing I could say about you, my Teacher" she smiled to him. "You shouldn´t sacrifice your own health for the sake of us"
"It is something I´m willing to do if I can save any of you. But you are right. I will only use it as a last resort. Thank you for worrying about me" he said as he rubbed her hair.
"You really look like your father when you do this to me" she said with a faint smile. At first she was embarrassed every time he did that to her, but she had got used to it. In fact she was glad that she was in the receiving end of his affection.
"He always did this to me as a symbol of his love for me. I guess that I´m doing the same" Byleth said smiling. "I hope you can rest well Edelgard" he said as he prepared to leave.
"My Teacher"
"Yes, Edelgard?"
"Would you like to take a walk with me?"
"It is always a pleasure" he said as he offered her his arm.
Accepting his invitation they left together, their footsteps were covered by the howling wind blowing outside the castle. She knew that when she returned to the monastery she would have to face the likes of Solon and the others again, but for the time being she would just enjoy the remaining time she was granted.