"RADIANT DAWN!" Owain shouted as stabbed another the risen through the chest.

He breathed a sigh of relief. That should be the last of them. He looked over to the group of kids huddled over by the wall of the fortress. One, two, three, four….

There were about four left out of a total of seven. He looked down at the blood-stained field of snow that was shrouded in that sickening purple mist. He looked back at the kids. The fear and terror etched into their faces was enough to make his stomach churn. He should have saved all of them. What good was his exalted blood if he couldn't even save a few kids? He gripped his right arm. It was cold and stiff. He wasn't worthy of bearing the mark on his right arm.

"I-Is it over?" One of the kids spoke up.

Owain laughed before striking an overly dramatic pose. "Fear not my dark disciples! For I, Owain Dark, have vanquished these missionaries of hell! Now we must hurry an-" A sharp pain jabbed at his right arm as Owain doubled over in pain.

"Are you alright?" one of the kids ran up to him.

"Y-Your concern is wasted on me, young one," Owain tried to stabilize himself, "just hurry and follow the white road of fate into the hands of divine protection erected by your ancestors where you will be rejoined with those of similar heroic bloodlines"

"Huh?"

"What did he say?"

"I think he said to go back to the fortress"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, that's what I said!" Owain snapped, "Now hurry up! Your parents must be worried!"

"Why is he suddenly speaking normally now?"

"I don't know."

"It's so strange!"

"For sure"

Owain frowned and breathed a heavy sigh. "Let's just go..."

A rustle in the nearby brush of ferns pulled at Owain's ear. He immediately gripped his sword and twisted his body into a fighting stance. His eyes darted towards the source of the sound only to find nothing. Now that was strange, he could've sword he felt an extremely powerful presence. He wasn't faking it either. Something just then sent a chill rattling through his blood, and it was oddly familiar. Maybe he really was going crazy.

"Mr. Owain?" One of the kids tugged at his shirt. "Is something wrong?"

"I-It's nothing." He said before walking off with the other kids.

Morgan frowned as she crossed out a section of her map.

"Perhaps, I should've sent more risen in that direction." She put her hand to her chin and thought for a moment. She would expect nothing less from the leader of the justi-

She shook her head. What was she thinking?! He was nothing more than another disgusting human she had to kill in her lord's name. This was no time for sentimentality. If she failed to kill him here, then...

"I will not tolerate failure! slaughter everyone! Do not leave a single one of those worms alive!"

"regardless, you have failed me and I have no need for unloyal servants who are going to fail me"

For a moment, she sat in silence as the cold winter breeze brushed through her scarlet red hair. A loud searing pain erupted along her right shoulder as a familiar dark voice rang in her head.

"Are you having doubts? Do these worthless worms truly mean so much to you that you'd betray your own father?"

Morgan shook her head, "N-No, I would never betray you pa-I mean my lord Grima."

The voice chuckled, "Good, now do what must be done! I'm counting on you, Morgan, so don't disappoint me."

Morgan took a deep breath as the pain along her arm began to subside.

"Just watch me, papa." Morgan spoke out between her ragged breaths, "I won't disappoint you, I promise…"

She took a moment to flip through her tactics book and scribbled something inside. The number of risen inside the fortress should be dwindling right about now. It was about time that she tested that risen. It should be more than strong enough to wipe them out. Not to mention the little surprise already waiting in the main hall.

A screech of pain rang through Inigo's ears as he yanked his sword from yet another Risen. He breathed an exhausted sigh before looking at the clear dark hallway ahead of him. Familiar groans echoed through the darkness meaning there were still more risen ahead. He glanced back to see Yarne and Vanessa clearing out the area behind him.

He took a deep breath, "Is everyone alright?!"

"Yeah, my area is all clear!" Vanessa spoke up, "We saved everyone that we could."

"I-I've been better," Yarne said turning back into his human form, "It's better than being extinct, I suppose."

Inigo laughed, "Well if you're able to joke around like that then you should fine."

Yarne frowned, "Who said I was joking! My entire species is at stake here! I can't afford to die, you know!"

"Oh get over yourself, you're alive aren't you?" Vanessa crossed her arms, "Besides you're one of our strongest fighters, show a little backbone!"

"Easy for you to say! You're not the last of your entire species! If I die, then that's it! No more taguel!" Yarne then looked down at Vanessa's pegasus, "You understand me, right Tristan?"

Tristan simply let out a snort and shook his head.

"You too? And here I thought we were friends!" Yarne said as his body slumped over in defeat.

Vanessa couldn't help but laugh, "Just goes to show how much a pegasus takes after its master," She patted Tristan's neck, "Isn't that right?"

Yarne breathed a sigh of defeat, "Fine, but you guys better help protect me, alright! I'd feel a lot safer that way."

"You got it, buddy," Inigo smirked, "So long as you have our backs, we've got yours. We're in this together."

"Thanks, Inigo" Yarne smiled back.

Inigo then looked back at all the refugees they managed to save. That's right, they were all gonna get out of this together.

"So is everyone all accounted for?"

"It looks that way," Vanessa said looking at the pack of survivors behind them, "Aside from more than a few casualties anyway."

"Um actually…" A woman in ragged-looking clothing stepped forward, "I haven't seen my little boy since this morning. He went outside with Lord Owain and still hasn't returned."

"Yeah that's right my kid went with him too." A man spoke up.

"My two boys still haven't come back either."

"I hope they're alright."

Inigo bit his lip. That's right, Owain still hasn't come back yet from patrol this morning. If the risen were nearly as many as there were in here, then…. Inigo shook his head, no, he had to have faith that Owain was alright. He may have a couple of screws loose but he's nothing if not dependable. He just had to have faith.

"Lord Inigo?" The lady raised an eyebrow.

Inigo flashed his trademark smile, "I'm sure your kids are fine. They have the great Owain Dark protecting them, after all. I guarantee you'll see them again once we get outside."

The woman breathed a deep sigh. "Well if you say so, milord."

"Don't you worry about it, you have my word that everything will work out," Inigo said as he turned forward towards the blank dark hallway, "Now let's hurry before more risen decide to show up!"

"Right!" everyone else nodded in unison.

Owain cried out in pain as his back slammed against the cold hard wall. The taste of warm liquid iron filled his mouth before spilling out like a faucet. His lungs felt as if they were about to burst with every ragged blood-stained breath. Slowly, he opened his eyes to the blurry mess of a world before him. The snow was stained a dark crimson and littered with the corpses of children. A blurry humanoid figure stood at the center of it all. It took a moment to wipe the blood off of its blade and then approached Owain.

"Th-This strength…." Owain pressed his hand against the wall and tried to push himself to his feet, "There's no doubt about it, you really are…."

The figure's shadow loomed over him. Owain clutched his arm as his brand was soaked in blood. He looked over at the risen's shoulder as the very same mark glowed ever so brightly on its lifeless corpse-like skin. There was no mistaking it. Owain looked up into the monster's crimson red eyes. Eyes that once filled him and his mother with hope were now full of dread and despair.

"U-Uncle Chrom…."

The risen narrowed its eyes at the sound of that name. The air stood still for a moment as the two continued to glare at each other. Quickly, it raised its sword and slashed down. Owain's heart froze as he gripped his sword. His sword arm burned with a searing pain unlike any he'd ever felt before. A splatter of blood followed by a scream of pain hit the air.

Okay, so I know it's been a while but let me just say between writer's block, school, and the world just crumbling around me, yeah this chapter took some time. Seriously, I rewrote this chapter about five or ten different times and every single time it was absolutely terrible. I don't even think this draft is particularly good. Still, it's got more good going for it than bad, unlike the other drafts. This one is definitely on the more light-hearted side but considering how the chapter ended we kind of need that right now. Yeah, the next chapter is gonna be pretty heavy all things considered, so look forward to that. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and stay safe out there. Lord knows you need it. Also I got a twitter ottservia if you wanna follow me. Shameless plug because why the fuck not.