Attack on Fire Emblem - Chapter 5 (The prepared defence of Palla)
She enjoyed flying. There was something about the wind caressing between your ears and the melody of the atmosphere that always drew her in. When she opened her eyes, that relaxing fantasy was over. There were still Titans at the gate.
Taking a deep breath, she raised her famed White Wing Sword and ordered her trebuchets to fire another barrage of rocks. Two of the Titans took direct hits. They toppled over but recovered almost immediately. Palla expected the results; she had taken a bit of relief seeing the Titans floored even for a moment. She knew that there was no effective or reliable way to kill a Titan. At least they had not found a way to overcome the walls of Modena.
A sudden movement near the feet of Titans caught her keen eyes. With her eyes dilating, she spotted a horse galloping towards the walls of Modena. It carried a limp body on its back. For the moment, most of the Titans seemed ignore the animal. Few of the shorter Titans attempted to reach for the horse to no avail. The horse was too quick for them.
Even from a distance, the veteran Pegasus knight could tell that the body was still alive. She quickly gestured to the Askr guards to allow the horse in.
It did not take long for the wounded soldier to be identified as Clive. Clive had been a member of the ill-fated squad that first encountered the Titans. While squad leader Finn did not survive the attack, Clive had been reported missing-in-action by Ephraim. His return was met with cheers from both the heroes and the Askr soldiers.
"Keep observing the Titans," Palla ordered Jagen. The elderly knight acknowledged the order, and barked at the wall guards to centre their attention to the Titans. Palla had questions of her own.
As she approached the injured horseman, another knight blocked Palla's path. It was Clive's spouse Mathilda.
"Surely it can wait," the blonde towered over the shorter Palla. There was no way she could insist on questioning Clive straight away. After all, he did look weak and shaken from his ordeal. With Palla's permission, Mathilda led Clive to the infirmary.
Frowning, Palla's mind grew suspicious. How did Clive survive riding from the Southern borders, past the camps and reach Modena without encountering any of her scouts? These are questions that must be answered. Her attention was soon drawn elsewhere as her younger sisters Catria and Est reported in.
"The prisons are in a state of unrest," Catria the more level-headed sister said.
"That darn Zephiel leading the protest again," Est chimed in, eager to take on the challenge. Her emotions were not unreasonable. At the very least, these were foes they could handle.
The prisoners had been taken from both the Emblian Empire and Muspell during the border conflicts. While the Askr Kingdom and the Order of Heroes debated what to do with the prisoners, many of the captives were placed in the dungeons of Modena.
With her sisters at her side, Palla ordered her elite White Wing mercenaries to gather near the prison. Confidently, they marched to the dungeons expecting to face an unruly mob. What they had encountered was an orderly crowd seated on the parade square. Zephiel, the former king of Bern, was prominently placed in the front of the prisoners.
Palla remembered clashing blades with Zephiel in the initial defence of Askr. Despite the tenacity of Palla and her sisters, their spirit was no match for his swordsmanship. If not for the speedy arrival of the other heroes, the White Wings would have surely fallen that day. That would be no reinforcements now. She would have to deal with the protest herself.
One of Zephiel's aides brought her a list of demands. Palla could guess what their demands are. With the farmlands of Modena stalked over by Titans, the people were given reduced rations. Yet the prisoners rejected her reasons. Talk of Titans was simply fear-mongering.
"The Titans are real!" Est finally burst out in anger. She had witnessed fliers being grabbed out of the sky and eaten. Wrapping her hand around her javelin, the younger White Wing sibling glared daggers in Zephiel's direction.
Keeping his composure, the deposed king asked to be led outside to see for himself. Expectedly Palla turned him down but Zephiel offered his services to the Order of Heroes. Drawing from historical stories, he explained that the use of convicts in penal battalions was not a novel idea.
Both Est and Catria balked at the idea of enlisting Zephiel. They turned to Palla to have the same view, but she hesitated. Enlisting a skilful tactician was potentially useful, especially when their losses had been high. Catria noticed and swiftly pulled her sisters aside to put some sense into Palla.
"You can't trust him," she pointed out. "The moment he has an edge he will stab us in the back."
"Once he sees the Titans, he might see we have a common enemy," Palla explained her line of logic.
Catria shook her head. Zephiel was definitely up to something. For all they knew, he had planned this to be a distraction.
Before Catria could finish her thoughts, the ground roared in pain and vibrated violently. Almost everyone was thrown off their feet. Barely recovering, her eyes opened to see tiled roofs falling into their shelters and stones dislodged from the cobbled streets. Catria made the order to escort the prisoners back to their cells.
A few minutes later, reports started flying in. It was unclear if the Titans had broken into Modena, or if the wall was still standing. The casualty reports were contradictory also. Nothing made sense. Apparently, a lone Titan was running amok in Modena and yet the walls were undamaged.
Lesser soldiers would have panicked from the lack of information, but the White Wing Sisters were no mere soldiers. Est knew that as long her sisters were next to her, everything would be fine.
Step 1, they had to get a better view and assess the situation. Mounting their pegasi, the sisters elevated themselves. The southern part of Modena was covered a in huge dust cloud and their view was obscured.
Step 2, they had to maintain a safe proximity from potential danger. Knowing that a Titan might have somehow breeched the defences, they maintained a reasonable distance from the smog.
Step 3, there was no time for step 3. A huge boulder dashed out from the smoke and Est barely avoided it. She had nearly fell of her stead, but quickly recovered by wrenching herself back on top using the trusty harness.
"That was a close one," she allowed herself a grin but suddenly noted her two sisters were missing. They were next to her half a second ago. Then it dawned on her.
Horrified, she swept down to see where the boulder had landed. Palla's beautiful, lifeless body were scattered like a rag doll on the streets. It pained Est to see her sister's limbs bent in an unnatural way. Some civilian corpses were next to her, but Catria's remains were not found. Est sobbed uncontrollable as the surviving White Wing mercenaries joined her where Palla's body laid.
"Your orders, Lieutenant?" They turned to Est for leadership. For the first time in her life, Est had no idea what to do.
Author's remarks:
I wanted to create the feel of how anyone can die in this series. Sorry, Palla, you are my favourite White Wing sister.
A trailer for my series can be found if you type "Attack of Fire Emblem trailer" on YouTube.