A Summoner's Journey
Chapter 7: World of Blazing (Because I forgot to write it before Return to Awakening)
Team for this chapter: Robin, Marth, Klein and Narcian
Current heroes: Alfonse, Sharena, Anna, Virion, Eliwood, Caeda, Odin, Niles, Maria, Robin, Chrom, Lyn, Olivia, Nino, Seliph, Julia, Abel, Serra, Lon'qu, Felicia, Jeorge, Kagero, Fir, Sophia, Narcian, Frederick, Gaius, Gordin, Marth and Klein
The morning after the attack from Embla, several postcards arrived in the mail. The first was a summoning banner with six heroes that I've seen before. The words "Sibling Bonds" were written on the top. The postcard depicted Eldigan, Lachesis, Klein, Sanaki, Reinhardt and Olwen, everyone who attacked Askr not too long ago. The second was another summoning banner, titled "Battling Robin" with Hawkeye, Fir, Maria and Adult Tiki depicted on it. Finally, the third card was a letter telling us that the Grand Hero Battle featuring Female Robin has begun and the card inside the envelope can be used to summon Robin's battle. I decided to summon with the Sibling Bonds card first, so I took my entire stash of orbs from my chest in my arms and loaded them into a wheelbarrow in the lobby. I asked Robin and Lyn to accompany me to the summoning ruins and they agreed. We barely talked on the walk towards the bloody ruins. Lyn was still twitching in pain from when Veronica slammed her onto the wall and walking made Robin wheeze. When we finally made it to the ruins, I slid the Sibling Bonds banner into the usual slot and unclasped the Breidablik, loading the barrel with my five orbs.
After all my orbs were gone, I was somewhat disappointed with the results. I got 1 Odin, 2 Fredericks, 1 Gaius and 1 Gordin, but the real prizes were a 4 star Marth and a 5 star Klein. Alfonse was uneasy, seeing Marth walk into the Askrian castle, but welcomed him nevertheless. Klein looked a little unsure about his surroundings, so Eliwood and Fir took his side.
"I'm sure you remember me Klein. I'm Fir. I was in Roy's army" Fir said excitedly and Klein's nervous face melted instantly.
"Oh thank goodness you're here Fir. I thought I would be alone in this new world without anybody I know" Klein breathed a sigh of relief.
"You don't know me, but I was in your world once" Eliwood said, prompting Klein to look at him in the eyes "I am Eliwood, marquess of Pharae and the father of Roy, the leader of the army you were in"
"You are Marquess Pharae?" Klein fell to one knee and bowed "Milord, I was so very glad to have joined your son's army. He's a very talented leader"
Eliwood laughed "Thank you, but rise Klein. Here, I am fighting with everyone as an equal comrade. There isn't a need for formalities or special treatment"
"Ah, of course" Klein got up "Would you mind showing me around this place and getting me acquainted with the others?"
"No problem!" Fir grinned.
"Let's go to the palace gardens first. Come along you two" Eliwood said and the three went off. Meanwhile, Caeda and Marth were embracing each other in the corner of the lobby.
"Marth, I thought I'll never see you again!" Caeda wrapped her arms over Marth's neck affectionately "Did anything happen in Altea?"
"No, everything's fine Caeda" Marth replied with a warm smile, looking at his wife "After you disappeared from the castle, I told Chris and Katarina that they're in charge of the castle in case I came here too"
"Ah, so Chris and Katarina are taking care of Altea for us. That's reassuring" Caeda rested her head under Marth's neck "This is wishful thinking, but do you think Lucian will be able to summon them? I want both of them to be with us in this beautiful place"
"If I wasn't a prince, I would have wished for that too" Marth said, stroking Caeda's long sea-blue hair "But who would take care of Altea in our and their absence?"
"Frey and Cain could" Caeda suggested "But maybe not for a long time"
"Hmm… Roderick wouldn't be a bad choice to run the country for a bit. He's knowledgeable, calm and strategic, qualities needed in a leader" Marth thought aloud.
"Ha ha, what about his partner Luke?" Caeda said jokingly.
"Ho… don't even mention him. A good fighter, but poor Cecil and Norne had to deal with his relentless flirting for weeks. Good thing Roderick reins him in" Marth sighed.
"Why don't I introduce you to the people here, along with show you around?" Caeda offered her hand to Marth and the prince took it "Askr is an amazingly beautiful place and I've made many good friends here"
"That's good to hear. Lead the way Caeda" Marth smiled
After some introductions, sightseeing and eating, I took Marth and Klein into the Training Tower along with Serra and Maria to train.
"You know, Alfonse mentioned you as the wielder of the legendary Falchion" I commented as Marth struck out an enemy Axe Knight "So why are you holding a Silver Sword?"
"After the War of Heroes, I placed the Falchion in a shrine dedicated to Naga in Altea" Marth replied "After all, the Falchion was made from Naga's fangs"
"But why don't you carry it around with you at all times? Just in case someone attacks you" Klein asked, sniping a Lance Flier down with his Brave Bow.
"Like I said earlier, Falchion is a legendary blade created by the king of the divine dragons. I'd rather not whet it in more blood if a battle isn't to be fought" Marth said.
I sighed "Well, you seem to be doing fine with that Silver Sword, so I'll let it pass for now" I gazed around the third stratum chambers. It was empty aside from the corpses and weapons of dead Emblian soldiers.
"Looks like we're done here. Let's move to the fourth stratum" I said, leading my heroes to the next floor.
An hour later, Marth and Klein were up and ready to go. From the skill points they gained from levelling up, I gave Klein Death Blow 2 and Marth Spur Speed 2 and Escape Route 1. I also gave Klein a special attack called Chilling Wind. When I returned to Askr Castle, I called Robin and Narcian to the lobby.
"According to Anna, the World of Blazing is the last world we need to liberate from Embla's control" I said "So we're heading there today"
"Sounds good. Who are you planning to bring?" Robin asked.
"You, Marth, Klein and Narcian" I said and Robin nodded in approval.
"Good choices. It covers all the areas of the Weapon Triangle" Robin smiled "Are we leaving now?"
"Yes, we are. Narcian, Marth and Klein! Come with me!" I called and my troops followed me towards the portal courtyard, although Robin had to go get Narcian because he was trying to "assert his dominance" by attempting to fight some of my other heroes in the training yard.
"Come on Narcian, just let it go" Robin urged as Narcian swung his Emerald Axe down onto Lon'qu, but it was easily evaded.
"I'll leave the moment I hit this damn guy!" the wyvern rider slashed his axe in a circle, but Lon'qu effortlessly blocked it with his Killing Edge.
"You're no challenge" Lon'qu unleashed Glimmer and dealt heavy damage to Narcian, coating him with his own blood. As Narcian struggled to get up, Lon'qu pointed his blade at the wyvern rider's face "Yield"
"Yield? Never!" Narcian's blood glowed red as he rose his axe to attack "Retribution!"
Narcian rose his axe over his head and slammed it down onto Lon'qu. The swordsman blocked, but Retribution strengthened Narcian's attack and he managed a gaping cut on Lon'qu chest.
"Ha ha! Finally!" Narcian pumped his fist in triumph, but Lon'qu swiped his sword across Narcian's face, dealing the killing blow. Robin sighed and slapped his face while Maria healed Narcian's wounds.
"I demand a rematch!" Narcian yelled, but Robin grabbed his collar and dragged him to the lobby "Let me go, you lowly worm!"
"Worms eat animal poop for nutrition. You're the poop" Robin said as he continued dragging Narcian through the hallway.
"Gah! Let me go, I can't breath!"
Going through the portal to the World of Blazing, we arrived in a plains clearing with old ruins, high mountains and rotted trees.
"This place… looks familiar" Robin mused, then he snapped his fingers "Oh right, this is the Dread Isle. This particular place was the spot for Chapter 18x of "Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade". It was called "Imprisoner of Magic""
"Imprisoner of Magic, huh?" I said gazing around the quiet forest and misty air in the sky "What does that mean?"
"According to the book, it stated that Lord Eliwood and his army encountered a "Magic Seal" in this area, which seals all magic in a large radius" Robin explained.
"Interesting. Let's hope that "Magic Seal" doesn't appear, for your sake Robin" I laughed.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming from behind the mountain. A cleric wearing a fancy, tight white robe came towards us, walking in a royal manner, as if she was a queen. She looked exactly like Serra.
"Ah, we've been expecting you. You're the ones from another realm Lord Eliwood warned us about" Serra said in her usual high manner, as if she was expecting everyone to bow down to her "I don't know what all the fuss is about. You don't look very impressive. Not compared to a renowned lady like me—or my vassals. Now, we will show you your place!" and Serra ran back behind the mountain.
"Vassals? What is she talking about-" Klein began before narrowly dodging a Rogue Dagger that came from his right.
"Thieves! They are hiding in the trees here!" Robin warned as more knives began to fly at us. A kunai shaped dagger missed Robin and hit the brown mountain beside us. When it struck, it released a cloud of white smoke, blinding us.
"Robin! You're good at fighting dagger users. Get in there!" I commanded before doubling over to hack and wheeze. Robin charged into the fray, tanking at least 4 dagger shots. He located a thief up atop the mountain and knocked it down with Blarraven+, making the ninja crash onto the ground. A Poison Dagger flew at him from his left and Robin instinctively summoned a wall of spirit ravens to block it. He then sent the wall of magic towards the thief in the woods, smashing down a couple trees in the process. Robin cocked his ear to hear if the thief was crushed by a tree, but Narcian's surprised yelp confirmed that he was still alive. Luckily, the smoke from the Smoke Dagger vanished and Marth slashed the thief with his sword, with Narcian finished it. With the smoke clear, Marth, Klein and Narcian were free to assist Robin.
"Hey, let us take a few shots Robin" Klein joked slightly as he shot an arrow through a thief's chest. Only Serra and a thief named Matthew were left. Matthew threw his Rogue Dagger at Robin, but it bounced off his chest effortlessly. The tactician glowed with orange flames, then thrust his hand out, opening Blarraven+ with his other hand.
"Bonfire!"
A swarm of fiery ravens streamed from his outstretched hand and bombarded Matthew and Serra, defeating them instantly. Serra survived, but a quick shot from Klein's bow brought the cleric down. Up in the sky, Narcian found a path ahead to the left and before we departed, Serra reappeared in a flash of magic.
"Yowch! What's the big idea, attacking little old me?" Serra asked irritatingly.
"Well… you attacked us first…" Robin said offhandedly, but Serra ignored him.
"You nasty brutes! I'm going to be gracious and bow out, but I'm telling you, Lord Eliwood won't be as nice!" and Serra vanished into thin air. We headed down the western path, making our way through the heavy fog of the Dread Isle until we arrived at a clearing with bright sunshine and lush green fields, as if we stepped into a mirage.
"We were just in a foggy field with rotted trees. How did we end up here?" Marth asked, looking around the plain with awe.
"There's no time to gawk. Enemies approach" Robin said and the clanking of armor rang across the field. The clopping of two horses came from down south.
"Where's Hector? We were supposed to meet up here along with Lyn" Eliwood said, searching the plains for his friend "But I can't shout, lest those Askrians find me"
Meanwhile on the Northern side of the field…
"ELIWOOD! ARE YOU HERE?!" Hector shouted at the top of his lungs and the Emblian Lance Knight nudged his arm.
"Shh! The Askrians could be nearby! Keep a low profile!" the knight chided, but Hector ignored him, continuing to yell out Eliwood's name.
"Soldier, do you have a status report?" Eliwood asked the Green Mage Knight next to him.
"Yes, I do sir" the mage knight pulled a piece of parchment from the bag on his horse's side "The report states that the Askrians were last seen on the Dread Isle, battling Serra and Matthew"
"The Dread Isle is more than 100 miles from Santaruz, so we're safe for now" Eliwood said, then looked over the field again "Oh! There's Hector and his Emblian escort. HECTOR!"
"Oy, Eliwood's over there!" the Lance Knight pointed to the cavalier waving his arm at Hector from behind a hill.
"Ah! Good thing we found him. Let's hurry!" Hector urged.
"And… now!" Robin called and Marth sprang from behind the trees, stabbing Hector in the back with his Silver Sword. The Lance Knight reared back to gut Marth with his lance, but Narcian slammed him from above with his wyvern and dragged the knight across the ground with his mount's claws. Narcian's wyvern held the knight up and viciously slammed him onto a mountain, breaking the knight's armor and bones into pieces. After four hits, Narcian let the knight down, then split the Emblian's head with his Emerald Axe. Meanwhile, Marth was duelling with Hector, Silver Sword against Armads. Every clash of their weapons made bright sparks. Klein assisted Marth from the trees, launching a volley of arrows into the chinks of Hector's armor. Hector occasionally fell back to Distant Counter Klein, but the trees helped the archer avoid the flying golden axe. Hector had his back to a mountain and threw his Armads towards Klein, who was on a tree branch. Klein leaped off the branch at the last second and Armads cleaved the tree in half. Marth took advantage of Hector throwing his weapon at Klein and unleashed a flurry of sword strikes, slowing breaking Hector's armor apart.
"Not so fast!" Eliwood suddenly came from the south and brought his fiery Durandal down onto Marth's shoulder. The green mage knight conjured a tornado with Rexcalibur+, blowing Marth back.
"Chilling Wind!" an icy blue aura surrounded Klein's arrow as he fired his bow towards the mage knight. The Chilling Wind-boosted shot blasted the mage back far and Klein finished him with a second shot, currency of his Brave Bow+. Meanwhile, Marth clashed sword-to-sword with Eliwood while Robin assisted Marth from behind him. Despite Eliwood's strong resistance to magic, he wasn't exactly the same on the physical side. Marth's sword attacks easily left gaping wounds in Eliwood's cavalier armor, but at the same time, Robin's Blarraven+ did next to nothing.
"Off with you, fiend!" Eliwood's Durandal instantly turned into a shard of ice and he lunged to stab Marth, but Robin jumped in his place and took the Glacies attack head on. The was only due to Robin's colour advantage and defense that he was able to survive. Eliwood stared at the tactician, dumbfounded that he was able to survive. That gave Marth the chance to jump and slash Eliwood across the shoulder, dislodging the icicle blade from Robin's chest. Eliwood staggered back and Marth followed up with a forceful stab, piercing Eliwood through the chest. The cavalier toppled to the ground, defeated. Marth glanced to his right and saw Hector pincushioned with arrows, lying on the mountainside with blood all over his body. As soon as Hector faded into light, we continued on.
We walked for hours, eventually finding ourselves in a steaming hot desert.
"The Nabata Desert" Robin said, gazing over the sparkling gold sand and many pieces of junk and treasure gleaming beneath the ground "It is said that deep within this desert, lies a paradise where humans and dragons live together"
"Humans and dragons... I still can't believe such a place was possible" Klein remarked "Roy took us here one time to obtain the legendary fire tome Forblaze from Arcadia. All of is still seems like a dream"
"I too cannot believe it" Marth agreed "All the Manaketes I've fought have been hostile towards humans. Aside from my friends Tiki, Xane, Bantu and Gotoh, I haven't met any dragons that could coexist with humans. Arcadia must be an amazing place"
"Well, nothing to do but move forward" I said "Let's just go and let trouble find us"
We continued our trek through the vast desert, occasionally having to crack open cacti to drink water. Narcian's wyvern was starting to get tired from flying, so it landed on the blazing sand and walked with us. I pushed my white cowl off to prevent my head from overheating, but I realized that it made it worse. As I put my hood back on, I stepped on something that was definitely not sand. I brushed away the sand with my boot and found a dark blue stone block.
"Hey everyone! I think I found something!" I called out. As my heroes came towards me though, Robin's boot sunk into the sand, all the way to his ankle and began to draw him in.
"Wuh- Marth! Help me!" Robin extended his arm to Marth and the Altean prince sheathed his sword to grab Robin's arm as hard as he could. Me and Klein tried to help out by pulling at Marth's waist, but the quicksand seemed to get stronger and Robin sunk beneath the sand. Eventually, both of us slipped into the sand too and fell down the quicksand pit. All of this happened and Narcian was checking his hair.
"Oh, what glorious hair I have, don't you all think?" Narcian turned behind him to find that everyone was gone "Huh? Where did everyone… go?"
Narcian took a step forward and his foot sunk into the quicksand "Gak! Hey, I need help here!"
Narcian's wyvern tried to pull Narcian out of the sand, but the quicksand pulled Narcian in faster, as if it was being strengthened by magic. Eventually, the dragon couldn't hold on and tumbled down the pit with his master.
We crash landed into the dark blue building I found before, with sand leaking from the quicksand trap we fell from. The dark blue floor was cold like ice, despite the burning sand all around us. Eventually, Narcian and his wyvern dropped from the ceiling too.
"Couldn't be bothered to help us rescue Robin?" Marth asked Narcian with disdain.
"I was checking my hair! If you wanted to get my attention, you should've screamed louder. A man's own appearance is so very entrancing" Narcian replied.
Marth sighed "Well, Robin's alive at least, so I don't have a reason to be angry at you. Just… focus more on your allies than yourself please"
"That's going to take a while" Klein remarked.
"What? Why?" Marth asked.
"I can tell that Narcian's very narcissistic" Klein explained "In fact, Narcian is a corruption of the word "narcissism" itself. Doesn't that speak volumes of his character?"
"That doesn't mean he's incapable of change Klein" Marth replied back.
"I wouldn't put too much faith in him" Klein said, staring at Narcian as he brushed off his clothes and tousled his hair to make sure there wasn't any sand. Meanwhile, me and Robin were looking around the ruins we were in, trying to find some sort of exit.
"It's eerie around here…" Robin murmured, inspecting the walls and ground around us. Enigmatic dried bloodstains painted the walls and a few rusted weapons laid on the floor. Robin picked up a chipped and rusty Silver Lance, turning it all over, checking for clues. I put my hand up to a wall nearby and the wall nearly gave way immediately. I retracted my hand and looked up. A large crack ran down the sandstone and beyond the cracked wall was only darkness.
"I found a cracked wall here. Can you break it down Robin?" I asked and the tactician shattered the wall with his magic. I walked through the debris, checking for clues, but there wasn't anything here. Suddenly, I heard a familiar, female voice from beside me.
"Gronnblade!"
A storm of green blades materialized into the air and rained down onto me. I dashed away to avoid it and managed not to get hit.
"There's a green mage beyond that wall" I told Robin, pointing to the left "The voice I heard was high and female, so it's probably an enemy Nino"
"Nino… she's a green mage, so I wouldn't fare good against her" Robin thought aloud "The wall she's behind isn't cracked nor damaged, so Marth can't get through either…"
"So Klein's our only option" I said and called into the vast chamber "Klein! Come to the northwest side of the labyrinth. We need you!"
In a few seconds, the familiar blond archer came towards us "What do you need Lucian?"
"A green mage is behind the wall on the left" I said, gesturing to the solid stone barrier "The wall isn't cracked and Robin suffers a triangle disadvantage against her, so you are our only choice"
"Got it. I already have a plan ready" Klein pushed past the debris of the shattered wall and positioned himself next to the left barrier. The high voice rang out again.
"Gronnblade!"
A rainstorm of magic blades came rocketing down onto Klein and the archer darted away to dodge, hitting the ground whenever the Gronnblade exploded. Eventually, the storm ended and Klein nocked his Brave Bow. He readied his shot and fired over the wall. A distressed and surprised scream echoed through the ominous chamber. Then, Klein quickly shot another arrow, the arrowhead glowing with the red energy of Death Blow. The scream quickly turned into a low bawl of crying.
"J-Jaffar… h-help me…" the enemy Nino moaned before fading away.
Behind me, Robin winced "Even though she's an enemy, her sorrow and words hit hard"
"The battles in war can never trinkle the sorrow of death" Klein agreed "Death, no matter what, is always sad"
"But death is needed for peace to reign" Marth said, clearly upset at himself for saying it "As much as I don't want it, the sacrifice of others is how war ends"
I let the silence hang in the air before speaking "There might be more enemies around here. Let's look around a bit more"
We moved to the southern corridor, where Narcian broke down a couple more walls. A Emblian Lance Knight laid in a bloody heap in one corner, which Narcian proudly claimed that he killed. The walls on the left were broken down too, but Narcian stayed away from them, telling us that an Emblian sword fighter was hiding behind them.
"He must of learned his lesson after Lon'qu" Robin remarked as he went down the left corridor to engage with the swordsman. The swordsman sprang at the tactician and slashed his Silver Sword. Robin dashed back with only a rip in his coat and fired Blarraven+ at the soldier. While the swordsman struggled to blow past the swarm of ravens, Robin recast the spell again, knocking the soldier to the ground. Meanwhile, Marth, Klein and Narcian went down the southern corridor. A blue mage summoned a bright yellow charge of lightning, which then transformed into a horizontal bolt of thunder. The Thoron smashed the wall apart and blasted Marth back. Klein's Brave Bow pulsed with Death Blow and he fired two arrows that pinned the mage knight to the wall. Before they could take a breather, an axe fighter holding a Brave Axe came from behind the fallen mage knight.
"Be silent!" Raven leaped into the air, his axe glittering with golden light and slammed it onto Marth. He then swung the Brave Axe upwards, slicing apart Marth's breastplate. Marth skittered back, but managed to recover quickly and slashed his blade across Raven's chest. Klein followed up with a twin shot of his bow, taking Raven down. We double checked the rest of the chamber to check for more enemies, but there were none. Marth turned to the left of where Raven was hiding and found a set of stairs upwards. He called us over and we hiked up the cold stone steps.
After a long and exhausting hike, we ended up back in the Nabata wasteland, with a few sand dunes and mountains around us.
"Back in the desert again" Klein muttered "Are you sure this was the right direction Lucian?"
"There could be enemies hiding behind these sand dunes, so there's that" Robin put in "Narcian, fly into the air and scout for enemies"
"Very well" Narcian took the sky and gazed over the gold sand, his eyes scanning over the piles of sand and stone. After a while, he returned to the ground.
"There's a pegasus knight, a Emblian green mage, a green-haired swordswomen and a shirtless man with a huge axe" Narcian reported.
"So Lyn is among our group of enemies" Robin looked tense. Robin has spared with Lyn a lot and grew to really know her as a person. Either he was afraid to fight her or he didn't want to.
"What are their positions?" Klein asked.
"The swordswomen and the pegasus knight are hiding behind the dune south of us" Narcian said "The axeman is behind the dune southwest and the green mage is right beyond the mountain beside us"
"So we can lure Lyn and the pegasus knight out with Robin and use Marth to take out the axe fighter and green mage" I summarized "Klein and Narcian can provide extra support if needed"
"Sounds good. Let's go" Robin went ahead on the path and Lyn sprang from the dune, her Sol Katti poised to strike Robin's chest. Luckily, Robin fought Lyn many times and knew nearly all her techniques, so sidestepped the stab and ducked to dodge the horizontal swing. Robin backed up and summoned a swarm of ravens to knock Lyn back. Robin prepared another attack, but suddenly Marth shouted behind him.
"Robin! Back away!"
Robin instinctively darted backwards as a tornado formed over his location and a pegasus knight's Heavy Spear pierced the ground beneath him. Klein launched two arrows over the sand dune and took down the green mage. Narcian, using his Emerald Axe and Lancebreaker skill, instantly shattered Florina's Heavy Spear and slammed her off her pegasus, easily killing her. Lyn, burning with the aura of Defiant Attack, dashed towards Narcian to avenge Florina, but Robin stood in her way.
"Sorry about this" Robin shot an Elthunder bolt from his palm, then let loose a giant flood of ravens, burying Lyn in a swarm of magic. The swordswomen fell to her knees and collapsed, signalling her defeat. The axeman, identified as Hawkeye slashed at Robin's arm with his Killer Axe, drawing a line of blood. Robin backed away, clutching his shoulder and coating his hands in red. Marth dashed up to Hawkeye and dueled sword to axe with him. Hawkeye brought his Killer Axe over his head and swung it down, but Marth rolled back and stabbed Hawkeye in the stomach. Hawkeye howled in pain and Marth quickly slashed at Hawkeye's bare chest to finish him off. We sat down to rest a little and heal our wounds. Robin shed his black coat to examine the cut on his shoulder. When he pulled off part of his shirt to reveal the wound, I nearly fainted from nausea. Robin's left arm was nearly cut off by Hawkeye's axe and only a thread of skin held it from falling to the ground. I brought out the first aid kit to help him patch the injury.
"Here, I'll help you out" Klein took the long strip of cloth from Robin's hand and wrapped it over Robin's arm, the tactician's face wincing in pain the whole time. He looked like he was holding back a scream of agony.
"There… finished" Klein finished wrapping Robin's arm in the cloth. It held his arm together and stopped his blood from flowing out. Once we were finished this mission, Robin could go to Maria or Serra to have them stitch his arm with their staves. Narcian reported from the air that he spotted grassland ahead, so we packed up our stuff and made our way west.
We arrived in a valley with mountains surrounding all around us. Robin commented that this was the mountain that the royal castle of Bern was built on.
"In an attempt to find out the route to the Shrine of Seals from the Queen of Bern, Hellene, Eliwood and his army came here" Robin said, still holding his left shoulder "But they were ambushed by the assassin group, the Black Fang. The leader of the troop, Vaida held a spear blessed with magical power"
"What did this "magical power" do?" I asked.
"The spear enhanced Vaida's strength, speed, defense and magical defense" Robin replied "There isn't anything else like it in the entire world"
"Interesting. But it seems like nobody's here" Klein said, looking around the vast mountains and clouds drifting in the sky.
"You'll be mistaken" Eliwood emerged from the mountain right of us, Durandal in hand.
"We're all around you" Hector appeared in front of us, his Armads pulsing with electricity.
"And you cannot escape" Lyn leaped over a hill on our left, Sol Katti ready.
A Lance Knight and Bow Fighter appeared behind us to block our escape route.
"It's time I introduced myself" Eliwood said "I am Eliwood of Pharae. We are obliged to battle you, given the contract that binds us"
"Just to let you know, we battled your son Roy too" I commented.
"You crossed paths with my son, Roy?" Eliwood smiled slightly, "Well, I'm sure that Roy will become a far better fighter than me in due time. But I promise to give you a battle that you'll never forget. Come now, let us begin"
Eliwood charged towards Klein, Durandal streaked with fire. Klein ducked the initial swing, then rolled away from the downward strike. However, when he got up from the roll, Hector's Armads collided with Klein's back, defeating him instantly. Marth took on both Eliwood and Hector at once while Robin took care of Lyn and the bowman. Narcian was dealing with the Lance Knight. Marth managed to defeat Hector, but Eliwood pierced Marth through the chest with a Glacies-charged attack. Narcian took down the Lance Knight, but the bowman aimed his Brave Bow at the flier and shot him down in two hits. Now, only Robin was left against Lyn, Eliwood and the archer. Robin blasted Lyn over a hill with Bonfire, then turned his attention to Eliwood and the archer. Eliwood slashed his Durandal over Robin's chest, making him stagger back. Robin countered with his magic, but Eliwood took it like it was nothing.
"Now, take this!" Eliwood's Durandal morphed into a shard of ice and he ran Robin through with his Glacies, ending the tactician's life. With everyone dead, Eliwood turned to me, who was huddling behind a mountain to not be seen. I was frantically looking for anything in my inventory to save me and I pulled out a brown charm with a blue jewel laid in the middle. The Light's Blessing.
"Now would be a good time to use it" I thought and raised the charm into the air. The blue jewel flared in white light and my heroes returned to the battlefield, completely normal, as if they never died at all. Robin dashed behind Eliwood and shouted.
"Time to tip the scales!"
And fired a stream of fiery ravens in Eliwood's direction. The ravens smashed Eliwood off his horse and the cavalier faded away. Klein's arrow glowed with cold blue light and he called.
"Chilling Wind!"
Upon impact with the Bow Fighter, the arrow exploded into a strong gust of winter wind, blowing the archer straight into a mountain, pinning him against it. Finally, the battlefield was cleared and the liberation of the World of Blazing was done.
Eliwood reappeared in a flash of light, like all the other defeated heroes.
"You are truly powerful, much more so than we are. Fortunately, that frees us from the contract! Thank you" Eliwood smiled warmly "I hope that we will meet again under friendlier circumstances. And perhaps then Roy can fight alongside his old father. What a sight that would be!" and Eliwood rode away from the mountain. Next to us, a glowing portal opened, the portal showing the vast fields and Castle Askr in the distance.
"Looks like our way back to Askr" Klein said.
We went through the blue gateway and arrived back in the portal courtyard of Askr, where Alfonse, Sharena and Anna were waiting.
"Great job everyone! We liberated all the worlds from Embla's control!" Anna congratulated.
"Something still bothers me though" I said as I dismissed my heroes to go do their own thing.
"What? What is it Lucian?" Sharena asked.
"It just that we've been in all these various worlds, but we never found Zacharias" I explained.
"It's bothering me too" Anna said "I hate losing anyone, but Zacharias's disappearance hits Alfonse and Sharena the most because he was their childhood friend"
"Zacharias was more than just a skilled lancer" Alfonse said "He was kind and as loyal as a friend you would imagine. When he disappeared, we split up and searched every world for him"
"We looked everywhere, but never found him" Sharena continued sadly "We even had the wild notion that maybe Veronica closed the world that we last saw Zacharias"
"I wouldn't hurt to look again though" Alfonse put in "Lucian, you helped us gain so much. You wouldn't mind searching the worlds for Zacharias?"
"Of course I wouldn't mind" I smiled "But can we do it later? I need to rest and do Female Robin's Grand Hero Battle"
"Alright then. Best of luck to you Lucian" Alfonse said.
Next up: Female Robin's Grand Hero Battle! Thank you for all the favorites, follows and kind reviews!