A Summoner's Journey

Grand Hero Battle: Michalis

Team for this chapter: Klein, Abel, Narcian and Lyn

After a two hour break from Ursula's Grand Hero Battle, I left Priscilla in Askr's library and returned to the war room, where Robin, Robinne, Jeorge and Alfonse were already strategizing.

"More than half of the enemies on this team are fliers" Robin said "So bringing an archer like Jeorge or Klein would be very useful"

"I'd recommend Klein for this mission" Jeorge commented "He has the Brave Bow, which is capable to striking twice regardless of Klein's speed. That means he's guaranteed to slay the fliers before the go out of range while I may struggle to nock a second arrow before they scram"

"Good point Jeorge" I said "So Klein's the first member of our team. Who else do we need?"

"A lancer to take care of the Sword Cavalier on the northeast corner of the map" Robinne informed "Who do we have for options?"

"For lancers and blue mages, all we have is Sharena, Abel, Robin and Odin" Alfonse said.

"Abel would be a good choice" Robin said "He has a horse, so he's able the close the distance easily. Plus, his skill "Swordbreaker" guarantees that the Sword Cavalier dies"

"All in favor for Abel?"

Nobody objected.

"Alright, Abel as the second member. Who's next?"

"An axe user or green mage to take down the lance fighter on the northwest" Robinne said "Me, Nino, Anna, Frederick, Narcian and Julia are the options"

"Narcian has an Emerald Axe and Lancebreaker skills, so he's the best option to kill the lance fighter as fast as possible" Alfonse said.

"Narcian should work well" I nodded "Narcian for the third spot. Who's last?"

"Perhaps a swordsman to handle Michalis" Robinne suggested "Klein might be too occupied with the other fliers to deal with Michalis, so we need someone else to fight him"

"I elect Lyn for that spot" I said "She's quick, strong and reliable. I believe she works the best here"

"Alright then, Lyn as the last member. Now it's time to strategize" Robin pointed to the map on the table, which shown Michalis's battlefield in bigger resolution.

An hour later, we finished creating out strategy and I left for the World of Mystery at sunset. From the portal, me and my team arrived in a mountainside valley.

"This looks familiar" Abel gazed around the valley, taking in the verdant green grass and trees "I remember fighting King Michalis of Macedon here alongside Prince Marth"

"I've seen you before too…" a sharp, sinister voice cut through the air and a wyvern rider with dark black armor appeared over a mountain. In his hand was Minerva's axe, the Hauteclere.

"We fought back in Askr during Embla's invasion, didn't we?" Michalis pointed the Hauteclere at me "However, I only fight so that Macedon will one day conquer the world. I will eliminate all who stand in my way. Now that that bumbling Camus is out of the way, I can tear you apart without mercy. Dragoons of Macedon, to me!"

Coming out of the forts surrounding the valley was a Lance Fighter with a Heavy Spear+ and a Sword Cavalier with a Silver Sword+. A pair of pegasus knights flew over the mountain and joined Michalis, one holding a Killing Edge+ and the other holding a Killer Lance+.

"Alright everyone! Stick to the plan!" I commanded "Abel, gallop to the right side of the valley and take down the Sword Cavalier. Provoke the fliers out of the valley and lure them over to Klein and Lyn. Narcian, head over to the left side and attack the Lance Fighter. Go!"

My heroes rushed to their positions and began their attack. Abel closed in on the Sword Cavalier quickly and stabbed the enemy twice thanks to his Brave Lance. The second strike his lance shattered the foe's sword, so when the Sword Cavalier counterattacked, a huge portion of his range was missing. It was like the Sword Cavalier was swinging about a butter knife. Abel sidestepped the swing and struck again, killing the cavalier in another two strikes. Once the cavalier fell, the two pegasus knights noticed and chased Abel over the mountain. Abel smartly retreated back to our position and the pegasus knights followed him… right into Klein's Brave Bow.

"Such foolishness" Klein launched two arrows, striking down the Lance Flier. Abel easily killed the Sword Flier in turn. Meanwhile, Narcian provoked the Lance Fighter and the enemy charged at him, foolishly running into Narcian's Emerald Axe and Lancebreaker. Narcian took the Heavy Spear attack like it was nothing and swung his axe over his head. While the Lance Fighter staggered back from the attack, Narcian threw his axe into the air.

"You will learn your place!" Narcian caught his axe by the handle and smashed it over the Lance Fighter's head with Vengeance, defeating him. All that was left was Michalis. The king of Macedon flew over the mountain valley with his devastating Hauteclere in hand. He went straight for Narcian first.

"Lyn! Engage Michalis on the left side. Narcian, retreat!" I yelled.

The two followed my orders exactly, although Narcian wasn't fast enough to get out of Michalis's axe swing. The Hauteclere made a deep cut in Narcian's waist, but he quickly slashed his Emerald Axe over Michalis's face and got away.

"Klein! Shoot down Michalis!"

The archer readied his Brave Bow and launched two arrows, but Michalis shouted:

"I don't think so!"

And rose the shield on his right forearm in defense. The arrows bounced harmlessly off them.

"What?! How did you…" I thought fliers were weak to arrows. How did Michalis just shrug them off?

"The legendary shield of Macedon's founder, Iote, gives me the power to repel arrows!" Michalis declared "I will not be taken down so easily!"

"Watch this!" Lyn leaped into the air and slammed her Sol Katti down onto Michalis from behind, but the wyvern rider rose his Hauteclere in defense and blocked the sword. Michalis shoved Lyn backwards and slammed his axe over his head. Lyn leaped out of the way in time, but Michalis's axe pulverized the ground on where it landed. Abel and Narcian began to move in to help, but I held them back.

"If we lose anybody in this fight, we lose the battle!" I said "Lyn alone has the best chance of beating Michalis!"

From her jump, Lyn landed next to a mountain side, but Michalis left her no time to rest. He charged on his wyvern and attacked from the side, nearly taking Lyn's head off if she didn't duck. The Hauteclere lodged itself onto the mountainside, but Michalis shouted:

"Blazing Thunder!"

A powerful blast of electricity shot out of Hauteclere, splitting the mountain in two. Lyn was out of the way of the attack, but the mountain's debris began to crumble down, creating an avalanche. Lyn retreated away from the falling rocks, but Michalis didn't cause an avalanche to kill her. He flew behind the swordswomen and slammed the Hauteclere into her back.

"AAAAAHHGGHH!" Lyn screamed as she crumbled to the ground, a huge gash marking her back.

"LYN NO!" I shouted and my other heroes rushed forward, determined to kill Michalis before Lyn died.

"Don't even try!" Michalis swung his Hauteclere in a wide arc, forcing my heroes to back away. But he didn't know Lyn was still alive. While his back was turned, Lyn jumped and impaled her Sol Katti into Michalis's back. Surrounded by the auras of Defiant Attack and Galeforce, Lyn ripped her sword out from the wyvern rider's back, ending his life for good. As Michalis and his wyvern faded away in shock, Lyn's auras dispelled. She gave me a weak smile, then fell to her knees, collapsing on the ground.

"Lyn! LYN!"

Two hours after I got a 4 star Michalis, Lyn awoke in the castle infirmary. All of her clothing was gone and she only wore a plain light blue robe.

"Oh thank goodness, you're awake" Eliwood was sitting on a chair with Nino next to him, holding a bowl of soup gingerly.

"W-what happened…?" Lyn asked as she accepted the bowl from Nino and began to drink.

"Lucian returned to Askr and called for a healer to come into the courtyard. I saw you unconscious on Abel's horse with a gigantic cut on your back" Eliwood explained.

"It looked REALLY scary. I'm glad you're okay!" Nino gave Lyn a bright smile.

Lyn set down the bowl on the table next to her and reached her fingers to the wound on her back. She tensed as she traced her finger across the thick layers of bandages.

"The clerics barely saved you. Of course, we can't die due to the nature of this world…" Eliwood looked at the ground "But it'll be hard to see you fade into nothing, even after I saw it so many times from the enemy"

"Eliwood…" Lyn stared into space "Did… did we win the battle?"

"Yes. Lucian returned to Askr with Michalis alongside him" Eliwood said, smiling "He was really thankful to you for dealing the final blow"

"That's good…" Lyn laid her head onto her pillow "I feel so tired right now… could you leave me to sleep?"

"Of course. Let's go Nino" Eliwood got up and offered his hand to the little mage.

"Get well soon Lyn" Nino took Eliwood's hand and left the infirmary.

Meanwhile in the castle training yard…

"Whoa whoa! Michalis! Just relax a little!"

Michalis just appeared in the training yard shortly after Anna assigned him a spot in the barracks and instantly challenged Marth to a duel. But this wasn't a sparring match to Michalis. He was fighting as if he wanted to kill Marth. The Altean prince took a defensive stance and defended himself against Michalis's raging Silver Axe. Whenever Marth found the chance, he lunged with his sword, forcing Michalis back. The wyvern rider growled and rose his Silver Axe over his head, prepared to swing.

"Michalis stop!" Caeda suddenly appeared in front of Marth, blocking Michalis's axe with her huge Armorslayer. However, the weight of the weapon along with Michalis forcing his axe downwards began to crumple the Talys princess. Taking advantage of Caeda's distraction, Marth rushed to the side and lunged with his Silver Sword, but the wyvern rider shoved Caeda to the ground and forced back Marth with his axe.

"Michalis! That's enough!" suddenly a woman riding a wyvern while wearing crimson armor entered the scene. None of my heroes knew who she was.

"Minerva… sister" Michalis glared at the newcomer and lowered his axe.

"Michalis, please stop fighting!" Maria came into the training yard, tears in her eyes. Michalis's glare instantly melted away as he lightly embraced his crying sister by patting her head. Everyone was in bewilderment by the wyvern rider's sudden entrance and Michalis's change of attitude.

"Sorry for not introducing you" I said as I strolled into the middle of my shocked group of heroes "This is Princess Minerva of Macedon, our newest 5 star unit"

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance" Minerva bowed politely "I hope I can a great aid to this army"

"Another thing… Michalis" I faced the wyvern rider "From now on, do not treat our sparring sessions like real battles. We're all fighting for a common cause here and we must set aside grudges to do so"

"Hmph" Michalis exited the training yard in disgust, leaving his wyvern behind. Maria was right on his heels.

"What are you all still looking shocked for?" I asked my crowd of heroes "You came here to train right?"

Everyone shook themselves out of their bewilderment, but I could tell that they were thinking the same thing as me.

The Macedon siblings are going to be a handful to handle.

Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out! My many end-semester exams and projects take up a lot of my time, so A Summoner's Journey might be going slow for a while until my exams are done. I hope you guys understand. As always, thank you very much for the favorites, follows and reviews. Until next time with the Princes vs Princesses's Voting Gauntlet!