A Summoner's Journey
Paralogue 5: World of Shadows
Team for this chapter: Minerva, Navarre, Robin and Jeorge
"Hey Lucian!" Anna ran towards me as I went towards Feh to grab the mail "Urgent news!"
"What's the matter?" I asked. Anna looked frantic, like something terrible has happened.
"The Emblian army is invading another world: the World of Shadows! Or formerly called the World of Gaiden" Anna explained "It's home to a legendary hero, one as important as Marth himself: Saint King Alm the First"
The worry lines melted off my face "Oh finally. Something normal for a change"
Anna looked at me confused "What was that?"
"Nothing. Tell Minerva, Navarre, Robin and Jeorge to meet me in the lobby in twenty minutes"
"Uhm… alright"
Not too long later, we ended up in a forest outside a village. Two Emblian soldiers alongside a boy wearing green armor and a village girl with an unfamiliar bow were our enemies. Before I could formulate a strategy and send off my troops, Veronica suddenly warped into the battlefield beside the villager girl.
"Oh dearest Faye. You're getting better with the bow day after day" Veronica praised lightly, then presented a faint blue seal with a bow on it "But you could use help, so I'm granting you a skill that strengthens your use of the bow after defeating enemies. What a terror you'll be soon enough"
"What? Do you mean I'll get better with my bow faster?" Faye accepted a blue seal from Veronica's hands and stuck it to her vest "That'll help me fight off all of the nasty people you said are coming for Alm!"
"Yes, yes. As a matter of fact, those nasty people are here right now" Veronica nodded "Please put holes in each and every one of them. Good luck dear"
As Veronica warped away, the enemy team noticed us.
"You know, I really thought we could stop fighting after we defeated Duma" Alm sighed, drawing the legendary Falchion from his scabbard "But the world, unpredictable as it is, decides not. Leave this fight to me everyone!"
"No way Alm! I'm going to help you!" Faye cried out "We may not have Gray, Tobin, Kliff or Celica, but us two can clear out these people and save Ram Village. Let's go!"
"Right. I'm counting you to have my back Faye" Alm smiled, then readied himself "To battle!"
Alm and his Emblian Axe Fighter escort charged towards our group, their weapons in hand. Alm had the legendary Falchion sword, although this version looked strangely different from the one Marth and Chrom had. I knew because I fought a 5 star Chrom and Marth in the training tower once. The Emblian Axe Fighter had a standard Silver Axe+.
"Robin and Navarre! Intercept Alm and the Axe Fighter! Minerva and Jeorge, keep Faye and the Sword Fighter busy" I commanded and my heroes charged towards the enemy. Robin blasted a wall of ravens towards Alm and knocked him hard into a tree. I recently summoned two Roys, so I decided to try the skill inheritance thing out and sacrificed one of the Roys to give Robin Triangle Adept. The skill fit Robin like a glove. The Axe Fighter swung his axe over his head towards Robin, but the tactician dodged and pushed the soldier back with a kick to the side. Navarre followed up with a swift dual strike with his katana, taking the Axe Fighter down. Alm charged again and slashed Robin in the arm with his Falchion. Triangle Adept lessened the damage and Robin stepped back, attempting to cast Blarraven+, but a swift blast of wind knocked the spell right out of his hand.
"What in the world…?" Robin recast the spell and it worked like usual. He prepared to throw, but Alm attacked again and the spell broke. The same blast of wind knocked Robin out of focus.
"Navarre! Cover me!" Robin called and the mercenary stepped in front of Alm, his Killing Edge clashing with Alm's Falchion. While Robin prepared to cast Blarraven, I stared at Alm, bringing up his stat screen. In his B skill slot was a new skill called Windsweep.
"If the user is faster than the opponent, the foe will not be able to counterattack" I read aloud "That was the wind that disrupted Robin's attack!"
"Fine by me" Robin grinned as a faint blue glow appeared in his hand "I'm not counterattacking. I'm the one initiating. Blarraven!"
A wall of spiritual ravens burst from the ground and smacked Alm right in the face. He stumbled for a moment, then collapsed backwards onto the ground and faded away. Meanwhile, Minerva was doing her usual hit-and-run tactics with her wyvern. Stay high in the air while Jeorge distracts Faye, then crash down like a nuclear bomb. The Sword Fighter landed a glancing blow with his Killing Edge+, but Minerva's wyvern was well suited to take physical blows. Jeorge shot an arrow from his Silver Bow that ended up in the Sword Fighter's chest. Minerva took advantage of the soldier's stun to smash her Hauteclere onto the Emblian's head, splitting it in half.
"Well…" I spread my hands "That's that. Let's move into the forest"
It wasn't long before we found out second group of enemies in a forest that split two ways: north and west. An Emblian Axe Fighter and thief were stationed here alongside a plain-looking soldier wearing red armor and had short red hair. In his hand was a Killer Lance+. The other was a blonde pegasus knight wearing a blue tunic and black leggings. In her hand was a Silver Lance+. Suddenly, I heard voices. One familiar, the other unfamiliar.
"Why, it's simply laughable" the blonde pegasus knight named Clair scoffed "Me serving you? You're but a little girl"
"Now, now Clair. I possess you by contract" Veronica's hand formed into a fist at Clair's jab at Veronica being a little girl "Try to defy me and you'll know what will happen. Now get to it and oust the Askrians out of Zofia"
Veronica warped away again and the battle begun. The thief and axe fighter charged first, so I sent Navarre to deal with the axe fighter and Robin to fight the thief.
"Care to test me?" Navarre's sword pulsed with blazing hot heat "Blazing Wind"
Navarre swung his sword onto the axe fighter's shoulder, unleashing the superheated air from his sword. The resulting burst of wind sliced the axe fighter into pieces and cut down a tree, revealing the thief in the process. He too was injured by Navarre's Blazing Wind, allowing Robin to easily finish him off. The other two, Lukas and Clair began to make their move. Figuring that Lukas was weak to magic like most melee units, I told Robin to stay in the northern path and deal with Lukas while I had Jeorge deal with Clair, as she was a flier. Clair rocketed down onto Jeorge with her Silver Lance and nearly impaled him, but the sniper quickly stepped away and nocked an arrow. However, Clair yanked her lance upwards out of the ground, slashing Jeorge in the face. Luckily, Minerva was just nearby and dealt with Clair while Jeorge recovered from the attack.
"Minerva move! I got a clear shot!" Jeorge called and the wyvern rider flew into the air, exposing the weakened Clair. Jeorge let his arrow loose and shot down the pegasus knight in one fell swoop. Meanwhile, Robin let loose his magic against Lukas. Just as he thought, Lukas was incredibly weak to magic, getting pushed back several feat by one simple Blarraven blast. Robin took the chance to fire again, but Lukas generated a thin shield via Sacred Cowl and weakened the magic, allowing him to survive. Sadly, Robin quickly recast Blarraven again and took the soldier out. Rather simple fight.
Finally, we ended up in a valley surrounded by mountains. A lone abandoned fort laid in the middle while trees grew around the valley. Our enemy squad was Alm, Faye, Lukas and Clair.
"Huh, to think we'll have to fall back here" Alm remarked, taking in the landscape "It brings back memories"
"Really? Which one?" Faye asked.
"That one Zofian mercenary we had to fight" Alm reminisced "He was not like the other bandits. He was trained and had a leather shield. If it wasn't for Kliff's magic, we probably wouldn't have been able to kill him"
"Oh, I remember" Lukas smiled lightly "Gray joked after the battle about him. He called him the "super saiyan mercenary" or "3-13 mercenary". I still don't know what he meant till this day"
"Neither do I" Alm laughed "Gray's jokes CAN be subtle sometimes"
Faye was about to respond when Veronica warped right behind them, startling them.
"Princess Veronica. What is it?" Clair asked.
"All I'm asking you is to fight your best" Veronica said simply "The Askrians are just beyond this mountain. Just one more battle. Win or lose and you'll still be free of your contract"
"Alright then Princess Veronica" Alm drew his Falchion "We'll give it our all"
"Good" Veronica's face tightened and she warped away in a flash of yellow light.
"Lukas, take to the front line and defend Faye while she shoots arrows. Clair, fly over the mountains and pick off the enemy by surprise" Alm commanded and they obeyed. Lukas and Faye charged down the valley's main path, right into Robin's Blarraven.
"Hello again" Robin glowered darkly "And goodbye again"
Robin willed a strong wall of ravens to burst from the ground, pounding Lukas and Faye hard. Lukas's Sacred Cowl activated and managed to shield them both from the damage. Just barely. Suddenly, I heard flapping of a pegasus in the distance. I cocked my ear and heard the flapping just above us. I glanced into the sky and saw the gleam of silver poised right over Robin's head.
"Minerva! Intercept Clair in the sky!" I called and the princess of Macedon shot into the air, her Hauteclere colliding with Clair's Silver Lance.
"This will be painless" Jeorge concentrated, then nocked his arrow tightly into his bow. This arrow was literally an arrow made of molten hot fire. He fired straight towards Clair, calling out "Blazing Flame!"
Meanwhile in the sky, Minerva's wyvern squawked, alerting Minerva to something coming from below. Minerva knocked back Clair with her axe, then glanced below her. An arrow made of pure fire was flying up towards her! Minerva steered her wyvern away and let the arrow hit Clair. When it stuck Clair's pegasus, it erupted in a vertical line of blazing fire, burning Clair to ashes. Robin and Navarre were just wrapping up the others back on the ground. Robin floored Lukas with magic and Navarre cut Faye down in two hits. But Navarre unfortunately went down to Alm's Draconic Aura.
"Here's how it's done!" Robin easily defeated Alm with a Triangle Adept-boosted Blarraven alongside Ignis, which he inherited from a spare Henry I summoned. The air seemed calmer and less tense. The atmosphere seemed a little more clear. I guess that signified that we successfully liberated the World of Shadows.
"Well everyone, that was a job well done" I smiled at all of them "Let's head back to Askr"
Before we could leave, Alm reappeared in a flash of light without his Falchion.
"I'm still rather confused that you broke our contract just by being stronger than us" Alm sheepishly rubbed the back of his head "But thank you anyways. Now I can head back to Ram Village and visit my old neighbors before ascending the throne of Valentia. If we ever cross paths again, or with my friend Celica, I hope you can join us"
"Thank you for the offer King Alm" I nodded politely and escorted my heroes back to the portal to Askr at Ram Village's entrance.
"Ah, do you mind removing that portal once you've returned to your world?" Alm requested "I think the villagers would be spooked of it being right in front of the village gates so…"
"Sure, I'll close it once we get back" I smiled "If we ever come back here, just hope that the portal reappears away from the village"
"Life never had any guarantees" Alm smiled lightly "But anyway, farewell. I hope we can see eachother again"
"You too" I said before stepping into the portal to Askr. As I landed in the courtyard along with my heroes, I did as Alm requested and closed the gate into the World of Shadows with the Breidablik. The last time I did it was back in the World of Mystery, when we first liberated it several months ago. I remember running out of the portal for dear life as Odin was slashed to bits by Veronica's cavalry. The blood and gore that rained from the air still lingered in my head occasionally, but I couldn't let it waver me. I was the summoner and tactician of entire army. Blood and gore should be the first thing I'm used to. I headed back into Askr castle, dismissed my heroes to their barracks, reported to Anna that the World of Shadows was liberated and gathers my orbs from the quest fountain. Just as I was about to head into my quarters, a letter flew into the lobby. Anna picked it up and opened it, handing the postcard to me. The postcard was a summoning banner for the heroes I just fought: Alm, Faye, Clair and Lukas. Before I could decide whether or not to summon on the banner, I heard a familiar rough voice from the front entrance.
"Hey you. You're Lucian right? Saria's friend?" I turned and saw Sully at the entrance, on her horse with a letter in hand "Master Saria asked me to deliver this to you"
"Thank you. Give Saria my regards when you go back" I was too tired to ask how Sully even got into my Askr in the first place given that it was a different dimension, but I'll ask Anna later. I took my orbs and Saria's letter into my quarters and closed myself off. I deposited my orbs into my orb chest and sat down on my desk, opening Saria's letter. Her handwriting was somewhat scrawny, but it made sense considering she doodles a lot and was an adept artist. She was used to twisting her hands around a lot.
Hey there Lucian! How've you been? I just recently liberated the World of Shadows with the help of Corrin, Sully, Eirika and Camilla. And when I summoned on the World of Shadows postcard, I got Alm on my first try! Lucky huh? I'm looking to get Lukas, Clair and Faye onto my roster too. They all seem like nice people. Anyway, I heard that the Wyvern Riders vs Pegasus Knights Voting Gauntlet is coming up soon, so maybe I can see you there again? If you want to know, I'll planning to be on Team Camilla. Hope you write me back and I'm sorry for the messy writing! You know I like to draw more than write. Anyway, see you at the Voting Gauntlet!
Sincerely, Saria Williamsun
Another Voting Gauntlet. Another freaking Voting Gauntlet. It wasn't even a month yet and another one's here. I sighed and drew a paper and my ink set. I began to write my reply to Saria. Anna's going to need to tell me how to send my heroes across dimensions to deliver the letter.
Here comes World of Shadows with the release of Fire Emblem Echoes in the real world. Truth be told, this banner was a terrible way to promote Echoes because World of Shadows might as well be one of the worst banners in all of Heroes. Alm is probably the worst Falchion lord due to his too-balanced stats, Faye is a mediocre archer and Clair is a lance Caeda. The only one who's worth it is Lukas and you could get cockblocked by Clair. Oops, I rambled on too much. Anyway, next up is the Wyvern Riders vs Pegasus Knights Voting Gauntlet followed by the Grand Hero Battle against Zephiel. Until next time fellow summoners!