A Summoner's Journey
Chapter 11: Rite of Shadows
Team for this chapter: Xander, Ryoma, Robinne and Robin
The day Embla invaded the World of Shadows again was tiring, but Alfonse, Sharena and Anna were all riled up and filled with hope, though I had no idea why.
"What's with you three?" I asked as I stepped up to the pavilion with the two Askr thrones "Why are you so excited?"
"Priscilla just so happened to pick up a gem in the World of Radiance a while ago" Alfonse explained "She gave it to Robin, who then passed it to Anna to see if it had any value. Anna then found out it was a sending stone!"
"A sending what now?"
"Sending stone Lucian" Anna showed me a beige jewel, reflecting the morning light around the room "It can be used to communicate to someone from far away"
I distinctly remembered the sending stones from Tellius history books. The army that has formed to battle the goddess Ashura's Disciples of Order used sending stones to communicate with each other when they split off.
"So you're planning to use this sending stone to…"
"Talk to Zacharias of course" Anna replied "Normally, the person we want to talk to also needs a sending stone, but I heard performing a certain magical ritual in the World of Shadows can allow Zacharias to hear us, even if he's asleep!"
"That's fantastic, Commander Anna!" Sharena cheered "What are we waiting for? Let's talk to Zacharias right away!"
"Hold up Sharena. There's some bad news" Alfonse intervened, making Sharena glower "Embla has invaded the World of Shadows again, but has taken over eastern Zofia this time. We won't be fighting Alm and his team this time"
"Then who are we up against?" I asked.
"No clue. Let's grab a team of four heroes, then depart" Alfonse nodded towards me and I left towards the barracks. Recently, I promoted Xander to five star rarity, so he was now part of the elite five star heroes, alongside Robin, Lyn, Seliph, Julia, Klein, Priscilla, Lucius and Ryoma. Anna somehow paid a group of construction workers to build a private suite above the barracks to house the five star heroes. As I walked up the wooden staircase leading to the suite, I considered who I wanted to bring. Xander was obvious since I just promoted him and wanted to see him in action, Ryoma because both princes were becoming fast friends, Robin because he's always reliable and Robinne just to support her brother and fill the green slot of the team.
"Xander, Ryoma, Robin and Robinne!" I called, my voice echoing through the now-empty suite. Anna built it to house much more five star heroes than just eight. Xander yawned as he closed to door of his room.
"What's all the ruskus Lucian? It's early morning" the Nohrian prince reminded me.
"I'm sorry for disturbing your slumber, but Embla attacked again" I informed Xander as Ryoma, Robin and Robinne began trickling in from their rooms.
"Alfonse, Anna and Sharena want to head to an arcanist's abandoned manor to perform the ritual?" Robinne asked, wiping sleep from her eyes "What for?"
"Priscilla picked up a sending stone in the World of Radiance and passed it to Anna" I explained "Anna said she could use the sending stone in the World of Shadows to communicate with Zacharias"
"Last time I've heard of Zacharias, he said he was deep in the Embla Empire" Robin cupped his chin "But I remember that the target needs a sending stone to hear the user's voice"
"That's why we're heading to the World of Shadows" I said, spreading my hands "We're going there to liberate it from Embla as well as perform the ritual. Anna says there's some old forbidden magic lingering in the manor that can allow us to communicate with Zacharias without him having a sending stone"
"Sounds good then" Robin leaned against a wall "Mind if we grab breakfast first? You DID just wake us up"
"Of course. I'll give you an hour and a half" I nodded and we left the suite towards the mess hall.
While I was talking with Jeorge and Seliph over breakfast, Anna came over and handed me a light brown leather bag.
"Alfonse realized that pushing the wheelbarrow was inconvenient for you, so I commissioned an "Orb Bag" for you" Anna said, handing me the bag "It's imbued with magic, so it's bigger than it actually looks. Take good care of it!"
"I will. Thank you Anna" I nodded and strung the bag over my shoulder. It was lighter than I thought it would be. Probably because I didn't have anything in there.
"You look like a delivery man now" Jeorge said jokingly as I sat down again, picking little crumbs off my muffin.
"I wouldn't want to receive my mail from a man wearing all white and in a hood" Seliph joined in teasing me.
"Hey come on, it's not ALL white" I brushed my hand over a yellow pattern of my robe "White and gold"
"A delivery man in a hood still looks creepy" Jeorge snickered "Trick or treat"
I groaned, pushing my hood down to reveal my true face to Jeorge and Seliph. Ever since receiving the robe from Anna months ago, I never showed my actual face to anyone except for Alfonse, Sharena, Anna and Saria. Now I was wondering why.
"My, my, I've been here for so long and haven't seen your true face Lucian" Jeorge smiled slightly, extending his gloved hand "Nice to meet you. I'm Jeorge"
I decided to play along and shook his hand in turn "I'm Lucian"
Seliph looked at both of us, dumbfounded "You already know each other"
"Well Seliph, have YOU seen Lucian without his hood on?" Jeorge returned to his scrambled eggs "He's much more different than I thought him to be"
I blushed "What did you think I'd look like?"
"Hmm… muscular, handsome, chiseled and perfect" Jeorge said without stutter. Both me and Seliph stared at the blond archer strangely. My mouth began to move, but Jeorge silenced me by lifting his finger.
"Ha ha, you know I jest Lucian" the sniper laughed "I actually expected someone confident, fearless and commanding. Yet seeing you now… I feel an aura of serene calmness"
"I can feel it too" Seliph nodded in agreement "One of my friends, Diarmuid has that same quality. I think he inherited it from his mother, Lachesis of Nordion"
"Lachesis of Nordion… she was that blonde cleric girl on the Sibling Bonds banner, right?" I wonder aloud "The one next to Eldigan?"
"Yeah, her" Seliph nodded "My… adoptive mother per se, Edain told me that Lachesis inspired others and made them fight better on the battlefield with her presence alone. You have that same quality Lucian"
"Good to know" I smiled "Anyway, I should finish my breakfast quick. I'm going to take Xander, Ryoma, Robin and Robinne to the World of Shadows again"
"We won't disturb you any further then" Jeorge replied, taking a bite from a piece of bacon "You're going to liberate it from Embla, I assume?"
"Yes and apparently, Embla has invaded the east now" I said, stabbing my fork into a waffle "Which means I won't be fighting Alm and his party anymore"
"Hmm… we can expect a summoning banner to come soon right?" Seliph asked.
"It's likely. If it comes while I'm in the World of Shadows, I want either one of you two to pin it onto the message board for me" I gobbled the rest of my waffles and was prepared to deliver my plate to the kitchen for washing.
"We'll keep a lookout for it" Jeorge nodded "Best of luck on the expedition Lucian"
"Thanks Jeorge and see you Seliph!" I waved as I dropped off my plate and left the mess hall. Twenty minutes later, we were facing the World of Shadows portal, with Xander, Ryoma, Robin and Robinne at behind me.
"Just a warning you guys" I said as I faced my four heroes "We aren't going to face the same heroes as we did before when we went in the first time. Robin knows what I mean"
"He means that we aren't going to fight Saint King Alm I and his party" Robin explained "The Emblians have invaded eastern Zofia, so I surmise we'll end up on the island of Novis"
"Does anyone in particular inhabit Novis?" Xander asked.
"As far as I know, Novis is home to a priory that houses orphans and teaches them magic" Robinne said "So if we were the end up there, it wouldn't be a surprise to find magic users"
"I'm trusting you two to handle those mages then" Ryoma crossed his arms "Me and Prince Xander aren't so resistant to spells"
"We'll do what we can" Robin nodded "Anyway, shall we go?"
"Whenever you guys are ready" I replied and jumped through the portal. My four heroes followed me in shortly after. We ended up in a graveyard on an island, with the afternoon sun shining down on us. An old looking building stood on the coastline.
"That must be the priory Robinne said about" Xander observed, drawing his Siegfried from its sheath "We should be expecting an attack now"
The sound of wings flapping echoed through the empty graveyard, signalling other enemy troops to come from the priory. The first two was an Emblian Sword Fighter and Lance Knight. Following them was a red haired lady wearing regal white attire and a smaller girl with puffy pink hair wearing a plain pink dress. The redhead held a new red and orange tome, pulsing with waves of fire while the pink-haired girl named Genny held a staff. The pegasus knight who just landed on the island was Est.
"My name is Celica . I'm a childhood friend of Alm and I… don't want to fight you" the red hair mage said sadly "Sadly though, it seems I cannot resist this contract. I'm sorry. All I can do is fight, and pray that your strength will be enough to free us"
"We'll do our best" I nodded "Everyone, let's go!"
I sent Xander and Ryoma over to the right side of the graveyard to counter Celica and Genny. The Robin twins were sent down the center and left to attack Est and the Emblian soldiers.
"Just a quick word Lucian" Robin pointed to a patch of stone in front of us "The square of stone right in front of us is a "defensive tile". It provides whoever stands on it a layer of protection against physical or magical attacks"
"Robin, are you sure you aren't going off some rumor? That sounds…" I was cut off when Robinne stepped onto the defensive tile to block the Emblian Lance Knight. The knight thrust his Silver Lance+ onto Robinne and a think blue shield blurred into existence, absorbing the brunt of the blow. Robinne came out of the attack with only a minor cut.
"Gronnwolf!" Robinne fired two giant wolf heads that ate away at the Lance Knight, dissolving him into thin air.
"Okay, new plan of strategy" I said, noticing Est soaring downwards to attack Robinne "Robin and Robinne, take advantage of the defensive tiles in the center to wall out the enemy. Hold your ground and fire back when you have the chance!"
"On it!" the twins said in unison and joined each other on the tiles. Est vaulted onto Robinne with her Heavy Spear+, but the magical shield was nigh impenetrable. Est's strong lance thrust only made a tiny hole in Robinne's collar.
"Bet you didn't see that coming!" Robin pulsed with bright orange flames and thrust her hand forward, blasting a Ignis-powered Gronnwolf at Est, smashing her out of the sky. The Sword Fighter came at Robinne with his Killing Edge+, but Robin protected his sister, using his body as a shield. The weapon triangle advantage plus Robin's Triangle Adept plus the defensive tile meant that the Emblian's sword literally bounced off Robin's coat. The Sword Fighter backed away in surprise before Robin unleashed a flood of ravens towards him. The soldier stumbled, trying to resist the waves of magic, but failed, collapsing onto the ground and fading. Meanwhile on the other side of the graveyard, Xander and Ryoma dealt with Celica and Genny using their legendary blades.
"You're right where I want you!" Celica sidestepped Ryoma's lightning bolt and jumped right into Xander's shadow bolt, blasting her to the ground. Genny ran to heal Celica, but Ryoma was faster and cut the healer down in a single cut. Celica tried to stand, invoking the spell of Ragnarok, but Xander cut the mage down with Siegfried. With all the enemies down, we advanced to the next battle.
"It seems like the heroes of this world is already in control of Embla" Robinne observed while we were thinking of how to get off Novis. Xander opened his mouth to speak before I heard the clopping of a horse nearby. I whirled towards the sound and saw him. Bruno, the prince of Embla.
"You again? I tire of meeting like this" Bruno sneered as his hand began to open the pages of Valaskjalf.
"Prince Bruno. What are you doing here?" I asked politely.
Suddenly, Bruno shut the tome of Valaskjalf and pressed his hand against his forehead, as if experiencing a headache.
"Prince Bruno?!"
"Guh… leave now…" Bruno groaned, struggling to remain atop his horse "Get in my way and I'll… kill you…"
"Wait! What are you talking about?" I called before Bruno was enveloped in a circle of yellow light. The mage knight warped away.
"Damn. What was that all about?" I turned to my heroes, but they looked just as confused as I was.
"We can worry about it later" Robinne said "Ryoma spotted a ship coming to Novis. Maybe we could attack and force the crew to take us to the mainland of Zofia?"
"I'm surprised nobody's objecting" I replied as the ship sailed closer "Given that we're seizing a ship like a bunch of pirates"
"Believe me, I don't want to do it" Xander muttered, feeding his horse an apple "But I don't see any other way to get to the mainland"
"We thought of everything, but seizing a ship is our only option" Ryoma added "I hope you're okay with it Lucian"
"Of course. Whatever it takes to see this through" I nodded as the ship hit the coast of Novis and dropped the gangplank "Looks like they're inviting us in"
"A trap for sure" Ryoma rested his hand onto the Raijinto "But nothing we can't handle"
"What's a crew of pirates able to do to us?" I grinned "Come on, let's go"
We boarded the ship, but weren't being faced by pirates. Instead, there was an Emblian Lance Knight, Archer and Sword Fighter. Next to them was a pink haired mage who wore her hair in pigtails named Mae. The second one was a tanned man with short white hair and wore a green mage robe, who was named Boey.
"Well… so much for pirates" Ryoma said as he drew his Raijinto from its sheath "Looks like we're confronting more Emblians and World of Shadows heroes"
"At the very least, we're fighting the right enemies here" Xander drew Siegfried and prepared for battle "I'd rather not cut down innocent people, even bandits, if we weren't intending to"
"Robin, bait out the archer on the left side of the ship" I ordered and the tactician walked over, drawing the archer over to him. The bowman fired his Silver Bow+ at Robin, but as usual, Triangle Adept plus Blarraven made him near immune to arrows, daggers and staff magic. Robin deflected the arrow effortlessly with a wall of Blarraven+, then sent it over to the archer. The wall of magic slammed into the soldier, defeating him instantly. Robinne dealt with the Lance Knight easily, taking him down in two Gronnwolf shots. Mae dashed over, opening a new tome I haven't seen before. The cover had the spread wings of an owl while the top, spine and back was covered by a golden metal wing.
"Blarowl!" Mae shouted and her tome buzzed with blue light. A stream of tiny birds burst from the tome, bombarding Robinne with a strong line of magic. However, due to the tome's weak nature and Robinne's triangle advantage, the female tactician didn't take much damage from Mae's attack. Robinne countered back with Gronnwolf, shredding Mae's Blarowl with Blue Tomebreaker. This gave Robinne another opportunity to launch Gronnwolf, taking down Mae. Boey came next, Gronnowl in hand. As a Sword Fighter accompanied the tanned mage, Robinne tagged out, letting Xander and Ryoma do the fighting.
"I ask for your assistance, Prince of Nohr!" Ryoma thrust his Raijinto into the air, unleashing a discharge of electricity towards the enemy team. All of them fell to their knees, crippled.
"And you shall have it, Prince Ryoma!" Xander galloped forward on his horse and took advantage of the enemy's stun, beheading every one of them with Siegfried. With all the enemies on the ship defeated, we continued onwards.
"Does anyone know how to operate a ship?" I asked as my heroes sheathed their weapons "Because I think we killed anyone who could"
"I know how to operate a ship. I could get us-" Xander began but got cut off when bright yellow circles of magic appeared under our feet.
"Wuh- this is a Warp circle!" Robin cried in surprise. Before we could figure out how to escape, the Warp circle closed around us in a pillar of golden light, sending us to god knows where.
We reappeared on a mountainside, with a large hill separating our party in two. Me, Robin and Ryoma were on one end and Robinne and Xander were on the other. Robin and Ryoma's side were littered in defensive tiles.
"Ugh… where are we?" I asked aloud as the wind howled all around us "The Warp magic… took us to a mountain?"
"Fear Mountain to be exact" Robin said, checking our surroundings "It's a mountain in southern Rigel, the region above Zofia"
"Fear Mountain" I repeated "Sounds like a fun place"
"The real question is who warped us here?" Ryoma drew his Raijinto in case enemies were around "Whoever sent us here has the intent of ambushing us"
"I think you're right Ryoma. The enemy could use the mountains around here as cover to attack from behind" Robin's gaze shifted to the hill separating us from Robinne and Xander. Suddenly, Ryoma tensed and stared ahead of us. I followed his gaze and found a battalion of Emblian soldiers led by Celica.
"Well… so much for a mountain ambush" I said dryly as Robin and Ryoma stood in front to protect me.
"Lucian, stay back and retreat to the defensive tiles" Ryoma ordered "There isn't a lot of room to move around, so you should take any protection you can"
"You two should head to the defensive tiles as well" I said as the Emblians began approaching "There's too many of them for you two to rout them. It's also too narrow of a space to pick them off one by one. We have to hold out"
"I agree with Lucian" Robin nodded, pulling his Blarraven+ from his coat pocket "We're separated from Xander and Robinne, so our firepower is lower than usual. Let's hold out and wait for them to retreat"
"Understood. Let's just hope Robinne and Prince Xander are alright…"
Meanwhile, Xander and Robinne noticed the battalion heading towards Ryoma, Robin and me.
"I want to help, but charging in is just going to get us killed" Xander bit his lip as he scanned the battalion heading towards the left "Robinne, what's our best plan of survival?"
"I say we should hold out and wait for the enemy to retreat but…" Robinne clutched her Gronnwolf tightly "I want to help Prince Ryoma and my brother. If you don't mind Prince Xander…"
"As long as it doesn't put us in any danger, I'll follow any plan you or your brother makes" Xander smiled at the female tactician, causing her to blush.
"Right, so I was thinking of us creeping towards the Emblian battalion…" Robinne pointed at the legion of soldiers below the mountainside "We'll pick them off one by one to thin out their numbers. They'll split up to attack us and Robin's group, which means they'll be easier to handle"
"Good idea. Let's hurry before they reach Ryoma's group" Xander mounted his horse and drew Siegfried, charging down the mountainside. The sound of galloping alerted the Emblians and they split, half the legion charging towards Xander. Mae was part of that group heading for Xander, so Robinne stood behind the cavalier and blasted Mae down with Gronnwolf. Xander blocked the entire battalion with his armored horse, shrugging off attacks left and right. Mae occasionally sent down a hailstorm of blue spiritual birds, but Robinne shattered the magic easily.
"Down on your knees!" Xander's Siegfried glowed with hot orange light and he slashed it down onto an Emblian Sword Fighter, unleashing Blazing Light. The flare of light blasted the mob in front of Xander to shreds, turning them all to heaps of ash. An enemy Palla ambushed Xander from the side with her Ruby Sword+, but Xander tanked the hit easily and retaliated, killing Palla in two hits thanks to Quick Riposte.
"Prince Xander! Get back!" Robinne shouted as small wisps of fire spiraled around Xander's body. The wisps of Ragnarok. Xander quickly darted away as the wisps hit the ground, erupting in an inferno of fire. Xander countered by raising his sword, shooting a strong blast of dark magic towards Celica. However, the blast was deflected by a red shield.
"It's the same red shield Ike had!" I stopped Ryoma from attacking Celica with a lightning bolt and shouted across the mountain range "Xander! Get away from Celica! She can't be killed now!"
Without hesitation, I heard Xander galloping back to his original position, wary of Celica pursuing him. However, Celica didn't move as more Emblians warped in out of nowhere and continued attacking us. Ryoma and Robin fended them off, retreating to the defensive tiles when they began to be overwhelmed. The mob of Emblians kept getting bigger and I started wonder where Veronica got all these soldiers after she exhausted half her army back in the attack in Askr. Eventually however, the reinforcements stopped when I saw a pillar of light rise in the sky. Celica has warped away.
"Xander! Robinne!" I yelled "Attack the Emblians from behind!"
While Ryoma and Robin walled the Emblian mob swarming us on the defensive tiles, Xander and Robinne ran as fast as they could to catch them from behind. Before long, Xander's Siegfried began slicing away at the Emblians while Robinne's Gronnwolf took down row after row of soldiers.
"May your blood crust my blade!" Ryoma's Raijinto blazed with electric blue lightning as he jumped in the air, mercilessly slashing apart packs of Emblians with Astra. Both Robins activated their specials at the same time, tearing away at Emblians with the power of Bonfire and Ignis. After, all the Emblians were defeated and Celica has retreated.
"So… now what?" I asked to clear the air. We sat down to rest and regain energy "Is there a way out of here?"
"Me and Xander noticed something while crossing over the mountain range to help you" Robinne said, tucking the tome of Gronnwolf back in her pocket "It was a circle of golden magic. I think it's a warp panel"
"Where do you think the warp panel will take us?" I asked.
Robinne shrugged "No idea. No better way to find out than to try"
"It could lead us to another ambush" Ryoma warned "Are you sure you want to do this Lucian?"
"Xander, scout the mountain and look for another exit" I ordered and the cavalier trotted off. A few minutes later, Xander returned, reporting that there weren't any other exits aside from jumping off the mountain.
"The warp panel is our only option" I said, getting up "Come on, let's go everyone"
We each took turns using the warp panel, teleporting to god knows where. I was the last to go in. I stepped into the veil of magic, closed my eyes and let the magic send me off into the unknown.
The warp panel deposited us onto another boat, with two small bridges connecting us to another ship next to us. The enemy ship had an Emblian Sword Fighter along with Boey, Mae, Genny and Catria as our enemies.
"Another boat battle… how original" I muttered as I ordered my heroes into position. I sent Ryoma and Xander to the left side to deal with the Sword Fighter and Boey while the Robin twins fought Mae, Catria and Genny.
"Blarraven!"
"Gronnwolf!"
Robin and Robinne cast their spells in unison, flooding the enemy with a swarm of spiritual ravens and a green wolf head. The two magics smashed hard into Mae, Catria and Genny. Catria and Mae fell instantly, with only Genny surviving due to her high resistance. Genny retaliated with a blast of Gravity, pinning Robin to the ground, but Robinne finished the cleric off. Xander and Ryoma effortlessly defeated Boey and the Sword Fighter, routing the rest of the enemies. We found a warp panel nearby the stern of the ship and teleported to the next battlefield. We arrived back onto Fear Mountain, but this time in front of a large, desolate mansion.
"Looks like this is the arcanist's manor" I said, pulling the sending stone from my orb bag. Since I was only allowed four heroes into a world at once, Anna entrusted me with the stone to contact Zacharias. I agreed, seeing as I owed him for saving me back in the World of Radiance.
"This means you can perform the rite?" Robinne asked as she peered at the manor suspiciously, as if checking for enemies.
"This is the spot apparently" I nodded "We need to get inside the manor and use the leftover traces of magic as a catalyst to communicate with Zacharias"
"Wait Lucian" Ryoma put his Raijinto over me protectively "I sense enemies around"
On cue, a familiar mage knight came riding towards us.
"There...you are. Now...die... I...will kill...you all" Bruno said sinisterly.
"Something's clearly wrong with Prince Bruno" I said as my heroes prepared to defend me "He's not even the same person"
"I will kill you!" Bruno shouted "You first, summoner of Askr! DIE!"
Bruno cast Valaskjalf towards me, but Robinne pushed me out of the way and took the magical attack easily. Ryoma lunged forward, stabbing Bruno with his katana. The mage knight stumbled, but regained his composure, despite being just stabbed through the rib cage. Xander followed up Ryoma's attack, swinging his Siegfried downward onto Bruno's face. He dodged and cast Valaskjalf, encasing Xander in a cube of ice. The cage of ice exploded, sending Xander staggering backwards.
"This is the end!" Bruno attacked again, but Robinne shattered his spell with Gronnwolf, heavily damaging the Emblian prince.
"You have breathed your last!" Ryoma glowed with a light green aura and leaped into the air, slashing Bruno to pieces with Astra. The mage knight held steady against Ryoma's assault due to his triangle advantage, but eventually succumbed to his wounds when Robinne followed up with Gronnwolf. Bruno fell off his horse and faded into nothingness.
"Don't rest just yet everyone. I saw people inside the manor" Xander warned as Robinne treated his wounds with the first aid kit I carried in my orb bag. He came out of Valaskjalf with somewhat serious puncture wounds surrounded by frost. It took a bit of time to steady Xander's condition and have him able to stand up. Once that was done, we charged inside the manor. Inside, Celica, Mae, Boey and Genny were waiting for us. A short brawl ensued, with Robin and Robinne dealing with Mae, Boey and Genny while Ryoma and Xander attacked Celica. Once they were dealt with, we climbed to the manor's second floor, finding a stone monument with swirling traces of magic around it.
"I suppose this is the catalyst for our sending stone" I said as I set the beige crystal onto the monument "Now I need to read the incantation…"
I produced a piece of parchment paper from my orb bag, the incantation written by Anna "With all thy heart, yearn for me. With all thy voice, call to me. Zacharias of Askr, call to me!"
The sending stone glowed white hot, the swirling purple words of magic spinning faster around the monument. The light held for a brief moment, then died down. The magical ring of magic returned to it's normal speed.
"Zacharias? Can you hear us?" I said quietly.
No response.
"Zacharias! Are you able to hear me?!" I called, a little louder this time.
No response.
"ZACHARIAS! ARE YOU HERE?!" I shouted at the stone.
Nothing. No voice, no shift in the wind. Just me shouting at a stone while my heroes watched in silence.
"You're wasting your breath"
The exact voice I didn't want to hear echoed from beside me. I turned to see Bruno strolling towards me, not at all acting like he was before.
"Prince Bruno. What are you doing here? Unwounded as well" Ryoma asked.
"That is nothing of your business. I only desire to speak to Lucian" Bruno replied flatly, Valaskjalf tucked in his arm.
"What do you want Bruno?" I said, with a hint of anger in my voice. I had to go through all these life-threatening battles to have the damn sending stone not work. I was understandably a little frustrated right now.
"Shout all you like. You won't get a response from Zacharias" Bruno's tone was monotone, informing me simply of the facts.
"And why is that, may I ask?" I glared at the Emblian prince.
"Anna told you the rite wouldn't fail and that it'll work so long as Zacharias is alive, right?"
"Yes…"
"That's the problem then. "If""
I took a step back "What do you mean?"
"He stuck his nose into things he really should not have" Bruno smiled lightly "Right before I came here... I killed him"
"You… you killed Zacharias!" I balled my hands into fists "Everyone, attack Bruno and kill him!"
"One last word Lucian" Bruno smile grew more sinister as a warp circle began glowing under his feet, blowing everyone backwards "The next time we meet, I'll send you all to Zacharias. You, Alfonse, Sharena and Anna. One by one. Look forward to it"
And Bruno disappeared.
We returned to Askr in dour moods, due to unsuccessfully contacting Zacharias. It was hard relaying the news of Zacharia's death by the hand of Bruno to Alfonse, Sharena and Anna. Alfonse and Sharena excused themselves to go cry while Anna simply nodded and kept a serious face while I explained the story. Tired from the expedition today, I headed towards the bathhouse to have a nice relaxing bath before taking a nap.
"What in the world is going on in Embla…?" I wondered out loud.
Later into the night…
"You're quite skilled in the bow, aren't you Klein?" Jeorge shot another arrow towards the target, hitting a bullseye. Klein nocked another arrow and fired, taking the head of a dummy with it.
"Well, I had my mother teach me when I was young" Klein replied as he drew another arrow from his quiver "They say that learning things young instills the skill into the child's blood"
"You wouldn't be wrong on that Klein" Jeorge laughed as he shot another arrow, hitting the outer ring just outside the bullseye "Ah, rusty shot there"
"Who taught you archery Jeorge?" Klein asked as he lined up another shot "You seem to be quite the expert on the craft"
"I'm self taught actually" Jeorge replied "I suppose it's my natural skill that landed me the title of "best archer in Archanea""
"The best archer in Archanea…" Klein repeated "That's quite a high honor"
"Believe me, it's hardly true" Jeorge brushed it off "Most of the things you might hear about me from the others is only my family trying to spread rumors to gain fame. They are despicable filth"
"Well, I'd wager that your archery skills are second to none" Klein smiled "So you have that going for you"
"I suppose" Jeorge shrugged "But simply being the best isn't enough. There is always more for learn"
"I like your attitude" Klein's smile dipped slightly "Although I must ask: What do you mean by your family being "despicable filth"? Do you hate your family?"
"You could say that" Jeorge said as he fired another arrow "My family were nobles and had no such talents except for me. They used my accomplishments in order to bring in fame and recognition to them"
"Wouldn't you be proud of bring honor to your family?"
"They used me more as a tool than an actual child" Jeorge replied "They had me marry a noblewoman named Midia. Fortunately, both of us knew we weren't for each other so we just… divorced per se"
"And was your family furious for it?"
"Oh yes, very much. But I didn't often stay home" the blond archer explained "I'm a runaway nobleman so to speak. I spend a lot of time outside in towns or villages. I know more of the commoner life than the noble one"
"I think that makes you a good nobleman" Klein nodded "Knowing the ways of the common man makes you much more down-to-earth and easier to speak with. Had I not known you were nobility, I would of assumed you to be a mercenary sniper"
"That assumption wouldn't be far off" Jeorge aimed his last arrow carefully, then fired, landing it on the bullseye exactly "That seems to be good enough practice for today"
"Let's take a break for now. Fire a bow too often and you'll find yourself with a bad shoulder" Klein advised.
"Yeah, you're right. Hand me a bottle of water, would you?"
And that's the Rite of Shadows! Part 2 was too short, so I decided to just combine it together with part 1 and re release it. Coming up next is Lloyd's Grand Hero Battle along with the Bridal Blessings paralogue. Ryoma and Xander's quotes on the Mae and Boey boat map is taken from Fire Emblem Warriors. As always, thank you for the follows, favorites and reviews. Until next time fellow summoners!