Chapter 7) Lucky Charm

We are starting a rebellion. The words are so strange to me. A few months ago, they never would have occurred to me. Yet, here we are. It is a sign of how far Hezul and I have come. Though, perhaps it is a sign of how desperate Hezul and I are to not lose our new family and friends. It is hard to say, truly.

After meeting with Tordo, it is decided we would meet Ullur in Jungby. We sneak in two at a time, to hide our numbers, with a single address as our goal. I feel as if I was a child again, playing make believe. But the danger is all too real for this 'game'.

"Are you sure we are in the right area, Hezul?" I asked as we wandered down the street. By this point in our walking, we had passed the deceptively chipper houses of those mildly well off, and even passed the hovels of the less fortunate. Instead, we were in an area lit by red lanterns, with the air thick with incense and the streets lined by those wearing less clothing than I would expect. I knew we were in the later months of spring, but still, their clothes bore quite a bit of skin. "This is a very odd area. It is almost as if we are in the marketplace again, but..."

"It is, but this is the direction we were told to go when we last asked," Hezul reminded. He stepped a little closer to me as we passed some well-dressed people laughing. Their faces were flushed and they smelled of sweat and alcohol. "I have never seen people so openly intimate with each other before."

"I don't believe I have either." I diverted my gaze when I saw a couple kissing in the shadows of a building. "I hope we didn't miss a turn."

"As do I. But, if we're too long, I'm sure one of the others will find us."

"Sety went ahead of us, right? Maybe he is watching us through the wind right now." If only my own bond with the wind was strong enough for that… but it wasn't, and it likely never would. Versatility did have its drawbacks. "Perhaps we should ask-"

"My, you're quite the pretty one!" A loud voice made both Hezul and I frown, and I couldn't help but stare at the man who stumbled over. "You're probably expensive, but well worth it," he continued. I simply continued to stare, horribly confused. Was this strange place a front for slaves? It looked nothing like the slave markets I had seen in Belhalla. "Come on…" He reached for me and snagged my sleeve, tugging far too hard. I had to reach up to make sure the collar didn't slip down too much. "For a girl as pretty as you, I'll pay-"

"Mind your manners," Hezul interrupted, snatching the man's wrist. He dug his nails into the skin to force the man to let go of me and then he pushed him away. "Don't touch her."

"What? Did you buy her already?" The man rolled his eyes and stumbled over again. "Come on. I'll pay twice as-"

Hezul didn't even bother saying anything this time. In two hits, he had the man unconscious. "Where the hell did we end up?" Hezul sighed and dragged the man off to the side, propping him up against the wall. "I'm tempted to steal his coinpurse, though."

"Let someone less fortunate than us handle that, Hezul," I refused. To emphasize my words, I checked my pack, which still had quite a few jewels. Thanks to the arena, we hadn't needed to sell any yet. "I am certain they will appreciate it more."

"I suppose," Hezul replied. He took my hand and we continued walking, checking the addresses. They were increasingly hard to find on the buildings. "We might need to ask someone." He looked around and hailed a woman wearing a surprisingly low-cut dress. It looked wonderful on her, but I genuinely wondered how it stayed up. "Excuse me?"

"Hmm? Oh, my…" the woman breathed. She smiled charmingly at Hezul, and I felt a strange bit of immediate loathing gnaw on my stomach. "For someone like you, I think I'll cut my rate a little."

"Pardon?" Hezul replied. Feeling unsettled, I stepped a little closer to him and held onto his arm. "Um… my apologies, but we're looking for a place? And I wondered if you could direct us to it?"

"Really? Aw, a shame…" She sighed gustily, and winked. "Well, I know the city well. Do you have the address? I'll lead you."

"Thank you."

The lady knew exactly where the building was and led us to it easily. Hezul and I gave her some gold in thanks and entered, telling the woman who greeted us the password Tordo said to use. She nodded at once and led us up some stairs. Tordo was waiting for us and led us to the room where he and Sety had set up. They had been the first pair for that reason. Baldur and Vala had been the second pair. Hezul and I had been the third.

"Wow, you got propositioned?" Tordo asked as he shut the door behind us. Baldur and Vala greeted us with great big hugs. "Odd. You normally don't get things like that outside of the brothels."

"What is a brothel?" I asked curiously. Everyone else in the room began looking away, shifting uncomfortably. "Is it a place that sells broth?"

"Uh…"

"They're only really popular in big castle towns like this one," Sety replied. Though the others were uncomfortable, he simply grinned. At least someone was amused. "Still, you two are from Belhalla, right? Surely, that city has some."

"I've heard of them before, but only in strains of gossip," Hezul explained. He shrugged and pulled out a chair for me to sit in. "It's a place where people pay for sex, but that's about the extent of my knowledge."

"Never partook?"

"Galle didn't tolerate anyone 'stealing' my time."

"Wow, was he in love with you or Gwyneth?"

"…Neither," I whispered. I looked down and clasped my hands together in my lap. Vala stole the chair next to me to rest her hands on mine. I smiled wanly at her, remembering her words. "He simply obsessed over us both."

"And that is where we're going to end that topic," Baldur interrupted firmly. He leveled Sety with a stern look, and Sety bowed, smiling apologetically. "Still, Gwyneth, we're in a brothel right now. Someone thought it was a good place to hide."

"Ullur thought so," Tordo immediately explained, tone defensive. Sety snickered and sat down at the table as well, next to me. "I would've preferred a tavern, like where we met in Evans."

"He's supposed to be here soon, right?" Baldur took the seat next to Vala, and Hezul almost took the seat next to him, but Vala suddenly hopped up to take that one, so Hezul took her vacated seat instead, next to me. "You said to expect him soon."

"Yeah, honestly thought Hezul and Gwyneth were him, so he should-" A series of knocks, seven-pause-three, conveniently cut Tordo off. "And he's apparently right here, either because of his sheer dumb luck or his flair for drama."

"Now, Tordo, they'll think you don't like me with an introduction like that." The door opened to reveal someone with long golden hair and matching eyes, much like Hezul, and wearing earrings, an unusual accessory for someone not from the court. At least, I didn't recognize him as one of the court. The way Hezul stiffened next to me, though, hinted he recognized the man. "Hello, everyone!" the man greeted with a warm smile, shutting the door behind him. "I am Ullur. Lord Hezul, I'm pleased to see you have not suffered too much from your kidnapping."

"I knew I recognized you," Hezul whispered. He tried to smile, but it fell quickly. I snuck my hand over to squeeze his reassuringly. "You were one of the newest recruits in the guard."

"And got damned lucky when Galle's forces decided to kill everyone because he thinks people are objects to be horded." Ullur brushed his hair behind his ear, and smiled kindly. "Edda's resistance was founded by the survivors. Same as Chalphy's, from my understanding." Ullur took one of the remaining chairs and grinned. "Sorry about the odd meeting place. But it's such a lovely information network. Amazing what people spill during pillow talk."

Everyone began talking then, settling in while we waited for the rest of our group. Since I was confused by the phrase, though, I poked Sety's arm and leaned in to whisper, "what is the significance of talking pillows? How does one make pillows talk?"

"You know; given how obsessed Galle seems to be, I'm rather surprised by… most of this," Sety replied. "Very."

"Does this have something to do with sex again? Galle wouldn't even kiss me."

"Really?"

"Yes?" He always needed to know where I was, and he did kiss my hand during formal events. But anything more 'romantic'… he never did, unless one counted dancing. "He would watch me change clothes, but…" I was more of a doll to him, a pretty doll he hated to see marred but a doll nonetheless. You didn't kiss dolls.

"That is… so creepy actually, and I'm sorry I brought it up." He smiled apologetically, but I shrugged. That only seemed to make his smile sadder, though. "Okay, but you're going to squeak and go red during the explanation, so try to minimize that."

"I doubt you can say anything to get me to react. But please, explain this to me."

I did have to admit it was close, mostly because Sety was horribly blunt about most of it. But I did keep my stoic calm and didn't even blush. I thought it might have earned me a bit of respect.

Eventually, everyone made it to the brothel, though we had to do a lot of moving around to fit everyone in the room. Ullur had clearly expected a smaller group for this meeting, but Heim had insisted on all of us. So, we managed. Somehow. Barely.

"Heim, why is it that you had all of us here?" I asked him quietly as the others caught Ullur up on everything. Since he already knew Hezul, it was pointless to hide who I was either, and he needed to know about the tome. "We are a rather large group."

"We are, but I felt the risks were worth it," Heim replied, just as quietly. We sat next to each other around the table, almost close enough to touch. I leaned into Hezul to give Heim as much space as I could. Hezul leaned back to do the same for Blaggi. "The best of our warriors, Sety and Vala for security, Blaggi for the healers, and you who stole the tome."

"You truly make that sound more impressive than it was." He literally left it with me. He left me alone with it. It had been an impulse.

"You had the courage, Gwyneth. The courage to take it and the courage to leave." Heim smiled kindly. "You should not lessen feat." I had no words, so I smiled politely back. He sighed, perhaps knowing that I couldn't quite believe him and patted my shoulder before focusing again on the others. It was a good thing, because talk had turned into 'what will we do now'.

"I've got Neir in Dozel recruiting people there," Tordo said, leaning back in his chair. Vala, sitting next to him, tipped him forward so that he didn't fall out of the chair and accidentally kick Sety in the face. Sety sat on his other side. "We're really going to have to split up across everything to gather everyone. We can't put out a general call."

"Well, we can, but we can't guarantee that the right people will see it," Ullur replied. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, probably so that he could breathe a bit. He was crammed between Baldur and Dain. "We also will likely need to convince them directly of our chances. It's going to be hard."

"Miletos will be the hardest. They were hit hard by the empire. There is resistance, but they'll likely be the ones who 'resist' becoming a rebellion the most. I'm hoping the tome will help convince them, though." Tordo grinned at me, and I looked down, embarrassed. They truly did think too much of the 'feat'. "From there, it's the southern peninsula. I know they exist, but hell if I know where. It's hard to get people there."

"Not to mention the rest of the empire." Ullur absently tapped the map spread out on the table. It threatened to roll up, but Odo and Noba solved that by simply pinning it with their arms. "The west might have to be last, after we've secured the rest. They respect strength more than anything."

"There's also the lands past the desert, though." Tordo sighed. "We'll want to avoid that. Not the lands, the desert."

A thought occurred to me, but I hesitated to say anything. That is, I did until Heim silently encouraged me to speak up. I still hesitated, but finally, I whispered, "Maybe we shouldn't avoid the desert."

"The desert is a harsh place," Blaggi murmured. He bit his lip, eyeing it warily on the map. "The heat and cold… plus the lack of water…"

"Precisely." I still hesitated, feeling a little nauseous at… all of this. But Noba caught my eye and smiled encouragingly, so I pressed on. "I remember the Loptyr priests talking of how much they hated the desert. They can move in it fairly well, like most mages, but I remember them doing everything they could to try and avoid it."

"They decided mountains were less annoying," Hezul added. He frowned for a moment before nodding. "There's an abandoned fort in Darna as well. Very large, but completely unused. We could hole up there, and prep to head to the northern lands." Hezul leaned forward to look at the map and found Darna on it easily. "It's northeast of Edda, southeast of Velthomer, and is situated right where the desert bleeds into the southwestern peninsula."

"There are also some underground catacomb areas north of it, yes?" I asked. I leaned forward as well, remembering what Galle had boasted about. "They keep prisoners there, so perhaps we could find allies among them?"

"Though some of the prisoners are stone."

"That is true."

"Stone?" Heim repeated. He frowned heavily. "What do you mean 'stone'?"

"There is a dark magic spell that turns its target to stone," I explained, sitting back down. Hezul, however, borrowed a pen to mark out the approximate area of the catacomb-prisons. "Hezul, there is an entrance at the abandoned shrine. I remember Galle mentioning that."

"So, it turns people into statues?"

"The entrance doesn't turn… oh, I'm sorry. Yes, the spell does." I shuddered, remembering the one time I saw it. It turned them slowly, bit by bit, and they were aware and helpless the entire time. "It takes a while to cast, with a lengthy incantation. If it is interrupted at any point, the spell disappears. I don't know a means to dispel it, though."

"I do. The Kia staff. We'll ask Scathach for it. It's in her care, along with a Silence staff. Master Maera left the capital with both. Silence is used to help protect the village, so I dare not ask for that, but Kia… Kia might be something we need."

"There's a secondary entrance in this area as well," Hezul murmured, bringing everyone's focus back to the map. He was still marking things. "It's a short distance from Darna."

"Did Galle just blab about all sorts of secret things around you two?" Vala asked with a little laugh. She smiled much like a cat when it was particularly pleased with itself. "Really?"

"Well, this is actually a military secret. Technically speaking, I was a general in the army."

"Wait, you were?!"

"It was an honorary title, more so that I legally had the right to take command and get Galle to safety. I was his bodyguard." Hezul sat back down and shrugged. "Besides, Galle made up a story about us being kidnapping because he can't imagine Gwyneth and I would run away willingly. I doubt it occurred to him that we'd use the information against him." Though, part of me wondered… based on what Scathach had said… had it been his 'old self' trying to help us?

"Regardless, the desert might be a good meeting point before dealing with the north," Heim summarized. He looked at the map briefly before turning to Odo and Sety. "What do you two think? You're the only ones with any sort of experience with the desert."

"You'll need water," Sety noted bluntly. He smiled, but it looked stiffer than his normal smiles. "Food as well, but water is going to be crucial. Why was it abandoned anyway?"

"They hate the heat," Hezul answered easily. I muffled a little laugh at how easily he said it. "That's the only reason I've heard, at least."

"That's… wow, okay, anyway." Sety sighed. "Regardless, water. Need water."

"We should send people ahead to make sure the fortress hasn't become home to wild animals, and the like," Odo added. He almost straightened, but the map threatened to roll up again, so he remained as he was. "And to check those catacombs."

"There's many diseases as well that we'll need to prepare against," Blaggi sighed. He did his best to appear calm, but it was easy to see the cracks. "Ah, there will be a lot to watch for. I'll need to contact more…"

"I'm sure it'll be easy." Odo sounded confident enough, but I couldn't blame everyone for being a bit skeptical. Hezul, however, looked to the door and watched it. "We'll recruit them while we recruit others."

"I hope it's that easy." Blaggi sighed, rubbing his temple. I rested a hand on Hezul's arm and, after a moment, he nodded. "But-"

"Someone is coming," I whispered. Everyone fell perfectly silent. Dain, Odo, and Ullur jumped to their feet even. "Hezul?"

"It's just one person, moving quickly," Hezul explained. He stood as well, but picked up our packs. "At least, I believe it is only one. The other noise makes it hard to tell."

"Ullur?" The door opened to reveal the woman who had shown Hezul and I up. "You and yours need to leave quickly," she informed us, expression serious. "Knights just showed up unexpectedly. Just taking what they want, of course. I don't think I can keep them from coming up here."

"I know the way out," Ullur replied, already moving. The rest of us scrambled to gather our things. "Thanks, Maeve." He snagged her hand and kissed it. "I owe you."

"Stay for a while next time." She winked and laughed. "Luck be with you all."

The others followed Ullur quickly. I paused by 'Maeve', though, and hunted through my pack until I found two gems. "Here," I whispered, pressing them into her hands. She looked down at them curiously. "I know how knights can be. Sell these to pay for any medical costs."

"That's… sweet of you," she whispered. She smiled warmly, yet sadly. "Thank you. But you need to catch up."

"I shall. Thank you."

I caught up quickly with the others. Hezul and Ullur waited for me. But then we had other issues. Knights hadn't just invaded the building. They had more or less taken over the city entirely.

"Wow, this many knights and we weren't ambushed by them," Tordo murmured, after we had all hidden in an alleyway. We had spent the better part of the last hour running about, hunting for a way outside the city. "And we haven't been caught. And my hood hasn't come down once in this mad haste. Ullur, I'm thanking you for all that."

"Glad you're not blaming me," Ullur joked. He peered out into the main street before hiding again. "Still, might be best to go ahead and split up."

"Right." Tordo turned to Heim. The rest of us caught our breath and checked our own hoods. Odo helped me pin mine, actually. "Miletos should probably one large group that can coordinate together. They'll face the most changes."

"Of course…" Heim murmured. He looked down briefly before looking at Baldur. No, he looked at all of us, at all of our family. Baldur was just in the middle. "Will you go? You have the tome. You are all skilled and charismatic. Will you?"

Baldur almost agreed immediately. I knew he did. It was just how he was. But he paused and looked at us, waiting for our answers. Dain closed his eyes and tugged Noba into a hug. Noba nodded, grinning. Vala hesitated before nodding as well, smiling wryly. Hezul and I looked to each other and took each other's hands before nodding. We would go.

"Yes, we'll do it," Baldur said then, smiling warmly. Heim smiled in relief, and more than a little sadness. "Chalphy first, right?"

"We can get a boat to Miletos from there, or cross via the bridge," Hezul confirmed. I felt a trace of excitement and dread rush through me. I hadn't been to Chalphy in years. I hadn't been to Miletos in longer. "Either would work. We'll be fine."

"There is a resistance within Chalphy, so I'm sure they'll help out," Ullur added. He frowned suddenly and peered out again. "More are coming. Best say your goodbyes and split, quickly."

We exchanged hugs and goodbyes. It felt wrong not to. I begged Blaggi to tell Naga I would see her when I got back. He agreed and gave me a heal staff and a token that would show I was allied with him, to get help with repairing it. Odo advised me to keep my eyes forward while ruffling my hair. Sety, surprisingly, gave me a hug as well and a promise to quiz me on wind magic when we were back, so I had best practice. Heim, however, drew me to the side and handed me a tome.

"You're not skilled enough for this yet, but I'm sure you will be before long," he explained, helping me tuck it into my back. "It's a Nosferatu tome. It'll heal you while damaging the enemies."

"That sounds dark," I half-joked. It was hard to fit the tome in and, sadly, I had to remove a few things. Heim, without prompting, stashed them into his pack. "It sounds very dark, actually."

"Light isn't necessarily good, just as darkness is not necessarily bad. It is our actions that define us." He pulled out a small, intricately carved token. "Here, hold on to this for me."

"What is it?" I held it up curiously, studying it. Sadly, I saw no picture in the carving. It was just beautiful.

"It's a good luck charm Master Maera made for me. You may borrow it." He held up a hand to stop my immediate protests. "Borrow. You're borrowing it. I expect it back."

"That is…" It took me a second to realize what he truly meant. 'Come back safely.' A quick look around showed Blaggi, Odo, and Sety also giving little tokens to the others, for them to 'borrow'. "Very well. I expect my things back as well."

"Of course." He hugged me and, surprisingly, kissed my forehead. It took me back to one of the few memories I had of my father. He had done the same when saying farewell. "I will see you in Darna."

"Yes." I hesitated before hugging him back. "We will see you there."

We ran then. I took Hezul's hand as we did, and Dain led us through the back alleys to escape the city. Though, we ran into another problem once we were outside the city. There were more knights, and we ended up running right into them.

"Well, this is interesting," one knight commented. They stepped forward slowly, grinning. The rest of us tensed, noticing we were slowly being surrounded. "What a lovely group of people. Why leave so quickly?"

"We have to meet with someone outside the city," Baldur replied. His hand hovered over his sword. Vala subtly hid some fire close to her, while Noba and Dain clutched their lances. Hezul was deceptively relaxed, and I hid behind him. "An employer. We're mercenaries."

"Bah, I'm sure you can wait a while." The knights approached slowly, lazily. They were like predators who knew they had their prey right where they wanted it. "Or at least the ladies can wait? It's been a long journey out here."

"Are we killing them all?" Hezul asked softly. He sounded almost bored, but I could see how tense he was. "If we are, I can scare them quickly."

"I'm for that," Vala muttered, glowering at the knights. They laughed like they thought it was something adorable. "Dain? You're the logical one."

"Logic dictates we deal with them now," Dain sighed. He was definitely exasperated. "Well, we're only outnumbered two to one. We can make it work. Maybe."

"Hezul can scare them."

"H-Hezul?" one of the knights repeated. Their face blanched and I had to muffle a laugh. "Why are you all…?"

"Oh my gods, it's just like the last bunch of nights we killed!" Noba laughed. She took on a surprisingly vicious grin as she settled into a stance. "You guys are going to join them now, though."

"T-treason! Those words are-!"

"Is it treason when you were never loyal in the first place?"

Despite Noba being the one to taunt, it was Vala who struck first and began the short battle. During all of it, though, I found myself unprepared for a few things. The almost nauseating feeling that rushed through me that made me long to run or freeze in terror… the screams and sobs as people died… the shaking in my hands that made it almost hard to aim… too many things going on that made me drop my guard… it all combined to turn everything into blurs disappearing into white noise. I couldn't find myself focusing on anything until long after the battle and long after Vala and I had tended to everyone's injuries.

"You okay, Gwyneth?" Dain asked me. We had all set up camp for the night, off the main road, and he and I were cooking for everyone. Rather, he was cooking. I attempted to help and not bloody my fingers. "You're out of it."

"I will be fine," I murmured. My hands were steady now, so I cut the vegetables Vala and Noba had foraged. "That was my first battle."

"That was the first battle where you could have fought back. I agree with Baldur in that you fought battles in that court. The more I hear about it, the more I agree." He stopped stirring the stew and rested a hand on mine. "Was it the killing?"

"No." Honestly, I felt as if I should have felt worse for killing them. "I have killed before. Galle made me kill my favorite maid, Andrea."

"Why?"

"She refused to let him into my room." She had tried to keep him from one of his 'possessions'. So, he wanted her to die in the most painful way possible. "You will have to forgive me for not being too troubled after that."

"Then the battle itself." He sighed and smiled bitterly, ruffling my hair. "Sadly, that is a thing only experience can help with. The lightning spells were helpful, though."

"I am glad I was able to help." I managed a smile for him before working on slicing the vegetables again. "Where are the others?"

"Vala wanted to forage a second time, to see if there were berries we can have for desert. Baldur went with her."

"Hezul and Noba are doing patrols, aren't they?"

"They're also masking our trail. Though, Hezul mentioned something about dogs?"

"I hope we won't have to jump into another river for that." I frowned when his expression blanked. "Did Hezul or I never tell you all about our escape?"

"No, you haven't." He went back to stirring. "We made sure to not ask."

"Ah." I sliced through a particularly stubborn potato and smiled. "It started with Galle leaving me alone with the tome."

Slowly and haltingly, I told him about it. I told him about how I had thrown together a pack. I told him about how I had run into Hezul, thought he would stop me, but instead, he came with me. I told him about how Hezul had fought our way out. I told him about running through the snow, how I lost my shoes, and how we had jumped into a freezing river. I told him all about our flight, right up to Noba and Baldur finding us.

As I told him all of this, my nerves eased and my resolve strengthened. While I thought everyone spoke too highly of the flight, I could recognize how far I had come. I could recognize how far I would go. These were the first true steps of freedom I had, and in that freedom, I had decided to stay with everyone and to make this world a better place.

It was terrifying, truly. But it was also rather exhilarating.

Our Family:

· Gwyneth

o 20 years old

o Class: Shaman; Weapons: Fire – E, Thunder – E, Wind – E, Light – D, Staves – E

o Because of how confined she was, there are some things about the world that confuse her and not just the simple kindness that remains in the world. She has no idea how to haggle, for one thing.

o Because Galle liked to boast about dark magic, she's surprisingly knowledgeable on the subject.

· Hezul

o 22 years old

o Class: Paladin (dismounted); Weapons: Swords – A, Lances – C

o Because he was Galle's bodyguard, he was privy to quite a few military secrets. He's uncertain as to how many are still viable, but he shares most easily.

o He was just as confined as Gwyneth back in Belhalla, but it was less noticeable since Galle had him fight in the arena on a near daily basis.

· Noba

o 19 years old

o Class: Soldier; Weapons: Lance – B

o Rather excited about being able to travel to other areas of the empire, though she worries she'll give them away because she's looking at everything.

o Despite her cheer, or maybe because of it, she's actually a very vicious fighter. Perhaps she works out her negative emotions through fighting.

· Baldur

o 21 years old

o Class: Mercenary; Weapons: Swords – B

o Bit worried about traveling, mostly because it's the most they've ever done. He also isn't very confident about being able to convince people, but he vows to try.

o Somehow tends to end up as the spokesperson, and 'leader' of the group. He doesn't know why too much, but goes with it.

· Dain

o 22 years old

o Class: Soldier; Weapons: Lance – B

o Really dislikes the traveling aspect. He longs for the days where they could just stay in one place and be safe, but he hides his worries

o That said, no small part of him is glad to finally be able to 'get back' at the Empire for slaughtering his home

· Fjalar; Vala

o 17 years old

o Class: Fire mage; Weapons: Fire – A

o No small part of her wanted to actually stay in the central area of the empire, to reclaim Velthomer, but she refuses to leave her family for anything.

o Gleeful at being able to fight against the empire, to a point that terrifies her

Our Friends:

· Odo

o 19 years old

o Class: Myrmidon; Weapons: Sword – A

o Feels a gnawing fear about returning to the desert, but refuses to let it show. He likes keeping his worries to himself.

o Gave Hezul and Baldur some trinkets he'd won from the arena. 'Borrowing' them for now.

· Blaggi

o 18 years old

o Class: Priest; Weapons: Staff – A

o Sending out messages through Lord Maera's Followers, worried desperately about… everything. He's most worried, though, that his nerves will prevent him from doing his job

o Gave Vala another of his 'tokens', as well as a small toy he's kept with him since living in the monstary

· Sety

o 21 years old

o Class: Bard; Weapons: Fire – E, Thunder – E, Wind – A, Light – E

o Absolutely terrified about potentially returning to the desert, because he died there and it was the last place he saw his friends. Still, the wind urges him forward, so he continues to walk the path. Shakily.

o He let Dain and Noba borrow two beaded feathers. They are, apparently, things he managed to hold onto when he'd been 'hunted'.

· Heim

o 28 years old

o Class: Sage; Weapons: Fire – D, Thunder – D, Wind – D, Light – A, Staves – C

o Worried about splitting people up, even though he's aware of how difficult it would be to keep things hidden if they kept moving in one big group.

o Sends a messenger off to Scathach to ask for the Kia staff. He hopes that she'll actually receive it.

Our Allies:

· Thrud; Tordo

o 20 years old

o Class: Thunder mage; Weapons: Thunder – A

o Pretty excited about all of this, because for the first time in his life, he feels as if he can finally make a difference.

o Plans to head for Friege first, to inform his family, before meeting up with Neir in Dozel

· Ullur

o 22 years old

o Class: Sniper; Weapons: Bows – A

o Once a soldier in Edda's guard and now leader of the Edda resistance. He took over when his predecessor retired due to a bad injury. Known for his almost insanely good luck, to the point that many half joke that he's a living lucky charm

o Despite his good cheer, no small part of him resents and blames Hezul for the massacre at Edda. He tries to hide it, though, both to be professional and because it's clear Hezul also suffered. He can tell because Hezul is far more stoic now than he had been as a child.

· Maeve

o Unknown Age. Will never say.

o Assistant to the owner of Jungby's most popular brothel. She doubles as a spy for the resistances, and gathers up a great deal of information.

o Close to Ullur despite living so far away. Might be something romantic there, but at the least, they're good friends who trust each other immensely.

Author's note: Nosferatu is a fun spell and has a bit of a history, I suppose. First introduced in Gaiden as a Black Magic spell, it's been both a dark magic and light magic spell depending on the game. FE6, FE7, FE8, FE13, and FE14 have it as a dark magic. FE4, FE5, FE9, and FE10 have it as light magic. It also appears in FE3/FE12, but those games simply have all magic grouped together. In FE3/FE12, it can only be used by female mages. It's also unique because, in FE2 and Echoes, it's one of the few weapons that can be used against Duma when he's below half HP (the other being Falchion, and some amibo weapons; I believe in FE2 this was a glitch, while FE15 made it a deliberate homage). Its weapon level also varies wildly depending on the game. FE3 had it at weapon level 1 (FE4 was the first game to have letters for weapon ranks). For FE4 and Fe9, it's rank A. FE5 has it at rank B. FE6/7/8, it's C. FE10 has it as S, while FE12 (Fe3's remake) has it at E. And finally, FE13/14 have it as D. It changes a lot depending on the game!

Stone is a dark magic spell that appears in FE5. The idea that it works slowly is my 'explanation' for why it's not really used in battle during FE4, based on one of Eyvel's Cipher arts. Stone can't be dispelled in FE5 with a restore staff, requiring the Kia staff (a bit of a subplot point in FE5). In game, it's bound to a certain bloodline, but I am choosing to have that be something the priests added later, to lessen the chances of their enemies undoing the Stone spell.

'Maeve' is an anglicized form of 'Medb', a warrior queen of Connacht in Irish legend.

Next Chapter – Little Princess