Emblemtale: The Ancients- Chapter 6: Tales on the Other Side!
While Frisk and the others began their investigation, on the other side of the border, in the kingdom of Vauland, Princess Serene and her retainers had continued their journey to the battlefield, stopping off at a town on the edge of a dense forest, they hitched their horses at a nearby inn and dismounted.
"Alright, Guys, we'll rest up here tonight and set out again in the morning!" Serene planned, she went to open the door, but before she could, both Livi and Agate grabbed her "What are you guys doing?! Let go of me!"
"Princess, do you really think it's a good idea to walk around in plain sight like this?" Livi asked, letting go of Serene and folding his arms in front of him "Monsters aren't the only threat to your line, it would do us no favors if we were attacked before we even found the king."
As they talked, Agate returned to the horses and grabbed something from one of the saddle bags, he walked back to the group and unfurled it to reveal that it was a cloak and a set of commoners clothes "Luckily, we planned for this! er...well, Livi planned for this" he then handed the disguise to Serene "This should let you seamlessly blend in with the common people!"
"Oh! That's a great idea, you two!" Serene said, examining the clothes, she then looked around for a place to change and found a copse of trees that would be perfect "I'll just be a minute, please wait here!" she ran off and disappeared behind the line of trees.
After she had left, Agate took this opportunity to try and enter the inn, but as he ran –he felt something holding on to his cloak, he looked back and saw that it was Lavernius "Come on, Livi, I'm starving! We haven't had anything to eat aside from jerky since we left!"
"I'm hungry as well, but we would be poor retainers if we left the princess on her own" Lavernius replied, embarrassed as his stomach loudly growled "Though...I can smell stew from here...perhaps she'll be okay for the moment..."
Before the two of them could enter the inn, they heard the princess yell "Oh crap, come on, Livi, we gotta move!" Agate yelled, pulling his tome off of his belt and running down the stairs with Lavernius following silently behind.
"M'Lady, are you there?!" Lavernius called out, frantically looking through the forest "Serene, say something!" they continued their desperate search, soon coming upon a clearing, they heard Serene's voice once more, but this time she was...laughing?
"Haha! Come on, cut it out, that tickles!" She laughed, the men dropped their weapons, shocked at the sight in front of them, the princess had been tackled to the ground and her face was being liked by a giant red wyvern.
"S-Serene...what's going on?" Lavernius asked, watching the scene unfold in front of him "Who does this beast belong to?"
"Man, and here we thought she was in trouble..." Agate sighed, letting his shoulders sag, he then readjusted himself, smiling brightly once again "Ah well, at least nothing bad happened, come on Livi –let's go get something to eat!"
"You idiot, who knows where this beast came from!" Livi whisper-shouted, grabbing Agate by his hood and dragging him back "It could belong to some bandit group around here, we have to scare it off!" he drew his knife and slowly approached the wyvern, making sure it didn't notice him.
Lavernius poised his knife to strike, but before he could, an axe flew out from behind the line of trees and embedded itself in the ground, causing Lavernius to jump back and snapping Serene and the wyvern to attention.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Lavernius ordered, holding his knife in front of him "If you're bandits, know that we will not come quietly!" silence filled the clearing as they waited for a response, suddenly, a boisterous, yet feminine laugh, came from behind the trees.
There was a shifting in the trees and a tall woman with flowing, dark green hair approached from the shadows "Sorry for scaring you, love, but I couldn't let you hurt my wyvern!" she walked over to the wyvern and pet his flank "He may seem nice, but he's a real terror in a fight!"
Serene got off of the ground and began cleaning herself up, wiping off the dirt and wyvern slobber with her sleeves "Oh, It's quite alright, he's a real sweetheart!" she approached the wyvern again and gave him a pat on the head.
"Y'hear that, Uther? Sounds like you made a new friend!" The woman said, a wide grin on her face "Well, seeing as you're acquainted with Uther, might as well introduce myself, I'm Freya!" she held out her hand and waited for Serene to shake it, before she could though –Lavernius walked between the two and stared down Freya with a challenging glare "Anything I can help you with, friend?"
"You are a stranger, forgive me if I seem standoffish" Lavernius replied, keeping his gaze locked on her eyes, an uneasy air descended upon the four, but before anything could happen, Agate pulled Lavernius away.
"Sorry about him! He's kinda overprotective!" Agate apologized, struggling to hold Lavernius back "You don't seem bad, I'm Agate, and this guy's Livi, and she's Serene!" once he had introduced them all, Lavernius placed his hand on Agate's face and began shoving him back.
"How many times must I tell you!? I hate that nickname!" He yelled, losing his composure, he then cleared his throat and turned back to Freya "What are you doing out here, anyway?"
Freya took a minute to laugh at the slapstick unfolding in front of her before replying "Well, I live out here with Uther, I took up residence in a cave outside of the village, since a lot of the parents were worried about this 'big, bad, beast' being around their children."
"Oh!, That makes sense, Wyverns usually don't live near human civilizations" Serene explained, scratching Uther under his chin "How did you come to meet him?"
Suddenly, Freya's smile dropped and a look of pain took its place "Well...it's quite the story, that's for sure" she took a deep breath and continued "I used to run with a band of mercenaries, we weren't exactly the...nicest company, we came across Uther as a hatchling, abandoned by his family and near starved, we debated leaving him or putting him out of his misery" She placed her hand on Uther's side as she said that "But I convinced those idiots to bring him along and nursed him along the road, and we've been inseparable ever since.
"Aw man, that's such a touching story!" Agate gushed, tears welling up in his eyes "I'm not crying! Th-There's just dust in my eyes, dammit!" as he broke down blubbering, Freya seemed deep in thought, as if deciding whether or not to ask them a question.
"But...that brings me to my next point" She said, finally coming to a decision "I was on my way to the town to ask them for a favor, you three seem more than capable, though, so if you don't mind, I have a proposition for you."
Lavernius opened his mouth, ready to refuse, but before he could, Serene and Agate jumped in front of him shouting "Of course!" leaving him in stunned silence as Freya carried on.
"Well, as I said, I live in a cave just a little ways off" She began, pointing off in the direction she came from, which the others assumed was where her cave was "Well, a couple days ago, a group of hooded ruffians came by and threw us out of our own home!"
"Oh no, that's horrible!" Serene replied, putting a hand in front of her mouth "Do you know who they were or what they wanted?"
Freya shook her head, a scowl marring her face "They didn't ask for gold, or even food, they seemed more interested in the cave then anything" she placed a hand on her chin, thinking for a moment "Though they kept mentioning something about the 'Ancients'."
"Ancients?" Serene repeated, seeming to recognize that word "I feel like I've seen that before, maybe in the archives back at the capital?"
"You three are from the Capital?" Freya asked as Lavernius and Agate exchanged worried glances "Who are you?"
"We're...uh...um" Agate stammered, trying to figure out a convincing enough lie "M-M-Mercenaries! Yeah, that's it!" Lavernius sighed, knowing that he now had to go along with this lie if he wanted to maintain their cover.
"Yes, Agate and I are Mercenaries under the command of Captain Llain" He lied, recalling the name of a mercenary captain that had offered his services to the King "And Serene is a scholar, she hired us to protect her while she goes around the kingdom, she's currently writing an encyclopedia of the flora and fauna."
"Uh, Yes, that's true!" Serene agreed, trying to not give them away "And I'd be more than happy to lend my mercenaries to you in order to take back your home!" she smiled at Freya and prayed to whatever watched over them that she believed their lie.
"...Well, that's a worthy endeavor!" Freya answered, grinning back at Serene "And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for offering these two strapping gentlemen!" she then leaped onto Uther's back, motioning for the others to join her "Come on, we'll get there in no time if we fly!"
The others climbed onto the wyvern, with Lavernius assisting Serene onto his back, once they were all on, Uther's mighty wings began flapping and soon they took off into the night air "Woo!, This is awesome!" Agate cheered, giddily looking around.
"Speak for yourself..." Lavernius groaned, looking down at the ground below them and squeezing his eyes shut "I've never been this high before..."
"What's wrong, Lavernius? You've never had a problem back at the capital" Serene asked, placing a hand on Lavernius' shoulder, feeling him tremble "Are you going to be okay?"
"The buildings in the capital are sturdy, I don't feel as if I'll fall any moment..." Lavernius answered, keeping his eyes shut "But...I should be fine, so long as we get there fast..." he opened his eyes and saw Freya looking back at them with a mischievous grin.
"If it's fast you want, I'll give you fast!" She said, pushing her heels into Uther's sides "Come on, Uther, let's pick up the pace!" Uther let out a roar as he began beating his wings faster, his passengers feeling the wind whip through their hair and Lavernius soon regretted voicing his concerns...
They soon reached the cave and landed away from it, as not to attract any attention "Alright, do you have a plan?" Lavernius asked as the four of them huddled around "I assume we'll be outnumbered, so I suggest stealth."
"What? That's boring!" Agate whined, pouting and crossing his arms "We should just rush in and catch them by surprise! With my magic and a freakin' dragon, we'll have them cleared out in no time!"
"I agree with Livi, stealth would be the better option" Freya added, she then walked over to a fallen log and pulled out a knapsack from within "I've been keeping some supplies out here just in case, they should come in handy" she opened the bag and threw pouches of medicine at the other three "You don't seem to be armed, Serene, can you fight?"
"Yes, I can, but I left my axe with our horses, you wouldn't happen to have a spare, would you?" Serene asked, Freya took a moment to laugh, stating how funny it was that someone like Serene used an axe, before returning to the log and pulling a steel axe out from it, she handed it to Serene, who gave it a few test swings before nodding "Alright, I think I should be able to help now!"
The four of them took a moment to work out the specifics of their plan before beginning their advance, staying low to the ground, trying to remain out of sight "I remember eight of them showing up the first time, I don't know if they've got reinforcements since then, so be on your guard."
They quickly dove behind a boulder as two hooded men approached "I could have sworn I heard voices from here..." The two of them took a moment to look around before starting to walk back towards the cave "How goes the excavation, brother?"
"We have made little progress..." The other figure replied, still looking around the area, scanning every shadow for an intruder "We've spent more time clearing out that interlopers belongings then anything..."
"Alright, when they make another pass, take them out" Lavernius whispered, glancing over at Freya, who simply nodded in reply as the two figures turned around and began coming back towards them "Three...two...one...now!" he yelled, as he and Freya dove out from cover and subdued the guards, quickly silencing them.
"Okay, Let's move!" Serene ordered, pointing out another hiding spot, after taking a moment to make sure the unconscious guards were out of sight, they began to move, but as they did, the ground started shaking under them "What is this?! An earthquake?!" they heard a low roar and turned back to their previous hiding place, which began moving, soon revealing itself to be a Praetorite.
"What's that thing?!" Agate yelled, grabbing his tome, he then heard yelling behind them and saw that the hooded men had discovered them and were quickly approaching with weapons drawn "Oh great, we gotta deal with them too?!"
Freya whistled, summoning Uther from the forest "Alright, boy, let's show them what we can do!" she bellowed, leaping on to his back, the others prepped for battle, waiting for the enemies to make a move, but keeping a close eye on the daunting rock monster before them, with Uther's roar signaling the start of battle...
THE END.
A.N: Hope these switching perspective chapters aren't too abrupt, I've never done a story like this before, I hope you all enjoy!