Just as Robin predicted, a forward party of the Shepards arrived at the clearing just in time. The Risen too were coming in full force from east and west. A party of the walking dead were advancing past the walled-off town, and with another force coming from the west to flank them. Towards the southern forest, the smoke of the civilians fire started to disperse as they prepared to go on the move. Most likely, they spotted the Risen and were preparing to move in an attempt to escape. It was only a matter of minutes until the battle came to a start, during which the tactician would have to explain his plan quickly.
Naturally, Chrom led the reinforcements, with Lissa following closely behind her older brother. Sumia rode her pegasus alongside them, the magnificent beast appearing exhausted but still in fighting condition. Gaius walked in the center of the group with a confident grin while Lon'qu and Panne covered their back, remaining mostly distant from the rest of the group. Cordelia and Frederick stood by the tactician's side, their mounts by the camp. Robin grabbed a stick and walked over to a map he drew of the region on the snow while the Shepards started to gather around her, quickly finalizing his plan.
"So, what did you come up with?" Chrom asked, looking down at the makeshift map. "Sumia already told me about how receptive the town was. We're still going to protect it."
"Of course we are," Robin nodded in agreement, drawing a line on the map. "You'll be leading the charge yourself to defend the town with Frederick and I supporting you. After making sure the town is safe, we shall travel south through the bridge and cut off the Risen forces there."
"Sounds like a sound plan," Chrom complimented.
"Panne, I want you to take the bridge south of us and fight the Risen there to help the people in the forest escape," Robin continued his explanation, drawing more lines. "Lissa, for the most part, I want you to stay here. That way, you can heal both your brother's team as well as anyone coming out of the forest."
"Can do," Lissa replied with a nod.
"And what of the man in iron?" Panne pointed out.
"Man in iron?" Robin took a moment to think on it. "Kellam's here?"
"Is he?" Chrom looked around the group. "I'm not seeing him anywhere."
"I can smell him," Panne told them.
"Kellam will watch over Lissa just in case any of the Risen break through and to provide back up to a force if one is overwhelmed," Robin quickly added. "Cordelia and Sumia, you two will need to drop off Gaius and Lon'qu in the forest. Afterwards, I want you to join Panne in securing the mountain from the Risen."
"The remaining Shepards are traveling through the mountain pass in the south," Chrom revealed. "I don't think they'll make a difference in this battle, but at the very least, they can provide safety to the fleeing townsfolk."
"Gaius, Lon'qu, you two will have to escort the people to the passage," Robin ordered. "After that-"
"I will be joining Chrom's group," Lon'qu interrupted bluntly.
"Lon'qu, I know that you may be hesitant about defending people, but you and Gaius are the two best for the job," Robin argued.
"Besides, you have to follow our orders, Lon'qu," Chrom supported his tactician.
"I have no problem with defending others, but I will not fly with either one of the pegasus knights," Lon'qu shook his head. "I will be joining Chrom's group."
"You know what? We don't have time to argue this," Robin sighed. "For the sake of the plan, I'll swap places with Lon'qu. Once the people are safe with the rest of our forces, we'll clear out any of the remaining Risen. Any questions?"
"We don't have time for questions," Frederick pulled himself onto his horse. "The Risen will be upon us any moment."
"Shepards, to arms!" Chrom unsheathed Falchion, walking alongside Lon'qu in preparation for the battle.
"Good to be working with you again, Bubbles," Gaius smirked. "Dibs on riding with Sumia!"
"Are you sure?" Sumia asked while Gaius pulled himself up behind her. "When we finally stopped with the others, you said you never wanted to ride with me again."
"I changed my mind," Gaius shrugged.
"Looks like Aurora will be carrying you again, Robin," Cordelia mounted her pegasus. "We're ready when you are."
Robin nodded, walking up to Aurora and climbing onto the saddle. While he had no problems with riding with Cordelia, he just thought that he was not right for the job of protecting the townsfolk. Lon'qu was much more skilled with a blade than he was while Chrom and Frederick could cover the tactician's lack of skill. The tactician hoped that after this was all done, he would be able to get a new tome from the town they were about to help protect. For now, he would have to work with Gaius, who already proven himself to be a decent fighter. Together, they just might be enough to protect and escort the vulnerable townsfolk away.
Together, the two pegasus knights took flight, heading south. They flew low, crossing over the river and passing through several trees. They came to a stop side by side when finally catching up with the people lost in the forest. Robin took a quick analysis of what the group had to offer. There were seven in total: three men, two women, and two children. The looks of terror on their faces cleared away at the sight of the Shepards, coming to save them. Robin and Gaius dismounted from the pegasuses to hear cheers from the people.
"The Shepards are here!" one of the men cried out. "We're saved!"
"That's right," Robin nodded, approaching the group. "Follow us to the mountain passage and we'll make sure that you get out of here safely. Cordelia, Sumia, work on cutting a path for us out of here."
"On it," Cordelia replied with her and Sumia taking to the skies once more.
Robin took a quick glance at knights as they flew off, unknowing smiling to himself. A scream knocked him out of his daydream as he turned to face the group of townsfolk. Much to his surprise, a heavily armored Risen had snuck up from behind, jabbing one of the men with its spear. The man was bleeding badly but still found the strength to run, joining the rest as they proceeded to flee towards the mountain. Robin and Gaius pulled out their blades, ready to face off against their enemy.
"Hate to break it to you, but I don't think we're going to beat that," Gaius told him, frowning. "That armor looks pretty hard to break through."
"If only I had my tome with me," Robin grumbled. "We can't beat it, but we can stall it. Come on!"
"We're going to stand in front of the brute that's trying to kill us," Gaius sighed. "We're insane."
Robin raised no objections to that, rushing forward. With the dense trees slowing him down, he decided it would be best to stand guard over the townsfolk instead. The tactician placed himself in between the Risen knight and its intended target, sword raised in defiance. Gaius joined him, standing side-by-side with his comrade. The two were not the greatest warriors the Shepards had to offer, but they could work well enough together.
The Risen knight charged forward, jabbing its sharp lance forward, aiming at Gaius. Although the thief was usually quick on his feet, he was not fast enough to dodge the attack. He tried to step away but was instead jabbed in the side, bleeding. He grunted, slashing out with his own sword at it. The blade did little thanks to the knight's armor, but there were minor scratches across it.
"Well, that stings," Gaius grunted, spitting on the ground.
"It's not alone anymore," Robin pointed out, a Risen wielding a bow shambling behind the knight.
"Looks like an easy target for you," Gaius grinned. "You go and take him down. The big guy won't land another lucky blow on me again, so I'll keep him distracted.
Robin nodded and dashed forward towards the archer, Gaius following close behind. The tactician circled around the knight, thinking it was too slow to strike Gaius. While charging past it, Robin slashed his blade across its side while Gaius stabbed forward, impaling it through the chest. The armored Risen remained standing despite their offensive.
While Robin had been prepared to attack the archer, another Risen, axe in hand, broke through the tree lines. The tactician was fortunate enough to block underneath its swing, slashing his sword across its exposed gut. The archer let loose when Robin rose from the ground, which nearly took off his ear but missed. He grinned confidently until he heard the yelp of pain from behind. He looked over his shoulder briefly, seeing Gaius pulling out the arrow from his shoulder as the knight lurched ever closer. Behind the thief, he took notice of another Risen approaching.
"Gaius!" Robin called out. "We're surrounded!"
"Damn it," Gaius cursed. "I don't think I can take much more of this, Bubbles."
"Keep at it," Robin tried his best to encourage his comrade. "At least they're coming for us and not the defenseless villagers."
"Not sure if that's as good as you think it is," Gaius muttered.
Robin lashed out with his sword, striking the axe-wielding Risen across its shoulder. The unnatural warrior let out a cry of pain and tried to strike out at the tactician. He was fast enough to leap away from its attack, taking a deep breath from the physical exertion. Behind him, Gaius struck against the armored Risen, a snap coming. The thief looked on in fear, half of his blade on the snow. He evaded the incoming jab of its spear and brought what remained of his sword forward. It struck between the visor of its helm, the knight collapsing onto the ground with a thud.
Gaius grinned in pain, bleeding badly from the wounds he sustained. The remaining three Risen looked at each other, nodding in agreement despite no words being spoken. The archer moved away from Robin, who had been distracted by the axe warrior wielding shoving him aside. The archer fired an arrow at the thief while the warriors struck out. With no way to fight back, the thief skillfully evaded the two strikes by jumping away. The archer's arrow missed completely, striking a tree instead.
"They're targeting me, Bubbles!" Gaius yelled out, growing even more nervous.
"Get across the bridge!" Robin ordered. "I'll hold them off!"
Gaius nodded, bursting out into a sprint and spinning out of the way of the trees. He made a sharp turn as he broke through the forest, heading straight across the nearby bridge. Robin turned back to the three remaining Risen, cursing under his breath. He could not count on the remaining Shepards to come by and help right now. The tactician had to look out for himself.
Robin lunged forward, intending to meet the two Risen warriors in martial combat. With a quick swing of his blade, the injured warrior's head came clean off, landing in the snow. He felt a searing pain across the back of his shoulder, the archer striking true. In the moment of weakness, the remaining warrior slashed out, lightly scratching the tactician across his chest. He returned the favor with his own blade, stabbing it into his opponent's shoulder.
The Risen warrior offered no sign that it was in pain and instead stabbed his blade into his opponent's leg. Robin yelped in pain, backing away and pulling the sword free. The cuts he received were minimal, but the more he received, the more fatigued he was. The archer broke off from the fight, rushing off to the bridge while letting another arrow fly. The tactician turned to go out after it but was slashed across his back. He growled, and impaled his sword through the Risen's chest, ending it once and for all.
Robin rushed out for the archer, afraid that it was trying to hunt down and finish Gaius. He broke through the treeline, seeing it on their side of the bridge. Before he could move to attack, a horse neighed loudly from the other side. Frederick, from his steed, charged across the bridge and impaled the archer through the chest with its lance. He threw its remains into the river, which started to disperse.
"Frederick, you're a sight for sore eyes," Robin smiled weakly, lowering his sword towards the ground. "Did Gaius send you?"
"He didn't, but I saw him to safety" Frederick shook his head. "Lon'qu rushed off on his own to fight the leader of this band. With the Risen on our side taken care of, I'm his backup."
"Well, you might just be fast enough to see Lon'qu best the captain," Robin shrugged. "He's one of the best warriors the Shepard has-"
"BEHIND YOU!" Frederick shouted out at the top of his lungs.
Robin turned just in time to see a final Risen warrior, already on the attack. He raised his sword in a last second effort to fend off the sudden assault. Yet, the spear managed to completely avoid striking the sword and impaling the tactician. He let out a scream of pain, feeling the pain spread throughout his body. The Risen pulled its weapon free, sending his opponent falling to the ground, his blood staining the pure snow beneath it.
Robin coughed loudly, some of his blood drooling from his mouth. He fought to maintain consciousness while bleeding out. Although his vision started to blur, he saw Frederick leaped from his horse, crashing into the Risen warrior and ending its life with his lance. The veteran left his broken weapon behind, kneeling down beside him and pressed his hands on his biggest wound, trying to stop the blood loss. The tactician saw his lips move but could not register any words. He closed his eyes when seeing his comrade start to yell out to the side, blacking out.
A/N: Before moving onto the review, let me start of with a short explanation of how I run the battles of this story.
I play out the missions myself on Awakening to get a better idea of numbers in my head and to get an idea on how the action happens. Whenever one of my units are knocked down to no health, I write in the story that they were injured badly and will be left out of the mission. So, every character that I mentioned being injured and needing rest in this story are units who have been defeated. Will that rule apply to Robin even though his defeat means game over? (Well, that's an obvious question.) How have the rest of the Shepards fared this battle? (Read on to find out)
Warrior of Six Blades: First off, I just love how after my absence, you still came back to read and left a review. As always, I appreciate the chapter summaries you give. Speaking of, if I recall, you did mention having an idea on what town this would be. I'm curious to hear if this met your expectations or not.
Until next time.