Chapter 11: Battle at Eprania Field; Overwhelm and Oppress!
Dracolius Second World War Arc – Showdown
Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, this is just a Fanfiction.
Featured Music: "Urgency Drives Us" - Fire Emblem X: Radiant Dawn OST. Chapter Briefing.
"Dizzy Maniac" - Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail OST. Scene 2 (First Half and Second Half).
"Great Red Spirit" - Dynasty Warriors V OST. Scene 6 (Second Half).
"Desert Suite" - The Terminator II: Judgement Day OST. Scene 7 (First Half).
The Allied forces send a mix of their most passionate and strongest soldiers to rescue their kidnapped comrades, Selthris Vikeruce and Leo Evans. Though the mission to rescue their commander is considered a resounding success, having located him in the depths of Odorion Fort, Selthris' obvious and immediate change has even the nameless units concerned.
Unfortunately, alongside their old comrade Ulric, Leo has been pronounced 'killed in action'.
In their rescue, Selthris' sole achievements in not only escaping his own confinement but in single-handedly fending off both Sohanthian generals Nicholas Packard and the 'Half-Moon Murderer' have earned him multiple states of recognition, especially of his own kingdom of Aselia. Once thought to have been but a mere shadow in the footsteps of his father; lauded as greatest soldier in the world, have all but left the Allied forces' minds. Having had their morale previously plummeted from his incarceration his own actions have thus shot their confidence high into the air, like an arrow fired from a bow.
Etherthien-bound strategist Astrid Ruan and many others can only speculate as to the atrocities and horrors their rescued commander had been put through in order to come out on the other side. Though they grow concerned at their once close comrade's new change in attitude they instead allow him space to be alone as he seems to intend.
Her memories hazy and uncertain of the previous night's events, Sevrenna finally reawakens after a resounding nightmare of her own...
Scene 1
Her eyes widened, she awoke in a gasping cold sweat. She darted her eyes around her current surroundings, still somewhat disorientated.
A tent?
Her memory very quickly returned to her and she let out another gasp as she brought up a finger and a thumb to rest on the bridge of her nose, as if in quiet relief. Her long ebony hair had seemingly been tore from its earlier pony-tailed design, matted across her back and head and came down in full, long strokes. When she could not hear the morning birds, she turned her re-opened eyes to the exit of her tent and quickly realised it was not morning.
How long had she been asleep?
Sevrenna grunted as she tossed her quilt aside and went looking for her battle gear.
The Aselian-bound Swordmaster merely put on her usual firm frown as she left her tent, dropping the flap with a light expression across her face. She swept her vision around main camp; it had seemingly changed from last time.
Odorion Fort perhaps?
Or at least directly outside it.
Would make sense, she thought to herself.
Turning on her heel she let her eyes rest on a group of nameless soldiers conversing in a corner as she marched suddenly. Her eyes widened however when she found herself bumping into another form and she blinked as she did so. Turning her eyes forward she found the similarly tall form of the standing and armoured George Garcelle. The light-blonde Cavalier regained his usually social smile as he nodded back at her.
"Good evening lady Sevrenna," he greeted in his nod. "I hope all is well?"
"Um... yeah, I guess," the Swordmaster murmured out as she watched a smaller pair of soldiers wander past them before shooting her eyes back to the Cavalier before her. "How long have I been asleep?"
Her question took the previously smiling George off guard and he could not help but fold his arms as he rolled his eyes upward, presumably in thought. "Quite a while; you've been in there sleeping for at least ten hours," he explained very briefly. She double-took in his direction, shocked. "You weren't... a hundred percent, to say the least." He chuckled in some attempt at humour and friendliness.
"I only remember handfuls... last night, wasn't it?" She asked as she narrowed her own eyes at him.
This time he frowned in his assenting nod. "Yes... we had just gone to-"
"Yeah, how is he?" Sevrenna interrupted him, if a bit softly as she leaned forward. He turned his eyes back down to her, briefly surprised by both her seemingly urgent interruption and the soft tone of her voice.
"You mean... Lord Selthris?"
She nodded, her memories extending at least as far as his rescue of her from her object of vengeance.
"He's... fine," the Cavalier chuckled, if a bit nervously as he rubbed the back of his blonde head. "He requested to be left alone while on watch but he did ask if you were up to go see him."
Sevrenna's brow furrowed in sudden confusion.
'On watch'?
No-one has ever gone on watch in the Allied forces.
"W-Where is he-?"
"Just on the outskirts of the entrance to Odorion Fort," the Cavalier similarly softly interrupted with a polite smile. He moved aside and gently nodded his head back the way he presumably came; down the road with many moving Allied soldiers and between many tents. "If you can spare some time I'm sure he'd appreciate it."
Needing no further motivation, Sevrenna merely nodded back in her firm frown before knocking her back-fist across his armoured chest; seemingly a friendly gesture.
"Thanks."
–
2
When she found him numerous thoughts soon raced in and out of her beating heart. Sevrenna's eyes widened when she realised even her heart itself was racing.
I've spoken to him many times why is now so special?
The Swordmaster put on a tough scowl and shook her head of her irritating thoughts, pressing on past the drawbridge to the fort. There, sitting on the mere plains' ground itself, sat the back positioned Selthris, seemingly enraptured in the far-off plains of Sohantha ahead of him. Seemingly sensing her approach, Selthris' silvery head slowly swivelled to face her, one half of his right eye watching her. She couldn't help but stop moving entirely when he saw her, flinching as she did so however, when he similarly slowly switched his head back to face ahead of him, she raised her eyebrows at him.
"Sevrenna," his unusually hardened voice abruptly shot out with, nearly making her flinch again. "How are you feeling?"
Though it seemed to be asked in genuine concern, as she sometimes believed, she couldn't help but narrow her eyes at him.
Something felt off, she thought.
"Um... I'm... fine," the Swordmaster admitted honestly as she frowned back at his back. "W-What are you doing out here all alone?"
"Someone has to go on watch," he merely replied with in a visible light shrug. "Might as well be me."
When she re-opened her mouth to respond, the words with which she thought of seemed to float in and out of her head before she could successfully pin them down. Her eyes lowered in a strange mix of frustration and concern.
"Do you feel well enough to kill?"
His sudden question made her turn her raised-eyebrow head back up in shock.
What?
"U-Um... I don't... follow..."
"Half-Moon's been taken," he finally answered her, his voice seemingly deeper than she remembered. Sevrenna resisted the urge to gasp, her eyes widening in shock. "He's being held down in the dungeons of Odorion Fort; I've had a couple men watch over him... if you're interested." The Lord Knight explained very briefly.
A million kinds of questions all immediately shot in and out of her head.
How did you do it?
When did you do it?
Is he even still alive...?
"I made sure not to kill him," the young swordsman explained very briefly, as if reading her mind. She narrowed her eyes back at him as she listened. "But he can be, at your discretion."
"B-But, how-?"
"He's been rendered pretty much useless so he'll offer you no resistance," Selthris re-explained, his voice almost business-like in fashion. "I just wanted to let you know."
Clashing thoughts again all floated in and out of her consciousness and while she wished she could find the words to respond to him, she could not. The narrow-eyed Swordmaster took a single step back as her brow furrowed before soon picking up her speed and she quickly jogged back the way she came.
Her destination; the dungeons of Odorion Fort.
Even as she rushed down, she attempted to weave in and out of the surprised-faced soldiers she passed, desperate and resolute in looking for the source of her troubles. Her shoes clicked noisily against the hard stone that she ran down upon and, finally, she seemed to come to the cells down below. A myriad of emotions passed through her as she stood at the one-room exit, eyes narrowed at the back end of the room; two soldiers dressed in alliance gear stood dutifully at the one closed cell.
She could hear a man's crazed yelling and mumbling from inside it, echoed lightly across the stone walls.
Narrowing her eyes forward, the young Swordmaster marched forward. Her movement seemed to catch the conversing soldiers and they turned similarly in her direction to watch her.
"Ah! You are with the alliance, no?" He greeted before turning to face her, bowing in respect. "Greetings general Sev-"
"Who have you got in there?" Sevrenna soon and suddenly interrupted him with, edging a thumb in the cell's direction. The soldier merely blinked at her curiously before exchanging a look with his comrade and companion, shrugging together.
"U-Um, miss Sevrenna, this is..."
She never waited for them to finish; the pushy young Swordmaster leapt between them and narrowed her eyes into the cell before soon widening them.
The screaming man was given a name – or the only name she knew him by.
Half-Moon lay in the cell in the centre, screaming as a strange kind of lightning Aegir engulfed his body almost completely. Sevrenna narrowed her eyes down at him, shaking her head.
What was...?
It looked as if he was experiencing some kind of horrible dream of all things.
When he finally noticed her however, Half-Moon's eyes widened. As if fearful somehow, he gasped and suddenly scrambled to crawl away to a corner of his cell, shaking madly. He sat cowering in the corner, shaking like a leaf as he stared back at the gob-smacked Sevrenna.
She had to pinch herself to assure that this was not a dream.
What could change a man so deeply that was already insane?
"Who... did this to him?" The Swordmaster questioned as she lightly turned her head to face the soldier on her right, eyes narrowing once more in suspicion. The soldier winced as he exchanged another shrug with his companion before re-facing her to reply.
"I... believe it was commander Lord Selthris... general Sevrenna."
Her eyebrows lifted in tandem with her shocked eyes and she couldn't help but turn slowly back to watch the cowering Half-Moon one final time, pure bewilderment covering her expression.
She spent the rest of that night wondering what else to do with her life.
–
3
"Garrus? You in here?" Tina called as she pulled apart one side of the tent's flap she previously walked towards. She carried a plain white shirt in her hand, seemingly dotted with marks of sewing. She opted to walk inside and swept her eyes across the simple living space and stood in the centre, holding the shirt close to her chest. "I guess he's off somewhere." The Pegasus Knight thought to herself; movement to her back however soon made her swivel around in surprise.
The similarly jolted Garrus stood in the entrance and exit to his own tent, burly hands gripping the bright white towel across his neck. Shirtless and wet, his long black hair spilled down his back and he couldn't help but chuckle nervously when he saw her before striding in.
"Hello Tina," he greeted as he walked past the blushing Pegasus Knight; she avoided his own eyesight as he passed her. He walked over to his bed, presumably for his gear as he ran the towel across his damp black hair. "What's that you got?" The mount-less Dragon Rider questioned as he nodded towards the shirt in her possession, seemingly unable to see it through his task.
"Oh!" The young woman exclaimed before smiling as she approached him, holding out the white shirt. "I finished it for you."
"Great!" Garrus grinned back as he finished drying his hair and tossed the towel on his bed, reaching out. "No better time than now eh?" He joked out with as he grinned, eliciting a light chuckle from the listening Pegasus Knight. Pulling it over himself he let out a single grunt as he did so.
"How is it?" She asked, raising a curious eyebrow as she watched him. He stretched it out and widened his eyes, losing his earlier grin.
"Wow...," he murmured out before turning up to face her as if surprised. "This is really good!" He complimented as he attempted to stretch it out some more in some comical poses. Tina couldn't help but grin as she watched him. "It's like a new shirt!"
"I'm glad," the Pegasus Knight chuckled. "I hope it'll help."
"I bet even Sophie'll like it!"
"I can only hope so." She responded in her smiling nod.
"I bet you could make clothes for everyone in the whole group!" Garrus' excited voice filled the tent; this time the listening Tina could only blink back at him before she frowned.
"I... I suppose I could but..."
"O-Oh, sorry I didn't mean to put you on the spot," the Dragon Rider nervously chuckled back as he rubbed the back of his head, his eyes shutting very briefly as he spoke. "I'm very sorry if-"
"N-No it's fine," Tina laughed back in a friendly smile, shaking her head with her briefly raised hands, as if to ward the matter off. "Truth be told I only really prefer to sew for those I care about," she admitted in her warm smile. "Three years ago I tried doing the same thing for someone I thought was close to me but..." She trailed off, a new frown re-growing on her lightly saddened expression. Her eyes lowered in presumable thought and the glassy look in them seemed to confirm it.
The Pegasus Knight could not help but think of their recently rescued commander and the scowl on his face when she confronted him the night she thought of.
"I'm a bad man; I'm not the person you think I am."
Her eyes narrowed this time at the ground in fast-moving thought.
Events in Naerith's 'Burning War' seemed to have at least one thing in common with the events of this one, she thought to herself briefly.
"Who could refuse someone as warm as you?" Garrus attempted to lighten the atmosphere of the room as he chuckled in his smile, re-folding his arms as he did so. Tina blinked, lightly surprised by his voice. "I suppose everyone has their reasons but I wouldn't waste my time on people like that; you deserve better." The Dragon Rider smiled good-heartedly. Tina could barely help the slow grin growing on her own face.
If only you knew who I was talking about, she thought only to herself.
"In fact I tell you what; I owe you now!"
His sudden call caused her to blink once again and she tilted her head at him, surprised.
"O-Oh no it's... fine," Tina warded his generous offer away with a nervous wave of her two hands. "As long as you like it; that's all that matters to me."
"Now that just makes me want to repay the favour!" The Dragon Rider shot back in a show of his own humour, grinning in his folded armed expression. Tina couldn't help but turn her eyes away from him in a mix of nervousness and a light smiling blush across her cheeks. "How about... a picnic?"
Surprised by his modest offer her frown soon morphed back into an eager smile and she nodded.
"Y-Yes I think that might be a good idea; as long as it's not-?"
"Not at all," Garrus shot back; it was his turn to wave her concern off as he took his arms out of his folds, still grinning. "I'll make some sweets."
"And I can make the basket and the blanket!"
"Shame we never met before this," Garrus laughed in a friendly fashion, placing a hand on his hip. "We may as well be on the same wavelength."
"I... think so too," Tina chuckled in nodding agreement. "You've been a great friend to me."
"And you to me!" Garrus declared happily as he briefly shut his eyes in his wide smile before soon re-opening them to continue. He laughed in his next words however. "I bet Sophie will start to get jealous!"
"We could say the same about Archibald," Tina shot back; her turn to grin at him, an eyebrow raised. Garrus' laugh barely covered the thin veil of light blushing reserve; he turned his eyes away from hers briefly, as if to recover somehow from it. "But I'm sure they'll both be fine. I better go at any rate; I imagine Astrid will be starting a strategy meeting soon."
"Good thinking," Garrus nodded in a new frown. He soon regained his small smile however as he nodded his head upwards at her about-turning body. "Talk soon?"
Tina let a small grin grow on her own face as she hovered just outside his now open tent; she nodded along in reply to him as she re-opened her mouth before finally leaving.
"You bet."
"And he said nothing?" Astrid questioned, narrowing a single one of her eyes in half-bewilderment, half-curiosity.
"Normally he likes to fill the air with idle chatter, miss Astrid," George spoke as he frowned back at her in his assenting nod. "But in that battle... he may as well have been mute."
"I talked to him... a little," Kay offered in behind her younger brother, raising a hand lightly in the air as she approached. The ever listening table of key strategists nodded and allowed her to walk toward them to inform them. "He's... not the same person he was two days ago." The Cavalier claimed boldly but with a saddened frown.
"That is troubling," Alaric sighed as he re-turned back to face his front in his chair, arms ever folded. His eyes narrowed as they lowered in light thought. "I must admit it wasn't very difficult to work out what happened when sir Leo wasn't among the rescued last night."
"You think that's what's caused this?" Salnarra replied as she placed her hands on the table before them, tilting her head lightly. "I did notice... similar problems even back during Naerith's war three years ago."
"I wish I could say," Theffania claimed as she frowned, her own hands resting politely in her lap. "I was only really part of Naerith's royal family after it was taken."
"No I think Kay and George are right," Gorlin offered in as he stepped forward from behind his Coremondian elder, rumbling in nodding agreement. "Those two have known him and his father even longer than anyone else have after all."
"This is true," Astrid similarly nodded as she leant back in her chair, eyes narrowed at her magical map. She shot her eyes upward to newly entering and ever firm-frowning Sevrenna. "Sevrenna!"
The Swordmaster narrowed her eyes in the Advisor's direction, nodding upwards in recognition before striding forward to join them. "Yeah?"
"I know you haven't really known him for as long as most people here but...," the young woman began as she re-turned her eyes back up to face the black-haired swords-woman. "Did Selthris ever seem... off to you in yesterday's battle?"
"Oh god yes," the young woman shot back as she frowned back. "And not just how he was but things he said."
"You heard?" Kay questioned, dirty-blonde eyebrow raising up as she about-turned to face her.
"Just a couple before I fell unconscious," Sevrenna shot back in her frowning nod. "He apologised; said it was his fault."
A strange awkward silence descended upon the group as they listened.
"Maybe it was."
Sevrenna's icy blue eyes shot over to glare at the owner of the words that cut into the veritable tension in the air, eager to learn who spoke them.
The frowning Talia stood gripping her Thunder tome next to the wincing Astrid, seemingly as loyal as ever.
"What?" Sevrenna hissed out as she narrowed her eyes in a hateful glare at the Sohanthian strategist, her tone suggesting one of anger.
"Come on you two, not again..." Astrid sighed as she turned her eyes back down to the map below her.
"When in a situation like theirs, it's very easy to assign blame to oneself," Hawke spoke up as always from the back of the tent, eyes shut behind her mask. The group turned, surprised by her interruption, watched her raise her head to face them her arms folded. "Especially if that 'one' is the only survivor." The Sniper spoke, seemingly of experience.
"Wise words," Alaric nodded in sombre, frowning agreement. "The way things have turned out... I wouldn't be surprised if he was feeling like this."
"I remember the first day we met," Hawke continued on as she re-lowered her eyes in presumable thought, lightly tilting her head. "He looked ready to kill me because I wore a mask." She smiled beneath her disguise, earning a similar listening chuckle from the room.
"Yes he was a little too focused on that goal of his three years ago wasn't he," Ariella nodded in grinning agreement from the table. "I wonder if it's anything like that...?"
"The way he's sounding right now I don't know if he's even suitable for command at the moment," Astrid opted to throw in as she frowned seriously, re-raising her head to face the group. "How is he in the sense of-"
"Morning."
As if surprised and embarrassed to have their hands found in a jar they weren't supposed to, the group all swivelled their heads to the entrance and exit only to find the oddly smiling Selthris standing before them.
A silvery stubble hung around his face and his normally bright silvery hair seemed to have darkened somehow.
Other than that however he wore his standard alliance gear, seemingly the same as always.
"What are we all talking about?" The Lord Knight smiled lightly as he strode on inside, eyes hovering over each wide-eyed participant.
"Quite a bit... funnily enough." Astrid responded with a seemingly nervous chuckle as she swept her own eyes in his direction.
He turned to face her as he approached, a seemingly friendly smile drawn across his unusually rough countenance. George and Kay exchanged similarly worried expressions; though Kay watched at her younger brother with a telling look, George merely shook his head as if to dissuade her.
"We were... actually talking about you," the Advisor finally admitted, this time with a serious frown as she re-turned her eyes to face him. Selthris' own eyebrow raised up in seeming curiosity as he listened to her. "With yesterday's battle..." She trailed off; he turned briefly to stare in his frown at the wincing Kay and similarly frowning George. His eyes caught the hard-narrow eyed glare of Sevrenna before soon hovering back to the army's strategist.
"What about it?"
"Are you certain you're feeling all right?" Astrid asked in a concerned tone of voice, raising her eyebrow back up at him. "We've received conflicting reports about yesterday's battle."
"Have we...?" The Lord Knight murmured out this time as he briefly re-turned to face his two vassals behind him. Though George merely nodded in his hard frown, Kay averted his eyesight entirely. "I'm feeling fine." He finished in response however as he re-faced her with a soft smile on his face. An uncertain silence descended upon the listening group as they watched him, as if unconvinced by his words.
"Are you sure?" She pressed him further as she creased her face lightly at him, as if to show her concern. "Now that we've lost Leo and Ulric I can't imagine how you must be feeling."
His soft smile seemingly faltered for naught but a few seconds; his silvery eyes lowered in presumable thought before soon re-rising to face her with a new smile on his countenance.
"I'm fine," the Lord Knight claimed again, a similar tone of voice to his previous. "I promise." He ended this time however with a low chuckle, as if to put the listeners' minds at ease.
"We could offer him a small leave of absence, just from the next few battles," Salnarra spoke up from the table, arms folded in her frown. The group turned to face her. "Surely the effects of last night's battle must be very traumatic."
"No, I promise I'm-"
"I hope...," Talia suddenly interrupted the youth, seemingly unintentionally. The group all turned briefly to face her and listened. "I'm not being too forward when I say I agree with lady Salnarra's suggestion... Lord Selthris." The formerly Sohanthian strategist claimed in her low and timid voice. Selthris stared back at her in a slow blinking frown, seemingly looking for the words to respond to her.
"I'm fine, I promise you all," the Lord Knight finally added in his re-growing smile. Though he swept his eyes around to look for confirmation from his comrades they all seemed to either exchange unsure looks of their own or merely stare back at him, seemingly unconvinced. "I've not felt better in years."
"Well... we could do with his new-found strength... strategist Astrid," Alaric finally spoke up for his comrade, a light smile on his own expression. "I imagine in this next battle... we would win it all the easier with him at the helm of the attack force."
"Even the men of my country are beginning to idolise him; it must be said," Theffania nodded in a light smiling agreement of her own. "Their morale has sky-rocketed since he has returned to us."
"The same can be said of most of our men," George nodded in agreement with the Naerith queen, frowning in as he walked forward. "But especially of Aselia," the Cavalier claimed boldly as he briefly turned his eyes to face the similarly frowning Selthris. "I've not seen them anywhere near this confident since Lord Sathryon was still alive."
"It can only be a good thing, right?" Selthris responded with another smile and in a lower, softer tone of voice. The listening George stared back at him for a second or two and his usual business-like frown adorned on his face.
He was not convinced.
"All right, well if everyone's agreed then we'll proceed with our strategy," Astrid finally cut in with, frowning as she swept her eyes across. Receiving light murmurs of assenting and nods from the more silent members of the room she acknowledged their responses and turned back down ever faithfully to her magical map. "Okay... then let's begin."
–
4
"And he escaped?"
"Yes your grace," general Apheia informed in her bowed and knelt position, nodding as she did so. "General Nicholas is said to have perished during the interrogation."
"That idiot," Empress Sohantha sighed as she rolled her eyes upon the long and luxurious sofa she rested upon. "I always knew his depraved hobby would eventually result in a grave mistake someday." The blonde woman murmured out as she popped another grape into her mouth.
"Indeed," Apheia nodded in her knelt-headed agreement. "It would seem that the last remaining of son of Sathryon is strong indeed."
Jenice Sohantha let out a low husky chuckle as if in reply, a small grin growing upon her porcelain features. Apheia raised a curious eyebrow but dared not raise her head to face her empress and commander-in-chief.
"How is the battlefield looking then?"
Her sudden question nearly took the Halberdier off guard. She shot her head up this time to face her and nodded as she re-opened her mouth.
"U-Um... not well your excellency," she replied with a frown. "The Allied forces have taken Odorion Fort and Half-Moon prisoner."
"Hmph; an animal," the empress muttered as she turned her eyes away lazily, as if thinking of the primitive warrior. "He will not be missed."
Apheia merely stared back at her superior wordlessly, a small bead of sweat dropping from her forehead.
The Sohanthian creed; success or failure, life or death.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she often worried about that herself.
"Did Nicholas reveal anything to Sathryon's son during his imprisonment?"
Again Apheia's eyebrows raised up in light surprise. "U-Um I don't... think so..."
"You don't think so or you don't know?" Jenice shot back impatiently, her eyes narrowing down on the kneeling Halberdier. "Which is it?"
"I'm not... certain your grace." She finally responded with as she re-lowered her head in a light gulp, her bead of sweat dropping to the ground.
Here it comes.
"Hmph," Jenice murmured under her breath as she grabbed another small grape, eyes narrowing at it. "I would hope that they didn't realise how we caught him after all."
"I'm fairly certain that they're still unaware your grace," Apheia claimed as she boldly re-raised her head to face her superior. "They seem to have made no open moves against it."
The empress merely tilted her head briefly to her right side in half-wonder. "Hardly means they're not aware but...," she murmured on before regaining a small grin. "It will do for now." She finished in her satisfied expression.
"What are your orders for the next battle, your grace?" Apheia asked carefully, still in her respectful and knelt position.
"You are to march as many men as you can spare to Eprania and bolster its defences," she ordered quickly, as if reading from some kind of script. "I imagine that's where the Allied forces will strike next."
Sure enough, the strategists were discussing Eprania; the name rang a reflective bell within the listening general Apheia and she nodded her head in assenting. However, her eyes widened when she soon realised earlier memories yet of its stationed men and forces.
Their morale was at an all time low due to the low number of soldiers they had to draw on from.
If the Allied forces attack now...
"Y-Your excellency if they-"
"Yes, that strategist they have is surely a cunning one," Jenice interrupted softly but pleasantly and with a light grin upon her face as she spoke. Apheia's eyes widened in light surprise but narrowed as she listened. "But... eventually... their morale will soon fall with the rest of their forces," the empress confidently stated as she reached forward for yet another grape, chuckling lowly as she did so. Apheia merely stared back wordlessly, as if unable to respond. "I promise you, general Apheia."
"General Faolan, sir!"
The sighing Sage swivelled his scowling head 'round to face the nameless soldier in his unit calling to him.
"Yes?"
"The Allied forces; they're... they're on their way here!" The soldier exclaimed above a gasping heave, seemingly out of breath from chasing his superior through the halls of castle Eprania. His voice rung out across the darkened stone corridors and Faolan's eyes narrowed back at him, as if lightly surprised. He turned his body around fully to face the soldier, advancing on him forward.
"They've already broken through Odorion Fort?"
"Y-Yes sir!" The amber helmeted man gasped back in his assenting nod. The brown haired Sage's eyes widened in shock.
"I had thought they were strong but... then...," Faolan murmured out as he took a dramatic step back, free left hand raising up to rest on his forehead in a wide-eyed stare at the ground. "What of big brother Nick...?!" The Sage gasped out theatrically in his wide-eyed open-mouthed frown.
"I am told... that he died on the field of battle sir." The nameless soldier responded in a lower, sadder tone of voice.
"How...?!" The Sage gasped out again as he snapped his twitching-eyed glare up at the flinching soldier of Sohantha. "Big brother Nick would never-,"
"I-It was reportedly one of the key commanders... sir!" The soldier managed out in a panicked wince as he took a step back from his superior, as if fearing some kind of wrath. Faolan's eyes widened once more but this time in quiet surprise.
"Key commanders...?" He mouthed out as his brow furrowed forward.
"Y-Yes sir," the soldier nodded in his sweating frown. "Sohanthian survivors identified him as the deceased Sathryon's only remaining son my lord."
"S-Sathryon?!" The Sage gasped out as he pulled his head back in seeming shock. "Not that runt of a boy from Aselia?!"
The soldier merely nodded wordlessly this time in a visible cringe, as if fearing another response from his superior.
"Hmph!" Faolan grunted out in narrow-eyed anger, suddenly swivelling his body around to glare forward down the darkened corridor. "Then I shall repay him in kind..."
–
5
He narrowed his silvery, suspicious eyes as he scanned them across the green-field landscape, seemingly almost glaring.
"Your intelligence was correct... Astrid," Selthris finally opened his mouth with. "We can easily deal with these numbers."
"Don't ever underestimate our intel!" The young woman in question grinned down from his side, briefly grinning up at him from her knelt position on the ground with her trusty map. He turned his own glance down on her very briefly himself to lightly smile before re-turning back to glare forward.
His right hand itched for the sheathed sword at his hip.
A few steps from his position stood Sevrenna and show her displeasure she did; with a narrow-eyed glare of her own she stared over at him, barely veiling her expression at all. When his eye caught her staring he turned briefly to stare back at her wordlessly and silently for a few seconds amidst the chatter of the nameless soldiers behind them. The pair of swordsmen almost seemed to understand one another's moods as they silently stared at one other.
Finally however, their mute interaction was interrupted by the appearance of the ever frowning Edgar, hefting a large steel axe across his shoulders. He briefly glanced between the pair of Aselians and raised a curious chestnut eyebrow upwards as he did so.
"You two angry at each other or something?" The keen Axe Fighter asked as he turned to his commander-in-chief. Curious from her own knelt position, Astrid glanced upward as she listened to them speak. Selthris, surprised, blinked his own eyes as he turned them to face his old companion. Finally recognising his words however he merely shook his head and affixed a seemingly comfortable smile across his face.
"No, we're fine, I promise." The Lord Knight claimed in a seemingly humoured chuckle as he shook off the matter. Though Astrid glanced between them, Edgar was seemingly convinced; he merely shrugged and nodded as he strode further forward to join him.
Sevrenna's scowl grew even darker (if that were possible) and her eyes narrowed suspiciously and provokingly at the smiling Lord Knight. Selthris issued her one last light frown before re-turning to face the front once more.
"All we need then really... is to charge the enemy," he began as he frowned forward, his silvery eyes unmoving from the frontlines. They briefly turned to his side, his head unmoving as he waited for his comrade's response.
Astrid put on a light smile as she nodded. "Yep!" She answered brightly. "So long as you lead our forces this should work out well!"
"All right then...," Selthris murmured lowly as his head lowered very lightly. His eyes narrowed even further as he ventured his right arm down to pull the Hakai from its sheath; it gave off a loud swing as it was extracted from its resting place and as Selthris stepped forward to glare forward at his new enemy, Sevrenna and Edgar joined him at his sides. "All units, attack!"
The allied forces behind them all gave vent to a sky-rending war cry, echoing across the battlefield.
As he shot across the battlefield, quick as an arrow fired from a bow, Selthris' low stance was barely even seen let alone countered; the poor Sohanthian soldiers in sight attempted to raise up their iron lances in order to block the inevitable attack. The super-fast Lord Knight bulleted across the battlefield, his lightning affinity of Aegir trailing along after him in his wake.
BZT
The air soon was rent with pained cries of badly burnt soldiers, their armour and skin soon blackening once it came into contact with their agile enemy. As if in a specific formation however, Selthris' low lightning form broke through the soldier's own formations, the once lush green field below him burnt to cinders in a visible zig-zag pattern. As Selthris finally stopped moving, his form was visible once more; the youth's scowl followed him just as quickly and as he stood up straight from his earlier attack, he twirled the Hakai once around his wrist. As if reacting to his movement, the four Sohanthian soldiers all gave vent to a single gasp of gurgling blood before soon falling to the floor, seemingly deceased.
Sevrenna watched him from the main force unit and her eyes narrowed suspiciously over at him. He felt her gaze on his body and, turning 'round, he faced her own long and fixed stare with one of his own. The pair frowned at one another for what felt like ages and yet, only seconds passed; interrupting their foreplay however was the rumbling ground itself. Widening her eyes in response Sevrenna soon shot her body to the side in a deft side-flip. Skidding safely across the grassy ground beneath her, she soon ended up kneeling next to the hard-frowning Selthris. When her eyes darted up to trace his new gaze she found the source of the attack from earlier.
Not far from the castle stood a wide-eyed man dressed in peculiar mage-like robes. In classic amber Sohanthian colours however, he held a brown spine book in his possession; seemingly the source of the earlier attack. Though he looked more important than the rest of the army around him his average height and appearance otherwise didn't seem to impress them. As they stared over wordlessly at him the pair of swordsmen soon exchanged nods, seemingly forgoing their earlier distrust of one another.
With their speechless agreement set in stone the pair of Aselians turned to face their new opponent and walked off together. Side by side they simultaneously whiffed a horizontal slash with their swords, both staring hungrily and seemingly almost angrily at their wide-eyed enemy. The robe wearing Sage narrowed his brown eyes at the approaching pair before gasping when he caught them both suddenly disappear in similar shows of after-images. His eyes darted around in sudden search for the missing pair before he soon drew in breath sharply in surprise once more; taking a step back he shot his free left arm horizontally across the air.
A visible wall of magical energy blocked the newly re-appeared growling and scowling Sevrenna, hovering above him. Her steel sword clashed noisily against the magical wall and, as it did, she immediately took off again leaving another after-image behind her. The Sohanthian Sage similarly growled as he turned his magical wall to block his undefended rear; the similarly scowling Selthris shot his sword sideways across the shield, drawing out a long and agonising screech. The Sohanthian Sage couldn't help but wince in response to the horrendous noise however he was not given long to do it with; Sevrenna came plummeting down upon his undefended crown, fire Aegir coating her blade.
The Sage's eyes widened once more and, instead of turning to face her, the short-haired enchanter merely shot his limbs far apart and gave vent to an air-rending shout. Widening their own eyes the pair of Aselians were forced skidding and back-flipping in their recoveries.
"You!" The Sage finally exclaimed with as he stared forward at the retreating Selthris, his scowl following him in his recovery. "You're the one that killed big brother Nick!" He called out angrily, his words resounding off the walls of the war cries the Allied Forces and the Sohanthian Forces. As Selthris finally slowed he seemed to regain full use of his body once more and, just as before, he shot his body to the side immediately disappearing and leaving behind an after-image. "I will make you...," the Sage began angrily as he turned his body to his right, almost as if tracing the young man's movement. "PAY!" He finally exclaimed out suddenly as he bent his body to his lower right, his left palm shot forward to extend another visible spike of magical energy.
SQUELCH
This time however, it caught something.
Sevrenna's eyes widened when she finally recovered and bore witness to the events. The wide-eyed Selthris remained motionless in the air, seemingly stopped entirely, the magical spike pierced through his lower stomach. When the watching Sohanthian Sage's eyes also widened, his hard scowl soon morphed slowly into a gobsmacked frown.
"I... I did it...?" The man could only gasp out as he stared skyward, unable to believe the events before him. "Big brother Nick; I did it!" He finally exclaimed in a slow-changing, open-mouthed grin. "I, general Faolan of the Sohanthian regulars, have felled the son of Sathryon Vikeruce!" He called out victoriously in his open-mouthed laughing grin. The cries of battle around them seemed to die down to a screeching halt as the soldiers of both sides all turned to view the important events before them. Faolan allowed his visible and obvious euphoria to continue right up until the moment when his eyes double-took at the young man's wound above him.
There's no blood, he thought.
But then-?
DROOM
"Denjin, et..."
As the impaled young man on his corporeal and magical spike soon vanished to yet another after-image, terror engulfed the listening Faolan's body. He gulped down a hefty load of saliva and turned his eyes skyward to the new voice's source; to go along with the noisy sound of thunder levitated the scowling re-appeared Selthris Vikeruce, his body pulsating noisily with lightning Aegir.
Finally however, as if reacting to his charging, the black clouds surrounded his levitating form and almost seemed to transfer strength to him. Widening his silvery-blue eyes up in the sky, Selthris' mouth finally re-opened and, as Faolan watched him, he grew desperate and shot his left palm up to block the obvious and incoming assault.
"MESSATSU!"
CRASH-BOOM-DROOM
The watching Sevrenna had to hold her position with Aegir just to stop herself from being sent flying from the sheer force of Selthris' attack. She shot both her arms up and her long black hair billowed behind her in the intense storm created before her. Numerous Sohanthian and even Allied soldiers were sent careering through the sky, letting loose terrified screams of horror. The explosion Selthris had created walled off any intruders entirely and, when the initial attack finally faded, Sevrenna's eyes widened at the dust reveal.
A large scale circle of burnt ground, revealed into brown earth was soon shown off to the watching crowd. When the dust finally settled, the gasping and coughing Faolan stumbled out of it, his once bright amber robes tattered and ruined. Not carrying his faithful tome with him, his left arm gripped his seemingly unresponsive right, gritting his blood covered mouth in visible burnt-black pain. He continued to stumble backwards, as if unsure in his destination before his eyes widened in a shocked gasp as a form walked cleanly from the destroyed rubble.
The scowling form of Selthris stood in perfect posture, lightly whiffing a diagonal slash with the Hakai at his side. He stared on after the slow-retreating form of his enemy, his silver-haired head held low in his hard glower. Faolan's legs could support their owner's weight no more and the poor Sage gasped as he fell to his rear, eyes widened upward. He grunted as he attempted to use his only remaining arm left to push and crawl himself to safety.
"A-All u-units!" The Sage called out suddenly, his words echoing across the eerily silent fields of Eprania. "R-Retreat!" Faolan hollered once more. His eyes widened even further however as his enemy's shadow soon loomed threateningly over him. "RETREAT!" He howled out in visible growing terror, unable to stop his incoming opponent.
BZT
The Hakai at his right wrist suddenly came to life in a bright electric zap of energy, Aegir coursing through it. Selthris raised it up and, as his scowl worsened, he twirled the blade around to stab the blade downward into the poor man's chest.
"Ah...!" Faolan gasped out in his gaping, open-mouthed and bloody frown, reaching out his left arm upwards to the sky above him. Like the rest of his body, it shook wildly from the lightning Aegir that now coursed through his veins. Tears soon stained the sides of his eyes as he could only put on a sad smile to his countenance, uttering only a singe sentence.
"B-Big... brother..."
The Allied Forces, in watching their commander's victory, immediately let loose an air-rending war cry, their morale hitting the heavens themselves.
–
7
"Well done!" Astrid greeted the hard-frowning Selthris with her ever enthusiastic smile, gripping a tome under her joined arms at her robed chest. "I don't know how you do it... but I don't blame the Sohanthians for being scared of you." She couldn't help but chuckle over at him humorously. The Lord Knight turned his new soft and quizzical frown up to face his strategist's and he smiled back, nodding.
"Just enacting your plan Astrid," he claimed in his nod. "If anyone deserves thanks... it's you." He added in his grateful smile, nodding to her once more. His eyes quickly caught the seemingly suspicious-eyed Talia at her side, watching him carefully.
He did nothing to notice her stare openly.
"That's nice of you to say but it was a collected effort," the Advisor smiled back at him as she nodded at him politely. "We'll see you inside, yeah?" She asked; he nodded a third time in response.
"Of course."
With that, the pair of strategists left him; the Lord Knight very briefly stared back at the watching Talia as she trailed along behind her leader.
Strange, he thought to himself.
"Yo, fearless leader."
Blinking in light surprise he turned to face the owner of the voice calling him and frowned back at the similarly-faced Edgar, steel axe hanging off his shoulder and his body tilted to the side at him. Selthris' obligated smile returned to his features and he nodded once more in response.
"Ed," he greeted. "What's up?"
"The sky," the Axe Fighter sarcastically replied with before putting on a rare low grin at him. "Seriously; that was impressive."
"I'm not sure about that but..."
"Well, just stay humble," the young villager shot back as he strode forward before stopping just short of leaving him. The young man knocked his free left fist against the noble's chest softly; a brotherly gesture between two friends. "We'd hate to see your head get big." He claimed over his shoulder in a light smile.
Selthris' own smile faltered in response but only for a second; he merely nodded back at his close companion wordlessly. Seemingly satisfied, Edgar continued on after the rest of the Allied Forces, leaving the newly frowning Selthris to stare after him. Turning his silvery eyes down on the fallen corpse of Faolan beneath him, his frown soon contorted into an angry scowl and he spat down at the man's body. The young man's saliva landed on the burnt Sage's right cheek, dripping down gradually to the green-field beneath him.
"Hey."
Called once again, the Lord Knight blinked and about-turned to face the similarly firm-frowning Sevrenna behind him. Putting on his sociable smile, he greeted her with it and her low frown soon morphed into an angry scowl.
"Stop that." She snapped out at him and his smile faltered.
"Stop what?"
"That fucking smile," she reasoned with suddenly, narrowing her eyes over at him. He raised a curious silvery eyebrow at her. "It's just creepy."
His eyes narrowed back at her in similar indignation.
Did she know?
Hard to tell, he thought.
"What did you want?" The Lord Knight finally broke through the silence with a firm frown of his own, eager to end the conversation.
"To talk," the Swordmaster batted back towards him, the wind lightly breezing her ebony hair. Selthris' eyebrow rose once more in curiosity. "About all this."
"'All this'?"
"You know what I'm talking about," she accused impatiently, her eyes narrowing to similar slits as she stared directly at him. "About Leo and...," she began again, her eyes lowering briefly, as if hesitating. Soon however they re-focused and faced him as proudly as they had done before. "About Half-Moon."
"We don't have time for-"
"Then make time," Sevrenna demanded firmly, eyes glaring at him suspiciously. His own scowl soon returned to his features as he listened to her, very slow and controlled. "I'm not giving up," she claimed boldly. "Not until I get an answer."
"An answer about what?"
"About this shit," the Swordmaster crudely shot back as she used her free left hand to regard at him obviously. "You're not the same."
"Of course I am."
"That's bullshit and you know it."
Her sudden response, full of fire and impatience, took him off guard for a second. He stared back at her, his brow furrowing lightly. As she glared at him hotly, awaiting his next answer, he finally opened his mouth to retort.
"What does it even matter to you?" The Lord Knight shot back at her, narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously. "You're very insistent for a woman from a victorious battle."
"Mr. high and fucking mighty," she retorted lowly, almost under her breath as she advanced on him. The pair stared at one another, similar in height and glared as they came within kissing distance. "What you did to Half-Moon... it wasn't right."
"And was it right what he did to your family?"
Her eyes widened, seemingly and finally taken by surprise. A small corner of Selthris' scowl switched to a confident smirk.
"How did you-?"
"I didn't," he admitted. "I know from personal experience and I figured you hated him for one reason or another," he claimed before regaining his firm frown on his face. "Half-Moon's a fucking animal," he cursed, similarly crudely at her as he scowled. "He deserves worse."
"No-one deserves to be put through that!" She suddenly exclaimed at him, pulling her face closer to his. He stared back angrily at her. "Yes, I despise him and yes, I've wanted to kill him for years but I'm not a mother-fucking sadist!" She called loudly, her voice echoing across the plains in which they stood in. Selthris merely stared back at her, his eyes lightly narrowing. "Is that what you are now?" She mouthed down at him, contrastingly quietly. "A sadist?"
"I'm what I need to be," he whispered back at her in a similar tone of voice. "I wouldn't have been able to beat him yesterday if it wasn't for this," he reasoned with quietly as his silvery eyes slowly hovered down to glare at the fallen Faolan's corpse. "Enemies like him...," the Lord Knight began again as he scowled down hatefully at the deceased Sohanthian. "Have to be erased."
"Well, what's it all for then?!" Sevrenna suddenly shrieked angrily at him, her arms shooting out to her sides in an obvious show of her growing frustration with him. Taken by surprise once more, Selthris' eyes widened and darted back to face hers and he took a step backward, suddenly on the defensive. "Anyone that's anyone knows something's off!" The Swordmaster yelled angrily at him. His right eye narrowed as he listened, standing his ground. "I don't know who the fuck you are anymore!" She called out vulgarly and hotly, her face growing red to match her anger.
"Don't you remember...?" He mouthed back at her accusingly, glaring similarly. "It was you that told me to get stronger."
She stood staring wordlessly at him for a second or two, her brow furrowed and her eyes widened. "Don't you dare turn this on me..."
"The Allied Forces need a soldier stronger than Sathryon," the Lord Knight finally reasoned with as he turned his silvery-eyed glare away from hers, visibly avoiding her own eyes. "That's what it's for."
Silence.
Selthris dared not turn his eyes back to meet hers but he could feel the growing tension in the air between them. It grew so roughly betwixt them that he winced but only very lightly when the silence itself became deafening.
SLAP
Surprised, Selthris gripped his left stunned and reddened cheek before finally re-turning his silvery eyes to face Sevrenna's. The night-haired Swordmaster glared back at him, tears visibly but barely staining her eyes.
"Why did you have to change?" She scratched in her throat as she stared back at him, her eyes and her facial features very subtly twitching with her similarly hesitating manners. Her right arm, having delivered its earlier slap, lay in the air horizontally. Finally however, the young woman returned to life and brought her arm down back to her side. She pushed past the gasping Selthris, marching toward Castle Eprania after her comrades.
Selthris stood, staring wordlessly after her, his mouth hung open and his brow lightly furrowed in deep thought. He ran his right coarse fingers across the stinging sensation of his left cheek, still shocked.
"What is she talking about?"