A breeze blew through the open window and carried the smell of a warm summer night inside. Edelgard leaned back with a sigh. The last week had been very exhausting and stressful for everyone, but especially for Edelgard.

Between organizing the upcoming assault on the monastery and her normal Emperor duties, she had to deal with her Eagles and the demon. All of the Eagles weren't just her most elite soldiers, but also her very dear friends - her only friends if she was honest. However, they all had very challenging personalities and the addition of the demon wasn't helpful either. While the Ashen Demon hadn't a very complex personality - one could argue she didn't have any personality at all - she wasn't a team player, not even close.

The demon did everything she was instructed to do without any protest. But when it came to working together with others, she always fought alone. It was as if she did not know how to work as part of a group. It should not surprise her too much, Edelgard mused. Not much was known about demons, but the few books she got from her… rather em unpleasant /em allies on the subject spoke of a harsh hierarchy in hell. Everyone was fighting for their own survival and standing.

It was a rather troublesome situation and Edelgard had enough headaches as it were. If she could only…

A loud knock jerked her out of her musings. She rubbed the tiredness from her eyes, sat up straight and ordered them inside.

Hubert came in, apologizing and bowing.

"We received a report about a raid at a nearby village. It is possible the bandits are still at it. We could send out an unit to punish them. The village is less than an hour's travel away. With your permission, I will inform-"

"No! This is a great opportunity for the Eagles. Wake everyone including the Ashen Demon with haste! Tell them to meet us as soon as possible at the main gates and to be prepared to marsh and fight."

"Is this really a good idea your majesty? The soldiers would be-"

"No this is ideal. It's a good test to gauge how well we will do with a real fight and it shouldn't be too difficult. We faced more dangerous situations in war before."

"As you wish."

Hubert bowed without any further objections and left the room.

It wasn't the first night she would go without sleeping. Between her duties and her nightmares, she didn't have the luxury of a healthy sleep routine. She did try however to be fully rested for battle. In this case, she would have to deal with the lingering exhaustion. It was far from the first time so she didn't worry too much about it.

As fast as Edelgard could, she put on her heavy armor and fetched her imposing axe and shield. It took longer than she would have liked, but these things took their time and she couldn't risk any mistakes with this. Her life could depend on it.

When Edelgard arrived at the gates, she was surprised to find Byleth already waiting for her. She looked like always with her strange clothes and the even stranger sword strapped on her back. She didn't seem to be much bothered to be awakened so late in the night nor the sudden departure. Although the demon did mention she didn't need sleep as much as humans do. So she probably was awake anyways. How fascinating! Edelgard wished she could use the time she needed to sleep more efficiently and work through without the following exhausting.

They nodded to each other and waited in silence till all of the Eagles arrived. All the Eagles, even Linhardt and Bernadetta, arrived without much tardiness.

"Who do we have to beat up?", asked the last arriver - Caspar.

"Bandits are raiding a nearby village. Hopefully, we will get there fast enough to punish them accordingly."

With an enthusiastic cry, Caspar raised his fist in the air.

Hubert had organized horses and imperial knights as reinforcement. The small army quickly got on their way.

The journey was long, but uneventful. There was little speaking among the army. They were either too tired or mentally prepared themselves for the upcoming battle.

The first thing Edelgard noticed as they neared the village was the screaming. It was a mixture of helpless, sorrowful and battle cries. Edelgard gritted her teeth in her fury. Many bandits saw the war as an opportunity to steal from the citizens of the empire, while most of the empire's army was gone fighting the kingdom. Many new bandit groups formed over the years of war and it was hard to hunt them down as they deserved with the army spread thin.

She couldn't help every village, but this one Edelgard would save. She owned it to her people. Resolutely Edelgard gave the order to attack.

Like always Caspar and Ferdinand were one of the first soldiers to charge forward. Also the Ashen Demon was close behind them with a so cold and unfeeling expression that it chilled Edelgard to her core. Shaking her head, she started her own attack.

The village was a mess. Doors were unhinged. Shards of glass and clay littered the ground. Men and women laid bleeding or already dead on the ground. Edelgard used all her willpower to tear her eyes from the bodies and focus on the enemies.

The bandits were rough-looking men and women in brown and black leather armor. Some of their weapons were rust-stained, but still sharp enough to kill someone.

A bandit within her reach worked with his axe on one of the few doors that were still intact. Edelgard heard screams from inside and what sounded like baby cries. Without any warning, she raised her mighty axe and mercilessly smashed the back of the bandit's head in.

"Protect and help the people in this house!"

A few of her knights with Ferdinand taking their lead followed her order, but she didn't stay long enough to see it through. She had to help these villagers with everything she had.

Edelgard saw how Petra and Dorothea were fighting back to back against the horde of bandits. They were holding their own good enough so she focused on her own enemies. She caught glimpses of the Ashen Demon, who was leaving dying bodies wherever her path took her. The Emperor had to suppress a shudder as she watched the demon cleave a woman in two with her strange glowing weapon that could extend at her own will. The expression on her face remained as blank as ever, only her eyes were ice cold as blood sprayed around her.

Her axe was stained in blood and gore quickly, but the bandits kept coming like a flood - endless and violent. Edelgard could feel the drying blood on her face, could feel the sweat dripping in her eyes, could feel the strength fading from her arms. But she couldn't allow the weakness to settle in. She needed to fight!

With all her strength she gathered the unwanted and painful power from within her. She let it flood her blood like ice-cold water. It made her skin itch so hard that she wanted to scratch it from her very bones. But it also gave her new strength. Enough strength to tear her enemies apart with one strong swing of her weapon.

Finally fewer and fewer bandits replaced the ones before them and Edelgard had time to catch her breath and take in her surroundings.

At one time someone - probably a bandit and not one of her own mages - started a fire in the village. The thatched roofs spread the fire fast through the whole village. Edelgard desperately searched for her own mages to cease the flames. Hubert had preceded her. He had already gathered a large number of magic wielders to control and extinguish the flames.

Knowing her right hand would do his best to control the situation at hand, Edelgard continued the pursuit of the last bandits. Heavy breathing she stood in what was once the marketplace. All the market stalls were nothing more than broken or ashen wood on the ground. The fire was mostly out, but still some embers glowed dangerously in the night and the air was hard to breathe through the smoke and heat.

A large shadow fell over Edelgard and an even darker chuckle reached her ears.

"Well, well, well… If it isn't the little Emperor herself. I thought you would be too busy playing your little war games far away. You and your pathetic knights sure did a number on my band of misfits. I will crush you and wear your precious horned crown as an armband to make my name known to all Fódlan as Kostas the Emperor Slayer!"

His voice was booming loud and crazed. At the end, he let out a mad chuckle making him look even more insane.

Facing this new threat who seemed to be the leader of the bandits, Edelgard turned around. He was a big and muscular man, much older than herself. His brown hair and beard were already turning gray. He grinned at her and showed that one half of his teeth were missing while the other half was rotting in his mouth. The big nose on his face was red like he was drunk and his crazed beetle like eyes were fixated on her.

"You are unworthy to sullen my axe, but in the name of all the people you murdered and robbed, I will bring you to justice!"

Edelgard spoke more confidently than she felt. The dark power withdrew back into her core and left her more exhausted than before. With a shuddering breath, she allowed the seeping evil power from within her to flood her blood a second time. She would regret this later, but she needed this power now one more time to beat this worthless excuse of a human.

Kostas dragged his iron axe from across his shoulder and twirled it with an even bigger grin before he charged with unexpected speed towards her.

Edelgards reflexes took immediately over and blocked the strike that would have chopped her head not clean but still nearly off. He followed with three more attacks all targeting her head. Expecting the follow-up blows, it was easier for her to parry them. Now she started her own attacks which the huge man blocked, but not nearly as fast as he was in the offensive. It seemed that the bandit leader - Kostas - wasn't used to being on the defensive.

The pale-haired woman managed to cut shallow wounds on her opponent, but frustratingly couldn't hit any vital points to end this battle. More than once she had to dodge or parry the heavy blows. Her arms shook against the sheer strength of the man, but she still pushed on and didn't let the tiredness settle in. They fought like this for what felt like an eternity until a shout interrupted them.

"Move down, Edelgard!"

Edelgard dropped to a crouch, which was more difficult with her heavy armor than she made it look. She needed to drop her shield and axe to brace herself on the ground so she wouldn't lay helpless in her heavy armor without a chance to stand up. Besides the difficulties, the Emperor was still faster than Kostas, who tried to dodge whatever was coming.

An arrow soared above her head and found its way deep into the chest of the bear-like man. The momentum of the arrow was so powerful that the man was pushed back a great length until he laid unmoving on his back.

Edelgard turned around to see to her surprise that non-other than Bernadetta was the successful archer. For once she wasn't shaking, but holding her bow steady and looked determined towards her. Though the look was quickly replaced by horror and her hands began to shake again.

"Is it finally over?", the purple-haired squealed in fear.

It always saddened Edelgard to put Bernadetta in such danger and force her to kill against her will. Still, it was better than the alternative to send her back to her awful father. The little archer improved beyond the Emperor's expectations and proved to be a valuable asset on the battlefield if she overcame her fear.

"I thank you for your assistance, Bernadetta."

"It um… was nothing… Can we leave now, please?"

"Of course, we just have to-"

But Edelgard didn't have the time to finish her answer, because a sudden cry let her whirl around. Kostas, who wasn't as dead as she thought, was up at his feet and charged to her with his axe swinging at her. Edelgard cursed her carelessness as her weapon and shield still were on the ground. She draw the dagger at her hip, though it wouldn't help her much in defending herself against an iron axe.

She couldn't die here like this!

She hadn't reached her goals yet - hadn't changed the world to a better place yet!

She needed to fight!

But...

Was this the end?