III
"Are you the halberdier who aided me in the battle yesterday?"
My heart had been pounding so loudly I'd barely been able to hear Sir Seth's words. "Y– yes, General," I managed to stammer.
A smile, slight, yet quite clearly a smile, curved his lips and my knees went weak. "Your assistance was most appreciated. What's your name?"
"Adelaide– of the Silver Lance division."
"Thank you, Adelaide. I'll make sure you're commended for you actions."
"Thank you, General." It came out in a whisper. I could feel the blood rushing into my cheeks.
He nodded and then went on his way while I stood there gazing after him, amazed that he would stoop to speak to me, only a soldier, a common soldier.
My heart was his after that. When I lay beneath my blankets at night, waiting for sleep to claim me, I would imagine how I would run into him through happenstance, how he would remember my name and smile again, how we would fall into conversation.
And sometimes I would imagine more...
ooo
In the heat, the world wavers before my eyes, soldiers and wyverns rippling in the desert air. I wipe a dribble of sweat away from my eyes and, taking a deep breath, heft my halberd
My unit has been scattered around the dunes beneath the crag on which Jehanna Hall is still burning. A dark cloud hangs overhead and the smell of soot is carried on a breeze so hot it dries the eyes and sucks the moisture from our tongues. I see several of my comrades a few paces away and move to join them. Glancing towards a nearby ridge I see a pair of our mages, one a monk in white robes and the other his very odd friend. Their names escape me now, but I stop in my tracks as I see lighting shooting from her hands, blasting some enemy below. She neatly dodges an arrow as her friend the monk showers the foe with light magic. A wyvern cry sets my heart racing and the monk snags her robes and drags her down as the creature swoops towards them.
My comrades and I move towards the ridge to assist them as they head down the slope to for cover. The wyvern dives at them again and the mage sends another bolt of lighting towards it so that it has to swerve away.
The wyvern recovers quickly. It pulls high into the air and then drops, diving towards us. "Get you pikes ready!" shouts my comrade– no, it's our sergeant. I thought he was on the east lines... but the fray has become so muddled that I can't honestly say I know west from east anymore.
We brace ourselves and raise our halberds, the long spike on the end held toward the wyvern barrelling down on us. Even if the rider sees our weapons, it's too late for him to change course now. I dodge away from the rider's lance and jab with my own weapon, as do my comrades. The wyvern screeches as the pike end of our weapons stab through its scales. It pulls away, wings flapping furiously and I nearly lose hold of my halberd and have to yank it back out of the wyvern's flesh. It lashes out, teeth snapping, and I hear a yell, but rather than turn to look I swivel my weapon and strikes at the beast's side with the axe head. Magic– light or lightning, I can't tell– strike the wyvern and it plummets to the ground, narrowly missing us. I leave my comrades to finish the rider and mount while I rush to our sergeant's side.
His breath is laboured but he's alive, thank the gods, but the wound is hideous. His shoulder is a mess of torn flesh and crushed bone where the wyvern's jaw clamped down on him. "Adelaide," he says, his voice raspy. His face is whiter than the pale desert sand. "Go to the Hall. The east lines... broken. Retreating... to the cliffs. Tell... the Prince. Or General Seth."
"But, sergeant..."
"I'll do what I can for him." I turn to see the monk. He kneels and raises his staff over the sergeant. I hesitate only a moment longer and then nod once and I'm off.
The sand slides beneath my feet as I struggle to reach the crags. I hear the sounds of battle all around and sometimes I glimpse pockets of fighting, clusters of our soldiers holding back oncoming enemies. But I keep moving. Orders. They have to know...
My halberd grows heavier with every step and my face, warm. I've stopped sweating, Instead I feel like I'm being baked alive. But the crags are ahead and the scent of burning is stronger then ever.
I stop in my tracks when I see a trio of knights– one on foot– engaged with a knight and two enemy mages. The one on foot... I know him at a glance. Even in the dust he shines. Sir Seth dodges away to avoid the strike of mage fire and then slashes with his sword before the mage can recover. The mage is dead before his body slides to the ground. The other two knights make equally short work of their enemies. As one they swivel to face me as I rush towards them. I stop dead and hold my arms open. It seems to take them a moment to realize I'm one of theirs.
"Sir Seth," I croak.
He pulls off his helm. Beneath it, his hair is wet with perspiration. I can see it rolling down his neck in shining beads. "Yes?"
"I've a mess–" My voice breaks, my throat so dry I can barely speak. He reaches for a canteen at his belt and hands it to me.
I take a swig, then another, until I finally think I can speak again. My head aches in the heat. "The east lines have collapsed into a retreat."
"Damn." He wipes the sweat from his brow. "Kyle, Forde, can you hold here? I must report to the princess."
"Yes, General," they reply in unison.
He turns back to me. "Come with me."
I nod and stumble after him. I want to know what's become of his horse, why he deigns to fight on foot, but there's no time to speak. I can hear the sounds of battle from all around. Overhead a pegasus squeals. I see a lance flashing in the sunlight and have to guard my eyes. I think it's Princess Tana. I strain my eyes to look as she dives towards a wyvern.
I stumble and catch myself on the haft of my weapon. Sir Seth glances over his shoulder at me and I nod quickly and keep moving, though my feet are leaden and my arms ache.
I keep my eyes on the rocky terrain as we move ahead and only look up when Sir Seth curses. Ahead a wyvern is attacking a soldier, while three more are sprawled on the ground. The creature snaps at the soldier who dodges nimbly away. It's only as I glimpse her hair, whipping around her as she moves, that I realise the soldier is the Princess of Renais. Sir Seth is already charging towards them, but the Princess's sword catches the wyvern in the side of its neck, leaving a deep gouge. Rusty red blood pours from the wound as she dodges away again, but its tail whips towards her and she's thrown to the ground. A gurgling roar escapes the beast's throat then and all at once it collapses, crushing its rider as it falls and I can't see the Princess any longer.
By the time I catch up, Sir Seth is already at the Princess's side where she's kneeling next to the wyvern's corpse, clutching a wound in her sword arm.
"Princess Eirika, are you well?" He speaks her name again, when she doesn't reply.
She looks up staring at him, dazed for several moments. "Seth?"
"Yes, it's me. Please," he says, holding her by the shoulders, "you must rest. If we continue like this, you'll–"
"No…it's all right." She shakes her head and releases her wounded arm. Blood dribbles down her forearm. "We're all suffering… We're completely surrounded by Grado's armies. We may all die at any moment… I can't lose focus now." Sir Seth looks as if he wishes to object but the Princess moves to rise to her feet and, instead, he helps her up without a word. "Has anything changed?" she asks him.
He shakes his head. "Unfortunately, no. On every front, our forces meet with defeat upon defeat. Rausten's knights are scattered and worn, and the enemy is closing in around them."
Wiping the sweat from her brow she glances around, but the soldiers of her entourage lie quite still on the ground. She hangs her head a moment. "What of Prince Innes?"
"I've had word from Innes's forces," he replies, glancing in my direction. "Even they have had to fall back." She looks up to see me there, her eyes resting on the halberd in my hand and she nods. She reaches for the canteen at her belt and drinks. Her right arm hangs limp at her side, still clutching her sword. I'm no longer certain if the blood on it is the wyvern's or her own as the wound in her forearm continues to ooze. "Princess Eirika…" She raises her eyes to meet his. "I ask that you leave for safety. We'll use flying units and magic users to hold the foe here.
She looks him in the eye as she replies. "No. I will not retreat. If I give up now…" Her eyes turn then to the dunes below where the fighting continues. "My brother would not forgive me."
"Princess–" He reaches out to hold her by the shoulders but she shakes him off.
"Yes, I'm the princess of Renais." Her voice has become like the blade of a sword. "And I will fight, either to victory or to death."
"My lady..."
"We need to regroup," she says. I straighten as she turns to me. "How do the halberdiers fare?"
"Scattered, but we can still fight. We've fared well against the wyverns."
She nods. "Seth, we must gather what forces we can and make a stand, here on the crags."
"My units will be reforming beneath the cliff on the east side," I tell her.
"Let us go and rally them. We must not give up. There can be no surrender to Grado."
And without another word she sets off eastward. Sir Seth's eyes linger on her a moment and then he falls into step behind her. I trail after them. Would that my resolve had even half the strength of hers.
A/N: Just wanted to mention that most of Eirika's dialogue comes from the game, from the opening scene of Eirika's version of Chapter 15: Scorched Sand. There's not much context for that conversation in the game... so I went ahead and gave it one. ;)
Oh and my apologies for not updating last week but ffnet wouldn't let me upload new documents. I was unamused.