A Fire Emblem FanFiction

A cool voice, calm and collected despite the growing tension, flies swiftly throughout the air. It surpassed the lines of Daein soldiers, bouncing off the catapults and the ballistae and the mages, and into the main platform, elevated by stone walls.

"Give up now. Your death is all that awaits this cruel fate."

The haughty voice rang in the stone courtyard of Nox castle. Ike, the blue-haired devil, the vanguard of destruction, smirked, grinning like the devil that hides behind the fool hearts of the weak and the deceived.

"If you fight, you will all die," he declared in clear tones that shook the morale of the men that stood ready. Dissension crawled throughout the ranks, spreading like wildfire amongst the dry trees of fall. Murmurs and whispers of surrender disheartened the bravest of them all, and the veterans who stood far back, behinds the lines of spears and swords, of bows and lances, sighed and shook their heads, as if saying yes, and no.

Already, the howls and the snarls and jeers of the tigers, of the lions and the hawks rang. Cats with snarling fangs and golden claws, with leopards that stalked the marble floors with ease, fangs bared and sleek, cool eyes examining each and every soldier as if already, the smell of blood was present.

All of them, the Laguz, the sub-humans whose lives were filled with pain and deceit and suffering, all of them seemed to emerge from the broken gate as if called from the deepest recesses of hell, as if they were but devils from the dark.

The Daein soldiers, faithful to the last, stood their ground. They had not retreated, had not surrendered, but their hands shook in the face of death. Their eyes seemed to weep, as they saw not the enemy before them, but their blood-stained bodies, battered, broken upon the steps of Nox.

But then, a voice, as cool and clear as Ike's, rang in the courtyard. "We will not give a single step of ground!"

Boldly, glaring at her foe, Micaiah stepped forward, her lithe body bathed in the coolness of the wind and the bright light of the dying sun. At her voice, the animals snarled, bearing impossibly sharp teeth that seemed to consume their hope.

"We will not give up!"

Sothe, the green-haired rogue, had all but jumped from the platform, landing with an impossible grace that seemed to melt the remaining tension of the Daein Army. He dropped, and recovered, and with eyes burning, he drew his pouch a dagger, wicked and cruel.

He pointed its blade at Ike, and even though they were separated by steel, stone and flesh, Ike recoiled slightly, as if he could already feel the cold tip on his warm skin.

"We fight for the Kingdom!"

Sothe's voice rose with every word, and beside him, the Dawn Brigade members all stood, mocking their foes. Zihark, Edward, Leonardo, Jill, all of them, beside their leader, all determined to die, as they drew their weapons and rallied the soldiers.

The Laguz, seeing before them, not a broken foe, but a stalwart enemy, howled for their blood, and charged.

"For the Kingdom!"

The soldiers themselves seemed to cry, with a voice that rose with every man, with a spirit that was defiant to the last.

The wolves charged. Arrows flew, swords drawn, axes readied, lances held.

"For Daein!"

Steel punctured flesh and fur, drawing blood on the flawless stairs. Groans and yelps and yowls. The roar of catapults and ballistae.

"For Micaiah!"

The Dawn Brigade charged…