Chapter 4

Although the sun has set, giving way to nightfall, Ephraim, Eirika, and Tana were still on the move. Ephraim led the way, carrying a makeshift torch made from a collection of thick branches with a cloth wrapped around the head. It was a poor substitute at best, but it would do for now.

Although the woods seemed lifeless, there was plenty of noises to be heard, such as chirping crickets and howling wolves.

"Ephraim...I'm scared..." Tana whispered. "How much longer are we going to keep moving?"

"Not much longer," Ephraim assured her. "If we can't find some shelter, we'll have to sleep out here, I suppose..."

He moved a little farther. His eyes squinted as he spotted something ahead. He picked up his steps, moving ahead of his companions to get a closer look.

"It looks like there's a house up ahead."

"Really?" Eirika asked as she and Tana moved to join him. "Out here in the middle of nowhere?"

Ephraim approached wooden house, which appeared to have been abandoned. He waved the torch in front of it, thoroughly examining its condition.

"It looks a little run-down, but it's as good a place as any to hole up for tonight." Ephraim handed the torch to Eirika. "Wait here, I'll make sure it's safe."

"Be careful, Ephraim..." Tana whispered.

Ephraim held hiss lance in his hand as he approached the front door of the house. As he turned the knob and pushed, the door creaked open loudly.

He had only taken a few steps inside when a strong hand suddenly seized him by the neck, causing him to drop his lance. Ephraim squirmed as he was slammed into the wall.

"Ephraim!" Eirika and Tana cried out as they rushed to his aid.

Eirika held out her torch to try to identify Ephraim's attacker, but it was still too dark to really see.

"Gerik, stop!" a young girl's voice cried.

The strong hand stopped, but still kept a firm grip on the prince.

Ephraim froze as well, instantly recognizing the voice. "Myrrh?"

Thanks to Eirika's torch, he could now see that the one attacking him was Gerik.

Saleh entered from one of the back rooms, a fireball in his own hand to light the way. He walked up to Gerik's side, studying Ephraim's strained facial expression.

"It's all right, Gerik," he said. "You may release him."

"All right." Gerik released Ephraim and stepped back. "We thought you'd gone crazy like everyone else. Sorry 'bout that."

"Master Saleh..." Eirika said. "It's good to see you again."

"Princess Eirika," Saleh nodded towards her. "It is good to see you as well. And you, Princess Tana."

"So you're aware of what is happening?" Eirika asked.

"Yes, Lady Myrrh was about to explain it to us."

"Wait!" Tana interjected. "Master Saleh, you're a healer, aren't you?"

"I am," Saleh responded.

"My Pegasus is injured! Can you help him?"

"Of course. Is he outside?"

"Yes, he's out here..."

Tana led the group outside, where the Pegasus was still strewn across the two horses.

"Wow..." Ewan said grimly. "You just left the arrow stuck in him?"

"We couldn't bring ourselves to pull it out and risk making the injury worse," Ephraim told him.

"That's the thing about these arrows," Gerik added. "They're designed to cause damage, not only when they pierce the flesh, but also when you try to pull them out."

Saleh shook his head. "It'll have to come out for the healing magic to do any good. Go ahead and do it. Any additional injury can be healed. That is, if it's all right with you, Princess Tana..."

"Yes, please!" Tana said. "I can't bear to see him suffer any longer!"

"Al right, leave this to me." Gerik approached the Pegasus, preparing himself for the job. "You may want to steady him though, as this can be quite painful."

"Right..." Tana moved to take Achaeus's head gently into her hands, stroking him. "I'm ready."

"Here goes..." Gerik grasped the arrow, gently wrenching it, while pressing his fingers into the skin near the wound. Achaeus's head jerked up as he cried out in pain. Tana continued to hold his head, stroking him tenderly.

Gerik repeated the procedure for a few moments and, with a final press on the skin and a yank on the arrow, he succeeded in pulling it out. "I've got it!"

"Good work." Saleh moved in to heal the Pegasus with his staff. "There, that should take care of it."

When Tana released him, Achaeus pulled himself up and off the horses. He then went to nuzzle his head against her.

"Don't thank me, silly!" Tana giggled. "Thank Master Saleh!"

The Pegasus turned and approached Saleh. He stretched out his wings and lowered its head. Saleh stepped back nervously as Achaeus nudged him with its head. Saleh staggered back at the nudge, tripping over the edge of a wheelbarrow and falling inside. Tana, Ewan, and Gerik giggled.

"Y-You're welcome..." Saleh stammered.

"Saleh, don't tell me you're afraid of a flying horse!" Gerik said.

Saleh squirmed inside the wheelbarrow, unable to hoist his weight out. He reached out with a hand for assistance. "I'm not..."

Gerik stepped forward, taking his hand and pulling him out.

"Thank you," Saleh said. "Now we should get inside before something happens."

The group nodded and followed him into the house, and then they closed the door quietly. Saleh led them into what appeared to be a dining room, with a large table and chairs in the center. There was a fireplace on the back wall, where Eirika tossed her torch, lighting up the fire. Then the group sat at the table, waiting to hear the news.

"Now, can someone tell us what's going on?" Ephraim asked.

"Mhm." Saleh nodded with a thoughtful hum. "As you're aware, the population has had an inexplicable change in demeanor, and has begun to attack us without hesitation or mercy. We suspected it had something to do with the strange fog that Gerik and I saw blanketing the land. It was only visible for a short while, but we're almost certain that it was the cause of all this. Fortunately, the fog did not reach us at the height of the Caer Pelyn range."

"Wait, fog?" Ephraim asked. "I didn't see any fog. Did you?"

He looked at Eirika, who simply shook her head silently, looking just as puzzled.

"I saw that fog, too, as I was flying to Renais," Tana said. "Achaeus and I flew away to avoid it."

"That fog was part of the energy I sensed from Darkling Woods," Myrrh said. "It was just like the energy we had felt from the south one year ago. Only this time it's much worse. This time it's coming from Renais."

"From Renais...?" Eirika asked, a soft fear in her voice.

"The energy you felt from Grado turned out to be from the Demon King," Ephraim recalled. "And after we resealed his soul in the final Sacred Stone, we kept it in the secret chamber beneath Renais Castle. So this has to mean..."

Gerik's eyes widened. "No way! Are you saying that the Demon King is back!?"

"But how!?" Ewan exclaimed. "We destroyed his body! He should never have been able to come back!"

"We destroyed his body, yes..." Saleh pointed out. "But his soul still lives. I suspect that he was somehow able to unleash his power from within his prison."

"So how do we stop him?" Tana asked. "He's already imprisoned..."

"The Demon King tried to destroy the Sacred Stones to prevent us from resealing him," Ephraim said. "But what would happen if we destroyed the last stone while he's trapped inside?"

"I don't know..." Myrrh replied. "He could either be trapped forever, or it could very well set him free. But...I cannot be certain."

The room fell silent for a moment as everyone tried to speculate, but no one could be certain of the result.

Saleh shook his head, breaking the silence. "That's not a risk I'm willing to take. Not until we learn the truth. We'll need to do some research."

"Ugh...research..." Ephraim buried his head into his hands, feeling a headache from the very idea of studying.

"Ephraim, you learned some things from your march to Grado last year," Eirika said. ""About how the war started, and about what happened to Lyon."

"Hmm..." Ephraim pondered, trying to recall the details he had learned. "As I recall it, Lyon tried to use Grado's Sacred Stone to resurrect his father, who had died a year before the war began. Because the Demon King was sealed inside it, it was more powerful than the other Sacred Stones. So in a sense, Lyon was trying to use the Demon King's power to resurrect Vigarde."

"Is that when the Demon King took over his body?" Ewan asked.

"Yes," Ephraim told him. "He possessed Lyon's body, and then controlled Vigarde's corpse like a puppet. That corpse, under the Demon King's control, originally ordered the invasion of Renais."

"Like a puppet?" Tana asked. "That's horrible."

Ephraim stared down at the table in front of him. "I was blinded with rage to see it at the time, but now I remember clearly. When I faced Vigarde in Grado Keep, his face was...completely blank. He said nothing at all."

"Just like our friends..." Saleh said. "The people who attacked us...their faces were completely void of emotion, and they refused to speak. They paid no heed to our pleas to stop."

"You mean that the Demon King has turned the entire population into his puppets?" Gerik interjected. "This is nuts!"

"Yes..." Myrrh said. "I felt the evil energy inside of those people, robbing them of all emotions. Although they are not dead...the Demon King still guides their actions. Once he has a hold of them...there's nothing that can be done. Their souls will be lost forever, like Prince Lyon was. The only ones unaffected by the taint may well be in this very room."

The entire room fell silent as the group glanced at each other. Last year, all of the nations had banded together to deal with the threat. Now, seven people had the whole of Magvel against them.

"So that's it?" Ephraim asked. "We're just going to roll over and die?"

The silence became deafening as Ephraim's words seemed to hang in the air.

"Well, I refuse," the prince continued. "If I must die, then I will die fighting. I'm sorry, Myrrh, but I refuse to believe that there's no way to save everyone. The only way to save Lyon was to kill him, but there's no way that I'm going to kill the entire population! There has to be another way!"

"You don't have to apologize," Myrrh assured him. "If you truly believe that there is a way, then I will have faith in you. I will do what I can to help you."

"As will I," Eirika added.

"All right, I'm in," Gerik said. "We still fight for the good times, and for the better times."

"I will fight as well," Saleh said. "If we are Magvel's only hope, then we must act as such."

"I'll fight, too!" Ewan said. "I won't let anyone down!"

"I'm ready!" Tana said. "Or at least, as ready as I'll ever be. I'll do the best I can!"

Ephraim nodded, pleased that everyone was in agreement. "Then it's settled. Let's go." He started to get up from the table.

"So...what are we doing?" Ewan suddenly interrupted.

Ephraim paused, settling back into his seat again. They had been hyped up on taking action without really deciding on what actions to take.

"Well...first, we'll need to pick up the last Sacred Stone...and then we'll need to find more information about the Demon King's power. Lyon and his mages had been studying the Sacred Stone in Grado. Maybe we can find some records there."

Gerik shrugged. "Well, it's as good a plan as any, I suppose."

"Indeed," Saleh agreed. Any course of action at this point would be a good start. "For now, we should get some sleep. I don't know if this house has enough beds for everyone, so we may have to make some adjustments."

"I don't need a bed," Gerik said. "I'll sleep on the floor if I have to."

"We should also take turns standing guard in case something happens," Ephraim suggested.

"That's a good idea," Eirika said.

"Um...Ephraim...I'll take the first watch," Myrrh said.

Ephraim looked down at her, concerned. "Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine. But you...you must be exhausted. Please..."

"Oh...I can never refuse you anything," Ephraim shrugged. "All right...good night, everyone. I'll see you all in the morning."

"Let's hope so..." Ewan whispered softly.

Myrrh remained in the living room while the others spread out throughout the house to make their sleeping arrangements.