Chapter 7

Grann Colony...

"Arsten, current commanding general of Begnion's expeditionary force," Soren read from his notes. "We know from reconnaissance that he's been involved in three large excursions to the old Crimean lands in the last fifty years. To do what, our spies were not able to find out. He is more experienced than any common Order soldier, yet he's never come to Grann and knows nothing of desert terrain."

A man in a beige cloak sat across the standing tactician at the table with the map. He nodded in confirmation, the light-colored curls of his hair settling around his face. "He is a heavy-set man, medium height, black hair. Quite the decorated armor general." They all knew of the man in topic, heard of him through their efficient but sparcely-planted spies in Begnion. Yet this was the first time they could personally put a face on him.

"How large is their planned expedition, Nasir?" Soren asked. The dragon had returned to Grann weeks earlier than any time they had expected. He'd been contributing his own role to their small intelligence network and observing the Order's movements in places of interest.

"A couple thousand," Nasir answered. "Arsten has been amassing a force in Gados for a few months now. Gados's location in the midnorth of Begnion makes it a prime place to receive soldiers from all over the country. We have never seen an excursion with a troop this large. I saw the numbers firsthand when some of them were called to Flaguerre. There's rumor that a child crossed the border into Crimea there."

"It's him," Amy called from under the table where she was petting Volug. "I tell you! It's the boy I met in Telgam! It has to be!"

"Amy, it's simply not plausible that the Order would move so many troops to capture one beorc child," Soren said. "Something great must have happened in Flaguerre to have triggered such a reaction. "

Micaiah nodded. "The rumors speak of someone with a child's form. But of course, they could be laguz or branded. Perhaps a dangerous fugitive? It would explain the Order's alarm. "

"But it has to be him..." they heard Amy insist quietly.

"For his sake, hope it wasn't," Soren said. He turned his attention to Nasir again. "And the bulk of the men in Gados? When do they plan to leave for the desert? We need to be ready."

"It is a surprise, but it isn't Grann they plan for," Nasir said thoughtfully.

"No?" Micaiah asked to his right.

"It is a military excursion into the Desert of Death," said Nasir. "For thousands of years, no great force has ever attempted to cross that wasteland expanse. I cannot fathom why the Order would try now without good reason. The knowledge of the nations beyond has been lost to the rest of Tellius."

"During the war, Hatari's legend resurged again," Soren said. "No doubt did Queen Nailah cause quite the impression while she was here. The Order undoubtedly took notice then, and perhaps with their new technology now they have the means of confirming her legend."

"Hatari could be in danger, then?" Micaiah asked. "We have little way of warning them."

"Even if that sorry bunch of soldiers make it across the Desert of Death and into Hatari, they will be no match for the wolf clan," Stefan said. He'd been reclining on one of the chairs and listening. "They've never seen them before and they're unlike any laguz they know."

Volug gave a short bark of support from under the table.

"But would the Order really be looking for violence?" Micaiah asked hesitantly. "We don't know much about their covenant with Ashera, but war is what she would least want. She could intervene again."

"How do we know that the Order still follows her?" Stefan wondered aloud. "There can't be any beorcs among their ranks that were alive then still. For all we know, her covenant has become but a legend, not something they keep present. You know how easily beorc fall into ignorance."

There was suddenly a short laugh from Amy, who seemed oblivious to the seriousness of their discussion. The great wolf that had been resting beneath the table came out from underneath with the girl clinging to his back. There was a light from Volug's form as he shifted.

"My Queen would know if they came close," he said, moving closer to the map. Amy dangled from his back, her arms stubbornly holding onto his neck even after the transformation.

"If something threatens Hatari, my people will fight to the last," he told them with conviction.

Micaiah nodded. "Now that Yune is powerful enough, we may be able to communicate through her all the way to Hatari again."

After the war, Queen Nailah had had no choice but to return to her nation. The Heron Prince Rafiel was not able to join her. He'd been separated from her in the Tower of Guidance, during the event where everything had gone wrong. There was nothing she could have done to recover him and her nation was a priority. She needed to make sure that Hatari had been untouched by Ashera's judgement, but she vowed she'd come back for him one day - and with help.

A few years later, word did arrive from the country across the Desert of Death. The refugees at the colony rejoiced at hearing that Hatari had completely escaped the judgement day. Not a single person had been affected. Soon after though, almost complete contact was lost with them.

Protecting Micaiah had been Nailah's last order to Volug, one he loyally upheld. He'd learned the modern language during the last few centuries, but since he was formshifted most the time, his words were still heavily accented from his general refrain of any speaking at all. He was always around Micaiah - the silent shadow that guarded her.

"In any case," Soren interrupted. "We must agree on a suitable course of action for the present. There isn't much we can do if the Order means for war with Hatari, but we can use this as an initiative to act."

"At this moment, there are the many soldiers concentrated in the northwest, still in Mugill and Flaugerre. That hasn't changed for weeks. Whatever happened there has not settled. There is also the large concentration at Gados, preparing for the desert," Nasir summarized, moving a finger to places on the map. "Which means..."

"This must be the first time in decades that the capital has been this unguarded," Stefan finished, sitting up from his slouched position.

"Yune can ask the Laguz to prepare if we're to make a move soon," said Micaiah, watching Soren as he studied the map intently, a paper clutched tightly in one of his hands. She could almost see the cogs in his mind turning as he thought up some plan.

For centuries, it had been Micaiah's weak connection with the Goddess of Chaos that had allowed their allies in the Laguz nations to communicate with them despite Begnion's magical barriers. At Yune's urging, Micaiah had organized Soren and Stefan's trip to Gallia to retrieve the Fire Emblem - which the herons smuggled to them from Phoenicis. They had created a copy of the medallion to avoid suspicion.

Now however, as Yune's Voice and vessel, Micaiah could communicate with both parties easier. If it seemed like they were finally making a move against the Order, it would be Yune who could coordinate the movement with their allies in the laguz nations. They couldn't do it alone, after all.

"Yune's range is limited in her current state, but she will do what she can to get word to Hatari as well," she added.

"Stefan," Soren said suddenly. The swordsman looked to him. "Call up your men and ask for volunteers who would be willing to participate in a precursory venture outside of Grann. Inform everyone and have them ready before dawn. We must act quickly."

xxx

Once everyone had gone, Micaiah stood at the window of their usual meeting room. She watched as the light slowly slipped away from the lowest reaches of the canyon, as if it were being pulled upward and back to the surface by the fading sun.

Upon spotting a tiny creature gliding towards her on the gentle currents of wind, she outstretched her hand in the air. The familiar bird alighted on her fingers, and she brought it close to her face, closing her eyes briefly.

She held out her hand again and the little avian took off.

"Yune says goodbye, " she said, turning to look back at the other person in the dim room. "She's off to Gallia now."

Soren was seated at the table, a few books and scrolls left open close by. His hands hovered above two sending stones at the center of a small circular design. Little strands of light flowed from his fingers to the stones. Should they react during the process, the circle would activate a Silence spell to contain any unexpected magic.

He nodded to show he'd heard her, but said nothing else.

She watched the magic from her position for some moments before shutting the curtains. The room became completely dark save for the unique magic's purple glow. She pulled up a seat at the table. "What have you found?"

He didn't answer, so she just continued to watch. He was done working on attaching Silence spells to two little boxes. They were for the colony's two dragons and their sending stones - to control any malicious magic sent through them. Nasir had been informed of the event with Almedha and he'd handed Soren his stone as a precaution. It seemed like a miracle nothing had happened to his yet.

Now the magical containers were ready, but with two sending stones in front of him, Soren used the chance to try to learn more of how they worked. It was as much of an endeavor to find a solution and explanation for the incident they could cause, as well as an endeavor to understand the stones themselves. He wanted to know how an external spell could be sent through them and if perhaps they could harness their power of communication to a wider extent as well.

She watched as his brow furrowed lightly while controlling the magic, prying into the stone's inherent properties. A few moments later, a voice called from behind the heavy curtain that acted as a door.

"May I come in, grandaunt?"

Micaiah stood up to push the drapes back. "Namisa," she smiled at the beorc, stepping aside so she could pass through. The young woman came in and set down a clay jug at the table.

"I've mixed the herbs you requested," she told her, glancing at the magic process on the table.

"Thank you," Micaiah answered. "Have you seen Stefan?"

"He's up on the surface with the men, some last minute training."

Micaiah nodded, lifting up the jug.

"Grandaunt, I've been thinking," Namisa said, pushing back long indigo locks back from her face with a pronounced deliberateness. She looked up at Micaiah thoughtfully.

"I want to go with them tomorrow."

Micaiah faltered a moment, unprepared for the statement. She studied the girl's face in the dim light intently, but found only a resolute expression there.

"You are sure?"

"Yes. I want to go."

Namisa was the youngest in Sanaki's line, as well as her own student in magic. Their plans would bring danger, and Micaiah cared for her sister's descendants deeply. She was at a loss of how to respond.

A loud crack resounded throughout the room, interrupting her thoughts. There was someone's short exclamation of surprise, and the jug in Micaiah's grip shattered. In that instant, the purple light that had lit the room went out and she was left disoriented over what had happened.

"Soren!" she called, her tone becoming urgent as she noticed the new color resonating from the stone on the table. It was an anxious red, prominently visible in the darkness. Micaiah recited a few words quickly, bringing her hand up and filling the room with white light.

Her worry was quickly relieved when she saw the protective circle on the table glow purple as the Silence spell did its job. The red of the sending stone subsided immediately. Now that she could see, she found that Soren wasn't where she had expected him to be. She rounded the table quickly, finding him on the floor.

"Are you alright?" she asked, lowering herself down by him. It looked like the stone's sudden reaction had thrown him and his chair back.

He blinked up at her, and she marveled at how rarely she saw such a confused expression on his face.

"Was that an attack? Are you alright?" she repeated.

The palm of his hand went to his forehead, and she felt he was being assailed by a sudden headache. "Ah...It almost affected...no, it tried to..." His unsure wording paused altogether when he noticed Namisa approach the table curiously. Micaiah read her intentions.

"Don't touch it," she warned her strictly, and the girl retreated from the table quickly.

Soren declined her help and rose with support from the table. "The curse was sent through the stone from within Begnion, no doubt," he said slowly, both hands on the surface of the table as he took some moments to regain his senses and recompose. Micaiah almost reached out to steady him when it looked like he was just going to fall down again. She could only wonder at what had happened.

"There exists a faint magical trail between communicating stones when they become active, linking them," he finally began explaining, turning towards her. "Even though sending stones work only between loved ones, there are very few working stones in Tellius at this moment. If one is able to find some of these working trails with outside magic, one can intercept the path between two people."

"Can each other's locations be pinpointed through them?"

He moved to the end of the table, lighting the magical candle there with a wave of his hand and dissipating Micaiah's illumination. "I don't think so. Someone is intercepting these trails and sending those spells from another end. Still, it is nowhere near a direct connection. Just now, the attack came from Almedha's stone, didn't it?"

"It came from the one on the right," Namisa said, pointing to Almedha's stone.

Soren nodded. "This attack wasn't random, it was directed. Only hers has reacted so far and as is probable, we can assume that the one on the other end has verified that the stone's trail does in fact lead to an owner. Because the connection goes two ways, this means Almedha's link to someone outside of Begnion has been compromised by some third party elsewhere, even though that specific link has already been rendered useless by the Order's barriers..."

"Soren," Micaiah called his attention back to her. She was still worried over what had just happened. "Just now, the spell attempted to-"

"Yes," he said warily. "Without the Silence spell, the stone might have..." he trailed off suddenly, focusing a stare on the stone a little bit away. "It..."

His eyes flickered back to hers after the pause, but then returned to look at the stone. "When Nasir uses the stone he too is vulnerable. Hopefully the containers will take care of that problem," he said, but the sudden change in subject did not evade Micaiah's notice. "If he were to shift here in the city under the influence of an attack like this..."

"The damage would be inconceivable," she finished.

Soren took Nasir's stone and placed it in one of the magical containers he'd prepared. He gave the other stone on the table - the volatile one - a calculated glance before moving to the doorway. "I'm going to go give him this now," he said simply.

"Soren, wait! If the spell tried to affect you, we can't know if you're fully well enough to-"

The heavy curtain in the doorway neatly settled back into its place after he'd passed, paying her no further mind. A wooden door slamming behind him loudly might have amounted to the exact same effect, Micaiah thought with a sigh. She carefully placed the other stone in its own enchanted box, resigning herself to letting him go like that. Namisa righted the chair behind her.

Sending stones were rare. As far as they knew, the colony's two dragons were the only ones who had them. Still, it wouldn't hurt to make the boxes available to the other residents. She would help Soren enchant more of them later.

"Should I mix more herbs then?" Namisa asked, bringing Micaiah's attention to the glinting puddle on the floor. The clay shards were scattered about.

"Ah... no, Namisa. It's not necessary anymore. I'll just clean this up now."

xxx

Muarim was busy spreading the word around the colony. At the same time, he was seeking out Stefan's men and gathering other volunteers.

He passed two tiger laguz rolling a small boulder. He recognized it as the mineral-rich rock found in some of the canyon's quarries. The tigers were most likely headed to the entrance of the colony ironworks now, a large forge some levels below the city itself.

On the surface, Grann may be a desert wasteland, but the secret world below the sands was plentiful in resources. It was the reason the colony had been able to survive for so long since its inception by Branded. The forge was necessary to make use of iron ore, fundamental for the city's livelihood. Yet Grann's iron needed careful tending. It was a time consuming process and although everyone had enough time to go around, the careful precision required to make successful steel needed to be learned. Over time they'd discovered that perhaps there was something remarkably special in the properties of some of Grann's desert minerals. Something different than what was found in the rest of Tellius.

One of the colony's original Branded had once been an old Begnion blacksmith. Now he worked as the forgemaster and instructed both laguz and beorc in the creation of materials for the colony.

When the laguz had integrated themselves into the colony, it had been necessary to move the forge below to keep the smell from overwhelming their sensitive noses. But laguz had been encouraged to learn beorc skills from the beginning, and it was not uncommon to find them performing beorc tasks anymore. Magic and steel, fangs and wings. To learn to coexist, both races needed to understand each other by learning each other's tools.

Being closer to nature, many laguz demonstrated a surprising aptitude for magic. Already, many possessed inherent magical abilities that needed no tome to perform. It wasn't completely rare in the original tribes either. The herons had been masters of seid magic and the white dragons of Goldoa boasted great magical essences. It had also been no secret that Naesala, the King Kilvas, dabbled in wind anima to further his prowess in the sky.

Tomes were only a medium which facilitated the act of harnessing the spirits' natural powers - dark, light, and anima. They allowed magic users to call upon massive amounts of energy without tiring themselves out. Different tomes allowed for varying powers of magic, yet experienced enough magic wielders did not need such powerful tomes to achieve the same level of strong sorcery. Even rarer, those with large stores of inherent magical essence could learn to channel their magic without the use of tomes. It was not impossible, but performing powerful magic without tomes or a medium could tire any user tremendously.

In the forge, fire anima was especially useful. The iron had to be extracted from the ore with heat, and sand and impurities stamped out and removed. Mages could control the intensity of the flames needed to perform these tasks faster. Laguz working there had to be especially careful though, fur and feathers were prone to burn.

Muarim relayed a message to one of the tigers, telling him to have a quantity of weapons ready for tomorrow's journey. They would be needing them.

xxx

Soren made his way through the dark stone streets with some haste, distracted by the heaviness of his thoughts. What made his passage entirely unpleasant was a pounding headache that had not ceased since his incident with the stone.

When he rounded a corner, he paused in his step and stared at the uneven rocky floor under him as a particularly troubling thought occurred to him.

Earlier in the day he had asked Yune about the power of the spells sent through the stones. What she'd said worried him immensely.

Initially, she'd been offended that he had compared her power to the corrupted magic of those attacks. But grudgingly, she had admitted that she had recognized something in them.

She'd told him that Lehran's Medallion had been kept in the Herons' possession primarily because the Order believed they were the best at keeping her seal's stability. They did not know that the Herons had actually been working to weaken the seal, but the Order had been in possession of her medallion at different times over the years. And they had had enough time to study it and her power.

Yune confirmed that they'd been attempting to tap into her magic, although she was unaware of how successful they had been. Ultimately though, she could register a faint trace of her chaos energy making up a fraction of the curses sent through the stones. Insubstantial, but present enough to act as a powerful catalyst for the rest of the spell.

If the Order had managed to steal a part of Yune's magic, who knows what they could do with it? It was extremely worrying. Already, the berserk spell's effects on Almedha showed him the potential of the Order's current power. And he had been shocked when the same spell tried to affect him while he had been with Micaiah, despite his resistance.

There was too much they did not know about the Order's full capability. They would have to exercise extreme caution on the mission tomorrow.

"Soren?"

He looked up, pulled from his thoughts. Nasir was only a meter away, standing in the street. He hadn't heard him approach. He realized he'd arrived at the southern quarter of the city, close to where the colony's two dragons made their dwellings.

"How do you find yourself?" Nasir asked, always with his unreadable expression. "Are you well?"

Soren remembered the fact that he'd been staring at the ground blankly. "Would you gather everyone in the morning again? Before we set out?" he asked.

Nasir regarded him for a moment, but did not repeat his question. "For another meeting? Of course."

A moment of silence stretched between them and Nasir spoke again to fill it. "But surely, you've not come this way for such a simple request?"

"Your sending stone," Soren said, taking the chance to get to the point. He took some steps closer, pulling a box from the folds of his robe and extending it to him. "As you are in a much saner state of mind than Almedha, I will not ask you to give yours up. Keep it in here, and the Silence spell within should keep the magical influence of any curse contained." Nasir accepted the small container, examining it.

"Please remember that your own stone is always liable to an attack. It's dangerous to you and everyone here. I trust you will exercise caution. I'm afraid that if you shift here under its influence, I cannot hesitate in bringing you down."

Nasir nodded. It was no secret that the archsage had managed to salvage many tomes they'd acquired in the last war, among them a blessed Rexbolt. In capable hands, such powerful magic could fell even a white dragon with resistance as high as Nasir's. Not to mention, Nasir himself was blessed by Yune as well.

Soren turned to leave, but Nasir stopped him midstep.

"Would you mind terribly, if I asked you to come to Almedha's home for some moments? I've been informed that she's been malaised for some days now. I know no other way to ease her disquietude."

A pause.

"What makes you think I could do anything about it?" Soren asked, with a hint of curtness.

He felt Nasir study him intently.

"You insist on denying yourself, just as laguz themselves did so many years ago when you were still a child?" the old grandfather said, the judgement rich in his tone.

Soren's eyes narrowed at all that was implied underneath those words. "You know nothing of who I was."

"It does not matter. Even now, you cannot accept what you are."

"Still your tongue, Nasir." The tactician's form had gone rigid with anger. "You gain nothing from trying to provoke me." His headache seemed to have gotten more painful.

Nasir shook his head, and his tone softened a fraction. "Soren, she suffers greatly. Even you cannot be so insensitive."

The Branded turned his back on the dragon.

"She has never merited any of my concern."

~xxx~

.

well yikes

Nasir maybe you don't make it into the 'ok' people list after all.

I always liked the dynamic in Path of Radiance between them, what with Soren's accurate suspicious suspicions and Nasir subtly threatening blackmail. Although I don't think it's in Nasir's character to actually follow through with what he implied then, he just played off of Soren's natural distrust of people to keep him from telling Ike anything.

Also, Micaiah is at least more of a 'great x5 Grandaunt' rather than just 'Grandaunt.' Is Namisa a good name?

About the ironworks too, the Vague Katti's item description in PoR says it was made by a master craftsman. I don't figure Stefan out to be a blacksmith, being the desert hermit he makes himself out to be... but there were surely others in his village, right? I've concluded the Vague Katti was made from... SUPER SPECIAL SECRET DESERT METAL. It would explain why it was so different from other swords. It's the strongest sword in PoR besides Ragnell...not to mention its critical stat is like, ridiculously high! Also it's a Japanese-styled longsword! So few of them in the series...but it looks like the Hoshido game of FE Fates will change that. Speaking of that, the game theme sung by Renka is so beautiful!

I can't get out of my head this line from Skyrim you hear this one guard saying in dopey amazement.

"They've got curved swords. CUUURVED...swoords."

Even though he's referring to scimitars, I think it evokes the same feeling of wonder with Japanese swords, haha. Even if it's just a slight curve.

Thanks for reading! This chapter had a lot of info and not a lot of action. Sorry about that... Still, there may or may not be a ton of foreshadowing in this thing... Don't worry, STUFF is just about to happen.

Please leave a review about anything you thought!