Chapter 10: Death From Above
The air was thick with fear and as tense as a deer spotting a wolf. At least, that's how Ike felt as his eyes scanned each of his comrade's facial expressions. They were sitting around the circular table of the war room, with Soren sitting on the tallest chair. It wasn't that he was shorter than the others, even though that did help, it was due to the fact that he was their master strategist, and it was imperative that they stay attentive to what he was about to say.
Skimir was rather impatient, so as Soren was nervously clearing his throat, Skimir snarled. "Well, what do you have to say, tiny beorc?"
The young tactician did not appreciate being insulted so childishly, and was about to open his mouth when Lethe suddenly cut him off. "He is Gallia's future prince, so it would be unwise to be rude to him."
Soren grumbled slightly, and many of the attendees: Ranulf, Lucia, Ike, and Muarim, shifted uncomfortably in their seats. This would not bode well.
"But, Lord Skimir, Soren is the Master Strategist of the Greil Mercenaries, and it is through his efforts that Gallia and her allies won the Mad King's War. It would be wise for you not to treat him with such disrespect, as he is a rather brilliant person." Lethe turned to her superior, giving a light bow of the head, but keeping her glare fixed on him the entire time.
Skimir, quite annoyed, got the message and smiled cordially. "I'm sorry, young Master. Can you begin planning sooner?"
Soren tried to smile. "The plans are done, Milord. Now, I regret to inform you that Lucia and I have either overestimated the enemy's intelligence, or we have been unable to gather sufficient data regarding their troop strength and the types of units they currently have."
Muarim raised an eyebrow. "You've made a mistake without gathering enough data? That doesn't sound like you, Soren... Something's clearly not right."
Soren nodded. "I was getting to that, Muarim. Now, I suppose you're wondering why I've gathered all of you here. Take a look at this." Soren reached under the table and revealed a scroll that he carefully unraveled in front of the attendees. They each tried to keep it straight and smooth on the table, and Skimir was the first to exclaim, "It's a map!"
Soren gave Skimir a look of pity as he sighed. "Yes, it's a map. A map of the Tomori mountain range, the range that divides Gallia and Goldoa from Begnion. Now, take a look at this fort, Fort Susa. My sources tell me that it is currently under Rebel control, but look how close it is to the Begnion border. Our scouts have informed me that the enemy is currently moving in that small patch of forest to the east of our position between the mountains, and they're probably going to hit us either from the north east, after crossing the mountains, or they'll hit us from the east itself, through the mountains. They wouldn't go through the mountains under any normal circumstances, for beast laguz tend to have trouble traversing over such terrain, but it seems like they are..."
Muarim scratched his chin with his paw. "Forgive me, Soren, are you saying that we might be dealing with Pegasus Knights?"
Soren smiled and turned to Lucia. "Finally, somebody else gets it!"
"... I don't see how that's something to celebrate..." Ranulf muttered.
"Well, after seeing blank looks from half of the people at this table, it was reassuring to know that we do have potential strategists among the laguz."
Before Lethe or Skimir could tackle Soren, Lucia already grabbed his collar. "Soren, you have to be more cordial with our allies. It is very stupid to try to provoke them." She hissed.
Soren was rather intimidated by her snarl: "Of course, Milady. I was merely jesting..."
"Anyways, if what you are saying is true, then in order to combat those flying foes we should probably rouse Shinon and Rolf, right?" Ranulf spoke.
"They are both talented archers, but they won't be enough. It's too late to call Phoenicis for assistance, and my spells can only kill about one or two pegasi with any one shot. We will have to be very careful, for they can strike fast and flee quicker." Soren nodded.
"Can we afford to assume that Begnion is helping them? If we make assumptions too readily, we might end up ruining whatever chance we have at getting the Apostle to remain neutral or help us. You are all friends of the Apostle and her personal guard, no? We should try to gather more data before making such an assumption..." Lyre shifted up in her seat.
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On Black Wings, the Gallian rebels descended on the capital.
On White Wings, Valtome's guard supported them, reinforcing their formations and ensuring that life would be hell for the Gallian Royal Army and their Crimean allies.
Tonerk and his friends had paid Naesala quite a fortune to allow nineteen legions of ravens to assist the Gallian rebellion. No matter how much Nealuchi objected, Naesala was eager to take the money and allow his brethren to risk their ties with the Gallian loyalists.
Valtome was quite eager to know the outcome of this battle. If all went well, the Gallian capital would be in their ally's hands, and the fall of Crimea would be quite certain if Major Kieran and the Crimean calvary stationed in Gallia's capital failed to help their comrades hold off the rebels.
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Soren pointed frantically at the map. "Alright, if you know your positions, we can..."
A messenger ran into the room. "Lord Skimir, enemy forces have began their attack! Our troops are having trouble fending them off!"
"Perfect..." Skimir smiled. "Let's go to war!"
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Lucia emerged from the fort to be greeted by a large, black bird. "Ravens?!" She gasped, leaping to the side as the laguz's talons slashed the door apart.
By then, the others had already spotted the rebel laguz running about in the streets yet again. Soren was right. They came directly from the east, and there were pegasi, but he never thought there'd be ravens among the enemy troops.
Lucia twirled a killing edge in her hand. "If these flying fools wish to face me in combat, I will make them regret having ever accepted this line of work." She thought bitterly. Sure enough, two ravens descended from the sky and headed for her throat.
Lucia leapt into the air just when one of the ravens was about to strike, and, with a swing of her blade, hacked away at the raven's neck. As the large bird crumpled before her blade and hit the ground, its partner attempted to flee, when Lucia heard a voice cry out: "Elwind!"
The enemy raven began to flutter about, like a person who had just been run over by a horse, and promptly collapsed on the ground. Lucia blinked slightly. That was rather abrupt.
Lucia turned to find Bastian smiling at her. "Milady, it is my duty to assist you at all times..."
"Thanks, Bastian, but I think your help will be needed elsewhere." Lucia smiled back and nodded. As Bastian ran off, Lucia turned to find Soren trapped in the middle of several enemy generals. Her eyes widened at the realization that some Begnion troops were actually among these rebels as well as ravens. The swordsmaster grabbed onto her armorslayer, a blade developed for slashing through thick armor, and ran to Soren's aid. To her surprise, however, he had no need for her assistance. With a single Thoron spell, all eight generals who were trying to rip him apart found themselves electrocuted by a ring of lightning. Lucia cringed and covered her eyes to avoid the glare, but was relieved to find that Soren was safe and untouched.
As if on cue, a halberdier charged at Lucia from her right, and, twirling a silver lance, challenged her to a duel. Lucia smirked, for the armorslayer could easily slice this foe in half. As her opponent ran forward, she spun around and avoided his initial thrust while letting her sword naturally swing forward and slash across the soldier's chest. Her opponent immediately grabbed his chest and collapsed on the ground, and Lucia left her fallen foe to assist the rest of her comrades.
"Lucia!" She heard someone yell, and turned to find three ravens caught in what seemed to be a circular funnel. Soren was nearby, his hands clutching onto a thick tome and mumbling some words. The three ravens spiraled down to their doom, and the Lady ran to the strategist's side.
"Watch your back, Lucia... Those three were about to strike you from behind." Soren nodded, his eyes showing concern.
Lucia smiled, rather stunned by him. With a single thoron spell, he took out eight generals who had clustered themselves around him, and with a single tornado, he brought down three ravens. Lucia remembered that day at Gritnea Tower, where, if it weren't for Tibarn, they would all have died from the enemy feral ones. Soren used Tornado back then, too, but he could only kill one feral raven or hawk at a time. But now his magical powers had extended to attacking several enemy units at once.
From a distance, Ilyana had a rather annoyed look on her face. Her Elwind seemed to be mediocre against the pegasi and ravens. Furthermore, Lucia was putting her nose in someone else's business. Soren was hers! Lucia had no right to butt in. The mage almost snapped her tome with her death grip. If Lucia was going to make her move, then Ilyana would be forced to make her own.
Soren coldly examined the battlefield. The city was currently under siege, and the small band of snipers and archers who came with Geoffrey had to fight alongside Shinon and Rolf as they tried to take out the enemy air support. The Gallian Royal Army tackled its rebel counterparts in several streets as the enemy continued to break through the city gates and close in on their helpless counterparts. The Gallian capital of Zarzi was being smothered by the vast army of Gallians, Begnion warriors, and Kilvas ravens. (1.)
Lucia looked at him. She remembered that Soren scoffed when Bastian had scolded him for being a little too confident. Soren claimed that out of the two hundred engagements the Greil Mercenaries went through when Soren was their strategist, they lost only three of them. Of the forty five heroes who led the warriors of Crimea and Begnion during the Mad King's War, none of them perished thanks to Soren. Heck, the victorious outcome of the war could basically be attributed to Soren, as he was the chief strategist of Ike's army.
Yet, today, Soren had seen through the enemy's tactics, but it seemed that his troops were too unprepared to be able to fend off the vast army of the rebellion. Soren sighed, in his eyes, he had failed his men, he had failed Ike and Caineghis, and if they were to be defeated today, it would all be his fault.
Lucia raised her sword. She saw the gloomy depression welling in his eyes and snapped. "Are you going to sit here and grieve, or are you going to actually fight with us and take down these rebels? There's no point lamenting on events that you have no control over, so let's hurry and get moving!"
Soren turned to her. The Lady Lucia, sister to General Geoffrey of Crimea, had gone through many more formal and intense battles than Soren himself, even though they were the same age. (2.) Yet she was able to stay a lot more focused than him, and that was rather intimidating. Soren was used to being the collected member of the Greil Mercenaries. To have someone beat him at his own game, well, that was remarkable.
She whirled her killing edge and ran ahead of him, towards the pack of pegasi and ravens who were pelting their Gallian allies. Soren quickly followed her. As ravens and pegasus knights swooped down, he'd hold them off with Tornado. Their allies on the ground had to deal with the claws of their rebel counterparts and the talons from the air, but with Soren's help, the situation was slowly turning to their favor.
Finally, only ten of the original sixty ravens who were attacking the Gallian capital were still alive. Bastian, knowing full well that the ravens were a greater threat than the pegasi, pulled out his most powerful tome: Rexcaliber. This tome was the rarest of all of the purchasable wind tomes. There were only about twenty left in existence, and only a handful of sages could effectively master the spell. He raised his hand and muttered the incantation marked in the tome, and a flurry of ice smashed into the ravens. Each individual raven swung back and forth, as though they were caught in the worst aerial disruption ever. Finally, all ten ravens plummeted to the ground, leaving their pegasus allies as bait for Shinon and the rest of the Crimean snipers.
With the death of the ravens, the pegasi found themselves caught in volleys of arrows. Shinon and Rolf made certain that none of them would be able to escape. With arrows stabbing through their mounts and through their chests, the brave women of Valtome's pegasus guard fell from the skies. Lucia shook her head and sighed... One of those women could have been Tanith. For all they knew, Begnion could be trying to start a war with Gallia, and Lucia was well aware that neither Tanith nor Sigrun would ever put their personal friendship over their national duty. Lucia, fully devoted to Queen Elincia, would probably do the same.
The swordsmaster sighed and wiped her blade. Nearby, Gatrie and Ilyana were taking out the terrified rebel troops. Ilyana knew Elfire, and had no intention of letting the enemy have an easy fight. The flames seared the flesh of those beast laguz, making them howl in pain. Though Zihark and Ilyana were close friends, and Zihark personally trusted Ilyana with his life, he had to run towards her and shove her to make her stop using that spell.
The Gallian rebels were defeated once again, and as they fled for dear life Bastian used his Bolting tome to make them run faster. Zihark, seeing those poor laguz run for their lives, grabbed a killing edge and was about to attack the Duke of Felirae until Muarim grabbed him and dragged him back. Soren shook his head. Zihark truly did seem more laguz than beorc. Heck, he was more of a laguz than Lyre, for crying out loud!
Lucia watched as the enemy fled the city and ran deep into the forest. A certain raven haired sage walked up beside her and sighed as he watched them run. Lucia's eyes scanned the various faces of their allies. Kieran, Gatrie, and Shinon all brought out bottles of beer and were chugging them on the steps of Gallia's palace, but Caineghis was too exasperated to bother them. Lucia noticed that everyone else was celebrating, except for her, Zihark, Lethe, Caineghis, Giffca, and Soren. Lucia froze for a moment. Now that she thought of it, Soren never showed any sense of joy over any victory, not even the time when Ashnard was finally slain. She turned to the mage. "I always remembered that while our soldiers would cheer and celebrate their victories, you never seemed to be joyful... You're a rather serious person, no doubt, but it's strange that you don't seem to show pride in your accomplishments." Lucia spoke with a raised eyebrow.
Soren shook his head and looked her in the eye. "What's there to celebrate about killing people? Yes, I'm proud that I've never been defeated, but that's a superficial sense of joy. Half of the people we kill are people just like us. We have no right to take their lives with so little concern. A few years back, I despised the laguz because they once despised me, but even then, killing them wouldn't be so pleasurable. Why? Because death is nothing to feel joyful about. In battle, had you been the one who made a wrong move, you might be a still corpse and your opponent would be the one laughing."
Lucia stared at him for a moment. She was used to an environment where the warriors of Crimea would have toasts to their victory and would show intense joy at crushing "those Daein scum." But clearly, Soren was different. Lucia had grown up with violent men. Her brother was polite, and kind, but he too was a terror in open combat. Though he hardly showed it, Geoffrey had a great sense of thrill from the heat of battle.
Lucia was confused, Bastian was a sage as well, and a talented one, but why did she care about Soren so much? Maybe it was because Soren had spent his time healing her and the others instead of running about stabbing enemy Generals at close range like Bastian. Maybe it was because Soren was so calm, so collected in battle, unlike Geoffrey or, in some cases, Bastian himself. Soren was quite intelligent and maybe even wise, as he'd often give his comrades advice that would keep them from getting into horrible situations.
The more she thought of him, the greater of a man Soren seemed to be. It was rather perplexing. Lucia was a tactician, and a warrior in many aspects. She had no time to allow herself to, as Tanith would call it, "fall into a romantic distraction..." Yet she seemed to be doing exactly that. (3.)
Soren turned to Lucia, finding her caught in a dreamy look. The sage thought for a moment. Lucia was acting rather strangely, though he could hardly complain. Among all the women in their army, Lucia was the only one who wasn't almost totally ignoring him and wasn't trying to be annoying. Ilyana was just being another nuisance. The kind of fawning individual who just wouldn't go away, but Lucia was different. (4.) She wasn't fawning over him, yet he could easily tell that she cared deeply about him. Lucia was a rather generous and charismatic individual. The warriors of Crimea eagerly flocked to her when Ike, Soren, and the rest of their army were crossing The Great Bridge. Lucia cared for Ilyana, trained Mia in swordsmanship, helped plan strategies with himself and Titania, and generally tried to be of use to every member of their army during the Mad King's War. She'd always been there, for everyone, while he would merely watch his comrades from a distance and strategize. That's why everyone thought highly of her, but only few people truly thanked Soren for what he had done. The more he thought of her, the more he began to admire her... But, as the strategist of the Greil Mercenaries and the current tactician in charge of the Gallian army, he could not afford a distraction as extensive as this.
Lucia and Soren shook their heads and looked at each other. Before either could speak, Mist ran up to Lucia. "My brother needs both of you to come immediately. Something's happened at the west gate."
Soren and Lucia arrived to find Rhys crouched over a badly wounded person. Soren stepped forward and his eyes widened at the sight.
Reyson lay sprawled on the ground, his body torn to shreds. As Mist and Soren ran forward to heal the fallen heron, Lucia took a note from the watching Kieran's trembling hand. "Leanne is in our custody, humans. Leave now or she will be killed."
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1. I'm using the old map provided at Serenes Forest. (The Old Tellius Map located in the Radiant Dawn section.)
2. Soren is considered to be older than Ike, as he ages much slower than any of the beorc. At least, that's the case in my version of these events... Lucia looked about eighteen in POR. I counted her as nineteen, giving her an extra year of experience. By now, she'd be twenty one. Dividing Soren's real age by about 1.5, Soren would look fourteen... A little scary, but it makes sense due to the fact that Soren looked barely thirteen during the Mad King's War, and the fact that he has the blood of the longest living laguz species. Unfortunately, they would appear to be an odd couple, but considering the fact that even someone like Ilyana would be nineteen or twenty now, the only person who could be paired with Soren and allow him to be straight and appear "normal" would be Mist, as she's only fourteen now.
Secondly, to explain why Soren hasn't fought in any actual "battles." What the Greil Mercenaries go through are skirmishes. Actual battles are fought between large armies, not among small groups of people. Geoffrey, being a general, leads hundreds of men in battle. Lucia, being his sister and one of Elincia's most trusted advisors, is often by her brother's side, so she's experienced many of these battles firsthand. The Greil Mercenaries aren't even twenty people, so whenever they have a job, it tends to involve less than a hundred people (enemies and allies alike.) If it's less than a hundred people, it technically is more of a skirmish than a battle.
3. I find Tanith and Lucia to be quite similar. Both are strong, confident women would would do anything for the people they love, cherish, and care about. Both are loyal to the bitter end, and are rather thoughtful. Both can be very serious and collected, though Lucia is kinder and sometimes more gentle than Tanith. The main difference between Tanith and Lucia is that Tanith is harsh and stubborn while Lucia is reasonable and determined. Lucia is much more capable of bending than Tanith. Otherwise, they are very similar people and I would not find it surprising if they have a mutual respect for each other.
4. There are those of you who support Soren and Ilyana. Apologies, but I do not support that pairing nearly as much as I support Soren/Lethe, Soren/Mist, or (my own creation, it seems) Soren/Lucia. I simply find them to be incompatible. Soren is much too stern. Ilyana would probably be either turned off or badly hurt by the harsh mage. Lethe could easily take Soren's rudeness and would probably return it twofold, making Soren respect her tenacity, and Mist, being Ike's sister and generally liked by everyone, could also have a chance at winning Soren's heart. But Ilyana has showed little charisma. She basically makes those who don't support with her fear her intense hunger, and those who do care for her (Lucia, Zihark, etc.) have to bend over backwards to get her food. I just don't see the two of them as a good pairing... My apologies.
As for Lucia and Soren, well, Lucia seems to be the middle between Lethe and Mist. Lucia is much more serious and is much more capable of harshness than Mist, yet she's much more amicable than Lethe.