"I could've sworn I sprayed these crops with a repellant. It was working for weeks before… what could have drawn the Risen through it?" The farmer sighed as he watched one of the creatures in the distance attempting to eat an ear of corn. The man that had led the army that drove the Risen away previously just so happened to be in town, and so he had called on his help. Suddenly, the possibility clicked in his mind.
"That's it. The scent must have carried over the repellant somehow. I bet you one of the tomatoes fell off and went bad." Hale glared at Henry, who was about to spill the beans and said something before he did.
"Don't. Say. Anything. Let's just go get rid of these Risen. We'll also make sure we'll get what you're looking for." The tactician led the dark mage away from the farmer and towards the fields, followed by the rest of the party. He quickly surveyed the area and saw twenty-three Risen, seven of which had the Counter aura. Half of them possessed the Underdog aura, which granted enhanced abilities when its bearer was significantly weaker than its attacker.
"Okay! Split up and destroy these things from back to front! Be sure to only attack them from a distance! Like I said, these Risen won't attack until you hit them. Neither will the surrounding Risen decide to focus you if you attack one of them. Go!" Hale said, and the party began to move out towards the end of the field. True to his word, the monsters completely ignored them as they passed by, far too distracted by their mindless pursuit of the crops.
"Morgan. Look at the Risen closest to us." This particular one had both auras on it, which appeared as a split between orange and indigo, split like oil and water.
"Okay. What about it?" She could see the creature ripping through the leaves of a tomato plant, trying to grab hold of one of the fruits. On its top half was an orange tint, while below the waist it seemed to have a deeper bluish color than normal.
"You can see how it has two auras, right?" She nodded as the Risen snatched a tomato and took a huge bite out of it, looking back at her with its glowing, red eyes.
"Yes. It's kinda orange from its head to about its waist, and below that, it's a dark blue."
"Do you know what those colors mean?" Morgan nodded, recalling the information that her father had written down on the list he'd given her to look over while they were traveling towards the Gate.
"The orange means Counter, and the indigo means Underdog, right?"
"Very good. Can you tell me if this particular Risen's Underdog ability will kick in if you attack it?" She squinted at the Risen, who was still munching on the tomato. It was clearly incapable of understanding what they were talking about, as it made no indication that it would fight or run after hearing the possibility it would be attacked. It was quite bulky, its gold, gooey body looking larger than anybody in town. It didn't look like it would go down in a single hit from her magic.
"I don't think so. It looks too strong."
"I don't think so, either. But let's test that. Go ahead and attack it. Give it your best shot." Morgan nodded and took out a tome of Thoron. She took a breath and charged up the bolt of lightning, letting it fly and piercing the Risen's chest with it, forcing it to drop the rest of the tomato and let out a scratchy, dry noise that sounded like annoyance. It dropped into a puddle of goo and moved towards her.
"Not even close." She said as the creature reformed in front of her, jumping back as it tried to rake her with its claws.
"And another to end you!" Hale shouted as he released a gust of Rexcalibur upon the Risen, sending it flying and dissolving into mist. He looked towards the other side of the field and saw Henry running around with a bottle, capturing the mist that came off of Tharja's targets. The guy looked absolutely giddy, and that was considering he had a smile on his face most of the time – Hale found it more disturbing than anything.
"So, did you notice anything different happen with that fight?" He asked Morgan. She shrugged.
"I don't think so. Would it have moved faster or something if Underdog had activated?"
"A little – its aura would have spread all over its body if it had. That's how you can tell with the less obvious abilities. Now, before I forget… it's time to actually call upon these guys." Hale pulled the Einherjar cards from his coat and held them out in front of him.
"Warriors from another realm! I call upon your assistance! Lend us your strength to drive our enemies away!" With his words, the five cards began to glow before they flew from his hand and landed on the ground in front of him, forming into the five warriors depicted on them. They all appeared before him, each with their weapons in hand. Morgan saw that each one had a blue light faintly emanating from them.
"Behind you are undead creatures with glowing, red eyes that seek to ravage the livelihood of these innocent people. I would like you to destroy them all! However, some of them have a spell cast on them that will harm you if you attack them directly. Follow my commands, and attack only the ones I call out!"
"Yes, sir!" Each of them responded curtly. It reminded Morgan of how people that didn't know her father acted when he gave them orders. He may not have been the most physically imposing man around, but people would listen to him if he wanted them to.
"Nino. Attack the Risen at the edge of the field on my left. Micaiah, attack the one directly in front of us." She saw that each of these Risen had the Counter aura surrounding them. Exactly what she would've done if she was the one giving the orders, now that she knew what it meant. The women immediately moved to carry out Hale's commands.
"Roy, attack the Risen on Micaiah's left. Prince Marth, you will aid him. Finally, Elincia, go behind them and deal with the Risen consuming the corn. Go!" Without another word, the three spiritual warriors obeyed. He had sent the swordsmen both after a bulky Risen that lacked the Counter aura, but possessed the Underdog one. He sensed that if either he or Morgan attacked it, its ability would kick in and make it harder to attack. Everyone seemed to be doing their jobs very well – the first attack had more than halved the number of Risen.
Within the next twenty minutes, the last of the Risen had been destroyed, with Henry managing to fill at least four jars with Risen mist. There had been some clear damage to the crops, but far less than there would've been if they hadn't shown up when they did. The Einherjar noticed that all their current enemies had been vanquished, and so turned to Hale for further instruction.
"Very good! We are victorious over the Risen! I thank you all for your help and bid you return where you came!" Each of the warriors closed their eyes and the blue glow that normally lit them up overtook them, consuming them and reverting each to their card forms, which returned to his hand. No one had suffered any lasting injuries – Hale was even able to use his own healing staff on the Einherjar a few times, as they actually took damage from the slow, predictable Risen. That was probably due to them never having seen enemies like that before and also not being as strong as the Shepherds, he reasoned.
"Hehehe, that was great! Just think of all the stuff I'm gonna be able to do now that I have all these pieces of Risen!" Henry laughed, which made Laurent adjust his glasses and frown.
"I'd rather you narrow your focus to determining exactly what that mist is comprised of. Do not undertake any sort of research that will endanger another person. If you please, I would also like to receive regular reports from you about the composition of the mist. If there is any way I can assist with that, please inform me of the opportunity." His mother looked to Hale.
"I believe your time would be better allocated to the study of the light magic tome you procured from the merchant earlier. I am certain Hale and Morgan would also like to be educated on this unfamiliar type of magic as well."
"Oh! That's right! We have to go back to him! He said he was going to tell me where the other Morgan was." Morgan immediately started riding back into town on her horse, without even giving Laurent a chance to hop on. Miriel sighed and got on top of her own horse, Laurent sitting down behind her.
"Her impulses occasionally dull her awareness. Yet this often also means her excitement is not without merit. Come! Let us ascertain if this merchant truly knows of her other self's location." She commanded the horse to move into town, the rest of the party following behind.
A/N: Well, darn. A little late on the update, and short to boot. Still, trying what I can to get things done. You'll still see an update around Saturday. I think I'll cut back a little next week so I won't be rushing updates out.