Part I, Chapter III:

Part I, Chapter III:

Lyndis' Legion

They left Bulgar the next morning, two hours after dawn. The three with horses rode theirs, and Dev got to ride with Kent, considering Sain's oddness and Thunder's homicidal tendencies. Kent was a very untalkative companion, and he insisted on riding two horse-lengths behind Lyn, as was apparently proper. This made it very difficult to carry out a sane conversation with anyone, and by noon, Dev was beginning to feel the need for a conversation. She didn't know what it was, or why she had it, but there had been a sense of unease nagging at her for the past hour and a half, and she wanted some distraction from it.

Of course, there was always Sain. For four hours while they rode to the shrine.

"And, then, I thrust into his stomach with my lance and–"

"You were using a sword, Sain."

"What? How do you know that?"

"It was yesterday and I was there, Sain." Dev suppressed a sigh. She wanted to talk to Lyn. She was supposed to be a bloody mastermind, so why couldn't she think of a way to shut him up?

"But you weren't looking!"

"There was never any blood on your lance yesterday. There was blood on your sword. Therefore, you used your sword. Tell it right or don't tell it at all."

Neither option seemed to appeal to Sain. "Well, anyway, I took up my lance–" Ugh. Dev sagged against Kent's armor and sat up poker-straight once more; that metal was pointy! Besides which, sagging upgraded Fidele's trot from 'uncomfortable' to 'torture'. She couldn't take it anymore! She just had to think about something else, that was all.

"–I thrust under his guard! He tried to sidestep, but I was too quick–"

She wasn't that desperate yet, though.

"Kent, please start talking." She felt his body shift; he was probably looking at her.

He almost seemed surprised. "Speak of what?"

"Anything, as long as it's not a detailled and inaccurate account of yesterday's 'glorious and heroic battle.'" Kent looked at Sain. He was still talking, gesturing with a stick to illustrate his words and holding his reins in one hand.

"How about… chess?" Dev looked up at Kent.

"Chess? You want to talk about chess?" Kent looked back down at her.

"You are the one who wants to talk," he reminded her. "And I thought you would find it interesting, given your line of work." Dev winced– why had she ever told Lyn strategy was her job?– and returned her gaze to the road in front of her, quickly coming up with a plan to talk to Lyn.

"Could you ride further ahead, Kent? I want to know how much farther we have to go," she bluffed. She wanted to talk to Lyn. She did not want to hear about Sain's heroic lance, or Kent's chess strategies.

"If you wish, Lady Dev," he replied, nudging his horse into a faster trot. That was apparently another way to upgrade the pain factor of the trot. Dev winced unhappily until they reached Lyn. Thunder skipped to the side as they approached, snorting. Lyn checked his movement and smiled at them.

"Dev, Sir Kent, what brings you here?" Dev smiled back and leaned over in the saddle, keeping an eye on Thunder's mouth.

"Lyn, how much farther is the shrine?" she asked, fighting to keep her balance.

"Another half-mile or so. Why, are you that impatient to see the shrine?" Dev shook her head and pointed to Fidele.

"No, although I'm sure your shrine is very nice. I'm uncomfortable. These creatures certainly know how to make humans pay for their services," she replied. "Pegasi are more comfortable." Lyn shrugged.

"I wouldn't know. Maybe if you sat in the seat of the saddle, instead of on the pommel, it would be less jolting." Dev grinned wickedly and gestured to Kent.

"There's a big red knight in the way." She turned around and looked at Kent. He sat up perfectly straight in the saddle, eyes staring at a fixed point over Dev's head, trying to ignore the conversation they were having. It seemed as if he'd thought she had only wanted to know where they were, instead of wanting to have an actual conversation with Lyn. Well…that was his mistake. She and Lyn continued their conversation while Kent sat behind Dev on his horse and stared at the horizon. Sain rode up up beside them and joined in the conversation (without trying to reenact any battles), and soon the three of them were trading stories and jokes easily, as if they'd been on the road together for weeks or months, not mere hours. It was a nice feeling, one which almost enabled Dev to forget even the discomfort of the horse and the uneasiness in her stomach.

The shrine was quickly reached after that. They saw it after what felt like only ten or fifteen minutes, even if it was several hours, and Dev sighed in relief; after this, she could get off the stupid horse for a while. They were nearly there when a middle-aged woman ran up to them.

"Ah! Tell me, are you warriors? Are you heading to the shrine?" Lyn nodded, placing her hand on her sword hilt reflexively. The woman smiled, although her eyes were full of fear and a rising bruise circled her eye. Dev hopped down from Fidele thankfully and gave the woman one of her vulneraries, applying it sparingly to the bruise. They were a bit potent to be using on bruises and she didn't want to cause an allergic reaction around someone's eye. The woman kept speaking as Dev applied the poultice; what was more, she kept moving, which made Dev's task more difficult. Dev would have appreciated it if she'd kept still.

"Bandits have invaded the shrine and kidnapped the priest! They are trying to steal the Mani Katti! Please, you must stop them!" She threw her hands out as she implored them to help, smacking Dev in the nose. It was not appreciated and Dev finished her job happily, heading back to Lyn and speaking to her briefly.

"What do you think, Lyn? We're headed there anyway." So much for shrines being safe, bandit-less places, she thought ruefully, but it was all up to Lyn. What was more, hopefully this had been the source of that nagging discomfort she'd been having. Lyn dismounted from Thunder and unsheathed her iron sword.

"We will drive them out, dead or alive," Lyn said. Sain and Kent nodded; Sain unhooked his lance and Kent loosened his sword in its scabbard. Both looked ready for a fight; so did Lyn.

The woman warned them that the path to the shrine was very rocky and mountainous, and began to tell them about a section of the wall that was in poor repair; Dev nodded and listened, and questioned her on the events in the shrine. There were about four or five of the bandits. Most carried axes, but the leader, well-known in these parts as Glass (apparently because he broke enemy swords as if that was what they were made of) was a swordsman and the one who wanted the Sacaens' holy blade.

Hmm. Sain liked to use his lance, did he? Dev grinned. A wall to break and a swordsman in the shrine. He could use his lance all he wanted. Maybe then he'd shut up.

Dev walked around to the south with Lyn as the knights worked to get the wall to the point where it would crumble at a few hard blows. She wanted to know where this mountain was. If it was too high, they would just have to all go through the wall, which would take a long time and force one person to take the entire brunt of whatever the bandits had on the other side. That person would probably be Sain, too, and as annoying as he was, Dev didn't want him to wind up dead. It was highly preferable to get over the mountain and attack from the front. Assuming they could. They hit rocky terrain and Dev looked around– the corner of the shrine was beside them. So where was this friggin' mountain?

"Dev, aren't you a little high up? It's not safe! Come down, we'll go through the other way," Lyn called up to her. Dev looked behind her and down– Lyn was standing firmly on the grassy part of the ground.

"I'm not that high. It's only…thirty feet," she replied. "It's a little rocky, but I'll be fine. Can't see the mountain, though." Lyn stared at her and something occurred to Dev: Lyn thought this was the mountain. What nonsense, this barely qualified as a hill. Then again, considering the general flatness of Sacae, this probably was a mountain to them. This was very convenient. Dev smiled and slid down the side of the rock-face, meeting Lyn at the bottom.

"We can get over that, no problem!" she told her excitedly. Lyn eyed the 'mountain' dubiously and Dev ran up about ten feet of the rockface to reassure her. "C'mon, Lyn, you can do it. I'll be right here, and I've been climbing stuff like this since I was four! I won't let you fall!" Lyn stepped up onto a ledge, holding her right arm out for balance. Wary of the blade in her right hand, Dev went up to her from the left and offered a steadying hand. About ten feet from the summit, Dev signalled Lyn to stop, left her on a stable patch of rock that wouldn't tumble down the hillside and take Lyn with it, and crept up to the top, sticking her head over it. There were two bandits guarding the door, and they were playing dice, failing completely to do their job.

Dev withdrew her head and signalled to Kent, waving her staff in the air. Kent riased his sword in response, and Sain readied himself to bash down the wall. When they heard the sound of battle from the inside, they'd rush the enemy from the side as Lyn attacked from the front. Dev didn't like pressuring Lyn that much, but there would be no guiding the horses over the rocks. Dev guided Lyn up the remaining few feet of rock, and Lyn gripped her sword tightly, pale and sweating. Dev watched her, concerned, and readied her own weapon. The bandits would have a distinct advantage here– Lyn's main strength was her agility, and the terrain took it from her. Dev would have to take some of the force of the attack, distract them so Lyn could get in a few hits. She nodded at Lyn and Lyn nodded back, patting her on the shoulder, as if she was the one in need of assistance.

They started down. The bandits noticed them when they were halfway down and came at them, roaring in rage and battle-fury. Dev mimed clumsiness, waiting for them to get close. When they were ten feet away, Dev rushed down, swinging her staff. She caught one on the chin, slid out of the range of the second one's axe, and jumped a small ridge to tangle them up in each other's weapons. One threw a punch at her and she ducked, moving her feet to more stable holds. She heard Lyn yell in surprise and craned her neck to see around the bandit. The other bandit yelled, for the same reason, and the bandit standing in front of Dev flew forward like an arrow from a bow, taking Dev with him. For about twenty seconds, the entire world was yelling, steel, wood, bandit, Lyn, rock, sky and general chaos. There were several sharp cracks in the middle of everything, sharp noises that cut through the tumult like sharpened steel. Then there was silence.

Dev got up from underneath a groaning bandit with some difficulty, clutching at her head, and helped Lyn up after her, then began to hunt for their weapons– neither had managed to keep their hold on them– while Lyn checked the bandits. Dev's staff was about five feet up the hillside– it was scratched and a little nicked (or more so than it had been before), but otherwise fine. Lyn's sword hadn't fared so well. The blade was embedded in a crevice in the rock, the hilt twenty feet away in the grass at the foot of the hill. Dev bit her lip– if Lyn had no weapon, then she wouldn't be attacking any bandits. She went back to Lyn, holding the hilt. Lyn saw it and winced, frowning. She picked it out of Dev's hand and sighed.

"Broken? It's typical, isn't it? Just when I really need a weapon." She tied the hilt to her belt and Dev looked at the bandits, giving Lyn a little quiet. From her reaction to losing the blade, it had been more than just a weapon to her; it had likely been a memento of her family. The bandits themselves were no threat anyway. One lay on the grass, breathing but unconscious, although he'd have a beautiful bump in a few hours. The other hadn't been so lucky– he was equally still, but his eyes were open and fixed, surprise written permanently on his face. A broken neck, maybe, or a head injury. Either way, he was well and truly dead. Dev shuddered. She'd taken some nasty falls down rocky terrain, and picked up some beautiful injuries for it, but it would have been all to easy for her or Lyn to have come out of that tumble just like that bandit.

Lyn tied the other bandit up—the live one—while Dev ran back up the rockface and signalled the knights again. Sain began to bash the wall in, levering the rocks apart with his lance. Kent readied his sword, the accompanying flash of light visible clearly even in the bright sunlight. She went back down to Lyn and peered in through a window in the shrine. The bandits had heard the wall start to give, and two axe-wielders were readying themselves around the cracks that were appearing. Dev considered going in, then decided against it—in a battle, if she wasn't helping, she was an outright nuisance and she knew it. She'd just be another person for them to take care of. They could handle themselves.

Sain proved her right within the minute as his lance appeared, looking almost like a branch of a tree sticking out through the rock. The priest in the corner stared at the damage and the mounted warriors appearing in the gap and moaned, turning his face away. He saw Dev when he did so and gaped in horror. Dev shook her head, motioning for silence. A smile covered his face; he glanced at the head bandit– a swordsman standing on the altar and trying to wrestle a sword from its scabbard, assumedly Glass– and buried his face in his robes, shaking with silent mirth and relief. Thankfully, Glass was too preoccupied with the sword to notice the priest's actions.

Sain pushed his way through the gap, wounding a bandit in the process, and made way for Kent; between them they finished one bandit off fairly quickly. Kent engaged the second axeman as Sain grasped his lance more firmly and kicked his horse up to the last bandit– Glass. Glass had turned at the sound of the wall collapsing, and he met Sain with his own sword, not the still-sheathed Mani Katti. Sain knocked his sword aside, disarming him with a flick of the lance, before thrusting. He missed as Glass pivoted, bringing the Mani Katti around and under Sain's guard, catching him in the side. Sain gasped with the force of the blow, but didn't give way; he raised his lance and thrust, pinning Glass to the floor with his weapon. Glass grasped at the lance with his free hand, his face contorted with pain and disbelief, before his body relaxed against the stone altar, although he still gripped the sword tightly. Sain reached down and removed it from his hand before the body could stiffen and handed it back to the priest, who accepted it gratefully, holding it in extreme reverence.

Dev waved to Lyn and ran inside. Lyn waved back and followed, the bandit tied and gagged behind her in the doorway, joining Dev, her knights and the priest. The priest saw her coming forward and immediately focussed his attention on her, obviously the only Sacaen in the party. The knights moved aside for her and Dev stood in front of the altar, having already paid her respects to the shrine. It had seemed to please the priest, and Dev couldn't really claim any strong beliefs that the altar wasn't deserving of respect. Lyn did the same as Dev had, bowing to the priest deeply before speaking to him. The priest nodded back and addressed them.

"Thank you for rescuing me, and the shrine, all of you. May I know your names?" He acknowledged not only Lyn but Dev, Kent and Sain.

Lyn nodded and introduced them. "Yes. I am Lyn, of the Lorca. My companions are Dev, of Ilia, and Sirs Kent and Sain, of Lycia. He smiled at all of them in greeting before returning his attention to Lyn. "We heard from a woman near here that the shrine was under attack by bandits. We were on our way here, to pray before setting off on a journey we must undertake, and we thought to lend our aid." The priest nodded in the sage manner that all priests seemed to have, smiling still, and extended the Mani Katti, the blade level across his palms, to Lyn.

"Ah, I see. It is good to know that your companions are so accepting of our ways. As my thanks for your brave efforts, I will permit you to lay hands on the Mani Katti, so that you may have good fortune." Lyn gasped, and Dev looked up.

"It that a great honor, then?" she asked, unsure. It wasn't Hanon's bow or anything, although they seemed to set a great deal of importance by the sword. Lyn nodded, obviously excited. Dev looked at the sword itself: it didn't look all that exceptional. The hilt was plain (for Sacae), decorated simply with criss-crossed leather strips designed more than partly to enhance the user's grip on the weapon. It was topped with a plain, wooden pommel, and the cross-guard was similar: well-crafted and functional, a welcome addition to the arsenal of a dedicated warrior, but they were nothing eye-catching. Lyn said a prayer under her breath, and placed her hands on the Mani Katti's sheath.

Light came from the cross-guard, the pommel and the grip; stronger light leaked out of the top of the sheath. Dev stepped forward in curiosity; the knights took an involuntary step backwards or jumped slightly and Kent laid his hand on his sword in case it was a threat. The priest stared in open amazement and reverence and Lyn's hands flew up to her chest.

"It moved," she said. "It moved and it… it glowed." She swallowed nervously. "Is that… What does it mean?" Dev reappraised the sword; it was obviously some sort of magic, if not outright holy. The priest held it up, then held it out to Lyn, offering the hilt.

"The spirits make their will known, Lyn. They have judged you and found you worthy. You are to be the wielder of the Mani Katti." Lyn looked very confused.

"Me? But… I…" The priest smiled kindly, as if he knew what she was thinking.

"Here, Lyn of the Lorca. Take your sword. It is yours rightfully." He held it a little closer to her. "Take it from its sheath. None other than its rightful wielder can." Lyn still looked doubtful, but reached out and grasped the hilt and sheath of the sword. Gripping it firmly, she pulled at the hilt, almost timidly in contrast to her grip.

The blade, shining, fine steel, appeared soundlessly from the sheath. It still glowed faintly, but it was as if it was content now to be less obvious about doing so, now that it had made itself understood. Lyn freed the tip, and stared at it, as dazed as the rest of them.

"It came out," she murmured, "effortlessly." She turned it over in her hands, awe in her eyes and manner. "It's the finest sword I've ever held. I've never seen one better crafted or balanced." Dev inspected it visually: the steel was exceptional, even through the glow. No trace of the smithy could be seen on its surface; the finish on the metal was almost better than the work itself. The work, of course, was purely incredible. A few words of ancient writing or magical runes were engraved and set in silver near the hilt; the point was keen and the steel bright in the sunlight. Dev chanced her finger near the edge, brushing across it to test the sharpness of the edge. She yelped and yanked her finger back, trailing a few drops of blood; the edges hadn't lost their sharpness in the years the sword had spent unused. She nodded wordlessly, still staring and sucking on her finger. A fine sword indeed.

The priest smiled more widely and spoke, his voice tinged with reverence. "Never once did I dare to hope I might meet the wielder of the Mani Katti in my lifetime. Take your sword, Lyn of the Lorca. Take it and do with it as you will." Lyn continued to stare at the sword, almost entranced.

"Yes. This is… my sword. The Mani Katti." Lyn stared at it, still stunned, and slid it back into its sheath. She tied it to her belt and rested her hand on the pommel, looking more like a warrior of Sacae already. Still uncertain, she looked over at Dev, who smiled and nodded encouragingly, feeling, if possible, even sicker than before.

Mystic spirits were never, ever a good sign when what you wanted was an uneventful trip. They implied cosmic involvement, and the cosmos rarely picked people out to give them uneventful destinies by throwing them into close involvement with someone wielding a mystic sword. No, that implied an eventful, generally uncomfortable destiny, which was the last thing Dev wanted. She had had quite enough of that.

What was worse, she had the feeling it was already too late to escape it: it was a feeling that told her she was in this even deeper than Lyn was.

………

They spent the next day walking towards the Sacaen border with Bern. They made good time, all of them having rested in the small town near the shrine, and they were refreshed and ready for a few more days of travelling. After a few hours, though, the ground began to become steadily more rocky, and eventually they had to abandon the thought of riding any further and lead the horses on foot instead. The horses didn't like the rocky ground at all, and Lyn wasn't much more enthusiastic. Sain didn't seem very daunted—Dev wondered what could daunt him—and Kent showed little reaction at all to the change in circumstances, continuing on as ordered like a true knight. Dev herself didn't mind the rocky ground at all.

It was Lyn who couldn't stand it, and it was all Dev could do to stop her from bolting down the mountain. (The knights were no help.) She knew, though, that eventually Lyn wouldn't be able to take the mountains anymore and they'd be back to travelling on the plains. They were too open for Dev's liking: this was an area that bandits preyed on, from the burning heaps of wood and charred stone they saw every so often, and the mountains offered more opportunity for cover. Lyn seemed to understand this too, and withstood the mountains for as long as she could, but on the third day of travel, she finally announced she couldn't take it anymore. Dev, Sain and Kent respected her wishes and they all came down off the mountain, crossing back onto the plains. There were houses, though, and a road now, making Dev think they'd passed into the remote corner of Bern separating the mountain range from Sacae. There was even evidence of a village to the west.

It was actually lucky they'd come down where they had: otherwise, Sain would not have found the feather. He picked it up on their way down when it caught his eye and, typically, stuck it in his headband, asking Dev immediately if she thought it was dashing or not (he'd already learned that Lyn didn't welcome such inquiries). Dev stifled a giggle—he looked something, that was sure, but 'dashing' just wasn't the word for it—then noticed an oddness about the feather. It didn't look like a bird's. She reached out and plucked it from his head, ignoring his protests, and examined it closely.

It was a pegasus feather—a bright white one. That was odd, she thought, trotting down the slope to show Lyn her find. It wasn't that the feather had fallen: pegasi normally moulted at around this time of year, in the late spring when the Ilian weather finally warmed. What was odd was that it had fallen here. This was a Bernese mountain, not an Ilian one, and Bern and Ilia weren't on the best of terms. It could always be from a mercenary, but still, Dev wanted to know about this.

"Lyn," she called when she was close enough. "Look what was on the ground. A pegasus feather." Lyn turned and looked at the feather a little blankly. "Do they normally fly here, do you know?" Lyn shook her head.

"We rarely see pegasi in Sacae, although they do go over the plains as a shortcut to Lycia sometimes. I have a friend who is a pegasus knight as well." Dev raised her eyebrows.

"Really? How'd you meet?" Lyn smiled.

"She crash-landed in the middle of our camp about two years ago," she told Dev. Dev laughed involuntarily before she managed to look serious and worried.

"Was she hurt? I mean, before she fell." Lyn shook her head, grinning.

"No, she just crashed. It was windy, I suppose, and she did say that the pegasus wasn't feeling well. Still, it was quite alarming. She had to remain with us for a few weeks while the pegasus' wing healed, and that was when we became friends."

"Kind of you, to help her like that. It would have been a lonely few weeks otherwise, I can imagine." Dev was still listening to Lyn, but now she was also watching the skies. There was an unusually bright patch of white in one of the clouds, and it kept moving. Feathers had to come from somewhere.

"It wasn't as if we could abandon her. She was a little shy at fir—well, she was always a little shy, but she did her best to help while she was with us." She clung to Dev's arm while she negotiated a particularly slippery part of the slope. "Is that a village down there?" she asked. Dev followed her gaze and frowned.

"Looks like one, but there's something wrong with it." She hesitated, knowing how bandit-ridden this area was, before simply saying nothing at all. It looked more like a burned-out shell of a village than an actual one, even if there were a few standing houses. Lyn seemed to think so too: she loosened her sword in its scabbard once she had a firm enough footing to let go of Dev's arm.

At the bottom, Lyn let go of Dev's arm, and Dev rolled back her sleeve to inspect the skin, convinced it was the colour of the night sky with bruising, and jumped nearly a foot into the air when Lyn called out.

"Dev! Look," she yelled. "Up there, a pegasus!" Dev followed her gaze and saw it, coming downwards to land. It spiralled down slowly, and eventually lit in the town. "I wonder if it's—"

"Your friend?" Dev guessed. "What's she look like?"

"Small, with light-purple hair. She's shy, too, especially around men." Dev considered it. If it was Lyn's friend, then the odds were that she needed help. If it wasn't, then it was a pegasus knight—who'd know where they were and be able to point them in the right direction. Either way, it would be a good idea to get down there as quickly as possible, to give aid before too bad a thing happened, or receive it before the knight flew off. Lyn led the way, running towards the town with Dev close behind. They left the knights to figure it out for themselves, and hoofbeats followed them not too long afterwards, once the knights had safely negotiated the rocky ground.

Coming into the town, which was indeed a burned-out wreck with a few, small, walled-off sections containing the only standing houses, they heard voices. There were three, two those of angry men, the other female and barely audible. Lyn frowned. "It's my friend. The others are bandits." Dev looked up at Lyn—her face was livid with rage.

"Lyn—Lyn, wait! Come back, wait for the knights!" It was no use: Lyn was already talking to the bandits. Dev looked back at the knights: their horses were catching up quickly, but they were still a long way off. Swallowing her fear, she ran out after Lyn. The bandits, big, muscular, axe-wielders, were trying to get through Lyn to a small, trembling pegaus knight who was explaining something to Lyn. Through this, the bandits shouted, mostly to the tune of 'hand her over.' Lyn's answers seemed to be along the lines of 'boil your heads.' The only place this could go was a bad one.

"Lyn, what are you planning to do?" she asked.

"I am trying to persuade them to leave Florina alone."

"She landed on me!"

Dev grimaced. "What if they don't oblige?"

"Hand her over, and her flying mule too!"

"P-please don't let them hurt Huey," Florina begged nearly inaudiably of Dev.

"Don't worry," Dev told her. "I won't let them touch a single feather."

"If they don't leave, I suppose I'll have to fight them."

The lead bandit laughed, a sound that made Dev grit her teeth. "Fight! Hah! We'll take you on, girlies. We'll take you on, knock you out, and show you some proper Ganelon hospitality!" The other bandit laughed with him, and Dev moved her staff into a defensive stance as subtly as possible. Florina stared at them with wide eyes, but clutched at her lance and laid a hand on Huey's neck. Lyn laid her hand on her sword.

"You will do no such thing. If we fight, I, and my friends, will continue on our way, and you shall never again leave this place." The bandit sneered at her.

"Think a lot of yourself, don't'cha?" he asked, looking behing them as hoofbeats signalled the arrival of one of the knights. "Another friend of yours? You're still outnumbered!" At his shout, bandits appeared from behind nearly every nearby building and wall. Most were axe-wielders, although there were a few swordsmen and an archer among them. Dev frowned. There were indeed a lot of them. She looked behind her, and saw Sain, gripping his lance in one hand, eyes flicking from bandit to bandit, being nearly serious for once.

The bandit was giving orders now as he moved to the back of the impending battle, telling his comrades to 'kill the knight, but don't hurt the girlies.' Dev shuddered.

"Where's Kent?" she whispered.

……………………….

Kent was in the nearest village, still atop his horse in the gutted remains of the town hall. Several youths of the town and the town elder, as well as curious onlookers, were there with him.

"We thank you for the warning, but we have few fighters among us," the elder told him. "These would like to imagine that they are mighty warriors, but they are only youths. I cannot allow them to go, and be killed in the going." Kent nodded. "I think, though, that this one would like to help you, as much as he can. He is a traveller, and he has been with us for a week now." The elder smiled. A brown-haired man, not much older than the 'youths', stepped forward from the crowd and nodded to Kent.

"My name is Wil, sir knight. I'm an archer. I'd like to repay you, and also these villagers. They've been kind to me, and, you see, I've no coin. So, I offer you my bow, to drive the bandits off." Kent nodded.

"I'm sure we can find a use for it," Kent replied. "Up behind me, Wil: we have need of haste." Wil nodded and swung into the saddle, and Kent spurred Fidele on, back towards Lyndis.

They were already shouting, and he heard the ring and clash of metal on metal. He hoped he wasn't needed too badly there.

……………………….

There were too many. It was obvious to all of them, not just Dev. Sain got rid of a swordsman before turning his own blade on an axeman, Florina fended off one of the weedier bandits with unpractised jabs of her lance, and Lyn and Dev held their own back to back, Lyn skewering any bandit foolish enough to give her an opportunity, and Dev simply parrying any strokes aimed at her as they came.

It couldn't last. Sooner or later, one of them would fall. Dev, Lyn and Florina were only being targeted with intent to incapacitate, however, while Sain was fighting for his life. Other than the axeman he was actually facing, three more were taking swipes at him. Eventually, one of them would get lucky. Then the three 'girlies' would really be in for it.

Huey's whinny was all that saved Dev from one bandit's downswing. He was a better aim than the rest, and trickier too: his attack had separated her from Lyn. The nomad whirled around to check on her, but the bandits quickly recaptured her attention, and Dev was left to deal with the new bandit. He was big, over a foot taller than Dev and broad as well, and well-muscled. His eyes were calm and solemn, his red hair cut close to his scalp. The clothes he wore were simple, but not the filthy rags of a bandit, more the simple clothes of a peasant.

All in all, he did not seem that much like a bandit, except for his annoying persistence in trying to hit her with his axe. She decided to see if he couldn't be persuaded that that was a silly thing to do.

"Hey. You, bandit." His eyes flicked up to her briefly, but she received no response other than another swipe from the axe. She tried again. "Bandit." He glanced at her again, this time with a slight frown. "You don't like being called that," she said.

"Stand still," he told her. He had a Bernese accent.

"Why, to save you time? Or so you can have the pleasure of taking down someone who isn't trying to escape at all? Someone who, for any purposes, is completely defenceless?" He actually flinched, and she pressed the point, sidestepping his axe. "Do you know what they'll do to me after you do that? After I wake up, of course. And after they've gotten good and drunk." She aimed a kick at his leg, forcing him back slightly. His heart hadn't been in his task at the start, and it was falling further and further behind them. "I'm not looking forward to that. Neither are my friends."

"Would you prefer I killed you?" Sweet Elimine, it was an honest question. She pretended to think, and hopped up onto a boulder: it was a good big one, putting her nearly out of his reach.

"No, actually. And I'd also prefer you didn't hurt my friends either." He scowled. Dev looked over his head at the battle: Kent was back. He'd brought an archer, too, and they were making a good attempt at driving the bandits back. They were fine, or they would be in a minute. She turned her attention back to the bandit in front of her. "If you're so reluctant to fight, then why are you a bandit?" He swung at her again. "Aaa! What harm will it do to tell me?!"

"My resolve will weaken." He tried to climb up onto the boulder beside her, and she prodded him back with her staff. That wouldn't work forever, though.

"So, you've got to get something done, and this is the only way?" She poked him back again. "Is it revenge you're after or gold?" He was silent, and she repeated the question several times, each time more loudly, until he relented.

"Gold," he grunted, as if wishing that would be the last question.

"Huh. What for? To feed your starving family? No? Let's see… to pay a debt, then? Or to buy something someone needs?"

"Medicine," he told her, jumping up again. This time, getting him off the boulder required an outright whack. "For my wife. Will you get down?" he added, exasperation in his voice. Dev shook her head, moving back on the boulder slightly.

"Oh? Let's see, whose plight do I care more about, mine or your wife's? Hmmm, now that's a surprise, it's mine. Hey, get off!" He'd succeeded in getting up on the boulder and was trying to get into a decent position to hit her with the axe. "What's wrong with her, anyway? Is it really so bad you're willing to kill people to fix it? Is she dying? There are clerics and hospitals to take care of sick people! Why not ask them?"

"The clerics can't fix it. It's not an illness. Her leg is bad, and it always has been. It pains her. I need to get gold, to—" A patch of green was rapidly approaching the boulder now, brandishing a lance and looking what it undoubtedly thought was heroic. It would be him, Dev thought.

"—Get medicine and fix the leg, alright, I see. Is it worth it if the money belongs to villagers, who need it to buy food to survive on? Is it worth it if you take it from the corpses of innocents?" The bandit glared at her, then lowered his axe. She stood up as tall as possible and crossed her arms, staring at him.

"No. No, you're right."

"So, I've persuaded you of the error of your ways?" He shook his head.

"No. You were just… harder to ignore, I'll say, than my own conscience. You wouldn't let me tune you out." He got down off the boulder, and offered her his hand. She vaulted down with her staff, not wanting to seem like a helpless maiden. Ilians did not need help getting down off of river pebbles like that. He grimaced and she realised she'd subtly insulted him by refusing his help. She apologised, but he seemed to accept it: he shook his head and turned back, looking over at the battle.

Lyn and the other three were quickly surrounding the remaining bandits. Kent and Lyn were taking the brunt of the attack, while the archer and Florina hung back, provding support. It was too bad Florina didn't have a javelin. Dev started back over to them, when a surprised yell from the odd bandit made her turn around: Sain was attacking him.

He was using his goddamn lance again. Dorcas had managed to trap the head in the ground with his axe, and was now looking at Dev in confusion. She shook her head at both of them.

"He's alright. Put that thing away. Where's Lyn?" Sain towards what seemed like half a village surrounded by the remains of one, and tugged on his lance to remove it from the dirt, cleaning the blade before re-strapping it to his saddle. For once, Dev took his offer of a ride, hoping fervently he wouldn't take it as permission to keep shadowing her, or regaling her with his re-enactments of battles. A person could really only take so much of that.

………………..

They arrived at the village as Lyn finished speaking to the village elder. She ran over to Dev and pulled her down off the horse, hugging her tightly. Dev endured this for an entire minute before easing herself out of Lyn's grasp.

"I thought you were dead when that bandit went after you!" she half-yelled, refusing to let go. "Stay near me, will you? Don't leave my side during fights. You'll get yourself killed." Dev smiled, trying to convince Lyn she was fine.

"Don't worry. I didn't have you around for eighteen years before this, and I'm not dead yet. The bandit didn't touch me once, see? Nothing's wrong with me."

"That wasn't wrong already," Lyn retorted, before introducing her to the village elder and Wil.

"Wil was a great asset in the battle," Kent added. "He saved someone—" he glared at his partner as he continued—"from getting his head chopped off. I won't say who," he added curtly.

"No, but you'll imply it really transparently," Dev told him, before greeting the elder.

"I was thanking your friend for her help. This area is rife with bandits and we do not have the manpower to hold them off." Lyn frowned.

"Why don't you ask your marquess for men and help?" she asked. Kent frowned and Wil replied:

"Well, we're in Bern, so it's not a marquess, but he probably has other places to send those men. This is…a very, ah, remote region," he said, trailing off uncomfortably as the elder spat on the ground. Lyn looked at Dev quizzically.

"That means their lord and master doesn't give a rat's ass whether they're alive or dead, as long as they pay their taxes."

"If he could find them on our dead bodies and in our burnt-out homes, he wouldn't care even then," the elder agreed. "We can neither expect nor hope for any help from that quarter. That is why we are so grateful to you."

Someone knocked on the door, and one of the villagers opened it. Someone entered and Florina practically flew to Lyn's side. The villagers seemed surprised to see the newcomer, and Lyn and Dev turned around to see.

It was the bandit. Dev quickly stepped between him and Lyn. "Ah, it's you. Why are you here?" He glanced around the hall, seeming embarrassed at all the people there, then took his axe out of the holder on his back. Lyn had her sword out of the scabbard and ready to chop off his head by the time he pointed the handle at Dev. She nudged it away, to point at the elder of the village. He returned it to is former position. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I owe you a debt. I want to repay it. Please let me accompany you." Dev shook her head.

"What? No, you have to ask Lyn—"

Lyn grimaced. "Well, we're in a complicated situation, you see. I don't want to involve anyone if I don't need to." He shook his head.

"I want to help you. I care not about the danger involved." Lyn bit her lip and exchanged a look with Dev. Dev shrugged.

"We could use an axeman, Lyn. And the more people we have the better." Lyn considered this, and nodded.

"Alright, sir, if you are so determined, you may come with us. May I ask your name?"

"I am Dorcas. Thank you." Florina stopped staring at him in fear and tugged at Lyn's sleeve.

"Florina," Lyn asked, "what is it?"

"Well, Lyn, I- that is, if you're travelling with a band of warriors, I wondered if- can I-"

"You're looking for a troop of mercenaries to join up with, aren't you?" Dev asked. "For your training." Florina nodded. Lyn frowned.

"But Florina, aren't mercenary bands large groups of men?" Florina squeaked and Lyn continued. "I can't see you being at all comfortable around them."

"I thought I would- would get over it," she replied, not sounding as if she really did. Lyn shrugged at Dev.

"Well, I don't know if we count as mercenaries, but you can come if you want, Florina. You don't have to be scared." Florina smiled at Lyn, and after a moment of courage-gathering, at Dev, and she even managed one for Kent, until his stern expression made her smile fade.

Sain took it upon himself to welcome Florina to their group. "Of course you can come, lady Florina! Why, with the additions of Sir Dorcas and the gallant Wil here, we are a fine troop of mercenaries to help you hone your skills as a knight! I myself will watch over you and guide your learning as you enter our esteemed order of—ah! Why do you run from me?"

Wil stared at him in disbelief, (then something approaching shock as Sain was accosted by Lyn and Kent), before asking Dev, "Did he just include me as part of your troop?"

"He does weird things sometimes. You can come if you want, of course. It's not as if our ranks are closed off. Just make your cutest kicked-puppy-dog face and you'll get in." His eyebrows rose and he smiled a little.

"Heh. You mean it? I don't have any gold, you see, and I'm at a bit of a crossroads now—" he frowned slightly, as if his options didn't appeal to him. "I don't want to be a burden to you." Dev shook her head.

"Nah. We're doing alright for gold. Lyn's the heir of House Caelin, in Lycia, you see." Now Wil was properly surprised.

"Really? Wow, travelling with nobility. You wouldn't think she was Lycian to look at her, but I guess that explains why those knights are following her."

"Yeah, that's why. Of course, there's a little inheritance dispute and her grand-uncle's trying to kill her, but we'll clear that up," she told him, wanting him to know what he was in for. Wil shrugged.

"No trouble at all for Lyndis' Legion, I suppose," he replied, twirling an arrow between his fingers and checking the shaft. "Glad to be coming along!" He began to talk to Kent, leaving Dev with a sick feeling in her stomach, one that only got worse when Lyn appeared at her shoulder.

"Did he call us 'Lyndis' Legion'?" she asked, sounding about as happy over the new name as Dev was. Dev nodded. "We're not a legion, are we?"

"No," Dev told her. " No, legions have loads of soldiers in them. We have six plus me. We're no legion."

"It just starts with 'L'." Dev nodded. Lyn was silent for a moment before adding, "This has gotten out of hand, hasn't it?"

Dev grimaced, which was all the answer Lyn seemed to need.

Next stop, Lycia.

……………………………

Err... sorry? I know this took forever. The good news is that I have a new computer now, and a decent internet connection (not GOOD, the west of Ireland doesn't do GOOD, but decent) and updates will be far, far more frequent Okay? Forgive me? It's nice and long, though: that's got to be a good thing.

Alright, stupid ranting aside, I do have some things to say. A: I made a couple of mistakes earlier on. I'd forgotten that only girls could ride pegasi, and I implied that Barigan's steed was a pegasus. I only implied it, though, so I think it's alright. Also, I was unaware that Hanon was a woman, having not played FE6. I found that out. Again, I'm a fool. Hey…maybe she was riding the pegasus. No. Stupid idea. Forget that.

And about the little highly-convenient-and-unbelievable way that I had Lyn and Dev take out the bandits outside the shrine… well, I had to make Lyn take the stupid sword somehow, and after making such a big deal about how clumsy she was on the rocky terrain, I couldn't very well have her whup both of them like she was doing before. Keep in mind also that that they're on a grand and fateful quest (even if they don't know it and it won't really start properly for another year) outside a sacred shrine that houses a magic sword protected by mystic spirits that Lyn is destined to have. It was obviously an act of god.

…That's all the excuse you're getting, people. And Dorcas joining this chapter is, being totally honest, intended to cut the amount of chapter-writing I have to do. Heheh. Sorry!