Wow. It's been how long since I've updated? Anyway, I'm not dead!

Anyway, this chapter was hard to write, but I blame college for that. I lost all the motivation and time to write and now I don't even know what's happening. I'm just happy this chapter is over so I can go back to writing more entertaining things.

Hopefully you enjoy.

Aedan stood on a barren plain, devastated and scarred by the maw of war. Bodies littered the field like the sickest flowers, red blossoming on their beaten armor like a rose. Broken arrows and discarded weapons were scattered among the dead, a reminder like some sort of tombstone.

In the skies, a great beast flew. With six wings and six demonic red eyes, it hovered over the battlefield like some unholy angel of death. A black dragon of destruction. Aedan stared at the monster, horrified, yet unmoving. It turned its massive head toward him, and each of the six eyes transfixed him on the spot.

The beast roared and its mouth opened in a gaping maw. With one massive gulp, the monster swallowed Aedan whole and he knew no more.

Aedan awoke with a start. He shot forward, hand immediately slapping into his forehead.

He felt awful. Sweat covered his body, soaking what little he wore and leaving a puddle on his sheets.

It took him a few seconds to finally stop breathing so heavily.

Fucking hell.

He moaned a little. He couldn't have slept for that long, and all he really wanted to do was sleep. He was tempted to roll over, and fashion a cocoon around himself with the blankets, but after that nightmare, he doubted that sleep would come to him. Not anytime soon, anyway. Too many thoughts ran through his head.

Lifting himself up, he glanced outside the window and noticed that the sun was slowly beginning to rise above the horizon. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he shut his eyes again and fell back down on the fluffy bed.

Aedan frowned as he rolled over and closed his eyes as tight as he could. His mind couldn't get over the fact that only a short time ago, the dead had walked the earth. And that he was almost killed by them. He had seen a lot in his years of life, but zombies? That was definitely something new. A part of him was still traumatized from seeing the dead walk the earth again, and another part of him was wondering how the hell he wasn't more panicky about the situation.

Honestly, he was amazed that everyone else was just about as calm as he was.

Zombies. Bleh.

A soft moan left his lips as he decided that sleep wasn't going to come to him anytime soon. Moaning even more pathetically, he rolled off of his bed and onto his feet.

The merry band of adventurers had arrived in Ylisstol a few days ago. Chrom had left their little party, taking Robin (Aedan still thought that Chrom was an idiot for trusting her so soon, especially considering she didn't even know who the hell she was, but then again, Chrom was also trusting him) with him to see the Exalt. That left Lissa the wonderful joy of bringing Aedan to the Shepherd barracks to meet everyone.

His first impression… was not the best one.

He didn't like them, for the most part. Some of the Shepherds he had already met, like Virion and Sully, and they definitely weren't among his list of favorite people. Virion was a stuck up, pompous, overly formal and entirely deserving of a foot to the face, noble bastard. Sully was overly aggressive, as if she were trying to compensate for the fact that she was a woman, and she owned a demon horse which had, not once but twice, nearly managed to kill him on the way to Ylisstol. Stahl just talked about food. Miriel was overly aloof and couldn't hold a conversation. Sumia was such a klutz that it managed to annoy the hell out of him. Vaike had the brain capacity of a five year old with a mental condition.

And Maribelle? Holy hell. Never had someone's voice managed to grate him so. And it had only been a week.

Honestly, the only one that was bearable was Kellam, and that was due to his supernatural ability to vanish from plain sight.

But speaking of zombies, it amazed him that he was still sore. Admittedly, he hadn't worked like that in years, but still, it had been over a week and a half. His arms still felt like jelly. His legs still tensed when he walked. And looking at his sword made him tired. In the last week in a half, the only thing that Aedan had really been doing was sleeping and eating and drinking. And he rather enjoyed his week and a half of sleeping, eating, and drinking. After all, he was still getting paid to do so.

Honestly, the only productive thing he had done was get a new sword. A no nonsense, steel sword, sharp and fresh from the irons. Sure, it might not be Falchion, but then again, he wasn't exactly the prince of a country was he? The blade was plain and simple, merely a chunk of steel fashioned into the shape of a sword. The guard was a simple piece of metal jutting out in both directions. The hilt, a comfortable oak.

Maybe they have a special weapon for the Fifth? Then again, knowing the infamy of the position, it would probably be poison. Or the plague. Maybe both?

In fact, Aedan had decided that today was going to be more of the same lazing around. After all, there were no plans as of yet. The Shepherds had been given some wonderful time to rest and relax, and instead of what a normal person would have done the first time they went to Ylisstol, Aedan was going to sit on his ass and vegetate. And he was going to love it.

And there was nothing that was going to stop him from doing so.

"Master Aedan?" he heard a meek voice call from outside his bedchamber.

Except maybe that.

Aedan groaned. His bed was comfortable, and he really really didn't want to get out of it. Still, he scoffed a little. Who the hell called him "Master Aedan?" He rose from his bed, threw on a shirt and went to the door. Opening it, he saw that it was one of the numerous servants around Castle Ylisstol. Of course it's one of the maids. Who else would call me that?

"What?" he demanded.

The poor girl stammered a little, obviously unused to seeing a hairy monster poke his head out from behind a door. Or dealing with people so obviously… uncouth.

"P-prince Chrom has requested has re-requested the p-presence of all Shepherds at the Shepherd b-barracks," she managed, her body slowly angling away from Aedan.

Aedan sighed. So much for his schedule. "Alright. Tell the Prince I'll be there shortly."

As he went to close the door, he added, "And calm the hell down. It's not like I'm going to eat you."

Aedan took a deep breath. Looked like he had to put on pants now.

Sunlight stabbed into Aedan's eyes.

"Damn," he muttered.

It was almost amazing how the sun was in the perfect position to molest his eyeballs, considering how it was nearly midday now and the sun was hanging high up in the middle of the sky.

Aedan sighed as he felt his feet move in front of the other. Slowly, he walked out of Castle Ylisse and into the capital city of Ylisstol.

It was nice being in Ylisstol. For one thing, it was the nicest city he had ever been in. The city was massive, home to artisans and craftsmen and merchants of all sorts. Spires of stone rose into the sky, capped by the massive cathedral in the center of the city, dedicated to the Great Dragon, Naga. Throughout the city were the sounds of work and play, with carpenters hammering at new kitchen tables and children playing ball in the streets. In the air hung the smell of freshly baked bread and the aroma of blooming flowers. There was never a spot in the Ylissean capitol that went undecorated. Each street was filled with trees and gardens, flowers and fountains.

It was peaceful. Aedan couldn't help but feel a small smile pull at his lips as he walked through the streets. After all, growing up on the battlefield, he never could see the grace and serenity that a city like Ylisstol could offer. Even when he was actually in Osliton, he was surrounded by pillars of stone, a hardness born from centuries of war. It was nice. Peaceful in a way that made him feel relaxed and happy, not peaceful between the lulls of catapult fire that just made his nerves frayed to no end.

And so he walked, calmly and slowly towards the edge of the city, taking in the sights and smells along the way. As peaceful and calming as the city was, Aedan couldn't help but notice that the city itself was built for war. To the untrained eye, it was anything but, as evidenced by the flowers and decorations and bright marble that seeped through the city. But Aedan was anything but untrained. All of the important structures, the cathedral and Castle Ylisse, were placed atop a hill, towards the center of the city. This meant that each adjacent building was slightly lower than the other one. It was brilliant, assuming the city were under siege. It meant that if the fighting were in the streets, Ylisse's soldiers would always have the high ground. And arrows were a hell of a lot more deadly when they were fired above you.

The Shepherd barracks were located on the outskirts of the city, along with the bulk of Ylisse's military head quarters. A massive stone fortress stretched into sky. Archers dotted its formidable walls, eagle eyes peering into the distance. In the skies, wings of Pegasus knights flew drills, moving in formations and pulling off acrobatic maneuvers.

Walking forward, Aedan was mildly impressed with the size and scope of the military presence in Ylisstol.

A lot of weapons in one small spot.

Passing through the outer wall, he arrived at a massive field, home to the sword and spearmen of Ylisse. Grunts and thuds filled the air as the infantrymen trained, using their wooden weapons to beat straw dummies to death. On more than one occasion, a column of men ran past him, chanting and singing cadences.

As Aedan continued through the fields, war mages meditated and fired bolts of lightning at innocent straw dummies, shocking them and turning them into lovely pieces of charred crap.

For a nation so obsessed with peace, they certainly have quite a few toys to play with.

Aedan knew it was wrong to think so, but a part of him was still thinking about how he would assault the fort.

A siege, most definitely, no way to get them out of the castle easily. Mages and archers on the ground. Need as much firepower as possible on a single wall. Wyverns in the sky, obviously need air superiority for vertical envelopment. Probably the only way to get into the castle without throwing people at the walls. Those archers would be a pain in the ass though. Rogues maybe? No, rogues definitely, see if they can worm their way into the castle and poison their food, that'll kill off a few of them. Maybe a sapper team as well… Try to collapse one of those walls on their heads.

It's a well defended fort. It would take a lot of men to take it.

Wait, why the hell am I thinking this?

He shook his head. Was it wrong to think this? He was on their side after all. If there were a war that would suddenly break out, he would be fighting with the Ylisseans, not against them. Still, he had been a general, and a very good one at that. It was a reflex now.

Frowning, he continued forward.

Towards the far edge of the fort was a single stone barrack. Honestly, if it weren't for the conveniently placed wooden signed located literally in front of the building, Aedan would have missed it. The Shepherd's barracks, the sign read. A sigh escaped Aedan's lips.

Here we go again.

The barracks were large and cozy, certainly not like any barracks he had ever been in before. To be completely honest, it looked like one massive academy dormitory. Pictures and decorations adorned the room, bookshelves lined the walls, chairs and tables stood near the center. On the bed racks weren't the olive drab covers that Aedan was used to, instead replaced by rows upon rows of various differently colored bed sheets. One bed in particular caught his eye, after all the brightly colored cartoon characters on the bed sheets were humorous at worst.

Aedan managed a soft snort of amusement. He took a seat near the side, away from the other Shepherds. Crossing his arms, he leaned back and observed the others.

Inside the barracks were the core members of the Shepherds. Lissa chatted quietly with Maribelle and Robin, Miriel had her face in a book, Vaike had his shirt off, Sumia was in a corner tending to a small window sill garden, Virion drank his tea, Stahl munched on a sandwich, Sully did pushups, and Kellam…

Gods only know where Kellam went.

Aedan couldn't really tell what exactly the Shepherds were. They weren't part of the military proper, that was for sure. After all, they weren't subject to any rules and regulations that the military was known for. Unless, of course, Ylisse was completely lax on their rules. Rather, they seemed to be more of a militia. Although, all the connotations of a militia were not there. They weren't farmers quickly requisitioned after all. They seemed, more or less, like professional soldiers. After all, they were well trained, well disciplined, and well armored. As much as he thought that their personalities were grating and annoying as sweet fuck, he had to admit, they were good soldiers.

That's all that matters after all.

"Shephards!" a voice boomed suddenly boomed through the barracks.

Aedan found himself scrambling to his feet. His feet found themselves at a familiar angle, his arms fell to his sides, and his back immediately straightened. Before he even knew it, he found himself standing at attention. Around him, the other Shepherds did the same, standing and awaiting orders.

Chrom walked inside of the barracks, with Fredrick behind him. One look at the people standing straight at attention put him in a sort of an awkward spot.

"At ease, everyone," he started. "No need to be all formal."

Aedan felt his back relax and his shoulders slump forward.

Chrom continued. "All right, listen, everyone: in the morning, we'll be marching to Regna Ferox."

Aedan stifled a curse. Back to Regna Ferox? But he just got to Ylisse! Couldn't Chrom just let him be warm for a little while? It was the middle of spring, and it was freaking snowing in Regna Ferox.

Robin looked confused. "Regna Ferox?"

Sumia came to the rescue. "It's a kingdom to the north, full of barbarians. Or so I've heard."

"Full of snow," Aedan muttered.

"Warriors are what they are, and we'll need their strength to quell this new menace," Chrom spoke. He shuffled a little. "Typically, the exalt would request such aid in person. But given recent events..."

The impending war and possible zombie apocalypse part was left unsaid.

Chrom brushed over it with a wave of his hand. "Well, the people might worry should my sister suddenly leave the capital. So the task has been passed to us. Everyone prepare for at least two weeks of marching."

"We march at daybreak!"