A Red Horizon

The ragtag group of warriors slowly collapsed into a slumber as time passed. The fire was slowly dying, only to be reluctantly awakened when I kicked another piece of wood into it. The wood crackled and snapped as it was consumed by the fire in a small act of defiance, before the fire engulfed it and grew stronger. A breeze of wind flew by and the flames danced in their serpentine waltz, its glow casting eerie lights upon the small clearing.

A snort from Lissa ruined the spectral display, the cleric grumbling slightly as she rolled over onto her back, a motion unbecoming of the noble. A small smile began to creep up the side of my mouth. Chrom was lying on his side, his front turned towards the fire and his arms acting as a pillow as he slept. He had not twitched even the slightest since the moment he laid down, indicating his experience in sleeping in the wilds. Frederick was sitting against a tree, his arms crossed and his silver lance right beside him. Despite his apparent unconsciousness, his entire body was tensed for a quick spring into action should the need ever arise.

I approved of him, if only slightly. His dedication to his lord and lady was admirable and was similar to how I treated Robin. We both understood what it meant to defend another, and we both had the same attitude in our role as a protector; No harm will come to them so long as we drew breath.

That is not to say that we were suicidal in our path; simply that we could not, no, will not allow our charges to be harmed in any manner whatsoever. If the harm could not be avoided, then it will be transferred onto us instead.

It was a simple concept. Our life for theirs. Our respective charges, Chrom, Lissa and Robin were all prone to foolhardy acts either in or out of battle, and so we must be there for them when they fall. Unfortunately, none of them understood or approved of the nature of our character. They did not understand our character of us sacrificing everything we have for their sake. And so they did not take us seriously. Frederick was constantly the brunt of jokes from Lissa, and his dedication to Chrom was always underappreciated.

Robin always scolded me in my actions whenever I threw myself to her defense without any care to myself. Which was why I began to keep my wounds to myself, instead seeking out Lissa in privacy for her aid. She never asked why, thankfully, and I assumed my lack of understanding of the Ylissean language led to her not trying to ask questions. Robin was everything to me, and she is my single sole purpose in this world. I will not imagine a world without her, since I would ensure that she would never fall.

The role of a protector isn't easy. Always pressured, always alert, and always misunderstood. But Frederick and I were protectors. And we would endure for the sake of our charges, whether they approved or not.

My thoughts were disrupted as Robin shifted in her sleep, mumbling soft words as she rolled. I smiled slightly before I lifted her head onto my lab, and covered her with one of the few cloaks we had attained from the villagers. A soft pat on her shoulders and smooth sweep of her loose hair made her calm down, and she snuggled against my lap.

My heart melted as she did so, another smile gracing my lips as I watched her slumber. With another sweep of the clearing, I finally felt relaxed enough to lean against the tree and close my eyes in a short period of relaxation. Of course, I would not fall asleep. It was simply too dangerous and risky to do so in the forests. But a few minutes of closed eyes would do me wonders.

After several hours of alternating between dozing and occasionally kicking a log towards the fire, a sudden silence came over the area. It was similar to how the waves of the seas would sweep over the beach in a rapid movement that would overtake the legs of the children joyously giggling as the cold water rushes past them. But this disconcerting feeling… I gently lifted Robin's head from my lap and set it down on my bundled cloak. I covered her body with her own cloak before standing, shifting my body to warm up from the long rest. I grabbed my halberd and stood near the tree Robin was sleeping, eyes scanning the shadows that abruptly looked menacing in the absence of the sounds of nature.

Every creak and shift of the trees sent chills up my spine, and the moon that had only recently given its soft luminescence suddenly seemed foreboding and distant as its pale light sifted through the leaves of the trees. I took a deep breathe to steady my nerves, and almost flinched as Chrom suddenly sat up, his eyes surveying the clearing. His eyes located me, and he glanced questioningly at my halberd. I put a finger to my lips and turned back, facing the shadows. Thankfully, he also sensed the sudden unease in the forest and grabbed his falchion and sheath.

It was not long after that Lissa also woke up, giving a long yawn as she sat up, her eyes blearily blinking at the darkness. She stood up, brushing the dirt off of her gown and fixing her hair with surprising agility, before waving at me, staring curiously at my stance. I gave her a small, forced smile before gesturing to Chrom. She beamed at me, giving an odd sight in the tense atmosphere, before she shifted over to Chrom. They discussed something in low tones, before Lissa came back and tapped me on the shoulder.

I glanced back at her in curiosity. She mimed a few gestures, pointing towards herself and Chrom, before making her index and middle finger walk across the palm of her hands. Her final gestures included pointing at me, and then pointing towards the ground.

I twitched.

I glanced back at Frederick, their protector, who was still sleeping. Before I could object, the duo had already left the clearing, presumably to explore the forest and find the source of the tense atmosphere.

I almost ran after them to drag them back and scold them for their recklessness, but I did not dare leave Robin. I gritted my teeth, before quickly dousing the fire in hopes of hiding the clearing from whatever caused the sudden veil of silence in the forest. I started packing up the gear that was deployed in the clearing, grabbing the water sacks and satchels and hanging them onto either my side or Frederick's warhorse. I took down the sticks that we had hung the bear meat from and threw them into the bushes, kicking away the ashes of the campfire and storing my pans back into my sack.

I hesitantly nudged Frederick's foot from where he was sitting with the end of my halberd. It turned out to be a wise decision as he quickly leapt to his feet, his hand grabbing his silver lance and leveling in my direction. I hissed and leapt back as the gleaming point narrowly missed me. His eyes were narrowed in anger and confusion as he attempted to find Chrom and Lissa, only to come up with nothing. His gaze swept towards me again, and he stepped forward menacingly.

I lowered by halberd and raised a finger to my lip, giving the universal symbol of silence, and he hesitated slightly. I mimed the gesture of hearing by cupping my hand around my ear and pretended to be listening to something, and thankfully he understood. He quickly analyzed the tense situation and grabbed the armor pieces that he had taken off and began equipping them. I turned around and woke Robin as well, giving her a soft nudge on the shoulders as I did so. She woke up blearily, but when she saw Frederick and I preparing in the clearing, her alertness returned, and she started readying herself as well, which only consisted of strapping her sword and grabbing the Arcwind tome in her robes.

As Frederick and Robin finished readying themselves, Frederick once more sitting upon his massive warhorse, I whispered to them. "Lissa. Chrom," and then pointed in the direction the two had left. I put my finger upon my lips again, emphasizing silence, before I set off, hesitantly brushing aside the brushes and branches in my way as Frederick steered his horse into the larger paths. Robin followed my lead, but her unskilled steps echoed in the silence, despite me being in full armor. Every move she took made a crack as she stepped on the unseen sticks and collided with branches. I turned around once more, and mimicked the gesture of silence again, and she flushed in embarrassment.

I didn't take the time to acknowledge that as I already continued moving, noting that Frederick was only a few meters to our left, his warhorse surprisingly making very little sounds as it moved through the dirt and mud. Robin's steps quieted as she began to mimic all of my actions, stepping in my footsteps and ducking under branches instead of pushing them out of the way. Silently, I thanked the gods that Robin was great at adapting to different scenarios.

Frederick met up with us again as we followed the tracks that Chrom and Lissa made, Chrom's metal boots sinking into the dirt accompanied by Lissa's light tracks of dirt. I breathed once, before freezing and holding my arm out, both of my companions freezing as they did so. With a small bit of amusement, I noted that the warhorse had stopped right as it was moving, one leg held up comically in the air.

I breathed the air again, making sure that my senses were not confusing me, but the scent of decaying flesh and dark magic assailed my sensitive nose.

"Ae'ri?" Robin whispered behind me, her voice filled with worry. I grabbed the gigantic shield given to me by the villagers as my unease rose, and just as I was about to give the signal to continue advance, the earth roared.

The sudden shaking and sound of the earth being torn apart unbalanced my body, and I grabbed onto the nearest tree for balance. Frederick's warhorse had reared back, but the knight had quickly regained control over the horse's panic. Robin had copied my gesture, grabbing onto something for support.

A red horizon appeared behind the foliage in front of us, and with sudden shock I realized the wall of flames sweeping towards us. I yelled something in panic to get my companions attention, before grabbing Robin by the waist and dragging her with me, Frederick already steering his horse back. The warhorse charged ahead of us, smashing into the brushes and branches and clearing a path for us to follow as Frederick attempted to guide us to an area where the flames wouldn't reach.

I grunted as my armor slowed me down enough that Robin began to out speed me. I may be able to run in this armor for hours if I needed too, but I wouldn't be able to sprint or outrun anything. Robin glanced back and noticed the increasing distance between us, and yelled at me to hurry up.

I gave another attempt at a burst of speed, and just barely caught up with Robin, who was eyeing the wall of flames approaching. We finally ran out of the forest into a road, where Frederick was waiting, staring in worry as the fires slowed down. Robin was gasping with air, as was I. A minute of relief was all that was granted, until we heard the piercing scream of Lissa cry through the air. That sudden call gave a surge of adrenaline into our bodies, and we sprinted off in the direction that the voice came from.

It wasn't long before we charged into the clearing, weapons glinting in the pale moonlight as we burst through the trees. Chrom was hugging Lissa, who was trembling in fear while two corpses of ashen humanoids were disintegrating into a purple smog. A masked man stood near the two, his blade drawn.

It wasn't hard for us to assume that the masked man was the assaulter and Frederick and I immediately rushed towards the man, Frederick overtaking me on his warhorse with his steel lance extended out in front of him. Robin ran towards Lissa and Chrom, immediately assessing their state, while I followed behind Frederick, my halberd held in my two hands and my shield strapped to my back.

The man wasn't expecting Frederick's lightning charge and my thunderous steps as we converged on him, and he leapt back in panic, the warhorse threatening to run him over. He was forced to leap back again as Frederick's lance pierced the air he was just present in. I followed up with a quick lunge of my own, forcing the man to sidestep, which I then took advantage of to swing my entire body in a circle, waist bending forward as my feet danced into their positions and my halberd spinning on my back with the hands guiding it in an attempt to bisect him at the waist.

The man proved once more how agile he was as he did a back-flip out of my range, just barely avoiding the tip of the halberd as he did so. By the time he had leapt, Frederick had turned his warhorse into the man's path and brought down his silver lance. The masked man had scarcely managed to swing his sword against the lance before I rammed into him, sending him flying with the combined momentum of my armor, the sword flying out of his hand. Frederick expertly took advantage of that, wheeling his horse around and about to cleave the man's head when Chrom roared out something.

Frederick instantly froze in his actions, his lance only a hand's width away from the man's mask. I edged forward slightly, keeping my halberd trained at the man as Chrom raced towards us, quickly slapping the silver lance out of the man's face and glaring at me to stand down.

I was reluctant to do so, until Robin gave me a soft nudge. Grunting in an un-ladylike way, I slammed the end of my halberd into the ground, glaring at the man. Lissa had appeared next to Chrom and was now healing the stranger. Robin was conversing in low tones with Chrom and Frederick about the scenario before they finally stopped arguing. Robin turned to me and explained the situation as Chrom and Frederick walked off to check on the stranger.

I wasn't able to understand most of Robin's ramblings, but I managed to understand that the stranger, 'Marth', was apparently not the cause of Lissa's screams and was to be treated as an ally.

I found my mistress Robin to be in too much company nowadays.

I gave a soft sigh, before tensing up again as I heard the shambling of the undead sound from behind the forest line. Robin followed my eyes to find the crimson gaze of the undead. She yelled out a warning to the others as I charged forward, shifting my shield from my back to my left arm again, resting the heavy halberd into a semi-circle I had cut into the side of the shield.

I slammed into the undead, and to my surprise it did not break into parts as it had used to. I grimaced uneasily; this version must have been improved greatly since my training days. Nonetheless, a quick shield bash disoriented the humanoid long enough for me to pierce its head with the halberd. It was difficult, as the halberd was not meant to be used in one hand, but the circular semi-circle hole at the side of the shield was more than enough to rest my halberd in, allowing for quick thrusts behind protection.

I swore silently at my clumsiness in this new method of fighting, but I continued with it if only for the fact it provided a great deal of protection against the occasional arrow that flew out from the forest line.

Robin had managed to warn the others and construct a strategy in the time it took for me to slam into the first undead. She quickly ran in my wake to my location, gingerly leaping over the dissolving carcasses of decayed flesh and assisted me in eliminating the ranged enemies. Her Arcwind tome shuddered violently as blades of winds flew out and slammed into the enemies, the streams flying with banshee-like howls as it tore the undead into nothing more but pieces of decaying flesh.

Lissa was near the rear line, watching over us and occasionally casting healing spells from afar as she watched us fight. Frederick was positioned near her as well, his silver lance expertly slamming into enemies as they wandered too close to her.

Chrom had joined Robin and me in the front lines as well, his Falchion omitting a strange light as it cleaved through the undead with surprising ease. His strange sword made the undead seem reluctant to engage him, and instead they charged at me, as Robin was still too far for them to engage.

It was surprising at how much force they had in their weapons as they attacked me, but the sturdy rectangular shield that the villagers had gifted me was proving its worth as it easily endured each slam of the axe and force of an arrow with barely a protest. The large shield was invaluable as it allowed me to easily absorb the blows, before shoving forward and knocking them down, leaving them as easy targets for Chrom and Robin. We kept pushing forward through the forest until we arrived at a large field.

My eyes hardened at the sight of the hordes of decaying undead waddling through the field towards us. Chrom's harsh swear and Robin's gasp notified me of their position. I absently pierced an undead with my halberd as I waited for Lissa and Frederick to show up. I caught sight of several abandoned outposts, and notified Robin of them. The outposts were surprisingly well fortified, containing towering stone walls with battlements upon which one could fire off of, but overall it was in bad shape. The gates were ruined and the walls were scarred with age.

Before long, the sounds of hooves arrived, just as the last wave of the undead was halted. I glanced back and noted with surprise at the addition of two new people. One was a female cavalier who was adorned in red armor, sporting an equally red patch of unruly hair. She wielded a lance, similar to Frederick's, and was mounted. I turned my gaze to the second newcomer. He was obviously an archer, and was dressed like a noble from those in the continent of Valm. He had a unique color of blue for his shoulder-length hair, but was tangled from the ride through the forests.

The newcomers conversed with Chrom for a while as I kept watch on the approaching undead. They were approaching quickly, and I felt myself slowly tensing as they grew closer. Robin called me, and pointed towards one of the nearby outposts. I nodded once, before I started rumbling down the hillside, plowing through the undead and knocking them aside. Once again, Chrom, Robin and the female cavalier took advantage of that and finished the weakened undead. Lissa was riding with Frederick, who was closely following my wake.

The archer was slightly behind Frederick, taking eerily accurate shots at those in front of us. His arrows flew through the air with an elegant grace, just before it slammed into the throat of an undead, nearly decapitating it with the speed it had travelled at. Arrows were constantly in the air, even as I was moving, and I found myself impressed at his skill at archery.

Before long I found myself at the entrance to the outpost. I slammed an undead between the wall and my shield, turning him into a watery paste of black blood, as Frederick and Lissa rode inside, quickly ending the lives of any undead who lingered in here. The archer had ran up the stairs to the walls and was already shooting everything in sight, his arms a blur as he drew, fired, and rearmed. I glanced back outside, and to my relief, Robin was already entering the open gate, followed closely by the female cavalier with Chrom right behind her, deflecting a sword strike as he backed his way in. I lunged forward and stabbed my halberd into the offender, and Chrom gave me his thanks as he rushed in. I stood in the entrance of the outpost, slamming back the undead whenever they tried to rush in.

The occasional blow did strike me every now and then, but with my armor and Lissa's assistance I was able to hold off the undead for a long period of time. The female cavalier and Frederick were occasionally thrusting their lances above my shield to force them back, but they mainly stayed upon the walls, knocking down the occasional undead that was willing to climb up the ten meter walls. The archer's bow strings sang constantly as arrow after arrow flew, and the fluttering pages of Robin's Arcwind echoed through the night as the blades of winds howled with righteous fury.

Before long, the risen had slowly depleted, with only several packets left that made easy picking. We started sighing in relief, before an inhuman roar blasted at us. The heavy footsteps of a towering undead leader rushed at us, and my eyes widened before I was bowled over and slammed into the wall on the far side of the outpost. Thankfully, everyone else was still on the walls so the giant Chieftain couldn't see them. Unfortunately, the Chieftain would only focus me.

I blinked once as I shifted onto my feet, my shield that had served me so well during the night damaged beyond repair in one single strike. It hung in tatters and a large chunk of it had broken from the bottom. I quickly shifted my shield back onto my back, and held my halberd in its usual stance as the gigantic undead looked down at me.

The chieftain leapt at me, covering the gigantic distance in a single bound and brought his axe down hard on my spot. My body groaned as I rolled out of the hole in the wall, my entire back bruised beyond belief. Lissa yelled out something before I felt a cooling relief flow through me. Mentally I thanked her as the chieftain pulled his axe out of the broken wall, he turned towards me and gave a guttural roar. He took large bounding steps, each one shaking the earth as he brought his axe upwards for a vertical cleave.

I jumped out of the way, leaping to its left and bringing my halberd in for an attempt to hamstring his legs.

Clang.

I blinked as the halberd was deflected off of his unharmed skin. My surprise made me an easy target as he kicked out with the very leg I tried to attack, and I flew through the air again.

I slammed into another wall and blood flew out of my mouth as I slid down the cracks. I desperately grasped for support to pull myself up as the chieftain started leaping towards me again. With bleary eyes I noticed arrows piercing the beast's back like needles, with the occasional wind magic slamming into the chieftain with little to no effect.

I took a deep breath, and as the axe came down again, I leapt forward, between the giant's legs and swung the halberd as hard as I could, trading my usual graceful form into one of brutal efficiency. The halberd bit deep into the thigh of the giant and he roared in pain. I desperately tugged on my halberd only to realize with abrupt horror that it was stuck.

The giant turned around and wrapped his humungous hands around my body, crushing it as it lifted up into the air. Blooded spurted out of my mouth again as he squeezed and I felt myself screaming as the pain overwhelmed my senses. I could feel darkness approaching the sides of my vision, and just before I blanked out I was thrown against the wall again. Or at least I would have. I was caught by a sudden breeze of wind that greatly lowered my momentum, and so instead of being liquefied by the wall, I only slammed into it.

It still hurt.

I could feel my limbs broken from the crushing grip of the undead chieftain, and I slowly collapsed onto the ground. A small burst of healing from Lissa allowed me some semblance of movement, but every errant twitch of the body sent my pain receptors into overtime. I was gasping for breath now, choking on my blood as I heaved for breath. Another burst of healing from Lissa; I could move my head now.

I was dimly aware of three figures engaging the giant, Chrom, Frederick and the female cavalier. Chrom was pulling reckless moves by staying close to the giant and evading its grabs and swings, attempting to hamstring the other leg of the giant, who was now kneeling from my near decapitation of his leg. Frederick was dancing out of the axe's reach and charging forward every now and then to strike vital points along its hands, while the female cavalier was circling around and ramming her into its limbs.

A hand laid upon me and a more permanent wave of relief coursed through my body. I painfully turned my head towards Lissa, who was healing me with worry in her eyes. I gave a small smile before I spat out a gob of blood that had been sitting in my throat. Lissa just continued to heal, crying and muttering as she did so. I could also see Robin sliding the stairs from the walls, running towards me at a full sprint, tears in her eyes.

And then the giant saw her.

I wasn't why the giant decided to do that and let himself be at a disadvantage against the three harrying it. The giant had roared one last time, before twisting its entire body from its kneeling position, ripping one of its legs apart from the halberd as it did so, and hurled his axe the entire distance from wall to wall. The axe flew through the air, twirling end-over-end as it did so, towards the back of Robin.

I couldn't breathe.

For a second, everything was still. I saw everything in clear perception. The arc of the axe. The speed of impact. Robin's look of horror. Of fear.

Lissa would later tell me how I had simply vanished and appeared beside Robin.

All I knew was that I had grabbed Robin and spun, placing my back to the axe.

It hurt.

I glanced down at Robin and noticed with a strange detachment that there was blood over her face.

My blood.

"Robin…" I managed to murmur out.

And then I collapsed.

I have a thing for realistic, dark stories. If you read my other fanfiction you will notice that they all have a theme of hopelessness, revenge, fear, helplessness, death, etc.

I am a sadist.

Damn.

The first part of this chapter talking about Protectors being misunderstood was me internally ranting about how Chrom and Lissa are heartless little **** to Frederick sometimes. Frederick does everything for them and they treat it as granted. Of course, it wears off eventually but goddamn did that annoy me in the very beginning.

I mean, seriously, Chrom and Lissa meet an amnesiac stranger in the field and decide to be help despite the Plegian robes. The fuck? I understand that they were worried, but after the first battle Chrom decides 'hurr durr he fought bandits, he is friendly.' AND THEN THEY IGNORED FREDERICK'S CONCERNS?!

Bleh. Moving on.

The outposts are supposed to be abandoned forts, but I felt that it was completely unrealistic in actuality versus the game. In the game, you could only have one unit (two, if paired) but in 'real life', forts are supposed to be massive, castle-like defenses. I didn't really envision a fort as a small square and it didn't feel right for a fort to be that small, so I decided to convert the idea into an outpost; a well-constructed one, sure, but small.

And I also had a change of heart in the shields department. Giving a shield to a halberd wielder is simply unconventional and strange, and it made the Guardian class a lot like the General and Knight Class. I enjoyed the small moments of '1 man blockade' but I wanted to return it to actuality and so the shield had to go. Thankfully the gigantic Risen Chief took care of that.

Also; gigantic Risen Chief? That was because I felt the so called 'Risen Chief' in Fire Emblem: Awakening were lackluster. There was not difference between the regular foot soldiers and the chief. So I thought: **** it lets make him broken as all hell to emphasize the gritty reality of the Risen. As for the imagery… Think of Berserker from Fate/Stay Night. Or even a mountain troll from Lord of the Rings. Or hell, the trolls from Harry Potter. Just a lot larger. Large enough to be 5 meters tall.

Heh. Chief OP pls nerf.

And here is the first view of the Guardian-class skill: Martyr in action. A summary of Martyr goes like this: Stats grow higher as more health is depleted. If you fall in battle, bonus stats are transferred over to paired/surrounding units for 3 turns.

Btw, the part of dying in the skill? That was something I included just to make the name of the skill make sense. Because martyrs die.

Duh.

But maybe Ae'ri will die. Maybe she won't. It's all up to the plot bunny that hops around in my head and takes up the space that belongs to the university owl.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed.

Reviews appreciated, criticism upon grammar or plot holes even more.