Fire Emblem: Legend Of The Chaos Hero

Book One: In The Grip Of Hatred

By Chaos Hero Mark

Chapter XI: Chambers Of The Mythic Beasts II

"Who hired you?!"

Mark gripped the semi-unconscious Swordmaster by the collar and held him against the temple pillar. The swordsman spat on his shirt in defiance, which angered the Tactician. "Okay then." Mark tossed him in the center of the open temple. His arms and legs were incapacitated, thanks to Alovandria's spear. Mark made sure to remove his Killing Edge and any hidden weapon so he wouldn't try a surprise attack. The Superb Mind held one of the Shamshir's in his right hand. A short curved, killing dagger which Assassins are proficient with. He took it from the Assassin he killed earlier as he stood over his assailant. "Y'know, in my child youth, I spent many a year in a library, reading books and memorizing important content. When I left, I took the important books with me and further imprinted things, in my head. Now, the one book I found useful...was the art of torturing spies, assailants or enemies." He stepped on the Swordmasters face and flickered the Shamshir. "Let's say...after my trip to Hells Gate, I've learned to become somewhat immune to the suffering of my enemies. The books on torture methods showed me proper techniques on severing finger, toenails, castration of ones genitals and such." He removed his boot from the man's face and kicked him in order to turn him on his stomach.

The Tactician sat on the man's back, grabbed his hand and spoke in a murderous tone. "I'm not gonna ask you again."

"Even if I told you, he'll kill me!!"

"Who? Your boss? Well guess what, friend? I'm gonna kill you as well. Only difference is...I'll take leisure in making you suffer first. Unless you give me a name, your begging and crying shall fall only upon deaf ears. With that said..." Although he met with some resistance from his victim, Mark kept a vice-like grip on his fore-finger and plunged the bladed tip of the Shamshir, into the fingernail. The Swordmaster's scream, slowly built his way to the top of his lungs, but Mark was unhindered and unsympathetic. The Tactician hooked the fingernail and only managed to tear half of it off. Even though that finger was coated in blood, Mark began to tear the other half of that same fingernail off. No matter how loud the swordsman's could scream, Mark was unmoved by his cries and pleas. He calmly hooked that piece of nail and after two painful tries (on the Swordmaster's part), severed it off. Even though Mark barely started, the man could no longer endure and screamed what the callous Tactician wanted to hear.

"Viper!! His name is Viper!!"

"Viper who?! What do you know of him?!"

"All I know of him." He gasped "Is that he's the 'Devil Serpent!' That's all I know of him, I swear!"

"You lie!"

"No! I swear! Please, that's all I know!!"

Mark saw it was pointless, torturing him any further. He was surprised at how easily this man gave away this information, considering that he hasn't even started. He stood to his feet, cleaned the Shamshir with the swordsman's clothing and had it well hidden in his boot. He had the other tied next to his scimitar. He was gonna need some diverse weapons. The Tactician started his trek towards the Gorgon cave as the Swordmaster struggled to pick himself up. The man looked around the temple, in vain for his Killing Edge. He painfully hobbled his way to the other bridge, which led to the blocked exit. As he got closer, the Swordmaster saw a small gap that a child could crawl through. He thought of staying in the temple and hoped that his brethren would rescue him or find the strength and cunning to kill his intended target. Whatever his reasons were, no longer mattered as Mark made his way back.

He grabbed the Swordmaster by the collar and spat. "You're no longer of any use to me, friend!"

"No, wait please! Have mercy!" He gathered every ounce of resistance his battered body could muster, but it was all in vain as Mark tossed him off the bridge. The Swordmaster screamed as the heated solid ground, broke his fall. He landed near the lava area, screaming as he broke a number of bones. It wasn't long before the lava reached his legs, engulfing him in flames and killing him. The screams eventually died down as Mark silently took the cloak of the dead Assassin and outfitted himself with it. He also took the Killer Bow and arrows, hoping it will serve useful down the line.

When the last rocks were removed and the last chains severed, Mark heard a laugh that was familiar, yet slightly inhuman. The laugh that dogged his heels over a year ago, when he left Lyn at Caelin. He couldn't remember where he heard it before, but for a human laugh, it sounded somewhat demonic and deranged. In vain, the Tactician looked to his surroundings to locate the source of that voice. When he gave up, he ripped a piece of the blue cloak to tie the wound around his neck and prepared himself to enter the Gorgon cave.

- I -

Inside the Gorgon cave was a clear narrow passage, leading to the Snake Pit. Mark used one of the white crystals, he picked off earlier as a light. The passage was a mix of dark brown, black soil and gravel. Halfway through, the passage was separated in a three way path. The Tactician didn't have time to debate and took the middle path. He paused in the middle of his trek and saw a sleeping Boar further down. The Boar was three times bigger than an average pig. Its protruding teeth indicated that it eats human flesh, among other things and its hair was hard and spiked like that of a porcupine. It was sleeping soundly and he could feel the danger coming from the beast, should he wake it up. Mark tread silently, hoping to avoid waking it. When he got some distance from it, Mark made his way back to the three-way path. Taking the left path, Mark remained as silent as he could to avoid taking chances. He came to another Boar, only this time, it had its back turned on him. Mark could hear sounds of it feasting upon what looked like, a rotting corpse. The flesh itself was gray and its chest was open, revealing most of its insides missing. Judging by the worm-infested head, it was the corpse of a Cyclops. The Tactician slowly backed away, holding the crystal in his mouth, while he got the Killer Bow ready. He wasn't skilled in any way with the bow, but one direct hit should give him a little time. He made it to the three way path and entered the right. The right path lead directly to the Snake Pit, which Mark began walking towards, backwards. The sleeping Boar was now awake and stalking its prey. Because of the crystal's limited light, He could only see up to a certain distance and heard sounds of the beast skulking towards him. Eventually, he saw the beasts muzzle in full view. The saliva dripping from its hungry teeth and its eyes were inhumanly black. Mark was very fortunate, at the timing of the Boar's late awaking, or else he'd be trapped between the two.

Mark was deciding whether he should take the shot and run. He didn't even know what was waiting for him on the other side. The feeling of dying in this hellhole, crept in Mark's already, troubled mind. He took a moment just to glance at the place he was walking into. Doing so, brought out a snarl from the beast and its spiked hair stood up. At best, he assumed the Boar's hair itself, to be dangerous. With that once glance, Mark had to time his next step. He pulled the string back, aiming his arrow and shot it against the Boar's face. The wild beast raged, trying to shake off the arrow that got stuck in-between its eyes. At that same moment, Mark, dropping his bow, took off running. Up ahead, he saw an area that illuminated a red and orange light. He stopped at the edge of the cave and saw a large abyss-like cliff before him. Below, he could somewhat, clearly see the Snake Pit itself. It was a large pit at the bottom, that was full of snakes of every kind. The serpents were heaped together, slithering around and coiling through each other. The walls were covered with wet seaweed and moss, making it impossible for any snake to slither its way out.

It was now or never as Mark grabbed the left edge of the cliff and moved himself out of harm's way. The first Boar ran through and found itself plunging into the abyss, screaming. It's skull crashed open, against the edge of the pit, revealing its grey matter and fell in amongst the snakes. The Boar's stinging hair afflicted the snakes with random diseases as the snakes began devouring the dead Boar. The second Boar stopped at the edge of the cave, leading into the abyss and tried to snap its jaws at Mark, who was trying to get further away from it.

- II -

On the other side of the abyss was another cave. Mark was hoping that lead to the exit and further climbed his way around. When he got there, the Tactician drew his scimitar and entered this cave. He quietly made his way inside and up the stairs. Before him was a large, inner temple, held up by many pillars. There were torches on each pillar to bring forth light. Dead bodies, bones, petrified statues and some broken ones were spread all over. Mark felt his heart beating rapidly, his hand slightly shaken and an urge to run, but his mind kept reminding him that this was the only way out. He stood at the entrance, looking around for any danger, which he felt lurking somewhere. After a moment, Mark mustered enough courage to step inside and walk slowly to the altar. The altar was a table like coffin with two three pronged candlesticks on each corner. With every passing second, he kept a keen awareness of his surroundings, expecting danger to slither its way towards him. Even if he came across the Gorgon beast, how was he to fight it? In his effort to become a war strategist, Mark barely studied on Mythic Beasts, so he knew very little on the Gorgons.

It wasn't long before his eye caught sight of two Gorgons sleeping near each other, to his left. The Gorgons themselves, was among the most disgusting sight Mark had ever laid eyes upon. They were both half-woman, half-snake and every strand of hair was replaced with snakes. The youngest Gorgon's human skin was a yellow and orange respectively, and both her arms was. Her hands was inhumanly large with long nails. The second one's was lavender and purple respectively, while her left arm was replaced by a very large python. Mark thought about attacking them, but decided against it. Finding a way out was his first priority. When he got close to the altar, he saw a third Gorgon skulking in the shadows to his right. She was the same as the other two, except her skin was light turquoise, while her snake skin was a dark shade of green.

The Gorgon's slurred speech had sent chills down his spine. "There you are." Mark took slow steps back, sword in hand. The Gorgon smirked at him and said. "Do you think that toy will sssave you? Be a good boy...and come here!" Thoughts of running back the way he came sounded tempting, but he knew the Boar and Snake Pit awaited him. From what he saw, the Gorgon temple had the only exit he was looking and fighting was his only option now. He heard another voice which added only to his troubles.

"Ssstheno, what are you doing?!" The purple Gorgon slithered her way towards them. The eldest one pointed her snake arm at Mark, who kept as much distance from it as possible.

"Thisss isss my meal! I found him firssst!" She snarled.

"Shit! Oh God no! This is not happening!" Mark's mind screamed with fear. He tried to run, but the purple Gorgon shot two laser beams from her eyes, hitting the ground, near to the direction he ran. Mark didn't try to hide the paleness across his face. He found himself frozen in complete fear, just like seven years ago.

"Ssstay where you are! Or I'll make a ssstatue out of you!" The purple Gorgon slurred in a threatening manner.

"Ssstatue?! I want to eat this one, Euryale!" Stheno barked.

Ignoring her sister, Euryale slithered close to Mark, using her right hand to stroke his hair, much to his disgust. "It'sss been a long time sssince a live human hasss wandered into our domain, ssso you mussst forgive usss for being a little...edgy. Oh, that toy of yoursss won't work on usss, believe me. We can't be killed, at leassst not by regular meansss." She chuckled menacingly as her eyes were narrowed at Mark. He was too frightened by the horrific sight before his eyes to say anything as Euryale whispered seductively. "You're not bad looking yourself...but too bad we have to kill you."

"Do not touch that one!" A third woman's voice was heard. The youngest Gorgon slithered her way to Mark. She looked at him very carefully, while the eldest began to lose her patience. The orange Gorgon looked at her sisters and asked. "You were going to kill him?"

"I saw him first while you two dozed off! By that right, he's my food!" Stheno barked angrily.

"Why eat thisss one?! He'sss rather handsssome and I think itsss a wassste to devour him. Medusssa, he ssshould be immortalized and added to my collection."

Mark was waiting to hear what Medusa, the youngest one, had to say. The situation alone is tempting him to fall on his sword, to spare himself from enduring a grisly end, whether it's by becoming a statue or someone's snack. He was surprised that this Gorgon came to his defense, in a twist he never saw coming.

"Can you two not see who this is?! He is one of the bearers!"

"This one?! It cannot be!" the eldest sneered.

"Remember, Formortiis has fallen from his throne." The youngest Gorgon interjected. "The Demon King is no longer the ruler and many are rising to claim his place. This boy is but one of the six bearers."

"What hell are they talking about? Bearers?" Mark thought. He didn't care much for what's happening, but he saw some hope of survival.

"You must forgive my sisters, Lord Letram." Medusa lowered her head. "As you can see, they are very impatient when it comes to human flesh."

"Of course." Mark mustered his arrogant tone as best as he could, despite barely recovering from a major shock. He also assumed that Medusa and her sisters were mistaking him for "Letram", a name and person he knew nothing about.

Medusa was a bit curious about Mark's presence and asked. "Tell me, Lord Letram. What brings you to our domain?"

"I was just passing through and wish to return to the surface." Mark was still mentally freaking out and prayed that they were dumb enough to buy that.

"And why do you wisssh to go above?" Stheno attempted to pressure him, but unbeknownst to them, Mark knew how to act when necessary and used this to his advantage. If possible, he avoided answering their questions, lest they found out who he was.

"Leave him be, Stheno." Medusa glared. "Who are we to question them? Until we have a true successor, all six are not to be touched by the denizens. Do you understand?" The elder sisters remained silent from this point on as she turned her attention to Mark and motioned him to the altar. She pushed one of the candles into its slot, causing a wall to open up, revealing a bloodied chute leading to the surface. "Through here is the only way to the surface. You'd best get moving, before my sisters decide to feast upon you."

Mark nodded in silent thanks and wasted no time in leaving. He was more than eager to get away from them. Sheathing his scimitar, Mark began to climb his way up. After what seemed like an eternity, Mark made his way to the surface. He found himself inside one of the large, empty dungeon rooms with many cages surrounding him. He fixed the cloak of the Assassin he stole it from and covered most of his face so that he was harder to pick out. He needed to blend in if he was to get out this. He was still trying to recover from the encounter with the Gorgons. He had to stay calm and fast. His next step will decide his survival.

- III -

After a while, two assassins walked past the dungeon to scout for any trouble. The one saw Mark lying on the floor with his back turned to any outside. He told his partner to get help, which threw a wrench in Mark's plan of escape. As the one ran for help, the other picked the door shouting. "Hey you, are you all right?! What happened down there?!" As the door opened, Mark remained silent as he was lifted up, keeping his face and Shamshir hidden. As the Assassin carelessly turned his back, Mark grabbed him by his mouth and slit his throat, silencing him as quickly as possible. The Tactician quickly lifted the lid, covering the pit and tossed his corpse to the Gorgons. Mark wasted no time in straightening himself as he made his way out. He ran through the corridors, remaining calm as best as he could. He hid himself as the Assassin from earlier, ran past with another two in tow. The were heading to the dungeon where they found him. Mark knew that he had to move fast as he hid his scimitar as best as he could. Two Assassins were blocking the entrance, which made Mark even more nervous. What troubled him even more was that the Colosseum was in chaos. Assassin's were all over the place, trying to ambush whoever it was outside. Mark paid little heed as escaping was his priority. He thought that the confusion could be used to his advantage.

One of the Assassins left to aid in the fight, leaving Mark with an opening. He looked around to make sure that no one was watching as he tore off a cloth. It was either, he walks casually up to the man and killed him, or sneak up to him and off him silently. The first approach was a problem, assuming the Assassin was highly skilled. The second plan carried as much risk as the first, but time was running out. An opportunity opened itself up when the Assassin had his back turned and stood further out at the front entrance. Mark sneaked his way up to the man, Shamshir in hand as he took advantage of the man's nervousness as well. With one hand, he grabbed the Assassin's mouth with the cloth and stabbed him continuously in the back, while dragging his body away from the entrance. When Mark made sure the man was dead, he hurriedly fixed himself and began to leave the Colosseum.

"Fargus's ship is the nearest. If I can just make it there, I'll be saved."

He barely took a few steps when the Tactician found a dagger plunged into his stomach. It happened so fast that he didn't have time to even react. Before Mark, the only thing he saw about the man who buried the dagger was his yellow and black serpent eyes. He leaned forward into Mark's ear and whispered. "The fang of the Pale Horse eats of what little time you've left. Your last hours will be a painful experience." The Assassin pulled the hooked knife out of his stomach, causing a gush of blood to flow from the wound. Mark fell to the floor silently as the Assassin grabbed his scimitar and ran off, clutching his wounded left arm.

- IV -

Near the dungeon where Mark was founded, the Assassin found his partner dead. The thin one suggested they go after the target assuming it was him, but the older one interrupted, resulting in an argument.

"Hey, we have to get the Hell out of here!"

"Why?!" The leader asked

"The castle sent guards down here! Some powerful guys!"

"Wait! They're not the castle guards!" The thin one interrupted.

"Does it matter?! This mission's a failure! Commander Viper is dead!"

"How do you know he's even dead?!" The leader eyed him suspiciously.

"He was in a fight with Captain Knarvet earlier! I even saw them fighting myself."

"Shit! That Knarvet?!"

They wasted no time in running through the corridors, looking for an alternative exit. The older one spoke up.

"There's another whose just as, if not, more dangerous than Captain Knarvet."

"Who?" The leader wanted to know."

"A woman, leading them. Her swordplay is nothing like I've ever seen. She just tore through our Assassins like were amateurs."

"Shit." He flashed a smirk. "Looks like Trivalon is heading for interesting times after all." As they ran past the woods, near the town, hoping to get away from them, the Assassin added mentally."These foreigners are more dangerous than I thought. What now?"

- V -

Near the entrance to the arena, the Tactician was on the floor, wounded in the stomach. After a few moments, the wound began to swell as Mark was gritting his teeth. He tried to stand to his feet, but the pain began to course through his body, making it unbearable with every second. He was expecting the Assassins to come back and finish him off, but the words of the one that wounded him was ringing inside his head. After a few struggles, he managed to pull the Shamshir out of his boot. Mark was desperate to defend himself.

"I don't want to die...not yet. I have thing that need accomplishing. Not here."

He managed to finally stand to his feet, amidst his whimpering and leaned against the wall, near the entrance. He wondered where the Assassins went as he saw many, earlier.

"Something must've happened while I was gone. Could she have?"

Mark didn't lament on his surroundings as the pain caused him to buckle and fell to the floor with his back to the wall, in a sitting position. He felt himself drifting into unconsciousness as many things went through his mind.

"Just like that time. I was nearly killed by the bandit 'Batta'. Unlike this time, I still stood a chance against that brute. This Assassin slayed me as if I never had a chance, as if nothing I did mattered. I'm sorry Edgar. It looks like I can't keep that promise, anymore. It doesn't matter how well I plan. There are things even I couldn't stop. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for so many things. Perhaps you should've let me die. I deserved to die, anyway."

His vision became dark as many past images ran through his mind. The last image he saw was hers, before it became blurred and faded into darkness. The poison coursed through his blood, making his suffering more unbearable. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't even find the strength. He suffered alone and silently, waiting for death to claim him.

Trivia

Boar – This chapters Boar was inspired by the Erymanthian Boar the Calydonian Boar of Greek Mythology. I had to be a little creative here.

Stheno – Her name means 'Forceful'. The eldest of the three Gorgon sisters. Said to have killed more men than both Euryale and Medusa combined.

Euryale – Her name means 'Far-roaming'. The middle sister and, like Medusa, she has the ability to turn people into stone by them gazing upon her.

Medusa – Her name means 'Guardian' or 'Protectress'. The youngest of the three. According to Greek Mythology, she was a priestess of Athena. When she was raped, or seduced, by Poseidon in Athena's temple, Athena placed a curse upon her, causing her hair to turn into snakes. While her older sisters were immortal, she was not. Over time, she was killed by hero Perseus.

Authors Notes: These two chapters were meant to be one long chapter, but because of length had to be cut to two. Apologies for the inconvenience, but the next chapter will only be available around January, for the latest. Looks like the holidays is keeping everyone busy in the real world and I'm not immune to it myself. And I apologize if this chapter felt a little rushed as well.

Chapter XI-X: Assassins Of The Church. Coming soon to a computer near you.(Yes, I know I copied this from you, Enilas but I thought it was a cool attraction line.)