Author's note: hello hello hello, and right off the bat please forgive me for my infidelity. I promise it couldn't be helped, and it really wasn't my fault. I haven't had the chance to update, but now that I'm back from a pocket of the ancient world and have reclaimed my gods-given right to Internet access, here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: stuff you recognize from FE belongs to Nintendo and peeps

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Micaiah stood stock-still at the edge of the battlements at Fort Kain. Her hands rested on the stone crenellation before her. The rock was warm from the sun, but she only felt cold. She closed her eyes, searching for the future — but she only caught glimpses, and those made her snap her eyes open again, forcing down a shiver. Possible futures, she told herself fiercely. Not all of them would come to pass. Then she had to fight down a laugh, because she knew that if she started she wouldn't be able to stop the crazy sound. It was impossible that all of the futures she saw would come true: her friends could only die once apiece.

"Micaiah?"

She looked up at Sothe, fighting down the image of his lifeless eyes in the darker corners of her mind. He was here and she would keep him safe.

"Are we ready?" she asked quietly.

He nodded. "Soren and Ike are waiting at the standard to the order."

Micaiah rolled her eyes. "I thought I put him in charge for a reason."

"Yeah, but they're still mostly Daein soldiers here. Let's go."

"Of course." She followed the subtle sweep of his long dark coat through the ranks of silver-armored soldiers. Daein's army had once issued black armor, but not since Micaiah had become Queen. She was glad about that, now that Ketar's army marched toward them in ebon armor.

"We're ready," she said to Ike and his tactician.

"Right. You want to give the signal?" he responded, unsheathing his sword.

"Very well," Micaiah nodded and raised her hand into the air. A light flared over the fort: the prearranged signal to Tibarn and his soldiers.

The air stirred under the beat of a thousand wings. For a moment there was only the soft sound of rushing wind, and then—

The battle scream of the bird king rent the air, followed by another, and another, until the sky was full of diving, plunging, shrieking birds. Then the talons of the ravens and hawks clashed against the steel of Ketar, and the battle began.

Ike nodded to Tormod, who send up a flaming signal much like Micaiah's light. "Launch!" Ike shouted as the birds soared higher into the sky. The Ketaran army had just enough time to breath a sigh of relief before the catapults' bombardment hit them.

After a few volleys, Ike told Ilyana to send up the next lightning signal. "Archers! Begin!" The Daein archers, commanded by Leonardo, concentrated their synchronized fire on the clumps of soldiers which had inadvertently formed as the Ketarans tried to avoid the huge chunks of rock smashing down around them.

"Look," Soren noticed, pointing. "They're rallying." He shrugged slightly. "Well, it couldn't last forever." Indeed, the commanders of the advancing army had reformed their men, and continued the march toward the fort. Now organized, the enemy were advancing more quickly than the defenders had anticipated.

"Do we repeat the pattern?" Ike asked him. "Send in the flyers again, or hold them back and wait?"

A second of foresight slammed into Micaiah. "Send them in again," she said, "with the pegasus and dragon knights. You!" she called a soldier over. "Tell Captain Leonardo to cover the flying units with his elite archer team, to begin at the signal of one light flare and end at two."

"Yes, m'lady!" the soldier dashed off.

"Tibarn!" Micaiah called, searching the skies. "Did you hear that?"

The biggest hawk wheeled a small circle above their heads, letting them know he had. He would tell his men.

Ike raised his eyebrows and glanced at Soren. The young strategist nodded. "We won't have time for another full cycle before they're here," he explained, "and having all the archers firing would put the flyers at risk. How good is this elite team?"

"Marksmen only," Sothe told him, "and also under Leonardo."

Micaiah sent another light flare into the sky. The catapult barrage and most of the arrows stopped, and the bird tribes dove again — this time accompanied by white pegasus wings and colorful dragon ones.

The Queen of Daein watched as the first battle for her country continued; and she thought to herself that it looked very much like all the other battles she had fought.

…

"Ready!" Ike shouted, striding through the defense ranks. Sothe and Titania were beside him, with Micaiah and Soren just behind. They joined the others of the Greil Mercenaries and the one-time Dawn Brigade in the middle of the battlefield. Ike halted there, wanting to be close enough to send help to all sides if it was needed. The fight would soon come to them within the first wall of the fort.

Bang! on the heavy doors. Ike glanced up to the battlements above the door, where the archers fired down at the mass of Ketaran soldiers.

Bang! again. Titania and Oscar's horses shifted slightly, then went still again. The animals were as ready for the fight as their masters.

Bang! Just a few more of those strikes would bring it down. Ike wondered briefly what the enemy was using to batter the doors; none of the archers or flying units had reported seeing any kind of ram among the soldiers they targeted. But through the growing cracks in the door Ike could see a bright light building…

"Ike!" He half-turned toward Soren. The dark-haired strategist was also looking at the cracks in the doors. "Ike, that's magic… but it's not like anything I've ever seen before…"

"Thanks for the warning, Soren," Ike started to say, but he didn't have the time:

Bang!

And that was it for the doors. Ike steadied his breathing, preparing for the fight to come to him, as it hit the front lines.

Armored generals and marshals absorbed the first rush of the attack. As they became mired in hand-to-hand fighting, the mounted knights behind them began to throw their spears and axes, and shoot their bows to thin the ranks attacking the armored soldiers in front of them.

Ike felt a light touch on his arm. He looked down, expecting Soren, but it was Micaiah. "Go," she said, nodding toward the front line. "And make sure you fall back when you need to."

Ike nodded and hefted Ragnell. "Greil Mercenaries! With me!" He strode through the waiting ranks with his familiar band. As they approached the front line, no words were needed for them to fall into their positions: Ike, Titania, Boyd, and Gatrie merged into the front rank, with Mia, Shinon, and Oscar right behind them for support as needed. Soren, Rolf, and Rhys hung back, sending arrows and spells over their heads, and Mist cantered her horse along the lines wherever she was needed. Aware that his team was in position and the army was moving smoothly, Ike fell easily into the rhythm of the fight. Ragnell hummed its familiar death song as it split air, then armor. The blade felt so right in his hand — he had not missed war, ever, but he had missed this sword. It seemed that Sanaki was only willing to give it to him as a bribe to lead an army.

Ike spun and slashed and stabbed for what felt like days. He was aware when Micaiah gave the order for the beast tribe laguz to leap into the fray, a signal they were most happy to obey. He heard the roar of the lion king Skrimir, and the ground shook as his men answered. Ike just kept going, just kept his sword moving, blocking, cutting. He had just finished off a soldier that Soren's wind magic had wounded when the strategist grabbed his arm and dragged him backwards with surprising strength. Ike started to protest, then discovered that he could barely breathe and blood was running down his leg and his face. He wiped it roughly out of his eyes as Rhys pushed closer to him, wielding his staff. Ike glanced behind and noted that Mia had taken his place in the line, striking with her sword like lightning and evading all enemy attacks. Good girl.

A screech of fury soared above the rest of the battle cacophony. Ike saw Tibarn dive into the battle, talons out and eyes practically sparkling. Ike shook his head. The bird king did strive for peace in Tellius, but really King Kurth was the only truly peaceful laguz ruler Ike knew… and he'd gone up against Ashera, once. Ike shrugged. Different war, now in the past. This was the present, and if Tibarn was enjoying himself, well, let him get it out of his system.

An explosion shook the ground and made Ike stumble. Rubble and dust flew everywhere. Soren coughed out one of his wind spells, and the air cleared.

The tactician narrowed his eyes. "What was that?" he muttered.

"Meteor?" Micaiah suggested. She brandished an unusual light tome, dealing a devastating amount of damage to the enemy cavalry.

"No, it wasn't fire… I wonder—"

"Later, Soren!" Ike shouted, knocking aside a javelin before it struck his strategist. Soren snapped his attention back to the fight and cast another wind spell at the solider who had thrown it.

"Ike!" Mist's voice, shrill with panic. Ike charged toward her, cutting down the enemy without mercy. Mist's sword had shattered, and she was trying to fend off a swordsman's attacks with her staff. Her horse dodged and wheeled, but it was cut on the shoulder, and wearying.

Ike stepped in front of Mist and blocked the sword. "Go!" he shouted at her, and could only hope that she obeyed. The swordsman stabbed at Ike again; he stepped aside and struck back. The man blocked, staggering slightly under the power of Ike's blow. Then he whipped his sword free and feinted left, then cut overhand. Ike had expected the feint, though, and struck the real blow away with ease. He stabbed at the soldier's chest; when the man turned it aside, Ike went with the new momentum. He raised his left arm, and the swordsman's blade clanged off the metal gauntlet there, and then Ike slashed his sword across the man's unprotected back. With lightning speed, before the man recovered, Ike swung Ragnell again and parted the enemy's head from his shoulders.

The quiet made him look around more closely. Most of the ring of steel and rush of magic had gone. A few fights still went on, but they ended quickly as the defenders swarmed the remaining Ketarans. Ike stalked the courtyard, then the battlements, before he was assured that the enemy was truly gone.

He finally let out a long sigh. The fort was strewn with the dead and the wounded, but it was still in Daein hands. Ketar had struck the first blow and lost — now Ike went inside, to find his mercenaries and see what good he could do before inevitable next fight.