CHAPTER 8 :

THE GREAT CONFUSION

Nevassa. King Ike has received a message from the messenger Lord Pelleas sends to the King after the capture of Fort Rigwald. The hawk laguz begins to read Pelleas' letter, in front of the Kingdom Council:

"Your Majesty, the troops under my command have captured one of the key fortresses of Grado, Fort Rigwald. We discovered there that Goldoa won't fight because its king fears that the dark god within Lehran's Medallion will awake and Ashera will also awaken at that time. According to one of the prisoners we freed from Fort Rigwald, Grado suddenly shifted its attitude towards laguz; even Vigarde, when King Ramon of Crimea was still alive, supported what he wanted to accomplish. Also, Queen Crimea is currently stationed in Port Kiris, the capital of Carcino. However, some people among the Laguz League say that awakening the dark god is the key to defeat the Demon King.

Also, if Vika told the truth, the dark god inside Lehran's Medallion is not just a dark god; it's also the key to defeat what they call the Demon King. And also, we suspect that Begnion also turned down U.N. membership because someone – or something – among Grado and/or the Begnion Senate has coerced the second nation to fight for it. However, Kilvas has accepted to join the Laguz League just as Gallia does. I also noticed that Magvel and Tellius clerics don't tell the same things about beorc and laguz and how they behave towards the goddess. It seems that all the remaining beorc nations on Magvel (Frelia, Jehanna, Rausten and Carcino) have a better understanding of the laguz issue. However, some Magvel fanatics, especially from Rausten, claim that beorc come from Magvel and the laguz from Tellius.

On a side note, Calill's group are on their way to Borgo Ridge, where they are to fight a group of bandits led by a member of the Renaisian nobility. And Anna's group has been dispatched to Port Kiris to assist the Laguz League's army in the defense of Port Kiris and of Carcino as a whole."

Ike, puzzled, "Weird… Begnion supports Grado? Just after the Serenes Massacre, Grado embargoed Begnion and the Phoenicis army began to attack Begnion ships. I really don't see why Begnion, all of a sudden, would fight with Grado instead of against it. The apostles (from Misaha onwards) wouldn't even try to do so…"

Tauroneo questions what Ike said. "This is becoming more and more confusing. The dark god within Lehran's Medallion is a key to defeat the Demon King? I couldn't believe it."

Jarod turns to Soren. "What is the Demon King anyway?", he asked.

Soren made his lengthy answer. He explained that the Demon King had been sealed away eight hundred years ago, by five beorc heroes from Magvel, led by Grado. Also, in the heyday of the Demon King's dominion over Magvel, the people of the area fought many monsters that were considered as legend and fairy tale material not so long ago. It brought the population of Magvel to the brink of annihilation, both beorc and laguz. Grado's men defeated the Demon King's army with the aid of the Sacred Stones. The first five nations were founded on the legacies and the power of a Sacred Stone, the kingdoms of Renais, Frelia and Jehanna, the theocracy of Rausten and the Grado Empire. They were finally joined by the mercantile republic of Carcino.

However, in Palmeni Temple, where Mist and Lehran's Medallion reside, something happens within the hallowed walls of the temple as Mist and her priests pray while focusing on Lehran's Medallion. It was 23 o'clock (the 24-hour clock was in use in the Palmeni Temple) and she felt as though the Medallion itself became an increasingly heavy burden on her body.

Mist screams out of pain. "Arrrghhhhhhh… It hurts!" She also warned everyone in the vicinity. "Don't touch the Medallion!"

At that moment, Lehran's Medallion went luminous, outsourcing all other sources of light in the room, mostly candles. And she fainted, her body laying on the stone-made floor. Two priests brought her to her room and Tomenami, an old Bishop, tended to his superior, not knowing the special status she held towards the Medallion. Two days later, she regained consciousness.

Mist feebly asks to Tomenami, "Where am I?... What I'm doing… here?"

Tomenami answered that she is in the Palmeni Temple. "Before you lost consciousness, Your Grace, you asked everyone else not to touch the Medallion. Why is that so?", he asked.

Mist answered, "That object? It is a keepsake of my mother, though I later discovered it was an object of great peril. The Medallion magnifies the worst aspects of a person thousandfold. It is the object known by as the Fire Emblem."

Tomenami replied, "We know that the Medallion is a strong poison, and it is in the Medallion that Lehran, the ancestor of the heron tribe, along with the other heroes, imprisoned the dark god inside."

Mist also said, "I remember my brother, the King, actually trying to reach for it, when our father still lived. He scolded me harshly, even if he had gone berserk with the Medallion once. If you know anything of my father's death, you know he died before my brother was crowned king, at the hands of the Black Knight. When my father touched the Medallion, twenty soldiers have come for him. He barely broke a sweat killing them. Then he began killing the people around him and, at the last moment, my mother came out, removed the Medallion from his hand and was slain."

Tomenami, astonished, "Your brother is the King? Then, Your Highness, I suppose that your brother, the King, knows all of what you said here. I knew General Gawain for a time, he was one of the Four Riders when I knew him." He also asked, "I am curious, though. Why can you carry it safely?"

Mist answered that, compared to other people, balance within herself is extremely strong. "We both know that people are made from both balance and chaos. If ordinary people touched the Medallion, they would be consumed by madness, given sufficient time. That is the secret of the royal family as I know it. The only way to appease the energies of the Medallion is through seid magic." she said.

The Bishop, puzzled by what Mist said, asked, "Seid magic? Who can use seid magic?" He then told her, "The heron clan would, but I never heard anything about the survivors, except that Reyson and Leanne are unable to suppress the energies within the bronze object. And that Ashnard killed Princess Lillia because he wanted her to release the dark god and she didn't have that power. Your mother, Highness, has also resided in this place for a time and she took the Medallion away from Daein."

Mist grudgingly said, "The true heir of Altina can do it."

Tomenami suggested, "Then just announce that the true heir of Altina show up at Palmeni Temple to solve a royal problem!"

Mist warned, "Before I take the leave of the Temple, I have to store the Medallion in the Temple's vault."

She readied her horse, in order to ride to the capital, where his brother resides. Two says later, Mist has arrived in Nevassa amid heavy fog and she had to light a torch to see through the fog in order to get to the palace. As she dismounted, she arrived at the palace bearing seemingly ill news.

Ike scolded his sister, "Calm down, Mist. What happened in your temple while I was away?"

Mist answered, "Majesty, I fell ill because of Lehran's Medallion. Not that I went berserk because of it, I know I couldn't. Just that there is only one way to suppress the energies erupting out of it: singing the galdr of release. Sephiran told us that only the true heir of Altina can activate its effect: even if I sang it, the medallion would be unaffected."

Soren, perplexed, "Would that awaken the dark god? There are two ways to awaken the dark god: by galdr or through the chaos of war."

Tauroneo also asked the other people in the room, "Would our troops' fight in Grado have anything to do with the dark god energizing its presence?"

Jill answered, "I think that the goddess wouldn't want to see laguz in chains, either Grado or Begnion. If the rumors are true, then both Grado and Begnion have to be defeated."

Jarod, doubting Jill's answer, "Begnion? To defeat Grado and Begnion, we'd need virtually every remaining nation to fight together! Even if that did happen, would we awaken the dark god through battle?"

Tauroneo, to counter Jarod's statement, said, "I think that, if awakening the dark god is a necessity, that it is best done through galdr instead of battle. Even if we defeated the Demon King, it wouldn't guarantee it wouldn't awake the dark god!"

Soren releases his mounting anger at the other people in the Kingdom Council, "I think you're all speculating on the lack of knowledge you have of the Great Creation! The first chapter of the tome of Nazania describes the whole story."

"At the very beginning of the world there was a girl named Ashunera. She was a very unique girl, as she was the goddess…the very one who had created the planet. She was kind and gentle, but also very lonely, as she was the only being in existence, so because of this she created a variety of creatures that she could live with. Some had wings, some had fur, and some even resembled herself.

After some time Ashunera realized that the creatures were changing. They were learning new skills, getting new ideas, even learning how to communicate with one another. this made the goddess sad, but also very happy. On one hand she realized she was not needed in order for the other beings to exist. They were perfectly capable of helping themselves. On the other hand, however, the goddess was amazed that the beings were so unpredictable. They were ever changing into something new and exciting, and this pleased the girl very much.

In time, the goddess made many close friends. She met the human swordswoman named Altina, and the heron prince Lehran. There was also the lion named Soan, and the dragon king named Dheginsea. All of them loved the goddess very much, and so they gave her a special name; the goddess of dawn.

But this peace would not last.

The powerful beings that could transform into animals and the intelligent beings that could craft tools began to argue. One side challenged the other saying theirs was superior. Over time the conflict grew stronger and stronger, until it seemed they would end the dispute in a war. To prevent this, the girl gave the two sides special names. She named the powerful beings "laguz", who were to be the children of power and she named the intelligent beings "Beorc", who were to be called the children of wisdom. This did not prevent the fighting, however. Instead, the two sides waged war using their new names as their banners.

The goddess Ashunera saw all this and was deeply upset. even her slowest friends were fighting a war of senseless pride. As time went on Ashunera's emotions grew more and more out of control. until one day, she simply lost control. The entire world was quickly covered in an immeasurable flood. It was so large, and so powerful, that almost every continent was destroyed. All but two…Magvel and Tellius, and it was all because Ashunera lost control of her powers for one second.

Ashunera was devastated at this, and so she split herself into two separate beings. One was Ashera, the goddess of order, and Yune, the goddess of chaos. The two were to consult one another before they took any action regarding the people of the world. In this, a perfect balance would be attained, and another great disaster would never occur again.

One day, however, Ashera proclaimed that Yune was to be destroyed. She said that she could not risk another disaster like the flood, and so she had to be perfect; without chaos. Yune no doubt tried to flee, But Ashera blessed her greatest fighters, including the lion king, Soan, and sent them to subdue Yune. In time she was defeated, and she was to face Ashera's judgement.

Yune, now in tears, told her she was only trying to have fun, and that she never meant to hurt anyone. Regardless, Altina begged Ashera not to destroy Yune. Lehran told Ashera that, without her chaotic counterpart, she would be incomplete. Ashera was not moved, however, and went on to say that she would also destroy the two races and start over.

This is when Lehran made a proposal. He asked that Yune be sealed in his medallion, and that the two sisters would sleep for 1000 years. If, in this time, war broke out once again, Yune would wake up and with her, Ashera. She would then follow through with her plans. However, if Yune remained asleep for 1000 years, the people would be spared. Exceptions were made as well, if Lehran's "galdr of release" was ever played in front of the medallion, Ashera would not awaken. And conversely, if Lehran saw that there was no hope for humanity, he would awaken Ashera himself. Yune told Lehran she was afraid, but Lehran promised she wouldn't be alone, that he would wrap her in peaceful galdrar. Ashera agreed, and so the two were sealed.

The dragon king Dheginsea then told a great lie. He covered the truth and told the people that a "dark god" was sealed in the medallion, and that if war broke out it would be let free. This dark god was the one responsible for destroying most of the world. He knew this was not the truth, but he wanted to make sure the people would not ever go to war. "

Mist, puzzled at the contents of the Tome of Nazania, "What the? It was not even a dark god inside Lehran's Medallion! And what of the Demon King? Where in the Tome of Nazania would it describe anything about what created him or what was his relationship with Ashunera?"

Soren turned and answered to Mist, "Other sections of the Tome of Nazania would probably describe anything about the Demon King himself."

Jarod vehemntly said, "We must not allow this information to break out in the open field!"

At this effect, Ike wrote a letter to the Apostle entrenched in Begnion about Mist's request. But, knowing that to awaken Yune is not a decision to be taken lightly, he includes every detail that should be known about Yune and the consequences of awakening her. What Ike does not know is that Sanaki is not in the Mainal Cathedral, as he expected. He sends out a fast rider to get to Sanaki as fast as he can. And no army crest need apply.

Ike asks Tauroneo, "Is there any messengers at all I can have sent to search for Sanaki?"

Tauroneo answers to his sovereign, "No, Majesty, try the pub and see if there is anyone willing to help."

Ike and a few of his men, including Gatrie, Rolf and Mia, come at Largo's inn (his wife left the inn because of Pelleas' request), where plenty of people are on standby for diverse requests. He needs to get help but no one from the castle must be involved and he can't go himself or he risks being overthrown.

Ike hollers, "I need the fastest wyvern rider available and willing to accept a Knight status."

Being a Knight does not necessarily mean to go into battle; some people are knighted because they did great services to the country, no matter the services actually are. Others because they changed classes through the appropriate promotion process (i.e. Paladinization, Generalization and sometimes Halberdiering or Wyvern Mastery for Daein, add to that Falcon Knighting in Begnion or Frelia).

The King is instantly surrounded by wyvern riders of all kinds. He recognizes some of the people who delivered parcels and other cargo to the palace. They often received basic weapon training, usually lances, so they can defend themselves.

Ike exclaims, "I found the one we need!" He turns to the chosen wyvern rider. "Fly to the capital, and not to stop for anyone. Go see Empress Sanaki immediately and hand her the letter that I wrote. You are to tell that it is King Ike of Daein that sends you.", he instructs.

The young rider leaves, donning the brown armor usually worn by the people at Haar's service when he still operated an express cargo service around Tellius. That cargo service was often used by Daein nobles, and then rich people. Some of the people who received express cargo using that service were often outside Daein, even ranging through Begnion's Mainal Cathedral.

However, at the Za'ha Woods' edge, Calill's group go down to a halt.

Moulder said to Calill, "We're approaching Serafew, at the borders of Renais and Grado. Once we cross, we'll be in Grado. Renvall won't be much farther."

Calill replied to Moulder, "That is, assuming that we cross the border without mishap. Oh! Look over there!"

Colm: What are they? Are they… beorc? Laguz? I've never seen anything like this before.

At the southern village, on the other side of the river, two magic-users talk about the strange figures that appeared in the woods, inside the safety of the palisade.

Artur asks Lute, "What have we done to deserve the trials before us? What is happening to us? How could such abominations walk out lands when the Sacred Stones protect us?"

Lute sighs. Artur warns her, "Lute, please, it's dangerous outside the walls. Stay here in the village."

Lute explained to the monk, "Those are revenants. They were the vanguard of the Demon King in the days of darkness. The Tome of Nazania describes them in chapter 2, section 7, paragraph 8."

Artur asks if she knows of them. To this, Lute answers, "Duh! I'm a prodigy. I recall most everything I hear or see. According to the book, revenants attack using razor-sharp claws. It sounds quite painful." Artur explains to her, "Be that as it may, I must go aid those travelers outside. You should stay here in the safety of the village."

Lute says to Artur before he leaves, "Very well. I don't mind staying here. In fact, it seems to be the smarter choice."

Artur leaves the village and slips, unnoticed by the monsters, through the woods to rejoin the ranks of the Daein army entrenched there. As Lute returns to her library, she thinks of what she could have done. "Magic is far more powerful than any monster's claws. The thickest hide and the strongest armor are useless against magic's power. I guess I could have studied swords, but magic is the only thing worthy of me. Even if this village was assaulted by monsters, I could defend it perfectly.", she thought.

As Artur approached the Daein positions, he warns the group.

Artur warns the group, "Travelers! Listen to me! The ancient forest of Za'ha is dangerous. Head south before the monsters surround you!"

Calill asked him, "Who are you?"

Artur answered, "I'm Artur. The temple has sent me to cleanse this forest of these things. There are so many of the fiends, though. I wonder if I stand much chance alone. If you would, please aid us in this operation."

Calill wondered, "Fiends? You're not talking about the same fiends that served the Demon King? Phoenicis and Kilvas are the primary targets of these monsters!" To that question, Artur answered, "Yes, they are."

Colm also warned Calill, "General, beware! Something approaches!"

A mogall flies towards Artur. He quickly casts spells of light magic, as blinding light make mogalls' eyes wither and die. Artur tells Calill that one of his companions is in the village in the south. "If you can get there quickly, watch over her safety.", he continued.

Luckily, there isn't many undead laguz to fight, so they're left with ghostly beorc corpses; some of them only have razor-sharp claws like living beast laguz, other are in their skeleton states. The beorc troops of Grado are nowhere to be found in this place.

When the battle begins, Neimi took an arrow from her quiver, targeting a Gargoyle that threatened his childhood friend lying in ambush for other monsters to come to him and steal from him. The arrow she shot made the Gargoyle fall on Colm's head, crushing him. With the weight of a Gargoyle corpse on his head, Colm rolled his body sideways, not knowing it would make a Revenant trip on it. As soon as the Revenant is "abed", he stabs the zombie and steals a small leather pouch containing 500 gold.

As for the Halberdier's group, they encounter an abandoned cabin, full of monsters like Tarvos (centaur-shaped monsters who fight with axes) and Bonewalkers. He ordered the house's door to be knocked over. They discovered two Tarvos and plenty of Bonewalkers that had to be killed before they can grab whatever the monsters kept.

The Halberdier exclaims, "An axe! I can finally hone the axe skills my Halberdiering gave me!"

Though very rough, Halberdiers are granted axe skill upon promotion. The whole class is named after a weapon that dealt damage like an axe and was specifically designed against cavalry. He used the axe to hack away at the Tarvos' legs but the beast parried a few blows. Before it died, it left a few keys to be used to free someone – or something – from their monstruous hands.

Moulder ordered, "Hurry to the village south of here! We must make way!"

As they approach, the monsters also made their approach through the woods to get to the village's gate. They found a young girl no older than 11 casting spells away. She seems to match the description Pelleas made of the girl Calill should avoid back to the days when they were still in Daein.

Calill shouts, "Help has arrived!"

Lute: You show no sign of putrefaction. It seem that you must not be in the Grado undead army. I have decided to join in battle now. My name is Lute. I'm a mage of superior wisdom and rare ability. I've been reading up on these revenants. They are simply no match for me, for I'm superior, after all.

No doubt about it: Pelleas was correct. But how skilled she actually was compared to Calill, or even Pelleas himself? It appears that she possess extensive knowledge, but it is often claimed that people with intellectual gifts like hers are either boastful or depressive. And if she was as skilled as she claimed, she would already have promoted. Or she would soon become a Sage given enough battle experience.

However, Lute had a second-hand anima tome, which meant that it wouldn't last long until the ammunition would be exhausted. She blasted fire away at the Revenant, but it only was the rabble. Once the rabble has been cleared, the battle turns to the southeast area, where the commander of that force (not even a living beorc or laguz) awaits. He appears as an Entombed, who is a promoted Revenant, a promoted beorc (when he still lived) or a powerful zombie laguz on its humanoid form. The latter was proven correct, as the "entombed" transformed into a dragon whose hide show signs of putrefaction.

Calill ordered her men to stay away from the dragon's line of fire. The rotten body of the dragon could not move his head fast enough to hit any of the soldiers but it took several hits from magic, like Calill's Elthunder or Lute's Fire. To his laguz-based weakness to thunder magic, one adds a fire weakness when zombified. With some magic, the dragon fell apart…

Meanwhile, in Renais Castle… a conversation between Knoll and Orson, the puppet King of Renais, begins in the throne room. Orson tells Knoll that he never wanted to participate in the destruction of Renais by himself.

Knoll said, "You once were a knight in Renais' service…" He asked, "Why did you decide to turn your back on Renais and fight for Grado instead?"

Orson asked the druid, "Do you want me to share a secret with you?" Knoll accepts, but only if he can make use of that secret to find a way to free Renais. The Paladin told him that it's because he was granted the possibility to see his wife again that he was offered the throne of Renais. To this end, he signed a blood pact.

Knoll, genuinely curious about Orson's comments, "A blood pact? You heard stories about the forbidden blood pact? Let me tell you a story involving a blood pact."

Orson told him, "You're the man, after all…"

Knoll explained that a blood pact has been used by Ashnard to kill the royal family of Daein like twenty years ago, in the year 628, according to the Tellius calendar. Many in Tellius say it was a plague, but it was not a plague: one of the sides activated the curse of the blood pact. Ashnard convinced his father that he was simply signing a contract to purchase the services of an extra advisor. The curse itself was to slowly kill the people dear to one of the parties. One person the first day, two people the second day, three people the third day and so on. Twenty princes and princesses were killed and roughly a thousand people in total. He killed his father to dispel the blood pact.

Orson commented, "I never heard of Ashnard before." He asked, "Who is this… Ashnard?"

Knoll answered that he was the Mad King of Daein in the Mad King's War in Tellius, three years ago. After Daein's defeat, Ike was crowned king there – and Daein actually fights in Renais to free laguz, unlike Ashnard, whose attitude towards laguz is very much like Begnion's. Begnion enslaves laguz and mistreats them. I remember Vigarde supporting the Crimea-Gallia alliance, even back to the days when it bound only the ruling classes (i.e. when King Ramon still lived).

Orson continued, "Before I betrayed Renais, laguz were considered people to protect like any other." He asked to the magician, "Is there a way to dispel the blood pact?"

Knoll tells him that. fortunately, there is a solution. The blood pact breaks when the pact-maker is killed by a third party. This information is in a book hidden away in a secret room. "I think it is reliable. And this is exactly how it is written.", he commented.

Orson, in disbelief, "You can't be serious!"

Knoll countered Orson and tries to convince him. "Of course I am! This is the way to save Renais! Because of Grado, our nation is forced to fight the Daein army to the west and the Laguz League to the northeast. Western Renais is almost completely under Daein's control.", he said.

"Daein?", Orson said. "These... Daein rats are catapult fodder for General Duessel's army. However, I must ask you to reconsider. There has to be another way! There must be!", he pleads.

Knoll counter-attacked by saying, "We cannot wait for another solution to present itself."

Orson, finally convinced, said, solemnly, "Then, so be it. It is a noble end for me as ruler, dying so my people can live."

Knoll asks the guards of the puppet King of Renais to bring him to the execution area. As for all nobles, when they are beheaded, the executioner makes use of a sword, instead of the traditional axe used for commoners. Renais Castle's executioner is a General whose helmet covers entirely his face. With his sword skill, it was over in an instant.