The Marquess of Santaruz flung the doors open to his castle's throne room with surprising force for an aged man such as himself. A figure wrapped in a dark hooded cloak stood in front of the throne, and it was to this person that Lord Helman directed his anger towards.
"Ephidel, what is the meaning of this!" Lord Helman demanded of the hooded person. He had strode up to this Ephidel, anger etched in his wrinkled face.
Ephidel turned slowly to face the aged Marquess, and the only thing the elder man could see of Ephidel's face were his bright golden eyes. "Lord Helman." Ephidel spoke in a smooth emotionless tone. "Whatever is the matter?"
"The men you sent after Eliwood nearly killed him!" Lord Helman growled. "I have had enough of this! I am ending my alignment with the Black Fang. I am going to tell Eliwood everything."
Ephidel's eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second. "Is there nothing I can do to make you change your mind?" He asked in that smooth toneless voice of his.
"Nothing! Now get out of my castl-urgghhh!" The Marquess' eyes widened, when white hot pain lanced through his abdomen. His eyes traveled downward, to see the hilt of a dagger embedded in his stomach, and a pale skinned hand belonging to Ephidel holding the offending weapon.
"Such a pity." Ephidel said, stepping over Lord Helman's body once the aged man had collapsed to the stone floor. Ephidel seemed to glide smoothly up to a man standing in the open doorway, who was wearing a heavy set of plate armor. "Eliwood and his companions will be here shortly. Keep them from reaching the Marquess. Although, it is unlikely you will have to hold them off for long."
The tips of Castle Santaruz' guard towers were soon in sight of Eliwood's ever growing band, just above the peaks of the mountain's dividing Pheare and Santaruz. To Jace, it reminded him of the time spend with the Legion. It had been only a year since several members of the Legion had departed, yet here and now with Dorcas, and to his surprise the thief Matthew, and the Cleric Sera traveling with him once again, it felt like the old days back in the Legion.
"What do you suppose that is your tactician is drinking?" Hector, the large blue haired Ostian lord asked Eliwood, upon seeing Jace take a mouthful of his elixer.
"Something to help him regain the strength he lost a year ago." Eliwood explained to his friend. "You must have heard about the small incident in Caelin."
"Something involving an inheritance dispute with Lord Hausen's granddaughter, and his younger brother Lundgren am I correct?" Hector asked, once again drumming his fingers along the haft of his large axe.
"Indeed." Eliwood replied. "Well during their confrontation with Lundgren, Jace used a spell that was far too powerful for him. That little potion is supposedly to help him regain the magical power he lost."
"Do you trust him?" Hector asked bluntly.
Eliwood gave a soft chuckle at his friend's question. "He is a knight of Caelin, and therefore a knight of Lycia. He is Lady Lyndis' love, and has the complete trust of Lord Hausen. Therefore Hector, he has my complete trust as well."
"Well that is good enough for me to trust him then." Hector replied.
"You still have to drink that stuff?" Sera asked the tactician in her shrill voice, as she rode alongside him.
Jace winced at Sera's tone. She wasn't a bad person to hold a conversation with, just so long as she didn't do the talking for any longer than several seconds, due to how high pitched and shrill her voice was even if she was speaking normally. "Yes I do. It appears that I used up far more energy than I had thought. Yet I did say that my recovery was going to be a son of a bitch did I not? Ah finally, Castle Santaruz."
They had passed the large mountains dividing the border between the two Lycian territories, and Castle Santaruz had come into sight in full. While not as impressive as Castle Caelin, it still looked to be a formidable structure to Jace. Yet the tactician could not help but feel a dark chill travel down his spine. Something about this felt very wrong, and he was sure that it had something to do with the Marquess.
"Eliwood I have a bad feeling about this." The tactician said as the red haired noble made to ride his steed alongside Jace's.
"I share your sentiment Jace, yet I must speak to the Marquess about my father." Eliwood replied, trying to keep his voice calm. Yet he did not fool Jace, who saw the young noble's hand upon the hilt of his rapier.
"Sorry lad, but that's not going to happen." A voice rang out. Everyone who was armed, readied their weapons at the exact same moment. A large bald man with a very dark beard, and dressed in a set of thick plate armor stepped in front of their path. There were a dozen well armed guards flanking the man in plate armor, who had to be their enemy captain.
Hector growled, and rode up alongside Eliwood. "How would you like a taste of my axe!?"
The bald knight let out a slightly insane bark of laughter. "Hah! This pup thinks he's a wolf! Alright then, if you think you're a match for me, I await you at the castle!" With that, his dozen guards pressed in towards Eliwood's company, as their captain seemed to melt away.
The skirmish that took place, did not last as long as Jace had thought it would. While Lowen and Rebecca were rather rough around the edges, the former members of Lyndis' Legion were not to be trifled with. That being said, Dorcas' words about his companion Bartre proved true, as he felled three enemies with one swing of his axe. Both Hector and Eliwood's retainers, the paladin Marcus, and the heavy armored knight Oswin were finely sharpened blades. The two men worked as one single mind. Blades broke upon Oswin's heavy plate armor, before he ran an unfortunate soldier through with his lance, while Marcus charged through and broke the small defensive line.
Yet Jace was willing to bet the knightly pay that Lord Hausen had offered him, this small skirmish was not going to be all that was in store for them today. A bet he would have won, despite his irritation at how right he was, although his time spent within Castle Caelin had improved his swordsmanship considerably. He dared anyone to train with Lyndis, and not improve the quallity of their bladework.
Jace and Matthew now fought back to back against several other swordsmen. Another Sacean named Guy had joined their forces, after Matthew had called in a favor that the myrmidon owed the thief. Guy was now fighting alongside the tactician and the thief on Jace's right, and for a moment Jace lost sight of the man. That was before he appeared on Jace's left. Eyes widened, Jace chanced a look to the small cluster of three that Guy had engaged a moment before. They were seemingly frozen in place, looks of shock upon their faces. Jace then looked over at Guy, who had his single edged blade partially sheathed. It was as the Sacean myrmidon snapped the blade fully into its scabbard, that the men fell to the ground in pieces.
"By Naga, I've never seen anyone do that before." Jace said clearly impressed at the Myrmidon's skill. It was indeed true, though despite her skill with a blade, Jace had never seen Lyn do what Guy had just performed. Even with her being the chosen wielder of the Mani Katti.
"I will be the best swordsman in all of Sace." Guy said, giving a nod of thanks to the tactician for acknowledging his skill.
"I know of someone who could contest that." Jace replied, a smile forming on his face as he thought of his beloved.
As the myrmidon made to reply, Eliwood's retainer rode up to them. "Come Jace, we are close to the castle."
Hector, upon advice from the tactician had flanked the large force barring the group from the castle, by approaching the defending force from behind. The Ostian lord had taken the other two axemen, plus his retainer Oswin. Those guarding the rear of Castle Santaruz had been caught off guard, and did not last long under a combined effort of the team that Dorcas and Bartre made. The enemy soldiers chances of survival went down even more significantly, when combined with Oswin's lance, and Hector's wild yet oddly controlled axe arm.
"So you were able to make it through my men eh pup?" The bald knight growled, a manic gleam in his eyes that was matched by his smile.
Hector growled in response, and raised his axe at the same time Eliwood readied his rapier. The fight that ensued between these three men, made Jace rethink a few things about the Phearan noble's combat prowess. Whenever the bald manic knight struck out with his lance, Hector was able to deflect it with his axe, and Eliwood struck the weak points of the knights armor. The space between shoulder pauldrons, the elbow and knee joints, and the small space near the collarbone.
"Perhaps it's because he and Eliwood have fought together so often, they know one another so well, and can predict one another's movements." Jace said thinking aloud. He and Cyrus certainly fit this profile, and it was the same with Lyn whenever they had fought alongside one another. Kent and Sain were like this as well, as were General's Wallace and Egalar.
The bald knight struck out with his lance once more, only to be deflected by Hector's axe. At the same moment, Eliwood spun around the knight slicing the exposed portions of the back of the man's knees. With his legs horribly injured, and blood pooling into the grass, Hector ended the manic knight, by burying the blade of his axe into the exposed portion of the knights armor near his collarbone.
"Who's the wolf and who's the pup now!?" Hector demanded in a victorious taunt at the deceased knight, as he extracted his large axe.
"Is he always like this?" Jace asked turning to Matthew, who nodded in response.
"Always. I'm surprised Lord Uther hasn't had an aneurysm yet." Matthew replied with a grim smile on his face.
The dark shiver went down Jace's spine once more, as everyone slowly made their way into Castle Santaruz. Something still did not feel right, and a moment later they found out what it was. Dozens of bodies were scattered upon the stone floor of the castle, some were slumped against the walls, while several had been stuck there by blades embedded in their chests and abdomens. Jace and Sera swore so vehemently, everyone looked at the two, who in turn were staring at one another in shock.
"What in all seven circles of hell happened here?" Hector asked, his grip tightening upon his axe.
"I'll bet anything, that it was that insane knight and his men who were responsible for this." Jace replied, following the Ostian lord's example, and tightening his grip upon his blade. And then the dark chill crept down his spine more intense this time. "Oh Naga, the Marquess!"
Eliwood had the same thought Jace had just voiced, as he tore towards the throne room with the tactician on his heels. They found Lord Helman in a crumpled heap, lying exactly where Ephidel had left him. The only difference was the large pool of blood that Lord Helman was lying in.
"Lord Helman!" Eliwood exclaimed, dropping his rapier as he knelt to the dying Marquess.
"Sera get in here!" Jace called, and the pink haired cleric rushed into the throne room, her expression horrified. Sera, hands shaking raised her staff. The large sapphire set into the top of the staff began to glow.
"No…" Lord Helman said weakly, catching everyone present by surprised. "It is too late…"
"Lord Helman please allow us to save you." Eliwood pleaded, as Lord Helman's face became ever paler.
The dying Marquess weakly shook his head. "Eliwood… I am sorry… I was foolish…" Lord Helman's voice grew fainter with each passing moment. "Go to Laus Eliwood… You will find answers… Laus…"