Fire ED-blem: The Twilight Army

By The Mauve Lantern

The young thief Delilah has met Ed's friends, Eddward and Eddy, and was offered asylum in their village. It was discovered that the village of Peach Creek had been abandoned months ago, and the three boys had been living there for weeks. Before Delilah could ask her hosts of their pasts, they were attacked by a pack of wild dire wolves.

Thankfully, the four young vagabonds defeated the monsters in combat. Victory did not come without a price, however; the scent of the fallen beasts would surely attract other monsters, forcing Delilah and her companions to leave the village.

Now, they are on their way to the town of Delbrook, where a friend of Ed's is in danger…

Chapter 2: In Harm's Way

"Here we are!" Delilah announced to her companions, "Ed, Eddward, Eddy: Welcome to Delbrook!"

The three boys peered over the hill they had finished hiking up, getting a better glimpse of the town below: Delbrook was much larger than Peach Creek, with many more houses, a proper store and weapons shop, and there were even two small groups of cottages in the town. For these boys, who had been isolated for who-knows-how-long, this was like the first drink of water, after being trapped in a desert, for them.

"Wow! This is incredible!" Ed ran around in circles, taking in the new town. "Ooh! There's a chicken!" He chased after the bird, leaving his friends behind. Eddward laid a hand on his forehead as he let out a heavy sigh, while Eddy and Delilah laughed hysterically at the antics of their simple friend.

Finally, Eddward decided, "I'm going to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble."

"All right," Delilah told him, "Let's meet back here when the sun passes over the items shop, okay?" Eddward nodded before running after Ed, leaving Eddy and Delilah alone.

There was a moment of silence between the two, until Eddy asked, "Do you wanna go steal something?"

"Thanks, but no thanks," was her response. Delilah looked up and down the street of the town until she saw a pub down the way. "Tell you what: let's go grab a bite to eat."

"Fine by me. I could use some regular food, after living off the land for so long."

The two thieves made their way into the pub, where Delilah planned to use the stolen money she had to pay for their lunch. As Eddy tore into a piece of salted pork, his hostess ignored her meal, deciding, instead, to ask her fellow thief just what, exactly, he and his friends had been doing wandering around alone.

"Eddy," she started, "Why were you, Ed and Eddward living by yourselves in that abandoned village?"

Eddy looked up from his salted pork, took a swig of wine, and bluntly said, "Me and the boys were con artists. We travelled from town to town, robbing people blind with all sorts of performances."

"What do you mean, 'performances'?"

"Well, Ed would show off some of his fighting prowess, Eddward would perform some magic tricks, and I would follow through with some acrobatics."

"Doesn't sound like stealing to me…"

The boy laughed. "Let's just say that those weren't the only things we did to get things from the townsfolk." To prove his point, Eddy reached into his pouch, which was hidden by his cloak, and pulled out a dead bug; he quickly stuck it underneath what was left of his salted pork.

Delilah was confused, until Eddy picked up that last piece of meat and screamed, "OY! WHAT'S THIS BUG DOING IN MY MEAT?!"

One of the serving maids rushed over to the table and asked, "Is something the matter?"

"Yeah, there's a problem: there's a dead bug in my salted pork! I refuse to pay for this!" he shouted, attracting the attention of the other patrons. "I can't believe this! Come on, Eliza, we're leaving!" He grabbed Delilah's wrist and indignantly stormed out of the restaurant.

Once outside, the two of them made their way over to a stone wall a good distance from the eatery, where EEddy released his pent-up laughter. "HAHAHAHAH! Di-Did you see the look on everyone's face?! Priceless, I tell ya, priceless!"

"I have to admit," Delilah said in between breaths, "That was pretty clever! So, you three would do this everywhere you went?"

"Oh, totally sure! In fact, Ed and Eddward have some pretty good stories; you should talk to them sometime."

"Will do. Now, you want me to show you a nifty way to get some free items from the shop?"

--

While Eddy and Delilah were discussing the finer methods of thievery, Ed was in hot pursuit of the chicken, and quickly gaining on it. Finally, he jumped through the air and picked the bird off the ground, holding it like a cat or a dog. "Gotcha, you little devil!" he whispered as he stroked its white feathers. "I shall hug you, and love you, and call you George!"

A man's shouting attracted his attention down the road. "Watch where yer goin' with that blasted horse o' yer's, girly!"

"Maybe you should watch where you're standing, hmm?" a blonde girl shouted. This girl was wearing a light-gray suit of armor that covered her torso and shoulders, a white tunic underneath, gray, metal gauntlets on her hands, and gray boots. She wore a short red skirt, and some of her hair was pulled into braids that dropped onto her shoulders. What caught Ed's attention, however, were her front teeth, which were larger than usual, and stuck out of her mouth.

"May?"

--

Meanwhile, Eddward was resting against a fence, trying to catch his breath. As a practitioner of magic, his body was not built for chasing after his more physically-capable friend. "How…can…he run…so…fast?!" he asked in between gasps of air. "Darn him and his love of chickens."

After he felt like he had rested enough, Eddward stood back up and walked down the road, saying, "Well, nothing's blown up yet; Ed must be behaving himself."

--

"Yer bloody horse landed on my bloody back! Do yeh even know 'oo I am?! I'm Tusk, th' baddest bandit yeh ever seen, 'n ah demand res'tution fer me damages!"

May cried, "I'm not giving you my Pegasus, you dastard!"

"Watch yer tongue, girly," Tusk pulled a sword from his belt, "Ah'll cut yeh and yer 'orse inter pieces!"

A cough from Ed interrupted their dispute, and Tusk shouted at the boy, "Who the bloody 'ell are yoo?!"

"I'm Ed, and that's my friend that you're picking on. You cannot do that. It's wrong."

May, seeing that Ed had come to her rescue, threw herself at him and tackled him in a hug. "Ed! Oh, I knew you'd come to my rescue!"

He smiled and asked, "Hello there May; what's the problem?"

"I was flying into town on my pegasus, and we had a bit of a rough landing; we crashed on that bandit over there. I apologized to him, but he won't let me go!" she sobbed, "Make him stop!"

Ed looked at the large group of bandits and told them, "Gentlemen, the lady said she was sorry; I think it would be best if you let her go."

"No way, yeh little prick!" Tusk roared, "Me back is in bad shape, an' this girly ain't walkin' away 'till I've got res'tution!"

Sighing, Ed stared down the large bandit. "That won't be happening, o ugly one. May, grab Marigold; we go!" He turned around, but felt the touch of an iron sword on his back.

"If yeh walk away right now, ah'll declare war on yeh and yer girly there," Tusk murmured. "D' yeh want ta git the entire town wrapped in this?" In response, Ed spun around and knocked away the bandit's sword with his own weapon. "Tha's it, yeh just made yerself an enemy fer LIFE! LADS!"

"OY!"

"We're burning this town ta the ground!"

May grabbed Ed's arm and threw him onto her pegasus. "Hold on tight, Ed! Fly, Marigold, FLY!" The winged horse shot through the air, while its passengers observed the bandits positioning themselves around the village.

"How do we fight all these bandits, and keep them from tearing the town apart?" May asked.

"Don't worry," Ed told her, "Me and my friends can take these guys down!" Then, he looked back down into the streets and spotted Eddward. "May, go down into the street for a second!"

Marigold swooped down to the ground, and Ed grabbed his magical friend. "Eddward, we've got a little problem."

"Wh-What's the matter, Ed?"

"Bandits."

"BANDITS!? Ed, what did you DO?!"

Ed shook his head. "Now's not the time to point the finger of blame, Eddward; we have to get Eddy and Delilah!"

--

Meanwhile, in one of the cottage groupings, a girl looked out into the main road, wondering what all the ruckus was about. She had hair that shined like the sun and eyes as blue as the ocean, with fair skin and a petite body. For clothes, she wore a black tunic and a white leather vest over that; below, she wore a pair of black pants, with a white belt, and white shoes. There were black gloves on her hands that ran up her forearm, and a bow and full quiver rested on her back.

"Hmm, sounds like there's going to be a fight," she murmured to herself, "I best tell everyone to get inside their houses."

An older man came up to her and asked, "Nazz, is everything all right?"

"No. We need everybody to get into their homes, NOW."

--

Delilah massaged the bridge of her nose, and asked, "Ed, you picked a fight with a bunch of bandits, and now they want to burn and pillage the town?"

"That would be the situation, yes."

"What were you THINKING!?" screamed Eddy. "We can't handle a whole gang with just the four of us!"

May coughed in order to make the shorter boy acknowledge her existence. "Actually, Eddy, I can fight, too. I've been training with my sisters for some time now, and I thinkg I could put up a good fight."

"We're not letting you get involved, May," he told her.

"You have to let me fight! It's slightly my fault that you have to do this anyway, and I really want to help."

Delilah stepped in between the two of them and said, "Okay, we're not going to get anywhere if we just argue. Here's the plan: Ed, Eddy and I will press forward, and try to get rid of the bandits up the road. Eddward, you go to that group of cottages there, and warn them; May, you fly over to the other grouping. Watch out for archers!"

Once the orders were distributed, the group sprung into action. Ed pulled out his sword and charged forward, alongside Eddy and Delilah, who were both readying their weapons. A bandit jumped at Ed, who knocked him away with his sword, sending him flying into a fruit stand.

While Ed was dealing with the bandit, Eddy and Delilah were running down the street, until an arrow flew past his ear. "Take cover!" shouted Eddy, and the two thieves ducked behind a few water barrels.

"How do we take this one out?" asked Delilah.

Eddy thought for a moment, then told her, "We wait until he has to notch another arrow, and then we rush out and gut the villain!"

"Good enough for me!"

The two waited for another moment as the enemy archer shot another arrow at the thieves' hiding spot. Once he stopped to pull another arrow out, Eddy and Delilah ran out of their hiding spot and hurled themselves at the thief. He quickly fired another arrow, which embedded itself in Eddy's shoulder, but he only grimaced as he impaled the archer on his sword. Incapacitated, the opponent had no way to stop Delilah from tearing into his side with her sword. The archer fell to the ground, dead.

Before they could stop to rest, another bandit was upon them, ready for a fight. "It's gonna be a long day," Eddy grumbled as he slashed at the axe-bearing menace.

--

While Eddy and Delilah fought against a man twice their size, Eddward was running through the small commune of cottages, warning people to get inside.

"What do you want here?" a voice asked him. Eddward turned to find the source: a lovely blonde girl, who had an arrow aimed right at his head. "Tell me before I put a hole in your head!"

"P-P-Please, wait! I'm n-not an enem-m-my: I'm t-t-trying to fight the b-bandits out there, and I came to w-warn everyone!"

The girl waited for a second before lowering her bow. She laughed, and said, "Sorry about that. I wanted to help these people out, since they've been keeping an eye on me for a while." She looked Eddward over, and asked, "Can you fight, though? You don't exactly look like a fighter…"

"Oh, I use magic in combat. I'm Eddward, and I'm a shaman," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"I'm Nazz, and I'm an archer." She extended her hand, which Ed shook, although with much nervousness. "I'd like to help you out, if you don't mind."

"I don't see why not; you certainly seem capable with a bow and arrow."

Nazz nodded, and ran out onto the main road, where they proceeded to shoot an arrow into the neck of Ed's opponent. She turned back to Eddward and shouted, "Come on, Eddward!"

"Right behind you, Nazz!"

--

As May flew over to the other group of cottages, she spotted a mercenary, wielding a large sword, headed for the houses. "I don't think so," May whispered as she flew down to engage the man in combat.

She started the fight by lunging at the man with her lance, which did some damage to him. In response, the man leaped into the air and brought his sword down on May, grazing her arm. Through the pain, May delivered another blow, sending the man to his knees.

"That should stop you," she said as she flew over to the cottages, not noticing that the mercenary was back on his feet already. He staggered over to her, and delivered a blow to her back, dealing a good deal of damage to May. The girl would not be stopped, despite the pain in her back; Marigold spun around, and May twirled her lance before bringing it down into the man's chest, effectively killing him.

Her opponent dead, May caught sight of the battle, and then she turned to the people who were watching her fight. "You people need to get inside your houses for now! GO!" Once all the townsfolk were inside, the pegasus knight nodded in satisfaction and went to join her friends.

--

As Eddy and Delilah double-teamed the bandit in front of them, Ed took care of a fighter who had charged onto the scene. Both fights were made quick, with Eddy and Delilah skewering their foe on their blades, and Ed running the fighter through on his sword.

Nazz and Eddward proved to be a dynamic duo as well, with Nazz firing an arrow at any nearby foe, and Eddward coming in to finish off the enemy with a magic spell. When another archer would appear, Nazz would take cover while Eddward would confront the bow-wielding menace. The phrase, "Versammlung, dunkle Kräfte! FLUX!" would be the last thing their enemy would hear.

On the other hand, May was having trouble fighting, mostly because the enemy force was comprised of axe-wielding bandits. For a lance user, like herself, anyone with an axe was trouble. Thankfully, Ed was able to help her fight off an oncoming bandit, so she did not have to worry.

--

Finally, it was down to just the six young heroes and Tusk, the boss of the bandits. Tusk had avoided fighting so far and was, therefore, unharmed; Delilah's party, on the other hand, was worse for the wear. Eddward had a cracked rib from where a bandit had hit him in the chest, Nazz was bleeding from a sword wound on her chest, and May's arm was wrapped in a tourniquet; Ed was tired and bleeding from axe wounds on his chest and his arm, Eddy had cloth straps wrapped around the many arrow wounds he acquired in the fight, and Delilah had broken a finger and received a gash in her leg.

"Looks like the heroes can't fight!" Tusk smirked, thinking that victory was his. "Now, yeh lil' brats are goonna pay fer takin' out me lads!" He readied his sword, and charged at Ed, who was nearly torn in two from the attack.

May screamed, "ED!" and flew forward in a diving attack. The blow connected with Tusks shoulder, throwing him back and giving him a deep gash. Unfortunately, he could still fight; the mercenary leaped into the air and almost knocked May off Marigold with his power.

Deciding to gang up on their enemy, Eddward, Eddy and Delilah surrounded the man on three sides. Eddy and Delilah both attacked him, though their strength was nothing compared to his; their attacks injured him, but he still stood his ground. Eddward held his hand high and cast the spell of Flux, which caused the shadows around him to pool together and bombard Tusk. Finally, before he could launch a counterattack against the three, Nazz released an arrow, which whizzed through the air, right into their foe's chest.

Tusk barely whispered, "D-Damn you…all…" before his mouth filled with blood. Finally, he fell to the ground, blood pouring from all the wounds he had received.

--

After the battle, the townsfolk invited Delilah and her friends to stay at the inn that evening, free of charge. The owners of the restaurant Eddy and Delilah had stolen from were willing to let the heroes eat there, although the two thieves had to scrub dishes. There was a celebration for the young heroes that went through the night: Eddy spent the time flirting with the women of the town, while Eddward discussed the magic books with learned men, and May and Ed told their harrowing adventure to those that would listen.

Delilah and Nazz, on the other hand, had gone off by themselves, to discuss their plans for the future.

"So," Delilah asked, "Where are you headed to next?"

"My destination is the city of Goron in Woldor," was her response, "I'm heading back home to see my family again."

The thief nodded in reply, and said, "We're headed for the Konohal capital of Ordin; you could come with us, if you'd like…"

Nazz smiled. "I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your generosity."

"Think nothing of it. Now, let's head back to the festivities."

--

Name: May

Class: Pegasus Knight

Level: 1

--

Name: Nazz

Class: Archer

Level: 2