Fire ED-blem: The Twilight Army

By The Mauve Lantern

While traveling with her new companions, Delilah wandered into an abandoned village that was home to a fighter by the name of Rolf. He was the sole survivor of his village, and had been protecting his family's livestock from slaughter at the hands of bandits. These bandits came later in the evening, but they were all defeated by Delilah and her friends. During the battle, Nazz the archer recruited Kevin, a cavalier, to the party.

Now, they are on the road once again, and this time, they will be trekking through the treacherous "Konohal Swamp", where fearsome creatures are said to lurk…

Chapter 4: Fear Itself

"I think it's safe to say that we are lost, Eddy!"

Delilah and her band of followers, which had grown in the past few days, are once again on the move, this time in search of a city. At the moment, however, the party is surrounded by swamplands, much to the disgust of other members of the group. The swamp has a foul stench, reeking of dead, bloated corpses and spilt blood; the trees all grow close together, blocking out the sun and creating a perpetual twilight. Even the earth is rancid here, morphing into some sort of sickening mud, which clings to the travelers' clothing like paste.

Naturally, this does not sit well with Kevin, the most impulsive member of the group. "You twerp, I told you we were going the wrong way!"

"Listen, you dastard," Eddy spun around, his scarf spraying flecks of mud around, "You don't get to criticize my sense of direction! I've been travelling these lands since I was a lad, and I know where I'm going! It is just a detour through the Konohal Swamps, that's all."

"Swamps?" May, who has been confined to the ground since her pegasus cannot fly under such conditions, cringes a little. "Aren't there monsters in the swamps?"

"Don't worry about it, May!" Nazz wraps an arm around May's shoulders and pulls her close. "If any monsters come, we can take 'em out!"

The pegasus knight smiled and says, "Thanks, Nazz."

While the others chatter and go on about trivial things like who is better at swordplay or whoever has a higher resistance to magic, Eddward, ever studious and observant of his environment, notices a foul odor in the air. His nose crumples as he sniffs the air around him, and the shaman pulls the collar of his robe up so that it covers most of his face. "Saints above," he says to no one in particular, "what is that horrific smell?!"

Rolf tilts his head to the sky and takes a long whiff of the stench. "This air, it is cloaked with the heavy stench of rotting earth and dying plants," the young fighter growls as he clenches his fists. "It is the stink of death, hooded Ed boy."

"D-D-Death?"

"Yeh, and it will only get worse with time. Truly, we are in the heart of the Konohal Swamps."

"What is so special about the swamps, Delilah?" Ed asks as he bounces ahead and places his head atop the leader's shoulder.

"These are foul lands where only poisonous plants and dangerous creatures appear; it's said that this is also a dumping ground for the bodies of criminals, beggars, and slain victims of crime." Delilah put a hand up, and everyone stopped moving; they knew that when she raised her hand, she wanted them to hold still while she thought of a plan.

At last she tells her companions what they shall do. "All right, ladies, gentlemen and Eddy," she says, "here's what we'll do: we're going to go through the swamp as quickly as possible. That means that there will be little to no rests, and we must avoid combat at all costs!"

"What about wild animals?"

"Those, Kevin, you may fight only if they attack you first."

"Hey, that dire wolf was looking at me funny!"

Delilah ignores the cavalier and continues. "If we run into any bandits, we shall, of course, defeat them, assuming that there is no other way around the situation. Does that sound good with everybody?"

Ed raises his hand to ask a question. "Um, Delilah?"

"Yes, Ed?"

"What about lepers?"

"What about them?"

"Should we talk to them? Because there's one over there that looks like he needs help." The other party members turn their heads in the direction that Ed is looking in, and sure enough, there is a ragged figure stumbling towards them.

"Goodness! We should go help whoever that is!" Eddward begins to walk over to the figure, but is stopped by Rolf's outstretched arm. "Rolf, what are you doing?! We need to go help that person!"

The farmer shakes his head and growls. "Look again, Ed boy."

Upon closer inspection, the figure is, though vaguely humanoid, much more monstrous in appearance. Its skin is mottled and gray, and there are patches of flesh missing from various parts of its body. There is no clothing on the creature save for a pair of blue pants that are ragged and torn all over. On its head is crude and ugly hair that seems wet, and it fell into its hideous face in a most sickly fashion. It has only one eyeball, and there is a hole where the other should have been; the one eye it does have gleams with hunger and craving.

"Euuuuch!" Eddy pretends to gag. "What is that ugly thing?!"

"Maybe it's your mother?"

"Now's not the time, Kevin!"

"Sorry, Delilah!"

All the travelers grip their weapons in anticipation, and Delilah calls out to the creature, "Who are you? What do you want?" The thing does not reply, but it lumbers forward again, just a little bit closer to the party.

"I'll ask again," she shouts, "Who are you and what do you want?!"

This time, the creature responds with a deep, guttural growl. "EeeeEWeeeEeeRRrrrRRrrrrahhhHHggGGGahahhaha!" The noise bursts out of the beast's foul mouth, which is filled with rows of jagged, yellow teeth that blood pours out from. It suddenly charges forward with great speed and knocks Eddy away with a crack of his whip-like arms, sending the shorter boy flying away.

Delilah screams, "Eddy!" and then dashes forward and cuts into the creature's stomach with her iron sword, leaving a deep gash in the rotten flesh. It howls in agony and attempts to grab the thief girl with its arms, but they are lopped off by a swing of Rolf's axe.

"Die, thou rotten beast from hell!" he shouts as he slices the monster from head to foot with a mighty swing of his axe. The creature collapses in a sick pile with dark, tar-like blood gushing forth from the rotten corpse. This blood covers Rolf, who sniffs his soiled clothing and gags.

"This beast," he announces to the group, "was once human. The son of a shepherd does not know what could have the power to do something like this, but there might be others like this."

Eddward, who has just emptied the contents of his lunch onto the swampland, rises with help from Nazz. "O-o-o-other mons-st-st-st-strosities like that one?" When Rolf nods grimly, the shaman falls back to the ground and continues to retch horrifically.

As Delilah helps Eddy to his feet, the short boy asks, "Di…Did you get the name of the bum what hit me, love?"

"That wasn't a horse and carriage, Eddy; it was an undead human."

"Whazzat mean?"

"It means that we are leaving as fast as we can."

From deep within the woods there is a hideous howl. It is joined by others, and soon, the entire forest is filled with the agonizing sounds. The howls die down in time, but the worst is yet to come…

***

"Sarah, what was that noise?!"

In a small, tribal village at the center of the swamp, two children are cowering in a hut made from clay. They are small, perhaps the same age, and they are clutching each other in terror. The children, a boy and a girl, are lying on a mat made from the leaves of an old tree, and, though it isn't very comfortable, it beats having to sleep in the forest all alone.

The boy is small and weak, and he is clad in a flowing, white robe that has turquoise blue designs around the edges. He has curly, blonde hair that is held above his face with the aid of a white ring of metal wrapped around his forehead. His pale blue eyes are wide with terror, and his pale, thin body trembles with fear so that he cannot grab hold of his healing staff.

His companion, Sarah, is scared as well, although she is very different from her friend. While the boy is weak, Sarah is strong, and this shows with her tanned arms that show lithe muscles running up and down her bicep. She is wearing a pale, rose-colored vest that shows her arms off, blue harem pants that are made from fine silk and red slippers that have been ruined by the thick mud of the forest.

"I don't know, Jimmy," Sarah replies as she pulls back her red hair behind her head, "but I'm going to find out!" She lets go of her friend with great effort and then grabs an slim sword that is lying against the wall of the hut. The fiery-haired girl turns back to Jimmy and smiles confidently. "I'll be back!" she shouts before running out of the hut in the direction of the shrieking.

Jimmy clutches the healing stave close to his chest and pulls his knees in close. "Hurry back, Sarah," he whispers as the candlelight in the cabin begins to cast eerie shadows upon the walls of the hut.

***

In the shadows of the tall trees, grotesque creatures begin to lurk about, shambling ever closer to Delilah and her party. Eddy can see these monsters clearly, and he whispers, "Guys, I don't think we're gonna get out of here as quick as we thought."

Kevin mounts his horse and readies his iron lance. "Say the word, Delilah, and we'll charge right through these freaks."

"Wait, Kevin!" Nazz puts her arm up to hold the boy back. "There's someone coming through the trees! Someone that's alive!"

A fiery-haired girl bursts out of the undergrowth and dashes toward the group, slightly panting from having to fight off several of the undead. She looks about the group and says, "Travelers, you must go back! The swamp's been overrun by these monsters and- Ed? Ed, is that you?"

Ed smiles broadly and then embraces the girl in a bone-crushing hug as he shouts, "BABY SISTER! Where have you been?! I've been ever-so-worried about you and Jimmy!"

"Well, you shouldn't have left us in the middle of nowhere while you went off with your friends!" Sarah pulls out of her brother's hug and then jabs him in the face with the hilt of her sword many times over. "This is for making Mother worry! This is for leaving Father's shop! This is for leaving Jimmy and I out in some rotten little town! And this is for not having the decency to even TRY and look for us!" Ed collapses to the ground with a bloody wound imprinted on his forehead.

After kicking her brother a few more times in the chest, Sarah looks up at the group and smiles. "I'm Sarah, Ed's sister. And I- EDDY?!"

"Hell and damnation!" Like his friend, Eddy is mauled by the savage girl, who whacks the short thief across the head with the hilt of her scabbard. Acting quickly, Delilah tears Sarah away from her companion and pins her arms behind her back.

"Let me go!" the girl screams.

"Not until you calm down," the leader replies.

Sarah begins to breathe heavily in an attempt to vent her anger until she spots a certain spell-caster standing behind Rolf in fear. She smiles again and slips out of Delilah's grasp before leaping through the air and pouncing on Eddward. "Hi Eddward!" she exclaims excitedly as she wraps her arms around the shaman's neck. "I missed you the most!"

"Th-th-that's nice, Sarah…"

Before the air could be strangled out of the boy, Rolf pulls Sarah away and held her by her collar. "Ed boys, you know this girl?"

"Of course we do!" Eddy crawls off the ground and scowls. "She's Ed's sister, and we accidentally lost her when we went off from one town to another."

"I oughta wring you dry for that, you creep!"

To avoid another fight, Eddward gets between the two of them. "Sarah, please!" he cries. "We're very sorry we left you behind when we went traveling, and I realize that there's no way for any of us to make it up to you, but now is not the time for this!"

Sarah then looks about her and notices that the undead have begun to creep ever closer. "Listen," she says in a sharp voice, "I have a friend down in an abandoned village down south of here. He can't fight, and I need someone to come with me to get him. Who'll go?"

May raises her hand. "I'll take you, Sarah!" The blonde girl helps Sarah onto the saddle of her Pegasus, and then flies off through the air in the direction of the village.

"Good. Now that that's settled, here's the plan." Delilah draws her sword and shifts her gaze towards the south end of the woods. "Ed: you and Rolf will be our rear-guard, so it's up to you two to protect us. Edd and Nazz, you two stay close and follow Eddy. Kevin and I will charge ahead. Now move!"

***

As the zombies close in around the party, Ed and Rolf charge forward and engage two of the undead enemies in combat. Ed brings up his iron sword and swings it in a wide arc, cleaving off the hand of the monster in front of him. The beast howls in agony and strikes at Ed's chest with both arms, sending him back a few feet.

"Whew!" The mercenary laughs as he gets back on his feet. "These guys might be a bit tough, eh, Rolf?"

"So long as they die and you live," the fighter says as he drives the blade of his axe into the head of his opponent, releasing a fountain of tar-like blood, "It matters not if you are hit. Keep fighting, Ed boy!"

"Sir, yes SIR! Oh, Rolf, look out!"

An arrow whizzes by Rolf's ear barely missing his head. The shepherd growls and looks into the trees, spying the enemy that dared to attack him. It is a skeleton, clad only in broken, blue armor, its bones bleached from being in the sun and an iron bow clutched in its hand.

Rolf growls and clutches a small axe that is thrust into his belt. He removes the small axe and hurls it at the skeleton, and the axe returns to his hands. The shepherd throws the weapon once more, and the skeleton's body is destroyed, its bones scattered and broken.

"There," Rolf mutters as he deftly catches his hand axe. "Move on, Ed boy, or you will be lost!"

Ed stands there for a moment, bewildered, and then smiles and runs ahead with his sword by his side. "Onward to victory!" he shouts loudly.

***

CRUNCH!

Kevin pulls his lance out of the chest of the slain undead before him and turns to Delilah. "That makes three for me so far," he says. "How many have you taken out, love?"

"Firstly, Kevin," the thief girl shouts as she shoves her sword through the skull of an undead, "just because Eddy calls me that, and he shouldn't, does not give you permission to do so. And secondly, this is not a contest; this is a battle."

"Right, I apologize."

"…but if you must know, it's been two."

"I knew it!"

***

Once Delilah had told them to split up, Eddy guided Eddward and Nazz to the nearest cluster of undead. "All right," he had shouted, "these guys don't look too tough, so try not to get yer arses swarmed by these creeps! Nazz, you get into this tree here and Ghost-face and I'll protect you!"

"Eddy, I don't think-"

"No time for that, Eddward, let's go!"

That was five minutes ago. Since then, several undead have swarmed around the tree where Nazz is perched, and Eddward and Eddy have been forced to take each and every blow to keep the archer safe. Eddy had been fortunate enough to dodge most of the attacks that came his way, but Eddward, who was not so physically adept, had been beaten to within an inch of his life. From toe to head, the boy was covered with injuries: there were deep gashes in his chest from where an undead had grabbed him and torn into his torso; his arms felt numb and lifeless, as blood streamed down them in rivers.

"E…Eddy…" he gasps for air, the life draining from his body, "I…I can…can't go on like this…"

"Just hang on, Eddward! I'm gonna get you some help!" his shorter friend shouts as he slices off the head of another undead.

Eddward readies himself and casts his spell. ""Ve…Verrsamm…lung…dunkle…Kräfte!" FLUX!" The shadows of the swamp twist and contort into a ball of darkness that implodes onto the undead before the shaman, leaving the path open for another undead.

The shaman almost says, "Oh-" before the undead grabs him by the head and slams him into the ground.

"EDDWARD!" Nazz shouts the boy's name from the treetop, hoping against hope that he survived. There is, however, no motion in his body, and Eddward has not gotten up from the mossy ground. "No," she whispers, tears welling up in her eyes.

"NAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screams as hard as she can, but it does not bring Eddward back to life; he is dead. Through her tears, Nazz observes the undead, who is tearing away at the shaman's cloak to get to the body's flesh. "Die, you horrible demon!" The arrow she fires pierces the creature's brain, making it stop in its tracks and collapses.

When Eddy sees his friend fall, he shouts, "Damnation!" and tears his sword through the chest of the undead before him. The creature dies, but Eddy runs over to Eddward's body, which Nazz is now cradling in her arms. He tries to say something, but the next enemy appears. The thief curses and blocks his fallen comrade's body.

"No mercy, you godless scum!" Eddy cleaves through the monster's arm and delivers a spinning kick to its abdomen.

As the tears flow down Nazz's face and fall onto Eddward's body, a cold wind blows in through the swamp and rustles the black cloak of the fallen shaman. The wind spins around his body, and there is a black light that emanates from Eddward's head. This light grows with intensity until it blinds Nazz. When she opens her eyes, she is no longer holding onto Eddward; he is standing before her, eyes shut and hood pulled back, revealing a black tattoo of an eye on his forehead.

"E-Eddward?" Nazz asks, but he does not respond. Suddenly, his eyes burst open and he holds his hands forward.

"Ego sum fio Nex!" he shouts, and a black mist seeps out from his palms and devours the undead that Eddy is fighting. It eats through the rotten flesh and the oozing blood, the yellowed bones and the sickly pale muscles. The mist devours the entire beast, leaving nothing else. When the mist recedes into his hands once more, Eddward collapses, a trickle of blood coming from his head.

Nazz catches him this time, and she pulls a vulnerary from her pouch. "What are you, Eddward?" she asks as she tips the healing liquid to the boy's lips.

***

While the battle rages on below, four travelers, high atop a cliff, arrive and take in the spectacle. The travelers are intrigued and curious, so they observe the various fights that are happening down below.

"What is this?" a fighter clad in a fancy white shirt with red trim asks as he places his axe at his side.

The archer next to him replies, "I believe it's a battle. You see, when a group of people hate another group of people, they-"

"I know what a fight is, you prick."

"Paul, Warren, will you two please shut your mouths for one second!?" The leader of the party, a slender mage with messy red hair, slaps his friends across the back of their heads. "I'm trying to see what's going on down there!"

"Wait, Pat!" The second mage, a girl with lavender hair that reaches to her back, opens her map and learns of the group's location. "We're in the Konohal Swamps!"

"What are the Konohal Swamps, Tinny?"

"The merchant that gave us this map said that they were cursed! Come on, we should help them out!"

Paul, the archer, sighs. "Why should we help random strangers?"

"Because," Warren says, "it's the right thing to do, and they also might know of a way for us to return to our home!"

The group pauses for a moment in thought, and then Warren shouts, "Well, what're we waiting for!?"

"A proper way down," Pat mutters. "That hill is just too steep. We'll risk injury if we should try to run down it."

Tinny looks about her until she finds a path that is covered with logs and overgrown roots. "This path looks like it leads down there! We'll go this way!"

Pat wraps Tinny in a hug and says, "Tinny, you're a genius! Everyone, this way!"

Warren runs after the two mages shouting, "For the glory of Jugdral!"

As his friends run down the forgotten path, Paul breathes a heavy sigh and looks to the heavens. "Why do I feel a sense of déjà vu?"

***

May flew as fast as she could through the swamp in an effort to avoid engaging any of the undead in combat, and she managed to reach the edge of the village before she was attacked by a skeleton wielding a rusty lance. Now she engages the monster in combat, and shouts to her passenger, "Sarah! I'll hold off the skeleton; you go get your friend!"

"Okay!" The red-haired girl leaps to the ground and avoids tripping over a giant tree root as she runs to the old village. Sarah, after kicking an undead away from the door of the hut, bursts in and says, "Jimmy!"

"Sarah!"

The two friends embrace, and then Sarah pulls away and tells her friend, "I found my idiot brother. It turns out that he's been traveling all this time, and he's got some powerful friends now!"

"Gosh!" the boy exclaims. "Are they going to be all right?"

"I think so, but we could use your healing magic."

"I-I'll do my best!"

The two run outside in time to witness May driving a lance through the skull of the skeleton, and then panting from exhaustion. She looks over to Jimmy. "You're a healer, right?" she asks. When Jimmy nods, she says, "I'd like you patch up my pegasus. He got scratched by that lance, and I'd like him to be healed, please."

"Of course!" Jimmy holds his healing staff aloft and begins to utter a chant. "Luap si daed! I deirub luap! Uoy ahcteb!" A soft blue light springs forth from the gem at the staff's tip and engulfs the winged horse's hind leg. In a moment, the wound is healed and the horse is whinnying in happiness.

May pets Marigold's mane and says, "It looks like the rest of the group is gathering near that small island up ahead. I can't carry two people, so I hope you guys don't mind walking."

"No worries," Sarah tells the pegasus knight. "We'll be right with you!"

"Good! Let's go!"

***

In time, the group found the number of undead dwindling, and soon, there was only one left. This one, however, was different: it was much larger, and had rotting flesh that revealed black muscles underneath; there were no lips around its mouth, giving it the appearance of a shark. It remained rooted in one spot, and did not attack the oncoming challengers, who were all looking a little exhausted.

Delilah and Kevin had managed to clear a path through the swamp, but now they were both injured greatly; Delilah felt like her arms would go numb at any moment. Nazz and Eddy were both worse for the wear, and they were still carrying Eddward's unconscious body, which had recovered slightly thanks to the vulnerary he had received earlier. The only ones that were still good to fight were Ed, Rolf, Sarah and Jimmy.

"Stay out of this, baby sister!" Ed shouts as he and Rolf charge forward to attack the monster. "Big brother shall show you how this is done!"

"Begone, vile scourge of the earth!" The two boys swing their weapons at the reverant, and though they manage to cut into the beast, they only do a small amount of damage to its armor-like skin. In retaliation, the reverant swings its tree trunk-like arms at the two, sending them crashing into the swamp.

Sarah growls. "No one does that to my idiot brother except me!" She dashes forward and pulls her sword from its hilt. In the blink of an eye, she delivers over a dozen slashes to the beast's body and puts her blade away again. There is a pause before black blood spurts out of the wounds it has received, and the revenant splits into several pieces that collapse onto the swamp floor.

"Well," Eddy says as he dumps Eddward onto the ground and takes note of all the undead body parts lying around, "I doubt this place will be smelling like roses any time soon!"

"Come!" Rolf begins to gather together the body parts. "If we wish to cleanse this land of its evil, we must burn the pieces!"

There is an awkward silence until Kevin says, "That's just wrong, my friend; that's simply wrong."

***

Once the undead bodies have been burnt into ashes, the group reassembles on the isle where they fought the revenant. Delilah sizes up Jimmy and Sarah by staring at them heavily. "Well," she says, "you can fight. And we could always use a healer."

"Are we going with you, Miss Delilah?" asks Jimmy.

She smiles. "I think we can make some space!"

Everyone smiles and gathers around the new recruits. Praise and congratulations are passed around until another party of travelers arrives. The leader, or what looks to be the leader, is a thin, yet muscular, mage, and he is accompanied by another mage, an archer, and a fighter. "Hail, fellow travelers!" the leader says. "We came to help you in battle, but we took longer coming down the slope than we thought. Our apologies!"

"Um, who are you?" Delilah asks.

"I am Pat, miss, and these are my friends Tinny, Warren and Paul."

"How come I'm introduced last?"

"No one cares about the archer!" Warren laughs at his own joke, though no one else does.

"That's not true!" Nazz and Paul shout at the same time.

Pat turns to Delilah and asks, "By chance, miss, have you heard of a land known as Jugdral?"

"Can't say that it's familiar…"

A frown crosses Pat's face. "Oh, I see." He sighs, and turns to his friends. "I'm sorry, we must be going. May you have good fortune, all of you!" The travelers disappear just as quickly as they had arrived.

Eddward asks, "Honestly, what are the odds of meeting another group of travelers out here?"

"Seems like fate, Eddward." Delilah takes a drink from the vulnerary in her pack and then says, "We're leaving now, let's go!"

"Where are we going, Delilah?" asks Ed.

"To the capital of Konohal, my friend! Onward to Eden!"

NEW RECRUITS:

Name: Sarah

Class: Apprentice (can upgrade to either Thief or Myrmidon)

Level: 3

---

Name: Jimmy

Class: Student (can become Priest or Monk)

Level: 2

DISCLAIMER: Warren, Tinny, Paul and Pat belong to KitsuneWarrior9999. Thank you for being so patient.