Chapter 7: Saviour
Despite two days of some of the most intense rain Loren had ever seen, the sun shone brightly in the sky today, invigorating the Posayan Legion (at least, all but the most heavily armoured, who were finding the blistering heat uncomfortable) as they made their way across the border into Parolt. Was it an omen? And if so, was it for them, or their enemies?
Loren's forces numbered one more than the day before – the sky knight Lind, who had in light of recent events been lacking a squadron to be a part of, had joined the Parolteans under Treo's orders. Even his pegasus looked afraid as they travelled through Parolt, as though it was experiencing shellshock from the slaughter of the other sky knights just days ago.
They were travelling towards Idon from the northeast, keeping just outside of the Zeitune Forest. Doing so would allow them to avoid any Reonian soldiers waiting in the forest to ambush them, while also avoiding being out in the middle of the northern plains where they'd be spotted the moment they came anywhere near a soldier.
Loren wasn't allowed to be the lookout – his mind was miles away for most of the journey, and everyone else knew it. He occasionally even managed to lose track of those right in from of him and just aimlessly wandered in the direction he was facing, but fortunately Xand was on hand to correct his path.
The group paused as their scout – who at the moment happened to be Natalie – held up her hand in front of them. As they went silent, they could hear voices. This was hardly the first time this had happened on their way into Idon, and they snuck into the trees for cover, not wanting to be caught – in addition to the potential for sustaining injuries (or worse), it would slow them down, and although they'd allowed a little time to be caught in a skirmish and still reach the capital, they couldn't spend the whole day locked in combat.
Fortunately, the day seemed to pass without incident. With their guards sharp, and Amy acting as a secondary lookout for most of the day (it didn't take up as much energy as being the main scout, so she opted to do it for longer), they managed to avoid the Reonian soldiers that would otherwise have been in their path. Loren was glad they'd gone with Amy's plan, because it meant they were a small force – there was no way squadrons of Ilanian soldiers would have been able to sneak past the soldiers the way they had.
Setting up camp in an occupied country far from jumped out at everyone as a good idea, but they knew their choice had been either that, or trying to make it through occupied Parolt to Idon in a single day. They were close to the western edge of the Zeitune Forest by now, where they hoped they would be safe. Fortunately for them, it seemed the Reonians had not expected them to get this far into Parolt without being seen, and had certainly not expected them to pause for several hours once there, so the night brought no interruptions. Even those on watch found themselves relaxed by the calm of the forest at night.
Still, the tension of what the next day might bring weighed heavily on all of them as they slept. The Posayan Legion may have existed to protect the weak, but for the first time, they knew who they had to save, and the pressure that came with that was overwhelming for all but the most experienced of them. That it was their princess, no less, made it all the more crucial that they succeeded.
Despite their concerns, the group found themselves sufficiently tired that rest came fairly easily. Eld and Doran, who had taken the final watch, woke everyone up at first light, and they steeled themselves for the day ahead.
"It would be a deep shame if Prince Loren did not show up today, wouldn't it?"
Eleanor sighed. She couldn't disagree on that point. If Loren did appear, and offered to hand over the Fire Emblem in exchange for his sister's life, they could avoid needless bloodshed. It was bad enough that she'd had to kidnap Lily from Castle Senne – if it could be avoided, she wanted to spare the girl her blade.
Of course, her reasons for wanting Loren to attend the execution were very different from Vallis'. No doubt the sniper just wanted an audience for his cruelty. Her stomach churned at the thought. She wouldn't dare talk back to Emperor Renai, but she really wished he had sent someone else with her.
The preparations were in place. The execution would take place at high noon. In the worst case scenario – if Prince Loren did not appear – it would at least serve to cement Reon's rule over Parolt. Even if Ilan chose to strike, they would find themselves overwhelmed – before heading back to Reon, Tybran had informed Eleanor and Vallis of how Ilan would move, and they simply had to position their troops such that they'd have the advantage.
Still, Eleanor was nervous. The Parolteans had already slipped her grasp once, and she could not allow them to do so again. Vallis would help – if she could keep him under control. She had insisted on being the executioner herself precisely because the duty would otherwise have fallen to him, and the gods only knew what his vile plans were for the princess. At least this way it would be quick.
Eleanor shook her whole body, hoping to free herself from her nerves – in a few marks, she would have to be the figure of authority, a job that would be much harder if her own confidence faltered. She grabbed her sword from atop a cabinet and slid it effortlessly into its sheath, which was then covered by her tunic. Vallis had been preparing a quiver of arrows, and now had the whole thing strapped over his shoulder.
"Let's go," she said. "It's time."
"Hah! Look at the little lady barking orders," laughed Vallis. "You should consider your station."
"Last I checked, Vallis, the two of us held equal rank."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean we hold equal skill. It certainly wasn't me who loused up their last mission, now was it?"
Eleanor could feel the anger rising inside, but had no choice but to maintain an outer calm. "By the orders of Emperor Renai, I'm still in charge of this mission. That means that even you will do as I say unless you believe it will cost us our goal. Is that understood?"
Vallis grumbled. "Yes, Lady Eleanor," he replied in the most mocking tone possible.
Eleanor knew that was the best she was going to get, so she simply turned away from Vallis, and made her way outside. She would succeed today, and she would remind everyone how she came to be one of the highest ranking generals of the strongest army in the world.
"Milord!" Loren had been more focused this morning, but had still been prone to daydreaming. Fortunately, Xand's call snapped him out of his trance. "Milord, we're nearing the capital."
"Thank you, Xand."
"Once we're in there, sir," started Amy, "we'll have no way of avoiding combat. It's entirely possible we'll be outmatched the moment we step foot into the city." She paused. "If that happens…"
"I know," replied the lord. "If that happens, our only option is to retreat." Loren understood where the tactician was coming from, but that didn't mean he had to like it – he would effectively be sentencing his sister himself.
"Prince Loren!" The call came from the sky, where Lind had been scouting ahead. "It would seem we're in luck, Prince Loren. The city's chock full of soldiers, but they don't seem to be looking for us. We should be able to sneak past them to the execution grounds with little difficulty."
"That's good," said Amy. The tactician had taken precautions against ambushes, but her biggest fear had been that there simply would have been too many Reonian soldiers to get anywhere near the execution grounds. "Please lead the way, Lind."
The Parolteans kept to Idon's secluded alleyways to keep out of sight of the occupying army, and were more than a little surprised they were able to do so so effectively. What's going on? thought Amy. Reon must surely have enough soldiers that they could spare some to catch a group like ours. She shook her head. Something strange is going on here. It's almost as though they're holding back deliberately. But why?
"Amy!" came Loren's voice. "We're nearly there. Once we get out of this alleyway, we'll be at the execution grounds. Unfortunately, we'll be about as far away from the gallows as possible."
Amy nodded. That was just about the worst possibility from the perspective of the inevitable upcoming battle, because she'd have little to no time to prepare – they'd be right on top of any enemy soldiers before they could see them, so a detailed battle plan was out of the question. Even the beginnings of a strategy were a pipe dream with no information about either the battlefield or the enemy forces.
"I know this will be difficult for you as a strategist," said Loren, as though he was reading her mind, "but I, and everyone else here, trust you. I know that with your instruction, we'll be able to save my sister and get out of here in one piece."
"On my mark then?" The prince nodded. "We'll all need to burst out into the execution grounds at once. If we go one at a time, they'll spot the first of us before the last even emerges, and we'll be weaker for it."
"Altogether then!" Loren ordered. "Let's move!"
Princess Lily was sentenced to be executed in a little under a mark, and Vallis was growing ever more impatient. He wanted a chance to unleash his bow, gods damn it! If Prince Loren didn't show up, he'd have settled for shooting one of the townspeople, but he knew he'd never get away with that with Eleanor right beside him.
His little games with the prisoner weren't satisfying, either. Lily was strong, and neither rose to Vallis' words nor reacted when he struck her. He had tried more than once to get a rise out of her, but to no avail.
Thus Vallis' attention was piqued the moment Loren and his forces reached the execution grounds. Vallis and Eleanor themselves remained on the scaffold – they were much too far away to join the fight at this stage – but Vallis grinned, knowing that the chance for a fight was drawing near.
Although the Parolteans had all burst onto the execution grounds at once, their vastly different mobility led to them engaging their foes at different times. The cavaliers and other mounted units struck first, Xand's sword being the first to meet Reonian flesh. Karr and Hammond followed suit, teaming up against an armoured knight to fell him. Lind and Alice struck from the air, scooting out of reach of their opponent's lances and dropping in occasionally to land a blow.
The faster foot soldiers formed the Parolteans' second wave. Brandon leaped at his first enemy with his axe held high, bringing it down with a mighty crash that caused his opponent to stumble, allowing Talla to sneak in with her knives. Natalie was facing an opposing sword user, but her much greater speed enabled to her to consistently dodge her foe's cuts, and she eventually retaliated with a thrust that brought the man to his knees. As Ronal loosed arrows towards their enemies, Loren took advantage of one who was trying to dodge, tripping him up and bringing his sword down.
The slower soldiers brought up the rear. Eld chanted, forming a fireball that flew towards the Reonians, causing them to yelp as the flames licked their heels. As they did, Doran came crashing into them, his heavy armour alone knocking several to the ground, and his lance dispatching them one by one. Saye stayed away from the soldiers, providing healing when the Parolteans needed it.
Amongst all this, Amy was attempting to survey the execution grounds. Although there were a number of soldiers around, only the group positioned where the Parolteans had appeared were attacking them. For the moment, the remainder seemed content to stay where they were. Some townspeople were also present – Amy guessed they were there out of fear of Reon, who would have invited them as a means of showing their authority.
Mostly, though, the tactician's gaze fixed on her target – the scaffold at the other side of the grounds. She could see Lily on her knees atop it, and beside her two Reonian generals, one male, one female. Seeing the distance between her group and the princess, she began to work out how they would get there in one piece – and how they would get out.
The soldiers the Parolteans had been fighting gave little more than a token resistance – Loren's army may have been small, but they were well trained compared to the rank and file of the Reonian army. It took no time at all before they had completely dispatched the welcoming committee.
"This is strange," said Xand, once they had regrouped. "They clearly have us outnumbered. Why are more of them not attacking?"
"I'm not sure." Loren realised this was the first time he'd ever heard hesitation in Amy's voice. "All that comes to mind is that they genuinely don't want us dead, but why that might be, I have no idea…"
"Perhaps they'll speak to us," said Loren. "Maybe they will…"
"Milord! Are you seriously suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"
"We don't have much choice," replied Amy. "Standing here won't accomplish anything. We'll have to approach sooner or later. Better to do that now than wait until they do decide to attack."
"We'll go now, then," ordered Loren. He sheathed his sword and began walking towards the gallows, the Posayan Legion following close behind.
"Prince Loren!" Eleanor's voice was calm and authoritative as the prince neared the scaffold. "I am Eleanor, Sword General of the Reonian Empire and commander of this occupying army!"
"Enough with the pleasantries," replied Loren. "Your soldiers could have wiped us out by now. Why are we still alive?"
Eleanor sighed. "Believe it or not, Prince Loren, I'd sooner end this without any unnecessary bloodshed."
"You would kidnap my sister and then say those words to my face!? You're despicable!"
"I am a soldier. One who will do what is necessary that Emperor Renai may achieve his goals." She paused. "But I'm also a woman of my word. I abhor senseless violence."
"And I'm supposed to believe that?"
"I'll prove it to you. I trust that you're here because you received my message four days ago. I am willing to spare your sister, Prince Loren. Under one condition. If you give me the Fire Emblem, I will return your sister to you."
"The Fire Emblem…?" Loren hadn't forgotten about the medallion Lily had given him before he'd set out for Duke Jarrel's villa, but he was shocked to hear that Reon wanted it. He removed it from his cloak and held it in his hand.
"I trust you have it with you?"
Loren nodded. It was an easy decision. He didn't know anything about the Fire Emblem, besides the fact that it was a family heirloom. What was it for? How did one use it? If his father had given it to Lily for safe keeping, and she in turn had given it to him, then it must have been important. But nothing could be worth Lily's life.
"Very well. I'll give it to you."
"Loren, don't!"
"Lily?"
"Loren, the whole invasion has been for the express purpose of getting hold of the Fire Emblem! I may not know what it does, but… That medallion has swayed the ambition of Emperor Renai and the Reonian army! We cannot allow them to…" Lily didn't get to finish, as she was struck in the face by the riser of Vallis' bow. Her reaction wasn't quite a scream.
"That's quite enough out of you!" shouted the Reonian general.
"Hey!" shouted Loren. "What happened to not wanting unnecessary violence, you dastard?"
Vallis turned towards Loren, and chuckled. "Ah, you naïve child. Eleanor may believe that fool's philosophy, but you'll find me to be quite different."
"Who are you?"
"I am General Vallis, the Empire's one and only Bow General and the greatest of the Champions!"
Another of Reon's champions? thought Amy. This is bad. Even just one of them pits us against the strongest soldiers in the world. I wasn't expecting a second, too.
"Ronal." Because the Parolteans were far enough away from the scaffold, Amy was able to talk softly enough that the Reonians couldn't hear her, though she failed to realise that Vallis had noticed the suspicious movement of her lips. "In order to rescue Princess Lily, we have to strike now. I need you to distract the generals with some arrows."
Ronal nodded slightly, but before he could even reach for his bow, he looked up and saw that Vallis had already drawn his own, and was aiming it directly at the tactician.
"Something interesting to say, my dear?" laughed the general. "Come now, we wouldn't want these negotiations spoiled by your death, would we?"
Blast! cursed Amy inwardly. What can we do…?
"Prince Loren!" Eleanor spoke again. "I will ask you again. Give me the Fire Emblem, and you and your sister may leave this place with your lives. Refuse, and once we're done with her, you're next. Do not make the same mistake your father made."
"Father…? What happened to him? Tell me!"
"Your father was given this same choice," chuckled Vallis. "The Fire Emblem or his life. Needless to say, he chose wrong."
"Father… is dead? No! This can't be!" Loren was struck by grief, but knew that if he faltered now, he wouldn't be able to save Lily. That thought alone kept him together. The decision was easier than ever now.
"Loren, you can't!" cried Lily, as Loren began to step forward. She shouted to the gathered townspeople at the top of her lungs. "People of Parolt! Reon wants you to be afraid. They can use that fear to better control you… Do not give into it! Never forget that your true leader is out there fighting for you! Long live Prince Loren!"
At that moment, the decision ceased to be Loren's. Lily was adamant. In the back of his mind, Loren knew that what she was saying made sense. But he continued forward anyway. What was sense measured against the life of his sister?
Loren wasn't the only one who realised that Lily was going to make any further negotiations futile. Eleanor knew that she wouldn't let Loren give up the Fire Emblem, even if it cost her life. With that decision clear, Eleanor knew what she had to do.
The Reonian closed her eyes briefly as her hand fell to her sword. With a single, rapid motion, she pulled it from its sheath. I had truly hoped it would not come to this, she thought, but you leave me no choice.
At the moment Eleanor's blade tore through the Paroltean princess' chest, time slowed to a crawl. Loren fell to his knees, screaming. "Lily! LILY!" Grief overtook the prince, and his body refused to listen to any commands to move.
Different thoughts were running through the minds of everyone in Loren's army. The Parolteans among them were distraught at the loss of their princess, and the Ilanians, though not hit quite so hard, were touched by the noble sacrifice.
We've failed, thought Amy. We stepped into their trap, and now we're caught in the middle of it with nothing to show. The tactician was more used to seeing friends and allies die than the rest of them, but she was still hit hard.
There's no time to dwell on our failure, she thought. They're going to attack us next. Right now, this whole army needs a saviour. My job is far from over.
In the second it took for Lily's body to slump down, lifeless, onto the platform, Amy saw that Vallis had taken his aim off her, and was preparing to fire at Loren, who was at this moment in no position to dodge or defend himself. "Eld!" she called.
The mage nodded, and began to chant a spell. As the Reonian general loosed an arrow, Eld finished his chant, and slammed his tome shut. A gust of wind burst through the execution grounds, blowing Vallis' arrow off course.
"Grr!" Vallis was angry now. "Get them!" he commanded the Reonian soldiers present. "Go for the girl in the black tunic – she's the one directing them!" He grabbed another arrow from his quiver, and prepared to fire it at the strategist.
"Everyone! We have to fall back!" shouted Amy. We can't defeat Reon's champions in combat. We need to put as much distance between ourselves and them as possible.
However, retreating was going to prove a difficult endeavour. Still overcome by grief, Loren would not move. His thoughts were incoherent, and he was unable to respond even to the most natural instinct of self-preservation.
Another arrow fired. Amy jumped back in time to dodge what would have been a fatal blow, but was still grazed by the shot. She screamed in pain.
"Amy!" shouted Xand. "Are you alright?"
"Xand! We have to retreat. If Loren isn't going to move, you'll just have to pick him up and bring him with you. Hurry!"
The paladin nodded, and raced forward on his horse, lifting the prince off the ground and putting him of the back of this mount. He quickly raced back to join the others, who were now able to begin backing away from Eleanor and Vallis.
No sooner had Xand returned than the group was caught up to by a Reonian squadron, and an intense battle began. Metal clashed against metal, magic against magic. With Amy directing them, the Parolteans pushed back against their attackers, felling soldier after soldier, but it was plain to any observer that they weren't fighting at their best. Their enemies outnumbered them, and they each had to spend a fraction of their energy defending Loren, who was still motionless.
Eventually, Amy realised that if they were going to stand a chance, they needed Loren fighting again. "Loren!" she shouted at him. "Loren, please! There will be plenty of time to grieve when we're not under attack!"
Amy's words clearly weren't getting anywhere, and she knew she had to try something new. So she slapped him. Hard.
Loren recoiled in pain. "Oww!" he shouted. "That hurt!"
Amy cracked the briefest of smiles. It seemed she'd snapped him back to reality. "Loren, you have to keep fighting," she commanded. "It may seem hopeless, but we're not dead yet. I can get us out of this, but you have to trust me. And more importantly, you have to remain focused. Can you do that for me?"
"Amy. Thank you." Loren got to his feet and drew his sword, joining the fray. He slammed his weapon down against an enemy soldier's axe, pushing it away from its intended target, which happened to be Natalie. Loren then thrust his sword upwards, ending the life of his foe.
The battle raged on. Doran swung his lance in a broad arc, knocking three Reonians to their feet at once. Brandon swung his axe with enormous strength, pushing the Reonians back further. Though the Parolteans were barely making a dent in their foe's numbers, they were, slowly but surely, retreating.
Eleanor and Vallis were still up on the scaffold, but decided it was time to join in themselves, and began to approach. The Parolteans had just finished dispatching another wave of soldiers by the time they were halfway to them. The two generals could see tiredness, grief and fear in the eyes of each of them – all but the girl directing them.
"Give up!" shouted Vallis. "Can't you see you have no hope? You're outnumbered, and surrounded!"
"We can't stop fighting!" shouted Amy. "As long as there is breath in us, we won't give up!"
"Such a fool. You haven't even begun to see the might of the Reonian Empire yet!"
As Vallis spoke, the Parolteans gasped as hundreds of soldiers appeared. From the south, uncountable squadrons of mages appeared. Though their robes held the crest of Reon, the majority also had yellow sashes that identified their proficiency in thunder magic.
From the east, a huge number of foot soldiers, ranging from lightly armoured myrmidons to powerful knights, also appeared. The Parolteans' spirits sank as their foe's numbers shot up. The situation had seemed bad before, but not insurmountable. Now, all but the tactician looked at the battle with hopelessness.
"You don't falter, do you, my dear?" asked Vallis. "Can't you see that this is checkmate?"
In chess, thought Amy, as she noticed Vallis look expectantly to the north, both players can agree on victory and defeat because all available moves are known. I still have one last move to make…
Vallis had a reason to be looking to the north – any second, the Reonian cavalry stationed in the plains would arrive. He opened his ears to listen for the sound of approaching horses.
The sound never came. Instead, Vallis and Eleanor were shocked to hear an almighty roar, the unmistakeable sound of a wyvern.
"What the…" Vallis was stunned. "We didn't have any dracoknights stationed in the plains!"
He was even more surprised when Ray burst onto the scene, followed by several of his men. "Prince Loren!" shouted the Ilanian general. "Lady Amy!" He flew over to speak to the tactician. "You were right, Lady Amy. The plains were only lightly defended. The cavalry there were no match for my wyvern riders."
"Ilanian wyvern riders!?" gasped Vallis. "They came by the plains? But why? Tybran assured us they would take the mountains. Unless…" His gazed fixed on Amy. "Did that girl predict that we'd station thunder mages to take out the dracoknights?"
"We thought we had them trapped," said Eleanor. "It would seem we were tricked. They saw right through us."
Vallis was angrier than ever. "No matter!" he shouted. "We still outnumber them! Even with this turn of events, this battle will still end in a rout!"
As much as Vallis wanted to believe that, the evidence was against him. The arrival of Ray and his wyvern riders had turned the tide of the battle considerably. Not only did the Parolteans now have an avenue of escape, they had far more soldiers. The dragon riders kept away from the thunder mages, but their immense strength gave them the advantage against the Reonian infantry soldiers. Meanwhile, Loren and his troops engaged the mages, while Ronal and Eld provided covering fire to distract Vallis and prevent his arrows from hitting their mark.
Only one of the Parolteans was having a difficult time. By sheer bad luck, Brandon found himself face to face with Eleanor. Not only was his weapon poorly matched against hers, she was clearly much stronger than him. She knocked his axe out of his hand with a single cut, and prepared to thrust her blade at him.
She never got the chance. Lind, having recognised that his ally was in trouble, flew over to assist. As he came in the land, his pegasus was almost directly on top of the Reonian general, and kicked her out of the way. She'd be back up in just a moment, but it was enough for Lind to lift Brandon onto his pegasus and fly away.
With an opportunity now available to them, the Parolteans and Ilanians began to retreat. The non-mounted soldiers in Loren's army were each picked up by one of the Ilanian wyvern riders, who flew back to where they had entered the city from the northern plains. Their speed was superior to the Reonians', and they eventually managed to get out of range of attack.
"Curses! Don't let them get away!" shouted Vallis, angrier than ever. But it was clear that was impossible – their enemies were already much too far away.
Next time:
Loren and his army have just barely escaped with their lives, and return to Ilan, where Loren attempts to gain information about the Fire Emblem. Why would his sister give her life for the medallion? Loren has to know. But Treo notices his friend is in no state to do anything right now, and must prove it to him in order to help.
"Overwhelmed" is coming next.
