Chapter 4: Fear

Flames swept through the towering forests of east Gallia as Begnion's army marched through this former haven.

As the beast laguz fled from the scorching heat, Caineghis sighed as he wondered how his nation could turn out like this...

How long had it been now? 500 years? One thousand? In laguz terms victory was not so long ago, a mere eight or nine generations it seemed.

Yet no matter how many generations were able to avoid the flood, eventually it came crashing once more. Begnion had overcome the great Fort Susa, and was heading for Capital Zarzi. Thousands of Gallia's finest were trying to stop them, but Ranulf and Skimir's claws could not rake against enough armors to ensure victory... There were too many morsels to chew on; too many well-armed prey. Even without warriors like Zelgius or Levail, Begnion could still prevail...

The winds howled as another muscular ruffian was thrown into the depths of the forest.

"See, Soren? There wasn't any point in getting worried. We were able to take down these fools easily enough, right?" Ike laughed as the scattered bandit survivors fled for their lives.

The black-haired mage sighed as he brushed his Tornado tome clean. "Despite the fact that we won today, you should not let the joy of victory distract you from the truth. We cannot afford to let bandits such as these waste our time."

"Geez, Soren, lighten up a little." Boyd sighed. "We kicked their arses, isn't that enough?"

"For a few moments, that might be enough, but when we consider what we must go through, then 'kicking their arses,' as you have so eloquently put it, means little. The enemy will not always be a bunch of reckless fools. Yes, we may come across incompetent commanders who were given their rank because of wealth or class, but Begnion has quite a few accomplished veteran officers who could wipe us all out if they tried. You should be far more serious, Boyd. That carefree attitude of yours will lead to your death." Soren replied matter-of-factly.

Shinon hissed. "Whelp. Wordy little rat. You use those big words all the time, to make it look like you're some bigshot scholar, when in reality you're nothing but a smelly son of a bitch. Boyd's an idiot, yeah, but you're just a little bookworm who loves to throw dirt, that's all."

Soren raised an eyebrow. "To question one's superior is a good thing to do, Shinon. It allows Commanders to think about the purpose of their actions, and shows that their troops aren't mindless zombies. Yet, to question every word that comes out of a superior's mouth is counter-productive; it only leads to uncertainty, indecisiveness, inefficiency, and, as you can imagine, death. You do far too much of the latter and thus you negate whatever benefits you brought by upholding the former, and for that I find you much too irritating to be a responsible veteran."

Shinon scoffed. "Yeah, yeah, complain all you want. You only help tick people off in the end, but you knew that, didn't you?" He sneered. "You just enjoy being such a jackass because we all trust you when it's said and done. I think we should start changing things a bit..."

Soren was about to open his mouth once again, when Titania decided to intervene.

"This is not the time for us to act like children, Shinon and Soren. We must continue our united efforts, or we will all perish. I should hope that Commander Greil did not put his faith in two immature fools."

Soren bowed. "Forgive me, General Titania."

Shinon scoffed. "Fine, fine. We'll let this whelp get us all killed." A series of harsh glances from the others, however, convinced him to stay silent.

"What treachery is this? Hath the heavens abandoned sweet Crimea?" Bastian gasped as he stood on the battlements of Delbray. Before him, a horrendous sight began to overtake the land as far as his eyes could see...

A sea of red marched across the plains. They moved forward with stoic expressions as their commander yelled from behind: "Begnion will triumph! You Crimean dogs have been unleashed for far too long! Now it is time to impound your pathetic hides and force you to repent for your sins!"

Lucia scoffed. "They growl and howl, but in the end these wolves are easily tamed."

Geoffrey gulped. His sister must have been the brave one of the family, he decided, for today he was quite intimidated by his foe's sheer numbers. Even when Daein was his opponent, the size of their army wasn't even a third of what he was facing now.

Lucia raised her armorslayer, and, turning to Geoffrey, she spoke. "Brother, bring a heavy spear. Today, we'll teach these armored foes that there are weaknesses to even the toughest and thickest of walls."

As brother and sister rushed out of the castle, Kieran urged his horse to trot up to the castle's entrance, then, turning behind him, he yelled: "Archers, snipers, get into formation behind each parapet and be always prepared to fire at will. The enemy is numerous, and we are few, so we'll have to be most efficient in our strikes. Lucia and Bastian will strike the enemy beyond the safety of those walls, but even without them I expect you troops to exercise good judgment. Crush any Begnion warrior who dares to enter your range for Crimea!"

And with that, he quickly rode off with a hammer to join Geoffrey and the rest of their calvary battalions.

With Astrid and Kieran by their sides, Geoffrey, Lucia, and Bastian knew that these Begnion troops, though quite well trained, would not be so crushing an enemy, as long as they weren't carrying weapons designed for calvary... Each of them, save Bastian, could retreat swiftly if need be, and since Delbray province was covered by a vast plain and grassland, their calvary would not get hindered by the terrain. But even Bastian was safe on the Astrid's saddle, for that knight was experienced enough to know how to keep her passenger safe without risk to herself. (1.)

And thus both armies arranged themselves. Crimea's finest took their positions in front of their castle, on the elevated terrain, fully prepared to strike their lower foes. At the same time, Begnion's armored divisions prepared themselves to march forward like a sea, unrelenting even when they bashed iron and steel against their foes... (2.)

With each rider carrying a bow or some sort of throwing weapon, Geoffrey smirked. This battle would not be so difficult, as long as the enemy stayed on the lowlands...

"Make them pay for their sins!" The Begnion commander roared as his troops ran quickly to the side. In this maneuver, it looked like they were trying to outflank the Crimean army, striking with artillery and archer divisions from the front while hitting them hard with infantry and whatever calvary they had from the side. Unfortunately for them, the Crimean army was not a band of amateurs.

"Gah!" A Begnion halberdier yelled as an arrow lodged itself in his forehead. The entire Begnion left wing of attacking troops was met by a swarm of arrows. Crimea's mounted archers streaked back and forth, and each twang of their bows led to another Begnion soldier receiving a headshot. Before their counterparts could retalitate, however, the Crmean troops darted out of range.

Soon enough, squads of horses fled the field. Their riders, unfortunately, were merely corpses clinging on to those poor animal's bodies.

More and more Begnion dead littered the grass, and yet the Begnion commander insisted on continuing the siege. "They are a strong bunch, these foes, but we are the warriors of Begnion! We are far more powerful than they can ever hope to be! The Confederacy shall triumph over these wise foes. And we should be happy that these Crimeans are not idiots. After all, hunting stupid prey is no fun." With that said, the Begnion warriors increased the ferocity and the tenacity of their attacks, to Geoffrey's chagrin.

"They may have taken casualties, but so have we. Even if we lose one for every four of theirs, we'll still be overrun by them in the end. Geoffrey, we should fall back and assume a more defensive position... Get some of the archers inside the castle to join us on the field as fire support, or something along those lines... We have too few troops on the field as it is." Lucia shook his arm frantically.

"Where are our reinforcements?" Geoffrey moaned. "We won't be able to hold out much longer without any..."

"Sweet Delbray has been abandoned! Oh how misfortune are we, to be unable to flee, from this field of woe, oh, if only it would snow." Bastian began to prance about, trying to make rhymes from whatever first entered his mind.

"And how would snow help us now, may I ask?" Lucia crossed her arms.

"There is no time to bicker, milady. As honorable knights of Crimea we must find a way to defeat our foes and stay alive..." Kieran spoke.

"If only we had more mages... Magic could easily blast the thick armor our foes have..." Astrid mumbled. "Arrows simply do not suffice."

"Mages..." Lucia mumbled, staring at the prancing Bastian. "If only Soren were here..."

"Ike!" Mist ran into the barracks where Ike, Boyd, and the other 'fighters' of the Greil Mercenaries typically trained.

"What is it?" Ike asked as he held Ettard an inch above Boyd's head.

"A messenger from Capital Melior has arrived! Elincia needs our help."

"Really? Mist, go tell Titania and Soren the news. Once they know, then we can make payment plans and move out."

"Definitely." And with that the girl sprinted off... With Boyd staring at her the entire time.

Ike, Titania, Soren, and Oscar, the four commanding officers of the Greil Mercenaries, sat within the Fort's war room. Of course, this meant that on the circular wooden table in the center of the room, a map of Tellius sat, along with several small, painted wooden flags that represented the armies of the many nations of Tellius, with each nation painted in a specific color. This allowed Soren and the others to demonstrate what was going on in the outside world when it came to conquests and battles.

Based on the messenger's report, Delbray was under attack by Begnion troops, and apparently Daein seemed to have let Begnion march through their borders. Since Daein had been badly wounded as a nation since the Mad King's War, it did not seem so unlikely that King Pelleas would give Begnion the right to march through his territory, as long as Begnion didn't cause much trouble or take that many resources...

However, the report also spoke of a 'Confederacy' of sorts, and mentioned seeing several enemy snipers using Daein stances as they fired and utilizing the tactics of that snowy region to inch forward towards the Crimean lines.

"Why would Daein be helping Begnion in this war? Pelleas wouldn't let Daein mercenaries work by themselves because if they were hired by a faction that wished to destroy Daein, Pelleas would be finished... But these Daein-trained snipers are fighting for Begnion! Something's not right. Ike, we should assist Queen Elincia in lifting the siege of Delbray. That way, we'll have a chance at capturing one of these snipers and interrogating 'em, along with the increased ability to contact General Tauroneo. If he can tell us what's going on, then we might find a way to keep the situation from getting any worse." Soren spoke.

"I agree with Soren. Furthermore, as Crimeans, it is our duty to help our nation at all costs. Delbray is a critical stronghold, and as we saw with Geoffrey's leadership back when we were liberating Crimea, Delbray has never fallen to the enemy. Of all times, we cannot let that happen now. Let's go." Titania clenched her hand into a fist and raised it in front of them with a smirk.

"Well, Ike, let's gather the men. I guess these two have already made up our minds for us." Oscar shrugged.

"Alright then. Soren, get everyone to pack their bags and get ready. We're moving out!" Ike nodded, standing up from his seat.

"My lord Ike, it's a blessing to have you here!" Elincia smiled as the Greil Mercenaries entered the royal palace.

"I'm glad you think so. However, when our friends are dying afar, greetings can be exchanged later. Have you any news from Delbray?" Soren spoke before Ike could open his mouth.

Elincia was stunned, but quickly recovered. "I haven't received word from Geoffrey at all... Even if Bastian, Lucia, Astrid, and Kieran were with him, I fear something might have happened..."

"It can't be... Geoffrey's one of Crimea's finest, and Kieran would never let an enemy get the better of him..." Oscar mumbled.

"Heh, guess that goes to show that reputation doesn't make you skillful on the battlefield." Shinon scoffed softly.

"We must go to Delbray's aid..." Titania began, and Elincia nodded.

"Yes. And, as always, I give you all the thanks I can give, and I will send as many reinforcements and escorts as you'll need... It's taken a while, but the bulk of my troops, who were in training in the fields south of here, were finally able to arrive. Once they're rested, you can all head out..." Her majesty smiled.

"That would not be necessary. Ike, we're heading out now. If we've lost contact with Geoffrey, we can only assume the worst, and that would mean that we'd have to retake Delbray. It is a location far too critical to allow it to remain in enemy hands. All of you, repack your bags. We're going to go out first. Milday, I ask that once your troops are fully rested, you send them after us as reinforcements. I believe we're going to need them very soon." Soren spoke up.

"Very... Very well... May Ashera be with you."

"I think we'll need more than Ashera to win this fight, but thank you." Soren nodded, urging the others along as they left the palace's east gate.

And as the Greil Mercenaries moved out to the east, towards Castle Delbray, storm clouds filled the horizon. Sooner or later Crimea's finest tactician would get his answers. The question was, how would he be able to save his comrades from this new fiend's jaws?

1. How else do you explain the skill "Savior?"

2. Ever play real-time strategy games, like Starcraft? Well... Let's say you have a situation where your troops do a mediocre amount of damage, but are quite swift, like the Vulture unit from Starcraft. Therefore, they are adept at hit and run tactics; in the sense that they pelt the enemy with shots again and again, while running back to avoid retaliation. This tactic can help take out quite a few of your foes, which might even your numbers a bit... Or, at the very least, you'll be able to do some damage before you can get reinforcements (or, in Crimea's particular case at the moment, simply do enough damage to terrorize your foes...)