Chapter 7: Of Steel and Blood
The hooves of Astrid's mare pounded across the ground as she rode for the castle.
And Astrid tensed on her saddle as Gatrie tightened his arms around her waist.
She could hear him sniff through her hair. He tightened his grip even more, and whispered in her ear: "You're so soft..."
Astrid flushed bright red, but a look of extreme irritation began to stain her lovely face. "Gatrie! You are violating the Crimean military code of discipline! Article Three Section Six states that unwanted sexual contact of any kind cannot be tolerated between soldiers! Do you want to get court marshaled?"
Gatrie's eyes widened as she turned her head a little and gave him a death glare. He immediately let go of her.
"Wait, but then you'll..." She gasped slightly and reared her horse. Sure enough, Gatrie flew off her saddle and slammed against the ground.
She put her hands to her mouth. "Are you alright?"
"I guess I deserved that..." Gatrie snickered a little as he got up. Who would have thought that people like Jill would be a huge influence on sweet, innocent Astrid?
"At any rate, get on, but don't even think about doing anything funny, or I will report this to Soren." Astrid's eyes narrowed as she scooted a bit forward on her saddle.
Gatrie gulped. She deliberately said 'Soren,' didn't she? Astrid probably knew that Ike would be lenient, but Soren, who already considered Gatrie a nuisance, would probably make him do days of back breaking labor just to give him something to do instead of chase after women.
Then again, that was assuming they'd survive the legion of dragons that were meandering towards the castle. (1.)
Mist knew her mare could only take so much weight before it got exhausted. Ike was rather heavy, but he was her brother and the commander of his army, so she tried to convince her horse to bear him along with her.
With Florette and Ettard at the ready, Mist and Ike's eyes scanned the fields as her horse continued to gallop along.
Ike winced as he saw a squad of fleeing Crimean troops get torn to pieces by six swift ravens.
"For Melior!" He heard two or three voices yell out, and though one raven finally plummeted to the ground those remaining soldiers screamed their last. Mist couldn't bear to watch as Ike shivered behind her. Despite being a commander and watching so many soldiers die, Ike was not one to stand unmoved at the death of his men.
With a mumble, Ike wondered if men not far from here had yelled "For Nevassa!" before facing the Confederacy's finest and screaming their last.
Looking to the sky, he saw more ravens descending upon Crimea's fields.
"Ike, snap out of it!" Mist yelled as she pulled her reigns and forced her horse to dive forward.
Ike shook his head. She was right. Melior had fallen once, yet the Crimean army's resolve lived on. Daein's people were likely the same. The honor and glory that the Daein army cherished so much was far from dead... He had to believe that...
They ran close together, and could feel each other's body heat. The only sound both could hear was their combined panting.
"Soren... It seems that the ravens are deliberately ignoring us and going for our other foot soldiers who are unable to reach the castle quickly..." Lucia observed grimly.
"They are not fools, I'll give them that. However I don't think it's safe or smart for us to risk ourselves saving a squad or two..." He muttered.
"How can you say that?!" She gasped, appalled at his cruelty.
"I can because we must focus on our principles. Crimea cannot afford to save every soldier on the field. To rescue one warrior and lose five is something we cannot do. We are in dire straights. If you haven't realized it already, the reason why the Confederacy can throw so many soldiers at us is because they outnumber us extremely. Gallia cannot come to our aid, and neither can Phoenicis, as they are tied up in battle with Confederate troops at this moment. They have Daein, Kilvas, Goldoa, and the already vast resources and population of the former Begnion Empire itself. The odds are strictly not in our favor. It would be a fool's move to make the odds even better for them. The people of Daein were fools for not rising against Ashnard when Tor Garen fell, but we will not follow their mistake."
"Then wouldn't it be even more foolish to let our numbers whittle away more and more while theirs merely increase? Daein under Ashnard had no concern for their soldier's lives, and do you want Crimea to be the same, Soren? We are not asking untrained troops to rescue these men. If that was the case then you'd be more than right; those soldiers would die and few, if anyone, would be saved. We are veterans who have fought long and hard in Crimea's service, and if we're going to save some unfortunate comrades from those raven's talons, then we're more likely to succeed than anyone." And with that, she sprinted off towards the Crimean soldiers who were making frantic stabs in the air to try to bring their raven attackers down.
"If we fall, Crimea is crippled... If those brave soldiers fall, Crimea will be shorter on men, but it can still fight on... Oh, well, if we call ourselves 'noble' then we'll have to keep our word. Very well. I guess she's right" Soren sighed as he ran to join her.
Lucia leapt in mid-air, and with one slash hacked away at a raven's neck, sending the treacherous laguz plummeting down to his death.
The fellow ravens cawed in surprise and broke formation, getting as far away from Lucia as possible.
"Lady Lucia!" The squad of soldiers called out, shocked that she'd personally come to rescue them.
"What are you gaping at? Hurry! Head for the castle, now!" Lucia ordered hastily.
"Yes, ma'am!" They bowed and ran.
Soren came running beside her. "So you succeeded..." He spoke.
"See? What did I tell you?" She smiled a little as she turned and started sprinting for the castle along with the rest of the troops.
"Don't leave me behind!" Soren groaned as he quickened his pace after her.
Shinon smiled as the fiftieth raven he feathered slammed against the ground.
"Stupid subs... Think you're so tough, huh? Well, how do you feel getting feathered? You should be honored, for it's the pro of snipers, Shinon, who took out your pathetic hide!" He laughed as he looked around.
Raven corpses littered the field, each with one of Shinon's trademark arrows (the feathers were red like his hair) stabbed deep in their guts. He stroked his bow as he started to walk around. "I should probably regroup with the rest of them... Tsk, I guess they run faster than I thought."
He continued to confidently stroll towards the castle when he heard a deep breathing from behind him. A shadow loomed over the sniper, and as he gave a nonchalant glance he staggered back with a start.
A Goldoan white dragon glared down upon the sniper, and snorted. "Human, you seem to be quite adept at your profession, but I've never heard of a sniper who could take down a dragon alone!" The laguz growled as he raised his head.
Shinon smiled as he raised his bow. "You'll be a nice prize to feather."
"Ike! You've made it!" Oscar gasped as Mist rode into the castle gates.
"How many of our warriors have arrived?" Ike spoke sternly.
"The majority are safe here... It even looks like many of the camp's foot soldiers have made it... The problem is that some of them have reported that Lucia and other veterans of ours helped hold off the ravens as they fled here. Neither Soren nor Shinon nor Lucia have returned..." Oscar replied.
"That's... That's horrible... All three of them... We can't lose them..." Mist mumbled and shook.
"Someone will have to head out to rescue them..." Ike raised Ettard. "And among us Commanders, either Geoffrey or I must go... And Geoffrey can watch over our position in my place. I can't leave any of them out there."
"As an honorable Knight of Crimea, I cannot abandon the Lady Lucia. I shall accompany you and serve my country accordingly." Kieran raised his axe.
"I will go as well. There are too many ravens in the area and without a bowman we might get ambushed easily..." Astrid held her bow tightly as she stepped towards the entrance.
"Astrid... Ike, I'll tag along." Oscar held his lance.
"If you four plan to head out like this, then you must be going mad. With only two riders who can carry passengers, you'll have to depend on either Ike traveling on foot or one of our comrades having to sprint their way back. I'll come with you, since that'll allow everyone to make it back on a mount." Titania hissed worriedly.
"Then it shall be you five only. If we send any more, the enemy will take advantage of your absence. Good luck, though I'm pretty sure you won't need it." Geoffrey nodded as they set out..
"We still have some time before the dragons make it to the castle... And I don't plan on wasting any ravens. Even though they're sub-humans, they make for great air support." Rolan yawned as the Begnion army closed in on Delbray.
"General, permission to speak freely, sir... But you are so nonchalant..." A Begnion warrior noted.
"Heh. Why shouldn't I be? We have more than a hundred dragons available for this particular siege. If they can take down a hundred of Goldoa's finest, then they have to be gods. Our victory is assured." He replied with a smile.
At that moment, another soldier on the field snapped to attention before the General. His shirt sleeve bore the insignia given to those who earn the rank of Corporal.
"Sir... The enemy seems divided. A few seemingly veteran troops have been taking down several of our squads, while the vast majority of their forces are holed up in Castle Delbray. Killing off those veterans would reduce enemy morale, since their army consists mostly of a few longtime veterans and many new recruits who have received little to no training." He reported.
"Interesting. The enemy commanders are Generals Ike and Geoffrey, no? They must be cocky fools. It's a sloppy job, to leave one's veterans far from the main army. We'll take them out easily enough." Rolan smirked as he ordered a company of soldiers to close in on Soren and Lucia.
The couple found themselves standing back to back.
"So many of them... Hmn... I guess they really do love the Ocean formation." Soren smiled.
"Why do you look so merry? We're surrounded, Soren, wake up!" She hissed at him.
"Lucia... Don't be so uptight. Untrained troops such as these are not difficult opponents by any means."
"Even so, you can't get too smug and careless." Lucia spoke as she sprang forward and hacked down three men with a few strokes of her blade.
"That goes without saying..." Soren raised his hand, and a massive tornado threw dozens of Confederate troops far into the distance.
Though several of their men had fallen already, the Confederate soldiers continued to attack, and, thus, the couple continued their gruesome handiwork.
Lucia hopped among her enemy's spears, cutting down an enemy soldier with each strike. A squad of these fools was simply target practice for her, and it didn't take her long to take out a platoon of these numskulls. By the time her Confederate foes realized what was going on, half of their company was sprawled on the ground, either dead or practically dead, as Soren and Lucia advanced upon them.
They shook in their boots with fear in their eyes, and Soren, noting their fear, waved at Lucia to step back beside him instead of striking. "Miserable wretches, are you willing to inform your commander that your 'glorious' Confederate army can't even serve as an entertaining opponent for two of Crimea's veterans, or will we have to convince you that despite your numbers you are badly outgunned?"
A Confederate corporal began to shiver more violently than the others. "N... No, sir... Everyone, let's get the hell out of here!" And with that those troops began to run.
Soren couldn't help but laugh as half a company of the Confederacy's "finest" soldiers fled for their dear lives, fatally terrified of a mere two Crimean warriors.
Lucia shook her head. "If those were Crimean soldiers, then Geoffrey, despite himself, would definitely give them a good flogging."
"Well, with fools like Rolan in charge, you can't really blame them for having so little faith..." He chuckled.
For the first time ever, a single phrase began to loop in Shinon's mind.
"Oh, shit..."
For anyone to take on a dragon alone was foolhardy. Even if a dedicated thunder mage like Ilyana was handed Thoron and ordered to take down a dragon by herself, the outcome would most certainly be in the dragon's favor. Dragons were powerful foes, and though thunder magic could slither under their scales and fry the flesh within, there was enough flesh for the dragon to stay alive and be able to counterattack with that devastating fiery breath.
Rexbolt was out of the question. None of their sages owned one, and with Soren being the only carrier of Thoron and with Bastian having only a couple of Boltings (but with no mages with whom he could share those devastating tomes), there was no one who could give Shinon adequate fire support as he sprinted away from that beam of destruction. (2.)
The ground shook.
The fields burned.
The warriors ran.
And despite the efforts of their foes, the dragons easily surrounded the castle.
"Ike, Titania, and the others have not returned..." Geoffrey gripped tightly onto his brave lance. "Without Kieran how will the Crimean army maintain their resolve?" He muttered.
"Geoffrey, dost thou feel hopeless and forlorn?" Bastian blinked as he stepped beside the younger knight.
"Um, no, Bastian... Why would I feel forlorn? Kieran might be an important comrade of ours, but if Titania and Ike are with him then I'm pretty sure that he's far from dead... However this must mean that the enemy has ambushed them and they'll take a while to get back to us... I can only hope we can hold our own against these dragons, for though Ike is quite powerful he cannot face four dragons on his own." Geoffrey muttered.
Bastian smiled knowingly. "Art thou bothered by Elincia and Ike?"
Geoffrey turned red. "No... Of course not... Bastian, my good man, what the heck are you saying?"
Bastian chuckled. "Thou mustn't be embarrassed, Geoffrey."
Geoffrey groaned. No wonder why Lucia would always try to sneak out of the room whenever Bastian entered. "Bastian, I am currently making a plan for this dire situation... Could you get back onto the observation post and fry a few more Dragons with Bolting to help even our numbers?"
"Dost thou not need my tactical brilliance?"
"Erm, not now. I think I can manage just fine."
"Very well. I shall force these dragons to flee back to their dens."
"Yeah... You do that..."
He raised his hand, and a stream of thunderbolts struck a small dragon, swiftly downing the mighty laguz.
"The red dragons seem to be less powerful in general, while the white dragons are devastating and act as leaders... It would be great if we could take down every single white one and thus rout those lesser reds, however they simply are too powerful..." Soren muttered bitterly.
"Hmph.." Lucia scoffed. "A pity killing edges aren't as effective in tearing through a dragon's hide... The sons of Goldoa truly live up to their reputation..."
However, she suddenly stopped talking and gasped. "Wait... Soren, I see something in the distance..." Lucia squinted her eyes for a better look as a flash of red flew to their right. In a matter of seconds, they spotted huge white dragon lumbering after it.
Soren narrowed his eyes as well, and sneered. "Well, well. It's Shinon. Looks like he isn't as powerful as he'd like us to believe."
"Soren..." Lucia murmured, giving him a concerned glance.
"Say no more." He waved his hand, and pulled out his Thoron tome from his robes. "Lucia, on my signal, rush towards the dragon with that silver sword of yours... Aim for the head, and slam the blade into its skull as deeply as you can, then get out of the way."
It took only two seconds for Lucia to smile and nod knowingly, and she immediately sprinted towards the formidable laguz.
Soren flipped through the tome, and began to mutter an incantation.
Seconds later, twelve thunderbolts slammed into the giant dragon from twelve different directions, forming a ring around the fierce Goldoan.
Thus stunned, the dragon could not react in time as Lucia leapt into the air.
With amazing speed and dexterity, she flew at the dragon from below and landed successfully on its nose. Raising her silver sword, she plunged it into the dragon's head, and quickly jumped off.
With an enraged roar, the dragon turned and blasted the girl with its fiery breath.
Lucia howled in pain as she hit the ground...
Soren yelled angrily and raised his arms, and, once again, the thunderbolts flew towards the dragon, but converged on the sword itself, blasting countless volts into its thick skull.
The mighty Goldoan gave a final roar before falling to the ground. "Damn you..." It cursed meekly before its eyes finally closed shut.
Soren sprinted to Lucia's side and activated his Mend staff. "I'm... I'm so sorry..." She heard him whimper. "Again, I didn't think..."
Lucia shook her head weakly with a faint smile. "It... Was my fault... I was careless enough not to move more swiftly. A dragon's breath is not difficult to avoid, even in midair, for it takes a few seconds for the dragon to gather the flames in its mouth and fire. By then one should be able to dodge, especially someone who's used to evading attacks like me..."
"Lucia..." He whimpered again as he focused more energy into the stave. (3.)
Shinon walked up to them. "Heh, failed to think critically again, eh?"
The piercing glares he got from the couple immediately made him change his stance.
"Oh... Oh, right... Er, thanks... A dragon's scales are surprisingly hard to feather. I guess I got careless too." Shinon smiled slightly.
Soren only nodded and continued to heal Lucia.
"Yeah. I owe you one, whelp." Shinon nodded. "And can I help? You're taking forever to heal her. If these subs are going to ambush us, then we can't afford to waste too much time stuck in one position. C'mon, let me help..." And as he spoke Shinon took out a vulnerary and approached the pair.
"This many casualties... Commander, the only notable force we have on the field is our Goldoan fire support... Our elite soldiers have been hacked to pieces by the enemy's blades... Our raven air support has retreated under heavy enemy fire. Our rear guard has..." The Begnion lieutenant stopped his report when screams of pain began to fill the air around the Confederacy's central encampment.
"What's going on?" Rolan growled.
"Daein slaves have broken through our rear guard! We need fire support! Get someone over here now!" Rolan heard voices shout from nearby.
Rolan raised his axe. "Who dares face the great Axe General of the Confederacy? Are any of you fools so blind?"
Suddenly a short spear came flying and struck Rolan in the shoulder, and as the commander staggered back a warrior in white armor appeared before him.
"Has it ever occurred to you that you might be the one who is blind, Sir Rolan of Begnion?" Tauroneo smiled as he began to twirl the Wishblade. (4.)
"General Geoffrey! Tis a merry day for us! We've spotted Daein troops engaging the enemy to the far east... The enemy's rear guard has been compromised, and with that their supply train has been cut off! Delbray shall be in our hands!" Bastian yelled from the watchtower.
"Daein soldiers attacking Begnion? What's going on?" Geoffrey wondered aloud.
"Brothers! Spread out! Back up the Crimean army!" Jill yelled as Daein's legendary wyvern knights split the skulls of many Begnion calvary riders from various directions.
"Commander Richardson was right... The slaves have more connections than we ever thought possible. All units, cut a path to the south! We must reach Fort Telgum! There is nothing left for us here." A Begnion lieutenant, like the faceless men whom he commanded, was forced to yell those painful words aloud. These warriors, these champions were supposed to represent the massive, invincible Confederacy.
Yet, here, in the town of Delbray, they attacked thrice and were defeated thrice. The Crimean slaves, who had turned their back on the glorious Empire, had defeated them... And now their Daein counterparts had come to help humiliate these Confederate troops even further.
Why? Why did they lose? How could they lose? These were questions that a simple officer like him could not ask. The great Minister Lekain knew all... He had a glorious plan, and perhaps a part of this plan was to give their enemy a false sense of security. He had to believe that, for there was nothing else a faceless officer could believe. A faceless officer like him had no right to question those who had earned enough merit to add a face to their name. (5.)
"Looks like those Begnion fools are fleeing. General, shall we pursue them?" Zihark turned to Tauroneo as the latter wiped the blood off his lance.
"It depends. What has General Geoffrey been doing?"
"It seems he's decided to hold his position."
"Then lower your weapons and approach the fortress. We need to talk, and if we're not distracted with those Begnion fools, than our talk will be more smooth and there'll be less interruptions."
Soren, Lucia, and Shinon crossed their arms as Oscar, Kieran, Titania, and Astrid came riding in, with Ike jumping off of Astrid's saddle.
"You three alright?" Ike spoke.
"Took you long enough, runt." Shinon scoffed.
"We're fine, Ike." Lucia nodded.
"There's no need for any of you to worry." Soren added with a shake of his head.
"As honorable knights of Crimea, we should return to base, then. It seems that our foes have been forced to retreat. Even the mighty dragons have decided to cease their fire and flee over the mountains. To think that the knights of Daein would come help us. I... I can hardly fathom such an occurrence." Kieran mused aloud.
Oscar shrugged his shoulders. "Friends and foes can change with the tide. Anyways, get on a steed, each of you, and we can get back to the fortress."
The three shrugged and did as they were told, with all eight veterans returning home.
1. I should have done this earlier, but I guess I should explain what I mean by 'Squad,' 'Platoon,' 'Company,' 'Battalion,' and 'Legion.'
Squad: On average, a group of 5 men/soldiers. Can be up to 10 men (a small Platoon) if the leader has gathered enough survivors from other broken squads. (Men is a general term for available soldiers, mind you.)
Platoon: Typically 15 to 20 troops, but, again, it depends.
Company: Made of several platoons. Typically consists of 100 soldiers.
Regiment: 500 to 1000 troops.
Battalion: Can be comprised of up to 3000 soldiers, or something along those lines... To avoid confusion and often panic, a battalion is defined as an army that is about a quarter of the size of a legion.
Legion: 10,000 soldiers.
2. IMMA CHARGIN' MAH... (Is shot repeatedly...)
But honestly, with the dragon's animation you probably saw that coming. :P
3. Soren whining is deliberate, just to let you know. He's no perfect or fixed person and I have no intention of making him one.
4. I'm well aware that the Wishblade is a ranged/melee weapon, but I find it theoretically more awesome when it is slammed into an enemy's skull at close combat rather than thrown. Besides, if Tauroneo already has a short spear, why would he want to waste Wishblade on prey that could be incapacitated with that other ranged lance?
5. In the army, there are quite a few who call themselves veterans, yet few remember them... If you've watched Forest Gump, well, Lieutenant Dan is an example, in a way.