Chapter 26: Charging through the Inferno

Valtome gulped.

Bands of enemy soldiers were moving frantically before his gates, as though they were urging him to come out.

His soldiers reported seeing Coalition troops in front of every opening, save the eastern gate.

It was as if Soren was taunting him into fleeing for dear life to Seliora or even Gaddos.

But, as one could imagine, the road to "safety" was marked with dozens of shock troops, with Lucia guiding them. Soren wanted her to be in the safest part of his vast formation while still being able to attack enemy forces. If any foe was stupid enough to try to run, Lucia would be ready for them.

Valtome turned to the highest ranking officer within the fortress: the Silver Knight Goldsberry, and ordered: "Hold this position. I'll return with reinforcements." With that, he twirled a warp stave and disappeared.

Goldsberry gulped. He knew what that meant. Valtome was sacrificing Telgam and Lekain's dream to save his own skin. He was a dead knight, fighting for a dead banner. The dream they all had for Begnion had finally become a nightmare.

Soren turned to Zelgius. "General. I ask that you be the first to break through the enemy defenses here from the west. I will come down at them from the north, and with Tibarn attacking from the south our triple assault should be more than enough to make them flee. Lucia will pounce on the evacuees, and this battle will be over."

"I can only hope it will end so easily, Soren. You do have a growing reputation for being too cocky."

Soren smirked. "You worry too much. Go on, and retake this position for Begnion."

And with that Soren scurried off to his own designated unit.

As the Coalition pounded into his gate, too frantic to starve his men out, Goldsberry was just about ready to take his own life.

"Men, we've had too many of our comrades die in this war. It's a shame that we were born at a time where Begnion becomes a warmongering wreck that insists on sacrificing every last one of her warriors. If the Coalition will not let us surrender, then we should retain our own honor in death. Raise your blades, and let us ascend to see Ashera together!"

And with that the other soldiers began raising their blades, and Goldsberry, realizing that he may have actually found his chance out of this catastrophe, slit his own throat, but as he died he realized that his men, in those critical moments, did not move at all.

The moment their commander lay dead, a Sentinel rose and addressed the army.

"Now that the coward is gone, we can proceed. All units, the enemy will try to break in through three separate entry points. It's obvious that with our numbers we could hold them off, but these are not simple foes who can be overwhelmed with numbers alone. Instead, we should give them our own trap. From the walls we'll have archers rain arrows down on them, to give the appearance of a struggle.

"As they "break" into what seemed to be a hardened door, they'll find an empty path ahead of them. We will let them lure themselves in further, and once enough of their units enter the fort we'll close all the gates upon them and have our men come forth from every direction. At that point they'll be too panicked to react properly and we'll be victorious. It might be an old, common strategy, but with our enemy so audacious they're probably too proud to even think of it as an option for us." He raised his spear and hollered.

The men raised their weapons and cheered along.

Dalia felt that the uproar from within the enemy fortress was rather suspicious, so she motioned for Titania to come over.

"It sounds like the enemy commander has just made some sort of speech. If you consider their best move, it would seem that they'd want to lure us in and ensnare us within the city walls. Since we're pressed for time, they're likely predicting that we'd try to overwhelm their defenses, which is exactly what Soren plans to do.

"With that, I have an idea. Their forces are covered with archers, but a full guard armor piece allows a flying unit to become immune to arrows. So, the moment Soren's plan is in effect, let's have Haar carry General Zelgius towards a gatepost on the enemy battlements. Their archers will do nothing to Haar with the full guard equipped, and thus General Zelgius can capture a gate for us with Haar's assistance.

"If the enemy tries to ensnare us, we'll still have a gate from which reinforcements can pour in. They know that we control a gate, so the enemy will realize that their plan has failed. When they flee to the east, we can thus destroy them."

"You're acting on assumptions, but worst comes to worst we would have a gate in our hands. It's doubtless that General Zelgius will seize control of the gate if that is his personal mission, so I think it's a fine proposal." Titania stroked her chin.

"I'm glad you think so. I'll relay that to Zelgius immediately." Dalia nodded.

Unexpectedly, the north gate fell with relatively little ground resistance. The arrows and spells that flew down from the battlements could be shrugged off by Soren and his veterans, so Soren eagerly rushed in with the rest of his men. With Ike to his left, and Kieran to his right, the strategist felt quite secure in his position. Elincia was technically the commander of this unit, and because of that he had Geoffrey's strength to rely on as well. Those three beorc knights alone could wipe out an entire legion of veteran soldiers, let alone the rabble that still held Telgam. (1.)

But what Soren did not expect was the lack of enemy troops meeting him upon his army's invasion, and he did not anticipate the gate closing behind him, thus cutting him off. Considering the speed of this move, the enemy had planned this from the start and had probably done so to the other units.

Soren cursed himself for lacking that foresight yet again, but turned to his men and cried: "They can bar our way out, but that will only make it impossible for them to escape! The enemy commander is finished, for with this move he's guided our blades to his throat!"

"My lord! Senator Valtome disappeared from Fortress Telgam! The fortress has just come under siege by enemy forces! They're making requests for several legions of reinforcements!"

"Fair enough, Numida. Get out of my sight." Lekain shooed the 'subordinate' Senator away.

"Am I a doomed man? Was my dream destined to fail? If I send troops to guard Telgam now, I'll probably lose them... It may be best to take the medallion from that sub-human heron girl and call upon its aid... I have few options now. Damn it! If only I had moved when I had the chance!..." Lekain cursed himself yet again for his slowness.

Following Dalia's plan, Haar was able to ferry Zelgius to the top of the west gate, and in moments Zelgius captured the gatehouse. With this "minor" victory, units that Soren had put on reserve could rush in to save their allies who thought they were trapped within Telgam's walls...

All he could see and hear was the clashing of swords, the screams of fallen warriors, and the splashes of blood. Red stained everything around him, and as one who vowed for peace he could not stand to bear witness to such horrors.

Zihark watched as an allied pegasus knight fell in front of him, revealing a company of silver knights headed straight for him. He was alone at this point. The closest ally was at least forty paces away, cut off from the trueblade by a mass of enemy soldiers.

He was a man who was used to traveling alone, and thus the fact that his friends were not nearby was not terrifying... But the fact that this mass of silver knights were coming for his head was.

As the enemy approached, he sprang forth, killing edge in hand, cutting down two knights before landing in the midst of them. With a yell, he jumped back and forth, using both his blade and his own two legs to lash out upon the foes that surrounded him. With most of the enemy's silver knights too arrogant to lower their helmet visors (or too naïve to think that Zihark's honor would keep him from using other weapons against his foes), the trueblade managed to break a few noses and even knock an enemy soldier unconscious with that move.

But the trick could only be performed once, and the moment he landed Zihark heard the drawing of bowstrings. He was surrounded, with quite a few enemy silver knights aiming their bows at him. If he jumped, he'd take quite a few arrows to the chest. An attempt to spring forth would have him leap right into an enemy arrow. He was trapped, and his foes knew it.

To think that they had an enemy veteran in custody! This was indeed a great day for the Confederacy... Now their pay would skyrocket!

But, unfortunately for them, a laguz moves ever faster than a beorc ever could.

Relane pounced from a distance, having scampered towards Zihark's position the moment she entered Telgam. With her first pounce she tackled and cracked the collarbone of an enemy knight, and with a few more swings of her paw more foes went flying off their steeds. This gave Zihark the opportunity he needed to lash out, and im a matter of minutes both laguz and beorc annihilated the platoon that had trapped the trueblade.

As he pulled his sword out of his last kill, Zihark shook his head.

"I came here hoping to have peace come sooner, yet so many are dead and the war is at its worst. Will we face such resistance all the way to Sienne? I don't think I can bear the sight of more suffering, even if it's the enemy that suffers."

The laguz beside him remained silent. She had reverted back to human form, in order to conserve energy. Because of the bracelet in her hand, a demi band, she could revert back to beast form extremely quickly.

Zihark turned to her. "And thank you for coming to my aid... I would most definitely have been captured back there."

She blushed. "It's nothing..."

Zihark shook his head with a smile this time. Relane was always rather skittish.

"Zihark..." She muttered, catching his attention.

"Yes?"

"It's... It's nothing." She looked away.

"Relane..." He looked concerned.

"It's nothing! We should find the others... Lethe would be furious with me for not regrouping with her and the other Gallians... We... We really should..." She stammered.

He grabbed her arms before she could transform.

"Look at me."

She shivered.

"I... I did not expect you to rescue me so quickly... I know I treated you coldly earlier, but when I saw you that time I suddenly remembered the bitterness I felt when you rejected my proposal. I... I know you were not wrong for not wanting any harm to come between us, but... It hurts, Relane... It hurts, but I shouldn't have forced that pain upon you as well. You meant no ill from the beginning, and I'm sorry..."

Relane stopped squirming, and smiled.

"Zihark... I felt pain, too. I knew I shouldn't have been so selfish. Why should the prying eyes of the other laguz matter when you're the one I love? But... I was a coward, and so I left you in the cold..."

"Relane... It's over, now. When this war is over, let's get married."

"Zihark!"

He looked at her questioningly.

"... It's not that. You know my answer. I will not run away again... But our friends need us now. Our little distraction here could prove fatal for any one of them."

He embraced her with a smile. "Then let's go."

She blushed, and smiled as well.

The motions of war were much like the motions of farming, Nepheene realized.

An enemy soldier was like a stalk of wheat, and like a scythe a spear could easily cut down that wheat.

But as she hacked another few soldiers down, she realized her error and shook her head.

Wheat doesn't bleed. It doesn't scream as it falls to the floor. It can't recite the name of a loved one just before it hits the ground.

But a person does.

She began to shiver as she held her spear. What had this war turned her into? She was not a machine with which to kill people... She was a person too...

And she had to stay a person... That was her only option. Failure would surely have her collapsing on the floor, writhing in agony. She had to stay human.

Twirling his lance, Tauroneo slammed it into the chest of a charging gold knight.

Nearby, Lethe tackled an enemy crisis knight to the ground, and tore at his face with her claws. She was far too disgusted to clean herself after the kill, and only growled out so that her veteran comrade could hear her.

"Humans... They are so weak and frail... They sicken me..."

"Compared to a laguz's bulk, we may very well be frail, but give us a lance or even a bow, and it is the laguz who must cower in fear." He chided.

She hissed. "Are you insulting me, beorc?"

"If that's what it would take to beat down your pride, then yes, Lethe, I am."

"I... You are right. I still slip even now. I try to control myself but the thought of these... These mislead beorc makes me sick."

"But they are just that, Lethe. They have been mislead by Lekain and some of them by years of the perversion of Daein's education system. Never assume that they cannot be guided to the truth."

"You speak like a child, General. What makes you think this 'perversion' can ever change?"

"If it cannot change, then why are you standing here beside me, Lethe of Gallia? Why do you stand beneath the banner of the Coalition? Don't give me that disgusting speech. You and I stand here as proof that there is hope for the life of Tellius. Never forget that."

Lethe blinked. She had nothing to say to that indeed.

The self-appointed commander of Telgam's defending army found his jaw drop when he watched the sheer number of casualties on his side. It was as though a group of tigers found themselves among a rabble of stags. Stags may have sharp horns and hard feet, but these are worth little compared to the claws and worser jaws of tigers. (2.) No matter how hard stags fight, they still get slaughtered by the most ferocious of tigers.

Relane, a laguz who had little military training, was more than a match for six or seven sentinels on her own. With Telgam's forces having limited personnel, the fact that a lone Coalition warrior could take down so many soldiers alone was not helpful for their morale. They simply did not have the manpower to rush upon their foes in the ocean formation. To ask that of their men was impossible, and yet they had few other options. Against a tireless, mighty opponent, what should one do?

"All units! Fall back! We'll use the tower as our staging ground! Let them take the city... There's not much they can do with it once we've moved our supplies to the tower's top floor. Fall back, now!" The sentinel called, hoping that enough troops would obey him and retreat into the spire.

Only a few troops were smart enough to answer the call, however. Since the tower was made of stone, it could not be burned down, thus forcing the Coalition to follow their foes into it. Because most of Telgam's supplies had been sent to the tower, the Coalition could not hope to stay in Telgam for long without having to call for supplies from Crimea or Tanas, which would take forever to arrive and might very well be ambushed by enemy fliers. Therefore, their only chance was to storm the tower.

Unfortunately for the Confederacy, the vast majority of their troops were heavily demoralized, either surrendering to the Coalition outright or fleeing to the East where the Confederate capital of Sienne was located. As one could imagine, Lucia finished off fleeing enemy troops before they could inform Lekain of their defeat.

Soren was well aware of the danger that lay within that tower. Enemies could hold multiple chokepoints from where they could pick off weaker comrades who tried to storm them. He would need to carry only the best of veterans into the tower, and with their support he had to liberate floor after floor.

With Elincia and Sanaki debating who should move forward and seize this chance for glory, the final thrust to liberate Telgam for good came underway.

1. No, Ike isn't really a knight, but he pretty much is treated like one at this point.

2. A stag is an adult male deer.