Chapter 15: The Ashen Demon

Author's notes: I have my fingers crossed that you will enjoy the battle!

RAX: I completely agree with Dimitri being the most well written character in Fire Emblem (even though I have only played Awakening, Fates, and 3 Houses). I also love Chrom...he was adorable! xD

NyanCat: I don't want to spoil it, but we have at least one support conversation in the next chapter. As for how much Seteth knows...as of right now he doesn't know, which I think will be an interesting plot and character development for him as he isn't fond of Byleth at the moment.

Rahzel and Ryu: Thank you for the ideas, I'll definitely keep them in mind :3 Also I did not realize that Jeralt Reus Eisner may be a noble, was that discussed somewhere in the game and I may have missed it?

Osheana259: I definitely plan on adding more Jeralt and Rhea moments, Jeralt and Byleth memories, and snippets of what had occurred in the past. I do hope you enjoy the rest of the Red Canyon battle!

Rean-Belle: Hmmm, I'm still working out an explanation for how Byleth's mother came to be that is more benign. As for the dialogue between Byleth, Dimitri, Edelgard, and Manuela...let's just say I have a new special dialogue planned! ;) I hope you like the battle!

Krystal501: Indeed Jeralt's and Rhea's relationship has been strained ever since that unpleasantness, but I plant to reveal memories showing a time when all was well. Plus more on Byleth's mother. There will definitely be more support conversations, with at least one already written for the next chapter! I hope you like how the mission ultimately unfolds.

CielCial: Lols, there will still be shenanigans for sure! I do hope you will enjoy how the Zanado mission turns out. I tried to keep it well balanced, but still make Byleth a badass. I hope you will agree! :3

"Watch out!" Sylvain shouted, causing Byleth to whip around. Her senses on high alert and sword halfway drawn as she watched a large boulder nearly crush Ingrid, had Sylvain's reflex not saved her. Suspicious steel blue eyes shot upwards to check the ridge, but nothing else stirred.

"We'll find another way down!" The prince called to Byleth and she gave him an affirmative nod. She truly appreciated Dimitri's initiative for it was one less thing for the professor to worry about. At least the prince's team had the aid of the soldiers above...while Byleth's group were on their own. She would have to take extra precaution as they were now cut off from any help. The professor turned around to survey the canyon, but something was amiss. The bandits had all disappeared...

Byleth raised her hand for her team to remain still as she quickly formulated a new tactic against the unknown. No doubt the boulder and yelling revealed their location to the bandits. The young woman was sure the enemy had hidden themselves and now laid in wait for the team to finish their descent before they pounced. That left her team with two options. One, stay put and wait for Dimitri's team and the knights to come. However, the longer Byleth's team waited the antsier the bandits would get to the point that a few may very well charge up the path. Then there was the other option, Byleth's team descends and fights. For the latter, she would have to come up with a plan to tip the scale in their favor. The professor's eyes then fell upon innocent yet very spunky, Annette.

"They should'a been down by now," whined one of the bandits as they hid behind a few boulders near the path.

"Shut ya' lip," growled his neighbor.

"Wait, do you feel that?" whispered another bandit.

A sudden cutting gale threw up dust, dirt, and rocks into the air. "Gah!" That bandits shouted as they winced, closed their tearing eyes, and coughed at the sudden sandstorm. Once the hazardous whirlwind died down, the bandits finally saw what was happening. Byleth and her students had passed right by them and were now sprinting down the vast canyon.

"What the!" They were dumbfounded at first until one rallied loudly. "Oi! After 'em!"

"There!" Dedue yelled to his team as he pointed towards another narrow path twisting along the nearby cliff face. "Another road ahead!" Quickly they began to make their ascent, however this path was rockier and the gravel shifted precariously under their feet.

"Oh no," Ashe gasped. Byleth whipped around to see the young man lose his footing, as his body leaned over the edge.

"No!" Byleth shouted as she finally felt it. The terrible twisting twinge of fear inside her still heart. The young woman's fingertips brushed against Ashe's outstretched hand, his wide lime green eyes stared fearfully back up at her. 'Sothis!' Byleth cried out in her mind as she watched Ashe fall into the rocky gorge below.

'I'm on it!' Sothis quickly replied. Had anyone looked into Byleth's eyes at that very moment, they would have seen a glow of iridescent serpentine green. Byleth felt the solid ground beneath her feet give way as she fell back through time. The young woman let out a gasp as she found herself ascending the narrow path once more, Ashe carefully making his way up behind her. "Ashe take the lead," Byleth quickly instructed. The young man nodded and without question lead the team up the hazardous path, his bow notched and ready for action. This time Byleth was ready...or so she thought when an arrow whizzed by her ear and grazed Ahse's shoulder. Again, Ashe lost his footing, slipped, and fell as Byleth tried to grab him.

'Sothis! Again,' Byleth was now tense for no matter what she did the same thing eventually happened.

'Sothis...why...why can't I prevent this?' Byleth thought as she warily began their fourth ascent upon the rocky path.

'Some things are just so entrenched in the flow of time, that not even I can sway change,' Sothis replied contemplatively.

'What? What can that even be?' Byleth huffed through her nose.

'Fate...Byleth. An ancient and more powerful order than myself.'

'Fate,' the professor mused. Byleth then realized this had been what Sothis was going to warn her about earlier. That not only is Sothis's power over the hands of time is limited, there are some things that just can't be undone. Byleth had to be cognizant of this. 'So I must move forward then.'

'Yes.'

'I am ready this time.' And as Ashe fell, Byleth leapt after him. If she couldn't stop his fall, then she protect him at all cost. She watched as Ashe cleverly wrapped his arms around his head to protect himself as his slid down the rocky slope. Upon seeing the student fall, the bandits quickly sprinted over to where his body finally rolled to a halt.

For the first time Byleth was protecting someone. The feeling was, foreign but… it gave the young woman a sense of purpose she never had before and it fueled her willpower to a new and terrifying level. Like a mother bear enraged at the sight of her cub in danger, Byleth whipped out her sword with her right hand and the dagger in her left as she leapt off the boulder and pounced on the group of bandits. The professor was like a whirlwind of blades as she sliced and stabbed at anyone who dared to get too close to Ashe, who laid in fetal position. The bandits quickly fanned out as they sized up the new warrior with gritted teeth.

"Ashe?" Byleth asked as she hovered over him protectively, keeping a wary gaze on the now circling ring of bandits.

"Nnnnuggh," Ashe groaned. He blinked bleary eyes up at the professor.

"Are you okay?"

"I...I'll be fine professor."

"Then, let the lesson begin," Byleth growled as she turned her sights back upon the mercenaries with her sword and dagger dripping with crimson blood.

Ashe felt like a coward...useless...as he watched Byleth swing her silver sword in a great horizontal slash. She then struck her sword into the ground allowing her to flip over it like a gymnast as she danced out of the range of the return swipes. Yet the professor never strayed far from him as she continued to check on his well-being before slicing at anyone who drew near.

Then a bandit, who mistook Ashe for dead, tried to sneak up on Byleth as she was fending off two bandits. Ashe gingerly pushed himself up, but was at a loss of what he could do with his bow and quiver lost in the fall. It was just then that the young man realized he was clutching on arrow, the shaft had broken… 'but I can still stab with it.' "Professor!" Ashe warned, just as he sunk the arrowhead into the bandit's meaty calf.

A forceful boot collided with one of the bandits' chest as Byleth unleashed a staggering kick, before gutting the second bandit with a thrust of her sword. At Ashe's cry, the young woman whipped around and dug her dagger into the sneaking bandit's exposed neck. The bandit's shriek in pain from Ashe's attack became a moist guttural howl, as Byleth pierced the man's trachea then dragged the dagger across his carotid artery and jugular vein. As the bandit keeled over, Byleth's crimson speckled face and blank eyes locked with Ashe's expressive and startled gaze.

THUNK!

A sharp searing pain tore into Byleth's flesh. An arrow was sticking out of her right shoulder, just underneath her pauldron. The broken skin and severed tissue cried out in agony, but all Byleth could do was steady her breath as she looked over her shoulder at the archer. The young woman's face stoic, not betraying even a twitch of hurt even as her right arm became weak then numb, the hilt of the silver sword slipping out of her deaden grasp to fall onto the ground. Then Byleth's eyes flashed as she whirled around, letting loose her dagger straight into the archer's heart. "If you're going to kill me, make it clean,' Byleth stated in a smooth almost tranquil voice even as agony swelled within her. A feeling of anguish...that she could never release.

'Byleth, use the time pulse!,' Sothis urged, but her voice was drowned out by another bandit's shrill yell.

"She's the Ashen Demon!" he screamed as he pointed an accusatory finger at the unarmed woman, and his voice echoed terribly within the canyon.

Byleth, her face as still as ever, picked up her silver sword with her left hand, and pointed it at the denouncing bandit. Then the bandit shrieked in excruciating pain as the spearhead of a lance burst out of his chest. And it didn't end there as the bandit was forcibly lifted right off his feet by the impaled wound, revealing Dimitri from behind. The prince whipped the bandit right off of his lance like a rag doll and sent the bandit's limp body crashing into the nearby stone wall.

The prince's icy cold blue locked with placid steel blue before he noticed another bandit leap at Byleth. For the first time, Dimitri willfully called forth the immense strength of Crest Blaiddyd as he hurled his lance at the sneaking bandit, knocking the man right off his feet as his body was impaled onto a nearby boulder, the stoneface cracking slightly at the force of impact.

Felix, Sylvain, and Ingrid joined the fray as each took on a bandit, allowing Mercedes the clear opportunity to slip past as she hurried towards Byleth and Ashe. But suddenly another bandit leapt forward to land a strike upon healer...or would have had not a cutting gale powerfully slammed him into the cliff face across the way. Annette was being carried piggyback style upon Dedue as she waved her hands in the air, conjuring up more whipping mistral magic.

"Professor!" Mercedes cried out as she neared, her hands glowing with iridescent healing magic.

"Heal Ashe!" Byleth stated with a jerk of her head.

"But!" Mercedes started to protest as her gentle eyes stared at the bleeding arrow wound protruding from Byleth's back. Mercedes could only imagine just how excruciating the wound was.

"Ashe comes first!" The professor commanded before she lunged at another bandit.

Mercedes gulped, but acquiesced as she hurried over to her classmate. "Oh Ashe," the healer murmured as she surveyed his scratched up face, torn outfit, and ever sweet smile. "Just close your eyes Ashe and concentrate on breathing, that's it.

Ashe sighed as her soothing healing magic washed over his weary aching body. It was like taking a relaxing soak in a peaceful spring that was heated to just the perfect temperature. 'So was this the power of Faith magic...or the power of Mercedes?' The young archer thought as he snuck a peek to gaze up at the serene healer. Her cream colored flowing hair cascaded down her shoulder as she had knelt besides him. He could only smile as her gentle glowing hands enveloped his body with iridescent light as she hummed musically under her breath. Then a sudden flicker of movement caught his attention. "Mercedes! Watch out!" Shouted Ashe.

The young healer turned her head to see that a vicious brute of a bandit was charging right at them with a heavy axe raised. Everyone around them was embroiled in battle 'Oh goddess! Oh give me strength!' She prayed. Mercedes spotted Byleth, who was fighting on even though her bad arm was surely hindering her movement and causing insurmountable pain...if the professor could fight..."Then I must fight!" Mercedes stated, feeling a surge of willpower she had not known herself to possess. The healer raised her hand up, and for once it was not iridescent healing magic, but a wrathful fireball of hissing flames.

"Aaaugghhhh!" The bandit shrieked as his body was set alight with scorching fire. He fell onto the ground, his body writhed in pain as he contorted his scorched arms and legs in spastic jerks. The healer quickly averted her tearful eyes away and covered her ears at his blood curdling screams.

"Finish him!" Byleth commanded as she gutted her opponent with her blade. The professor could do it herself with one hand, but Mercedes had to learn. "He's suffering!" Byleth stated as she thrusted her crimson stained sword into the healer's trembling hands.

And Mercedes, with her hands shaking, swung the silver sword into the bandit's neck...silencing him. The healer immediately dropped the sword and fell to her knees in prayer. "May the goddess bless them to rest in peace." Mercedes began to whisper into her trembling clasped hands as she rocked back and forth.

The battle had been won, and once more the red canyon became quiet. Byleth silently watched Mercedes pray, and instead of retrieving her sword, the professor decided to kneel down next to her student. She didn't speak, but waited for Mercedes to finish her prayer as tears rolled down her cheeks. The healer fell silent and wiped away her tears with the cuff of her gown.

Byleth gently asked, "Are you alright?"

"It...it is not easy Professor," Mercedes confided with a little sniff as she looked down at her hands. "I know they are bandits and have done evil things...but it still isn't easy." Mercedes closed her hands into tight fists.

"It helps, if you make sure they don't suffer," Byleth quietly added.

Mercedes paused and thought about the professor's words. She then turned to look towards the young woman, observing her solemn gaze at the charred remains of the bandit. Mercedes's cornflower blue eyes then looked dolefully at the arrow. 'And yet you allow yourself to suffer?' She thought, as she did not dare to utter those words, at least not yet. "Professor, may I?" The healer gently inquired.

Though Byleth didn't return Mercedes's gaze, she took in a deep breath, nodded, and closed her eyes tightly just as the healer pulled the arrowhead. Blood began to seep from the wound and Mercedes quickly began to recite healing incantations to halt the bleeding. Soon the professor felt soothing warm magic coax torn tissue to heal, pacify angry-red inflammation, and ease the pain in a way Byleth could not.

"There," Mercedes sighed, a note of tiredness in her gentle voice. She felt weak and tired from expending her energy to heal both Ashe and the professor, but Mercedes also felt proud of her work. Save for the professor's stained leather, you barely could tell she had piercing wound mere moments ago.

"Thank you," Byleth whispered, but the young woman fumbled as she tried to push herself off of the ground. Her right arm was still numb, even as the professor tried to will it to move...nothing happened.

"Oh no," Mercedes gasped as she watched the professor push herself up with only the left hand. "It is possible that the nerves in your right arm have been damaged. Unfortunately, that is beyond my healing skills. It would be best to see Manuela...I wish I could do more." There was a slight bitterness in the healer's voice as she looked away.

"But you did Mercedes," Byleth replied gently, making the young woman look back up at the professor. Byleth then extended her good arm down to the healer, beckoning for her hand. "Thank you for healing my pain."

"Anytime, Professor," Mercedes whispered as Byleth swiftly pulled her up, and nearly swept her off her feet.

Meanwhile, Ingrid was checking on Ashe, and the latter looked sheepishly pleased at the attention. Both Felix and Sylvain watched the pair. Felix appeared to be grateful that Ingrid wasn't fussing over him for once, while Sylvain had an unreadable expression. Nearby, Dimitri was focused on observing the knights, who were now disposing the corpses of the bandits with a simple funeral pyre. He had counted their number and realized...one knight was missing.

"This was true battle," Byleth proclaimed as the Blue Lions drew together. "You fought to protect each other. From now on, know in your hearts that we watch each other's backs." It was comforting fact that class looked out for each other, looked out for the pack. "My only rule is that we do not let our enemies suffer." Byleth stated, before adding in a more serious tone. "It will lead you down a dark and twisted path." The professor paused before finally stating, "You did well, my Blue Lions."

More rambling notes from the Author:

So, one of the things I was worried about most is over powering Byleth, especially with Divine pulse. Hence, I had Sothis explain about fate and plan to have Byleth only use the Divine Pulse in the most urgent of times, which there will definitely be later on in the story so I don't want to overuse it before then! And while this is truly unlike me in real life as I spammed that button to my wicked heart's content on the switch, I will be more conservative in the story. Also knowing about fate prepares Byleth a bit...just a little bit. I hope my reasoning in understandable.

We've got a hidden plot afoot and Byleth's injury to contend with. Plus support conversation(s) and a dance of daggers in the next chapter so stay tuned! :D

(DISCLAIMER) I do not own nor claim to own any of the Fire Emblem Franchise, Intelligent Systems Co., and Ninetendo's exceptional work. It is from the team's own brilliance…my additions are from my own madness.