Around dusk, the Greil Army reached a small settlement. They set up camp at the edge of the forest on a hilltop, and then went to explore the village.

"Amazing. We've been travelling for miles now, and there hasn't been a single moving person", Ike observed, shaking his head in wonder.

"And yet, the other plants and animals seem completely unaffected", Nailah mused. "The only creatures that were turned to stone were laguz and beorc. A miracle of the Goddess, indeed."

"My sister just sent a warning about a new foe, the 'Disciples of Order'. It seems that Ashera has freed them from stone to fight for her", Rafiel interjected, a worried frown on his face. "They have also received a blessing of protection from her, and they nearly beat Leanne's team."

"Worse, they could attack any time, and we'd have no idea who or where they are", Soren said. "I'll start working on contingency plans immediately."

"All right, everyone. Get back to camp and be sure to keep your weapons in reach tonight", Ike ordered.

They had lit a big fire in the middle of their camp, and built a wall of sandbags around it. Ike knew that this made it easy for the enemy to spot them, but without any light, they would be unable to see them, either.

Ike saw Rafiel sitting next to the fire, and went over to talk to him.

"What's wrong, Prince Rafiel? Are you feeling sick?"

"No. I am all right. Thank you, though."

"You're a real puzzle, you know that?", Ike asked, shifting his weight and placing his left hand on his hip.

"Why do you say that?"

"You look a lot like your brother, Reyson, but you are nothing like him. Reyson looks delicate, but on the inside, he's all iron. You, on the other hand... I don't know. I worry that I might kill you if I shout too loud or something."

Rafiel bowed his head. "I'm sorry."

"See? That's exactly what I mean! You should get mad at me for saying that, not say 'I'm sorry'. I mean, come on!"

"I-I apologise."

"There you go again!", Ike exclaimed, lifting his arms in exasperation. "What I mean is that - "

"That's enough, Ike", Nailah interjected with a soft growl, appearing out of the darkness. "Rafiel is everything that herons are expected to be: quiet, elegant and delicate. Those are words used to describe herons, and he fits all three."

"Yeah, well, none of those words fit Reyson", Ike replied with a snort.

"True. Maybe Princess Leanne is only so sweet and innocent because she was asleep for twenty years. Prince Reyson certainly doesn't seem to have any of the characteristics herons are known for."

"King Tibarn did mention that 'real' herons are more like Prince Rafiel."

"Prince Reyson spent a long time in the care of the hawk tribe. No doubt he's picked up all sorts of quirks. Thank goodness Reyson hasn't picked up Tibarn's speech or mannerisms, though. That would be completely ridiculous. Can you imagine a man with Reyson's looks, talking and acting like Tibarn? I don't think I could help but laugh at him."

"Well, he told me he wanted to be just like Tibarn. He admires him a great deal."

"Reyson said that?", Rafiel asked, surprised.

"Yeah. What about you?"

"Well... sure, it'd be nice to be a bit more like Tibarn, I suppose."

"Well, it looks like you guys really are brothers after all", Ike concluded with a smile.

"Ike, be quiet!", Nailah scolded. "You're a bad influence. I won't allow Rafiel to be tainted like that."

Ike let out a chuckle, but decided to let the matter rest.

When the skies grew dark, Ike ordered some of his men to keep watch before doing rounds to check on those not on duty.

"Ena, how is Prince Kurthnaga feeling?", Ike asked the dragon girl.

"Not good. He keeps staring into space, doesn't talk, and he hasn't touched a bite of his food", Ena replied, wringing her hands.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I wanted to ask him some questions, but it can wait."

That moment, one of the sentinels raised the alarm.

"Commander, we're surrounded!"

Ike raced out of the tent, Ena hot on his heels.

"What?! That's impossible!"

"How could they get so close without us seeing them?", Ena whispered.

"I don't know", Nailah said. "There was no sign or scent of their approach... I wonder if they simply materialised?"

"Ena, stay here!", Ike ordered. "Protect Kurthnaga's tent at all costs!"

"Understood."

"Everyone else, move out!"

Initially, Ike's men just waited until the enemy moved into their line of sight, but as soon as they had an understanding of how they operated, Soren deemed it safe for some of them to sortie to drive the enemies back. Soren and Ike formed one of their strike teams. Soren stuck down as many enemies as possible so that Ike would have less fighting to do, and he took care of any who made it close to them. Yune's blessing had made Ike a lot stronger, and none of the enemies stood a chance against him and Ragnell.

Jill and Haar were circling over the camp, helping out as needed. Mist, Titania and Oscar sped across the battlefield, running down enemies. While the two knights worked together, Mist would switch between fighting and healing as needed. Shinon and Rolf had climbed into a tree to get a better vantage point. Gatrie, Mia and Boyd were in charge of protecting Rhys and Rafiel, who were responsible for the support. Meanwhile, Nailah seemed to be pretty much everywhere at once.

The enemies were strong, but not really a match for the famous Greil Mercenaries. And Nailah was a nice addition to their group.

"This looks like all of them", Ike sighed when it was finally over. "Fanatics that appear out of nowhere and attack from darkness... this'll be tough."

They returned to camp and Ike went to see Ena.

"Are you all right? Why didn't you transform?"

"I didn't want Prince Kurthnaga to get frightened, so I tried to hold them off in this shape. He hates blood..."

"This can't go on. I'm going to talk to him."

Ike pushed the flap of Kurthnaga's tent open.

"Hey, Prince Kurthnaga!"

Kurthnaga made a strangled sound and retreated from Ike. "S-stay away..."

"What's wrong? Don't you remember me?"

"Uuunhhhhhh... That smell... the blood... on your sword..."

"What, this? No problem, I'll go drop it."

Ike dumped the sword into the snow outside.

"Hey, look. No sword. Are you fine now?"

Kurthnaga slowly approached Ike. "Y-yes."

"Good. I wanted to talk to you a little. Do you remember who I am?"

"Yes. We met once – three years ago, in Goldoa."

"That's right", Ike replied, smiling. "You do remember. You helped us when our ship ran aground... and you gave us food and water."

"Yes... you were the first beorc I had ever met."

"Prince Kurthnaga, there's something I have to ask you. Before Yune's awakening, why did you side with Daein to fight us and the Apostle? The dragon tribe is neutral, and known for its hatred of blood and war. As the Dragon Prince, I can't see why you would do it."

Kurthnaga let out a sigh. "I suppose I owe you an explanation. First of all, you have to understand that the dragon tribes had nothing to do with any of this. I – I disobeyed my father and the laws of our country. I joined the battle against all my training, out of my own free will. Ena saw me leaving, or I wouldn't have brought her into this. I just wanted... I just wanted to help my sister."

"Sister? You have a sister in Daein?"

"Yes... My sister's name is Almedha. She was the wife of the late King Ashnard."

"Mad King Ashnard was married to a princess of Goldoa?!"

"Yes. And then, that savage held his own baby hostage – the baby born of my sister. Then, he took my brother, Rajaion, and warped him to use him as a steed, like a common wyvern."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know..."

"Ike, you were there during my brother's last hour. I'm sorry to ask you, but when my brother died... did he die peacefully?", Kurthnaga asked, eyes wide and pleading.

"Yes, he did", Ike assured him. "Before he died, Reyson and Leanne were able to undo what Ashnard had done to him. Rajaion passed on in Ena's arms, with a content smile, as if he was just sleeping peacefully."

"Thank you", Kurthnaga whispered, closing his eyes. "It's a tremendous relief to hear that... My sister was tangled in Ashnard's schemes, our brother was killed, and her son taken away... She was unable to return to Goldoa and consult our father... my sister has suffered so much. I wanted to help her."

"So that's why you came to Daein. It must've been difficult for you to tell me that. Thank you."

"Actually, it makes me feel a little better by just talking about it."

"I won't repeat anything you just told me. I swear on my father's grave."

"I thank you."

Ike left Kurthnaga's tent, lost in his own thoughts.

The Black Knight and the dragon tribes... they both lead back to Daein. Something about that country always drags me back to it…

A/N:

This one is a contender for the shortest chapter I've ever written. Since none of my OCs are in this group, there was little I could do to extend scenes, and not much happens in this one. To make up for that, I'm going to upload the following chapter – which is much longer – right away.