Chapter 27

It wasn't long before the shepherds had made it to Fort Steiger. They waited; cautiously watching the massive walls of the fort, as Flavia, Nathan and the others quickly drew up their battle plan.

"This isn't gonna be easy…" Muttered Basilio. The others nodded in agreement, before turning to Nathan.

"If we can strike down the commander, the fort's all ours. So, if Flavia and Basilio can take their soldiers to battle the enemy stationed outside of the main castle, a smaller team led by Chrom and I should be good enough to slip inside." The tactician then turned to Chrom.

"I regret to say this puts you back in the line of fire again, as per usual…"

The Exalt laughed. "And you know I wouldn't have it any other way. Anyways, enough joking around, there's work to be done. Any objections?"

The members of the group quickly muttered their agreement, with Say'ri breaking the silence. "Then it's settled. There should be resistance reinforcements on the way… and with luck; they'll arrive in time to help. Let's leave a path of Imperial blood for them to follow us by!"

There was a quick roar of approval from the group before they dispersed to prepare for the assault.

After breaking through the Valamese defenses surrounding Fort Steiger, Chrom, Nathan, Say'ri, and a few of the other shepherds managed to slip into the fort unnoticed.

"We don't have much time in here, so we need to move quickly…" Chrom muttered. The others nodded in agreement as they cautiously slipped about the massive fort. Chrom, Nathan, and Say'ri all moved together, set on finding where Pheros, the leader of this portion of Valamese soldiers, was waiting. As they tiptoed through the building, doing their best to silently strike down any enemies they came across as not to draw attention to themselves.

"I hear movement from the floors below," Say'ri muttered. "It may be enemy reinforcements. Best to be wary…"

Chrom and Nathan nodded in agreement, before hearing a loud yell from a group of enemy soldiers who had spotted them.

"So much for a swift, surgical strike…" Nathan joked, drawing Mystletainn from his back.

As Chrom drew Falchion, he scoffed at his best friend. "Let's be real, there wasn't any fun in doing things that way anyways," He admitted.

"Fie! This is no time for jokes! We must take down this enemy before their reinforcements corner us here!" Say'ri snapped at the two. This vaulted the tactician and Lord into action, quickly charging towards the enemy soldiers alongside Say'ri. The swordswoman quickly struck down an enemy soldier with a lightning fast slice with her blade. Chrom and Nathan followed suit, effectively tearing through the rest of the soldiers quite quickly. They had become so used to fighting while outnumbered by enemies that it was almost second nature.

"Here come some more!" Chrom quickly cried, as enemy reinforcements began to pour in on every side of them, flowing down the halls towards them as if an unstoppable tidal wave.

Nathan quickly pulled his Thoron tome out of his robes, casting it open and allowing the electric energy to flow to his fingertips. "Take…this!" He roared, sending a powerful beam of pure lightning down the hall in front of him, ripping through the horde of Valamese soldiers charging in his direction. A few managed to get past the attack, but Chrom and Say'ri quickly took them down.

"There's too many!" Say'ri exclaimed. Nathan spun around, seeing enemies closing in on all sides.

"What are we gonna-" Chrom began, before he was cut off by one of the fortress walls nearby being blown in, the rubble crushing a few of the enemy units as Basilio and a Feroxi strike team charged inside.

"We'll take care of these fools, boy! Get to the throne room, NOW!" The Golden-armoured warrior roared, as he brought his axe down upon a Valamese soldier.

Chrom turned to Nathan and Say'ri, who nodded to him.

"We can take care of things here, you get Pheros."

The exalt quickly turned and dashed off, while Nathan and Say'ri ran to aid Basilio, who was laughing gleefully as he cut down the enemy.

"Time to die, pal!" The West-Khan roared as he swung his axe at another soldier.

Nathan rolled his eyes as he quickly slid in beside the large man. "Don't you think that's a bit excessive?"

Basilio laughed. "My boy, the thrill of battle has saved my brown arse more times than I can count!"

"Well, I can't fault you for enjoying yourself…" The tactician replied, locking blades with a Valamese myrmidon. "And I suppose confidence like yours is part of what makes you a good leader in your country?"

Basilio grunted in reply. "Now you're learning. Things run a lot differently up in Regna Ferox. Only the strong survive, and that applies to war too!"

Say'ri quickly cut in, as they finished off their enemies. "The sounds from below are getting louder…there are more coming!"

The group watched the staircases nearby coming up from below, weapons at the ready. They could hear footsteps growing louder and louder, heading upwards.

"This can't be good." Basilio grumbled, swinging his axe. "Be ready!" He called to his Feroxi soldiers.

As warriors finally climbed up the staircases, Say'ri quickly yelled, "Weapons down, everyone! They're on our side!"

Nathan cautiously lowered Mystletainn, turning to the swordswoman. "How do you know?"

She smiled proudly at him. "They are members of the resistance! I can't fathom how they got down there, but…" She turned to the fighters. "Welcome, friends!"

"They can't have gotten down there unless they were in the fort before we came…something smells fishy, Nathan!" Basilio growled, raising his axe. Before anyone else could move, there was a flash of light as someone teleported into their presence.

"Ehehehehe…so you are the famed warriors of Ylisse…" The man sneered. He had short purple hair and large red lips, sporting a red cloak. "Oh, and Say'ri as well! A pleasure to see you again…"

"Excellus." Say'ri spat. "What have you come to say, before we strike you down here!"

The odd looking sage rolled his eyes. "Oh, Say'ri, Say'ri… you make empty threats when you fail to realize that you are alone in your resistance of the conqueror…"

Suddenly, one of the resistance warriors lunged for Say'ri, but was quickly stopped by a massive blow by Basilio's axe, sending the man flying, crashing loudly into the wall nearby.

"A step from any of you and you'll end up like him." Basilio growled, before turning to Say'ri. "I thought they were on our side!"

Say'ri shook her head. "They were…I don't know why…" She muttered frantically.

"What did you tell them? Do you have hostages? Are you going to kill their loved ones?" Nathan cut in, speaking to Excellus, who grinned evilly towards him.

"Ooh, very good, very good! You are Nathan, are you not? The one who is Ylisse's famed tactician? Oh, I have heard much about you…" The man sneered. "Yes, you'd be correct there…" He then turned back to Say'ri. "Your pathetic resistance is no more. It is dead, and soon, you will join it. As much as I'd love to stay and watch, I'll be on my way now…do enjoy your bloodbath, though!"

As the Valamese tactician teleported away, the resistance fighters charged towards Nathan and the others.

"It's us or them!" Nathan yelled, raising Mystletainn to clash steel with one of the warriors. "We have to fight them, we have no choice!"

Say'ri hesitated for a moment, conflicted, before finally, though she could be heard cursing loudly as she did it, drawing her blade.

The clash with the resistance fighters took much longer than facing the Valamese soldiers, mostly due to Say'ri's hesitation in not wishing to strike down her former allies. Once the last resistance fighter had been taken down, the shepherds managed to regroup in the throne room area, where Chrom had managed to take down Pheros.

"Well, we managed to take this fortress, but…" Chrom muttered, "…We're surrounded now, by the former 'resistance' members. And no doubt Yen'fay and Walhart have their armies marching this way too. What now?"

Nathan rubbed his chin in thought, before turning to the Exalt.

"We have to leave. Now."

"Are you crazy?" Flavia scoffed. "We'll be killed as soon as we set foot outside these doors!"

"Hear me out," Nathan told her. "The resistance fighters are only fighting us because Excellus threatened them. Their show of force will be gone now that Excellus is gone. And with Yen'fay and Walhart on the way, if we stay here, we'll be dead anyways. So we have to leave, now. Alright?"

Chrom nodded. "We need to move, everyone!" He yelled to the group. "Grab what you can carry, and get out of here!"

Basilio is lowkey one of my favourite characters in the game. In contrast, Say'ri is one of my least favourite. It was really fun to play around with writing for both. Thanks for reading, until next time!

-Nate