Chapter 33

It was around Mid-day when the shepherds finally reached Valm Castle. When they arrived at the heavily fortified walls, they were surprised to find no army anywhere in sight.

"I don't like it," Flavia grumbled. "They could be buying time…"

"True," Frederick replied, "But for what?"

Meanwhile, in the throne room of the castle, the remaining leaders of the Valamese army, Excellus and Cervantes had gathered, waiting for Walhart's arrival. The purple-haired tactician laughed loudly to himself.

"These fools have no idea what they've just stepped into!" He gleefully snickered.

Cervantes ignored the man, busy combing his mustache. "Mm…I can feel my heart starting to race…the anticipation before a battle…today's struggle will set the course of history, once and for all."

Excellus rolled his eyes at the red-armoured general. "A struggle? I think you mean today's slaughter! The resistance will destroy itself while you and I need not even lift a finger!"

The bald general raised an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind, tactician?"

"The Ylissean league thinks the dynasts no longer fear us…but they fail to realize how…persuasive…my methods can be! Just look at Yen'fay, slaughtered by his own sister! They'll know once they see their former friends with knives to their backs!

Cervantes scoffed. "I've fought these shepherds once before," The man warily muttered, revealing his bandaged shoulder. "They are not to be underestimated. Whatever tricks you play, they'll be ready for them."

Excellus ignored the man, rambling on. "It's brilliant, if I do say so myself. And, realistically, no one else is capable of judging…ah well. A shame there is no one with the intellect to appreciate my many talents…"

Excellus' rant came to an abrupt halt once Walhart entered the room, his fearsome red armour clanging about as he walked.

"Cervantes. Who is the pinnacle of man, in body, mind, and spirit? Who is greater than even the gods?"

"O-only you, my master!" The general quickly responded as his feet trembled.

The Conqueror then turned to Excellus, who looked equally as frightened. "…That seems to contradict your last statement, tactician. What say you?"

"Eep! My master, I assure you, I meant no offense! …I only celebrate achievements in your service, master! To your glory!" Excellus quickly replied.

"Glory? Glory is won on the battlefield!" Walhart spat. "It is meeting your enemy's eyes and watching the hope drain away with his life…like I did to that Feroxi Barbarian. However, even he had more glory than you could ever dream of!"

"Well put, milord!" Cervantes asserted.

"Glory is not won holed up in a castle with plots and cowardly schemes," Walhart continued, "…And I'll be dead before I see some dynast farm lord take today's glory in my stead!"

"E-er…Oh why yes, of course! So well put, my master! I only meant that-" Excellus sputtered, but before he could finish, Walhart had marched off.

"That sick mind of yours sees much, Excellus. But for someone so clever, you really can be quite daft…" Cervantes muttered to the tactician.

"What?" Excellus snapped. "You dare speak to me like I am some child? Treat me like…your EQUAL?"

Cervantes booming laugh filled the room. "Ha ha ha! Fear not, I would never think of you as my equal, worm. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must finish attending to my beard before this fight…"

The general clambered off, leaving Excellus standing alone, fuming. "Broom-faced old man!" He grumbled. "To hell with him…to hell with both of them! I'll let these fools charge ahead…but end up on the winning side in one way or the other!"

The Valamese tactician cackled evilly as he set off to prepare for the upcoming fight.

Outside of the castle, Chrom and the others looked on as the Valamese forces finally assembled outside of the main doors of the fortress. Their force was comprised of all sorts of red-armoured knights and generals, and a few Wyvern riders could be spotted perched on the castle tops. Most fearsome was Walhart, towering behind his men, staring down Chrom and the others from afar.

"That's him…isn't it? How brave of him to face us…" The Exalt muttered.

Say'ri nodded skeptically. "Brave? Aye. But more likely he just wants to enjoy this himself."

The Conqueror's voice boomed from across the battlefield, addressing Chrom.

"You do your sister's legacy proud, Prince!" He roared. "But…humanity already has a saviour. A Conqueror who broke stronger men than you when they refused to bow."

Walhart's men roared in agreement around him, raising their lances.

"WARRIORS OF VALM! RIDE WITH ME NOW!" Walhart cried. "Together, we will stamp out this final pack of insurgents and unite the world!"

With that and a final unified roar, the Valamese forces charged at Chrom and the others.

"SHEPHERDS! TO ARMS!" Chrom cried in response, raising Falchion above his head. The fight was on.

Once the two forces collided, the battle turned into a mass cluster of yells, blood, and sparks from clashing steel.

"STICK TOGETHER, EVERYONE!" Nathan screamed, trying to yell above the pandemonium. "WE NEED TO DRIVE THEM BACK INTO THE CASTLE!"

He looked around frantically, trying his best to keep tabs on the rest of his family. Lissa was right next to him, sending Valamese soldiers flying with her Arcwind tome. Morgan and Owain were with Cynthia, fighting as a tight trio. Owain dealt with any enemies up close using his blade, Morgan took out any ranged fighters with her magic, while Cynthia swooped in as needed to provide aerial support.

The tactician breathed a small sigh of relief, seeing his family was safe. His expression quickly changed upon seeing Lucina and Chrom being ganged up on by a group of Valamese knights.

"Lissa, this way!" Nathan yelled, grabbing his wife's hand while he used his Arcthunder magic to distract the enemy long enough for them to escape. "We need to help them!"

Meanwhile, Lon'qu darted about the battlefield, cutting through enemies as quickly as possible. These were all small fry, there was only one man he wished to kill: Walhart.

The assassin spotted the Conqueror on his horse, sitting behind a group of high-ranking Valamese warriors. Perching himself on some rubble, he pulled his brown and red bow off his back, pulling an arrow from his quiver. Only one thing was on his mind, avenging Basilio. As he readied his arrow, a strong blast of magic knocked him from his position, sending him tumbling down the pile of rubble he stood on.

"D…damn…" The assassin spat, wiping some blood off his face as he tried to get up. He noticed a shadow looming as he saw a Valamese Dark knight on his horse staring down at him, sword drawn, ready to finish the job.

"So…this is how it ends…" He thought to himself, dropping his head as the Knight brought down his sword. The blade never reached Lon'qu's head, however, as a massive blast of wind sent the Dark knight and his horse flying, crashing into the castle walls with a loud thunk.

Lon'qu looked up to see Ricken standing over him, offering a hand. Behind him were Donnel, Chrom, and Nathan, along with Lissa and Lucina bringing up the rear.

"We're a team, remember? We'll finish this together." Ricken told the assassin with a grin on his face. Lon'qu smiled back, taking the sage's hand as he helped him up.

"Now then, Cabal, with me, Lucina, get Lissa to the back lines!" Nathan ordered.

"But-" Lucina and Lissa began, but were only greeted by an eye roll from the tactician.

"Get out of here!" He roared. With that, Lucina drew her Falchion, turning to her father before she ran off, telling him, "Be safe!"

"Don't die and stuff!" Lissa added. Nathan winked at his wife, before turning back to the Cabal as Lucina and Lissa rushed off.

"We don't have much time, so here's the plan: same as always!" Nathan yelled, doing his best to rise over the jumbled cries of battle. "We stick together, and make a path to Walhart! He's got soldiers all around him, so if the rest of you wouldn't mind, Lon'qu and I will take him on if you can keep his 'guards' busy!"

The rest of the squadron nodded, drawing their weapons. "Let's go!" Chrom roared, as the band rushed back into the heart of the battle.

As the group smashed a path through the enemy, Nathan could see Owain, Morgan and Cynthia trying to follow. He managed to lock eyes with Owain and frantically shake his head at his son.

"This isn't your fight," Nathan managed to mouth. Owain appeared to get the message fortunately, stopping the others and falling back into the main foray where the rest of the shepherds were fighting.

Once they reached Walhart, the soldiers around him sprung into action, facing off against Chrom, Ricken and Donnel. While they did, Nathan and Lon'qu stood side-by-side, paces away from the Conqueror atop his horse.

"Behold: I am Walhart, the Conqueror!" The man bellowed. "And you fools are but pebbles on my path to immortality. Fall before me!"

"…Not today." Lon'qu muttered, readying his blade. Nathan did the same.

A twisted smile formed on Walhart's face as he stared down the two warriors. "If you will not bow, I will make you." He sneered, readying his Wolf Berg axe.

The Conqueror charged at Nathan and Lon'qu, with the two splitting up, jumping out of the way of his horse in separate directions. Walhart decided to pursue Lon'qu first, going after the man.

The assassin pulled his bow from his back as Walhart rode in his direction, sending a hail of arrows at the conqueror, but they bounced ineffectively off his armour. Once the two met, Lon'qu managed to block a strike from Walhart's axe, but was knocked back in the process, being sent skidding across the courtyard.

"Lon'qu!" Nathan yelled in horror, having caught up to the two. Walhart turned, glaring at the tactician.

"Shall I deal with you next?" The conqueror sneered.

Nathan responded with a shot of lightning from his Thoron tome, which Walhart was barely able to dodge. The blast managed to catch some of the man's shoulder, precisely in the bandaged area where Basilio had managed to wound the Conqueror. Nathan's blast re-aggravated the wound, causing Walhart to cry out in pain.

Lon'qu quickly ran up behind the red-armoured warrior, having recovered from Walhart's blow. He raised his blade to strike the man down, but Walhart managed to fall aside just in time, with Lon'qu cutting into his horse instead.

Walhart then quickly scrambled to get himself up, and moved to retreat into the castle. Nathan and Lon'qu sent arrows and blasts of magic at the man, but his soldiers jumping in to defend him and blocked them. Once the man had made it inside, he sealed the castle gates, leaving his remaining soldiers to die in the courtyard. The shepherds took care of the remaining Valamese soldiers and regrouped in front of the entrance to the castle.

"Damn it! Is this war ever going to end?" Nathan cursed in frustration. "We were so damn close…that coward!"

Chrom nodded. "His men were forced to give their lives to secure his escape. But they seem loyal until the end. They won't lay down their arms until he does."

"We have to pursue and ensure the deed is done." Lucina declared. The others murmured in agreement.

However, at that moment, the former resistance fighters arrived at the castle, roaring loudly and surrounding the shepherds, pinning them in from behind before they could even move.

"Damn, we're surrounded!" Chrom cursed, drawing Falchion once again, before Say'ri stopped him.

"Look!"

The dynasts were cheering for the shepherds as they bombarded Valm castle with attacks. A few of the warriors came up to the shepherds, offering them weapons and armour for the fight ahead.

"What is going on?" Nathan asked one of them, thoroughly confused. "I thought you weren't on our side!"

"We had an agreement with that scum, Excellus…" The warrior spat, "But that was until we found out about what he had done to our commander, Yen'fay. Such underhanded tactics…he must be stopped!"

Nathan turned to Say'ri, who was looking on in shock.

"I can't believe…Yen'fay…" She whispered, looking up at the open sky, as though her brother was looking down, watching over them.

Nathan smiled at the woman before addressing the shepherds. "Now then, let's finish what we started! To arms, friends!"