Chapter 39
The next day, Chrom and the others made their way to 'The dragon's table', the site where Validar had been spotted by Lon'qu and Frederick, who had scouted the area ahead. As they closed in, they spotted droves of Plegian villagers walking towards the same location they were headed towards.
"All these travellers…this can't be some sort of coincidence," Chrom mused. "What's happening here?"
"Only one way to find out, eh?" Donnel replied, walking up to one of the villagers. "Say, sir, if ya don't mind us askin', what's a feller like ye and all yer buds here doin wanderin over to this 'dragun's table' thing?"
The man ignored Donnel's question, simply continuing to walk forward in a zombie-like trance. He could be faintly heard muttering, "…The appointed…time…must…travel…to dragon's…table…our prayers…Grima…"
"Er…. right then, sir…you have yerself a nice day, now!" Donnel nervously muttered while slowly backing away from the man as he and the other Plegians continued their journey to the Dragon's table.
"So, what exactly is the Dragon's table?" Chrom asked, turning to Nathan.
"From what I've read, it's an altar to Grima." Nathan explained. "These Plegians must also be worshippers of the fell dragon, which would account for why they're all heading towards it as well. When he stole the Emblem, Validar said something about 'setting the table' to perform the rite…maybe this is part of it?"
Chrom nodded. "It must be…"
"This is starting to look a lot like my future…" Lucina told them. "I remember hearing something about the Grimleal being involved in Grima's resurrection."
"Damn!" Chrom swore in frustration. "This destiny is a stubborn business…but we can't simply give up."
"We have to keep going." Nathan added. "If these people aren't there yet, that means Validar's preparations are still incomplete. If there's a way to stop it, we won't find it by standing around here."
As the shepherds continued to make their way to the Dragon's table, a worried Lissa pulled her husband aside to talk to him.
"…You're not planning on doing something stupid like sacrificing yourself so Validar can't control you, right?" She bluntly asked.
Nathan didn't meet Lissa's gaze as he replied, "Er…of course." The Princess rolled her eyes at his shifty response, slapping him in the back of the head.
"No more of this crazy getting yourself killed stuff!" She snapped. "What happened to the Nathan I know, the one I married? The one who can overcome anything with the right tactics?"
Nathan sighed at his wife. "This…this is different." He confessed. "You don't know what it was like. I could see everything that was happening, with my own eyes, from my own body…and I couldn't do a thing. I was absolutely helpless. There are no tactics to stop that."
"THEN FIGHT BACK, DAMMIT!" Lissa screamed at the man, causing Nathan and all the other shepherds to jump in surprise. "You're acting like Validar's already won! If he tries to take control, kick him out!" She paused as she tried and hold back her tears, but to no avail as they flowed from her face, causing Nathan to pull her into a tight hug.
"I…I'll try, I promise. You're right; it's stupid of me to act like I'm walking to my death… I swear I'll give everything I have to stop Validar. I won't let him win."
"Y…you'd better!" Lissa sputtered between heaving sobs. Nathan looked to the others, who had kept moving to give the two some privacy, and were now much farther ahead than them. Nathan could faintly see Chrom waving to them to urge the couple to catch up.
"…You know I will." Nathan replied to his wife, before releasing her from their hug and taking her hand. "Now then, we really need to catch up to the others…"
Lissa looked up, now realizing how far away the rest of the shepherds had gotten, and laughed loudly, her signature snort coming up as she did. The two then rushed to catch up with their shepherd brethren and prepare for the confrontation ahead.
At the Dragon's Table, Aversa patiently guarded the entrance on her black Pegasus as Validar stood next to her, the two awaiting the arrival of the shepherds.
"Now then, Aversa…I'm sure you know what I need you to do, here." Validar sneered. The woman nodded with a twisted smile on her face as she recited the Sorcerer's instructions.
"Delay them for a time, while you prepare the table." She chuckled. "And of course, I'll take special care of Daddy's little boy…"
Chrom and the shepherds rushed up to the entrance, weapons drawn as they stared down Validar and Aversa in the sandy ruins outside of the temple.
"Validar!" Chrom cried. "Return the Fire Emblem now, and we can end this!"
The Exalt's plea was only met with mocking laughter from the Plegian sorcerer. "You…you mean to end this?" He questioned, a sinister smile forming on his face. "My dear boy…we both know how this story ends. And yet you rush here, so eager to meet death! Are you truly that consumed with fulfilling your own destiny?"
"To hell with your destiny," Chrom responded, a fierce fire burning in his eyes, "I'll write a new ending."
Validar scoffed at him. "Hmph. You can try. But for now, I have preparations to attend to. Aversa, if you would please entertain our visitors…"
With that, Validar turned and disappeared into the temple. Aversa readied her tomes of dark magic while the shepherds steeled themselves for the fight.
"One question, fool, before you fall…" Aversa taunted, addressing Chrom. "Do you really believe you can change fate? And here I thought your Exalted sister was misguided in her thinking…"
"We've done it already," Chrom snapped back at her.
Aversa chuckled. "Do you mean your victory over sad little Gangrel? Or perhaps you refer to defeating Walhart…those were meant to happen. All part of preordained fate taking its course, and all part of Master Validar's plan to resurrect Grima."
"But what about Emmeryn?" Nathan questioned. "We prevented her assassination thanks to Lucina…"
"…And she wound up in the ground regardless, setting events back on their path." Aversa explained with a cruel smile. "You only managed to change the method of her death, nothing more."
"But that was Gangrel's will!" Chrom argued. "Not yours, or Validar's!"
The Plegian woman rolled her eyes. "You really aren't listening, are you?" She muttered. "All of this-every word, every action-has been orchestrated. Yes, Gangrel hated your precious Exalt, but it only made him the perfect pawn to be used in our plan…in life AND death. When you killed the Plegian ruler, it threw the country into chaos. It drove the people back to following Grima, putting them right where we needed them…and now, they rush in droves to give their life force to the fell dragon!"
"Then…"
"They call this the table for a reason, you naïve fools," Aversa explained. "Grima needs to feed when he is revived, so his followers offer their life force to him!"
"So that's why you let us have ships and gold but no soldiers…gain our trust, but leave your offerings to Grima alive and available for use…" Chrom realized. Aversa nodded to him with a wicked smile on her face.
"Now you understand, boy…all part of the plan, just as this is."
"Like we'll let any of that happen!" Chrom growled at the woman. "I'll die before I let that monster destroy our world!"
Aversa laughed. "Well, that is the way the future goes…" She mockingly teased, before casting a spell of dark magic over the area. Parts of the ground split open as lifeless warriors with glowing read eyes crawled from them. Nathan sized up the reanimated enemies, counting twelve in total, each looking quite powerful in their own rights.
"These are the Deadlords," Aversa explained, "Great warriors in life, and now, even greater in death, armed with powerful legendary weapons…but, what am I introducing them for? I'll just let you get to know them personally."
"Watch out!" Nathan yelled as the undead warriors charged in their direction. The shepherds scattered into the ruins in front of the temple as one of the magic-wielding Deadlords sent a white-hot blast of blazing fire over the field, more powerful than anything the shepherds had seen before.
"Wow, I want that!" Nathan joked as he ducked behind some rubble alongside of Donnel and Morgan to avoid being burned by the attack.
"Come on, we've got to get through these guys!" Chrom yelled to the other shepherds from nearby. "We're wasting valuable time out here!"
"He's right," Morgan acknowledged. "The longer we take to fight these guys is just more time for Validar to revive Grima…"
Nathan nodded in agreement, pulling his thoron tome from his cloak. "Let's make this quick, then."
He and Donnel jumped out from the ruins, putting them right in the path of two of the Deadlords, one wielding a massive two-sided axe that Nathan recognized as Helswath, a legendary weapon, dressed in gold armour. The other was the female Valkyrie riding an undead horse who had cast the massive fire attack, with the tactician recognizing the fire tome she held in her hands as Valflame, another legendary weapon that had been lost many years ago.
"Nice. I really want that tome, to be quite honest…" Nathan muttered as he and Donnel prepared for battle. Morgan scurried out from behind the ruins, running to help the others. She was confident that Donnel and Nathan could handle themselves.
The pair jumped out of the way as the Valkyrie cast another powerful blast from her Valflame tome. Nathan responded with a shot from his Thoron while Donnel charged at the golden-armoured warrior, drawing his sword.
"Eeyargh!" The country boy cried as he clashed steel with the undead warrior, sending sparks flying as their weapons met in powerful swings.
"Donny, duck!" Nathan yelled to his friend. The villager did as Nathan said, and the tactician blasted his lightning magic straight through the axe-wielding Deadlord.
"Good shootin!" Donnel complimented. "I'll do the other one, then…"
The villager lunged towards the Valkyrie Deadlord, dodging a blast of flames, and with a lightning fast swing of his blade, cut the undead-and the horse it rode on-swiftly in two. Nathan looked on, impressed, as Donnel retrieved the Valflame tome, tossing it to Nathan.
"I think ye said ya wanted that?" He teased with a wink. Nathan grinned at his friend, depositing the tome in his cloak.
"Come on. Let's get to the others."
As the two trotted off to find the rest of the shepherds, Nathan turned to Donnel with a smile telling him, "You know, you've come a long way since you were that villager who didn't know how to swing a sword. Now, you're one of the strongest fighters in our army!"
Donnel blushed at the compliment. "Gee, ya think so, Nater? I suppose I have come a long ways…gonna have to write to my ma about you sayin' I'm such a big strong guy!"
The two grinned at each other as they ran off to find the rest of the shepherds.
Once they caught up to everyone else, they found the other Deadlords had already been defeated, leaving only Aversa guarding the front of the temple. The shepherds surrounded her as the woman sneered at them.
"All right, one at a time loves…" She taunted.
Nathan shook his head at the woman, stepping in front of the others. "I'll never understand minions like you or Excellus," He mused. "Only living to serve, with no lives of your own…"
"Oh, please…" Aversa scoffed, "Don't lump me in with that half-witted toad. Excellus was nothing but another pawn in our grand plan. He was insurance against Walhart…who, by the way, planned on destroying Grima as well…our thanks for taking him out of the equation. In the end, that strange man…or woman, quite frankly, I'm not even sure…lost his usefulness long before you did him in."
Nathan pulled his new Valflame tome from his cloak to attack Aversa, but the woman lazily waved him off.
"No need to fight." She muttered with a laugh in her voice. "I've stalled you for long enough. Master Validar's preparations are complete…"
"All the more reason to end you now!" Nathan cried, blasting the woman with fire from his tome. A chilling laugh could be heard from the woman as she breathed her last, engulfed by the powerful flames.
"Let's get inside, everyone!" Chrom yelled. "It's time to finish this or die trying!"