Robin yawned and stretched out his arms to help stay awake. There were circles forming around his reddening eyes, and it appeared that recalling his past was becoming a very tiring process.
"Dear, why don't I tell Morgan the next part?" Lucina asked inwardly concerned. It seemed like his health declined worse each day.
"Oh, thanks love. I suppose I could use a break." Robin smiled back.
Morgan also took notice of Robin's fatigue, but chose not to say anything because she knew that her father would deny it. "... So what happens next mother?"
"Well..." Lucina said unconsciously trying to focus her attention back to the story and away from her fear of Robin's curse. "That night gave me a lot to think about. I was still absorbing all the strategies that your father had taught me , but I also felt more peaceful and calm after hearing his sentiment. It seemed like his words were always hopeful and kind. I deeply respected him for it, and in a way, it was a little charming." She smiled a little and felt her heart beat slightly faster.
It was easier for me to fall asleep that night than normal, and when I woke up I was refreshed and well rested. When the time came for battle, I met up with Robin and we moved into formation with the rest of the army. For this battle the shepherds and I were equipped with large steel tower shields that came up to our shoulders. We had looted them from enemy generals we defeated in prior skirmishes, and Robin thought of a way to make use of them. They were heavy and difficult to carry, but he said they were vital to our mission.
When I looked around the vast army surrounding me, I marveled at the strange new equipment I was seeing. Some of our men were carrying ladders to scale the castle walls and battering rams to break down the gates. Robin also mentioned his wishes to build ballistas and trebuchets, but there wasn't enough time with Valm's main army breathing down our heels. Instead we had to make do with what we had.
...
"Are you ready Lucina?" Robin asked as he drew his silver gilded sword from underneath his royal blue tacticians robes.
"Mhm." I replied and gripped Falchion while bending my knees to get in a fighters stance. Robin scanned the area a couple of times before raising his sword in the air a waving it in a circular motion above his head.
Chrom saw the signal from about 300 feet away and took a deep breath. Quickly he climbed on the saddle of my mother's pegasus so he could be better seen by the army. After taking one last look at the besieged castle, he yelled at the top of his lungs crying,
"Brothers and sisters in arms. Today we strike a blow at the hear of Valm's war machine. When we storm the castle we will gain access to the supply headquarters of the Valmese military. Not to mention a treasure trove of information from their intelligence network. By securing both we will effectively break the back of their army and paralyze their forces. We will be one step closer to ending this war!"
"Hoorah!" A large group of soldiers started shouting and hollering in excitement.
...
"Though, these Valmese dastards will not give up without a fight. Expect fierce resistance and a welcome from the edge of a sword." Chrom paused and looked over to his friends. "But what they are forgetting is that we are the best damned soldiers on this planet! No one can stop the powerful bonds that strengthen us or our unwavering determination. It is through courage and our resolve that will carry us in this battle."
"So lend me your strength my friends. Lend me your strength. Fight with me, and besides me as we battle here today. Because when night falls and the dust settles. WE will be Victorious!
"RAAAHHH!" The army collectively shouted in a fury or pride and vigor. Morale could not be higher and there was a fierceness in their eyes to take the fortress.
...
"My father certainly has a way of motivating people." I watched as soldiers around me rallied under his speech.
"While rare, he has his shining moments." Robin laughed and prepared his battle stance.
A moment later Chrom shouted with a very commanding and loud cry "Charge!" which sent our army sprinting to walls of the enemy.
Again, everyone was yelling and shouting war cries. The shepherds were leading the attack with the rest of our army backing us from behind as we passed through the grassy landscape. Running at full speed there was less than 1000 feet separating us from the towering stone wall and iron gates.
"Shield formation!" Robin shouted loudly as we continued to close the distance from the gates. Immediately, we raised our heavy shields above our heads and held them parallel to the ground. Effectively, we created a steel shell like a turtle to protect our regiment.
Soon after, you could hear the sounds of clanking and pinging from archery fire trying to penetrate our defenses. At the top of the castle walls hundreds of archers and crossbows tried to find a hole in our defenses, but nothing managed to break through. We were an unstoppable metal wall that reached the castle gates concealing a battering ram under our shields
Kellam, Vaike, Fredrick, and Gregor were each carrying a handle on the battering ram and used all of their strength to send it crashing into the gate.
*Chiiiiing*
The sound of our metal ram colliding with the iron gate rang in my eardrums as I felt another arrow ricochet against my shield. While we waited for the ram to break through I managed to take a glance at the already chaotic battlefield. Our ladders were already on the walls and men were beginning to climb them. Once up there they would take care of the archery fire assuming they could hold the area.
"Listen up!" Robin yelled competing with the sounds of arrows and the screaming of the metal gate as the ram crashed in it again. "Beyond this wall is hundreds of soldiers ready to die to make sure we do not get ten feet past their gate. Everyone stay in a close formation until we break through their lines."
*Chiiiing*
"After that you know the plan. Basilio and Flavia will lead their own forces against the walls. Chrom takes group A through the middle of the castle, Frederick leads B through the left, and I will command C through the right side. Stay close to your partner and watch each others backs! "
"Nyahaha. This is so exciting!" Henry laughed manically "I can't wait to rip the thumbs off of the commander."
*Chiiing*
"Shut up you smiling idiot." Tharja hissed. "We are dark mages. Harbingers of doom and destruction."
"Mmmm, I love doom!"
"Focus!" She said in spite.
"Nyahah, don't worry angry witch lady. I will make sure to protect Robin just like you made me promise."
Robin grimaced and probably would have said something if he didn't have more important things to focus on.
*Chiiiiiing* The gate quelled and started to falter. Any moment now the iron bars would give away and the fighting would begin.
"Ooooo. My body is tingling in excitement. I will cast my deliciously painful hexes on them. Their faces will melt off and blood will ooze from their pores. It will be an agonizing and violent death that is too gruesome to think about. Maybe I should even cast it on myself Nyhaha!
"Henry, um, could you uh, not do that?" Lissa said uneasily
Awww. but it sounds like so much fun! Oh well. I can have fun doing other things. Ehehehe."
*Bam* the iron gate finally gave away in a loud thud. It allowed us to run through it, and now that we were clear from archery fire, we dropped our heavy shields and charged through with our weapons at the ready. However, there was over two hundred Valmese soldiers there to greet us at the other side of the wall ready to end our advance with their own steel.
"Now!" Robin cried.
Hehehe! Okie dokie!" Henry laugh and cast a powerful dark magic in the crowd of enemy soldiers. It rose like a shadow from underneath the ground and consumed anyone standing underneath it. Miriel and Libra followed by casting a powerful lightening spell that devastated any soldiers within its range. Not to mention Tharja's ominous curse that hit seven soldiers at once.
The enemy was packed together so tightly that normal single magic attacks turned into annihilating barrages of death. This also allowed Nowi and Tiki to rain fire down on the areas not hit by the magic casters. With our swords, axes, and spears holding the line, the mages and manaketes bombarded the enemy formation into broken ranks of survivors.
"Hyah!" I sent my blade crashing down on the closest enemy and quickly returned my guard to block a blow from another soldier.
"Wrong move." Robin called out and stabbed my attacker in the chest. The soldier dropped his weapon and fell to the ground never to get back up.
"Thanks." I nodded and looked for my next target. "That is one less I have to worry about."
"Expect a lot more when we reach the castle halls." He called out as he lunged his blade forward into an axeman before he could get too close.
"Right." I muttered as I jumped forward and used Falchion to dismount a paladin from his horse.
…
"Weeeeeeeeeee" I could hear Henry cry in excitement. He was obviously enjoying himself far too much as another black aura consumed more victims. The enemy had suffered severe casualties and continued to be attacked by lightning, dragon fire, and darkness.
...
"FALL BACK" One of their enemy generals yelled in dismay. Though, there was not much of his regiment left after he had given the call. At least 75 percent of his soldiers were either dead or unable to fight. The rest that ran had to deal with Henry and Tharja who picked off anyone who dared turn their back on them.
"Frederick, I need a status report." Robin yelled as the remainder of the enemy fled to their headquarters.
"Sir, Virion, Sully, Gaius and Libra are badly injured. Stahl and Cherche have also taken moderate wounds but they will have to wait until Lissa and Maribelle can treat the more critical injuries. Though I fear our other divisions are in worse shape.
Robin sighed and said, "And what of the walls? Do they belong to us?"
"For the moment. Yes."
"Good. Have some men guard the wounded. Everyone else, let's end this quickly before we suffer anymore casualties."
…
The shepherds and thousands of other Regna Feroxi warriors followed us into the castle halls. We split into three groups like we planned and began our assault on the elite guard. They were much more spread out and familiar to magic users so we could we could not overwhelm them like we did at the entrance. Instead, we would have to win the battle with steel and grit.
"How are you holding up Robin?" I asked concerned about his welfare.
"I've never felt better. Though I imagine that will change when my adrenaline wears off." He replied while looking over the enemies charging towards us. "What about you?
"A little winded, but nothing I can't handle."
"Hmm, well I sure hope you can manage to keep up with me." He smirked and swiped his sword in the air.
"You have no need to worry about me Robin. I have your back covered."
"Then I suppose the only thing I need to worry about is my front." The tactician nodded back with warm a smile on his face. "So come on. We have a battle to win!"
"Right!" I said back and ran with him to meet up with the enemy. We charged straight towards two axeman and brought them down to their knees within seconds of each other.
"Yaaah!" I swiped my blade to my right and cut the tip off of a spearman's wooden shaft. He was left with just a large pole to fight with and by the time the metal tip had fallen to the ground Tiki and Anna had subdued two more men to our right.
With the area clear we moved on to take the next squadron by a set of stair cases. They had even poorer luck against our group with Robin and I leading the charge. I had just finished slashing another soldier in his chest when I noticed strange men in worn clothes rising from the staircases next to us.
"Is that … The resistance?! How did they fight their way in here so quickly with so many-" Before I could even finish my sentence I had to dodge a blow from one of the swordsmen who lunged after me. "Hold, we are not the Valmese!" I yelled desperately trying to urge him to stop.
"We know." One of them said with a rough voice.
"Then why are you attacking us?!"
"We decided to choose the winning side." He smiled wickedly and clashed his sword with mine.
Robin immediately understood what was going on gritted his teeth. "You bastards." he yelled in anger as he deflected a steel blade. "You miserable sons of-
"Please stop this!" Tiki shouted at the top of her lungs and brought the fighting to a dead silence.
The resistance members looked up to see the source of the cry and immediately dropped their jaws in dismay. "The Voice" one of them whispered in awe.
"Please stop this fighting and lay down your weapons. We don't wish to hurt you!" She pleaded to them and placed her left hand on her chest.
A few of them instantly dropped to their knees while the others let go of their arms too stunned to move. Battle hardened warriors were trembling as they beheld the view of Naga's daughter.
"M-Milady. I-I"
"Call off your troops and leave this fight. This will not end well for you" The Voice said with a firm tone.
"Ah-ah -at once." The captain said and bowed before her. A moment later he was running down the staircase shouting to his men below in a wild panic crying "The Voice! The Voice commands us to withdraw!"
...
Robin watched the resistance members sprint back underground and then he silently cursed to himself as a new thought entered his mind "Damn it. We have to warn Chrom!" He yelled urgently and motioned for us to follow him as he darted at full speed.
The tactician ran faster than I have ever seem him go in my life. I could barely match his speed myself and the rest of our group struggled to stay with us. We turned the corner and cut through two men before they even saw us coming and were now back at the main corridor with a large skirmish taking place on a large velvet red carpet splattered in blood.
"Chrom we have a situation!" He yelled behind enemy lines. The two of us had flanked the enemy that Group A was fighting.
"Robin?" Chrom said surprised while beheading an enemy that tried to attacked Sumia. "What is going on?"
"The resistance has turned traitor." Robin shouted back while attacking the nearest soldier. "Expect more turn coats to rise from the floor boards."
"Fie, that can't be." Say'ri said in dismay. "They gave me their word!"
"It doesn't seem to hold much weight in this country."
…
The fighting grew fiercer when the resistance showed up a second time. Men were converging to our position faster than we could take them down. I was breaking out into a major sweat and my arms were aching from the countless attacks and swings I used with my parallel falchion.
"Nnnng. There is always one problem after another." Robin grunted as he broke free from a sword lock. "Thank the gods at least one thing went right."
"One thing?" Chrom replied curiously as he ducked underneath a sweeping axe.
"We diverted most of their force to fight both of our groups." Robin said and slashed his way through the axemen. "This should give a clear path for Frederick and his men.
"Gah. Well I hope he hurries up. I am not sure how much longer we can hold this-"
"The commander is dead! Our noble lady has been slain!" One of the elite guards cried out while fleeing the center room. A moment later Frederick could be seen behind him will blood dripping down his lance.
...
"What were you saying Chrom?" Robin quipped and took a moment to catch his breath. Within the next few moment most of the enemy laid down their swords and surrender to our forces and finally ended the bloody battle.
The castle was ours, and we finally had a moment to rest.
…
A few minutes later Chrom, Robin, Say'ri, Frederick, Basilio, Flavia, and myself were gathered around each other to discus these alarming new events.
Frederick started by given a report on the situation by saying, "There is still some skirmishes occurring throughout the castle, but we are gaining the upper hand. What is more concerning is the tens of thousands of resistance troops outside."
"Fie, those traitors. To hell with them all." Say'ri rose her fist in the air and sent it crashing back down in pure rage.
"It does not help that Walhart and Yen'fay are marching toward us either. According to our scouts we have perhaps two or three days before they arrive." Flavia added.
"Which is why we will need to leave before that." Robin muttered and went back to developing a plan in his head.
"And just how do you propose we do that with an army of men outside?" Basilio grunted.
…
...
"Tiki." Robin whispered under his breath. "We can have Tiki lead the front of our army and follow behind her. I doubt anyone would dare challenge her authority face to face.
"That is true." I spoke up. "When we first encountered the resistance Tiki disarmed them with just her words. It seems their faith is stronger than their fears of Walhart."
"We might even have some of their men leave their forces and join our cause." Robin added optimistically.
*Sigh* "But why did they betray us in the first place?" Say'ri questioned in despair.
"No sense in figuring it out at this point is there?" Basilio interrupted. "But we have to march slowly or else they will see us as hostile. That will take a considerable amount of time with our large numbers.
"Right." Chrom nodded. "Time is of the essence so we must leave immediately."
"No...We can't." Robin said urgently. "We need time to gather their information and steal their supplies. If we leave now than this battle and our campaign is forfeit.
"But that will take even more time. With Walhart's cavalry he will catch up to us if we don't leave now and even that is pushing our luck." Flavia said grimly. "We can't squander our time with their supplies if it means our deaths."
"I know, but I am not going to give up on wining this war. I can't let our efforts be in vain!"
"What do you suppose we should do Robin?" I asked very worried. It seemed like with each passing second the situation grew even more dire.
Robin shook his head and said, "Gods I hope it wouldn't have to come to this."
"Come to what?" Chrom asked with wide eyes.
Robin sighed and covered his eyes with his hand in disgust. "... … We need to send a small force to deal with Walhart. One strong enough to distract him to buy the time we need."
"Sending a token force to distract a million men? … That sounds like a suicide mention if I ever heard one." Basilio remarked back.
"I know. That is why I hate this plan, but it is the only thing I can think of." Robin said distressed. His legs were shaking and he was clearly very fatigued from the battle. We all were.
"A grim plan, but it does seem to solve our plight." Say'ri murmured hesitantly.
Chrom sighed and agreed with Robin. "In order for it to work we would need a leader with reckless bravery and unwavering courage. One that would not run in the face of death."
"Haha Chrom. You're embarrassing me! I'll do it already just stop with all the compliments!" He laughed heatedly with a brutish bravado, but my heart sank hearing him volunteer for the mission.
A hundred thoughts of my past came rushing back into my head, and it was just like the stories had gone from when I was a child. "... Basilio, you can't mean to-."
"Once Walhart sees me he'll be the one running for the hills Haha!"
"That arrogance is going to get you killed one day." Flavia laughed and punched him in the arm.
"No, you can't Sir Basilio. Flavia is right. You will die in that battle!" I yelled desperately as the memories of my past continued to flood back into my brain.
"Heh, the fine lass is worried about me. But fear not. It will take more than these Valmese scum to get the better of me.
"No! You don't understand. This happens in my time line as well. You are slain in this battle Basilio by the conqueror himself.
"Am I now?" Basilio paused while raising his brow. "Haha, well I guess I'll have to be more careful this time around." He laughed heartily and completely ignored my warnings.
"Basilio-"
"Don't worry princess, He'll have me to keep an eye on him." Flavia elbowed Basilio in the shoulder and laughed
"Woah now. Absolutely not. I cannot allow the reigning khan to risk her life in such a-"
"Pah. You are a lot of things Basilio, but I never knew you to be a hypocrite. You dare risk your life in a glorious battle and expect me to run as a coward? That is more insulting than your presence." She retorted back.
"Hmph, very well. Arguing with you will do nothing but waste time and that is a luxury we cannot afford. I suppose it's settled then." He nodded and once again I felt as hopeless as the day Emmeryn died. Had nothing I done changed the cataclysm that was coming towards us?
"Please I beg of you, you cannot go or else you will be killed too!"
"We'll all die unless we slow down Walhart. We need someone to keep our men from fleeing against overwhelming forces and only we can do that while you get to safety." Basilio said seriously for once in his life. "I have no intention on dying today or anytime soon lass. You can count I'll be back."
"Basilio and Flavia, once you can't delay them any longer get out of there." Chrom urged. "We don't need you to be a hero out there."
"Haha, don't worry boy. I intend to keep living despite what some dumb fate may have to say about it. Next time you see me I'll be known as the Great Basilio Slayer of Conquerors."
"But Basilio!" I pleaded at the top of my voice.
"More like The Great Oaf." Flavia scowled back. "But don't worry dearie. I'll make sure the two of us get back alive. He has been a pest in my side for too long to stop now."
They had already began to set off despite my desperate pleas. I tried to run after them, but my body froze and I felt completely helpless. All I could see was Grima's dark face snickering in maniacal laughter at my failures.
Was there really nothing I could do to avert our future?"