Chapter 14 Part two
Nathan, Chrom, and Marth rushed into the throne room to see a hooded assassin about to stab Emmeryn, with the exalt huddled against her throne. Before the three could make a movement to attack, a blast of fire shot from another corner of the room incinerated the man. They looked to the side to see Lon'qu and Lissa rushing in, with Lissa clutching her Fire tome. Frederick, Ricken, Donnel and Sumia came trailing in after.
"W-what is going on?" Emmeryn called out.
Chrom looked over to his sister. "Sorry, Emm, no time to explain. There's a band of assassins within the castle, and you appear to be their target."
"Where are the others?" Nathan pressed, as Lon'qu, Chrom and Marth ran to secure the door of the throne room.
"I sent them to defend other areas of the castle, to make sure that no more of these vermin get in." Frederick replied as he readied his lance.
Nathan nodded, turning to those who were there, his brain scrambling to come up with a strategy for their peculiar position. "Ricken, Donnel, stay here in the throne room with Marth, make sure Emmeryn remains guarded. Chrom and Sumia, press up the left hall from here. Lissa and Lon'qu can handle the right. Frederick and I can press up the central hall from here."
Chrom shook his head worriedly. "We don't have enough manpower for this to quite work."
Just then, a strange beast, with glowing red eyes, and long ears, burst into the throne room from the side entrance. Nathan quickly drew his Levin sword, and was about to strike before Marth held him back, yelling, "…Hold! Panne is not your enemy!"
Nathan gave a quizzical look to Marth, still pointing his sword at the mysterious beast before them. "How do you know this…thing?" He asked.
Marth sighed, blushing slightly. "Er…it's hard to explain. But I know that Panne is on your side tonight."
Nathan looked back at the beast to see that it had transformed, and in its place stood a tall woman, clad in purple armour, with long ears and a shapely body with features that closely resembled that of a rabbit.
"I am not a beast, filthy man-spawn." Panne spat at the tactician.
Nathan, taken aback, quickly stuttered, "M-my apologies…Panne, was it? What exactly…are you?"
Panne opened her mouth to speak, before Chrom cut her off, stepping between the two. "We have no time for this! We NEED to get rid of the scum within the castle, let's MOVE!" He sharply yelled.
Nathan nodded. "Right." He replied. "Panne, if you wouldn't mind, head down the middle hall with Frederick, I'll head with Lissa and Lon'qu down the right side. If all goes well, we should all meet up again in the outer courtyard."
"TO ARMS, Shepherds!" Chrom called, and the groups charged forth.
Nathan, Lissa, and Lon'qu rushed down the castle corridors, quickly cutting down any enemy warriors who stood in their way like a well-oiled machine. Nathan and Lon'qu made for an excellent duo, knowing each other's battle tendencies from sparring in Regna Ferox, and quickly tore through the bands of assassins who stood before them with their swords. Lissa followed closely behind, throwing out blasts of fire at any of the enemy warriors who failed to pay attention to her.
As the group finally ran into the courtyard, Nathan looked over to see a sharp bolt of lightning magic heading straight for Lon'qu's head. Nathan frantically cried out to the myrmidon before jumping in the way, deflecting the blast off his Levin sword, which created a dent in his blade, causing the constant lightning that once circled it to fizzle out.
"Thanks…" Lon'qu told the tactician, panting.
Nathan looked back at the man, and grinned slightly, holding up his now broken blade. "You owe me…a new sword…" He replied between pants. The two laughed before Lissa cried, "Look out!"
Nathan looked up to see a tall dark-haired man, dressed in black robes that looked eerily similar to his own cloak, charging up a powerful sphere of dark magic, which he held above his head, ready to strike. However, he did not cast it just yet. He seemed puzzled as he stared at Nathan, who readied his dulled blade.
"Oh ho…I know you…" The mysterious sorcerer told Nathan, who glared.
"How? Who the hell are you?" He growled in response.
"Come now, I can't tell you that…" The man mockingly teased. "But if you want to know, fight me, and perhaps I will grace you with the truth about your past, and your true purpose!" He cast his spell, which Nathan blocked with a wall of fire, created from his arcfire tome. He cast a blast of his Elthunder tome back at his opponent, which the man deflected.
"You'll have to do better than that, Nathan…" The sorcerer replied, readying another one of his dark tomes.
"Oh no he won't!" A familiar voice cried out from behind the man. The sorcerer turned around just in time to see Chrom's falchion pierce his stomach. The man coughed up blood before collapsing onto the ground, dead. Strangely enough, his body was enveloped in a purple fog and disintegrated before them.
"Are you guys alright?" Chrom asked, as Sumia flew in behind him on his Pegasus. Another man followed them, wearing brown clothing and sucking on a lollipop.
"We're fine, thanks." Lon'qu panted.
"Who was that guy?" Chrom asked, turning to Nathan, who looked troubled and frustrated.
Nathan flung his sword to the ground in disgust. "He…he knew who I was, Chrom…" The tactician told the prince, who gasped in surprise. Nathan held his head in his hands. "Who…who am I?" He muttered in distress before running off, back into the castle, before anyone could say anything.