Hello again!

See? I've managed to upload this on the day I said I was going to! I'm managing to stick to this upload schedule so far, but... I've got other ideas for fics. I guess they can wait though. I really want to finish this. It won't be done for a long while yet, though. Hope you're all still enjoying this as much as I am.

Onwards!

Chapter 13

Campari's lance hit Kit just as painfully as last time. Through blurred, darkening vision, Kit could see that the lance had stopped short of Lissa. He smiled.

"What the-?" Campari exclaimed. Kit twisted to the side, wrenching the lance out of the Plegian general's hands. His sword fell from dying fingers. Kit slammed into the ground next to Lissa with a thud.

The healer stared at him with wide, tearful eyes. She reached out and felt the side of his face. There was still a pulse! It was faint and irregular, but it was hope.

"Pointless." Campari grinned, drawing a blade. Lissa felt a sudden rage towards this general. Who was he, to mock the sacrifice of one of the most noble Shepherds? Lissa gripped Kit's sword until her knuckles turned white.

Campari laughed. "You think you can win? You have no knowledge of the blade! I can see it in your stance!" As he raised his own blade to kill her, she leapt forwards and plunged Kit's sword into his chest. The massive general staggered back, clutching his bloodied chest. With one last astonished look at the petite, blonde healer, he collapsed.

Lissa dropped the sword and ran to Kit. Gripping her staff desperately, she begged for Kit to still be alive. "M- Maiorem Sana..." She managed to chant, slowing the bleeding as the green light enveloped Kit. She repeated it over and over, bringing Kit closer and closer to being healed. When the wounds finally sealed, Lissa cupped her hand on his cheek, feeling the warm skin of his face. "Kit..."

When he remained still, Lissa started to panic. Her breathing quickened and her eyes began to brim with tears. "Kit!"

His eyes slowly opened at her shout. "Lissa..." He managed to smile. "Thanks... For saving me..." Almost laughing with relief, Lissa wrapped his head in her arms and pulled it into her shoulder. Kit wrapped and arm around her waist and nuzzled her shoulder. They were both splattered with blood, lay on a desert, pale and shaking, but they felt utterly happy in each other's arms.

The Shepherds came charging into Campari's walled fort to find not a formidable foe, but a smiling Lissa helping their blood-spattered tactician to his feet.

"Kit... Did you..." Chrom managed, his face a picture of confusion. "We were out there, fighting through the Plegians, following your orders... And you were...?"

"In here. Taking down Campari when he least expected it." Kit smiled, but it was faint.

"You defeated old Campari?" Asked a pale woman stood near Chrom. Her dark mage's skin-tight clothes seemed far too revealing, and silky black hair drooped around her shoulders.

"Not me." Kit replied, gesturing to Lissa. "She actually landed the finishing blow."

If possible, Chrom looked more astonished than before. "Lissa... You..."

She nodded nervously. "Kit was down; I had to defend myself." The dark mage by Chrom laughed. "Poor Campari." She mocked. "After all that boasting..."

Kit held up his sword. The light reflecting from it made it shine for all to see.

"Shepherds! Pegasus units! Feroxi!" He called, his voice carrying like a wave through all armies. They all stopped dead. "Now! For the Exalt!"

"For the Exalt!" The shout was spontaneous. It erupted from every person in every army. Even the Shepherds, stood next to Kit, yelled with all they had. The pegasus units closed in, soaring to aid Emmeryn.

A slight sound. Just over the cheering armies, Kit heard a very small noise. He turned. A purple, decaying hand clawed out from the sand. Before Kit could even draw his sword, the arm was already uncovered, and many more were rapidly wrenching themselves free of the sands. Kit rushed them, trying to warn people, but his desperate cries were drowned out by the cheering of armies. Only Lissa noticed, and she rushed to Kit's aid.

Kit managed to cut one of the Risen archers down, but the others had already drawn their bows and fired. The arrows rained on both the pegasi and their riders, and they fell to the ground with the crack of bones.

Silence.

Cordelia rushed forwards, pulling Phila- the commander of the pegasus guards- from the heap she had fallen in. Three long arrows jutted from her back. Her face was pale, and her eyes seemed unfocused. Stumbling, crying, Lissa managed to reach them. Lissa's delicate hand gently felt for a pulse on Phila's neck. When she nodded her head, Cordelia beamed. Lissa gave a few hushed orders and the red-haired knight gently tugged the arrows from Phila as Lissa sealed the wounds with magic. A fragment of colour returned to Phila's face. Her eyes gently closed, but Cordelia could hear her gentle breathing. Lissa shuffled over to the other knights and felt for their pulses, but shook her head.

The weeping Cordelia was consoled by Lon'qu's awkward embrace around her shoulders.

"What a touching scene." A grating voice echoed out across the deafening silence. Kit looked up to see Gangrel smirking over the corpses of the pegasus knights. "You have accomplished... Nothing. Bwa ha ha!" His cackle rang like a death knell over the silent armies. "But I digress. Now..." He waved his hand, and all of the Risen archers drew their bows and aimed to Emmeryn. "If any of you even move to attack, those bows will fire. If you do not hand over the Fire Emblem, those bows will fire. There's only one choice."

"No! Chrom!" Emmeryn's usually sweet voice rang with urgency. "Do not hand over the Emblem!" Chrom stared down at the shield in his hands. He stepped towards Gangrel purposefully.