Chapter 6: The Trickster's Pledge
They walked in silence, the heat of the blistering sun boiling through their clothing and their armour. Their feet were sore, the harsh texture of the sand managing to filter in through their shoes in order to start rubbing away at their raw, naked, unprotected skin. A constant buzzing of flies crawled into their ears, as the sensation of itchiness ravaged their bodies, in an attempt to drive them mad. Cordelia reached into one of her bags and pulled out a flask of water, unable to take the angry dryness in her throat for any longer. Being very careful not to consume too much, she tried to slake her thirst, however, it wouldn't diminish, and she stored her container away again, defeated. Feeling like she was about to collapse, she took a deep breath, nearly falling over the shifting sands beneath her. Stumbling forwards, she recovered, though her head was bursting with agony due to the temperature. However, she didn't complain, or make a noise, instead just trying to continue with her journey.
Eventually, they made it out of Plegia, to the greener borders of Ylisse. A smile stretched across Cordelia's face as she bent down to touch the Ylissean soil. Ricken shot her a look, but she ignored him as best she could, focusing on the fact she was finally out of the desert. Glancing one last time at the sands behind her, she remembered what Plegia had done to her, and gripped her lance, which she carried around, in case of an ambush. Breathing deeply, she took in a lungful of Ylissean air. Though she could still feel heat on her body, its' intensity had faded since being in the heart of Plegia. And what seemed to be a perpetually burning sky had now been replaced by the familiar and welcome sight of grey clouds.
"You know, we haven't been in Plegia that long." She glanced at Ricken, who was staring at her with bored eyes.
"It's just nice to be away from that place." She spoke with a hint of steel in her voice, which made Ricken step away from her a little. "Something about it just fills me with anger." Ricken didn't reply, and she sighed. "Let's keep going." Despite her companion's comments, she still felt a relief that she wasn't burning up inside. Her skin was still hurt, possibly scarred, and the milder heat was still causing pain, but she supposed the joy of making it back home had a soothing impact. Moving forwards, following a Ylissean road that she knew, she kept looking up, putting Plegia behind her.
The Longfort. Even though she had been here before, Cordelia still was taken aback by the size of it. Feroxi guards manned it, keeping an eye out on any intruders daring to enter the Feroxi borders. Trying to project an aura of confidence, she marched up to the gate, readying herself for when she was stopped.
"Who are you? What business do you have in these lands?"
"I am Cordelia. This is Ricken." She tried not to lose her voice to fear. "We have been sent by the Shepherds to investigate troubles in Regna Ferox."
"Do they not need you in Plegia?" Cordelia felt a single tear slip down her face.
"No. We are needed here. Whilst Chrom is on our enemy's doorstep, he does not want strife controlling Feroxian lands. Or any other lands."
"Tell me more about these troubles."
"I am afraid I have not been told anything myself. Only that they're in Regna Ferox."
"You don't sound very convincing. Though I want to let you in, I need to be able to trust you. We have a lot of bandits in Regna Ferox."
"I'm a pegasus knight. Though my pegasus isn't here, you can see I'm dressed in Ylissean armour. Would a bandit be able to get a hold of that?" The sentry paused for a moment.
"I guess not. Come in. But any word of trouble, and the Khan will kick you out. Most likely lethally." Cordelia nodded.
"Thank you."
The lands of Regna Ferox were harsh and unforgiving, being a cold, mountainous region. Though Cordelia didn't hate it quite as much as she did the desert, she found it difficult to stumble through the sloping snow that made up most of the landscape. Still, she kept on moving, watching out for any signs of trouble. Despite the fact that the frost was biting into her body, her armour seemingly useless against it, she forced herself to move forwards. However, many times she looked behind her to see Ricken, plodding along, a distance away, and she felt a slight surge of anger that he didn't seem to be trying to move quickly. Keeping it bottled in her stomach, she waited for him, trying to travel at his pace. But as she did this, her resentment rose - she didn't want to waste forever in this frigid country. Trying not to let this show, she kept going, her mind quickly growing tired of the seemingly endless expanses of snowed-over grassland. Occasionally, white would fall from the sky, sometimes landing on her face, dampening her already sour mood. At other times, she'd hear something, and look around, getting ready to fight, in case of bandits or wolves, only to realise that the noise was a rabbit or some other harmless animal.
After a week exploring the countryside of Regna Ferox, coming across no towns and no signs of civilization, Cordelia was beginning to become very frustrated. It didn't help that Ricken seemed to be making zero effort to keep up with her – in fact, over the week, it seemed like he'd been slowing down, and she was wondering whether it was on purpose. She tried to attribute it to his youth, not his malice, but it was difficult for her. She wasn't able to understand why he wasn't trying to keep going as fast as her, and she worried that perhaps he just didn't care about their mission. Neither of them talked to each other much, if at all, although she wasn't too bothered about this, as it let her reflect on recent events, as depressing as they were. In fact, her only real company in the journey through Regna Ferox was her memories of training to be a pegasus knight. They were a little comforting, although each one of them was tinged with its' own brand of regret, but they almost helped her keep her mind of the stress that was building up inside her. She didn't want to snap at Ricken, but she felt herself coming far too close far too many times. She found it hard to keep her anger inside of her, and this worried her - which led to more and more stress building up on top of her. All she could do was try not to unleash it.
A village, on the horizon, with little dots around it. Cordelia could see it coming into view. She didn't know if this was where she needed to go, but after a week of aimless wandering, with food supplies starting to run low, she needed somewhere with actual humans. She tried to increase her pace, but soon stopped that when she realised that Ricken was still plodding behind her. Sighing and cursing him under her breath, she felt yet another chill go down her spine. It was so cold. Perhaps the village would have warmer clothing that she could purchase. She turned around to see Ricken still behind her, and she let out an audible sigh that he seemed to pick up on, giving her an angry look.
"What?" He asked, after a minute of her silence.
"There's a village less than ten minutes away. One would think you'd have a little more energy."
"Are you saying I'm slow?" She didn't answer that, instead just looking at him. "Because it's not my fault."
"I'm not even a good runner. But you're still behind me." Ricken didn't reply to that accusation. "Whatever. Let's just keep moving. We're nearly there." The silence between them seemed to be angrier now, as if they were silent not just because they had nothing to talk about, but because they actively did not want to talk to each other. It slightly hurt Cordelia's ears, as if it were a violent buzzing, but it made no discernible, tangible noise. She didn't really understand, but she kept going, not even giving Ricken another glance.
When Cordelia neared the village, she didn't receive the hospitality she was hoping her - and she cursed herself for not seeing this earlier. The dots weren't the people of the village as she had presumed. They were bandits. Grabbing her lance, she turned to Ricken, gruffly commanding him to ready his spell tome. She wasn't quite sure what her best course of action would be at this point. Certainly, if she charged into the fray, she would most likely be hacked to pieces, especially due to her relative inexperience in grounded combat. But she couldn't leave the village to be sacked and burned.
"What do we do?" Ricken whispered to her.
"We have to fight. We can't just abandon the people here. If nothing else, we can cause a distraction whilst they evacuate." He nodded at her, although she wasn't sure if he resented taking her orders or not. Looking for any opportunities to attack, she moved quietly, so as not to draw any attention to herself. The bandits didn't seem to be watching their rear much, and as such she used this to her advantage, pulling out a javelin, aiming it as best she could. It flew, straight into the brain of one of the ruffians. That attack revealed her presence, but she took that, quickly equipping herself with her lance, so she could block an axe strike. Grunting slightly, trying not to lose her ground, she pushed back, toppling over her aggressor. Another enemy came rushing at her, and it was all she could to raise her weapon in order to stop herself from being hit. The force of the impact made them both stumble back a little, but she managed to come to her senses first, stabbing into his belly, thrusting her lance upwards. Ripping out her bloody spear, she stepped backwards, quickly looking out to see if there were any more foes. To her relief, it seemed like she had a reprieve - at least, for now.
Ricken readied a gust of wind in his hand, looking around in case there were more enemies to fight. A few more bandits had broken off from the main group, getting ready to attack. Stepping backwards, a little tinge of fear shooting through his throat, he nevertheless swallowed his anxiety as best he could, firing out the blast of air from his hand, slicing through the first ruffian coming towards him. To his right was Cordelia, who was catching her breath slightly, and he felt some panic knowing how close he was to her - it wasn't like he thought she'd hurt him intentionally, but he'd heard about her anger. Stepping to the side slightly under the pretense of avoiding another enemy that was heading towards him, he quickly pulled out another page from his tome, launching a spell swirling outwards. A throwing axe came hurtling at him, and he made to dodge, although it slightly grazed his shoulder. Grunting a little, he nevertheless was able to send out a counter-attack which cut through his opponent - enough so that a thrown javelin from his companion was enough to finish the bandit off. Quickly scanning around, he could see that there were another two and as such, he gathered more wind in his hand, using it to halt their advance, long enough so that Cordelia could prepare to fight. He sent a spell over her head, letting it come down on the top of his enemies. A series of strikes from Cordelia finished them off, and she turned to him.
"I fear that was only the reserve guard. The weaker ones. If you look, you can more of them. And I think I can see combat."
Cordelia moved forwards, lance in hand. Her foes seemed to be focused on attacking the village, but she could see that a few of them were turning, getting ready to face her. She could only hope that this dividing tactic was a good thing. Raising her lance to fight, she hoped that her presence here was drawing pressure of the village. An axe came hurtling towards her, and she prepared to block it, however, the impact was stronger than expected, and it pushed her back, nearly toppling her over. Managing to step out of the way of the next blow, she quickly struck into the bandit's stomach, drawing blood. Using this to her advantage, she dashed forwards, eager to score a killing blow - however, she was rejected by a hefty strike. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated hard, able to avoid being hit by the next attack, this allowing her to finish off her opponent with a brutal stab to the throat. She was slightly winded now; however, she forced herself to keep moving forwards, getting ready to defend herself against the two enemies that were stepping menacingly towards her. As the first one let out a growl, rushing her, she stood her ground, absorbing the weight of his blow, although this shook her slightly, pushing her backwards. Losing more ground, she narrowly avoided a vicious follow-up, however, she was not able to capitalise on it. Instead, she turned, getting ready to fend off the second barbarian, who was coming at her quickly, his axe raised above his head. Letting her weapon meet his, she pushed as hard as she could, managing to stop him from cutting her apart. She heard a noise behind her, and risked a quick look. She smiled. Quickly diving forwards, taking the first of the bandits by surprise, she distracted him long enough for a burst of wind to strike through him, rendering him dead. This sudden attack shocked the second attacker as well, who was quickly dispatched by a wave of fierce air, slicing him and sending him to the floor, allowing for Cordelia to finish him off with a brutal lance stab through the head.
"There." Cordelia pointed at a figure that was effortlessly dispatching waves of bandits. "That's why there wasn't so many of them." She ventured forwards, getting ready to assist the mysterious fighter, and Ricken followed her, a few steps behind. A few more of the foes broke off from the main group, but they were dispatched with little trouble - Cordelia only receiving a slight slash on her arm, which was mostly absorbed by her armour. Holding a javelin in her hand, she concentrated hard, letting it loose, careful only to hit one of the bandits. Defending herself as she moved forwards, she ducked under a throwing axe, a burst of wind taking out her attacker. Launching another throwing spear, she gathered a grim satisfaction as she saw it lodge itself into the neck of her target. From the corner of her eye, she could see the figure still fighting, and she could see more and more of the ruffians dying or breaking off the fight - their numbers were dwindling. Fast. Two twin arcs of wind came from behind her, slicing into the body of yet another barbarian, dropping him to the floor. Grabbing another javelin, she threw it, killing another of the ruffians. She wasn't far from reaching the figure now. And there weren't many more foes left to kill.
It didn't take long for Cordelia to reach the figure – who turned out to be a red-headed woman, a sword in her hand. She smiled at the pegasus knight, cutting down one of the last enemies whilst doing so, as if they were no more than a gnat to be swatted.
"Who are you?" Cordelia's tone wasn't harsh, merely curious.
"Just a merchant, of a sort. The name's Anna."
"Just a merchant?"
"Like I said. Of a sort. Folks call me the 'Secret Seller'. Tell you what, next time we meet, if we meet, I'll cut you a deal." She paused for a minute. "Say, are you under obedience to anyone?"
"I'm a Shepherd. Under service to the exalt Chrom."
"Well, tell him he's got the discount as well. How's that sound?" Cordelia nodded at her.
"Thank you, Secret Seller."
"Just call me Anna. Oh by the way, sweetheart, how did you find me?"
"We were told there were bandit troubles in Regna Ferox. I guess it was just a lucky coincidence you happened to be here as well."
"Hmm... I don't know if this is end of this."
"Do you require any more assistance?" Anna shook her head.
"Us merchants have contacts, I suppose you'd call them. And if you need assistance, sweetie, ask for the 'Secret Seller'."
"Thank you." Anna just winked, smiling, and with that the conversation was over.
Cordelia gave Ricken a smile. They were walking back through the Feroxian lands, not sure whether they had solved the problem that Robin had told them to. Part of Cordelia wanted this to be over, so that she could head back to Plegia, and help in the fight. But she was worried about what would happen there, and she was scared that she could lose control if she went back too soon. And if she returned having not done what she asked, Robin would most likely punish her - it would be far, far better for her to stay in Regna Ferox for now, just in case. Besides, if Anna was right, there would be more trouble happening, and if so, she wanted to help. At least here, she could do some good. Do something right, for once. She turned to Ricken again, who seemed tired - as a result of the battle, she supposed. It'd been a day since the fight, but they'd not really had much sleep since then. They'd both deemed it too risky, with the possible threat of more bandits around.
"Cordelia, when do you think we'll be able to stop? I'm sorry, but..."
"Don't worry, Ricken. I'm tired too. That battle was intense."
"Who do you think Anna is? She's mysterious. Can we trust her?"
"Yes. I think we can." She stretched, slightly wincing from the pain that shot through her body. "Or at least, I hope that we can." Looking around, she moved her muscles again, trying to overcome the strain that was eating into them. Still unable to fight through the torment that was filling her, she felt one little tear fall down her cheek. Forcing herself down on the floor, she smiled at Ricken. "Hopefully, we'll stop hurting in the morning."
Cordelia looked up to the sky, the cold on her back not helping with her sleep. She shivered slightly, turning over, looking at Ricken, who seemed to be unconscious. Closing her eyes again, she felt a single tear leak down her face and she wiped it away, unsure of how its' presence came about. Shutting her eyes once more, she curled her arms around her chest, trying to keep the heat inside of herself. The dark, empty natural ceiling above her seemed to hold no warmth for her, instead the stars just shining a dim light on areas far away, out of her reach. She sighed silently, trying to exhale the worries in her mind. She had no idea really what she was doing, or where she would have to go, but she knew that now she had to make sure Ricken didn't die. It wasn't that she liked him, not particularly, but there was something inside her telling her that if she didn't protect him, that if he did die in her care, then she would have failed. And she couldn't fail again. Clenching her fists, she shook off the horrible memories of that day. Curling up into a ball she let another tear fall down her. She never wanted to fail again. Never wanted that feeling inside of her. She lay weeping beneath the uncaring moon, the fear of failure filling her bones to the brim. She lay with tears stuck on her face beneath the unfeeling sky, the memories of her failure crushing her body. Eventually, after about an hour she did managed to drift off, but it wasn't for long - Ricken woke her up, informing her that it was time to set off. She nodded at him, not indicating how badly the night had gone, instead just walking with him in silence, to their next destination.