Fire Emblem: Path of Wyverns

Chapter 4

Instinctively, I curl into a ball as I hit the ground, but my head is still knocked to the side as the beast slashes at me. Defenseless, I do the only thing us poor, pitiful humans can do in such a situation. I pull myself into as small a target I can and raise my hands in an empty attempt to ward off the next blow.

I wait, inwardly preparing myself for the next blow. Is this really what I've come to? If I was going to be fed to an animal, couldn't it have been an actual dragon?

After a few agonizing moments, I realize I'm not being attacked, though I can still see the wyvern from the little light streaming in and hear it growling. An itching sensation in my hand gets my attention. My mark is glowing once more, this time more brightly. A few feet away, I can see the wyvern crouching, but it's not lunging…yet.

Okay, I'm not dead. Well, that's good. And it looks like I have a moment, at least. Remembering my calming exercises, I slowly stood up, keeping my hands out toward the wyvern. It growls more, but doesn't try to snap at me, which is good…I think.

I close my eyes and take a slow, deep breath. I lift my left foot off the ground and place it firmly back down, repeating the process with my right foot. Taking another deep breath, I mentally order my body to calm as I finally open my eyes once more. And ta dah! Panic be gone! Even the wyvern seems calmer. Though from the smell of it, my jeans are ruined. I think it would be best to get my mind off of that fact.

Now, time to analyze my situation. Some latent power or fear relating to my mark is keeping the wyvern at bay. The real question is whether I'm influencing power over it, or if the wyvern can simply tell I'm a branded, like the laguz can, and won't attack.

This is Tellius, so magic is possible, right? So, can I do magic? Am I doing it now without knowing it? If so, how do I control it? Do I just 'reach out' with my mind, or literally say the magic words? The mages in Tellius always seemed to have a tome handy, though that Raven king guy was an exception.

Let's try the mind over matter theory. Concentrating on…well, a most-likely imagined power spring inside, I picture channeling it through my arm and to the wyvern. Then I imagine the power forcing the wyvern downward, my hand unconscious following along. I feel like I'm trying to use the force or something. Wait, did the wyvern just lower his head some? I think he did! Or he's preparing to spring. Oh, shoot.

For safety measures, I imagine the pressure lifting off of the wyvern. The wyvern raises its head back up to a level slightly above mine. I think it really is me. Somebody pinch me. I'm becoming a wyvern controlling Jedi in the middle of Tellius. I should have told them my name was Obi-Wan or Kyle Katarn. Now I just need to learn how to use fire and wield a flaming sword into battle as my lightsaber! Or would light magic be better for effects? And I can't forget the mysterious cloak. I'll need one of those.

The wyvern huffs, giving me a good dose of its rather, well, rancid breath. I bet this is worse that a Rancor's. The wyvern seems to be staring directly into my eyes now, and I no longer hear growling, either. I stare into the wyvern's eyes intently. …Nope, no 'glittering' to see there. Despite what all those other novels say, I just don't see that 'glittering of intelligence' in these eyes that those protagonists seem to notice. Maybe I just don't recognize it or something. And I refuse that a horse could have it and not a wyvern.

The cell grows slightly lighter as the sun peeks out from behind a thin cloud. The light reveals that this wyvern is actually black as coal naturally, not just from the shadows of the cell. I can also see that it still has the harness from before on it. If it is as vicious as that guy said, they probably couldn't get close enough to take it off. In fact, it looks like it's been on there a while.

The wyvern huffs at me again. With my hand outstretched, which is starting to make my shoulder ache, and the wyvern just crouched there, this is like the moment Hiccup meets his dragon. "The first step is contact…I think," I say out loud, trying to remember how Hiccup taught it. Hey, it might be called 'How to Train Your Dragon' for a reason! I mean, if Fire Emblem is real, why not that? Actually, I might not want to dwell into that infinite loop of thought there.

Steeling my nerves, I step forward and reach closer to the wyvern's snout. The wyvern growls and pulls its head back, revealing a large set of sharp teeth.

"I guess I can't call you Toothless," I comment with a small laugh. The wyvern doesn't smile back.

After a pause, I step forward again, in which the wyvern backs up once more. Another step, more backing, and I'm still separated by about three feet from the wyvern's head. As I contemplate to step forward once more, I realize something. I'm intruding here. Here in his abode, I've come in, forced him back, and now I'm getting into his personal space. The server had said this wyvern had had some sort of bad history, right? Should I really force this wyvern to do something it doesn't want to do, especially since I'm not fully sure it won't still attack?

I back up a step to give the wyvern some room. "Okay, I want to work out a deal, okay?" I ask. The wyvern simply stares at me. No indication of a reaction to my words. "Um…look, I really don't want to be eaten, but at the moment, I can't get out, and I'm probably safer in here with you, than out there with a crazy girl that now probably hates me worse than a sub-human, which I didn't think possible.

"I don't know what you've been through, but I bet you probably want out of here, right?" No reaction. "I promise that if you don't harm me until I get out of here, I'll do my best to get you out of here as well." With my speech finished, I lower my hand, the tingles quickly fading along with the glow. The wyvern and I continue our stare off, but after a minute, the wyvern huffs and curls up in a corner, though it still took up a fourth of the cramped space.

So I guess this isn't the part where we suddenly become best friends. Well, I'm alive, which has to count for something. I sit down in the opposite corner, close to some bars that stood in front of a sliding door.

For some reason I feel drained. Maybe it's stress or lack of food, but I feel so tired. But I can't go to sleep just yet. I need a plan to get out of here. Think, think, think. I groan as I catch myself tapping my head like Pooh. What did others do in prison situations? I can't remember any, which is probably because I didn't read too many books that that happened in. There was the jail-bust in Crimea, but someone came in and rescued them. I can always rely on others who have come to Tellius, though. WWJD? What would John do?

Then again, John wouldn't be in this position as he would be hanging out with Jill. Granted, she hasn't reformed yet. How did John change her? I should have reread his work. Actually, there would have been a lot of things I would have done if I had known I was coming to Tellius.

I think I'm starting to feel a little homesick, even if home is a small, cracker-box dorm room. These stone floors and walls may be adding to it, but I miss the comforts of home, like food, a bed, water, a book. I would even take the unfinished Rublox cube right now. I think my archenemy of all time is boredom, and that is what I am right now. Bored.

At least I don't have family left behind. Casey might honestly freak out, might even blame himself, but he's a trooper. I wasn't really close to anyone else, outside of a few acquaintances online that I played games with. I think my most major regret is not getting to talk to that girl more. I can't recall her, which is usual for me. I can't remember most names to save my life.

Then again, I'm in Tellius. There are a lot of women here. There would be some issues with my world jumping, and they'll have to accept my pseudo-Branded status, plus my unusual personality, and…shoot, I'm going to be single for the rest of my life!

I start laughing to myself. I'm in a wyvern pit, could be eaten at any time, a death mark still hovering on my hand, and I no way out, but I'm thinking about getting a girlfriend. My mind's like a miniature Pandora's box.

My eyelids feel so heavy. I still don't why I feel so tired, especially since I can see that it's not even noon, yet. Mentally shrugging, I go ahead and let sleep take me.

-o-

I can hear footsteps going up the stairs, but it takes a few seconds before I fully grasp that fact in my sleepy haze. I stretch out my sore neck. Sleeping in a sitting position against stone is not comfortable in the least. Not to mention the knot growing on the back of my head. I take a moment to make sure my body is still all here. All accounted for. The wyvern didn't eat me, thankfully.

I see someone on the roof with a bucket standing near the larger grate. I can't distinguish much from this angle, but I can see it's a guy. The wyvern stirs in the opposite corner making the guy jump a little. Not the bravest soul up there.

The guy seems to be peering in at me, but the sun is now angled away from me, leaving the majority of me in shadow. The ends of my legs can be seen, though, and that's when I notice that I'm wearing my worn out tennis shoes from a few years ago. Why did I put those on? I thought I had put on my other pair.

"Poor soul." The voice comes from that man from above. He reaches in his bucket and pulls out something. As the man lets it drop down through the grate, I see that it is a chunk of meat, apparently raw from the looks of it. "I wonder what he did to anger the General so," the man mutters to himself, reaching in for another piece.

So the man thinks I'm dead. I guess Jill didn't wait around to hear my screams. I wonder if I should say something. I mean, I'm kind of hungry myself, and I would like something better than raw venison or beef or whatever. The wyvern grabs up the chunk and swallows it whole. Despite the gory scene, watching a dragon-like creature eat is pretty cool. Disgusting, but cool.

The man above us drops another piece, but from his constant shifting, I think he's getting nervous. It's not like the wyvern can reach him through the grate. Try being dropped down in here with it. Standing up there won't seem so bad anymore after experiencing that, now would it?

My stomach growls as I watch the wyvern snatch up another piece of meat. That's it; I'm going to say something. I refuse to starve to death after what I've been through these past two days. Or is this my third day here now?

"Hey! Beam me up, Scotty!" I shout. "I'm starving down here!" I've gone from Star Wars to Star Trek. It's a small universe after all.

The man drops the bucket and stares at me. I stretch and stand up from the corner, feeling sore all over from the stone bed. The wyvern excitedly snaps at the stream of falling meat. I wince from the girlish scream above me. The wyvern just ignores it. When I look back up, the man is gone, the now empty bucket left behind. So much for room service. I give your hotel zero stars. Or maybe half a star, just because you have wyverns here. Should have gone for dragons, guys. I'd given you a full star for that.

The wyvern finishes up the meat and looks up at the grate for more. "I guess the waiter didn't want a good tip," I tell him. The wyvern turns his attention to me, but doesn't otherwise respond. "The silent type, eh? Don't worry; I can speak enough for the both of us."

I can hear footsteps, and hurried ones at that. And it sounds like more than one person, I think. General Shiharam appears above the grate soon after. He looks rather surprised to see me, and not in a good way, either.

"Did you miss me?" I call up. I think surviving a wyvern attack has made me arrogant, especially in the face of my executioner.

"If you saw what happened to the last person to enter Midnight's pen so casually, you weren't be so chipper," he says.

I smirk back at him. "I think my entrance was anything but casual."

"I heard," he drools. That…probably didn't win me any points with him. I need to think of something, quick.

"Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot," I start. Actually, it was more like the wrong hand, but the point still stands. "Yes, I'm Branded, but the sole reason I withheld that was proved by you trying to feed me off to a wyvern. Would you have casually given away information about yourself in that situation? Everything thing I said was true. I know what is going to happen. King Ashnard truly plans to launch a war against Crimea."

"King Ashnard has turned our economy and debt around. Our country is in an economic boon. Begnion is finally starting to view us as closer to equals. A war is the farthest thing from King Ashnard's mind," General Shiharam says. If I wasn't so certain, his passion might have changed my mind. Was everyone really so convinced of King Ashnard's placidity at this point in time? A knot twists my stomach as a thought occurs to me. What if this an alternate universe in the Fire Emblem saga? I mean, if Tellius could exist, why not an alternate universe of it?

I force the thoughts away. I can't show weakness now. "I know what I saw in the vision, General. How about a deal? If King Ashnard doesn't declare war soon, you can do with me as you like as a proven liar. However, if he does, then I request that I be set free without charge." Wait, that didn't come out right! I'm still not sure how far before his invasion I am!

"Then here you shall stay until then," General Shiharam states. Before I can respond, he walks off.

"Some food would be nice, though!" I shout, my hunger getting the best of me. I'm not sure if I hope he hears or not. Oh well.

The wyvern stares at me lazily. It must be boring to be stuck here all the time. I've only been here a bit, but I'm already pretty bored. I need to name this wyvern, instead of just always thinking of it as 'the wyvern.' General Shiharam had mentioned its name. What was it? Middie? Middon? …Midnight! I need to get better with names.

"So you're called Midnight," I state.

The wyvern reacts slightly at its name. I guess that makes it certain. Midnight certainly suits its dark coat of scales. What is its story? Why do the others fear it so much? I mean, it did try to eat me before I stopped it, but there has to be a reason.

Curiosity getting the best of me, I sit down near the lounging wyvern. Midnight stares at me warily. "Don't worry; I just want to talk." Okay, I'm pretty sure it's giving me an incredulous look. "Don't look at me like that. I already know I'm crazy. Just work with me here."

For the next half hour, I vent to Midnight about how I had ended up here, from Casey's crazy party to my accidental piggyback ride. I've decided that even though I miss Casey, I'm finally going to sock him for taking me to that party.

My rambling is interrupted by a loud scraping. The large sliding door opens, revealing the man who had brought me food last time. And just like last time, he has food.

"Food!" I shout, getting up quickly. Midnight follows behind, probably thinking that it's for it.

The man laughs on the other side of the bars. "I've never seen anyone get this excited over leftovers before."

"I'll take almost anything right now," I admit. "I haven't been this hungry in a while." I take the offered platter, which barely fits through the bars. Midnight snakes his over my shoulder to sniff it, but I pull my food away. "This is mine," I pout.

I notice the man step back. He looked dumbfounded.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

The man pulls himself together. "Well, it's just that I haven't seen anyone get so close to Terror without being attacked. Not since…well, to be honest, I thought you were dead meat this morning when you were dropped in." Nice pun.

"I thought I was too, actually," I say. "But I think we've reached an understanding, Maybe."

"Well, you might not get out anytime soon. Jill is more upset than I've ever seen her," the man says. "You've really set her on edge." Good; she deserves it.

"I kind of let my mouth run on without me."

"Jill used to have problems with that, too. It's funny how it's coming back to her now," he says. The man reaches into his sack and pulls out a bundle of cloth. "I wasn't told to bring this, but you look a little…well…"

"I get it," I reply, taking the clothes. "Thank you a lot for these."

"No problem. Hope it works out for you. You seem like a nice guy," he says. Grabbing the door, he slides it close, darkening the cell quite a bit.

I turn around and see Midnight staring at my food. "You just ate! What was that, like ten, twenty pounds of meat? You're barely bigger than me."

Midnight's eyes stay trained on my food. I guess changing will have to wait until after I eat. I won't be able to put my plate down until then. I sit down in my corner and begin to eat the staple 'biscuits and gravy.'

I can see Midnight watching me. This isn't good. I never used to be able to resist my dog when she did that. I try to advert my gaze, but I can still feel its eyes on me. My guilty conscience is getting to me. Shoot. Finishing what I was going to eat, I place the tray down into front of Midnight. It sniffed the food cautiously before snaking out its forked tongue to lick at it.

While Midnight is focused on the food, I tentatively reach out my hand. Midnight stops, its gaze now on my hand. Steeling my nerve, I reach out further to place it on Midnight's head, but it moves back right before contact. I guess it's still not ready yet. I pull back, letting Midnight get back to its food.

Maybe next time.

-o-

The clanging of the metal wakes me. Looking for the source, I see the smaller grate I had come through being lifted off. A rope drops down to the floor, and soon after a voice calls down, "You awake? General Shiharam wants to speak with you immediately." It sounds like the server guy, but it's too dark to be certain. I've decided to call him Alfred, at least to myself for now.

"I'll be right there," I say, getting up. I think my whole body is starting to ache from this stone cell. At least I was able to use my old shirt as a pillow. Grabbing up said shirt, I rip off a clean strip and wrap it around my right hand. No point in letting anyone else see it.

Midnight raises its head to watch me, but doesn't get up. I think I'm going to miss it. One way or the other, I'll probably be out of here. Hopefully this night visit means that Ashnard is ordering a sudden invasion.

"See you," I say to Midnight. "I haven't forgotten my promise. I'll do my best to get you out."

Midnight doesn't respond, so I head over to the rope. Couldn't they have fashioned a ladder or something? I don't think I can climb this thing. I can barely do a pull-up in PE, let alone climb up twelve feet on an unknotted rope.

Seeing no other option, I grab the rope and attempt to climb it. Well, this is a failure. I can't get a tight enough grip. I would brace myself against the wall, but the rope is positioned wrong. I feel like Mulan staring at the impossible pole.

"What's wrong?" Alfred asks.

Great. I'm going to have to say it. "I…can't climb the rope."

"That's alright. Just hold on tight, and I'll pull you up," Alfred says.

I wrap the rope around my hand and hold on as tight as I can. I steadily rise into the air as the man pulls me out. I feel so pitiful right now. Jill's burn is coming back to haunt me. I grab the lip of the roof as soon as I can and pull myself on up.

"Thanks," I say.

"Don't mention it," Alfred replies, heading down the stairs.

"By the way, what's your name?" I ask, following right behind. I don't want to get too used to calling him Alfred. It's hard enough to place names as is.

"I'm Daren, rider of the Black Platoon." He sounds rather proud of that. Am I supposed to know what the 'Black Platoon' is?

"I am called…Drake." Almost forgot for a second there.

"It is a pleasure to finally officially meet you," Daren says. He's a pretty friendly guy. I think we could have been friends. It's sad that I'll be leaving soon, either to Crimea or to die.

"Do you know why I'm being called?" I ask curiously. I'm still kind of nervous wondering whether I'll be let go or not.

"I'm not sure," Daren admits. "A rider came in with urgent news after sundown. Since then, General Shiharam has been issuing orders like crazy. The whole fort is abuzz with energy."

That would mean that King Ashnard is preparing to attack. I let out a shaky sigh. I guess I'll survive another day. I wonder where I should go from here. Do I head to Crimea and meet up with the Greil Mercenaries, or should I avoid the war and wait in Begnion's capital for them to catch up?

I don't get too much time to ponder it as we reach the same audience room as last time. Daren leaves me there to wait on General Shiharam, who is giving rapid orders to some soldiers. Each soldier runs off once he finishes with them, giving testament to their discipline. Soon, all of them are gone, leaving me and General Shiharam.

He stares at me for a moment without saying anything, making me feel nervous once more. Just speak up already! Finally, he does. "It seems you were telling the truth. King Ashnard has ordered for all troops to immediately marshal near the Crimean border. It seems we will be going to war."

"So I'm free to go?" I ask happily. Having to travel half the continent to get anywhere will be a pain, but it's Tellius! Just imagine being able to see firsthand the capitals, the landmarks, the battlefields, the-

"No."

Wait, what did he say? I would ask him to repeat that, but he said it so clearly and firmly, that I know he's not kidding.

"You proved that you were telling the truth about what would happen, but that is all," General Shiharam explains. "There are still some discrepancies that need proving, and I can't risk your freedom. You have every chance of being a well-placed spy that ran for it once you heard about the news."

Really, dude!? I thought we had a deal!? I go to protest, but he continues over the top of me.

"You said that you see the future. But literally seeing a moment in the future would never let you know when it happens. You may be able to narrow it down to a certain time period, but that wasn't your case. When you tried to prove yourself, you were too certain it was about to happen. If it was a vision, you couldn't have known it was coming just then, and I'm sure you wouldn't bet your life on it like you did."

"Actually, I messed up when I tried to strike that deal with you," I interject.

General Shiharam narrows his eyes at me. I guess I shouldn't have spoken. "All the evidence leans toward you being a spy. As a loyal Daein General, I cannot let you go with the information you know. Even if all you know is that King Ashnard is waging war, you can do a lot of damage by warning Crimea. A lone person can easily outstrip an army."

Do you see this physique? I don't think I can keep up with the army, let alone pass it by. The farthest I've done is twenty miles by bike, and I felt like dying then.

"Be that as it may, I will give you two options," he says, getting my attention. "Either you can stay here until after the war is won, or I will let you join the army as a Daein soldier to fight alongside us. Not only will you be free of charges by staying with the army, I will make sure you receive wages as any other soldier. I will have a soldier be watching you, though, as assurance that you won't desert."

Do I need to repeat myself? I can't be a soldier! Look at me, dude! I may not exactly be a wimp back home, but I'm probably weaker than the average civilian here. I've seen farmers, and they are built. I'm probably as weak as Rhys right now, and that's saying something. And slower, if that's possible.

And the Daein army of all things? You're the bad guys! You're attacking an innocent nation just to try to create an international struggle and obliterate the continent. I won't fight Crimea. I won't-

…Hang on. Heading with the army will get me to the heart of Crimea itself. And it shouldn't be too hard to escape from one soldier. I mean, what will I do while I'm stuck here? Plus, I can get some training in too.

"So, my options are to twiddle my thumbs in a cell, or help Daein in the war?" I say, spelling it out.

General Shiharam nods in response.

I guess I'll join, but I have one last thing I need to do. "I'll join the army under one condition."

General Shiharam waits, which I take as a sign to continue.

"Since you backed out of letting me free, I want you to let Midnight go free in my place."

I seem to have caught him off guard. "Midnight? Why do you ask that?"

"I promised to try and help it get free from that jail of a pen if it didn't eat me, which it didn't. So I'm trading the freedom you refused me for Midnight's freedom." I don't think he can refuse that. That's one victory for me.

"I will contemplate it," he finally says. "For now, I will have Daren outfit you. You'll need some equipment if you'll be fighting."

"Yes, sir!" I reply, saluting him. He doesn't look amused, but that only makes me grin, which probably isn't a good thing to do. But who cares? I'm going to war!

-o-

AN: That's one long chapter compared to the previous chapters. In fact, it's more than twice as long as the others. But I didn't want to stop until I got to a good point, and I also didn't want to leave my other self in prison for another chapter (plus, I want to be able to update his sheet soon), so I guess you'll all have to enjoy a bigger chapter instead. In all seriousness, I suspect that future chapters will be this way, with the length more or less changing depending on where I want to stop, so don't expect all chapters to be short or long. I'm just random like that.

Also, I'm going to try to time my updates more around the early week time, late Monday (for me, anyway), with around 1-2k words a week. I have some commitments, but I'm pretty sure I can keep up with that for now. Of course, that doesn't mean I'll write more than that, as this chapter testifies to. I just got a promotion and am moving up to full-time…which is only two more hours than I was getting, so that won't change much outside of switching from 3rd to 1st shift. So for those who haven't decided to follow this story yet, check on it around Monday evenings.

If you enjoy my stories, I have two other accounts: FictionPress and DeviantArt. On FictionPress I have one short, but original, dragon battle scene for now that you guys might like, and on DeviantArt, I will be posting sprites of Drake and his stats as the story progresses, just because I love sprites. Check them out.

Here's a book recommendation for all of you: The Saga of Rex by Michel Gagne. An awesome silent comic. Just check it out and you'll see what I mean. Words can't describe it. Why? Because there are no words. (You'll get that reference when you read it.)

Geek moment: Did you know 77 equals 140 in base 7, but only 45 in base 18? If you're curious and like numbers (like all good Fire Emblem fans should), look up mathematics base 9.

Back to the story, my other self has joined the Daein army. How will this affect events? And will he have to face some of the FE cast? Stay tuned & review!