Of Wyverns and Brands

Chapter 14

By the time the fight was over, I had come to the conclusion that I was bored. Very bored. I don't like having nothing to do, and there was very much of that very thing here in the dark.

Thankfully, they didn't wait long to come for me when the fight ended. I quickly adjust to the low light as Ike opens the door. "Oh. I forgot you were in here." Don't forget about your prisoners that easily, Ike!

"I take it you guys won?" I ask unnecessarily.

Ike nods as he enters with Mist, Rolf, and Elincia in tow. Lighting the torches around the room with his own, the darkness was soon cast out by the light. Not as brightly as I was used to with lightbulbs and such, but light enough to see by, I guess.

Of course, Elincia looks greatly perplexed by finding me here and tied up. "Why is my Lord Drake in bonds?"

"We weren't sure if Drake was with Daein or not, so we left him here during the battle," Ike explains. And then forgot about me. Don't fail to mention that part. Ike pulls out a knife and suddenly cuts the rope off my wrists, which, though I'm thankful for, was a bit faster than I'm comfortable with so close to my skin. "Father hasn't told us what to do with you, yet, so I'll take you to him now."

Nodding, I follow along, rubbing my wrists. I didn't have them on for long, but Boyd sure tied them tight. We go through the fort to the strategy-like room that I talked to Greil in earlier. Greil and Rhys are here pulling out papers and books from the bookcase and sorting through them.

"Father," Ike says, grabbing their attention. "I brought Drake over from the storage room."

Greil stops his sorting and looks me over, his finger tapping the table as he thinks. "Whether you are with Daein or not, I think it best if we keep you close for now. I'd rather not have a wyvern following us on our course. We're headed for Gallia, and you'll be coming along, Drake. We're packing to leave now, so take him to get supplies ready for his wyvern, Ike. We'll need it to carry as much as it can." So now I'm on parole and baggage duty. Guess it's better than being locked up.

"Yes, Father," Ike responds, taking me back out of the room. "I'll leave the amount to pack to you, since I'm not sure how much a wyvern can carry. We'll focus on letting it carry the rest of our dried meat, though." I'm not sure how wise it would be to let Midnight carry the meat, but okay.

"Ike, do you think I'm with Daein?" I ask, slightly nervous. Despite not knowing him much, I already felt the gamer inside me wanting recognition from him, being the main character and all. Plus, Ike's opinion would be what would determine my fate later.

Ike took a moment to think before answering, "I don't know much about how Daein operates or what being a Branded is all about, but you helped us in our fight against Daein. As long as you're fighting against Daein now, I don't think any of the rest matters." Simple. And now I think I understand why Ike would let anyone join him.

After retrieving the saddlebags from Midnight, I follow Ike back to the storage room where he shows me where all the meat was stored. I quickly began to pack as Ike left to do other things. Focusing on the task at hand, I don't even notice when Elincia comes over to me.

"My lord Drake," Elincia prompts, finally getting my attention. "It seems my position has caused trouble for you. I apologize for causing such issues."

"Nah. Soren is just suspicious like that. I don't think he liked me from the start," I answer, waving away her worry. "I'll just convince everyone on my own terms."

"Well I don't think you're a bad guy!" Mist announces, popping up beside Elincia.

"Yeah! Me neither," Rolf affirms, appearing on Elincia's other side.

I laugh at their sudden interruption. "Thank you, but if we all get distracted from packing, they'll probably suspect me even more, so let's just focus on this for now."

The slight joke seemed to ease the mood, especially for Elincia. Just as everyone began to go back to packing, a soft light starting glowing near Mist's neck. A slight tingle down my back makes me shiver just from looking at it. It takes a second before I remember that that's the medallion glowing.

"What's that light from, Lady Mist?" Elincia asks. Well, at least I'm not the only one to receive a title.

Mist fidgets for a bit before pulling out the medallion. "I guess I can show you guys," she says, holding it up so that we can see the glowing object.

The moment the medallion is out in the open, I start to feel weird. Some urge, some feeling seems to be welling up inside me. It feels as though there's an urge within to suddenly do something stupid. Not really anything in particular, but just to do something. Something sporadic, something crazy. I shiver again as I feel my skin crawl from this foreign feeling. It's not to the point of being uncontrollable, but I immediately tell myself to keep my distance from that thing. The thought of Greil suddenly going ballistic is suddenly very believable.

"That's a very beautiful medallion," Elincia comments, leaning in to look at it closer. "I wonder what that light is."

The medallion was giving a soft, bluish glow that illuminated their faces, but I think that I was the only one to notice something else about it. Around the blue glow, a purplish, ghostly fire danced around it, just plain screaming that it was evil. I knew that Yune isn't actually evil, and is technically better than Ashera, but that medallion sure didn't appear that way.

"Is something wrong, Drake?" Mist asks, taking my attention from the medallion. "You're making a strange face."

"I…just got a strange feeling when you pulled it out, is all," I answer, being honest. "I don't think you should show that to many people, especially if it is a keepsake. That glow might mean something important."

"I don't know why it started glowing," Mist admits, slowing putting it back under her shirt. "It never did that before a few days ago. It's a keepsake of my mother's. It's one of the only things I have to remember her by." The strange, chaotic feeling from before disappears once the medallion is out of sight, allowing me to finally calm down. Man, that was creepy.

"The world is full of mysteries, isn't it?" Elincia comments. "You should truly treasure such an item, though, if it was your mother's."

Getting back to packing, we soon finished up and brought our bags out to be loaded. Besides Titania's and Oscar's powerful looking warhorses, there were also two ponies. I loaded up Midnight personally. While she sniffed at the bags some, she didn't try to get in them at all. Hopefully that would last.

They hauled out the last of the supplies and books and lit them on fire in the courtyard. Being a book lover, that had pained me to watch all those antique looking pieces of culture vanish in a flame, but Greil didn't want any information left behind. He isn't taking any chances.

We left on foot, which included me. Not allowed to fly lest I either run off or attracted attention, I have to lead Midnight on the ground. Though much slower, she at least could keep up with Gatrie, so we didn't really slow the group down.

After following the road for most of the night, we camped for a few hours rest before heading off-road into the forest with the light of day now allowing us to see.

I'm not used to walking. At all. I'm a book worm, a student, and a couch potato. I may not be obese, especially with my new Tellius diet, but I am definitely not one would call 'in shape'. My legs starting hurting me before we headed off-road, and they only hurt worse as we made our way through the undergrowth southward. I was quickly tired of marching and so very wished to be able to ride Midnight.

There was one thing that kept me going. Soren. He marched along near Ike, the exercise not bothering him. If he could do it in a heavy robe, I decided that I would as well. No complaining, no stopping, no lagging. Even if it was childish of me, I was determined not to let him have yet another reason to snap at me for. I can do this.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted and hurting in every part of my legs. But, I had made it. After eating a small meal of hard biscuits and dried meat, I slept next to Midnight, ignoring the glares Soren and Shinon sent my way.

Each day after that was a little harder, though. By the end of the week, I had blisters on my feet. Shinon helpfully gave me some more motivation to keep going, though, by occasionally making a smart remark about my speed. I am quite stubborn about proving others wrong. Quite. Of course, my vulnerary helped out some when the pain got too bad, but still.

Elincia did offer to take turns with the pony they let her ride, but I refused, of course. My mother would kill me for making a lady, much less a princess, walk instead of me. Besides, neither of the ponies would dare come near Midnight, and I knew the disdainful duo would never let me live it down.

We traveled for a full two weeks without anything happening. The day we had finally crossed the border into Gallia, Ike came over to talk to me before we laid down for the night.

"So you have a sub-human for a parent?" I think I like how direct Ike is. He may be one of the few people who knows less about small talk than me. "What were they like?"

"I never met them," I reply. Mostly because I didn't have a laguz parent. Both of mine were definitely human.

"Shinon was telling me about sub-humans earlier." More like spewing out racist comments so he could hear himself talk. "Do you know anything about them?"

"First off, never call them sub-humans," I instruct him. Ike nods, listening closely. "Sub-human is the term that humans gave them to insinuate that they are less than us, which they aren't. The real term that they are referred to is 'laguz', while we are called 'beorc'.

"Laguz are not much different from us, really. They can shapeshift, but we can utilize magic, so there are oddities on both sides. Most of the rest is simply cultural differences." Which is the cause of most racism, really.

"Does that mean you can shapeshift as well?" Ike asks, curious.

"No, but that would be awesome." I grin at the thought. It would be awesome if I could change into a dragon or wolf at will. "Just wait until you see a dragon shapeshift. It's pretty cool."

Oscar calls Ike over and the conversation ends. Before I can continue eating my trail rations, though, Elincia comes over. Before we had left the fort, Elincia had changed into a commoner outfit not much different from the one Titania had worn. The dull green dress helped to hide her identity, though her fair skin and hair still stood out.

"My Lord Drake," she starts, sitting next to me. "I overheard you talking to my Lord Ike." Does everyone get a title with you? "Do you really believe that the laguz and beorc aren't that different?" That's right, her father was working to bring Gallia and Crimea closer, wasn't he?

"The laguz are different, and people fear anything that is different," I explain. "A farmer is comfortable on a field, a sailor is comfortable on the sea, and a noble is comfortable in a castle. People think that anything different from how they live is strange, uncommon, and unapproachable. But the laguz are people just like us. I believe that if people would take the time to try to understand one another, those differences wouldn't matter."

"My father was working toward bringing our nations closer together. However, I do not know if what he did has helped much. It sounds as though many of my people still look down upon the laguz."

"Trying to break through prejudices that people have harbored all their lives is hard, and many will probably stay that way until the grave," I admit, thinking on what it was like back home. "It will take a lot of time, maybe even a generation or two. But, it is possible. I've seen it happen, so don't give up."

"Thank you, my Lord Drake." I start to eat again, but then Elincia begins talking once more. "May I inquire as to what house you belong to, my Lord Drake? I am afraid that I do not recognize your name."

"House?" I echo, confused.

"You are part of the nobility, yes?" Elincia asks, now equally confused.

I burst out laughing at the question. "No, no. I'm just a commoner, nothing more."

"Surely you are a noble," Elincia retorts, looking thrown off from my answer. "Your manner of speech, your way with etiquette, and your bearing all speak of it." Way with etiquette? My bearing? Really?

"No, I really am just a commoner," I insist, still laughing a little.

Finishing up my meal, I go to sleep, wondering how in the world I just mistaken for a noble.

-o-

The next day, Greil stopped the procession a few hours in. "Hold it right there, everyone. We're coming up to the edge of this forest. Daein's soldiers can't be far, since this will be their first chance to find us without cover. Everyone, form up and prepare for possible combat."

While the others checked their weapons and such, I made sure my sword was strapped on tight. Checking over Midnight, however, I suddenly realize that I'm out of lances. After a moment, I recall that I wasted my last one throwing it at that Daein commander a while back. I silently chide myself for not thinking of getting some more, but it's too late now.

"I don't suppose they wouldn't try to cut us off and let us slip away," Titania murmurs to herself, though Soren overheard her.

"There is no doubt that they will try to attack again, and the relative low cover after the forest will be the perfect location," Soren informs us. "Of course, Drake might have a better idea of what's waiting."

I ignore the jab, already used to it.

"How do you think we should proceed, then?" Greil asks.

"Without knowing their numbers or location, it is difficult to advise a certain course of action," Soren replies. How helpful.

"Take your best guess, Soren. With our limited information and what we can only assume, what is the best way to proceed?" Greil prompts.

After a moment, Soren finally says, "…Since some of our group cannot fight, it will be difficult to defend them if we are attacked in force and still get past any guard in the open. I propose we separate into two groups. A small fighting force can engage the enemy farther to the east to draw the enemy's attention and buy the main group some time to cross further into Gallia at full speed. The main group will soon reach Gallia's main forests and be unhindered, while the small fighting force can evade capture and make their way into Gallia afterward with stealth."

"You want to divide our combat strength?" Oscar questions. "The main group aside, don't you think the risk to the smaller group is too high? Especially with how they'll have to make their way into Gallia alone?"

"I believe this is the only way to achieve our goal and keep any possible casualties to a minimum," Soren states. "It's very possible there's an ambush waiting for us at the edge of the forest, especially with Drake with us. A diversion is the best possible chance to cut off our pursuers' plans and for us to get the princess to Gallia safely." Another jab.

"Looks like we've no choice but to give it a go," Greil says, making the decision. "Alright, let's split up. The diversionary team will be Gatrie, Shinon, and me. The rest of you will guard Princess Elincia and proceed directly to Gallia. Got it?"

"Are you sure you're taking enough men?" Ike asks.

"Idiot pup," Shinon remarks. "Don't you understand anything? Smaller numbers mean better mobility, which we'll need as the diversionary group. Your time would be better spent worrying about yourself and how you'll manage than worrying about us." You won't have better mobility if you're taking the slowest member on your team, Shinon. Gatrie isn't the best sprinter.

"Listen up!" Greil says, getting everyone's attention. "This will probably prove to be the biggest fight this company's faced. Remember, you've got only one life. I don't want any of you dying on me. In times like these, it matters not what our blood ties are. We are family, every one. So, if you don't want to be causing your family any grief, then make sure you live! Ike will be commanding the main force to Gallia. Titania and Soren, you're his support. Alright, let's move out! See you all in Gallia!"

I watch as Greil, Gatrie, and Shinon leave. We'd be fighting ourselves soon enough now. The bridge fight shouldn't be too far ahead.

I was right, of course. In less than an hour we had reached the river. The trees thinned out to make a clearing on both sides of the river. Both the river and bridges were bigger than I remember in the game, but most things seemed a bit bigger here than on a game map.

"So they're here after all," Ike mutters, staring at the large group of soldiers stationed at the two bridges.

"There are…more of them than I'd imagine there would be," Soren admits. "I thought they would have spread out along the border."

"We would have to cross the river at some point, so all they have to do is guard the bridges," I point out, slightly more happy than I should be that Soren was wrong. Yeah, I got another death glare for that.

"How do we get the princess safely to the other side?" Ike asks.

Soren turns his attention back to Ike, thinking. "There are two bridges, so…we'll launch a surprise attack on the western bridge, drawing the soldiers to that side. Then, the few others can rush across on the other bridge to safety."

"My Lord Ike," Elincia speaks up, coming forward. "I…I will fight with you."

"No, you won't," Ike immediately says, shooting her down.

"My lord?"

"I cannot let you expose yourself to danger of any kind. We are all risking our live to ensure your safety. If you understand that, you'll cooperate and do as I ask." Actually, right now, she could probably own you, Ike. Statistically, at least.

"I see…I will do my part, then," Elincia replies, mollified.

"What about me?" I ask.

Ike and Soren turn toward me, not answering for a bit. "I don't like it, but we could use his help for this fight," Soren admits.

Ike nods, the decision made. "Then we'll have you fight with us. We could use some air support on the bridge."

There were a lot of soldiers out there, though. Maybe… "I could try to lessen their numbers a bit, first."

Soren's eyes narrow at me, but Ike asks, "How?"

"I could fly ahead and tell them that you're attacking to the west. They probably don't know that a wyvern rider is with you, after all."

"And let you send soldiers straight to our location? How dumb do you expect us to be?" Soren asks.

"If I was going to warn them, I could have flown off already before you caught me," I point out.

"His plan would lessen the number of soldiers we would face, Soren," Titania says, coming to my defense.

After Soren doesn't respond for a while, Ike finally chooses. "We'll go with that, then. If Drake does turn, at least we'll know before the fight begins this way." That…is actually pretty smart, Ike.

"Please be careful, my Lord Drake," Elincia says as I go to Midnight.

"Will do," I reply, leading Midnight back the way we came. Don't want to rise up too close to the river.

I almost forgot how fast Midnight can be as she shoots out of the trees. As though enjoying finally being in the air, Midnight lets out a roar, sending a flock of birds into the air. Despite my stomach immediately plummeting with the rush, I find myself enjoying the feeling of riding through the air once more. In less than five minutes we land on the opposite bank near the commander, instantly gaining everyone's attention.

The soldiers are wary as I get off, but I quickly approach the commander and salute. "Messenger from General Petrine, sir!"

"What is the message, rider?" he asks. He seems to use the same title for a wyvern rider, but at least with less malice as the last guy.

"The mercenaries are trying to cross along the next bridge to the west. General Petrine has requested reinforcements to make sure they do not get away."

"Right," he replies, nodding. "You there! Take a dozen soldiers and head to the next crossing at once!" The soldier in question immediately gathers half the men, and they move off at a fast click.

I keep standing there after they leave, waiting. The commander starts to reorganize his men, but finally questions me after a minute or two. "Why are you still here? Is there more to the message?"

"Yes, commander," I say, hoping I had stalled long enough. I take a step forward and lower my voice, forcing him to lean in to hear me. "The mercenaries send their regards."

I already have my sword out before the statement dawns on him. "Trait-" His shout is cut off as I lunge forward, stabbing him right through chest.

As the commander falls to the ground, I quickly backpedal to Midnight, getting into the saddle before the soldiers gather and attack. Even as they begin to charge at Midnight, I hear the others begin their attack on the bridge. I get Midnight into the air to avoid the initial rush, then begin to target the few archers that helpfully kept themselves apart from the others.

By the time Midnight finishes off the two archers on her own, the battle is over. Without waiting to celebrate, the mercenaries immediately move on into the forest on the other side. Landing behind them, I have Midnight continue on land once more, though she wasn't happy with it.

As we rushed through the forest, the adrenaline of the fight finally began to drain away. I stare at my blood covered hand, thinking back on the third life I had taken now. I had stabbed him and moved on without thinking, without hesitating, and it didn't bother me nearly as much as before. A chill runs down my spine as I wonder if I was already growing callus to this. Is this how serial murderers start?

We don't slow as we race away from the river to safety, leaving me to wonder at just what I am becoming.

-o-

AN: Yay, another chapter! I found a difficult time balancing this chapter, but I finally got to the point I wanted to get to. Hope you all enjoy. R&R!

Update: Few corrections, etc.