A/N: Yay! Chapter 12 is up already! I love when I'm able to update within a week! :) Lots of stuff going on in this chapter. I actually considered splitting it into two chapters, but decided against it. Now that I think about it, I'm glad I didn't. So I really hope you guys like this chapter! I'm gonna start working on chapter 13 as soon as I possibly can! It's still my goal to finish this story by May, or even earlier, if I really get my crap together! So until then, enjoy this chapter! Remember to follow, favorite, and review! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem. All characters you recognize belong to Nintendo/Intelligent Systems.
"Do you see anything yet, Soren?" Ike asked his tactician. The two of them were standing on one of the many defense towers that bordered the city of Melior. Below them on the ground was the Crimean Royal Army, led by Geoffrey, along with Ike's own troop. Countless others who had fought in the previous wars decided to help the cause as well. They had good numbers, but Ike still shuddered at the fact they could be easily overcome.
"Nothing yet," Soren answered, straining to see far off on the horizon. "When they do come, we can expect them to charge directly at us. They wouldn't have planned a well-thought-out attack, as far as strategy goes."
Ike nodded. "I trust the strategy you've come up with will give us the best advantage?" Ike knew better than to doubt Soren's tactics, but one could never be too careful.
Soren turned to Ike, looking a bit hurt. "Of course. This battle will play out fairly simple." He began to draw out the battlefield with his finger. "You, Titania, General Geoffrey, and all the other swordfighters, lance knights, and axe-wielders will be on the front lines. Sigrun and her troop of pegasus knights will attack from the skies. Ranulf, Mordecai, and their band of refugees will join you on the front lines. Myself and the rest of the magic-users and archers will be behind you, on the top of the hill. With luck, we will be able to kill many of them before they can even get to you." He looked down at the field before them. Everyone seemed so ready for the attack. "Our army is strong, Ike," he said, turning to look at his companion. "You needn't worry."
"But we've never fought an entire army of beasts before," Ike pointed out. "This is going to be difficult, no matter how prepared we are."
Soren's expression became grim. "Then I suppose we can only hope for the best," he said drily. There was a long, uncomfortable silence before either of them spoke again.
"Do you think...Skrimir will be among them?" Ike asked. He looked over at Soren, whose face remained unchanged. The tactician continued to stare off into the distance.
"I don't know, Ike," he finally answered. "It's definitely possible."
"I see them!" Tanith suddenly shouted, piercing the air with her cry. "Beast Laguz are approaching rapidly, and there's a lot of them!"
"Let's go, Commander!" Soren said sharply, turning to climb down the ladder of the tower. He joined the sages and archers, while Ike headed for the front lines. When he got there, he took his place next to Titania.
"Are you ready for this, Commander?" she asked, her eyes focused on the stretch of land before her. Ike couldn't help but notice a hint of agitation in her voice.
"Of course I'm ready," he answered. "I'm always ready for a fight." He lifted Ragnell onto his shoulder and prepared to swing it at the first Laguz that lunged for him. Titania did the same with her axe. After only about a minute, they heard the sound of paws thudding against the ground. "Prepare yourselves, everyone!" Ike yelled. Shrill beast cries sounded, and a vast army of cat, tiger, and lion Laguz unveiled themselves. Immediately, a tiger jumped out at Ike, who knocked it away with his sword. Several more came after that, and nearly all of them were cut down by Titania and the others. Arrows flew through the air, along with blasts of fire magic. One arrow in particular whizzed just past Ike's head before it embedded itself into the heart of a cat Laguz. Ike turned around to see Shinon, who held a rather smug expression on his face.
"Do you honestly think I'd hit you?" the marksman asked incredulously. Ike wasn't sure what to say, so he turned his attention back to the battle
Wave after wave of beasts came running at them. Ike's breathing became more labored and sweat was pouring down his body. It seemed as though the battle would never end. But Ike knew he had to press on, no matter what. He cut down one more Tiger, when Soren's fierce cry attracted his attention.
"Ike, they've broken through our defenses on the left flank!" Soren stepped back quickly as several Cats surrounded him. "Not good," he muttered, preparing to cast a spell from his Rexflame tome. Within seconds, the area around Soren was engulfed in a small sea of flames. The Laguz that had threatened him lied dead.
Titania and the others were now struggling to hold off the Laguz. There were simply too many of them. "Ike!" she called. "We can't keep this up much longer! I hate to say this, but do you think we should retreat?"
Ike ran his sword through another Laguz, only to be pursued by three more. He turned to Titania and saw she had a large scratch on her side, and she was bleeding a lot. Reluctantly, he gave the order. "Yes, I think we should." Titania nodded, and began screaming the word at the top of her lungs.
"Retreat! All of you, retreat!" Everyone seemed confused, but they couldn't argue that the battle wasn't going well. With heavy hearts, they ran back inside the city gates.
"This battle belongs to Gallia!" a Laguz hissed. Ike stopped running, for he knew that voice. He turned around to see Lethe standing before him. "You were not strong enough this time, human!" she spat, insulting him the way many Beorc insulted the Laguz. "You should've known better than to face us! No human army can stand against the Beast Tribe!" She ordered her troops to fall back, but not before hissing at Ike one last time.
After the Laguz had gone, Ike and the others searched the battlefield for any wounded soldiers. After taking a head count, they realized they were missing three people: Edward, Calill, and Boyd. Edward and Boyd were easy to find, and their wounds were not life-threatening. But no one could seem to find Calill. Largo and Nephenee were more anxious about this than anyone else. Nephenee was usually very quiet, so no one understood why she would have any kind of connection to Calill. But Nephenee was the only one who knew that Calill was raised in the country, just like her. They'd bonded quite a bit because of that during the Mad King's War.
Everyone was searching for the sage in different locations on the battlefield, and Nephenee and Ilyana had been assigned to a rather remote area near some tall grass. "Where do you think she is, Neph?" Ilyana asked weakly. The battle had been very strenuous for her.
"I ain't sure," Nephenee answered nervously. "But we've gotta find her, ya hear?" Ilyana nodded her head furiously and continued to look. She cast her eyes to the ground again, only to find a torn up piece of a familiar purple cape.
"Um...Neph?" she quavered, picking up the fabric and holding it out to Nephenee so she could see it.
"Goddess, that's hers!" Nephenee said, taking the fabric from Ilyana. "She's gotta be close by!" No sooner had Nephenee said it, she caught a glimpse of blonde hair in the grass. "I found her!" she cried, rushing toward Calill. Ilyana ran after her. Nephenee seemed overjoyed to have finally found her good friend, but the expression was wiped off her face as soon she took in the sight of Calill. Her body was mangled and her clothes were torn beyond simple repair. Across her chest was a deep gash that bled profusely. She lied motionless in a pool of her own blood. "Calill!" Nephenee shrieked, scooping the sage up into her arms. Calill said nothing. In fact, she was barely breathing at all. "Ilyana, run ahead and fetch a healer! I need to get her back onto the field!" Ilyana did as she was told, screaming for help all the way back. When Nephenee finally came into view of the others, several gasps and cries were heard. Ilyana had managed to find Soren, and the sage had his heal staff ready in his hand.
"Set her down here," he directed Nephenee, and she obeyed him. Calill's body was placed gently before him, and he raised his staff. A blue light emanated from it, but Calill's wound was not improving in the slightest.
"Mommy!" A small voice shouted from across the field. Young Amy was rushing over to where her mother lied, dying.
"Keep her away from here!" Soren hissed at Oscar, who happened to be standing a few feet behind him. Soren then added in a lighter tone of voice, "She doesn't need to see this." Oscar caught the girl in his arms before she could get any closer. Amy thrashed and screamed, trying to escape his grip.
"Let me go!" she cried. "I want to see Mommy!" It was at this moment that Largo appeared as well.
"Ca-Calill?" he stuttered, approaching her slowly. "No, not my sweet Calill!" The large man collapsed onto his knees beside his wife. He sobbed violently, repeating the word 'why' over and over again. After a while, Soren lowered his staff.
"It's too late," he said softly. "She's left this world." Largo cried even louder and put his only arm around Calill, lifting her up onto his lap. Amy broke free of Oscar and joined her father in mourning. The rest of them who were standing nearby bowed their heads in silent grief. Nephenee buried her face into Ilyana's shoulder, who was in the arms of Zihark. She cried quietly for her old friend, the one who understood her more than anyone else.
Amy turned to look at Soren, whose head was not lowered like everyone else's. Instead, he seemed to be staring off into space. His face looked grim beyond words. Amy approached him slowly, still crying. With a bit of hesitation, she put her hand on his arm. Soren flinched and looked down at her, confused as to what she was doing. "Thank you for trying to save her," Amy said quietly. So quietly, Soren was sure no one else but the two of them heard it. Tears slid down her cheeks, and she hiccupped a bit. Soren wasn't sure what else to so, so he did what he'd seen Oscar and Boyd do to Rolf on many occasions: he timidly reached out and put his hand on top of Amy's head. The girl continued to cry softly over her mother. Soren couldn't find it in him to shed a single tear.
Soren didn't come to dinner that night, and it concerned both Ike and Mist. After some discussion, Mist had convinced Ike to go see what was bothering him. She figured he would open up more to Ike, since he knew him better. Ike left the dining hall in search of his friend. He headed toward the library, because something just told him Soren would be there. Sure enough, his instincts were right. When he opened the library door, he found Soren curled up on one of the window sills. Surprisingly, he didn't have a book in his hand, which could mean only one thing: Soren was depressed about something. Ike approached him, too fast, he realized, once Soren looked over at him and cowered against the window like a scared animal.
"Go away, Ike," he said, dropping his head down to his knees. "I'm in no mood to talk to anyone right now."
Ike ignored Soren's words, however, and kept approaching him. "I know something's bothering you, Soren," he began. "Why don't you tell me what it is?"
Soren looked at Ike for a split second, then turned away again. "I can't," he said, gazing out the window. "I just can't."
Ike put his hand on Soren's shoulder. "Sure you can," he said. "Whatever it is, I can handle hearing it." Soren looked at him again. His eyes were glassy with concealed tears.
"I failed today, Ike," he said softly. "There was a major tactical error in my strategy, and I didn't realize it until it was too late." Soren's tears began to drip from his eyes. "The left flank wasn't nearly as strong as the right, and that allowed the beasts to break through our ranks." He paused for a moment. "It's entirely my fault that Calill is dead." Soren sniffled and wiped his eyes. "When I saw Amy...I just couldn't..." He trailed off, allowing more tears to fall. "She's so young, Ike. I was abandoned by my parents when I was just an infant, so I didn't even know them, but with Amy, it's different. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to lose your mother at such an impressionable age."
Ike wasn't really certain what he was hearing was correct. Soren was expressing sympathy for Amy. It was so very unlike him. "Soren," Ike said softly. "What happened was not your fault. Things like this happen in battles all the time. We can't control it."
Soren looked at Ike and nodded his head slightly, wiping the remainder of his tears away. "I suppose you're right." He stepped out of the window sill and adjusted his robes. Ike smiled, taking his friend's hand.
"Come on, you need something to eat."
A/N: Okay, so I totally didn't intend for Calill to get killed until I started writing this chapter! I swear I don't hate her! I actually really love Calill! But I wanted someone to die in this chapter (I know I'm so evil, aren't I? :P) And I figured I wouldn't be doing much with her in this story anyway, so I decided to kill her off. I hope I didn't just completely piss anyone off by doing so! So sorry if I did! So getting off that note now, I hope to have the next chapter up very soon! So if you're following this story, keep checking for updates in your emails! See you guys real in chapter 13! :)