Getting back to two releases a week now. Had to make this one in a bit of a hurry.

You might need to suspend your disbelief a little here.

Chapter 35 – Underhanded Tactics (Pegasus Moon)

"Ashe! What are you doing here?" Annette said upon seeing her former classmate.

"Isn't it obvious, Annette?" said Felix. "He's working for the Dukedom."

"Felix is right, I'm afraid," Ashe replied. "Castle Gaspard is a vassal to Count Rowe, and as its last living heir, I'm responsible for leading its army in Lord Lonato's stead." Turning back to Byleth, he added, "And you, Professor. I must say I was impressed to learn you were the new head of the Central Church. The new look suits you."

"Stand aside, Ashe," said Byleth. "I don't want to fight you."

"I don't want to fight you either, Professor… But this is how it has to be. There's no turning back now."

"Bullshit," said Yuri as he moved in front of Byleth. "Do you truly intend to forfeit your life for House Rowe? There's still time to change your mind."

"Funny you should say that, Yuri, given you were once Count Rowe's adopted son. But over the years, I finally came to understand why Lonato did what he did. He knew the price of standing for his beliefs… and he paid it gladly. I will gladly do the same, for my family and for everyone else in Gaspard territory."

"Don't be an idiot, Ashe. You know you can't win this fight."

"I don't intend to. I know I'm no match for the Professor. But my army and I can keep you from getting in Lord Gwendel's way until he's finished off Judith von Daphnel."

As Ashe said this, Byleth saw his eyes briefly flitting to his right. The others didn't see this due to the heat and smoke of Ailell blurring their vision. He was looking at someone they couldn't see.

"Ashe, please. Can't we talk this out?" said Annette.

Byleth realized what Ashe was up to just before he said, "I'm sorry, everyone. But victory will be ours." He then raised his arm and shouted, "FIRE!"

At Ashe's signal, his archers, hidden by the crest of the hill Ashe's army was stationed on, released their deadly volley of arrows and bolts.

"COVER!" Byleth shouted as she raised Rhea's shield, while the others rushed to raise wards or seek shelter from the storm of arrows.

Dorothea raised her ward as she shouted, "GET DOWN!", grimacing as four arrows hit her ward in quick succession.

The screaming soon began as Byleth's soldiers started taking casualties. Twenty men were hit by the Gaspard archers, with eight fatally wounded. Annette let out a short yelp as her ward shattered, and then a loud scream as an arrow hit her in the shoulder.

"ANNETTE!" Felix shouted as he quickly grabbed the girl and pulled her behind a rock.

Constance let out a similar scream of pain when a stray arrow hit her above her left breast near her collarbone, knocking her off Syrene's back. Fortunately, she had been close to the ground, allowing Ferdinand to rush before her and cover her with his shield. To his relief, Constance was still alive, the blonde's expression twisting in pain.

Knowing Ashe would fire another volley soon, Byleth shouted, "PULL BACK! GET OUT OF RANGE!"

Ashe watched the Knights start to pull back and shouted, "Hold your positions, men! Archers, fire when ready!"

More arrows flew from Ashe's position as the Knights of Seiros were forced to retreat. Brigitte let out a loud, startled yelp as an arrow ricocheted off her right pauldron. Acting quickly, Flayn released a powerful gust of wind, sending much of the second volley wildly off course. A few arrows still landed perilously close to the retreating Knights, with two more soldiers dropping to the ground from arrows to their backs.

"Cease fire!" Ashe shouted once the Knights were out of range. "Conserve your arrows!"

Now out of range for the Gaspard archers, Byleth looked to see the damage that had been done. Annette and Constance were badly wounded and being tended to by Linhardt and Lana. Caspar had an arrow sticking out of his armor, but it had luckily not penetrated. Lysithea was limping after spraining her ankle against a rock, but she was otherwise uninjured. In total, 30 of their 400 had become casualties, with 10 dead.

Byleth was relieved that the surprise attack had only done so much damage. She would have used the Divine Pulse upon realizing Ashe's plan, but after her failed attempt to save Melissa, she couldn't use it again so soon. She cursed herself, realizing that in her desire to save one life, she had let several others die and left many more in peril.

"Byleth, are you alright?" Dorothea asked as she rushed up to the greenette.

"I'm fine," Byleth answered.

"I can't believe Ashe would side with the Dukedom. Or that he'd attack us like that."

Byleth said nothing to this, thinking the same thing Dorothea was.

Looking back at the hill, Byleth saw that Ashe had chosen his position wisely. The nearby lava flows and geysers meant that the only safe path to Judith's position was through Ashe's army, and there weren't any flanks she could exploit without Ashe reacting to her moves. Even if her army outnumbered and outmatched his, he held the high ground, giving him an enormous advantage. They couldn't just fly around it either; they didn't have nearly enough mounts to do such a thing. She also had no siege weapons on hand, as the fiery landscape of Ailell would've set any Onagers or Ballistae they had ablaze, and they had to travel lightly in any event.

She saw no other way through than to attack right into the teeth of Ashe's defensive line, an act that would surely end in disaster.

"You alright, By?" Anna said as she and Yuri rushed up to her and Dorothea. Byleth nodded, so Anna said, "Got any ideas for how we get past him?"

"Ashe's got a really good position," said Yuri. "Looks like he took to your lessons."

"I know…" said Byleth.

"So, what's the plan, By?" asked Anna.

"I… I don't know. We need to get through him, but Ashe… I don't want to fight him."

"Be that as it may," said Seteth as he joined the discussion, "he has made his allegiance to the Dukedom clear. We cannot afford to show him mercy. We will need to storm his position and wipe out Castle Gaspard's forces."

"Seteth, are you serious? We can't just kill him!" said Dorothea. "He was our classmate! Our friend! Ashe is only doing this for those he cares for!"

"Would you say the same thing about Emperor Edelgard, Miss Arnault?"

Dorothea choked at his words.

"That's real low, Seteth," Anna snapped. "Besides, if we just charge up there, we're gonna take way too many losses. We need a plan."

"Could we not try to capture Ashe?" asked Flayn. "I could try to use a Rescue spell on him."

"That'll never work," said Leonie. "He'll see it coming and avoid it. Look, I don't like it any more than you guys, but we're gonna have to deal with him one way or another."

"Regardless of whatever we decide on, it must be done with haste," said Seteth. "Every moment we waste is one less we have to aid Judith von Daphnel."

"He's sure making for one hell of a distraction, that's for sure," said Yuri.

"Wait a second…" Anna said, having an epiphany. Then, turning to Yuri, she said, "Yuri, have you been practicing that switcheroo trick lately? The one with your Relic?"

"Yeah, a few times last week."

"And Flayn, do you think you could use your wind magic to create a dust storm?"

"I most certainly could, Miss Anna," Flayn replied.

Confused, Dorothea asked, "Anna, what are you–"

"I've got an idea," Anna said as she smiled and put a finger to her cheek.

…

Ashe watched the Knights from his position, wondering when they were going to attack. He knew he was still badly outnumbered almost two-to-one and knew the prowess of the Knights of Seiros was far greater than that of Castle Gaspard's knights.

He also knew that no matter what he did, he was never going to be able to stop Byleth. He never beat her during their academy days, and he knew today wouldn't be any different. But every second he delayed her was more time to let Lord Gwendel take out Judith.

In truth, he did regret having to fight his old friends. But he had his siblings and everyone else back at Castle Gaspard to think about. If he allowed Byleth to pass without putting up a fight, he had little doubt that his loved ones would pay the price.

The sound of roaring wind caught his attention. From the Knights' position, a huge cloud of ash and smoke began billowing toward Ashe's position, shrouding the Church's forces from his sight. Yet even through the smoke, Ashe would be able to make out the silhouettes of the Knights as they approached.

"Steady, men," Ashe said to his troops. "The Church is on its way. Archers, ready your arrows and wait for my command."

Ashe drew an arrow to his bow as his men did the same, with his heavily armored knights in front to meet the charge of the Church. He saw the silhouettes of the enemy drawing closer, and through the smoke and dust the red glowing outline of a Hero's Relic. He recognized the shape of the weapon: Thunderbrand.

Ashe immediately took aim at the weapon's wielder, knowing it had to be Catherine. He still held a grudge against the Crusader for slaying Lonato, one that had only gotten worse when he learned that Catherine was responsible for Christophe's execution. The two had been friends and Catherine had still arrested him for being part of a conspiracy to kill Rhea. The Western Church had taken advantage of Christophe being too trusting, but even though Catherine knew that she still condemned him to die.

Ashe could not forgive her for that. He knew now why Lonato hated her so much. In a sense, he now hated her too. He wanted Catherine to pay for the injustices she caused.

Even though he was supposed to be keeping his mind on the task given to him by Lord Gwendel, Ashe found he could not turn down a chance to avenge Lonato and Christophe.

The Church soldiers drew closer, prompting Ashe to shout, "FIRE!"

Ashe released his own arrow at Catherine, while the rest of his men released their volley. Seeing the arrow coming, Catherine slashed it out of the air while the rest of the volley rained down around her.

But as the first soldier was hit, it dispersed in a puff of blue smoke.

Ashe was shocked when he saw what was really approaching him and his army.

It was Anna. No, it was hundreds of her.

Each of the "Anna's" was blue, from their hair to their skin and clothing, and each one immediately burst into a cloud of blue smoke when they were hit. They were illusions, their obvious giveaway colors obscured by the cloud of smoke.

Ashe realized he had been tricked into firing at a crowd of decoys, which were now dispersing just before reaching his defensive line.

But Catherine, who roared as she slashed Thunderbrand at him, was the genuine article.

With a yelp, Ashe dodged back, narrowly avoiding Thunderbrand. Before Catherine could attack again, however, Ashe's men were training their weapons on her.

Recovering from his shock, Ashe said, "A bold move, Catherine. But you've overextended yourself."

"Heh, I guess I have," Catherine said, keeping her cool as Castle Gaspard's men surrounded her.

Ashe raised his arm, preparing to signal his men to attack as he said, "Any last words, Thunderstrike Cassandra?"

Catherine smirked as she was suddenly surrounded by a strange set of magical lights. A second later, she vanished, and Ashe was shocked again as Yuri took her place.

"Boo," said the rogue.

Yuri dashed like quicksilver at Ashe, the grey-haired archer yelping as his bow was struck from his hand. Yuri, not giving Ashe an instant to recover, grabbed him and held a dagger to his neck, positioning Ashe as a human shield facing his men.

"Careful, boys~" Yuri said to Ashe's men. "You wouldn't want to make my hand slip… or that of anyone else's."

Ashe was about to ask what Yuri meant when the ash storm cleared, revealing a sight that made him go wide-eyed in dismay.

The Knights of Seiros were all around his men, with several crossbows aiming at the Castle Gaspard troops. They were surrounded.

He realized now what the Church had done. They knew he would be fixated on Catherine and used her as bait while using the cover of the smoke to flank him.

"Tell your men to stand down, Ashe," said Byleth as she emerged from the smoke where Catherine had charged from. "Please. Don't throw their lives away in vain."

Ashe grimaced as he looked at his men, knowing they would fight to the death on his order. But he knew he was beaten.

"Stand down…" Ashe said in defeat.

One of the Gaspard Knights said, "Lord Ashe–"

"Stand down! That's an order! This battle is lost."

Reluctantly, the soldiers of Castle Gaspard dropped their weapons and held their hands up in surrender.

"Thank you, Ashe," said Byleth. "You've done the right thing."

"Have I really?" Ashe said scornfully.

…

Castle Gaspard's soldiers marched away from the area as Byleth watched in relief. She didn't have the numbers to take them as prisoners, so she had reluctantly been forced to take Ashe as a hostage, ensuring the Gaspard Knights would leave without giving them any further trouble. Ashe was now in shackles and being watched over by Alicia and a handful of Church soldiers as they pressed forward to assist Judith's forces.

In a way, she was relieved that the battle had required no further bloodshed. But on the other hand, she hated having to take Ashe prisoner. It was clear he wouldn't fight for them willingly, but she couldn't just let him go free, not when he had been so ready to kill his friends. Some part of her hoped that Ashe would come around, but she couldn't focus on that now. For now, Judith was the priority.

"Gotta hand it to you, Anna, that was some fine work," said Leonie.

"How come you've never used that trick before?" asked Caspar.

"It's kind of impractical most of the time," said Anna. "Pretty easy to tell me apart from the fakes, and they can't take or dish out any damage. Good thing Flayn's wind magic helped conceal them until the last second."

Flayn smiled at this, satisfied that she had been so helpful.

"But really, could you imagine if there really were hundreds of me out there?" Anna said jokingly.

"I think we'd get pretty sick of you in a hurry," Yuri said in jest.

"Speaking of hurrying, we'd better get to Judy soon," said Catherine. "We don't know if she'll be able to hold out for much longer."

Agreeing with Catherine, the Church army rushed off to find the Hero of Daphnel.

A jab at Awakening and Fates? Yeah, I went there.

When I originally conceived this story, I was planning to have Ashe die around here. But I changed my mind somewhere down the line, and so this happened. It was kinda hard, given that Anna's plan is a little convoluted, but I think it works. And while I know forcing Ashe's army to leave the battlefield sounds like a bad idea, you have to keep in mind that Byleth can't keep them prisoner when she only has so few troops on hand (relatively speaking).

I also thought that Byleth converting Ashe to his side so quickly would be too much of a suspension of disbelief. It might work as a game mechanic, but on a storytelling front, it's a little hard to believe Ashe would do such a thing. Even if Byleth could win him over, they'd then have to worry about everyone Ashe is looking out for at Castle Gaspard. The second Count Rowe learned that he switched sides, he'd probably torch Castle Gaspard and kill everyone in it. That would be enough reason for Ashe not to join Byleth's army outright.

We'll get to the fight between Judith and Gwendel next chapter. See you all on Friday.