Time for another fight!
Chapter 49 – Fódlan's Throat (Lone Moon)
Hilda knew she wasn't going to get much time to herself as she approached Fódlan's Locket, the fortress protecting the passage through Fódlan's Throat. No doubt her brother would want her to recall everything she had been doing before visiting. That is, after they dealt with the situation at hand.
Claude had sent her and Balthus, along with 500 men, to reinforce Fódlan's Locket after hearing that the Almyrans were gathering in force near the border. Though Hilda didn't think the Almyrans would ever get past her brother or the battle-hardened veterans of House Goneril's army, Claude didn't want to take any chance of a breakthrough just when the Empire was beginning to push into Alliance territory. Diverting so many men to the border was a risk, as they were needed elsewhere to fight the Empire and House Gloucester, but the last thing House Riegan needed was to have another enemy army to deal with in its territory.
Hilda soon caught sight of her brother as they entered the border fortress. He shared the same pink hair as her, but her brother was a titan among men. His muscular frame and tanned skin showed his years of experience, drawing the respect of all who met him. To her, though, he was still her embarrassingly doting older sibling, always succeeding in ways she never hoped to match.
Fortunately for her, though, she wasn't going to be the first one Holst Sigiswald Goneril addressed today.
"Holst, my man!" Balthus said boisterously. "Good to see you, pal! Heard you needed a hand."
"Since when have I ever needed you to bail me out of a jam?" Holst said jokingly. Then, chuckling as he gave his best friend a brotherly hug, Holst said, "It's good to see you, Balthus."
"You too, Holst. Haven't been eating any funny mushrooms lately, have you?"
"Nah, not as of late. Figure I should lay off them at times like this." Holst then turned to his sister and said, "Hilda, good to see you, little sis. Claude been giving you any trouble?"
"No more than usual," said Hilda. "It's the Empire that's giving us trouble nowadays."
"I don't doubt it. Wish I could have our army march on them, but we can't just leave the fort unguarded. Almyrans have been getting uppity. They've got someone new leading them."
"Oh? Who's this new leader of theirs?"
"Calls himself 'Shahid the Great'. More like 'Shahid the Stupid', to me. He's got his army all stretched out along the canyon in piecemeal formations. Seems like he just wants to try and plow through us with sheer numbers."
"Hehe, since when has that ever worked against you?" said Balthus. "I remember that one time you took on those fifty guys all at once by your lonesome."
"Pretty sure it wasn't fifty, Balthus. More like forty, tops."
"There you go again, being all humble like that."
Holst smiled at Balthus's compliment. After a moment, he then asked, "Hey, any word about that girl you're looking for?"
Balthus's joviality gave way to disappointment as he said, "Nah, not a thing."
"Sorry to hear that."
"Don't worry, Balthus," said Hilda. "Hapi will turn up at some point."
Balthus nodded at this, though it was hard for him to stay optimistic. Five years was a long time for someone to go missing.
The conversation was interrupted by the sound of a blaring horn, followed by the clanging of a loud bell. It was the alarm signaling an enemy attack had begun.
"Time to get to work," said Holst. "Drinks after we're done?"
"You bet," Balthus said as his vigor returned. "You're buying, right?"
"Only if you outscore me."
"Oof, that's gonna be a challenge."
Hilda giggled a bit as she followed Holst and Balthus to the rampart to survey the canyon leading to the fortress.
…
Prince Shahid of Almyra scowled as he saw House Goneril's forces engage the vanguard of his army. The arrogant prince had believed his soldiers would easily outmatch the forces of House Goneril, but to his aggravation, his vanguard was being annihilated. The Goneril soldiers had multiple platoons of archers at their disposal, ideal for shooting down the Almyran Wyvern Riders. Meanwhile, his infantry, largely consisting of axe fighters, were being cut down easily by Goneril swordsmen, who swiftly maneuvered around the clumsy strikes of the Almyrans.
Watching as another flight group of Wyvern Riders was met by a storm of arrows, Shahid growled in annoyance. He had brought an army 3,000 strong to attack Fódlan's Throat, but the enemy had less than half his number. And just an hour into the fighting, he had lost over 1,000, while House Goneril and their reinforcements had only lost about 150 men.
"أغبياء!" Shahid hissed. "How can they be losing to these الصابئون?!"
"I did warn you that Holst and his men would fight like demons, الأمير شهيد," said Nader, known among his men as 'The Undefeated'. Technically, it was true, despite his tendency to withdraw whenever things got tough.
"الصمت يا نادر! Obviously, the men you brought with you are incompetent!"
Nader said nothing to this, knowing Shahid would not listen. It wasn't the competence of the Almyrans that was in question, but their morale. Many did not want to be there, having been conscripted into fighting under their prince whom they had very little faith in. Shahid was privileged, pompous, and far too arrogant. The only times he ever entered battle were when others had already won it for him. Nader knew an unmotivated army wasn't one that could win a battle like this.
The experienced Almyran general knew this was a futile attack. Shahid wasn't taking the terrain of Fódlan's Throat into account, sending his men down routes where they could be easily forced into chokepoints. He was also sending his Wyvern Riders into areas that Nader knew were sighted for House Goneril's ballistae and where their archers would be waiting. All he was doing was sending good men to the slaughter.
In fact, Shahid didn't even have his father's approval for this attack. Shahid had used his own authority to command the army, hoping to gain the Sultan's favor by breaking through into Fódlan and pillage the Leicester Alliance while they were busy fighting the Adrestian Empire. Despite that success in a military campaign was the tradition for selecting an heir to the throne, Nader knew the Sultan would not have approved of this attack, as Shahid had no real plans past breaking through Fódlan's Locket. Even if Shahid somehow got through, he would face much larger opposition in the Leicester Alliance, which would result in certain defeat and countless Almyran deaths.
Despite this, Nader knew Shahid wasn't going to back down. He would sacrifice as many bodies as he had at his disposal for his own glory, no matter how much dishonor it would require.
Had this army been led by Khalid, however, Nader would have had a lot more confidence in the attack. Khalid, despite only being half-Almyran, was the Sultan's favorite son, and the one Nader liked the most as well. He was far more cunning than Shahid, who relied on intimidation and brute force to get what he wanted.
Khalid, however, had not been home in many years.
Shahid let out another furious growl as he saw another platoon of Almyran infantry routed. The Almyran soldiers fled after being bested by a battalion of Goneril infantry led by Holst himself. Several fleeing soldiers were struck down by House Goneril's ballistae as they ran. Meanwhile, in the middle, another great warrior wielding a pair of glowing red gauntlets boasted after defeating a warband leader, the Almyrans fleeing in terror from him and his men.
"بلهاء!" Shahid shouted. "استدر وقاتلوا أيها الجبناء!"
His shout went unrecognized as the soldiers continued their retreat. Shahid had half a mind to order his own archers to kill the fleeing troops, but even he had enough sense to realize it wouldn't help. His forces were collapsing all over the place. Nothing was going to get these men to keep fighting.
Then, looking to his left flank, Shahid saw something that caught his eye. It was a woman of the same pink hair as Holst, bearing a glowing red axe that was almost as big as she was. She and her soldiers were pushing through the Almyran lines toward their command position.
Shahid's rage was quickly replaced by lust as he looked over Hilda's generous curves from a distance. The woman, in his eyes, would make an ideal consort once he captured her.
"The enemy is approaching our position, الأمير شهيد," said Nader. "Shall we withdraw?"
Riled up again, Shahid shouted, "We may have lost this battle, but I'm not leaving without a consolation prize! جاهز جبل بلدي!"
…
Hilda hated how tiring a battle could be. She would always be covered in blood and sweat when it was over. But while she might've been too averse to these things before, she now knew it was part of the job, and she just had to deal with it. There wasn't time to slack off when her men's lives were at stake.
Still, she was grateful that this battle was proving to be an easy one. Holst had sent her to the least-contested part of the line while he and Balthus dealt with the brunt of the Almyran offensive. Holst was already slashing through Wyverns and men like a scythe to wheat, and Hilda had no doubt he was going to win the bet he made with Balthus. He always did.
The roar of Wyverns caught Hilda's attention, and she turned to see several well-armored Wyvern Riders descending rapidly upon her forces. Judging by their armor, Hilda guessed they had to be royal guards of some kind. These men would be a lot more deadly than the infantry.
"Lady Hilda, get ba – AAGH!" shouted one of the Goneril knights before he took a javelin to his shoulder.
To Hilda's shock, her escorts were being quickly overwhelmed by the Almyran riders. She cursed herself mentally, realizing she had gotten too far ahead of her archer support. She thought the Almyrans would be too rattled to mount a counterattack at this point.
One of the Almyran riders swooped down at Hilda, brandishing his axe at her. Hilda raised Freikugal, the Heroes' Relic of Goneril, and swung it as the Wyvern Rider made a pass at her. Her blow struck true, the immense power of Freikugal sending the Wyvern and its rider careening into another rider and his mount, and then into the canyon wall.
Hilda knew she'd have to remember to thank Holst again for giving her the relic of House Goneril. She hadn't used it much by now, creeped out by its design and how it twitched unnaturally. But she couldn't deny just how powerful a weapon it was.
A cry from one of her men snapped her back to the fight. The unfortunate soldier's life ended as Shahid's Wyvern crushed his throat in its jaws, followed by the Wyvern tossing aside the corpse. Shahid laughed sadistically as his poleaxe cleaved through another soldier, one who had no way of fighting back after losing his weapon.
Hilda scowled at Shahid as her men, preoccupied with their own opponents, were unable to assist her. Shahid turned to Hilda and raised an eyebrow as he glanced over her cleavage.
At any other time, Hilda would've called him a pervert. But she knew getting him to stare at her enormous breasts would give her an advantage.
"Well, well, aren't you a pretty one?" Shahid said lecherously.
"You must be Shahid," Hilda replied.
"Ah, so you know of my greatness?"
Hilda would've spat an insult back at him, but she decided to let Shahid entertain his own vanity. She could tell from his poise that he was too arrogant for his own good.
"I'll be all too happy to share with you tales of my glory once you've joined by concubines," said Shahid.
Hilda's eyes widened in disgust as she said, "One, EWW! Two, that's NEVER gonna happen!"
Laughing, Shahid said, "Ah, you've got some fire in you! I like that in a consort!" He then signaled to one of the riders with him and shouted, "القبض عليها!"
Hilda immediately swung around to see one of the Almyran riders swoop down toward her, his arm outstretched to grab her. She roared as she swung Freikugal around and smashed it into the rider, cleaving him in half and sending his body parts flying.
"Ugh, gross…" Hilda hissed at the gruesome sight.
Growling, Shahid then said, "Fine! سأعلمك درسا بنفسي أيتها الكافرة!"
Shahid then howled as he and his Wyvern charged at her, forcing Hilda to dodge away from his axe. But though she dodged his weapon, she wasn't fast enough to dodge the tail of his Wyvern, which slammed into her and sent her crashing into the canyon wall.
"Lady Hilda!" shouted one of the Goneril fighters.
Hilda coughed as she greedily sucked air back into her lungs. The blow from the Wyvern had knocked the wind out of her, but she stayed standing as Shahid pressed his attack. Looking up, she saw the Almyran prince and his Wyvern swooping toward her, the mount's talons ready to grab her. Hilda yelped and dodged away from the dive, prompting Shahid to pull up and swoop in for another pass.
But this time, as he and his Wyvern descended on her, his eyes went wide as he saw Hilda brandish Freikugal, the axe glowing a bright crimson.
Hilda wasn't skilled at magic, but she still learned she could channel her body's natural Mana into Freikugal for situations like this. However, she had only practiced this technique once before, and she had accidentally caused a large fire in doing so. Fortunately, she was far enough away from her men to avoid scorching them, and Fódlan's Throat didn't have much vegetation.
The only one she'd have to worry about was Shahid, and she had every intention of burning him to a crisp with Freikugal's Apocalyptic Flame.
"YOU ASKED FOR IT!" Hilda shouted.
She then roared as she swung Freikugal in a vertical arc as fire surrounded the head of the Heroes' Relic. Shahid realized the danger too late and tried to pull up from his dive as Freikugal smashed into the ground, releasing an explosion of flame toward him.
Shahid howled as he was sent careening off his mount, while the Wyvern screeched its last as it was incinerated.
Hilda gasped for breath as she saw Shahid crash to the ground about a hundred meters away from her. The Almyran prince's expression of shock remained on his face, despite that he had lost consciousness before ever hitting the ground.
"الأمير شهيد!" Nader shouted as he and his Wyvern darted into the fray.
Nader threw a hand axe at one of the Goneril fighters who moved to try and finish Shahid off, killing the soldier. Upon landing, the Almyran general quickly rushed over and scooped Shahid's unconscious body onto his shoulder.
"التراجع على الفور!" shouted Nader.
With his command, the Wyvern Riders attacking Hilda's force turned and fled.
As House Goneril's men cheered, Hilda saw Holst and Balthus running to her, her brother horrified that she had been endangered.
"Hilda, are you okay?!" Holst said as he grabbed his sister by her shoulders, and then almost choked her in a bear hug.
"I'm fine, Holst! Seriously!" Hilda said in annoyance as Holst wrapped his arms around her. "Let me go already! You're hurting me more than he did!"
Realizing his blunder, Holst released his grip on Hilda. Hilda then pointed toward Shahid and Nader, with the Almyran general still barking orders at his men to run away. The unconscious prince was now slumped over the saddle of Nader's Wyvern.
Then, Nader turned to Holst and shouted, "Your sister's a real warrior, Holst!"
"Nader," Holst replied. "Time for you to run off again?"
"I can't really be defeated if I don't actually lose a fight now, can I?" Nader laughed at this. "In any event, I need to see the prince back to his father. I'm sure the Sultan will be quite displeased with his first-born son's performance this day."
Nader then whipped the reins of his Wyvern and took to the sky. Holst, Balthus and Hilda made no effort to chase after him as their soldiers cheered for their victory.
Hilda, her adrenaline rush leaving her, sat down on a nearby rock and said, "Ugh, I'm gonna need a hot bath when we get back."
"You've definitely earned it, Hilda," said Balthus. "What's your final count?"
"I wasn't counting, Baltie. But taking down an Almyran prince has gotta amount for something, right?"
"Hehe, I guess so. As for me, 32 knockouts today."
"Heh, you lose again, Balthus," said Holst. "I got 39."
Balthus, knowing Holst would never lie about his victories, laughed as he realized he'd be adding more to his bar tab again.
And as the soldiers of House Goneril cheered and celebrated their victory, two riders of the Black Eagle Strike Force watched them from a distance.
"Not bad, not bad," Trauare said to Ladislava.
"Holst Sigismund Goneril," Ladislava mused aloud as she put away her spyglass. "He's a powerful one. As is his sister, Hilda Valentine Goneril."
"Think you could take them, Ladi?"
"That isn't our mission, Trauare. Let's pull back. We'll let Lady Edelgard know the Almyrans won't be a problem."
None of House Goneril's troops noticed the Black Eagles as they pulled away from Fódlan's Throat.
Hilda! Hilda!
I haven't played Three Hopes yet (not really planning to get it since I've got a lot of other games on my to-do list), but Shahid really does fit the capital-A asshole criteria. Did I go too far making him a lecherous pervert? I was kinda drawing a bit of inspiration from Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat 11 with his "you will join my concubines" bit. Hilda has the same reaction that Cassie Cage has ("PISS OFF!").
Speaking of Hilda, she's easily one of my favorite axe users in Three Houses. She technically isn't the strongest one (some have a higher STR growth than her), but she's drop-dead gorgeous and is a lot smarter than she lets on. Not to mention she's a real badass when she needs to be. A shame she can't become a Warmaster in Three Houses (no Quick Riposte for her), but at least she can get Darting Blow from Pegasus Knight.
On that note, badassery to me is more than just being able to wipe out loads of enemies; you also need to be able to take a hit and keep on coming. Some unnamed reviewers have said that I'm making some characters in the story seem less badass or out-of-character because they lose fights (i.e. Byleth losing against Edelgard). The thing is, isn't out-of-character a reasonable expectation with fanfiction? Even if Byleth can lose some fights, and even if she isn't as brokenly overpowered as she is in the games, that doesn't mean she still can't be badass. If you can't handle that, maybe my fic isn't for you.
Lastly, if you're wondering about the foreign language the Almyrans are using, it's Arabic. This makes sense since Claude's Almyran heritage seems to take notes from various Middle-Eastern cultures (I'm not an expert on such things, though). Sorry if I butchered any translations from English to Arabic, but as usual, Google Translate can sometimes mess it up. A question, though: Is it appropriate for me to call the Almyran king a Sultan? Or should I use a different term? Additionally, what name should I give Claude's father? He's never given one in either game, though his mother Tiana von Riegan is named. I've been looking at the names of various sultans and Islamic rulers, but it's hard to pick an appropriate one.