Chapter 32: The Devoted
The Tower of Guidance, The Begnion Empire, Tellius
Year 648
A sharp, oppressive silence settled over the tower. A silence so suffocating, so heavy, that every breath of air Celica tried to take in felt like thick molasses crawling down her throat. She watched the Goddess of Order with a growing apprehension, waiting for the Silent Dragon's curse to smite her, or wrest her soul from her body, or vaporize her entire being until nothing but water droplets remained.
But nothing happened.
Celica's apprehension slowly turned to confusion. Ashera had spoken the "forbidden" name, and yet…she was completely fine?
"You look surprised," Ashera said, breaking the chamber's silence. "I suppose that is to be expected. Imperfect creatures such as yourselves are predisposed to simple mindedness."
Celica blinked, her mind struggling to form a proper response. "But…but the curse—"
"Anankos's curse has no effect on me." Ashera clasped her hands behind her back. "Though I doubt it would have much of an effect on anyone, given the current circumstances. Anankos is powerful, to be sure, but even he cannot keep track of every single word spoken by the billions of lives that exist across time and space. I doubt he would even care to try—he is far too busy, and no longer has much regard for secrecy."
Celica frowned, eyebrows furrowing in suspicion. Was that true? The curse Azura had warned them about…wasn't a threat, after all? Or was Ashera just lying to get them to slip up and say something that would trigger the curse without her having to lift a finger against them?
Celica wouldn't put it past the goddess. From the way Ashera was speaking to them—speaking down to them—she was clearly not on their side.
"What is the meaning of this, Ashera? You've been communicating with…with…him?" Yune didn't seem willing to take the bait either, and avoided using the dragon's name directly. The blue light radiating off her body flared like frozen fire, licking the air and the stones beneath her heels. "And here I was, foolishly going out of my way to try to help you! Do you have any idea what he's done? What he's capable of doing to us?!"
For a quiet moment, Ashera stared Yune down with a cold, calculating gaze, though her face betrayed nothing in the way of thought or emotion. Yune met her eyes with a fierce glare, feet planted and fists clenched. The space between the goddesses crackled as their auras crashed against each other. Neither woman moved a muscle, and neither woman showed any signs of backing down.
The three mortals in the room, however, each took a step toward the doors to distance themselves from the divine standoff.
"I know a great deal about what Anankos has accomplished thus far," Ashera finally said, "and what he is capable of in his current state. The real question, Yune, is: do you?"
Yune's jaw stiffened as she gritted her teeth.
"I thought not. Logic has never been a strength of yours, after all." The words were mocking, but Ashera's tone was not; rather, her voice was flat and devoid of any emotion, like she was nothing more than a statue herself. "You claim Anankos has weakened your power, stealing it away from you as he has done to the vessels and deities inhabiting other worlds, but that assumption could not be further from the truth. Anankos has taken nothing from you."
Yune's glare hardened. "Of course he has! How else can you explain—"
"Your failure to protect your beorc and laguz champions when my judgment was cast?" Ashera finished for her, blinking for what felt like the first time since they had entered the goddess's chambers. "It really is not that difficult to understand. Anankos has not weakened your powers, Yune…"
A flash of light exploded around Ashera, scorching the air with the intensity of the sun. Gold blotted out blue as the pure, potent radiance of Ashera's aura completely overwhelmed Yune's, forcing the Chaos Goddess to reel away and wince against her counterpart's effortless show of might. Celica threw up her arms to shield her eyes from the blinding light, sucking in a sharp breath as it burned blisters across her skin.
"He has simply strengthened mine."
"H-how?" Yune stammered. "Why?!"
Ashera clicked her tongue. The golden glow enveloping the Order Goddess faded, the searing heat dissipated. Hesitantly, Celica lowered her arms and blinked away the black dots marring her vision. She could just barely see Soren to her left squinting and rubbing at his own eyes—he hadn't fared much better than her against the goddess's divine light, it seemed. In contrast, the Black Knight stood rooted in place, silent and unflappable behind his thick, dark mask, as though Ashera's power had barely affected him at all.
"Why, you ask? Is it not obvious?" Ashera dusted a small speck of dirt off her otherwise immaculate dress. "We have been working together for quite some time. Anankos and I share the same goal: peace and order for all worlds, for all eternity."
"Peace and order? Peace and order?!" Yune spat on the ground by Ashera's feet; Ashera just continued to stare at her with the same impassive expression she had been wearing since the moment they stepped into her chambers. "More like death and destruction! From what I've seen, your friend has done nothing but sow violence and chaos across every world he touches. Slaughtering humans and dragons without remorse, disrupting the balance of life by twisting the souls of the dead to his will—where's the peace and order in that?!"
"Sometimes," Ashera said, "you must rip out the weeds, root and stem, before the garden can be allowed to bloom."
"Stop speaking in riddles and just—"
"Must I spell everything out for you, Yune?" Ashera folded her hands in front of her, almost sighing. Boredom seemed to be the only emotion the Goddess of Order could openly convey. "I suppose I can entertain your curiosity for a little while longer, if I must. It would only be fair, after passing judgment on Tellius without your consent."
Entertain us? Celica noted mentally, glancing nervously between the goddess and the doors of her chambers. Why bother "entertaining" them, unless…
A heavy pit like lead sank down into Celica's stomach. Ashera was stalling for time, trying to distract them—or Yune, most likely—from something. But distract them from what?
"Before the Galdr of Release roused me from my long slumber," Ashera said, "Anankos came to me in my dreams, distraught and desperate for help. He is a creature cursed with both great knowledge and great madness, you see, and was searching for someone who would listen to his pleas. Someone who could understand his troubled mind. Someone who could provide the answers he needed to solve his plight."
Yune's red eyes narrowed on her counterpart. "And he found that person in you? I'm surprised—you're as selfish, unfeeling, and heartless as gods come. You don't care about anything or anyone, only your own stupid, unattainable goal of creating a world reigned by absolute order. I can't imagine he won over your support very easily."
Ashera waved her hand in a casual dismissal of Yune's characterization of her. Small wisps of dark purple energy flickered between her fingertips. The same purple energy, Celica realized with nauseating horror, that often radiated off the invisible soldiers.
Anankos's power. She was using Anankos's power to do something—summoning his army to her tower? Raising the dead souls here in Tellius? Simply communicating with him? Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't good for any of them. They needed to get out, and fast.
As slowly and as quietly as she could without drawing Ashera's attention, Celica began to inch toward the open doors…
Only for the Black Knight to clamp a painful hand down onto her shoulder, locking (trapping) her in place. He did the same to Soren before the tactician could try to make a quiet escape of his own.
"Bastard," Soren hissed through his teeth. The Black Knight only squeezed his fingers tighter, a silent order to stay still and keep quiet. Celica bunched her hands into her skirt, swallowing her rising anger and fear under a single, trembling breath.
"I was skeptical of Anankos's visit at first," Ashera continued, unconcerned with Celica and Soren's brief attempt at escape, "but in the end, I did not require much convincing. Anankos has the ability to peer into different realities, different futures. But for every reality and future he foresaw, his life was always destined to end in terrible tragedy: draconic degeneration would corrupt his mind, he would cause irreparable harm to his people and neighboring kingdoms, and he would be slain by his own flesh and blood—one of his children, or grandchildren, in some realities."
"I still don't see what that has to do with you," Yune said.
"His was not the only future he showed me." Ashera's arms returned to her side, hiding her hands from sight beneath the white feather plumes decorating her sleeves. "He showed me my own, as well. The future that awaited me when I was to awaken: the beorc and laguz would be at war again despite their vow to keep the peace, Yune and her chosen champions would rebel against my judgment, and I would be slain by the Radiant Hero—Ike, son of Gawain and Elena—and Ragnell, the sword I myself blessed nearly a millennium ago. My world of order would never come to pass."
"So," Yune scoffed, "you couldn't beat me in the future, so you had to resort to cheating by getting outside help to make yourself stronger? How embarrassing that realization must have been for the holy high-and-mighty Goddess of Order."
Ashera shook her head like a mother of an unruly child. "Such immature sentiments are beneath me. I am not motivated by any personal slight or grudge. This goes far beyond our spiritual and ideological conflict."
She turned her attention to one of the several glass windows framing her chambers, watching the snow clouds roll along the side of the tower below.
"Our world, Anankos's world, and every world beyond suffer under an endless cycle of disorder. It is not only the beorc and laguz—mankind is constantly tearing itself apart through violent warfare in every reality. One minute they promise each other peace, the next they are at each other's throats, consumed by an insatiable lust for power, glory, or vengeance. The pattern persists across every realm, across every generation, without failure. The children of flesh never learn nor grow.
"And to make matters worse, nearly every world is plagued by dragons susceptible to degenerative madness, all of whom inevitably lose their minds and bring about nothing but terror and destruction to their lands. If left unchecked, both mankind and the dragonkin will lead every singleworld in existence to chaos and ruin, crushing any attempts to establish eternal order and peace under the weight of their sins. That is the future foreseen by Anankos—and now, by me."
"And you're just going to take him at his word?" Yune's blue aura flared with her fraying temper. "You said it yourself: he's cursed with madness. The same madness you just claimed threatens your precious order. How do you know if anything he's seen is actually true? How do you know he's not just lying to you so he can take your power for himself too?!"
Ashera's eyes slowly slid over to Celica. Her blank yet piercing stare stabbed Celica straight through the soul. "I believe Anthiese can attest to the legitimacy of Anankos's visions. Your home world of Valentia was ravaged by the violence of man and dragon alike, was it not?"
Celica swallowed hard. "For a time, yes, but the fighting among my people has ceased, and the threat of degenerating dragons is no more. We are a unified country now. Our dragons—our gods—have found rest in the afterlife, and we work hard every day to preserve the peace—"
"Peace under human rule is always temporary," Ashera said. "Your country will fracture into separate states not even a century after you and your husband's reign. Your descendants will wreak havoc across the continent in an attempt to restore your empire to its former glory, with one—whom they will call Walhart—nearly succeeding, taking thousands upon thousands of lives with him to the grave."
Celica tried to step forward, but the Black Knight refused to loosen his hold on her shoulder. She settled for shaking her head instead. "But that's—"
"The continent neighboring yours will be no different." Ashera shifted her focus to the window once more, a mix of purple and golden energy building beneath her palms. "As for your claim regarding your world's dragons, Duma and Mila may be gone—and Medeus as well, thanks to Anankos's intervention—but another force of darkness still lurks beneath the surface, waiting for its opportunity to strike. The Fell Dragon, who will cast a shadow of terror and despair over your world for millennia to come. Other worlds face similar fates from similar threats, and the cycle of disorder that rolls across them all will continue in perpetuity…"
The Goddess of Order raised her chin up high, something akin to determination glinting in her otherwise empty eyes.
"Unless we break the cycle, once and for all."
"Oh, so you think you're playing the savior now? Is that it?" Yune snapped. "All these years spent sleeping in this dusty tower have made you just as insane as the crazy dragon! Why else would you help him when he's a part of the problem himself?!"
"Anankos has begun his descent into madness, yes, but he has yet to lose himself completely. He has enough mental clarity to recognize his deteriorating state of mind, which is why he came to me with a proposition: help him put an end to the suffering both humans and dragons have wrought across the universe before he himself succumbs to his own degeneration, and he will help me instill absolute order not only in Tellius, but in every world."
Ashera glanced over her shoulder to Yune. "He offered to give me the power I needed to prevent my death at the hands of the Radiant Hero and your champions of chaos, allowing me to trap them in stone so they can never hope to threaten me again. How could I refuse such an offer?"
"Because it's wrong, Ashera!" Yune countered. "You have no right imposing your will on worlds outside of our own! And slaughtering every person and dragon in existence just because they can't meet your ridiculously high standards of order is—"
"Slaughtering every person?" Ashera repeated, as if confused. "Wherever did you get an idea like that?"
Yune threw up her arms, exasperated. "That's what An—he's been doing! Attacking, killing, slaughtering every person and dragon his forces come across, then twisting the souls of the deceased and forcing them to fight for him!"
"That is what you have ascertained about his plan?" For a moment, the skin around Ashera's lips crinkled, betraying a hint of amusement. "You believe that is all he has been doing? Simply killing them to bolster his army's numbers?"
"And turning them into mindless puppets," Yune said, "for him—and for you—to more easily control. If he robs the people of their free will, they can't act out of line or threaten him and your precious order."
"How misguided," Ashera sighed. "Perhaps if it were up to me, then yes, I would make all mankind more lawful, orderly, and pliable, and would use them to construct a more perfect world. Or perhaps I would wipe you all from existence and start a new world from the scattered ashes your souls would leave behind."
Her eyes slowly roamed over each of them, sending another chill down Celica's spine. How could a goddess speak with such casual cruelty?
"But what becomes of you is Anankos's decision, not mine. And what he has planned for you is much more merciful than your lot deserves."
"What do you mean?" Yune asked, stepping in front of them, as though she were trying to protect them. Celica certainly hoped that was the case, but she had a feeling Yune's power wouldn't be enough to stand against the Order Goddess. "Ashera, what is he going to do to them?"
"Why would I tell you that?"
Yune's brave stance faltered. "What? But you—"
"Divulging the motivations behind Anankos's actions will not bring you any closer to stopping him, but sharing the intricacies of his plan certainly would. It would be foolish of me to give you that advantage—"
Ashera paused for a moment, head tilted up, listening to something the rest of them couldn't hear. The Black Knight's fingers around Celica's shoulder tensed, and he whispered as quietly as he could, "Be on your guard. She will make her move soon."
"Obviously," Soren hissed back. "But we can't do much with you keeping us trapped in place, now can we?"
"Just wait for my instructions."
The Black Knight did not clarify further, instead snapping back to attention as Ashera turned to face them again. Celica gave him a short, subtle head nod; Soren said nothing, mouth pressed into a tight line.
"…I will leave you with one last thought," Ashera said, sounding somewhat reluctant to actually do so. "Despite their similar transgressions against the world order, Anankos is targeting humans and dragons for different reasons. He asks you to consider whom he has turned to his side—or brought under his protection, is how he prefers to phrase it—and whom he has decided to exclude."
Whom he has decided to exclude? Celica frowned at her shoes and gnawed at the inside of her lip. From her recollection, the invisible army was composed with all sorts of people and creatures, from fallen heroes to common soldiers to Demonic Beasts. The only things she hadn't had to fight yet since Anankos's invasion had begun were…
Dragons. Anankos hadn't resurrected any dragons to recruit into his army. Celica had figured he simply wasn't able to do so, perhaps on account of him being a dragon himself, but it seemed like Ashera was implying there was another reason for their absence among the undead. Killing them, but not using them in his conquest of other worlds despite the clear advantage he would gain by having multiple dragons on his side of the battlefield.
Was he doing something to the dead soldiers under his control that he didn't want the dragons to experience themselves? Something 'merciful,' as Ashera had proclaimed, that he had reserved for mankind only?
The possibilities made Celica's head throb. She needed more time to process Ashera's revelations, needed to find a way to spin the information in their favor…
But Ashera did not seem keen on giving them any more time or quarter.
"And with that out of the way," Ashera said, flexing her fingers around the purple and gold light emanating from her palms, "we can finally proceed."
"Proceed with what?" Yune asked, though the tone of her voice indicated she already had an idea.
"The reason why I allowed you and your ilk to defile my tower with your presence." Ashera locked eyes with Yune. "To purge the spiritual embodiment of chaos from this plane of existence."
"Figures," Yune muttered.
"True order can only exist in the absence of chaos," Ashera said. "One of the stipulations of my agreement with Anankos was that he would not draw any divine power from you, Yune, as I refused to be part of any plan that relied on your chaotic nature. He has honored that request—he has access to plenty of other sources of power already, as it is—and now, he has given me what I need to dispose of you once and for all."
"And how exactly are you going to manage that?" Yune asked. "Even with his powers augmenting yours, you can't kill me yourself. If you could, you would have done so during your little light show earlier. You're still bound by the rule that has tied us together for centuries: as equal halves of the Goddess of Dawn, we can't kill each other."
"You are correct. I cannot kill you." Ashera narrowed her gaze on the Black Knight. "General Zelgius, use your divine blade to vanquish Yune and her mortal vessel. In exchange, I will free your Master Sephiran from stone."
Yune paled, eyes darting between the sheathed sword hanging off the Black Knight's hip and the goddess threatening her life. "He's not going to do that! He wouldn't dare hurt Micaiah—he's spent all this time trying to protect her! Right, Sir Knight?"
The Black Knight did not move to draw his sword, nor did he respond to either of the goddesses.
"…R-right?"
"You are devoted to your master," Ashera said, "and your master is devoted to me. Prove your worth as his faithful servant by—"
"If he was so devoted to you," the Black Knight said, "why did you betray his trust and turn him to stone?"
Ashera looked him over, magic slithering between the gaps of her fingers. "In the future, Leh—Sephiran would have either failed me or turned against me. I could not allow his treachery to come to pass. But because he is a dear friend, I am giving you a chance to rectify his mistakes and complete his mission."
"Or maybe you were hoping that by turning him to stone, you could use him as leverage over me so I would be compelled to follow your orders like one of these so-called 'mindless puppets'."
Ashera silently lowered her hand, her gaze on the Black Knight hardening. A bright, grateful smile spread over Yune's face.
"But I know Sephiran," the Black Knight continued, "and I know he would not agree with the path you have chosen to walk. Punishing the people of Tellius for their failures is one thing—punishing people of other worlds, people outside your realm of influence who have made no promises to you or your tenets of order, is going too far."
"Then you are refusing to carry out my command, General?" Ashera asked.
"I refuse."
"Unfortunate, but not unexpected." Ashera closed her eyes and brought her hands together, coalescing the dark and golden light of her and Anankos's combined magic into a pulsing, swirling ball of energy. "Very well, then. "
The doors behind them slammed shut, locking them inside. The echoing screech of stone grinding against stone ripped painfully through their ears.
"I had hoped it would not have to come to this," Ashera said, "but I cannot allow you to leave with Alondite in your possession. You have chosen to fight alongside Chaos." Her eyes began to glow with a golden sheen. "And you will perish alongside Chaos."
Ashera's aura exploded once again, blasting searing heat across every corner of the spacious chamber and sending tremors through the entire tower. The Black Knight whirled Celica and Soren around to shield them from her light, taking the brunt of the attack with the back of his enchanted armor plate.
Soren stared up at him, flabbergasted. "Did you just—"
"The windows," he grunted through his mask. "Our only chance of escape is through the windows."
"You mean…" Celica glanced over to the wall, grimacing at the reminder of how high up in the sky they were. She couldn't see the ground through the thick snow clouds.
"I cannot use my Warp Powder from inside the tower," the Black Knight said, curling his armored body protectively around them as another blast rocked the chambers. "The magic barrier prevents teleportation magic from passing through it. I can get us to safety, but only once we are outside of the tower."
"You're telling us to jump out of the tallest building in Tellius," Soren muttered, "and to trust you, of all people, to save us from falling to our deaths?"
"Yes."
Soren pinched the bridge of his nose and huffed out a frustrated breath, then said, "Fine. What do you need us to do?"
"Break the glass when I secure Micaiah and Yune," the Black Knight said, drawing his sword from its sheath, "and don't die."
Celica and Soren exchanged a worried but determined glance, then nodded. Fire alighted in Celica's palms; Soren snatched up a wind tome and summoned a swirling green gale hovering over its pages. Together, they stood at the ready.
The Black Knight swiveled around and sliced his blade through Ashera's blinding aura, splitting the magic from her attack into harmless wisps of gold and purple energy. The oppressive light faded behind the tower's shadows, revealing a doubled over Yune—coughing, eyes blazing with blue fury.
"Is…is that all you've got?" Yune spat, a trickle of blood leaking from her nose. "Like I said, even with your new strength and fancy light magic, you can't kill me."
"I know," Ashera said. "I will have my new Disciples of Order do it for me. I believe they are now ready to fight."
Yune snorted. "Ha! What disciples? You turned everyone loyal to you to stone, and now the one person with a weapon capable of killing gods stands against you!"
"Are you sure about that?" Ashera asked. "I think you are forgetting about someone, Yune."
Ashera snapped her fingers. In an instant, two figures appeared at her side, one flipping a set of deadly daggers between his fingers and the other wielding a radiant sword identical to the Black Knight's in all but color. Each bore a pair of soulless pink eyes reminiscent of the invisible soldiers' undead gaze, but their skin, covered in patches of rough, gray stone, distinguished them from the usual warriors under Anankos's control. Rather than the dead, they were statues brought to life.
Soren paled and sucked in a breath. "I-Ike? And Sothe?"
"One of the perks of working with Anankos," Ashera said, placing a hand on each of their stone shoulders, "is that he has granted me access to some of his unique abilities, such as the power to control the souls of the dead, the souls of the unstable, and the souls of the weak. And after my judgment was passed, the beorc and laguz were left in a very, very weak spiritual state."
Yune slowly began to back away with a subtle limp to her step, eyeing the golden blade in the stone swordsman's possession. "Let them go, Ashera! First you trap our people in a prison of stone, then meddle with their minds so they're forced to fight for you against their friends? How cruel can you be?!"
"It is not cruelty if the outcome of their service to me benefits the world as a whole." Ashera spread out her arms. "Because when the light of judgment next shines, the chaos of mankind will finally be put to rest. And from their eternal silence, a new era of peace and order will flourish for all eternity."
"Ashera, you can't—"
"Disciples," Ashera said, "strike them down."
The stone men rushed forward on the goddess's command. The shorter of them threw his daggers with dangerous precision, one aimed for Yune's heart and one for the space between her eyes. With incredible speed, the Black Knight swept Yune up with one arm against his chest and blocked the daggers with his arm. Sharp silver tips tore through the surface of his black armor, carving jagged dents into a set of plating that, up until this point, had been nigh indestructible.
Another barrage of daggers flew at his helmet. Yune knocked them off course with a thrust of her arm, capturing them mid-air with her magic and scattering the projectiles around the room in a burst of blue flames, then yelled, "Sothe, stop!"
Her voice failed to reach him.
The stone swordsman was on them next, throwing a hefty swing at the Black Knight that the armored man quickly met with his own blade. The twin swords screeched a metallic harmony as their edges collided and strained against each other, deadlocked. The Black Knight slammed the heel of his boot into the swordsman's gut, shoving him back a few feet but doing no outward damage to his tough, stone exterior.
Once the two were separated, Soren wasted no time and released his wind spell. The green gales struck the stone men with the strength of a wild tornado, pushing them farther and farther away from the Black Knight and the goddess in his arms.
"Do it!" Soren shouted over the raging winds.
Celica didn't need to be told twice. Pouring all of her magical energy into her hands, she hurled the hottest, fiercest fires of Ragnarok she could conjure at the window closest to them. The glass shattered on impact. Thousands of sharp, tiny shards went tumbling down the side of the tower, ripping through the gray clouds and disappearing into the frigid world below.
It was a long, long drop.
"It's open! Come on!" Celica yelled over her shoulder, swallowing her fear and tearing her eyes away from the open air outside. There was nothing to be afraid of—she had already fallen down a "bottomless" chasm once before and survived. What was one more time?
Soren slammed his tome shut and ran to her side. His wind spell subsided, allowing the Black Knight to move himself and Yune closer to the newly formed exit.
But the stone swordsman was faster. He charged at the Black Knight's back, and when he was within a few strides of the armored man, he tossed his sword into the air. The blade spun up higher and higher over their heads, pulsing with golden flames that radiated pure power.
"Ike!" Soren shouted. Begged. "Don't!"
The stone swordsman—Ike—launched himself into the air, grabbing the sword's handle at the peak of its spin, tucking himself into a roll mid-air, and—
"Ae…ther!"
In a blinding burst of speed and power, Ike brought his sword down on the Black Knight's head. The Black Knight managed to raise his own sword in time to stop Ike from cleaving through his skull or hurting Yune…
But his reflexes were not quick enough to keep the golden blade from slashing through the back of his helmet and splitting the black metal in two. The broken helmet fell into pieces at the Black Knight's feet, revealing the bewildered, bloodied face of the man beneath the mask.
Ike stomped craters into the floor as he landed, shaking the tower's very foundation. Fractures tore through the stone around Celica's feet, cracking and destabilizing the ground faster than she could track—
The edge of the tower around the broken window collapsed, and suddenly, there was no ground beneath her at all.
The last thing Celica saw was Ike crushing the remnants of the Black Knight's helmet under his boot before she, Soren, the Black Knight, and Yune began to plummet toward the snowy, lifeless world below.
All of them separated, and far from each other's reach.
Celica tumbled and flailed through the air, falling so hard and so fast she couldn't tell up from down. The wind rushing against her face burned her eyes to the point of tears, her hair whipped painfully against her neck, the icy condensation of the clouds scraped against her skin like shards of glass—
Warm light enveloped her body and slowed her descent to a gentle float. Breathing hard, she blinked away her watery eyes and glanced down to her trembling hands. What looked like blue fire danced across her skin, wrapping around her body like a soft, warm blanket instead of the blistering heat of a normal flame.
Celica twisted herself around to see Yune holding them all in place with her power, eyes squeezed shut in concentration and arms straining to keep them all afloat. With a forceful tug, she slowly reeled them in closer, and closer, and closer still.
As soon as their fingers were able to brush against her, the Black Knight crushed the white powder coating his hand, and…
In a flash of light, they disappeared from the middle of the air and reappeared inside a small, rustic cottage. Safe from their fall, and safe, for now, from the Goddess of Order (Celica hoped).
Panting, Yune dropped to her knees and released the others from her hold. Celica smacked unceremoniously against the wooden floor, bruising her hip, but the momentary pain was much preferred to the alternative outcome they had just averted.
"Is…is everyone alright?"
Celica was the first to speak, ignoring the pain in her side and pushing herself onto her feet. She offered a hand to help Soren up, but he just shook his head and nudged it away.
"As fine as we can be," the Black Knight said, his voice no longer muffled and distorted by a thick metal mask. He peered through the windows, surveying the world outside with a calculating eye, then drew the curtains closed. "I've brought us to one of my safe houses outside of Begnion. If we keep quiet and stay out of sight, we should be—"
Yune went limp and collapsed. The Black Knight caught her and scooped her up into his arms before her head could hit the floor. Her face twitched wildly for a few seconds, breath fluttering out of her lips, then…
When she opened her eyes again, they were Micaiah's gold, not Yune's red.
"G…General Zelgius?" Micaiah asked, staring up at the Black Knight but struggling to keep her eyes open. "You…you're…"
"Quiet now, Maiden." The Black Knight—no, Zelgius—carried her over to the lone bed in the cottage and laid her down as gently as he could. "You need to rest. You and Yune overexerted yourselves."
"Yune says…she apologizes…"
"For what?"
Micaiah rubbed her forehead, wincing at the touch. "For not…being able to do more…to stop Ashera…"
"You've both done more than enough," Celica said, offering her a grateful smile. "You saved us, after all."
"But for how long?" Soren finally rose to his feet, glaring at the floor on the way up. "She…she has Ike. He's the strongest fighter there is—"
"Debatable," Zelgius interjected.
"He literally almost took your head clean off your shoulders not even a minute ago."
"Only because Ashera strengthened him and Sothe with her divine blessing."
"Or because he's just better than—"
"Can you two stop bickering for one second?" Celica stepped between the mage and the general, setting each of them with a hard look she often reserved for the unruly nobles of the Valentian royal court. "I get it. You were both enemies before today, and the bad blood between you runs deeper than I will probably ever know. But if we want to survive this and save your friends, we need to start cooperating—not just when our lives are in immediate danger, but at all times."
"She's…right…" Micaiah said. "If Ashera can…control any person she's turned to stone…drawing power from another god-like being…we can only stop her if we…trust each other and work together."
Soren sighed and crossed his arms. "Easier said than done. Where do we even start? How are we supposed to stop the combined might of not one, but two all-powerful beings?"
"By getting the help…of another god…"
"Another god?" Celica asked.
"Ashera is…communicating with him somehow, and sharing their strength…through some kind of channel…" Micaiah rested her hands on her stomach and closed her eyes. "If Yune can find a way to…access it herself…maybe we can find another god…in another world…who can…help…us…"
Micaiah quickly drifted off to sleep. Soren and Zelgius exchanged one last wary look before separating to different parts of the cottage—Zelgius to the front, standing guard by the door, and Soren to a chair in the back, pulling out a tactician's notebook and writing feverishly across its pages.
Celica sighed and found another chair to settle herself into. She leaned back into the plush fabric, folded her hands over her lap, closed her eyes…
And prayed to Mila, to Duma, to Naga, to every divine being in existence for strength, for her friends' safety…
And for help.
Character Bios:
Sothe: Whisper
—Right-hand man of Micaiah for both the Dawn Brigade and the Daein Liberation army. A quiet but protective man who has shared a close bond with Micaiah since he was a child. During the war against the Mad King Ashnard, he traveled with Ike and the Greil Mercenaries as a thief, then eventually left their service to reunite with Micaiah and help her in any way he could—even if it meant going up against old friends in the field of battle.
—Relations: Childhood friend of Micaiah.
Zelgius: Black Knight
—Earl of Kadohl, General of the Central Army of Begnion, and former member of the Four Riders of Daein. After training under the renowned general Gawain as a young man, he began to serve as Prime Minister Sephiran's right-hand as both himself and as the dreaded "Black Knight," using his dual personas to help carry out his master's intricate schemes on many sides of Tellius's wars. He hopes to one day duel someone who can match his sword teacher's skills, to prove whether or not he has perfected the art of swordplay. One of the Branded.
—Wielder of Alondite and master of the skill Eclipse
—Relations: Servant of Sephiran.
Next chapter: A visit to the Earth Mother.