A/N: Potentially unpleasant imagery within this chapter, be advised.
The Shepherds were a fair bit less than safe, Robin decided as she ducked under a blade meant to behead her. A slight click overhead had her rolling to the side as the blade, lodged firmly in stone, shifted forms and split into something resembling a pickaxe where her head had once been. The Silver Tactician didn't quite like the idea of being impaled a second time, the first time had been more than enough, and she wasn't keen on learning whether or not her body would bring her back from having her head cloven in two.
With a hiss she skirted back and engulfed her attacker in a jet of flame, having caught onto fire magic a few weeks prior with tutelage from Morgan and a somewhat reluctant Miriel. She wasn't the best with it, evident from her foe being charred rather than cinders, unlike with lightning, but she had rather quickly learned that lightning magic was far less effective against these monsters than fire was in this engagement. Strange considering it worked just fine the last time the Shepherds had encountered them.
They were known as the Unbidden, the name coined moments prior by the leader of the small band of mercenaries fighting alongside the Shepherds. The reasoning was simple: the monsters were unwanted and appeared at terrible times. Simple, but no one particularly disagreed. They were like the Risen, but worse in the fact that they were actually competent with their weapons without leadership and a fair bit harder to keep down without excessive force—A well placed strike to the head or neck would fell a Risen, but an Unbidden would keep attacking if its head or heart weren't completely destroyed and their bodies didn't dissipate immediately upon falling. The weapons they carried tended to be the largest issue when it came to fighting the creatures: the weapons were parts of their bodies and could manifest at any given moment in offensive or defensive manners. In exchange, they appeared to be incapable of using magic like a Risen mage or leader could, but they made up for it in ferocity and ability—even if they were rather one track in their focus and slow to adjust to sudden changes in the flow of a fight.
The creature Robin squared off against had a pair of bladed extensions akin to longswords that could grow from its forearms and legs and further shift into alternative forms with varying lengths. Those alone made approaching the undead monster difficult, it was quick to deploy and manipulate the lengths of its blades to keep her and Odin—leader of the aforementioned mercenary group—on the back foot, but it also wore a rather sturdy set of scale armor compared to the rotted and rusted armor the standard Risen wore. Both of those factors combined with its durability would have made keeping the creature in place much more difficult, even more so if it tried to break away and search for its real target rather than fight her and Odin.
For whatever reason, this group of Unbidden had an unnatural focus on Maribelle. The moment they appeared, they appeared to lock onto her and rushed towards her as the Risen with them rose from the corpses of the settlement and fell from the sky in heaps, halted only by Naga's clerics creating a ward that repelled them for a brief moment. That was enough time for the remainder of the Shepherds and the mercenary band to intervene and push the creatures back, but not before the Risen horde rose in full and separated them with sheer numbers. Since then, Robin had lost track of the others, having cut through at least a dozen Risen before the Unbidden she presently fought made itself known and attempted to mince her. It would have succeeded once it backed her into a corner with a mass of Risen closing in on her from either side, but then Odin intervened and shifted the tide of things to what they now were.
"Your evil will not prevail here, foul creature! Azure Flame," the mercenary leader called, drawing Robin and the creature's attention as a burning blue blade cut into what would have been the creature's back had it not turned and attempted to deflect the sword with one of its own. Robin used that moment to engulf the creature in a spray of fire, finally catching the monster off guard. The Unbidden shrieked and jerked, forgetting for a moment that it was attempting to block another attack as it twisted towards the silver haired woman. That cost it an arm as the mercenary's blade cleaved through its weakened defenses and into its less protected side, igniting it with the same bright blue fire that vaguely made the tactician's head hurt. The creature shrieked a second time, burning limbs and blades flailing wildly as it hacked at Odin and her in mad fury.
"You'll find us a bit harder to hit like that," the Silver Tactician taunted, conjuring a spear of lightning as she threw herself to the side to avoid a blade that would have pierced clear through her left eye if she hadn't. Not quite as mad with fury as she thought then, but not calm enough to hide the sudden attack within others. Still, she wasn't keen on experiencing anything like that again.
Again?
The silver haired woman nearly paused, but caught herself in time to see Odin land another clean strike across the creature's back before it could capitalize on her moment of confusion. She silently thanked the oddly theatrical man as she hurled her spear, striking the Unbidden directly in the chest as the tongues of blue flame ate away at the armor the undead wore. The bolt wasn't enough to paralyze the creature or even slay it, but it was enough to finally throw it off balance and that was enough for her partner to stab it through the skull. Without a word, Odin ignited his blade a second time, having let the gleaming silver blade return to its normally lustrous self once the monster was ablaze, reducing the monster's head into a pile of ash.
"Your assistance was appreciated, Odin," Robin huffed, glancing at her partner. He appeared to be just fine, not winded in the slightest despite having parried what had to be dozens of blows that could pierce stone and metal with ease and cut down two hordes of Risen with magic and blade just moments prior. He didn't look to be some hardened warrior with the strength and stamina to do so, instead he appeared to be a few years younger than her, with messy silvery white hair interspersed with golden blonde and mint green highlights. His eyes were the color of the sea and his complexion was fair, mostly unblemished save for recent cuts and scrapes gotten from fighting the Unbidden.
The garb he wore was similar to the one Lon'qu wore, but yellow where the quieter swordsman's was a lighter blue and with longer tails that Robin wasn't quite sure how he managed to avoid tripping over. His left arm was covered in bandages that currently burned with the same bright blue flame that covered his blade. The fact that his garb hadn't been set alight was a miracle of magic or a testament to the level of skill he had.
"Think nothing of it, Grand Tactician," the young man beamed, even as he scanned over the battlefield. He quickly honed in on Morgan and a second, more feminine looking Morgan fighting off another Unbidden while Donnel and Ricken stood behind them and dealt with several Risen trying to sneak up on the duo. "It seems our younger compatriots are in a spot of trouble. Are you well enough to assist them?"
"I very well must be," she replied, taking a deep breath. She wasn't tired, her stamina had vastly improved since Regna Ferox, but lightning spells not being the best against the Unbidden was going to put a damper on what she could do. Lightning hardly did more than stun them and she had to actually gather enough magic to create a spear for it to do that as she'd learned at the start of her battle. At the very least they had no leader this time and the same resistance to lightning didn't carry over to the Risen, but there were still four remaining and a large number of lesser undead that the Unbidden appeared to be leading in a rudimentary fashion. The lesser undead weren't nearly as coordinated as they were when one of their 'chiefs,' named as such for how quickly and efficiently they could whip the Risen around them into a frenzy and organize their movements, was directing them, but they weren't wildly milling about and sluggishly attacking anything that moved. There was some methodology to their movements and actions, even if that only went so far as slowly surrounding and entrapping others rather than fighting at even half their usual capacity.
"Then let us go before our noble compatriots find themselves in a bigger bind." Odin didn't waste anymore words beyond that as he leapt forward. Actually he did, shouting loud enough for all to hear him: "Foolish Risen, you dare strike at the bringers of justice!? Have at thee, Binding Blade!"
The tactician wasn't sure why he had to shout all of his attacks, but she wasn't going to question the effectiveness of binding chains of light erupting from his blade and snaring the Unbidden he'd reached in the blink of an eye. Another oddity about him, that was the same technique Nicola had taught to Chrom and they were the only users of it beyond Marth and Sieg from Regna Ferox. Still, she wasn't exactly plodding along and she caught up not much later, but by then the main threat was taken care of. Her Morgan, the boy who called himself that, had condensed a sphere or fire to the size of a bead and passed it to the other Morgan, who stabbed it into the bound monster's neck with a wickedly curved dagger. Odin had taken that as his cue to duck and narrowly avoided being covered in burning viscera as the monster's head popped and its body slumped. Another one down, without her assistance needed. Good, that just left the Risen attempting to swarm over Donnel and Ricken.
She couldn't just allow that to happen and miss out on her own bit of glory, now could she?
"Elthunder," she called, raking both hands through the air to summon four orbs of crackling red lightning. She brought her hands together and pushed forward, launching the orbs towards the group of undead and grinned as they tore through the small horde. The grin nearly faded as Donnel shouted a warning her way before hurling a spear past her head, striking between the eyes of a Risen that had almost snuck up on her. Right, she couldn't quite lose track of her surroundings.
"Thank you, Donnel," she nodded, plucking the spear from the corpse before regrouping with the others.
"Not a problem, missus Robin." the villager nodded, rubbing the back of his head. He had a few scrapes, some fairly deep, but he didn't look too hurt. Ricken visibly fared a little bit better, for all that he was covered in mud and dirt. His hat had seen better days and the way he clutched his left shoulder made Robin think he'd need a check up from one of the healers that had accompanied them. Still, she had to ask.
"Are the lot of you alright? No injury in need of immediate treatment?" She had one of those foul tasting concoctions Anna had whipped together when the merchant had been asked for something stronger than a vulnerary if so.
"Just a scratch here and there, nothin' too bad," Donnel said. "I reckon Ricken's a bit worse off, took a heavy hit through that dust storm he kicked up before we nearly got surrounded."
"Wind barrier," the young mage corrected. "I'll be fine, Robin. A little small thing like this isn't noteworthy."
"I'll be the judge of that," the tactician retorted, thankful for the brief lull in fighting around them. That meant more was going on elsewhere in the village and she could only hope the other Shepherds were doing fine as she poked at Ricken's shoulder. The pained hiss and hurt glare she received in return was evidence enough. She produced the foul smelling potion. "Take two drops. Apply one to your tongue and the other to your shoulder and that will speed up your recovery. Just don't expect anything pleasant."
The young teen begrudgingly took her advice, having learned arguing with Robin was futile when she was leading. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of the border incident.
Once Ricken had taken the medicine, shuddering noticeably as he did, she looked to the two Morgans.
"I'm perfectly fine, mother," the boy of the duo answered.
"Likewise, mother," the girl replied, shaking her head of salt and pepper hair. Having two teens call her mother wasn't something she was going to get used to anytime soon. Robin had only just met the second Morgan, less than an hour ago even. She had been with Odin and his band of five, but had beelined towards her the moment she saw her. Neither Morgan seemed to recognize the other or even having a sibling, both only recalling that she was their mother and that their father wasn't among the Shepherds. She hoped there was a hanging 'yet' in that regard, she wasn't ready to be a parent, let alone to two children near her physical age.
"Good. Odin?"
"If I was injured I've long since recovered, Grand Tactician." A wordy way of saying he'd either already taken something for an injury she'd missed or he healed quickly. A quick glance over his person confirmed that, his cuts and scrapes from before having healed without leaving a mark. Convenient for a number of reasons, chief among them being that she would have to worry for him at the moment.
"Then we need to regroup with the others before they get overwhelmed." It was a fact. The six of them may have cleared out the undead around them but the fight was far from done. Chrom and the remaining Shepherds still needed to be found, hopefully alive and in one piece given she'd had no time to issue proper orders before they'd been scattered, as did the remaining three members of Odin's band. Both groups needed to regroup in order to properly route the remaining Risen and Unbidden before they took proper losses. That her side had only gotten away with minor injuries was nothing short of a miracle.
The others nodded and followed after her. Odin strode and reached her side while Ricken and the male Morgan took to the center of the group and Donnel watched the group's rear with the female Morgan. Robin really needed to think of something else to call her.
It didn't take long to reach the bulk of the fighting or see the proper horde of Risen closing in on a large number of the Shepherds or the duo of Unbidden striking at Frederick, Chrom, Anna of all people and two others from Odin's band.
"Ricken, Morgan, aim for the horde and hit them with what spells you know that cover large spaces. You'll be striking it from behind, and moving while you do so so try to conserve what energy you can unless you see something particularly dire. Donnel, get to a vantage point with the other Morgan and look for the clerics and Maribelle. Call me once you've found them and try to help them if things seem feasible, but don't bite off more than you can chew," the tactician barked. "Odin, with me, we'll be assisting Chrom and your band."
The group splintered with the orders, the male Morgan and Ricken rushing towards the back of the horde of Risen while Donnel and the female Morgan clambered up the nearest home then to the one closest to it with unnatural speed. Odin glanced her way and spoke.
"Allow me to get their attention while you prepare. That should give Inni and Sev enough of an opening to take out one while the prince and Sir Frederick take out the other."
It was a sound suggestion, if a bit optimistic. It also showed that Odin was far more aware of who the Shepherds were than he initially seemed to be. He wasn't like Marth, proclaiming correctly that a great disaster was soon to come, but he knew titles and formalities from Ylisse as if he'd been born in the nation rather than across the sea as his garb and accent denoted. He also knew Chrom was a prince without being properly introduced, implying Chrom was well known overseas or that there was more to the mercenary than he let on. If she was a betting woman, she would have chosen the latter.
"Go ahead, I'll cover you if the last Unbidden attempts to ambush you." That she hadn't seen it since the battle broke out was disconcerting. That one appeared to be some form of archer and the last one like it had nearly put Virion to shame with how precise its shots were. The so called 'Archest of Archers' had been the one to fell it, drawing upon some foreign power to make his already deadly accurate arrow slain the monster without destroying its head completely. He'd simply called it a trick of the trade when questioned on the matter and Robin wished he'd been able to accompany the Shepherds on this venture, but apparently he had business in the capital that required his direct attention immediately.
The odd swordsman needed no additional prompting, bounding forth as he called out to the duo of greater undead.
"Foolish monsters, harken to mine words and know despair! Gaze upon me and know that my sword hand shall destroy you where you stand," he roared, his bandaged arm glowing with azure light. "Be lost forever in the light surpassing that of the morning sun, Radiant Dawn!"
Robin had to hand it to Odin, he had a way of bringing everyone's attention to him. That he had something to accompany his theatric with each time he began with them was an added bonus, she thought as the bright blue light swirled around his sword and erupted from it as he brought the weapon down on the needle-like blade sprouting from the arm of one of the Unbidden. The blue light exploded on impact, almost blinding Robin if she hadn't had the foresight to cover her eyes when Odin mentioned the sun. Clearly the Unbidden hadn't thought to do so, the undead recoiling and burning as the light clung to it and began eating away at it. Light appeared to be even more effective than fire she noted, filing that away for later.
In that moment Chrom and Frederick acted, the prince leaping into a spinning slash while the knight went for a low sweep with his spear. Both attacks caught air, the recoiling undead choosing to leap skywards and orient itself to float. That was unexpected, none of the previous Unbidden had been able to fly in any capacity. Thankfully the second Unbidden appeared to have no such ability as it was hammered back by a pink haired young man and a brighter pink duplicate of him that struck a heartbeat later than him. At the same time Anna tossed a bottle of muddy looking liquid at the creature and shattered it with a dagger Robin didn't even see her draw or throw, coating the creature in its contents before she ducked behind a wall. The creature staggered and appeared to slow as the liquid solidified and spread over it, giving the younger crimson haired woman time to unleash a pulse of black magic.
Robin felt her stomach flip upon itself as a familiar feeling of vile magic being cast washed over her. In the next moment, the earth beneath the Unbidden turned to a viscous, foul smelling tar that began pulling it downwards. Skeletal hands, blackened and misshapen, sprouted from the foul liquid as the undead monster thrashed and began pulling itself from the tar as the pink haired swordsman backpedaled and readied his shield. With a mighty yell, he hurled the shield like a discus at the struggling monster, hitting it square in the head as his duplicate mirrored the action.
The Unbidden lurched forward and was pulled further into the tar as twin shields bounced and soared overhead while the red haired girl grew pale and began to bleed from her nose. The spell she was casting was eating away at her, but she stubbornly held on as the tips of her hair began to bleach white. Before she could get any worse, the pink haired man leapt into the air, caught his shield and drove his blade into the head of the restrained undead, both feet planted on its shoulders before he spring boarded off of it, back to safety with blade in tow. His duplicate followed suit, but rather than dive towards the creature it instead hurled its blade into the monster's throat then followed with its shield, driving the blade further in as it vanished. The monster did not cease to struggle, even as it was fully engulfed by tar and bone, dragged beneath the surface by the vile spell the red haired girl had cast.
More of her hair grew white as she fell to the ground, blood pooling as the pink haired man ran to her side.
"Sev, you can stop, it's gone."
"It isn't," the woman hissed, eyes glowing bright red. "It's still there, resisting the spell even now. If I don't hold it, it will burst fo–"
The girl let out an agonized cry as tar erupted upwards, raining down with fragments of bone and writhing insects as the Unbidden pulled itself from what should have killed it. The tar stained abomination now sported a pair of crescent shaped blades along its legs and rotating masses of blade-like teeth pulsing with the same foul magic used against it along its arms. That wasn't good. Between it and the flying Unbidden, things would go poorly if they weren't taken care of immediately.
"Shine," Odin shouted, conjuring several spears of light that launched towards the airborne undead with a flick of his wrist. The creature weaved through the spears, its flight erratic and swift as it closed in on the swordsman with a glowing limb. The limb bubbled and writhed, twisting into a lance of yellowed swirling bone and blackened sinew as the Unbidden lunged at Odin. The swordsman managed to hop out of the way with a surprised yelp, retaliating with a heavy slash. The creature skittered away, narrowly avoiding a sweeping strike from Frederick before it sprang towards the knight with murder in its eyes.
The knight raised his shield, but wasn't prepared for the force behind the strike as he was ripped from his saddle and sent rolling. The tactician intervened at that point, hurling a bolt of lightning at the creature as she palmed a ball of fire and launched it above her target. The Unbidden raced upwards, easily dodging the lightning spell, only to be caught by the sphere of flame and set ablaze. Check. The undead creature howled, taking fully to the sky as it burned before racing away from the battle like a burning star. Odd. The last time they'd fought the Unbidden, the one commanding them forced them to retreat. Had it learned self preservation? If so, that was problematic.
She could worry about that later, she huffed, rushing to Frederick's side.
"Frederick, are you alright?" The bloody glare she received in turn told her that he was not. The Great Knight's nose was broken, likely from his shield hitting him in the face as he tumbled, but that was the least of his thankfully few injuries. The greater of the injuries was hidden behind his shield, which had a hole bored through it. The knight's forearm was a shattered mess of broken bone and twisted metal, barely held intact by what muscle and flesh hadn't been torn through by the bone lance. Unnatural black ooze seeped from the already swelling injury, darkening the blood that slowly poured from it. The knight tried and failed to move his wrist, hissing as Robin tore away his shield.
"You have my thanks," Frederick managed, shakily grabbing a pouch from his side with his uninjured hand. Robin took that as her cue to grab and open the bag, revealing a thick and oily salve.
"Frederick, a vulnerary won't do much good for that injury. You need a healer," Robin frowned, offering the concoction to the knight. He shook his head.
"It will have to do for now," the knight growled, wincing as he looked away from the mangled limb. "I've no elixirs on my person and unless you or that mercenary can cast healing magic, I can't see a healer until we find Maribelle and the others. A vulnerary will give me temporary use of my arm. That concoction will have a better overall effect, but it's not going to kill the pain in my arm like the vulnerary will."
So that was it. Vulneraries were near miraculous tinctures that could heal fairly severe wounds if given enough time and application, but the larger benefit was reducing the pain someone treated with one felt. That especially applied when used at the sites of injuries, where the mixture could make one go numb for a short period of time. Frederick wanted to leap back into the fray and join Chrom, Odin and the pink haired man in fending off the heavily armed Unbidden near them. No doubt he'd concluded that the benefits would outweigh the consequences, but Robin wasn't going to allow that.
"Then use both," she breathed, applying half of the concoction's bottle into the knight's injury before smearing the outside with the vulnerary salve. The lack of field dressing was going to slow the healing process—more than likely Frederick would need to break his arm of his own accord if the bones didn't mend together properly—and made the rather unpleasant sight of a grievous injury knitting itself back together plainly visible.
A cord of sinew grew taut, pulling splintered bone together with a wet snap as veins spread like spider webs over and through swollen and discolored muscle before something cracked and the mass split apart revealing shards of bone oozing the same inky black substance from before. Robin looked away as the shards were pulled away from one another, helping keep the knight's arm in place as flesh squelched and bone popped back into place. It wasn't long before the wound was fully sealed and Frederick could use his numb arm to a decent degree. Until a healer had time to fortify the mixed tincture's work, his bones would be fragile and his strength sapped, which was unfortunate considering he was going to rejoin the fray in just a moment.
Robin would have admonished him, if not for understanding his position: Chrom was his charge and it would be on his head if the prince died. She understood that, but agreed as much as she disagreed—she was all for saving people with the full extent of her abilities, but she wasn't willing to die for someone else when logic took hold. It didn't always, which was why she'd been impaled at the border, but she wasn't going to throw her life away if she could help it.
Perhaps it was fortunate that she was more durable than others in that respect.
"Mother, Frederick, incoming!"
One of the Morgans cried out, drawing the tactician and knight's attention in time to see the Unbidden lancer shooting towards them from above, weapon clad in bright orange swirling flames.
"Behind me," Frederick commanded, readying his lance as he rose into a defensive stance. He couldn't be serious.
"Frederick, that thing was capable of dismounting you, you can't take a head on attack from it as you are," Robin roared. He would die, the monster's lance would bore through him like it had his shield.
"I'll be fine, I won't fall for the same maneuver twice," the knight breathed. "If you're so concerned, pick a god and pray."
A scowl flashed across Robin's face as the monster bore down on them. She knew no gods other than Naga and the Fell Dragon and she wasn't going to pray to either. She still hadn't quite figured out why Naga's name made her blood boil in part, but she had no interest in praying to her regardless. That being said, she certainly wasn't going to pray to a deity that tried to end the world. That would court disaster, that much she was certain of.
The Unbidden roared, thrusting its lance towards Frederick as it gained speed, hurtling like a falling star towards the duo as Frederick took a deep breath. The breath left him slowly as he entered an unfamiliar stance, his own spear pulled back while his injured arm was pointed forward. A second breath came and with it a silvery blue light that swirled around the knight like smoke. A third breath followed as the smoky light gathered around his lance and a fourth as Frederick adjusted his lance minutely.
"In the name of the halidom, I sunder thee," the knight breathed, the words leaving him as naturally as air, thrusting his weapon forward just as the undead entered his range. "Luna."
Robin wasn't quite sure how to describe what followed. In one moment, the Unbidden was ready to pierce through Frederick with its own weapon and in the next the majority of its torso was missing, heart included. Perhaps stunned in its own way, the undead hung in the air for a single moment before falling unceremoniously to the ground. Frederick followed a moment later, taking a knee as he shakily tried to right himself.
"I am fine," he growled as Robin worked to pull him to his feet. "I am simply more spent than expected."
"What the hell was that, Frederick," Robin nearly exclaimed, keeping her tone even as she continued righting the knight.
"A technique passed down to protectors of the halidom, Argent Luna. Something rather taxing when I'm in peak condition." And yet he chose to use it when he wasn't. Was he trying to kill himself? His tone made it clear that was all he would say on the matter.
"Right. We need to–"
"Help Lord Chrom, yes."
"Frederic..."
"I can deal with this level of exhaustion and injury while my arm is still numb, Robin. I will not be a liability." He really would be and she couldn't just stay away from him when at least one monster was unaccounted for. Robin didn't say that aloud, she was certain the knight would attempt to go beyond his limits to prove her otherwise if she did.
"Fine, but stay behind me," she bit out. "You may be able to fight, but I'm not going to rely on you as a shield when you're worse off than me." The taller man started to protest, but Robin silenced him with a hard glare. He would have returned the glare had he been as well as he proclaimed, it was one he used on her often.
"Very well," he finally said. He was unhappy, but if that helped keep him alive Robin was willing to accept his dissatisfaction in a heartbeat. She glanced back at Morgan and the others to check on their progress. Thankfully, her ploy with Morgan and Ricken had proved successful and the horde of Risen surrounding the majority of her allies had been dispersed. Their number hadn't been fully cleared out, but there was enough disarray in the ranks of the undead for Robin to leave that to Ricken and the others.
When she looked for Donnel and her Morgan, the Silver Tactician felt her unease grow. She couldn't find either of them, even as she scanned the rooftops. They should have been high up and looking around, not gone. Something had happened, something dire. Unfortunately, she didn't have the leisure to look into that while Chrom and half of Odin's band were still dealing with the crescent bladed Unbidden.
"Please be alright," she muttered, rushing towards the monstrous undead not yet fixating on her. Frederick followed behind her, slower than she would have liked, as she gathered strands of fire into her hands and wound them together. She was no Morgan, Miriel or Ricken, capable of casting more advanced forms of fire magic with little effort, but none of them surpassed her when it came to creative uses of magic. It also helped that she didn't need to incant her spells, giving her more freedom to cast and act than other mages.
With a shout, the Silver Tactician hurled the burning orb she carried at the undead monster as it drove an arm into the earth, narrowly missing Chrom as he pulled the pink haired man out of its path. The Unbidden turned, moving far faster than Robin expected as the blades along its arm ground the earth into dirt and dust, in time to be struck plainly by the orb as it spread into a tangling web of bright red flames. It didn't burn the creature nearly as much as Odin's azure fire or anything that the other fire mages could cast, but it would hold so long as–
With a snarl, the Unbidden's blades shifted and erupted with tarry black growths resembling teeth. The teeth cut through the snare with ease, devouring the flames as if they were a light snack. Robin paused.
That was unfair wasn't it? She was no master of flames, but that couldn't have been fair in the slightest when the Unbidden were supposed to be weak to fire. She didn't have much more time to follow that line of thought, the undead monstrosity charged her with a deafening war cry.
"Oh no you don't," Chrom called, flickering as he closed the distance between himself and the monster in a low stance. The Falchion flared for an instant, burning light engulfing the sacred blade, as the prince swung the blade into the back of the monster's knee and cut into it. The blade didn't fully cut through the limb, but it didn't need to: the creature tumbled from its charges, cutting deep gouges into the earth where its blades touched, as what holy power the Falchion contained ate away at its leg. A pink tinged blur shot past the prince, shooting into the air as it shouted.
"Be shackled to the land to which you belong, Binding Blade!" The blur spun once, twice then a third time before hurling a silver blur into the Unbidden, piercing its side as chains of light tore from the silver mass—Odin's sword— and embedded themselves into the ground as they tightened. The airborne Odin landed beside Chrom with the grace of a cat, light and on his feet.
"Robin, Frederick, with me!" The tactician needed no further prompting as she and Frederick rushed to Chrom's side as best they could. He didn't need to speak any further as the three of them went to work. The knight used what strength he had to drive his lance into the monster's heart as it struggled while Chrom and Robin raised their blades in unison and brought them down on the creature's neck, one blazing with holy flames while the other crackled with lightning. The Robin felt her blade crack and break as it pierced the beast's flash only to get caught within it, but the Falchion finished the job as it cut through the beast's throat like it was made of layers of wet parchment.
The smell of burning rotten flesh hit the four soon after, acrid smoke pouring from the monster as—Robin wrenched both the prince and silver clad knight to the ground, narrowly avoiding lightning clad arrows that burst into wooden shrapnel on impact. Odin wasn't so lucky, blocking a fourth and fifth with his bandaged arm with a pained grimace as they detonated Bright blue blood flowed freely from deep gouges into the limb, bandages falling away to reveal already healing blue tinged black scales and a clawed hand.
Blue tinged... black scales?
A wave of pain hit the silver haired woman as red tinged images danced across her vision. She saw a battle in the rain, herself and a man with a similar limb dueling as they shouted at one another. She had the upper hand, then she didn't as the man raked his claws across her, carving through her side as infernal heat and stygian cold racked her body. The man flushed and the last thing she saw was a demonic blade rushing towards her right eye before the world exploded with pain. The vision shifted and the flaring pain blossomed anew as it did.
Angry blue gouges tore from her face and down her torso, stopping just below one of her knees. She was half blind and drowning in her own blood as it bubbled forth from wear she felt her throat had been ripped out. She was also falling, coat burning away along with other things as the wind howled in her ears. It only grew worse when the bolt of hellish lightning hit her, azure as the flames Odin called, and seared her torn flesh just before she hit jagged earth with a wet crunch. The vision shifted again, now to blood red skies and hatred as the beast in her dreams appeared before her in full.
Gone were the roiling clouds that hid the monstrous serpent whose wings blotted out the sun and whose coils extended far past the horizon. It's face was scarred and a pair of great horns appeared to be snapped and splintered like a massive hammer had been taken to them. Of what should have been six crimson eyes only one was intact, the rest were empty sockets or ruptured and leaking molten ichor. Gashes and gouges that would have felled any beast spanned across its serpentine torso, bleeding the same burning blood as Robin noticed the pitiful state of its wings: each was broken, twisted to unnatural angles and losing feathers as they struggled to beat and keep the beast aloft. Then she realized they weren't, that the movement had to be involuntary because the bulk of the serpent's body was held in place by massive stakes of azure and black lightning, pinning it in place as it writhed in pain.
It didn't take long for her to put the pieces together from there. The serpent's injuries mirrored her own and went beyond what she had taken. She was it and it was her and the only serpentine entity that came to mind when she saw it was—
The name did not come to her. She knew it was the Fell Dragon, the serpent that brought great ruin to the world and nearly destroyed it. Yet, Grima was not its name. Her name. It had been, back when she had been mad with rage and ready to destroy the world for a reason she couldn't fully recall, but it wasn't hers now. She was Robin now and she wasn't ready to embrace the dark power within her, the power she felt pooling and growing even now.
She could wait. She would wait. The memories that she'd found in this moment weren't enough. She needed to know more about herself, about what had driven her and how she had been reborn when everything she knew pointed to her death thousands of years prior, the vivid memories of her defeat and death rather clear.
At the very least she knew why she survived being impaled: the injury hadn't been severe enough, not remotely close to the injuries she had taken in this memory. Something didn't add up however. The last she had heard, it was a wielder of the Falchion that had slain the Fell Dragon. The person in her dreams didn't appear to have the sword, but the only thing that stood out to her was their arm, a near match for Odin's save for being more monstrous and was the limb of a demonic beast rather than that of a person.
"Ro..."
She heard a voice, faint but growing. She didn't have much time then. Finally seeing the monster within her dreams had clarified many things, but left more questions, questions she would need to see answered before she was satisfied.
"I'll return," she breathed, looking the dragon in the eye. "There are answers I seek that I do not believe you have for me, not yet at least," She shook her head as the voice grew louder.
"Rob...n, ge...p. We..."
"One thing is for certain," she said after a pause. "I will not lay a finger on the heads of my allies, with or without our power. Test me on this matter at your own peril."
The great dragon simply looked at her then let out what had to be the dying form of a laugh.
"Sssso... hasssty to leap before looking... Take care not to sssstumble and fall without... knowledge of the pathsss before you..." The serpent's voice was more akin to a titanic wheeze, strained more than it was loud. It was defiant as well, as if it would contest its situation until the very last. Mad, yet indomitable. She could work with that.
"Robin, please get–"
"I'm awake," she snapped, bringing a hand to her head. Chrom had remained by her side, but Frederick and Odin were nowhere to be seen. In their place was an impatient looking Anna. That spelled a significantly lightened coin purse or three, but it wasn't the greatest of her concerns. No, that went to how different the world felt now that she remembered who she was in part.
It was as if a layer of fog no longer clouded her vision and like wool had been pulled from her ears. The world was sharper, more vibrant than it had any right to be, her senses far more acute than they had been moments ago. She could see the divine power flowing around Chrom and from the Falchion just as she could see the amorphous and odd power that dwelled within the merchant, a power that appeared to notice her attention with how stiff the red haired woman harboring it became. Her magic came to her more easily, the crackle of lightning and cold touch of darkness flowing through her veins as her lifeblood did. There was so much more she felt she could grasp, but she did not. She would not draw any further on the power that was hers by right, not until her questions were answered and her memories complete. Until then she was Robin, the Silver Tactician and right hand woman to the prince of Ylisse. Only time would determine if that changed.
"What happened after I fainted?"
"The last Unbidden made itself known and it has Maribelle from what we last saw. Two of the clerics with her are dead and the other are injured severely."
Of course they were, why wouldn't they be? Things could never be simple.
"And the others?"
"Donnel will be lucky if he walks again within the next month. The lad tried to save Maribelle with some fancy footwork along a rooftop only to get swatted into a barn door. Morgan fared a bit better, but burnt himself out trying to strike the Unbidden down. He managed to melt through part of its armor before it kicked him and nearly sent him into a broken fence post. Breaking his fall is what sapped what remained of his magical reserves."
He ran out of mana then. Problematic in the short term in a controlled environment, but potentially lethal on the battlefield. Maribelle being kidnapped was a bigger deal: that needed to be dealt with immediately and without faltering or the noblewoman would end up dead or worse. At least one person would have her head if either event came to pass.
"Do we know where the last Unbidden is?"
"Holed up in the town church as of a few moments ago. That sellsword and his lot, aside from the red haired girl being tended to by Sumia, corralled it into the area and cut off its escape routes while the prince and I tried to wake you up." The merchant frowned glumly. "Dozens of sales down the drain because of that."
"We have to move then." Robin started only for Chrom to halt her.
"You need to rest."
"Chrom, I'm not in the mood. I fainted because I remembered something physically painful in vivid detail, not because I'm weak or exhausted," the silver haired woman glared. Chrom met the look with a gentle one of his own, a look with the faintest hint of steel. They weren't doing this.
"Still, you should- Ack!" The prince wasn't ready for Robin to surge to her feet and headbutt him, knocking her forehead against his. Both were sent stumbling as Anna watched on impassively.
"Anna, get me a steel or silver sword," the tactician commanded and wasn't surprised in the slightest when the merchant drew a sword of each type from her cloak. She was even less surprised when the red haired woman drew a third, jagged blade in the shape of a crude lightning bolt from the same place.
"Are you sure you want those? I've a nice Levin Sword you can use to enhance your range and lightning spells if you want to pay a bit extra."
"The silver sword. I'll request the others as needed."
"Right," the merchant chirped, eyes gleaming as Robin reached into her coat and tossed her a large bag of coins with an eye roll. She quickly handed the tactician the silver sword and pocketed the coin, returning the two remaining weapons to her cloak as Chrom interjected.
"Robin, are you sure you're alright?"
"I am, don't ask again or I'll become very cross and headbutt you a second time," the silver haired woman breathed as her eyes narrowed. She had many things to do in the timeframe to deal with two of them, so she needed to be as efficient as possible. "Come along."
She didn't wait for a response as she stomped in the direction she saw Odin and his allies milling about. The majority of the Shepherds were present, bar Donnel, Frederick and the lost Maribelle, so she got to work.
"We need to move fast, so listen up," Robin barked, eyes gleaming. "Miriel, Ricken, take opposite sides of the church and be ready to burn it down when I give the command. Until then, prepare to ignite the roof and keep the flames in check."
"Isn't that heresy?" That was a good question and she was certain it would have been in any other circumstance. As things were...
"More than a monster fleeing into it after slaughtering a town?" She answered the question with one of her own and let the younger mage come to his own conclusion on the matter. If it was, no doubt the remaining clerics would ask her, Ricken and Miriel to repent or confess. They remained silent at the moment, faces stony and grim.
"R-right."
"Affirmative."
"Vaike, pair up with Kellam while Lon'qu pairs with Stahl. The four of you will be breaching the church as soon as I give Ricken and Miriel their symbols. Your job is to engage the Unbidden, but not to try and slay it immediately. Lure it away from Maribelle if possible, but back off if things get dangerous for you. No heroics, especially if you aren't confident in keeping your weapon in hand." Robin's eyes met Vaike's and she noted the distinct lack of an axehead on the pommel he carried. The tanned man gave a sheepish smile as he shrunk under her gaze. "Any questions?"
"Is Kellam even here?" The green haired knight asked, hand raised. Vaike mirrored the gesture, but Robin ignored him for the time being as she glanced around the group.
"He's to your left, Stahl." The knight glanced to his left and sure enough found himself face to face with the heavily armored knight.
"Hello." Kellam offered a small wave, but it wasn't enough to stop the green haired knight from flinching away with a yelp.
"Gah!"
Robin ignored the brief interaction as she moved her attention to Anna. "Are you good with a bow?"
"Depends, how much—"
"Twice your standard wage for two weeks, plus another sack of coins if you get Vaike an axe, preferably one he can't lose or break in the next few weeks." The latter was much more common: Vaike's wild looking swings could cleave through armor when they eventually connected and they would connect once he lured an opponent into his rhythm. Sadly, the strength behind his strikes didn't take well with the weapons he used so he went through them far faster than he or Robin would have liked. She'd likely need to get something custom made for him before he put a severe strain on the Shepherd's budget.
Anna paused for a long moment before answering. "Not as good as Ruffles if he was around to compare, but I can shoot while mounted and moving without much trouble."
"That'll do." Robin tossed the miserly woman a second bag of money as she made a note to double check the red haired woman's usual payout once things had been settled. Hopefully Chrom hadn't been tricked into giving her an absurd amount of money: Anna asked for a king's ransom when she joined the group and it took the combined efforts of herself, Frederick and another Anna to talk her down from her ridiculous price point before Chrom got involved. "You're paired with Sully and your role is to pepper the thing with arrows unless it tries using Maribelle as a shield. If it does, wait until the others have its attention and charge in.
"Got it."
"Should I go for a killing blow if I see a good enough opening?" Sully looked like she was ready to burst into the church without her horse and charge down the Unbidden on her lonesome. She hadn't taken well to the wound she's been dealt at the border and that would come to a head if she wasn't allowed some leeway on the matter.
"If it's pinned to a wall and on fire or otherwise distracted, do so by all means. If not, wait until Maribelle is firmly out of harm's way and coordinate with Anna for the most opportune time to strike. Do not engage if the others back off."
"Fair enough. Don't want a repeat of last time." Last time, when she charged the last of the Unbidden they'd slain only for it to slip past her guard and nearly remove her good arm with a blade of the same make as the so-called 'Killing Edges' Lon'qu used.
"Good. Chrom, you'll be with me and we'll be the ones going in to rescue Maribelle. Once she's out of harm's way, we'll join Vaike, Kellam and the others in engaging it and slaying it."
"And if–"
"We'll cross that bridge if we reach it," she interrupted. If Maribelle was dead, there would be hell to pay and Robin wasn't afraid to mete out a fitting death to the Unbidden. If anything, she was a fair bit more inclined at the moment, her ire already provoked and her worry far greater than she liked it being.
"Right, I'll defer to you unless an emergency becomes known."
"That's acceptable." Left unsaid was her hope that no such emergency cropped up. "Odin, if you and yours wouldn't mind, keep watch on the outside of the structure. If the Unbidden attempts to flee, cut it down to the best of your abilities."
"We will do our utmost, Grand Tactician." The white haired man gave an ylissean salute, keeping his freshly bandaged arm at his side. A question for another time.
Robin gave the group a moment to organize itself as she instructed and for Anna to produce an axe for Vaike to use. Once everyone was in place and ready, she gave Miriel and Ricken the signal. The roof of the building roared with flames within moments, the two mages manipulating the flames to keep them from spreading too quickly. A beat later Kellam and Vaike smashed down the church door only to recoil and step back. Robin nearly did the same when she saw the interior of the building.
Corpses and shattered furniture littered the floor of the slowly burning building. Most of the bodies appeared to be desiccated husks, their mummified faces twisted in the throes of fear, while others appeared to be freshly rotting as they exuded a dark mist from them. At the far end of the room sat Maribelle, wrapped in tar-like bindings that she struggled against with murder in her eyes. The Unbidden was nowhere to be seen among the corpses and the support pillars in the room were far too thin to hide it properly, which meant...
"It's trying to spring its own trap on us," Robin thought aloud. "Keep to the plan but proceed with caution."
"We're going through, knowing it's a trap?" Stahl looked around nervously.
"It's that or we wait until it makes its move from wherever it is after giving it more time to prepare. Neither is particularly good." Robin glanced at the others and scowled. "If none of you are interested, I'll set it off and you can engage after it's struck."
"That's not..." The knight trailed off as Robin marched into the building with Chrom trailing after her. She held up a hand, telling the prince to follow her no further as she looked around the room. It was unfortunately much larger than it appeared to be from the outside, more than likely due to the dark mist flowing from the rotting corpses in the room. Rather than a wooden and well aged structure, the room looked like the inside of a large dark marble cathedral with stained glass edifices depicting writhing masses of people under the gaze of a singular burning eye. Not a holy site of the Fell Dragon then, those held heraldry similar to the brand on her hand from what little she could recall. No, this was a sacred site to another being, one distinctly lacking in power.
There was no sign of the Unbidden in the room, not hidden among the corpses or clinging to some part of the ceiling. Robin didn't feel any of the telltale malevolence the creatures gave off in waves, save for a single source. If she hadn't come to herself moments prior, she wouldn't have noticed it in the slightest.
"So that's your game," she sighed, rubbing her temples as she found her target. It shouldn't have been possible, not in such a short span of time, but then again the phenomenon within the church should have been impossible as well.
"Robin, what's the matter," Chrom asked, having chosen to follow her regardless. "Why haven't you gone to save Maribelle?"
"That thing," she spat the word, "isn't Maribelle, it's the Unbidden."
"You can't be serious," the prince asked, looking her in the eyes. His eyes widened slightly when her look didn't falter. "Are you certain?"
"Yes. Now observe." It was the only warning Chrom was given before the Silver Tactician conjured a spear of lightning and hurled it at the bound Maribelle. Surprise and shock washed over the noblewoman's face as the spear pierced her chest. Light soon left her eyes and her head dipped, falling limply.
"Robin, what have you–" Chrom snarled, only to grind to a stop as laughter filled the chamber. He didn't need to face its source to know where it originated from, his face having grown ashen.
"I thought my trick was flawless," the thing wearing Maribelle's face grinned, wine red eyes gleaming with malicious glee. It wriggled in its prison of tar and soon broke free, the bindings around it snapping like thread stretched too far. "Tell me, tactician, how did you figure it out?"
"There was no sign of you in the rest of the room, leaving a single option." That and the sheer malevolence the monster gave off didn't match Maribelle in the slightest. It had been subdued while it pretended to be the noblewoman, but now it poured forth and filled the church like a thick miasma.
The monster only laughed, cruel delight flashing across its face as it saw the prince's distress. "Don't worry princeling, your friend is in good care. My master wanted her alive, you see, and thus I was made to fulfill just that task and issue an ultimatum."
"I will make no deals with a monster like you," the prince snarled, stepping forward.
"You will," the being smiled viciously. "If you refuse, your dear friend will lose her head and I'll deliver it personally to your younger sister. Wouldn't that be an amazing gift, the head of your best friend prettied up and unable to rot?"
"You wouldn't..."
"Dear prince, do you not see each of the corpses in this room," the monster gestured grandly. "These were all my doing, each and every one. The utter bliss of wringing the life from the strong and devouring the hope of the weak, of crushing the faith of those who would call upon the dead gods for their aid, was almost too much for me to bear Why, if I had a heart like you humans, I think I'd have died with them!"
"You're a monster."
"Chrom, calm yourself," Robin interjected before the prince made a hasty decision. He was a hair away from rushing the monster and that would end poorly, either for them or Maribelle. It hadn't escaped her notice that no other had entered this space once the prince had, leading her to believe this was intentional. Another layer to the trap then, one she hadn't noticed.
"I would listen to your concubine, dear prince. I'd hate to kill you and have to deliver your head to the Exalt, yours and that filthy traitor's." Filthy traitor? The remark didn't distract Robin from the other implication, crimson eyes narrowing. "So listen closely. Soon, a pathetic man desperately playing at being a king will enter your land. He will no doubt seek an audience with your sister for one reason or another, but it matters not. You are to demand the sphere of darkness he carries and present that to me along with the Fire Emblem when the time is right and your dear Maribelle will be returned alive and in perfect health. Should you decline, perhaps your darling sister will receive more than just her friend's head as a gift."
"If you harm a single hair on her head, I'll–"
"You'll what?" Chrom took a step back when the Unbidden, no the thing playing at being one, appeared in front of him with a curious look on its face. "Will you see me beheaded or will you torture me? Will you flay the flesh from my bones then burn me alive? Will you tear me limb from limb? Or will you listen like the good princeling you are, too afraid to watch those you care for get hurt?"
"Step away from him or I'll be forced to act, malformed thing," Robin breathed, feeling the hum of power rising within her.
"Malformed thing? You insult me, dear tactician," the monster smiled, dancing away from Chrom with a merry laugh. Then its eyes grew serious and the smile fell, replaced by a scowl. "To one such as yourself, I am Vajra and I'll gut you like a pig if you refer to me as anything else."
The malevolent aura the monster gave off boiled over, becoming nearly tangible before it smiled once more.
"Unfortunately, that's all the time I have," it beamed nonchalantly. "Do consider the ultimatum dear prince or do not. Give me a reason to kill the witch that slew my brother."
And with that, the monster, Vajra, vanished, leaving Chrom and Robin in relative silence.
"We need to warn Emmeryn," the prince finally said, just as the Shepherds came pouring into the building.
"Prince Chrom, Robin are you two alright," Stahl called.
"We're fine," the prince responded. A clammy hand attempting to grab his leg said otherwise. He pulled away from the limbas the desiccated corpse it was attached to reanimated, rising from the ground slowly. The others in the room followed and soon dozens of husk-like undead wandered towards the Shepherds aimlessly. No, not aimlessly. The few rotting corpses rose, red eyes flashing with intelligence normal Risen didn't possess. Multiple leading Risen then. That wasn't going to be pleasant.
"Fall back," the prince called, pushing through the disorganized monsters with Robin in tow, barely reaching the church entrance before the first howl sounded and order rolled through the undead. The remaining Shepherds followed soon after.
"Miriel, Ricken, bring the roof down now," Robin shouted, kicking the mages into gear. With a heave, Ricken slammed his hands into the ground while Miriel recited a spell the tactician didn't recognize as burning circles of magic formed around her.
"Not sure if this will work, but let's give it a try! Vortex!"
"O flame, burn brighter than the sun and vanish in an instant. Dying Blaze."
Wind gathered over the already burning building, picking up bits of flame as a funnel formed around the structure. Then the flames flared and burned blue, brighter than Odin's flames for a moment, before fading to a weak orange. Had the vortex not formed, that would have been the end of things. Instead, the wind ignited, turning into a whirling spire of bright blue flame that blackened the earth around it. Blistering heat billowed from the whirling flames in waves, forcing Robin and the others to step back lest the heat cook them alive.
She really needed to take measure of the Shepherd's abilities at some point soon. Sure, Ricken was apparently a mage among mages, but Robin hadn't expected him to be able to maintain a still active spell as what was wind became flames and heat. She also hadn't expected Miriel to be able to even produce such flames, the red haired mage was much more inclined to cast the most optimized and efficient forms of spells based on her own experiments. That would need to wait however. Once the remaining Risen were taken care of they'd need to regroup, recuperate and ready themselves for the trek back to Ylisstol.
That was going to be a long few hours and she wasn't quite ready to deal with the upcoming aftermath. Perhaps none of them were, not with what was soon to follow.
"Was that façade too much for you, Vajra," Claudius asked once the former doll returned. Far from emotionless or smiling with manic glee, the blonde woman looked exhausted as she slumped to the floor without a word. Clearly it had been. The young woman, beyond her burning desire for vengeance, was far too earnest and pure of heart to play the role of a mad fiend, but she'd done so nonetheless. Admirable in a way, but taxing as well.
"I'll be fine, mother," Vajra sighed. "Did we really need to kill all of those people? I understand that they wanted to usurp our lady and believed her to be a false leader, but..."
"You believe their execution was too cruel," the older woman finished. Her daughter, the closest thing to one rather, nodded quietly. "I do agree with you somewhat, they could have served better use elsewhere, but when our lady gets into one of her moods it is rather hard to dissuade her."
Vajra could only nod again. Their lady, as pristine and powerful as she was, could show boundless cruelty without batting an eye. She often did not, not when she didn't need to cow unruly members of her following or take matters into her own hands, but when she did it was like staring into the depths of the abyss. Her mother appeared fine with it, enamored as she was with the literal goddess, but even she held her reservations. She claimed it was part of her recovery, to make sure that there wasn't something fundamentally broken within her and their lady had grown better about it in the last few months, but there were times when that darkness resurfaced. Times when she couldn't quite tell what their lady wanted beyond the destruction of all things.
She claimed she did not want that, that such a goal had been hers when madness ran thick in her veins and furor enough to split the heavens had been her right, but now her goal was simpler: to slay Naga and usurp her role. To that end, no cost was too great, even if that meant working with Loki, the scheming goddess very clearly looking out for her own interests. Everyone in her lady's inner circle knew that, they could see it without issue, but the earthen goddess was content to let the trickster be for now. They had an accord of sorts, one that would destroy the neighboring kingdoms on the continent and allow her lady to take the first step towards achieving her goal. Once Loki had outlived her usefulness she would die or be banished from the world, whichever came first. Vajra was afraid that the same fate awaited her and her mother, but she wasn't simply going to run over to the ylisseans and demand their help if the matter.
For one, they would attempt to kill her on sight. She had just kidnapped the heir of one of the eight duchies within the country and had threatened to kill her and the prince of the royal family if they didn't acquiesce. She'd also helped raze a duchy to the ground before her mind had fully formed—not that she had any remorse for the act. The people there died fleeing or fighting, not groveling and begging for forgiveness as their souls were consumed one by one. More than that though, the target of her ire resided within the halidom and she would see him ruined and brought to a knee before her lady—she wanted to mount his head on a pike for the death of her siblings, but her lady had requested she hold off if the opportunity finally presented itself: there was unfinished business between them and the goddess had first claim to him. Until then, she would settle for kidnapping the blonde who directly contributed to her brother's death with that bizarre lightning magic she called down and making her life as much a living hell as she was allowed.
"What's on your mind," her mother asked, having left and returned with a mug of steaming brown liquid. She called it hot chocolate and said it was a delicacy back home the first time she'd made some. It hadn't been the best, far too bitter despite its rich and sweet aroma, so her mother had been working at it and working at it in her spare time. An amused smile spread across her mother's face when she noticed her trepidation. "It's still not quite on par with what was common back home, but it's far better than the previous attempts."
Vajra gave the drink a ginger sip and found it wasn't that bad. Still bitter, but not overwhelmingly so. She wouldn't call it good, not when her mother had admitted it wasn't quite right as it was now, but it was decent enough. It had the added effect of soothing her nerves, which she imagined was the intention.
"Will our lady abandon us?" She didn't try to stop the words from leaving her.
"Us? No, dear, she will not. I may lose usefulness to her someday and be left behind, but she's taken to you quite a bit," the older woman answered honestly. "You try your best and you push yourself, even when it doesn't pertain to your goals. You're strong if a bit fragile, but having weaknesses isn't a flaw anyone can truly prevent. Even I have weaknesses, though most would be hard pressed to find them let alone use them." She gave a soft laugh. "But more than that, you remind her of someone she lost, someone dear to her."
"Someone dear to her?"
"Yes. I'm not quite sure who they are, our lady clams up on the subject when it is brought up, but they were important to her in a way I am not," Claudius nodded. "If I were to take a guess, you remind her of her child or someone else under her care long ago. I can see it in the way she pushes you in your training and the small ways she reacts when you're off in the city or on an assignment. A subtle liveliness is missing in those times, a small amount of warmth she won't admit to having unless I choose to irritate her about the matter incessantly."
"You shouldn't." Faint concern crossed the young woman's face.
"Do not worry for me, my daughter. I do this knowing the final outcome and hoping that the real dream our lady has comes true." Her real dream? Was it something beyond usurping Naga? Her curiosity must have made it to her face as her mother gave a gentle laugh. "Do not worry about that either. It will make sense one day, when she realizes it herself. Until then, keep striving to better yourself and don't allow yourself to be trapped if you feel you can yet grow."
Her mother was a master of cryptic advice. Of course she would strive to better herself. Hope else would she defeat the Summoner? The second part was the trickier part to understand. She wasn't quite sure if her mother meant growing in strength or something else. She wouldn't give a straight answer if asked about it, only remark that it was something that she needed to figure out.
"I'll try."
"That's all I can ask for." Her mother rose and began to leave, but stopped. "One day soon you'll have a proper name. Vajra may work at the moment, but it isn't a name befitting a person, let alone one as precious as you. I can only hope that isn't the final gift I leave you with."
With that Claudius left, vanishing in a swirl of light. She still had other things to attend to then, but had made time to visit her upon her return. The gesture warmed her as much as finally being called the woman's daughter. It had been implied over the months since her creation, but it was far different to actually hear. In that way, she was a doll no longer.
"Should we have left them, Odin," Inigo asked once the band of three, Morgan and their fifth member had chosen to join the Shepherds, was well away from the razed town. It had been an intentional act, recommended by Frederick once a third wave of Risen tried to rise from the burning church. The grand tactician had agreed, helping Miriel and Ricken through the process once everyone had been evacuated from the settlement and anything worth salvaging was saved. It was a grim day to find a settlement full of corpses and a worse one when those corpses were made to rise at the whims of the Fell Dragon. Still, they'd persevered and won the day. Not without injuries, Severa wasn't going to be able to cast anything over the next few days if Odin was reading her condition correctly.
"As much as I didn't want to, I believe it was for the best. We still need to find Lu and the others and we can't exactly go to Ylisstol with how we look. You'd be fine more likely than not since your mother and father won't be joining the Shepherds for some time, let alone anywhere near the halidom, but Severa's mother and my parents would figure something out rather quickly the moment they saw us."
"If my hair was white, I don't think she'd notice at all," the red haired woman grumbled. Her hair had regained most of its color, but was still white towards the tips. "When my and Inigo's dad eventually arrives I imagine any plans we had at concealing our identities would go up in smoke."
"Perhaps." Odin took that as a cue to let the subject drop. Severa's mother was a sore spot for her and they already had a fair amount of ground to cover if they were going to reach the Thalassa duchy in the next few days. Then they could rest in proper beds and plan a bit more. It would also give Severa and Inigo time to shop and breathe rather than worry about surviving day in and day out. They certainly needed it and he did as well, still refusing to be called by his proper name until he was certain Lucina was safe at the very least. Lillisette was in good hands, what with her father being the densest person around and unlikely to notice her awkward way of interacting with him as anything other than shyness, and Morgan was Morgan. It was rather sad to see that she'd lost her memory, but it was even stranger to see that Marc thought his name was Morgan. He'd tried to correct the lad on that, but the tactician's son was adamant that his name was, in fact, Morgan. He had also lost his memory, which was concerning as well, but he called Odin 'friend shaped,' whatever that meant, and seemed far happier than he'd been before. It wasn't his place to burst the lad's bubble.
"Anything in particular you two are looking forward to in Thalassa?"
"The shops," replied without hesitation. She hadn't been shopping beyond looking for travel necessities, since the three of them had found one another a year and a half ago in Valm. All prior attempts had been interrupted by various unfortunate events across the continent like military coups, riots and the port shutting down per the ruler's decree. Thankfully they had been on a boat and sailing by the time things had truly gotten bad, no thanks to aid of House Virion and its loyal stewardess.
"The fabrics shops, yeah." Inigo was a bit simpler. Sure, he was a shameless flirt in public, but textiles were his real passion. Odin was almost certain he wanted to make a garb of sorts, but he wasn't sure what type just yet. He had altered and tailored the garbs of the band with what he had on hand in Valm, but he was running rather low on material and had a look in his eye that promised misfortune. The sooner they reached the duchy, the better. Hopefully it had news on Lucina and any of the others.
"What about you, Ow- Odin?"
"Hm?"
"Is there anything you're looking forward to?"
"Nothing in particular, but I'm going to find us the fanciest inn in the area and get us the best rooms imaginable," he laughed. Truthfully, there was one thing he was looking forward to, but Thalassa wouldn't have it. There was one other person he needed to find, more than Lucina. If anything had happened to them he'd probably lose his temper for the first time in a very long while, but he wasn't going to jinx it. They were alive and well from what he could feel thus far, just far away—further now that he wasn't on Valm. "Aside from that, good food and maybe a few books. Who knows, maybe we'll find Anna there."
The three shared a laugh. If they found the Anna they were looking for, the one they grew up with, they were set. They'd seen signs of her presence in other towns and settlements they'd passed through, no doubt purposefully left for them to find. If she hadn't gotten herself killed, she'd probably be able to answer just about any question they had and substantiate any rumors worth looking into. Having her spear and bow on their side was an added bonus.
Thus, with warmth in their hearts, the trio trekked on. Even in the dark of night and continents apart, the bonds they shared between their wayward friends and families remained strong.
A/N: And that's the second half to the interlude. Next chapter will have a bit of a time skip and will go directly into the assassination attempt and that'll be the real catalyst for several things that come down the line.
As usual, if you enjoyed this chapter and want to see things from other writers, consider visiting the Fanfiction Treehouse Discord Server (9XG3U7a). You don't need to be a writer to join or anything like that and the community is pretty active and comfy. Regardless of that, thank you for reading thus far and I'll see you with the next chapter.