Moments later, Ferdinand was edging his way down the decline. Petra followed, guiding Bernadetta (who was still sobbing) with her. In moments, Byleth was alone at the top with Dedue.

And Annette.

It'd taken him a few moments to notice the feet behind Dedue, but when he did he knew who they belonged to. That made him certain that they were the only two Blue Lions he had to worry about for the time being. That was good. It was just the three of them, a flat grassland now being the only thing that separated them. Dedue, with Annette behind him, moved towards him.

Byleth watched and waited.

At his core, he was a swordsman, but Alain and Jeralt had trained him to use many different weapons over the years. He rubbed his thumb across his fingers, feeling the calluses on them that'd formed over many years of hard work.

Dedue and Annette edged closer.

He'd disliked only being allowed to take one weapon into the mock battle, but now he supposed it worked in his favour. He'd taken a sword, and so everyone would think he was only a swordsman. That matched what everyone had presumably learnt about him over the past week. The people who knew more about him were his father, the mercenaries… and people who were now buried in soil.

Almost there.

Annette finally appeared from behind the tall man. She raised her hand at Byleth and it started to glow blue. He was aware of the spell she was going to use, "Wind", it was called, and he knew that she had to get closer yet before she could realistically hit him. He supposed she knew that as well, and thought about why she was doing it then.

Because they're trying to push me and the others north… to cut into the Golden Deer's defences for them.

He bent down and reached behind him into the grass, not taking his eyes from Annette or Dedue. They were now close enough for him to see their puzzled expressions. Still, they continued to move forward.

Byleth let them move five steps closer and then made his move. He grabbed the bow and arrow hiding in the grass in front of him and sprung to his feet. He raised the bow. Dedue froze and Annette's eyes widened. Byleth pulled the string back.

Someone screamed.

'Professor!'

He jerked around. A loud crackle erupted in the valley and purple mist filtered upward. It was the same spell that'd nearly hit him during the ambush, and that made him certain on who'd fired it.

Lysithea.

He turned again. Dedue and Annette were out of reach, racing back towards the trees. He cursed. Bow still armed, he turned and edged towards the valley again. He peered over and-

-and felt a ball of heat flash past his face.

He collapsed to the ground. He slapped his hands to his ears but it wasn't enough to stop the explosion behind him making his head ring. There was another bang down below and this one sounded… different. It was a spell that he hadn't heard before, and that meant only one thing.

There were at least two magic users down there.

He peered over the decline again. He'd just enough time to see Bernadetta, Ferdinand and Petra huddled behind one boulder, and Lysithea and Manuela behind different ones further up before another purple ball zoomed in his direction. He ducked again, cursing. His mind raced. Before he could make a decision, however, Petra made it for him. Her voice rang up from the valley. It wasn't that of the shy, quiet girl he'd met the week prior. Her voice was clear, and it echoed.

'Professor, cover now!'

Her language skills weren't perfect, but Byleth understood immediately what she intended to… or what she and Ferdinand meant to do. In that moment, he wasn't sure whether he wanted them to do it, but they'd made a decision, and they were now counting on him.

"And I promise, and swear on my life, I will not let you down. I will give my all."

He jerked upward. He flashed his bow down into the valley, his target the prodigy. This time, however, Lysithea was waiting, and sent out another attack, and this one, to Byleth's surprise, seemed to move faster.

It was going to hit him.

He jerked down but not before the side of his face exploded into breath-taking pit of fire. Pain suddenly radiated through his body. He thrashed his eyes shut and for a moment felt horrible tingling sensations that reminded horribly of his magic poisoning. His body spasmed and writhed and he clenched his eyes shut. Shouting came from below.

'Lysithea!'

Manuela's cry was one of shock and anger, and even in his pain Byleth knew that was a good thing. It meant that the "magic prodigy" had been eliminated. Slowly, the pain seeped away. He opened his eyes and poked his head over the edge again. In the valley he saw Ferdinand, still wearing his red sash, taking cover behind another boulder. Bernadetta was nowhere to be seen. Out in the open, Petra and Lysithea walked together, both of their sashes gone.

My arrow was Petra's and Ferdinand's cover to lunge at Lysithea… but Petra got eliminated in the process.

Manuela caught his gaze and fired another spell in his direction. He threw himself back and the blast zoomed past him high into the air. He struggled to his feet and then something dawned on him.

He'd been struck by a magic spell.

Edelgard had said that direct attacks removed sashes.

'Shit,' he breathed. He'd been hit, but not fully, it'd only come into contact with the side of his face. He looked down. His sash was still on, but only a few dangling threads held it together.

'Professor, watch out!'

Byleth looked up just in time to see a red-haired girl emerge from the valley. Leonie lunged at him.