It wasn't until Byleth saw Petra sitting on the rising winged horse that he remembered that the Black Eagles' chances of winning were still slim. Manuela's middle finger at him as she was taken away on another winged horse seemed to emphasise that point.

There was just him, Ferdinand and Bernadetta.

Before he'd moved into the valley, he'd looked towards the observation point on the opposite side of the ridge. There, he could see the brightly coloured flags ripple in the gentle breeze. The skirmish that had just taken place in the valley clearly hadn't been accounted for yet, but when it did, it would show three red flags, three yellow flags… and six blue ones.

There was still no sign of Dedue or Annette. Either they'd move back with the main force or were still waiting from afar. Did they still intend to push him up towards the Golden Deer's position? He thought so. He and the Black Eagles had already done them a big favour by eliminating Lysithea and sacrificing Petra in the process. He wanted Annette and Dedue eliminated, but where were they? Were they close? Time was short and he couldn't afford to waste it. If the Black Eagles were to win (against the odds) then their best bet, he decided, would be to move up the valley towards the Golden Deer. The boulders in the valley provided cover that would help them to tackle the remainder of Claude's team, and in taking them on, it would almost certainly take them closer to the Blue Lions as well.

As to how he, Ferdinand and Bernadetta, would deal with six Blue Lions, he decided he'd think about that if they even got that far.

It was as he reached Ferdinand that he remembered he'd lost sight of Bernadetta. He asked Ferdinand where she was.

'I don't know,' he said, frowning. 'She was with me and Petra but when we rushed forward to take out Lysithea, she must have run away again when we weren't looking.'

'She didn't go north up the valley towards the Golden Deer,' Byleth said, 'so she must have'-

They both looked south to where the river continued along the valley in the direction they'd come from. Ferdinand scratched his head.

'Do you think she's went far?'

'I don't know. We'll check around the corner and if she's not there then we'll need to press on ourselves. I have her bow anyway.'

They walked towards the bend in the valley. In truth, Byleth didn't think he'd see Bernadetta again, not until after the mock battle at least.

'If she is gone, professor,' Ferdinand said, 'and it is but us left in this battle, how do you propose we wi'-

Byleth got his answer to his earlier question.

They turned the rocky bend and moving towards them was a small ginger pigtailed girl and a large white-haired man with dark skin.

Both parties stared at one another for a split moment and then Dedue scrambled forward. Annette raised her hand. It started to glow blue.

Byleth stood still. His eyes narrowed slightly, and then they widened.

'Professor!' Ferdinand shouted. Annette girl thrust her arm forward and that now familiar blue ball spun towards him. He felt himself being pushed. He fell to one side and his head whacked into pebbles on the ground, making him grimace. He jerked his head up. His vision was blurry but he could see the orange hair and red sash of Ferdinand some fifteen feet away behind a boulder.

And then, he saw something that sent a chill down his spine.

Dedue, the man who'd held his own against Edelgard, stormed around the corner; pebbles flying in his wake. His eyes narrowed on Byleth and his brow furrowed. He was like an eagle who'd spotted its prey. The man charged towards him. Byleth stumbled to his feet but Dedue crashed into him and plunged his knee into his stomach. They landed with a thump. Dedue crushed him and Byleth let out a windless cry. Dedue moved for his sash but Byleth instinctively grabbed the man's hands. He interlocked their fingers and pushed upward. His arms trembled violently and he didn't get far before Dedue started pushing downward, inching his hands closer and closer to the red sash.

There was another shout and another spell fizzed by. Dedue pressed Byleth's hands down by his shoulders. The man's face was scrunched up in a way that reminded him of Bayen's face when he'd been strangling him.

'Professor!'

Byleth heard footsteps and then he saw Ferdinand racing towards them. Dedue sprung his leg out. Ferdinand connected with it and tumbled over. Dedue pushed Byleth's hands to the ground, and just as Byleth had done to Ingrid, Dedue trapped his arm by pressing his leg over it. He yanked his hand free from Byleth's grip.

'I shall not stand for you taking my professor's sash!'

It was one of the most pathetic war cries Byleth had ever heard, but in that moment, it was one of the sweetest sounds. Ferdinand launched himself at Dedue, knocking the man off him. They rolled over and landed in a pile at one side.

'Professor!' Ferdinand yelped. Dedue rolled on top of him. Byleth jerked upward and lunged. Dedue sprung his leg out again and Byleth fell back, the wind knocked from him.

'Professor!' Ferdinand called again. Byleth stumbled to his feet and lunged a second time. Dedue kicked out again, but Byleth was ready and jumped to one side. Dedue moved for Ferdinand's sash. Byleth lunged and ripped the man's blue sash from him.

Dedue froze, his hand gripped Ferdinand's sash. He hadn't pulled it off, but for a long moment, Byleth was sure he would despite being eliminated, but he didn't. Dedue let go of the red sash, gingerly rose to his feet and then offered his hand out to Ferdinand. Byleth looked down at his own sash.

Three strings of fabric… that's all that's keeping it together now.

'It's not fair!'

The three of them turned. Annette stomped around the corner. She was frowning like a spoilt child, but Byleth hardly noticed.

Her blue sash was gone.

In the chaos of the attack, he'd forgotten what he'd seen when he and Ferdinand had first bumped into Annette and Dedue again. He'd seen someone that'd made his eyes widen. The person had distracted him, to the extent that Ferdinand had had to push him out of the way of Annette's magic attack.

A girl wearing a red sash huddled into view from behind Annette. Bernadetta's face was pale but she held Annette's blush sash in her hands. Annette scowled.

'She was hiding! She snuck up behind me and took it off! I can't believe it!'

Bernadetta lowered her head into her hands and started to cry. Annette's frown vanished. 'Oh no! Bernadetta, I am so sorry, it was actually a smart move! I didn't mean to upset you!'

Bernadetta's trembling worsened and her sobs grew louder. 'I… I don't want to be here!'

'Bernadetta, everything is fine,' Ferdinand said.

Bernadetta didn't seem to hear him. Her sobs loudened further.

'Professor, is there anything I can do to assist?' Dedue asked Byleth. Byleth shook his head and moved towards Bernadetta.

'Hey.'

Bernadetta looked up at him with blotched red eyes. Snot dribbled down her nose and her mouth quivered. She shook her head. 'I… I c-can't t-take this… it… it's t-too s-scar'-

'One, two'-

Bernadetta closed her eyes. Her mouth opened and closed several times, trying to force herself to say the next number. 'Th…thr…thr… three, f-f-four, five'-

'Back two, three'-

'F-four'-

'Four, five, six,' Ferdinand said, moving to Byleth's side. 'One, two'-

'Three, four,' Annette said, joining in, 'five.'

Byleth knew that time was running out, but in that moment he didn't care. He kept his eyes fixed on Bernadetta's and continued to count with her. With each count, her breath slowed, and her voice became clearer. After their fourth round, she let out a shuddering exhale and dropped her head. 'I'm… it's so scary this battle… and I've… I've b-been useless.'

'No you haven't.'

'I-I got Edelgard eliminated… and Linhardt… and then I ran away.'

'The ambush was my fault, not yours, we would have lost people either way,' Byleth said. 'You were afraid, but you had the courage to come back.'

'Yeah, and I got Edelgard eliminated, not you,' Ferdinand said.

Bernadetta shook her head. 'It's… it's all too scary. I'm not brave.'

'You are,' Byleth said.

Bernadetta shook her head again and then Dedue spoke. His loud, monotone voice made the girl look up.

'Being brave doesn't mean you're not afraid. Being brave is acting despite how you feel.'

'Exactly!' Annette said. 'And to be honest, this whole thing has been scary for me too! I think many of us are afraid, some of us are just better at hiding it.'

Bernadetta let out another shuddering exhale and Annette wrapped her arms around her. Byleth turned and Dedue approached him and Ferdinand.

'You fought well, both of you. (He bowed.) I overstepped in my attack, I apologise, it was not my intent to crush either of you to the ground in the way I did. Are either of you hurt badly?'

Byleth shook his head. 'I'm okay, and there is no need to apologise.'

'I am fine as well,' Ferdinand said. His voice was slightly higher pitched than normal. 'Just… just a bit of pain but I will not allow it to stop us from being victorious this day!'

Dedue smiled. 'Winning will not be easy for you, but I wish you luck in the attempt. (He turned to Annette.) My apologies, Annette, this is all my fault. Dimitri insisted that I take the initiative if I spotted an opportunity to take out the professor and I misread our chances of success. (He turned back to Byleth.) And I misread you. Even with Dimitri's warnings, I feel like all of us have underestimated you slightly. Despite starting with a man down and having being ambushed by both us and the Golden Deer, you are still in the battle whilst many others are not.'

'And you don't seem to be the scary guy I thought you were either,' Annette said. Her face reddened. 'Oops, sorry! That sounds kind of mean, but when I first met you, you scared me a little, but now (she looked at Bernadetta and then back him, smiling) I realise you are actually really nice.'

'Now,' Dedue said. 'You do not have much time. I advise you to continue your battle so that you may run into the prince. He shall be the one to slay you.'

Byleth nodded and then turned to Bernadetta. He took off his bow and raised it to her. She stared at it a moment and then looked up at him with uncertainty on her face.

'I'm still scared.'

'Doesn't matter. You feel the fear and do it anyway, as Dedue said. 'Besides, I need you help to win. I need your courage and your amazing archery skills.'

Bernadetta sighed, her cheeks flushing red, and then took the bow.

Byleth turned and moved north up the valley towards the Golden Deer. Bernadetta and Ferdinand followed.

'You know, Professor, I just realised,' Ferdinand said, grinning. 'Although Hubert and Edelgard sacrificed themselves, I still lasted longer than either of them in this battle!'