Just a quick reminder to anyone who didn't see, I posted a chapter last week. Just in case anyone just jumps to the most recent chapter. Anyway, I have been dreading making this chapter because unlike before I think I will have to finally look at my inability to write proper action scene problems and face it head on. There is no getting around this and I am terrified. Welp … hope you have fun.

The Princess's Dragon Bride

Chapter 39: A Broken Seal

The first warning sign was the two large glowing eyes that peeked out from the darkness in between the trees. Then light erupted behind Shulk's eyes. A beast, an absolutely massive dire wolf pinning someone under its massive paws, and then in one motion, its massive maw came down and a spray of red was the last thing he saw before his vision returned to him.

"We're going to be attacked by a Dire Wolf." Shulk whispered, "A massive one."

"We need to get out of the woods," Marth grunted. "At least in an open space, it can't hide."

Shulk watched the treeline carefully. "Go ahead, I'll lure it out."

"You're mad," Shulk felt Marth moving behind him but he hadn't left Shulk's back quite yet. "I have armor and a shield, if it attacks I'll be better prepared."

"That's a royal heirloom." Shulk grimaced.

"If an ancient war with dragons didn't damage it, nothing will." he took a step away from Shulk. "If it gets you, it'll tear you to pieces."

"That's if it catches me." Shulk tightened his grip on the Manodo.

"Yeah well," Shulk heard something and turned in time to see the prince hurl a stone in the woods. The resounding roar that sounded told them it had hit. "I've got its attention." and with that, he ran down the path.

Shulk cursed as the force of the beast rushing by shoved him into the bushes. He got to his feet as quickly as he could and rushed after the prince, that vision lingering in his mind.

Why is fate so determined to kill him? And why is he so determined to get himself killed?

Lucina cursed all of her rotten luck. They had managed to get far enough from the city that its once massive structure was nothing more than a lump in the distance. And yet it seemed someone had followed them.

A small unit of riders had caught up to them annoyingly fast. They weren't in the garb of the city forces that had attempted to bar their exit, nor were they the forces of Yllese or the Koopa Kingdom. Without a doubt, these were the bandits that they had encountered in the woods, and worst followed them all the way here. The ridiculous speeds those metal horses could go were almost terrifying.

What made the whole situation worse was the swerving Cloud did to avoid something. Assumedly crossbow bolts as she heard something hit the side of the wagon. She clutched Corrin close to herself after one particularly bad turn where Lucina heard a heavy thud as Corrin was shoved towards the side door.

Byleth was having difficulty nailing any of them with their bow, either from the rapid movement of the vehicle or the agility of the riders to move and dodge.

The closest thing to joy she felt was when Akira pointed his gun out the window. After a few pops, she heard a loud screeching from one of the metal beasts before one of them screamed and she watched him fly by her window.

She heard Cloud yell out the window, assumedly at Byleth. "Any chance you could pull another miracle out of your ass?"

"Not without a nap," Byleth called back as they tried their best to not fall off.

In that instant, Akira pulled himself back into his seat, his gun's barrel still smoking. "I'm out."

"Don't you have demon powers or something?" Cloud grunted as the car took another sharp turn.

"Not without taking a beating first," he grunted. Then sharply he added, "No, punching me won't count."

Lucina clutched Corrin closer when she turned to notice Leven struggling with something above her head. It turns out that the metal plating above her head was actually a secret window and Leven was determined to stand up properly through it.

She reached up and yanked his sleeve, getting his attention. "What are you doing? Get down." as if to prove her point they shifted suddenly again and he was yanked back down.

After he righted himself he simply pointed with his marked hand up through the window. And she understood what he meant. He was going to try and cast magic directly at them. If he got lucky with another ice spell they might be able to get away.

"And if it fails?" The look he gave her filled her stomach with doubt and fear. But if this plan worked… She looked down at her wife and gave her a tight squeeze. Then tuned to Leven. "I'll help you,"

Leven looked almost thankful. As he attempted to steady himself, Lucina returned her gaze towards Corrin. "You don't have any spare tomes on you, do you?"

Sheepishly she pulled out a wind tome. "I wasn't going to use it, I swear."

Lucina smiled at her and pulled out the Photo Tome, "trade?" Corrin smiled as they switched tomes, and before Lucina could stand up too, she leaned in and gave her a quick peek on the cheek.

Her face flushed as she flipped through the tome for the right spell, using this time to ease her heart. When Lucina pulled herself through the hole she found the wind was a lot stronger than she expected. She could barely hear over the roar of the wind.

Leven summoned forth his magic, she watched as the mark on his hand glowed and overtook his body and then grimaced as a metal statue took up the space beside her.

He tried. She took a deep breath and raised her tome, and began casting. She eased her mind, still not over Corrin's kiss. She willed the magic within herself and began to cast.

The winds gathered around her, around the whole wagon. Spiraling and twisting as if she were calling forth an ancient god. She started to feel the strain of it. As if the wind was coursing through her very veins demanding to join the storm.

She wasn't used to this level of power, but she refused to be taken by it. Not with Corrin's safety on the line.

"Rexscaliber!" With a battle cry, she let the spell go. And watched as the cyclone exploded outwards. Slamming most of the riders off of their mounts. She couldn't hear the screeching over the roaring winds. But she found it hard to hear anything at the moment. Her vision blurred and she started to slip back into the wagon.

However, she watched as one of the bandits survived the onslaught. The wolf with the eyepatch. As she fell back into the wagon she saw Byelth raise their bow at the same moment the wolf raised his crossbow.

She couldn't keep her eyes open but faintly she heard the wheels screech, far off screaming, and then a sudden and painful jolt.

Marth was thankful that he had gotten chased here of all places, as the endless stamina that the sacred land provided was an absolute godsend.

The beast had nearly yanked at his cloak once but Marth was able to make a sharp turn, something the beast had a difficult time with. However that had led him off the road, and when he finally reached a clearing he grimaced at the cliffside he saw.

While the view was amazing he really couldn't appreciate it before he had to dive-roll out of the beast's path. Unfortunately, the beast managed to grab his cloak this time. And with a firm yank flung him towards the cliff.

He cursed as he attempted to right himself. He watched the beast carefully and raised his blade and shield. He readied his stancee had trained for this, he can't forget that.

He charged forward slashing at the beast as best he could, jumping backward and gracefully slacking at the beast as best he could.

The beast snarled and began to glare him down, and Marth could see something beginning to pool in its maw as if it was preparing to cast some kind of spell. It was then that he realized this wasn't your average beast. There was something wrong, unnerving, and eerie about it.

It was then that he heard a familiar voice, "Backslash!"

Shulk had rushed up behind the beast and in one powerful blow knocked the beast to the ground. He called out from his flanking position, "You good?"

Marth couldn't contain his grin. "Thanks to you," it was then that he noticed Shulk's weapon. It was the same crimson blade as usual, but now it was open, like two pieces of a claw, with a glowing, clearly magical, blade inside. Had it always been able to do that?

He didn't have much time to think about it as the beast managed to regain its footing. "Keep it's attention," Shulk called out as he readied his stance.

Marth tightened his grip on his weapon. "Got it."

It was unreal, working with Shulk. Marth had never seen Shulk fight with such vigor. Absentmindedly, he noted to himself that Shulk had without doubt been holding back on him in their training, yet somehow that thought didn't bother him as much as he thought it would.

Shulk's presence alone had eased some of the fear he had. And the movement of his blade had come to him effortlessly. The graceful dance of his blade managed to keep the beast's attention.

At one point it had returned to its charging attack, and he had seen Shulk's eyes flashed for just a moment. Before he cursed. Marth called over, "Is it bad?"

Shulk seemed to be picking his words carefully before he changed his stance. "Knock him down!" was all he said as the strange glowing symbol on his blade changed.

In that instant, Marth felt his body lighten ever so slightly but as he moved his blade, the world seemed to move slowly around him. He readied his blade and in one powerful strike managed to rush forward and cleave his blade through the beast's chest.

He had watched the light in its eyes die as it let loose the magic it had pent up with its final breath. And as if on instinct he managed to leap backward out of the attack's range.

Shulk, it seemed, didn't get out of the way in time, and Marth watched in horror as his companion collapsed alongside the beast they were battling. The grief overwhelmed him as he rushed to his companion's side.

Corrin's world was blurry and painful. She wasn't fully aware of where she was. She took in the metal cage she was in. She crawled out towards the first source of light she could register.

Her palms touched rough and graveled dirt. Its rough and scratchy texture sent small jolts of pain as she struggled to drag herself out into the sunlight. Once she stared up at the sky she noticed the cold sensation that lingered on her arms and forehead. Like she had been sweating or something to that effect as liquid dripped down her face.

She reached a shaky hand upward and pulled it away instantly as the sharp sting of touching something.

Staring down at her palms she noticed their red color. Their sticky texture. Blood. Her brain provided belatedly. My blood?

I'm bleeding. The shock snapped her wits back to her.

She looked around aimlessly hoping to find something, someone.

Her heart stilled as she found it, found her. Lucina on the graveled floor, not looking any better.

She crawled to her, desperate, she has to be okay, please, let her be okay.

"Luci," She reached out to her wife, shaking her shoulder, but she didn't move. Please, don't take her. "Luci!"

She pressed her ear to her chest and thankfully she could hear something, a heartbeat, staggered breathing. She's alive.

She closed her eyes, healing magic, Kamek taught her healing magic, didn't he? She searched her brain desperately for any spells she could cast without the use of a tome or staff. She had to find it, she needed to heal Lucina now!

The sound of scraping dirt caught her attention. She looked up to find the bandit leader, the wolf with the eyepatch. He was smirking down at her, something vile and cruel.

He nudged Lucina with his foot and when she didn't respond he huffed, some form of disappointment lingered in the dark features of his face. He reached out and grabbed her by her wrist. "No!" She tried to struggle. "Let me heal her, Please!"

"Lost cause." and with that he yanked her away from her wife.

Lucina could be dying, and now she was being dragged away from helping her. Leven wasn't anywhere she could see, Robin wasn't here, and Byleth was no longer in the wagon bed. The vehicle itself was on its side, and none of her friends had responded.

"Please!" she pleaded but he ignored her. Tears flowed down her face as he yanked her towards the bike.

"She's a princess too," she hoped, prayed, that he would reconsider. He knew they were of value, he wouldn't have chased them this far if he didn't. He wasn't going to just let Luci die, she was of high value too.

But he ignored her. He must have thought it wasn't worth it. Whatever future he had planned for her it wouldn't be returning her to her father.

She was being kidnapped for real.

Her friends hadn't gotten up.

Lucina was dying.

It was too much. Her knees gave out on her, scrapping on the dirt, as she clutched her head. It was over. It was all over. She's going to die. Luci was going to die.

She screamed as if it could make the pressure in her chest ease. The scream changed, deepening, reverberating. Growing louder. Her veins burned and her skin seared, scorching the dirt underneath her.

Her bones popped and hissed as she lost complete control. She was drowning, how she wasn't sure. But it didn't matter. Nothing mastered.

She could hear a terrifying roar, one she had heard many times in her nightmares. And she let go.

AN/ Quick fun fact, the Marth scenes were originally going to have them fighting bandits, but after my editor read chapter 38, told me it sounded like they should fight a monster so, I rewrote that scene and even split it in two. Anyway, see you in two weeks.

~ (1/16/2024)