Wings of Courage story topic

[Dragoncat]

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Rated PGish.

Prologue

Whitefire Mercenary Base, Crimea

September 5th, 643

The wind was blowing fiercely outside. If it wasn’t for that, it would be a nice morning...but the inhabitants of the small fort in the Crimean countryside were used to it. People always said: you never have just a little wind in Crimea. It’s either gale force, or nothing at all.

A young man was sprawled out on his bed, still sawing logs despite the noise the wind was making. None of the howling gusts managed to wake him up. But a loud pounding on the door did. He let out a surprised yell and got up so fast that he bumped his head on the bed frame.

“Good, you’re alive!” The voice was laced with sarcasm. “I swear to gods bro, you sleep longer than any normal person should...get your butt out here. Kurt says he’s got something we should all know.”

All meetings were held in the biggest room of the fort, known as the barracks. Sometimes Leo liked to annoy his sister and call it the “man cave” and say her and Freya weren’t allowed there. He was never serious, of course. But another running joke was what happened in the barracks, stayed there. He found himself wondering if he should be worried.

A gray tabby cat laguz padded up to Leo as he entered. “You look like you’ve been out in the wind for like an hour. Ever heard of a comb? Weirdo...”

“Says the guy who sleeps transformed into a kitty.”

“Not all the time!” Samba’s tail swished. Even though his face was that of a feline at the moment, he still managed to pull off a wide humanlike smirk.

An orange haired young man was sitting at the head of the table. He drummed on it with his fingers. “I think we can agree we’re all weird in our own way. Now everybody sit down, this is serious news.”

Both twins had the same dumbfounded, curious looks on their faces. This made it clear that whatever it was, Cerai hadn’t been told yet either. Leo glanced quickly around the room. Nobody else looked like they knew.

“Okay, so...” Kurt cleared his throat. “You know how we’ve heard nothing about Daein since the war ended?”

“We won, they lost. We’ve been rebuilding, Begnion is keeping them in line.” The group’s shaman, Darcen, pointed out.

“Begnion WAS. I overheard some royal knights last night when I was at the capital. Apparently...Ashnard left an heir.”

Cerai and Leo almost jumped out of their seats, Freya spit out her orange juice, and Samba arched his back and puffed up. Only Darcen didn’t react much. “...Really? Serious? What’s he like, do you know? Will he be a problem?”

“SHE was part of the cavalry under General Petrine before. Other than that, I don’t know. Their conversation changed to how one of them actually found Petrine a little attractive and wished she hadn’t been the enemy.” Kurt made a disturbed face. “I don’t understand those guys sometimes.”

“Well, good for them I guess.” Freya shrugged. “For Daein, I mean...Begnion’s nice to us, but I’m willing to bet they can be pretty nasty when they want to be.”

“Right.” Cerai stood up. “I’m gonna...go into town to get some breakfast. What’s everybody want...”

Edited January 30, 2015 by Dragoncat

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 1

Valburn, Crimea
June 27, 648

“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard all day.” The middle aged priest scoffed. “Healing with one hand and killing with the other? Next you’re going to tell me laguz eat rocks!”

The younger priest frowned. “It’s not unheard of for the clergy to use light magic.”

“Light magic, maybe. Big honking axes, I don’t think so. Someday, Amiel, you’re going to have to learn the difference between fact and fiction.” The elder took out a pocket knife and began whittling designs into the wood of his mend staff. He often did that when he was bored. “Now scat. Shoo. There’s work to do. Go dust the pews.”

Amiel’s silver eyes rolled as he walked away. Maybe Father Synel was right. Maybe somebody just thought they saw axe wielding clergy...not. That wasn’t something you could just mistakenly see...unless your eyesight was terrible and a staff looked like an axe. There was no way of telling for sure, that HAD been a pretty old book he read it in.

A rather large woman shoved past him, followed by a man and two small children. “Woah, people!” He blinked at them. “Worship isn’t until ten o clock-”

“There are bandits in town!” The woman interrupted. “Please, let us stay here! They won’t attack a church!”

“Oh yes they will!” Her husband clenched his fists. “I told you, we should go to the armory instead! Right here we’re defenseless!”

“Go away, you fiend!” A bandit had got in and backed Synel into a corner. He was cowering and covering his head. “Leave us alone! The gods can see you, and they’re not happy!”

The bandit had a crooked, evil grin on his face. “Shut your yap!”

Something large, gray, and furry ran through the door and slammed into the bandit. He grappled at Synel as he fell, but the elder was surprisingly agile, getting away without a scratch and retreating to the back of the room.

The bandit, however, had smashed his face on the floor and bit a hole in his lip. Spitting blood, he grabbed his sword and stood up. A cat the size of a man was in front of him, ears flattened, tail lashing, and claws unsheathed.

“Never thought I’d see a sub-human in a human town! Oh, the boss is going to LOVE this!”

“Rephrase that. And leave these good people alone. Or I’ll skin you alive.”

“Big words from the boss’ new rug!”

The braver of the two kids poked his head out from behind the church pew, but was pulled back by his mother. The walls of the church amplified the sounds of the fight. Amiel had to plug his ears. He was trying to act brave, because Synel was curled up in a fetal position shivering like he was freezing to death, and that looked really pathetic. This family came here for safety, they wouldn’t want to be hiding with cowards.

It was kind of odd that a laguz had showed up to save the day. Sure, he was a beast one. Gallia was the nearest laguz nation, and it had friendly relations with Crimea. Beast laguz weren’t an uncommon sight, it would be odder if he was from one of the other tribes. But they usually just came to buy from the meat vendors and then went about their business. They never stayed in situations like this.

There was one final scream of pain, then shuffling sounds. Amiel took a deep breath and forced himself to raise his head and look. The laguz had his jaws clenched around the dead bandit’s arm, and was dragging him out the door. His ears pricked, almost as if he could feel Amiel staring at him. He looked up, straight toward the young priest. “I’m getting rid of this garbage. I figured nobody would want to have to remove a dead guy from a church...I’m putting him outside so hopefully his friends will think this place is better defended than it is. You’ll...have to scrub the floor though.”

“Samba, who are you talking to?” A young woman with dark green hair appeared. She was holding a bloodstained iron sword, and had cuts and bruises, indicating that she’d just been in battle.

Samba sat on his haunches and used a front paw to point toward the pews. The two priests, the couple, and their kids were now all out from behind them. They all looked like they were grateful to be alive.

“The churchgoers, Freya. The purple haired priest was looking at me like I just grew another head.”

“You guys are safe now. All the bandits are-oh is that a steel sword? Awesome.” Freya picked up the sword that the bandit had dropped. “All the bandits are gone.”

Samba returned to human form. “You look worried, who’s hurt?”

“It’s Darcen. He’s...got a hand axe stuck in him. He charged the bandit boss and...yeah.”

“I will heal your friend.” Amiel stepped forward, brandishing a heal staff. “Where is he?”

----

“It’s no use! Vulneraries aren’t working!” Cerai was stomping back and forth. Kurt’s horse neighed and reared. He patted her head. “Easy girl...”

“We’ve got to stay calm and let them work.” Leo fidgeted.

“What, are you a doctor now?!”

“No, but you’re spooking the poor horse.” The two wyverns were calmer, both sitting with their wings folded and their tails curled. The white scaled male suddenly craned his neck and snorted.

“Yikes.” Samba winced. “Looks like I’m just in time.”

It was true. The wound was bad, poor Darcen looked like he was about to drown in his own blood. But he lifted his head and gave Amiel a look that said: “What are you waiting for? Please help me!”

Amiel had never seen wyverns up close before, but now wasn’t the time to admire them. He gently touched the heal staff to the wound, causing the bleeding to cease and the big gash to shrink and disappear.

The hand axe was still in. Darcen looked at it and smiled weakly. “Okay, now am I going to have this thing sticking out of me for the rest of my life?”

That lifted the tension. Everyone knew that talking and joking meant not dying. Amiel smiled. “No. At least, I wouldn’t think so. Pull it out.”

“Pull...it out?” Darcen’s eyes widened.

“The wound has been healed from the inside out. If you’re careful, you should be able to extract it without damage.”

The hand axe came out smoothly. Amiel turned and started to leave. Cerai stopped him. “Wait. You deserve a thank you.”

“It’s the least I could do. If you and your friends weren’t here, I’d hate to see what would have become of Valburn.”

“Your steward came and got us. Really, we do stuff like this all the time.”

Amiel blinked. “Mercenaries? I don’t have...much to give you for payment.”

Cerai smiled. “Hang on a sec.” She walked over and whispered something in Leo’s ear. He shrugged, then nodded.

“How would you like to join us? We’re tired of relying on vulneraries...”

That almost floored the young priest. He was speechless.

“She’s serious.” Darcen stood up. “Vulneraries are getting expensive. Every time someone pays us, the majority of it goes to vulneraries. We barely have enough for food sometimes. You saved my life. Trust me, you’ll be a welcome addition.”

“I would, but...” Amiel hung his head. “I think the elder would want me to stay here.”

“You can go.” Synel walked up from behind him, smiling. “You’re still young. It’ll be good for you. But if it gets too crazy, you’re always welcome back here.”

“...Okay. I’ll do it.” Amiel turned to the mercenaries and grinned. He was nervous, but eager.

And maybe they would know something about the war priests and war clerics...

Edited November 26, 2014 by Dragoncat

[Anacybele]

A hand axe got stuck in Darcen's body? Yeesh. I'm surprised you didn't write his reaction to the axe being pulled though. Did it hurt him at all? That's all I'm wondering. The chapter is good otherwise. :)

[Dragoncat]

Dude, feedback topic...

Honest mistake. But yeah, that axe was in his gut. Ouch, right? I thought about writing that, but couldn't think of much about it, I guess being in battle before, and with the wound healed, it wouldn't hurt much? Idk.

If you want to reply to this, do it via PM. Just because our conversations tend to be long and yeah.

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 2

Kamrell, Goldoa
June 30, 648

From the looks of things, Rajaion’s whelp had inherited his class from his great grandfather.

Lord Xemar had seen the whole thing. First, the little white scaled dracling had bounded into the castle courtyard and blasted the fountain with ice breath, causing the water in it to freeze into a solid block. Then, Lady Ena came out wondering what the commotion was. Finally, the young white dragon turned back into a black haired blue eyed five year old boy.

It wasn’t uncommon for laguz to take a form different from that of either parent, but Ena was still surprised. She was certain Reiku would be a black dragon, considering how much he resembled his father. Laguz could technically shift from birth, but most of the time, it took them a few years to discover their animal forms. And when they did...things like the frozen fountain happened.

Luckily, it was summer. The ice was already starting to melt. No major damage would result. Nasir was grinning from ear to ear. He ruffled his great grandson’s hair and laughed. “I always knew he takes after me!” And then he started rambling about all the things he had froze when he was young. Puddles, the well, his father’s armchair...

Xemar got up and started to leave. He had better things to do than listen to the old coot fawn over the little shit. What they were, he had no idea...but anything was better than the situation that was happening here. He had never been a fan of cute. Or romance for that matter...beorc bred like rabbits. Dragon laguz lived long enough that they could afford not to. He just wasn’t interested.

Everyone left him alone as he left the courtyard. That failed assassination attempt on General Gareth was proving to be the best mistake he ever made. When Gareth got promoted, Xemar had flown into a rage. He had been sure he would get the position instead. Next thing the king knew, one of his advisors had his new general pinned down, shifted, claws on his throat, and about to zap him in the face. So King Deghinsea shifted into his own dragon form to let Xemar know he meant business. He let him off with a warning. If it happened again, he would be sorry. And now, because of it, everyone who knew who he was avoided him.

“I’m not pulling your leg, ladies! Daein has a QUEEN!”

That got Xemar’s attention. He recognized the voice right away: Kenth, one of the soldiers in Rajaion’s, now Ena’s, unit. The guy might as well be a beorc. He acted like a typical beorc male with way too much testosterone running through his system. He was constantly trying to impress the women. And now he was telling two of them what he apparently saw or heard.

“Right.” One of the females rolled her eyes. “And I’m the queen of Phoenicis.”

Kenth bowed sarcastically. “Your Majesty...”

“Stop it.” The other female smacked him. “Nobody’s the queen of anything around here. And Daein...well, maybe that king that got what was coming for him left a daughter. I can kinda see that happening.”

“That’s exactly it! I know a guy who knows a guy whose uncle saw it with his own two eyes! I guess it was a real shocker to everybody over there...”

This was too good to pass up. Usually Xemar wouldn’t give anything that came out of Kenth’s mouth much credit, but it actually sounded plausible. He had an idea. A crazy idea...but it was worth a shot.

Nevassa, Daein
July 2, 648

“Your Highness, do you know a man with long silver hair?”

The guard had barged in in the middle of Nyra’s royal lunch. She was a little annoyed, but more intrigued. “I don’t think so.”

“He asked for a meeting with you. Said he’s got an offer you might be interested in. He’s alone, but...”

“Let him in. Lord Valmas and I will talk to him.” The tall blond man beside her almost choked on his food, and the guard had a startled look on his face.

“That’s an order.”

The guard reluctantly obeyed without another word. The silver haired man was wearing a long tunic, boots, and a green scarf. His hair was about to his shoulders in length, his eyes were dark blue. No trace of armor or weapons of any sort, and he only carried one small bag. If he came from far away, he had traveled light.

“State your name and business.” Nyra stood up and spoke in her best stern, authority figure tone. Beside her, Valmas was staring the newcomer down. He was proving to be quite the loyal guard dog...

“My name is Xemar.” The man bowed. “You, milady, look almost exactly like I pictured you. You resemble your father greatly.”

“Cut to the chase. Why are you here?”

“I am here,” Xemar twirled a lock of his hair on his finger. “To offer you my strength. You lost a war five years ago, correct?”

“You cannot just waltz in here and demand something like that!” Valmas snapped.

Nyra silenced him with a quick stare. “That is the truth, but the attack dog is right. I see no proof of your supposed skill. Why should I let you in?”

Xemar dropped into a crouch. His body shimmered, seeming to dissolve as wings and a tail sprouted, and black scales began to cover him. His neck lengthened, his face narrowed into a muzzle, and claws appeared on his hands and feet. He made eye contact with Nyra. “Is this enough proof?”

Valmas looked like he’d seen a ghost. “Dragon tribe...they say a black dragon’s thunder breath is more potent than a rexbolt tome...”

Nyra blinked. “I’ll...have to ponder this for awhile. It is true that my father had dragons on his side, but...” She stopped there. The black dragon laguz that Ashnard had had been locked in his dragon form, unable to transform back, due to the potion that the scientist Izuka developed. Laguz like this were known as feral ones. Usually they were also mindless killing machines, but apparently, that one let her father ride him like a wyvern. This one probably wouldn’t need to be feralized...no doubt Izuka would think so though if he ever saw him.

“I’ll get back to you on that.” And then she walked out and closed the door.

After a brief awkward silence, Valmas found that he couldn’t handle the curiosity anymore. The dragon man had shifted back, so he wasn’t as scary. He cleared his throat and spoke. “Don’t you...have family back in Goldoa? Why are you here...”

“No. I’ve always been a loner. Nobody will miss me. They refuse to take me seriously over there.” Xemar’s voice was gruff. “Besides, having a family doesn’t mean you can’t seek a higher calling, beorc. You should know. I’m sure you have one.”

Valmas winced. “Way to pour salt in the wound!” He turned away and mumbled something about a “Jaina” and a “Connor”.

He wasn’t going to say any more no matter how much he was prodded. Or at least it seemed. The blond beorc man turned back to Xemar. “Forgive me. You didn’t know...I had a family. My wife didn’t survive the birth of our son. My son was stillborn...some reason, the gods have forsaken me. I’ll get them back though, dammit!” He clenched his fists. “Someday...I swear.”

Xemar just nodded. The beorc appeared to have lost his sanity...he would never fully understand beorc logic. Jaina must’ve been his wife, but Connor? What was the point of naming a child that was born dead? Seemed like a waste.

This was why he was going to be single all his life, by his own choice. The poor beorc man had gotten nothing but heartache from his choice to pair up and breed.

But something told him he could work with him...

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 3

Whitefire Mercenary Base, Crimea
July 2, 648

It had been relatively peaceful on the outskirts of Melior lately. The band of mercenaries hadn’t seen much conflict since the attack on Valburn, only a few skirmishes here and there when criminals harassed travelers passing through. Naturally, the addition of a healer to their ranks made their job much easier. Amiel’s friendly and easy going nature allowed him to fit right in. Darcen followed him around like a baby duck for the first few days wanting to repay him for saving his life, but the young priest didn’t ask for much. Just knowing he belonged to a group such as them was enough.

A tower of small wooden blocks that was thicker on the top stood on the table, looking like it was about to topple any minute. Amiel removed one of the blocks and placed it carefully on the top of the tower. Leo pulled a block out and the tower came tumbling down.

“Son of a BITCH! That’s the third time I’ve lost this week!” And then he got up and stomped out of the room.

Cerai passed him as she walked into the barracks. “I told you my brother was a sore loser.”

“Understatement of the day...” Amiel shrugged and chuckled softly. “If he acts this way with Jenga, I’d hate to see it if he lost a thousand gold bet.”

“Oh, he lost a fifty gold bet once. When we were twelve, we bet on a flying race, three laps around the town...he turned too fast and let’s just say drinking a big jug of apple juice and eating a bunch of leftover fried chicken isn’t the best idea before you’re going to fly at top speed.” Cerai snickered at the memory. “Granted, I didn’t charge him fifty gold because I didn’t finish the race either. Mom and Dad made us stop. But yeah.”

Amiel laughed. “It must be nice to have a sibling you can do stuff like that with. And parents that stayed together...” His father had left when he was two, and his mother never remarried. But after hearing of Cerai and Leo’s parents’ deaths at the hands of bandits, he figured he was somewhat lucky. His mother was still alive. She was reluctant to let him join the group, but saw how much he would be needed and gave in.

“Guys.” Samba entered from the door to outside. “The shops and armories are having big sales in the capital. I just got back from there, they even had a great deal on olivi grass!” He held up a leather pouch. “This only cost me five gold!”

Cerai smiled. “I figured they would start selling that, considering all the Gallians that have been through here lately. Now somebody needs to invent olivi grass for beorc and we’ll be golden.” Olivi grass was an herb that worked wonders on a laguz’s stamina, and healed minor wounds when ground into a paste. But on a beorc, it only served as a salve for cuts and bruises.

“All the shops?” Leo poked his head in. “Even the diners and taverns?”

“I don’t know, but there was a guy selling turkey legs and beef jerky.”

Leo went back into his room and grabbed his wallet, then came back and went straight to the front door. “Sounds fun! I haven’t had a turkey leg in ages!”

Amiel stared blankly. “He gets over losing quickly, doesn’t he?”

“Pretty crazy right?” Cerai picked up her own wallet and followed Leo out the door. “Come on, guys. We’re going into town I suppose.”

Melior, Crimea
July 2, 648

The first place the twins and their cat brother hit was the turkey leg and jerky stand. Blaze helped herself to a piece of jerky, but Cerai was going to buy some for the orange wyvern anyway. Frostbite, on the other hand, was more interested in the turkey legs. He ignored the jerky that had been bought for him and ate one off of Samba’s plate while he wasn’t looking. Samba ended up eating the jerky because he didn’t want it to go to waste. Kurt bought sugar cubes for Stella, and the black mare whinnied happily as she ate them. Freya went to one of the armories, and Darcen and Amiel turned their attention to the staff and tome shop.

“Do you know anything about magic weapons?” The young woman in front of Darcen in line at the checkout asked the shopkeeper. She had long, messy, aqua green hair with two purple flowers in it. Her outfit suggested that she was a mage, and she also wore a pair of glasses, giving her a slightly nerdy look.

The shopkeeper shrugged. “Seen a wind edge once if that’s what you’re talking about.”

“Did you get a good look at it?”

“Afraid not.” The shopkeeper shook his head. “The guy was clear on the other side of the crowd. I’m assuming it was a wind edge...it was green. Why?”

The mage frowned. “Oh...well, that’s too bad. I thought someone around here could help me figure out how to actually produce those things, they’re interesting.”

“Certain metals can probably be soaked in the magic essence for tomes.” Darcen told her. “Like...copper conducts electricity, so maybe you could use some thunder essence with that to make a weapon that casts thunder? I’m not sure though...”

“That’s actually a good lead!” The mage girl perked up.

“Yeah, well, I’d do more research first.” Darcen put a hand on the back of his head, smiling slightly. “We don’t want anything exploding. How to go about that?” He paused for a second. “Maybe the library? I don’t know...”

The shopkeeper looked at the tome Darcen had placed on the counter. “Eldark tomes are normally two hundred gold. But with our everything half off sale, you get it for one hundred.”

The mage girl watched the other mage, apparently technically a shaman, pay for his tome. She was aware of dark magic, but had never seen it in action. The guy had been a great help, and her next stop was the library. She’d done research there before. Maybe she overlooked something...

By the time the group met back up, it was evening and time for dinner. They chose their favorite tavern, and left the wyverns and horse behind the building. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t look very crowded. Usually it was quite the bustling place.

“Terribly sorry.” A wealthy looking man with slicked back brown hair appeared. “This place is reserved.”

“You don’t look like you work here.” Samba stepped forward, ears twitching.

The man examined the group, regarding Samba with mild interest. “There’s no room for you. Come again another time.”

And then the door closed and locked. Samba’s tail bristled. “Something’s fishy.”

“You can say that again...”

Someone walking behind them stopped and turned at the sound of Darcen’s voice, then walked over and tapped his shoulder. He turned and blinked. “...Oh. You’re that gal who was interested in magic weapons. Find anything more out?”

“Just that you had the right idea. Certain metals CAN be soaked in essence. But they also require a forge. Anyway I’d like to thank you.”

“Darcen, who’s this?” Kurt raised one eyebrow.

“Oh, where are my manners? The name’s Kelly.” Kelly adjusted her glasses, smiling shyly.

“You’re welcome then.” Darcen nodded. “You’ve got my name now too...”

“Well, if we can’t eat here...where now?” Cerai grumbled and nodded toward Kelly. “Do you know anything about this place being reserved? I’m Cerai, by the way...”

Kelly shook her head. “No, it’s never reserved. That’s weird...but I know of a good place. I’ll lead you guys to it.”

Edited January 22, 2015 by Dragoncat

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 4

Whitefire Mercenary Base, Crimea
July 3, 648

The mage Kelly had shown the mercenaries a buffet type restaurant. While it could never replace the Bull and Stag tavern and its games and entertainment, the latter mainly being Leo's reaction to getting beat at poker, it did have good food. Kelly insisted that they try the place's signature appetizer: the cheesy chips. Cerai was game for just about anything with cheese, and nobody protested. The chips came smothered in melted cheddar and were polished off fairly quickly. For the main course options, there was anything from meat and fish to salads to sandwiches. Kelly and Darcen spent almost the entire time yammering about anything to do with magic. It sounded like they were speaking in some alien language at times to the others. The world of magic was deep and hard to understand.

After everyone had eaten their fill, Kelly announced that she was going back to her parents' house. She had enjoyed the group's company and they had enjoyed hers, but the fort outside of town had no more room, and she didn't belong there anyway. But it was nice to have a friend who knew the ins and outs of the capital, so they would keep in touch.

The next morning, there was a knock at the door. Freya answered it clothed in full myrmidon gear, only missing a sword. The man was wearing light armor and carried a lance. His hair was dark red, and his eyes were purple. He looked confused. "I thought Mia of the Greil Mercenaries had purple hair..."

"You've got the wrong group." Freya told him. "We're the Whitefire Mercenaries. But, I don't think we're accepting any recruits at the moment anyway."

"Dude, those guys have their base on the other side of the country." Leo sounded amused. "West Ventar Plains, close to Skrall Woods...or at least they did. Nobody's seen hide or hair of them for like...a year now." He got up to get a better look at the visitor. "You do look capable. But I'm afraid we have no room for any more members at the moment. Well, there's an extra stall in the stables, but..."

Cerai laughed. "Nobody's sleeping with the wyverns and the horse."

The visitor's gaze moved around the room, and he instinctively tightened the grip on his lance when he saw Samba sitting there in his beast form. That was the last thing he expected to see, even though Crimea was friendly with Gallia, a laguz in a beorc mercenary group?

"What do you mean, nobody's seen hide or hair of them?"

"Just that." Cerai shrugged. "Plenty of people looked for them, us included, but no luck. Their base is abandoned. Some old man claims he saw Commander Ike in one of the diners in Melior, but...could just be someone who looks like him. They just up and went poof begone. It's really weird, but it DOES give us more business..."

"I haven't seen you around anywhere." Leo gave the visitor an intrigued stare. "Who are you and what do you want?"

The stranger stared right back, his expression slightly cocky. "The name's Jerec. And I'm not here to join your merry band. I'd prefer to give this information to the Greil Mercenaries, but, I'll have to take what I can get. Tell me, have any of you noticed anything out of the ordinary in the capital lately?"

Samba raised his paw. "Yep. Last night, some rich snob wouldn't let anyone into the Bull and Stag. Said it was reserved."

Jerec nodded, but refused to make eye contact with the laguz. "That would be Lord Ludveck, I believe. He's been acting suspiciously for quite some time now. And he's one of the queen's most vocal critics."

"So he went and bought all the tables last night? Just when I thought I understood everything about beorc behavior..."

"I don't understand nobles much either. But you might as well be saying that because the sun came up this morning, a big gorilla is going to show up asking for a beer." Cerai paused. "Meaning, we're comparing apples to oranges. If the guy wants to hog a tavern, it doesn't necessarily mean he's plotting something."

Leo snickered. "I hope gorillas hold their liquor better than you do...there's STILL a dent in that wall..."

Cerai punched him in the shoulder. "Shut up."

"Gods, I'm surrounded by idiots." Jerec muttered under his breath. At the sound of hoofbeats behind him, he turned and blinked. "...Are you a Crimean knight in training? What business do you have with-"

"No, but I'm flattered that I look like one." Kurt interrupted. "Who are you?"

"His name is Jerec, and he thinks the Duke of Felirae wants to pull something." Leo raised an eyebrow and huffed.

Kurt frowned. "Well, there's a bit of a ruckus in Ohma...think it might be related? Because I don't think those are bandits."

Jerec started dashing down the road to the village of Ohma without another word. He moved so fast that Stella neighed and bucked as he passed her, almost knocking her master off.

"I think we should follow him."

Leo gave his sister a blank stare. "What? I thought you didn't believe him."

"And did you see how he glared at me? I don't think he's Crimean...or at least not a forward thinking one." Samba's tail twitched.

"I believe Kurt." Cerai explained. "Whether it's true or not, I'm sure those farmers would appreciate an investigation."

Ohma, Crimea
July 3, 648

"The queen has betrayed us!" A heavily armored man addressed the villagers. "Our enemy is recovering just as fast as we are, and she refuses to see it as the threat it is! She refuses to acknowledge the fact that the new Daein queen is the spitting image of her father, the man who caused us so much trouble! She prefers to sit around in the palace in la la land and ignore what's so blatantly obvious!"

Jerec clenched his fist, watching the scene unfold from behind a building. Two wyverns carrying riders landed beside him.

"You were right, it looks like." Cerai hung her head. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, I hardly expected a lesser group to believe it." That comment stung a little, but neither Cerai or Leo said anything.

The armored man continued his speech. "Which is why we deserve a better ruler! No more of that pampered little sorry excuse for a Crimean royal! With your help, we can take back our country!"

One of the villagers, a woman with long light green hair, raised her hand. "I hafta disagree with you, sir. The queen's a good lady. I had the honor of meetin' her when she was just a princess."

The speaker took one look at her and sneered. "You? Tell me another fairy tale, hick. Did a cow kick you in the head so hard that now you think you ever left your tiny anthill of a town?"

"It's true!" A plump man standing beside the woman spoke up. "Nephenee and me, we've been to war...seen horrible things. Lady Elincia and Lord Ike are both good people. Haven't seen either of them since though...but I'm sure our queen is doing what's best for all of us." There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd.

"If that's Ludveck..." Leo whispered, "He sure went out of his way to come here."

"I don't know about him, but I remember Brom and Nephenee. They were war prisoners who were rescued by the Greil Mercenaries and fought beside them." Jerec paused for a second. "I, too, traveled with Ike for a bit."

The armored speaker snapped his fingers. The small group of soldiers behind him fell into position, raising their weapons.

"Kylor." He addressed the nearest of his troops, a tough looking axe fighter. "Silence those squealing pigs."

"Yes sir!" Kylor flung a tomahawk into the crowd of villagers. It was mere inches away from Brom's head when a magic blast hit it and caused the entire weapon to shatter, making a loud bang.

"Dark magic? All right, who's the wise guy?! Show yourself!"

By now, most of the villagers were scattering. Only Brom and Nephenee stood their ground and saw the group of warriors race out to confront the mysterious general. There was indeed a shaman, as well as two wyvern riders, a cavalier, myrmidon, a halberdier, a priest to patch up wounds...and a beast tribe laguz. Strangely enough, the halberdier appared to be working on his own. The priest was about to give him a quick heal after an arrow whizzed past and sliced the side of his neck, but he just chugged a vulnerary and moved on.

"Retreat, dammit! RETREAT!" The general shouted, having noticed the gray striped cat swiping at an archer, who attempted to block with his bow. But the laguz swatted the bow to the ground. The archer left it there and turned and ran with the rest of the soldiers.

Samba returned to human form and shook his fist. "Yeah, you better run away, losers!" He turned and noticed Brom staring at him. "...What? Haven't you ever seen a laguz before?"

"I have, but I didn't expect to see one here."

Cerai landed between them. She dismounted and kicked the bow on the ground. "Okay, so...the situation we've just seen suggests that there's going to be a civil war if we're not careful. Does anybody know the name of that general, and does anybody have any leads on Ike and his group?"

"Think his name is..." Nephenee scratched her head. "Yer something. He said what it was before he started spewin' his nonsense. I wasn't payin' much attention at the time. Not until he started dissin' on the queen."

"So it wasn't Ludveck, then?"

Brom stared at Leo, eyes widened. "Ludveck of Felirae? Ya mean to tell me...there's more noble people who think that way?"

"According to him, yes." Cerai gestured toward where Jerec was standing up until then. Now he was heading toward the town exit. She blinked. "Where you going?"

"Same place we're all going. Forward..."

He was probably going to search for the Greil Mercenaries. But something told the Whitefires they would cross paths with him again.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Dragoncat

[Anacybele]

Yep, you made Jerec sound like Jerec alright. lol

Except, he doesn't dislike laguz anymore at this point. He was saved by them, so...

And I think I gave Jerec purple eyes... But that's probably hard to tell given that I also gave him rather small ones. xP

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 5

Melior, Crimea
July 15, 648

Was it so unlikely for a mercenary to have a friendship outside the group?

Cerai and Leo seemed annoyed at Darcen for missing a few debriefings to meet with Kelly in the capital library. They didn’t say much, but he could just tell. Samba made it worse. The crazy furball wouldn’t stop insisting the friendship was romantic. Once he even asked when he should expect “spellslinging beorc whelps”. Which wasn’t impossible, but...Darcen couldn’t see himself making a move any time soon. They were just FRIENDS.

Today he was meeting her at her father’s blacksmith shop. She had gathered the materials needed to infuse a weapon with magic, and he was interested in seeing how it was done. He also wanted to be there to help keep a close eye on things so she didn’t blow anything up, but he didn’t tell her that.

Kelly’s father was named Rosso, and he was buff and barrel chested, like one would expect from a blacksmith. If it wasn’t for his aqua colored hair and mustache, it would be hard to believe they were related in any way, since Kelly was built more slim and bony.

“I hear you’re a user of dark magic.” Rosso said as he let Darcen in. “Seen a guy killed by that once, it literally sucked the life right outta him. Nasty stuff...I’d be careful with it if I were you.”

“Dad, you have to be careful with all magic.”

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, young lady. You don’t think I know that?” Rosso’s tone was gruff, but he was smiling.

“So...” Darcen looked up to address the blacksmith. He was big and tall, and he had a feeling he better stay on his good side. “Where’s the forge?”

“Oh it’s out back. This is just where Dad keeps all the weapons while they’re cooling off, among other things like meeting with customers. Don’t touch those over there.” Kelly pointed at a rack of swords sitting on a stone table. The blades gave off a red glow. “Learned that the hard way when I was three...couldn’t use my right hand for a month. Wasn’t allowed to come back here for years.”

“Pretty sure I know how hot freshly forged weapons are.” What did she think he was, five years old?

Rosso laughed. “You kids be safe. I don’t want anyone ending up in the hospital, and I don’t want this place burning to the ground.”

“We know, Dad.” Kelly grabbed Darcen’s arm and led him to the forge.

There was a large kiln, various tools hanging from the walls, wooden stools to sit on, and another stone table, this one with all the materials they would need for their experiment. A bronze axe sat beside a vial of yellow sparkling liquid. The vial was labeled “thunder”.

Darcen pulled up a stool, sat down, and pointed at the vial. “Plain thunder essence? Is elthunder that much more expensive?”

“No, it’s like premade tomes. Well, a bit more pricey than those, but I mean it’s close to the same price range between the power levels. But I figured it would be wise to start with the lowest power level possible.”

“True.” Darcen nodded.

There was a book sitting on the table as well. Kelly opened it to where it was marked. “First thing we need to do is wrap the entire weapon in healhedge paper. Over there.” There was a roll of fragile looking paper. Upon noticing Darcen’s confused expression, she added: “I thought it was odd at first too. I guess healhedges only heal when they’re alive and growing. You can extract their sap to make vulneraries, but...when you make paper out of them, that paper is an effective magical conductor.”

“I see. I’ll just-oops.” Darcen had ripped a large tear down the side of the paper roll just by picking it up.

“I think I’ll do the wrapping, thank you very much. You can prepare the essence.” Kelly handed him the book. “Read steps two through four.”

The resulting mixture smelled like sulfur, but according to the book, that was normal. The two young magicians each donned a heat resistant mask and gloves, because the mixture also had to be boiling hot.

The wrapped axe was lowered into the boiling liquid using a pair of tongs. After about a minute, there was a brief flash of light and a loud bang, indicating that the magic essence had been transfered to the metal.

“I saw a flash and heard a boom.” Rosso poked his head in. “You kids better not be casting spells in here!”

“It’s supposed to do that.”

Rosso squinted at the kiln. “Well is it also supposed to smell like a manure pile? Or do I even want to know?”

Kelly removed the mask, rolling her eyes. “Dad...yes. It’s supposed to smell like that. Here, look at this and tell me if you think it looks like a bolt axe.”

The axe had turned a shiny yellow color, and the melted away healhedge paper gave it a waxy texture, which was supposed to go away once it cooled.

“Other than looking like a candle melted all over it, I’d say that’s a bolt axe.”

Kelly let out a whoop that made Darcen flinch. “It WORKED!”

“Well neither one of us should be swinging axes around...maybe it just turned a different color, we don’t know for sure.”

Rosso laughed and patted Darcen’s shoulder. “I’ve seen bolt axes before, boy. I do find it hard to believe that used to be a common bronze axe, but...”

“That book was written by an expert on the field. We followed the directions to a T. My dad knows his weapons. Things just add up.”

Darcen sighed. “Okay, you win...”

Rosso put the bolt axe up for sale the next morning. As expected, it sold quickly. The blacksmith took no credit for making the weapon, and he even showed up at the Whitefire base to pay Darcen a small amount of gold for helping his business. Nobody said much, but the protests about him missing debriefings stopped.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Dragoncat

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 6

July 20, 648
Fort Alpea, Crimea

“I feel like a pig in a blanket. My tail itches. Why can’t I just transform and run up there and start clawing those stuck up snobs’ eyes out?”

“We’ve been over this...we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”

“But what if the rumor isn’t true? Then that poor noblewoman will DIE and all hell will break lose.”

Leo groaned. “Shut up. Both of you.”

The Whitefires had been lying low during most of the Crimean rebellion. There had been a few confrontations, but nothing too big, considering the Crimean royal guard had been handling things. That was until Lucia, a swordswoman who had strong ties to the royalty, was captured by the rebels. They were going to have her hanged on the spot.

Their halberdier acquaintance, Jerec, had showed up again, this time to say there had been another Ike sighting. But not by an old man, by himself, and the Greil Mercenary commander had been heading straight for Fort Alpea, moving so fast that he couldn’t catch him. All signs pointed to the theory that the heroic group was going to try and stop the execution. This was something they couldn’t pass up, but rushing in fully armed would be foolish. They’d smuggled in as many weapons as they could successfully hide, left the steeds out of sight, and put Samba in a cloak so he looked like a beorc.

The crowd was quite large. Most of it was random civilians, and the woman in front of them didn’t look like she was on either side. She was just there to gossip, it seemed. She started a one sided conversation with Cerai about Ludveck cheating on his wife, and a pregnant farmer lady who claimed the father was Lucia’s brother Geoffrey. Cerai could kind of see the former happening, but the latter she wasn’t sure about, it sounded like the lady was just trying to stir up trouble. But she was having a hard time preventing herself from telling this busy body to shut her face and go away.

“Scuse me, pardon me...” A young man shoved past. He was moving quickly through the crowd, and he was clutching his stomach like he was about to be sick. As he moved past Samba, the cloaked cat thought he saw the fletchings of an arrow sticking out from underneath his shirt. Was this guy also sneaking weapons in? He didn’t look like a professional soldier, but he did have the build of an archer...

As the executioner made his way to the gallows, it was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Samba’s keen feline ears picked up something no one else did: two voices, seeming to come from a nearby tree. He couldn’t make out any words, but one sounded like a young beorc male, the other a slightly older one. The younger one sounded nervous, and his companion sounded somewhat annoyed and more confident.

A bush beside the gallows rustled, but nobody paid it any attention. All eyes were fixed on the executioner. He placed his hand on the lever, pulled it down, and an arrow came out of nowhere, slicing the noose and piercing the executioner’s forehead. The noblewoman began to fall, but landed on a swiftly moving figure who had darted out of the bushes.

All of this happened within a split second. Weapons clashed together and strong gusts of wind magic flew in every direction, along with arrows. Ludveck yelled from his post in the fort tower. “Get them, you idiots! Don’t let them get away, kill them all!”

Two wyverns swooped down, each grabbing one of Ludveck’s arms with its clawed feet. He squirmed and cursed as he was lifted into the air. The rider of the orange wyvern sneered at him. “Not so tough now, are you?”

“You barbaric wench! When I’m king, I’ll have you burned at the stake! You and all your friends!”

“The only barbarian here is you!” Cerai turned to Leo. “Let’s get rid of this heavy trash, all he’s doing is weighing us down!”

“Gotcha.”

A buff blue haired swordsman heard a thud behind him. He whipped around, raising his blade. There was a corpse lying there with a broken neck, smashed ribs, and shattered armor.

“Our work is done.” A mage in dark colored robes announced. “Nice job finding Ludveck, by the way.”

The remaining rebels were retreating. The swordsman watched them for a second, then blinked at his mage companion. “Soren, I’m not gonna lie. I didn’t kill him. I have no idea how he got here.”

“They did it, by gods, they did it! That’s my bro and sis!”

“...Is that a laguz?”

Samba stopped his celebratory running around. He flicked the tip of his tail and ears, then turned and shifted into human form.

“Wow. The man they call ‘Hero of the Blue Flame’ doesn’t know a laguz when he sees one? But I thought you-”

“You were moving so fast it was hard to tell exactly what you are.” Darcen walked over and gave Ike a quick bow. “That being said...nicely done, Lord Ike. Oh and nicely done to your archer, wherever he is. Takes major skill to cut a rope and do a headshot kill with the same arrow.”

By now, the Whitefires and Greil Mercenaries were both gathering in the same area. Lucia was still a bit shaken, but she managed to say thank you before leaving with a few Crimean knights.

The two groups stared each other down in an awkward silence, until the axe warrior of Ike’s group yelped because he had shocked himself with his bolt axe.

“Dammit Boyd!” Ike turned and rolled his eyes. “I told you buying that thing wasn’t the best idea!”

“It’s sharp and dangerous! Like I like it...ow...”

“Gods, are all axe fighters meathead dorks?” Cerai’s tone was lighthearted. She knew she could get along with at least that guy already. “Now...we should formerly introduce ourselves. We’re the ones who’ve been taking care of things while you were...who knows where.” Blaze snorted and clawed at the remains of Ludveck. Cerai gave the reins a quick tug. “Leave it.” The wyvern backed away.

“So...you’re the Whitefire Mercenaries? I suppose that name comes from the colors of your wyverns?”

“Right.” Leo nodded at the paladin woman who had spoke. She almost looked like she could be his and Cerai’s mother, she had the same hair and eye colors.

There was a whistle. A blond armored knight had a cheesy grin on his face. “Such a fierce beauty! I’d hate to be Ludveck now, but if you were the last one he saw...”

“I can drop you from high up too you know. But from the looks of things, your mother apparently already did.”

“Really Gatrie? Way to make us look like a bunch of idiots!” Ike scolded his teammate. “Anyway...here isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go home, we haven’t been there in months. You guys...I feel I can trust you. Come along if you want.”

Proper introductions were made on the way. The female paladin was named Titania, and she was Ike’s second in command. There was another paladin named Oscar who used to be a Crimean knight, which interested Kurt greatly. The sage Soren didn’t say much, the warrior Boyd found out that Darcen had helped make the bolt axe and asked if there was any way to not get shocked. The sniper who had cut the noose and killed the executioner was called Shinon. He wasn’t very friendly, but he did introduce his apprentice, Rolf. Freya and the swordmaster Mia got along right away, and Amiel did the same with Rhys the bishop. Gatrie the general was keeping his mouth shut, he still found the wyvern rider woman attractive but it was obvious the feeling wasn’t mutual. Last but not least was Ike’s sister Mist, who was a valkryie.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Dragoncat

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 7

July 20, 648
Greil Mercenary Base, Crimea

Commander Ike had quite the nostalgic look on his face when he walked into his fort for the first time in three months. The place was a little bigger than the Whitefires’ base, but still small enough to feel homely. The healhedges out back hadn’t survived. There had been little rain lately, and nobody had been around to water them, so the magic bushes had shriveled into dead brown piles of twigs. It wasn’t a big deal, more could be obtained, and there was little need for healhedges now anyway.

The more pressing issue was the stench coming from the kitchen. The Greil Mercenaries had thought they’d removed all the food when they had to leave, but they were wrong. A sack of fruit and vegetables had been forgotten. There was a bit of pointing fingers involving who was responsible, but Oscar volunteered to get rid of the rotten food before it escalated too much.

An old ally met him outside. “...Jerec? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here on unfinished business. Gods, what in the world is in that sack? Smells like something died!”

“Somebody let a bunch of food get rotten.” Oscar flung the sack into a nearby ditch. “...What kind of unfinished business?”

“Nothing too big. Where’s Ike? Can I come in?”

Before Oscar could reply, there was a low wyvern screech. The stables were too small for wyverns, so the twins had to park their mounts in the front. Blaze and Frostbite seemed to remember Jerec. They both craned their necks down to his level to say hello. He cautiously patted their scaly snouts. “I see you’ve already got company.”

“Well if it isn’t Jerec!” Ike walked out wondering why it was taking so long just to throw some garbage away. “I didn’t know you were good with animals-wait. You came all the way here?”

“I’ve been in Crimea for quite some time now.”

“That surprises me. You’d think a son of a former Daein general would, you know, actually STAY in his homeland. I’d assume that new queen would give you a high rank too...”

“Something’s up. I can see it in your face.” Oscar frowned.

Jerec shrugged. “Let me in. I’ve got news for you and those...lightfire characters? Not sure if I remember what they call themselves. Anyway, I don’t want to have to say it twice.”

Inside, Darcen was trying to get Soren to talk to him, but the black haired sage was more interested in burying his nose in books. Cerai pulled her teammate aside. “You’d have more luck trying to get a fish to climb a tree. I’d leave him alone.”

“Teach a fish to climb a tree, then write a book about it, and then I bet he’d be interested.”

Cerai turned and blinked. “...You! Where’d you go during the attack on the rebels? I kept expecting to see you pop up, but you never did.”

“I was planning on lending a hand. But I couldn’t find an opening. You guys ran in and fought like demons.” Jerec paused. “I’d expect that from Ike and his crew though. But you lightfires have earned my respect, that’s for sure.”

“Whitefires.”

“Whatever.”

“So...what’s this big news?”

“Keep your shorts on, I was getting to that!” Jerec gave Ike a friendly nudge. “But...first, the Whitefires need to know some stuff that the Greil Mercenaries already do. It’s about my heritage. I’m...from Daein.”

Samba tensed, like he was about to shift. “I fricking knew it!”

“Well Ike obviously trusts him, so...” Leo fidgeted.

“Your actions imply that you doubt his judgment. I highly doubt your fingernails are that interesting all of a sudden.”

Leo gave Cerai an annoyed leer. “Oh, and you’re completely happy we’ve been in the presence of one of those...Daein donkeys?”

“There were more ‘Daein donkeys’ on Crimea’s side five years ago. Not everyone there agreed with King Ashnard. Jerec’s father was General Bryce. Granted, he didn’t abandon his rank and switch sides, but he had his doubts from what I’ve heard.”

“Yes, thank you Ike. You can trust me, but that new queen is another story...before I left Daein, she had promoted a man named Valmas to general. Valmas knew my father well, he was a devoted husband to his wife Jaina. They were expecting a child when I was ten, but neither Jaina or the kid survived the birth. I never knew my mother for similar reasons, but...my father had me as a reason to move on. Valmas didn’t. He pretty much lost his mind, and it didn’t get better over the years. He’ll have entire conversations with his wyvern like it can understand him and think it‘s actually responding. He’s got a LOT of screws loose.”

“Wyverns can understand human speech to a certain extent.” Cerai pointed out. “And they are quite smart, smarter than the average reptile.”

“Yeah, well anyway. I crossed paths with Queen Nyra, before she knew she was queen. She always struck me as someone who could be downright dangerous if you got on her bad side. And she was good at convincing people to see things her way. Add that to her promoting Valmas, and things just don’t look good for you...Crimean cows.” Jerec smirked at that last statement. “He’s become merciless as well as insane. He doesn’t even see his enemies as human anymore, from the looks of things.”

“Okay, I deserved that. If we’re calling all the beorc nations a type of farm animal...what is Begnion? I’d say bulls, but that’s not really an insult.”

“The senate strikes me as pigs. But that doesn’t make a rhyming thing.”

“Guys...the subject at hand?” Ike rolled his eyes at the twins.

After a brief silence, Samba spoke. “If you’re saying Daein’s gonna attack again...how are we going to warn the queen? She JUST dealt with someone who thought that. Only he thought he could do a better job than she could. I’ve been here most of my life, but I still find beorc politics confusing. But I am glad this isn’t Gallia. There, if someone wanted to be king, he wouldn’t waste time playing games. He’d march right up to the capital and whoever won that fight would have the throne. Ludveck was helpless in the air, but I’d be willing to bet if he had her cornered...”

“Yeah. Why do you think we decided to drop him like that? From that height, armor tends to shatter like an eggshell.” Cerai’s statement made Gatrie flinch.

Jerec raised an eyebrow at Samba. “I know what you’re wondering.” The laguz said. “I was adopted. My own parents...let’s just say accidentally wandering into Crimea on a hunting trip didn’t end well for them. These two clowns were barely out of diapers at the time.”

“I was wondering that too, actually...thanks for clarifying. And I’m sure Queen Elincia wouldn’t be happy if we told her about this. Knowing her, she’d start doubting that getting rid of Ludveck was the right thing to do.” Ike sighed and shrugged. “But I bet if he had his way, Ludveck would launch an attack on Daein in the blink of an eye. That’s the last thing we need...”

“I don’t have enough evidence anyway, but...sitting around waiting for things to blow up isn’t a good idea either.”

“Soren!” Ike shouted across the room. The sage looked up from his book with an annoyed look on his face. “Did you get any of that, or did you block everyone out?”

“I was listening. Let me guess, you want my advice.”

“Exactly.” Ike nodded. “Soren may be antisocial, but trust me, he’s a tactical genius.” His explanation was well received, the Whitefires nodded in approval.

“I suggest not warning the queen, but warning one of her advisors instead. Lady Lucia or Lord Geoffrey or both. Tell them not to tell her to avoid unnecessary stress on her part. Meanwhile, I suspect good old fashioned espionage would do the trick. Jerec would be ideal for this. He can go back to Daein and gather information. If Daein tries anything again, they won’t have the advantage of surprise this time. But if enough evidence is found and it’s made obvious, then I suggest telling Queen Elincia. She won’t like it, but it is what it is.”

“The tricky part is getting Lucia and Geoffrey alone. They’re usually either in the queen’s royal chambers or with other nobles or royal knights.” Jerec paused, then added: “I can probably do some spy work in Daein though.”

“One of the royal air force members came and talked to me the other day. Asked me what I was doing behind the reins of a ‘flying snake’ when I could have a pegasus, but other than that she seemed trustworthy.” Cerai shrugged. “Maybe get her or someone else to help?”

Ike snickered. “That sounds like Marcia alright. Yeah, that’s a good idea. She’s well acquainted with Geoffrey, I’m sure she could probably distract him long enough. I’ll go with a few of my troops, she’d be more likely to believe me. Let’s see...Titania, Oscar. You two are it. You know the most about how the royal knights operate. We’ll go first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Anything you want us to do?” Leo asked.

“Just go back to your place and continue doing what you do. If I ever need backup, I’ll send someone to come get you. You’ve proven you can handle yourselves effectively on the battlefield. From this moment forward, we’re allies.”

Edited January 22, 2015 by Dragoncat

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 8

July 21, 648
Whitefire Mercenary Base, Crimea

Two of the Greil Mercenaries showed up at the Whitefire base the morning after the fall of Ludveck and the forged alliance between the two groups. They didn’t look like they’d been in a hurry, so apparently Ike didn’t need backup and they were there just because.

“Ike said we could come over here. My other big brother’s with him and Titania. Mist would’ve came too, but she’s looking for replacement healhedges.”

Rolf’s statement confirmed it. Cerai smiled. “Well, thanks for stopping by. We don’t get much company other than people who have bandit problems.”

A loud roar came from the stables. Rolf jumped, and Boyd blinked in confusion. “...What the hell was that?” The green haired warrior grabbed his axe, a wild look in his eyes.

“That, you green headed oaf, was that garbage gut steed of mine saying it’s time for breakfast.” Cerai said. “She probably heard us talking and knew I’m up to feed her. She does that just about every morning. Sometimes she doesn’t even wait for me to get up. Sometimes she decides I should be awake at the butt crack of dawn.”

“But there’s two wyverns here. And a horse. You don’t feed all of them in the morning?” Rolf wondered out loud.

“Frostbite’s like his master, they both tend to sleep in long. But I guarantee he’s up now. Leo should be out with the food for him shortly. Kurt feeds Stella around the same time, usually.” Cerai went inside and came back with her brother, both holding a rack of ribs. Leo greeted Boyd and Rolf with a nod.

“Those are the biggest racks of ribs I’ve ever seen. What are they from, an elephant?” Boyd’s mouth hung open in surprise. “I don’t think even Ike could polish those off!”

“They’re from a moose.” Leo replied. “And the wyverns usually don’t eat them all at once. Well, at least mine doesn’t...”

“Did you buy those at the meat market? I don’t think they sell moose very often.”

Cerai shook her head. “No. One of the advantages of having a laguz around is you can get more wild game for free.”

“Did you think we killed it for a second? We probably could swoop down bird of prey style, but the wyverns wouldn’t understand why we wouldn’t be letting them eat it right then and there.” Leo chuckled. “They know they’re not supposed to eat enemies on the battlefield, but yeah.”

There was another wyvern roar. “All right already! I heard you the first time!” Cerai snapped. “You guys can come along if you want. They won’t bite, just stay away from their tongues. Sometimes their venom gets there. Wyvern venom can melt your skin if you’re not careful.”

Blaze crooned when she saw her master arrive with the ribs. She playfully nudged Cerai’s shoulder and forearm, then closed her jaws over the meat and started eating it. Frostbite wasn’t as vocal, almost looking like he was still tired. But he accepted his breakfast, taking it to the back of his stall to eat it.

“Um, I’m curious about something. How do you tell...if they’re male or female? I don’t see anything...down there.”

Kurt had walked in with Stella’s hay at the same time Rolf made that comment. He burst out laughing and almost dropped the hay. “They’re reptiles...they’re not built that way.” Stella pricked her ears and whinnied. She didn’t know what that human sound meant, but she didn’t care as long as she had her breakfast.

Leo had lost it, he was laughing so hard he could hardly breathe. “You’re looking at the wrong end.” There was a brief pause. “...That came out wrong, didn’t it...”

“Yes it did.” Cerai elbowed him. “But yeah, you need to look at their faces. See the ruffs of skin? Males’ are bigger. When they want to attract a mate, they’ll puff out those ruffs. Females can do that too, but not as easily.”

“I’ve always wondered what it would be like to fly.” Boyd commented. “Did it take awhile to get used to that?”

“Well, our parents were both in the Crimean air force. Mom would fly us around before we could walk. Dad was never too keen on that though.” Leo smiled. “So the answer to your question is no. We’ve been flying as long as we can remember.”

Blaze had finished the ribs. She squawked and gnawed on the stall’s door. Cerai looked at her, then turned to Boyd and smirked. “Well if you want to try flying, now’s your chance. I think she wants to go stretch her wings.”

“...Seriously? She won’t throw me off?”

“I don’t think so. If you tried riding her without me though, she probably would. And believe me, I don’t want you going back to your place in a body cast either.” Cerai laughed. “I can’t fit three people on her safely though, so Rolf, if you want to try, maybe Leo will let you.”

“No thanks.” Rolf shuddered.

“Yep. The little runt is afraid of heights. He can’t even be up in the mountains for very long.” Boyd gave Rolf a noogie. He gave him a death glare and told him to stop.

Cerai opened the stall door. “Come on, girl. Let’s go for a fly.” Blaze walked out and crooned. “Let her sniff your hand, Boyd.”

“How come?”

“So she knows you’re a friend. Like dogs, they can smell the difference between friend and foe. If she thinks you’re a foe...things won’t end well.”

He held out his hand, and the orange wyvern blinked before placing her muzzle in his palm. His scent told her he was a little nervous, he wasn’t used to wyverns. He also appeared to be fierce and hotheaded, somewhat cocky, but that was expected from a male of his size and stature. From what Blaze knew of human social behavior, the strongest looking males generally got the most female attention, and they knew it, so they tended to have big egos. All in all, he smelled like a friend. She nudged his hand away and snorted softly.

“All right, that’s settled.” Cerai grabbed Blaze’s reins and began leading her out. Boyd followed. He looked eager now, eager to see what flying was like.

After a brief silence, Rolf took a deck of cards out of his pocket. “Brought these. Something to do, you know?”

“Oh, you like card games too?” Leo was interested. Frostbite snorted behind him. He, too, had finished his breakfast, and now he wanted out. “Okay, you can come with.” Leo opened the stall door and allowed the wyvern to come out. “He’ll stay near me, don’t worry. What we gonna play?”

“Fifty card pickup, maybe?”

Leo smirked. “Kurt, you troll.”

“What?” Rolf blinked.

“He was going to throw all the cards on the dirty stable floor and make you pick them up.” Leo explained. “Oldest trick in the book...”

The three left the stables with Frostbite trailing behind them, and set up a portable table and chairs outside the fort, because the weather was too nice to be cooped up indoors. After a couple rounds of go fish, Frostbite looked up and screeched. Cerai and Blaze had returned with Boyd.

“We...are never...doing that...again.” Boyd’s eyes were like dinner plates. He had a death grip on the saddle straps. Blaze snorted at him and he got down as fast as he could.

“Aww, is big brave warrior guy scared of heights?” Rolf had an onery grin on his face. “And you made fun of me!”

“Shut up, runt!”

“He was actually doing well, mostly. Flinched a bit when he looked down, but...then I did a loop de loop. Must’ve forgot he was there for a second. But hearing him scream like a baby was priceless...for about five seconds. Then I figured I better let him down before he threw up or wet his pants or something.” Cerai realized she was the only one laughing. “...I guess I owe an apology. Sorry...”

“Don’t worry about it.” Rolf snickered. “He’ll be fine.”

“Note to self: Always keep both feet on the ground...” Boyd mumbled.

When Ike showed up with Oscar and Titania, Boyd was collapsed under a tree, in a pose that resembled a dead person.

“Cerai took him flying.” Leo told them. “That’s all the explanation you need...”

“I think they need more explanation than that.” Cerai sighed. “I mean he looks like he fell off. Believe me, he didn’t. Unless he always sleeps like that. Does he?”

“I’ve...seen him in that pose once or twice. Good to see you’re getting along...” Ike had a slightly confused expression.

“Are we going to tell them what we found out?” Titania asked.

Ike blinked. “Yeah. Lucia and Geoffrey are now keeping their eyes peeled. More than they had been...but anyway they sent Bastian, he’s another one of the rare nobles who’s not a big airhead, to do some research. He’ll be reporting back if he finds anything out.”

“So now we have him and Jerec.” Oscar added. “Whether or not they work together is anyone’s guess, but two is better than one.”

Kurt nodded. “Well, your friend here’s going to be out of commission for awhile. So...stay for a little? Maybe for lunch?”

Mentioning food was all it took to convince Ike to stay until early afternoon. The situation with Daein was still fresh in everyone’s minds, but at least there was a plan.

Edited January 29, 2015 by Dragoncat

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 9

August 4, 648
Oribes Sea

“Boss, a bunch of beorc are coming our way!” A scraggly looking raven laguz addressed a bigger, yet equally scruffy, hawk. The bird laguz pirates had landed on a small island to rest the night before. They wouldn’t stay long. They never did. They knew where all the major ports were and would hang around them, close enough to be able to attack the ships, but far enough away that they wouldn’t be seen until it was too late. Once they raided a ship they would move on to the next port.

“I don’t see no ship.” The pirate leader replied gruffly. “I’m warning you, I don’t appreciate pranks.”

“It’s not a prank. And no ship, these are flying beorc. On them winged lizards and horses. Look, I think they saw us!”

---

“Well would you look at that, Terra. We’ve run into those mangy feathery bandits.” Valmas scratched his mount behind her face ruff. The brown wyvern growled. “I know.” Valmas told her. “But without a cargo ship, we’re useless to them.”

Queen Nyra had put him in charge of an airborne unit. His mission was in Port Toha, where the Crimeans were said to be keeping a fleet of ships. Daein was short on naval vessels. Most of them had been destroyed during the war, the ones that the Crimeans and Begnionites hadn’t burned with fire arrows had been chopped up for scrap wood. It wasn’t unlikely these days for a Crimean villager to have a house made out of something that used to float.

She had ordered him to bring back a ship or two, and she didn’t care how. Stealing from Daein’s former enemy was acceptable if the Crimeans refused to sell the ships. Xemar had offered to use force to get the job done. But while the Daein queen appreciated the black dragon’s enthusiasm, she pointed out that lightning fried sailors would be no use to anybody, and there would be retaliation, which she didn’t want. This mission was supposed to be quick and easy.

“Um, sir? Flying sub humans.” One of the soldiers spoke. She was a falcoknight who was only a little younger than Valmas. Pretty, smart, and quite the warrior too. If he wasn’t still hurting from losing Jaina and Connor, he might have pursued her...but he was convinced the gods would just break his heart again if he did.

“I know, Betty. I can see them.”

“It’s Retti, sir. Are we going to get them out of our way?”

Valmas had an idea. “No, we’re going to use them to our advantage.”

“...How, may I ask?”

“You’ll see. Get back into position.”

The battle cry of a hawk rang through the air as one of the pirates charged. Valmas raised his axe and swatted the laguz away like a fly. It was a powerful silver poleaxe, and combined with the strength of the man wielding it, the result was the hawk’s head being removed from its shoulders. “Listen up, you feathered fiends! If you don’t want to end up like that moron, you’ll stay where you are.” Valmas grabbed a pouch that had been attached to Terra’s saddle. “I have a gold gem in here with your names on it, but you’re not getting it for free. Now, do you want to know how to earn it, or do you want to try your luck against Daein’s finest fliers?”

“Prove it.” The pirate leader sneered. He was shifted now, as well as the rest of his crew. “How do I know there’s not just a worthless rock in there?” Valmas opened the pouch and removed a hunk of golden stone. The pirates screeched and cawed excitedly.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, beorc. What’s the plan?”

August 4, 648
Port Toha, Crimea

Today was the fourth annual Shoreline Solstice festival. It had begun the year of the Mad King’s War to encourage visitors to come to the port town. The first one had to be canceled for obvious reasons. But after four years, it had become quite popular. Merchants lined the streets, and there were various activities including one run by the local fishermen that allowed people to keep what they caught.

The Whitefires had decided to check it out this year, and so had the Greil Mercenaries. They had met each other at the town entrance and divided into smaller groups because not everyone wanted to do the same thing.

Samba came back from the fishing docks with a grumpy look on his face. “I can’t believe the nerve of that guy! It’s supposed to be something for everyone!”

“Oh gods, what’d you do...” Cerai frowned.

“He’s mad because using fishing equipment is required.” Leo said.

“Hooks and nets and poles are for beorc! It’d be much easier for me to use my claws and teeth, but that idiot fisherman thinks I’ll scare the fish away!”

Boyd blinked. “I thought cats hated water.”

There was a sudden uproar. People scattered, some being chased by bird laguz. Cerai and Leo called for their wyverns, Samba shifted, and the two groups instinctively began to fight off the pirates.

Even in the chaos of battle, Ike managed to notice something was off about one of the hawks. He or she (no way of telling the difference in bird form) wasn’t attacking the townspeople like the rest of them. This hawk’s appearance stuck in Ike’s mind: tan colored except for the tail feathers and head tuft, which were a warm brown.

He had seen Shinon and Rolf shoot down a few already. But then Shinon aimed at the one that wasn’t being aggressive, so Ike ran over and tackled him to the ground.

“Are you insane, Ike!? Get the hell off me, what’s your problem?!”

“Can’t you see that one’s not being aggressive?”

“Not being aggressive? A sub human is a sub human!”

“Did you just say what I think you said?” Samba walked over, still shifted, and bristling slightly. Most of the bird laguz pirates were either down or retreating.

“Yes I did, kitty kitty. What’s the matter, did someone show you a spray bottle?”

Samba let out an angry yowl. Cerai had heard the whole thing, and clenched her fists, dismounting and stomping over to give Shinon a death glare. “Nobody talks like that in my presence and gets away with it! I don’t care who you are, you can just go to hell!”

---

Strixal was intrigued. If those beorc warriors weren’t here, her former comrades would have this town in shambles. Maybe being in bird form wasn’t the best idea at the moment...but neither was being defenseless. Knowing Captain Kludd, he would rake his talons across her face if he saw her. He was greedy and cruel, and she remembered when there had been a deserter before her. He had been steamed for weeks. And every chance he got, he called the guy nasty names.

But that wasn’t what she was intrigued about. There was a cat laguz here who was fighting beside the beorc. And while most of them didn’t react negatively, one red haired man with a bow did. She couldn’t make out all of what they were saying. She didn’t have super hearing like the Phoenicis king Tibarn’s vassal Ulki was said to have. But she did hear some insults thrown back and forth, and saw that the bulky blue haired man was trying to defuse the situation.

“Well look who finally decided to show up.”

She knew that voice. “I was just passing through, and it looks like you’ve lost. If I were you, I’d leave.”

Kludd gave her a sinister smirk. “I no longer waste my time with traitors like you. And you have no idea...I’ve actually won.” A beorc on a brown wyvern flew up and handed Kludd a gold gem. He returned to human form and put it in his pocket, then left without another word.

“ALL RIGHT ALREADY! Set aside your differences or else! Everybody just shut up!”

Strixal had almost forgotten about the mysterious group of beorc. That blue haired one with the cape could yell as well as he could fight...apparently he was the leader.

“I’m NOT going to tolerate fighting amongst ourselves. Shinon, stop being racist. Samba, thank you for not flying off the handle. Cerai, Leo, I understand where you’re coming from, but name calling will only make things worse. Now do I make myself clear?”

The response was blank stares. Everyone seemed to be looking past Ike, like there was something scary behind him. “Don’t look now...” Leo mumbled. “But there’s a hawk behind you.”

Ike turned around, his hand on his sword. The hawk behind him was the same one he had stopped Shinon from shooting. His blue eyes met the hawk’s purple ones for a second, both were more confused than anything. And then the hawk shifted back. It was a female, she had shoulder length light blue hair, and looked like she was in her late teens.

“You don’t look like a pirate. At all.” Samba had also returned to human form.

Strixal breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good...I’ve been trying to get rid of the pirate look ever since I left those monsters. But all the beorc sailors are so used to getting raided that they see any hawk or raven and automatically think pirate.”

“I saw you flying around, not doing much else.” Ike said. “A former pirate, huh...I won’t ask what made you decide to quit, but I’m glad you did.” He held out his hand in a friendly gesture. “I’m Ike of the Greil Mercenaries...you might have heard of me.”

“I’m Strixal. Yeah, I think I might have...I’ve heard of a beorc leader named Ike a few times.” She would’ve told him why she quit the pirates if he asked. She still remembered the desperation in that rich sailor’s eyes when he begged her to spare him for the sake of his wife and kids...Kludd and his crew had probably done away with him though, which was sad. The bird pirates did mention Ike a few times. But it was never good things they said about him. She decided not to tell him that, and returned his handshake.

“I just thought of something. Don’t laguz pirates...usually attack ships at sea instead of ports?” Cerai stepped forward and blinked.

“They usually do. I was surprised to see them attack here...” Strixal paused. Should she tell them what she saw with her old boss and the wyvern man? Two of the beorc also had wyverns. But they obviously weren’t with that guy.

“The Whaletooth is gone!” A sailor pointed at an empty dock with chains dangling from it. “It must’ve broke away somehow!”

“The breaks on the chains are straight! They’ve been cut!” Another sailor pointed out. “Those flying bandits must’ve took it!”

“Laguz pirates steal ships now? Now I’ve seen everything...” Ike shuddered. “And they’ve learned to cut through chain...”

“No.” Strixal had to tell them now. “I saw a beorc give the pirate captain a gold gem. I’m more willing to bet they were employed by him to cause a distraction while he and his friends took it.” They looked like they wanted more explanation. “He was blond, middle aged. Riding on a brown wyvern. Expensive looking axe. Black armor.”

“Ike.” Leo tapped Ike’s shoulder. “Do you remember much of Jerec’s description of Valmas? I think he said his wyvern is brown...”

“Black armor usually equals Daein...” Samba added.

Ike shrugged. “I think he only gave us the wyvern color. But that sounds like the right age group.”

“What, is this Valmas fellow a problem? I didn’t think it was wise to attack him...” Strixal frowned.

“He...might be. Long story that you probably wouldn’t care about.” Cerai told her. “Two words: beorc politics.”

“Sums it up well enough...” Ike agreed. “Even I don’t understand beorc politics at times.”

“We ended up getting information ourselves. From a hawk laguz of all people...this is crazy.” Leo sighed. “If only Bastian or someone was here...”

Edited February 7, 2015 by Dragoncat

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 10

August 10, 648
Crimea Castle

Queen Elincia paced back and forth in her royal chambers. She was having a hard time with the idea of Daein plotting something...again. The other day she had asked where Bastian had been and Geoffrey told her the truth, instead of making up some story like Lucia apparently wanted him to. While she appreciated his honesty and would take that over little white lies any day, it made her want to run and hide in a hole. But she knew she couldn’t.

She had to wonder about the Daein queen’s childhood and how she was brought up. From what she’d heard, Nyra had been a soldier up until five years ago, and she’d never interacted with her father. She had to have known of him, but she was always told that she was sired by a common soldier who was killed in battle. To all of a sudden be told that was a lie, and she was instead the daughter of the mad king himself...it would be mind boggling, to say the least. Elincia knew if it were her, she would be doing everything in her power to distance herself from what her father was. If Nyra wasn’t doing that...it looked like nature was overpowering nurture. Either that or her mother or whoever raised her was just as insane...

Today there was going to be a royal meeting. The only nobles attending were the queen, Geoffrey, Lucia, and Bastian. They had managed to sneak it past the other nobles. Some of them were still unsure about Elincia’s methods of ruling. Nobody was going to try a full fledged rebellion after what happened to Ludveck, but it was still wise to keep this to a chosen few.

The rest of the chosen few were the leaders of the two mercenary groups who had come to Lucia’s rescue, as well as the spy Commander Ike had sent to Daein to do the same thing Bastian was doing. Elincia vaguely remembered this spy when he was named and described to her. She didn’t get the chance to get to know everyone during the war, but the few times Jerec had spoken to her showed her he was proud and sharp tongued, yet honorable. Anyone else from Daein, she would have trouble trusting now. Apparently he had left the land of his birth months ago...something was up in Daein, no doubt about it.

Commander Ike and Deputy Commander Titania had already seated themselves at the table when Queen Elincia and her vassals arrived. Ike had buffed up since the last time Elincia saw him up close. She had caught a glimpse of him during the fight that saved Lucia, but only a brief one. He looked...like one would expect a major war hero to look. Fierce, muscular...a stark contrast to the somewhat scrawny young man he had been before and during the war. Titania on the other hand hadn’t changed. She still had that kind and motherly appearance with a dash of toughness thrown in.

The door opened. A red haired young woman poked her head in, then moved back out. “I found the room!”

“Good, a few more minutes and we’d be late.”

Elincia had been looking forward to meeting the other group’s leaders. Twin wyvern riders who had ties to the Crimean Air Force, and their adopted laguz brother. She had seen the twins drop Ludveck from the sky. The plan was to get him alive so he could have a fair trial, but...that worked too. She was glad those two were on her side, they were obviously good at thinking outside the box, and that was always beneficial.

The family resemblance was clear. Both had crimson hair and emerald green eyes, and both had average builds, although the brother was slightly taller. He also had a splotch of a darker skin tone below one of his eyes. His sister didn’t appear to have any birthmarks. They were clothed in typical flier garb: light armor over simple shirts and pants, and armored boots.

Their adopted brother appeared to be a cat; tigers and lions tended to be bulkier. His eyes were a piercing gold. He had gray hair and ears, and his tail was gray with black stripes. Tigers always had stripes, but markings were possible on cats as far as Elincia knew. He wore a tunic with a bandanna around his neck, pants, and boots.

Geoffrey waited for the three to sit down, then spoke. “Sir Ike, Lady Titania. It is an honor to have you here. Care to introduce your companions-wait. There’s supposed to be one more. Where is he?”

Cerai remembered the rumor of the pregnant farm woman all of a sudden, but decided not to say anything about it. He certainly didn’t look like the type to do something like that. And bringing it up would just open a big can of worms that wasn’t needed.

“Fashionably late I assume...” Ike shrugged. “If we start without him, I don’t think he’ll mind. As long as we fill him in later.” Cerai kicked his chair. The armored boot clanged against the wooden chair leg. “What? Jerec was late for dinner all the time when he traveled with me! It’s just something he does sometimes!”

“I was trying to get permission to introduce myself. Guess I forgot: you can’t read minds.” Cerai snickered, then snapped her mouth shut at Geoffrey’s leer. “...Right. No horseplay in the royal court...apologies.”

“Apology accepted...” Elincia said calmly. “And Geoffrey, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to introduce themselves. We can’t expect Ike to talk for them.”

Introductions were made, then Elincia gave Bastian permission to start. The mustached sage spoke with an almost poetic rhythm. “I spoke to a young lady with silver hair. She seemed to know why I was there. There was a young gentleman with her, green hair, looked like a bit of a scoundrel, but I could tell he and the silver haired lady were close and trusted each other. She started to tell me a few things, that the two of them run a group called the Dawn Brigade, and that they simply don’t trust the lady on the throne. Then the green haired young buck gave her a bit of a tongue lashing. Claimed they were late for something and they had to leave. Ladies and gentlemen, I asked around about this Dawn Brigade. They’ve smited bandits, but the Daein nobles and military seem to dislike them and some even compare them to the bandits they deal with.”

“Did you meet our spy at all?” Samba flicked his ears. “Dark red hair, about this tall.” He raised a hand to the height he thought Jerec was.

“Somewhat of a vague description, my fine feline friend.”

“I’ll take that as a no, then.” Titania frowned.

The door flew open. “We’re under attack, your majesty!” The guard yelled at the top of his lungs. “They’ve gotten through the outer gates and now they’re making their way here!”

“Leave this to us.” Lucia stepped in front of Elincia as she tried to make her way out. But Elincia shoved right past her. “I want to see these enemies with my own eyes. I will not be a sheltered passive ruler any longer.”

August 10, 648
Melior, Crimea

The dark blast hit the Daein soldier square in the chest, forcing the air out of his lungs. Gasping for air, he retaliated with a quick stab that he thought was aimed straight between his enemy’s eyes, but the magic impact had blurred his vision. The lance hit above where he thought he was aiming. It grazed the top of Darcen’s head, almost scalping him. The shaman prepared to launch another blast of eldark. A white blur whooshed toward him, he assumed it was ice magic. He ducked, and the soldier fell to the ground, his eyes glazed over and the rest of him frozen solid.

Darcen smiled when he saw who had cast the ice spell. He wished she would’ve warned him first though...if he hadn’t been alert, he would probably be an ice block now.

“Black armor...” Kelly walked over and kicked the frozen corpse. “Daein? What the...”

“I’m not sure. But now isn’t the time.” Darcen told her. Kurt rode past on Stella, chasing a Daein archer. The cloud of dust that resulted made Darcen sneeze.

“Right! I’ve got your back. Let’s make them wish they were never born!” And then she ran off toward the nearest Daein. Darcen couldn’t help grinning. Maybe Samba was right...maybe she was his type...

----

Elincia shuddered. Definitively Daein...they had attacked before a plan could be made! Was it a revenge plot, or something worse...

“You’re hesitating.” Geoffrey rode up beside her. She had retrieved Bellona from the stables and was on the pegasus’ back, but all four hooves were still on the ground. “Your highness, it would be ideal that you go someplace safe. There are plenty who are more...well equipped to defend our capital.”

She gave him a blank look. “I want to know why they’re doing this again.” The cavalry had begun engaging the attackers, the air force circled above. Two royal knights, Kieran and Marcia, charged the same Daein cavalier at the same time. The Daein went flying through the air at the force of the impact, the riderless horse ran away.

Geoffrey’s horse neighed. He patted its neck, sighing. “Just don’t go too far, this is dangerous, but you already know that. Come on, Maximus.” The cream colored stallion was raring to go. A young man on a black horse was trying to corner an archer nearby, Geoffrey figured he was with the mercenaries judging from his skill level. The archer saw Elincia and aimed toward her, but was quickly dealt with by the mercenary cavalier.

“Traitor! Stop him!” One of the Daeins yelled. A red haired halberdier had taken down a soldier who was harassing the purple haired mercenary priest. From behind a distant building, a mage was spinning her arm like she was about to throw an object. Elincia knew that action, she had seen some of her own mages do that to focus and charge a spell. There was no one close enough to that mage for anything but a long range spell, and she was looking right at the red haired halberdier who just had to be Jerec.

Jerec was almost trampled by a pegasus, and there was a crack of thunder magic that hit right where he had been standing before he was forcefully moved. He raised his lance and swore under his breath, but lowered it when he saw who it was. “For the gods’ sake, Queen Elincia! It’s me! Remember?”

“Yes, I remember. Did you not notice that bolting tome aimed right at you?”

The mage was running toward them, this time charging an elthunder tome. An arrow hit her in the heart. Shinon and Rolf highfived from a nearby ledge.

The battle was winding down, the Daeins had been reduced to a meager number. Kieran had the Daein commander in ropes and was asking Geoffrey whether he wanted him to kill or interrogate him.

“Let him go.” Elincia ordered. “We can get enough information otherwise. He won’t be a threat now that most of his troops are gone.”

The Daein commander was released. Elincia turned to Geoffrey. “Geoffrey, this is Jerec, the other spy. He was hiding among the enemy all this time.”

“I see...interesting tactic...”

The two mercenary groups began to gather. Jerec stared into space for a second. “...Other spy?”

“It will be explained. For now, you’ll need to follow us back to the castle so everyone will be on the same page.” Geoffrey began leading everyone back.

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 11

August 10, 648
Crimea Castle

“I made an effort to be within earshot of Queen Nyra when she ordered the attack. I heard her say, direct quote: ‘Find that dastard they call Lord Ike. And kill him. Slaughter him like he slaughtered my father.’ I wasn’t worried. I know Ike can take care of himself. But that’s all I heard.”

This time the group attending the meeting was much larger, extended to the members of the groups and not just the leaders. Jerec’s words confirmed Queen Elincia’s suspicions. Nyra was out for blood...out to avenge the death of the father she had never even met.

Ike seemed to bristle. “I wondered why they seemed to be targeting me more than anyone else. One of them actually swiped at Boyd, saw me, then left him there and came after me. I thought that was kinda weird...guess now I know why.”

“Yeah, and that was the last thing he did. Literally. I know because...well, did you see all that blood? He was bleeding like a beaten...” Boyd stopped there. “...I forgot where we are. I’m not gonna say it. Anyway I was confused too. I could’ve done the same thing though...”

“I thought I was the only one who said beaten hooker at that time of the month...” Cerai muttered, quiet enough that the ones farther away from her couldn’t make out any words.

“I borrowed it. It’s genius.”

Geoffrey pounded his fist on the table. “Take your whispering elsewhere, and remember that these were people too! Don’t talk about them like their lives weren’t worth anything!”

“That’s why it was hard for me to turn on them. I had to socialize to fit in...there was a newlywed couple, she told him she had to return home. You should’ve seen him smile when she said why...” Jerec frowned and hung his head. “That poor kid is going to grow up without a father...I know because I recognized him among the dead.”

There was a brief silence, then Geoffrey cleared his throat. “See? This isn’t something to be taken lightly. Many brave lives were lost today...on both sides. Captain Kieran informed me that four Crimean knights are confirmed to be dead. Many more are wounded, that number may go up. For now...Vick, Viola, Raeni, Cadil. May they rest in peace.”

“All right, we get it...these weren’t bandits.” Leo frowned. “But...does this mean war? Again?”

Everyone was looking at Elincia for an answer to that. She blinked and spoke in a nervous tone. “I...give permission to use military force against any Daeins who show up on our side of the border. Not including Jerec, of course...I also order more frequent border patrols and more troops doing so on a daily basis. As for the mercenaries...I know Sir Ike’s group has been to all corners of Tellius. Sir Leo, Lady Cerai, have you and your friends traveled much?”

“Been to Gallia once. Other than that, we haven’t been far from Crimea.” Cerai shrugged. “Why do you ask?”

“Marcia, tell them about the Begnion captain you met last month.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Marcia nodded. “Last month, towards the end of the rebellion, there was a man collapsed in the woods near the Crimea and Begnion border. I was on a routine patrol when I spotted him. He was weakened and a bit cut up, but I couldn’t tell whether that was a result of him being attacked or being lost for a long time. I brought a healer and some water to him. He introduced himself as Lord Theodor, younger brother to Begnion’s General Zelgius and a captain in the Begnion central army.”

“Zelgius has a brother?” Ike’s eyes widened.

“Apparently. I could see the resemblance, so I’m sure he wasn’t fibbing. He said many people outside of Begnion don’t know of him. He’d been in his big brother’s shadow for quite some time and just recently rose to captain status. Anyway when I told him my name and title, he told me he owed Crimea a debt for helping him out. I said that wouldn’t be necessary, but he insisted. Said he will gladly donate troops or supplies if that’s ever needed, and he asked for an audience with Queen Elincia so he could tell her personally. I told him I would relay the message because of matters that didn’t need to be known outside Crimea, the rebellion...he seemed to understand. I accompanied him back to the border, and that was the last I saw of him.”

“Thank you, Marcia.” Elincia sounded like she had a plan. “I will take it from here. While the Greil Mercenaries are needed here, to help with border patrols and to back up the soldiers when and if it’s needed, I propose that the Whitefires make their way to Flaguerre in Begnion, where Lord Theodor is. I will sign a note to prove they are Crimean royal messengers. Everything he needs to know will be written down. Can I trust you to do this?”

Cerai and Leo nodded in unison. Elincia smiled. “Both groups are welcome to stay overnight. There is plenty of room in the stables for the wyverns and horses, and plenty of spare rooms in the castle. I will have everything ready in the morning, the note and a few troops and supplies.”

----

Darcen confronted the Whitefire leaders later that day. “Permission to bring Kelly along? It’d be rude to leave without at least telling her.”

“I don’t mind.” Cerai replied. “What about you, bro?”

“I don’t mind either. Extra mages are always a plus, right?”

“As long as they’re not on the enemy side.” Samba chuckled. “Make sure she doesn’t get excited and accidentally blast me or anyone else.”

“Oh, she won’t...” He didn’t need to tell them about how he almost became an ice block...he was sure that was supposed to be a joke anyway.

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 12

August 11, 648
Melior, Crimea

“Do you remember which stable numbers Queen Elincia gave us?” Leo darted across the courtyard to where Cerai and Samba were finishing their breakfast. The Whitefires had had a good night’s sleep, and now it was time to prepare to depart for Begnion. Ike and his group were still around, but most of them including Ike hadn’t gotten up yet. Ike had actually crashed in the castle lounge hall instead of the room he had been given. Nobody wanted to attempt to move or wake him.

“Let me guess, you lost the paper.” Cerai said between bites of toast. The response was an annoyed look. Cerai replied with an eye roll. “I figured you would, so I wrote them down myself.” She retrieved a piece of paper from a leather pouch and handed it to her brother.

“Thanks...maybe you should keep the note when we get it...”

“You think?” Cerai laughed. “I suppose it’s about time to get the wyverns out and let them stretch...”

“You guys do that. I’ll attempt to round up the others.” Samba flicked his tail. “By that time, Ike and them should be up...we’re going to be away for probably a long time, you know? I’ll miss their company. Except for that red ponytailed archer...”

“We’ll cross paths again, I’m sure. I just hope Boyd lives that long. Gods, that guy is accident prone...”

Leo stared blankly. “You...sound genuinely worried.” His stare turned into a wide smirk. “I get it...you like him, don’t you?”

“They would make quite the pair...but their kids would be brats!” Samba’s ears flattened at that thought.

“Can’t I show some concern without you two going Cupid on me?” Cerai smacked Leo and attempted to stomp on Samba’s tail. He moved it out of the way, chuckling softly.

“I’ll meet you at the north watch tower when it’s time.” Samba called after the twins as they walked away. The north watch tower was where the queen was going to see them off.

----

When Elincia had said there was plenty of room in the stables, she wasn’t lying, but she neglected to mention that some of them had to be doubled. Blaze and Frostbite had to share one, and Stella had to share one with Mist’s horse, a roan and white mare named Ember. The wyverns were curled up in opposite sides of their stall. It wasn’t extremely cramped, but it was obvious that they preferred having their own spaces.

The pegasus in the stall next to them neighed and reared. Leo attempted to pat it, but it bit his hand. “Ow!” He gritted his teeth and backed away.

“You should know by now pegasi don’t like men.”

“But that’s just riders!”

“Forgive him, please.” A young woman walked in. She had long black hair and yellow eyes, and her outfit suggested that she was a pegasus knight. “He’s...a bit afraid of wyverns because he got attacked by one a couple years ago. And there’s two of them right next to him.”

A closer look revealed that the brown pegasus had a scar across one of his eyes, and the ear on the same side had a chunk ripped out of it. “The wyvern that did it was from a small group of feral ones.” The pegasus’ owner continued. “We were trying to domesticate them. They had other ideas...we ended up having to kill them before they did any more damage. Poor things, they didn’t know they were doing anything wrong...”

She got no response except for sad looks. “So...my name is Eloin. I’m a pegasus knight in the air force. Are you two new recruits?”

Cerai and Leo exchanged a glance. Surely the air force knew the queen was working with a few mercenary groups, but did they know all the details?

“We’re mercenaries employed by the queen.” Cerai told her.

“Oh! You must be Captain Riara’s twins! I’ve heard a lot about her, and you, from Captain Jarrin!”

That got a grin out of both twins. Jarrin was a friend of the family, almost like an uncle to them. The fact that he’d been promoted in their late mother’s place was some nice news. While their mother had been an air force captain, their father was a private. Some people found this quite amusing. Riara, a third generation military woman and captain, had fallen for one of her subordinates, a man from the outskirts of Melior who had no combat skills before being drafted into the air force. This came as a surprise to a lot of people and even angered some of the higher ranking male air force soldiers. Captain Riara was a strong and attractive woman, and when she married Private Ethan, it came as a blow to them. But Riara and Ethan ignored this drama, and raised their twins to follow in their footsteps. They weren’t sure how to parent the laguz they adopted, but they did their best and were good parents to all three up until their tragic ends.

“I’m glad I get to meet you!” Eloin was smiling widely. “Some of the air force resent you for leaving, but they say mostly good things. Like...how noble it is that you’re protecting the defenseless villages, something the royal military would never have time to do. And you even got to work with Sir Ike! How awesome is that?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty awesome.” Leo agreed. “We have to be leaving on a mission soon, so...we can’t stay and chat.”

Eloin stepped in front of him as he turned to leave. “Actually, you can. Just not here. I’m one of the troops that’s going with you.” Her pegasus snorted and shook himself. “Let me calm Chestnut and I’ll be right there.”

----

A crowd had gathered near the north watch tower. The Greil Mercenaries were up now, the first thing Cerai and Leo saw when they arrived was Freya and Boyd in the middle of a sparring match with Rhys and Amiel standing by with heal staves. He was dodging many of her attacks, and it looked like he had the upper hand until she whacked him in the groin. He recoiled and dropped the practice axe, cursing.

“Tell your comrade to quit cheating!” Boyd was limping, but it was obvious he was just pretending to be that hurt.

“Yeah, Freya, that’s cheating.” Cerai was trying, and failing, to keep a straight face. “Save that for when the guy’s trying to kill you.”

“He was aiming for my face way too much, so I figured that would get his attention. I was right.”

“That’s a habit of mine...I like smashing heads in, it’s easier to get a kill that way with an axe than aiming for the chest. Guess it carried over to practice...but that still doesn’t give you the right to try to castrate me. I want to settle down and have a few kids someday, you know!”

Ike laughed so hard he almost choked on the bacon he was munching on. “Gods, Boyd, your kids would be holy terrors. Maybe you should have them with a more...calmer woman and hope that mellows them out!”

Everyone who heard that nearly busted a gut, but the laughing stopped when Elincia appeared. She swooped down on her pegasus and landed in front of the crowd, then told the common villagers among them to go back to what they had been doing before because this didn’t concern them.

The Whitefires were raring to go after they had the message in tow, but not before they said parting words to their friends in the Greil Mercenaries. Ike pulled the twins and Samba aside. “Be prepared for anything. I was eager to travel too, but believe me, constant battles can really make a guy homesick. Don’t let that discourage you. Take each day as it comes. You’ll come back changed for the better.”

“We’re not going to Daein to strike down a mad ruler for the love of flying!” Leo snapped.

“I don’t think that’s what he means. We’re not going to get there and come back without any confrontations...” Cerai shook her head. “Unfortunately, that’s just the way things are.”

“But we’ll be fine.” Samba said.

Ike smiled. “Yes, you’ll be fine. Your group reminds me of my own back in the day. Goodbye and good luck!”

----

August 11, 648
Crimea Castle

Ike had gotten a bit of a scolding for not sleeping in the room Elincia gave him the night before. Tonight he was in it, but that wasn’t the only reason. He knew exactly who those two bright stars outside the window were...he needed to be somewhere without distractions.

“Dad, Mom. I know you can hear me. Please watch over my friends. I have a feeling they’ll need it...”

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 13

August 18, 648
Skrall Woods, Gallia

Because of the mountains on the Crimea/Begnion border, and because of the nasty weather that occurred in those mountains in late summer/early fall, the Whitefires found it wise not to take the shorter route. They would cross through Gallia, home of the beast laguz. From there they would skirt along the edge of Serenes Forest and make their way to Flaguerre.

They had made their camp in a forest clearing. A river was nearby, and the wyvern rider twins’ first instinct had been to splash around and play all the water games they used to play when they were kids. Or it would’ve been if the river hadn’t been flowing at a dangerous speed. Apparently Gallia had gotten more rain than Crimea this year.

Snares had been set around the banks of the river, because Cerai had spotted some wild pig tracks in that area. She had studied tracking and survival skills when she was younger and was quite good at it, but there was one thing she could never get: making a fire without matches. It wasn’t that she didn’t know how, but she could never pull it off when she tried. Kelly had offered to use a fire tome to make it easier. Neither twin would accept the easy way out. Leo’s stubbornness finally got the group their campfire built, even if it took almost half an hour to do so and resulted in a sliced thumb when one of the sticks split in half. He cussed and threw that stick across the clearing, then dug into the first aid kit for a bandage, growling at Amiel when he asked if he needed him to use his heal staff.

They bunkered down about an hour past sunset. When morning arrived, Samba volunteered to go check the snares and “bring back the bacon” if it was there. After he left, a young beast laguz appeared at the edge of the thicket. She took one look at the group of beorc, and her tufted tail stiffened as she ran back into the trees. “Torrel, there’s a bunch of beorc here!”

The laguz named Torrel was a burly, gold haired individual with gray eyes. She almost appeared to be a male, but all confusion was lost when she spoke in a feminine voice. “Are you the ones who put those snares up?” She was regarding them with a mixture of surprise and disgust, like she couldn’t believe such a large group of beorc with two wyverns, a pegasus, and a horse had snuck in right under her nose.

“We mean you no trouble.” Kurt said. “We’re just passing through.”

“Answer my question!”

“Yes...we put the snares up.”

Torrel dropped into a crouch, a pose that often meant a laguz was going to shift. Mere seconds later, a golden furred tiger was standing in front of the Whitefires. Behind her, a smaller light green lion, obviously female judging from the lack of a mane, had a nervous look on her face.

“Stealing prey now?” Torrel unsheathed her claws. “What’s next, cutting down all the trees in the forest and using the lumber for gods knows what?”

Kelly had gotten a fire tome out. Cerai stepped in front of her and pushed her aside. “We can still try to settle this peacefully.” She whispered, then turned to the two laguz. “We aren’t going to stay here much longer. We won’t take anything that can’t be easily replenished, just one pig, probably.”

“No snares or traps are allowed on Gallian land! And wild pig hunting is illegal now because their population is suffering!”

“Woah, how can that be possible?” Leo blinked. “Don’t those things have large litters? Like...ten? Have they been over hunted?”

“Only beorc would hunt a species to that point!” Torrel snapped. “If you must know, it’s because swine flu is going around. We don’t know if you can get it from eating infected prey, but nobody wants to chance it.”

Leo winced. “Well, so much for that bacon...”

“Really, we’re not here for trouble.” Darcen stepped forward. “You’ve heard of Ike, right? We’re friends of his.”

“I don’t know how they can’t know of him, he was born here...” Cerai said.

“Tell me another fairy tale. You expect me to believe that, oh, a couple decades ago, a beorc female came to a laguz nation, gave birth, and left? And her son grew into a great leader and hero? Oh, Lord Caineghis is gonna love this...”

Darcen whispered to Cerai and Leo. “King Caineghis was there during Ike’s birth. He’ll know we’re not lying.”

“Yeah, but...” Cerai whispered back. “How do we get to him without a fight?”

“Shouldn’t we wait until Samba comes back?” Leo added, also whispering. “That will help our case if they find out there’s one of their kind among us.”

Torrel’s tail lashed violently. “You are coming with me and Shenzi! You better hope the king is in a good mood!”

August 18, 648
Zarzi, Gallia

The steeds had been left at the campsite. The laguz wouldn’t allow any of the beorc to stay behind, but they didn’t want beorc mounts coming along either. Shenzi seemed like she would be more understanding, yet the Whitefires knew if Torrel told her to, she would definitively crush some heads. Lions were said to be the strongest of the beast tribe. This was backed up by the fact that laguz monarchs had to earn their right to rule based on strength and that throughout Gallia’s history, most, if not all, of the ones on the throne had been lions. Shenzi was young though...and if her tiger superior officer/mentor wanted to settle this with violence, she would’ve done so by now.

Compared to Castle Crimea, Castle Gallia was humble looking. It looked more like a fancy tavern only without the bars and tables. The furniture was made of stone, wood, and leather, and the decorations were mostly bones and antlers, occasionally furs and mounted skulls of various big game animals. Beorc castles, on the other hand, were often decorated and furnished with white marble, gold and silver, velvet, and other expensive materials that were hard to find in the wilderness. It just showed the cultural differences between beorc and laguz. The beast and dog tribes were avid hunters, so they tended to show that when they designed the insides of their buildings. The bird tribes were said to be similar, only with fish instead of large game, with the exception of the herons who had their overgrown forest temples. The dragon tribes were a bit of an enigma, but it was commonly believed that they hoarded valuable gemstones and used those to decorate.

The Gallian king was huge...he towered over everyone else, and even through his royal robes, one could see how muscular he was. He looked at the beorc “intruders” and spoke sternly. “I don’t recall seeing any of you in the Mad King’s War with Ike. If you’re lying, your best bet would be to leave now. I can’t guarantee your safety otherwise.”

After about a minute of Cerai and Leo staring at each other, trying to decide who would speak, King Caineghis chose for them. “You, young man with the mark under your eye. You look stronger than your sister. Strength determines authority here. Explain to me why your merry little band has broken Gallian hunting laws and claimed to know Ike as an excuse.”

They were both dumbfounded at first. Caineghis knew they were siblings...but then again, it was quite obvious. “We weren’t aware of those laws.” Leo said after standing there with his mouth open for a few seconds. “Honest. And...you were right when you said we weren’t with Ike during the war. We didn’t know him then. We met him afterward. I don’t know how to prove it, but...”

Cerai raised her hand. “I think I might have proof. A lot of people in Crimea don’t know this, so I’m pretty sure he only tells it to those he considers his friends...he was born here, and you, your highness, were there at the time.”

Caineghis blinked, then all the hostility drained from his face. “And he was the cutest little cub ever!”

“Wait, they were telling the truth?” Torrel’s ears flattened in embarrassment. “Why...why would a beorc be born in laguz territory?”

“Long story.” Caineghis said. “Forgive us, please. We normally aren’t so...unwelcoming. But lately we’ve been having problems with Begnion. They’ve crossed the border multiple times and harassed and sometimes even attacked innocent Gallians. And not just bandits. Believe me, on occasion beorc bandits will get cocky and think they can get away with raiding villages in Gallia. But now Begnion soldiers are acting somewhat like that, and they should know better.”

“You have my apologies. I thought you were Begnionites posing as Crimeans.” Torrel frowned. “I’ve been a...bad mentor. If you must transfer Shenzi to someone else, so be it...”

“I don’t know how things work here exactly, but everyone makes mistakes.” Darcen attempted to console the tiger. She smiled awkwardly and thanked him.

“We’re actually on our way to Begnion...”

“You sound like my information has made you nervous, little beorc mage.” Caineghis replied to Kelly gruffly. “And you have good reason to. I won’t ask why Crimean beorc are traveling to Begnion in a decent sized, yet ragtag group, at a time when Begnion soldiers appear to have no morals. I’ll just send you on your way. But please, take down the snares. We don’t want curious little cubs getting caught in them.”

Cerai bowed politely. “That can be done. Sorry about that. I guess we assumed laguz kids know what snares are.”

August 18, 648
Skrall Woods, Gallia

“What the hell is wrong with you guys?!” Samba was back at the campsite when his comrades returned. “I’m gone for half an hour, and come back and you’ve left and didn’t take the steeds! Do you think this is funny? Because it’s not!”

He didn’t have a dead pig with him. Which was a good thing. “There was no pig in any of the snares.” The laguz continued. “I suppose I’ll accept ‘we were looking for other prey’ as an excuse...”

Leo sighed. “You better sit down. This will take awhile to explain...

[Dragoncat]

Chapter 14

August 20, 648
East Skrall Woods, Gallia

Two days had passed since the confrontation, and the Whitefires hadn’t had their camp spotted since. This was all thanks to Samba finding a big batch of cloakweed. Cloakweed was a plant that was very good at covering up the scent of something, or someone. It was well known among the beast and dog tribes as an effective tool. Samba didn’t remember much about his time with his biological parents, but he did remember that.

It worked for most of them, but Amiel appeared to have a cloakweed allergy. He broke out in a itchy rash when the leaf was placed in his collar. Staying nearby appeared to be the only option, but Kelly wouldn’t hear of it. She was convinced that there was another way to hide the priest’s scent, and demanded that he give her his robes so she could “deodorize” them using a vial of pure water, various other plants, and some wind magic. Everyone but the timid healer scoffed at this idea, but he regretted his decision later when too much wind magic was used and his clothes went flying into the high branches of a tree. Samba retrieved them so he wouldn’t have to stay in the bushes or walk out in his underwear. The robes weren’t soaking wet, but they were cold and stiff and generally uncomfortable.

During lunch, Samba raised his head and sniffed, then made a disgusted face. “Do you guys smell that?”

“Whoever smelt it dealt it.” Leo commented between mouthfuls.

“No!” Samba whacked him with his tail. “It smells more like somebody who hasn’t taken a bath in months.”

Darcen shuddered. “Sounds like bandits...and we’re in Gallia. Fantastic...”

“I’ve never met a laguz bandit.” Eloin said, frowning. “Or a beorc one for that matter...don’t want to either way.”

A patch of foliage rustled, and a head poked out. The man was obviously a bandit. His hair was messy, dirty, and plastered to his head. His expression changed from blank to hostile, then back to blank as he muttered something about “wrong way” and slipped away.

“Yeah, you better walk away!” Cerai shook her fist at the retreating bandit. “Filthy creep!”

“He looked like he was up to something...” Amiel frowned and dug at the rash on his neck.

“One bandit won’t last long against a laguz town.” Eloin pointed out.

“You’re in for a rude awakening.” Leo told her. “Bandits are like mice. You see one, there’s got to be a lot more, and if you don’t get rid of them, they’ll take over.” After a pause, he added: “Only they don’t reproduce near as quickly...”

Cerai laughed. “Yeah, and that’s a good thing. Also, they’re easily dealt with when you have a cat...” She turned to Samba during that last statement. “Know what I’m saying?”

Samba threw his arms in the air and huffed. “You want me to use scent to track them down...why, exactly? We’re just passing through and I’m sure everyone here is capable enough.”

“We know they’re in the area...even if they will get what’s coming to them, they might catch the Gallians by surprise and kill some kids or something.” Cerai replied.

Leo nodded. “Remember what we said when we started this group? That we would do our best to make sure innocent lives aren’t lost, whenever we can? I think that also applies to wherever.”

“Okay fine.” Samba shifted and flicked his tail. “I think they went...this way.”

August 20, 648
Somewhere along the Gallia/Begnion border

The scent trail led to a rundown building, deep in the woods. Darcen tilted his head when it came into view. “This looks like...”

“A bandit hideout.” Kelly said.

“Yes, it would appear so. But I can finish my own sentences, thank you very much...” Darcen looked up at the sound of wing flaps. “Did you three see anything from up there? Any indication of whether or not they’re actually here?”

All three landed, and Eloin spoke. “There’s a carriage with a cart behind it coming straight toward us. Do bandits even use horses and carriages?”

“I haven’t seen any that do before, but I’d assume they’d use them if they get the chance.” Cerai shrugged. Scanning the faces of the group revealed that Kurt looked like he had an idea. She turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “What are you thinking about so intently?”

“I’m thinking I should meet that carriage before it gets here and find out who it is and what they’re doing.”

“Are you nuts? What if they’re the bandits?” Leo scoffed. “I’m sure you can deal with one, but we don’t know how many’s in there and how tough they are. Or what they have as weapons...if just a few of them have anti cavalry weapons, that’s a potential suicide.”

“Nobody said I had to take them on. Stella’s part racehorse. If I run into trouble, I can be back here in a flash. Then we’ll have them right where we want them.” The black mare nickered in agreement. “Show me the direction they were coming from.”

Eloin pointed to the southwest. “Be careful.”

----
A man dressed in tattered clothes and with a steel bow slung over his shoulder was driving a carriage down a dirt road. He turned to one of his companions inside the carriage and spoke gruffly. “Go silence those mangy things, will ya? They’re making too much racket!”

“Yes sir!” The swordsman hopped out as the driver stopped the carriage, and made his way to the back. The cart was a closed one, and it was rattling. The man whacked it with his sword hilt. “Shut up in there! Before the boss decides to turn you into rugs!”

Kurt had seen the whole thing. Definitively bandits...with laguz prisoners from the looks of things. He decided to do a surprise attack on them since they appeared to not see him.

The myrmidon bandit turned just in time to see a young man on a black horse charging from the bushes at the side of the road, yelling and swiping at him with a sword. The blade connected, slicing the bandit’s shoulder. He yelped and attempted to hit his attacker with his own sword as he moved past, but he was too slow. The sword lodged itself into the wooden carriage.

“Idiot!” The driver spat. “Get your ass back in here! We’re going after him!”

----

Samba dug his claws into the ground. “How long must I keep smelling this stench? Let’s get Kurt and get outta here!”

As if on cue, a carriage and cart came thundering down the road, chasing Kurt and Stella. “They’ve got prisoners, don’t hit the cart!”

Leo was raring to go. Pulling on Frostbite’s reins, he launched himself into the air and prepared to charge the driver of the carriage. Cerai was yelling something behind him. He found it odd that she wasn’t doing the same, but then an arrow pierced one of Frostbite’s wings and they both plummeted into the bushes.

“I told you to watch it!” Cerai snapped. She didn’t have time to say any more. The bandit leader had an evil grin on his face and he was aiming an arrow toward her now. A sudden burst of energy, triggered by anger and adrenaline, allowed her to take him out before he could shoot.

“Boss is down and we’re outnumbered!” A bandit yelled. Another started toward the front of the carriage, but was blocked by Samba. “Just leave them! Not worth it!” A group of four bandits left the carriage and retreated.

“Those were the wimpiest bandits I’ve ever seen.”

Cerai breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of Leo’s voice. Turning around, she saw him limp out of the bushes with twigs sticking to him. He looked like he had sprained his ankle, but he was otherwise fine.

“Didn’t you say something about prisoners?” Leo turned to Kurt, picking twigs out of his hair. Frostbite raised his head and whined. He, too, was covered in twigs, and there was a bleeding puncture wound in his wing membrane.

“Yes, I did...” Kurt walked over to the cart and looked for a way to open it. When he didn’t find one, he tapped it. “You’re safe now, we just need to find a way to get you out.”

“You smell like a beorc.” A child’s voice came from the cart. “But...you’re not stinky. I think you’re a good guy.”

“LAGUZ prisoners? Kids? Those monsters!” Samba raced over, still in cat form. “Are you hurt?”

“And you smell like a laguz! My mom says sometimes laguz and beorc work together, but I’ve never actually seen that.”

“I’m fine, but I tried to bite through to get out and now my fangs hurt.” This voice had the gritty sound that laguz voices had while shifted, but was still recognizable as belonging to a young child.

Frostbite let out a loud screech. Leo patted him. “I know it hurts, buddy! I wish I would’ve paid more attention in the first aid class...”

“Luckily for you, I passed that one with flying colors!” Eloin walked over, holding a roll of gauze, tape, and a small dark brown bottle. “This is hydrogen peroxide, it’ll clean the wound, but it might sting...”

The white wyvern winced and screeched softly as the contents of the bottle were poured onto the puncture. Eloin covered it with the gauze and taped it in place. “That should work, it doesn’t look like any major tendons or nerves were cut. For that, you’re lucky...and if I remember correctly, you can still fly while it’s healing, as long as you’re careful.”

A key had been found in the dead bandit leader’s pocket, allowing Samba to shift back and unlock the cart. There were three young laguz, two cats and a tiger. The tiger was dark red furred and the only shifted one, but he returned to human form after jumping out. “I haven’t seen you ever...you must be from Zarzi or somewhere else?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Samba smiled.

One of the cats, a tiny green haired female, ran across the road. “Aunt Shenzi!”

Sure enough, the lioness from two days ago had showed up, and so had Torrel. They were shifted at first, but not when they saw that the bandits were gone. Shenzi smiled and caught her niece as she lunged at her. “Thank gods you’re safe!”

“These nice people chased those bad guys off!”

Torrel’s ears pricked. “We meet again...” Then she noticed Samba. “...You’re with these beorc, aren’t you?”

Samba nodded. “Yes...long story.”

“Long stories seem to be quite common these days.” Torrel said. “But that’s not important. The important thing is, you deserve a thanks. I have a feeling we’d be following those idiots for longer if you hadn’t stepped in. Beorc bandits have been trying stuff like this a lot lately. I don’t want to think about what they might want the cubs for...”

“Yeah, me neither.”

“You’re welcome.”

Torrel smiled slightly at the twins. “Best of luck on your journey or whatever. Come on cubs, let’s get you back to your folks.”

After they had left, Cerai spoke. “We need to make haste. We’ll cross the border and go as far as we can before nightfall...running into any more trouble wouldn’t be good...”