Chapter 6

That evening brought the promised banquet. Though assembled in haste it included an impressive spread of expertly prepared, succulent foods from all corners of Ylisse. Wine flowed freely and the atmosphere was a joyous one, despite the alarming developments between Valm and Ferox. The group's lives were full of troubles but for a few hours they could just enjoy themselves. It was a welcome respite after days spent running and fighting. Unfortunately it was to be cut short.

"Countess, there is an emergency!" A soldier shouted as he burst into the hall.

Pyrrha recognized the man as a horseman from the border garrison. "What is it?" She asked. "Report."

"Risen, dozens of them." The soldiers said breathlessly. "They came out of nowhere and were upon us before we knew what was happening. They overwhelmed our forces and are heading toward Nikopolis."

"Everyone, arm yourselves!" Pyrrha commanded. Qrow sprung up and rushed off to gather any nearby soldiers. "We must protect the villagers." Weiss' group hesitated.

"You heard her!" Weiss shouted. She leapt from her chair and held Myrtenaster aloft. "Let's go!"

The group rushed out of the manor and toward Nikopolis. The village was just as close to the border as it was to Pyrrha's estate and time was of the essence. There was a town watch and a small garrison in the village, but if the soldiers at the border could not stop the Risen they would likely not last long. Then the villagers would be defenseless.

"Risen...dark magic." Ren said as the group neared Nikopolis. "Plegia must be behind this."

"But why?" Pyrrha asked. "Plegia and Ylisse have been at peace for decades."

"Isn't it obvious?" Weiss asked. Pyrrha just looked at her. "My father has convinced Plegia to go to war with Ylisse. If Ylisse is busy fighting Plegia they won't be able to help Ferox."

"I hope you're wrong...but…" Pyrrha sighed. "Let's just deal with the task at hand. We can figure this out later."

When the group reached Nikopolis the town was on alert but the Risen had not yet reached it. Pyrrha led the others and headed straight for the walls that faced the border. Unless the Risen were smart enough to flank the village, and that was unlikely given their zombified nature, that was where they would be coming from. Pyrrha quickly found the soldier commanding the defenses. "Have the Risen launched any attacks?" She asked.

"No Countess." The soldier said with a bow. "We've seen some movement in the forest to the west but so far the Risen haven't engaged."

Pyrrha looked up and down the village walls. "I don't think the defenses will stand up to a sustained attack." She observed.

"Then a static defense would be unwise." Weiss suggested. "In any case we want to keep them as far away from the village as possible."

"If they won't come to us we'll go to them." Yang said. She slammed her gauntlets together and looked to Weiss. "They won't be expecting a counter attack."

"That's true...but we can't leave the village defenseless." Weiss said. She looked to the soldier Pyrrha had been talking to. "No offense. It's just that you're undermanned."

"That's an understatement." The soldier admitted.

"I'll stay here and lead the defense." Pyrrha said. "My soldiers will fight more effectively with their Countess at their side."

"Good idea." Weiss said. "The rest of us will attack into the forest."

"Are you sure about staying here alone?" Ruby asked.

"Don't worry about me." Pyrrha assured her. "I grew up training with these soldiers. I'd trust them with my life."

"Let's go Ruby." Yang called. Weiss, Blake, Ren and Nora had already leapt down from the walls and Yang was straddling the edge.

Ruby hesitated and looked back at Pyrrha. "I'll be fine." Pyrrha assured her. Ruby nodded and followed Yang off the wall.

The group crossed the open field between the wall and the forest in seconds. In the open the moon had effectively illuminated the scene. Now that they were amongst the trees it was much darker. The trees and brush also broke up sight lines. Still the group pressed ahead until they were some way into the forest. Worryingly, they faced no enemies.

"We're surrounded." Blake suddenly announced.

Ren stopped and closed his eyes, concentrating. "She's right." He said. "I can feel them."

"If we're surrounded that means we can attack in any direction." Yang said. An arrow whistled through the air. Blake stepped up and knocked it down with her sword just before it would have struck Weiss. "Alright, who fired that?!" Yang shouted. She slammed her gauntlets together and they burst into flames. The glow from the weapons lit up the forest, showing the group the extent of their predicament. They were surrounded and heavily outnumbered.

The Risen archer that had fired at Weiss nocked another arrow and took aim again. The arrow fired straight into the air as the archer fell backwards, struck in the chest by a fireball produced by Ren. A roar rose from the other Risen and most charged. Ren flipped the page in his tome, then stretched out his hand toward the onrushing enemies. Lightning flew from his fingertips, arcing into the Risen and leaping between them. The group he struck fell and evaporated.

"Roll them up!" Yang ordered. The gap Ren had produced in the Risen line gave the group an opportunity to escape the encirclement and take at least some of their enemies from the flank. Yang and a Risen armed with a spear charged at each other. The spear gave the monster superior reach but it bounced harmlessly off Yang's armor. She closed in and punched it in the chest, her flaming gauntlets setting the creature alight. Yang punched another that attacked her from the side, setting it aflame as well. The rest backed off as their two fellows flailed around wailing before falling to the ground and evaporating. "What are you waiting for?!" Yang demanded. She held up her gauntlets and they allowed her to see the Risen. Now she knew why. A circle or archers stood around her, all ready to fire. Yang tucked her head in and waited for the shower of projectiles.

Weiss pointed Myrtenaster at Yang. Ice fired out of the sword and completely encased Yang just as the arrows arrived. The arrows chipped away at the ice but it effectively shielded her. Unfortunately it also took Yang out of the fight. Weiss charged the archers before they could fire again. At close range they were helpless and she tore them apart with her blade. Blake joined in, finishing off the remaining archers. Weiss tapped Yang with her blade as she passed and the ice disappeared. Yang dropped to the ground in a daze before stumbling back to her feet and into the fight.

Nora was busy obliterating Risen. She spun around, her hammer whipping around and crushing everything in its path. She felled trees as easily as Risen. Any Risen unfortunate enough to get in Nora's way was sent flying, its spectral body shattered. Nora spun to a stop, smiling and laughing. An axe struck the armor on her back. Without even looking she swung her hammer over her head and brought it down on her attacker. The Risen on the receiving end was crushed into the ground. Her wild assault was tiring her out and she began to slow, allowing some enemies to get close. Ren protected Nora by taking out these Risen with blasts of electricity.

Ruby ran around the Risen at super-human speed trailing her scythe. As she passed the monsters her blade sliced them in two. She was far too quick for them to hit or avoid as she darted among them. A blast of wind knocked her onto her back as a Risen mage launched its attack. A group of Risen charged in to take advantage but it was a poor decision. In an instant Ruby sprung up and spun around, ripping the attackers apart. The mage prepared another spell but never got to cast it. Yang slammed into it from behind, punching its head clean off.

The sounds of battle died down. No more clanking metal, no more crackling flames, no more cries of agony. It was over. "Did we get all of them?" Ruby asked.

"Looks like it." Blake replied. For some reason she seemed to have super-human nightvision.

"I can't sense any others." Ren confirmed.

"Let's head back to the village and make sure none of them slipped past us." Weiss said.

As the group neared the village they noticed an ominous glow. When they emerged from the forest their fears were confirmed. Nikopolis was burning. The defensive wall that surrounded the village appeared to be intact but large sections of the village were on fire. The group rushed inside to help, but it appeared as if everything was now under control. Bucket brigades fought the fires while groups of villagers tore down buildings to create firebreaks. Whatever had happened, it was over.

They finally located Pyrrha. She was wielding a staff, helping to heal some of the wounded in a makeshift hospital set up in the marketplace. Part of her armor was damaged with dried blood surrounding the hole in the leather. She looked exhausted. "Three dead and five wounded in the Southern Ward." A soldier reported to Pyrrha. "All fires are under control and damage is minimal."

"Move the forces covering that ward to the east." Pyrrha ordered. "It's still burning." The soldier nodded, saluted and rushed off.

"Pyrrha, are you alright?!" Ruby yelled. With all her supernatural speed she rushed to Pyrrha's side.

"I'm fine." Pyrrha said. She sounded tired and sad. "Nothing a little healing spell couldn't fix."

"What happened here?" Weiss asked. "Did the Risen breach the defenses?"

"No, the Risen had nothing to do with this." Pyrrha sighed. "I think they were just a diversion."

"A diversion?" Yang asked. "What do you mean?"

Pyrrha looked at the ground. "It started shortly after you left…"

Pyrrha waited atop the walls on the west side of Nikopolis. That was where the Risen were most likely to make their assault and she was determined to lead from the front. A bright light from inside the village caught her attention. She turned and looked to see several buildings erupt in flames. "What's happening?" Pyrrha demanded. "Did they flank us?"

A wounded soldier approached from the ground. His face was bloody and his arm was twisted at a sickening angle. "Countess...there's…" He gasped and fell to his knees. "Plegian spies have infiltrated...set fires...attacked us…" He wobbled for a moment before falling on his face. Pyrrha and her Pegasus dropped down from the defensive wall. Pyrrha dismounted and rolled the man over. He was already dead.

"We're under attack from the east!" Pyrrha shouted. "Follow me!" She raised her lance and remounted her Pegasus. Rather than flying she gallopped toward the fire so the other soldiers could follow her. The Eastern Ward was the wealthiest part of Nikopolis, and when Pyrrha arrived it was almost entirely engulfed in flames. Some of the town's garrison was fighting against soldiers dressed in identical armor. Even though she had been away for a long time, Pyrrha still remembered the faces of every soldier that had served her before her departure. She did not recognize any of the soldiers in one of the groups. They must have been the Plegian spies. Unfortunately they were winning. She was furious with herself for not noticing sooner. She had been too focused on the Risen to pay attention to her own troops.

Pyrrha leveled her lance and charged into the fray. She hit a Plegian in the chest with the tip of her blade and the weapon penetrated his armor, his body, and his armor again as it burst from his back. As she slid to a stop and wrenched her blade free, she was attacked by two more spies. She deflected one's sword with her shield before taking to the sky to avoid the other. A powerful blast of wind stuck Pyrrha and her Pegasus. Rider and mount were slammed into the stone wall of a nearby building. Both slammed to the ground with the Pegasus landing unconscious atop Pyrrha.

A trio of Plegians rushed toward Pyrrha. She struggled to roll the heavy animal off of her as they closed in. She was not going to get free in time. She threw her lance and it struck one of the Plegians in the throat. The two others continued their charge. They got to Pyrrha at roughly the same time. With a swipe of her shield she blocked both their attacks simultaneously. One tripped off balance and Pyrrha grabbed his wrist. She twisted him to the ground and held him up as a human shield to take the other Plegian's second strike. The Plegian fell limp with a gaping wound in his chest. Surprised by Pyrrha's strategy the last remaining Plegian jumped back. He held his sword at the ready, looking for an opening. The Countess was clearly still very dangerous, even pinned on the ground as she was. Pyrrha reached out her hand toward the Plegian. The Plegian did not understand. He realized she was not pointing at him, but beyond him. He turned around just in time to catch Pyrrha's flying lance in the center of his chest. It tore cleanly through him and flew to Pyrrha's hand.

The battle looked to be over. The mage that had knocked Pyrrha and her Pegasus out of the sky had been despatched by some of her soldiers and they had the situation well in hand. She used her shield as a lever to roll the Pegasus off of her and stood. Pyrrha was bruised but otherwise unhurt. Her Pegasus was in similar shape and would soon recover. Now the focus had to be on saving what remained of the village. The fires had to be extinguished as soon as possible.

Pyrrha went back to commanding, directing the surviving soldiers and town watch in fighting the fires. "Report from the western wall." A soldier said from behind Pyrrha.

Funny, no one called it that. And he did not sound familiar. Pyrrha turned around and immediately knew the soldier was a Plegian infiltrator. She raised her shield and effortlessly blocked the attacker's strike. She kicked the Plegian in the side and he rolled to the ground. Pyrrha lifted her spear to kill the attacker but something about him caught her attention. He was not looking at Pyrrha or the lance that was about to end his life. He was looking behind her. Pyrrha spun around but was not fast enough. All she could do was twist her body so the strike would miss her vitals. A hooded figure was already upon her, dagger in motion. The blade stabbed through Pyrrha's torso to the right of her navel, cutting through her armor as if it were paper before slicing into her skin. Undeterred, Pyrrha swung her lance around at the attacker. Her weapon hit its mark, slicing through the assassin's throat. The Plegian fell dead, leaving her dagger behind. Pyrrha pulled the weapon out with a sickening slurp and tossed it on the ground.

Qrow had arrived with reinforcements just as Pyrrha was being attacked. His soldiers executed the Plegian she had knocked down and formed a circle around her to guard her. "You're injured Countess, should we call a cleric?" One of the soldiers asked.

"I'm fine." Pyrrha said. "Just get me a staff. I'll take care of this myself." She expected another attack at any moment but it never came.

"...so I healed myself then came here to tend to the wounded." Pyrrha wrapped up her story. "So far we have seventy-two confirmed dead and over one hundred wounded." She sighed. "These people trusted me, I was supposed to protect them, and I failed."

"You did everything you could." Ruby said. "You couldn't have known all this would happen."

"Ruby's right." Weiss said. "Given the circumstances, you did very well. In your absence the entire village may have been wiped out."

"I guess…" Pyrrha said, less than convinced. "What happened to the Risen?"

"We wiped them out." Yang said.

"I crushed them!" Nora exclaimed.

"At least that's taken care of." Pyrrha said.

Qrow approached the group. "You did well Countess." Qrow said. "A lesser leader would have cracked under this kind of pressure."

"That's very kind of you to say, but I don't feel very good about my performance." Pyrrha said. "So many casualties…so much destruction…"

"Don't dwell on it." Qrow said. "It'll destroy you."

"We took care of the Risen Uncle Qrow." Ruby reported.

"Good job kiddo." Qrow said, half-ignoring her. "I'm heading for the capital immediately. I'll leave behind all the soldiers under my command to help you guard the county."

"You should take some with you." Pyrrha suggested. "The roads aren't safe."

"There isn't a highwayman out there who can touch me." Qrow said. "You'll need them more than I will. I'll be back with reinforcements, soon I hope." Something caught his eye. A large crystal hung around Weiss' neck. "Hey Princess, where'd you get that necklace?"

"I suggest you show me some respect." Weiss growled.

"Just answer the question." Qrow said. "I'll show you respect when you actually rule something."

Weiss wanted to stab Qrow but now was not the time. When she actually ruled something she would get him back for the slight. "Taiyang Xiao-Long presented it to me as a gift when I took Yang into my service." She answered. "He allowed his daughters to enter my service only under the condition that I wear it at all times."

"Did he say why?" Qrow asked.

"No." Weiss replied. "Are you going to tell me?"

"Nope." Qrow said. He turned away from her, clearly done with the conversation. "I know you'll do a great job while I'm gone." He said to Pyrrha. He turned to his nieces. "Try to stay out of trouble you two."

"Be safe!" Ruby shouted as Qrow departed. He waved without turning to face her and continued on his way.

Now Weiss was curious. "Yang, do you know anything about this necklace?" She asked.

"Not a thing Your Majesty." Yang replied. "Dad always carried the crystal around with him but he never told me why. It's probably just a good luck charm. He's pretty superstitious."

"Yeah, that's probably it." Weiss said. Her distraction was brief. "Alright then. There are fires to put out and wounded to heal. Let's get to it!"