"...Following the demise of Grima," the worn pages of the Awakening novel read, "the heroes of Ylisse searched for their fallen brother and tactician. Some treaded through the recently conquered fields of Valm, and others searched through the snow capped peaks of Regna Ferox. Only two, however, would travel to the familiar lands of Southtown. In all poetic nature, the Hero-Tactician Robin was rediscovered in the very same field he entered the world in, by the same people.

"Now returned to the world of the living by miracle alone, Robin was offered kingship of the lands of Plegia, his homeland, after the death of King Validar. The tactician, however, refused; living out the rest of his days in service of Ylisse.

"The amnesiac hero that led the world into a brighter future passed away in the year of 973, but not before leaving his mark on the world through his many brilliant texts of tactics that are now considered standard in any royal army across the globe. Many accounts of history are unable to adequately recount his many tales, what he looked like, or his personality, but we as historians do know that he loved his friends, family, comrades, and wife above all else.

"For further reading on Robin of Ylisse, reading A Treatise of Tactics and Advanced Military Coordination is highly recommended.

"Chapter 3: Princess Lissa

"Princess Lissa, Exalt Chrom's sprightly cleric sister, is an interesting character indeed…"

The black-coated man laid the book, yet unfinished, upon his desk next to the two tactical readings Awakening referred to. He leaned back in his chair.

"The world was so different then. How can we not find the same comfort of peace that these people did, despite death itself hanging over them? Ferox is divided, Ylisse's contact with the world outside itself is unheard of, and Plegia only has contact with Valm, of all places."

He pushed the thought from his mind. After all, he still had time to get in more training before the night set in. His thoughts could afford to rest for the time being. The man grabbed his gray, twisted blade off of its place on his wall. With a flick of his wrist, magical electricity began to dance across the edge of the ashen blade.

Spellbook and sword in hand, he set out into the desert, his open hierophant cloak trailing behind him.

Cannonfire and ballistae shots rang out into the dead of night. Fires roared and burned, tainting the night sky a bloodied mixture of crimson and twilight. Nearby, a ballista bolt tore through the hardy Feroxian stone walls surrounding the town as if they were no more than paper.

The brown-haired man slid and ducked behind a fallen stone pillar and hoisted his family's axe onto his shoulder. His red cloak was in tatters, and blackened from the burnt debris of the town. His light, leather armor was torn, revealing a bloody gash at his side, and his face was covered with the ashes of the blazing inferno.

"These Easterners just don't give up, do they?" He muttered, surveying the area. The familiar buildings lining the streets that he had known only yesterday had become foreign and hellish. The polished stone walls were marred with the ashes of warfare, and others had been torn down by the endless rain of ballistae-fire from outside the walls.

"Colin," a voice rang out, approaching from the direction he had come from, "I've found an exit." His older sister, Carolyn, had caught up with him. She was similarly worn down, her light chain armor was burned in several places and weathered from flying debris. Her once blue eyes appeared gray in the light of the town's fires, her similarly brown hair blackened from the ash in the air.

As Carolyn settled down beside her brother, she pointed. "Past that ballista bolt, in the alleyway. There's a segment of the wall been destroyed and no Eastern soldiers are around. We can sneak out that way."

"We can't leave yet. Not without Muiris." Colin's grip around his axe tightened. "As much as I hate admitting it, we need him if we're going to survive out there."

Carolyn sighed. "I don't know where the damn fool's gone off to. He was with me after we led some of the villagers to safety, but…" she trailed off.

"He wouldn't have run off on his own, right?" Colin sighed, uncertainly. "He's reckless, but not that stupid. He's around here somewhere."

A new voice materialized in the din of the siege.

"Careful what you say, brother. You never know where people will be listening." Muiris appeared beside the siblings. Colin's twin shared many features with him, yet carried a head of white hair in stark contrast to Colin's dark brown. The siege's destruction had not been kind to the mage either; the tips of his pale hair were burnt by the growing fires and his mage robes were as worn down as Colin's armor. In his left hand he carried a cheap, basic Elthunder tome. On Muiris' other side, his undeveloped right arm lay uselessly.

"I'm not leaving this damned place without taking down a few Easterners. Show 'em some Feroxian justice for busting up our town like this." Muiris winced as a stray cannonball crashed into the desolate street cobblestones, launching pieces of stone into the air. "See that? That's exactly what I'm talking about."

"Muiris, we can't. We need to focus on our escape first. We'll get another strike at them once we've roused some forces at Arena Ferox," Colin asserted. "I know some skilled women and men there who are ready to fight." Colin ducked as a ballista round crashed through a nearby building, which began to collapse. "Carolyn's found a way out. We need to go!"

"Sure, you would be the one to say that. The one chosen by Father to hold our family axe. You don't even know the first thing about how we do business here, and he chooses? What would mother say, had she still been alive?"

Colin winced as his mother was brought into question. He began to retort, but Carolyn pushed him out of the way and stood frighteningly close to the mage.

"Can it, Muiris!" Carolyn shouted, slamming the pole of her lance on the ground. Her two brothers stood silent. "Put your damn honor beside you for one day! If you haven't noticed, the fires aren't getting any smaller," She relaxed a little, returning her grip on her weapon to a more neutral stance. "Colin and I are leaving. Feel free to join if you'd like."

Muiris turned from his sister, shocked at her drastic change in personality. Electricity danced across his fingertips as he let an Elthunder fly, vaporizing an incoming ballista bolt.

Scowling, he grumbled, "Alright, fine. Let's get going."

– – –

Dodging cannonfire and the flames that consumed the town, the trio made their way towards the alleyway. Surprisingly, the surrounding buildings had kept most of their structural integrity, and had not yet been subject to the spreading fires. Down the dark passage, only the starlight from the other side of the threshold revealed that the town wall had been downed in that area. Colin ducked into a forgotten market stall.

"You two, grab as much food as you can from inside. I'll scout the outside area for any Easterners." Carolyn nodded at her younger brother, while Muiris held his head low. Colin rushed down the alleyway towards the open horizon of starlight.

Carolyn slammed the base of her lance into the door, knocking it off of its hinges. She and her brother stepped over the splintered wooden pieces.

"The nerve of that imbecile, making us deliver food to him instead of fighting!" Muiris clipped his tome to his belt to free his good arm. "Once I find one of those damn Easteners, I'll—"

"Hush, brother," Carolyn interrupted, filling her bag with some fruit that had been thrown to the floor by the shockwaves of cannonfire. "He's only doing what he knows is right. If you bothered to spend some time with him now and again, you might know that."

Muiris didn't respond. He filled his own bag with some produce resting comfortably in the stall, unaffected by the chaos outside.

"If he would show a little spine every now and again, like Father, I think I might stand him. Hell, even I'm more of a Feroxian then he is, and I fight with magic."

Muiris glanced over to Carolyn, who had stopped filling her bag and had turned her head up to the ceiling.

"You alright, sister?"

Carolyn held her hand up to silence him. "Listen, do you hear that? A whistling…"

– – –

Colin broke out into a run. The alleyway was quite long, running through two blocks of town before meeting with the now-demolished outer wall. As he crossed through the threshold into the open air, his heart dropped.

Stormguard stood upon a steep hill, granting an enviable view of the surrounding lowlands. Thousands of Eastern ballistae stood, poised for fire, among an innumerable amount of cannons and burning pitch throwers. The Eastern soldiers hardly had to move as they cut down the fleeing or retaliating civilians.

Colin knew that Eastern Ferox held the lion's share of military power, but he had never imagined as stark a contrast as this. He shook the thought from his head. He had to find a safe path out of the city.

He turned his attention to the hillside. Fortunately, the Eastern soldiers hadn't completely surrounded the town. Most of their forces had probably moved to cut off the escape of Stormguard citizens. The alleyway was fortunately positioned near the normally sealed Western side of the town, leaving an exit between the northern and southern strike teams. From there, they could escape through the frozen taigas between the lowlands and Arena Ferox.

As Colin moved back towards the revealed alleyway entrance, he stopped. Turning his head towards the sky, he heard a low whistling sound. As he waited, the sound grew until a dreadful sight appeared out of the dense smoke above the town. A giant bolt from an eastern-positioned ballista cut through the smoke and impaled itself through a merchant's building. A haunting creaking sound signaled the building's imminent collapse.

"No," Colin gasped, paralyzed to the spot, "Carolyn and Muiris and are still in there!"

Colin sprinted down the first block of alleyway, desperate to not separate himself from his brother and sister. As he passed through into the second block, he noticed that the building had begun to collapse far faster than he had anticipated. Stone bricks rained down the alleyway, threatening to crush any unfortunate enough to stand beneath them. Halfway through the second block, two larger bricks still connected by mortar fell directly in front of Colin, sending him crashing to the ground.

Colin turned onto his back, only to watch in horror as even more tumbled down from above. Raising his axehead into a defensive position, he attempted to block the incoming projectiles from crushing him. Another brick shattered his right arm, forcing him to drop his axe. Colin cried out in pain, helplessly, as the building continued to collapse. Brick after brick flooded the alleyway.

Colin's vision began to fade.

The sudden ballista shot tore through the upper story of the building, knocking the two siblings to the floor.

"The whole thing's coming down!" Carolyn cried, rising to her feet and grabbing her brother. The two leaped through the building's doorway as the entire second floor forcefully dropped where the two were standing moments ago.

The two siblings coughed and sputtered as the dirt and dust settled from the building's sudden collapse.

Muiris picked himself off the ground, his throat still coated with dust.

"Thanks for the save," he coughed. Muiris turned his attention to the entrance of the alleyway. "I figure we've gotten enough from that shop. Let's go meet up with Colin."

His sister hoisted herself to a standing position with the help of her spear.

"Right. Let's move."

Carolyn ran ahead, yet stopped at the entrance to the alleyway, dropping her spear.

"Carolyn," he called, confused, "What's the—"

The two stood, mortified. Where an open path once lay was now filled with the stone bricks of the very same merchant building.

"Colin…" Carolyn trailed off. "He's on the other side of that wall. We need to get over there before the Easterners tear him apart!"

"Carolyn, it's alright," her brother responded. If he hasn't gotten back from spending that long on the other side of the wall he's probably found a way out. We'll meet with him at Arena Ferox, as planned."

"But—"

"We can worry about him later! What's important right now is finding another way out. We're doing him no good if we can't even get out of the city before we burn to death."

"Y-you're right." Carolyn picked her spear off of the ground. "Let's have a look around."

The Feroxian East Khan stood atop the remains of a collapsed market building, surveying the area around him. Hooves trotting upon the ground signaled his commander's approach.

"Khan Aniam," the slim, mounted man saluted, "The area has been secured. As far as I can tell, no one inside Stormguard has survived."

Despite being slim, Lambert managed to keep a somewhat muscular build. His brown hair was styled just so at the sides of his face that his emotionless gray eyes were hidden from view.

"But what of the man?" Aniam responded, frustrated. "Do any of the corpses match the person I ordered you to collect, Lambert?"

Lambert sighed, yet his expression remained neutral.

"Not one, sir. Most of the corpses have been badly burned or crushed, so they have been difficult to identify. Damn Western dogs deserve it, though." Lambert paused, lightly kicking an upturned piece of cobblestone. He continued, "Oh, and the axe you mentioned during the war council hasn't been recovered by our men either."

Aniam stroked his lightly bearded chin, attempting to keep his anger under control in the presence of his soldier.

"...As I expected. He probably up and left at the first sign of trouble on the horizon." The Khan cleared his throat. "Rally the forces. We march on to Arena Ferox. Once we control the Arena, the rest of these Western holdouts will crumble. And we will see Liam avenged, on my word. I'll give you the honor of slaying the Western general that killed him yourself."

Lambert was taken off guard by his father's name. He looked down at his leather armor, lightly grasping the shoulderstrap that connected to his belt. Failing to compose himself, he stuttered, "A-as you command, sir. I will meet with General Ilias to draft our plan of attack and confer with you at camp." The commander saluted once again, and departed upon his steed.

After the mounted soldier was well out of sight, the East Khan cursed, driving his greatsword into the remains of the building.

"You can't hide forever, Colin! This world isn't small enough to hide the cowardice of your kind." The echoes of his anger carried far and away onto the midwinter lowlands.

A cold, sudden chill blew through the boughs of the midmorning Feroxian forest. A convoy of four well-traveled men trecked through the snow-covered forest path leading to the Homely Hearth inn, a popular spot to those not used to the bite of Feroxian midwinter.

Two of the men rode upon a powerful white mare clad in brilliant gilded armor. The one controlling the horse's reins wore a set of equally brilliant gilded armor with red trim, his clean shaven, brown-haired face unobstructed by any type of helmet. His passenger was a taguel, whose short, white-furred ears blew lazily in the wind. Despite his lack of upper body clothing, the musclebound, blue-eyed taguel didn't yield so much as a shiver.

The two men walking alongside the horse both wore sets of robes, one black and one white. The white-robed man stroked his fiery-red beard as he strayed closer to the armored horse in an attempt to warm himself, while the black-robed man adjusted the thin, wire glasses on his face before a smile began to play across his face.

"Ah, this brings back good memories of my time on the road!" The black-garbed man stretched his hands above his head, his white-flecked black hair shifting in the breeze. "Maybe if you all are lucky, I'll tell you about that time my caravan went up to Arena Ferox. Those Feroxians are some crazy people when they're drunk, I'll tell you!"

"Didn't you tell us about that one last night?" the man in white questioned.

"No, Samuel, that one was about when we traveled to Port Ferox and ran into that band of dancers. They even had a man dancing with them. What a sight!"

Samuel scratched his red beard, smiling, thinking back to the previous night by the campfire.

"Yeah, that's right. You'll have to save that story for another time then, Brooks, because we're here."

The party approached the tavern, a rowdy din audible from even outside.

"You sure we're headed the right way, Lester?" The taguel asked, dismounting from the paladin's armored horse. "Not even Brooks has been up here before."

"I do believe so, Desmond," Lester replied, dismounting as well. As he tied up his horse on the inn's hitching post, he turned to the two robed men that had been walking beside his mount. "Samuel, Brooks, head on inside and ask the bartender for directions. If I recall from the journeys out here in my youth, Stormguard is only a few miles north of here."

"Alright, old man," Brooks replied. "I'll make sure he has some warm biscuits ready for you when you finally get inside."

"Brooks, please," the paladin buried his face in his hand. "We're the same age."

"Come on, Brooks," the white-robed priest interjected. "We're wasting daylight. Let's go find that innkeeper."

"You want some biscuits too, Sammy? Because I could really go for some right now."

"Only if you do the talking. And please, don't call me that."

The two entered the inn, their playful ranting joining the chorus of merry inn goers. As Lester paid the man in charge of the mount hitching service, Desmond opened his pack. Inside, a purple, glowing gem with swirling, black tendrils beneath its exterior rested. He hoisted the stone into his hands. For something so powerful, it was surprisingly light. Desmond held the piece of his taguel ancestry in his hands, wondering.

"Still dwelling on your Beaststone, Desmond?" Lester called from his left.

Surprised, the taguel quickly stashed the gem, raising an audible crack from one of his vulnerary vials.

"No!" Desmond shouted. Seeing Lester visibly surprised from his sudden outburst, he took a deep breath, and calmed himself. "I mean, no. Just looking at it."

"You mustn't worry yourself, friend," the paladin responded, watching as Desmond stroked his ears, nervously. "Where is your usual upbeat personality?"

Lester paused, watching a pair of birds fly about the snow-topped forest canopy.

"Let's get inside. We're going to need your axe hand rested the further we get into Feroxian territory. If there's one thing I remember from my occasional journeys up here, it's that the Feroxians become more ruthless the further north we travel."

"Probably because of the cold," Desmond said, smirking. "If I was stuck up here I'd probably be an angry berserker too."

Lester smiled, a rare sight indeed for the stoic paladin. "There he is. Welcome back, Desmond. Now, let's go see what Samuel and Brooks have learned over a plate of biscuits. I do believe Brooks said he was buying?"

The taguel laughed, and closed his pack. He and the taller paladin entered the inn, closing the door behind them.

Fire Emblem: Foreboding Horizons

A Fire Emblem Fanfiction

Written by Aspen_FE