The lake shimmers below, a scene of natural beauty almost enough to make one forget the soldiers stationed nearby or the grim fortress at its center...
I'd best not lose focus, those ballistas pack a mean punch. Her royal highness Princess Eirika has charged me to keep an eye for reinforcements. If even Ephraim was overcome here our tiny force will have no chance in a serious engagement...
I wonder if it was wise of Eirika to send away the few additional troops we picked up. Still, a swift, decisive strike could succeed, and such tactics have worked for Frelia's pegasus knights for years.
Eirika stands with head bowed for a moment, imagining what the others might say if they were here. She was not a fool; coming this far into Grado was a potentially suicidal gambit. Although Seth and Franz, last knights of Renais, remained at her side with the Frelian retainers and that quick-handed youth Colm, she had found excuses to send the remaining followers away. Yet she could use their support. What if the worst came to pass? What if Ephraim had truly fallen?
From concealment on the far side of the first bridge Colm and Franz leap into motion, but the guards are not as unwary as expected. Colm sheathes his sword in midair and draws the heavy-bladed Armorslayer, taking a glancing blow to drive home his weapon, while Franz impales the second from afar. Gilliam clanks into the nearby woods and swigs from a flask of pure water.
Colm pauses to be patched up from Moulder; his staff will allow the group to fight with the strength of many. Eirika catches up as Franz gallops into a cluster of soldiers at the base of the path, iron blade swinging.
Foes warily circle around the cavalier and Eirika stabs a surprised archer from behind as she finishes her sprint. This is no time for niceties. Franz strikes down the last of the foe as Colm darts into the forest, Moulder once more healing their wounds. Seth, ever vigilant, checks a nearby house for hidden enemies.
Franz baits the next group while Colm and Eirika stealth through the woods. A ballistician in the distance is not fooled, but his hasty shot misses Colm by yards, as does the fireball hurled at Eirika.
Gilliam's taking a while with that last axefighter...I'd expect the ballista to be firing on him. Unless it's unmanned. But why? The scout circles closer.
Gilliam hefts the slim lance, pausing a moment to admire its balance. Nice of Vanessa to let me borrow it, and surprising that the axefighter was the more fearsome opponent. Obviously, I must train harder...Well, nothing more to see here, save perhaps a stop at that house for a spot of tea. This armor grows hot in prolonged combat.
Colm snatches the mage's satchel as he crumples to the ground, Eirika already wiping her blade and striding to her next target, a pair of soldiers. Franz returns from dispatching the ballistician and his guard, pausing for another top-off from Moulder. Only a couple of archers and Murray himself remain.
These tracks...they must be Ephraim's. He and his men left that corpse hidden in the bushes. And recently. This makes no sense. The tracks go toward Renvall...if they'd escaped they'd be fleeing. If they were never caught...those rumours...
Colm stands on the bridge with an insolent grin, twitching aside by a hair when an archer lets fly. Then the cavalry arrives.
Ignoring the clattering armor behind her, Eirika marches forward with determination. If her brother yet lives, none will bar her path. Certainly not this man. Their duel is brief; Ephraim taught her well.
It must be a trap! We're here to rescue Ephraim, but he's safe and we'll be caught...the irony of this would be amusing if we weren't in so much danger. On ivory wings Vanessa speeds to warn the Princess. Too late.
The iron gate clangs shut.
10 turns, 70 total.
Why yes it did take me longer to write that than play the chapter. I was bored.
