AN: Finally got around to finishing another chapter of this, it's been far too long. Now, I said in my last update (FGG Chapter 6) that I was going to be doing one chapter a month for the foreseeable future. Now, what I didn't mention was that that's a minimum. I'm well aware there will be times where I have far more free time and motivation to write than others, so when I can I'll be doing more than the one a month, don't expect this to happen very often, the only reason it is this month is because I have the chapter for next month done already, I'll be posting it on the second Saturday of February.

Which brings me to the next topic, the next update will not b AtB or FGG, but a brand new story. This probably won't be a popular decision but this is a story I've wanted to do for a while and by expanding my current projects rather than simply idling when I hit a roadblock I can work on something else in the meantime.

Now, last let's discuss this Chapter itself, this is the first time that the spotlight will be on the Shepherds for an extended period of time, and due to this we're introducing a lot of characters, that means a lot of character descriptions. Because of this some of them are short and light on details out of necessity and for anyone who doesn't play Fire Emblem that wants a better idea of what the characters look like Google is your friend.

That's pretty much all I have to say, Ill give another apology for how late this was and while I'm not sure when the next chapter will be April or May should be the right time frame. And, as always, thank you for your continued support, and I give you Chapter 17 of Awakening to Battle.

I fell back a half step, swinging the weapon in my hand up in an arc to cover my retreat as my opponent lunged in. I managed to draw his blade out of position with the move and pressed the opening by shifting forwards and thrusting out my own blade. Of course that alone wasn't enough to score contact and I found myself falling into a sequence of moves, thrust, slash, chop, pivot and slash again.

With each swing of my sword my opponent fell further back, dodging and parrying by the slimmest of margins while waiting for his chance to strike back. Unfortunately I couldn't keep up this kind of assault forever so sooner or later there'd be an opening for him to exploit, so rather than allow myself to make one on accident I did it on purpose instead.

It was a simple case of overextending, swinging my blade as if I was sure to make contact and when I didn't my momentum carried me too far, into a disadvantageous position. Any skilled fighter would know exactly what had occured, and more than a few ways to take advantage of it. But for a swordsman of my opponent's skill and strength there was only one choice.

His blade flipped in his hand, resting briefly on the flat of my own, pushing it further out of position and allowing him to attack my body unhindered, all the while pushing my body further out of position should I hold onto my sword.

So I let my sword go.

As my sword fell out of one hand the other clasped onto my opponent's wrist, and with a simple pull and the advantage of surprise they were pulled off balance. I turned my body so that my back was facing them, careful to keep their sword pointed away from me as I did so, before using the leverage provided to flip them over and toss them to the ground.

Within seconds I was straddling him, my own blade retrieved and held at his throat. For a moment the only sound was our ragged breaths before the man underneath me spoke up.

"Alright, I weild, the win is yours." I nodded silently, my panting interfering with my ability to properly speak. I stood and took a step back before holding my hand out for Lon'qu to grasp. The man gave me a small grin before accepting the gesture.

It had been over a week since that first day of marching with the Shepherds and things were going well so far. We had made it fairly far into the Plegian desert, and except for the occasional raid by guerrilla forces there hadn't been any major battles. It seemed Gangrel was more than content to let the desert wear us out before sending his army at us again.

We'd begun sparring on a regular basis shortly after I'd joined the Shepherds. It had been convenient for us to practice together since we were both early risers. Frederick had joined us a couple times but the larger man was far too busy with his duties to regularly join us. Besides, his own training leaned more towards exercise for muscle development while Lon'qu and I both preferred sword drills and sparring for skill growth.

"And once again I find myself falling in the very moment I thought I'd win. Even if I understand that style of yours Shirou beating you with it is another thing entirely." I gave my sparring partner an apologetic smile, though he had me on the back foot the entire fight with his faster movements I simply had to guide the fight towards my victory before seizing it. And while it was easy to understand the intentional openings left in my style, in the heat of combat any skilled fighter wouldn't have the time to second guess their instincts, and would fall for the trap regardless.

Still though, without using magecraft Lon'qu was a difficult foe.

"You shouldn't sell yourself short, keeping up with that speed of yours is pushing my limits, and if I can't afford to lock swords with you or you'll overpower me." I was faced yet again with how much stronger the humans in this world were, it wasn't like they were superhumans who could lift boulders or anything but even if I'd been using Lon'qu he'd be able to match me. It could be the mana density of the air or the close interaction with phantasmal species, I was no scholar, so even my random guesses were just that, if Rin were here she'd probably be able to figure a lot more out.

"Perhaps, but to be this powerful without your magic is impressive, I almost feel bad for our enemies when you finally do go all out." I hid a bit of a grimace at his words, that was a bit of a sore spot for me, but one I did my best to hide.

While Lucina and her friends from the future were something of a wildcard and could interfere with Grima's plans for resurrection, their abilities were at least familiar to the dragon, even Lucina's Falchion was no different from her father's, Grima would know how to deal with them.

He would not know how to deal with Balmung.

Or Ascalon.

Or Ardonight.

Or Gram.

But if the Fell Dragon or his allies knew about these weapons and their Dragon slaying attributes then they could prepare themselves for them, even revealing that I possess a wide variety of magical weapons would be more information they could use to prepare, so I had to limit myself greatly in what I traced, avoiding it whenever possible. This meant in the few skirmishes we'd been in so far I'd had to hold back, leading to more casualties than was strictly necessary for our side, it was to save more lives in the future, but it was still a painful thing.

My nose twitched for a second and I narrowed my eyes.

"Right then, Robin wanted a better showing of my accuracy with a bow so she could work me into her plans better, so I should leave." I stood in and made to walk away, Lon'qu seemed a little put off by my sudden haste but accepted it.

"Very well, then I will see you again tomorrow." I nodded and began walking away at a brisk pace. I quickly turned down an aisle of tents for visual cover and then made to change my route. I'd be able to sneak through one of the side paths, maybe resort to going through someone's tent. Once I reached the edge of camp I could go around the temporary fortifications and avoid my pursuer until they got bored and gave up.

My plan set I got prepared to put it to action when the prana signature I'd been avoiding suddenly changed directions and headed straight towards me. I cursed under my breath and began to double back, I could still get around her if I went through the mess hall, the smell of cooking food would mask my own scent and might serve to distract her.

Unfortunately my opponent must have known exactly where I was because even as I moved away and tried to lose them they honed onto me. My pace sped up until I was just short of jogging and it was seconds later I found myself staring at a wall of cloth tents that I realized I was cornered.

"YOU!" I spun on my back foot and caught sight of the one I had been trying to avoid. My instincts screamed at my to either run and hide or project a weapon to defend myself. It took every ounce of my willpower to not do either and even then I could feel myself involuntarily flinch back.

"You keep avoiding me, don't pretend it's not on purpose!" My pursuer gave me a small grimace, almost a pout really. "The other Shepherds all say how nice you are, if you're so nice you should play with me instead of running away all the time!" I felt an eye twitch as I looked at the one I'd been trying so hard to avoid since she'd joined the Shepherds a few days ago.

A short girl with long green hair and violet eyes, she looked like she couldn't be older than twelve or thirteen. The way she pouted at me and demanded a playmate cemented the idea that her physical appearance would match her actual age, but I knew better. To most the only indication of her inhuman blood would be the elongated ears, but magus were capable of sensing mysteries and prana with their senses, and this included phantasmal creatures.

The girl in front of me was not human, she was a phantasmal creature, a dragon.

Or more accurately she was a Manakete, a dragon, or the descendent of a dragon, who had stored most of their power inside of a dragonstone, allowing them to take on a human form unless they use their stone to shift back to their true form. Lucina had informed me about them, seeing as Nowi was a manakete and a Shepherd, and that her daughter, Nah, was also a manakete.

Foreknowledge hadn't prepared me for just how terrifying manaketes were, the amount of prana stored in that fist sized gemstone Nowi carried could put some Noble Phantasms to shame, and while for most it was easy to forget that this little girl was a weapon of mass destruction I was permanently aware of just how old and powerful she was.

Yes, that's right, because dragons lived so long there was one distortion in their human forms beyond the ears. They aged extremely slowly. For a dragon to reach maturity would take millennia, even the one in front of me was over a thousand years old, older than many nations in my old world.

I bit my lip for a second as I realized the dragon still wanted an explanation for my avoidance. Since she was supposed to an ally and I didn't really want to be dragon food I decided being friendly was the best bet.

Until I could get back to avoiding her like the plague that is.

"Er, you'd be Nowi right? It's nice to meet you, my name is Shirou, as fellow new Shepherds let's get along." I held out a hand for her to shake and tried to give her a winning smile even as the other hand tried to clench an imaginary handle.

Nowi's eyes narrowed as she looked at the outstretched limb. The manakete gave a sigh and seemed to drop the childish facade before she spoke. "Alright, what stories did you hear?" I blinked owlishly, not sure what she was referring to, my fear forgotten for a moment.

"Excuse me?"

"What stories did they tell you? I bet it was the one about a manakete eating the kids who stayed out too late, or maybe the one where a manakete devours all the sheep and cows in the village, and when he's still hungry starts to eat the maidens." The dragon in a human shell crossed her arms and began muttering to herself, leaving me even more confused.

"Er, I haven't heard any stories like that." Well, I'd heard stories like that about dragons in my own world, but the only things I'd heard about manaketes had come from Lucina.

"Really?" Nowi's eyes perked up for a moment before they narrowed again. "Then why are you so scared of me? And don't lie to me about it, I can smell it on you." Once again I was reminded of what I was standing in front of, and the pseudo sense of smell filled my nose. Fire, reptile, and power. I felt a shudder go down my spine before I sighed decided it was best to just be honest.

"It's an oddity of my magic," I explained "I can sense other magic or magical beings around me, as well as how powerful they are." I gave the inhuman being a knowing look and she seemed to realize what I was implying. "It's difficult to not be terrified of something you know could crush you like an insect when you're constantly being reminded of that fact." Sure, I'd stared down overwhelming beings like the King of Heroes, but that was when my ideal was on the line, something I was willing to die and walk through hell for. I wasn't willing to go that far just to play hide and seek.

The pout Nowi gave me said that while she understood the problem, she certainly didn't accept it. "That's not fair!"

"Er, what?" I paused, stunned at the outburst.

"I said it's not fair. You're not scared of me, or manaketes in general, it's just that stupid sense of yours, telling you to be scared." Well, that wasn't too inaccurate a description.

"That's simply the way it is, sometimes things aren't fair." That simply earned me another pout, followed by a new outburst.

"But they should be, and I'm gonna make it so!" I simply raised a brow at that proclamation, before challenging it with a question.

"And how exactly are you going to do that?" Silence reigned for a few moments as Nowi struggled to come up with a legitimate answer. Then she nodded with a sense of resolution before speaking.

"Then you just have to get used to it." I blinked for a second before I realized what she was implying.

"No no no no, we are not solving this with overexposure. Putting aside how, unpleasant, that would be for me, it could take forever!" The manakete seemed to pause and think, even putting a finger to her chin as she did so.

"Uhhhh, nope!" She giggled as I felt my despair grow. "I've decided, we're gonna get you over your fear, so we'll have to be spending a lot of time together from now own!" My face fell into my hands as I groaned. My life as a Shepherd just got a lot more stressful.

Robin gave me a strange look as I walked up to the archery range. I knew very well why I was getting that look, but more than anything I didn't want to talk about it.

"Please don't ask." I gave the tactician the most pitiful look I could manage, and though she looked curious after a moment she nodded silently.

Of course just because one woman had decided to respect my wishes didn't mean the other would.

"We're friends now!" Nowi called out from her spot on my back, her arms wrapped around my neck as she pulled herself higher when she spoke. I let out a groan in response.

"That is not what happened." Despite my best efforts I hadn't been able to get the manakete to leave me alone, and my attempts to do so only made things worse. She decided to simply ride on my back and no matter what I said she wouldn't get off, the only option left was to remove her physically, something I was hesitant to do since the dragon wasn't actually trying to harm me and I really didn't want to do anything to change that.

Robin gave me a sympathetic look, clearly she understood the small girl's whims even if she wasn't aware the reason behind this particular one. With that as settled as it was going to get I looked out towards the archery range, it was nothing more than a dozen bales of hay with targets attached, placed at varying distances in the sands outside of the camp. The best the army could do while on the move and more than suitable for the archers in the army to practice in between battles.

Robin had heard talk of my skill with a bow, and while I preferred to be in the thick of the fighting over serving as ranged support I knew the option of ranged combat could be used to more effectively save lives and end battles. When Robin had approached me about my limits with a bow I'd been honest. My limits were only the limits of my weapon, despite her desire to trust my word on such issues she couldn't really place lives in my hands without seeing for herself.

That was why the tactician and I were present, and Nowi had simply tagged along with me, but that didn't explain the fourth person's presence.

"Virion." I addressed the blue haired man dressed in fancy silks. "I didn't expect you to be here, you're not one to normally practice so early in the morning." To be blunt it wasn't early anymore, not for soldiers. If we'd been marching today we would've already begun packing up camp, the only reason we weren't was because we were scheduled to receive a supply convoy today and we'd managed to find an oasis to camp near yesterday.

Virion simply didn't possess the discipline of a soldier, even compared to other members of the Shepherds like Vaike who at least regularly trained or Miriel who rose early for her research Virion was borderline lazy in his habits, to his credit though the man was skilled enough to have earned his place, and while he wasn't a tactician by any means he did possess a sharp wit.

"Ah, well I simply decided that as the best bowman of the Shepherds it would be prudent for me to observe my junior's efforts." Virion ended with a casual wave of one arm, almost as if to say 'what can you do'. While I doubted his motives were so pure, he likely wanted to show off his own skill and reassert his position as the 'archerest of archers' as he put it, it would be better to have another skilled bowman to assess me rather than Robin's untrained eye.

I also chose not to mention that he and I were the only archers in the Shepherds.

"Alright then, I'll be in your care." I spoke plainly and nodded as I finished, before grimacing at the way the weight on my back shifted as I moved. "Nowi, I'm not going to be able to shoot a bow with you on my back like that."

There was a grunt of displeasure before the weight shifted, unfortunately it wasn't to get off.

"No, I'm staying! You'll be fine, think of it like a handicap." I could only groan and rub my face at the chipper sound in her voice. If this was what was awaiting me as a Shepherd I was suddenly considering desertion.

"C'mon Nowi, he's not going anywhere so you have to let him practice." Fortunately the tactician came to my rescue, there was an audible 'hmph' before the small dragon girl jumped off my back. I let out a sigh of relief before looking to my savior in confusion as she held out something for me.

"What's this?" I took the items even as I said it, confusion painted on my expression.

"It's a bow and quiver. You're not a very good archer are you?" I gave the women a flat look as she chuckled at my expense along with the other two. She spoke again this time giving a serious answer. "I know you prefer using the bow and arrows you conjure but you're also always going on about preserving your mana, we have plenty of extras too since the supply convoy arrives today."

I grimaced for a bit, I hadn't gotten myself a bow before because nothing made in this world could fire the heavy altered swords I used most often, though I had been holding back on using such things since I joined the Shepherds anyway.

I used all the detonator swords I'd made back in Ylisstol and without a forge I couldn't make more. I could trace them sure, but I was trying to conceal my ability to project magical weapons. It was a useful trump card, one I'd like to be kept secret for its future use.

"Alright, I'll use it." In the end I accepted, quietly reminding myself that I could always go back to using the oversized black bow if it was necessary. I grasped the bow in my left arm before slinging the quiver around my shoulder, using the leather strap attached to it to secure it. I shifted my arms a bit, reaching back to grasp an arrow a few times before making a few minor adjustments.

I looked over to the tactician to see her smiling at me. When I gave her a raised brow she simply stepped to the side and gestured for me to walk to the firing line.

"Alright, we'll start simple." Robin spoke as I took my position. "I'll call out a target number, with one being the nearest and twelve being the furthest, and you try to hit that target. We can move on to more complex stuff later." She paused for a second to allow for me to ask questions, when none came she spoke again. "Ready?" A pause. "Four!"

I rolled my right shoulder as I sat with my meal, stretching the well used muscles in my arm. I hadn't been using reinforcement during the earlier archery assessment, mainly because I could draw the normal wooden bow fine without it, and now I was beginning to think I should've.

Just as Robin said things had started simple, just calling out one target or another with a short pause in between shots. After she realized I wasn't going to be missing anytime soon like that she stepped things up, she began calling out numbers faster, eventually reaching the point where she couldn't speak any faster.

Then she began telling me what parts of the target to hit, outermost ring, top left, five, for example. Of course she couldn't give targets quickly like this but it was a fair test of my accuracy. A test I'd passed.

Now I sat getting my lunch for the day. While on most days soldiers were expected to either find their own food or simply grab some hard bread and jerky from the rations Stahl hadn't been too busy today and had decided to prepare some simple food for a proper meal.

It was a welcome surprise after the unexpected workout I'd received earlier, as was Nowi's decision to leave me alone for a time, she'd instead decided to pester Gaius for a while. The pink haired man was something of a rogue, specializing in stealth, lock picking, and less than legal acquisitions. He had joined the Shepherds to serve as a scout and infiltrator, as well as relieving of any enemies of their excess wealth so we could put it to our own use. His cost for recruitment had been, candy.

The man had something of a fondness for sugary snacks, and was already infamous in the army for his thefts of any good with enough sugar to cause a cavity. It was this though that saved me from Nowi's attentions, she acted like a child in many ways, including her appetite sweets and when a man who carries as much sugar walks by a dragon with an appetite for such things he's bound to be noticed.

So here I sat alone, enjoying my lunch without the constant fear of being next to something that could have me for lunch. Of course, in this army one couldn't be alone for long. Fortunately my new company was far more accommodating than the old.

"Shirou, I was hoping to find you here." I looked away from my meal to see who was had called out to me.

"Miriel." I smiled and nodded at the woman as she walked towards me. "I'm surprised to see you out of your tent today. I expected you'd spend the whole day reading when I found out we'd have a day of no marching." I smirked at the red head as she grew flustered.

"Yes, well, proper work requires food and drink to be performed properly." The mage adjusted her glasses as she spoke, and my own smirk only grew at her minor nervous tick.

"And that's the reason you're here, for food and drink? It has nothing to do with those notes I gave you yesterday?" I had ended up borrowing some writing supplies from the mage. With them I'd started making a list of runes based on the weapons I possessed. While there were far more ways to enchant weapons than just runes it was one of simplest methods and one that my over specialized magecraft wouldn't interfere with.

Having notes and actually learning the runecraft would help me to organize and actually use the knowledge that was in my Reality Marble. What I had was essentially a collection of completed math problems, some of them were just simple algebra, and even without much understanding of them I could figure out how algebra works based on the solved problems I have. Most of my enchanted would be more comparable to something like calculus, figuring those things out would take a lot of breaking down their components and knowledge gained from more simple weapons.

Then there were the Noble Phantasms, trying to figure out those was like giving a toddler a textbook on rocket science.

I could of course just rip enchantments straight off these weapons, like what I'd done for Bumeran and Kaunta, but of course that would severely weaken the mystery and wouldn't allow for any alteration to it. The best route was to put in the time and effort to actually learn the enchantments.

So, I'd been creating more and more notes, notes on what runes meant, on how the interacted with each other, on materials that helped or hindered the enchantments. And as quickly as I made them Miriel read them all.

Of course, intelligent as the woman was she did more than just read them. She copied them to make her own notes, created theories and hypotheses on how certain runes could act in certain situations, the only thing holding her back from experimentation was that an army on the march didn't have any of the tools she'd need for accurate measurements, or somewhere to conduct the potentially dangerous experiments.

And that all lead to this, the ever curious woman would often come to me to discuss her new ideas, and while I didn't have the same knack for the theoretical that most magus did I was the source of knowledge on the runes she was studying.

"Yes well, I did have this intriguing thought that wouldn't leave me." My smirk grew and while the woman flushed a bit she didn't back down.

"Why don't you get some food and then we'll talk."

After lunch with Miriel I'd decided to take a short walk before attending to the last piece of business I needed to get done for the day. After this my schedule was free so I found myself considering what to do with the rest of the afternoon, cooking dinner was an option but I'd be required to do that tomorrow anyway. I could always do some more training, I think Frederick was going to run some of the men through drills.

I was just about finished with my walk and was near the rear of the army when I heard said knight yell.

"What do you mean they're late?" My head snapped towards my destination and I quickened my pace a bit.

"Er, just that sir. You're right, they were supposed to be a here an hour ago, and they're not." I rounded to corner to see Frederick staring down a pair of soldiers, their job was to keep watch so that we wouldn't be caught off guard in an attack, and because today was a resupply they were supposed to welcome the caravan.

"It's not like it's a problem." The other watchman spoke up. "They're just running a little late it happens to people all the time." I could feel the heat from Frederick's gaze increase as the man spoke.

"It does not happen to military supply convoys 'all the time'. And even if it does that doesn't change the fact that you two were too lazy to inform your superiors of an ongoing complication." It was then that I was noticed. "Shirou, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the caravan, I'm supposed to inspect and finish enchanting the weapons David ships." Frederick's eyes narrowed for a second as he thought before he nodded, proceeding to note Bumeran and the bow and quiver Robin had given me.

"And you're armed, good." He then looked back on the two soldier. "I'll deal with your punishments later, for now, you go to the cafeteria and then the Shepherds' tents, tell any Shepherd they're to arm themselves and rally at the eastern end of camp. And you, find Robin, tell her the situation." The men quickly saluted and began running, whether to complete their tasks or to avoid the knight's wrath I didn't know.

"Shirou." He turned to me next. "I'm going to get Chrom, since you're already armed stay here and keep watch." I nodded, while I would like to go ahead and try to ensure the caravan's safety on my own this was an army I was in and solo actions like that could do more harm than good.

"Good, while I do hope that they are simply late the risk that things went poorly somewhere is too great."

"Hope for the best expect the worst." I spoke solemnly. While it was a great philosophy I found my expectations surpassed far too often.

I focused on the running, continuing to move forwards rather than considering what sort of fate the caravan could have met. It had taken about ten minutes for the Shepherds to gather, and less than that for Robin to have a plan.

It was a rather simple one to be fair but that's all we honestly needed, Sumia and Cordelia had usee their pegasi to scout, what they'd found, while bad, was far from the worst it could be.

The caravan was under attack, while the guards protecting it were still fighting it was believed to be a losing battle. The fliers had been forced to stay high to avoid enemy archers, that limited the details we got quite a bit but the girls were able to confirm that the ylisseans were heavily outnumbered.

This meant a speedy reaction was important, but in the desert the horses the ylissean calvary relied on couldn't move quickly on the sand, and the army didn't have enough pegasi left after the initial plegian invasion, so foot soldiers had to be deployed.

The Shepherds had been the obvious choice, we were a small enough group that we could deploy quickly, and our composition mixed enough that we could fight effectively on the sands. But the team going to aid the caravan would need to be fast and strong, they'd have to be jogging to the battle, moving quickly while preserving enough strength to actually fight after that.

That limited who could come quite a bit, Miriel and Virion couldn't run that far and still fight effectively, and Kellam couldn't run at all with his armor and this loose sand. In the end ten of us had been deployed in addition to the two pegasus knights, myself, Robin, Chrom, Vaike, Lon'qu, Lissa, Panne, Gregor, Nowi, and Gaius. It was a small force but that was how the Shepherds operated, small teams fulfilling key objectives to affect the larger situation.

I felt the sand shift beneath my foot and adjusted my weight accordingly, though I lost a bit of momentum due to the unfamiliar weight of the weapons I carried. The sands were difficult to run in, I was doing better than some of the others since I'd been to areas like this in my own world, some though were simply insane.

Nowi had wanted another piggyback ride from me, whether it was because she enjoyed the first one, to further acclimate me to her prana signature, or just because she didn't want to run herself I didn't know. But whereas before I'd been willing to accommodate her out of concern for my own safety now other lives were at risk.

Robin had been ready to step in and intervene when someone else took my place, the old mercenary Gregor. I wasn't sure where the pink haired man was from but his accent was reminiscent of a russian's from my own world. He was an older man, a veteran of many wars and a sellsword with a heart of gold.

And he'd decided to give Nowi the piggyback ride she wanted, all the way to the battlefield, in the sand, while carrying his own weapons and armor.

I'd thought it was just another example of how much stronger the people of this world are but then I saw Robin gaping like a fish.

I stowed my thoughts as I felt my nose twitch at a familiar and unwelcome sensation. I was getting ready to say something when I was beat to it.

"I can smell the Risen." Panne's quiet but stern voice came out from the front of the group as she pretty much spat out the words.

"Risen?" Robin's voice held evident confusion but she quickly shook it off. "Whatever, we deal with that later the plan hasn't changed." We began cresting a dune and those in front of me stopped or slowed, I soon knew why as I came to the top and could see the battle for myself.

The caravan was indeed under attack from a group of Risen, the dozen plus wagons had turned in on themselves to create a circle, the guards peeking out from the gaps to try and stem the Risen. Things weren't going well however, the monsters that weren't trying for the gaps were simply trying to climb over the wagons, it was a miracle they'd lasted this long. A miracle explained by a flash of blue hair I caught in my reinforced vision.

"Marth." I spoke aloud, using the fake name. My statement caught Chrom's attention.

"Marth? She's here?" The man took a few steps forward, raising a hand to the side of his head and squinting as if he'd be able to spot her.

I raised an arm and pointed the woman out. "Between those two wagons, she's holding the line, occasionally peeking out to finish off an enemy." It took a second for Chrom to see what I pointed out but he did. There was a conflicted look on his face for a bit before he shook his head and turned to the group.

"Time for that later, now we need to move." He looked towards the tactician who nodded and stepped up.

"Cordelia, Sumia," Robin spoke to the pegasus riders as they landed, "I need you two and Nowi to do some strafing runs, Nowi take the front and light the enemy up while so other two can pick off the wounded." The two knights nodded and took off, even as Nowi used Gregor's shoulders as a platform to kick off into the air and shift. I suppressed a shudder as her prana signature fluctuated and grew.

"Panne," Robin continued, even as Nowi's now ethereal voice giggled with flame trailing from her mouth. "You need to be the shock and awe here, rush them and push them around, keep them on the back foot so the infantry has an easier time." The woman nodded before beginning her own shift.

Panne was a taguel, apparently the last of her kind, part of a race that could shift between a humanlike form to one like a rabbit. It sounded cute until you realized they were the size of horses and as fast as one with the strength of a bear. Her fur was a dark black and covered most of her body except for her paws, head, and ears which were white.

Panne gave off an ear splitting shriek before dashing off, the sand kicked out behind her almost looked like water. Robin ignored it all and continued giving orders.

"Shirou, you're the only ranged support we've got here, you need to take up a position and start picking off targets of opportunity." My eye twitched at the order, I'd wanted to charge in their and force the enemy to turn their backs on the caravan in favor of targeting me, but I understood that wouldn't be the most efficient option and didn't voice my discontent.

"Lissa, you stick with the main group, we'll make an opening for you to get behind the wagons so you can help the wounded." The royal nodded, her staff clenched to her chest and a look of determination on her face.

Robin took a second to draw her sword off her hip and pull a tome out of the bag at her waist. "Everyone else, CHARGE!"

I drew another arrow from my quiver, pausing after I drew it for a breath before letting it fly. It went right through one Risen's head before pinning another's hand to a wagon wheel. The wounded target was quickly finished finished off by the Exalt himself. I paused for a second as I looked for another target, rather than simply firing as quickly as I could it was smarter to pick my targets more selectively, hitting those that were an immediate threat to my allies to keep them safer rather than end the battle more quickly.

An arrow to the heart of one Risen distracted two others enough that Gaius could kill one before it realized he was there. The second was dispatched after a thrown knife stumbled it enough that the thief could carve out its chest.

Things were going well, most of the Risen had been cleared out and the soldiers that had been hiding behind the wagons were instead pushing out to force the enemy back. Of course things would never be that easy.

Vaike was having difficulty with an opponent, one of the unarmed Risen whose only weapons were their elongated claws. Vaike wouldn't have normally had trouble with one or two Risen so I assumed it was something to do with this one, it was larger than its brethren after all.

I drew another arrow, taking a bit longer than I had before to make sure I didn't accidentally hit Vaike in the fighting. With a sharp twang the arrow flew true, impacting the Risen in the middle of the forehead, and the opening was used to deliver a devastating blow.

What?

I had to shake myself and blink for a few second to make sure I was seeing this right, the Risen hadn't even flinched at the arrow sticking out of it's head, and had used Vaike's own surprise to backhand the man, launching him almost a dozen meters away. I saw Lon'qu help the man up as Lissa dashed over, her staff already softly glowing in preparation.

I looked back to see the Risen wrestling with Panne, the taguel being pushed back despite the enormous weight advantage. I looked down at the bow in my hands before slinging it back over my shoulder and drawing Bumeran as I began to run.

Panne was thrown off just in time for a bolt of lighting from Robin to struck. It seemed to stun the monster for a bit but after a second it only seemed more enraged. A horrifying screech made most of the combat stop, as the ylissean soldiers unwillingly flinched the surviving Risen began to make an odd sort of chittering.

I felt my circuits heat as I pushed my reinforcement, running to intercept the large Risen even as it charged at the tactician. A fireball to one shoulder stunned it enough for a wind spell to knock it over in the loose sand. As it began to stand up a shield bash to the head from Gregor stunned it further, and the coup de grace came from the sky.

Like a bird of prey Nowi landed atop the risen, planting her arms over its own before opening her maw wide. With an ethereal and childish yell of 'Take this!' she unleashed a stream of flames, cooking the Risen alive even as it yelled and screamed. With the death of their apparent leader the rest of the Risen began screeching again, backing away as they did so, before one by one turning and running.

After pausing for a second at the almost anticlimactic ending I sheathed my sword and turned towards the caravan. There might be wounded and while I was no healer I could still help.

I spent my time helping to tie bandages and move the wounded to a central area, where Lissa and a few other healers were helping. It was after things had calmed down a bit that she approached me.

"Shirou, it is good to see you weren't executed as a traitor to the crown." I felt a small smile grow as I turned to see the woman I'd agreed to fight alongside. Despite continuing to use the pseudonym Marth Lucina hadn't gone back to using the mask, instead opting to hide her eye and the brand within it behind a curtain of hair.

"Well, they wanted to execute me for my heinous crimes, really did, but Chrom came in and said I was too valuable an asset to be lost in such a way, that my death would be a loss to not only Ylisse but the entire world." I shrugged as if to say 'what can you do?' even as Lucina gave me a raised brow and had a look in her eye callin my bullshit.

"Yes, I'm sure he said that, I bet they even had to beg you to become a Shepherd." I felt an absolute shit eating grin split my face.

"Well, I suppose Chrom just liked my cooking that much." Lucina let out a heartfelt chuckle as I just continued smirking, she may have gotten better at this game but she was dealing with a master.

"Marth, I'm glad to see you here though I do have to say I can't have you poaching valued members of the Shepherds." Lucina's expression became a little more forced, not out of any negative feelings to her father, but simply to hide what feelings and desires she did have.

"I assure you, I am here by coincidence alone." Though she faced towards Chrom Lucina eyed me as she spoke. "I heard what occured from David and his mother, I was actually asking the merchants for information on an unrelated matter when the Risen attacked, nothing more."

I rose a eyebrow in question but Lucina simply shook her head, telling me not to ask. Whether because I didn't need to worry about it or because she couldn't say in front of Chrom I didn't know. I also didn't ask.

Chrom gave the both of us an odd look at our silent exchange before he crossed his bare arms and spoke up. "Marth, are you planning to involve yourself in this war again?"

"Not immediately, but yes. Before this war ends I'll be joining you in battle again." The crown prince nodded slowly before speaking again.

"You know there is a place for you in the Shepherds, if you want it that is." Lucina seemed taken aback a bit at her father's forward offer.

"Even though I answer to a false name?"

"Yes." Chrom's reply was immediate and unhesitant.

"I see." And Lucina's was anything but, as she paused a moment in thought. "Perhaps in the future, but for the time being I have to decline, I have goals that need to be achieved first." I felt a bit of surprise myself, last time we'd talked about this Lucina had been fully opposed to it. It left me to wonder what had changed.

"Very well." Chrom didn't seem at all upset to have been turned down, if anything he seemed happier than before. "It is a open offer if you ever choose to accept." Chrom turned to look at me this time, and though he spoke more slowly and with a bit of hesitation but all the same commitment.

"If it is both of your wills, and necessary for these goals you speak of, I can have Shirou released from duty to accompany you once again." I did a brief double take, before staring at the man in shock. Was he serious?

"Can you even do that?" Chrom gave me his own smirk at my words.

"I am the Supreme Commander of the Ylissean Army, I can do whatever I want. There will be a little blowback from the commanders of course, but Shirou is pretty well liked around here, and if we explain that he and you will be joining the Shepherds for the final battle they should be pretty much okay with it."

"I never said I would be aiding in the final battle." Lucina spoke out, sounding just a bit offended at the assumption.

"But you're not denying it now are you?" Chrom snapped a finger and gave her a cocky grin as he spoke.

"He's got you there." I only chuckled as Lucina shot me a dirty look.

"Well, what d'ya say?" Chrom 's smile didn't fade as he asked Lucina for an answer, one she wasn't immediate in giving. She gave me a questioning gaze and I simply shrugged, I'd been all for closer cooperation with the Shepherds all along but if Lucina needed my help with whatever she was doing here I'd be there.

"No." Lucina shook her head slowly, her hair waving behind her as she did so. "Shirou knew what he was getting into when he went against Emmeryn's orders in Ylisstol, and we both expected a far worse fate to await him. At least for now he can continue the sentence he was given. And besides, he serves our goals just fine by fighting under your banner." Chrom's grin only grew.

"And you prove me right to be trusting the both of you yet again." Lucina gave a light scoff before beginning to turn, pausing halfway through the motion to speak.

"The Risen earlier, they retreated after the Entombed was killed." Chrom blinked a few times in confusion at the abrupt subject change.

"Entombed? Would that be larger one from earlier?" Lucina nodded. "That's strange right? None of the Risen we've fought before have fled."

"Not so much unusual as it is rarer." Lucina pointed out the minor distinction and continued. "Risen tend to fight to the last man, or monster as it is, they only retreat when something more intelligent is controlling them." Chrom's eyes narrowed at the words.

"What kind of something?"

"It depends, most often it will either be a more powerful Risen or occasionally an exceptionally skilled dark mage."

"A dark mage you say. As we stand in a nation that worships Grima and trains mages in the darkest of spells? One we are currently at war with?" Chrom, while not nearly as clever as his tactician was more than capable of putting the pieces together.

"Don't leap to conclusions, though in this case it isn't much of a leap." Lucina made to turn away once again when Chrom stopped her.

"Hold. How did you learn so much about Risen? I'd never heard about them before that night we met and yet you know more than any scholar or mage in Ylisse." Lucina's mouth hung open for a moment before she came up with a suitable answer.

"Experience." She stated simply and finally, before turning to walk away once again. Chrom didn't stop her but he did turn to me with a huff.

"What?" I spoke up, my own arms folded. "Don't expect anything out of me." The royal gave a good natured scoff.

"Figures."