Author's note: Hi, thanks for clicking on my story. This is a pretty long story about a battle between Hoshidan and Nohrian forces in an area known as the Emperor's Chasm which took me all of five minutes to make up. I'd really appreciate feedback and anything I can do to improve for next time. My first story on this site. Here goes.

Battle of the Emperor's Chasm

Selena

Tired. That's what Selena felt after marching for what seemed like an eternity. The silver and steel swords strapped to her hip, which at one point had been easy to manage and and as light as a feather, now threatened to rip her hip off from the weight. Every part of her was exhausted and now she was bitterly tempted to commandeer one of the mounted knights next to her. Especially the one right next to her.

Selena had met some utterly contemptible people since arriving in Nohr, but Daniela was right in line for becoming Selena's top dislike. Through her ridiculous fashion sense which the woman herself branded 'exquisite and the very peak of Nohrian sophistication', her horrid arrogance of her proficiency in tomes (Selena knew at least two people who were better) and her personality that reminded Selena far too much of herself at times while also somehow being even worse at times, Daniela was about the last person Selena would've elected to march to the infamous Emperor's Chasm with.

The chasm, from what she'd been briefed, was a particularly notable area near the Bottomless Canyon, and wasn't just one but several chasms and cliffs that lay closer to Hoshido than Nohr. And with the rumours of King Garon of Nohr planning to instigate war with Hoshido abundant at the moment, it would be a great advantage to Nohr to control the area.

Of course, that was all fine and dandy, but did they really have to walk there to occupy it? It was at times like these where Selena regretted choosing not to ride a pegasus.

Selena gazed upward to avoid her neck cramping up and caught a glimpse of Beruka atop her wyvern in the skies. Beruka was the third secondary commander of the Nohrian Army that was on the march to the Emperor's Chasm, though was about the opposite of what a commander should be, in Selena's opinion. She was very much the strong and silent type, who showed little to no emotion and her former life as a merciless assassin was common knowledge within Nohr. In fact, she'd been about to assassinate her current employer when she'd been hired on the spot. This story never failed to confuse Selena to no end.

Selena's heart leapt as the Emperor's Chasm finally came into view. Finally! Selena felt like she could just collapse at this point. Fortunately, common sense took hold before she could do that. She was secondary commander, so she reluctantly looked up to Daniela, trying to hide her scowl as the other woman felt her eyes upon her.

"What is it, Selena dear?" Daniela asked in her cooing voice that made Selena want to puke. Another 'Nohrian sophistication' thing.

"We're here now," Selena spat. "We should set up a camp now."

"Aw, are you tired, dear?" Daniela replied, her accent failing to disguise the smugness in her voice and the joy she got from belittling Selena.

"No, I'm not tired. I could run a marathon! I was just thinking of everyone else. There are other people in this army besides you, Daniela," Selena shot back. Daniela withdrew, her face turning cold.

"I suppose we could stop for the cannon fodder," she said callously.

The army was right outside the Emperor's Chasm now. Daniela halted, giving out a hand to stop the army, and Selena stopped as well. Daniela turned to the soldiers behind her.

"Set up camp and the tents!" she barked. The soldiers looked happy as they clumsily set down their weapons with various crashes of steel and iron on the ground. The cavaliers dismounted and the knights began to strip off the heavier parts of their armor, looking relieved. Selena overheard Daniela mutter under her breath, "Fools," and her dislike for the arrogant strategist increased.

Wind blew past, nearly knocking Selena over as Beruka and the wyvern riders landed, the wyverns giving a few low screeches as their riders dismounted. Beruka had landed near Selena and her emotionless stare bared into Selena.

"Watch where you're landing next time!" Selena complained, after recovering herself. Beruka's face didn't change, and Selena gave an irritated sigh before walking off in the opposite direction toward the tents that were being set up, Nohrian soldiers left and right. A dark bearded and cold-faced wyvern rider glared everywhere, eying Selena suspiciously. A female golden-locked fighter who wore an outfit that made Selena pout accompanied by a large and thuggish-looking knight sat down off to the side. As she walked past, the fighter gave her a suspicious look as well. A blue-haired maid who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else was polishing her staves and daggers. As Selena passed her, she could actually feel a literal chill coming from the maid. Selena walked by that one rather quickly.

At last, Selena made it to the safe freedom of her already-set-up personal tent. She stripped off her armor, tossed her weapons to the side and undid her long crimson hair, shaking the sweat from it. She put on some more casual clothes, and gave a sigh. It was at these moments alone her mind tended to quickly wander to what the others were doing. Odin and Laslow, also off on missions. She was jealous of their tasks. All Laslow had to do was attend some conference with Lord Xander and another chunk of the Nohrian Army. Meanwhile, Odin had apparently been sent off on some stupid quest to find a, 'lodestone imbued with darkness', by Lord Leo. Still, at least they didn't have to work with Daniela or Beruka. There were times where Selena wished she and her two friends could trade lieges.

The meeting horn sounded and Selena gave another irritated sigh. Great. More time spent with Daniela and Beruka. Shaking her head, she returned to her military outfit, a white shirt that came out like a tunic with black vest over it with leggings and boots to match. Fancy red shoulder guard as well. She reluctantly attached her belt with her three swords attached, two on one side and one on the other. Silver, steel and her own custom blade being among them. She gazed at her own blade, a relic from her homeland, and had been granted some ridiculous moniker by Odin that Selena never bothered to remember. Still, it brought back a few fond memories. Selena sheathed the blade and stepped outside her tent, making for the commanders' tent.

Kaze

"...they are currently gathered at the far end of the Chasm, sir." Kaze finished, still kneeling, before looking tentatively up at Yukimura. The tactician looked deep in thought from his words and Kaze looked at him, waiting to be dismissed.

"I see," was all Yukimura gave. He rose from his chair, still thinking. "It seems King Garon is braver than I initially thought. A full-scale occupation of the Emperor's Chasm." Hoshido's masterful tactician paced up and down while a burly and brutish oni chieftain watched with arms folded.

"Hmph," scowled the bulky tribalist chieftain. "What do you think, Yukimura?" The tactician stopped pacing and turned to him.

"It seems the Nohrians are mostly unaware of our presence. In addition, their progress through the chasm will be slowed due to the narrow paths and cliffs, as long as we can eliminate their fliers." Yukimura paused his analysis, then continued. "General Kumagera, assemble the bulk of our forces but make yourselves scarce. You," he said, indicating Kaze, "Inform the ninja ready themselves for an ambush. Also, please inform Generals Setsuna and Azama to ready their respective forces as well." Yukimura stopped to consider his words, looking exasperated. "Please ensure that Setsuna actually does it. Tell her multiple times."

Kaze bowed low, before rising.

"It shall be done, sir," before exiting the tent. As he left, he overheard General Kumagera speaking.

"...Lady Hinoka has been sent word. She's just replied, and she'll be on her way soon." Kaze was gone with the wind before he could hear Yukimura's reply, though the words had his head spinning. The famed Princess of Hoshido, Lady Hinoka, was coming here? Momentous. Kaze had never met any of the royal family before, besides being in the same room as High Prince Ryoma once with his brother Saizo, who was his official retainer. Still, Kaze focused himself on Yukimura's orders. His personal ambitions could wait. They could always wait.

Kaze scanned the area for the two secondary commanders that Yukimura had mentioned - Azama and Setsuna. Kaze had only heard scarce rumours of them. Setsuna was apparently a deadly archer and retainer to Princess Hinoka herself. Azama was a master monk who wielded rods and was said to be rather aloof. Kaze assumed they'd be in their own personal tents and looked around the area, which was filled with soldiers of varying professions. Kaze waded through, catching glimpses of samurai - warriors who were said to be skilled and swift in wielding the katana, diviners - a select few who could read ancient scrolls that summoned spirits from beyond this world, and spear fighters - masters of the naginata whose toughness was not to underestimated. Meanwhile, in the temporary stables, the winged horses known as pegasi gave distant neighs while being tended to by their masters, the sky knights. The atmosphere was one of anticipation, as no doubt rumours of a Nohrian attack had spread through the army.

Kaze finally spied a lone tent, that was slightly more developed than the others. He walked towards it, hoping he would find one of the commanders within. Drawing back the curtain, he was greeted with a room that contained only a bed, a few outfits and a collection of yumi and arrows. From the choice of weaponry, Kaze guessed it was Setsuna's, though he couldn't help feeling somewhat disappointed if it was hers. He'd imagined her as someone of great discipline when he'd heard the rumours, though the room was extremely shabby and barely maintained.

"Um, excuse me..." a dreamy voice said behind him. Kaze almost jumped as he turned around to see a teal-haired woman behind him. She wore the simple and light clothing of an archer and a white hair band. She seemed to gaze through him, as though he were invisible. Kaze moved quickly aside after recovering himself.

"I'm sorry! Forgive me, um..." Kaze trailed off before realised he didn't know the maiden's name.

"Setsuna..." the woman said dreamily. She proceeded to her room. Kaze shook away his confusion at the confirmation that this woman was a deadly sharpshooter, before delivering his message.

"General Yukimura has asked me inform you to ready your troops. Nohrian forces are upon the horizon," Kaze recited. Setsuna blankly turned to him.

"Oh..." was all she replied. Then, after a few moments, "So what do I do?"

"To ready your troops. I presume you command the archer forces of the Hoshidan army," Kaze said awkwardly. This was surreal. That was the only way Kaze could describe it.

"Oh..." the archer replied again. A few moments passed with neither of them moving. Then Setsuna spoke again, "So what's happening?" Kaze decided he might have to walk Setsuna through the process.

"General Yukimura has asked you to gather your troops, because enemies are coming for the Emperor's Chasm," Kaze explain again. "Do you know where your troops are stationed?"

"Ooh, I have troops...?" asked Setsuna happily. "That's wonderful... I wonder where they are..."

This was becoming far more difficult than Kaze envisioned. It seemed Setsuna had an extreme lack of attention span. And memory, for that matter. Still, she was a commander, and he was obliged to treat her with utmost respect, even if she seemed blissfully unaware of the fact.

"Why don't you grab your yumi and we go find them?" Kaze asked politely. Setsuna's head turned to the collection of yumi. Her head perked up.

"Oh, that'll be cool. I could go out hunting in the forest. And you could come with me..." Setsuna said with her dreamy happiness. She rushed to the yumi and grabbed one along with a quiver of steel arrows. She competently looped the quiver and yumi over her shoulder, before stopping suddenly.

"So, what are we doing again?" she questioned.

"We're going to go find your troops," Kaze answered patiently.

"Oh..." Setsuna replied.

It had taken quite a while, but Kaze had eventually managed to divulge enough information from Setsuna to determine the location of her troops, which had turned out to be the archer units. Setsuna was certainly a handful to deal with, and not in the way Kaze had expected. He'd left her with her secondary officer, a male archer, who had looked rather disappointed to see the two of them. Kaze had informed him of the situation, and then made off to find Azama.

Azama, from what he'd heard was a monk, so, logically, Kaze sought out the temporary shrine within the Hoshidan garrison. Shrine maidens and monks resided here, praying to the gods, and indulging in meditation to help them achieve inner peace. Kaze admired them for this aspect. It was not so different to the discipline of a ninja, and in some ways seemed even more difficult. And Kaze, as someone who had gone through the trials of becoming a ninja, could certainly respect their dedication to their gods and training.

Within the shrine, various maidens and monks were seated cross-legged, eyes closed and in deep focus, a few speaking in ancient tongue. A notable monk was at the front, facing the others and carried the presence of someone divine and spiritual. His brown hair was done up in an odd fashion and his eyes were closed. He was clothed in a monk's robe of black and white and in front of him was a holy rod. Kaze approached as quietly as he could, careful not to disturb the meditating monks and maidens. When he approached the head monk that he assumed to be Azama, the monk spoke.

"Hello there. I do hope you have a good reason for being here." Kaze was slightly taken aback by the monk's awareness of his presence, but knelt low.

"Please forgive me for disturbing you. Are you Azama? I come here on the orders of General Yukimura."

"No, I won't forgive you. You rudely interrupted us. But I'm afraid I've lost my concentration now, so I might as well listen to your message," the monk said bluntly. He rose from his seated position and spoke to the group of monks and shrine maidens. "Meditation is adjourned for now, thanks to our ninja friend here. Please leave." The group arose in a similar fashion, leaving without words or quarrel at the monk's orders. Before long, Kaze and the monk were the only ones left in the shrine.

"So, what does our esteemed tactician have to say?" the monk asked condescendingly. Kaze, still kneeling, looked up.

"You are Azama?" he asked.

"Yes, yes. I thought that would've been obvious by now. It seems not all of us are blessed with equal foresight and powers of deduction," Azama said, bluntly insulting Kaze. It seemed some of the rumours about Azama were true, though he was far more aloof than Kaze's original impressions had been.

"Nohrians have been sighted. They march for the Emperor's Chasm with an army. General Yukimura has asked you to assemble your forces," Kaze recited. Azama's response once again defied Kaze's expectations once again. The monk laughed.

"Oho, I see, I see. Time for more to leave the mortal realm in barbaric warfare. How lamentable," Azama said philosophically. "Well, the Nohrians aren't going to kill themselves, are they? Unless they have a sudden realization about a futility of their lives' struggle! But that's quite unlikely, isn't it?" Azama's nihilistic philosophy was starting to disturb Kaze somewhat. Azama seemed to notice Kaze was still present.

"Oh yes, you are excused. Thank you delivering your most important message," Azama said, before turning away from Kaze. At that, Kaze made a point to quickly exit the premises. He wasn't very fond of spending more time with Azama.

Kaze emerged from the shrine and made a quick sift through the crowd of gathering soldiers to the tents of the ninja. There, he retrieved his weapons - shuriken, star-shaped throwing weapons made of iron and steel that he hid within his sleeves. He was ready now. Kaze joined with the other ninja units and awaited the tactician's call.

Selena

"No! That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard! Why the hell would we wait for them to attack us?" Selena screamed in protest. "We'll all get killed! Is that what you want?" Beruka took the yelling with her typical emotionless stare, arms folded. Daniela, off to the other side of the table, looked annoyed at the entire situation, her face a dismayed mask. Once Selena was done, Beruka replied coolly.

"If we remain here, the enemy will be forced to make the first move. Then we can properly counter them."

"And did you consider what it'll do to our forces?" Selena shot back. "We could be decimated by the time you've developed your 'counter'. Did you think of that, huh?"

"It is a risk we must be prepared to take," Beruka answered. "The mission is above all. To control the Emperor's Chasm."

"We do have plenty of cannon fodder to use," Daniela stated. "My judgment is to use them to draw out the enemies, then destroy the place. My mages and I are certainly capable."

"While our own soldiers are in there?" Selena asked, bewildered by Daniela's utter disregard for human life. "That's idiotic!" Daniela's mouth turned into a snakelike grin.

"Aww, what's the matter, Selena?" Daniela asked with faux sweetness. "Do you care about the useless cannon fodder of the army? If so, you can join them, if you like." Selena shot a hateful glare at Daniela.

"Maybe you haven't fought like a real soldier, with you remaining nice and safe behind the lines with your magic, but some of us know how to fight worth a damn. So maybe I do care about the 'cannon fodder' as you call them. Because I actually know how to fight," Selena snarled at Daniela.

"My, my," Daniela replied, softly clapping. "How brave and caring of you, Selena. Why don't you go and tell them about my feelings towards them?" Daniela's face hardened into a smirk. "They know I don't care and there's nothing they can do about it. Nothing you can do, either. Because I'm the official tactician here, and my job is to issue the army's tactics. Besides, King Garon himself is supporter of my tactics. Once I win here, he'll replace that sniveling little whelp Iago with yours truly." Daniela smiled gleefully at Selena, who could feel herself going hot with rage towards Daniela. She could feel her hand on her sword, ready to disembowel Daniela.

"You-" Selena started, before a scream rang out in the air, outside the tent. Selena turned, muttering to herself, before drawing back the curtain of the tent.

Outside was a war zone. The Hoshidans had attacked.

Selena swore, drawing her steel sword while racing outside as the battle began. Nohrian lancers around her battled the Hoshidan sword wielders known as samurai. Selena dodged stabs and thrusts, as fallen soldiers crumpled over nearby, blood leaking from their fatal wounds. Mystical spirits flew by, controlled by Hoshidan magic users, one of which Selena sliced in two with her sword as it flew towards her. Dirt and blood exploded from the ground, as screams populated the air and steel and iron clashed. Selena skilfully dodged a club coming down from the sky, behind it an oni savage who she slew with a violent thrust through the chest. She withdrew the sword from his chest while he gave a dying yell, and continued running through the battlefield, soldiers falling and screaming and shouting around. As she passed by, she surprised a diviner as she brought her sword across his throat, slicing it open. He keeled over in shocked coughs and gurgles.

From the sky, a pegasus rider - sky knights they were called in Hoshido, if Selena remembered correctly - dove down, naginata primed to pierce Selena's chest. Selena turned and the naginata screeched as it deflected by Selena's shoulder guard. The sky knight flew back up before her pegasus took an arrow to the wing and both were sent crashing down to the ground. Selena deflected a few shurikens that were thrown from nowhere at her with her shoulder guard, the stars bouncing off of it. Selena turned as a grey-haired ninja appeared from thin air behind her, bringing a shuriken down upon her. She raised her sword to block it and was brought to one knee from the force of the blow. The ninja struck again as Selena clocked the blow with her shoulder guard and elbowed him in the chest, using the following precious seconds to get to her feet. She attacked the ninja with her sword, slashing at him as he speedily dodged the swings.

"Ugh, stand still, will you?!" yelled Selena at her opponent as he avoided another. She brought her sword down upon him violently, which he blocked this time. Selena pressed down, trying to break his defense, though the ninja instead twisted out of it and blew past her, slicing her side with his shuriken as he went past. Selena gritted her teeth to control the incentive to cry out in pain and wheeled around, swinging her sword wildly, getting only air. She brought it down quickly to block as a charging samurai came at her with a dashing thrust. The samurai attacked with a quick series of slashes, which Selena parried, before taking the opportunity to slay him with stab to the heart. Somehow, she heard the whistle of a shuriken behind her amidst the battle noise and she quickly turned to deflect it with her shoulder guard. The ninja she'd fought before reemerged with a serious face, attacking her with thrown shurikens as Selena chased after him.

The battle was moving now. The Nohrians had reorganized themselves, and were starting to push back the Hoshidans' assault with their larger army size. The Hoshidans were on the defensive as the battle moved to the Emperor's Chasm itself. In the skies, the Nohrian wyvern riders and the Hoshidan sky knights battle over the chasm while arrows and spirits flew up, hoping to hit an enemy.

Selena barely noticed any of this, as she dueled the ninja, dodging his shurikens and chasing him down. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Daniela, atop her horse, casting spells from her tomes at the enemy soldiers. Meanwhile, some of the soldiers Selena had eyed earlier were also fighting. The sullen blue-haired maid was now throwing daggers left and right at enemies, weakening them. The brutish-looking knight protected the seductive, golden-haired female fighter with his shield, with arrows and throwing swords and clubs bouncing off of it. The fighter then leapt into battle, spinning her axe violently, slashing open all around her, before straight up beheading an oni savage.

Selena leapt into the air in a flip before bringing her sword down hard, a falling slash that the ninja dodged, before giving her a shuriken that left a cut on her cheek as it whistled past her ear. Selena growled, before deflecting two more shurikens with her sword.

Selena smiled. The ninja was at the edge of a cliff now. Nowhere left to run now. However, he didn't stop running. Instead he leapt right across the chasm, before twisting in mid air to give her two shurikens, which Selena guarded against with her shoulder guard. Selena's smile vanished and she pursued him, running. If he could make the gap, she could as well. She ran fast, before a katana appeared in her path almost out nowhere. Selena reacted quickly, barely ducking with a slide, tripping the attacker with her sword. The samurai fell over and Selena stabbed him in the gut with her sword, before hurriedly running towards the cliff.

She jumped. Her three swords weighed her down slightly, though she was able to clear the cliff, landing neatly on her feet before sprinting after the retreating ninja.

"Get back here!" Selena snarled at him, following the ninja's path that involved more cliff-jumping. If this guy thought she couldn't keep up with him, then he had another thing coming as Selena leapt another cliff.

"Is that all you got?" she yelled after him. As she slightly turned, taking her eyes off him for a second, she found that he had vanished. Selena stopped, aggravated. Where had he gone? The disappearing act was starting to make her really despise ninjas. It was then that she glanced up at the sky.

Arrows. A lot of them, in ascent. And they'd land right on her. Selena cursed wildly as she started to run for cover. She ran faster, in a full-on sprint, for her life. She leapt a cliff, though the repeated jumping was getting tiring for her. A glance upward told her the arrows had started their descent. Selena screamed as she made an early jump. She wouldn't make the cliff. As the wall approached, she brandished her sword and braced for the impact.

The arrows rained down and Selena heard the screams of struck soldiers ring out in the air. She crashed into the cliff face, hitting her unguarded shoulder hard, though she didn't let go of her sword, which was embedded in the cliff face. No arrow hit her. Selena opened her eyes, disbelieving she'd avoided what should've been fatal situation. She almost wanted to laugh, though that made her think of Laslow, and the thought of becoming like him made her shudder. She made the exhausting climb up, digging into the cliff face with her sword to scale the mountain, running into a few arrows in it on the way. She eventually made it to the top, panting as she walked on tender legs, dragging her steel sword along the way. Climbing the cliff with it hadn't been the best idea for the blade, as it was now chipped and dull. Selena groaned, as she made her way back towards the battle that had now progressed to the center of the Emperor's Chasm.

Hinoka

Princess Hinoka of Hoshido entered the fort's main floor amidst a sea of amazed soldiers. She'd dismounted her pegasus and left her outside the fort to let her rest after the long journey. She walked through with a royal posture, befitting of her station, though she would've rather simply sprinted to the top deck to see Yukimura. The Hoshidan tactician had a battle on his hands, and Hinoka had set off for the Emperor's Chasm the second it had been reported. She wouldn't stand by as more Hoshidans potentially died. And her own retainers, Setsuna and Azama, were stationed here and would be fighting by now. She wouldn't allow them to perish on the battlefield.

Hinoka reached the top step and stepped into the room, immediately making for Yukimura, who was looking over a map of the Emperor's Chasm. He looked up as she stepped into the room.

"Princess Hinoka. It is good to see you, milady," Yukimura greeted her pleasantly.

"You too, Yukimura," Hinoka replied with a smile. Then she turned serious. "Have our soldiers engaged the enemy?"

"Yes, the first battle is underway," Yukimura explained. "We were able to ambush the Nohrians and eliminate their soldiers while the army is in disarray. Our army is led by General Kumagera. Setsuna and Azama are also on the battlefield as well. However, I'm afraid it seems battle reports suggest that the Nohrian army has reorganised itself and is now pushing our army back to the midst of the Emperor's Chasm. We need to reassemble, and assemble a larger army to defeat the Nohrians."

Hinoka eyed Yukimura.

"You're retreating?" she questioned. "Hold that off. I can save the battle. I'll go get my weapons ready now."

"No," Yukimura said authoritatively.

"What? Why not?" Hinoka asked defiantly.

"I'm afraid you're too important, Lady Hinoka," Yukimura explained. "You can join once the battlefield thins out a bit. Though I still have a crucial job for you," the tactician said, before turning away from Hinoka.

"What is it?" Hinoka asked suspiciously. "And you can't keep me off the battlefield. I'm going." Yukimura sighed irritably, adjusting his glasses.

"Please follow me, milady," Yukimura said while gesturing for her to follow. He proceeded down the steps, with Hinoka following him distrustfully. He led her through the room of soldiers again, before they entered another room at ground level. And that was when Hinoka felt it.

A low beating, vibrations in the earth that her blood called to. It made her blood fizz with an otherworldly connection to the patch of earth there, calling to her, begging her to touch and release its power.

"A dragon vein," Hinoka whispered. Yukimura nodded in confirmation.

"King Sumeragi and I discovered it long ago. It has the power to alter the Emperor's Chasm, completely change it and surprise the enemy. It will indefinitely decimate them, and allow us to secure victory," Yukimura explained.

"Yukimura," said Hinoka uncomfortably. "What about our soldiers? Kumagera? Azama? Setsuna? What about them?" She stared at him intently.

"They know of the dragon vein. Our losses will be minimal," Yukimura said mechanically. Sensing he hadn't convinced her, he spoke again, "The Nohrian Army's advancement has been unexpectedly staggering. If this is not done, we will be defeated. Our forts and our forces will not last forever. This was not a plan I wanted to unleash, but I have no choice. I will take responsibility for the losses." Hinoka stood still, looking at Yukimura with a mixture of disgust and shock. This was what he was willing to do to protect Hoshidan interests? It sounded like Nohrian tactic to Hinoka. Uncaring and unfeeling of their soldiers, that's what their tacticians were. That wasn't what Hoshido was supposed to be. Father would've never allowed it.

"There's another way," Hinoka said coldly. "There's always another way."

"Not always," answered Yukimura, traces of sadness in his voice. "You can't win battles by yourself, milady. And you can't always save everyone." Hinoka glared at him but her heart had already relented, swayed by his words. She could only hope and pray that as many Hoshidans as possible would be able to escape once she activated the vein. Yukimura stepped to the side, giving her space to stand over the vein.

Hinoka walked toward it, feeling it pulsating excitedly within the ground, telling her to activate it, let its power release and flow, reshape the world in her favour. The power was all hers.

Hinoka closed herself, steeling herself for what she might do. She knelt down to the ground and touched it an open palm, feeling around within the ground for the vein's presence. She found it, and clenched her fist as the presence danced excitedly within her, fueling her with its power. She felt the power of the dawn dragon rush through her, caressing her blood with its limitless energy. The vein was in her grasp now. The dragon was ready. The time was now.

In the distance, the cliffs began to move.

Selena

The sword and the shuriken clashed once again as Selena brought down the sword. She and the ninja wrestled against each other as the rest of the battle raged around them, and Selena pressed hard against her silver sword. Breaking the blade lock, Selena swung the heavy blade again, with the grey-haired ninja dodging once again as Selena took a moment to gasp for breath. The ninja gave her another prod with a shuriken, vanishing with the wind every time Selena tried for a counter. Selena lost focus as her exhausted muscles gracefully missed the ninja again, to which she was rewarded with a shuriken to the side for her efforts. She growled in frustration and pulled the shuriken out as blood started to leak out the small hole in her side, one of many. Selena was gradually growing weaker as the shuriken sapped her of her strength.

The ninja struck another blow against her, knocking her to the ground, and, symbolically, the rest of the Nohrians were starting to tire in their desperate attempts to push back the Hoshidans. From her grounded position, at any other time, Selena would've been happy to see Daniela's face in an exhausted frown, though now it was bad as a tough and burly oni chieftain swung his club at her, knocking her from her horse. Instinctively, Selena rolled over and blocked the chieftain's finishing blow with her newly-drawn blade from her homeland. He attacked her with ferocious savagery and she blocked with equal desperation, trying to find an opening in his defense. He followed up his assault with a well-placed kick to her stomach, sending her keeling over. Selena rolled backward, stumbling to her feet in time to see the oni chieftain holding a scroll and chanting. The wooden pieces of the scroll spun as the spirit of an ox charged aggressively toward her. Selena ran flipping right over the spirit before bringing her blade downward, slashing at the chest of the oni chieftain. Her slash did minimal damage, leaving barely a scar on the chieftain's bulky chest. He bashed her in the head with his club, rattling Selena's brain and blurring her vision as she somewhat registered falling over.

Selena hazily turned over onto her back, seeing the blurry figure of the oni chieftain approaching, club poised. Selena barely registered she was about to die when the ground began to rumble.

The ground rumbled and shook to the point that the armies briefly ceased their fighting. Selena rolled over a few times as others around her stood, frozen to their spots in confusion. The ground rumbled again and now there was silence on the battlefield. Selena got to her knees, dumbly looking around in confusion. What was happening? Her head hurt profusely but now her eyes were on the large explosion further on.

The ground broke open, a huge crack opening at random, and travelling across the battlefield at great speed. More cracks in the ground opened up, trailing across the ground. Then Selena realised the cliff she was currently on was moving, separating.

The soldiers around her now started to run, screaming as the cracks came towards them. Selena forced herself to her feet, looking around in alarm. She dodged one crack that traveled toward her and started to separate. It was as though the very earth itself was destroying itself.

Now Selena realised what was going on. She'd seen this power displayed before, in Valla, when she'd first arrived. It must be the power of the dragon vein, a sacred power used to terraform the earth. Which meant that either a Hoshidan or Nohrian royal had arrived somewhere near.

Not that this information was useful to Selena right now in the slightest. She sheathed her blade and started to run with the other fleeing soldiers. The battle had been forgotten now; each soldier, each person, now wanted to escape with their life. Selena ran quickly, forcing her tired legs to move fast as she watched more cracks emerged and the former cliffs start to close. She saw a group of knights run from a crack, slowed by their heavy armor, and cringed as it claimed them, listening to their screams as they plummeted to their deaths. Selena ran faster, leaping over the separating cliffs, landing awkwardly, almost twisting her ankle, though didn't stop running. Next to her, dirt sprayed in her face as one cliff rose tall, almost causing her to topple over as a result. A Hoshidan samurai screamed as fell into one of the existing cliffs. Selena rushed over to him as she saw him clutch the edge of the cliff, before incoming the cliff gruesomely crushed him, leaving only his fingers poking out. Selena turned away from the sickening scene, leaping over a pair of splitting cliffs. Screams ran out from every direction, and every sight was horror. A cavalier perishing as an ascending cliff knocked him off his horse, sending the both of them tumbling into a nearby crevice. A Hoshidan shrine maiden running before tripping over her dress and being claimed by a pursuing crack, screaming in horror as she fell. Selena leapt atop an ascending cliff, quickly jumping from it before it could go too high and fumbling around in the air before landing in an awkward roll that was just shy of sending her tumbling below into a cliff. She could see now that cliffs were descending as well, as a nearby knight shot down like he'd stood upon a trap door.

Selena looked around while she ran, hoping there might be a few she could help. Though she was always too late. She'd been a few seconds late of rescuing a cavalier, his iron gauntlet had just missed her outstretched palm. Turning away from the screaming cavalier, Selena continued running until she gave a look back.

Daniela. The arrogant Nohrian had lost her horse and was clinging helplessly to the edge of a cliff, panicking and crying for help. She was only a few metres away, though even Selena reconsidered. The blue-haired maid Selena had seen earlier ran past, closer to Daniela than her, as the strategist begged for help. The maid paused slightly, before her eyes narrowed. Daniela's eyes pleaded with her, though the maid instead looked at her with disgust and spat at her, before running on.

"Hey!" Selena yelled after her. "Hey!" The maid was ignoring her. Selena watched the maid go, and the ground started to crumble. Daniela screamed in protest, begging and pleading to the gods. Selena turned her gaze back to Daniela. She hated and despised the woman, perhaps more than anything in the world. But she couldn't leave someone to die like this. No one.

Selena leapt down, sprinting over to Daniela. She cursed herself at every step, though continued on in her rescue mission. She skidded to a halt and bent down, grabbing Daniela's wrist with both hands. Her frilly clothing made it hard for Selena to get a grip, though she slowly began to lift Daniela's frame upward to safety. Daniela's struggles didn't make the task easy, though Selena eventually was able to drag her up to safety, her strained muscles exhausted after the task. Selena panted slightly before being alerted back into reality by another crack. Daniela ran, still blubbering and panicking, with Selena tiredly sprinting after her. Selena ran and ran, with Daniela ahead of her, the both of them dodging cracks and crevices.

The cliff below Selena descended. She gave a surprised cry as it fell violently, taking her with it. She leapt upward, clinging to the edge of the cliff, hanging on for dear life. Selena screamed for help, praying that Daniela would hear her and return the favor. Daniela stopped briefly, and Selena waved her hand and screamed, pushing her head up to see Daniela giving her a grin, before running away.

"You ungrateful, backstabbing dastard!" Selena screamed after the escaping strategist, though it fell upon deaf ears. Then an impact sounded and Selena's grip slipped. She was blown violently backward, screaming in a now-hoarse voice.

She slammed into the incoming cliff behind her before being thrown forward toward the other cliff. She collided with the original cliff again, scraping her shoulder against it before parting with it again toward the other one. This one she was ready for and she clung to it desperately. The change in momentum almost dislocated her arms, though she hung on tight as the cliff advanced toward the other.

Selena looked up at the light above her, slowly being closed out by the advancing cliff. She knew that any sane person would be dead by now, left to scream in their last moments, crushed to death slowly but surely. A horrible way to go, helpless in the face of death.

But Selena refused to die. There was no way she'd let Laslow and Odin go back home without her. She didn't care about anything else. Dying was simply out of the question right now. And Mother would never die like this. So neither would Severa. If the world thought that she'd simply roll over and die in this world, it had another thing coming.

Selena lightened her weight to make climbing easier. She ripped off her shoulder guard and threw it away, before throwing away her belt of heavy weapons. Still, she kept her homeland's blade. She needed it.

Using the blade, she quickly scaled the cliff face, ignoring her exhaustion with false promises of resting once she got to the top. The cliff was approaching the other one fast, raring to crush her. Selena climbed faster in defiance. She wouldn't die, she wouldn't.

Selena neared the top and felt the other cliff against the back of her head. She grinded her teeth, and dug her blade out of its position, holding onto each side of the cliffs. The cliff closed in on her, making it tight within, even with her slender frame. She jammed the blade into the wall, using it as a buffer between the two cliffs. The blade shook but held, though wouldn't forever. Selena climbed out quickly, grabbing the two cliff edges and hoisting herself, rolling over to one side. The cliff snapped her blade with crack and closed with a jolt. Selena rose to herself, throwing away her small but rising feelings of loss at the blade's destruction. She shook her, and started to run again.

The gaps were now larger and even now still growing. Selena was still able to jump them, though it was getting harder and harder. Cracks still filled the ground and Selena went into a sprint. The Nohrian garrison was now in sight, between Selena and a huge gap. The cracks and crevices pursued her as Selena ran. She sprinted faster and faster, before jumping.

Selena flew through the air, pushing herself forward while riding her momentum from the leap. She watched as the edge of the cliff came into view and stretched her arms out. She crashed into the side of the cliff, though her fingers managed to close around the edge and she gripped it tightly while spitting blood and dirt. She dug into the cliff with boots, pushing forcefully to hoist herself up over the cliff face. Her leg swung around and she rolled over on top of the cliff ground, panting and spitting while on her back. Selena rolled over onto her stomach, getting to her feet while getting to her knees, looking back at altered landscape.

Selena entered the commanders' tent amidst shocks and gasps. She was aware she probably looked like hell, with her clothes in tatters and her body riddled with cuts from the ninja's shuriken and other weapons. She walked in, eyeing Beruka and especially Daniela who looked like she'd seen a ghost. The strategist had frozen in place, looking at Selena's severely battered and bleeding form. Selena zeroed in on Daniela, who was starting to panic.

"Ah! There you are, dearest Selena," said a familiar rosy voice. Selena turned to see Princess Camilla of Nohr, in all her glory, seated seductively at the table. She wore a sweet grin and rose from her chair.

"Oh... Hello Lady Camilla," Selena stammered, which she instantly regretted. Camilla walked over to her and embraced her soothingly, which Selena somewhat awkwardly returned. Camilla withdrew, before eyeing Daniela with a daggered glare.

"We were just discussing how you had apparently met your unfortunate end," Camilla said, her voice still with its rosy flair. "General Daniela explained how you had met a tragic fate despite her best efforts to save you." Camilla was now walking over to Daniela, who started to shift uncomfortably in her seat. Camilla's heels clacked menacingly on the floor as she approached Daniela. The Nohrian princess loomed over Daniela from behind, putting her hands on the strategist's shoulders.

"So, I think a revision is in order," Camilla said with a smile. "Perhaps we can have another recount of the most recent battle, hm? And do try not to miss out any details."

Selena pinned Daniela with a cold glare. This was almost worth getting stuck in that closing crevice. Almost.

"I... I..." Daniela stammered, panicked as Camilla's grip on her shoulders tightened. "I'm e-extremely relieved to see dear Selena alive and well. I thought that falling down the crack would've been the end of her but it's amazing she made it out alive. Amazing, truly." Daniela looked at Selena with desperate eyes. Though Selena had no mercy for Daniela any more, and maintained her scowl toward the strategist. Camilla gave a purr.

"Selena dearest, is this true?" Camilla asked simply. Daniela looked at Selena again with pleading eyes. Selena took one moment to think about what to say.

"First of all, I saved her when she was hanging onto the edge after everyone else refused to," Selena snarled, giving Daniela an angry look. "And then when I fall down, she runs away even after seeing me!" Camilla took the information accordingly and tightened her grip again, drawing a struggle from Daniela.

"Oh my," Camilla said with mock surprise. "What a terrible thing to do, General Daniela. Dishonorable, especially after dearest Selena saved your pathetic life. Now, what do you think you should do in recompense?" Camilla leered over Daniela like a hawk seizing its prey, and Selena tried to hide a satisfied grin. She would have usually felt pity for anyone who did anything dumb enough to wrong Lady Camilla and feel her fangs, though any hope for pity for Daniela had been lost after she'd abandoned Selena.

"Y-you can't do anything to me!" Daniela threatened desperately. "Your father is a big fan of mine, and if you kill me, you'll suffer! All of you!" Camilla's grip tightened once again, and she gave a chuckle.

"Oh no, you misunderstand General. You are still valuable to Nohr, so you will not be killed. You can be assured of that. And you won't be reported to my father, either," Camilla said, her grin widening. Selena saw Daniela begin to relax, and hid away a laugh at her foolishness.

"Instead, you are to be deposed from this battlefield. You will take yourself away, and you will explain your folly to Crown Prince Xander himself when he returns from Nestra, and he alone will decide your fate. And once I return, I will speak with him, and, if I find that you have given misinformation or that you have not reported to him, then I will take full jurisdiction of your punishment," Camilla said with soft anger near the end of her command. "You will leave now."

Daniela sat there as Camilla released her, looking dumbfounded. She looked around, across the room. Camilla motioned for her to leave with movement of her head. Daniela rose from her seat defiantly and eyed both Camilla and Selena with fury.

"You'll regret this!" Daniela shouted. "Besides, the border army belongs to me, so they'll be coming with me! Just try and win without me and my soldiers!" Daniela stormed out, throwing the curtain to the side. Selena sighed, though the satisfaction didn't leave her. Camilla returned to her seat, and Selena walked over, taking Daniela's now-free chair.

"How stressful," remarked Camilla. "Now, shall we get down to business?" Beruka nodded curtly. Selena, however, had a question.

"What are you doing here, Lady Camilla? I can handle myself," Selena stated with her normal gusto. She looked at her liege curiously.

"Why, I missed my two lovely retainers, of course," said Camilla sweetly. "I simply couldn't bare the thought of anything happening to you in my absence, so I came. Anyway, I think we should quickly mop up these horrible Hoshidans and be back home in time for tea. I'd hate to think of what Corrin is doing without me." Selena had no idea who this 'Corrin' was, though it frankly bugged her somewhat. Though the name did seem somewhat familiar, somehow.

"Well, I hope you brought an army with you because we just lost half of ours," Selena scowled. Camilla gave another chuckle.

"Oh, you don't need an army, dearest Selena. You have me."

Hinoka

Hinoka looked out at the now desolate and drastically altered battlefield from the towering fortress, unable to take her eyes off the bodies - both Hoshidan and Nohrian, strewn across the cliffs. She forcefully turned her body around to tear away from the blood soaked image to Yukimura, now focused on a different map, pre-created from his time with Sumeragi, showing the now-altered landscape. Footsteps interrupted the deadly silence, large and plodding. Through the doorway, a large and bulky-framed man wearing a red oni mask and outfitted with various tribal heirlooms came through. He was wounded, cuts littering his exposed chest, though he seemed to have barely any difficulty from them, while he carried a club as beastly as himself.

"Ah! Lady Hinoka," he greeted her in a gravelly and hardened voice.

"Hello General Kumagera," Hinoka returned softly. Would he be angry with her for using the dragon vein? Angry at his men decimated by her? His wrath was not something that Hinoka wanted to experience. Kumagera joined her by the window to look out at the changed landscape.

"So that's the power of the First Dragons," Kumagera remarked with a hint of awe. He then turned to Yukimura who looked up from the map. "What's our next move?"

"What is the state of our troops?" Yukimura asked. Kumagera put the club down, leaning it against the wall.

"About a fifth of the army sent out fell. Mostly the poor buggers on the front line. Those are our losses. A few of our soldiers are pretty shell-shocked from the vein, though most should be good to fight again. If anything, if we suffered from that, the Nohrians did tenfold," Kumagera finished with a slight grin. "What's more, a few of our braver ninja scouts have reported dissension in the Nohrian command, and about half of their remaining army has left, alongside one of their commanders." Yukimura nodded in affirmation.

"Good," Yukimura said. "Victory is close at hand then. Ready the other legion commanders and prepare for another attack." Hinoka spoke up.

"General Kumagera," she tried to ask flatly, though was certain a quiver in her voice got through. "Did my... retainers survive? Azama and Setsuna?" Kumagera deeply relieved her by nodding.

"Yes, milady," he answered. "Commander Azama suffered the least amount of losses to his legion, and made it though relatively unscathed. Commander Setsuna took a few hits from what I saw, bad blow from one of those wyvern riders, female with purple hair, though Azama managed to get her out of there once the vein activated. She's still recovering, though I'd say she's pretty much her normal self." Hinoka tried not to smile too much at the relief that the both of them were safe, though managed with a simple, "Thank you," to Kumagera. The oni chieftain bowed respectfully, which Hinoka returned. Kumagera left the room, collecting his club on the way out. Hinoka turned to Yukimura, who had his arms folded.

"Was it worth it?" Hinoka asked, her eyes piercing his. Yukimura pushed up his spectacles, glancing sideways slightly.

Taking his silence as an answer, she said, "I'm going on the battlefield this time. And you won't stop me this time." She waited for him to challenge her, to attempt to deny her. But it never came. Instead, Yukimura simply nodded, with a small remark about her staying safe. Hinoka turned to leave, catching his downcast gaze on the way out. She paused slightly, before leaving to prepare for battle.

Selena

Selena shook her tangled hair about, trying to get it to straighten again. What it really needed was a good soak, but then there wasn't exactly a nearby creek. A quick slurp of a concoction and a troubadour's staff had fixed most of her major injuries, and she recovered her energy. A quick pseudo-shopping trip to the armoury had given her a pair of new swords, of the steel and silver variety. Still, she admittedly missed her other weapons, lost to the closing crevice, though wasn't about to spend time mourning them. Strapping the two blades to her belt, she gave her hair one last fruitless brush, before tying it up in her usual twin tails. She stepped outside of her tent, still wishing she was a little more refreshed than she actually was.

The Nohrian Army had been significantly depleted, both by the surprise ambush by Hoshido and the destructive dragon vein. Most of the flying troops, the wyvern riders, including Beruka, had retreated safely, though the rest of the army did not share their unscathed quality. The knight forces had almost all been lost but for a few, there were less horses than cavaliers who'd abandoned theirs and the main infantry - lancers, mercenary swordsmen and women and fighters - had been thoroughly destroyed by the dragon vein. Not all had been as acrobatic, or as lucky, as Selena. Many were also still nursing injuries while supported by troubadours and maids. Said troubadours and the mages had lost the less, a benefit of being behind the front lines, though many mages had tripped over their robes when attempting to escape and fallen to their deaths. The thought and the memories still sent shivers down Selena's spine.

As she walked through the garrison of disorganized and shell-shocked soldiers, with less of her usual poise, she spied someone in the crowd of maids and butlers who'd been brought for support and combat reasons, which still confused Selena. However, she saw, sitting alone on a log, was the blue-haired maid from before who'd coldly attempted to abandon Daniela to her death. In hindsight, she'd been right, though she'd been right for the wrong reasons. Selena walked over to her and sat down on the log next to her. The maid didn't look in her direction, though clearly sensed her presence.

"I don't need anyone," the maid said coldly. "Go away." Selena was undeterred.

"I saw you there," explained Selena. "You could've helped the old hag easier than me, yet you didn't." The maid still looked sideways.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she uttered coldly. Then, again, "Go away." Selena stared into the side of her head, waiting for the maid to realize who she was talking to. The maid glanced over, and gave a sharp intake of breath.

"You..." was all she said. "You were... also there." She reaffirmed her cold expression. "You wouldn't understand."

"And what is it I wouldn't understand?" Selena asked her irritably. The maid's standoffish persona was starting to annoy her.

The maid remained silent, before looking away again. She sat in a formal, stiffly-trained manner. She was extremely uptight and tense, so much that she somewhat resembled a statue. Selena felt a slight chill rise within her.

"I think you wanted her gone," deduced Selena. "You hate her and want her dead. In fact, I'd be willing to bet you hate just about everyone here." The chill rose, making Selena shiver. The maid yet remained silent.

"Why?" asked Selena. "In fact, I even knew someone like you once. Just like you. Essence of sensibility and self-reliance, brooding, thought fate was everything, all that jazz. Real wet bag at times, if you know what I'm saying. But there's a difference between the two of you. He'd actually give a damn about his comrades every once in a while." The chill rose substantially and the maid turned to Selena fiercely.

"There are people I give a damn about, just not here," the maid said testily. "I have a sister, all innocent and bright, probably tripping over right now. I have a friend who's perfect but never notices me with his heart. And I have another person, who I've taken care of for a while, yet I still feel like I barely know anything about them. None of them are here, though. I shouldn't even be here, anyway." The maid gave a breath, which turned into a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, commander," she said icily.

"Everyone has those people. Yet in an army, you don't have to like anyone, you don't have care about them off the battlefield. Everything changes once you get on the battlefield," Selena lectured. Then, her voice softened. "Though, for what it's worth, I can understand your situation with the guy you desire. I knew someone who had the same problem. And I can tell you right now, you'll get over it. If you really loved him, you'd spit it out." The maid went quiet, looking down at the ground. The cold aura slowly depleted and vanished.

"Really though, I'm not supposed to be here. I'm only here because I insulted that old hag, who whispered in King Garon's ear and got me sent here. So it was her fault, and that's why she deserved to die. My name's Flora, by the way," Flora explained.

"Right. I'm Selena," explained Selena. "Anyway, like I was saying, maybe try and save a few lives instead of ending them. You never know when someone might go off and leave you, never coming back, and you'll regret it for the rest of your life." Selena rose from her log seat, as Flora watched her. Selena could still feel Flora's questioning eyes on her back as she disappeared through the crowd of soldiers.

Selena marched near the front lines, scanning the area for any enemies. After the previous ambush, most of the soldiers were on edge. Camilla was near the front as well, riding her wyvern by the name of Marxia, which was one of the strange and frankly disturbing dead wyverns that were created in Nohr. Selena was still rather discomforted by the whole thing, though Marxia seemed normal enough. Camilla herself had now donned black armour and held a sharpened silver axe, her face an anticipated grin. Strapped to the side of Marxia were a pair of tomes and, on the other side, were two additional axes that Selena identified as a tomahawk and a unique axe that was colloquially known as the 'killer axe' by soldiers due to its lethality. Rest assured, the eldest princess of Nohr was ready for battle.

Selena gave another glance around. She was particularly wary of any Hoshidan ninjas that she imagined would be watching them now. Maybe even the one she fought before. She wondered if he'd survived the dragon vein. If his quickness was any indication, then he probably did. And if Selena found him again, she'd beat him this time. No way would she lose twice in a row.

There they were. Selena squinted as an opposite army, on the horizon, rose into view. At her side, Camilla chuckled. Selena saw a mass of troops, a swarm of soldiers, each with a weapon glinting in the sun. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the oni chieftain she'd previously fought at the front of the line, carrying a large club over his shoulder. By his side was an archer, female, with a calm and serene look. To the other side was a monk with brown hair done up in some strange way that was probably impressive by Hoshidan standards. He held a rod in his hand and had grin on his face.

Then, swooping in, came the sky knights. Proudly-dressed in red and white, each holding a naginata, the wings of their pegasi beating against and gliding on the wind. And their leader, a bright red-haired sky knight, wielding both a naginata and a determined expression, came soaring in, spinning her naginata. Wind brushed against Selena as she saw Camilla's wyvern flap its wings and ascend, Camilla brandishing her axe, smile upon her face. Above, multiple wyverns soared to a pack formation, Beruka, axe in hand, at the forefront.

As the sky battlers charged, so did the foot units. Behind Selena, a cavalier reared his horse up upon its hind legs, before charging, followed by several others. Beside her, lancers, mercenaries and fighters charged after them. Selena herself drew her steel sword, before running headfirst into the incoming battle.

A huge screech of iron and steel followed as the armies clashed. Katanas and swords scraped against each other, naginata and lance blades meeting and axes and clubs bashing against each other in a war of strength. Selena dodged a samurai who thrust at her, before countering his second slash into a sword in his heart. She pulled it out, leaving him to fall, and blocked an incoming spirit with her shoulder guard. An arrow flew past her head, and she turned, finding its shooter before ramming her sword violently through his chest. She pulled it out, looking around quickly to assess her surroundings. She ducked a thrown katana, before flipping sideways as a spear fighter emerged from the air, bringing his naginata in a downward slash. Selena landed, sidestepping a thrust from his naginata, facing off against her attacker. He swung his naginata like a cleaver, forcing her to duck the swing, before she rolled over to dodge his second downward slash. The spear master thrust his weapon at her again, which she blocked with her sword this time, before giving him a slash across the chest. His armour broke, yet he wasn't down, and pulled his naginata back, tripping her and almost slicing off her foot. Selena had the awareness to roll over quickly as he tried for a second aerial slash, and caught him in back with her blade as he landed. Selena wheeled around as a shuriken found its place in her shoulder, cutting lightly. She quickly pulled it out, as a ninja emerged, tossing shurikens at her, which Selena flipped over to avoid, bringing down her sword over her head in the process to half-behead the unfortunate ninja. Over her head, a sky knight flew past, taking with her and impaling with her naginata a fighter who'd been next to her moments before. Selena deflected a thrown club at her head with her sword, with the responsible oni savage drawing a second club and charging at her like a raging bull. Selena evaded his batting strike before giving him slash at the back. The oni savage wheeled around and, coming with his club again, which Selena blocked, though the force of the blow momentarily stunned her. The oni leapt into the air, ready to bring his club down upon her when a bolt of lightning came into existence before him, electrocuting him and sending him rocketing to the ground. The sparks flew into Selena's eyes, temporarily blinding her, though the sound of a nearby battle cry awakened her, helping her block the slash of a samurai. Selena traded blows with him, meeting and matching his parries before a risky attack ended with his throat slashed.

Selena panted for breath, as another onslaught of attacks raged around her. A lancer landed a hit on an oni savage, and Selena, seizing opportunity, leapt up in a flip and brought her sword down upon the unsuspecting oni savage, knocking him down and giving him a straight scar across him bare chest. An arrow sailed past Selena's neck, and she saw the shooter.

It was an automaton. From what she'd heard, they were mechanical puppets with advanced machinery within them created by Hoshidan mechanists. They were creepy as well. Despite their mostly humanlike appearance, their unblinking eyes and mechanical movement made Selena decidedly uncomfortable.

The automaton moved rigidly, setting down its bow, before looking directly at Selena. Selena raised her sword, and the automaton's head opened up, its face separating cleanly to reveal its inner workings. And there, within them, was a large buzz saw. Selena gave a discomforted shudder, before the automaton violently charged at her, the saw spinning. Selena backflipped to dodge the saw, though she was slightly off, and the saw drilled briefly against her stomach. Selena landed awkwardly, holding the cut on her stomach as it began to bleed, looking up to see the automaton rushing toward her again. Selena stood her ground, brandishing her sword and violently beheading the automaton. The body landed upright, still standing without its head. For good measure, Selena cleaved it in two with her sword.

The battle had thinned somewhat. The dead lay littered around, their weapons scattered about on the ground while the living fought to escape the same fate. The numbers advantage was still with the Hohsidans on the ground, though the air might be a different. A sky knight; rider and pegasus, both fell from the sky, nearly crushing Selena and hitting an unlucky ninja, who Selena promptly impaled in the chest with her sword. Above her, Selena saw Beruka flying by, axe in hand in pursuit of another sky knight. Casting her gaze upward, Selena saw Camilla fly by, magical tome in hand. She directed the spell toward the red-haired sky knight from earlier, who spun her naginata to form a shield against the thunder magic. Both soared upward, magic and silver clashing. Selena caught herself, looking around as a samurai out of the corner came in with a speedy thrust. Selena ducked it, before slashing his gut, and kicking him violently away as he gurgled. The spirit of an ox charged forward at Selena, which Selena sidestepped, before looking up into the eyes of the oni chieftain she'd fought before. Selena clutched her sword while the chieftain threw his scroll to the side, drawing a spiked club. He leapt into the air, bringing the club down. Selena rolled quickly to the side, before backflipping a second strike. The chieftain brought his club quickly down and Selena met the strike with her blade. The two weapons of steel scraped against each other, vying for advantage. The chieftain kicked forward, with Selena evading with a sidestep while maintaining the blade lock. Selena pushed hard, taking advantage of his lost balance, and broke his defense, before slashing him across the chest with powerful slice. She attacked again before he could recover, hacking away at him bulky frame again, giving him a second scar. Selena went for a third shot before an arrow pinned itself in her shoulder. Selena staggered back, while eying her attacker fiercely.

Her attacker did not eye back. It was a teal-haired woman, bow in hand, though her eyes seemed to wander about. She was barely focusing on Selena anymore, instead inattentively eyeing the male grouchy wyvern rider Selena had seen before. The archer let an arrow loose and it struck the man's wyvern in the wing perfectly. The wyvern shrieked in pain and dived into the battlefield, crashing with the man on it. Before it had gone down, Selena could've sworn she'd seen the man abandon it with a jump off.

Then something struck Selena like a curse. She was suddenly gasping for breath, tired beyond belief, unable to even lift her arms, let alone her weapon. Selena collapsed to her knees, gasping and spitting, her arms and legs wavering. She was on her hands and knees, her arms threatening to give in and plunge her face into the dirt beneath her. She weakly looked around. She couldn't have been cursed, could she? Only a dark mage could do that. Had one turned traitor?

A man walked past her in the midst of the battlefield, Selena only viewing his white shoes. Selena looked up to see the familiar image of the monk she'd seen before, his hair sprayed up in an aloof manner and white clothing. His eyes were closed, though he didn't seem to need them. He looked at her with fascination.

"Nohrian staves," he remarked as though he were speaking of fond memory. "How interesting their effects are. Moments ago, you were fighting like a warrior, and now, you're shriveling wreck. Let's see what this one does," he said, holding another staff now. It came over Selena again and suddenly her arms gave way and her body landed face first on the dirt floor of the battlefield. Now, not only did she feel extremely weak but she couldn't move a muscle. Not even her eyelids, which refused to close as mud filled her vision. The monk prodded her with his staff.

"Hmm..." he mused. "How fascinating. Though personally I prefer the Hoshidan-style rods, if that's OK with you?" Another presence came over the immobile Selena and she felt her already weak strength cut in half. Her body felt like it was made of glass; a single touch and she'd shatter. The monk kicked her in the stomach with a surprising amount of strength, sending Selena rolling over on the floor, through the blood and dirt. Selena stopped, still frustratingly immobile. The monk was walking back toward her.

"How frustrating it must be to be dominated by someone who can't physically harm you," the monk said mockingly. "Especially one as feisty and reckless as yourself. Do tell me how its feels." Selena struggled to move her body, her muscles straining as dirt and blood filled her mouth and she saw only blackness of dirt.

"Y-you..." she snarled through mouthfuls of dirt. The monk ignored her and walked by her.

"You are certainly interesting, however. You're not quite Nohrian, are you? Not Hoshidan either. How intriguing. Where do you come from?" the monk asked, squatting down to loom over Selena and pushing her over, before looking over her, the two of them face to face. The monk peered at her curiously, as though he were examining something scientific. After a few seconds, he stood back up again.

"Oh well. Seems the mystery dies with you, miss," the monk stated like a fact.

The monk suddenly gave an anguished cry and Selena heard him crash to the ground with a sharp thud. Selena felt herself slightly regain movement and strength, and she rolled over onto her side and gingerly moved her head up to see a wyvern rider exit the scene. Beruka. The former assassin-turned-wyvern rider swooped to the side to dodge an incoming volley of arrows, shuddering slightly. Selena returned her gaze to the monk as she felt her arms begin to function again and she reached her hands and knees, huffing and panting, spitting out blood and dirt while shaking her head in a vain attempt to clean her dirt-covered face. She looked at the monk who was in a similar way, only a large red stain was across his chest in straight line. He held his blood-stained tunic, withdrawing a small bottle. He drank it greedily, before casually tossing it away once he'd consumed the liquid. The red stain on his chest stopped growing and he began to get to his feet. Selena eyed him with fierce eyes. The monk saw her and smiled bravely.

"Aha, it... seems one looks out for you," he breathed, maintaining his smile. He staggered slightly on his legs, before straightening himself up. "How fortunate of you," he continued to speak as Selena walked toward him, steel sword in hand as her strength and movement rapidly returned. Her frame still felt as fragile as glass, though, and she walked gingerly.

"Fortunately, it seems I do as well," the monk said with a smile. Selena froze, and turned to see an incoming club swung toward her head. Selena ducked as fast as she could, feeling the blow glance just over her head. Selena raised her sword to block a second incoming blow, and, in the blade lock, saw it was the same oni chieftain she'd fought before. He grinned at her.

"Miss me?" The chieftain kicked forward, and an unprepared Selena was sent backward back onto the ground. The chieftain leapt into the air to strike downward and Selena rolled over quickly out of the way. She pushed herself up to her feet and blocked the chieftain's incoming blows with her sword, parrying each strike in a purely defensive manner while stepping back. She dodged an attack from the chieftain and went on the offensive, striking at the chieftain with slashes and thrusts. The fight continued, with the monk watching on bemusedly. The chieftain attacked with new ferocity, each blow could easily break one of Selena's bones, a fact she found was almost certainly true when she blocked a swing with her shoulder guard and felt her arm shudder from the blow. Parrying one of his strikes gave Selena an opening she needed, and she sliced his skin with a hacking blow from her sword. She ducked his follow-up attack and, with a yell, thrust her sword right in his stomach. It wasn't a deep stab, as his skin was too thick, though it certainly wounded him. Selena clutched her sword, ready to disable him for good.

But the monk had other ideas. As Selena approached the injured chieftain, the monk maneuvered his rod and a green light fell over the chieftain. To Selena's horror, his cuts and scars disappeared, and, brandishing his club, he surprised her with a fast and mighty blow to her side that sent her tumbling over, landing in a heap.

Selena's sword had left her hand, and her fingers searched the ground for it. The chieftain walked over to her struggling body, her side in agony, his club over his shoulder, ready to finish her off. Selena's other hand clutched her agonized side, though she gave up the search for her steel sword and she rolled over desperately, wincing as she rolled over her injured side. She retrieved her silver sword from her belt and thrust it forward to block the chieftain's finishing blow. The chieftain hammered away at her while she was grounded, each time she blocked his blow. Selena aimed a kick at him and it momentarily stunned him. She rolled away again, onto her stomach, digging her sword into the ground and using it to climb to her feet, still clutching her wounded side. The chieftain recovered and eyed her, his grip on his club tightening. The monk next to him smiled his amused grin at her again as she drew her sword from the ground.

Beruka

Beruka soared through the air as arrows flew past her, getting closer with each shot. That was one determined archer. Beruka gripped the reins of her wyvern tightly and triggered a spinning maneuver as she flew upward and over in a circle. Beruka ceased the spinning and dived for the ground battlefield. Her acute sense of vision scanned and analysed the battlefield, searching for the archer. Five targets identified in possession of bows. One was a male archer who had his back to her, focusing on another wyvern in the distance. Beruka swooped in and slashed her axe through his neck, cleanly beheading him before ascending upward again. It was unlikely he was the culprit, however, and Beruka's eyes zeroed in on the second target. Another archer, this one older with white hair, shooting from behind a pair of oni savages at advancing lancers and mercenaries. Beruka signaled with the reins, and the wyvern turned around, giving a screech, before dived downward at great speed, before cleaving through the second archer's neck to his great surprise.

A sky knight seemed to want to put a stop to Beruka's hits and dashed toward her, her pegasus' wings and legs gliding through the air. The sky knight thrust forward with her naginata, a move Beruka smashed away with her steel axe. This threw the sky knight off course and she gave a cry as she was flung sideways, off the wind. Beruka's wyvern dove after the panicking pegasus and its rider, and Beruka, axe at the ready, dashed in beside her. The last thing the sky knight saw was Beruka beside her, releasing her axe toward the sky knight. Beruka watched the sky knight's slashed corpse fall to the battlefield below while her mount dove after her.

An arrow flew past Beruka's head, grazing her cheek. Beruka refocused, having realised she'd been distracted by the sky knight, and flew upward. Beruka looked intently at the now-fully viewable battlefield, looking for the source of the arrow. She traced the trajectory efficiently, and now saw the probable cause.

A female archer, wearing a white headband and teal hair, paying no attention to her surroundings. Beruka's eyes narrowed. The archer wasn't even glancing in her direction. She wouldn't be the cause of the near-fatal arrows. Beruka moved her gaze to another archer in the vicinity, one wearing a conical hat. Beruka knew she'd found her malefactor. She dove intently, dodging a spirit launched in her direction and saw the archer turn around, his face full of horror, as she cut through his neck, beheading him, and leaving his body behind.

Beruka didn't let down her guard. Another sky knight had now emerged to challenge her, using the same lunging and thrusting tactic as the previous one had. How foolish. Anybody who repeated another's mistakes deserved the same fate.

The same fate met the sky knight as Beruka smashed her naginata aside and raced next to her to perform the finishing blow. As the sky knight's head flew away while her headless corpse fell and her panicking mount pursued it, Beruka scanned the skies for her liege. Her primary objective would always be Lady Camilla's safety, regardless of the current mission. She found her, still battling the red-headed sky knight who had led the initial Hoshidan charge of the battle. Lady Camilla had switched from her thunder tome to her axe now, and was cleaving away at the sky knight's defenses, who was desperately spinning her naginata in an effort to block the savage blows. She would not expect a second attacker. Beruka gave the reins a tug and soared into the air after the soon-to-be-dead sky knight. She ascended higher and higher, zeroing in her focus upon the sky knight, blocking out the other sounds of the battle. It was nothing now. All that was now was Beruka and her target.

Mere meters away from the target now. Yet still the sky knight noticed only Lady Camilla and showed no awareness of Beruka's incoming presence. She wouldn't have to focus on anything soon.

A meter away and Beruka felt an impact. She looked around, puzzled, to see an arrow embedded in her wyvern's wing, right in the muscle. The wyvern gave a screech and stopped flapping due to its injured wing. Beruka was still for a fleeting moment, only a meter away from her target, the sky knight. Then gravity came, and Beruka began to fall along with her wyvern. She about to die and couldn't think of anything but how she'd failed Lady Camilla.

But the impact that came was cushioned instead of hard and not nearly as long as Beruka had assumed it would be. It was then that Beruka became aware she was not dead, and was in fact riding in the back of Lady Camilla's wyvern, Marxia.

"Lady Camilla," she said, her surprise subtle yet evident. Lady Camilla turned to her with her customary sweet smile.

"Ah, I'm glad you're OK, my dearest Beruka. It seems you had some flying difficulties. And will do until we can fetch a new wyvern," Lady Camilla stated. She gave a gaze down at Beruka's falling, helpless wyvern. "A shame. I quite liked that one," she said with a trace of sadness.

"My deepest apologies, Lady Camilla," Beruka said solemnly.

"Think nothing of it," Lady Camilla reassured. "Anyway, I'm afraid you're finished for the day, dearest Beruka."

"Lady Cam-" Beruka started, before the lavender-haired princess, tome in hand, waved her hand, and Beruka was transported away instantaneously, reappearing inside her tent within the Nohrian garrison, feeling frustrated and defeated.

Selena

Selena blocked another blow from the oni chieftain while the monk watched on, the battle raging on around them. She was tiring from the repeated use of the silver sword, its weight requiring more energy than usually necessary, though it was still functional. She had no idea where its steel brother had gone off to, though it seemed she was stuck with this one now. She kicked the chieftain square in the chest, pushing him back, though he didn't fall over. The chieftain gave a roar, before charging back at Selena who sidestepped his charge bringing her sword across his back, drawing blood. The chieftain snarled, and swung his club at her, forcing her to block the blow. She found herself in a blade lock once again, pushing her sword against the muscular chieftain's club.

Out of seemingly nowhere, a wyvern fell crashing to the ground, stunning both Selena and the chieftain. Selena recovered first and slashed her sword violently across the chieftain's chest, giving him another jagged cut across his torso. Up in the sky, Selena saw Camilla fly by, mounted upon her wyvern and axe in hand. To the side, Selena spied out of the corner of her eye an archer, female and teal-haired, setting an arrow in her bow, seemingly unperturbed by the battle raging around her, her face calm and serene. She set up the arrow and Selena caught her eye. Camilla.

Selena didn't think, only ran. She sprinted for the archer, readying her sword, and brought her sword across to slash at the archer.

The archer moved faster than Selena could've ever expected. She moved swiftly and easily, slipping out of the reach of Selena's blade. Selena swung rapidly, despite the pain in her muscles, for the archer, desperate to eliminate, though the archer simply ducked, dodged and weaved in and out of her slashes, her face completely unfazed by that fact that Selena was attacking her.

A hard blow from behind nearly folded Selena in two. As she fell to the ground, holding her back in pain, a second blow punctured her lower back. Selena cried out in pain, barely able to crawl as she felt the familiar presence of the monk's staff lock her muscles in place, freeing her to the ground. Another brutal blow came and Selena screamed again.

And then she felt the wind blow over her and two shouts come from above her. Selena couldn't move, though she had an idea of what happened, as, from her trapped position on the ground, she could see the archer lying on the ground, a large bleeding gash in her leg. Curiously, in spite of this, she didn't seem to register the pain on her face and merely looked confused. Then, ahead of her, the spot where the archer had been before exploded into lightning, electrocuting the archer and flinging her into the air. She landed with a sickening thud which made Selena feel a twinge of pity for her before lying still, her bow astride and her arrows scattered about the place along with her quiver.

Selena felt feeling come back into her body, moving her fingers at first, before rising to her knees with her arms, spitting out dirt and shaking herself. She rose shakily to her feet and looked around for her silver sword. Gone. Selena cursed, before looking around for a suitable replacement. She spied a dead cavalier, steel sword astray, which she picked up with a slight twinge of guilt as she looked at the dead cavalier, still in his armor, his helmet off and still-moist blood that had run down his face. His were still open, empty and unblinking.

Selena turned away the dead cavalier started to walk over to the probably-dying archer. Dying to magic was brutal, Selena had seen it plenty of times before, and it would probably be better this way. Sword in hand, Selena approached the archer's prone body.

From the sky came a cry and Selena looked up in alarm to see the red-headed sky knight who'd led the charge before and fought Camilla come swooping in, naginata in hand. Selena instinctively dived to the ground for cover, and got to her feet quickly afterward. She stared back at where the archer's body had been, a puddle of blood, a scatter of stray arrows and a bow all that remained of her. Must've been a friend. Despite everything, Selena secretly prayed the archer made it. She knew what it was like to lose someone.

Hinoka

Hinoka soared upwards, the lavender-haired wyvern rider with a misplaced sweet smile hot on her tail. Hinoka's pegasus shifted to the side to dodge an incoming burst of magic that appeared right where she'd been. A quick look back told Hinoka that the rider on her tail holding a Nohrian tome was responsible. Hinoka shot a concerned look at Setsuna's barely conscious body strapped behind her, still bleeding and smoking slightly after suffering the effects of the tome. Hinoka dodged another nearby explosion of lightning. She had to ride to the range of the Hoshidan rods that would be able to rescue her and Setsuna. Right now, that was all that mattered.

An axe sailed centimeters past her head. Another look back confirmed to Hinoka that it was the selfsame wyvern rider that was responsible. Damn. It looked like she wouldn't be getting out of this without a fight.

Hinoka whirled around, riding in flipping motion. As soon as she was upright again, her pegasus flapped its wings and shot forward. As she'd done it, the wyvern rider had overtaken her and now looked back, eyes focused upon her. Hinoka raced up to her, coming side-by-side, hoisting her naginata. She swung through powerfully toward the wyvern rider.

Steel clashed against silver. The wyvern rider, axe in both hands, wrestled against Hinoka, who pressed hard against her naginata. The wyvern rider pulled her axe forward, locking it around Hinoka's naginata, and pulled the naginata forward, a stunned Hinoka going with it. The wooden part of the naginata snapped against the blade of the axe and Hinoka went flying forward, dismounting her pegasus and going past the wyvern rider's wyvern. Hinoka went tumbling, falling fast to the ground, though she outstretched her body to slow her fall. Below her, her pegasus was already prepared to catch her, dodging a blow from the wyvern rider's axe.

Hinoka landed on her pegasus and gave her a hurried stroke, before signalling her to go forward. She heard a groan of frustration behind her and the upset-looking wyvern rider was on her again. Hinoka sped up, her pegasus' wings and legs all moving to prime acceleration. She steered her to the left to dodge another thrown axe from the wyvern rider. Hinoka moved faster and faster, high above the cliffs and the battle below. She knew pegasi were faster than wyverns and this was seemingly becoming apparent to the wyvern rider struggling to catch her. Hinoka swooped low to dodge an incoming burst of magical lightning once again, before ascending to evade the wyvern rider's axe that missed.

Just a few more meters. It wouldn't be long now before she was in the sights of the Hoshidan shrine maidens and monks. Setsuna just had to hold on a bit longer.

"Not far now girl," she encouraged her pegasus. She looked back to see the wyvern rider absent. Hinoka was confused. Had she simply given up on chasing Hinoka? That was unlikely considering the relentless tenacity that Hinoka had seen in her eyes. Hinoka looked back around and another burst of magic appeared in front of her. Hinoka ascended to dodge it, and as she rose, the wyvern rider appeared.

The wyvern rider flew forward quickly, charging for Hinoka, axe and smile in hand. Hinoka quickly pulled a naginata from her supply - a shorter one, covered in a thick wooden shield that was more suited for defense than attack that was known among Hoshidan soldiers as the guard naginata - and braced for attack.

The silver axe struck the naginata's shield hard, pushing Hinoka's pegasus back through the air from the force of the impact, Hinoka struggling to defend against the attack. Hinoka's pegasus was on the verge of toppling over, neighing loudly. Hinoka pushed with all her might, the wyvern rider smiling at her struggle. Her pegasus continued to be pushed backward at a high speed by the wyvern, and Hinoka gave a glance behind her. A stray spirit in the form of a dragon was rushing toward them. The wyvern rider probably hadn't seen it. Hinoka refocused, and relaxed, letting the wyvern rider push past her while ducking low. The wyvern rider flew over her head, the wyvern's talons barely missing her head. Hinoka gripped the reins tightly and her pegasus flew quickly forward. Hinoka didn't look back as she heard the explosion of magic and a scream behind her, though safe in the knowledge the wyvern rider had met the dragon spirit.

Hinoka boosted forward, flying faster, putting away her naginata, and gripping the reins with both hands. She temporarily looked behind her to check Setsuna's now-unconscious body, a look of concern crossing her face. Hinoka sped forward, and signaled to shrine maiden below her. The shrine maiden raised her rod and Hinoka felt herself shift to below, slowing her pegasus down to grounded trot, before stopping. The shrine maiden gasped when she saw who it was that had just landed.

"P-Princess Hinoka," the shrine maiden stammered. Hinoka skipped the formalities and simply unstrapped Setsuna from her pegasus, carrying her in her arms.

"Save her," she commanded, putting Setsuna into the arms of the shrine maiden. The shrine maiden nodded furiously, and hurried off toward the Hoshidan healing shrine. Hinoka drew her silver naginata, spinning it before quickly mounting her pegasus again. The pegasus' wings flapped and Hinoka took off into the sky once again.

Selena

Selena parried another blow from the oni chieftain's club, though the long battle against him was taking its toll against her. Every time she managed to somehow injure him, the damn monk would step in to heal his ally, restoring him to full health while Selena's injuries remained. The rod that he'd used on her before that had somehow made her body like glass didn't help either. And her side also hurt from the earlier blow that made evading his attacks more difficult. The arrow from the brutalized archer earlier also afflicted her sword arm, weakening her own blows. It was starting to become apparent she was fighting a losing battle.

The oni chieftain lunged for her and Selena barely dodged before following up with a blow to his back. As she did this, the monk smiled his condescending smile and raised his rod, bathing the chieftain in green light, restoring him.

"Don't worry," he called to her while twirling his rod, frustratingly out of range of her sword. "You only have to do that to him eleven more times." Selena growled at him before jumping backward to dodge the chieftain's attack. She dodged another blow with a side flip, landing on her feet, holding her sword and focused on her opponent, panting from exhaustion.

Two objects struck her in the back, piercing near her shoulder blades, drawing a cry from Selena. The shurikens weren't deep, and fell out as she fell to her knees, planting her sword in the ground. She looked up to see the chieftain in the air above her, ready to strike. She raised her sword desperately, weakly attempting to block the blow, which smashed past her defense, almost cutting her forehead open as the sword flew close to her face. Selena fell over onto her back, the sword knocked from her hand, crawling, struggling to get to her feet. She sensed the chieftain looming over her and rolled over to dodge his club's impact. Selena's fingers closed around her sword, and she gripped it tightly, rolling over and using it as a crutch to get to her feet. She swayed about, still leaning on her sword, looking up weakly at her attacker, the chieftain. As she struggled to raise her sword, another shuriken hit her in the back, causing her to fall over, gripping her planted sword with both hands to avoid collapsing. She looked up for the chieftain, though he was gone. Selena looked around in confusion, before seeing that he and the monk had new problems.

Those new problems came in the form of a lavender-haired wyvern rider, killer axe in hand, fighting the chieftain savagely. Camilla. Selena watched on as Camilla landed a blow upon the chieftain with killer axe's serrated edge, cutting open his torso, and forcefully flinging him away as well. She soared up in the sky, before coming back down and delivering another crushing blow to the struggling chieftain's back. Selena was well within the hearing range of the loud crack that sounded alongside the impact. The slightly panicked looking monk, waved his staff, repairing the chieftain's broken back and jagged cut along his chest, as he blocked the next blow from Camilla's axe with his club, though barely.

In the commotion, Selena had reached her feet, staggering slightly, though drew her sword, slightly recovered. This time, she heard the whistle of the shuriken and spun around to block it with her shoulder guard. Another came and she deflected it with her sword. Selena looked around carefully, watching for the ninja. Her eyes darted around and her head turned. She spun around, and the ninja was on her, Selena blocking his melee attack with her sword. It was the grey-haired ninja from before. Selena didn't waste time on the recognition and attacked him with slashes from her sword, most of which he dodged. The ninja dodged her final blow and disappeared from view with the wind. Selena wheeled around to deflect an incoming shuriken, before deflecting another pair with both her sword and shoulder guard, her eyes still focused on signs of the ninja's appearance. The ninja reemerged with a sound behind her but she was ready this time. Selena swung her sword upward, surprising the ninja, and grazing him as he tried to dodge the blow. Selena continued attacking, forcing him to block her slashes and thrusts, before a thrust gave her a glancing touch to his side. Selena spun around and slashed the ninja's midsection, though he was still too quick for the blade to cut deep. His clothing had certainly been sliced though. Just a bit closer and Selena would've had him.

The ninja retreated during Selena's recovery period, before a shuriken flew through the air toward her, which she blocked with her shoulder guard. Selena knew she couldn't do this forever, though. The shuriken impacts, though subtle, were slowly weakening her. Selena lifted her sword and looked around to find the ninja once again, who'd disappeared. This was getting tedious now, and frustration was growing within Selena.

The ninja sprang out from thin air and brought his shuriken down upon Selena. Selena blocked the quick shot before the ninja attacked her at the speed of lightning. His attacks were fast and not deadly on their own though they built up as Selena missed parries due to the sheer speed of them. The ninja attacked skilfully, each attack providing Selena with a difficult block before the ninja, using her body like a stepladder ran up her, vaulting right over her bringing his shuriken down her back as he descended, leaving a slice in her back. Selena wheeled around, attempting to catch him by surprise with a quick recovery though the ninja leapt into the air, flipping right over her, throwing a shuriken toward her face as he soared past. The shuriken took a sliver flesh from the side of Selena's head, searing pain shooting through her skull. Selena swung her sword down as blood started to flow down the side of her head, which the ninja dodged with a quick handspring backflip, before drawing a shuriken from his sleeve. The ninja leapt into the air and forcefully threw a cascade of shurikens at Selena, who shielded her face from the raining blades as the dug into her shoulder guard, along with her arms, side and leg, exposed. Selena looked back at the ninja, a pained expression on her face. She clenched her teeth, before charging forward with her sword. The ninja flipped right over the swing, before evading her follow-up attacks. Selena swung her sword downward, every moment feeling the shurikens embedded in her arm fidget about. The ninja again dodged it before countering with a shuriken slice to her torso. Selena felt something come over her, a weakness that threatened to crush her. Poison, she realised, as she saw a discolored substance in the wound. Selena's legs wobbled as the ninja watched her, knowing what he'd done, and Selena clutched her sword to avoid collapsing, her face full of horror. Her hands began to slip from the sword's hilt, as she watched the ninja with horror and fury.

The poison was killing her, and Selena knew it. She was out of staff range, and the monk wasn't about to heal her. Selena reached desperately into her belt, drawing a confused look from the ninja as her body continued to weaken and sag. Selena withdrew a bottle from her belt's pouch, and quickly pulled out the lid before drinking. It was a vulnerary and would hopefully keep her alive. The weakness was still crushing her and the bottle fell from her hand, as she clutched her sword's hilt, trying to stay upright. The ninja looked on with an emotionless, for some reason not attacking her in her weakened state. Selena felt the weakness stop growing inside her and she breathed a sigh of relief. She slowly climbed up her sword, and the ninja looked at her, a sign of disbelief in his face. Selena felt her strength return and she picked her sword up, ready to fight once again.

An ear-splitting crash and a scream of pain sounded to the side of Selena and the ninja. The both of them looked to the side to see the oni chieftain lying face down in a pool of his own blood, his back covered in jagged scars and slashes. He wasn't moving. Above him, Camilla, holding a bloodstained killer axe, landed her wyvern next to him, twirling the axe. Selena looked back at the ninja to see him gone, and instead at the chieftain's side.

"General Kumagera!" he said, before stopping and drawing something from his clothing, though Selena quickly realised it was a shuriken. Selena braced for attack, though the ninja instead threw it up to the sky. Before Selena could question the maneuver, sigils appeared on the ground beneath the bleeding chieftain before he vanished alongside them in a flash of blinding light.

Camilla simply shrugged at the spot where the chieftain's body had once been and instead turned her venomous gaze upon the monk. The monk showed no fear as he held his rod in his hands. Camilla smiled, before her wyvern pounced upon the monk, its claws digging into his flesh.

Then Camilla gave a cry. She clutched her chest, as though in pain, though Selena saw nothing hit her. Regardless, it was Selena's job to care for the princess.

Selena rushed over to Camilla, who withdrew from the monk and her wyvern flapped its wings, rising to the air. She stared down at the grounded monk with a glare, who, with greeted her with a smile in spite of her sword pointed at his neck.

"Go ahead," the monk challenged. "And may the gods drag you right down with me." Selena faltered, trying to decipher the monk's strange words. A shuriken struck her in the back, causing her to stumble over the monk and turn around to see the grey-haired ninja, which she cursed herself for forgetting about.

From the ground, the monk spoke, "Ah. Thank you for that. I officially forgive you," as the ninja looked at him, then back at Selena, shuriken at the ready. Then the wind rushed over Selena's head, and, up in the sky she saw a battle recommence. Camilla on one side, and the red-headed sky knight on the other.

Flora

Flora had tried to keep out of the battle as much as possible, though had inevitably been drawn in. Now, she was knee-deep in battle, her maid outfit had quickly been stained by splatters of blood and dirt in a manner that would've made Jakob and Gunter strongly disapprove. A Hoshidan spear fighter charged her with his naginata and hopped backward in reaction, the blade nearly tripping her. While he recovered, Flora drew an iron dagger, kept up her sleeve and tossed it accurately into the spear fighter's neck as he looked up in surprise. Flora retrieved the dagger from the fallen spear fighter's neck, pulling it out and cringing as she saw the red goop that covered it. An arrow flew past and Flora refocused on staying alive. She threw her dagger into the archer's neck and drew another as she dodged a samurai's thrust. She skilfully parried the samurai's multiple slashes, before spinning her body, holding out the dagger, slicing the samurai's neck in the process. She did her best to ignore the splatter of blood that followed, further contaminating her clothes.

A cavalier rode past her, sword pointed forward. An oni savage opposed him, swatting him away with his club, sending him toppling over as his horse ran on. Flora dived in to protect him from the oni savage's finishing blow, blocking and redirecting the attack with her dagger. The oni chieftain turned his attack upon her, and Flora ducked a hard swing from his club, before slicing at his frame with her dagger. It did little to deter him, however, and he swung back with fearsome strength. Flora dodged, regretting her heroic actions, before a sword was plunged through his chest from behind. The cavalier, without his horse, stood there, before withdrawing his sword from the dying oni savage. The cavalier looked around for his horse, before pulling off his helmet to reveal a young man's face with messy light grey hair. He gave her an appreciative look, whispering something, before running at her, shoving her out of the way and Flora heard steel and iron clash. Flora toppled over as the former cavalier wrestled with samurai, their blades locked.

Flora got to her feet before throwing herself to the ground as a sky knight flew overhead. Flora looked on as the sky knight flew on, naginata in hand. Flora stood up from her knees as a spirit flew at her, crashing into her and knocking her down again, burning her maid tunic. A second came hurtling towards her, in the form of an ox and Flora rolled over to avoid the charging spirit. She spied the diviner responsible, before he summoned a third spirit. Flora was ready this time, sidestepping it before tossing a dagger into his chest. He fell over, dead instantly. Flora turned to see a spear fighter challenge her, attempting to sweep her with naginata. She jumped over the sweep, before spinning and sending him a dagger to his throat.

In the distance, Flora saw a Nohrian dark mage, a tome in hand, project a fireball from his hand at an advancing oni savage. The fireball engulfed the oni savage as he fell to his knees, ablaze. A shrine maiden - a Hoshidan rod user, produced a rod and spoke an incantation. Before he could react, the dark mage was engulfed in luminescent green, and a samurai came forward, katana drawn. The dark mage tried to speak an incantation from tome, though no sound came out as Flora watched on. The katana was swiftly withdrawn from his heart as soon as it entered and the dark mage fell to the floor lifelessly. Flora dodged the samurai's advancing thrust towards her and tossed a dagger at him, which he evaded with a precisely timed backflip. He rushed back at her, recovering quickly, attacking her as she sidestepped and ducked his blows. The samurai leapt into the air, ready to bring his katana down, though was spiked out of the air as Flora threw a dagger into his chest and he fell like a rock to the ground. The shrine maiden, panicked, tried to run, though Flora tossed another dagger from her sleeve, which hit her in the back of the head. Flora ran over to the shrine maiden's corpse, feeling a twinge of regret at slaughtering the unarmed maiden, though didn't hesitate pick up her rod that had mysteriously blocked the dark mage's magical prowess before.

Flora examined it and was surprised how similar it was to a Nohrian staff. The incantation was visible and written in Hoshidan. Fortunately, Flora's duties as daughter of the Ice Tribe's chieftain had required her to learn Hoshidan fluently and she could read it with ease. Flora tucked away the rod before looking around the battlefield. A diviner came upon her and she dodged the incoming spirit, which took the form of an enormous and nightmarish purple monster head. Flora quickly threw a dagger into his chest before he could summon the freakish thing again.

Looking around the battlefield, Flora could see the dead were starting to outnumber the living. Hopping and stepping over the corpses of humans, pegasi and wyverns, she watched as other soldiers tripped over their fallen comrades or enemies while locked in combat. Flora tossed a dagger at an oni savage who'd been stunned by a dark mage's burst of thunder, finishing him off. She dodged another stray spirit as she travelled through the weary battlefield. She stopped when she watched Princess Camilla of Nohr, the Nohrian battlefield commander, be bathed in green light before crashing into the ground still atop her wyvern.

Flora raced over to heal her fallen commander, drawing her mend staff before speaking the incantation and letting the green light shower Camilla. The Nohrian princess and her wyvern arose, giving a Flora a grin.

"Thank you darling," she said, before the undead wyvern flapped its wings and soared off toward a red-headed sky knight in the distance. Flora was somewhat disturbed by the princess' tone and choice of words.

To the side, Flora saw a ninja and Selena, the girl who she'd seen and spoken to before, battling each other. Selena was far from the image she'd portrayed earlier now, most of front now covered in blood and dirt, including her face which made her barely recognisable. Cuts and bruises littered her body and Flora watched as the ninja made a new one with a slice to Selena's side. Her non-sword arm was embedded with shurikens and a few had also clung to her leg and side while she fought the speedy grey-haired ninja. Selena blocked an attack from the ninja with her shoulder guard and used her strength to charge him, sending him staggering back. Selena was suddenly surrounded in green light and gave a scream of anguish as she fell to her knees, dropping her sword. Flora looked around. She recognised the effects of a Nohrian enfeeble staff, though was bewildered as to why some troubadour had missed like that.

Her answer came in the form of proud-looking Hoshidan monk with a blood-stained tunic and strangely-arranged hair. He was holding a Nohrian enfeeble staff. His smile told Flora he was proud of his work.

Flora gripped the stolen rod from the dead shrine maiden tightly and swiftly read the incantation before directing the effect upon the monk. Green light came over the monk and he almost fell over, startled. He looked around, confused.

Flora ran toward him, holding a dagger with a backhand. She grabbed him, holding the dagger to his throat. He seemed unfazed by this turn of events, still holding the enfeeble staff and tried to speak the incantation. But the effects of the rod blocked the ancient tongue. The monk tried again, before seeing the rod at her hip.

"Ah, a Hoshidan silence rod. I certainly wonder if the individual's former owner is still alive?" the monk asked casually, still unfazed by the dagger at his throat. Flora didn't answer his question and pushed the blade closer to his throat.

"Oho, are you threatening to release me from my mortal coil? What a brave little serving wench you are," he mocked her. Flora's face hardened.

"Unless you want your head to roll, you'll do as I say," Flora commanded him coldly.

"And if I don't?" the monk challenged her.

"Then your head rolls," Flora answered threateningly.

"Ah but I don't think that will happen," said the monk with a smile. "You see, I seem to have a guardian angel. One who amazingly tolerates me and won't tolerate you." Flora stared at him intently.

"What are you talking-" Flora began, before she gave a large gasp. A portion of the blade of a naginata poked through her chest. Flora felt her breaths lessen and she looked up at the smiling monk. The naginata was released from her chest and the monk stepped aside as Flora fell over lifelessly upon the ground, blood beginning to pour. As she lay bleeding, she heard the monk's last mocking words.

"Death by irony. What a shame. I suppose you won't be needing these anymore."

Selena

Selena lay on the ground, weakened as the ninja threw another shuriken into her back. Selena clenched her teeth, feeling her strength slowly return, and rolled over to dodge another shuriken. She picked herself shakily up, spitting blood, while holding her sword, ready to fight the ninja again.

"You are very determined," said the ninja. "No matter what I or others do to you, you refuse to die." He sounded almost impressed with her. Selena looked at him incredulously.

"What are you talking about? Moments ago, we were trying to kill each other, now you're patting me on the back?!" Selena spat. What was wrong with this guy?

"I was merely admiring your will to survive. Most others would be dead by now," the ninja said evenly. "Why does one such as yourself fight for a warmongering nation like Nohr? I know you're not Nohrian. You rely on a different fighting style than the ones used in Nohr." That wasn't an easy question to answer. For intents and purposes, she should've gone to Hoshido. But then, it had been discovered that their goal was in fact in Nohr. So they went to Nohr instead. Interesting how fate could turn like that.

Selena held her sword tensely. "I don't know what you're talking about," she answered. "I'm in the Nohrian Army, so obviously I'm Nohrian. And don't try to sway me." The ninja sighed.

"It was worth a try," he said, a hint of sadness in his voice. He vanished before Selena's eyes, and attacked her from behind with his shuriken before she could react. Selena spun around to block his attack, though he slipped through her defense with his shuriken and pierced her flesh, before sliding it across her stomach. Selena gave a gasp of pain as the ninja withdrew and Selena fell to her knees, leaning on her sword once again. He threw a shuriken that caught her in the shoulder and knocked her off her sword, and Selena lay on the ground, beaten and exhausted, a shuriken in her shoulder. The ninja loomed over, shuriken in hand, hard-faced.

And then he was gone. A large shadow had swooped in a removed the ninja from Selena's field of vision. Selena rolled over, and saw him lying down in a pool of blood, a savage cut across him chest. Selena sat up, and saw Camilla flying away. The ninja was now getting up, holding his bleeding chest that began to stain his clothes. He was keeling over, dropping his shuriken, down on his knees as his face was wracked with pain as he struggled to stay alive. Selena grabbed her sword.

The ninja looked up at her, groaning. He looked sad in between pained expression, as though he'd already accepted his death. Selena looked at him pitifully, struggling to keep her face stony and hard. She raised her sword.

And then she lowered it again. The ninja had technically shown her mercy before, so it was only fair, right? She withdrew a vulnerary from her belt and dropped it on the ground. He caught it, though a stunned look crossed his face.

"Leave," Selena told him. "Leave now. And if we ever meet again, don't you dare speak of this. I'm just doing it because you didn't nail me before when you poisoned me and because you tried to spare me before. So I'll return the favor, that's all. You got that?" The ninja nodded weakly, drinking the vulnerary, before vanishing before Selena's eyes. Selena sighed, knowing it would probably come back to haunt her some day. But she wasn't a fan of killing in cold blood. Behind her, she heard a slow clapping amidst the sounds of the battle. She wheeled around to see the monk who'd been a persistent thorn in her side for most of the battle.

"Ah, so Nohrians do know the meaning of mercy. Congratulations. My opinion of you is almost out of the Nohrian scum zone," the monk said condescendingly. Selena glared at him. Did this guy ever shut up? Selena began walking over to him, sword in hand.

"Aha, ok. Maybe you've forgotten," he said, before pulling out a staff. Selena's eyes widened as an ethereal green light came over her, and she was down on her knees again, panting as her strength quickly faded. The monk walked over to her, looking pleased at her weakened state. Selena struggled to make eye contact with him.

"You cling to life so strongly. You're just like her. How admirable. But unfortunately you're my enemy, so I'd appreciate it if you would die now," the monk said philosophically. He walked over to face her, squatting down to look at her.

"Why even try to survive? You'll die someday, why not today? Just give up already," the monk demeaned her. Selena eyed him fiercely, and grabbed him by the throat. The monk's eyes widened in surprise as she choked him. It was an extremely weak choke, and the monk swatted away her hand after recovering from the shock, looking at her disbelievingly. Selena forced herself up, even as her muscles felt empty. Selena wrestled with the weakness in her body, grabbing her sword with both hands and flinging it upward across the monk. It hit the shocked monk with the blade scraping past his chest, drawing more blood from him.

And then Selena herself felt like she'd been cut open as well. She collapsed, giving a cry, confused. She couldn't get up now. The monk gave a cough, before staggering to his feet as Selena watched on helplessly.

"Divine retribution, my friend," he explained. "For daring to attack an unarmed man such as myself. How dishonorable." He gave another cough, holding the cut across his chest which was painting his bloodstained white tunic redder. Selena felt her strength begin to return again, though she was in no position to use it. She crawled to her feet, clutching her sword. She looked at him with a determined glare.

"So be it," she said, before giving the monk a slash across the chest, causing him give a gasp of pain and crumple over. And almost instantly, the same happened to Selena.

Selena lay on the ground, her chest in agony, just like the monk. Selena forced herself to crawl, trying to get to her sword and back to her feet. She had to keep going, had to keep going...

"Please... help me..." came a weak whispered voice from nearby. Selena rolled over to her side to see the maid she'd conversed with before, Flora, lying in a pool of blood. She looked at Selena pleadingly, her expression pained and dying. Selena crawled to her hands and knees, and looked at the dying maid, remembering their conversation. Flora looked at her, and begged weakly for help again. Selena considered it, remembering Daniela's betrayal of her kindness. But the ninja hadn't (yet). So maybe it was worth it. Besides, she couldn't leave the maid to slowly bleed out in a pool of blood.

Selena sighed, before pulling out the last vulnerary bottle in her belt's pouch. It wouldn't be enough to keep her alive for long though, so Selena took out something else she'd hoped she wouldn't have to use.

From her pouch, she removed the cloth she'd wrapped her translocation crystal in. It was large and an azure blue, given to her from a benefactor when she'd arrived in this world, for the purpose of going back home. Fortunately, she'd managed to bargain another one, and this was her spare. She looked at it, considering what she was about to do, and gave both the vulnerary and the crystal to the dying maid, who looked at her through wistful eyes.

"Think of where you want to go, and you'll be there," Selena explained tenderly. "Go back to your sister, crush and whoever the other special person was. Nobody will notice you're gone." Flora gave Selena a deeply grateful look, her eyes still weak yet hopeful, starting to water.

"Thank... you," she said weakly, before sigils appeared beneath her on the ground and Flora vanished to safety.

Selena painfully stood up and turned around to see the red-headed sky knight metres from her.

Hinoka

Hinoka charged toward the scarlet-haired Nohrian swordswoman, silver naginata extended. Behind her on the ground, a recovering Azama lay, his normally white tunic a bloody red. Hinoka had already almost lost one retainer today. She'd be damned if she'd come close to losing another.

The swordswoman desperately raised her sword, stained with blood, to block Hinoka's onslaught. Hinoka knew how to penetrate the defenses of sword-wielders though, and shifted her naginata at the last second to leave a deep cut in swordswoman's shoulder, before swooping upward. Hinoka directed her pegasus around to come back in for another assault upon the swordswoman. As she came in, arrows flew past her, the dangerous ones she deflected with a quick spin of her naginata, before returning it to an offensive position. She lunged at the swordswoman again, bypassing her attempted parry again and taking her shoulder guard with her this time, slicing it off. Below her, Hinoka heard the swordswoman swear angrily. Hinoka came back around, ready to strike the swordswoman again with her main defense gone. The pegasus charged as the swordswoman bravely held her ground, sword in hand. Hinoka charged. The swordswoman curled into a roll to dodge the strike at the last second, and Hinoka ascended once again. Hinoka shot her head around, eyeing the swordswoman fiercely before looking back as Azama, who'd managed to get back to his feet. He held a Nohrian staff in his hand, and looked up at her, smiling despite everything. Hinoka returned his smile with a determined expression, before focusing on the swordswoman, who'd noticed Azama. Hinoka accelerated as she saw Azama's lips move, giving the swordswoman some verbal barb. The swordswoman wheeled around to see Hinoka incoming, clutching her sword with two hands as Azama sidestepped out of range and waved the the staff. The swordswoman froze, her face a look of horror as Hinoka came closing in.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hinoka saw a rapidly incoming figure. Hinoka turned in surprise to see the lavender-haired wyvern rider she'd fought continuously over the battle. She'd thought that she'd thrown her off, though she was abundantly wrong. The wyvern rider came in, attacking Hinoka's flank, her axe ready to cleave Hinoka in half. Hinoka hurriedly tried to block the attack only the wyvern rider's axe to smash the stick of her naginata in half, barely missing Hinoka herself. Hinoka desperately flew upward, with the wyvern rider hot on her tail. Looking back, Hinoka saw Azama discarding his staff for another. She turned around to see the wyvern rider ahead of her, before turning around, axe in hand, ready to strike. Hinoka hurriedly drew the guard naginata and blocked the crushing attack.

The wyvern rider laughed, before striking with the axe again and again in succession, hammering away at the guard naginata's wooden shield, each strike coming closer to breaking it. Hinoka pulled the reins of her pegasus to the right to dodge a blow from the axe, and caught a breather. But the wyvern rider was upon her again, swinging her axe wildly, a gleeful grin upon her face. Desperate, Hinoka signaled to her pegasus to ride into an upward flip. The pegasus soared through the air in the aerial flip, and Hinoka found herself behind the wyvern rider.

However, the wyvern rider was ready for it this time. The wyvern turned far quicker than Hinoka could have anticipated, and soon the two riders were charging at each other. Hinoka swooped low to avoid the confrontation, though the wyvern rider mirrored her, and grinned at her, the blade of her axe sparkling in the light.

The two collided, Hinoka using the guard naginata to block the wyvern rider's powerful attack. The two weapons strained against each other, with Hinoka maintaining a brave face opposite the wyvern rider's sweet smile. The wyvern rider was stronger. Hinoka felt herself be pushed back by the wyvern rider's superior strength and the rider's wyvern screeched, which Hinoka's pegasus answered with a neigh. Hinoka strained to stop herself from toppling backward and pushed with all of her might. The wyvern rider barely seemed to notice it, merely giving her sickeningly sweet smile while Hinoka struggled for her life.

Hinoka spun the guard naginata. This action surprised the wyvern rider, who went forward from her own force, and Hinoka slipped out of the blade lock. She then flew quickly away to gain some breathing room, before turning around to see the wyvern rider on her tail again, smiling.

"You're a pest," the wyvern rider said in a voice that belied her words. She brandished her axe again. Hinoka descended quickly, with the wyvern rider in pursuit of her. Hinoka spied, on the battlefield, Azama, staff in hand, the scarlet-haired swordswoman unfrozen, battling other a team of samurai, the sword and katana clashing violently. Azama's eyes wandered from the swordswoman to the wyvern rider chasing Hinoka. He seemed to be amused by their chase, before withdrawing his current staff for a new one. Hinoka saw his lips move in an incantation and she turned her head to see green light surround the wyvern rider. Hinoka soared upward as the staff took its effect upon the wyvern rider. Below her, Hinoka heard a gasp followed by an almighty crash and scream.

Hinoka turned her pegasus around to see the damage as the rider's wyvern had crashed into a pile of bodies, with the rider herself grounded, lying on her side, motionless. Hinoka's face hardened, and she swooped down. She held her silver naginata out, ready to spear the fallen wyvern rider with it and hopefully finish the battle once the Nohrians knew their commander had fallen.

At seemingly the last second, the swordswoman stepped into view, parrying Hinoka's naginata strike with her blade above her head. Hinoka was thrown off course and flew up into the air again, before turning around, frustrated at the swordswoman's actions. However, there was a part of her that admired that. It took a special kind of bravery (or insanity) to do that.

The swordswoman looked up at her with determined eyes. Hinoka could see she had a nearly incomparable resolve in those eyes, even with the dirt and blood that covered her face. She wouldn't give up. But neither would Hinoka. Hinoka charged again, locking eyes with the swordswoman, who raised her sword to block the attack. Hinoka shifted the naginata's position, though the sword followed and the blades screeched as they clashed. Hinoka and the swordswoman jostled for position, and, with her mount and naginata, Hinoka knew she had the advantage. She twisted the naginata, causing the swordswoman's blade to nearly fly out of her hands as Hinoka slashed up her abdomen. Hinoka withdrew, her pegasus retreating backwards, flying on the spot. The swordswoman clutched her sliced chest as blood started to leak out of the wound, staggering.

"Surrender," warned Hinoka. "Or you'll be killed." It was a simple threat. Hinoka hoped the swordswoman would see reason and that she was outmatched. But she only just laughed.

"Hah, if you think I'd ever accept defeat on anything, you have another thing coming. Just ask anyone who knows me," the swordswoman said with a ragged voice. She raised her sword, despite her still-bleeding wound. Hinoka raised her naginata in retaliation, ready to kill this extremely brave and extremely stupid woman. But then another voice came, one ragged as well yet sweet and pearly.

"Oh, my dearest Selena. I'm afraid we're done here." Both Hinoka and the swordswoman called Selena turned to see the lavender-haired wyvern rider from before, bleeding and roughed up, though standing, her wyvern behind her. Hinoka looked around. Even the surrounding Nohrian soldiers had ceased fighting as their commander's words came about.

"What?!" asked Selena, in utter disbelief. "But, Lady Camilla-" The wyvern rider called Camilla raised a hand and Selena went silent, looking around in disbelief.

"We are beaten here today. If we continue, then it is likely you will die here, my sweet. And I will not allow that to happen," Camilla said soothingly. "Now, it is time to cut our losses and retreat." Hinoka couldn't believe what she hearing. The Nohrian commander, this 'Camilla', was telling her troops to simply give up and run away? Even after everything that had happened, all that both armies had sacrificed, it would end in a retreat? Hinoka knew she should be happy the fighting was ending but she was simply confused. Her pegasus landed and Hinoka dismounted her, keeping her naginata at the ready in case Camilla or Selena tried anything. Azama, holding his chest, joined her side as Hinoka eyed Camilla incredulously.

"Wait, so you're just... giving up?" Hinoka asked, not believing the words herself. But Camilla just smiled.

"Yes, I'm afraid we are. It was lovely fighting you here but we are finished now. We are calling a ceasefire. We will retreat before too much of our army is slaughtered," Camilla confirmed.

"And you won't come back here? The Nohrian Army won't invade the Emperor's Chasm again?" Hinoka asked. If the Nohrian Army were giving up, she might as well try and give some terms while she was in a position of power. Camilla closed her eyes and sighed, then looked at Hinoka.

"I'm afraid no one here can promise that," she confessed. "These were our king's orders, and we do what he commands. He may order a full-scale invasion of Hoshido tomorrow. He may order your genocide. He may order anything. We can't promise anything. But for today, the fighting is finished." Hinoka looked at Camilla strangely. Surely no one would follow a madman such as that. Despite everything, Hinoka felt a twinge of pity for the Nohrians. The rumours were true. King Garon of Nohr truly was a monster. This was only one monstrous act of many.

Hinoka thought long and hard for a while, before settling on a simple, "OK," as confirmation of the Nohrian retreat.

"Until next time," Camilla said with her sweet smile, before gripping her injured wyvern's reins and leading it slowly away. Selena hesitated slightly, before sighing and sheathing her sword and followed Camilla obediently, putting a hand on her slashed stomach, and walked with a slight limp. One by one, surrounding Nohrian soldiers followed suit, following their two commanders in peaceful retreat, sheathing their weapons while the Hoshidans watched on. Any and all fighting had stopped now. And, as the Nohrians disappeared upon the horizon, the aftermath began. Hinoka turned her transfixed gaze away from the long gone Nohrians and held her head in her hand. Azama joined her.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected," he quipped. "Seems the savages do show some signs of reason occasionally," he added cuttingly.

"They're not savages, they're people," answered Hinoka. There were bad and good people in Nohr, and Hinoka's long-boiling suspicion that the bad outnumbered the good felt confirmed here. They were the one's who kidnapped her sibling, after all. After killing her father. Hinoka would never forget and never forgive.

But now she could see that behind the image King Garon had cultivated as the 'black kingdom' that there were people who lived there. Normal people. Maybe 'normal' wasn't the word for it but they were still people who had loves, fears, hopes and dreams like everyone else. They were misguided. Could Hinoka save them?

"Milady?" asked Azama. "Perhaps you'd like to pay attention to the discussion at hand every once in a while."

"I'm sorry, Azama," Hinoka apologized. "I just kind of zoned out there. I feel kind of..." And after that, all Hinoka remembered was a mild sensation of falling.

Selena

The Nohrian garrison was no more. Now, the army was travelling, many of the soldiers glad the fight was over, though a few were still embittered and embarrassed their own commander had ordered a full-scale retreat. Selena walked past a couple of soldiers talking and laughing.

"...just orders a retreat? I was handling myself just fine there," one said with incomparable arrogance. A fighter joined in.

"Yeah, we could've kicked the Hoshidans' scrawny arses to Cheve and back!" One lancer simply uttered, "Yeah!", as other disgruntled-sounding soldiers joined in. Selena walked into the group.

"Perhaps you'd like to report your complaints to Lady Camilla herself. You wanna know what she did to the last soldiers who questioned her?" Selena threatened, staring down the soldiers. She'd scarcely had the opportunity to clean herself up after the battle and blood, dirt and wounds still covered her body. The soldiers looked from one another.

"I wasn't sayin' nuthin'," protested the fighter.

"Yeah, we were only joking around," the lancer added defensively. The fighter punched him to shut him up.

"Right," said Selena sarcastically while rolling her eyes. "I'll let you off this once but don't let me or anyone else catch you speaking ill of Lady Camilla. Got that?"

"Loud and clear, sir-ma'am," answered a mercenary. Selena rolled her eyes again before breaking away from the group and walking painfully to Camilla's carriage. At the door, presumably guarding it, Selena saw Beruka. Beruka looked up and down Selena, though showed no facial opinion of her injured state.

"What happened to you?" asked Selena accusingly. Beruka and her wyvern had simply disappeared from the battlefield as far as Selena was concerned.

"I was shot down," answered Beruka emotionlessly. "Lady Camilla sent me away."

"Lucky break," Selena scowled under her breath, unaware of whether Beruka heard it or not. "Where's Lady Camilla?"

"She is inside," answered Beruka neutrally. "She has asked not to be disturbed."

"Seriously?" Selena asked irritably.

"Yes," replied Beruka unnecessarily.

"Great," Selena remarked sarcastically. Still, she was going to see Camilla. She'd wait here all day. "Looks like I'm waiting."

Camilla certainly took her time, though Selena hadn't left the door of her carriage, despite the dried blood on her starting to stink. Beruka as her only company hadn't helped matters either. But finally, the carriage door had opened, and Lady Camilla had stepped out. She seemed surprised to see Selena standing there.

"Ah, hello dearest Selena," she greeted her. Then, after looking at Selena's still-wounded state, "I would've thought you'd have cleaned yourself up by now."

"I've been here waiting for you, Lady Camilla," Selena told her, a little too testy than she would've liked. Camilla's eyes turned bright.

"Well, here I am now," Camilla said happily. "Is there anything you need from me?" Here it came. It was certainly something to question your commander. It was another thing to question your liege.

"Yeah, I came to ask you a question. Why did you retreat? You said you were doing it because I would've died but you can't have had that little faith in me. I could've handled it," Selena finished, waiting for Camilla's reaction. Camilla was unpredictable. She could switch from friendliness to ruthlessness in the blink of an eye. But Camilla simply smiled.

"Oh my dearest Selena, I did it because I knew we were going to lose and I couldn't bare to see you fight so hard for a losing battle any longer," Camilla explained.

"But we weren't losing!" protested Selena. "Once I struck down the Hoshidan commander, we could've won. Why, Lady Camilla, why?"

"I'm afraid the situation was little bleaker than you think," Camilla said sadly. "On the horizon, there were Hoshidan forts that would've been filled with an entirely new army of Hoshidan soldiers. And our entire army was in shambles. Even if we had defeated the current Hoshidan force, we would've had a far tougher battle looming in the distance. I doubt any of us would've come back alive from there. And Marxia was gravely injured after that monk's staff. I decided to end the battle before it could get any worse for us and our soldiers." Selena opened her mouth to argue but her head absorbed Camilla's words before she could, and she knew in her heart it made sense. Better to admit defeat than to fight to genocide. Selena nodded to show she understood.

"Lady Camilla," Selena said with a slightly quivering voice. "King Garon. What will he do to us for the failure?" Camilla defied Selena's expectations by smiling brightly.

"Ah, I'm afraid that General Daniela made some severe tactical errors in this battle, and once the tide turned against us, she and her army fled," Camilla said deviously. "If not for her betrayal and incompetence, then this would have been a successful mission." Selena grinned. There were times, few and far between, when she loved the way Princess Camilla thought.

Hinoka

Hinoka awoke within the main Hoshidan garrison, feeling tired. She looked around and saw she was within the shrine of the monks and shrine maidens, lying down while a familiar figure looked over her. Hinoka sat up and rubbed her eyes, before turning to see Azama's face.

"Ah. You did wake up. Seems death decided to allow you to come back to us after all," he said bluntly with his usual smile whenever her insulted someone. Hinoka wasn't in the mood for Azama's verbal barbs, however. Hinoka groaned, before looking at Azama.

"Aha, memory loss. Truly fascinating. I'm afraid you fainted following the battle, milady. Happens to the best of us, I'm sure," he explained gleefully. Hinoka processed this information. The last thing she remembered was everything going black along with a falling sensation. Had she really fainted? It seemed like such a ridiculous thing to do. Was it exhaustion? Shock? At least Hinoka was awake now.

"Is everyone OK? Setsuna? General Kumagera?" she asked Azama. She'd managed to deliver Setsuna to the shrine maiden but had it been enough? And she hadn't seen General Kumagera following her return to the battlefield after getting Setsuna to safety. Was he OK?

"No, they're all dead," said Azama. Hinoka's face went white with horror before she saw Azama laughing.

"Ah, I had you, didn't I?" Azama said with another gleeful smile in between laughter. " No, Setsuna is recovering. I'm certain she has some brain damage but maybe that's just her. And the general is fine, even if death grabbed him a few times. Truly miraculous." Azama finished and Hinoka breathed a sigh of relief in the knowledge that the both of them were safe. She stood up, somewhat shakily at first, though stood up, proud and tall, befitting of a princess. She noticed she was no longer dressed in her probably bloodstained sky knight outfit and was instead in simple white dress. She walked through the shrine, Azama watching her go, shaking his head and she heard him whisper something. As she walked, she saw the injured recovering. A grey-haired ninja with a bandaged abdomen sitting down looked up as she walked past him. She caught a glimpse of General Kumagera sitting up, bandaged heavily and crowded by shrine maidens and monks with rods, though alive. Setsuna lay sleeping, a bandage upon her head visible, though she was blissfully alive. Hinoka smiled at seeing her soldiers alive and well, before exiting the shrine. She knew who she was going to see now.

Hinoka walked into the fort, soldiers looking up with gasps as she walked in, still in her white medical dress. Though this didn't faze Hinoka. All that mattered now was that she saw Yukimura as she began to climb the staircase that led to the tactician's quarters.

Hinoka arrived at the top and found him, leaning over the map of the changed layout of the Emperor's Chasm. She paused slightly, before walking over to him. He looked up and and his eyes widened as he realised Hinoka, even in her white medical dress.

"Princess Hinoka," he exclaimed. "Gods, are you alright?" He looked at her through his wide-rimmed glasses with concern. His brow then furrowed. "You should be resting, milady."

"I'm fine," Hinoka replied. "We won," she said simply, even if it didn't feel like a victory after the confusing conclusion. She still remembered how Camilla had simply given up and retreated. It would puzzle her to the end of her days.

"Yes," said Yukimura, adjusting his glasses. "I heard the Nohrians formally retreated on the orders of their commander. It is a good victory, though a formal surrender would've been preferable." Yukimura saw Hinoka's eyes and looked at her confusedly. "Is something the matter, milady?"

"That battle cost a lot of lives," Hinoka said flatly. "On both sides. Especially after the dragon vein." Hinoka shot him a look.

"It is truly regrettable," Yukimura admitted. "If your father were here, he would be scolding me for using the tactic. This bloodshed is precisely why Hoshido is so desperate to avoid war with Nohr. However, after this most recent display, I feel we may not have long." Hinoka looked at him with a pained expression.

"But know that we will do everything in our power to avoid war," continued Yukimura reassuringly. "War will only come if Nohr forces it." Hinoka looked into his gaze, and Yukimura realised he hadn't relieved her in the slightest. Hinoka turned to leave, before stopping at the stairway.

"If they do force it, I will be ready for them, Yukimura. I'll get them for kidnapping them. I'll get them for killing Father. I'll get them for every drop of Hoshidan blood spilt. And I'll get them for not even caring about their own people. The powerful Nohrians use the weaker ones to achieve their selfish goals, and it's the weak that suffer. They're the monsters. They're the real Nohrian scum," Hinoka concluded vengefully. She looked back to see Yukimura nod in approval, before Hinoka left down the steps.

Author's note: And that's the end. Like I said at the top, I'd really appreciate any feedback or reviews or pretty much any sign that someone's read this thing. Thanks again for reading. Ta.