Fire Emblem: Last of the Manakete

"Thank you, Commander, for so thoroughly and brutally dispatching my enemies. But now, I'm afraid, you have outlived your usefulness."
-Imperial Duke Cherdekar to Sky-Commander Seryph


You spend a moment thinking about it. You quickly discard the idea of pushing on as you were. You don't feel good, and you're worried that if things get worse dragon-you will become upset enough that she might do something rash. Not only would that hurt you, but you could end up hurting Robin or Sypha, and that is an unacceptable outcome.

As for Robin's other suggestion… you don't really want to bring more people into this if you don't have to. Robin and Phoebe and Kopoi are different: Artemis at least vouches for them. A bunch of unknown strangers? Strangers who you'd ask to fight and maybe die for you? You shiver, you don't want that.

That leaves only one option. "Can we go more slowly?" you ask.

Robin nods. "Of course," he says. "We were already going to need to slow down a bit so I could continue tracking them. I had planned to ask you to make short jumps as a dragon, but we can also walk for a while. Will that be better for you?"

You nod. "It should be," you say. "I can go pretty far if I use my wings when my legs get tired, so hopefully I won't slow you down too much."

He frowns. "That won't make your condition worse, will it?" he asks.

"No, no, my wings are part of my heart form," you say, extending them. "It's only when I half-shift that I'm tapping into dragon-me, which I'm pretty sure is what's causing my issue. That's not something manakete are supposed to overuse, after all."

Robin nods slowly. "I suppose you know yourself best," he says. "Well, if you're ready, we should get going. We've still got a lot of work to do."

You push down the irritated hiss that tries to force its way out of your mouth as you nod. "Okay," you say. "Lead on. I'm right behind you."

It's an odd feeling, going back to walking. You're reminded of when you and Artemis were just getting started: how new and big the world seemed. Now… well, hopefully at least some of it is just the lingering sulkiness of your dragon-self being in a bad mood with you. You hope that you're not already becoming jaded to the outside world: there's still so much to see and do.

As you walk, Robin repeatedly pauses to study the area. "They were still being careful as they traveled," he murmurs. "Not surprising, since they are still in Legerius. Even holding the countess's daughter, they don't want to invite a battle…"

"So what do you think happened back there?" you ask.

Robin considers for a moment before answering. "I can't be certain, but if I had to guess, Countess Mantrae tried to carry out the trade even if she didn't have Lady Artemis. No idea how she pulled it off, but it seems the mercs were prepared to pretend they were going for it. Trade happens, Mantrae gives over whoever was standing in for Lady Artemis, and while Lady Sypha's on her way back, the wyvern drops on her from above. There was plenty of cloud cover this way for the last few days."

Your mouth moves silently for a moment as the scene plays behind your eyes. Mantrae standing on the hill, her heart in her throat as she watches her daughter coming back to her, maybe even rushing forward to hug her as your mother would have done for you. Then, all that joy and hope turning to ash in her mouth as the bandits steal Sypha away again… "That's just cruel," you whisper. "That's…."

Robin nods. "I can't be sure that's what actually happened, of course," he says. "But it fits the evidence."

A swell of anger, unrelated to your general annoyance with everything, causes you to grind your teeth. How could these people do this? How could they look at themselves in the mirror after taking a little girl from her mother? Not because of anything either of them had done to them, but just to get money. How could anyone do that?!

'You are.'

You freeze in place as that thought surfaces. That's not true. Well, you guess you are going to be taking Sypha back to Agrithe rather than back home...

'Does she want to go there?'

'Well, no, but…'

A sense of bitter malcontent fills you, and you get to thinking. You're sure that Sypha'll be so happy and grateful when you first rescue her, first get her away from the horrible people who have taken her. Then she'll realize that she doesn't recognize anything, that the trip's taking far too long. That look of hope and joy will start to fade as she realizes that you're not taking her home, you're just the latest of her kidnappers…

"Ryza?"

Jerking out of your thoughts, you look up at Robin, who's come back and is standing in front of you with a concerned expression. "Yes?"

He crouches down, studying you. "You are still unhappy," he says. It's not a question.

You lower your eyes guiltily. "It's just… are we really doing the right thing, taking Sypha back to Agrithe? With everything she's been through, wouldn't it be kinder to just take her home, so she can see her mother again?"

Sighing, Robin puts his hands on your shoulders. "I understand your hesitation," he says. "But it's the best thing for the long term. Countess Mantrae needs to understand that, while Agrithe will help her in times of need, we need to know when there is trouble. She also needs to understand that, if she strikes at any member of House Cartese, there will be a response. However, this is a warning, not a punishment. Certainly not a punishment for Lady Sypha."

"It still seems wrong," you say. "Children… children are precious. They shouldn't be hurt, shouldn't be taken from their families."

Robin seems to consider his words. "Is that the way all manakete saw it, or just your family?" he asks.

You bristle. "No decent manakete would ever hurt a youngling!" you snap.

'They are mad, all of them mad!'

As you try to purge the echoes of your father's voice from your mind, Robin nods. "And the Archduke will not hurt Lady Sypha, or allow her to come to harm," he says. "She will be returned to her family; he gave his word on that, did he not?"

"I guess…" you say.

"Then it will be done. Archduke Letoro Cartese does not go back on his word. Ever." He squeezes your shoulders. "You have a good heart, Ryza, and a kind soul. But sometimes, the firm hand of justice is required to ensure that people do not take advantage of kindness. The trick is learning how to balance kindness and justice. Only then can there be respect, and only through respect can conflict be averted."

"Okay," you say, kicking at the ground.

Robin considers you for a moment. "If you have any more concerns, Ryza, feel free to bring them up," he says. "You are here by choice: any potential issues should be be talked out rather than left to fester."

"…Thank you, but I just need some time to think," you say. "We should focus on getting Sypha away from the people who have her, we know they're bad."

"That we do," Robin says, standing, "that we do. Come on, we're making good progress."

As the two of you continue on, Robin speaks up in a more casual voice. "So what were manakete families like? I'm guessing children were pretty rare, if they were considered absolutely off-limits."

Over the next few hours, as you answer Robin's questions about manakete culture and traditions, you find yourself calming down. It's nice to be able to relax a bit, to remind yourself that you're more than just a flying half-shifting mount. You are a manakete, the heir of a tradition more ancient than any other you've seen.

You are Ryza. You are Yellow and lightning and magic, and you are going to make sure none of your friends or their friends get hurt.

---

The next day, as you are flying a few feet above the ground to give your tired legs a chance to rest, Robin holds up a hand. "Land for a moment," he whispers sharply.

Dropping instantly to the earth, you take cover behind a nearby tree. "What is it, what do you see?" you whisper back.

"Up ahead, do you see those mounds?" Robin asks.

Peering forward, you nod. "Yeah, I do," you say. "Why?"

"Those aren't natural. They don't match the terrain at all. Someone made those." He pushes you back behind the tree. "Stay here, Ryza, I'll check it out." Not waiting to see if you obey, he carefully sidles over, staying low and fingering the string of his drawn bow as he does.

Not interested in getting closer to the strange mounds that seem to have Robin nervous, you shuffle behind the tree, only to freeze as your boot connects with something hard buried in the dirt. Looking down, you realize that you'd dislodged a dagger. Curious, you kneel down and tug it out, marveling at the odd, claw-like protrusion on the end of the handle.

It takes you a moment to notice the ugly red-brown stain on the broken blade. Bringing it to your nose, you take a sniff.

Blood. That smells like blood. Relatively fresh blood.

Recoiling with a yelp, you drop the dagger. Thankfully, you're able to avoid stabbing yourself in the foot.

"Ryza, are you alright?"

Shaking, you nod. "Yes, yes I'm fine," you say, looking up at Robin, who had turned back to look at you. "I found something, take a look at this!" Gingerly picking up the dagger between two fingers and holding it as far away from your body as you can, you hurry over to Robin. "It was behind the tree."

Robin nods, carefully taking the offered weapon. "Interesting…" he murmurs. "Very interesting…" He looks around. "I don't think anyone's here; they would have reacted by now," he says more calmly.

"What's interesting?" you ask worriedly. "And what's going on with these mounds?"

Robin glances back at them with a grimace. "Well, the blood on this dagger answers how some of these poor sods died," he says.

Blinking, you glance down. "What do you mea…n…" you ask, only to realize that something is sticking out of a disturbed area in one of the mounds.

A hand.

A human hand.

Fighting the urge to scream, you stumble away. "What… what is this?!" you gasp.

Robin sighs. "Unless I am much mistaken, Ryza, this is a mass grave," he says. "I see a few signs that look like a camp over that way, but it looks like a lot of people died here and were hurriedly buried."

You feel sick. "How… how many?" you whimper.

"I don't know," Robin says grimly. "At least a few dozen, but I don't know, and I don't think either of us are interested in digging them up to find out." You rapidly shake your head, backing away from the sickly smell that you're just starting to notice.

"Who did this?" you ask.

"The mercenaries that we're hunting," Robin says, crouching down to study something in the dirt near the hand (you refuse to look closer to find out what.) "And thanks to your sharp eye, I'm pretty sure I know who they are now." He glances at you with a forced smile. "I know you're not happy, Ryza, but that dagger was a big help."

"Who?!"

Holding up the dagger, Robin taps the claw on the end. "This dagger is a Shrieking Talon dagger, they're very distinctive" he says. "They're the premiere mercenary troop in the Empire, and they are known to have wyvern riders among them." He tosses the weapon to himself thoughtfully. "I'm a bit surprised they left this behind; though I suppose if it broke its owner might have decided it's worthless. Good for us, I suppose."

Sinking down, you watch as Robin continues his work. "Why would they do this?" you ask.

Robin hums slightly as he scratches at something else. "Well, the Shrieking Talons are either the second or third largest mercenary group in the world, depending on how you count," he says. "But the interesting thing about them is that they are broken up into a lot of smaller chapters rather than sticking together as one big army. Each group is well-trained, but usually not too large, fifty to a hundred members." Standing, he studies something he'd picked up before moving to sit next to you. "That explains why they co-oped the local bandits: they tend to take on local auxiliaries during a job to bolster their numbers. If I have to guess, these are the bandits. The Talons must have decided they'd outlived their usefulness."

Hugging yourself, you look away. You'd known these people were bad, but this… "Why… How could…"

Robin gently pats you on the shoulder. "I am not justifying what they've done, but remember that these were bandits," he says. "They were not good people before they joined, and they were instrumental in the kidnapping of Lady Sypha and the attempted kidnapping of Lady Artemis." He looks around, frowning. "That being said… this is unusual behavior for the Talons. They have a reputation for being generous to their auxiliaries, this… they must have been trying to hide something."

"Maybe the fact that they took Sypha?" you ask.

"Possible…" Robin says. "But people are going to figure that out eventually. The Talons are powerful enough to have some protection from retribution, especially in the Empire. They have a close relationship with the Empire's nobility. No, they wanted to hide something else…" His frown deepens for a moment before he shakes his head. "We'll get more answers when we find them. The good news is that, if they're letting their auxiliaries go, then they consider the job over. They probably decided to cut their losses when Countess Mantrae was unable to turn over Lady Artemis." He gestures. "We're almost at the border of the Empire; they must think that nobody is going to chase them across it."

You perk up a bit. "Good thing I brought a map, then," you say, pulling the map Artemis had found you out of your bag.

Robin nods, grinning. "You really came prepared, didn't you," he says.

"Of course!" you say. "Artemis needs me to get this done, and I needed every tool I could get!"

"Excellent," Robin says. "We should check the camp; I've seen a few signs that make me curious."

You cock your head. "Like what?" you ask.

Standing, Robin helps you to your feet before leading you towards the camp area he'd pointed out. "Well, I've been seeing the signs left behind by our potential informant," he says. "But I've also been seeing a few signs that someone else is following them. I didn't dig at the mass grave, but someone else was. If I had to guess, the Countess has a few people following the trail as well." He pauses as he looks around the camp remnants. "What I'm curious about is why the Talons are tolerating it. They have a wyvern; that gives them excellent counter-reconnaissance…"

"Maybe it's a small enough group that they're able to hide," you say. "I mean, I'm not sure I'd be able to see you if you were trying really hard to not let me when I was way up in the sky, and a dragon-form's senses are better than a wyvern's. It is possible to hide from us."

"True, true," Robin says. "But it would still be something they'd be looking out for." You don't have an answer to that, so you simply shrug.

You spend a few minutes poking around the camp. It's clear that this had been here for a while; even you can tell that. From what Robin says, this was probably their main base camp, while the other, smaller camps were ones that groups of these Talons set up as they traveled. You don't find many new clues, but you can tell that the mercenaries did, in fact, go back towards the Empire.

As you follow in their tracks, you look up at Robin. "Should we try to find Mantrae's people?" you ask. "I mean; we want the same thing…"

"To an extent," Robin cautions. "However, she might have orders out for her people to kill or capture you if they spot you, as you were the one who rescued Lady Artemis and ruined her plan. This group might or might not follow those orders." Your face falls, and Robin signs. "We'll see how things look when we find the Talons. If we think we need the help, we'll talk about it again. Maybe we can come to an agreement with them."

You hope so. You don't want to be enemies with too many people.

---

It's the better part of two more days of walking before you find anything. As you move, the signs of the Shrieking Talons' trail become clearer. When asked, Robin says that it's because they've stopped trying to cover their tracks. "They consider themselves safe now," he explains, "and as such don't feel the need to be cautions."

The memory of the massacre these people perpetrated, even if it was against bad people, makes your blood boil at the thought of them getting to feel cocky. You intend to make them regret all the evil things they've done.

In general, however, you start to feel a lot better. The dark mood that had been hanging over you for days begins to fade, leaving you once again able to mostly enjoy life. Of course, you're still stressed and tired in a way you've never been in your life before this, but it's an understandable stress and tiredness, not the lurking cloud of an overworked half-shifted dragon-form. Several times, you wish that you'd brought The Dragon Within along so that you could check to find out what was going on with you and if there are ways around it, but then Robin points out something on the map and you're reminded that you brought the tools you need, not the toys you want. You're a big girl, you can be patient.

Finally, however, Robin tells you to stop flying again. "We're almost at the village of Glenhaven," he says quietly. "Local shepherds are probably nearby; we need to blend in. If anyone asks, you are my daughter, Gwyn, and I'm Hood, an itinerant salesman from the Northlands Duchy."

You cock your head. "Why not just use our names?" you ask.

Robin smiles. "You're too honest for your own good sometimes," he says. "We don't know how much the Talons know; it's possible they've heard your name in connection to Countess Mantrae or Lady Artemis. No need to invite problems that we don't need to invite, Gwyn. As for mine, well, in for a chicken, in for a hog." You nod, you suppose that makes sense.

An hour or so later, the two of you start to crest a line of hills, only for Robin to stop you. "Careful; silhouetting yourself against the sky is a great way to be seen," he says. "Let's peek over and see what we're dealing with, easy does it."

"Okay," you say, crouching down. With a nod, Robin peeks over first, and after a moment waves you up to join him.

Laid out below the pair of you, in a small river valley, is a town a bit bigger than Miau. Without the trees around that Legerian village, you can clearly see the crowds of people moving to and fro. The buildings look much the same; mostly small, wooden and with thatched roofs. A few bigger, stone buildings, but nothing like the castles of Legerius and Agrithe.

"Surprising number of people around," Robin mutters to himself, pulling an odd tube out of his bag and raising it to his eye. "Would have thought small-town folk would be warier with an armed company nearby."

"Maybe they're from here?" you say. "And what's that you've got?"

"It's called a spyglass. The Republics invented them for use on ships, but if you have the money to get one, anyone can use it if they want to get a closer look at something in the distance." As he says this, Robin continues scanning the village. "The Talons are here," he says after a moment. "Look, on the other side of town."

Frowning, you peer into the distance. It takes you a moment to realize what he's talking about: there's enough tents set up on the hill overlooking the village to almost be a second village. "Are they… living here now?" you ask.

"Probably not for too long," Robin says. "But if I had to guess, they're taking time to rest and recuperate after their time in Legerius." He lowers the spyglass, frowning thoughtfully. "They spent weeks, if not months, in hostile territory. That can wear on anyone, even professionals. Their commanders have probably given the men bonuses and a few days off to settle them down. As for the villagers… well, this is the Empire. The Talons will be viewed more favorably. They also represent a fair influx of coin and news that a village like this probably would be interested in." He points. "The town market is certainly booming, and there's a steady stream of people going to fro."

The pair of you ponder in silence for a minute before you glance at him. "So what do we do now?" you ask.

"That… depends," Robin says. "We don't know if they still have Lady Sypha, but there are enough guards posted around the camp that I think they do. They're still wary, even in relaxation. I also don't see the wyvern around, though that could mean several things. They could be off delivering a message, or hunting, or just being kept deeper in the camp." Raising his spyglass again, he looks around. "We need to make a plan. Normally, I would recommend waiting until nightfall and trying to slip in when they're not ready. I'd never be able to face them in a stand-up fight, and I'm not sure you could either. However, you know your capabilities better than I do. Let's figure out how to best use your talents."

After some discussion, you and Robin come up with a plan of action.


[] Enter Glenhaven and gather information. If the Shrieking Talons have been here for a while, then the locals probably know some useful things that could help you out. This will almost certainly bring you into contact with members of the Talons, but that might just be more sources of information.

[] Try to find Mantrae's people; they're probably nearby. As much as Robin doesn't like it, he agrees that it will be useful to have some backup. Besides, the Countess's agents will have been here longer; they might have a plan of their own that you can help with.

[] Attack the camp yourselves. Trying to overcomplicate the plan is too much of a risk, and the longer you wait the more time for things to go wrong. The enemy is in sight, finish your task so you can go home. (Begin Combat Planning round)
-[] During the day: A lot of the Talons are in town, enjoying themselves. If you engage fast enough, you can push through the guards left behind before the others can get back. Besides, nobody would expect an attack like this in broad daylight.
-[] Wait until nightfall. Not only will this mean that some of the Talons will be asleep, but you'll have time to observe the camp and maybe figure out where Sypha is before you go in. They will be more likely to expect an attack at this time.

[] Write-in