Fire Emblem: Last of the Manakete

"Wyverns are no more invincible than the dragons of old were. With the proper weapons, any beast can be brought low."
-Sir George of Agrithe, during the Uprising


As the wyvern's glare passes over you, you take an involuntary step back. For all that you know that dragon-you is bigger than it, stronger than it, and has the advantage of Trinity of Elements superiority, it's still a new, big, and dangerous threat that clearly doesn't like you at all.

Still, you have to be brave. You're almost out of here, and while there's ten Talons and a wyvern in front of you, Mantrae's people are also here, so the odds aren't that bad. Besides, if things go wrong… well, your dragonstone is crackling comfortingly in your pocket.

Not that that means you want to use it. You scared Artemis badly enough, and she already knew about dragon-you. Poor Sypha looks like she's one bad shock from fainting.

"We should go," you say softly, taking another step back. "If we can get out of here without a fight, we should. We have Sypha, let's just go."

Robin slowly nods. "I agree," he says back.

Kelton glances between the two of you, confused. "But we can take them!" he hisses. "We've got-"

"Perhaps," Claire cuts in sharply, "but we can't fight their reinforcements. The longer we stay-"

"No whispering!" the wyvern rider shouts. "This isn't a negotiation! Surrender or die!"

Sypha's shivering, shaking her head. "Please, please no, not again…" you hear her whimpering, more to herself than anyone else.

This, more than anything, hardens your heart.

"We choose neither!" you call back, trying to sound bigger and stronger than you actually are. "We're going now, and if you don't want anyone getting hurt, you should just let us!"

A long moment of silence passes as the woman, along with all the other Talons, just stare at you. You half expected her to start laughing, but as the moment passes she drops her face into her free hand. You're pretty sure she's muttering something, but muffled by her palm you can't catch it. "Alright," she says when she raises her head. "I guess we're doing this shit then."

With that, she threw back her head and let out a shriek! It takes you a second to realize that she's trying to emulate her wyvern's hunting cry. It doesn't sound very close to your ear, but apparently it's good enough for the wyvern. The massive creature lifts itself to stand nearly straight, spreads its flaming wings, and joins her shriek with its far more intimidating one.

Thankfully, the momentary pause your challenge provided had been put to good use. The three Mantrae men, wearing cloaks similar to Axton and Lancel's, used the opportunity to dart towards a group of horses standing off to the side. Swinging themselves on with impressive acrobatics skill, they raise bows, clearly ready for a fight.

"Cover us! Keep them at arm's length!" Claire shouts, dropping her shield, picking Sypha up, and hustling her towards a nearby horse. Bernard follows, stumbling slightly as he tries to both keep up with the dashing woman and keep his sword at the ready as if his injured body could be any real deterrent.

Your attention, however, is drawn back to the Talons as you hear massive wings beating and the wyvern lifting off. Spinning, you see the dragon-kin rising into the air as the Talons nearby surge forward.


The sheer noise of the scene: horses dashing around and neighing in panic, a wyvern shrieking, humans yelling, all around you there is noise, there is chaos, so much. It takes all your will not to give into the fear and anger starting to fill up your mind. Or worse, to just give into the fear and run away.

No. You will not run. You will not hide. You are Ryza: Yellow and lightning and magic!

You will not fail!

Your eyes sweep the scene again, trying to make sense of it all. The Talons split into two groups, four of them following in the wyvern's wake towards you while the other six start towards the yeomen. "Focus on the groundlings!" Robin shouts in your ear, raising his bow to the sky.

"This isn't the first lizard I've fought. It won't be the last."

His bow creaks as he takes aim. The wyvern was high enough that nobody could hit it with any spears or swords, but not too high for a bow. If you had to guess from its flight pattern, the rider is going to have it try to dive on where Claire is pushing Sypha onto a horse. Even if it didn't immediately grab the panicking noble girl in its talons, its presence would certainly scare the horse… and put Claire right in the path of many very sharp and hot weapons.

Robin, however, has other ideas. His first arrow narrowly misses, but he forces the wyvern to bank away, shrieking in annoyance as it tries to set up for a new attack run. "I've got it! I'll keep it busy!" he says again.

Meanwhile, you look at the approaching Talons and start gathering your magic. "Okay," you say. "I'll deal with these guys"

"Not alone you won't," Kelton says as he steps up beside you. Somehow, despite everything, he's still grinning. "Just like old times, eh kid? You still got your fancy wings and lighting?"

You can't help but giggle: Kelton's cockiness is so funny. "Yep," you say. "I'm so glad to see you, Kelton,"

He lets out a bark of laughter. "Let's save the sappy reunion until after we've seen these jesters off," he says, hefting one of the short spears he has over his back. "Zap 'em!"

"Yes!" you say, letting your wings extend as you reach deep into the well of your magic. Everything's going to be okay!

As lightning flows from Thunder's Cry, you don't focus it on any one individual Talon. Your job is not to kill them, it's to keep them busy. To make sure they can't get close enough to help their leader hurt Sypha. Instead, smaller, lighter bolts of thunder fall in an almost random spread between you and the approaching Talons. You see them jerking back, letting out shocked swears and cries as your magic keeps their attention.

"Look out!" Kelton says, stepping in front of you just in time to catch an arrow on his shield. An arrow that had been heading towards you. "Oi! Jackass! Shooting kids isn't allowed around here!" the soldier roars, hurling his small spear towards the archer that had tried to end you. The Talon is able to dodge out of the way, but it's a near thing. "Don't worry about him," Kelton says, drawing another short spear. "I'll keep him jumping, you focus on keeping the others off us!"

"Thanks Kelton!" you say, refocusing on your lighting. The remaining three Talons are still trying to approach, using fences, bundles of dried grass, and anything else they can as cover. However, your night vision allows you to keep track of them and keep them from getting too close with the occasionally more precise bolt of lightning.

Some of your attention, however, remains on the circling wyvern. Robin is doing well, even drawing a few cries of pain out of the creature as arrows strike home. However, it's just too maneuverable, its scales too tough. Finally, after a few aborted dives, it slams into the ground in front of the horse carrying Sypha and Bernard just as they get settled, the boy holding the reins.

"Look, just make this easy on all of us!" the woman on its back shouts over the gout of flame that the wyvern shoots from its mouth to force Robin to dive out of the way. "I have put too much effort into this shitshow to let it just walk away on me!"

You expect Claire to be nervous or frightened as she steps in front of the horse, unslinging her spear from her back and pointing it at the massive wyvern. You even start splitting off some of your magic to try and drive the wyvern away. Even though it'll mean that the ground Talons might be able to get to you. You have to get Sypha out of here!

Claire, however, has a smirk in her voice as she speaks. "You showed your hand with your betrayal in Legerius, merc," she calls. "Did you really think we wouldn't come prepared for you!?"

At that moment, you feel the earth start to tremble under your feet. Well, tremble more: there were already enough horses running around to make it a bit hard to stand. However, this is different… more focused…

The woman on the wyvern's back turns to look behind her. Then, you see her go rigid. "UP! UP DEATHWING!" she screams, kicking her wyvern in the sides and yanking on the reins

The wyvern almost doesn't respond, too busy keeping Robin ducking and dodging with jets of fiery breath. However, after a moment it obeys its mistress with an irritated snarl, lifting off with a mighty flap of its wings.

As it leaves the ground, you can see past it to the figure thundering towards the battle from the darkness. A man dressed in shining armor similar to Robert's rides on a massive, steel-clad horse. In his hand, he wields a lance, more ornate than any other you've seen. Even from a distance, you can see the runes blazing along its length like fire… and for some reason, those runes make you shiver. You feel as if an icy wind is blowing, chilling you to the bone, and you almost stumble away as that lance comes closer and closer…

"Focus kid!" Kelton says, and you realize you'd let your magic slip! The Talons are rushing closer, weapons raised! Focusing, you flap your wings to gain some space as you unleash a single bolt, sending the nearest Talon toppling to the ground. His shield warps as your lightning flash-fries it, drawing a pained howl as he skids to a halt, then stops moving.

The sound of thundering hooves is coming closer. Curiosity overwhelms your sense of caution. Quickly, you send your bolt of lightning spraying over the other three Talons, causing them to dive for cover. With them temporarily out of the way, you turn to look behind you.

The wyvern is hovering, still trying to burn Robin to a crisp even as its rider directs it further into the air. However, the cavalier is almost upon them, and with a mighty jerk of his arm he sends the lance forward, a chain extending from where it was wrapped around his metal glove as he all but throws it.

It's a near thing, but the lance strikes into the wyvern's side hard enough to pierce scales.

Your heart nearly stops as the creature screams! It shoots into the air, thrashing and flapping wildly as its shrieks of unfathomable agony echo far and wide. It's razor-sharp talons and bladed tail try to scratch at the wound, tearing at its own scales and showering blood down onto the ground. On its back, the woman tries desperately to hold on, her shouts alternating between curses, comforting words, and commands to go higher, get away from that damn wyrmbane!

Robin, finally free of the gouts of flaming breath, plants his feet and takes careful aim. For a long second, he stands stock still, sighting down his arrow even as the cavalier thunders past him and continues on towards the Talons you'd been holding back. Finally, Robin shoots, sending an arrow straight into the growing wound on the wyvern's side.

The wyvern screams again, bucking and flailing as it drifts back towards the camp, directed almost entirely by the woman pulling on the reins. Robin draws his bow back again and sends another arrow into the wyvern. This time, he strikes the neck, causing a gurgling hiss as the arrow slides between scales and digs in deep. A part of you feels sorry for the wyvern, it's clearly in so much pain… but it and its rider hurt Sypha, tried to hurt Artemis, would have hurt you. Instead, you spare a bolt of lightning for the pair, dragging out another scream of pain.

You're not sure if it's your spell, the lingering effects of whatever that cavalier's lance had done, or another of Robin's arrows that does it. However, what you do know is that the wyvern's out of the fight now. Its wings fold as it spirals towards the camp, clearly in so much agony that its muscles are seizing up. You wince as it goes down… down… down… below the tent line… and you're nearly knocked off your feet as it crashes!

"Oh, that's gotta sting!" Kelton crows. "Nice one, Ryza, Sir Ector!"

The cavalier takes a jab at one of the Talons as he circles back towards you, sending the man to the ground with a bloody hole in his chest as the other two survivors sprint back towards the relative safety of the tents. That lance is dangerous! "Indeed, boy!" he calls, galloping back towards the two of you, his sharp eyes piercing you. "That girl-"

"Yep, it's Ryza all right!" Kelton calls cheerfully, ignoring how you uncomfortably drift behind him. "Good thing we found her, she kept the rest of the goons busy while her archer friend dealt with big and scaly until you got here! Now if we can just find out where Lady Artemis is, we'll still be able to show that Legerius can protect the people who come to them for help!"

The knight comes to a halt, staring down at you. "Indeed…" he says, studying you for a long moment, especially looking at your still extended wings. You force yourself to glare back at him even as the chill of his lance seems to blow through the air between you. Finally, however, he looks back at the camp. "We shall discuss this later. For now, it is possible the beast is still ali-"
Wyvern Death Save: 6
Another screech of pain and fury echoes from within the camp, causing you to shake your head. "It think it is," you say. "Wyvern's are really tough. We hurt it bad… but it's still alive, and we made it really mad at us! We should get out of here, we have Sypha and Bernard, let's go!"

Turning, you look towards where Mantrae's other men had been fighting, praying they're alright.


Thank the Mother, they seem to be mostly alright. One of the riding men is hugging his side and riding a bit behind the others. He must have gotten hit by something, but he's still up in the saddle and seems alert.

From what you can figure out of their battle plan, they had been using the greater mobility from their horses to keep their distance from the approaching Talons. This in turn forced the mercenaries to keep running forward to try and attack rather than going after Sypha. It seems to have kind of worked, though they were driven much further back then you let your group of Talons advance.

However, you notice something odd. Two of the Talons seem to be fighting each other rather than going after Mantrae's yeomen. With a start, you realize that one of them is wearing a long cloak that you recognize! "It's Belle!" you cry, pointing. "She's trapped with the Talons! We've got to go help her!"

Sir Ector looks over at her. "We need to get Lady Sypha out of here," he says firmly. "The thief-"

"She put herself in a lot of danger for Sypha!" you snap. "She deserves to get out of here too!" Spreading your wings, you lift yourself a foot or two off the ground. "I'm not leaving anyone behind!"

The cavalier starts to open his mouth, only for another voice to cut in. "Go and get her, Sir Ector," Sypha calls from where she and Bernard are sitting on their horse. "If she was part of the rescue, then Ryza's right. She deserves to be safe too."

The man signs, but nods. "If that is your wish, Lady Sypha," he says, glancing at the camp. "The villains seem to have been driven from this field, if nothing else." With that, he turned and started riding towards where Belle and the yeomen were still being pressed hard.

Thankfully, his approach seemed to break the remaining Talons' nerve. Having seen their leader nearly killed and their friends either dead or on the run, the six men start backing up. "Fall back!" the mercenary archer on that side shouts, glaring around at you all even as he sends another arrow towards Mantrae's yeomen. "They're still on our turf; they'll never make it back home!"

The Talons quickly hustle back towards their camp, leaving Belle to scramble towards the yeomen. Distantly, you hear her yelling at them. Something about "flatfoots" and "wring your stupid necks." She does not sound happy at all.

"Later, thief!" Sir Ector calls. "The rest of them are coming, we should leave while we have the opening!"

You hear a snorting from behind you. Turning, you gasp as you see Robin astride a horse, holding out his hand. How had he done that?! "Come, Ryza, we need to go," he says coolly.

You shake your head. "Take Kelton!" you say, spreading your wings. "I can go fast enough on my own." And you can avoid having to ride another horse. That's a major bonus right there.

Robin shakes his head right back. "No, it would be best for you to ride with me," he says. "Besides, your friend has his own way out."

Looking over, you spot two of Mantrae's yeomen galloping over towards you, somehow splitting their attention between warily watching the Talon camp in case any of the mercenaries came back and warily watching you as you hover. On your manakete wings. That they didn't know about. "Oh. Right," you say, gliding over to sit behind Robin. "Are you sure you're okay, Kelton? Claire?"

Your friend gives you a thumbs up. "Yep," he says. "Let's get going!" Claire gives you a strange look, but when Kelton gives her a nudge and a comforting smile she finally nods.

A minute later, everyone you care about is riding away from the Talon camp as fast as their horses can take them. You cling onto Robin with all your might, watching as one of Mantrae's men nocks a flaming arrow and shoots it into the sky. You consider asking what was going on, but whenever you try to open your mouth you remember that you really don't like the way the horse moves under you as it gallops.

At least Sypha's okay, you tell yourself. Sypha's okay, Kelton's okay. It's fine. Everything's fine.

... Mother you hope this horse ride is over soon...

---

Unfortunately, the ride is not over nearly as soon as you'd like it to be, though it did make the trip faster than when you'd walked the path just this morning. The group of you traveled for minutes, away from Glenhaven and towards a small forest that you remember passing through. It's a good place to hide for a little while, you think. Looking around, you see that everyone's still with you, as well as a new friend. Another cloaked man had ridden up to join the group, seeming surprised when he saw Bernard and Sypha riding at the center of the cluster. "How-" he'd started, only to be waved down by Sir Ector.

"Not here," the cavalier had said. You're pretty sure he'd glanced at you and Robin as he'd said it, but since you'd been focused on keeping your dinner down you couldn't be positive.

Finally, the horses all cantered to a halt amidst the trees. Gratefully, you slip off the back of Robin's mount, using your wings to steady your wobbling legs for a moment as you totter away from the big creature. "Still not a fan of this, huh Ryza?" Kelton says as he slides off himself. "Not used to it myself: all we had in Miau were a few donkeys and an ill-tempered old bull." He smiles wryly. "Can't say I saw high-speed horse chases and fights with wyverns in my future before you and Lady Artemis showed up at my door. Many thanks, when I get home I'll have free drinks for life." You smile and start to open your mouth before another voice cuts through the night.

"What the void was that?!"

Your head snaps towards Belle as she almost seems to glide off the horse she'd been riding with one of the yeomen and stomps over to Sir Ector, who narrows his eyes at her.

"Watch your tone-"

"Watch your face!" Belle snaps back. You faintly see a trickle of blood running from a cut on her forehead that she wipes away irritably. "I was promised by the big lady herself that when I got involved in this mess, if it came down to it you all'd work with me! Did you not read the bit of the plan where I would set the distraction fires?! Or did you just assume a lowborn like me was too stupid to carry out my own plan! I had the timing all worked out before you flat-feet mucked it all up!"

Sir Ector glare deepens. "And I thought your role was to get Lady Sypha out away from the releasing of the horses," he says icily. "Clearly, thief, you failed utterly in that effort, as Lady Sypha found herself directly in the path of an enraged wyvern!"

"I was going to!" Belle says. "Until someone screwed up the plan and went in and yanked her out first!" She gestures at you. "And on that note, I get it, don't tell the spy everything, but it's a special kind of messed up to send a child to solve your problems for you! I don't care how good her magic is!"

...Hey, that's just rude.

Sir Ector's glare turns to you and Robin, and you're suddenly reminded that he's still carrying the lance that makes your spine crawl just looking at it. "I assure you, that these ones are in no way associated with us," he says. "Which begs the question what in the spirits' names they're doing-"

"Hey, leave Ryza alone!" Kelton steps in. "I vouch for her: whatever's going on she's just trying to help! And she did! Without her and her friend those Talons and their wyvern would have been all over us before you got there!"

"Had they not dragged Lady Sypha to the battle in the first place-"

"You mean you can't control-"

"Stop it! Everyone stop it!"

Everyone goes quiet as Sypha's shrill, frantic voice cuts through the air. She's still sitting on the horse, being hugged by Bernard. Her eyes are wide as she stares around.

"I'm tired! I'm scared! Bernard's still hurt! Him being on this horse isn't good for him but we can't get off and I just want everyone who came here to help me to Stop! Fighting!" She closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths before continuing in a slightly calmer voice. "Let's just… not fight. Alright? For ten minutes? We're all here, we're all on the same side… please, can we not fight each other?"

Belle, Sir Ector and Kelton give each other hard looks. "If that is your wish, Lady Sypha," Sir Ector says finally, walking over to help her and Bernard dismount.

"Fine," Belle says, though you think you hear a hint of regret in her voice. "Ten minutes."

"Never wanted us to fight each other," Kelton says. "Glad to see you're alright, Lady Sypha."

The girl gives him a weak smile as Sir Ector helps her down. "Thank you," she says, before looking around. "Thank you, all of you. I… I thought I'd never get out of there…"

As everyone starts to settle down, you look around warily. There's a fragile peace in the air: everyone seeming willing to take a few moments to breath and calm down before any conversation about what happens next begins. This is a chance for you to try and figure out more about the players and just what happened at the Talon camp.

What do you do for the ten-minute truce Sypha called?


[] Talk with Robin privately. You remember that your goal is a bit different from the goal everyone else has. The Archduke wants Sypha to come with you to Agrithe. Maybe Robin has an idea for how to make that happen.

[] Talk with Kelton. You still can't believe he's here! You'd thought he'd still be locked up at Castle Legerius! Maybe he can give some insight on what's happening so you can know which loose rocks to avoid in order to prevent an avalanche.

[] Talk with Sypha and Bernard. You did promise to explain to them what was going on. Sypha also seems to be able to convince everyone to stand down if needed, so being on her good side can't be a bad thing. Besides, the girl really looks like she could use a friend right now.

[] Talk to Belle. She does not seem happy that her plan didn't go the way she planned it. It might not be a bad idea to try and calm her down and convince her that you only did what you thought was best to help Sypha.


AN: I said stuff happened. Never said it was bad stuff : P

Seriously, though, apologies to anyone who found the joking tone to be in bad taste. You all did really well with your planning on this mission. Perfect? No, but you did a good job.

The "stuff" was my realizing just how severely I misjudged how dangerous things were going to be. Not that I chose exactly how many Talons were around: those were just those guards who remained nearby and had time to rally between when Mantrae's people arrived at the stable and when the wyvern showed up. But when I rolled nearly the max number of them I was worried that things were about to go badly.

Then I remembered that you have a high-level archer with a silver weapon against a flying enemy. As well as backup with a slayer weapon.

PS: I'll just say it now, Jack's okay. I'm not that mean a QM. Saving him would have meant that, if you ever need to come back to Glenhaven, you'd have friends.