Fire Emblem: Children of Light

Chapter 15: Arcelia

  The sun hung high now in the gray mountain sky, no longer obscured by torrential snow. A faint draft lingered in the outpost building, its chilly nip jostling Maude awake. She yawns and rubs her eyes before looking around the room. Upon realizing that it was quite late in the morning, she jumps up and awakens the others as well.

  "It's nearly noon!" She exclaims. "Everyone, get up! We've got places to be!"

  The group groggily pack their belongings and step back into the snowy mountain scape. Maude sighs.

  "At this rate it'll be after dark whenever we reach the walls.."
  "Perfect." Alda smiles. "That'll allow us to sneak in unseen."
  "Perhaps, though I imagine the ramparts will be teeming with Sieghild's soldiers... There's no sense in worrying about that now however, we need to get moving."

  The group, now with Alda, Casey, and Anselm in tow, continue to persevere through the unforgiving mountains of northern Sanasa. After grueling hours of trudging through the snow and slush, they reach the base of a towering stone wall. The wall stretched high into the heavens and looked to be nearly a mile or so thick. Like Maude had predicted, it was indeed dark, and the wall's pitch black stones blended in with the hazy night sky. Blotted out by heavy snow clouds, there wasn't a single star shining above them--they were ebony shadows in the dark of the night.

  "The capital is just beyond that wall, correct?" Aurelio asked, his voice hushed.
  "Why are you whispering?" Alda asks. "The enemy hasn't spotted us yet."
  "Let's keep it that way." Maude sighs. "And yes, beyond it is the heart of our enemy's camp. Are you all ready?"
  "As I'll ever be." Casey says with a lax chuckle. "I haven't been in a good fight since... Anyways, just how are we supposed to get inside?"
  "Indeed, we sit at the foot of quite the fortification." Ian sighs. "It's not like we have any rope to climb it."
  "Climbing a wall like that would be tiring and impractical." Maude says. "Come, I have a better idea."

  Leading the group, the group sneaks along the edge of the wall until Maude stops them. They'd reached a sheer drop--below them set a jet black sea, jagged rocks sharp as knifes jutting out from its languid, ice cold water. The sight surprised Aurelio; he had never seen the sight of an ocean so different from the one at home. Had they really come so far north they'd reached the other edge of the continent?

  The wall around the capital was in the shape of a square, and the group stood at one of its corners. If they kept going straight they would've plunged into the ocean below, but in turning the corner Maude gestures to an old, rusted set of metal scaffolding. The scaffolding led down to the water below, where a small dock could be seen.

  "What's all this for?" Callista asks.
  "The fishermen have to get down to the sea somehow." Maude says as she grabs her sword.

  Standing atop the scaffolding were two guards, both under the influence of the curse. They stood watching, unmoving, guarding the only visible door on the entire wall. Maude goes to step forward, but is stopped by Alda.

  "Allow me." She says. "If you go in there like that you'll cause a ruckus. This requires a touch of stealth."

  Alda grabs her knife, the Ignella, and slides into a shadow cast by a small pile of crates laying atop the scaffolding. Completely invisible to the untrained eye, Alda sat in the shadow for a moment before leaping into the air. Without a sound she lands behind the first guard and slits his throat, the spurting wound immediately dried by the hellish flames that danced on the blade's tip. Before the second guard could react, before he could even utter a sound, Alda had rushed over and killed him just as quickly. She sheathes her dagger and kicks the bodies over the edge of the scaffolding, watching with a smile as they plunged into the icy water with a quiet splash.