Twisted Tower
Ike paced the ground in front of the tent where Ena was resting. Rhys and Mist had managed to heal her wounds and she was asleep right now. Nasir hadn't left her side for once and again refused to talk.
The entrance to the tent was opened and Nasir beckoned.
"Ike, Ena has woken up. We would like to talk to you – and your sister."
Ike and Mist entered the tent. Ena was sitting on the bed. Ike was unable to tell whether she looked pale, or if that was her usual colour of skin.
"How are you feeling, Ena?", Ike asked.
"A lot better. Thank you." She bowed her head. "I need to apologize for all the trouble I have caused you... everything Nasir did he did for me."
"Ena asked me for help. She needed to get close to King Daein, but that was not easy... I spied on you and passed the information on to Ena, and then I took the medallion... I know I can't make up for what I did, but I still want you to know that I am sorry."
"Why did you want to get close to Ashnard?", Ike asked.
"I cannot tell you", Ena replied. "But I need to go to Melior – please, General Ike, allow me to accompany you."
"Well, since Ashnard wanted to dispose of you, I don't think you want to work for him any longer. I have no objections."
"Thank you. We will of course help you to get there and defeat Ashnard."
"I'm really glad to hear that. But Nasir, I have a question for you: what kind of relationship do you and Ena share?"
"Ena is my only grandchild."
"What?! Impossible! You're way too young."
Nasir laughed while Ena smiled.
"All laguz age more slowly than the beorc do, especially the herons and dragons. You remember Prince Kurthnaga?"
"Yes, he was a nice kid."
"The prince may be the youngest in all of Goldoa, but he is already more than hundred years old."
"One... hundred..."
"You should never estimate a laguz's age by looking at him."
"Well, we live and learn."
"And I'm sorry for running away. But when we reached Crimea, I sensed Ena and I just had to look for her."
"It's alright, Nasir. Don't worry about it."
"Mist? Can you forgive me? I knew how much the medallion meant to you..."
"You must have your reasons, Nasir. And you returned to us. So I'll wait... until you're ready to explain everything. So, don't feel bad, right?"
"Thank you, Mist. You are very kind."
"Thank you", Ena added.
"General Ike killed the Black Knight in single combat. Nados Castle collapsed on top of him and no-one could possibly survive that.
Nasir and his granddaughter Ena have joined our army and Ena revealed the place where Princess Leanne is being held: Gritnea Tower to the south of Melior. Princess Elincia and King Caineghis are going to lead the main army to the outskirts of Melior to prepare for the final battle, while General Ike and King Tibarn will go and rescue Princess Serenes. But Ena has warned us that this battle is not going to be easy – we will have to fight an army made of laguz many times stronger than those we have. Birds, beasts and dragons... This might be our hardest fight."
"So the Black Knight has fallen", Sanaki said. "I'm relieved to hear that."
"Yes, but what Tanith wrote about those laguz bothers me", Maian said quietly. "How can they be stronger than Ena, or King Tibarn? I do not understand."
"Maybe we will find out, if they survive to tell anyone", Lehran said.
"I certainly hope they will!", Sanaki exclaimed. "They have come so far... it would be a cruel fate indeed if they were to fail now."
"Yes, but who ever said that life was fair?", Maian muttered.
"Is something the matter?", Sanaki asked, puzzled by her mother's sudden change of mood.
Maian smiled. "No. I was just thinking aloud. Pay it no heed."
Leanne stared at the wall. There wasn't much else to do. The barred window was too small as to see much of the surroundings and Leanne knew she would never get through it. And the door leading to her room was locked.
She could hear Izuka, her "caretaker", muttering to himself. Although she couldn't speak the Modern Tongue, she was able to understand it.
"For a long time, everything was easy. Give them their medicine and make sure they don't get away. But now this heron girl has arrived and there's a lot of new orders... "Watch out she doesn't escape", "Watch out she doesn't get ill" and "Watch out she doesn't die." Pah. The king should know how hard it is tho keep those birds healthy, he didn't manage to keep his last one alive for long..."
There was the sound of footsteps and another voice spoke.
"Hello there."
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"I'm the guard."
"We don't need any guards inside this tower."
"Master Izuka!"
Someone came running.
"The crimean army is marching on this tower!"
"What?! What could they want here?! We have nothing to do with the war!"
"General Heddwyn's magicians have engaged them for now, but I don't think they'll be able to hold them off for long."
"Release the Feral Ones."
"What?! Those monsters?!"
"Don't worry, I've just given them their medicine. They've been taught not to attack daein soldiers."
"Y-yes! At once!"
The second man hurried away.
"Oh no, the documents!", Izuka wailed. "I must save them from those savages..."
His voice disappeared into the distance.
"See? I told you we needed a guard!", the first man shouted after him. "What a crazy guy... methinks he fell a little far from the nest."
Leanne heard the key being turned in the lock and the next moment a daein soldier stepped into the room. His face was completely hidden under his helmet and he was wearing a long cape. Leanne was relieved to see this was not the man who had captured her.
"Hello, little heron girl. I don't mean you any harm, so just stay calm there, will you?"
Because she could feel he meant it, Leanne did as he said. The man looked around.
"What a rat-hole... That man clearly doesn't know how to treat a princess..."
Then Leanne heard many strange noises. She gave the guard a questioning look.
"The battle's just started. I suggest we seize the opportunity and get ourselves out of here. Come on!"
He seized her wrist and and pulled Leanne out of the room. They hurried down several corridors until they reached a window on the ground floor. They climbed out of it and made a dash for the cover of the trees.
"Well, that should do it for now", the soldier stated.
"Doesn't that armour hinder you?", Leanne asked.
"Actually, yes. I don't understand how the beorc can fight with those on... Wait a minute, I'll just get rid of it."
He quickly opened the buckles of the breastplate and dumped it onto the ground and removed his cape. The clothes he wore underneath were black, but they were too elegant to belong to a mere soldier. The man removed the helmet and spread a pair of wings. Dark eyes, blue hair bound to a ponytail and black wings...
"Well, Leanne, even after all those years I'm still a sight to behold, don't you agree?"
"Naesala!"
Leanne rushed forward to embrace her childhood friend. He laughed and whirled her through the air.
"You knew it was me all the time, didn't you?"
"I did. You came for me! But what do we do now?"
"The plan's to meet up with Nealuchi and some of my men, then we'll wait until Tibarn is finished with those Feral Ones."
"Reyson is with them."
"Yes. I tried to tell him that a battlefield is a dangerous place, but well... he didn't pay attention."
The sound of wings announced Nealuchi and the kilvas soldiers.
"Princess... I'm so glad to see you're save. You look so much like your dear departed mother..."
Nealuchi was so old his hair had turned completely white and when he walked, he needed a staff to support himself.
"Ah, Nealuchi, please wait with the small talk until we are out of danger", Naesala ordered. "I don't want to become a meal for our crazy cousins."
"Then let's move farther into the forest, nestling", Nealuchi suggested.
"Stop calling me that."
Ike and the others had searched every room in the tower, but found no trace of Leanne.
"That is strange", Ena said. "I'm sure they didn't plan to move her."
"Leanne is still nearby, I can sense her", Reyson replied.
"Well, before we run off into the forest to look for her, how about you provide us with some information about those laguz, Ena?", Tibarn asked.
"Very well. As you have noticed, they are much stronger than any of us and we had to team up to defeat them. They are called "Feral Ones". King Ashnard has a researcher named Izuka working for him. Izuka developed a drug that drives laguz mad. They are unable to revert into their human forms and for a short period of time, they become very strong. However, they do nothing but fight and their lifespan is shortened dramatically."
"That's awful!", Ike exclaimed.
"This isn't all... please come this way."
Ena opened a hidden door and started to descend a staircase.
"Wait a minute, what is this smell?!", Ranulf gasped. "Urgh! I can hardly stand it!"
"I don't smell anything", Ike said.
"You're lucky you're a beorc", Ranulf said dryly, covering his nose with his sleeve.
At first Ike had been surprised to see that Ranulf had a blue and a green eye, but by now he had gotten used to that. And Ranulf was a really nice guy, he had never shown any dislike for the beorc.
They followed Ena down the stairs. Since the beorc and the birds were unable to see anything in the gloom, Tibarn brought a torch along.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they stopped dead.
"Oh my - "
"What the hell - "
"Why are there corpses everywhere?!"
"That explains the smell", Ranulf muttered.
"Once they were laguz", Ena said quietly. "Ashnard chooses his generals according to strength and to test their prowess, he lets them fight laguz. In Daein, it is custom to go laguz hunting..."
"That's true", Jill said, bowing her head. "I participated in those hunts."
Haar put a hand on her shoulder.
"My father, General Shiharam, was originally a begnion draco-knight. But he left for Daein before I was born. He raised me as any daein would have raised his daughter... Captain Haar, do you know why he lied to me about the laguz?"
"To protect you", the man with the eye-patch replied. "In Daein, using the word "laguz" is something like a betrayal. We had to forget what we had been taught and accept habits we knew were wrong in order to survive there. That's why your father kept the truth hidden from you. But when we met again I was glad to see that you had found it out for yourself."
"Could we leave, please?", Mist begged.
"Of course", Ena replied. "Let's talk upstairs."
Nasir easily lifted Mist off her feet and dashed up the stairs. The others followed them outside.
"Unbelievable... to abuse the goddess' gift like that!", Reyson exclaimed.
"So to Ashnard laguz are just pawns in his game?", Tibarn growled.
"Exactly. He used me the same way. At first, I worked as an adviser for General Petrine", Ena replied.
"That's the one who chased us into Gallia", Ike remembered. "It took us quite long to get rid of her."
"I could never stand that woman", Haar said darkly. "Treated us like vermin just because we hadn't been born in Daein. It was her fault General Shiharam died."
"When I was made general and appointed the task to defend Nevassa, I wanted to refuse", Ena continued. "I didn't want to fight you, but I had no choice. After the fight, I fled to Crimea but was captured by Petrine's men. Because Petrine fell shortly after that, they didn't know what to do with me. Apparently, Ashnard had ordered Petrine to execute me. I was transferred to Nados Castle and then the Black Knight arrived... you know the rest."
"Well, that's one more reason to make Ashnard's death as painful as possible", Tibarn stated.
The sound of wings made them look up. Several ravens and one heron descended towards them.
"Hello. I believe I have something of yours."
"Leanne!"
Reyson rushed forward to embrace his sister.
"King Kilvas. How nice", Ike said.
He well remembered their last meeting, when Naesala had fought for the daein army.
"Don't get any wrong ideas. I didn't do this out of charity or love for others. It was Tibarn! He forced me into this!", Naesala said.
"I knew it would pay off to let you do the job. As promised, the Serenes-Tanas matter is now completely forgotten."
"I'm glad to hear that."
"Why did you even sell Reyson, and why did you side with Daein?", Ike asked.
"The payment was great. Besides, I wanted to rescue Reyson afterwards, but he got impatient and left on his own, and then you guys came..."
"What do you need money for? You're a king."
"Yes, the ruler of two tiny islands! A great king I am."
"So that's it? You're just as power-hungry as Ashnard."
"Please don't go comparing me to that madman. Besides, I did it for money. Just like you, mercenary."
"With one difference: we know what's right and what's wrong."
"Really, Naesala, you have no right to scold Ike", Reyson interjected.
Leanne said something, giving them all a pleading look.
"What does she want?", Ike asked.
"She wants us to stop fighting", Reyson explained.
"We should be heading back", Tibarn suggested. "The others will want to know how this turned out."
