The Renowned Star

Chapter 22: Campfire Birds

The heroes were all sound asleep as King Amedeo slowly came walking by, he searched around the area and then found the campfire still burning. The heroes were sleeping in their tents. King Amedeo thought of something and got two rocks together.

King Amedeo giggled, "Let's see how you can handle the fire birds of campfires..." He put the rocks together and put a spell into the rocks. Then he moved them back and forth. Out from the flames came out five birds. "Perfect..." Just as he was about to leave the heroes were starting to wake up. He used a smoke bomb to get out and the heroes found smoke across them.

Byleth asked, "Did we forget to put the fire out?! Argh, there's so much smok-" Suddenly he noticed the five birds in the air. "What.. the..." The heroes all woke up and noticed the birds in the air as well.

Link asked, "What are those..." Then the birds looked down toward the heroes. Byleth looked at the campfire and realized that the birds were responsible for the sudden disappearance of the campfire. The heroes looked up toward the birds and took out their weapons.

Celica asked, "Are those phoenixes?!"

"Phoenixes are immortal... these came out of the fire. I doubt they are..." Chrom replied. The heroes looked up toward the fire birds and they all screeched. The heroes got themselves ready to attack. The birds swooped in to try to attack the heroes but they moved out of the way.

Byleth ordered, "MAKE SURE YOU'RE CAREFUL TO NOT LET THEM NEAR THE TENTS!" The heroes nodded as they swung their weapons at the birds. However, they were able to dodge the attacks with ease. The birds then tried aiming for the tents but Kirby managed to use the wing ability to blow them away.

Veyle asked, "What are we going to do?! These birds are on fire and it's nearly impossible to attack them!" Celica got the bright idea to start producing hydro attacks to attack the birds. Kirby let go of the wing ability and grabbed a hold of the water ability.

"Looks like some people got solutions but as for the rest..." Byleth muttered. He looked up and saw one of the fire birds soaring down. He ducked and noticed one of the tents was hit by the wing of the bird. However, Kirby dashed by and put the fire out.

Kirby grunted, "We need to put the birds out!"

"Or we can find a spell to help repel them away..." Chrom replied. Kirby looked over in confusion as Chrom put his hands together. Then within seconds, Chrom casted a spell around the area.

Byleth asked, "CHROM?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"DON'T PANIC I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M DOING!" The heroes all stood there in confusion and the past heroes looked over toward where Chrom was casting the spell. He spun around a couple of times before slamming his foot onto the ground. Out from the campfire... was water.

Celica gasped, "That's... incredible!" Chrom then pulled out an umbrella as the water began to pour all over the heroes. Chrom was still soaked regardless of having an umbrella or not, but the birds were all transformed back into stone and wood.

Claude laughed, "That was rather quick, are you-" Chrom then collapsed onto the ground. Claude panicked and went to help Chrom stand up. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah... That took a lot of strength than I thought it did..." Chrom grunted. The heroes nodded as they looked around the entire area that was surrounding them. "Whoops... didn't mean to wet our entire sleeping area."

Sonic laughed, "Good thing we all were awake by the time you casted that spell. But make sure you rest up before it ends up being too late Chrom." Chrom nodded as he took a deep breath. Claude helped him get to their wyvern and Chrom sat in the back while Claude sat in the front. "Okay! Where are we heading now?"

Byleth replied, "Last night, I had a dream about this place called... Lily Dawn. Apparently it is a place close to where the dark fairy kingdom is and it is apparently a safe haven for Erica herself."

"Erica? Ugh..." Chrom groaned.

"What's the matter? Are you not a fan of going?"

"No I am... it's just... I don't really agree with Erica's actions. Not after what I told you guys a while back..." Chrom muttered. The heroes slowly nodded as Byleth got on Shez's horse. The heroes made sure to pack their stuff despite it all being wet.

Kirby asked, "Are we going to Lily Dawn before heading to the kingdom?"

"Yeah, let's go," Byleth sighed. The heroes nodded as they all started to follow behind Byleth. They slowly dried themselves up while exploring the last bit of the dark kingdom. As for Chrom, he felt like something about him was off-putting. He looked down at his gloves and took off the glove on his left hand. Staring down at his demon mark, he took a deep breath and wrapped himself around Claude.

Byleth muttered, "We shouldn't be too far off based on what the map says, but just in case I'll make sure we're on the right track." The heroes nodded as Byleth pulled up the map. Claude looked over toward Chrom and noticed there was a strange blue streak in his hair.

Claude whispered, "Honey, did you happen to accidentally dye your hair?" Chrom looked up and shook his head no. "No? Why is there this... strange blue streak in your hair?" Chrom looked at his hair in confusion as he noticed a light blue streak in his hair.

"I... I don't know what that is..." Chrom muttered. Then they all came to a halt of a sudden.

Claude whispered, "We'll talk about it when we have the chance, okay?" Chrom nodded as they looked over toward what was ahead of them. As for Byleth, he felt... confused, distraught even. "Byleth? Is something wrong?"

Byleth muttered, "Maybe... this safe haven for Erica... it's not so safe anymore." The heroes all took a glance over in confusion as Byleth tried to scan the area to understand what happened. "Whatever it is... this is..."

"Lily Dawn?" Celica asked in shock. Byleth slowly nodded as the heroes skimmed the area in complete silence. It was... silent, cold, and... burned to the ground...