A Dark Dance (A Fire Emblem Awakening Story)

Chapter 10: Dark Flames

???'s POV

The flower floats on a sea of fire
Struggling, hanging on by a wire.
Slowly, it fades
And returns to grey.
Smoke rises, the sun sets.
Caught in dark's net.

Third-person POV

A group trudged through the forest.  They tried to move as stealthily and quickly as possible.  There was sound, of course, from the dead leaves left over from autumn, even through it was early spring.  But, the sounds of the battle drowned out all noise.  The birds, the leaves, all normal sounds were gone and replaced with metal meeting and screams.

Silently, they climbed the hill.  When the group of five reached the top, they saw a girl.  The leader, Frederick, told the rest of them to stop.  He watched her, trying to decide if she was really the mastermind behind the Risen. 

Crack! Someone in the back shifted their weight and snapped a stick.  The girl turned around and the group scattered. She walked toward the sound. She was positive someone was there, for Arcthunder was ready and sparking, but she found no one.  Lon'qu, thinking quickly, grabbed her, though he could not get a good grip on her.  The rest of the group surrounded her.  All of a sudden, the girl squeezed through Lon'qu's arms and spun around, letting her hood fall and her short wavy black hair fly in the wind. 

Arcthunder was at its max.  Alex raised her arm and shot the bolt.  Instead of hitting her Uncle, the one who grabbed her, Frederick jumped in front of him and guarded his liege.  His chestplate shattered, and he was left with a waterfall of red.  He fell and one of the other men caught him before he hit the ground.  Nevertheless, he died a few seconds later, with a pool of blood around him.

A man tried to attack Alex in vengeance of Frederick, but Alex drew her sword and blocked his blow.  He was pressing down on her, and soon her strength would fail her.  She ducked, then, and dodged to the side.  The man fell forward; his strength and weight were now a weakness.  Alex charged Arcthunder and was about to kill him when the other idle guy came up behind her.  He kicked her to ground and stood over her.  His axe was to her neck.  She whimpered, and he relaxed a little.  He thought he had caught his prey.  He smirked, and Alex returned the same expression except she wiped his off his face with a blast from Arcthunder.  It hit him straight on the nose.  His brain was fried.

The man that fell forward grabbed her arms and knocked her weapons out of her hands.  He, then, stabbed her leg and stood up.  She couldn't  move her leg for the time being.  Just as he raised his sword to kill her, Lon'qu ordered, "Stop!"  The man stepped back and Lon'qu walked over to Alex and stared at her.  She tried to get up, but her leg failed.  She fell back down and grabbed her leg, red and bloody.  She watched as a lone tear rolled down her uncle's face.  "Is it really you?" He whispered.  She laid there in silence.  More tears started to flow.  "Is it really you, Alex?!"  The two other men gasped.  How could she be the Exalt's little sister?  Again, silence but this time with a smile.  A demonic smile. 

"So, it is true.  How could you betray us?  We're family.  I'm taking you back to Lucina.  Our orders were to kill, but if Lucina found out, I don't think she could live with herself."  Lon'qu picked Alex up off the ground.  It seemed like he was picking up a feather.  Alex struggled, but Lon'qu wouldn't let go. In a last resort, she summoned her magic powers that didn't need a tome.  Powers bestowed upon her by the darkness. "Tenebris orientem!" She cried. Then, a dark wave covered from their knees down. Darkness rose like a pillar and surrounded Alex. The darkness faded and Alex was gone. The three men that were still alive fell backwards and fainted.