The Hurt Reality (Fire Emblem: Awakening Story)

This Is Family

Maelys's POV.

The struggle went on for hours.

Well, att least that's what it felt like.

Even with discovering that Risen's hearts were as weak as human ones - it still took time to get that spot open and lodge a spell or sword strong enough to pierce the rubbery skin straight through the artery.

Validar wasn't taking chances.He'd created almost the perfect weapon against us. But he forgot that no matter how strong, how overpowering... They were nothing without intelligence. Their disorderly actions with no brain to think with would be their downfall.

They were like wild hogs. Causing destruction, uprooting and attacking anything that moved.

And wild hogs could still be stopped by even a rabbit who's brain was well developed compared to the destructive creatures.

At least my weaker thunder magic was getting the job done, though there was a nagging fear that the tome would break soon and I'd be left using my short Levin sword, and Gods know I wasn't strong enough to break through their tough hide and then pull it back out quickly to protect myself.

Even I had my limits.

But.. Somehow we managed, and soon enough most of the Risen had been taken down and I saw this as my chance to take note of any damages and losses we took.. This was the worst part of any battle. Having to find out your allies had been gravely wounded or dead.

With a fight this large and surprising there was bound to be some significant damage.

My first overlook was to the camp, I peer in the direction of how close our main courtyard was, where the Mess hall was; the medical tents, the meeting facility, and the sleeping quarters. The damage there seemed minor from where I stood. I did take note of light smoke rising from multiple locations and prayed that it was only from the various campfires.

I had to admit, we did a good job of protecting the main area of our base.

Our outer walls, or rather defense, since we didn't have walls to begin with found itself in shambles though. Three carriages were torn, broken down, we'd be forced to carry more on our backs now, the armory tent had collapsed and the contents of the inside were scattered amongst the torn canvas. I'm sure that's where some of the Risen got their weapons from.

Our entrance was completely uprooted, the Ylissean flags fallen down to the ground and trampled, horses that had been previously tied to trees to avoid them running off were now gone.

We could deal with this though, what I was afraid of was the actual loss of human life. That, I'm afraid would be a deciding factor if we continue our pursuit of my father. If we didn't have enough troops, we'd be overpowered and even my skills as a tactician wouldn't be able to save us.

I braced myself and began assessed the battlefield, looking for the signs of humans laid on the ground amongst the dead Risen. Search for life, any life. Destroy it if it's the enemy and save it if it's an ally.

Small scrabbles were still in place, but were quickly being put out by teamwork, I could tell that many of our men have retreated back to our main campground, and the shouts of victory and instruction were around. I just didn't paid any heed, I was on a mission.

I did notice, however, that Libra and a couple of other healers roamed around, doing the same as I. They seemed distressed, which sent of a warning trigger in my mind that someone important was missing. I took it as I needed to speak to them, find out what they know.