Final Fantasy XVI - Thunder's Torrents

Ch. 5 - Adust

When the smoke cleared, it dawned. Erie sat on the side of the road, holding her head in her hands, rocking back and forth, unable to form even one clear thought. All she knew was that she didn't know anything anymore. She was pulled out of her stasis when she heard the sound of a carriage driving down the street. Quickly, she hid herself and Melody in the tall bushes, watching none other than Anabella's carriage as it headed toward Phoenix Gate. The carriage was accompanied by an escort of four soldiers - and they were not soldiers from Rosaria.

Erie recognised them immediately. Her father had taught her everything he knew about the legions of the other kingdoms on Storm and Ash, and Erie had also done some research of her own. Thus she knew that the soldiers who accompanied Anabella came from Sanbreque.

And so Erie realized that Anabella was behind it all. There was no other way it could be. Her carriage was passing through the gate of the destroyed Phoenix Gate. She had betrayed the Duchy. She had betrayed her family. Erie remained in the bushes for a while, trying to collect herself. Whatever Anabella's role in what had happened at Phoenix Gate, she had left Rosalith behind.

Had anyone at all survived the inferno Erie had witnessed last night?

Or had the entire ducal bloodline now been destroyed?

What had happened to Clive?

Were there any shields of Rosaria that had survived the inferno?

Were they killed at this very moment by the treacherous Sanbreque?

What would become of Rosaria?

How quickly would word of what had happened in Phoenix Gate travel its way to Rosaria's enemies?

Rosaria was effectively open to any invasion. And the closest was the Iron Kingdom. Erie had to warn Rosalith, she had to warn her mother, Carmen and Jill. She had to bring word to Rosalith and call the legion to arms. She had to defend Rosaria. These thoughts drove her to finally step out of her hiding place, mount Melody, and take one last look at the destroyed fortress of Phoenix Gate before making her way back, driven by pure adrenaline.

She urged Melody to run as fast as the chocobo could. Melody and Erie had eaten and drunk little and were tired, but that didn't stop Erie from travelling as fast as she could. The green landscape of Rosaria passed her by as the two of them sped along the road to Rosalith. Erie was barely aware of her surroundings.

Halfway there, however, Erie saw figures in armour ahead of her - again, soldiers from Sanbreque. How many of these men had invaded the country last night? Erie could no longer avoid them, because they had seen her on the road already. She was immediately annoyed that she had not taken the cross-country route in her blind eagerness. Instead, 5 men, obviously a scouting party, were now standing in front of her.

"Halt!" shouted the one in front, and Erie brought Melody to a stop. Mentally, she prepared herself for a fight she had no intention of losing. "Identify yourself,'" the soldier in front of her continued. She could still try to talk her way out of it.

"Honorable Knights of Sanbreque, I honor your service to His Radiance," she bowed on her Chocobo, "my name is Melody, I am a servant of the Duchess Anabella and on a scouting mission to secure the onward journey for Her Grace."

Erie knew she was going out on a limb with her lie, making a lot of claims in those few words that could turn out to be false. She was very certain that she had to fight the soldiers.

"Take off your hood, maid, when you speak to us," the troop leader demanded. Erie didn't dare refuse his request, and flipped back the hood of her cloak. The soldiers stared at her, some grinning almost sickeningly. Erie tried hard not to shiver under their hungry gazes. Instead, she raised her shoulders as nobly as she could and gazed down at them.

At that, the commander laughed. "A fine story you've served us up there." Erie's hands moved from the reins to her short sword. "Your esteemed Duchess is looking for you."

She narrowed her eyes, confused at the commander's statement. He continued, "She said to us, 'Find a girl with red hair in Rosalith. You will know her when you see her. A slut with green eyes and an arrogant look.' And now you've run into our arms, so far away from your little castle. We'll take you to your Duchess. What we do with you before that, she left to us."

A cold shiver ran down Erie's spine. Without another word, the commander stormed forwards. Erie jumped off her chocobo, which was decapitated shortly afterwards by a swipe of the sword. She had no time to grieve over the death of her companion, for now the men turned towards her.

Erie drew her sword. The men laughed. Erie couldn't suppress the fear that spread through her stomach. If she didn't kill these men, all of them, they would do worse to her than a quick end by the sword. She could not and would not allow that, she would rather die.

"Don't be ridiculous, girl. Just let it happen and we promise we'll be gentle." They came closer. Erie backed away and, summoning all her remaining mental strength, she forced a grin.

"Fuck you," she replied.

"If that's the way you want it. Leave the swords in their sheaths, men. Her Grace wants the girl alive." The men did as their commander ordered and ran towards Erie to grab her. Following her training and instinct, Erie dodged the first two and brought them each down with a quick swing of her sword.

Now the other three realized that they had underestimated Erie and drew their swords, cursing. She turned towards them and blocked a powerful blow from the front. Shortly after, she dodged a blow from the side, whirled around the man, and pierced the back of his head.

Wild frenzy seized Erie as she realized she could get through this fight alive. She brought the second-to-last man to his knees with a cut to the calf and then slit his throat. This maneuver lasted long enough for the last man to grab Erie by the arm. 

She screamed out and whirled around to face him. He was no longer looking at her arrogantly, but angrily with bared teeth, apparently ready to kill her. Erie gritted her teeth and headbutted the unhelmeted man. She saw stars, but the man let go of her and she managed to thrust her sword into his neck.

Gasping and dizzy, she stood in the carnage she had wreaked, holding her head. Little dots danced in front of her eyes and she kept shaking to see clearly again.

"Hey," a male voice suddenly sounded right behind her. Erie flinched and immediately whirled around, adrenaline still pumping through her veins. A tall figure stood in front of her. Erie struck out half blindly at the man, whom she thought was another Sanbrequois soldier trying to capture her. She heard only the blood rushing in her ears and saw only the blurry figure in front of her, who had raised a sword and was blocking her blow.

She struck again and again and was blocked again and again until he was able to overpower her. The final blow she placed at an angle so that he could grab her wrist and push her aside. The sword slipped from her hand and she fell to the ground.

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What would a story with a FMC be without her being a badass and assassinating some men 😂 Luckily there have always been female fighters and heroines in FF games. However, I would like to try to portray Erie as a bit more nuanced (I'm curious myself if I can manage that haha). In my head, she's not a soldier per se, like certain other female characters in the game who will also make an appearance.