Dragons' Blood: A Fire Emblem Awakening Novelization

Chapter 16: Echoes

"I don't like it."

Chrom sank his fingers into the pier's wooden railing, staring grimly out at the waters. The looming shapes of the skeletons of warships, smoldering and reeking of ash and burning flesh, littered the Feroxi harbor. Tatters of Ylissean, Feroxi, and Valmese sails alike drifted on the waves.

"You should be proud, Chrom," Flavia elbowed him, leaning against her bloodied waraxe. She wiped at the soot on her cheek with the back of her hand. "For your first encounter with Valmese forces, that was a stunning victory. You and Elysa have truly grown quite adept."

"Yes, but..." Chrom's frown deepened. "If what that general said was true, and this is only the first wave... then I'm not sure how long we could keep this up."

"That's no way to look at things right now," Elysa said, watching her pegasus circle the wreckage over the port, as Daisy looked for any survivors. "Flavia's right, we ought to celebrate the victory for what it was worth. Otherwise the lives of the soldiers we lost today are forfeit." She glanced at the she-khan, and Basilio beside her. "But at the same time, we no longer have a force large or equipped enough to sail to Valm in our current state. And we can't sit around waiting for them to come to us."

"The Valmese fight like dogs," Basilio growled. "Even that old man refused to lay down arms. A good general knows when he's beat, if you ask me..."

"But that's the thing," Elysa said grimly. "This 'Conqueror' has his men so faithful to the cause that they are readily willing to lay their lives down for it. Each of them is but one small piece in Walhart's plan."

Chrom sighed. "I can't believe we're at war over the Emblem again."

"Something tells me there's more to it than a lust for Ylisse's national treasure," Elysa murmured.

"It grants wishes, right?" Basilio folded his arms. "What great emperor wouldn't want that kind of power?"

"It's also tied to the power of the Divine Dragons, of which Valm has two," Elysa said pointedly. Chrom looked at her in surprise.

"You've been reading up on Valmese folklore?

"What?" she chuckled. "You think I've not learned anything sitting around in the library with Lucina these past years?"

"Your Grace, if I may," a soft voice spoke up hesitantly. "While it is true that Mila and Duma are the mother and father of Valm, there are many amongst the Chon'sin who have always worshipped the same dragon-god as Ylisse..."

They turned to face Say'ri as she spoke. She winced slightly at the attention suddenly upon her, but continued, "There is someone who may be able to offer some insight, if not help otherwise. An oracle: we call her the Voice of Naga. Some say that she is the daughter of the Divine Dragon herself."

"This 'Voice,' where would we find her?" Chrom asked.

"That is... the caveat, I'm afraid." Say'ri pressed her lips together, staring past them and into the horizon to the west. "When Walhart's forces invaded our lands, they took control of the Mila Tree, where the Voice resides in a shrine built amongst the highest branches. Cutting us off from our link to Naga only deepened the cracks that the Conqueror had made amongst our people."

"Then if we liberate the Voice, the people will rally around her, no?" Elysa said. The others looked at her in surprise.

"How exactly do you intend to accomplish that?" Basilio asked dryly. "As you just pointed out, we're not quite ready to be mounting our own invasion."

"It doesn't have to be an invasion," Elysa responded, still keeping her eyes on Say'ri. "The brunt of Walhart's army is mobilized right now. How many men would you reckon he has stationed around this Tree of yours?"