Hello, Goodbye

Saving Derdriu

"Mommy I'm scared." I held my little girl close to my chest as I carried her onto the boat of people. I sat her down and she still clung to me. "Lillie sweetie, I know but you'll be safe with these people. You've gotta let mommy go so I can go help the people who need me okay?" She reluctantly stepped back from me and sat on a bench on the side of the top deck. I gave her a quick kiss on the nose before walking back to the harbor. Claude smiled at me softly as I approached. "She's gonna be safe. Won't she Claude?" He nodded and turned to Judith. "Of course she will." A woman soldier approached us. "The citizens of Derdriu have all been evacuated and are now at sea! Are you sure about this? If Derdriu were to fall, those ships don't have enough resources for..." Claude quickly interrupted the woman. "Derdriu won't fall. Have some faith in me, will you?" The woman looked surprised. "Oh! Yes, sir!"

Another soldier ran up to us. "Our line of defense has been broken! The Imperial army will be here any moment!" Claude nodded to the man. "Understood. You two join up with the troops in the city." The two of them saluted Claude and then ran to their stations. Claude then turned to us. "Judith, Thalia, Nader, are you ready?" Nader and I nodded in earnest and Judith replied. "As ready as I'll ever be. It's been years since I last battled in the city streets." Claude then got sassy. "Don't go messing up because your vision had weakened with age. Take the defensive for now." I smacked Claude on the shoulder and he looked at me confused. "There's just some things you don't say to a woman. That's one of them." Judith laughed at our little bicker. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. You hang in there, too, boy. Your wounds from Grondor Field haven't fully healed yet, have they?"

Claude threw his hands up in the air and shook his head. "No, but it's not like I can sit this one out. I have to make my  daring escape, after all." Now it was my turn to be confused. "And for the last time, stop calling me "boy"! That's an official order from the leader of the Alliance." I still couldn't stop thinking about what he just said. What daring escape? "Understood, Leader Man. I wonder if our little ray of hope will show up... We fought on opposite sides at Grondor, didn't we?" I knew Judith was referring to Dimitri. Anxiety started to flood my veins, as I looked to the boats that were out to sea. "They'll come. You can count on it. If anyone can bring him back, it's Teach. Teach will talk,  and he'll listen. But more than anything, I've seen their skill and their abilities... I believe in them."

"Claude! Reinforcements are coming from the west! Their banner is that of the Kingdom..." Claude smiled almost like we had already won! "What did I tell you? They're here. And just in time. Let's win this guys!" We separated and us Almyrans took our positions in the vacant city houses. We also each had head coverings so nobody would know who we was. We decided this was the best course of action for a sneak attack. My position was relatively close to the city entrance. Just as we positioned ourselves the Imperial army moved in. "The leader of the Alliance had managed to escape to the harbor, has he? Those rats resist in vain..." that man's voice sounded deep and menacing. I didn't like it at all. "Your Excellency! There's an army closing in on us from the outside. The banners...are those of House Blaiddyd." Hearing that name caused my heart to flutter with an emotion I couldn't quite define. "Hey, you're late! Hurry up and help!"

I took slow deep breaths as to control my heart from beating out of my chest. I heard footsteps and blades clashing. Screams one after the other. Metal against flesh. Yet I did not panic, nor did I worry. I slowly made my way to a window and lifted the curtain to the side. I was immediately flooded with familiar faces. Felix, Sylvain, Ingrid and then I saw him. Dimitri... His hair had grown to his shoulders and his armor made him look bigger. His blue cape moved gracefully around him as he fought. It was almost beautiful. I pinched myself to snap out of it. "Hey, where did that green smoke come from.?" My eyes widened in panic. 'Green smoke. Nader it's too soon!!' I grabbed the Silence Glaive and stood on the wrong side of the door.