Rise of the Adrestian Empire

Chapter 2

Teutates front, Kingdom territory. Late 1181

A complete and utter stalemate. Repeated attacks from the kingdom against us were repulsed but we couldn't advance either. Winter had now arrived and the troops were freezing. "I knew Faerghus was cold, but this takes the cake" Dorothea said while hugging herself for warmth due to her not really having any thick clothes to protect her from the cold. "Ferdinand, do we have any thick clothing for Dorothea?" I asked as I turned to Ferdinand who nodded. While Ferdinand went with Dorothea, I walked through the trenches to see how people were coping with this cold. I found myself personally not that affected by it to the same degree as everyone else, as if my body was able to adapt to the cold more than anyone else.

"My lord, do you know when the next assault will come?" a sergeant asked. "I wish I could tell you, sergeant. Sadly, with both us and the kingdom forces being reinforced on this front, it is unlikely that we will be able to break their line easily" I replied. "Do you think we will ever break this stalemate?" he asked. "I hope so. This cold alone is bad enough, good thing we made this trenches before the cold arrived or else we would really struggle" I sighed and continued down the trench. While walking down, I came across a soldier writing something. He was so into it, I dared not disturb him. "He's writing a book, my lord" a soldier beside him said. "Sounds nice. What's the name of the book?" I asked and the soldier stopped writing. "I call it "All Quiet on the Kingdom Front". The front is quiet here after all. Hope I can survive the war so I can write everything and finish it" he said and I smiled. "If the front remain this quiet for long, that might happen" I said.

"Lord Leo, someone has arrived and wishes to speak with you. He is waiting in the main quarters" a messenger suddenly said as he reached us. Leaving the soldiers, I walked to our main quarters which we had dug out earlier in the year. When I entered, I found Ferdinand and Dorothea very distraught and a imperial soldier. "I bring sad news, my lord. A kingdom counterattack has pushed most of our forces back, cutting you off from the main army. We are able to hold the land at the Western Church but we are unable to push them back." he explained.

"How did you managed to reach us?" I asked him. "I got separated from my unit during the fighting and made a run for it to you. Forgive me for stepping out of line, my lord, but it is perhaps the best decision to break through to the main army and regroup" he suggested a bit hesitantly. "You're right, but if we are truly surrounded, that will make the chances of us getting through slim. Not to mention, if the main army cannot advance, then we will have to face the kingdom army on more than one front" I said.

"My Lord, a kingdom army is marching towards us!" a scout said as he entered the quarters. "Great..." I muttered as I followed him out. "Combat formations! Forward, march!" I ordered as I got out and unsheathed my sword. The soldiers assembled above our dugouts to meet the enemy on even ground. When I looked at the kingdom army, I saw Felix, Sylvain and Ingrid leading them. "Imperial soldiers, surrender or die!" Felix shouted from the other side pointing his sword at us. I looked at the soldiers and at Ferdinand and Dorothea. The soldiers looked back at me with determination in their eyes. "Death before Dishonor" I shouted back towards Felix. "You leave us no choice then!" he shouted back and the kingdom army charged at us.

"For the Emperor!" I shouted and we charged at the kingdom army. When the armies clashed, the sounds of swords, spears and axes pierced the battlefield. Losses were high on both sides and during the fighting, I met Felix. "I have been waiting for this" he said and readied his sword. "Likewise. Let us begin" I replied and our swords clashed. We went at each other ignoring the rest of the battle around us. As I expected, Felix had improved and worked to perfect his swordsmanship, but so had I. "Seems you have worked on your sword hand as well" Felix  sneered as he glared at me. "So have you" I replied before our swords clashed once more.

Seeing as there would be no end unless I defeated him, I feinted a mistake, luring him into an opening. Thus, I was able to disarm him and have both my sword and his pointed at him. By now, we were both bleeding from various sword cuts and I had a deep cut under my left eye. By now, I noticed that we were winning the battle, and Sylvain and Ingrid were now coming towards me and Felix. "Come to rescue Felix?" I asked. Sylvain pointed his lance towards me. "Let him go Leo!" he shouted and I just raised my eyebrow. "Did you honestly think I was gonna kill my favorite sparring partner from the academy? War or no war, I don't kill my friends. Take him to your lines and patch him up" I said, handing him over to them. "You fool..." Felix cursed as he struggled to stay awake. "Call me a fool all you want, but I don't outright murder my friends. Now go" I replied and they called a retreat.

After the kingdom army retreated with heavy casualties, we looked to our dead and wounded. After reforming, we broke camp and marched towards our main force, internally praying we would be able to break through the kingdom lines. Unfortunately, we were not so lucky. A kingdom force fell upon us and it became a struggle of survival. Amidst the chaos, we managed to rally most of the remaining force and make a push through the lines. Luckily, it seems we found a empty part of the front line to push through and we were able to escape into the imperial line, while the kingdom force was forced to retreat.

"You three, with me now" I head someone say and when I looked up, I saw it was Hubert. When we entered the main building in the town, a few medics tended to our wounds. "Before, we get into the details, I am relieved to see you all alive despite what has happened. Tell me, what happened up there?" he asked and I slowly got up. "As you know, we were to move around here" I said as I pointed to the Teutates area on the map of Fodlan. "However, we ended up being unable to move further due to a large kingdom attack. This forced us to cease the advance and fortify our position. As you can probably guess, the kingdom attacked us several times but somehow we were able to defend our position. That was until we received news of you being pushed back by the kingdom main army. Deciding to not wait until we were exhausted and utterly destroyed, we concluded to make an attempt to break through the kingdom lines. However, we were attacked by a kingdom force led by Sylvain, Ingrid and Felix. We somehow beat them back but we took heavy losses. The rest, well, you saw that when we were chased. That one took us by surprise" I explained. "The main thing is that you all three are alive and here" Hubert replied.

After leaving the tent, I went to check up on the my soldiers. When I entered the infirmary, I saw many soldiers wounded. I recognized one of them. "How are you feeling?" I asked as I approached him. "Felt better, sir" he replied. He then grabbed a book on the desk beside the bed. "Still writing, I see" I smiled. "Yeah, might as well pass the time" he replied smiling."I'll leave you to it" I said and went to check on the other soldiers. Some were more injured than others but they would live. After leaving the infirmary, I went to Hubert who had prepared a quarter for me.

As I laid down to rest for the night, all I could think about was the war and how this would really affect my search for Byleth. "I will find you one day..." I said before falling asleep.