Prince Nayoko of Hoshido

The first day I woke up as a general, Kaze informed me that the Nohrians had landed.

Ryoma grimly repeated the news at breakfast...and then the rest of the week turned into such a blur that, looking back, I could only ever pick the slightest fragments from it. The fear and tension that hung over war council meetings; the sea of gaunt, pale faces staring back at me when I met my new battalion; the cold feel of Yato gripped in my hands when I trained until late at night. The brush of Semyaza's hair against my cheek in my dreams; and the sight of Kass, dead on the battlefield, during my nightmares.

Time slid by as if I was slipping in and out of consciousness, and I only came to my senses on the day I was woken up by the battle alarm.

Jakob appeared while I was dragging myself out of bed, and he helped me into my armour in a routine that was so familiar, it was chilling. I hadn't been called to arms first thing in the morning since I'd been a captain in Nohr, when Hoshidans or rebels had sometimes tried to take us by surprise at dawn. Now it was the Nohrians who were coming, and Jakob and I who stood with those who fought against them.

My first battle as a Hoshidan had been hard, and I imagined it had been the same for Jakob. This morning, I felt as if we were on the brink of something equally monumental. For the first time since this war had begun, Nohr was in Hoshidan territory. What happened in the coming battle would begin to set our fates -- and could well set the fates of our old allies, too.

Once I was suited up, Jakob handed Yato to me. When my hand closed around the sheathed blade, he did not remove his. He understood what we were about to face as well as I did.

I laid a hand on his shoulder. "We'll keep everyone we love safe. I promise."

"Yes, my lord." He released my sword, but he did not meet my eyes.

I thought of Kass again, lying dead in my dreams, and wondered once more who had killed her there. Had she really met her end by my own blade?

Jakob picked his helmet up and strode to the door, holding it open for me. Echoes of the battle gong and raised voices as soldiers found their platoons filtered into the room, and where I might have once felt adrenaline, I felt only weary resignation. I knew then that it had been the soundtrack of my life for too long.

She was lying among men I didn't know and couldn't name, her throat cut and her eyes empty.

"Who do you fear for the most?" I stopped beside Jakob, my voice low. "Who is it you find hardest to face?"

I thought he would say Kass, because he had never been closely associated with any other member of the royal family. But he dipped his head and murmured, "Flora, my lord. I wish she still stood at our sides."

Flora? I supposed they had worked closely together for a very long time, although I'd never seen anything between the two that suggested comradeship. She had been quiet and surly towards everyone for as long as I could remember. Yet, looking at the anguish in Jakob's face, I suddenly wondered what she might have been like when the lord she hated had not been around.

"She stands at Kass' side now," I said gruffly. "And they will protect each other."

Then I went to raise my blade against them.

***

My battle station was at the top of Fort Jinya with Ryoma, all three of my retainers, and some messengers. Takumi was at the outer walls with the archers, ready to rain arrows down on the Nohrians as they drew nearer. Sakura and a group of healers were on standby with him. Meanwhile, Hinoka and the sky knights were waiting just within the walls of the fort -- the plan was for them to spring up and take the Nohrians by surprise.

I didn't like being on the sidelines, but until we had a better idea of how the battle would go, it was the best option. We would need to think carefully about where we would deploy the infantry, and in what numbers.

From here, we could see the Nohrian army's advance, coming from the south but circling around to the north so that they would approach our entrance. I thought I could just about make out which of the little soldiers were my family. Xander beside King Garon, Kass beside him...Leo further along the front line, and Elise bobbing in and out of view at the rear.

Their wyvern riders rode above them, led by Camilla. They were taking a risk by flying so close when archers clearly lined the ramparts. Were they being recklessly confident? Or did they have some other kind of plan?

I pointed it out to Ryoma, who nodded but remained silent on the matter. Then I looked to Semyaza, but she was observing it all with too much concentration to sense my gaze.

The Nohrians rode within firing range of our archers, and Takumi gave the command.

Arrows rained down upon them, thick streaks falling out of the sky that were too fast to miss. Many soldiers did not get their shields up in time, and screams echoed across the front lines like a chilling warhorn. Those who did not fall released a roar and charged at the gates.

The remaining wyvern riders rose higher, level with the archers, just as Hinoka and the sky knights sprung up. The wyvern riders were taken by surprise and forced to engage, and the archers on the walls took aim again. I searched for Camilla and held my breath, praying she wouldn't get hit.

Because I was watching so closely, I was the first to notice her and a handful of others decimate their opponents and dive down towards the archers.

No! We were supposed to stop them all before that could happen!

I watched Camilla slay one archer, then two. The wyvern riders who'd escaped with her followed suit.

"Ryoma, some of the wyvern riders have broken away!" I said. "Can they mean to kill all our archers and open the gates?"

There was a long silence.

The wyvern riders who were still engaged with the sky knights were gaining the upper hand. Pegasi were gentle creatures, but wyverns were not. They struck the pegasi with their claws or ripped wings with their teeth. As more sky knights fell or retreated, more wyvern riders joined those who were attacking the archers.

"Yes." Ryoma sighed. "Send reinforcements to the outer walls immediately!"

One of the messengers scampered off.

"Even with reinforcements, their advance into the fort may be inevitable," Ryoma said. "It's time for us to battle."

***

By the time I was in position with my battalion, the gates to the fort had been hijacked. As the wyvern riders opened them, I scanned the outer wall for archers, but there was no sign of a single one. I hoped that meant Takumi and his soldiers had escaped, and not that they'd all been slain.

Then the gate rose higher and the Nohrian army surged in, and I hoped only for myself.

King Garon was leading the charge, Iago alongside him. Xander was positioned further away now, but he was still flanked by Kass. Galloping towards us on her great warhorse, she looked different to the sister I'd once known. The sword she brandished was bloodied, and the ferocity in her voice as she yelled struck a little fear into my heart.

Their front line crashed into ours, and Kass came straight for me. Our roles had been reversed. It was she who wished to fight this time, and I who wished to avoid it.

She swung her sword down at me. I blocked, straining against her blade. She had the height advantage, and while I could have transformed into a dragon, I knew it would be too easy. Just one misjudged strike from my claws could kill her. That wasn't what I wanted.

There was a hard glint in her eyes that reminded me of steel -- something had crushed the arrogant innocence I'd once seen there. She swung her sword again with frightening fury, and our blades crashed together. Was she punishing me, perhaps, for attacking her at the Sevenfold Sanctuary?

We said nothing as we struggled against each other. I didn't know what I had left to say.

After all, an apology would have warned her.

She changed tracks and swung her sword around from the right, towards my hip. I dived to the left, thrusting as I fell. My blade caught Zodiac across the chest.

He screamed and reared, his eyes rolling. Kass stayed on, but making her fall hadn't been my aim. Momentarily blinding her had. As Zodiac put his front hooves on the floor again, I struck Kass. My blade caught the underside of her sword arm and cut a long groove down her flank.

She cried out, her hand spasming open and releasing her sword. My blade bounced off her breastplate, and she tumbled from Zodiac.

Xander and Ryoma had been drawn away, lost between the crowd of soldiers. There was no one to stop me now.

Kass struggled to sit up. As I stepped forward and raised my sword, she lifted her hands over her head. "Norton, please!"

I swung.

The pommel crashed into her forehead. She fell back, her eyes closed.

"I'm sorry, Kass." I knelt down and gently scooped her into my arms. "I couldn't stand it anymore."

Zodiac turned and bolted into the Nohrian ranks, raising a little hell as he went. It was a much-needed distraction, because our vanguard was falling apart.

I spotted Ryoma and Xander fighting some way ahead; saw that Xander had the upper hand. I didn't know which brother I'd rather see win -- I didn't want either of them to be slaughtered.

But Ryoma drew back, shaking his head. I couldn't hear the order he was shouting at first until it carried across the crowd, all of our front line repeating it. "Retreat! Retreat!"

No! Not another loss!

Our army pulled back, and I was forced to go with them. We had an escape route at the rear of the fort -- I just wished that we didn't have to use it.

We fled, the Nohrian army in hot pursuit. I found Ryoma in the chaos. He was trying to travel from what was now our rearguard to our new vanguard, but he almost stopped completely when he saw who I was carrying. "Kaiya?"

"I wish she'd come by choice," I said. "But we have her now."

"This is, at least, one small victory."

"Ryoma!" Takumi pushed through the crowd, gripping Sakura's hand so that he wouldn't lose her. Above us, the sky knights and Hinoka flew.

Relief washed over me. We were all safe.

And so was Kass.