Chapter Text
The snow had finally stopped falling when the squad of Marechaussee Knights arrived at the clearing. A small group of soldiers quickly set up tents and a bonfire, creating the camp that would be considered their base. Looking out, the landscape was frosted white as far as the eye could see. A knight with whitish-blue hair and blue eyes brushed the snow off her boots as she finished setting up another tent.
A tall man before the bonfire, now lit, and turned to face the rest of the soldiers. A serious look on his face combined with a special armband denoted his position as captain of the squad. “Attention!” he shouted, and the knights quickly stood in formation and performed their salute, ending with their fists in front of their chests. The captain paced in front of them, studying each of their stoic faces.
“Knight Furina,” he called, stopping in front of the young woman with blue eyes. He pointed to her feet, which were pointed outwards as if she were about to perform a ballet dance. “Fix it,” he ordered, and Furina hastened to correct her stance.
“Knight Janie,” he said to the girl next to her. Her short, auburn curls were tousled by the wind. “Remind us all of our mission.” He was testing her.
“Yes, Captain Cesare!” Janie’s nervousness peeked through her voice. Furina was glad it was not her that he had called upon. “Our mission is to search the area for the missing hunters from the village, and the village chief said that there were exactly three hunters missing. They left the village a week ago and still haven’t come back. blizzardAlso, we must assist in evacuating any other civilians we come across. The storm watchers have predicted a blizzard to come through the mountains in four days time, so we must complete this mission before then.”
“Very good.” Captain Cesare paced and stopped a few feet away, examining each knight with a hawk-like glare. “Since our squad consists of only nine people, you will each be assigned a meka to assist you in your search,” he declared, gesturing to the nine mekas lined up beside them. “You all know very well how dangerous these mountains can be. Though you all are new knights to the order, this task is of no less importance. The people of Fontaine are counting on you to succeed. Any questions before we dismiss?”
A knight behind Furina raised his hand. She couldn’t quite recall his name. “Yes, Knight James?”
“What if we encounter the dragon?”
“The dragon?” Captain Cesare looked skeptical. Almost a millennia ago, the dragon sovereigns ruled the lands with an iron fist before the seven kingdoms even formed. It was only after the Archon War that the seven kingdoms emerged, usurping the dragon sovereigns from their throne. It was said that the dragons harbored a deep hatred for humans since then. The village chief, a short old woman with white hair whom the villagers called Mother Adelinde, had told them that a dragon flew over the village the week before, spooking the villagers. That was what the hunters had targeted, fearing that the dragon must be a danger to the village. She had begged them not to go, but they wouldn’t listen. Furina could still hear the wails of a woman from the village called Madame Yvette as they were told of the situation.
“My dear son Christophe has gone with them! Curse that foolish Pierre, I should have never allowed him to start going on those hunting parties of his, in the dead of winter no less!” Her brown topknot shook with rage as she pleaded with the knights, “Please make sure Christophe gets home safe and sound!”
“Dragons haven’t been spotted for centuries,” Captain Cesare dismissed the present concern. “Even if they did see one, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll come across one in our search.”
“And if we do, Captain Cesare?” the knight asked again.
“If you do…you all know how dangerous they are.” Captain Cesare’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Whatever you do, don’t hesitate.” Furina felt a chill course through her spine.
“No more questions? Dismissed!”
“Just my luck,” Furina cursed under her breath. Not even a few kilometers out from camp, the clockwork meka was already struggling in the snow. Despite its’ canine form, it wasn’t as nimble as a real dog.
“C’mon now,” she whacked the meka on its side, urging it to go on since she didn’t have any mechanical abilities to help it otherwise.
“Rebooting,” the monotonous voice came from the meka’s voice box. Furina let out a sigh, condensation coming from her mouth. She shivered in her dark blue cloak. They had been told to travel lightly, so besides her backpack, she wore only light chainmail armor with her sword attached at her belt. She took out her map from her pack to study as she waited for the meka to finish whatever it was doing.
The northern mountains were a treacherous thing to behold, only shadowed by the Dragonspine region in a neighboring kingdom, though the danger was still very present. Long ago, a group of mages was said to have inhabited much of the area, for the mountains were legendary for their enchanted areas, even making it difficult to map. There were folktales that said the terrain had a penchant for changing whenever it felt like it, but those have mostly been disproven. The mountains were no less dangerous for it; woods led to lakes to fjords to gravel as quick as a drop of a hat. If not prepared, one could easily get lost. Coupled with the threat of Abyssal monsters attracted to the elemental energy of the area, as well as the frigid winter temperatures, it was not a safe place for any civilian.
“Movement detected,” the meka suddenly declared, startling Furina. “Moving northeast,” and it took off at what would have been a fast pace, had it not been for the snow nearly half its height in its way. Furina pocketed her map and followed it closely.
It turns out the movement was just a band of hilichurls emerging from a cave. Seeing as they were outnumbered, Furina decided to just quietly avoid them as best as she could, dragging along the meka with her. As they set off in another direction, they soon came to a clearing amidst the trees. At first, Furina thought she had come upon an enchanted illusion of the forest. When she saw the trails of condensation curling from the beast’s nostrils, she suddenly realized that it was very real. Before her stood a dragon, a beast of legend. It stood several meters above her own head, and its body took up more than half the clearing. Long and sharp were its claws, glittering like icicles, and scales a blue so pale it was almost white adorned its body. Huge wings spread out like a fan over the clearing.
It would have been a picture perfect image, worthy of being an illustration in a tome of legends, had it not been for the gash running through the scales on its back and side, revealing bright red blood.
Furina stood in awe of the creature before her, and it wasn’t until she locked onto its eyes, a pale and stunning violet hue, that she survival instincts reminded her that she should be very, very afraid.
“Creature detected: dragon,” droned the meka. “Danger level: high.”
The dragon growled at the sight of them.
“Initiating self-defense sequence sequence: time bomb. 3…”
Furina looked in horror at the meka. The dragon was undeniably intimidating and just the sight of a creature so enormous made her legs go weak, but it certainly didn’t deserve to be harmed for nothing, especially when it was already injured. It seemed the dragon sensed the meka didn’t mean well, for, out of the corner of Furina’s vision, she could see it attempt to turn around and flee into the woods.
“2…” the meka announced. Not wanting the dragon to be hurt, Furina pushed the meka away so as it said “1…”, the time bomb fired into the closest tree trunk rather than at the dragon’s back. Furina turned to look back at the dragon, but as she did, the bomb exploded on the tree, sending a cascade of snow over her and the meka.
“Oh!” Furina exclaimed as her head resurfaced from the pile of snow. She looked around for the dragon, but now it was nowhere to be found, save for the large footprints left in its wake.
She sighed and quickly dug out the meka. “You will not be reporting this sighting to Captain Cesare, understand?”
Silence. And then, “Rebooting.”
Furina sighed. It would be a difficult few days ahead, it seemed.
Furina got back to camp well after the sun had set, thanks to the meka rebooting seven more times throughout the day. She would have carried it back to camp if the journey hadn’t left her so exhausted already.
“Knight Furina!” Captain Cesare called out. “You’re late. Be back at the camp by sundown or you might as well camp out in the cold.”
“Apologies Captain!” A few of her fellow knights turned to look at her late entrance, but with a scathing look from Captain Cesare they quickly turned their attention back to their assigned camp tasks. She approached him and saluted.
“Your report?” he asked, waiting.
“Yes, sir. No survivors nor civilians spotted. Nothing of interest to report,” she claimed, attempting a stoic face. Her stomach churned as he turned his attention to the meka.
“Nothing of interest to report,” the mechanical voice said. Furina’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
Captain Cesare studied the meka and Furina. “Good work then,” he said dispassionately, and turned on his heel. “Alright knights, tomorrow we search again at first light! We have three days left!” He began to bark more orders to the rest of the knights.
Furina relaxed, stretching her neck. She moved closer to the bonfire in the center of the camp to warm up a little. Her mind wandered back to the dragon. She wasn’t really sure why she lied about it, especially to her captain. She guessed that she just didn’t want to see it be hurt. What was it doing there? Were these woods really home to dragons? They haven’t been spotted in centuries, and even so, most people brushed off dragon sightings as daydream or fantasy. And what, or who, caused the wound on its back? She felt desperate to know more, but she wondered if she would even get the chance to see it again. She decided to brush it off and get to work on her camp chores.