#gghero

“Lin! Lin, wake up!” The mule flicked its ears uninterestedly. Though it creaked ominously, Caspar climbed over the wagon and sat on the edge. He looked around for something to throw and found two clumsily packed bags, one overflowing with books and one with a shirt he hadn’t worn in three years poking out. “We’ve been kidnapped!”

With a snort, Linhardt sat up. He yawned, rubbed his eyes and looked around. “Hmm? What are you talking about? No one,” he yawned, “no one’s taken us anywhere.”

“We’re in the middle of the forest! Claude was supposed to attack Fort Merceus today!”

“Can you stop shouting? I’m right here.” 

The mule stopped to chew on a patch of grass that had grown in the middle of the trail. Caspar hopped out of the wagon and stood next to him. “We have to get back, Edelgard’s counting on us.”

Linhardt leaned down and squeezed his shoulder in a punishing grip. There wasn’t a trace of sleepiness on his face. “Edelgard is counting on us to throw our lives away for her conquest.”

“I… Lin? Are you alright? We- We swore an oath to her! Honor says-”

“Go to Gronder Field and ask the dead if honor matters! She’s put me in every single battle. She knows I hate blood. That I don’t want to fight. My magic would have been better healing behind the lines, but she deliberately put me against our classmates as part of a tactic that didn’t even work. I won’t kill for her and I refuse to die for her.”

“I’m sorry, Lin, but I can’t just break my promise.”

“Then you’ll have to go through me first.”

Frustrated tears sprang to Caspar’s eyes. “Why are you being like this? I just want to do the right thing!”

“Is the right thing burning down the world for her dream or is it keeping as many people alive as possible?”

Balling his hands into fists, Caspar struggled for something to say. “I can’t just betray her, Lin.”

“You didn’t. I drugged you, put you in the cart and then I betrayed her.” Since Caspar no longer seemed ready to sprint back the way he’d come, he leaned against the mule’s neck again. “This way, you’re alive to be mad at me.”

All of the blood left Caspar’s face at that comment. There was no conviction in his voice when he said, “But what if we won?”

Before Linhardt could answer, the sky screamed. Both young men turned their faces to the small patch of sky visible through the trees. Javelins of light streaked through the clouds, leaving thin trails of white in their wake. Before they could figure out just what was happening, the ground shook throwing Linhardt off the mule and into Caspar’s arms. It continued shaking for several minutes, like a series of earthquakes.

“Wh-what was that?”