Author's Note: This is the Suikoden fanfic I was supposed to be writing. Well, it's finally finished. Some things you should be aware of:
1. I haven' t beaten the game, so I don't know what the Empire is now called.
2.The main character's name is Alex
3. There is no title.^_^
From the journals of Alex McDohl, First Emperor of the New Empire:
Our first battle. Well do I remember it. All my father's stories couldn't prepare me for the real thing, the clash of steel upon steel, the whistle of arrows flying past, the smell of blood, and the screams of the dying. It was at once horrible and magnificent, strange and yet familiar.
We were the Liberation Army, and this was our first test. We were here to prove that we were something more than just a thorn in the side of the Empire, something that was actually a serious threat something more than just a ragtag band of fighters with a cause.
I was standing on a hilltop, I remember, thinking of my father. What would he say if he saw me here, I wondered. He was one of the Five Generals of the Empire, and I was his son, now fighting against the very cause he represented. What would he think?
Gremio, as loyal as always, came for me. The scarred face I knew so well was lined with worry as he told me that the troops were assembling. What was HE thinking, I wondered. About me, his Young Master? Undoubtedly. Or maybe about Teo, who always had a place in his heart for the blond-haired manservant. Or Pahn, who had just returned.
"Young Master…"I knew what he was going to say before his mouth opened, knew by heart the words of caution that he would surely speak. So I reassured him this time, and I remember the look he gave me.
It was at once one of surprise and admiration. Surely this was not his Alex, the boy he had brought up almost all by himself? Who was this person who actually told him not to be worried? For a moment, I saw a flash of pain cross his fair features, replaced almost at once with a look akin to pride. He hid it all well, though. No one would have thought it was anything except a servant and master talking. Maybe, Odessa was right, I thought at that time, maybe I DO have something others don't.
Then the trumpets sounded, and before I knew it I was leading the charge against the army of Kwanda Rossman the Insurmountable. Victor flanked my side, and he spared me a wicked grin before diving into the fray. Soldiers fell to Gremio's axe, and out of the corner of my eye I saw the flash of Kirinji as Lepant charge. Cleo's Air Sword took down another, and Pahn's claws wreaked his own brand of destruction.
But we were losing. The Imperial forces were just too many. Slowly, we were pushed backwards towards Athalgar, and the blood of the rebels soon mixed with those of the Imperials. Then inexplicably, they stopped, forming a circle around the General.
Foolish boy that I was, I would have ordered a second advance if Mathiu had not alerted Kirkis. Victor held me back. "That Mathiu's a clever one,"he said. The scruffy warrior was soon proved correct.
Arrows rained down from the sky. I had never believed the stories about elves. How could someone shoot SO fast, I had wondered. I saw it with my own eyes, that day, and I then knew why humans never dared enter parts of the Great Forest. Mage after mage was transfixed by those deadly shafts, and we soon had a clear advantage.
As for what happened next, well, I never could never have believed Giovanni had it in him. The thief practically rushed into me with a scrap of paper in his hands. Battle plans, they were, and just written, from the smell of the ink. He was gone when I turned around. A shouted order to Luc, and the battle began anew.
This time, though, a Child of the Rune was with us. Holding aloft the shining Wind Rune, our only mage summoned the air itself to aid us. The enemy's ranks were blown apart by the winds' fury, and a rousing cheer soon went up. I heard an exultant whoop from Pahn, and saw Mathiu hide a smile.
And then we were surging forth once more. More like a force of nature than an army, we swept aside the remnants of the enemy forces like so many fall leaves. Arrows, swords, staves, claws, foe upon foe fell to our assault…
And the rest, as they say, was history.
Zhou Tai An (kain@pacific.net.sg) - Sorcerer, poet, and philosopher
"There is no one simple truth." Rune Walsh
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