The Other Side/Rise Of The Crow

"Is everyone here?" I ask as I look out into the huge crowd of Frodians that are on the hill.

"Everyone in Silver Fang is here and accounted for!" Elce confirms as she looks really eager to let loose.

"All of the nobles are here and ready to infiltrate!" Urmac verifies as the nobles start hiding their weapons under their clothing.

"It's almost midnight you all should head in right now!" I command as Urmac nods at me.

"Alright everyone! We're heading out!" Urmac orders as all of the nobles jump down the hill and walk towards the Hawks enormous hideout.

Out of nowhere, Elce, Rena, and Feno approach us.

"It takes a special type of person to convince me to do something like this! For a young boy not of this world you've got a lot of wits about you Crow." Elce commends her voice full of intrigue.

"I'm nothing special, I couldn't have thought of this plan without my friends." I reply earnestly.

"And you're humble too. You have the makings of a good leader, you need to learn to be more confident in yourself! I'm positive in a couple of years all of the Elite Guilds will be bidding for you! Kira Jane better look out for you when that happens." Elce states.

"You know my Master?" I ask as she laughs.

"Hmph, she and I used to spar all the time back in the day. She was the only person I never managed to beat, fast little Scav! I never imagined she would become an instructor considering how she used to hate children but things can change." Elce discloses as she's clearly reminiscing about her younger days.

"So how long have you been a demiwolf Feno? I never imagined you to be the ferocious type." Layla jokes.

"About a year now, Silver Fang is the only reason I've been able to survive this long without my family. I decided to attend the Academy to hopefully pay off my sisters' debt one day but Silver Fang offered me another alternative. I didn't agree with everything we did but at the very least they understood me." Feno shares his voice full of vulnerability.

"I understand. Just please try to be careful, your sisters need you!" Layla cautions as she lightly grabs Feno's shoulders.

"Don't worry, as long as I have all of you with me I can't fail!" Feno reassures his voice full of confidence.

"Hey, Crow! Before we go, can I talk to you for a bit?" Rena asks as I follow her away from the large crowd.

"What's up?" I ask as she looks really embarrassed.

"I'm sorry for everything that's happened, we caused a lot of trouble for you and now here you are cleaning up our mess too. I'm a little sad that all of the leaders are going to serve time but I know it's for the greater good." Rena apologizes her eyes full of pain and sorrow.

"It's no need to apologize, I promised Mother Adora that I'd do my best to save this land and its people. Honestly, there are a lot of days where I feel like someone else would've been better suited to handle the weight of being a Chosen Child. I mean who was I really in my last life? I was just a runaway who was barely surviving and I died because of my ignorance. But, here I am in Goliath where I'm no longer just a human anymore. Never in a million years did I think something like this would happen. So I'm going to use this second life the right way and do some good for our land!" I reply my voice full of passion.

"That's good to hear! And just so you know, I'm glad Adora chose you!" Rena blushes as she walks away.

"Huh? Wonder what that was all about?" I ask.

"CROW! The signal just fired, it's time!" Layla yells as I run back to the foot of the hill.

"Okay! Let's go guys!" I yell as my party and I jump off the hill and sprint to the Hawk's hideout.

"Understood!" My party replies as we all charge like a football team.

"Yes! This day has finally come! Today we take back from the Hawk what they've stolen from us! This may be the last time I ever fight with you my family but I want all of you to know that I've enjoyed every second of it! Now let those stupid birds hear us howl!" Elce chants as all of Silver Fang transform into their demiwolf form and stampede towards the hideout.

As we run into the hideout we find hundreds of cages full of young frodians! In front of the cages are giant snakes that are guarding it against intruders!

"What the? What are Colossi doing here?" Sachi asks as she starts shooting her bow at them.

"Please let us out… We're starving…" A young Bracadier boy says as he passes out in his cage.

"Jack! Do you think you can handle freeing all of the slaves? Those snakes look pretty tough!" I ask as a pack of demiwolves starts attacking the snakes.

"I'm not alone, so don't worry about it!" Jack insists as he starts fighting the giant snakes with the demiwolves.

"Protect them and get them back to Silver Fang's hideout when you're done!" I command as the smell around this area is rancid.

"Gotcha! Leave it to me! Bracadier Art: Dual Axe Attack!" Jack shouts as he unleashes his Taqa.

Suddenly, griffins start flying above shooting magic beams out of their mouths.

"This is even worse than we originally thought! They somehow can control Colossi!" Mari observes as she pulls out her staff.

"Damnit! Mari, Sachi! Can you both take the rooftops and stop any flying enemies?" I ask as we narrowly avoid the griffins' aggressive attacks.

"Roger that!" Sachi responds.

"There won't be any left when we're done!" Mari replies as they both take Sachi's zipline arrow to a roof.

"Be sure to also check the buildings for any commoners! I'm sure some of them are hiding!" I order as they both start attacking the griffins.

"I like you taking charge like that! What should we do though? We should probably cover an area too right?" Layla asks as we keep running.

"Feno! You say your sisters are trapped in the entertainment district right?" I ask.

"That's right! I was actually planning to head straight there!" Feno replies his voice full of worry.

"Perfect, Layla you go with him! Make sure he gets them out safe!" I order.

"Alright, come back to us alive Crow! Don't you dare die on me!" Layla yells as she and Feno separate from us and sprint to the entertainment district with a pack of demiwolves.

"Well, you're quite bold aren't you Chosen Child? You know we're heading to the central district of their hideout, right? That's where all of the mercs and nobles will definitely be!" Elce asks as she smirks.

"I know that, I didn't want to put my friends in danger. I'll help you guys fight them!" I reply as Rena starts running next to me.

"I hope you're ready then! We can't pull any punches here!" Rena warns me as we're already getting close to the central district.

"Wouldn't dream of it!" I respond.

All of a sudden the stampede of demwolves stops as we all look ahead and see three Frodians standing at the front of the central district. Each of them has a bird-like symbol on the shoulder of their armor and wields different weapons. The man in the middle is a Windian who looks as sly as a fox and wielding a golden bow. The man to the left of him is a Scavian with a deadpan expression and wielding throwing knives. On the right of him is a Bracadier woman who looks very confident and wielding a great sword.

"Oh man, it really smells around here! Didn't expect a bunch of wet dogs to intrude on our fun!" The sly-looking Windian man jokes.

"To think the infamous Silver Fang would deliver themselves right to us. I guess it's our lucky day!" The Bracadier woman adds as she holds up her sword.

"Hmph, I can smell that some of them are quite young. They'd be perfect additions to my collection." The Scavian man says nonchalantly.

"Kids be careful! They're bad news!" Elce warns as she gets in front of all of us trying to protect us.

"Ah! This must be the mama wolf! Well if we take her down then the rest will be easy! You will meet your end today by the Hawk! I, Nio of Midori will make sure of it!" The Windian Man shouts as he cocks back his bow.

"She's the strongest one out of them! I have to fight her, I just know it'll be fun!" The Bracadier Woman declares as she unleashes her taqa.

"Bula, get a grip. This isn't some tournament, these people are trying to kill us." The Scavian man asserts as he scolds the Bracadier woman.

"Oh learn to let loose sometimes Cyric!" Bula responds as she slaps the Scavian man on his back.

"Both of you shut it! It's time to teach all of them a lesson!" Nio commands as they all prepare for battle.

"Silver Fang! ATTACK!" Elce commands as we all charge towards the enemy.