Soldiers bustled through the sea of tents as the sun rose, preparing to set out for the final battle of the war. Though Bern and King Zephiel both lay defeated, there still remained a pocket of resistance guarding the Dragon Temple, the last survivors of the Bernese army. General Roy was organizing his troops to face off against these remnants, led by the final Wyvern General of Bern, Brunya.
Raigh hurried through the crowd of soldiers, shoving a few of them out of his way as he approached a large armory tent. He was looking to stock up on tomes for the fight ahead, but as he entered the tent and looked towards the section housing dark magic, he eyed Niime and frowned. Ever since they had fought at the Shrine of Seals, Raigh had begrudgingly begged her to teach him how to use the Apocalypse tome acquired from that battle, and she, to his surprise, did show him. Since they had found the tome, the two of them had spent almost all of their time between their recent battles studying it. However, she never let the tome get into his hands. He assumed she was picking it up right now to use in today's battle. Raigh marched over to the old woman and stood beside her, glaring at the side of her hood as it obscured her face.
"Well? You're trying to take Apocalypse, aren't you?" he asks, crossing his arms. "You know this is our last battle, and you're not gonna let me try it out at all?!"
Niime laughs quietly to herself. "Child, I've taught you how to use it. That's not enough for you?"
Raigh stamps his foot, almost growling. "Don't joke! This could be my last chance to use it! Just give it to me today!…" He pauses before averting his gaze. "…Please?"
"That's the closest thing to actual manners I've seen from you, boy. Alright then, I think you've earned this." She finally turns to face him, holding the Apocalypse tome out to Raigh. "Just don't be surprised if you end up giving it back," she cackled.
Raigh snatches the book from her hands, giving the hermit a narrow glance before examining the book. He had never held it until now, only looked at it as Niime instructed him. He could feel the dark energy within, like a black void gnawing at his spirit and trying to suck him into the pages of this tome. He had to concentrate just to keep a hold of the book.
He finally looked up from the tome, only to find that Niime had already disappeared from view. Raigh contemplated trying to find her so he could thank her but scoffed at the idea. He'd already shown enough gratitude towards her for one day and wouldn't humiliate himself any further. Instead he stocked up on a few more tomes and left the tent. To his surprise, he didn't see Sophia at either station at all. Hopefully this meant she wouldn't be endangering herself in the battle today, he thought.
As Raigh exited the storage tent, he spotted Chad and his brother Lugh sitting on some boxes, waiting for the army to set out with rather dour expressions on their faces. Lugh halfheartedly flipped through a tome while Chad polished his sword.
"Hey, what's the matter with you two? I thought you'd be happy to get your revenge against Bern."
The pair look up at Raigh, though even Lugh can't manage a smile. "Oh, hey Raigh… Yeah, we're getting our revenge, but…"
"We're just not sure if this is really worth it," Chad finishes for him. "Bern is basically dead already. Killing the ones who're left feels like it's too much.."
"After what they did to the orphanage, nothing is too much," Raigh tells them. "Those Bernese bastards deserve every bit of what we're gonna give them today."
"But not all of them are terrible people!" Lugh chimes in. "Miss Miledy and Miss Ellen are really nice… And Princess Guinivere seems kind too. The three of them are already upset about fighting their own country… It feels wrong to want revenge now."
"I can't believe you two!" Raigh shouts. "You've come all this way because of what Bern did. They destroyed the orphanage, they killed Father, and they would've killed the children too if they got the chance! And now that you've got them on the ropes, you can't go through with it?!"
Chad and Lugh don't really know how to respond. Lugh opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the loud sound of a horn, signaling that the army was about to march. Soldiers moved towards away from the tents, getting into formation as they all prepared to march on the Dragon Temple.
"Come on. We're going." Raigh heads off with the other soldiers, with Chad and Lugh exchanging reluctant looks before getting up and following along.
The army was in position across the lake from the Dragon Temple, anxiously waiting for the messenger to return with news on what the remnants of Bern were going to do, the whole army eerily quiet. The Bernese soldiers were also very still, but the air of pride that surrounded them was as thick as the tension permeating the Etrurian army.
Raigh's eyes drifted throughout the crowd. He looked to Lugh and Chad beside him, the two staring downwards steadily. He saw Roy and Guinivere out in front, gazing beyond the lake at Bern's last stand and the Dragon Temple. But among the crowd, he couldn't find Sophia, which made him both hopeful and worried. She might be back at camp, safely away from the battle entirely, but she could also be out here where he can't see her. Knowing her, she'd probably find him before he finds her...
Finally, the silence was broken as the messenger returned and spoke with Roy. It was difficult to hear what they were saying, but Guinivere's solemn expression was all that Raigh needed to see. While Roy announced their plan of attack, Raigh turned back to his brother and gave him a tap on the shoulder. "Hey. We're fighting. You guys better not back down."
Lugh gave him a shallow glance as he took out his wind tome. "Well… I can't really leave now, so… I'm gonna fight."
Chad nodded along, readying his sword. "Yeah, not like we have much of a choice at this point... And besides," he adds with a grin, "I know you're gonna keep us safe, Raigh."
"S-Shut up, you idiot!" Raigh stammers, visibly uncomfortable as Chad stifles a laugh. "This is still a battlefield, so you'll have to fend for yourselves. Now come on, we're heading out."
With Roy's speech done, the army was finally mobilizing. Half of the army headed along the southern side of the lake, while the other half went up the eastern side. A squad of pegasus knights and wyvern riders also flew over the lake towards the central isle. Raigh led Lugh and Chad to fall in with the eastern group, traveling through the narrow pathway between the lake and the mountain. Thanks to their fliers, the enemy ballistae had been shut down, and the enemy wyverns were currently being engaged above the water, so the eastern group had a surprisingly peaceful march along the lake.
Being short, the three children were able to make their way to the front of the group with ease, navigating around their fellow soldiers. At the frontlines they were greeted by the enemy, a group of wyverns accompanied by a sorcerer and a manakete. Lugh tore up the wyverns with blades of wind, while Chad sliced through the sorcerer's robes with his blade.
Raigh smugly stood in front of the manakete as it transformed before his eyes in a burst of flames. Scoffing at the lizard in front of him, he took out Apocalypse from under his cloak. Opening its pages, darkness seeped out of the book as he began to do just as Niime had taught him: he closed his eyes, picturing himself within the black void. Concentrating, he drew some energy from the book, and in his mind, he saw runes appear that controlled the darkness, condensing it from vast nothingness into a small dark sphere in the palm of his hand. Opening his eyes, that sphere lay floating above the open book with the runes inscribed on it. With a forceful flick of his wrist, Raigh sent the ball flying towards the dragon that dared face him. It spata fireball at the approaching spell, but it was swiftly sucked up into it. Once it was close enough to the dragon, Raigh commanded the tiny orb to expand into a massive void, swallowing up everything that was near it. The dragon felt the worst of its power, each individual scale being ripped off its body until it was reduced back to its weak human state, which was then sucked in. Raigh then snapped the tome shut, his body feeling slightly fatigued from casting the spell, and the void shrank until it was no more, leaving only a small crater in its wake.
Raigh gazed at hole he had left, then down at the tome, feeling heavy in his hands. He couldn't help but smile at the results of his magic: this was what he'd been studying for! This was the power that he had been searching for! With this, he could protect Lugh, Chad, the children, Sophia… Nobody would be able to hurt them ever again.
However, he was a little too caught up in his own momentary success, as he didn't notice the enemy wyvern rider that had managed to get behind their front lines. Lugh tried to warn his brother with a fervent cry, but Raigh was too slow and ended up taking a powerful blow to his side from the shaft of the wyvern rider's lance, knocking him off his feet. Raigh tried to cast Apocalypse again as the wyvern circled back over the lake, but his concentration was broken by the pain of his wound, and he couldn't cast the spell. All he could do was watch in terror as the enemy raced towards him.
But a strange barrier surrounded the enemy, stopping it in its tracks. As the rider tried to figure out what was going on, a powerful bolt of lightning struck thim, dissipating the barrier and allowing the rider and mount to fall lifelessly into the waters below. Raigh knew the bolt didn't come from Lugh, realizing with a groan who it belonged to as he heard Hugh's voice calling from behind.
"Hey, you guys know I don't want you out here at all, but if you're gonna be fighting anyway, at least stay where I can see you!" Hugh ran up to the three of them, accompanied by Sophia, who was carrying a staff with her. Raigh frowned and looked away as he struggled to get up, upset that he had to be saved by him, though Chad and Lugh happily ran up to the man. Sophia approached Raigh and began to heal his wounded side with another one of her staves.
"I oughta say the same for you," Raigh started as the pain melted away. "This battle is way too dangerous for you to be out here! Just listen to your own breathing!"
It was true, Sophia was not a strong fighter, and the battlefield was often overwhelming—her breathing was heavy and she spoke slowly. "I won't… stay back. I saw a vision… I should be out here with you…. And Lady Niime has been teaching me… how to use staves. So I will… stay by your side."
His injuries healed, Raigh stood up and locked eyes with her. Despite her physical weakness, Sophia's gaze was strong and steadfast, and Raigh knew he couldn't argue with her. Relenting, he let out a sigh. "Alright, fine. Just… stay close, okay?"
Sophia smiled and nodded. Normally she would have to peer into his heart to see his true emotions, but she much preferred when he was forward about how he felt, rare though that was.
"Hey, c'mere!" Hugh called at the pair. "I'm pretty sure I've got a plan." Raigh begrudgingly stayed silent as they approached, not very happy to be taking orders from him. "They've got a bunch of siege magic by the gate, so I was thinking we all go in a group while Sophia blocks their staves. Meanwhile, I'll cover us with my Bolting. Alright?"
The group nodded in agreement, with Lugh pulling out a yellow tome. "I've got a Bolting, too, so I'll help."
"We'll have to… go slowly," Sophia spoke up. "I can't run… and use my staves…"
Hugh nods, holding up his tome. "That's fine, I can't really run and aim with this thing anyway. Now let's go!"
Chad looks up at the man with a smirk. "Okay, mister Hugh!"
"Ergh, I told you to stop calling me that!" Hugh reacts with some exaggerated outrage, getting a laugh out of everyone, even Raigh. But he quickly calmed down and led the group out into the open field on the north side of the lake.
Almost immediately, the enemy began to bombard them with magic. Sophia put up a barrier around the group to block their attempts at putting them to sleep. When a stray lightning bolt was headed for them, Hugh shot a bolt of his own straight up to counter it, exploding in mid air. Meanwhile, Lugh used his own Bolting to preemptively kill any distant enemies. Any that managed to sneak too close to them were swiftly dealt with by Raigh and Chad. The five of them all moved together as a single unit, a magical tank slowly making its way up to the front gate of the Dragon Temple.
By the time they finally got up to the gate, the enemies had exhausted their status staves and equipped their tomes, but a melancholic figure bade them step aside as she stepped forward to greet the five. Brunya, the last remaining Wyvern General of Bern, stood before them, a mix of sorrow and pride in her eyes.
"Sending children to fight us? Perhaps Etruria has grown tired of this war now that he's dead…"
"King Zephiel…" Sophia spoke, looking into the general's heart. She could see her feelings for the late king,
Brunya barely reacted to her statement, her expression depressingly stagnant. "We fight to carry on his highness's will. His Bern will never die."
Lugh and Chad looked at each other, unsure of what to do. "Why're you so loyal to Zephiel?" Chad started with her. "His Bern killed so many innocent people... You still want to keep that going?"
"We may have hurt people in this war… But it is what His Highness wanted," Brunya answered slowly, drawing a tome. "I refuse to abandon his plan - or his Bern!"
Lugh simply looked down at his feet, thinking while Brunya waited for one of them to step forward. "Miss Miledy and Miss Ellen told us how hard it was to run away from Bern… Not everyone is like them… Chad, I don't wanna fight her."
"Yeah, me neither… Even if it's for the kids, it's not worth it." Chad puts his sword away under his cloak, placing a hand on Lugh's shoulder. "This is what Father would've wanted."
Raigh could barely contain his rage. This is exactly what he told them not to do earlier. He clenched his fists, preparing to shout at the two of them, but Sophia put her hand over his and looked him in the eye. That brief silent moment between them was all Raigh needed, as he let out a sigh, took out Apocalypse, and stepped forward. "You guys are too soft… Just let me handle this."
The four sorcerers formed up in front of Brunya, along with a manakete. As it transformed, Raigh pulled up his hood, cracked open the tome, and began to recite the same casting ritual as before. By the time he opened his eyes again, the dragon stood before him preparing to attack. With the small orb of Apocalypse in his hands, Raigh tossed it into the beast's mouth, much to its confusion. Quickly he expanded the tiny sphere into a dark vortex, violently ripping the dragon's body in half and swallowing up the pieces, with soldiers from both sides looking on in horror. The enemy sorcerers tried to escape the black hole, but Raigh merely increased its size until they were sucked in as well. Chunks of the ground and the Dragon Temple were ripped away as well, but Brunya managed to hang on at the gate, firing a few lightning bolts in vain that were quickly engulfed in the darkness.
As the void persisted, Raigh could feel himself slipping, like his spirit was being sucked out of his body and into the void, his breathing becoming quiet and his body growing colder. But he didn't seem to care: this was the power he desired, the power that would allow him to protect those he holds dear.
Snapping him out of this trance was Sophia. She could sense his soul drifting away and ran up to the boy, wrapping her arms around him and snapping the tome shut from behind. The void immediately vanished, airborne pieces of rock dropping straight to the ground. Raigh gasped for air, this sudden rush of warmth through his body proving to be too much of a shock as he fell onto his hands and knees. Sophia knelt beside him, flipping back his hood and supporting him with her embrace. He couldn't even speak after his concentration was severed so suddenly, instead merely wheezing in his attempts to talk.
Brunya lay on the floor of the Dragon Temple's entrance, staring up at the cracked arch above her. She had survived the spell, but almost wished she hadn't. She had lost so much at this point that all she could wanted was for everything to be over. Slowly, Brunya got to her feet and walked out towards Raigh and the others, appearing oddly eager.
"We've lost… Just kill me and let me join the others."
Raigh couldn't respond. Sophia stared back at her silently. Chad and Lugh were on the verge of tears. It was Hugh who finally said what they could not. "No way, we don't wanna kill anyone else today… Just come over here and we won't hurt you. I'm sure Guinivere will have mercy on you, too." He held out his hand with a soft smile, trying to appear welcoming.
Brunya's expression finally changed, from melancholy to relieved as she readied her Bolting tome. "You misunderstand… Death is mercy for me. But if you are unwilling to provide it..." Extending her hand to the skies, sparks surrounded her fingertips and a bolt of lightning shot up, arcing through the air.
Lugh cried out for her to stop, tears streaming down his face as he started to run towards her, but Chad held him back. In an attempt to save her, Hugh shot his own lightning bolt up at hers, but just barely missed. As Brunya's attack started to come down, Raigh could only hold up a shaking hand in vain, too fatigued to cast Apocalypse again and stop it.
The bolt finally came crashing down on top of Brunya with a powerful crack, even making a tiny crater next to the large one Raigh had made. When the dust cleared, Brunya was surprisingly still on her feet with a soft, blissful expression. However, she slowly closed her eyes and muttered her last words before falling forward, her body charred and lifeless. "Your highness… Finally… I can be with you again…"
As she fell, a red cloaked figure appeared in the Dragon Temple's entrance. Almost completely unnoticed, their gaze was sharp and judgmental as they peered down at the fallen general. Sophia locked eyes with them briefly, trying to see into their heart, but to her shock, she felt no emotions coming from this person at all. The figure quickly stepped back into the darkness of the temple, disappearing from sight.
Raigh was finally able to get to his feet, with Sophia still supporting him. He looked around, spotting Chad and Hugh as they tried to console a bawling Lugh. He couldn't really blame his brother for crying right now: he wanted to cry too, though for different reasons. Even after all his practice with Niime, he was still unable to control the power he sought, nearly killing himself and endangering the ones he wanted to protect. But what ate at him the most was that Niime was right. He'd have to face that pompous old hag and humiliate himself again, all because of his own shortcomings.
Sophia saw all of these tumultuous feelings, and simply stared into his eyes, her expression soft and caring. Raigh didn't understand initially what she was doing, but quickly remembered her abilities and realized that in front of her, he could cry. She hugged him tighter as he cried softly into her shoulder, Sophia whispering to him, "Shhh… It's okay, Raigh… We love you."
Once he got most of his emotions out of his system, he pulled his face away from Sophia's body and rubbed his eyes, smiling slightly. "You know… maybe it's a good thing I can't hide anything from you. I'm feeling a little better…" Raigh pulled out the Apocalypse tome from underneath his cloak and stared down at it, his smile turning into a grimace. "But I still don't wanna give this thing back… At least, not by myself."
Sophia puts her hand on the book's cover, speaking softly. "Then… have Hugh do it… or give it to Roy… I can return it too." Raigh considers the options presented, but before he can answer, almost on cue Roy approaches the two of them.
"Ah, there you are… I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he starts, noting how close the pair is. Raigh blushes and quickly leaves her embrace, averting his gaze from the young general. "Raigh, you have the Apocalypse tome, right? I saw you using it, you were amazing! I'm forming a team to enter the Dragon Temple, and I want one soldier per Divine Weapon, so would you—"
"Have Niime do it," Raigh cuts him off, shoving the tome into his hands. "I'm just gonna stay out here and cool off."
Roy is a bit bewildered by how short his answer was, but doesn't think too long on it and nods. "Very well. Thank you, Raigh." Just as quickly as he had appeared, Roy leaves the two of them to find the hermit.
"There… Now you have… nothing to be… unhappy about," Sophia tells him with a smile, grabbing his hand. Raigh's gaze moves between her face, Brunya's body, and the trio of Lugh, Chad, and Hugh standing solemnly off to the side.
"Yeah… you're right. Now let's go cheer up my brother." The pair walk hand in hand towards the three of them, garnering some stares from Hugh and Chad, but he didn't care very much at this point. Instead, he looked at Lugh, who was wiping some tears from his eyes, and pointed over at Brunya's body.
"Hey. Let's go give her a proper burial."