The Wolf Claws are some of the most difficult characters for me. Not only are they extremely strong but they each have their own unique limits. Although they managed to defeat Lucy, Grey, Raigeki, Roxas and Natsu…3 of the Wolf Claws would die in the effort to defeat Wales. It just goes to show how strong Nightmare Mages are. Anyways, here is the second to last chapter of We Stand Alone!
With every invasion, there is always a resistance. The Fiore Civilian Resistance, or FCR, battle the Garlan Army as they march towards Arcana. Although the resistance is made up of civilians, the resistance successfully holds the army back for a significant amount of time. Using guerilla tactics, the Garlan war machine is slowed down, but only by a little. Sara and Noel travel towards Yanma where they will meet up with the Wolf Claws. But along the way, will they meet some difficulty?
Yanma
"Lets go! To the carriages!" Erza shouted as she drew her sword and led Hikari and Izaya to the where they had put the carriages.
"Raigeki! Roxas!" Izaya and Hikari shouted as they ran through the small village, trying not to inhale the smoke that was rising from the burning houses.
Erza had met with Hikari and Izaya during the chaos that had erupted when the princess had run from the forest saying that the enemy had arrived. Sabrina was closely guarded by Izaya and Hikari as the group quickly ran to the barn where the carriage was. The whole time the princess was shouting about the safety of the others. Izaya and Hikari were especially worried as well.
"We don't have any time! We have to leave without them!" Erza shouted as they finally reached the medium sized wooden barn.
The three of them quickly opened the old and rotting wooden doors and revealed the carriage that they had somewhat fixed. The back of the carriage was full repaired but the sides were still in bad shape. The steam engine had thankfully gotten through ok and Izaya quickly got on and the princess was quickly ushered into the carriage.
"Alright! Hop on!" Izaya shouted as he started the steam engine.
Hikari was about to get on when suddenly a long black shadow coiled around his leg and stopped him. Hikari and Erza whipped around to see a man standing in front of them, the fires of a burning village him. His black and silver embroidered robes blew gently in the hot air. A veil of black cloth covered his face.
"I hope you aren't trying to escape. If you are, I might just have to fight you." The man said playfully.
Erza drew her sword and her anger dripped from her voice as her sword shook in pure fury.
"You….you burned the town down? Who do you think you are!" she shouted as she ex-equipped into her Knight armor.
The man shrugged and he took a look behind him at the town. Hikari could sense something strange about this man. His scent…it was…different.
"Ah, the town. Do not worry about the town. It can be rebuilt and all the citizens have been evacuated by Archibald. And your sons and comrades, do not worry. Bellarmine and P.T. are good hosts." The man said reassuringly.
Hundreds of swords materialized behind Erza, the razor sharp blades reflecting the fire of the town. Hikari also prepared himself. There was a fight coming and they knew it. Izaya was watching quietly from the top of the carriage. He had also detected something different about the man.
"That still does not give you the authority to march into the town and burn everything to the ground!" Erza shouted angrily as she glared at the man.
The man chuckled and he shook his head. The people of this continent were strange. The people in Garla were much more responsible.
"We are at war, Titania. Your king has foolishly challenged us and we have won. Your king and prince have been scheduled for execution. All I ask is that you hand over the princess. Perhaps she will be spared from the wrath of Great Queen." The man said darkly as he looked at the swords behind Erza.
It was quiet for a while, the only noise the crackling of fire as the small town burnt down to the ground. Then Erza smiled slowly. Hikari sensed that she was building up her magical power and his thoughts were soon confirmed.
"Very well! War it will be! For Fairy Tail and Fiore!" she roared as the hundreds of swords flew forwards, the wicked sharp blades cutting through the air at blinding speeds.
The man held out his hand and a barrier of black plates appeared around him. The swords struck the black metal plates and several of them stuck into the hard metal but a few bounced off and clattered to the ground.
"They call me Kalakos because Kalakos means 'shadow' in Garlan. They call you Titania because you are the armed maiden, unbeatable by any physical warrior. Now, I will show you why I am a Wolf Claw!" Kalakos shouted as the metal plates transformed into chains and they shot forward, smashing into the ground and turning into huge black snakes with red circles for eyes.
Hikari jumped backwards as one of the snakes snapped at him. With a quick shot of light, the snake fell apart and Hikari glared up at Kalakos. He had finally figured it out! This man…he was a dragon slayer! Hikari quickly turned to where the carriage was and he shouted at his friend to escape.
"Go! Get out of here and take the princess to safety!" he shouted.
"I cant just leave you here can I!" Izaya shouted back as the steam engine let out a puff of white steam.
"Just go! Erza will cover me! Hurry!" Hikari shouted as he dodged another black snake and tore it shreds.
Izaya cursed as he started the carriage and it accelerated towards the back of the barn. The carriage easily broke through the rotting wood and the carriage soon disappeared from sight. Hikari grinned as he turned Kalakos.
"You will never catch the princess now." Hikari said as Erza cut the last snake in half.
"That is where you are wrong." Kalakos said quickly. "There are four of us. We saved the strongest of our little group for last. He should be following the carriage right now."
Erza cursed and she ran forward, sword in hand and Hikari joined her, his fists glowing with white light. They attacked at the same time, coordinating their attacks so there was no gap in their attacks. But Kalakos was extremely agile as he dodged Erza's sword attacks and Hikari's fists. He seemed to be impressed as he dodged their attacks.
"Such coordination! Brilliant! You are a dragon slayer as well?" Kalakos said as he dodged a glowing fist.
"That's right! You seem to a dragon slayer of the darkness!" Hikari shouted as he jumped back with Erza.
Kalakos nodded his head and shadows started to gather around his mouth. Hikari also started to gather light so he could use his roar attack as well. Erza watched in awe as the two dragon slayers gathered their respective elements towards their mouths. And finally, the two elements shout towards each other with amazing power.
The two roars hit each other and they struggled there, the light dragon slayer and darkness dragon slayer trying to overpower each other. Erza watched in awe as the two slayers were thrown back, Hkari landing back in the barn, hitting the ground. Kalakos slid back, the ground building up as he moved back. Erza quickly changed into her Purgatory armor. She slammed her sword into the ground and several metal spikes struck out of the ground towards Kalakos. The dragon slayer shouted in pain as he was sent flying back, taking a direct hit from the spikes. Erza then learned Kalakos' weakness.
Hikari had stood up from where he had fallen and he was breathing heavily as he joined Erza. His brown hair had bits of dirt in it and his clothes were dirty.
"His weakness…I found it! He is strong when it comes to magical attack but he is weak to physical attack!" Erza shouted as she lifted her jagged sword from the ground.
Hikari looked where Kalakos was. So, he was weak to physical attack… Hikari started to develop a plan in his mind. Their attacks were equally matched so it would not be hard to…
"I have a plan Erza. I will go behind Kalakos and use my roar attack, resulting in an explosion that will send him flying back. Once that happens, I think you know what do." Hikari said as he took off running towards Kalakos.
Erza could only agree as she looked down at her gloves that had heavy blunted spikes attached. This plan had to work. No matter what. She looked up to see Hikari challenging Kalakos. Erza was looking Kalakos' back and Erza realized that Hikari had done it!
"Light Dragon's Roar!" Hikari shouted as the blast of white light shot towards the black robed man.
Suddenly a ball of black energy smashed into Hikari, sending him flying back into the smoking remains of a house. Kalakos did take the hit from Hikari's roar and he blasted back, smashing into Erza as he flew backwards. Erza smashed her armored fist into Kalakos' stomach and the mage let out a scream of pain. The dragon slayer suddenly smashed his fist into Erza's leg and Erza realized that it was covered in a black misty substance.
"Indefinite Nightmare!" Kalakos shouted in pain as he fell to the ground gasping.
The black substance started to crawl over Erza's leg and she realized that her vision was starting to go blurry. She kicked Kalakos' ribs and the mage let out a yelp of pain as his body smashed into the ground. Erza suddenly fell back, feeling off balance.
'Damn it! Kalakos…we must have done something! Indefinite Nightmare…I have heard that before…' Erza thought as the black misty substance swirled around her.
"Titania…you fought well. I admit my fault. The light dragon slayer, he is stronger than I am….but do not think you have won yet. There is still Archibald…still…Archibal-"
Kalakos stopped talking as his vision slowly faded to darkness and the dragon slayer was knocked out cold on the grass. Erza was about to say something when she felt a cold dark hand grab her and she too, fell into darkness. Hikari was awake although completely unable to move. He was laying in the middle of a burned out living room and he sighed slowly.
"Izaya, ride hard and escape." The light dragon slayer sighed as he looked up at the blue sky.
Road out of Yanma
Izaya was riding hard. He was pushing the steam engine as far as it could go. The princess was riding inside, most likely holding a rifle close. Izaya grit his teeth as he thought about what would happen to the princess if she was caught. Izaya was not as young as he used to be but he would do everything he could to protect her. Suddenly an arm wrapped around Izaya's neck to bring him into a headlock.
"What the hell?" shouted as he was suddenly lifted into the air.
Izaya watched the carriage travel without him along the road and he worried about what would happen to the princess without anyone protecting her.
"Do not struggle. It would be a shame if I had to drop you at least 200 feet from the air." A man's voice said.
Izaya realized that the man was right and he stopped struggling. They soon started descending and the headlock Izaya was in loosened and Izaya quickly jumped back. He faced a man that was much younger than he was. He wore a ceremonial uniform and he had a small pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose. His brown hair was combed flat and neatly and the man held a sword in his hand.
"My name is Archibald. I am the leader of the Wolf Claws. You must be Lord Tsubasa. Im sorry about my rudeness but could we hurry and fight? I don't want to prolong this struggle any longer. I am a master swordsman and I learned much from my master." Archibald said politely as he raised his sword.
One of Izaya's amulets glowed and soon Izaya held his own sword with several runes down the side. The red haired mage smiled.
"Was it perhaps, that a good swordsman tries to end the fight with the first blow?" Izaya asked as he smiled at Archibald.
Archibald bowed and the two men ran at each other, swords glinting. The two men ran past each other, their blades seemingly unmoved. Suddenly Archibald grabbed his shoulder and grunted. Izaya was about to stand when suddenly his sword blade suddenly fell off of the hilt. Izaya looked down in amazement. That was a titan armament! How in the world did he manage to break the blade! Archibald turned, grabbing his shoulder. The wound seemed to be deep and Archibald smiled.
"Forgive me. I did not want for us to be too hurt. This war has been long and bloody and I did not want more bloodshed. I just want peace." Archibald said, grabbing his shoulder.
Izaya nodded, knowing why the man had challenged him to a physical duel instead of a magical battle. This battle could have been much bloodier and longer.
"And you promise you will not harm the princess?" Izaya asked Archibald. Even if he accepted this peace offering, the princess's wellbeing was first.
"I will do my best to protect her from harm."
Izaya held out his hand and Archibald shook it. The first seconds of peace in months of war.
Which one of the Wolf Claws was your favorite? If you have a favorite that is. I make the Wolf Claws seem like the most terrible people in the world but they aren't terrible people. Kalakos is actually Viannay. The next chapter is the last for We Stand Alone! I felt like this was the weirdest chapter. I was just so distracted during it.
I didn't like how this chapter turned out. But next chapter will be a little adventure for Sabrina. Thanks and leave a review. FF