To be honest, this is the second to last chapter. The finale. The climax? Take it as you will, I've enjoyed having y'all along for the ride and I encourage you to review final thoughts. Or you can wait until the last chapter... :-P Thanks, guys!

The resounding clang as the two giant swords, steel and gold, collided with each other caused the ears of both clan leaders to ring. Ike gritted his teeth as sweat and blood dripped down his face and off his chin, staining the dust a dark color. He pushed Cloud backwards and growled in annoyance as the blonde stayed on his feet, his boots digging into the ground and his knees braced for a leap forward. He was not giving up.

As Cloud charged, Ike found himself staring at him, his sword resting by his side, blade down. This man wouldn't give up. He wouldn't ever give up. That blue spark in his icy eyes... He would die before he surrendered. And so would all his men. This Storm clan was not like Roy's clan and the other clans had been. This clan, if forced to join, would be…a disaster.

With a grunt he heaved up his sword, furious at how heavy it felt, even in his powerful hands. He blocked Cloud's vicious blow and staggered back. Cloud struck again without a pause and Ike ducked and dove beneath the blade, finding himself in the dust for the first time.

The dirt smeared across his face and he pushed himself to his feet, whirling and slamming his sword down towards Cloud, who barely missed being cleaved in half. He swung at Ike again, and the supreme clan leader saw that his face was an unnatural red and his legs were shaking. This man was very angry.

Cloud was slightly angry. Cloud was mostly very exhausted and as the golden blade of his nemesis blocked yet another blow he stepped back, bringing his sword up to rest on his shoulder for ease of swinging and to rest. He couldn't attack anymore. He had done so until he was weary and fatigued and then he had continued attacking, fueled by a source he didn't know. And now, whatever that rush of power had been, it was gone now and he was drained and weary. There was a ringing in his ears, his mind was fuzzy, his throat was dry and parched, and his head ached as if someone was striking it with a heavy cudgel from the inside.

Ike watched him step back with gratefulness. Another strike and he might have gotten injured. He was utterly wasted and it was all he could do to keep from falling to his knees as he raised his sword and let it rest on his shoulder, ready for when Cloud attacked again. He could barely see anything and his head throbbed and pulsed with the ferocious beating of his heart. And these words ran through his head, over and over, in time with the pounding inside: They won't give up. They won't give up. They won't give…up.

The armies were exhausted and there seemed to be a draw and, at least, a lull in the fighting. The two clansmen stared at each other.

Ike felt a rush of air behind him and then whoever it was had burst past and was heading for Cloud. The thin body covered in cloth could only be Sheik—running to kill Cloud. Suddenly the rapid beating of his heart stopped. And then it started again, faster than before.

"Sheik, back!"

She had already swung her chain and as Cloud's sword came down and failed to block it, the metal links wrapped themselves around his neck tightly.

"Sheik, back!" he roared, louder than before.

She turned and their eyes locked, hers a mask of confusion, his pools of anger and desperation.

Cloud frantically fought the chain that was cutting off his air supply and causing a vignette of black to begin obstructing his vision. He clawed at the metal with his fingers, finally jerking it from the masked adversary's loose hands and unwrapping himself. His neck throbbed now and he realized he'd dropped his sword. He bent to pick it up and crashed to his knees beside it instead.

Slowly his head rose and he opened his weary, bloodshot eyes to meet those of Ike. What was he saving his wretched life for? Did he plan to make him an example? Who had won? Where was Marth's army? Where was Marth? What would happen to his clan? To Shulk? To Samus?

"Weak now, aren't we, Cloud?"

The patronizing voice caused Cloud's head to jerk around at stare at the man standing behind him, holding his jagged sword in a strong hand. Corrin. The clansman's eyebrows knit as his fingers felt their way along the dusty ground and grabbed his sword handle. This stupid troublemaker would try to kill his own ally in the midst of a battle?

But it seemed Corrin had not noticed Ike, a greater, fiercer enemy than Cloud, just in front of him. The red eyes glinted abruptly and he dashed past the blonde with a grunt of triumph.

Ike grasped at his handle and prepared himself for a powerful swing to kill this man. The man never reached him. With a disturbing silence Sheik stepped in front of Ike and hurled three daggers at the man prepared to kill her leader.

Each struck home: stomach, chest, throat. Corrin staggered forward and the swing he had prepared, the last swing of his life, caught Sheik off guard. The silent one, Link's second-in-command….Zelda, suddenly screamed in pain as the saw-like edges of Corrin's golden blade tore through skin and muscle and she crumpled in the dirt before Ike's horror-filled eyes.

Through a haze of weariness, as one of his men forced him to drink from a skin of warm water, her husband recognized her voice; her cry of terror. His heart jolted.

Marth burst in front of Cloud with a cry and stood there, standing as tall as he could, his sword pointed straight at Ike. "Leave us alone!" he shouted.

"Stupid prince," growled Cloud. "The powerful Ike can't even stand up on his own feet."

Marth's gaze didn't waver from Ike's steady one. "Please. Go back where you came from. You don't need more land. And all you'll be doing, if you ever would win, is losing more men than I know you'd care to."

"You're not Robin," said Ike quietly, but his voice was deep and easily heard.

"I am Marth."

Ike knew it wasn't Robin. But he wanted this Marth to know that, too. He wanted this Marth to know that he had only wanted to take land from Robin, not Robin's people or Robin's…nephew.

"You know," Ike grunted, forcing himself to stand and staggering slightly as he hefted up his giant blade, "you could have killed me just now."

"If you kill another one of my men, I'll regret my decision not to," said Marth evenly.

Ike looked sorrowfully down at Zelda, lying at his feet. He didn't even know if she was dead or alive yet. "Roy!"

The red head stepped past Marth, releasing Lucina's hand and leaving her to cling to her brother's arm.

Lucina held Ike's gaze and finally it was the clansman who broke the stare and turned to Roy. "Blow the horn. Call them back."

Marth's eyes shut wearily as the deep, bass of the horn resounded against the sides of the mountains and slowly the dull clamor drew to a complete standstill. Slowly men began gathering, clansmen behind Ike, and soldiers and clansmen alike behind their prince and their leader.

Marth opened his eyes and glanced behind him at the tall figure of Cloud, who had regained his feet. The icy blue eyes were brimming with tears and Marth's cerulean ones filled as well. It was over.

For now.

"This isn't over," Ike growled, wiping clumsily at the blood drying on his forehead. "I want a meeting under a flag of truce."

"That can certainly be arranged," said Cloud stiffly.

Ike looked at him for a long time and then turned his gaze to Marth, and from the king to his sister.

"Lucina, you wish to stay with your brother, don't you," he prompted.

She opened her mouth and her dark eyes locked with Roy's. And she wondered if she did. He looked back earnestly, his eyebrows knit. Then he realized she was looking at him and he gave a small smile and tentative bow.

"For now," she answered.

Marth seemed astonished by the answer. Cloud didn't care. And the struggle of despair ended.

Link threw himself down beside his wife, gathering her up in his arms.

"Leave her alone." A clansman grabbed his shoulders.

"Go away!" Link screamed at him. "Can't you see she's dead? Dead like my son? Dead like—"

"She's not dead, but she will be soon if you don't let the doctors tend her," said Roy, calling for help.

And Link allowed himself to be torn from his beloved. Her eyes fluttered open briefly as she was placed on a stretcher of cloth and she stretched out a gloved hand to him. "I love you," she whispered weakly.

Tears streaming from the eyes of one of the strongest men in Ike's army, they bore her away.

Satisfied? Happy? Sad? Angry?

;-P

See you soon for the final chapter!