Chapter 53: Kings And Conquerors

Walhart tore off the ragged sections of his armor, one step at a time. His steps guided him into the center of the fortress, and the lonely throne room waiting for him. A snarl twisted his face, but only for a breath. The next shed the damaged armor, and dulled the wounds from claws and swords.

'…Not bad.' He grudgingly allowed. So the boy-prince could back up his words with steel. Walhart tossed his own sword aside, letting it clatter against the stones.

He wouldn't be calling on that blade. Instead Walhart focused on the throne in the center of the room. An axe propped against the arm of the throne, glimmering in the scant sunlight that entered through the dome.

Walhart closed a hand around it, testing the heft of the axe. It fit easily in his hand, and rested across his knees as he took his seat on the throne.

And waited.

One of them would meet their end in this room. Walhart had no intentions of it being him, either. Not yet. The reckoning was yet to come in truth for him; the fell shadow that loomed in the future. And the beast that would try to consume all, that he would stand against.

The steel of his gloves clinked, where his fingers squeezed at the haft of his weapon. Already anticipating a fight that had yet to come.

It had to be him. No Risen on his ranks, no defects, and no dragon blooded whelp of an Exalt would change that.

"A strategic retreat I see! Well enough, well enough," Walhart raised his eyes at that voice. So the spider had made it through an army without getting crushed underfoot.

Excellus stepped into the chamber, a false smile on his face. And equally false bravado dripped from his words.

"We've time, conqueror. My men may yet-"

"Which men would those be?" Walhart silenced the idea. "The ones you tried to blackmail into submission, and lost your hold over? Or the revenants still stalking the field outside."

Excellus paled at that.

"You... you knew!?" His eyes settled on the axe, doubtless picking out the edge of it.

"Aye. And I've a mind to separate your head from your shoulders... but I would not waste the sharpness of my axe over your thick neck and overly swelled head." Walhart made a curt gesture, silencing any of Excellus' protests.

"You can face them yourself, and see how well you live or die… both of us will be meeting our fates, here."

-o-o-o-

"It seems a common theme to build castles with ceilings that are as high as possible." Robin noted, staring up at the distant stone arches holding up the roof. "...Not that I'm complaining. It gives us room to maneuver and bring the horses and pegasi in, and we need that."

"The reverse is true." Morgan pointed out, stretching a hand out and gripping Gules in it. The shimmer along his arm drew Robin's eye and shot a few threads of ruby light into the hallway. At the end of it, Robin picked out the last of the guard rallying. "They're not going to let us in easily, and they have just enough room to bring their men into position."

"T'would be my pleasure to clear them aside." Virion spoke up, as the hooves of his horse echoed through the hallway. A sword hung at his side, and he didn't seem ready to bring it into play just yet. But then, he didn't exactly seem to need a melee weapon, given the giant hare between him and the soldiers.

A few others had followed him in. Anna's steps were light as she shifted from foot to foot, sizing up the interior.

"Huh. Not much for decorations, but I'll bet there's still some good treasure lurking about somewhere… which I'll look for AFTER the battle is done, merchant's honor." She held up a hand to show her sincerity, and to stall any talk from Robin. "By the by, a few reports from the field if you've got time to listen? Say'ri is doing the job of holding down the outside front; looks like we have the advantage of man power out there."

"…Meaning all we have to do is settle things here, right?" Chrom kept his voice hushed, perhaps out of respect for how sounds could echo through the halls.

"That's about the long and short of it. I took the liberty of picking up a few more Shepherds to fill out our ranks." Anna waved to the others, stepping back to fall back into the ranks.

"Well, I think the objective is clear enough?" Cherche's wyvern folded her wings in, glancing at the hall with a suspicious light in her eyes. But when the wyvern saw Robin and Chrom, still scaled and standing ready, that seemed to convince her she could step inside without the ceiling falling on her head. "Cut a path for you, and engage the troops so you can deal a killing blow to the serpent's head?"

Robin nodded at that, and Cherche looked satisfied with the plan; perhaps just as well, since it would hopefully end with the liberation of her home.

"We will handle the rank and file." Panne's voice echoed. "See to it that we will not need to fight for long."

"Right..." Chrom murmured. A low tremor built along his shoulders... and for a moment, Robin wondered if his form was blurring.

'How long have we been half-changed? How much more can we hold on, even with the Emblem and the gemstones?' She glanced down to Argent at the thought... and felt something fraying at the back of her mind as well. Her hand shook, and the claws wouldn't close around the gemstone smoothly.

Lucina stared at the hallway, eyes piercing past the Valmese line. She focused on the target beyond the soldiers, nothing else. And there was still a glow in her eyes; next to all of them, bristling with scales and flickers of light, Morgan looked almost threadbare.

But just as determined.

"Ready whenever you all are." Was all he said, flexing his fingers. Lucina moved next to Robin, waiting for the signal.

It came from the thrum of Virion's bowstring, signaling the start of the battle.

Virion fired arrows and Panne met the front line. Gregor and Libra helped anchor the taguel's flanks, and the spears of the Valmese couldn't seem to so much as graze Donnel. Overhead, Cordelia and Cherche swooped at targets at horseback height.

With that much chaos it was the easiest thing to vault over the heads of the Valmese. Robin ran forward, tightening her grip on Lucina's arm. Her daughter easily kept the pace, while Morgan did the same with Chrom. The stifled air of the hallway filled her wings as Robin threw herself into the air.

Maneuvering was difficult. At least with four of them in the air. And a part of her wanting to fly higher, to tear through the stones of the castle and find the open sky beyond-

'Focus! You just need to clear the ranks and land!'

An arrow tried to find its mark in her flesh, but Robin twisted out of the way easily. She folded her wings around Lucina, shielding her from the strikes. Robin fixed her eyes on the floor, telling every muscle in her body to aim for that-

They both made a rough landing onto the hallway floor, the hard stones knocking breath from their lungs.

"Still in one piece?" She managed, and Lucina nodded. Robin frowned over the shaking settling over her daughter. Lucina's hand traced back towards her throat, where Azure blazed.

'That's not-' Robin shuddered against another change of her own, trying to boil over the remains of her skin.

"We need to get to Walhart, and quickly-" She tried to instruct. But something tugged on the edges of her hearing. A familiar voice.

'I see this has all touched a nerve on you. A particularly raw one at that!' Excellus' voice mocked, shooting red into her vision. Reminding her that she still needed to settle matters with him.

Her ears twitched, her hearing sharpening, and telling her that Excellus was just ahead of them.

There was just the matter of several reserve soldiers spilling from the halls and rushing towards them.

-o-o-o-

"AVERSA!" Excellus' voice rang out through the hallway. Robin tore through a soldier as she tried to find the source of it; she twitched around as more words echoed off the stones.

"I did what you said... most what you said at least! Haven't I earned a reward for my services!?" Her eyes found a doorway, branching off from the hall, and a strange shrouded purple light coming out of it.

Almost an echo of what coated her own skin, still glowing in the shadowed passages.

Robin bolted towards the source, her eyes narrowed. She barely noticed the trembling in her own hands, focused only on the target ahead of her.

"Yet for all your valued skills, you are still resorting to begging... ah, don't sulk so much. It doesn't become you. We still have a use for you, I suppose..."

'That voice… is that Aversa?'

Robin put on speed, springing for the doorway.

A room humming with magic greeted her. When her feet touched the ground, sigils sprang to life in the stonework. They glowed a sullen purple like an old bruise, and seemed to be carved in a language she could almost understand-

'I don't care about that!' Robin snapped her head up, breaking away from the sight and searching for her target.

She glimpsed Excellus for just a moment; enough for her blood to go hot and her vision red. A mirror was before him, but it didn't hold his reflection; instead there was a shrouded figure on the other side.

"You'll live another day, servant." Came Aversa's voice "You will still have your uses. And it seems you have just enough power on your end to work this spell after all."

The violet coating Robin flared bright, almost seeming to feed the magic in the room. Excellus stared over his shoulder at her, but still flung himself towards the mirror. Instead of the glass splintering, it rippled at his touch like a strange lake.

"Come away from the battle for now," Aversa's voice continued, growing warped from the spell work.

"Don't you DARE-!" Robin spat out.

Getting drawn into the surface of the mirror. The terror melted from Excellus' face, replaced with a grotesque grin.

"Another time, tactician!" He called out before the mirror swallowed him. Robin howled with rage as she just missed him. She dove, trying to cut him down-

Instead she slammed into the mirror. It snapped into a spider's web of broken glass under her shoulder. The shards bit at the unscaled parts of her face. Robin grit her teeth against pain and frustration both. Once again, Excellus slipped through her grasp. Taking all his answers with him.

'None of this is over.' She glowered at her broken reflection, marred by violet scales and shrouds of purple aura licking along her flesh. 'Not by a long shot.'

There'd been something to the spell that had spirited Excellus away. Something that made a part of her stir, and seemed to still seep into the stones of this place. If she could just call it up-

'I could tear open that portal he used. Track him down and pull the answers out by the throat-' Her teeth showed, reflected back by a dozen sharp fanged faces. Robin glared into the shattered mirror, the scarlet flooding the irises of her eyes.

She just had to focus. The spells hummed around her, the bricks of the floor almost shivering underfoot.

'I- almost-' Could almost call and bind the power to her. The red in her eyes was almost like blood, and a haze seeped over her thoughts. Something that fed off the rage clouding her mind.

'I almost… have you-'

"ROBIN!"

A shout from outside yanked her back to the present. It was her husband's voice. And with it was Lucina, and Morgan. All locked in battle. And she'd put her back to them.

Robin yanked her head away. From the mirror and the seductive whispers of the spell work, both. She bit the inside of her lip from the motion, tasting blood.

The sensation yanked her back the rest of the way.

'Another time.' She promised herself. Not daring to dwell on what almost happened, on whatever it was that almost ensnared her, she dug her claws into her spell tome. Lightning jumped into her skin, spurring her onwards.

Robin turned back to the fight.

-o-o-o-

Robin had vanished, chasing something. Whatever it was blinded her to Lucina's shouts, trying to alert her to the Valmese.

'Was this on purpose?' Morgan had time to wonder. 'Are they trying to divide us?'

Chrom stood his ground, not daring to take his eyes off the reinforcements rushing them. The first wave of Valmese were busy with the main Shepherd force… but beyond that line, Morgan's own family needed to stand alone.

Lucina scowled at the troops, but that narrowed gaze did nothing to dim the blaze in her eyes. Even though she'd yet to grow wings, she rushed the troops with blinding speed, carving into them. Morgan chased after her. But his own feet had been replaced with stone; nothing compared to the flash of blue.

Chrom stood apart, soldiers blocking him from Morgan and Lucina's view. Lucina noticed, a slight cry leaking out between her clenched teeth. She turned her attack to a different soldier. Now she was intent on getting to Chrom, instead of punching through the line.

'I promised I'd watch her back!' Morgan screamed at himself,

He tried to close with her, blinking back the glare of blue light that rose off her limbs. His breath was coming hard now. His lungs and heart both burned, and his limbs were lead. The gap between them only grew.

The only thing he could manage was his spells, and it was feeling more and more like that wasn't enough.

To drive it home, the last spell he cast flickered out in the air, striking his target with only half strength. The Valmese barely even flinched from the attack, and still plunged towards Lucina. He glimpsed his father up ahead, delivering a vicious downward swipe with his transformed hand.

The Valmese tried and failed to swarm him; no matter how they tried to flank him, he spun to meet them. And when the few horseman the Valmese had left thundered into the hall-

There was an answering echo of thunder.

Robin whirled into range time, a blaze of lightning flooding from her hands. The spell tome hung by her side, pages rustling and fluttering. Her scaled hand grazed the cover only for a moment… but the corner of the tome gained a few notches, crackling with static. It was only through the power humming through the book that kept the item intact.

And yet her spell casting wasn't dimmed by the damage. Her magic slashed the Valmese, driving them from Chrom… and forming a slight opening his parents could press through.

'If only-' he could be like that. Morgan winced as pain went through his shoulder... and Gules burned again against his chest. Only now it didn't feel like the gem was holding him in check, but was reaching out to him, holding something for him to take.

"Keep going!" Lucina called to Chrom and Robin. "I can hold them off! Find Walhart and put an end to this!"

Her strikes were just savage enough to prove that claim; the parallel Falchion danced in her unchanged hand, while her clawed limb was just as nimble.

'I want to-' Match that. To make it so he and Lucina could stand by their family.

And he finally was feeling a flicker of power, a hint of how to make that happen. It had a strange whisper to it… but just then he wasn't feeling picky. Or in much of a mood to ignore it.

Especially not when a soldier blindsided Lucina, slamming into her side and knocking her off balance. She staggered, dropping her guard, suddenly exposed to a Valmese swordsman.

Morgan focused on his eye, and let pain blaze out from that to match his shoulder. His steps went lighter, even with vertigo leaking through his eye and latching onto his brain. The earth no longer tried to pull him down into it.

Morgan's steps shifted into a dash as he arrowed towards Lucina. The spell tome fell uselessly from his hands, its contents all spent.

But just then, Morgan didn't need it. He felt something crackling through him, blossoming in his heart just as bright and fierce as the gemstone. Before the sword could fall, Morgan stepped in front of it. It bit down into his shoulder as Lucina screamed out something-

But it didn't draw blood. Instead it rattled uselessly against his arm, sparks flying from the edge as a welcoming red glow wrapped around Morgan. The power in the glow lifted his head up so he could stare the attacker in the face.

"Amateur." Morgan growled out, before feeling spell fire arc out from his palms. It slammed into the Valmese, driving them back and opening a path. The remaining soldiers were knocked flat in the blast, or fell to the weapons of the advancing Shepards.

"Morgan..." Lucina whispered out. He turned to the wide eyes of his sister, and his own arm drifted back down. The sleeve of his cloak had been torn open, exposing the wine colored and silver scales along his arm. Morgan frowned down at the torn fabric.

"Oops. I hope someone can fix that..." He murmured out, and just like that his thoughts slammed back into order. And it dawned on him what he'd just done. He gave Lucina an almost sheepish grin, flexing his new arm.

"Well, it was about time that I caught up to the rest of you, right?" His sister didn't even seem to be aware of her own scales, growing along her arms and tracing across her neck. "Please don't feel bad; I wanted to be at your level, and Mother AND Father's."

Lucina drew out a shaky, taloned hand in response to that. Her motion froze when she caught sight over her own limb, so Morgan stepped forward bringing his shoulder under her grip.

"We're not out of this yet!" He told her, and shifted his focus to where the line had thinned.

"Come on, they can't win this without us."

Lucina gave a shaky nod, before throwing back her head as something moved along her spine. Morgan felt something similar echo through his back and shoulders, and felt something begin to stretch out behind him.

Their feet barely touched the floor as they ran to the last fight, wings stirring the air and pushing them forward.

-o-o-o-

The battle had reached fever pitch, and was drawing closer. Walhart gripped his axe, turning to the entrance of the throne room. He was greeted by a figure in white darting inside.

The boy walked forward into the throne room... and Walhart granted, he looked like a warrior if nothing else. Ribbons of light glowed off his form, covering him from head to toe in a shifting radiance of silver and blue. His eyes were fixed on Walhart, and his hand moved-

Not a hand. Not with those claws growing over it, and the scales replacing mail. Walhart tested the grip of his axe; he'd have a rough time cutting through that much in the way of armor... but he felt equal enough to the challenge.

"Still fighting? I will give you accordance for being a warrior, if nothing else... but your battle will end here, boy."

The blue haired boy paused, staring up at him. His body shook from being caught between forms, and his voice came out halting.

"I... I will fight you, if I must…" His form was clearly willing, wanting to lunge into battle and fight. And yet the prince held fast to his control. "But I ask first for you to reconsider. I've spilled enough blood today. Can't you lay down your sword?"

"To the likes of you? For WHAT exactly, some craven's temporary peace? We both know a greater war is coming. I intend to be ready for it with an army."

"An... an army cobbled together by fear isn't much of one. Look at how they've been splintered already." Chrom gestured to the windows outside. The battle was still raging... but Walhart knew his own forces were steadily losing ground, loathe as he was to admit it.

"All the more reason to cut you down and put an end to this farce of resistance. When your head is on the spikes along with the last of the Chon'sin leaders, the heart will be torn out from the rebels. I will have a unified continent under my grip."

"For what-?" The boy's tactician rasped out as she stumbled forward. She was keeping a hand close to her chest, covering it with the other. A brilliant violet light coated her, pulsing in time to the breaths she took.

"For facing the end of the world. Grima is approaching. I intend to fight her myself." That got the boy's eyes to widen.

"You can't fight against fear with more fear!" He shouted out.

"I shall judge that myself-"

"No." Hissed a new voice, behind his back. "You will not. Nor will you see that battle of yours."

Walhart turned... too slowly, as a sudden lance of pain drove through him. It pierced his armor and flesh both, and he looked down to see two bloody claws poking out from where his ribs were supposed to be. His eyes rolled back as his breathing turned wet and pained, and found himself looking at a different sort of Exalt. Red-stained eyes burned into his own, set in the face of another conqueror.

"So... it is the sword which prevails after all."

"No." His killer growled out. "It is the will of dragons. Take that thought with you, to your grave."

His vision flickered out, and then turned forever to black.

-o-o-o-

Walhart slumped to the floor as Chrom stared on. He didn't recognize the claws tearing their way through the conqueror's chest, soaked in red as they were. Walhart crashed to the floor with a rattle that shook stone and bones equally.

And behind him was a man cloaked in shadow... save for an eerie red glow settled in his eyes. That red gaze settled on Chrom as the man turned and strode forward. Robin stepped forward at the same instant, throwing an arm in front of him as her claws flexed and prepared to fight.

Chrom stared past them, and found himself gazing at the blue in the stranger's hair, finally caught by the pale shafts of light shining through the windows. There was also a familiar glint in the white but tarnished armor he word... and finally Chrom picked out his face.

"It can't be-" he whispered out, while Robin made a choked noise, followed by,

"Just how many times are you going to come back from the dead!?"

"As long as there is still a use for me." Duran answered her, raising his bloody hand. "It's the will of dragons that Walhart falls, and his empire falls with him. All who resist will burn in the flames of the new world, as is their will." Chrom picked out cobalt scales on his father, dark as a moonless night sky. The brand on his throat glowed a sharp blue, while the scar crossing it gave off a sullen red glow. "I've been given one last chance. I don't intend to squander it... and I will see to it you and your family fall. For the sake of ensuring my path."

His gaze was cold in a way that made Chrom's hair stand up on end. And there was a light in his eyes that had never, ever been there before.

"Should I start with the Plegian witch?" His words lashed at Chrom's ears, right as Duran stretched a taloned finger out and pointed at Robin. His wife flinched from the words and gesture both, as the air thickened around her into globs of purple mist. She choked as the air went hard to breathe.

"S-stop it!" Chrom shouted, and reached out to yank her away as the magic flared. Something struck him across the arm and back, and he went to one knee. He fought to find his footing again... but his body didn't listen. It remained frozen in place, in a kneeling position. Duran gave a chuckle at that, pleased over his results.

"That's a more fitting place for you... ah, but I see you are still fighting it, at least in terms of trembling. Is your grasp on your own power finally weakening? I've finally learned how to harness the blessing on our line, as it SHOULD be." The red eyes glimmered as they watched Chrom... and Duran bent to Walhart's corpse, ripping something clean from the man.

Vert glimmered in his bloodstained claws, and the miasma around him thickened, as did the red glow. Violet veined darkness roiled off him in thick ropey tendrils, starting to form into wings. A strange, sick grin twisted Duran's features.

"Get away from him." Choked out a voice. Robin was climbing back to her feet. "Away from him, away from my family. You won't hurt any of them!"

"And YOU are going to stand in my way?" Chrom fought against the paralysis gripping him, but he couldn't move, couldn't even lift a hand to hold Robin back. She staggered towards him, her own balance beginning to give out... but she also raised her head up in defiance, glaring at Duran.

Duran glared right back at her, and how she wouldn't stick to her knees.

"Then I'll start with cleansing you from the line. It's more than you deserve." As he spat the words out, the torches around them flared to life. But instead of rising to the ceiling, the flames ran down the walls like a strange, oily and burning tide. They swept across the floor, converging on where Robin stood.

She howled in response as she wrenched herself all the way up. Her wings fanned out and shoved against the ground, pushing her upward. She was in the air for only a second, before she dropped out of it feet first as she fell towards Duran.

He didn't hold still, coiling up like a cat as his eyes flashed with rage and he showed his teeth. The mist around Duran solidified into solid wings, and with a push of them he leapt up to meet her. They crashed together in the air, flashes of talons tearing at each other.

Both of their claws tried to seek out the face or throat of the other, each time barely turned by a fast dodge or clashing off scales. Robin ducked her head and tried to snap her teeth at Duran's throat. Duran struck at her eyes, only to miss when she ducked her head. They collapsed to the floor, neither of their wings capable of keeping the roiling forms aloft. Robin crashed into the ground first, so hard that Chrom gasped out over the pain she must have been feeling-

But instead of letting the pain leave her motionless, she gathered her legs up underneath Duran and shoved them hard into his stomach. She threw him backwards, closer to where Chrom knelt. But then she couldn't find her feet, gasping for breath as the pain caught up with her. Duran flexed his claws, ready to leap across the distance and tear her throat out.

"You will not harm her!" Lucina's voice rang out, and she plunged forward. She slashed at Duran as she passed; not enough to hurt him, especially not with how the mad Exalt twisted aside just in time. Instead he cut into her, leaving Lucina stumbling, tripping, and then sliding along the floor as a cut opened up along her side. Her face was a mask of pain as she came to a stop against Robin, leaving a trail of red smeared along the ground where she rolled.

"Is that the most your strength can do?" Duran sneered.

But Lucina glanced up for just a moment, and a strange smile crossed her face.

Chrom and Duran both yanked their heads up at the same time to see a robed figure flying above, fire at his fingers and dark wings spread out to either side as he charged the spell.

Morgan sent the fire slamming down into Duran, as the man screamed in agony. The flames enveloped him completely, and Morgan slipped free of the air. He came to rest at Lucina and Robin's side, hands outstretched to both of them.

Chrom let his breath out when he saw that the cut in Lucina's side was healing, the scales knitting the flesh together. She wasn't going to bleed out after all. They were going to be alright-

A roar shuddered out of the flames, a melding of bestial howl and a man's anguished scream. The flames evaporated as something massive burst out of them, wings fanning the air and blowing hair back from everyone's faces. On the next wing stroke the pennants in the court room were torn free from their wall bindings.

'No-'

It couldn't be happening, it couldn't be happening again-

Another roar threatened to shake the throne room apart.

But there it was. A monster loomed over his family, hissing anger that promised a long screaming death for all of them. And he could do NOTHING as he watched. The crimson light blazed in the dragons eyes again, and the flecks and cuts in the beast's head made it look for a moment like it possessed six lights of eyes instead of two.

Not again. He couldn't stand by and watch it happen again, vision or not to his family.

Chrom shoved against the bindings of the spell as he watched. And-

And the aura around him sparked in response. Chrom let it grow; he couldn't let them fight alone.

'No matter what it takes. LET ME FIGHT.' He stared down at the Emblem... and then ripped it aside. The shield rang against the floor, impossibly loud. Even the dragon paused.

With the shield cast aside, the weight vanished from his body. Power surged through him, no longer held in check by anything.

Chrom glared up at his father, stepping forward. Flames sprouted up along his feet where he walked, leaving burning footprints in the red rugs. The fire swept up him, silver and blue as his form melted underneath it.

Before the dragon could do more than bare teeth at him, Chrom tore forward with a screaming roar all of his own.