Chapter 54: Blood Against Blood

"We may yet see this won." Say'ri rasped out. She crouched by Frederick's side and supported his shoulder, careful to keep her hands away from where Maribelle was treating his wounds. Nearby Sumia hovered, half like a worried dove watching over her mate, half like a hawk ready to claw someone's eyes out if they breathed at him wrong.

It served well enough as a reminder for Say'ri to keep her guard up. She scanned the remains of the battle field; broken banners and bodies littered the grass, but the clash of swords had gone quiet. The revenants were silenced as well, hacked to pieces and pushed back into whatever graves they'd crawled out of.

Say'ri turned her head from the battlefield, focusing on the fortress beyond. The gates had swallowed the Shepherds, and the stone walls shielded whatever was happening inside.

"I think-" she started to say, but never got to finish her idea.

Their only warning was a hissing sound; one that tore the air in two. Frederick yanked himself up, flinching from both the effort and the sound. Maribelle's scolding was lost in a strange rumble and groan, like the stones of the fortress were breaking apart-

Then the roof of the palace exploded in a gout of flame, throwing tile, brick and masonry all into the air like grains of sand carelessly tossed about. The flames whipped their way into the sky, twisting and crackling and glowing hot enough to melt the remaining rock of the castle.

Say'ri stood transfixed as the rubble flew past her, and cinders bit at her hair and skin. It wasn't just flames rising from the suddenly ruined palace; something else was twisting up out of the white hot heart of the fire. She could make out two figures locked together, their forms black. They lashed at each other with claws, their wings beating at the air as each tried to get above the other.

Two DRAGONS.

A great blue and black drake pulled itself up, flames sticking to his wings as he rowed for height. He kept the smaller dragon just underneath him, snapping whenever it tried to fly past him. The other dragon already had red splashed across its face and neck, running down the shimmering white and blue scales.

"It can't be..." Frederick whispered out, eyes fixed on the dragon. "Why did he change?"

Frederick tried to struggle to his feet with a pained noise. Say'ri turned the same time Sumia did, and forced him back to the ground.

"Sir Frederick, what are you talking about? Who is-?"

"That's Chrom." Sumia whispered out, looking between her husband and the dragons. Now the two aerial combatants locked talons and tumbled through the sky. They twisted around, the silver-blue dragon with Chrom's coloring pulling itself up and on top. A second before they crashed back into the palace, they broke apart. Their wings fanned the air, both dragons racing parallel over the ground.

The wind wash from their wings nearly knocked Say'ri over. She sank to her knees, ducking her head. But her eyes couldn't stop staring, locked to the great scaled beasts. The two dragons wheeled about, before rushing the other on thrumming wings. They met in a clash of scales and flames billowing from their jaws.

The red and blue flames washed over their forms, and Say'ri flinched from the impact. And she worried, over the amount of red glowing against Chrom's scales.

And wondered how even a dragon could be expected to fight against such a monster.

-o-o-o-

Heat. Terrible heat that threatened to melt skin from bone and replace it with scales. Robin winced against it, throwing her hood over her head to try and shield her face from the worst of it.

A pair of forms stirred underneath her, where they'd all been knocked prone. Thrown to the side by-

'There were wings. And roaring beasts, and-'

Dark shapes, in the heart of an inferno. White hot flames had sprung up and engulfed Chrom when he rushed his father. The two clashed together, and where the flames met a blinding brightness scalded Robin's eyes.

Then everything had turned to fire and the roars of dragons.

Robin blinked up at the ruined roof, her vision clearing. The blue sky was a balm against her eyes. Around them the building smoldered, flame and smoke both reaching for the blue overhead. And above that, two great beasts clashed in the sky.

The night-blue dragon slashed at one with brighter scales-

One she had seen before, years past. But that roar it let out couldn't be forgotten.

"Chrom…" Robin whispered, wincing when the black dragon raked claws across his throat.

"He can't win against Duran. Not like that." Just a glance told her he couldn't match up against the massive dragon, no matter what sort of power was gripping him. And those red eyes burned into her mind as Robin watched them.

Lucina stirred underneath her, unharmed by the explosion. Morgan's face was lit with flames and the glow of Gules, working overtime to keep their shape shifting in check against the fire. Robin drew herself away from them both, and the children tried to find their feet. Lucina still gripped Falchion in her half changed hands-

Robin's gaze caught on the blade, and she stared at it. Wondering.

-o-o-o-

The world turned to a whirlwind of earth and sky, something he and Duran were constantly caught between. He pumped his wings in an attempt to stay aloft, as he tried to remember which way was up-

And why he was in this shape. His thoughts kept trying to stretch thin, and tear his concentration to shreds in the process. But he had to focus; had to think like a person would instead of blindly lashing out. It wasn't easy… and it reminded him of the strangeness in his body. Of how heavy the scales on him were, how his hands were twisted into a shape designed to claw and slash, weighted by claws.

And none of those reminders lent him much in the way of speed.

Something his father was more than happy to exploit.

Duran's claws plunged into his back, too fast for his eyes to follow. The black claws hooked into scales and wing membrane both. With a swipe and wrench Duran sent him spiraling downwards, a spray of blood staining the air.

His shoulders screamed from the rents cut into them, shooting red into his thoughts and vision. Chrom grit his teeth, fighting down a growl that wanted to leak out. He had the feeling it would fray his mind even worse.

Instead, he turned his focus inwards, tensing every muscle in his back, and desperately tried to turn. With a wrenching effort he opened his wings all the way to catch the last bit of air, stopping short from crashing into the ground.

His feet lashed at the air, the webbing between the talons trying to find purchase in the air and push him back up.

From the roar above him, he knew Duran wasn't far off. He rolled to the side as a black shape barreled past him, black claws skimming over nothing. Chrom twisted away, wondering if he could close with Duran again and still expect to live.

But... the black dragon wasn't pursuing him. Instead it angled back towards the palace. Its burning red eyes settled on three figures still among the ruins.

His family.

It didn't matter just then; the ache of his wings, the tears in his sides. None of it did.

Neither did keeping his focus. Rage exploded through him and flooded his mind, and suddenly his body didn't feel ungainly or awkward any longer. Not when every ounce of it was thrumming with energy and focused on one thing.

Making his enemy bleed.

Chrom tore his way through the sky, matching Duran's roar with a furious scream of his own. He dropped out of the sky like a falcon, claws spread wide. Duran was feet from his family, smoke boiling out of his jaws and sticking to his scales.

The other dragon paused, twisting its head towards Chrom's scream. The red eyes widened and flame shot from his jaws. It slammed into Chrom's chest, his scales stretching from the heat or shriveling at the edges. But despite the pain, the fire didn't pierce deeper than the skin. His heart still pounded, matching the frenzy of his pulse.

Duran breathed another shot of flame at him. In answer Chrom snapped his jaws around his father's mouth. His teeth dug in, tasting blood on his tongue and pinpricks of stray flame biting at the roof of his mouth. His claws hit home next, slashing into his father's flanks and back.

'See how you like this.' His thoughts snarled, and the rest of his weight slammed full force into Duran. The other dragon writhed under his talons and teeth, tried to churn his wings, but the force of the impact tore him from the air.

Air whistled past their horns, the path of their fall going diagonal. He caught the blurred faces of Robin and his children below, whipping past in just a blink.

A remnant of the castle walls waited for them. Chrom braced himself, while Duran tore his jaws free. He shrieked at Chrom, lashing teeth towards his throat, blind to what they hurtled towards.

The impact stopped Duran's strike short, driving breath and strength from his body. The stone exploded around them, turned to dust from the force of the attack.

Duran took the brunt of the blow, breath driven out in a sharp hiss. His fangs clashed uselessly off the side of Chrom's neck. His wings crumpled, one of them bent in broken angles. A section of his ribs were caved in, the flesh fluttering in ways it wasn't supposed to.

Chrom didn't know whether to go sick or roar in triumph over the sight. His opponent was felled, and he was triumphant. He-

A claw caught Chrom across the jaw, drawing blood and making his vision go red from rage. Something still moved through Duran. Still kept him breathing and fighting when by all rights he should have laid down and died.

Heat built in Chrom's chest, scalding his lungs and heart. A breath rattled through his throat, growing in heat until it ripped its way out of him. The blast of fire caught Duran full across the face, forcing the dragon to turn its head and expose its neck. Chrom lashed out with his claws, tearing at the scales. Under his claws the flesh peeled away from the onslaught of fire and talons. He opened rents along the throat, but still couldn't reach the killing blow.

Each strike made a little more rage settle into his brain. Made his vision narrow that little bit more.

'Nothing else matters.' The thought hissed through his brain. Only the fight, and the chance to burn this blight off of the world.

-o-o-o-

Lucina spared a moment for self loathing.

Just a moment, but enough to scold her limbs for locking up, her heart for faltering.

It wasn't Grima she was facing. No matter what those scarlet eyes reminded her of, or the night blackened scales. Robin kept herself between Lucina and the fight, for all the good Robin's own half-human frame would do against such beasts.

'Stop it. Don't think like that. You MUST find a way to win this.' She snapped at herself, and found her way to her feet. A grip tightened on her unscaled wrist, and Lucina looked over to see Morgan do the same. His palm sweat, his fingers shivering even worse than hers, eyes locked on the thing Duran had become.

"That's… that looks like-"

Duran writhed against the stones, fangs clashing in the air. Chrom turned his head aside, dodging another blow that would've taken his throat. Yet he wouldn't break from the beast. A mad glow seemed to be settling into Chrom's eyes, one that made Lucian's stomach roil.

"I-I know." Lucina tried and failed to keep her voice steady. She swallowed and tried again. "…Did he strike a bargain with Grima somehow? He said something like that, getting power from dragons-"

And she could think of nothing else that would grant such powers. Robin turned back at Lucina's words, and there was a desperate look in her eyes. She was trying to make a plan, Lucina knew. Though just then, all Robin's eyes could do was rest on the blade in her clawed hand. Lucina followed her gaze-

And she swore that in the smoldering ruins, the blade gleamed sharper than before. The teardrop shape was still worked into the blade thanks to Tiki-

And she swore there was a pinprick of blue light, gathering in the blade.

Naga's time spell had whispered something about that, once. When she first cast herself into the spell portal, hearing the scream of a dragon behind her and spurring her on.

'Trust your blade; it will light the way at each cross road of fate. Use it to carve a new path, and protect those dear to you.'

It was a blade that could slay dragons. Even in such a state, Lucina was certain that was still the case.

"I-I think I know what it is you're thinking." She told Robin. "And if you have a plan to get me close, I'm ready to try."

-o-o-o-

Morgan stumbled after his mother and sister. There'd been a rushed and whispered conference that he only caught a few words of. Panic wanted to sink into his brain with each shriek from the black dragon. But his feet still knew how to move, yanking forward on reflex when he saw Robin and Lucina charge. With each step his shoulders and back ached, further blurring his focus.

Who knew that a first flight could take so much out of someone.

'Come on, keep up!' He urged. The limbs growing out of his back gave an experimental flex… and his back threatened to bunch up and send him slamming face first into the ruined floor.

'So flying is out for now. Ok, ok, but what else can you do-?' There had to be something. The way that dragon screamed, the fight was far from over-

And he didn't want to look too closely at the two creatures fighting. One of them looked too similar to the thing that lingered in his nightmares. The other… it was hard to believe that was his father, beneath the scales and fangs.

Was it just his imagination, or were the strikes the two dragons traded becoming more and more savage?

Maybe it wasn't just him; Lucina stopped her charge, freezing when the blackened dragon scored a hit along Chrom's crest and forehead. The silver and blue scales turned red, and Chrom dropped his head as blood flowed over those burning blue eyes.

Duran slammed his tail and back legs into Chrom's side, pitching him over. The silver blue scales screamed from the friction against the stonework. Each one was like a tiny flint, scattering sparks as Chrom slid across the floor.

The dark dragon coiled up, ready to pounce on Chrom's prone form. Robin and Lucina were forced to scatter to the sides, breaking off their attack-

'Not so fast.' Morgan narrowed his eyes on Duran. His sister had gone toe to toe with him, once before. He could swallow his own fear and do the same. Morgan drifted his hand back down to the spell book at his side, trying to dim the panic coiling about in the back of his brain… and focus on something else.

That faint hum of power was still with him, barely dimmed from all the battles in Valm since the first landfall. Just waiting for him to draw on it again, and turn into a spark. Morgan scowled at Duran, watching the dragon take a deep breath and prepare to light the air with fire-

Morgan snapped his fingers, his clawed hand tearing open the book pages and letting the spell script flow off the text. The air around Duran was already charged with magic, and caught Morgan's spell like tallow. The air turned to a gout of flame, lashing out faster than even his mother's lightning. An explosion rocked the air, shaking a few more bricks free from the ruined walls. Duran shrieked, the scales on the side of his face withering or shredded completely from the flare of magic.

The dragon's head flinched down, and the flames dried in his jaws. Lucina took a shaky step towards her target.

"Go for it! You've got your opening!" Morgan shouted out, dropping the spell book before he was tempted to cast another spell.

'There's PLENTY of things on fire already, after all.'

Lucina jolted forward at his words, closing with Duran. With the dragon holding its head close to the ground, her target was in easy range; just a lunge and a leap away, which Lucina easily made.

The gouges Chrom had torn into the neck were like a red tinged beacon, an easy target for Lucina's blade.

Falchion caught in the dragon's wound, and the creature thrashed hard enough to level another remnant of wall. Lucina clung onto the sword, refusing to get thrown and planting her feet in the dragon's neck. Duran writhed under the blade, lashing his head back and forth to keep Lucina from driving Falchion any deeper-

His neck crashed against a ruined wall, and Lucina's breath left in a pained gasp. Her hands fell from the blade, leaving it wedged in his neck as she fell to the ground.

Morgan looked up to see the last bit of humanity vanish from those crimson eyes, leaving behind a monster in its place. One that would gladly tear them all to pieces, and then burn the battle ground until only ash remained.

He couldn't let that happen.

…Neither could Chrom. He'd picked himself back up and cleared the blood from his eyes. He charged forward, crashing into Duran and meeting him chest to chest. The two dragons snapped and lashed, trying to get the other to fold.

The dragon's wings fluttered, scattering blue streaked shadows over the ruined stonework. Each lash of the wings, and the partition between wane sunlight and sky-tinted shadows changed.

Chrom's wings gave another churn-

And something glimmered amidst the stones.

Morgan froze in his tracks, eyes searching for that brief shimmer of light.

"Wasn't that-?" He forced himself to steady his breath. Not to panic or rush things, no matter the screams and roars that cut at his ears. He just had to approach this like Mother, consider and analyze everything he could-

Morgan tilted his head just slightly, and the glimmer sprung back to life. His eyes blinked against the glare of the gold, before focusing a broad shape settled on the floor.

"The Emblem!"

Morgan found his way next to it, and his hands snatched it up, heedless of how hot the metal was. The dragon fire had blasted it… but Gules still burned at his neck, making it no more uncomfortable than sticking his hands in hot water.

He had it in his hands… now what was he supposed to do?

A snapping sound made him wince; it sounded uncomfortably like breaking bones, and the wet tearing noises that followed didn't help with keeping his own stomach in line.

Duran twisted free from Chrom's charge, and his wings beat at the air… heedless of how one of his wings was a broken, bloody mess. It still churned the air… and impossibly still found traction, a touch of magic in the shed blood giving Duran height.

And that was taking him well beyond Morgan's spell casting range.

Rage gave Duran's eyes an extra glare of red, and when he opened his mouth scarlet flames glowed in the back of his throat. The madness in his eyes showed that he was ready to bathe the ruins in dragon fire.

Chrom lunged upwards in answer, barely turning his head as he took the blast of fire-

And Morgan dreaded the blaze in his eyes; it was only a shade lesser than the mad glow that lurked in Duran's gaze. But still he fought to close with Duran again.

'Oh gods.' Morgan swallowed, throat gone dry. 'He doesn't care if he lives or dies now… just that he finishes his enemy.'

The Emblem pulsed in his hands as the dragons wrenched themselves skyward; he swore something in the shield was reaching out to Chrom. Morgan clutched the Emblem close, his own scales shrinking from his hands.

'This could help Father… But how can it reach him-?'

The wash from the wings stirred a hot breeze, and the winds tangled on a dark cloak. Morgan's eyes snapped to where Robin stood, the feathers on her wings still bristling as she stared up.

"MOTHER!" His voice cracked with how dry his throat had gone, but Robin still heard. She turned to him, and froze when she made out the Emblem.

Her reflexes were still sharp enough when he threw it to her, however. The shield sliced through the fires, landing easily in her palms. And while she winced from the heat, her eyes had taken on a sharp focus.

She crouched for one second. And then lunged skywards as well, following Chrom.

-o-o-o-

His thoughts were going murky, wispy and hard to focus at the edges. The only thing he was certain of was the wind under his wings, and the need to make the other dragon stop. Stop fighting, stop breathing.

"-rom!" A faint voice reached him, fighting to be heard over the song of the wind.

"-hrom!" It came again, in a more familiar voice, and the stirring of wings in the air. "Chrom, come on! Don't get lost to this!"

A glimmer of something golden caught his eyes.

The hissing from his opponent went dim. As did the pounding of blood in his head. Even the shriek of the wind turned into little more than a whisper.

He turned his head.

Robin's wings were a fragment compared to his. But still she flew on them, clawed her way up through the air. Her eyes glowed red with their own fire, and stayed fixed on him. And in her hands-

'That's the Emblem.'

Chrom managed, his thoughts lurching back into a human shape.

Duran shrieked at him, fangs drawing blood from the side of Chrom's face. Pain flared in a long stripe… but he didn't retaliate. Didn't sink back into the same frenzy as what gripped his father.

Instead he waited, and looked.

Falchion was still caught in the dragon's throat, half driven in. A single gleaming claw of metal. Chrom stared at it, a faint idea catching alight.

"Catch!" Robin cried out, and flung the shield to him. He untangled from Duran, catching the Emblem in his claws. At the contact, his head cleared completely. And a plan took shape.

He folded his wings and let himself fall. The dragon screeched in rage as he retreated, giving chase to him. Chrom let gravity take over, guiding him all the way down as his claws tightened around the Emblem. The magic spread over him, soothing his wounds and the fire raging through him. His form faded in and out, until he found himself falling freely through the skies... as himself. No scales, no claws or wings.

Robin mirrored his fall, a few feathers yanked loose and drifting in the sky. But still she plunged, eyes wide as the dragon shrieked behind them but keeping her gaze fixed to him. She held a hand out to him, and with shaking fingers he took it.

"Hurry, we've got to-!" She was trying to get him out of the path and the fall. To retreat.

And there was no way he could afford to do that. Maybe he'd lost the dragon shape, but his blood still burned. His father- his enemy still drew breath. And Chrom wouldn't retreat from him again.

"Think you've got enough strength to give me a shove in the right direction?" He shouted, a shriek from Duran trying to steal the last of his words. The dragon surged after them, heedless of the fall or how hard the ground looked.

"A shove-?" Robin stared at him. The wind whistled in their ears and blew her hair aside, a warning at how little time they had left to finish this.

"Or a throw!" Chrom yelped out, only breathing when his words and idea clicked into place. He saw it in how her eyes darted back to Duran, coiling his neck so he could snap it back out and catch them in his teeth. His blood almost black, but forming an efficient target. Robin took it all in, and managed a nod. He slid his hand into hers, fingers shivering as they clutched at her palm.

All while the earth sped closer. Chrom forced himself to take a deep breath, slipping an arm into the straps of the Emblem.

"Now!" Robin's wings snapped out, the wind shrieking through the black feathers and yanking a few more pinions loose. She spun in the air like a dancer, dragging him along in her grip. Duran couldn't veer out of the way, and she flung Chrom straight at him, before flitting out of the way.

Duran's bloody gaze focused only on Chrom, ignoring the blur that was Robin. Instead the draconic head snapped out like a serpent making a strike. Trying to close its jaws around Chrom.

Something in him screamed to meet that strike and lash back, just like before. Not to flinch or shrink away-

'To fight like a dragon would… or like my father WANTS me to fight.' Chrom realized with a lurch. He twisted in the air, his cape flaring around him. Duran's jaws snapped at empty air-

And a shredding sound tore at Chrom's ears. He glanced back to see the ragged remains of his cape snapping against his back. The rest of the white fabric was caught in Duran's teeth and staining red.

He could make out Lucina and Morgan beyond the fragments of cloth, scrambling out of the way.

'Better hurry up.' He snapped a hand out, fingers scrapping along the scales of Duran's neck before they crashed into something hard. Cold metal bit at his skin, and a sword hilt filled his fingers.

He snapped a hand around Falchion, hanging on for life and limb. Duran's eyes still followed him, and the dragon tried to twist its head around. Trying to crush him between the jaws.

Chrom only glared back, and braced as the ground filled his vision. The dragon crashed into the ruins, his shoulder pressing a crater into the floor with a last crunch of bone. The impact rattled his teeth, burned through his legs where they braced against the dragon's neck… but still he held on. He let his weight and the momentum press down on Falchion, driving the sword clean through Duran's neck.

The dragon screamed a long howl, head thrown back. Fire blazed all around its jaws, coursing through its throat with such an intensity that Chrom knew it was burning the remains of his father inside and out.

Chrom tightened his hand around the Emblem, holding it up as dragon flame lashed out of the creature's mouth and tried to envelope them. It shot out from either side of the Emblem, almost burning his skin and singing his hair. Chrom hid behind the Emblem and kept a desperate grip on Falchion.

At last, the flame died. Looking up, he saw the dragon slump to the ground. The fire at last fading from its throat as its last breath rattled out.

'Dead.' The red leaked out of its eyes like blood from a mortal wound. It didn't revert back to his father's form, nor burn. Instead, Chrom's foot sank into the flesh as it crackled and crumbled. The night blue scales turned to gray, going dry and fragile. Chrom staggered away from the corpse, falling flat on the stones as the dragon turned to a pile of ash. Falchion fell away with him, ringing on the ground.

"Chrom...?" Robin whispered his name. He blinked his eyes free of smoke and soot, turning to see her leaning over him. Her hand pressed to his back, and she held him half up from where he'd fallen. Her other clasped around his-

His hands. He had to remember that he was back in human form, as was she. Only a few fragments of feathers danced in the air around them.

"I'm beginning to understand why Aunt Lissa is so impatient with you. You've a habit of throwing yourself into peril at a moment's notice." Lucina's voice reached his ears, and Chrom pulled himself up to look at her. She knelt next to Robin, holding his other hand.

She didn't so much as glance at Falchion, her eyes only relieved that both her parents were still drawing breath. Morgan stood a little ways away, gathering his breath back.

"We... we finished it? We won?" Chrom finally rasped out.

"YOU were the one who landed the killing blow." Robin answered him. "Though through no small amount of help from everyone else. But... yes. Duran is gone."

And he took plenty of answers with him, Chrom knew. A shiver worked through him, as he turned to the pile of ash where a dragon once was. It was a gray pile, motes of the stuff getting carried away by the wind. The only sliver of color that remained was a faint green light, half buried underneath the soot.

'That… that's a gemstone. No wonder he'd managed to tap so much power.'

At least they were all alive. The shaking in his arms and the hard breaths from his family were all testament to that. And just then, gathering his wits and humanity back, that was all Chrom could ask for.