Into the Lich's Lair
Fenris and Fran had been traveling the dark passages of the Necrohol of Nabudis when they finally came upon a door that did little to conceal the dark power beyond it. The pair exchanged a brief look of affection and readiness, Fran tightening her grip on her bow while Fenris began changing into his lycanthropic form. They had faced virtually no resistance on their journey, the small Baknamy scurrying away at the very sight of the White Wolf walking their halls.
"I love you," Fenris said to his mate as he stepped forward and placed his hand upon the door.
"And I you," she replied as she joined him.
They pushed on the door, bracing themselves as a dense Mist poured through the widening opening. Fenris absorbed as much as he could to spare Fran from its effects; they couldn't afford to become distracted at the threshold of their prey's lair. Fran fought past the burning desire the Mist had begun to evoke in her since mating with Fenris, channeling the energy into rage and determination. The Mist abated as they finally forced the door completely open, their eyes going wide as they beheld the lair of the Lich. The Lich had made its lair within the old throne room of the once magnificent city, everything within rotting from the Lich's corruptive presence.
"Welcome to my home," it said in an echoing whisper as they entered, the door slamming shut behind them.
"Your dark reign ends today, abomination!" Fenris spat.
"I have always admired your tenacity, White Wolf of the Wood. I still remember the first time I saw you," it said with a chuckle.
"You were tearing through a swarm of Ceourl in wolf form, painting the Wood with their blood as you tore them apart. For every time their claws raked your flesh you killed one of them. It was a truly magnificent sight," it went on, a twisted smile creeping across its disfigured face.
"Then you know I will not stop until you lay dead at my feet," Fenris growled in response.
"We shall see," the Lich said as its eyes flared with an ethereal light, its gaze flicking to Fran.
"I have not forgotten you, daughter of the Wood. I first noticed you when you walked these halls many years ago, Hunting different things then. A pity all of your Hume friends have already passed by now," it said with another gruesome smile.
The Lich raised one of its hands, summoning five dark shapes. Fran gasped in horror as the dark forms took on the appearance of her old friends, even her former partner was among them. The familiar faces twisted into dark facsimiles of her friends as they all turned their attention to Fran, walking towards her with slow, menacing steps. She tried to take a step back, but the door was blocking her way. Her heart felt like it would burst as they got closer, whispering to her in her friends' voices.
"Come on Fran, there are still adventures to be had," she heard Vaan say enthusiastically.
"Yeah, Fran. Let's go," Penelo whispered to her.
"The Empire may be gone, but there's still plenty to do," Ashe said.
"There is much work, indeed," she heard Basch say.
"It'll be just like old times," Balthier said with his cocky smile, the voice and face of her former partner crushing her heart.
She was about to give in to the apparitions when Vaan and Basch suddenly exploded into smoke, Fenris now standing in the middle of the group in his feral state. Fran could see the Mist fires he used being channeled into his claws and fangs. As the phantom of Balthier reached a hand out towards her and Fran stabbed the wraith through the eye with one of her arrows, a feral snarl on her face as she snapped out of the Lich's trance. The Lich remained seated on its decaying throne as they tore the phantoms apart, its dessicated lips curling in a gruesome smile. It clapped as they finished off its summoned ghosts within the span of a few seconds.
"Most impressive. All before you have fallen to that simple bit of magick," the Lich said haughtily from its throne.
The Lich did not so much as flinch as a shard of bone embedded itself in the throne's back beside the fiend's head, the make-shift dagger having been thrown by an irritated Fenris. The Lich donned its twisted smile as it pulled the bone from its throne and dropped it to the floor.
"No more games. Face us yourself, Lich," Fenris growled at the creature.
"Very well. Let us see how well the two of you can entertain me," the Lich responded in an angry tone as it rose from its throne, the shadows around it following the dark creature as it descended the steps from the high throne.
Fenris ignited the Mist in his hands, launching a pair of fireballs at the Lich. The dark being dispelled the fiery orbs before they reached it, swearing as it narrowly dodged an orb of ice magicks thrown by Fran. The Lich's eyes went wide as the orb struck the far wall, creating a giant ice crystal that covered most of the wall's expansive surface. It turned to counter-attack, catching Fenris' burning fist with its face as it did. The fiend was thrown back into the ice created by Fran's magick, the second glacial orb striking the Lich in the chest as its body slammed into the first crystal with enough force to crack it.
Fenris covered Fran with his body as the Lich broke free, sending sharp fragments of the ice crystals hurtling in every direction with the dark blast it used to escape its icy prison. Fran screamed in pain as one of the shards grazed Fenris' side and embedded itself in her leg, the Lich's dark magick still attached to it. Fenris' vision went red as he saw his mate lying on the floor with blood seeping from the wound, turning his rage on the one responsible for her injury.
The Lich was given no warning as Fenris appeared before it, his body burning away from the Mist igniting within him. Before the dark ruler of Nabudis could react to his movements, Fenris struck it with a fist enveloped in crimson flames. The creature was thrown into the wall once more, cracking the dense stone with the force of the impact. The Lich was given less than a heartbeat to recover as Fenris continued his ferocious barrage, the powerful Mist-generated flames converting his body into a living entity of fire and rage. He snarled as the Lich struck him with a blast of dark magicks, fixing the creature with a gaze so filled with rage that the Lich felt fear for the first time since it left behind its mortality.
Fran gasped as the fires covering Fenris' body changed from crimson to white, though his eyes and claws retained their murderous shade of red. He roared his rage at the undead ruler of the Necrohol, shaking the destroyed city's very foundation. The Lich fired a volley of dark blasts towards Fenris, the ancient protector of the Wood nimbly dodging every burst of dark energy. He closed with the Lich as it continued to fire at him in a frantic attempt to preserve its own life, both knowing the dark being's efforts were in vain. Fenris was suddenly standing before the Lich, one of his burning arms shooting out to grab the creature by its hideous skull. Fran watched in awe as Fenris shoved his other hand through the Lich's chest, using both hands to tear its body apart.
Fenris roared his victory as the Lich lay at his feet, the body burning away as his white flames consumed all trace of the dark creature. Stones from the roof began to fall as his roar stretched out, the entire city shaking once more from the White Wolf's mighty cry of victory. Fran squeezed her eyes shut as a large stone fell from directly above her. She opened her eyes as the seconds rolled by and she only felt tiny bits of rubble falling around her. She opened her eyes to find Fenris standing beside her, his white flames creating a barrier to protect her from the debris. She cried out in surprise as he lunged to grab her, surprised to find that his flames did not burn her in the slightest; they were pleasantly warm to her, like a campfire in the cold of winter. He sped out of the falling Necrohol, reaching the outside world in the time it took Fran to blink. She watched in a daze as Fenris gently set her down before turning back to the crumbling Necrohol, the Mist from within being pulled into his hands as he created a massive sphere of white fire.
Before Fran could process his actions, she found herself standing beside him at the edge of the Feywood. A massive pillar of white fire exploded up from the ground where the Necrohol lay buried, all traces of the ruined city being burned away in the intense inferno. Seconds later, all that was left of Nabudis was a smoldering hole that went deep into the earth. She looked at her mate with a look of wonder, still amazed by the level of power he displayed at times.
"Let's go home," he said wearily as he returned to his Hume form.
Fran caught him as he pitched forward, the amount of power he had used having left him exhausted beyond measure.
"It is time I help you," Fran said gently as she lifted him onto her back and made the journey back to their home, worried that he hadn't moved the entire trip back.