Chapter 6

A/N: This is a very graphic chapter with description of war-related horrors. If this squicks or bothers you in any way, please skip to the following section. "Giant white coeurls surrounded Nyx.." I will be putting proper warning at the top of chapters that warrant it. Leave me a review if you'd like a summary of those chapters.

Also all underlined italic text was supposed to be "strikethrough" text but FF won't let me do it :(

Nyx warped behind a crumbled wall, his chest heaving in a vain attempt to catch his breath. Blood trickled down his cheek in a steady stream. His whole body shook in exhaustion, pain, and fear. The ruins of a town lay all around him. Niflheim airships further darkened the already-dark sky as daemons and beasts howled for blood.

Soldiers marched through every destroyed street, searched every ruined home, and checked every dead body leaving Nyx scrambling to stay out of their sight. Corpses, civilian and glaives alike, were sprawled everywhere. He hadn't been able to try to identify any of the glaives during his flight to safety, but the sheer amount of corpses in Kingsglaive uniform made him wonder if he might be the only survivor of the unit.

The thought wasn't something he wanted to even consider, but Nyx would not run away from the truth either. If there was no one left alive then he would find his King and protect him to his dying breath.

Still...

Nyx was determined to not give up hope until he'd scoured the town completely in search of a survivor.

The steady stomps of boots on blood soaked ground resounded all around Nyx, ticking down the time he had to escape with his life. He would not die here, he couldn't.

Not without taking revenge for everyone who didn't survive. Why was he the only apparent survivor?

Not without before returning to his King. This was a nightmare. It had to be.

Nyx was the hero of the Kingsglaive. Why was he always surviving impossible situations?

Those who died would not have done so in vain. It was the only thing he could do for them. Survive.

Pushing away the pain and exhaustion, Nyx looked around for a way out. The rooftops were out of the question with the bright lights from the airships illuminating them. The streets would be more discreet but it would mean not using his warping abilities to remain unseen. He was forgetting something but what?

Nyx wiped the blood from his eyes, peeked around the corner of the wall and ran as soon as he saw his chance. His boots, already blood-soaked and ripped from the fight, slid on the muddy ground and he had to slide to cover as he lost his footing over something solid.

As he caught his breath, straining to hear if the soldiers had seen him and were coming, Nyx glanced over to see what had tripped him.

He slammed a hand over his mouth to stifle the scream threatening to escape. Libertus' dead eyes stared back from the bodiless head he'd become. Nyx bit his lip as hard as he could a nightmare this had to be a nightmare as he jerked his gaze away.

Nyx couldn't allow this to break him. He was already broken. He had to continue on.

There was no choice.

He sent a quick prayer to Libertus' spirit, asking him forgiveness for being unable to give him a proper burial, before hurrying onwards. He'd come back with reinforcements and force those bastards to dig graves for their victims then themselves. It was a promise, Libs. No! No! No! This was all wrong! He should have died! Not Libs!

Scurrying from one hiding spot to the next like a rat, burying himself in mud to avoid detection and fighting against the urge to murder every Niff that crossed his sight exhausted Nyx more and more. Hiding away had No! Stop! allowed him to identify some of the bodies on his path to the Tower. When had it appeared?

Crowe burnt stumps in place of hands had been hung from a rafter while the jeering Niflheim commanders laughed. Pelna no eyes at all had been used as target practice. Luche torn then sewn together again had suffered at the hands of the Niflheim scientist until Nyx drove his kukris through his deamonized corpse. Selena mangled beyond recognition had been fed to beasts. Tredd, Axis, Ravus. All dead because of those bastards who believed themselves the rulers of Eos. Damn them! They'll pay for it! I'll kill them all!

As Nyx ducked into a partially-burnt house, he heard a deep growl from the shadows. He held his breath as several pairs of golden eyes stared at him.

Coeurls!

Giant coeurls of every possible colour surrounded Nyx, their golden eyes unblinkingly watching him from the various perches created by the damage of the attack. He slowly moved his foot back, ready to run at the slightest indication the coeurls were hungry.

A second slow step caused the coeurls to rise up, all of them moving as a single being. Coeurls? He had been doing something concerning coeurls hadn't he? Nyx shivered as the gaze went from watching to feral within a blink of his eyes.

No time to worry about the soldiers.

Nyx warped across the street, the roar of a Hunt echoing behind him, spurring him to run without restraint. He warped, then warped again, and again, until he stumbled straight into stasis with no distance having been gained from the hunting coeurls. Lightning still stung his heels as he swung over a wall in a desperate attempt to dodge one of them. Where were the soldiers? The airships? The bodies?

Nyx scrambled back to his feet, "Shit! Shit! Shit!" Claws scraped by his head, forcing him to warp again. A glance at his destination showed he was halfway there. Crowe? Libs? Pelna? Selena?

He could do this!

Nyx dodged the next attack and jumped through the open doorway, slamming the door closed just in time. It would buy him some time but not much. Determined to make the most of it, Nyx reached into his anger, grabbing every thread of energy it gave him and moved. From one door to the other, closing each one with a final slam, Nyx rushed to the Tower as lightning struck it repeatedly.

The door was right within his reach.

Nyx felt a hot breath against his neck then sharp overwhelming pain.

Noctis dodged the missiles, mentally swearing at the sudden disappearance of Ravus after the ledge collapsed. Between the sudden appearance of Niflheim's airforce and the apparent collapse of the Trial grounds trapping the candidates and Ravus, he was not having a good morning. With a click of his tongue, Noctis gave his orders to the Kingsglaives and Hunters.

"Evacuation teams! Concentrate on getting the civilians out of Cunabula. The rest of you, we're going to keep Niflheim from approaching the coast any further! Stay alive!"

Gladio was there as Noctis warped to the ground to escape another missile, his shield taking the hit and giving Noctis the time he needed to aim his next strike. "Don't get carried away Noct!" He warned even as his charge disappeared to reappear on top of a smaller carrier approaching the coast.

"Don't worry! I've got his back!" Prompto's voice was accompanied by several gunshots as he rushed forward to keep Noctis in sight. Gladio grumbled at their recklessness but, knowing they'd take care of each other, turned to focus and shoring up their defences.

Already the mages were starting some of the large area spells. "Aran! Take your team and set up walls to protect the mages! Aurora! Mateo! Fabian! Take your teams and spread out along the coast! Don't let any of the ships slip past us!" Order after order was sent out as more ships sent out their carriers, ready to drop off the army of soldiers waiting within.

The sky was already filled with warping bodies doing their best to take down the invaders before they could reach their families and friends. Lightning flashed through the foggy sky, illuminating the growing fog with the shadows of countless airships.

Noctis dropped back beside Prompto, swearing wildly as he watched his last lightning flask explode on top of an airship, destroying some of its missile launchers and guns but not taking it down. "Ifrit's ass! They must have reinforced the hulls somehow!"

Prompto didn't answer as he pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession. Three explosions rocked the side of the nearest carrier, sending it tumbling down into the raging ocean beneath. "They probably isolated the engine too, otherwise your flasks should have done more damage than that." They jumped apart as gunfire targeted them, Prompto reacting quickly to kill the gunman as he shouted, "Get back to Gladio and help the mages! They'll need to boost."

Noctis nodded and threw his Engine Blade towards the mages, reaching them in a few seconds. The air around them thrummed with the combined magical powers of a dozen mages. Around his neck, a frigid cold started to spread as the Ring reacted to the combined magic. Noctis reached out and grabbed the ring, contemplating for a brief moment slipping the Ring on only to dismiss the idea.

The strongest Mage King in ten generations took a deep breath and reached out to the nearest mage. Their magic, derived from his own, resonated with him. The air around them turned blue as the very air they breathed became charged with magic. The considerable magic in the air increased tenfold as Noctis linked each mage to each other and himself.

The spell was invoked moments later, the magic rushing outwards in a wall of fire and energy. The air trembled with the force of the explosion as it blasted away everything in a half-mile radius. Exhausted by the effort, Noctis dropped to a knee and looked at the suddenly clear sky.

The Sublimis Fuga filled the sky with its immense presence, surrounded by countless airships looking like bees buzzing around their queen. "Shit... This is going to be a pain to deal with." Noctis groaned as he pushed himself back up and summoned his blade. The battle had barely started.