Author's Note: This battle is a little less of a spectacle than the Lundgren fight. There are more forces at work, and it's harder to devote time to all the individuals when it's big like this. I'm still going to do my best on it though. Also, I'm sorry this chapter comes so late. My usual writing methods kind of failed me (Also Tales of Xillia 2, Kingdom Hearts 2.5 Remix, and Dragon Age: Inquisition might have had a hand in it) and it took me a while to finish. However, I finished the entire fic and will be uploading the last four chapters over the next couple weeks.

As for Mark, we'll just have to read and see. Please enjoy and review if you get a chance!

Chapter 29: Curtain Call

"Why… why doesn't anyone understand? All I wanted… was…"

Kent and Sain were amazed by the ferocity of Marcus. They knew him as the leader of Pharae's knights, but they had never had the pleasure of seeing him in action. He and Wallace worked together in perfect tandem. Wallace kept pace with the other's horse amazingly well, striking out with his lance or axe while Marcus turned and reared his horse with tiny movements of his feet, his sword and lance swinging and stabbing as they went.

Kent and Sain's own combination felt pale in comparison. The two covered each other well, much better than a few of the other cavaliers. Two had gotten their horses killed by axemen and were now fighting on foot, while another pair and sadly been killed by stray arrows. Kent's sword was a flash of movement as he parried sword, lance, and axe alike. Sain's lance was truly a boon, as Sain would always find a way to follow up on Kent's parry, finishing off the person attacking them before they could get a second strike. Even so, the bandits that fell before them paled to the knight commander of Pharae.

Marcus seemed able to use all three major weapons to his advantage. His sword and Lance combo made Kent jealous he had never been overly talented with the lance, while Sain simply preferred putting all his force behind one weapon instead of two. However, when one bandit managed to break the Knight's lance with a well-aimed axe strike, Marcus grabbed an axe strapped to his horse's side and swung it with ease, decapitating the offender. With Wallace, who chose to then focus on lance work, the two continued to cut a swath through the enemies.

Lucius, Erk, and Wil were leading the archer and magic troops quite well. Wil had managed to lead a contingent onto a high ridge, and the archers proceeded to fire a reign of arrows into the Bandits that chose now to come of the fortresses farther away, attempting to reinforce their fellows. The storm of arrows was then reinforced by the magic troops, who only had a handful of enemies left to mop up as the archery troops moved to the next target.

Erk seemed a capable teacher and director, informing certain members to use spells as distractions while others would be the true threat. Those who could use the lightning spell were directed to use it as a distraction, as lightning struck one spot with impressive force and created a blinding flash, while the fire users were to be the main artillery. They would use fire and elfire to burn the distracted bandits, finishing them off.

Lucius meanwhile acted as a guard for other mages. He would use his light spells to assist the lightning users, creating a brighter flash for more distraction, but he also took it upon himself to fight the bandits that got close before anyone could be hurt.

One bandit in particular had chosen to charge with his eyes closed, making him difficult to distract and more difficult to hit with spells. Lucius calmly offered a prayer to Saint Elimine before engaging the enemy himself. Shine, the Light tome he had upgraded to for the sake of this fight, helped him fight this foe to great effect. After dodging the axe strike with a side-step, Lucius unleashed the barrage of light bullets that exploded upon contact with his foe, dropping him instantly. "Forgive me for this taking of life." Lucius muttered, briefly clapping his hands together to offer a prayer.

Sadly, there was no time to pray for every loss as of yet, and Lucius quickly opened his eyes to follow after Erk, who led the team to the next area of battle.

"Commander, look out!" Rath turned just in time to put an arrow into the face of his oncoming assailant. The fight inside the fortress meant Rath and his team were having to contend with narrow corridors and an unknown number of enemies. His team was working together well, watching each other's backs even as they fought their own battles. The common area now was strewn with the bodies of the ones they had caught by surprise. Aside from the common area, there were still enemies coming from the stairs and from a side passage they had not gone through the first time.

The fight managed to move entirely into the common area which worked out the best for Rath and his team. Closing in around him and creating a small circle, his team allowed Rath to take the middle, aiming his shortbow between shoulders to shoot down enemies locked in combat with his men. It reminded him of his time in Araphen, where the men had come to respect him and his origins even if they themselves did not follow the same creed. It made him hope the Marquis truly had a change of heart after much reflection on his own faults.

People only become better when they acknowledge their own faults and seek to improve themselves. It was a saying of Sacae, but it's meaning had truly hit home after meeting Will, who sought to avoid the mistakes of his past, and in the process was creating for himself and others a new future.

The wounded flooded in even as the battle clearly went in the alliance's favor. Serra ran from patient to patient, ordering Nils and Ninian to help her on several occasions. Nils played his flute, keeping Serra's spirits up and even reaching the ears of those less injured, who encouraged the sole healer to tend to others before themselves. Ninian would tend to those cases, wrapping their injuries in bandages while a pair of soldiers would carry away those who could no longer be saved.

Will stood at the edge of their cliff, trying to look down upon the battle below, while avoiding looking to the fortress where he knew Lyn and the others fought the battle he wished he could fight himself. Orun's forces continued to clash against the main force of bandits, the losses on the Bandits side tripling their own. Without Mark himself leading the way, the bandits seemed unable to pull together a decent enough counterattack or plan to face down the vastly superior force. The numbers of the bandits was finally beginning to dwindle, and soon they would be decimated.

Her heard a cry from behind him, and quickly drew his sword as a shadowy figure flew at him form the bush. Serra's cry had alerted him just in time to defend himself, and the shadowy figure was quickly stabbed from behind by the soldiers on duty to protect them. "Thank you." Will said.

"No problem, master tactician." The soldier said with a bow. "I would advise you not to stand on the edge of that cliff so as to avoid drawing attention, but I understand your need to survey the battlefield."

"I'll be counting on you." Will said. "I need to keep watch a while longer just in case."

"Understood sir." The soldier said with another bow.

Will didn't like being referred to as a master, let alone of tactics, when others were much more deserving of the title, but he knew arguing the point was likely pointless. His strategy against Lundgren had somehow miraculously resulted in no deaths for their small group, a feat that many considered impossible. That alone would no doubt mark him as a figure to pay attention to from that point onward. Perhaps he could use that going forward, but he never liked betting on unknowns when he could avoid it.

Going forward… Will felt a smile come to his face as Lord Orun took down a particularly large bandit below. He had finally begun thinking about the future. Before, he had felt so swept up in events, so swept up in his relationship to the fang that he never considered what he would do afterwards. Now… the thoughts were few and far between, but they were present. He only hoped Lyn's team would bring this chapter to an end.

Matthew stumbled out of the way, barely avoiding Mark's blast of Flux, switching out with Lyn as she slashed at the man's dark robe. Mark gracefully dodged to the side, and ducked as Dorcas swiped at him with his axe. Florina's lance nearly caught the edge of his cloak as she followed upon Dorcas' heel, but once again the dark magic user seemed to dance out of the way. The fight had only just begun, yet none of the four had landed a single strike.

"To catch a snake, you must use a trap." Mark said, a blast of Flux hitting Lyn as she tried to close in for another strike, keeping her at bay. "But a slippery enough snake can't be caught, even by the best of trappers."

Dorcas grabbed at the man's cloak in a desperate attempt to get him to remain still, but Mark once more avoided this, unleashing another quick blast of Flux. Dorcas ducked just in time, but Mark's foot came up to meet his face, knocking him back.

Matthew threw one of his daggers, following up with a second swipe from his remaining dagger. The first dagger was batted aside by Mark, but the swipe resulted in the first true progression of the fight. It swiped neatly across Mark's left cheek as Matthew passed by, rolling to avoid the Flux spell that came his way in response. Mark felt his cheek as the cut began to bleed. He grimaced, before deciding to change his tactic entirely.

"Gespenst!" Mark shouted, several dark purple flames appearing all around him. They hovered menacingly above them for but a moment before Mark flicked his wrist, sending the dark fire hurtling their way. Dorcas grabbed Matthew, throwing the thief clear of it and took the hit, while Huey flew down from above just in time to shield Florina and Lyn, the white feathers getting severely burned, but protecting the two from harm. As Huey and Dorcas fell to the ground, Mark let out a chuckle. "That took far longer than it should have, but now I've cut your little team in half."

Lyn grimaced as she once more brought her sword to the ready, before charging in once more.

"They need help." Hector growled. His forces and Eliwood's had successfully pulled off their pincer maneuver without a hitch, and while Orun and Marcus were now taking charge of the troops as a whole, Hector and Eliwood found themselves apart from the main group. A quick report from Orun had informed the two of Will's strategy against Mark.

"Yes, you may be right." Eliwood said. He glanced to Lowen and Oswin, who were both battling bandits at the time and would not be of any use to them. "Loathe as I am to doubt Will's plan… shall we provide back-up?"

"You read my mind." Hector said. "Besides, that Mark bastard is mine."

"Just don't get yourself hit by his magic." Eliwood said. "You might not survive the blow."

"He won't get the chance." Hector growled, gripping his axe.

The Gespenst spell had done its work too well. Huey could barely stand, and Dorcas hadn't moved since taking the hit. Lyn didn't want to believe the worst, but she knew if they remained Mark would only target them to take out the remaining three. "Florina!" She barked. "Take Huey and Dorcas and get out of here! Matthew and I will manage somehow!"

Florina hesitated for a moment, but Matthew continued his barrage of attacks against Mark, retrieving the knife he had thrown and using it to keep up a continuous rein of blows that kept Mark too busy to unleash another Gespenst. When Matthew let up, Lyn swapped with him and changed the style of attack, from Matthew's quick swipes to elegant sword forms that kept Mark just within range. Knowing this was their one chance to save Huey and Dorcas, she lead the Pegasus over to the large man before barely managing to sling his arms over Huey's back. She quickly tied a rope around them, offering a silent apology to the large man for any pain she was about to cause him. Grabbing the reigns she led Huey away, Dorcas' legs dragging across the ground. She didn't dare look back, for she knew her desire to help Lyn would overwhelm the need to get Huey and Dorcas to safety.

"Hah! And now you weaken yourself even further!" Mark laughed. "It's as if you only know how to march blindly into situations you can't possibly win!"

"I was lucky." Lyn said as Matthew switched with her once more. "I knew nothing of the world, and you're right in I act before I think a good deal of the time. But I met Will. And Will, whether he knows it or not, gave me the chance to be something more."

"People love pretending like there's more to them then what they are." Mark said, managing a Flux that pushed Matthew away once more. "People are only masses of flesh and selfish desires."

"Selfish? Maybe." Lyn said, as she leapt in once more, slashing a hole in Mark's cloak at last. "I won't deny a lot of my wishes are selfish." She struck again, forcing Mark to block her with his gilded spellbook. "I wanted to save my grandfather. I wanted to save Florina. I wanted Will to believe in me." She struck again, and Mark found his footing destabilized as Lyn slashed through his spellbook with the glowing Mani Katti. "But Will gave those selfish feelings purpose. He helped me save a country. He decided to change himself, and that led to others changing as well. If anyone has shown what selfless actions can bring, it's him."

"It seems I still underestimated your ability." Mark said, as he threw his cloak aside. At his side was strapped a blade Lyn didn't recognized, but glowed with the same dark energy his spells gave off. "This spot will be your grave, witch." He drew the blade, revealing a longsword that glinted silver in the sunlight. The dark energy rose from its blade, and Lyn could tell a strange and powerful curse lay upon the blade.

"I will not give you that pleasure." Lyn said, as she dug herself into the Lorcan stance.

"Will!" Florina called, as she reached the hill where Will continued to stand, Serra and Ninian continuing to work on the wounded while Nils played his flute.

"Florina!" Will called in surprise, hurrying down to help her with Dorcas and Huey, leading the Pegasus over to Serra who performed some quick first aid on the Pegasus as two soldiers lifted Dorcas and placed him on a blanket. Serra then set to work on him, focusing on the severe burns that covered his chest and face. His arms also had heavy burns as well, but they were less important than the ones near his heart. Ninian ran off in a hurry to fetch some water to help.

"Mark is there." Florina said to Will. "I'm sorry, I wanted to stay, but Lyn told me to get Dorcas and Huey here for treatment. I didn't have time to think."

"No, you did the right thing." Will said. "The less casualties the better. Lyn and Matthew will keep Mark going, and I would send reinforcements, but…"

"But?" Florina asked, surprised that Will was remaining so clam about this.

"Reinforcements are already on the way." Will said. "I somehow figured those two lords wouldn't stay out of it, but I suppose I could have planned around it better."

"Those two…?" Florina asked, still confused.

"Florina! I need you to hold this!" Serra shouted, and Florina nearly jumped before answering Serra's call. "Keep this towel here while I heal him, we need to keep him from bleeding out."

"R-right…" Florina said with a grimace.

"You've been taking care of my subordinates, I see." Hector growled, as he stepped forth on the hill. Mark and Lyn had seen him and Eliwood coming, but neither had been able to injure the other in spite of their best efforts.

"And you are?" Mark asked, though he didn't particularly care about the answer. It was annoying to have these constant interruptions, and just when he had finally gotten that thief out of the way these two jokers showed up as reinforcements. Perhaps using the Taliver as his last line of defense had been a poor choice. Then again, Lundgren had gotten himself killed without finishing even one of Will's friends so he would've been an even poorer choice.

"Hector of Ostia." Hector said. "I'm going to kill you."

"Keep calm, Hector." Eliwood said. "If Matthew was defeated and Mark's still relatively unhurt he's not an opponent you can stop easily."

"Don't worry." Hector grunted. "I know just how to stop him."

Lyn leapt away from Mark's sword, and the three lords stood together, their weapons poised at the Dark magic user who laughed at their appearance.

"Don't let his sword hit you." Lyn said. "It's letting off a strange energy, and I don't like the feeling I get from it."

"Sacaen instinct?" Eliwood asked, his rapier held in front of him while his free hand was clenched behind his back.

"Human instinct, I would think." Lyn said with a small smirk. "You don't feel the same?"

"No I do." Eliwood said, glancing at the sword Mark held. "I heard he can use magic?"

"I slashed through his spellbook." Lyn said. "I believe that means he won't be getting off any more spells."

"Then we coordinate our attacks and bring this guy down." Hector said, his axe held in both hands as he centered himself for combat. "The three of us will bring this to an end."

The three lords charged, and split. Lyn took to the left, while Eliwood took to the right as Hector bore down on Mark straight on. His axe strike met with air, as Mark side stepped his attack. Mark's sword struck out but Hector brought his axe up in time to parry the blow.

Eliwood stepped in, lunging forward and stabbing at Mark's abdominal region. Mark parried the blow, but Eliwood had already withdrawn the thin blade and struck out twice more, one at each leg. Mark leapt back to avoid both of these strikes and barely knocked Eliwood's final strike away as he lunged forward, trying to hit Mark's head.

Lyn leapt into the battle as well, her fatigue all but forgotten as the Mani Katti flashed as she swung in arcs. Mark parried both attacks before swinging his sword in an arc at his feet. From the sword burst a dark energy that forced all three lords back and once more they had to regroup.

The second time Eliwood led the charge. He unleashed three quick strikes to the head, abdominal and groin before rolling to the side. Mark blocked all three strikes but found himself unprepared for Hector, who barreled into Mark without using his axe. The shoulder barge smashed the man into the ground, and Hector continued to run as Lyn followed up from behind him, raising her sword to deliver a fatal stroke.

Mark rolled the moment he hit the ground, already out of the way before Lyn's sword struck the earth. He lashed out with his sword once more, unleashing the dark energy from the blade upon the lords. He jumped to his feet and met Eliwood's rapier with his blade again, but the Lord's form was impeccable and the rapier was withdrawn before he had a chance to overpower the weakest of the three weapons.

Eliwood's Rapier was the thinnest, and easiest to break. Lyn's sword, despite being thinner than Hector's axe, glowed with a strange power that seemed to counteract the dark energies of his weapon. It seemed the most difficult to overcome, and the Witch had proven very adept at dodging his attacks just as he had dodged or parried her own. Hector's axe was the middle of the two. It was the easiest to dodge, but the most likely to kill him. If he chipped away at it, it would likely break, but the lord wasn't giving him many opportunities to attack the axe itself, and even with the dark energy of his sword he doubted he could down the heavily muscled lord in a single strike.

Mark swung his sword, calling upon the dark energy once more. This time it shot out a beam, which all three lords avoided by dodging to the sides. Mark winced as the energy emitted from his blade. He had been using too much energy in this battle, and it was beginning to draw upon his essence to use continuously.

"I think he's getting tired." Lyn whispered to the other two as once more they regrouped. "His movements have gotten a less crisp."

"Good." Hector said. "Then we keep on him until he breaks."

The lords charged once more. Lyn attacked in a three strike combination, with a left, right, and overhead strike. Mark blocked these three with relative ease, but Lyn's kick to his abdomen caught him off guard. The moment she had landed the kick she exited the scene, Eliwood and Hector taking over. For having such different fighting styles, the two worked exceedingly well together. Hector's axe came crashing down, breaking his guard and a sharp pain in his left arm told him Eliwood's blade had pierced his shoulder.

"AGH!" Mark shouted in pain, backing away. He clutched his shoulder, feeling the blood beginning to pour from that wound as well.

The dark energy from his sword burst forth once more, and this time the surprise of the attack managed to get him a hit. Eliwood's leg was caught in the blast, and he crumpled to the ground in pain, dropping his rapier. Hector roared and swung his axe, which Mark was still able to dodge with relative ease.

"Two left now…" He muttered to himself, using his sword to parry Lyn. The blood from his shoulder continued to pour as the dark energy coating his blade began to destabilize, sending bolts of energy into the air and ground around him. The two continued to fight as the energy crackled around them, Hector dragging Eliwood out of harm's way as Eliwood was unable to stand on his own.

By the time Eliwood was safe, Hector couldn't find a way back into the fight. Lyn and Mark danced inside a tornado of dark energy that exploded all around them, and how neither had been hit or affected was beyond him. He gripped his axe, grinding his teeth at his helplessness in this decisive moments.

As if his anger had summoned forth a miracle, a dagger flew in from the side, stabbing into Mark's side as the Mage failed to see the attack coming. Glancing over, Hector could see Matthew, panting heavily, with his arm still extended from the throw.

Mark began to topple over, the strength he had all this time leaving his body as he fell towards the ground. Desperately he struck out once more at the Sacaen warrior who barred his path. She dodged his blow and swung her shining sword in a magnificent arc, removing his arm from his body. He fell to the ground, his arm and sword landing several feet away. Now removed from its owner, the dark energy of the sword dissipated, vanishing into the late afternoon air. Hector brought his axe down upon the sword unceremoniously, breaking it clean in two. He didn't want to leave an unknown factor in play, now that he finally had the dastard where he wanted him.

Mark's breathing had become labored as he lay there, blood soaking the ground beneath him. His sword arm had been removed, and his other arm was now useless thanks to Eliwood's attack. He looked up at the Sacaen warrior, her blade poised to deliver the final blow.

"Step aside." Hector demanded. Lyn looked at him in surprise, but Hector stepped up to her and put a hand on her sword arm. "I said step aside. He's mine to kill."

"If anyone, Will deserves his head the most." Lyn said. "But I am not going to argue the merits of who deserves to kill a man."

"Give me this satisfaction." Hector said, a slight hint of pleading entering his voice. "I could do nothing for Maria, and you are the one who saved Will, the person Maria gave her life for. At least let me end the threat that took her from my service."

Lyn closed her eyes, lowering her blade before stepping aside. Hector nodded at the gesture, thankful to the Sacaen for her kindness. He stepped up to Mark, who did not even seem to see the Lords anymore. His eyes had become glazed, and he looked at the sky above as the clouds drifted across them.

"The world keeps on turning…." Mark said, "betrayals, death, loyalty and survival… none of it ever matters in the end…"

"Look at me." Hector demanded. The man continued to look into the sky, a strange smile forming on his face. "LOOK AT ME!" Hector shouted.

"Lord Nergal… destroy everything… return us to nothing…" Mark said, his voice becoming softer and his breathing more labored.

Hector raised his axe. He wanted this man to pay. More than that, he wanted this man to understand the pain he had caused, the lives he had ruined or changed through his actions. That was robbed from him, as the man seemed to refuse to accept reality as it was, and didn't look his way. The man continued to spout his gibberish as Hector brought the axe down to meet the man's head.

"It's finished." Hector said, pulling his axe from the fresh corpse. "And I don't feel an ounce better, damn it."

Will looked down upon the battlefield as Lord Orun, Marcus, Kent, Sain, Oswin and Lowen brought the last group of Bandits to their knees, before finishing them. After a long day and many worries he never thought he would have, the battle against the Taliver had come to a close.

"Ninian, get me bandages!" Serra called. "Nils, I'm sorry but try to keep that song of yours going! It's keeping a lot of these people from going over to the light! Florina, get that water bucket refilled!"

"Let me help." Will said, turning from the cliff. "It seems the battle has come to a close."

"Good, then hold this." Serra said, handing him a bloody cloth.

"I'm regretting this already." Will said, feeling slightly queasy at the sight of so much blood.

"Then get to feeling all the respect for me." Serra said. "Healers deal with this all the time."

"I've got the water." Florina said, returning from the nearby stream. "I'll start boiling it now."

"I'm going to get Nils a quick drink." Ninian said, handing the bandages over to Serra. She took a glass and filled it with water, hurrying over to Nils. Nils paused to moisten his throat for a few seconds, before returning to his playing.

As Will held the cloth on an open wound to quell the bleeding while Serra worked on healing it with her staff, he closed his eyes. Farewell, Mark. I know we never understood each other, and I never plan to try and understand you. Know that I will make this world a safer place, and if that means finding a way to discredit and destroy The Fang, I will do so. I'm not sure if Lyn has managed to defeat you, but for some reason I know… I will never see you again. Today is the Angels final call.