Brave: The Stones of Fate

by SkyGent

A few months after the witch's spell had been broken, things were finally returning to normal in the Scottish Highlands. Although Merida has yet to find her knight in shining armor, things change when a mysterious visitor shows up. Secrets will be revealed, bonds will be formed and patience put to the test as our heroine tackles the challenges that fate continues to throw at her

14. Set in Stone Pt 3

Last time on The Stones of Fate...

The Battle for the Highlands begins! Spiros, Merida and the Clans launch a full scale attack on Castle DunBroch in order to take it back from Rebel hands after the Triplets cripple the massive Omegasevrian Warship that looms over the battlefield. Now, after convincing a handful of Rebels of the real enemy, The Horned King and Balor, Merida and Spiros fly to the airship to kill Balor. All the while, a united Scottish Army, combined with reinforcements and a group of Vanguards summoned by The Infamous Woodcarving Witch prepare to face off with the full might of The Horned King's army.

It is time my friends, for the epic conclusion to:

Brave: The Stones of Fate!

...

Chapter 14

Set in Stone

Part 3-One Last Dance

Visilis pulled up alongside the flaming section of the airship as strange insect like creatures scurried up and down the metal grate catwalks that ran along the the sides of the gargantuan ship.

They were thin and clad in copper armor. They had spindly set of four arms and two legs. a pair of papery wings sprung out from their back upon sighting our heroes. They had four miniscule milky white eyes, which showed no signs of being able to see anything. On their arms were devices that looked liked clawed flame throwers, except the top pincer was elongated and resembled a short sword of sorts or maybe a bayonet.

Spiros and Merida hopped off the Griffin's back onto on nearest catwalk, and the creatures clacked their mandibles together and hissed upon sighting them.o

The Vanguard drew his sword and sprinted forward, cutting the insect in two at the chest. Merida turned around as a stream of fire shot by her, notching an arrow and shooting her attacker in the head.

The humanoid insect fell off the catwalk, flailing through the air as it fell.

"Lets get inside!" Spiros shouted over the wind, gesturing to the doorway that was a few feet away, up a small flight of stairs.

The duo started going up the stairs when Omegasevrian Officer leaped down from the top of the Princess notched another arrow and fired, but firing into the high winds, the arrow was sent spiraling out of control and flew away in the opposite direction.

Spiros raised his shield the block the officer's downward strike, and succeeded. With he a grunt he threw the heavy armored creature back over his head in an effort to toss him off the ship. The Officer, however, lodged his sword into the shield's surface. Now he dangled off the side of the catwalk, threatening to take Spiros over the edge with him.

The Vanguard tried to pull his arm back up to undo the shield's arm straps, but he couldn't manage, the weight was too much.

"Cut it!" He told his friend.

She quickly whipped out her knife and cut the leather straps, allowing the Officer and the shield to fall from the ship.

The vanguard cursed and swore at the sight before continuing up the stairs as Visilis broke away from the ship and dove towards the lake.

...

Spiros walked through the narrow steam filled passages directly behind Merida, who had an arrow notched and was ready to fire at a moments notice.

"I thought I saw Wee Dingwall down there." She blurted out.

Her companion didn't seem surprised by the statement.

"That happens to me a lot." He told her.

"How often?"

There was a pause.

"Too often."

She nearly yelped as she stepped on something, the object rolled around under her foot almost causing her to fall.

Spiros picked the object up and examined it.

"What is it?" Merida asked, struggling to see in ship's dim interior light.

A small fire formed in the palm of her friend's hand, he held the object up to the flame before quickly extinguishing it.

"It's an unexploded ballista warhead." He told her.

"How'd it get this far into the ship?" She grumbled.

"It probably came in through a hull breach, bounced around in here before coming to a rest on the floor." He reasoned.

"Could it still blow up?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, there's still some blast power leaking out of this thing."

The Princess grinned devilishly.

"On our way out, we need to set if off. See if we can bring this monster down from the inside."

"Good thinking, keep an eye out for more." The Greco told her.

The two continued on their way through the bowels of the ship.

...

Castle DunBroch was surrounded, its defenders had fallen back behind the walls in an effort to conserve their numbers. Fa Zhou ordered the bulk of the remaining force back to the castle's main building to set up a last line of defense while he and his fellow Vanguards sought to hold back the enemy's advance. They were joined by The King and Queen, The Witch and her Raven, Aaron, Young Macintosh, the Clan Leaders and a handful of brave Scotts.

"We have to hold them here." Issac grumbled.

"Merida and Spiros better work fast, we can't hold these guys off for long." Kekoa muttered.

"They won't let us down." Aylin told her comrades.

A group of Omegasevrians charged them.

"Prepare for combat!" Seona shouted.

Issac charged the first Omegasevrian Officer he saw, greeting him with an axe to the face. The warrior grunted and through the officer aside as a simple trooper jumped onto him. The young man snarled, grabbing his attacker by the neck and throwing him down onto the ground in front him before delivering a chop the neck with his axe.

Young Macintosh was knocked onto his back by his opponent, who raised its sword to attack when Kekoa came to his aid from behind, pole-vaulting over his fallen comrade and kicking the Omegasevrian in the chest. The warrior howled and fired its crystal slinging crossbow as the vanguard twirled his staff around, deflecting all of the incoming projectiles. Macintosh got up and attacked the creature while it was reloading, as Kekoa heated his blade with a stream of fire, he chopped one of its arms off before running the warrior through.

To their right, Fa Zhou came out of a roll that sent him between an Omegasevrian Officer's legs. He sprang out of the roll with his sword coated in magma and cut the officer in two, right up the middle.

"Hey, Zhou!" Aylin called, firing a bolt of dark energy at a group of Omegasevrains. The bolt exploded over their heads and turned into a vortex darkness the sucked the lot of them in.

"Yes?" He replied, cutting down another officer before turning and dispatching his underling with another precision strike.

"How's your daughter doing?" The girl asked.

"Ah yes, my little Mulan. A month old as of a few days ago, can you believe it?!" He exclaimed, locking swords with an Omegasevrian.

"Time flys doesn't it!" She shouted, punching an Omegasevrain in the head with a electrified fist before driving her sword into his side, forcing him to the ground and making him shoot his Officer in the head with his crystal throwing crossbow.

"Indeed!" He replied, kicking his foe in the chest with a stone boot before rolling backwards as his adversary tried to take his head off before popping back up and delivering a kick to the head that dropped his opponent.

"Warbeast!" Lord Macintosh yelped.

"Attack!" Lord MacGuffin snarled.

Lord Dingwall charged the creature.

"YARRRGH!"

"Bring it down!" The Witch instructed a group of crossbowmen before leveling her staff at the creature.

"Concentrate your fire!" Aaron told them.

Crossbow bolts and arrows filled the creature's hide, but it stumbled forward swiping its claws at a group of soldiers and sending them flying.

"Hit its joints! Its joints lads!" Fergus told his troops.

They started hitting the beast in its knees, slowing down its advance.

Issac and Fa Zhou attacked the creature from either side, chucking stone chains at it in an effort to restrain either of the creature's arms. It snarled and barked at the Vanguards, still fighting viciously.

Lord Dingwall snarled and picked up a spear from a fallen rebel, throwing it into the beasts chest. The man then waved his sword at the beast.

"Come on! Try and kill me!" He shouted, hopping to distract it from the Vanguards who had managed to restrain its arms, only for the monster to break free.

It charged Dingwall, who stood his ground as the monsters's maw opened to swallow him whole. He shouted angrily, ready to drive his sword into the creature's innards if he was to be eaten.

Then, he felt something pick him up by the back of his armor and throw him out of the way. The beast snatched up Lord Macintosh by the torso, before throwing him across the battlefield and into a pile of rubble.

"Dad!" His son shouted, running to him. Lord Dingwall got up and followed.

They found him with terrible wounds to his torso, the hard landing in the rubble hadn't done him much good either.

"What did you do that for?!" Dingwall shouted.

"Your son would want you to live." He replied, grabbing his friend by the shoulder.

Dingwall felt his eyes begin to sting. He knew this was the end.

"Vailean, my son. Look after our clan. Stay strong for them be a better leader then I was and improve the relationship between with the others. If our people are to survive this storm, we must remain united. Do not let our people spill each other's blood again."

Young Macintosh shook his head and took his fathers hand.

"That's your job."

"It was, but...now it falls to you...Lord Macintosh."

He took a shaky breath and his hand went slack.

Vailean didn't know what to do, so he called for help.

"SEONA!" He screamed as a sharp whistling filled the air.

She turned after killing an Omegasevrian, having seen what happened and assumed the worse.

"Coming!" She told him, running towards her friend as the ground started exploding around her.

"Vanguards, fall back!" She told her comrades after realizing they were being bombarded.

Then a deafening BOOM signaled to her that a round had landed a little to close and she was sent flying through the air before landing hard on the ground. Her vision narrowed and her ears rang as she tried to stand up.

The Warbeast that killed Lord Macintosh was loping towards her.

...

An Omegasevrian officer ordered the gun crew to continue firing on Castle DunBroch when the door behind him flew off the hinges, cracked him in the back of the head and send him flying off the gun deck.

The gun crews readied their weapons expecting a small army to lay siege to their positions. Instead two young warriors surged out from the ships interior and out onto the gun deck. A large angled platform protected by an retractable overhang which would be pulled inside the ship when not in combat.

Spiros froze the floor as Merida charged forward, after building up enough speed she allowed her self to slide along the path her friend had created, sweeping past the gun crews and picking them off one by one. Most of the personnel were the same species as the insect like creature they had encountered when first boarding the ship.

These Drones were easy enough to deal with, their armor wasn't nearly as tough as the kind their superiors wore and it was clear they weren't used to combat. More then likely, they were more suited to maintaing the ship.

As the Princess reached the far end of the gun deck, she slid to a stop and turned around to see Spiros mopping up. He slashed at the ship's massive ballistas, rendering them useless with a swipe of his super heated blade.

...

On the bridge, an Drone ran in and began speaking to Balor using a series of clicks, slurps and chirps.

"One of our gun decks?! Out of action!?" He snarled.

The insectoid nodded nervously.

"How did the Scotts get such a sizable force on board this ship?!" The god barked.

The Drone had had no answer.

"How many are there?!"

He told him.

"Two?!" He snapped realizing who it was before shoving the creature aside and turning to the two Omegasevrian guards behind him.

"Notify your commanding officer of the incursion, immediately!" He ordered.

The two ran off.

"FIND THEM!" He screamed.

...

Merida emptied the last of the blast powder onto the neat little pile they had created.

"All set!" She told Spiros, dusting off her hands.

"Ready?" He asked her.

"Oh yeah." She replied.

The two ran backwards off the gun deck and as Merida fired an arrow into the blast powder, Spiros lit the arrowhead ablaze.

The duo fell away from the ship as the gun deck exploded, tearing a hole in the hull and starting a massive fire. Spiros whistled sharply and within a minute or so, Visilis came swooping down from above and after a few spins was able to snatch them up.

"Up up up!" Spiros told him.

The Griffin climbed sharply, shooting past the flaming gun deck and arcing over the top of the ship, which was starting to turn towards the castle. Around the midship, an armored apparatus was opening. This revealed a large hollowed out segment of the ship. In its center was a giant glass lens surrounded by circular catwalks.

"It's going to attack the castle with that weapon, they'll burn everything to ashes before letting us have it!" Merida shouted.

"We've gotta find a way to take this ship down. The armory perhaps! That's gotta be where they keep the rest of the blast powder and ballista shells." Spiros told her.

"Let's find it then!" She replied.

The Vanguard nodded.

"Take us-"

Crystal shards began flying by, forcing the Griffin to take evasive action. Then an explosive bolt went off next to them, knocking the duo off the creature's back as he fell from the sky.

"Visilis!" Spiros shouted as his friend crashed into the top of the ship.

The Griffin was limp and slid off the vessel, leaving a few streaks of blood in his wake.

Spiros and Merida crashed down onto the metal surface with a thud.

As they stood, the Greco gawked at what had just happened.

"Spiros..." Merida began.

He nodded slowly before she could continue. They had a mission. He started looking around for an entrance of some kind that they could use to get back into the ship.

"There." He told his friend weakly, pointing to a maintenance hatch with his sword.

"Come on."

...

"Eat this!" The Witch snarled, hitting the Warbeast with another blast of powerful magic.

The creature turned and stabbed at her with its claws, forcing her to duck.

Vailean, enraged by the death of his father, charged the creature. He jumped onto its back and stabbed it as he climbed up, progressing towards the head.

Seona got to her feet, reaching back and pulling dark energy from every nook and cranny of her home. She recalled every dark corridor, closet and cupboard. She then hurled it at the beast, with the shadows manifesting themselves into a large throwing star. The weapon lodged itself in the creature's gut and continued to spin as if it was still flying.

Then the shadows dissipated and beast staggered forward, roaring in defiance at its attackers. Vailean had reached the back of its head and attacked with his sword. The monster screeched and thrashed about, trying to shake the young man.

"You're not going to kill me!" He shouted, climbing up to the crown of the beasts head and driving his sword into it.

The monster continued to thrash as it pelted with elemental attacks from all sides.

"Bring it down!" Lord Dingwall snarled, shooting it with a crossbow he found on the floor.

After another volley, the creature sighed and dropped to its knees before falling onto its side. It should of been cause for celebration, but it was bittersweet triumph. More of the creatures were entering the battle space and they had lots of Omegsavrian's with them. Nuckaleeve's and Skelton warriors followed.

Worst of all, The Horned King himself was leading the charge.

The Vanguards and their allies gripped their weapons tightly.

The real onslaught was about to begin.

The Horned King grinned.

"ATTACK!"

"COME ON!" Isaac snarled.

A Warbeast snarled and surged forward ahead the rest of the attack force.

"Hit it!" Kekoa shouted.

Seona drew up a pair of spear like rock pillars from the ground and hurled them at the monster. Both struck the creature in the shoulder and caused it to fall with a massive THWUMP before it went sliding across the mud.

...

The doors to the bridge were melted open by a powerful blast of fire.

Balor turned to see Spiros and Merida enter with weapons at the ready, while the hapless Drones working to keeping the ship in the air ran from their stations.

Hopefully they were going to call for help.

"Princess, what a pleasant surprise." The God of Death muttered.

She replied by notching two more arrows.

Spiros muttered something under his breath.

"Tell me you two, have you ever wondered how your friend died? Did the rocks in the river beat his brains to a pulp? Perhaps he drowned? Starved of air, alone, wondering how the best archer in the land could miss her mark. I'd be more then happy to offer some clarification."

"Shut up." Merida snarled.

"You know, your entire life flashes before your eyes when you die. One final dump of your conscious. Reminding you of the things you've done, the people you've met. The memories you have always cherished. Can you take a guess as to who he thought of the most before he died?"

Merida's eyes were stinging as she let her arrows fly.

"SHUT UP!"

The three arrows struck the god in the chest, doing little to faze him.

"Perhaps you should pay attention when your mother is schooling you. I'm a GOD! Your weapons cannot harm me!"

Spiros shouted a phrase in Greek before lashing out with a black chain which wrapped itself around Balor's arm and hissed as it burned his skin. The God of Death groaned as he clutched his arm.

"What have you done-"

Spiros stepped forward.

"Putting you in my shoes, that chain is suppressing your immortality. Just like it suppressed by my powers. You can thank Tiberius for that."

"Tell me Balor, have you ever wondered what is like to fight for your life?" Merida asked.

The man snarled, summoning a black iron sword out of thin air.

"I'll kill you both!" He snarled, lashing out at them.

Spiros closed the distance, locking blades wit his adversary.

Balor pushed the Vanguard back and blasted him with an orb of dark energy. Spiros batted it away, destroying a set of gauges and levers.

Merida struggled at first but quickly found a rhythm, firing when her friend ducked of dove to avoid an attack. Even as a mortal, Balor could take a lot of punishment. He quickly became annoyed with her, punching Spiros in the throat and knocking him down. He willed a shadowy sickle to form in his hand before driving it into the Vanguard's knee, dragging him across the floor and throwing him at the nearest window.

Spiros grunted as glass and bone cracked before getting up and staggering towards his opponent who was preparing to slash at Merida. The Princess rolled back as Balor stabbed at where she had been and shot an arrow into his face. Spiros tried to jump onto him from behind only to turn right back around and deliver an upwards slice that put him back on the floor.

"Your souls are mine!" Balor snarled turning and picking the Vanguard by the hair.

Merida notched an arrow as Balor whipped back around, using Spiros as a human shield.

"Let's see how good your aim is girl!" He snarled, positioning his hands to break Spiros' neck.

"You've already lost!" Spiros snarled as she fired.

The arrow hit their foe in the hand, causing him to yelp and release Spiros. The vanguard electrified his elbow and hit his adversary in the gut several times before whipping his head back and cracking his nose open.

"Get em!" The Greco shouted, ducking out to the side.

She fired several more arrows into his chest as Spiros hit him with a blast of electricity before slashing at his side and chest with his sword.

"ENOUGH!" Balor shouted turning and kicking the Vanguard in the head which sent him flying into a nearby bulkhead, causing him to drop his sword.

Balor picked the weapon up and charged Merida, swatting her bow out of her hands.

As the villain loomed over her, he examined the weapon as its owner slowly got up, still dazed from the hit.

"There's a poetic irony here, I just know it." He sneered before pushing Merida back against a console of controls and driving Spiros' sword through her chest.

To the Vanguard, her scream was ugliest, most blood curdling sound he'd ever heard in his life. His senses cleared and he shot bolt of electricity at Balor, locking him down and leaving him open to attack. As a Drone rushed to attack him from the side, he snatch the weapon off its arm and kicked the instects's legs out from under it. Crushing its head underfoot as he charged forward, Balor tore the blade from the Princess' chest as he turned and hit his attacker the shoulder with a blast of dark energy.

The attack didn't faze Spiros who kept charging, hitting his foe with an upward slash before going to stab him the head. Balor wrestled to keep the weapon away from his face, but his opponent had gotten a second wind and won the struggle.

Spiros fired the weapon's fire bean into his foe's face, causing him to scream and stagger back grasping his face and dropping his foe's sword. The vanguard snatched up the weapon as Balor moved his hands to reveal his burnt face.

"IM GOING TO TEAR YOU APART!" Spiros screamed, attacking his weakened foe.

...

The Horned King's advance was, in one word, leisurely.

He strolled through the battle, swinging his scythe and effortlessly cutting down anyone who came to challenge him. The Scott's tried attacking him in huge numbers, throwing themselves at him but failing to land a hit.

Aylin screamed for them to back off and leave him to the Vanguards, who had trained all their lives to fight foes who were on par with their skills. The Horned King, however, wasn't just their equal.

He was their superior.

Three of the Vanguards surged through the chaos to get to him.

Fa Zhou jumped up onto his shoulders and started freezing his head when The Horned King snarled upon realizing the icicles were forming on his upper torso and rolled forward, breaking the ice that had formed and lodging an icicle in his attackers leg and side.

Aylin fired a blast of light straight from her eyes at the Horned King's chest, but he held up his hand and absorbed the attack with a vortex of darkness that expanded from palm as Kekoa attacked him from the side, slamming his staff on the ground and willing a scalding hot geyser of air to shoot up from the ground.

The Horned King allowed the blast of air to lift in the sky, spinning as he flew and hurling six black blades of shadow from the vortex of darkness in his hands. Kekoa jumped back but to dodge the first four, but the last two changed trajectory and hit him in the chest and shoulder.

He landed and chuckled with satisfaction as the Vanguard went down before turning to Aylin. Willing beast made of fire and shadow to form on his right arm, the dragon like creature roared at her, embers and smoke pouring from its maw.

Aylin prepared for battle as The Horned King advanced on her, as the monster on his arm prepared to strike when a wounded Aaron charged in from the side,cutting the beast in two. The Horned King howled as his arm was reduced to sludge, but it quickly began to reform in thick tendrils of oil wrapping around each other.

One of these tendrils lashed out, spearing the warrior through the chest. He cried out as the light faded from his eyes and the tendril of blackness glowed blue and orange for just a few seconds. Then as the tendril was yanked out of his torso, he fell over.

"Aaron!" Seona shouted.

With all of this happening in the blink of an eye, Aylin cried out fiercely and went to attack the Horned King as Seona fired magma bolts at him. The two exchanged a series of lighting fast strikes, but it seemed they were evenly matched. Every strike Aylin tried to land was blocked, and vice versa.

Then she slipped up, a tiny error in her otherwise perfect form. The Horned King capitalized on her mistake, disarming the vanguard and knocking her to the ground with a shove from his scythe. She turned and tried to crawl to her weapon, only for a foot to come down on her lower back.

A little more then a decade of training, and it just wasn't enough. Seona charged into to intervene but she was swatted aside with a swing of their opponent's scythe before he put the edge of the weapon under the girl's throat.

She shut her eyes as she heard Issac cry out.

...

Spiros cursed as he was kicked into the control console, his sword went skittering across the floor and his head slid down the iron surface and onto Merida's knee.

He hadn't realized he had landed next to her.

"We're in trouble." He told her.

"Y-yeah." She wheezed, holding her wound with both hands.

She tried to get up, reaching for the sword that had been used to gravely injure her

"Easy." He warned.

"I've got to help." She insisted.

"You can help by doing what you do best." He told her, looking to her bow which he picked up and handed to her.

She nodded and began reaching for her quiver as Balor taunted her partner.

"I've got your back."

He slowly stood, locking eyes with his opponent as he grabbed his sword.

Balor summoned another two black iron swords as the Vanguard attacked with an upward slice that left a terrible gnash on his chest. The villain snarled as he slashed downward at his foe only for the young man to swat away the strike and parry, slashing him across the chest once again.

He jabbed at Spiros' head with both weapons only for him to duck under the strike and drive his sword through the villain's chest. Balor cried out and butted heads with the Vanguard, forcing him to withdraw. Spiros jumped up and stabbed at his adversary's neck, but the attack was blocked and as he landed Balor slashed at the young man's stomach, catching him with the edge of his blade.

Spiros retaliated by cutting one of the swords in two with his superheated blade and moving to stab his foe in the head, only for him to turn at the last second, letting the blade cut open his cheek and burn his skin.

"Get ready!" Merida shouted, completing her preparation of a very special arrow.

"Ready when you are!" Spiros told her, slicing the blade off of his foe's other sword at the hilt.

"Do it!" She told him.

Spiros kicked out his foe's knee and ran him through with his sword while he was down. Balor continued to fight, kicking and punching in an effort to get free. His opponent quickly spun around and heaved him across the bridge, sending him flying right through the wind screen.

"This is how good my aim is." Merida hissed letting her arrow, laden with a small pouch of blast powder from an unexploded ballista bolt, fly.

The arrow whistled right over Spiros' head, heading straight and true towards it target. As it neared the former God of Death, the young man hurled a fireball at it just to be sure. The two projectiles struck their target and the resulting blast blew him to bits and shattered the bridge's remaining glass windows.

Spiros sighed with exhaustion before jogging over to his friend.

"We did it." She said weakly.

"I still have to get you home. Can you walk?" He asked her, realizing how stupid that must of sounded.

"We both have to get home." She told him.

"Can you walk?" He asked again.

"I think so." She replied after a slight delay.

"Do you need a minute?" He asked her as she shakily got to her feet.

She shook her head.

"We don't have a minute."

He tried not to look at her wound, which she held with shaky red hands.

"I need to patch that up, otherwise..."

She bit her lower lip and nodded as he gently moved her hands out of the way and put his hand where they had been.

"Ready?" He asked.

She nodded and buried her face in his shoulder, clinging to his free arm.

He made it as quick as he could, superheating the wound to close it up and stop the bleeding. She stifled a scream, stomped her feet rapidly and squeezed his arm, he responded by snuggling his head up to hers in an effort to comfort her.

As it ended she was whimpering but slowly pulled away, still clearly in a great deal of pain but well aware they weren't out of the woods yet.

"W-we have to get going..." She began.

He nodded, putting an arm around her and letting her lean on him as they left the bridge.

...

The two struggled to get down the narrow corridors, although Spiros tried to keep them going at a semi-relaxed pace to avoid agitating Merida's would. Sure externally she was alright. Internally, though , he had no idea how she was doing.

Then they passed through a large room with a hole in the floor surrounded by railing. Looking down into the whole, they saw the lower deck where Drones were moving large amounts of explosive ballista warheads, and kegs of blast powder.

"I bet this is the bow armory. There's probably one by the stern too." Spiros theorized, willing a ball of black magma to form in his hand.

He threw it into the heart of the room before scooping Merida up into his arms and running down a corridor towards the mid-ship, with the Princess closing doors behind them. Then a thunderous book shook the entire ship, pipes on the walls burst sand steam filled the corridors, bulkheads groaned, and the vessel listed forward as explosions continued to rock the ship.

He set Merida down and they continued along to the mid-ship with the intention of continuing to the aft magazine.

"How are we getting off this thing?!" She shouted.

"One thing at a time!" He told her.

The ship lurched forward again, at a steeper angle this time and began rolling to the left.

The two were put on their butts and slid down the corridor towards a hole in the floor where flames were shooting out of. The blast had done more damage then intended. There was a massive fire spreading through the lower decks, quite possibly putting the ship in grave danger.

"I can't stop!" Spiros shouted, grabbing for anything and everything along the walls.

Merida turned onto her belly and pulled out am arrow with a rope attached to it. She fired it at a Drone who was holding into a pipe that had been bent out of shape. The insectoid snarled as the arrow hit him and turned to look at the Princess, realizing what had happened as she grabbed Spiros by the arm as he slid past.

"Gotcha!" She exclaimed.

The Drone was now trying to pull the arrow out of his back but upon realizing he couldn't do so, let go of the pipe and fell past the duo. Hoping to take them with him as he fell into the flames.

Merida strained to bring the rope up to Spiros so that he could cut it, but as the Vanguard went for his sword the ship shook and lurched forward again and they were sent sliding into the flames. As they fell, Spiros brought Merida into his arms, shielding her from the inferno as they slid through it, narrowly dodging an explosion or two along the way.

The ship was tearing itself apart, as it was clearly in a dive of sorts now. Not designed to endure the extreme flight forces that were acting on it, the ship's hull plating began to peel away or was deformed in the strangest ways.

Then everything that wasn't bolted to the floor, including our heroes, began to fall or tumble upwards towards the ceiling. Merida was knocked from Spiros' arms and the two rolled through a small wall of fire along with a few kegs of what must of been blast powder, because they exploded behind them.

"What happened?" Merida shouted, hitting a pipe jutting out from the floor.

"The ship rolled!" The Vanguard replied as they crashed through a glass window and into the heart of the ship.

Spiros slammed into the railing and ended up being draped over it, knocked out from the impact while Merida grabbed onto the railing as she fell through it, pulling herself up and putting a foot on either sections of railing.

She drew her bow upon noticing a pair of Omegasevrian's and squad of Drones had landed in this massive room with them. It was the room they had seen from atop Visilis earlier. Where incoming sunlight was focused through the giant glass lens in top of the ship, channeled through a large floating crystal in the exact center of the room which was held in place by two sets of cables in every cardinal direction. The energy produced must of then been sent down in a beam through the final glass lens at the bottom of the ship, which was technically the top at the moment.

Lining the room were large observation chambers where Drones likely controlled the weapon's charging, as well as the steel apparatus that protected the glass lenses from attack as well as catwalks that went around the circumference of the room, presumably for maintenance and observation as well.

Merida quickly began picking off the Drones, recognizing them as easy targets. One managed to graze her with its fire beam, which cut through her armor and left a painful burn on her leg. She shot that Drone, then turned and ducked as a salvo crystals flew over her head, firing two arrows at the Omegasevrian's chest. One bounced off, but the second pierced a chink its armor and injured it. She turned as a Drone shot her in the side from across the room.

"Spiros wake up!" She pleaded, trying to keep her attackers focused on her and not her vulnerable friend.

She cursed as three crystals hit her in the back, turned and fired three arrows at the Omegasevrain's head. Two bounced off, but one found its mark and killed the creature.

She turned back around as the other one fired, forced to do the splits in order to avoid having a face full of crystals. As she notched and arrow another blast shook the ship and the duo were knocked from their perch. They fell onto the glass below, which was angles towards the ground.

Spiros landed with a heavy thud, blood splattering out from his mouth, while Merida landed on her side and rolled over onto her back which did not help her injuries. The remaining Omegasevrian stared at them for a brief second.

They didn't move, and so it left, believing the two to be dead.

As the ship neared the ground, they regained Spiros regained consciousness.

He got up onto one knee and groaned.

The ship was going to crash any minute, they needed to get off.

He drew his sword, put both hands on it and drove it into the glass.

The damage was minor, and so he tried again.

And again

And again.

The glass was cracking, but at this rate it wasn't going to break in time.

"Merida.." He murmured, carefully making his way towards her.

"I need your help."

She tried to sit up but her strength was fading.

"I-I..."

Her voice refused to work, so she just shook her head.

"Hey come on." He told her.

"Come on get up."

He got his arms around her waist and pulled her onto her knees. Her breathing was shallow and rapid, her hands shaking as he guided them to the where his hands were. On the handle of his sword.

"We're not gonna die here alright?" He told her.

She nodded and took a firmer grip on the weapon.

Together, they raised the sword up.

"Ready?" She asked weakly.

He nodded and they counted down together.

"3...2...1...NOW!"

They drove the weapon into the glass, which screeched in protests as the blade sunk into it. The duo heard cracking as they brought the sword up for another strike.

"Again!" Spiros shouted.

...

"FIRING!" Issac bellowed.

A ball of ice whizzed over Aylin's head, striking the Horned King in the chest and knocking him onto his back.

"Reload!"

Aylin opened her eyes to see Issac had manned some sort of ice cannon, which he had likely made himself minutes ago. Using spare blast powder and ice cannon balls, it was the perfect improvised weapon.

The gun crew carefully put in the perfect amount of blast powder. Just enough to fire the cannon, but a small enough amount so that the cannon wouldn't rip itself apart when it fired.

"FIRING!" Issac snarled, this time shooting into the enemy ranks. The attack decimated a group of Omegasevrians, who were gawking at their ship as tremendous explosion ripped through its belly.

The entirety of the Scottish Army cheered at the sight, and the Vanguards found themselves ready to fight even harder, despite their numerous injuries.

"Push them back!" Fergus shouted, hoping to keep the momentum on their side.

"Let's finish them off!" Gordon bellowed, leading the rest of the Scott's back into the fray.

"Die!" The Horned King snarled blasting at Elinor with dark energy. She jumped over the projectile, firing three arrows into her foe's chest.

"Incoming!" Issac shouted, firing his ice cannon again.

"AGH!"

The cannon ball ripped into the Horned King's shoulder, but even that was a minor wound. Those with ranged weapons pelted him with arrows and crossbow bolts.

"Damn you all!" He snapped, staggering back as another frozen cannon ball tore his torso open. The Scotts' ferocity only increased as they slaughtered their enemies, swarming the Omegsevrian's and working together to weaken their amor and swing the advantage in their favor.

As their ship fell from the sky, their warbeasts toppled by overwhelming concentrated attacks, and the rest of their army on the verge of being annihilated, The Horned King drove his scythe into the ground and surrounded himself in a cyclone of green flame.

"RETREAT! He snarled as the flames dissipated, revealing that he had vanished.

The remainder of his army fled, with the Warbeasts burrowing back into the ground. The remaining Nuckaleves howled and ran for the forrest with the Omegasevrians and skeleton warriors not far behind.

The Scott's pursued them to the bridge, trying to kill as many as they could before they could cross and escape into the forrest. Fergus cut down a one legged Officer just feet away from the bridge, as the creature fell he drove his sword into the ground and turned to his army.

"Victory!" He bellowed, raising a closed fist into the air.

The Scott's cried out in jubilation.

The battle was won, their future secured.

However, Elinor stared at the massive airship as it neared the ground realizing it was about to crash in the heart of the forrest. She could only hope Spiros and Merida weren't onboard.

Her thoughts were disrupted as a creature whooshed by overhead, heading straight for the crashing airship.

"Hey! Its Young MacGuffin!" Someone called out, realizing who the creature had dropped.

"Vislis." The Queen said with a smirk, watching the Griffin climb towards the ship.

...

"It's not working!" Merida exclaimed, clearly agitated.

"We're almost there, come on!" Spiros told her.

"How are we going to survive the fall?" She asked.

"I'll make sure you land safely." He said.

"Forget me, what about you!?"

"I...we'll be fine!"

"Just wait a second!" She shouted.

She gave him a quick, but passionate kiss.

"I love you...just in case you didn't hear me the first time." She explained.

Before he could respond, the ship shuttered, the ground was getting really close now.

"We have to go!" He told her.

The two raised the sword up and with simultaneous shout they drove the sword into the glass and jerked it to the side with all their might as metal screeched and groaned. The nose of the ship hit the ground as the cracks in the glass arced out in every direction before the whole lens shattered.

The two fell with large shards of glass, trying to stay as close to one another as possible when a blur swooped them both up.

"Vislis!" They both cried out.

"SQUAAWK!" The Griffin replied, his feathers soaking wet.

"YAAAAARGH!" A figure snarled jumping up from the forrest wrestling Spiros from the creature's grasp causing him to drop his sword as the airship exploded, with the shockwave sending the Griffin and Merida flying back towards the castle.

"SPIROS!" Merida shouted as the explosion from the airship blinded her.

The fireball shot hundreds of feet into the air and flaming debris went arcing through the air, landing miles away from the impact point. Metal buckled and groaned as it was bent, snapped and twisted. Flames lit sections of wilderness ablaze and seccondary explosions thundered across the Highlands long after impact, able to be heard from miles and miles away.

As the flames and debris scorch the area around them, Spiros and the Horned King rolled across the forrest floor before separating. The Vanguard rolled some more as his attacker stood, slowly stopping himself by forming a stone glove around his fist and dragging it along the soil.

The forest around them was burning, the earth scorched, patches of charred land dotted the once healthy green meadow. To our hero's back was a circle of stones, before him was the Horned King, armed with his double bladed scythe.

"You think yourself better than I, you look at the destruction I have wrought and call me me a villain? Think of your time in the legion boy! How many villages have you burned? How many lives have you taken!?" He snarled.

Spiros allowed his mind to falter, the guilt of his time in Gaul swept over him but he quickly dismissed the thought.

'He's toying with you.'

"I have brought an entire civilization back from the brink, even now many still cower in the dark bowels of the planet. Starving, cold, and afraid! Who are you to deny them the joy of seeing the sun again?! To condemn an entire civilization to death!"

"Who are you to alter the destiny of an entire race!?" Spiros shot back.

"Your teachings have blinded you with a false nobility young vanguard. You're a pawn in a much larger game. Here you stand before the King, alone and without any hope of escape. You've thrown your life way by standing against me, and for what?" The villain asked.

"The admiration of strangers. The affections of their Princess? Why are you here? What's in for you?"

"This pawn has made it across the board, and even if I die, I will bought time for those behind me to plan their next move." The Vanguard explained.

The young man found himself reaching deep down and summoning one last weapon that he'd never used before. Meant to be used as a last resort by any Vanguard, The Anima Gladio was the most powerful weapon in his arsenal. He would have access to it for a modest amount of time, but afterwards he would be unable to call upon on it for an entire year, lest he spontaneously combust.

Spiros' hair began to glow a faint electric blue as did his eyes. His hands became engulfed in white flame as he reached for the cyan light shining from his chest. He grasped at the light with his hands and pulled out a blue sword with white flames dancing along the edges and hilt that resembled a crystal formation.

"Check." Spiros told him.

The Horned King looked impressed.

"A Soul Sword, haven't seen one of those in a while. They say no two are alike."

"So they say." Spiros replied.

"You will not live to see another though."

The Horned King surged forward, closing the distance between himself and Spiros faster than you could blink.

Our hero dove to the left as his adversary jumped into the air and spun around rapidly like a windmill in storm, chopping up the ground where Spiros once stood.

The Greco countered using his sword, thrusting at his foe. The jab hit the Horned King in the ribs and sent him rolling away from our hero. However he quickly recovered and came charging back at Spiros, slashing at him with vicious ferocity.

The speed at which the attacks came kept Spiros entirely on the defensive. As the Horned King brought his scythe up to deliver a crushing blow that would of broke the Greco's guard, Spiros brought his sword up and back, holding it behind him.

Lightning shot down from the heavens and struck the blade, and as this occurred the Greco brought his sword back up to block the attack. As the weapons collided, The Horned King yelped as electricity surged through his veins. Spiros went on the attack, grabbing onto his sword with two hands and leaping forward, slicing upwards and knocking his foe into the air with the strike.

As he flew to the opposite end of the meadow, Spiros reached out with his hand and willed a pillar of earth to shoot up from the ground and knock the Horned King back towards him.

The Vanguard leaped up and slashed his adversary out of the air. As Spiros fell back down, dozen of purple energy bolts flew up at him from a cloud of dust where the Horned King had landed. The Vanguard began deflecting the lot of them off his sword, but they began coming at him with greater speed and numbers. Then one hit him, in the shoulder another struck him in the ribs. A third hit him in the chest. The fourth grazed his hip, sending him tumbling down and landing on his back beside the Horned King.

The villain brought the scythe over his own body and brought the blade crashing down on where Spiros had been laying, but he had rolled away long before the blow landed.

As he sprung to his feet and renewed his attack, he had one thought.

"Gotta get him into that circle of stones."

...

Visilis landed with Merida back at the stone bridge leading to Castle DunBroch, where the remnants of the Scottish Army were waiting for them.

"Merida!" Elinor shouted as they landed, rushing over.

The Princess was already whistling for Angus, as Visilis had collapsed from his wounds and fatigue.

"Merida, good heavens lass. you're a mess!" Her father said.

"Where's Spiros?!" Vailean asked her.

"I have it get back into the forrest!" She told them.

"The Horned King attacked us on the way back, they're out there somewhere I've got to find them!"

"Vanguards, you heard her. Our friend is in trouble, let's move!" Aylin shouted.

"Get some horses up here on the double!" Lord Dingwall barked.

"You go ahead, we'll be right behind you!" Seona told her sister as she climbed onto her horse who was led to the front of the crowd.

Merida nodded and spurred Angus into a gallop.

"YAH!"

...

Spiros lifted the small spire of stone that he ripped from the ground up and brought it crashing down on his adversary. As the stone pillar settled it exploded at its center and The Horned King shot out from the hail of debris and resumed his assault. He slammed his scythe into the earth and the ground began exploding in path leading to Spiros who jumped up and over the string of destruction as his foe jumped up as well.

As the two met mid-flight, they started slashing at each other rapidly. After blocking and landing and equal amount of blows, they each winded up for a big strike that would incapacitate the other. As their blades met, a blast of white energy sent them both flying into the air.

Spiros flew a bit higher and went to stab his foe as he fell back down, only for The Horned King to hook his scythe into his guard and bring him down below him. Before The Vanguard could counter, the villain positioned the shaft of his scythe in front of the boy's neck. He yanked back to choke him as they hit the ground with a thunderous boom.

As the dust settled, The Horned King stood above his foe and raised his scythe to strike when a geyser of magma shot up from the ground engulfed them both. The Horned King leaped off his opponent to avoid the attack. Seconds later, Spiros came charging out of the lava with a battle cry.

The Horned King threw five shadowy daggers at his foe, only for them all to be deflected as his charge continued. The villain charged as well, disappearing in a pulse of dark energy just as their blades were about to meet. He reappeared behind the Vanguard, ready to run him through with his scythe.

Spiros turned and blocked the strike, batting the weapon's blade away and thrusting at his opponent's head only for him to disappear again. As Spiros whipped back around, he snarled as the Horned King drove his scythe into his chest and hoisted him up like a fish on a hook. The blade had gone straight through his armor and was creeping into his skin.

"Such a pitty, and to think you were doing an exceptional job." The villain snarled as a dozen black spear like tendrils tunneled through his victim like termites eating into wood.

"A bit tougher then that Aaron fellow. No matter, I'll suck the life out of you."

Spiros struggled as he felt his soul being ripped from his body.

His Soul Sword dissipated and his hair and eyes returned to their normal state. Despite all that, the Vanguard still resisted.

"Agh! Fine!" The Horned King bellowed, throwing him across the meadow and into the center of the stone circle before walking back towards him.

"I'll beat the life out of you inst-AGRGH!"

A pair of arrows had flown into his back.

Merida leaped off Angus after using the last of her arrows, rolling as she hit the ground and snatching up Spiros' sword.

"Get away from him!" She shouted, taking a fighting stance as Spiros stood, muttering something.

The Stones heard him and lifted themselves out of the ground, spinning around in a circle and generating a blue energy dome with tentacles of light coming out of the top. The tentacles grappled onto the Horned King's arm and legs, pulling him towards the dome.

"I WILL NOT BE DENIED!" He snarled, trying to break their hold.

"Merida!" Spiros shouted.

"Catch!" She told him, throwing the sword like a spear.

It landed in the dirt at his feet, after yanking the blade from the ground he charged

The Horned King who, in a show of strength, yanked one of his arms away from the tentacles that were trying to restrain him.

"Stay there!" Spiros told her, running up and stabbing the villain in back, grabbing him by the neck and pulling him into the dome where they resumed their battle as the Horned King pulled himself off his opponents sword.

All the while, Spiros was struggling to say an incantation but kept messing the words up.

'I need to see the pedant again.' He though, reaching for his neck only to find nothing.

"Merida!" He shouted, blocking a strike from his foe.

"What?!" She asked.

"Find your mothers pendant, it should be on the ground! Read the incantation in the back!" He instructed.

She looked around as smoke from the fires clogged her lungs and nose. embers flew through the hot air, drying her eyes out. Eventually she saw something shiny in the grass.

Picking it up quickly, she realized it was what she was looking for and turned it over.

"What does it do!" She asked.

"Just, read it! I'll explain later!" He told her as his foe turned his scythe into a spear, jumping up and jabbing at him with blinding speed. He managed to score a few hits, weakening the Vanguard that much more.

As she began shouting the incantation, the stones spun faster and rose higher into the sky. Spiros ducked under a scythe swipe and kicked his opponent into the spinning stones. He bounced back and forth between them for a solid minute before landing back in the center of the circle.

"Wait..." Merida muttered, reading the last line a second time.

"I don't like how this sounds!" She told her partner, who was struggling to block his adversary's attacks. He was starting to become overcome with fatigue. The stones were spinning ridiculously fast around the two now.

"Don't worry about it!" He told her.

"Spiros!" She shouted, obviously concerned.

"Trust me!" He told her as his sword was knocked out of his hand.

"You're out of time Vanguard." The Horned King told him, bring his scythe back to deliver the killing blow.

As Merida shouted the last line, the stones stopped suddenly and angled themselves downwards toward their target. The Horned King.

Then they shot towards him at blinding speed as he swung at the Vanguard, who jumped up, shooting an arc of lighting at his sword, creating a magnet like effect, allowing it to fly into his hand. He used the Horned King's scythe as a spring board to bound out of the dome of energy as it collapsed around the villan, who bellowed in protest.

"NOOOOO!"

He leapt after Spiros as the rocks crashed into him and shattered, creating a mound of rubble that buried him alive, save for his head, upper body and left arm which stuck out of the top. As Spiros fell back down, he felt a searing pain in his chest as a stream of blue and orange light sprouted from his chest and into the mound of stone. The Vanguard drove his sword into the Horned Kings's upper chest as he landed.

"NOW WHY DONT YOU STAY THERE FOR A MILLENNIA!" He shouted.

The villain howled as he turned to stone as well, but as last act of defiance he unleashed a blast of dark energy that broke Spiros' sword and sent him flying back off the mound, crashing into the ground and rolling to a stop on his belly.

All was quiet in the meadow, save for the thunderous crackling of the raging forrest fire.

As the other Vanguards arrived in the meadow, they dismounted and ran to their friends aid alongside Merida.

"Kekoa, head back, get a carriage and a doctor!" Fa Zhou shouted.

"Is he breathing?" Issac asked.

"Yeah, he is." Aylin replied after putting an ear to his back.

"What did you do!?" Merida shouted as she turned him over and cradled his head in her arms. It was starting to rain again.

"I bought us some time." The young man croaked before his eyes shut.

...

Spiros pried his eyes open slowly, trying to gather information about his surroundings. He was laying on a bed, dressed in nothing but his tan pants and brown boots. Bandages covered his upper torso, and one was even wrapped around his head. Next to him, on the night stand was a sword that had seen better days.

The blade was broken, the hilt charred beyond recognition. It was his sword, which had been blown apart in the blast following the imprisonment of the Horned King. He reached for the weapon, but every inch of his body ached. He gave up, allowing his arm to fall back onto the bed.

The sound of his limb hitting the mattress stirred the room's only other occupant. In the corner on a simple wooden rocking chair sat a girl in a black dress. Her curly red hair obstructed her face. She sat sideways in the chair, her arm hanging off the edge.

It was clear she had been asleep.

When she began to wake, she nearly fell out of the chair.

At the last moment she steadied herself and sprang to her feet, her hair no longer obscuring her face.

Merida had bags under her eyes and a bandage on her left cheek. Her hair looked even wilder than usual.

"Spiros?" She asked quietly.

"Yes ma'am?" He replied as he slowly sat up, his voice sounded rough and hoarse like it hadn't been used in years.

She scowled as she walked over and slapped him right across the face.

"Idiot!"

Spiros was shocked and confused already, and Merida's sudden bear hug that practically broke his neck didn't help the matter.

"Umm..."

"You bloody idiot!" She sobbed, burying her face into his shoulder.

Still confused, our hero slowly put his arms around the girl, returning the hug.

"You didn't have to do that!" She told him, still crying.

"What did I do?" He asked, hoping she wasn't talking about what he thought she was talking about.

She scoffed and pushed him away, pointing a stern finger at him.

"Don't play dumb with me! When we got back to the castle after you imprisoned The Horned King, I asked her why you had her pendant. She told me what you did...what you gave up."

Spiros cursed silently, wondering why the Queen had spilled the beans.

Merida sat down on the foot of the bed. She was clearly shaken by the flood of emotions that had just came crashing down on her. Spiros slowly scooted towards her, hoping to calm her down.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. If I had, I don't think you would of let me do what had to be done."

"We could of found another way." She murmured.

"There was no other way." He told her.

The Princess took a shaky breath, pulling her legs to her chest and resting her chin on her knees.

"Look I know I should of told you and I'm sorry. I just-"

"Wanted to protect me from the fact that your going to die young." She interrupted.

"Yes...I didn't want to put that burden on your shoulders." He told her.

"Do you think it would of been any better if I had woken up one day and found out that you died in your sleep?" She muttered before turning to him and once again hugging him.

"Why would you do that for us? Why throw half your life away?" She asked.

The Greco sighed.

"The Horned King asked me the same question. He said I was a pawn, being tricked into throwing his life away for people I hardly even know." He began.

"I told him that if I was a pawn, I would be more than willing to sacrifice myself to buy time for the rest of you. So that the world can prepare for whatever comes next."

"You're no pawn, you're worth more than that." Merida whimpered, hugging him tighter.

"You've been out for almost a month, we were starting to lose hope that you would ever come back to us."

"We'll I'm back now, and I'm not you going anywhere anytime soon." He assured her, giving the poor girl a gentle kiss on the cheek.

She slowly pulled away, the torch light illuminating only half of her face. The worried look in her blue eyes made Spiros' heart sink. He carefully put his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her close so that there foreheads were touching.

He looked at her with the best puppy eyes he could make, prompting her to scowl, still upset that he had kept a secret from her.

"If you think that's going to get you out of trouble, you are sadly mis-."

He silenced her with a quick kiss on the lips.

"I love you." He whispered.

"Don't...change the subject." She told him, closing her eyes as her face turned red.

After a minute of silence, she couldn't maintain her serious composure and allowed a small smirk to form on her lips.

"I love you too."

There was the sound of a creaking door open, causing the two of them to move away from each other as Queen Elinor and Seona entered the room.

"He's awake." Merida told them, sounding relieved to say those words.

Seona walked over and sat down on the bed, putting a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Merida told me what happened. Sounded like one hell of fight, nice work." She said with a nod.

"Thanks." He replied.

"How are you feeling?" Elinor asked.

"Tired...sore...hungry." He grumbled.

"I'll have ice and food brought here." The Queen offered.

Spiros shook his head.

"It's alright, I can get it myself. I could use a short walk anyways." He told them, getting onto his feet.

"You probably shouldn't be walking." Elinor called out to him as he exited the room.

"I think he'll be fine mum." Merida told her.

...

Spiros hobbled downstairs, attracting quite a bit of attention as he strolled through the halls and down the stairs. It was here that Fergus, the Lords and their sons were gathered for breakfast along with dozens of soldiers.

"Well, look who's rejoined us here in the land of the living." Young Macintosh said, standing up and walking over to the vanguard.

"Who says I ever left?" Spiros asked.

"It's good to see you walking around, Merida's been worried sick." He explained.

"Yeah, we just had an...interesting conversation." The Greco told him, gesturing to the red hand print on his cheek.

"Ouch!" Fergus said with a chuckle from the table.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Spiros told him before turning his attention back to Vailean.

"Oi, Fergus! Do you think taking down an advanced civilization's flying warship would qualify as an heroic deed?" A palace guard asked.

"Well I did have help every step of the way. It wasn't just me." The Vanguard explained, looking towards Lord Dingwall who was picking at his breakfast. Likely wishing his son would be the next one to come back from the dead.

"I think it qualifies." Lord MacGuffin said with a nod.

Spiros' eyes widened when he realized what they were saying.

"Lad, we'll be straight with you. The things you've done for this kingdom...well we can never repay you for it." Fergus began.

"I would never ask you to, sir." Our hero told him.

"None the less, such deeds cannot go without reward. So, after consulting with the Queen and the Lords we have decided to offer you a permeant home here in the Highlands." Fergus continued.

"After a ceremony, you will be treated as a citizen of the Clan DunBroch and will receive all the rights and privileges that come with being born here. You will receive shelter from your enemies. You will be allowed to own a house, you will be allowed to serve in the military and you will be allowed to marry." Elinor explained, coming down the stairs.

Young MacGuffin gently elbowed the Greco in the side as he passed by while Merida and Seona came down the stairs right behind their mother. Once at the bottom of the stairs, the girls took their place at their friend's side.

"In addition, you will be given a title. The *first* title of its kind. You shall be made a knight." Fergus added.

Spiros blinked several times, unsure of how to respond.

"Congrats!" Lord MacGuffin exclaimed.

"I...uh...Thank you." He stammered.

"Elinor, should we arrange to have the ceremony this afternoon?" Fergus asked.

"I think we can manage that." She replied.

"Alright then, lets get the boy cleaned up. So that way he's lookin' sharp for the occasion." Her husband said with a nod.

Behind them, the main doors were opened. Isaac, Kekoa, Aylin and Fa Zhou walked in. They were escorting a man in dark blue robes. He had intense looking eyes that appeared to be peering into the fabric of creation. His rounded grey beard went down to the center of his chest. On top of his head sat a blue pointed cap with a pair of white stars and a crescent moon on it.

Spiros and Seona kneeled, prompting Merida to curtesy.

"Master Yen Sid." The Vanguards said in unison.

"My pupils, rise." The man said in reply, before looking to Merida.

"Pleasure to meet you." She told him.

"Likewise, Princess." He said with a nod.

"Spiros, the people of this kingdom talk of your valiant efforts on the field of battle." He said, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"It would of been all for not had I not had the assistance of my friends." The Vanguard explained.

"Humble as always." The old man said with a chuckle, removing his hands from the Greco's shoulders.

"I understand you will be knighted this afternoon."

Spiros nodded quickly.

"Yes master, but I assure you the title will not effect my judgement in the future."

"I do not have any doubt in the matter." The old man replied with a slight smile.

"Go on now, you have a big day ahead of you."

Spiros nodded before heading upstairs to get himself cleaned up.

...

When he came back down, Merida was in a dark blue dress with silver specks. Like she had managed to fit the night sky on a dress. She to the left of her father, who was dressed as usual. To his right was Elinor, she was dressed in purple dress that aligned with the colors of DunBroch's flag. To her right were the Triplets, who were horsing around as usual.

Spiros was dressed in semi formal wear. A simple white shirt and grey pants with black shoes. His body ached in every place imaginable but he never felt better in his life. The clans were all mixed in with each other, watching him attentively as he came down the stairs and made his way to the steps of the thrones.

Elinor stood to address the crowd.

"My friends, we are gathered here today after a great trial. We have all lost a part of ourselves recently, some more then others. We have mourned what was, but the time for sadness is at an end. Let us lift our heads and recognize that brighter times lie ahead and for those who struggle see past the fog of grief, let it be known that you are not alone. We stand ready to support you, to comfort you, to care for you. No matter what hour of the day, no matter how long it may take for us to come to your aid, you will not be alone. Not now, not ever." The Queen began.

Lord Dingwall put a hand on Vailean's shoulder and he returned the gesture.

"With that be said, let us proceed. Before us, stands and extraordinary individual who's courage, compassion and stead fastness know no bounds. Like a rock battered by the sea, the young man you see before you has endured much. Yet, he remains. A watchful sentinel, guarding against the squall. The young man you see arrived here with nothing but a friend, the clothes on his back and equipment on his saddle. Yet he has given us everything. He earned our trust, our respect, and our gratitude. Spiros of Rhodes, Vanguard of the Aegean. Kneel."

Spiros slowly got down onto one knee as Elinor drew a ceremonial sword and walked down the steps of the throne. She stopped one step from the bottom and held the sword to her chest as her family got up and moved to stand at her sides.

"By decree of Clan DunBroch, ruling authority of the Scottish Highlands, you have been deemed worthy to be welcomed fully into our clan. From this day forth, you will be treated as if you have lived here your entire life and will be given all the rights that come with such a distinction. Is there anyone here would object to such a motion?" The Queen asked.

The room remained silent, save for The Witch's crow who began to open his beak only for his master to snap it shut.

"Very well, if there are no objection then we may proceed. Spiros, do you swear to uphold the will of the crown, unless you as a Vanguard before anything else find our will to be unjust?"

"I swear."

Fergus spoke next.

"Do you swear to defend the other clans, should they call for aid and fight for them as they would fight for you? To defend this land, its culture, its heritage, it's scared places and all that it is?"

"I swear."

Merida looked to her friend and spoke.

"Do you swear to defend those who cannot defend themselves. The weak, the innocent, and the downtrodden. To aid them to the best of your ability, until your dying day. To defend the people and all that they can be?" She asked.

"I swear."

Elinor readied her ceremonial sword.

"Then it is decided, from this moment on you will be known as Spiros: Knight of The Highlands." The Queen said, taping his shoulders with her sword.

"You may rise."

He slowly stood as the crowd burst into elation.

Merida walked over and wrapped him up in a tight hug.

"I'm so proud of you." She said.

He hugged her back just as tightly.

"Welcome home." She whispered.

His eyes stung as he buried his face in her neck.

There were no words, because none were needed.

She knew how good it made him to feel to hear that.

Instead she just gently kissed him on the head and continued to hold him.

The crowd was flocking out to the courtyard to continue the celebration, Merida's parents followed knowing that the two would come out when ready.

He lifted his head up and looked around in confusion.

"Where-"

"They're all outside, that's where the party is being held. It's okay, though. We can go out whenever. I figured you'd need a minute, you know, letting this all sink in." She explained.

He nodded.

"Right, well we should probably go out and-"

"Spiros, this is the first minute of alone time I've gotten with you being conscious in forever. Can we just...enjoy it? I'm sure the others will understand if we're gone for a little bit." The Princess told him.

He playfully rolled his eyes.

"Okay, if you insist. "

He grabbed her by the waist and she threw her arms around his neck. Their lips crashed together in a kiss that was, for the first time, instigated by raw passion as opposed to a mix of other overwhelming emotions and or a immanent life or death situation.

Spiros picked the princess up, prompting her to giggle before continuing the kiss and wrapping her legs around the Vanguard's waist. She two clumsily made their way across the throne room, where Spiros pushed her up against the wall.

Merida broke this kiss with a chuckle, her cheeks bright red.

"I don't know if you can tell, but I'm really liking this!" She exclaimed before they continued their little make out session which probably would of went on for quite awhile if not for the awkward shuffling of a castle servant who came along as they started getting a little bit frenchy.

The two broke off the kiss and Spiros slowly let Merida slide down the wall as the two turned to look at the servant, who seemed just as embarrassed as they were.

"Don't mind me, just getting some extra glasses." She muttered awkwardly as she passed by.

The couple look at each other and chuckled, cheeks still flushed from embarrassment.

"You know...there's a closet just down that way-" Merida said pointing down a corridor.

"We should probably get outside, before they send someone to find us." He told her.

"Spirooos." She whined, stepping up onto his shoes and leaning in for a kiss.

He pecked her on the lips and took her hands as he walked forward, trying to keep her feet atop his.

"We really should go." He told her.

She groaned, pulled her hands away and got off his feet.

"Fine." She muttered.

"We'll pick up where we left off later." He said opening the door for her with a wink.

She playfully narrowed her eyes at him.

"Since when are you a tease?" She grumbled, walking outside.

"How am I the tease, you started it." He replied as he followed.

"You kissed me!" She retorted.

"Aaand you picked me up!"

"Well you wrapped your legs around me and started that thing with your-"

Seona jogged over and put herself between the two, wrapping arms around both of them.

"There you two are! What took you so long?" She asked.

"Er...we were just taking care of some unfinished business." Spiros explained.

"Still not finished." Merida muttered, slowly rolling her eyes.

Sprios gave her the look, to which she playfully stuck her tongue at.

"Anyways...Mom wanted to see you sis." Seona explained before going off go get some food.

Merida turned to leave but whipped back around and looked Spiros dead in the eye.

"Listen here mister, either you meet me in broom closet tonight after everyone is asleep or I'm going to come down to the stables, waking you up and we can pick up from there. Look at it this way, would you rather have a romantic evening on some hay or a pile of pillows in need of repairs. Your choice!" She told him before walking off.

"Neither sounds all that comfortable!" He told her, but if she had heard him, she gave him no acknowledgment of any kind.

Spiros, despite knowing he should feel happier then ever, felt a pessimism eating away at him. He withdrew from the party, climbing onto the roof where he found Vislis sunbathing.

The Griffin had some bandages on him too, but they didn't seem to bother him. The creature rested his head on his rider's lap and his rider rested his chin atop his feathery head while scratching his neck.

The Vanguard looked out to the horizon, seeing tall, dark, anvil like clouds looming in the distance. He was starting to wonder how far out the storm was when the sound of a person sitting down next to him disrupted his train of thought.

"Whatcha starrin' at?" Seona asked.

"There's a storm coming." Spiros told her.

"Oh yeah...won't be here for awhile though." She said with a shrug.

"Time flys. Especially when your up there. You've gotta keep focused on what's coming so it doesn't catch you by surprise." The Greco explained, looking up to the sky.

"Makes sense. Here's the kicker though, you focus too much on what's ahead and you just might fly past something great. Something you may never see again." She told him.

Spiros turned to look at his friend.

"Thanks Seona...I think I needed to hear that."

"You're welcome, now come on. You owe my sister a dance." She said with a grin.

...

As Spiros jumped from the roof and landed with small thump, Merida made her way over to him.

"Come along, this is your time." taking him by the arm and leading him out into the center of the courtyard.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he gently put his hands on her waist.

"You ever done this before?" She asked.

"Nope." He replied.

"It's easy really, all you have to do is shuffle about and not step on my feet." She explained.

"Got it." He replied, his eyes flicking downwards every now and then to make sure he wasn't doing just that.

After a minute or so of silence, the Princess sighed

"Spiros, if you can manipulate fire and lighting at the same time, I think your perfectly capable of talking to me and dancing at the same time." She told him.

"Good point." He replied, looking back into her eyes.

They stared at each other for a little bit, occasionally she would turn her gaze downwards before looking back at him.

"You know, I honestly wasn't expecting to meet someone like you." She began.

"Really?" He asked.

"After Macintoish, I was prepared to go on as an independent woman for the duration of my life. I thought I could take on this world all by myself...I didn't think I needed anyone else. Then you...you changed that." She continued, smiling at him.

"I didn't anticipate meeting anyone like you either. After all that happened in Rome, I never thought I'd have any real attachment to anything again. The world just lost its glow, I didn't think there was anything special out there on the horizon, and then I met you, and I have to admit: you're very special, no not special...amazing. You're amazing, simple as that." He replied.

She pulled herself closer to him and put her head against his chest, he rested his chin on her head and they danced that way until the song was over.

The rest of the party was a blast, with lots of music, food and merriment in general. Lord Dingwall managed to have a good time, which brought Spiros a great deal of peace. He and Valean talked quite a bit as well. The new Lord of Clan Macintosh offered some tips on a relationship with Merida, but Spiros refused to here them. Preferring to figure everything out on his own. A decision his friend respected.

Young MacGuffin tried to arm wrestle all of the Vanguards present at the party. He easily beat Spiros but Aylin and Kekoa gave him a run for his money. After narrowly winning against Isaac, he went to challenge Fa Zhou.

"You sure you want to do this?" He asked.

Young MacGuffin nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay..."

The two prepared for their match, which Fergus and Spiros were officiating.

"Ready?" Spiros asked them.

They both nodded.

"Begin!" Fergus exclaimed.

Right off the bat, MacGuffin was dominating. Fa Zhou was just inches from the surface of table, putting just enough effort to resist being defeated. Gregor poured it on, trying to completely overpower his foe who was refusing to go down.

"You got this son!" Lord MacGuffin shouted.

As beads of sweat appeared on the young man's fore head, Zhou's facial expression changed. Kekoa and Aylin exchanged knowing looks as Zhou started to gain the upper hand.

"No way!" Seona exclaimed

Zhou then finished his opponent off, using all of his remaining strength to defeat his foe.

"We have a winner!" Fergus shouted, pointing to Zhou who stood and bowed to his opponent and the crowd.

The two then exchanged handshakes as Elinor walked over to Spiros.

"I was talking with Seona earlier. She says she may have met another Vanguard during her travels. It actually not far from here, a place called Arendelle." She began.

"I haven't been there, but it sounds like it may be a place worth checking out. It'll be good to get to know Vanguards from the surrounding area, just in case we ever get into trouble again." Spiros replied.

"From what I hear, its a pretty good place for a honey moon!" Fergus called from the arm wrestling crowd. Now everybody wanted a piece of Fa Zhou.

"Fergus, let's not put too much pressure on the boy." She told her husband.

"Corona is nice too! That's where me and wife went!" Lord MacGuffin added.

The Queen chuckled, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"I'm terribly sorry."

Spiros was laughing nervously as well, but he seemed on board with the idea.

"It's perfectly fine."

"Just don't let Merida put your boutnier on! If she takes after her mother, she may end up giving you a nipple piercing!" Lord Dingwall warned.

There was a roar of laughter from the crowd, prompting the Queen to blush.

"He screamed a little when that happened." She explained.

"I did not!" Fergus protested.

"Yeah he's right lads. He didn't scream a little. It was a lot!" Lord MacGuffin said as the laughter started up again.

"Like a little girl!" Lord Dingwall said in between fits of laughter.

Even the Queen was laughing now.

"Hopefully, your wedding goes a lot smoother then ours did." She muttered.

Merida walked over, curious as to what all the fuss was about.

"What's everybody laughin' about?" She asked as Spiros put his arm around her.

"Nothin." He replied with a happy sigh, exchanging a knowing look with Elinor.

Later that evening, the Vanguards who had come to aid the Scotts in their fight were saying their fair wells. For them, it was time they head home and take on other assignments.

"Take care of each other." Aylin instructed, giving Merida and Spiros a hug before boarding the ship they had come in on.

Issac picked Spiros up and gave him a spine crushing hug, while giving Merida a pat on the head.

"I will miss you my friend. Take care and come visit when you can."

"I will buddy." Spiros squeaked.

"Be good to my friend and keep him close. You are a very lucky lady." He told Merida.

"I am." She replied with a nod.

Fa Zhou bowed to his comrade, who returned the bow.

"Give your family my regards." Spiros told him.

"I will. It was a honor to fight alongside you." He told the duo,

"The honor was ours." Merida replied.

"Catch you later my man." Kekoa said, giving Spiros a firm handshake.

"Thanks for helping us." The Greco told him.

"Anytime. Take care Princess."

Merida waved as he got on the boat.

Soon they had cast off and after they had disappeared over the horizon, Spiros and Merida turned and started walking back to Castle DunBroch.

"Its gonna be awfully quiet around here with all that Omegasevrain business done and dusted." The Princess said, kicking a rock off the path,

"Yeah, that would be a nice change of pace." Spiros replied.

"What are you gonna do in your spare time, when you can't be with me. My mother is still gonna want to school me and all." She told him.

He thought about that for a few minutes.

"I think I have an idea." He told her.

...

A few weeks later

Spiros was reeling in his fishing line to put some more bait on the hook when Merida trotted up on her horse. She had he quiver and bow on her back and a somewhat serious look on her face.

"That doesn't look like a bountiful harvest." She grumbled as he pulled in his line.

"Yeah...Poseidon hates me today." He replied, opening his jar of worms.

"Anyways, we've got to get going. North Sea Raiders are arriving on the shores of a costal town not far from here. The town doesn't belong to any of the clans, so it's up to us." She explained.

"Didn't the treaty say the clans had to dispatch they nearest available warriors in a situation like this?" Spiros asked, getting ready to cast.

"You are correct, but all of DunBroch's soldiers are off in the north helping with reconstruction." She replied.

The Vanguard nodded, packing up his fishing gear.

"We better get going then." He told her.

"I'll race you!" She suggested.

He grinned.

"Ok, go! Get a head start, I'll catch up."

She rolled her eyes.

"You'll try!"

She then turned Angus onto the road and flicked the reins.

"Yah!"

*As Merida spurred Angus into a gallop, she couldn't help but grin at this simple fact. Sometimes in life, you meet someone. At first it might seem like a normal thing. You might think them as a friend, a crush but never something extraordinary or special*

Spiros watched her ride off into the distance, feeling a warmth radiating throughout his chest. He shook his head and smiled.

"Gods, I love that girl."

He then hopped onto Visilis' back and ruffled his head feathers with his hand.

"Lets get her!" He said before they took to the air.

*As time goes on, whether its a few days, a few months or a few years. They grown on you. You learn to accept their company, a bond forms. They become a person to confide in, a hand to hold, a friend who will always be at your side. You grow to love them, in one way or another.*

The Princess' hair was blowing in the wind as she and her mount thundered down the road. She turned around and shouted:

"Hurry up slowpoke!"

When she returned to looking ahead, she saw Spiros hanging upside down in front of her. He had a mischievous grin and looked as he had just told the world's cheesiest joke. The Princess chuckled, leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. Dazing him long enough so that he hit a low hanging tree branch with the back of his head.

Merida laughed as Vislis returned to flying right side up as Spiros curse and grumbled. She and Angus pulled ahead, leaving our hero and his mount with a little catching up to do.

*Everyone will meet that person. Someone who completes them, who tolerates their flaws, mends their broken spirits. Someone who comes to your side at the darkest of hours and tells you to hold on for just a second longer. There is no telling when or where you will meet that person, but I assure you it is only a matter of time.*

The wind was whistling in Spiros' ears as he flew low over the water. He and Merida were neck and neck. Sure it was true that he could rocket ahead and leave her in the dust, but what fun would that be?

She looked over and started to laugh, gesturing to the red branch shaped mark on his forehead. He rolled his eyes and willed a huge gust of wind to hit her from behind. Her hair flew forward and covered up her entire face.

She quickly used one hand to get her fiery red locks back under control before turning to her companion and playfully scowling. He snickered and pulled ahead ever so slightly.

*She recalled a story that had Spiros told her. Long ago, the King of the Gods split humans in two, fearing their power. He then cursed them to spend the rest of their lives searching for their other half. At long last they had found their other half and they were VERY powerful. Together, they could overcome any obstacle, topple any foe. Be it man or god. They were from two different cultures, who at birth were separated by thousands of miles. Their bond was by design, not coincidence. *

Their expressions turned serious, up ahead was the village that was under attack. Spiros found it odd that a town this close to the castle would be consider an outlying village with no attachment to the clans.

None the less, there was fighting to be done.

Our hero only drew his dual short swords, and electrified the weapons. He raised them to strike, as Visilis angled himself so that he would be able to attack the ground troops with his talons. Similar to how a eagle would snatch a fish out of a lake.

Merida readied her bow, notching an arrow as Angus jumped over a toppled goods cart. She took aim at the tallest barbarian who looked to be the leader of the raid. In the corner of her eye she could see Spiros looking at him as well. The raiders ran upon seeing the two barreling towards their leader.

It was clear he didn't stand a chance.

The battle didn't last long, the raiders quickly realized how much of a threat two armed teenagers could be and fell back onto their longships while carrying the scores of their injured comrades.

As they sailed off, Merida shook her head at them.

"Should we go after them?" She asked.

"Nah, besides I think they've gotten the message." Spiros replied, gazing into the sunset with a grin.

"We better be heading back. Dinner will be ready soon." She told him.

"Well I hope your mom has a Plan B, cause we are not going to be having fish tonight." The Vanguard told her.

She must of read his mind because she chuckled a bit. Realizing that he felt bad about not being able to bring in a catch.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure she can whip up a platter of haggis real quick."

The Greco shuttered at the thought of eating that stuff again. Although he knew he shouldn't complain. It had been years since he had been able to eat three meals a day. Up until recently, he had been eating once or twice a day if he was lucky.

Sometimes not at all.

"I know it doesn't sound great. I don't like the stuff myself, but at least we...er...you can look forward to desert." She offered, brushing a few strands of her fiery hair away from her eyes.

Spiros remembered that she still owed her brothers her desert for another six months.

"Well you can always share with me." He told her.

She gave him a sweet smile.

"Such a gentleman."

He chuckled

"Come on, lets get home." She said, walking over to Angus and climbing onto his saddle.

"Sounds good." He replied, sheathing his swords and jumping onto Vislis.

The villagers emerged from their houses to thank the duo as they headed back towards Castle DunBroch. The sun setting behind them, and the star filled night sky stretching out before them.

*I cannot convince you to believe in destiny, to believe in fate. I don't know if anything will, but after hearing this tale...I believe.*

Do you?

A.N- Can you believe it! It's finally done. As of July 13th 2014 at 12:24 AM, Brave: The Stones of Fate is done! I'd like to thank all of this stories followers for sticking with this thing to the end. I'm glad to have created a story that was so captivating you were willing to stick it out and endure the painfully long waits that came between the updates.

I will put up one more chapter that will act as one last Author Note that will act as my own evaluation on this story and what I think I could of done better. I would also encourage questions of any type to be asked, as I would love to answer them in a Q&A style format.

Until next time my dear readers,

Wolf out!