Robin's sword flashed in the sun, blindingly bright. Raven did not hesitate to leap out of the way, casting a thunder spell at him. The magic hit true, and Robin felt agony in every cell of his body. Only his rage was more powerful.

She will pay, Robin thought feverishly, trembling as he stood up again. I am her elder brother. She will not control me. I will have mastery over her.

With great effort, he raised his blade again, a savage war cry rising from his throat. Quick though she was, Raven could not doge the onslaught of blows that rained upon her. She managed to blast him with lighting once again, but he was oblivious to the pain. All that mattered was winning, forcing her into submission.

Raven did not back down from the assault, as he'd though she would, but rather fought all the more desperately: her technique was not as smooth as it was when training or fighting simple brigands, but was all the effective because of it, for she wasn't fighting a simple opponent, but one who was her equal in every way.

Robin broke off in his attack for a moment, changing tactics. When Raven struck with her tome again, he let the blast knock him down to his knees. Blinking black spots out of his vision, he tightened his grip on the sword's hilt, hearing Raven's footsteps come ever closer.

Perhaps his ears deceived him, but Robin could have sworn he heard her whisper "I'm sorry brother," as she opened the tome. Oh well, it did not matter.

As Raven prepared to finish him off, Robin seized the opportunity and-lifting his sword with both hands-struck upward at an angle, the bronze tip piercing her torso with chilling ease. His sister gasped and stumbled away as he rose to his feet, clutching the wound, the thunder tome falling from her fingers.

"H-how?" she gasped. Robin smiled grimly.

"You shouldn't have underestimated me," he answered, stepping closer, feeling immensely satisfied. Raven gasped, pitching forward and falling to her knees, her white shirt turning crimson from the blood that seeped between her fingers. Concern overwhelmed him and he dropped to one knee, the bronze sword falling from his grasp. He helped her stand, but her legs failed her again, so he held her tightly, frightened again.

"Th-this wasn't you," she whispered. "Not your-your fault."

"What?" Robin whispered. "What do you mean?"

Raven's eyes rolled back in her head, and she breathed out four words: "Mother...I see you..." Then her body went limp, falling to the ground as Robin realized what had just happened.

"No," he gasped. "No no no no NO!"

As tears began to sting in Robin's eyes, a chilled laugh echoed through the field. The cloaked figure, surrounded by back tendrils of dark magic, stepped closer, right over Raven's body.

"Very good," it whispered, the voice now distinctly male. "Very good. She now truly understands the power you wield."

Robin watched in horror as his sister's body faded into nothingness, some dark spell absorbing her. Shaking from head to toe, he struggled to his feet.

"Raven," he whispered. The cloaked figure hissed at the name, but it was so short a sound that Robin could not be sure what he had heard. Then the hood fell back and Robin saw his own face looking back, twisted with a cruel sneer. The young tactician took an uneasy step back, unsure what he had now gotten himself into.

"Come, Robin," his mimic said clearly. "You are the victor. Join you power to mine, become the fell dragon! It is your destiny."

My destiny, Robin thought, his mind still fuzzy from the rapid shifting between events. Mother was afraid of this destiny, as was Raven. They knew that this would not be something to celebrate. Giving into the power of Grima...it will unleash the apocalypse. Do I truly want to be responsible for that?

His heart ached as he thought of his sister in the past tense, but his mind was clearing. Raven had indeed been wiser than he, leaving Plegia and the temptation of power behind with their father. With her in mind, he could not take this power-no matter how enticing-in good conscience.

"If Grima is my destiny," Robin snapped back, "then screw destiny!"

Diving forward, he snatched the thunder tome from the grass and let a ball of lightning fly. The spell was deflected with a flick of his mimic's wrist, the twisted smile vanishing and being replaced by a truly ugly scowl.

"If you won't willingly join me," he whispered, "then I will break you into submission."

Sharp black tendrils ripped through the air, pinning Robin to the ground. He couldn't move, could hardly breathe, and was helpless to anything but wait at this creature's mercy. The black magic increased in pressure and Robin saw images of another life: walking through the desert sands, Ashira at his side, looking back at the fading shadow of the last Plegian city, her death from an infected battle wound, standing beside the Ylissean prince and giving tactical advice, going back to the Dragon's table, being apprenticed to a tall man who must have been Validar, the surge of power that coursed through his mortal body as the fell dragon was reborn, the world on fire and burning into nothing...

"NO!"

The word echoed around the field, louder than a thunderclap. Reaching deep inside himself, Robin could sense the fell dragon's power, a pool of darkness somewhere within his heart. He had opened his heart to the power, and it had destroyed his sister. No more would that power tempt him.

Words of power he had never before spoken rose to his lips, and he cried them loudly. He felt the darkness being drawn out and the fell dragon's resistance to the banishment. His mind began to grow fuzzy, his very identity seeming to slip away with the dark power, leaving blankness behind. Finishing the spell, he could no longer sense Grima's presence within him. The other Robin had vanished, defeated. Weakened by the magic, Robin collapsed into the grass, light-headed. For a moment, he thought he could see Raven, wreathed in light.

You did well, brother, he heard he whisper. Rest now, Robin. Servants of Naga come this way even at this very moment. They will keep you safe from Grima in the time to come.

Before he blacked out, he heard her voice one last time.

Robin.