"Chrom?"

"Hm?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course." Robin led Chrom off to the side of the path illuminated by Naga. "What's up?"

"I've been thinking about what Naga said. Grima can only be destroyed by his own power, right? Well, I have some of Grima's power in me. If I can manage to tap into that, maybe I can finish off Grima once and for all."

"That's not a bad idea."

"It is indeed possible." Naga's voice resounded through their heads as if she was a part of their minds. "However, the safety of this cannot be guaranteed. You and Grima are linked to one another, both lives will end at the same time."

"So… I won't come back?"

"You have made many ties with both this world and another. If those bonds are strong enough, there is a chance that you may be revived. Slim, but a chance."

"Robin, you can't do this." Robin stared silently at the ground, trying to look like he was thinking it over, but both of them already knew what he was going to do. "You have to promise me that you won't sacrifice yourself." Chrom was still going to try, though.

"I'm sorry, but I can't make that promise."

"Robin…"

"I'm afraid I must cut this debate short; I can sense Grima's rise in power, along with another that rivals his own. If you do not hurry, awakener, it will be too late."

"...Fine. We'll discuss this later. For now, let's get to the top of Origin Peak." Chrom stormed off, possibly up to vent his feelings on Sumia. Robin was about to follow, when a high-pitched 'Ahem' made him turn. Behind him was an angry Lissa, hands on her hips and flames in her eyes.

"Sacrifice yourself?"

"Um-"

"No, no don't try and explain; it looks like you've already made up your mind! You just decided that not living would be the best option without even asking me?! Did you even think about the people you're leaving behind?!" Tears began to fly, and her arms flailed angrily against his chest. "Morgan, Owain, and… Owain! Not to mention me!"

"But you were who I was thinking about."

"I know, but…"

"If I do this, none of you will have to suffer because of this Dragon anymore. I'll protect so many people that I care about, you first among them. I wish I didn't have to, but there isn't another choice."

"I don't want you to die…"

"I don't want to either…" They stood with Lissa trembling in Robin's arms, and tears coming from both their eyes. They stood that way until Chrom called to the Shepherds, signaling that the enemy was ahead. That was when the two broke apart, gave each other a silent look, then took off for the battlefield; unwilling, but ready for what may come.

This time, the literal uphill battle involved both the twisted Twilight Risen and Grimleal followers, all trying to prevent the Shepherds from reaching the mountain's vantage point. At the head of it all was Aversa, her smug grin gone, replaced by a look of frustration and desperation.

"How dare you?! You think you can just kill Validar, pass through the Twilight, and end Lord Grima?! These foolish ideas end here! You will all die, right here, right now!" Her words sent all the enemies between her and the Shepherds into a wild frenzy, all desperate to protect whom they assumed to be their gods.

"Robin, ideas?"

"Just one." He turned to the Shepherds behind him, giving a distressed yet excited smile. Despite how many times they had been in similar situations, it was so very rare that Robin got to use this strategy, and even rarer that he got to command it. "CHARGE!" Exhilaration rushed through his body as the group gave a terrifying yell, and the ground began to shake with their footsteps. Though, for this to work, I may have to change a few things. His eyes scanned the thundering Shepherds, until he found the green-clad warrior slashing at the mutated Risen, seemingly back to his normal self. Robin fought his way over, eliminating Grimleal and injuring Risen as he went. "Link!" The boy turned his head to face him as his sword sliced clean through one of the Risen. "I need your help. You and that sword of yours seem to have no problem with these Risen, so I want us to go and take out Aversa. Once we do, the enemies should lessen." Link nodded, then turned back to the Risen in front of him. Robin took on the Grimleal amongst the oncoming horde, allowing Link to focus solely on the Twilight-infested Risen. They fought their way up the mountainside like this, becoming a two-man army. Through the chaos and mass amounts of enemies, Robin could see Aversa getting ever closer, her expression constantly growing more frantic. He also noticed the sky growing slightly darker, Naga's light fading. We don't have long. "We need to move faster. Any ideas?" Link seemed to consider this for a second, before reaching into his pouch and pulling out a small, black stone. His body turned completely black, mimicking the skies above. He then began to twist and warp, his form turning from that of a strangely-dressed man to a strangely large wolf. Colour returned to his body, and his new tail began to sway back and forth. Link made a motion with his head, as if to signal Robin to do something. It took him a second to figure out what it was. "You want me to get on?" The wolf ran around behind Robin and shoved itself underneath him, forcing the tactician to take up an automatic horse-riding stance. Before he could even register that he was now riding his friend that had just turned into a wolf, Link took off at lightning speed up the inclined terrain. Robin managed to grab a tuft of fur on the beast's neck as the landscape rushed past, enemies and all. The sudden transformation had stunned all of the Grimleal, and the Risen seemed to be too slow to do anything about it. The pair flew along the rocky surface, both sets of eyes locked on Aversa, who looked absolutely terrified.

"S-stay back!" She held a tome defensively in one hand, her other one outstretched and shaking. Robin and Link stopped near her, Robin removing himself from the fierce-looking wolf's back. Link growled at Aversa, then looked back at Robin.

"It's fine; I've got this. You go help the others." He gave a whine of concern, but followed Robin's advice and took off in the opposite direction. Robin's attention returned to Aversa, who was slowly regaining her composure.

"I won't allow you to pass! You will never reach Grima!"

"You're wrong." Robin pulled his seldom-used Bolganone tome out of his cloak, ready for a fight. "We're going to reach Grima and Ganondorf and stop this nightmare; whether you move out of the way or not."

"Fool! You and your band of riffraff will never get past the army of Risen and Grimleal, let alone me!"

"Then why are you so scared?" A fireball went towards Robin's head, which he deftly avoided. Just as he had figured, Aversa's fear and anger had gotten the better of her, and now she was fighting sloppily; she was a mess compared to their fight back at the Dragon's Table. Unfortunately, that also made her fast. Spouts of flame rapidly shot towards Robin, forcing him to be constantly on the move. He was left rolling and diving every which way just to avoid the onslaught of inaccurate yet scorching attacks, and was unable to return with any of his own. If I can just get in one shot…

"What's wrong, tactician? Afraid?!" He could hear the fatigue in her voice, and was now noticing the frequency of her shots slowing. He didn't bother responding, as he noticed a small opening in her attacks. Just gotta wait for it… there! He sent one fireball from the top-tier tome, which managed to pierce Aversa's defenses. Her fear made her move slightly out of the way, but the blast of fire managed to burn her side intensely. The pain caused her to drop to the ground, clutching her left side. Robin walked up to her, tome in hand. She instantly flung up her spellcasting arm, ready to fight. Robin sighed.

"Look, I don't want to do this. Just surrender, and we'll go our separate ways."

"Never! I won't ever bow to the likes of you!" She shot a weak fireball at him, which he just stepped to the side to avoid.

"Fine." He raised his spellcasting arm as she closed her eyes, then hit her on the head, knocking her out. Robin rubbed his aching wrist, looking down at the limp form of his adversary. "Man, do you have a hard head."

"Robin!" Chrom, followed by everyone else, came running up to him. "We've taken care of them."

"Good; now we can get to Grima."

"Right. Any ideas on how to do that? Getting onto the back of a giant, world-destroying dragon isn't exactly easy."

"Um…"

"I have your solution." Naga's voice resounded through their heads once more, startling the Shepherds that hadn't been around when they first met her. "My power grows weak, but I have enough strength to get all of you onto the Fell Dragon's back. The weak point on the nape of his neck will be heavily guarded, so I suggest you prepare yourselves before allowing me to transport you."

"There's our answer. Okay, everyone gear up! We're leaving within the hour!" Chrom walked off to go see his daughters and Sumia, while Lissa, Owain and Morgan came up to Robin to help him do the same thing. They spent the remaining time repairing their armour, sharpening their swords and refreshing their tomes in tense silence. Not long before every Shepherd was ready, the four of them huddled together, small tears coming from each of their faces. It wasn't exactly the last image Robin wanted to have of his family, but he was glad that he could have a last image. Their brief time of silent goodbyes was overtaken when Chrom called for Robin to discuss strategy.

When everything was ready, the Shepherds stood in the formation Robin thought would work the best for their assault on the Fell Dragon, Chrom and Robin up at the front. Robin nodded to Chrom, who looked up to the dark sky.

"Okay, Naga; we're ready. Take us to Grima's back." Bright light filled the Shepherds' vision as Chrom's request was met, and a sense of dizziness penetrated their minds. When the sensation began to lessen, they could almost feel the dark energy of the beings they were reappearing near course throughout their bodies. The light slowly faded, unveiling their position on the middle of the enormous purple dragon's back, facing two figures up at the head of the dragon, one of which was extremely familiar. The other had its arms crossed, and a smile spread across his face. This was it.

A/N: Happy Holidays, everyone! Sorry if this wasn't too exciting, but this chapter in the game wasn't really the most eventful. That made it a bit difficult to write, but I think I got it in the end. As always, if you have any questions, concerns or comments, feel free to review or PM. The end is almost here!