A/N: This chapter has been beta'ed by BlueHelix. Much obliged.
Arthur Pendragon swung his sword, parrying a single backhanded swipe from an immense, taloned paw that would have squished him like an ant. The force of the blow still nearly drove him to his knees, and Arthur panted. This dragon-
He was strong. Stronger than the half-formed Beast of Revelation that Arthur had faced in the final hours of the Holy Grail War. The dragon leaned forward and belched fire from its mouth, balls of searing white-hot flame roiling through the air. Arthur rolled out of the way, driven by pure instinct. A shadow fell over him. His eyes widened as Grima swept his huge claws across the roof-
"Hyah!" Lucina yelled as she lunged forth and stabbed Falchion into the dragon's extended claw. Grima howled, out of pain, out of anger. He recoiled, retreating. Those six red eyes fixated on Excalibur. The Fell Dragon growled again, confused by the sight of the sword-
But then, that same mocking laughter erupted forth from Grima's mouth once again. He studied his wounds, black ichor dripping from little cuts across his body.
"Insects." Grima leered. A malevolent six-eyed glare swept over Arthur's body. Slavering jaws dripped with black saliva, lined with brutal, sharp teeth. "That sword is irrelevant. This accomplishes nothing. You accomplish nothing."
Arthur studied the dragon again, eyes darting to each of the little cuts he'd inflicted, eyes going to the wounds Lucina had inflicted. They'd hardly slowed the beast down. Moreover…
The top of the castle was beginning to crumble around the pair. Arthur could see great gaping holes where Grima's mighty talons had punched clean through the floor. Bits of the floor had been melted by Grima's flames, stone left blackened and warped.
They were quite literally running out of space to fight and maneuver.
"Why struggle against the inevitable?" Grima rumbled again. "Why struggle against your fate? This world is dead."
Arthur shook his head as an image superimposed itself over the Fell Dragon. It is in that moment that Arthur Pendragon recalled a battle against a different dragon, the size of a citadel. It's in that moment that Arthur Pendragon remembered fighting Vortigern, the tyrant-king who took on the form of a dragon.
Fighting Grima was exactly like fighting Vortigern. The beating of his wings created gusts of wind that threatened to bowl Arthur over. Grima's paws came down with immense force, like the hammer of a god. His fiery breath was all-consuming. His noxious, virulent presence drowned out all other scents as if one's being was being snuffed out in a sea of darkness.
Against such a foe-
"You should go," Lucina murmured beside him. "Go. I'll hold him back, you've done enough-"
Against such a foe, there wasn't the slightest hope of victory. Arthur spared a glance toward Lucina. The young woman's eyes were as chips of ice, her demeanor serious, a resigned look upon her face as she steeled herself to fight to the bitter end against her most hated foe.
In that moment, she reminded him of Gawain.
"… Why are you smiling?" Lucina asked.
"It's just-" Arthur turned back towards Grima, he watched as the dragon threw back his head and roared, and all of this was just so familiar to the King. "It's nothing, you just reminded me of someone I knew. However, I'm afraid I'm going to have to require your assistance just a little longer."
"… You have a plan?" Lucina asked.
Arthur nodded. "I believe I can immobilize him."
Excalibur was locked by two sets of seals. Invisible Air had been dispelled, but the other thirteen seals were still on. If Arthur could release enough of the thirteen restraints that bound his sword, if he could fire Excalibur right down Grima's gullet…
He hoped something like that would do more than simply immobilize Grima.
"I'll need a few seconds to prepare that though. Would that buy you enough time to finish him off?" He asked.
"It would, yes," Lucina replied slowly. "Very well. Understood!" Lucina shouted as she darted forth to swing at Grima's outstretched paw.
As it turned out, Lucina's sword bounced off Grima's paw uselessly.
"How amusing." The dragon boomed as he stared down at Lucina's figure. The terrible talons came down again. Lucina's eyes darted to the side as she prepared to jump-
She gasped, managing to pull herself back from the yawning abyss to her side just in the nick of time. A little bead of sweat dripped down the inside of her tunic as she gaped at the long, long fall she would have tumbled down if she'd dodged in that direction.
"Die already!" Grima snarled as he brought his scything talons down again. The ground shook underneath Lucina's feet, tiles crumbled and cracked. She shrieked as the ground caved away beneath her, plunging her down, down-
I'm sorry, mother. Father, please forgive me-
"Lucina!" Strong arms caught ahold of her tunic, yanking her onto a leathery back. Lucina cracked her eyes open, and the sight she beheld was almost enough to make her cry.
"Gerome!" She gasped.
The masked boy peered down at Lucina worriedly. He exhaled, a quick breath of relief escaping his mouth. "Are you hurt?"
"No, but- We're on Minerva?"
"It's a good thing we got here on time!" Cynthia waved gaily at Lucina.
"We've always watched over you!" Noire chimed in.
"Noire! Cynthia!" Tears began to well up in Lucina's eyes. She scrubbed them away, wiping them off on her sleeve. "Oh. Oh, thank you! Thank you!"
"Don't thank us yet- Guargh!" Gerome screamed as he yanked on his Wyvern mount's reins, sending her into a dive. Moments later, a gargantuan fireball exploded overhead. Cynthia and Noire shrieked, and even Lucina couldn't help but let out a little yip.
"That was close!" Cynthia gasped.
That's when the dragon roared again. Lucina turned her head back to look at Grima. A sudden light suddenly flashed, she threw up her hands to cover her eyes-
"Grima's stopped shooting fireballs at us," Gerome noted, as he brought Minerva back around to circle the ruins of Ylisstol. His sharp eyes scanned the castle. Lucina heard him suck in a sudden breath. "Hey, Lucina, were you with someone?"
"What is that light?" Grima hissed. Arthur Pendragon said nothing in response. His hands, his hands held aloft a miracle. A divine construct that would assuredly save the world, a glorious golden sword that emanated radiance and warmth.
"Thirteen seals, decision start!"
"Approved. Bedivere. Gaheris. Kay. Mordred. Galahad."
Excalibur ratcheted in Arthur Pendragon's hands, a series of clanking sounds emerging as he lifted the restraints one by one.
"This is a battle to save the world!"
"Arthur."
And with that, the sixth restraint was released.
Not enough time to release seven seals. Six will have to suffice.
Even so, the light of that blade blazed like the sun, blindingly hot against Arthur's cheek. He thrust his left foot forward, his right foot back as he grasped his sword with both arms and brought it up for an under-handed swing.
The light of that sword was visible for miles, as a beacon that lit up the darkened sky. Arthur scanned the horizon, spotting a dark shape, moving quickly against the clouds. He spotted Lucina sitting upon the Wyvern's back, joined by three other individuals. The quartet were circling overhead. Grima paid no mind to them.
She's safe. Well then.
A dark shadow loomed over him and he bit back a bitter curse.
"As if I'd let you. No more games. Now you die." Grima hissed, as he prepared to bring the bulk of his body down to crush Arthur where he stood.
"… Turn around." Lucina said softly, her eyes captured by the sight of that glorious golden light. It was as if the sun had risen again, as if rays of sunshine had pierced through the clouds that darkened the sky. The light radiating from Arthur's sword was a beautiful, incandescent light that warmed the heart. No, in the first place-
-In the first place, could something as beautiful and wondrous as that sword even be called a sword?
"What?" Gerome murmured. He was just as transfixed by the sight as the rest of their group. Lucina didn't blame him, for a moment she'd lost herself as well. But then she saw Grima's arm beginning to rear back, and she knew that there was no time to simply gawk.
"That man needs an opening. Gerome." Lucina said evenly. "Whatever he's planning on doing, he needs an opening. I'll give him that opening."
"There's nothing we can do though!" Cynthia protested.
"My bow is useless! Shooting Grima would be like shooting a stone wall!" Noire cried.
"Drop me above Grima's head, Gerome," Lucina ordered. "There's something I want to try."
"Oh? Ah, I see. Understood!"
"GARGH!" Arthur watched as a blue blur dropped from the sky, as Grima roared in sudden agony. Lucina had fallen out of the sky, Falchion in hand. She'd lashed out with her blade, taking a swipe at Grima's face-
"YOU BITCH!" Grima thundered as he tossed and twisted his head. "My eye! My eye! Agh! Agh!"
Even from this distance, Arthur could hear Lucina grunting as she held onto her sword with both arms, where it was lodged directly in Grima's eye-socket, as she struggled to maintain her grip on her anchorage point.
This was bad. Now she was in the line of fire. He couldn't possibly fire off Excalibur now, else he'd end up vaporizing the closest thing he had to an ally in this dark, barren place.
Still. Lucina's stunt put a slight grin on his face. It might have been audacious, foolhardy, reckless, it might have put her in his line of fire, but it had worked. She'd given him the opening he needed.
"Get clear!" He yelled. "Get clear!
Arthur watched Lucina brace her feet against Grima's cheek, watched her tug with all her might. The King of Knights watched the girl fall, sword in hand, the blade that was stained with the ruins of Grima's eye. He saw the rider of the Wyvern reach out to catch her, and he breathed a sigh of relief as the masked boy scooped her back onto his mount, as the Wyvern darted away at great speed.
"I'll kill you!" Grima roared. "Kill your face! Kill! Kill you all! My eye! My-"
"No more words from you. Arthur, do it."
"EX-"
Arthur's hands tightened on his sword. The blinding light that surrounded him intensified. Excalibur blazed even brighter, bathing Arthur's livery in shades of gold, luminous light washing over the ruined castle-top.
Arthur Pendragon twisted his torso around and swung. Grima turned to face him then. The Fell Dragon's reflexes had dulled. One of his eyes had been taken out, and he'd been injured numerous times. He met his incoming doom far, far too late for him to do anything about it.
"-CALIBUR!"
An explosive boom rent the air. The glass windows that remained in the castle blew out from the force of Excalibur's slash. A beam of light leaped forth from the path of the blade, the same hue as the golden radiance that had lit the sword. It was a beautiful arc of light that cleaved right through the air, causing the air to sizzle from the force of its passage.
For one, beautiful moment, Excalibur lit up the sky, and it was if day had returned to Ylisstol.
The ray of golden light slammed directly into Grima's body. The Fell Dragon's howls filled the air, eclipsed by Excalibur's roar. The fell dragon thought he had known pain before, when Lucina took out his eye, when he'd first been sealed away a thousand years ago.
Excalibur's attack consumed him, bathing him in a pillar of light and radiance and he knew true pain. The dragon screamed, and screamed, and screamed. His roars caused the earth trembling, his pained thrashing demolished whole buildings. The bulk of his body was pushed back, and he carved a swathe through the streets of Ylisstol, bowled over by Excalibur's beam.
Then finally it ended. Grima's body came to a stop right on the outskirts of Ylisstol, coming to rest in a heap of burnt rubble and mangled garbage. The Fell Dragon's mangled head fell to the ground with a final, resounding thud.
Arthur lowered his sword with a relieved sigh, as he watched the twitching corpse of his foe. He let his arms fall, letting the blade of his sword, still glowing, cast a pale golden light on the bricks around him. He heard the beating of wings behind him, he heard something heavy come to a rest on the castle-top. He heard four figures dismount, he turned to meet them.
A pale-haired masked boy, two girls, one with a bow, and Lucina. They all gaped at Arthur for one very, very long moment.
"…" The masked boy's mouth opened and closed, like he was a fish out of water. He pointed toward Arthur. Pointed at Grima's twitching, steaming bulk, still sprawled in the ruined outskirts of the city. He pointed back toward Arthur-
"So uh," The girl with the bow began. "… Uh."
"Hey mister, are you some kind of- Of superman or something? What the crap was that?"
"Is he dead?" Lucina asked, getting directly to the point, even as she strode over to stand by Arthur's side. Arthur shrugged.
"He should be-" The King of Knights grimaced as Grima staggered to his feet, a loud bellow preceding his reawakening. The dragon whirled on its haunches, turning to glare at the castle atop that hill. More specifically, the people standing on top of the castle.
He looked horrible. The left side of his body was scraped raw. The right side of his body was mangled, blackened. White flashes of ivory were visible where Excalibur had burned him right down to the bone. His right wing was completely melted away, a mere caricature protruding awkwardly from his side, like a dead tree sticking out of an equally dead swamp. Two burning red eyes were all that he had left to glare weakly at Ylisstol Castle as he limped away, dripping ichor all the while.
A wink of light flashed and with that, the maimed Fell Dragon vanished, to lick his wounds and plot another day.
"… Tch, he got away." Arthur commented. What a travesty. If he'd had time to undo another seal…!
"He ran away!?" Lucina blurted.
"Grima… Ran away." The masked boy said slowly, as if he were trying to process the situation.
Silence fell on that castle-top. Arthur Pendragon 'sheathed' his sword. Excalibur clanked as the thirteen seals remanifested over it. A thin sheen rippled across its surface as Invisible Air manifested, coating the blade in a sheath of wind. The glow from the blade died away, leaving Ylisstol Castle dark and cold.
Lucina took all of this in. Cerulean eyes flickered down to the opaque sheen Arthur clenched within his fist, back up to his face. She swallowed, almost imperceptibly.
"I believe," Lucina began. "That we have some questions to ask of you."
"I concur." Arthur smiled sheepishly. "And I believe I have some questions to ask of you as well."
A/N: So yeah, that happened.