"Soon it begins," Talim said as she raised her head. Putting her hands on top of the cold marble before her, she looked out from the position of the balcony from of hers and Dumas's bedroom. The sky was a dusty brown run through with streaks of orange and gold as the sun was beginning to set. The sounds of crashing waves of the ocean continued on, uncaring of the new sounds of war that would soon cover its song. The soldiers were all streaming out the castle and they pulled on many jet black cannons that had finally arrived, personally hand delivered by Cervantes. Next came the cavalry of elephants and they let out loud trumpets as they were led into battle. Beautifully adorned with armor and their own sharp tusks and size, they were the epitome of a beast of war.

Talim leaned over slightly, to see the ground as black as night. Dumas's private army was massive and every able soldier had been summoned for battle. Their black and dark blue armor made them a walking sea of death. Her eyes moved to the front as she spotted Dumas sitting on top of his war horse, waiting for her to give him the signal.

She closed her eyes and continued reading the wind. After some time, the words reached her ears and she knew it was time. Opening her eyes, they turned a vivid green and she saw Hilde leading the army with Siegfried and Zwei by her side. Many of her old friends were there. Yun-Seong... the first friend she made outside her village was there with Hwang and Seong-Mina. Her heart tugged painfully as she saw. Zasalamel, Rock, Cassandra Taki, Ivy and Kilik weren't far behind from the front of the army. She knew that more were on their way as well.

Her eyes moved over to her own side. Cervantes, Dampierre, Voldo, Raphael, Viola, Mitsurugi, Tira and Pyrrha stood ready as their enemies approached. Up in the sky, Aeon flapped his beautiful white wings and let out a battle ready cry. Her eyes lingered on Raphael and Viola worriedly before they turned to Tira. The assassin seemed to sense her and their eyes met. Tira's lips curled and she gave a mocking wave from her place on top of an elephant she was sitting on. Talim pursed her lips and turned away before putting her hand to her lips and giving out a shrill whistle. Alun soared down from its perch and landed on her shoulder obediently and soon, Buffy the bat followed suit. She whispered quietly to them and they chirped and squeaked before soaring down.

Flying past the elephants and soldiers, they reached Dumas who nodded and also called for his own hawk. The elite hunter of the sky gave a shrill cry as it flew down to him on magnificent wings of brown and black and its red eyes sparkled maliciously. "Go and be our eyes. Talim can't read everything that's happening during battle," Dumas ordered. When they took off, he got off his horse with Soul Edge in hand. Standing at the front, he placed both hands on it and whispered, "Ready whenever you are, ma petite."

The wind carried his words and she raised up a hand. The song of war started as the drums beat and the men shouted loudly for the battle to begin as Hilde's army finally came into view. "Dumas! Now!" she cried as Hilde's army charged forward.

"BURN EVERYTHING, SOUL EDGE!" He thrust the blade into the ground and the taint spread through the earth, cracking the ground and poisoning the land.

Talim breathed in deeply from her place up high and said, "I am the wind, hear my voice. Carry the taint through the air!" Her hands slowly lifted up before she spun on one heel and shot out her right hand. "Go!" The thick and dark energy of Dumas's castle swirled and moved slowly forward, gaining speed and power as it gained momentum. With her other hand, she held it up to the sky. The wind howled and the element also shot forward to buffet their enemies.

When Raphael felt the wind pulling at his clothes and howling from above, he carried out their next plan. From his place on top of his own horse, he cried, "Archers!" He raised up his hand and two hundred soldiers readied their arrows of flames. "Steady and hold!" His eyes gauged their distance before he shouted, "Fire!"

A volley of dangerous flaming arrows soared through the air, further helped and poisoned by the taint, came crashing down onto the soldiers beneath and tearing out screams and cries and Raphael watched as their army faltered from their first attacks. The air should be difficult for them to breathe in and the poisonous land was already leaking out miasma and burning the soles of the feet. He turned behind him and shouted, "Get the cannons ready! And you men, I want the knights out in front with the cavalry! Get a move on it."

Beside him, his daughter looked at the packs of trained war dogs and wolves she was in charged of before saying to the pack masters, "Unleash the hounds and wolves. Once they come into the best range of our arrows, move the elephant cavalry as well."

With that, the ravenous and ferocious canines charged out into battle, hungry and eager to tear out the throats of their enemies. Their eyes were bloodshot and they foamed at the mouth as they raced forward on swift legs. The elephants soon followed and the ground shook with every step they took.

From the other side, Hilde reined in her white war horse and shouted, "Shield bearers! Take the front!" She began shouting out orders to the units under her command while Siegfried and Zwei rushed off on foot to join the foot soldiers.

"Hey Zas," Cassandra said as she ran beside the black magician. "Think you can put in alittle magic?"

He rolled his eyes. "I've asked you not to shorten my name."

"Zasalamel is too much of a mouthful."

He sighed tiredly before saying, "Cover for me." After clearing away two soldiers with his scythe, he began focusing and chanting under his breath.

Cassandra laughed as she swiped at men around her with her sword. "Yo Kilik! Wanna help?"

Underneath his golden bird mask, Kilik smiled. "Of course, Cassandra." He came over to her side and knocked away any soldiers who tried to come close. Spinning the staff in his hand, he said to them, "You lack training."

"Come forth." Zasalamel stabbed the butt of his scythe into the ground and drew three gold symbols into the air. Three portals opened up on the battlefield and from them, three giant skeletons fell down with a thundering crash. Each had three heads and six arms and they wore armor of rusted bronze.

"Nice one old man," Yun-Seong whistled as he came over. "We're not going to lose yet."

Talim let out a long breath as she watched from up high. "And so... the war starts." Touching the medallion at the base of the throat, her eyes turned even greener as she said, "Come Soul Calibur, we're waiting for you."

Darkwings13: Ok, so I won't get started on this yet. Actually that's a lie. I already typed out seventeen chapters LOL. But I want to do a short drabble collection. There will be twenty five short drabbles for Raphaela and Talim. I'll upload three drabbles tomorrow or day after. Stay tune. I want to do that first because with drabbles, it helps me practice with atmosphere and details without being sidetracked by a bigger picture and I hope the practice will make 'Defying Destiny' better.

Ok, here I'm going to reply to those who reviewed. Imma be lazy and go backwards. Oh and the more you write to me, the more I respond cuz... there' just more to respond to xD

FablePsycho: Thank you for your compliment! I've tried my best and I know I can improve but to hear that you think so highly of my fanfic makes me really happy. Lol you know what, I DO believe that Dampierre has abit of a liking/crush on Hilde but his business and her position puts her out of his reach beyond anything besides abit of flirtations. I wouldn't write a fanfic on the two mainly because I am not as familiar with their character as Talim and Raphael but with my drabble collection and future story, I might just add a scene involving them. After all, Hilde is friends with Talim and Dampierre is working for Dumas ;D

IChiTa WiYa: No no, thank you and all the others for reading. I write in what I believe in but I also write for my reader's enjoyment. To hear you are happy with it makes me happy. And I'm glad you think that way about Dumas! It's what I was going for. He has to take on the role of being king, deal with politics and watch over all the malfested under his wing so he's much more dark and is more inclined to use 'the ends justify the means'. At the same time, he's always had a fondness for 'payback' so I wanted to show that too.

ThalieXVII: My longest supporter and one of my dearest friend on here. All of your reviews have always been so supportive and I'm glad I can always depend on you to correct me when I write something wrong in French. Not only that, thanks for always enquiring about my life outside of fanfiction and catching up with me. You've been with me since the first story and I will always hold you in high regards for have following me and my journey throughout the years and stories. Thank you.

Bifem20: I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed those chapters and that you've read them. My exams went well, thank you dear reader. Thank you so very much for your patience and for reviewing my chapters, telling me you're eager to read on. That gives me some satisfaction that I'm not failing in my writings :D

SoulsandSwords: Oh no! Don't let my story distract you from your homework! Sorry! XD But thank you so much for spending those hours reading. I'm very honored. And yes, I believe that with the Soul Calibur universe, everyone plays an important part. That's probably why SCV story failed. So many characters were missing. We all love our characters and want to see them play some kind of role between the war of the legendary swords. I will always do my best to incorporate a dynamic relations with all the characters in my story.

I believe those are the latest reviews that haven't been addressed since the last time I've updated? If I miss anyone please yell at me! Lol. I'm always happy to answer any questions, address any concerns and suggestions so that I can keep improving. Below are the list of those who have reviewed for this story. This is a small way to show my appreciation. Thank you all for reading, reviewing and see you next time. Add me to your alerts or favorites to stay updated :)

,ThalieXVII, Darkstar56, xxx-wings-xxx, BlackInkedPen, Matthewtirassecretapprentice, Amy Ziklina, Bznboy, lostjoie9, Sword of the Coast247, bifem20, SoulsandSwords, IChiTa WiYa, FablePsycho

Will add more people if more people read and review of course. I check back every so often xD

**** Defying Destiny will be mature rated, so check my profile or set ratings to include mature stories to see