Chapter 7

Weed Killer

Ten years. That's how long the boy once known as Jon Snow had been waiting for this moment. Ever since first hearing about what a Shield of Rosaria was, being told the stories of the First Shields of old, he had wanted to prove himself worthy of the title. Being knighted a year ago had proven to everyone else that he was worthy but not to him. Not to Clive. Clive wanted to pass the final test.

"Are you ready my Lord?"

Clive drew his sword, a challenging smirk on his face as he stared Lord Murdoch down "Ready when you are."

Rodney slowly approached the young knight before him. Having watched him for so long in training, and getting to see his recent exploits for himself, he knew that Clive would be a dangerous one at close quarters. But alas, not everyone can wield the power of the Phoenix and throw fireballs for fun. The older knight charged, testing Clive's weaker side on the boys' left. A single swing, a clash of their training blades, he pushes the boy back. Clive's feet slide across the ground as Murdoch comes in again for another strike. The boy rolls to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade as it comes down, and retaliates.

"Not a bad strike," Murdoch compliments, wincing from the strike to his right side "But one single hit is not going to bring down every opponent."

"I wouldn't expect it to," Clive smirks "Which is why I have been practicing."

Clive vanishes, an after image of flames left in his wake. Rodney casts his gaze across the training yard, finding no sign of the boy. A shadow looms over him, the Lord Commander turns, eyes drawn to the sky as the boy comes crashing down, knocking him onto his back in the dirt.

"Do you yield, Lord Commander?"

"I yield…I see that you have been spending more time with Rex and Colt."

Clive shrugs, helping the older man to his feet "I have had some interesting teachers Lord Commander, and as you always tell me 'In battle every action you take could mean the difference between life and death' so why should I not use every advantage?"

Murdoch lightly cuffs the back of his head "Do try to remember Lord Marquess, knight or not, you are expected to be noble and honorable. Though…I do not recommend letting everyone know that you will fight dirty when in the thick of it."

"I shall endeavor to not match Sir Rex and Sir Colt's battle tendencies then."

"See that you do not." Murdoch says, eyes narrowing on the innocent look the young knight sends him. "Bloody Rosfield's, always looking for trouble."

Clive swapped his training sword for his actual weapon, sighing as the familiar weight settles in his hands. His father would be returning any day now from a minor skirmish along their border. And with his return, hopefully an explanation of what was coming on the horizon.

"I don't suppose you could tell me where Jill and my brother have gotten off to, could you boy?" Clive glanced down at Torgal. The puppy could only tilt his own head in response to his master's question "Thought as much. Well, let's see if we can track them down before mother does."

Clive found that he could not in fact find his brother and Jill before Anabella did. As he began his search for the pair word of the Archduke's return had spread. Awaiting Elwin's return at the front of the royal party had been his mother Anabella, Joshua, a few attendants, Lord Murdoch, and Jill by his side. The rift that had grown over the past year was worrying but as Elwin returned and his words brought with them the truth of what was coming…he only hoped that he would be ready for what lay ahead.

Following Elwin's return Clive found himself with a summons to see him in the throne room. A meeting that Jill had teased him about every step of the way there. Now, standing before his father and having heard the mission that would be his first command, Clive didn't know what to think of his abilities as a leader.

"Do you understand what you must do my boy?"

Clive hesitated to give an answer. This request was not one he could take lightly. His first command…granted, it was only to investigate rumors of Beastmen within their borders but still this was a big step for him. What it could mean for him here within Rosalith would be immeasurable. If he were successful, that is.

"I shall do as you command, Your Grace."

Elwin rolls his eyes, a fond smile on his face "Alright, you can quit licking my boots, your mother isn't here."

Clive relaxed somewhat, smiling gratefully in return. Off to the side stood Lord Murdoch, hands behind his back as he stood at attention. "Father…has there been any word on the…investigation?"

Elwin frowned, slowly shaking his head "No…none of the scholars or physician's I have assigned to this task have come back with results of any fashion. Other than to tell me they know not what has happened to her."

One year prior, as they began the return trip to Valisthea, the Duchess Anabella collapsed. She was confined to their chambers, bedridden for days on end. At first Elwin heard the things she murmured in her sleep, how she thrashed about as if fighting something off. With each passing day her words changed, and as her husband feared so too did, she. It was unnatural, of that no one doubted, but even still there was nothing he could do to fix it. To fix her.

"Then…mother is truly gone?" Elwin felt for the boy, he truly did. To hear Anabella regale them with the tale of what happened between herself and Catelyn Stark…to say that Clive was overjoyed, proud even, was an understatement. It seemed that out of them both the boy was most like Elwin, but he was truly devoted to his newfound mother…who now, it seems, may well be lost to him forever.

"I'm sorry my boy, but until a cure for whatever it was that ailed her can be found…Anabella may never return to her old self."

Rodney's face grew stern. The Duchess' change of heart this past year was abnormal. Some would call it a curse, others a great boon. The loyalists of her father Gerold Cole no doubt were the ones sowing the seeds of dissent within the land. That man had single handedly managed to infuriate the Lord Commander worse than any other alive. It was only thanks to Elwin's orders being written and known that things did not escalate within Rosalith while the royals were away.

"What of the book?" Clive asks, the question snapping Rodney out of his inner thoughts "Would it not be wiser for it to be entrusted to someone else?"

Elwin laughed "No my boy, the book of the First Shields is yours by right and deed. Only a First Shield may read from it as only you could utilize what it can teach you. Rodney, you look like you have something to say."

"Apologies, Your Grace," he bows his head "It is just that…I cannot help but think of what trouble may come for the Lord Marquess. Stillwind is not a dangerous place or very far from Rosalith, however just giving him two of my own men to aid him may not be enough to save him from his future troubles."

Clive felt the hairs on his neck stand up as a sly look was shared between his father and the Lord Commander. A feeling of dread settled in his stomach, weighing him down like a stone slab. This was not good.

"Ah, you're right as always Rodney." Elwin chuckles, turning his attention to Clive "So, tell me lad, have you given any thought to the proposals that have come your way?"

Clive could feel his face heating up in a blush "I…w-well…um…"

"I would take that as a no, Your Grace."

"Indeed," Elwin sits back on his throne, shaking his head "What am I to do with you? My own son, nearly of age, knighted fully, and yet…not even prepared to choose a bride. Where did I go wrong?"

"That's not it!" Clive clamped his mouth shut, cursing himself for speaking out of turn. For speaking at all on the subject. The looks he was getting…these two were taunting him, teasing him as if they were Coeurl's playing with a Bighorn. "I…I have given it some thought. I just have not found one that I like, that's all."

"Is that it?" Elwin chuckles "My boy…tell me true, does the one you think is good enough for you truly care for you? Does she seem to be someone who will be able to keep you out of trouble?"

"Or will she drag you into it?"

Clive frowns. Both men before him smirking knowingly at him. "If that is all, Your Grace, I should make preparations for tomorrows journey to Stillwind."

"Peace, Clive, we were only jesting. In fact, we, and no doubt every soul within Rosalith knows who you were thinking of."

"Is there a point to all of this Your Grace?"

Elwin studied the boy's face closely. Every second that ticked by made Clive wish oh so desperately that he could go back to the bailey and fight Lord Murdoch all over again. Perhaps this was a punishment for his being cheeky with the Phoenix's blessing? "Alright, I'll stop tormenting you for now. But do try to remember that not all who go off to war come back…we wouldn't want the Princess of the North to be sad now would we?"

With those parting words Clive bowed and all but ran from the throne room up the stairs to the side. Elwin had little doubt in his mind that Clive would be blushing the entire way to his room. Poor boy didn't realize just how strong his feelings were, but perhaps he would see the truth sooner rather than later.

"I do believe that he will be thinking long and hard tonight about what it is he wants to do."

"No doubt he will be stargazing tonight, that boy is a creature of habit it seems."

Rodney quirks a brow, eyeing the Archduke with humor dancing in his eyes "As are you, no?"

Elwin huffs "Let's focus on the details of our journey rather than jests. Is everything prepared?"

"Provisions for the trip, there and back, as well as supplies to be brought in just as a precaution." Rodney assures "As well as some security measures for Rosalith. Are you sure about this? I do not mean to question you Elwin but…you ask nothing short of the impossible."

"Were it not a possible outcome, I would not ask it of you. Rodney, should something happen…"

"It will be done…as long as I am breathing, Your Grace."

"And what of our trade deal with the North?"

Now it was Rodney's turn to roll his eyes "Other than a few well worded letters from a very eager party that refuses to put a name to themselves, nothing to report. Lord Stark is agreeable still, and Lord Manderly has not tried to search our ships since the last time."

"And the prisoner's information?" Elwin's face grew serious "What can you tell me of this…Littlefinger?"

"Lord Byron has not sent me a report of anything from the crews. However, those messages they received, each of them came from a sailor who had just left a brothel. All of them claim that they found the messages on their person after they had left, not before."

"Which means they were planted on them by one of the girls," Elwin looked deep in thought "Any connection to Littlefinger?"

"None that we have discerned." Rodney's shoulders slump. A mark, regardless of whether it was truly a slight on his record or not, was still a mark. "We don't even know if this Littlefinger is a person or a group of people…for all we know, it could be a place. Could even be a false name. We may never know in fact."

"Very well then…I shall see to final preparations on my end, Rodney," Elwin slowly stands, giving the briefest of smiles to his longtime friend "Tomorrow, we will be ready no matter what may come."

"I certainly hope so, Your Grace."

"All I am saying is that this could be a whole lot of nothing."

Clive sighs, trudging on ahead through the swampy outskirts of Stillwind. Rumors said that goblins had been sighted, a nest of them in fact, but as they approached the village, they had yet to come across any. Not even a corpse. Accompanying Clive were the ever loyal and dependable Sir Tyler, and the equally loyal if not chatty Sir Wade. Two of Lord Murdoch's most trusted men…though Clive would bet that Rex had a hand in their choosing for this mission.

"Sir Wade, if you insist on trying to give us away then I would suggest that you at the very least have your weapon ready first."

Wade, a dark-haired young man just a few years older than Clive, gulped as he brought his axe up "Yes, my lord…but it's just…so quiet. What do you suppose they must be doing in there?"

"If I were to guess, they might just be preparing an ambush." Sir Tyler, the more experienced of the trio and a protégé of Sir Cody's, observes as the village gate comes into view "I do not see any goblins at the gate my lord, still…one can never be too careful."

"Slow and steady, watch your step and keep your weapon up," Clive advised as he took the lead, Sir Tyler following behind him with Wade bringing up the rear "If we are careful then we should not run into too much interference."

"And if we are unlucky then we run into the mother of all Goblin nests." And there was Wade with the worst-case scenario.

"Better than a Behemoth or a Coeurl," Tyler adds in.

Clive tried to ignore them both the best that he could. He truly did. He could hear something up ahead as they moved past the rotting structure of a home. Clive poked his head round the side of the home, his eyes narrowing as he spies four goblins fighting over scraps of some kind. "There they are, just as Lord Murdoch's report said. Goblins."

"How many?" Tyler asks, gripping his sword handle tighter.

"Four…but surely this is not all of them, there must be more of them further in."

Wade hefts his axe "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get the little bastards!"

Clive's eyes widened just as the goblins all froze. A singular crack had silenced both parties as Tyler turned to glare at a sheepish Wade, his foot crushing a snapped twig in half.

"Um...oops?"

The goblins all turned, glaring in Clive's direction as he cursed under his breath "To arms lads!"

The goblins chattered, three rushing forward with their daggers while the last one hung back to watch. As the trio ran to meet the humans in battle the center goblin fell onto its back as Clive shifts into it with a shoulder charge. The young knight raised his blade and plunged it into the goblin's chest. The other two turned in surprise just as Tyler and Wade brought up the rear, a single swing dropping the little creatures' bodies with ease.

The lead goblin growled, bringing up a small horn and blowing into it. The resounding blast of noise did not however stop its attackers in their tracks as it had hoped. For its trouble however, Clive left a deep gash across its chest as the force of his swing sent the goblin flying into a tree.

"Well…that wasn't so tough." Wade says, looking around at the goblin corpses "So…who's next?"

"Further in Sir Wade," Clive rolls his shoulders "Further in and we shall find the source of this infestation."

"And then we make for Phoenix Gate," Tyler reminds the pair "No detours, no heroics, right Sir Wade?"

Wade's shoulders slump "Right, Sir Tyler."

Climbing across ruined buildings and bridges over the marshy swamp the village had been built atop, Clive could hear the chattering of goblins growing louder. According to the old map they had brought with them they were approaching the main square of Stillwind outside of the mayor's home. Or rather, what once was the mayor's home. It looked more like a dilapidated farmhouse with how the roof had caved in and various planks were missing. The trio stuck to the back of a ruined home, careful to keep Sir Wade from stepping on any defenseless twigs again.

"I don't like the looks of this," Clive says as he spies the goblins gathering in the square "I'm counting…fifteen maybe?"

"We can handle fifteen goblins."

Clive shrunk back "Make that twenty. Spotted five on a rooftop, looks like one of them might be the leader, he has a horn on him."

"Which doesn't tell us if there are more of them hiding about," Tyler hums in thought "Perhaps we should come up with a different plan of attack my lord?"

"Working on it."

"What if we try a sneak attack?"

"From where exactly, could we even sneak up on them, Wade?"

"I don't know…but there surely must be some way to turn this to our advantage."

Clive allowed his companions to bicker behind him. He had an idea…the beginnings of one, something that even Rex may just be proud of yet. "There's an opening forming amongst them. They don't know where we are going to come from, probably expect us to come from the bridge, but if I can phoenix shift towards one of the goblins watching the bridge, I could cause a distraction allowing you both to hit them from the rear."

"A bold strategy my lord, but if this works then you will be in the middle of fourteen goblins."

"Seven, Sir Tyler," Clive corrects "The other half of what will remain won't be close enough to reach me, I leave those to you both."

"Seven Goblins for one man to fight? You are either mad or a bloody genius." Sir Wade in a word was impressed, his face nearly awestruck "Why, not even the Duchess could deny you are one of our bravest knights!"

Clive winces at the reminder of his mother. The year of distance between them emotionally, the unexplained cold he gave off, hung around him for a moment as he drew his sword "No time for that now…are you both with me?"

"We are my lord."

"Let's kill some goblins!"

Clive vanished, the spot where he once stood heating up as his flaming afterimage flickered, reappearing hunched over a goblin with his blade jammed into its back. "Mind if I cut in?"

The goblins chattered and screeched. Just as predicted the seven closest to him leaped for his body. Clive smirked, body heating up as they swarmed him. With a twist of his body to the right two flaming phoenix wings appeared from Clive's back, sprouting out with a burst of fire before he twists to the left. The motion itself first pulls the goblins in to him and with that last twist bathes them in fire as the wings batter their bodies and sends them away.

"I should thank father for lending me that journal when this is over," he says, wiping his brow as the heat begins to fade "Scarlet Cyclone…perhaps Herman the Bold was on to something with that one."

Sir Tyler ducks under a leaping goblin, swinging his blade and cutting down another as it tried to catch him by surprise "Is this all you have to offer me? We could have left you lot to the sellswords that wander through."

"Speak for yourself!" Wade calls, pushing back his own band of goblins. Four of the little devils slowly encircling the man "Sneaky sods…they're trying to surround me!"

A goblin to his right looks ready to attack but just as the little creature moves forward a flaming corpse knocks it to the ground. The three remaining goblins turn just in time for the one closest to Wade to be cut down by his axe while another narrowly avoids a fireball as it soars by and nails one fighting Tyler.

"Hope you don't mind the interruption," Clive says as he comes to Wades' aid.

"Hardly, but now there just aren't enough to go around my lord."

Tyler cuts down the last of his little foes "If you two are quite done, we still have a band on the roof top to deal with."

"Right," Clive vanishes, impaling one goblin while Wade brings his axe down, blade buried in its head "How is that Sir Tyler?"

"Better."

Clive turns his gaze to the roof. In the middle of his entourage was the goblin leader, an angry little goblin with a cap and horn in his hand. The blighted creature brought the horn up to its lips and blew into it. The sound silenced the town square. Wade and Tyler approached Clive, flanking him as the ground began to rumble.

"I do not like the sound of that," Wade says, readying his axe "My lord, we may need to run."

"Hold your ground Sir Wade," Tyler, ever the calm one, responds as he brings his sword up "We will face them regardless of number."

Clive felt something inside tell him to run just as the wall of the building before him burst open, a large…very large, goblin wielding goblin wielding a club came running at them. "How about size!?" he asks, the trio diving out of the way of its swing as the club comes down.

In the confusion of its arrival, the other goblins were knocked from the roof. The leader chattered angrily at its large cousin, this new combatant simple swinging its club back and sending its leader's body crashing into the rubble it left behind. Wade got back to his feet first, immediately having to roll out of the way of another swing.

"By the Flames! What in the world is that!?"

"It's a Gigas!" Tyler calls out, fending off two of the smaller goblins "First time seeing one this far South, I thought they all preferred the northern mountains."

Clive drove his sword through a goblins stomach "Any idea how to stop it?"

"Go for the legs my lord! If it can't move, then it's already dead."

"Legs it is!" Wade agrees as the club just barely misses him. The novice shield of Rosaria gets in close, burying his axe blade into the gigas' upper thigh. The creature lets out a deep bellowing roar as it swats Wade aside.

"Wade!" Clive shouts, blasting the last goblin trying to stab him with a fireball. The Lord Marquess shifts forward intercepting the club with his sword, parrying the blow. "Not today!"

The Gigas stumbles, snarling before it bashes its club against the ground and tries again. This time Clive was ready. The young lord ran right for the gigas, just as it pulled its arm back, he leaped forward, right foot planted firmly on the gigas chest before he pushed off into the air. The gigas missed its swing, its eyes drawn up towards Clive as he readied his sword and came back down. The full weight of the boy going into the swing as his sword catches the creatures left shoulder and dragged down its length to the hip.

Clive thought he had the monster dead to rights, his blade dripping with its blood down to the handle, but it wasn't out of the fight yet. The gigas grabbed Clive and threw him across the square, bellowing out in pain as blood seeped from its wound. Wade and Tyler, acting upon the opening provided by Clive's attack, charged the gigas. Tyler's blade slashed into he gigas' other leg while Wade pulled his axe free of its thigh and brought it down on the creature's back. The gigas roars, raising its club up high ready to smash Wade into the dirt, a fireball nails it in the chest making it stumble back.

"Not. Today." He pants as he staggers forward "Together, we finish this."

The Gigas stumbles, glaring at Clive as the boy keeps his left hand up with a fireball at the ready, it huffs as it slings its club over its shoulder and marches off the way it had come in. Wade drops his axe, feeling his arms going numb as the adrenaline wears off, and falls onto his back.

"We did it…is it over now?"

"Sadly, not I'm afraid," Sir Tyler frowns, helping the novice shield to his feet again much to his protest "That Gigas is still a menace on its own, if it is allowed to recover and lick its wounds, we may find villages under attack from it. My lord, we must pursue."

Clive withdrew a potion from his medicine pouch, handing it to Wade "first we need to mend our own wounds. Sir Tyler if you please."

Tyler accepts the potion without protest. Wade downs the contents of his potion in an instant and is back to hefting his axe into the air. "I advise caution, lest we find that Sir Wade returns to Rosalith with one less limb than when we left."

"That thing wouldn't have run if it could defeat us," Wade boasts "So I say we return with its head, aye?"

Clive brushes past Wade "I'll take point, I trust that Sir Tyler can keep you out of trouble until we track the brute down?"

"Consider it done, my lord."

Clive frowned as the sounds of a struggle grew louder. They had followed the path the gigas took to the outskirts of the village, past a large barn house that no doubt had once housed the very Gigas they were following. A quick look around revealed the creature had not in fact returned to its home but had ventured even further off into the marshes.

Sir Tyler grasped Clive by the shoulder, stopping the boy from venturing too far. There was a downed log up ahead, and beyond that a large wetland where the sounds of their prey could be heard. "Caution, my lord, we wouldn't want you to be caught unawares."

"Right…thank you, Sir Tyler," Clive lowers his head, ducking beneath the log to get a better look of what awaited them "By the Flames."

Tyler and Wade kneeled beside their lord. Eyes wide and mouths agape as they took in the sight that awaited them. The Gigas was struggling as it raged and resisted its foe. With a mighty bellow its club came down on the mound of vines and roots. Its foe was large, roughly a little bigger than the Gigas itself, and angry. A great green cloud engulfed the Gigas as its foe opened its maw of teeth.

"A Morbol!?" Tyler gasps as the Gigas is staggered "What is one doing this far south?"

"The Blight must have turned it south," Clive notes as the Morbol attempts to bind the Gigas "We sadly have to aid the Gigas in this fight…if that Morbol were to turn its sights on us then we would be in for the fight of our lives."

"Didn't Sir Gregor lose half his men to one during the war?" Wade gulps "I don't mean to doubt you my lord but…that might be more than even you can handle, blessing of the phoenix or not."

Clive pushes forward, drawing his sword as he stands "Then you are free to leave for Phoenix Gate, Sir Wade, but our orders were clear. Investigate Stillwind and eliminate any of the Beastmen we come across. That Gigas has only saved itself for this moment by finding something of greater concern. A Morbol."

"What's the plan then?"

"We aid the Gigas," Clive says "Strike the Morbol from the rear, then work to cut it down ourselves. If all goes well then, the Morbol and the Gigas will fall in short order."

The Morbol opened its maw, inhaling and nearly pulling the Gigas close enough to bite down on its weakened body. A fireball from Clive distracted the plant creature, making it shake its body and turn to face its new meal.

"Well, we have its attention…now what?"

"I am working on it, Sir Wade."

The Morbol roars.

Clive's eyes widen as the beast slowly crawls towards them, tentacles thrashing about "Here it comes!"

The Morbol leaps into the air, nearly missing Wade and Clive as it comes back down and burrows its way into the marsh. The Gigas hefts its club, taking a few steps back as the Morbol comes up and opens its maw wide. The beast knocked Clive and his merry men to the ground as it began to inhale, the rush of wind pulling the young lord towards its open maw.

"Lord Rosfield!" his companions shout as he jabs his sword into the marsh, holding himself in place as best as he could.

"Damn it!" he curses, feeling his blade slowly being pulled back out of the wet ground beneath his feet "Not here…not now!"

There was a bellow, the wind stopping suddenly. Clive whirled around, sword drawn and at the ready, just to see the Gigas with its club slammed down on the Morbol's head. The young Shield of Rosaria grinned, running forward, and ignited his weapon. The blazing sword cut across the Morbol's head, just below its lower row of teeth and seared through its flesh with ease. The Gigas was thrown off, landing on its back while the great beast roared in its pain and rage.

"My lord!" Sir Tyler calls as he and Wade rush to his side "One last push ought to do it."

"I think we have only made it mad."

Tyler scoffs "I would rather we made it dead…together now lads!"

"Together." The Morbol's tentacles lashed out. Tyler and Wade cutting a few off as Clive gathers the flames to his left arm once more. "I'll suffer you no longer monster, nor will Rosaria be cursed with you ever again."

The beast lashes out again, Sir Tyler stabbing his sword into one of its tentacles and holding it in place. Wade, not one to be outdone, tries the same trick with his axe to little effect. As the Morbol opens its maw in preparation for another attack Clive brought his left arm up. The great plant tried to inhale the boy but as he braced himself the only thing it would breathe in would be flames.

Clive's body was heating up more than it ever had in the past as the stream of fire struck the creature. Not as potent as a dragon's breath, the flames were still not to be underestimated as they scorched the Morbol's flesh from the inside. The beast slammed its mouth shut, teeth taking the full brunt of the flames thus saving its insides from a fiery end.

"You won't get away that easily!" Clive roars, putting more into the flames.

As the Morbol struggled to keep its mouth shut, assistance came in from behind as two thick arms reached forward and grasped its maw by its top lip. The Gigas struggled, pulling back on the Morbol's mouth, opening the beast up to Clive's attack.

"Now burn!"

The flames surged, searing the inside of the Morbol in seconds. Clive didn't stop until the great beast's body ceased to twitch. There was a resounding thud as the Gigas fell back once more, unmoving as the Morbol too stilled. Sir Tyler and Sir Wade slowly approached the First Shield of Rosaria. Clive was panting, kneeling in the marsh as his body ached. So much Aether and used in a way that he himself had never tried before…it was a wonder he could remain conscious.

"Are you alright my lord?"

"Give me a moment Sr Tyler…and I can answer you true."

Sir Wade hands the young lord marquess a potion. Clive accepts, bringing the glass bottle to his lips. "A Morbol…and a Gigas…do you reckon the Blight pushed them this far in to Rosaria?"

"Whatever it was that did it, we cannot allow more to roam the lands freely."

Clive got to his feet "You're correct Sir Tyler…I shall petition my father to send a detachment to patrol this region. Blight or not…these beasts will be a menace to our people if left unchecked."

"Still…to think that a Gigas would support us in this fight," Wade slowly hefts his axe, taking slow cautious steps towards the large brute "You think he's dead?"

"If he isn't then we must be sure…Sir Wade, finish it."

Wade brought his axe up over his head. Clive didn't care to watch, his body still ached from the fighting. He heard the wet thud as Wade's axe was buried in the Gigas' stomach. Phoenix Gate would be a long walk yet, if they were lucky then they would reach it by nightfall.

AN: So…that was a thing. To explain what you just read…I know I skipped over a lot of the canon dialogue and moments; that was intentional. There are some scenes that I feel are too good to alter and some I feel should be altered extensively at the least for this story and not the canon. Chief among those I do not wish to alter is Elwin and Clive's exchange in the canon of the game whilst in the throne room. I feel it exemplifies what their relationship is like; a very good father with his oldest son…and pokes fun at Anabella's lackluster motherly role. On the topic of combat/boss fights: Things will be scaled a bit differently. As our heroes grow, yes heroes, certain enemies will be brought in to test them. Boss Fights will not be damage sponges, but they will be challenges of an enemy such as a Morbol in this chapter, or a Dominant/Eikon in the future to show just how powerful our protags or our antagonists are. You will NOT be getting me to spill the secrets yet. Regular fights against mobs will be few and far between though they will have more numbers to still feel somewhat like a threat. Enemy armies or armed forces will be…interesting. You'll see.

Before we get to the reviews I should also state/warn you now that the prologue to this story…still is not complete. Phoenix Gate is when FFXVI sees its prologue end. Ours will not end until we get to Clive at age 28…so, get your popcorn kids, grab some tissues just to be safe, and keep an open mind…because I am hoping you will not be able to predict what life has in store before this prologue is over. Now, onto the reviews…

furvustocs: So, you did what I did not expect you to do which was point out where some editing errors had come in. Usually I just use asterisk, three of them, centered, to break up scene changes without having to boringly write out every little step between the last scene to the next one. Problem with Fanfiction is that the website does not actually keep that in…no, really, every time that I tried it would just delete them after I saved the document. Which is why I now use the line skip which I have to say is taking a little getting used to. Anyway, I have gone back and edited what I noticed in the previous chapters, tried to touch them up, fix spelling mistakes that Word Doc will not register for some reason…don't know why 'eh' is accepted where 'the' was supposed to go, or why 'from' became 'form' but whatever. All previous chapters should be updated when this goes live…roughly.

kamen rider prime: Spoilers…in more ways than one. There are plans, and since Ultima is not in this story but it's a few others in his place…you'll see. I know that sounds kind of like a teasing thing to say but sadly you just need to be patient. This is not a one-sided crossover, I mean…if it was then I should have just left this in the FFXVI section and kept GoT out of the details. But you'll see, don't worry.

Winterwolf23543: Is it wrong that Baelish came to mind first? Then again, I did give away just who has been keeping tabs on the North…sadly I can spoil this as it is next chapter and everyone wo has played knows what's coming. But I won't say it. Because someone might not have played the game…which, if you haven't, give it a try, it is not bad and it very much is a Final Fantasy game. Despite what Kotaku might say.

Guest(Dave): Much Wow

master of death12345: I would advise you to write it yourself, whatever ideas are swimming in your head that is, because if you don't and I do not write certain things the way you are thinking then those ideas will not stop until you do write them. It's partially how this story came about. One part GoT comparisons, and another part fan speculation before release. Give it a shot, could always use more stories in different sections. It's why I do this at all, give ideas, inspire writers to write and hopefully entertain readers.

PS: We not only hit 66 Favorites but also hit 69 and missed both moments to post this chapter…I also don't know if you people don't see why 66 is funnier than 69 in this story or not, and that really concerns me.