Start Date: September 3, 2023

Windwillow

Final Fantasy V, A Novelization: War of the Crystals

Chapter Eleven: Wind Drakes and Battle Campaigns

The task was set: Raid Drakenvale, which lay to the north even further north of the werewolf village of Quelb. The problem: the entire route was littered with monsters and Exdeath's greater servants. On top of that was problem two: outside of the castle itself was a nest of monsters who had seemingly gathered in preparation to oust the Warriors of Light and lead them to their deaths. The soldiers of Bal related to their sovereign that they had no means of fighting back to let them leave, though Galuf simply responded that they throw them out and lock the door behind them.

Galuf's soldiers were naturally aghast at the proposal and fervently opposed the decision, but their king's iron will won out and the four Warriors of Light gathered right in front of the castle's gates. With Galuf in the lead the four of them quickly bolted out of the castle and watched as the gates slammed shut behind them, leaving them with a fight on their hands: half a dozen of Exdeath's soldiers, all armed and ready to fight to the death. With no other option they decided to do just that - except they weren't the ones that were about to die.

As the heroes drew their weapons, so too did their enemies. A set of three of them took point and lunged at the quartet head-on, recklessly placing themselves in the line of fire. Bartz and Faris rewarded their stupidity when they threw out their hands at the soldiers, their two magical powers combining to create a huge maelstrom of flaming wind. The attack incinerated the trio, leaving their three seemingly smarter compatriots to continue the fight.

With their weapons drawn Bartz and Faris clashed with two of the soldiers, while Galuf countered the third by using his sword of force. It was a fierce melee between the six combatants, with blade meeting blade and steel clashing against the forces of light and the forces of darkness. Whereas Bartz and Faris managed to slowly overpower their opponents Galuf's physical endurance forced his battle to stall. Once their enemies had been beheaded, however, Bartz and Faris joined together with Galuf and finished off the final foe.

"That was amazing!" gasped Lenna. When Bartz flashed her a toothy grin, Faris caught sight of Galuf's disinterest and poked him with her cutlass.

"And you're doing what, precisely?" Faris deadpanned.

"Just looking at young love..." swooned Galuf. He smiled and folded his arms behind his head. "Not that he's that impressive. All he's doing is milking the moment."

"Oh, stuff it!" snapped Faris. She angrily took her foot and stabbed it into Galuf's gut, sending him reeling to the ground in pain.

Scene One

After another day of travel across the monster infested plains of Galuf's world, the Warriors of Light finally reached their destination: the werewolf village of Quelb. This was a town with a strong martial tradition and culture, and several of the finest soldiers ever to fight Exdeath had come from Quelb. When they entered the town, however, they found it abandoned with all the doors locked and the windows shuttered. The heroes trudged through the ghost town and eventually reached the gate to Drakenvale. Unfortunately, the gate was locked and they couldn't continue.

On the advice of Galuf the travelers checked the door to one of the larger mansions and found it open, so they entered and found a large parlor with a door leading to a back room behind a set table. Bartz quietly walked towards the back door with great care, care that was rewarded when a set of three werewolf musketeers wielding rapiers dropped from the ceiling. They surrounded him and his friends as he drew his sword and moved back towards the others. From the door they'd entered through another group of swordsmen barreled inside the chamber to block their escape route.

"Everyone just calm down!" huffed Galuf. He deftly swatted down his friends' swords when they brandished them at their attackers, which led to much confusion and a small swing at his head from Faris. Galuf cleared his throat and bowed to the werewolves with a gentle smile on his face. "We came to talk to Kelger," he said smilingly. "Can you arrange an audience?"

The werewolves stared at Galuf, suspicious, though they one by one bowed their heads towards the door in the back. What awaited when the door opened was a bestial form. The werewolf was humanoid in structure, save his thick hair and muscles, and rather than sharpened claws he had armored gauntlets that were inscribed with his tribe's symbol. The weapon he carried was a katana blade, sheathed neatly behind his back.

"Glad to see you're well, Galuf," Kelger said with a soft cough. He was unwell.

"Likewise. These are my friends..." said Galuf, gesturing towards the others. "They come from the other world."

Without warning Kelger's hand flew to his weapon and in a single flourish he brandished it. The other werewolves similarly drew their swords and Faris reflexively returned the favor while protectively moving towards Lenna. If they tried to harm her, then they wouldn't be making it out unscathed. While his friends moved into defensive positions Bartz fearlessly prepared to take the offensive and grabbed his sword, moving into a ready stance just as Kelger jolted forward with his blade extended.

Kelger's sword met Bartz's steel in a sharp clash of sparks. Bartz put everything he had into his attack, but even with both hands he was only barely able to fend off the werewolf's one-handed assault. Gritting his teeth he stood his ground, though, and finally managed to parry Kelger's sword. As he and his nemesis moved into battle formations Galuf frantically waved his arms in an attempt to forestall a conflict.

"And what's your problem?" huffed Bartz. "Too much booze? Your cheeks are rosy."

The werewolf didn't seem to take the remark kindly. He slid his foot behind himself and began to shake wildly, shortly before he disappeared as if in the form of a mirage. Lenna watched in shock as the scene unfolded and saw a slight glimmer of light just before Bartz caught Kelger's two-handed slash with his own strike. The two struggled for several seconds before Kelger again vanished. The next few seconds were a blur as the werewolf converged on Bartz with a violent assault from all angles.

Bartz struggled and narrowly managed to parry the onslaught. Kelger again vanished and the pattern repeated itself, leaving Bartz to feebly ward off the monstrous hail of blades that he was forced to endure. One final blur signaled the start of Kelger's assault again, though this time Bartz nimbly stepped back, turned on his heel, and caught the werewolf in the gut with a hard punch that separated his sword from his hand and sent Kelger flying into the back door with a loud thud. As Kelger slowly slumped to the ground semi-conscious, Bartz sheathed his sword and turned to face Galuf just in time for his friend to sock him square on the chin.

"Brute! Do you have any idea how decrepit that old fart is?!" Galuf snarled.

"Well, he seemed peppy enough to try and kill me!" retorted Bartz angrily as he took a swing at Galuf himself.

Scene Two

For all the strength Kelger had put into his blows, he really was in bad shape. Bartz not only bruised his ribs but also damaged his neck and back badly when he struck the werewolf. The royal's servants quickly administered first aid and laid the injured Kelger to bed to rest. Galuf, meanwhile, made it a point to tongue lash Bartz to the point of no return until his friend simply smacked him in the back of the head and forced him to stop yelling at him. Once Kelger was stable and Galuf's head stopped hurting, the party met with the werewolf and his entourage as Kelger laid in bed.

Kelger painfully grabbed onto his damaged ribs and massaged his wound, still feeling the strength behind Bartz's blow. It was a horrible disgrace to be humbled as such, but there was truly no restraining the ravages of age. The werewolf had already dismissed all but two of his closest subordinates, sending the rest to guard the gates from Exdeath's forces. With the attack on the Big Bridge's failure, their already feeble resources had become stretched to the very limit.

"To think..." lamented Kelger, "that my famous Lupine Attack was countered by a child."

As he put his arms around his head and stretched his limbs Bartz couldn't help but crack a smile. It wasn't as hard as the old man implied it would be, when you knew the trick. "Y'know, I do feel bad for kicking the snot out of you..." he began. "But since I'd seen that technique before it wasn't hard to dust off the cobwebs and figure out a counterattack," said Bartz, a bit more gravely. "Dad never let me know who came up with it, but..."

The werewolf's ears immediately pricked up and his eyes went bloodshot as he listened to Bartz's words. Even if there was only one conclusion to draw from Bartz's comment, it shook both him and Galuf to their cores. Galuf was just as stumped and a quick glance between the two elders confirmed that he didn't know the truth either. "Your father's name... was Dorgann, wasn't it?" asked Kelger quietly, to which Bartz nodded and he fell back in bed out of pure shock. "So he had a son!" he gasped. "The sly trickster actually..."

"Hey, take a few steps back!" Bartz snapped angrily. "You knew my Dad?"

Galuf laid a hand to his face and sighed, the truth having overwhelmed him as well. Hearing the name itself was shocking enough, but knowing that he'd been traveling with Dorgann's son was a twisted kind of irony in and of itself. "Your father, Dorgann Klauser, was one of the four of us..." he moaned weakly. He saw Bartz's confusion and shook off his own doubt. It was time he was told. "Kelger, Xexat, myself... The four of us were the original Warriors of Dawn."

The battle had raged across two different worlds, leaving a mess of destruction in its wake. During the war the Warriors of Dawn had thrown every ounce of strength they had at the warlock, battered him from all directions and struck him with their most potent spells, but despite the fact that they had Exdeath continued to shake off all the damage they dealt him. Finally, a team attack managed to injure the warlock enough that he passed out. Even then, his wicked aura was still strong. They knew he wouldn't be down for long.

Standing over Exdeath with his sword drawn, Galuf wiped the sweat from his brow and staggered slightly in place, nearly drained of the strength to stand. "That sucker just doesn't give up..." he heaved. "I can barely feel my fingers and toes."

To Galuf's side was a handsome older man wearing blue robes and silver armor, his own weapon drawn and covered in the fiend's slick green blood. His hand flew to his gut to lessen the pain he'd taken from one of Exdeath's strikes, though he finally brushed the blood from his mouth and lowered his sword with a sigh. "There's no other option..." he groaned. "We'll need to seal him here with the power of the crystals."

Dorgann Klauser, Bartz's father, stood above Exdeath alongside his comrades also coated in sweat and blood, though he nearly bit his tongue when the blue clad warrior made his suggestion and swiftly smacked him over the back of the head with his free hand. "Stop being an ass, Xexat!" he snarled, stepping away from Exdeath to face the other warrior with his sword clenched tightly between his fingers. "Our world's demon shouldn't be shoved on another's just out of our own convenience!" he hissed. "Think of the ramifications!"

Beneath the four Warriors of Dawn a weak moan caught their attention as Exdeath slowly began to stir. Xexat angrily stared Dorgann down and raised his sword to the sky. When Galuf and Kelger followed suit Dorgann reluctantly placed the tip of his sword on the other blades. The four slashed down with remarkable strength, striking Exdeath and sending him hurtling down into a massive abyss that just as quickly swallowed him up. Each of the four warriors lifted their crystals, prayed to the gods, and as the crystals disappeared the entire cavern shook.

The battle had taken place inside a large forest in the center of the world, with the finishing blow having been dealt deep inside a chasm that Exdeath had created with a Meteor spell. Exdeath plummeted towards the core of the planet but was stopped suddenly when four large lances pierced him from the four cardinal directions and wrapped his body up tight in a cocoon of black rock. Outside of the cave four large spires lifted up at the four corners of the forest, each one bound to one of Exdeath's seals and tied to the power of the world's crystals.

Lowering his sword, Dorgann silently sheathed it and turned towards the entrance to the chasm, where they'd all entered bloodied and battered, slowly walked forward, and stopped to bow his head in prayer. "You're all damned fools and you know it!" he roared. His comrades stared at him silently. They knew that he was right, but what other choice did they have? "If you three won't act like the heroes you claim to be," Dorgann growled, "then I'll stay behind to guard the seal."

"Dorgann..." Xexat croaked. "What other choice did we-"

"We created the problem!" snarled Dorgann as he turned to face Xexat with tears in his eyes. "If you can live with yourselves, go back to our world and play at being kings! I'll have nothing more to do with you fools!"

Bartz stood in silence as he took in Galuf's words. Now, his father's insistence on protecting his world's crystals made sense. Even so, he'd never thought that his father had been from the same world that Galuf was. The only small compensation he felt was that Dorgann had been right all along; in death, he truly had the last word: 'I told you so.' He shook his head quietly and fell into a nearby chair, overwhelmed by the truth.

"You were the ones..." he said breathlessly. "You were the ones that started the whole damn thing."

"What became of your father, son?" asked Kelger.

"He died," Bartz said bitterly.

Kelger bowed his head in prayer and placed his face in his hands, now accepting of what had happened - exactly what Dorgann had said would happen, and knew that all of them bore the full responsibility of the situation. "You have my apologies, son..." he said softly. "Is there anything I can do to repay my sins to you?"

"We need to get through to Drakenvale," said Lenna. After having watched the scene her heart was torn in two, though there was nothing she could do or say to lessen her friend's suffering. All that they could do now was to save Krile's Wind Drake. "Can you allow us through the gate?" she asked softly. "A life hangs in the balance."

As his head lowered Kelger reluctantly waved his hand and one of his subordinates rushed out of the room. It wasn't much comfort that he'd be rewarding them by sending them to greet the reaper. "The gate will be open when you leave the building," he sighed. "But I warn you: Drakenvale is a nest of the undead. Be cautious that you don't join them."

Scene Three

Just like Kelger had promised, by the time the Warriors of Light reached the back of Quelb the gate to Drakenvale had been lifted. The gatekeeper bore them the tidings that they were on a suicide mission, but made no effort to stop them from proceeding. They traveled for several hours until the party caught sight of the mountain: a huge, spiraling mass of stone, peppered with woods and rocks. When they arrived at the base of the mountain the warriors found no monsters or guardians, just a plain cave that led further up the mountain with the threat of what lay ahead - a human skull impaled on a pike.

Lenna grabbed her shoulders as a shiver shook her body. This place felt familiar, as it looked and felt just like North Mountain had in their world. Since Dragon Grass grows where Wind Drakes roost, if there were any places on the face of the earth that it might exist, this would be it. Just as she took a step towards the cave, however, she was suddenly pulled backwards by Bartz, just before a large boulder crashed down where she had been standing. In a swift motion Bartz brandished his weapon and turned his attention to the peaks above, where a strange creature stood holding a second chunk of stone. It appeared to be made of living stone, a large construct of pieced-together rocks. That it was an Eidolon escaped them at first. Although Bartz moved towards the Golem he was too late, and it retreated back up the mountain, scampering away after ditching the boulder it had already been holding.

With a furrowed brow Bartz angrily sheathed his weapon and turned towards Lenna, who seemed to be holding up well enough. Well enough for having been used as target practice for a chunk of rock, at least. "Whatever that thing was," he said scornfully, "it'll have its day. Pummeling the bugger ought to be cathartic," Bartz said with a shrug. He turned to Lenna and clapped a hand to her shoulder, smiled, and took point in heading towards the cave entrance, soon followed by his companions.

Their travels up the mountain weren't peaceful, being greeted soon after entering the cave by a strange undead dragon. Just as large and nearly identical to the Tyrannosaur, the Bone Dragon was every bit as intimidating as its cousin. Bartz, still incensed from the attack on Lenna, charged forward with his sword raised. He made good time and nearly reached the beast but suddenly stopped in place just as the Bone Dragon clamped its jaws where he was about to walk to.

Bartz turned his attention behind him and watched Faris, whose bracelet had already begun to glow and narrowed her eyes at him as if to tell him to be patient and perhaps a few other words that she probably couldn't print. The Bone Dragon quickly moved to attack again, but Bartz lashed out with two swift swings that dissected it and dropped its remains to the floor with a massive thud. Bartz sheathed his sword and turned to Lenna for backup, but received only a shrug - she was just as angry at him for being reckless.

Further up the mountain the Warriors of Light encountered a running battle between several familiar (and unfamiliar) faces. One of them was the Golem, who was desperately fending off both two Bone Dragons and another creature. Somehow the Zombie Dragon was even more hideous than the Bone Dragon. It resembled a more traditional dragon rather than a dinosaur, with hollow wings and fangs dripping with acid. The two undead frantically snapped at the Eidolon, desperate for a meal. The terrified Golem desperately tried to evade their fangs, though each successive blow came closer and closer to hitting their target. Bartz shrugged and moved to walk away but was stopped by Lenna, who grabbed onto his shirt and tugged at it. By the look on her face she clearly wanted to save the Eidolon, an idea that he didn't necessarily agree with as he was still angry at it for nearly nailing her with a boulder.

Quickly making the decision to back her up, however, Bartz lifted his weapon and lashed out with a two-handed swing that sent a pressurized wave of air at one of the Bone Dragons. The attack severed the monster's head at the neck and dropped its skeletal body to the ground while also marking him as the Zombie Dragon's next mark. As the second Bone Dragon moved to charge Galuf skewered it from below with a thick lance of stone, puncturing it through the heart and downing it. The Zombie Dragon, meanwhile, inhaled in deeply and exhaled a fierce mass of fire that Faris met with a wall of frost.

As he passed by the Eidolon, Bartz shot him a nasty look just as he and Faris drew their blades and clashed with the Zombie Dragon. The two struggled against the beast, and suddenly the Golem felt a strange sensation on its wounded shoulder. The Golem, confused, turned to Lenna with a strange look and was met with a sly grin and a naughty wink while she healed the injuries it had sustained from the battle with the undead.

The Zombie Dragon struck with its mighty tail and sharpened claws, trading blows with both Bartz and Faris. As they parried and dodged Faris carefully took stock of the beast's movements, noting its attack patterns, until she finally found her opportunity. When the monster lashed out with its right claw she threw forward her left arm and used her Time Magic to slow the Zombie Dragon's movements. The monster's body slowed to a crawl, and Faris tightened her fingers to create her next and final attack.

Faris's powers engaged and tiny specks of frost began to coat the monster's body. The flecks of ice penetrated the beast's bones and struck them from within, quickly frosting it over into a glacier of black ice. As the final frost engulfed the Zombie Dragon, Bartz raised his arm over his left shoulder and swung down with a strong movement that cut the beast in half and dropped it to the grassy floor in two neat pieces, with the Golem staring in mute shock at the scene before it.

Once she finished mending the Golem's wounds, Lenna drew back. After all, it had just tried to kill her. "Are you alright?" she asked softly, still unsure whether she ought to keep her defenses up or not. "The monsters are gone..."

The Golem silently stared at Lenna and shook its head. Tiny wisps of light began to form around the rocks that made up the Eidolon, slowly engulfing the Golem and changing it into a large column of light. The column broke up into smaller shards of light and zoomed past a startled Lenna, coalescing next to Galuf as motes of white energy. One by one the tiny orbs absorbed themselves into Galuf's body, finally coming to rest on the wrist of his left forearm before disappearing altogether.

Galuf flexed his fingers and stretched his wrist, feeling the warmth that now pulsed through his veins and smiled. "The little bugger was an Eidolon," he said softly, laying his right hand on his left arm to stifle the stinging sensation. "That makes four of 'em."

"We don't need to be carrying around a giant bunch of cowardly rocks!" snapped Bartz.

Lenna shook her head and clapped a hand on Bartz's shoulder. He turned to see her smiling back at him and his anger immediately melted away into nothing. "He's actually sort of cute when you look at him up close!" giggled Lenna. "If he's offering to help, I say we let him."

"I agree," said Faris. When Galuf nodded his head in agreement and Lenna stretched her limbs a bit Bartz quickly fell into line and Faris brushed the dust from her pants before turning her attention to the peak of the mountain - which wasn't far away. "We'll be there in a few minutes..." she muttered. "God help us that the place really has Dragon Grass."

Scene Four

The path through the rest of Drakenvale was clear of monsters and void of any sort of blatant dangers, which worried Lenna. If they were coming close to the source of the monsters, they'd certainly find something. Finally the Warriors of Light passed through one last cave before entering into a large open area rich in flowers and plant life. The blossoms were scattered all across the top of the mountain and seemed to lead in a straight line to a large bush of very familiar grass at the back of the peak.

Lenna quickly dashed towards the Dragon Grass but suddenly stopped. She narrowed her eyes at the plant, sensing the danger that was within it, and signaled to the others to prepare for battle. When she did the whole patch swelled to life as a monstrous mass of grass. Rather than a Venus flytrap, the Dragon Grass was guarded by a hulking mutation of a plant mixed with a dragon, easily the size of a Zombie Dragon and just as intimidating. As it sprung from the ground a number of smaller buds sprouted along with it and formed their thorns into fangs.

Once the Dragon Flower had grown to its maximum length its buds broke off and began to skitter towards the party. The swordsmen drew their weapons and slashed at the pods, one after another, but the stream steadily turned into a tsunami and both Bartz and Faris were overwhelmed. As the flowers multiplied and surrounded them the pair prepared for an elemental assault. Before they could do so, however, the beast itself loomed high above them and opened its flowery fangs.

Bartz cursed and cut through another swath of Dragon Pods as the Dragon Flower lunged at him and prepared to fight it directly. He never got the chance. Before the monster could reach him the boss and all its offshoots burst into white hot flames, fires that licked at his face and body and almost gave him a slight burn. Lenna and her friends turned to find a very grumpy looking Ifrit with his hand outstretched beside a grinning Galuf, who folded his arms over his chest in victory.

"There," Ifrit said curtly. "Now don't call me again for a while. I hate botany."

With Ifrit dispelled and the danger past Lenna hurried towards the patch of Dragon Grass and quickly picked several pieces. The party descended the mountain, which now seemed to be free of the curse of the undead, and crossed through Quelb on their way to Bal. They arrived a day later, but were unable to enter because the guards had kept to Galuf's orders to the letter. A disgruntled Galuf led his friends around a side passage and popped up out of a central fountain, and the heroes quickly hurried up to the Wind Drake's roost.

They found Krile in bed, delirious with fever and caked in dry sweat. As she opened her eyes the young girl smiled and beckoned them closer. "The Sage Ghido is calling for you!" she said breathlessly. Slowly she turned her eyes to the Dragon Grass in Lenna's hand and her face lit up like a lantern. "The Wind Drake is up the stairs! Hurry!" she begged. "It doesn't have much longer!"

Up the stairs and to the left of Krile's bedroom was the Wind Drake's Roost, where their patient awaited. By the time they'd arrived the Wind Drake's coloration had begun to fade and its face sagged. Watching Krile's Wind Drake slowly waste away was a burden on Lenna, whose own face began to droop as she remembered her mother's own Hiryu. Rustling through her pack she withdrew the Dragon Grass and presented it to the Wind Drake, but the silence and quiet in its eyes showed a different opinion. With a sigh, Faris shook her head and threw up her arms. Of course. The Dragon Grass nearly killed them, and it killed many of the Drake's loved ones as well. Faris reluctantly turned to lay a hand on her sister's shoulder, but whiffed when Lenna ducked under her and moved to stare the Wind Drake in the eye. It shook its head silently, causing Lenna's face to fall even further than it already had.

There was only one thing to do. Lenna grabbed hold of the Dragon Grass and ripped off a part of the leaf, then to her friends' horror she put it to her lips. "It tastes good, see?" she said softly as she began to munch on the grass. When the Wind Drake seemed to relent Lenna fed it the Dragon Grass and watched with a smile as the creature slowly returned to health before seizing up and falling to her side in an unconscious fit.

"Lenna, you stupid-" Faris choked. "You said you wouldn't do that again!"

A thin stream of saliva dripped from between Lenna's clenched teeth while she struggled to breathe. Faris gnashed her teeth sharply, quaking with fear and rage, but suddenly turned to find a breathless Krile approach the group. The young girl produced a small vial of liquid and, after turning Lenna on her back, poured the potion inside her mouth. Lenna swallowed weakly and slowly opened her eyes to see Krile staring back at her with haggard eyes, and smiled.

"Thank you, Krile..." mumbled Lenna. She quickly turned her eyes towards her sister, choking with indignation, and silently shook her head in apology. This seemed to be enough for Faris, whose scowl slipped into a smile. "Has the Wind Drake recovered?" she asked softly.

"You nearly killed yourself..." gasped Krile. Lenna wiped the spit from her face and smiled back at Krile, who seemed to startle as she watched the princess recover from her near-fatal - and self-inflicted - ailment. The girl had almost committed suicide to save her Wind Drake... but why? Why would she surrender her life for a beast she had no connection to? As she watched the gentle princess stare back at her, however, the doubt slowly vanished and a smile crossed Krile's face. It didn't matter.

"I did what I wanted to do," said Lenna plainly. "I'd appreciate it if we don't dwell on it."

"Sage Ghido is calling you... Hurry to him, okay?" insisted Krile. "He has something he needs to give you."

Scene Five

After mounting Krile's Wind Drake, the Warriors of Light hurried off through the mountains of the northeast towards the open sea in the center of Galuf's world. In the center of the center of that world was a small island marked with a weathered shrine, the residence of Sage Ghido, the foremost and most ancient sorcerer in the world. Shortly after landing, however, the island began to quake and roil and the party was forced to retreat just as Ghido's island sunk into the sea in a wild, thunderous earthquake. Galuf knew immediately that Exdeath was responsible. Believing that they now needed backup he guided his friends to Castle Surgate in the northwestern corner of the world. There they found an empty realm, void of all but a few soldiers and civilians. One of the king's men related that his liege was leading an operation at the corner of Castle Exdeath and so the party voted to join the siege.

As they approached Castle Exdeath the extent of the battlefield became clear. Dozens of large warships, moored outside of the shores outside of Exdeath's stronghold, marked the site of their final attack on the warlock. Galuf directed them to the central battleship, where they landed and were received by Surgate's king. The man leading the armada was the king of Surgate Castle, Xexat Matius Surgate. He was older than Galuf, well over seventy, but remained robust and muscular even in his old age. The admiral wore long blue robes under bindings of silvery white armor, and carried a sword at his side.

His hand on the sword at his hip, Xexat stepped up to introduce himself. "I am the swordsman Xexat, Warrior of Dawn and the comrade of the man you keep in your ranks," he said with a crooked smile. "I'd thought the old codger was dead by now, to be honest."

"Oh, stuff it! You're just as decrepit as I am, you ass!" snapped Galuf. "Thirty years in and you still won't call yourself a king."

Xexat let out a proud, boisterous laugh and Galuf promptly whacked him over the back of the head. "The operation we're in the middle of is of vital importance. Our mission is to disable Exdeath's barrier, which shields his castle from attack," he said. "All we need to do is take down one of the large towers that surround his stronghold, and the whole shield will come down... and then we can band together and beat the living snot out of the weasel!" cackled Xexat.

The party heard a sudden shriek and looked up to find a swarm of creatures descending from high in the sky. Exdeath's winged soldiers, dozens of them, dropped from up above like a swarm of demonic crows. They engaged the battle seasoned soldiers of Surgate in close combat, though when one appeared behind Lenna the swordsman Xexat lifted his weapon and cleaved it clean in half. As its remains fell to the ship's deck Xexat cast a quick glance to Galuf, shook his head, and bounded off the warship onto the deck of another to confront an onslaught of the beasts.

Galuf signaled to the others and prompted them to draw their weapons just as six of Exdeath's monsters descended to surround them. Bartz thrust out his left arm and struck another with his right, the first blow mortally wounding one of the troops while the second decapitated another. Faris drew her cutlass and lashed out with two swift blows of her own, clashing with and then beheading a third soldier.

Upon forming his sword of force Galuf cut down a fourth as Bartz and Faris engaged the remaining two. Lenna watched in amazement as her three comrades effortlessly dispatched the warped abominations and was even more startled when a sword zoomed in to attack her from above. Immediately Bartz intercepted the attack and shoved the assailant into the mast of the battleship, where Gilgamesh crashed into the central spire and nearly brought it down completely.

Gilgamesh retrieved his sword and stumbled back just in time for a new figure to approach from above. Green-skinned and boasting a muscular, beastly anatomy, his companion Enkidu was quickly cut into quarters by Galuf and Faris with two swift strikes. As the commander stared in dumb shock he was quickly met with a hard punch from Bartz that landed square in his face and blasted him off the edge of the ship and into the turbulent waters below.

Scene Six

The battle of Xexat's fleet raged long and hard, though the minions of Exdeath so greatly outnumbered them that the conclusion had been clear from the start. Even so their deaths weren't to be in vain. In truth the real purpose of the fleet's war was to provide cover for Xexat and the others to penetrate into Exdeath's Barrier Tower, where they would launch an assault and bring down the shield protecting Exdeath's castle.

There was no conventional entrance to the tower. However, by penetrating the undersea floor with a submarine that had been cleverly concealed in one of Xexat's ships the Warrior of Dawn and the four Warriors of Light managed to reach a solid wall leading inside. Xexat palmed a set of explosives and clapped them to the wall, retreating just in time for the way to be blown open. He quickly took point and leapt into the fray, decapitating an Exdeath Mage and landing as the first member of the infiltration party.

Impressed, Bartz had never even had the chance to draw his weapon. Even for a man of his age and physique, Xexat's skills were truly up to the level of being a warrior chosen by the crystals. "Do you think you're going to do everything, or do we get a shot too?" he asked confidently. "I've got a trigger finger and I want to pull it on these goons."

"The mission means more than the praise," Xexat said quickly as he sheathed his sword.

"You're blushing and you know it, just admit it!" guffawed Galuf.

Xexat flashed a dirty look at Galuf that quickly silenced the old man and he reached into his pack to withdraw a second batch of explosives. "We have two targets, one here and one above ground," he said softly, knowing the consequences of the mission. His own life meant little when compared to the young sprouts of the next generation. He handed a small bush of grass to Galuf, who took it knowing what it was. "This Whisperweed will let us stay in contact. You'll head up, and I'll take the below ground generator..."

Galuf clapped a hand to Xexat's shoulder from behind and wrenched him around to face him. "You're hiding something, you sly old fox," he snapped. "Pony up! What aren't you telling us? If you try and pull off some damned fool crusade on me-"

"I have my mission, you have yours. See you later," said Xexat plainly as he turned to leave, brushing past Galuf and heading through a nearby door. Both of them knew what was about to happen... Galuf just didn't want to admit that this was going to be the last time he saw Xexat.

"Galuf?" croaked Bartz. The King of Bal silently shoved Bartz out of the way and moved towards a nearby staircase. His friends soon after followed him up towards the source of the barrier, though he kept a grim frown on his face the whole way up.

Don't do anything rash. Don't give me any reason to make your afterlife miserable.

Scene Seven

Exdeath's Barrier Tower was a multi-tiered structure off the eastern coast of his fortress's main continent. Its function was to, with the surrounding three towers, create an impenetrable shield that defended Castle Exdeath and ensured that no attack could threaten the warlock. The tower was designed as a large double helix, with multiple rooms, guardians, and platforms separating the ground floor from the antenna high above which was guarded by one of Exdeath's more potent minions.

The Warriors of Light entered a lower floor of the tower and encountered no resistance, though when they scaled to the next tier an armored enemy appeared to stop them. Instead of being a mutated freak, the heavily armored Reflect Knight was actually quite human in appearance and carried a huge, long battleaxe in both arms. Galuf had seen the fiend before and knew what it was capable of, but Faris wasn't, and she launched a sharp lance of lightning at the monster before he could stop her.

Faris' ill-advised attack struck the Reflect Knight's armor straight in the breastplate. The lightning bolt almost immediately fractured upon impact and the electricity scattered out in a wide swath of shrapnel that zoomed towards the four warriors. Although Faris and Lenna managed to duck and cover Galuf and Bartz weren't so fortunate and were peppered by a stream of bolts that sizzled their skin and punctured it.

"Next time you see your reflection in a monster's armor," Galuf snarled as he and Bartz rolled to a stop and stumbled to their feet, "think before you try and gut it with a lightning bolt!"

Tycoon's lost princess now clearly saw her own face on the Reflect Knight's breast plate and grit her teeth, muttered a curse, and drew her saber with a sharp flourish. She had to redeem herself now. The Reflect Knight, its large battleaxe lifted high, sprung forward with a two-handed swing that was aimed at Faris' head. Before it could connect, however, Galuf's force-focused sword cut through the blade and the weapon fell to the ground. Faris quickly lifted her saber and slashed a large gash in the monster's chest and caused its remains to fall to the ground with a large thud.

Gripping his wound in one hand, Bartz angrily reached towards Faris but was stopped before he could touch her by Lenna. The princess, her eyes wide and wet with desperation, quietly laid her hands on her friend's injuries to pulse her healing energies through them. Bartz's anger quickly melted in the face of Lenna's gentleness, and he allowed himself and Galuf to be healed before the party moved forward.

Lenna soon finished mending her friends' scars and the four continued up to the next floor. There they were met by a greeting party: an Exdeath Mage and two Soldiers of the same ilk. The Exdeath Mage lifted its arms and charged a spell, but before it could be released Bartz thrust out his left hand and a large burst of air pressure punctured the beast's heart, dropping it to the ground dead and marking him as the next target of the two soldiers.

Both Exdeath Soldiers raised their axes and charged at Bartz, but before they moved scarcely two steps Faris had already swiped her left hand at the pair and released two tiny spheres of white light that entered their bodies and froze them solid from the inside out. As they finished solidifying, she turned to Bartz and flashed a sheepish grin. The swordsman smiled and lashed out with his weapon to decapitate the two beasts. All had been forgiven and they were even.

The next floor up found them face to face with a new kind of beast. Huge and muscular, yet still more humanoid than Exdeath's foot soldiers, the Ziggurat Gigas stood nine feet tall and needed no weapon to be intimidating. The massive giant swung at Bartz with a hard right hook and was met by a shield of wind that knocked it prone. As it stumbled, Faris and Galuf both ended its existence with two slashes of their weapons.

Unfortunately, that was just the beginning. Over the next five floors of the Barrier Tower the Warriors of Light tussled with a small army of Soldiers, Mages, and Reflect Knights. Each strike they gave and each blow they received drained them of their most vital resource, their stamina, and by the time that the party finally reached the top of the structure none of them were in anything resembling stable shape.

From the floor in front of the antenna a large black portal began to form, then ripped open from the ground to reveal a monstrous creature that could best be described as a black hole that was attached to the floor. Its mouth was wide open, and they could see inside it an endless abyss that they knew they'd never return from if they were caught up in it. After shouting a few words that can't be repeated Bartz lifted his weapon and moved to attack, only to find that his foot had begun to inch towards the Atomos without his consent.

Bartz dug his sword into the floor in an attempt to stop himself from being consumed. He was unable, however, to keep the movement from drawing him in closer and closer to the monster's empty maw. In order to stall the inevitable Faris launched blast after elemental blast into the Atomos' mouth, though eventually Bartz's foot passed through the gate and he was swallowed into the emptiness hook, line, and sinker. Lenna let out a shrill shriek and dashed towards the boss, but stopped suddenly when Faris locked her in place with a Stop spell.

"Let me go!" roared Lenna, struggling desperately against the binding magic. "Bartz is-"

"Waste any more of your energy," Faris wheezed haggardly, "and he will die!"

The idea finally struck: all the power Lenna was expending struggling against her sister was to be what freed her friend. Lenna nodded and slid back just as Faris threw both her arms forward at the Atomos, whose gravity began to still as the pirate slowed its body down until it was sluggish enough for Galuf to clap his hands together. The movement summoned all three of his Eidolons - Ifrit, Shiva, and Ramuh - and with a single conclusive blast of elemental energy the Atomos was blown to shreds.

As the Atomos crumbled to dust Bartz's body appeared from where it had entered the beast's belly. Lenna wasted no time in darting forward, grabbing his unconscious body and turning it over to examine him. Finding that he was still breathing but weak she laid both hands on his heart and shoved as much magic into him as she could. The result was that the youth awoke just in time to grab hold of an exhausted Lenna. Drained, the princess fell into her friend's tight embrace and the two shared a tight hug.

"Have your moment later!" hissed Faris. She wearily lifted her weapon and aimed it at the antenna. Her two friends quickly realized what she meant and watched as the pirate slashed the demonic device in two, allowing them all to breathe a sigh of relief as Galuf withdrew the Whisperweed and lifted it to his face with a weak smile. They'd done their job, now it was Xexat's turn to do his.

Believing the job to be done, Galuf shouted out Xexat's name. The Whisperweed remained eerily silent, though the sudden sound of a loud and earth-rending explosion alerted Galuf to what he'd dreaded - Xexat's demise. Gnashing his teeth in fury, Galuf tightened his grip on the Whisperweed and shouted out into it with all his raging anger before Xexat's voice reverberated and he spoke over the loud din.

Wait for me in the submarine. I'll be there.

Lenna let out a loud whistle and Krile's Wind Drake answered the call, soaring up the long tower and to their rescue. When it landed Lenna and Faris quickly mounted the dragon, though Faris noted that Bartz and Galuf had gotten into some sort of violent altercation. To silence him Bartz slammed his fist into the old man's gut, hoisted him over his shoulder, and leapt atop the Wind Drake, beckoning that they hurry to escape.

The silence was painful. Galuf quietly began to stir and startled awake, finding himself inside the submarine that Xexat had given them. He quickly moved to rise but, cradled by a crying Lenna and finally realizing what had happened, Galuf angrily sunk to his back and let out a violent, desperate cry of anger at his fallen friend. Everything that he'd told the old fool not to do, he'd disregarded. He'd told him not to be a hero, and damned if he didn't become a confounded hero.

Next time I see you... I'm going to make your afterlife a living hell.