Chapter Text
The last time Clive had felt that sort of tension had been, when he had still served the empire. They had known that something was happening, since everyone around them had been on edge and even the slightest misstep could lead to some very painful punishments, that weren't even halfway justified considering the deed, but the imperials hadn't cared, needing an outlet for their fear of what was about to come, and this future tilt had been Odin and his legions marching into Sanbreque's so called breadbasket, at that time the most important part of the empire; the land that produced the most grain.
Bahamut had pushed the Warden of Darkness back then, but the Bastards had still been on site to interrupt their supply lines, kill high ranking generals to get unrest into the ranks - which never seemed to work - and trying to hold Odin's troops at bay somehow, since the empire of course preferred to get their Branded killed first.
Clive had been twenty then.
Now he was nearing his 29th nameday and the feeling had returned tenfold, because this time it was not Sanbreque on the brink, but his home - Rosaria. By whatever miracle, the two Undying that had been stationed on Drustanus had survived and managed to send back two stolas with short status reports.
As expected, it had been no problem for the Dhalmeks to invade the island and with Titan at the front, they had torn down the defenses and taken the Mothercrystal in one night. Oh, the Ironblood had tried to stand their ground, sending everything into the fray they had, even their most ferocious and brutal warriors, but what was a human against a primed or even just a semi-primed Dominant?
And after Drustanus had fallen into the Dhalmeks hands, they had moved their conquering forces towards the smaller islands, that housed the royal family of the Iron Kingdom. The royal family that was only a ruler in theory, since the Iron Kingdom had always been under the control of the Crystalline Orthodoxy, a conservative faith that held the Mothercrystals sacred. Aevis had once called it a backwards faith, in which the priesthood did enjoy great power, with the Patriarch - the leader and chief shepherd of the faithful - the most powerful of all.
There was one thing though that set the Crystalline Orthodoxy apart from all the other religions, be it Sanbreque's faith into Great Greagor, the Kanverian's belief into Gilbert the Great Lender or the casual way Rosaria worshipped the Founder. The Crystalline Orthodoxy was radical in it's ways, even more radical than Sanbreque and their stand towards the Mothercrystals was not practiced anywhere else in Valisthea, for to its believers, the Mothercrystals were literal gods, and the wasteful expenditure of aether through the use of magic was strictly forbidden. As such, those who did use magic - Dominants and Bearers both - were seen as sub-human abominations.
Most of their lower ranking priests had found their end when Hugo had entered their sanctuary, foolishly defending the heart and believing that it would save them from the power of a Dominant. And with their leadership nothing more but a husk, it was easy to take over the remaining islands and in the matter of one night, the Iron Kingdom was no more.
Clive was staring at the map of the Iron Kingdom they had spread over their usual map of Valisthea. The map was old, still dating back to the years when the island had been under the control of the duchy, but it gave them an impression on the layout of the land. "Did you order the Undying to return to Rosaria?" he asked and looked as Joshua, who heaved a sigh.
"I did, but they both refused the order, saying it was way more important to have eyes on Kupka and the Dhalmeks," he replied with a growl, hands balled into fists. "Trust me, I'd rather have them back here as well. They are both handmaidens, so while they are in no danger of being killed as warriors, the threats for them are of a different nature." Joshua didn't need to voice out loud, what they all were thinking.
"Where do we start?" Jill asked, staring at the wooden figurine that symbolized Titan.
"By pacifying the populace," Elwin said, crossing his hands in front of his chest. He had discarded his heavy robes, and stood in between his three children and his Lord Commander in just his pants and tunic. "Once word gets out, that Dhalmekia has taken over Drustanus and Drake's Breath, there will be fear, confusion and accusations."
"Accusations why we didn't take the Mothercrystal back, when it was seemingly so easy for the Dhalmeks?" Clive asked with a frown and Elwin nodded. "How will you address it?"
Elwin shrugged, picking up the three figurines that represented Shiva, Phoenix and Ifrit - the latter still bright wood, since it had to be made anew when Clive returned home, while the others were as old as the maps they were placed on. "With the truth," he replied simply, his eyes wandering from one Dominant to the next, his eyes soft and so full of love for the children he had raised in some parts of their lives. "Dhalmekia does not care about their Dominant and the burden his body has to bear with every prime and with every spell cast," Elwin explained. "They don't care about the blood that is spilled in their own ranks and on the other side. Even if the Ironblood are cruel fanatics, they are still human and I refuse to wipe out their lives, because they followed the orders of their Partriach. I refuse to taint my hands with even more blood and I don't want to risk either of you three starting to suffer from the curse or even die, because we tried to regain Drustanus and Drake's Breath. The Mothercrystal is not worth your lives."
He placed the figurines back onto the map. "The people don't know the truth about the Mothercrystals just yet, but I will not risk your lives for a so called believed blessing, when it's nothing but a curse and if I have to, I will tell them half the truth. That we have to prepare for the incoming Blight, since we believe that Drake's Breath will soon fall."
Clive released his breath in a low growl. "And Drake's Breath will fall," he snarled, snipping over the figure that represented the Mothercrystal on Mount Drustanus. "The Dhalmeks will use Drustanus as an outpost and you can't tell me, that now, that they have squashed the Iron Kingdom, that they will stop there. Quite the opposite." He shook his head. "Emboldened by this easy victory, they will believe themselves to be unstoppable and will set their eyes on the next best target they'll think can be conquered. They won't turn against the Sanbreque, since even with Bahamut no longer a real threat, the empire has shown a lot of aggression in the last years."
"While we have remained docile," Jill realized, leaning forward on the table with the maps. "No matter what was thrown at us, we never reacted with violence, and only defended our borders. We could have attacked Sanbreque twice, but since they always backed off, we never let it come to that either, unlike the Northern Territories when I was a child and who always pushed into Rosaria, forcing the previous Phoenix into action. They believe us to be weak, and that when they attack, we will not be much of a risk to their forces."
Clive nodded. "And this is, why I think we have to make a cut before that already," he replied.
"You want to destroy Drake's Breath," Joshua concluded.
"If the Mothercrystal falls, Dhalmekia has no reason to stay on the islands any longer, since the supply lines would be too long to hold and too wonky. They have to ship everything there, since they can't go over land, and unlike the Ironblood, they are not used to working that kind of soil," Rodney agreed, trailing a line over the map with his finger.
"And with the fall of Drake's Breath, the spread of the Blight into Rosaria should slow down as well." Clive added. "That should buy us at least a bit more time."
Elwin nodded. "We need to be really careful though," he warned. "We can't risk giving the Republic a reason to attack us for real."
"I would even suggest to strengthen the borders in the south, and alert the garrison in Port Isolde," the Lord Commander added, thumping on the map for emphasis. "I wouldn't put it past them to try and attack us from both sides."
"Neither would I," Elwin growled darkly. "Make it happen."
For a moment they were each caught in their own thoughts and finally Clive shook his head. "Taking down Drake's Breath will be difficult, especially if we don't want our borders to be unprotected. If Dhalmekia attacks, they will attack with everything they have, and that means Titan," he frowned.
"It's a quagmire," Jill agreed. "We know that we need at least a Dominant to take down the heart, since normal weapons don't work, but if we take one Dominant out to send to Drustanus, we have one less to defend Rosaria against Titan."
"And we need a ship," Joshua added. "Preferably one that can not be identified as a ship of the Rosarian forces. Although I'm sure Uncle Byron would provide one if asked. A neutral one."
"One step at a time then," Elwin suggested. "Fortify our borders and set plans in motion to protect the populace if Dhalmekia is really starting an attack on us. Once we have that, we can think about how we take down Drake's Breath, without leaving us open to Titan. Get in touch with Cid about the state of the Enterprise and if he has any ideas about how we can fortify Rosalith. That we are directly on the coast is not playing in our favor at the moment. Call back those troops that are on leave and move the forces from inside the duchy to the outskirts. They will not catch us unawares."
The weeks that followed were a mix out of anticipation and dread, life going on as usual, but also fueled with tension and with waiting. Waiting for something they knew would happen, since in this regard, Hugo Kupka and the Dhalmekian Parliament were easy to see through. Clive got even more suspicious, the day a stolas from one of the handmaidens arrived, telling them about the woman that had come to visit Kupka and who had arrived with galley of Waloed. The description fit perfectly to the woman they had seen Kupka with in the Defile. The one who had him by his balls and obviously his cock.
This simply couldn't go well and all of Clive's plans to go down to Port Isolde to check on the galley that Byron had prepared for their adventure destroy Drake's Breath were put on ice. But Clive did no longer trust anything and so he sent a messenger to Byron, requesting to have the galley on hold, until they knew what Kupka and Dhalmekia were up to.
Clive refused to leave his family unprotected. The fear of losing them was tying him to Rosalith. He had failed them all, when he himself had primed at Phoenix Gate and couldn't protect them from the empire. He hadn't been there, when the Ironblood had invaded, he hadn't been there in all the years afterwards. He would not leave them, knowing what was on the horizon. His fear made him desperate, maybe even a bit unreasonable and clingy, which one day ended up with his father telling Jill to take him to their chambers and give him some sort of rundown to get that nervous energy out of him, so he would settle down.
To their relief, the Dhalmeks and Kupka both didn't attack that day or the following night, since Jill not only managed to get the nervousness out of Clive but herself too, leaving them both unable to walk until the next morning, Elwin admitting that it had been his own fault. The couple tried to be less exuberant the next few times, trying to be mindful of their own strength.
And yet the waiting was driving them all up the walls. It was for sure better than the alternative, which was an outright invasion on their shores and the duchy. Cid had stayed in touch with them as well, but unfortunately had not been able to offer any more advice on protecting the duchy, since Rosalith was as fortified as they could. And against an Eikon, all walls were too thin anyways. He did place more groups of Cursebreakers between Rosaria and Dhalmekia in the south though, allowing them to use their eyes and ears on the troop movements there, warning them ahead of time, when they tried to step over the borders there. Most of the Cursebreakers were from Dhalmekia and Sanbreque, only a few from Rosaria, but they all knew the money and support Rosaria gave to the cause and so they were only too happy to give back a bit. Even if it meant scouting ahead.
And then their spotters noticed the first sails on the horizon - sails that did not belong to any merchants or the duchy itself. It was bold of Dhalmekia to approach their shores like this, but they were fueled with Titan's arrogance and they could only hope that this arrogance would be their downfall. Some of the Dhalmekia ships broke down on the rocky fencing that the old Phoenix had installed on approach in the harbor, but only a few of the fleet ran aground there and the duchy's canons did not reach that far into the bay.
The sun was setting the sky ablaze with blood red colors and the moment, the night had fallen Clive could feel the pull on the aether and it was like a slap in the face this time. There was nothing subtle about it, nothing in the way it had felt when Dion had primed into Bahamut, or when Jill was drawing in to release Shiva. This was nothing but a brutal maelstrom, that seemed to rip everything along, no matter if whatever it was wanted or not. And then Titan stood in range of Rosaria's shores and Clive could do nothing but curse, since Titan would hit the houses on the coast as first, since the walls that were supposed to hold back invasions or stormfloods would not hold once the Eikon of Earth shattered against them. They had to slow him down, stop him somehow, but that also meant, that the shields would be on their own to fight against the soldiers that would come with him. They really had managed to grab them on their balls now.
"Joshua, Jill - take the high ground and try to slow him down!" Clive ordered. "Don't take any risks and leave the bulk of fighting Titan to me. Just keep him away from our shores. Jill, if the Dhalmeks break through the wall I want you back in Rosalith, to protect the people. On the ground you are more effective than Joshua and I are. Father?"
"Evacuation of the citizenry is already on the way. We bring them out to the countryside," Elwin replied. "The Empire couldn’t bring us down and neither will the Republic, you have my word."
Nodding, Clive turned around and for a moment he wrapped Joshua into his arms, before turning to Jill and kissing her on the lips. "Be careful. I'll be right behind you and will prime the moment I'm clear of setting half the city alight or destroying something underneath my feet, when I run."
"You be careful too," Jill replied. "Kupka is strong and ruthless. He will not give in so easily."
Clive nodded grimly. "That might be, but neither will we," he growled. One last look at Jill and he tore himself away from her, running down into the bailey where Ambrosia was already waiting, pawing at the ground with her claws, waiting for Clive to jump into the saddle. The chocobo knew what was on the board and what they would lose, if either of them failed. Clive felt the ice and the fire explode in his back, while he drove Ambrosia down the streets towards the harbor and the coast. The one weak spot Rosalith always had and that they never managed to really take care of.
With a shrill cry, the Phoenix passed him by overhead, feathers of red and green shimmering despite the darkness of night and Shiva was right behind him. She nodded to Clive when she saw him, then was ahead of him and out on the sea. Ambrosia jumped forward and after another few minutes of sharp riding, he saw the shipyard open up ahead of him, while the sea was lit up in red and and orange flames, along white ice slithering along the surface of the water. Jumping out of the saddle, Clive ran towards the end of the dock and Ifrit came to him readily, stepping into the water with skin of fire and rock.
Ifrit roared into the night. A call of warning and challenge likewise, well knowing that Titan would not care, but march on. Another fly by of the Phoenix and fireballs were crashing onto the warden of Earth. And yet it didn't seem as if he cared about it, but instead marched on towards the shore. Why did he not try to kill Phoenix and Shiva?
Slowed down by the water he was running in, Clive summoned Hellfire underneath his claws, before he raised his head, fixating Kupka with a stare. "Hold it right there, Kupka," he barked well knowing that it would be for naught and yet, he had to try at least. "This is an act of war, Kupka and the Duchy will not roll over like this and die without a fight."
Titan roared and then buried his massive hands into the ground and pulled out a rock, that was easily the size of Ifrit and Clive cursed softly to himself. "Kupka, you can still turn this around and return home to Dhalmekia and tell the Parliament, that the Mothercrystals are not worth it."
"But maybe the Mothercrystals are making it worthwhile for me," he growled, voice like a slipping avalanche in the middle of a summer night, and a fist came at Clive out of nowhere. Releasing the Hellfire in his hands, Clive jumped upward, then hauled himself onto Titan's shoulder. It was stupid how big the EIkon in his primed form was. Ifrit was nothing against that. Unlike the battle against Bahamut, the fight was not even halfway balanced, since Titan was nothing but solid stone in the size of a fortress.
The Hellfire exploded against Titan’s chest and for a second the giant stumbled back in the water, letting go of the rock that he had overhead. It crashed into the water, a flood rushing towards the shore. The walls would hopefully break it, but even then, the flood was only one a part of their problems. Titan roared in anger and swinging his fist at him, but Clive danced out of the way as gracefully as he could since his movements were much more hindered by the water, than those of his opponent, and unlike Titan, Clive had a certain interest to not have the giant set even one foot onto Rosarian soil.
Another volley of fireballs that detonated in Kupka’s side, when the Phoenix did another circle, before the next round hit one of the Dhalmekian ships below, while another one was speared by an icicle, and Clive cursed, his claws digging into Titan's neck, before he pushed himself off again to send a row of fireballs at Titan's head.
Titan was both - distraction and their biggest hindrance. They needed all three Eikons on him to make sure he would not step on the shore, but in turn they could not stop the boats from landing, which meant that the shields had to pull their weight as well, if they could. And they better would, or they would lose the capital.
A huge hand came at Clive and he jumped out of the way again, letting himself fall down Titan's back, clawing into the muscles there, tearing and ripping what he could, sending fireballs into the open wounds to hold them open, part of him hoping that Titan wouldn't manage to get a hold of him until he had reached the spine maybe...
A large hand slapped him to the side, like it would with a fly and Clive was unable to catch his tumble in the air, before he hit the surface of the water, for a moment sinking below, but he forced his heart to calm, and once his feet reached the ground, he pushed himself up again and broke free, the very moment as the Phoenix swept down, claws wrapping around his shoulders and carrying him high into the sky and back into the fray.
"Thank you, Joshua!" he growled and the Phoenix released a trill.
"Don't thank me just yet," he said with a shake of his feathered head. "The Dhalmeks were able to land with at least three ships and more are incoming. Seriously, if they say after this, that Kupka acted on his own, I'm tempted to call them liars and cutthroats. The whole bloody army of the republic is here."
"Let go of me over Titan, then tell Jill to pull back and support the shields on the ground," Clive ordered. "I'll try to slow down Titan or at least ruin him enough that he has to lose the full prime before he hits the shore."
Joshua nodded. "Understood, but be careful," he snarled, then he let go, while Clive controlled his fall and once again, he dug his claws into Titan's back, trying to shred as much tissue as he could, dealing as much damage and this time he kept an eye out for incoming fists and dodged them. He pressed another Hellfire into his opponent's wounds and Titan roared in anger and annoyance, but not yet in pain and agony. More force was needed, but before Clive could react, he felt him tighten underneath his hands. He didn't dare doing what Clive thought he would, right?
The fist came at it again and Clive dodged to the side, hanging onto Titan's upper arm and he realized his mistake in the very second, when the other fist came around his legs and Titan pulled him off and once again Clive was flying, but this time he would not hit water and the only thing he could do, to avoid the worst damage to where he was about to land... was letting go of the aether, well knowing that the landing would still hurt. The houses flew by underneath him, while he tumbled through the air, and then he let go of his full prime, letting it go in favor of the semi-prime but he could still feel his bones shatter when he hit the roof, barely able to hold onto consciousness when he crashed onto the floor beneath it.
The pain was excruciating, every part of his body screaming at him at once and he barely was able to stay awake. But he had to - this battle was not over yet and he people were counting on him, Joshua and Jill needed him. They couldn't do this without him. And so he snarled against the pain and pulled on the aether, even though the darkness was crawling into his vision. He couldn't prime again - not in the middle of the town, but he could pull in the aether for one to heal his injuries to a degree. He would be weak afterwards, but he would be able to fight and so he started to draw, trying to channel the aether into his battered body without actually priming and destroying the house and the area he had landed in.
It was like dancing on the edge of a blade, too much and he would prime, destroying everything around him, maybe killing those who had taken shelter in the basements, too less and he would pass out and die from the injuries the fall had caused him, if the pain didn't rob him of his sanity first, when the fires burned through his body. Normally the moment of priming was just one second, but holding himself on that edge was nothing but utter agony. Bones snapping together, blood vessels sealing itself shut and Clive threw himself to the side, screaming and roaring, body curling when he came up on his knees, the wings of the Phoenix spreading from his back, wrapping themselves around him. The flames warmed him, but the pain was still like a million shards of glass imbedded in his body.
He felt himself getting sick, and body trembling he vomited on the floor in front of him, the wings disappearing into the night. He tasted iron and copper and he didn't even need light to know that it was blood dripping from his lips. Slowly the roaring in his ears subsided and he began to hear more than just the hammering of his pulse in his ears. The crashing of swords, the screams of men and civilians alike, the roaring of fire in the distance, the cracking of ice, when it broke...
... he had to move. Jill needed him, Joshua needed him...
He growled against the pain, his body still knitting itself together and he let go of the semi-prime. It had to be enough, even though he knew he was still bleeding. The stop-forced prime had healed him inside out, so the countless scrapes and the deep cut in his left side were still open and leaking and would, until he could tend to them, but he had no time. He had to move, and with a scream against the pain, he rose to his feet, pulling into another - normal - semi-prime and he began to limp forward. He jumped down the side of the house and then began to look around himself. Where was he even? Where had he landed? Clouded with fire and smoke everything looked different and somehow the same and nothing was familiar.
Despite the fires, Titan was nowhere to be seen and Clive felt his tender inside squeeze in panic. Where was he? If he had let go of his prime as well, where would he go? He for sure wasn't dead, since Clive could still feel the earthen element hum in the aether, just like he could feel Jill and Joshua, still fighting near the coast. How many of the Dhalmekian's had breached their shores? How could not even three Dominants hold against them?
"Because Titan is the biggest of all fucking Eikons out there," Clive growled to himself, ash and smoke burning in his tortured lungs. Where would Hugo go, if he wanted to get Rosaria under his control? If he had some brain, he would do the same as Sanbreque in Phoenix Gate - decapitate the leadership. First the Archduke, then Clive, Joshua and Jill. He had to find his father.
Ifrit roared in his ears, pushing his strength through Clive's battered body and Clive moved, until he began to run towards the castle. His father wasn't there anymore, since he would never let his shields fight without going into the fray himself, but he had to start somewhere and from the castle, he knew where to go, unless he recognized another landmark in the city before. He moved towards the sound of fighting and screaming and he allowed his instinct to take over, pushing back the feeling of having to fall to his knees and the first Dhalmekian soldier didn't even know what hit him, when the Invictus first cut through his belly and then his chest. But Clive didn't wait, and moved on instead, burying his the sword in the back of a soldier that tried to pull a woman out of her hiding spot, buttons of the pants already half open. The next lost his head and Clive pushed on, solely focusing on the increasing volume of the fighting and singling out every soldier that didn't wear the colors of Rosaria.
And then he reached the marketplace and with it, his target and his charge. Hugo Kupka was still holding a semi-prime, hands balled into fists, plated with stone and jutted with yellow shimmering crystal. His eyes glowed in a bright blue, and the expression on his face was nothing but an arrogant sneer. He didn't believe that Elwin would even have a chance against him, since he had never faced defeat since he had awoken as the Dominant of Titan.
Another Dhalmekia soldier fell to Clive's blade as he pushed forward, closer to his father. He had to be there, he had to protect him. He had sworn that no one would ever touch his family again. He was Joshua's shield but would also shield his father. Another lifeline severed, while he fought his way forward.
And then Hugo jumped, hands raised over his head to bring them down onto the Archduke, but Elwin’s blade flashed and Hugo's fists crashed against the Indomitus with a cloud clang and Elwin held against him with all his might, knees shaking but he was steadfast against the assault. It was an inspiring sight, but Clive also knew that his father would not be able to catch a second hit like this. His body would not allow it and neither would Hugo. The arrogance had vanished, replaced with anger and fury about the audacity that a mere mortal like Elwin was standing up to him like this, and dared not to falter at his presence.
Clive was nearly there, only a few steps… Hugo raced forward, Clive shifted, and Hugo's summoned fist of rock and crystal collided with the Invictus, stopped by blade and wielder and with a roar, Clive ripped the blade to the side and kicked Hugo against his chest, driving him back a few steps. Ifrit was furious in his chest, itching to let it all out and even though Clive knew, that he couldn't prime without triggering Hugo as well, he would bring everything on the table that he had.
Never again would Hugo touch his family, never again would he touch his home. Clive no longer felt any pain as he shifted, fire and fury burning in his veins and Hugo was barely able to bring his fists up into a block. Clive held against him, but then had to let go, when Hugo lowered the block and was forced to jump back to escape the incoming sword.
For a second the just stared at each other, but then Hugo chuckled. "So this is the Eikon that brought the mighty Bahamut to heel," he said, voice dripping with mock admiration. "I have heard of you, but so far, I have seen nothing that would justify the realm's fear of you. You are nothing but a weak shadow of those that are destined to rule this world."
"And you believe yourself destined?" Clive asked, tongue dry in his mouth, but he clung to Ifrit's fire, while his body was screaming that he had long overdone it, that he wouldn't be able to hold on for that much longer.
Kupka spread his arms wide. "Who else would be if not Titan?" he gloated, the smugness in his face so clear that Clive wished he could just drive the Invictus straight through that expression.
"I'm afraid to disappoint you, but Rosaria will not falter and will never bow," Clive replied, fingers tightening around the heft of his sword. How much longer until his body refused to follow his command? "Especially not to the likes of you. You have two choices now. Take your men and leave our shores alive or die alongside them."
For a moment the two stared at each other, neither turning away, but then Hugo laughed. It was a cruel and cold sound. "Well, how about you and yours die instead?"
Clive shook his head. "Not as long as my heart is still beating," he replied in a snarl.
"Time to rip your heart out of your chest then," Hugo remarked and faster than he should be, he pushed forward and Clive had to shift out of the way to evade the attack, realizing soon enough that he was already too weak and he was no longer fast enough. He had to end this quickly.
Tearing into the earth below, Hugo threw rocks at him in the size of grown men, but Clive pulled on the aether at the same time, raining down lightning with a roar of anger. He shifted to the other side, before Hugo could realize what he had done and brought his sword down on right arm, but his blade met with stone and crystal and slipped down the rocky armor. Shifting again, Clive pulled on Bahamut and with the dragon's wings at his back he hovered to the side, whenever Hugo charged at him, trying to gather the aether underneath his hands to rain it down again. It was a dangerous tactic, since it would bring damage to the surrounding area as well, but there was no other choice.
Orbs of light were crashing down to the earth and Clive pulled on the aether again, Ifrit at the forefront, when he cast the motes of fire to circle him. With his body already on the brink, he couldn't allow Kupka to even get one hit in. He would go down and never up again and Clive couldn't. He couldn't fall here, not with his father still in danger and Jill and Joshua still fighting. The Dhalmeks were not the Ironblood, but Clive refused to think about what they would do, if the duchy fell now.
Ramuh was underneath his hand in a second and Clive sent the orbs of lightning against his opponent until they all attached and then he unleashed them at one, the lightning now racing through Kupka's body, immobilizing him for one moment, and Clive pushed the advantage, the Invictus cutting through some of the crystals, but never actually hitting a vital point. A fist hitting his last orb of fire and Clive shifted to the side, escaping the one that would have smashed against his head.
He slipped over the cobblestones, soaked with the blood of Dhalmeks and Rosarians alike and for a moment his head swam. It was nothing but his instinct that made him reach out to the four wings and they carried him higher and higher, away from another first that could have spelled his end. He had to finish this and he had to finish it now. But how? He was too exhausted to do anything but holding his ground, Jill and Joshua were still unavailable, and no one else was a match for the angry Dominant. Although Clive wasn't even sure if he was a match, broken as he was. Right now the best he could achieve was a stalemate and that was not enough. Not if he wanted Kupka and his army off his shores.
And so with a scream, he pushed forward, hacking away at Kupka without much sense, but then he saw an opening and he took it. Turning on his heel, he pushed the inferno into the blade, then he brought the Invictus up in a whirl, the blade cutting with ease through both of Kupka's wrists, cutting through the stone that the aether had formed around them and in the same moment, as Hugo stared and roared at the two stumps that had once been his hands, blood gushing forward in the pushes of his pulse, Clive made another turn on his toes, blade outstretched to take the man's head, to end it all...
... and steel crashed against steel.
The man that had accompanied Barnabas to Fort Zirnitra was standing between Clive and Hugo, holding the Invictus away from Kupka's neck and the deadly hit it would have been. Where had that man come from all of a sudden? Where had he been before? Had he been in the city the entire time?
"My, my, you both mustn't get worked up now," he chastised with a tone that a parent would use on their children, and Clive couldn't believe the strength the man had in his slim frame, when he pushed the Invictus to the side, nearly forcing it out of his hand. Or was Clive simply to exhausted at this point? His arms were shaking and trembling, and then he felt Kupka's aether crack, suddenly Titan's howling voice the only thing he could hear and the aether shattered entirely, rushing at him, before two hands began to dig into his insides and Ifrit stepped up, catching the aether, molding it, folding it and Clive screamed against the pain, screamed until he was hoarse when the agony echoed through his battered body and then there was nothing but darkness.