Chapter LXXII: Meowolf vs. Secure

Secure's opening thrust made it clear he was not interested in a drawn-out battle. He aimed for the heart.

Meowolf deflected the attack with his shield. Sparks flew from the two steel surfaces as they collided. Meowolf was nearly thrown off-balance by the Elvaan's surprising strength, but used his bulk to his advantage. There was enough room on the Behemoth's broad back for him to strafe away from the follow-up stroke, responding with a ferocious cleave of his own. Secure's own shield, an extravagant tower shield of ornate purple and gold, deflected Meowolf's strike with ease. The Elvaan's eyes were smoldering as he once again aimed to kill.

Repulsing another lethal strike, Meowolf aimed to disarm his foe. Secure parried easily, betraying not a hint of effort. The Elvaan was nearly as tall as Meowolf himself, and what he lacked in the Galka's bulk he clearly made up for in physical strength. Whereas Meowolf wore his mail and surcoat, Secure was equipped with a cuirass of staggering density. Ornate platinum sheets decorated armor of cermet, darksteel, and glittering orichalcum. Even under such obvious weight, he moved with practiced ease. He gazed on his opponent with open disdain. The Galka meant less than nothing in Secure's eyes.

That sat fine with Meowolf. Being underestimated was to his advantage. Their swords clashed again, metallic ringing reverberating in the air. Secure directed a forceful slice at Meowolf's throat, and he barely managed to evade. Immediately, the Elvaan follwed through with an overhead blow meant to tear the Galka in two. With speed belieing his mass, Meowolf charged forward with his shield extended. The gleaming tower shield caught Secure directly in the chest. With a mighty heave, Meowolf tore the other Paladin off his feet, hurtling him into the air and preparing to slam him back down. With inhuman strength and agility, Secure propelled himself away while in the air, landing behind Meowolf and immediately slicing his sword towards the Galka's chest. Barely bringing his own sword up in time, Meowolf grimaced as a tremor shot up his arm.

"You have no hope," Secure said to him. The man's voice was thick with a Far Eastern accent. Yet Meowolf could tell it bore a distinct air of refinement, borne from education and aristocracy. The Galka tensed as Secure pushed his sword forward against his parry, surprised by his unnatural strength.

"Windurst won't fall so easily," Meowolf growled back, leaning his bulk against the sword. He regained the advantage, and Secure was slowly forced back.

"It will," he replied, "and so will you."

Secure broke free with a riposte. Meowolf lunged unintentionally as his weight was suddenly thrown free. A growl of pain escaped him as the Elvaan, nimbly moving behind him, slashed with skilled precision at his back. Cloth and mail tore open. It took considerable effort from Meowolf to not sink to one knee. Instead, he used the pain, focusing on it. Secure prepared to sink his blade into the weak point he had just created, but was caught off-guard when his target spun around. With shattering force, Meowolf bashed his shield into Secure, the thick metal plate catching him square in the jaw. It was a reeling blow, with all the muscle and power the Galka had behind it. He fully expected to tear the Elvaan's jaw from his head. The feeling of solid impact on the demon general's face was extremely satisfying.

The white-armored Paladin took a steady step backwards. He planted his foot, then slowly turned his eyes towards Meowolf. Taking only a moment to brush strands of silver hair from his face, he straightened. Pulling back, Meowolf gaped at the Elvaan. A single scratch ran down his cheek towards his chin where the shield had struck him. Deliberately, the Paladin cracked his jaw, and then once again raised his sword. The blow had barely even stunned him.

This time, Secure moved too quickly for Meowolf to counter. Blade flashing, the Elvaan closed on him in the blink of an eye. Meowolf ground his teeth as pain shot up his arm. Chain mail links split apart as Secure’s blade bit down into him. Jerking his arm back quickly, Meowolf pulled his shield hastily before him. Secure’s sword hammered down upon it relentlessly, and the Galka's arm threatened to buckle. Without hesitation or mercy, Secure continued his brutal assault, determined to grind his foe into dust.

Meanwhile, the defenders of Windurst were having their own problems. Without Secure to guide or restrain it, the Behemoth was running amok. The Capricornians had fallen back from Leviathan's gate, unable to hold back both Vanguard and Behemoth. They split the ground apart with their magic as they fled, and monsters of all sort crumbled beneath them. The raging purple beast simply plowed right on through, trampling Windurstian and Vanguard alike. It roared and reared back as they barraged it with arcane fire and lightning, but ultimately kept right on moving. Cardians crumpled before it as they were blown back by the graet beast or crushed under rubble. They retreated inch by inch down the corridor leading to the Chocobo Stables, using everything they had to drive back the Vanguard which followed after them, howling insanely. It availed them nothing as the Behemoth simply shrugged aside earth and stone, breaking its way through the tunnel with abandon. The Dynamis horde charged over the ramp of debris it created, using it to swarm over the Capricornians. The Chocobo Stables came into view behind them. The ground before Leviathan's gate was all but lost.

Suddenly, a great cry rose up from behind them. The Vanguard turned, too late as a hail of arrows rained down upon them. Steel arrowheads flashed in the light of magical flames. Dark blood burst from pierced bodies as the clutch of Vanguard closest to the Capricornian position went down with screams of pain. The Kindred in the air tried to cry out warning, but another volley of arrows sent them scattering for their own safety. From behind, gathered now as a unit, Jaydeena's Python unit had broken out ahead of the rest of Windurst's defenders to come to the Capricornian's aid. The Captain herself stood out in front, Mithra Rangers spreading out on her flanks. The steely-eyed Python barked out an order, and instantly the air was rife with projectiles. Snaking through the enemy lines, they had manuevered themselves into the split between where Secure had divided his forces. With their rear exposed, they were easy pickings for the stealthy Windurstian company.

"You there," Jaydeena snapped, lancing a finger towards one of her soldiers. "Get a bead on their general! Take him down!"

"Glad to oblige, Captain," Titania responded, lowering down to one knee as she aimed her crossbow. Kindred darted through her field of vision. A contingent of Vanguard had broken off from the advancing force to meet the Pythons in melee combat. Titania focused past all the distractions, the noise of combat, the moving targets, and saw Secure himself. His face was exposed, and Titania's sharpened vision could see right into his blazing gray eyes. Meowolf was standing his ground, but on the defensive as the Elvaan relentlessly harried him with his sword.

The Mithra found her opening in a split-second between sword strokes and took it. Her bolt sang as it tore through the intervening distance in an eyeblink.

Just for a moment, Secure staggered backwards as if stricken. Meowolf hesitated for only a moment as he realized the assault pressing him had halted. With a tremendous heave, he threw the other Paladin back. He stumbled, almost losing his own footing as the Behemoth moved under his feet. Giving a grunt of effort, he planted his feet down solidly, just as Secure did the same.

Meowolf gaped at the Elvaan. There was a ridge in his forehead where a crossbow bolt had grazed him, digging into the skin and becoming embedded at the bone. A trickle of blood slowly dripped down towards the large Elvaan's eyes. Showing little more than irritation, he reached up and clasped the bolt between two armored fingers. Not moving his gaze from the astonished Meowolf, he picked the steel out and discarded it. The Galka ground his teeth in consternation. What should have been a killing blow did little more damage to Secure than would the sting from a giant bee. Already he was moving forward again, raising his sword to attack.

This time, Meowolf met his sword with his own. Both blades sang their metallic song as they collided repeatedly. Each thrust and parry as they jockeyed for position revealed more and more that Secure remained tireless as Meowolf began to wear down. The huge Galka met each one of Secure's attacks with equal skill and ferocity, but after every swing the Elvaan simply kept on coming. In the face of such adversity, even a Paladin of Meowolf's caliber began to tire.

Then, perhaps borne of anger or overconfidence, Secure took a swing a hair too wide. Meowolf dodged the slice and slammed the flat of his blade into the Paladin's stomach. Not pausing to see whether or not it actually hurt the Elvaan, Meowolf instead rushed forward with all his might. His shoulder took Secure full in the chest, and the force carried him off his feet. With a cry of surprise, the general landed hard on the Behemoth's back, eliciting a growl of surprise from the beast. The Paladin skidded along its tough hide, finally getting his feet underneath him again right at its neck. Without missing a beat, he dove for the reins, but Meowolf was already on top of him again. Sword held tightly in one hand, the enormous Galka leaped as high as he could. The surprised look on Secure's face expounded upon when Meowolf came down, savagely crashing his blade into the other Paladin. Impact sent the Elvaan reeling, forcing him to the ground. Aiming the point of his blade down for his enemy's neck, Meowolf thrust down with all the force he could.

The moment of impact was denied to him as a Kindred flew in to defend its leader. The demon struck Meowolf by surprise, forcefully dropping from the sky and into his back. The Galka tumbled forward, sword hurtling from his grasp. He tripped over Secure's prone body, tumbling forward onto the Behemoth's head. The beast reared backwards as Meowolf grasped desperately at its mane. The Kindred came at him again, but an arrow burst from its chest as a Python struck it down. Again the Behemoth bucked its head backwards, flinging Meowolf about like a rag doll in an attempt to loosen him from its head. His feet skirted the ground, and he grimaced as rock and stone pelted him. Struggling mightily, he began to pull himself back up onto the monster's back. He looked up for a handhold on the great beast's greasy hide, only to be met by Secure's sword.

The point of the blade flashed down towards his unprotected face. Gasping, Meowolf released his grasp with one hand. Secure's sword sliced down where he had been only a moment before. He clung desperately with one hand to the Behemoth's shaggy black hair, which did not please the monster at all. Vindictively, it kicked out its back legs, leaning downwards and skirting its head against the walls of the tunnel it was crashing through. Meowolf cried out as his armor shredded against the passageway. His tail was cut deeply right at the base. Secure swung at him again, and he had no choice but to let go.

Tumbling and rolling, his eyes went wide as the Behemoth's massive paw came down upon him. Ignoring the pain stinging through his back and arm, he managed to dive clear. He ran out in front of the monster, forcing his way through the clutch of Vanguard gathered about it. He hurtled them aside, hearing the beast as it closed in on him. Twin jets of flame shot past him as he pushed into the front lines of the conflict with Yasuchika's Capricornian War Warlocks. The Windurstian forces were retreating further and further back into city territory. Meowolf looked up for just a moment and saw that he was standing directly beside the Chocobo Stables.


"We're here, we made it!"

Ajido-Marujido glanced at the soldier named Leeto with something resembling astonishment. The Capricornian had indeed escorted him to his sister's side. Apururu and her appointed guards waited atop the Auction House, all of them wide-eyed and staring at the fresh-faced Combat Caster. He saluted smartly, eyes forward before a superior officer. His large brown eyes kept darting nervously to a spot of dust staining his shoulder.

"Er, yes, soldier," the Orastery minister acknowledged, "good work with that."

The ground behind them was a smoldering ruin. There were places where the ground had been glazed over, parts of the tunnel collapsed with still-smoking corpses reaching futilely up through the rubble. A half dozen Kindred and at least twice that in Vanguard lay dead or dying, their bodies replete with magical wounds. All had been virtually torn apart by this single Capricornian. Ajido-Marujido had barely lifted a finger in his own defense as Leeto-Eleeto wielded sorcery like a sledgehammer. Now this absurdly powerful mage which had just struck down a host of foes stood practically shaking in his boots at the thought of his uniform being dirty.

"At easaru, Leeto," Ajido-Marujido said, and the soldier visibly relaxed. He didn't know what they were feeding these soldiers nowadays, but the Minister had other concerns. He turned to his red-robed sister intently.

"Are we ready?"

She nodded her assent. "We can beginy-win phase two immediataruly."

He turned to overlook the battle raging closer and closer to them. From the high tunnel walls obscuring the view of the ground, he could still see the head and spiny back of the Behemoth as it trampled Windurstians in its path.

"Phase Two then," Ajido-Marujido echoed, "Obliterate."


Secure slid down the Behemoth's side. Meowolf was on his feet, standing at the base of the Chocobo Stables with his shield gripped tight. He was otherwise unarmed, a fact driven home by the sword Secure held before him. His back stung and his arm was hanging limply. Splotches of his white surcoat were stained with red. Still, the Galka held his ground. He was a Paladin.

What happened next occured almost too quickly for Meowolf to process. One second, Secure was advancing upon him, intent on striking down his opponent personally. The next, someone was calling his name, and then Yasuchika was running towards him. There was a flash of light, and the Behemoth roared with anger, charging forward and swinging its club-like tail. Secure nimbly dove out of the way, and Meowolf turned to flee from the strike, only to see Cullen directly behind him. The two stared at one another for a shocked second that seemed like an eternity. Then the Behemoth's tail struck the Chocobo Stables, and a building was reduced to ruin.

A blizzard of wood and stone filled the air. Timbers broke into splinters and thatch roofing collapsed into the demolished structure. Meowolf had no time to think. Impulsively, he dove forward, overtaking Cullen's body with his own. He wrapped his arms around the slim Hume and crouched down low as the building tumbled around them. Within moments, the both of them were buried beneath it.


Yasuchika felt a mixture of shock and fright as he stood before the ruined Chocobo Stables. The Behemoth roared deafeningly, ignoring attacks from both Windurstian and Cardian alike as it stomped blindly on the ground. His flash of light, meant for Secure, had been misfired in surprise when he saw Cullen materialize behind Meowolf. Now the beast was rampaging and the Paladin stood with burning gaze directed at the Capricornian Captain. The two stood locked there for a moment, the Tarutaru glaring up at the Elvaan towering over him. The Capricornians were locked in combat. The Vanguard were struggling as they were flanked by the Pythons. The Behemoth was riderless, reduced to a mad beast without Secure's guiding hand. And Meowolf was now buried beneath a ton of rubble. There was only the two of them.

Secure took a step forward, and Yasuchika responded with a bolt of lightning that struck him in the chest. The Paladin kept on walking, shrugging it off. Yasuchika tore the earth up at his feet, but Secure slashed through stone with his sword, advance unimpeded. The Elvaan bridged the distance between them in seconds, but Yasuchika had one trick still up his sleeve.

In the blink of an eye, the air around Secure froze solid. A sphere of ice formed a shell around him, locking him in place. The Paladin opened his mouth to say something, but in the next instant he was locked within the frigid cage. Yasuchika breathed a sigh of relief. The leader of the Dynamis horde was trapped. They got him.

The thought was comforting in his last moment of consciousness as the ice shell broke apart. Between one moment and the next it was solidly intact, and then the flat of Secure's blade struck Yasuchika like a steel club. His tiny body skidded across the ground, coming to a rest against the earthen wall where the Chocobo Stables had once stood. For a moment, it looked like he might rise again, but then he fell as the Paladin still stood.

Secure waited. He knew this was not over yet.

A grasping hand burst through the rubble. Impossibly, shrugging off the absurd bulk which had fallen down on top of him, Meowolf rose from the wreckage. Huddled beneath him, not a mark on her, was Cullen. The Galka had shielded her with his own body. A jagged piece of wood jutted out from his back, and innumerable scratches and lacerations criss-crossed his face. His armor was dented and broken, and one of his eyes had swollen shut. Cullen saw Secure, grimly awaiting their reappearance, and screamed. Meowolf saw him standing there, and without hesitation save for the look of pain etched in his face, raised his arms in defense. His sword and shield were gone. But as he stepped out in front of Cullen, he made clear he would defend her with his own body.

Secure smiled a knowing smile. The Galka would die for nothing. Raising his sword high overhead, he charged forward at a dead run. Meowolf braced himself for the killing stroke. He heard steel crunch, buckle, and shatter. Pieces of metal scattered out across the ground of Windurst Woods.

A mass of loose black hair came to rest on a set of armored shoulders. Light reflected off of a folded metal blade, long and slim in the hands of its wielder. There was a powerful surge of chi as an incredible aura overtook the area. Furious dark eyes came to rest on Secure's steely gaze. Klades had finally broken through the enemy lines, just in time to save his friend.

"Sorry I'm late, Meowolf," the Samurai said, not turning around.

"Klades," the Galka gasped through his pain, "he can't be hurt."

"We'll see about that."

Secure looked down in anger at the sword in his hand. The blade had been shattered by Klades' strike. The weapon was useless. Baring his teeth, the Paladin threw the hilt down and advanced forward. Klades whipped his great katana around, striking the Paladin's shield and leaving a scar on its surface. The Elvaan muscled the blade aside, swinging for Klades with a gauntleted fist. The Samurai anticipated the attack, moving out of the way with enough time to slice deeply into Secure's armor. He left a rent across the surface of his chestplate, but the Paladin himself merely ignored the blow. Again he swung for Klades, missing by inches as the Samurai responded by bashing his blade into Secure's exposed face. He barely knocked a silver hair out of place, leaving the faintest of impression marks where metal met skin. Ducking away from Secure's shield, Klades searched, undiscouraged, for a weak point he could strike.

Again and again he rained blows down upon Secure. Those which were not deflected by shield or armor seemed to have no effect at all. Twice Secure caught him with a well-aimed fist, but Klades own armor protected him. The Paladin's anger seemed borne more from annoyance than anything else. His certainty that he would be unharmed frustrated Klades to no end.

As if that weren't enough, the Behemoth had found its way back over to them. It lumbered aimlessly around them, vision returning. Without clear guidance it was now simply trying to gain its bearings, but in the process its massive feet were stomping down directly upon the battlefield between Secure and Klades. The two were darting towards and away from the beast in their relentless quest to put an end to one another. For its part, the Behemoth, still blinking magical spots from its eyes, paid them no heed.

Klades danced around one of the monster's massive hind legs, ducking underneath its tail to find Secure waiting for him. However, the Samurai avoided his crushing shield strike, whirling past it and lashing his own blade into the back of the Elvaan's knee. He turned, face darkened, and planted a solid kick to Klades sternum. The Samurai managed to stay upright, but was sent reeling back several feet nonetheless. He raised his blade defensively, gathering his chi to see coming attacks as he had done before. Secure had scraped the shattered remains of his sword off the ground, and Klades prepared to meet the new attack head-on.

Then, Secure spun, and in one motion he let the broken blade fly through the air. Meowolf grunted, a trickle of blood escaping from his mouth as it buried itself to the hilt in his chest.

Cullen shrieked again, but Secure had already turned back to Klades, a malicious smile on his face.

It faded as he saw the Samurai's blade heading directly towards his heart.

Secure brought his hand up, and the steel tip of Klades' katana collided with his palm. Raw chi burst off of Klades in furious flames, echoing the gaze in the Samurai's eyes. Roaring Meowolf's name, the Samurai scraped his blade off of Secure's hand, and then unleashed all his might in a single stroke. He spun the blade over his head once, gathering force, and then brought the Tachi: Kasha manuever to bear. The air turned electric with the force of Klades' aura.

Once again, Secure caught the blade in his hand. Klades was undeterred, forcing his attack forward. There was rage in his eyes and murder in his heart. Even the Elvaan general was given pause in the face of the power being brought to bear against him. He grimaced with effort as he tried to repulse the strike, his own chi flaring around him defensively. He would not let himself be driven back so easily. He refused.

His gauntlet, however, lacked his resolve. The metal burst apart, sending fragments of shattered steel careening in all directions. Klades' great katana slid free, leaving a scar on the ground where it struck. Spinning rapidly, the Samurai was ready to press the attack again in an instant.

Secure stood before him, now-bare hand still outstretched. His palm was bleeding, but the rest of him was frustratingly unharmed. That's when Klades saw the ring.

Glowing a vibrant green, snug against the Elvaan's finger, was a ring. It sparked and pulsed, and Klades could feel the power stemming from it like a rushing tide. Whatever awesome artifact Secure wore, it emitted a field of energy like nothing Klades had ever encountered. Slowly, the general lowered his hand. The Samurai was no longer sure what to do. His strongest blow had been deflected by the Paladin's bare hand. Not even Meowolf could . . .

Just the thought of his fallen friend told Klades what to do. He raised his great katana again, preparing to strike Secure down. Then he stopped, now seeing for the first time what the Elvaan was looking at.

The sky had gone red, and it seemed fire was rolling through clouds which had formed from clear skies. Klades lowered his weapon in disbelief as he looked up at the apocalyptic sight. Secure seemed similarly dumbstruck, and indeed the entire battlefield had been silenced as the scene unfolded.

From atop his perch, sweat beading his brow, Ajido-Marujido completed the two-person spell his sister had recovered for them. The incantation complete, both Tarutaru fell to the ground, magic exhausted with the effort of casting such a terrible black spell. Leeto ran to the ministers, but Ajido-Marujido pushed the exuberant Capricornian aside. He wanted to see what would happen next.

The skies parted, flame roiling through them. Chunks of burning rock began screaming down towards the battlefield. The sound was terrible, an endless echoing boom which would have shattered glass were there any left to break. A stone of epic proportions broke free from the black clouds, and the entire landscape went awash in red. Leaving a blazing trail of molten fire in the sky, a meteor streaked down from the heavens, hurtling towards the battlefield below. A great wail of terror rose from the assembled ranks below as it fell towards its destination. A shockwave of energy rippled out in all directions, sending blistering heat and terrifying force shooting throughout Windurst. Ajido-Marujido shielded his eyes as the meteor, a flaming rock at least the size of the Behemoth itself, struck directly where he and his sister had aimed it.


It was several moments before Klades could breath again, but when he finally came around, it was to a very unexpected sight.

The woman Meowolf had found, Cullen, was violently jostling him awake. She was yelling at him in a language he only barely understood. He was uncomfortably hot, and couldn't understand why. The last thing he had seen was the sky turning red, and then . . .

With a start, he sat up in place. The blade of his great katana had melted into slag. All around him, small fires still smoldered. A crater had appeared in the ground where he had been standing moments before. At the bottom, the skeletal remains of the Behemoth burned endlessly. Oily chunks of melted flesh dripped down around it. The shattered horns on its head sparked feebly with stored electric might. Most of its midsection was completely shattered, blown apart by the Meteor spell. Burning skin and hair filled the air with a horrendous stench.

Klades looked again. The Kindred were gone. So were the Vanguard, and the Nightmare monsters. A few burning carcasses remained here and there, but the entire mass was gone. For the second time, Windurstian magic had brought the army of Dynamis to retreat. Slumping down into the rubble and dirt, Klades let out an expansive breath. Secure was gone, too.

"Almost had him," a deep voice rumbled out from beside him.

The Samurai gave a start, and rose to find Meowolf sprawled motionless on the ground beside him. He was stripped to the waist, dried blood caking his chest and arms. There was a visible scar just below his heart where Secure's broken sword had sunk into him. His chest rose slowly, but he was indeed still breathing.

"How!?" he started, but the Paladin gestured with his eyes towards Cullen.

"Our mysterious lady friend," he tried to smile at her, but his face was so bruised it hardly registered. "We rescued a healer, as it turns out. She saved me, and Yasuchika as well."

Klades appraised the red-dressed woman. Her garb was in tatters, and she looked exhausted. Her raven hair hung untied and ragged at her neck. It could have been the dust and sweat clinging to her, but for a moment it looked to him like the woman was crying. She gave a hint of a smile, then turned away from the trio.

"So, we won?" Klades asked, dropping back to the ground.

Meowolf's jaw set. "For today."

The four remained there a bit longer until ultimately, a squad of Ariesians came across them. Klades helped them pull Meowolf free as they called for a band of Libran healers. Even as the fires of the meteor shrank into nothing, the Galka's words still burned in the Samurai's mind.

For all they had done today, Secure was still out there, his army still encircling the city.

They had won this war of attrition. There was no telling what tomorrow would bring.