Battle After Battle

"Ras!" 

It was Lisa, and she was frantically waving for them to come over. Both Ras and Amber rushed there, running by her side.

"It's bad! The hilichurs seemed to have gathered and are attacking the city!" 

Ras could feel how frantic she was simply by her tone, which was a far cry from her usual calm demeanor.

"Hilichurs? So that's why they've been getting closer and closer as time went on?" asked Amber, taking out her bow as they were approaching the gate, where a handful of thirty or so soldiers were gathered. A short, pale man with long, white-brownish hair ordered the soldiers around.

Ras turned to the side, having noticed someone dressed in blue run the opposite way.

"Kaeya? He must have his reasons, after all," thought Ras as he took his sword out, moving to the front.

"Just be careful, Ras," said Lisa, holding on to his sleeve. He chuckled, trying to find some smart line to say.

"Don't worry, I haven't died until now, I won't die now either."

He stood in line with a bunch of soldiers, all of them prepared to fight, while behind him, barricades awaited to halt the monsters.

A loud horn marked the beginning of the battle, a charge led by five Mitachurls with a handful of Cryo Samachurls behind, which summoned large vines that aimed for the soldeirs.

Ras stared as a few flames rushed above him, watching as they itched themselves within the wines, burning them down. The soldiers charged at the Mitachurls, and Ras decided to do the same, despite his entire body telling him otherwise.

He was at the front, with him and one more soldier fighting one large beast, while the others scattered in small groups of two, each group taking care of a mitachurl.

Ras dodged an incoming axe blow, followed by a shoulder bash, managing to ram his blade inside the monster's leg, causing it to shout in pain. The other soldier was quick to take advantage of that, thrusting his sword into the monster's chest.

"Hey, I can actually do this!"

He felt his blood curse faster through him, carrying along the heat of battle, bringing with it an unyielding thrill. He rushed in, going after the Samachurls, dodging large vines as they tried to halt him. He moved through them faster than even he expected to, and he finally noticed the glowing light on his wrist.

"Could it be? I'll have to talk with Lisa."

In a few swift cuts, he took down the hilichurl elemental mages, working his way through their ranks, making sure to always keep a path open behind him if retreating became a must.

His sword moved with more speed and strength than he could have ever imagined, and he even had the faint feeling that his muscles were increasing in volume ever so slightly. Despite his usual attitude, Ras felt like a one-man army. Until that point, life had never felt so thrilling.

The other soldiers came to his side, assisted by another group that attacked from the sides. The bulk of it was slowly being taken care of, with hilichurls falling on all sides.

Ras could feel the sweat on his brow fall off as he moved, his eyes scanning the battlefield with a precision he was never capable of. In an instant, he could feel himself freeze as he watched, in horror, as a group of at least a hundred hilichurl and twenty lawachurls were approaching from the distance, closing in on them.

He cleared his mind as fast as he could, glancing around the battlefield as Lisa and Albedo, as the short man was called, came forward as well, ready to join the fray.

Within him, Ras felt a fire that only seemed to burn brighter. He pointed his sword high at the sky, lifting it above his head as everyone around him glanced over at him, then back at the incoming enemies. His mouth opened, and he took a deep breath before shouting—an action he didn't believe himself capable of.

"Knights of Favonius, do not falter! Today we will stand our ground and protect what we hold dear! Scream out!" 

For a moment, silence engulfed them, and Ras could feel his face turn red from embarrassment, but slowly, a shy shout broke the silence before others joined in, and before he knew it, their voices became one in a loud war cry.

"Good thing I learned something from Erwin. Morale sure plays a huge role," were Ras' thoughts at the moment.

As the monster army approached, a tremmor shook the ground, Ras' eyes scanning around for the source. He could see something rise in the sky, and on the other side, he saw what seemed like a large tornado made up of clouds.

... 

Aether was together with Jean, Diluc, Venti, and Paimon, staring down the large, six-winged dragon that was Dvalin. A thundering roar like a storm of a thousand winds echoed through the sky, sending shivers down everyone's spine.

They didn't back down, preparing themselves for battle. The stone platforms they were standing on seemed too frail when compared with the large beast that was Dvalin.

"At least now we can fight Dvalin on equal grounds," said Venti, chuckling to himself.

"The grandest bard is here to help. But first, let me be clear..." 

Venti cleared his throat, pulling a bit on his collar as if to cool himself down.

"Even after hundreds of years without use, Dvalin's teeth and claws are still very dangerous."

Everyone nodded in silence, weapons ready as they faced Stormterror. Aether gulped, but he didn't falter. He was ready to fight.

"Remember, everyone, aim for the blood clots on his back. That's where the corruption should be strongest." said Venti as he drew an arrow, charging it with Anemo. It flew across the sky like lightning, but it wasn't strong enough to hurt Dvalin. The dragon lift a forelimb, its claws glistering with a faint blue light. He struk down, aiming at the group that scattered in a blink. Diluc took the opportunity to strike its limb, but his sword could not penetrate the dragon's skin, even as he used Pyro to strengthen his attack.

"How are we even supposed to take this thing down?" asked Diluc, looking over at Venti for an answer.

"We just need to break those spikes on its back. Until then, try your best to strike when possible."

Aether dodged another strike from its claws, the platform beneath him rumbling under the weight. Quick on the uptake, he used Anemo to try and pierce his way through the creature's hide, and he managed to hurt Dvalin, but the wound was too shallow to actually do any harm.

He used that moment to climb along the dragon's arm, running along as he grabbed on to its hair. The beast tried to brush him off, but he was holding on better than expected.

Everyone could feel their breath stuck in their throats as Aether reached the beast's back, where he struck the upper blood clot, shattering it with a fierce blow.

Dvalin roared out in pain, twirling its body around like the wind itself, throwing Aether into the air, where he managed to position himself to fall right next to his comrades.

"Uh oh, it seems that he's mad. We might want to move aside, since he's about to perform quite the move," said Venti, moving to the side of the platform where he created air currents for everyone to use to glide to the other platforms.

Dvalin charged his breath, Anemo gathering inside his mouth, shooting out like a beam of light that cracked the platforms where they stood. It was slowly catching up with them, despite their efforts to run.

"What now, Venti?" asked Jean through heavy breaths. "You're the one who knows Dvalin best."

Venti remained silent, running ahead, creating other air currents for them to ride.

"Just try not to be touched by that. I don't think it's as fun as it would seem."

As its breath grew closer to them, Paimon noticed a flickering crimson light move through the sky, like a meteor shooting off into the sky.

"What's that?" asked Paimon, nudging Aether to look there. It came closer and closer until it suddenly shot high into the sky, falling right on top of Dvalin. Standing tall, a claymore on his back and a longsword at his waist, he held another claymore, a deep blue lining running across the center of the blade.

A crimson-red aura flickered around him, his eyes glowing the same color, a fluctuating light show before their very eyes.

As Dvalin tried to move into the air, Mark shattered the remaining blood clot on its back, only to be thrown to the ground, falling off of the dragon's back.

Paimon yelled out as the place began collapsing around them, and everyone awoke to a free fall from a height that outshined any mountain.

They closed their eyes, awaiting their doom, only to feel themselves land on something rather rough. Venti opened his eyes, noticing that everyone was on Dvalin's back.

He placed a soft hand on his old friend's back, speaking softly, as if singing a lullaby to it.

"It's been a while since we flew like this together. Huh, Dvalin?" 

The dragon spoke in a raspy voice, reminding Mark of the sound he had heard before as he played the game.

"Just now...Why...Why did you not ask me to protect you like the last time?"

"Me not wanting you to listen to the Abyss Order doesn't mean that you have to listen to me."

He sat up, glancing over at the stone remains that shattered behind them, falling into a sea of clouds.

"Freedom, if demanded only by an Archon, is really no freedom at all."

He gathered some Anemo in his hands, watching as the ball of energy seeped within the dragon's body.

"Is this... the power of the Anemo Archon?" asked Dvalin, its voice soft like a gentle breeze.

"But I am no longer part of the Four Winds..." 

Venti spoke once more, glancing around at the passing clouds.

"Even if that's so, you still protected us regardless. Now spread your wings of freedom, and go with my blessing."

Dvalin reached Mondstadt, where everyone got off, and he flew away, seeking the freedom that Venti had bestowed upon him.

Mark watched as the beast flew, a gentle blue light encircling it. He let out a soft sigh before turning around, ready to enter the town, and he felt a sudden jolt at the sight.

Tens of hilichurls, all fallen before the gates of Mondstadt, with Ras standing there, covered in blood—which Mark prayed wasn't his.

He felt a hand grab his collar, and he turned around only to be met by Jean's stern gaze.

"You have some explaining to do."

Mark chuckled, preparing himself for the second storm.