A Heart Of Fire (Final Fantasy XV)

Chapter 16

Once the light from the royal arm died down, and the room went back to dark, we all turned back to Cor, waiting for his next instructions. Noctis's hand still held onto mine tightly, but I didn't complain. I was just happy that I could even provide even the slightest bit of comfort to him.

"That's not the only power your forebears left you. Your journey's just begun. Another tomb lies close by. I suggest you head there next," Cor says as he walks around the statue and heads for the door. He pushes it open and leads us back outside in the night. "There are tombs scattered across the land. All are on dangerous ground. I'll go with you for the time being. Not only to help, but to get a measure of your strength."

"Fighting alongside the Immortal. Oh, what an honor!" I chuckled jokingly as we walked up the steps to the dirt path. Cor simply glares at me over his shoulder, unamused at my joke.

"Always the one to crack jokes," he sighs, making me smile. "By the way, how much longer are you planning to hold His Majesty's hand?"

My mouth clamped shut as I looked down at our hands and glanced up at him with slightly wide eyes. We both blushed and released our hands and looked away in embarrassment, not uttering a word to each other. I heard the others chuckle in amusement behind us, but I cleared my throat and ignored them.

"So, just how many of those 'powers' are out there?" Noctis asks Cor, changing the subject. Cor stares at the two of us with a blank face before turning back to the path infront of us.

"There are thirteen known royal arms, each enshrined at a royal tomb, though we know the location of only a few," he explains as he leads. "I've enlisted the help of the Hunters. They comb the land in search for the lost tombs."

"Where's the one nearby you mentioned?" Noctis asks.

"Keycatrich Trench. We know there to be a crypt deep inside the tunnels." Noctis remains silent as he stares ahead of him, looking out at the darkness of the night. He lets out a soft sigh as he walks on with a newfound sense of purpose.

During our walk to the next tomb, we encountered many daemons along the way and took them down rather quickly, now that Cor joined us. He easily cut down his opponents with one slice of his trusty katana, and he did so with the skills of a master swordsman. To say that he was amazing is honestly an understatement. After each fight he would praise us on our performance, but throw in a few words of wisdom to make sure we wouldn't get ahead of ourselves. It was nice hearing the Immortal praise us, though, and it encouraged me, if anything, to keep improving my fighting skills. He was my instructor after all, and I definitely didn't want to disappoint him.

Eventually, we came to a large field that was fild with crumbled stone walls that used to be some sort of infrastructure, as well as the Niflheim army themselves. Large cargo ships and crates littered the field with their presence, and giant robots stood motionless as the soldiers marched on patrol.

"What is this place?" I asked quietly as we hid behind some crates.

"Long years ago, we waged a fierce battle here against the empire," Cor explained, looking out at the base. "It all went to ruin, and after that, the empire moved in like it owned the place."

"Er, how do we get through all that?" Prompto asks nervously.

"Take 'em head-on, or sneak up from behind. The choice is yours," Cor said as he put a hand on his katana.

"I like the first option," I grinned as I pulled out my sword and dagger.

"Then let's kick some Niflheim ass," Gladio says eagerly as he summons his giant sword. As soon as our weapons were drawn me raced towards the soldiers and began cutting them down one-by-one. I tucked and rolled on the ground, avoiding bullets as they whizzed by me before plunging my blades into their heads and slicing them down. Everyone else held their own just fine against them, and it seemed as though we could finish them quickly. The soldiers themselves weren't much of a challenge, but, I couldn't say the same for the giant robotic friend that approached and began firing at us.