A Heart Of Fire (Final Fantasy XV)

Chapter 25

Noctis let out a battle cry as he parried another attack from the Archaean. After every hit from Titan, his limbs felt like lead. Heavy and dense. The Niff's and the occasional headaches only furthered his agitation. He wanted nothing more than to sleep it off and just head straight to Altissa.

But he knew he needed to finish this. He had to do this for his and his friends' sakes. The Archaean wanted something from him, but he just couldn't figure out what.

He turned his head and spotted Nuraya fending off some soldiers with Ignis finishing them off with his daggers. He noticed right off the bat the Nuraya's fighting style was different, but he hardly had the time to think about it when Gladiolus suddenly stepped in front of him to block an Axeman's attack. The prince's shield pushed it back and struck the soldier down with ease.

"Kepp your head in the game, man!" Gladiolus exclaimed, turning back to Noctis. Just then, they heard a harsh thud close by and turned around to see Nuraya being kicked by another Axeman. The soldier kicked her back a good couple of yards away, causing her to hit her back against a wall with an unnerving crunching sound. She dropped to the ground like a rag doll and didn't move for a few seconds, even when other soldiers nearby began closing in on her. Ignis tried to reach her but was held back by more magiteks.

Gritting his teeth, he gripped his Warp Sword tightly and threw it at one of the soldiers closing in on his friend. His body lighter than air, he dashed towards his friend and summoned his greatsword from his arsenal. With as much strength as he could, he swung his sword and destroyed the androids in one blow. Once they all collapsed to the ground, he ran to Nuraya, lifting herself up with quivering arms.

"Raya! You okay?" he asked, concern evident in his tone as he held on to her shoulders for support. He noticed how heavy her breathing was and how her eyes seemed to glaze over ever so slightly. Her face was flushed, and she seemed to have a hard time holding herself up. He gently grabbed hold of her arms and lead her behind a giant boulder nearby for cover.

Once they were safe, Noctis called her name again. "Raya!" It looked like she heard his voice this time because she wiped the sweat off her face with her gaze aimed at the ground below us.

"I'm--I'm good," she croaked, "just got the wind knocked outta me."

Just then, Ignis' voice could be heard coming from behind her.

"Raya!" He dropped to his knees beside her and reached into his pockets to pull out a small vile of elixir. "Here, take this." He handed it to Nuraya, who suddenly snatched the vile out of his hands and breaks the glass with her hand.

Unlike the last time she used an elixir, however, the concoction didn't seem to do any good for her.

"It's worse than I thought," Ignis muttered with a scowl as he put a hand on her back to steady he wobbling form. Noctis narrowed his eyes at his glasses-wearing friend.

"What are you talking about? What's wrong with her?" Noctis questions with unease.

"Raya's fever seems to have gotten worse," Ignis tells him. "She's in no condition to fight." Ignis sees the worried look on Noctis' face and tries to explain. "We've been giving her Elixir's this whole time to keep her going, but now it seems the affects don't work on her anymore."

"Well, what do we do now?" Noctis asks, looking down at Nuraya in his arms.

"Finish the job, that's what."

The two's attention was pulled by the sound of metal hitting rock. Nuraya was using her black sword as leverage to hoist herself up on her feet. She lifted her head and sent glares up at the Archaean, who let out a deep, guttural growl in return.