"We shall see..." Rickard said as he and Brandon got ready for the next bout with the King. Aerys was having such a good time with them, it seemed that one of them wouldn't break as the injuries he had delivered were gone and the younger Stark was fine.
Brandon stood up and removed the King's sword from his stomach, the wound closed up shortly afterwards. With a yell, he rushed towards the King with the sword in hand, and with a smile on his face, the King was ready to receive him. Surprising the King Brandon threw the sword toward him in a spin; Aerys sidestepped the sword easily and caught the punch that Brandon aimed to deliver though he had to admit he was surprised by the amount of power contained in the blow, this surprise was further augmented when Brandon smashed his head against the King's face which managed to hurt him slightly but not as much as it hurt Brandon, and yet the stark heir continued to smash his head against him splattering blood all across his face. The King grabbed him by the throat but had to let got avoid a swing from Ice; Aerys let his aura explode outwards, he then transmuted it all into wildfire and let it wash over Rickard, unfortunately for the King, Brandon had pushed his father out of the way and taken the full brunt of the attack.
Rickard pooled aura into his sword where he then released a slash of aura headed straight towards the King. With the back of his hand, he destroyed Rickards's attack and rushed towards the Stark Lord only to get tackled by Brandon who had healed the wildfire burns. Brandon smashed his fists against the king like a madman intent on doing the most damage possible. The King who was growing frustrated smashed his fist into the boy's chest breaking all of his ribs and sending him flying across the throne room. He then turned his attention to Rickard who was no longer in front of him; Aerys ducked as Rickard who had sealed his aura nodes snuck up behind him and tried to decapitate him. King Aerys smiled as he drew his fist back poured a significant amount of aura into it and sent it towards Rickard, intent on turning the man's face into a bloody paste.
'Full Counter'
Aerys felt his nose shatter and then felt himself fly back across the throne room crashing out of the wall and into the corridor. 'That damn ability...' Aerys thought to himself as he didn't believe it would work against physical attacks. He didn't have time to stand as a Berserk Brandon rushed towards him swinging a sword wildly, the King had to use his arm to deflect the blow and push the man away. He looked at his arm and saw a trickle of blood flowing down it and felt himself grow angry; his amusement at this situation disappeared in an instant as he saw his own blood on both his arm and his face.
"You are no longer entertaining I shall be eradicating you now," Aerys said with a growl as he rushed towards the Stark heir impaling him through the stomach arcing him up in the air and smashing him through the floor where they both fell down a level. Brandon had lost his ability to communicate verbally but was still able to intelligently assess the situation, he had to use more power but it meant that he'd lose more of his mental faculties. Not having a choice his aura exploded once again growing half as big making it 1.75x the size of his original aura, which easily gave him more aura than most Kingsguards.
Bringing both hands together he smashed the head of the King which pushed him back and it allowed him to get free from him. The hole in his stomach closed up and they both landed on the floor below; Brandon quickly recovered and wildly swung against the king who started the feel pain wracking across his body. He sent a torrent of wildfire across Brandon's body but it didn't stop the stark boy from attacking as he seemed to ignore the pain of his skin peeling off and his muscles burning. Aerys roared as he sent a large sphere of flame against Brandon which pushed him back against the wall scorching it black. However, this distraction allowed Rickard to slash his sword against the King's back as he dropped through the hole they made. Aerys backhanded Rickard sending the Lord flying down the hallway even though he managed to block it.
Rushing towards Brandon the king yelled as he pummelled the boy releasing his rage against him. Brandon tried to retaliate but the King was breaking him faster than he could recover; Aerys unleashed a devastating kick against his head which caved in the Boy's skull and made him go limp. Rickard could only watch in horror as Aerys turned his son into a bloody puddle. "Brandon!!!" He shouted as he rushed towards his son sending powerful swings of aura at the King but to no effect. Rickard tried to impale Aerys, but the king grabbed the blade stopping him dead "What will you do now, your son took all of my blows, without him you won't last a minute," Aerys said with a malicious grin.
Aerys backhanded Rickard which sent him to the other wall. The older Stark spat blood onto the floor before standing up —using his sword as a crutch. He hadn't taken many blows from the king but the ones he had managed to hurt him badly; the power difference between them was astronomical and if the King didn't find their struggle amusing he imagined that he wouldn't have lasted as long as he did. King Aerys approached Rickard cautiously as while he wasn't afraid of any attacks the Stark might muster, he knew his own attacks could be used against him.
'Is this the end...' Rickard asked himself as he breathed heavily, as even using his ability twice had managed to tire him. His heart hurt as he looked at his son who was slumped against the wall with blood splattered across his body.
'Give me the power to withstand his blows and in return I shall give my life.'
'This I Vow.'
Rickard's Aura started to turn a dark colour as it started to increase in size. One, two, three times it grew, growing bigger than Brandon's did and reaching heights Rickard never thought possible. The King for the first time in many years felt a pang of concern etch itself into his heart as he watched the man with nothing left to lose give everything he had. Deciding to risk falling victim to Rickard's ability the King shot towards him sending a punch straight to his stomach sending him crashing out the wall and out of the Red Keep. Rickard slammed hard into the courtyard of the Red Keep and he had to quickly move to avoid a large torrent of wildfire that was shot by the king, though the skin and clothing from his arms managed to burn off; it hurt but he managed to tolerate the pain and keep his sword held high as the King slammed into the courtyard. 'Focus all on defence,' Rickard reminded himself as he used 'Fortify' and prepared for the King's onslaught.
"Father!!!"
Both the King and Rickard looked up to see Brandon standing in the Red Keep where the massive hole was. His ability had burned out and he was only able to heal the worst of the damage that the King delivered towards him, Rickard recognised this immediately and went to go tell his son to run, but in his distraction, he failed to avoid another torrent of wildfire shot by the King, his aura did well to stop most of the damage but it still managed to burn him heavily. The King followed up by creating a sword made from wildfire that he tried to use to impale Rickard through the heart; Aerys was powerful but he wasn't a swordsman and so in this case Rickard had a small advantage as he had trained his entire life with Ice.
Brandon watched from above as he saw his father barely defending against the King —only his superior swordsmanship allowed him to stay ahead. Brandon wanted to help but he had nothing left; without his ability, he knew he wouldn't last long against the King, he wasn't a cautious fighter like his father.
'I want everything, give me all the power my ability has to offer now and forever, and I shall give you my mind.'
'This I Vow.'
Rickard managed to slice through the King's sword, but it didn't matter as he started receiving blow after blow. Each one was too fast to stop and powerful enough to crack his bones even with his newfound power. Rickard lazily swung his sword at Aerys who caught it between his fingers before conjuring a concentrated flame in his and slamming it into Rickard who screamed in pain and fell to his knee as his nose was filled with the stench of his own flesh burning.
"There is only one destiny for a traitor, none of you could ever hope to defeat me," Aerys said as he formed another sword with wildfire and raised it high. An earthshaking roar distracted him though and he was tackled from the side by Brandon who looked different than normal, he was nearly 8ft tall and muscled enough to put the mountain to shame. He made bestial roars as he pummelled the King underneath him; Aerys had to protect himself from his fists as they did damage. Brandon slashed his claws across Aerys arm —drawing blood as he did— the King roared as he blew Brandon back with an explosion of wildfire.
He stood up and watched as Brandon healed at a remarkable rate "If I could use my ability you would've all been turned to ash long ago," the King growled out before unleashing more aura. He and Brandon rushed towards each other, while Brandon had strength that could rival the King he did not have the mind to use it and so he threw wild punches that Aerys was able to avoid. The King covered himself in an Aura that was completely composed of superheated wildfire; Brandon's skin was constantly being burnt off and healed as they fought. The guards that were in the courtyard were blown back at the sheer power of their punches, even Rickard who was still on his knees felt himself being blown back.
"JUST DIE YOU BEAST!!!"
"EAHHHHHHHH!!!"
Brandon managed to get close and slashed Aerys face. The King shoved his hand into the man and unleashed fire within his body, but Brandon was able to heal as fast as his organs were disintegrated. He got in close and bit the King's ear off which made him roar and push Brandon back "You northern cretins, I will kill you all for what you've done here today!" He shouted at Brandon as his aura grew. A large hand composed of wildfire grabbed Brandon and started to crush him as well as burn him; Aerys slammed him onto the ground and across the courtyard but as he was flinging him around he had to avoid a thrust from Rickard which made him lose his concentration once again. Brandon was flung clear of the keep and into Blackwater Bay.
Aerys growled before sending an extremely powerful punch into Rickard's face which sent him rolling across the courtyard. Aerys looked at Rickard in a new light since the beginning of the fight, at first he was a mere ant that happened to step in his path, but now he was a dog who had bit his master's hand and needed to be put down. "Have you any last words you wish me to relate to your family before I burn them alive?" Aerys asked as he stepped closer to Rickard who had just stood up.
Rickard looked at the King revealing a face that had been deformed from his blow. He spat his teeth onto the ground and started laughing at the King "Aerys... you've forgotten what it's like to be weak... you've never known what it means to sacrifice," Rickard gurgled out through mouthfuls of blood.
The King looked at Rickard, a man who could barely stand, a man who had no possible hope of winning with concern. The small pangs of fear he felt before had been enflamed and instincts that had dulled a long time ago rose up once more; Rickard was defeated, the King was on the cusp of victory and why did he feel like he was about to lose.
"Watch as I show the world what it looks like when a god bleeds," Rickard said with a deformed smile as he held his sword up in the air.
'Full Counter: Vengeance'
Using all the accumulated damage he had received from Aerys. Rickard poured it all into a single strike that he unleashed against the Targaryen King; Aerys watched as the slash larger than anything he'd ever seen rushed towards him at incredible speed. The only thing he could do was release the entirety of his aura and defend himself 'He's been leading this battle from the start,' Aerys thought to himself as the slash connected. A large explosion rang out through the courtyard nearly destroying the place.
*Thump*
Rickard who was now using ice to stop himself from falling looked towards Aerys, and the arm that had disappeared from his left side and was now on the ground. The King looked at his stump in confusion, his vision then travelled to his arm that was on the floor and then to Rickard who stood in front of him.
"I-I... W-What?"
*Thump*
Rickard fell to the ground and Ice clattered next to him. His heartbeat started to decrease as the vow started to take effect, he was glad that there might be a chance that Brandon was still alive. 'I wish I could see you again... Lyarra... my love.' The last thought that ran through his mind was of his family. He slowly closed his eyes smiling as he heard the King start to scream in both anger and pain.
(AN: So that's it, Father Rickard is gone and Brandon is MIA. I don't think this fight was too good, but it's hard when you're doing weaker people against an overwhelmingly strong opponent. I hope you guys enjoyed it regardless. Roberts rebellion will be beginning soon, This injury is what tips Aerys over the edge to madness.)
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