The aether shimmered, and Galuf stepped onto sun-scorched grass.
The steppe outside Ul'dah stretched wide and endless, a plain where the horizon wavered beneath the desert heat. The air shimmered, the sun glaring from a sky too big for one man to fill. Wind roared across the land, carrying grit that stung his eyes and clung to his beard. Here there was no shelter, no walls, no comfort. Only earth, sky, and the strength of one's fists.
Galuf rolled his shoulders, joints cracking like old branches. His beard bristled as he grinned to himself.
"A good place for a proper fight. Just me, my fists, and whatever the Twelve decide to throw at me. Beats paperwork back in Tycoon, that's for sure."
The ground trembled.
A shadow bounded across the horizon, shrieking like metal tearing. It landed in a plume of dust, and when the sand cleared, Galuf got a good look at his opponent.
The beast was the size of a lion, stitched together from nightmares. Its head bore curling ram's horns, sparks of lightning crackling between them. Its main jaws were leonine, fire dripping from every exhale. And its tail was no tail at all, but a serpent's, scales glistening, venom hissing wherever it struck the dirt.
The Chimera Cub.
Galuf barked a laugh. "Ha! You're a feisty one. Alright then—let's dance."
The Chimera struck first. Its horns flared with stormlight, lances of lightning searing across the steppe.
Galuf dropped low, sliding under the bolts with surprising agility for a man his age, and came up with fists like pistons. His knuckles slammed into its flank—once, twice, thrice. Sparks flew. The beast staggered, but only for a moment.
The lion head roared, belching flame in a cone of searing heat. Galuf spun away, the ends of his beard singed.
"Careful with the whiskers, you oversized tinderbox!"
The serpent tail hissed, spitting venom in a deadly arc. Galuf blocked with his forearms. The poison burned, eating through his sleeves, stinging the skin beneath. He winced, shaking it off.
Every strike came from a different direction. Lightning one moment, fire the next, venom after that. The beast never gave him rhythm to follow.
Galuf spat into the dirt. "Even my grandkids don't keep me guessing this much."
The Chimera charged. Its claws raked across his chest, tearing cloth, bruising ribs. The blow sent him sprawling. He landed hard, breath driven from his lungs. The beast circled, eyes hungry, waiting for him to falter.
Galuf groaned, pushing himself to his knees, hand pressed against aching ribs. Blood dribbled down his chin.
"Alright, you old fool," he muttered. "Brute force won't do it. Time to fight smarter."
He dropped into a seated pose, legs crossed, fists on his knees. The Chimera tilted its many heads, confused.
Galuf closed his eyes. His breath slowed. His heartbeat steadied.
"Body. Mind. Spirit. One rhythm. One flow."
The serpent tail lashed. Galuf leaned a fraction to the side. It missed by a hair. Lightning speared toward him; his palm lifted, grounding the charge harmlessly through his stance. Fire burst over him; he rolled with the heat, blistered but still centered.
Each attack slowed in his perception. Chaos was no longer chaos. It was a rhythm, a storm with steps to follow.
Galuf's eyes snapped open. His fists glowed faintly with inner light.
"Got you."
He rose, flowing from stance to stance—serpent, ox, lion—each transition smooth as breath.
The Chimera lunged. Galuf's uppercut crashed into its jaw, snapping its head back. Lightning surged; he sidestepped and punished the flank with a spinning kick. Fire belched; he ducked low, hammering its chest with a flurry of punches, each blow glowing with chakra.
The serpent tail coiled for a venom strike. Galuf inhaled deeply, his whole body igniting with focused will. He surged forward, fists slamming down together. The impact cracked like thunder across the steppe.
The Chimera reeled, eyes wide, then toppled with a hiss, its monstrous forms collapsing into the dirt.
Galuf stood over it, chest heaving, knuckles bloody but strong. His beard dripped with sweat, but his grin split ear to ear.
"Hah! Still got it. Not bad for an old sack of bones, eh?"
But the fight wasn't over.
The Chimera twitched. Its body convulsed. Shadows poured from its wounds. Its eyes burned with an unnatural green. With a shriek, it exploded—not into gore, but into storm.
Lightning, fire, venom spun into a cyclone, tearing across the plain.
The sky cracked open.
Galuf shielded his eyes as the world fractured. The horizon shattered into shards of desert, forest, mountain, and sea. Thunder rolled against poison mist. Lilies bloomed against fire. And somewhere far away, a colossal hammer crashed against holy light.
Galuf staggered as the battlefield collapsed into twilight, the ground beneath his feet a patchwork of broken realms.
Through the chaos, he glimpsed them—familiar threads weaving into this nightmare. Aerith's lilies flared in defiance of poison. Zack's sword burned with holy radiance as he held off a giant of iron.
Galuf's heart swelled. "The kids… they're here too?"
The Chimera rose again, but no longer a mere beast. Its body fused with shadow, flames black as oil, lightning venom-green, its serpent tail writhing with unnatural fury. It howled, its voice mingling with the roars of other monsters across the twilight realm.
Galuf rolled his shoulders, spat blood, and cracked his knuckles.
"Well… looks like this fight's just getting started."
He dropped into stance, fists glowing like twin suns, and laughed.
And then he leapt into the fray, his roar of joy echoing as the twilight battlefield swallowed them all.