Alex wasn’t sure what had happened during his blackout. Heck! He didn’t even know how long he was blacked out. The battle he had been fighting in was already over, with his side picking through the remains of the conflict. It couldn’t have been too long or they would have long ago left, retreating back to safety.

Based on the looks the Saxans gave him, they either recognized the crown he now wore, or he had done some dastardly things during his bout of unconsciousness.

Alex looked around to find Krizzik. He needed a friendly face right now. Granted, Krizzik wasn’t overtly friendly to Alex, but he hadn’t been malicious either. He had been straightforward. He treated Alex according to his station, a war slave, but he hadn’t treated him terribly. None of the Saxans had, until now.

Alex surveyed, but couldn’t find him anywhere. He must have left with the majority of the army when the battle ended. Alex found it odd though. Why hadn’t he come looking for him? He did when Alex went missing that night. Alex didn’t know how long he searched for, but the fact that he had either showed he had a sense of obligation, or he cared about Alex. What would make that just disappear?

Since Krizzik was no where to be found, he opted to approach one of the less obviously irritated Saxans. As Alex approached, he wondered if he had picked the wrong Saxan. This one looked even more angry at him.

I guess he just didn’t notice me earlier. Oh well. I have to ask somebody, may as well be this one.

“What happened? I blacked out. I remember the beginning of the battle, but after that, just waking up right now,” Alex asked.

With narrowed eyes, the Saxan spit in his direction and grumbled more to himself than in response to Alex’s question, “He wants to know what happened. I think all of us want to know what happened. The Great One hasn’t interfered with us in a long time. We respect him, and in turn, we are respected.”

The Saxan didn’t offer anything else up. Alex prodded some more to no avail. All he received was more grumbling and huffs as the Saxan returned to his work. Alex tried a couple more Saxans, each less receptive than the last. When he tried talking to the final Saxan, he had actually taken a swing at Alex. Not wanting to fight the people who were supposed to be his allies, he simply dodged the lazy blow and decided to just return to camp. Krizzik would help him.

He made his travels back to the war camp. He avoided larger groups of Zotari, but had no issue fighting smaller groups on his journey. He had only fought three groups, nine Zotari in total. Not too long after he set out, he arrived at the camp. He immediately began his search for Krizzik.

While walking through the camp, he saw groups of Saxans looking at him and whispering to each other.

Word is spreading fast. I still don’t know what I did though.

After ten minutes of searching, Alex finally found Krizzik. Alex entered the tent to find Krizzik with his normal batch of subordinates. They all raised their eyebrows at the sight of him. Well they didn’t raise their eyebrows as they didn’t have eyebrows, but if they did have them, that’s what it would’ve looked like. At least that’s what Alex thought it looked like.

“Bold of you to return to camp, heretical disciple,” Krizzik said to him, standing up quickly as if Alex had come to murder them all.

Alex looked like someone had just told him unicorns were real and they were the overlords of Earth, which, now that he thought about it, didn’t seem so far fetched anymore with how his life had been recently. He took a couple steps back to show he wasn’t a threat, arms raised in surrender. This seemed to alleviate some of their concerns, but not all of them.

“Why did you not tell me that you found that cursed treasure? You told me of the tomb. Why leave this out?” Krizzik asked accusatorially.

“Considering your reaction to whatever happened out there, I would say I am justified. I had already absorbed the metal and there wasn’t anything I could do to change that. I didn’t even really absorb it, it lunged at me first and I was just trying to retain control of myself.”

“Why generate the cursed crown then? It is a symbol of the heathen Nagaar,” Krizzik asked, still not dissuaded.

“I didn’t do that. Actually that’s why I came here. What happened out there? I only remember a few minutes at the beginning. We rushed out, I fought a few Zotari warriors, and then…nothing. It’s all blank. No one will tell me anything,” Alex said. Only after did he realize he had said it way too fast, as he was out of breath, clearly a little on edge.

Krizzik stroked the sides of his head. Asked guessed this was the Saxan equivalent of stroking your chin in thought. If not, he had no clue how to react to that gesture.

“I know there is still some things you do not share with us, grub. I do not know what it is, but I do believe what you have said so far. You are, after all, under obligation to serve the Starbound Coalition. If you actively worked against Coalition interests, there are safeguards in place. Depending on the severity, death is even an option.”

Alex blanched, a cold sweat dripping down his back. This was the first he heard about that. He had plans to someday find a way out of his situation, and it looked like he would have to be careful about it. Even more so than when his only worry was being caught, now he could die if The Forge decided he was not fulfilling his purpose? This just complicated things even more, but it was a problem for another day. He didn’t even have a clue as to how he would break free. He barely knew what was happening to him, especially after the events in the valley earlier.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Krizzik paused for a few seconds, just observing Alex while he was lost in his thoughts.

He continued, “The Great One descended on the valley. He decimated both armies.”

“Ok…and what does that have to do with me? He’s always patrolling the sky. He could swoop down at any moment, any day,” Alex said.

“He was enraged when that crown materialized on your head. You are directly responsible for his attack,” Krizzik said matter of factly.

Alex thought back on his vision. King Nagaar had dissolved his armor in his last moments. He had formed that crown he had loved so much, to die as a king. The Sand Drake had seen his kin hunted down. They were terrorized for no other reason than for a tyrant’s vanity. They were driven from their homes. On that final, terrible day, they had become nearly extinct. Might as well be extinct, as there is no way to replenish their population. With the death of the Great One, the Sand Drakes will be no more. The Great One had seen this apocalypse unfold, and in the final moments had ended the man responsible for it. A man that wore the very crown Alex had hours before.

“So I didn’t necessarily do anything, I just had the crown?” Alex asked.

“You have done plenty, grub. In that particular moment you only had the crown, but you took many actions before to make that a reality. The Saxans do not look on heresy with a kind eye. Many in this camp wish for you to be executed,” Krizzik said, a hint of warning in his cadence.

“Woah! Let’s not be hasty here. I’ve helped you guys out a ton. You can’t just kill me,” Alex said waving his hands in front of him.

“Calm yourself. I did not say that we are going to execute you, just that some would like to. That is not within our rights. You have been loaned to us by the Coalition. They are the ultimate power when it comes to the awakened, and the Threxari have a large say in it as well, as they are the actual owners.”

Alex wouldn’t ever get used to being referred to as property. He hated it. It made his teeth itch and his skin crawl whenever he was reminded of it. He still largely considered himself autonomous, but at the end of it all, if he were ordered to another planet, there isn’t much he could do to stop it.

“If I’m not going to be executed, what is going to happen to me?” Alex asked, shuffling slightly.

“That is still undetermined. We will carry on as normal for now. I would recommend not using that infernal metal. You should be ok without it, correct?”

“Yeah no need to remind them why they hate me. I can keep it hidden,” said Alex.

“Good. I have a task for you. During our last battle, we sent out some scouts to survey. With the added chaos, they were able to observe more openly than normal. We have been trying to get a bigger foothold. We have found a large supply cache. You are to destroy the cache or claim it for us.”

“Like me? Alone?” Alex asked incredulously.

“There are none that want to go with you. This needs to be done. You will go.”

Krizzik said it so factually, that Alex knew there was no negotiation. This was an order.

They can’t kill me, but they can send me on a suicide mission.

With little choice, Alex was briefed on his mission, grabbed some of that great tasting goo, and headed out. He was given rations and other supplies for the journey as it wasn’t near their camp. He felt funny walking alone through the valley in a super suit, wearing the Saxan equivalent of a military backpack.

The barrenness of the landscape stretched out before him, an eerie calm hanging in the air. There was always a sort of quiet after some of the larger battles. It made sense to Alex that after the Great One came crashing down, there would be an even more intense silence.

There was no fighting going on. Patrols still made their rounds as they needed to deter aggression any way they could. Alex could tell from walking in his camp, nobody wanted to fight right now. Both sides had lost too much today.

What has been going on? Everything has been happening so fast. I can’t catch my breath. It feels like when I woke up after the attack from the Syndicate. You wake up one morning, everything is normal. The next morning, your life will never be the same. I was so overwhelmed. I didn’t have my parents to lean on. That was already something that I had to deal with. I missed them so much sometimes. I never realized how much I needed them until they were gone. Just like my legs. Just like a normal life.

Less than two months ago, I was worried about very different things. Who I was going to date? Who I would marry? Would I get married? Would I stay in my job, or try to go to college? What was I going to eat for dinner?

It all seems so trivial now. Most of those things don’t matter anymore. I mean, maybe they will one day, but right now I can’t spare the brain power to even think about any of that, except for dinner. That good stuff at the mess hall for every meal I can get it. Wait are they even going to feed me anymore? I have the impression that they all expect me to die out here so they don’t have to worry about me anymore.

Alex slumped so far at the thought, that his knuckles scraped along the ground.

What’s worrying me most of all right now isn’t even all of that. I know that I’m going to have to deal with a lot when I get back to Hillcrest. I need to track everyone down—Sarah, Katy, Taylor, my new super pals. They are all going to need special attention in their own ways. I’m looking forward to and dreading my meeting with the girls. I still don’t know how I’m going to explain everything to them. It’s going to be pretty obvious that I can walk again. Should I try to pretend to need a wheelchair? Will that even work? I don’t think they’d buy it. I’m jacked now, my legs too. You can’t grow muscle like I did overnight. I mean I grew it over night but that doesn’t mean that a paraplegic can.

Alex shook his head so hard his cheeks jiggled.

Focus dude! I’m mostly worried about this stupid crown situation. This is bad. I thought that I heard something when I absorbed the Eonsteel, but now I know I did. He was laughing, that stupid cobra. And he had taken control over me somehow. It was when I was fighting. I felt like I was being especially brutal for no reason. Killing in a war is expected, but that was extreme. I would be tried for war crimes on Earth. Was he affecting me? Or was he amplifying my emotions? Was that just me?

Whatever it was he seemed to take control when I succumbed to those emotions. I need to keep him in check. I don’t want him to take over again. What if he did that and someone got hurt? Right now it’s fine. I want people to get hurt. Well, I want the other team’s people to get hurt, not mine. What if I lose control around the girls? I can’t.

Alex kicked up clouds of dirt in frustration. The red puffs dissipating in his ever forward stride. He kicked a rock that went sailing across the valley.

Yeah, I definitely can’t pretend I still need a wheelchair.

A red streak tore through the air above him, flapping wings that would be stronger than jet turbines. The pattern it followed was seemingly random, but Alex knew there was likely a purpose behind it. It looked like it was searching for something.

Not something, someone. It’s trying to find me.

Alex dove under a canopy of stone, slamming his head into the cliff side in the process. He waited for the Sand Drake to pass him by, kneading his throbbing head. He was shaking.

Sand Drake

Level 78