“Why didn’t we know that Sand Drake was in the area?” Commander Grit-or screamed at the soldier he was lifting off the ground.

The soldier tried to make himself as small as he could, but the constant shaking was making it difficult. “I’m sorry sir. We knew that it made rounds near the city, but our intelligence indicated it would just fly over us. We have calculated its attack patterns and all of our simulations didn’t show it attacking for at least another week.”

Grit-or huffed before slamming the helpless soldier back onto the ground. “I didn’t ask why it attacked or whether we knew it was going to attack. If you are not going to listen, I can relieve you of your post.”

“I’m sorry sir,” the soldier said quickly.

“I wasn’t finished. Yet again, you are not listening to me. I will give you one last chance. Do you understand me?”

After a moment of tense silence between the two, Grit-or grabbed the soldier once again.

“I asked you if you understood. Obviously, you did not. You are relieved. Report to the Battalion Commander for your reassignment.”

The soldier rushed out of the room. “That guy is insane,” he said under his breath.

Before he could take another step, he was hoisted into the air for the third time. Then, he was immediately sent flying into the wall headfirst. He grabbed at his throbbing head and looked back around. His eyes met another, more hostile pair. The entire room was silent.

“I don’t believe I heard you correctly. Would you like to amend your statement? I would recommend it,” Grit-or said with a sneer. The man obviously enjoyed this entire altercation. He licked his lips in anticipation.

“No! I have had it with you. YOU ARE CRAZY! I am going to file an official grievance. You are overstepping. You have a position of power and you are abusing it and you are abusing your soldiers. Nobody respects you. They fear you.”

“Good. They should fear me. I am god to you. To all of you,” he said while gesturing around the room. “You all do as I say. I do not allow insubordination.”

The soldier got to his feet. He turned to walk out of the room once again when a sudden strike to the back of his head knocked him to the ground once more.

“You aren’t going anywhere.”

“You can’t stop me. I have rights.”

“Traitors don’t have any rights.”

A few moments later, the only thing remaining of the soldier was an unrecognizable heap of flesh and a pool of blood. Standing above the mess was Grit-or, panting with a deranged smile on his face.

“Get this cleaned up. We need to deal with this Sand Drake, and quickly.”

The soldiers in the room jumped into action immediately. Grit-or took in the scene, chest puffed up and head held high.

“Now this,” he took a breath in. “This is respect.”

----------------------------------------

Alex was moments away and he couldn’t keep his breathing in check. The power of the colossal beast seemed to radiated off of it. It was palpable and Alex almost felt resistance as he ran towards it. Like he had a rubber band wrapped around his waist and that if he stopped for even a moment, he would be launched back. It was exhilarating. A smile spread across his face. Somehow, through all the chaos his life had gone through in recent years, he had found his calling. Never had he felt so alive as he did right now.

He was still terrified, but it was a fear that made him sharp, not paralyzed. He had always heard about the fight or flight response when adrenaline kicked in. He had even experienced it. When he charged into that burning forest again and again, he had felt it. A steely resolve to do something. While others ran away, he ran towards. Alex hadn’t realized it until now, but it was hardwired into him. He didn’t run. Maybe tactically retreat, that was allowed. Like when he had run from the Sand Drake the last time he had seen it. He knew that he was going to face off against the beast eventually. He just wanted to even the odds first.

He used a little of his small energy reserve to blast himself into the air. As Alex came crashing down, he slammed his fists into the top of the Sand Drake’s head. It hadn’t seen him coming, but it now gave Alex its undivided attention. It opened its massive mouth, and Alex could smell its last meal. He could even see what looked like the tail of one of those giant scorpions wedged in between two of the giant, razor sharp teeth.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I guess I’m not the only one that likes the taste of scorpion meat, Alex thought before diving back moments before his leg joined the scorpion.

A blast from one of the towers connected with the creature’s side causing it to recoil. Alex pounced, and in moments was within reach once again. He propelled his fist forward, connecting with the beast’s eye. Alex was weightless as he flew backwards, the Drake’s tail sending up sand in an arc. It had happened so fast, Alex hadn’t even seen it coming. He rolled and bounced too many times to count. He jumped to his feet as quickly as he stopped rolling and not a moment too soon. Another tower had been sent flying, this time right at Alex. He quickly channeled his energy into his hands blasting himself fifty feet in the blink of an eye.

Maybe, just maybe, I bit off more than I can chew. This thing is absolutely destroying all of us. It isn’t even breaking a sweat.

It seemed the Zotari had come to a similar conclusion as Alex—they weren’t going to be able to do this alone. The next few minutes were a more coordinated attack. If someone looked on from the outside, they would think that Alex and the Zotari were allies trying to defeat the Sand Drake. The Sand Drake took out five more towers before the wounds it had suffered proved to be too great and it retreated. The second it did so, the paper thin alliance was torn apart.

Less than half of the towers remained. The Great One would have no doubt destroyed all of the towers had it been left alone. As it was, only seven remained, and all seven were glowing. They only had one target left—Alex.

“Crap!”

Alex burrowed into the ground using his Eonsteel. He could feel the sand heating up above him. If he didn’t have more control over his Eonsteel and it had been a normal metal, it likely would have melted away exposing home to the attack. The attack was electric in nature, but he could feel heat radiating down. It was an energy he should be able to use, but for some reason he couldn’t. It was frustrating. He would have that much more of an edge right now if he could use their own power against them. It was like when he tried to grab the cookies from off the top of the fridge when he was a kid. It was so close, always taunting him. He could almost taste it, but he couldn’t reach it no matter how hard he tried.

Until he could use the power, Alex decided to avoid it. He formed his underground drill that he had used before and began moving toward the towers. It was much harder to navigate without the help of the GPS he had last time. The entire time he hoped he was still moving in the right direction.

When he finally felt like he was close to the towers, he started to ascend. He must have made some type of indication on the surface, because the second he did he was instantly attacked. The sudden barrage was so unexpected that Alex barely had time to lift a quick shield of Eonsteel. He was able to defend against most of the damage, but he was still sent flying. Again, no energy was absorbed, but Alex did take a significant amount of damage. Without the Sand Drake to take some of the attention away, Alex was the only target left.

He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t absorb the electric energy. It seemed like it should be automatic, and yet nothing. He used to be able to only absorb kinetic energy, but something had changed to allow him to absorb thermal energy as well. Then, he had been able to convert energy from kinetic to thermal energy and vice versa. He read his skills to try and glean some indication as to why. He was out of range for the moment, so he should be alright for the a little bit.

Energy Transference (Common)- Kinetic energy applied to you by an outside source can be stored for later use. Energy that will be transferred must be released through direct contact of user’s body. Weapons do not allow the transference of energy.

Energy Conversion (Uncommon)- Stored energy can be converted into different forms. Conversion can be directed within your own body and can change forms at the cost of your own potential energy stores. Therefore, energy efficiency is lost in the conversion process. Current conversion efficacy-50%

Well that doesn’t really help me out.

It was nice for him to refresh on it, but ultimately it didn’t give him any hints as to why he had suddenly been able to do it. And it wasn’t like he could take the time to reflect on what was going on in his mind that could have sparked the abilities. He had to dodge to the side again as three more crackling projectiles came his way.

I can’t worry about absorbing the energy right now. I just need to do this the way I had originally planned. I’m going to blow these stupid things up from the inside.

The next thirty minutes was a dance. It was one step forward and three steps back. He was trying to time his advances in between the barrages, but it proved more difficult than he had originally anticipated. There were too many of them still remaining and they were coordinating too well. He wished that the Great One had been able to take out just a few more towers, but at the same time, he didn’t know if it would have retreated at that point. Alex definitely wasn’t at a point where he could chase the thing off. Besides, empty wishes weren’t going to solve his current problem. No, he just needed to accept what was and keep going.

Finally, it looked like something had changed. The volleys started to get more spaced out. Wispy clouds of smoke rose from the pointed spires of the towers, it reminded Alex of when he went shooting with his dad when he was younger. After a while, the gun would overheat and you could see the smoke coming out of the barrel. If you didn’t stop shooting, you risked warping your gun from the constant heat and intense force that each round subjected the gun to. He imagined this was exactly what was happening to these towers. They had already been firing on the Sand Drake, and now they were still going against a much smaller target. In short, they were overusing the weapons. If they didn’t stop soon, Alex might not even have to blow them up, they would be ruined anyway. He still would of course. He had all these cool explosives and it would be a shame to not utilize them. Alex wouldn’t be able to look himself in the eye if he passed on such a unique weapon experience. He could feel his DNA screaming at him to make it happen, and an opening had just presented itself to him.

Good things come to those who wait.