Poho jolted awake, drenched in sweat, as he flung off his covers and stood up, ready for the day ahead. He surveyed his surroundings - a room filled with bunk beds and sandy brown walls. The windows were mere rough cut-outs in differing shapes, providing slivers of light into the space.

His gaze fell upon the bunk above his, where his roommate for the past year was sleeping peacefully. In the corner of the room stood six armour stands, each holding weapons for the six soldiers who called this small room in the barracks home.

Poho, now fully alert, began to dress himself in his armour, preparing for the rigorous training ahead.

It had been months since Poho had escaped the beach, where he had broken his chains and fled. He had traversed the unforgiving deserts, his body seemingly immune to the need for food or water.

Everyday spent travelling the desert, he honed the abilities that had been given unto him and plotted his goal - to free all there was and ever would be. His desire so intense that it physically manifested in the form of a dark and repulsive aura that emanated from him.

He worked tirelessly to control his emotions, knowing if he lost control he would have no chance at achieving his lofty goal.

After some time, Poho had gotten use to his powers, at least to a point he deemed acceptable, and devised a plan. One day, while exploring the relatively safe areas of the desert, he stumbled upon a group of soldiers on a scouting mission. Using his abilities, he blended seamlessly into his surroundings, becoming virtually undetectable. He still didn't understand how this was possible, the same went for all his newfound abilities, but he knew that it was a valuable tool that he would make use of.

For hours, Poho silently tracked his targets, patiently waiting for the perfect moment to strike. As one of them wandered off to relieve himself, Poho saw his chance and followed, keeping silent. He knew this was would be the only opportunity he would have for hours.

Creeping closer, Poho's finger began to writhe and transform into a grotesque black spike, oozing and pulsating with a deadly energy. With a swift and deadly movement, he plunged his finger into the man's neck, ending his life in an instant. Poho pulled his finger out, now back to normal as he looked to the man, his body disintegrating into black sparks that Poho absorbed, feeling a surge of power flow through him.

This was Poho's first time using his abilities, but after months of traversing the unforgiving desert and plotting his revenge, he had an innate understanding of his powers. As the black sparks merged with his being, Poho's body transformed into the same grotesque material as his finger was before. His entire form darkened, except for his eyes, which still burned with a fiery anger, standing out as if they were glowing in the night.

Without hesitation, Poho's form changed into that of the man he had just killed, even producing an identical outfit and weapon. Poho had instinctively known the identity of his victim after he absored the sparks, Benta Pertuk, an orphaned soldier who had been forced into the army in order to eke out a living, with no family or connections.

Poho was intimately familiar with Benta's personality, and in that moment, he became him. With ease, Poho integrated himself into the army, taking on Benta's persona and seamlessly blending in.

Benta had been stationed at Paduakan, a small village in the heart of the civilized portion desert, not considered a safe location despite being away from the frontlines. The soldiers in the Terboruk army followed a cycle of service, spending one year in a dangerous location before rotating back to the smaller, safer cities to spend a year "Training".

Poho was in Paduakan for a few months just scouting, he was never made to fight but he had seen other, stronger, soldiers fight, and die. The monsters of the desert were terrifying and strong, but their strength was quantifiable, Poho saw soldiers fighting shifting sands that seemed to have a mind of their own, or giant lizard-like creatures, that hopped on two powerful legs as they leaped at targets with their maw open, chomping down with absurd force. But even after all this, he could not quantify the power of the entity he saw, He could not imagine any soldier he had seen matching up to it, he couldn’t even imagine a person in his mind with absolute freedom even coming close to touching that entity.

After his time in Paduakan, Poho was sent back to Surta, a bustling trade hub in the desert. Here, soldiers would train for a year before being sent out to escort supplies to other villages, which would be their new stations. This routine continued until a soldier either retired or died...

He had no need for sleep, yet he still did, he needed to blend in. Despite this he still had dreams and nightmares, the contents always slipping him, but it was seemingly all connected, he didn’t understand, nor did he care. He just wanted to enact his plan, but it had all waited till this day.

Every year, the tyrant who ruled the deserts would pass through the villages off the desert, supposedly to "raise morale". Poho had been waiting for this moment before he started freeing slaves and causing chaos, he wanted to do it as soon as he left that beach, but he stopped himself, he wanted to see this all-powerful figure with his own eyes and measure himself against him.

Was he really that far off in strength and power?

As the time for the tyrant's arrival drew near, Poho strapped his weapon to his back. He took a deep breath, trying to calm the excitement and anticipation coursing through him. It was almost time to put his plan into action.

A procession of slaves of all kinds paraded through the streets, some so big they were twice Poho’s height, some so small they weren’t even up to his waist, all chained together. Some of the chains drifted off to the back, as Poho saw they carried along unmoving bodies, those still alive looked drained of all life, expressionless and unthinking. Even the big ones had sunken cheeks.

At the forefront of the slaves stood one that towered over even the other big ones, nearly four metres tall, his? Hers? Its? Skin brown and not like skin at all, covered in cracks and crevices akin to the dry earth he could see in parts of the desert, pieces jutting out here and there, atop its head stood spikes that branched off into smaller spikes, with green trailing off, fading into a dull brown.

Poho saw this and thought immediately that this is how he pictured so called "trees" as they had been described to him from back when he was a slave, but the leaves and “bark” of this tree were slowly withering away. In spite of its withering, the tree-like man walked on, head high, pulling majority of the weight the slaves were pulling.

Poho looked behind to see what was being pulled along and saw a contraption with many wheels, multiple floors high, and at the very top sat a man, legs crossed, with strong red hair with shaved sides that craned down his neck and back that was completely bare. His face was strong, a jaw wider than any Poho had seen with a face completely clean-shaven, an indifferent look on his face as he looked at the slaves below.

Behind this behemoth of a carriage were horses, being pulled along, instead of pulling the carriage in the place of the slaves.

Poho’s rage spiked, his black aura leaked, contained within his armour as it seeped out. People around him seemed to smell something foul and rotten as they backed away from the source, trying to find what it was.

As Poho's gaze bore into the man's, the man's head snapped towards him with a manic grin spreading across his face. Poho immediately knew him to be Malazan, the Silver Tyrant, and his heart skipped a beat.

The being within him stirred, as if trying to hide from the powerful presence before the two sharing one body.

Despite his fears, Poho noticed the man move on, once again uninterested in the world, Poho looked around him and saw people back away from him as the smelt something, but Poho paid it no mind, he didn’t care what these people thought and if it wasn’t for the Silver Tyrant who just spat fear into his heart and mind Poho would have gone on a rampage, killing all of these benefiting from this system who thrived on slaves, they were all responsible for it.

But even in his heightened emotional state, Poho's ultimate goal remained unchanged. Malazan seemed to know something, but he wouldn't act on it, not now at least. His crazed grin towards Poho almost felt like a challenge, but Poho knew he had to be careful. He couldn't risk acting on his emotions and potentially facing consequences from the person who made even the entity within him stir.

Realizing that this was not his battle to fight, Poho made the decision to leave Terboruk. He wasn't prepared to face off against the powerful Malazan just yet, despite his year of preparation .