An excerpt from 'Becoming Primus' by Unknown Author

There is no greater position than Primus. They are the arbiter of life and death, the ruler and decider. I have seen magnificent Primuses, individuals who take to this mantle with poise and grace, commiting themselves to their planet's success. I have also seen tyrannical Primuses, indivudals who use their power to sacrifice their people for power. In the end, however, I cannot say which is better, as the tyrants seem to live and the majestic seem to fall.

The flash of light disappears, and I rub my eyes instinctively. Faint white spots fill my vision for a few moments before slowly fading away, exposing the massive room that I’ve been transported to.

Nearly two hundred feet in both length and width, the room is filled with what look like metal trees. Grey and burnished, they reflect what little light seems to be coming down from above. I glance upwards, noticing walls made of a similar substance, and see what appears to be an endless shadow, broken by a solitary source of light. It reminds me of a miniature sun in an empty void.

A familiar ping breaks through my observations and I turn away from the light to look at the words that appear in front of me.

Candidates! A Primus must be able to defend themselves. They must be able to hold their position and carry out their will. This match will continue until either party surrenders or dies. Begin!

The notification vanishes and I’m left staring at the young girl from the previous room. The ragged and ripped stuffed bear dangles precariously from her hand, held by a single paw. Her eyes dart around the room, an almost panicked look on her face, before settling on me. The panicked look disappears and transforms into a wide toothy grin that sends a slight shiver down my back.

No matter her age, there is something obviously wrong with this girl. Her face seems manic, the whites of her eyes clearly visible, and she begins to giggle to herself as she raises the bear up to her face. “Well Mr. Beary, it looks like you and I get to fight again today! Make sure to make him all nice and bloody, just like the last one!”

She then tosses the bear up into the air. As it spins in the air, she pulls back her left sleeve and exposes her wrist underneath. It is covered in barely healed pink and white scars that showcase a tapestry of self-injury. Her right hand raises into the air and I catch a glimpse of her nails; blackened and sharpened to a point.

The nails come down upon her arm and she lets out a gasping moan as she pulls them downwards, parting the skin and letting blood flow out. Instead of pouring down onto the ground, the blood defies logic and flies upwards towards the bear. Four blood tendrils lance forward and wrap themselves around the separate paws to pull it into a tight position. Its head hangs weakly against the body, lifeless porcelain eyes looking down upon the room.

It doesn’t take long for a massive amount of blood to gather and it begins to circle around the bear. The four tendrils push through the outer layer and I watch as a strange transformation takes place.

Where there was once only stuffing and a damaged exterior, now there appears to be a strange amalgamation of stuffed animal and organic muscle. Veins appear within the creature that pump the girl’s blood throughout the creature. Within only a few moments, it balloons in size until it is nearly twice as large as a regular bear.

The blood flow from her suddenly cuts off and, behind the form of her giant protector, I can see her fall onto the ground, her face pale from blood loss. She whispers, “Get him Beary…”, the words barely audible.

The bear falls down to the ground, let loose from the strange latticework of blood that gave it life, and everything shakes upon its landing. It’s obvious that this creature isn’t light, but I hadn’t imagined it would be substantial enough to shake everything around me. I fall into Effortless Presence and observe it with my full attention.

A roar erupts from its mouth, causing a few of the metallic leaves to flap slightly, and begins to lumbers forward, moving towards me surprisingly quickly. As it rapidly closes the gap, I conjure a gust of wind and then siphon the Motion towards myself, quickening my movements and raising my Dexterity. With lightened steps, I jump backwards and land on a tree as the bear comes within forty feet.

Two balls of fire appear over my shoulders and are sent flying forward with a high-pitched whine, propelled by a burst of Motion. They hit the bear directly in the chest and explode in a maelstrom of fire, creating a twenty-foot bonfire that fills the room with smoke. My eyes try to pierce the veil of fire, but the light and heat is too overwhelming, forcing me to raise my hands and shield my eyes.

A flash of motion is all the warning I get. Instinct takes over asI flood my body with Mana and lunge to the side. The metallic branches and leaves cut my arms and face as I tumble onto the ground. It’s during this fall that I’m able to see the bear swipe his paws through the space where I had just been.

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Instead of being consumed by the flame, it seems to have absorbed part of the energy. A ragged cloak of fire now surrounds it, billowing out and somehow not burning the cloth portions of its body The porcelain eyes swivel towards me and I flinch backwards. The previously dead eyes are now filled with an almost demonic bloodlust, palpable even at this distance.

The bear roars again and then leaps into the sky, his large frame giving him a predictable trajectory. I take a breath and then point a single solitary finger towards the bear.

Reaching out with my new sense of Temperature, I am filled with awareness of the raging firebonfire just a short thirty feet away from me. I become aware of cloak of flame that flaps around the bear as it arcs through the air and of the ambient heat within the room itself. They are all just different parts of the same fundamental force. Whether they are the rapid vibrations of the bonfire or the organized pulses of the cloak is irrelevant; they are all within my control.

Opening up the floodgates of my Mana Well, I pull in all the thermal energy of the bonfire and the cloak towards a small, one-inch diameter sphere at the end of my finger tip. Wind whips around me, sending my hair flying in all directions, as all the flame within the room seems to leap towards me and condense into a single point. My Mana instinctively protects me from the heat of this sphere, deflecting the waves of heat. Even the metallic structures in the room begin to droop slightly from the sheer intensity of heat being emanated.

Just as the bear begins its descent toward me, I exhale sharply and let the energy go. An inch-thick beam of barely controlled energy rushes out towards the bear and hits him right in the chest. Flares of blood red light try to pull the heat away but are quickly overwhelmed. An acrid smoke begins to drift up from the bear as it knocked backwards by the force of the beam

The beam continues through the bear until it hits the edge of the room at which point it suddenly disappears.

Panting in exertion, I quickly check my Mana Well and am pleasantly surprised to see that I still have roughly half of it left. I had expected that attack to use up more.

“BEARY!”, a voice cries, breaking me out of my inspection.

The girl, now looking much better than she did just a minute ago, rushes over towards the bear and falls onto the ground near his body, clutching at a single paw. I hear gentle sobbing but I have no sympathy. I have seen the monster that lurks inside this girl.

She spins back towards me and lets out a scream. “You hurt Beary! No one gets to hurt Beary but me!”

Raising her hand with the sharpened nails, she jabs them into her neck and blood begins to fly out of her once again. Her other hand begins to form a series of gestures and the blood circles around her, spiraling and floating as if lighter than air. Sections of it begin to congeal into thick spikes while others form into shields that drift around her.

I’m find myself captivated by her display of power, unwilling to attack as I watch. Is this some sort of Higher Energy based around Blood? Is that what allowed her to create the bear? If so, she’s obviously managed to create an amazing connection in her mind between life and Blood. To be able to create a semi-living creature with Blood alone is … well the implications are fascinating.

I don’t get very long to consider her powers as she twists her pointed hand to launch a spike of coagulated blood towards me. It rushes toward me, but the speed is nothing compared to the blinding speed of the man with the knives. Mana floods through my body and I duck below it while walking towards her.

She screams with impotent rage and sends a few more spikes towards me, each one dodged as easily as the first. As I begin to get within a close range, she takes her spikes and jabs them into her chest, opening a massive wound that gushes blood out. It flows out of her with reckless abandon and joins the rest of the blood that slowly dances around her.

Her skin adopts an unhealthy pallor and she stumbles onto both knees with this latest round of blood loss. Despite her injured state, her eyes look confident as I step within thirty feet of her.

“DIE!”, she screams. With what looks to be her last burst of energy, she slaps her hands together and falls onto the ground. The blood begins to spin and rotate faster and faster, with small blades forming along the edges. And then, all at once, it shoots out towards me.

Without a second’s thought, I close my eyes and reach out with my Temperature mana, feeling the thermal energy within the blood. It takes a moment but I’m able to hone in on it; it feels like a rush of blood to the face, a burst of warmth and movement. Clenching my fist, I yank all the thermal energy out of it and redirect it by firing two plumes of flame up into the sky.

I open my eyes to see frozen blood falling to the ground just three feet in front of me. The entire ring collapses onto the ground and shatters into thousands of miniscule shards.

The girl, barely conscious at this point, lets out a wail as I walk over to her. Her eyes track me and are filled with rage, despite the blood loss and the pain that she must be in. Her hate is remarkable.

I stand over her. “Are you going to surrender?”

She spits on the ground in front of me and cranes her head to look up, visibly wincing from the pain. “Never.”

I sigh and conjure a blade of Mana above her neck. “Last chance. Please, just surrender”, I say wearily.

She just glares at me, not bothering to answer.

I close my eyes and will the blade downwards, feeling it slice through her neck and kill her instantly. Despite my closed eyes, my Field forces me to feel the last remaining blood within her body leak out onto the ground from the wound. It’s a gruesome sight. I never wanted to have to kill a teenager but … well, if I’m forced to, I’d rather kill her than allow her to be Primus.

A familiar ping forces me to open my eyes.

Congratulations! You stood your ground and defended your position like a Primus. Prepare yourself for transportation.

Another flare of light surrounds me.