Rep groaned in agony. Morloch had no patience for Zalan’s hesitations and pressed down harder on Rep’s neck. Rep’s eyes were shut with pain, but he said nothing. He didn’t want Zalan to do anything on his behalf.

“Either I kill him now and take your power, regardless, or you give it to me willingly and he lives!” Morloch snapped.

Zalan breathed erratically. He had no idea what to do other than give up. Talking served no purpose with his former instructor. He was supposed to be better at negotiation than this, but he shrunk under seeing Rep at the hands of Morloch. This wasn’t supposed to be how this went. Madam Hikma said they would overcome Morloch if Zalan had his friends with him. Who was a better friend to him than Rep? He couldn’t let him die. He didn’t care about his lightning nearly as much as he cared about Rep.

“I’ll give you the power!” Zalan said. “Please! Don’t hurt him!”

“No,” Rep croaked in pain.

Morloch kicked Rep's ribs hard and he doubled over. Morloch hooked a hand under Rep’s tunic and dragged him to the foot of the Transfer Table on one end. He tossed him back to the floor and placed his foot on Rep’s neck once more. Morloch looked up to Zalan who was frozen with indecision. Morloch had a manic quiver in his eyes.

“If you do anything I do not ask, his life is forfeit,” Morloch promised.

“I’m listening,” Zalan said immediately.

Morloch smiled. It was the sentence he had been waiting to hear for too long.

“Come to the golden table,” Morloch ordered.

Zalan ran a hand through his hair and began to take small steps toward the Transfer Table. He felt the weight of the Homeseeker in his pocket. Its presence weighed down his every movement, his mind begging for it to be involved in some sort of escape plan. It felt like it was boring a hole into his leg. He might still be able to get out with his power. He just needed to figure out a way to activate it and grab Rep at the last moment. His small steps continued as he tried to stall for time.

“Now! Faster!” Morloch demanded.

Zalan rushed over, stumbling through his wounds. He was out of time. Morloch nodded at him, a shaky grin growing on his face.

“Yes, good. Now use your lightning power on the table. Do nothing else,” Morloch warned.

Zalan breathed in deeply, desperately looking for a way out in the seconds he had to spare. He raised his arms slowly. Morloch licked his lips.

Morloch’s face suddenly twisted with pain. He screamed and fell down to one leg. Zalan had no idea what happened, but immediately threw lightning at his face. Morloch fell back, paralyzed and Zalan tried to rush over and pull Rep away. His hand was already on the Homeseeker in his pocket when he saw Rep.

Rep was imbuing his arm with flame and gripping tightly to Morloch’s leg. In his close range, he was trying to sear through Morloch and incapacitate him in pain. But Rep still hadn’t mastered his ability to imbue himself with his power. He grit his teeth, tears of pain rolling down his cheek. His skin was burning off, turning black by the time Zalan got a good look at him.

From the floor, Morloch used a massive kick of Elemental Air to disconnect himself and Rep. Rep didn’t go into the air, instead tumbling and grinding against the uneven cave ground. Zalan tried to throw more lighting at Morloch, but Morloch kicked him with Elemental Air as well, slamming him into the ground and knocking the wind out of him. Zalan coughed in immense pain, his vision threatening to cut off.

“You have taken advantage of my lenience for the last time,” Morloch got to his feet and limped menacingly toward Rep.

“No! Wait!” Zalan begged loudly. “Look, I’m granting the power! Look Morloch, just like you wanted!”

Struggling on the ground, Zalan was sending little sparks of electricity into the Transfer Table. It glowed excitedly, the golden color pulsing with energy. Morloch’s eyes went wide, his interest in exacting revenge on Rep was totally lost. He raced back to the other end of the Transfer Table, but Zalan stopped the flow of Elemental energy. Morloch gripped the edge in rage, his knuckles white.

“Do not play games, Zandar!” Morloch exploded.

“No games, I swear!” Zalan said, groaning in pain. “It just hurts, I can’t keep supplying the lightning.”

“I am sure it will hurt more when I kill Rep,” Morloch screamed, insanity coating every word.

“Wait, just… Please, wait,” Zalan scrambled and dragged his way to the other side of the table, leaning his weight on it and pulling himself to a stand. He couldn’t keep himself upright and had to place both palms on the table to stay standing.

“You want my power, right?” Zalan asked. “It’s right here, I swear. You still want the lightning, right? I give this to you, and you let us go, right? That’s the deal?”

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Morloch said nothing. He was done negotiating. The look on his face was clear. He was hungry. Insatiable. Zalan had no choice. Morloch had manipulated him as far as he needed to. There was no more need for farses and games. Now, in a show of force, Zalan didn’t stand a chance.

And in that moment, Zalan knew that negotiation was not the right way to solve things. There was a naive piece of his brain that died upon seeing Morloch’s face at the table. Some people couldn’t be talked to. Some problems persisted no matter how much communication passed. Some things in life were simply unfair.

There was a brief time where he thought he would be able to talk his way through any conflict. He even made a trade with monsters! But Morloch was a completely different beast. Zalan had no common ground. There was no negotiating with someone that was far gone from him. From humanity.

Zalan had one last idea that he wasn’t sure would work. He could see the trembling in Morloch’s lips. He was already impatient. Zalan raised his arms high, imbuing himself with all the lightning he could muster in his weakened state. He grit his teeth, hoping he would accomplish something.

“Take all the power!” Zalan screamed.

He slammed his palms into the Transfer Table and put as much lightning as he could coursing through it. The table glowed with power, sparks of electricity racing and shaking through the highly conductive surface. Morloch began to tremble uncontrollably. Zalan was electrocuting him with all the lightning he could fuel into the gold of the table.

Zalan screamed as he put all his power into the move. He was lamenting that he did, indeed, have to kill Morloch. He knew there was no other way. He let shame flow through him and infused himself with more power. The reason he was here was because Morloch manipulated him to this point. He was avenging himself with this act. At the rate of electricity flowing into him, Morloch’s brain would be fried.

Morloch bellowed in agony, his arms unable to pull themselves away from the table. Zalan fueled it with everything he could, holding nothing back. The intensity increased, the table glowing brighter with power.

Zalan felt something go wrong somewhere inside him. A gut feeling that threw everything off balance. Where he normally had to call upon a muscle in his mind to bring about Elemental Lightning, it was flowing out of him freely. It felt like it was being vacuumed away, funneling into the Transfer Table. Zalan looked up in shock and fear.

Morloch’s head was slouched over the table in pain. He was clearly injured by Zalan’s efforts, but he still lived. The table changed the power flowing through it. It wasn’t blasting Morloch with electricity any longer. He was beginning to absorb Zalan’s power. Morloch’s neck twisted and his eyes bulged, overwhelmed with the sensations flowing through him. A tiny smile curved on one side of his face.

“Wait. Wait!” Zalan said, panicking.

He tried to turn the lightning around; stop it from being drained, but it flowed unceasingly through like a firehose. He felt his Elemental ability becoming distant in his mind. He tried to pull his arms off the Transfer Table, but he was stuck. The Artifact’s process had begun and could not be stopped until the completion of the transfer. Zalan felt cold fear in him. Morloch was getting exactly what he wanted. Zalan had no idea how it would feel to lose his power, but the sensation was starting to grate on him. It was like something was scratching at his soul.

“Rep! Help!” Zalan craned his head to Rep.

Rep looked up to him in abject horror. He tried to stand, but fell face-first into the ground. Bones were broken. He could barely move. He threw fire from one of his hands, but it dissipated before it could reach even halfway to Morloch. He wasn’t bolstered by several Rings of Range and couldn’t strike at such a distance. Zalan looked back to Morloch, trying to figure a way out.

Morloch had begun laughing. It cemented an icy despair in Zalan’s heart. Morloch had done this before, to other students. He knew he had succeeded. Perhaps it was too late already. Zalan felt the lightning being pulled from him like a tooth torn away by pliers. He wiggled fruitlessly, trying to fling himself away from the golden table. It glowed, undisturbed by his attempts.

Zalan kicked at it, trying to break it. In a moment of pure desperation, he even bashed his head into the Artifact. He saw a drop of blood fall on its surface. It ignored his attacks, continuing to suck away the power he had earned in this world.

The situation dawned on Zalan. He wasn’t going to escape. There was nothing to save him from the loss taking place. As soon as he started the process, it wouldn’t be stopped.

Elemental Lightning had been a source of comfort to Zalan. It gave him autonomy to do what little he could in battling creatures in this other world. He had earned it by going to the brink of death in the Lost City of Xagon. It wasn’t supposed to be possible for him to lose Elemental Power. It felt like the sense of touch to him, something inherent to his being. He never considered this as a real possibility until he felt it leaving him. He couldn’t imagine being in this realm without his Elemental Ability. How would he do anything?

Zalan screamed as he tried to tear himself away from the table. He was willing to lose his arms at this point. His shoulders ached as he put the full weight of his body to his back, rearing away from the table. He desperately shook his body to pull away. The Transfer Table was increasing in the intensity of pain it delivered to Zalan. It initially started as a burn on his mind. Then it felt like it was dragging a rake through his skin. He couldn’t stand it. His brain throbbed mercilessly. He felt the Elemental Power being ripped away from his mind. He had nothing to grab, but he tried to reach for it nonetheless.

Like a knife twisting in his brain, Zalan felt the connection to his Elemental Lightning be completely severed. Zalan’s wrist tore open to a corrupted purple wound, similar to the one on Morloch’s wrist. Zalan took a glance at the new mark on him. He had no idea what it was, but it felt like a poisonous stain on his soul. Everything burned as though acid had been injected straight into his bloodstream.

The golden table stopped glowing and Zalan fell atop it, feeling mentally and physically drained after the experience. He moved his hands slightly as he gasped for air on the table’s surface. He was free of its hold. He could move again.

Acting quickly, he balled his hands in rage and threw them both up at Morloch, trying desperately to strike his face with lightning. Nothing emitted from his hands. He tried a few more times, punching the air and screaming in frustration. Nothing changed.

Morloch flexed his hands giddily. He watched Zalan’s desperation and grew a wide smile across his face. He waited patiently for Zalan to tire himself out, screaming as he threw his arms in front of him fruitlessly. Morloch tilted his head to one side, pretending to look curious. A small, devious grin stretched across his face. It grew to a crazed sneer.

“Oh, I see, you are trying to do this,” Morloch threw a bolt of lightning from his hand.

Zalan widened his eyes in fear as the bolt struck him square in the face. He howled in pain and fell backward, paralyzed by the electrical impulses ripping through him. It was done. Morloch had successfully taken Elemental Lightning.