Oskar dashed forward, grabbed his spear, and then shuffled backwards. He saw the Sandwyrm, in some kind of primal desperation, slamming its head downward and side to side, over and over, trying to smash Fox. Tiring from the prolonged battle, she was now hard pressed to dodge Sandy’s constant attacks. Panicked, its movements were wildly unpredictable, and there was at least once when Oskar saw her take a 50/50 dive that could have cost Fox her life.

For the first time in the fight, Fox found herself too close to the arena wall, dangerously limiting her movement, and the Wyrm tried its best to take advantage. The front half of the Sandwyrm tore free from the shredded back half as it dashed after Fox, who had the spatial awareness to not hitch a ride on its head this time around. Sandy went upwards twice as high as before and could have spelled disaster if Fox had tried the same move.

Unfortunately for Oskar, the back half of the Sandwyrm, spilling sand and dark green blood, suddenly slammed into him as he was watching Fox and he felt himself tossed in the air again, this time not of his own accord. He again… manipulated, for lack of a better word, his momentum and direction in a way that was beginning to feel like second nature to him. Oskar was able to right himself in the air, and landed on top of the walkway above their open cage at the boundary of the arena.

Cries of “Cheat! They cheat!” came from the crowd and the platform.

What the hell?! Apparently getting tossed out of the arena is cheating?

He shook his head, ignoring them. Turning back to Fox, he launched himself back into the fight toward the front half of the Wyrm as it flew up out of the sand. Fox, now out of room, was forced to dive forwards to try to get behind the head as it prepared to dash downward again.

Just like the end of the battle with Vulk, Oskar felt his momentum increase and his direction shift, but this time he knew exactly how to transfer his momentum. He'd practiced it inside the Insight Gem's Echo more times than he could count.

Spear in hand, he prepared to ruin this Sandwyrm’s day. That was until the entire “head” of the Wyrm vibrated with dark energy and then exploded into dark cosmic dust right as he transferred his momentum into his strike… which hit nothing. His body was dashed into the bars of one of the closed cages on the inside of the arena with bone crunching force.

He was hovering in and out of consciousness when Touwon reached him, concern clear on his usually distanced expression.

He heard more cries of “Cheater! Cheater! Honor-less rats had outside help!” But this time, the voice was chillingly familiar. Cold shivers ran down his spine, even in the heat. His rage shifted between fear and confusion as he drifted closer to unconsciousness.

Where is she? Where is Valla?

As rough, clawed hands jerked him upward, he tried to scream, but what came out was a choked sob of pain. He could feel the bones in his left arm grinding together and he almost vomited. Something was also wrong with his hip, but that wasn’t really an issue considering he was being carried, at least until he was bounced up the stairs onto the now empty Arena platform, and then up more stairs to the Point platform above it with jarring force. Sure enough, as his vision broke the top step and he got a clear view of the platform, he saw a grinning, insane face.

“Valla,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. He really wished he had something clever to say here, but his head was spinning and the pain was making it hard to think.

How is she here?

Oskar couldn’t reason through it in his current state.

He did notice something else that further confused and angered him. His brother was looking at Valla with abject terror.

Was she the one actually responsible for his injuries? Is she the one who cut off his brother’s arm? Is she the one who cut out his eye and tongue?

New rage momentarily cleared his head, and he tried to stand and strike her, to kick her, bite her, anything… but Gramm swatted him down and let out a derisive laugh before Oskar even managed to sit up.

“You think you show up to my Tribe, mine, and when I give great gift of honor fight… in good faith… you cheat, cheat, cheat like all filthy stupid rats?! It time to finish exterminating rats, me think. You cheat? Well, you LOSE!” Gramm again spat the word, spittle and putrid meat wafted over Oskar as he lay, panting, on his back, his visionwas blurry and making him feel more nauseous, so he closed them for what felt like only a second.

Oskar opened his eyes and was suddenly looking up at his brother’s thin face, his single green eye watching him. The guards had unceremoniously dropped him just out of reach of his brother. Fox and Touwon were finally brought up from the Arena, a Croc on each side of them wrenching their arms up behind their backs.

Oskar could feel the Wayspring below them, inside the cave system of the plateau or maybe just in a small chamber of its own, and Oskar reached for it, desperate. He could feel it, so close, but he didn’t have enough left of whatever it took to do anything about it, nor could he focus enough to pull it off. He might not even be able to stand, much less fight, and likely even Wayspring water wouldn’t be able to do much about it in time, but he didn’t have a clue what else to do.

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He forced his eyes to focus again on his brother’s gaunt face. Erik suddenly threw himself forward, his only remaining hand snaking out faster than Oskar thought possible. He felt his brother's touch land on his forehead, gentle, despite the desperate movement.

Oskar stared, wide eyed and alert, as his brother mouthed a silent word.

“No.”

A rush of energy filled him and he felt his body pull back from the brink of unconsciousness. Oskar’s arm, his hip, and a thousand little aches, bumps and bruises, including lingering sunburn from being exposed to the suns during the fight with Sandy, all healed completely. His brother withered right in front of Oskar's eyes, looking like he’d easily lost another ten pounds- but whatever it was Erik had just done had been purposeful- and impossibly effective. He saw raw pain in his brother's eyes.

Yet Oskar felt better than he’d felt in his entire life.

“You fool!” A shadowed foot blurred past his face and knocked his brother’s thin form flat.

Oskar launched himself upwards, too close to land a significant strike on her, so instead, he picked Valla’s screaming form up and dashed her to the stone beneath him.

She hit hard, bounced, and then rolled off into the stands of the arena far below with a guttural scream of pain and rage. Oskar wanted nothing more than to continue the assault on Valla but was forced to turn and face a roaring Gramm who was trying to impale Oskar with his own spear. The attack was easily sidestepped.

Whatever ability or spell Erik used on him empowered the now-overflowing amount of magic inside Oskar, augmenting his growing mastery of the Magics Above and Below. He felt like the world was moving in slow motion as Gramm attacked yet again. It was going to take some getting used to if this was what his body and magic was going to feel like as his abilities grew, but for Gramm’s sluggish, if powerful form, he was more than fast and coordinated enough to dodge again.

Fox and Touwon had apparently gotten loose in the initial confusion and were keeping the now three remaining Crocs busy as Oskar tried to figure out how to hurt the huge Gramm, or at least get his spear back from him. They were too close to the Point itself for Oskar to be surrounded, but while he was dodging Gramm’s heavy blows, he still had to deal with the Crocs and Hyena-men pushing close in their attempts to land a blow.

He felt the Sora swirling around him faster than ever before, though. At one point, as one of the Hyena-men darted in, he thrusted his hand towards the nimble creature, sending forth a blast of wind that threw the small creature into the Croc behind it. The Hyena hit the Croc with enough force that both went down in a heap that caused the others around them to hesitate.

Unfortunately, during Oskar’s distraction, Gramm moved faster than Oskar expected and tackled him to the stone just as he spun back around to face him, and pressed down, using his bulk to his advantage. The massive Croc pushed the spear down onto Oskar’s throat with both claws as he leaned close and screamed at him.

“This mine! My tribe! My oasis! My water! You lose! All mine, stupid piiink! Mine!”

A shove of the spear punctuated each sentence. Oskar could still feel the air all around him, but knew wind from this angle and distance would be useless, even empowered by Erik's ability. Oskar surprised himself a little when he was able, with a burst of his remaining strength, to push the spear back up just enough to catch a breath, but he could feel himself losing the physical struggle against his larger opponent. And they both knew it.

"Can't have mine! My Oasis! My water! Mine!"

So it gave the Croc above him pause when Oskar breathlessly laughed, still heaving for air. The battle around them was slowing as everyone knew the outcome was being decided in this desperate struggle at their feet.

In the moment he realized he was very likely about to die, Oskar realized something important.

The fear that had been inside him for the past year wasn’t really for himself, it never had been. It wasn't about Erik either, at least not directly.

It was of being truly alone in the world. His parents were dead. His brother, gone and likely dead as well. So many of his Marines buried.

He himself had come face to face with death more than once, and never did the fear spike higher than what he’d felt growing inside him after Erik- his last link to the world- disappeared. But the fear was gone. That primal fear that had controlled him for so long was so much worse than anything Gramm, or even Valla, could manage.

I’m not alone anymore. Erik, Fox, Touwon, and of course, Penny. And this overgrown, mouth-breathing idiot is trying to take everything I care about away from me again.

Gramm snapped his head down to bite Oskar’s face, and Oskar jerked his head to the side before letting go of the spear and wrapping his hands around the neck of the huge Croc, pulling him close and not letting go. Oskar hooked the heel of his boots behind the knees of the Croc’s back legs and locked it in as best he could.

Gramm, completely unprepared for the reversed movement, lost a handgrip on Oskar’s spear in his attempts to push him away, but Oskar was too close, and the Croc was too large to be flexible. With the hind legs hooked, Gramm couldn’t get enough purchase to spin or use his size to advantage, especially with the spear now trapped between them.

The smartest thing the Croc could have done was relax his weight on him. Between pride, panic, and instinct, though... Oskar doubted the thought even occurred to Gramm. Understanding his own fear had cleared up a lot of brainpower for Oskar. Best of all, it finally showed him his place in this world. He belonged here. Not specifically on this planet, but here with his new, weird family. And the magic suddenly felt like a true part of him. What had held him back was using the magic more like a tool than a part of him, despite his attempts otherwise.

He was the Wayspring Wanderer. A Druid.

And it's damn time I started acting like it.

He watched as Gramm’s orange threat color dropped to yellow. More likely, his own threat had grown.

Oskar reached for the Wayspring below him… and it responded. It was nothing like before, though. It didn't "answer his call," it returned to him. It was a part of him all along.

“You want all the water?” Oskar choked out, “Well, it's yours. By the way… we have your daddy’s PUB. He got eaten by a bird. Skill issue.”