The Si-Te-Cah released the white energy first. It slammed into Bulwark, the energy cracking, pieces falling off as the energy ate away at the shield. Loch could feel the pressure, pushing him against the stone wall. He shifted to the side, angling the shield.

  The energy slammed into the wall, exploding shards. They struck Loch’s face and arm, a couple drawing blood. Most were blocked by his shield. He slid further away, turning the shield quickly to the other side as a stream of flames shot out from the Si-Te-Cah’s other hand. Bulwark handled the power of the flames easier but Loch could still feel the heat. He slid back, away from the wall, back into the cavern, the flames following as the Si-Te-Cah turned.

  “Can we end this?” the creature asked, sounding bored. “I need to find out why the stone is not working.”

  “Sorry I’m inconveniencing you,” Loch said, deactivating Bulwark and ducking under the flames.

  He felt the heat along his back, through his armor, as he rolled away. Coming up behind the Si-Te-Cah, Loch swung Onyx. The blade cut into the robes of the creature, Loch feeling it touch skin. It felt like he was hitting bone, the impact jarring. Loch kept running, putting more distance between them, turning around and watching the Si-Te-Cah.

  He there Onyx, the axe shrinking, spinning end over end. Casually, the Si-Te-Cah reached up and caught the axe in his hand. He pulled it closer, examining it, turning it around and over, running a finger along the etchings.

  “This is a Spirit Weapon is it not?” He tossed the axe behind his back, smiling as it reappeared in Loch’s hand, growing to full size. “They are unique weapons that only get stronger as you do. It will serve you well for all the millennium, becoming a legend on its own.” He paused, the smile turning cruel. “Or it would if you weren’t about to die.”

  Loch Activated Bulwark again. He could still feel the boosts from Breaker’s Banner flowing through him. He could go a little longer before having to release the Ability.

  “Not planning on dying today,” Loch said.

  The Si-Te-Cah laughed. He tilted his head, turning his body slightly toward the opening.

  “I hear fighting from outside. Are those your people?” He turned fully back toward Loch. “As a gift to you, for entertaining me, I will leave most of them alive. They will make good slaves.”

  Loch didn’t move, knowing the monster was trying to make him mad.

  “You were entertaining me. But not any longer.”

  With a casual flick of his wrist, the Si-Te-Cah sent a blast of the white energy at Loch. He dove out of the way, rolling back up and holding his shield in front of him. The Si-Te-Cah fired another blast. Loch caught it on the shield, angling it to blast into the wall. He moved closer to the strange stone. Standing behind it, the Si-Te-Cah didn’t fire any more blasts.

  “Now you are boring me.”

  “So sorry,” Loch growled.

  “Come and let us finish….,” the Si-Te-Cah started.

  Before he could finish talking, he twisted toward the tunnel opening, firing a blast of the white energy and one of flame. The white struck a shape in the opening, highlighting the large form of a Sasquatch. Bellowing Little River Stone fell back, the flames flowing over his form.

  Loch Activated Windstep, appearing behind the Si-Te-Cah. He swung Onyx, Activating Cleave. He felt the axe bite into flesh, cutting into muscle. It ground to a stop against bone. The Si-Te-Cah didn’t cry out in pain as he twisted away from the axe, turning to swing a hand at Loch. Moving back Loch Activated Elemental Surge. The force slammed into the monster, staggering him forward. Loch stepped back, swinging Onyx across in front of him, Activating Thunder Clap. The pressure wave of the swing slammed into the Si-Te-Cah, followed by a thrown Onyx, lightning crackling across the humanoid’s body. Loch rushed forward, swinging Onyx down on the monster’s shoulder. He felt the axe bite but not deeply.

  A kick caught Loch in the leg. He fell, rolling along the ground to get some space between them. It felt like his bone had shattered from the kick. He had thought the gaunt’s bodies were like stone, they were soft compared to the Si-Te-Cah.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Standing up, he tried to keep weight off the leg. In the tunnel, Little River Stone had stopped the fires. Smoke still curled up from his fur. He staggered into the cavern. The Si-Te-Cah moved to stand in the middle, between Loch and the Sasquatch, at an angle he could see both. He smiled, standing at an angle to not stretch the wound on his back, one arm hanging at his side. He moved it a bit, but didn’t seem to have full mobility.

  “Where did you come from Sasquatch?” he asked. “I did not think your kid had followed us back to our home.” He paused, tilting his head as he studied Little River Stone. “You are a young one. This is not your home. You were born out there in the cursed Connection.”

  “This is the home of my people,” Little River Stone rumbled. “Of course we would return to keep your people from claiming it.”

  The Si-Te-Cah laughed. Little River Stone started to hum.

  Loch could feel the power gathering in the cavern, seeping up from the ground. Like the effects from his Abilities, he could feel himself getting stronger, faster. The humming echoed through the cavern, getting louder as it bounced off the walls, floor and ceiling. The Si-Te-Cah turned his head, seeming to follow the sound. His eyes tracked the echoes. Raising a hand, he snapped his fingers and the sound ceased.

  Silence filled the cavern.

  Loch felt the added power disappear. Not drained, just gone, instantly.. He looked around, realizing the green tint from Breaker’s Banner was gone. He couldn’t feel the connection to the Ability anymore.

  The Si-Te-Cah sneered.

  Loch tried to Activate the Ability. He could feel the strands of Spirit flowing out of his body, starting to take the shape of the Banner and then they just disappeared, fading to nothing. He tried again, feeling the Spirit leave his Core but it was unable to complete the Ability.

  “The Connected System gives you all this power, but it is so easy to take it away.”

  The Si-Te-Cah raised his hands, one glowing white and the other red.

  “True power is something you are born with. Not something you are given.” He turned to look at Little River Stone. “You know what that means.”

  “You are a fool,” Little River Stone rumbled. “You and your kind have always been fools.”

  The Si-Te-Cah turned fully on Little River Stone. He raised the white glowing hand, pointing a long finger at the Sasquatch.

  “This world is ours,” he said, showing emotion for the first time. Anger. “It has always been ours. The Connected System, you pathetic Sasquatch, none of you can take it from us.”

  Loch threw Onyx, aiming for the Si-Te-Cah’s back. He turned, catching the weapon, glaring at Loch.

  “Your people should never have been. An evolutionary line that would have been snuffed out millenia ago before you could grow across this world like a cancer.”

  Turning, the Si-Te-Cah threw Onyx at Little River Stone. The axe spun end over end, a blur, moving faster with more power than Loch could throw it. Too fast for Little River Stone to react. With that much power behind it, the axehead would easily penetrate even the Sasquatch’s thick hide.

  Loch reached out to his Spirit Weapon. He’d never tried to recall it mid flight or even at all. It wasn’t something he had to mentally do. When the axe struck, a couple seconds later it returned to Loch’s hand. It was automatic. Nothing he actively thought about.

  Now he did.

  He could feel the Spirit that formed the axe, feel its connection to his Core and his being. Onyx was his weapon, not something anyone else could use. He reached out along that connection, trying to recall the axe back to his hand. Loch could feel the Spirit that made up the weapon, how it molded to the shape he had in his mind, how he changed the shape when he shrunk it to throw, or grew it. He controlled all that. It had never been an active thought, but it had been by his design and wish. He could see the weapons movements, everything slowing down.

  The axe reached Little River Stone, the large Sasquatch trying to move out of the way but would be too late. The weapon would hit Little River Stone in the side, lightning crackling along the axehead. The sharp edge cut the first few hairs, the weapon disappearing.

  Loch held Onyx, feeling a deeper connection to the weapon. It had always felt like an extension of his Spirit, now the weapon felt like an extension of himself.

  YOUR SOUL WEAPON HAS GAINED LEVEL 15.

  YOU HAVE GAINED A GREATER CONTROL OVER HOW THE WEAPON MANIFESTS. IT WILL ALWAYS BE AN AXE BUT THERE ARE MANY FORMS OF AXES AND ONYX CAN BECOME ANY OF THEM.

  The words were quickly dismissed, Loch not even reading them. He didn’t have to. He knew what had changed. Onyx had always been manifested by his will, by his desires. He had been the one limiting it to just the two forms. The large and the small. But that wasn’t all it could do.

  Onyx disappeared from Loch’s hand.

  He held his hands out, Onyx reappearing, an axe in each hand. They were larger than the thrown weapon, smaller than the normal. The shape was the same, one crackling with lighting bolts, the other with blue flames.