Sandborn - Awakening of the Frozen Sand

[In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.] — Lee Iacocca

Pleased by the effectiveness of its attack, the scorpion launched a second one, this time aiming for the main force. Unsure if his defenses were enough, Surumadur acted quickly, raising his most powerful defense, the wind shield, hoping to protect himself and his warriors from the corrosive blast.

"Vulcryn!" Araumir called, appearing in the air with wings wide open.

At his command, a black flame burning with a purple light shot forth from his open palm, covering the sky and consuming the black liquid before it reached the people. It was his Core Origin Flame - Soul Purger Flame.

"Vrak nar toran" (Keep it busy), Araumir commanded as his own servants, the shadow folk, emerged from the darkness of the night.

Freely moving between worlds, the black silhouettes attacked the scorpion empty-handed. Their mission wasn't to win the fight but to buy their lord a few moments to finalize the deal.

"Are you trying to block acid with paper? Your shield isn't even strong enough to cut the neck of a lamb," Araumir mocked Surumadur's pitiful defense.

Awed by his wings, the people of Calabi unconsciously stepped back, leaving their chief, Surumadur, to stand before them and welcome the strong one coming to their aid. But Surumadur remained silent, absorbed by the beautiful wings.

"Why are you here?" he asked humbly when Araumir descended before him.

"Because I don't give you much chance of winning, especially against that black liquid. It melts the ground itself; do you think your bodies can resist?" Araumir replied.

"Dead or alive, we have to defend our home," Surumadur said with determination.

"Yes, and your souls will remain to guard your women and children from the wild beasts of the desert and the lustful men of other tribes, right?" Araumir retorted. "Against my own opinion, my master decided to recruit you. Your Calabi don't have much time to consider, Surumadur. So think this through, think about what my master offered you before being interrupted."

"If you accept to serve him and his cause, you will benefit more than you can imagine. But let's stick to the situation. If you decide to serve him, I will kill this beast for you. If you refuse his offer, I will take my master away and let you deal with this scorpion by yourselves." Araumir looked calmly at the shocked faces of the people behind Surumadur, his gaze empowering them to decide. "Choose!"

"What is he talking about, chief?" Vadal asked.

"Chief, you're friends with the strong?"

"Yeah, let the strong help us," a few brave voices dared to speak.

"Have you not heard what this man said? We'll have to serve his master. We will no longer be free. And you might not know, but this one is a..." Surumadur dropped his scimitar and hugged his body, falling to his knees as he screamed from the pain. Against Azar's order, he tried to disclose information about the two of them, about Araumir being a demon, so the soul mark activated, preventing him from speaking.

"Chief!"

"Chief, what happened?"

"It must be a mental attack from the scorpion," Vadal, as an experienced warrior, deduced. Not knowing that a mental attack wouldn't cause someone to hug their pained chest.

"I'm fine, help me up," Surumadur said to the people gathered around him.

"Chief of the Calabi, make a decision. My shadows can't hold the beast for long," Araumir urged.

Surumadur looked past Araumir, at the bodies laying lifeless on the cold sand, and at the scorpion that continued to destroy everything in its path.

"My people, can you bear the thought of serving this one's master?" Surumadur asked.

"Chief, we do not know them. The decision is yours," Vadal answered.

"We will listen to you, chief."

"We can work for the strong, but we will not become their slaves," said a warrior.

Surumadur took a deep breath, taking one more look at the lifeless bodies on the ground before looking Araumir in the eyes.

"Then from now on, the Calabi pledge their allegiance to your master," he said, dropping to one knee.

One by one, the brave warriors of Calabi followed his example and knelt before Araumir. However, even though he successfully accomplished the mission given by his master, Araumir didn't feel proud or touched by the actions of the people. In his eyes, they should've done that from the start.

You think too highly of yourselves, Araumir thought.

"The loot orbs dropped by this beast all belong to my master," he said before flapping his wings and rising to the sky.

"I hope it was the right decision," Surumadur murmured, getting to his feet.

Directing flux into two of his fingers, Araumir changed its nature to lightning, and bluish-black, electrical tongues sizzled in the air around his fingers. With his attack prepared, Araumir dashed like a loose arrow, straight at the scorpion.

"Electro Art, Lightning Ray," Araumir cried, slashing downward with his fingers.

The lightning ray, a dazzling streak of pure electrical energy, tore through the air with a deafening roar. For a moment, time seemed to stand still. The lightning ray cleaved the scorpion from head to tail, splitting its body cleanly in half. The creature's insides glowed with an eerie luminescence as the electricity coursed through its body, searing its flesh and charring the parts of the exoskeleton it touched.

Weaker then i expected, Araumir remarked after the single exchange.

The air was filled with the acrid smell of burning chitin. The two halves of the scorpion fell away from each other, crashing on the ground with a heavy thud. But the tail, untouched by the lightning's destructive force, remained intact.

The scorpion twitched violently, as if defying its inevitable end. The corrosive substance within the tail began to ooze out, sizzling as it made contact with the sand and debris of the destroyed buildings. The warriors watched in awe and horror as the corrosive liquid spread, creating a hissing, bubbling pool where it touched.

Surumadur, panting from the adrenaline rushing through his veins, quickly gestured to his fellow tribesmen. "Contain that tail! We can't let the black liquid spread any further!" he yelled.

"Don't come near," Araumir shouted.

Filling his lungs with air, he breathed out his Core Origin Flame - Vulcryn. As if having a consciousness of its own, Vulcryn burned only the black, corrosive substance without damaging anything else. Once it started to burn, it never extinguished until the target had completely vanished from existence.

When the black, purple-burning flames dissipated after cleaning all the corrosive substance, the loot orbs gathered everyone's attention. However, as Araumir and his shadow folk started to gather those dropped from the scorpion, no one dared to move and collect those of the fallen Calabi.

With a wide grin on his face, Araumir presented himself before Surumadur after gathering the spoils of the battle. Of course, his shadow folk were seen taking a little more than what dropped from the scorpion, but none of the Calabi warriors dared to voice an objection.

"Scorpion meat is quite tasty if you know how to cook it," Araumir said. "Do you have such knowledge?"

"We've never eaten this type of scorpion before," Surumadur said as the first rays of sunlight pierced the cover of night.

"Does that mean you don't want it? Because I can be kind enough to remove its remains from your soil," Araumir said, sounding more like he was making a statement than offering help.

Surumadur exchanged gazes with the warriors at his side before nodding his head, a trace of a smile visible on his face. "Please, you'll be doing us a favor," he said, glad they wouldn't have to bother themselves with carrying the remains far into the desert.

Leaving the meat of a dead monster, or even the corpses of fallen men, near their camp was suicidal. Not only because of the diseases that could be transmitted through the air, but also because they would attract beasts.

Without waiting for a special invitation, Araumir expanded his shadow, from which Amina and the warriors saved by the shadow folk emerged back into the light.

"Here's what I've managed to save," he said. "You can keep them."

Finishing his business with the Calabi chief, Araumir waited for no thanks, but passed by the dazed Amina and stored the two halves of the scorpion in his stomach dimension before collecting his shadow folk and returning to Azar to present the loot.

Back inside the guest room in Surumadur's home, Azar sat down, listening to the story of what had happened from Araumir's unique point of view. While recounting the events, Araumir tried not to place too much emphasis on his own excellence, but that proved to be almost impossible.

"Great, Araumir. I am proud of you. I knew you could do it, but even I did not think you could accomplish things in such a way," Azar praised honestly.

Some people had the constant need for praise, and knowing that, Azar preferred to stroke their egos with his words to keep everyone happy and performing at maximum standards. Of course, Araumir wasn't so needy that he required praise after every small job, but once in a while, his ego craved the good words of the one he respected the most.

"Thank you for your words, master," Araumir replied, making a short bow in appreciation. "Now, let me present you the spoils of my battle."

Azar motioned with his hand for Araumir to begin.

"First, I have collected the remains of the scorpion. I will use the meat to cook you delicious meals suited to your taste whenever I have the occasion. As for the exoskeleton of the beast, we can use it to create armor for our forces when we find a decent blacksmith," Araumir explained. "Now, the cherry on top." He extended his shadow, and all the loot orbs emerged to the surface.

"So many? Are they all from the scorpion?" Azar asked, not expecting such a quantity of loot.

"More or less," Araumir replied. "You know how my people are. With their relentless desire to please you, they have gathered a little more from the dead bodies around. But you don't have to worry, no one said anything, so they must've acted with care."

Mhm, your shadow folks care only about you. They harbor no special feelings for me other than disgust, Azar thought. And of course, no one said anything. Even if the Calabi saw them, would they dare complain to you?

"Unfortunately, I also have a little piece of bad news. The beast dropped this orb with a 1,000 Flux Points that I'm afraid is too strong for you to absorb," Araumir said.

"It is indeed. If i try absorb it, i will be killed by the energy, not just having my mind corrupted. But there are no bad news here, my friend. You use it for yourself; the stronger you are, the better it is for me," Azar said. "If I remember correctly, only a Disaster rank beast can drop a 1,000 Flux Points orb, right? If that's the case, how did you manage to kill it with one blow?"

"The power of attention, master. I had the gazes of so many people on me, their hopes in my palm." Araumir opened and closed his palm, as if playing with an invisible ball of hopes. "I couldn't let them down. I couldn't bear to see them suffer," he spoke in a suave and warm voice, like a man of the church. He arched his eyebrows, looking so touched that anyone who didn't know his nature would have believed him.

"Really?" Azar asked, lips curved upwards, delighted by the act.

"No." Araumir ended his charade, returning to his usual demeanor in an instant. "It wasn't that strong. The scorpion wasn't a fully-fledged Disaster. I guess it came out for the food required to complete its evolution. I could be wrong, though, but in any case, the beast was too confident in its armor, so my Lightning Ray took it by surprise."