The Search for Power

[Strazio Rockwell]

Lost in thought, Strazio did not notice Cork clamor up the ladder. Strazio closed his book as he noticed Cork looming over him, the big guy was pretty quiet considering his size. The man was large, one of the largest Strazio had ever seen. He wore loose fitting cloths, a white T-shirt and black sweat pants. A vacant look was etched onto his stone face and he stared off into the distance. The shadow casted by Cork swallowed Strazio and he chuckled a bit nervously before raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, you're Cork right?" Strazio found himself stumbling with his words, a very rare occurrence he was not intimidated often.

"Mrhm" Cork grunted in what Strazio thought was agreement.

Cork ambled over to the reinforced ballista and began loading a massive bolt. It was at this point that Strazio noticed an oddity with his robust friend. Two dog ears one pointy and one floppy in place of human ears twitched on Cork's head. Strazio tried to contain his snickering and asked

"You're part dog?"

"Mrhm" Cork seemed slightly annoyed at Strazio, but continued with the ballista. The tower began to shake slightly and a rumbling could be heard off in the distance. Strazio stood up and looked out across the moors, a large centipede-like beast was crawling towards the tower. Unsettled Strazio stumbled backwards and pointed at the creature, if there was one thing that frightened Strazio it was insects. His body trembled and he managed to choke out a terrified sentence.

"That's a bug... a huge fricken bug!"

"Mrhm" Cork did not show the same fear that Strazio did. He fired the large bolt into the creature, skewering one of the sections but ultimately the beast was not abated. Strazio tried to call upon his magick, but fear played havoc with his manifestations. Energy arced from his hand and diffused into the stone ramparts. Cork payed no mind to Strazio's bumbling and continued loading another bolt. The giant centipede skittered ever closer and continued charging through another ballista bolt. Strazio's arm sparked and started glowing white, he closed his eyes and tried to focus his magick. If he couldn't fight a damn bug, how could he possibly hope to kill Damien? Roiling white hot energy consumed his forearm and he focused on the burning pain as the magick started to consume his flesh.

Another bolt.

The sound of skittering crawled closer and closer and Strazio shut his eyes tighter.

Focus, I've only got one shot. I can't let a... a bug beat me dammit. Even if it is... massive.

The crawling was close now, only a few meters away. The tower shook and the ground rumbled. The monster must've woken Dmitri because he clamored up the ladder rifle ready. Dmitri yelled something that Strazio couldn't quite hear followed by several gunshots. Strazio opened his eyes as the centipede crested the tower. Shiny and crimson the creature was terrifying, two large pincers threatened to crush the tower. The prime yelped in fear as he stumbled backwards and released his magick. A bright white beam erupted from his fist and carved into the centipede beast, tearing through the thick chitin. Its armored shell cracked like glass, sending it crashing back to the ground. Smoke drifted from Strazio's arm and he held his arm tightly as blood dripped from it. Dmitri leaned over the tower's ramparts and looked down at the shattered beast. Viscous yellow-red fluid was splattered across the base of the tower and the surrounding area.

Dmitri reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a cigarette "Disgusting, looks like a damn Jackson Pollock painting. Are you okay Strazio?"

"I'm fine. I just, I don't like bugs"

"No, I mean your arm is bleeding."

Strazio looked down at his arm and rolled up the sleeve of his cloak. His skin was burnt and small drops of blood seeped through pinholes in his flesh. The wounds would heal soon enough, but the pain was still great. "Yeah, I'm alright. I think I overdid it a bit."

"Better to overkill than underkill I suppose" Dmitri tried lighting his smoke and yet again the light refused to ignite. Cork walked past Strazio and climbed down the ladder. Strazio walked next to Dmitri and raised his finger up to the cigarette, a small spark of energy ignited it. The centipede's corpse was crumbling and decaying at a rapid rate, even the yellow-red fluid was sizzling and evaporating away. A sigh of relief and a pat on the back, Strazio felt better as he watched sun set.

"A lot of action for my first day huh?"

"Honestly I think you're bad luck, its not often we get something that large out here, Cork should already be radioing back to Darkshire."

Strazio furrowed his brow "you mean he can actually speak people?"

Dmitri spoke through a coughing fit "yeah, he's just quiet. Listen, you must be tired. Get some sleep I'll keep watch"