Chapter 99: A Hello
Fin looked at the downed Commander, then down at his own hands. The multi-hued energy had faded, but the feeling remained. A connection. Power.
’What was that?’ he thought. ’King stuff? Like the Queen?’
He walked over to Dan’s unconscious form, still held by the shadowy tendrils. Keeping him alive served no purpose. Waste of space. ’Food,’ the thought was simple, cold.
He stood over the Commander. "So," he asked, his voice quiet in the suddenly still forest. "Do I look more like a king now?"
Dan’s eyes fluttered open. He saw Fin standing there, saw the calm certainty that hadn’t been there before. A weak chuckle escaped him, rattling in his chest, stained with blood.
"Got to say," he rasped, managing a faint, humorless smile. "You’re something else, kid. Would have loved... to fight you serious. From the start."
Fin considered that for a moment. "Yeah, well," he said flatly. "There are no do-overs."
He reached down, grabbing Dan’s golden gauntlet. The metal felt strangely inert now, the crimson energy gone. He focused, pulling. Energy, life force, flowed into him. Warm. Strong. Almost intoxicating.
’Man,’ he thought, feeling the power surge through him, ’this might become addictive. Feels so good.’
Dan’s breathing grew shallow. His eyes stared up past Fin, towards the dense canopy, seeing something else entirely.
’I am sorry... my King,’ his thoughts drifted, faint echoes against Fin’s drain. ’We underestimated... this place. This... boy.’