The Arleon people continued to scream and scatter across the city, not knowing which way to turn in the midst of the chaos. But with all the anarchy going around them, the beast and Ezra only had eyes for each other. The beast nodded its head momentarily, as if it knew he had finally met someone that wasn’t just food—a worthy challenger that wasn’t going to lay down and just die.

  Smoke and dust clouds filled the air, but they could not hide the litany of bodies left spread out in the monster’s wake. The dust clouds began to surround Ezra, leaving only his silhouette visible in the shadows, allowing Ezra to gain the element of surprise on the beast.

  His silhouette bent and twisted unnaturally, causing momentary confusion in the beast, as he cut through the air faster than the human eye could see, not giving the beast a chance to react—he slammed his fist into the beast’s jaw, sending it tumbling through the city’s museum. Ezra gave chase, not allowing the beast to have a moment of peace. From the outside, you could hear the jostling between the two, fighting for the position of superiority. Then—soaring back out of the museum and through the wreckage with blinding speed—was Ezra, tumbling and crashing into the ground as his body spiralled into what was left of the city stalls.

  His back leg skidded, catching his body as his front leg ended up in a lunge position. He was battered, bloodied, armour plates in tatters, and his left shoulder damaged from where the beast sunk its teeth into him, but there was no quit in Ezra.

  He braced himself, waiting for the beast to attack, and he didn’t have to wait long. The ground began to tremble under the weight of the beast as it sprinted through the wreckage toward Ezra.

  They both jumped through the air, meeting each other head-on. Ezra drove a punch towards the beast’s face once more, but the data had already been collected. The beast’s head drifted to the left before snapping back and clamping its teeth into Ezra’s arm.

  “Arghhh!” Ezra screamed, letting out a piercing cry as the pair went crashing to the floor.

  The beast ended up on top, teeth sunk in, ragging his arm back and forth as Ezra continued to scream out in agony—a pain so loud the Arleon soldiers felt it in their chest. The Arleon soldiers could only watch on in horror, hoping and praying that the tide would somehow turn. But one man—he watched on with overwhelming joy. The general’s smile was plastered from ear to ear. Cane’s plan was working. The general could already taste the power his promotion would wield.

  Ezra lay there half out of it, barely hanging on as the beast turned its attention from his arm toward his head, stomping it relentlessly into the Arleon earth.

  The beast lifted its foot once more. The hefty foot came down.

  Thum.

  Ezra was back on Elden City, and even though he was confused, everything felt peaceful. He began to walk through the city, but no one was there. Everything was abandoned. He paused for a moment, confused, as he looked around trying to figure out what was going on.

  “Am I dead?” he asked himself.

  Then came an all-too-familiar voice he hadn’t heard in many a year.

  “No, boy—you’re very much alive,” said Joseph.

  Ezra couldn’t hold back the tears. He sprinted toward Joseph and wrapped his arms around his old friend.

  “Thank the gods you made it to the other side. But if I’m here with you, doesn’t that mean I’m dead also?”

  “You’re in the in-between, Ezra—on the brink of death. Your body is giving out on you, Ezra. You must fight.”

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  “I can’t, Joseph. I’ve given everything I have. I’m no match for that thing.”

  “You can’t, or you won’t, Ezra?”

  “Don’t you think I would fight back if I could? I’ve been fighting for years now, freeing people from my father’s oppression.”

  “Ezra—you haven’t fought with the same rigour since that night on Zoron. That night took something from you that you need to take back.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You can, and you will, Ezra. Let it—let out the pain and anger that you buried deep and fight back.”

  “But what if it’s not enough?”

  “Then you’ll have your answer—my son.”

  Joseph started to drift away into the distance, pulling further and further away, no matter how fast Ezra flew.

  “But I need you, Joseph—I can’t do it without you.”

  “Oh, my dear boy—you have everything you need in there,” he said, pointing toward Ezra’s heart. “You really are your mother’s boy. She would be proud of the man you’ve become.”

  “Joseph, wait—wait.”

  Thum.

  The sound of a drumbeat played once more, and in mere seconds Joseph and Elden City were gone, replaced by planet Zoron. As Ezra looked down, he was staring at his younger self, battered and bruised, whilst Cane hovered over him, protecting him.

  Thum—thum—thum.

  The drumbeat was relentless. Ezra had a choice to make. A door appeared next to his younger self. Give up now and leave the world as it is, or walk through that door and fight.

  He lifted his legs and sprinted as fast as he could, throwing himself through the door.

  “It’s over, boys—that’s all she wrote. Load up the Arleon people onto the ships. Lord Cane will be very much grateful for the newest acquisition of soldiers to the ranks.”

  “Sir, yes—sir,” the soldiers said in sync. “Pick up your weapons and head onto our ships. You should be grateful—we’re doing you a favour. You can finally see what a beautiful planet truly looks like instead of seeing this poverty-stricken planet every day,” shouted one of the soldiers.

  The men all headed toward the ships, their backs turned to the only city they had ever truly known, when the floor began to shake beneath their feet. The general immediately spun around and looked toward the beast—but the beast looked almost as confused as the general.

  Ezra was laying there lifeless. Not a single fight left in him.

  The beast grew confused. Its mouth opened and roared in Ezra’s face.

  Ezra’s eyes shot open.

  He wasn’t done yet.

  Pieces of the earth pulled out from beneath him into hundreds of tiny blades, piercing right through the beast’s skin. As the beast flew back into the air, a large bolt of lightning came crashing down, slamming it into the earth.

  The beast lay there defeated, but Ezra knew better. He grabbed the beast by the tail and flew as high as he could into the sky. Grasping the beast’s tail with both hands, he spun over and over until he built enough momentum, then cast the beast out into space, causing it to freeze to death and its regenerative abilities to be nullified.

  The Arleon soldiers began to cheer, but the general wasn’t about to leave this planet empty-handed.

  “Stand down, General,” Ezra said from above. “The battle is over. Leave with your lives intact. Don’t be led astray.”

  “You know how this goes, Ezra,” the general sniggered. “It’s either we return with something, or we end up in a body bag. Men—open fire.”

  The Arleon people closed their eyes and accepted their fate.

  “No!” Ezra screamed.

  Left with no choice, he turned the ground beneath them into a weapon. Hundreds of blades made from earth pierced through their throats and hearts.

  As the Arleon people opened their eyes, they were confused. They were still standing. They looked down and saw the litany of bodies spread out all around them.

  The general tried to make a run for it, calling Cane in the process. As the call connected, the general began to speak frantically.

  “My lord—he’s killed them all. He’s killed them all.”

  “Calm down,” Cane demanded. “Who’s killed them all?”

  “Ezra.”

  As the general looked back, he saw no sign of Ezra. He turned his head forward, thinking he was in the clear, then ran into a man that felt like a stone wall and dropped to his bottom, cowering back with every step Ezra took forward.

  Ezra leaned down and ripped the communication device from the general’s wrist and cast it across the ground.

  “I know it’s you, brother—you won’t get away with this, I promise you,” Cane said through gritted teeth.

  Ezra chose to remain silent. Instead, he lifted his boot and crunched the device, silencing his brother’s tirade.

  “Go, General, before I change my mind,” Ezra shouted.

  The general scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could, then began stumbling as he ran toward his ship.

  “How can we ever thank you?” one of the Arleon soldiers asked.

  Ezra let out a light chuckle. “You have no need to thank me—but you do need to leave this planet. Take your men and your women and leave this place, for my father’s eyes will land on your planet once more.”

  Ezra shot toward the sky, but barely into the air, an Arleon man shouted to him.

  “What should we call you?” he asked.

  Ezra paused for a moment, contemplating whether he should tell them his name.

  Then he shot toward the sky without another word.