“Goats?” Vasher asked, his face cramping. The faction heads by his side pawed their hooves and glared at Palan. “I may be humble, but I refuse to let myself and my tribesmen be insulted. Let’s teach this so-called divine being a lesson.” He raised his palm in front of himself, causing the swirling cone of wind from before to appear.

“Was this how I did it?” Palan muttered as he raised his hand. He narrowed his eyes at Vasher, and a black glow enveloped the centaur. The halfling yelped as his knees buckled, causing him to crumple to the ground, his lips kissing a rock. The conical wind sank as well and drilled a hole into the earth. Vasher tried to raise his arms to prop himself up with his elbows, but the black light acted like glue, keeping his body stuck to the dirt. The centaur’s body creaked as his ribs compressed. A strangled breath was forced out of his mouth, and he couldn’t inhale. When his vision turned gray and blurred, the pressure on his body vanished. His torso expanded as he gulped for air and trembled as he raised his head.

Palan frowned. “That wasn’t it,” he said and clicked his tongue. “How did I do it?” His brow furrowed as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot. The centaurs stared at each other before launching their attacks towards Palan. A few fireballs, clouds of green gas, lightning, and white chains rushed towards Palan. Before they made contact, they collided against an oily sheen that formed a foot away from Palan’s body. The archbishop gasped behind Palan as sweat began to pour down the centaur’s brow.

“Can you not use your powers too excessively?” the archbishop asked while panting. His eyes opened as the blue rope connecting him to Palan shrank.

“I only did two things,” Palan said and glanced at the ragged centaur. “Aren’t you a bit too weak?” Another wave of attacks flew towards Palan, and he waved his hand, blocking it once again. The archbishop groaned before collapsing to his knees. A strand of saliva leaked from the corner of his mouth as his body shuddered. His eyes rolled upwards, revealing their whites as he fell forward and planted his face into the ground. The translucent blue rope disappeared. Palan scratched his head. In the end, he decided the only one he should rely on was himself and turned his attention back to the centaurs. They looked even angrier after the archbishop collapsed.

By now, Vasher had recovered his breath and stood on shaky feet. “The archbishop isn’t supporting him anymore,” he said, voice quavering. He took in a deep breath, causing wind to swirl around his body. “One more attack!”

Before Palan or the centaurs could do anything, someone screamed. A massive black fireball fell from the hole Mathias had created earlier, blocking out the sunlight and filling the cave with a blood-red glow instead. The lichen on the rocks turned brown as black fire spread along the ceiling of the habitat. The centaurs shouted and raised their heads, their faces pale and eyes wide. Palan wrinkled his nose. “Why can’t I do something as awing as that?” he asked and looked up at Raea. Her eyes were glowing with a purple light while her hands waved around like strands of seaweed. The flame followed the motions of her arms and swirled, elongating like a snake.

“Hey,” Palan said and pointed at Raea. A black light enveloped her body and dragged her down to the floor with a bang. She yelped as the glow in her eye disappeared. A second later, the fiery snake in the air exploded, raining black embers and molten rocks. Mathias let out a roar and lifted his arms, summoning a dome of earth that encased the whole habitat and blocked out most of the effects. Darkness shrouded the centaurs, causing the children to scream. Though Mathias wouldn’t have minded if Vasher died, the whole tribe was at risk of being exterminated, so he had to take action.

“What was that for!?” Raea asked and glared at Palan. Glowing red feathers protruded randomly from her wings, and Cory hopped over to preen them.

“You were stealing my thunder,” Palan said and snorted.

“Well,” Raea said and stamped her foot. Her pants were ripped from the previous impact. “I couldn’t help it. I got mad when they attacked you. And you weren’t even doing anything. You just stood there.”

“I was thinking,” Palan said. None of the centaurs had the courage to interrupt their conversation. “The feeling I had before when I pulled in all those angels was different somehow. It wasn’t just more intense, there was another aspect to it.” He frowned and looked at the centaurs. “Are any of you the embodiment of pride?”

A gray-skinned centaur with tattoos designed like antlers stepped out of the crowd with his head raised. His back straightened as he folded his arms over his chest. “I am,” he said, flicking his tail at the same time. A metal staff was strapped to his back.

“Great,” Palan said. “Let me see your power.”

“I don’t take orders from anyone,” the centaur said and curled his lip.

Palan raised an eyebrow. “Scared you’ll lose?” he asked with a slight smile on his face. “I don’t blame you. If I didn’t have toes, I’d be scared of fighting too.”

“I am above cheap provocations,” the centaur said with a snort. Palan noticed the muscles on the centaur’s face tense. “My ability won’t be used to bully the weak.”

“I should’ve known goats can’t have any pride,” Palan said with a sneer. “A race of cowards will always beget a coward. Centaurs aren’t worthy of being my underlings.” His blue pupils began to bleed into his red irises, turning his eyes purple. He laughed and stared at his palms before raising his head. He smiled and said, “This is it. This is the feeling.”

A small marble of pure darkness formed above his hand. Wind started to swirl around him. The ground and earthen dome creaked as bits of dirt crumbled off and rose into the air, joining the wind. The centaurs tensed their bodies as a light suction tugged on them, barely noticeable. Palan licked his lips and focused on the ball, willing it to grow. Cracking sounds echoed through the habitat as chunks of earth fell from the dome, letting sunlight back into the region. The chunks flew towards Palan’s hand and collided against each other, forming a ball of floating earth.

By the time the centaurs realized they should do something to stop him, the ball of earth had floated above Palan’s head and grown to the size of a small boulder. The centaurs launched their attacks at Palan, but the powers gravitated towards the ball in the air, veering off target. A centaur child screamed as her legs left the ground. Luckily, her mother managed to grab onto her tail and kept her grounded.

The gray-skinned centaur charged at Palan, brandishing his staff, but Palan didn’t even look at him, keeping his eyes on the growing ball. A wide smile split his face as more and more of the dome and ground crumbled and joined the ball. The centaur of pride reached Palan’s side and swung his staff, a black light coming off its surface. Danger Noodle caught it with its mouth and tossed the centaur into the air with a flick of its neck. The centaur screamed as he flew through the air and slammed into the hovering ball of rocks. It trembled and rocked from side to side before stabilizing once again with the new addition of a centaur. A small boulder promptly flew off of the mountain side and crashed into the centaur’s head, causing blood and brain matter to splatter and spiral in the air before being sucked back towards the dead halfling.

Centaurs screamed as fissures appeared on the ground and large platforms of earth floated into the air. Justitia was holding onto Cory who was holding onto Raea who was biting her lip and using her tail to anchor herself to a nearby rock formation. The archbishop’s body rose into the air, but Palan’s purple tail caught it and dragged it back to the ground. Cherri and Mathias watched in horror as centaurs were lifted off of their feet and pulled towards the growing mass in the air. Their limbs flailed uselessly as they soared and crashed into the mass, flattening against the rocks and other centaurs.

“Stop!” Cherri yelled and made a motion to dash down the mountainside, but Mathias grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Giant stone hands prevented his own body from leaving the ground.

Only the small region surrounding Palan was unaffected. He stared at the growing, screaming mass in the air as if he was in a trance. A black fireball hit him the face, bringing him back to reality. Raea was doing her best to fly against the attractive force, but her body was being dragged backwards ever so slowly. “Chill out!” Raea shouted and threw another fireball at Palan.

Palan frowned as the purple light in his eyes disappeared and he batted away the fireball with his hand. The suction forced disappeared without warning, and the massive ball fell to the ground with a booming sound accompanied by a chorus of screams and snaps. Raea relaxed as the force pulling her disappeared, and she landed by Palan’s side with Cory and Justitia. She turned around and surveyed the damage.

“Is that awing enough for you?” she asked.

“Barely satisfactory,” Palan said and scratched his chin.