“I don’t care about some VIP!” Hinklebottom yelled into the phone as he looked over the valley before him. His fist clenched as he spoke again. “We have people who are hurt and in grave need of medical attention, get that copter into the air as soon as you can!” His chest heaved, his body hungry for breath. A result of having run a half mile or so up the forest, to finally get reception.

He stood there and took as deep of breaths as he could, as the person on the other end gave him placation after placation. “You!...” He started as a roar echoed up from behind him. He dropped the phone as the image of those bears filled his mind once more. He bent down, grabbed the phone and yelled. “Just get here!” With that he pocketed the device and tore off down the hill.

He had to make it, he had to. His thoughts echoed in his mind as images of dead comrades came back to him. “I will protect you!” he stated as he leapt down a small cliff, his body flowed seamlessly into a roll then towards his feet, his legs already in motion.

***

Byung screamed as pain erupted in his head. A will pressed down upon his mind and he could feel it try to instill in him the same fear, the same hunger as the rat. The watery stickiness of the will pulled at Byung with a deep and gnawing hunger, a hunger that spread to Byung himself. Unfortunately for that thing, Byung was no simple rat.

He forced his thoughts to focus, to turn from his own hunger, as he had many times in the past. Single minded determination took over as he focused on something that was, if not comfortable, routine. The ad campaign he was working on with the new apartment complex in Vegas.

Many times in work he would lose himself and forget to eat. With hope that his plan might prevail, he imagined the rooms in the concept art, the couches, the balconies, and the rest of the accommodations. He pictured the fountain they had wanted to put in, the calming nature of the jets as they would shoot into the air.

“Come and find your new home with us.” He mumbled under his breath before he quickly tossed away the slogan.

“With our spa, you’ll always be home.”

“With this price you’ll question why you even waited.”

“A home you can be proud to have.”

Slogan after slogan passed through his lips, each one being tossed for one reason or another. His headache subsided and was now a simple pressure he could easily ignore.

The image shifted back to the spa as Byung thought of his next slogan.

“Gahh,” Byung screamed as the headache redoubled, and he swore his consciousness went blank for an instant.

The insatiable hunger flooded in as he felt the will turn most of its focus upon him. In the image of the spa he held in his mind, he could see the rat as it shivered in a corner.

With grit teeth, he focused on the creature and now realized the being had been in every image he had focused on. As it did whatever it could to hide away from the will.

Byung imagined himself standing before the creature and felt the weight upon his mind drag him down. Breath left his lungs as he focused to hold the now blurred image. Something inside of him knew that if he lost this image he would forever lose the rat.

“Devon is mine,” Byung hissed, not even realizing he had named the creature.

As if slapped, the will recoiled a moment before Byung heard a hiss in his mind. The image he held changed, the spa faded to an open body of water, a storm raged all around. Byung focused and a ripple of crystal clear water spread out from him until it hit the first of the mighty waves. His calm water battled against the rage of the waves.

Byung looked down as the pressure drew his attention. The rat, Devon, had scurried next to his leg and shivered as she looked out with fear. Another wave rose and Byung’s will clashed with it. Slowly, the crystal water began to reside, the waves grew ever closer. His breathing deepened as he pictured his hands outstretched to hold back the storm.

Then, as if riding upon thoughts itself, a black cat stepped onto the calm platform of water. The creature was familiar to Byung, though he couldn’t quite place it until Eldridge joined the creature’s side. With each step of the pair, Byung felt his mind ease and the crystal platform expand.

“I commend what you’re trying to do,” The light voice of the cat, Excel if Byung remembered correctly, echoed around him. “Unfortunately, you lack the skill and tools to succeed.”

Byung just stared, unsure what to think as the creature paced around him. All the while, Eldridge continued to walk forward and each step expanded the boundary of the calm. Devon, however, stepped towards the cat and sniffed the creature.

“Be calm, little one,” Excel said. “I will, no, we will facilitate, as that is Eldridge’s wish as well.”

She brought her mussel down and touched the rat, as her tail flicked and whipped Byungs right hand. The image broke, the trance gone, and Byung found himself staring at the rat before him.

Before he could react, the creature melted, if he could use that word to describe the flesh rolling over his hand. It molded and changed until it became a thick leather skating glove that Byung had owned in the past. He pulled up his hand and examined the creature closely. He could feel it feed off something from inside him, though it wasn’t much.

A grunt drew Byung’s attention, and he realized was still in a battle for his life, and though he had saved one of the rats there were still countless more. With a deep breath he turned to face the wave, and though the fear was there in those beady eyes, most of the rats were deeper in the grips of the hunger than Devon had been.

“What say you Devon” Byung asked as he rolled his fists and lowered his balance. As if in reply, the glove shifted. Bits of teeth or bone began to protrude out of the front and formed some sort of iron knuckle or bone knuckle if you will. “I see,” Byung nodded as he stepped forward, prepared to do battle once more.

***

Falreath felt new knowledge of light flood his mind. No, it wasn’t new knowledge, but a deeper understanding of the laws of light he already knew. He could see how he might expand the dome, might better integrate his roar skill, but that was for another time. The dome was here and it held, any change would bring it down for a while, and that was unacceptable.

Instead Falreath changed his focus and turned to the street sign in his hand. In movies, in games, there was a propensity to use staves to focus one's magic. Could he use the street sign to do the same?

“Light flows” He wrote on a circle as he tried to embed it into the tip of the sign, along the diamond that held the deer. The circle started large and hovered over the sign before it condensed and branded itself on the metal. He tried to cast his will through the sign and felt it resist him.

“Yes, light flows,” He mumbled to himself as he pondered the question. “It flows, but what am I trying to do?”

He turned the piece of metal over and over as he pondered.

“I need to absorb my xenoid, convert it, then project it out once more.” He finally said as he looked at the Diamond shape and focused his mind.

Three circles started to form above the sign. Each separate circle moved along its own path. Falreath struggled as he sought out a pattern that would do what it is he wanted it to. After a few more seconds he decided to break it up into its parts.

He needed it to absorb the light first, so that is where he started. It was a struggle because he couldn’t think of what could draw in light. Light bounced, it moved but you couldn’t really contain it.

As time passed and his thoughts bounced in his mind, he rocked his head back and looked out towards the sky, towards space.

“A black hole!” he exclaimed as he turned his focus back towards the circles. In the first one he placed “Gravity pulls light in” unsure if it would work. The circle accepted the concept and the words solidified slightly more than the rest.

Embolden, he moved on to the next circle. For this he needed some way to convert the light, then adopt it to his will. Something like a solar panel or sun oven.

“Electricity, energy,” He mumbled as he placed, “Light is energy, energy only converts” in the next circle.

A basic truth sure, but a deep one, and one that required a few more layers before the circle finally took. Soon the first circle started to orbit the second, tied only by the edge.

For the final circle he needed something to project, to magnify, to condense the energy. “I am a kid with a magnifying glass.” It was the only thing he could think of, at least in the time he had. Luckily, the circle accepted the concept and was pulled to the other two. His will fought as he forced the circles to align, to merge with the sign.

Like with the first try, the three circles condensed, before they finally engraved themselves up on the diamond shaped slab of metal. Falreath let out a sigh as he tried to force his xenoid through the sign.

“What happened,” Eldridge exclaimed. “I can’t see. Ocel, did I blind myself?”

Falreath turned toward Eldridge and watched him gaze side to side while his hands moved before his eyes and back to his side.

Falreath looked around a bit before he realized the sign had absorbed all light in a ball around him. The ball of darkness was odd to him, as he could clearly see through it. More than see, he innately knew everything that went on in the ball.

“That’s me, my bad,” Farleath said as he pointed his staff up the hill and let loose upon the plague of rats.

“What’s you?” Eldridge asked.

A beam of light shot out and struck the first row, though it barely did any damage. After a few seconds and one rat down, Falreath stopped sending in his xenoid and the world simultaneously brightened and felt less clear.

“I can see!” Eldridge screamed as he stood, his head shifted around. “What was that C? Some kind of blind spell?”

“I suppose you could call it that,” Falreath said as he looked down at his staff.

It had some use, though it drained his xenoid to continue that attack.

“It is my new spell, condenses the light into a beam to attack.”

“Like a laser?” Eldridge asked as he turned to his friend.

“Shoot, enough of that,” he continued with a wave of his hand. “These rats are being controlled by something.”

“What do you mean?” Falreath asked as he looked up towards his friend.

“Ocel and I were just in a battle fighting against the creature’s will. It is emanating some sort of hunger.” Eldridge began his hands starting to fidget. “Not sure how to describe it, but I think it uses these rats as a method of hunting.”

“Did you try breaking it?” Falreath asked as he glanced back up at the battle.

The unknown man grappled with a few of the creatures as Byung covered his back with some sort of gloved weapon. Falreath’s thoughts paused for a second as he pondered how the mostly naked man managed to get a glove in the first place. The harsh off beat melody still permeated the air as a few of the creatures in the back started to chitter.

The air above the creatures began to condense and Falreath’s eyes widened as he realized what that meant. Before he could react, a figure blurred out of the forest and body slammed the casting creatures. “Hinklebottom!” Falreath exclaimed as shots of water went all over the place, not a one hitting any target he cared about.

“What, have you even heard a word I said,'' Eldridge said as he raised his voice and pulled Falreath’s attention.

“Sorry, had to watch the battle for a moment,” Falreath said as he turned to face his friend.

Eldridge let out a sigh before he continued to speak.

“As I was saying, even breaking that thing’s hold on one rat took most of what Ocel and I had in reserve. I doubt we could do it for the entire flock.”

“Flock,” Falreath mumbled as he turned back to the battle. “Is that what a swarm of rats is called?”

“I don’t know, not sure it matters at the moment. My point was, we need to find some way to break the hold it holds on these creatures.” Eldridge answered. “I’m sure your fear ward would overpower them then.”

“I see,” Falreath answered as he looked back at the staff and thought about the main property of light xenoid. “I might be able to do something about that, but, I need some time.”

“How much,” Eldridge asked as he turned back towards the hill.

“Not sure, give me as much as you can.” Falreath replied.

“Understood,” Eldridge said as he darted towards the fighting.