Adrok couldn’t help but stare at Eldin. It reminded him back when he was younger. The boy had a mantle symbolizing that he was indeed an elementalist, and after watching him fight, was able to glean that he was proficient. Yet still very much lacking. “Impressive for his age. And little Lumina has grown into a fine warrior indeed. No doubt she went through hell under Milli’s guidance.”

  He chuckled to himself a little as he moved his chair to the edge of the balcony and took a seat. It seemed he had found a decent form of entertainment. Not to mention, he was curious about the incredibly talented young man.

  He watched Lumina deftly avoid the gaping maws, and perform acrobatic moves that really didn’t seem possible. “Interesting. She moves like her mother, but I don’t see her using any ice to help facilitate her movements. Most intriguing indeed.”

  Focusing back on the unique boy, he watched as he started collapsing the holes around them, blocking or at least slowing the influx of prairie dog enforcement. All the while using blasts of fire and ice. The young man was single handedly keeping the monsters at bay while the other workers were simply struggling with clearing the few that were in front of the vehicle.

  Adrok continued to watch them wade through many of the blood-crazed beasts. Lumina easily jumped over and landed on one of them, stunning it with her shield before skewering it with her sword. It was easy to tell that she was acting as the vanguard for the transport.

  He watched as the talented young elementalist incinerate another fifty-pound beast with relative ease. It seemed they would make their way through the fields and to the town. Curiosity got the better of Adrok as he left the balcony and paid for his water before heading to the front gate to meet them.

  Normally, the guards of a town or city question people before they allow entry. However, due to the unusual and recent problematic bloodthirsty prairie dogs. They were forced to keep their gate closed. Every guard posted on the wall had watched the entire battle of the auto-transport as they fought through the many beasts. There was no questioning required. By the time the vehicle’s group reached the gate, they were already opening it. “Hurry!” One of the guards called out as he watched the brave troupe pass through.

  Lumina let her guard down once the gate closed and took a seat against the wall. “Why would prairie dogs attack us? And they were huge!”

  Eldin stood across from her taking deep breaths. “First a giant wolf? And now massive prairie dogs?” He couldn’t believe the absurdity of he situation.

  Eyeing Lumina, he could see that she was also winded from the intense fighting. He tried to lighten the mood; You know. Prairie dogs are omnivorous. That’s why they tried to eat us.” He finished his statement with a chuckle.

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  “Oh, shut it.” She replied, trying not to smile. She hated when Eldin tried his hand at jokes. Her friend’s since of humor was fairly non-existent.

  Eldin congratulated the other men for a job well done. They managed to get to Alice Springs in one piece, and no one was severely injured. “Thanks to you Eldin.” Flip replied. “We didn’t believe you were an elementalist, but after how you saved our skins. We have never been so grateful to be wrong.” With his thanks given, Flip started gathering the tired men telling them that they still had a job to do loading water.

  Eldin and Lumina stopped talking to each other when they heard the sound of deliberate slow clapping.

  “Well done. That was some of the best entertainment I have had in a while.”

  Turning to face the source of clapping, Eldin responded with a good deal of annoyance. “Life or death battles are not a form of entertainment.” He sucked in his breath when he saw who was clapping. Eldin had never met the man, but the badge labelling him as a primordius was all he needed to see. “You must be Adrok.”

  Adrok smiled pridefully, “As you say. It seems I am at a disadvantage not knowing yours.”

  Eldin wasn’t sure if the guy was telling the truth or not. There was a feeling of intimidation just being near him. The fact that he was part of his mother’s group and supposedly smarter than his dad only made the obvious gap in power more… obvious. Eldin once again felt himself a lesser man staring at the epitome of magical power. “I’m Eldin. Milli and Elrin’s son.”

  It was subtle and extremely brief, but Eldin caught the flash of surprise in the man before him. “That is most interesting. I had no idea that the two of them had grown so close together.” Adrok replied as he looked at Lumina who was still sitting against the wall.

  She didn’t know why; she didn’t know how. But once she returned Adrok’s stare, Lumina felt an overwhelming sense of dread wash over her. Something about that man was setting off all alarms of danger. Her instincts were going crazy.

  “You must be Lumina. I was curious as to when you were going to set out on your own.” She heard Adrok state.

  Standing up, and brushing the dirt from her battle dress, Lumina forced herself to walk forward. Bravado and stubbornness were the only things keeping her from fleeing. She wanted to quip back, but her thoughts were a mess. Not to mention, you really couldn’t give a decent retort when all someone did was say your name. She found herself at a loss for words. Her body was still telling her to flee.

  Adrok smiled inwardly watching their reactions. The fact that the two knew they were completely outclassed attested that they were indeed capable fighters. He had always found it a bore when lesser men, who were unable to gauge the gap in power bother him. Something about watching powerful people squirm under his presence left an odd, socially sadistic sense of satisfaction. “You must be tired after murdering so many innocent creatures. Follow me.” Adrok joked as he started walking off.

  Curiosity and the drive to know more compelled Eldin to follow. Lumina on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the terrifying man. Her sisterly habit of wanting to keep Eldin safe was the only driving force she used to follow.

  The other men who had also been in the fight with the prairie dogs were confused and frustrated. Not only had they risked their lives too, but some random guy took two people from the transport. That meant that they were stuck with doing more work loading the goods. Although they openly protested, not one of them moved from the vehicle. Each of them felt like something bad would happen if they tried to stop them.