"By the Margax?" Kai exclaimed.
"Yes sir!" The guard replied, panting heavily. "They broke through the barrier with some strange weapon. We have no idea how they did it."
"How long do we have?" Kai asked, his voice urgent. He felt a surge of adrenaline, his senses sharpening.
"Not long," the guard said, shaking his head. "They're already starting to enter the village. We need to act fast."
"Alright," Kai said, his mind racing. "Narcen, stay here and protect the villagers. I'll deal with the invaders."
Narcen nodded, his slit eyes filled with determination. "Be careful, Kai."
Kai turned to the guard. "Lead me to them."
Together, they sprinted through the winding streets of the village, the sounds of battle growing louder with each step. Kai could hear the clash of steel, the shouts of warriors, and the screams of the wounded. The air was thick with the smell of smoke and blood.
As they approached the village's outer bounds, Kai saw them - the Margax warriors. They were larger and more heavily built than the Kowxlincui, their scales a darker shade of green. They wielded crude but effective weapons, and their eyes gleamed with a savage intensity. They were approaching
"There they are," the guard said, pointing to the invaders. "They're probably going to take try and the central square. We need to stop them before they gain a foothold."
Kai nodded, his eyes narrowing. He engaged his cosmic magic, his brown eyes now steadily glowing purple, the outer sclera a greyish-black, he was ready.
"Leave this to me," he said, his voice low and steady. "Tell all the other guards and fighters to get to safety. If any of the Margax lizardman get passed me, you have permission to strike. This is my fight now."
The guard hesitated for a moment, then nodded and ran off to gather the defenders. Kai took a deep breath, centering himself. He knew he could surely gain the village's trust by winning. The question was, could he win?
A few days earlier, he realized something. His magic changes strength depending on the cycle of the moon. A waxing moon would increase his power significantly over a period of 7 days. However, when he fought the strange panther monster, the moon was nearly at its peak, just past full. Kai never really looked at the moon often, never saw it's beauty. But now he was in a love-hate relationship with it.
He wasn't very confident. This was practically an army he was facing. Just a while ago, he was a normal kid. He was confident that telling all the Kowxlicui soldiers to back off was a good idea, he would end up accidentally killing some if they didn't evacuate.
He stepped forward, into the square, and faced the invaders. The Margax warriors turned to him, their eyes filled with surprise and contempt.
"A human?" one of them sneered. "What's a puny human doing here?"
The lizardman's tail swished back and forth, his the claws of his feet digging in the dirt.
Kai didn't reply. He simply raised his hand, his eyes glowing with a bright, starry light. The air around him began to shimmer and distort, and the ground beneath his feet trembled. A deep, almost synthesized bass strummed in the air.
"What the-" the Margax warrior began, but his words were cut short as Kai shot a pulse of nebula at him. As he shot the beam, the low distorted bass rose in octaves, letting out a high pitch screech.
The area around him was engulfed in a purple light, and a deafening screech echoed. When the light subsided, the the Margax warrior, along with a few around him, were laying. as dismantled corpses
Although Kai took out these soldiers with ease, they were bottom ranks there was much stronger to come, and there were so many that he couldn't possibly save everyone in the village. There would certainly be many who would get past him and he didn't want to destroy the village that they just build back up, so he would have to leave it up to the friendly soldiers.
Kai chuckled nervously and muttered to himself. "Getting involved in lizardman politics was a strange plot twist."
He had another thought, but it was interrupted.
A burly Margax warrior, seemingly a one of the generals at least in rank, stepped forward. He was larger than the others, his scales a deep, almost black, shade of green. He hefted a massive warhammer, its head etched with crude runes. "You may have taken out Grolak and some of our other useless soldiers," he growled, his voice a low rumble, "but you're just one human. I don't even know why a measly human is here! We are the Margax! We will crush you and take this village for ourselves!"
The lizardman looked back at his subordinates. "Men! Don't interfere. I got this alone."
This guy is completely full of himself, Kai thought to himself.
With a roar, the Margax general charged, his weapon raised. Kai braced himself, his mind racing. He raised his hand, his eyes fixed on the charging warriors. "Asteroid!" he shouted, his voice ringing out.
A small, glowing lumpy sphere materialized above him, then shot towards the ground, landing amidst the Margax warriors and the general. The impact sent several of them flying, their bodies hitting the ground with sickening thuds. The others stumbled, momentarily disoriented. The general tanked the hit, and kept running at Kai, screaming maniacally, his massive warhammer whistling through the air as he swung it towards Kai. The sheer force of the blow sent a shockwave rippling through the ground, kicking up dust and debris. Kai narrowly dodged the attack, rolling to the side as the warhammer crashed into the earth where he had been standing moments before, leaving a sizable crater.
Kai realized how quick his senses have gotten, and how light his body felt.
Heh, I would've been the villages best Dom Ball player if I was like this. He thought to himself. Quickly he shook his head and snapped back to reality.
"You're quick, human," the general growled, his reptilian eyes narrowed. "But you can't dodge forever."
Kai quickly regained his footing and countered, "Solar Wind!" A blast of superheated air erupted from his outstretched hand, slamming into the general's chest. The Margax warrior stumbled backward, his thick scales smoking, but he quickly regained his balance, a snarl twisting his snout.
"Is that all you've got?" the general taunted, his voice a low rumble. He spat on the ground, a glob of saliva hissing as it hit the scorched earth. "You'll need more than parlor tricks to defeat me!"
"Bullshit!" Kai spat. "That should be searing hot! How does that not do anything!?"
"That's why we're superior to you humans," the lizardman said back with a grin.
As they fought, Kai could hear the sounds of battle echoing from the village behind him. The Margax warriors who had slipped past him were engaging the Kowxlincui defenders, the clash of steel on steel ringing through the air. He knew he had to end this fight quickly, not just for his own sake, but for the safety of the village.
"Magnetar!" Kai shouted, focusing his cosmic energy. A powerful magnetic force emanated from a materialized blue orb in the sky. The general struggled against the invisible force, his claws digging into the ground, and he started to cough blood, his warhammer clattering to the ground as he lost his grip. The lizardman could feel the strong pull of his armor to the orb.
"What kind of sorcery is this!" he screamed. His sharp teeth visible.
With a swift movement, Kai transitioned to his next attack. "Nebula!" A cloud of shimmering, multicolored gas enveloped the general, obscuring him from view.
Instead of using nebula as a weapon, he decided to use it as a cover to disorient the general. He learnt he could do that when he played around with the ability at a pond one night.
Kai could hear the general's muffled shouts and the sound of his thrashing as he tried to escape the cloud of sparkling dust.
Seizing the opportunity, Kai closed the distance, his eyes glowing with a fierce, light. He raised his hand, his fingers splayed wide. "Luminant star"
The glowing orb shot into the nebula's dust, igniting it, resulting in a huge explosion. Soldiers all around went flying, and the generals grunts went silent.
What was left behind was only a faint shimmer in the air.
Kai stood panting, his chest heaving, his eyes still dimly glowing with his cosmic magic activated.
He also learned that, without cosmic magic activated - when his eyes don't glow purple and his sclera is a normal white, that he is a normal human. He new this would be a great weakness in the future, but he needed to give it thought later, as he had more important things going on in his head.
He had defeated the general, but the battle was far from over. More Margax warriors were pouring into the village as he looked behind him in the distance, their savage cries echoing through the streets. He could see the Kowxlincui defenders fighting bravely, their spears and swords flashing in the fading light. But he could tell they were outnumbered, and the Margax warriors were relentless.
He looked ahead of him, another batallion was coming, with more lizardman generals all looking tougher than the one he just fought, and what was presumably the leader.
"Shit," Kai muttered to himself. He was already tired from just that one general. He suspected that without him here, the Kowxlicui tribe would be utterly destroyed. "How the hell are these guys so damn strong!?"
Kai knew this was going to be a long night.