Chapter 52

The chiefs began to disperse, but I held Ayla and Miggy back. Larry had appeared, nudging at my hip affectionately. I scratched his head.

‘So,’ I said.

‘So,’ said Ayla. ‘This is how you sky people fight?’ She grinned. ‘I could get used to this. I have gotten used to it.’

‘Good,’ said Miggy, ‘use that energy. We’re going to need every last drop of it today.’

‘Yeah,’ said Ayla, ‘by the way, what are the Doomsday Trials?’

‘Another time,’ I said hastily. We definitely did not have time to go through that now. Ayla nodded, turning to leave, though before she did, she grabbed me. I felt her enhanced strength as she pulled me in and kissed me. Hard and deep, and for a moment the battlefield was gone. The approaching enemy. And all there was was me and this girl alone in a tent on a starry night.

She pulled away, the spell not quite dissipating. She put her hand on my cheek and walked away without a word.

‘I don’t know how you can leave that,’ said Miggy. ‘I couldn’t. I’m not actually.’ Strangely and for once, the young chief looked sheepish. ‘I’m in love, with Gosha. We’re to be united. It’s like getting married, well the Stone Epoch version of it.’

‘That’s…that’s great!’ I pulled him in for a hug. Larry too rubbed his head against Miggy’s chest, pawing at him like he was a kitten and not a prehistoric sovereign beast.

‘Thanks,’ said Miggy, struggling to breathe as Larry leaped off him. He took a deep breath. I grinned. I didn’t know Gosha well, Ayla’s young cousin. But what I did know was what she had done to my friend. The young avatar who had spent six months alone in a cave. Who had chosen the life of a thief over community. I had watched as that same boy was now named chief. With a life. Soon to be united with the woman he loved.

And I knew he’d never leave. Because this place, savage as it was, had given him something he’d never had before.

Something worth fighting for.

He was looking at me strangely now. ‘What is it?’ he said. ‘Nothing, having second thoughts are you?’

‘Nope,’ I said confidently. ‘I’ve made my choice.’

His face fell slightly. ‘Oh, I just thought-‘

‘I’m staying.’ Hesitation flickered on his young features. His eyes widened.

‘What?’

‘I said I’m staying!’

‘That’s, that’s…’

‘No time to get mushy,’ I said. I could hear movement. The sounds of hundreds of footsteps across the bone dry plain. ‘We have a battle to win. You remember the plan, right?’

Miggy nodded. ‘Yeah, I have everything I need, confirmed in the developer zone. Once you’ve sent the signal. I’ll start.’ He frowned. ‘Timing will be tight. This could all go horribly wrong you know. No one, and I mean no one has ever done this before. Not here in the Stone Epoch at least.’

I placed my hands on his shoulders. ‘That’s why it’s going to work.’

He looked to the side. ‘Umm, that makes no sense.’

We left it at that. Besides, the sovereign’s presence had worn off. I was out of charisma. Out of speeches. It didn’t matter.

This was the final piece. The thing I’d been missing for such a long time. This place was worth fighting for. The people here, worth fighting for. Kaleo had been right all along.

All that stood between me and the life I’d always dreamed of was a monstrous avatar with an axe to grind and my name on it.

‘For Kaleo,’ I muttered, low under my breath, as somewhere out there Ironclad awaited me. ‘For my father.’

Larry roared.

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The Battle of the Summit began, as I charged forwards upon Larry. Midnight was safely stowed in my inventory. I still didn’t know the limits of its power. I had further examined it and saw that it used some resource I’d never heard of called spirit. The last thing I needed was using up Midnight’s power on some low level mobs, only to find it out of juice when the real battle began.