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throes the powerful beak might be able to snap his thigh bone like a dried twig. His leap carried him next to the Soulstone, and Zarim holstered his firearm and reached for the glowing gem. The Soulstone was as big as a large man’s fist, but Zarim was able to grip it with just one hand. He tucked it under his arm and jumped over the edge of the nest and went skidding down the sloping, jungle-covered mountainside.  
    A screech came from above. Zarim turned and saw the mother in the midst of a dive directly towards him, anger obvious in her eyes. With the Soulstone in one hand and his sword in the other, Zarim considered his options. The cliff wasn’t too steep, he could likely make it down quickly—maybe too quickly, should he miss a step. But the question was whether or not he could make it down fast enough to avoid the pterosaur.  
    It came to Zarim’s attention that the Soulstone’s glow was brighter than ever. He stared down at it, and it was now a steady light. His own eyes reacted, matching the glow of the Soulstone. Zarim felt something flow through him. He stared at the Soulstone, feeling its power flow from his arm, through his body and into the hand that held his sword. Looking to his blade, he saw green lines of energy slowly flowing down the length of the steel—all the way to the tip, which now flickered with the same glow as the stone.  
    The pterosaur seemed frightened by the effect. She roared, but it sounded like there was fear in her noise. Zarim narrowed his eyes. He raised the sword, pointing the tip at her. The pterosaur screeched again, wheeling towards her nest, trying to protect her remaining children. Zarim held the sword back, his eyes flashing with a power he’d never known before. He rushed her, placing one foot on the edge of the nest and then pouncing up. The height of his leap was greater than he’d ever reached before. Zarim raised the blade over his head, locked eyes with the creature, and brought the sword down upon her head. His steel pierced through her skull easily, then continued on, slicing through her body and cleaving her neatly in two halves.
    Though he had vanquished the matron pterosaur, Zarim’s leap had unfortunately carried him far out over the edge of the nest, and now he plunged into a thick screen of raking foliage, and began bouncing down the cliff-side. Finally, bruised and battered, Zarim tumbled to a stop. The strange fire in Zarim’s eyes flickered and subsided. He looked at the sword, still clutched in white-knuckled grip, and found it was now back to its regular steel form, nothing out of the ordinary. Even the Soulstone seemed to cease its pulsating glow and now seemed like nothing more than an ordinary jade orb, if ever there was such a thing.

    Ekala placed her hands in the stream, lifting the water up and cleaning the dragon’s blood from her face. She wiped her arms down next, scrubbing as best she could with the palms of her hands. She splashed some more water on her face, then shook her hands semi-dry. Standing from the stream, she went back to the spot where the dragon once stood.  
    Only half the dragon had been destroyed in the explosion. The other half was more or less intact, and Swul stood over it with a large knife, slicing the scaled pelt from the bones, cigar protruding from one side of his mouth. Ekala came by his side and watched him work.  
    “This stuff valuable, huh?”  
    “Yup.”  
    “Anything I can help with?” she asked.
    “Think you can find our fearless leader?” asked Swul.  
    Ekala reached for her belt and drew the communicator. It has clearly seen better days, dented in several spots and the antennae bent in two places. “Got damaged while we were dealing with the dragon. All I get is static.”
    Swul grunted. “So what now?”  
    She shrugged. “Guess you stay here. I’ll scout around, see if I can pick up trail.”
    Swul removed the cigar and shook his head. “Uh-uh. We stick together, sister. I ain’t