I sat just off from the road looking at the monkey's marble. I had run and walked for what seemed like several hours to get away from the battle site, then found a secluded spot to hide. The cloud of free magicicles surrounding my inner system was starting to rotate in time with my crystal core, but I wanted to give it time to stabilize before I did any more magic. 

- So little monkey, do I risk your memories in the hope of learning your magic secrets, or process you clear and see if I get anything then? 

I looked up at a roar from something big in the phantom forest. I couldn't see anything from where I was, and all though it sounded large, it also sounded like it was quite a way away. 

- I wonder if the really big and powerful creatures get stuck into the phantom trees like I did? If that huge serpent monster the fairy and I watched is any indication, I bet most of them get trapped in between the trees. If they do manage to break a tree, I can imagine that the resulting light display ends things quickly. 

I sat quietly, rolling the marble around my fingers, working on smoothing out eddies and whirls in my internal magicicle cloud. 

….. 

I got hungry, so I processed one of the wolves' marbles, it came out clear with minute gold flecks. 

- The electrical arc will blow the black whirlpool into glittery particles, but it doesn't have much of an effect on the gold sun. Does the sun have a resistance to electricity, maybe weak again something else? 

I popped the marble into my mouth and my hungry abated. 

My internal magicicle dust storm had thinned out to the point where I could sense my core again. The cyclones had become larger and much denser, to the point I thought, given a little encouragement, they might start condensing magicicles into liquid. The disk had become quite thick, and had spread out to the edge of my chest, while the two orbiting spheres had started to create differentiated bands in the disk.  

- It looks like I might get more rings around the crystal core. There are a bunch of things I want to experiment with, but I've been in one spot too long. I need to find some where I can safely deal with the monkey's marble and try my ideas out. 

I got up and started down the road again. 

- If there are roads there are probably buildings where I can find safe shelter. Maybe I can find something to mount a marble in that I can zap through, holding it between my fingers is a bit awkward.  

I walked for endless kilometres as the road continued to follow the forest edge. Eventually it fording a small river, then moved away from the tree line to pass around a small ridge that reached out of the forest. As I rounded the ridge a large village, surrounded by fields, sat on the opposite bank of a larger river. A tall wooden tower looked over the gated bridge that the road crossed to enter into the red tile roofed village. As continued down the gravel road, hard packed dirt roads lead off into the large grain fields, bordered by short stone walls made up of the rocks that were removed from the fields after winter.  I could see part of the ridge had been excavated, probably as a gravel quarry to supply road materials, the rest looked like it had been logged clear, pushing back the forest’s edge. Water wheels spotted the large river's edge, lifting water over the banks and into irrigation ditches that ran off into the fields that spanned both banks. Larger water wheels attached to large buildings sat on the river's edge downstream from the village, probably meant to power saws or mill stones. 

- Looks prosperous for its tech level. Should be a good spot to safely experiment. 

A small rise in the road over the end of the ridge let me look towards the village, and the dirt cross roads that lay ahead. At the next intersection I could see something moving. 

- Not one thing, but a bunch of things. 

I moved over to the side of the road, stepped over the low wall, and into the fields edge. Crouching down I sneaked alone the wall till I got to a spot where I could get a better look. 

- Those are odd looking. 

There was eight, one-meter-tall lizards, wearing leather harnesses, and standing on their hind legs. They were hunched over, hiding behind the low wall across the road, their tongues flicking in and out madly. One in the back, a large pouch hanging from its harness, seemed to be muttering to its self while making strange shapes with its hands. 

- Looks like a surprise party set up just for me. I wonder what the guy in the back is doing? 

I didn't waste much time watching them. I raised my hand, marble between my fingers, and extended a leader line out. 

- This is annoying, I'm hitting everything but the ambushers.  

The line kept locking on to the wall or the stalks of wheat, then jumping off to the next point. When I finally got in to lock on to one of lizards, I decided to try something new. I anchored the leader to the lizard, then extended a new leader to the next lizard in line. The fourth leader kept jumping from point to point, causing all the earlier locks to jitter.       

- Three seems to be the max I can get before I lose it. 

I build up a good charge and pushed it through the marble. 

“Surprise!”- Me 

A blue arc cleared the road and sent the three lizards flailing in twitching fits, knocking two more to the ground. By the time the remaining three realized what happened, I had set up a new leader line. The electric snap sent that lizard to the ground. The two knocked down got up quickly, joining one of the two that I had not hit. They vaulted their wall and were all now running towards me. 

"Wahaa!”- Me 

- Damn they are quick! No time, got to go all evil emperor them. 

I spread my fingers wide and shot leader lines out, only a couple connected with the charging lizards. Electricity arced out in a fan, throwing two of them hard to the ground. The third was much luckier and launched its self over my wall with a hissing yell, slamming into me before I could launch another attack. I landed on my back, the lizard landed on my chest knocking the wind from me. Gasping for breath I tried to scream as the lizard jaws clamped down on my right hand, its front claws digging into my chest. 

“Nooo!”- Me 

I slammed my left fist in to the side of its head once, then twice, finally sending it flying off of me. The pain from its jaws ripping off my hand sent white lightening through my body. 

- I'm not going to de-rezz! None of the damage is real, it's just temporary pain. Get up! 

I blinked my eyes to clear the white flashes and rolled over to see where the lizard was now. The lizard was twitching and rolling around on the ground, whimpering and growling. 

- Did I hit him that hard? 

I winced as my mangled hand hit the ground, and I collapsed, pulling my hand in close. 

“Crapp!”- Me 

I rolled onto my knees and forced myself to concentrate, raising my left hand, I zapped the drooling monster. The arc sent it into a frenzied spasm before blowing into a cloud of grey dust mixed with silver, gold and black. I zapped the black gas as it started to clump together sending a glittery shower of crystalline particles over the mess.  

- That was dramatic. I think it swallowed the marble from my hand. 

I stumbled over to the low wall and peered over. The two lizards on the road were slowly recovering from my electric shock, and unsteadily getting back up. My first arc sent one into de-rezz, while my next shot only knocked the second back to the ground. 

A sound caught my attention, and focus shifted to the opposite side of the road. The mumbling lizard from before had a small flame in his hand which he was holding like a pitcher winding up to strike out his last batter. I ducked. A whoosh of flame scattered up and over the small wall I had hid behind, leaving behind a small greasy haze. 

- Where the hell did it get magic from? 

I peeked back over the wall. The lizard mage was no longer in sight.  

- Smart little bugger. 

I sat back down and grabbed my right hand and started to straighten out the fingers. It took a while, with me whimpering and yelling the whole time. Another quick look over the wall showed the second lizard in the street was de-rezzing, but no mage. I wiggled my fingers on my savaged hand. 

“Still looks like mom’s sausages.”- Me. 

- I can't give him enough time to cast again. Move down a way and try to sneak across, or charge and hope for the best?  

“Or run like a chicken from a goblin.”- Me 

- Sneak, and if that doesn't work, then imitate the chicken. 

I peeked again, and caught a glimpse of something moving down the road. 

- Little bastard's sneaking across the road.  

I moved away from the wall, hid in the tall wheat, and waited. Time ticked away as I painfully worked on my hand, waiting for the mage to make his appearance. A snout, tongue flicking like mad, slowly poked out from the grass by the wall. The rest of the lizard followed as it creeped quietly towards where I had been. When it cleared the grass, I raised both hands and landed a leader from each on it. Twin arcs snapped across the distance, sending the lizard slamming into the wall, landing in a twitching heap. 

“That's for stealing my idea.”- Me 

I walked over to watch as it de-rezzed. 

- Umm somethings not right here. 

I looked closer at the lizard's harness. 

“Didn't the mage have a pouch on its belt?”- Me 

A whoosh by the wall told me that the mage had out smarted me. 

A wave of red flame burst on my back as I tried to curl up and protect my face. I screamed as my back and shoulders felt like the skin had been ripped off. The pain was pushed aside by horror as grey dust dropped down in front of my face. 

- Am I de-rezzing?  

The smell of burnt hair sent a flood of relief through me as I realised that the grey was just my burnt hair falling. I was sent falling onto my face as something slammed into my agonizing back. I flipped over snarling, kicking out at the mage, one of my legs clipped its shoulder sending it sprawling.  I howled again as the ground tore at my burnt back, as I threw up my hand and sent a fan of electricity at the unsteady mage. It hissed like a steam train as it flipped forward by its spasming tail, it stopped twitching as it landed close by. I pointed my still messed up right had towards the still smoldering mage as it was hissing and desperately trying to cast at me again. As our eyes met, I smiled through the pain. 

“Your magic is too slow”- Me  

As the large electric arc hit the lizard I could feel, and hear, what felt like someone ripping a static charged blanket off a bed all over my raw back. I jerked off my back and onto my side facing the mage, struggling to see past the black spots the pain was plastering across my vision. I almost passed out in relief when I saw that my last shot had sent it into de-rezz. When I fried the black whirlpool, I could feel electric jolts all along my side against the ground. 

-@#$% that hurts! I must be completing a circuit through the ground when I zap something. Maybe my shoes have been dulling the feel before? 

I watched the mage's pale bead speed off then lay there for a long time as my body, hair and cloths slowly return to normal. Even after my mangled right hand had healed, there was still a glossy black line across the palm from filling up my inner system earlier. 

- I've got to get better at this combat thing. Can't rely on luck forever. 

I got up, slowly, and collected the marbles left behind. The mage’s soul marble was medium sized and frosted silver, the rest were a bit smaller, except the lizard that exploded. That marble was the largest I have yet seen, and was a very dark grey. 

“Cool!”- Me 

- Odd, my slime buddy didn't blow up when he ate marbles, then again, I didn't zap him while he was eating either. 

I stepped back on to the road and limped towards the waiting village.