40. P O W E R : Finality

Remnant.

Disclaimer: As stated in "Dreams", Kai-En Khan belongs to @Varkhan . Go read his stories, they're seriously awesome!

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The sound of fists pummeling a duronium boxing pillar echoed through the massive training arena, resounding like cracks of thunder.

The young man whaling on the pillar felt no pain, despite the fact that blood—glowing, magma-like blood—was flowing from his knuckles as he demolished the pillar, which was made of one of the hardest substances in the known universe.

Memories flashed through his mind—battles, games, laughter, tears.

We always survived, he thought, gritting his teeth as he drove his fists into the rest of the pillar, which was now about thigh-height due to the top third having been reduced to shrapnel and ash. All of us. Every time. So why? Why did he choose now to waste his life on some worthless suicidal charge?

Even as the thought formed, the answer took hold of his mind, as it always did. He was sick of it. Sick of the hopeless hunt. Sick of fighting losing battles every day. He just wanted to rest... and to go out with a—

BANG

The man slammed his fist into the top of the pillar's remains, causing a shockwave of holy flame to explode outward and disintegrate the metal.

The man remained hunched over, panting heavily as boiling bubbles of sweat rolled down his dangerously-hot flesh. And now she's replaced you... like you were nothing more than a toy soldier.

A flash of anger made fire flare in the man's eyes, and he straightened up, his fists alighting with flames. He spread his red-hot wings as his feathery tail whipped back and forth, then crouched down as he prepared to take off—

"Letting off some steam, Liam?"

The man paused, turning to face the older man walking toward him from a distance.

Kai-En Khan of the Kin approached Liam slowly, his stance relaxed. Despite this, Liam could tell he was prepared for confrontation; years of training with Kai had attuned Liam to his tendencies and body language.

Liam let out a rueful chuckle in response to Kai's question and straightened up, taking a heatproof nanofabric towel from his hip and wiping the red-hot blood off his hands. "Can you blame me?" he asked, turning away from Kai. "I mean, if you lost a friend and had them replaced by a cheap copy in the same day, wouldn't you wanna let off some steam?"

"Of course. I'm not judging you for it—just wanna make sure you're doing it the right way." Kai raised an eyebrow, adding, "And for the record, hurting yourself isn't the right way."

Liam grunted—then swiped his foot with sudden force, sending the remnants of the duronium pillar up in a spray of dangerous shrapnel.

Kai reached out a hand.

The shrapnel froze in midair, enveloped in auras of red light.

"That temper of yours is gonna get someone hurt," Kai warned, giving Liam a stern look. "Someone else, that is," he added, gesturing to Liam's knuckles with his other hand. 

"What do you want, Kai?" Liam asked, sounding exasperated as he gave his mentor a sidelong look.

"I'm not here because I want something," Kai responded, letting the duronium shards fall to the floor. "I'm here because you need something."