HROT: Spawn of War

Chapter 5: Exposure

Sweat poured down Blazing A's face and body as the intense heat from the Warnger's blast blinded him.  His knees were weak and his arms were heavy.  His strength felt dwindled, but he was the protector of Harout, and he dared not give in to this frailty.

To his surprise, the blasting came to an abrupt halt.  The Warnger collapsed in exhaustion.  He had made little progress toward waking Harout other than wearing Blazing A down.  Now, he gasped for breath and put his hands on his knees.  "You're stronger than I thought," the Warnger wheezed.

Blazing A's legs shook wearily as he struggled to keep his balance.  He felt so tempted to sit at the edge of Harout's bed, if only for a moment, but he knew he had to remain diligent.  The Warnger was weakened.  This was his chance to eradicate him.

Blazing A began jogging toward the titan as fast as he could.  Unfortunately, his knees buckled beneath him, and he fell face-first on the giant bed.

The Warnger's eyes lit up.  Blazing A was down.  This was his chance to muster the energy to shoot Harout straight in the eye and awaken the great Creator.

As he began to gather all his remaining energy, he was suddenly knocked to the ground. The Doctor let out a roar of aggression and smacked the titan so hard he was launched fifty feet away.

The Warnger shook his head to clear it and struggled to his feet as The Doctor stood between him and Blazing A.  "You won't win that easily," The Doctor warned.

The Warnger snickered.  "Now you've made me angry," he growled.  The two great beings prepared to clash.

Tony, Scott, Leon, Alex, and Kieran trotted down a dirt path in the middle of an expansive field.  "We can wander around all we like," Tony said. "It doesn't bring us any closer to finding Kyle and Pore."

"He's right," Leon agreed.  "We need to find a way to locate them without searching every corner of the globe."

"Yeah, but how?" Scott inquired.  "We don't know any of Pore's associates, and even if we did, they'd probably kill us rather than tell us how to find her."

"No," Tony replied bluntly, without adding another word.

"You've been pretty quiet since we picked you up," Kieran remarked to Alex.

The Parallel Quagmire's head hung low. "I feel bad about trying to kill you guys.  You can't be too careful nowadays, but what I did to you was uncalled for."

"I may have a little burn on my ankle from your pee, but I don't hold any hard feelings against you," Kieran replied cheerfully.

"Just don't try to do anything like that again, okay?" Tony warned.

A look of shame was on Alex's face. "I'm sorry," he said woefully.  "I'll make it up to you guys.  I'm not a bad person.  I just want to help my friend."

"If you want to help your friend, help us figure out where he is," Tony replied.

"Hold up!" Scott broke in. "That's it!"

"What is, Scott?" Leon asked.

"David!  He's the key."

"Who?" Alex asked.

"David Byland," Scott announced dramatically. "The man of many friends. He keeps to himself, but he has contacts all over HROT. He could rally more allies to us, and maybe even find out where Pore is hiding Kyle."

"But where do we find David?" Tony asked.

"The Rotten Desert," Scott replied ominously.

"Oh god." Alex shivered. "Why does he live there?"