Fin looked at the downed Commander, then down at his own hands. The multi-hued energy had faded, but the feeling remained. A connection. Power.
'What was that?' he thought. 'King stuff? Like the Queen?'
He walked over to Dan's unconscious form, still held by the shadowy tendrils. Keeping him alive served no purpose. Waste of space. 'Food,' the thought was simple, cold.
He stood over the Commander. "So," he asked, his voice quiet in the suddenly still forest. "Do I look more like a king now?"
Dan's eyes fluttered open. He saw Fin standing there, saw the calm certainty that hadn't been there before. A weak chuckle escaped him, rattling in his chest, stained with blood.
"Got to say," he rasped, managing a faint, humorless smile. "You're something else, kid. Would have loved... to fight you serious. From the start."
Fin considered that for a moment. "Yeah, well," he said flatly. "There are no do-overs."
