Five cabochons of tiger's eye were ensnared by a flurry of obsidian, and garnets. By weight alone, you could tell it was a sizable force of power. I placed the box back in the chamber, and folded the bracelet open to admire its full beauty  

Examining the faces of each stone puts the viewer in a trance-like state.  Invigorated with courage, and motivated to achieve, but trapped in place, like watching a spokesman at a rally.

It took a fair bit of effort, but I managed to glance towards Selene, who was also captivated by the bracelet’s presence.

I guess we were too distracted to hear the ticking. A sharp pain in the center of my back, I could feel my spinal cord evaporating.  They force rocketed me towards a far off rubble wall that used to stand.  As I blacked out in the rubble, I could only feel my arms, and neck. In the assault, the Bracelet of Command managed to ensnare its way onto my wrist.  

The heaviness of it pulled me further from peace.  I could feel the weight of thousands of souls, pleading for a release. I suffered through eons of torment in an instant. I snapped awake, to the sound of my bones snapping, and regenerating.  That sound will continue to haunt my waking life.  

As my vision came into focus, I could see an empty healing vial in front of my slumped over body. Selene was bracing herself infront of me.  She managed to set up one of her blue barriers across two pieces of large stone debris that remained after I struck the wall.  The stone was breaking down, and the monstrosity wasn’t even hitting it directly.  

Selene’s face told me the barrier didn’t have long, and I screamed at my legs to move me with my entire being.  I could feel a twitch start a shake, and then I kicked off, and darted apart from Selene.  She jumped to another wall on the other side of the court yard I now found myself in.  

The dust billowed up, and shrouded the mechanical man.  My legs still were mostly unresponsive, so I found I could only survey my surroundings for something useful.  There were many shops, and businesses surrounding me, but they were too far for me to sprint too, even if my legs did work right.

I envied Selene, as she tucked herself into a good vantage point. She seemed transfixed on something behind me.  As I turned around I found I was standing in front of a crudely built stand, holding a finely crafted rocket.  It stood several stories tall, and I am amazed such a small stand could hold such a weight.  

I tried to concoct a plan, but the dust settled, and the golem was revealed.  My body tensed, and the machine flashed forward. I could only act on instinct, throwing my hands up, and shouting “No!”

I felt the primal rejection radiate from my heart, and bolt down my arm, amplifying through the bracelet.  My joints cracked in unison, and the golem was stunned for a moment. Finger lengths away from impacting another crippling strike.  

Up close, I could see there was a small glow of orange light coming from a slim slit in what would be a man’s head.  Thankfully, my body responded to my begging, and I took several steps back from the clockwork man.  Pressing my back against the rocket’s brace.  The beast stood motionless only for a short while, then began to twitch awake.  

I started rummaging around in my pockets for something I could use to injure the golem.  Selene seemed to have the same idea in mind, as several bolts of white glow sank into its head with a thud.  The golem seemed to be somewhat slighted by the impact, and broke its gaze with me.  

As it twisted towards Selene, my fingers glanced against something that proved to be somewhat useful.  I retrieved a pop cap, and clutched it in my hand. The golem’s legs began to hum, as another flurry of bolts came from Selene’s nest.  A cluster struck the golem at once, but several richochted towards me.

I tightened up, and braced for impact, but I didn’t get what I was expecting.  My ears were triggered before my eyes were opened, by a loud whirring sound put off by the Copper Cog.  The gem in the center glowed intensely with energy.  I urged it to flow through me, and with a moment I found it moving to my pop cap.  It started to shake in my hand, and was still vibrating when I threw it into the volley of bolts still cascading from Selene.  

A fiery explosion erupted from the chaos.  I was held in place by the platform, so several fires broke out over my body.  I rolled as best I could, but I still found I lost a good eyebrow or two. The explosion seemed to take Selene off guard, who had to vacate her vantage point, as it was now covered in flaming plasma.  

The golem seemed to be hurt by the attack, its right leg was broken into pieces, and it seemed to be unable to move.  However, it released several small sentries from its hand, and they began to repair the damage.  Selene tried disabling them with more bolts, but the golem seemed to be able to produce an endless stream, and her breath was getting short.

I needed some way to end this beast quickly. I attempted another quick rummage, but the bracelet that wrapped my wrist continued to weigh heavy on me.  It made me slow my thoughts, and think of its original owner.  

Hala had luck with controlling the golem with the bracelet, and I managed to accidentally stun it.  The thought snapped to me, and I took a few steps forward to get a better line of sight to Selene.   I called to her to fire a wave of bolts towards me.  She was confused at first, but her desperation took over.  

As the bolts flew my way I welcomed them with open arms, and they slowly cascaded into the sunstone in the center of the Copper Cog.  The cog itself began spinning faster with every orb. Just the power seeping from the cog was enough to corrupt my vision.  I found it hard just to keep a steady breath, but with it I began to channel the energy through my arm.  

The beast was unable to move, and I angled myself towards it.  The torrent inside of me clouded my thoughts with primal rage, and furry.  I focused them all towards an explosive moment.  As the pieces fell into place, a single word erupted from me “Begone!”

My stomach heaved the energy from it, and I was flung up by the shockwave.  I was caught by something metal above the courtyard, and was able to take in the scene fully.  

The golem stood there motionless contemplating the command.  Then with a delicate strike, it punctured its head, and retrieved a large chunk of sunstone.  Its glow was bright enough to light up the entire courtyard.  

With its final motion, the mechanical man snapped his fingers, and shattered the stone into dust.  A searing hot energy swelled from the space, incinerating the mass of cogs, and plates.  I could feel the heat pass over me in waves, searing my cheeks.  The only thing that saved me was the copper cog absorbing the energy away from my vital organs.  

I looked at Selene from my perch, who was bathed in a bright white light. She was handling the heat fine, but something else made her fall to her knees.  I felt the thump of corruption too.  An evil gaze cast from a distant view, smothering everything it looks upon with soot.  Selene looked to be more affected than I did. 

Perhaps it was the cog, burning away the essence with its stored energy.  I took a small moment to shut my eyes to recenter myself.  I believe this to be a mistake, as the energy in the cog found it easy enough to escape through me using the sunstone ring as a bridge. 

I was woken moments later by a searing heat in my hand, and a loud rumbling beneath me. The metal perch that had caught me earlier turned out to be the dormant rocket engine.  The energy seemed to have sparked its thrusters. 

I desperately looked to Selene for help, but she was still recovering in her bright white aura.  She looked up at me as the rocket made more noise. Her hand stretched out for mine, as our eyes made contact, but it was too late.  The rocket was quick to fire off, with little exhaust, but still inspired a large cloud of dust to kick up.   

Selene, the courtyard, and the glowing light all faded in my view, as I continued to soar upwards.  The small flicker still had plenty of life left in it at the rate I was going.  However, it was snuffed out early, by something of tremendous size, which held the corrupted presence…

I was left only seconds to ponder what could be such a force, before I was crunched against the layer of sand that blocked the sky.

Once again sand was my entire existence, pausing only in the small gap between the two layers that held the intricately carved pillars.  My retinas almost popped when I was exposed to the blistering light of the full sun.  

My body was dragged off the edge of the rocket by the top layer of sand, and the ship continued onwards into the sky.  The scalding hot sands, and drying winds made me wish I had followed it into space.  I scrambled around for any means of shelter, and found it nearby in a small cave.  

I was alive, above the sands, with a pack full of treasures that will find me riches beyond my wildest dreams.  My body was shaking with adrenaline as the thoughts rushed over me, but when it all came to an end… I wept, as I found that the only truth is… that I am... alone.