Public There Is Nowhere Safe to Sleep...

[Inik Arban]

"WAKE UP!"

Iniks' eyes shot open as the command roused him from his light slumber. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. His muscles tensed and his instincts prepared him to move.

A loud crack of thunder filled the large chamber, without hesitation Inik rolled away from the pillar he had propped himself against to rest as a bolt of lightning slammed into it and blew it apart.

Discerning the general direction the bolt must have come from Inik ducked behind an adjacent pillar keeping it between himself and where he figured the source of the attack had come from. As the dust from the destroyed pillar settled he took a breath to calm his nerves, his ears still ringing from the boom of the blast.

"Show yourself," Inik yelled. As he waited for a reply he tried to calculate his next move. "I don't have anything!"

"I'm quite aware of that," was the answer he received directly followed by another roar of thunder and the current pillar he was behind blowing apart.

The inertia from the blast sent Inik hurtling through the air but his nimble reflexes allowed him to twist and get his feet under himself again. He hit the ground running and was almost to the door from which he had entered when a wave of energy crashed into his backside. It threw him far past the large portal and face first into a wall.

 

[Inik Arban]

The ringing in his ears was louder now but Inik was determined to survive. He spun again, putting his back against the wall and scanning the room. His eyes darted left to right and back again but he did not see anyone. A sharp pain nearly took his leg out from under him, he managed to save his head from hitting the wall but his knee was a different story. Trying to keep himself together he winced and tried to take his weight off the damaged limb.

Iniks' eyes kept scanning, darting back and forth, his heart pounded in his chest. It appeared as though his life may be at its end. He decided he would not meet his end like this.

Remembering the dais with what appeared to be a large throne made of stone on it Inik kept his back to the wall and began to hobble towards the front of the room. When he reached the corner, he heard another roar of thunder and the pillar afront him towards the chambers' center blew apart sending small chunks of rock and dust into his face.

Inik coughed and frantically wiped the dust from his eyes as they began to tear. Still unable to see and struggling to catch his breath he leapt towards where the dais must have been, he had not been too far from it. He landed in a crouch, poised and ready to move again. However, he did not hear anything and his sight began to return albeit a little blurry.

"Show yourself," his confidence still audible through his labored breathing.