Walking was soothing when he did not fear the ambush of enemies. He had never felt this comfortable since his feast with the dwarves. The coat kept him warm, and his radiance empowered and sustained him.
He stopped under the shade of a tall old tree. His nose tingled and he sniffed the air, he could smell salt and water, and he knew was close to the edge of the island.
His eyes met his feet and he could see the field of blue energy about them, and understood that this energy encapsulated his entire body. Many radiant beasts could sense aura from afar, at least he knew Hesk could, flashing so much radiance was certainly a bad idea.
'There has to be a way I can mask this, or at the very least reduce how much that shows.' He recalled the undead pirate, how its body flared with aura at will and how the aura muted and ceased when it wanted. Such control should not be out of reach of Mike, even if he could not generate his own radiance.
He had been lucky, ever since he had arrived, and even luckier that he had stumbled that hidden underground temple but now, he would have to rely largely on his efforts. His first step to escaping the radiant beasts was to mute his aura.
He sprawled on the cool soil beneath the tree, and out of boredom, he remembered what he would be doing with the sun out like this, either work or chilling by the beach, life was good on Earth, on Loonè—not so much.
He huddled, taking an embryonic position. He was solemn but the sadness in his mind soon gave way to emptiness, and with it, he concentrated, his mind's eye looking utterly inward, fixed on the energy channeled through his body.
Like decreasing the brightness of a lantern—he tried to think of it that way. Except he was the lantern and he was largely unfamiliar with the switch. The suns of Loonè were up in all of their glory indicating that it was early noon.
Mike stayed in that position, focusing and unmoving. The only thing that could perhaps pull him from his current level of focus would be the intrusion of another radiance. He was utterly still, even when the suns gave way for the moon.
His radiant aura had remained steady and bright across that time. Then suddenly, it shrank to just above his skin surface. He retained that level of radiance for about twenty minutes before opening his eyes.
"Still not enough," he mumbled, though his aura was a lot less bright and flashy, he could still be picked up by nearby radiant beasts. He had to reduce it, make himself imperceptible if he could.
Radiance ebbed gently across him as he refocused, channeling his concentration to the single act of keeping his energy in. A couple of minutes passed and he breathed outward; more radiance than air came out of his nostrils. He opened his eyes to see that none of his energy projected outward, and though it had taken close to a day, it had been a success, and Mike felt a wave of relief, like a target dot had been taken off his back.
He opened his eyes to see that the suns had risen, though the moon still hung up above. It was morning, still slightly dark. He stood up, feeling a mild ache in his muscles. He took a step, and the soil clamped on his foot at the spot he stood, his heart raced and he turned to see what or who was responsible for this.
He spotted a radiant beast, seeing through its camouflage, it blended so well with the soil and laid low that it was merely an act of luck that had Mike sight it. As soon as his eyes spotted the creature, the ground burst upwards and curved about him, encompassing him and sealing him shut.
"Good Job Logg." Hesk said to the shell-bearing turtle-esque creature by his side. Rocks jutted from the beast's shell, hinting on its earth element prowess.
Hesk crept forward, numbers of radiant beasts behind, relegating themselves to simply watching. The fiery beast stopped as its ears picked the sounds of cracks.
The earth shell over Mike split open and crimson chains spilled out looking more bloodthirsty than ever, red aura bathed them, giving them a ghoulish appearance. Six sprang at Hesk, intending to impale him against the ground but the beast was swift, and it leapt back spitting a ball of fire on the earthen shell.
BOOM!
Hesk's instincts urged him to look above and he saw Mike, shrouded by radiance with long red chains sticking out. The human fell on the ground with a boom, bringing a cloud of dust that masked his crimson chains, and they sprang forward.
Hesk escaped the few that lunged at him, but others were not as lucky. He heard whimpers and moans of pain behind him but he could not dare to be distracted. Either the chains understood him as the largest threat or their master had willed them, whichever the case was, so many chains were directed at him, and it would require so much of his energy and focus to evade them all.
"Master, do you see this?" The question came with a devilish his.
"Yes, yes, I see this creature. It is human. I should have seen it, those fools cannot tell the difference." Enojar said.
"Should we proceed with the capture? This beast is not as powerful but it would do. My brothers will use the chaos to our advantage."
"Do whatever you must, you must bring him to me!" Enojar commanded.
A red cloud shrouding the flying wind elemental beast disappeared to reveal blue eyes. The possession was a success, and a more daunting task was ahead, fortunately numbers was on their side, and stealth.
It cawed, and several other radiant beasts responded with cries. Its brothers.