Kaowin wandered across the desert plane, drawn by a feeling he couldn't define, pulled toward the rise where the wolf-spirit waited, watching in the darkness.

As they neared the rise, the spirit stood, then howled. Kaowin stopped, then crumpled to the ground. The spirit leaped from the top of the rise, landing between him and Dale.
Dale stepped back slightly, watching it warily.
"Go back," it thought at him.
"No," Dale thought back simply.
"The boy is mine," the wolf-spirit replied. "He came to me."
"He is not yours," Dale thought back angrily. "And he did not come willingly."
"He was not forced to come," The wolf-spirit thought back, growling slightly.
Dale narrowed his eyes and clinched his fists.
"You can not have him," he replied. "He is under my protection. You want him, you'll have to kill me first!"
"That can be arranged!" the wolf-spirit snarled and leaped at him, jaws snapping.
Dale slapped his force field on, flipping it to max, then braced for impact, his hands reaching for where the wolf's jaws would be. They crashed together, and went down in a heap, rolling across the ground. Dale's force field held for the moment, lines of crackling energy running across it's outer surface where the wolf's claws were scrabbling, trying to break through to him. He clamped his hands down on the wolf's jaws, squeezing with full strength, straining desperately to break through the blocks on his powers. They rolled to a stop, and the wolf struggled to pin Dale beneath it's weight.

Dale let go of it's jaw with one hand, reached down to it's belly and grabbed a handful of skin. He squeezed with full strength, twisting his hand and the wolf struggled wildly to pull away. It jerked it's head free, it's eyes blazed and a blast of intense energy cracked across Dale's shields. He flinched, then brought the edge of his hand down against the wolf's throat with a force that would have shattered granite. The wolf screamed, and it's body shivered, then shattered apart, a dark mist swirling about it, coalescing rapidly into a towering vortex of wind. Dale got quickly to his feet, stepped into the middle of the coalescing whirlwind and threw open his mental shields, fighting to posses the others mind.

Reality wavered, then fled and Dale found himself standing on an unbroken plane of glass which glittered in the light of an unseen sun. Before him stood a man slightly less than his height, with green glowing eyes and skin the color of jade. The man glared at him, then threw a punch at his head. An explosion of noise cracked through the air as the fist sailed toward him but Dale was not standing where the punch was aimed when it arrived. He spun to the side, and brought the edge of his hand down hard on the others neck from behind, knocking him to the ground. The glass shattered under him as he fell, unconscious, flying up in shards, and shredding the jade covering which had protected him. A vortex of swirling air began as the glass shattered, pulling the shards and both combatants into it's vacuum.

Dale grabbed ahold of his unconscious opponent, wrapped his arms tightly around the man's torso and struggled against the suction. He pulled them slowly away from it, moving backward across nothing and it screamed in rage and frustration, growing louder and more powerful with each step he took away from it's center. He stopped after several steps, faced the vortex and glared at it, then reached out with one hand, seeking to grasp it's central core. It's winds whipped at him, flinging the shards of glass from the plane into him and he turned sideways, protecting his opponent with his body, continuing to reach for the center of the vortex. His arm stretched across the distance between them, and he fought the gale force winds of the vortex's outer surface which tried to push him away. He narrowed his eyes, and threw all his will behind his attack, slowing forcing his hand through the winds.

The vortex fought back, increasing the speed of it's winds, slinging shards of glass into him with a force that would have driven a straw through solid rock. He winced as several of the shards breached his shielding, struggling not to lose concentration. Suddenly he felt his hand break through the winds and he grasped something cold and hard. He squeezed, crushing the object in his grasp and the vortex shuddered. He squeezed harder, feeling the object beginning to shatter and the vortex shivered mightily, then failed, failing silent as the object he was holding came apart in his grasp.

He blinked, then found himself standing in the desert once more, Kaowin still unconscious on the ground not far away. The mist that had been the wolf was gone, as was the rise. A man, dressed in green, with golden-brown skin and dark brown hair, was laying on the ground a few feet away from him. He took a deep breath, the let it out slowly, trying to calm his anger. The man stirred, moaned slightly, then sat up and looked around in confusion. Realization dawned and he paled then looked fearfully up at Dale, holding one arm up in front of his face and drawing back slightly.