The broken path was one of those places that lurked and loomed, a pass between two mountains with air so full of dust it choked and blinded normal men but it was not so today. The rain had washed the air clean and a man could see for a mile. The sky rumbled, pink lightening shooting across the grey clouds, a promise of more rain.

Idem stood at the entrance to the camp that had been quickly and efficiently built and looked into the nothingness before him. It was quiet, unnervingly so and a chill went through his spine but he grit his teeth against it. He would have to fight soon and though he had prepared all his life for this, he felt fear tugging at him. He closed his eyes and inhaled, holding his breath for four heartbeats then slowly exhaled, leaning into his fear like Samza taught him, letting it wrap around and comfort him and finally subdued it, tucking it to a safe, dark area within him.

He turned at the sound of footsteps and saw a tall, dark young man approaching. The soldier he had taken from the reservations gripped the hilt of his blade, scowling at the intruder.

"Easy, Iken." Idem said and turned to look at the stranger. The man stopped before him, standing a little shorter than him and the man sneered.

"You are prince Idem, yes?" He asked and Idem raised an eyebrow. The man nodded and sudden rage burst into his eyes as he swung a fist at Idem who caught it, twisting his hand and snapped his wrist. A kick into his belly sent the man crumpling into the ground. Iken drew his sword and Idem raised his hand. Iken stopped, a hostile look in his eyes. The stranger lay in the dust, gripping his belly. Idem stood over him.

"What is your name?" He asked, his face dangerously calm. The man gasped and spluttered, spittle escaping his lips. Idem squatted before him, a small but cold smile on his face.

"Name, soldier." He said with iron in his voice. The man looked at him with raw hatred.

"Zamu, you bastard." He said and Idem nodded, stretching his hand backwards where Iken put his blade into his palm. Idem levelled the blade on Zamu's throat.

"And what gave you the idea that you could attack a prince and still continue living?" He asked and Zamu spat into the ground. Idem nodded and stood. He was about to take man's head when a hand gripped his elbow.

"Peace, brother. He is mine and I apologise for his stupidity. He is yet untrained." Tuli said, smiling. Zamu hissed.

"You bastard. You are the reason my mother died, the reason why tens of thousands of people suffer in the reservations, dying in your Shandar mines. May you erupt a thousand times." He said and Idem raised an eyebrow at him, his orange eyes flashing. Tuli stepped in front of him.

"Ignore this one. The long March has pushed cobwebs into his brain." He said and turned to Zamu but the young man was already quivering and shaking, spittle dropping from his mouth as his body began undergoing transformation. He was turning into a mountain lion and Tuli grinned. He walked casually to the man and roared, bursting into a larger than life gorilla then pounded a punch into Zamu's transforming face, knocking him out. He turned back into a human being and looked at his Sand metal armor that had stretched and contracted with him and he grinned.

"More than a thousand years and I am still impressed by these things." He said and tapped it. Idem looked at the man on the floor and at Tuli.

"You brought an inexperienced shader to battle?" He asked and Tuli nodded, smiling.

"I did, brother. I am commanding officer and I technically have the right to do whatever I think is strategically sound. Besides, he is my body guard." He said and Idem looked from Zamu's unconscious figure to Tuli and he opened his mouth to speak when the ground began to shake. They looked at each other and turned. In the distance, a cloud of thick black smoke was spread across the horizon and from within, they heard the roars and cries of men. The noise of battle raged from where Elek had camped his men. Tuli swung into action immediately. His nose transformed into an elephant's and he blew out three long blasts and the camp erupted into blurry movement.

Lines formed quickly and efficiently, directed by the Tije and a guard of Tije formed around Tuli and Idem. Tuli turned to look at Idem, a twinkle in his eyes.

"We have to clear out the whip masquerades blocking the view, brother. I'll punch in with the other shaders in a fork formation. Remove any masquerade that gets past us. He roared and turned into a large black cheetah, the Sand metal forming around his new body and he sped off toward the approaching army.

Idem watched, sweat dripping from his forehead as Obomo took command.

"Archers to the vanguard!" He roared and the archers moved to the front with their great bows of horn and bamboo and they knelt, drawing in unison.

"On my command!" Obomo roared, his purple eyes focused and locked on the enemy. He raised his hands and after a short while, brought it down sharply.

"Loose!" He roared and more than five thousand arrows flew across the air and into the enemy ranks. They were rewarded with screams and shrieks. Idem shook his head and ran off towards the enemy. Tuli had transformed into a gorilla the size of a large house, flanked by four shaders who took the same form but smaller as they fought the masquerades, roaring and punching, fighting with smoke.

Idem ran towards them and let his curse fill him. It flowed through his body, heightening his senses, making him feel every seed that was dead for miles beneath the earth and he reached into them, making them his, giving them life and tearing them from the earth in large, thick green ropes. He jumped on one, pulling the others behind him as he shot toward a whip masquerade that had gone past Tuli's blockade. He struck with a large vine in the shape of the  spear and instead of it passing through, it hit something solid within the smoke and part of the smoke shot out towards Idem who blocked with a vine shield crafted out of densely interwoven vines.

He struck with hundreds of vineshields and the creature shrieked painfully and shot out streams of black smoke that flew towards Idem who blocked again with his vineshields but one tore through the shield and hit his chest, sending stabs of pain through him as he flew through the air and landed on his face.

Idem stood,his bones repairing and his armor regenerating. He turned to see that they were too close and if the masquerades were not broken now, it would be catastrophic. He roared, letting himself slip entirely into his anger and curse and wrapped the vines around himself in intricate,dense patterns that grew up to the size of a tower. He resisted the sudden wave of dizziness that hit him at expending such strength and he formed a humanoid form made of vines. It had seven long, flexible arms and twelve tentacles for feet and he reached for the masquerade, pressing it to the ground with his great vine palm and cracked a fierce punch into it. He hit it's smokey form a few times before it dissolved with a loud shriek.

He turned to see balls of flame hurled at his vineman by catapults behind the enemy lines and he caught one with one hand, gripped a masquerade with three other hands and pounded the flaming ball into it's body and that one died with a shriek as well. He saw Tuli pressed down by two masquerades who tore at him and with a kick from two of his tentacle legs, he sent them hurtling into the air.

Fatigue hit him then and he gasped, feeling his muscles grow stiff and his brain go fuzzy. He groaned as his vineman fell apart. He fell from the dissolved form and crashed to the ground, his body refusing to move. His Tije  guards were upon him in a flash and dragged him from the frontlines, dabbing at his forehead and giving him water. He looked through half closed eyes and saw that all of the whip masquerades had been cleared. Both lines clashed together with a mighty roar and the battle began in earnest.