††† Damon †††

The world blurred around him as second-class enforcer Damon Pride sped through the forest. A straight path of utterly destroyed underbrush was left wherever he went. The small twigs, thorny vines and bigger branches broke against the heavily reinforced leather of his red mantle. He was one of few who were honoured with a surname— a descendant of a distinguished family of enforcers.

And yet, here he was. Playing hound for Jenna. He cursed in silence, seething at the thought that someone with his heritage was forced to obey a girl they pulled from the breeding kennels. Alas, to revolt openly against her would only see him to a quick and painful death. And so, he obeyed, traversing the cursed forest to subjugate a bunch of lowlife-abominations to catch one single man.

Why they sent a highly esteemed squad like theirs for this task was beyond him. But he would make sure to get at least some amusement for himself out of the situation.

The thick underbrush lessened in density and made way for a clutter of thick roots and stones, interspersing the brown dirt. The mammoth trees here grew closer together, killing any other form of vegetation in their greed for nutrients and dimming the sunlight to a dusk-like quality beneath their canopy. Damon stopped, his ears picking up some noise to his right.

The experienced enforcer focused on a spot near one of the trees in the very same direction. He calculated distance and elevation difference with practised ease and pulled on the sacred power that was his gift. When Akali's might answered, his body executed the movement he had envisioned beforehand. His vision blurred for a split second before he stopped in front of his destination. His legs throbbing slightly was the only indication that he had been actually running, or in this case, had taken three very long steps.

A resonating war cry affirmed the closeness of his target. Damon focused once more and jumped upon a thick branch, broader than he was tall and high enough that he could observe the fight from afar.

The enforcer smirked when he spotted the large lizardmen, throwing himself into a dive to evade his quarry. Damon could hear the thundering charge of the animal. It was a massive quadruped beast, built not unlike a bull, complete with two curved horns, but at least double in size and with leathery, grey skin. The lizardman sprinted after it right away, preventing the bull from charging him. But he seemed to have underestimated how quick it could turn as he ran straight into the horns of the animal's bulky head. However, contrary to Damon's expectation, the pointed appendages couldn't penetrate the green scales. The lizardman's muscles bulged as he slipped between them, put both arms around the bull's massive neck and pushed.

The enforcer snickered at the ludicrous idea. The reptilian humanoid was taller than any human man and built like the First Enforcer Ultor himself. But the grey-skinned herbivore would still outweigh him ten to one. Only when the lizardman's clawed feet dug deep into the earth, and the bull's front legs remained straight, did Damon realise what happened. The lizardman used his chest to push down the head while simultaneously using the stiffness of the bull's neck as a leverage point.

"The fucker is lifting that thing's front while strangling it," Damon murmured to himself, grudgingly admitting that he was surprised at the sheer prowess of the scaled man. The hooves did not leave the ground but lacked the grip to push forward. With a strangled groan, the beast went slack and dropped down. The lizardman quickly retrieved a crude knife from the belt that held his loincloth. He grabbed the oversized makeshift-dagger with both hands and rammed it into the thick skull of his prey. It was pure force that drove the crude piece of metal into the bone, killing the bull instantly.

A feral grin sneaked over Damon's features. This was going to be more fun than he anticipated. He climbed down from his position carefully — Akali's power did not negate gravity after all — and approached the towering hybrid.

"Who goes th—" the words got stuck in the lizardman's throat as he recognised the red mantle. Standing roughly ten feet across from each other, Damon understood what made this earlier feat of strength possible. Apart from the thick tail and lizard-like snout, there were also some stark differences in the general build of the reptile-man compared to a human's body. The waist was far thicker and heavily muscled at the sides. A kind of muscle humans just didn't have. His lifting strength was not limited by what his spine or hips could support because of those extra muscles.

"Your species developed in an interesting way. No wonder your kind is still around, lizard," Damon tantalised the seemingly proud giant.

"Enforcer," the lizardman spat. "What does your kind want from Rak?" His words were heavily accented and sounded like his tongue had difficulties with human speech.

Damon laughed superciliously. "Judging from your language, it seems you lost in intellect what you gained in strength," he snarked. "Take me to the hole your brethren reside in. I have use for them," the enforcer commanded.

"Rak does not fear the red devil," the lizardman, Rak, growled and braced himself, knees bent.

"Oh? Well now we can't have that, can we?" Damon said, his grin wide and full of malice. He readied his masterly crafted sword, concentrated for just the span of a heartbeat, and shot forward. Sparks flew as his blade connected with the green scales while the enforcer passed by his opponent. He was testing out how far he could go without killing the creature, and the results exhilarated him. He laughed maniacally as he came to a stop a few steps behind Rak. "Finally, I can have some fun!" the red-clad executor shouted, both arms raised high. He bashed his left palm against the button on his swords pommel, extending the grip to accommodate both hands.

Rak reacted instantly upon perceiving the red glow and swung wide with both arms, hoping to catch his enemy by chance. The enforcer had disappeared from his vision, but Rak had not felt any impact on his body. When the bulky lizardman turned around, the biceps of his left arm exploded with pain. He grunted, staring at the torn muscle and broken bone beneath it. By the time he looked up again, his right shin was crushed, forcing him to his knee. He turned his head just quick enough to receive a blow to his jaw, breaking out several teeth and cracking the bone. The red devil stood now before him, a mere two steps, frowning with disdain.

"Really, Rak? Is that really all the entertainment you can give me? I am disappointed," Damon mocked the injured lizardman. Rak roared and used his left leg to propel him forward into a reckless dive to catch the elusive enforcer. Damon just evaded nimbly to the side, watching the massive lizardman drop to the ground with a resounding thump. The enforcer reversed his grip on the sword and used his gift to stab it through the Rak's scaled hand, pinning it to the ground. A muffled cry shot through the lizardman's clenched teeth.

Rak looked back at his enemy, his gaze full of hatred. The fire in his eyes made way for ice-cold dread when he saw the enforcer bring both gauntlets together over his head like a hammer. A brief red glow preceded the mind-shattering agony as Rak's left ankle was being crushed. It was too much. The cry left Rak's mouth against his will.

Damon laughed, shaking his head. "Who would have thought your big frame is capable of such a cute wail," he snorted. The enforcer revelled in the fear he finally found residing in Rak's eyes. The lizardman knew what kind of fate awaited him. "Oh, you don’t have to soil your loincloth just now. I don't have the time to torture you for hours on end. I have to subjugate your tribe today — still need to hunt some ape-humans tomorrow. So you can always stop our little session by betraying your tribe," he chuckled.