?King Aver, the Elven ruler, sat rigid on his throne of ancient, pale wood. The ornate chamber, once filled with the murmurs of courtly power, now felt cold and empty. All of his people have been set on finding a defense against the black sand. Dread had replaced diplomacy.

  A young captain, covered in dust and black grit from the battlefield, knelt before him.

  "The status report, Captain. Tell me the truth," Aver commanded, his voice tired.

  The captain swallowed hard. "My Lord, the sand has crossed the final borders. The Human Kingdom is almost lost. They fought sending in countless men, feeding the expansion... just as you predicted. The sand expanded toward the human kingdom."

  Aver closed his eyes, a flicker of pain crossing his face. The conflict with the Humans had been foolish, a distraction that had cost both races everything.

  "And the origin outside the Human capital?" Aver asked. "What has become of it?"

  "It's massive, Your Majesty," the captain replied, his voice shaking slightly. "It grows every hour, collapsing the outer buildings of the city. It spreads hundreds of feet across the area... a sinkhole that radiates intense heat. We are unsure what it is, but it appears to be moving and let's out some dark purple fire at times."

  Aver leaned forward, his hands gripping the arms of the throne. "Have the mages, the priests, the scholars—anyone—found a means to stop the expansion? A weakness?"

  The captain lowered his head. "No, My Lord. The sand absorbs every attempt at counter-magic, every ritual. It is alien. Our only viable strategy is to retreat and stay away from it. It is winning, King Aver. Best solution is to put up our defense to buy more time." The King thought for a second before agreeing to retreating and raising the kingdom's barrier.

  ?Miles away, deep within a swirling, turbulent mass of black sand, thoughts stirred. Agent X was pleased. The war had been an unexpected bounty, offering a steady flow of material for his growth.

  It is finished, Agent X thought, the consciousness rippling through the miles of controlled sand. My preparation for war is nearly complete.

  A wave of dense, black sand surged whirling and fusing to each other. Agent X, finally back in his thrawl form. He sped away, drawn toward his first target. He needed a Kingdom of his own and the humans already lost so many people. Agent X laughs to himself. The blessing requires me to be on the winning side of a global war, I'll make my own side and conquer this world.

  The small obsidian golem approached the guards, its walk less menacing and more like a clumsy, waddling beetle on the smooth stone floor. The first guard snorted, leaning on his spear.

  "What is that small thing? A training dummy for kids?" he laughed, pointing.

  The accompanying guard, however, did not share his amusement. He stiffened, the squint in his eyes melting into a mask of pure, wide-eyed dread. A faint, oily shimmer clung to the air around the golem, resolving into wisps of pitch-black sand that drifted not down, but up, like reversed smoke. His breath hitched, the realization hitting him like a physical blow.

  "Wait... the Obsidian Sand," he whispered, his voice cracking. He wasn't looking at the golem; he was staring at the air. "It’s the sand—don't let it touch you! We have to run!"

  It was already too late. Two motes of the shimmering black sand snapped together above the creature's head, instantly compressing into twin, needle-sharp darts of pure obsidian. They launched with a silent, terrifying velocity, striking each guard precisely in the center of the chest plate. There was no impact sound, only the faint, crisp tap of rock against steel, like dry twigs snapping.

  Within the armor, the darts dissolved instantly, breaking back down into sand that now contained a sickening, internal heat. The grains became engulfed in flames, a molten cloud of grit driving outward against flesh and bone. The guards didn't have time to scream; they could only choke on the sudden, overwhelming heat blooming in their core.

  A few moments of horrifying, wet sizzling went by, the sound muffled yet unmistakable, like meat dropped onto a forge. The guards' heavy steel armor began to glow with a terrible, orange heat. Then, all at once, the light faded. The steel collapsed, shedding its contents—not into ash or dust, but into two perfect, black, glassy spheres.

  All that remained where the guards had stood were two smooth obsidian orbs, still exuding extreme heat, resting silently on the stone.

  The start of my army has begun, Agent X noted internally, the cold calculation overriding any hint of malice.

  He continued his systematic advance into the outer districts, each person being given the gift of an obsidian dart. Every person encountered, civilians and straggling guards, was subjected to the same fate, increasing his number of silent, heated orbs.

  ?Agent X now in the heart of the kingdom sensed two core energy signatures: one of raw, living Earth magic, and one of volatile, powerful wind.

  The King and his General, Agent X deduced. The last threats from this kingdom.

  There, standing defiant amongst a hastily erected barrier of thorny vines, were the two remaining leaders: King Von, his cloak draped over bulky, nature-infused armor, and General Caspian, his hands crackling with volatile wind magic.

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  "Stand down, abomination!" Caspian roared, launching a powerful, condensed blast of air. The wind struck Agent X's small golem form with the force of a battering ram, throwing him back fifty feet. One of his arms turned back into sand and blew away from the attack.

  Agent X was momentarily separated from his arm. Annoyance soared within Agent X. This new form takes more effort to keep together, hopefully that changes when I stage up. "General Caspian," Agent X responded, his voice a dry, rasping sound generated by the friction of shifting sand. "The war is over. Your magic can disperse the sand, but you cannot stop the desert."

  King Von slammed his staff into the ground. Massive, root-thick vines exploded from the cobblestones, lashing out to constrict Agent X. The small golem was forced to break down into sand to keeping the vines from containing him. The desperate, power struggle had begun. General Caspian used gale-force winds to scatter the obsidian sand, desperately trying to keep it from reforming. King Von commanded the earth, erecting heavy stone walls and using constricting vines to hold the golem in place. The human leaders were powerful, proving difficult to overpower in this weak form, but against the endless, force of the Black Sand, they were fighting a battle they could not win.

  Agent X focused his efforts, quickly, creating a dense, obsidian shield to block Caspian's wind and began forming obsidian darts. Caspian not wanting to give the creature any time to recover, propels himself off the ground using his wind. Caspian quickly closes the distance and prepares another attack as he gets past the sand golems shield. Caspian expected to see the golem still reforming its body behind the shield. Instead his sight was of the fully reformed golem and several obsidian darts hovering just behind it. Just as he processed what he was seeing the darts launch toward Caspian. He used the wind he stored up for an attack and launch it toward the darts in a panic. Caspian barely blew the darts off course in time. He let himself drop towards the ground a bit wanting to get some away after that distance. As he fell toward the ground, the obsidian shield began to move and reshape. Horror filled Caspian's eyes as he seen the shield reshape into a massive spike pointing straight at him. An evil laugh can be heard from above the spike as Agent X launches the attack forward. Caspian in free fall is to stunned to react. The giant obsidian spike hurls toward the general. Caspian closes his eyes excepting his loss. Then a loud crash can be heard, his eyes snapped open. His sight is taken up by the obsidian spike, then he notices. Several vines extending up past him holding back the spike from advancing. "Caspian! What are you doing? Move!" King Von shouts, surprised by his generals actions. Caspian finally snapping out of it thrusts his hands up at the spike. Blasting it with air and sending him further away from it. To his surprise the spike doesn't break apart like the golem did. The vines begin to drag the obsidian spike off course. Agent X seeing this begins deform his massive obsidian spike. The vines that was pulling it split straight through the sand with the resistance gone. The rippling swirls of sand left in the vines wake began forming large spikes. Caspian gritted his teeth seeing the relentless effort of this creature. His hands began building up air pressure around them. Agent X could sense the building power and with a smirk thought to himself. That won't work this time. I've figured out how to increase the density of my sand. Then with a thought the spikes shot toward off its target. Caspian let loose his attack with all his might. It blew two of the spikes of course, but only for a moment. Then the golem used his influence to put them back on track for the general and the king. King Von immediately wrapped the two in a sphere of vines and thorns to shield them from the incoming spikes. Five large spikes rumble the surrounding area upon impact. The vine barrier held strong keeping the spikes at bay. But before King Von could do anything, the spikes began turning into superheated loose sand. Each grain becoming engulfed in dark purple fire. The vines and thorns didn't stand a chance. King Von could feel his barrier being burned from the inside out. His mighty barrier becoming his final tomb. Grains of sand began to seep through from above, burning their skin as it touched them. The King knew the fight was over as he watched his barrier burn away and the sand pour in. The vine barrier finally burned away revealing the final two obsidian orbs. Now he needed a Kingdom of his own. Agent X took a deep breath as he began to think of what needed to be done. These weak structures built by their previous owner needed torn down. The materials from the building then need to be grinded down and converted to obsidian sand. Once the current kingdom was completely eroded away then, and only then would he build his obsidian kingdom.

  ?The obsidian golem, no bigger than a child, stood atop the highest spire of the doomed kingdom's capital. From its tiny, chiseled form radiated an immense, silent power. Above, the kingdom the darkness began to gather.

  It wasn't clouds that shifted, but the Black Sand, a tide of midnight grains that erupted over the kingdom, consuming everything. The sand didn't just cover the kingdom; it became an engine of annihilation. The kingdom's refined walls and bright copper roofs were swallowed by the churning, grinding mass. The sound was an awful, continuous hiss—the sound of civilization being atomized and broke down.

  The golem directed the force with a simple, focused will. Towers crumbled, reduced instantly to dust. Homes, statues, and paved streets were caught in the swirling vortex, their materials crushed, broken down, and re-absorbed into the Black Sand, vastly increasing its volume and density. The air grew thick with pulverized stone, yet the golem remained untouched, an immaculate, dark heart at the storm's center.

  Then, the destruction ceased, replaced by a terrible silence. Where a kingdom once stood, only an impossibly flat, endless sea of black sand remained speckled with obsidian orbs.

  The reconstruction began instantly.

  The sand surged skyward, knitting itself together with violent speed. It didn't pile up; it fused, driven by the golem's concentration and forged by the dark purple fire. Structures rose, solidifying into a matte, dense Black Sandstone with a purple iridescence.

  First, the central castle erupted—a citadel of brutal geometry. Its towers did not curve, but soared into sharp, jutting spikes, each edge wickedly pointed against the horizon. The entire structure was a mass of steep angles and intimidating shadows. Beside it, massive, unadorned halls and rectangular command centers followed, forming a dense cluster of oppressive, angular architecture.

  As the central buildings settled, the golem executed the next phase. Embedded in the surrounding kingdom ruins were dozens of smooth, dark spheres of pure obsidian. The Black Sand flowed, lifting each one. They were transported with absolute precision, suspended on clouds of moving sand, and deposited deep inside the newly formed, cavernous halls near the castle—the kingdom's power source relocated and centralized.

  Finally, the small golem descended. It moved through the echoing, empty corridors of the new castle until it reached the main hall. A platform of solidified Black Sandstone with a towering back rest, served as its makeshift throne. The tiny figure settled onto the cold seat.

  A single, thought filled its consciousness: The humans are finished. Next are the elfs.