The Corporal’s voice is a distant echo. The Serpent on the ground is the only real thing. It calls to you, a siren song of absolute power. “They will take it. They will lock it away. Its potential, wasted. YOU are worthy. You have seen the darkness. You can wield it.”
You reach down and your fingers close around the jade. A surge of ice-cold fire erupts up your arm, flooding your mind with visions of dominion. The voices of Davies and Miller become meaningless chatter, the buzzing of flies. You see the fear in Davies’ eyes as he looks at you, truly looks at you, and sees something other than his captain.
“Sir? The artifact…?” he asks, his voice trembling.
The command from the relic is simple, absolute. “Silence them.”
Your weapon is in your hand before you even decide to draw it. The shots are deafening. Then, there is only silence, broken by the humid jungle drip and the satisfied hum of the Jade Serpent in your grasp. You are no longer Captain Finch. You are the vessel. And the conquest is just beginning.