Free Leviathan (Fist of Light Series) by Derek Edgington

the dagger in deep enough that it would un-animate this force of nature, but there was little time for deliberation. Going with a gut feeling, I blurred forward, bringing my entire body into a downward thrust on the left side of Rocky's back. Even as the blade sank deeply into the earthen exterior of the elemental, it began to get its feet underneath it, prepared to stand. Obviously, the attack had done little real harm, probably because of the small size of the weapon.
    Crossing mental fingers against failure, I attempted to navigate back out of the infuriated midst of multiple tentacled appendages. That was where my stream of luck petered out entirely, however, and a sandy tentacle bound itself painfully to my left forearm. Similarly, two more appendages attached firmly to my lower limbs, binding themselves to my body and pulling me toward the maw of a very angry elemental. My back scraped on the dusty sands of the arena as the now standing giant picked me off the ground to better examine the tiny being that had just attempted to kill it. Swinging back and forth in the grips of the monster, there was little I could do. My heartbeat pounded powerfully, super-oxygenating my blood and delivering yet more adrenaline. My heart was trying to get out an extra couple beats before it stopped entirely.
    Even now, as I hung stupidly and blood rushed to my inverted head, a dark maw opened to admit my entrance. Cries for my blood and death abounded all across the arena, and I finally realized why Rocky hesitated. The Dominus presented a thumb’s down to the towering giant. Efficient as an assembly line, the extra limbs began to move me inexorably towards my ultimate destination. Rooting around frantically, I looked for a way out of the predicament, anything with a miniscule chance of success. Grinding my teeth together and looking at my solitary free hand, I stared impotently and clenched my fist in denial. Then, in dawning revelation, my hand was drawn backward, as if on its own accord. In a furious, Air-fueled strike, I punched forward with the unrestricted hand, sending a huge concussion at my opponent.
    As Rocky rocked back on his heels, I prepared for an even more difficult task, straightening my hand out and pulling it back behind my head. There would have to be huge inertia and brute power behind the strike, despite its thin consistency and the relatively soft composition of my target. A staggering amount of energy had to be siphoned from the nexus before I was satisfied with the design. I chopped my hand forward while the elemental was still stunned. With it came a razor-thin blast of wind, one of the most finely controlled bits of Air that had ever been enacted by yours truly. Some resistance sought to keep me from my goal, but abruptly the tentacled appendages were sliced cleanly away, sand falling lifelessly, no longer constricting tightly around me.
    As I fell back to the now-inviting looking sands below, I redirected the arcing trajectory of my design, bringing it around for another strike. Low to the ground, it flew true, aiming directly for what I considered to be knee height on the monolithic compilation of Earth. Even more power was necessary if my plan was to succeed, and so I siphoned more reluctantly as my remote-controlled boomerang sliced into Rocky once more. For a moment, the outcome was uncertain and my design dissipated harmlessly back to its natural tendencies. Then a great, grinding bellow of rage emanated from the black maw of the beast before me, and I cracked a smile at the sound of it. The walls practically shook with that roar, but there wasn't any time to dawdle and determine whether or not my eardrums had been blown.
    Stretching out my hands, I called to the Air, bearing my discarded katana upon the winds and into my hands. Its reassuring weight comforted me as I dodged to make it to my goal. Rocky toppled forward, unable to stop its fall. With a forward blur, I stuck the weapon straight into the