Path of Dragons

Elijah was exhausted.

It wasn’t just the constant danger, though that was a big part of it. Nor was it the raw fish that had become his diet. He’d even grown accustomed to the taste of the water. No – what really got to him was the constant submersion. People just weren’t meant to live underwater, as evidenced by the fact that his skin had started to break down only a few days into his time in the Sea of Sorrows. On top of that, if he didn’t consistently use Touch of Nature to counteract some of the other effects – like the degradation of his muscles due to the decreased weight and the havoc submersion wrought on his circulatory System – he would’ve already died.

But as valuable as Touch of Nature was, it did nothing to combat the psychological effects. Isolation was difficult on its own, but he’d been dealing with that for more than a year. However, when it was compounded by living for more than a month in such an alien environment, it became nearly unbearable.

There were only two reasons he’d managed to keep going. First – and most importantly – he didn’t have any choice. He was a survivor, and after being given a second chance at life, Elijah simply refused to give in. With that driving him, he didn’t really have any choice in the matter. The same factors that had driven him to enter the tower in the first place – chiefly, the fact that he would be overwhelmed by the Voxx if he didn’t – kept him moving forward.

The second reason he’d managed to maintain his sanity was that, despite the hostility of the environment, he was consistently struck by the beauty all around him. He’d never been a particularly committed biologist. Certainly, he’d enjoyed his work well enough, but he wasn’t nearly as driven as some of his colleagues. Work was work, and he was content with keeping it separated from the rest of his life.

However, spending so much time in the Sea of Sorrows had opened his eyes in a way that nothing else ever had. If he hadn’t been trapped there, he might have even enjoyed himself. So long as he could get out of the water and enjoy dry land.

In any case, in the previous weeks, he had seen a host of things no one else ever had, and despite the fact that he desperately wanted to leave the Sea of Sorrows, he couldn’t help but appreciate it for the beauty it represented. Even the predators – especially them – filled him with awe.

But for now, he needed to focus on the task at hand. If he didn’t, the sea wouldn’t have to kill him because his foe would do the job instead.

Crouched behind a half-eaten carcass of what he thought had once been a whale, Elijah studied the creature he’d decided to kill. From Elijah’s perspective, it looked like a giant isopod – with emphasis on the giant part. As seemed common within the Sea of Sorrows, and the transformed world at large, a creature that should have topped out at around twenty inches long had reached truly gargantuan proportions. If it was smaller than a minivan, Elijah would’ve been incredibly surprised.

More distressing than its size were the other addendums to its morphology. Chiefly, that its legs – all fourteen of them – were quite a bit longer than the species with which Elijah was familiar. That, in and of itself, wouldn’t have been terribly distressing, but the limbs were also barbed, which told him all he needed to know about their purpose. Its shell also looked quite a bit thicker than it should’ve been, though, given Elijah’s experiences with the crabs on his island, that was expected.

Otherwise, the creature looked much like its terrestrial native, the humble wood louse – or the pill bug, as they were usually known. Though instead of a black shell, the giant isopod was equipped with a much lighter-colored armor.

Regardless, Elijah had chosen the monster as his target for two reasons. First, after killing the whale and gorging itself, the isopod had grown quite lethargic. That would give him some leeway in his method of attack.

Most importantly, though, Elijah knew that if he didn’t kill it, it would almost assuredly hunt him down. Because the overgrown crustacean was very territorial, and it killed anything that dared set foot – or fin – into its territory. The whale, as well as a dozen other, much smaller creatures, was proof enough of that.

No – if Elijah wanted to continue to progress toward the center of the Sea of Sorrows, he needed to get past the isopod. And if he couldn’t? Then, he had no business challenging the level’s guardian in the first place.

But just because it was necessary didn’t mean Elijah was looking forward to it. He wasn’t. In fact, he was almost certain he was going to die in the effort. However, he was tired of the sea, and he knew that if he didn’t make progress soon, his resolution to keep going would begin to wane. He wouldn’t just give up, but every day he spent in that sea robbed him of some ineffable aspect of his motivation, and without that, he would lose focus and make mistakes that would eventually get him killed.

Still, he considered simply going back and continuing to hunt. There was no shortage of prey, and eventually, he would gain more levels. Though over the past few days, he’d gotten the feeling that kill energy was subject to diminishing returns. Killing things within the Sea of Sorrows would still let him progress, but the longer he stayed, the more it would take.

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Elijah wasn’t sure how he knew that – there was no numerical value or anything associated with how much kill energy he needed to level – but he knew it all the same.

Not for the first time, Elijah wished he had someone to explain everything to him. Or failing that, a companion with which he could compare notes. Nerthus was great, and he’d been extremely helpful, but he was obviously very limited in what information he could pass on.

Shaking his head, Elijah realized that he was just stalling.

So, he stepped out from behind the whale and used Storm’s Fury. Lightning lanced out from the tip of his staff, hitting the dormant monster directly in its eye. But Elijah didn’t see it. Instead, he used the spell again, to similar results. The creature stirred, locking its eyes on Elijah. He tried to cast another instance of Storm’s Fury, but he cut it off when the monster raced toward him. Propelled by its multitude of legs, the isopod could move incredibly quickly, and as such, Elijah knew he didn’t have time to dawdle.

Instead, he turned and ran.

Moving quickly in the water required a curious mix of jumping, paddling, and running, but over the previous month, Elijah had been forced to master the awkward technique. As such, he managed to get away just before the isopod reached his previous position. Clicking its mandibles furiously, it dug its sharp legs into the silt and launched itself at Elijah.

But by that point, Elijah was already gone, darting between a pair of coral stalks and into a stand of kelp. The isopod thundered after him, crushing the coral and tearing through the waving kelp. Elijah never stopped moving, though he was careful not to outpace the monster.

Not that that was a real possibility. It was native to the environment, and despite its bulk, the thing was well-equipped for rapid movement. So, Elijah struggled to stay ahead of it.

Leaping over a wide but relatively shallow chasm, Elijah landed with a roll before finding his feet and continuing his flight. A turtle not unlike the one who’d first greeted him snapped at him in passing, but by that point, Elijah was already gone. Just when he thought he was going to be caught, he got a boost of speed as the System finally judged that he’d left combat. The monster still chased him, but because he hadn’t taken any hostile action or damage for a while, his Essence of the Wolf kicked in. Though it was expected – he’d tested it thoroughly – it still came as a welcome relief, and he quickly put some extra distance between himself and the giant sea louse.

After a few dozen more yards, he looked back to see that the creature had all but given up. So, mustering his Ethera, Elijah launched another Storm’s Fury in its direction. From that distance, all he could manage was a glancing blow, but it was enough to renew the monster’s ire.

Like that, Elijah ran the thing in circles until, at last, he came to the spot he’d prepared ahead of time.

It wasn’t a very artful trap. Indeed, any creature with even basic intelligence would know to avoid it. But Elijah was banking on the creature being no more intelligent than the giant isopods with which he was familiar. So, he’d built the trap – which consisted of a few arduously sharpened bones arranged within a cave he had stumbled upon. The cave itself was characterized by a large overhang just above the entrance, and it was only just large enough for the monster to fit. Even though it was a tight fit, the monster still followed when Elijah dashed inside.

As he wove through the stakes and into the much narrower back of the cave, Elijah shot another Storm’s Fury at the monster. It ran headlong into the cave, impaling itself on the angled stakes Elijah had carved from another whale carcass he’d stumbled upon a few days before.

But that wasn’t enough to kill such a creature. Nor would it suffice to trap it. And with its long legs, it was only a matter of time before the thing escaped.

Elijah had a plan for that, too.

He had chosen his killing ground well, and though the cave hadn’t initially had two openings, the wall at the narrow end was thin enough that it had only taken him a few hours to carve a hole big enough for him to fit through. So, he dragged himself through, then circled around to the entrance. Once there, he aimed his staff at the overhang above the entrance and let loose with another Storm’s Fury.

He'd spent hours making certain that the overhang was weak enough that it would only take a single cast to send the rock and coral tumbling down. And that was precisely what happened, the ensuing avalanche sealing that side of the cave and trapping the giant isopod inside.

Elijah pumped his fist in celebration, but judging by the rumbling coming from within the cave, he knew he didn’t have time to pat himself on the back. He still had a giant crustacean to kill.

So, he circled back around to what was now the lone exit. Then, he settled in to wait for his Ethera to regenerate. It only took a little while – after all, that was one of the reasons he’d led the creature on such a long chase – before he had enough Ethera to cast Swarm.

He pointed his staff into the hole and did just that.

He couldn’t see the piranha that the spell conjured, but he didn’t need to because, only a second later, an unholy burbling screech came from within the cave. Elijah knew the conjuration wouldn’t last long – just thirty seconds or so – but the screeching endured well after.

At the same time, the monster never stopped trying to escape. The other reason Elijah had circled the trap so many times was because he’d wanted to tire it out. He didn’t know if it had worked, but with its massive size, even when it was exhausted and wounded, it was more than capable of breaking free.

But Elijah was committed, now. Everything had gone precisely how he’d planned it. He just needed to finish things off.

Which was easier said than done, and over the next thirty minutes, he listened to the monster’s screeches and attempts to escape its fate. At the same time, his Ethera continued to regenerate until, at last, he was able to cast Swarm once again.

The results were predictable.

More screeches. More localized earthquakes as the isopod tried to break free. But still it didn’t die.

So, Elijah waited. And cast Swarm. Then waited some more.

By the time the monster finally keeled over, giving Elijah enough kill energy to progress to level twenty-five, it had nearly broken free of the trap. And it had taken seven casts of Swarm to do it in.

When it died, Elijah stood atop that half-destroyed mound, looking down at the massive monster he’d just killed, and basked in the satisfaction that, despite being handicapped by his inability to transform, he’d emerged victorious.

That was probably why he never saw his inevitable death bearing down on him.

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