Path of Dragons

Once Elijah had gone a few hundred yards, he stopped and yanked the arrows out. There were three of them, but only one had penetrated more than an inch. Whether he could blame the ape creature’s poor equipment or his own enhanced Constitution, he had no idea, but whatever the reason for the projectiles’ poor performance, he wasn’t going to complain.

Normally, he wouldn’t have removed the arrows, a caution borne out by the veritable fountain of blood that came with the most serious wound when he yanked the arrow free. But with Touch of Nature, he was capable of stemming the flow of blood in only an instant. It was especially effective with such a small wound, so after two casts, he’d completely healed the two most serious injuries. However, doing so drained most of his Ethera, so he had no choice but to continue his flight until he regenerated enough to finish the job.

So, that was what he did.

He knew he was leaving a trail a mile wide for the sasquatch monster to follow him, but he didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. He could only hope that his use of Venom Strike would slow it down enough so that he could get away.

Minutes passed, and, to his surprise, Elijah wasn’t forced to endure any further attacks. Soon, he regenerated enough Ethera to finish healing, though he kept running for almost an hour more until, at last, he used Shape of the Predator to return to his panther form and slink into the shadows.

Only once he’d climbed a tree did he let himself relax.

A little.

Even though he’d managed to escape with his life, Elijah knew precisely how close to the edge he’d gotten. One little mistake, and he would have died. And it’d been like that since he’d first stepped foot in the tower. Even back on the first level, the goblins were more than capable of killing him. Certainly, he’d easily massacred that village, but if he’d stepped one foot out of line, they would have fallen on him without mercy. And it was a fool’s hope to expect quarter from such monsters.

No - he was walking a fine line, and even if he hadn’t recently spent an untold number of days being digested in the stomach of a killer whale, he’d have been close to his breaking point. A person wasn’t meant to endure so much constant stress.

He couldn’t afford to just break down. He didn’t get the luxury of taking a break. He couldn’t just call for a timeout. Even if he could find somewhere relatively safe, there was always the danger that some powerful predator would find him. And it wasn’t as if he could just turn around and go home, either. Even if he could exit the Keledge Tower without conquering it, his reasons for challenging it in the first place hadn’t changed. Either he won, or his island – and eventually, the world – would be overrun with horrible monsters from another dimension.

He transformed back into his human form and muttered, “How is this my life, now?”

Indeed, as he used Touch of Nature to complete the healing he’d begun during his flight, Elijah wondered how the rest of the world was faring. Were they fighting monsters, too? What about his sister? What about Carmen, his sister-in-law? Or his nephew? His ex-girlfriend back in Hawai’i? The list went on and on, but it was a pointless exercise because he had no way of getting any answers.

Eventually, Elijah came to the conclusion that feeling sorry for himself was just as pointless as wondering how the rest of the world had dealt with the transition. So, he forced his mind to other topics – like the task before him. He’d already gotten turned around, so he didn’t know which way was which. The sun still hadn’t made an appearance, and despite being on the new level for a few days, night still hadn’t fallen. It seemed reasonable to conclude that it never would. Instead, the whole level seemed eternally mired in a rainy afternoon.

After a while, Elijah transformed back into a panther, then climbed down from his perch. Over the next day, he scouted the area, but he still hadn’t found the maze. So, he kept going, switching his focus to survival rather than exploration. He’d established that he could go without food for quite some time, but there were repercussions for doing so. With that in mind, he began his first hunt.

It didn’t take long before he found another dinosaur. This one was clearly herbivorous, but Elijah couldn’t identify it. Regardless, it was quadrupedal and the size of a large cow, which meant that it had plenty of edible meat. Most importantly, it didn’t seem terribly dangerous, which meant that he could avoid tainting the meat with Venom Strike.

Instead, he crept forward, dipping below a series of low-hanging vines as he prepared to pounce. The creature, which resembled a triceratops, but without the natural armor or horns, remained completely unaware as Elijah stalked closer. When he got within a few feet, he embraced Predator Strike and leaped forward, slicing his claws across the monster’s back leg.

The joint exploded, but Elijah had let the animal’s ponderous size fool him into thinking that it was slow. It wheeled around, using its head as a club, and it would have connected if the thing’s leg hadn’t completely given out. As it was, the blow still came close enough that Elijah had to spring backwards out of range.

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The animal bellowed, either in agony or rage, as it tried to run away in a three-legged gait. It moved relatively quickly for its impairment, but Elijah was much faster. He darted in, slicing his claws across the other back leg. He didn’t cut nearly as deeply, but he still severed the monster’s hamstring. Not enough to completely immobilize it, but it was further slowed, which allowed Elijah to dart in once again and nip at the front leg.

This attack wasn’t nearly as effective, but with the dinosaur so thoroughly wounded, Elijah had the luxury of time. So, over the next few minutes, he continuously harassed the injured animal until, at last, he disabled the third limb. Soon after, the creature collapsed. But as Elijah found out when he tried to finish it off, his prey wasn’t completely defenseless. He darted in, and it once again swung its head around, taking him in the side and sending him rolling across the jungle until he hit a tree.

Growling, he found his feet.

He’d sustained a few broken ribs, and though they were painful, he couldn’t afford to switch back to his human form and heal. Soon, the jungle’s scavengers and other predators would smell the blood in the air, and when they did, they would descend upon the scene. If Elijah was there when that happened, he’d be forced to flee. So, without the option to heal himself, he once again started circling the immobilized monster.

It tried to track him, but with its injuries, it could only do so much. So, when Elijah found a blind spot, he pounced. This time, he leaped atop the creature’s back and clamped his jaws down on the base of the thing’s skull. At first, Elijah couldn’t get through the dinosaur’s tough, pebbly skin, but he leveraged his enhanced Strength to great effect, and soon enough, he crushed the thing’s spine.

It went limp, but it was still alive.

Elijah ended its life a few moments later when he raked his claws across its throat and watched it bleed out.

Then, without bothering to shift back to his human form, Elijah tore into the creature’s haunches, eating as much as he could handle before dashing away.

Over the next few days, he followed the same pattern. Hunting, eating, and surviving – it was so easy to lose himself in the animalistic instincts that came with his predator form. Soon enough, he found that he only cancelled Shape of the Predator when he was injured and needed healing. Otherwise, he remained in his predator form at all times.

And gradually, he lost track of time. At some point, he gained another level, but he didn’t really notice it. He was too busy living the life of an apex predator.

Later, he would recognize his descent into animalism as a coping mechanism, but it wasn’t until, weeks later, he stumbled upon the maze that he was shocked out of it. Suddenly, as he stood in front of that gate, his humanity came rushing back, and when it did, it brought with it the memory that he wasn’t just there to survive. He had a goal.

He had a Task.

To remind himself, he summoned the notification he’d read just after entering the jungle:

How long had it been since he’d assumed his human form? It had felt like…he didn’t know how long. Days, at least. Weeks, probably. It might have even been months. In his panther form, and with the sameness of the grey days, time was difficult to judge. But he knew it had been far too long.

So, with some regret, Elijah forced himself back into the shape of a human being. Even as he changed, he felt a sudden sense of loss. The world seemed so much less alive. There were no interesting smells. He couldn’t see nearly as well. And standing on two legs, he felt so weak. So awkward.

So human.

His heartbeat quickened. His breath came in sudden, sharp, and shallow pants as a formless panic began to overwhelm him. Nothing seemed to make sense, and if he’d had the Ethera for it, he would have immediately shifted back to the Shape of the Predator.

Leaning on his staff, he struggled to get his breathing under control. As he wrangled his emotions, Elijah saw his feelings for the danger they represented. It was so easy to be an animal. It was a much simpler life to surrender to the mechanics of survival and let everything else fall away.

But he was not an animal.

“Human,” he muttered, his voice ragged from lack of use. The word felt thick on his tongue, and it certainly didn’t come easily. It was like his mind was fighting him. Still, he persisted, “I am…human.”

He repeated the words a few more times, and with each iteration, he felt a little more in control. The panic receded, and he felt more comfortable in his own body.

Elijah looked down. He had gained weight, and his body was corded with lean muscle. His memory of his self-image was a little fuzzy, but he suspected that he was even healthier than he’d been before he’d entered the tower. For all it was psychologically dangerous, living as a panther had done wonders for his physique.

He forced a chuckle. “The Tarzan workout, I guess,” he rasped.

Then, he studied the arched entrance to the maze. It was constructed of thick, rugged stone, and it looked as if it had existed for thousands of years. The same could be said for the connected wall, which was covered in vines and moss. Both parts of the structure were at least fifty feet tall.

Looking at the maze, Elijah’s first idea was to simply climb the walls. It still wouldn’t be easy to traverse, but it would still be much easier if he could get a top-down view. So, he approached the wall and tried just that. However, ten feet up, he started feeling heavier. At first, it was just a minor increase, but with every foot he ascended, his weight increased until he could barely hold on. He'd only made it twenty feet before he could climb no higher.

“Should’ve expected that,” he said to himself. It felt good to speak, especially after his stint as a panther. It reminded him that he was still human. In any case, it seemed like he had no choice but to traverse the maze the old-fashioned way.

With the completion of his Task in mind, Elijah stepped through the gate and entered the Primordial Maze. He could only hope that it would prove less dangerous than the jungle, but even as that thought crossed his mind, he recognized how ridiculous it was. There was no way things would get easier now that he was on the home stretch. If anything, he was in for a steep increase in difficulty.

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