Path of Dragons

Finishing the two-headed ogre that was Tuk and Tok had come with a couple of benefits. The first was the enormous staff Elijah had thrown over his shoulder, but even more importantly, he’d gained another level. Given that it had taken an entire wing of elves to progress to level forty, doing so from a single kill – or two, if he counted the twin heads as separate entities – was phenomenal efficiency. That gave Elijah a little more insight into how the system awarded kill energy, and he suspected that, even though the creatures were probably only a few levels higher than their guards, they awarded a lot more experience. Likely, it was something to do with Ethera density, which translated into more power.

That made sense, though Elijah was still trying to wrap his head around how everything worked. For instance, he knew he gained experience from healing, but he’d also surmised that healing himself was useless for those purposes. In addition, the power of the entity he healed seemed to have some effect as well.

Everything still didn’t add up. Not completely. But he didn’t have the time nor the inclination to investigate. Instead, he headed toward the stairs that would lead him to the next lieutenants. Before he ascended, though, he dropped his pack and the ogre’s staff in the large, central chamber. That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about lugging everything around or damaging his pack.

Thus unburdened, Elijah checked his enhancements to ensure that everything he needed was active. At present, he was using Aura of Renewal, Essence of the Boar, and Shield of Brambles, as well as Essence of the Wolf and One with Nature. Once he was satisfied with everything, he shifted into the shape of the scaled panther, then proceeded up the steps before following a twisting hall that led to the light wing. Along the way, Elijah deftly avoided the slicing beams of light until he reached an intersection. Down one hall, he knew he would find the once-divided chamber that had become a graveyard for elves. He chose the other, which he’d already established would lead him to the light lieutenant.

That’s when he embraced Guise of the Unseen, took a deep, steadying breath, then headed up. The path was fraught with even more beams of burning light, but Elijah’s high Dexterity allowed him to maneuver his body well enough to easily avoid them. So, he reached the next lieutenant quickly and without issue.

The elf inside was precisely what he’d been led to expect. Avasil was beautiful, wearing a long, gossamer robe, and seemed entirely at peace. Except for the huge basin of blood in front of which she stood. At first, Elijah tried to convince himself that it was some other red liquid, but the smell – which was augmented by his animalistic senses – was absolutely unmistakable.

After he allowed himself to accept the reality of the basin, which was at least four feet across and made of elaborately engraved stone, it didn’t take long for him to look up and see the source of all that blood. Three bodies, all completely devoid of skin and entirely unrecognizable, hung from the ceiling. Every few seconds, a few drops of blood would drip down to land in the basin.

Avasil, meanwhile, paid them no heed. Instead, she occupied herself in much the same way the twin ogres had, which was to say that she was reading a book. However, neither the nearly incomprehensibly beautiful elf nor the bodies hanging from the ceiling were the most extraordinary details in Elijah’s view. Instead, that label belonged to the fact that there were eight identical elves moving throughout the room. However, even their presence wasn’t what alarmed Elijah. No – it was the fact that, despite their appearance, which was as solid-looking as anything else in the room, they were just as plainly fake.

It wasn’t a single thing that told him they weren’t real. Rather, it was a multitude of factors. The first that he’d noticed was the most important, though. None of them showed up in the sense granted by One with Nature. At first, he hadn’t really understood what had triggered his instincts, but the void was jarring enough to send a tingle of unease up his spine.

There was no smell coming from any of them, save for the single elf standing near the basin, but other than that, they were perfectly realistic.

They were copies.

It only took Elijah a few seconds to make the connection. The lieutenant was a master of light, but instead of using the dangerous beams that existed throughout the rest of the wing, she had created illusions.

But they weren’t real. Elijah could feel that through One with Nature. He couldn’t quite put his finger on how he knew it, but he completely discounted the possibility that they were corporeal. Instead, he felt completely certain that they were like ghosts. For most people, they would make for a confusing mess, but Elijah could see through the deception. And as such, there was nothing keeping him from attacking the real lieutenant.

There was a part of him that was curious about what she was doing with the bodies and the blood. However, he wasn’t so interested that he would pass up a golden opportunity to attack an unwary enemy. So, without further hesitation, Elijah padded into the room, avoiding the illusions along the way, then positioned himself behind the elf.

It was telling about how far he’d come down the path of a killer that he didn’t hesitate before leaping into action. After engaging Predator Strike as well as Venom Strike, Elijah pounced.

Even as his jaws closed around the elven woman’s head, she let loose with a series of flashing lights that had him seeing stars. The illusions all screamed, and Elijah felt the light burning holes through his scales.

But it only lasted a second before he bit through Avasil’s skull.

After that, the illusions let out one last scream before dissipating into motes of light. Then, a blaze of blinding light flashed before everything went dark.

Then, slowly, the flames flickered back to life, revealing a very different setting than the one he’d seen before he’d killed the elf. And she was definitely dead. He’d felt the influx of energy that heralded her death. Plus, he’d crushed her entire skull between his teeth, which was usually a good way to ensure something would cease living.

However, when Elijah looked down, instead of the beautiful elf – headless though she was – he saw a decrepit creature with pallid, flaky skin and a body that looked like it belonged to a desiccated corpse. The copies were predictably gone, but the illusion that had apparently extended to the entire room had disappeared as well. Now, Elijah saw a blood-stained torture chamber that would have been at home in the dungeon where he’d killed the Warden.

Elijah pushed his disgust aside, focusing on what was really important – he’d managed to kill the light lieutenant without a real fight. Of course, it wouldn’t have been possible without the unique advantage of One with Nature, proving the necessity of bringing the right tool for the job. For most people, that meant having a diverse group, but Elijah had to lean on his personal versatility instead.

It had worked so far, but he dreaded the day when he’d encounter a situation he simply wasn’t equipped to handle. That day had yet to come, but he knew it would. Hopefully, he’d have even more skills and abilities when it did. For now, though, he needed to loot what he could, then head to the other wing where he would deal with Tulariel, the master of shadow.

Over the next few minutes, Elijah scoured the area. However, other than a few extra copper Ethereum, he found nothing of value. Even the books he’d seen had been illusory, so he quickly left the grisly chamber behind, retracing his steps as he headed toward the shadow wing.

That necessitated the traversal of the battlefield, where he was confronted with the results of his actions. Dead elves, each wearing elaborate armor that was impossible to remove, carpeted the floor, though Elijah pushed past them without a second glance. In a few facets of his mind, though, he wondered if killing denizens of a tower counted as murder. On the surface, he was certain that it didn’t. And yet, some vestiges of guilt remained, casting doubt on his certainty.

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Fortunately, he quickly left that chamber behind and found his way through the shadow wing and to the room that housed Tulariel, the shadow lieutenant. In the Shape of the Predator, and with Guise of the Unseen cloaking his presence, Elijah observed the dark elf was in the middle of executing an elaborate sword kata. It was a truly impressive display of grace, balance, and skill, reminding Elijah of just how inadequate his efforts with the staff were.

It also lit a fire beneath him. Once he conquered the tower, he resolved to devote himself to better learning the weapon he’d adopted as his preference. At the moment, though, he had an elf to kill.

There was no justification for it. As far as Elijah could see, Tulariel was simply minding his own business. Unlike Elijah’s previous encounter with Avasil in the light wing, there were no basins of blood or skinned corpses. Still, he knew precisely what he had to do, and the fact that the elf didn’t overtly deserve it was irrelevant.

It was a fundamental aspect of nature’s brutality that sometimes, some creatures needed to die so others could live. Elijah understood that better than most, and he refused to let himself get tangled in doubts. Instead, he focused on the obstacle in his way, on the death that would allow him to live.

He lashed out like a striking snake, intending to end the fight the same way he’d overcome the last lieutenant. However, at the last second, Tulariel’s battle instincts kicked in, obviously telling him that he was in mortal danger. Just before Elijah’s jaws closed in, the dark elf dove forward, moving so quickly that Elijah couldn’t even redirect his course.

After missing his target, he crashed into the floor, then dug his claws into the tiles, forcing himself to a stop just in time to see the dark elf dart in, slashing his sword across Elijah’s unprotected flank. He shifted, avoiding the brunt of the blow – only possible because of the time dilation afforded by his Sash of the Whirlwind – and his scales deflected the sharp blade before it could penetrate too deeply.

However, the message was clear.

In the realm of speed, Elijah was woefully outmatched. The only solace was that, due to Shield of Brambles, Tulariel had been assaulted by a painful thorn for his trouble.

“A draconid? Here?” the elf breathed, yanking the thorn from his hand. He narrowed his eyes. “No. You are more than a mere beast, are you not?”

Elijah didn’t answer. Instead, his mind whirled with potential strategies. The scaled panther – or draconid, apparently – form was ill-suited to a straight fight. It was deadly so long as he had the advantage of surprise and kept his opponents on the back foot, but its defenses were too soft to stand up to even glancing blows.

No – as much as he wished he could remain in his favored form, he couldn’t do so. But that presented a problem all its own, chiefly that both of his other forms – human and scaled ape had weaknesses of their own. As a human, he was wholly dependent on Ethera to do damage. However, that same pool of Ethera was the only way he could endure damage. By comparison, the scaled ape form was incapable of keeping up with the dark elf.

Still, it was his best shot.

So, without further ado, he initiated the shift from draconid to human. He only paused for a brief second before he cast Shape of the Guardian.

“What? A shapeshifter? What sort of monster are you?!”

Tulariel didn’t ask any other questions before he launched himself forward with blistering speed. Elijah tried to avoid it, but mid-transformation, he was incapable of doing much more than protecting his head.

The sword sliced into his shoulder, stopping only when it hit the bone. However, by that point, Elijah’s transformation into a scaled ape completed. He let out a roar, slapping the sword away and throwing himself at the elf. Tulariel’s reflexes were up to the challenge, though, and he nimbly danced away, aiming a backhanded blow at Elijah along the way. Fortunately, his scales were more than up to the task of deflecting the attack – largely because the elf was incapable of putting his full strength behind it – but he couldn’t stop himself before colliding with the wall.

With a growl, Elijah tore himself away, then wheeled around to face the elf.

“A lamellar ape?”

Apparently, that was the true name of his Guardian form, which would have been interesting if Elijah wasn’t in a fight for his life against a superior and frustrating opponent.

Suddenly, he launched himself forward, hoping to take the elf by surprise. With all his Strength, he could move incredibly quickly. However, because his attributes were lopsided, that Strength was incredibly difficult to control. And he didn’t even have Essence of the Monkey to close some of the gap, either. So, the elf had little trouble spinning out of the way and landing yet another attack.

This one cut a few inches into Elijah’s hip, telling him that, despite what that first attack might have suggested, the elf was more than capable of harming him. It would take a while, but it was possible.

Likely, even, considering that Elijah couldn’t even catch the nimble swordsman, as became evident over the next few minutes of back and forth. Elijah’s frustrations mounted as he missed the elf time and time again. Each charge was rewarded with yet another painful wound as well, which only exacerbated Elijah’s rage.

But he shunted that into one facet of his Mind, focusing the rest on coming up with a plan of attack. However, he kept coming back to one simple reality: attacking was what was eventually going to get him killed. Instead, he needed to defend.

So, instead of once again charging after the elf, he slammed his fists into the ground and waited. The elf, realizing that something was the matter, hesitated. However, he couldn’t pass up an opportunity of attack, so he darted in, slashing his sword across Elijah’s shoulder.

It clanged against his scales, doing nothing.

Using his latest ability made his scales incredibly durable, but only for a few brief seconds. However, because of his inflated Constitution, he felt that he could use it quite a few times before fatigue started to take hold. More importantly, he could counter the elf’s attacks without even moving.

Tulariel retreated, pulling another thorn out of his forearm. Already, his body was peppered with lightly bleeding wounds, and if he wanted to kill Elijah, there would be many more where they’d come from. All Elijah had to do was take damage, and the thorns from Shield of Brambles would eventually wear the elf down.

And so the elf continued to attack. Elijah, for his part, practiced activating Iron Scales at the last second, and because of his Sash of the Whirlwind, he managed it well enough. Still, it was unsurprising when the elf had finally had enough.

He retreated, then refused to attack further.

“It seems we are at an impasse,” Tulariel said.

“So we are,” Elijah growled.

“You can speak?”

“I can.”

“Are my subordinates dead?” was the elf’s next question.

“They are,” Elijah said. Speaking in the lamellar ape form was unnatural, but he could manage it. “The light elves, too.”

The elf cocked his head to the side, obviously surprised. Then, he grinned. “Small rewards, I suppose. Why have you attacked us?”

“Because I must,” Elijah said. He knew better than to start going on about towers and tasks. It was unlikely that the elf would believe him, and even if he did, it would do little good. After all, it wasn’t as if the creature intended to surrender. Nor could Elijah allow it. His Task had been clear on that count.

Besides, Elijah had a plan to finish things in a hurry.

“Why? I can give you –”

Elijah cancelled Shape of the Guardian, and before he’d even completed his transformation, he’d begun to cast a spell. Meanwhile, the elf recovered from his surprise and dashed in Elijah’s direction. Still, the delay was just enough to allow the spell to complete.

Snaring Roots leaped from Elijah’s staff, prompting a surge of lashing vines to erupt from the floor and wrap themselves around the elf. It wouldn’t last long. Elijah knew that. But he hoped it would be just enough to give him one shot.

And he knew exactly how he was going to use that opening.

He ran forward, casting another spell along the way. He didn’t have time for Storm’s Fury or Swarm, and he didn’t want to spend the Ethera necessary to fuel Calamity. But that was fine. Long ago, he’d chosen his path, and though he would utilize those attack spells when necessary, he preferred his animal shapes.

So, he once again shifted into the lamellar ape form, enhancing his Strength and Constitution to superhuman levels. The elf, trapped by the vines, tried to rip himself free and avoid the oncoming attack, but he was slowed just enough to allow Elijah one good attack.

And he used it well.

With his hands clasped together, Elijah raised his arms, then brought his fists down with thunderous fury. The elf lashed out with his sword, but it clanged off of Iron Scales just before Elijah’s own attack fell. The impact of his fists crushed the elf’s collarbone as well as a few ribs. It also sent him crashing to the ground where the remnants of Snaring Roots held him in place for Elijah’s next blow.

It fell with inevitable force, crushing bones and rupturing flesh.

He hit the elf again.

And again after that.

Over and over, he repaid the elf for every attack he’d landed. And soon enough, the dark elf perished. Elijah stood over him, then let out a roar as he beat his chest with wild abandon.

The lieutenants were all dead. Now, he only needed to challenge the Champion before defeating the Reaver himself. Hopefully, he would be up for the task.

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