Path of Dragons

Elijah leaned forward, sniffing the air as he stuck his head through the huge gash in the ship’s hull. The air inside was musty and, odd as it seemed in the middle of a desert, almost humid. He knew it was an illusion. He could feel the colony of snakes inside, and he could intuit that they were the source of the strange feeling. It was a potent hunting method, waving a moist environment in front of the parched desert denizens, but it wasn’t one Elijah would fall for.

But if he hadn’t had One with Nature on his side, he might’ve gone exploring. And while he hoped he could stand up to whatever other deadly hunting techniques the snakes could bring to bear, he wasn’t entirely sure that would be the case. So, after assuring himself that there wasn’t anything more interesting than a clever predator inside, he pulled away. The snakes shifted a little, probably in annoyance that their potential prey hadn’t fallen for their trap, but otherwise, they didn’t react.

Elijah sighed, then stepped away from the hulking container ship. He’d already inspected a few of them, and unsurprisingly, they’d all been picked clean. Sure, there was plenty of metal inside, but it probably was too mundane to be truly valuable. Still, he marked the graveyard of ships in his mind, just in case he ever needed a ready source of thousands of tons of steel.

The latest ship was no different than the rest, though, so he felt content to leave it alone. Besides, he had somewhere he needed to be. He’d only just begun the last leg of his journey, and already, he’d allowed himself to grow distracted. Hopefully, his will would prove stronger the next time he encountered something moderately interesting.

Or someone in trouble, which seemed the more likely possibility, given his past experiences.

He stretched a bit, then looked at the sky. It wasn’t much past midday, so he still had plenty of time to cover ground before nightfall. Still, he was tempted to shift into his draconid form to speed his progress, but ultimately, he made the same choice he usually did and remained in his human form. His bestial shapes were incredibly useful and extremely powerful, but they both came with a shift of mindset that would overwhelm him if he wasn’t careful. It had nearly happened in the Primordial Forest, and since then, Elijah had vowed not to lean too heavily on his animal forms. Certainly, they were his most potent weapon in combat, but for something as simple as travel, they were only slightly better than his natural form. And that minor improvement in speed wasn’t worth risking a descent into a more primitive mindset.

So, on his own two feet, he set forward, using his staff as a walking stick. Thankfully, his Cloak of the Iron Bear prevented him from growing overheated, but the attributes it provided were minimal. One day, he’d find his way to a much colder environment where the item could really shine. But for now, he was grateful for the Temperate trait, which kept him cool even in the blisteringly hot desert sun.

Leaving the ship behind, he strode through the desert. His gait was that of a determined walk, though he moved at a speed appropriate for an Olympic sprinter. That pace was evidence of just how large the world was. Even as quickly as he could cover ground, he’d barely seen a fraction of a percent of the new and improved Earth. In a way, it was intimidating, but it was also incredibly exciting. With how much everything had changed, there were untold wonders out there for him to explore. He only had to find them, which he intended to do once he’d found his family and ushered them to safety.

Those thoughts occupied his mind as he passed a large pillar of rock. It was only at the last second that he recognized the danger bearing down on him, and even that was only because he could see his attacker via One with Nature. However, the man was moving so quickly that the spell – and the Haste from Sash of the Whirlwind – only gave Elijah a moment’s worth of warning.

That was barely enough to give him the opportunity to fling himself to the side, narrowly avoiding a descending spear. He rolled to his feet, leveling his staff in the man’s direction.

And he was more than a little surprised at what he saw.

His attacker was enormous. At least seven feet tall, and with the body of an elite athlete, he had long, blonde hair and a matching beard. His facial hair had been braided and tied off with a leather thong, giving him the appearance of a fierce Viking. His armor followed the same theme and was composed of chainmail and hardened leather. The spear that had nearly impaled Elijah was more primal in appearance, with a white haft and red tassels just below the long, leaf-shaped blade.

“You forgot the horned helmet,” Elijah said, pushing himself to his feet as his opponent yanked his spear from where it had become embedded in the ground.

“What?” the man asked in a curiously accented voice.

“You’re a Viking, right? You need a horny helmet,” Elijah stated, using the man’s confusion to adjust his buffs. At level seventy, he’d gained yet another slot, so he used Essence of the Boar, Aura of Renewal, Essence of the Monkey, Essence of the Lion, as well as Essence of the Wolf and One with Nature. The last two didn’t take up his buff slots, which he suspected was due to the fact that they were impossible to cast on anyone else.

“That is a myth,” the man growled, stepping forward. Elijah mirrored his movement, taking a step backward. “Only ignorant Americans believe Vikings actually wore horned helmets.”

“Guilty, I guess,” Elijah said. “The American part, I mean. Though I guess ignorant applies, too. We’re all ignorant about something. For instance, did you know that sharks are covered in tiny teeth called dermal denticles? That’s why their skin feels like sandpaper.”

By that point, Elijah had finished adjusting his buffs, so he held his opening salvo just on the edge of casting. It took quite a lot of concentration to do so, but he had Mind facets to spare.

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“What are you babbling about?” demanded the Viking.

“Why did you attack me?” Elijah asked, wanting to avoid a fight if he could. The man was obviously powerful, with high attributes. More, Elijah could feel the ethera wafting off of him. Given that, he wasn’t certain he could win any ensuing battle. But more than that, he didn’t want to kill anyone unless there was no other choice.

“I am a hunter,” the man spat. “And you are prey.”

A slight twitch was the only warning Elijah got before the man exploded into motion. Fortunately, that was all he needed.

The first spell he cast – as he dove to the side – was Snaring Roots. Then, he followed it up with Storm’s Fury.

Neither worked as well as he’d hoped. Brown roots erupted from the ground, wrapping around the Viking’s legs. However, the man was far too strong for them to do more than slow him down. Still, that was enough to ease Elijah’s aim, and a bolt of lightning descended from above, slamming into his chest. For a brief moment, his muscles went out of control, and he stumbled slightly. That allowed the roots to snake around him, wrapping around his arms, legs, and torso a dozen times in the space of a second.

Elijah cast Calamity.

The sky broke apart, and the earth trembled as sharp blades of wind descended upon the prone giant. Sand rode upon the wave of wind, obscuring all vision. Elijah used that to his advantage, casting Swarm.

A thousand scarabs burst forth from the sand, burying the man beneath a tide of tiny, biting beetles.

Elijah was just patting himself on the back when he sensed another presence nearby. He whipped around to see another identical Viking descending upon him. His spear glowed with menacing red light that elicited a flinch from Elijah. Fortunately, he had plenty of time to slap the weapon aside with his staff.

He cast Soothe, anticipating that he wasn’t going to make it through the fight without being injured. Then, finally, he shifted into the lamellar ape form. It was just in time, too, because the warrior that had been tangled in the roots finally recovered enough to rip free of the bindings. And with a roar, he threw himself at Elijah, his own spear shimmering with identical red energy.

Elijah snapped out a backhand that, shockingly, the man managed to block. Then, in a deft bit of spear work, he reversed the weapon and swept Elijah’s feet out from under him. Even as he felt, Elijah knew he’d found a deadly foe. The only question was whether or not he could endure what was coming.

* * *

Thor’s insides were on fire. The biting insects had inflicted upon him some sort of caustic venom that he suspected would have turned his muscles to mush if it weren’t for his incredible Constitution. But he was far too strong to succumb to mere insects, and he’d shrugged the attacks off. Still, he knew that if the fight went on for too long, he’d have to do something about it.

Which was why he’d used Ancestral Clone to turn the tide of battle. It had worked incredibly well, too, distracting the Druid long enough for Thor to tear free of the frustratingly restrictive vines. Now, he aimed to end the fight quickly and efficiently, charging forward with his spear held before him.

However, he nearly blanched when he saw the man transform into some sort of creature from nightmare. At first, Thor thought he faced one of the Voxx, but he quickly noticed a few major differences. First, while the Druid’s new form was reptilian, it wasn’t, for lack of a better word, wrong. The Voxx were alien, and that was always evident from their appearance. The new form of the Druid felt far more natural.

Still, it was clearly not of Earth. In a way, it resembled a gorilla, though with black scales instead of fur, and a head like a spiny lizard. Its teeth were sharp and plentiful, and its thick, stubby claws seemed perfect for ripping. In short, it was a monster built for murder, not unlike hundreds of others Thor had hunted.

All of that flashed through his mind as he bore down on the man-turned-monster. He lashed out with his spear, using Fury of the Stalker to augment his attack. His clone did the same, though the other figure moved much more slowly than the real thing. That was fine, though. It had already served its primary purpose, and anything else it could offer was a bonus.

The Druid tried to react, backhanding the clone. However, the doppelganger managed to raise his spear, slapping the attack aside. By that point, Thor arrived, thrusting his spear at the monstrous figure. It hit the thing in the ribs, though the sound of metal on metal announced the futility of the strike. Thor panicked, bounding backward in shock.

The clone wasn’t so quick, and the monster grabbed hold of the fake Thor’s arm and wrenched it out of socket. The clone managed to slip away, but not before his arm was rendered useless.

Thor recovered his wits and used Bite of the Hunter. It was a limited ability, and one that had a significant cooldown. Usually, he used it as an opener, taking advantage of surprise to guarantee a hit. He’d suspected that the Druid had some way of detecting his presence, though, so he’d foregone its use in the initial ambush. That had turned out to be a smart choice, because Elijah Hart had managed to avoid the blow entirely.

He wouldn’t this time, though.

The blade of Thor’s spear blazed with green light as he shoved Ethera into the ability.

Bite of the Hunter

Infuse a weapon with ethera, bypassing defensive abilities for a single strike. Efficacy and cooldown based on Dexterity. Current: 7.3 hours.

Thor knew that the ability was contingent on his Dexterity being higher than his foe’s. Otherwise, it would have poorer returns, based on the gap. That was why he’d spent so many of his free points augmenting that attribute. It was one of the major reasons he’d been able to kill so many powerful enemies, and he knew it wouldn’t fail him in this instance. He’d seen the monstrous Druid move, and there was no chance that he was equipped with Dexterity on the level of Thor’s.

More than that, he had no chance of dodging the blow.

The spear’s blade hit the Druid in the chest, biting deep as it parted the monstrous man’s scales. Less than an instant later, the clone’s own version of Bite of the Hunter rammed into the Druid’s back, though to far less effect than Thor’s.

The man-monster howled in pain as Thor ripped his spear free. Blood gushed from the wound, telling the hunter that he’d hit either an artery or the creature’s overlarge heart.

The man-creature stumbled to his knees, but before Thor’s eyes, the wound ceased bleeding. Then, the scales grew back together. And the monster shook its head, refocusing. It was at that moment that Thor felt a tremble of fear coursing up his spine.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” the monstrous Druid growled. Then, with bestial fury flashing in those reptilian eyes, it threw itself in his direction.

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