Path of Dragons

“He’s going to kill us,” said Nia, wringing her green, long-fingered hands as she stood on the dock. “He’s going to take us over there and sacrifice us for some sort of ritual, like he did with all those mercenaries from Black Sun.”

“If he wanted to kill us, he would have already done so,” pointed out Robolo. “And that nightgown is ridiculous, by the way. We’re going to a tower. Not a sleepover.”

“It’s not a nightgown!” she insisted, resisting the urge to flip her hood up over her head. It wasn’t necessary, but she’d always cherished the look of the mysterious sorcerer. That was why she carried a diamondain staff even when it was markedly worse – and more expensive – than the dagger she could’ve gotten instead. “It’s a wizard’s robe.”

“Looks like a nightgown to me,” the gnomish Confounder replied. He straightened his vest as if to highlight the difference between his attire and hers. Then, he said, “At least you wore sensible shoes. I half expected you to show up in slippers or some such nonsense.”

“Enough,” Kurik, the scout, said. “And he ain’t killin’ nobody. He saved the city, in case any of you idjits forgot.”

“He saved himself,” Ssethik, the Rogue stated. Despite the fact that he was the only member of the party who was also a goblin, Nia didn’t really trust him. Of course, that was probably due to prejudice rather than anything else. Rogues, like most stealthy classes, were not well-regarded in any civilized company.

But that was the problem, wasn’t it? Ironshore was not civilized. Instead, it was a frontier town on a newly touched world, and it was populated by cast-offs and ne’er do wells. So, Nia fit in quite well, considering she was both – at least according to her father, who was quite upset that she’d run away. It served him right for trying to make her wed that cad Benka. As if she would ever stoop so low, especially when she had an adventuring career ahead of her.

No - coming to Earth was the right choice, even if it had nearly gotten her killed on multiple occasions. The orcish horde had been a terrifying experience made even more so by the human shapeshifter who’d ostensibly saved the entire city with his heroics. But for a chance illness, he’d have killed her alongside all the rest of the city’s combatants. She didn’t belong to Black Sun like Eason Cabbot and the others – she was independent – but she would have gone right alongside them if she hadn’t been sick.

And now, she was willingly throwing herself into the clutches of the monstrous man who’d already killed so many. It was idiotic.

But it was also necessary. Someone had to go, and she was one of the best qualified in the city. On top of that, the chance to run a tower was one she couldn’t pass up. Back home, she would have had to pay hundreds of silver ethereum for that opportunity, and even then, it would have been one of the carefully curated towers that barely gave any rewards.

But this was a wild tower that, from what the mayor had told her, had only been conquered a single time. The rewards for defeating that challenge would be immense. So, Nia – alongside Kurik, Robolo, and Ssethik – had agreed to accompany the so-called Protector of the Grove.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t come to regret it.

Kurik said, “He could’ve left. Ain’t nothin’ could’ve stopped him if he just picked up and left. I’ve seen him move through the woods like it ain’t nothin’. He’s better than any scout I got, my own self included.”

Ssethik shook his head, but he didn’t respond. For Nia’s part, she didn’t know what to think of the surly dwarf’s declaration. Kurik wasn’t known to venture into hyperbole, so she had no reason to disbelieve his statement. Yet, the idea that someone could do the things she’d seen in the battle and act as a scout as well – that was terrifying.

Sure, Nia knew that there were people with better classes out there. Better cultivation, too. And she was also aware that a newly touched world’s natives were given many opportunities the wider universe never received – not without significant cost, at least. The guides available to their native branches cost a fraction of what they did on other worlds or, in Ironshore’s case, via an imported Branch.

But someone who could fill multiple roles was the epitome of rare.

For her part, Nia was a heavy-hitting damage dealer. As a Lithomancer, she could manipulate earth and stones to a high degree. And while she had sturdier defenses than most spellcasters, she could only take a couple of hits before her comparatively frail body succumbed to any damage that might befall her.

By contrast, Robolo was a completely different sort of Sorcerer known as a Confounder. Nia wasn’t certain of the specifics, but the gnome could manipulate the minds of his enemies, and according to everything she had seen, he was best suited to controlling the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Ssethik was a Rogue, which meant that he was great at sneaking around and ambushing his foes. Nia wasn’t sure what class Kurik had, but she knew he worked as a scout and that his traps were deadly. Aside from that, his abilities were a mystery.

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One thing she did know was that he was just as limited as everyone else. Most people – at least as far as Nia had seen – could only perform one function in a group. She and Ssethik were damage dealers, albeit both with a different focus, while Kurik and Robolo were meant for control. That left two major roles unfilled.

And they were the most important to the success of any endeavor – the frontline fighter colloquially known as the defender who was meant to protect the rest of the group and the healer, who was there to mend any damage they sustained. Without those two roles being filled, there was almost no chance of success.

Yet, there they were, waiting to meet the human who intended to lead them into a wild tower. And what’s more, according to rumors, the man had already conquered it himself. Alone. That knowledge was enough to raise the hairs on the back of Nia’s neck.

“If you say so,” Ssethik stated. “For me, I’ll be keeping my eye on him.”

“I would expect nothing less,” came a new voice. Nia whipped around to see that the man in question was standing behind her. She nearly fell over the hem of her robe trying to get away from him, but he reached out to steady her. “Sorry, sorry. I sometimes get in the habit of not being seen. I’m sure you understand.”

He gave her a smile that looked like it belonged to an insane person, but she supposed it was more likely meant to be reassuring. Or perhaps he truly was as crazy as the rumors suggested. Either way, she had no interest in offending someone like that, so she tried to smile back, but she feared it came across as more of a snarl. Or a grimace. Either way, he released his grip on her arm.

“I’m Elijah, and I’ll be leading this tour group. If you would, step into the rowboat, and we’ll get moving. Our first stop is my island. It doesn’t look like much from here, but I can tell you right now, it’ll knock your socks off.”

“I’m not wearing socks,” said Ssethik, holding out his foot. Indeed, his foot was clad only in what looked like a slipper. Nia had seen their like before, and she knew they were intended to aid his abilities in stealth. “Is that what happened to your boots? Did something on this island knock them off?”

“Perhaps there is a powerful monster that collects shoes,” suggested Robolo. “I once knew of a gabernoak that liked to steal ladies’ underthings. When we finally hunted it down, we found that it had quite the collection. Disgusting creatures, gabernoaks. They live underground, where they’re mostly sedentary. And when they’re confronted, they resort to parroted insults. Mostly harmless, though they do –”

“That’s enough,” Kurik said. “It wasn’t meant to be literal.”

The human said, “Anyway…all aboard! Please keep your arms and legs inside the boat at all times. Out there be sea monsters.”

He punctuated his excited shout by pumping his fist up and down. Nia had no idea what any of it meant, but the last thing she wanted to hear was a gnome going on about stealing ladies’ underwear. So, she hurried onto the rowboat. Ssethik followed, sitting beside her, and Robolo and the dwarven scout came next. The last to board was Elijah, who sighed.

“Guess I’m rowing,” he muttered, taking the oars. “Should’ve just teleported.”

Then, he pulled the oars and the boat leaped forward. Over the next half hour, they cut across the strait. Kurik and the human made small talk, but Nia had a hard time following the conversation. After all, she had grown up on the coast of her homeworld, and so knew the sorts of monsters that dwelled within the sea. She also recognized how vulnerable the little boat could be. Certainly, it bore a basic enchantment meant to ward off the creatures of the deep, but those enchanments were weak enough as to be ineffectual.

Still, nothing attacked them on the way, and soon enough, they landed on the shore. After everyone disembarked, Elijah pulled the boat onto the beach, all the while muttering about teleportation. In any event, it wasn’t long before it was nestled next to a handful of other similar vessels.

That’s when Nia realized where they’d come from. In retrospect, it was obvious, but recognition hadn’t dawned until she saw them all lined up next to the forest. Those were the row boats Eason Cabbot and his mercenaries had used. Elijah had taken possession of the vessels after killing the intruders.

She swallowed hard. Almost on cue, Elijah slapped his hands together, making everyone but Kurik flinch. “Alright. We’re going to be camping here for the night,” he said. “Well, you are. I intend to sleep in my own bed tonight, thank you very much. Kurik’s coming with me.”

“I am?” the dwarf asked.

“You are,” Elijah said. Then, he turned and started walking towards the woods. However, before he reached them, he turned around and said, “Please don’t try to follow me. If you do, I’ll know. Don’t stray far from the beach, or I can’t guarantee your safety.”

With that cryptic statement, he strode into the forest. Kurik hurried to follow. When the two were gone, Robolo turned to Ssethik and asked, “So what do we do now? Why did he want to bring us out here if we weren’t going into the tower until tomorrow?”

Nia finally found her voice. “I don’t know, but I’m doing what he said. I’ll gather some wood for a fire,” she said. “Then I intend to rest. I don’t think we’re going to have much of a chance once we’re in the tower.”

With that, she did just that, gathering sticks that had fallen to the forest floor. Robolo did the same, and soon enough, they had enough to start the fire. By that point, the sun had begun to fall toward the horizon. That’s when she realized that Ssethik was nowhere to be found.

She turned to Robolo, “Did you see where he went?”

The gnome understood her meaning and shook his head, “No. But he’s a Rogue. That’s kind of the point of his class.”

It was at that point that Ssethik stepped out of the woods. Or stumbled, really. He wore an expression of terror on his face, and his normally deep-green complexion had paled.

Nia shot toward him, demanding to know if he was injured.

For a moment, his eyes were unfocused until, at last, he snapped back to himself. When he did, he shook his head, saying, “No. No. I’m fine. I just…there’s something out there. Something very dangerous.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t get a good look,” Ssethik said. “But it was there. It could have…it knew where I was. It growled at me.”

“He told us to stay on the beach. Maybe that wasn’t for his protection. Maybe that was for ours,” Robolo guessed.

“He can shapeshift. Maybe it was him.”

“No human can see me when I use my abilities. I tested it when he first came to Ironshore. No – this was something else. A guardian, maybe. I don’t know. This place gives me the creeps,” Ssethik said.

“It’s only one night,” Robolo stated. “We’ll be fine.”

“I…I hope so,” Nia stated. “I hope so.”

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