Path of Dragons

“This place is amazing,” Elijah said, leaning close to inspect the wall. Like the rest of the fortress, it was made of mostly featureless stone. However, it had the distinction of being run through with geometric patterns of white ice. “These look like snowflakes, right?”

“They look cold is what they look,” Kurik growled, rubbing his own arms with a thick blanket thrown over his shoulders.

“It’s not that bad,” Elijah responded, looking from one member of his party to the next. Dat had a blanket over his shoulders as well, and Sadie had donned a heavy and hooded cloak, the edges as well as the inside of which was lined with thick, white fur. Still, he could see that her lips had turned slightly blue. The same could be said for the other two, though aside from Kurik, they’d borne their obvious discomfort silently. “How cold do you think it is here?”

“I went to Siberia in the middle of Winter once,” said Sadie. “I was volunteering to help the natives – called Nenets – with addiction issues. Alcohol wasn’t introduced into their culture until fairly recently, so the theory is that they don’t have the generational defenses built up to combat addiction. Couple that with their way of life – which was built around a nomadic existence herding reindeer – having been snatched away from them, and they had serious issues. My partner at the time was a sociologist, so…anyway, this is a lot colder.”

“That’s a long way of sayin’ the obvious. It’s cold. Don’t need no fancy story to know that much,” Kurik said. “You humans get so obsessed with numbers and such. Cold’s cold. Hot’s hot. Don’t need no arbitrary numbers to tell you that.”

“Kurik,” Elijah groaned.

“Bro.”

“What?” the dwarf demanded. “It’s too damn cold to lollygag ‘round here. We got Mr. Distracted Druid over there inspectin’ the wall art, little Miss Shining Knight talkin’ about reindeer herders, and…and meanwhile, I’m sittin’ here freezin’ my damn beard off. I got a right to be a little annoyed.”

Elijah was about to respond, but then he thought better of it. Often, he forgot that, because of the Cloak of the Iron Bear, he didn’t have to worry too much about extreme temperatures. Certainly, its Temperate effect likely had a limit, but he’d yet to find it. But if the buff he got from it was any indication, the temperature in the lower reaches of the Ice Fortress were predictably severe. If it wasn’t at least twenty or thirty degrees below zero, he would have been incredibly surprised. The only reason the others hadn’t already succumbed to frost bite was because of a combination of three factors. First, even the least enduring among them – Dat – had the benefit of a superhuman Constitution, so they were all shielded, at least somewhat, from the biting cold. Second, there was Ward of the Seasons, which normally wouldn’t do much to protect someone from environmental factors.

It was clearly intended to shield someone from hostile spells, and the fact that it helped against the biting cold within the Ice Fortress suggested that was what they were dealing with. It was an artificial environment, and as such, Ward of the Seasons helped quite a bit. Without it, things would have been much more difficult.

The final reason no one had frozen to death was Elijah’s efforts healing them. Throughout their time in the Ice Fortress, he’d cycled Soothe on them, one after another. When one cast of the spell ran its course, he’d use it on the next person in line, returning them to perfect condition. However, the fact that their bodies degraded at all under the effect of the cold told him that it was much more serious than even they knew.

Thankfully, using Soothe was not very ethera-intensive, and he was able to keep the cycle going indefinitely. Largely, that was due to his Quartz Mind, which allowed him to refill his core at an alarmingly fast pace – at least compared to the rate at which he spent it. Would that change as he evolved his spells into more powerful versions? That was what had happened when Touch of Nature had become Nature’s Bloom. That spell was now much more potent than its predecessor, but at a far higher cost.

Regardless, Elijah’s spells were thankfully quite efficient – at least at the moment. Hopefully, that would continue to be the case.

“He’s right. Sorry,” he said, glancing from one companion to the next. “I’ll try not to get distracted.”

“And I will refrain from telling superfluous stories,” Sadie added, her voice flat and emotionless.

“Ah, don’t be like that. I’m just ornery ‘cause of the cold. It ain’t natural.”

“It’s fine,” she responded.

At least Kurik had the grace to look a bit embarrassed for making her feel bad after she’d opened up a little. Sadie wasn’t precisely closed-off, but she also didn’t go out of her way to share stories from her old life. So, being berated after doing just that probably meant that, at least in terms of their relationship as a team, they’d taken a bit of a step backwards.

Stolen novel; please report.

Elijah vowed to correct that course when they had a little time. Sadie wasn’t the most likeable person in the world, but she was still a human being with emotions and insecurities. And given that he wanted the group to remain as cohesive as possible, soothing her hurt feelings was probably a necessity.

But not when they were slowly freezing to death in a hostile fortress.

So, without any more conversation or distraction, they moved on. Eventually, they reached a set of stairs that led upward, and after killing the pair of chainmail-wearing yetis that guarded the entrance to the stairwell, they ascended to the next level. That was when things began to change.

For one, the enemies they encountered were different. There were still yetis about, but they were smaller and thinner than the ones in the lower levels. More, they wore actual clothing and moved with a level of grace that simply wasn’t present among the warriors. Finally, when Elijah and his companions encountered these yetis, it became clear that they were part of a domestic staff.

“He hit me with a broom, bro,” said Dat, rubbing his head after their latest engagement with the enemy. “Pretty hard, too.”

“I saw,” Elijah acknowledged. For his part, he’d had to evade a yeti wielding a silver platter as a bludgeoning tool. The creatures weren’t really that dangerous, but they were just as vicious as their war-like counterparts down below. The real danger was letting any of them escape. Surely, there were more warriors in the upper levels, and if one of the domestic yetis escaped, they would doubtless bring the proverbial cavalry down on the group’s collective head.

It represented a different challenge, and though chasing yetis through the halls wasn’t as immediately dangerous as fighting for their lives, it certainly was no easier. That was when One with Nature showed its worth. Elijah could sense everything within a hundred-yard diameter, so when the yetis inevitably tried to hide, he knew precisely where they were. Though the outer reaches of the ability’s effect were a lot blurrier than the area closest to him, Elijah could still easily recognize the shape of a hiding yeti.

As they swept through the fortress, it felt a bit like extermination. Necessary. Easy. And ultimately distasteful. Yet, they couldn’t simply refuse the task set before them. If they did, their lives would be at risk. So, they did what they had to do, one slaughtered yeti at a time.

For the most part, they all took it well. None of them were strangers to killing, after all. However, there were differences in their reactions. Sadie maintained a stoic demeanor, but Elijah had come to know her well enough to recognize her strained expressions for what they were. She didn’t like killing, even when doing so was absolutely necessary. Yet, she would not shirk her duty on the basis of emotions alone.

Kurik was the most visibly frustrated, which he took out on the unfortunate creatures, growling and muttering curses along the way. He clearly blamed the monsters themselves for pushing him into the situation.

As for Dat, he seemed the least affected, but Elijah suspected that was a mask the Witch Hunter wore for everyone else’s sake.

Elijah was somewhere in the middle, regarding his own demeanor. He hated that so much killing was necessary, but he wasn’t in the habit of complaining about doing what he had to do. He just did it, taking no pleasure in the act. However, there was more than a little guilt sitting in the back of his mind, largely because every kill was at his direction.

Still, they kept at it for most of that day until, at last, they had killed every last yeti on that level. As they’d expected, there was a contingent of warriors headquartered in one corner of the facility, but when Elijah and his companions found the creatures, the yetis were asleep.

Their slaughter went off without a hitch, mostly because of repeated castings of Elijah’s Swarm. A few died in their sleep, and the ones that did wake up were so weakened by the afflictions delivered by the summoned insects that they were incapable of putting up a fight.

And just like that, the level was cleared.

Then, the next after that. On the third level up, they encountered yet another change. Instead of yetis, they found themselves facing off against the very same creatures Elijah had seen depicted in the murals and frescoes he’d encountered within various ruins. They were similar to the wraiths, at least in terms of basic shape. They were equipped with four arms, a slender torso, and smooth-skinned but oddly reptilian features. Yet, they were far more muscular than the wraiths.

“They’re naga,” Dat said after severing one of the creatures’ heads. They’d just finished a battle – more of an ambush, really – in which they slaughtered six of the monsters. “See the tails? No feet.”

Indeed, they didn’t even have legs. Instead, from the waist down, they were entirely serpentine.

“They ain’t naga,” Kurik argued. “Naga are aquatic. These are land-based monsters.”

“I don’t think they’re monsters at all,” Sadie pointed out.

“Me neither,” Elijah agreed. That wasn’t what they felt like, at least. Even the domesticated yetis, which displayed human-like mannerisms, had carried with them a monstrous aura.

“They bear the weight of sin,” said Sadie. “Monsters do not.”

“Does that mean they’re people?” asked Dat.

“I think so,” she answered.

Dat’s shoulders sagged. “I don’t like killing people, bro. Monsters are fine. Same with undead. But people…that’s not cool.”

“I know, Dat. But we don’t have a choice,” Sadie said. “These creatures, they’re clouded in sin like no one I have ever seen. I could smell it before I even saw them. They’re not just murderers. They have committed atrocities the likes of which none of us have seen.”

“I’ve seen some pretty bad things,” Elijah said, remembering the dungeons below Easton.

“I…I’m sure you have,” Sadie responded. “These creatures are evil.”

“Like I’m evil?” he asked softly.

“That’s different.”

“Is it?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she turned her attention to the fallen group of serpentine people. Kneeling beside them, she rifled through their clothing, clearly looking for anything of worth. They had no valuables, though. No weapons. Just the clothes on their backs.

Elijah searched one as well, and though he found the act of looting corpses detestable, and for a variety of reasons, he refused to shy away from it. He discovered nothing of note, aside from a more thorough examination of the creatures’ bodies. They were androgynous, and though they had similar features, they were as distinct from one another as human beings were from each other. In addition, despite their serpentine appearance, they lacked scales. Instead, their skin was pliable and rubbery, not unlike what one would expect from an amphibian.

“That’s gross, bro,” Dat said as Elijah opened one of the creatures’ mouths to inspect its teeth. They were sharp, but there were no discernible fangs.

“We need to know what we’re dealing with,” Elijah responded without looking up.

“What have you found?” asked Sadie.

“They’re warm-blooded. Not venomous. They’re unlike anything I’ve seen,” Elijah said. “I’d have to cut them open to find out more.”

“Please don’t,” Dat pleaded.

“I don’t intend to, but I think these might be the natives of this world,” he explained. “At least one group. Just after arriving in the Trial, we encountered some others with similar characteristics, though they had legs. I don’t know what that means just yet, but my working theory is divergent evolutionary paths. That’s just a guess, though. I’d need a lot more information before I could turn it into a proper theory.”

“Interesting,” Sadie said.

“Yeah. Really interesting,” Dat agreed.

Kurik rolled his eyes and blurted, “Don’t matter what they are or where they came from, does it? We still gotta kill ‘em. So, can we move on from this little science experiment and get to the real job at hand. There’s stairs up ahead, and I think that’s the obvious way we’re s’posed to go.”

The others agreed, and soon enough, they mounted the stairs leading them to the next level.

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