Path of Dragons

Book 6: Chapter 32: Diplomacy

Elijah was not entirely convinced that his companions were wrong. Indeed, every ounce of reason within him screamed that he should turn around and flee towards his companions. Certainly, they’d yet to find an alternative route to conquering the challenge, but they’d not explored the entire chamber. They hadn’t even searched the whole fortress above. So, it stood to reason that they’d probably missed something important.

Yet, deep in the core of who he was, Elijah felt that he was on the right track. It defied reason. It didn’t bend the knee to logic. And still, he was sure that his actions were the optimal way to attack the challenge.

So, hanging from the bottom of the bridge nearest the first intersection, Elijah took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Then, he skittered to the edge, climbed the railing, then slithered into position. Far behind him, he could practically feel his companions’ eyes boring into him. Obviously, they couldn’t see through Guise of the Unseen, but they knew precisely where he was going.

And they were understandably worried for his safety. From their perspective, his plan did indeed seem suicidal. He knew that. But they couldn’t feel the things he felt. Even if they could, they wouldn’t know how to interpret them. In truth, Elijah didn’t understand any of it either. But he’d learned to trust his instincts, and those told him that he was on the right track.

So, after taking another deep breath, he resumed his human form. Surprisingly, the giants – each one clutching a silvery tube connected to the device in the center of the platform – didn’t even notice him. He stepped forward, his bare soles feeling the heat of the bridge beneath his feet.

It wasn’t until he was only twenty feet away from the enormous creatures that one of them looked up and saw him. At first, he just blinked, the fires of his beard and hair dancing in a nonexistent wind. Then, as if the realization had slammed into him like a runaway truck, his eyes widened. “Intruder!” he bellowed, his voice gravelly and hoarse.

Elijah raised his hands in surrender. “I come in peace!” he said with no small degree of urgency. After all, it was difficult to stare up at six thirty-plus-foot-tall giants and not feel at least a twinge of fear.

Or more than a twinge, if he was honest with himself.

The things moved far more quickly than Elijah would have guessed possible, and the largest among them was on top of him in just a second. Thankfully, he didn’t just squash Elijah as a matter of course. Instead, he stared down at him with black eyes, then growled, “Peace? We know no peace. We are the eldpursar. We only know war.”

“Wars sometimes necessitate alliances,” Elijah said. “That is what I propose.”

“Alliances require that you have something we need, puny one.”

Elijah decided to employ his first gamble. He’d expected that giants wouldn’t necessarily respect a human, so he’d decided to use something else. With that in mind, he reached deep down into his spirit and grabbed hold of the dragon. He’d become more familiar with it of late, so he had no issues with embracing that side of himself and pushing it to the forefront.

“I am no human, giant. Do you not recognize a dragon when one ventures into your midst?”

To accentuate his point, Elijah initiated a transformation into his most dragon-like form. He knew Shape of the Sky was a poor substitute for the real thing, but he hoped that the giant wouldn’t know the difference. Perhaps he would simply assume that he was a young dragon like Saraalinisa.

In any case, the giant took a step back when Elijah completed his transformation. To drive home the point, he spread his wings wide and said, “I require your assistance. And you need me as well. We can work together to get what we both want.”

“And what is that…dragon?”

“You want to go home,” Elijah stated. Then, he nodded toward the device emitting the smoke they’d all been imbibing. The other giants had remained behind, but they were all on their feet, ready to fight if the situation called for them to do so. “That helps you stay here, right? But it doesn’t completely do the trick, does it? How did you get here? And why do you stay where you so clearly don’t belong?”

The giant sighed.

“We were summoned,” he rumbled. “And we are kept here by foul magics. The portal is barred, and Ignis is out of reach.”

“How is it barred? And where is this portal?” Elijah asked.

“At the bottom of this cavern,” the giant answered, gesturing toward a particularly large platform just above the pit of lava far below. “Guarded by Cinderath, who has been enslaved by a foul master of ill intent and even shoddier control of the flame.”

“And if I somehow unbar the portal, would you assist me in killing this foul master?” Elijah asked, assuming that he would be dealing with yet another of the natives. Like the necromancer, this one would have delved too deeply into their chosen magic. Doubtless, they would be an incredibly difficult opponent, but against a bunch of giants? There was little chance that creature could endure.

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“You must free us.”

“How?” Elijah asked.

That’s when the giant explained that the keep itself formed a complex enchantment that accentuated the master’s powers and allowed them to maintain control of the portal as well as the denizens of Ignis they had summoned.

“Each point you destroy will weaken his control,” the giant said. “Three will allow us to resist our mandate. Five will give us the freedom to assist in the battle against Cinderath. And seven will free us entirely.”

Elijah wasn’t so sure he liked the look in the giant’s eyes. Or the way he seemed to be straining with every passing second. It was as if he was barely able to keep himself from lashing out.

“Your mandate? What is it?”

“Destroy all intruders and protect the master,” the giant stated. “I am the strongest among us, and as such, I can resist for a time. The others have not the willpower to do so. I caution you, dragon – do not return unless you have destroyed at least three of the nodes. Otherwise, we will be forced to fight. Now you must leave, lest I lose the battle with the mandate enslaving me to the master’s will.”

Elijah didn’t need to be told twice. So, he immediately turned and, after returning to his human form, sprinted away. Fortunately, there were no ash assassins between him and the door, so after a mile of running along the onyx bridge, he reached the safety of the keep. Only when he ducked out of sight did he let himself relax.

He hadn’t realized it until he had a little room to breathe, but he could tell beyond the shadow of a doubt that the giant was much, much stronger than him. That surety was the result of years of experience combined with a subtle sense gained from One with Nature, and it was an instinct he’d learned to trust. While it didn’t give him exact levels like a guard’s inspection skill, it did give him a notion of a person’s general power.

With that in mind, the possibility of fighting the giants disappeared. Besides, if he managed to free them, it wouldn’t be necessary.

However, he did take issue with the leaders’ wording regarding the destruction of seven nodes. He had claimed that it would free the giants entirely. Elijah wasn’t a suspicious person by nature, but even he could see how that could backfire. If a bunch of fire giants got loose to rampage across the continent, it would make completing the Trial almost impossible.

Once he reached the others, he recounted his meeting with the giant, then informed the group of his concerns. Thankfully, they picked up on the same issue. Sadie said, “We should only destroy five nodes. Those giants are too dangerous to let loose.”

Dat pointed out, “But they just want to go home, right? They can’t survive here.”

“I think that’s the role of whatever they were smoking,” Elijah said. “It keeps the environment from killing them, so they could probably just pick up those canisters and use them like air tanks. Meanwhile, they would tear through the –”

“We get the picture, Elijah,” said Ron.

Kurik asked, “You sure we can’t kill ‘em? It’s bad luck to anger a creature from Ignis, but if you think they’re that dangerous, it might be best to just put ‘em down.”

Elijah shook his head and answered, “I don’t think you understand how strong these things are.”

“Neither do you,” Sadie argued.

“I know they’re at least as strong as those skeletons, and they’re intelligent. Some more than others,” he amended, thinking of the conversation he’d overheard when he’d first spied on them. Those giants hadn’t been much smarter than ogres, but the leader was as eloquent as a human being. “And they’re not wearing convenient weak spots, either. If we fight them, we die. At best, we’re forced to run away. I don’t see any scenario where we win.”

“Fair enough,” Sadie said. “Then we go back upstairs and start searching for these nodes.”

“You know they ain’t gonna be unguarded, right?”

“Yeah, bro. Probably more of those ashassins.”

“Please tell me you didn’t just put those two words together,” Sadie groaned, massaging the bridge of her nose.

“I think it fits. Ashassins. I mean, if you try to say ash assassins too quickly, it gets kind of –”

Sadie interrupted, “Please just stop.”

“You take all the joy out of the world, bro.”

“I thought it was very clever,” Ron said in a voice that sounded like the sort he’d probably used to praise his daughter’s kindergarten art projects.

“Moving on,” Sadie said. “So, those ash assassins are –”

“Ashassins,” Elijah interrupted with a grin. When Sadie glared at him, he said, “C’mon. Get on board the ashassins train. It’s a great ride.”

She just shook her head. “Those ash assassins are dangerous,” she persisted. “I don’t know what they’ll do against us, but I don’t really want to find out.”

“If they touch us, they’ll turn us to ash, bro.”

“I touched one when I bit it,” Elijah pointed out, magnanimously leaving the ashassins debate aside.

“You can touch them. They can’t touch you,” Dat said. “The voices were clear on that. It’s a skill, so it’ll activate almost immediately. Maybe Sadie and Elijah can endure it so long as they’re both getting heals, but none of the rest of us can. They also have ranged abilities. I’m not sure what form they take – except for what we saw before – but they’re dangerous even from a distance.”

“Plus we can’t really see them,” Elijah pointed out. “Even with my senses, the most I got was a vague feeling that I was being watched. I’ll have to explore that further to really dial it in.”

“And don’t forget that they can see through stealth,” Dat stated. “Probably not Ghost Cloak, but I wouldn’t rule it out.”

“So, what do we do here?” asked Sadie. “If we just blunder ahead, they’re going to kill us.”

“I think I have some ideas about that,” Elijah stated. “But it’ll be dangerous. Mostly for me, but well…”

“So one of your normal plans,” Sadie said.

“I mean…”

“You do have a habit of throwing yourself into danger,” Ron pointed out. “It’s enough to keep me up at night, wondering if you’ll end up picking a fight you can’t win. My heals aren’t Miracles.”

It was at that point that Elijah realized that the events of the last challenge hadn’t only affected him. In fact, they’d probably hit Ron just as hard, especially because his healing abilities had been entirely incapable of fixing what had been done to Elijah.

“I don’t see another way,” Elijah stated. “I know it sucks, but unless someone has a different plan – in which case, I’m all ears – this is how we need to attack this problem…”

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