Path of Dragons

Elijah’s head was still reeling a day later, but Sadie had made it clear that she wasn’t interested in addressing the romantic moment they’d shared the night before. They’d only kissed a little before remembering where they were and heading back inside, but even that was enough to twist Elijah’s insides into knots. Making it even worse was Sadie’s all-business attitude.

He understood it, of course. They were still on a mission, and they didn’t have the luxury of splitting their focus. That was how people ended up dead. However, just because he understood and agreed with her reasoning, he still couldn’t help but doubt the sincerity of the moment. Did she see it as a mistake? Was it just a moment of weakness? She was nothing but mixed signals, and her refusal to even talk about it made everything worse.

So, even as they headed toward Dragon Tiger Mountain on the eastern side of Hong Kong Island, Elijah forced those thoughts into their own facet. Often, he found that was the only way to deal with the things he didn’t have the time – or interest – to address properly. He knew it wasn’t healthy, just pushing things away like that, but with everything on his plate, he didn’t really have much of a choice.

On top of that, dealing with all the things he’d buried so deep – from his anxieties about the future of the world to his relationship with Sadie – was far from comfortable. It was easier to just shut them away and ignore them.

Whatever the case, it was with a mostly clear head that he followed the others through Hong Kong. Zhang Yue’s group stealth was still up to the task of keeping them hidden from the undead, but with the climbing levels of ethera, Elijah suspected that wouldn’t be the case for much longer. The undead were growing stronger with every passing day, and soon, they would exceed the Explorer’s ability to fool their senses.

When that happened, things would get very bad, very quickly.

They were on a timer, even if no one wanted to acknowledge it. The Primal Realm had been open before the Trial of Primacy, but things had clearly changed. According to Dat, the levels of ambient ethera had been stable back then, and the power of the creatures it disgorged was relatively low. That was no longer the case, as evidenced by the strengthening population of zombies, wights, abominations, and other undead monsters.

The wildlife was affected as well, though not in the way Elijah might have expected. For instance, the flora didn’t wilt. Instead, it had begun to change, taking on a deathly attunement that felt both alive and dead. Elijah still couldn’t make sense of that paradoxical situation, and he didn’t have the time to investigate properly. What he did know was that if the Primal Realm remained open for much longer, Hong Kong would be forever changed.

Thankfully, they had gained all three blessings, which meant that there was nothing standing in the way of their entry into the Desolate Reach.

Well, nothing but millions of zombies, a causeway that would expose them to undead alligators and squids, and the unliving population of Dragon Tiger Mountain.

Or as Sadie referred to it, Mount Longhu.

“Everything in Hong Kong seems to have multiple names,” Elijah muttered when she said as much. They’d just crossed the causeway, thankfully without incident. “Gets a bit confusing.”

“It’s a translation, Elijah. Longhu literally means dragon tiger. And the mountain wasn’t originally in Hong Kong. It was moved here during the world’s transformation,” she reminded him.

“Oh. I guess that makes sense,” he acknowledged, referring to the name. Though he didn’t know why the system translated some things while leaving others in the original language. It was more than a little confusing.

In any case, they continued on through the city. It was much the same as it had been before, though Elijah couldn’t help but notice that there were a lot more zombies in the streets. He even heard a battle raging a few miles away, which drew even more undead into the area.

He wanted to go and help, but he pushed those desires away. They couldn’t afford that kind of delay. Not with the city clearly on the brink. The only solution was conquering the Primal Realm, and they couldn’t let themselves be distracted from that all-important mission.

Eventually, they reached the mountain, though it took them most of the day to do so, largely because they were forced into a half-dozen detours by the growing population of undead. They even saw an abomination that was at least thirty feet tall. The thing lumbered around like a kaiju, ready to destroy anything that stood in its way. It demonstrated that readiness when it bumped into a compact car, which it kicked, sending the thing crashing into the side of a building hundreds of feet away.

As much as Elijah didn’t want to admit it, he knew he was no match for that creature. Not alone, and not in the group, either. If they were going to attack it, they would need an army.

And it wasn’t even the most troubling sight. That title belonged to a hulking zombie that, from the ethera swirling around it, had something akin to a Tactician class. There was also a light of intelligence in its eyes that Elijah couldn’t mistake for anything else.

It all said one thing, and very clearly – if they didn’t accomplish their goal of conquering the Primal Realm, Hong Kong was doomed. They had survived as long as they had because the enemy had been numerous but relatively weak. Now, that simply was not the case.

So, it was with renewed commitment that they began the climb up Dragon Tiger Mountain. Elijah had already done so once when he’d scouted the location of the entrance to the Desolate Reach, and even back then, the area had been crawling with undead. The variety present on Mount Longhu were clearly the animated remains of long-dead World War II soldiers, as made obvious by their outdated rifles and bayonets.

According to Sadie, the area had been a hotbed of activity during the second World War, where Chinese irregulars engaged in asymmetrical warfare against the Japanese. As such, many of the reanimated soldiers – which presented as skeletons – wore rotted, period-appropriate civilian attire.

But there were plenty of regular soldiers mixed in. Some wore Japanese uniforms, while others were dressed in rough, blue garb. Still others were clad in more modern, olive-green army uniforms.

It was a little confusing, especially because they all seemed to be working together and patrolling the area like they were still soldiers instead of reanimated skeletons. Perhaps the two designations weren’t mutually exclusive.

When one squad marched off, letting Elijah and his group pass, he said, “Let’s move.”

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Their party dashed forward under the cover of Zhang Yue’s ability. However, it wasn’t long before their fortunes turned, and one of the skeletons noticed them. Elijah had no idea if they’d done something wrong or if the creature was simply more observant than any of the others. It didn’t matter, though.

They had been discovered.

The undead soldier raised its face to the sky and let loose with an ear-splitting scream that echoed across the entire mountain. Dat destroyed its skull with a well-aimed crossbow bolt only a moment into the scream, but it was obvious that the damage had already been done. Not only were its fellows already charging, but a hundred echoing screams erupted from every part of the mountain.

“Stealth broken,” Sadie announced. “Go loud.”

Elijah didn’t need to be told twice. He immediately shifted into the Shape of Thorn, and it was just in time to meet the charge. The skeletal soldiers led the way with their bayonets – which glistened with ethera – but Elijah had no intentions of letting them reach his party. To combat that, he slammed his foot into the ground, activating Domain of Vines. At his command, hundreds of thick roots exploded from the rocky ground, sending a spray of dirt and stone in every direction.

The roots and vines writhed as they wrapped themselves around the comparatively light skeletons. Of course, the creatures had no intentions of going down without a fight. Most used their bayonets to hack into the sturdy vegetation, and to Elijah’s surprise, they were moderately successful in holding back the tide.

But moderate success wasn’t enough against Elijah’s power, and in only a moment, the creatures were overwhelmed. He flexed the vines, which felt almost like extra appendages, and they squeezed. Bones broke, and joints were torn apart, but even then, it took a few moments before he felt the familiar flow of experience that told him that he’d killed the creatures.

That was not good news.

Domain of Vines was one of his most powerful abilities – especially when dealing with multiple opponents. He’d ripped an abyssal abomination apart from the inside out with it, and that was before he’d even ascended. If the skeletal soldiers could resist that potent spell – even for a moment – then they were in trouble.

“We need to move,” he growled. “We can’t get surrounded.”

“Agreed,” Sadie said.

None of the others objected, and they all followed Elijah as he sprinted up the mountain. Fortunately, they’d acted quickly enough that they didn’t meet immediate resistance, and because of the well-established trails, their way was mostly unimpeded by nature.

Yet, it wasn’t more than a few hundred yards before they found their way blocked by another squad. This time, Elijah didn’t bother with Domain of Vines. It didn’t have a cooldown per se, but the ability cost significantly more ethera with each subsequent cast. And it wouldn’t reset for another half hour. So, he forewent that ability, favoring a strategy that could most easily be characterized as “bull in a china shop”.

After charging in and crushing one soldier underfoot, he lashed out, smashing another with a backhand blow. But that was as far as he got before he felt the bite of their bayonets. As he’d already noted, they were not normal, and when they pierced his bark-like scales, they only made it a quarter of an inch through.

That was enough.

Cold fire spiderwebbed from the wounds, spreading more than a foot in every direction and eliciting a pained growl. Elijah had been melted, ripped in half, and submerged in acid. He’d taken hundreds of wounds that would have been fatal without his ability to heal. So, he was no stranger to pain.

But the agony he felt at the end of those rusted blades was something altogether different. It was like every ounce of vitality had been burned away from the affected areas, leaving only lifeless flesh behind. Instead of succumbing to that agony, Elijah went in the other direction.

As a Druid, he was a creature of dense vitality. He lived with it, depending on it for everything. It was who he was. So, when that life force was snatched away, it left fury in its wake. He harnessed that rage, leaning into in a way that he hadn’t since using the Silver Bracer of Rage in his old guardian form. It enveloped him, forcing his mind into its molten embrace.

He roared, slamming his arms down and breaking their rifles-turned-spears in two. The skeletal soldiers leaped upon his back, tearing into his scales with sharpened claw-like fingers. Elijah threw himself backward, crushing them beneath his immense weight. But more of the creatures loomed over him, stabbing their hateful blades towards his chest.

Those blades stopped inches from his scales as a shield of white energy flared around him. A second later, Sadie crashed into them, leading the way with her massive sword. It sliced through the bones easily, and the others followed a second later to finish the squad off.

“You’re out of practice,” Sadie said, extending her hand to help him up. “You don’t have to do everything yourself, Elijah.”

Every part of Elijah’s furious mind wanted to slap that hand away, but it only took him a moment to recognize that those feelings weren’t really his. Still, with so much rage flowing through him, he couldn’t bring himself to take her hand. Instead, he just nodded and pushed himself to his feet.

“We need to move,” Gideon reminded them, his eyes wide with fear. Even so, he’d killed two of the skeletons himself. The creatures were all focused on Elijah, sure, but it was still a notable achievement for the pompous Warrior.

“Agreed,” Nico said.

Elijah, meanwhile, shifted into his human form, and he immediately felt relief from the anger. It was still there – his reaction to those bayonets was a visceral one – but it was muted. That would have to do.

He healed himself, using Soothe and Nature’s Bloom. His wounds dissipated, returning to normal, but Elijah noted that it took far more to heal them than normal. In any case, they kept moving as he healed himself, and over the next fifteen minutes, they covered quite a lot of ground.

They didn’t stop to fight. Nor did they bother with stealth. They simply bowled through the squads of skeletons without stopping. Some were killed, but that wasn’t the point. They only cared about reaching the Primal Realm.

And that was what they did, arriving at the bunker where it was located. Hundreds, if not thousands, of skeletal monsters followed in their wake, so they couldn’t hesitate – even for a moment – before they tore through the underground corridors. As they went, Dat slammed the doors shut in the hopes of slowing down the skeletons, and Sadie started formulating a plan to defend in case they were denied entry into the Primal Realm.

Fortunately, the tunnels were narrow, so they could probably make a good showing.

But Elijah hadn’t forgotten the sting of those bayonets. If they affected him so adversely, what would they do to someone like Zhang Yue? Or Nico? Dat and Sadie would probably be fine, and Gideon had a Warrior’s constitution. But even so, it was possible that none of them would survive.

Thankfully, when they arrived at the vault door that marked the entrance to the Primal Realm, it was unguarded. So, without hesitation, Elijah slammed his hand on the metal surface, and he immediately received a notification telling him that he’d satisfied the requirements for entry. Then, it asked if he was ready. He selected the affirmative option, and the second he did, the vault door swung inward.

There was nothing on the other side. Just a black void that reminded Elijah of a rift. Or the entrance to a tower. Whatever the case, the way was clear, so he said, “Everyone in. Be ready for trouble once we’re inside.”

Sadie went first. Then Nico. Gideon followed. Zhang Yue was next. And finally, Dat passed through. Just as the Witch Hunter entered, a half-dozen skeletons burst through the closest door. Elijah dashed into the portal just in time to avoid being skewered by those hateful blades.

He tumbled free of the portal a second later, and the first thing he noticed was the frigid air. Which was saying something, considering that he was still wearing his Cloak of the Iron Bear. Panic gripped him as he looked around.

The others were there, clutching their arms around their chests with their breath misting before them. Elijah felt Nico casting spells, probably to stave off the effects of the frigid cold. Seeing that they were alive, Elijah turned his attention to the notification he’d received upon entry:

You have entered the Desolate Reach. To conquer this Primal Realm, you must infiltrate the Citadel of Torment and slay Avara, the Queen of Desolation.

That was it. No other instructions. No mention of rewards. Just a goal. And Elijah expected it wouldn’t be an easy one to meet.

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