Path of Dragons

“Are we ready?” asked Dat, glancing back at Elijah and Sadie, who were nestled between two huge boulders. The pair of edifices were at least forty feet tall and almost as wide, with smaller rocks forming a wall that stretched around in a rough semi-circle until they merged with the steep slope of the mountain. Originally, there had been gaps throughout, and some of the rocks had only been a few feet tall. However, Elijah and the others had spent most of a day using their inflated attributes to enable the creation of their defenses.

The trio who’d worked together in the Trial were used to such preparations, so they led the way. That didn’t sit well with Gideon and Nico, but they were intelligent enough to recognize the advantages granted by experience. So, they kept their grumbling to a minimum, though Gideon in particular kept muttering about peasant work. Clearly, he’d never been forced to work with his hands, and he found it beneath him. Nico wasn’t much better, but he confined his own displeasure to the occasional scowl.

Zhang Yue helped a little, but he was far too weak to move any of the boulders. So, his assistance was limited to keeping them concealed. In that endeavor, he was mostly successful, though they were forced to kill the occasional zombie that wandered into range.

Regardless, the defenses had slowly come together, creating a makeshift wall with the largest boulders at the center. The idea was to funnel the undead horde into the small gap between them, where their numbers would count for much less. Like that, the group could avoid being surrounded and focus their fire on the relatively narrow gap.

As they’d worked, Elijah had caught Sadie staring at him a couple of times, and he found himself wondering if it was regret he saw in her eyes. If it was, he could certainly understand it. For most of their relationship, the pair had been at odds with one another. It really wasn’t that long ago that she was incapable of even looking at him with anything but disgust.

And the kiss they’d shared had left them both more than a little confused. Not in a bad way, but it definitely complicated things. More than anything, Elijah just wanted to go somewhere private and figure out where they stood. However, their mission wouldn’t wait for them to ascertain the status of their changing relationship, so they had no choice but to move ahead and hope they had an opportunity to sort out their emotions sometime in the future.

In the meantime, Elijah nodded at Dat and said, “I’m ready.”

He remained in his human form, though he was ready to shift at a moment’s notice. Sadie had already drawn her sword and applied her personal shield. Nico stood far in the back, while Gideon was ready to plug any hole created by the horde. Their crude wall was formidable, but no one believed it was foolproof. The undead would break through at some point, and he needed to be prepared to fill the gap until the rest of the group could appropriately respond.

The odd one out was Zhang Yue, who held a feeble-looking bow that he didn’t have the skills to use. He had a couple of abilities that would allow him to incapacitate a single foe, but the bulk of his class was built around remaining undetected. In that, he excelled, but in a fight, his abilities left a lot to be desired.

The rest of the group remained silent, though they all offered a nod to signal that they too were prepared for the battle.

Once he was satisfied with the group’s preparation, Dat slipped away, using Ghost Cloak to ensure that he would remain undetected by the horde of undead. After that, a long moment of silence stretched out to more than a minute before the subtle rumble of dozens of footsteps reached the fortifications.

A moment later, Elijah felt Dat race into range of Soul of the Wild. His gait was unhurried, but he still moved incredibly quickly. A few seconds after that, Elijah sensed the first zombies. They kept pace with Dat, proving that their normal, shambling demeanor could be discarded at a moment’s notice.

Dat arrived a few seconds later, slipping between Elijah and Sadie, then skidding to a stop on the icy ground.

“Three seconds,” Elijah announced, already casting his first spell. He used Blessing of the Grove first, and he felt the subtle shield envelop his allies. It wasn’t strong, but perhaps it would make the necessary difference between death and survival. As he completed the casting, a white sunflower with petals of ice bloomed. Elijah would have found it fascinating if the zombies hadn’t already come into view.

There were hundreds of them, though it seemed that Dat had successfully managed to split the horde. That was the biggest danger. If the entire army of undead monsters had converged on them at the same time, they would’ve been forced to retreat. The circumstances being what they were, the defenses they’d constructed were formidable, but they were far from impregnable.

Hopefully, they would prove sufficient.

As the zombies sprinted toward them, Elijah cast Swarm, manifesting hundreds of blue insects whose wings looked like they were made of ice. They descended upon the horde, delivering their afflictions. Then, Elijah cast Nature’s Rebuke, over and over again as he tried to affect as many zombies as possible. Unsurprisingly, the ones he targeted keeled over after a single step. The spell had grown incredibly powerful with his ascension and core evolution, and that potency was on full display as more than a dozen undead monsters fell and were trampled by their fellows.

Elijah could have kept going for quite some time – Nature’s Rebuke was incredibly efficient – but there were three issues with that. First, Nature’s Rebuke took a couple of seconds to cast, so using it against the entire horde was unfeasible. Second, peppering the enemy with damage wasn’t his job. And finally, the spell was only strong enough to quickly kill the least powerful zombies. The elites and other brands of undead in the horde possessed constitutions that could partially resist its effects.

Instead, he was meant to defend the funnel with Sadie. So, as the monsters closed the gap, Elijah finally initiated his transformation into the Shape of Thorn.

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The transformation completed just as the wave of zombies hit them, and he met their charge with all the fury of the thorned sentry. His long arms and increased size came in handy as he blocked their progress. One of Sadie’s spells erected an ethereal wall that further funneled the creatures into a narrow corridor. They weren’t smart enough to realize what was happening, so they charged to their deaths without even considering taking another tactic.

The first wave went down easily enough, with everyone playing their role to perfection. Even Zhang Yue got into it, firing his limited number of arrows into the horde. They didn’t do a ton of damage, but Elijah couldn’t help but recognize that the Explorer was likely to gain an influx of experience the likes of which he’d never seen before. Perhaps he’d get something decent out of it, like a Feat of Strength for his Legacy that might influence his evolution options – assuming he ever got to that point. ꞦἈŊÒΒЕＳ

In any case, that first fight was just a taste of what was to come, and as soon as those monsters were destroyed, the group set about shifting them out of the way, piling them a few hundred yards away where they wouldn’t interfere with the defenses. Once that was done, Dat set out to pull another group.

This one was a little larger than the last, but the numbers were still manageable. The third group was slightly smaller, but despite the lesser threat, the group’s performance was much worse. Sadie, Elijah, and Dat performed their tasks with similar efficiency, but Nico and Gideon could not say the same. Whether the reason was physical or mental exhaustion, the Healer’s spells came much slower than before. In addition, when a few zombies slipped past – an inevitability, given the numbers at play – Gideon was slow to step in. That almost got Nico killed.

Fortunately, the Healer was no stranger to combat, and he had high enough attributes that he wasn’t completely defenseless. However, after that wave was successfully dealt with, Sadie announced that they would retreat to the cave and rest for a while.

Of course, Gideon took issue with that, claiming that they needed to conquer the Primal Realm as quickly as possible. Elijah recognized that there was some truth to that, but he also suspected that Gideon’s desire for haste was likely built upon a need for comfort. The cold hadn’t ceased, after all, and the man was anything but accustomed to unfavorable conditions. And besides, Elijah suspected that Gideon would have objected regardless of which route they chose. He liked to complain, especially when an order came from someone that wasn’t him.

Thankfully, his objections were quickly overcome, but the others were still subjected to his subdued grumbling.

They only rested for a few hours before they resumed their steady progress against the horde. As far as Elijah could tell, they’d barely made a dent in the army, and what’s more, they’d broken off the pieces that were likely to come alone. Soon, they’d draw the attention of the entire army.

That was when they’d truly find some difficulties.

So, after the eighth wave, when everyone else went back to the cave to rest, Elijah set about improving their defenses. He started with deep trenches that he hoped would slow the charging zombies, but he also piled a few extra boulders onto the wall. Over the next few days, he continued his task, working when the others rested so that, when the time came, they would be prepared.

As they continued fighting, they used similar tactics. Certainly, there were points where their defenses broke down. On the fourth day, Sadie was grievously wounded when one of the wights – powerful monstrosities with chalky skin – unexpectedly joined the charging monsters. She ended up killing it, but for the rest of the fight, Gideon was forced to take her place while she was healed.

And despite his dislike for the man, Elijah was impressed with Gideon’s prowess. He wasn’t as powerful as Sadie or Dat, but he could hold his own well enough. Most of the time, he fought with his longsword and a parrying dagger, but he wasn’t shy about using his riot shield when necessary.

On and on it went, and the waves blurred together. Elijah never came close to being put out of the fight, and most of his spare time between waves was spent shoring up their defenses.

Then, everything changed when one of the rotund and rotting giants came on the heels of the latest wave. Elijah immediately recognized the danger, so he shouted at a recently recovered Sadie, “Hold the line. We can’t let that thing reach us!”

Without waiting for a reply, he dashed forward, barreling through the zombies as he endeavored to meet the abomination before it reached them. As he drew closer, he realized two things. The bulbous, hook-wielding monster was even larger than he’d first suspected. It towered over his thorned sentry form by at least five feet, and it was almost as wide as it was tall. Its waddling gait sent its rolls of blubber jiggling with every step, and the thing’s smell was reminiscent of formaldehyde mixed with rotting roadkill. It was a potent combination that made Elijah’s eyes water.

The second it saw Elijah, its beady eyes widened slightly, and before he could even react, the chain-hook was on its way. It smashed through three zombies, exploding them into chunks of rotted meat, and the short delay caused by those collisions was the only reason Elijah was able to dodge.

At least that was true of the first toss. When it reeled the chain back in, the sharp implement caught him in the side, spinning him sideways. Thankfully, it was no more than a glancing blow, because if it had hooked into him, he’d have found himself in close proximity to the monster.

Elijah stumbled, finding his feet only a moment later, but by that point, the creature had already closed on him. He set his feet, expecting a battle, but the second it came within range, a huge burst of swirling ethera announced that something was going on. It gathered in the monster’s bulging stomach, growing ever denser by the instant.

Then, before Elijah could figure out what was going on, it exploded.

The increased reaction speed afforded by Lupine Reflexes and his Sash of the Whirlwind saved him, but even though he recognized the danger a second before the explosion hit him, he could do no more than throw himself backward. He didn’t get far enough away to save himself from the impact, but with his momentum already going in that direction, he lessened the blow.

Still, as Elijah found himself skipping across the snow-covered ground, he knew he was in trouble. His entire front half had been coated in caustic goo, and what’s more, many of his bones had been broken by the force of the eruption.

He only had one option, and it was one he’d hoped he wouldn’t need to use so soon. But plans rarely fit reality, so he didn’t hesitate before using Unchecked Growth. Before he even came to a stop, his bones had begun knitting back together. The caustic goo sloughed off, taking his bark-like scales with it. They were quickly replaced by new growth, but such was the incredible damage he’d endured that it still took almost fifteen seconds before he was entirely healed.

As he picked himself up, he saw a scene of absolute destruction. The wave of zombies were gone, completely obliterated by the explosion. And there was a sizable crater where the hulk had once stood. There was nothing left of it, either – it had destroyed itself entirely.

“Are you okay?” demanded Sadie, rushing to his side.

“I’m fine,” he said, regretting that he’d used Unchecked Growth. His decision had come in a moment of panic, and he’d forgotten that he had a powerful Healer on his side. Still, his use of the ability had saved them some time. Nico was strong, but healing was rarely instantaneous. It would have taken a while for him to heal someone as powerful as Elijah. He moved on from his regret quickly enough, but he did admonish himself from reacting without thinking. He’d need to do better in the future. For now, though, he was more concerned with something else. Still under the influence of Unchecked growth, he added, “I think I have a plan.”

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