Path of Dragons

Ice tickled the pads of Elijah’s feet as he stalked through the frost wing. On the surface, it looked little different than when he’d left it behind the first time. However, the halls had grown even colder than before, and as a result, the ice coating the walls had thickened. The same escalation had been present in the fire wing, though he’d not investigated it very thoroughly because he intended to target the frost lieutenant first.

With that in mind, he’d set off through the worsening conditions, quickly finding the doorway that would lead to the lieutenant’s chamber. He’d checked it before, so he knew that the door led to a long, twisting hall that terminated in a thin and obscuring sheet of ice. Before, he’d only given it a cursory inspection so he could verify the lieutenant’s location before turning back, so he knew the way.

However, when he finally reached the lieutenant’s quarters, he discovered that the ice sheet that had once guarded the entrance was gone. And the moment he saw inside the chamber, he got quite a shock.

Before, he’d only caught a glimpse of the lieutenant blurry silhouette, and once he had confirmed that he was looking at another ogre, he’d turned back. However, now, in the blazing firelight, he could see that the creature was differentiated from the other ogres by one key characteristic.

It had two heads sitting atop its broad shoulders.

One was ice blue, while the other was a deep crimson.

It wasn’t until he looked across the room and saw the telltale glow of overheated stone that he realized what was going on. The twin lieutenants, Tuk and Tok, shared a body. Elijah had no idea how that was supposed to work, but he was fairly sure that was what was going on. Still, he took the time to retrace his steps, return to the fire wing, and follow the mirrored path that eventually led back to the same chamber.

And the two-headed ogre that sat in what looked like a study.

The bulky creature was at least twelve feet tall, and his body type was somewhere between that of the guards and jailers. However, it was hidden beneath heavy, purple robes that concealed more than they revealed.

Leaning against the wall near where the ogre sat was a metallic staff etched with swirling lines that glowed slightly. One half was blue, while the other was orange.

The study itself was exactly what Elijah would have suspected, with one wall dedicated to bookshelves that were packed full of huge, dusty tomes. The ogre himself sat in an oversized leather chair, with his feet propped on an equally large ottoman. In one hand was a mug of something steaming, while in the other, he held one of the large tomes.

He looked almost peaceful, at least insofar as a twelve-foot monster with two heads could.

“Turn page. Done reading,” barked one head.

“Not done yet. You not read whole thing.”

“I skim. Read it before.”

“You not read before.”

“How you know?”

“I know.”

“You stupid.”

“You stupid!”

Suddenly, a massive hand slapped against the fire head. Tok, unless Elijah was mistaken. Then, the other hand hit Tuk in the face. After that, Elijah lost track of what was going on. It was an odd thing, watching a two-headed ogre punch and slap itself in the face. Odder still was when the faces started biting back.

Clearly, the pair of ogres didn’t much care for one another.

More importantly, Elijah couldn’t resist the opening he’d been afforded. So, he crept forward, activating both Venom Strike and Predator Strike along the way. He’d checked his enhancements before he’d entered the room, so he was entirely prepared for battle. Having no reason to delay – and every reason to attack while he had the advantage of a distraction – he pounced as soon as he was in range.

However, he didn’t bother with the hobbling attacks he so often employed. Instead, he went in for the kill shot. Leaping high into the air, he opened his mouth as wide as it could go, then clamped down on Tok’s head. Then, harnessing every muscle in his powerful jaw, he squeezed.

With his cultivation, the natural bite force of the scaled panther form, and the inflated attributes that came with Shape of the Predator, Elijah could bring quite a bit of force to bear. And it was downright terrifying when he used Predator Strike at the same time.

He used the full extent of that horrifying might to absolutely crush the first ogre’s head between his jaws. Then, he was bounding away before the other head even had a chance to react.

Or so Elijah thought.

A giant shard of ice hit him mid-air, scraping across his scales and sending him spinning until he collided with the bookshelf. Even as a cascade of tomes fell upon him, Tuk bellowed, “Brother! Arggh!”

Elijah shot to his feet, feeling more than a twinge of pain in his side as the books rolled off of him. He rose just in time to see Tuk stamp his foot on the ground, causing a series of icy stalagmites to erupt from the ground. Tiles shattered, sending an explosion of frost-rimmed stone flying across the room. Elijah turned, tucking his head as he was pelted with hundreds of shards. But his scales protected him from the incidental damage.

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However, he had to bound out of the way in order to avoid the deadly spikes of ice. He narrowly dodged the spell, but he was sent crashing into the wall a second later by yet another flying icicle.

“You kill Tok!”

Elijah had felt his shoulder pop out of socket upon impact, but he was otherwise in fighting shape. However, he knew he couldn’t remain in his Predator form. His speed was insufficient to completely dodge the flying ice spikes, and his defenses were incapable of standing up to the inevitable damage he would sustain.

So, he shifted.

But he didn’t take on his Guardian form. Instead, he resumed his caster shape, leveling his staff at the panicked ogre before he’d even completed the transformation. He let loose with Storm’s Fury. The ogre was clearly surprised, because he remained completely motionless as the lightning bolt tore across the room and hit him square in the chest.

The smell of burning flesh filled the air as the ogre was thrown from his feet. He didn’t go far before hitting the ground on his back, but it was enough to give Elijah the opportunity to cast his next spell. Thorny vines burst from the ground, rapidly wrapping the ogre in writhing roots. The ogre wasn’t nearly as strong as the guards had been – apparently, its casting abilities had come at the expense of some Strength – so it struggled to escape the thorny bonds.

After casting Healing Rain, Elijah ran forward, using Venom Strike along the way, and brought his staff down on the prone ogre’s face. The creature’s nose exploded into a bloody ruin, but more importantly, Elijah delivered yet another instance of neurotoxin. He used it again, and again after that – he wasn’t worried about inflicting immediate damage. Rather, he only wanted to stack as much neurotoxin as he could.

Meanwhile, the soothing rain went to work on his injuries even as he wailed on the fallen monster. With one facet of his mind, he kept track of how much time had passed, and just before Snaring Roots was scheduled to run its course, he leaped backward, casting Swarm along the way.

By that point, his stores of Ethera had dipped past the halfway point, so he chose to use some of that to shift into his Guardian form. The rest, he would keep in reserve for an emergency.

As Elijah took on the shape of a scaled ape, the ogre was beset by frost spiders. Each bite delivered yet more venomous damage, and though the creature had escaped the bonds of Snaring Roots, it was completely incapable of stopping the swarm of spiders. Its panic gave Elijah plenty of time to finish his transformation, and by the time he loped forward, the creature was in sorry shape, indeed.

But the ogre was anything but defeated, as he proved a moment later when he raised his staff high into the air and shouted, “Blizz-ard!”

Immediately, the air temperature plummeted well past freezing. Despite Ward of the Seasons, Elijah felt the icy cold down to his very bones. In fact, he could feel it sapping his strength with every second. And that was before the swirl of snow and ice began. The whirlwind cut through Elijah with frigid fury, but the combination of his high Constitution and powerful enhancements was just enough to keep him on his feet.

He loped forward, hitting the ogre with a shoulder tackle that took the creature to the floor. Elijah heard a sharp exhale of rushing air leave the ogre’s chest, and he knew he had only a handful of moments to finish the fight. So, he raised his hands high and channeled his inner ape as he brought his fists down like hammers. He didn’t pay much attention to precision. Instead, Elijah only cared about harnessing as much of his Strength as possible as he repeatedly pummeled the monster into submission.

The first few attacks were absorbed by the creature’s copious flesh, but Elijah kept on until he felt bones crack beneath his balled fists. He kept going, knowing good and well that if he didn’t keep the pressure up, the ogre would recover. Meanwhile, the frigid cold continued to assail him, threatening to undermine his vigor and vitality until the ogre could turn the tables. Elijah refused to let that happen.

So, he gave himself over to the fury, letting it consume one facet of his Quartz Mind. He focused on that, leaving the rest to other tasks. Like pulling him back before he let the animalistic rage completely overwhelm him. He’d come close before – in a different way back in the Primordial Forest, but it was similar enough that he knew precisely how dangerous his feral instincts could be – and he refused to let it happen again.

Fortunately, with eight facets of his Mind on the job, he felt secure enough to give one over to the ferocious instincts that came with the Guardian form.

Bones crunched, and organs burst beneath Elijah’s fists. He knew it wasn’t his sheer Strength at work. The creature had already been weakened by Swarm’s afflictions, the neurotoxin of repeated instances of Venom Strike, and the gaping wound where his brother’s head had once been. Still, Elijah was surprised at how easily the monster succumbed to his onslaught.

But he knew it was a little misleading.

Most people wouldn’t have the protection of Ward of the Seasons, and he could feel that, without that enhancement, he would have already fallen to the intense cold. In addition, he had the advantage of versatility as well as his cultivation – including the powerful Dragon Core – on his side. With that providing context, his victory should not have been a surprise.

And yet, it was.

Elijah pummeled the monster until, at last, it perished. The icy storm persisted for a few moments after that, but it quickly dissipated. A second later, the ice it left behind started to melt.

Seeing that, Elijah picked himself up and watched as the storm continued to fade. The study was a mess, and most of the books had been completely destroyed. However, a few of them had managed to survive, so after resuming his human form, Elijah crossed the room and gathered them. In his hands, the tomes were absolutely enormous, and worse, they were in a language he could not understand. Evidently, the universal translation that had come with the system didn’t include the written word.

“Or maybe just not this writing,” he muttered to himself. It was the first time he’d spoken since killing the old prisoner. “God,” he continued, running his hand through his hair. “I really need some company for this kind of thing.”

Indeed, the constant solitude had begun to wear on him, and he hadn’t realized how much it had affected him until he’d met with the old man. In retrospect, it wasn’t surprising. People were social animals, after all, and even the most solitary person needed some human contact.

Maybe he should have invited Jess along. If she’d seen him in action, perhaps she might’ve been a bit more amenable to his advances.

He swallowed hard, remembering all the killing he’d done.

“Yeah, probably not.”

Besides, she likely wouldn’t have survived the tower anyway. There was a reason none of Norcastle’s teams had conquered it, after all.

Elijah shook his head and pushed past those thoughts. There was nothing to be gained from maudlin regrets or asking unanswerable questions. So, refocusing on his task, he crossed the room once again, and found the ogre’s staff. The thing was at least as big around as Elijah’s bicep, and almost twice his height. A suitable size for an ogre, but for Elijah, it was unwieldy and ultimately useless.

However, he wasn’t going to just leave it behind. The thing pulsed with power, suggesting that it would be valuable. Maybe not to a human, but surely there was someone who’d want it. After all, there were plenty of other races on Earth, now. Maybe one of them was of a size to use a staff the size of a goal post.

So, resolving to take it with him, Elijah hefted it onto one shoulder and took one last look around the room. There was nothing left that either hadn’t been destroyed or simply wouldn’t fit in his pack. Satisfied that he’d taken everything he could, he left the study behind and went in search of the next two lieutenants.

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