Path of Dragons

The smell of charred flesh and the screams of dying orcs filled the air as Elijah let the rage of the lamellar ape rush through him. All around him, gnomes, dwarves, goblins, and a scattered few elves screamed their various battlecries as the orcish horde bore down on them, leaping the final ditch before ramming into the defenders.

For his part, Elijah threw himself into a trio of clustered orcs, his claws sweeping out to swat them aside. Another roar escaped his maw as he turned that into a shoulder tackle that bore his enormous and muscular target to the ground. He got one pummeling blow in before a flint-headed spear dug into his side. It did no good because he’d activated Iron Scales, preventing any penetration.

The orc on the other end of the spear got the worst of the exchange as a wicked thorn from Shield of Brambles pierced its torso. Elijah paid it no heed, vaulting to his feet and leaping into the mass of orcs. With his overly long arms, he grabbed one around the ankle and swung the monster around like an impromptu weapon. He only got a few good hits in before he spun around like an Olympic hammer-tosser, then threw the orc over the heads of its fellows.

That got the attention of the horde, and they collapsed onto him like a wave of dull, grey muscle. They bit and clawed, stabbed and slashed, but Elijah kept Iron Scales active, and at great cost to his stamina. Yet, he had no choice. So long as they were focused on him, the orcs couldn’t target his allies.

And the Ironshore defenders used that distraction to great effect, raining destruction onto the throng of attackers. It took the form of a wide variety of spells, skills, and projectiles, but the end results were clear – mass casualties. Most didn’t die outright. The orcs were far too hardy for that. However, in a battle like the one before them, a grievous injury was just as good as a kill shot. Whatever took the orcs out of the battle, even for a few minutes, was a win.

Elijah couldn’t afford to pay much attention to his allies. Instead, every facet of his Quartz Mind was trained on his surroundings. One paid attention to his mundane senses, while another was focused on One with Nature. The rest, he employed to drive his reactions and counterattacks. The result was that, to his enemies, he likely seemed like he had eyes in the back of his head coupled with precognition.

He didn’t dodge blows, though.

Instead, he merely shifted to protect his most vital areas. The hide of the lamellar ape was as thick as armor, and even without Iron Scales sending his defenses through the roof, he had more than enough Constitution to protect him. He was especially difficult to harm if he never took a solid blow, so that was what he endeavored to ensure, and to some degree of success.

He still took plenty of hits that would have felled someone with lesser defenses. But ever since he’d attained the Shape of the Guardian spell, he’d trained himself to fight appropriately to the form’s strengths and weaknesses. He still hadn’t mastered it, but against the comparatively crude orcs, it was enough.

There weren’t merely hundreds of them. Instead, there were thousands, and it felt like every time Elijah took one out, another pair took its place. Fortunately, his inflated attributes served him well, and he managed to maintain his position at the center of the line, where he anchored the defenses.

Every now and again, he caught sight of the region behind the orcs, and he saw that they’d formed gruesome body bridges across the various ditches. The orcs who’d been incapable of leaping over the obstacles, either due to injury or simple weakness, had simply piled up, creating an avenue for even more orcs to overcome the trenches. Still, the defenses had served their purpose by slowing the orcs, claiming a few lives, and preventing the defenders from being overwhelmed straight away.

The battle had become a brutal melee where, aside from Elijah and a few of the scouts, the defenders were more than outmatched. Fortunately, they were better equipped and stood atop a berm that had been constructed from the piled dirt that had once filled the trenches. It was only a few feet high, but it was enough to give them the advantage of positioning to couple with the benefit of superior equipment. It was barely sufficient to keep the defenders’ casualties to a minimum – for the time being.

Yet Elijah knew it couldn’t last, especially when a trio of red balls of energy splashed down in the middle of the defensive line. Before he could react, a half-dozen gnomes and goblins went down screaming, and even if they might’ve recovered, they never had the chance because the orcs pounced on the opening.

Chaos ensued.

Elijah leaped backward, using his long arms to great effect as he pummeled the orcs in order to reestablish the defensive line. But by that point, ten defenders had died, and there were more of those red balls on the way.

And Elijah knew their origins.

The shamans needed to be dealt with, but he hesitated to leave the defenders. So far, he was the only reason they’d maintained their line. But that wouldn’t last long if he left the shamans to their own devices. So, without any more deliberation, he leaped forward, crashing into an orc, and shouldering it aside. It attempted an attack, but he used Iron Scales to avoid any damage.

Then, he was among the orcs, swinging his arms like battering rams as he waded through the sea of grey flesh. After a few seconds, Iron Scales ran its course, but he didn’t renew it. He had a long way to go, and he knew his endurance was finite. So, he put his head down and forged ahead, leaping over the first trench and landing among the surging sea of gray flesh. There were so many orcs that he was immediately surrounded, and the creatures wasted no time before trying to fill him full of holes.

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But Elijah’s high attributes weren’t just for show, and with the benefit of the Haste effect he got from his Sash of the Whirlwind, he was capable of avoiding the worst of the attacks. Slowly, he battered his way through. It helped that the single-minded orcs weren’t willing to give up on their true goal, which was to conquer the town. As a result, they only attempted to attack him in passing instead of bearing down on him with the full weight of their effort. If they had, he never would have gotten much further than that first trench.

However, with the combination of his high Constitution, Haste, and the orc’s borderline indifference to his progress, he finally reached his destination. The Brand of the Stalker burned bright in his awareness, marking the shaman’s location. In the sea of orcs, that was important, because he would have otherwise never found the creature.

He barreled through the last few orcs and launched himself through the air at the shaman. It never even saw him coming before he crashed into the creature, bearing it to the ground. It hit with a grunt, and to its credit, it started to cast some sort of spell, but Elijah already had the upper hand.

The creature had no chance to recover before he grabbed its head in both of his clawed hands and twisted. Even amidst the chaotic roar of battle, he heard the sound of snapping vertebrae. But he wasn’t content with that. Instead, he let out a bestial yell as he wrenched the monsters head back and forth until, at last, it tore free.

That’s when a red ball of liquid agony hit him in the back.

A scream of agony ripped its way from his mouth as he fell forward, slamming face first into the ground. Orcs descended upon him, stabbing him mercilessly, but he couldn’t spare any attention for that. Instead, there was only one thing on Elijah’s mind – the sheer, burning torment boring into his scaled back.

On instinct, he activated Iron Scales, and though it blocked the spear strikes from the orcish warriors, it did nothing to alleviate the agony rampaging through his body. He flopped around on the ground, desperately trying to regain control of himself, but it was no use. His muscles seized in a full-body cramp as untenable pain swept through him.

Then, another ball splashed into him.

Elijah’s vision went white with agony.

Another came down, though he was in so much pain that he scarcely felt the difference. He couldn’t think. He could barely breathe. Yet, utilizing the full force of his Quartz Mind, Elijah shoved the torment into its own facet. It spilled over into another. And another after that. But finally, it was contained, leaving the others to work on the problem.

He couldn’t move.

His back was in ruins.

And he felt positive that, in only moments, he was going to die.

With One with Nature, he could feel the location of the other two shamans. They were behind him and to the left, flanked on either side by a pair of enormous orcs that must’ve been the most evolved warriors in the horde. But Elijah wasn’t worried about them. He’d killed bigger and stronger.

What did worry him were the pair of shamans.

He felt the ambient ethera swirl as they raised their feathered staves toward the sky, swirling them in some unknowable ritual. Elijah knew that another pair of attacks were incoming.

He had no choice.

He used Guardian’s Renewal.

As his body mended, banishing the pain and healing his shredded back, Elijah regained control of his body. It was just in time, too, because the pair of shamans finished their spells. Twin balls of red agony tore across the space between them and Elijah, but by that point, he had already sprung to his feet and launched himself at the two orcish spellcasters.

Their eyes widened in surprise, and the two guards attempted to intercept him. But with his high Strength, coupled with Haste, the monsters had no chance of stopping him. He hit the first shaman like a runaway train, launching him through the air and into a surging line or orcish warriors.

Elijah skidded to a stop, gripping the ground with one clawed hand to arrest his momentum as he pivoted and lashed out. To its credit, the shaman managed to dodge backward just enough to avoid a lethal blow that would have ripped its throat out, but it could do nothing to keep Elijah from grabbing its staff and ripping it away.

That’s when he took it in two hands and swung it like a golf club, connecting with the shaman’s chin and launching it into a backflip. But Elijah wasn’t finished. He turned that swing into a low backhand that sent one of the guards sprawling across the ground. That gave him just enough space to pounce on the fallen shaman and crush its skull beneath a heavy, stomping foot.

One facet of his Quartz Mind let him know that the other shaman had recovered, sending another ball of red energy screaming in his direction. But having seen it coming, Elijah had no trouble dodging the relatively slow-moving projectile. He darted to the side, then loped forward. The shaman tried to block his descending claw, yet it underestimated his immense strength. As a result, the staff broke, and Elijah’s claws ripped through its face, sending a spray of blood splattering against the ground.

It howled in agony as it stumbled backward, but Elijah didn’t let it put any distance between them. Instead, he refused to allow that, grabbing the monster’s shoulder and dragging him close. Then, he followed his instincts and struck.

Not with his hands.

Nor his feet.

Instead, he snapped out like a crocodile, clamping his jaws around the orc’s head and crushing it like a melon. The taste of blood and brains filled Elijah’s mouth as he flung the dead orc at one of the pursuing guards. The corpse functioned as a perfect distraction to mask Elijah’s charge, which took the enormous orc in the midsection. His claw dug deep into the monster’s torso until he felt bone.

Then, he latched onto the creature’s spine and ripped.

It did not go well for the massive orc, as more than a few vertebrae came free. It flopped to the ground, paralyzed by Elijah’s unconventional attack. Meanwhile, armed with a new, bony weapon, he threw himself at the remaining guard. And miraculously, the monster turned and ran.

That strategy earned it another few seconds of life as Elijah tore across the battlefield in a pursuit that ended when he tackled it to the ground and pummeled it into submission.

He let out a roar of victory, losing himself in the heady sensation of success. Yet, that lasted only a few seconds until he saw the sea of grey flesh and tusks all around him. The battle was yet to be won.

He intended to change that. So, after checking his surroundings, he shifted into his human form, and the sudden cessation of his bestial rage nearly overwhelmed him. However, he’d experienced it often enough that he quickly adjusted. Then, he cast Swarm, Healing Rain, and, targeting a few hundred feet away, Calamity.

Then, before the spells even took hold, he rapidly cast Shape of the Guardian, retaking the form of the lamellar ape. The rage returned, but it was accompanied by a sense of immense satisfaction as he saw his spells crash into the horde, unfettered by the now-dead shamans’ protective shield.

Seeing that, Elijah threw himself back into battle, knowing that he had a long fight ahead of him. But in his mind, the odds had just tipped in the defenders’ favor.

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