Path of Dragons

Elijah’s sense of danger, born from One with Nature as well as other, more mundane senses, screamed at him, and he’d experienced enough that he wouldn’t even considering ignoring them. So, even as the screech echoed off the cave walls, he used Shape of the Guardian. As he transformed, something hit him like a bullet, carving a hole right through his thick scales and burying itself in his shoulder. It would have been his chest, but he’d flinched away at the last instant, probably saving his life.

Pain shot through him, racing down his arm and spreading numbness in its wake. Then, something else came screaming in his direction, moving even more quickly than the last attack. However, this time, Elijah was ready for it. He couldn’t avoid the damage, but he could activate Iron Scales at the speed of thought.

But even that powerful ability, which could mitigate up to ninety percent of the damage from any attack, wasn’t enough to completely save him. The projectile hit him in the ribs, bouncing away with a clatter of stone on metal. But even though it didn’t penetrate, it did leave a wicked gash along Elijah’s ribs.

By that point, though, Elijah recognized the situation for what it was. His first clue was the haft of the short, bone-handled spear jutting out of his shoulder, but that turned out to be of secondary importance to the sudden appearance of the creature who’d thrown it. It was shaped like a human, with the right number of limbs, a torso, and a head. However, the details were all wrong. For instance, its legs – which ended in wicked talons not unlike those usually associated with birds – were short, stubby, and covered in mottled, white-and-brown feathers. The rest of its body was similarly plumy, and its arms doubled as large wings, which were equipped with three-taloned claws.

Somewhat predictably, given the rest of its appearance, the creature’s head was entirely avian, with a sharp beak and predatory, raptor-like features. And it was carrying two more spears in one hand, while the other drew back as if to throw another.

Elijah wasn’t going to allow that.

He threw himself forward, intending to crush the creature beneath the massive fists of his lamellar ape form. However, he’d entirely forgotten about the numbness spreading through his body, so his charge turned into a stumble, and he ended up pitching forward to hit the cave floor.

And to his horror, he couldn’t move more than a few inches. He strained, but his muscles were entirely unresponsive. Another spear hit him, but Iron Scales turned it away. Elijah barely heard the clatter as it fell to the ground. Instead, the whole of his attention was on trying to force his body to obey his commands.

It would not.

Another spear hit him, though this one wasn’t thrown. Instead, the avian monster fell upon him, lancing the weapon into his thick scales. It was more forceful than a throw, but even then, it only made it an inch or two into his body before losing its momentum. The monster let out another screech, but Elijah didn’t hear it.

Because he was currently on the verge of activating Guardian’s Renewal.

It was a shame to use it so soon into their quest, but with his current options, it was probably the only way he was going to recover from the paralytic poison. Perhaps he could have healed it with Nature’s Bloom, but that would have required him to shift back into his human form. In turn, that would mean that he would lose the protection of Iron Scales, which was the only thing preventing the avian monster from tearing him to pieces.

As those thoughts raced through one facet of his mind, he felt the warm embrace of some power that he couldn’t quite describe. It was like someone had blended hope and courage and goodness, distilled the result into pure energy, and poured it into his body. More importantly, as that feeling washed over him, he felt the tingle of feeling return to his limbs.

It wasn’t a powerful heal. Elijah suspected that it was far inferior to what he could accomplish with Soothe and Nature’s Bloom. However, it was enough to counteract the paralytic – after a few seconds, at least – and allow him to move. He used that returned ability to throw himself upward with all of his might.

The avian creature was caught entirely unaware, and when Elijah’s back hit the cave’s ceiling, the sound of crunching bones filled the air. More importantly, an influx of experience announced that he’d killed the creature.

However, when he cast his attention back to his surroundings, he saw that the battle had just begun. There were six more avian monsters attacking the others, though his companions had fared quite a bit better than he had, largely because they depended on one another, rather than rushing out to meet the threat as individuals.

Dat and Kurik sheltered behind Sadie, who occupied the bulk of the monsters’ attention. That allowed them to pepper the creatures with ranged attacks. Kurik used his bow, while Dat fired his crossbow with more speed and precision than Elijah would have thought possible. The comparatively fragile monsters countered by harnessing the wind to knock the projectiles off course while throwing their own spears at the others.

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Sadie intercepted those. Sometimes, she physically threw herself in their paths, but others, she conjured ethereal barriers to shield her allies. At the same time, she summoned a pillar of golden light that shined down on Elijah, banishing the paralytic and healing the wounds that had been inflicted upon him.

In short, she was doing her job while filling in for Elijah, who was supposed to be their Healer. Meanwhile, he’d entirely forgotten that he was part of a team, throwing himself into battle as if he only had himself to worry about. As a result, he’d put everyone else in danger and made the fight far more difficult than it should have been.

In fact, he was reminded of the reckless elf who’d very nearly gotten Elijah and the rest of his team killed back in the Magister’s Estate tower. He’d tried to do everything himself, too, and everyone else had paid the price.

Now that Elijah was mostly out of danger, he raced back to the group, then shifted into his human form. After that, he cast Healing Rain, using Soothe on Sadie, who’d taken a couple of wounds from the venomous spears. So far, she’d kept herself alive, but Elijah knew that healing was not her strong suit.

Once he was back with the group, the fight went like clockwork. Everyone did their jobs, and after only a couple more minutes – most of which was due to trying to pin down the final monster – they won the battle.

Elijah looked around at the carnage, and he said, “I’m sorry.” Then, he glanced from one member of his group to another. “I’ve mostly fought alone for the past few years, and I guess I got caught up in old habits. Thank you for picking up the slack. Especially you, Sadie. For the healing.”

She narrowed her eyes, then opened her mouth as if she was going to say something biting. Then, she closed it, took a deep breath through her nose, then said, “You’re welcome.”

That, as far as he was concerned, was progress. Certainly, Elijah felt confident that he could have figured out how to win the battle alone – probably on the back of Guardian’s Renewal – but if the way it had worked out meant that Sadie warmed up to him, even a little, it was a good tradeoff.

“What were those things?” asked Kurik, breaking the awkward tension.

“Called aviaks, bro,” Dat answered. “Low Constitution. High Dexterity. Middling Strength.”

“Skirmishers,” Sadie provided. “Fast and deadly, especially with that poison, but they’re fragile.”

“Reminds me of the harpies,” Elijah muttered.

“Harpies?” asked Dat.

“Yeah. Just like the creatures out of mythology. They’re similar to these things, but less humanoid. Like birds with hideously ugly human faces. I got caught in a flock of them a little west of Seattle. Millions of the things. It took me a week or so to get through them. Almost died the first time I saw them, so I was forced to sneak past.”

“You didn’t tell me ‘bout that,” said Kurik.

Elijah shrugged. “I meant to,” he responded. “Especially considering they happen to roost near Ironshore. Going to have to deal with that sooner or later. Plus, there are people there. And –”

“This is not relevant,” Sadie interrupted. “Does this new threat change anyone’s intentions?”

Elijah shook his head, and Kurik shrugged. Dat stated that he’d always expected complications, so it was “all good, bro.”

“Very well,” the armored woman said. “We need to rest and regain our ethera. Once we are at full strength, we will resume our climb.”

That sounded good to Elijah, who was craving a cup of coffee anyway. So, he made a small fire, over which he boiled some water before using his enchanted French press to brew a batch. Unlike Sadie, his other two companions had good taste, so he made them cups as well.

Like that, they passed the next couple of hours, with the three men drinking coffee and discussing mundane subjects. As it turned out, Dat had been quite a gamer before Earth’s transformation, and he’d used some of that knowledge to get a leg up on the system. It didn’t offer a huge advantage, but it was better than going in blind.

Kurik was a little more reticent to share stories of his own past, but he did reveal that his clan had been the subject of banishment, which was why he’d chosen to brave the dangers of a newly touched world and settle on Earth.

Sadie remained silent through the entire conversation, but at least she accepted one of Elijah’s grove berries. He had hundreds of them in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, so he didn’t mind sharing – at least for now. With almost a year left in the Trial, he knew his supply wouldn’t last forever. The same was true of his coffee, though he’d brought enough that he didn’t feel the need to ration.

Regardless, those few hours were almost pleasant – or they would have been if it hadn’t been for Sadie, who seemed to hate him regardless of what he did or said. At least she hadn’t judged him too harshly for his previous mistake, though.

“Silver linings,” he mumbled to himself as he smothered the fire. After that, he stowed his staff in his satchel, before returning to the cliffs, where the group resumed their journey up the series of ladders and ledges. The whistling continued, as did the attacks from the spirits. The wind picked up, reaching new velocities that would rival even the most powerful tornado back on Earth. It made communication almost impossible, not to mention the more obvious issue that each gust threatened to rip them from the cliff’s face.

So, it wasn’t until hours later that Elijah realized that the spirits’ attacks had ceased. A few moments after that, he glanced back and saw that Dat’s lips were pursed. He couldn’t quite understand what was going on until, at last, it dawned on him.

He was whistling.

Not long after that, they found another cave that was, predictably, occupied by even more of the aviaks. This time, though, they were ready for the threat the bird-people represented, and the group took care of the monsters without much issue. That was when Elijah asked Dat about the whistling.

The Witch Hunter massaged the back of his neck, then said, “Sorry, bro. Been doing that since I was little, you know? When I get nervous, I make noise. When I was a kid, I used to drum my fingers against my desk, making a beat. So, when I heard the whistling from the cliffs, I just sort of mimicked the pitch. I didn’t know anyone could hear me, though.”

“I couldn’t. But I think you might’ve figured out this challenge,” Elijah said. “Or at least part of it. I think the whistling is helping to keep the wind spirits at bay. So, keep it up, and we might have a much easier time getting to the top.”

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