Path of Dragons

Book 1: Chapter 59: A Mighty Hunter

The alpha never showed up, much to Elijah’s chagrin. He was keyed up and ready to fight, and the moment he regained enough Ethera, he resumed his predator form before retracing his steps. It wasn’t easy, finding his way back to the site of the original ambush, but the marks he’d previously left at every intersection proved their worth. Eventually, he arrived, and to his mingled disappointment and relief, the alpha was nowhere to be seen.

But its scent was everywhere.

Elijah crept through the area, sniffing everything, but with how ubiquitous the odor was, he couldn’t get a read on where it had gone. Still, that didn’t mean he knew nothing. It probably wasn’t back the way he’d come, so it had to have gone forward. So, he left the site behind and continued in much the same way he’d spent the past month progressing through the labyrinth.

And like that, he kept going, moving slowly and methodically. Never did he drop his guard, though. The giant root raptor had surprised him once, and he wasn’t going to let it happen again.

It wasn’t long before Elijah felt that same formless fear that had preceded his previous encounter with the alpha raptor. But no matter how closely he looked, there was nothing following him. Did the thing have some sort of concealment skill, just like Elijah’s Guise of the Unseen? Or was that aura of terror simply that pervasive?

Elijah had no idea.

But he couldn’t keep his hackles from rising as he continued through the maze. Nor was he surprised when, finally, the creature attacked. It leaped at him from behind, leading the way with its mighty, dagger-like talons. Even though Elijah was on guard for an attack, he was caught by surprise, and so, he barely managed to avoid being gored by those wicked claws. Still, the creature’s claw scraped against his ribs, and the impact sent him tumbling across the ground. Elijah regained his feet just in time to dart beneath the raptor’s next attack.

He lashed out with his own claws, raking them across his foe’s ankles in an effort to render it immobile. But his efforts only scattered a few wood chips across the ground. He didn’t stop moving, though, dashing past the much larger figure. He leaped, bounded off the wall, and sent himself flying toward the still-turned raptor. He activated Venom Strike, then latched onto the monster’s back. Holding on with his front claws, he kicked with his back legs, digging into the raptor’s lower back. In addition, he latched onto it with his jaws, activating Venom Strike again.

And again.

The raptor wheeled around, trying to dislodge Elijah, but it was useless. Not until Elijah’s repeated usage of his ability drained his energy and fatigue began to set in. His muscles went slack, and a second later, the raptor’s wild bucking sent him flying through the air to crunch against the moss-covered wall.

Elijah narrowly retained his consciousness. As the giant root raptor spun about and charged, he could barely lift his head, much less dodge the creature’s charge. He’d overreached, and now, he was a sitting duck.

With exhaustion setting in, Elijah knew his panther form was useless. So, without any further hesitation, he resumed his human form. It took a second for the transformation to complete, and by that point, the raptor was upon him. Elijah didn’t have time to use his staff. He simply raised his hand and cast Storm’s Fury as the raptor clamped down on his shoulder, its teeth digging in down to his navel.

Lighting descended from the sky, tearing into the monster’s back, but rather than dislodge the creature, the resulting convulsions tightened its jaws. Razor sharp teeth ripped into Elijah’s vulnerable flesh, but he cast the spell again.

At the same time, he slapped his hand against his side, casting Touch of Nature. It did almost nothing as the raptor ripped his flesh to shreds. So, he cast it again. He summoned Healing Rain, too. But he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer. Already, he could feel the weakness of blood loss setting in, and that was saying nothing for whatever damage its teeth were inflicting upon him.

But Elijah couldn’t give up. Not after he’d come so far. He refused.

Even as he rapidly descended into shock, Elijah’s mind whirled, searching for some solution. And the only thing he could come up with was a gamble. If he did it, he wouldn’t have anything left. Not for a while.

He didn’t have a choice, though.

So, as he bled out, he cast Swarm.

A thousand biting flies manifested in a cloud, then descended upon the raptor. They tore into its most vulnerable places. Some targeted its fleshy eyes, while others flew into its half-open mouth and down its throat, biting all the way. The shock of it sent the monster reeling backwards, and suddenly, Elijah was free.

The raptor bucked, throwing its head back and snapping at the biting flies. But its efforts were useless. The little creatures were too small and far too numerous. They could only last so long, though, and after a little more than thirty seconds, they dissipated.

For a moment, the raptor was confused by their sudden disappearance, but soon enough, it locked its eyes back on Elijah, who still hadn’t moved. His still active Healing Rain helped with some of his injuries, but he was too drained to make a break for it. So, devoid of Ethera and with exhaustion weighing him down, Elijah just glared at the raptor in defiance.

Then, he screamed.

It was a wordless roar, but it still took the raptor by surprise. It took a step back, and then, miraculously, it stumbled.

That’s when Elijah saw the black tendrils creeping up its neck. It tried to right itself, but it stumbled again. Then, it fell on its side. The monster’s foreclaws scraped against the ground as it attempted to drag itself forward, to finish the job it had started. And yet, it couldn’t. With every passing second, the neurotoxin from Elijah’s Venom Strike coursed through its veins. That, combined with the afflictions from Swarm, slowly killed it.

When it died only half a minute later, Elijah received a huge burst of kill energy that pushed him into level twenty-eight. He barely noticed, though. He was far too focused on his own plight.

He was naked, bleeding like a stuck pig, and completely drained of energy and Ethera. If he hadn’t had the presence of mind to cast Healing Rain in the middle of battle, he would have already died. The same could be said for his choice to use Essence of the Boar and Aura of Renewal. Without either, he’d have died.

He still might.

But no matter what else, he’d won. He had beaten the raptor, and, in his increasingly delirious state, that was all that really mattered.

Gradually, with the aid of Healing Rain, the bleeding slowed, then stopped. At the same time Elijah’s Ethera regenerated enough that he could use Touch of Nature. He didn’t dare look down at the gaping wound stretched across his chest. Instead, he just put his hand into position and cast the spell. It didn’t do much, but it did help him feel slightly better.

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Over the next day – or it might have been longer – Elijah healed himself every time he regenerated enough Ethera to fuel Touch of Nature. At the same time, he kept Healing Rain going. And between the two – as well as the increased Regeneration provided by Aura of Renewal – he was slowly healed.

For the first few hours, it was touch and go, and he very nearly slipped into unconsciousness on more than one occasion. However, he forced himself to stay awake, and, at some point, he passed from critical condition to something a little less serious. When he was finally healthy, he took a moment to inspect the site of the injury, and he found the puckered flesh of a long, wide scar that extended from his collar bone, across his pectoral muscle, and almost to his navel.

It went well with the acid scars on his right arm.

“How is this my life now?” he muttered to himself, running his fingers along that scar. It was difficult to wrap his mind around how many times he’d nearly died since entering the tower. But unless he was completely off-base, that was the last challenge he’d have to complete.

Maybe.

Certainly, the pack of raptors and their alpha had certainly felt like a threat on par with the guardian of the last level. However, he had to acknowledge that there was every possibility that, with the increased difficulty of the third level, he might have to fight something even more fearsome. If that turned out to be the case, Elijah was not confident in his ability to survive.

But as had been his mantra since entering the tower – and even before, really – he didn’t have much choice but to keep moving forward. Sometimes, a man had to do difficult things if he wanted to survive, and there was no point whining about it, even in his own head. So, once he was healed, Elijah pushed himself to his feet and stretched his stiff muscles.

After checking to see if the raptor had anything useful on its body – and finding nothing – Elijah shifted back into his mist panther form and continued his exploration of the labyrinth. On the surface, it was no different than before he’d killed the raptor, but somehow, it felt safer. He felt stronger.

That was when he remembered that he’d gained another level. Elijah opened his status to make sure:

Name	Elijah Hart
Level	28
Archetype	Druid
Class	Animist
Specialization	N/A
Alignment	N/A
Strength	29
Dexterity	33 (28)
Constitution	29
Ethera	37
Regeneration	41 (31)
Attunement	Nature
Cultivation
Body	Core	Mind	Soul
Wood	Unformed	Opal	Neophyte

Sure enough, he’d passed the threshold into level twenty-eight, gaining another point in all his attributes. With Aura of Renewal, his Regeneration had passed the forty-point mark, too. Which was incredible, considering where he’d started. However, Elijah was more interested in the new ability he knew was waiting on him:

Spell: Calamity

Bury your enemies beneath the power of nature. Conjure a natural disaster appropriate to your environment. Only usable in caster forms.

That sounded good. Really good, in fact. He wanted to use it immediately, but Elijah suspected that it would be quite attention-getting. The last thing he wanted was to bring more enemies down on his head – after all, he knew that at least the primitive ape-creatures had some sort of presence within the maze. So, he refrained from shifting back into his human form and trying it out.

Instead, Elijah continued through the labyrinth. As he went, he realized something was wrong. He couldn’t put his finger on it. There was no odor to indicate any other creatures were around. No formless fear to herald the arrival of another raptor. Nothing.

And then it hit him.

It had stopped raining.

In fact, when he looked up, Elijah saw sunlight peeking through the clouds. He had no idea what it meant, but he couldn’t help but bask in the sudden cessation of precipitation. Like that, he stood, tilting his feline face toward the sky and bathing in the warmth of a weak ray of sunlight.

However, eventually, he remembered his task and set off again. With every step, it felt like the light grew stronger until, when he looked up a few hours later, he saw nothing but blue skies.

That had to be a good thing, he thought, continuing on. It still took him a further day of exploration, but it felt like no time at all until he finally reached the center of the maze.

Elijah’s shoulders sagged in relief as he looked across a wide, grassy clearing and saw a simple, stone arch. He didn’t need a notification to tell him that he had reached his destination.

Once he’d established that there were no threats within the clearing, he shifted back to his human form and stepped forward. A notification flashed before his eyes, verifying what he’d suspected:

Congratluations! You have completed Level Three of Keledge Tower. Grade: S To exit the tower, step through the portal.

Then, consistent with what had happened when he’d completed the other two levels, a small, metallic box appeared before him. He bent down and opened it, revealing a small, crystalline splinter. When he picked it up, another notification flashed before him:

Reward for completing Level Three of Keledge Tower: Shard of the World Tree

As before, it didn’t come with any explanation or description. But something called the Shard of the World Tree couldn’t be trivial. In any case, he hadn’t challenged the tower to get rewards. He’d done it to prevent his island from being overrun. So long as he’d accomplished that goal, that was all he really cared about. Anything else was just icing on the cake.

After collecting his reward, Elijah took a deep breath, then stepped through the portal.

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