Path of Dragons

Book 6: Chapter 27: Refining Tactics

Elijah perched upon one of the boulders made of black, volcanic rock. Cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, he was entirely undetectable, which gave him a perfect view of the battle a few dozen feet below. Sadie stood at the head of the obsidian bridge, her sword flashing with bright light as she took down one char goblin after another. Each time she hacked into one of them – even if it was only a scratch – red magma erupted from the wound. So, after cutting one in half at the waist – Elijah could sympathize with its plight – she danced backward to avoid the explosion of molten rock.

At the same time, six other goblins remained immobilized by one of Kurik’s traps. Despite the desperate heat, their feet were frozen to the ground by huge blocks of ice. They were free to attack, but as had been established in the previous few battles, the creatures lacked any long-range options. They were capable of breathing fire, and the lava that came from their wounds came with a little extra reach, but they were mostly brawlers.

The same could not be said for the golem at the end of the bridge. It was at least a dozen feet tall and so thick that its limbs looked almost indistinguishable from its torso. Made of jagged black metal, it cut quite an intimidating figure – even more so because Elijah had seen one in action. In the first fight, he’d found himself on the receiving end of its attacks, and it was an experience he never wanted to repeat.

He watched as the thing rumbled forward, its footfalls heavy enough to shake the bridge. Each movement came with a hiss of steam, though Elijah knew that there was no machinery beneath its metallic exterior. Instead, there was just more metal upon which had been etched a delicate framework of enchantments. The thing was not alive in the most general sense, but it was close enough that disabling it gave experience.

As the creature approached, its gait steady but unhurried, Elijah held his breath. If it reached Sadie, bad things would happen. The Crusader could probably survive, but in doing so, she would assuredly take quite a few grievous wounds that would take hours, if not days, to heal.

That was what had happened the first time they’d tried to cross one of the bridges, and the second one hadn’t been much better. It had forced them to reevaluate their tactics, resulting in their current adjustment. Elijah could only hope that it would be enough to prevent the worst.

Just as the golem crossed the halfway point, it stumbled. A second later, a powerful surge of ethera swept over the thing, and it fell face-first onto the bridge. It wasn’t dead – as much as a creature like that could die – but it had been temporarily disabled. Dat, who’d so far remained unseen, leaped atop it, and used one of his daggers to pry a panel off its back. It had taken quite a bit of time to find that spot, but despite the hours of effort spent on the endeavor, Elijah knew there was no guarantee that it would work.

Still, after yanking free the black iron paneling, Dat plunged his dagger into the cluster of enchantments beneath. Another explosion of ethera erupted from the fallen golem, and the thing lost all power. It went limp, clanking against the surface of the obsidian bridge.

But even then, Elijah didn’t move.

Gradually, Sadie and the others began to whittle down the small horde of char goblins, though not without a large degree of difficulty. From his vantage point, Elijah got a good look at everyone’s abilities, and he had to admit that he was more than a little impressed. They’d all grown tremendously since the beginning of the Trial, which was a trend he expected to continue.

However, as they’d discovered while trying to cross the last bridge, their current level just wasn’t enough. That was why they’d once again been forced to adapt their strategy, employing new tactics in the hopes that they could confront the latest obstacle without nearly dying.

A few minutes into the battle, a trio of newcomers approached. Moving with far more finesse, the three figures were much taller than the char goblins. Despite its height, the one in the middle was just as spindly as the ones engaged in battle with Elijah’s companions. However, the two flanking it were far more muscular, and he didn’t need an inspection ability to recognize that they were dealing with hobgoblin variants.

Of course, Elijah had already known as much, having encountered a similar trio the day before. That had been a vicious battle that he and his companions had only narrowly survived. And that had only been due to sheer luck, rather than skill or power. He was well aware of just how much damage they could inflict, so he wasted no time in leaping from his position and racing across the rocky ground before he latched onto the side of the bridge.

To ensure he wasn’t detected, Elijah flipped around and crawled across the underside until he reached the far side of the bridge. Dat had already abandoned his position atop the golem, retreating to where Sadie and the others continued to fight. So, there was nothing barring the three hobgoblins from reaching the group.

At least as far as they knew.

Elijah waited until the creatures were a few feet onto the bridge, but the second they passed the spot he’d marked in his mind, he skittered to the topside and used Venom Strike, Predator Strike, and Envenom before leaping at the one in the middle. The second he got close, a red shield bloomed into being, singing Elijah’s face, but it burst only a moment later. Even as he sank his fangs into the hobgoblin’s shoulder, a wave of dense fire erupted from its body, washing over Elijah.

If his Constitution attribute had been even a few points shy of its current mark, the fires would have charred his scales. But the combination of his high attributes and Ward of the Seasons kept the damage to a minimum, and he delivered his payload of venom – along with Insidious Malady – before leaping free.

It was just in time, too, because he only narrowly avoided the grasping claw of one of the stockier, melee-focused hobgoblin guards. He hit the obsidian ground on the run, and predictably, the trio wheeled around, intending to take care of him before turning their attention to the larger group. Fire, dense and hot enough that Elijah could feel it even a dozen feet away, manifested upon the hobgoblin mage’s hands. However, just as it turned to face Elijah’s retreating form, a barrage of crossbow bolts slammed into the mage at the center.

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They all knew that the spellcaster was by far the most dangerous of the trio, so it wasn’t long before Sadie and Kurik added their own attacks to the mix. The huge Blade of the Avenger burst from the ground, sheering one of the creature’s legs down to the bone, while one of Kurik’s arrows slammed into its slim torso.

But those were just distractions for the true attacks. Dat’s crossbow bolts glowed with blue ethera, and when they hit, they did so with enough power to send the creature staggering. More importantly, those bolts carried with them the Hex of Tongues, which Dat claimed would prevent spellcasting for at least three seconds.

The mage stumbled to its knees, and the fire encasing its hands winked out. It looked on, panic in its eyes as Elijah’s venom took hold. It seized, and black foam spewed from its mouth. It managed to cling to life for another few moments, but it did no good. The thing died only ten seconds after Elijah’s first attack.

However, just because the most dangerous foe had fallen, it didn’t mean they were in the clear. There were a few smaller char goblins remaining, and they were powerful enough to injure his teammates. Of more concern were the pair of hobgoblin guards, both of which were stronger than they had any right to be.

And with their companion down, they lost all sense of reason. The moment they realized the mage was dead, the two hobgoblin guards let out a string of indecipherable curses, each one more guttural than the last, then charged the closest enemy. That happened to be Elijah.

Knowing he couldn’t outrun them, Elijah initiated the shift into his guardian form. Even as his body took on the shape of the lamellar ape, he used Savage Might. Then, in a move he seldom employed, embraced Venom Strike. Normally, he didn’t use it in anything but his blight dragon form. Yet, he’d recently discovered that that strategy was a mistake. Using it in his guardian form drained his stamina quite a bit – which was a bit troubling, given that he usually used Iron Scales as well – but it was more than capable of adding a bit of extra lethality to his already savage attacks.

The transformation completed, and Elijah met the two hobgoblins’ charge with one of his own. And when they collided, they did so with enough force to shake the very foundations of the obsidian bridge. However, Elijah definitely got the worst of the exchange. Part of him blamed the fact that he was fighting two-on-one, but he knew the truth. The hobgoblins were physically stronger than him.

More durable, too.

He’d discovered that in a previous clash against their ilk. That was why he’d held nothing back, using Savage Might and Venom Strike to augment his attributes and damage. He barely held his own, but inch by inch, he gave up ground. Yet, every wild attack he landed carried with it a little venom. It wasn’t enough to turn the tide of battle on its own – it was quite weak when used outside of the Shape of Venom – but it was more than capable of weakening the creatures over time.

Elijah absorbed a hacking slash to his shoulder, then winced when he took a club to the ribs. Even with Iron Scales mitigating some of the damage, enough leaked through that he knew he couldn’t hold up for much longer. Still, he returned those attacks by raking his claws across a hobgoblin’s unprotected face, then snapped out a bite that ended with him clamping down on a forearm.

The bone cracked beneath the force of his jaws, but it didn’t break altogether. The hobgoblin ripped the limb free, leaving behind a few chunks of flesh as it kicked out. Elijah took the blow in his chest, which sent him tumbling backward with enough force that, if it weren’t for the bridge’s guardrail, he would’ve ended up in the river of lava below. As it was, when he looked up, he saw an enraged hobgoblin leaping at him through the air.

Pure hatred marred the thing’s expression, but Elijah could only focus on how much the thing looked like his friend Venka. Certainly, its skin was coarse and pitch black, just like the char goblins’, but the features were remarkably similar to those of the only other hobgoblin he’d met.

He didn’t dwell on the similarity even for a second. He knew the creatures were put there by the system. He didn’t know how. Nor did he want to think about what that meant in terms of their sapience. Instead, he could only focus on the danger they represented. So, he threw himself at the monster, taking another axe-blow to the hip, but he barely managed to use his superior weight to throw it aside.

That was when Sadie arrived.

She didn’t bother with any skills, other than the one that made her blade glow. Instead, she simply hacked into the creature’s back, breaking ribs with every blow. Meanwhile, Dat took on the other hobgoblin. He fought like a martial artist, but not the fancy sort one might see in a kung fu movie. Rather, he moved like an MMA fighter, though one armed with a pair of shortswords. That was to say that, despite his clear handicap in terms of attributes, he made the hobgoblin look like an untrained amateur.

Part of that was because it had been wounded by Elijah, but even if it had been healthy, the thing would have had trouble keeping up with Dat. However, all it would take was one solid blow from the hobgoblin, and the fight would end.

It was a fine line to walk, but in that situation, it was necessary.

Elijah pushed himself away, then took on his caster form. With Sadie and Dat taking the attention of the hobgoblins, he seized upon the opportunity to heal himself. He needn’t have bothered, because one of Ron’s heals hit him a second before his transformation was complete. Still, Elijah didn’t resume one of his bestial forms. Instead, he added damage to the battle via his spells.

The fight wore on for a few more minutes, with the durable hobgoblins stubbornly clinging to life until the last of their endurance faded. When the battle finally ended, it did so anticlimactically, with both of the monstrous humanoids simply collapsing when they no longer had the strength to stand. Sadie took on the task of hacking them to pieces until everyone received a wave of experience.

And just like that, the fight was over.

Elijah, breathing hard, said, “That went well, right?”

“It was passable,” Sadie agreed.

“Only four more bridges to go,” Dat said. The day before, Elijah had found a promontory from which he’d gained a little more insight into their intended path. And from what he’d seen, there were indeed a handful of bridges between them and the gate that was their ultimate destination.

“Should have plenty of time to refine our techniques, then,” Sadie said. Then, she went on to explain every single thing everyone had done wrong. It would have been frustrating if she hadn’t turned her attention to her own performance, and with at least as much criticism as she leveled at everyone else. By the time she was finished, Elijah found himself wondering if they’d really won the fight or if he’d just imagined the whole thing.

Regardless, there was plenty of daylight left, and as Dat had pointed out, they needed to cross four more bridges before they even reached the challenge. So, after enduring Sadie’s after-battle criticism, they took what they could from their fallen enemies – there wasn’t much aside from a couple of obsidian daggers and a handful of ethereum – and set out for the next bridge, which was still a few miles away.

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