Path of Dragons

Book 1: Chapter 69: Defense

Elijah darted through the dark forest like a ghost, letting Guise of the Unseen hide him. The ability didn’t just change the color of his scales or use the shadows to obscure him. Instead, it also harnessed his Ethera to muffle every other aspect of his presence. He was quieter. His odor less pronounced. Even the air moved a little less while he was cloaked in the ability.

Still, it wasn’t perfect, and at the speed he dashed beneath the trees, he knew he was vaguely visible. Fortunately, the awareness that came with his Domain helped him avoid anything – whether it was wild animals or his prey – so he remained as unseen as the name of his ability would suggest.

Fifty invaders was a daunting number. In the ritual chamber, he’d fought against six, and he’d only narrowly managed to survive. And who knew if these newcomers would be more suited to a fight? After all, he hadn’t forgotten the battle that had killed the panther. That trio of combatants had been far stronger than the ritualists. So, Elijah knew he needed to be prepared for the worst.

Both Shape of the Predator and Essence of the Monkey provided double their previous attribute enhancements, and One With Nature probably did so as well, even if it wasn’t displayed in his status. So, his effective Dexterity – and Strength – had more than doubled with the formation of his Dragon Core. And that wasn’t even considering the even more ephemeral increase he’d gotten from passing the first threshold.

No - he was more powerful than ever before. The only problem was that he expected that he would need it if he was going to repel the invasion. One against fifty weren’t good odds, no matter how much stronger he felt. Even with his advantages, if he made one small mistake, he would become easy prey.

So, knowing how close to the edge he needed to walk, he let himself slip into the instincts that had come with Shape of the Predator. They’d let him survive the Primordial Forest, so Elijah reasoned that they would stand him in good stead against the invaders. Hopefully, he would retain enough of his rational mind to pull out of it once everything was done.

With that done, his gait became even more graceful, his movements more silent as the animalistic part of his mind took full advantage of his improved attributes. He never slowed, springing over natural gullies, bounding past boulders, and climbing and leaping from tree to tree when there was no other option.

He covered almost three miles in a little more than a quarter of an hour – a mighty feat, considering the terrain – and during that time, few of the island’s residents even knew of his passing. It was a heady feeling, knowing just how efficient a predator he had become. But soon, he pushed those emotions to the side as he finally reached his destination.

The beach was one of the more accessible on the island, with a long, open stretch of shore marred only by the occasional rock or piece of driftwood. There were a dozen boats, each a copy of the one Elijah had used to cross the strait. With a clear night sky lit by a carpet of stars as well as the silvery light of a gibbous moon, there was plenty of illumination for him to study his prey.

Most of them were diminutive gnomes, but there were a few green-skinned goblins and broad-shouldered dwarves mixed in as well. More importantly, they were kitted out for battle, with most of them wearing one sort of armor or another. Elijah saw more than a few wearing sturdy plate, while most wore chainmail mixed with hardened leather. Even the ones Elijah marked as casters wore armored robes and carried staves. The rest were armed with a wide variety of weapons ranging from axes to swords and shields, with quite a few wielding bows mixed in.

They didn’t look so much like the small army he’d expected as they seemed to be a collection of individuals. Elijah could only hope he would be able to use that to his advantage. So, he watched from the tree line, keeping low to the ground with Guise of the Unseen masking his presence.

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And as they started setting up tents a few dozen yards from shore – far enough to keep dry during high tide, but not nearly enough for Elijah’s preference – an idea began to take shape. And the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. So, once Elijah was satisfied with his plan, he set off back the way he’d come. As he did, he kept a proverbial eye on the invaders via the senses granted by his Domain, but they continued setting up their camp.

When they’d first arrived, Elijah had thought they had somehow followed the metaphysical trail he’d left behind after rescuing Sara. However, the fact that they seemed keen on sticking around for at least a little while suggested a different motivation, though Elijah wasn’t clear on what, precisely, that was. Sure, he felt confident that it had something to do with the ancestral tree, but beyond that, he was completely ignorant.

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In any case, he didn’t expect he would ever find out. With any luck, he’d be rid of them in only a few hours. With that in mind, he continued to dash through the woods until, at last, he reached a familiar beach on the other side of the island. Fortunately, he only had to follow the beach for a few minutes in order to find his quarry.

One of the huge crabs stood before him, busy tearing into some carcass that had washed ashore. Elijah wasted no time before bounding toward the creature, then tapping it on its leg. Then, as the monster skittered around, he sprang backward out of range of its claws. Then, he took off down the beach, the crab in tow. Every now and then, when the crustacean started to lose interest in the chase, he’d circle around and reengage. Even before reaching the first threshold and having his spells and abilities enhanced by the Dragon Core, he’d been capable of running circles around the crabs. He could even manage it in his human form, so doing it as the scaled predator barely required any focus.

Elijah led the creature along the beach until he saw another crab. When he did, he repeated the process, nipping at its armored legs before dashing along. It followed, just like the other, though it was about thirty feet in front of the first.

He kept going, leading the creatures along as he gradually circled the island. It took hours, but the only really tricky part had come when he reached the western cliffs. There, he’d had to switch to his human form and swim while keeping the crabs engaged via Storm’s Fury. He lost one along the way, but by that point, he’d grabbed three others, and he reached the next beach without any further issue.

As soon as his Ethera allowed, he switched back to the predator form and continued along until he felt the invaders’ camp looming ahead of him.

Throughout the process, Elijah had let his mind wander slightly. However, with the invaders so close, he reengaged his focus and stalked forward. He knew he had to time things correctly. Otherwise, the crabs would lose interest.

By that point, the invaders had finished setting up their camp, and they’d set out a few sentries, one of which was only a couple dozen feet in front of him. The scout wore stiff leather armor and was armed with a bow, but more importantly, he was clearly alert.

It didn’t help.

Elijah circled, staying low and hidden by the terrain, until he saw the gnome’s back. Then, using Predator Strike, he pounced. The first attack met little resistance, but it wasn’t immediately fatal. He let out a high-pitched scream, but was quickly silenced by a claw to the throat.

Without skipping a beat – and knowing just how tight his window was – Elijah clamped his jaws around the scout’s thin arm, bit through the bone, then repeated the option on the other limbs. In short order, he had five pieces of gnome piled before him.

More troublingly, the crabs were almost upon him, and the gnome’s scream had roused the camp. That was fine, though. Elijah shifted back to his human form, grabbed one of the limbs, and tossed it in the direction of the skittering crabs.

Then, he repeated the action, scattering the bloody chunks of gnome in a rough line that led directly to the camp. After that was done, he ran off, bounding across the rocky shore and into the tree line. No one had ever seen him.

His breath coming shallow and fast, Elijah circled the camp. Even in his human form, he was no slouch when it came to remaining hidden, and soon enough, he found himself on the other side of the camp.

It was at that moment that the crabs came into view, having followed Elijah’s trail of gnome parts. When the invaders saw the massive monsters, they let loose with a wide variety of attacks. Mages cast fire balls, archers shot arrows, and the heavily armored warriors rushed to what they thought were the front lines.

That left the other scouts on a proverbial island where, even if they shouted an alarm, they would get little support.

And Elijah was more than willing to take advantage of that.

In his caster form, he wasn’t nearly as deadly as he would be as the scaled predator, but he was still much stronger than an average human. And he had a big, sturdy stick. So, when he rushed the gnome, swinging his staff like a baseball bat, the little scout fell without a word. He hadn’t died – he’d only been knocked unconscious – but that was fine. Elijah had no qualms about finishing the job with the knife at his belt.

After slitting the invader’s throat, he took a look back at the camp. They were handling the crabs well enough, and though the crustaceans had little hope of actually hurting the invaders, they were extremely durable. And there were almost a dozen of them, which meant that the camp’s damage was spread out enough that it gave Elijah plenty of time to kill the lone remaining scout.

This one went much the same as the last, though it took two staff strikes to put the goblin down. Still, Elijah managed, then slit the green-skinned creature’s throat before turning back to the camp.

Three of the crabs had been killed, and the rest were on their last legs. Not surprising, considering the overwhelming Strength of the force. However, Elijah had never meant for the crabs to be anything but a distraction. His real attack was forthcoming.

He only wished he’d had the chance to test it, but between the rescue, his subsequent recovery, and gaining his Dragon Core, it had slipped his mind. In his defense, his island had been relatively safe since the very beginning, so he hadn’t expected a small army of invaders to land on his shores. Still, as he gathered his Ethera, he vowed to never let it happen again. From now on, he’d test his abilities and spells as soon as he could.

Once he’d shifted enough Ethera into the appropriate spell, he cast Calamity, hoping it would be just as devastating as the description implied.