Path of Dragons

Book 6: Chapter 34: Staying Focused

Every bridge in the cavern shook as if under the influence of an earthquake as hundreds of enormous giants waged war against one another. Magma flew in every direction as the sound of uncountable heavy blows mingled with inarticulate screams of agony and anger. Beasts with wings of fire – Dat called them magma-forged gargoyles – populated the sky, spitting huge balls of destructive fire onto the combatants while their char goblin riders threw spears of obsidian at their enemies.

And from the relative safety of the door leading to the keep, Elijah and his companions could only watch in horror.

“What do we do?” Ron breathed, his voice barely audible over the cacophony coming from below.

Just then, Elijah heard the lead giant – he’d never even gotten the creature’s name – let out a massive bellow. Then, the nearly forty-foot-tall figure ripped the arms from another fire giant before battering another group into submission with the detached, rock-like limbs. It was a striking display of bestial savagery that Elijah would never have expected from the calm-seeming giant.

Perhaps the lesson to be learned was that creatures from other planes – even ones that looked and sounded human-ish – were not predictable. Humans, especially Earth-bound ones, were ill-equipped to understand such creatures. And the scene below was a good reminder not to make assumptions.

“Our task has not changed,” said Sadie. “We still must find this Cinderath and kill it. Likely the master who enslaved it, as well.”

“Where do we find it, though? And how are we going to get through all of that?” Dat asked.

Elijah answered, “I think Cinderath is in the lava pool below.”

“Magma, bro.”

“See, I’m not sure you’re right. I mean, magma refers to molten rock below the Earth’s surface, but when it’s gathered in a pool like that…”

“Not the time, boys,” Sadie said.

“Right. Sorry,” Elijah said. “Anyway, I think Cinderath is down there. In the lava.”

As he said that, he pointed below. The web of onyx bridges descended to a location only a few feet above the surface of that magma pool. Elijah couldn’t make much out at such a distance, but he could see that the most central platform was besieged by giants. The domed lattice encapsulating it prevented him from seeing what was happening on the platform itself, though. But if he was a betting man, he would have put his money on that being the master’s location.

And where it was, Cinderath wouldn’t be far.

Elijah relayed that information to the others, then said, “There’s only one question. Do we fly? Or do you all want to take the long way?”

“You mean fall, bro. There’s no way you’re getting through all of that without those magma-forged gargoyles ripping you to pieces,” Dat said.

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“Much less getting back up here for multiple trips,” Ron added.

“So little faith,” Elijah muttered. In truth, he knew they were right to be skeptical. He’d barely survived against the flying creatures in the last challenge, and they weren’t nearly as powerful looking as the gargoyles. “Just wanted to give you all the option.”

“We go on foot,” Sadie said. “Is everyone ready?”

“I was born ready,” Elijah said with a steely glint in his eye.

“Bro.”

“Ugh,” Sadie groaned.

“Were you saving that one? And is that your action hero pose?” asked Ron.

“I don’t get it,” Kurik said.

“I really need to set up a theater in Ironshore,” Elijah said with a shake of his head. “And it was a joke.”

“It didn’t sound like you were joking, bro.”

“You did sound serious,” Ron agreed.

Elijah coughed awkwardly, then turned to Sadie and said, “Right. Are we…ready? Please say yes.”

She gave a soft chuckle that Elijah was certain wasn’t meant to be noticed. That made him feel a little better about his group’s blatant derision of his completely normal declaration of readiness. She didn’t smile often, so anything that broke that chilly demeanor was a good thing, as far as he was concerned.

After that, the group prepared themselves as best they could. After dealing with the ashassins, they’d taken some time to recover as well as they could, but the intense heat of the environment prevented them from reaching perfect condition. However, they were in as good of shape as they could manage, so the group wasted no more time before setting out across the bridges.

The first thing Elijah noticed was the precarious footing. From afar, it wasn’t obvious, but the ongoing battle between multi-ton creatures violently shook the bridges, all of which were connected by one point or another. So, the onyx bridges swayed enough to tax even their enhanced Dexterity.

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Still, it only took a few moments before they’d acclimated to the movement, and they wasted no more time before plunging ahead. The first group of clashing giants lay at the initial intersection, where much of the onyx latticework had been completely destroyed by the battle. As Elijah and his group approached, none of them could ignore the sheer impact of those creatures’ blows. None of the giants attempted anything approaching a defensive posture. Instead, they only concerned themselves with offense, meaning that they simply slugged one another back and forth until one fighter broke.

And despite the lack of skills on display, the ferocity of the creatures was unmatched. So, it was with no small degree of trepidation that Elijah and his companions dove into the fray. One small mistake could see any of them squashed into paste. Elijah knew that even in his most durable form, he wouldn’t have stood a chance of enduring one of those mighty blows. So, he opted to take on the Shape of Venom instead, if only because it allowed him to present a much smaller – and quicker – target.

Dat had the highest Dexterity among them, so he fared the best as they dodged between the giants’ legs. However, Kurik, with his shorter stature, seemed well-suited to the task as well. Even Sadie proved adept at dodging, less because of her attributes and more due to her training as a warrior. She had an ingrained ability to read a battle, and she used that to good effect as she anticipated the giants’ moves in order to avoid them.

But Ron had it worst of all. Despite being quite fit, the Healer just didn’t have the attributes to keep up. He made do with wariness, but more than once, one of the others was forced to help out. In one instance, Sadie simply threw him over her shoulder and darted past one of the brawling giants.

They didn’t attempt to fight. Not only would it have been largely useless – the giants were far too strong and numerous for them to have any hope of winning – but it just wasn’t necessary. The giants never paid them any attention. Instead, they were far too focused on trying to beat one another to death.

And it was clear why, too.

“You betray master!”

“He no master! He evil! We no slaves!”

On and on it went, the words often slurred beyond recognition.

Finally, they made it through the first platform and onto the next stretch of bridge. However, none of them relaxed until they were almost a hundred yards down the slightly sloped surface.

“Why are they fighting?” Ron wondered.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Elijah asked in response. “These giants have been here a long time. Some of them don’t know anything but slavery. They probably don’t even know what it means to be free, so they’re fighting against the ones who are intent on killing their master.”

“That’s so sad,” Dat said.

And it was, but there wasn’t anything Elijah could do about it. So, he didn’t participate in that conversation any further. Instead, he focused on the bridges around him, mapping a course that would hopefully take them to the bottom of the enormous cavern. It was miles wide and many times deeper, so getting from one point to another took no small investment of time. Further complicating that was the fact that each platform along the way played host to furious fighting between the giants, the gargoyles, and even a few ashassins. The only solace lay in the absence of fighting on the bridges between each platform.

On a couple of occasions as they slowly made their way ever downward, they were forced to battle an ashassin or one of the magma-forged gargoyles, but those fights went about as expected. After all, those creatures had been active participants in the battle. So, they were already worn out and often injured. Still, they proved to be formidable opponents that were more than capable of killing Elijah or his companions if they lost focus.

They didn’t.

And as such, they gradually carved a path down to the bottom level. With every foot they’d descended, the heat grew more intense, and by the time they found their way to the final platform, they were being broiled alive. The only reason they didn’t die was because of Ron’s constant efforts. What the man lacked in physical abilities, he more than made up for in the sheer efficiency he brought to the Healing arts. Elijah was certain there wasn’t another Healer in the Trial who could have kept them all upright without running out of ethera.

But Ron managed it all the same.

For his part, Elijah felt almost no effects of the extreme temperatures, but he did feel something. That told him that his cloak’s Temperate trait wasn’t entirely foolproof. It had limits, just like everything else, and the Emberstone Keep challenge had found them.

“Wait,” Elijah said, having shifted back into his human form in order to help Ron with the heals.

“What? We can’t stay here much longer,” Sadie said, her teeth gritted in pain. Just because they were being healed as soon as the damage was done, it didn’t mean that they could escape the pain of being cooked alive.

“Look.”

“I don’t know what you want us to see.”

The platform itself was the largest in the entire cavern, which meant that it was at least a hundred yards across, with the latticework dome of onyx extending around a hundred feet above the surface. Thirty feet below that was the sea of roiling magma.

There were a dozen giants – including the leader Elijah had met – banging their fists against the woven web of onyx, but it held firm. Elijah could sense the thick ethera keeping the normally brittle crystal from shattering under their mighty blows.

“We need a plan for what we’re going to do here. We still haven’t seen Cinderath, and we have no idea what form the master will take,” Elijah explained. “And if those giants can’t get through to the platform, then what chance do we have?”

“We can’t go back, can we?” Ron asked, sweat pouring down his face. His clothes clung to his body like he’d just stepped out of the ocean.

Elijah shook his head. “No. I think I need to talk to the leader. See what –”

Just then, the bridge shook even more violently than ever before. More disturbingly, something shot from the magma below and wrapped around a giant. A second later, the enormous figure was yanked from his feet and dragged from the bridge. He screamed in terror, but that ceased after only a moment when he disappeared beneath the surface of the sea of magma.

“What the fuck was that?” Ron muttered.

Dat, who was closest to the edge of the bridge, just pointed. Elijah crept forward, then looked at the fiery ocean below. Or rather, at the creature half-submerged in its depths. It looked like someone had taken a dinosaur and mashed it together with a giant squid, then thrown in some octopus for good measure. That was to say that it had bright red scales, dozens of thick tentacles, and a shape that looked both familiar and alien at the same time.

“Is that a…”

“That’s a lava kraken,” Dat said. “Named Cinderath.”

“I’m out,” said Ron.

“Me too,” Kurik added.

“I am not fighting that thing,” Sadie agreed.

“Do you think it wants to be friends?” Elijah asked, largely because, even from so far away, he could recognize that the thing was a guardian.