Path of Dragons 17 - Chapter 28 - Bait (Patreon)

Elijah slithered through the air, taking the time to enjoy the feeling of wind on his whiskers.  The passing air tickled his spines as the landmass flashed beneath him. 

A times, traveling as a World Serpent came with increased risk.  He was faster and more durable than he had any right to be, but the power of the shape tended to paint a target on his back. 

However, the last few days had become one of the more peaceful stretches of travel.  Not only had he not encountered any enemies, but he’d also managed to find some degree of peace as he once again marveled at the setting.  Orveth Kaal was a magnificent world that often defied the supposed laws of physics.  Magic was everywhere, and not just in the densely ethereal atmosphere.  It suffused the rocks, the beasts, the waterfalls – everything.

And as a result, it all felt somehow more real than any other place Elijah had visited. 

The only place that came close was Esik, though that had a curated feel to it.  That was the work of the draconic Druids, all of whom seemed to regard it as their mission to subjugate nature.  They didn’t frame it that way, surely.  Instead, they thought of it as protecting the wilderness, much as wildlife sanctuaries had back on Earth. 

But the reality of it was that the relationship wasn’t one of savior and saved.  Rather, it was characterized by domination.  Despite their best intentions, the dragons simply couldn’t help themselves. 

Maybe they didn’t want to, either.

After all, that philosophy had taken them to the pinnacle of the multi-verse.  According to everything he’d learned, the Empire of Scale wasn’t the absolute strongest force around, but they were close enough that the distinction didn’t matter.  On top of that, their potential seemed much higher than any other.

If only they could get out of their own way.

That would require them to push their instincts aside and work together. 

Idly, Elijah had to admit that there was a good reason the dragons held such enmity for the vespirans.  As a race that derived much of their power from community, those hated wasp-men epitomized everything the dragons hated.  Alone, an individual vespiran was nothing to a like-leveled dragon. But together?  The hive was more than capable of holding their own.

That entire philosophy was antithetical to the dragons’ existence. 

The fact that someone like Kirlissa, who’d wrapped her entire identity in helping others prosper, had achieved so much within the Empire of Scale was a grand accomplishment.  And it probably terrified the other dragons.  Surely, they loathed her as well. 

Now that Elijah knew how granting cores worked, he could see why half-scales were held in such disdain.  The idea of giving up some of one’s personal power just to support someone else?  It was practically blasphemy for a dragon.

Elijah knew just how lucky he had been to garner Kirlissa’s attention.

Any other dragon would have watched with glee as he died, if they even noticed him at all. 

That wasn’t to say they were all bad.  Clearly, they weren’t.  Mano was a typical dragon, but he’d helped Elijah on multiple occasions.  The same could be said for Illska.  But the difference was notable in that Mano approached their relationship from a perspective of ownership.

Elijah was part of his family.  He looked at the relationship almost as ownership.  And he would not stand for anyone messing with his most prized possession – his family.

The results were similar, but the difference in motivation was the key to understanding dragons.  Even Kirlissa succumbed to her nature, at least to some degree.  The fact that she’d given part of herself to a stranger went counter to that, though.

But maybe that was just a different expression of the same motivation.

Elijah didn’t know.

And as he flew through Orveth Kaal, he found no real answers to his questions.  Then, after more than a week of travel, he felt something that put his peaceful journey into perspective.

A raindrop that wasn’t water splattered against his face.  Then another.  And another after that.  Before long, Elijah found himself in a red-tinted deluge, as if the atmosphere had opened up and dumped countless gallons of blood.  The iron-rich scent was all the confirmation he needed to know the truth.

A slaughter loomed above him.

Hundreds of dragons, each one in their natural form, had gathered in the distance.  However, even their massive shapes were dwarfed by the sheer magnitude of the wave of beasts mindlessly rushing toward them. 

The atmosphere had become a charnel house, and even from dozens of miles away, Elijah could see the red cloud of misting blood.  It rained upon him, coating his vibrant scales in crimson so thick that it concealed his entire form. 

Like grisly camouflage.

What’s more, as Elijah drew closer, he felt something deep in his soul.  It compelled him forward, threatening to overwhelm the good sense telling him to turn away. 

Hate.  Anger.  A desire to destroy.  A territorial need to kill the intruders before him.

Before Elijah could catch himself, he slithered upward, joining the swarming horde of flying beasts.  Then, his mental defenses rammed into the attack, overwhelming them in seconds. 

By that point, Elijah was on the verge of reaching the slaughter.

And a dragon had clearly noticed him.  A lance of pure, black energy blistered through the air, nearly taking Elijah in the face.  He slipped aside, coiling to avoid the massive attack. 

He failed.

It cut through his scales, and his blood joined the deluge.  Thankfully, Elijah had recovered his wits, so he wasted no time before casting Wellspring.  The connection to the Well of Life opened up, dumping an impressive torrent of vitality into his body.  His wounds didn’t immediately heal, but the bleeding stopped.

At the same time, Elijah turned away, then embraced Dimensional Leap. 

Ethera surged into him, twisting into a complex set of runes he didn’t understand and activating the ability.  He disappeared a second before another lance would have cut him in two.

The void was no different than before, which was to say that it was entirely hostile to his existence.  Thankfully, Scales of Eternity and the ongoing Lifespring kept him from taking any lasting damage, and he popped out a couple of seconds later. 

In that time, he’d traveled thousands of miles, which meant he was well away from the dragons’ slaughter.

It was all he could do not to turn around and return the way he’d come. 

Not because of any mental influence.  That had been soundly defeated by his defenses, and now that he knew what was going on, he wouldn’t fall prey a second time.  Instead, his desire to return came from something deeper.

His Druid’s instincts screamed at him to stop their hunt. 

Did it matter that he’d engaged in a similar action not that long ago?  No.  In the back of his mind, he justified it by telling himself that his attack had been targeted.  Only the termites had been affected.  Meanwhile, the dragons were killing indiscriminately.  It was the difference between cutting down a few trees to build a cabin, versus clear-cutting an entire forest. 

But he knew it was a thin argument.

Perhaps that was at least partially responsible for his reaction.  After all, self-recrimination and guilt were powerful motivators. 

Yet, Elijah knew he couldn’t defeat so many.  Maybe in a one-on-one battle, he could overcome a single deity.  Even that was only if they were low- or middle-tier.  If they were stronger than that, he would struggle, and to the point that even escape wasn’t a guarantee. 

But he had to do something.

So, he shifted into the Shape of Withering, then adopted Guise of the Stalker before heading back the way he’d come.  It wasn’t long before the battle came into view.  Not because he’d covered ground quickly, though.  He had, but the scale of the fight had grown to such a degree that its evidence was even more visible, and from further away than ever before.

Elijah seethed.

He rode the wind closer, then took a good look at the dragon flight.  There were over a hundred of them, each one an impressive specimen.  Deities were usually idealized versions of their race, and these were no different.  Elijah saw red dragons and blue, black and white.  And more that were mixtures of all the primary colors. 

It would have been beautiful if it wasn’t so horrifying.

Their slaughter was indiscriminate, and what’s more, because of that mental attack, the beasts never acted in their own defense.  Instead, they charged without regard for their own safety.

In some ways, that was expected.  The deity trial’s cycle was characterized by more restless wildlife.  However, despite that initial surge, they’d begun to calm down a bit.  Not to the point where they settled into their dens, like they had during the demigod trial, but they weren’t so hopelessly aggressive, either.

The mental attack threw that out the window.

The beasts behaved like they were rabid.  Even the guardians among them, and there were more than a few. 

The strategy was clear.  The dragons had set a trap, then forced the beasts to spring it.  The resultant slaughter was epic in scope and horrifying to behold.

Elijah needed to stop it.

Not wanted.  Needed.

He climbed, using Ride the Wind to position himself above the dragons.  They never even thought to look up.  If they had, perhaps some of them might have seen through Guise of the Stalker.  As it was, they were oblivious to his presence. 

Or the danger he represented.

In fact, they didn’t seem to take it seriously.  Instead, they nonchalantly murdered the helpless beasts. 

For experience?  Because of some sadistic need to kill?  Elijah had no idea.  But what he did know was that he wouldn’t let it continue.  While he couldn’t destroy the entire flight of dragons, he could disrupt the mental attack.

To that end, he searched for the culprit.  And it didn’t take him long to find a shining white dragon at the center.  What’s more, it was obvious that she wasn’t entirely dependent on her own power.  Instead, it funneled through some device that looked like nothing so much as a star-shaped Christmas tree ornament that was floating above her head.

It glittered in myriad colors, sending wave after wave of mental energy throughout the surrounding atmosphere.  Another, smaller dragon – also with white scales, but with a hint of yellow among them – cast spells as well.  He had an item, too, though it was far less impressive.  Just a metallic rod, maybe ten feet long, floating nearby.

Both dragons channeled spells into their apparatuses, which in turn magnified and altered them.  The rod’s effect was far more widespread, and it didn’t take Elijah long to figure out its purpose.  It was meant to attract the beasts.  The larger and more powerful dragon was there to drive them insane.

Elijah circled, planning his attack.

Dimensional Leap was on cooldown, and for a few more hours.  That meant he couldn’t hope to escape cleanly.  His only option was to hit hard and fast, then get away in the confusion.

Was it dangerous?

Of course it was.

But the fact was that he couldn’t afford to wait.  Not with every passing minute seeing more and more beasts being killed.  It would’ve been different if they’d been allowed to defend themselves.  He still would have acted, but it wouldn’t have been quite so urgent.  Now, though?

He needed to do something.  Anything.  Just to give the beasts a fighting chance.

With that in mind, Elijah took aim.  Then, without further hesitation, he dove.  Falling Talon activated automatically as he screamed through the air.  Then, he shifted, repositioning himself so that his fit hit first.

The impact with the ball was catastrophic.

Elijah was somewhat protected by his ability, but even then, he hit hard enough to break one of his legs.  The focus of the white dragon’s power fared much, much worse.

It shattered completely, sending shards exploding outward.  Some embedded themselves in the dragon’s face, while the others rocketed off to hit other dragons nearby.

For a second in the aftermath, nothing happened.

The last wave of manipulative power petered out, and then, the beasts stopped.

They looked around, uncertain of what was going on.  Then, right on cue, all hell broke loose.