Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO ON KINDLE SEPT. 2)

A bonfire blazed, casting the entire square in flickering light as the amassed people – each attired in high-quality clothing that marked them as members of the upper class – roared their approval. In the center of the plaza were a group of soldiers, each clad in blue-and-white, and at their feet were dozens of corpses. The autumn pre-dawn morning was cool enough that Elijah could see steam rising from their still-warm bodies.

“The traitor does not deserve a statue!” yelled a man in a slightly more elaborate uniform. “She fostered rebellion in our midst, undermining the king and putting us all in danger!”

That brought another cheer from the gathered aristocrats and soldiers. Each and every one of them bore the signs of battle. Or slaughter, given the clear number disparity. It wasn’t surprising. As Elijah had made his way through the city, he’d seen guards and their wealthy supporters ganging up on much weaker and less numerous groups of people they clearly marked as inferior. Though he’d noticed that they only did so when they had an advantage, either in power or numbers. In any even battle – which were rare, given the soldiers’ obviously higher level of progression – they were far less aggressive, often fleeing to join one of the larger groups.

Retreat was not a bad strategy. Indeed, it was intelligent. Still, it struck Elijah as cowardly, though that could have been the result of the opinions he’d formed in his short time within the city.

Of course, he’d killed many such groups, but he couldn’t get them all.

None of that was on his mind, though. Instead, he only had eyes for the situation at the center of the square. Dozens of guards had thrown ropes over the statue of a heroic woman clad in heavy armor and carrying a spear. It wasn’t a perfect likeness, but the artist had been talented enough to capture Alyssa’s spirit. So, Elijah had no trouble recognizing his sister.

More, Carmen had told him of the existence of such a statue, which had been built after she’d heroically sacrificed her life in the tower. Or at least that was the story Roman and his flunkies had told the population. Carmen had a different impression, though. Once she’d learned the truth, she had come to the opinion that the monument’s construction had been rooted in Roman’s guilt. Elijah wasn’t so sure that was the case. For a man who could murder his own friend, and for no reason but to increase his own power, guilt was assuredly an alien concept.

Either way, Elijah didn’t care about the origin of the statue. Instead, he was far more concerned with the fact that the aristocrats and guards seemed hellbent on tearing it down. In the corner of one facet of Elijah’s Quartz Mind, he could see the logic that had led them to that action. Before her death, Alyssa had been a rallying point for those who didn’t like the way Roman had run the city, and afterwards, she had become a martyr. Even though most never knew the truth of how she’d died, her opinions had continued to hold sway among the downtrodden, and she had become a symbol of the rebellion. Even putting that insurrection down hadn’t changed how they saw her.

That was why the aristocrats and guards wanted to destroy the statue. The action was as much a symbol as a representation of aristocratic frustration that had come to a head in the ongoing unrest Elijah had begun by freeing the prisoners. He’d seen plenty of familiar faces during the fighting, so it was no secret what had started the latest revolt.

But all of that meant nothing to Elijah when he saw what those people were going to do to his sister.

His mind went white with rage, and before he knew what he was doing, he’d dropped his draconid form – it was terrible for dealing with multiple opponents, anyway – and resumed his natural shape. Then, he cast Calamity.

The spell was unique in that, originally, he’d thought it had a cooldown. However, as his store of ethera grew, he discovered the truth. That was reflected in the spell’s description: