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

“This doesn’t look good,” Elijah said.

“It doesn’t matter how it looks,” Oscar responded. Elijah didn’t need Soul of the Wild to know that the man was incredibly tense. The same was true of the dogs, all of whom were laser focused on the sight before them.

It was a temple, but unlike any Elijah had ever seen before. Rather than looking like it had been built, the thing seemed as if it had been grown out of the nearby mountains and featured a host of colorful geodes as decorations. The pillars flanking the entrance were rough, reminding Elijah of natural rock formations, save for the uniformity of spacing. Even the dome was asymmetrical.

But he was far more concerned with the giants than with the temple itself.

Back in the Trial of Primacy, Elijah had dealt with fire giants, though those had felt very different from the ones standing before the temple. They were more refined, and the best analogy he could think of was that they were to the others he’d seen as humans were to their prehistorical predecessors.

Even that wasn’t a perfect comparison, though.

In any case, they emitted a sense of power that the wilder giants never had, and Elijah wasn’t eager to fight his way through them. However, he suspected that was the only way they would be allowed to enter the Primal Realm, which was where Escobar had been taken.

After studying it for a few more minutes, Elijah dragged Oscar back to a nearby cave. Once there, he said, “We should go back. We need more people. Those raiders –”

“No. They’re dead weight. And I don’t trust them.”

“What? Why?”

Oscar closed his fist. “They mistreat dogs.”

Then, he went on to explain – haltingly, at first, but more coherently as he went on – what he’d seen back in Bogotá. Most of the city treated the stray dogs with something akin to respect. Many of the residents fed the animals and accepted their presence. However, the raiders were not so kind.

“They killed them,” Oscar growled. “Two of them. I found the bodies.”

“You knew it was them?”

Oscar nodded. “I recognized the wounds. I heard them joking about it. I wanted to kill them. I should have. But…but my pack convinced me otherwise,” he revealed. He let out a sigh. “The people of Bogotá never accepted me, but they didn’t reject me either. That isn’t how it usually goes.”

Elijah frowned as he considered Oscar’s story. He wasn’t that familiar with the other man, but he knew enough to recognize that Oscar’s version of events didn’t always coincide with reality. He was a hermit who spent the vast majority of his time in the wilderness with a pack of dogs, and Elijah knew better than most how much isolation could affect a person’s mindset.

But that wasn’t the problem.

The real issue was that he completely believed Oscar’s interpretation of events. He hadn’t seen much of the raiders, but what he had seen back in Bogotá suggested a certain nonchalance towards life. They were the sorts of people who wouldn’t think twice about going out into the wilderness and grinding out a few levels on the local wildlife. So, killing a couple of stray dogs wasn’t unexpected from them.

So, he asked, “What about others? I have some friends who would help. You met Ron and Kurik, right? They’d come if I asked. And there are –”

“No time. Escobar has been gone for almost three weeks. It will take twice that long for anyone else to get out here. By then, he could be…by then, it could be too late.”

Once again, he was right. Not surprising, really. Oscar wasn’t unintelligent. However, it wasn’t what Elijah wanted to hear. The notion of going into that Primal Realm with only Oscar as support – it was not appealing, and it wasn’t difficult for him to imagine a repeat of the Chimeric Forge.

But then again, Oscar was his own group. With the dogs, he had just about every base covered, and he had proven time and time again that he was powerful in his own right. He could survive on his own.

He just needed a little help.

What’s more, it would allow Elijah to do what he did best – play the wildcard and adapt to the situation by using his versatility to their advantage.

“God, this is a bad idea,” he muttered to himself.

“I don’t see another option.”

One of the dogs barked in agreement.

“Do they understand us?” Elijah asked, glancing at Jackson.

“In their own way. Escobar is the best communicator, but the rest of the pack can listen to a conversation and get the general idea,” Oscar answered. Then, before Elijah could ask the obvious follow-up question, he added, “They can follow orders. We won’t slow you down.”

“I guess it’s decided, then. Now, how do we want to deal with all those giants?” Elijah asked.

Because that was a real problem. There were probably twenty giants down there, and for once, the two different types weren’t keen on fighting one another. Instead, they worked together to guard the temple. Sure, they kept to their respective sides, but they weren’t busy fighting each other.

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As it turned out, Oscar had been given the Tactician archetype for a reason, and he had a keen mind for strategy. Certainly, his plan wasn’t anything Elijah couldn’t have come up with on his own, but he did so without any hesitation.

So, it wasn’t long before Sophie attacked the fire giants, eliciting an immediate reaction. As she retreated into the surrounding hills, a handful of giants broke away to follow.

That was when Jackson went in from the other side, eliciting a similar reaction from the frost giants.

As soon as those two groups were out of the way, Elijah, Oscar, and the rest of his pack fell upon the remaining forces.

With Jackson and Sophie leading the other giants away, the role of the defender fell on Elijah. He hit the first clump of giants in the Shape of Thorn, using his vines, tail, and claws to inflict as much attention as possible in an effort to keep their attention. And it worked, too. Nearly a dozen giants collapsed onto his position, which was precisely what he’d been waiting on.

He let loose with bestial scream, activating an oft-ignored ability: