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

Without his many advantages, ranging from an extremely high constitution attribute and the degree to which he’d cultivated his body, Elijah would not have survived being so close to the Elemental Maelstrom. Even with those advantages, he felt like he was being sandblasted and burned alive at the same time. The damage was significant enough that he was forced to keep Wild Resurgence running at all times.

Fortunately, Shape of Thorn was large enough to shield the more vulnerable dogs from the cutting wind. Jackson and Sophie worked overtime keeping their shields up as well, and Oscar worked his own magic to mend whatever damage they incurred. In short, the environment was hellish, even dozens of miles from the maelstrom itself.

Elijah hunched over, powering through the outskirts of the storm. The intensity of the ethereal weather was not natural, which was likely the only reason it didn’t do even more damage. Because it was laced with ethera, he was shielded by Aegis of the Elements.

“How much further?!” shouted Oscar, his voice barely audible above the howling elemental wind.

He raised his arm, shielding his eyes as he peered at the mountain in the distance. It hovered a few hundred feet above the ground, though even from a few miles away, he could see the glittering crystal staircase twisting its way to its base.

“An hour! Maybe two!” Elijah yelled back.

Though it was difficult to mark the passage of time so close to the looming maelstrom, Elijah suspected that they’d been at it for at least a day. Perhaps a little longer. Hopefully, reaching their eventual destination would give them a little relief.

Together, the group trudged along. The only positive was that the ground was uniformly level, having been scoured down to a smooth and unbroken plain, completely devoid of any other lifeforms. Even the elemental creatures who lived in the Crystal Fields refused to venture so close to the maelstrom.

Gradually, they crossed the space, eventually arriving at a structure beneath the floating mountain. Elijah only studied it for a few seconds, but he felt comfortable with calling it a temple. Partly because of the reverence with which the giants had spoken of the place, but also due to the architectural style. It didn’t look like any temples or cathedrals from Earth. Indeed, Elijah could best describe it as chaotic. Made entirely from red and black glass, it most reminded him of fulgurite, which was the result of lightning striking sand.

But despite its asymmetrical and alien design, it was also recognizable as a building, with an enormous door guarding entry.

As the group climbed the steps, the elemental storm increased in ferocity before, at last, Elijah yanked the door open and stumbled inside. Oscar and the pack followed, and Elijah shoved against the storm to close the door behind them.

It shut with a loud clang that sent a series of echoes reverberating throughout the structure.

From inside, the place looked even more fantastical. The elemental lights from the storm filtered through the glass to cast the entire space in shifting illumination. For the most part, the chamber was empty, but a large arch led into a hollow column at the center. Doubtless, it would lead to the staircase that would take them to the mountain.

Elijah could still feel dense ethera swirling around, but it was far less powerful inside. That allowed him to resume his human form. When he did, he sank to a seated position and let out a deep breath.

“Okay, that sucked.”

Maymay barked in agreement. Freddy joined in. And Escobar jumped into his lap and tried to burrow into his stomach. Meanwhile, Oscar sat beside him and said, “That was worse than I expected. Did you see that group of giants?”

Elijah nodded.

It had happened the day before. An entire party of earth giants had forged into the maelstrom, and before they could even reach the storm itself, they’d been ripped to pieces.

“Why did they do that?” Oscar asked. “They knew what would happen.”

Elijah could only agree with that assessment, but he didn’t have much of an answer to Oscar’s original question. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Maybe they think it’s worth it. People on Earth used to do stupid and suicidal things too.”

In reply, Oscar could only grunt.

For the next couple of hours, they rested and ate. Elijah even broke out the coffee, which went down extremely well. More importantly, the buff it gave had been updated with the latest batch: