Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO STUBBING AUGUST 15)

Elijah dreamed of his puppy, Fremont, nipping at his legs as he read a book. The dog was a rambunctious thing, still untrained, and full of energy and cuddly love. Slowly, his rational mind intruded on the pleasant dream, telling him that his dog hadn’t been a puppy for years, that he’d been forced to rehome him when it became clear that the cancer was incurable. Doing so had been almost as emotional as when his oncologist had informed him that the treatments weren’t working. That he only had a few more months to live.

Gradually, Elijah’s memories distorted, and the puppy’s nipping bites became something altogether more painful. Punishment for the abandonment Fremont had doubtless felt at being left with a neighbor.

Suddenly, Elijah’s eyes fluttered open as pain lanced through his leg. He kicked out, but the pain only increased. Moreover, there was something digging into his arm, too. He spasmed, waving his arms and legs as he tried to dislodge whatever had assaulted him, eventually jerking himself free and clambering away.

His hands found scant purchase on the slippery rocks and gravel as he crawled away, and he vaguely noticed the steady lapping of waves. The unmistakable smell of the sea. The biting ocean wind.

That’s when his memories began to assert themselves. The plane. The cancer. The System.

Gasping, he pushed himself to his knees and looked around. As he’d suspected, he was on a rocky beach, but only a few dozen feet away, there was an incredibly dense forest. The sky was gray with clouds, and the steady sound of the waves, accompanied by a strange clicking sound filled his ears. He turned his attention in the sound’s direction, and his eyes widened at the sight.

At first glance, it was just a crab, little different from thousands of others Elijah had seen throughout his life. However, it differed in a couple of notable ways. First, it was a perfect example of a purple shore crab. Dark maroon in color, it had stout claws, which bore slightly darker spots. However, unlike its more typical brethren, which were usually only a few inches across, this one was the size of a cat.

Elijah scrambled backwards when he saw a dozen more of the creatures bearing down on him, each of similar size. But they followed; judging by the frayed edges of his pants – and the wounds beneath – the little scavengers had thought him dead, and they’d been feeding off of him.

More importantly, they didn’t seem all that enthused about losing their meal. The first few scuttled forward in a sideways shuffle, and when Elijah didn’t react, the rest followed. He reacted on instinct, kicking out with bare feet. Apparently, he’d lost his shoes at some point, though he didn’t have time to lament the loss. Instead, the whole of his attention was occupied by defending himself from the horrifically huge crabs.

He connected with the first, his foot hitting its incredibly hard shell. It did little damage, but the thing couldn’t escape the reality of its small size, and the momentum of the kick sent it sailing through the air.

But it also opened Elijah up to the rest of the crabs, which assaulted his legs with their oversized claws. Snapping, ripping, and tearing – it wasn’t long before his lower legs were a bloody mess, with ribbons of flesh hanging off in strips. A few of the claws had cut right through his muscle, stopping only when it reached the bone.

Elijah panicked, kicking out with renewed fury, but his Strength waned with every blow. Whether it was blood loss, his preexisting conditions, or simple fatigue, he didn’t know; what he did know was that he couldn’t continue in that manner. So, after he kicked another one away, he levered himself to his feet, then leapt, pushing off with all of his Strength.

He barely cleared a few inches.

But it was just enough that when he descended atop the closest crab, he felt the thing’s shell crack and crunch beneath his bare feet. The shards of shell pierced the soles of his feet, but he didn’t allow himself to stop, stomping down as hard as he could. Over and over, until the creature had been reduced to a slurry of shell, crab meat, and its juices.

Seeing the other crabs surrounding him, Elijah stumbled away, scrambling over the rocks as best he could. He left a trail of blood and bits of ruined flesh behind, but adrenaline drove him forward and into the trees. He glanced back to see that the crabs had descended upon their fallen fellow, and he sighed in relief.

Still, he kept going into the thick forest, only collapsing a few dozen feet in. Crabs wouldn’t go too far inland, so he felt like he was safe. Even so, the presence of the abnormally large crabs was a troubling thing.

But it was nothing compared to his ruined legs that increasingly refused to follow his commands. A few more feet, and he tumbled to the ground. Elijah dragged himself forward until, at last, he could turn over and rest his back against a pine tree.

Finally, he let himself relax, and in that moment, another block of text appeared before his eyes: