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

Pain lanced through Elijah’s chest as the blade parted his scales and drove deep into the meat of his torso only to erupt from his back an instant later. The sheer force of the attack drove him backward until he thudded against the wall, sending a spiderweb of cracks arcing out from the point of impact. Dust and debris rained down on his head as the sword pinned him in place.

Panicked, he lashed out, his claws raking against the elf’s face. But they never reached his dark skin. The creature smirked and leaned on the hilt of his blade, twisting it cruelly.

“Beast,” he growled, his voice melodious yet menacing. “You dare strike me?!”

Elijah hissed and spat as he tried to escape, but the sword’s grip was absolute. He couldn’t wrench himself free, no matter how hard he pulled. But more distressingly, he felt something being dragged out of him. It wasn’t just Ethera. It was something far more vital. His life force, perhaps. Certainly, he felt weaker with every passing second.

Desperate to stop that pull, Elijah reached out, his long arms moving with incredible speed until he wrapped his claws around the elf’s wrist. Then, he yanked.

The elf clearly hadn’t expected that, and the result was a slight stumble in Elijah’s direction. It wasn’t much, but it was just enough to put him in range of Elijah’s sharp fangs. His jaws snapped shut with undeniable power, and the elf’s invisible shield shattered.

The Warden threw himself backward, mitigating some of the damage, but when he recovered only a moment later, long, jagged strips of flesh still hung from his ruined face. Elijah used that small opening to grab hold of the sword and pull. It took every ounce of strength he could bring to bear, but he still managed to yank it free.

Then, he roared.

At that very moment, the injured troll, having dispatched the final ogre with a thunderous punch, joined the battle. It rushed the still reeling elf, aiming a massive blow in his direction. However, just before it closed the distance, the Warden regained his wits and thrust his hand at the monster.

Bands of red energy exploded from his fingertips, wrapping around the charging troll’s limbs. Then, the elf yanked his arm back, sending the enormous creature flying across the room only to collide with the wall. It didn’t stop there, though. Instead, it crashed through the wall, sending bricks flying in an explosion of momentum.

Elijah raced forward, raising the sword in an attack. However, he was no swordsman, and his scaled ape form was ill-suited for using weapons. As a result, his intended blow was clumsy and fated for failure. Still, he had surprise on his side, and due to that, he very nearly made contact. The elf moved like a striking snake, though, and despite his heavy-looking armor, he managed to dodge Elijah’s attack with inches to spare.

But he could do nothing to allay Elijah’s charging momentum, which took the form of a shoulder tackle that sent the slender elf flying backwards. He hit the ground a half dozen feet away, but he didn’t skid to a stop until he hit the wall on the other side of the room. Elijah threw the sword aside, then pounced.

He never reached his target.

With a snarl, the Warden swept his hand out, and once again, red bands erupted from his fingers. This time, though, they were aimed at Elijah. For his part, he tried to dodge, but the ribbons of energy seemed to have a mind of their own, following his every move until they slithered around his limbs.

And then he was flying through the air, just like the troll before him. He caromed off the remnants of the shattered wall, then cartwheeled across the neighboring cell until he came to rest two dozen feet into the room.

The guardian shape was incredibly durable. Elijah knew from experience that he could endure all sorts of damage in the scaled ape form. With his hard scales, dense bones, and enhanced Constitution, he was like a living tank. However, the limits of his endurance had clearly met their match, because he could already feel multiple broken bones as well as a multitude of shattered scales.

And that wasn’t even considering the internal damage.

He struggled to rise, but he let out a growl of pure agony as his leg collapsed the moment he tried to put weight on it. It was broken in multiple places, he was sure.

Elijah looked up to see that the elf had recovered his sword and was hacking at the grievously wounded troll. The monster’s battle with the ogres as well as the aftereffects of Swarm’s afflictions had clearly put the creature at a vast disadvantage, and the elf was more than strong enough to exploit the effects of its many injuries.

More troublingly, each fall of the Warden’s sword came with a swirl of Ethera that snaked around his body before being absorbed. With every strike, the elf’s wounds healed a little.

Elijah knew that if he let that continue, he’d never have a chance of winning the fight. Certainly, he could use Guardian’s Renewal and heal himself before either resuming the battle or retreating long enough to reenter stealth. However, by that point, the Warden would have completely healed.

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And even with an ambush, Elijah doubted his chances of defeating the elf if he had the chance to recover. Moreover, he wasn’t sure if the elf would allow his retreat. Those red ribbons of energy – a spell, obviously – had been inescapable. Who was to say what other abilities the elf possessed?

No – Elijah needed to put everything on the line, and all at once, or he would never defeat the Warden, much less conquer the tower.

With that in mind, he activated Guardian’s Renewal. Instantly, his bones mended, and his flesh was renewed. In seconds, he was whole, hale, and ready to continue the fight. However, he had no intention of doing so in his scaled ape form. Its endurance and strength had already proven a poor match. So, he had other plans.

Having regained his health, Elijah shifted back into his human form. The moment he did, he yanked Ethera from his core and cast Swarm. The spell took a decent portion of his available Ethera, but due to his cultivation and ever-increasing core size – which came with each point of the associated attribute – it wasn’t nearly as much as it once had been. So, even as the biting flies manifested, he embraced another spell.