Path of Dragons

Elijah spent the next few hours exploring the area surrounding Dragon Tiger Mountain, and he soon confirmed that Hong Kong Island had grown considerably, even connecting to the mainland by a half-mile-wide strip of land that had clearly originated in another city. Before, it had been around thirty square miles of land, which meant that it was around the same size as Elijah’s island. However, now, it was at least twice that, with much of its area filled by buildings from other urban areas. More than once, he saw buildings that had been merged with one another, creating a sight Elijah found more than a little confusing to behold.

However, there were plenty of landmarks that even he, as a stranger to the area, recognized. Among those landmarks was Victoria Harbor, which was chock full of drifting ferries and capsized boats. Some of those vessels were small and had been ripped apart by the elements, but there were a couple of enormous ships that reminded Elijah of the desolate desert outside of Seattle.

During his exploration, Elijah also saw plenty more roving packs of zombies. He avoided them all, but he couldn’t help but wonder how he would fare against those thousands-strong hordes. Surely, his superior levels and cultivation would see him through, but the weight of their numbers was daunting all the same.

Eventually, Elijah tired of going on foot, and he decided to take to the skies. He was well aware that there were airborne dangers as well, but he reasoned that if he was attacked, he could always get away.

In the Shape of Sky, he soared into the air, quickly gaining elevation as he circled the enormous skyscrapers that dotted the city’s skyline. From above, he quickly gained a sense of scope that he’d otherwise lacked. There were far more zombies roaming the streets than he had expected, with their numbers easily reaching seven digits, rather than the thousands as he’d hoped. Clearly, the vast majority of the city’s population had been transformed.

Not surprising, but still not encouraging.

As he flew around, he also saw the other enclaves of necromancy, and he discovered that there were quite a few more than the people of Heaven’s Bastion suspected. Before long, he’d already counted ten, with each one large enough to contain at least a thousand people. Probably more if they were willing to live in cramped conditions.

Finally, he found that the region’s ethera continued to climb with every passing hour. It was incremental, and he didn’t believe it would ever increase to the levels of his grove. However, he was surprised at how dense the ethera was. In addition, he couldn’t deny the attunement to death, which pervaded everything in the area. Even the plants he found were infected by it, living as much off vitality as they did off the death-attuned ethera.

There seemed to be a lesson in that, though it was one that would doubtless require quite a lot more observation before he learned it.

Elijah focused on Soul of the Wild as he flew around, and with it, his perception of the density patterns of the local ethera came into clearer focus. He couldn’t quite see everything, but his initial thought was centered on the idea that the ethera gathered in river-like flows that spanned the entire city. It only took a little more investigation before he saw that it was thicker around four locations.

The first was, obviously, Dragon Tiger Mountain where the entrance to the Primal Realm was located. The second was on a smaller island in the middle of Victoria Harbor. The third, he found along the northern coast of Hong Kong Island. And finally, the fourth was located on a small island off the southwestern coast.

But before Elijah could investigate further, he felt a handful of figures detach from a nearby skyscraper. He tried to bank away, but it was only a second later that the creatures saw him.

An unholy screech echoed through the city, and to Elijah’s horror, thousands more winged monsters leaped from the top floors of the city’s skyscrapers. Before he could even begin to respond, there were tens of thousands in the air, and they were all coming his way.

Elijah dove, and it was just in time to avoid the raking claws of a creature that looked like a cross between a bat, a zombie, and the skeletal undead he’d seen around the entrance to the Primal Realm. It was vaguely humanoid, but with huge, membranous wings and bone armor that looked like it was wearing its skeleton on the outside.

In short, it was a horrifying sight, especially when there were so many of them.

Elijah was not equipped to fight in the Shape of Sky. He could do a little damage with his enlarged claws, but if that flight of undead monsters reached him, his comparatively delicate wings would be ripped to shreds. So, he continued his dive, gaining speed until he was only a dozen feet above the ground. Then, he snapped his wings out, arresting his dive and redirecting his momentum horizontally. He shifted, narrowly dodging between two overturned buses as he raced down the street.

Behind him, three enormous impacts announced that the bat-like creatures weren’t nearly as maneuverable as the Shape of Sky. They hit the pavement hard, and the sound of cracking bones announced that they weren’t particularly durable. However, when they rose only a moment later, accompanied by a swirl of deathly energy, Elijah realized that they were equipped with a significant ability to regenerate.

Fortunately, their wings were still broken, and on the ground, their gait was ungainly. They could cover ground, but not nearly at a rate that would put Elijah in danger.

But Elijah was far more worried about the other flying creatures who were currently on a mission to dive bomb him. Thousands of figures dropped from the sky, their grotesque wings tucked close to their bodies. Elijah put on the speed, flapping his wings furiously as he embraced Savage Might.

Yet, they were already ahead of him, and they seemed to have good enough timing that they were bound to intercept his route. He knew he had no chance of getting away – not if he kept doing things the way he was, at least. So, without further delay, he began to look for cover.

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He banked around a building, narrowly avoiding a diving monster. Then, he threw his wings out, slowing himself just enough to avoid another that flitted by in front of him. He turned that into twist that allowed him to dodge a third. But they just kept coming. Even as he gained speed, they threw themselves from the sky, hitting the ground with the force of artillery.

All around Elijah, concrete and asphalt flew into the air. Dust billowed, obscuring his form as he finally saw a safe haven. A red box-like structure, maybe twenty feet high and about fifteen feet wide, loomed before him. In the center was a set of stairs the led downward. Beside characters he couldn’t read were English words that announced it was a metro station.

Elijah tucked his wings and passed through the entrance. The second he entered, he initiated a transformation into the Shape of Venom. By the time it completed, he’d reached the bottom of the stairs.

But unfortunately, the station was far from empty.

There was no way Elijah could count the number of zombies within the terminal. Thousands at the very least, and all packed into the space like sardines. Elijah’s sudden arrival alerted them, but thankfully, they were slow to respond. He immediately leaped to the ceiling and sprinted toward the tunnel.

That was when the first few ranged zombies attacked. Shards of bone hit the ceiling in his wake, and balls of sticky, caustic goo came a second later. Despite missing, the stuff splashed onto his back, eliciting a significant degree of pain. Even as agony lanced up his spine, Elijah never slowed. A good thing, too, because if he paused even for a second, his increased durability would have been put to the test.

That was when the first of the flyers rammed into the building. Some made it through the entrance, though they were clearly incapable of fine movement. So, they caromed from one wall to the next, digging into the reinforced concrete like it was made of brittle sand. A moment later, the entire entrance collapsed, sealing the area away.

Meanwhile, the zombies went wild, sprinting after Elijah. The melee fighters roared, while the ranged combatants continued to aim their various abilities at Elijah. Thankfully, they clearly lacked the Dexterity to aim properly, which meant that he managed to avoid the worst of the barrage. Still, he was clipped by enough boney projectiles that he knew he didn’t want to stand and fight.

Maybe in Shape of Thorn, but if he fought in any of his less durable forms, he would surely be ripped to shreds. So, he didn’t stop even for a moment, but he was horrified to find that the number of zombies only increased the further into the tunnel he traveled. For a quarter of a mile, he raced along directly above the tracks, but he never got the chance to slip into Guise of the Unseen.

He didn’t panic, though.

The horde couldn’t be infinite. Eventually, he would find the end of their numbers. So, he kept going for mile after mile. Along the way, he passed a few exits, but all but one of them were entirely blocked. The one opening was clogged with so many zombies that he knew that using it wouldn’t do much to address his issues.

So, he kept going.

Then, at last, he noticed that the horde of zombies had begun to thin. At first, it was barely noticeable, but after a few more minutes, it was indisputable.

Miles later, Elijah began to wonder when the metro would come to an end. He got the answer to that question after ten more minutes, when he reached the end of the line. By that point, he’d left the pursuing zombies far behind, though there were still a few clumps here and there.

More distressingly, Elijah saw that, in addition to a few normal zombies, the exit was guarded by an undead creature that was larger than any he’d seen so far. It was at least ten feet tall, with bulging muscles of decaying meat. With every passing moment, a green fountain of viscous pus erupted from various wounds in its torso. Elijah saw the ground smoking where it hit, indicating that it was at least as caustic as the gooey projectiles he’d been dodging for the last hour.

More importantly, it was standing in front of the exit.

The message was clear. If Elijah wanted to escape, he needed to go through the giant undead abomination. And he needed to do so in a hurry, or the horde would reach him.

Elijah dropped to the ground, already shifting forms. He had no interest in fighting the thing with tooth or claw. Doing so would invariably be quite painful. Instead, he intended to put his newest form to the test. By the time he’d transformed into the Shape of the Master, a clump of zombies had reached him.

His staff lashed out, crushing the first creature’s legs. Spinning, he smashed the weapon into the next monster’s ribcage, completely obliterating its torso. The next after that died when Elijah leaped high into the air, and on descent, crushed its skull. And its neck. And a good portion of its upper chest. In only a second, two zombies had been dispatched.

Elijah smashed his staff into the one whose legs had been destroyed, then faced off against the giant.

He knew it made for a comical scene. The thing was at least three times his height and many times his weight. And yet, he stood before it, entirely unfazed by the discrepancy.

It stepped forward, its heavy footsteps rattling the ground like a small, localized earthquake. Another step, and it reached a jog. A third, and it was sprinting. Its long legs covered the ground rapidly, and in only a couple of seconds, it was on top of Elijah.

It swung, its long, looping attack moving in what looked like slow motion. In the Shape of the Master, Elijah easily dodged it, but even as he ducked beneath the intended blow, he saw the creature’s torso erupt into a spray of viscous pus. Elijah twisted, and turned, dodging every drop before he dove out of the way. A quick roll took him to safety.

The monster wheeled around, roaring in anger as its pus hit the ground and melted through the concrete. Meanwhile, Elijah felt Heart of Fire ignite and come to a smolder. He lashed out with his staff, but when the Feral Spire hit the creature’s knee, the decayed flesh absorbed the blow without issue.

That told Elijah that he couldn’t simply batter the monster to death. Instead, he needed something more powerful. Thankfully, with every passing attack, he felt the blaze within his chest further ignite.

He held it within him, the power raging into a roaring flame.

At the same time, the monster continued its fruitless attacks. With its obviously high Strength, it could move incredibly quickly. However, Elijah was protected by his improved reaction times, and he had no trouble dodging even the mightiest blows. Each one fed the flame.

But Elijah knew he was running out of time. That supposition bore out when he felt the first zombies come into range of Soul of the Wild.

By that point, Heart of Fire had only had a chance to build up to about half power, but he couldn’t afford to wait any longer. So, after dodging yet another attack, he opened his mouth and let loose with Incinerate.

A pillar of flame erupted from his mouth, digging into the undead abomination and, like a powerful cutting torch, slicing it in two. Even as the thing’s now-separated halves slid apart, Elijah widened his focus, and the continuing flames engulfed the entire monster.

It was burned to ash in only a second. A second later, when Elijah’s ability was spent, there was nothing of the abomination left.

A surprising turn of events, to be sure. He’d known the spell was powerful. To think otherwise would have been silly. However, at half power, he’d only expected to disable the monster, not obliterate it entirely.

But Elijah didn’t have time to admire his handiwork. With the zombies close on his heels, he raced up the stairs, leaving the metro behind.

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