Path of Dragons

As he climbed the steps next to Sadie, Elijah focused on Soul of the Wild. He couldn't feel anything past the door at the top of the stairs, though he could sense an enormous amount of power that reminded him of Yloa. Not in its potency – the Lightning Emperor was a Transcendent, after all – but rather, in the way it felt. Like a bomb on the verge of exploding, it was a herald of immense destruction.

And hate.

Avara, the Queen of Desolation was not a misunderstood leader who'd compromised her morals for the greater good. Neither had Yloa been, really. But he'd believed it of himself, which made all the difference. That did not describe Avara. She radiated evil like nothing Elijah had ever felt.

There would be no moral quandaries when it came to dealing with her. No second-guessing. Not only was their mission to save Hong Kong too important, but she seemed irredeemable. She was a sapient monster, and as a Druid, Elijah felt it was his duty to cull her.

So, with his staff clicking against the black stone steps, he followed Sadie to the door. Upon reaching it, she hesitated, then turned to the others and asked, "Are you prepared for this?"

The question was for everyone, but she was looking at her brother. The implication was clear. Elijah and Dat had fought against similarly powerful opponents. They didn't know precisely what to expect from the Queen of Desolation, but they had a general idea. Nico had no such experience, and as such, he was the most likely to be overwhelmed by the situation.

But to Elijah's surprise, the Healer nodded resolutely as he replied, "I will do my duty."

"I'm good, bro."

"One second," Elijah said, initiating a shift into the Shape of Venom. After asking his companions to look away, he waited a second or two before slipping beneath the Guise of the Unseen.

Once he was out of sight, Sadie looked from Dat to Nico, then announced, "This is not like the other fights. She's going to be a lot stronger. We don't know what to expect here, so we need to be flexible. Hit her hard and fast, and don't let up until she goes down. Understand?"

Despite knowing that none of them could see him, Elijah nodded. He already knew the plan. As they'd made their way through the fortress, they'd discussed it ad nauseum, eventually coming up with something everyone agreed was the best they could manage. The general idea was to pile on the damage before the Queen of Desolation had a chance to react. None of them thought that would end the fight, but they hoped it would knock her off-balance and give them an advantage during the rest of the battle.

As for Elijah, after his initial attack, his task was simple. He was meant to protect Nico. If the Healer went down, then they were probably doomed. Elijah could heal almost as well, but if he was forced to do that, then he couldn't do anything else. That would be devastating for their chances of success.

Of course, plans rarely lasted past first contact with the enemy, so Elijah wasn't terribly surprised when everything changed the second they stepped through that door. The first thing Elijah noticed was that the door itself slammed shut behind them, then disappeared entirely. The implications were clear – there would be no retreat.

Then, he realized that Guise of the Unseen had been stripped away. The same was true of Dat's stealth. That ruined the first part of their plan. Without stealth, Elijah chose to shift back into the Shape of Thorn and focus on his primary task – protecting Nico. By the time the transformation had completed, he'd gotten a good look at his surroundings.

The stairwell had led them up a tall spire, ending on a flat disc measuring a few hundred feet in diameter. At the center – and facing their position – sat a woman on a throne of skulls. She was clearly demonic, though her features weren't as overt as the other demons Elijah had seen in the Desolate Reach. She almost looked human, though with grey skin and dainty horns curling up from her forehead. She wore a tight-fitting black top and flared skirts that concealed her feet entirely.

The outfit bore numerous holes and rips, and the woman looked to be in no better condition. In fact, the combination of her attire coupled with her strained complexion reminded Elijah of a Tim Burton movie. Like Edward Scissorhands in feminine form.

Dat agreed, muttering something about the Corpse Bride.

However, Avara was no innocently quirky fictional character. She was all too real. As was her throne, which had been assembled from hundreds of skulls all fused together into the vague shape of a high-backed chair.

Otherwise, the platform was mostly bare, save for three arches equidistant from one another and standing at the edges of the disc. They too were made of bone, resembling the portals that had led to the various challenges meant to test Elijah's and his companions' might, cunning, stealth, or magic.

There was a note of familiarity about it all, though, and he understood the source. The old man he'd met in those challenges was Avara's father, and the resemblance was obvious. In terms of physical appearance, they had the same eyes – though hers were sunken even further than her father's. But the real similarity came from the magical aura surrounding her.

It felt almost identical, confirming the woman's parentage and more than hinting that the old man was also her mentor. They probably had the same class, too, which was troubling, considering the old man's obvious power. After all, he had summoned the skeletal guardian that had governed entry into the tests, and Elijah knew the creature was too powerful even for him to confront.

At his best, he could only hope to slow such a monster down.

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Avara stood, and as she rose, her skirts shifting as if they were weightless. A staff made of black wood appeared in a flash of green fire, then settled into her hand. It was topped by a carving of a demon's skull, complete with curling horns and massive fangs. In its eye sockets, green fire burned, and to Elijah's senses, those flames hungered to consume everything. When it did, it would convert everything to undeath.

"You have come," Avara said, stepping down from her throne. Her feet were bare, but they seemed human. "You have slain my champions, ending their eternal suffering. I thank you for that. Do you challenge my dominion over the Desolate Reach?"

"We don't care about your dominion," Dat said before anyone else could speak. "We just want you to stop your invasion."

"I cannot do that," the Queen of Desolation replied, a note of sadness in her voice. "Such is my lot in life that I am a slave to my purpose. We must spread, or we will perish. That is unavoidable."

"Then we have no choice," Sadie stated as she took a couple of confident strides forward. "Surrender now, and face justice. You will be given a quick and painless death."

It was her attempt at absolution, similar to what she'd offered to the Shadeborne assassin back in the Trial of Primacy. She'd tried something similar with Yloa, but her offer had fallen on deaf ears. The situation with Avara seemed doomed to that same fate, though Elijah hoped it would work.

"Justice?" Avara asked. "From an angel? Is such a thing even possible?"

"Of course," Sadie said, taking another step. Her entire body was tense and ready to spring into action.

Then, Avara laughed. It was a humorless sound, echoing across the platform to be lost in the swirling winds of the Desolate Reach. "You cannot absolve me, child. I am the Queen of Desolation. My death toll is in the millions, and yet, my hunger for power is not yet sated." She spread her tattered wings, and a moment later, they erupted into green flames. "You offer justice. Absolution. Forgiveness. I reject it, for the only justice in this world is power. Prove you are my superior, and enforce your will. The other option is to surrender and die. You may join my army of minions and spread my influence across your virgin world. Do that, and your essence shall be eternal. Do it not, and you will meet a pitiful end, forgotten and unloved."

As she spoke, Elijah felt himself nodding along. They truly did not have a chance. He could feel her power, just as he'd sensed that the guardian or the old man were well beyond his ability to deal with.

"Enough," Nico said, and ethera swirled around him.

Elijah and the others whipped around, with Sadie even saying, "No!"

But he'd already cast his spell. However, it wasn't aimed at the Queen of Desolation. Instead, a white light spread around him, enveloping the entire group. Immediately, Elijah's mind cleared, and his previous thoughts disappeared. It was clear what had happened. Avara had tried to manipulate them into surrender.

But Nico had saved them.

"Your wicked words will find no purchase in our minds!" the Healer shouted with more conviction than he'd ever before displayed. Perhaps Elijah had misjudged him.

Regardless, with their minds clear, the group refocused on the task at hand. The Queen of Desolation was still powerful and defeating her would be extremely difficult. Yet, that was their charge, and no one in the group would back down.

Not of their own accord, at least.

Hopefully, Nico would be able to keep active whatever protective ability he'd cast. Otherwise, they would be vulnerable to mental manipulation.

"Ah, so you are not wholly unprepared," the Queen of Desolation said, stepping forward. Her feet barely whispered against the ground, but her staff clicked loudly against the black stone. "No matter. In the end, you will kneel before my might."

With that, she flicked one hand toward the arch to her right. A small ball of green fire sailed across the intervening space, then splashed against the space beneath the arch. The verdant flame spread from the point of impact, enveloping the structure itself, then burning brighter. By that point, Avara had thrown fireballs at the other two gates – one behind her and the other to her left – resulting in a similar show of power. Once all three gates had been lit, they flared even brighter. Ethera swirled around them, then solidified in a plane of green crystal.

It cracked a second later, and a skeletal hand appeared.

"This isn't good," Dat mumbled.

As a giant skeleton armed with a massive scythe ducked out of the first arch, Elijah was forced to agree with his friend's assessment. His heart dropped even further when similar creatures appeared in the other gates. Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire

"Left-most is a spellcaster," Dat said. "Middle is a defender. Right can heal."

"It's a full group," Nico breathed.

"New plan," Sadie stated. "Get the Healer. Dat, silence the spellcaster. I'll keep Avara and the defender occupied. Nico – just do your thing. Don't hold back. We can't afford it."

Just then, a stream of other skeletons came pouring out of the arches. As opposed to the larger versions, they were much smaller and devoid of weapons or other equipment. However, via sheer numbers, they were arguably a larger threat. Especially because the flow didn't look like it was stopping. If it kept going, the group would be buried under the weight of so many.

After all, the platform was only so large.

"Not going to work," Elijah stated. "We need to disrupt those gates. Play defense for now. I'll see what I can do."

With that, Elijah initiated another transformation – this one into Shape of the Sky – and leaped into the air. With the advantage of altitude, he could see things a lot more clearly.

And with that came a sudden understanding, which quickly bloomed into a plan. He could only hope that the others were successful in their defense, because it was going to take him a few moments to figure things out. With that in mind, he flapped his wings and used Tempest Swarm:

Immediately, thousands of tiny pinpricks of light bloomed all around him. From afar, they twinkled with rarely seen beauty, but when he looked closer, Elijah could see that they were tiny insects with wings of lightning.

They buzzed, and electricity arced among them as a howling wind bore down on the platform. A few of the smaller skeletons were entirely unprepared for that, and as a result, their comparatively light bodies were swept over the edge.

The decrease in numbers barely made a difference.

But that wasn't the point of the spell. As the swarm of tempest flies descended upon the horde of skeletons, the wind continued to build. Meanwhile, electricity arced among the enemy, stunning and disorienting them. Even the larger creatures were affected, which Elijah hoped would give his companions an opportunity to defend themselves.

At the same time, he turned his attention to his chosen task. He dove, ready to do what was necessary.