Path of Dragons

Book 6: Chapter 102: Defying Expectations

General Rham D’vix stood atop a roof overlooking the square where his army had gathered. The casualties of the street-to-street advance had been extensive, but he had soldiers to spare. At last count, he still had nearly thirty thousand good fighters at his disposal. The vast majority weren’t terribly powerful, but that was no surprise. Prodigies were not easily cultivated. Still, they were a formidable fighting force, and it was only a matter of time until the fortress fell.

The building itself did not look terribly impressive. It was large, reaching almost ten stories, but with its square construction, it had the appearance of a bunker. Curious, considering that Ironshore was a city of craftsmen. The rest of the city was, even by his standards, quite beautiful, which made the fortress stand out like sunlight in the Hollow Depths.

“No communication?” he asked his second-in-command. The woman was one of his most impressive lieutenants, worth a dozen of his other soldiers. It was a pity, then, that her appearance didn’t live up to her ability. If it had, there was every chance that she would have been the one in charge. As it stood, her status was held back by her slightly square face, stout figure, and, most importantly, the scar that decorated her cheek. The pale, white line was only an inch long, but it was a glaring imperfection that any elf would notice. Judgement would inevitably follow.

D'vix tried to look past it, but he felt no shortage of disgust when he looked upon the hideous woman. If he’d been afflicted with such a mark, he would have had the good grace to resign his commission and take up a life among the peasants with whom such things were distressingly common. The only reason he’d allowed her to climb to such lofty heights was because she was his half-sister. Otherwise, he’d never have let such an abomination mar his army’s reputation.

“We have received a message from Eldrathûn,” N’yix said, slapping her fist across her breastplate in the customary salute. “Only three of the ten people we sent to the Trial of Primacy have returned. The others were killed.”

“May their sacrifice serve the Empress.”

“May their sacrifice serve the Empress,” she echoed, bowing her head. Then, she continued, “Our forces on the other side of the mountains have experienced extensive losses. We still do not know how they were killed, but initial findings suggest a large force of Rangers and Mages were responsible. We will know more when our Investigators return.”

D’vix schooled his expression, resisting the urge to smile. Of the ten generals in Eldrathûn, he was the least accomplished. That was why he’d been given such an inglorious task as taking a city of crafters. Most of the others were busy defending Eldrathûn from the horrors of the Hollow Depths, but his rival, Esek Kilara, had been tasked with subduing any settlements on the other side of the mountains. She had led a very successful siege of the city known as Norcastle, but since then, she had experienced nothing but hardship. Her scouts kept going missing, and many had been found dead around the city known as Argos.

“They will discover the truth,” D’vix said. “What of Ironshore’s leaders? Have they given terms for their surrender?”

D’vix would listen to their demands, and there was a chance that he might even acquiesce to a few. For now. He could use their Miners, at least. The Tradesmen were valuable as well. However, if a city of dwarves, gnomes, and goblins – he sneered at the thought of the grotesque creatures – thought they would be afforded any measure of status under his rule, then they were vastly mistaken. They would quickly learn their places – well below even the Illythiri peasants – and perhaps prove themselves worthy of his mercy.

The only thing worse would be if they were other elves. If it had been a city populated by those hateful creatures, there would have been no chance at peace. The city would have been razed to the ground, and the monstrous inhabitants would have been sacrificed to the Empress. Even thinking about the possibility made D’vix’s heart beat a little faster.

“There has been no communication, General.”

That was troubling for D’vix. It had been nearly an hour since he and the rest of the world had been notified of the end of the Trial of Primacy. At first, he had expected something to change, but in that time, nothing had happened. So, he had concluded that any champions the city had sent – if there were any – had died during the Trial.

A good thing, too. Otherwise, taking the city would have been much more difficult. Still possible, of course. But the number of casualties would have been far higher.

That thought had just crossed his mind when he heard a clatter from the front lines. Using Tactician’s Sight, he focused on the source of the noise, and he saw that two soldiers had collapsed. Before he could ask what was going on, another fell. Then another. In only a few moments, a hundred soldiers hit the ground. They weren’t dead, but they weren’t moving, either.

“What is happening?” he asked aloud. “Healers!”

As the white-robed Healers sprang into motion at his order, even more soldiers fell. Panic struck D’vix as he imagined that one of horrors of the Hollow Deeps had somehow made it to the surface. Many of those creatures could render themselves entirely invisible, and they could kill an unsuspecting fighter in the space of a few moments. Certainly, only the strongest among them could bear the light of day, but night had long since fallen. After only a few seconds, he realized that such a thing wasn’t possible. They’d enacted plenty of countermeasures against those creatures traveling to the surface.

And if nothing else, D’vix trusted the systems his people had developed over millennia living underground. Without them, the Illythiri would have long since gone extinct.

Dozens more soldiers fell before the Healers arrived. Even as they cast one spell after another, the frontline soldiers summoned shields to protect the people keeping them alive. Only after D’vix saw tiny ripples in those shields did he home in on the culprits. Tiny insects – barely bigger than his thumbnail – swarmed the area.

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Someone shouted, then fell. The Healers attempted to keep him alive, but via Tactician’s Instincts, D’vix knew the fighter was already dead. Another went down a second later. D’vix caught sight of a dark blur before yet another fell.

The entire army started to panic as more and more went down. D’vix lost count of the number of dead. His mind whirled with the possibilities, and he once again wondered if one of the horrors had followed them to the surface. He knew it wasn’t possible. He knew he was wrong to even consider it. But he couldn’t help his thoughts.

What he could do was protect his people, though.

He didn’t like using Immunity under such circumstances. After all, the battle was won. But he knew that if he didn’t do something, and soon, he wouldn’t have an army left. So, with some regret, he used one of his most powerful abilities:

Immediately, his soldiers began to recover from the damage wrought by the unknown toxin. But many had already died. Hundreds, at least. A small number compared to the entire army, but still, not an insignificant amount.

D’vix had just started to relax when another shout alerted him of a change. He quickly focused on that area, and he was surprised to see a bearded human standing in the center of his army. The figure wore leather armor, carried a staff, and looked altogether unimpressive, even by human standards – though D’vix could admit that he was no great judge of such things. To him, all humans looked a little alike.

The only thing that set the man apart was that, even from such a distance, D’vix could feel the power radiating off of him. It didn’t take him long to realize the truth of the matter. Apparently, one of Ironshore’s champions had returned after all.

Despite the surprise, D’vix very nearly let out a sigh of relief. The human was clearly audacious, but he was just one man. Not a monster from the Hollow Depths.

He was just about to say something when he saw strands of electricity arcing through the man’s body. D’vix never had the chance to even wonder what it was before lightning erupted from the human’s body. Four distinct bolts tore through the army, affecting everyone in a ten-foot radius. Then, the whips of lightning expanded to fifteen feet. Then twenty. Fifty. A hundred.

After the initial surprise, the members of the army fell back on their training and tried to end the threat. Anyone who got close was absolutely burned to ash by the intense bolts of electricity, and most ranged attacks were fouled by the ability. Even spells couldn’t stand before it.

Some got through, but the man didn’t even flinch when arrows and spells hit him. Was his armor so strong? Or did he possess such a high Constitution that D’vix’s soldiers couldn’t penetrate his defenses? The first wasn’t outside of the realm of possibility, considering that the man originated from a city of crafters. The second possibility seemed almost silly in comparison. D’vix knew his people weren’t the best Eldrathûn could offer – far from it – but they were no weaklings, either.

D'vix only had a few seconds to consider that before the lightning suddenly ceased. Hundreds – most of which were close to the leather-clad man – had died, and dozens more were injured. The Healers were already hard at work mending the damage, meaning that, despite the losses, a crisis had been averted.

The spell was devastating and impressive – in an unnecessarily flashy sort of way – but it was not enough to change the outcome. Now that his most powerful ability was spent, the mage would be an easy kill. What hubris had prompted him to attack on his own, D’vix didn’t know, but the man had to have known it wouldn’t end well for him.

Still, D’vix could respect the idea. It was the height of honor to die for a cause.

He didn’t even need to give the order to attack. His soldiers knew their business, and they quickly collapsed onto the spent mage.

“That was…interesting,” he said. “I think that –”

He didn’t get the chance to finish that thought before two things happened, cutting him off. The first was that, where the man had once stood, there was now a hulking monster that looked like nothing D’vix had ever seen before. It was a twelve-foot mixture of reptile and plant, and when it lashed out at his soldiers, the Illythiri fighters went down like they were defenseless peasants. What was even worse was that vines and roots – originating from the paved ground as well as the creature’s body – erupted, immobilizing everyone within a hundred feet. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

That creature’s sudden appearance – it had to be a summoned monster – was troubling enough without the second complication.

From one of the side streets charged a white stag with glittering, crystalline antlers that it used to rip through the elven soldiers. A man leaped from its back, killing three soldiers in the space of a second. D’vix had never seen a human move so quickly, but from what he observed, the man’s technique was as flawless as a Kintari Blademaster’s.

But as impressed – and intimidated – by the man’s ability as D’vix was, he was far more concerned with the hundreds of people following in his wake. The Illythari general watched as a figure in powerful armor and wielding a massive hammer swept through his soldiers like they weren’t even there. Another swordsman – this one, he recognized by the broad-brimmed hat he wore – threw out a variety of skills that left the soldiers in tatters.

But they were only the highlights.

With the army’s attention split two ways – one on the monster, and the other on the opposing army – the battle went sour in a hurry.

Then, from the opposite flank, came a series of explosions. Fire, ice, and even spears of earth erupted amidst the army. At first, D’vix thought the city must have been hiding a cadre of powerful mages, but he soon traced the explosions back to a single dwarf standing atop one of the other buildings. The disgustingly bearded creature cackled as he threw various devices at the army. Those bombs exploded with a level of force that shouldn’t have been possible coming from a single person.

D'vix activated various abilities meant to turn the tide, but after spending so many of his long-cooldown skills to take the wall and progress through the city, he only had a few minor abilities left.

As devastating as the others were, the real problem was the monster in the center of his army. Gone was the mage – probably trampled beneath the soldiers trying to fight the creature – but it didn’t matter. The monster he’d unleashed was so powerful that D’vix had to wonder if it had reached ascendence level.

Its vines didn’t just restrict the soldiers. Many of them were crushed entirely. And that wasn’t even considering the creature itself, which possessed the Strength of a Berserker. It ripped his people apart like they were unclassed.

In the space of ten minutes, the battle D’vix had thought was won had turned on its head. There was only one option left.

“Sound the retreat,” he ordered his lieutenant.

Then, without further discussion, he and his closest advisors turned and ran. D’vix leaped from one roof to the next until he reached the gate leading out of the city. However, he found the way barred by a pair of figures.

The swordsman was waiting on him alongside the white stag.

D’vix puffed out his chest and commanded, “Stand aside, and we shall –”

The man flashed forward, moving with perfect balance. D’vix didn’t even have time to realize what had happened before he was falling. He blinked as he rolled across the ground, and it wasn’t until a second later when he saw his actual body falling beside him that he realized that he had been beheaded.

He blinked again before his world ended.