Path of Dragons

Power surged through Sadie, practically burning her ethereal channels with its potency. She ignored it, flapping her wings of light as she rocketed toward her enemy. The demonic woman was grotesque, with emaciated limbs and more scars than Sadie could quickly count.

But it was also clear that, at one point, she had been quite beautiful, like a fashion model who'd fallen prey to drugs and an eating disorder. Her eyes were the most striking, though, and when she looked upon her, Sadie felt her entire world shudder.

The demon was ascended.

That much was absolutely obvious.

But after Sadie had reached one-twenty-five, she'd gained a new ability that she hoped would help her bridge the gap – at least until Elijah could assist.

Sadie had no idea how much her attributes had increased, and she didn't have the spare focus to look at her status. However, even as she surged forward, she could feel the difference. Not only was she obviously stronger, but she felt more coordinated than ever before. Finally, her core felt like it was on the verge of bursting, and she suspected her Regeneration had kept pace with everything else.

In short, it was like she'd gained fifty levels in a second.

Hopefully, that would be enough to let her endure whatever the demonic woman had in store.

Sadie reached her foe after only a moment, and she very nearly got a lance through the stomach for her unfettered haste. At the last second, she managed to shift to the side just enough to avoid being impaled. Still, the black lance scraped across her breastplate, filling the air with an unholy screech of metal on metal.

She felt a pinch against her chest, but it was so faint that she easily ignored it. That seemed to surprise the demon, especially when Sadie used her momentum to whip around and deliver a backhanded blow that should have decapitated the woman. The lancer dipped low, but Sadie's glowing sword cut through her horn. The severed piece fell, disappearing into the mass of undead below.

Sadie didn't watch. Instead, she flapped her wings, bringing her body to a screeching halt. A second later, she'd drawn her dagger as she crashed into the demon. With short, punching strikes, she peppered the demonic woman with one attack after another. The first couple bit deep, but the low-quality dagger broke after the third. Still, Sadie didn't let up, repeatedly ramming the jagged tip into the lancer's stomach. Those attacks didn't do much damage, but from Sadie's experience, she needed to press her advantage while she could.

That only lasted a couple of moments before the demon lashed out with a kick that sent Sadie tumbling backward through the air. At the same time, the lancer flapped her own wings, gaining distance. By the time Sadie recovered, the demon was racing forward in a charge, with her lance leading the way.

The demon blazed a path through the atmosphere, leaving motes of icy ethera in her wake. The tip of her lance glittered with so much energy that Sadie knew that if it hit her, Faith's Reckoning wouldn't save her.

At the last second, she dipped to the side, whipping her enormous sword up in a hasty parry. It didn't alter the lance's path by much – just a scant few inches – but it was just enough to once again keep Sadie from taking a chest wound. The gleaming blade did slice through her shoulder, shaving a good portion of her muscle away.

That loss of flesh was a secondary concern, and it was easily overwhelmed by the icy pain spiderwebbing through her torso. It spread from the wound like arcs of lightning, freezing her ethereal channels along the way. Then, it reached her core.

The swirling energy froze.

It only lasted a moment before her powerful core churned through it, but for the space of a single instant, her power shuddered. The wings flickered, and her attributes plummeted.

She fell, feeling a freezing numbness spreading through her entire body. It only lasted a second longer, but that was enough to leave her gasping and stunned. She hit the ground a moment later, and before she could react, she saw that the lancer was only ten feet away.

Sadie willed her body into a roll, but she knew it wouldn't be quick enough. As a last-ditch effort, she used Blessed Bulwark. The lancer shattered the plane of ethera with less than an instant's delay. That was enough to give Sadie the chance to reapply her personal shield.

It wouldn't stop the demon's lance, but there was a chance that it would slow the weapon's descent enough to save Sadie's life.

She completed her roll to see that the lancer had adjusted her path to compensate for Sadie's new position. There was no dodging it and very little chance of survival. Her only hope was that her sacrifice would give her companions a chance to slay the hateful demon.

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But she wasn't going to go down without using every tool in her kit. To that end, she gathered her faith and prepared to use her miracle. She'd have to time it perfectly, but it was her only chance of survival. By the time she was ready to use the miracle, the tip of the demon's lance was only five feet away, but Sadie was ready.

Then, a blurry figure hit the lancer, sending her off course. The pair hit the ground only ten feet away, where they rolled to a stop. If Sadie hadn't already figured out that it was Elijah in his huge, lizard-plant monster form, she would have known it was him when hundreds of thick and thorny vines erupted from the ground and snaked their way around the demonic woman.

She struggled, but there were so many vines that when she tore through one, two more replaced it. Then, the vines started to squeeze. Elijah's long limbs followed suit, and by virtue of his enormous and powerful body, he could apply quite a lot of force. Bones broke beneath his efforts.

But then, just as Sadie thought the battle was over, a surge of ethera announced the activation of powerful ability, and suddenly, Elijah was thrown free. Thousands of icicles exploded from the demon's body, severing every root with ruthless precision. What's more, when the lancer rose, her body propped up by more ice, her bones visibly snapped back into place.

In the space of a couple of seconds, she was entirely whole.

By that point, Sadie had risen as well. Miraculously, she'd managed to keep a hold on her sword, though her hand shook with the effort of gripping it. The demon's attack had left her incredibly weak, though her churning core worked hard to counteract the detrimental effect. If she'd had time to look at her attributes, she suspected she would have seen that they were at least halved by the powerful affliction.

Fortunately, her brother had already begun to heal her, though the effects were limited. She'd taken a few wounds, but her real issue wasn't physical. Still, she appreciated the effort, which must have truly drained Nico's reserves.

With some difficulty, she raised her sword.

The recovered demon lancer readied her own weapon. Then, the two advanced. There were no reckless charges. Just two wary fighters who respected their enemy's prowess. But in the demon's eyes, Sadie saw a glimmer of ruthlessness. The predator had recognized weakness, and she knew she was going to win.

Elijah – who was still a hundred feet away – stirred, though he'd returned to his human form. Had the ice disrupted his core as well? Had it forced him to change shape? Sadie didn't know, but she didn't have the focus to spare for his fate. Instead, she needed every ounce of her attention on the enemy.

By the look in her unwavering eyes, the lancer felt the same way.

Which was why she never had a chance to notice Dat approaching from behind. Sadie didn't sense him, but she knew her companion well enough to have expected his presence. So, when he suddenly buried his shortsword in the demon's back, Sadie was unsurprised.

The demon could not make a similar claim. Her eyes widened as a blade erupted from her stomach just below the sternum. For most people, it would have been a lethal strike, but the presence of ethera and a high Constitution tended to muddy those waters. So, the demon didn't immediately die.

She did stagger, though.

That gave Sadie the opening she needed to swing her sword. When her core had been disrupted, it had deactivated Blessed Blade, but her weapon was still her highest-quality piece of equipment. It was also a huge, heavy blade that descended with plenty of momentum.

The demon couldn't react in time to dodge. So, she tried to raise her spear in a block. Sadie's attack sheered it in two, then hit the lancer. It barely missed the demon's head, but it was an accurate enough strike to tear through her trapezius muscle.

The lancer staggered backward, losing her grip on one half of her spear. Dat stabbed her again, though with his other shortsword. Then, Elijah was there, and even as freezing rain began to fall, an icy blue flower bloomed, banishing the effects of the demon's attack. Then, he leveled his staff at the demon and hit her with a bolt of lightning.

It wasn't particularly powerful – not compared to his other abilities – but it still stunned the demon long enough for Sadie to empower her next attack with Blessed Blade.

This time, there was no stopping the strike.

It hit the lancer in the other shoulder, cutting deep into her torso before coming to a shuddering halt. Dat stabbed her again. Elijah swung his staff, hitting her in the head with so much force that the sound of a cracking skull echoed over everything else.

After that, the fight descended into butchery. The demon lancer held on for almost a minute as the three fighters slowly hacked her to pieces. Her body was incredibly durable, and her Regeneration was obviously extremely high. And Sadie worried that if they let up for even a moment, she would piece herself back together, either through her natural attributes or some sort of ability.

It was gory, brutal work, but it had to be done.

At some point, Nico joined them, though he was obviously disgusted by the task. He made himself useful by healing their wounds, which set them up well to combat the remaining undead. By that point, there were only a few hundred left – mostly zombies, but there was one skeleton who'd survived – and now that Elijah was there, the group had no difficulty in dealing with them.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the area went quiet, but for their labored breathing.

"Where is Gideon?" demanded Nico, glaring at Elijah.

"Dead," answered the Druid, glancing back the way they'd come. Sadie followed his gaze to the wall, which cast them all in a shadow that went on for almost a mile. "He chose the test of cunning and failed after only a couple of minutes. His body's still on the other side of the wall."

"You didn't burn it?" Nico spat, obviously upset. He and Gideon hadn't always been close, but at some point during Sadie's absence, the older man had taken her brother under his wing. Much to her chagrin. She had never trusted Gideon, seeing him as a parasite who wanted to take advantage of her grandfather. He was a ladder climber of the worst sort, and she personally knew three instances where he'd thrown underlings to the wolves in an attempt to avoid the consequences of his own actions. Before the world had changed, she'd been on track to assume a position of some authority in her grandfather's company, and she'd often told herself that her first order of business would be to get rid of people like Gideon.

And now he was dead, which saved her some trouble.

Not that she expected to take over anything now. She'd lost her grandfather's favor, and she wasn't completely sure why. It had been his idea for her to set out in search of help. She'd found it, too. But for whatever reason, he had grown extremely distant. Perhaps now that Gideon was no longer whispering in his ear, things would return to normal.

But she doubted it.

She hadn't been gone that long, but she barely recognized Heaven's Bastion anymore. The residents had become less tolerant and far more suspicious of outsiders. They weren't all bad people, but clearly, the situation had influenced them in all the wrong ways.

"Nope," Elijah stated, rubbing the back of his neck. "Probably should have, but I wanted to get done with the test as quickly as possible. I guess that's my bad."

"Your bad? Your bad?!" Nico shouted.

"Stop," Sadie interrupted, recognizing that Nico was on the verge of doing something very stupid. Elijah wasn't a particularly violent person, but he was prideful. He wouldn't just stand there and let Nico shout at him.
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"But – "

"Just stop. There's nothing to be done," she pointed out. "We have other issues right now." Then, she gestured toward the fortress atop the mountain. "That's our goal. We can't afford to get distracted by bickering amongst ourselves."

"There's something else," Elijah said. Before Nico could make a scathing remark, he continued, "I was forced to do all four tests, but I also got a reward. There are prisoners here. People abducted from Hong Kong. I was hoping we could rescue them."