Path of Dragons

Sadie ripped her sword free of the wild troll, showering the area with gore. The monster's blood was oddly thick, and great clumps of hair came with its flesh. More distressingly, despite what should have been a fatal wound, it remained upright. And over the past ten minutes, it had endured dozens of other attacks just like it.

The thing swung its long arms like clubs, and hard enough that Sadie's personal shield – Aegis of Faith – nearly shattered after only two blows. She dove to the side, narrowly avoiding a third. That dive became a roll, and she came up swinging. Her sword shone with Blessed Blade as she once again cut into the monstrous creature. This time, she aimed not at its torso, but at one of its legs.

The sword hitched a bit when it hit bone, but so potent was her strength that she powered through that slight delay. Soon enough, Final Reckoning tore through, even cutting into the other leg. Only an inch or two, but every wound would sap its vitality until they could properly dismantle it.

Endurance was the key against the creatures, she'd found after fighting two others on the way to the illythiri teleportation network. The first had killed three overconfident veterans who thought they were dealing with ogres or hobgoblins. A mistake they never had the chance to regret, and after dealing what they thought were killing blows – overkill by most measures – the creature recovered to crush them.

They never even saw the fatal blows coming.

Since then, everyone had taken the threat seriously. Even Sadie, the most powerful among them, fought with stoic efficiency, never once losing focus. Still, wild trolls were dangerous even to people of her level, much less the rest of the army. So, she'd taken it upon herself to occupy its attention while everyone else peppered it with opportunistic attacks.

If she fell or lost its attention, many would die.

Sadie refused to allow that to happen, so instead of retreating and forcing the now one-legged creature to pursue, she pressed the attack. The thing's battle instincts were uncanny, and though she attempted to sever its other leg on more than one occasion, it managed to mitigate the blows just enough to prevent full dismemberment.

It was perfectly willing to take wounds, though it was deft at avoiding the ones that would disable it. Sadie could almost respect it, though that feeling was mitigated by a deep, seething disdain for the monster that wanted to kill her people.

She whipped her enormous sword around like it was a katana. She hadn't been trained in that style, but she'd picked up enough from Colt – who'd accompanied the group despite his stated preference for his role as a trainer – that she could do a fair mimicry of the techniques. It was also Miguel's preferred style, and she had spent quite a lot of time sparring with the young man.

And despite her internal prejudices, she had to admit that kenjutso fit her a lot better than jianshi, which tended toward smaller blades. Regardless, she wasn't married to any singular style. Rather, she incorporated everything she'd learned into an amalgamation of techniques that were wholly unique to her. She had even taken some aspects of European swordsmanship into account.

She needed to, because unlike some classes, her offensive abilities tended toward longer cooldowns. Most were also prohibitively expensive, largely due to a faith requirement. So, she was forced to keep them in reserve, just in case she truly needed them against a powerful opponent. Timing was everything. If she held back against the wrong foe, the consequences could be dire. If she used her abilities before she really needed to, the same would be true.

Regardless, the troll wasn't one of those creatures that required the use of abilities like Divine Momentum, Faith's Reckoning, or Divine Shackles. Instead, she limited herself to defensive spells and the occasional Blessed Blade.

In the end, it was enough to keep the wild troll's attention. The bulk of the damage that ended up killing it came from the rest of the force, usually in the form of ranged attacks. Colt actually got the killing blow – his class was far more attack-oriented than hers, and though he was a good deal less powerful, his offensive abilities packed quite a punch.

There was a smattering of cheers as the troll finally died, though most of the gathered fighters only sighed in relief. Battling against a wild troll was an exhausting affair, and they all knew just how easily it could have gone wrong.

Regardless, with the creature dead, there was nothing left but to move on. The things might have been incredibly vital in life, but in death, they lost most of that. It would only take a few days for decomposition to truly set in, and within a couple of weeks, there would be little left but bones.

Even those would turn to dust within a year.

If they'd had a proper Alchemist with them, they might've preserved some of the blood, but the ones with enough skill – and the proper equipment – to do so were few and far between. The only one Sadie knew who might be capable of such a feat was Biggle, and he'd remained in Ironshore like any sane crafter would.

"Those things ain't no joke," Colt said, sidling up next to her. He moved with a laconic gait that was not quite a saunter, but came close enough to put her in mind of the heroes from the old cowboy movies her grandfather pretended not to love. Sadie had walked in on Song Tianwei watching them enough that she knew his favorite actor was Clint Eastwood, and his favorite movie had always been A Fistful of Dollars.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

In her youth, she'd secretly spent a summer watching every spaghetti western she could get her hands on, hoping all the while to connect with her grandfather. However, when she'd tried to discuss them with him, he'd pretended that he didn't know what she was talking about.

He did recommend a few Chinese films, though. Proper cinema, he'd called them.

"They are the descendants of an elder race. It would be disappointing if they were weak," she responded, cleaning the thick blood from her sword. The weapon wouldn't rust or tarnish, but she'd always taken proper gear-care very seriously. She turned to Ektari, who'd wielded her bow with surprising skill. "How much longer?"

The trip through the Hollow Depths had been fraught with danger – enough that their pace had slowed to a crawl. However, according to their guide's succinct answer, they were very close to reaching their destination. After that, it would only be a matter of teleportation to Eldrathûn, which could be accomplished almost instantaneously. The only delay would come from the time they had to wait between activations.

"If we went on foot, how long would it take to reach Eldrathûn?" she asked.

Ektari narrowed her eyes. "If you knew the way, perhaps four months," she answered. "A month less if you encounter no setbacks."

"Distance?" Sadie asked.

"In a straight line, nearly two thousand miles," Ektari answered. "But no one travels the Hollow Depths in a straight line. The true distance is at least twice that. Thrice if certain routes are blocked."

Four thousand miles. That was like walking from Beijing to Berlin. The only saving grace was that everyone there had the benefit of inflated attributes. Even the greener soldiers had at least fifty levels under their belts, meaning that they were effectively superhuman – though that term had lost much of its meaning.

Either way, the distance was daunting, and Sadie found the fact that the elves had spread so far incredibly impressive. It wasn't a new thought that, had they not encountered the troll Primal Realm, they might have settled much of the Earth's interior. And if their conquest of Ironshore hadn't been stymied by Elijah's timely arrival, things on the surface would be quite different.

It did bring to mind the danger that some of the colonizers represented. They came to Earth with a head start, many at the maximum allowed level of twenty-five. And they did so far better prepared than the natives. It didn't take a leap of logic to imagine a situation where an army of foreign invaders swept across the land, subjugating or enslaving wherever possible.

That it hadn't already happened was probably more surprising, though Sadie had to admit that she wasn't abreast of the entire world's goings-on. There were parts of Earth that had never made contact with the established powers. It was a huge planet, after all. Much larger than it had been before the World Tree had extended its branches. And not everyone was as free with information as they should have been.

In any case, Sadie gave the order to rest for half an hour before preparing to march. Soon enough, they were once again traversing the Hollow Depths. The initial tunnel had been claustrophobic, and the others they'd encountered were only a little better. Thankfully, rather than traversing a system of narrow caves, most of the Earth's interior was divided into huge caverns.

Some were the size of cities, while others were reportedly as big as continents. Most had their own weather systems, and though there was a throughline concerning the general theme of the wildlife, each chamber contained its own biome. There were jungles, like the first cavern they'd encountered, deserts, less dense forests, and even swamps.

Fortunately, Ektari was a great boon, and she had guided them along without hesitation or fail. Her class likely helped, but Sadie expected that the illythiri woman's experience as a scout contributed as well. On top of that, she was clearly intelligent and capable, which wasn't always guaranteed. Just because someone had gained a few levels, it didn't mean that they were competent. It was entirely possible for someone to bull their way to power simply by virtue of natural gifts, good classes, and high attributes.

Sadie was happy to discover that her guide was more than qualified for her job.

Mostly due to Ektari's guidance, which allowed them to avoid any other conflicts with hostile beasts, they reached their destination after only one more day.

"Welcome to Nathûn," said the male elf in charge of the outpost.

"We will not be staying long," Ektari stated before handing him a crystal. The man's eyes glazed over as he read it. Then, with a nod, he waved them along to the teleportation apparatus.

Though it was roughly the same size, the structure was wholly different than the Conclave spires. Instead of four curved prongs that nearly formed a pair of semi-circles, the illythiri version was a singular pillar of what looked like carved bone. It was surrounded by a paved square that marked the area of activation.

Finally, the thing wasn't operated by a space mage, but rather, by a woman wearing all white. Sadie nearly stumbled when she realized that the woman practically reeked of faith.

"You are a Priestess?" asked the surprised illythiri.

"Is that what you are?" was Sadie's responding question.

"I am. I serve the Spider."

"Is that a deity?"

The priestess' face twitched. "The Spider? A mere deity? She hovers over the web of all realities, sending ripples through the threads that represent our lives," she explained. "To suggest that such an entity would be merely deific…sacrilege. She is powerful beyond measure. Even Transcendents tremble before the mere whispers of her might."

"I find spiders a good bit terrifyin', if I'm honest," Colt interjected, probably because he saw that Sadie had no clue how to respond.

"That is proper. The Spider is meant to horrify us."

"Mission accomplished, then. We ready to get this thing movin'?" asked Colt, doffing his broad-brimmed hat and wiping his forearm across his head. "Bit hot down here, ain't it? Hope the climate in Eldrathûn is a bit cooler."

As it turned out, the teleportation network remained on a rigid schedule, so they needed to wait a few minutes before they could begin. During that time, Sadie unsuccessfully attempted to ignore the Priestess. However, every few seconds, her eyes found the white-clad woman.

It was the faith.

Sadie found it equal parts infuriating and overbearing, then like she'd found a long, lost sister. Calling it confusing would have been an understatement.

Whatever the case, the teleportation went off without a hitch. It took a few hours, largely because the scope was limited to twenty people at a time. Ektari and Colt were in the first group, while Sadie held back until the very last one.

Then, finally, it was her turn.

"Thank you for your assistance," she said to the Priestess.

"As the web wills it, so shall it be."

Sadie had no response for that. Thankfully, she didn't need one, because only a second later, she was whisked thousands of miles away to Eldrathûn. And when she laid eyes on the city, she couldn't contain a gasp of awe.

"Yeah," Colt said. "I felt the same when I first came here. Feelin' it this time, too, if I'm honest."