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Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 30 - Alliance

“I never meant to scare you,” Elijah said, sitting in the waiting area just outside the Conclave Spires.  He hadn’t noticed the building directly after his arrival, but now that he’d had a little time to explore, he very much appreciated the addition.  Most Conclave compounds featured a similar set-up, though Elijah had never actually paid attention to them.  Probably because he tended to skip to the front of the line or, if he was forced to wait, spend his time in conv...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 29 - Runefall

“One for them, one for me,” Carmen said, staring at the hunk of metal in the forge.  It was a unique alloy made from uldrite, runesilver, and mithril that had been forge welded to include trace amounts of the nuclear waste she’d used to create Elijah’s Shackle of Penance.  It wasn’t enough to emit harmful corruption, but she hoped it would give the final product a little more kick. 

But that was the thing about the system – it often worked based upon unspoken ...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 28 - Deals

“So, this used to be central Africa, right?” Elijah asked as he followed Aybara through the lobby.  It was an expansive space, airy and open, with plenty of natural light filtering in from the massive windows cladding the building in glass.  Taking a place of prominence was a sculpture comprised of elegantly twisted white and green metal.  They weren’t enameled, either.  Those were their natural colors, and given the ethera wafting off of the piece, it was easy to as...

Chapter 713 - Unbearable Necessity

“They did nothing to you!” bellowed Terra as massive earthquakes swept across the entire planet.  Magma erupted into geysers, and the atmosphere was filled with ash.  The planet was dying, and Zeke was the man who’d ultimately killed it.

“It doesn’t matter,” he growled, stepping forward.  The ground shifted with every footfall, but he maintained his balance nonetheless.  Such was the advantage of godlike physical prowess.  “They were in the way.&nb...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 27 - Recharging

The stars twinkled overhead, and the moon shone bright, casting silvery light over the glade.  A gentle wind whispered in Elijah’s ear, rustling the surrounding grass and mingling with the sound of chirping crickets.  As he laid there, a family of Himalayan tahr had nestled close, probably for warmth in the cold, crisp mountain air.  The goat-like beasts were shaggy, with backward curving horns. 

But Elijah was more concerned with how cuddly they were.

He let...

Chapter 712 - Terra

Zeke gripped the railing, staring into the gray cloud.  He felt it out there.  The Framework.  It hummed with every movement, infusing everything while infesting the very notion of reality with its existence.  The others were out there, too.  Those tentacles of strings, waiting for anyone to be stupid enough to step foot into their cage. 

There was a part of Zeke that wanted to do just that, to throw himself forward so he could continue to investigate the r...

An Explanation (not a chapter)

Some of you may have noticed that I released three extra chapters today. I announced it on my Discord, but I kind of forgot to give an explanation via other channels (like this Patreon). So, here it is:

Protector of the Grove (Path of Dragons 1) just attained #1 New Release on Kindle.

That, coupled with my previous assertion that I wanted to publish a few extra chapters to celebrate the ...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 26 - Fallen Leaves

As he knelt beside the slain creature, Elijah’s shoulders slumped.  It was just a rat, common in every way except its size and level.  Even then, the rodent’s death should not have affected him.  And yet, when he looked upon it, all he saw was a missed opportunity.  All he felt was guilt.  He should have been faster.  He should have gotten to New York sooner.  Perhaps if he’d gone through with his original plan and helped Rakhan when he’d first arriv...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 25 - The Cleansing

“Toothpaste?”

“Yeah,” Elijah said, running his hand through his hair.  If there was one thing he liked about fighting in his various bestial shapes, it was that the blood and other viscera that inevitably came with ripping monsters apart with his claws failed to sully his hair or clothes.  It was only when he was forced to resume his human form – usually to heal – that he ever picked up damage to his gear.  “You know, fights gingivitis and halitosis.  I...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 24 - The Source

Purple lightning crackled as dark clouds raced across the sky.  The world inside the rift was one of thunder and desolation, with enormous and craggy rocks reaching for the roiling sky.  Acidic rain fell, stinging Elijah’s skin with every drop. 

He ignored it.

Instead, he focused almost entirely on the surrounding atmosphere.  There was nature there, though it was surrounded by something grotesque and feral.  Something hungry.  It was corruption, bu...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 23 - A Horde of Filth

Elijah looked inward, focusing on the facets of the mind.  He’d always envisioned them as crystals that were somehow also apertures that he could open and close to permit more ethera into his soul.  So, when he looked at them, that was what he saw.  However, there were a couple of them that, to his perception, were stained black. 

The trauma facets.

Those were where he put his pain.  His dark feelings.  The rage and sorrow he wouldn’t allow himsel...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 22 - Decayed Grandeur

In the end, it took Elijah nearly half a day to heal from his ill-advised but absolutely necessary misuse of Roots of the World Tree.  However, he didn’t waste that time.  Instead, he spent it catching up with Nerthus about the grove.  As it turned out, the spryggent had spent quite a lot of effort cultivating plants that would serve to mitigate the effects of Elijah’s frequent use of Grove Conduit.  Draining the grove’s ethera still wasn’t good for the island’s ...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 21 - Twisted Nature

Frowning, Elijah left the guild headquarters behind.  He could feel eyes following his every move, and he suspected that he’d not lose the tail for the rest of his time in New York.  Of course, he didn’t blame the guilds for wanting to keep track of him.  He would have done the same thing in their place. 

Still, the meeting had gone well enough, though it felt almost like a waste of time.  More of a meet-and-greet than anything else.  It was the sort of...

Chapter 711 - The World Waits for No One

“Everyone benefited greatly from the recent campaign,” said Silik, his hands behind his back.  His breastplate glimmered in the light while his shield and spear leaned against the nearby wall.  He was a soldier through and through, and he’d never be far from his weapons. 

Many of the others in the room were of a similar mind – not surprising, given that it was a military conference.  The goal was simple – to plan the next step, which was to kill the now lea...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 20 - The Deal

Desmond Farina stood aside, leaning against the paneled wall.  For the most part, the Inner Council ignored him, though that was the way he liked it.  After all, he’d picked the Ranger archetype for a reason.  He preferred to stay out of sight, to manipulate events from the shadows, and his Darkblade class reflected that nature. 

Still, other men might have been galled at the blatant exclusion.  He was the leader of the fifth strongest guild in the city, which...

Chapter 710 - Leaving Something Behind

Zeke stared up at the ceiling, his hands behind his head as satisfaction and regret danced in his thoughts.  Had he really made a mistake?  Or was his disregard for his own contentment so potent – so unstoppable – that he simply could not allow himself to be happy?

He let out a long breath through his nose, then glanced at the woman beside him.  Talia looked so serene that it was difficult to remember how deadly she was.  A subtle green glow danced across her pal...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 19 - Guild Matters

The square was bustling with people, most of whom hustled to and from the buildings along the edges.  Between the skyscrapers were much more modest structures – at least in comparison.  However, when held against most other cities Elijah had visited, they were sitll impressively constructed.  Some looked grand and regal, like baroque palaces that could rival the most opulent of seventeenth century French architecture.  Others were more subdued in their artistry, taking c...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 18 - Family Ties

The Conclave Spires flashed with ethera, and a second later, Sadie felt the familiar but cloying embrace of death-attuned energy.  She wanted nothing more than to lash out, to carve her way to the source and excise it from existence. 

But she knew that wasn’t possible.  It came from the nearby Primal Realm, which meant that she lacked the power to destroy it.  If such a thing was even possible.  Still, the atmosphere put her in an extremely irritable mood.

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 17 - The Stranger

Gunnar knelt next to the child, wrapping the bandage around her wounded leg.  “You need to be more careful,” he chided.  “The Healers won’t come down here for another week, and by that point, this might have gotten infected.”

She dipped her head. “Yes, sir,” she whispered. 

“This bandage is magic, you know,” he went on. 

“Really?” she asked, looking up, her eyes gleaming.  “Like, real magic?”

“Mhmm,” he said, faste...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 16 - Familiarity

“Okay, so I really didn’t think this through,” Elijah muttered to himself once he was out of sight of the guards.  Not only was he still wearing his suit, which he’d worn in an effort to impress the guild leaders, but he also lacked the time to truly investigate the situation.  Especially if it was as dangerous as the others seemed to think it was. 

With that in mind, Elijah shifted into the Shape of the Scourge, as much to protect his clothes as to use its abilit...

Chapter 709 - Resetting

It took three more days for Zeke to truly get ahold of himself, and only then did Eveline reawaken.  But for a whispered assurance that she was okay, she remained silent, though.  As if she hadn’t fully recovered from the ordeal.  Zeke knew that he’d shielded her from the worst of the experience, but the exposed Framework – and the enemy trapped within – was too powerful for him to completely control or contain.

He could only hope that she would recover in time. 2025-05-23 13:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 15 - Greatest City in the World

In a lot of ways, New York’s skyline looked the same as it ever had.  There were plenty of recognizable buildings like the Empire State Building, Freedom Tower, and the Chrysler building.  However, there were quite a few differences that became immediately obvious.  Chief among them was that Manhattan had grown by quite a bit, and at least parts of the other boroughs had been incorporated into the new landmass. 

It all felt jumbled.  Chaotic.  Nothing qui...

Chapter 708 - Small

The last time Zeke had used [Primordial Wrath], it had presented similarly to its predecessor, meaning that it conjured a massive black orb that, upon implosion, destroyed everything for hundreds of miles.  That, in turn, had started a chain reaction that destroyed Mak’tar’s domain.

In this instance, it was much more powerful, largely because Zeke managed to shove even more divine energy into the skill.  The orb, which resembled a black sun, was more than a hundred miles i...

New Schedule Announcement

For those of you who frequent the Discord, you already know this because I made the announcement a few minutes ago. However, because there are many of you who don't use Discord, I'll make the announcement here as well. So, here it goes:

For a while, I've been doing 8 chapters a week (for Path of Dragons) on Patreon. Mostly, I do this because I think it's important to give people a reason to subscribe and stay subscribed to the Patreon. I know how tight things are for a lot of people...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 14 - Return

Author's Note: Made a slight adjustment to the chapter regarding specialization/evolution to correct a mistake I made while editing. It should be better now.

Miguel’s feet dragged as he approached the Spires.  He’d felt every mile of his recent journey, and they hung heavy on his shoulders.  Beside him strode Trevor, who’d had it just as bad as Miguel, though he seemed to have taken it much better.  And Isaak had it the wo...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 13 - New York

Elijah thought about wearing armor.

It probably would have been fitting, given that he didn’t really know what he was walking into.  There was every chance that his upcoming meeting would end in a fight or, at the very least, intimidation.  And coming in ready for a battle was probably the best way to convey that he was not in the mood to be messed with.

However, it also stood the chance of coaxing a negative reaction out of the guilds and resulting in the very fight h...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 12 - The Seeds of Something Else

The geode’s elemental power was overbearing.  Even secluded in the cave on the south end of the island, it was enough to skew the balance in a way that even Elijah could feel.  So, he glanced at Nerthus and asked, “Are we sure this is okay?  It’s not going to throw everything off, is it?”

Nerthus answered, “There is a reason I suggested it be placed here.  It will improve the balance.”

Elijah understood the explanation well enough, but it didn’t r...

Chapter 707 - In the Way

Fighting a greater god on unfamiliar ground was very, very different than trying to kill one on his own turf.  Zeke discovered the truth of that assertion the second the battle against Simeon commenced.  The first attack had very nearly atomized him, and it was only because he’d already been channeling [Hand of Creation] that he hadn’t died, then and there.  Since then, he’d endured hundreds of such attacks.

But he continued to rebuild himself after each one. <...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 11 - Gifts

“Uh…what is this?” asked Sadie, staring wide-eyed at the small, velvet-covered box.  “Why are you giving this to me?”

Only then did Elijah realize that he’d made a mistake in his choice of gifts.  In his defense, he’d only really concerned himself with the ring’s trait, which acted as an ethera reservoir.  Not as deep as the one associated with the Antlers of the Wild Revenant’s False Grove, but still useful in a pinch.  Plus, the ring was made of g...

Chapter 706 - Ships and Temples

Tucker grinned broadly as he hefted his new toy onto his shoulder.  Vaguely, it looked like a rocket launcher, though one passed through a steampunk filter.  Made of brass and with wooden fittings, it was also quite a bit larger than the Earthly weapons.  It differed in a number of other ways, but none were quite so important as the fact that it was linked to Tucker’s Alchemist-only storage space.

Letting out an elated shout, he squeezed the trigger, and it discharged w...