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Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 55 - Bridges of Flame

It was an awe-inspiring and wholly impossible scene. The floating mountain was enormous. Elijah already knew that. However, it certainly wasn’t large enough for what he saw before him.

Towering spires of jagged black rock stood tall and proud, connected by bridges of flame. Or that was Elijah’s first thought, at least. Looking closer, he saw that the structures themselves were actually made of crystal and that the flames in question danced beneath the opaque surface. They ca...

Path of Dragons 1 Pre-Order is Now Live

I just wanted to make an announcement that the pre-order for Protector of the Grove (Path of Dragons 1) is now completely live. That means I'll probably be taking those chapters down in a week or two, so if you want to read them before May 6, you should probably get to it.

Anyway, here's the link:

Protector of the Grove (Path of Dragons 1)

Thanks!

Chapter 687 - An Olive Branch

“I know you,” Zeke said, keeping his skills on the verge of activation.  In less than a second, he could take on the form of a [Primordial Titan] and lay waste to the entire building via [Eye of Judgement].  Or if the newcomer turned out to be who he expected her to be, then perhaps [Primordial Wrath] was in order.  “I thought you were a tree.”

“Of course I am not literally a tree,” Aja said, pushing her white hair behind one sharply tapered ear.  “Neit...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 54 - A Painful Swim

Without his many advantages, ranging from an extremely high constitution attribute and the degree to which he’d cultivated his body, Elijah would not have survived being so close to the Elemental Maelstrom.  Even with those advantages, he felt like he was being sandblasted and burned alive at the same time.  The damage was significant enough that he was forced to keep Wild Resurgence running at all times. 

Fortunately, Shape of Thorn was large enough to shield the more ...

Chapter 686 - The Ways

Zeke wasn’t certain what he had expected when he’d stepped into the ways, but it certainly wasn’t the landscape stretching before him.  Or given that it ended after only a mile, the expanse might be a better descriptor. 

The landmass, such as it was, seemed entirely mundane.  Even idyllic, with well-trimmed hedges, fountains, and other park-like features to complete the image.  Yet, he only needed to look beyond the edge to know that he had not found himself in...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 53 - Fields of Crystal

The landscape was otherworldly. 

Floating mountains of rock hovered miles above the surface of the planet, while outcroppings of crystal jutted from the ground.  Those crystal formations ranged widely, both in terms of size and color.  Some were the size of skyscrapers, while others were only as large as Elijah’s fist. 

But the rainbow of colors was what truly inspired awe.  Reds and greens, yellows and purples – the entire color wheel was represented....

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 52 - Legacy of Titans

“Cindrandir,” Elijah muttered to himself as he followed the fire giants through the city of Stillstone.  Normally, he would have marveled at the various architectural wonders, but he barely noticed any of it.  Instead, all but two facets of his mind settled on a single subject – the origin of Shape of the Master.

For the longest time, he’d considered it an off-shoot of the mother of the first dragon.  That little fire salamander had given rise to the most powerful...

The End of an Era

First of all, I just wanted to thank everyone here for all your support. So far, writing Path of Dragons has been the most rewarding experience of my professional life as a writer. Seeing this community grow (especially on Discord, but also via some of your vigorous discussions in the comments) has been amazing to witness. So, thank you all for making this such a wonderful experience.

Here's to hoping we can keep it going until we see the end of Elijah's story.

Part of what det...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 51 - The Fall

Miguel crouched at the mouth of the cave, his every muscle tense as he beheld a spectacle no one should ever have to witness.  Hundreds of trolls, many of whom rode giant insects, charged the walls of the fortress below. 

“I can’t watch,” Isaak muttered from beside him.

“Don’t you dare look away,” Miguel insisted.  He knew the order was unnecessary.  Isaak was just as entranced as he was, and that had been the case since the very first charge. ...

Chapter 685 - Habit

It took Zeke a few days – at least as far as he could tell – to get his bearings.  Navigating a shattered world was difficult enough without the fact that his efforts hadn’t killed the entire population.  Certainly, anyone within a few hundred miles of [Primordial Wrath] had died instantly, but the planet’s destruction was only a knock-on effect of his skill.  And given that there were lesser gods hanging about, many of them had the ability to survive such a catastrophe...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 50 - Making the Dream Work

Elijah let out a scream of triumph as his fingers closed around the flying serpent.  That quickly turned to a grunt of pain as lightning flowed through his body.  He didn’t release the thing, though.  Instead, he maintained his grip as he landed in the black sand.  A second later, he was swinging the thing like a baseball bat. It twisted and squirmed as it attempted to fly away – again – but he was far too strong. 

A second later, the thing’s head smashe...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 49 - The Ring of Elements

The city was a confusing maze of staircases and ramps.  Clearly, it had never been built with practicality in mind, because trying to transport goods from one place to another would have been an absolute nightmare.  The giants didn’t seem to mind, though. 

What did bother them was being in close proximity with other giants. 

Given his experiences outside the Primal Realm, that enmity between different types of giants was expected, though.  What did surpr...

Chapter 684 - Shattered World

Reality cracked.

The world splintered into infinite pieces. 

And at the center of it all stood a single man.  A primordial whose power knew no bounds.  In that split second between life and non-existence, Mak’tar fled. 

As if he could outrun judgement itself. 

For his part, Zeke stared ahead unseeing.  But his awareness stretched out to caress Mak’tar’s terror.  His incredulity.  His panic.  It was a glorious thing, to...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 48 - The Chosen One

The soft click-clack of claws hitting tiles echoed through the massive hall as Elijah, Oscar, and the pack of dogs followed the fire giant guard.  The interior of the palace was even more impressive – and in a lot of ways, oppressive – than the exterior had led Elijah to expect, and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of suffocation.  Part of that was due to the dense blanket of heat and fire-attuned ethera in the atmosphere, but it was also due to the weight of his decreased at...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 47 - Stillstone

Elijah laid his hand on the rune-inscribed stone gate, his eyes closed as he felt the currents of ethera rushing along his fingertips.  As his senses had sharpened and his cultivation had improved, he’d developed the ability to distinguish between different types of ethera.  Whether it was the vitality-infused energy of his grove or the mutability of the Chimeric Forge, every occurrence of ethera possessed a distinct flavor. 

And the energy coursing through the gate was...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 46 - The Prototypes

“Those rifles would be easier to use,” Captain Essex said, holding the shortsword out and looking down its blade.  “We’ve considered basing our defense around them.”

“That’s a mistake,” Carmen insisted. 

“It’s a force multiplier, and an easy one for most of our fighters to grasp,” he said.  “Most of us understand how to use a gun.  All it takes is a little ethera.”

“They’re not really guns.  They’re wands encased in a ...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 45 - Help

“This doesn’t look good,” Elijah said.

“It doesn’t matter how it looks,” Oscar responded.  Elijah didn’t need Soul of the Wild to know that the man was incredibly tense.  The same was true of the dogs, all of whom were laser focused on the sight before them. 

It was a temple, but unlike any Elijah had ever seen before.  Rather than looking like it had been built, the thing seemed as if it had been grown out of the nearby mountains and featured a h...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 44 - The Burden of Friendship

It took two days to bring Oscar back to consistent consciousness.  Before that, he drifted in and out, but only regaining full consciousness for a few delusional moments before once again succumbing.  During those times, he rambled about Escobar.  Elijah hadn’t missed that the little chihuahua was missing, though he chose not to think about the implications.  It had been difficult enough on Oscar when Jojo had died back in the Trial of Primacy, and Elijah didn’t want t...

Chapter 683 - The Power of a God

The demon begged.

He pleaded.

He promised Zeke the world. 

But it all fell on deaf ears as [Pantheon] ripped the once-haughty thing apart, bit by bit, until even his screams receded into nothing.  All the while, Zeke watched impassively.  He could have ended it sooner.  His minions only carried with them a fraction of his power.  And yet, he never made that move.  Instead, he just watched.  He waited.  And when the demon died, he felt ...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 43 - Oscar's Plight

As it turned out, the giants were extremely poor – at least in terms of loot.  Aside from a pouch with a couple of silver ethereum, Elijah found nothing of note.  Their weapons, which seemed so magical before, were low quality, and without any spells running through them, they lost anything that made them special. 

The bodies themselves were likely valuable, though Elijah found the idea of harvesting them a little distasteful.  They weren’t human, but they were c...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 42 - Opposing Forces

Catharsis through healing.

Elijah often neglected his healing abilities, usually reserving them to mend his own wounds.  However, he couldn’t deny that focusing on the well-being of others brought with it a healing of its own.  It didn’t solve any of his problems.  He still felt a potent fury simmering deep beneath the surface of his mind.  But it helped soothe his spirit in a way that few things could.

Even so, his every instinct screamed at him that he ha...

Chapter 682 - Shaking Heaven and Hell

Zeke grabbed hold of a monster with both hands, then ripped it apart.  It showered him in viscera, but by that point, he’d killed so many of the creatures that he was absolutely covered in the stuff.  His efforts had turned the surrounding lake red with blood, and bits of other monsters floated to and fro with every movement.

But he didn’t stop.

Instead, he threw one half of his latest victim at an oncoming horde of others, briefly delaying their entry into the fight...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 41 - The Search Begins

Bogotá was a city of contrast. 

That was abundantly clear as Elijah left his meeting with the Comisario and forged ahead into the settlement.  He’d seen the skyscrapers from afar, so he thought he knew what to expect.  However, at the base of each building were a multitude of newly constructed buildings that followed a style much closer to the one found in Ironshore.  It didn’t take him long to realize that those buildings were where most of the population lived...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 40 - Politics and Posturing

The two men stationed at the building’s main entrance wore green fatigues, though they were both armed with giant, studded cudgels that hung from their belts.  One man carried a wand in a holster at his hip, while the other had a shield slung across his back.  Both were also equipped with glorious mustaches. 

Elijah strode forward, finding it difficult not to stare. 

“State your business,” the right-most man said in a bored tone. 

“What’s y...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 39 - Bogotá

Elijah stood apart from the Spires, his arms crossed in annoyance.  He hadn’t been there long, and according to the space mage – someone he didn’t know – it would be more than twenty minutes before he could depart.  His irritation had nothing to do with the passing time, though.  Instead, his problems came from his recent exchange with the space mage. 

Eryka had been reassigned. 

That was all he could get from her replacement, though the implicatio...

Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 38 - The Agony of Stillness

A bird rested upon Elijah’s shoulder while a two-tailed fox curled in his lap.  He ignored both, instead focusing entirely on the stillness within him.  His heart barely beat, he didn’t breathe, and his core remained perfectly dormant.  There wasn’t a drop of ethera in his channels, and his every muscle stood tense. 

Yet, his mind never stopped moving.  The apertures remained open, spinning to create a powerful vortex through which he would not allow a sin...

Protector of the Grove (Book 1) Cover

Whispers of the Wild (Book 2) Cover

Art - Yloa

Art - Shape of Thorn