“What do you expect me to say?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why did you even tell me?”
“I…I thought you deserved honesty.”
Elijah sighed and shook his head. “I wish you would’ve just lied.”
“Elijah, I –”
“It’s fine. I mean, it’s not. You probably just ensured I’ll never get home. Or that it’ll take another hundred years. But I get it. You picked the option you thought suited you and your sit...
2026-01-08 16:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post“I’m afraid to look.”
Jasai’i took Benedict’s hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. “I was too. It turned out well enough.”
“That was different,” Benedict mumbled, looking away. “A lot less rides on ascension. This is demi-god. I’ll be stuck with this decision for centuries. And if I choose wrong…”
“You won’t.”
He sighed. “I wish I had your confidence,” he admitted.
His anxiety about ad...
2026-01-07 16:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostElijah stood on the cliff overlooking the ocean, watching as the massive waves warred with one another for prominence. It was like looking at a mountain range in motion. From above descended gargantuan tentacles, splashing into the water, only to reemerge moments later and clutching deceptively small prey.
From experience, Elijah knew that the creatures snared by those tentacles were as large as blue whales, and demi-gods to boot. The tentacles belonged to truly ...
2026-01-07 16:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
I just wanted to make a quick post to announce that book three of Path of Dragons, called Shadow of the Hunter, is now available on Kindle and Audible (narrated by the always awesome Eric Jason Martin). For those who don't remember the events of book three, don't worry too much - I include a recap at the beginning of each book so nobody gets lost.
Here's the blurb:
The orcs have been driven back, and Ironshore still stands. But for Elijah Hart, victory rings holl...
2026-01-06 19:47:54 +0000 UTC View Post
The weight of silence was crushing.
In the aftermath of Vhalor’s death, the world stood still. Even rivers of corruption cutting through the sky seemed frozen in place. And Elijah knelt beside the man’s corpse, his hand resting on his forehead, staring off into nothing.
By all rights, Vhalor had been a monster. A man who’d clung so tightly to power that he had never considered how his actions affected everyone else. At his order, thousands had d...
2026-01-06 16:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe ground shook with the force of each landed blow as a cloud of yellow spores surrounded the pair of titanic combatants. For once, Elijah was shorter than his opponent, though not by as much as he would’ve been before his most recent advancements. He was still much heavier than Vhalor, though. And he used that added weight to lend power to his attacks.
In some ways, he felt like a heavyweight boxer, though one equipped with a club-like tail that functioned as a muc...
2026-01-05 16:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostElijah rushed in, narrowly avoiding the descending blade of Vhalor’s sword. It skipped across his shoulder, carving a slice from his scales. He grunted in acknowledgement of the pain before ramming into the man and knocking him off balance. The stumble only lasted for a split second, but that was all Elijah needed to latch onto the Emerald Tyrant, wrapping his claws around his enlarged chest and pinning the man’s arms to his body.
Then, he leaped, bounding off a Cl...
2026-01-04 16:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostVhalor glanced at the fallen Marith before his eyes flicked toward Searathe. Neither were dead, but they might as well have been. From experience, Vhalor knew that it would take quite a bit more than what she’d experienced to put Marith down, but the Mirror Saint was far more fragile. If she ever rose again, he would have been surprised.
He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and glared at the dragon. The creature cut an imposing and intimidating figure...
2026-01-04 16:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe world ignited as dense flames rolled across the land. When that wave crested, another replaced it. Then, another after that. Nine separate pulses of fire, each one hot enough to melt rock in seconds, scorched across the army. And at its center stood Elijah, screaming in pain as his entire mind – every single leaf – was overwhelmed with the agony of being burned from the inside out.
Finally, his body gave out, and he became ash.
His consciousness dri...
2026-01-03 16:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostElijah’s talons ripped through a soldier’s throat, sending a spray of blood and bits of flesh into their closest ally’s eyes. The woman reeled, but only long enough before Elijah kicked her in the chest. She flew backward, her breastplate so dented that it had split apart, knocking a few other fighters aside. By that point, Elijah was gone.
A hundred attacks fell upon his position, but most missed him entirely due to his use of Phantom Shift. Six copi...
2026-01-02 16:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostGreen, silver, and gold armor glinted in the ambient light as column after column of disciplined soldiers descended the mountain. They filled the pass, snaking along for nearly a mile.
Benedict had seen armies before. He had even fought a few – particularly the war elf army that had attempted to invade his territory. With enough summoned creatures, he could stand toe to toe with any force.
And yet, when he looked upon the forces of Ithalon, he couldn’t ...
2026-01-01 16:10:01 +0000 UTC View Post“We should just kill them all,” Benedict said, without a hint of emotion.
“That will not solve anything!” insisted one of the M’yakein’s council members. Elijah had never learned their names, so he wasn’t certain what she called herself. “And you can’t just kill the Synod.”
“He already killed one of them, and in the middle of Ithalon,” Zek pointed out. “That’s why we’re in this mess.”
“So it’s the Reclaimer’s faul...
2026-01-01 16:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostA subtly sweet smell wafted through the thin slits in Obrahim’s helmet, tainted only by the metallic scent of the corrosive sea behind him. He glanced up at the enormous monument of stone, studying it with a curious eye. The thing was built to resemble a primitive arch, with every inch of the support pillars covered in carvings meant to depict writhing vines. When he looked at the dark stone, he could almost see them move.
The crowning lintel was decorated with a sin...
2025-12-31 16:10:00 +0000 UTC View PostElijah rested his hand against Treebie’s trunk, the pulse of the tree’s spirit sending shockwaves through his soul. He bore it with equanimity, having long since grown accustomed to the tree’s uniquely powerful presence.
Over the course of the past year, Treebie’s roots had grown to encompass the entire continent and had even progressed beneath the ocean. Elijah had inspected the areas where those roots had emerged, and he was both delighted and surprised to fi...
2025-12-31 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe waves of the Restless Sea crashed against the Edge of the World, spraying caustic mist across the barren terrain. Above, rivers of violet corruption cut across the dark, featureless sky, casting the entire rocky landscape in a purple tint. Nearby, the brave men and women of the Emerald Guard fought a tumorous monster comprised of pulsing cysts and too many tentacles to count.
Vhalor paid them no mind.
Instead, his attention remained on the sea as he asked, “Are w...
2025-12-30 16:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostTwo insects, each about the size of Elijah’s fingernail, crawled across the stem of a plant. They looked a little like ants, though they featured eight legs instead of six. To accommodate the extra limbs, their bodies hosted an additional section between the abdomen and the thorax. Otherwise, they were almost identical to the Earth insects with which Elijah was familiar.
He had no idea where they’d come from or how they’d evolved on Gorveth. The same ...
2025-12-30 16:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe first year was the most difficult, for the refugees as well as for Elijah. His mood oscillated between gratitude for the end to his solitary existence and the anxiety that came from being close to so many people. To combat it, he focused on the outer ring that stretched across most of the continent.
The sheer size of it was daunting, and even though he’d completed more than half of the work before the refugees’ arrival, he still had a long way to go. Stil...
2025-12-29 16:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostFor Benedict and the others from Dravkein, the journey inland to Druhmor was long and time-consuming, but not nearly as difficult as they had probably expected. Elijah chalked that up to the fact that most of the continent’s monsters had already been eradicated. There were a few that persisted, especially in the mountains where the effects of Elijah’s efforts grew more diffuse with increased altitude, but they were much weakened.
For all that Elijah had told them that he...
2025-12-29 16:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostQuick Note - Uploaded the wrong version of the chapter. It should have been 19 years instead of 12 that Elijah's been gone. New version uploaded.
Gargantuan waves crashed against the cliff, sending a corrosive mist over the edge. Elijah stood steadfastly against it, his eyes narrowed as he focused on the oncoming ships. Each one was around a hundred yards long, with a black metal hull and outriggers that extended fifty or so yards from each ship’...
2025-12-28 16:10:02 +0000 UTC View PostElijah flew above Druhmor, enjoying the feel of the air passing through the branches of his wings. As he did, he beheld the landscape he’d helped to create, and he couldn’t deny that it was more beautiful than he ever could have expected. For years, he’d traveled the desolate terrain of the excised planet, and in that time, he’d grown quite accustomed to the dreary hopelessness that came with it.
But now?
Now, he saw greens and reds, yellows and purples – and...
2025-12-28 16:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe wind howled across the landscape, whistling as it passed between the curiously shaped stand of tall pillars. Each one was made of black, glass-like rock and reached hundreds of feet above the surface. Between them, the ground was jagged and ridged, requiring each person to watch their step, lest the sharp edges cut through the soles of their boots.
Benedict leaped nimbly from one to the next, his eyes on Jasai’i as she progressed in front of him. She still a mort...
2025-12-27 16:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostObrahim stood at the front of the column, righteous fury coursing through his body and mind. Through his very soul. The upstarts – the blasphemers and heretics – had resisted the will of the Synod for far too long. Thousands had died at their hands. Years of resistance. Decades of refusal to submit to godly authority. And now, at long last, they would all pay the ultimate price.
Finally, Vhalor, blessed be his name, had decided to fully unleash th...
2025-12-27 16:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostElijah glanced at the statues and asked, “Any input here? Sage advice, maybe? Carmen, you usually have plenty to say about how I make rash decisions without thinking them through.”
The clay statue remained silent.
So did Treebie.
Despite reaching the goal he never thought he’d reach, the silence served to undercut his excitement and accentuate the indisputable reality of his loneliness. After all, the only semi-sentient creature for thousands of miles...
2025-12-26 16:10:00 +0000 UTC View PostElijah fell to his knees, exhausted. Despite that overwhelming sense of fatigue, he was filled with excited anticipation. Because for the first time in longer than he cared to remember, he had gotten a genuine and uncorrupted notification from the system.
And it wasn’t alone.
The World Tree has recognized your efforts. The tree “Treebie” will now function as a nascent Branch. Most functions remain unavailable until a true con...
2025-12-26 16:00:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Elijah glanced up, only to see Treebie’s limbs stretching far and wide. The innumerable leaves glittered in the wind, casting the whole of Druhmor in starry illumination. The plants below drank that light like it came directly from the sun, using it to fuel their growth.
Vitality, dense enough to become visible, hung in the air like a light fog, while the ambient ethera infused the atmosphere with unconstrained energy. It was much more powerful even than the center o...
2025-12-25 16:10:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Happy birthday to Treebie,” Elijah sang, gesturing like the conductor of an orchestra. “Happy birthday to you!” He finished with a flourish, adding, “And many more!”
He glanced at the surrounding clay statues and rolled his eyes. “C’mon guys. It’s Treebie’s eighth birthday! I need you to participate, or you’re going to give him an inferiority complex.”
Thankfully, the sculptures remained silent. It wasn’t as if Elijah expect...
2025-12-25 16:00:49 +0000 UTC View PostBenedict nimbly stepped around the woman lying on the floor. She stirred slightly, but she didn’t awaken. Meanwhile, he pushed past her, then dodged another three prone figures before slipping through the door.
Not for the first time since he’d started sharing his home with refugees, he wanted to take a page out of Elijah’s book and simply leap free of the balcony. Propriety kept him in check, though.
Even having escaped the confines of the packed hou...
2025-12-24 16:10:01 +0000 UTC View Post“How big do you think you’re going to get, Treebie?” Elijah asked.
The tree did not answer. It never did. Probably because it was a plant and incapable of speech. But that hadn’t stopped Elijah from holding long, one-sided conversations with it.
It had all started because he’d remembered multiple studies that suggested that plants fared better when their owners spoke to them. Part of that could be chalked up to increased levels of carbon dio...
2025-12-24 16:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostGorveth shuddered with a dense blast of ethera that tore across Druhmor and out into the abyssal landscape of the excised world. It wasn’t the first time Elijah had experienced such a pulse, which left flowers blooming in its wake, but it was far denser than any that had come before.
And given what he felt from the tree, it marked a significant event. The end of an era, perhaps, though Elijah couldn’t be certain until he investigated it more thoroughly.
For Christmas, I've decided to do double chapters until the end of the year. I hope you all enjoy it! Happy holidays, everyone!
A legion of black-armored figures raced across the fields, trampling crops with every thundering step. They moved in unnatural silence. No shouted warcries. No grunts of effort. There was nothing to mark their passage but heavy footfalls and the damage they left in their wake.
At the edge...
2025-12-23 16:00:20 +0000 UTC View Post