Path of Dragons 5 - Chapter 39 - Old Habits (Patreon)

As Elijah stalked through the fields, he was tempted to believe he was repeating the mistakes of the past.  Only recently, he’d nearly been killed because, in his hubris, he’d tried to take on too much responsibility.  But was that true?  Or had the incident in the ice fortress happened as a result of ignorance?  Perhaps the answer was tied to both.  In any case, there was a key difference between the two situations.  Before, he’d had no real reason to enter the fortress alone.  Now, circumstances had pushed him to act, to use the versatility of his class to make the difference his group needed in order to survive. 

Because what they’d been doing was not working. 

That was the hard truth that had become clear almost from the moment they had engaged the enemy.  As many yetis as they’d killed, they had still been overwhelmed.  Retreat had been the only option. 

But it was not the answer. 

Elijah had known that even as he’d grabbed his unconscious and dying companions and taken them to the final bastion they’d prepared.  Its defenses were temporary, though.  They couldn’t simply hole up and wait out the threat.  Instead, Elijah knew that, if they were going to win the battle, he would need to change the paradigm. 

It had always been in the back of his mind, even from the very beginning.  He knew that, by playing the good little healer, he was neglecting most of what made him special.  But realistically, he had so little experience fighting as part of a group that he’d hesitated to pull his attention from his primary task.  In a perfect world, he would have healed, cast damaging spells, and used his forms to fill in for his companions’ deficiencies.  He had the skillset to be a secondary defender, a decent scout, and a damage dealer, but he’d limited himself to healing.

It was all because shifting between his various forms and playing a host of different roles was an incredibly difficult undertaking.  If he made one little mistake, people would die.  They were depending on him to keep them alive, and if he lingered in one of his other forms for even a second too long, everything would fall apart. 

And given that he could still scarcely control the rage of his lamellar ape form, it was almost inevitable that he’d get carried away.  No – trying to play every role at once would lead him down the rocky path of defeat. 

All that flitted through one facet of Elijah’s mind as he stalked through the fields.  He usually trusted Guise of the Unseen as well as his draconid form’s chameleon-like ability to adopt the colors of its environment, but he’d learned the error of that habit.  So, he stayed low, slinking among the icy crops as he stalked toward the yetis. 

He met them only a minute or so later, and he was unsurprised to see that none of them had escaped the battle – or Kurik’s traps – unscathed.  In many cases, their armor had been all but destroyed.  Most bore great gashes in the silvery metal, and there were plenty of dents as well.  In addition, they had clearly been affected by the various afflictions – from the aforementioned traps as well as Elijah’s Swarm – as large clumps of white fur had fallen out, revealing discolored blue skin beneath. 

They were weakened, but they were not defeated.  Moreover, every passing moment saw the progression of their recovery.  Elijah wasn’t sure if they had powerfully regenerative skills or were entirely reliant on their attributes, but the implications were clear.  If they were allowed a few hours to rest, the yetis would be well on their way to a full recovery. 

Elijah refused to allow that.

So, tapping into the instincts of his predator form, he stalked among the monsters, taking note of their numbers along the way.  There were more than thirty left, and a couple had clearly been left in reserve, as they bore very few injuries or other signs of participation in the battle. 

Elijah intended to leave them for last, and not just because they would be the most difficult to take down.  They also led the way, with the weakened members of the horde stretching out behind them in a long line.  Which was perfect for what Elijah had in mind. 

He circled around, staying low and remaining cloaked in Guise of the Unseen until he zeroed in on a group of three stragglers.  The trio of yetis were the most injured among the entire horde, representing the easiest targets.  Elijah took advantage of that, embracing Venom Strike and Predator Strike before pouncing on the healthiest of the three, targeting its bloody right leg. 

His claws ripped through the back of the monster’s knee, shredding tendons and collapsing the joint.  Even as it fell, Elijah once again embraced Venom Strike and hit the next one in line, leaping upon its back and biting into its neck.  He’d have bitten down on its skull, but that was protected by a dented helmet.  Whatever the case, there was nothing protecting the creature’s neck, and Elijah bit into without issue.  The damage caused by his fangs wasn’t ineffective, sending spurts of cold and pale blood gushing into his mouth.   But as satisfying as the successful attack was, Elijah only cared about delivering the neurotoxin of Venom Strike.  And once that was done, he forewent the opportunity to finish his enemy off – it would take too long – and leaped away. 

In the space of two seconds, he’d injured two yetis before disappearing into the fields.  A moment later, he was out of sight and once again cloaked in Guise of the Unseen. 

Meanwhile, the yetis – especially the ones he’d attacked – panicked, yowling in pain as Venom Strike took hold.  Elijah knew it wouldn’t put them entirely out of commission, but that was never his goal.  While he felt confident that he could kill the yetis if he’d stuck around for a few more attacks, that would have put him in quite a precarious position.  So, he’d resolved to use guerilla tactics to whittle the monsters down.  Hopefully, by the time they reached the cave where Sadie and the others had taken refuge, the yetis would be weak enough for the group to finish them off.

It was a good plan, but its success hinged on Elijah’s restraint.  If he overstepped and tried to do too much damage, he would be defenseless against the rest of the responding yetis.  Hammering that fact home was the next sequence of events.  Even as Elijah doubled back under a cloak of stealth, he saw the yetis’ reactions.  All thirty of them circled the wounded members, each one howling for blood. 

Yet, with Elijah hidden, there was no enemy to fight. 

Importantly, he knew that every minute he could delay the yetis’ pursuit, his companions would have that much more time to recover.  So, even if he felt impatient to continue the fight, Elijah remained among the crops as he watched the yetis’ impotent rage play out. 

Eventually, even the limited intelligence of the monsters made the uselessness of their angry vigil apparent.  That moment was characterized by a few of the healthier monsters growling and shouting at the others before, at last, they moved on.  Pointedly, they left the grievously wounded behind. 

Once he knew they were out of range, Elijah pounced, finally finishing the two stragglers off.  He targeted the healthiest of the two, using Predator Strike to rip through its neck and sever its spine.  The more injured of the pair fell only a moment later when Elijah gutted it.  Within twenty seconds, he’d resumed his hunt. 

Over the next half hour, he repeated his actions, even summoning a Swarm to hasten the group’s demise, and by the time they reached the cave, only fifteen were left.  His tactics weren’t as successful as he’d hoped, but if he was honest with himself, he didn’t think he could have done any better.  Killing half the remaining yetis was a great victory, especially considering that he’d wounded a handful of others. 

If he’d had a few more miles to work with, he could have finished them off entirely.

Perhaps.  But toward the end, he’d noticed that the yetis had begun to adjust.  Losing half their number had made them far more wary, and the ones that had survived were the healthiest among them.  So, assuming that it would just keep going the same way was likely an error in judgement. 

At least that was what Elijah told himself.

Regardless, when the remaining yetis reached the cave, they found a surprise they could never have anticipated.  About a hundred feet from the cave’s entrance, a conflagration of fire and rock erupted, engulfing two yetis and burning them to a crisp.  Elijah was far enough away that he only felt a slight buffeting of air, but the other yetis were thrown from their feet.

Elijah took that as an opportunity to pounce.  This time, though, he didn’t intend to break off and run away.  Instead, he savaged one of the fallen yetis, ripping through its compromised armor and into the blue meat beneath.  Then, he dashed to another and clamped his jaws around the monster’s exposed skull.  Its helmet had been thrown off during the blast of Kurik’s trap, which meant that the monster was vulnerable to Elijah’s favored means of attack. 

He savored the feel of crunching bone, but only for a moment before one of the yetis recovered enough to swing its club in his direction.  He didn’t see it coming until the last second, so he could only twist a little to avoid the full weight of the attack.  It still hammered into his ribs with enough force to send him skipping across the open field for almost twenty yards.  He came to a stop, wincing at the pain lancing through his side.

But he didn’t dare remain stationary for long.  His draconid form was very effective in a wide variety of situations, but it was not meant to take hits.  So, when he was in his predator shape, Elijah’s only real defense was evasion.  And sitting still – regardless of how much pain he felt – was a good way to get killed.

With that knowledge in hand, he sprang to his feet and launched himself way from the rushing yetis.  Fortunately, he had no issues evading their pursuit, and he raced into the surrounding crops, leading them away from the main group. 

At the same time, the others had begun to recover, and the moment they noticed the shallow cave – or more importantly, Sadie’s shining and armored figure – they let out a cacophony of howls before charging.  The cave’s mouth was too wide to defend, so it was only a matter of time before they overwhelmed the lone defender.  However, clearly, Kurik hadn’t remained idle, because he’d created a series of traps that forced the charging yetis into a much narrower corridor.  It was not a perfect solution, but for the time being, it allowed Sadie to make her stand with a reasonable expectation of success. 

Temporarily, at least, but that would have to be enough. 

For his part, Elijah led the splintered group away from the main battle.  There were four of them, and predictably, they were among the weakest.  He ached to return to his companions and pitch in, but he knew that his abilities were best suited to keeping the group from being overwhelmed.  So, he led them on a fruitless chase, doubling back more than once to repeat his previous tactics. 

They were on guard, though, and his efforts were largely useless, save as distractions.  At the same time, Elijah kept a portion of his attention on the battle at the cave.  Against only a handful of yetis, Sadie and the others – who had recovered from their previous injuries – made a fantastic stand, holding the yetis at bay and slowly whittling them down. 

Meanwhile, Elijah continued his own efforts, and by the time Sadie used that curious summoned-blade ability to finish the last of their opponents off, he’d managed to whittle his own pursuit down to only two remaining yetis.  He led them to the others, and after a few more minutes of battle, the cavern went silent. 

Elijah collapsed, letting himself resume his natural form. 

His strategy had been more successful than he’d had any right to expect, but that didn’t mean he’d escaped unscathed.  In addition to the bruised ribs he’d sustained after Kurik’s trap had exploded, he’d picked up a few other nicks and contusions along the way.  And the fight atop their pyramid had left them all injured, at least to some degree.

But more than that, he was exhausted.

Lying there, his breath coming in ragged gasps, he said, “Great job.  Go team.  Anyone else need some healing?”

As he spoke, he shifted his staff in his hand and summoned Healing Rain.  Wet drops of icy precipitation fell upon his upturned face, and he reveled in the fact that, for once, his plan had been successful.