Book 2: Chapter 24: A Potential Ally

Book 2: Chapter 24: A Potential Ally

A steady flow of gelatinous sludge dripped down into the drainage tunnel. The smell alone was enough to turn Elijah’s stomach, but he was even more concerned with the persistent drops clinging to his scales. Most of them were confined to his upturned face, which made it all the worse.

Further complicating his situation was the enduring pain of the caustic ooze still burning its way through his scales. It wasn’t enough to derail his thoughts – especially after he’d spent so much time in the belly of an orca – but it was just distracting enough to be a constant irritation. Elijah ignored it, though not without a significant expenditure of willpower.

Thankfully, that was where his Mind cultivation came in handy. In addition to increasing the effect of his Regeneration attribute – and by no small degree – it had also further partitioned his mind into nine distinct sections. It wasn’t quite like having nine brains working for him, but it did give him the ability to quarantine distractions in such a way as to let him focus on the task at hand.

One of those sections was dedicated to the awareness of his Domain back on the island, another focused on One with Nature, and a third housed the pain waging a steady war through his body. The other six were entirely focused on climbing the tunnel wall toward a shaft that would lead him to the floor above.

Inch by inch, he climbed, moving so deliberately that it took him full minutes to move each foot. His caution wasn’t unfounded, either. The troll, despite its clear captivity, was the size of a fully-grown bull elephant, and Elijah wanted nothing more than to avoid its notice. One slip-up, and the thing could flatten him without even trying to. And if he actually drew the thing’s ire? He didn’t want to consider that.

So, he climbed and he hid, cloaked by Guise of the Unseen, and he eventually, he reached the six-foot shaft that led topside. It was only about two feet wide, which meant that in his scaled panther form, it would be a tight fit. However, he didn’t dare shift back into his smaller human form. Doing so would rob him of his stealth, and that would almost assuredly spell disaster. With that in mind, he resigned himself to a brief bout of claustrophobia as he wedged himself into place.

The going was tough, mostly because he couldn’t extend his claws more than an inch or two. However, Elijah was nothing if not persistent, and he slowly covered the distance to the top of the shaft. Fortunately, the grate meant to cover the top had rusted away, meaning that he could barely fit through.

Still, it was an even tighter fit than the shaft itself, and as he dragged himself through, the shards of rusted iron that had once been the grate scraped painfully against his scales. The remnants of the grate were incapable of piercing his natural armor, but it was still incredibly uncomfortable. He shifted that discomfort into another partition in his mind.

Meanwhile, the troll’s pustules continued to burst, sending a steady stream of oozes to collect in the cistern far below. And even though the massive creature was only ten feet away, Elijah forced himself to ignore it, save for a basic awareness of its position.

In the end, that sliver of attention saved his life.

Elijah had no idea what had alerted the troll, but one second, the thing was sitting and staring into nothing, and the next, an enormous fist was falling in Elijah’s direction. He ripped himself free of the shaft, the sudden movement tearing one of his scales free, then launched himself to the side, narrowly avoiding the descending fist.

It hit with thunderous impact, shaking the floor and sending Elijah off-balance. He quickly righted himself – partially due to his inflated Dexterity attribute, but also because of the instincts of the scaled panther whose form he’d taken – then bounded away. The troll roared in fury, erupting into violent motion as it dove for the intruder.

Elijah used every point of Strength he possessed to propel himself forward, but the Troll’s might clearly outstripped his own. The result was inevitable. Elijah knew it even as he felt the monster gaining on him with every passing millisecond.

But just before it caught up, the sound of rattling chains heralded Elijah’s saving grace. The bindings pulled taut, stopping the troll in its tracks. It roared in frustration, anger, and obvious agony as it reached out with dirty, meaty fingers, but by that point, Elijah was far out of range and sheltering on the other side of the room, where he turned to face the bound monster.

It was entirely contained by the thick chains attached to the manacles on its wrists and ankles, but still, Elijah wasn’t as worried about the metal as he was about the brickwork to which the bindings were attached. However, it quickly became clear that he was worried about nothing.

Well – not nothing.

The troll was certainly worth every ounce of trepidation Elijah could muster. And yet, it was obviously incapable of attaining its freedom. Otherwise, it would have already done so.

Even so, it certainly presented a problem in that it had clearly detected him. Until he lost its attention, he wouldn’t be slipping back into the sheltering embrace of Guise of the Unseen. With that in mind, he reluctantly turned his back on the slavering monster and took stock of his location.

The moment he did, he realized just how dire his situation was. He hadn’t been so injured since being digested by the orca guardian back in the Sea of Sorrows. He forced himself to look down at his body; one of his legs had been turned the wrong way – a sure sign of a compound fracture and probably a dislocated knee as well. He knew that it was even more serious than it appeared because, left like that, the blood flow would likely be interrupted, and the leg would die out.

In addition to that, he had multiple broken ribs as well as what felt like someone stabbing him in his lower back. Finally, there were multiple other contusions, each signaling another problem. The only solace was that, even with all of his broken ribs, it didn’t feel like any had punctured his lungs.

“Silver linings,” he muttered to himself as he looked up at the still growling troll. At least he wasn’t covered in a bunch of caustic blisters like his cellmate.

With a pained breath, Elijah channeled Ethera from his core and through his soul, fueling a cast of Healing Rain. A wave of relief washed over him as the soothing precipitation fell on his injuries, but he knew it wouldn’t be enough to heal him. Indeed, even Touch of Nature wouldn’t do anything until he embarked on the arduous task of setting his broken bones.

So, that was what he did.

Reaching down, he grabbed his lower leg, then gently twisted it. Pain lanced through his shin and up the entirety of his leg. Nausea followed soon after, making him feel like vomiting. However, he persisted, knowing that if he wanted to keep his leg, it had to be done. At first, it wouldn’t move, though. A gentle tug wasn’t enough. He needed something altogether more violent.

So, taking a deep breath, and with tears in his eyes, Elijah wrenched it back into place. He let out a loud, agonized cry, and for a moment, he blacked out from sheer shock. But he recovered his wits soon after, then continued the agonizing task of setting his broken bones.

Being melted by stomach acid was painful, but there was something altogether different – and arguably worse – about the pain he was forced to endure while setting those bones. Some of that was due to the fact that he was in complete control of it, which made things so much worse. But it was also the differing nature of the pain. Either way, he wouldn’t have wished either situation on even his worst enemies.

Even so, Elijah kept going until, at last, he’d accomplished the feat.

After that, it was a simple task of continuously casting Touch of Nature until he ran low on Ethera. Then, he rested until he’d regained enough to repeat the cycle. Over and over, he kept going until, at last, he managed to banish the pain altogether. Not long after that, he’d healed himself entirely.

Once that was done, he sagged against the wall and glanced over at the troll. Over the hours – or it might’ve been as much as a day – since Elijah had begun his healing, the creature had grown accustomed to his presence. It still wasn’t in a good mood, but it had at least stopped growling.

Elijah was staring vacantly at the creature when something occurred to him.

Healing Rain had a diameter of around thirty feet, which meant that its edge extended just enough to affect the troll’s lower legs. And to Elijahs surprise, where the rejuvenating precipitation had fallen – continuously over the past day – the cysts had all but disappeared.

Was that why the troll had calmed down? The rest of its body was still just as disgustingly infected as the rest, but those legs – they almost looked healthy.

Elijah glanced at the door, then back at the troll.

He still hadn’t accomplished the first task, which was to defeat the Warden. That meant that the ogre he’d killed wasn’t the guardian of the level – which was troubling, given how close it had come to killing him. Certainly, it hadn’t been an optimal fight; the monster had come upon him when he was incapable of using Guise of the Unseen – or Predator Strike – but it was still a healthy reminder that towers were meant to be challenged by entire groups, and the difficulty reflected that.

So, it was entirely possible that the Warden – wherever it was – might be far too strong for Elijah to defeat alone. Still – he didn’t have to be alone, did he? There was a potential ally only a dozen or so feet away.

Elijah glanced back at the troll, and as he did, an idea began to take shape.