Book 3: Chapter 55: An Estate of Unrest

Book 3: Chapter 55: An Estate of Unrest

Cool night air tickled Elijah’s skin as he stepped through the portal and into the lighthouse tower. For a moment, he ignored the notifications announcing his entrance and informing him of the task he was meant to accomplish, instead focusing on his surroundings. The air wasn’t just cold. It carried with it a mostly unidentifiable odor that reminded him of a long-neglected basement. Yet, the environment didn’t support that imagined scenario, because he found himself in the middle of a forest populated by gnarled trees.

Fog clung to the ground, obscuring the underbrush from sight. Elijah could feel it via One with Nature, but nothing about it was abnormal. However, he couldn’t escape the tendril of unease that gripped his spine. As the others materialized beside him, he acknowledged his notifications. The first was:

Welcome to The Magister’s Estate, Level One. To advance to Level Two, complete the task before you.

It was similar to every other notification he’d received upon entering a tower, and the name didn’t give him any information as to the nature of the challenge. So, Elijah moved on to the next notification.

Task: Discover the source and take the first step to destroying it.

“That’s vague,” he muttered. He turned to K’hana and continued, “Find the source. What do you think it means?”

“We do not know, outsider,” Badu growled, pushing past Elijah and looking around. “We must explore the area and find –”

Just then, a screech filled the air, cutting him off. It was a long way off, but it still sent another chill up Elijah’s spine. More importantly, it clearly frightened Badu. The elf took a step back, a ripple of air surrounding his body.

It was all Elijah could do not to sigh in frustration. Over the course of the journey to the lighthouse, he’d learned a few things about the elves. Their personalities were still something of a mystery – they weren’t eager to reveal too much to him, after all – but one thing was obvious: they were even more inexperienced than he was. Sure, they’d come from a long-developed world where the touch of the World Tree had been present for millennia. However, the nature of their society was such that none of them had ever even sniffed a tower. On their world of Erag, that privilege was reserved for the aristocracy or their forces.

And the elves who’d come to Earth came from the elven equivalent of the ghetto. Or a trailer park. They were the poorest of the poor. The desperate masses whose only hope for any future was to pick up everything, travel across multiple universes, and settle in a dangerous world full of the unknown. Because of that, Elijah was far and away the most experienced among the party, at least when it came to towers.

“Okay, so as far as I can tell, each of you can take three buffs from me,” Elijah said, using one of the gaming terms he’d learned in cities like Argos and Norcastle. They just felt less awkward. “So, what do you want? I can do everything but Ethera.”

After he was forced to explain what he meant, they each told him their preferences. And understandably, they all asked for Aura of Renewal, Essence of the Boar, and Essence of the Monkey. In addition, they received Essence of the Wolf, which didn’t take up any of their slots. For his part, Elijah added Essence of the Lion, intending to switch it out for Shield of Brambles if the situation called for it. For now, though, he reasoned that, as the group’s designated Healer, he wasn’t supposed to take any damage. So, he applied his buffs accordingly.

Syka added a spell which coated their bodies in barely-visible armor that looked like it was made of rock. According to her, it wasn’t meant to increase any attributes. Rather, it blunted any damage they might have to endure. Although the spell could only take so much damage before it fell away, Elijah was happy for the extra protection.

None of the others had any buffs to apply, which Elijah found odd. He had so many that he’d just assumed that everyone else had access to similar enhancements. Obviously not, though.

Once everyone was buffed, the group set out through the trees. As they did, the screeching grew ever louder. To Elijah, the cries sounded like nothing he’d ever heard before – a combination of a birdcall and a human’s screams, with a little extra reverberation thrown in for good measure. Either way, it was wholly unnerving – a state that affected the elves just as much as it did him.

If it had been up to Elijah, he would have shifted into his draconid form and remained under the cover of Guise of the Unseen. However, that would have exposed the other members of the party. He forced himself to remember that, unlike in the previous towers he’d conquered, his job wasn’t to do everything. In fact, his only task was to keep everyone alive.

To that end, he remained in his human form, alert and ready for any dangers that might present themselves.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Or that was what he thought.

A second later, he finished casting his spell, and thick vines erupted from the ground, tangling themselves around the alpha ghoul’s legs. It tried to rip free, but they held. It was only temporary, but it would allow the others to refocus.

Even as he resumed healing, Elijah saw something that, if he wasn’t so busy, would have elicited a groan.

Badu twirled, aiming a round kick at the hulking ghoul. He was nearly a dozen feet away, but the ability sent a series of wickedly sharp air blades at the ghoul. They hit with a shower of dull blood, but they also severed the roots keeping the ghoul in place.

And that was more than enough to ruin everything.

The monster ripped its legs free of Elijah’s immobilizing spell, then sighted in on Badu. Even as the elf landed, the creature stomped forward and clamped its claws around him. Gbartik let out its taunting yell, but it was no good. There was no diluting the alpha ghoul’s ire for the elf who’d injured it.

Elijah cast Soothe on Badu, then renewed Healing Rain. But those spells were incapable of keeping up with the monster’s might. Badu screamed as his bones were crushed beneath the creature’s grip, but even with Elijah’s efforts mending the worst of the damage, he was incapable of stopping the monster’s jaws from closing around his neck.

His screams turned to gurgles as the ghoul ripped his throat out.

That’s when Elijah arrived, slapping his hand on Badu’s leg and channeling Touch of Nature through his body. His flesh mended, and the gurgling scream turned to cries of agony. That just invited the ghoul to try again.

However, Elijah wasn’t going to alloy that. He aimed his staff at the monster’s legs in a sweeping attack that ripped its feet out from under it. Badu scrambled free as the alpha ghoul fell, and Elijah shoved him away.

Then, he reared back and brought his staff down in a sledgehammer strike that shattered the creature’s face. It wasn’t enough to disable the monster, but it still provided a great distraction until, at last, Gbartik arrived.

Smaller ghouls crawled all over the golem’s back, ripping its rocky flesh free in a shower of pebbles and dust. Elijah reapplied Soothe, but even when he dashed forward and used Touch of Nature, it was clear that his efforts would come up short.

He looked back to see that his party was on the verge of being overwhelmed. None were down, yet, but that didn’t look like it was going to last long.

Elijah knew what he had to do.

“Retreat!” he shouted. “I can’t keep up with the damage!”

To their credit, the elves did just that. And with Syka’s quicksand spell, the ghouls were slowed just enough to give them an opportunity to get away. Which left Elijah alone.

That was fine, though.

He was a Druid. More, he was an Animist. And if there was one thing he was good at, it was going solo. Even as his party members escaped, Elijah shifted into his lamellar ape form.

Then, he unleashed bestial hell.