Even at the best of times, landing was the most difficult part of flying, and Elijah had still yet to master it. So, trying to land with Sadie clutched in his talons was a recipe for disaster. That was why he didn’t even bother. Instead, when he reached Kurik’s Killin’ Field, he used Shape of the Guardian, shifting his form in mid-air while transferring Sadie’s unconscious form from his talons to his arms. By the time he hit the ground in an eruption of dirt, she was safe. And just as importantly, the durable form was more than capable of taking the impact of the fall.

Setting her down, Elijah turned his attention to his other companions, who were still fighting against an onslaught of aviaks. The flood Elijah had expected had slowed a little, and the bodies were piled high, but both Dat and Kurik were still standing. Though Elijah couldn’t help but note that they both bore the evidence of multiple injuries. Kurik in particular had taken the worst of it, and his entire body was coated in blood. That wasn’t surprising, given that his was the lowest level. But the dwarf still fought with characteristic stoicism.

Elijah ran to them, already having transformed back into his caster form. In seconds, he’d summoned a Healing Rain, and as it dumped its rejuvenating payload on the pair of combatants, he also cast Soothe on them both. He had plenty of ethera, too, so he made liberal use of Nature’s Bloom as well, and before long, they’d recovered. It would take a lot more to get them back to peak fighting strength, but for now, they were as close as they would get.

And it showed.

Suddenly, they surged forward, regaining their lost ground and plugging the gap between the two earthen bulwarks. Dat in particular displayed fighting prowess Elijah hadn’t expected, using his long daggers – or were they shortswords? – with ruthless efficiency. In addition, he’d activated some sort of ability that allowed him to counter every single attack. At first, Elijah didn’t even recognize it as a class technique, thinking that Dat was just more skilled than the bestial wraiths. However, after only a few moments, he sensed the swirl of ethera and saw the slight halo of green light surrounding the Witch Hunter.

Then, after another few moments, that shroud of energy winked out, and Dat returned to his normal level of prowess. Predictably, that’s when he started taking more wounds, but that was what Elijah was there for. He continued to heal, resuming the role he’d abandoned to rescue Sadie. This time, though, things were a little more precarious. The enemies were fewer, but without Sadie standing between the enemy and the much less durable members of the party, things frequently got dicey.

But Elijah poured ethera out, keeping his allies as healthy as the situation would allow, and at the same time, set his Quartz Mind to working overtime. Nine distinct apertures swirled, drawing ethera in, pushing it through his Soul and into his Core. Elijah couldn’t quantify just how much it affected his ability to replenish his ethereal stores, but he knew it was significant.

It was also the only way he could keep up. Never before was he more grateful for his advantages in cultivation and levels, because there was no chance he could have effectively filled his role without the additional power they gave him. As it was, even Elijah’s power was taxed by the task at hand, and he went to the well a few too many times. His pool of ethera dipped to dangerous levels, and at times, he struggled to cast even Soothe, much less the much more powerful Nature’s Bloom.

But at least Healing Rain was there to fill in the gaps.

Eventually, even the trickle of aviaks slowed to a much slower pace. Then, in what felt like a sudden turn after spending so long engaged in constant battle, the world went silent.

It was over.

There were hundreds of corpses before the group. Most were wraiths, having withered to almost nothing after their deaths. But there were plenty of aviaks as well. As for Dat and Kurik, they were both on their last legs. Their shoulders drooped in fatigue, and Elijah could see the signs of ethereal exhaustion. If they had more than a few more skills in them, Elijah would have been incredibly surprised.

Which was why, when a final foe emerged from the forest, Elijah knew that he would need to shoulder the bulk of the burden.

“Aviak champion,” Dat said, his hands trembling as he gripped his weapons. His leather coat had been ripped to shreds, and he didn’t even have the energy to smile. “Not sure on the level, but it’s high. Higher than me.”

The aviak champion, which was the one Elijah had seen guarding the egg at the bottom of the cenote, lived up to its name. The creature looked similar to the others, though it was more than twice their height. It was also quite a bit bulkier, with sharper talons, a more aggressive beak, and much longer spears. It also wore a leather kilt, the only instance of the creatures wearing any sort of clothing.

It stopped a few dozen feet from the bulwark, raised its spears, and let loose a challenging screech. It clacked the two wooden poles together and screeched again.

“What do you want to do?” asked an exhausted Kurik.

“I got this,” Elijah said, stepping forward.

“Alone?”

“No. I’m not stupid. If you see an opening, take it. But neither of you are in any condition for a prolonged fight,” he explained. “I am.”

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“Can you take it?” Dat asked.

Elijah shrugged. “No clue. It feels…it’s strong. I can tell you that. But I’ve killed strong enemies before,” he said. And that was true. There had been quite a few of his foes that were, at least at the time, stronger than him. The spider that had set up its nest in the pass through the mountain range next to Ironshore, for one. The hydra, for another. And many of the monsters he’d fought in various towers, too. Even Thor had been stronger than him.

Yet, he’d always come out on top.

Regardless, he had a couple of tricks up his sleeve that he hoped would make all the difference. After all, Guardian’s Renewal was a powerful ability that could turn the tide of any battle.

So, without further deliberation, Elijah used Shape of the Guardian. It lacked Dexterity, which meant that it wasn’t an ideal form. Yet, it was much better for one-on-one fighting than Shape of the Predator, which was far better suited to ambush or hit-and-run tactics.

Besides, after the long battle, he’d gotten low on ethera, so shifting back and forth probably wouldn’t be possible.

His body transformed, his arms lengthening as his postured changed. Black and red scales sprouted across his body, and Strength suffused his limbs. He had a feeling he would need it, going by the aviak champion’s rippling muscles.

The monster screeched at him, its fury evident.

Elijah roared back, his own boundless rage singing through his mind. And then, as if they’d both heard the same starting bell, they charged. The two hulking combatants thundered toward one another, covering the ground between them in an instant. And when they clashed, a shockwave spread across the area, sending withered wraith corpses rolling away.

Elijah hit the creature in a shoulder tackle, wrapping his arms around its waist and driving it backward. As he did, he activated Iron Scales, but even that powerfully defensive ability was incapable of stopping the aviak’s spear from stabbing through the scales on his back. Numbing poison spread from the wound, telling Elijah he was on a timer. But even as the monster continuously stabbed him, he lifted and twisted, body slamming the thing into the ground.

It tried to cushion its fall with an outstretched wing, but that limb was inferior to the task at hand. Perhaps if it had been a proper arm, it might have worked. But wings were fragile by nature, and even though the aviak was clearly far more durable than its counterparts, it was still bird-like enough that it shared that weakness with other avian creatures.

Bones shattered, erupting into an explosion of feathers, flesh, and blood.

Once again filling the air with its screeching, the creature repeatedly stabbed Elijah’s back. It received quite a few small, thorny injuries in reprisal, but those were no match for the thing’s constitution. More importantly, the numbness continued to spread through Elijah’s body, already affecting his lungs.

But he kept going, snapping out with his jaws and taking a chunk out of the aviak’s shoulder. It returned the favor by stabbing its beak into his face. Fortunately, his brow ridge took the brunt of the impact, preventing him from losing the eye. Yet, it was enough to blur his vision on that side.

Like that, the two sides continued the battle, with Elijah snapping out and wrapping his jaws around the haft of the aviak’s spear. He bit down, shattering it into splinters. The bird-like humanoid responded by jabbing the broken shaft into Elijah’s side. The second spear was broken only a few moments later, leaving both combatants unarmed.

So, they fought. Tooth and claw. Beak and talon.

There was no grace to it. Perhaps if the aviak had been in better shape – it had clearly been injured and drained by its own battle against the wraiths Elijah had led into the cenote – it may have gone differently. Despite its size, the creature was clearly built for speed. And it likely had access to at least one skill to accentuate it. But it barely had enough ethera to keep from collapsing, much less enough to power any skills.

So, they fought like beasts, tearing into one another with no thought for defense, save for Elijah’s Iron Scales. The results were horrific, with both combatants taking a dozen wounds before the first thirty seconds were gone. Elijah’s attacks were more savage, but the aviak champion had already given itself an advantage with the progressive effect of its poisoned spears. The weapons themselves had been destroyed, but the paralytic remained.

Elijah labored, struggling to breathe as his muscles refused to cooperate. Meanwhile, the aviak recognized his weakness and renewed the fury of its attacks, eviscerating Elijah with every swipe of its talons. He tried to block. He attempted to fight back. And his Iron Scales continued to show their worth.

However, with the paralytic coursing through his veins, it was only a matter of time before he succumbed.

The solution was simple, though he didn’t activate Guardian’s Renewal straight away. Instead, he took every bit of punishment the monster could dish out. With every landed attack, pain lanced through his body – apparently, the paralytic didn’t shield him from that, which meant that it was likely magical in nature – but still, Elijah held out.

Then, suddenly, there was a dagger sticking out of the thing’s side. An arrow followed, taking it in its beady eye. The monster screeched, but if Dat and Kurik expected a couple of small wounds to take the creature out, they were sorely mistaken. It responded with predictable alacrity, throwing its lone working wing out wide. Its legs bunched as it readied itself to pounce.

But Elijah hadn’t remained idle during the brief distraction. Instead, he’d finally used Guardian’s Renewal, and even as the powerful ability beat back the paralytic, he shot to his feet and threw his repaired body at the distracted creature.

The results were predictable.

The aviak champion hadn’t been in peak condition when it had arrived, and that had only gotten worse as it traded blows with Elijah. So, as his ability finally banished the paralytic and his body mended itself, the creature was at a distinct disadvantage. Elijah took that and ran with it, tackling the weakened and injured monster to the ground. It tried to fend him off, but due to its injuries and the lack of its weapons, it couldn’t stand up to Elijah’s fury.

He rained one blow after another down on the monster, breaking bones with each falling fist. It screeched in pain, but after only a few seconds, those sounds turned to warbling whimpers. A couple of moments later, they became gurgling gasps. And finally, only the sound of Elijah’s fists hammering into its increasingly ruptured body filled the air.

He didn’t stop until it had been pulverized beyond all recognition, and a flood of experience flowed into him. Even then, his rage-fueled thoughts spurred him to continue, to make an example of any creature dumb enough to challenge him.

With some effort, Elijah pushed those thoughts aside and forced himself to return to his caster form. Like that, he straddled the fallen monster. Covered in blood and panting from the effort, he looked back to see his wide-eyed companions.

“I think it’s dead, bro.”

Elijah’s shoulders sagged. “Yeah. I think so, too.”