Elijah ignored the ta’alaki summoner’s monologue, instead preferring to focus on the task at hand. He crept forward under the concealment of Guise of the Unseen, covering the ground as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Sadie leveled a scathing insult at the summoner that sent him into a rage. He leaped at her, sword held high, but when the blade fell, her personal shield remained intact. More importantly, she countered with a horizontal slash that gouged his armor.

“You dare?!” he screamed, spittle flying from his reptilian mouth as he retreated. She kept it up, using Blade of the Avenger to keep him on the back foot. At the same time, Kurik and Dat continued to fire upon him. Crossbow bolts and arrows filled the air. Some, he knocked from the sky with his giant blade, but others reached him. Kurik’s arrows failed to penetrate the ta’alaki’s armor, but Dat’s pierced through the thick metal, eliciting hisses of pain.

That was when Elijah leaped upon his back and unleashed the power of the Shape of Venom. The caustic toxin that flowed from his fangs was both physical and ethereal in nature, and it was augmented by Venom Strike, Predator Strike, and, of course, accompanied by Insidious Malady.

To his credit, the ta’alaki summoner reacted quickly, slithering bonelessly to somehow dislodge Elijah from his back. For his part, Elijah narrowly avoided being caught. Instead, he bounded away, skittering across the floor before coming to a stop. Just as he recovered his feet, the summoner bellowed, “Strike me down, and you will come to regret your pitiful lives!”

None of the others paid the statement any mind. Instead, they continued to pile damage upon the ta’alaki by various means. It wasn’t like it mattered, though. The summoner’s fate was sealed the moment Elijah had gotten close enough to bite him. Now, it was only a matter of time before he succumbed.

Which didn’t make any sense.

Even as the summoner wobbled in place, pelted by a half-dozen projectiles a second, Elijah wondered why he wasn’t putting up more of a fight. He’d felt the power of the archdruids. He had experienced the might of the necromancer. And he’d barely survived fighting the aviak champion in the first challenge. By comparison, the summoner seemed like an afterthought.

Had Dat’s Hex of Tongues truly been so effective that it had neutered the summoner’s power entirely? The label implied that the ta’alaki wasn’t a physical fighter, but then again, neither had been the necromancer. No – something was wrong.

Elijah just wasn’t sure what that something could be.

So, he shifted into his caster form and laid on as much damage as he could. He cast Swarm and Storm’s Fury, adding Calamity for good measure. He even cast Nature’s Rebuke, though it wasn’t the supercharged version he could employ against unnatural creatures like the undead.

And over the next ten or fifteen seconds, the ta’alaki was ripped to pieces. He continued to scream nonsense, claiming that they were making a mistake, but they couldn’t afford to let up. So, they kept going until, at last, the creature fell before their combined might.

“Is that it?” asked Dat, looking around for more enemies.

“Uh…I don’t think so. I just –”

Elijah never got that full statement out, because the portal on the dais in the center of the room shimmered, dragging his attention away from what he’d meant to say. Before he could remark, that shimmer turned into a white light so intense that it rendered him briefly blind. His vision recovered a moment later, but by then, it was too late.

A claw the size of a Honda Civic gripped the portal. Elijah screamed, “Run!”

He needn’t have bothered. There were threats they could meet head-on, but the owner of that hand wasn’t one of them. Elijah sprinted toward his companions, and once he saw Ron lagging behind, he took a page out of Sadie’s book and tackled the man around the mid-section. A second later, he heaved the Healer onto one shoulder in a fireman’s carry as he sprinted toward the door.

Behind him, the world rumbled.

Not just the walls. Or the ground. The very air vibrated and burned. And all the while, Elijah thought he could hear the summoner’s final words. “You and the emperor will come to regret this!”

That much was already true.

Elijah and the others barreled through the door, slamming into the railing. It was fortunate it was there, because they would have otherwise plummeted into the magma below. As it was, the railing allowed them to rapidly change directions and race down the bridge. They only made it a few feet before they realized that, unlike was the case with their entrance, they couldn’t escape unseen. Miraculously, the battle between the giants had ceased as they all focused on the domed platform.

Or more accurately, on the monster emerging from the portal.

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No one could see it yet, but the giants clearly knew what it was. The leader bellowed, “The master is dead! Leave your enmity aside and focus on the coming cataclysm!”

It was at that moment that the dome broke, and every eye – human, dwarf, and giant alike – found their way to the monster that had appeared in their midst. Elijah had no words to describe the creature, which was composed of shadow, ash, and fire wrapped around a monstrous figure that defied explanation. It was hundreds of feet tall, and it hadn’t even fully emerged from the portal.

“Umbrafyix!” the leader of the giants shouted.

“MY BOND IS COMPLETE. MY WRATH IS ABSOLUTE. BURN.”

The creature waved its hand and the giants closest to the platform burst into flames, then burned to ash in the space of a second.

“BURN,” the umbrafyix echoed.

Elijah had no idea what to do. The creature before him didn’t just feel powerful. It was so far beyond him that he couldn’t imagine fighting it. It may as well have been a god, for all he could stand up to it.

The only answer was to run, but even that seemed like a fantasy. Never was that more obvious than when the giants’ leader – a creature that, on its own, could have ripped Elijah in half – tried to attack the umbrafyix. And the giant was swatted aside like an insect. He screamed as he plummeted to the sea of magma below.

The other giants raced forward, intent on attacking. Perhaps they knew something Elijah didn’t, because their charge proved suicidal. And it wasn’t a long, drawn-out process, either. They were slain in seconds, and the gargoyles as well as ashassins followed soon after.

Elijah’s mind whirled as he tried to think of a plan, but as the creature finally leveled its gaze on him and his friends, he found nothing. So, he fell back on the same tactics they’d established in a hundred other fights. He cast Healing Rain, then loaded his companions with Soothe. Meanwhile, Ron started casting his most powerful heal, and Sadie encased everyone in shields. Dat and Kurik used what defensive abilities they possessed while Elijah initiated the shift into his most durable form.

They all knew it was useless.

It was obvious that they couldn’t stand up to that creature’s attacks, and now that all the giants had been slain, there was nothing else in the cavern to draw its attention.

“SLAYERS. DIE NOW.”

The thing raised its arms, clutched its shadowy claws into fists, and then brought them down upon the remnants of the onyx dome. It shattered, but Elijah was more concerned with the wave of ethera-laced flames racing in his direction. Even as his transformation into a lamellar ape completed, he knew he couldn’t survive their touch. Nor could he dodge. Those flames reached hundreds of feet into the air, so there was no escape.

“I’m sorry for –”

Just as he’d begun his apology, the flames reached them. With a sound like a rushing freight train, they swept past. He closed his eyes, and as he was enveloped by intense fire, Elijah was surprised that he didn’t feel any pain. It was only when he opened his eyes that he realized that he was entirely unharmed. Moreover, he was looking at bright red scales.

Only a moment later, he heard Cinderath’s voice say, “SAVE THE EGGS. PRESERVE THE PORTAL. I WILL DEAL WITH THIS ABOMINATION.”

“ABOMINATION? BURN!”

Elijah glanced back at his companions, and he saw that they were just as surprised as he was. Sadie said, “Don’t say it.”

“What?”

“You were going to point out that making friends with the monster was a good idea,” she replied. “Don’t.”

“But it was?”

“Bro. Not the time.”

“Fair enough,” he said. Then, he asked, “How are we going to…oh, wait, there we go.”

The kraken had just lifted its tentacle to reveal that another of its tentacles had formed a ramp that eventually led to the platform. It didn’t take the group long to recognize that it was their only option.

“I don’t belong here,” Kurik complained as he followed Elijah and Sadie out onto the tentacle. “It ain’t right…”

“You said you like this kind of thing, bro.”

“Shut up.”

After that, they all went silent as they raced along the impromptu bridge, which dipped below the onyx path and circled around. Apparently, the kraken’s tentacles were far longer than Elijah had suspected.

Meanwhile, a titanic battle raged overhead. The kraken wailed on the umbrafyix, and it scratched and clawed, sending gouts of fire that were hot enough to burn even the creature who lived in a pool of magma. It also kept screaming, “BURN!” over and over again.

Even from a distance, the heat of it was enough to blister Elijah’s scales. Thankfully, Ron was on top of things, healing the damage as soon as it appeared. The distance they needed to travel wasn’t great, so they quickly found themselves back on the original platform. By that point, the battle between the kraken and the umbrafyix had moved on, with the pair descending into the magma pit.

However, the damage was already done.

Three of the five glass tubes were cracked. The fire spirits within had gone wild, hammering against the tubes in an effort to escape. The glass held, but the rapidly spreading cracks suggested that wouldn’t remain the case for much longer. So, repairing those became the first order of business.

“Sadie, you still have that putty, right? The stuff you use to repair your armor?” Elijah asked. She nodded, and he continued, “We need to use it on those tubes. If they fail, the portal goes with them.”

She didn’t need any other instructions. Instead, she retrieved the can of putty from her pack, then ran to do as he’d suggested. At the same time, Elijah cast his senses out and looked for the eggs. Thankfully, they were just out of sight behind the now-dead summoner’s throne. Elijah ran to inspect them, and when he arrived, he saw that they were entirely unharmed.

From a visual standpoint, the eggs looked like freshly blown glass, but to his senses, they screamed with potent vitality. He knew he was looking at future guardians, and as such, his vow to protect them meant that much more.

Complicating that resolution was the fact that, while they were all occupied with the tasks at hand, a trio of powerful ashassins had climbed out of the portal. These newcomers were larger and more magically potent than any Elijah and his companions had yet to encounter. What’s more, the biggest of the three took one look at him and smiled before saying, “Little Druid, give us those eggs, and your death will be quick and painless. Resist, and you will die suffering.”

Elijah’s answer was as predictable as the rage suddenly blooming within his heart. He let out a roar and threw himself at the large creature, never even considering what the thing’s touch might do to him.