Path of Dragons

Book 4: Chapter 19: The Curse of Empathy

“Are you hurt?” Elijah asked, releasing the girl’s wrist.

“I…I twisted my ankle,” she mumbled between sobs. “But…but it’s fine now. How is it fine now?”

Elijah pointed to the ceiling, where clouds had gathered, dumping Healing Rain on them both. “Spell,” he said.

“But how?” she asked. “He drains ethera. That’s why nobody can resist once they’re in here.”

Elijah had certainly felt the bite of that ability, but he’d overcome it – at least temporarily – via his cultivation. However, even that wasn’t enough to resist for long, and he’d only managed a few casts before he’d lost access to his own spells. However, since the Warden had been slain, the detrimental effect had faded away. The same was true of the one that limited his attributes.

“I’m special,” he said.

“Are you here to save us?” the girl asked, her eyes wide with hope.

The answer to that question was a definitive no. He had come to the city to kill Roman and anyone else who’d had a hand in his sister’s death. However, he couldn’t ignore the plight of so many. He didn’t know if the people in the cages he’d seen were there for legitimate reasons, but he suspected that that wasn’t the case. Valoria was a cesspool of corruption, inequality, and oppression, which didn’t give Elijah any confidence concerning the legitimacy of their actions.

And the presence of the disgusting Warden had only sullied Elijah’s opinion of the city even further. It took a truly horrible person to do what that man had intended, so Elijah didn’t feel even remotely guilty about his death.

“And what about the guards? What about the rest of army?” she asked.

“I intend to kill them all,” Elijah stated. “And the leader, as well as anyone who else tries to stop me. You’re welcome to help. Or you can sit it out. It makes no difference in what I’m going to do, though.”

“Who are you?”

“Just a person who has a bone to pick with Roman Cain,” Elijah answered. Then, he sighed, before kneeling beside the Warden’s body. He began to rummage through the man’s pockets. “What’s your name?”

“Leslie,” the girl answered. “Leslie Manning. M-my parents are out there. Are you going to free them?”

At first, Elijah didn’t answer. Instead, he continued looking through the Warden’s pockets. He found a folio, but when he tried to access it, he got no response. Other than that, the Warden only had some mundane clothing, a flask full of some truly foul-smelling alcohol, and a Rolex watch that no longer kept time. Elijah took it all, moving to another pocket.

“Jackpot,” he said when he found what he was looking for. He hefted the keyring, saying, “I’m pretty sure this will open the cages.” He tossed it to Leslie, who caught it after a brief fumble. “Go start unlocking cages. If people are hurt, send them in here. I’ll heal them.”

After that, Elijah settled in to wait, summoning Healing Rain the second one of the naked prisoners stumbled in. There were no clothes around, and it seemed that the man was accustomed to his own nudity. He didn’t seem self-conscious, which was probably due as much to his poor condition as his mental state. Still, as soon as the regenerative precipitation hit him, the man let out a sigh of relief and gave Elijah a nod.

Over the next hour, more people came into the room. When one was healed, another would take their place until, at last, Eljiah had healed nearly a thousand people. And to his surprise, he gained another level, bringing him to seventy-eight. That, more than anything, told him just how close to death the prisoners had been.

Finally, a man and a woman approached, introducing themselves. Elijah barely registered their names, but he did notice that they had scrounged up some rags to cover their nudity. Many others had as well.

“Thank you,” the woman said. “What are you going to do?”

“Our daughter said you intend to kill the guards. We want to help,” the man said before Elijah could answer.

“No.”

“What?”

“I don’t need your help,” Elijah stated. He’d thought about it long and hard, eventually coming to the conclusion that bringing a thousand half-starved prisoners with him would do more harm than good. “But I do intend to kill the guards. And anyone else in my way. Once I’m finished, you can take their gear. In fact, there are three bodies down the hall over that way.” Elijah pointed in the direction he’d arrived. “Take their armor and weapons.”

“What else should we do? If we go back out there, we’ll be captured and imprisoned. The Warden is dead, but they have other means of keeping us powerless.”

Elijah answered, “I don’t really care what you do. Like I said, I’m here on my own mission. I’ve already deviated by freeing you. I’ve wasted more than an hour healing you. I don’t regret those actions, but if I do anything else, it will interrupt my task. At best, it’ll make it more difficult. At worst, it’ll mean they’re ready for me.”

With that, he stood. He’d completely healed from the injuries he’d incurred, so he was back to full strength. However, when he made to leave, he felt a wave of guilt. He couldn’t leave them like this. No matter what he said, his empathy wouldn’t allow him to ignore their plight.

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So, before he left, Elijah reached into his bag and retrieved a handful of berries. Each one was around the size of a strawberry, but more importantly, he knew that even a quarter of a grove berry would do wonders for the prisoners’ state. So, he retrieved one of his knives, then started cutting the berries into quarters. It would take almost his entire supply, but that was a small price to pay to help the innocent people.

“Here,” Elijah said, handing the woman one of the quarter slices. “Eat this. It’ll help.”

She took it into her dirty fingers, then hesitantly popped it into her mouth. A moment later, she gasped, “What is that?”

“Grove berry,” Elijah answered. “I have enough for everyone to get a slice like that. So, get people organized while I cut them up.”

The woman was quick to respond, and Elijah got to work. With his high Dexterity, he accomplished his task quickly, and before he knew it, he was handing out slices of grove berry to each of the prisoners. Within moments of ingesting the magical fruits, each of the prisoners started to look healthier. Color bloomed in their cheeks, and they noticeably filled out. They were all still clearly malnourished, but it helped. More importantly, the grove berries gave a sorely needed burst of energy.

Seeing the prisoners smiling was almost enough to distract Elijah from his mission. However, all he had to do was focus on the facet of his Quartz Mind where he’d quarantined his seething anger to reaffirm his attention. Still, he made certain that everyone was as well-recovered as they could be before he told the two leaders that he was moving on.

“We don’t know how to thank you,” said the man.

“We don’t even know your name,” the woman added.

“I know,” Elijah said. Then, he turned and left, taking the only other exit he’d found. It sloped upward, so he expected that it would lead to the palace. Once he was out of sight, he shifted into his draconid form and let Guise of the Unseen envelop him. As soon as it did, he let out a subtle sigh of relief.

He liked helping people. Probably a little too much, if he was honest. And it had taken every ounce of his willpower to abandon the prisoners. He’d aided them enough that there was some hope for survival, but it was far from guaranteed. That was especially true, given the situation in the city.

Without armor or weapons, there was every chance that they would only be recaptured or killed.

Elijah pushed those thoughts from his mind as he continued upward, eventually reaching an intersection manned by another trio of guards. Using a similar tactic to the one he’d used against the previous guards, he snuck up behind one, used Predator Strike to ensure an easy kill, then Flicker Step to take out another before they had a chance to react. The final kill came easily enough, largely because the remaining guard never got past fumbling with his sword. It was all the delay Elijah needed to gain the advantage and kill him with a swipe of his claws across the man’s throat.

Once they were dead, he dragged the bodies back the way he’d come, depositing them inside the prison. The former captives quickly fell upon the guards looting their gear. But Elijah didn’t see anything else, because he moved on without a word.

Four more times, he repeated the actions. At one intersection, he did find something interesting, though. That same odd smell of death wafted out of one passage. Elijah wanted to investigate, but he pulled himself up short. That would almost assuredly prove to be one more distraction that he couldn’t afford. It wouldn’t be long before the missing guards would be discovered, so he needed to get a move on, lest he run the chance of being found.

So, as much as his instincts screamed at him to investigate, he refused to acknowledge them.

With that in mind, he continued on, climbing ever higher until, at last, he reached the palace proper. The tunnel ended in a heavy door, beyond which was a much more opulent hall. So, Elijah slaughtered the two soldiers on guard, dragged them back to the prison, then returned to the palace entrance.

Shifting back to his human form, he opened the door and slipped through it before once again adopting his stealthy draconid shape. After pulling the door closed, he continued on. Vaguely, Elijah acknowledged the rich décor. The dungeons had featured bare, utilitarian walls and flickering torches, but the palace corridors were the exact opposite. Everywhere he looked, there was marble, gold, and silver. Masterful paintings decorated the walls, and statues were displayed in alcoves.

It was as if someone had seen examples of aristocratic wealth on television and endeavored to copy what they had seen on screen. As a result, everything looked incredibly impressive, so long as it was beheld at a distance. Anyone familiar with the aped styles on display would know the difference the moment they noticed the sloppy details.

Elijah was no expert. Nor was he some great appreciator of art. However, he knew enough and cared enough to recognize the mockery such blatantly poor facsimiles represented.

If his opinion of Roman could get any worse, it would have at that point.

Keeping going, Elijah found a multitude of guards barring his way. However, instead of using his previous strategy, which would leave plenty of evidence behind, he chose a more subtle tactic.

Soon enough, he’d found his way to a side room that was close enough that he could sense the collection of men and women guarding what Elijah thought was the entrance to Roman’s personal quarters. He resumed his human form, then cast Swarm, targeting it via One with Nature.

The spell manifested in the form of a thousand biting fleas. They descended upon the guards, completely undetected before they started biting. Even then, the guards’ reactions were subdued, and the fleas disappeared before they grew truly distressed.

Elijah waited a few minutes, then used Swarm again.

And again after that.

Without the enhancement provided by his old Staff of Natural Harmony, the afflictions they delivered weren’t nearly as overwhelming as they once had been. That situation was further exacerbated by the fact that the guards had a decent number of levels under their belt.

However, they weren’t invulnerable. And three casts of Swarm meant that the sheer weight of afflictions eventually showed their worth.

The first guard abruptly fell to her knees. The next followed soon after. By the time the first had fallen to all fours, another three had collapsed. The leader – who was, presumably, the highest level – maintained his feet the longest. While his comrades collapsed all around him, he panicked, demanding to know what was wrong. The others were in no condition to answer, and now that the afflictions had reached a crescendo, there was no stopping what was coming.

By the time he finally collapsed, the first two had fallen unconscious. They died only thirty seconds later. The rest followed soon enough until, at last, they were all dead.

After that, Elijah took a few minutes to stash the bodies in the side room. He gathered anything he thought was useful, including a few pouches full of ethereum. Most of the coins were copper, but there were a few silver ones in there as well. And one gold ethereum, which was quite a haul, all things considered. He also added a few knives and a sword to his collection, but the armor didn’t seem very high quality, so he left that.

Once all of that was finished, he shifted back into his draconid form, used Guise of the Unseen, and entered what he suspected was Roman’s quarters. At last, he’d reached his goal. Soon enough, he would kill the man who’d murdered his sister.

That thought, while somewhat disturbing, comforted Elijah in a way nothing else had since he’d discovered Alyssa’s fate.