Path of Dragons

For what felt like the thousandth time, Sadie surveyed her troops. Many were ill-prepared for what was coming, as evidenced by their obvious discomfort with their new gear. The armor itself was perfectly fitted, as befit a product made by the world's most powerful blacksmith. Some displays of unease were limited to standing uneasily. Other soldiers fidgeted with straps, tightening, loosening, then re-tightening them. A few even went through the motions of their drills, shadow fighting as if to remind themselves of the proper movements. Finally, there were the obsessive preparers. Those people who continuously checked their packs, sometimes even running off to gather something they'd forgotten.

It was chaos.

But amidst that bedlam were the veterans. Men and women who'd been there before. Some came from Svetogorsk, but there were plenty of others with experience in towers, the various battles in and around Ironshore, and a host of other conflicts across the world.

Wherever they'd gotten their experience, they were meant to be the anchors of the entire army, such as it was. And they acted like it. Some tried to instill order by directing the chaos, while others broke the tension with jokes or warm welcomes for the soldiers who would fight and possibly die beside them. But the ones that really drew Sadie's attention were the men and women who seemed entirely unbothered by it all.

Oddly enough, Miguel was one of them, even if his friend, Isaak, clearly was not. They'd both been through hell during their last trip to the Hollow Depths, and instead of holing up and avoiding going back, they'd been the first to sign up for the return. It was important, they'd both said. Necessary, even.

Unfortunately, they weren't going to be in the first wave. Instead, they were preparing for a different task altogether. Most of the elites were, including Carmen, Ron, the two boys, and Kurik.

"I wish they were coming with us," she admitted to Essex.

"They would be wasted," he pointed out. "This first wave isn't about fighting the threat. It's about improvement. They would skew everything."

Indeed, the vast majority of the first wave were below level one-hundred. Some, far below. They were fresh recruits who needed seasoning. Putting them in a tower with someone like Miguel would be disastrous, and not just because towers adapted to the highest level in the group of entrants. It was also more mundane than that. If they grew accustomed to elites dragging them out of the fire, they would never grow as soldiers. Or as people in general.

That was why Miguel and the other elites like Ron and Isaak were meant to attack the Chimeric Forge. The Primal Realm was dangerous, but like towers, it was also a strategic resource that offered an incredible opportunity to gain levels. According to reports from the first expedition, it featured prime grinding grounds that, if approached properly, made for great training while providing nearly endless waves of monsters.

Fortunately, Elijah's notes on the Primal Realm were extensive, and the people of Ironshore were nothing if not industrious. Because of that, they'd established a good plan to take advantage of the opportunity, only having to tweak it a little once they were inside.

The leader of that expedition had revealed that Elijah had gone about things all wrong. It was clear that the challenge of the Chimeric Forge wasn't meant to be confronted head-on. Nor was it intended to be fought alone. Instead, the dwarf – Megar – had employed a strategy that included the natives of the Primal Realm, equipping and building their strength before slowly pushing the hordes of chimeras back.

It was amazing what a difference top-notch crafters could make when fighting a never-ending horde of monsters.

Certainly, it helped that after it had been conquered, those monsters were much lower-leveled than they had been when Elijah had been sucked inside. If they'd fought it at full strength, they would have failed miserably. Or been stuck in the entry city – Vey'thaal – until they grew strong enough to conquer the Primal Realm.

It hadn't come to that. In reality, they'd probably overprepared, but in Megar's opinion, that was preferable than coming into a situation without the proper tools to do the job.

After that, Ironshore had attacked the opportunity with the same efficiency they'd used with the tower, organizing a schedule for the Chimeric Forge. The only limiting factor was that they refused to take anyone under level seventy-five. Primal Realms weren't like towers – not really. They weren't precisely static, but they didn't automatically set the difficulty based on the entrants. Instead, it was a complicated formula that Sadie failed to truly understand. The end result was that anyone below level fifty would fail to survive the high ethereal density for more than a few days, and if someone wanted to be effective, they'd need to be over seventy-five. Otherwise, they'd be incapable of even damaging the monsters inside, much less surviving the environmental damage from some of the fights.

Whatever the case, she felt certain that Miguel and Isaak would have only a little difficulty meeting the challenge. It wouldn't be easy. That was obvious. Even with their organizational skills and preparation, the first run of the Chimeric Forge had lost a few people.

But that was just war.

Those thoughts occupied Sadie's mind as she waited for everyone to arrive. Once the troops were assembled, she gave a basic speech explaining what they were doing and where they were going. Everyone had already been briefed, so the statement was mostly superfluous. However, Sadie considered redundancy a necessity in any army. That way, no one could claim they didn't know what was going on.

And that, in turn, might save lives.

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"I would say that I wish I was going with you, but that would be a lie," Essex admitted after they headed to his office for their afternoon tea. She would miss those when she headed down to the Hollow Depths. "My warfighting days are done. I'm perfectly happy staying here and training the next generation."

Over the past few weeks, Sadie had learned a little more about the leader of Ironshore's military. Essex was a combat veteran even before the world transformed, so he knew a thing or two about fighting wars. Or at least he knew enough to avoid it unless absolutely necessary.

Sadie didn't know if that attitude could persist in a world where everything was about fighting to get stronger. Doubtless, Essex would be left behind. When she said that, the older man had revealed that he was perfectly okay with that.

"I was content knowing I only had thirty years or so left on this planet. Now I have a lot longer. I don't have anything else to prove," he'd revealed when she asked about it. "I'll be happy so long as the people I care about are safe."

It was a fair attitude, especially for a man who, like her grandfather, was well past his prime. That disadvantage meant that he'd never reach what would have been his potential if he'd started earlier in life. Certainly, he could still achieve great gains – even Song Tianwei looked almost thirty years younger than he had before the world's transformation – but some obstacles were too steep to overcome.

Once they'd finished their tea, Sadie returned to find that everything was in order. So, she wasted no more time before leading them out of the marshalling yard – which was next to the city's military headquarters – and toward the Conclave Spires. Fortunately, the various cities had cut a deal with the Conclave to subsidize their transportation, so none of the soldiers had to pay.

Ten at a time, they were transported by the Space Mage to the staging grounds nearly five hundred miles away. The spires were near Hafnarfjörður, a formerly Icelandic city with fairly small population. The only reason the spires had been built was because they were one of the largest suppliers of salt in the world. Largely, that was because of their location close to the sea and access to geothermal evaporation pools, which had the added benefit of instilling significant ethera into the mundane seasoning. The end product wasn't exactly a natural treasure, but it wasn't that far off, either.

As soon as the difference between it and normal salt became clear, the city's importance had skyrocketed.

But Sadie was less interested in the city itself, and more in its proximity to an entrance to the Hollow Depths. The cave that led down below was only five miles away from Hafnarfjörður, and it was only a week's march from one of the illythiri outposts. In short, it was the closest they could get without using the Branch's teleportation network, which just wasn't feasible for so many people.

Even Sadie, who was far from poor, could scarcely afford using it, much less two thousand, mostly low-level soldiers.

Sadie was among the last group to take the Spires to just outside Hafnarfjörður. She had no interest in visiting the city, so they set out immediately, and soon enough, they found themselves entering one of the caves. That was where they met their guide, an illythiri named Ektara.

Like most elves, she was quite striking. Tall and lithe, with white hair and purplish-black skin. More importantly, she was familiar to a few members of the army who'd met the elf during their first foray into the Hollow Depths.

Once everyone was in the tunnels, they began the long journey below. At first, their surroundings were much like any other cave system. Indeed, Sadie was reminded of Ironshore's mines, in which she'd trained her army to deal with the expected claustrophobia.

It didn't work.

It was one thing to do drills in a mine, knowing good and well you're going to leave after, at most, a day or so. It was something altogether different to plunge ahead into the Earth's depths, with no respite in sight. Millions of tons of rocks overhead, combined with the often close quarters, meant that quite a few of the army broke.

Mostly humans and gnomes.

The dwarves were characteristically fine. They were semi-subterranean creatures by nature. And goblins – well, goblins tended to take everything in stride. But some humans weren't meant for such an environment.

Still, the ones afflicted by claustrophobia managed to overcome their discomfort, and as a group, they forged ahead. The illythiri scout led them through a maze of tunnels, never hesitating before choosing their route. That led Sadie to believe she was an Explorer by archetype, though one that incorporated at least a few combat abilities into her class.

Of course, they didn't make it through unscathed.

It was only a few hours before they experienced their first attack. The creature resembled an octopus, but one that hunted by clinging to walls and ambushing unsuspecting prey. It even had a stealth ability, and it was smart enough to wait patiently until the very last soldier passed beneath it.

That was when it struck, clearly believing that everyone else would just keep going.

Unfortunately for it, the person it attacked was one of the higher levels in the entire group – a veteran by any measure – so he managed to survive long enough to call for help. When the nearby soldiers wheeled around, they saw that the octopus had wrapped itself around the man and was suffocating him.

Using their short swords, the soldiers reacted on instinct, quickly hacking the thing apart. And it took some time, largely because the thing's tentacles were at least fifteen feet long, almost six inches thick, and made of rubbery flesh that resisted even the sharpest blade.

They managed the job, though, saving the man's life. If it would have been one of the weaker members of the army, they would have died.

It was not the first time they were attacked, and certainly not the oddest creature. There were scaled cats that stalked the tunnels, feathered bears, and rock monsters aplenty. The training they'd received was beneficial, but there was a stark difference between doing drills or sparring with your fellows and being attacked by powerful beasts.

So, by the time they reached the Hollow Depths, they were lucky that they hadn't lost anyone.

As Sadie looked out over the vast expanse of subterranean forest, she couldn't help but marvel at the miracle of it all. Often, Elijah talked about taking the time to appreciate the wonder of the world, and she recognized an appropriate moment to do just that. So, she remained on the cliff overlooking the wilderness that should not have existed, just taking it all in.

She wasn't the only one, either. For all that they came from well-developed planets with long histories that should have prepared them for the magical nature of the world, even the settlers could appreciate an amazing sight when they saw one.

And rightly so. The forest itself wasn't that different from one on the surface. There were trees, streams, waterfalls – and likely tons of wildlife. But the expression of those familiar things was where the difference came in. Bioluminescence, and in all sorts of colors, ranging from reds to greens to purples, abounded. Huge mushrooms grew from the ceiling above, casting the entire area in a soft, yellow glow.

It went on for miles and miles – much too far for Sadie to see the edge.

But as important as recognizing the wonder of the world was, they had a job to do. So, after only a few minutes, she and the army descended from the cliff and plunged into the Hollow Depths. Hopefully, they would soon reach their destination.