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Elijah raced forward, already shifting into the Shape of Thorn, but he knew he wouldn’t get there soon enough to save Dat. Even as a huge, lightning bolt-shaped staff appeared in Yloa’s hand, Elijah’s body twisted and transformed. As the staff fell toward Dat’s head, Elijah let out a scream of primal frustration. The world felt like it was moving in slow motion, yet as strong as he was, Elijah couldn’t force himself to go any faster.

He was destined to fail.

The staff – which, with its sharp end, functioned more like a spear – connected.

A bright light flashed, nearly blinding Elijah, but when he blinked free of the dark spots in his vision, he realized two things. First, his transformation was complete, and the additional Strength drove him forward with vastly increased speed. Second, Dat was unharmed. He still wasn’t moving, but he showed no wounds from the attack. It only took a moment for Elijah to recognize that both Sadie and Lamar had thrown their respective shields on the Witch Hunter, and that had been just enough to protect Dat from Yloa’s blow.

The Lightning Emperor was not deterred.

With a look of annoyance twisting his expression, he reared back, ready to repeat the attack. But now that Elijah had adopted the form of the Thorned Sentry, he had more options available to him. He used Bestial Charge.

Before the second blow could fall, Elijah rammed into the Lightning Emperor. It felt like running headfirst into a wall. And though Yloa didn’t move more than a few scant inches, he did move. More importantly, his attack was once again fouled, and the bladed end of his staff tore into the floor, plunging almost a foot deep.

At the same time, Ron shouted, “Heals aren’t working!”

Elijah didn’t need to be told what was coming. Ron was extremely open with his capabilities – he claimed that it was necessary so his companions knew his limits – and so, Elijah knew what the Healer would do as a last resort. He recalled the description of the man’s most potent heal:

Healer’s Burden

A powerful heal that far exceeds the effect of any previous spells, both in terms of scope and potency. Use of this spell requires the Healer to take on the wounds of his patient. Potency based on Core Cultivation and Ethera attribute. Will not result in the Healer’s death.

As noble as that potential sacrifice was, Elijah would not have advised its use. For better or worse, Ron was far more valuable – from a tactical standpoint – than Dat. In fact, if Ron went down, as the description of Healer’s Burden suggested he would, then the group would have little chance of winning the battle. The only potential benefit was that it might get Dat out of the immediate line of fire so that the rest of their allies could figure out how to combat the situation.

But as much as Elijah wanted to scream at Ron to hold it back, he knew it would fall on deaf ears. It took a very specific sort of person to dedicate his life to healing others, and Ron had done so twice. Once, as a surgeon before the world had changed, and then again when he’d chosen the Healer archetype. If there was one person in the entire world who would sacrifice himself to save a patient, it was Ron.

Regardless, Elijah’s opinion on the situation didn’t matter. His inability to get through to Ron aside, he had other things to worry about. Like a four-armed ta’alaki he’d just tried – unsuccessfully – to tackle.

Even as a ridiculous amount of ethera surged around Ron, Elijah grappled with the Lightning Emperor. As he did, he discovered that, despite the clear weakening effect of the bane weapon, his attributes were far inferior to those possessed by the Lightning Emperor. Elijah hammered his foe with punches, tried to rip the ta’alaki to shreds with his sharp, thorn-like claws, and even attempted a few bites. Some of them drew blood, but they were no more than flesh wounds.

By comparison, Yloa’s every attack hit like a freight train. If Elijah hadn’t evolved Shape of the Guardian into Shape of Thorn, he never could have stood up to the barrage of blows. Even with his increased Constitution and the ability to cut all damage by fifty percent, Elijah felt his bones creak with every attack. Soon enough, they would start breaking.

However, he did manage to endure those blows for a long enough period that one of Oscar’s dogs seized upon the opportunity to drag the recovering Dat free. At the same time, Elijah sensed that something was happening with Ron. Predictably, the man had collapsed the second he’d cast Healer’s Burden, but he was still alive.

Sadie and the other Healer were both hard at work trying to help him recover. But even from so far away, Elijah could sense – via One with Nature – that they were fighting a losing battle. Their paltry heals were like pouring a bucket of water into a drought-stricken lake. As noble as their intentions were, it wasn’t going to refill the metaphorical reservoir anytime soon.

But Elijah couldn’t focus on that. Instead, the fight against the Lightning Emperor demanded every ounce of his attention. So, he leveraged every facet of his Jade Mind to the task at hand. And for a while, he gave as good as he got. Then, tendrils of electricity snaked around the ta’alaki’s limbs, and suddenly, Elijah could no longer keep up.

With two hands, Yloa pinned Elijah’s arms to his body while he raised his other set of arms, clenched his fists together, then brought them down in a devastating blow that sent the sound of cracking bone echoing through the chamber. Pain lanced through Elijah’s shoulder as he felt his collarbone snap and the shards of bone tear through the delicate flesh surrounding it.

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He tried to wriggle free, but nothing he did seemed to matter.

At least until Dat rejoined the battle. He fired a familiar glowing bolt from his crossbow, which slammed into Yloa’s back and disrupted the flow of ethera within the Lightning Emperor. The ta’alaki seized, which gave Elijah an opportunity to break free of his grip.

It didn’t last, though. Yloa lashed out with a backhand that hit with so much force that it sent Elijah sailing across the chamber. His arcing flight didn’t stop until he hit the wall. The impact tore a crater into the sturdy stone, which subjected him to even more lightning. As electricity coursed through his body, his muscles locked up, and he briefly lost consciousness.

He regained it only a moment later when he fell free of the divot, and he hit the floor cheek-first soon after. His entire body ached, but aside from his broken collarbone, he had no debilitating injuries. That obviously wouldn’t have been the case if he’d had even a few less points in his Constitution attribute.

Once Elijah regained consciousness, he rolled over to see that the rest of the group had let loose with a barrage of attacks. Sadie led the charge – flanked by a couple of dogs – while Derek and Escobar buried the Lightning Emperor in fire. Dat continued to fire his crossbow, while the other members of the group added what damage they could. Even Helen, who had no real combat abilities, fired arrows at the ta’alaki.

It was a truly awe-inspiring display of might.

And yet, Elijah could feel that it wouldn’t be enough. Yloa was too durable. And soon enough, he was going to recover from Dat’s Hex of Tongues. Once that happened, he would retaliate.

Before that came to pass, Elijah needed to change the paradigm.

To that end, he staggered to his feet and loped in the direction of his group. As he did, he shifted back into his human form, and when he reached the others, he started healing.

In the past, he’d resented being thrust into the role of the healer, but in that moment, he appreciated all the practice he’d gotten before Ron had joined the group. His spells flew out, fast and accurate, as he kept the melee fighters alive amidst Yloa’s hampered retaliation. The Lightning Emperor’s spellcasting ability had been interrupted, but that did nothing against his physical might. Fortunately, Sadie, Lamar, and the two defender dogs – Jackson and Sophie – formed a stout wall to protect their more vulnerable teammates.

But they were forced to sacrifice their own safety to do so. Such was the life of a true defender. Elijah healed them, pumping out huge amounts of ethera to keep them alive. Meanwhile, he added his efforts to healing Ron. He could pump out a lot of vitality when he wanted to, and, for the first time since the Healer had used Healer’s Burden, Elijah felt Ron’s situation change.

Suddenly, he began to stir.

He didn’t recover – not completely – but even that small movement gave Elijah hope that he might do just that.

Unfortunately, Hex of Tongues had a limited duration, and the second it ended, Yloa burst forth with fury and lightning. In the blink of an eye, Lamar was sent flying backward while Sadie was pounded into the ground. Another blow sent her skipping across the floor, her personal shield having burst and much of her makeshift armor twisted out of shape.

Elijah hit them both with Nature’s Bloom and Soothe, while the other Healer used her abilities as well. But even so, their injuries were significant. Lamar rose, his shield fractured and his arm hanging limp by his side. Sadie was better off, but her face was covered in bright red blood.

As for the barrage of attacks aimed at the Lightning Emperor – they were rendered entirely ineffective when Yloa once again activated his lightning whips, spinning them around so quickly that they slapped the spells away before they could land.

Elijah knew that things needed to change, or the battle would end in disaster.

So, he made a choice.

“I need everyone to shield me!” he shouted. “Heals, too.”

Even as he uttered those words, two things happened. First, he once again began a transformation into the Shape of the Sky. Second, Lamar and Sadie recovered enough to hit him with two layers of shields. Dat added some sort of ability – Elijah didn’t know what it was, but he suspected it was meant to protect him from spells – while Derek used a spell that enveloped Elijah with fire. It burned, but with his own heals – as well as those from the other Healer – he wasn’t in much danger of taking significant damage.

Once his transformation began, he said, “Try to keep me alive.”

“Elijah –”

Sadie didn’t get a chance to finish before Elijah flapped his wings and launched himself into the air. He knew he didn’t have much time before the heals started to wear off, so he gained altitude as quickly as possible. The Lightning Emperor could obviously see something was going on, but with the continued onslaught of spells bearing down on him, he couldn’t stop his lighting-whip shield tactic long enough to do anything about it.

Besides, Yloa could obviously see that, for all its impressive looks, the Shape of the Sky was not a combat form. It was meant for travel, which he likely interpreted as Elijah looking for a means of escape.

But that was the opposite of Elijah’s intention.

Once he’d built up a little speed and established the right angle, he dove directly at the embattled ta’alaki. When he was only fifty feet away, he did three things. The first was the only reason he’d chanced the tactic in the first place.

For months, he’d kept an ability in his pocket, and rightly so. It was single-use, and once it was gone, it was gone. Still, having a few seconds of invulnerability was incredibly useful. With a flick of his mind, he activated the ability associated with the Armor of the Boar King.

Armor of the Boar King (set)

Composed of eight pieces (Bracers x2, Gauntlets, Chestguard, Pants, Footwraps x2, Headband). Total attribute bonuses (from individual pieces):

+15 Strength

+25 Dexterity

+15 Constitution

+10 Ethera

+20 Regeneration

When wearing the entire set, gain the ability, Bulwark of the Boar King: Wrap the wearer in an impenetrable shield. Duration: 3 seconds. Single Use.

Three seconds of invulnerability. He knew good and well that the system’s interpretation of invulnerability was just as flawed as its description of his old Guardian’s Renewal ability. Just like the aforementioned spell, it could best be described as meaning what it meant in normal circumstances. So, against the sorts of things he should have been fighting, invulnerability could be taken at face value. However, with what he had planned, he knew it would fall short of that literal definition.

It didn’t matter.

It would just have to do. And if not, then it could maybe give his companions the opening they needed to finish Yloa off.

Those thoughts flitted through Elijah’s mind as he felt his scales harden and take on a metallic sheen. Even his wings looked like they’d been cast from particolored steel.

The second he felt the ability take hold, Elijah embraced another ability.

Lightning Rush

Transform into a bolt of lightning, increasing speed accordingly. Duration (and subsequently, distance) dependent on Core Cultivation. Current: 1.9 Seconds. Cooldown based on Ethera. Current: 2.21 Hours.

His body became a bolt of lightning, but that was the last thing he felt before everything went black.