Path of Dragons

Lightning cracked, and thunder rolled as a summer storm swept through the area, dumping a deluge of rain along the way. Elijah sat back, leaning against the trunk of an oak tree as he enjoyed the ambiance. To him, there was something comforting about a proper rainstorm – a combination of all five senses that coalesced to remind him of home.

Not the island, though considering its climate, that was probably accurate as well. Instead, he thought of his childhood, when he and his family would spend long weekends camping out in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest.

So, he watched the rain fall upon the pond, leaving ripples with every drop. An earthy scent pervaded the air, calming Elijah in a way little else could. He sighed, breathing deeply as, for the first time in weeks, he let himself relax. Because he’d finally completed the heavy lifting involved in creating his latest dolmen.

The results were distinctly different than the Dragon Circle, but no less impressive for it. In any case, everything had come together far better than Elijah could have hoped, though not without significant effort. Not unsurprisingly, he’d been forced to adapt to a host of problems, and he’d even had to replace a couple of pillar pieces when they’d cracked under the weight of the capstones.

Yet, Elijah had persisted, and now he saw nine monuments, each almost ten feet tall. They seemed even larger, though, looming as they did at equidistant points around the pond. At present, the concrete structures had a distinctly brutalist cast, which felt oddly appropriate.

However, Elijah wasn’t finished.

He still had two more steps to complete before he would count the project complete. Only when he was satisfied would he use Roots of the World Tree to christen his new circle.

But he knew he was on a timer. In less than a week, it would be open season. Perhaps the hunters of Valosta would wait a little longer than that, but that was when Ray’s influence would end. And Elijah expected that curiosity and greed would bring quite a few visitors, each one intent on killing his new friends and stealing the natural treasure at the bottom of the pond.

Neither endeavor would be successful.

Now that the deer were completely healed, they were more than capable of protecting themselves. The same could be said about the natural treasure. If Elijah couldn’t even get close enough to it to determine its nature, then the comparative weaklings of Valosta had no chance.

Indeed, Elijah’s haste was more about protecting those idiots than anything else. And as much as he wanted to let them reap the seeds of destruction they were so intent on sowing, his conscience wouldn’t allow that. So, with another grunt, he pushed himself upright and stretched his tired muscles.

Toting the cylinders of concrete hadn’t been as taxing as carrying multi-ton rocks from the foothills to his Dragon Circle, but it had still left him feeling like he’d just endured a long and arduous workout.

Which wasn’t so far from the truth. His efforts over the past couple of months had even netted him a couple of extra attributes points – one in Strength, and the other in Constitution – underscoring just how much he’d exerted himself. It also confirmed that, even though it was obviously possible to gain attribute points through training, it was incredibly difficult.

But Elijah wasn’t concerned with his attributes for the moment. Instead, he needed to complete the project. So, after stretching a little, then using Soothe before pulsing Touch of Nature a single time, he crossed the clearing and reached the first monument. Kneeling, he inspected the vine he’d planted the day before.

Already, it had sprouted a few inches from the ground, courtesy of his continuous use of Nature’s Bounty. So, he guided the vine, adjusting it so that it would grow in the proper direction, before moving on to the next. Then the next after that. He’d planted dozens of vines, and each one needed guidance. Yet, it only took him a few minutes to ensure they would keep growing in the right direction.

So, once that was done, Elijah shifted into the form of the lamellar ape then used his claws to scratch various designs into the cement pillars. He had no illusions of covering them with relief – he was no sculptor, after all – but his instincts dictated that he should make some efforts at embellishment. Still, he was incredibly careful so that he wouldn’t inadvertently crack the pillars.

As he worked, he continuously flared Nature’s Bounty, stopping ever so often to ensure the vines continued to grow appropriately. Like that, he continued for the next five days, resting only when absolutely necessary. Fortunately, with his high attributes as well as his healing spells, he could go for quite some time without sleep.

Besides, he wasn’t exactly exerting himself. The work was time-consuming and tedious, but it was not physically difficult.

And by the fifth day, he’d completed his task.

Stepping back, he admired the fruits of his efforts.

The general shapes of the nine monuments were unchanged.

Yet, the relief carvings had altered the entire vibe. Some of the brutalist cast remained, but it was softened by the carvings he’d so painstakingly created. Instead of dragons, he’d gone with a subtle moon motif. In addition, the vines had snaked around the pillars. Back on Earth, designing something like that would have doomed it to a short life. Vines didn’t seem overtly destructive, but they could tear a structure down in a matter of years. However, with the addition of ethera, Elijah felt certain that his monuments would remain standing for decades – maybe even centuries – to come.

The entire area had been flooded with Elijah’s personal ethera via One with Nature as well as Nature’s bounty, and it had mixed with the energy wafting off the pond. The combination was heady and powerful, a mixture of wild and cultivated that left Elijah in awe.

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Once he’d ensured that the circle had taken the exact shape he desired, he used Roots of the World Tree, further infusing it with his essence. The moment the spell completed – which took almost an hour to charge – a notification flashed before his inner eye:

Congratulations! You have created a unique structure: [Moon Well] Overall Grade: Growth (Current: Simple) Enchantment Grade: E

Moon Well. That fit, both in terms of the aesthetic as well as the feeling of the ambient ethera. However, he was a little disappointed that the enchantment grade of his latest circle was lower than it had been with the Dragon Circle.

Roots of the World Tree

Empower a dolmen, connecting it to your grove. Teleport to any circle in your network. Cooldown: 3 Days Additional Effect: When inside any circle, create a persistent gateway to any other circle. Duration: 1 Minute. Maximum Capacity: 4. Cooldown: 6 Days Possible number of circles dependent on core cultivation. Current: 5 (2 Used)

Elijah saw two differences when he checked the description of Roots of the World Tree. First, the maximum capacity for his gateways had increased to four, which was a good thing because it would simplify the planned relocation of the family of deer. Until that moment, Elijah hadn’t been certain how he intended to temporarily separate them. Now, he didn’t have to worry about that issue, though he was still a bit unsure how he intended to get them onboard with his plan.

He'd have to overcome that obstacle when it presented itself.

The next difference he saw concerning his spell’s description was an expected change. The possible number of dolmens he could empower – for now – remained at five. Yet, he’d used two, giving him only three more opportunities to expand his teleportation network.

Originally, he’d intended to place the second circle much further from the Dragon Circle, but his plans had been altered the moment he’d seen the danger presented to the deer. Or more accurately, to the people of Valosta who would inevitably bite off far more than they could chew.

As Elijah was admiring his hard work, he felt a nearby presence that he’d come to recognize. Over the past week, elves had flitted past on more than one occasion. Like the corpses he’d detected on his first day near the pond, they were small – no more than five feet tall – with pointed ears and a perfect sort of beauty that marked them as inhuman.

Yet, they felt no more powerful than the humans back in Valosta.

Until now.

The one standing at the very edge of One with Nature was outwardly little different from the others. But Elijah was more concerned with the feeling of power wafting off of her. She remained in place, standing as still as a statue, and watching Elijah with the ferocious intent of a hunting predator.

Elijah ignored her. If she wanted to talk, she could. But he didn’t intend to change his plans just because a slightly-more-powerful-than-normal elf was curious. So, he took a moment to steady himself, then cast Roots of the World Tree. For the first time ever, he focused on the portion of the spell meant to open a gateway to his grove, and after about thirty seconds of constantly feeding it ethera from his Dragon Core, the spell completed.

When it did, a series of vines – not unlike those summoned by Snaring Roots – snaked up from the ground, intertwining and growing upward until they came together in an arch. When those vines connected, the interior of the arch shimmered before pulsing with powerful ethera. A moment later, the view shifted.

Instead of looking through and seeing the Moon Well, Elijah saw his grove on the other side. Thick ethera wafted out of the opening, mingling with the dense energies hanging around the pool.

Elijah turned to the deer, who’d backed away from the sudden expression of Elijah’s spell, and said, “Alright. In you go.”

The stag shook his great head, then let out a slight snort. Meanwhile, the doe and two fauns cowered behind the patriarch of their small family.

Elijah had expected some hesitation, so he unshouldered his pack, then retrieved a few of his remaining grove berries. Over the past couple of weeks, Elijah had fed the deer plenty of the little fruits, and that practice had seriously cut into his supply. Yet, it wasn’t without purpose. It was like training a dog with treats, though in this case, the trainees intelligence was more like that of dolphins.

Still, it plainly worked, because the moment he held one of the berries aloft, the gathered family of deer perked up.

“So, here’s the deal,” Elijah said. “I don’t know if you can understand me. Probably not. But if you go through that gate, you’ll be safe. You’ll also get more berries.” As he spoke, the deer’s eyes never left the berries. “Yeah, you only care about that last part, right? Of course you do.”

Then, he tossed the berries into the gate.

The stag took a tentative step forward. But the fauns were not nearly so cautious. They darted out, passing through the gate before their parents could stop them. That was as effective of bait as Elijah could conjure, and the two deer passed through only a second later. It was heartwarming, seeing that the family of guardians were unwilling to be separated, even when they had no idea what was on the other side of that gate.

The moment the doe passed through the portal, it shimmered again before the view to the grove disappeared. A second later, the vines retracted.

Once they were gone, Elijah sighed in relief. He could feel them in his domain, which confirmed they were safe. That was definitely a load off of his shoulders.

So, without further delay, he used Roots of the World Tree once again. This time, he didn’t concentrate on the gate-summoning portion of the spell. Instead, he focused on teleporting himself. The two were on separate cooldowns, but when he returned to the Grove, it would be another three days until he could return to the Moon Well.

Just before he completed the spell’s casting, his elven audience stepped forward and began to speak. She said, “You are –”

When Elijah laid his eyes on her, his breath caught in his chest. It was one thing to sense her with One with Nature. In a lot of ways, it was more intimate than using his eyes. But still, Elijah was human, and like almost every other person in the world, he’d spent most of his life relying on his vision. So, it provided a very different – and arguably more affecting – view of the elf.

She wasn’t just beautiful. Her appearance was otherworldly. Alien. And no less enticing for it.

Elijah only got a brief glimpse before he was whisked away and back to his grove. But that was more than enough. As his feet dug into the soil of his domain, the three days before he could return to the Moon Well seemed like an eternity.

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