Path of Dragons

Elijah lay there, staring up at the twinkling stars. One thing he’d noticed about the desert was just how clear the nights were. He could see so much, which elicited so many questions about the larger universe. How many of those stars hosted planets? Was K’hana’s home planet up there? What about Ramik’s? Kurik’s? Would he one day visit those places?

Not if he ran into another monster like the guild master, Bruce Garet. The man had been much more powerful than Elijah had been led to believe, and because of that, he’d been completely outclassed. If the man’s transformation hadn’t run its course, the battle would have ended much differently.

He sighed.

It had been a while since he’d been made to feel so weak. So ineffectual. It was like he’d gone back to his first days after washing ashore on his island, when even the crabs were capable of killing him. Despite all the work he’d put into his cultivation, all the levels he’d gained, he was not invincible. Even someone like Garet, in the right situation, could defeat him.

It was a lesson he should have learned after his fight with the Warden, but back then, he’d been a little too preoccupied to properly internalize anything of the sort. Now, though, he had that luxury.

And the lesson was a simple one: context mattered. The world wasn’t simple. Levels mattered – and so did cultivation – but neither was a guarantee of victory. The most powerful person didn’t always win. There were other factors that contributed to every set of circumstances. One of those was equipment – with the right set of gear, a person could far outperform his level – but even more impactful was context.

In a vacuum, Garet couldn’t hold a candle to Elijah. But after whatever ability he’d used? He displayed a level of power that far exceeded anything Elijah had ever fought.

That meant that Elijah couldn’t keep going through the world like he was unassailable. He’d gotten a bit cocky after attaining the top spot on the power rankings. But while that was quite an achievement, it wasn’t the guarantee of superiority he’d once thought it would be. After all, there weren’t that many levels separating the ones at the top of the ladder from the people who weren’t even on it.

On top of that, he often punched above his weight, and that meant that others could do so as well. All they needed was the right circumstance. It seemed obvious in retrospect, but Elijah had been riding high off of his own successes, and he’d ignored common sense. Just because he had power, it didn’t mean that he was omnipotent. And he would do well to remember that, or he would end up biting off more than he could chew.

As those thoughts gripped him, Elijah heard Isaiah’s voice through his earpiece asking, “Do you require a Healer? We don’t have many, but –”

“I’m fine. Just give me a minute,” Elijah groaned, sitting up. He’d let his bestial form fall away, and he could see just how much damage he’d taken. It wasn’t pretty, either. Multiple broken bones, but fortunately, none were severe. Many lacerations. A body that was already turning black and blue from all of the contusions. A slight concussion that he’d isolated into one facet of his Mind. And he felt certain that there was at least a little internal bleeding.

But the most serious issue was that his sternum had been cracked, which made breathing difficult – to say the least. So, that was his first target for healing.

As soon as he’d gained enough ethera to cast, he used Soothe and Healing Rain before channeling Touch of Nature. After his sternum was healed, Elijah stopped focusing on any particular injury. Instead, he let the healing suffuse his entire body. It was slower for specific wounds, but it would bring him to full health much more quickly.

In the end, he managed to get back on his feet after only an hour. During that time, he noticed Isaiah’s drones buzzing around and looting the bodies of the adventurers. At first, Elijah had hoped that they’d only been knocked unconscious, but it quickly became clear that Garet’s ability – whatever it was called – had killed them.

“Such a waste,” he muttered. And it was. All those people dead because they couldn’t coexist with their neighbors. It was more complicated than that – because it always was – but that was the underlying theme. They wanted power and control, and they were willing to take it by force. “Do you know how he did it?”

“I have my suspicions,” Isaiah answered. Then, he described the situation as he understood it. Garet had sacrificed everyone in his guild for temporary power. “I think most of that sacrifice went to waste, or you wouldn’t have survived as long as you did.”

Elijah sighed. There were an infinite number of abilities out there that he didn’t understand, and he suspected that one day, his lack of knowledge would come back and bite him. In the fight against Garet, it almost had.

“You know I’m entitled to that gear,” Elijah said. “My kills, my loot.”

“I am aware,” Isaiah stated. “Perhaps we can work out a deal where I can purchase everything. And I think it is fair to split the contents of the guild hall.”

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Elijah didn’t like that idea. He’d done most of the work, after all. But he wasn’t so greedy that he intended to cut Isaiah off altogether. “Seems more like a seventy-thirty kind of thing.”

After that, they began their negotiations. It didn’t take long, largely because Elijah wasn’t really all that interested, aside from a desire not to roll over. His funds had taken quite a hit after his most recent expenditures, but he knew he could always earn more ethereum. By the time they were finished, he just said, “How about you just pay me for anything I don’t want to personally use? Give me fifty gold, and you can have it all.”

“Deal.”

By that point, Elijah had finished recuperating to the point where he felt confident in flying back to the capitol, where he intended to pick K’hana up and head to Lucy’s. So, he used Shape of the Sky, then launched himself into the air. After flapping his wings a few times, he gained enough altitude that he could glide to his destination. However, even that small amount of movement told him that he wasn’t quite as healed as he’d thought. He would need a little more time before he was back to normal.

So, as gingerly as he could, he landed near the capitol’s makeshift wall. He’d made sure not to drop down on top of the guards, but he was still close enough that they were forced to react. Thankfully, Isaiah had already let them know what was going on, so they didn’t launch any attacks, and after Elijah shifted back to his human form, they allowed him inside, albeit with an escort that led him across the grounds and into the building.

He didn’t end up back in Isaiah’s office, though. Instead, he was led deeper into the capitol building and to a large chamber that looked like every military command center he’d seen in movies. Large screens decorated the walls, while dozens of people in black fatigues worked at various computers. Isaiah stood in the center, with K’hana primly seated nearby.

Elijah approached.

“So, this is the heart of your operation, huh?” he asked.

Hands clutched behind his back, Isaiah didn’t even glance away from the screen as he said, “Not at all. I’m the heart of the operation. Everything here is so others can do their jobs.”

“I see. So, what’s the plan? I took care of your adventurer problem, and I’m guessing you still want me to do something about Mercer Mesa,” Elijah guessed.

“I do. A frontal assault on the Mesa is suicide. They have multiple people with classes meant for defense,” Isaiah explained as a map of the plateau flashed on the screen. “Anyone who tries to climb those cliffs is going to get a deadly surprise. I’ve seen it happen, and it’s not pretty.”

“Nature of the defenses?”

“Traps, mostly. But they also have a small army to protect the settlement,” Isaiah said. “They are controlled by someone you know.”

A photograph of an older man with blindingly white teeth and a boater’s tan replaced the map of Mercer Mesa.

“Barry?”

“He took Administrator as an archetype,” Isaiah explained. “That became a class called Demagogue. The people who work for him are loyal to a fault.”

“He manipulates them with a skill?”

“It’s more like his arguments are more persuasive,” Isaiah answered. “He also has an ability called Incite which will whip them into a frenzy, increasing their attributes.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Elijah said. “Why was he stealing when I ran into him in my first time in town? Those people had him cornered. They were going to kill him.”

“Were they?”

“Yes. They were. I was there.”

“But did you see what you thought you saw? This man’s stock and trade is manipulation. He was doing it decades before the world changed, and he certainly didn’t stop afterwards,” Isaiah said.

That’s when Elijah figured it out. “Those men were never going to hurt him,” he guessed. “They probably worked for him. It was all a setup to get me onto the Mesa so he could try to rope me in by dangling his daughter in front of me.”

“That is my suspicion.”

“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Elijah asked.

Isaiah answered, “Because it didn’t matter then. It does now.”

Elijah gritted his teeth, growling, “I’m going to kill him.”

“That’s the plan.”

After that, Elijah listened as Isaiah went over his proposal for assaulting the Mesa. It wasn’t complex, but it required precise timing and a giant distraction. When they were finished, Elijah excused himself and left the capitol. K’hana stayed behind to work out the details of Arvandor’s alliance with Seattle, though she would join him at Lucy’s when she was done.

He didn’t fly to Lucy’s apartment building. Rather, he just walked, which gave him plenty of time to continue healing. So, when he finally reached her building, he was feeling much better than before.

Not perfect, but still better. Hopefully, he would be completely healed by morning, because that was when they planned to attack.

Still, he hesitated before approaching the building. There were a couple of guards out front – both of whom were wearing crafted gear – so he couldn’t just walk in and knock on the door. But that wasn’t why he hesitated. Instead, he was worried about what Lucy would think of him.

For one, despite knowing of Seattle’s situation, he’d ignored it for months. And he’d only barely arrived in time to keep her from being attacked. If the shoe was on the other foot, he’d at least be irritated about that.

More than anything, though, he couldn’t help but feel anxious that Lucy would look at him differently once she knew what he’d done in Valoria. Once she knew how many people he’d killed. Would she judge him? Almost certainly. But how harshly was a different question altogether.

Oddly, he never considered simply keeping it to himself. He and Lucy had never lied to one another, and he didn’t intend to start now. If that meant she was disgusted by his actions, then so be it.

So, with a sigh, he stepped forward and, after getting cleared by the guards, he found his way to Lucy’s apartment. He hesitated for only a few moments before knocking on the door. Lucy – wearing a pair of cotton shorts and a tee-shirt – answered a second later. Her hair was a mess, and her glasses had fallen halfway down her nose, but she still looked just as attractive as ever.

“Hey,” he said with a forced smile. “I’m back.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing. Well, not nothing. The adventurers are kind of gone now. But –”

“I already knew that. Isaiah let me know. I’m talking about the other thing.”

“What other thing?” Elijah asked.

“Even after all these years, I know you and your looks. And this one,” she said, gesturing to his face. “That’s the same as after your parents died. So, what happened?”

He shook his head. “Can I just come in? It’s kind of a long story.”

She acquiesced, and after he insisted upon brewing her a cup of his coffee, they settled in. Then, Elijah told her everything.

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