Path of Dragons

Even as Elijah drifted in and out of semi-consciousness, his mind seemed determined to settle on his past and how it might affect his future. At times, he’d find himself daydreaming about growing up with Alyssa, and only minutes later, his thoughts would turn to what he intended to do to Roman. Back and forth, over and over, seeming to go on for an eternity.

It was not a pleasant way to spend the couple of days it took him to recover from the harpies’ attacks and their insidious venom that stubbornly resisted his efforts at curing himself. In the end, Elijah wasn’t sure if he’d simply outlasted it or if he’d finally overwhelmed it. Either way, though, he returned to complete lucidity after a long two days, during which he used every ounce of ethera in his core, and multiple times.

By the time he regained his wits, Elijah knew well enough to recognize how lucky he’d gotten. Individually, the harpies weren’t terribly strong. He could kill them easily enough. However, when their flock numbered in the many tens of thousands, and with the potent venom they could inject, their lethality was nearly absolute. Few people would have managed to survive such an onslaught.

Even two days later, Elijah could sense that they were still in the area. Every now and again, he would feel one of them swoop into range of One with Nature. Fortunately, though, they seemed unwilling to land for more than a second or two, so his hiding place remained as viable as it had been when he’d found the abandoned convenience store.

That meant that he didn’t dare take to the skies for now.

Still, he decided to take shelter in the old gas station for another day, at least. As he did, he alternated his time between healing – his wounds had proven extremely stubborn, so long as the venom remained in his system – and cycling his Core. He still hadn’t made much progress, but Elijah expected that his failure was due to the low ethera density. After all, Nerthus had told him multiple times that even reaching the first stage of Core cultivation was incredibly difficult – to the point that it would require outside assistance – on Earth. And it would remain that way until the density of the planet’s ethera reached a certain point.

It had definitely risen over the past couple of years, but Elijah expected that it still had a long way yet to go. However, he also had a bit of a secret weapon in the form of his grove and, more importantly, his cultivation cave. With the advantage that those spots’ high ethera density represented, he hoped to make some strides in Core cultivation once he returned home.

His stomach twisted at the thought.

For some reason, it felt almost like a betrayal to think of anything other than avenging Alyssa’s death. And it was even worse to make plans for the future, as if his current quest was just an item to be checked off a list. It was so much more than that, and rationally, he knew that fact, but his grief and guilt had no need for logic.

So, it was with renewed focus that, three days after first taking shelter in the convenience store, Elijah shifted into his draconid form, then adopted Guise of the Unseen before leaving it behind. Sure enough, his suspicions about the harpies proved correct, and the entire area was lousy with them. Most nested high in the tops of trees, but Elijah caught sight of a few as they swooped down to kill some unsuspecting beast. When they did, every harpy in the area would descend upon the slain animal, where the entire group would rip and tear the poor creature to shreds. Sometimes, the more volatile harpies would take things too far and attack one another, resulting in a bloodbath.

Elijah kept a close eye on every monster he could sense, either with his mundane senses or via One with Nature. He didn’t think they could see through his ability’s camouflage – especially in the forest – but he also didn’t want to take any chances, either. After all, he’d seen what those creatures could do to their chosen prey, and he wanted nothing to do with them.

Or the nasty venom they could inflict upon him.

With that in mind, Elijah padded through the forest, careful and hidden beneath the Guise of the Unseen. It was slow, but it was safe. Like that, he gradually covered ground. Miles melted before him until night began to fall, and he found shelter in an old, abandoned mobile home. There were a dozen more in the area, suggesting that the area had once been a trailer park, but most of the other structures had fallen before the rigors of time. After all, those sorts of homes had never been built to last.

Still, the one where Elijah sheltered was mostly intact, though he did get a bit of a surprise when he found the previous owner’s remains. The bones had been picked clean of any flesh, so only a skeleton was left. A woman, from what Elijah could tell from the pelvis. In the next room, he found a few much smaller skeletons.

Children.

Humanity had been hit hard by what many referred to as the apocalypse. Billions had died. But the hardest hit had been the children who didn’t even have the benefit of the system to ease the transition. All around them, creatures – and monsters in human skin, like Roman – developed unnatural abilities, and they had no way to defend themselves. It was a miracle any had survived.

Though there was some hope. Miguel had made it. So had plenty of children in Norcastle and Argos – more in the latter than the former, but there was no shortage of young people in either. Elijah felt some optimism at that thought. Even as he stared at the remains of the children who’d once called the trailer home, he could find some room for hope.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Though it was tempered by reality. Humanity had suffered many losses, and Elijah suspected that more were to come. It was while he was clearing another of the rooms of any debris that a notification flashed before Elijah’s mind’s eye:

Four years have passed since your planet (Earth) felt the transformative touch of the World Tree. In one year, the top five-thousand (5000) humans and top five-hundred (500) settlers will be afforded the opportunity to endure the Trial of Primacy. Participation is not mandatory, though it is encouraged. In one (1) year, present yourself at any Branch of the World Tree, and you will be teleported to the Trial Grounds. Prepare yourselves accordingly.

“The Trial of Primacy?” Elijah muttered aloud. His voice was barely a whisper, largely because the harpies were still about. “What the hell is that?”

But as always, there was no answer. The system seemed hell-bent on forcing everyone to consult the Knowledge Base for answers. When he went back to the elven city of Arvandor, he intended to use the Librarian to get at least one answer. Maybe he would ask about the Trial of Primacy.

More than that, though, Elijah was surprised that his estimate of time had been a little off. Until that point, he’d thought that they’d passed the four-year mark months past. However, unless the system used some other calendar, he’d been mistaken. Still, four years was a long time, and it felt even longer than it really was.

Simultaneously, though, it was like he’d washed ashore on the island only recently. Much had happened since then. He was an entirely different person, and not just because he’d beaten cancer that should have been terminal. Not only were his priorities completely different now, but he was also the most powerful person in the world.

That came with responsibilities.

Expectations.

He sighed, shaking his head as he sat in the corner of the room. He leaned against the wall and tilted his head toward the half-rotted ceiling.

He wasn’t as strong as he seemed. Elijah knew that better than most. Despite having a head-start on almost everyone in the world – in the form of his cultivation, which was assuredly more advanced than almost anyone else’s – he had struggled in his fight against Thor. Certainly, he’d won – and that was what ultimately mattered – but it had highlighted the issues he would face going forward.

On paper, he was strong.

But his archetype, which was a hybrid that took pieces from a bunch of different disciplines, was never meant to be a front-line combatant. Sure, his class helped. So did his cultivation. But it wasn’t enough to let him stand toe-to-toe with true combatants of similar level.

He could do wondrous things. As far as he knew, nobody else had the ability to teleport across thousands of miles. He could create his own equipment, at least to a certain extent, and he could grow some truly remarkable things in his gardens. Yet, those things didn’t help in a fight.

Not for the first time, Elijah thought back to K’hana’s shock when she’d discovered that he was a Druid. It was warranted, too. From the guide he’d recently read, the archetype was heavily implied to be a mostly non-combat class that focused on nurturing their grove.

That wasn’t Elijah’s path, though. He liked fighting. He enjoyed exploration. And while he also liked tending to his grove, the reality was that he would go insane if that was the entire scope of his future. So, he had no choice but to push ahead with his cultivation, and hopefully, when it came time to choose his specialization, he could further adapt his archetype to his purposes.

After that, there was an evolution to anticipate, too. Equipment would help as well.

No – Elijah’s path was clear. He needed to scratch and claw for every advantage he could find, lest he be held back by his archetype’s non-combat nature. In the meantime, he would lean on his versatility as he continued to gain levels.

With that in mind, he settled in to rest as he ate a couple of grove berries. Without those little fruits, his recovery would have taken much longer, which just solidified another one of Elijah’s advantages. Everything grown in his grove was infused with dense ethera. As such, it often had special properties, like the restorative traits of his grove berries. Hopefully, his coffee would be even better. And he still intended to make another staff once he finished his quest. The Dragon-touched Staff was great. Better than he could have expected. Yet, it still didn’t feel as natural as either of his other two staves had.

His mind whirled with plans for the future as he rested, and eventually, he settled in to sleep. Thankfully, his dreams were of the normal, nonsensical variety, so he ended up resting well before rising the next morning and continuing on his way.

Gradually, he made his way across the landscape. He was tempted to take the same path he’d taken on his way to Seattle – after all, he could swing by Arvandor to use his question – but ultimately, he chose not to do so. Largely, that decision was based on simple expedience. Easton was located to the northeast, while Seattle was almost due north. So, it made sense to cut diagonally across the terrain, even if it meant exploring new territory.

Eventually, Elijah’s path took him by a ruined commercial park located on either side of a three-mile stretch of interstate. The highway was packed with abandoned automobiles, most of which bore some degree of damage. Some looked like they’d been stripped for parts, but judging by the rust, that had occurred some time ago. There were no signs that the region was populated.

As Elijah progressed along the highway, he saw a few car dealerships, then a couple of big box stores – the sort that sold everything in ridiculous bulk, like gallon jugs of mayonnaise. Elijah inspected a couple of those, but other than picking up a couple of computers, a few giant packages of underwear, and a dozen tubes of toothpaste. He knew the last would’ve already passed their expiration date, which meant that the paste inside would be a little less effective. However, Elijah was counting on the fact that the tubes were unopened to have extended their shelf life a bit. Besides, even then, it would be better than the charcoal he normally used to clean his teeth.

He also grabbed a box full of toothbrushes.

With ethera and healing, he didn’t think he needed to worry about cavities. However, those two factors did nothing for bad breath.

Whatever the case, his scouring of the big box stores took half a day before he decided to move on. Even then, the harpies were still around, which meant that he would need to continue on foot.

So, that’s what he did, shifting back into his draconid form and using his stealth ability to remain undetected as he drew ever closer to Easton, where he would exact his revenge.

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