Path of Dragons 13 - Chapter 87 - Last Tour

It took another six months for Elijah to decide that he was as prepared as he was ever going to get.  Certainly, he could keep going.  He could continue his shallow dives into the void.  That was the safe thing to do.

But he just couldn’t handle it anymore.

Not when the way home was so obvious.

In his mind, he imagined his journey home as a short trip through the void.  He would reappear on Earth, and everyone would welcome him back with open arms.  Rationally, he knew the world would have changed.  There was even a good possibility that it had long since been excised.  And even if it hadn’t, more than two decades had passed since he’d stepped into the Labyrinth of Dead Gods.  By this point, everything would be different.

That didn’t matter, though.  Mostly because he simply wouldn’t allow it.

Over the last half year, Elijah had continued on just as he had for the past few years.  Most of each day was devoted to training himself in the void, but he’d also worked on various terraforming projects.  The most important of those was to use his dragon’s breath as often as possible so he could connect the world he’d built to a true expression of nature. 

So far, he’d covered all of Druhmor and most of the Abyssal Moat, as well as M’yakein and the fields of crops that fed the city.  It was a great start, but he knew that covering the entire world would assuredly take thousands of years.  Even getting to the edge of the second set of rings was a task measured in centuries.

With the enormity of that task lying before him, his dedication wavered a little.  It was one thing to maintain resolve in the face of impossibility, so long as he had no choice in the matter.  But now that he saw a way home?  That was all he could think about.

In addition to terraforming and training in the void, Elijah maintained his exercise schedule.  Finding rocks large enough to test him was difficult – not because there weren’t plenty of materials, but rather, because once they reached a certain size, they tended to lose structural integrity.  Elijah countered that by varying his exercises and increasing the number of repetitions.

But the most effective training came from his core exercises, largely because he’d taken to doing them in the most toxic places he could find.  Usually, that meant heading out to the deepest parts of the ocean. 

In short, Elijah continued to move forward, but only by inches at a time.  Normally, patience was his strongsuit, but with the possibility of escape looming over him, he found it difficult to maintain concentration.

And now, he’d reached his limit.

The news did not go over well with Benedict.

“You’re not ready.”

“At this point, it doesn’t matter,” Elijah admitted.  “I can’t stick around.  I won’t.  I feel certain that the only way I’ll ever reach the level of expertise I need is by just going for it.  You can’t learn to swim by wading in the shallow end of the pool.”

“That doesn’t mean you need to jump into the –”

“I think it means exactly that.  Besides, I have the monocle.”

It had taken nearly three months for M’yakein’s crafters to finish the thing, but according to the item description he’d been given, it would prove to be an invaluable resource.  He only hoped that it would work as intended.

Benedict opened his mouth to argue, but he must’ve realized that doing so would be useless.  So, he just let out a sigh, shook his head, then mumbled, “You really are committed to this, aren’t you?  Crazy bastard.”

“Eccentric.”

“What?”

“When someone is rich and powerful, crazy turns into eccentric.”

“This isn’t a joke, Elijah,” Benedict insisted.

Elijah shrugged.  “You can come with me, you know.”

Indeed, Benedict’s class came with some measure of protection against the void.  It wasn’t as powerful as Scales of Infinity, but he could survive.  Perhaps once he leveled a bit and gained a few spell evolutions – or something new – he would be just as protected as Elijah. 

“You know my response to that.  My life is here.”

That much was obvious.  In the years since they’d arrived on Gorveth, Benedict had gone from a surly and apathetic liability to a pillar of his community.  He was a family man who doted on his son and loved his wife.  If Elijah had those things, he probably wouldn’t have considered leaving, either. 

Perhaps that was why he’d never tried.  Maybe that was why, even after M’yakein’s formation, he’d never sought companionship.  He had kept himself apart at least partially because he didn’t want an excuse to give up in his quest to return to Earth.

Sadie was still out there, after all.  She was probably still awaiting his return.

And he wouldn’t let her down.

“I’m happy for you,” Elijah said, reaching out to grip Benedict’s shoulder.  He gave it a reassuring squeeze.  “And remember – if this works, this isn’t goodbye.  It’s more like see you later.”

“I suppose that’s one way to look at it.”

“The only way.”

That didn’t end their conversation, but it was the beginning of the end.  So, it wasn’t long until Elijah excused himself to complete his preparations for departure.  The first order of business was to pick up the food he’d ordered.  After all, the void wasn’t like an excised planet.  There were no monsters out there to kill and eat.  And besides, he’d prefer not to return to that state of existence.

Not if he could help it.

Once he’d collected hundreds of prepared meals, he did a short tour of M’yakein, where he said farewell to the few people with whom he had personal relationships.  There weren’t many, and even those were shallow.  In the end, his insistence on staying apart from the normal populace meant that he would always be an outsider.

Still, he did meet with Oshak, the leader of the cult dedicated to worshipping Treebie – and, by extension, Elijah.  The man was an unpleasant sort, but he was exactly what Elijah needed at the moment.

“Treebie can take care of himself, but that doesn’t mean he should have to,” Elijah stated after announcing his departure to the man.  “I put it to you to protect him.  If I return and find that you’ve failed in this singular job…well, it won’t be good for you.  Or your family.  Or anyone else I think is responsible.”

Elijah hated resorting to threats, even if it sometimes felt that was his first reaction to any potential problem.  But it was effective, especially when most of the population was already terrified of him.  They loved him, too.  Some of them, like Oshak and his ilk, worshipped him.  The fear was always there, though – lingering below the surface and driving their every interaction with him.

It was exhausting, but it was often useful.

It also made it so much easier to stomach the abandonment of civilization.

Oshak quickly agreed, assuring Elijah that his will would be done.  Once he was satisfied, Elijah left the city behind and headed to Druhmor. 

That was where he encountered Jasai’i. 

She sat next to Treebie, her eyes closed and her hands resting on her knees.  Her son, Louis, played in a nearby stream, splashing merrily in the shallow water.  Another woman remained nearby, keeping an eye on the boy, though he was old enough that he didn’t need constant attention.  On top of that, the water was only a few inches deep, meaning that he wasn’t in much danger of drowning.

For a few minutes, Elijah just watched him play.  A child’s joy was a wondrous thing, and Elijah’s mood lifted as he saw just how happy Louis was. 

Perhaps he might’ve had a fulfilling life, had he been born in Dravkein.  But Elijah couldn’t believe that he could be any happier than he was in the paradise surrounding Treebie.

Finally, he moved away and approached Jasai’i. 

After laying his hand on Treebie’s trunk, he let a bit of his soul mingle with the tree’s.  Then, he said to Jasai’i, “He likes you.”

“How can you tell?” she asked, opening her eyes. 

“Well, he hasn’t wrapped his roots around you, trapping you until you starve to death,” Elijah answered.  “That has to count for something.”

Then, he grinned, which brought a roll of the woman’s eyes. 

“Seriously.  It’s more of a feeling than anything,” Elijah admitted. 

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

“I am,” Elijah answered.  “Only a few more things to take care of before I head home.”

“Benedict says that you will probably be lost along the way.”

“Maybe.”

“And yet, you still insist on leaving?  You could have a life here,” she said.  “You could start a family.  I see how you are with Louis.  You would be a good father.”

“That’s a lie.  I’m too selfish for that.”

“No you’re not.”

Uncomfortable with that turn of conversation, Elijah looked away.  Then, he said what he’d come to say.  “I need you to take care of Treebie while I’m gone.  You know, talk to him.  Make sure he has company.  Oshak and the others will protect Druhmor, but Treebie needs more than just…you know…he needs companionship.”

“Which you could provide.”

“I need to do this, Jasai’i.”

She sighed.  “I know.  And of course I will keep him company.  It will be an honor.”

Left unsaid was that it was also the best way to advance her class.  Elijah wasn’t certain what being a Ward of the World Tree entailed, but he likened it to a transition phase before becoming an envoy.  Once she reached the demi-god tier and Treebie’s connection to the World Tree matured, perhaps she would help unlock the rest of the Branch-like functions.

That vested interest made her the perfect candidate to become Treebie’s caretaker.

Soon, Jasai’i gathered Louis and headed to a small village they’d erected about a mile away from Treebie.  It was a minimally invasive settlement meant to house visitors who came to pay homage to the tree. 

Once Elijah was alone with Treebie, he laid his hand on the tree’s trunk and began a difficult conversation.  Of course, with Treebie being a tree, it was difficult to assess whether he understood the message Elijah wanted to convey.  He wasn’t entirely sentient, after all.  And even if he was, his nature would dictate that much of their communication was lost in translation.  Trees didn’t think like people, after all.

But Elijah still did his best.

Finally, after a few hours, Elijah pulled away and said, “I’ll see you later, Treebie.  Be good.  Take care of these people.  And keep growing.”

There was a brief rustle of Treebie’s leaves far above, but Elijah wasn’t sure if that was just the wind or a sign of understanding.  He chose to believe it was the latter.  That made it much easier to do what he needed to do.

With that surety of purpose – and he imagined, Treebie’s permission – Elijah set out across Druhmor.  He wanted to take one last tour before he took the first steps of his next journey. 

At first, Elijah was comforted by the familiarity of it.  Then, he experienced a brief existential crisis where he questioned his decision to leave.  Not because he was afraid for himself.  Rather, he was terrified that Treebie would grow up without him.  That one day – maybe in a thousand years – Treebie would forget he’d even existed.

It passed after a few minutes, leaving only an echo of anxiety behind.

Elijah comforted himself with the knowledge that he still intended to return.  Perhaps not soon, but one day.  And when he did, he hoped to find the entire planet terraformed and thriving.  Maybe he could even figure out a way to drag it out of the abyss and back into the World Tree’s embrace.

In any case, he soon found himself truly looking at what he’d accomplished.  He still remembered when he’d arrived on Gorveth.  Back then, he could scarcely survive the atmosphere.  Now?  Even outside Treebie’s root-driven domain, he was only barely affected by the ambient corruption. 

And that wasn’t even considering what he’d managed with Druhmor itself. 

Looking around at the paradisiacal setting, with birds chirping and insects buzzing, it was difficult to imagine the tumorous mass he’d found upon first arrival. 

Elijah sat next to a bubbling brook, just immersing himself in nature.  In Treebie’s ambient essence.  In the satisfaction of a job well done.

And then, with a sigh, he affixed the monocle to one of his eyes, then shifted into the Shape of the World Serpent.  Once the transformation completed, he took a deep breath and used World Coil.  A tiny, free-floating crack spread through the air, widening until Elijah’s huge, snake-like body could fit.  Then, he slithered forward, leaving Gorveth behind.

So ends book thirteen! I hope you all enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to diving into book fourteen tomorrow!