Path of Dragons 9 - Chapter 34 - Somber

“I’m afraid,” Elijah admitted without looking up.  Instead, he continued to stare at the grave.  Marked by a large stone, into which he’d carved a short epitaph, the location stood atop the cliff overlooking the ocean.  Often, Elijah came to that spot to think.  Now, he would have company of a sort. 

It was where he’d buried all the victims of the attack on the grove.  More than seventy animals ranging from squirrels to rabbits and everything in between, a single doe, and a few plants who’d been so thoroughly destroyed that they couldn’t recover.  When he’d dug the grave, he’d been astounded by how small it was. 

It felt like it should be so much bigger.  His grief demanded it.  But rabbits and squirrels didn’t really take up much space.  So, he’d made up for it with the stone.  Taken from the sea below, it was at least six feet tall and almost entirely smooth.  It still didn’t do justice to the loss. 

Carmen settled in beside him, but with her back to the ocean, she didn’t say anything for a while.  Not until, minutes later, she responded, “Do you want to talk about what scares you?”

“Where do I start?”

“Just talk to me, Elijah.  People are worried.  I’m worried.”

“You should be,” he said.  He ran his hand through his hair.  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d washed it.  Before the incident, certainly.  That was the last time he’d changed clothes as well.  He still wore the suit Hope had given him, though it was so dirty that he questioned whether or not it was recoverable.  Once white, it had turned a reddish brown – mostly from blood, but the dirt was there as well. 

He flinched away from Carmen when she laid her hand on his shoulder.  “You need to tell me exactly what happened,” she said.  “I know…some of it.  I think I understand it.  Nerthus explained what he could.  But I want to know more.”

Elijah let out a long, slow breath.  Finally, he looked at Carmen, and the second he saw the concern on her face, he felt tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.  He said, “I want to be sorry.  Do you know how frustrating it is to know I should feel guilty about what I did?  But I can’t muster any regret.  I’m glad for it.  It…I feel justified.”

“Just start at the beginning.”

Now that he’d started talking, Elijah couldn’t keep the story from spilling out of his mouth.  He told his sister-in-law everything.  From his immediate response to the island’s invasion to Nerthus’ near-death experience, he spared her no details.  “They just killed the animals.  Plants too.  I found normal ferns that had been hacked to pieces.  Who does that?” he wondered.  “I killed every last one of them, Carmen.  It was easy, too.  I just…they never stood a chance against me.”

Sometimes, it was easy to forget just how much more powerful than normal people he had become.  When he fought, it was usually against ultra-powerful monsters or in places like the Chimeric Forge, where power was a little skewed.  But on Earth, against humans – he was practically godlike. 

Never had that been more obvious than when he’d attacked Bloodrock Bay.  They had resisted.  They had thrown everything they had at him.  And none of it had worked.  They had no defenses against his power, and he’d slaughtered everyone there.  Thankfully, there hadn’t been any children, but there were plenty of non-combatants. 

“I only spared one person,” he said.  “Not out of altruism.  I wanted him to spread the word.  I wanted him to tell everyone the consequences of messing with me.  Then, I moved on to Kel’ilathen.  It was a city of elves…”

He went on to explain what he’d done to Breeze – and what the Alchemist had done to his own people. 

“I know I didn’t kill those people myself, but it’s still on me.”

“Elijah…”

“I took all the bodies to Seattle.  That’s probably why everyone knows what happened.  Then, I threw them on the steps of that ridiculous Citadel and told Isaiah that it was all his fault,” Elijah explained.  “And in a way, it was.  If he hadn’t tried to put me in my place, people would have been too afraid to attack my grove.  At least for a while longer.  But I know it’s just a rationalization.  I killed those people.  Me.  I made a choice to send a message to anyone who might consider trying anything like that ever again.  I told Isaiah that if anyone does, they should expect complete retribution.  Not just against them, either.  I will kill their families, too.  I will raze their cities.  I will…I won’t stop until they all get the message.

“And do you know what the worst part is?” he asked, looking Carmen in the eye.

“I…I don’t know,” she admitted, clearly horrified by what he’d done.

“I would do it all again,” Elijah stated.  “They violated my home.  They killed the creatures under my protection.  They tried…they tried to kill my friend.  I can’t let that stand.  I won’t.”

“I understand…”

“I know you want to.  Maybe you do.  I don’t know.  But this island isn’t just my home, Carmen.  It’s part of me.  I can feel it in my mind at all times, like a phantom limb.  I know each and every organism within the confines of my domain.  When I want to distract myself, I name them.  Stupid things like Hoppy or Bacto or whatever.”

“Bacto?”

“For bacteria.”

“You can…feel bacteria?”

“Every single cell.”

“Jesus.”

He sighed before continuing, “An attack on this island is an attack on me.  And if I let it go…they’ll just keep coming.  You’ve felt some of the treasures here.  It’s probably the most valuable place on Earth.  The tree alone…”

“I know.  I’m just worried about what it’s doing to you,” she said.  “The whole city is terrified of what this means.”

“It doesn’t mean anything except leave my island alone.  That’s been the rule since day one.”

“Some of the kids’ parents don’t want to let them come back.”

Elijah had expected as much, and he didn’t blame those parents for their opinions.  If he’d had a child, he wouldn’t have let them anywhere near someone as dangerous as him.  But at the end of the day, children had a habit of doing what they wanted to do.  Telling them they couldn’t come to the island would only ensure that they would do so.  The only difference would be that the parents wouldn’t know about it.

“Tell them I swear not to harm them,” he said.  “And if someone else comes here with ill intentions, I will protect those kids as fiercely as if they were part of my grove.  That’s the best I can do.”

“I will tell them.”

“There are going to be consequences for this, aren’t here?” he asked.

“Everything has consequences, Elijah.  They’re just bigger when you have the kind of power you do,” she said.

Elijah nodded, then turned away from the grave.  “At least Nerthus recovered,” he said.  “Ron really pulled through for me.”

“You still have friends, Elijah.  You know that, don’t you?  And family.”

“I…I know.”

But as much as he worried about how the world would look at him now, he was even more concerned with what Sadie might see.  She had control over Sense of Sin, but he knew that, like his awareness of the grove, it lurked just beneath the surface of her mind.  Would she look at him the same, knowing that he’d indiscriminately destroyed another town?  Maybe.  Probably not, though.  Elijah knew her well enough to recognize that much. 

For a long while, he and Carmen remained on the cliff looking at the sea.  It didn’t really change anything, but her presence did make things a little easier.  So, when he finally headed back to the grove, he felt slightly better. 

Then he saw Hope and Nerthus sitting beneath the ancestral tree.  They were working on her cultivation – or preparing for it, at least – so he didn’t disturb them.  Many of the other children were there as well, including Rosabella.  But they were just in the beginning stages, so they weren’t quite as adept at sitting still for long periods of time.  The little gnomish girl, in particular, looked incredibly antsy.

It was all so innocent, and the scene stood in stark contrast to the events of the past few days.  Looking at those children, ardently trying to cultivate, went a long way toward banishing some of Elijah’s worst memories.  It wasn’t entirely effective – he still saw blood and heard screams when he closed his eyes – but it did help.

Instead of going to the city to use the Branch, Elijah headed out to sea, eventually diving beneath the waves and dipping under the storm, only to surface on Chimera Island.  The trip took a couple of hours, so by that point, night had begun to fall.  However, he was glad to see that the keep had been completed, and it glowed with warm light.

As Elijah drew closer, he heard the din of conversation as the soldiers stationed there ate and drank.  He slipped inside to see fifty people engaged in robust conversation and enthusiastic camaraderie.  They saw him, and clearly, word of his recent exploits had not reached Chimera Island – as evidenced by the fact that they invited him to join them. 

And he did. 

For a while, it was nice to enjoy a nice, simple meal and bask in the fellowship that came with a shared experience.  However, he soon turned his attention to the real reason he’d come – the Branch.

When he visited it, he saw that it was much, much smaller than the one in Ironshore.  Perhaps three feet tall, and with only a couple of limbs.  Still, it radiated power, and the Branch Envoy seemed happy enough to finally have a purpose to fulfill. 

“Is your old Branch still intact?” he asked.

She shook her head.  “I withdrew my bond when we abandoned Norcastle,” she said with a small shiver.  She was a small woman, and in fact, she looked almost malnourished.  Apparently, losing a Branch was not an easy thing to endure.  She confirmed that when she said, “It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do.  You can’t imagine how much it hurt.”

“I don’t know.  I can imagine quite a bit,” Elijah said, forcing a grin he didn’t feel.  “I’ve been dissolved a fair few times.  Ripped in half, too.  At the waist – not longways.  Somehow, that seems like it would be worse.”

She went pale.

“Oh.  Sorry.  I get a little…I run off at the mouth sometimes.  I didn’t mean to downplay your experiences.”

“It’s…it’s fine,” she responded in a small voice.  “Do you want to use the Branch?”

“Right.  Yeah.  Just checking the ol’ messages.”

She prompted him to go head, and he placed his hand on the cold, crystalline tree.  It wasn’t long before he found his way to the messaging system, where he discovered a few waiting for him.  The first was from Lamar, asking if everything was okay.  Elijah composed a quick message saying that everything was fine.  He also added that he had a plan to help Lamar with his Vinnie problem, though he didn’t give specifics. 

Then there was a message from Atticus, asking something similar.  From the tone, it was clear that the Merchant had heard about what had happened.  He assuredly didn’t have the details, so Elijah vowed to let him know more in person. 

Finally, there was a note from Ivanka, informing him that she had heard from the people inside the Primal Realm.  She passed along a message from Sadie, saying that everything was going well and that she missed him.  He responded, asking Ivanka to pass along his own feelings.  He didn’t get too mushy with it, just saying that he missed her as well and that he needed her. 

Maybe it went a little mushier than he’d expected.

Composing the messages briefly took his mind off his recent situation, but once he’d finished, they all came rushing back.  So, he thanked the Envoy for her help, then headed back to the mainland.

He really didn’t want to visit Ironshore at the moment, but there were things he needed to do. 

It was only when he returned to the grove that he realized he was still wearing his bloody suit.  Expecting that it was entirely ruined, he set it aside, doused it in cleansing powder, then proceeded to take a shower.  Hopefully, the suit could be saved, but if not, he would have to apologize to Hope.

Once he’d dressed in more normal clothes – and took care of some basic grooming – he felt almost normal.  Or at least enough so that he would chance a visit to Ironshore.

As it turned out, that was a mistake.

The second he landed on the docks and resumed his normal shape, he saw the results of his actions.  They’d always been afraid of him, but now, they were terrified.  No one would look him in the eye, and most people hurried away from him.  The only solace was that they didn’t break into an outright run.

Sighing, he headed towards Biggles house.  Luckily, Elijah found him there instead of the Forge of Creation. 

“I meant to thank you,” Biggle said after inviting him inside.  The place looked a lot emptier than the last time Elijah had visited, probably because most of the Alchemist’s supplies had been moved to the Forge of Creation, where he did most of his work.  “Those pirates would have killed me if you hadn’t been there.”

“You shouldn’t thank me.” 

Indeed, it almost felt like a compulsion.  Elijah hadn’t inducted the Alchemist into the grove.  He didn’t even know how.  But when he was there, he was one of Elijah’s people, just like the animals or guardians or the children. 

“Well, thank you anyway.  Were you just here to check on me, or is there another reason you’re here?”

“Did you hear about what I did to Breeze?”

Biggle nodded.

“I didn’t take anything from his palace.  It’s probably a little too toxic for anyone else to go there right now, so I’m pretty sure most of his supplies and equipment are still there.  I thought you might want it.”

“Are you serious?”

“Of course.”

“Then what are we waiting for?  Let’s go!”  Biggle exclaimed, leaping to his feet. “Go ahead then.  Transform into that great winged beast and let’s fly.”

“I though you hated flying.”

“Psh,” he scoffed.  “My personal aversions are completely irrelevant in such an emergency.  Come!  Let’s go!”

Elijah couldn’t help but grin.  “We’ll take the Spires.  There’s a set only a few hundred miles from the Kel’ilathen.”

“Good, good,” Biggle said, already gathering multiple high-storage backpacks from a closet.  “How many of these can you hold?  Three, at least.  Four?  Let’s go with four.”

As it turned out, Elijah took six.  Hopefully, that would be enough.  Soon, they were on their way to the Spires, and with Biggle’s enthusiasm buoying his spirits, Elijah almost forgot about his troubles. 

Almost.

But not quite.