Path of Dragons

Book 4: Chapter 27: First Steps

A cool rain fell upon Elijah’s shoulders as he trekked toward the mountains. Without the multi-ton burden of his sister’s statue on his back, he felt physically unburdened. However, the weight of his own expectations for his chosen task still weighed heavily upon him. He wasn’t certain when he had chosen to remain in his human form, but it felt appropriate. After all, using his bestial forms, he could have satisfied the terms of his self-imposed quest much more quickly and far more easily. Yet, that facilitation would have robbed it of much of its meaning.

Or that was his justification.

In reality, Elijah could acknowledge that part of his reasoning came down to a simple fact. He thought he needed to suffer in order to give the act more significance. In a lot of ways, it truly was a self-inflicted penance.

But by that point, Elijah had grown accustomed to it, so he let purpose fuel his journey as he trudged through the forest. As he did, he refused to let himself slip back into the trance-like state that had seen him through from Valoria to the Circle of Spears. Instead, he focused on three things.

First, he continuously pushed his cultivation exercises, constantly cycling ethera through his core in order to expand his capacity. It wasn’t very effective, but he felt it was good – and necessary – practice. After all, he couldn’t afford to just sit around his grove, or in his cultivation cave, for months while he worked on the process. Nor could he let himself neglect his progression. The battles in Valoria had pushed him past level eighty, but he knew that levels were not the only facet of progression.

The next subject of his focus concerned his plans for his sister’s memorial. The Architect would take care of the building, and the Sculptor siblings would do their part as well. But Elijah was more concerned with what came after the project was completed.

And finally, he let himself feel his surroundings in a deep and meaningful way. Every tiny organism. Every rock and tree. Every animal, small and large. He immersed himself in nature, once again letting it soothe him. It didn’t banish his grief. It did nothing to rid him of the guilt he still carried. Nor did it assuage his pain. However, it did bolster his ability to deal with all the issues he’d taken upon his shoulders.

Every now and again, Elijah would check his Domain as well. He observed as Colt continued to train Miguel, incorporating grueling physical activities as well as constant weapons instruction. But it didn’t end there. Every other day saw Kurik landing on the island and taking Miguel with him, presumably to venture out into the wilderness and train him as a scout.

On those days, the boy’s enthusiasm was difficult to miss.

Elijah also saw something that had initially worried him. At long last, Miguel had finally met the island’s other guardians, stumbling onto the family of deer during one of his forest runs. It was alarming enough that Elijiah almost abandoned his task altogether and returned to the island. After all, those deer were incredibly dangerous. If he made the wrong move, the stag would disintegrate him with those powerful beams of light it could create.

Yet, Elijah’s alarm seemed unwarranted. The two adult deer were a bit skittish around him, but the pair of juveniles – they’d grown slightly larger – were more than eager to approach. It wasn’t long before they were chasing one another through the meadow where the deer had made their home.

It reminded Elijah of how easily Miguel had befriended the giant turtle, Snappy. Or how quickly Artemis had taken to him. Perhaps the young man had a gift for such things. Or maybe the creatures could sense that he was no threat to them. One way or another, it was nice to see that, after everything Miguel had been through, he was still capable of having fun.

The other facets of Elijah’s mind drifted through his memories. Most centered around his sister, but he also thought of other people he’d lost. Like his parents. Or his ex-girlfriend back in Hawaii. He rarely thought of Nina anymore, largely because, with the benefit of space, he’d come to realize that their relationship had never been anything truly special. Just a pair of people who’d gotten together out of shared loneliness, then stayed together because they actually enjoyed one another’s company. But it wasn’t love. There had never been a spark.

Not like with Lucy.

More than once, Elijah had regretted how his first real relationship had ended. And he was ashamed of how he’d treated Lucy back then. In the summer after their breakup, he’d found comfort with other women – a few of which had treated him extremely poorly – so it was a miracle that she would even tolerate his presence anymore. Yet, when they’d reunited only a few months past, she’d given her support without hesitation.

Perhaps he needed to take that relationship – be it friendship or something more – more seriously. That reminded him of his obligation regarding Seattle. He still intended to help, just on his own terms and timeline.

Eventually, Elijah reached the mountains, where he embarked on a quest to find the perfect stone. He’d felt it once before – or its aura of ethera, at least – but back then, he’d had no need or ability to quarry it. This time, though, he was prepared.

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Slowly, Elijah scoured the mountains until, after three more days, he found what he was looking for.

The cliff face was tall. Perhaps two hundred feet, and extending for a quarter of a mile in either direction. The size of the cliff was immaterial, though. What truly drew Elijah’s eye was the composition. In most ways, it looked like marble, predominantly white, but with highlights of deep green. Even just looking at it, Elijah knew it was special – a supposition supported by the dense aura of ethera it emitted as well. It was almost as strong as a natural treasure, though without the sense of vitality that came with them. It reminded Elijah of the ore that came from Ironshore’s mine.

That prompted a thread of thought questioning what really made a natural treasure. Was it the life they tended to emit? Or was it something else? Elijah could feel the difference, though he wasn’t capable of pinpointing exactly what separated natural treasures from other powerful resources.

In any case, while Elijah wouldn’t have harvested a natural treasure, he had no issues with taking the stone. So, without further hesitation, he drew a large pickaxe from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, climbed to the top of the cliff, and got to work. He’d acquired the tool from Dion, the Builder he’d contracted, and it was reputed to be a Simple-Grade item. However, when Elijah swung the pickaxe at the cliff, he was surprised to find that it didn’t even chip the durable stone.

So, after a few more attempts, Elijah shifted into his lamellar ape form and brought his claws to bear. That was better, giving him some insight into how his claws compared to high-grade items.

Over the next few hours, Elijah worked to carve a huge block from the stone. Then, once it had been cut completely free, he laboriously wrapped it in rope he’d bought in Argos before lowering it to the ground. There were complications, of course. The process was awkward, made even more difficult by the fact that Elijah really didn’t know much about quarrying stone. Yet, he was a quick study with incredible attributes that were perfectly suited to the task. So, he pushed through, managing to set the stone at the bottom of the cliff before moving on to the next block.

That one went much more quickly, and after that, Elijah settled into a groove. The process was labor-intensive, but by that point, Elijah was well accustomed to such hardship. So, he persisted, and over the next few days, he harvested nearly a hundred such blocks.

On the trip back to Argos, by necessity, he was forced to abandon his pervious decision to remain in his human form. Instead, he used his lamellar ape form, balancing one block on each shoulder as he set off toward Argos. It was still a ridiculous amount of weight to carry, far exceeding that of the heel stones he’d used in his dolmens. However, because his Strength had increased – both by virtue of his levels and because of his equipment – he managed it.

Still, when he reached Argos and deposited the blocks just outside the city, he was exhausted. But he didn’t stop to rest. Instead, he shifted to the Shape of the Sky and set off toward his makeshift quarry. When he landed, he ate one of his few remaining grove berries, slept for a couple of hours, then continued his task. Each trip took about twelve hours, which meant that he could only make a couple a day. Thankfully, he wasn’t forced to do everything himself, because, on the fifth such day, Dios and his crew arrived with a pair of huge wagons.

The barrel-chested Builder and his team quickly got to work, stacking twenty blocks onto each wagon. Once they were fully loaded, Elijah asked, “Is that going to hold? It looks like it’s going to topple over.”

Dion clapped Elijah on his shoulder and let out an abrupt laugh. “Ah, so you have never worked with a true Builder, eh?” the man asked. “It is a skill called Teamster’s Balance. We’ll keep those blocks in the wagons, don’t you worry.”

Elijah took the man at his word, though he still eyed the precariously piled blocks with some unease. Still, he chose to trust Dion, largely because he’d come so highly recommended by Atticus.

In either case, the addition of the Builders’ efforts turned a project that should have taken six weeks into one that they managed to complete in only two. Even as they drove their wagons – which were pulled by the crew – across the terrain, Elijah continued with his own efforts, trudging across the landscape and carrying two at a time.

When they finally finished, Elijah once again met with the people he’d contracted. The two sculptors had finalized their plans, while the architect gave Elijah three options from which to choose. To him, the decision seemed obvious, and he picked the one that called to him mostly strongly.

Then, at last, everyone got to work.

As they did, Elijah finally took the time to rest, though he didn’t head to an inn to sleep. Instead, he planted himself in the center of the build site, where he continuously flared Nature’s Bounty as well as One with Nature. However, because there were no plants around, the former ability didn’t really result in much in the way of growth. That wasn’t Elijah’s purpose. Instead, he wanted to suffuse the intended memorial with his power.

Because, if the construction of the dolmens had proven anything, it was that construction wasn’t just about piling materials into a recognizable shape. There was far more to it than that. Ethera changed everything, after all.

More days passed, and the workers continued with their task. Often, they took advantage of Elijah’s healing abilities, as well, and after that first day, he’d resigned himself to continuously keeping Healing Rain active. That attracted many of Argos’ residents, too. There were quite a few Healers in the city, though they were often overworked. So, most people only visited a Healer when their lives were in danger. That was where Healing Rain came in. It was an easy spell to maintain, and it worked wonders on minor ailments. So, most days saw Elijah surrounded by a dozen or so people.

That was fine with him, too. He didn’t get much in the way of experience for healing them, but they often brought him food, which seemed a good trade.

More importantly, doing good and helping people nourished him in an entirely different way. That was the first of many steps toward healing his wounded psyche. It would be a long journey, but to Elijah, it felt that the first part of any voyage was always the most difficult.

In any case, it took a little more than a week before the building took shape. There was still quite a lot of detail work to be done, but Elijah was more than happy with the results so far.

And now that he had verified that everything was coming together, he felt free to embark on the final addition for the project. So, after letting everyone know that he would be back in a couple of weeks, Elijah used Roots of the World Tree and, for the first time in more than two months, returned to his grove.