Path of Dragons 16 - Chapter 24 - Something New (Patreon)

“I think he likes you,” Elijah said, smiling slightly as he watched one of Fungee’s tendrils tentatively extend toward Imal’s outstretched hand.  Her fingers trembled in fear and anticipation, her discomfort obvious.  However, she maintained a stoic expression – as much for his benefit as because she refused to show that she was uncomfortable with the situation.  She only endured it for his benefit.

Which made him appreciate her all the more.

Most people wouldn’t have done that, especially when confronted by such a powerful and potentially destructive creature.  After all, she had seen what Fungee’s progenitor could do, and on multiple occasions.  And she could assuredly feel that he was much, much stronger than the mushroom colony back on the Vengeance. 

Most of that came from Elijah’s efforts with Dictate of the World Tree, but a not-insignificant portion of his power originated with the World Tree itself.  And finally, the environment contributed to his growth. 

In short, Elijah had built a perfect set of circumstances for the fungi to reach his potential.  And Fungee had responded by exceeding even Elijah’s lofty expectations.  The sky was the limit for what he could become.

Elijah was more than eager to see how he developed.

He watched as the tendril brushed against Imal’s finger.  Fungee shivered, likely just as anxious as she was.  But he was curious, too, as evidenced by his persistence.  In only a second, he’d explored her entire hand. 

But that was as far as he was willing to go before withdrawing into the soft earth. 

His spores did shimmer with a little more vibrance, though.  Reds and greens and yellows, with a hint of blue flickering subtly in the background. 

That was new.

And fitting, Elijah felt.  That was the World Tree’s influence. 

“You made all of this?” she asked, slightly breathless. 

“Made is a strong word.  I built the cavern, and I implanted most of the wildlife.  But Fungee was in charge of the atmosphere,” he acknowledged.  The whole process had been much more complex than that implied, with layer after layer of ecological systems having been grown or imported into the cavern.  The result was a true collaboration over which he only had nominal control. 

And that was only present insomuch as he could wipe the slate clean if he wanted.  As far as taking the reins, that just wasn’t really in the cards. 

“It’s beautiful.”

That was undeniable.  It had all the hallmarks of a thriving forest, but with the otherworldly atmosphere provided by Fungee.  In some ways, it reminded him of Gorveth.  There were no violet rivers of corruption streaking across the sky – or ceiling, as it happened – but the magical majesty of the setting felt comparable in a way he couldn’t really articulate. 

Soon enough, Elijah took Imal on a tour of the cavern.  It was a miles-long and almost as wide, so they spent the entire day seeing the sights.  Multiple water features had formed throughout the space, which seemed to delight Imal.  Especially when she discovered that much of the plant life butted up against the natural treasure designation.  Most of the ones near the cave’s streams and ponds were water-attuned, too.

“This shouldn’t be possible,” she remarked, her hand skating along the surface of a water lily. “How is this possible?”

Elijah, who sat on the surface of his flying carpet while Imal stood on the water itself, shrugged before trying to explain the mechanics of Fungee’s influence.  It didn’t go over well.  For all that she was much better educated in magic, Imal lacked the scientific foundation to understand how fungi worked.

From her perspective, it seemed like a parasite – and a horrifying one at that.  She also had some difficulty understanding that Fungee was both part of and separate from the results of his influence. 

“Think of it like a hive mind,” Elijah offered from his perch.  “Except that Fungee isn’t in control.  He’s just the…I don’t know…the connective tissue.  But he’s his own entity as well.”

It was a bad description, largely because fungal colonies were already difficult to really understand.  And with magic added to the mix, they became much more incomprehensible. 

“I’ll just take your word for it,” she said at last.  “But this kind of thing isn’t normal, even for Druids.”

“I’m aware,” Elijah acknowledged.  Of all people, he knew the difference between what he’d helped Fungee become and what was usually possible inside a Druid’s grove.  The plants – and sometimes animals – grown in those settings were remarkable.  But even the ones on Eskir, which was a massive grove in its own right, couldn’t even come close to Fungee. 

Maybe in sheer power, but not in meaning.  And certainly not regarding potential.

“It’s not going to infect us, is it?” Imal asked.

“He won’t.”

“But I thought you said it wasn’t all…Fungee.”

The hesitation before saying his name was a little hurtful, but at least she was trying. 

“It’ll be fine,” Elijah insisted.  If he wasn’t certain, he never would’ve brought Imal into the cave.  He said as much, then added, “Just trust me.”

She did, though she was obviously still hesitant, especially when Elijah pointed out that they had a perfectly good body of water and no one else around.  She picked up his hint, and it wasn’t long before they’d both stripped down and were swimming in the pond. 

As they did so, Elijah made certain to point out all the different species of fish he’d transported into the pond.  Some were large – alligator sized – while others were as small as minnows.  Yet, they all contributed to the overall ecosystem in such a complex way that trying to untangle everything would give most people a headache.

But it worked.

Elijah had made certain of that.

And as a water-attuned Sorcerer, Imal very much appreciated his efforts.  The look on her face as some of those minnow-like fish nipped at her feet was enough to verify that much.  However, she also looked at the razor-toothed larger aquatic creatures with a wary eye. 

Probably warranted.

They were all demi-god tier beasts, but even those could prove dangerous if they managed to get the jump on someone.  Watching them dart around so fast that a mortal couldn’t have tracked their passage was more than a little disconcerting.

And exhilarating. 

Elijah had always loved sea animals, and that fascination hadn’t faded with time.  If anything, his admiration had grown alongside his power level.  And he was eager to share that with Imal, who was one of the few people he’d ever met who could appreciate it on that same level.

The result was an intimate magical experience that saw them swimming naked together and exploring the pond.  It wasn’t a particularly huge body of water – just a few hundred yards across – but the bottom was packed with so much life that it reminded Elijah of some of the most densely packed coral reefs he’d seen back on Earth.  So, they had plenty of area to explore, and it was hours later before they climbed onto the rocky shore and just basked in the exhilaration of it all.

“Thank you,” Elijah said as he lay on the surface of a relatively flat boulder, his hands behind his head as he looked up at the cavern ceiling.  Tiny pinpricks of light danced among the stalactites far above.  He also saw vines draped between each rocky spike, which made it look a little like the underside of a tropical canopy.  Clouds of moisture drifted among them as well, forming an entire weather system native to the cavern. 

“For what?” Imal asked, leaning back on her hands. 

Elijah answered, “For caring about what I care about.  For being you.  For…everything.”

He’d had a handful of relationships throughout his life, but he couldn’t remember connecting to anyone the same way he’d bonded with Imal.  Part of that came from the intimacy inherent in blending their powers, but it was also a union of philosophy.  There were differences, of course.  They were their own people.  Imal cared more about proving herself and rising above the circumstances of her birth, while Elijah was more free-form with his goals. 

But they both lived for a life of adventure and exploration. 

None of his other relationship partners had ever been as well-matched, and it showed in the degree of comfort he felt with Imal.  With Sadie, their coupling had always felt more like a competition than love.  There was fun in that, and she pushed him to be a better person.  He liked to believe he did the same for her.  But looking back, Elijah had to admit that it was not a relationship built to last.

They were both better off having moved on, as painful as their break-up had been.

With Kaela, they’d never really gotten the chance to explore their relationship.  However, Elijah suspected that it would’ve ended as well.  Maybe not quickly, but its foundation was too shaky for it to last.  When they’d met, Elijah was still reeling from what had happened with Sadie, and he’d been mesmerized by Kaela’s beauty. 

It was shallow, but maybe it would have had a chance to deepen into something more.  Elijah would never know.

For a while, the lost opportunity had bugged him, but as his relationship with Imal had deepened, he had all but forgotten about that frustration.  There would always be something of a what-if regarding those days, but there wasn’t much left of the regret that had initially followed him.

“What do you want to do when this is all over?” he asked.

“A holiday.”

“Really?”

She shrugged.  “I was paid quite a lot of ethereum as a bonus for joining the Vyrin Clan,” she explained.  “I didn’t get much of a chance to spend it.”

“Are there resorts in the Empire of Scale?” Elijah asked.  “Like Sandals, but with dragons?”

That question necessitated an explanation, mostly concerning how those resorts worked.  Imal found it fascinating, largely because she equated it to being treated like royalty for a few days.  Which wasn’t that far off from the truth. 

“I know some good spots on Earth, too,” Elijah suggested.  “I’d also like to show you the grove.”

In reality, he wanted to ask her to relocate.  The Empire of Scale, for all its positive traits, was an inherently unfair place.  Even when Imal reached the deity tier, she would be seen as less than an equivalent dragon.  If they ever made their coupling official, some of Elijah’s status would necessarily transfer to her, but so too would her identity as a serpentor creep into the way the rest of the empire looked at him. 

Could that be overcome?

Certainly.  So long as they continued to grow in power and at least reached the top of that realm, they would see few impediments in their way.  However, there was a certain subset of the population that would never see anything more than a half-scale and a serpentor, regardless of their personal power or backing.

In short, the Empire of Scale was a frustratingly striated place.  Even Elijah, as the favored child of Prosperity herself, faced discrimination.

Earth had its own issues with those sorts of things, but the biggest difference was that Elijah was the most powerful person in that world.  As such, he would never need to put up with such bigotry.

 Elijah was about to continue that conversation when he felt something skating along the surface of the sky island.  He jerked himself upright.

“What’s wrong?” asked an alarmed Imal.

“Orcs,” Elijah said, already summoning his armor.  Even as he did so, he felt Fungee react to the fleet that had landed above.  Alarmingly, there were already a dozen ships having disgorged their cargo of orcs, and more landed with every second.  More importantly, Elijah recognized one of the ships.

The pyramid standing at the center marked it as one of the shamans’ vessels.  Not as large as the one hosting the deity-tier shaman Elijah had dealt with months before, but still big enough to accommodate more than a thousand of that archetype.

And when they started chanting, Fungee’s tendrils began to writhe.  Elijah felt his pain almost as if it was his own.  He pushed through it, recognizing the situation for what it was. 

The orcs had come to exterminate the threat that was Fungee, and they’d come prepared.  Left alone, Fungee would surely fall.  The shamans’ overlapping domains were more than capable of disrupting his magical existence. 

There was only one choice.

Elijah needed to deal with them himself.

“Are you okay?” he asked, Imal, whose heart seemed determined to pound its way out of her chest.  Not surprising.  The shamans’ overlapping domains had stilled the ethera in the atmosphere, preventing all spellcasting.

“I’ll be fine,” she breathed.

“Stay here,” he told her, already extending his Mantle of Authority.  Briefly, it fought against the domains, but the battle soon ended with Elijah’s victory.  He transformed, taking on the Shape of the Primordial Deep.  In only a moment, he’d activated The World is an Ocean as well as Aquatic Body Control.  He darted upward, swimming through the solid rock and bursting free into open air.

Then, he activated Whirlpool, determined to kill every orc that posed a threat to the people he cared about most.