Path of Dragons 17 - Chapter 52 - Abandonment (Patreon)

“I know what I have to do,” Elijah admitted, standing on the balcony of his treehouse.  As always, it had been perfectly maintained in his absence, so it was clean and in good repair.  He wasn’t really thinking about that, though.  Instead, his attention was on Callux, who sat among all the other children near the ancestral tree.  Like the others, his attention was entirely on Nara, who was teaching a class. 

Elijah hadn’t gone so far as to find out exactly what she was teaching them.  Probably something he would find to be boring, he reasoned.  But the kids were all enraptured by her lecture, which included using her Druid powers to grow a variety of plants. 

Instead, Elijah’s attention remained on his son.  Callux was just as interested as all the others, sitting cross-legged and leaning forward with the kind of eagerness only a child could display.  From afar, the whole scene looked ridiculous. 

Callux was larger than most grown men, so he stood out among t he other children.  Oddly enough, they didn’t seem to care.  In fact, from what Elijah could tell, they’d accepted Callux without question. 

Would that last?

That was doubtful.  As idyllic as the Hartwood Grove was, especially for kids, children were still children.  Elijah was certain that they would still divide themselves into cliques and bully one another.  He could only hope that Nara was ready to step in and show them their errors.

Elijah’s experience with bullying had been met with a lot less tact.  When he’d made the mistake of teasing one of his classmates for his size, his father had stepped in and doled out punishment in the form of manual labor.  Elijah had spent weeks splitting firewood they didn’t even need, all to cement the negative consequences of his actions into his mind.

Had it worked?

Sort of.  It certainly instilled a hatred of splitting firewood.  And in the short term, it kept him from going down that road again.  More impactful was when he’d gotten to know his victim and developed a friendship with him.  Mostly, that was based on a love of old fantasy movies, but it was also just because they had existed on the same wavelength.

Brandon.

Elijah hadn’t thought of him in years.  He’d moved away when they were nine years old, and lost touch soon after. 

But the lesson still stuck. 

Either way, Elijah wasn’t in the mood to examine and critique Nara’s reaction to childhood misdeeds.  Instead, his mind was almost solely occupied by his coming departure.

He’d spent the previous few hours on a speed run of reports on the Hartwood Grove and Earth’s general situation.  He had followed that up with preparations for his return.  He knew he needed to get back as quickly as possible.  For all he knew, the attack on the Vengeance had already begun.  But for all that, he knew that rushing it would assuredly be a mistake.

As he’d been told, he needed to trust that they knew what they were doing.  The Vengeance was a fortress purpose-built to withstand deity attacks.  People like Furyo and Maya had worked for years toward that singular goal, and Elijah had to believe that their efforts weren’t in vain. 

“I didn’t think there was a question about that,” Sara remarked.  She sat in one of the balcony’s chairs, sipping tea. 

Elijah didn’t approve.

Normally, he’d have gone a rant about the benefits of coffee over “dirty leaf water,” but at the moment, he just couldn’t be bothered.

He let out a sigh, then dipped his head.  Closing his eyes, he tried to quiet the sense of desperation that had been building in his heart.  Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was trying to convince himself that he could take Callux back to Orveth Kaal.  He was an orc, after all.  He could survive it.

But then he remembered that that part of Root Nexus had a cooldown.  He couldn’t take Callux back, even if he wanted to.  Not for a few more days yet.  And even if Elijah could justify a few hours’ delay, waiting for even a single day would be pushing his luck.

Or rather, the luck of everyone he’d left back in Orveth Kaal.

“It’s going to be okay, Elijah,” Sara said.  She’d pushed herself out of the chair and planted herself beside him.  Her hand rested on his back.  “We’ll take care of him.  Look – he’s already integrated into the education structure.  He’ll be fine.”

“He needs me.”

“Are you sure it’s not the other way around?” Sara asked.

“What if it is?  Don’t I deserve to raise my own son?” he countered.

“Nobody can force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” she reminded him.  “If you choose to stay…”

“People will die.”

“Sure.  They will probably die anyway,” Sara pointed out.  It was a harsh truth.  “But do you think anyone can stop you from ignoring them?  Do you think anyone will judge you for staying?”

“Of course they will.”

“Not to your face,” she said.  “You could insulate yourself from any criticism.  From responsibility.  You could be here with Callux.  You can raise him.”

“And all it would cost is everything I built back in Orveth Kaal.”

“Some people would consider that a good trade,” Sara argued.

“What about you?” Elijah asked.  “What would you do?”

“The same thing you’re going to do,” Sara said, and with a confidence that Elijah envied.  “I’d go back to the ancestral world and fight the war.  That’s something only you can do, Elijah.  You adopted that responsibility the second you brought everyone to Orveth Kaal.”

“I took responsibility for Callux, too.”

“Let us help you.  Let us take care of him until you can do what’s necessary,” Sara advised.

Elijah didn’t respond to her plea, largely because he’d already made his choice.  Nothing she could say would change it.  He would leave Earth much sooner than he’d originally planned.  He just wasn’t looking forward to informing Callux of the impending abandonment.

“Do you ever stop and wonder why the world won’t just let us be happy?” he asked Sara, glancing back at her.

“I am happy.”

“Really?  So it’s just me?” he sighed.

“Happiness is relative,” Sara said, finally pushing herself to her feet.  She stepped forward to stand beside him.  “And for you?  Do you really think you would be happy just sitting in the grove and raising Callux?”

“He’s my son. I love him, and I want to be there for him.”

“That’s a version of happiness, I guess,” Sara said.  “But I don’t know, Elijah.  I think you’d go stir crazy.  You might even start to resent him for holding you back.”

“I would never think like that,” Elijah argued.  Though if he’d been a little more introspective – or honest with himself – he would have admitted that Sara was right.  He wouldn’t harbor said resentment on the surface, but it would definitely influence his thoughts. 

For better or worse, Elijah was almost entirely internally motivated.  Sure, many of his goals were couched in the public good.  Protecting Earth sounded noble enough.  So did freeing the orcs from the system’s imprisonment.  And a hundred of his other aims.

But at the end of the day, Elijah’s primary motivating factor would always be internally focused.  He did things because he wanted to.  Not because they positively affected others.

That wasn’t the whole truth, but it was the seed from which his every action grew.

Elijah didn’t like to think of himself as selfish, but the facts were indisputable.  The only comfort was that most people could similarly trace their own motivations to that most basic origin. 

Should he be better? He thought so.  But he wasn’t always strong enough to overcome that simple truth of his – and most people’s – identity.

“In this case, I don’t think you have much of a choice.  Callux is important to you, as he should be,” Sara said. “But I think Orveth Kaal is important to you too, if only because Fungee lives there.”

It was also his.

Maybe not completely, but he’d already internalized the takeover in his mind.  And he had no intention of letting the dragons have it back.  That, coupled with the very real motivation to keep the expedition alive, made his choice obvious.

Yet, he still hesitated.  He still hated the notion of leaving Callux behind. 

Elijah said as much, which prompted Sara to give him a compliment.  “You’re a good dad.  Better than mine.  I barely ever see him.  Maybe you can use that.  Be an example for Callux.  Tell him that sacrifice is part of leadership.”

Elijah frowned. “A teaching moment.”

She nudged him with her shoulder.  “That’s what we’ll call it.”

Elijah couldn’t help but smile.  “When did you get so wise?”

“I’ve grown a lot in the past decade or so,” she answered.  “Running a global empire will do that to a girl.”

“You’re not taking it too far, are you?” Elijah asked.

“Depends on what you deem too far,” she explained.  “We’re easily the richest city on the planet, but I haven’t actually claimed any extra territory.  Just the forts around the Primal Realms and the cities that came with them.  Most of our influence is economic.  Let someone else rule.  So long as they’re peaceful, we’ll reap the benefits.”

“And if they’re not?”

“Economic sanctions, mostly.  We also work with the Adjudicators in some situations,” she admitted.  “Off-world is different.”

“How so?”

“In every way imaginable.  Here, we’re isolated.  Nobody cares about a newly integrated planet like this,” she said, though her eyes flicked away at the last moment.

“What is it?”

“The Green Mountain Mining Guild is still an issue.  Not on Earth,” she pointed out.  “But every time we establish a new outpost, they’re there to make things difficult.”

“What’s the solution?”

“Battle, sometimes.  Clever maneuvering at others,” she answered.

“You’re winning though, aren’t you?”

“Mostly.  We have suffered a few defeats,” Sara stated.  “Those hit Atticus harder than me.  I’m just the money behind the Merchant.  His progression is tied to winning those victories.”

“He’ll make it,” Elijah said.  He had complete confidence in his friend’s ability to come out on top.  “Do you need me to do anything?”

She shook her head. “I’m not going to add to your burden.  We can handle it, just like we can handle Callux’s education.  You’re the only one who can save the people in Orveth Kaal.  Focus on that.”

Elijah wasn’t so certain about that notion.  Illska was still inside the ancestral world, after all.  And comparatively, she made him look like nothing more than a raw ascendent.  But Sara was right.  He’d already made his decision.  Now, he just needed to do the hard thing and tell Callux that he was leaving.

With that in mind, Elijah said, “Time to rip the bandaid off.”

Then, before she could respond, he vaulted over the rail to land on the soft, grassy turf surrounding his treehouse.  A purposeful stride took him past Nerthus’s magnificent garden and to where Nara was still teaching the children.  When he got close enough, Elijah noted Callux’s intense interest.  His jaw had fallen open in awe.

Which hurt a little.

Elijah had grown plenty of plants for Callux over the years.  He’d even spent quite a lot of time playing with Fungee and the satellite colonies while Elijah augmented their growth.  He should’ve been well-accustomed to the miraculous powers of Druids.

But then again, Nara possessed a demeanor that made children both comfortable and attentive.  Elijah could never rival that, even if he enjoyed teaching.

In spurts.

Not as a profession, certainly.

Regardless, Elijah spent the next few minutes listening to Nara’s lecture about plant classification.  Surprisingly, she had adopted the same Linnaean taxonomy and binomial nomenclature used in pre-World Tree science.  However, Scholars had since added quite a lot to it, meant to represent the effect of magic. 

It was fascinatingly complex while being vaguely familiar.

One day, he would need to re-learn everything.

In the meantime, Elijah enjoyed the lecture almost as much as the children, as much because of Nara as because she clearly shared a connection with him.  In short, she had obviously found her place, and it wasn’t as the grove’s pseudo-Administrator.  She was a teacher at heart.

After only a little while longer, some of the gathered children had begun to grow antsy.  Recognizing that, Nara called an end to the class.  The moment she dismissed them, they bolted into the surrounding forest to play.

After a couple minutes of discussion with Nara, during which he reiterated how much he appreciated her efforts, he turned his attention to Callux.  For all that he’d integrated easily into the class, he wasn’t quite part of the group.  So, he’d stayed behind, probably because he was more comfortable with adults than with other children.

Understandable, considering he’d never seen other people his age before coming to Earth.

It also meant that Elijah couldn’t really delay the inevitable. 

“Sit down,” Elijah said, motioning toward the ancestral tree.  It had grown out, rather than up, and its roots seemed even more gnarled than ever.  However, it was still just as comforting as ever.

Callux hesitated only for a moment before plopping down on a particularly thick root.

“How was class?” Elijah asked.

A tidal wave of words was Callux’s answer.  He barely paused between each one, and to the point where it was a little difficult to follow everything.  Elijah let him go on and on for a few minutes until, at last, Callux had to stop for a breath.

“I have to tell you something,” Elijah said.  “I have to go back to Orveth Kaal.”

“When do we leave?”

Elijah could hear the disappointment in his son’s voice.

“No.  Not we.  Just me.  You know there’s a war coming,” Elijah said.  “It’s here.  I have to go fight the other dragons.”

Callux frowned.  He’d spent enough time in Agmar that he understood war well enough.  He’d also developed a disdain for what he called the “evil dragons.” Like they were the antagonists in one of the movies he so enjoyed.

“How long?”

“I don’t know,” Elijah admitted.

“I protect grove?”

“You don’t need to.  Your job right now is to train.  Learn.  Make allies with the other kids,” Elijah said, framing everything in a way Callux could understand.  He knew that if he told his son to have a happy childhood, the result would be misery.  But giving Callux something to do? A goal that conveniently wrapped itself around a concept that played into his nature? 

That would soften the blow.

Callux nodded gravely.  “I will become a great warrior.  Just like Uncle Miggy and Okar.”

“What about Rakhan?”

He shook his head. “Too much right now.  Little steps.”

Elijah tried not to laugh at the self-serious appraisal. In Callux’s mind, trying to become Rakhan in any short amount of time was sheer folly.  He’d aimed lower by trying to be like Miguel and Okar.  They were just stepping stones, though.

“You’re going to be okay, right?”

Callux nodded. “I will join you when my training is complete.”

The statement was complex enough that Elijah knew he’d lifted it from somewhere – or someone – else.  Still, the sentiment was accurate enough.

What’s more, Callux seemed to have taken Elijah’s impending departure quite well.  It made him realize that his misgivings were based less on how they affected Callux and were more concerned with Elijah’s own issues.

That was a sobering realization.

It didn’t help what was coming next, though.  Elijah wrapped his overly large son in a hug, which Callux returned with orcish vigor.  It was a little game he liked to play.  He knew he couldn’t hurt Elijah, so he was free to hug him as hard as his strength would allow. 

He grunted with the effort, and when they broke apart, he was breathing a little harder.  A tusky grin had also spread across his face.

“Be good,” Elijah said.  “Mind the adults.  Don’t get into trouble.”

With that, Elijah cast Root Nexus and teleported back to Orveth Kaal.  If he’d been capable in the void tunnel he’d created via his spell, he might have felt a few tears fall down his cheeks.