Path of Dragons 18 - Chapter 21 - Resuming Contact (Patreon)

“I really hate being toyed with by extraordinarily powerful assholes,” Gunnar complained, squatting in the center of a small clear.  His rifle lay across his knees as he picked at a long blade of grass.  His movements were careful, largely because that simple-seeming plant was sharp enough to cut a mortal.

“You will grow accustomed to it,” Illska assured him.  “For centuries, I have dealt with Prosperity’s influence over my life.”

“Yeah, well you signed up for that,” Gunnar pointed out.  “And you can stop spying on us Elijah.  We know you’re there.”

“I did not,” Ok’tarik stated. He’d been standing vigil, watching the distance as if he expected an attack.  Likely, he did.  The rings around the planet’s core had always been dangerous, never more so than at the moment, just after everything had been rearranged. 

Elijah let Guise of the Stalker fall away, then shifted out of the Shape of Withering and back into his humanoid form.  “I wasn’t spying,” he insisted.

“You definitely were,” Gunnar said.

“Whatever.  Is everyone okay?”

They all said that they were.  Then, Illska asked why they’d arrived at different locations.  Clearly, all three had deduced that it was due to the transcendent Poet’s influence, but no one knew exactly why he would do such a thing.

“He wanted to know my plans,” Elijah said. “And he wanted to learn about rap.”

Gunnar fixed him with a withering gaze. “Rap.”

“Yeah.  You know, gangsta rap.  Like Tupac and Biggie and –”

“I know what rap is,” Gunnar interrupted. “What I don’t know is why you were talking about that with an all-powerful being.  Or why we were sequestered miles away while you had a nice little conversation.”

“Said all-powerful being didn’t actually tell me his grand plan,” Elijah admitted.  “But –”

“And don’t say ‘gangsta.’ It doesn’t sound right coming from you,” Gunnar once again interrupted.

“Man, you are grumpy today. I figured you’d be happy.”

Gunnar looked down. “Sorry,” he said. “Just a lot of tension coming to a head.  We’re heading back to Earth, and I don’t even know if Palikina’s okay.”

“Oh, is that what’s bugging you?  She’s fine.  She spent about a month in Ron’s clinic, but since then, she’s been hanging out in the grove, mostly spying on everyone,” Elijah revealed. “I thought you knew.”

“I…you…you knew this whole time?”

“She’s in my grove.  Of course I knew,” Elijah stated.  That was a bit of an overstatement, considering how far away the grove had seemed.  While he was in Silvara, his sense of the island had been weaker than ever, but he could still pick out individual presences, so long as he concentrated hard enough.  It was easier with people as powerful as Palikina, who stood out – especially when she deigned to drop stealth.

Now, Elijah could sense everything much more clearly, completely bypassing Palikina’s stealth.  He knew she would’ve been horrified by that reality, so he kept that to himself.

“You…you asshole.”

“What?” Elijah asked.

“All this time…a year…and I’ve been on pins and needles the whole time,” Gunnar said.  “And you could’ve just told me.”

“You didn’t ask,” Elijah pointed out.  Truthfully, he’d never even considered telling Gunnar that the stealthy dragon was okay.  He probably should have, given that he knew how the sniper felt about her. 

“I didn’t ask?” Gunnar demanded, standing up.  “You have got to be the most selfish man I’ve ever met.”

“And you were too proud to ask,” Elijah stated.

“I…I don’t…”

Gunnar never finished whatever he was going to say.  Instead, he simply turned around and stalked away, disappearing after a few moments. 

“You think I should be worried he’s going to set up somewhere and start shooting me?” Elijah asked Illska.

“I do not think he would do that,” she answered.

“I do,” Ok’tarik provided.

In truth, Elijah didn’t really expect Gunnar to do that.  For one, it was a battle he knew he couldn’t win.  Maybe there was a circumstance that the sniper could put him down, but as far as Elijah knew, there were no more dragon bane bullets in the man’s possession.  If there were, he’d have been a little more worried.

“How long do you think it’ll be before he’s back?” Elijah asked.  “Because I don’t think we should waste any time before moving to the next phase and establishing contact with Earth.”

“I have no idea.”

Elijah shrugged. “I guess follow me.”

With that, he set off back the way he’d come, which was to say in the direction of his dolmen.  As he went, he was once again forced to acknowledge how much Orveth Kaal had changed.  Clearly, the layout was mostly the same, but there were a lot of key differences.

For one, the atmosphere around the rings was a lot less caustic, and Elijah didn’t need to guess why that would be the case.  The Poet had revealed that he’d repaired some of the leaks in the planetary core, preventing most of the energy from escaping into the wider planet. 

That meant that, while the area wouldn’t be harmless to most people, anyone in the upper reaches of the demigod tier – or above – could probably survive, so long as they took a few precautions. 

Other than that, the rings seemed more solid than ever, with much more vibrant flora.  The Poet had explained that the gate to Silvara was responsible for that, as it leaked quite a lot of nature-attuned ethera into Orveth Kaal.

The result was a much wilder vibe, which Elijah very much appreciated.

Beyond that, the planet looked much the same.  He’d gotten a decent look on the way to pick up his companions, and he saw what he probably should have expected.  The basic layout of the planet – meaning that it was a collection of larger landmasses orbiting the core – was similar to what he’d left behind.

Of course, that didn’t mean it was familiar.  In the year since he’d left for Silvara, those landmasses had inevitably drifted.  More due to the natural characteristics of the planet than because of the Poet’s intervention. 

As a result, the Earth expedition’s efforts in mapping the planet had been rendered mostly moot.  It would take decades to reestablish a firm understanding of its layout, and even that would need to account for movement. 

In some ways, it was like understanding the heavens, and it involved complex math as well as observable phenomena. 

Which meant that Elijah would probably just wing it.

In any case, the trip back to the dolmen was largely uneventful.  Certainly, dangerous wildlife still made its home in Orveth Kaal – nowhere more so than the rings.  But for people who’d been living in Silvara for a year, the danger seemed almost quaint. 

They reached the dolmen in short order.

“Does anyone have anything else they want to do before I open the portal back to Earth?” Elijah asked.  He looked at Illska, who shook her head.  Gunnar popped up out of nowhere to say that he was ready.  His previous irritation was nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, Ok’tarik wasn’t going anywhere, so he just remained silent.

“Alright.  Here we go,” Elijah said, finally casting Root Nexus.

The portal vines grew out of the ground, same as always, snaking together until they created an elegant arch.  The interior of that arch shimmered, then solidified into a green plane of energy.

“Who’s first?” Elijah asked.

He needn’t have, because Gunnar was already passing through.  Clearly, he’d been a lot more worried about Palikina than he’d let on.  Perhaps Elijah should have taken that into account, rather than focusing so firmly on his own tasks.

Elijah was busy watching Gunnar pass into the portal when he heard Illska say, “I will forever be indebted to you for your help.”

He looked over to see Illska’s hand on the orc’s shoulder.

“You have helped me to better understand my place as well,” he acknowledged. 

“I will be back.”

“I will be waiting,” Ok’tarik stated.

Illska nodded, then turned and followed Gunnar’s path through the portal.  She disappeared, same as him.

That left Ok’tarik and Elijah alone.  They hadn’t spoken much during their stint in the Plane of Nature, and yet, an understanding still existed between them. 

“I’ll bring him back soon,” Elijah stated, referring to Callux.  Now that the danger had passed, Elijah had no reason to remain separated from his adopted son.

“Good.  I…I miss him.”

“Me too.  Do you need anything before I leave?  Want me to leave the tent?” Elijah asked.

Ok’tarik shook his head.  “I will see to my people,” he stated.  From the Poet, Elijah had learned that Agmar still existed, and he’d been given a vague direction, which he had conveyed to the orc.  Clearly, he was ready to check on his people.

Elijah extended his hand.  “Thank you for everything you’ve done.”

Ok’tarik took it.  “We are not finished.”

Elijah gripped his companion’s hand tightly, agreeing, “No.  We’re not.  I won’t rest until this place is…better.”

He’d meant to say that he wouldn’t stop until Ok’tarik and his people were free, but he knew that wasn’t realistic.  As much as he looked upon their confinement with disdain, there was still a part of him that saw it as a necessary evil.  By all accounts, orcs had earned their reputation.

Did it matter that plenty of other races had done the same?

It should have, but Elijah didn’t dismiss the very real possibility that the orcs were much worse.  And now?  Unleashing such a society upon the wider multi-verse?  Elijah couldn’t help but wonder if that would be something akin to a jailbreak, unleashing murderers and thieves upon an unsuspecting populace.

Even so, Elijah would make their lives better.  He would position Orveth Kaal to become something more than it already was.

That would have to do for now.  Other questions would need to wait for answers.

“I believe you,” Ok’tarik stated.  Then, without further discussion, he released Elijah’s hand and set off on his own.  Elijah watched for a few moments until the orc disappeared into the nearby tree line.  Only then did he turn and step toward the gate. 

Passing through was predictably frustrating, as it required Elijah to spend nearly a week in the void.  Still, it was a little faster than traveling via the system’s teleportation network, and much cheaper as well.

Elijah’s time as a tree came in handy, as he channeled some of the lessons he’d learned on the trip back.  Like that, he maintained his calm and firmed some of his plans for Orveth Kaal.

The key to his plan was Fungee.  As far as Elijah could tell, the fungal colony shared an inescapable bond with his offspring, and Elijah intended to use that to form a metaphysical web throughout Orveth Kaal.  Then, he would use World Tether to drag the entire planet toward Earth.

Would that work?

Maybe.

The Poet seemed to think the idea had merit.  However, Elijah knew good and well that accomplishing that goal would be much more complex than his simple explanation made it seem. 

Bringing those satellite colonies to maturity alone would take years of work.  On top of that, Elijah knew that he would need to fall back on some of the lessons he’d learned on Gorveth to really make everything stick.

In a lot of ways, the projects were similar. Except instead of cleansing a continent, Elijah needed to bind together an entire planet.  Some of the work was already done, considering that the planet’s landmasses were already part of the whole.  Yet, that bond wasn’t strong enough.

Elijah needed more.

Hopefully, he could make the changes stick.

If not, then his plan wouldn’t work, and he would be back at square one.  Elijah refused to let that happen, as much for Callux’s sake as for the sake of all the other orcs.  And the power Elijah stood to gain from such a feat of strength, though that was a secondary concern.

Those thoughts occupied his serene mind as he endured the trip back to Earth.  He was so engrossed that when it ended, he found himself standing in the center of his grove, surprised by his own arrival.

At least until a giant figure slammed into him, knocking him from his feet.