Elijah knelt atop the hill, looking out across the valley. It was an idyllic scene, with lush vegetation and a gentle stream cutting through the center of the dell. Despite the drizzling rain that had pervaded the region since he’d left Argos a couple of days before, sunlight still bathed the hollow, giving it a surreal, yet comfortable atmosphere. The only thing marring the landscape was the crumbling skyscraper standing in an asphalt clearing on the eastern side of the valley.
Ignoring the obvious damage, it would have been at home as part of any major city’s skyline, though Elijah didn’t recognize it. Still, it was so incongruous that it sparked his curiosity to the point that he felt obligated to check it out.
Running his hand through his hair, he let out a low sigh. Every time he decided to investigate one oddity or another, he ended up getting sidetracked from his primary quest. It had happened in Norcastle with healing the plague-stricken townspeople and the tower, then again in Argos. He knew that if he kept giving into his wanderlust, he’d never find his sister.
And now that he knew where to find Seattle, he was more eager for a reunion than ever. After all, Easton had been just outside of the city, so hopefully finding Seattle would mean finding that small town as well. Even if the two locations had been separated by Earth’s sudden transformation, it would at least give him some degree of verifiable progress. Because so far, he’d felt like he was just wandering randomly and hoping for a clue to point him in the right direction.
Which was precisely what he’d gotten. Now, he just needed to not ignore it.
Still, the mystery of the skyscraper called to him, and in the end, he decided that a quick look wouldn’t hurt. So, Elijah shifted into his draconid form, then set off down the hill and into the valley. With Essence of the Wolf working in conjunction with his high attributes, he covered the ground incredibly quickly. He didn’t have much context for his actual speed, but if he traveled any slower than a thirty mile-an-hour jog, he would have been surprised. He could go much faster if he fully exerted himself, though that was always a little disconcerting. It would also quickly exhaust him.
In any case, he slowed down as he descended into the valley, if for no other reason than because it was a pleasant setting. So often, it was easy to forget just how miraculous nature could be. Once, it had been common for people to lock themselves in their homes and stare at one screen or another without ever enjoying what the Earth had to offer. Likely, people in cities were still unwilling to venture out into the wilderness, albeit for a different reason. Now, it was due to the dangers inherent in the wilds rather than laziness, depression, or the habits of a screen-addicted society.
Those thoughts flitted through one facet of Elijah’s mind as he beheld the wonders of the idyllic valley. Birds chirped, and small animals chittered. Meanwhile, he could feel everything all around him. Even the trees felt more alive and aware than normal, which was both welcome and a little disconcerting.
Eventually, he reached the stream, where he stopped to drink and wash. As he did so, he cast his mind back to the events of the past few weeks. It had begun with his flight from Norcastle, and it had ended with his night with Delilah. Somewhere in the middle of it all, his awareness of his place in the world had begun to coalesce.
In hindsight, he wished he hadn’t killed those hunters. Not because he didn’t think they deserved it. He fully believed that they had. Yet, he also knew that his perspective was skewed by his compromised mental state. He’d let that drive him to do something that he now regretted.
From a philosophical perspective, Elijah knew he needed to accept that people would hunt the wildlife in order to advance. Progression was as necessary a part of survival as food or water, and without it, people would stagnate and eventually die when they encountered some hostile situation they couldn’t handle.
That was the world, now. And as much as it pained him to see something like the bear killed, it was a fact of life he would have to accept going forward. That didn’t mean he had to do those sorts of things himself, but he could at least look the other way while others did. The same was true of natural treasures, though given what he’d experienced so far, the idea of consuming something for a one-time benefit when you could instead bathe in the ethera it emitted indefinitely was the height of stupidity.
Yet, Elijah knew he couldn’t do anything about that. He could govern his own actions, but he would not run around some eco-police hell-bent on punishing people for their crimes against nature. Down that road lay disaster, both for his own mental health as well as the likelihood he would be tolerated by the rest of the population.
But one thing Elijah did know was that he enjoyed helping people. That had begun with the ulthraks in the first level of his island’s tower, and it had only grown more prevalent when he’d helped heal the people in Norcastle. The same could be said when he’d fought his way through the Reaver’s Citadel, and then saved Isaak and Artemis.
In a world where so much had been destroyed and so many lives had been lost, he liked the idea that he could affect positive change. He could save people. He could rescue and heal them. With the power he’d earned, he could do miraculous things, and he refused to let that go to waste.
Did that make him naïve? Perhaps. And maybe it would one day come back to bite him. But he wouldn’t want to live with himself if he ever became the sort of person who could see a chance to save someone and simply turn away. It would take a truly damaged person to end up like that.
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He liked to think that his parents had raised him better than to let that sort of attitude take hold.
Those thoughts and more occupied Elijah’s mind as he idled near the stream. Eventually, he caught a couple of fish, made camp, and had a peaceful meal, all thoughts of the nearby skyscraper briefly forgotten.
As night began to take hold, he decided to tackle the skyscraper in the morning. For now, though, he was content.
Which was why it took him a few moments to recognize the warning in his mind. The source wasn’t his immediate surroundings. Rather, someone had landed on his island. Through his Locus, he could feel the familiar figures of Ramik and Carisa planting a white flag on his beach.
Elijah’s initial reaction was one of annoyance. He’d told them to stay away from his island, and yet, there they were. However, that only lasted for a moment before he came to terms with the fact that his irritation was more about the fact that his foray into the wider world had been interrupted. Clearly, the people of Ironshore needed help, and they were willing to ask him to intervene in whatever problem they’d found.
Through his Domain, he watched the pair standing on the shore and waiting. They didn’t stray from the beach where they’d landed, which further reinforced Elijah’s surety that they’d come in peace.
So, he had an option to either ignore them and hope they simply went away, or he could use Ancestral Circle and teleport back to his grove so he could see what they wanted. But even before he’d posed the question to himself, Elijah knew what he was going to do. So, it was with some residual irritation that he gathered his things, making sure that he smothered the fire before embracing Ancestral Circle and teleporting back to his grove.
When he reappeared, he stumbled to his knees at the influx of dense ethera. It took him a few seconds of deep breathing to reacclimate. Had it grown thicker? Or had he simply grown accustomed to the thinner ambient ethera in other parts of the world? He resolved to ask Nerthus after seeing what Ramik and Carisa wanted.
However, he did take a second to snatch a berry from one of the grove’s bushes and popped it into his mouth. It was sweeter than ever, and he experienced a slight jolt of energy and vitality the moment he swallowed.
“Oh, it’s good to be home,” he said. Despite his annoyance at having been called back, he couldn’t deny that much. Even though his bed – and the shower – called to him, Elijah knew he needed to take care of business first. So, he shifted into his draconid form and took off across the island at close to full speed. Anywhere else, he couldn’t have traveled through such dense forest at top speed, but with the knowledge of the terrain he received from his Locus, he could have gone even faster.
The result was that he arrived at the beach – or rather, the tree line nearby – only a few minutes later. Predictably, Ramik and Carisa remained near their boat, nervously looking around.
“You think he’s comin’?” asked the dwarven woman.
The goblin shook his head, then straightened his coat. “My answer is the same as the last ten times you have asked, Carisa,” he said in his prim voice. “I have no idea. If he hasn’t responded in the next hour, we will have to return to Ironshore and prepare to either flee or fight back.”
“If we fight, we die,” Carisa stated. “We have no fighters, other than that squad of scouts. And they ain’t much for a straight fight.”
“Again, I am aware.”
“Hope he shows up soon. I’m hungry,” Carisa said, leaning against the rowboat they’d used to reach the island.
That statement prompted Elijah to wonder if he should return to his grove and gather some more berries, but ultimately, he decided against it. The moment either of them tasted his berries, they’d know just how special the island was. As far as he was concerned, they didn’t need any more incentive to visit, so he chose to simply shift into his human form and step out from the tree line, his Staff of Natural Harmony in hand. As he did, he asked, “What do you want?”
The pair flinched away from him, but both quickly mastered themselves. Ramik was the first to speak. “Thank you for coming,” he said with a bow of his head.
“Skip the pleasantries. I was busy. What do you want?”
“Very well,” Ramik said, adjusting his glasses. “As you are…ah…aware, our security force was…well, we no longer have a security force. We have attempted to hire more, but the teleportation fees to a newly touched world are exorbitant. The only reason any of us are here was because of the settlement incentive, which covered the fees for anyone who met the requirements. Otherwise, we –”
“We can’t hire nobody else,” Carisa interrupted. “We got a few people who can fight, but not enough to do what needs doin’.”
Ramik cut his eyes at the muscular dwarf. “Right. That is what I was saying,” he went on. Then, he looked back at Elijah and continued, “We have been training people, but it’s not enough.”
“Enough for what?”
“Orcs,” Ramik answered. “A horde have invaded and are coming for Ironshore.”
Immediately, Elijah thought back to the tribe of orc-like creatures he’d seen on the other side of the mountain range. They had settled in an abandoned Wal-Mart, but it didn’t take an intuitive leap to come to the conclusion that those monsters were one in the same with the ones described by Ramik.
The goblin went on to explain the nature of an orc horde and how it posed a unique threat to not just Ironshore, but to all surrounding areas. That included Elijah’s island, which meant that he really didn’t have much of a choice but to help.
Not that he would have refused, anyway. Certainly, the mohawked gnome and his warriors had come from Ironshore, but the rest of the population had made it clear that he’d been a rogue element. On top of that, they’d been kind to him – likely because they were terrified, but still, that mattered. And, of course, his previous resolution to help where he could loomed large in his mind.
So, he asked, “How long until they reach Ironshore?”
“A couple of weeks. Perhaps three,” Ramik said. “Bit could be as few as five days before we see their scouts.”
Elijah nodded. “Alright. I’ll help,” he said.
“Just like that?” asked a surprised Ramik.
“I told you he’d help,” Carisa said.
Elijah shrugged. “Feels like we’re in this together, for now,” he said, wanting to maintain an air of mystery and danger. “But I expect cooperation and some degree of compensation. We’ll discuss that later.”
Ramik nodded, and, after a few more awkward exchanges, the pair boarded their boat and rowed out into the strait. When Elijah lost sight of them, he let himself relax.
A whole horde of orcs.
He had his work cut out for him. But for now, he just wanted to go back to his grove, talk to Nerthus, and then sleep in his own bed. Tomorrow, he would worry about fighting what sounded like a war.