Tart flavor burst in Elijah’s mouth as he bit down on one of his grove berries. Fortunately, he’d resupplied in his most recent trip back to his island, but still, he’d been gone long enough that his stores were running a little low. That brought to mind the question of his future. Certainly, he knew he was going to set out for Easton, soon. The stories he’d heard, which had painted Easton as much more civilized than Seattle, were a great comfort. If it was safe, then so too was his family.

Still, it was some distance away, which meant that he had weeks of travel in front of him. So, he wondered if he should build a dolmen to create a teleportation point near Seattle. It would certainly give him a little flexibility going forward, and the city was large enough to warrant staying in touch. Yet, he hesitated, largely because he only had three remaining opportunities to create circles. He’d already put two of them incredibly close together, and he wanted to spread them out a little more in the future.

In fact, his original plan was to put at least a thousand miles between each one. Otherwise, it felt like a waste. However, his needs were a little more complex than that, and the presence of the Twilight Clefts further complicated the issue. He’d yet to make a final decision, but so far, Elijah was leaning toward creating a circle nearby. If he found the right location in the next few days, then he wouldn’t hesitate to get to work.

In the meantime, though, he needed to deal with Barry and his daughter, Victoria, at least long enough to get an introduction to the mysterious Gardener. In addition, Elijah wanted to access the local Branch of the World Tree in the hopes that he could see the local map.

It was a good plan, so after swallowing his berry, Elijah pushed himself to his feet and headed to the bathroom, where he took care of his business, washed his face, and even combed his unruly hair. It didn’t do much good, but it didn’t look horrible, either.

“It’s my hobbit look,” he muttered to himself. Indeed, it did quite resemble the hair of the short race of people from Lord of the Rings. Adding to that impression was his bare feet. Even his clothing was somewhat similar to the style he’d seen in the movies. But at least he was slightly taller than those heroic, if unassuming, characters.

Once Elijah judged himself to be presentable, he removed the heavy chair he’d propped against the door, then headed out. Only a minute or so later, he found himself in the kitchen, where Barry was already up and about. The man offered him a cup of tea, saying, “I do apologize. No coffee. The Gardener has a few trees, but it’s ungodly expensive, and we can’t afford to waste our capital on something so trivial. The tea is nice, though. Bought it from one of the Ranier scavengers.”

Elijah considered refusing, but after a moment’s thought, he took the offered cup. Not only would it have been slightly rude to turn it down, but Elijah felt that he was owed something for having to physically block Victoria from accosting him in the night. However, there was a part of him that had considered letting it happen.

He was human, after all, and it had been a while since he’d felt that sort of release. Still, she wasn’t precisely willing. Or rather, her motivations were anything but pure. So, Elijah felt uncomfortable with the whole situation, and he wanted nothing more than to extricate himself as soon as possible. So, he asked Barry about the introduction the older man had promised the night before.

“Ah, yes. The Gardener. She’s quite odd,” Barry said. “An academic, by all accounts. Nasty place academia. So much misinformation and manipulation, all to get the masses riled up. Of course, we donated to the university, but that’s just the sort of thing one does. They turned on us the moment the world changed, though.” He shook his head sadly. “Just like everyone else.”

“I see,” Elijah said, deciding not to reveal the fact that he’d once been an academic as well. Of course, he barely considered himself to qualify, what with how apathetic he’d been about the actual science of it all. Still, he didn’t like the sound of Barry’s views. Or maybe it was just Elijah putting everything he knew about the man into context. Whatever the case, he was eager to go his own way and leave Barry and his family behind.

So, he drank his tea quickly – it was weak and a little flavorless – then followed Barry out of the house. Thankfully, Victoria seemed to have gotten the picture, because she was nowhere to be seen.

“I’ll tell you the truth, Eli. I wouldn’t mind if you stuck around,” Barry said as he drove the golf cart down the driveway. “Tori’s taken quite a liking to you, and you seem to be quite a capable fellow. We could use someone like you.”

Elijah said, “Thank you. I’m flattered. But I’m…ah…attached. My girlfriend lives in Argos. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it, but I don’t think she would be too keen on me entertaining offers from other women.”

It was a lie, of course. Elijah had simply chosen Delilah as his fictional girlfriend because she was the first person to come to mind. But he thought it was as good an excuse as any for why he didn’t want anything to do with Victoria. Maybe if her company wasn’t clearly a means of manipulating him, he might’ve felt differently, but with the situation the way it was, that didn’t bear thinking about.

“Ah, I see,” said Barry. “Tori will be devastated, I’m sure. In any case, you are still welcome to stay. We need the right sorts of people. Like yourself.”

Elijah just nodded along, more than ready to simply leave without the promised introduction. But thankfully, Barry was easy enough to tune out. It would be different if the man ever actually said anything worthwhile, but as it turned out, he didn’t. So, Elijah’s contribution to the conversation was limited to nods and the occasional, “Uh huh.”

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Like that, the time passed as Barry guided the golf cart through the neighborhoods of Mercer Mesa. Instead of heading toward the southern tip of the plateau, they ended up going in the opposite direction, eventually reaching another pulley operated by yet another burly man. Soon enough, Barry was being lowered to the ground while Elijah climbed down under his own power.

He reached the bottom well before his host.

Looking around, he saw that it was more of the same. A wide, open area stretched for a few hundred feet before terminating in a rising berm, from which a series of dry and abandoned docks stretched. When Barry joined him, the pair set off to the northwest, eventually climbing the slope and into the ruins of the city.

This portion of Seattle was even worse off than the parts Elijah had seen, and it looked like a warzone. Still, even with the apparent destruction, Elijah was surprised to find a huge skeleton that was almost two-hundred feet long.

“Is this a crocodile?” he asked, recognizing the structure. It was missing quite a few bones, but it was still more or less intact.

“Ah, yes. When that beast burst forth from the surrounding desert, every available warrior responded,” Barry explained. “Thousands of people, all working toward one goal. It was the only time they all worked together. We were safe atop the mesa, of course. Most defensible place in the city.”

Elijah didn’t doubt that. However, he had serious issues with the fact that the people of Mercer Mesa didn’t seem to care much about anyone else. They’d proven that by hoarding water, and their actions against the giant creature whose skeleton Elijah was staring at was further evidence. If the mesa was truly safe, then they should have offered shelter to the rest of the city’s residents.

Yet, they clearly had not.

“Did a lot of people die?” asked Elijah.

“Yes. Thousands, at least. This was a densely populated area,” Barry stated. “Mostly vagabonds and ne’er do wells. A tragic loss, but most wouldn’t have made it much longer anyway.”

“I see.”

After that, Elijah didn’t really contribute to the conversation. Barry didn’t seem to notice much, he was so focused on traversing the landscape. He was clearly more capable than his age would suggest, but he still struggled climbing over some of the larger obstacles. Even so, it was only an hour or so before they finally passed into occupied territory.

Judging by the people and their attire, it was not the best part of town. No one looked malnourished, but the residents were dirty, and with ragged clothing. Not surprising, really. Life in the desert was harsh, and water was too precious to use on something so trivial as taking a shower.

Even so, Elijah longed to share his jugs of water with the first group of dirty children he saw. They were playing soccer in the street, so they weren’t in poor condition. Still, he could imagine how tough their lives were.

Elijah and Barry didn’t pass unnoticed, and along the way, they garnered plenty of attention – usually from rough-looking men and women wearing leather armor that looked like it had come from some sort of reptile. It wasn’t until Elijah looked closer that he made the connection between the giant crocodile skeleton he’d seen and the scaley armor.

Still, none of those people accosted them, so they made their way without delay. And eventually, Elijah saw their destination.

“Wow,” he said aloud as he looked at the structure. It was at least ten stories tall, and it was all made of glass. Inside, Elijah could see row upon row of greenery. “How big is it?”

“Big enough that it’s the single largest contributor to Seattle’s food supply,” Barry said. “The Gardener’s political stance might be a bit suspect, but no one can deny the effectiveness of her methods.”

Elijah couldn’t disagree with the last part. Indeed, he could feel the ethera wafting off of the building. It wasn’t nearly as dense as the atmosphere on his island or in Ironshore, but it was at least as thick as anywhere else he’d been.

He didn’t wait on Barry to lead him forward. Instead, Elijah continued on, with the older man hurrying to catch up. Finally, he reached the front gate, which was huge, metal, and guarded by a dozen armed warriors. Judging by what Elijah felt, they were decently strong, too, though he couldn’t tell their exact levels.

“You’re not on the schedule,” said the leader. He was middling height, but with the kind of muscular physique that suggested a history of athletics.

“I brought someone to meet the Gardener,” Barry stated.

“This isn’t the botanical gardens,” the man responded. “We’re not giving tours.”

“I understand,” Barry said. “But I’m certain that the Gardener would want to meet this young man. He is well-traveled.”

“Ah.”

The man didn’t immediately say anything else. Instead, he pulled a radio receiver, which was attached to a block of electronics at his waist, from his shoulder, then said, “Got a visitor that wants to see her.”

“Ten-four,” came the crackling reply.

Elijah looked at the radio. For some reason, he’d assumed that such means of communication wouldn’t remain operational. However, upon further thought, he couldn’t see any reason they wouldn’t. Internal combustion engines didn’t work, but that was only because fuels like gasoline were no longer as volatile as they’d once been. They still burned, just not as violently as they once had. As a result, they were incapable of doing the job of pushing pistons. But electronics were fine.

Suddenly, Elijah wanted to check to see if he could get any use out of a CB radio. He wasn’t sure exactly how they worked, but there was a chance they could still be useful.

In any case, he gave it some thought as they waited. It only took a couple of minutes before the gate opened, revealing a woman in a pair of coveralls. She was flanked by a man wearing scaled armor and carrying a sword. Their guide and a guard, it seemed.

The woman, who was brunette and mostly unremarkable, save for sharp chin, asked, “This the guy?”

The outside guard confirmed that Elijah was, indeed, the guy. Then, the woman motioned for him to follow. So, he and Barry did, and when Elijah stepped inside the giant greenhouse, he couldn’t help but take a deep breath of the thick ethera. And the sense of nature.

However, when he passed the plants, Elijah thought they seemed perfectly normal. Maybe a little bigger than they should have been – especially the ones bearing fruit – but they clearly weren’t on the same level as the flora on his island.

Still, it was impressive.

After a couple of minutes, Elijah and Barry were escorted to the center of a field of wheat, where they found a tall, slender woman wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. Upon her head was a wide-brimmed straw hat, and she wore a pair of thick glasses. At the moment, she was kneeling next to a curious contraption that looked like a tall, metal cylinder.

She didn’t look up when they approached. Instead, she leaned closer to the machine, which was open, as she said, “You’re not on the schedule, Barry. If you need more food, you know the deal.”

“Ah, it’s not that. I wanted to introduce you to my friend, Eli.”

She looked up, then. That’s when she said, “Elijah? What are you doing here?”