The armrest of the couch shattered under Elijah’s grip. The moment he had seen that Carmen was alone, he knew what she would say. But some part of him had refused to accept it until those fatal words left his sister-in-law’s mouth.

“She’s…she’s gone,” Carmen’s words echoed in every facet of Elijah’s mind, playing over and over again. For once, he regretted his cultivation. “She died almost two years ago.”

A hundred regrets washed over Elijah, and they went back to the very beginning. Upon washing ashore, he had been content to simply survive. Gaining levels had been a side effect of continuing to live another day. He’d only killed when absolutely necessary, and even then, only the weakest creatures around. That meant that, when he finally started to take leveling seriously, he’d been fighting from behind.

Since then, he’d let one distraction after another direct his course. If he’d been more focused, perhaps he could have found Alyssa in time.

“How?” he asked, his voice barely audible as he stared at the floor, completely unseeing.

“A tower,” Carmen answered, her own voice quivering with emotion. “She went in so she could protect Easton, but…”

“But what?” he asked. People dying in towers wasn’t uncommon. It took preparation as well as a very specific mindset for most people to survive the system’s challenges. Elijah had managed it, but he knew that few others would have the skillset necessary to repeat his feat. He’d learned that from escorting Ironshore’s fighters through the tower in his Domain, and that reality had been further established when the elves had nearly died in his most recent run through the Magister’s Estate.

Still, Elijah felt that there was more to the story.

Carmen shook her head and asked, “Do you really want to know? It’s going to change everything. We need you right now, Elijah. I don’t know your story. I don’t know how you’ve survived. But you’re decked out in a fortune’s worth of gear, and you’re in the top five on the power rankings. I need you. Miguel needs you.”

“Not top five. Top one,” came a voice from nearby. “He’s the most powerful person in the world, now.”

Elijah glanced toward Lucy, who’d brought another platter of fruit with her. She didn’t stand around, though. Instead, she left the fruit behind and vacated the room, giving Elijah’s shoulder a squeeze on her way out.

“Someone killed her, didn’t they?” Elijah asked, trying to keep his tone even. But inside, it felt like someone had wrapped barbed wire around his heart. His insides had twisted into knots, and his mind roiled with the reality of his sister’s demise.

It had always been a possibility. In the most rational parts of his mind, he’d known that from the very beginning. There was a reason many people referred to Earth being touched by the World Tree as the apocalypse. Billions had died, and that death toll continued to rise each day.

But he’d never even considered that Alyssa might have fallen. Not consciously, at least.

“Yes,” Carmen answered.

“Who?”

“Someone she thought was a friend,” Carmen said. “You know how she was. She always gave people the benefit of the doubt.”

Then, she told Elijah everything she knew about Alyssa’s death. About how they’d struggled to survive in the wake of the World Tree’s touch, how Roman had risen to a position of leadership within the budding community, and how Alyssa had opposed the man’s potentially disastrous policies.

“When it came time to combat the tower,” Carmen went on. “There was never any question of whether or not Alyssa would go. She was the strongest person in town, and she felt that it was her duty to protect everyone. I warned her against it. I tried to get her to see the dangers Roman represented. But she trusted him. All she saw was the friend he’d been before the apocalypse. I knew what kind of person he was, though. I saw it before, and it only got worse the more power he attained.”

“So, he killed her in the tower,” Elijah guessed, a numb rage pervading his mind. The only reason he hadn’t immediately set off to kill the man was because of the words that had preceded Carmen’s explanation. She needed him. So did Miguel. And they were the only family he had left. He wouldn’t abandon them on a quest for revenge – not until he could guarantee their safety.

“Not alone,” Carmen answered. “He had help. They’re all dead, now.”

“You killed them?”

“One of them. I…I lost control when I found out,” Carmen said, clenching her fist and looking down at her knuckles.

“What happened after?” he asked, keeping his rage from his voice. Still, there was a slight quiver. A tremble that betrayed the fact that he was barely holding on. Finding out that Alyssa was gone was bad enough, but discovering that she had been killed by some would-be despot? It very nearly pushed him over the edge.

As images of ripping some faceless man limb from limb danced in Elijah’s mind, Carmen explained the failed rebellion that sounded like it had never really gotten off the ground. Then, she told him the story of Miguel’s kidnapping, then the warlord’s betrayal, before ending with the deal Roman had offered.

Carmen continued to look down at her hands as she said, “I should have tried to kill him. I wanted to. But Miggy was right there. I couldn’t run the risk that he’d get caught in the crossfire. So, I took his deal. I made his sword, and we were exiled.”

Then, she went on to recount their harrowing journey through the wilderness, telling him about their encounters with bandits, life-sucking sidhe, and lake monsters, in addition to more mundane creatures that had tried to kill them. Finally, she explained how they’d ended up in the holding cells in which he’d found them.

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The last part he already knew from his conversation with Isaiah, who very much hadn’t wanted to give up his prisoners. Elijah had been forced to make some promises about rendering aid in the coming conflict with the people of Mercer Mesa, though he’d already resolved to do that, so he didn’t feel as if he’d really given anything up.

Regardless, he wasn’t thinking about that. Instead, in the wake of Carmen’s tale, Elijah found himself staring at his sister-in-law. She had changed. Once, she’d been quite bulky, owing to many hours in the gym. However, now she looked like she’d lost at least twenty pounds, probably due to a lack of proper nutrition and the rigors of traveling through such hostile territory.

That, as much as anything, cooled his ire.

It didn’t obliterate it. He was still just as angry as ever. Yet, Elijah knew that he needed to adopt a less reactive attitude, if for no other reason than because his only remaining family needed that from him. He would have been a terrible person indeed if he ignored those responsibilities in favor of seeking revenge.

“What do you intend to do?” Carmen asked.

“In the long-term? Or right now?” he asked, far more calmly than he truly felt. His tears had dried, leaving behind only a numb realization that he would never see his sister again.

“Both?”

Elijah sighed. “I don’t know. I’m going to kill him. I know that. I’m still debating whether or not I want to kill everyone else in that city, too,” he admitted. “There are also questions of how much I want him to suffer. That’s the thing about healing. I can take a leg off, then heal him to keep him from bleeding out. I could take him apart, piece by piece. I know all the ways to make it hurt, too.”

He stood, feeling a frigid lack of remorse spreading through his mind. “But this guy really loves his position, right? He likes being in charge. Maybe I’ll just take that apart, first. From what you’ve said, that would probably hurt more than losing a few limbs, right?” Elijah said. Turning back to Carmen, who was looking at him like she had no idea who he was. She was right to think that. Elijah had changed. At times, he still felt like the easy-going, often-slacking, and always apathetic biologist. But he was a killer. He’d proven that so many times that he’d lost count of all the ways he’d become a different person. “Once, I let a bully stay in power. He sent some people after me, and I let a friend convince me to just leave, rather than show that man the error of his ways. I regret that, now, but at the time, I thought that keeping him in charge was better for the people who lived in his city. That’s not true, though, is it?”

“I don’t know,” Carmen admitted. “Without Roman, a lot of people would have died.”

“Because of him, one person who didn’t deserve it did die.”

“Do you think I don’t know that? I’ve lived with that every day for the past two years,” Carmen spat. Then, she glanced at Miguel, who’d remained silent the entire time.

“I know,” Elijah said. “My point is that I can’t afford to act without thinking. I want this man to suffer. And he will. The only question is how many people get caught in the crossfire.”

“And what about the short-term?” Carmen asked. “Do you live around here?”

“No,” Elijah said. “I live a long way from here. Thousands of miles, I think. But that’s not important. As soon as we get your friend released, I intend to take you all home with me. Or those that want to come, at least. I won’t force anybody to do anything they don’t want to do.”

“We just spent months in the wilderness,” Carmen stated. “I don’t think anyone will want to spend months more in the –”

“They won’t have to. I need a couple of weeks. Maybe a month. Then, we’ll be in my Grove. Nobody will have to spend more than a few days outside this city,” he said.

“How?”

He forced a smile he didn’t feel. He feared that it came off more as a snarl. Or at best, a grimace. Regardless, he answered with as truthful an explanation as he was willing to give outside of his own grove. He trusted Lucy, but Isaiah had proven that he had ears everywhere in Seattle. So, he said, “Teleportation. It’s a bit limited, but I can manage to get you all back home. I have some other cities I could take your friends – one in particular – but I want you and Miguel to come home with me. It’s safe.”

Indeed, he didn’t mind bringing Carmen’s other companions to his Grove, but he didn’t intend to let anyone but family live there. They could settle in Ironshore, though.

After that, he excused himself, swinging by the kitchen to ask Lucy to help get Carmen and Miguel settled.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked. “I know how close you and Alyssa were.”

Elijah shook his head. “Not now. Maybe not for a while,” he said. “I’m not…I still haven’t processed it, yet.”

“You know I’m here for you, right?” she said. “You don’t have to confront this alone.”

“I know…”

“You’ve tried that before, remember?” she went on.

“I do,” he said. “And I know better, now. But I’ll tell you right now, I’m going to get Carmen and Miguel somewhere safe, then I’m going after her killer. So, I probably won’t be around for a while.”

“Just so you don’t withdraw completely,” Lucy responded. “I am here for you, but all I really care about is that you have someone. If it’s Carmen, that’s fine. Or someone else, if you have friends that can fill that role. I don’t know. But no man is an island, Elijah. We all need other people. I can be that for you. We’ve always been friends, right?”

“I…I know,” Elijah stated. “And I appreciate it, Lucy. Once I wrap my head around it, I might take you up on the offer. For now, though, I need to talk to Isaiah and get him to release Carmen’s friend.”

“He killed three men,” Lucy said.

“I’ve killed a lot more than that,” Elijah said. It was only partially true. He hadn’t killed many actual people. Only a handful. But if he counted orcs and tower denizens, that number skyrocketed. “Nobody’s trying to put me in jail. If Isaiah knows what’s best for him, he’ll let the guy go. If he doesn’t, then…well…I don’t want to think about that.”

After that, Elijah left Lucy’s quarters, then the building where they were housed. Soon enough, he’d crossed the city and found himself standing before the capitol building. He didn’t get past the fountain in the center of the grounds before he saw Isaiah limping in his direction.

The man’s infirmity wasn’t immediately noticeable, but to Elijah, who’d felt the curious amalgamation of ethera and machinery in Isaiah’s leg, it was obvious.

“I know what you want,” Isaiah stated when he reached Elijah, who’d stopped beside the dry fountain. It was filled with sand and old coins.

“Okay.”

“I can’t just let him go. He killed three people,” the leader of Seattle said.

“He’s going free,” Elijah stated evenly without looking at Isaiah. “The question is whether or not I become an enemy in the process.”

“You’d go back on the deal? For one man? Who is he to you?”

“I’ve never even met him,” Elijah answered, turning his gaze on Isaiah. “But he’s important to someone I care about. I don’t have many of those. People I care about, I mean. And I just found out that one less made it through the apocalypse. So, you can imagine that I’m pretty committed to helping the ones I have left. That means you need to release the man you have in custody. Or I’ll take him. It’s your choice.”

A clearly unhappy Isaiah sighed. “Fine. He’ll be at the Gardener’s compound in an hour,” he said.

“Good. And Isaiah? I hope he’s not hurt.”

“I’ll have the Healers look him over.”

“Thank you,” Elijah said. Then, without another word, he strode away, only one facet of his Mind on the conversation he’d just carried out. The rest was still wrestling with the fact that his sister was gone. He felt that wouldn’t change anytime soon.