Path of Dragons 14 - Chapter 7 - Spinning

“Was that kid an animist?” Elijah asked Nara.

“Who?  Alfie?”

“If that’s his name.  Took the form of a white owl,” Elijah answered.

“Oh.  Yes.  He and his parents joined the grove a little less than ten years ago,” Nara explained.  “A sad story.”

“How so?”

Then, she told a truly heartbreaking story of an entire grove destroyed, and for no other reason than pure greed.  According to what Nara had been told, almost a hundred Druids had been killed in that raid.  “And that’s not including their families or the ones kidnapped and forced into slavery,” she said, ending her explanation.

“Where?” Elijah asked.

“Far to the east.”

“I’m going to need a map,” he said, fully intending to free the enslaved and make the people responsible pay for their transgressions. 

“Elijah…”

“Don’t tell me I can’t do anything about it.  I can.  And I will.”

“Just take a few more days to rest,” she pleaded.  “You’ve only been back for a week.”

That timeline was accurate enough, but it also highlighted just how much Elijah had changed.  So long as he had a goal, he could work tirelessly towards reaching it.  But if he didn’t have a project to occupy his mind, he tended to get antsy. 

And he tended to dwell on how lost he was in the world he no longer recognized.

“I’m not going to run off right this second,” Elijah assured her. 

That brought a sigh of relief. 

“I’ll get those maps for you,” she said.  “But in the meantime, I have…I have duties to attend to.  Are you going to be okay alone?”

Elijah gave her a smile, though he couldn’t fool himself into believing that it came off as genuine.  For all that everyone was happy to have him back, there remained the inescapable fact that no one really knew what to do with him.  He stood at the very top of the grove’s power structure, and yet, he had no real responsibilities. 

After all, they’d gotten along well enough without him. 

Sure, the Hartwood Grove wouldn’t exist without Elijah, but beyond that, he was completely superfluous.  Never was that clearer than when he’d first toured the island and he saw just how prosperous it had become.

At last count, there were over a thousand Druids living on or around the island.  Most of them tended toward the aquatic theme established by Nara and her people, but there were plenty of land-based Druids as well.  And that wasn’t even counting their families, the nature-attuned Tradesmen, or the combatants dedicated to protecting the island. 

In all, the population of the island was well over five thousand, with most of those having officially joined the grove.  There were also plenty of hangers-on, like the Farmers who worked with Davika and Druids who were stationed near the satellite trees.

According to Nara, there were plenty of others who’d joined the grove but were elsewhere at the moment.  Some were running towers or Primal Realms.  Others were exploring the wilderness.  Still others were on diplomatic missions to other cities. 

In short, the Hartwood Grove had grown into a world power and a city in its own right. 

All without Elijah’s input.

And now that he’d returned and reestablished his connection, the ethereal and vital density, as well as the size of the grove had increased substantially.  Soon, the effects would become even more obvious. 

The first differences to present themselves would come in the form of the grove’s products.  Whether it was crops or more refined goods, they would quickly become infused with the increased vitality and ethereal density.  But everyone was assuredly more interested in the effect on the population. 

After all, such an environment was perfect for the earliest stages of cultivation.  It wasn’t until someone tried to push further that things got dicey. 

The increased density also made the environment much more comfortable for Elijah.  If it had remained the same as it had been before he’d left, it would have been incapable of supporting him now.  Thankfully, even without his influence on the grove, the atmosphere had grown much more powerful in the thirty years since he’d left.  Largely, that was due to the planet’s natural progression, which put it on a similar level to Gorveth.  As a result, Earth could comfortably support demi-gods.

Deities would almost assuredly need to go elsewhere. 

Though Elijah suspected that the Hartwood Grove would come close to the power necessary to handle deities.

Regardless, as much as Elijah was happy for the benefits his reconnection brought to other people, he found himself disinterested in thinking about them.  Instead, after Nara left, he began to wander through the grove.  Once again, he was struck by the transformation it had undergone.

While terraforming Druhmor, Elijah had fooled himself into believing that when he returned to Earth, he would be capable of teaching Nerthus a few lessons.  But that idea died the second he inspected the underlying structure of the grove via Soul of the Wild. 

Elijah’s accomplishments were incredible.  He’d done something he considered truly unique, but most of that came from the situation.  Comparing the runic growths of Druhmor and its surroundings to what Nerthus had done with the grove was like comparing the work of an artist to that of a mathematician.

Sure, Elijah’s efforts were beautiful.  Inspired, even.  But they couldn’t hold a candle to Nerthus’ precision.

He wasn’t certain which was more impressive.

“I knew you would return.”

Elijah looked up from where he’d been kneeling, only to see Nerthus looming over him.  His friend’s stature should have been intimidating, but Elijah could only feel comfort from his presence.

“That makes one of us,” Elijah admitted with a small sigh.  “There were plenty of days when I nearly lost hope.”

He could say as much now that he’d made it home, but he’d come very close to giving up, and on so many occasions that he’d lost count. 

He continued, “I wish you could meet Treebie.”

“Treebie?”

“Oh?  Did I not tell you his name?” Elijah asked.  “Yeah.  So, I kind of grew an ancestral tree, World Tree branch  hybrid.”

“How?” asked Nerthus, trying his best to contain his excitement.

“Well, it all started with this giant cyst on the world…”

Then, Elijah explained everything he could remember about his efforts to terraform Gorveth.  After that, he went on to describe Treebie’s growth and his tenuous connection to the World Tree.  “When I left, he was a little more than a mile tall,” Elijah said.  “He functioned a little like a Branch, too.  That’s how I evolved my class to Emerald Archon.”

“Emerald…Archon?” Nerthus breathed.  “Is that the name?”

Elijah nodded.  “It wasn’t the most powerful option, but it seems to fit me.  It also is the only reason I got home,” he said.

“There is power in that name.”

“I know.”

“Responsibility as well.”

“I know that, too.  Believe me.  I still don’t know what the future holds, though.  I was thinking of going to the Branch and buying a few guides, but I’m not sure I’ll find anything applicable to my situation,” Elijah admitted.  “I think this is kind of unique.”

Nerthus agreed with that assessment, but he quickly returned to the discussion of Treebie.  Leave it to a spryggent to focus on a tree, Elijah reasoned.

In the end, their conversation was cut short by Nerthus’ responsibilities, and Elijah soon found himself going back to wandering around the island.  Along the way, he passed quite a few members of the grove as they went about their days.  Most never even noticed him, and the few that did were so startled by his presence that they quickly scurried away.

“So much for fitting in,” Elijah muttered, making his way toward the beach.  When he finally cleared the tree line, he was incapable of containing his gasp of surprise.

A small city stretched out into the water.  Hundreds of houses had been built upon sturdy pylons and connected by a system of wooden bridges.  The structures themselves were simple, with steeply sloped roofs and large decks.  But Elijah was more impressed by the system of artificial atolls they’d built. 

Of course, he’d felt it all via his locus, but seeing it in person came with a different and, at times, far more impressive perspective.

What was even more interesting was that each pylon created an artificial reef that fostered vibrant sea life.  And it was supported by a dense bed of coral that radiated enough vitality for Elijah to confirm that it included the leviathan’s bones. 

Elijah remained there, staring at the small town’s worth of homes for some time before he finally wandered away. 

Eventually, he found Biggle tending to his garden.

“The only constant is change,” said the gnomish Alchemist when he saw Elijah sitting on the low wall surrounding the property he’d been granted so long ago.  Nearby was a steep cliff, beyond which was the very first tower Elijah had entered.  The Keledge Tower.  More than forty years had passed since then.

That was an incredibly long time.  So long that he scarcely remembered the details of that run.  Sure, he recalled the high points.  Like fighting the root raptor or the walrus people.  But the details escaped him.

He did remember feeling the weight of trying to survive in the Sea of Sorrows, though.  Back then, it had seemed so difficult.  Now, such a thing would feel like a walk in the park.

He sighed.

“You’re not wrong,” he told his gnomish friend.  “I feel…disconnected.”

“That’s natural,” Biggle said, rising to his full and unimpressive height.  He brushed the dirt from his hands and stepped toward Elijah.  When he leaned against the wall, he said, “I went back home, you know.”

“What?  When?”

“A couple of years ago.  Nearly bankrupted me, but I needed to go back and take care of some things.  Pay debts that needed to be paid.  I didn’t leave on good terms,” he admitted.  “But when I got there, the whole city just felt…small.  I’d just gotten demi-god, and they all fell over themselves to accommodate me.  I visited my old apartment.  Ratty, little thing.  The building was on the verge of being condemned.  I remember being so proud of getting my own place.  Of finally having my own home.  It felt like a palace back then.  But when I went back?  It was barely more than a closet.”

He shook his head.

“That should’ve been the first indication that things would be different.  But then I started seeing people from before.  People I considered scary and intimidating.  They were just puffed up bullies, but back then…well, I was weak, and they were stronger,” he explained with a shrug.  “Then I saw her.

“Leaya was the girl of my dreams,” Biggle sighed.  “She was one of the reasons I got into alchemy.  It paid well, and I dreamed of making a fortune and asking for her hand.  I never got that chance.  She was always a headstrong girl.  She wanted to make her own way.  That was why she took the Courtesan class.  I think she imagined it would be different for her.  She would be valued.  A prize to be won.  A commodity to be respected.

“She turned out like they usually do.  Addicted to drugs that cut her life short.  When I saw her, barely a hint of the girl I knew remained.  She didn’t even recognize me, either.  Not even when I gave her the same kind of flower I used to give her every day,” he mumbled. “Blue pialas.  Rare.  The aroma has a calming effect.”

He sighed again.  “My point is that I went back expecting everything to have stood still, but that’s not the way of the world,” he said.  “You’ve been gone a long time.  People…they didn’t move on, but they did move ahead.  I think we all imagine that everyone will be waiting for us when we return.  Like eager pets.  But people can’t do that.  They won’t.  Best we can do is adjust to that reality as best we can.”

Elijah didn’t respond.  He couldn’t, because he understood Biggle’s lesson better than most could.  While he was on Gorveth, Earth had continued spinning.  Now that he was back, it was on him to catch up.

He just wasn’t certain he could do that.