Book 4: Chapter 1: Showing Off

Book 4: Chapter 1: Showing Off

“This is amazing,” said Miguel, his mouth hanging open as he stared at the verdant landscape of Elijah’s grove. They had only just arrived, having been teleported thousands of miles in an instant via Elijah’s Roots of the World Tree spell. But neither Carmen nor Miguel had any means of knowing just how vast the distance between his most recent dolmen, the Circle of Spears, and his grove really was.

By comparison, Elijah knew precisely how far they’d come. After all, he’d spent the better part of two years trekking across the wilderness – albeit with a few distractions along the way – in an effort to reunite with his sister. However, when he’d finally found his nephew and sister-in-law, he’d been horrified to learn that Alyssa had been killed long ago.

Perhaps it had happened before he’d even left his island.

Whatever the case, that discovery had come with a healthy dose of rage, guilt, and grief.

The first came because his sister hadn’t been slain by happenstance. No monster – at least not of the normal variety – had killed her. Instead, she had been murdered by a power-mad despot she’d once considered a friend. That betrayal was foremost in the most prominent facet of Elijah’s Quartz Mind, though he couldn’t allow himself to embark on his planned quest for vengeance.

Not yet, at least. He needed to get his family – and the other refugees who’d come to the grove almost a week before – settled. After that, he would give himself fully to revenge.

The second emotion – guilt – was twofold. Most prominently, he’d taken his sweet time adjusting to the new world. After Earth had experienced the touch of the World Tree – and been transformed – he’d spent months simply surviving. He hadn’t been driven by a need to grow stronger. Instead, he’d focused almost entirely on satisfying the necessary requirements to continue living. However, that had all changed after his protector – a powerful mist panther guardian – had been killed, and he’d been forced to see to his own safety. A few months – and a life-altering tower run – later, and he’d become a different person.

Yet, he still wondered what might have happened if he’d taken responsibility for his own progression sooner. Would it have been enough? Maybe not. But the mere possibility that it would have let him find his sister before she was killed haunted him. The same could be said about his habit of giving in to every distraction he found in his travels. Whether it was healing the plague-stricken residents of the first human settlement he’d found or one of the superfluous tower runs he’d embarked upon, Elijah knew he’d wasted a lot of time. Certainly, he’d also grown more powerful, but he’d trade any number of levels – or strangers’ lives – if he could get just a few more days with his sister.

The second facet of that guilt came from before Earth’s transformation. Just before Elijah had graduated high school, he’d lost both of his parents. That had sent him down a spiral of grief where he’d pushed everyone away, and it had culminated in his jetting off to Hawaii for college, where he’d studied to become a marine biologist. And while his pursuit of a degree – and employment afterwards – had been reasonably successful, it had also put thousands of miles, both figuratively as well as literally, between him and the only family he had left.

Before, he’d thought he had plenty of time to reconnect, but being diagnosed with terminal cancer had thrown those plans aside. That was how he’d ended up on his island in the first place. Knowing he was dying, Elijah had decided to live his last days with his sister – mostly at her insistence. But the world’s transformation – and the subsequent crash of his plane – had seen him stranded on a deserted island.

Loneliness had taught him just how deep his regrets went. Sure, he didn’t immediately set off to find his sister and her family, and even when he had, he’d taken his time. From his perspective, there had been no urgency. More, simply finding them when the entire world had been randomized and transformed made the task almost impossible. It was like finding a needle in a haystack, and it was only through coincidence – and a little planning – that he’d found Carmen and Miguel.

Or maybe he was just making excuses.

Perhaps his guilt was warranted.

Either way, there was nothing he could do to change the past. What he could do, however, was to ensure his family’s safety. Carmen and Miguel weren’t related to him by blood, but then again, neither was his spryggent friend, Nerthus. That didn’t change the fact that all three were family.

“I thought you might like it,” Elijah said to his nephew. He reached out and gripped the boy’s – no, the young man’s shoulder. “It wasn’t always like this. When I first got here, it was just a big meadow with the ancestral tree in the center. It looked different back then, too.”

“Different how?”

“Well, it was more like a normal tree,” Elijah explained. “But when Nerthus absorbed a Shard of the World Tree, it started to change. So did he, come to that.”

“Indeed,” said Nerthus, who had a habit of standing so still that one could almost mistake him for a tree himself, albeit an oddly shaped one with only a few leaves. Or perhaps an expertly carved sculpture. However, Nerthus was as distinct an individual as anyone else Elijah had ever met, and he was powerful in his own right. The grove was as much his as it was Elijah’s. Perhaps moreso, considering how much time and effort the spryggent had spent guiding its growth.

“Wow,” Carmen said. “I’ve never actually seen a tower.”

“I have,” Colt said. “I was with the second group who went through the one near Easton. It was not a pleasant experience.”

“They usually aren’t,” Elijah said. “But if you want to get stronger, Ironshore sends a group through there once a week. I’m sure they’ll let you in. They have a shortage of combatants.”

“I...may just do that,” Colt stated.

“When can I do it?” asked Miguel.

“Not until you have a class,” Carmen said. “And if I hear about you going anywhere close to that tower...”

“I know, mom. I’m not stupid,” he complained.

Carmen just shook her head. After that, Elijah led the others back to the grove. By that point, it was time for supper, so he shared a bit of meat he had stored in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, which they cooked in his kitchen. However, retrieving it highlighted the fact that Elijah had picked up a lot of stuff recently. So, he knew he would need to stop by Atticus’ shop soon, not only to identify the items, but also to unload anything he didn’t need.

After the meal, everyone but Carmen headed to the other treehouse. Once they were gone, Elijah and his sister-in-law sat on his balcony, which overlooked the grove. Both clutched steaming mugs full of the tea he’d bought back in Ironshore, and for the longest time, neither spoke.

Finally, though, Carmen said, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For this. It’s exactly what we need,” she said. “When you told me about this place, I thought you were exaggerating. But now...I think you might have been underselling it. It’s paradise.”

“It wasn’t always like this. My first year was incredibly difficult.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

They both went silent for a little while longer until, once again, Carmen broke the silence and asked, “What are you going to do?”

Elijah didn’t need her to elaborate. He knew what she was asking.

“I’ve got some things I need to take care of,” he said. “Then, I’m going to Easton. I intend to kill him. That’s certain. Other than that, I don’t know. I still haven’t decided.”

For a moment, Elijah thought his sister-in-law was going to argue. But then, she just gave him a curt nod and said, “Good. If anyone in this world deserves the worst you can dish out, it’s Roman Cain.”