Path of Dragons-Chapter 42Book 8: : A Warning

“If you’re here to kill me, you should know that there will be consequences. For you personally as well as your city,” Isaiah said, gripping his chair’s armrests. He was terrified. Elijah could see that much, even if the man lacked the biological markers of fear. No raised heart rate. No sweat pouring down his face. His voice didn’t even quiver. “We know precisely where Ironshore is, and I am not afraid to isolate it and –”

“Ironshore? You think I care about it?” asked Elijah, blinking in genuine confusion. “I’m a Druid, Isaiah. I only care about nature.” Then, he raised his hand, twisting it around so the leader of Seattle could see the emerald scales he’d let reappear. “But I’m also a dragon. Do you know what that means?”

Isaiah didn’t respond, but that was okay. Elijah had meant the question rhetorically.

He continued, “It means that I don’t take very kindly to your attempts to use me as an example. It didn’t really fit together at first. That man at the gate – you put him there, didn’t you? You wanted him to see me. You wanted him to attack. Maybe you thought he’d be a nice warning that Seattle has power of its own, right? Your people seem very proud of those fancy guns.”

He stepped forward.

“I was going to let it go, you know. I was ready to. But I was sitting in that little meeting you just held, and it just kept festering,” Elijah explained. “Building and building with every furtive glance and whisper I wasn’t supposed to hear. I’m told that bottling up those sorts of feelings isn’t healthy. So here I am, ready to hash it out.”

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“You are here because I wounded your pride?” asked Isaiah, his voice strong and unwavering, despite his obvious fear.

Elijah shrugged. “I guess,” he admitted.

“What do you want?”

“That’s a good question, Isaiah. I’ve asked myself that same question a hundred times. Do you know what the top answer is?”

“Obviously, I do not. I am no mind reader.”

“I don’t know if that’s actually true. You’ve got a nice set-up here,” Elijah admitted before taking a sip of his coffee. “Pretty buildings, a seemingly happy population. Does anyone know about the slums you built underground?”

“Of course. They are not a secret. Low-value people are a fact of any population. They are fed. They have adequate housing. And we give them purpose.”

“But no freedom.”

“They can leave anytime they wish.”

“They can leave the city, sure. Traipse out into the desert with the monsters and deadly beasts. But they’re not allowed up here, right?” Elijah reasoned. He’d spent a little time in the city, and he’d asked around. The simple reality was that Isaiah had put everyone who wasn’t useful to the city – people with undesirable classes or a lack of work ethic – in the slums beneath the city. They could leave anytime they wanted. They weren’t slaves. But they certainly weren’t allowed to wander the areas aboveground.

“Of course not. They must earn that right. There are numerous people who have made the leap to citizenship. It’s simply a matter of hard work. Upward mobility is a key component to any functioning society. Without hope of improving one’s situation, people will lose the drive necessary to keep a city functioning.”

That was true enough. It was one of the reasons the U.S. had established itself as such an economic powerhouse. The American Dream – whether it was a real possibility or an illusion – kept people working hard, always reaching for the next rung, even when it was clear that they would never attain their goals. In Seattle it was possible for someone to climb the societal ladder, but it was clearly uncommon.

After all, the jobs down there needed doing. Letting too many make the leap might create a shortage of people willing to do them.

“I’m getting off track,” Elijah said.

“I’m certain that happens frequently.”

“More than I’d like,” Elijah admitted. “You asked me what I wanted, right? Well, the first answer on my list was to go on a rampage. I have a spell, you know. It’s called Eternal Plague. I’ve never really had occasion to push it to its limits, but I’m pretty sure that if I had the proper motivation, I could use it to kill everyone in this city. And do you want to know the fun part? No collateral damage. The buildings would still stand. All your technology would remain. I could use it however I wanted.”

“We have defenses.”

“How did that work out when you tried to use your domain just now?” Elijah asked. It had indeed lowered his attributes and caused a little pain, but the difference in levels and cultivation meant that he could take it in stride. “That’s your problem, Isaiah. You think because you have that fancy Seal of Authority – yes, I know what it does – you can just do what you want. Well, I’m here to teach you a little lesson that everyone else in the multi-verse takes for granted.”

“What is that?”

“Power – the real kind, and not the result of some system-granted domain – will always win out.”

Isaiah stared at him for a long moment, entirely unmoving. He didn’t blink. He didn’t twitch. He simply glared at Elijah.

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Then, finally, he said, “Teaching me a lesson implies that you don’t intend to kill me.”

“Correct,” Elijah said. “As much as I want to…and I do, Isaiah. I really, really do. I also know you’re right about the threat of the Primal Realms and how we need to attack them. If the world doesn’t work together, we have no chance. I respect what you’ve tried to do here, and because of that, I will allow you to continue doing it.”

“That’s…mature.”

“But if you try to make an example out of me – or anyone else I care about – again, I’ll raze this city to the ground. Everything you’ve worked for, all your plans – they will amount to nothing.”

“And the Primal Realms?”

“I’d just take care of them myself,” Elijah stated. “Or I’ll leave this planet, taking everyone and everything I care about with me. Right now, Earth needs what you’re trying to do, Isaiah. That gives you some leeway in my book. But keep going down this path of trying to play everyone against one another and set yourself up as some kind of supreme ruler, and I’ll kill you. I know I’m not the only one who sees it, either. You aren’t as smart as you think you are.”

With that, Elijah shifted into the Shape of Venom, then headed to the door. Without looking back, he headed into the hall and embraced Guise of the Unseen. It was difficult to do so in the city, what with all of Isaiah’s surveillance, but there were gaps in any system. With a combination of Soul of the Wild and long experience, Elijah had figured out how to recognize them.

Behind him, Elijah felt Isaiah’s reaction. The man sat in his chair for a few moments, just staring at nothing. Only when he knew Elijah was gone did he relax, but only barely. Then, he slammed his hand against the arm of his chair, shattering it. It was the only outward sign of his anger, but it was a potent reminder that just because he didn’t show them, Isaiah still had human emotions.

Hopefully, the encounter would have the desired effect. Elijah hadn’t been lying. If Isaiah kept coming after him, he’d kill the man. He probably wouldn’t destroy the city – after all, he had no interest in killing a bunch of civilians – but he didn’t rule it out, either. His anger wouldn’t let him.

Even now, his instincts screamed at him to go back and rip Isaiah’s head off.

He squashed them. He was in control. Not the prideful dragon within him.

But he was very much still on edge, which was why he’d decided to cut his trip short. If he remained in Seattle for much longer, he would snap. He intended to attend the next day’s meeting, but after that, he would return to his grove and prepare for what was to come.

It didn’t take him long to exit the Citadel, which showed just how easily he could have destroyed everything Isaiah had built. He pushed that thought aside, and instead focused on returning to the suite he shared with Sadie. When he arrived, he found that she’d yet to return – apparently, she wanted to make one last attempt at getting through to her grandfather – so he settled in for a solitary supper.

Sadie returned a couple of hours later, and she was not happy.

Groaning, she collapsed onto the couch. “I don’t know why they won’t see reason,” she complained, flopping back and laying her head in Elijah’s lap. “I’d say that they have delusions of grandeur, but grandfather knows he’s not strong enough to act the way he’s acting. And Nico…”

“Still an asshole, I take it.”

“He’s getting worse. I don’t know if it’s arrogance or delusion,” she said.

“Probably both. Maybe a defense mechanism for a kid who’s so overwhelmed that he has no idea how he’s supposed to act.”

Sadie sighed. “What about you?” she asked. “Did you talk to Isaiah?”

“I did. I think it was a productive meeting.”

“You didn’t hurt him, did you?”

“Didn’t lay a finger on him,” Elijah answered. “He really thinks he’s doing good here.”

“I think he is.”

“Probably,” Elijah agreed. “But I won’t be a prop for his rise to power.”

“That’s reasonable.”

Elijah toyed with her hair for a moment, then said, “I’m leaving. Tomorrow evening, probably. The next morning at the latest. That will be enough to get what I need out of this, and if I stay any longer, I’m going to snap on someone. Maybe not Isaiah specifically, but somebody is going to think it’s a good idea to challenge me. And I don’t have the willpower to restrain myself.”

“You need to learn to control yourself,” she advised.

“That’s what I’ve been doing, Sadie. You can tell because I haven’t killed anyone.”

“You wouldn’t do that.”

Elijah shrugged. “I like to think I wouldn’t, but…you know as well as anyone that this power, it changes us. Maybe not all at once, but it changes us all the same. I’m not sure if it’s just the power itself, stress, or something more intrinsic to our identities, but I’m definitely not the same person I was even a few years ago. And the man I am now…”

“I know. I feel something similar,” Sadie agreed. “It might be best if you leave.”

After that, Sadie explained that she would gather all the relevant information before she returned to the grove. The fact that she spoke of her return as if it was a foregone conclusion made his heart flutter.

Once the plan had been established, the pair spent a quiet night together. No festivals or parades. No shopping. And no fancy restaurants. Just two people enjoying one another’s company. That was all they really needed to be content.

But the next morning, reality reasserted itself when they attended the second meeting. There, Isaiah once again took his spot at the center of the ostentatious chamber and revealed the information they’d compiled.

“Every newly touched world must go through the same process,” he said. “It begins with the pre-integration period, followed by a Trial of Primacy, and then, the Rite of Integration. The final phase refers to our current predicament, where we are expected to conquer each Primal Realm on pain of excisement.

“Every world plays host to nine Primal Realms, each one representing the nine elder races responsible for the creation of the system,” Isaiah went on. Then, he listed them. Trolls, djinn, demons, angels, giants, sphynxes, chimera, and dragons. “The ninth is represented by two races – ogres and hobgoblins.”

He continued, explaining that each of those races, in turn, exemplified a facet of the system. Trolls represented blood, djinn were creatures of magic, demons were cunning, angels dealt in justice, and giants represented elemental forces. Isaiah went on, “The ogre-hobgoblin faction are meant to represent conflict, and sphynxes exemplify knowledge. Chimera are adaptable, and dragons typify might. Each of the corresponding Primal Realms are meant to both test and represent their host race.

“The Primal Realm in Hong Kong was the demon representation,” he said. “The conflict-based realm is in what was once Russia. The angel realm is thousands of miles out to sea. Giants are around five-hundred miles from Bogotá. There is some evidence that one may be located here,” he explained, pointing to a wide circle on the northernmost continent. “Though we have no first-hand accounts. The others are entirely unaccounted for.

“Going forward, we will take volunteers to scout out other locations where we believe Primal Realms might be located. They are often characterized by atypical weather patterns, powerful monsters, and dense atmospheric ethera,” Isaiah explained. “In the meantime, we will begin organizing potential teams to assault the Primal Realms we have located. This Summit will continue for another week. Enjoy the amenities Seattle has to offer, because when we break, we all need to get to work. The fate of our world depends on it.”