Path of Dragons

Book 6: Chapter 3: Coming to a Head

Book 6: Chapter 3: Coming to a Head

“Remove those things from my sight, or they will be removed,” Sadie intoned, her voice low but firm as she leveled her sword in Benedict’s direction.

For his part, the Warlock seemed surprised by the altercation, and for good reason. He’d clearly taken great pains to avoid Sadie, so being cornered in the middle of the square had taken him aback. However, he quickly recovered his composure and said, “I don’t remember anyone putting you in charge. This is a public place. I can walk through it if I wish.”

“I don’t –”

Elijah leaped down from where he’d been perched atop a nearby building. As his feet slapped against the ground, he said, “Guys, this isn’t the place. Just go your separate ways, okay? There doesn’t need to be a fight.”

Sadie didn’t even flinch as she said, “That is debatable, Elijah.”

“If you keep going like this, I’m going to have to do some unpleasant things,” Benedict said.

“You’re welcome to try, demon.”

“Enough!” Elijah shouted, stepping between the two. He turned to Sadie and continued, “Just leave it, okay? We’re about to head out of town. You won’t need to see him ever again.”

For a moment, Elijah thought Sadie was going to attack him as well. Then, she took a deep breath before lowering her sword. “It’s not worth it,” she muttered before turning on her heel and marching away.

When she was gone, Elijah glanced toward Benedict. “You really need to get better at avoiding people who want to cut you in half,” he said.

“Who says I need to avoid her?” asked the Warlock. “The way I see it, she’s the one with the problem. I’m perfectly capable of coexisting. If anything, she should be the one avoiding me.”

Elijah frowned. He understood both sides. From Benedict’s perspective, he was just living his life. He’d not done anything to harm Sadie, and so, he expected to be left alone. However, looking at it through Sadie’s eyes, the man was a fiend. He’d clearly killed people – as evidenced by the presence of his imp minions – and Sadie simply couldn’t let that kind of thing stand. Neither her ability nor her nature would tolerate the man’s continued existence.

Did she have the authority to punish wrongdoing, though? Did anyone?

He wasn’t so sure one way or the other, but at the end of the day, Elijah only wanted to keep the peace. Benedict had proven himself to be a valuable ally. The man had helped in the Citadel of Innovation and fought against the Immortals as well. Was that alliance temporary? Perhaps. But Elijah wanted to maintain the peace for as long as possible.

“Just try to stay out of her way,” Elijah advised. “If you keep pushing her, she’s going to take the next step. I don’t know if you can beat her, but I can feel that it would be close enough that you probably don’t want to test it out. So, in the interest of self-preservation, I think we should go our separate ways.”

Benedict looked as if he wanted to argue, but then clearly thought better of it before saying, “Very well.” He extended his hand, and Elijah took it. “One day, we might find ourselves on opposite sides, but I won’t forget that you’ve helped me in this place. I don’t have many friends. None, actually. But...well, you know. Take care of yourself, Elijah.”

“You, too,” Elijah said.

After that, the two parted ways. As he crossed the square, Elijah couldn’t help but notice that the confrontation between Benedict and Sadie wasn’t the only one of its ilk. Everywhere he looked, people were at odds. Some only showed it in the way they looked at their fellow Trial-takers, while others resorted to aggressive posturing – especially between different races. Thankfully, no fights had broken out, but Elijah could tell that it was only a matter of time before that happened. Now that the danger of the Immortals had passed, Nexus Town had become a powder keg. One small spark, and it would all explode.

Elijah wasn’t sure what the source of so much enmity was. Perhaps it predated the takeover by the Immortals. Or maybe it was as simple as putting a bunch of dominant personalities in the same place. In that situation, clashes were inevitable.

Regardless, Elijah didn’t intend to stick around for much longer. The only reason he and his companions hadn’t already left was because Sadie had commissioned one of the Consortium’s Blacksmiths to repair her armor. The man she’d hired wasn’t capable of bringing the set back to its former power, but he was the best available. Left unused was the block of Celestial Gold; it was far too valuable to allow an inferior craftsman to use. Instead, she’d made it clear that she intended to take Elijah up on his offer of an introduction to Carmen.

The crafters in the Nexus Town were high-leveled, but Elijah had found their products wanting. The best any of them could create was Low-Complex, and even that was rare. That was why he hadn’t commissioned one of them to create a new staff for him. The simple fact was that he could do better on his own, though not without a significant time investment.

“No.”

Elijah’s brows furrowed. Only a couple of days before, the Healer had been adamant about returning to his daughter’s side. So, Elijah asked, “Why not? What changed?”

“Do you want me to leave?”

“No, it’s just –”

“I’m just fucking with you,” Ron said with a slight smirk. “I realized that my reasons for coming here haven’t changed. Do you know how much stronger I’ve gotten since coming here? Since joining this group? If I keep going like this...I might be able to...”

“To what, bro?”

Ron shook his head. “I might be able to cure her,” he said. “My daughter...is not well. It’s not urgent, but she gets weaker by the day, and when I left, there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it. Some sort of disease. I don’t know what it is, and none of my spells would help. I figured...I figured that if I came here and gained a few levels, I might be able to do something. I’ve gotten two new spells and one upgrade since joining this party. And we’ve got a long way to go before we’re done. I want to save my daughter. That’s why I’m staying. Even though it terrifies me to think of what we might see going forward, I’m not going to give up. Not until I’m made to do so.”

That wasn’t the exact story that Ron had given when they’d met, but Elijah understood why he hadn’t revealed it before. Regardless, he could empathize with the man’s reasoning.

“I’ll help,” Sadie said, stepping into the room. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she carried a sack that clinked when she moved, indicating that she’d finally collected her repaired armor. “When we leave here, I’ll help. You know what my Miracle can do. Maybe it will be enough.”

“I appreciate that, even if I know it’s a hollow promise,” Ron said. “We’re pretty isolated, and I don’t even know where we are in relation to everywhere else. I know you’d help if you could find us, but I just don’t think that’s possible.”

“Anything’s possible if we put our minds to it, bro,” Dat said.

“And if we can’t help directly, we’ll do so by getting you to as high of a level as we can,” Elijah added.

Ron looked from one person to another. The only one missing was Kurik, but Elijah felt confident that the dwarven Sapper would have agreed with everyone else. He had a crusty exterior, but inside, he was a softy.

“Thank you,” Ron said. “You have no idea what that means to me. If I fall...”

“Then we’ll keep our promise,” Elijah said. “I’m pretty good at getting around, and if you don’t make it, I won’t rest until I’ve found your daughter and helped in any way I can.”

After that, everyone vowed to do the same. Ron thanked them once again, but once the moment passed into an awkward silence, Dat changed the subject by asking, “Which challenge do we want to tackle next? I don’t think we should stay here much longer.”

“I agree,” Sadie said.

“So do I, but I don’t think we should hit a challenge yet. I think it’s time to use the cultivation cave,” Elijah said. To that, everyone groaned. “What? I thought you’d be excited. Cultivation is –”

“It’s not that,” Sadie said. “It’s just that we all hoped we were done with the cold.”

“Oh,” Elijah said, reflexively pulling his Cloak of the Iron Bear around his shoulders. “I wouldn’t know anything about that. Besides, it’ll be worth it. I promise.”