15-20. Infrastructure

Elijah stepped free of the portal, his stride entirely unbroken despite spending the better part of ten days in the void. It had gone by without issue, though the sudden rumble in his stomach reminded him that it was not a journey to be undertaken lightly. While traveling through the portal, his body became ephemeral. However, unlike when he’d used the World Tree’s teleportation network, his biological needs were not met. Only suspended.

It was a subtle difference, but it also meant that when he finally arrived at his destination, he was famished, out-of-breath, and thirsty.

“Welcome back, brother,” Mano said from where he was sitting on a rock nearby. He’d sheared the top from the boulder, creating a completely flat surface. He flicked his eyes open, cutting them toward Sara. “And you, sister. Did you enjoy your holiday?”

He said the final word with a bit of frustration. That wasn’t really surprising, coming from Mano. After all, the big dragon spent most of his time on the frontlines. The notion of a vacation probably seemed incredibly wasteful to such a person.

“I’m not in the mood for your insults,” Sara said, marching away.

Mano ignored her. “Are you prepared for what’s coming?”

“The First Fang?” Elijah asked. “I guess. I’ve got a ring full of coffee, soap, and hippo meat, so I’m good to go for an adventure.”

“I hope you are,” Mano stated, dismounting the boulder. His feet thudded down, denting the soft loam of the oasis Elijah had grown around the Circle of Victory. “But you will have plenty of time to further prepare. Come. Mother is waiting.”

“She knew I was on my way back?” Elijah asked. He’d chosen to return almost a week before absolutely necessary, which he thought meant that it would go unnoticed. Maybe not by Kirlissa, but by everyone else at least.

“Of course. We felt you the second you stepped into your portal. That is an interesting spell, by the way. I feel its vast potential,” Mano revealed as he and Elijah walked toward the edge of the oasis.

“What does that mean?” he asked.

“It will scale very well. Abilities like that only scratch the surface of what’s possible,” he explained. “As you grow, so shall it be empowered. The evolutions will be truly impressive.”

“Yeah. I just evolved it a few levels ago,” Elijah elaborated. “So I doubt it’ll evolve again for a while.”

“Interesting.”

Elijah opened his mouth to ask what made it so interesting, but he cut himself short when he saw what was located just outside the oasis. A silver road cut across the lunar surface, extending for more than a mile before it terminated at a marble platform. Above that dais floated a series of silver rings, each one a dozen feet wide and slowly swaying up and down.

“What’s going on here?” Elijah asked as he stepped onto the road. He immediately noticed the difference in the atmosphere, which went from cloyingly dense to something closer to what he’d left behind in his grove. The air was also crisp and clean and, most importantly, full of oxygen. He didn’t really need it, especially with the Ring of the River King, but taking a deep breath of sweet air was still comforting.

“Mother felt that we needed to build some infrastructure for any potential visitors,” he said. “Those rings will lead to a quarantine facility meant to acclimate newcomers to our world. In addition, transport will be provided to anywhere on Esik.”

“I see,” Elijah said. Then, he ran his fingers through his hair. “Suppose I’ll have to thank her, then.”

“Indeed, brother. She is very generous to her favored children.”

“Not so generous to all the others, though,” Sara pointed out. She’d waited for them at the head of the road.

“Failures.”

“They’re people.”

“She provides for our siblings well enough,” Mano pointed out. “If they want more, they can earn it on their own. Like me. Or you. They only need to distinguish themselves, and they will feel the warmth of mother’s embrace.”

“Or maybe if she gave it to them unconditionally, they might have fared better.”

“Nonsense. What good is power unearned? It is a hollow thing. Fragile. It does a disservice to the wielder and makes a mockery of the very notion of personal might,” Mano stated as if his opinion was an objective truth.

For his part, Elijah wasn’t so sure. He certainly understood the value of gaining power on his own, but a little nudge in the right direction could be invaluable. Either way, he knew the ongoing argument between the siblings was far more complicated than either of them wanted to admit. After all, Kirlissa doubtless had helped all of her children. Some more than others, surely, but that was probably because they’d earned it.

Then again, draconic culture dictated that parents hatch their children in the wild, then let them survive on their own until they reached sapience and develop a core. Some formed an elder core and became dragons. Others established less powerful cores, becoming drakes. Still others eschewed the trappings of sapience, becoming wyrms.

The Culling was complicated, and to the point that Elijah still struggled to wrap his head around how it all fit together. The mechanics were clear enough, but he took issue with the emotional toll, motivations, and reasoning. What he did understand to crystal clarity was that it was extraordinarily brutal.

For dragons and their progeny, there was no room for weakness.

Sara and Mano continued to bicker as they approached the silver rings. Then, they all stepped onto the marble platform before Mano used a wisp of ethera to activate the device. Even that tiny thread felt like a tidal wave to Elijah’s senses, though it thankfully didn’t last long.

A moment later, they appeared upon an identical dais surrounded by more silver rings. However, instead of being positioned on the desolate surface of the moon, these teleportation rings were inside a large building.

It possessed all the hallmarks of any other structure on Vyrin, which meant that it was covered in gold and silver, and wealth hung in the air like a solid thing. It made Elijah feel like he was in the presence of royalty.

Which wasn’t true. Even if she technically qualified for such a label, Kirlissa wasn’t around. Just a few attendants who felt like low demigods.

“Would you like a tour?” asked the serpentor closest to him. She was an attractive woman with somewhat elven features. Though they were a little muted, suggesting that her ancestry was more complicated than Elijah’s first impression dictated. “We wish to ensure the facilities meet Earth standards.”

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“That’s probably for the best,” he admitted, thinking of the cultural differences.

After that, the woman led Elijah through the facility, which was comprised of a dozen domiciles, each one fit to accommodate up to fifty people. In addition, there were a couple of huge warehouses where they could potentially store goods. Finally, Kirlissa had erected an entire kitchen staffed with a demigod Chef and a handful of apprentices.

Elijah took the opportunity to sample their wares.

Meanwhile, Sara and Mano headed out to greet their mother. After all, Mano was only there as a bodyguard against retribution from those who might hold a grudge over Elijah’s victory in the Tournament of the First Fang. And no one was going to attack Elijah inside that building, so his services were unnecessary.

For her part, Sara just said that she needed rest. Elijah wasn’t certain if that was a truthful claim, and he suspected that she was just eager to get started preparing to implement her plans for Earth.

So far, she’d been cagey about how she intended to do so, but he figured she’d let him know when he needed to hear what she had to say. Until then, Elijah chose to trust her.

Overall, the tour only took about an hour, most of that being dedicated to Elijah sampling a couple of the Chef’s meals. So, it wasn’t long before Elijah returned to the silver rings and teleported to the palace.

The second he arrived, he felt Kirlissa’s presence wash over him.

“Is there something amiss?” asked another attendant.

“No,” Elijah said, suppressing a tremble. “It’s just easy to forget what this feels like. I’m good, though. No need to worry.”

Elijah then stepped off the dais and passed between the twin statues of his adopted mother. The path leading across the verdant grounds wasn’t particularly long, so he reached the steps leading inside in short order. Soon enough, he was inside the palace itself.

Not knowing what else to do, he headed to the quarters he’d been assigned during his last stay, and when he reached them, he found everything just as he’d left it. Cleaner, certainly, but it was obvious that no one else had taken up residence.

Without further ado, Elijah removed his armor, then headed to the attached bathroom where he took a long soak in the large tub. It was just after he’d finished bathing that he heard the chime indicating that he had a visitor. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he padded to the door.

A gasp greeted him.

Recognizing the person before him, Elijah let his mouth shift into a crooked grin. “This keeps happening, doesn’t it?” he asked, resting one hand on the doorframe. “A more paranoid man might think you were stalking him.”

Imal na Rosi blushed, though instead of her cheeks reddening, they turned a bit blue across her otherwise pale skin.

“I…I…”

Her eyes drifted down his naked torso, and she actually bit her lip.

“Eyes up here.”

That snapped her out of it. She recoiled as if she’d been slapped. “I apologize!” she exclaimed, bowing deeply. Which put her head only a few feet away from his lower half. It only took a moment for her to recognize that only a thin towel separated her from everything beneath it, and she quickly straightened to her full height. “Prosperity requests your presence in her private dining hall. Do you require an escort?”

“Would you be the escort?”

“I…”

“It’s fine. No. I know my way,” Elijah said. “I’ll get dressed, then head right over. Thanks for the message.”

With that, he stepped back and closed the door, though through Soul of the Wild, he felt her scurrying away, muttering to herself the whole time. That broadened Elijah’s smile. Even after everything that had happened, he could appreciate gaining the attention of a beautiful woman.

Would he act on it? No. But a little teasing was fine.

In any case, Elijah soon dressed, combed his hair and beard, and headed out through the palace’s maze of hallways. Despite knowing the way, it was still easy enough to get lost in in the twisting corridors, though he managed to limit his wrong turns to a couple. That was progress, considering his first time being let loose in the palace had gotten him lost for most of a day.

The only reason he’d found his way out was because an attendant had led him to the exit.

In this case, he reached Kirlissa’s private wing after only twenty minutes. After that, the attendants guided him to her dining room, which despite its designation as private, still hosted a table large enough to seat nearly fifty people. However, only Kirlissa, Sara, Mano, and two others Elijah didn’t know were in attendance.

He found his way to the end of the table where they all sat and asked, “Does it matter which seat I take? I know on Earth, there were rules about who was supposed to sit where. My mom even had a book about it. Emily Post. I’m not sure if she ever actually read the thing, though. I think it was an heirloom.”

Kirlissa smiled through the whole explanation. Then, she simply said, “We are all family. We will not stand on ceremony.”

Elijah gave an exaggerated sigh of relief, then settled into the chair next to Sara’s. “So, what’s going on?” he asked. “How was everyone’s day?”

“Quite uneventful,” Kirlissa stated. Meanwhile, the two strangers just stared at him like he was a peculiar bug. Both were deities, though Elijah couldn’t discern much more from their auras. “Mano, introduce your siblings.”

He pushed himself to his full height. “Elijah Hart es Vyrin, I present to you your sister, Noai es Vyrin, and your brother, Ylaskin es Vyrin,” he announced in a booming voice. “Brother, sister, this is Elijah Hart es Vyrin, recent winner of the Tournament of the First Fang and my favored sibling.”

“Aw,” Elijah said. “You like me.”

Mano stared at him. “I like the way you slaughter your opponents. We are alike in that respect.”

“Indeed,” said Kirlissa. “Though Elijah has already broadened his horizons in ways you never did. Perhaps he will surpass you one day.”

Mano glared at his mother. “Perhaps. We could only be so lucky, should the war effort gain another competent soldier.”

She just shook her head. Mano retook his seat, though from his posture, he did not relax. Indeed, he felt like he was a hair’s breadth from lashing out. If that happened, no one in the room but Kirlissa would survive. Elijah knew that as surely as he’d ever known anything.

Thankfully, Mano possessed a Warrior’s self-control.

Even as Mano seethed, Kirlissa said, “In three weeks, you will depart this world and travel via the Coreway to She’evoth. Once there, you will claim your reward from the Fourth Treasury before going to the cultivate in the shadow of the First Fang.”

“Anything I should know about it?” Elijah asked. “Also, what’s the Coreway?”

As it turned out, the Coreway was an alternate method of travel through the void. Not dissimilar from the bridges he’d seen when he was traveling back from the abyss, they cut across multiple dimensions, connecting the various parts of the Empire of Scale. To Elijah, it sounded a bit like the U.S. interstate system, though with a lot more magic involved.

When he asked why anyone would use it instead of the Branch Teleportation Network, he received a predictable answer. Money. It was much cheaper and slightly faster to use the Coreway.

Soon after Elijah received that explanation, the food arrived, and the conversation shifted to small talk. Mano ate with a voracious appetite, while Sara picked at her food. The other two – Noai and Ylaskin – fell somewhere between those two extremes.

Elijah had already eaten, but he didn’t hold back when it came to the meal provided by Kirlissa. Everything was predictably wonderful. Meats and cheeses, vegetables and breads. Hearty but uncomplicated. Certainly nothing like the transformative meal he’d enjoyed at The Aerie, but still some of the best food he’d ever eaten.

Finally, when everyone had finished, Kirlissa sent the others away. Once they were gone, she announced, “Now, I must apologize to you. I am sorry for putting you in the center of a political struggle. Doing so made you many enemies and will doubtless cause you a host of difficulties.”

“No need to apologize,” Elijah insisted. “What happened in the tournament was for the best. Even now, knowing that I’d be dodging assassins and making powerful enemies, I would do it all again. Skahan deserved what he got. And Cyran needed to lose. I’m happy to have been the one to deliver justice to both.”

She smiled and patted his hand. “Such a good boy,” she said. “Nothing about that tournament was happenstance. I allowed them to manipulate the matchups because I knew what you would do. I also knew that it would allow me to gain an upper hand over some old enemies. You would be pleased to know that I have used that leverage to slowly strangle them economically.”

“Why?”

“Because they hurt my daughter,” she stated evenly. “I knew what happened, but the Scales of Peace restrict us all. Had I attacked directly, especially within my domain, I would have been subject to Imperial punishment.”

“So you used me as your weapon.”

“I did.”

“I see.”

“As I said, for that, I apologize,” Kirlissa repeated. “I am sorry, my son.”

Elijah shook his head. “No need,” he responded. “I understand why you did it. I’m glad that’s how it worked out. As I said, they deserved it, and I’m happy to have been your instrument.”

“Good,” she said. “We protect our own, Elijah. And should we fail, we enact vengeance. Do you understand?”

“I do.”

Truer words had never been spoken. As much as he knew he should have been irritated to be used in such a way, Elijah wasn’t. The only issue was that he hadn’t been told, but clearly, Kirlissa had her reasons. He chose to trust her.

“Now, let me explain what you should expect from the trip to She’evoth.”