15-23. The Coreway

Elijah sat next to Tisk, his hands on his knees as he stared off across the staging ground. Tens of thousands of people waited between dozens of miles-long caravans. Most were engaged in final preparations for the journey, but quite a few simply waited until their departure time.

“It really is an impressive show of organization,” Elijah remarked, glancing at the animal handler who’d become something like a friend. Tisk was a demigod, just like him, though her husbandry-focused class made her far more necessary than most at her stage. Like many other members of the caravan, she was responsible for managing the enormous ekolasi pulling the various caravans.

For her part, she led an entire team – evidence that she was a rare talent, especially given her relative youth. She only possessed a latent nature attunement, but even that was enough to influence Elijah’s opinion of her. The same was true going the other way, and Elijah expected that she would have reacted far differently had he been someone else.

Beneath them, Elijah could feel Mona’s deep, rhythmic breathing. He could also smell the ekolases, that unmistakable blend of reptilian earthiness and the inevitable aroma that came from any large beast. If he’d bothered to commune with her via his Mantle of Authority, he knew he’d find contentment combined with a slight unease that came from being confined to a relatively small space.

“You should see some of the larger caravans,” Tisk said. “They stretch for hundreds of miles and feature millions of travelers.”

Elijah nodded, glancing back at the city only a few miles away. It was close enough that it still loomed large in his vision, but it was far enough away that the scale seemed far less impressive. After spending three days in the city, Elijah knew that was a false impression.

The city of Paikir existed for one reason – proximity to the Coreway gate – and it had grown into that purpose. Still, it hosted plenty of creature comforts like bars and restaurants, but it lacked the variety present in a city like Ashakar. So, while Elijah had enjoyed exploring the new town, he was more than ready to leave it behind.

Especially with the prospect of traveling through the void looming over him.

He’d seen multiple bridges while traveling from Gorveth back to Earth, and since then, he’d remained intrigued by them. Perhaps that was because he had been shielded from entry.

For whatever it was worth, Elijah did not like being denied.

In any case, he sat atop the ekolases and continued to take in the scene until, at last, he saw movement. The dubious honor of being the first through the Coreway Gate came with a slight discount that each caravan had been forced to pay. Largely, this came from the fact that passing through that gate was a dangerous affair.

After all, no one could tell what was on the other side. Not until they passed through. For all anyone knew, the Coreway had collapsed. Or been overrun by monsters from alternate dimensions. There were even creatures native to the void itself who might take issue with the passage through their domain.

Mano refused to abandon the Vyrin caravan, so the forerunners were left to their own devices when it came to protection. Gradually, the caravan sprang into motion, and their ekolases plunged through the gate.

The portal itself was supported by an enormous structure comprised of two massive pillars atop an appropriately sized platform. A shallow ramp led to the summit, which stood more than fifty feet tall. The whole thing was made of green marble and etched with gold that pulsed with significant power.

Elijah could feel the leyline coursing beneath them, which explained the energy. It reminded him a little of the Conclave Spires, though this structure was as far beyond those comparatively primitive machines as a spaceship was beyond a wheelbarrow.

In any case, the caravan forged ahead and into the void, snaking along until it disappeared entirely. The fact that it had kept going was a good sign that everything on the other side was okay, so the next in line didn’t hesitate. Nor did the third. Or fourth. On and on they went until Mona stepped forward.

The creak of wood and metal sounded, though the massive beast had no issues pulling the caravan. Elijah balanced atop her broad back, feeling the surge of strength and ethera that came with her every step. She wasn’t just a creature of muscle and sinew. Instead, she was suffused with magic that increased her weight and power.

“In the wild, they’re much smaller,” Tisk explained as they mounted the ramp. “But they’re also far more aggressive. Imagine thousands-strong herds of ekolasi roaming the plains of Utain-Three.” She shivered. “I want to visit someday, but it is a wild planet. Only a few hundred are granted passes each year.”

When Elijah asked about that, she explained that there were many such protected planets in the Empire of Scale. Some were granted that status because the wildlife was too dangerous, but others were meant to protect strategic resources. Still others had historical significance to the dragons. It reminded Elijah of the national park system, though on a much larger scale.

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Tisk’s explanation took them all the way up the ramp and to the portal’s event horizon. So close, the structure loomed over him like a pair of skyscrapers. However, he was far more interested in the portal itself. After spending so much time practicing with Shape of the World Serpent, Elijah could sense some similarities between his abilities and the gate before him.

The energy had the same flavor, at least. Though by comparison, it seemed far too constrained. As if someone had bottled a hurricane and forced the winds to blow a certain way.

He didn’t like it.

However, he didn’t have much of a chance to investigate those feelings before Mona stepped through. Perched on her back, Elijah soon followed. The sensation of passing into the void was a familiar one, but Elijah couldn’t escape the feeling of artificiality that came with it.

Still, it didn’t last long, and within a fraction of a second, Elijah found himself staring at the back end of the caravan that had preceded them.

That didn’t hold his attention for very long, though.

Instead, he found himself incapable of constraining his gasp of surprise when he beheld the Coreway itself. The structure was a lot like a highway, though it was more than a mile wide and composed of jade stone streaked with silver and gold. Patterns had been etched into every surface, though they resembled no runes with which Elijah was familiar.

Every hundred yards or so stood a massive arch extending from one edge to another, with a consistent curve in between. Those were made of silver festooned with green gems that blazed with so much power that just looking directly at them sent a shiver through Elijah’s mind.

And between those arches was a shield comprised of every color of the rainbow.

“Welcome to the Coreway,” Tisk said.

Elijah could only nod. The scale was impressive enough to elicit awe, but to Elijah, the power coursing through every inch of the structure was even more overwhelming. It made him feel small, but somehow powerful. After all, people like him had built the thing. They had conquered the void itself. Who was to say he couldn’t one day do something just as impressive.

So, he was an ant, but with the potential of a god.

It was comforting and terrifying in equal measure.

Neither Mona’s demeanor nor her gait changed as she pulled the Caravan through the portal. Hundreds of people strode along beside each wagon, with most wearing expressions similar to the one on Elijah’s face.

“How long is this trip going to take?” Elijah asked.

“Two weeks. Maybe three, depending on how it goes in some of the alternate dimensions,” Tisk answered.

“I don’t understand.”

Tisk sighed, stretching her incredibly long arms. Elijah heard her back pop. “You didn’t listen to the briefing at all, did you?”

“I caught the high points,” Elijah lied. In reality, he’d spent the entire time working on his plans for his core cultivation. Over the past few years, he had expanded its capacity to a ridiculous degree, so he was more than ready to take the next step. The only thing that was missing was a sufficiently powerful source of ethera. There were a few places back on Esik he could have used, but Kirlissa and the rest of his mentors had cautioned him to hold back for the First Fang.

But now that he was closing in on that opportunity, he’d begun to really focus on his intentions. He fully expected to adjust his plans once he got into it because that was usually how it worked. However, understanding the ins and outs of his intentions was necessary for a good result.

“Liar,” she said.

Elijah just shrugged. He’d developed a tentative friendship with the drake, which included some light teasing.

“So?”

“What?”

“Are you going to explain it to me or not?”

She frowned. “I should just let you stew in your own ignorance. But I am a magnanimous sort.” Mona honked her agreement. “See? Mona knows me better than anyone, and she recognizes my benevolent nature.”

“She just knows you’re the one who usually feeds her.”

“Evidence of my benevolence.”

“It’s your job.”

“Inconsequential details.”

Elijah sighed, then leaned back. “You could just tell me. We both know you’re going to.”

“You know that, do you?” she asked. Then, she turned and started down Mona’s spine. Despite the rocking caused by the ekolases, Tisk showed no signs of losing her balance.

“Oh, c’mon,” Elijah complained. “Fine. You’re magnanimous. And I’d be lost without your guidance. Please, just tell me.”

She turned back to him with a grin. “I knew you’d see it my way.”

Then, after coming back and sitting a few feet away, she explained the nature of the Coreway. For the most part, it cut straight through the void. However, to shorten the distance between two spots, frequent forays into various alternate dimensions were required.

“The Coreway’s defenses will remain in place, but those dimensions are often home to truly powerful creatures. Transcendent level, at least. The shield won’t hold against that kind of threat.”

“Which is why everyone’s so happy to have Mano along.”

She nodded. “But there are also outposts in some of those dimensions,” she explained. “We’ll stop at a couple of them.”

“Oh. Cool.”

After that, she described the first town they were meant to visit. Mitharin was still a few days away, and it was located inside a relatively tame dimension where rare minerals were slightly more common than they were in most corners of Mortalum.

“Or any of the other eight realms,” she admitted. Then, she sighed. “I’d love to visit some of those. There are some fascinating creatures there.”

Elijah nodded. “I met a lava kraken once. Cinderath was really cool.”

She cut her eyes in his direction. “I can’t tell if you’re serious.”

“I usually am. Nobody ever believes me, though. I think it’s the tone. But I mean, I tell someone about fighting a flesh tree for months, and they immediately think I’m exaggerating.”

“Did that happen?”

Elijah shrugged. “I think so. It felt like months. Might’ve been less. Or more. I kind of got lost in the thick of it, if I’m honest,” he admitted. “And I wasn’t in the best frame of mind, you know? Being stranded for forty years in the abyss will do that to a guy.”

“There’s a story there, I suppose.”

“There is. I don’t think it’s that interesting, but there were some…highlights, I guess. Most of it was just me planting seeds and talking to Treebie.”

“Treebie?”

“Fusion of an ancestral tree and a limb from a World Tree Branch.”

“That you named Treebie.”

Elijah nodded. “It fit.”

“Okay, you’re going to have to start from the beginning.”

“Like, the beginning beginning? Or just the beginning of that story?”

“Surprise me,” she said.

“Alright. So, I was in this Primal Realm called the Labyrinth of Dead Gods…”