14-36. Lord of the Hartwood

Before Elijah left Argos, he stopped by Agora to have his new weapon appraised. Since carving it, he’d kept it hidden away in his Arcane Loop, largely because he’d not needed it. In addition, he hadn’t wanted to make an extra trip to Argos just to have it identified. But now that he was in the city, he figured he’d mark that line off his to-do list.

That was how he found himself in one of their appraisal suites. He set the weapon on the table in the center of the room. From experience, he knew that it functioned as an identification apparatus. After the weapon was in placee, the Appraiser – a middle-aged woman with short, curly hair – activated an ability. Ethera swirled, then connected her to the table before a hologram-like display appeared above the weapon.

It looked just like a system notification:

“Hmm. Better than expected,” Elijah admitted.

He looked up to see the attendant’s dropped jaw. She seemed incapable of understanding what she’d just appraised, much less remarking upon it.

“Right,” Elijah said, grabbing Thorn from the table. As he did, the notification flickered, then disappeared. “Guess you don’t see stuff like this very often. If it’s all the same to you, can you keep this between us? I don’t care if you tell Atticus, but I really don’t want anyone else to know about it.”

“Y-yes, sir,” she said, almost trembling. Probably from the quality of the weapon. Definitely not because he had a reputation for destroying cities that displeased him.

Using his folio, Elijah transferred the appraisal fee – despite her protests that it wasn’t necessary – then headed out. He’d already completed his preparations, and he only needed to do one more thing before he said his final goodbyes and set off for the Empire of Scale.

So, knowing that Atticus was still sleeping off the revelry of the night before, Elijah left Agora and didn’t look back. When he got outside town, he shifted into the Shape of the World Serpent, then headed northeast. His destination wasn’t particularly far away, especially with how quickly he could move. And he reached it in less than an hour.

The Moonwell shimmered with the same silvery luminosity that had originally attracted him to the location. There were a few animals around, but no guardians had taken the place of the lunar deer he’d transplanted into his grove. Thankfully, his dolmen served to protect it from casual destruction.

A determined foe could still shatter it, but not before Elijah could respond. Even so, he was surprised that no one had found or destroyed any of his other dolmens. After all, he’d been gone for a long time, leaving them functionally abandoned. He could only believe that their remote locations kept them safe.

Knowing he had at least a few hours to waste, Elijah stripped down and dove into the pool. The water was cold, but the ambient ethera was strong enough that it felt like electricity coursing through his body. He ignored that, kicking over into a dive.

The cenote was much deeper than he’d expected, and it sank hundreds of feet straight down. With every foot he descended, the ethera grew stronger until, nearly a minute later, he found the source.

Waving at the rocky bottom was a single flower. It looked a bit like a water lily, but with characteristics that reminded Elijah of a sea anemone. It glowed with silver luminescence and emitted a steady flow of dense ethera that suffused the entire pool of cold water.

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He floated down there for a long time, wishing that he could move the natural treasure from the Moonwell to his grove. But there was no real reason to do so. It was healthy and in no real danger, despite the lack of guardians. So, he decided to leave it where it was.

Still, that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy its atmosphere.

Elijah lost track of how long he stayed down there. At least a few hours. But when he finally resurfaced, night had fallen.

And the moment he’d been waiting on had finally arrived.

Miguel sat on the edge of the cenote, his feet dangling in the water. Nearby, Trevor and a few other deer frolicked.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “Trevor got distracted.”

The stag snorted, then darted away, climbing a beam of moonlight into the sky. The other deer followed.

“Not a big deal,” Elijah said, levering himself out of the water. He slipped on a pair of pants, then sat beside his nephew. “I’m the one hijacking your plans, not the other way around.”

He’d set out with the goal to spend a little time with his nephew, but he hadn’t wanted to do so in Argos or the grove. Because Miguel already had plans to take Trevor and the rest of the lunar deer to their former home, Elijah had suggested meeting him there.

“What did you want to talk about?” Miguel asked, looking simultaneously much younger than his true age and too old for his wrinkle-free skin. Elijah supposed he probably looked similar. Such was the effect of their much longer lifespans.

“You and your role in the grove,” Elijah responded.

“What about it?” he asked, that simple question coming out almost like a challenge. Miguel was a proud and dedicated Warrior, and he clearly didn’t like being questioned.

“Mostly, I just wanted to thank you,” Elijah admitted, leaning back. His emerald scales glimmered in the silvery light coming from the pool. “I’ve heard a little of what you did. Of how you protected everyone. Without you, the grove would have fallen.”

He glanced at his nephew. “But I also wanted to make a request.”

“What do you need?”

“Keep doing what you’re doing,” Elijah answered. “Protect them. Protect it all. I know it’s my grove, but I’m just the body. You’re the heart, Miggy. You’re the beating heart.”

Miguel didn’t respond. Not for a long time. Instead, he turned away and stared at the silvery surface of the Moonwell. Finally, he asked, “Do you know what my class is?”

“Knight of the Hartwood?”

“Not anymore. Not after my demi-god evolution.”

“What is it now?” Elijah asked.

“Lord of the Hartwood. Direct evolution,” he answered. “Do you know what that means?”

Elijah shook his head.

“It means that I fully intend to stay on my path. I was offered other options,” he explained. “Some of them were stronger. Not by a lot, but even a little extra power is important. I chose this class because there’s nothing I want more than to protect the grove and everyone in it. So, you can go do what you need to do. Get stronger. You say you’re the body, and I’m the heart? Well, everyone else…they’re like symbiotic parasites. As you go, so do they. So do we all. As you grow stronger, we will too. And when you need us to step up, we will. I hope you know that.

“It’s my home. Everything I love is in or around the grove. I would never abandon the responsibility to protect it.”

Elijah let out a sigh of relief. “You being here is the only reason I’m leaving. If you weren’t, I wouldn’t dare.”

“And I hope I can live up to your faith.”

Elijah reached out to grip his nephew’s shoulder. He gave it a reassuring squeeze, but he knew that nothing else needed to be said. Not on the subject of the grove. He could rest easy, leaving the Hartwood Grove in Miguel’s hands.

For the next couple of hours, the pair spoke of other things. Some of it was mundane, like stories about little Eli. Some was about various towers or Primal Realms. But in the end, Elijah realized that he had nothing left to say. So, he pushed himself to his feet, said one final goodbye, and used Roots of the World Tree to return to the grove.

Elijah reappeared in the center of the grove, basking in the vitality of it all. The ancestral tree waved overhead while a thin fog clung to the ground. He was resting his hand against the tree’s trunk when he felt Nerthus emerge from one of its roots.

“I wish you could have come to the banquet,” Elijah said. “Of all people, you would have been most welcome.”

“I can’t leave the grove.”

“That’s not true, and you know it. You choose not to leave. But you could if you wanted to,” Elijah stated. With his progress, Nerthus’ reliance on the ancestral tree – and its spawn – had decreased significantly. Not only could he travel to any of the subsidiary trees, but he could also travel for dozens of miles all around. And because there was a tree in Argos – albeit one that had been converted by Sadie’s cultivation efforts – Nerthus could have come to the banquet.

Elijah knew why he hadn’t come, though.

Like everyone else, he’d barely had a chance to get used to Elijah being back, and now he was on the verge of leaving again. Doubtless, he felt abandoned. Or maybe he was just afraid.

But unlike most, Nerthus understood the need to spread his branches. Remaining on Earth just wasn’t an option. Not any longer. Not if Elijah wanted to progress.

“I took the liberty of preparing something for you,” Nerthus said, handing over a package.

Elijah already knew what it contained, but he didn’t react until he opened it.

“Seeds,” Elijah said.

“The most viable the ancestral tree could produce,” Nerthus said. “Nine of them.”

“Could’ve used these back on Gorveth,” he joked. He’d taken a few extra seeds with him, but they’d proven themselves unviable. It seemed that he’d gotten lucky with the first one.

“Yes. That is why I gathered them and ensured that they would be perfect.”

“You know I’m coming back, right? This is not goodbye forever. It’s more like a see you later.”

“I know. However, I feel the necessity of pointing out that what you intend and what happens do not always agree with one another. Need I remind you that you were only supposed to conquer a Primal Realm, but you ended up being lost in the abyss for more than thirty years?”

“That was a one-time thing,” Elijah insisted. “And it wasn’t my fault.”

“So you say,” Nerthus stated, bowing his head.

“It’s true!”

“I believe you.”

Elijah sighed. “I get the distinct feeling that you don’t. But that’s fine. I’ll show you.”

“Nothing would make me happier.”

Elijah looked away, and after a few moments of silence, he asked, “Do you ever wish I was a normal Druid? Like Nara or the other baby Druids she’s raised since?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“I believe you would go insane if you were stuck in one place for too long. The grove would not survive such a thing,” he pointed out. “Besides – your wanderlust is the reason we have grown so much. If you were a so-called ‘normal’ Druid, I would not have reached demi-god status. I would barely have ascended by now. So, for both selfish and selfless reasons, I am glad you are who you are.”

Then, in a smaller voice, he added, “You are my friend. We are family. I do not want you to change who you are.” He paused for a beat, then continued, “Even if it might make things easier.”

“Love you too,” Elijah said, hugging the giant spryggent. It was a bit awkward, but they managed all the same. “But you know what? Before I leave, there’s something I’ve wanted to do since I got home.”

“What’s that?”

“Hot tub.”

Then, with a grin, he headed in the direction of the hot spring he’d built. He had to kick a few people out so he’d have it all to himself, but the second he sank into the scalding water, he decided it was all worth it.

As he felt his muscles unkink, he couldn’t help but feel a thrill of excitement coursing through him. Because in the morning, he would be heading to the Empire of Scale. He had no idea what to expect from a realm of dragons, but he did know one thing – it would be impressive.