BOOK 9: CHAPTER 24: PHILADELPHIA

“I feel like I should get some kind of frequent flier miles or something,” Elijah said, leaning against the wall next to the Spires. The compound itself had been expanded, adding an extra building, and a wall was under construction. According to Eryka, they’d been forced to see to their defenses due to a surge in the level of the local wildlife.

That was understandable, given the continuously rising ethera density. Elijah couldn’t be certain, but he suspected the area around Ironshore was affected by the increasing power of his grove. The Primordial Loam was a powerful treasure, and its effects were already obvious on the island. Everything was lusher, and the ancestral tree had even grown by more than ten feet in height. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that the effect had spread even further than the grove.

And that included the animal life.

“You already pay half price,” Eryka said, her arms crossed. “You’re not getting any other discounts.”

“He’s payin’ half price?” Kurik grumbled, hiking his pack higher on his back. “How’s that fair?”

“He helped us figure out how to find ley lines,” Eryka explained. “Half price travel was part of the deal.”

“Oh. Yeah. I forgot about that,” Elijah admitted.

“You thought you were paying full price?” asked Ron, who was standing next to Kurik. On the other side was Jess, who was the Healer’s plus-one for the wedding. Kurik had brought Carissa, though she was busy inspecting one of the spires, much to the guards’ chagrin. Luckily, she didn’t touch anything, but she did lean close enough that a stray breeze might change that.

“Maybe?”

The truth was he hadn’t really thought much about it. With his wealth, using the Teleportation Spires cost almost nothing. Sure, if he used them a dozen times a day, he might run out of money. Atticus had gone on a spree like that, though only for a single day. In any case, Elijah’s ability to teleport across the world via Roots of the World Tree meant he didn’t think much about getting around.

“Rich people,” Jess muttered.

“Ouch. I’m not rich.”

“You really are,” Ron stated. “Not richest-man-in-the-world rich, but rich-rich.”

“That’s too many riches,” Kurik grumbled.

“I agree with the surly dwarf,” Elijah stated.

“I ain’t surly.”

“Ornery?”

“I ain’t that either.”

“Gruff?”

“Cantakerous,” Jess suggested.

“Churlish,” Ron added.

“I like grumpy,” Elijah stated.

“You done?” Kurik asked, his eyes narrowed and his ears turning red. “Or you want a trap to the face?”

“That’s another thing – they’re not traps, Kurik. They’re bombs. You use bombs,” Elijah pointed out. “I know nobody wants to tell you that, but as your friend, I think it’s my duty to tell you when you’re being silly.”

“Do you want to eat one? I can make it happen.”

Elijah rolled his eyes. “Fine. No more teasing Kurik, guys,” Elijah said only a second before the dwarf tackled him. He fended him off, but the Sapper was surprisingly strong. “Stop. Stop!” s̈

Kurik kept going, and it quickly turned into a wrestling match. Neither was really trying to hurt the other – except that Kurik definitely poked Elijah in the eye a couple of times.

“Boys. Boys!” Carissa shouted, grabbing Kurik by the pack. She and Ron dragged him away.

“We were just messing around!” Elijah said.

“Stop pushin’ my buttons!”

“Fine. No more button-pushing. Geez. Now I’m all dirty,” Elijah grumbled.

“Serves ya right,” the dwarf said, pushing himself to his feet. He brushed off his front. He glanced at Carissa. “Sorry. He just –”

“I know. This ain’t no tavern. Behave.”

Kurik frowned, but nodded.

“And that goes for you too,” she said, turning to Elijah.

“I didn’t –”

“You heard me.”

Elijah huffed, “Okay. Fine. Whatever.”

But in his heart, he wasn’t really angry, and he suspected that Kurik wasn’t either. They disagreed often, but it never lasted long. What’s more, he knew that if he really needed Kurik, the dwarf would be right there beside him. That was all that mattered.

Either way, the rest of their wait was characterized by silence. Elijah fidgeted with his ring, turning it around his finger as the time passed. Then, finally, Eryka said, “Okay, everyone step between the spires. If you want to keep your parts, keep them inside the circle on the ground.”

That wasn’t especially difficult. There were only five people heading to Philadelphia, and the circle was more than forty feet wide. Still, Elijah asked, “What happens if something’s outside the circle?”

“Snip snap. You go to your destination. That part stays here. Some of the Spire compounds have trophy rooms.”

“Really?” Jess asked, her yes widening.

“No,” Eryka laughed. “Just a Space Mage joke. Go on. We don’t want to miss our window.”

After that, everyone took their places at the very center of the circle, and a few moments later, they were transported across the continent to the spires outside Philadelphia.

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Elijah blinked as he looked around at a canyon of glass and steel. Huge skyscrapers rose on either side of the spires, which he belatedly realized were nestled in the center of the street.

“Step free of the spires, please,” came a bored voice. Elijah focused on the owner – a man wearing robes similar in design and coloration to Eryka’s green-slashed dress. Clearly, he was part of the Conclave.

Elijah and the others followed his orders, quickly exiting the circle and leaving the spires a few steps behind. “Do we know where we’re going?” he asked.

“West,” Ron said. “Cross the Schuylkill River, and we’ll see the 30th Street Station. That’s where their settlement is.”

They soon established the proper direction, then set off. As they did, Elijah studied their surroundings, which reminded him a little of Hong Kong. It was cleaner, and there were no broken-down vehicles along the way, but he couldn’t deny the similarities. Thankfully, there were no hordes of zombies wandering the streets, either.

The attunement was almost nonexistent, which he found a little disconcerting. There were notes of conflict and nature, along with a host of other unidentifiable flavors of ethera, but nothing was strong enough to stand out. It took him a few moments to realize that it was because the area lacked any source, be it a powerful natural treasure or a Primal Realm.

“Lamar said there were towers around here, right?” Elijah asked.

“Six of ‘em,” Kurik answered.

“Four are controlled by the warlord, though,” Ron added. “The other two are on the other side of the river.”

Likely, those were run regularly, limiting the probability of an overflow. As they kept going, Elijah saw cracked sidewalks and collapsed subway entrances, evidence that the city hadn’t escaped the world’s transformation unscathed. However, it was remarkably clean, as if someone had truly put in the effort to banish that evidence.

Soon enough, they left the skyscrapers behind, finding a large expanse of open land that Elijah was certain had once held even more buildings. Using Eyes of the Eagle, he spied a bridge in the distance. More importantly, he saw a group of men, each one armed and armored.

“Look alive,” Elijah said. “Seems like we might have trouble.”

“I seen ‘em too,” Kurik said. Then, to Carissa, he said, “Stay behind me.”

Ron had stepped in front of Jess as well. For his part, Elijah sped up, taking the lead. If anyone was going to get attacked, he wanted it to be him. He could take a lot of damage, especially with Ron backing him up.

A little more than five minutes later, they approached the group of men. There were fifteen of them, and they looked like the rough and tumble sort. Each one was bearded, and they carried an assortment of weapons ranging from axes to spiked clubs and everything in between.

“Who’re you?” asked one. He wasn’t the biggest among them, but with the deep scar marring the left side of his face, he definitely looked the meanest. “You got a pass?”

“Just arrived,” Elijah answered. “Out-of-towners. We need to get across that bridge to see our friends.”

“Ah. Then you’re gonna have to pay the toll.”

“How much?”

The man pushed his greasy hair behind his ear. “One ethereum. Gold. Each.”

“I ain’t payin’ a gold damn ethereum just to cross a gods bedamned bridge,” growled Kurik. “I’d rather just blow ‘em up.”

“You’re welcome to try, short stack,” the scarred man spat. His men rustled behind him, their weapons clanking as they readied for a fight.

Not wanting to kill anyone, Elijah said, “It’s fine. I’ve got it.”

“That ain’t –”

Elijah held up his hand, silencing Kurik. “I said I’ll get it. You can pay me back if it really bothers you. I’m not in the mood to kill a bunch of people right now.”

That shut Kurik up. Elijah stepped forward, ready to attack if anyone twitched. They didn’t, and he reached the scarred man without issue. Then, he raised his hand and summoned the toll from his storage. Most of his wealth could only be accessed via his folio, but those hadn’t been adopted by everyone yet. So, he kept a small stash of coins in his storage.

The coins fell, one by one, clinking against the paved street. He dropped six. “The extra is just in case you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking. Don’t,” Elijah said softly. “Just don’t. I will personally rip every single one of you apart before you have a chance to blink. Take the money, let us pass, and go on living your life.”

Elijah wasn’t sure if it was his tone or the words themselves that got through to the man, but he took a deep breath, then knelt to gather those coins. When he stood, he gestured to his men, shouting, “Let ‘em through!”

That was clearly not what they had expected, but they obeyed the order anyway. A second later, Elijah was leading his friends through. Pointedly, Kurik and Ron had positioned themselves so that, if anyone did attack the non-combatants, they would be close enough to act.

Thankfully, no one did.

And soon enough, they’d progressed onto the bridge itself.

It was a wide, sturdy thing made all of concrete, and it stretched at least the length of a football field across the fast-flowing Schuylkill River below. Elijah couldn’t be certain, but he suspected that it hadn’t always flowed so quickly.

He also felt more than a few presences below the surface. Some were pretty strong, too, stressing that crossing any significant body of water was wrought with more danger than a simple current could represent.

But at least none of them were monsters.

Elijah caught sight of movement across the bridge, and he wasn’t the only one. Carissa asked, “Another toll?”

“I don’t know,” Elijah admitted.

He didn’t miss that she clutched Kurik’s hand. Nor could he ignore that Jess stood only an inch away from Ron. Both were terrified, and it wasn’t a mystery why. Sure, Carissa had spent quite a lot of time in the mines, but that was fairly well controlled – at least by the time she went down there. She likely didn’t see a lot of danger. By contrast, Jess knew precisely what kind of threat men like those bridge guards could pose. She’d endured the chaos of the world’s transformation and the fall of her city to the dark elves. So, of course she would be frightened, especially given her relatively low level.

Still, neither backed down, and Elijah could feel ethera gathering within Jess as she prepared to heal if necessary. Carissa clutched the haft of the pickaxe at her belt – the closest thing she had to a weapon, and something with which she had considerable skill.

It was inspiring, seeing their response to danger, especially in the context of their fear.

He led the group closer until, at last, they could see the people on the other side. And they couldn’t have been more different from the last guards. Each one wore a uniform, though not one Elijah could recognize. Th predominant color was green, though there was a little white in there as well.

“State your business,” a square-jawed man said.

“Coming to see a friend getting married,” Elijah stated.

“Name?”

“Elijah Hart and my plus-four.”

“You little –”

“You’ll probably see Ron Latham on there as well,” Elijah interrupted Kurik. “And the bearded one…well, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten Kurik’s last name. Weird. But the two ladies are their guests. Jess Roy and Carissa. Sorry – I don’t know her surname either. It occurs to me that I should know these things though. I’m a really bad friend, apparently.”

For a moment, the man seemed a little stunned by the deluge of a speech. Then, he pulled a small notebook from his back pocket, which he opened to peruse his notes. Finally, his eyes widened.

“Uh…”

“So, we on the list?” Elijah asked.

“Yes, yes. Of course,” he said, stepping aside. After that, he asked, “Do you want a ride? We can get a jeep down here in a few minutes, and –”

Elijah patted the man on the back, saying, “Nah. We’re good. Just tell us where we’re going.”

He gave them directions, telling them to veer slightly west and look for the big buildings with all the columns. That seemed easy enough, so they were soon on their way. It wasn’t long after that that they caught sight of the building in question. It was a huge and impressive structure, mostly square with a series of enormous columns before the entrance.

“I think this used to be a train station or something,” Jess said. “I saw it in an old movie.”

“Really? Which one?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“What, why?”

“Because I can’t pronounce the director’s name,” she admitted with an embarrassed smile.

“Oh. M. Night Shyamalan. Probably Unbreakable. Good movie. Bad sequels.”

“I liked the sequels,” Ron said.

“Nobody’s perfect, even our intrepid Healer,” Elijah said with a grin.

“I ain’t got no idea what you’re talkin’ about.”

“You’re not supposed to,” Elijah stated. “Come on. Let’s go.”

With that, they covered the final stretch. The building was further away than they thought, owing to the skewed perspective caused by its size. But when they reached the entrance, they were greeted by a familiar face bearing a broad grin.

“You made it!” Lamar exclaimed, his arms out wide.