BOOK 9: CHAPTER 25: PRIMED

“Fuck that guy,” spat Helen, slapping her hand against the table. Then, she looked around at all the stunned faces. “What?”

Ron coughed. “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you swear.”

“I’ll be honest – I wasn’t sure you knew how to speak,” Elijah said with a subtle grin. “I was willing to write you off as the strong, silent type.”

“Oh, shut up,” she said, throwing a French fry at him. He caught it easily, thanked her, then popped it in his mouth. She shook her head, adding, “High Dexterity is just not fair.”

“It’s a burden I just have to bear,” Elijah agreed.

His first few hours in Philadelphia had been characterized by a walk through an apparently abandoned city, a shakedown, and then a reunion with his friends. Lamar had greeted them at the entrance to what actually had been a train station, then escorted them inside, where they found an entire settlement.

Nearly five thousand people lived there, most of whom were quartered in the expansion that had been built to the rear. Apparently, it was where many people had taken shelter during the first months after the world had changed, and they’d been building onto it ever since. At present, most of the old station was taken up by communal areas like the dining hall where they currently congregated.

It really wasn’t that unique of a story. In most places, people had taken refuge in the biggest, sturdiest building available. Some cases saw them sheltering within old department stores or schools. Even prisons. However, Elijah was still shocked at the homey, almost small-town atmosphere they had managed to foster.

Everyone seemed kind and willing to help, and it reminded him a little of Argos – at least how it had been before its recent boom in population. The Greek city still maintained much of that aura, but it hosted far too many citizens to truly epitomize that small-town feel.

He’d instantly felt at home, which was something he couldn’t say for every place he’d visited.

The dinner was simple enough – burgers and fries – but it was more than satisfying. The settlement – called Thirty, after the station itself – wasn’t precisely thriving, but they weren’t impoverished, either. Much of that was because of Lamar and Helen, who’d helped their fighters learn the ins and outs of the local towers and gain the rewards for conquering them.

The biggest problem was that they’d only recently come to a temporary cease fire with Vinnie’s people across the river. Theirs was a much larger settlement, and they had many more fighters. The only reason the people of Thirty had managed to hold out for so long was because they were, on average, higher leveled.

But that wouldn’t remain the case indefinitely. With access to only two towers, many of Thirty’s fighters were starting to see diminishing returns. Meanwhile, the other faction – called the Frozen Moon Clan, at least for now – had four towers in their territory. As such, they could vary their runs and delay – or outright prevent – the system from limiting their experience. They also had the spires, which gave them unfettered access to the wider world.

Perhaps it would take a while, but at some point, the people of Thirty would be completely outclassed.

“You know you’d all be welcome back in Ironshore, right?” Ron suggested. “We could use a bunch of good people. It’s a great environment for crafters.” He told them about the Forge of Creation. “The notification of its completion said it was a wonder of the world, and from what I understand, it’s like equipping all the crafters with top-tier equipment specific to their job.”

“I don’t know,” Helen hedged.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Lamar stated, sitting down. “This is our city, even if much of it belongs to Vinnie and his Frozen Moon Clan. You ask any of the other fighters, and they’ll say the same thing. People have built lives here. We won’t be driven away by the likes of them.”

“I could just kill him.”

Everyone looked at Elijah.

“What? I don’t even think it would be hard. Sneak in, pounce, throw a little Envenom his way, and he’ll die. Probably. If not, I have other options. There are some pretty strong beasts in that river back there,” Elijah explained, hiking his thumb in that direction. “I could just snatch him up and fly him over, then drop him. Then, I wouldn’t even technically be the one to kill him. I could even –”

“We are not assassinating him,” Lamar interrupted.

“Seriously, Elijah,” Jess muttered.

“What? Why? He’s a problem, right? I can be a problem solver.”

“Then what?” Helen asked. “There are close to a hundred thousand people there. At least a third of them are fighters, and some of his subordinates are almost as strong as him. You kill him, and one of them will just take over.”

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“I could kill them too.”

“Where does it stop?” asked Ron. “After a hundred? A thousand? Until the whole settlement’s gone?”

“Oh. Right,” Elijah agreed. “I guess killing them is off the table.”

“Besides, he’s not all bad,” Lamar begrudgingly stated. “I mean – he is, personally. But some of his people know how to manage him. They protect their people well enough. He stepped in and provided structure that saved a lot of lives. He just doesn’t know when to stop.”

“Plus, he’s an asshole,” Elijah stated. He’d only met the man once, but he could confidently make that assertion.

“That too,” Helen agreed, laying her hand on Lamar’s. She was not a big woman, so the size difference was stark.

“I mean…offer still stands. I don’t even think it’d take more than a couple of hours to nip in there, assassinate him, then come back. We could even have ice cream after,” Elijah suggested with a smile.

“I’m going to pretend you’re joking,” Helen said.

“He ain’t,” Kurik pointed out. “And I like these…hamburgers. We need these back in Ironshore.”

“Agreed,” Carissa stated.

They’d both eaten multiple burgers and a heap of fries.

After that, the group – along with a few of Lamar’s local friends, many of whom had been associated with the football team for which he’d once starred – continued their meal. Elijah was tempted to slip away and see about dealing with the Vinnie problem himself, but he chose to restrain his impulses.

Not just because Lamar and Helen had asked him not to, either. That was a big part of it, but at least as impactful on his decision was the fact that he was a little afraid at how quickly he’d jumped to that conclusion. He hid his discomfort, but he was a little worried about the state of mind that would lead him down that path. Sure, there was a good chance that Vinnie deserved to die. He was the worst kind of hedonist and an impulsive leader who often resorted to violence to get what he wanted. He’d also made a terrible impression in Seattle, which definitely affected how Elijah saw things.

But assassination should not have been the first response, especially when nobody had even asked for Elijah’s help. He was there for a wedding, not to solve all of his friends’ problems.

Elijah put on a jovial façade as he continued to ponder the issue, but he didn’t reach any reasonable conclusions before the meal ended. Once that was done, he and the other Ironshore natives were escorted to their temporary quarters – a trio of small rooms in one of the additions to the main building.

The accommodations were not luxurious. A charitable label would have been adequate. They were austere, with a simple cot, a nightstand bearing a pitcher of water, and a small wardrobe. However, Elijah had certainly slept in worse, and fairly recently, so he couldn’t help but look at the bed longingly. He would never take a bed – any bed – for granted again.

Still, before he took advantage of that bed, he retrieved his suit and new shoes from the Arcane Loop and put the wardrobe to use. Hanging there, it didn’t look terribly impressive, but when he’d tried it on back in Ironshore, he’d been assured it made him look quite dashing.

But given that those compliments had come from the teenaged maker of said suit and her dwarven mentor, Mari, he wasn’t entirely sure if he could take any of it seriously. Still, he hadn’t brought any other suit, so he didn’t have much choice but to wear it. Not that he ever would have considered refusing. It had been a generous and meaningful gift, and he would have proudly worn it even if it had been absolute trash.

It wasn’t.

Even so, Elijah couldn’t help but remember Ron’s sparkly robe. He’d since replaced it with something far more subdued, but he’d never once complained about going full princess-mode with his chosen attire. And now that gotten to know Hope, Elijah couldn’t blame him at all. He’d have done the same thing.

In any case, he soon undressed, then headed to the communal bathroom to take a shower beneath the localized rainstorm of Blessing of the Grove – using his new soap, of course – before turning in for the night.

He slept fitfully, waking multiple times throughout the night. Normally, he caught himself before he really panicked, but once, he summoned his scythe from inside his ring and slashed the wall multiple times. It took him only a couple of seconds to realize that he was safe, but in that time, he’d practically destroyed the wall.

“Shit,” he muttered, gasping for air as he stared at the damage. He’d have to make it up to Lamar and Helen. He wasn’t sure how – probably just give them some money – but he wouldn’t let it stand. In the meantime, he recognized that sleeping in such cramped quarters was not doing much for him.

So, he spent the rest of the night meditating and working on his soul cultivation. He didn’t make much progress, but he didn’t really expect to, either. It was more of a distraction than anything else, and it worked well enough that he kept himself occupied until the sun rose.

Someone knocked on the door, and he said, “Come on in.”

Jess pushed the door open, saying, “We’re about to have breakfast, and Ron said you’d probably want…”

Elijah opened his eyes when Jess trailed off. He followed her gaze to the wall.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Bad dreams,” he admitted. “I…I went through some…well, it’s fine. I’m fine. Just lost control for a couple of seconds.”

“You did that in a couple of seconds?”

He shrugged. “Something like that.”

She stepped inside and sat next to him on the cot. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really much to talk about, Jess. I spent months in a really difficult environment. I could never really fall asleep, or I might get eaten,” he answered. “Not going to get over that in a hurry.”

Or ever, he worried.

“It might help to –”

“I’m good, Jess. Really. Just a minor slip-up,” he interrupted, giving her his best smile. “And breakfast sounds great. I’ll be there in a minute. And I’ll even make coffee for everyone. Sounds great, right?”

She looked at him for a moment, then let out a barely noticeable sigh. “Yeah, Elijah. That sounds good.”

With that, she left the room. When she was gone, Elijah let out a long, slow breath, his shoulders slumping. He sat like that for almost a minute, just staring at nothing until he shook his head, raked his hand through his hair, and pushed himself to his feet. He didn’t have time to let his issues get him down. Too many people were depending on him to stay strong.

So, pushing his problems into one facet of his mind – to be dealt with later – he got dressed, then headed back to the dining hall where he joined his friends. Not long after, he was back to his normal self, cracking jokes and serving coffee.

But even then, he knew – at least on some level – that that facet of his mind was getting fuller by the day. Someday soon, he would need to deal with it, or he would explode.