BOOK 9: CHAPTER 44: THE BURDEN OF FRIENDSHIP

It took two days to bring Oscar back to consistent consciousness. Before that, he drifted in and out, but only regaining full consciousness for a few delusional moments before once again succumbing. During those times, he rambled about Escobar. Elijah hadn’t missed that the little chihuahua was missing, though he chose not to think about the implications. It had been difficult enough on Oscar when Jojo had died back in the Trial of Primacy, and Elijah didn’t want to consider how the man would react to another loss.

The healing itself took up most of Elijah’s concentration. Normally, he just cast his spells and let them do the work. However, his experience with his soul cultivation had borne some unexpected fruit. Specifically, he found that he could control his spells even after they took effect.

It certainly wasn’t easy – especially outside of his own body – and it took most of his focus to influence it at all. But if he hadn’t taken hold of that vitality and forced it to counter the raging inferno of Oscar’s wounds, it would have taken much longer to get him back to fighting shape.

As it was, it still took another day before the man regained consciousness. When he did, he struggled upright and attempted to leave. Thankfully, Elijah’s advantage in levels as well as cultivation meant that he had no trouble keeping Oscar there.

“Just relax,” he said, his hand on his friend’s chest. “You’ve still got a ways to go before you’re healed.”

“Relax? I…I can’t,” he said. “Escobar…”

“What happened? Where is he?” Elijah asked.

“They took him.”

“Who?”

“The…the giants. We’ve been here for months,” he revealed. “Mostly, we stuck to the outer edges, hunting and leveling. But the experience started to level out, so we pushed closer to the Primal Realm. That’s when they hit us. That’s when they took him.”

“Why?” Elijah asked. “And do you know where they took him?”

“They went deeper…closer to the Primal Realm,” Oscar answered. “I don’t know why. I didn’t…I didn’t think…”

He devolved into a coughing fit, hacking up a black, tar-like substance. His wounds went deeper than his flesh, which was one of the reasons Elijah had struggled to heal him for so long. Purging the aftermath took time.

Once Oscar’s trembling coughs died down, Elijah offered him some water, which he accepted with a nod. As he drank, two of the dogs – Sophie and Freddy – nuzzled close to him, probably following their instincts to keep him warm.

For his part, Elijah ignored the temperature. His Cloak of the Iron Bear might not have been perfect for combat, but it definitely helped maintain his comfort. Still, he couldn’t ignore his misting breath or the rime covering the interior of the cave.

At first, Elijah had built a fire, but that only fed Oscar’s wound, so he was quick to smother it. Since then, the dogs had been forced to deal with the cold as best they could. Thankfully, no one would die from exposure – not with their high constitution attributes that came with advanced levels.

Elijah also sensed that each dog – and Oscar, too – had achieved some success regarding cultivation. He didn’t know how they’d managed it, especially considering that most humans found it difficult, but he wasn’t going to argue with their strength.

It did beg the question of what, exactly, the dogs were. He knew they were far more intelligent than normal canines, but they felt more like people than guardians. In fact, if he’d had to say just what they were, he’d have put them in the same category as Nerthus – which didn’t make sense, given what he knew about the system and the way it categorized classes and species.

Of course, just because it didn’t make sense to him didn’t mean it wasn’t possible. He’d not learned even the tiniest fraction of the system’s complexities, so he had no idea what it could do.

So, he chose to simply accept them as they were and treat them as any other member of a party. Certainly, they were much better than some other people with whom he’d partnered.

Like Nico.

Or the war elf whose name he couldn’t remember that had very nearly ruined their chances of conquering the Trial of Primacy.

As that thought crossed his mind, one of the dogs – Sophie – laid her head on his lap. Inevitably, his hand found a spot behind her ear, and she let out a little snort of pleasure. The simple act of petting a dog carried with it a comfort he hadn’t realized how much he missed, and he couldn’t help but remember the canine companion he’d left behind in Hawaii.

He sighed, letting Oscar recover his strength. Finally, he asked, “Do you have any way of tracking Escobar? Do you know his condition?”

“He’s far away,” Oscar answered. “Further away than he’s ever been before. But he’s alive. I don’t know anything else.”

Elijah frowned, but he didn’t immediately say anything. Even as he focused on healing Oscar, he considered the situation. He knew he needed to help. That wasn’t in question. What he did worry about was the very real possibility that the giants had taken Escobar into the Primal Realm. If that was the case, they would need to follow him inside.

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And Elijah was not ready for that.

Not only did he still have nightmares about his last foray into a Primal Realm, but he hesitated to leave his grove unguarded. The pirate attack had told him in no uncertain terms that the world was not safe. Sure, he’d taken steps to show everyone just what would happen to anyone who crossed him – killing the entire population of Bloodrock Bay was quite a message – but would that dissuade everyone?

Or would some see it as a challenge?

It was a valid question, and Elijah wasn’t sure if he could, in good conscience, leave the grove unprotected. But that was what would happen if he entered a Primal Realm. Once inside, he wouldn’t be able to return without conquering it. Not even via Roots of the World Tree.

The only solace lay in the fact that before he’d left for Bogotá, Elijah had enlisted Kurik’s help in shoring up the defenses. Between him and Nerthus’ flurry of activity, they could protect the island well enough. Still, Elijah was hesitant.

It only took one look at the worry on Oscar’s face to banish that hesitation.

“We’ll get him back. But if you try to leave this cave right now, you’re going to end up dying. You won’t be able to help him then.”

Oscar looked as if he was about to argue, but then lay back with a frustrated sigh. After a few seconds, he said, “Thank you. For coming, I mean. I wasn’t sure that you would.”

“Of course. That’s what friends are for,” Elijah said.

Oscar looked at him strangely, then closed his eyes. A surge of ethera announced the activation of an ability, though Elijah couldn’t figure out precisely what it was. Not until Oscar said, “The dogs are hungry. Have they hunted at all?”

Elijah shook his head. In the ruckus of finding the cave, then healing Oscar, he had completely forgotten about the dogs’ need to eat. So, he grabbed a few hunks of dried whale, then tossed them to the animals. Once they were busy scarfing that down, he turned back to Oscar and offered one of the grove fruits.

“Eat. It’ll help.”

Oscar looked conflicted about taking the offered meal, but his own hunger clearly got the better of him. He accepted the fruit, then ate it just as quickly as the dogs. For his part, Elijah refocused on the healing. Now that most of the foreign ethera had been banished, he didn’t need to concentrate quite as much, but he still didn’t want to miss anything.

“So, what happened to you?” Elijah asked. “Those giants weren’t strong enough to do this.”

“They’re not the most powerful ones. The giant that took Escobar was closer to your level than mine.”

“You know my level?”

Oscar nodded. “Freddy has an identification ability.”

“How does that work? You can communicate with them?” Elijah asked.

“In a way. It’s difficult to explain. Our bond makes it easier.”

Oscar didn’t seem very keen to explain further, so Elijah let the conversation drop. Instead, he let himself recognize his friend’s physical state. The man was in bad shape, and not just because of his wounds. He looked like he hadn’t eaten properly in weeks, and his clothes were both dirty and, where they weren’t outright destroyed, frayed. They resembled rags more than actual clothes.

His hair and beard were dirty and matted, and his smell could most generously be described as earthy. In short, he looked like he’d been living in the wilderness for years, which was probably accurate.

“Have you been fighting all this time? Since getting back from the Trial of Primacy, I mean.”

Oscar nodded. “Mostly. It helped to stay busy.”

“Is this where you started?” Elijah asked. “After the world changed.”

After shaking his head, Oscar answered, “No. We were in Miami. But we left. For a while, we wandered, going into towers and rifts when we found them. Jojo was good at that. Finding things. Since…what happened, we haven’t had as much direction. I try…but…”

He trailed off, his gaze far away.

“It’s okay,” Elijah said, patting his friend on the shoulder. “I get it. I’ve lost people too.”

Over the next day and a half, Elijah continued to heal Oscar, and he was continuously surprised by the man’s constitution. He’d long since determined that healing someone was a bit like filling a cup with water. But in Oscar’s case, it was more like trying to fill a swimming pool.

As the man recovered, Elijah got more information from him. It seemed that he’d already progressed to level one-fifty-three, which was an absolutely ridiculous number. It wasn’t comparable to what Elijah had accomplished, but Oscar hadn’t had the benefit of being dragged into a Primal Realm. Instead, he’d been hunting outside of one for months. Mostly, he’d killed giants, but he had also slaughtered many of the animals that lived in the area.

His pack was like a ready-made group, though the one thing they truly lacked was a dedicated Healer. Sure, Oscar had access to a couple of abilities he could use to mend his companions’ wounds, but he had nothing to heal himself. So, he’d slowly worn down until Escobar had been taken.

That battle had seen six giants killed, but the most powerful of them had escaped. Meanwhile, the injuries Oscar had sustained kept him from properly pursuing, especially when he’d been set upon by even more giants.

He’d had no choice but to retreat to Bogotá and contact the only two people he had expected to help him. The other – Benedict – had never responded to a single one of Oscar’s messages. Elijah got the impression that there were more than a few.

“You should have stayed there.”

“They don’t like me.”

“Sure, but –”

“They would have caused problems, and I would have had to kill some of them. So, I left, assuming that you would catch up. And you did.”

His manner of speaking was still slightly halting, and his voice maintained a bit of a rasp from disuse. However, he’d grown a little more eloquent since Elijah had rescued him. Hopefully, that would continue.

“You should have come to the grove.”

Oscar didn’t respond, but then again, he didn’t have to. Elijah understood the drive to stay busy in the wake of grief. He’d certainly distracted himself with leveling – or whatever other activities he could find.

Finally, when Oscar was healed, Elijah led them from the cave. He shifted into the Shape of Venom and, all together, they set off in search of Escobar. Elijah truly didn’t want to head back into a Primal Realm, but he couldn’t imagine a situation where he could abandon a friend in need.

So, despite his trepidation about leaving the grove unguarded, he decided to heed his conscience and help Oscar find Escobar.

Though he could only hope that he wouldn’t end up regretting it.

With that in mind, they forged ahead through the icy wilderness on their way toward the Primal Realm’s entrance. The way wasn’t easy, though. Because he couldn’t employ Guise of the Unseen to avoid fights, they were repeatedly forced into battle. Thankfully, Elijah had plenty of experience – and versatility – to slip into any role.

At times, he played the healer, keeping the dogs and Oscar alive. Other times, he shifted into Shape of Venom or Shape of the Master in order to pile on the damage. And he even used Shape of Thorn to help control the battlefield. In short, he focused on plugging the gaps, often using the same strategies he’d employed in the Trial of Primacy.

Then, after nearly a week’s worth of fighting across the landscape, they finally caught sight of their destination.

“That doesn’t look imposing at all,” he muttered to himself.