For nearly twelve hours, Elijah stood before the transformed ancestral tree, his hand resting on its golden trunk as he attempted to understand what was going on. Using Nature’s Design, he could feel so much more than he could via his locus, though it still took quite some time to interpret what he sensed within the tree.

  On its most basic level, the ancestral tree was still just a tree. A natural treasure, like all of its siblings, but a tree nonetheless. As such, it functioned much the same as it had before being affected by Sadie’s cultivation. However, that changed when it came to the energy it emitted.

  All of the other ancestral trees exhaled ethera that reflected Elijah’s attunement. It was nature – vitality and energy – in a nearly pure form. It was wild and free and unconstrained by its environment. The transformed tree at the center of the Temple of Virtue differed, adding a note of order to the mix.

  And it wasn’t finished changing, either.

  Even now, Elijah could feel its inner workings shifting to a more uniform arrangement. The exterior of the tree had begun to change as well, and not just in the most obvious ways. The limbs shifted a little with every passing hour, and Elijah suspected that when they settled, the overall shape would be completely congruent. He wouldn’t even be surprised if the number of leaves to each limb ended up being congruent.

  In short, it was nature, though a completely different expression than what he was accustomed to. Could something like the new form happen naturally? Certainly. But it would be an aberration worthy of study.

  As he’d examined it, Elijah was also forced to acknowledge that his issues stemmed not from the changes themselves, but rather from the usurpation of his authority. As a Druid, he found it interesting. The same was true if he looked at it from the perspective of a scientist. The problem stemmed from his draconic instincts that told him to meet any challenge with unbridled power.

  But as time went on, he’d managed to put a cap on that. Though Elijah was well aware that if it had been anyone else but Sadie who’d authored the situation, he would have responded very differently.

  And that certainty frightened him, because he knew precisely where it would lead. Whole swaths of Earth’s population referred to him as the Butcher of Bloodrock Bay, and for good reason. Elijah didn’t want to revisit the feelings that had led to that event, so he knew he needed to work toward getting a handle on his emotions.

  Finally, he pulled away.

  “You don’t have to stand there silently,” he said without turning around. With her cultivation having completed, Sadie had cleaned herself up, then took a few hours to rest in one of the rooms dedicated to housing the Hartwood Foundation workers. Now, she looked the same as always, though with a newly congealed aura of power that could not be ignored.

  After all, angels were an elder race, just like dragons. As such, their cores were incredibly powerful as well.

  “I haven’t been here long,” she countered. It was a lie. She’d been standing there for at least a couple of hours, and that was just since Elijah had sensed her presence. He’d been a bit distracted by his study of the tree – and wrestling with his draconic instincts – so it was entirely possible she’d arrived well before he’d noticed her.

  Elijah turned and grinned. “Just admit that you can’t keep your eyes off me,” he said. “I mean…look at all this.” He gestured to his body. “How could anyone resist?”

  Stepping forward, she rolled her eyes. Changing the subject, she remarked, “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

  “The consequences of cultivation. That’s why I usually do it in a cave or at least away from people,” Elijah pointed out. “I’m pretty sure most people won’t have to deal with this kind of thing. It was only so impactful because you have an elder core. They’re just different from all the others.”

  For the next few minutes, Sadie studied the tree. Then, she and Elijah toured the Temple of Virtue. Both had spent quite a lot of time within the building, but in addition to the transformation that came from Sadie’s cultivation, the temple had also been expanded by no small degree.

  Without ethera and class-based construction, the whole underground complex would have collapsed in on itself. But with magic carrying the load, it was as sturdy as any other building Elijah had ever visited. It was also equipped with a magical version of air conditioning, ethereal lights, and a complex ventilation system meant to keep the air from growing stale. Their kitchen even had a refrigerator powered by ethera.

  “It’s impressive,” Elijah admitted.

  “With the amount of money you’re pumping into places like this, it better be,” Sadie countered. “Have you even seen their budget?”

  “Have you?”

  “I took a look.”

  “And?”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “It’s…big. Very big.”

  Elijah shrugged. “As long as they’re using it to help people, I don’t care. Atticus will keep things running smoothly. Or whoever he appoints to do it, I guess. He’ll take care of it, is what I’m saying.”

  “I don’t know if I could ever do that,” she said as they climbed the stairs toward the surface.

  “What?”

  “Delegate something so important,” she answered. “I’d want to be hands-on.”

  That tracked with what he knew of her behavior as a commander. She’d often planted herself on the front lines, where she could personally affect the flow of battle. From what Elijah understood, she’d tried a different tactic in the Eternal War, but she had abandoned it in the Red Marsh.

  He understood, too. He knew he couldn’t just stand on the back lines while people were dying at the front. And neither could Sadie. When things turned bad, she was right there trying to personally steer the army to victory.

  “Maybe you can take over the Hartwood Foundation,” he suggested. “You know, after the Primal Realms are done. You already have tons of experience managing a huge organization, right?”

  “I think those days are done,” she said when they reached the surface and started toward the exit. “I’m not the same woman I was when my biggest dream was to take over my grandfather’s company.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “Don’t act like you don’t know. You feel it too. The fighting, it’s addictive. Horrible, too. Painful. Difficult. But addictive,” she explained. “I don’t think I could leave it behind just to do spreadsheets and take meetings. I need to be out there, fighting for what I believe in. Fighting to protect people.”

  “With plenty of breaks in between, right?”

  She smiled, weaving her arm beneath his. “We need the rewards to counter the hardships. That’s why I keep you around.”

  “Speaking of rewards, what did you get from conquering the Red Marsh?”

  She reached beneath her shirt and retrieved a small medallion that hung from the end of a black chain. It was circular, with an odd symbol emblazoned on the rust-red, silver dollar-sized disk. When Elijah focused on it, he could feel that every couple of seconds, it emitted a dense pulse of vitality that Sadie immediately absorbed.

  “It’s called a Trollblood Medallion,” she explained. “Everyone got one, though their power varies depending on their contribution and grade conquering the Primal Realm. They also work better when near other medallions.”

  “What do they do?” Elijah asked, though he could guess the answer.

  “It’s like a passive, low-level heal-over-time,” she said. “The effect is not enough to heal major wounds, but it can add up over time.”

  “Nice,” Elijah said. He certainly wouldn’t have minded such an item. “Maybe I’ll need to go in there myself.”

  Of course, the chances of that were low. Not only was reaching the Primal Realm an exercise in annoyance that would take longer than it was really worth, but the dark elves had also laid claim to the realm. They would doubtless allow Elijah to enter – if for no other reason than because they were incapable of stopping him. But it would either turn their relationship adversarial or end up being too frustrating to bother – at least until the rest of the Primal Realms had been conquered. Once that danger had passed, Elijah intended to try his hand at all of them, if only for the experience.

  When they reached the main lobby, they found Samara waiting for them. The woman looked as calm and collected as ever, and she made it clear that both Elijah and Sadie were welcome back anytime they wanted to visit. Considering that Elijah had built the place, and Sadie had transformed it, that should have gone without saying.

  But Samara was in charge of the temple, and what’s more, she was far too kind to elicit any anger from Elijah. The woman had devoted herself to helping others, and in any way she could. As such, she was the last person that needed to be reminded of who was in charge.

  Still, Elijah’s draconic instincts – as unsettled as they already were – pushed against his good sense. He suppressed them, though he didn’t even realize that he was frowning until a few minutes later when Sadie pointed it out.

  “Sorry. Dealing with some psychological hurdles.”

  “Do you want to talk about them?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Not really. I’ll figure it out.”

  “Are you certain?”

  Elijah insisted that he could handle it, and he truly believed that he could. What’s more, he didn’t think his issues were like most other psychological problems. Talking to a therapist – or a loved one – wasn’t going to change his draconic instincts. Rather, he expected that the only way of coping was to learn to keep those feelings from affecting his actions. They would always remain. He just needed to keep them under control.

  Thankfully, that attitude played right into his draconic leanings that wanted to confront every problem with sheer might.

  In any case, after enjoying a nice meal at one of the local restaurants, he and Sadie headed back to the island via the Conclave Spires. Once there, they spent the next day completing their final preparations. For the most part, they’d already gathered all the necessary supplies, but they also needed to prepare for an extended absence that could last anywhere from a few months to more than a year.

  Elijah left instructions with Nara and Nerthus, and he met with Ramik to ensure that the debt issue had been resolved. It had, and as far as the mayor could tell, everything was running smoothly.

  By contrast, Sadie spent most of her time at the Branch, sending messages to various allies. And her family in Hong Kong. Elijah could understand why she still clung to those relationships, though he also understood just how toxic they were. Sadie did as well. She just considered that an acceptable cost of maintaining contact with the only family she had left in the world.

  Whether that was a good decision or a mistake was up for debate, though Elijah tended to believe it was the latter. Especially with Nico, who was a waste of space if there ever was one.

  But in her defense, Elijah would have chosen to maintain contact with Alyssa, Carmen, or Miguel, even if they’d turned out to be spineless snakes. That was what it meant to be family – or at least that was what he’d been taught, and clearly, Sadie had been given a similar lesson.

  Their preparations completed before nightfall that day, and after a night in the grove, they set out via the Conclave Spires. Despite the fact that the Conclave had built a set of Spires on the Kalki side of the mountains, Elijah and Sadie both agreed to take the long way around.

  So, their journey began with a trip to New York, and they arrived at the Spires near the city. It was a familiar experience for Elijah, but Sadie hadn’t visited since before the world’s transformation. With that in mind, he was eager to show her the sights and introduce her to the guilds.

  They set out from the Spires, hopeful that their trip wouldn’t be as dangerous as Elijah’s other forays into the city.

  If you'd like to read more of Path of Dragons, we're almost two full books ahead (book 14 just started) on Patreon. That's 175+ extra chapters, so a ton of extra content for those of you who can't wait to see what Elijah will get up to. Anyway - check it out .

  For anyone interested in discussing the story, you can join my Discord .

  Thanks for all your support, comments, ratings, and reviews!