Book 12: Chapter 82: In Miniature

Path of Dragons

Etkatiran hovered in the center of the disc, surrounded by whirling silver rings that emitted pulses of dense ethera with every passing second. He looked much like every other djinn they’d seen, though with a couple of obvious differences. The first was that he was at least a dozen feet tall, and he looked even more imposing than that height implied. Largely, that was because of his oppressive aura, which suffused the very atmosphere with crackling energy.

Then there were the tentacles.

Instead of legs, he sported nine azure tendrils from which spouted even denser threads of ethera. Elijah didn’t need to look to understand that those conduits flowed to the discs surrounding the djinn demi-god.

When he glanced at those other discs, he saw that they were copies of what he and his companions had just left behind. Miniature versions of the altars they’d recently destroyed, complete with tiny versions of the environments that had surrounded each gate.

Though he had to admit that they were only tiny in comparison. Each was still a hundred yards across, and the creatures upon them were full-sized.

But as Elijah landed, he could scarcely tear his gaze from the djinn’s eyes. They blazed with blue ethera, but that wasn’t the most distressing part. Rather, Elijah saw awareness there. An intelligence far beyond his own. And hate.

“I smell the stench of the World Tree upon you, little dragon” came a voice from every direction. The djin’s thin mouth never moved. “Disgusting.”

The atmospheric ethera churned as the djinn’s focus settled fully onto Elijah. It shifted from him to the people on his back. “You have potential,” he said, but not to Elijah. His eyes didn’t move, but swirls of ethera danced around Hu Shui. “Space. Time. Battle. Your aura sings of conflict and magic.

“Demon. I have no quarrel with your kind. Leave us, and I will allow you to live.”

With that, he summoned a circular hole in the very fabric of reality. Unlike the gates Elijah had seen within the Primal Realm, the interior wasn’t covered by some opaque curtain of energy. Instead, it showed a scene they all recognized.

It was Benediction, and it was in flames. An ongoing riot that was more like a battle raged, with the mostly naked citizens attempting to kill one another. Most of them were covered in blood, though their tattoos were still somehow visible, even amongst the sea of red.

“Your world awaits. Go. Save your people.”

“No,” came Benedict’s reply as he dismounted.

“Why?” asked the djinn, obviously confused.

“You know why,” Hu Shui interjected, sliding off Elijah’s back. Vesimath did the same, his heavy boots clanking against the silver surface of the disc. “We have no choice but to defeat you.”

“Is that so?” the djinn asked. Then, he waved one of his hands, and the result surprised Elijah.

You have been offered a choice. Submit to Etkatiran, and your companions may leave without a fight. The Primal Realm will be considered completed, and they will receive appropriate rewards. You will be sacrificed for the Great Work.

“Now you have a choice.”

“Doesn’t seem like much of a choice to me,” Elijah said.

“No. Not for you, little dragon. You are a necessary sacrifice, though you should be aware that your death will benefit many.”

“And if I don’t want to die?”

“Why would you not? Is it not a great honor to sacrifice oneself for the greater good?” asked the djinn. “Even dragons, ever the self-interested, can acknowledge that much.”

“You seem to have a problem with my race. Why is that?”

“You ask why I take issue with tyranny? Or was the question rhetorical?”

“I’m no tyrant.”

“That is a lie. All dragons are tyrants. Benevolent at times, but tyrants nonetheless. You lord your power over all, controlling them just as the World Tree attempts to control the multi-verse. I merely wish to break free, to give my people an opportunity to experience reality without the influence of that creature.”

“You want to become the new World Tree,” said Hu Shui.

“I have no intention of replacing it. Peaceful coexistence is my goal, though I suspect that it will resist. That is its nature. Much like a dragon, it cannot abide a lack of control. Its eternal spread continues unabated. New worlds touched and discarded into the abyss. Excised for no reason but a lack of power. Existence is not predicated on strength. It is a fundamental right that has been torn away by the tyranny of the World Tree and its infernal system.”

“The system and the World Tree are two different things.”

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“You know nothing, little dragon,” he countered. “They are and ever have been inextricably intertwined. That is the sin of the founders. The system was meant to remain isolated, but when they tied it to the World Tree, its nature corrupted it. It spread, both in scope and territory, until it became everything.”

Elijah listened to the explanation, but he wasn’t certain if he believed the djinn. On the surface, he was probably accurate, but there were loads of nuance that could completely change the underlying meaning. Doubtless, Etkatiran ignored some important context.

Or maybe not.

For all Elijah knew, it was entirely accurate. The problem was that it didn’t really matter, except as a bit of trivia. The relationship between the World Tree and the system was so far beyond the scope of his understanding that they might as well have been irrefutable laws of nature.

And that would likely remain the case for the rest of his life. It was the realm of transcendents, and not weak ones, either. People like Kirlissa might need to worry about such things, but the possibility of Elijah reaching that point was so remote that it barely even existed.

Even reaching demi-god status had been a grind, and from what he understood, things just grew more difficult after that. At that stage, no one took advancement for granted because it wasn’t just about gaining levels. There were other requirements that would make the First Wall look like a speedbump by comparison.

So, as interesting as he might have found speculation on the relationship between the system and the World Tree, Elijah knew he was a long way from understanding it. And with an impending battle looming over him, it certainly wasn’t time to start his education.

What was even more troubling were the implications of the system message. The fact that it existed in the first place said that Etkatiran had some control over the system. Was that just part of the Primal Realm? Or had the true Etkatiran – or whatever entity inspired his creation within the Labyrinth of Dead Gods – gained some mastery over such things?

Did it matter?

Elijah wasn’t sure.

But what he did know was that the offer was an attractive one. Benedict could leave, right then and there, his mission accomplished. He could return to Benediction and restore order, likely saving thousands of lives in the process.

And all it would take is a little betrayal.

Elijah knew that real demons weren’t like their depictions in Earth’s mythology or religions. They weren’t evil. Rather, they were cunning and self-serving. Amoral. But for both versions – real and mythological – the choice would be appealing.

It made perfect sense, too. After all, the sacrifice of one life for a hundred percent chance of conquering the Primal Realm was worth it. Even Elijah could admit that, and he came into every battle believing he could win – regardless of the odds stacked against him.

If Elijah had been given the same options, he knew which one he’d pick. Not because he had any issues with trading lives to achieve a goal. It wasn’t optimal, but he was at least honest enough with himself to recognize that he would make that choice. Even if the life being sacrificed was his own.

No – the reason he couldn’t stomach the thought of taking the djinn’s deal was far more personal. He refused to surrender to defeat. Etkatiran was powerful. There was no doubt about that. But Elijah was a dragon, and dragons didn’t back down from a challenge.

However, Elijah was also very much aware that it was not his choice to make.

That onus fell upon Benedict’s shoulders, and even though Elijah had spent months in the man’s company, he had no clue which way the wind was blowing in Benedict’s mind.

The same could not be said for Hu Shui. For all that the Astral Duelist was sympathetic to the djinn, he knew Earth had a much better chance of survival so long as Elijah was there to fight for it.

“I refuse,” Hu Shui predictably said.

Then, Benedict surprised Elijah by saying, “I was a prisoner, once.”

“We are all prisoners at one time or another.”

“They used me,” the Warlock went on, ignoring the djinn’s interjection. “Or rather, they used my minions for leveling fodder. It wasn’t efficient, but it worked for a while. They killed thousands of them. And you know, I felt every single killing blow as if they were aimed at my own body.

“Those creatures you’ve been breeding in the incubation chambers are the same,” he said.

“They feel nothing.”

“That’s a lie.”

“They are part of me.”

“They are sapient.”

“Even if they felt anything, it would be over in an instant.”

“I saw it,” Benedict argued, his fists clenched in anger. “The light in their eyes was unmistakable. They knew they were alive. They could feel what was happening. And then, it was gone, only to be repeated the next cycle. I wonder – do they retain those memories? Even if they don’t, I’m certain something remains. Some scar from the endless torture of their existence.”

“This is irrelevant,” the djinn stated. “Take the deal. You have no reason to expect better.”

“Fuck your deal,” Benedict growled. He pointed at the djinn. “This whole time, I’ve been waiting to destroy this place. They held me back. But now? Now, I can tear it out at the root. So, no. Thank you, and go fuck yourself.”

It was the most aggression he’d seen from Benedict since the Primal Realm had begun. Even in the middle of battle, the man kept his emotions in check. But Elijah couldn’t help but notice the anger simmering beneath the surface. And now, he’d let it free.

Ethera, red and enraged, swirled around him. His eyes glowed with black malevolence, and a pair of huge, bat-like wings of pure darkness sprouted from his back.

Finally, the true Benedict had arrived in the Primal Realm.

Elijah had long known that Benedict’s appearance had been affected by his core. So far, he’d kept it hidden beneath an illusion. And Elijah had respected the man’s wishes to keep his demonic nature concealed, choosing not to acknowledge what he felt via Soul of the Wild.

The time for hiding had passed, though, and the demon within had, at last, been unleashed.

Even more importantly, the system acknowledged Hu Shui’s and Benedict’s choice by issuing another notification:

You have refused Etkatiran al’Qavir’s generous offer. That leaves only one option – destruction.

Destroy the Aureum and defeat the djinn.

“That’s that, then,” Elijah said.

But before he could act, Vesimath launched himself at the djinn. The black knight moved so quickly that even Elijah had difficulty tracking his movement. Etkatiran reacted quickly, raising a single hand.

Ethera twisted from his fingers, forming a complex knot that slammed into Vesimath with the force of a cannonball. All three of the djinn’s eyes widened in surprise when the black knight was entirely unaffected.

He leaped.

Etkatiran spun another spell, but it was no more effective than the last.

Vesimath’s axe fell with blistering finality, hitting the massive djinn’s shoulder. His flesh parted easily, sending out an arc of sizzling blue blood. And the blade didn’t stop before the black knight landed, having bisected the creature.

“Uh…that was easy,” Elijah remarked, having never had a chance to unleash any of his own spells. Instead, he watched as the two halves of the djinn fell apart, hitting the surface of the silver disc with a wet plop.

Then, he felt it. A surge of ethera sent the surrounding discs swirling with unprecedented speed. Then, suddenly, they stopped, releasing another wave of energy that threatened to suffocate Elijah and his companions.

“Too easy,” Elijah breathed as a disembodied laugh echoed through the heavens.