15-8. Expansion

“There hasn’t been any issue with the Conclave, right?” Elijah asked.

“No. Why would there be?” asked Ramik as he glanced toward the cook. Surprisingly, the goblin had insisted on going to June’s – once Mama Lou’s – for the promised dinner. The place was packed, and considering that June had knocked down one of the walls so they could expand seating into the next building, that was an impressive feat.

It was also evidence that June’s cooking was even better than her mother-in-law’s had been. Again, that wasn’t necessarily a shocking development. Sue Anne had been an older woman before the world’s transformation, and she just didn’t have time to take advantage of the system’s influence. June definitely had, and what’s more, she’d obviously learned well from the now-deceased older woman. According to Ramik, the combination was breathtaking.

Sara was practically vibrating with excitement, though that might’ve had more to do with her conversation with the mayor than because she was eager to sample June’s fare.

Apparently, the young dragon’s education wasn’t just for show, and she’d suggested a host of improvements that would doubtless improve the city’s efficiency. She had covered everything from taxation and tariffs to immigration requirements, and she’d only covered a fraction of what she wanted to discuss.

For Ramik, it had been a little overwhelming, but to his credit, he was more than happy to listen to whatever she had to say. He recognized good advice when he heard it.

Not that Elijah cared that much about city management. Outside of how happy it made Sara, he wasn’t all that interested in the minutiae. So long as Ironshore remained stable and didn’t bleed problems into the grove, he was content.

“No reason,” Elijah said. “It’s just that they banned me from the Spires and threatened to extend that to my allies. I told them that would be a bad idea. So, I guess I’m just glad they didn’t force the issue.”

“What did you do?” asked Sara.

At the same time, Ramik asked, “What did they do?”

The distinction was important. It showed that Ramik trusted him. More than that, it indicated that Sara knew him. “Just fallout from Meridian Lux,” he admitted. “They weren’t happy about their loss of investment.”

“Ah. Good riddance,” Ramik said, taking a sip of his iced tea. He’d dumped an incredible amount of sugar into it, so it probably qualified as syrup. Elijah had chosen to drink water, while Sara had grilled the server on alcoholic options – right up until Elijah made it clear that she wasn’t getting any.

He’d seen her drink before, but he just didn’t feel right facilitating it. Not considering the fact that she looked and acted like a teenager.

“What’s Meridian Lux?” asked Sara.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s gone now.”

“Oh. Must’ve been bad,” she said.

Elijah just nodded. To her credit, Sara seemed to pick up the hint that he didn’t want to talk about it, because she shifted her attention back to Ramik. What followed was a conversation about the docks and the city’s whaling interests. Elijah didn’t get far before he tuned them out.

Instead, he focused on what he’d been up to during Sara’s and Ramik’s meeting.

Unfortunately, it had been a disappointing stretch. In the interest of making more soap, he’d gone to the Hunter’s Guild for advice on where he could find a powerful, fat-filled nuisance he could kill. But apparently, there were no such beasts in the area.

However, it wasn’t all bad news, because he’d been directed to contact an old friend. Rakhan Singh had established a base in Paris, and according to the Hunter’s Guild representative, he was the man to see about hunting specific powerful creatures. Elijah had already sent him a message, and he intended to visit sooner rather than later.

After all, he didn’t have a ton of time to waste, and he had a lot of things he needed to do before heading back to the Empire of Scale.

Soon enough, their meals arrived. Sara had chosen four different entrees, while Elijah opted for a patty melt. Meanwhile, Ramik had ordered a steak with fries. He doused it all with ketchup.

“What?” the goblin asked when he saw the mild expression of horror on Elijah’s face.

Elijah just shook his head. “Nothing.”

“I like it.”

“So long as it’s not well done…”

Ramik stopped mid-cut.

“It’s well done, isn’t it?” Elijah asked.

“Oh wow…it’s so greasy and amazing!” exclaimed Sara after taking a bite of bacon. She paid no attention to Elijah’s conversation with Ramik. Instead, she used the rest of the bacon strip as a spoon, shoveling some grits into her mouth. “And when you dip it in this, it’s even better!”

Elijah grinned as he beheld the sheer joy on her face. And when he finally took a bite of his sandwich, he mimicked some small part of it.

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“I need to bring her back to the empire,” Sara declared as she sopped some egg yolk with a slab of buttered, sourdough toast. “She is a treasure that must be protected.”

She made to rise, but Elijah stopped her.

“What?” she demanded.

“You are not stealing the cook.”

“But she’d have a better life in Ashakar!”

Elijah responded, “Leave her alone.”

Sara started to say something else, but she cut herself off. Instead, she collapsed into her seat and pouted. Notably, she didn’t stop eating.

The rest of the meal went by without much in the way of conversation, but afterwards, Ramik filled Elijah in on some details concerning Ironshore’s development. The city had continued to grow, positioning itself as an elite destination for crafters. That had ensured the city’s ongoing revenue stream.

In the end, Elijah tuned most of it out. He didn’t so much care about how Ironshore had become successful, just that it was. And even that was mostly because he knew stability would benefit his grove. Even so, the conversation continued for more than an hour after the three had finished their meals. When they parted ways with Ramik, Elijah was satisfied with the city’s plan for the future, such as he understood it.

“He is doing an acceptable job,” Sara said. “But it would be much better if an actual Administrator was the City Lord. The two are symbiotic.”

“I don’t think there was much of a choice when he took the job. This was only ever supposed to be a mining colony,” Elijah explained. “Nobody expected it to turn into one of the most important cities on Earth. And besides, your mother isn’t an Administrator, and she seems to be doing okay.”

“Ramik is capable, but he’s no dragon.”

Elijah could only nod at that. There was also the reality that Kirlissa’s path was not normal. Most people who chose to hybridize their class through evolution ended up much less powerful than someone who stuck to their chosen course. Kirlissa’s story was an aberrant one, even in the Empire of Scale.

To change a person’s path was a costly and incredibly difficult endeavor, and one person’s success didn’t change that.

The pair continued to enjoy the city’s sights until Elijah announced that he had something else planned. “How would you like to see Argos?” he asked.

She let out a little squeal of excitement at that, and for good reason. After all, Elijah had spoken often of the city, usually quite fondly. So, there were no objections as they made their way to the Conclave Spires.

“Just tell them where you want to go,” Elijah said as they walked along the road connecting the city to the Spires. It was crowded, though most of the traffic headed in the opposite direction. “You have money, right?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Of course I have money.”

“Then it should be fine.”

Still, once she pushed ahead and into the compound, Elijah practically held his breath. After all, the Conclave didn’t have the greatest track record when it came to non-humans. Only when he felt her teleport away did he let himself relax. A second later, he teleported to the Dragon Circle he’d built just outside Argos.

Sure, the Spires would have been closer, but he had no intention of trying to use them. He’d been banned, after all. And while he was fairly certain he could get that lifted, he didn’t want to give Hu Shui – or his wife, Nyasha – the satisfaction. He’d told them that he didn’t need the Conclave, and he intended to stick to that assertion.

Even if it was slightly inconvenient.

He only took a few seconds to inspect the Dragon Circle, which was enough to satisfy him that it remained untouched and undamaged, before shifting into the Shape of the World Serpent and flying toward the formerly Greek city. It didn’t take long for him to reach his destination, and in fact, he arrived before Sara.

“That teleportation networks is really inefficient,” she remarked when she joined him alongside a crowd of other travelers. “They use way too much ethera. And the energy bleed? Barely apprentice level.”

“They built it all from scratch,” Elijah reminded her. “No ancestors telling them how to do it. No masters guiding the project. Just human ingenuity.”

Even Elijah had to admit that the teleportation network was a massive accomplishment, without which the world would have likely been excised. Sure, he’d played a small part in getting it up and running, but its success was mostly due to people like Hu Shui and Nyasha – and the small army of space mages they had working for them.

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants,” he remarked.

“What?”

“It’s a quote from a famous scientist,” he explained. “It’s meant to acknowledge that human progress relies on the foundational work of previous innovators. In this case, we didn’t have that, which makes the whole thing that much more impressive.”

“Hm.”

“You have to remember that this isn’t the Empire of Scale, Sara,” he pointed out. “The integration…the World Tree’s touch – it was unlike anything anyone could have expected. Billions died within a couple of weeks. I’ve seen the ruins. Whole families. Whole cities. Just gone. Remember that when you criticize us. Remember that we’ve only been doing this for half a century. We don’t have millions of years of knowledge to tell us what to do.”

Sara looked away. Her shoulders slumped.

Even for Elijah, it was sometimes easy to forget where it had all started – with an apocalypse. For every Argos or New York, there were hundreds of towns and cities that hadn’t made it. Whole populations, dead because they couldn’t adapt quickly enough to the very real dangers that came with the World Tree’s touch.

Then, just when Elijah was about to lead her into the city, she said, “I’m sorry. I…I don’t always think before I speak. I know my criticism isn’t always valid, that there are extenuating circumstances. My instructors took great pains to make sure we all knew that.”

She sighed. “But it’s sometimes difficult to understand context, especially when the empire is all I’ve ever known.” Then, she repeated, “I’m sorry. I really am.”

Elijah wasn’t sure if her apology was for the harsh judgement or because she’d disappointed him. Whichever happened to be the case, he put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. “It’s fine. Just keep that in mind, okay?”

“I will,” Sara agreed, wiping a tear from her cheek. She sniffed loudly, then changed her tone as she asked, “So, this is Argos, right? Your friend lives here, doesn’t he?”

“Atticus. Yeah. I think you’ll like him,” Elijah predicted. “But we’ll just have to see, won’t we?”

After that, they headed into the city. One of the guards’ eyes widened after she used an identification ability on him, but their entrance garnered no other attention. Upon walking through the gate, Elijah felt his shoulders relax. Despite Ironshore being his grove’s closest ally, he’d always considered Argos his second home. Partially, that feeling was rooted in the reception he always received, but it went much deeper than their acceptance of him.

It was the culture. The aroma of olives and flowers. The kindness of Argos’ people. The knowledge that it was the home of his closest friend. Even the architecture felt welcoming.

Each of those factors coalesced into something indefinable but entirely real. Elijah led Sara into the city, a smile on his face.

And it only broadened when they reached Agora and he saw a familiar figure standing out front.

“My friend!” Atticus bellowed, spreading his arms wide. “You have returned!”