Path of Dragons

Book 7: Chapter 52: To Tin Hau Temple

Elijah stepped through the gate and found nothing waiting. For a moment, he was extremely confused until Dat spoke up. “Hey, bro,” he said. “We got tired of waiting out in the open, so we moved across the street.”

“Since when could you talk and not break stealth?”

“New evolution,” Dat answered. “Come on.”

With that, Elijah focused on Soul of the Wild, and his efforts were rewarded with a subtle sense of Dat’s position. It was so easy to miss – just a slight disturbance in the local ethera – that if he hadn’t known about it ahead of time, he would have ignored it altogether. But now that he knew what to look for, he leveraged his Jade Mind to the task of keeping track of the Witch Hunter.

Otherwise, he focused on crossing the street to what appeared to be a two-story restaurant. At one point, it had likely catered to the tourists visiting the temple, and it had been decorated to exemplify a similar aesthetic. However, where the temple had radiated age and elegance, the restaurant just looked like a cheap knock-off and a tourist trap. Appropriate, given that’s what it had been.

Once he’d crossed the street, Elijah stepped into the restaurant to find the others waiting on him. To pass the time, Lin Tao and Zhang Yue were playing a game of Mahjong. Meanwhile, Gideon was reading a book while Sadie polished her sword. As far as Elijah knew, the latter was unnecessary – the weapon was a high-grade item – but he knew Sadie well enough to recognize that taking care of her gear was something akin to a nervous tick. A compulsion she needed to follow, lest she grow anxious.

“Good news,” he announced when everyone looked up. “I have the Blessing of War.”

Then, he went on to explain the nature of the Shrine’s challenge. He kept the details relatively light, largely because he didn’t want to reveal the depth of his abilities to a bunch of strangers. Dat and Sadie knew what he could do, but he trusted them. The others, not so much. Perhaps they would earn his trust along the way, but for now, he intended to keep them at arm’s length.

Especially Gideon, who always looked at him with a mixture of ambition, anger, and a healthy degree of disdain. Or at least that was true when he thought Elijah wasn’t looking. When he thought he was being observed, he took on a very different and far more approachable demeanor.

Indeed, the Tin Hau Temple was located on a small island in the middle of Victoria Harbor. That was where the giant squid lived, and Elijah wasn’t sure if it was even the most fearsome creature that called the harbor home. Regardless, his previous scouting expedition had established the location of the next Shrine, so they didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

“Where’s Nico?” Elijah asked.

“Out back meditating,” Dat answered.

Elijah cast his awareness into the sense afforded by Soul of the Wild, and it only took him a moment to find Nico. The man sat next to a faux-gold lion statue, his legs crossed as ethera swirled around him. It was clear that he was attempting – and failing – to cultivate. Elijah didn’t know what to make of that, except to acknowledge that other people were trying to improve as well. If he stopped even for a moment, they would catch – or even surpass – him.

And he couldn’t let that happen. Not because he had a fundamental need to be at the top, but rather because he knew precisely how enticing his grove would be to the wrong sorts of people. He needed to be among the strongest people in the world if he wanted to protect it.

Sadie offered, “I’ll go get him. We don’t have time to sit around. The Primal Realm has been open for more than a day, and each passing hour will strengthen their position.”

As she headed toward the back, Elijah realized that she was right. Dragon Tiger Mountain had been hard enough to infiltrate when the Primal Realm wasn’t open, and he suspected it would be much more difficult now. When Sadie left the room, the others started gathering their things, and as they did, Elijah finally acknowledged that he’d gained a level in the shrine, putting him at one-thirty-seven:

His attribute had taken the expected leap forward, though in his human form, the numbers didn’t seem quite as high as they did in his other shapes. Regardless, he was glad to see that his leveling speed hadn’t been too negatively affected. It had taken more than three-hundred kills – plus one truly powerful opponent – for Elijah to gain another level, but that wasn’t too far off the mark from the pace he’d observed toward the end of the Trial of Primacy.

Of course, he still wasn’t certain how much experience he got from focusing on non-combat parts of his class. Tending to the grove, building dolmens, and experimenting with plant life all resulted in at least some progression, and in fact, most Druids relied almost exclusively on those to level. So, he expected that his actions during his month-long bout of nonviolence had probably given him more progress than he’d expected.

By the time he finished inspecting his status, Sadie had returned with her brother in tow. He didn’t look happy, probably because his meditation had been interrupted. However, he gave Elijah a glare that suggested he hadn’t enjoyed being kept waiting. As if Elijah had had any choice in the matter. He’d dealt with the shrine as quickly as he could, and what’s more, he suspected that if any of the others – save for Sadie or perhaps Dat – had attempted it, they would have died.

Elijah decided to ignore Nico’s obvious disdain, and soon enough, the group was back on the road, trekking across Hong Kong Island on their way to their next destination. The island they sought was off the eastern tip of the island, which meant the group needed to travel lengthwise across the entire landmass. From what Elijah had seen from above – as well as what was on Sadie’s maps – the island had grown to nearly fifty miles across and half as wide. So, they had a long way to go.

Fortunately, the terrain was mostly clear enough, which meant they were capable of making pretty decent progress. Their way was slowed by two factors, though. First, there were occasional obstacles in their way. From fallen buildings to piles of cars, the obstructions forced them into frequent detours. A few times, those alternate routes led to even larger obstacles, which in turn necessitated a winding path that took them farther inland than any of them preferred.

Along the way, Elijah saw plenty of sights he had missed during his first bout of exploration. Once, Hong Kong had been a rich and incredible place, and beneath the destruction and grime of five-plus years of neglect, much of that still showed through. He saw more supercars – abandoned and covered in detritus – than he’d ever thought possible, and there were dozens of businesses catering to wealthy clientele. It was odd, seeing high-end stores with their goods left mostly ignored.

But then again, when the world had been inundated by magic and the city overrun by zombies, it was difficult to get excited about the latest design from Louis Vuitton. Not that such things ever really appealed to Elijah. Even before his cancer diagnosis, he’d never been much for garish materialism. He appreciated quality in the things he bought, but the status represented by the ability to buy luxury goods was never terribly appealing to him.

His ex-girlfriend back in Hawaii had been of a different mindset, which was probably one of the reasons they’d drifted apart. That, and his cancer diagnosis, to which he’d reacted by pushing everyone away. But if they’d shared a similar mindset, perhaps they would have forged through that distance.

It didn’t matter, though. That was in the past, and in all likelihood, Nina and everyone he knew back in Hawaii was already dead. And if they weren’t, then it was extremely improbable that he’d ever see any of them again. Even before Earth’s expansion, they were half a world away. But afterwards? They could be tens of thousands of miles distant. So, it was better if he just didn’t think about that kind of thing.

Instead, he focused on the other issue that plagued their journey across Hong Kong – the undead. He’d gotten a pretty good idea of just how ubiquitous the zombie population had become, but he was still surprised when they were confronted by half a mile of street where the creatures stood shoulder-to-shoulder, almost as if they were hibernating. One little sound, and they would erupt into a frenzy that would put starved piranha to shame.

Thankfully, Zhang Yue was more than just a walking stealth bubble. Not only had he memorized the maps provided, but he was also equipped with a powerful Explorer ability that helped him navigate the terrain. Elijah already had a healthy respect for the archetype, but seeing how valuable Zhang Yue’s guidance proved to be, he found himself even more appreciative for what a good Explorer could provide.

It also begged the question of just what the other archetypes could do. It was easy to dismiss people that had chosen to become Scholars, Entertainers, and Administrators, but there were obviously benefits to every archetype. They just weren’t all focused on combat, which meant that they were markedly less popular in what amounted to a post-apocalyptic situation.

Those thoughts accompanied Elijah as they snaked their way across the city. Every now and again, he looked across the harbor and saw that Hong Kong extended onto the mainland. More, he knew from experience that there were quite a few other cities jammed into the area, creating an odd skyline that merely suggested the uniqueness of the cityscape.

Eventually, night began to fall, and they found shelter on the second floor of an abandoned skyscraper. Zhang Yue once again showed his worth by using an ability to protect their campsite, though Elijah still kept his wits about him. A few hours after nightfall, Elijah sat on the edge of a shattered, floor-to-ceiling window, his legs dangling over the edge as he looked out across the cityscape.

There were people out there. Not just zombies, but other settlements as well.

“We tried to work with them, you know,” Sadie said, easing into position beside him. She hadn’t removed her armor, and she set her sword to the side where she could easily draw it.

“What happened?”

“They started trying to convert people,” Sadie explained. “Most of them don’t even believe there’s anything else out there. They think the whole world is like this. So did we, for the longest time. They’re mostly lost, now. The adults’ fate is bad enough, but there are children in most of those settlements. They won’t have a choice but to follow their parents. They’ll never get another option.”

“They’ve tried to attack Heaven’s Bastion, right?”

She groaned. “I hate that name. My grandfather’s idea. He changed it after we got our elder cores,” Sadie explained. “He wanted to play into the angel angle.”

“Angel angle. That’s fun to say.”

She smirked slightly, but she didn’t otherwise acknowledge his comment. “But yes. They’ve attacked us multiple times. Some of them are militant. They think we’re trying to cut them off from power,” she explained.

“Aren’t you?”

Sadie shrugged. “I suppose. It’s for their own good, though. If they have their way, the whole world will fall under the sway of undeath. I won’t allow that,” she answered.

Elijah didn’t respond. Instead, he just sat there with Sadie, looking out over the ruined city as the night wore on. Behind them, the others slept, but Elijah could tell that Gideon and Dat were only pretending. Probably a good idea, all told.

As he sat beside Sadie, Elijah considered the problem. His initial instincts were to eradicate undeath, but the more he thought about it, the more he wondered if that was his place. Death was the counter to life, but both were part of nature. Certainly, he considered the zombies unnatural, but they were just a symptom. More, he wondered if he had the right to exterminate people who pursued a path to power with which he didn’t agree.

Sadie wouldn’t hesitate to do just that. But Elijah felt there was more nuance to it.

Or maybe he just didn’t like the idea of killing a bunch of people who’d never really done anything to hurt him. And what he’d seen in the necromancer settlements suggested that they were mostly just normal people trying to live their lives.

When the sun finally rose, Elijah had given it quite a lot of thought, but he had yet to find any real answers. Not that it was his problem to solve. Functionally, he was just a hired gun. No matter what else happened, he needed to address the Primal Realm because, even if it was probably the source of their power, it would devour the necromancers the same as everyone else if left unchecked.

So, he rose with the others, and soon enough, they were back to traveling through the city. Along the way, Elijah saw the fresh remains of a few people – necromancers, according to Dat – but they didn’t stop to investigate further. Instead, they kept going until, at last, they reached their first destination.

It was a small dock that marked the closest point to the island about a mile out into the harbor.

Elijah looked around, then asked, “How are we supposed to cross?”