Path of Dragons

After getting Hope settled in their new – likely temporary – apartment, Ron decided to explore the city, and for a couple of reasons. First, he was genuinely curious, and that was supported by the little he’d seen while traveling from the dock to the apartment building. His initial impressions were supported by that short inspection, and he was eager to see more.

However, before he left the apartment, he gave the complex a good once-over, and he was surprised to find that it was not only nice, clean, and spacious, but also that it featured quite a verdant courtyard. That acknowledgement of nature seemed to be a theme throughout the city – at least what he’d seen of it – with trees, bushes, and other vegetation taking prominent spaces.

In retrospect, that made perfect sense, given the extreme ethera density as well as the city’s proximity to Elijah’s island. The Druid probably hadn’t forced any changes, but the city’s management would probably do whatever they had to do to keep him happy and make him feel at home.

Or maybe that was just multi-versal standard. Ron simply didn’t know, which made him feel incredibly ignorant. After all, people like Elijah had visited multiple places across Earth’s new surface, while Ron had been limited to the area immediately surrounding Forest Hills. Before the Trial of Primacy, he’d only once traveled more than a couple of miles away from his settlement, and that was in the immediate aftermath of the world’s transformation. Assuredly, quite a lot had changed in the intervening years. So, he was eager to cure his lack of perspective.

He’d asked Hope to come with him to explore the city, but the events of the past few days had left her exhausted. She tried to don a brave façade – and she succeeded most of the time – but Ron was well-acquainted with his daughter’s mannerisms, so he could see the strain even when she tried to hide it.

That was the other reason he was eager to explore the city. Elijah had told him that if there was a cure for Hope’s illness, it would likely be found in Ironshore. He’d even mentioned an Alchemist who’d proven himself capable of solving similar problems in the past.

So, it was with some pep in his step that Ron merged with the flow of traffic. There were hundreds of people walking from one place to another, which gave the city a very different vibe. For an American, cities usually meant cars and heavy traffic. But given that most of the city’s population had at least decent attributes, there was no barrier to walking wherever they needed to go.

Of course, Ron’s attributes were much, much better than decent, so he had no issues keeping up with the crowd of pedestrians. Another benefit came from his height, which left him standing head and shoulders over the vast majority of the city’s population, which tended toward dwarves, gnomes, and goblins, all of which were much shorter than humans.

For a while, he just wandered around, and he was more than a little dumbstruck by how vibrant and varied the commercial pursuits of the citizenry were. He saw dozens of small businesses, ranging from all sorts of restaurants to sellers of a wide diversity of goods. In addition, he passed by various Tradesmen’s premises, a couple of tea shops, and even a massive foundation that fairly radiated power. When he stopped to inspect the last one, he saw that someone had taken great care to inscribe each individual brick of green stone with runic designs.

“Impressive, eh?” came a voice. Ron looked up to see a dwarf with a massive beard that he’d tucked into his belt. “This is just the tip o’ the stalagmite, too. When we’re done, ain’t another buildin’ in the entire world gonna compete with the Great Forge.”

“This whole thing is going to be a smithy?” asked Ron, surprised. The foundation suggested the building would be the size of a Wal-Mart when it was done.

“Nah. Don’t nobody need that kinda space for metalworkin’,” the dwarf said, crossing his burly arms. “We’re makin’ a temple to craftin’. Everybody’ll be represented, from ol’ Biggle and his potions to Mari the Tailor. Not sure how it’s s’posed to work out, but Miss Carmen seems to know what she’s talkin’ ‘bout. And she’s the best crafter in the world, so when she says somethin’, we listen.”

“Is she really?” asked Ron.

The dwarf shrugged his large shoulders, saying, “That’s what the humans say. She was on the power rankins, which ain’t easy for crafter. She’s th’only reason half of us survived the Second Battle of Ironshore. Still got my armor back ‘ome, just in case we need to step up again.”

After that, Ron asked a few more questions before moving on. And he was impressed with the stated plans. If Ironshore could establish itself as a center for crafting, it would be well positioned to become one of the wealthiest places on Earth. But if that happened, they would need a strong defensive force to keep greedy people from trying to take what they had.

As he continued through the city, Ron saw an older, dignified man leading a group through military training exercises. That gave him hope that Ironshore was taking its defenses seriously. Not unsurprising, given that the city had already been forced to defend itself from two separate forces. The latest had been against dark elves, while the first had been against creatures called orcs.

The day wore on, and Ron continued his exploration, but eventually, he found his way to a building marked by a sign bearing a big, red cross. From what he understood, the aliens didn’t feature the same iconography, so he had to assume that a human had established the hospital. He stepped inside, and sure enough, he found a clean and organized space featuring a dozen beds separated by curtains. Only a couple were occupied.

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“Be right with you!” came a feminine voice from the back. A moment later, a woman stepped through one of the curtains. She wore purple scrubs and sensible sneakers, which set her apart from most other Healers he’d met. She was also quite pretty, though she was at least ten years his junior. “What can I do for you?” she asked on approach as she removed a pair of latex gloves. “Sickness, injury, or poison?”

“None of the above, actually,” he answered. “I’m a Healer, newly arrived, and I just noticed the sign outside. I figured I’d check it out, see if there’s something I can do to help.”

“Ah. I’m Jess,” she said, extending her hand. Ron took it, noting that she had a firm grip.

“Ron,” he introduced himself.

“What level are you?” she asked.

“Uh…one-oh-six,” he said.

“Wait. You’re over a hundred? Seriously?” she demanded.

“Yeah,” he answered, checking his status just to be sure. “Got lucky with a few extra levels recently.”

After that, she launched into a string of questions. At first, Ron felt like he was being interrogated, but soon enough, it became clear that she was just excited to learn what he could do. As it turned out, she was a former medical school student who’d taken the Healer archetype as soon as it was offered. Since then, she’d been healing in a place called Norcastle, and had only moved to Ironshore recently.

When Ron told her the abbreviated version of his story, ending with how he’d ended up in Ironshore, she asked, “Wait – you know Elijah?”

“I do. We became friends in the Trial,” he answered. “Why? Do you?”

She nodded. “Met him a long while back. He actually helped save Norcastle. For a while, at least, until the dark elves hit us,” she explained.

That seemed to be a bit of a sore spot, so Ron changed the subject, asking if it would be okay if he worked in the hospital. “I don’t expect to be paid or anything. I just want to help.”

“I’m the only one here, so the more hands the better,” she answered. “And the city keeps the lights on, so to speak. They gave me this building, and they pay my salary. It’s not enough to get rich or anything, but I’m pretty well off. I guess they see providing healing as the city’s responsibility.”

What followed was a long conversation about how she ran the hospital and his role going forward, but it wasn’t that long before she said something that got his attention.

“Biggle? That’s the Alchemist, right?”

Jess answered, “Yeah. He’s a little weird, but from what I understand, he’s really talented. Not that I know much on the subject, of course. At first, I thought alchemy was just like pharmaceuticals with magic, but it’s supposed to be more than that. Most crafters need a good Alchemist to make the most of their profession.”

“Do you know where his shop is?” Ron asked. Elijah had told him a little about Biggle, and he hoped that the Alchemist could help him with Hope’s illness.

As it turned out, Jess did know, and she soon gave him directions. So, soon after, he took his leave and headed toward the Alchemist’s shop. That was how, around twenty minutes later, he found himself looking up a slight hill at a quaint house that looked like it had been built by a mad botanist. There were odd-looking plants all around, many of which were moving in strange ways, and the house itself was a small cottage with a few too many chimneys.

Ron opened the wrought iron gate, then stepped onto the path. Immediately, a vine snaked out, and if Ron hadn’t spent so much time fighting in the Trial of Primacy, the thing would have captured him immediately. However, because he’d been forced to develop his reflexes, he saw it coming from a mile away, and he reacted accordingly. Dancing aside, he soon found another vine ready to attack him.

And another after that.

He dodged each one in turn until, at last, he tired of the charade. With that, he cast Word of Force, and a bubble of kinetic energy swept around him, stunning the moving vegetation.

“What in the name of the Tinkerer is going on out here?!” came a squeaky shout from up the hill. Ron looked up to see a tiny figure with wild, white hair and improbably bushy eyebrows glaring down at him. “Do you know how valuable those twisting vines are? I brought them from –”

“I apologize,” Ron said, unhurriedly approaching. “They seemed dangerous.”

“Of course they’re dangerous! That’s the point!”

“Again, I apologize for stunning your plants. If it’s any consolation, they should recover. If not, I’ll ask my friend to come by and help them along.”

“Your friend?”

“Elijah. I think you know him.”

“You’re friends with that damned Druid?” muttered the gnome, hands on his hips as he looked up at Ron. “Of course you are. Seems that causing problems for me isn’t just limited to him. It extends to his friends as well.”

Then, without warning, he turned and stomped away in a huff. Before he got to the door, he turned and asked, “Well? Are you coming? Presumably, you’re here for a reason.”

“Right. Coming.”

Ron quickly followed the Alchemist, ducking inside the building. Thankfully, while the door was a lot lower than normal, the ceiling was high enough to accommodate Ron’s height. Looking around, he saw strings of herbs hanging from the beams, while shelves full of various jars lined the walls. What looked like a cartoon chemistry set stood in the center of the room.

“So? What do you want?” asked Biggle.

Deciding not to delay the explanation with niceties, Ron took a deep breath and immediately launched into his reason for coming around. For his part, Biggle listened as Ron explained Hope’s condition, even grabbing a book to take notes. Ron finished by saying, “Healing doesn’t work. I’ve tried everything.”

That was true. He’d even tried Healer’s Burden when he’d gotten home after the Trial, and it hadn’t done anything to fix the issue.

“The way I see it, you’ve got one option,” Biggle said. “I’d have to examine her to be sure, but I believe I could brew a potion that could arrest the progression of her condition.”

That was basically what her medication did. There was no cure for the particular type of leukemia with which she was afflicted, only drugs meant to manage it. Given that they were out of said drug, having Biggle replace it was quite a boon. However, he couldn’t hide his disappointment, largely because he’d allowed himself to believe that the Alchemist would offer a cure.

“That might give us a chance to create a proper Body cultivation potion that will allow her to progress enough that it will cure itself,” Biggle went on. “It’s a tricky project, mostly because her condition weakens her considerably, but with the right ingredients, I believe I can get it done.”

Ron was struck speechless. It was the first time in a long time that he’d allowed himself to truly hope.

“But of course, we’ll have to talk about the cost. I don’t work for free,” Biggle said.

“I’ll pay whatever fee you require,” Ron stated evenly. “So long as I have it, it’s yours.”

“I like your willingness to give me money, but I want something else. You say you’re friends with Elijah, yes?” Biggle asked. Ron nodded. “Time to put that friendship to the test. Here’s what I need…”

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