The root of the problem was energy. The entire teleport nexus network of the Mythrosia Empire, with its twenty main cities, countless towns, and innurable villages, ran on a colossal power grid.
Even main cities separated by vast distances were connected seamlessly. Kael knew this was possible for two reasons.
First, Essence Veins. Fifteen of the twenty main cities were built directly atop massive, subterranean veins of pure essence, drawing their power from the very lifeblood of the world.
Second, Divine Artifacts. The remaining five core main cities, the true hearts of the empire, were powered by sothing else entirely.
In the east, the city of Thorgard held The Heart of Thunder.
In the west, Heart of the Wild possessed The Bell of Primal Echoes.
In the south, Freya's Cradle was sustained by The Goddess's Tear.
In the north, Heimdall's Watch was guarded by The Horn of Vigilance.
And in the center, the royal capital of Asgardia drew its power from The Eye of Odin.
These Divine Artifacts, imbued with divine power by the gods of old, could draw energy from the cosmos itself, providing a virtually endless supply. Powering a teleport nexus was a triviality for them, a re drop in an infinite ocean.
Starlight Village, of course, had no such foundation. If it sat on an Essence Vein, it wouldn't be just a village. And as for the five Divine Artifacts… Kael wasn't arrogant enough to even consider making a play for one of them.
His current plan was more modest: to acquire a Relic, a Mythic-tier item with teleportation capabilities. Its power couldn't compare to the Divine Artifacts, but it would be more than capable of sustaining travel within a thousand-mile radius, including to and from Hidden Realms.
Getting this Relic, however, wouldn't be a clever heist like acquiring the Sap of Nature's Blessing. This would be a brutal, straightforward fight, requiring four elite teams advancing simultaneously. Kael ntally ran the numbers. He was still one crucial piece short of forming those four teams: the shield for Hazel.
With no word yet from Gilded Hand, the plan for the Relic had to be put on hold.
Kael checked his quest log. Tonight was the night the elves of Aelindale were holding the Moonlight Revel ceremony for him. He still had no idea what the damn ceremony was supposed to accomplish, but they had been so insistent that it felt rude not to go.
He traveled to Starting Village #158 near Alderfall City and entered Aelindale.
Even from a distance, he could see the dramatic change. Elunara was a new World Tree, grown from a graft of the original. The last ti Kael had visited, it was a hundred feet tall and fifteen feet thick. Now, nourished by the Sap of Nature's Blessing, it soared three thousand feet into the air, its trunk a solid five hundred feet in diater. He wondered if its roots had already begun to connect with the other World Trees across the globe.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from . Support the author by reading it there.
He entered the tree and found the interior space had expanded even more. The trunk was only five hundred feet across on the outside, but the area within was now equivalent to the entire city of London. The elves' spatial magic was truly sothing else.
The interior was a hive of activity, with level 35 elves bustling about in preparation. They saw Kael and bowed their heads in greeting.
"Welco to the domain of the elves!"
"Hello," Kael replied, nodding back.
He made his way to the third floor. The space here had also grown, and the walls were now adorned with ornate, glowing decorations. They were clearly taking the Moonlight Revel very seriously.
Caelthas, Isilwen, and Aerendyl were seated on the floor around a central altar, their eyes closed in ditation. He noticed their auras had changed; their levels had risen from 40 to 43. They had grown alongside their new World Tree.
Not wanting to disturb them, Kael sat down cross-legged nearby, content to wait for night to fall.
The sun slowly set, and a brilliant full moon climbed into the sky, bathing the world in silver light. As if on cue, every elf in Aelindale ascended to the top floor. They were all dressed in magnificent robes, their necks adorned with shimring necklaces, their hands holding bouquets of beautiful, otherworldly flowers.
The elves ford a large circle, enclosing Kael and their three leaders in the center. They began to chant in a low, lodic Elvish, their bodies starting to sway in a ritual dance. Other elves provided a hypnotic, percussive rhythm with drums and other instrunts.
A primal beat echoed through the chamber, a complex rhythm of deep booms and sharp clicks that seed to bypass his ears and sink directly into his bones. An irresistible impulse surged through him. He wanted to get up and join them.
Just then, Caelthas, Isilwen, and Aerendyl opened their eyes. They rose gracefully to their feet, their own voices joining the Elvish chant as they began to dance around Kael. The beat intensified.
Sitting on the floor, Kael lost the battle for control. His limbs began to move of their own accord, and he found himself standing, his body swaying to the relentless rhythm.
The three elf leaders danced toward the altar, and Kael’s body followed them, step for step. Soon, he was standing atop the altar itself, dancing, while Caelthas, Isilwen, and Aerendyl circled its base and the other elves ford the outermost ring.
The ceremony continued as the moon climbed to its zenith. When it was directly overhead, a brilliant beam of moonlight lanced down from the heavens, striking the World Tree.
The entire tree shuddered. It began to sway as if in ecstasy, the movent unleashing a furious typhoon in the surrounding forest. Ancient trees five miles away were flattened by the violent winds.
Simultaneously, the World Tree itself began to tremble violently, and a deep, grinding sound, like colossal stone gears turning, echoed up from beneath the earth.
The gale, the swaying tree, and the subterranean noise continued for a full hour. Then, as abruptly as it began, the beam of moonlight vanished. The World Tree slowly grew still.
But the elves did not. Their dancing continued, the beat unwavering.
On the altar, Kael felt a profound exhaustion setting in. A cold dread crept into his heart, and he couldn't help but wonder, Is this ritual using as a fucking sacrifice?
He had no way of knowing. He couldn't speak, and Caelthas offered no explanation.
The ritual wore on for another hour. Suddenly, the Eye of Elunara flared with a blinding light, shooting a brilliant blue beam directly at Kael.
The light struck him.
Pfft
His mind went white with a deafening buzz.
Then, he lost consciousness.
User Comments
0 comments from readers