Path of Dragons-Chapter 41Book 8: : Everything in its Place

Isaiah’s artificial heart didn’t pound. In fact, its function never changed, regardless of the situation, entirely unaffected by adrenaline or the body’s other regulating chemicals. Most of the time, that steadiness was helpful, especially in regulating his emotions. The fight-or-flight response was dependent on an increased heart rate, after all. But right now, he cursed it.

Because he wanted to be scared. He needed it to remind him just how close to the edge his path had taken him.

The decision to target Elijah had been a calculated one, and Isaiah knew it had very nearly blown up in his face. The idea had been born of necessity, though. Logically, it made sense – at least when taken on its face. But Elijah was a variable for which he could not account. A wildcard if ever there was one. The man never quite reacted the way he was supposed to.

For instance, when Isaiah had stationed Corporal Ford at the gate closest to Elijah’s arrival, he’d hoped the inevitable clash would show the Druid that his power was not absolute, that Seattle was mighty in its own right. That had backfired because the city’s vaunted weapons had barely even fazed Elijah.

In retrospect, it should have been expected. Isaiah had underestimated Elijah’s rate of progression – a mistake he would not make again. Or that was what he’d told himself before setting up the situation at the gala preceding the auction.

Manipulating that idiot Vincent Santoro hadn’t been difficult. Just a few snippets of conversation in his vicinity, and he’d done precisely what Isaiah wanted him to do. It had all been going so well, right up until Sadie Song took the bait instead of Elijah. That had not been within Isaiah’s calculations – another mistake, and for a man who was unused to making them – but he’d gone ahead with his plan anyway.

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And Elijah took it without reaction.

Certainly, his rage simmered. He clearly wanted to act, which would have allowed Isaiah to lock down the entire ballroom with his prepared domain. Such was his prerogative as the City Lord, even if it took preparation.

But Elijah had surprised him once again, and Isaiah was forced to alter his plan. He didn’t like that. He’d never been good at improvisation, and he knew himself well enough to recognize that he’d gotten worse of late.

That was why he planned so extensively.

Well, one of the reasons. He planned extensively, and not just out of necessity. It was simply a fundamental and undeniable expression of his personality.

Regardless, Isaiah had put Elijah on the spot and used him as an example. And in a way, it had worked. The others fell into line, knowing that if Isaiah could put someone like Elijah in his place, then he could certainly do so with them as well. However, even if it had all worked out, the mistakes he’d made were like a burr in his mind.

Even more distressing was that, at every turn, the Druid had failed to follow Isaiah’s expectations. That suggested that the man had changed. Or Isaiah’s impressions had always been wrong.

Of course, Isaiah continued to watch the Druid even more closely than he watched everyone else. To his surprise, Elijah had been fairly well-behaved, though he had frustratingly disappeared from Isaiah’s watchful eye on a couple of occasions. Still, he didn’t pick any fights or cause any other problems. Instead, he’d wandered around the city like a tourist.

It was infuriating – not because he wanted Elijah to cause issues, but because it once again showed that Isaiah’s interpretation of the man was wrong.

But for now, he couldn’t focus on that.

Instead, he had the fate of the world in his hands. If he continued to make mistakes, especially with the Summit, then Earth would be excised, and humanity – at least on this planet – would cease to exist. Isaiah refused to allow that.

So, with that spurring him forward, he stepped in front of the mirror and straightened his appearance. Crisp lines. High collar. A perfectly shaved head. He was the very picture of a no-nonsense military man.

It was such a huge departure from where he’d been before the world’s transformation. Certainly, he’d spent most of his adult life in the Air Force, but after his separation, he’d let some of those ingrained habits fall by the wayside. He’d allowed his hair to grow out, and he’d taken to wearing much flashier suits. His discipline had never wavered, just his environment and the expectations that came with working as a private citizen.

However, when he’d taken over Seattle, he’d recognized the need for structure. That was why he never appeared in public out of uniform.

He took a deep breath.

Perhaps he needed to soften his image a little. Maybe a wife would help. There were candidates out there. Competent and ambitious women who truly believed in what they were doing in Seattle – in what they had planned for the world. But he couldn’t settle for just anyone. She needed to be attractive, of course – but not so beautiful that she was intimidating. More than that, though, she would need an aura of compassion. A Healer, perhaps. Someone not afraid to get her hands dirty by helping those less fortunate.

As those thoughts crossed his mind, Isaiah filtered through hundreds of options, settling on three likely candidates. Database was not all-inclusive. There was so much he didn’t know. However, with every passing day, he added to it. Some of that information came from the reports he received thrice a day, but most of it came from his surveillance network.

As extensive as it was, he knew he needed more cameras, drones, and listening devices if he was going to keep Seattle on the right path. The Seal of Authority he’d been granted helped, but if he truly wanted to usher his city to prominence – and save Earth from excisement – he needed to continue to advance his class. Database was a good example of the sorts of skills he needed:

Database

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Organize your mind as a structured data archive, allowing instant recall, organization, and cross-referencing of information. Expanding your Database enhances learning speed, pattern recognition, and strategic analysis, but excessive data may require compression or purging. Data recall speed dependent on Ethera attribute. Database size dependent on Core cultivation.

Coupled with Calculation, which allowed him to run through various scenarios with the speed of a supercomputer, and Isaiah should have been able to account for almost any variable. So, narrowing down his options was an easy matter. Pointedly, he never even considered the opinions of the potential marriage candidates.

Instead, he simply sent a silent message to one of his agents, targeting the women for further surveillance. If they passed muster, he would take things to the next step and eventually select one to be his partner.

With that done, Isaiah completed his inspection of his attire and, once satisfied, he marched from his quarters. They were lavishly decorated, though he paid them no mind. As far as he was concerned, so long as he had his workshop and a bed, he had everything he needed. But he knew that perception was important.

Image was everything.

With what was at stake – both for Seattle and the world – his city needed to be seen as successful. They were certainly prosperous, especially since they’d established the partnership with the elves to the south, but there couldn’t be any holes in the image.

That was why the city’s beautification had been so important. At the time, Isaiah had had no idea that the planet was under threat of excisement, but he knew something was coming. Whether it was something system-based like the excisement or the Trial of Primacy or an invasion from another world, he knew that Earth’s population needed to be united if they were going to meet those threats.

So, he had done everything in his power to position Seattle for the trials to come. To that end, he’d spent countless ethereum not only rebuilding the city, but also partnering with the Conclave of Travel and developing a unified defense force. Concerning the latter, his people weren’t the most individually powerful, but together – and with the weapons they’d developed – they did an admirable job of keeping the peace.

Those thoughts and more skittered across his mind as he marched through the Citadel. Finally, he reached his destination – the grand Hall of Unity – where he found more than a thousand people waiting. Each one was powerful in their own right, and the gathering of so many powerful people sent the ambient ethera swirling. Most of them probably didn’t even notice it, but in his city, nothing escaped Isaiah’s focus.

“Has everyone arrived?” he asked his First Administrator, Landon Daniels.

The man adjusted his glasses and answered, “They have, Chancellor.”

“Good,” Isaiah said, stepping forward. At first, his arrival went unnoticed, but as he strode down the aisle toward the center of the chamber, the din of conversation petered out. They all knew who he was. When he reached the dais in the middle of the Hall of Unity, he mounted the steps and planted himself in the exact center. For a moment, he studied the attendees. They were the best Earth had to offer. People who, in the old world, would have been considered superhuman. Not only were powerhouses like Elijah present, but there were also settlers who’d come from other worlds.

It should have been an intimidating sight, but as Isaiah briefly took in the crowd, he was only worried that it wouldn’t be enough.

Elijah himself was seated in the front row, right next to Sadie Song. He wasn’t happy about that relationship – it made them both more unpredictable – but he was less enthused to find that Elijah had had nothing to do with the delegation from Ironshore. In fact, Isaiah felt certain that the Druid wasn’t even aware they’d come – a perfect analogy for how self-centered the man truly was.

Putting those thoughts aside, Isaiah cleared his throat – an unnecessary gesture, but one calculated to humanize him. Finally, he began.

“Earth is in crisis,” he spoke. After a short pause, he continued, “Ten years. That is how long we have been given to overcome the obstacles in our way.”

Then, he went on to describe the situation at hand. Everyone there had read the missive that had been broadcast to every Branch on Earth. More, they’d read the invitation and, presumably, the welcome packet as well. They didn’t need him to reiterate the danger facing Earth’s population.

Yet, he went through it anyway, detailing what they’d learned in the Trial of Primacy and positioning it as Earth’s future.

“That is what awaits us if we fail. A barren world where even our strongest cannot survive,” he finished. “But what can we do? There are nine Primal Realms scattered across the planet, and we only know the locations of six.”

A hologram appeared above him. It was the best representation of Earth they could cobble together. It looked nothing like its old form, with unfamiliar landmasses scattered across the illusory globe. It wasn’t entirely accurate, either. There were places on Earth where no one dared to venture. For those regions, they’d made best guesses.

Even so, it was fairly accurate, and it would suffice for their purposes.

“Our friends from Heaven’s Bastion have taken care of the Primal Realm in Hong Kong,” he explained, pointing to one red dot. “We have first-hand reports of three more – here, here, and here. And based on ethereal fluctuations, we expect that two more are located here and here.”

As he spoke, more lights appeared, for a total of six.

“That leaves three unaccounted for,” he said. “The primary purpose of this Summit is to coordinate information in an effort to find and conquer each of these Primal Realms. You will be provided with information concerning the nature of those we’ve discovered, but we encourage everyone to relay any pertinent data to our people. Once we know where they all are, we intend to coordinate the formation of appropriate teams meant to conquer each Primal Realm. I’m certain that you all have questions. Please, form a line in the closest aisle, and we will get to all of them in turn.”

Over the next hour, Isaiah fielded questions. Some were incisive, but others were further evidence that just because someone had achieved a level of power, it didn’t mean they were intelligent or suited for a leadership role. Either way, he was grateful for his skills which allowed him to quickly sort and recall information and answer the questions with ease.

Still, it took a good deal of ethera, and by the time the first meeting of the Summit was complete, Isaiah was exhausted. He didn’t let it show, though. Instead, he spent another hour personally meeting with many of the attendees. That was part of the job too, even if it was one facet of leadership he hated.

Eventually, the attendees filtered out, leaving him alone with his advisors.

“That went well,” said Daniels.

“It’s too early to say that,” Isaiah responded. And it was. No one had committed to anything, and he suspected they wouldn’t before the end of the Summit. There were five more meetings planned, though the entire group wouldn’t be invited to each one. “Hopefully, the games will help them mingle with one another so that alliances will form organically.”

Aside from enticing people to attend, that was the other reason he had put on the festivals and gladiatorial games. Because if nothing else, parties and sports brought people together.

After a little more discussion with his people, Isaiah retired to his quarters. He didn’t sleep, though. Instead, he settled in to watch the city’s occupants. There were a few criminals plying their trade in the festival locations, so he directed his guards to disrupt their activities and guide them away from high-value foreigners.

Isaiah didn’t care about petty crime, but he definitely didn’t want them stealing from the wrong person and causing an incident that might affect the Summit as a whole.

He was so entranced by his task that it took him quite a while to notice the man sitting in the corner of the room. When he did, he couldn’t stop himself from flinching.

“You should get better security,” said Elijah Hart as he casually drank what smelled like a cup of coffee.

“Why are you here?” Isaiah asked, knowing precisely how vulnerable he was. In combat, he couldn’t even begin to rival someone like Hart, which was the other reason he’d invested so heavily in the city’s defenses. Fortunately, he had his domain on his side. He embraced it, expecting the Druid to collapse in agony.

But Hart seemed entirely unaffected by it, save for a single eye twitch.

“That’s not very nice,” Hart said, rising to his feet. “I think it’s time you and I had a little talk.”