BOOK 9: CHAPTER 41: THE SEARCH BEGINS

Bogotá was a city of contrast.

That was abundantly clear as Elijah left his meeting with the Comisario and forged ahead into the settlement. He’d seen the skyscrapers from afar, so he thought he knew what to expect. However, at the base of each building were a multitude of newly constructed buildings that followed a style much closer to the one found in Ironshore. It didn’t take him long to realize that those buildings were where most of the population lived.

When he asked a street vendor about it, he discovered that the skyscrapers, for all that they looked perfectly intact, were considered far too unstable for habitation. According to the man – who sold savory cheese buns he called almojábanas – they were schedule for demolition, but the process was a complicated one.

Elijah could understand that well enough. Safely demolishing a building, especially in the middle of a populated city, required specialized knowledge, skills, and equipment. Without those, it was far too dangerous a project to undertake unless absolutely necessary. So far, it hadn’t been, but the vendor explained that there were local beasts that threatened such tall structures.

“Condors,” the fellow said, stroking his mustache. It was quite an impressive piece of facial hair, but unlike was the case with the guards, it didn’t seem unnatural. Likely, he hadn’t had to visit an Alchemist to prompt its growth. “They roost in the mountains, but they will occasionally fly over the city. They don’t usually attack people, but they seem to enjoy destroying buildings.”

He went on to explain how the condors – which had wingspans up to forty feet – liked to dive-bomb the buildings. No one knew exactly why they did it. The skyscrapers had long since been emptied. But it happened anytime a condor ventured close to the city.

Elijah was far from an expert on birds, especially after the world had changed. So, he couldn’t offer an explanation. He did tell the vendor about Kurik’s distrust of all things avian.

“Smart,” the man said, handing over another bun, which Elijah took without hesitation. “Nothing good ever comes from birds.”

Elijah could only agree, and he paid the man before heading down the street. During his meeting with the Comisario, the morning had progressed, and in that time, the city had come alive. Everywhere Elijah looked, there were people going about their daily lives. Carts and pedestrians filled the streets, and Elijah even discovered that the city had a thriving cattle industry.

When he questioned another resident about it, the woman told him that they supplied the dairy products for most of the known world. They had some competition when it came to cheese and beef, but they were clearly leaders in their field. Likely, that was the main source of the city’s revenue.

Eventually, Elijah inevitably spied a handful of the people the locals called raiders.

And he was impressed. He couldn’t be certain, but the group he saw were somewhere in the level one-twenty range, which was quite a feat. He didn’t think they were equipped with any appreciable cultivation, but they had a good start with their levels. They were also armed and armored with tower rewards.

What was not impressive was that they swaggered around like they owned the place. Power sometimes came with arrogance – Elijah had epitomized that at times – but he hadn’t let that manifest in the way he treated less powerful people. The only good thing was that they didn’t show a tendency toward violence. If they had, Elijah would have stepped in.

He did follow them discretely until they returned to where they were staying. There were at least fifty of them inside, and from the snippets of conversation he overheard, at least that many were out in the wilderness searching for the Primal Realm. He did not hear anything about Oscar, though.

Whether that was a good thing or a bad sign was yet to be seen.

In any case, it was only an hour or two later that Elijah left Bogotá behind. About three miles outside of town, he shifted into the Shape of the Sky and threw himself into the air. Before long, he was flying a grid in search of his friend.

At first, he didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary, though he did see a few condors flying in the distance. They didn’t seem aggressive, though, so he kept going back and forth across the area. Frequently, he used Eyes of the Eagle to assist the hunt, though he still came up with nothing.

Gradually, the search widened as he flew ever further away from the city and into the imposing mountains. If he’d been on foot, the terrain would have slowed him considerably, but from above, he could appreciate just how beautiful the landscape was. Each mountain was covered in dense forest, and when Elijah skimmed overtop the canopy, he sensed a plethora of life.

From tapirs to small deer, the diversity on display was as astounding as any rainforest, and Elijah found himself lingering longer than he really needed to.

And then he sensed something entirely different.

Crouched beside the river was a humanoid creature. From the way it felt to his senses, it was no monster, though its appearance certainly suggested as much. The basic shape and proportions were that of a man, though it was at least twice as tall as any human Elijah had ever seen. It was also heavily muscled, with dense fur along its back and coal-black skin.

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An enormous beard of coarse hair sprouted from its face, fanning out across its chest and reaching its waist. Elijah alighted to the ground nearly five hundred yards away, but even then, the creature twitched. It knew he was there, as evidenced by the fact that it turned in his direction.

Elijah shifted into his much less threatening human form, then approached slowly. As he did, he made certain to make some noise. The last thing he wanted was to startle the creature.

In the back of his mind, he knew he should have been searching for Oscar. The message had been urgent, after all. However, Elijah was no more capable of ignoring the creature than he could simply refuse to breathe. Was that because of his instincts? Maybe. The thing blazed with ethera, telling him that it was at least ascended. If it was any less powerful than the leviathan he’d killed weeks before, he would have been incredibly surprised.

But it was no monster.

In fact, it felt like a guardian, though with a connection to nature that was even stronger than his own.

As Elijah approached, the creature turned its attention back to the brook. A second later, its massive hand darted out, splashing into the water. When it pulled back, it was holding a trout at least two feet long, and it wasted no time before tearing into the still-writhing fish.

Not wanting to startle the thing, Elijah kept his pace steady even as he continued his approach. Then, finally, he saw it with his own two eyes. And it looked exactly as Soul of the Wild had suggested, though when it turned to stare at him, Elijah saw that its face was not nearly as human-like as the rest of its body.

In fact, it reminded him of an ape, though one with tusks.

After studying Elijah for a few moments, it let out a snort and went back to its meal. For his part, Elijah settled down on his haunches, not wanting to get too close to the imposing creature.

During college, Elijah had taken an elective that focused on world mythology. In that class, he’d learned of a wide variety of legendary creatures ranging from Greek myths like hydras and sirens to more modern cryptids like bigfoot. However, the longer he studied the creature before him, the more he was reminded of an Andean mountain spirit called the Mito del Mohán. It was a bearded creature said to guard rivers and gold deposits, and given his current location, it seemed to fit what he saw squatting beside the river.

For almost ten minutes, Elijah watched the creature as it ate one fish after another. Then, suddenly, it stood and wandered off, disappearing from all of Elijah’s senses the moment it entered the dense forest undergrowth.

He stared at the spot where it had just disappeared, and he felt nothing.

No – that wasn’t true.

If he focused multiple facets of his mind on Soul of the Wild, he could feel the evidence of the creature’s passing. A twitching leaf here. A cracked stick there. A slight depression in the soft earth. The thing must have had a stealth ability, and one at least as powerful as Dat’s had been.

Maybe stronger, given Elijah’s growth since losing the Witch Hunter.

The thought of his friend brought with it a frown. How long had it been since he’d even thought of Dat? Weeks, at the least. In the Chimeric Forge, he’d been far too distracted to dwell on his sadness, and since he’d conquered that Primal Realm, he’d kept himself mostly busy.

A note of guilt came with that thought, but it wasn’t nearly as debilitating as it once might have been. Time, it seemed, had begun to heal that wound.

With a sigh, he pushed himself to his feet just in time to feel something behind him. He whipped around, summoning his scythe as he pushed four spells to the brink of activation. He didn’t let them loose, though, and it was a good thing, because only a moment later, he recognized the newcomer as human.

A second after that, and Elijah had categorized them as raiders.

Six of them, and from their attire, they had a full group with every role covered. Elijah dismissed his scythe, though he maintained his grip on his spells as they closed on him.

“What the hell?” came a voice. “There’s someone up there…”

A few seconds and a lot of rustling later, the first member of the group came into view. Wearing leather armor and carrying a pair of shortswords at his belt, he was clearly the group’s scout.

“Hey there. Don’t freak out or anything, but you’re all too late to see the sasquatch. Or to use the local vernacular, the Mito del Mohán,” Elijah said. “Though I have to admit that I’m not a hundred percent sure if that refers to, like, an individual creature or if it’s a species name. I’m not even certain what those words mean. Except del. I got that one.”

“What?” the man asked, obviously confused. “A sasquatch?”

“Or the Mito del Mohán.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on. Who are you? What are you doing out here by yourself? Don’t you know this place is dangerous?”

“Oh, it isn’t so bad. Kind of peaceful, really. Except the bugs. I saw a fly as big around as my fist not that long ago. I could have lived my whole life without ever looking at that,” Elijah remarked. “What about you? Why are you here?”

“We’re hunting for the Primal Realm.”

A woman’s voice came from the other side of a stand of bushes, saying, “Goddamn it, Saul. You don’t go telling strangers...oh…”

She pushed through the brush, her words dying out as she looked at Elijah. “I know you.”

“Do you? I don’t think we’ve met,” Elijah said as the rest of the group followed. Soon enough, there were six decent-level individuals standing in front of him.

“No. I mean, yeah. But I recognize you from the Summit. You’re Elijah Hart.”

“Guilty.”

The others – one woman and a man – all looked upon him with no small degree of alarm. The defender’s hand crept to the mace he kept at his waist.

“I come in peace,” Elijah added, raising his hands. “Just looking for my friend is all. I got distracted by the sasquatch.”

The woman looked past him. “I don’t see a sasquatch.”

“I think it’s shy,” Elijah reasoned. “It took off a few seconds ago, probably because it felt you coming.” He pointed in the direction the creature had gone. “Disappeared into that stand of trees. It’s probably long gone by now. Or maybe not. It has a pretty strong stealth ability.”

Elijah focused on the group, seeing that they were a little worse for wear. Their armor was damaged, and everyone bore evidence of at least one injury. The Sorcerer even had a bandage around her head.

“Do you all need some healing?” Elijah asked.

They all glanced toward the leader, and she said, “If you can spare the ethera. I ran dry a while back.”

“No problem,” Elijah said, releasing Blessing of the Grove. As the spell’s conjured sunflower manifested, he cast Wild Resurgence on each member of the group. Rejuvenating rain fell, eliciting a sigh of relief from the defender. “Is anyone dealing with anything serious? If not, I’ll just let these spells do their thing. If so, I’ll have to break out the big guns.”

As it turned out, the scout’s entire right side had been burned fairly badly. So, Elijah got down to the business of healing.