A light flurry of snow fell from the overcast sky as Elijah arrived at the Conclave Spires just outside of New York. It came with a bitter and biting cold that seemed to cut through his constitution and down to his bones. But after spending so long immersed in the intense heat of the Painted Wastes, the frigid temperature came with a sense of relief.

  It had been three days since he’d sent out the slew of invitations, and in that time, he’d taken care of quite a few preparations. Least among them was the fresh haircut he’d gotten back in Ironshore, but he’d also been forced to visit the Broken Crown to cull the vespiran population. Even in that short time, it had begun to grow out of control. Not enough to threaten him, but more than dangerous to most everyone else on Earth.

  Which was why he was in New York in the first place.

  He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and enjoying the feeling of cold air filling his lungs. Sometimes, he forgot just how much enjoyed winter, especially when it came with a healthy dose of wet snow. Most people regarded it as a nuisance, but for Elijah, it reminded him of his youth. Back then, he and his father would trek out into the wilderness to hunt or fish.

  Elijah could still taste the junk food – usually Slim Jims and as much Yoohoo as his father would let him drink – they’d packed into the small ice chest they took with them.

  It never really mattered if they came home with any game. That had never been the point. Instead, the idea was based on spending time as a family while connecting with nature. Alyssa was always invited, but she was never really as comfortable with the wilderness. Still, she often came along, though the frequency had faded as she grew older.

  Elijah cherished his relationship with his sister, but he held his relationship with his father extremely close to his heart. For a young boy, there was nothing better than spending the day out on the lake with his father.

  “Sir,” came a tentative voice, dragging Elijah from his impromptu reverie. “Please step away from the Spires.”

  Elijah looked up to see a Space Mage standing nearby, a fake and uneasy smile plastered across her face. He ran his hand through his freshly shorn hair and gave her a smile of his own. It did not put her at ease.

  “Oh. Yeah. Sorry,” he apologized before following her directions. The Conclave Spires worked on a tight schedule, and it didn’t leave much time for idiot Druids to stand around and block the next teleportation in line. Elijah didn’t exactly hurry as he left the compound behind, but he didn’t tarry either. Soon enough, he had joined the procession of merchants and other citizens on the road to New York.

  The flow of traffic was moderately heavy, though the road had been widened since the last time he’d visited. Now, it featured an entire lane designated for faster travelers. In some cases, that just meant a route for higher-level people to sprint at full speed, but mostly, that lane was occupied by various vehicles.

  Oddly enough, only a few of them looked like automobiles. The others more closely resembled carts or free-floating platforms capable of reaching truly impressive speeds. Some were even pulled by horses or oxen, all of which shimmered with enough ethera to mark them as possessing at least a few good levels.

  Elijah could also sense that the wards lining the road had been heavily upgraded. They surrounded the avenue with a buffer zone, into which most beasts would never venture. That was no new development – he’d noticed something similar before – but now, that zone extended more than a hundred yards away from the road.

  Finally, a series of bright lights stood on either side of the path, creating islands of illumination among the darkness of the overcast afternoon. It reminded Elijah of days long past. Perhaps Earth had finally managed to find its footing and reestablish some measure of control over their situation.

  It wasn’t until hours later that he reached the not-so-small town that had grown up around the mainland docks. The explosive growth of the area was impressive enough, and Elijah could only appreciate the new buildings that had been erected. But what truly shocked him was the realization that it was Christmas.

  Strings of colorful lights decorated those freshly-built structures, and evergreen wreaths adorned the doors. During his walk, the temperature had dropped precipitously as the sun set, and the snow had begun to pile against the buildings. It cast the entire setting in white.

  It felt cozy in a way that only fresh snow at Christmastime could feel.

  For his part, Elijah drew quite a few odd looks, mostly because he definitely wasn’t dressed for the weather. In fact, he was still barefoot – save for the Footwraps of the Wild Revenant, which he didn’t really count – and wearing a thin linen shirt. Meanwhile, everyone else wore heavy coats, thick gloves, and hats.

  Perhaps his attributes and cultivation were doing a lot more heavy lifting than he’d first expected.

  In any case, Elijah wasn’t there to impress anyone. He didn’t care if he stuck out. Not anymore. The days of him flying under the radar had long since passed, and he’d somehow managed to internalize his celebrity. Even if people didn’t recognize him, it only took one glance for them to see that he was different.

  He didn’t even try to hide his scales.

  Idly, he did wonder what they’d think if he took on his dragon form and proudly strode through the town. Would they panic? Or would they stare in awe? Probably both, and Elijah couldn’t deny the wave of satisfaction that came with that line of thought.

  After buying a steaming cup of hot cocoa from an enterprising street vendor, Elijah made his way to the ferry. Or to the waiting room associated with the service, which reminded him of every auto mechanic’s shop he’d ever seen. Cheap tile floors. Mismatched metal chairs. An out-of-order vending machine in one corner. And a mass of humanity waiting to cross the strait to what had once been Manhattan.

  Elijah took his seat with equanimity. Truthfully, he didn’t mind the wait. Not only did it give him a chance to turn his attention inward and study the shape of his cultivation, but it also allowed him to monitor the locals. He settled in, sipping his cocoa as he focused on his surroundings.

  The average level had risen slightly, but not nearly as much as Elijah might have expected. When he focused on normal people, he was struck by how weak they all were. By how thin their presences felt. They almost didn’t seem real, like they only existed in two dimensions. By contrast, Elijah – and the stronger people scattered throughout the waiting room – were fully formed.

  It was an odd sensation, and he wasn’t certain if he liked it. Seeing people as lesser, even when they obviously were, left a foul taste in his mouth.

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  By the time the ferry arrived, Elijah had finished his hot cocoa and was idly snacking on some jerky he’d found in his satchel. One bite told him that it wasn’t exactly fresh, but he didn’t think it had turned. Not completely, at least. And besides, it tasted okay.

  Would he have been so cavalier if he didn’t have the ability to easily heal food poisoning? Certainly not. But there were advantages to being a Druid.

  And he was hungry.

  Given that he didn’t want to draw extra attention by yanking full meals out of thin air, he decided that the jerky would have to do. In any case, it was better than the packages of pemmican still sitting at the bottom of his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. He wouldn’t touch those unless he had no other choice.

  The ferry itself, which he boarded alongside the other passengers, was much as he remembered it from his last trip to New York. Elijah even recognized the captain, who was a grizzled old man with a great bushy beard. Regardless, the trip to the island went off without a hitch, and they arrived at the opposite dock after a little more than an hour.

  Disembarking came with a distinct sense of déjà vu. It hadn’t been that long since he’d last visited the city, and it hadn’t changed that much in the intervening months. However, the changes it had undergone, like the integration of ethereal lights and a few new piers, stood out.

  It was a reminder that change was inevitable.

  But Elijah had also grown enough that the entire place felt small, and not in the physical sense. Certainly, even towering skyscrapers paled in comparison to the ruins of the Broken Crown, and they didn’t hold a candle to miles-long arachnids. Or a planetary core.

  Or any of the other things he’d recently seen.

  As he made his way through the docks, Elijah tried to adapt to his new perspective. Thankfully, he was quickly distracted by the system of piers, which formed an impressive operation. The docks were far more extensive than what he’d seen in Ironshore or Hafnarfj?reur. With concrete jetties and piers, it was populated by enormous ships of steel and wood alike. Some were obviously vessels meant for war, sleek and glistening with ethera. While others were plainly trading vessels with deep drafts and bulbous holds that reminded Elijah of the hulking oil tankers of pre-World Tree Earth.

  The sheer size of those vessels probably intimidated most people. Elijah looked at them with impassive interest, knowing good and well that nothing in that city could threaten him. It was the same with everyone and everything on Earth. Sure, there were probably some beasts, guardians, or monsters out there that could rival him in sheer might. And perhaps some armies that could collectively muster comparable power.

  But Elijah was a dragon.

  His recent improvements had firmly entrenched him at the top of the food chain.

  Knowing that, he had no intention of resting on his laurels. He would continue to improve as he attacked the remaining Primal Realms. However, he was more than disinterested in denying the obvious. Even before his experiences in the Broken Crown, he had been the strongest man in the world. Now, the gap between him and everyone else had expanded into an impassible canyon.

  And he was going to use that to shock the other world leaders out of their idiotic xenophobia, tribalism, and petty squabbling. To do that, he had two options. Down one path lay tyranny. He liked to think that if he chose that route, the resultant dictatorship would be a benevolent one. He thought of himself as a good person, and an autocracy based on that could only follow suit.

  Yet, Elijah also knew that every tyrant had begun their reigns under similar delusions.

  The other choice – the path of neutrality – was better. He didn’t want to become the world’s police. Nor did he revel in the notion of holding leaders accountable. However, with his power, he couldn’t afford to simply stand aside. His strength demanded action. The issue came from deciding just how far he was willing to go.

  If he overstepped, they would all turn on him. They would also turn on one another, which was a much more serious issue. It was a delicate situation, but even so, he needed to get a handle on things. Earth’s future depended on it.

  That was why he had come to New York. And it was why he’d invited a host of world leaders to a meeting. It wasn’t meant to be a huge summit like the one in Seattle. That had been a show as much as an effort at unity. Elijah wanted this to become a much more intimate affair, where the world’s elites could communicate directly with one another and hopefully come to a consensus.

  The first invitation had gone to Isaiah, and for obvious reasons. Seattle had treated Elijah with antagonism almost from the very beginning, but their power was undeniable. Not only was Isaiah himself capable of surveillance on a level no one else in the world could achieve, but his army was large enough to be a real threat to most. Certainly, they lacked a bit when it came to quality, but they’d still managed to reach the Painted Wastes. Couple that with their economic power, and Seattle was an obvious inclusion.

  After that came the guild leaders – Ram Khandu, Gix, Shanala, and Davu Adebowale. Individually, the guilds could rival any other faction. Together, they became an undeniable force. More importantly, they had proven that they were willing to work with others.

  Then there were the other city states like Argos and Ironshore. Anupriya Pandey had even agreed to leave her fortress in Kalki. Hu Shui, from the Conclave, would be in attendance as well. Finally, Ivanka from Svetogorsk had indicated that she would be there, though her confirmation message had been tinged with annoyance.

  Elijah had considered inviting others. There was another dwarven city out there somewhere, though he’d never visited it. A few other towns founded by settlers, too. Paris and London had been decimated by the World Tree’s touch, but they had recovered enough to be considered world powers, if only barely.

  But in the end, Elijah either lacked relationships with their leaders, or they simply weren’t powerful enough to warrant an invitation. Usually, both.

  It had taken him a few days to arrange everything, and he couldn’t help but worry that he’d wasted his time. Whichever direction he went – tyrant or facilitator – depended wholly on how the others reacted.

  Elijah had half expected that someone would meet him at the docks. After all, he was expected. Yet, he was allowed to make his way through the city alone. For the most part, it was just as impressive a place as he remembered, though he knew that was a bit of an illusion. Only a few blocks away from the main avenues, there were whole neighborhoods of slums.

  He pushed that out of mind.

  The first priority was to save the world from excisement. Then, they could address things like inequality.

  Of course, it would never be so simple as all of that. Everyone was grasping for power like they were in the middle of a free-for-all, and that wasn’t just exclusive to the leaders. For example, Seattle was an absolute mess of competing factions, and Elijah felt certain that Isaiah was completely ignorant of the fact that someone had tried to frame his government for an assassination.

  Discovering that the culprit was a criminal organization was both obvious and surprising. The first, because that seemed the sort of things criminals would do – especially when the man they meant to frame ran a surveillance state that assuredly made criminal enterprises much more difficult to maintain. The second, because it had almost worked.

  Thankfully, Elijah had had the presence of mind to spare Gunnar and send him in search of answers. The assassin had come through, though he was still investigating the depth of the conspiracy. In any case, he was certain that the Daughters of Deianira was a global criminal organization and the source of the assassination attempt.

  The world could not afford that kind of chaos. Everyone needed to put aside their differences and temporarily ignore their aspirations so they could all work toward the greater good.

  Managing that would be no easy feat, especially considering the personalities involved. No one reached the top by backing down from a challenge, after all. But that was what the situation required.

  As Elijah traversed the city, he saw more Christmas decorations, which served to lighten his mood. However, that faded when his footsteps led him to the square containing the guilds’ headquarters. The buildings lining the huge plaza were just as impressive as ever, though Elijah couldn’t help but notice that one of the four corners had changed its fa?ade.

  That indicated that one of the lower ranked guilds had surpassed one of the four at the top.

  Elijah didn’t know if that would change anything. Perhaps. But that wouldn’t be obvious until the meeting, which was still a day away. For now, Elijah turned away from the plaza and found his way to a nearby hotel. It was a luxurious accommodation that obviously traced its history back to pre-World Tree Earth, though Elijah wasn’t really concerned with that kind of thing.

  Instead, as he rented a room and ordered a meal, Elijah’s mind was almost entirely occupied by the coming meeting. The world needed him to be at his best, and he couldn’t fathom letting himself come up short.

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