13-28. Black and White
Even as riots swept through Ithalon, Elijah dropped to his knees in despair. But his eyes never left that corrupted tree. He could feel it, now. He could sense the rot within. The influence of the abyss – of the Ravener – wove its way through the Branch’s entire structure. A poignant reminder of where he was.
Of what he’d left behind.
Of his most recent failure.
A thousand images, mostly of the people back on Earth, flashed through his mind. In the space of a second, he saw Sadie. Carmen. Miguel. Nerthus. All the other members of his grove. He saw Ironshore and Seattle, New York and Kalki. He saw what they would become. He imagined their fate, which mirrored the desolate world of Gorveth. And most of all, he saw his own meaningless future, and for that brief moment, he sympathized with Ko’rien’s choice to simply give in. To give up. To surrender to the futility of her existence.
In that bare moment, Elijah wanted to do the same.
It passed quickly, but the echoes lingered. He shoved them into their own leaves, then forcefully shed the negative thoughts. They would do him no good. Dwelling on failure was a useless endeavor.
He pushed himself upright, letting the Shape of Scourge fall away in the midst of his despair. His bare feet whispered across the tiles as he approached the Branch. In form, it looked very similar to the one he’d discovered in that long-abandoned city months before. However, instead of being entirely conquered by the corruption, it felt only partially infected by the Ravener’s touch.
When Elijah drew closer, he saw that each limb featured only the thinnest strand of branching corruption. A black thread, embedded within the crystalline structure.
He could feel it, too. Hunger and a desperate need to consume. To absorb all. To convert everything to its nature. However, the one thing that was missing was the Ravener’s presence.
Elijah reached out, expecting nothing more than to be overwhelmed by its attention. Yet, when he touched it, he found nothing but cold crystal.
And a notification.
| Congratulations! You have satisfied the requirements to evolve your class [Primal Lord]. You have 1 path available to you.
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