Sword and Snow

Once Avuri and Mica began to practice their impersonation skills, time went by quickly. Avuri and Mica spent most of their days at the Elders’ compound trying to get their acting skills polished up enough that they could conceivably play their counterpart perfectly, which was truly no easy feat.

While they were kept busy, Cove and Glenn decided to take up a temporary residence at the basin. They were shocked at the number of children living there these days, even after being warned about it. They were, however, happy to help out around the place while enjoying their time off.

Vale was running between the two groups every so often to keep everyone informed, occasionally making the trip one way or the other with a passenger, but not often. Ieji was the one who came and went most often, followed by Emery. It wasn’t often that Emery and Avuri were apart for any real length of time, and Emery wasn’t about to let that start now; she made sure to see and spend some time with Avuri at least every few days.

They needed to be together to really make headway on their Cultivation, anyway. And they were both happy to have such a good excuse to meet often when different responsibilities kept them in different places.

The kids had also been unusually quiet - at least after they cleaned up from the massive water fight that had erupted previously. The following day, Emery had made sure that Stena and Enrik finished repairing the floor and that the group as a whole worked on fixing anything their water fight broke. Or submerged. Fia was, thankfully, rather adept at pulling moisture from things so she was able to dry out a lot of the fully saturated wood that they would have ruined otherwise.

But Emery was thankful that beyond that, they didn’t cause much trouble. Especially with the way the last few weeks had been, with an ever escalating series of pranks. It seemed like they could sense something big was on the horizon, though, and were focused on whatever that would be. Even the kids’ lessons went smoother than usual, with everyone paying attention.

Glenn and Cove even helped Emery with some of the teaching, giving the kids a perspective and new set of skills to learn from for a change.

Three weeks had passed without much incident, just like that.

Avuri and Mica were still at the Elders’ compound for practice, but were in the middle of lunch when Vyne came into the tea room where they were seated with Lyn and Eiry. Everyone looked up at him questioningly when he entered, but he simply nodded in response.

“It’s time. They’re moving.” He said gravely.

“What is the rough final count?” Eiry asked.

“Fourteen hundred.” Vyne said. “They haven’t gathered too many more since Ieji arrived here, and there hasn’t been a noticeable increase at all in a few days. I imagine that’s why they’re finally marching.”

Lyn nodded. “That makes sense. If what Ieji said is right, they probably gathered several more Sky Realms, and perhaps one or two Heavenly Realms at most.”

“That is all still within expectations though, right?” Mica asked curiously. “You said the twelve hundred number was easy for you - do two hundred more make a huge difference?”

“Unlikely.” Eiry said while shaking her head. “Unless they found several more Heavenly Realm Cultivators somewhere in the final few days.”

“If we’re being generous,” Avuri cut in, “and say they found three more for a total of twelve, how do you stack up?”

Lyn smiled at that, and something in her expression reminded Avuri of a predator. “It should be fine. We’ll have six dragons in attendance, and each of us could conceivably handle four or five Heavenly Realm Cultivators each.”

“The only concern is getting dogpiled by the Sky Realm Cultivators while the Heavenly Realms support them. It’s the one strategy that they could employ to work in their favor.” Vyne said.

Eiry nodded. “Vyne is right. We shouldn’t be too cocky here. There is a way they could win this battle if they play it intelligently. We don’t have any reason to believe that they are expecting dragons to take to the field, and they should be panicked by our appearance, which will give us the opportunity we need.”

“I just want to make this clear.” Vyne said, addressing Avuri and Mica directly. “If only because it hasn’t been said. If any of us were put in charge of their army’s battle plan, we could win. It just seems unlikely that they will make the correct tactical decisions to do that, while uninformed of what is awaiting them.”

“They also would incur massive losses if they fought us to a victory for their side, too.” Lyn chipped in. “Just to continue to be clear. They could win, but at great sacrifices. And I don’t think that’s their goal.”

“Right…” Mica said weakly, clearly unsure of what to make of all this.

“Basically, everything is going roughly according to plan.” Avuri said. And the Elders in the room nodded.

“As well as can be expected, yes.” Vyne said. “The main thing now is to get everyone in place over the next few days before they reach us, and to prepare for whatever fight may be coming our way.”

“Which is hopefully none at all.” Lyn agreed, then turned toward Avuri and Mica. “I suppose your time is up. I hope you’re ready for the real thing in the next few days.”

Avuri and Mica both nodded seriously. “We’ve got this.” Mica said, sounding confident.

“We should be able to manage.” Avuri agreed. “I think we’ve at least got our acting down, anyway. The real concern would be the talks we may have to participate in as you all.”

“Right…” Mica agreed.

“Well, we’ve done all we can on instructing you there, too.” Eiry said. “You have your orders and what you’re allowed to agree to. Anything beyond that though, and you should be able to call for a recess to discuss. If they don’t allow you that much, then they were probably looking for a fight to begin with.”

“Eiry is right.” Vyne said. “Assuming they do allow you to back off for a recess, you can simply link up with Emery and talk to us through her. There should be more than enough Qi flying about that your Domains would be mostly hidden.”

Avuri nodded, but Mica tilted her head in question. “Why would we need our Domains to retreat for discussions?” She asked, curiously.

Avuri blinked at her. “Oh. Emery and I have bonded our Domains. Did that not come up at all since you’ve been here?”

“Not once, no.” Mica said, clearly intrigued. “I’ve heard of that, but I have to admit, I’ve never met anyone who has done it. Is it actually useful?”

“You have no idea.” Avuri said, nodding emphatically. “I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone without making sure they know what they’re getting into, but we have gained so much from it that I don’t think we’d be where we are without having done it ourselves.”

“It is a significant power boost.” Eiry agreed. “Maybe the word significant even sells it a little short. If the two people involved in the bonding are true to their connection, the effect is better than any elixir or treasure. And that’s talking based on Cultivation strength alone, and ignoring the other effects.”

Mica looked clearly interested now, her eyes holding a luster reserved for finding something new and exciting. “There are drawbacks.” Avuri said, opting to try to curb Mica’s sudden interest. She didn’t want Mica to just go off to try to find someone to just be her bonded partner. Terrible things could happen.

“Our lives are intrinsically linked. It’s exceedingly likely that if one of us dies, so will the other. If one of us does survive somehow, their Cultivation will be crippled permanently. We also can only really Cultivate if we’re near one another and our Domains are linked.” As Mica’s excitement clearly dimmed, Avuri bounced back the other way. “Don’t get me wrong, the upsides are worth it, absolutely. I just want you to know that it’s not something to look for half-heartedly. You need to absolutely trust the other person involved.”

“Yeah, I hear you.” Mica said, clearly let down. She let out a big sigh. “Putting everything else aside, I just wish I could meet someone like that in general. I trust my brother and Cove implicitly, but it’s not quite the same.”

“No, it’s not.” Lyn and Avuri said in chorus. “A romantic partner is so much more than that sort of familial bond.” Lyn continued.

“To be fair, so is parent and child.” Avuri added. “Having close siblings is also important though. People you can truly rely on are far and few between, typically. Take all of them that you can get.”

“I know.” Mica said, then shrugged. “Maybe I’m just lonely. But I do recognize what I have, too. I don’t take them for granted.”

“That’s good.” Lyn nodded. “For what it’s worth, you never know when you’ll meet your match. Cyrus quite literally fell out of the sky in front of me one day, for example.”

Avuri laughed. “I met Emery at a tournament. When we fought, it was a draw and she forfeit immediately. I was so pissed at her at the time…But also, Lyn! I don’t think you ever told me that story.”

“Really?” She asked, looking genuinely shocked. “I’ll tell you at some point if you remind me. It’s a good one.” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“In the meantime,” Eiry interrupted, trying to get everyone back on track, “you two head back home for now and prepare. Make sure everyone is ready. We’ll start preparing the city itself, and gathering our forces.”

“Make sure Emery is in peak fighting condition and ready for anything.” Vyne added. “We’ll be relying on her to essentially be our centerpiece until our grand entrance, so she needs to look the part.”

“We know.” Avuri said, a small grin appearing on her face. “We’ve been working on her costume for weeks. Trust me, she’ll look great.”

“Good.” Lyn said. “I trust your aesthetics, Avuri. If you approve, I’m sure we will as well.”

“Thank you, Lyn, that’s reassuring.” Avuri said, bowing thankfully. “We’ll make sure everyone is prepared.”

“The next time we meet, it’ll likely be on the eve of battle.” Vyne said, a poetic lilt to his voice. “Take care.”

“You all as well!” Mica said, excitedly.

“...We still have to wait for Vale to get back to take us home, you know.” Avuri said.

Vyne turned on his heel and left the room anyway.

“...More tea?”

“Yes, please.”