Sword and Snow

When Emery and Avuri left their meditation, it was early morning. The sun was still just cresting the horizon. And, normally, everyone would still be going through their early morning routines.

When Emery extricated herself from their little nest of pillows and opened the curtain to let in the sun, she saw that this morning was far from normal.

Many of her kids were already up and about, fully dressed, going about all kinds of activities. She could see Kaili, Elena, Wulf, and Lia keeping many of the younger kids occupied while the older ones went about their chores. Briar and Karn were weeding the fields, while Elise and Enrik mucked the barn. Kord and Fia were running around to collect and wash laundry.

Even Stena and Cierra were out there, trying to assist. They were checking the Arrays that Talya had set up around the whole space for functionality, and given their slow, inward spiral, Emery had guessed that they had started at the outer defensive formations.

When Avuri stepped up beside her to watch the controlled chaos, Emery leaned against her.

“With how excited and jittery they look, you’d think they’re the ones about to face down an army.” Avuri said, trying to keep her tone light.

Emery closed her eyes and took a deep breath, sending out a prayer to who or whatever might listen. “We can only hope they don’t need to. If things get bad, it’s not impossible that a fight will reach them up here.”

Avuri slid an arm around her wife reassuringly. “We’re doing everything we can to stop that from happening. And we’ll have that emergency alarm Array if something does happen.”

Emery nodded, still watching their kids run about. Avuri was right, though. Talya had made an Array that was functionally a slip of paper that would turn red and make noise if she triggered the alarm end of it in the basin. If anything happened and they were needed back with their family, they would know.

But Emery still couldn’t help worrying about it. What if an assassin-type got in, able to stealth their way past the wards like Ieji did? Or a small, advance raiding party made their way into the Peaks to explore and found them here?

Worse still, judging by the way Avuri’s fingers were shaking, even if only slightly, told Emery that they likely shared similar worries. She could reach out with her Domain to share their thoughts and feelings if she wanted to, but decided it was perhaps better to let them worry separately for now.

“For now, we should check in with everyone.” Avuri said.

“And then head to the city. The Deposits’ army should reach here today.” Emery nodded.

“Yeah. They’ve made no secret of their approach or intentions, so it seems unlikely they would hurry to arrive early. Which means Vyne’s prediction of just after noon seems most likely.”

Emery took in another deep breath and lightly pushed herself off of Avuri and into a walk. “Well, let’s go.”

Fifteen minutes and a piercing whistle note later, nearly everyone was gathered in the playground. Twenty five of the kids were here, although Elise and Enrik were still working in the barn; they were within Earth Realm earshot, though.

Talya and Gray stood to the side, watching, as did Vale, though he was clearly lost in thoughts of his own. Emery met Talya’s eyes for a moment, and some kind of understanding seemed to pass between them. Emery silently vowed to do everything she could to protect this whole family, while Talya did the same. Their respective battlegrounds may be different, but their will to see this family safely through was the same.

Avuri took hold of Emery’s hand and squeezed, affirming her own feelings on the matter, too. Even Gray looked resolved, despite only having been here for a little over a month. Emery decided right there that she really should get to know the man better after this whole fiasco was over.

“Alright, everyone. As I can tell you all know, the day is here.” Emery began. “The Deposits’ army should reach Flowing Dragon City today. Avuri and I will be going to meet the threat, along with Vale and Ieji. We’re teaming up with the Elders, too, so you don’t need to worry about us. I promise, we’ll come back safely.”

“By now,” Avuri took up the speech, “you all know your roles here while we’re gone. Leave the chores alone for a few days, or at least until we tell you otherwise. Kord, Stena, and Cierra will take care of the animals, but nothing else really needs to be done. Stay in your houses with the Arrays all locked. If you get worried, gather in the main house together and lock it down as well. Gray and Talya will be here to help with anything you might need.”

“We should be back in a day or two, if things go well.” Emery continued. “If things go badly, it’s much harder to say, but I imagine we shouldn’t be gone longer than a few days at most. The Elders on their own can basically handle the enemy army on their own, supposedly.” She looked at Talya then. “Talya has an emergency alarm Array that she can use to signal us to come home if anything goes wrong. If you think something has, get to the main house and talk to her about it.”

“And when she says ‘anything’, she means it.” Avuri added. “Don’t ignore little things. If you all follow the rules and don’t leave your houses unless you’re moving to the main house, there should be very few things happening around the basin. If something feels off, tell Talya. She should be able to figure out what is happening with her monitoring Arrays and make the call on whether you all need help.”

Talya took a step forward to draw attention to herself before speaking. “Avuri is right. If anything seems off, please tell me. I have enough Arrays set up around the basin now that if you tell me that a bush was moving, I should be able to figure out why. If someone somehow miraculously gets past all my wards, they’re likely to leave the most miniscule of traces. Take them seriously and tell me.”

Nods and murmurs of agreement passed through the crowd of kids.

“Good.” Emery said, then took a deep breath and sighed. “If you all know what to do for the next few days, I suppose that means it’s time for us to prepare to leave.” She side-eyed Avuri, annoyed. “And I’ll need a little help strapping into my armor. If any of you would like to -”

Hands shot up all over the playground and excited whispers broke out. Avuri giggled at all the sudden excitement, and Emery shot her a glare to quiet her.

“I only need like two of you…Maybe three.”

Half an hour later, Emery was back inside the main house with Fia and Enrik, the annoyed winners of the rather intense rock, paper, scissors, tournament that was held to decide who got to help Mom with getting ready. Arek was also helping as the one who had the idea in the first place.

As Emery had requested, the armor wasn’t too ornate. At least she couldn’t say it was all form over function. The armor was still well crafted and would be usable by any competent Cultivator.

The materials used were ones that could conduct Qi well, which would make the armor incredibly tough, even against Qi attacks. And, of course, the stand out material used was obviously the dragon scales.

They were a notoriously difficult material to work with when obtained forcefully. Removing the scales from a dragon’s hide without damaging either is an incredibly difficult task, even for the most accomplished artisans. And dragon scales are also typically very hard, but also somewhat brittle, along similar lines to diamond.

These properties change somewhat when they are gifted by the dragon to a friend, however. If the dragon is alive when the scales are removed, they retain some of the dragon’s Qi. This keeps them hard and sturdy, without becoming brittle the way they do after a dragon’s death. These types of live scales are also considered incredibly precious and rare.

And the suit of armor that Emery was given to wear was not only generously covered in such living scales, but also clearly covered in six distinct colors.

Overwhelmingly, the armor was black, utilizing mostly Vale’s scales. But each of the Elders had also contributed to the piece, adding accent colors to different sections of the armor. Thankfully, it was tastefully designed to avoid looking patchwork, with just a splash of different colors for trim or design work.

While it was being strapped on piece by piece, Emery marveled at each grouping of scales. Blue from Lyn, crimson from Cyril, golden-yellow from Eiry, steel gray from Ray, and a dark green from Vyne.

The scale mail was surprisingly easy to move in once it was on, too. Whether that was simply a property of living dragon scale, Emery wasn’t sure; she’d never had anything made from them before. But once the chest piece was affixed and strapped on, alongside the gauntlets and helmet, she found herself moving her upper body about to test its motion limits - and finding almost none.

Her shoulders could extend in full motion in any direction, and she could twist her torso almost fully from side to side, but the limiting there was fairly minute. The only issue she really had was the faceplate on the helmet. Yes, she had asked for one to hide her face, but the eye slits and general coverage over her face was a visual obstruction that she was not at all used to.

She would have to pretty heavily rely on her Qi-based senses if she got into an actual fight. Or tear the helmet off, she supposed.

Emery wasn’t really sure which was the better option. She wasn’t thrilled with the idea of the general populace knowing she was this mysterious dragon friend that came to defend them from the attacking Cultivators. But she wasn’t willing to risk her life to keep her identity a secret.

“I think you’re all set, Mom.” Enrik said, as he patted the last buckle on her left shin guard. “Everything seems to be in place. You said you’ll have people able to help you in and out of the armor in the city if you need it?”

“I’d better.” She chuckled. “I’m sure Cove and Glenn could assist me, and they’re bound to be close by with Mica taking part in the whole charade.”

“Good.” Fia said, as she stood up straight and took a step back to inspect the overall look. “It’ll be a pain in the butt to get in and out of that armor, but it definitely leaves an impression.”

“You look so cool, Mom.” Arek said, almost on the verge of jumping up and down. “I’m really glad you picked my idea.”

Emery carefully ruffled the boy’s hair affectionately, which turned out to be very weird given she could feel nothing through the thick leather gloves. But as she did so, she stepped to the side to view herself in the mirror.

And Arek was right; the overall impression was simply amazing.

The helmet was fashioned to evoke a dragon’s head, but without the features. There were antler-like horns sticking out from the top of the head, and ridged parts to suggest a face, but no real features. There was a single eye slit that crossed the helmet horizontally, allowing vision from both eyes, with a contoured trim of red scales around the slit, making them almost glow against the black of the rest of the helmet.

The body, again, was primarily black scales. There were sections of the dark green scales under the arms, along the flanks, and in the stomach area of the armor, but the dark green was dark enough that they matched the black rather well. Similarly, the dark green patches continued on the faulds and down the outsides of the legs, keeping a singular pattern over the body.

Fashioned around the neck instead of a gorget was a scarf sewn with Lyn’s gorgeous blue scales to protect Emery’s neck. And on her vambraces and boots, Eiry’s golden yellow scales were designed to look like claws.

Finally, the last piece was a rather large shield covered entirely in gray scales from Ray. She wasn’t sure she would use the shield in a fight, as she typically preferred a free hand or a floating weapon as a shield, but it still completed the overall ensemble.

“I really do look cool, don’t I?” She said with a cocky grin.