Sword and Snow

Avuri, Mica, and Ieji all stared after the Deposits’ trio as they left, wondering exactly what to do from here. No one had expected them to just up and retreat like that, and the group was entirely unprepared for how to react to the new development.

“I…suppose we should head back to the city?” Avuri said. “If they’re really not planning on talking to us any further, there’s no point to staying out here.”

“Agreed.” Ieji said. “We’ll keep an eye out to be sure that they do, indeed, pull back like they said they would. But you’re right that there’s no point in staying here. Let’s go check in with Cyril and Ray.”

Mentioning the two other Elders was a good reminder to stay in character for Avuri. Not that she was planning on slipping, but it was still good.

“I’m sure they’ll want to hear what came of this.” Mica agreed. “Let’s go.”

As the group turned around to leave the hut and head back to the city, Avuri focused on her connection with Emery.

“Any idea who this ‘Aysol’ is?”

“None. Never heard the name before.” Emery sent back. “The message was clearly meant for Eiry though. I assume she’ll know the name.”

“That’s true. We’ll have to talk with the Elders later after this is settled then.”

“Yeah. We’ll make sure to do that.” Emery assured her.

The small group got a huge number of confused stares as they moved back within the city walls at first, but shortly after they made it inside the Deposits’ forces began to withdraw en masse. Cheers went up at first, though there was plenty of confusion at the sudden departure spread throughout the crowds as well.

Things moved pretty quickly after that. Avuri’s small group returned to their safe room in the garrison that was relatively close to the eastern wall. The Deposits’ forces withdrew quickly, all things considered. They moved with a level of discipline that was surprising from what was reported to be a fairly ragtag crowd.

Once they were well outside of striking range of the city, most of the guards and Cultivator defenders dispersed as well. Emery made a show of dismissing the dragons, but making sure that people overheard her saying that she would call on them again if there was ever any similar sorts of trouble. A chorus of triumphant roars echoed over the whole city, which would no doubt spawn countless rumors about what happened.

Emery had to put in some effort into getting away without being mobbed by other Cultivators. After the dragons had flown back toward the Peaks, several groups of Cultivators had crowded around on the top of the wall hoping to talk to Emery when she returned to come back into the city. Even if she had been clearly weak, her connection to the dragons alone would have been enough to get her mobbed. But when she was also clearly at least a competent Sky Realm Cultivator, there was no getting around the interest in her.

Thankfully, the full armor coverage was enough to help her maintain some semblance of anonymity. In full view of everyone, she pulled a cloak from her storage ring, slung it over herself, and made her way toward the city. Once she stepped onto the top of the wall, she was immediately surrounded by other Cultivators and inundated with all kinds of questions.

A passing attempt at an ‘excuse me’ was all she bothered trying to get out before she focused some Qi into her legs and leapt away. She moved from roof to roof for a short period of time before jumping into the most empty alley she could find.

After quickly checking her surroundings, she dumped the whole set of armor and her cloak into her storage ring, then sent Avuri a quick ‘I love you, talk soon.’ through their link before she pulled her Qi back. If someone was stubborn enough, they could potentially track her by tracking her Domain and Qi signatures - but they would currently be tracking their combined Domain. Severing the link for now would change the way their Domains and Qi felt, which would likely shake off any pursuers for the moment. And that moment was all she would need to dip into the crowded streets.

From there she quickly made her way toward the garrison where the others would be meeting up. She imagined that she would probably beat the dragons there, but not by much. They were capable of moving incredibly fast when they wanted to, and probably would make it through the city easily at that speed uninterrupted, even if they were coming from the Peaks.

Once she made it inside the garrison, Emery followed her Qi toward Avuri and found it easy enough to navigate through the crowded corridors and to the room deep within the garrison where everyone was gathered.

Almost in the same instant she entered the room she was grabbed by Avuri in a fierce hug. Emery squeezed her wife back with a relieved smile.

“I guess everything went alright, huh?”

“I’m honestly not sure.” Avuri said, still sounding somewhat worried. “They withdrew so easily, they must have something up their sleeves, right?”

“It’s entirely possible that they were telling the full truth.” Ieji said, thoughtfully. “They could have a reason to lie, of course, but if we take what happened at face value, it does make sense as well.”

“What did happen, exactly?” Emery asked. “All I’ve gotten so far is that they decided not to pursue anything after seeing the line up of dragons and just retreated. And the Aysol name, too.”

“That’s basically it.” Mica said, slumped in a chair. “The way they talked about it made it sound like they were put up to the attack, or maybe hired to do it. That ‘Terrane’ guy made it sound like he thought they were being used.”

“The lady Cultivator said something to the effect of wanting to bring the city to heel for the resources in the Peaks and that they didn’t want to destroy the city, but was almost immediately contradicted by Firmis who said that even if they did damage the city, they’d get away with it politically.” Ieji said.

“And commercially, too.” Mica chimed in.

“I don’t see how.” Emery said. “They would need huge backing for that. Flowing Dragon City trades with so many other cities, I don’t see how they wouldn’t at least get blacklisted commercially.”

Avuri sighed. “I have an idea regarding that…” she trailed off, looking toward Mica along with Glenn and Cove who were still here. All eyes in the room turned to her and faces fell as each of them probably came to a similar conclusion. “They said that the city has its enemies. There’s a pretty obvious merchant group that has both the capital to support such a coup, as well as a potential reason to do so.”

“...You really think they would go that far?” Mica asked.

“We haven’t heard from your family in over ten years.” Emery said, putting it together. “Would they hold a grudge that long?”

“Hold the grudge, absolutely.” Glenn offered. “They’ve held grudges for longer for less offense.”

“I don’t suppose you three know anything about the current internal affairs these days?” Avuri asked.

Mica, Glenn, and Cove all shook their heads. “Not at all.” Cove said. “It’s been years since we’ve so much as sent or received a letter. We actively avoided leaving a trail after we left, so they probably don’t even know we’re here.”

Emery nodded. “Understandable.”

“Yeah.” Avuri agreed. “There’s not really any proof that they’re involved, it’s just a gut feeling. And, to be fair, I’m sure that the Elders have made plenty of commercial rivals and enemies that would be willing to help out a merchant group that overthrows them.”

“There are several of those, yes.” Eiry said as she walked into the room, followed by the rest of the Elders, as well as Vale.

“Surprising no one, we have plenty of enemies of all kinds.” Ray shrugged. “So, kids, want to go over what was said in the meeting? The sudden withdrawal was certainly not expected.”

“There wasn’t all that much said.” Ieji reported dryly. “They didn’t expect six dragons to show up, decided they were outmatched, and left accordingly. They alluded to being hired or tipped off about the city being easy to take by someone else. After that they basically appeared to give up and left, wanting nothing more to do with the city.”

“As they were leaving, one of them mentioned that they didn’t like feeling used and lied to, then said that someone named Aysol sent them.” Mica added.

The name triggered an immediate and obvious reaction in all six of the dragons. Eiry cursed under her breath. “Shit. What’s that old man up to now?”

“You know who that is, then?” Avuri asked. “We weren’t sure, but given the name it seemed likely that -”

“He’s a dragon, yes.” Cyril answered. “One of the old guard, and an Elder at that.”

Eiry sighed dramatically, which was out of character for her. “Emery, Avuri, you two are already dragged into this far more than I would have preferred. But Mica, Glenn, and Cove…you three are still relatively unknown amongst other dragons. If you want to get out of here and avoid whatever mess is coming, you should do that now.”

The three of them wordlessly shot looks back and forth between them all. “We’re willing to help,” Glenn said, “if we’re actually of any use. Living in the Stone Breaker Sect has gotten a little monotonous for us anyway.”

Ray laughed. “I like you guys.”

Eiry, however, seemed more serious about it, although her lips did turn up in a smile. “You’re sure? This could get very dangerous for you.”

Mica shrugged, overselling the motion. “We’re due for some excitement, I think. We’ve spent the last ten years laying low in the Sect and slowly building up our strength. Seems like it’s the perfect time to do something with it if we can.”

The smile that Eiry gave Mica was unusually motherly for her. “I appreciate that.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “Well, the short version is that I was basically exiled here originally - to keep an eye on the Peaks. I eventually founded Flowing Dragon City and built it up into what it is now - with some help.” She nodded toward the other Elders.

“I love it here. I love the city. It’s people. This place. Several of the elder dragons that originally sent me here have been trying to get me to leave for a while now, to be stationed elsewhere and build up other cities to be like this one.” Eiry moved to the table and sat down in one of the chairs, suddenly looking rather exhausted. “I don’t want to leave.”

“And now it seems like Aysol - and who knows who else - has decided that they’ve had enough of her turning them down.” Cyril said.

Avuri nodded. “Knowing that reframes what their leaders said a little bit. I think they were willing to destroy the whole city to get you to leave, then.”

“Aysol’s never been one for half measures.” Lyn muttered.

“Did they not know how many of you were here?” Mica asked. “They seemed surprised that there were six of you.”

“They probably only knew about Vyne and I.” Ray said. “The two of us don’t keep as low a profile as Lyn and Cyril. As for Vale…” He trailed off, looking toward the other dragon.

“That’s complicated.” Vale said flatly.

“They also couldn’t have been given that much information.” Avuri said thoughtfully. “They didn’t make the connection that Eiry was meant to be a dragon, given that they still thought that they were talking to you, even after six dragons showed up. Aysol must not have given them a lot to go on.”

“If he just hired them, that makes -”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Vyne said suddenly. All eyes turned to him. “But we have a problem. A small force just broke away from the Deposits’ main forces. They’re headed toward the Peaks.”