Sword and Snow

Cierra was relaxing in the dining room with Stena when the Array alarm triggered. It wasn’t too late, but it was after sundown. At least some of the kids would be in bed by now. And Talya and Gray had gone to bed early to rest.

She had asked Talya to show her how to turn off the alarms earlier, but she certainly had not expected to actually use the new information so soon.

Almost immediately after they went off, Cierra jumped to her feet and turned off the alarm, hoping to keep everyone else asleep. Stena stood next to her, looking at the information that the Array was spitting out for them.

“It’s just one person?” Stena asked, watching the readout.

“It looks that way.” Cierra said, trying to decide what to do. “But they are a Sky Realm.”

Stena sighed. “I wish that the Arrays were able to get a stronger sense of someone’s strength.” She side-eyed her sister. “I think the two of us could take a weaker Sky Realm if we had to.”

“I’m not sure.” Cierra said thoughtfully, staring at the Array’s information. “Did you already forget the way Mom trashed you and everyone else? All at once? With zero effort?” She looked pointedly at Stena before looking back to the readout. “Domains are no joke. We shouldn’t treat them lightly.”

Stena rolled her eyes. “I’m not saying we should. But Mom is also an absolute monster for her level. So is Momri. And that’s when they’re alone.”

“You say that like you expect other Sky Realm fighters to be weak.”

“In comparison, I do.” Stena said lightly. Cierra shot her another dirty look. “Look, I’m not saying we walk out there unprepared and hope for the best. I’m saying we walk out there prepared, and decide what to do once we see whoever is coming.”

Cierra considered that. “...I’m admittedly not sure what we should do. It’s not like Talya and Gray are in a position to fight off an enemy. They’re both more support, worker types than fighters. It really leaves us and maybe Kord. Or a few of the others.”

“Right…” Cierra bit a fingernail as she thought about what they should do. She watched as the next round of Arrays were triggered. Whoever was approaching was moving slowly, which probably meant they were being cautious. Or at least presumably not reckless. “Should we use the emergency Array to contact Mom and Momri?”

Together, they looked at the little circle etched into the wall by the kitchen. If either of them pushed a little Qi into it, it would alert their mothers.

“I suppose we should, no matter what we’re about to do, right?” Stena said tentatively. “We’d definitely get in trouble for trying to defend ourselves without letting them know something was happening, right?”

“In this situation, yeah. The alarms went off and everything. They’d be pissed if we did something stupid like just attack the invader.”

They both stood still, continuing to eye the little circle, but neither made any move to trigger the Array. Neither wanted to be responsible for calling their mothers back from whatever was happening in the city.

Eventually, Stena sighed. “We need to do something, Ci. We can’t just sit here and watch whoever it is get closer through the Array triggers.”

“I know.” Cierra said. She took a deep breath and pushed some Qi into the Array. It lit up for a moment, blinked a few times, then went dark again.

“Now what do we do?” Stena asked. “Should we actually go out there?”

“If we’re careful.” Cierra nodded. “I think it’s our best option. Waiting here does nothing for us. But we scout before we engage. And keep as much distance as we can.”

Stena nodded, suddenly excited to do something. When she bolted toward the stairs, Cierra grabbed her arm.

“We should wake up Talya and tell her first.”

“...Yeah, I suppose we should.” Stena said. She hoped that Talya wouldn’t hold them back in the house for too long.

Leon slowly moved through the brush that led to the crest of the Basin’s wall. He knew he triggered a few Arrays, but they didn’t seem to have any effect. He had assumed that Ivory and her wife would have used a whole slew of dangerous trap Arrays, but the lack of any notable retaliation just far left him torn.

Should he be relieved that there was simply nothing? Or was the lack of any real defenses a bad sign for intruders?

He was mulling over that thought as he crossed into the Basin itself, sliding down the cliffside carefully. It was dark enough that he couldn’t really make out any of the buildings through the trees, despite the usable moonlight. The wisteria tree cover was thick, and made the buildings themselves difficult to see, but lights should have been visible.

The lack of them probably meant either everyone was asleep, or perhaps hiding.

Leon guessed hiding was most likely. He didn’t know exactly how many kids were living here now, but he knew that it was more than before, and the ages varied pretty wildly. The scouts he had paid to gather information for him hadn’t been able to get an actual list of the kids beyond a rough idea.

That was fine. The main thing that he had learned was the lack of stronger kids. One thing his scouts had confirmed was that Cierra and Stena were still the eldest kids here. Given their age, he guessed that we wouldn’t need to be too concerned with them. Even if they were trained by their battle-crazed mothers, it was unlikely they would be in the Sky Realm at their age.

And having a Domain always trumped not having one.

He smiled to himself as he slid down the last bit of the cliffside and to the flat ground portion of the Basin. He slunk toward the treeline quietly while trying to keep his head on a swivel.

He had only made it a few meters past the edge of the trees before he noticed two silhouettes standing openly in the middle of what passed for a path this far from the center of their home. As soon as he had seen them, his senses - including his Qi - zeroed in on them. The lighting wasn’t enough to make out features or anything, but both people had long hair and were of potentially adult height. Leon could make a guess as to who they were.

One had their arms crossed, and looked impatient. The other looked more relaxed, but still clearly waiting on something.

“Will you just come out already?” a voice echoed in the relative dark, clearly from the direction of the silhouettes. “We know you’re here. You tripped so many damn alarm Arrays on your way in that I’d wager people in the city know you’re here.”

Leon held back a snort as a second voice joined the first. “If you’d rather hide from two Earth Realm girls than declare yourself, that’s fine too.” She said, sounding chipper and snarky. “We’ll be sure to spread the word about the Sky Realm Cultivator that didn’t have the courage to face down their lessers. I’m sure the city would love that.”

The other voice laughed, and Leon could see the impatient silhouette bend forward with the laughter. “That’s true! Nothing spreads quite as well as an embarrassing rumor.”

Leon sighed theatrically as he strode out from behind his tree. He hadn’t tried to pass the women, so he entered the pathway directly ahead of them, still a ways away.

“As you wish, ladies.” He said, using his silky smooth merchant’s cadence. “Here I am. Do you mind terribly if I turn on some lights?” Without any physical motion, he flexed his Domain. He couldn’t extend it far, but he wanted to leave an impression. A sphere of golden fire simply appeared in the air hovering in front of him. He waved it off dismissively, and it floated into the air between him and the women. And then the light grew brighter.

When his eyes locked with Cierra’s - whom he had recognized immediately - he couldn’t help but smile. It was a domineering, vile thing.

“Ah, Cierra. That probably means that it’s Stena standing beside you.”

Cierra watched carefully as the man produced a flaming orb without any noticeable motion or cycling. That meant he probably had a Domain, and she whispered a short warning to her sister beside her. He had created the orb close by before it floated away though, so it might mean he had a small Domain? It could just as likely be a double bluff though.

She kept the thought to herself; she didn’t want Stena acting on the idea before she could confirm it.

As the orb floated up then brightened enough to emulate something approximately day-like, Cierra’s expression darkened. She recognized the asshole who stood before her in the same instant he seemed to recognize her.

“Ah, Cierra. That probably means that it’s Stena standing beside you.”

Cierra’s eyes narrowed on the man. “Leon. What an unpleasant surprise.” She spoke evenly, far more so than she thought she would if she ever met this man again. The urge to slap the disgusting grin off his face was overwhelming and it took considerable effort to not close the gap and attack.

She knew she needed to be cautious with this though. He clearly demonstrated a Domain. A careless approach would get her injured if not killed. That meant Stena, too. She couldn’t let her younger sister get too heated or she’d be difficult to keep calm.

Leon chuckled darkly. “Well, I won’t lie to you. Meeting the two of you out here alone like this is certainly a pleasant surprise for me.” He had a disturbing drawl to his voice that Cierra really didn’t like. “I had wanted to meet you again, but I didn’t think you’d come out to greet me.”

“If we had known it was just you, we probably wouldn’t have.” Stena said, sounding disinterested. Cierra could tell she was just trying to rile him up.

“That’s true.” Cierra agreed. “We came out here in case someone really dangerous was coming for us, but knowing it’s just you, I’m less concerned.”

Leon didn’t seem to take the provocation very well. “If you’ll recall, the last time I saw you, I made you cry.”

Cierra just stared at him, dumbfounded that that was the approach he took. “...Yes. You - an adult - made a child cry by slapping her. How proud you must be.”

Stena chuckled. “Maybe that’s the rumor we should spread. ‘Leon Mephra hits children and likes it.’”

Leon’s expression went from the fake mild interest to anger remarkably quick after that little needling. He didn’t say anything, but a whip made of fire appeared in his right hand and he swept it about himself a few times, as if testing it.

Cierra and Stena simply watched the man as he seemed to attempt to show off. But the last two cracks of the whip had touched nearby trees - and they immediately lit, the beautiful purple of the wisteria branches beginning to burn.

Leon’s eyes seemed to twinkle in the new firelight, dark and dangerous. “You know, your mothers should have known better than to make their entire home so flammable. It’s almost a wonder that the place has remained all these years if this is how those two idiots ‘protect’ it.”

Stena tensed, preparing for a fight. Cierra followed suit, but did so in a much more dramatic way. She became the center of a storm as she waved her hands in a sweeping motion. Wind, snow, and ice kicked up around her and spun to life.

It shaped itself into a dragon and settled around her, coiled and ready to strike. The wind and ice surrounding her expanded, covering a few meters from her - about half the distance to Leon. She made a note of that; she would have expected to see a change in the technique if it contacted his Domain.

“I have to admit, Leon,” Cierra said sweetly, “I’ve dreamed of getting revenge on you for years. You’ll regret slapping me the way you did.”