Sword and Snow

As it turned out, spending extra time in the bath wasn’t always pleasant.

After playing truth or dare for some time, Cove and Gray began to feel a little faint from the hot water. They had been stubborn and remained fully in the water even after Talya, Mica, and Emery had all opted to at the very least sit at the edge of the bath. The two men starting to feel sick was the metaphorical final call for the group as they finally decided to pack it in for the night.

The next morning was a mishmash of different things. Breakfast was made, and everyone came to eat - as did most of the kids. The meal lasted for a couple of hours as Avuri’s cousins were accosted with questions and attention. The older kids had opted to talk to their mothers about how things had gone and got a middling explanation that skipped over some things. At least for now until things were more settled.

Then, after breakfast, everyone more or less went about their normal schedules. With their parents’ ok, all of the kids went about their daily chores and routines almost as if nothing had happened at all. There was still a strange energy in the air throughout the Basin - mostly radiating from some of the adults - but life had begun to resume already, after just one day.

That day went by quietly. And so did the next. Avuri’s cousins remained, and were more than happy to assist with chores and things around the Basin while also taking this rare chance to Cultivate on the Dragon Peaks when they weren’t busy.

It was the third day after everyone returned that things began to progress again. Shortly after lunch, Eiry and Vale arrived. The two of them had come alone, leaving the other Elders behind at their hideaway with the Cultivators that had been taken in after the fight on the Peak. The group of adults didn’t need much prodding to come back with the dragons to address what would happen from then on, and were carried off by Vale and Eiry in fairly short order, once again leaving Talya in charge, though under far less dangerous circumstances.

The trip was mostly quiet, as everyone was deep in thought about what to do from here. And the wind in flight was so loud that it was more difficult to communicate than it was really worth.

Once they arrived, Eiry led the group through the fortress and down a number of corridors that Emery and Avuri hadn’t really seen often. They had been given something of a tour at one point ages ago, but rarely went anywhere here other than the audience chamber and the tea room hidden behind it.

In this case, Eiry led the whole group to what was essentially a large training room. The other Elders were there, sitting along one wall and talking amongst themselves. It might have been the most normal Emery had ever seen them look, fully dressed in basic clothing to work out in, and joking around.

Once the whole group was together, everyone opted to sit on the floor in a large circle before the discussion really got rolling. Vale patted Emery and Avuri on their backs reassuringly before moving to his own spot.

“I imagine you’ve brought us here because you’ve learned something?” Avuri asked, the first to really speak.

“Nothing particularly useful, sadly.” Vyne said. “Or at least nothing new. Mostly we just confirmed a few suspicions we held.”

“The rank and file Cultivators were basically nothing but hired muscle. And weak muscle, at that.” Ray said. “They had quite literally zero useful information, and they unilaterally said that one of the four little leaders hired them for the job.”

“What about Terrane?” Ieji asked. “Did the poison wear off alright? And did he give you anything useful?”

Eiry shook her head. “He didn’t give us much. I think being so trapped in his own head by your paralytic damaged his psyche.”

“Apologies, if that is the case. He seemed rather…disturbed during our fight already, so I’m not sure if he was already holding on by a thread or not.” Ieji said.

“It’s alright. What we did get out of him basically matches up with what we already knew, as well as what little information Firmis and Quarris had.”

Lyn began to count off her list on her fingers. “First, Aysol is responsible - at least partially - for this whole fiasco. Second, Avuri’s family was also a backer in some way, though to what extent is unknown. Third, the Sky Realm Cultivators you fought were still basically underlings; they had little knowledge of anything pertinent. And fourth, no one knows what the next play is.”

There was a bit of silence as the list was digested. Then Mica asked, “So we don’t even know if they’re going to make a second attack?”

“Well, we know that they have at least gone home. Or, rather, are still on their way.” Vyne said. “I’ve been tracking the army’s movement, and they have been true to their retreat. I haven’t noticed any other groups break off from the main force either, though at the range they’re at now, I could definitely miss it.”

“So, are you able to explain exactly what is going on with Aysol?” Emery asked. “I think Avuri and I understand the most basic portion of it, but I don’t know if anyone else here does. And I suppose it’s up to you all if you feel like you should or want to explain, anyway.”

Eiry sighed. “I think you’re all owed an explanation at this point, after putting yourselves at risk for us.” She paused and took a few breaths, considering where to start. “I don’t want to get into dragon politics too heavily, so I’ll do my best to keep this simple.” She paused again, appearing to once again try to measure her words.

“For starters, despite being a flight and wind technique expert, I’m actually an earth based Cultivator. There were a huge amount of twists and turns in my Cultivation that led me to study wind and flight, but none of that is really important. The important part of this is that when I was younger, after Cultivating my flight ability, I gained the moniker ‘Sky Dragon’ from some random human. The title stuck, but a lot of older dragons took issue with it. We can all fly, after all, so they were mad that I had been given a title that was logically fitting for any of them.”

“I, being basically an obnoxious teenager at the time, decided to take the name Eiry as a reference to my abilities as well, and actively used the title ‘Sky Dragon’, and claimed it officially as my own. That sat even worse with the dragon powers-that-be, and they decided to do something about it.” Eiry was controlled while telling the story, but it was clear from her expression that she still wasn’t quite over what had happened.

“When they eventually ganged up on me to try to force me to abandon the title and my taken name, I used my techniques to literally rip the air out from under their wings, grounding them.” She smirked then, reliving the moment. “There were, I think, twelve of them there that day. Whether or not it was the right or wrong decision, or how petty it was, I think I made my statement that day. None of them could fly in the sky that day, because I said so.”

The smirk faded into a wry smile. “It was obviously petty, but I also spent time flying around above them to prove my point. And, to be fair, my point was proven. Most of the dragons let it go after that. I had shown why I took the title and that was that.” She sighed as she moved into the last bit of her story.

“It was obviously not enough for some. There were enough dragons in power at the time that were mad at me for basically showing off. They decided to send me to the Dragon Peaks as a guardian of the area. It was heralded as a great honor despite essentially being an exile sentence, so I couldn’t really fight it. And that’s how I ended up here.”

“That was…let’s just say a long time ago.”

“And once you got here, you started working on building the City.” Emery prompted.

“Correct.” Eerie nodded. “I’ve put a lot of effort into helping human Cultivators build Flowing Dragon City. A lot of it was from behind the scenes. Very few people know who or what I am. The same goes for the rest of the Elders, too. But with the City being as well managed as it is, it has helped me regulate and protect the Dragon Peaks as well - which was supposedly why I was sent in the first place.”

“So then why, exactly, did Aysol send a whole army of Cultivators to come mess with the Peaks, let alone the City?” Glenn asked.

“Putting aside the little zealots that we captured trying to get to your Basin, I don’t think the Deposits’ army had any intention of attacking the Peaks themselves. They were probably under direct orders not to mess with them, even.” Eiry sighed. “What they’re actually after is forcing me out of Flowing Dragon.”

“What? Why?” Mica asked, clearly affronted on Eiry’s behalf.

“The simple version is that some of the dragon leaders are very impressed with what I’ve managed to accomplish here. They want me to return and be sent elsewhere, to basically do the same thing over again with a new city.” Eiry scoffed. “They can fuck right off. They exiled me here in the first place, and I’m going to make the best of it. If they want to make another new city, more power to them. But I’m staying right here.”

Emery smiled. “It’s petty, but well said.”

“Eh, it’s definitely the type of petty I can get behind.” Avuri agreed. “They sent you here with no plans to recall you and let you rot in what used to be the middle of nowhere. You turned the middle of nowhere into the middle of somewhere, and now you’re getting punished for it by being assigned elsewhere?” She shook her head, clearly unamused. “No, you deserve to stay.”

“And Eiry’s not alone.” Ray chipped in. “We’re all on her side in this.”

“Mind you, the five of us isn’t exactly a lot.” Cyril said. “But it’s fairly rare for dragons to live in proximity to one another like this. So we have some level of defense simply because we outnumber any individual who is likely to come calling.”

“If the dragon’s ever decide they really want Eiry back, they’ll eventually send more than we can deal with on our own.” Lyn continued. “There’s no way around that. But I’m not sure they feel strongly enough to send what would essentially amount to a strike team. And even then, I’m not sure their pride would allow it either.”

“So, what you’re saying is that we’re moderately safe here, then?” Cove asked.

“Moderately.” Eiry confirmed. “In essence, it’s mostly that my recall isn’t urgent, so it’s unlikely that they’ll act quickly. And in addition, they would need to have several dragons cooperate, which is also very unlikely. So, in theory, we have time.”

“Well that’s…something. I guess.” Mica said, sounding on the fence.

“If nothing else, think about it this way,” Lyn offered, “you’re still safer here under the protection of six dragons than just about anywhere else. So, it’s not really dangerous here. Until it is. And that should be at least several months away - but more than likely, years.”

Eiry shook her head to clear it, then addressed the group again. “We can talk about what you all plan to do after this later.” She smiled at Mica and added, “I have an offer for you three if you’re interested, too. But for now, we should get to why you’re actually here today.”

“The prisoners.”

“Yes.” Eiry said.

“I would greatly prefer it if you don’t just execute them all.” Lyn said. “But after their attack on your family, they are yours to decide what to do with.”