“They…what?”
Emery looked around at the dumbfounded faces around the table. Her family and the City Elders alike all stared blankly at Ieji in disbelief.
“Simply put, they think you’re weak.” They reiterated. “Well, to be more precise, they’ve apparently been told by someone that you’re weak.”
“Ieji, you’re going to need to explain a bit further.” Vale said, rubbing the spot between his eyebrows. “You can’t honestly be saying that The Deposits are basically building an army because they’ve been told that Flowing Dragon City is weak.”
“That is exactly what I’m saying.” Ieji said flatly. “From what I could gather, someone at the top of The Deposits was told by some kind of insider that the people that are in charge of Flowing Dragon City are pushovers.”
The Elders, who hadn’t said anything since the initial announcement, ranged from looking stunned to fuming. Ray in particular looked about ready to scream.
“The Four Dragon Peaks - and by extension, Flowing Dragon City -,” Ieji continued, “are well known for being incredibly rich in natural resources. The Deposits may be famous for their excessive, high quality ore production, but the Peaks are known the world over for their high density of natural treasures, whether that be flora, fauna, or earth.”
“Sure, but -”
“Apparently,” Ieji rolled right over the interruption to keep explaining, “having heard that the city that essentially serves as gatekeepers for the Peaks was full of pushovers, one of The Deposits’ leaders decided it would be worth it to make a move. They plan to gather a large enough army that they could march on Flowing Dragon City and simply make the city fold under the threat of a fight.”
With their piece said, Ieji sat back in their chair, face returned to their standard unenthused mask.
The Elders, Emery, Avuri, and Vale all looked between one another silently, each lost in their own thoughts. But the expressions they traded were unanimously filled with disbelief.
Eventually, Vyne was the one to break the silence. “As of this morning, the size of their encampment has reached around twelve hundred.”
“Still not really a size that we should actively worry about, then.” Eiry said. “Assuming that average percentages hold, of twelve hundred Cultivators, around three hundred of them would be Sky Realm.”
“And twenty or so Heavenly Realm.” Ray added.
“When I left, there were two hundred and sixty eight Sky Realm Cultivators, and nine Heavenly Realm Cultivators.” Ieji said, their voice flat. “That was several days ago. But I think it’s fair to say that The Deposits can’t field that many high Realm Cultivators. They simply don’t have that many. The nine that were there have been there since they started gathering, and no more have joined them.”
Ray snorted. “With those numbers, they really don’t pose a threat if we take the field.”
Cyril let out a sigh, garnering the attention of the room. “You’re right. The power of those of us in this room is more than equal to that of those numbers. But the equally obvious truth is that Flowing Dragon City doesn’t have the manpower to field a large enough army to deter this attack.”
“Cyril is right.” Eiry agreed. “Taking us out of the equation, if we were to field our entire guard force, even including the contracted Cultivators, we could manage somewhere in the realm of eight hundred. With less Sky and Heavenly Realms, both.”
“So, there’s no easy way to turn them away from the fight.” Avuri said in summation.
Lyn smiled wanly. “Ironically, our outward appearance does actually support the claim that Flowing Dragon City would be quite the pushover.”
“It’s survived for centuries on the power of implied threat and rumors.” Vyne shrugged. “In retrospect, we should probably be impressed it’s taken this long for someone to call our bluff.”
Eiry chuckled. “True enough. We’ve been here for so long that I guess we started to buy into our own lie a bit, hm?”
“It did start out that way, didn’t it?” Ray asked, some of his fire replaced with reminiscence. “Build some pretty walls, tell everyone you’ve got the power to back it up, and with enough rumors flying around, they’ll believe it.”
“Apparently for a few hundred years.” Vale said with a chuckle.
Emery and Avuri looked at each other for a moment, then back at the Elders. “So, given that, what exactly is the plan?” Avuri asked.
“Well,” Lyn began, while the others were still lost in their reminiscence of the old days, “as we said, even if we field all of the fighters we have, the defense wouldn’t be intimidating enough to turn away The Deposits if they’re coming as a show of force. Doubly so if their intention is to simply force us to fold.”
Cyril spoke up next. “Which means we either fight a battle where both sides lose.” His eyes shifted to meet Emery’s. “Or we make our own show of power.”
Emery felt the bottom of her stomach drop at that. And it just managed to keep dropping as more eyes landed on her.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
She slumped back in her seat. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
Avuri tried to hide a small smile behind her hand. “If what the Elders need is to be able to simply show up to make an obvious show of force, then it’s really quite an easy thing to do.”
“We’ve already been working on spreading the rumors of a contracted Cultivator hanging around the city with dragon connections.” Eiry said, her tone serious. “It fits right in with the other Cultivator rumors.”
“True. There’s a rumor going around the city right now about someone freezing an entire city block solid for a few moments, and then everything…just…unfreezing at once.” As Ray spoke, eyes slowly turned from watching Emery slouch in her seat defeated, to Avuri and her slowly sliding down the back of her own chair as she turned bright red.
“Avuri…” Vale said, shaking his head. “A whole city block?”
Despite her face being a fierce crimson, she did her best to hide it with her hands as she covered her face embarrassed. “Some Cultivator kid was harassing me! In the street! He grabbed my butt and it was a knee-jerk reaction!”
Emery sat up straight and nodded fervently. “Good. You did good. And you unfroze it all immediately, too.”
“I did.” She said, and looked at the Elders sheepishly. “Sorry.”
Laughter broke out around the room. Lyn waved her concerns off. “Don’t worry about it. If the kid really did lay a finger on you, he got what he deserved. And no one was hurt in the end, so you’re probably fine.”
“Good story though.” Ray said. “Rumors like that are the ones that have kept the city safe for so long. Freezing an entire block is no joke. And no doubt by the time that rumor reaches other cities, you’ll have frozen a whole city quarter in an instant.”
The dragons all shared nods over that, while Emery and Avuri traded looks. “Then, you’re welcome, I guess?” Avuri said hesitantly, refreshing the round of laughter.
When the laughter finally died down again, Vyne tried to reassert the important topics. “So, is this really going to be the plan we settle on, then?” He asked, his expression thoughtful. “It started as an offhand joke, but it does seem like a fairly easy way to explain away the arrival of six dragons.”
Emery sighed. “Look, I understand that this feels like an easy option for us to take, but we need to really think it through.” She counted off potential cons on her fingers. “First, having a contracted Cultivator be responsible for what amounts to the entire defense of the city will potentially make the city look even weaker. Second, I know we said we would try to hide my identity, but on the off chance I’m discovered, do you all really want your appearances to be linked to me?”
Concerns finally seemed to be making their way around the table as Emery brought up what she believed to be all valid points. “Third, building off of two, if I get found out somehow, all of this getting linked back to me and my family is something I do not want. And if such a thing puts my family in danger? We will leave, no hesitation.”
Emery glanced at Avuri for back up on that point, and Avuri nodded in agreement. “That, at least, is one point I will not back down on. Fourth, you need to be prepared for The Deposits to make a move anyway. Because I’m just a Sky Realm Cultivator, I won’t actually be of any help in that fight if Heavenly Realms are involved.”
“And fifth,” Emery said, counting off her thumb, “if this plan does work, and The Deposits demand to see the City Elders on the field for discussions, what will you do?”
That did seem to stymie the table more than any of the other points. Evidently, they were accepting responsibility for the potential that Emery and her family may need to leave if things didn't go to plan. But Emery continued working off her last point, as it seemed to bring up the most concern.
“I assume you don’t want to show yourselves transforming in broad daylight on a battlefield. Which means either the dragons would need to retreat while the Elders are fetched, or you would need stand-ins to act in your place while you remain as dragons.”
Avuri was the one to pick up from there. “That’s harder than it sounds, isn’t it?” She said, thinking it through. “It would be one thing if people didn’t know you, but the people of the city do know you. And the Cultivators would recognize you on sight. If the enemy demanded to speak to you on the battlefield, there’d be no good way to hide.”
“That’s…true.” Eiry allowed. “None of us are known to use palanquins, so it’s not as though we could be carried out in them for show. We would be expected to walk out from the city gates, heads held high, and make a good show of the walk.”
“Couldn’t we simply send someone in our place officially?” Ray asked.
“It’s not that simple.” Cyril said, shaking his head. “If the draconic display works, and they demand to talk to the Elders on the field, sending envoys from the city would be seen as a slap in the face. They may feel like they have no recourse but to attack for the insult.”
Vyne sighed. “The concept of honor can be something of a prison in moments like these.”
“No kidding.” Vale muttered.
“How many Elders do you think they would need to meet with for it to seem legitimate?” Ieji asked, inserting themself back into the conversation. All eyes turned to them. “I imagine you don’t need all five of you. So I’ll ask again, how many do you think would be enough for the appearance to not be an insult?”
“Three?” Lyn asked, unsure.
“Three of five seems like a show of good faith.” Eiry agreed. “It’s ostensibly more than half of us, and would constitute a majority for discussions.”
“I believe I could manage a show of three.” Ieji said. “I’ll need two others to help me fill the roles, but it should work.”
“You really think so?” Eiry asked, intrigued. She shot a look at Vale with a curious lilt to her eyebrows. “Vale did say you were an infiltration specialist, but nothing more than that.”
Ieji stood from their chair and bowed politely before cycling their Qi. Within seconds, their body and face contorted, a strange shadowy mist of Qi springing from their body. Then moments later rather than Ieji, Vyne was standing in their place. Or at least a near perfect copy of Vyne, right down to the solemn, pleasant expression he normally wore.
“Does this suffice as an example?” Ieji asked, completely in Vyne’s tone of voice. The effect was never anything short of amazing.
Silence covered the room for a moment, before Eiry asked, “And you could do this for two others at the same time?”
“Yes,” Ieji answered. “So long as they are capable of acting the part of whoever they play. But my technique will replicate the visuals as well as voice. We should find people of roughly the same stature as those they’ll be playing. And hopefully someone who knows the person well.”
“Well then,” Lyn said with an impish grin, “I think Avuri should play me.”