“I can’t believe you revealed everything,” Amalyse was saying.
She and Rollo had decided to accompany Rieren when she joined up with the Shatterlands contingent reconstructing their outpost. Other than them, they had one of the dissident Elders who had joined the meeting a week ago, besides all the guards and workers that the Clanmistress had assigned.
There wasn’t a whole lot to do. Rieren and her companions were ostensibly present to prevent any wandering Abyssals from making a mess of things. Of course, the dissident Elder was more than capable of handling most monsters, but he was supposed to be here for administrative purposes.
They needed him to be kept busy with leadership responsibilities so he didn’t feel like he’d given up a potential position of power by letting go of his rebelliousness.
Such fragile egos. Rieren was tempted to mutter something unsavoury about the man, but she had appearances to keep up. Unlike him, she was well in control of herself.
“Well, it was going to come out sooner or later,” Rieren said.
Amalyse wasn’t satisfied. “Yes, but to blithely tell them everything is just…”
“Are you feeling a little left by the wayside?” Rollo was grinning madly.
Amalyse cuffed him on the shoulder. “It’s dangerous is what I’m trying to say.”
“We have thought things through, Amalyse. Trust me.”
Her complaints subsided at Rieren’s attempt at convincing, though she still didn’t exactly look satisfied.
They decided to try and help around with the reconstruction more. Rieren’s movement about the little settlement brought her in closer contact with more people. This had the effect of several of them recognizing her and paying their respects, one way or another.
Rumours about her had begun swirling since the day the Dreadflood had departed the Shatterlands. Rieren wasn’t certain about the contents of every rumour, but it was clear they’d included something about her appearance since many of these people recognized her on sight.
She wasn’t sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, it was excellent for her advancement through the Exalted realm, once she could gather enough Essence to do so.
On the other… well, one woman whispered if Rieren would consider taking a look at her newborn child and seeing if the little one had any potential. Rieren was a little too horrified at the prospect of any child growing up in the frontiers, where they might fall prey to some monster or other, to consider accepting.
There were a few other weird instances. For the most part, she wasn’t with Amalyse or Rollo during those times, so she was spared their reactions at the oddities.
At least it made the construction go marginally faster. Cultivators and strong warriors though the three of them were, they didn’t have a ton of building or architectural expertise. At best, they sped up grunt work such as carrying materials and relaying orders by a fraction. It was… a humbling experience, one that Rollo grew tired of within a task or two before giving up.
“I believe he only joined because of you,” Rieren said, wiping sweat off her brow as she watched Rollo’s back disappearing down the street towards the outpost’s gate.
“Me?” Amalyse was trying, and failing, to look shocked. “That makes no sense.”
“Whatever you say, Amalyse.”
For Amalyse, it was closer to hateful rebelliousness. As a scion of a powerful clan, her mother would have thrown a fit if she had seen her daughter performing menial labour. Just that thought was what kept Amalyse stubbornly going, even after it was clear she was disliking their job more and more with every task set by the dissenting Elder.
Well, at least one of them was happy. The older man seemed to be getting into his newfound role as time went on. The fact that he could order around the likes of Rieren and Amalyse no doubt helped.
After a few days, their post was relieved by another group of cultivators. Amalyse was thankful to drop a pallet of bricks into the hands of the large, heavily built man who flew on rocks.
“I thought we came here to guard, not build,” he said.
Amalyse shrugged. “We’re supposed to do what we’re told, apparently.”
He looked at Rieren for help, but she could only shake her head. Amalyse was correct.
Their next stop was a distant Sect. This was to the southeast of the region, away from the rest of the Elderlands. As such, it hadn’t been in any danger from the Dreadflood on its charge towards the capital, though that didn’t mean it had been spared from all trouble. Monsters had assailed the Sect’s borders and with Falstrom closed, they’d had no resources or reinforcements.
“Welcome to the Shadowed Breeze Sect,” Oromin said when they arrived. “I received the majority of my training here.”
A small, forested valley lay nestled in the Shatterlands’ southeastern corner, and it was within the shade of these trees, hidden among its rustling leaves and creaking branches, that the Sect lay.
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So much of it was familiar to Rieren. The architecture was different here, as were the materials used, including the paint, tiles, and all that.
But the layout wasn’t something a Sect disciple would ever forget.
The walls that spanned the whole Sect stretched beyond sight. The main dormitories rose just above the front walls, surrounding a central courtyard. Beyond them, the administrative buildings placed upon higher elevation were all superseded by the Sect Leader’s tower standing tall and bursting through the forest’s canopy.
One interesting facet of the Shadowed Breeze Sect Rieren rather enjoyed was how well they had incorporated the forest itself into their architecture and planning. It gave the whole place a lively feeling.
The buildings were all wreathed in vines and roots. Gardens of various sizes bloomed eternally—empowered by special runic formations, no doubt—while the burble of streams and gurgle of fountains danced with the skittering leaves. Some of the smaller buildings were actually treehouses, only reachable via rope bridges connecting to other treehouses or ladders.
Rieren took in a refreshing breath. “This looks quite mystical, I must say.”
“Oh yes,” Oromin agreed. “We pride ourselves on the environment we maintain here.”
“I would certainly have enjoyed living here.” When everyone stared at Amalyse for her blatant proclamation that could have been taken as a betrayal of Lionshard Sect, she looked a little sheepish. “For a vacation. Or an exchange group, like the one we had with Crimson Leaf.”
Oromin glanced at Rieren. “And here I thought you’d know all about the Crimson Leaf.”
Rieren hid her smile. One of the first deceptions she had employed in the Shatterlands was to claim that she was a disciple of the Crimson Leaf Sect. Back then, she wasn’t as certain about the people she was surrounded by as she was now. She didn’t know their true intentions, couldn’t be sure if any among them would betray her. Or worse, were actively hunting for her.
Even now, all that had happened hadn’t erased that possibility, of course. Events had just ensured that Rieren herself could place a greater deal of faith in her comrades. Trust forged through shared experiences and goals.
Trust… the idea made her relive the meeting with Mercion and what a terrible shape she’d left Silomene in. The poor woman had been distraught, though she was too kind to blame Rieren for any of it.
Not that it stopped Rieren from blaming—at least a part of it—on herself.
They were greeted by the Sect Leader himself soon enough. He was a paunchy, old fellow, looking nothing like Sect Leader Solmir.
“I am so glad you could come yourself, Lord Oromin,” he said, smiling at them with the enthusiasm of one who had a few digits removed from his age. “And you brought the recruits as well.”
The young children scuttled out from behind Amalyse. So far, they’d been using the big woman as a shield to stay out of sight, though they’d peeked out to get a good look at their new home.
“Yes,” Oromin’s said with a kind and encouraging smile.
Such a strange contrast to when Rieren had first seen him in the battle against the Arisen, when he had been so harsh and uncompromising. She couldn’t think of anyone kinder now. Well, except maybe Silomene. That made her wonder if everyone in the Tarciel clan was that affable and nice, though Silomene’s regard for her family made Rieren think otherwise.
“Are you ready, children?” Oromin asked.
Nobody answered verbally, of course, but they knew what was expected of them. These children had been prepared for this. They slowly stepped away from Amalyse and trudged towards the Sect gates with trepidation, speeding up a little when Rollo sneered evilly and stepped closer.
“Don’t be rude, Rollo,” Amalyse said.
“I haven’t even done anything.”
“Of course, how could you, the very picture of baby-faced innocence that you are? Makes me want to pinch your cheeks like this.”
She actually reached out and grabbed a hold of his face before he could react, which made the children giggle among themselves. Rollo pulled himself and subsequently glowered, setting them running—although, while laughing—into the Sect.
“Careful now,” Oromin called after them.
They didn’t need to worry. A few of the other Elders and several of the seniormost disciples were already there to receive the children, guiding them to their proper new home.
“You must all be tired,” the Sect Leader said. “Come, come. We’ve prepared refreshments, such that we can.”
The refreshments turned out to be not much more than the local fruits that the clan members had been able to harvest. As Rieren travelled through the Sect and into the Sect Leader’s tower, she had spotted a few locations where some of the buildings had fallen, or where a battle had clearly raged.
Evidence of an Abyssal invasion. Though thankfully, none of them were on the scale of what Lionshard Sect had suffered. Rieren doubted this Sect would have endured even half as long as Lionshard had.
“I won’t keep you long,” the old man said. “Please have as little or as much as you like. Our custodian has already prepared your rooms, though I suppose you won’t be staying long.”
Oromin took a bite out of a strange, purple apple. “No, we’ll be leaving early tomorrow.”
“We can rest for a few days,” Amalyse said. “You know, check around the surroundings to make sure there are no Abyssals or anything like that. There aren’t any dungeons nearby, are there?”
“We would be leaving for a dungeon tomorrow.”
“Yes, but that’s at the other end of the region. Or close enough, for all intents and purposes.”
Rollo gave a very un-Rollo-like snort. “You just want to stay here a little longer so you can enjoy the sights and smells and whatnot.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
Oromin coughed. “What’s wrong is that we aren’t here to enjoy a vacation. We are here on duty. Fulfilling our tasks takes top priority. We’ve received no report of anything suspicious occurring anywhere nearby, or the Clanmistress would have warned us.”
“Actually, my lord…” The Sect Leader looked a little hesitant about interjecting, but then he went on. “There has been a very recent disturbance, truth be told. Too soon for us to inform the Clanmistress.”
“What disturbance?”
“We had a meteor crash land not too far out in the forest about two nights ago. Our first one, actually. And I’ve heard how the meteors can be troublesome…”
“Excellent!” Everyone stared at Amalyse again. “I mean, we will do an excellent job of ensuring this Aetherian is no trouble at all.”
“You’re saying there is an Aetherian, then?” the Sect Leader asked.
He was doing his best not to give away his fear, but the very way he phrased his question let it slip. Rieren supposed that was the fallout of being so far away from civilization and being so divorced from current ongoings. The people in this Sect didn’t have anywhere near the kind of experience Rieren and her companions had.
“We will discover what there is or isn’t,” Oromin said. “Rest assured, Sect Leader. There shouldn’t be any trouble.”
That would depend entirely on what kind of monster they found awaiting them. Though, considering it had made no move in the two nights it had been here, there was some hope that it wasn’t troubling.
“I should hope not.” He smiled at Oromin, then at the rest of the entourage, lingering on Rieren longer than the rest. “Please take some of our disciples with you when you go.”
They retired for the day. Rieren left with no small amount of trembling in her heart. News of an unknown Aetherian wasn’t good. But along with the potential monster that they might face, there was that look the Sect Leader had thrown them—no, thrown her specifically.
It was almost like he looked up to her now. Madness.