We ended up heading for the resort just a few hours later. Amelia wanted a room to stay in, and unpacking in the house just to move immediately didn't make sense. We left Cark, Cass, and a few others behind since the wedding wasn't for a week. Cark wanted to check in on some friends in Rajak and Cass wanted to spend some time at the house.

Since Stella, Maria, Amelia, Alex, and all our friends from Valen were already with us, we just decided to skip a step and head right over. “So. Wintervale,” I prompted Alexander. “What’s it like? You’ve been before I take it?”

“I have.” He acknowledged. “My brother may be the guildmaster of the Unity branch on Callus, but as you might be aware, he splits his authority with a council of guild elders. I’m on good terms with several of them, and they mostly live in Wintervale. The Moravian is probably the most famous of them, since he’s the oldest Ascendant on Callus.”

I nodded. “Three thousand. But I doubt he’s going to be anything impressive, given where he is. Callus is pretty backwater in terms of cultivation knowledge.”

“Don’t bet on that.” Said Zeke seriously from where he was sitting across the table. We were in my mom’s Halcyon shuttle again, so there was room for everyone. “Anyone who has been at E-rank for a few millennia is bound to have some tricks. And just because grunts like you didn’t know anything about cultivation when you were here doesn’t mean the bigwigs are as ignorant.”

My mom nodded. “He’s right. There’s a long history of talented people stuck at a certain level perfecting their strength beyond what even some faction talents manage.”

“Damn.” I said with a sigh. “I forgot about that. Abel was like that, spent like a decade working on his strength at G-rank. But they can’t be Master Candidates right? Or I guess Grandmaster Candidates since they’re at E-rank. They wouldn’t have the soul strength.”

Alex shook his head. “It wouldn’t surprise me if the Moravian had been to the Ruined Soul Temple. Don’t forget it opens regularly. His origin is somewhat mysterious actually, he kind of just appeared out of nowhere from what I know.”

“There are quite a few older Ascendants who don’t bother with the limelight anymore.” Said Amelia with a frown. “Since they can’t reach D-rank, renown isn’t important for them. They bide their time, hidden away in Wintervale. Paul mentioned them quite often when we were married. The elders are a consistent source of aggravation for all the guildmasters.”

I just shrugged. “So maybe there are some decent fighters here. But we’re not pushovers. I’m not scared of anyone in E-rank, and I doubt Abel is either. Plus we have Bethy, Gabe, Callie, hell even Benny is getting to be decently intimidating.”

“Hey!” Snapped my best friend. “Don’t add me as an afterthought….ass. Not everyone can be a total monster like all of you. I’m damned impressive for my level.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway.” Cut in Callie. “We didn’t come here to stage a coup. The elders aren’t our enemies. We’re here to get married, and we invited everyone who would have gotten offended.” She winked at me. “Plus they’re all probably super rich. Think of the wedding gifts.”

I chuckled. “The loot goblin awakens. I hope you all put some effort into your gifts, because she’ll be inconsolable if she doesn’t get lots of shiny things to hoard.”

“I do not HOARD.” She snapped in annoyance. “I COLLECT beautiful and valuable items. In a pile. Inside my space ring. And sometimes I take them out and roll around in them. But that isn’t hoarding. It’s just enthusiastic appreciation.”

Bethy sniffed loftily. “She’s right. You’ll never understand the appreciation a true artist has for their craft. Philistines.”

“I don’t think robbing people counts as an art.” I said with a smirk.

Callie narrowed her eyes at me. “I don’t rob people. I simply forcibly collect a toll for allowing them the pleasure of my company in combat.” She swept her hair back over one shoulder dramatically. “It’s their honor to get beat up by someone as beautiful as me.” She raised a brow at me. “Right?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“You’re picking up bad habits from all the ridiculous nobles we’ve run into recently.” I snickered. I knew she was just playing, but her impression of all those lofty second generation nobles was way too on the money.

“Excuse me.” Said Celine in an offended voice. “I’m sitting right here!”

I patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. We didn’t run into you recently. We’ve had a long time to get used to your ridiculousness.”

She flipped me off, and Benny rocked back in his chair, clutching his heart dramatically. “Did you see that? Did all of you see that? Celine gave someone the middle finger. This must be what true love is like.”

“Does that mean you’re planning to propose like Shane did?” Jessie asked sweetly. “We could have a double wedding.”

Benny glared at her. “Don’t put that in her head!” He paled, turning to Celine. “Not that I’m saying I don’t want to marry you. We’re just really young. Not everyone can be as nauseatingly infatuated with each other as Callie and Shane.”

“If that’s in your best man toast, I’m going to punch you in the kidney.” I said cheerfully.

We looked at each other for a second, and then we both burst out laughing. The others just rolled their eyes at our antics.

“If you idiots are done.” Called my sister from near the wall of windows. “I think we’re coming up on Wintervale. This is actually pretty amazing. Come and see.”

I hopped up, hurrying to the window, and what I saw when I arrived took my breath away. A mesmerizing aurora lit the sky ahead of us, twisting and writhing over a small (by Callus standards) city nestled into a huge crack in the polar ice.

It was one of the most serene places I’d ever seen. The city was set within a verdant valley, pine trees and lush grass dotting the space, with buildings set in small recesses along a winding road. There were some shopping districts, a huge lodge, and dozens of smaller buildings that seemed like they might be restaurants.

Oddly, the weather seemed to shift abruptly once we entered the valley, which fit with the image of the place. From above it almost looked like the center of a flower, with the ice arching up over the top, leaving only enough open space to show the aurora. That was why I hadn’t seen the resort from space. It was hidden.

When we touched down, we were greeted by yet another round of reunions. Some of whom were surprising. Sydney and Megan from the Wave Warren, Lament and Wren from the Spear Legion, and Sloan, Beric, and Croll from the Beast Lord Garden, were all waiting for us when we touched down.

“You guys!” Callie squealed as she charged over to start giving out hugs. I laughed and followed, giving Wren a fist bump in greeting as Sydney and Megan tackled me. “Shane! Look how many people showed up!”

An amused voice sounded from behind us. “Oh, I see how it is. You saw us recently so we don’t get the enthusiastic greeting, huh?” I spun, eyes wide as I saw my cousin and Camden grinning at us.

“Nat?” I gasped, putting down the rabbit girls to hug Nat. “How did you guys get here? I didn’t think you’d make it in time, but even if you did it would have been closer to day of.”

She chuckled. “Well, after Zeke offed the Duke, there was a big shift in power in the Tolbert family.” She nodded at Camden. “His grace over here is getting way more attention from the top brass, and he was able to arrange faster transport. We took an A-rank ship to the nearest system hub and caught a portal to Callus.”

“You must have left around the same time we did.” I goggled. “Lucky catching a ride.”

“What can I say.” She said cockily. “I’ve got the moves.” I just laughed, squeezing her tight before I let her go. In the nearly ten months since I’d seen my cousin, she seemed to have been doing well for herself. Her quiet and withdrawn demeanor from after Perit died was gone, replaced with a slightly sadder version of the same cousin I remembered meeting before I first left home.

Valk, who had been standing off to the side, gave me a quiet smile and a nod, which I returned.

Bethy, who had been saying hello to our friends from the Wave Warren (screams of ‘bunny!’ rebounded across the clearing) spotted my cousin and blurred over to catch her in a hug. “Natty!” She squealed. “You look so great! I’m so glad to see you! How have you been? How are things back in the secret valley?”

“Hey Bethy.” Laughed my cousin as she hugged the tiny vampire. “It’s good to see you too. And the territory is fine. I’m sure Celine would be happy to give updates if you ask. I heard everyone got to meet your dad, I’m sorry I missed it.”

Bethy nodded quickly. “It was awesome. Daddy got to meet all my friends and then he beat up a bunch of S-rank enemies and scared everybody senseless.”

“It was definitely quite a sight.” I admitted. “Lark’s Domain is terrifying. But I’m glad you weren’t there, honestly. It was scary as hell, and we all almost died a bunch of times. Even Zeke barely made it out.”

She grimaced. “I heard Uncle Eli made an appearance.”

“An appearance is a good way to put it.” I sneered. “Then that asshole booked it out of there before I could see him again.” I smirked. “I punched him in the throat though.”

“Broke your hand?” She asked with a knowing smirk. When I nodded she just rolled her eyes and laughed. “You’re so melodramatic. Bet it felt pretty good though. Now where is my future cousin in law?”

Callie emerged from the crowd of well wishes. “Here I am!’ She called with a laugh, embracing Nat before pulling away. I saw a bit of worry and hesitation in her eyes, and felt more through the bond, but Nat’s open acceptance and greeting soothed her worries. Callie still blamed herself for Perit’s death, even if Nat didn’t.

“I trust you left room in the bridal party?” I asked with a laugh to take her mind off things.

Callie just rolled her eyes at me. “Yes, obviously. Leave all the important stuff to me and your mom, sweetie. You can pick the music or something.” She winked to let me know she was teasing, but I latched onto the joke immediately.

“Hell yes I’ll pick the music.” I said with a grin. “You ever heard of Witzern Delta?”

Her eyes widened in horror. “You are NOT hiring a singing comedian to sing at our wedding Shane. We have foreign DIGNITARIES coming to this. Witzern Delta uses PROPS!”

I cackled maniacally as I raced away, calling for Benny as my fiancee shouted in panic for me to stop messing around. I slowed to a walk when I was out of sight, enjoying doing a bit of teasing of my own, and then made my way up to the lodge.

We still needed to check in before we got started looking around as the venue and the rehearsal space and all the activity sites (Ascendant weddings were complicated and dramatic, much like Ascendants themselves). Benny caught up with me as I approached the front desk, and laughed when I told him about my earlier joke.

More and more old friends were showing up, and I couldn’t wait to see them all. Despite being in the polar ice caps, I felt warmer here on Callus than I had for over a year. Now I just needed to find someone to get my wishes out of the way, and I could really relax for a change.