Zach looked out from the prow of his airship as they approached the heart of the Twilight Melody Sect. Squadrons of airships patrolled everywhere the eye could see. Their arrival at the sect border had been met with an immediate challenge. They were obviously on high alert. They were stopped at almost every territory, as they made their way to Consequence, despite his identity being confirmed. They weren’t taking any chances. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel⸺fire.net
As their airship was let through the final checkpoint, and he was able to see the movements of forces both in the air and on the ground around Consequence, which allowed his mind to put together a much clearer picture of the events.
He already knew that there were attacks across sect territories, that leaders of many sects were dead. Bera was in contact with the Twilight Melody Sect, as well as their other allies, so they knew some of the situation, not everything though.
“There were three attacks here,” Zach said as what he was seeing sorted itself through his mind, and knowledge seeped in. “Three targets.”
Naha just grunted next to him, while Hiro spoke.
“Do you think that everyone is alright?”
Zach didn’t answer immediately, instead he ran through the interactions he had with Twilight Melody Sect people over the last day, as well as what he was seeing now. They were alert, but not in panic.
“I’m sure that they would’ve told Bera if anyone was hurt, but I don’t think anyone is,” Zach answered as they approached the landing strip near the center of the city.
Zach nodded, then glanced back at her. “Do you think this is what I tried to warn myself about with the Exalted Empire reports I retained with my perk?”
Bera reached and pushed her spectacles up her snout. “I’m uncertain, but it is clearly related. Though, if they had plans for an attack of this magnitude, why didn’t you grab those?”
Zach grimaced, her question hit a point that he had been trying to figure out for a while. The nature of his perk was such that he couldn’t know what he had experienced when he used it. But he knew himself well enough to know that there had to be a reason for his actions.
He turned away from those thoughts as they landed, and were then quickly escorted to the palace and a meeting room inside.
The room was dominated by a large table covered in papers and recording crystals. Karya stood on one end, reading through a report, while Erdania stood nearby looking down on another. In the corner, Selia sat in an over sized but plush chair, with Kri looming over her. Hiro split off and made his way over to her.
“Zacharia,” Erdania raised her head as they entered. “Welcome.”
“I’m glad that you’re all safe,” Zach said.
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“It’ll take more than a few budget Reaction Engines to take us down,” Selia chimed in from her chair. “You were attacked as well?”
“We were,” Zach answered. “I apologize for arriving without an invitation, but I can help. There are things that I can share in private.”
Selia exchanged a look with Erdania, then nodded.
“That’s a lot of reports,” Naha commented as they approached the table.
Karya threw one she was reading down on the table and spoke. “Most of them are from other Sects, what we could get. Mostly rumors and conflicting information.”
“So it is true then?” Bera spoke up. “It’s a full invasion.”
Despite Bera’s connections, they’ve gotten very little information. They weren’t really part of the Sects.
“Yes,” Karya said. “It’s early days, and they’ve clearly been planning this for a long time, they cut off most of the lines of communication from the sects they hit in the opening hours of the fighting. Which is a problem, by the time we manage to get a full picture they will have made a lot of progress, build up momentum that I don’t know how we’ll be able to stop. So far, they’ve hit every Sect that borders the core, the Dragon Heart’s newest territories were hit as well.”
“Where’s Ryun?” Zach asked, he could usually sense his presence. Ever since his change during the fight with Ra’azel, Zach’s perception easily caught his presence when he was near, it made the world around them less flawed in a curious way.
“Off to the Dragon Heart Sect, an emergency gathering of the Sects,” Karya answered. “Hopefully they can agree on a swift and decisive action, otherwise things might get difficult.”
“We still don’t know how many assassinations took place, or how many of them were successful,” Erdania chimed in. “Losing Sect Heads might make the ones not yet fighting a lot more cautious.”
“Surely they’ll see the danger,” Zach said slowly. “The sects already united and fought a war against a threat before. This is the same thing.”
Erdania grimaced and shook her head. “A war away from our lands, a war that had cost us a lot. It’s been years, and many sects are still recovering from it.”
“They can’t ignore this,” Karya said.
“With Hitor dead, it will depend on who is left standing, and who can wrangle everyone together,” Selia added.
“Hitor is dead?” Zach asked.
He sighed, he had fond memories of the Sect Head, and his brother had helped him immensely.
“I should head for Dragon Heart too,” Zach said. “I have information about the Exalted Empire that might prove useful.”
“I’m sure that they will welcome you,” Erdania commented. “Power matters a lot in the Sects, and yours is known.”
“You should go with him,” Selia said, looking at her partner.
Erdania frowned. “We agreed that I’ll stay with you.”
“I’m safe,” Selia said. “Karya is here, and I’ll have Narya soon.”
Zach tilted his head, it was obvious that there was more to this conversation than what was being spoken out loud, their expressions changed, flashing through several emotions before finally Erdania sighed and turned to look at him.
“I guess that I’ll be coming with you, if we hurry we might catch the summit before it ends.”
They took a sect airship, one faster than his. Before leaving he had Bera leave them with all the information they had on the Exalted Empire.
He walked up on the deck of the ship as they neared the Dragon Heart Sect, and found Erdania standing near the railing looking out at mountains in the distance.
He approached and stood next to her. They’ve mostly kept to themselves on the trip, but he could tell that something was bothering her.
“You’re worried about Ryun,” he said after a few seconds of silence.
Erdania glanced at him, then nodded. It wasn’t that hard to deduce. What was more difficult was the reasons why both she and Selia were worried.
“I might offer some insight, if you want it,” Zach said slowly.
Erdania looked like she was struggling for a few moments, then she spoke. “He closed himself off from us after the attack. It worries Selia.”
Zach felt flickers of old memories flash through his mind. “That sounds like him.”
“He was so angry at the attack. She worries that he’ll do something rash.”
“A response is needed,” Zach said. “This attack was unprovoked, and their intentions are clear from their actions.”
Erdania didn’t answer, he could tell that there was a lot on her mind, so he didn’t press. He would speak with Ryun himself soon enough.
Out in the distance, the Dragon’s Peak awaited.