Act II - Reyla

Reyla and Dergobor made their way back to the city with haste. They didn’t want to risk their absence being noticed, although it was unlikely. It was the middle of the night, and while she knew that the Twilight Melody Sect warriors kept their eyes on the compound, Dergobor’s perks were powerful enough to keep them from being seen or overheard when they were active. And the watchers were unlikely to enter the compound itself to make sure that everyone was there.

They reached the walls, and Dergobor activated his stealth field, so that both of them could climb over without alerting the guards. Once they were in the city Dergobor deactivated it, since it couldn’t be active for long when it was hiding more than one person. Their meetings with the Knights that patrolled the Frontier were few and rare, but they were necessary. They had the most up to date information regarding the expansion of the Frontier and the states of the sects in this area. And Reyla had needed more information regarding the monster swarm if she was to make a decision about their interests here.

Now, she didn’t know what to do. She had sent word back to headquarters using the Far-link Orb that the new head of the sect was from the Seventh Iteration. The response she got was that there had been no arrivals from Earth with the rest of the Seventh Iteration, and that it was possible that he was in fact telling the truth. The Tower would investigate through their people in the core, and she would get further instructions after. Reyla knew that the Tower had people working for them in the core, some of the smaller factions, but only a few knew who they were working for. Secrecy was their best weapon.

Reyla doubted that the Tower would want for her to make a better offer to the sect head and try to have him join their cause. This part of the Frontier wasn’t really important to them other as an additional route to use to move troops and resources. But they had many other routes that were far more reliable and closer to their targets. There was no need to push for this one as well. Reyla knew that her mission was a punishment, and that the only reason the Tower still gave her orders was because of her family, and now perhaps because the developments with the sect.

She was stuck here, but there was an opportunity as well. The Ruler of the Empty Sky was in the sect as well, although Reyla knew that she had been freed from her collar and had left with former Sect Head to another territory. She had hoped to try and smuggle her back to the empire, but she had no resources to do it. And she hesitated to report her existence to the Tower. The empire might be united, but there were still differing interests inside of it. And she needed to make sure that a resource like the Ruler of the Empty sky was used properly and that it benefited her family. It was the only thing she could do to redeem herself and remove the stain that her failure had left on her family name.

But, she couldn’t exactly reach her family to ask for advice without her message being intercepted. And she still had no idea what to do. She had entertained the idea of kidnapping, but with the new Sect Head being such an unknown, she didn’t think that they could afford the risk. Approaching the High Ranker herself would be difficult without being seen. There didn’t seem to be anything that she could do, and so she felt helpless. She wanted to serve her Order, and to serve her family, but she didn’t know what to do. This position was supposed to be a simple one, and yet events had conspired to make it much more complicated. This wasn’t what she had been trained for, she was a warrior not an emissary.

Finally, Reyla and Dergobor made their way across the city and reached their compound. They jumped over the walls and inside, still using shadows as cover they slowly made their way toward the main building’s  rear entrance. They climbed onto the porch and Reyla reached to open the door and walk inside when a voice spoke out startling her.

“I hope that you had a productive outing, Knight Ornn,” the voice came from the side, somewhere in the deep shadow on the porch.

Her body reacted on instinct and she pulled out her spear from her ring whirling around as it took her mind another long moment to recognize the voice. By then it was too late, Dergobor had his two daggers in his hands and he lunged forward at the source of the voice. No one from their group would ever speak that way while they weren’t secure, so it could only be an outsider. Dergobor had trained for most of his life to act quickly and decisively. Reyla opened her mouth to call him back, but she knew that it was going to be too late.

His daggers flashed with red light as he stabbed forward. The shadow seemed to move, and Reyla saw a hand snap out, impossibly fast and grab Dergobor around the neck. In the next moment Dergobor’s back slammed into the wooden wall cracking it, but he wasn’t out yet. He raised his daggers and stabbed forward again, but violet and black Qi manifested around the shadowy form like armor and his daggers bounced off.

“Stop!” Reyla said quickly. “Dergobor, stand down.”

Her companion froze as Reyla’s voice got through to him. She held her spear pointed to the ground, not wanting to look threatening. She had recognized the voice, and knew that there was little that they couldn’t fight their way out.

“Nayra! Wake everyone and get to the back porch, ready for a fight,” Reyla sent with her mind even as she spoke out loud. “Sect Head,” she inclined her head. “I assure you that my subordinate didn’t mean to attack, he was just startled.”

“What happened?” Nayra’s voice said inside her head.

“The Sect Head is here, holding Dergobor against the wall. He had to have followed us,” Reyla sent to her sister as her eyes looked at the form in front of her. It looked as if the shadow was donned in armor. But then the shadow receded, or rather the man became more visible, more focused. The Sect Head, Ryun Nacht was looking at her, as his hand kept Dergobor pressed against the wall.

“How? Didn’t you take precautions?” Nayra sent, but Reyla didn’t answer. They had taken precautions, but it looked like they had not only been followed but also overheard. Which shouldn’t be possible. Dergobor had one of his more powerful perks active, one that prevented sound from being carried beyond a few steps in a circle from him. And she was sure that the man couldn’t have been that close to them without any of them noticing.

He called her Knight Ornn, so he had heard some things, but she didn’t know how much. He couldn’t know about the empire, aside from the fact that he wouldn’t know about it because he was from the Seventh Iteration, they hadn’t ever referred to their home. Not with any detail that could tell him what and where it was.

The Sect Head tilted his head and his armor made out of Qi disappeared, then he dropped Dergobor to the ground. Dergobor coughed and moved away, closer to Reyla.

“I was under the impression that you people were mercenaries, that your deal with my sect was simply for you to send people through and explore beyond the Frontier. To look for a territory you might want to claim. Your meeting did not seem like that of a simple Mercenary Guild members.”

Reyla swallowed as she heard his words. He had to have overheard everything, but she didn’t know how? Dergobor’s perks should’ve prevented any sound from reaching him. But she knew that there was no time for her to try and find an answer, the Sect Head was standing in front of her looking completely at ease, and that terrified her.

“You are not thinking about fighting him?” Nayra’s voice sounded inside her head.

“I apologize, Sect Head,” Reyla bowed deeply. “I am sure that you—”

“—Don’t.” The Sect Head interrupted her and took a step forward, he put his hand on her chin and raised her head up. “I value one thing above all, the truth. I do not care for your secrets, they are yours to keep. But lies to my face are something entirely different. I do not care what your faction does or who you are, but I will not have you plot something that would bring harm to those in my care. Please, be very mindful of the words you choose to speak in my presence.”

Reyla shivered at his words, she was about to deny everything that he had heard, try to find an explanation. But the look in his eyes told her that she shouldn’t even try.

“Uh, I…” She trailed off, not knowing what really to say. All her training told her to lie and keep the truth hidden, and now…

“Allow me to help you then,” Ryun said. “I have heard everything. So, I know that your faction is larger than you say, that you have agents in other sects on the Frontier and that there is apparently a monster swarm headed this way. As I’ve said, I do not particularly care about who you are and what you are doing, as long as your shipments keep coming and your actions don’t impact my people. But, if you are in fact plotting something else, then I believe that it would be best for me to deal with you now rather than wait for you to make a move.”

His voice hardened as he finished the sentence and she decided that they didn’t have much choice. She was certain that he was willing to kill them all if she didn’t speak soon. She opened her mouth, but again, he interrupted.

“And just so you know, before you make your decision, I can feel your people around this compound readying for a fight. If they attack, you will all die.”

The words died on her lips, and she looked around. She wondered how far he could sense.

“Well, I don’t think that we should fight him at all,” Nayra said. She had to be close if she overheard that.

“We can’t fail again Nayra. We can’t have our secrets be revealed.”

“Didn’t you hear him? He doesn’t want to know our secrets! Just tell him something that is true, but doesn’t reveal who we are.”

Reyla wasn’t sure if that was going to cut it. The silence stretched as Reyla and Dergobor stood across from the Sect Head, and then before she could decide to speak the doors opened and Nayra stepped out.

“What do you think you are doing? I didn’t give you an order to move!” Reyla sent but her twin ignored her words and instead focused on the Sect Head.

“You are right, we are part of a larger faction and we do have more interests here than what we’ve told you,” Nayra said.

Reyla felt Dergobor stiffen next to her, she herself was frozen with shock. What Nayra was doing was bordering on treason.

The Sect head turned his head to face Nayra, even though without eyes he didn’t need to. She knew that it was just for effect.

“I already knew that,” the Sect Head said. “But I am glad that you are willing to confirm it.”

“We can’t tell you more, we have our orders,” Nayra continued. “But you are not our enemy, that much I can tell you.”

Reyla closed her eyes. Nayra was speaking out of turn, without authority, it was treasonous. But she herself was too frozen to add anything else. She watched the Sect Head, knowing that he was going to ask for more, that they wouldn’t be able to reveal it and then everything was going to come crashing down. There was going to be a fight.

She should’ve never been sent here, the Tower had no idea that this area would turn into a point of interest, but still they should’ve sent someone more competent than her.

The Sect Head took a deep breath and then spoke. “I believe you Nayra. I do not need to know who you are, but you will share with me the information you have about the monster swarm and the neighboring sects that impact my own.”

Reyla blinked, she had expected more questions about their faction. But then she slowly understood. Those things didn’t matter to him. He wouldn’t even know what it meant for them to be from the Third Iteration. He didn’t know about the war, about their exile, how everyone thought them to be dead. What Nayra had said, what Dergobor had asked her after their meeting, it was the truth. This man wasn’t their enemy, he was unrelated to anyone else. He still didn’t know much about them, just that they had more assets in the Frontier than they had claimed. But it could lead to unpleasant conclusions or questions if that information got back to someone in the core.

Reyla took a step forward, brining the man’s attention back to her before Nayra could say something else.

“My sister is right, we aren’t your enemies. But we do have many other enemies who will not hesitate to use any information they may get to hurt us. I promise that I will let you know about the monster swarm and the intelligence we have of the other sects neighboring yours. In return, I hope that you could keep our secret, that you would act as if we are just a small Mercenary Guild,” Reyla said. It was technically within her authority to expand and make deals with the Twilight Melody Sect, but she knew that the Tower never intended for her to use that authority. But it was better than having the Sect Head kill them all.

He tilted his head, and then nodded. “I will keep your secret, but tomorrow I will expect one of you to come to me and give me all that you know about threats against my sect.”

With that he turned, and walked off into the courtyard, a moment later he jumped into the air and was gone.

Reyla released a deep breath, and then, after she composed herself, she rounded on her sister.

Reyla walked out of the office, feeling shaken. She had just used the Far-link Orb to report to the Tower. She had told them everything about what happened with the Sect Head, about the things he knew and what he demanded of them. The response hadn’t been… kind. She had failed in her duty again. The Tower was recalling them, and they were going to send someone much better suited for a position in a sect ruled by a Ranker from a Seventh Iteration. If there was something good that had come out of this, it was that the Tower agreed that a Ranker that was unaffiliated with anyone in the core could prove to be an asset. So at least they were not going to be sending assassins to deal with the problem.

But she didn’t know what she was going to do. Would she be thrown out of the Order? Her superior had all but said that. Reyla walked into the common room where Nayra was sitting and waiting patiently, if somewhat subduedly. The tongue lashing Reyla had given her just a few hours ago had cowed her.

She took a moment to look at her twin for a moment, before she was noticed. Nayra’s eyes looked hard, determined. Reyla had done her best to heal their relationship, but the gap was still there. Nayra and Reyla didn’t see eye to eye on most things, and Nayra always seemed too rash to her. What she had done with the Sect Head was the prime example of her acting without thinking, even though she the outcome hadn’t been as bad as it could’ve been.

Finally, Reyla stepped in and Nayra noticed her. She turned their eyes met.

“What did they say?” Nayra asked.

“We are being recalled. They will send a more competent team here. I doubt that our family name will keep us from being expelled from the Order,” Reyla said. All that she had ever wanted to do was serve and make her family proud. It was what she had been trained to do all her life.

Nayra nodded her head, as if she had expected it.

“You should pack your things, we are leaving as soon as I deliver the reports to the Sect Head about the monster swarm and the Last Ember Sect,” Reyla told her, trying very hard not to yell again.

The calm expression on Nayra’s face made it extremely hard for her to keep her cool.

“I’m not going,” Nayra said.

Reyla blinked, her mind not comprehending the words for a moment. “What do you mean? You don’t have a choice.”

“Have you seen what he is like?” Nayra asked, ignoring Reyla’s question. Before she could ask again, Nayra continued speaking. “He is so free, and so strong. I’ve always wanted to be like that, to be free to make my own choices. Yet, everything in my life had been prearranged. My power, my choices, my life, all dictated by others. All supposedly so that I would be the best, and still I failed constantly. I fell behind you when we were supposed to be the same. I don’t want this anymore Reyla.”

Nayra’s eyes bore into Reyla’s, hard and determined.

“I want to make my own choices for once, to succeed of fail on my own.”

“Do you understand what you are even saying?” Reyla asked quietly, her fingers biting into her palm. “All that we do is for a purpose. Something greater than us. Something that all of our people had worked toward for centuries.”

“I know what we are working for, but I just can’t bring myself to care. Why is my life dictated by something that happened long before I was born?” Nayra asked.

“Our family has—”

“—Our family?” Nayra interrupted, her face twisting. “How many times did we see our parents since we were children? How many times had we spoken with them for longer than an hour? What family Reyla? We were raised by servants, trainers, and a few of our siblings that bothered enough to visit us every few months. We have a family name, we don’t have a family.”

“What about me?” Reyla asked, her voice shaking.

“You… do you think that I don’t see how you look at me? Like I am a failure? And it hurts more because I know that it is true. I fuck everything up. And I know that you wanted to try and fix things, but I can’t be like you. The good soldier, I am not built for that Reyla. I love you, but I can’t follow the path others chose for me anymore. I need to make one for myself.”

Reyla’s head filled with so many responses. She wanted to scream at her sister, to give her orders, to wail and beg. But she saw the look in her eyes, she knew that none of it would do any good.

“What do you want to do Nayra? Stay here and join a sect? You are not a Cultivator, you don’t live by the rules of these people,” Reyla said.

“I never had the chance to choose what I want. And here, I might get that,” Nayra said.

“I…” Reyla said, but words didn’t want to come.

Nayra walked up to her, and pulled her in a hug.

Reyla gripped her tighter. “I don’t know if the Tower will let you go.”

“Tell them that the Sect Head likes me, that you left me here to help the new team settle in,” Nayra whispered, begged.

It would be going beyond covering for her, it would be straight up lying to the Order for her sister, but Reyla couldn’t find it in herself to say no. “Alright, I’ll tell them that.”

“We can always speak to one another.” Nayra started, then added mentally. “We will never truly be apart.”

“I know.”

Nayra let her go and then turned around, walking away. Reyla followed her until she left the room, and then she felt the energy leave her. She sat down on one of the couches and closed her eyes.

In a way, she felt free. Without Nayra, she wouldn’t have to worry about her in the Order, to worry if she was going to follow orders or not. But they had never been apart before. It was like a part of her was leaving her. A part of her wanted to tell her that she was being foolish, that she couldn’t stay, and force her to come back with them. But another part of her was relieved. Nayra had never been happy in the Order, had never been able to fit in. The gap in power that had formed between them was just one of the examples. But it was also her temperament, her refusal to follow orders when it mattered. Perhaps it was better if she left on her own, before she made a mistake that would require a much harsher punishment.

Reyla’s station in the Order was probably too far gone to be saved. She would be expelled, forced to go back to her family in shame. That shame would be greater if she came back without Nayra. But she had things that she could use to at least appease the family. She knew about the Ruler of the Empty Sky. Perhaps just letting her parents know would be enough to bring her back into the good graces of the family. She could use that information to keep her position in the Tower as well, but that might harm the family interests.

She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she was going to have a while to think about it on her trip back to the Tower.

She raised her head and looked at the empty doorway through which her sister had left. She wondered if Nayra was going to find what she was looking for.