Sword and Snow

Avuri

With rough battle plans in place, the group broke for the evening. They had gathered after dinner, so this was ostensibly time to relax despite everything feeling very unsettled. Whatever sort of fight this turned out to be, it had been looming on the horizon for a long time - but now it had just about arrived.

In a sense, it was finally real. Tangible. Not just words of promise on a scroll.

Avuri and Emery were no strangers to real conflict. Being so directly involved in what could potentially be called a 'war' might have been new, but the looming sense of coming conflict was not.

But they were worried for their family. Their children had been touched by conflict in various ways. They had all seen some form of horror as children that had led them all to the Basin in the first place, but this sort of creeping threat was new to almost all of them.

The truth was that the previous year's debacle with the Deposits had felt less threatening. There was a pervading sense of 'whatever happens, we'll be alright' that had been overwhelming, despite the potential of that fight.

That feeling was nowhere to be seen this time. There wasn't a feeling of defeatism or looming death, either, but this conflict felt much more serious, somehow.

Avuri had to admit that part of it could have been the part that her old family was playing, giving the whole situation a personal touch. Or, perhaps it was just that the scale of it all felt much larger, or how much the Elders were getting involved. But there was absolutely something different in the air this time that set this threat apart from the last.

The kids were doing well, but they could clearly tell that something was going on. And Avuri had no idea how she and Emery were going to try to reconcile the worst possibilities to their children before everything began. Not that Avuri thought the worst would come to pass, but she did feel that the possibility actually existed this time around.

There was nothing to be done about it in the meantime, though. It was late, and the conflict was still days away, at least. They had time to figure things out.

It didn't make the splitting up for the night any easier though. Astra and Arek had been playing together in the main floor's living room while the meeting had been going on. When the family came up after the meeting was over, they had a bit of time before bed to spend together, and everyone did their best to keep the mood light for the younger children.

But both of them could tell something was different when it came to bedtime. Cierra and Stena had lingered in the hallway longer than normal, still lost in their own thoughts. Avuri and Emery both had given Arek and Astra long, lingering hugs, unwilling to part as normal.

"Momri?" Astra asked, after Avuri took her turn with the girl.

"Hm?"

"Is something wrong?"

Avuri let out a sigh and muttered, "Leave it to children to notice things when you don't want them to," which prompted a laugh from Emery who had heard the quiet utterance. Avuri ignored her wife and hugged Astra again, trying to decide what to tell her. 'No, everything is alright,' was a lie she didn't want to tell, but telling a little girl that danger was coming was likely to make her unable to sleep.

She settled on "Something tough for your moms to deal with is coming. We're just worried about it, but it should be okay in the end."

"Is it the thing that Elise was talking about? She said bad people are coming to get the city."

"Well," Avuri said, wondering just how much all the other kids knew. She figured that Cierra, Stena, or Kord could be sharing what was going on. "Something like that. They're going to try to get the city, but Mom and I are going to help the Elders stop them."

"What about our house?"

"Our house should be okay."

"But if you and Mom go to help the Elders -"

"Your big brothers and sisters are going to stay here just in case." Avuri said, placing a gentle hand on Astra's head. "Especially now that Cierra, Stena, and Kord are all powered up, everyone will be fine. They'll protect you."

The girl seemed to accept that and nodded. "Okay…I think you and Mom would do a better job, though."

Avuri chuckled. "We would. That's why we're going to help save the city instead. There's a lot more people there."

Before Astra could ask a follow-up question, Avuri got close to whisper in the girl's ear. "It's a secret, but Mom and I are going to help the city, because if the bad guys get the city, they could get our house, too. We're going to stop them before they can, so we don't have to worry. Mom and I are still going to protect everyone."

Astra giggled as she felt Avuri's breath on her ear, but nodded all the same. "Okay."

Avuri glanced over to where it seemed Emery was having a similar talk with Arek. He was old enough to have a better understanding of what was happening, and if Astra had heard the older kids discussing it, he certainly had, too.

Avuri's attention was pulled back when Astra basically tackled her with a hug. Crouched down as Avuri was, if she wasn't a Cultivator, the force would've toppled her over, but she was able to remain steady on the balls of her feet with a small adjustment and catch the girl in a returned embrace.

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"Love you, Momri. I'm going to go to bed now." Astra declared.

Avuri chuckled, picking the girl up for a better hug and a squeeze. She kissed her daughter's cheek and said, "I love you, too, but you didn't want a bedtime story or anything?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I have my water, and you and Mom look like you have to go do something else."

"And how's that?"

"It's dark outside, but you're still dressed in outside clothes." Astra stated firmly.

Avuri gave her another squeeze. "Well, you're not wrong. Your mother and I do have some talking to do, but if you wanted a story it could wait."

Astra shook her head again. "No, it's okay."

Avuri didn't want to argue with Astra too much, so she eventually just nodded. "Alright then. You go say goodnight to Mom and then run along. If you want a story, just call for us."

"Okay." She said, and ran the ten steps or so to trade places with her brother.

Avuri could see pretty plainly on Arek's face that he and Emery had addressed the obvious concerns.

"Mom said it's likely that the two of you will be sent to help out in the front." He said as he approached.

Avuri nodded slowly. "Yes, that seems to be the plan."

"How dangerous do you think it is? For the two of you?"

When he looked up at her, the concern clearly etched on his face, Avuri paused to think more seriously about the whole thing. "If nothing unexpected happens, I honestly have trouble seeing your mom and I having any genuine problems. The truth is that most of the allies that Bouquet is gathering are on the weaker side. But, if they're backed by other dragons like we think they are, things could get dangerous."

Arek smiled weakly. "That's basically what Mom said."

"And she's right. But you can bet that we're not about to go and throw ourselves away, alright? If things seem too dangerous, we'll pull back or get the Elders involved. Trust me, Arek, Mom and I aren't going to take any unnecessary risks." Avuri paused for just a moment, then added, "Well. Your mother might try, but I'll keep her in check."

Arek genuinely laughed at that. "Wow. Mom said the exact same thing. 'I might tend to act rashly, but Ri will hold me back. If you ask her, she'll promise.'" He repeated.

Avuri smiled. "And I will. I'll drag her back here kicking and screaming if I have to."

Arek took a deep breath, smiled and nodded. "Alright. You promise?"

"Of course." Avuri said, then bent down just slightly to pick Arek up and squeeze him tightly. He was getting pretty tall now, but still not exactly heavy.

"Alright, alright. I'm going to go to bed now." He said, wiggling against the embrace. But when Avuri moved to put him back on his feet, he snuck a quick squeeze around her midsection before letting go entirely.

"Alright. Good night, Arek."

"Night, Momri. Love you."

"I love you, too."

And then they were gone, both children retreating into their rooms.

"And what about you two?" Avuri asked, turning to look at their elder daughters, who had watched the whole scene unfold from their own bedroom doors.

Stena took a shaky breath. "I don't know. I don't like all the uncertainty, though."

"I'm worried you're both wrong." Cierra said flatly. "You keep saying you don't expect the enemies will match you in strength unless the unexpected happens, but at this point, we're basically all expecting the so-called 'unexpected' to happen, right?"

Avuri and Emery walked down the hall until they were between the two doorways so they could talk more comfortably. "The main problem is we don't know what that could entail. If Aysol just sends actual dragons that are on his side into this mess, I have no doubt the Elders would step in. Where that leaves us, I don't know." Emery said.

"It sounds like the Elders don't believe Aysol would ever bond with anyone, so other Dragon-Kin seem unlikely. Unless they truly reach some entirely unforeseen answers, higher Realm mercenaries seem to be the obvious issue we'd face." Avuri continued. "And while I don't want to be too arrogant, I think we're more than equal to the task of any Sky Realms that might face us. A Heavenly Realm Cultivator could be a problem, but they almost never take part in mortal squabbles like this."

"Too busy in seclusion and detached from the wealth Bouquet could offer, yeah." Emery agreed. "There's a chance Aysol has a connection he could use, so the chance isn't zero, but still unlikely."

"I think the both of you are being too dismissive of the chances." Stena said. "I don't like the idea of sending you both out without back up as a general plan."

"I'm with Stena." Cierra said. "I should've said something in the meeting. If they send you out, at least Uncle Vale could go with you. Or Ray, maybe?"

Emery and Avuri both reached out to hug their daughters together, then pulled each other into one big embrace. "We'll talk to them about it. I honestly would not be surprised if we talk to them tomorrow and Vale has already pleaded his case to go with us." Emery said. "I don't think he likes sending his kids off into truly unknown situations."

Avuri snorted. "No, just into known danger."

"I don't know how he decides which is which, but, yes, exactly." Emery agreed. "What I do know is that none of us know what to expect from Aysol as a grand strategy, and I don't believe that will sit well with my father."

"I guess that's good." Cierra muttered.

"We'll tell you two the same thing we told Astra and Arek," Avuri said. "We don't plan to throw our lives away. If something stinks or feels too dangerous, we'll retreat. In the end, even while we're out there, we're fighting for this place. If we feel like we can't win, we'll move to somewhere with the best chance of victory."

Stena buried her face into the crook of Avuri's neck. "You better come back. I know you won't promise us that you will, but still. You better come back."

Avuri leaned her head against her daughter's. "You know we're going to try. And we're not leaving tomorrow or anything. Let's not get too weepy yet, alright?"

"Momri's right." Cierra said, peeling Stena's reddening, teary face away from Avuri. "The last thing we need is any of us crying. If you start, we're all going to end up in a puddle right here."

Stena laughed weakly, knowing full well that her sister was right. She wiped at the corners of her eyes where years had started to gather, and sniffed. She opened her mouth to say something, closed it, then said, "Alright. Then let's just go to bed before I start, right?"

There were a couple more giggles before they went to their separate doors for the night, but Avuri couldn't help but think about what Stena had been about to say.

She suspected that she was going to ask to sleep in their bed for the night. And if she had, Avuri wouldn't have given it a second thought.