The Heavens Shall Fall

As Vael had said, Hilltop Reach indeed was mostly flat, making the rounded hills that rose here and there much more prominent. Siu had spent most of the day looking at them while sitting at the front of the carriage with Vael.

“We're close,” Vael spoke up suddenly as they were passing by a buried village, sufficiently far away not to alert its residents. "After the next bend, we should get the first look at Sumeck."

Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, they laid eyes on the capital of Hilltop Reach, which was smaller than Siu had imagined. The realization made him smile, because compared to his childhood home, it was still massive, but after living the Hollow Song, it was... nothing. Thousands of buildings still stood around the base of a wide, steep hill, probably the largest Siu had seen around here. From their position, it was clear the town had grown around the hill without any real plans or foresight, just plopping down houses and buildings wherever there was space. The closer they got, the more he saw and realized that no two houses were alike, each built differently, creating narrow, twisting streets.

Many of the buildings were mostly timber, packed with plaster and clay, while the richer-looking homes had stone foundations, with very few being built entirely of stone. Looking at the place in the middle of winter was like the whole hillside was on fire, as smoke rose from dozens upon dozens of chimneys and was blown westward by the wind, away from the largest building, which was a massive castle at the top of the hill.

It occupied the highest point, its own walls following the uneven summit and creating high and low bastions at irregular intervals. From their distance, Siu could make out an angular stone keep behind the walls with squat towers, and probably some smaller buildings between it and the walls. He could see nothing decorative or elegant, no matter where he looked, as everything seemed mostly functional.

“I like it,” Joren said suddenly, his head sticking out from the carriage.

“Oh? You are alive?”

“Very funny," He grunted, "Move your head, please.” He added as he leaned halfway out of the carriage just so Ruben could appear beside him.

“It is... quaint.”

"I know that look," Joren scoffed, rolling his eyes, “You mean it looks bad and poor.”

“I didn't say that," His brother argued at once, "I was being polite, tsk, tsk. Don't be mean, my dear brother; you will hurt the locals' feelings!”

“It hasn't changed much.” Vael interrupted them with a half-smile.

“You've been here before a lot?” Rinmei asked from behind.

“Oh yes, many times.” He answered, his eyes still on the hill. “When I was younger, my Master brought me through here whenever Stormglass had business in the region. Funny thing is, we always came as travelers and not cultivators. I think he liked the feeling of the place and didn't want to alert the locals. Even though he hated the climb.” He quickly added, chuckling to himself, remembering his late mentor's grumbling.

"I think I can see the road leading up the hillside," Siu said as he looked toward the castle, squinting. "It doesn't look that terrible.”

“He was a Second Circle cultivator.” Vael reminded him, “He could have flown.”

"And?" Ruben asked, too. "Walking shouldn't be tiring for someone at that level."

“I said the same thing to him once, but he ignored it and complained the entire way.” Vael replied, sighing again, "I think it was his way of letting his frustrations out..." He added, for a moment falling silent, "Thinking back, it was how he was dealing with things he couldn't control; I just didn't notice it back then."

“That sounds reasonable.” Rinmei muttered, nodding her head, "Bottling it up is unhealthy, even for us."

"Was it always like this, though?" Seloryn's voice asked suddenly, and as they followed where she was pointing, they all began noticing the signs.

The closer they got, the easier it was to see that men were standing on the road. At a quick count, there were six of them, gathered beside a wooden shelter built against a stone wall of a farmland. They wore thick woolen coats over padded armor. Two of them carried long spears, while the others had a bow across their backs.

"Militia, no questions about it," Nokoh said, sticking his head out to take a look.

They watched the carriage come closer, and one of them raised a hand to stop them. Noticing Cinna, it was clear that they had no idea what kind of creature she was, as these men were used to horses and oxen at best... But their leader was still brave enough to check on them, ask to look into the wagon, and, finding nothing, thinking of them as traveling youngsters, let them move on. Then, less than twenty minutes later, they passed another patrol, who also stopped them, checked the carriage, and let them go.

“What was the population here?” Seloryn asked as they rolled forward.

“Of the capital?” Vael asked, glancing back at her.

“Yeah.”

“Last I knew..." He hummed, tapping his chin. "Maybe twenty thousand inside and another ten around it.”

“And how large an army do they have?”

“A few hundred to a thousand permanent soldiers, maybe a bit more if the King called his lords to join.”

"Well then," Ruben said, humming a little, “We've seen nearly fifty armed men in less than half an hour because those two groups were not the only ones, I can tell you that now.”

“True... And the closer we get, the more I see on the outermost walls.” Vael agreed as his brows drew together even more. “That isn't normal, but considering what they are experiencing, I would say it is very much reasonable.”

As they continued, the road widened as they cut through the farmed land surrounding Sumeck, now buried beneath snow. Wherever they looked, farmhouses stood scattered all over the place, and as Siu scanned the landscape, he noticed one with its door hanging wide open. No smoke came from its chimney either, signaling it was already abandoned... That was not a good sign.

What wasn't a good omen, either, was that as they neared the foot of the hill, they noticed different, much poorer wagons appearing, one after the other. Mostly refugees, with their belongings strapped to the backs of rickety carts, many using handcarts to trudge through the ankle-high snow. The closer they came to Sumeck, the more of them appeared, and the road became crowded. However, wherever they passed, Cinna's one sharp cry was enough to part the way, letting the weird monster go, fearing they were blocking some noble's way towards the capital.

"Ugh..." Rinmei's voice came quietly from inside, “This place looks like it's on its last leg.”

“It does seem like it,” Seloryn answered, sounding serious, "Maybe it's worse than what the report said."

“I hope not.” Ruben grunted, "We signed up for what we signed up for. Everything extra should warrant more CC."

"..." Vael said nothing, while Siu looked toward him, noticing how his expression had become stiff, thinking about Stormglass. It was clear he was angry. “This should never have gotten this far,” he muttered in the end.

Deciding to stay silent for now, they continued towards Sumeck, which came fully into view as they entered the main road leading to its primary gate. Outside the wall, newer-looking buildings had grown along the roads, forming their own district, but without proper protection, the locals who lived there had to improvise. It was then that they passed by carts that had been dragged together, next to logs that had been hammered into the ground and their sticking-out ends sharpened into stakes. Acting as temporary fences, they narrowed the road toward a checkpoint, where guards could inspect the coming carriages. As the sun headed down, watchfires were being lit around the occupied houses, making sure there was enough light and warmth for the night and for the unfortunate guards on night duty.

While the group kept looking at the people, just as they gawked at Cinna, a bell rang from somewhere ahead, sounding twice, making the people begin moving faster.

"An attack?" Nokoh asked suddenly, but that didn't seem like it.

“More like curfew.” Bren offered.

“Probably,” Vael agreed, "As far as I know, that wasn't in effect ever before.”

In the end, the road narrowed between two makeshift barricades as they were nearing a checkpoint with about twenty soldiers. These were no longer local militia members; they wore matching equipment, with worn mail sticking out from under their coats. Even their spears looked well maintained, while their archers stood on elevated steps behind a wagon reinforced with planks, holding crossbows in their hands.

"I guess these ones don't have those... exploding weapons we saw in Mirebell," Arya muttered, while Siu caught sight of their officer who stood in the middle of the road, wearing a steel cap beneath a fur hood, one hand resting on a sword at his hip.

When he saw Cinna, he almost stumbled, quickly raising a hand and hurrying forward, yelling at them.

“Halt! Right now! Halt!”

"Easy there," Siu whispered, clicking his tongue for Cinna to stop. “Don't get angry at them; they're just scared.”

"You, with the... thing!" The officer stepped toward them but kept an arm's length from Cinna. “State your business!”

"Good afternoon," Siu nodded as he stayed seated. “We are just traveling.”

“Traveling, eh?" He muttered, looking over them "The roads are closed after sundown.”

“Then we are lucky to arrive just in time,” Siu answered, while Arya was rearing to say something, no longer content with keeping silent.

"That you are," The officer said as he looked over the carriage. His eyes noticed Arya's mismatched eyes glaring at him, then the inhuman ears, making him gulp a little, but at least it was most likely not his first time seeing someone who wasn't entirely human. “Merchants?”

“No.”

“No...?" He asked back, finally showing his shock. "Then... Mercenaries?”

“No.”

"..." The man's expression worsened because he felt these youngsters were playing with him, so his hand moved closer to his sword. “I advise you now to state your business clearly.” By then, the others were also getting ready, including the archers.

“Master,” Arya whispered, but loudly enough, of course, “They're scared of us... I can smell it.”

“I know.” He nodded, and then continued, "We are cultivators from the Hollow Song Sect."

Naturally, the reaction was immediate. All the spears came up properly, while one man stumbled backward, shouting from the barricade in a panic.

“Sound the—”

“Do NOT!” The officer raised a fist, yelling back over his shoulder, barely stopping them. “You are..." He gulped, his voice much softer than before. "You are... Hollow Song members?”

“Inner Disciples.” Arya corrected him proudly. "Proper ones!"

The man clearly had no idea what the difference between disciples was, but that didn't matter. Cultivators had come, and he clearly knew of the Hollow Song, even if from rumors and legends only. He bowed at once, very deeply, almost going down on one knee.

“Forgive us!” He said, “We did not know—”

“You were doing your job.” Siu interrupted in a hurry, "We didn't want to go over your head anyway."

"I thank your magnanimity, Your Lordship." The officer said, straightening slightly. “Are you all... If I may ask... Here to... help?"

“That's why we came. Your King's word reached us, and my group had accepted Hilltop Reach's request.”

The relief in the man's eyes was almost shocking, and as he looked back at his soldiers, it spread like wildfire among them. Someone suddenly laughed and almost fell over, feeling dizzy.

"Okay..." Arya shivered. "This is super weird... Even for me."

"Hurry!" Luckily, the officer caught himself before anything weirder happened and stepped aside. “Open the road! HURRY!” He yelled at the frozen soldiers, “OPEN THE DAMNED ROAD!”

Finally, recovering from their stupor, the soldiers went into a frenzy as the barricade was pulled apart, yelling at civilians who began to gather to see what was happening to clear space.

“Send word to the palace!”

“Yes, Captain!” Someone, somewhere, saluted, already running and slipping on the snow, dropping his spear so he could race up the slope even faster, disappearing.

“Please.” The officer turned back to Siu and gestured toward the city. “Please come inside before dark. Our King would for sure want to meet you as soon as possible.”

There was nothing to say, and they headed in, the main gate already wide open for them. It was clear that people had already heard, maybe from that running soldier shouting their arrival down the road, because everywhere, people were staring at them. Now their weird bird made complete sense, as the ones who came were not simple people... but cultivators. People who could summon water or fire when needed, and if angry, they could level an entire city by themselves.

Siu tried not to look back, trying to think if he had the same look in his eyes as a kid... And the uncomfortable answer was that yes... yes, he did. To divert his thoughts, he began inspecting the buildings up close instead. Most side streets were much narrower up close than from a distance, especially with so many buildings leaning toward each other from both sides. Most windows had no glass, and instead, they had wooden shutters pulled tight, with stuffing squeezed between the gaps to keep the cold out.

“This place has, let's just say, a certain character,” Ruben spoke up again, and this time, Joren was agreeing with him.

“And a smell.”

“The Princess Duo.” Seloryn shrugged, making Nokoh's laughter escape his throat in the back, making the half-brothers wince as they looked at Seloryn with a hurt expression.

Ignoring them, Siu kept his eyes on the road while they rolled past workshops, one of which was still open, where a blacksmith hammered inside an open-fronted building while apprentices rushed to drag finished spearheads into wooden crates. Farther up the road, women filled sacks from a grain store under the watch of an armed guard, making sure the rationing was correct. At the same time, at another junction, soldiers distributed bundles of arrows to the night watch, readying for duty.

The real telling sign, though, was when Siu noticed the wounded people. At first, it was only the occasional guard missing two or more fingers. Then, he caught the sight of a boy with his head bandaged and an older man walking with a crutch, still wearing a guard uniform.

“Keep moving!” A yell echoed beside them, and the captain who had stopped them before now rode ahead on horseback, circling their carriage and emptying the street before Cinna. “Clear the road! Royal business!”

It was like that they reached the true foot of the great hill, where the main road split: one route curved back toward where they came from, the other headed further up the hill. It was... steep. Very steep.

“What?” Siu asked quietly, seeing Vael look up the road.

“I remembered it being... Less intimidating.”

“Old man.” He joked, making Vael smile.

“True, I'm about fifty.” He shot back, and Siu just stared at him, because he never really asked his age... But he looked no more than twenty. “What?” He chortled, elbowing him. "I'm halfway in the Flesh Morphing stage. Why do you think I can turn myself into lightning?"

“...” Siu said nothing; he just shook his head, muttering to himself, "I just never put too much thought into it."

The captain, who didn't really have much understanding of cultivation, still heard them and glanced back, clearly unsure whether laughing around Hollow Song cultivators was allowed. That young man was fifty? It was unbelievable, because he himself was only thirty... Which would also shock Siu, because he would have put the captain around fifty if anything.

By the time they reached the summit, the coming darkness had nearly swallowed the region; only the last strip of dull red remained far beyond the western horizon... And it was causing Arya to change into her mature form, shocking the captain once again, who was caught off guard because after one simple blink, the kid with fox ears turned into a voluptuous woman... with fox ears.

"Ahh... much better!" Arya moaned, rubbing herself with a satisfied moan. "I like winter; I can stay in my true self longer! Plus, white complements me well, don't you think, Master?" She giggled, playing with her white hair, thanks to her winter coat that changed the moment the first snowfall arrived.

"Please, don't embarrass me, okay?" Siu whispered into her ear, "That's all I ask."

"Don't worry..." She grinned, licking her lips. "I'm never embarrassing!"

Just then, Cinna finally stopped as they reached a new, much taller wall and gate, which was also open. More guards were standing there, welcoming them, one of them taking over the leading position from the captain who had led them up to the castle.

“Honored cultivators.” He bowed, his face looking as old as the castle behind him. “The King awaits you.”

"Wonderful," Ruben said as he quietly adjusted his robes.

"Thank you," Siu added, making sure they didn't hear whatever Ruben was getting ready to say. When he got off, Cinna immediately turned her head toward him. “Stay. Let them lead you to a stable and wait for us. Okay?”

"..." She took a moment to decide, but in the end, she just chirped in an affirming tone.

“Good girl.” He patted her neck, then turned to their original escort. "Don't worry, captain, she will listen. Just get her somewhere warm, okay?"

"Yes." The man saluted, feeling elevated that he was being singled out for this task, not that Siu had much choice, because he knew nobody here.

“This way.” Their new welcoming party, with the Royal Guard Captain, said after everyone dismounted, gulping when seeing Cho'Wa, who was clearly not a dog nor a regular wolf.

Heading inside, the castle became just a bit warmer than the outside, but they still could see their own breaths. No matter how many iron braziers tried to alleviate the cold, it was an impossible battle. Wherever Siu looked, rough pelts covered parts of the floor while many woven cloths hung across doorways to keep wind out. The ceilings were low in some corridors and unexpectedly high in others, probably from different additions over the decades, but one thing was uniform: guards stood at every turn. Far more than necessary. That wasn't reassuring... Was there an assassination attempt before? That could have been one reason for this kind of security...

As Siu thought about that, they climbed a final set of stone stairs to two large wooden doors at the top, reinforced with iron bands. As they approached, two guards pulled the doors open, and warm, orange light spilled into the corridor as a massive stone hall opened behind them. Banners were hung from the ceiling, showing a white hill beneath a dark crown, while a long table had been pushed aside to give space before the throne. Inside, men and women stood along both walls, probably nobles, clerks, and priests, judging by their clothes. Perhaps even some local cultivators, but Siu was not really trying to sense their individual powers.

His eyes and senses were locked on the figure at the far end, on a raised wooden platform rather than some ridiculous golden throne, which surprised him. He was an older man, with a heavily balding head and a graying, rough beard. Sometime in the past, his blue eyes had to have been piercing, but now there were deep shadows beneath both of them, and he just looked exhausted.

“Your Majesty!" Their current escort announced, bowing his head as he turned toward Siu and the others. “The disciples of Hollow Song!”

Before they could say anything, the King himself stood up, coming down from his throne and standing before them. Considering everything, he was tall, taller than any of them, yet he still bowed, as if he were nobody, surprising many of the people present.

“Honored cultivators.” His voice was hoarse and grating to the ear, as if someone had injured his throat in the past. “My name is King Valasiy of Sumeck.” Then he even went down on one knee, making a sign that everyone in the room imitated at once. "Thank the Gods in the Heavens that they sent you to our aid!"