The Heavens Shall Fall

After returning to the Red Leaf, Arya hopped down from his head, landing on the cushion on the counter. Apparently, she had grown rather attached to it, although she insisted it was because it was comfortable, and not because she liked being admired by customers. As for Marly, she climbed up to the highest shelf, then dropped flat on her stomach, her tail dangling over the edge, already asleep, her body working hard to deal with the food in her stomach.

"Back already?" Quillian's voice asked, and Siu turned his head to see the old servant emerge from between two shelves, holding multiple books. “What's with the look? You accepted a mission, didn't you?”

“Yes, I did.” He said at once.

"Perfect! We agreed on you working three days, not seven. You are breaking the contract, making me pay more, so we will take it as you simply worked off the days you will miss."

He never brought it up before, so Siu knew it was just his age-induced grumpiness, complaining about his employee wanting to work more, as if that were an issue. Shaking his head while smiling, he walked over to take the books from him, helping to bring them over to the counter.

“It’s a Tier One mission for the Companions." Siu explained briefly, "We’re heading to the Kavernacht Kingdom, to a city called Mirebell. Is there any books you could point me toward to check on?”

“Hm.” Quillian hummed, rubbing his beard as he adjusted one of the lenses on his nose. “Departure time?”

“Tomorrow morning, most likely. Senior Seloryn is gathering two more people for the task, and tonight, she will take me to Companions to get the details they may have missed adding to the mission.”

“Hm, hm..." He muttered, still rubbing his beard, "Kavernacht...” he added, “It isn't that far, so you won't be away for months. Come, I'll show you!”

Siu followed immediately, and they did not go toward the regional incidents shelf this time, though Siu’s eyes almost drifted there on their own. The Three Valley Incident was still missing from its spot, meaning that it still sat on the counter. But he quickly shook the surfacing ideas aside, as he now had a mission. Quillian led him to a section near the front-middle shelves, one marked as the 'Mortal Polities Under Hollow Song Authority' shelf. It contained several rows of thick books, copied registers, travel guides, and slim manuals written for and by disciples who had to interact with local rulers and noble families. He even saw a list of subordinate sects, but Quillian's finger passed over them.

“Here,” He said, pulling out three books and one rolled-up map. “Kavernacht Kingdom: Current Administrative Overview. This one was compiled eleven years ago; not much should have changed. The second is Kavernacht Royal House: Bloodlines and Sect Ties. This is new, only a year old, as some changes needed to be added. The third is the Western Route Notes; that's about six years old. But you will take your own notes and add them after you are back, so we can have a revised, refreshed copy! If you go there, do bring back some Mirebell Trade and Supplier records, okay? It is always good to have more documents than less!”

“...” He was about to say something, but before he could, Quillian was already continuing.

“Enough complaints, so listen! If you want to be something or someone, always pay attention to details and memorize them, even if it feels like nothing at first. Often, the pieces others ignore are key to a mystery. Now... Focus on the first two,” Quillian added. “You do not need to become a Kavernacht historian by sunset, but go through the important names, dates, and customs so you can avoid offending them and having to deal with lousy politics. Until you become an Elder, you can't really skip that part.”

Siu brought the books back to the counter in the end and sat down to read. The first he went through was a general overview, written in the dry style of official sect records. If there was something that could be called boring, that was it. Still, he learned that the Kavernacht Kingdom had been under Hollow Song authority for roughly six hundred years, since its inception, making it one of the sect’s stable core regions. Its royal house had not always been the same, though. Still, the current dynasty had ruled for 300 years, the longest, whereas its multiple predecessors usually lasted between 50 and 100.

The current rulers were efficiently collecting taxes, settling local disputes before they could interrupt the first one. That way, they could pay their yearly tithe up to the sect, usually in the form of raw resources. It was such a well-oiled machine that the kingdom had managed to generate a surplus, which they were now trading to the sect. It told Siu, albeit not directly, that the Hollow Song ruled in a generous and fair way, not taking everything, but willingly paying for the plus, ensuring that their subordinates didn't start entertaining the idea of a rebellion.

Another big thing was that, almost every generation, talented noble children were sent to the sect's testing ground to take the same climb up the mountain as he did. Some succeeded and entered Hollow Song, while those who failed returned home with enough cultivation to serve their families.

“A neat system,” Siu muttered while reading, hearing Quillian chuckle nearby.

"The stick and the carrot, my boy. The sect uses both in equal measure."

Nodding his head, Siu kept reading as he moved on to the second book, the one about the royal bloodlines. At first, it was worse than the previous book. It wasn't even a book, really; it was a list of names, dates, marriage lines, branch houses, half-siblings, official wives, consorts, concubines, acknowledged children, disowned children, adopted heirs, noble exchanges, hostage-fostering, and finally sect recruitment marks. By the time he reached that point, his eyes were spinning in their sockets, barely making it through the sea of names, mixing the lines together, especially since many were named after their fathers, fathers' fathers who were named after their fathers... it was a royal mess.

To help his eyes adjust, his finger followed the lines like a kid learning to read, and it was then he found a familiar name and his finger stopped at once. Lorean Kavernacht. Daughter of King Roder V of Kavernacht and Lady Meska, third royal wife. Accepted into Hollow Song Sect as outer disciple. Later records: pending.

Siu stared at it at first, then leaned closer, as if the name might change if he looked harder, but it did not. Could she be...?

“Lorean…” he muttered.

"Hm?" Arya’s ears perked up. “Why are you thinking of her and not Neya?”

“Idiot.” He snorted, "I think I just found her name, because I know no other Loreans who joined the sect as an outer!"

“Huh?” Arya muttered, leaning closer, sniffing the book instead of reading. "So... She is in a book? What, is she a princess?"

“Apparently... Yes. She is.”

"Really?" Even Marly crawled closer by then, flying down and landing on the counter. “She was a princess?”

“Royal daughter,” Siu said, tapping the title. “I don’t know if that means princess the way mortals use it. But... yes? Maybe? I have no idea, because originally, I'm just a serf's son, if we are to use titles.”

“You know that one?” Quillian asked, appearing beside him, hearing half of the words he spoke out loudly.

“She was one of my roommates when I entered the sect. She later became the leader of the Golden Scroll among the outer disciples.”

“I don't know what Golden Scroll is." He answered, clearly intrigued, "Do write down everything for me so we can compile current events within the outers and put it on the shelves.”

“I don't think they would be happy about that, Senior.”

“They are outers,” Quillian glanced at him over his glasses. “I may not be an information broker, but books are for exactly that. Storing information. Too bad many of the idiots nowadays forget that! While my shop has it in abundance... Tsk, tsk! Anyway, I expect you to write and present me with a manuscript in a month or two, got it?”

“Haahh... Sure...” He shrugged, but an idea did stick with him. If Quillian said it like this... that means he could find information about inner disciple groups in here? Thinking about that, Siu leaned back slowly, his eyes scanning the shelves once again.

In the end, he went through the books and studied the map and route they would take, and by the time Seloryn arrived near sunset, Siu had read enough to feel confident about their upcoming journey.

...

....

......

Seloryn entered the shop with a slightly tired expression.

"Senior," Siu stood up, raising a brow, "Trouble?"

“Nah,” She shrugged, shaking her head, "It was simply tiring talking the two idiots into coming with us at a reasonable split. Hyenas, both of them, even if they would argue about it."

“Do you mean the other two will be...”

“Uhum.” She nodded, "Anyway, we still have a trip to make, no?"

Arya hopped onto Siu’s head at once, while Marly climbed up to his shoulder, still blinking sleep from her eyes. Telling him they were off, Siu gave Quillian a short bow, informed him again that they would likely depart in the morning, and received only a grunt in return, as the old man waved the two out of his shop. Their trip was quick as Seloryn was clearly in a bit of a hurry.

When they walked past the Companions' gate, the massive bird was no longer perched on it, to Arya and Marly's relief. However, behind the gate, a different world altogether awaited Siu: dozens, maybe even hundreds, of beasts were roaming freely. Not to mention... the air smelled of... well... It was smelly, even if it was out in the open air, like some kind of sect-maintained reserve.

Naturally, there were stable-like buildings around the gate too, with beasts Siu had never seen before, locked behind massive gates and warning signs.

DO NOT FEED.

AUTHORIZED HANDLERS ONLY.

BITING RANGE EXTENDS BEYOND FENCE.

Around the nearest such stable, several disciples and servants were checking on a horse-like creature that was twice as big as the Icecrown Stag, with two curving horns that he swore he saw flashing with blue lightning when one of the disciples slapped its sides. Heading further in, they passed by a servant with thick gloves who was doing his best to coax a turtle the size of a cartwheel out of the road by calling it 'sweet old uncle' in the gentlest voice Siu had ever heard.

Naturally, the turtle ignored him.

"Maybe he's deaf," Arya spoke, and just then, the turtle moved, even sticking his head out, glaring at her, looking grumpy.

Seeing the change, the servant looked up at once, too, as his eyes landed on Arya, then Marly, finally settling on Siu. He was already expecting a scolding, but then the middle-aged man's expression changed completely.

“Oh!” he laughed, hurrying over. “Mutual contracts? How wonderful!”

“You can tell it just like that?”

“Here? Yes. We notice." He chortled, taking the gloves off, sticking them into his dirty, clawed, and tattered apron's pockets, rummaging in it. "It is in the eyes.” Then he pulled out a metallic tablet and tapped it. "Oh? Arya and Marly, yes?"

"Yes," Siu said, suddenly remembering something that Elder Delia told her when the contracts were made.

"Oh my..." The servant exclaimed, looking shocked, "Elder Delia was the registrar? And done before an Elder's obelisk? What the..." He gawked, looking at the two then at Siu again.

"Is that weird?" Siu asked, unsure what to say.

"It is!" He nodded, "Every contracted beast is registered to the sect, with an official registrar from here, and an approval from an Elder. You see, beasts are not only our partners, but they are official sect members, too. Although they aren't wearing a sash while in their original forms, they are integrated into the same system. Now..." He gulped, holding down his excitement, "Elder Delia is the leading figure overseeing us, the Companions. As for the obelisks, they are all the personal marks of other elders who are leading the Companions. Most of them are away on sect issues... Anyway! We have servants, like me, or senior disciples who usually oversee the registrations and whatnot... To have the Elders do it..." He muttered, now silently gazing at Siu, "Are you interested in joining us?"

"Ahm..." Siu gawked, gulping down his surprise.

"Sorry, sorry!" He added quickly, "That was too soon... Ahaha! Anyway, welcome to the Companions! Anyone who can maintain two mutual contracts while still an outer deserves respect.”

“Please,” Siu sighed, "There is no need for it, Senior... Um..."

"Bortan!" He said with a smile that went from his left ear to his right.

"Khm," Seloryn coughed, also caught up in the sudden situation, only recovering now.

"My apologies," Bortan laughed again, glancing between the two, “I'm in charge of the evenings here. So! You’re here for business or supplies?”

“Mission details,” Seloryn said, stepping in, because Bortan was still eyeing Siu, clearly wanting to recruit him. “The one about resource retrieval within the Kavernacht region. Ten preserved eggs and beast-nurturing goods.”

“Ah!” Bortan’s expression sharpened at once, tapping his tablet again. “Yes, yes, I was the one who put it up... You took it? Perfect, perfect! It's going to be heavy."

“Heavy?” They both asked, looking at him questioningly.

"Let's go inside first," Bortan waved them towards a brick building. “Come, come. The counter is this way, and bring the little ones too. They can sniff and taste the feed samples while we talk!”

Of course, neither of them argued about that as Bortan led them into a long open-sided building that looked part like an actual office, part like a stable, and part like a storage room. One wall was lined with counters holding supply records and sealed containers, while along the other were samples of feed, grooming tools, beast medicines, saddles, harnesses, cages, padded transport boxes, and things Siu couldn’t identify but had to do with taking care of large creatures. Bortan brought them to a side counter where a woman in green-brown robes waited with a mission packet already open. Her hair was tied under a cloth wrap, and a small feathered lizard slept around her neck like a scarf.

“You are the registered party?” she asked, as Bortan clearly sent word with his own tablet that they were coming.

“Part of it,” Seloryn said. “We are going to have two more people with us.”

“Then you will be fine," The woman looked at Siu, and he felt his sash react. “You’re the active registrant, yes?”

“Yes.”

"Greetings. I am Handler Merra, and I oversee outbound resource missions for the Companions. The retrieval itself should be easy. The supplier family is well documented, and we have been doing business with them for a long time, even before I took up this spot. Mirebell is safe to travel to and from, so this should be nothing but a routine pickup. The only nominal problem is the cargo. The eggs themselves are not enormous, but they are fragile and expensive. That you must make sure to be handled with care. As for the nurturing resources, their total load is too much for disciples to comfortably carry over the full route unless you are someone with an earth-based training method and enjoy carrying a full ton of resources on your backs. Per person.”

“How much are we talking about?” Seloryn asked, furrowing her brows.

“Enough that you need a cart. A proper beast-pulled cart,” Merra corrected herself quickly. “Not a handcart, not a storage frame, not ‘we’ll carry it in shifts,’ or you will come back hating us. You will need a beast-pulled one, probably with a covered top and with shock-dampening if you can afford it, to make sure the eggs won't crack.”

"Haaah... No wonder the payment is so generous..." Seloryn nodded slowly. “I wondered about the catch.”

“Do Companions provide the cart?” Siu asked suddenly, and Merra’s expression presented the answer before her mouth opened.

"No. Transport arrangement is on the mission party. If you already had a beast capable of pulling, we would be ready to lend a cart. Still, seeing you don't have anything like that,” she said, glancing at Arya and Marly, who weren't even paying attention, only gazing towards the samples, wanting to go and try every one of them, "you will have to rent one from us."

Siu was about to say something, but because Bortan was so kind earlier, he held back his tongue. But, he noted, as Quillian said to do, that he didn't like Handler Merra, who clearly was a servant too, at all. Why offer a generous payout... when you will deduct the expenses the disciple needs to even complete the mission?

"How much...?" Siu asked in the end, before Seloryn could.

"First," Handler Merra stood up, forming a smile, "Let's see if you could even handle driving a cart. We can't let anyone without proper skills borrow our highly trained and expensive beasts... Isn't that right?"