Nestling

by Lupine King

  “So, are these all the ‘parties’?” he asked his grandmother.

  She smiled sweetly and replied, “For the most part, yes! Your grandfather made it clear that he wanted no groups who were not at least national in scope. It helped cut down the number to more manageable levels.”

  There was a snort from the side. Valerian glanced over at Vorm who chuckled unapologetically before saying, “Honestly, I think Uncle Valan overdoes it sometimes. He might have succeeded in getting the big fish biting but is he sure he can handle the consequences? Like it or not, only one of them will get something to eat. What will he do about the ones left with empty stomachs?”

  His aunt laughed. “I wouldn’t worry about that Vorm. Your uncle knows what he is doing. This isn’t his first time. Those fish will eat each other before even thinking of pulling him in!”

  “I sure hope so”, Vorm stated. “The Military College is getting more desperate as the days go by. You wouldn’t believe how many courtesy calls I’ve received over the last two weeks. All hinting at me to help my uncle and nephew make a good choice for King and country. Some even offering bribes”

  “Really Uncle Vorm?” Valerian asked worriedly.

  His uncle merely gave him a pat on the shoulder before telling him, “Don’t worry about it boy! They can’t really do anything. Not to me and definitely not in DaleGuard. I’m just worried that the resentment would linger. Powerful figures do not like being refused. Some of these people have very long memories, and grudges don’t take up much space. Past resentments may re-emerge at some point, and they never do so at a good time. That is why it is never good to make too many enemies, Valerian, remember that.”

  Valerian nodded, seriously considering his uncle’s words.

  “I guess this would be a good time for me to tell you all that my old institute has been trying to get me to negotiate on their behalf as well”, Jonas announced.

  Stunned by the news, they all turned to him.

  “I told them no of course!” he quickly added. “They offered me a position as a senior instructor as well as sponsorship for further education in an imperial university they are affiliated with. They offered a similar deal to Valerian. Along with the opportunity to directly study under our grandmaster himself as one of his disciples.Their reasoning was that as your tutor I would be able to sway your decision.”

  “However, my refusal didn’t go over well”. He mentioned softly. Deliberately, they all chose to not to glance in Vorm’s direction. He, on his part, tried not rub his victory in their faces.

  “I was reminded that they were the ones who trained me and that any teachings I gave you were in turn, teachings of the institute. Seeing how swiftly they resorted to coercion, I protested their methods. Long story short, I have since severed my ties with my alma mater.”

  The mood instantly turned sombre. “Oh dear! Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Clara inquired.

  “I didn’t want to trouble you Auntie”, Jonas replied. “Besides, I am an adult now. I am perfectly capable of handling my own affairs.”

  His aunt huffed but said nothing, ceding the point. Valerian however did, “I- I am sorry Uncle Jonas. I did not-”

  His Uncle stooped over him, cutting him off. “Hey! It was nothing you did Valerian. You know that, don’t you? The institute seemed to think they owned me. It was best that I shattered that delusion.”

  “But what will you do now?” Valerian asked.

  “You don’t have to worry about that” Jonas assured him. “I trained a genius you know!” he exclaimed. The small joke made everyone smile.

  “Right now, my teaching skills are in high demand. It almost makes me feel sorry for my former institute. I was one of their best Second Circle masters. My status hasn’t changed. Rather, my current lack of attachment is causing many to trip over themselves to hire me. Not as much as you, I know, but I must say I like the attention. I’m just not sure whether to take an offer or hold off on employment and instead return to my studies. Maybe I can do both,” he ended.

  Valerian was quiet. It seemed things were bigger than he thought. He had not even known about the negotiations, even though he was the subject of them. Moreover, his family was being pressured as a result. Vorm was a commander in the army, not to mention a powerful cultivator in his own right. He could handle himself. Avery had barely left his side and so had encountered no such offers, but Jonas had already lost his place in his institute and Richard…

  Apparently, he was not the only one to pick up on the fact because not even half a second later his grandmother’s voice rang out.

  “Richard!” she called out. “If they are really going around trying to coerce us individually, I can’t imagine they’d ignore you. Who approached you?”

  Again, as one, everyone turned to stare at the only person who was completely silent during the discussion. Richard stood there nonchalant. Understanding that the question was only an enquiry and not an accusation.

  “Two colleagues from my time in the army, one artificer from the royal association, three manservants from noble households trying to get me to pass along engagement contracts, one overly arrogant enchanter whose master wished to take Valerian as a disciple and quite a few spies who tried to sneak into the compound. Apparently, they felt going through the guard would be easier, and failing that a few tried to either threaten or slip by me”, he simply stated.

  Then a dark smile split his face. “Rest assured that they now know not to do so again.”

  It only took a moment of stunned silence before they all burst into laughter. The absurdity of someone trying to bribe or threaten Richard was not lost on them. Valerian only wished he was there when Richard trounced them. He did not have to worry for Richard’s sake. Only for those who made the mistake of crossing him.

  Once the laughter subsided his grandmother said. “Valan will have to be apprised of the situation if he doesn’t know about the specifics already. Ah! Who knew school could be so much trouble?”

  Valerian shook his head somberly. Surely not him. He was still having a hard time believing the degree to which things had escalated. He just hoped his grandmother was right and his grandfather could handle it.

  “I don’t envy you, boy,” Vorm said to him. “You’re the one who will have to make the final decision.”

  Valerian felt like grabbing his head in grief. How would he decide? Eight Hill, Ivory Spire, RMC, RCAA… each school was great. All of a sudden he frowned. Then he went over the list of schools again. His expression drew notice from his family. His grandmother quickly asked.

  “What’s the problem, Valerian?”

  “Nothing!” he told her. “I just realised that none of you mentioned the major tellurian schools.”

  Realisation dawned on their faces. It was true. All the schools so far were either for both paths or for arcanists only. Even the ones that offered tuition for both cultivation paths only offered him admission into their arcanist programmes. Valerian actually felt like a fool for not seeing it sooner.

  “Valerian…!” his grandmother begun. “I am afraid that you simply set the bar too high with your array mastery. Even your battles in the Zebre were mostly resolved with your arcane abilities. On the other hand…”

  “I know, grandmother”, he said to her. “I know”

  She did not have to say it. Valerian already knew. He was a genius arcanist. His tellurian abilities were sub-par in comparison. Additionally, he did not doubt that influential, prestigious schools like that did not already know about his former cursed status, and all the resources he had been forced to consume to advance his tellurian cultivation. He could not blame them for not considering him with that in mind. It still hurt though. Having a major part of himself, something he had worked so hard at, simply disregarded in that manner was more painful than Valerian could have imagined.

  “It is good you know”, his grandmother told him. She never coddled him. Continuing she added, “They have made their choice and soon you will make
your own. All that stands after that is where and how far you will go. If they cannot see your talent, that’s on them. By the time that they realise their mistake they will be unable to rectify it but only if you….”

  It took a moment for Valerian to realise that she had been distracted by something behind him. She was not the only one, his uncles were too. Spinning on his heel, he tried to see what it was that did so. He did not have to try hard.

  A young man walked towards them, clad in the signature robes of a Stormhawk priest. Two clan elders walked at his sides, escorting him. The Stormhawk priest drew a lot of attention. Besides his robes, there was also his hair which was styled such that his forelocks rose sharply into the air before falling, unassisted and unbound, behind his head in a sort of ponytail. It was an emulation of the Stormhawk’s own feathery crest.

  Compared with the average Steelborn, the priest looked a bit diminutive but you would not know it from his attitude. He walked with an easy confidence and assurance in his power and authority. Additionally, he was swathed in a particular aura. One Valerian could not place but it stood out all the same. It stirred something inside him, especially when he felt the man’s condescending gaze.

  His immediate instinct was to reach out and smack the self-confident smirk off the man’s face for daring to flaunt himself in front of him. Valerian was unfamiliar with the urge but it seemed right. Somehow, the man was an affront to his sensibilities. His aura felt disrespectful, but for the life of him, Valerian could not figure out why. This was not the first time he met an arrogant elder but this was definitely the first time he felt this way about one right off the bat.

  The man stopped a few feet in front of their party and proclaimed imperiously, “Valerian Steelborn, you have been summoned before the Stormhawk!”

  TWENTY-THREE

  The Stormhawk Summons

  Rather unceremoniously, Valerian was marched straight to a carriage and then carted to the clan compound right in front of several startled spectators. Once there, he was taken to the clan’s private temple in the Steel Heart and from there to a strange portal that supposedly led to the Stormhawk’s abode. He was to go alone. His family was not even allowed to follow him. As he was marched through the carved pillars in front of the portal, Valerian turned to give them one last look, unsure he would ever see them again.

  “Valerian! Valerian, look at me!” came his grandmother’s frantic voice.

  He turned to face her.

  “Everything would be alright Valerian.” His grandmother tried to assure him. Richard held away the guard that attempted to push her back over the demarcated line. “Your grandfather is speaking with the elders right now and we’ll be right here. Don’t worry. Everything will be all..”

  By this time, the priest had had enough of Valerian stalling. “Hurry up boy!” he said. Right before he shoved Valerian through the rippling curtain of essence.

  As he vanished through the portal, Valerian made no attempt to respond to the arrogant priest. His mind was too preoccupied with his grandmother’s words. He wondering how they were supposed to comfort him when they did nothing for her. The worry in her eyes had been clear for all to see. Things were clearly not going well.

  Valerian’s stomach was twisted into one giant knot. Not even he was certain which emotion he was feeling at the moment. Fear? Trepidation? Excitement? Perhaps all and none of these. He was about to meet the Stormhawk. The personal divinity and guardian of his clan. It was the closest thing to a living god that Cragsveil had. Ordinarily, meeting the Stormhawk would be the highest of honours. However, being summoned as he had, so forcefully with the inability to refuse or even object. To have his words, status and family so disregarded in the process. It got one thinking.

  Just what had he done?

  Nothing good from the looks of things. The priest had refused to say anything. No matter what questions he or his grandparents had asked. The man had simply walked up, announced his purpose and dragged Valerian away. His grandfather and his uncle Jonas quickly shot off to look for answers. The rest of them came quietly, not wanting to cause a scene in so public a place. Besides, they would not have been able to refuse the summons even if they tried.

  It was only when they reached the inner sanctum of the clan’s temple that his family were told they could not accompany him any further. The Stormhawk had summoned Valerian and only Valerian they were told. The portal guards had not even permitted them to step across the line that separated the temple proper from the portal to the Stormhawk’s abode. His grandmother had protested but her words fell on deaf ears. The priest refused to budge and in this matter, his word was law.

  The priests of the Stormhawk were afforded special status in the clan. Technically, they possessed the same rank as the elders. However, they answered to none but the Stormhawk and the top figures in the clan. They were agents of the Stormhawk and avatars of its will. Any command coming from them was to be treated in the same manner as if it had come from the Stormhawk itself if not the Patriarch. This gave them an incredible amount of authority but given that they were not in charge of actual clan matters and only the affairs related to the Stormhawk it was mostly situational. In this case, where a priest had come to fetch Valerian to answer the Stormhawk’s summons? Not even the Viscount could carelessly interfere.

  All of this begged the question as to why. Valerian could not come up with answers.

  The portal was cold. As an artificed archway that affected spatial dimensions, it felt wholly unnatural. Doubly so to Valerian’s arcane senses. It only lasted a moment but in that moment it was like he was cut off from the world essence. For a scant instant, the world made no sense. Valerian’s stomach lurched, his mind telling him that though he had stepped forwards into the po*rtal he most certainly wasn’t moving forward. Then suddenly, everything reasserted itself. He was moving forward, stepping out on the other side of the portal.

  Stunned and disoriented he turned back to look at the portal. It remained there, a softly glowing swirl of essence flanked by pillar carved with the necessary glyphs for its operation. It seemed perfectly innocuous but the sensation Valerian felt when going through it bothered him. Some internal sense had been badly affected by the experience but before he could ponder what it was, he was prodded forward by his escort who had felt nothing in the transition.

  “Hurry up!” the man told him. “We are almost there.”

  The command shook Valerian from his stunned state and allowed him to perceive his surroundings for the first time. Where ever they were, it was beautiful. It appeared to be the summit of a mountain. It looked like a hill but the foam like clouds that edged the side told Valerian otherwise. Right in front of them were stone steps that led upwards. They were flanked by boulders and mystic plants artistically arranged to create a scene that was both appealing and serene.

  As a wind attributed arcanist, the atmosphere was incredibly pleasing to Valerian. The air was rarefied and the wind essence incomparably thick. His spirit rejoiced in it but something else did as well. There was an undertone to the air. A presence that Valerian found both familiar and threatening. It was the same as the one that hung around the priest, only not as confrontational. It welcomed Valerian, pulling him in, recognising him as family but at the same time, it made him wary.

  Swinging his head from side to side, Valerian tried to take everything in. There was a cobbled path to the right of the staircase leading towards a handful of wooden buildings. People actually lived here. In fact, his eyes were able to make out his great-grandfather standing in front of one of the buildings seemingly engaged in conversation with a grey-haired man dressed exactly like the priest beside him, only in more elaborate robes.

  At the sight of them, his escort quickly began to lead their party in that direction. He even took the lead, marching proudly in front of Valerian whilst brushing his clothes clean of imaginary dust. The two gents stopped talking when they noticed their presence, choosing to look their way instead and under the weigh
t of their eyes, their party bowed to them, saying.

  “Greetings Patriarch!” then turning to the man beside him, they bowed again this time saying.

  “Greetings High Priest!”

  This startled Valerian. Knowing the protocol, he had joined them in the first greeting. When they bowed again, he did so again, guessing that the man who had been speaking with the patriarch was important in his own right. He was correct. Even so, the man’s identity shook him quite a bit.

  “Ah! Steven, you’ve returned and with Valerian I see”, the patriarch observed.

  “Yes, milord. I have brought him,” announced the priest in a pleased tone.

  The patriarch spared him a second glance before focusing completely on his great-grandchild.

  “Hello Valerian!” he greeted.

  “Greetings Patriarch!” was his response.

  The man smiled broadly and waved him closer. Hesitating slightly, Valerian strode forward till he was only a metre away from the man.

  “I was not expecting you today, Valerian. Did something happen or did the ceremony finish early for the first time ever?” the patriarch inquired with a slight teasing tone to his voice.

  Not expecting him? Valerian found that hard to believe. He had been all but accosted, brought to the domain of the Stormhawk itself and delivered to two of the most powerful authority figures in the entire Steelborn clan. How could this not be arranged? Nevertheless, from the expectant pause the man was leaving he truly wanted an answer to his question.

  Confused by this, Valerian could only say, “I was told to come here, sir. It is said the Stormhawk demands my presence.”

  A worried look crossed the man’s face for second but he hid it well. Glancing towards the priest he called Steven, he asked, “Steven, explain to me the circumstances in which you found young Valerian.”

  The eager young priest was quick to answer. “The boy was sitting in the arena, laughing and chatting with some other clan members.” Right then, a mischievous light entered his eyes as he recalled the actions of Valerian’s family. This was a clear opportunity to get them in trouble. So with a tongue innately suited to tattling and whining, he began.