The Storm King

By the time Leon, Elise, and Talal returned to Leon’s portable villa, it had begun to rain. In some ways, it caused the already depressed mood to worsen, and the short journey was made in silence.

But Leon relished the smell of rain on the wind, the sound of drops hitting the grass, the howl of wind through the distant branches of the huge local trees, and most of all, the flash and boom of distant lightning and thunder. Each rumble of thunder vibrated in his chest like a war drum, every flicker of lightning filling him with power and clearing his mind of distraction.

And every drop of rain that hit their carriage soothed his mind, acting almost as a counter to the storm’s thunderous demand that he rise and unthinkingly smite his enemies.

But he wasn’t sure if he had any enemies to smite, and even if he did, he didn’t know where they might be.

He remained calm, reveling in the storm for the short trip back to the villa, and when they arrived, he walked out into the courtyard and let the rain soak him, bringing power with every drop.

‘The Empires know who I am,’ he thought to himself. He wasn’t surprised. What surprised him was that in ten years, no one had overtly acted upon that information, aside from Anastasios’ offer to recruit him into the Ilian Empire. ‘It seems that the Director knows, too. Should I confront him about it? Should I pretend that nothing’s changed? Has anything changed?’

He stood in the courtyard, letting the storm wash over him, immersing himself in a quiet meditative state as he processed this new information.

He didn’t need that long, and after about ten minutes, he walked back inside. With barely more than a thought, he was dry, his water magic pulling all the excess moisture off his body and out of his clothes, and his fire magic heating himself back up.

When he walked into his family’s section of the villa, he found that Elise had already called Maia and Valeria together, and it seemed from their concerned expressions that Elise had informed them of what Penelope had revealed.

“Husband,” Elise said, her face breaking out into a wide smile as Leon entered the room.

The smile was reflected in both Valeria and Maia, and Leon quickly returned it.

“Have a good think out there?” Valeria asked.

“Good enough,” Leon replied. “I think my soul realm’s healed. I should be able to start growing it, again…”

“That’s fantastic news,” Elise replied, sounding a little unsure despite herself and her smile slipping a little.

“You’re astoundingly convincing,” Leon quipped as he collapsed onto the same lounge she was resting on and pulling her over to him.

“It is great,” she replied, her smile returning in full force as she practically draped herself over him. “I just think we have other things to talk about right now.”

“Do we?” Leon asked, glancing at his lovers.

Valeria was nodding emphatically, and Maia looked fairly concerned, and Leon thought that he was the only one among them who wasn’t that worried.

“You have to admit,” Valeria said, “that this information is concerning…”

“I was shocked, I’ll admit that much,” Leon replied. “However, ten years have passed since our arrival in Imperial territory. And in that time, nothing’s happened. Besides, I was never exactly trying to hide my identity. I wasn’t advertising it, but as I said way back in Ancon, I’m not going back to being Leon Ursus. I’m Leon Raime, and I’m going to own that.”

“I’d never ask you to deny who you are,” Valeria replied. “However, aren’t you even a little bit concerned that the Empires have apparently had you under surveillance? That the Director seems to know who you are? That he seems to be working on a personal project that not even his daughter knows about? Something involving blood magic?”

A frown began spreading across Leon’s face. “That is concerning,” he conceded. “However, I think it was inevitable that the Empires figure out who I am. It’s actually kind of… relieving, I guess, knowing that I don’t have to pretend to be something that I’m not. I always figured that someone would act against us, and this arrangement with Heaven’s Eye was always temporary, so again, I have to wonder just how much has changed?”

[But the blood magic?] Maia repeated. [Wouldn’t that mean the Director is moving against us?]

“Not necessarily,” Leon replied. “I’m not going to sit here and defend the guy, but we don’t know what Penelope was talking about. We don’t know what the Director is planning. We don’t even know if Penelope was telling the truth or not; her apology aside, she hasn’t exactly been friendly to us—or at least, to me—since our arrival. I think it’s equally likely that Penelope is trying to drive a wedge between us and the Director as it is that she was being completely honest.”

“Regardless,” Elise interjected, “I think we should have some kind of plan if hostile moves are made against us, right?”

Leon hummed in agreement, despite his personal feelings. Better to have contingencies than not, he supposed.

“Where could we go to get away from the Empires, though?” Valeria wondered aloud. “If push came to shove, I don’t think there’s really anywhere we could go or anything we could do to escape them…”

“We can think about it,” Leon replied. “It’s hardly a pressing issue, is it? I suppose until then, always have enough stuff in your soul realms that if we had to get out quickly, we don’t have to waste time packing essentials.”

“Already done,” Valeria replied with a shrug, surprising Leon not at all.

[Same here,] Maia replied, though Leon was even less worried about her than he was about Valeria. She’d lived for almost two hundred years alone on an island in the middle of an underground lake, she wasn’t one that needed many luxuries.

Elise, however, was the one he knew he would worry about the most if they ever had to run, and when he glanced at her, he found her frowning quite deeply.

“I can do that…” she said hesitantly.

Leon squeezed her against him and, with a loving smile and a confident tone, said, “It won’t come to that. And if it does, we’ll deal with it.”

“I hope you’re right,” Elise replied with uncertainty.

Leon just held her tighter, hoping he could physically express his confidence better than voice it. No matter what would come, they would face it head-on, and he knew they’d emerge stronger for it.

---

Leon, Penelope, and their retinues returned to Occulara the next day, only staying in Vyrias just long enough for Heaven’s Eye to return their processed wyvern materials.

Leon, for the most part, simply sold most of the materials for silver, and after becoming richer by several hundred million silvers, he immediately spent much of that on bonuses for his retinue, much to their surprise and excitement.

He knew that a little generosity could become a lot of loyalty down the road, and he didn’t want to lose his people if higher-paying offers came along or if they became disgruntled for any reason. They deserved much of that money after hunting many of those wyverns, anyway.

Once all of that was taken care of, the flight back home was fairly quick and easy. With the losses sustained, Penelope’s retainers were a little more restrained in their behavior heading back than they were coming out, and Penelope herself was nothing if not unfailingly polite to Leon the entire flight back.

It made for a nice contrast, Leon had to admit.

As soon as they touched back down at Occulara’s arkyards, Leon dismissed his retinue, letting everyone return home without bothering to head back to his villa, along with a couple days off. Once those days were over, though, they had to start their preparations for heading out to the Sacred Golden Empire and the Thunderbird Clan lab out there.

With that done, Leon and his family made their way to the Hexagon, with Valeria, Maia, Elise, and Anzu waiting for him in the building’s atrium while he made his report to the Director. He reached the Director’s office several minutes after Penelope did, who was already waiting to give her own report to her father. She gave Leon a polite nod upon his arrival, which he returned, and a couple minutes later, they were both shown into the Director’s office.

The Director was, as always, sitting behind his massive desk, his entire body obscured both by shadow and by the harsh light shining in from the windows behind him. However, Leon saw his shadowed face warp slightly in a way that made him look like he was smiling.

“Ahh, there you two are,” he said with fondness. “I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve heard good things about the hunt down in the Scorched Fields. Have my people lied to me?”

“They haven’t,” Penelope replied. “We brought down more than a hundred wyverns between us, and defeated a powerful one with magic equivalent to an eighth-tier mage.”

“Additionally,” Leon added, “Not a single wyvern made it east of Vyrias.”

“Welcome news,” the Director drawled. “Especially so given the lack of resources available this time, what with the absence of most of the Imperial delegations.”

“Just more wyverns for us,” Leon said with a smile.

“So it would seem. Well done, both of you. I expected nothing less than a spectacular performance, and you’ve both more than exceeded my expectations. I’ve arranged for generous bonuses for each of you.”

“Thank you, father,” Penelope responded formally.

“It’s nothing, my dear, nothing at all. Now, if you could leave me with Leon for a moment, I’d appreciate it. Please, wait outside.”

Penelope cocked her head in confusion, gave Leon an almost fearful look, and then started backing away toward the door without another word. Leon watched her go with just as much confusion as she seemed to be feeling, and his heart rate began to accelerate in anxiety—though, he had to admit that this was a convenient time for him, too. After Penelope’s revelation that—

Interrupting Leon’s thoughts, the Director stated without a trace of inquisitiveness in his tone, “My daughter revealed to you that I had her keep an eye on you after you arrived in the Ilian Empire.”

One of Leon’s eyebrows rose; he hadn’t thought that the Director knew about that, let alone that he would bring it up on his own. Though Leon had to admit that this made it easier, he was going to start this conversation anyway even if the Director didn’t.

“Did she tell you that?” Leon asked.

“She didn’t have to. I know everything that happens within Heaven’s Eye.”

“Do you really? I find it hard to believe that you’re aware of absolutely everything that happens within such a large organization.”

“I’m aware of everything that I need to be aware of, and I need to be aware of this.”

Leon lightly frowned. “And why’s that?”

The Director leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his desk and folding his hands in front of his shadowed face. “Because you’re important, Leon. Or at least, your blood is.”

“How important?” Leon asked as he leaned on his back leg and crossed his arms in front of his chest, amused and deeply nervous about this turn of events in equal measure. He kept his attention on the Director, but he was already considering how long he’d need to don his armor, retreat to the door, and smash it open if he had to.

The Director sighed, then tapped his desk with a finger. In a moment, the windows behind him grew more opaque and the room was plunged into near-darkness. Only a moment later, lights activated, though from where, Leon couldn’t tell, the room simply became brighter, revealing the Director without his usual veil of shadow.

He looked about the same as Leon remembered, with his short gray hair, gracefully aged features, and burning yellow eyes, so like Leon’s own.

“Let’s not play games, Leon,” the Director said with some exasperation. “You are of Thunderbird blood. That much we both know.”

Leon smiled, though the expression didn’t quite reach his eyes.

[Xaphan?] he whispered into his soul realm.

[Human,] came the response.

[Are you more of a mind to fight today?]

Xaphan’s response took a moment, during which Leon felt the demon’s attention concentrate on him and his surroundings. [If need be,] he replied.

His confidence thus boosted with the support of his demonic partner, Leon steadied himself.

“How many others know?” Leon wondered aloud.

“Consider that everyone knows, and you won’t be disappointed.”

“About what I expected,” Leon replied. “Lord Protector Anastasios all-but admitted he knew who I was, and I had my suspicions about Princess Cassandra…” Leon paused a moment and glared at the Director. “You, however, I’m a little more surprised by. You’ve known all these ten years?”

“I’ve known longer than that.”

“Then why haven’t you acted upon that knowledge? Is my Clan not an enemy of all in Imperial lands?”

“Eighty thousand years ago, they were. But that was then; this is now. Much has changed in that time. With time, the stresses of Imperial unification, the settling of the status quo, and the pressures of other enemies, the hateful passions that once burned for your Clan have long since cooled. These days, the Emperors and their guardians are more concerned with each other than they are with one young man from the north. They’re more concerned with what your blood might do for them, with what legacies it might unlock that yet lie in their lands.”

“Legacies?”

“Old pieces of your Clan that haven’t yet succumbed to the ravages of time. Weapons. Arks. More.”

Leon’s smile, frozen for the past few exchanges, grew slightly as the Director’s eyes narrowed, then widened as he gave his short definition of legacies.

“Which of these legacies do you hope to unlock with my blood?”

The Director leaned back in his chair, studying Leon for a long moment. “… Nothing that would cost me your cooperation,” he said. “I would never throw away the relationship we’ve built just for a few Lances or other such petty things.”

“And what relationship have we built? That of Lord and subject?”

“I’m not your Lord, Leon. Our contract is proof enough of that. No matter what, you can leave any time you wish.”

“So if I walk out of that door and never return…?”

“That would be your prerogative. I would not pursue you.”

Leon softly chuckled. “How long were you going to keep pretending that you didn’t know about me? Was that task you gave me to find the tau pearl just an excuse?”

“The challenge was legitimate, I’d never send you off on a meaningless task.”

“Some of the tasks you’ve sent me on this past decade might be proof to the contrary…”

“What has meaning to you and what has meaning to me don’t have to line up. Know that I’ve never once wasted your talents. Know, too, that I’ve never once schemed against you, or to rob you of your blood or power. All I’ve ever wanted was to build a working relationship between the two of us. To get to know you and understand your character.”

By this point, nearly all of Leon’s anxiety had been replaced with a mix of anxiety and smoldering anger. The Director continued to sit behind his desk, looking more smug than anything, as if he were reveling in this, rubbing Leon’s nose in the fact that he’d known this information for longer than Leon ever realized. And he wasn’t giving him the answers he was asking for. “Then I’ll ask again, and I hope you’ll actually furnish me with an answer: Why?”

The Director paused again, staring at Leon. But his gaze softened after a moment. “I… hope that in the past ten years, you might have built up some kind of trust with me, Leon.”

“Some trust,” Leon admitted.

“Not enough to let this go, though?”

Leon slowly shook his head.

“That’s… a shame. I’m not ready to reveal what I’m working on.”

“But you’re working on something. Something involving blood magic, something involving a great deal of resources that not even your daughter can trace.”

“Something of that nature. Nothing that would place you in any danger. Nothing that would take anything from you without your consent, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.”

Leon glared at the Director, not sensing even a shred of killing intent from him. He couldn’t pick up on any dishonesty, either, but he didn’t for a moment think that that meant the Director was being completely honest. At the very least, the only thing he could say with certainty was the was the Director wasn’t currently overtly hostile.

“Trust… is a fragile thing,” Leon said. “At least, it is for me. It’s not given lightly, and it’s quickly lost. I have to say, any trust I had for you built up over these past ten years has been shattered.”

“I understand completely,” the Director replied, appearing not at all fazed, though at least his smile had vanished.

“I’m going to need to reevaluate our relationship. Evaluate what it is that I want from you. What it is you can do for me. I’ll be leaving the Ilian Empire soon for personal reasons. When I return, I hope you can find it in you to be a little more open and forthcoming, assuming you still want a ‘relationship’ with me.”

“You’re asking for trust without giving any of your own?” the Director asked teasingly.

“I’m not leaving completely,” Leon growled. “I’ll be returning. I’m not quitting. That’s quite a bit of trust I’m showing in you, I think.”

The Director’s smile returned, though a little more subdued than before. “I’m looking forward to your return.”

“As am I.”

With that, Leon turned around and left the Director’s office, not bothering to wait for a dismissal. He’d not learned much during the exchange, but what he had learned now had him relieved, nervous, and seething, the dominant among those changing with every heartbeat.

But, at the very least, he had a theory for what project the Director was working on. The Thunderbird Clan arsenal—and its arkyards—that was supposed to be here in Occulara that he’d never been able to find…

He was starting to suspect that maybe, maybe, they were in the Director’s control.