Avuri

I wasn't fond of taking trips into Flowing Dragon City alone. Not really.

The city itself was fine, and I had overall positive feelings toward it. It was probably my favorite of all the cities I had visited in my life, if I were honest. The people that lived in the city were generally quite welcoming and friendly, while those that were passing through had learned to behave or they would be removed.

It left the entire place feeling much more comfortable than other cities I had been in, and absolutely more welcoming than Bouquet had ever been. It had never mattered how long I lived there growing up, Bouquet had always felt dirty and uncaring. And that was coming from someone whose family had basically owned half the city.

In retrospect, that was even likely part of the problem.

Still, though, there was something isolating about being alone in a large city, and making the trips into the city for supplies alone had always amplified that particular feeling.

Emery remained in the Basin with Cierra and Stena, as we didn't want to leave them alone, but we no longer had anyone else living with us. It had been two years since our wedding. After staying for a year after the wedding, Talya had decided it was time for her to move on and get working on her own life, too.

Vale continued to come and go as much as he liked. He was often gone for weeks at a time with minimal contact. Which was fine - we didn't really worry about the dragon all that much, given it seemed almost impossible that he would land himself in trouble he couldn't escape as long as he was careful. Which he was.

In the end, that left either Emery or I to do the occasional supply run into the city while the other watched the girls. We had decided to take turns, because neither of us really cared for going into the city alone, but we didn't want to make full family shopping trips.

We had tried it a few times, and while we loved our girls, they had made the trip take twice as long - minimum. So, we decided we'd be better off splitting supply runs and fun city outings into different events.

But the shopping still had to be done.

I had finished most of the shopping we had needed just after midday. We were teetering right on the edge of the Basin being mostly self-sufficient. Despite having the land more or less prepared for crops, Emery and I hadn't actually utilized the whole space. We probably could have, but we wanted to see exactly what we could handle first.

It meant that the first two years of our farming efforts had been relatively good, but we were scaling slowly. We hadn't grown enough food for us to last the whole year, leaving us to occasionally need shopping trips. But we had affirmed that we could handle the whole space we had just with the two of us.

As we were moving into the beginning of Spring, our reserves were running out. That meant shopping trips for essentials to last through the rest of the year until we had another harvest - which should be big enough to carry us the full following year.

With all of the essentials packed away in a storage ring, I was preparing to return to the Basin and slowly making my way through the city back toward the southern gate leading toward the Dragon Peaks.

I didn't usually make it a habit to listen to the rumors and gossip in the city, but I did usually try to watch for news regarding any potential threats that Emery and I felt capable of addressing. It seemed likely that any big rumors of demonic Cultivators would come through Flowing Dragon City, as it was a large trading city, despite being in a relatively remote location.

The city was never starved for news from far flung provinces. I was even able to keep up to date on the goings on in Bouquet with my family, had I wanted to.

There was a sect of Cultivators known as the Wind and Vine Sect that were focused on the spread and dissemination of information, using their high skill to travel quickly to spread news. The sect usually had a small building or outpost in most major cities to gather, rest at, and otherwise utilize for their express purpose.

The Wind and Vine base in Flowing Dragon City was one of their largest outposts. Like the way the city itself became a large hub of trading because it was essentially the major gateway into the western lands that lay beyond the city, the Wind and Vine Sect opted to set up a base in the city to use as their main outpost while carrying news further West.

It meant that Flowing Dragon City was usually among the first places to receive news before it was spread further out to the smaller cities and villages from there.

It also meant that when disappearances started occurring in the Bladed Highlands to the West, just beyond the Amber Valley, Flowing Dragon City was one of the first places to receive the news.

The Wind and Vine regularly produced scrolls that were full of short bits of news and major occurrences around the continent, and Emery and I regularly picked them up when we visited the city. It was usually one of the last stops on the way out, as they usually had stalls on the way in and out of the city to sell the little scrolls.

The trip back up the Peaks to the Basin was easier each time I made it. Putting aside my own ability to traverse the Flowing Dragon Peak thanks to my water based Cultivation, Emery and I were beginning to form the Cultivator equivalent of game trails. There were patches here and there of flattened brush and plants where we would regularly touch down between long striding leaps.

I could even pick out spots where our travel would transition to using the thicker tree limbs to keep the pace up as the ground became increasingly icy. There were even paths cut through the tree branches where Emery had used her Domain to cut clean paths through the canopy to leap through the evergreens. Every time she made the trip, she cleaned up the path a little bit more, making the ease of travel that much easier.

For my part, I made sure to keep the path clear of debris, as well as making sure the bits that Emery cut free were frozen over to prevent regrowth. The evergreen trees that grew on the water and ice aspected Peak were incredibly resilient to the ice, so while it did stop the branches from regrowing, it never seemed to impede on the vibrant plant life.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

A couple hours was more than enough time to make the trek solo at a reasonable pace. And I couldn't help the big smile that appeared on my face every time I crossed the barrier into the Basin. Even just one step inside was completely obvious; the temperature went from near frigid to temperate, and the air was cleaner with less of a chilly bite to it.

Even for a Cultivator, breathing within the Basin was just easier.

I quickly made my way to the house and my family, ready to store all of the new supplies. As I landed at the front door and opened it, I was immediately tackled by Cierra and Stena, the girls latched onto my waist.

Ignoring their shouts of excitement, I stepped inside with them continuing to hang off of me. "I'm back!" I called, kicking the door shut neatly behind me. It took a little doing as Cierra was entirely in the way given how she was hung on my side.

"Welcome home." Emery called from the second floor. "Did you get everything we needed?"

"Sure did. The price on some of the food stuff went down, too, which was a nice surprise." I called back. Still actively ignoring the two girls, I slipped off my boots at the door before stepping truly inside. As I made my way to the stairs, I had to resituate Stena a little, as she had decided to hold onto my belt instead of me, and the belt was starting to come undone.

She giggled as I lifted her up gently by her collar and moved her hands to give her a better purchase, without otherwise acknowledging she was there - and then I started up the stairs.

As I crested the stairs, Emery turned to see me with our daughters holding tightly to my waist. The look she gave the three of us immediately melted my heart. Her smile was so soft and genuine that I had to fight the urge to stand dumbfounded and stare for a moment.

"How was the morning here?" I asked, walking around to the various bins and other storage we kept for food. While we did have a small pantry for food stuff with more longevity, the majority of food items went into bins and baskets around the kitchen that had built in Arrays for keeping food fresh.

"Uneventful, as expected." Emery said. "We saved you some lunch."

My eyes swept over the table and the towel-covered place setting there. "Thanks," I grinned, "I didn't eat while I was in the city, so I will absolutely accept that. Soon as I get the cold food away."

The large wooden storage box we used for cold food storage was positioned right under a window in the kitchen, and doubled as a rather comfy window seat. We even kept cushions on top of it.

Before I pulled the cold and frozen food from my storage ring, I finally tapped on the backs of the girls' hands. "Alright, you two. I need you to move now so I can put all this away."

"Okay…" Stena said, mildly sulking as she let go. Cierra gave my waist one more squeeze before also letting her feet hit the ground.

"Go sit at the table. I have a treat for the two of you." I said, motioning toward the table with my head. They quickly slipped off toward it, clambering into their seats.

Before I started removing the larger cuts of meat that I had gotten frozen, I removed the Wind and Vine news scroll from my ring and tossed it over to Emery. "Something in there may be worth keeping an eye on."

"Oh yeah?" She asked, taking her seat at the table as well to scan through all the news. There wasn't anything too unusual in the list, mostly smaller things going on in the city, and some trade projections for the next few weeks.

By the time I had put all of the cold and frozen food away, Emery had finished skimming the news scroll, and the girls were impatiently waiting for their promised treats.

I rolled my eyes at their obvious excitement, but could hide the smile at their adorable antics. "Alright, you too. Do you want the yummy treat, or the expensive one?" I asked.

"Yummy!" Stena said with zero hesitation.

"Yummy for me too, then." Cierra nodded, accepting her sister's lead on the choice.

With a flourish, I produced two bamboo skewers from my storage ring. Each one had an assortment of candy and treats stuck on it, ranging from sweet and fruity gummy candy to rock candy and even pieces of caramel-covered fruit.

The girls' eyes lit up when they saw the colorful abominations that honestly looked far too sweet for my liking, despite having a sweet tooth of my own. Emery's face twisted in horror seeing the sugary treats.

She breathed out heavily, as if she was feeling sick. "That is so much sugar."

"Yep." I said lightly as the girls each took one of the skewers, completely enamored. "I wasn't sure you got enough exercise today yet, so I figured we could let the girls bounce around the walls for a while."

"That sugar crash later is going to be something special."

I snorted out a laugh. "Oh, yeah." I said, watching the two girls already off in their own little worlds. "They're going to really enjoy naptime today."

We both watched them for another few moments in silence before Emery said, "Bladed Highlands?"

I nodded, "Yeah. That's the second disappearance in as many months."

"If it isn't just the wilds being dangerous, then they're being very cautious." Emery said, her tone turning serious.

"And that's why I didn't want to jump to any conclusions. Two people getting killed by the wild beasts in the Bladed Highlands wouldn't be that unusual. Except that caravans moving through there are also reporting getting attacked less and less."

"We'll need to keep an eye on the news, then." Emery said. "Maybe do a little asking around in the City."

"At least Flowing Dragon City is big enough that asking around may not immediately get us found like last time." I shrugged. "But we should probably avoid the topic for now."

Emery sighed, the weight of the ideas clearly impacting her. "I don't like that. I know that asking around too much too quickly could spook off a smaller group, but letting them do as they please in the meantime…"

"I know." I said. "Maybe we start by taking a trip."

"We'd need to find someone to watch the girls."

"When is Vale set to return these days?"

"In a couple weeks. A month if he gets into something interesting." Emery said. "So, probably a month."

I chuckled. "We should wait for him to return, then."

"Yeah. I still don't like it." Emery said.

I reached out under the table to hold Emery's hand in her lap. She shifted to thread her fingers with mine. "If you get really worried about it, we can always ask -"

"Nope. Not doing that. I do not want to be indebted to them any more than we already are."

"Alright." I said, knowing that Emery was more than just hesitant to involve the Elders in any meaningful way. Which was fair, I supposed - they were the leaders of the city. And dragons.

"We'll just have to hope that the Wind and Vine people investigate it a bit more, or someone comes forward with more information." I said.

"Flowing Dragon City isn't too far from the Bladed Highlands. It's really only the Amber Valley between here and there, so if something happens, Flowing Dragon is most likely going to hear the news before anywhere else." Emery said.

"I guess we should take more quick trips into the city, then?" I asked.

Emery turned to me with a smile. "How do you feel about morning runs?"

I shrugged. "Can't say I'm used to ones that last three or four hours, but I've been through worse."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.