The Storm King

Chapter 673: The Director

Occulara. They’d finally arrived. After almost half a year, they’d reached their destination.

They were hardly in a place where they could start getting settled in, but it was an enormous comfort to know that there weren’t going to be anymore cross-country carriage rides, or long trips up or down rivers. Leon, his family, and his retinue had finally reached a place where they could start building their new home.

Things started off quite promisingly: their welcome had always been splendid no matter where they found themselves, but the crowd that awaited them at the river docks in Occulara was something else. At least a thousand people were waiting at the bottom of the gangplank, while thousands more crowded the riverbanks, waving and cheering at their ship as it passed by. Leon was a little surprised, but Emilie explained to him that members of the Heaven’s Eye Board weren’t often replaced, and when they were, the Director and his predecessors had made it a tradition to declare the occasion a holiday in Occulara. The career of the outgoing Board member was celebrated, as was the arrival of the new Board member.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much they could do to enjoy that holiday atmosphere, as after they met up with their escort after disembarking, they were whisked into waiting carriages and taken directly to the guild’s headquarters. Once there, nearly their entire party was shuffled into one of the towers—the one that Leon assumed Emilie would be taking over—and presumably shown to the apartments they were to be spending their immediate future in. Leon could only make a presumption, though, because he, Emilie, Damien, and Penelope were instead brought to the building directly beneath the floating Hexagon. Once inside, Leon found that the building was nearly identical to the tower that had brought them up to the Imperial Palace in Ilion, with little else filling the building save for the storage pad for a huge magical lift that traveled up and down the blue beam of magical light that connected the building to the Hexagon.

The lift moved quickly, and Leon reveled in the feeling of ascending into the sky. The interior of the Hexagon was surprisingly hollow. Leon had assumed that there wouldn’t be much in the way of open space within, despite its size, but he was proven wrong when the lift came to a halt within a massive hexagonal chamber in the center of the floating construct. It was tall enough that it clearly ran from the bottom of the Hexagon all the way to the top, with the ceiling proving to be completely transparent from this side, letting in enough natural light that the chamber was decorated like a park, with long stone paths and several small courtyards surrounded by vibrant gardens. A colonnade ran along the entire outer edge of the chamber, off of which branched dozens of doors. Six of these doors were clearly the primary entrances for the six different wings surrounding the chamber, being more than two stories tall and intricately carved with gorgeous floral patterns.

Leon wasn’t given much time to admire the chamber, however, for the serious, all-business escort they’d been given hurried them along through one of the huge doors, through the lavish hall on the other side, and to another set of enormous double doors at the opposite end. These doors were heavily guarded by no less than a dozen sixth-tier mages, with another half dozen in the antechamber on the other side.

Once there, Emilie said to Leon, “You’ll have to wait here for the moment. I have to meet with the rest of the Board, and then we’ll start getting our meetings with the Director out of the way.”

Leon nodded. The antechamber was exactly as luxurious as he’d expect of the headquarters for Heaven’s Eye, and he found a supremely comfortable armchair to relax in while Emilie went through the next set of doors with Penelope and Damien. Three sixth-tier mages who were part of the escort detail took seats by the door, while the rest either followed Emilie into the room or left the way they’d come, and for the first time since arriving the in the city, Leon was left essentially alone with his thoughts, with no one hurrying them along trying to get their business done as quickly as possible.

However, he wasn’t given even a full minute to relax his anxious mind, worried about how the next few hours were going to go or what kind of impression he was going to make on one of the most powerful men on the plane—especially after how the party with Anastasios had gone—before he heard Nestor whispering, [Disgusting. Apes. Can’t even build properly…]

With a heavy sigh, Leon asked, [What is it, Nestor? Something catch your eye?]

[Yes, boy. This whole place. It’s rather like being with those rampant golems back north, but at least the golems had respect for what they aped. They followed the old instructions I’d given them, building palaces in the mountains, and have held an appreciable respect for the Clan throughout these millennia. This place, however… makes me sick. They have no idea what they’re trying to do here…]

[What is this place supposed to be, then? Don’t tell me these towers used to the Clan’s arsenal…]

[Of course not, boy, this place isn’t nearly large enough for that! The arkyards alone were practically a city unto themselves. These towers and this thing floating between them are clearly designed after the defensive observatories that our Clan built upon arriving on this plane.]

[Observatories? What were you observing? And how?]

[We had to keep an eye on the sky, of course,] Nestor explained, his tone frustratingly condescending.

Leon had to stifle his instinct to scowl and start curling his fingers, knowing that the escort detail that was still with him was keeping an eye on what he was doing. So, with some struggle, he closed his eyes and pretended to meditate as he spoke with Nestor.

The dead man continued, [We came here with great force, hundreds of arks and thousands of warriors. But we knew that even that grand armada wasn’t enough to deter our enemies. If we were ambushed by the forces of another Elemental King, it could’ve proved disastrous for our mission and for the Clan as a whole. As a result, we had to maintain constant watch on the sky, and to do that, we built observatories all across this plane. In a properly built observatory, there were only three support towers, each only needing to be about half as tall as those here. However, the main body of the observatory was the structure that floated between the towers, which could ascend with magical support from their towers so high that they nearly left the plane entirely.

[These observatories were then used to watch the Void between planes for any incoming threats, as well as act as relay stations for arks that were used to patrol the entirety of the plane—the observatories can’t exactly keep an eye on the backside of the plane, after all. Keeping an eye open for extraplanar threats was a titanic undertaking involving serious investment of resources. And it was necessary, as so many who’ve been slaughtered for failing to stay vigilant can attest, assuming they survived that mistake.]

Leon, feeling the urge to contort his face in confusion, just decided to admit defeat and not even bother pretending to meditate, instead casting his consciousness into his soul realm and into his magic body. He rose from his throne and went to continue this conversation with Nestor in person.

“And how, might I ask, do you know that this place can’t do that?” Leon asked.

“Judging from what I’ve been able to tell of the enchantments holding this thing up,” Nestor replied. “The amount of magic flowing through this not-observatory is barely enough to keep it in the air, let alone rise higher.”

Leon wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t press the issue. Nestor was just being his usual judgmental self, and while Leon could see where he was coming from in some form, he was still more interested in hearing about the old Clan. For instance, he’d never heard of these observatories before, but if they were as grand as Nestor claimed, then he figured they should’ve been famous landmarks. Instead, this was the first he was hearing of them, leading him to think that they were no longer intact after so long.

Summoning a map of the plane, Leon asked Nestor, “Can you show me where these observatories were located?”

With Nestor’s direction, Leon marked down nine different points on the map, none of which corresponded to any of the points on the map from the Cradle. Those places were locations of great importance to the Clan, such as Nestor’s lab, the arsenal, and Teira. The observatories, however, were located in a rough circle around the edges of the plane, mostly deep in mountain ranges and far from any place that could sustain large populations.

“Observatories were mostly built on mountains,” Nestor explained. “Having them be a little higher from sea level meant less magic power to raise them to the edge of the Void.”

“Wouldn’t that also mean that they were further from the centers of power?” Leon asked. “How would they communicate what they could see with the higher-ups in the Clan?”

“Comm stones,” Nestor replied. “It was a fairly low-level position to be assigned to an observatory, and below my purview, but I know at least that they were in constant contact with the rest of the Clan, with daily check-ins and frequent supply runs. The comm stones we had were quite useful, able to let two people on opposite sides of the plane communicate with each other like they were right next to each other, but rather less useful when trying to communicate between planes. That’s why they were used to relay messages from arks that were sent out on patrols around this plane, for having these relays allowed our patrols to extend their coverage by many thousands of miles.”

“Mm,” Leon hummed in thought as he appreciated the fairly simple ingenuity and practicality of the observatories. He didn’t think he’d think of something like that on his own—at least, not without having to be on the wrong end of some kind of ambush that these observatories might prevent, first.

There wasn’t much else to say about them, though, so he turned his attention to something else.

“What about the arsenal?” he asked. “Now that we’re here in Occulara, it’s something I ought to keep an eye out for, right? And I’ve tried, but I haven’t seen even a single broken pillar or ruined statue of our Clan anywhere in the city. Granted, I haven’t done an exhaustive search, but I haven’t seen anything that might lead me to think the arsenal is still here…”

“I’m not surprised,” Nestor said. “If many of our vassals did evacuate this plane, then they likely didn’t leave much behind. Tell me, if you were in their shoes, what would you do?”

Leon lightly smiled as he considered the question, having considered it many times before. He placed himself in the situation of being in charge of an evacuation, with former allies turning against him and his King who kept them all in line now dead.

“I’d take everything that wasn’t nailed down, and most of what was,” he said to Nestor. “If I couldn’t take something, and there was even the slightest chance that it could be used to follow me, or to harm those who remained, then I think I would destroy it.”

“A wise answer,” Nestor replied. “That’s what I’m guessing happened here. The arsenal was probably destroyed when Koukouva evacuated whoever responded to his call. The arsenal was a vast complex even by Nexus standards, so there might still be something around, but expect the place to have been completely leveled, with nothing left.”

“Disappointing,” Leon whispered, though without surprise. He’d known without much doubt that this was what he would find upon reaching Occulara ever since he’d heard the message back in Ancon. “I suppose if anything was left behind, then it’s either so buried that I’d never find it, or has probably fallen into the hands of Heaven’s Eye.”

“That would make sense to me,” Nestor agreed.

For a while, Leon poured over a map of Occulara that he’d been given by Emilie, hoping that either he or Nestor might be able to see something there that could prove promising. Unfortunately, neither of them saw anything on the city map that indicated a remnant of the Clan, but Leon, not wanting to give up so easily, resolved to see if he could dig any deeper into the matter later. The map wasn’t that in-depth, after all, so it was easy to imagine there were things he was missing.

He couldn’t do much more than that, for he soon felt a light tap on his physical shoulder. In a matter of seconds, Leon was opening his eyes back in the physical world to see Emilie standing before him, a grin of satisfaction on her face.

“Welcome back,” she said to him as his gaze landed upon her. “The meeting was mercifully brief, and my position has been confirmed. You are now looking at the newest member of the Heaven’s Eye Board.”

Leon smiled as he rose to his feet, his arms spreading as he invited Emilie in for a hug. His mother-in-law took the invitation, and he whispered, “Congratulations,” when they separated. “They couldn’t have made a better decision.”

“I’m sure there are others who might disagree,” Emilie replied. “The vote was unanimous, but with the Director in my corner, that was to be expected. Still, I think I may have a few hidden rivals here given some of the discussion in there… But I shouldn’t say any more about that.”

Leon nodded in understanding. “Penelope? Damien?” he asked.

“Still with the Director, but they should be out in only a few minutes,” she said. “Shouldn’t be too much longer now…”

Emilie, even though she was effectively done with her work in the Hexagon, took a seat with Leon, waiting with him until his meeting with the Director was finished. She didn’t have to wait long, for only about fifteen minutes after Emilie walked out, Damien Makedon followed, with Penelope only about ten minutes later. Finally, it was Leon’s turn to meet with the big man himself.

—

The Director’s office was both grand and simple, in a strangely overpowering way. The floors were beautiful, being some kind of almost impossibly glossy black stone, with the walls and ceiling made of similar material. The office itself was quite big, the back wall taking up an entire side of the Hexagon, showing it to be just like the roof in the central chamber: transparent from this side, while completely opaque from the other. The room was thus filled with harsh light from the afternoon sun, and lacked any other light sources that Leon could see. The Director’s desk was extremely large, too, looking almost like it had been carved from a single massive tree.

Other than that, the entire office was stark and empty. When Leon was shown in, his footsteps echoed loudly, adding to the anxiety he felt as he saw the dark figure sitting behind the desk, quietly reading through a stack of papers in front of him. Leon couldn’t see much of the man, the sun shining in and rendering the Director little more than a hazy black figure. What was even more intimidating was the fact that Leon’s magic senses were completely suppressed in the Director’s office, meaning he could only rely on his physical eyes to see the man; and even then, the dark figure was all his eighth-tier eyes could see.

‘Probably some kind of enchantments amplifying the effect,’ Leon thought as he took slow steps forward, his eyes only drifting from the Director after he’d made it halfway to the man’s desk. The thought helped him to keep calm and remain stoic, but he could practically feel the ninth-tier Director watching his every move.

As Leon drew closer, the Director finally spoke, his voice deep and resonant, the cavernous office giving it an echo that Leon found incredibly pleasing to the ear.

“Leon Raime,” the Director stated, his tone even. “Welcome to the Heaven’s Eye. I’ve heard much about you and have been looking forward to this meeting.”

Leon cocked an eyebrow, the Director’s monotone voice indicating less enthusiasm than he claimed.

Not sure about the protocol, Leon decided to just respond without ceremony.

“I’ve been looking forward to this, too,” he said. “So far, I have to say that I haven’t been disappointed.”

The Director seemed to hum in acknowledgment and didn’t say anything as Leon continued to walk toward his desk slowly and deliberately, only stopping about two arm lengths from the thing. The Director didn’t once move, and neither did Leon sense anything strange about the flow of magic in the room, indicating that the ninth-tier mage’s aura was steady and not at all perturbed. However, even from such a short distance away, the Director was still shrouded in both light and darkness, with the sun backlighting his chair so harshly that Leon found himself starting to strain as he tried to focus on the man within the shadow.

“I’ve heard that you’re here to seek a position as one of my Hands,” the Director stated after several long moments.

“That would be swell,” Leon replied, his eyes narrowing as his heart began to beat faster in anticipation, excitement, and dread.

“Why?” the Director simply asked.

Leon, expecting the question, explained, “I’m not one to enjoy swearing myself to others. Employment is one thing, because it can always be ended. Oaths of fealty are harder to escape from, especially since I don’t much like avoiding my responsibilities. I have some plans that need resources to accomplish, and I don’t think I can get those resources on my own. I need partners, but those partners can’t be any of the Empires. That’s why I’m here.”

“Partners?” the Director whispered. “We’re not in the business of taking on many partners…”

Leon shrugged. “I understand. Though, before I go further, I’m curious. Might I ask you a question?”

The Director paused a moment, leaning back in his chair. For the first time, he looked at Leon, really looked at him, and Leon felt the man’s aura settle in around his shoulders. It wasn’t nearly as weighty as Anastasios’ had been, but it certainly him working a little harder to remain standing.

“I’ll permit you one question,” the Director said.

“Thank you,” Leon replied with as much respect as he could put into his voice. “I was curious how much you’ve heard about me. You’ve clearly ‘heard much about me’…”

The Director didn’t answer immediately, instead just staring at Leon for an uncomfortable amount of time. But finally, he answered, “I was sent a report on you after you left the Bull Kingdom detailing your time as a knight. Impressive for such a short tenure.”

“Those were impressive times,” Leon humbly stated. “Everyone who lived through them has just as impressive resumés.”

“No they don’t,” the Director bluntly stated. He didn’t elaborate, though, and chose to just move on. “My daughter doesn’t like you.”

“Your daughter doesn’t know me,” Leon shot back a little testily. But after a moment, his attitude softened a bit and he added, “Though, to not like me wouldn’t exactly make her unique. I think she thinks I’m trying to rely on Emilie to get into Heaven’s Eye.”

“Aren’t you?”

Leon shrugged again. “I’d be lying if I said that her being a new Board member wasn’t a big reason why I’m here now, but I have a feeling that no matter what she said about me, if you didn’t want me here, I wouldn’t be.”

Leon let that statement hang in the air for a while, the Director likewise not saying anything. The Director looked fairly relaxed, but Leon could feel the tension in the air. It pressed in around him, demanding that he buckle under its pressure, that he cracks, and flee from the Director as fast as he could, his future plans be damned.

But Leon didn’t run away. He had faced a Primal God before; the Director was nerve-wracking, but only a man, and Leon could deal with men.

After that long moment, the Director asked him, “What is it that you’re looking to accomplish? What are your projects?”

Leon breathed a quiet sigh of relief and answered, “A few things. I’m an enchanter looking to increase his skills. I’m also interested in learning the art of blacksmithing, though I’ll admit that’s a little lower on my list of priorities. Most of all, I’m looking to expand my knowledge of the magical arts. I’m eighth-tier right now, but I don’t want to stop here. I want to grow stronger and leave my mark on the universe.”

The Director finally seemed to react with some emotion, cocking his head slightly as he regarded Leon. “Divinity?” he asked curiously.

With a smile, Leon said, “Apotheosis.”

The two stood there for another long moment, the Director not moving while Leon stood there, trying to look more confident than he felt, his mind racing with the idea that he’d somehow bungled this whole interview.

But when that moment was over, the Director said, “I think we can work together. It’s not often that such a man of ambition walks into my office—at least, not one who isn’t aiming for my desk.”

“It’s a fine desk,” Leon said appreciatively, “I can’t for the life of me imagine why someone would aim for it; to mar its surface would be an unforgiveable crime.”

Showing his first trace of humanity, the Director quietly chuckled. Then, he said something that had Leon’s heart dropping into his feet. “I’m not going to hire you.”

Panic ran through Leon’s mind unchecked as his dreams of how the next few decades were going to go vanished before him. He needed Heaven’s Eye if he wanted to get far in a reasonable amount of time without relying on the Empires—without Heaven’s Eye, the next few years would be a struggle, to put it mildly. While he wasn’t counting entirely on his power to carry him through this interview, he’d been at least hoping that his chances were better than this.

He controlled himself as much as he could, and fortunately, the Director wasn’t finished.

“At least, I’m not going to hire you right now,” the dark figure continued, as if relishing the anxiety he was heaping upon Leon. “Such would be terribly ill-advised on my part.”

“What do I have to do, then?” Leon asked, his tone controlled and even, though his eyes were filled with fury and worry in equal measure.

The Director chuckled again. “I like people who know what’s expected of them; it’s good that you know this won’t be a free ride.” The Director then leaned back in his chair, letting the light of the sun finally spill out just a little bit across his face, just enough for Leon to see a hint of sharp cheekbones and extremely pale skin. “There’s a creature on the eastern coast called a ‘tau’. It’s a kind of bird. Its platinum feathers are highly prized as powerful magical artifacts, but that is the least of its valuable traits.”

“What do you want, then?” Leon asked. “For me to hunt one down?”

“Dear me, no!” the Director replied. “They were nearly hunted to extinction some forty thousand years ago! To this day, their numbers are still so low that most mortals around here think them mythical! To kill one would be do the universe itself a great and unforgivable crime!”

“Then what? You want me to capture one as a pet?”

The Director shook his head. “No, but a reasonable guess. These creatures have strange abilities, and it’s damned hard to find one if they don’t want to be found. Fiercely intelligent and extremely magical, but their greatest and most valuable trait is that when they weep, their tears crystallize into pearls of great magical power.

“What I want from you, Leon Raime, is to acquire for me one of those pearls. If you can do that, then I will allow you to join Heaven’s Eye.”