Trefor Pradhan stood before an audience made up of his peers and superiors. The peers, the elders of the Tree of Passionate Verdance, and its sibling sects amongst the branch-sects and subordinate sects of the Forest of Life and Death, sat behind him. The superiors, the elders and high-elders, of the Forest of Life and Death, sat in front of him.

Trefor had spent the last three days explaining to all of them the appearance and disappearance of one of the unfathomable, nigh-unstoppable, terrors of the space between the worlds.

“This junior-elder that you say defeated the entity...Do you believe he can be trusted?” said one of the Forest of Life and Death’s High-Elders.

“I...I believe so. Yes. He and his...partner...his spouse...have been with us for several months already and we’ve yet to have any trouble with them, or see any signs of concerning behavior, or ill-intent,” said Trefor.

“Is there any way we can be sure of this? How about we have them swear an oath of loyalty to the sect?” said Elder Fang. One of the Forest of Life and Death’s High-Elders.

“We already have had them swear an oath of loyalty. The same oath all senior members take,” said Trefor.

“No...What I speak of, is the soul-binding oath of service...They don’t have to swear to serve us forever. Just a half-century of service will be enough for us to assure that they stay loyal,” said Elder Fang.

Trefor froze.

“I...I don’t believe that’ll be necessary, senior,” said Trefor. Afterward, quietly praising himself, for not spitting at the old man in scorn, and asking him to save the sleeptalk for when he was in bed in his jammies.

First of all, that oath was only forced upon sect members who'd severely broken some vital rule that called their loyalty into question, and were at risk of being exiled from the sect. Second of all, what Trefor had seen that day shook all his knowledge of what could be possible with cultivation. It shook his understanding of what could be possible in the Shattered World...period.

Someone seemed to sense Trefor’s extreme disagreement with what had been said. One of the High-Elders spoke up and scared the socks off of the young Elder.

“Do you really believe Elder Fang’s suggestion to be entirely misguided?” said the High-Elder.

Trefor took a microsecond to assess himself and see if he’d somehow given his inner thoughts away. He was sure that he’d kept his thoughts and expression mastered, yet something must have slipped loose for him to be called out on his true opinion. Trefor considered lying but he had a feeling that whatever he said next would be vital not only for his future but for the future of the Forest of Life and Death.

“No, Senior, I...Well...Yes. I thoroughly, and whole-heartedly disagree with Elder Fang’s suggestion,” said Trefor. There were gasps and murmurs from all over the room. Elder Fang growled in indignation.

“Why I never!? Presumptuous, brat, what makes you think you know better than your elders?” said Elder Fang.

“Seniors, I meant no offense and humbly apologize for any offense that my words have caused,” said Trefor, bowing his head and cupping his palm.

“Good...It seems you at least know your pla-…” started Elder Fang. Sounding mollified.

“That being said...I have no desire to court death...Nor do I wish for our Forest of Life to Court death...Even if the two Elders Calloway are still only Primordials...Two primordials under the age of 30 is nothing to take lightly...Especially ones with hidden depths that would allow them to face a foe that might cause one or more of our esteemed ancestors to make certain sacrifices if said foe came to the sect to make trouble...and no connections to tie them down, or use against them if they decide to flee…Simply put, while I am willing to lay down my life for this sect...I’m ‘not’ willing to simply throw away my life or the lives of my juniors and peers,” said Trefor.

“Do you truly believe that these...Calloways would react so negatively to a request to make their oath of loyalty to the sect soul-binding?” said a High-Elder.

“I admit, I don’t know them well enough to say that for sure, seniors...That being said, based on their concerns when joining our sect, I strongly suspect that any attempts to further abridge their freedoms would be reacted to negatively. And any events to directly control, or take them into custody would likely result in the termination of any good feelings they have for our sect...Even if we didn’t necessarily create a new enemy for ourselves, we’d most likely end up losing a set of powerful assets,” said Trefor.

“Hmph, I hardly think these young-uns’ would risk losing the sect’s resources and protection just like that,” said Elder Fang. Still quibbling.

“With all due respect, Elder Fang... based on the records I’ve looked over in regards to their use of the sect trade and reward offices, the Calloways main ask thus far has been, largely ordinary seeds and livestock, and other mundane goods. As well as a single visit to the archives…” said Trefor. Doing his best not to show his annoyance.

“In other words, they’ve yet to take more than a marginal advantage of anything the sect has to offer, and they are strong enough that going alone wouldn’t necessarily be a serious risk for them,” said another high-elder.

“Yes! Yes, senior,” said Trefor. Forced to restrain a sigh of relief. Glad that there was someone here who knew how to speak sense.

“Hm, thank you for your report Elder Pradhan,” said yet another voice. The aged voice of the Forest of Life and Death’s Sect-Master.

“We of the governing council shall deliberate over your report and make a final decision. You may attend to your other duties,” said the Sect-Master.

“Thank you, Sect-Master!” said Trefor. Cupping his fist, bowing, and backing out of the chamber.

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Yang Shichao, the current Sect-Master of the Forest of Life and Death, took two more days to decide on what to do with the aberration that was the Calloway couple. Ultimately, he found that there was something credible about the words of the little junior that had testified before the council of elders. Yet, the fact that many of the senior voices spoke in favor of trying to bind the Calloways more tightly had the Sect-Master on the fence.

In the end, Yang Shichao decided to trust young Elder Pradhan. Based on Yang Shichao’s intel the elder and the Calloways weren’t so close as to bias Elder Pradhan’s judgment. Elder Pradhan had always been loyal to the sect despite complaints that he sometimes took things too easy and was overly lax. Most importantly, the lad had an uncanny sense for danger.

No sooner had Yang Shichao made the decision in his mind, when the proof of the rightness of this call came to him a second late. A great heap of leaves fell from the golden tree that stood tallest in their sect’s core-grove. This tree was known as their sect’s luck-tree. A tree that accumulated karmic luck and heavenly virtue on behalf of the sect, and provided fruits and leaves that could be used as rare medicines for Elders who need the extra aid during their rank ascensions. A bunch of leaves falling from that tree could only be interpreted one way. It meant that the sect had just narrowly used up a great portion of its luck and avoided some great danger.

It didn’t take Yang Shichao long to consider what the danger might have been. At his level, he could divine the flow of fate for himself and his sect almost instinctively. Cold sweat ran down the old man’s back as he realized that he might just have narrowly decided to take the stairs instead of climbing into a doomed elevator.

“Good...Good,” said Yang Shichao. Face twitching in agitation. Looking at the heap of blackened leaves and wondering who he’d have to reward, and who he’d have to punish, if his sect had been pushed this close to the brink of disaster without his knowledge.