The next move did not come for several months, while gears turned behind the scenes on both sides. Another ship arrived, and unless turtles were much more common in the Exalted Archipelago than expected, it was likewise from the Ponderous Turtle Clan.

Though they docked in the port, they would not leave their ship. Given what had already happened it was quite reasonable, though Kumbukani and the other elders were not happy to leave the protection of the council chambers. There were sufficient cultivators to defend them, and a handful were instructed to remain close. They didn’t want anyone to be too uncomfortable but security was important as well.

“Have you returned with what you owe?” Kumbukani projected her voice from the dock towards the ship. She was ready to protect herself if needed, but kept her posture neutral. If there was to be any sort of real negotiation, it was important to balance all proper factors. Confidence and strength were important, and those were often displayed by a bit of aggression. The difficulty was not going to the point of provocation, which was not what the continent intended at the moment. They were already balancing on the edge, but they had to avoid showing weakness in the initial encounter above all else.

“Show them,” commanded a woman standing prominently on the foreign ship.

One of the dinghies was quickly loaded with a few chests and lowered into the water. It hardly looked anything like the promised payment, but looks could be deceiving. The single individual rowing the small boat didn’t take long to reach the docks, and he carefully placed the chests at end of a pier, lined up next to each other facing the council.

“Enitan, if you would?” Kumbukani gestured to the formation specialist they’d brought along. He wasn’t one of the masters- there weren’t so many that they could bother them just for something like this, and risking revealing their identity was another issue.

After a quick inspection of the chests, Enitan opened one. Inside was revealed a sparkling hoard, glistening with gems and metal. It was impossible to see all of it, but the senses of those nearby revealed how much more there was inside than just on the surface. These chests carried much more than a storage bag would, though their bulk clearly made them less of a convenience.

Enitan reached in and pulled something out, perhaps to verify what he was seeing inside. He opened the other chests to reveal similar bounties, from which he ultimately presented some samples to Kumbukani. “It does seem to be legitimate.”

“Very well.” Kumbukani had no doubt that her words would be heard even if she didn’t project her voice, but it was simply polite to do so. “Is this it? You think we will believe that the Ponderous Turtle Sect has so little?” She kept her voice as steady as possible. Technically she didn’t know how much wealth they had, but there were estimates… indirect estimates from decades prior, but enough. “This is merely sufficient to buy the freedom of your Grand Elder at most. For everyone, or even the young mistress of your clan…” Kumbukani shook her head.

The woman from the Ponderous Turtle Clan gave away very little, but the subordinates around her revealed more whether they wished to or not. “It is not easy to consolidate our wealth so quickly,” the elder replied. “But you will not wring us dry so easily. This is more than sufficient to buy the freedom of Grand Elder Myron as well as four of the others.”

Good, she was willing to negotiate. And she wasn’t so foolish as to pretend that the young mistress of their clan was worth anything less than the price of all the others put together- even the Grand Elder. “This portion is barely enough to cover the Grand Elder himself, but perhaps we can include one of your other subordinates.”

“Him and three others,” the counter offer came. “The quality of our offerings has escaped your eyes.”

She could go with that offer. But she could do better. “Myron and two others. I could throw in another half, but I imagine you wouldn’t see that as a greater number.”

“Nergiz must be among them,” the woman finally replied.

Kumbukani was trying determine why this Nergiz was valuable. Was he more important than she thought, or was it simply some connection to the negotiator? Or a favor for someone, perhaps. At least they had the option available. “Very well,” Kumbukani agreed. The council might have concerns later, but they could not debate among themselves at the moment. Standing behind her as the figurehead was important to portray unity. “Go retrieve Grand Elder Myron, along with Nergiz and any of the others. Though of course the young mistress must remain until appropriate payment is received.”

The process of retrieving the prisoners was not quick. Many security measures were in place, and even with the word of the council there were many people who had to check that everything was being done as it should. The actual process of retrieving them would not take that long, except for the walk back. Eventually, three prisoners with their hands and feet bound in enchanted shackles appeared, walking at the pace of a normal Body Tempering cultivator. It was almost excruciatingly slow, but they could hardly go any faster without access to their energy.

The actual exchange was quick. Two of the chests were retrieved, carried off into the city while Myron’s shackles were unlocked. He wasn’t foolish enough to try anything when he was released, though he flared his aura in defiance as he arrived on the ship. The final chest was retrieved as the two others were released. They quickly made their way onto the ship as well- they had no need for the dinghy, as any Life Transformation cultivator could easily support themselves on the surface of the water.

“What of our equipment?” Myron quickly took on the leading role as he stood aboard the ship.

“It will take some time to retrieve,” Kumbukani replied. “We did not find that placing it convenient to the prisoners was wise. We can have it for you next time you return… or within a week’s time.” All of the equipment had already been inspected. It was high quality. Valuable, but not singular in its existence. It was reasonable enough to return it, given the payment they had received.

“We shall wait,” Myron declared.

-----

The attacks came in the night. The ship was carefully watched by combined forces of several sects. More than forty Life Transformation cultivators were in Tiarhogo or nearby, ready for something to happen. Yet they weren’t ready for the way things happened.

Simultaneous attacks descended on the prison as well as the storehouses where the chests had been delivered further inland. Both were well guarded, even if the prisoners had no access to their energy they were carefully watched.

The attackers came from above, dropping out of the sky. Nobody thought to watch for them, and few could have. Perhaps if someone specifically focused their senses upward they would have been ready, but the rather large radius that Life Transformation cultivators could sense on average was considered sufficient, and those specifically on lookout were focused on other areas. The cloud cover did the rest to conceal the sky ships.

The attacks were quick and brutal, anyone in the way of the objectives quickly dealt with. By the time a proper response was rallied the attack in Tiarhogo was over, with two Life Transformation cultivators dead and the final prisoner retrieved from the prison. The attackers only delayed for a few moments before fleeing towards the ship, which was already prepared to leave. Others chased after it, but the sea turtles were not so ponderous as the clan’s name might imply.

The storehouse was quickly overrun, and before additional forces could scramble to fight back. Not everything was so conveniently carried away, and there were more secure portions that were not broken into. The three chests were taken away with some other equipment, but the second attack revealed much.

Another sect was involved, with a much different energy signature. It was also the one which revealed the sky ships, as for the attackers to flee from so far inland they had to reach their goal. They were even able to fly- not high enough or fast enough to completely avoid attacks, but once they made it to the safety of the sky ship its formations held long enough. The vessel itself then rose back above the clouds, speeding away at a pace nobody could keep up with, not that many cultivators on Brogora even had the ability to fly for long periods of time.

It was unfortunate to lose valuable treasures, and even more so the deaths of several Life Transformation cultivators and many of lesser cultivation, but the end result could be considered less devastating than it first seemed. The mere knowledge of the sky ships was important… and they didn’t lose so much as might have been expected. Especially the remaining prisoner… at least in that location, they were of no real value. It was just one of the other ten.

Cyrica had been in that prison, prominently marched passed the others. She had been taken deeper, to the most secure cells. Then she had been secretly transported elsewhere, along with the others. The predictions on what might happen hadn’t been totally accurate, but the combined strategies of Ambati and the rest aiding them had been sufficient to come out relatively even, or perhaps slightly ahead. That would depend on whether they considered the relative or absolute losses.

-----

“That would be the Soaring Air Sect, then?” Kseniya frowned as the Order gathered together. “A shame Anton was out at sea, though even I usually do not sense so directly upward. It’s only a few kilometers, but with sufficient stealth capabilities…” she nodded.

“The question now is what to do with the rest of the prisoners,” Matousek said. “We have them very well secured. It is unlikely anything but an assault by a full sect could break through here, but we don’t know how many sky ships are available… or other relevant details.”

“I can’t believe the Worthy Shore Society didn’t tell us about sky ships,” Catarina complained. “I could have been preparing so many useful formations against them!”

“Grant and the engineers will need to know as well. Preparing weaponry that can attack so high might be difficult, but we should at least be able to make a few. No indication of if the ships are built for combat yet, but any failures in their functionality would be… significantly worse for sky ships.”

“We’ll have to wait for the final information to come in,” Kseniya agreed. “These message plates are great, but they don’t make long conversations or detailed explanations easy. I wonder if they had some way to track those chests?”

“Absolutely,” Catarina said. “Now I wish I’d rushed over for the inspection. I was going to do it later… bleh. What was that, five percent of the sect’s wealth?”

“Maybe. Certainly not more, perhaps somewhat less. They asked for ten percent total, but obviously there were shenanigans involved.”

“What about the council?” Matousek asked. “Were they safe?”

“We didn’t hear anything about that,” Kseniya said. “Won’t take long to ask.” She made use of the communication plate in front of her. “Council-is-safe. Good.”

“What does that mean, though?” Matousek questioned. “Did they not consider it important to retaliate against them as figureheads, or could they not? Are there only two skyships, or is this the limit of what the Ponderous Turtle clan could swing to help them on short notice?”

“There have to be more,” Kseniya said, “But not that many. I can’t imagine it’s inexpensive to fly those things,” she looked to Catarina.

“That would depend on the quality of natural energy in the area. High up… well, there’s no way it maintains stable power all the way across the oceans. Large portions of that keep the natural energy primarily down in the water.”

“We’ll have to coordinate with the others about the prisoners,” Matousek said finally. “We have no easy communication method to even make demands, and it might be better to show our… sincerity. The Ponderous Turtle clan has shown they aren’t willing to be reasonable.”