Standing there for a long time, Florka gazed down at Orced. The hostility in his eyes was straight now, not masked by politeness or sentimentality.
Florka replied, voice cold and flat, "We'll meet again." "And next time, I won't be the first to go."
He turned and left the kitchen in silence. His footsteps echoed down the hallway before fading out as he exited the building. The only punctuation was the sound of the main door shutting behind him.
For a few long seconds, the kitchen stayed totally silent. Orced exhaled gently, stroking the bridge of his nose. "Everybody... get down. He left. No hunting. No tracking. Let him return to whatever hole he crawled out of."
Macker dropped his hands, still tight. "Boss, that man seemed to want to murder you. You just let him stroll really?
Orced gave a little smile, but it never reached his eyes. "He is my childhood friend. Old pals get a free pass. Next time we'll approach it differently."
Aftor completely sheathed his blades, but his mood was grim. "You positive on that? He was not here for tea and memories. He was here to evaluate us. To understand how far we have come."
Orced rose deliberately, shoving his chair back. "I understand. And now he gets it. That implies readiness is vital for us. Ema."
Ema sprang forward right away, bow in hand. "Yeah?"
Though commanding, Orced's voice was quiet. "Activate the whole invisibility protocol on the island. Maximum power. I want Sky Island entirely off the grid. No thermal bleed, no visual, no radar, only our special radars. Make it seem like we never existed here."
Without hesitation, Ema nodded. "On It. Stabilization using the full protocol takes around twenty minutes. To prevent altitude loss, I will send the power over the secondary cores."
Orced rested momentarily a hand on Ema's shoulder. "Good. Do it. For the rest of you, rest. We put in more work tomorrow. We get ready for whatever Florka brings next. This is not finished. It is only starting here."
The team spread gradually, the earlier laughing replaced by a calm, concentrated energy. As he turned toward his room, Macker said something about "old friends being the worst kind of enemy." Following, Nix continued complaining about not having permission to blow anything up. Before heading out to double-check the perimeter, Aftor and Sano shared a look.
Only Kruna hung about, leaning against the counter as Orced observed Ema vanish down the hallway toward the control room.
"You really think he will return accompanied by an army?" Kruna murmured.
Orced gazed at the bare doorway Florka had departed. His voice was almost pensive and quiet.
"I think he already has one. And I think we only reminded him why he originally constructed it."
As Ema started the protocol, the island's hum varied somewhat. Lights flickered once, then settled. Like heat haze on a summer road, the subdued shimmer of the invisibility field started to show around the margins of the windows.
As though the last hour had never occurred, Orced turned to Kruna, the same simple smile returning to his face.
"Come on. Let's have some real sleep. We reveal to the globe tomorrow what Sky Boys are truly capable of doing should someone seek to impede us."
Kruna nodded but lingered a little to study the door.
The two former buddies left the kitchen together, with the weight of the past and the promise of the future weighing down on the air behind them.
Outside, the wind was whispering secrets that no one else could hear over the invisible island.
Evening air in the isolated Chinese village tasted like pine and far-off woodsmoke and was clear. Far from the curious eyes of Hedonas patrols and the bright lights of the towns, Karkas cult's main ingredient was hidden in a far-off valley.
Wooden beams supporting beautifully curved roofs, stone foundations that had stood for millennia but with discreet steel supports and hidden security elements only the inner circle knew about—the buildings were a perfect blend of traditional Chinese design and practical modern reinforcements.
Hanging from the eaves, lanterns illuminated the cobblestone pathways meandering between the main hall, the tiny garden where Florka enjoyed to meditate when the weight of leadership became too much.
Florka was carried around the central courtyard in lengthy, purposeful steps. His long coat swayed behind him with a subdued whiff of Perpa's city air still hanging in the fabric.
Standing on either side of him, Ash and Gus stayed watchful but mute.
Ash was a tall, thin man with strong features and a scar on his left cheek from a previous curse battle; he moved like someone who had learned the hard way that trust was a luxury.
Gus was more stocky and shorter. He crossed his arms over his chest and always looked pissed off as if he believed anything could happen at any moment.
These were Florka's most trusted lieutenants, the ones who had been with him from the beginning, when Karkas was only a whisper of a dream whispered in the desert.
The three of them stopped close to the main fountain to listen to the quiet patter of water in the quiet evening.
Ash started first with a soft voice. "Therefore... You watched him. What was the golden boy like? I aspire to be that dude and fuck girls hard."
Florka stared at the water for a long time, the light from the lanterns bouncing off the surface. "He's still the fucking same. Speaking as if he is the only one who knows the rules and the world is his personal playground, w. He still still has that gaze in his eyes like he's the hero of his own narrative. Sky Boys is exactly what I expected: loud, showy, full of manchildren who think they can change anything with a speech and a punch."
Gus grumbled and then booted a little pebble into the fountain. "In essence, they laid a groundwork in the heavens."
Florka nodded deliberatively. "Floating island. Most scans won't see it unless you are aware of precisely what to search for. With seven fundamental members all showing S-class potential, they are Organized. Today they demolished Rengan as if it were nothing. I saw the aftermath from afar. I'm not sure if Orced even able to think rational anymore."