Edge and Venn stood with Mica before the three large buildings that housed the towns people in cramped conditions. Mica felt more like himself with the two freemen beside him. Coming home had been difficult for more than one reason, and he had reverted to the wise cracking jokester the people here had expected to see. He had said nothing as Flint and Emery had been taken into the conferences with the leaders of the cities, along with Cobalt, who now stood beside their father as a leader of the town, but his insecurities about being the youngest had bitten deeply.
The two free man warriors were not of the ruling class and were left out of most of the decision-making talks as well. It was Venn who had seen through Mica's outer shell and pulled him along with him and Edge to secure the people of the town.
"Some people are born to make the decisions, and some are born to carry them out," Venn had said wisely. "Truth be told, I'd rather leave the burden of making them to the thinkers of the world, like Sirrus."
"You and me both," Edge said. "I can out ride and out fight any of them, even out drink a few, but who wants to be stuck in endless meetings when there's real work to do."
"We all have our skills, and without us those decisions wouldn't matter one iota because there would be no one to carry them out. A leader is only as good as the men who follow him. Take your forge, for example. You are the leader, you meet with clients and discuss price and timelines, then you give it to the best-skilled man to carry out the work. I bet there are times you'd rather just get in and do it yourself, or times when the apprentices are better suited to make the deal, but, instead, they follow your lead because you are a good leader."
"What he's trying to say, and badly might I add," Edge interrupted. "Is that it doesn't matter who says what in those meetings, we follow Talon, and if he chooses to follow a leader like Gale or Scorch then we follow them, but if he tells us something different, then he has our loyalty."
"What about Kaolin, or the other warriors whose fathers are here?" Mica said, seeing a similar dilemma to his unfolding with those men.
"The choice is theirs, but I would wager that they too would follow Talon's lead. He's proven himself time and again to all of us as a leader who cares about his people and the effect they have on the world around them," Venn said. "Same as the choice is yours now, to follow your fathers lead or be your own man and decide for yourself."
A deafening crack of thunder came from the heavy dark clouds that filled the sky. A blinding flash of light followed a few seconds later, making the three men flinch unconsciously, and a few of the women in the homes behind them to cry out.
Before them, in a semi-circle of sorts, stood the warriors of Phoenix, the small groups from each clan joined hands and bowed their heads in concentration, remaining so still that in the early semi darkness of the storm they could almost be mistaken for statues. Beyond them, several meters away, stood a group of Jade, Jason and a group of towns people that had once lived in the city of Pegasus. Flint and Emery had both been chosen to stand with their mother in this group. In front of them stood the two leaders of Gryphon with the fanatics, and several meters beyond them again stood the three ancient magicians drawing carefully on the power of those behind them to fight the storm.
Mica knew that Venn and Edge stood with him and the men of the town because they weren't of the same caste as the ruling families. He had wondered how they didn't resent not being seen as equals with the men and women they rode with, but hearing what they both said while standing here seemed to make sense of it. He had to admit at that moment that he was glad he wasn't in the front lines, as the storm hovered above them and seemed to try to swallow the town but for the efforts of those who possessed the power to fight it.
There was a sudden movement, and Mica peered into the dim light a moment before he saw one of his brothers lit up by a bolt of lightning that seemed stuck to the ground through him. The earth shook and, unable to help himself, Mica ran for all he was worth towards the sight, grabbing a shield from a fanatic as he ran past and hurled it at his brother, hoping the break the connection with the storm.
"Em!" Mica cried, now able to make out who it was that had been struck as he grabbed him and pulled him away, as the shield absorbed the power of the lightning bolt sending spars and metal stars into the area around it. Mica dropped his brother's incandescently hot body to the ground and watched bug-eyed as he seemed to glow with light, despite his skin looking remarkably unburnt. It took a further moment for Mica to realise that Ayla was on the ground beside him, and then the shield shattered, and the lightning strike bore into the earth sending steam rising from the hole in the ground.
The ground shook, and the men and women that were attempting to protect the town stumbled as they attempted to maintain the concentration needed to repel the worst of the magical storm that that threatened to destroy them. Mica curled around the glowing form of his unconscious brother to protect him as the magician, Ayla, stood once again. Seeing the boy protecting his brother, she moved as he had to take the remaining shield and force it into the path of the lightning which remained static as if linked to the earth it had struck.
It all happened in slow motion for those watching, the actions of Mica, the glowing form of Emery, and the giant, Flint, moving to help Ayla as she forced the second shield between the earth and the beam of light. This time Ayla had used the polished side of the metal shield and reflected the light back up and into itself, which caused an ear shattering boom that sent even the strongest man to his knees while clutching his ears. The storm dissipated as if the lightning bolt had torn the magic that held the storm together to shreds. Wispy threads of cloud scattered across the sky as the last of the driving winds dissipated and the late afternoon sun shone upon the village again.
Dazed and confused, Mica sat with Emery, even as Ayla and Jade came to his aid. He vaguely heard Ayla tell him that Emery had saved her life and that he may well have saved Emery and the rest of the village with the speed of his actions. He barely registered the words as he held Emery's head on his lap while the two women worked to heal him. His brother looked asleep, and, aside of a pale glow that seemed to come from his skin, he seemed perfectly fine.
Talon had moved a split second after Mica had pushed past him, and in the aftermath of the explosion had taken in the scene and began to call orders to the warriors. He grabbed Spar, who went to rush past him to his sons, and shouted in a commanding tone to get his full attention.
"There is nothing you can do, let the healers work. It's time to save your town and the rest of your people, your family!" He pointed to the steam and the water that was rapidly bubbling to the surface where the lightning bolt had driven into the ground, causing not only a large hole but the earth to crack in a large jagged line toward the cliff face.
Spar looked at him as if he was about to roar some commands of his own, but Talon kept speaking, and Cobalt appeared beside him looking panicked, his head turning in all directions. The stunned and bemused towns folk watched the warriors who had sprung into action using their axes and knives as digging implements to try and send the flow of water toward the north side of the village before the small vale it sat in flooded.
"We need shovels and tools and bags, lots of bags to make a levy. We need to stem the flow of water or you will lose everything. Do you understand?" Talon asked, still using a commanding tone. "Let the healers work on the boys, I promise they will do everything they can, you must rally the towns folk now. We can't save your people without you being their leader right now."
"Father, what do we do?" Cobalt asked, as Spar seemed to take a large, loud breath and blow it out slowly.
