The Storm King

Chapter 855 - Screaming Eagles

After making his declaration of the return of his Clan, Leon leaped down from the Screaming Eagles’ totem. Even if the specific image he’s been standing on had been his own Ancestor, it still felt disrespectful to remain perched up there while what seemed to be the cream of the Screaming Eagles’ fighting forces were assembled around the courtyard.

As his feet touched the stone courtyard, the three ninth-tier mages began to descend as well, along with most of the eighth-tier mages. With these people showing themselves, Leon noticed that, despite there being hundreds of mages in the air, only these men and women had feathers woven into their hair.

‘Some mark of office, then?’ he wondered. Given their power and the fact that most of these mages appeared to be at least in their thirties by mortal standards, he guessed that these people were the Tribe’s elders. Given their age and power, he guessed that the three ninth-tier mages were the highest ranked, or at least most senior of the Tribe’s elders.

As they pulled in closer and surrounded him, Leon quickly counted eighty, only twenty-one shy of the Tribe’s total number of elders.

The man that had defended the courtyard on Leon’s approach seemed to take charge, the other two ninth-tier mages even falling in half a step behind him as he strode toward Leon.

Halting a pace in front of Leon, the man, without a shred of deference to be found in his demeanor, said, “We should speak. Inside.”

Leon, a light, confident smile on his lips, nodded once, though he added, “I’d rather the Thunderer’s fleet didn’t come to blows with the Jaguar Tribe.”

The ninth-tier man paused as he made for the gathering hall and glanced in the sea’s direction, his aura pulsing as he projected his magic senses. He then nodded to one of the other ninth-tier mages, who frowned for a moment before taking back to the skies and flying toward one of the arks still hovering in the air.

With that assurance, Leon, with a few silent looks and a quick wave of his hand, ordered his people to stand down. Maia, Red, and Anzu returned to human form, while the rest of his retainers pulled their armor back into their soul realms.

Putting more confidence than he felt on display, Leon followed the ninth-tier Eagle into the gathering hall, followed by his retainers and the rest of the Screaming Eagles with feathers woven into their hair.

The interior of the hall amounted to a single massive room. Both sides of the hall were lined with benches enough to seat several hundred, while massive braziers were arranged in a line down the center of the hall.

Everywhere Leon looked in the hall, he saw avian figures, from carved reliefs along the walls and on the decorative columns, to ceiling and floor murals, to carved birds on the braziers themselves. Were he anywhere else on Kataigida, he would’ve assumed these figures to be the Thunderbird, but given he was in the gathering hall of the Screaming Eagles, he guessed all of these birds were meant to be this Tribe’s ancestor, the eponymous Screaming Eagle.

The hall was empty of people before this. Only the two ninth-tier Eagles were in there when Leon walked in.

Wordlessly, the ninth-tier Eagle that seemed in charge gestured to Leon to join him at the far end of the hall where he stood upon a slightly raised dais. The other ninth-tier mage was sitting on one of the benches closest to the far end of the hall, her eyes rarely straying from Leon even as she took the opportunity to relax.

Leon did as invited, his people following suit. He wondered what he ought to say then, but as he pondered his words, the rest of the Tribe’s elders streamed in behind him, nearly all eighth-tier, and those that weren’t were still at least seventh.

They quickly took seats on the benches as close to the dais as they could, but as they did, Leon noticed them sitting according to some method he couldn’t discern.

‘Seniority, maybe? Or maybe wealth? Influence? They’re not quite sitting according to power…’

The latter observation was technically true, but the stronger of the eighth-tier mages did generally sit closer to the dais, but it was clearly not a hard and fast rule.

As everyone was getting situated, the third ninth-tier Eagle elder entered, taking a seat just across the hall’s central aisle from the other seated ninth-tier.

“All ships are heading to port,” he said. “There will be no violence in this city between them.”

“Thank you,” Leon responded, bowing his head slightly in gratitude.

“I rendered no favor; peace is a duty borne by all,” the Eagle said, waving his hand as if to dismiss Leon’s thanks.

“A wise philosophy,” Leon observed. “I wished more people in this world felt the same.”

“Do you?” the Eagle asked.

Leon smiled a little wider, but before he could respond, the leading elder on the dais with him quietly said, “We ought to begin properly.” To the rest of the room, he declared, “Though not all of us are here, the events of a few minutes ago demand that our Tribal council assemble. Let it be known that the council is now in session!”

Turning back to Leon, he said, “I am called Exallos Aetos. I am Lawspeaker for this council.”

Leon fought the urge to laugh at the man’s name. He’d used ‘Aetos’ as an alias before, never having expected to run into anyone actually using the name.

As for the man’s title, Leon, thanks to the Jaguar’s briefing, knew that a Lawspeaker was little more than first among equals to a Tribal council. He had little executive power, possessing duties that amounted almost exclusively to mediating disputes between other elders and managing business when the council was called. The position usually went to the oldest or most powerful within a Tribe’s council, but a couple of the other Tribes appointed Lawspeakers by election by the council members, or by lot.

“Well met. I am Leon Raime.”

“Yes, you introduced yourself just a moment ago,” Exallos Aetos said.

“And made a bold claim,” the female ninth-tier Eagle said.

“A claim backed up by power,” the male ninth-tier pointed out. He glanced around at the other elders and asked them all, “I was not the only one who heard the voice of our Honored Ancestor, was I? That was the Thunderbird’s lightning, called forth by a man who took the form of the Thunderbird itself! To ignore this is to ignore all of our Ancestors!”

He stopped for a moment, rose from his seat, and approached the dais, his eyes locking upon Leon.

“The Thunderbird Clan was our rulers for hundreds of generations. They led us to prosperity that we, today, can only dream of. When the Thunderbirds fell, we were all lessened.” He fell to a knee and declared, “I welcome the return of the Thunderbird Clan! Our rightful ruler has returned! The world is setting itself to rights!”

Many of the Screaming Eagle elders began hurriedly whispering amongst themselves, and while Leon found himself fighting an unabashed smile, he was reserving his attention for the ninth-tiers—specifically, the other two, who seemed less than thrilled at the first man’s declaration.

However, addressing the man, Leon asked, “It gladdens my heart to see my Clan so fondly remembered. What is your name, my loyal friend?”

The kneeling ninth-tier replied, “I am Ipatameni Timi.”

Leon smiled and nodded, then glanced at the ninth-tier woman, nodding to her in a silent request for her name, as well.

She seemed to need a moment to think it over, but she eventually said, “Chrysi Pisti.”

“Well met,” Leon said. He noticed that the other elders were still talking amongst themselves, but before he could begin asking for their names as well, Aetos cleared his throat, and his power, for just a moment, erupted from his body like a massive tidal wave, sweeping away all conversation and leaving the gathering hall silent as the grave.

“The power is not in doubt,” he sternly said, glancing between Chrysi and Timi. “Matters of politics, however, must be discussed and agreed upon. No one man can declare what is right or the course an entire Tribe can take.”

The doors of the gathering hall suddenly burst open and a rather harried-looking man radiating eighth-tier power burst in, followed by a handful of equally-ragged seventh-tier mages. Leon recognized all of them: the eighth-tier mage he presumed to be Captain Jace, having seen the man on the observation deck of Jace’s ship. The others, he thusly assumed, were adjutants of Jace’s.

Sure enough, Timi shot to his feet and roared, “Impudence! None may intrude upon private Tribal business! Not even you, Jace!”

“This matter affects all Ten Tribes!” Jace retorted.

Aetos cleared his throat again, and with a simple expression of power, the gathering hall fell silent once more. “Opinions can be had,” he said. “But for now, Captain, please wait outside until summoned.”

“No,” Jace refused. His eyes shifted from Aetos to Leon. “We have allowed an outsider entrance—”

“Outsider?” Timi shouted in exaggerated disbelief. “No scion of the Thunderbird shall ever be an outsider amongst our people!”

Dozens of Screaming Eagle elders murmured in agreement.

“I find myself agreeing with Jace in this matter,” Chrysi said. “Power is power. But what does Leon know of our ways? I mean no disrespect, Leon, but the Thunderbirds have been gone for such a long time. Our ways have changed.”

“We have struggled in the absence of our true and rightful Lords!” Timi cried out.

“We have seized independence!” Jace shouted back.

“From whom?” Timi asked with a deep sneer. “We once sailed through the stars, wingmates with the Thunderbird itself! Without our Lord, we now find ourselves scrapping with planar barbarians, now possessing but a shadow of the power we once held! What is independence if it leads to such a miserable existence?”

“Our power is resurgent!” Jace shouted. He was about to continue, but Red loudly laughed, drawing the attention of the entire hall.

“You are worms, unfit even to be burned,” she growled, fire in her eyes.

“You dare!” Jace shouted as he took a threatening step forward.

Leon, however, raised a hand and, using only his elementless magic, stopped him. Gently.

“I apologize for my retainer,” he said to the entire hall. Red clicked her tongue, but when he glanced back and glared at her, his killing intent spiking for a moment, she backed down. “I came here neither to insult nor to conquer.”

“Why have you come, then?” Chrysi asked. “No one announces themselves as you did for no reason. What is your aim, if not to assert authority?”

Leon smiled at her, nodding respectfully before turning his attention back to the hall as a whole. “I would rebuild the Thunderbird Clan to its former glory. I’m sure there are many different thoughts about the fall of my Clan—some might celebrate it, while others curse the day for having made vagabonds of us all, relegated to a backwater corner of a backwater plane. I will achieve Apotheosis and make for the Nexus, returning my Clan to glory, but… I can’t help but ask myself what kind of Storm King I could ever possibly hope to become if I left behind the loyal vassals who’d followed my Clan to this plane in the first place. Left to squabble with the locals over ancient grievances long absent from living memory.”

He took a deep breath and regarded the entire hall, making eye contact with every Screaming Eagle elder and Jace and his adjutants.

“I meant it when I said that I’m not here to conquer. I but came to present a choice to you all: to follow me to the Nexus and reclaim your old glories as well, or to stay on this plane, eternally bickering with the Empires over land on a single plane and fighting over the scraps that my Clan left behind.

“You would have us as your slaves?” Jace spat.

“Far from it,” Leon corrected. “I have no need for slaves.”

He glanced around the room again, noting with some pleasure that many of the Eagle elders were nodding along with what he said while others were smiling in agreement. This reaction was hardly universal, but it seemed that it was at least in the majority, even if only just.

“Your Clan followed mine to this plane,” Leon continued. “And I saw it outside: you remember my Clan, honoring my Ancestor just outside of those doors! Such loyalty cannot be ignored! I ask all of you to join me as I rebuild what we have all lost, and more! To reclaim our lost power, and then surpass it! To meet the status quo of our Ancestors, and then exceed it! To build something that we can all take pride in, and that benefits us all!”

“You say much, yet little,” Chrysi observed.

Leon softly chuckled. “I’m more a warrior and an enchanter, in truth, all of this politicking is new to me.”

Chrysi gave him a shallow smile in response, but before she could respond, Aetos said, “Then let’s speak in more concrete terms. But first…” His aura spiked and his power settled around Jace and his adjutants. “… we will discuss this as a Tribe first. If we have anything to share with others, it will be shared. You need not concern yourself with these matters.”

Jace and his adjutants were lifted off the ground, completely unable to do anything about it despite their power—or unwilling, Leon wasn’t sure, but the end result was the same—and were carried by Aetos’ power right out of the hall, the door quietly shutting behind them.

Without missing a beat, Aetos intoned, “Matters of governance are to be decided upon first by the Tribes, and then by the Elder Council. The Thunderer has no place in this hall until we are of one mind.”

Leon smiled. The Tribes would debate matters until they decided upon a course of action to take within their own structures, then the Tribes would gather in the form of the Elder Council and make their positions known. Action—at least if it affected all Ten Tribes—wouldn’t be taken until all of the Tribes reached an agreement. If he wanted to be the King of these people, he would have to ensure that he had the support of at least half of the Tribes before they even reached the Elder Council. Going into that particular meeting without knowing the outcome was unacceptable in his mind.

“Well then, where were we?” Leon asked.

“You were going to elucidate your position,” Chrysi said. “Your offer? For our support?”

“Why should he need to make an offer?” Timi scoffed. “He has the power. He is of the blood. It is only right and proper that we unify behind the blood of the Thunderbird. There can be no other considerations!”

“Right,” Chrysi said. “And I suppose jumping on the wagon before it gets crowded isn’t your goal?”

Timi looked both scandalized and incensed at that remark. Aetos subtly stepped forward, not quite interposing himself between the two, but making sure that they both could see his presence. When Timi took a step toward Chrysi in anger, he didn’t take another with Aetos just about between them. Had Aetos not done so, Leon felt like he would’ve seen Timi and Chrysi come to blows right then and there.

After a moment of silence, Aetos said, “Leon Raime. We are honored by your presence, but it has given us much to consider. If it pleases, would you kindly give us time to sort through our thoughts on the matter? I do not believe we are all in the right mindset for political negotiations.”

“Of course,” Leon replied. “I came here with Yun Neh of the Jaguar Tribe. The Jaguar of the West has already declared that his Tribe supports me, so I will be staying with them at least for the foreseeable future. I will return, though, and we can speak more then.”

Aetos bowed slightly, and while Timi appeared willing to argue about something, a quick glare from Aetos had him quieting down. Leon couldn’t help but marvel at the man’s ability to control the Tribal council despite being of the same tier as Timi and Chrysi. While Timi was the most sympathetic towards him of the three, he found that if he had to choose anyone to negotiate with, he’d probably pick Aetos.

“Thank you all for your hospitality,” Leon then said to the rest of the hall, and of all the elders present, about sixty rose as Leon made for the door. Upon seeing so many of their fellows rise for Leon’s exit a handful more rose, as well. Timi was one of the first on his feet, while Chrysi remained seated even as Leon and his party reached the gathering hall’s doors.

Upon exiting the hall, Leon found Jace standing in the square, his adjutants now reinforced with triple their number, and all sixth or seventh-tier.

“Leon Raime,” Jace growled as Leon and his retainers shut the door behind them.

“Captain Jace,” Leon said with a grin as he strode forward, not concerned at all with the fact that Jace’s people had surrounded the door. “Lovely day, isn’t it? I’m more a fan of overcast skies, myself, but I can’t help but appreciate the great beauty in a clear, sunny day…”

Still smiling, Leon walked right past the man, his retainers just behind, though only Maia was as relatively unconcerned as he was, everyone else eyeing up Jace and his people as if they were expecting the Thunderer’s people to start something right then and there.

But Jace didn’t say another word, and none of his people made a move, though most gave their Captain some expectant stares.

Regardless, Leon continued walking, only slowing down slightly as he passed the totem pole in the center of the courtyard. He took a moment to glance up at the carving of the Thunderbird at the top, her wings spread, the gold flecks glittering in the sun.

And then Yun came running up into the courtyard from the direction of the port, many of his subordinates at his back.

“Leon!” he gasped. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s fine,” Leon said, casting one final glance behind him at both Jace and his party, and the Screaming Eagles’ gathering hall. There was little to note of the latter, but of the former, Jace and his people were standing between them and the hall, glaring back with undisguised hostility. “Bit of a frosty welcome, but that’s to be expected,” Leon said. “Now, why don’t we head for the Jaguar Tribe? I’m eager for this journey to be over and to get at least a day or two of rest.”

Yun nodded, and though he looked like he would’ve liked nothing more than to throw down with Jace, he acquiesced to Leon’s suggestion.

As they walked away, Leon couldn’t help but reflect on the past couple of hours. All-in-all, he didn’t think it went terribly—in fact, it went quite well, with many of the Screaming Eagles’ elders seeming to support him just with his appearance alone. If they sided with him, then it would be a magnificent start to his quest to gain the support of the Ten Tribes.

Somehow, though, even if the Screaming Eagles declared for him without any further work on his part, he doubted the other eight Tribes he’d need to contact would be so easy.