The man on the ground grunted and groaned as he tried to push himself up from the earth. Putting his hand out in an offer, the man who had greeted them tried to help the hurt man up. He didn’t accept this as he slapped the hand away. Steading himself with a slight wobble, Kaden finally realized what the thrown man was wearing. He was in fire mage robes.

Meinor shook his head, likely realizing the same thing Kaden had. This guy greeting them had just thrown a fire mage through the window. Things were about to get messy. Before any of them could do anything, the man shot fire out toward the big warrior. The group of them let out an annoyed sigh.

Shouts were heard from inside the restaurant, and a group of red-robed mages piled out of the broken window. Meinor shook his head again and bellowed to his companion, “we can’t join in! You know that!”

The man cackled, throwing his head back to do so. “Don’t worry, little Mei, I don’t need your help.”

Meinor turned to them and said, “Seriously, you four cannot get involved with the mages. That could cause some international drama. If they get close or target you, deflect, deflect, deflect. Do not engage. The lord commander would have my head if I let you lot get in a street fight with red mages.”

Kaden couldn’t help but scoff at the ridiculousness of the situation. The tanned man stood in a fighting pose. If anything, Kaden was curious about how he was going to take on the now five fire mages that were ready to fight him. Angry words were tossed toward him, accusing him of being of lesser birth and that they had spent time with his mother. The man merely chuckled in response.

In an instance, the heat of the flames engulfed the street. Reese and Meinor were easily redirecting the wild fire shots with the power of wind, pushing it to dissipate into the air and not harm any of the onlookers.

Evonne stepped forward and helped them redirect it every time the flames lipped the air near them. Sayori pulled out a dagger from her boot and readied her stance beside Kaden. They weren’t going to join the fight, but they weren’t about to let people get hurt because of it. Kaden let out a deep sigh as he watched the group battle.

He had thought the man would have been burnt alive quickly but to Kaden’s surprise; he was dancing through the flames and moving much quicker than he would have thought a man of his size could. Moving underneath a blast, he was able to move under a mage’s outstretched arms and Kaden heard an audible crack before blood curdling screams.

The man fell to the ground, trying to cradle his now broken arms. Kaden’s eyes widened as he danced around another blast just as the mage tried to catch him off guard. He made a few quick punches and that man’s arms fell limp to his side. He tried to move them, but they flopped around uselessly.

The other three, including the one who had been thrown out the window, were looking at each other with worried looks. In tandem with another, the window mage attempted to attack the man. The man easily slid between their blast and their arms before throwing his window friend back to the ground with a thud.

Kaden could tell the mage was losing the will to fight as he laid there on the ground, trying to catch his breath. The tanned man hit the other mage once in the shoulder, and his arm fell limp. The final mage merely threw his hands up, giving up as his companions groaned and yelled around him.

Meinor motioned for their group to settle down before he walked forward toward the mages. He leaned down to the mage, cradling his broken arms. He examined the injury and motioned for their group to come forward.

He looked at them and said, “Since all four of you are now blessed with water, who wants to try to repair these arms?”

The three of his companions took a step back and Kaden was left standing there. Meinor laughed, said he was up, and motioned toward the injured man. He was glaring at them, suspicious of their intent. None of them were wearing their traditional made robes. They each wore some of their nation’s colors, but other than that, no one would have known they were even mages, much less dragon riders.

Stretching his hands out, Kaden knelt down by the fire mage. He was grimacing as Kaden lifted his arms up so he could get a better idea of what he was working with. He examined the breaks. They were very quick and clean. He knew why his companions had stepped back. While they had been learning what they could about water magic since they had been blessed, the magic now came so naturally to him, it wasn’t a challenge to will it into doing exactly what he wanted.

At first, when the matriarchs blessed them, he felt a little left out of the event since he had already received their powers. It wasn’t until later when he fought the traitorous Lord Loratyk had it sunk in what they had really done for him. He wasn’t just a water mage now; he was a water master.

He didn’t even need to close his eyes as he pulled the water from the surrounding air, from the steam being released in the kitchens of the restaurant itself. The water immediately began to glow as it pooled above their heads, streaming toward the two of them.

He willed it to wrap around the wound, push the healing energies that come with water into him. In a quick moment, it crackled and popped back into place. The blood that had been spewing out was nowhere to be seen. The man looked on with surprise. Kaden dropped his hands, and the water fell with it. He didn’t feel like wasting more time than he had to on showing off his abilities.

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The man moved his arms a bit, awed that it the bone wasn’t sticking out of it anymore and the blood that had been escaping was back inside of him entirely. Several people were gawking at Kaden as he stepped back into the safety of his companions, trying to avoid the looks.

Meinor pushed on the shoulder of another fire mage, one that’s arms were immobile. Kaden saw a bright flash emit from his hand as he punched the shoulder. The man squealed, but could move the arm again. The other one with two limp limps looked up at him from the ground with apologetic eyes. Meinor performed the same flashing punch, and he too, was able to move again.

The tanned man stood over the man he had thrown through the window, legs on either side of his body. He stuck his hand out once again, offering to help him up. This time, the man took it, groaning as he was pulled up. He stepped away from the man as quick as he could.

Meinor had his hands on his hips and took a tone they hadn’t heard in a long while. “What happened? Why are there fire mages fighting in the street?”

A cacophony of voices came out as they all tried to accuse the man of assault. He looked to the man giving him an intense look.

The man let out a hearty laugh and said, “This one was harassing Julie. He wasn’t taking no as an answer. I asked him politely to stop. He would not. I asked him again. He would not. So I made him stop.”

Reese was snickering. He tried to hide the laugh with a cough, but all eyes had darted to him. He stepped behind Kaden and out of their line of sight. Meinor shook his head and let out a deep sigh before turning toward the group of mages.

“If it hadn’t been for me and my companion here, your attacks would have injured countless civilians.”

“Sorry, sir.” A few of them said as they hung their heads in shame.

He looked at the broken window and shook his head. “You five will be the ones to replace this window. I don’t care how you do it, you owe it to these people.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Since everyone is healthy and the only thing wounded here is our pride, I will not report this to your grandmaester. If this window isn’t fixed within the week, know my report will be on their desks that day.”

They shared a quick surprise look before nodding and giving him more “Yes, sir” s.

“Get out of here, you idiots,” he said as he waved them away. They scuttled away faster than rabbits being chased by hounds.

Kaden looked for the tanned man, but he was holding the hand of what looked to be a waitress. She looked embarrassed. He assumed this was the Julie he had mentioned. He saw her shake her head, put her hand on his and give him a deep bow. Meinor rolled his shoulders and said, “Well, let’s go eat.”

They were sat down next to several excited patrons. The disturbance didn’t seem to bother the rest of the visitors. A large pot of rice sat on the table, steaming and fluffy. The waitress, Julie, was setting down pots of vegetables, meats, and sauces to go with it. The smells hugged Kaden with comfort as his stomach growled.

It didn’t take them long to be shoveling the food into their bowls. The man introduced himself as The Mighty Martin. He said his name, and the place cheered. He threw his hands up and they yelled louder for him.

“But you guys can call me Marty.”

Meinor leaned over the table and said as if he was telling a secret, “He’s a famous gladiator.”

Of course he was, Kaden thought. How else was he able to take on several mages like that? Sayori clapped excitedly next to him and said, “You aren’t a mage at all!”

Marty’s grin was wide and toothy. “I’m not!”

Reese looked confused. “No, you disabled those men’s arms. That’s a wind technique. You’re a wind mage.”

“I promise you, I am not.”

Reese squinted, pointed his fork at the man and said, “I don’t believe you.”

Meinor and Marty laughed loudly. “It uses some of the same principals, yes. I did study with the wind mages for years.”

Reese was still squinting at him as he chewed his food slowly. Kaden snickered and said, “I didn’t know non-magical users could do that. The way you evaded those guys’ attacks was marvelous!”

He laughed and said, “That was nothing. I’ve fought more than that in the games.”

“Is that why you’re here?” asked Evonne in a quiet voice.

He leaned his head down to be more even with hers and said, “Yes, ma’am. I’m getting a bit old for them now, so this one should be my last hurrah. I have a few championships under my belt and am hoping to add one final notch in this year.”

Her eyes widened. “How many do you have?”

“Eight!”

Reese’s food shot out in surprise. He tried to cover it with a cough, cleaning up his mess. “It only happens every four years! That means you’ve been winning for 32 years! How old are you?”

Sayori pushed his shoulder. “It’s not polite to ask a lady their age.”

Marty laughed again and said, “I’m old enough that I know fighting those mages causes me to ache a bit.”

Meinor snorted. “If that made your bones creak, then you’re going to have a hard time tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Kaden asked.

“The games start tomorrow!”

They collectively gave an “Ohhhh.”

“You’re all coming, right?” He pushed Meinor’s side and said, “If you lot are friends with this fool, then you’re good in my book. I saw how you healed that guy with no issue. You can hold your own.”

Sayori scoffed and said, “you’re not suggesting we enter the games, are you?”

“Yeah! Why not! It’ll be fun!”

Kaden gave Meinor a confused look. “Can we even do that?”

“Sure, why not?” He said with a shrug.

“We’re on our pilgrimage. Won’t that look bad?” Asked Sayori.

Evonne spoke up and said, “let’s do it.”

They all stopped and looked at her. She had been mostly quiet the entire time. Kaden couldn’t help but start laughing at the absurdity that it was Evonne who said it.

Marty smiled again and said, “Don’t worry. You won’t make it too far in. It’ll just be fun. The early games are a chaotic mess anyway. You four won’t get too far, so no need to worry about the publicity.”

“He does know who we are, right?” Reese asked as he leaned back in his chair, trying to look suave.

“He does not,” laughed Meinor. “I don’t think he really cares, either.”

“Oh, who are you lot?”

Reese winked and said, “We’re the champions of the night of fallen wings.”

“The what?”

“We just saved the water nation?”

“They were in trouble?”

Reese’s head hung in defeat. “My dad is a lord in the wind nation?”

“Oh? Congrats, I guess?”

Sayori laughed and said, “Sure, we’ll try it. Why not?”

Marty clapped and said, “Excellent! We’ll meet in the morning at the coliseum and I’ll give you guys the rundown.”