Luna and Dreiki walked through into the Teepee, the smell of incense thick in the air. Three xiozians sat around a campfire. The one tending to the flames was adorned red and white feathers which reflected the warm glow of the fire like metal. Dreiki recalled some birds in the Altix sported metallic feathers. Another wore the head of a bear on his shoulders, the mouth opened like the visor to a suit of armor. The third was sporting relatively normal attire compared to the other two. He had a white fur collar on his clothes which reminded Dreiki of Ezo.

“Howdy everyone!” Tadios said behind him.

The three turned their attention to them, “Welcome back, Tadios.” The firekeeper said, “I assume that’s the one that was causing trouble?” He gestured towards the unconscious xio over Tadios’s shoulder.

“Oh yeah, this one was the leader of their little gang. I think the leader of a noble faction too. He was pretty tough, but it wasn’t anythin’ I couldn’t handle.”

“Have you cut his horns?”

“Not yet. Figured we could question him when he wakes up.”

“That is a good idea. Who are these two?”

“Oh yeah, these two are- Y’know I forgot to get their names.”

Dreiki stepped forward, “My friends call me Argo. This is Lilith. And that’s Ezo”

Ezo barked.

“They’ll be joinin’ our team this year.” Tadios said.

“One of them lacks horns, and the other is a bat drake, so I’m guessing only one recruit? He doesn’t look like much.”

“Nope, I said ‘they’. Argo here’s just one of three. He came here with a couple of other Noxa who are quite a bit stronger. No offense.”

Dreiki nodded, “None taken.”

“Besides, trained drakes are allowed to join as long as they have an owner right?”

“I guess that’s true. The drake will be a good boon.”

“If I may, what are all of your names?” Dreiki asked.

“Oh right!” Tadios said, “I’m real bad at introducing people. Argo, these are my cousins, but we’re about two short. The xio in the feathers is Corvio, he’s in charge of espionage. Bear head’s name is Orsika. Her specialty is the vanguard. The xia with the white fur collar is Lioku. She deals with morale.”

“And the other two?”

“Nihilik’s watchin’ over someone from his tribe. He’s our spec ops. We were expectin’ Arika to be with us, but- well about that actually.” Tadios cleared his throat, “Seems like we got our work cut out for us this year folks.”

“Arika’s joined the other team huh?” Corvio sighed, “Seems like her rivalry with you is gonna bite us in the ass this year. The Prince is highly organized, so we’ll be counting on your strength to handle both of them.”

“Perhaps we should ask Kaara to take her place.” Orsika said, “It’s been so long since I’ve seen her!”

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“About that…” Tadios cut in, “She’s with them too.”

“Damn, at least we still have Rorik, then.”

“About that-”

“You’re kidding! Rorik? Did they get a mountain with legs to join them too?” Lioku said.

Tadios shrugged, “I think Kaara convinced them to join or somethin’ you know how she is.”

“At least we have a Xirxus on our side this year.” Corvio said, “Surely with one of them we can convince the others to-”

“About that…”

“What? Who? How many?”

“Pretty much all of ‘em aside from their little sister who don’t want no part in this.”

“No wonder you’ve resorted to recruiting Noxa.”

Dreiki noticed the three of them deflate. He felt a pit in his gut. Were they really only inviting Dreiki and the others to join their game because they had no one else?

Tadios smacked his back hard enough to sting, “Don’t count them out yet! I saw for myself how scrappy they are!”

“Scrappiness isn’t going to matter much in the face of overwhelming talent. One lightning user is hard enough to deal with, but if what you’re saying is true, they’ve got two on their side this year. On top of that, we all know how powerful Rorik, Arika, and Kaara are.” Orsika said.

“Besides, how does it look when we say to the others ‘hey some of our strongest are on the other side, but it’s alright, we got some Noxa to help us from the refugee camp!’” Corvio said.

It had been so long since Dreiki had interacted with a pure blooded xiozian who hadn’t been orphaned by poachers. He almost forgot how they saw people like him. If they ended up losing, he and his friends would likely be used as the scapegoat. The last thing they needed was the attention and ire of the other children.

As Dreiki moved to speak, Tadios stomped forward, blowing flames from his nostrils, “Then let’s do this, they’ll fight under me and me alone. These Noxa know how to keep fighting even when they’re outmatched and that’s more than I can say for any of us.”

“You seem like you’ve made up your mind, but you never let any of us work under you before.” Orsika said, “You’re always a lone wolf when a fight comes, so what’s different now? When’s the last time you’ve offered to take someone under your wing?”

“When’s the last year we’ve been backed in a corner like this? It’s all the more reason to give it everythin’ we got!”

The three of them looked amongst themselves, “We know you’re strong and everything, Tadios, but remember that the Siren Ceremony is coming up.” Lioku said, “We can’t afford to push ourselves too hard right before it happens.”

“Like I said, I’ll take these Noxa as my personal team. I believe in them, and I think you all should too.”

Dreiki looked at Tadios. What did he see in them to be going this far?

“That’s just like you. Once you get an idea in your head you just double down until no one can convince you it’s a bad idea. Do what you want. We haven’t given up yet, but with the odds stacked as they are we’re gonna need a miracle,” Corvio said.

“At least we’ve still got Nihilik on our side. He might be a bit negative and defeatist, but if we send him to snipe some of those nobles in an ambush we could deal some critical blows.”

“You’ve all got somethin’ we can use to beat them. We’re not gonna lose this, I can promise you that!” Tadios said with a beat on his chest, “So long as I’ve still got horns we’ll make sure they know they picked the wrong team this year.” He looked back at Dreiki, “You wanted to train right? You good with startin’ right now?”

“Right now?” Dreiki said, looking at Luna.

“Why not?” Tadios grinned.

Luna pushed him forward, “I’ll meet up with the others and let them know what’s going on. Do your best, okay?”

“You and your bat drake will be on team Tibur startin’ today, then. Follow me, I’ll show you to the training grounds.”

Ezo trotted in place. He did not seem to understand why he was excited, just that he should be. His tongue was lulled off the corner of his muzzle, dangling about as he looked between Dreiki and Tadios.

“Excited for a fight, boy?” Tadios said.

Ezo barked.

“Starting now you and your leaders are under my command. I’m gonna whip you all into shape and we’re gonna be the final answer to our enemies. Ain't gonna be easy, but I’ve learned I’m a pretty good mentor these past few months.”

“Let’s get to it then,” Dreiki said with a determined nod.