Joe woke to someone poking him in the shoulder. He cracked open an eye to see Mahq standing over him at his bedside.
“The thunder spirit is almost here. You should get up.”
Joe groaned and mumbled, “What time is it?”
“It is a little while before the thunder spirit gets here. I just said that, Joe. Were you not listening?”
Joe scrubbed his hands over his face, giving his brain a minute to be awake enough to work with the young druid.
“Sorry, Mahq. Not quite awake yet,” Joe uttered before letting loose a jaw-cracking yawn. “Thanks for the wake-up.”
Sitting up, he rubbed the sleepers from his eyes before turning to the boy. “You’re going to stay inside tonight, right?”
“I won’t leave the courtyard, but the Abaaka vines will need me, so I will sit with the roots.”
“Just make sure your grans know where you are, ok?”
“Ok. You’re awake. I’m going to go now.” Mahq spun on his heel and walked out, leaving the door open as usual.
Joe cracked his neck and shoulders, admitting to himself that Mahq was definitely more fun than an alarm clock. Undoubtedly more confusing, but he made Joe smile. No chirping clock ever did that for him.
When the cobwebs cleared, Joe could sense the heavy pressure hovering in the air. He headed for the main room to see what the sky looked like. To his surprise, he found heavy shutters had been closed over the windows while he napped. It made perfect sense, but it meant his examination of the sky would have to wait a minute.
Joe spent a short while preparing for his night shift in the storm. Food, plenty of water, a quick cleansing, a change into a sturdy outfit, and he was good to go. He then ensured that anything he was not keeping in his dim-bag was stored in a trunk he had slid into a closet. The Abaaka House was well built and freshly warded, but the words ‘Legendary Storm’ were not ones to be taken lightly.
When he finally stepped outside, he was amazed at how dark it was. It was only halfway between four and five bells, and yet the sky was a churning black nebula of clouds. A creepy half-light tinted the world in gray and purple shades. It was just enough to allow those with normal vision to navigate the wind-howling streets.
Joe watched as Forters without [Steadfast] staggered in the buffeting gusts. Even he had to lean into the gusts strong enough to challenge his stabilizing skill.
The avenues had been stripped bare. All the awnings and signs had been taken down. The little tables and chairs were gone from the plaza and around the cafes. The market was empty except for a few sodden chumps of trash that had not yet been blown away. Luckily, Fort Coral was familiar with seasonal storms, and almost every window had heavy storm shutters closed to protect them.
The air smelled of ozone and the coming rain, though at this point the sky was only filled with wet winds from off the ocean. There was a charge in the air that was causing Joe’s hackles to perk up, sending tickling sensations from his scalp, down his neck, and across his shoulders and spine. The whole world around Fort Coral was poised and tense, a giant cyclonic cat waiting to pounce.
Typically, Joe loved storms, especially the feeling right before they broke, but not this time. The air was too heavy, too angry. Instead of leaving him feeling charged with excited anticipation, the brutish force in the air filled him with dread.
He jogged to the Guild House, flaring [Steadfast] repeatedly to keep from slipping or being knocked over by the errant blasts of wind. The moment he opened the heavy door, it was yanked from his grip. Thankfully, Kerrig was right there. The half-plated fighter gently pushed Joe into the entryway and grabbed the handle. While the door was being closed, Joe saw that a good crowd had already gathered.
Edror had most of his team together in a huddle. He was leading them through a strategy talk.
Off to one side of the room, Hah’roo and Earcellwen were sitting together, looking as though they were getting along quite well. The rope-dancer was missing her customary weapon, which would be useless in a hurricane. Instead, an iron-tipped quarterstaff leaned against the bench she was seated on. The expressions on the faces of the two rangers alternated between seriousness and smiles. The pair looked over at Joe’s blustery entrance, and their grins widened, RC even going so far as to cover her mouth. Joe knew Hah’roo was causing trouble, but he was also aware that both women were dear to him and they would be facing danger tonight. If he needed to be a source of levity for them to bond over before the storm, then he did not mind overly much.
He walked over to where Hah’roo was tying knotwork charms to Vexor’s and Earcellwen’s wrists. She looked at Joe and shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t have any more [Wind Wards]. I have a mana renewal charm you can have.”
“I’ll take it,” he replied. With one of her charms, he’d not have to worry about mana for a while. After she finished activating it, Joe watched Tezeno cross the room with his clipped marching stride to stand with him.
Tezeno Rhal: Archon: Sentinel/Justicar 18
“Are you ready, Joe?” the archon queried.
“I think so. How about you?”
“I, too lack surety, but I am reasonably confident we have done all that can be done in preparation. We will be stationed here with Puqmup and Taylyn. The city watch will be told to direct the wounded here for treatment. Is this agreeable?”
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“It’s not how I would do it. Why don’t we go out with Hah’roo, Earcellwen, and Vexor? That way, we can bring the healing out into the city.”
“You would have us wander around in a storm, randomly hoping to encounter someone in need of healing?” the square-jawed guilder replied, with an incredulous sounding tone.
“Yes. If they can make it to the guild, then they can avail themselves of the resources here. The people who can’t make it here are the ones that will need a mobile healer.”
“While I can see the merits of that argument, that is not how we will be operating. As the senior member of this party, I feel that being centrally located will provide the most efficient use of our efforts.”
“That’s it? I have no say in how I provide my healing?”
“Correct. I am a silver-ranked guild member. You are barely a bronze. I am also a coordination specialist for this guild while you are an unclassified neophyte,” the archon intoned in his almost robotic-sounding voice. “It is clear which one of us is in charge, and it is not you, Joe.”
“What the …” Joe stared at Tezeno. Until now he and the orderly man had gotten along just fine. Yet this intractable demand rankled his nerves. Joe would have been the first to admit he was not at all sure his idea was a good one, but to be told he had zero say in the matter was bullshit. Suddenly, he felt like he had with Azbekt and the Churches of Law, when people were taking ownership of his life and his choices. Joe felt his hackles rise and wildness growling inside him. No matter how much he liked Tezeno Rhal, he was done with others thinking they got to dictate who he was and what he could do, no questions asked.
“Bull. You outrank me, but you don’t own me. If I get no say in how this team works, then I quit this team. I’ll be heading out with the scouts. Good luck tonight. I’ll see you when it's over.”
Joe watched Tezeno’s face turn from his grayish metallic shading to a dark bronze hue. He picked out RC’s voice uttering “Oh shit.” in the background. Yet it was Myllo who interrupted.
“Do we have a problem here, boys?” the short man demanded with an unyielding-sounding inquiry. “I already have too much crap to deal with, so your answer better be ‘no.’”
“Mister Morris here feels he is not bound by the guild’s hierarchy and rules,” the archon all but spat.
“Oh, for love of Mira. I don’t have time … In what way, Tez?” Seeing Joe about to speak, the stocky-bearded man held up a finger in his direction.
“As the senior and higher ranking …”
“And what team are you on, Mister Rhal?” the artificer interrupted.
“Medical coordination,” Tezno replied, sounding a bit confused at the question.
“Nope. You are on the Medical Delivery team, pal, which means that Joe, as the specialist, outranks you. Now, if you will give me a minute to speak to him in private, I’ll give him right back to you,” the guild leader stated, taking a firm hold of Joe’s arm and pulling him away.
“You clearly have never worked with Tezeno before,” the korrigan uttered quietly once they were away from everyone else. “Archons are sticklers for chains of command.”
“Now, here’s the tricky part for me,” Myllo continued. “I know Tezeno Rhal. He is a good man, a good guilder, and an all-around solid guy. You, I don’t know all that well yet. I can see you have a good heart and a free spirit. I have given you command of your team only because if I didn’t, Tezeno would be unbearable for you. That being said, I highly recommend you listen to him. He knows his shit, and he knows this town way better than you do. Got it?”
“That’s fair. I still don’t think we should park ourselves here, though. You have potions here and, I’m sure, other healing items. The people out there are going to need us more.”
“We have a cleric, Mortalius, that creates healing circles here in the Great Hall, which are suped-up versions of your [Heart Fires]. He would use this building as a hospital, so that is where Tezeno gets his ideas from. If you feel strongly about being out there, then I won’t stop you. Just give me your word that you will listen, and if it gets too bad out there, you’ll head back here. Trust me, I’m sure there will be plenty who make their way here who will need your healing before this night’s out.”
“Alright. I can do that.”
“Okay. Go play nice with Tezeno. I have to give a speech. Yeah, me!” he moaned sarcastically.
“Listen up, everyone,” Myllo exclaimed loudly. “Edror. We placed a whole ton of storm lanterns on the first retaining wall. They should have plenty of mana to last you through the night. Hopefully, they will be bright enough for you to guard the shoreline.
“Hah’roo. If you hear anything we need to know about, you have my permission to sound a general muster on your location. There is a very high chance this thing will manifest into some form of storm beast. If it does, I want everyone to drop everything and pile onto it. I don’t care if shellycoats overrun the whole beachfront. That is technically the watch’s job. I don't care if you have a whole line of wounded, Joe. If this typhoon manifests into an epic or, gods forbid, a legendary creature, that becomes the guild’s number one priority. Got it?”
The room resounded with yes’ as the first hammering of heavy raindrops began to hit the roof.
“Alright. That’s our cue, folks. Get out there and be safe. Keep each other in your prayers and stay in touch. If you need sending stones or a tracker, make sure you grab em from those baskets before you go. Let’s go.”
Myllo hooked a rope to the door so they could pull it closed afterward. As he did so, several guilders grabbed stones and trackers, Joe included. The stones he could put in his dim-bag, but the tracker could not be in an extra-dimensional space and still work. He placed the grey metallic disc in a secure pocket of his alchemy belt while Myllo lifted the front door’s latch. The hinged panel tore from his hands and banged loudly into the side of the building.
Edror’s team ducked low and headed down to the beach.
The five of them, Hah’roo, RC, Vexor, Tezeno, and Joe, followed. The four then formed a ring around Joe. The charms the three on the scouting team wore seemed to block much of the wind. Behind him, the archon walked. He, too, protected Joe. All around the stuffy man, the storm seemed to break apart, as if the churning chaos was unable to push through his aura of orderly control.
A roof tile whipped out of the near-black sky, which shattered as Vexor tossed a [Swift Dart] spell into it. The chips sprayed the group, striking surprisingly hard but ultimately doing little to no damage. Another was sundered by Hah’roo’s staff. Behind him, Joe heard the clang of something rebounding off Tezeno’s shield.
The howling winds made it hard to talk, but sounds of wood banging and creaking were everywhere. They had not even made it three whole blocks from the guild house when a resounding crash was carried to them by the gale. A cry rang out.
Tezeno placed his hand on Joe’s shoulder, and the two of them staggered out of the group, heading for whoever needed them.