The Sage's Vow

14.3 || Elemental Village

The mention of help caught almost everyone's attention. Josh glanced at Mateo from the corner of his eye, and his friend winked at him. Resisting a powerful urge to shoot the Sages a smug smirk, Josh settled with grinning and shoved his hands in his pockets. He didn't miss Jonathan's quirked brow in his direction, though.

"Come," the merwoman continued. "We will take you with us to our Meeting Hall, and we can discuss there."

"Are you able to attend, Tamah?" the dwarf asked, a note of concern in her voice, though she hid it from her face.

The merwoman, who must have been Tamah, waved away the dwarf's concern. "I need not return to the water for another hour, at the very least. That is more than enough time to see to our new guests."

The dwarf bowed her head, conceding to Tamah's wishes.

"We shall be off then," the sylph said. "Though I hope you find no offense if I have a few of my own tail behind. We are trusting you on good faith, but the circumstances are still strange."

"Of course," Jonathan said. "We understand completely."

"We are grateful that you are even allowing us entry." The Sages had made their way to stand with the Paladins, and Tuan had been the one to insert himself at the end of Jonathan's statement. A perfectly pleasant mask replaced his earlier tense expression.

Josh didn't bother hiding his eye roll. Such a suck-up.

The elder directed a few other sylphs to the back of their group, and with a barked, "Yes, Lord Nae'u!" they glided swiftly to the back. Humming his satisfaction, Nae'u turned and proceeded forward. The Elders and dragons followed, so the Soul-bound did as well.

The gathered Elementals parted, allowing their group to pass. All eyes remained on the new arrivals, drinking in their novelty as the villagers whispered amongst themselves. Their path led them straight forward. Josh could only guess their destination was the large wooden building in the very center of the village. The design mimicked a cabin with a wrap-around porch. They had called it a meeting hall, so he didn't figure anyone slept inside.

Jonathan maneuvered closer to Josh as they walked. Mateo walked slower, opening a space for Cale's father to slide in. A strange unease crossed Jonathan's face as he glanced at Mateo, but he shook it off as he turned to Josh. He frowned at the weird moment. Shouldn't Jonathan have appreciated Mateo seeing what was going on and allowing him a spot next to Josh?

"Cale has spoken many times of your tendencies to act rashly, and I thought your outburst back there was another instance of that, but it wasn't, was it?" Jonathan said. "You knew these Elementals could help us."

Josh pointed up to Krotali. "She mentioned to me they'd felt a breach a day or so ago, and I was sure that had to be Mara and Cale. Even if I'm wrong, it's at least a lead."

Jonathan nodded as he considered this new knowledge. After a moment of silence, his contemplative expression shifted, and something much more exhausted replaced it. "Thank you. I would have hated to miss this chance of rescuing my son because of my own pride."

Oh. When Jonathan had begun the conversation, Josh had expected the questions. He couldn't have foreseen the gratitude, and it made his insides squirm. His 'rash' actions typically received chidings, not thanks.

"Yeah, uh, you're welcome," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "Sorry I couldn't say anything before. At first, we were on different dragons, and after that, the Elders were too suspicious to let us talk with each other."