Scorching Ascension - 2.16: The vote

A/N: hope you're liking how book 2 is going. One more tomorrow, and thanks for supporting me!

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Wind rustled across the plain, bringing in the smell of salt from the nearby sea as Ethan stood in front of Gavin and his people. He wondered how he should word the reason for his presence a little better than ‘I’m here to take over your pylon’, but thankfully the staff-bearing man seemed very much aware of why he was here.

“Dwayne’s team here told us about the… little scuffle that had happened about a rift in your territory,” Gavin continued, shooting a glance at the crystal-horned young woman who suddenly became very interested in the grass under her feet. A half smile drew itself on the man’s lips as he looked up. “I’m glad that the whole encounter had not devolved into anything regrettable. But while I agree that pooling our strengths is important and maybe even urgent, what... Guarantees can you offer us? Will you care for my people just like you do yours? Are we going to have our own voices or is it going to be a ‘what I say goes’ kind of a deal? In fact, if we refuse to join your pylon just like you want, what will you do?”

At that last part, a bit of tension filled the air, and Ethan could almost feel the weight of the many eyes that surrounded him.

This isn’t that fun, he thought as he rubbed the back of his neck. There were many ways to answer these questions. A few of those could probably get him in trouble, and frankly, Amanda might be better equipped to handle diplomatic missions such as these–so long as she kept her aggression in check. But he couldn’t imitate her way of doing things, and he liked to keep things simple. Simple got the job done. So in spirit with his Path, Ethan chose the straight way through, without any twists and turns.

“I’m not good at all this,” he said, blinking as he tried to keep the questions from slipping away from him. “So, I’ll keep it simple and go step by step. Sorry if I’m too forward… but I’ve had a long day. The people behind me need help, and I want to take a break. So. Your first question was about guarantees, right?”

Some people were completely unruffled at his manner of speech, but he noticed a couple of brows twitching. Did it matter to him? Not at all. He wasn’t going to be doing any politics past this point, and once the council was established, its members and Amanda could deal with this sort of thing.

Raising a finger, he started with the first point. “For guarantees, I got none. I think pacts are possible, but as long as you’re part of us and our faction, you’re just part of us. You won’t be any different that anybody else who would have joined or would join. If shit hits the fan, I’m going to be there either way. Doesn’t matter which town or settlement it is as long as they’re part of us. Though I do hope no one here would rest on their laurels. The larger we become, the more there will be to protect, and I don’t intend to run from one place to another like a headless-chicken to pull everyone out of the fire. I got my own stuff I want to do as well.”

A few shared looks here and there, and Gavin just leaned on his staff as he listened. “Fair enough. Go on.”

“Second. About your own voice and whether I’m going to be dictating how things are run or not. I have no intention of taking any ruling or governing role. I’m not intervening aside from extreme cases like corruption or anyone abusing their positions. People will get picked and voted in—my own people are talking about establishing a council for this—and you’ll have your own people there. The less I’ve got to do and be involved in, the happier I will be. Trust me, I’d rather be exploring rifts and just working on my own stuff, so the sooner you guys can join and keep doing what you’re doing, the faster I’ll get back to doing that. And finally… about what I would do if you refused to join.”

So far, the people in front of him had been pretty happy with what they were hearing, but the tension rose again at how he ended his little speech.

Ethan looked from one face to the next, then shrugged a little smile on his face. “Not much I could do? I know Amanda made it seem like you’ve got no choice and how your surrender would be the way to pay for having invaded our territory, but I’m not about to start pummelling you guys to force my way to the pylon. What kind of relationship would that be? I guess you were doing the same thing I’m doing right now, and we’re thankfully just talking and not going at each other’s throat, so… there’s that. I’d rather you join us so we can upgrade our pylons faster and cover more territory, but if not, we’ll just look in the other direction for other people to join our ranks. Though if you do try to invade again…” he said, letting the word hang for a second as he met a few of the leader’s eyes before finally meeting Gavin’s. “Then I will come and take your pylon. We can be friends. But if you start abusing that friendship and put my people at risk, then I’m not pulling my punches.”

That was a slightly unpleasant note to finish on, but Ethan needed them to really understand that they weren’t to be messed with. And as a few started to mutter and whisper between each other as Gavin eyed him thoughtfully, the mole-clawed man stepped up and began pacing in front of Gavin.

“So if we take one of your rifts, you think you can just waltz in and get through our defensive walls unopposed?” said Marcello, his claws suddenly shining with earthy lights as a thick, leathery belt with similar lights appeared around his waist while the ground rippled around him, which earned him a couple of glares.

“Cut it out, Marcello,” said Imani between gritted teeth. 

Behind him, Ethan could hear a few worried voices from the refugees, and he was tempted to summon some of his own spellforms to match Marcello, but he refrained and smiled as he imagined the effect of his Prime Manifestation against the walls of Wyldrock. At how easily they’d crumble if he really put his back into it, and not to mention, he could just fly over them and shrug off whatever defensive measure they had for that.

Ethan looked the man in the eyes, a smile still on his face, and shrugged. “I think I could manage.”

Marcello glared at him, then his face broke out in a grin as he turned to Sophia. “I kinda want to see that, not gonna lie,” the man said, his demeanor having changed so fast it made Ethan blink. The mole-man dismissed his belt and claws and turned to Gavin. “I’m in. So we’re voting or what? I’d like to get back to—” Marcello caught himself, swallowed, then brushed off his soil-covered shirt. “—my work.”

“We’re not living underground, Marcello,” droned Taylor, which got some nods from Sophia, the woman in black robes who was too busy scratching Ginger behind the ears.

Marcello whirled at the crystal-horned girl. “You haven’t even tried it! We could build cities down there. And no one would ever find us.”

Gavin let out a sigh. “Alright… all in favor?” he asked, raising his hand first. He was soon followed by Marcello, Sophia, Dwayne, and after a short moment of hesitation, Imani. As far as Ethan was concerned, it seemed to be unanimous. Though he was still a little taken aback with how fast the mood had changed.

It almost felt… too easy. “I thought you guys would need more convincing,” he said after a moment as he scratched his cheek. 

To that, Gavin just dismissed his necklace and the green light from his eyes faded away to reveal pretty average brown eyes as he waved past Ethan. “You got your convincing argument right behind you. That’s enough for me. The rest was just to make sure we weren’t about to sign a deal with a devil or anything.”

“Horns don’t help. But better him than those Union fucks,” mumbled Marcello as he turned back toward the walls of Wyldrock, only for Imani to click at him.

Ethan raised a brow, and suddenly many of the faces ahead of him seemed to avoid his gaze and his fear was confirmed. This had been too easy.

What did I just walk into, he thought as he pinched the base of his nose before he turned to Gavin. “What’s this about unions?” 

Gavin chuckled awkwardly as he played with his staff. “Ah… Well. You see, you weren’t the first to want us to um… join their forces. ”

Marcello shoved his hands in his pockets. “They call themselves the East Coast Union. Their goal is to unify all the east-coast pylons under their influence. We’re talking about military people, government officials and whatnot. I heard they even had a governor of some sorts around, organizing everything. They can shove it. They could have done something about those poor bastards back there, but they were too busy pressuring the nearby groups to join them. Making offers to our strongest to work for them. We were almost about to fold when you showed up.” Marcello said, then paused for a second before he glanced at Gavin. “Actually, isn’t one of them supposed to show up at noon for an answer?”

“Yes, they are, Marcello,” Gavin said, eyes closed. “We were going to tell Ethan here about it, if you’d only give us a chance.”

“Oh. Cool,” said Marcello with a shrug before he turned to Ethan, a wide grin on his face. “They’re your problem now, boss. Please keep’em away from us, alright? And by the way, how were you going to get through the wall? You can dig?”

Ethan stared at Marcello, then looked past him at the apologetic smiles the rest were giving him.

What did he get himself into?