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Everyone watched, wondering what it might be.
When she retrieved a rock and slapped it down on the table, I nearly fell over.
And by the looks of the rest of the people in the tent, they nearly did too.
“We’re going to need more than a rock to save us, Ezra,” said the older man as he sipped on his pipe, puffs of white smoke rolling from his mouth. He glanced at the smoke and it instantly dispersed.
“Well, of course this rock isn’t going to help, Sedric. I just wanted to get it out of my pocket,” she chuckled, followed by a satisfactory sigh. She patted her side. “That’s much better. These old bones feel lighter already.”
For the second time, everyone almost fell over.
“As you were saying, Ezra?” the older man—Sedric—inquired.
She thought it over for a moment, and then she said, “I’d suggest you all begin preparations for battle.”
A chestnut-haired warrior stepped forward. Like so many of the people in this tent, his clothing was made of deerskin, which made sense, as Ryker had told me that deer were in abundancein these lands. Despite the stern setting of the warrior’s face, he was handsome. If I were back at the Broken Mare in Meristone, I would have taken a liking to him.
But that lifetime was, well, a lifetime away.
And as it stood, I hadmorethan enough problems with men.
The warrior spoke to Ezra. “How exactly do we prepare to face an army of Demi Gods? No matter what we do, they will slaughter us. And even if we did manage to defeat them, the God of Life will just make more.”
“Koa has a point,” Harper sighed, her arms crossing over her chest.
A few people muttered in agreement.
“So, then what? Are you suggesting we don’t eventryto fight?” Ryker’s voice came from beside me.
This droplet of a thought was carried out in ripples. A light chatter filled the tent, the conversation spreading from mouth to mouth as more and more people chipped in their own thoughts. Some said they also wanted to know the answer to what Ryker had asked, while others suggested different ideas.
I glanced up at Ryker, noting the firm setting of his jaw and the muscle ticking in it. I rarely saw Ryker so . . . intense, and I had a feeling it wasn’t just because of what was being discussed. Something was telling me it was more than that.
Koa narrowed in on Ryker. “Don’t put words in my mouth,” he warned.
“Nah.” A cocky smile, one straight out of Von’s book of grand fuckery, saddled up on Ryker’s lips. “Unlike your family, that’s not really my style.”
“Ryker!” Harper scolded.
At the same time, Koa spat out, “You son of a bitch.”
Before Koa could charge, Ezra cut in. “If you two are going to behave like dogs, then you can go outside. Or you can nip your tongues and listen.” She waited, giving them a chance to decide.When neither of them said anything, she gave a satisfactory nod. “There is one god that will help you.”
Those eight little words were enough to send the tent spiraling back into chaos. The light chatter turned into shouting and words of dismissal, like a smoldering fire fed with a mass amount of oxygen and dry kindling.
Eight little words—that was all it took to make the room ignite.
I sighed, the sound lost amongst the shouting. I couldn’t help but wonder if choosing to have a meeting with so many people was a bad decision on the Elders’ behalf. They would have been better off having a smaller meeting—something might actually have come of it because—at this point, no one was getting anywhere.
Ezra whacked her cane against the table once more, instantly leashing the rabid beast she had created.
The tent went silent.
Pulling her cane from the table, she turned around, her movement as nimble as a teenaged girl. “Behold, your savior.” She pointed her cane at . . . me.
Eyes—too many—shifted to me.
“Me?” I sputtered.
