Zephyr Maelstrom
"Oh, Lady Vulus, you are such a treat." Zephyr Maelstrom was leaning over the counter of the Dawn Kiln Bakery with his head propped up in his hands, and a devilish glint in his eyes.
"Honestly, Anara, if I was only a few years older... Lord Vulus is a very fortunate man," he finished with a wink. This resulted in a girlish laugh from the woman in question. A famous spiced apple pumpkin pie with a sugary heart on top of the crust sat between them on the counter top. Zephyr was going to continue with another string of sickeningly sweet words when he heard angry footsteps somewhere above them.
"And with that, I'll take my leave." He snatched the pie, the latest gift from the bakery owner, and bolted out the door, but not before blowing a kiss towards his best friend's mom and an angry shout called after him. Zephyr flew by in a rush down the street causing leaves, loose papers and fabrics, and skirts to go flying upwards. He slowed down only when he deemed it safe. With pie in hand, he strolled down the main street of Caelfall; leaves and flowers lightly ruffling as he passed. He breathed in deep the rich smells of summer into his lungs and sighed completely at ease. With the precision of a surgeon, he formed a tiny razor-sharp sliver of air to slice the pie into bite sized pieces. He catapulted one into his mouth and closed his eyes in euphoria.
The Four bless Anara Vulus. Truly, if there are angelic beings in this world, she must be one of them to craft such perfection. As he continued his walk and nursed his pie, he grinned, winked, and greeted all the females he passed. Some of the girls giggled in delight, while others ignored him completely. Then, there were a few who became enraged and hurled all manners of Manara at him. Zephyr was forced to take to the skies in a powerful gust of wind directed from his feet in order to dodge the barrage of fireballs, rocks, and ice shards hurled his way. He floated comfortably for awhile finishing off the pie before directing his course to one of the many cliffs surrounding the village known as Okdos' teeth. To the casual observer, it would appear he was set on a collision course with the rock wall, but then he passed through an opening covered with thick vines and landed into a small balcony-like alcove cut into the cliff side.
Several years ago, Zephyr and Cron had decided to go rock climbing and in their adventure they had stumbled upon this natural hole in the wall. Ever since they had declared it to be their secret base of operations, and where the group made their meetings. He even recruited Roland and Anton to carve out chairs into the rock for them to sit comfortably. Zephyr's spot, an atrocious mix of a stool and a throne, sat on the very edge of the small enclosure with a wide sweeping view of the whole village below, and, beyond Caelfall, Cael's eye.
Zephyr sat quietly a moment gazing out at the view before closing his eyes. It's time.
He called upon his Manara and sharpened his mind to lock onto the unique signatures of the group. When he had locked onto all of them, he focused his thoughts and sent out his message directly to their minds.
"Mandatory meeting! Come to the Cliff now. It's very important!"
Zeph waited patiently for each person to arrive, and greeted each accordingly. Finally, after everyone had finally shown up, he began to speak.
"Alright listen up everyone. I've been doing some thinking lately, and I've come to a revelation of sorts." He began to pace back and forth while waving his hands to emphasize his points. "Now, as you already know, we have just finished Guardian training. We are the newest class of Guardians and tonight they're throwing a huge party for us at the Spoon. But, after that party, that's it. For the rest of our able-bodied lives we're going to be patrolling the same routes, standing watch at the same posts, and seeing little to no action just as our families have been doing for thousands of years!" He continued to get more worked up as he continued his rant.
"During training, I had a goal: become a Guardian and a master Aeromancer. Now that I've done that, what other goals do I have? Join the council? Ha, that was already decided at birth whether I wanted that or not! So, I began to think. What are we trying to protect anyway? No one even knows what's in that damn temple because no one has been in there for centuries! Everything we do is out of tradition! Well, I've had enough. I'm not going to devote my life to service for something that I don't even know what it is. Which is why we're going to find out." He turned around at this point and made eye contact with every person gauging their reactions as he said his next words.
"During the feast we're going to take it easy on the alcohol and, when everyone is passed out and out of it, I'll give the signal and we'll slip out and head for the temple. Anyone who doesn't go is a coward and you will pay in one way or another. I have dirt on everybody mind you." He grinned wildly at this waiting for their reactions.