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It was with this hope in his heart that Leon showed up at the Rock Mane Bison Tribe’s main palace the morning after spying on the meeting. He didn’t arrive unencumbered, nor in human form. Instead, he summoned a storm, transformed into his silver-blue Thunderbird form, and flew the couple of miles between the Jaguar’s district and the Bison’s. At this stage of the game, he didn’t care too much if the Thunderer or his people saw him visiting other Tribes.

If anything, he figured it might help him no matter what the Bison said. The Thunderer’s bloc hardly seemed harmonious if the Bison and the Tigers had to be kept in check with veiled threats, and any discord that Leon could sow into their ranks would only benefit him.

As with the Tigers, the Bison had a Tribal Totem outside of their main palace area, which Leon circled ten times before landing, followed by most of his family, retinue, and Tempest Knights. Only Cassandra and the Jaguar contingent of the Tempest Knights remained behind, with Leon reasoning that it was best not to provoke anyone by parading an Imperial Princess around Stormhollow when he was trying to scrounge up support.

The Bison Tribe built in a similar style to the Lions, to Leon’s untrained eye. Lots of open space with few buildings, though most of those buildings were quite large and capped with impressive domes. As far as Leon knew, the Bison lived rather communally, much like the Hawks, with many generations of the same family living together on a single huge estate. Even in Stormhollow, surrounding those estates were large swathes of open plain. There were gardens here and there, but as far as Leon could see, the Bison Tribe was content to let these fields be.

The main Bison estate was the largest of them all, and when Leon landed in the stone square in front of it, dozens of guards came pouring out, all fully armed and armored, though all were sixth-tier or below, with only a single exception: a seventh-tier woman with the most ceremonial-looking armor of them all. Her armor was trimmed in gold and intricately embossed with images of bison roaming plains and locking horns.

Before she could even say anything, Leon had transformed back into his human body and loudly declared, “I am Leon Raime, last of the Thunderbird Clan! I am here to speak with the honorable leaders of your Tribe!” His words were punctuated with a terrific clap of thunder and near-blinding flash of silver-blue lightning reaching down from the dark storm clouds above before arcing back up.

The brandished weapons of the guards shook in response and while they maintained their formation, it became looser as they looked to their leader for instructions. To Leon’s eye, it didn’t seem like they wanted to get in his way…

Their leader appeared of the same mind as she stood at the top of a short flight of stairs separating the plaza from the estate behind it. She stared at him, a look of wonder crossing her face for a moment before she schooled her expression.

“I’m afraid,” she began with some hesitance, “that our elders are going to take some time to receive you. If you’d like to—”

Before she could even finish, a voice, amplified by enchantments in the estate, echoed from all around them. Leon recognized it as Tillan’s.

“We will humbly acquiesce to the Thunderbird’s request to meet.”

A ghost of a smile graced the seventh-tier woman’s lips as she bowed slightly, gestured back to the estate, and said, “Please, follow me, Leon Raime of the Thunderbird Clan.”

Leon smiled and gratefully followed her into the massive dome behind her.

The estate was easily comparable in size to the massive arena the Lions had constructed in the city to serve as their central base, though the Bison’s building wasn’t dominated by an actual arena. Instead, its internal structure was made up of wide hallways that curved around the building in concentric circles, until reaching a single large meeting room where the elders and Chiefs were to meet when in the city.

The décor was ostentatious, as Leon expected, with strong animalist themes dominant. Marble sculptures of the Rock Mane Bison, murals of the Tribe’s founding and subsequent glories, and here and there, an icon of the Thunderbird, to Leon’s delight.

He was brought straight to the estate’s meeting hall where a handful of elders were already awaiting him. He didn’t take offense to their low number given their army was still deployed to the Sword. As it was, there was another ninth-tier mage present, which was significant since Leon knew the Tribe only had four of them in total.

The meeting hall was circular, with the dais in the center of the hall instead of at the far end and the elders sitting on tiered benches around it. Tillan was already standing upon the dais, waiting for him with a subdued expression of polite hospitality on his face.

“Welcome, Leon Raime,” he warmly said as Leon and his entourage filed into the room. “To what do we owe the undeniable pleasure of the Thunderbird Clan’s presence in our hall today?”

Leon, a grin slowly spreading across his face as he advanced toward Tillan and joined him on the dais while his people remained by the door, replied, “Your Honored Ancestor was known as a loyal and honorable vassal of my Clan. To not at least visit and pay my respects to such a venerable figure when I’m in the city would feel like I missed out.”

“Your words do us great honor,” Tillan replied. He seemed to relax slightly as his thin, shallow smile widened and appeared just a little more natural.

“While I’m here, though,” Leon continued, “I would like to take the opportunity to speak with you regarding the… well, the Elder Council.”

His words might as well have sucked all the air out of the room; a mortal could’ve heard a pin drop. The handful of elders stared at him as Tillan stiffened and whatever defenses he’d lowered in their brief greeting went right back up.

“The words of the Thunderbird Clan,” the Bison Lawspeaker said, “will always be held in high regard by the Rock Mane Bison.”

“That’s delightful to hear,” Leon said as he deliberately kept his tone light and conversational. He didn’t want to just walk into their home and demand fealty, even if that was what he wanted. “You know that I’ll be advancing my claim as King of the Ten Tribes then, don’t you?”

“Will you?” Tillan said apprehensively.

“Is that a problem?” Leon asked.

Tillan went quiet for a long moment as he cast his gaze around the room, making eye contact with all the Bison elders present, and lingering on the other ninth-tier mage for longer than any of them.

“We welcome the return of the Thunderbirds,” Tillan finally stated. “However, not necessarily as our Kings.” He paused and took a deep breath. “We have long been without Kings,” he continued. “We question the need to return to the old days when we still had Kings.”

Leon smiled and nodded. “I am saddened to hear this. Your Honored Ancestor was, as I said before, renowned for his loyalty and fidelity to my Clan. I had hoped that his descendants would continue his legacy.”

Tillan physically flinched as Leon spoke.

Leon waited for a response, and he waited for a long moment. After that moment, Tillan seemed to deflate and much of the life in his eyes had vanished.

“It would give us no greater pleasure than to welcome our right and true King back to our fair island,” he said, his voice sounding almost defeated. “Unfortunately, we cannot. Our hands have been tied by circumstances and by past mistakes.”

Leon arched an eyebrow. “What are these bindings?” he asked. “Tell me and I will do all I can to sever them.”

“They cannot be severed,” Tillan said. “The Thunderer is a tenth-tier mage, and he commands an army he has built. An army we allowed him to build when we voted for him to become Thunderer in the first place.”

“If that army is all you fear…” Leon said before halting as he watched Tillan’s expression.

“It is not fear that stays our hand, Leon Raime. Not fear, but love. Ties of kinship. That army is made up mostly of Tigers, but not entirely. We are a peaceful Tribe, but sometimes our youth are born with an overabundance of energy and wanderlust. The Thunderer’s army was an attractive enough option for many that we are now the second biggest contributor to the Thunderer’s forces. If we declare for you, our kin would be placed at great risk.”

Leon frowned quite deeply and the few elders around the room refused to meet his eyes. “Your people are hostages?”

Tillan sighed and said, “Not in those terms. But when the Thunderer came to us weeks ago, it was with promises and assurances. At the same time, Hector, the man who commands the army day-to-day, made it clear that Bison who deserted would be given a traitor’s punishment. We must support the Thunderer; we will not abandon our people.” Tillan halted his explanation for a moment as his voice quavered. “My… my own daughter is among those who joined.”

Leon stared back at him for a long time, lost in thought. He wasn’t the best detector of deceit, but he didn’t think any of the Bison were lying to him. Their grief and anger were real.

“Very well,” Leon softly said. “I understand the predicament you have been placed in. It is not by intention to demand you choose between me and your kin. Ancestors know that I would give up every claim to greatness I have, every ounce of power I’ve inherited from the Thunderbird, so that my father could live again. You are an honorable man for keeping your family first. All of you are honorable. The loyalty of the Rock Mane Bison remains strong. Rest assured that when I become King, your people will come to no harm. I will not hold this against you, so long as you do not directly take up arms against me.”

Tillan nodded, his expression severe. “The return of the Thunderbird Clan is worthy of celebration,” he said. “All of Kataigida should be filled with joyous cheer. Were it not for this, that cheer would’ve found hold in the lands of the Rock Mane Bison. We have failed you.”

With a smile, Leon clapped the man on the shoulder. “Not yet. Let’s get through these next few days before we talk about who failed whom.”

Tillan nodded. “Thank you for your understanding. Though we do not deserve it, your presence honors us greatly.”

There wasn’t much left to say, and Leon soon found himself departing from the Bison estate, his people in tow. As much as he wanted their support, he could truly understand their reluctance. Choosing a King or their kin was a no-brainer as far as he was concerned. Besides, he had the numbers he needed to win the vote already, even if he was constantly forcing himself not to take the vote for granted. The Thunderer was busy scrounging up the votes he needed to win, too, no matter how he could get them—or at least, Hector was.

And speaking of Hector… As he took to the sky, Leon turned to the massive slivers of stone and reddish-gold metal rising into the sky like Ilian skyscrapers. These were the works of the Tiger Tribe, and he would speak with them next…

---

The Tigers had a spectacular meeting hall, as far as Leon was concerned. It was located on the top floor of their tallest building, rising more than ninety stories into the sky. Like most other Tribes, their hall was long and narrow, made of stone perched atop the great metal shard that supported it. The top of the exceptionally tall building was dominated by well-tended gardens and trees, almost giving the impression that the hall stood on a small island hanging in the air.

When Leon arrived, he was shown less courtesy than the Bison had shown him, though not by much. He only had to wait a few minutes before he was shown to the hall, where about a dozen elders were waiting for him, along with their Hegemon, the ninth-tier Solomon.

As with the Bison, Leon’s followers had to remain by the door while he joined Solomon on the dais at the far end of the hall.

Once there, Solomon said, “We welcome you, Leon Raime, the last of the Thunderbird Clan, into our hall.”

“I am honored to be so welcomed,” Leon genuinely replied. “The Star-Tearing Tiger was a fierce, strong, and loyal vassal of my Honored Ancestor. It’s only right for us to meet, isn’t it? Especially on the verge of such a momentous vote to be had in the Elder Council…”

“Is that why you’re here?” Solomon asked. “Seeking our support for the Kingship?”

“That is my primary business reason, yes,” Leon diplomatically replied. He gave Solomon a neutral smile and wondered if he was going to bring up his message to the Jaguar. Leon certainly didn’t intend to—not yet, at least.

“Is there a secondary ‘business’ reason?” Solomon asked.

“I’ve heard that your Tribe has been threatening the Bison,” Leon explained. “It’s all hearsay right now, but I wanted to come and see if there was any way these rumors were true, and if they were, to see if I could make peace between your Tribes.”

Solomon gave him a long, searching look. “The Bison determine their own affairs,” he said. “The Tigers determine ours. As do those who follow the Thunderer.”

Leon’s golden eyes narrowed. ‘So Hector’s doing his own thing, then?’

“And you have determined that your affairs are best served by following the Thunderer and not the heir of the Thunderbird Clan?” Leon asked.

Solomon sighed. “My brother serves the Thunderer. Most of my Tribe now serves the Thunderer, as well as my brother. The interests of my Tribe and the Thunderer have been linked for nearly half a century. Separating the two is no easy task.”

“Do you want it to be separated?” Leon pressed.

One of the other Tiger elders, another ninth-tier, growled, “Our internal debates are private.”

“Those debates affect other Tribes,” Leon said.

“Then those other Tribes can speak with us,” the elder replied.

“Do you not believe that it is the Thunderbird’s duty to help in keeping the peace among the Ten Tribes?” Leon asked. “I believe it is.”

The elder frowned and didn’t respond.

“Leon Raime,” Solomon intoned. “I understand what you want. If circumstances were different, I would welcome you back as a long-lost family member finding their way home. But the circumstances are what they are. We will vote with the Thunderer, but we mean you and your Clan no ill will. If the vote goes your way, you will find us to be loyal servants of the Thunderbird Clan, as our Ancestors were long ago.”

Leon glanced back at him and smiled as silence settled upon the hall.

“I look forward to the vote, then,” he softly said.

It seemed neither the Bison nor the Tigers would be joining his side. He was disappointed, but not surprised. Gaining the support of these Tribes was always going to be hard, especially with only two days remaining before the Elder Council was to meet. They had to have joined the Thunderer for a reason, and with so little time, he couldn’t solve the problems preventing them from signing on with him instead.

Leon and his people departed from the Tiger’s hall after a few polite parting words. He’d said his piece, and they’d said theirs. He could only hope that they would remain true to their word after the vote.

‘Assuming it goes my way…’ Leon reminded himself.

For now, the Hawks and Ravens were speeding his way with as many elders as they could throw together. Already, they had sent word that they hadn’t managed to wrangle all of their elders together given how unexpectedly the Elder Council had been called, but his margin was still well-padded.

“Where to now, boss?” Alix called out as they flew away from the Tiger’s district fairly slowly.

Leon wasn’t quite sure and didn’t immediately respond. His eyes turned to the Jaguar’s territory. There wasn’t much left for him to do there other than wait and possibly discuss what the Bears and the Thunderer’s other Tribes might bring up during the council.

He supposed he could always try and treat with the Spiders and the Bears since he had the time, but with their words from the night before still ringing in his ears, he knew that such entreaties were unlikely to go anywhere, especially since he found no success with either the Bison or the Tigers.

However, as he was about to give his answer, his eyes turned toward the Elder Hall, and the government buildings around it that the Thunderer occupied. He quickly picked out the one that the Thunderer himself resided in, and on an impulse, made his decision. There was one last thing he could do before settling in to wait these last couple days.

He could speak with the Thunderer in one last attempt to avert the violence that he was quietly becoming more and more convinced was on the horizon.