Erik turned to Naeku and looked at her calmly. "The fate of your people is at stake here, Naeku. Do you want me to mince words? Pretend that everyone's opinion matters? Should I let people disrespect me without biting back?"
Naeku glared at him for a moment, but her conviction quickly crumbled. Fact was, she had no good comeback. Finally, she sighed and looked at her grandfather. "He's right, grandpa. If you want to make any more objections, wait until after we've survived the coming storm. Just don't expect anyone to agree with you at that point."
Grumbling a little, Tarek waved his hand dismissively as if he were telling them to just ignore the grumpy old man.
With that resolved, Erik glanced across the gathered crowd. All the onlookers were still in the stands, but they looked at their leaders with confusion. With the battle ending so abruptly and their leaders suddenly gathering in a huddle, the people obviously wanted to know what was happening.
