The four of them, now at the edge of the city, jumped down from the rooftops and on to the only road that lead into the city, which also meant it was the primary way to get out of the city also, they were walking at a rather leisurely pace, the road was lonely at night with nothing but grassy fields on one side, and a dark forest on the other, the grassy fields that started off as a slope soon ran off into flat wide fields that the wind whipped across, but since it was night they seemed like nothing but empty spaces of darkness,
"so what you guys been up to ?", Levant asked,
The others remained quiet, no one answering his question,
"REALLY ?, none of you are gonna answer me", levant said,
"fine, don't answer then", levant said,
"you don't have to act so pissed off Lev, you weren't the only one who lost today, Rak kicked Asters ass earlier, you should've seen it", Polaris said, chuckling slightly,
"welcome to the losers club then Aster", Levant said running up to aster and throwing his hand over aster's shoulder,
"kick my ass, is overexaggerating what happened don't yah think, Pol", Aster said,
"besides Rak won't admit that he was trying earlier in our fight", Aster said,
"please aster, I totally had you had you handled", Barak said,
"sure handled", Aster said, his voice becoming more annoyed,
"yeah Rak I wouldn't have called that as you having it handled", Polaris admitted,
"as far as the fights I've seen between you two, this one was the closest, I mean Aster had you moves read at the start, and had his defense been a split second faster that fight wouldn't have ended there", Polaris said,
"ugghh fine he came close, is that what you wanna hear", Barak said gritting his teeth, Aster looked over at him smiling,
"was that so hard to admit Rak", Aster said,
"oh I'm gonna kick your ass for sure this time, lets fight right now", Barak said,
"bring it on, you loc brained retard", Aster said, the two boys continued their bickering back and forth for the next hour, they continued to follow the road, until they came to a cluster of houses that from far seemed like one giant house, the four of them slid down the slope till they reached the flat where the houses were situated, they weaved through what seemed like a maze of houses until they came to the giant structure that was their clan's main hall,
"by the way why is the village so quiet, normally there's at least one party going on", Levant questioned,
"i don't know, I've been busy with clan work so I haven't been paying attention to what's happening", aster answered,
"Oi you old bats inside" shouted aster, after a brief moment, the large wooden door reeled back and out walked four women, two old women and two who seemed to be in their early forties,
One of the younger women walked down the short flight of stairs and up to polaris she was shorter than him, "Pol I hope you weren't off giving trouble now and I hoped you got what I asked you for and you also left your room looking terrible" she said calmly,
"Yeah yeah, I got what you asked for " he said, he reached inside his pockets and handed her a small package,
"and could you stop nagging me about cleaning my room, I think you have better things to given your new position", he continued,
she let out a slight sigh, "Okay if you say so" she retorted, smacking him at the back of his head, he looked up only to see a forced smile on her face,
"come on mom, you know I hate that house", Polaris said,
"I know, but you being gone for days on end makes me all types of worried so home, now", she said,
"goodnight ladies, I'll be off now", she said turning to the other three women and bowing before walking off with Polaris in tow,
Levant looked at his mother who was the other woman who was relatively young,
"See y'all later I'm tired" Levant said and just left for his home,
Off to the side Barak was speaking with his grandmother, who was one of the elders, she had a reputation for being a bit crazy,
"Barak why don't you come back home ?, come and get something to eat and fill your stomach, I know you can't be eating well living so far away and by yourself" she pleaded,
Barak looked at her and simply gave her a cold stern "No",
"now leave me alone", Barak said, as he walked off,
Aster looked at the last elder, this was his grandmother,
"I did as you ask Gran, all four off us are here now, but it's late so i'm going home to sleep", Aster said, eyeing Barak off to the side,
"I take it Barak will be staying with us as usual", she asked,
"you know it, where else would he stay", Aster said,
"at his house the one that he is now the head of, because of his absence we've had to appoint his grandmother to the elder position once more", she said,
"so everything's fine then I take it", Aster said,
"no you know I can't stand that woman", she said,
"none of us can, now quit giving aster such a hard time, you know you aren't going to reject me staying over", Barak said, taking a deep breath of the joint in his mouth ,
The old lady looked over the two boys, who seemed like children to her, her eyes went from cold and strict, to soft and comforting,
"Barak, I have watched over your since you were a child, it was the one thing your mother asked me to do, may Etanma guide her soul, so hurry and go home", she said, waving her hand at them in a shooing motion, as the boys walked off, she turned around, slowly making her way back into the main hall,
"it's been a while since I last came back here hasn't it", Barak said, walking alongside aster,
"yeah it has, but with you it makes sense, given everything that went on with your part of the family", Aster said, slowing down his pace a bit,
"I don't get why you're still an enforcer for the clan, me, pol and Lev stopped so why are you still doing it", Barak questioned as he looked directly at aster,
"it keeps me occupied plus someone's got to do it and not to mention it keeps my skills sharp", Aster said listing off the benefits he had,
"clearly not sharp enough", Barak said, chuckling,
"yeah yeah, one day you'll see", Aster said, to Barak, hitting the back of his fist to Barak's chest,
"but seriously, it's time you find something different to do, being an enforcer for the clan is holding you back", Barak said,
"like what Rak, you become a small time merchant and poach off of Canaan's clients list, pol just wonders around and Lev has a normal job, if we don't count the hero wannabe stuff, I don't see how I'm anymore limited than how all of you are", Aster said, as the boys came to a wooden house with two floors, with no lights on inside, Aster took a seat on one of the steps,
"that's now, but after I left, I met master Elphante, and he is the one who taught me to be as strong as I am now, Pol may wonder, but, If you've ever gone with him, he is known by so many people, he even managed to make friends with someone in the skovol clan, and if Levant keeps up the hero gig in the capital I'm sure our countries leader will recruit him to her ranks eventually, all the while, you've been a foot soldier t further our clans goals, I believe we were all meant for more than just that", Barak said, looking down hopefully at Aster,
"that is the most hopeful look I've see on your face for a long time Rak, but, as I told you I'm fine being an enforcer, besides I have my workshop if I ever need to focus on anything else", Aster replied,
"uggh don't remind me of your workshop, you might as well be a weapons merchant with all the weird weapons and shit that you produce, I still can't believe you tried to make a self healing sword from scratch", Barak said,
"hey I kind of did, in a round about way at least", Aster replied softly,
"really it only heals if pissed on or bled on it, that shit is impractical", Barak said,
"not if you stab people with it", Aster said,
"aster if it can stab people then it doesn't need to heal itself", Barak shouted,
"hmmm…damn I guess you're right", Aster said,
"anyways lets go I'm tired and starving", Aster said springing up from his seat,
"yup me too", Barak said,
"I'm, not cooking though, you are", Aster said,
"well I am the better cook anyways", Barak said, chuckling to himself, as he and aster made their way inside the house,
The next Morning
the real purpose of the four of them being gathered was revealed to them, as the four of them gathered in the main hall with the elders standing in front of them,
"The clan right now as we speak is divided among itself" aster's grandmother, Quedel, said
"Now it makes sense why the village was so quiet last night" Levant thought to himself, as he had not been back to the village in about a month,
"And as it stands they are divided to crown the next leader of the clan, any one of who is seen as an elder cannot be crowned as leader" explained Polaris' mother, Adalynn,
"The candidates for the position of leader are, Zaraar, my husband, the head priest of our clan and Polaris' step father and Canaan, the head merchant of our clan, and a warrior of our clan" she explained further,
" Since you four are our clans strongest fighters and are also the prophetic children, you four are the deciding factor since it is our, the elders, belief that if you four choose from between the two of them that it should cause us to avoid war between the two factions" Quedel explained,
"so we ask you to decide, who do you think is more suited for the role, Zaraar or Canaan", Quedel asks,
"wait a minute", Polaris said, turning his attention to the four women who stood in the main hall,
"Zaraar, is my step father, who is Quedel's son, the head priest and decided not only to raise me the son of his bestfriend and cousin who died a hero for the clan, as much as I hate his guts, and won't give him my vote, how is he not a shoe-in for the next clan leader", Polaris asked,
"because Canaan is not only the head merchant of our clan but he has by in large brought us so much prosperity and influence in the country that it is hard to ignore his achievements", Levyna said,
"mom while that might be the case, wouldn't any of our opinions seem biased, lets do a count here shall we, Zaraar is Polaris' step father, married to one of the elders Adalynn, is the son of another elder Quedel, and is Aster's uncle, while Canaan is your boss, regularly donates to Barak's grandmother, Tolwen, part of the church that she oversees, and is the one that found me my current job", Levant explained,
"the only person here who is truly neutral is Barak, and that's only because he left the clan and has been distant every since", Levant continued,
"Lev that isn't true, Rak may be more inclined to see Canaan the leader for two reasons, one, he poaches off of Canaan's clientele to sell his own merchandise, so in theory if Canaan becomes more powerful and influential, then Barak will also profit greatly", Aster said,
"Aster you didn't have to let everyone know", Barak said calmly from his seat, as he continued to gaze through the open door,
"and secondly, knowing what Zaraar has done to Polaris, Rak would never put him in power", Aster finished,
"and what is it that any of you know of what my husband has done to Pol", Adalynn said, taking a step towards the boys,
"we know, Pol told us, he always tells us, and the only reason we haven't, razed those dungeons to the ground is because Pol asked us to spare your household", Barak said, his gaze unflinching, never once looking away from outside,
"okay okay, so what I'm hearing is that Barak and levant and Polaris are for Canaan, while Aster sticks by his uncle's side", Quedel said walking forward to the center,
"no we never said, we were taking any sides, give us until tomorrow, you got it", Barak said getting up and walking off from the main hall,
"well you heard him, we aren't sure, so lets leave it at that for today okay gran", Aster said, following the other three boys out of the main hall,
"ugghh I swear to Junorra herself I don't know what were going to do when it's time for those four to lead the clan", Quedel said,
"I think that they'll be fine after all the four of them are basically brothers", Levyna said,