A Crown of Broken Runes (ACOBR)

Caught in a Storm

The meeting had ended, but Ren stuck around. He craned his neck forward to see the wings better. Ren joined the bunch that had already formed around the mischievous Hermit. A gigantic grin was plastered across his face. With a jolt, Ren realised Grian was taller than Zedaph, who was currently chatting with the bird man about the science of his flight.

Weird. I could have sworn that Zed was taller...

"Can you carry someone?" Asked Zed, ever the scientist.

"No, I tried to carry Mumbo once. It... it did not end well," Grian laughed and spread his wings.

At the insistence of the crowd, Grian agreed to show them his flying.

Ren craned his neck forward to see the wings better.

"Ready?"

A few people nodded, and the rest gave a cheer. Ren yelled along with them, excited to see the glittering plumage in action.

With a gust of wind, Grian rocketed into the cloudy sky, a few feathers drifting to the ground in his wake.

Small raindrops began to patter across the Hermit's faces as they watched Grian's flying. His movements were graceful, and Ren could hear him laughing merrily as he did little loops in the sky. At the end of his third loop, he turned downwards and began to dive, coming in fast.

The rain grew heavier, fat droplets of water splattering against the cobbled roads beneath their feet.

The crowd scattered, dodging away from the spot where Grian would surely crash.

Just before he hit the ground, Grian's wings snapped open, sending a strong wave of wind around him and knocking leaves and small branches from the trees. Ren's hair flapped wildly in the breeze, whipping around as if alive. With only a moment's pause, Grian was back in the sky, weaving through the clouds.

The clouds were dark now, and the rain was steadily streaming down. Most of the Hermits had gone back to their bases now or logged off. Only a few remained, watching Grian dance in the darkening sky.

Xisuma noticed that the clouds seemed to be developing into a thunderstorm, and tried to call out. This weather was too dangerous for elytra users, you were likely to have trouble seeing and crash.

"Grian, come down! It's gonna be a big storm!"

Grian swooped down for an instant to respond.

"But this is amazing! I never knew how nice it was to fly in this kind of weather!"

Miraculously, Grian's wings seemed to be perfectly dry, and before Xisuma could protest, he was back in the air. Now, it was just Scar, Etho, Xisuma, False, and himself, standing in the rain.

The faint sound of thunder crackled in the distance.

Scar, his worried face squinting into the sky, called out.

"Come down! There's lightning!"

But Grian just laughed.

The wind eased up slightly, but the clouds were at their darkest, and small sparks of electricity were flickering inside of them.

They faintly heard Grian call down to them.

"See? The storm's not too bad! I told you it was fi-"

Ren felt the electricity crackle through the air.

He saw the flash of light in the sky

The thunder cracked in his ears.

The rain poured down in waves.