The Stormcaller Rescues a Princess

Joya. A jungle nation surrounded by immense mountains with tropical weather. As soon as Skylar set foot in the nation, he felt right at home. The air was humid and heavy, and he could feel a rainstorm building in the skies above. He could tell it would be a soaker, a downpour typical to the area. Not quite enough thunder and lightning for his tastes, but more than enough wind for his purposes. He needed to reach Tailwind Village, the capital of Joya, where he would rendezvous with the Joyan Prince. His goal here was to rescue the Joyan Princess and her handmaidens from the clutches of Pergrandian knights before they could be sold into slavery. Time was of the essence, and Skylar didn't have time to backpack through the dense jungles. So he did what he usually did, and cheated.

Reaching to the heavens with tendrils of his magic, he caught the slow-moving wind currents that were pushing the clouds together and gave them a boost. Overhead, the light and fluffy cumulus clouds quickly lofted to the middle atmosphere and melded together into nimbostratus, a dark gray layer of clouds the covered the whole sky. A nudge here and there from the Stormcaller, and rain began falling in heavy sheets. With a satisfied nod, Skylar rose into the sky on a pillar of wind. He soon reached a layer of turbulent winds, just below the cloud layer, and caught a windstream headed in the right direction.

Within the span of half an hour, Skylar spotted Tailwind Village and flew down, landing directly in front of the largest house, assuming it was the Prince and Princess's. He was proven correct, when a small squad of armed guards surrounded him, pointing their spears at his heart. Raising his hands in surrender, the wizard bared his guildmark on his right shoulder. Quickly, the guards lowered their spears and ushered him into the house, where a tall, beautiful specimen of a man with golden hair and matching cat ears folded him into an embrace. Skylar tensed slightly, but bore it, and the man soon withdrew and introduced himself as Asta, twin brother of Astrea and Prince of Joya.

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while, then began planning. Within an hour, they struck east into the jungle, accompanied by Asta's guards. As they walked, Skylar reached his thoughts into the clouds again, stirring them with currents of wind that bore them further and further aloft, building them into something greater. And far more deadly. The kidnapping, black-hearted dogs were in for a surprise.

By the time the team reached the Pergrandian camp, Skylar was ready. He lifted himself up into the air and raised his arms, calling to the skies above. And the sky split open. The nimbostratus clouds suddenly transmuted into towering cumulonimbus, a massive anvil-shaped storm cloud uncommon to this region. As the Pergrandian knights and paladins rushed to form up, the very weather attacked them. Lightning fell like hammerblows, directed by the Stormcaller's will to strike knights from their horses and slam into upraised shields. Hail fell like missiles, punching through armor and shields alike, shaped by Skylar into spikes rather than balls. Rain soaked the ground, causing men and horses to slip. Thunder rent the air, an almost constant sound of nature's fury. And all the while, Skylar was untouched, by both the Pergrandian weapons and the storm's fury. Wind and rain bent around him, not even stirring his coat, and no bolt of lightning came close to striking him. Gusts of wind batted aside any spear or arrow aimed at him. Finally, all that was left of the Pergrandians was the elder Paladin and his retinue of younger Paladins, whose magic-resistant armor and shields had protected them from the worst of the storm magic.

With a cry of effort, Skylar wove a pair of swords of wind, water and lightning and lunged from the skies to do combat with the Paladins. They had been trained extensively to combat mages and were incredibly skilled at it. But nothing could have prepared them for the Stormcaller. Every blow they aimed met only air as he flipped and spun, riding the winds to avoid their attacks. His swords sheared through their weapons with ease, and even their special shields and armor could not resist the pure elements for long. Wind blades rent long gashes through the metal, water widened them, and lightning blasted the flesh underneath. The Paladins dropped like flies until Skylar was facing the Elder Paladin alone. Weaving his swords into a single longspear of lightning wreathed in tendrils of water and currents of wind, the Stormcaller threw himself at the elderly knight. The battle was fierce, but Skylar was fiercer, channeling the power of the storm above until he drove through the Paladin's guard and rammed the spear of lightning through his heart. The battle was won.

Back in Tailwind Village, the Joyan people rejoiced, celebrating the rescue of their princess and her handmaidens. The skies were clear, the storm abated by the Stormcaller's will, the clouds held at bay. Inside the Prince and Princess's palace, Skylar himself was lavished with attention and praise, personally attended by the Princess and the twenty handmaidens. They fed him, bathed him, and did everything they could to thank him for their rescue. Of course, Skylar did very little to resist the buxom, gorgeous Neko women. He went to sleep that night surrounded by softness and the quiet sounds of sleeping women, on the most comfortable bed he'd ever laid in.

When the morning came, he bid farewell to Asta and Astrea, and left Tailwind Village accompanied by a mix of heartfelt thanks and weeping. Satisfied with a job well done, the Stormcaller traveled back to Fiore and Magnolia town, knowing any time he returned to Joya he would be received with the same treatment. It was enough to make him smile as he relaxed on the deck of the ship that bore him to his home. He would have to remember to thank Mura for assigning the job to him, and to make any excuse he could to travel to Joya as often as possible.