Maria Snyder - Storm Glass

“I’ll bring all five with me.”

“But—”

“I’m not risking the others. Here.” Kade handed Raiden his torch. He pulled a netted bag from his pocket, and placed the orbs inside the sack. “You’d better get down to the storm cave before it hits.” He wrapped the handles of the bag over his shoulders. The weight of the orbs rested on his back.

The glass spheres resembled oversize seashells. They appeared fragile and inadequate to handle the storm’s fury. Anxiety gnawed and chewed up my throat.

“At least stay on the beach,” Raiden said. “With the amount of water being pushed toward us, you’d be ten feet under out on the rocks. You’ll waste your energy keeping the water away from you. And…” The older man looked as if he wanted to say more.

“And if the orb kills me, you’ll be able to recover my body?” Kade finished Raiden’s sentence with a flippant tone.

Raiden pressed his lips together.

The Stormdancer sighed. “Sorry, Ray. But you always see the worst in a situation.”

“Part of my job. Someone has to make sure you hotshots don’t get yourselves killed. If only Kaya had listened.”

He rested a hand on Raiden’s shoulder. “You had a better chance of a storm listening to you than Kaya.”

“When she was determined, that girl made a hurricane seem tame. I miss her.”

“Me, too.” Kade headed out.

“Kade, wait,” I said.

He paused.

“What if—”

“Nothing I can do about it now.” He continued down to the beach.

Raiden ushered me to the storm cave. He muttered under his breath about Kade’s actions. The glassmakers would stay with the kiln and keep the fire hot. Their cave was high enough that even a rogue wave would not reach them, and the entrance was protected from the wind. Once the second batch of sand melted, they would make more orbs.

Out on the trail, the wind sucked at my body, tugging me toward the swirling mass of clouds. Flashes of lightning lit the sky, illuminating an agitated sea boiling under the tempest. With each flicker of light, waves jumped in size and advanced in leaps toward the shore.

Once we ducked inside, the entrance to the storm cave was blocked with sheets of bamboo rods lashed together. They were anchored to the cave walls.

“The curtains let the air in, and filter out the sea spray,” Raiden explained. “Bamboo is flexible so they won’t crack under the wind’s pressure.” He paused and sniffed the air. “Although this storm might tear them up. At least we have a few Stormdancers to keep the water out.”

“How do you know what the storm will do?” I asked.

A wide grin spread. “Experience. Years and years of being out here during the storm season. I’ve learned to look for certain signs—the air smells different for each type of gale and the Stormdancers will let me know what to expect. They’re connected to the storm’s consciousness, and they’re seldom wrong.”

The fire and lanterns filled the large cavern with a warm yellow light. Exhausted from our travels, Zitora slept on a cot next to Sudi’s stall along the back wall. Tal pried open oyster shells over a cook pot. He scowled, but I couldn’t tell if his ire was aimed at the oysters or at the others sitting around the fire.

Raiden introduced me to the three Stormdancers. Heli jumped to her feet and shook my hand with a big smile. With her skinny arms and short stature, she looked as if she was twelve years old, but she moved with confidence and grace. Wick grunted by way of a greeting. He hunched over the fire and complained of the cold, even though he wore a thick woolen sweater and sported a full beard.

Prin matched my height and age. She appraised me with her silver-colored eyes, giving me a tepid smile. “The glass expert?” she asked Raiden. When he nodded, her attention returned to me. “Are the orbs ready?”

“I think so,” I said.

“Think?” She glanced at Raiden.

“Kade has them.”

“Should we go down to the beach?”

“No. He doesn’t want to endanger you. He’ll fill the orbs.”

“Can he do all five?” I asked.

Raiden considered. “Probably at least four. His power has grown immensely since Kaya died. Four or even three should be enough to tame this typhoon.”

“Unless the storm takes a turn for the worse,” Prin said.

“Do you think it will?” Raiden asked with alarm.

Prin peered past us as if scanning the wind. “It is unsettled. Angry and restless. It could blow harder—the sea is warm enough and with the cold air sinking down from The Flats, the potential is there.”

“What happens if the storm intensifies?” I asked.

“Four orbs will not be enough, and we will be needed to help evacuate you and the horses to higher ground.” Prin frowned.

“What about Kade?” I clasped my hands together to keep them still.

“It depends on where he is and how much energy he has,” Raiden said. “We can’t risk any Stormdancers. We’ve lost too many already.”

His words reminded me of the brittle orbs. “How will you know if the new orbs work?”

“The storm will tell us,” Prin snapped.

Raiden joined Tal and helped with dinner as Prin returned to her seat by the fire.

Heli had listened to our conversation and now she leaned close to me and whispered, “ He won’t take the risk, but I will.”

I smiled my relief.

“Besides,” she said a little louder. “It won’t intensify. Those two see gloom and doom in every storm. Prin won’t be happy until she’s made everyone sick with worry.”

“Everyone but you.”

Heli’s green eyes glowed with amusement. “I love storms. The raw wild power gives me a charge.”

“I’ll give you a charge,” Raiden called. “Go fetch Kade’s orb. If the storm gets worse, I don’t want the damn thing to break.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” Heli saluted and slipped through the bamboo curtains.

“What happens if it breaks?” I asked.

“It will release energy back into the storm. Not a good thing.” Raiden placed the pot in the fire. Sparks flew into the air.

His comment reminded me of another question. “You said Kade’s power had grown since Kaya’s death. Is that typical for Stormdancers?”

“Not really. As Stormdancers age, they do become stronger and better at harvesting the storm’s power. They learn by experience how much energy to expend on keeping calm around them. But Kade’s powers doubled when Kaya died. It’s unheard of and almost seems like her magic was transferred to him, which is impossible.”

My thoughts lingered on the word impossible. Zitora had said nothing was impossible, and I believed her to a degree. But why wouldn’t Kade’s newfound strength be from Kaya? The Soul-stealer, Ferde, had performed the Efe ritual to steal his victim’s magic. The Daviian Warpers used blood magic and the Kirakawa ritual to increase their powers. Did a magician really need these rituals and blood to capture another’s magic? Each method involved death. Perhaps Kaya’s death released her magical energy and it was absorbed by Kade, making the impossible possible.

I wandered to the rear of the cavern to check on Quartz. She munched on grain, content despite the whistle of the wind. I stroked her long neck and fretted about what the horses would do when the full fury of the wind hit.

Quartz cocked her right ear back. She rubbed my sleeve with her muzzle as if comforting me. I jumped when thunder cracked, and stepped closer to Quartz.

Whenever a thunderstorm had raged over Booruby, my sisters and I would huddle together under the blankets of Mara’s bed and scare ourselves by telling silly ghost stories. I hugged Quartz. After helping Yelena to imprison those souls in glass, I had learned ghosts were real. Those old stories didn’t sound so silly now.