Maria Snyder - Storm Glass

Yelena had said ghosts were lost souls. Being a Soulfinder, she gathered them to her and guided them either to the sky or the fire world.

Quartz huffed at me and I released her. Intelligence lit her brown eyes, and I wished I could communicate with her. Yelena also possessed the ability to mentally “talk” with horses. All I could do was trap magic in glass, which I couldn’t even use. Worthless.

“Ow!” The side of my face stung where Quartz’s tail had flicked me.

My horse snorted as if to say “snap out of it” before going back to eating her grain.

Heli returned with Kade’s orb. The energy trapped inside pounded in my head with insistence. All the Stormdancers winced when Heli walked past the fire. I showed her the pile of blankets near the horse stalls, and we covered the sphere.

The last of my energy faded as I sat with the others around the fire. They talked among themselves about past storms. After our late dinner of oyster stew, I arranged a cot near Quartz and fell into an exhausted sleep.

Unfortunately, my oblivion didn’t last long. The keening of the wind and the roar of thunder kept intruding. The bamboo curtains clattered and waves pounded the shore. My head ached. Unable to return to sleep, I sat on my cot and looked around. Zitora, Raiden and Tal slept nearby. The Stormdancers dozed by the glowing embers of the fire. Heli sat cross-legged next to the bamboo curtains. Her arms were spread out to each side and her eyes were closed.

When I stood, she opened her eyes and winked at me. “Just keeping the wind from snuffing our fire. I hate eating a cold breakfast.”

“Is the storm almost over?”

“No. It strengthened when it encountered the warm, shallow water, but slamming into The Cliffs knocked it off its stride.” She cocked her head to one side. “That and Kade’s efforts.”

“The orbs worked?”

Heli grinned. “We felt the first orb fill after you fell asleep.”

The tight grip of anxiety released me and giddiness replaced it. I would have whooped out loud if everyone was awake. “Do Indra and her brothers know? We should tell them.”

“We’ll have to wait until the storm passes. It’s too dangerous to be outside.”

“Even for you?”

“Yes. The safest way to dance is to be in position before the storm hits. It’s easier to hold calm air around you than to tame the winds and create a bubble of calm from the maelstrom. In that case, you use all your strength just to make a buffer around you, and you don’t have any left to harvest the storm’s energy.”

“What about your efforts now? Are they draining?”

“A little. All I’m doing is blocking the wind, keeping it from shredding the curtains. I’ll wake Wick when I’m tired. He hates to be cold and will sacrifice sleep to keep the fire hot.” She glanced with affection at the snoring Stormdancer. “His blanket fell off again. He’s just like a little kid.” Heli un-crossed her legs as if to stand.

I stopped her. “Stay there. I’ll get it.”

“Thanks.” She settled, squirmed into a comfortable position and closed her eyes.

Part of Wick’s blanket was trapped underneath his body. Not wanting to wake him, I tiptoed to the back and grabbed another one, and uncovered Kade’s orb.

The ache in my head flared into a painful jab. The stinging spikes rapped against my skull as if impatient for my attention. I was about to recover the sphere, but paused. I’m not sure what guided my actions—curiosity perhaps—but I dropped the blanket and laid both hands on the orb.

An icy tingle permeated my fingers, turning them numb as the sensation ripped up my arms and encompassed my body. My world spun as if I was caught in a whirlpool. The muscles and bones in my body stretched. I thinned and lost all sense of being rigid. A force sucked at my feet as dizziness and nausea flushed through me. I squeezed my eyes shut.

When the motion ceased, I opened my eyes. I stood in a round chamber. Purple, blue and silver swirled on the smooth walls. The glowing iridescent colors reminded me of soap bubbles. I wondered if I was inside one. Sand crunched under my boots when I walked over to the wall. The surface was glass. Past the translucent chamber, a storm raged.

A wind blew from nowhere, sweeping the sand off the floor. The granules piled together forming the shape of a woman. I gaped at the perfect construction, unable to believe what I saw.

I yelled when she grabbed my shoulders with her rough hands.

“Opal, help Kade,” she said. Her voice grated. “He’s weakening. The monster has grown and only three orbs are filled. The storm will take him.”

She seemed familiar to me. “Who are—”

“Help him. Now!”

A ROUND OPENINGappeared in the wall. The sand woman exploded into a whirling funnel. Pulled and spun by the strong currents, she disappeared, leaving me alone.

Darkness loomed past the opening. A flash of lightning revealed wet rocks. Another flash lit a figure. He slumped against The Cliffs, head bowed. Rain and sea spray bombarded him. Kade.

The storm’s energy pulsed around him. The weight of exhaustion hung on his body. He turned toward me. A brief flicker illuminated the pain in his eyes.

The doorway moved. Dizziness blurred my vision. The air thickened as the storm’s essence filled my chamber—orb!

I stood inside an orb. Logic rejected the conjecture because it was impossible, but my gut instinct had no problems accepting it. In fact, a part of me even knew I was in one of Kade’s orbs on the beach and not in the cave.

The flow of energy slowed and eventually reversed. The sand woman had said Kade was weak and I had to help him. He couldn’t fill the orb. But I possessed no magical skills of use. If he needed a glass dolphin, I could oblige him. Otherwise he was out of luck.

A wave crashed into Kade, knocking him down. My orb bobbed and spun, water gushed in. Just when I thought the orb would be sucked out to sea, Kade grabbed the lip. He tried again to funnel the storm’s power.

He failed.

Panic and fear flared.

He would die.

Trapped inside an orb, my thoughts raced, but kept coming back to the fact that glass surrounded me. What did I do with glass? Come on, Opal. Think!

I drew in a deep breath and blew magic into the glass. Concentrating on the power in the air, I inhaled and exhaled. The orb filled with the storm’s misty extract. It pushed me up as if a life raft inflated under my feet. My emotions linked with Kade’s and his surprise matched my own.

The opening rushed toward me. A black stopper brushed my shoulder and I flew into the open air. A cascade of images spun around me. My body light and as indistinct as a fog, I floated into Kade.

“Opal?” He looked around. These a beat at the beach, hammering against The Cliffs. The sand around his feet remained smooth; his bubble of calm restored, blocking the waves.

Picking up the last orb, he drew power and I blew my strength into him, giving him all my energy to finish the job.

“Opal…Opal…you…all right?”

The words hissed in my ears. Heli’s nose hovered inches from mine. I sighed with relief, glad to be back in the cave even if I lay on the cold floor exhausted. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure. You left to get a blanket and next time I looked you were on the ground.” She glanced at the pile of blankets. “I covered the orb. Raiden told us you can hear it. We really didn’t believe him, but, by your reaction, I’d say the orb’s cry overwhelmed you. They become really agitated during a storm. Although this monster stumbled when it hit land, and I think the danger is past.”

Her explanation made sense. Better than believing I had been sucked inside the orb, had a conversation with a sand woman and assisted Kade with his work.