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.
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.