Storm Glass (8 page)

  “Not helping.” Nodin tossed a clam into the pot.

  “There is something in the mix that is causing the glass to be less dense. It can’t absorb the energy from the storm.”

  “Which ingredient is deficient?” Indra asked.

  “I don’t know. I could take samples of each to my father. He would be able to find out.”

  “What do we do in the meantime?” Raiden asked. “The storms are only going to get worse.”

  “Kade is dancing now. Why can’t you have all your Stormdancers bleeding off energy until we figure out what is wrong?”

  Tal snorted with derision. “All he’s doing is taking a small stick out of a big fire.”

  “It’s dangerous. No other Stormdancer would do it. There’s no
reason
for the risk.” Raiden nodded at me as if we shared a private joke.

  “The almighty Kade likes to show off,” Tal grumbled. “Rub it in.”

  “He has his own reasons.” Raiden stirred the stew.

  After we had tossed the empty shells to the beach, Nodin asked about my magic. “Tell me again how it works.”

  Zitora and I explained about the two uses of my pieces.

  “I can use this new one when my unicorn is spent,” Zitora said.

  “No.” The word sprang from my throat before logic could be applied. “I want to keep it to…to compare it to…my other works.” Weak explanation, I knew, but this orb hummed like Kade’s sphere and I was reluctant to give it away.

  “How is this different?” Nodin asked.

  “It has a different…call.”

  “Call?” Nodin cocked an eyebrow, inviting enlightenment.

  “Each of my glass pieces calls to me. I don’t hear it like sound. I feel it.” I tapped my chest. “Inside. Whenever one of my animals is close to me, I know which one it is and where it is even if I can’t see it.”

  He whistled. “You could feel this
before
you fell into the water and hit your head on the rocks? Right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Because it makes more sense the other way.”

  “Nodin,” Raiden warned. “That’s enough.”

  We ate our stew in relative silence. The keening of the wind echoed in the cavern and errant gusts fanned the flames. Soon a fine sea mist coated everything in the cave.

  I didn’t sleep well. My cot felt as if it bobbed on a wild sea and the wind infiltrated my dreams, moaning a name over and over in my mind. Laced with grief and loss, the wind’s cry filled my heart with sadness.

  The storm passed by daybreak. Kade arrived. Exhaustion lined his face and his clothes dripped with seawater.

  “Fall in?” Tal asked with barely concealed spite.

  If Kade noticed, he didn’t show it. He nodded. “Lost my grip for a second and was blown into the water.”

  Raiden shot Kade a horrified look.

  “Luckily I managed to construct a bubble and climb back onto the rocks.” Kade squeezed the ends of his hair. Water rained to the floor.

  “Luck had nothing to do with it,” Raiden said. “Your powers have grown since-”

  “Don’t say it,” Kade snapped.

  Raiden frowned. “The storm almost killed you. You shouldn’t dance anymore.”

  The Stormdancer lingered near the cave’s entrance. He peered out to the sea. “You’re right.”

  Raiden covered his surprise by turning away to concentrate on breakfast. I guessed Kade didn’t agree with Raiden very often. Kade walked to the back of the cave to retrieve his orb. When the sphere was uncovered, I flinched with the sudden intensity of its song.

  Tal narrowed his eyes at me. “Don’t tell me
you
hear it.”

  When I didn’t reply, he flew into a rage. “You can’t possibly hear it. You’re younger than me. And you’re not even a member of our clan.” He brushed past me, knocking me down.

  “Raiden,” Indra said.

  “I know.” The older man sighed. He helped me to my feet. “Sorry about that. Tal’s getting worse. I’ll send him home.”

  “Wait,” Varun said. “He’s having a hard time adjusting. Before Opal’s device gave him proof, he still hoped he might develop magical powers. It’ll take a while for him to accept it. I’ll talk to him.”

  “Fine. But tell him one more outburst and I’m sending him home for good.”

  Varun agreed and followed Tal.

  Raiden served the rest of us bowls of warm oatmeal. The thick mush had a fishy taste.

  He laughed at my expression. “All our meals have fish in it. Cuts down on the amount of supplies we need.”

  “Speaking of supplies,” Indra said. “What do we do about the glass ingredients?”

  “Can you get a new batch?” Zitora asked.

  “No. We stockpile the ingredients inland near Thunder Valley and bring only enough for each season. If one of the compounds is tainted, then the whole stockpile will be suspect,” Indra explained.

  “How about ordering in fresh supplies?”

  The glassmaker shook her head. “We wouldn’t get them in time. The special components in our mixture come from far away.”

  “We really need to know which one is causing the problem,” Nodin said.

  “Are the different components in separate stockpiles?” I asked.

  “Yes. They’re mixed right before we leave.” He paced around the campfire, pulling at his tight curls. They sprang back as soon as he released one.

  “Opal, you wanted to take samples to your father. Is there anyone else who is closer?” Zitora asked. “How about the Citadel’s glassmaker?”

  “Aydan only works with one type of glass. My father really is the best one to ask. He has an extensive laboratory and experiments with sand while the other glassmakers find a mix they like and stay with the same recipe forever.”

  “Can he come here?” Nodin stopped pacing. Hope touched his voice.

  “He’ll need his lab. If it was an obvious substance, I would have seen it.”

  “Is that why you ran them through your fingers?”

  “Yes.”

  “How long will it take?” Kade joined us by the fire. He had wrapped his orb in the blanket and cradled the bundle.

  “Seven days one way if the weather is good. Then it depends on Opal’s father.” Zitora looked at me.

  “A day. Maybe two.” I guessed.

  “How long do you have before it’s too late?” Zitora asked Raiden.

  “The storms are forming every four days now. In another three weeks, they’ll be coming every two days. Without Stormdancers and orbs, this cavern will be underwater until the middle of the cold season.”

  “Let’s say nine days from now we have an answer. We can communicate through Opal’s glass animals and you can order a fresh batch.”

  Indra stood. “That could work. We’ll need Opal back, though.”

  Surprised, I asked why.

  “To test the ingredients before they’re melted into glass.

  We can’t guess that the new supplies are pure. Plus we couldn’t tell the difference between the orbs. You’ll know if they’ll hold the storm’s energy.”

  “But-”

  Zitora cut me off. “What happens if it’s one of your special ingredients that are tainted?”

  “We don’t dance,” Kade said. “People die.”

  Kade’s words weighed heavy on my mind as we prepared to leave The Cliffs. Varun and Kade would accompany Zitora and me to their stockpile near Thunder Valley and remain there until they heard from us.

  I gave my little ball to the Stormdancer so he could try to communicate with Zitora through the glass. She was on the beach with her unicorn and we were in his tiny sleeping cave decorated with a cot, a chair and a desk. Piles of books lined the back wall. A small coal stove rested near the entrance, but not too close to the wood and cloth privacy screen. Kade had stored the orb-still covered with the blanket-under his cot.

  After I had glanced around his cave, Kade shrugged. “It suits me. When I spend all day in the wild vastness of sea and storms, it’s soothing to be surrounded by stone.” Kade settled on the cot, sitting cross-legged and peered into the glass.

  A heartbeat later, he yelped in surprise and fumbled the ball. I suppressed a giggle, but couldn’t stop the smirk.

  “I suppose the first time you heard a voice in your head you were unperturbed?” he asked in annoyance.

  The smile dropped from my lips. “I don’t have the magical ability to hear thoughts.”

  “I don’t, either, but Zitora does. As long as you have magic, you should be able to hear her.”

  “I can’t.” I turned away before I could see his pity. The Masters could communicate with every magician in Sitia. Except me. Even people with only one trick could hear the Masters’ call. Except me.

  “Since the test was a success, I’d better go help Zitora saddle the horses.” I ducked to leave.

  “But you can hear the orb’s call,” Kade said to my back.

  The orb’s song pierced my heart. I jerked, turning around. Kade had uncovered the sphere.

  “What does it say to you?” he asked.

  I concentrated. The orb’s song pulsed in time with the sea and hummed in tune with the wind. Among the melody moaned a name. The same name that haunted my dreams last night. “Kaya.”

  Kade froze in horror. He stared at me with such intensity I stepped back.

  “My sister’s name,” he said as if every word pained him.

  “You have a sister?”

  “Had. She died. Killed by one of the flawed orbs.”

7

GRIEF WELLED IN
Kade’s eyes. The obvious pain of his sister’s death still ripping his insides like a broken knife. I remembered the weeks after my sister Tula had died. The pain would only dull with time.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. “I know-”

  “You know nothing.” Kade spat the words out. “Please spare me the empty and banal responses of sympathy. They are meaningless.”

  I wanted to correct him, but from his reaction I knew he wasn’t ready to hear it.

  Kade grabbed my shoulders and dragged me close. “Did Raiden tell you her name? Hope that I would confess my woes to you?” He dug his fingers into my skin.

  “No one told me. Let go. You’re hurting me.”

  “Did Master Cowan pull the information from my head?”

  I wished I had one of my sais so I could knock sense into him. “She would never intrude on your private thoughts. The
orb
told me. Let go now!” I brought my arms up between his and swept them out to the side, breaking his hold on my shoulders.

  He stumbled back and I pushed him farther away with my foot. He landed on his cot. At least I had paid attention in self-defense class. Another skill learned from my four years at the Keep. Yippee for me.

  “Do you have water in your ears? What part of ‘let go’ didn’t you understand?” I scolded, reverting into my really-annoyed-older-sister mode.

  When anger flamed in Kade’s eyes, I realized I dealt with a grown man and Stormdancer. He could probably order the wind to suck me out of the cave and drop me onto the beach far below. Big difference from fighting with my younger brother, Ahir, whose only talent was to pester me to distraction.

  “Opal,” Zitora called from below.

  I glanced over the edge.

  “We need to hurry. I want to reach The Flats by sunset.”

  My thoughts lingered on Kade and his orb as I helped Zitora saddle the horses and pack the bags. Varun and Kade arrived with full backpacks and I tied their sleeping rolls onto the saddles. Since they didn’t have any horses, we would share mounts to Thunder Valley. I eyed Kade’s pack with trepidation. He had taken his orb and its muted voice reached me even through the leather.

  Soon the whole Stormdance team milled around, waiting to say goodbye.

  Raiden gave us a few instructions. “If you’re not back here in eighteen days, then don’t bother. We’re clearing out on day nineteen.”

  “If the storm pattern changes, don’t hesitate to leave sooner. Just send me a message,” Kade said.

  “Will do.” Raiden scanned the sky.

  “We’ll keep the kiln hot,” Indra said.

  After all the goodbyes and thank yous, we led the horses up The Cliffs. The ascent felt easier. Perhaps because I tended to look up instead of down.

  We reached The Flats without any problems. As soon as we were rested, Zitora mounted Sudi. “Varun, you’ll ride with me. Kade, you’re with Opal.”

  When no one moved, Zitora ordered, “Let’s go. I want to get in a few more miles before we stop for the night.”

  I don’t know why I thought Zitora and I would share a mount, but it appeared the men had assumed the same thing. They glanced at each other. Varun shrugged. He shouldered his pack and swung up behind Zitora.

  Quartz bumped my arm with her nose. If horses could laugh, I had the feeling she would be chuckling.

  Kade grabbed Quartz’s reins. “Should I?” he asked.