Storm Glass

25

“ARE YOU UP for a trip to the cave?” Yelena asked.

“Sure,” I said.

“No,” Ulrick said.

“Don’t you think three magicians can keep her safe?” Yelena fixed Ulrick with her powerful stare. He blanched and quickly apologized.

“Three?” I asked her.

“Kade, Leif and me.”

“Me?” Leif squeaked. “Why me?”

“I need someone to light the torches. And Kade knows where to go.”

“What about Irys?” Leif asked.

“Someone needs to guard the Councillor at night. We don’t trust her people,” Master Jewelrose said.

“We’ll go tonight. Around midnight.”

“Tonight? We just arrived,” Leif whined.

Yelena frowned, then brightened as if she had a sudden idea. “Rest now and join us for a late dinner. I’ve made friends with the Councillor’s cook and I’ll ask him to make your favorite beef stew with garlic potatoes and apple cake for dessert.”

Leif’s petulance disappeared in an instant. “When’s dinner? Maybe I should grab a piece of cake now to tide me over for later. Which way is the kitchen?”

Yelena shooed us out the door. “Guest quarters are behind the Hall, next to the stables.”

As Leif, Kade and Ulrick headed out, I asked Yelena, “Friends with the cook?”

She gave me a conspiratorial smirk. “The Councillor is in danger. I don’t want her poisoned on my watch.”

“Leif, light the torch. There’s no one around,” Yelena said.

We crouched a few feet inside the mouth of a cave; inky blackness surrounded us as the wet smell of minerals filled my nose. The cave was located about an hour’s ride north of Fulgor. Kade had seen Chun enter and then exit carrying a bulging bag.

“I had to make a decision,” Kade had said during the ride north. “Either follow Chun or investigate the cave. I chose the cave, but didn’t get far without a light.”

“Any luck with the sand suppliers?” I asked.

“No. Although the Brubaker brothers offered me a discount on something called lightning strike?”

I laughed. “How much?”

“Twenty percent.”

“I would have haggled for thirty.”

“Excuse me, what is lightning strike?” Leif asked.

“When lightning strikes the sand, the heat melts the grains. When it cools, you can have a crude glass rod shaped like a lightning bolt. Its purpose is decorative. They must have guessed Kade was connected to the Stormdance Clan.”

Two torches blazed to life, pushing the darkness back. Shadows danced on the uneven walls of the cave and pebbles crunched under our boots. Leif peered at a small hole toward the back of the chamber with a dubious expression.

“I’m not squeezing. If I don’t fit, I’ll just wait for you,” he said.

“Relax. Once you go through that tunnel, the cave opens up,” Yelena said.

“Have you been here before?” I asked. The prospect of getting lost was unappealing.

“No. My friend told me.” A bat sat on her shoulder. “He agreed to scout for us.”

“Wonderful,” Leif muttered.

I really couldn’t say anything about a scouting bat. I claimed glass and spiders spoke to me, and diamonds gave me visions. Each person’s magic had their own quirks.

Yelena led the way with one torch. I followed. Leif held the other torch and Kade came last. We crawled through the narrow chute. As predicted, the tunnel widened until we could stand. I wiped the dirt from my hands as I looked around the small chamber.

My dream voice cut through my skull as if the person stood next to me and shouted in my ears. He wanted me to save him. Promised me more magical powers and whatever else I wanted. I tried to block the voice with my hands. It didn’t work.

Kade glanced at me with a question in his eyes. I waved his concern away. Nothing he or anyone could do about a voice in my head. If Yelena heard it, she would have said something. Ignoring it, I focused on the cavern. A few stalagmites ringed a pool of water. I couldn’t see another opening.

“Here’s where it gets…interesting,” Yelena said.

Leif and I exchanged a horrified glance. My heart flipped as Yelena placed her torch in a sconce and removed her cloak.

“It’s just a short swim to the bottom and there’s a rope,” she said.

My thoughts scattered as fear roiled the contents of my stomach.

“Are you insane?” Leif asked. “How do you know there’s a rope? Are you going to tell me your bat can swim?”

“I sent him here to observe the workers after Kade told me the location. And I can see the rope.” She pointed down.

In the surprisingly clear depths, the end of a rope had been tied to a metal rung. The rope followed the bottom of the pool and disappeared under a rock.

“I’ll go first and see where it leads.” She kicked off her boots and her bat hunched down, taking a firmer grip on her shirt.

“Do you want a bubble of air around you?” Kade asked her.

She considered. “I think it would make it difficult for me to get to the bottom. I’d be too buoyant. How about just around my nose?”

“Too hard to create for these conditions. If we were outside in the daylight, I probably could.”

“I’ll manage. If I get stuck, though—bubble me.”

“How will we know you’re stuck?” I asked.

Yelena stared at Kade.

“Yes, I hear you fine,” the Stormdancer said.

I realized she had mentally communicated with him and I suppressed the pinch of longing. The dream voice flared to life. It promised me the power to read minds if I set him free. A strong compulsion to hunt for the voice pressed between my shoulder blades.

Find me. Find me. Set me free. The scratchy voice clung to my thoughts, and dominated my senses. No longer just a murmur in my mind, but almost a physical force.

I struggled to concentrate on Yelena, wondering if bats could swim as she jumped into the pool. Water splashed on us. Leif muttered oaths under his breath. He held his torch over the water. The silt on the bottom of the pool stirred into milky white clouds when she reached the rope. Soon she disappeared from our sight.

“You know what I’d like to know?” Leif asked.

Set me free.

“How to swim?” I guessed.

Powerful magic will be yours.

“Real funny. I’d like to know who was the crazy son of a bitch who reached this spot and said, ‘Gee, I wonder where this pool goes?’ Any other reasonable person would have looked around and declared this room a dead end.”

Find me. Find me.

As we waited, I tried to push the voice away. Concentrated on the type of person who would dive into a pool just to see what was there. An adventurer? An explorer? If someone didn’t take a chance or try an experiment, then certain discoveries would never have been made.

Find me. Set me free and I’ll reward you with unlimited power.

I staggered, but steadied myself against the wall before Leif or Kade noticed.

“Finally,” Leif said as Yelena broke the surface. “Well?”

“The water’s cold.”

“I knew I should have let Ulrick come along. He’s serious. And with no sense of humor, he would counter your wise-cracks perfectly.”

“Leif, that’s enough,” Yelena said. “Don’t listen to him, Opal. He tends to babble when he’s nervous. I want you to follow me back over. Swim down to the rope and pull yourself through the tunnel to the next pool. When you get to the other rung, let go and float up to the surface. You do know how to swim. Right?”

Kade snorted.

I shot him a nasty look. “Yes. I do.” I pulled my cloak off and hung it from a stalagmite, then tossed my boots next to Yelena’s.

“Kade, stay here and keep watch. Leif, follow Opal,” she said.

“Why can’t I keep watch?” Leif pouted.

“Lighting torches, remember?”

“Oh, joy.”

Hesitating on the edge, I braced myself for the cold. When I entered the water, the shock tore threw me, robbing my lungs of air for a moment. The voice in my mind was stunned into silence.

“Deep breath,” Yelena said. She swam to the bottom.

Drawing in a shaky, clattery breath, I ducked under the surface and followed her. She had made it sound so easy, but the cloudy water obscured the rope. In a panic, I searched with my hands, making it worse. I would have given up, but my tingling fingers finally brushed the rough threads.

Hand over hand, I pulled. With each stroke, the light faded until I moved through liquid darkness. My lungs protested as air bubbled from my lips. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold my breath. Just about to panic, I touched a knot of rope tied to another metal rung. I released my hold and floated to the surface, gasping for air.

“Here.” Yelena grabbed my hand and pulled me from the water. “Once Leif gets here, we’ll have light. I found a couple of torches.”

I lay on the hard floor, sucking in breaths. Soon a loud splash and coughing sounded beside me.

“Next time,” Leif puffed. “Next time…I’m staying…home….”

“And miss all the fun?” Yelena asked.

“Come here, so…I can strangle…you.”

“You’ll have to catch me first. Light these.”

Wood thumped against wet skin.

“Ow!”

“Sorry.”

Leif muttered about buying his sister flint before fire ignited on the torches. The light caused a chain reaction throughout the cavern. Leif never did strangle his sister, and I forgot all about the cold numbing my bones. We were too captivated by the spectacle around us.

Every surface in the room sparkled as if alive. The yellow firelight raced through and reflected from a million facets. Crystals of every shape and size lined the walls, grew on the rocks and hung from the ceiling. Gressa’s glass chandelier was dull and ordinary in comparison. My dream images a poor copy at best.

“Worth the swim?” Yelena asked.

All I could manage was a thin squeak of assent. The voice consumed me. He was here, trapped in a glass prison, which I had made and helped Yelena to fill. I had been a conduit for the evil souls. Tainted—their black thoughts occupied my mind for a mere second but enough to…what? To reconnect with me? To claim me.

My chest tightened. The compulsion to go straight to the prison wrapped around me like a rope, pulling. I glanced at Yelena. Did she hear him? He was one of the Daviian Warpers. The seven prisons had disappeared soon after Yelena and I filled them. Hidden by Valek, Yelena assured me in locations unknown to everyone but him, and she had made it clear she didn’t want to know. And now me.

Free me. Crush the prison in your hand. Only you can do it.

“Oh, yes. Worth getting wet for. Did I ever tell you you’re my favorite sister?”

Yelena rolled her eyes since she was his only sister. “Are these your fake diamonds, Opal?”

I closed my mouth and pushed to my feet, taking one of the torches with me. She didn’t hear him. I tried to do my job, despite the ghost’s increasing demands for freedom.

A path wound through the chamber. From what I could see by the torchlight, it appeared to be several stories high, a couple hundred feet wide, and about seventy feet deep. Toward the back, I spotted an area where the crystals had been chiseled. These crystals were brilliant and clear. I rubbed my fingertips along the surface, pieces cracked off in my wake.

“These are too brittle.” I searched until I found black-colored crystals. “These, too. They wouldn’t survive being shaped.” So why come here?

Free me. You’ll be stronger than the Soulfinder.

“Do you know what these are?” Yelena asked.

“A type of gypsum crystal, but I’m not an expert. Pazia or someone from the Cloud Mist Clan would know.”

I can tell you. Everything and anything you want to know.

“What are they used for?” Leif asked.

“They could be added into a glass mixture. Perhaps they are needed in the recipe to make the fakes.”

“We’ll take a few samples to identify it. Leif, there’s a table on the other side of the pool,” Yelena called. “See if you can find a chisel.”

Crush the prison in your hand. Release me.

After a few minutes of grumbling, Leif brought a chisel, hammer and a cloth bag. Trying not to make a noticeable break, I chipped off a finger-sized piece of the clear, then broke a similar-sized chuck of black and stuffed them into the bag.

The pressure in my mind bloomed into an unbearable torment. I sank to my knees and, without conscious thought, pried the prison from the corner where it had been wedged, one sparkle among thousands. Relief and power flowed through me as if I had drunk an elixir. I gazed at the glass, muddy-red light pulsed from its core.

Leif and Yelena didn’t notice; they stared at her bat flying overhead.

I now knew Valek had been crazy enough to swim through the pool. He probably thought no one else would brave the cold water. He had been wrong.

The bat landed on Yelena’s shoulder. She glanced at the rear wall. “There’s another tunnel.”

Leif groaned, but followed his sister. I shoved the prison deep into my pocket and hurried after them. After traversing two chutes and three caverns, we came to a dead end. None of the other chambers contained crystals, and there was no sign of real diamonds.

Through the thin fabric of my pants the prison’s heat jabbed me as if searching for a weak spot. I should give it to Valek so he could find a better hiding place. A sudden possessiveness welled. The prison was mine.

“Can we go now? My feet are numb,” Leif said.

We retraced our steps and once again stood in the crystal chamber.

“Let’s hurry.” Leif pointed to the pool.

I hesitated, fighting the desire to stay silent. This was too important. Yelena needed to know about the Warper. I tried to speak. A jolt of fire sliced up my body and stabbed into my head. I fell to my knees, pressing my fingertips into my temples. The man wouldn’t let me talk.

Yelena’s voice sounded. Her hand on my back. His desire burned my thoughts.

Break the glass and release the pain, he ordered. Now!

My hand closed on the glass. Normally so strong a material, I knew I could reduce it to powder in my fist. No one else could. The magic within the glass responded to me. Heady mix of power within my palm. To no longer be afraid. Exactly what I wanted.

Crush it. Be powerful. In control.

My fingers tightened. Yelena’s presence reminded me of a time I had held a Curare-laced dart and jabbed it into her arm.

Do it. Together we will have more power than her.

I yanked the prison from my pocket. Energy sizzled along my skin. One hard squeeze of my hand, and the pain would disappear.

Obey me.

Those words cut through my fog of misery and confusion. Different voice. Same words. Words I would never forget. I thrust the prison into Yelena’s hands.

Unbroken.

The blazing pain remained; caused by shame over what I had almost done and knowledge that these glass prisons would haunt me until I died. I huddled on the floor, hot and miserable.

Yelena’s touch on my forehead cooled the maelstrom. Her energy revived my spirit.

“What’s going on?” Leif asked.

“It’s better you don’t know,” Yelena said. “Go on through the pool, we’ll be there in a minute.”

“Oh that’s right. I forgot I’m just here to light fires,” Leif grumbled, but dived into the water.

Yelena held out the glass prison. “When did you know this was here?”

I told her about the dreams. “I have a general idea where the others are, too.” I searched her expression. “Didn’t you know?”

“I knew as soon as we entered the cave.” She paused and chewed on her lower lip as if debating what she should tell me. “I’ve been hanging around Valek too long. I heard the Warper’s pleas, but wanted to see what you would do.”

“But…but I almost crushed the glass and released him.”

“You didn’t.”

“But what if I did? He has Master-level powers.”

“Then I would have another problem to deal with.”

“That was a big risk.”

“Actually, I wasn’t worried. I trusted you, Opal.”

If the Warper hadn’t said those two words, I would have freed him. “You shouldn’t. Because when you sent those evil souls to the glass, they traveled through me. I think a piece of them stayed with me. Sometimes I feel my thoughts and actions aren’t mine.”

Yelena placed her hand flat on my chest and closed her eyes. After a moment, she stepped back. “We all have thoughts we’re not proud of. I’ve done a couple things I wish I hadn’t. I can assure you there are no remnants of those souls within you.”

“But they call to me.”

“Your other glass animals call to you.”

“That’s different.”

Yelena said nothing.

“I sense emotions from my animals. I hear voices and feel pain with the prisons.”

“Have you been dealing with this for the past four years?” Yelena asked.

The answer surprised me. “No. I started having the vivid dreams…” After my trip to the Stormdance lands. After I had connected with Kade through the orb. “Around the middle of the cooling season. Around the time I discovered a few new…things I could do with my magic.” I explained about the spiders, but not about Kade.

“The new abilities could have set off a chain reaction. Your magic is linked to glass and perhaps in increasing your powers you expanded your connection to your other creations.”

I guessed it was possible.

“Or there could be another reason altogether. In this case, I would say dealing with the problem is more important right now than figuring it out. You must not tell anyone you know where the prisons are. This one will be hidden again. Stay away from the others lest you be tempted.” She smiled. “The next trapped soul might offer you warmth and dry clothes. Then we’d be in trouble.”

I released a shaky breath. “You’re right. I’d do anything for a warm fire.”

She cringed. “Not me. I tend to avoid fires.” She shivered. “I’m more tempted by a piece of apple cake.”

“You sound like Leif.” But my stomach rumbled in agreement. We didn’t waste any more time. The trip back through the chilly water wasn’t as bad, perhaps because I knew a dry cloak waited on the other side.

Kade helped me out of the pool. His hand pulsed hot against my icy skin. Soothing warmth spread from where he had touched me. My body felt bruised and battered, and the sudden desire to wrap myself in his arms coursed through me. I pushed the notion away, knowing he would reject me.

What a night. I couldn’t wait to leave the cave. Staying far away from the prisons was an excellent idea, but how do I avoid the nightmares? What if I encountered another stronger Warper? Would I be able to resist freeing him if Yelena wasn’t by my side?

Yelena and Leif crawled through the tunnel toward the cave’s exit. Kade and I waited for the all clear signal.

“Something’s wrong,” Kade said. He helped me wrap my cloak around my shoulders. “You hold yourself as if you’ve ingested Brittle Talc.”

I smiled, remembering our conversation on The Cliffs. “Now you’re using glassmaking analogies. If you hang around me too much, you’ll be spouting glassmaking lingo like a gaffer.”

He gasped dramatically, pressing a hand to his chest. “Then I’d better go.”

Kade joked, but the thought of him leaving felt as if I had dived into the cave’s pool again. Without thought, I stepped closer to him. He stiffened.

I moved away, letting my blood turn into ice.

“Did something happen in the cavern?” he asked.

“No. I’m just cold. You know what cold does to metal.”

“You’re not made of metal.”

Right now, I wished I was.

We returned to Fulgor an hour before dawn. Kade had rented a room in the Good Inn near the center of the town. In the Councillor’s guest quarters, Leif shared a room with Ulrick, and I had the other bedroom. A living area with a marble hearth separated the three rooms. Leif immediately roused the dying embers of the fire into a full blaze.

“Ahh…I’m sleeping here.” He pulled the couch closer.

“Get changed first,” I said. “Or you’ll soak the cushions.”

I entered my room. My still-damp shirt clung to my body and my hair had dried into a tangled knot. Clean, dry clothes felt like the finest silk against my skin. I wrestled with a comb, but put it down when a knock sounded.

Yelena stood at the door. “Do you have those samples from the cave? I want to show them to Irys.”

I stepped back, opening the door wider. “I put them in my pocket.”

As I dug for the crystals, Yelena wandered around my room.

“Opal?”

I grabbed the crystals and joined her. She had stopped by my saddlebags. One of the pouches gaped open.

Yelena pointed to the orb visible through the gap. “What is that?”

Her voice sounded odd and I guessed she heard the magic’s song. I had grown so used to the melody, I no longer muffled it. “It’s a Stormdancer orb. A storm’s essence is inside. Kade wanted me to keep it safe.” I shrugged. “I didn’t feel right leaving it behind.”

She turned to me in shock. I almost stepped back.

“Can you hear it?” I asked.

“Hear it? Can’t you see her?”

I knew who Yelena meant. “No. I only hear her name. She’s Kade’s sister. Kaya died while he harvested a storm.”

“Her soul is trapped inside that orb. She must be freed.”