Storm Glass 1 by Maria V Snyder

Author:Maria V Snyder [Snyder, Maria V]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Father tried to snap one of my glass spiders in half. He dropped it to the floor, stomping on it. Nothing.

“These things are indestructible.”

“Here.” I reached for it, remembering how brittle they felt in my hands. Sure enough, I broke one in half.

A whoosh of air, a huff and a flash and one brown-colored spider stood in the middle of my father’s desk. Its

body as big as two of my father’s fists put together and eight thin legs spread out close to the edge.

I jumped to my feet, wanting to back away.

“Relax.”

The creature remained in place as if waiting. The door opened behind me and even the night breeze didn’t

disturb the spider.

“Ulrick, don’t come any closer,” Father ordered. “Opal, what did you do after you stepped on the glass?”

I replayed the series of panicked events in my mind. “I ran to Mara. Stood there like a complete simpleton.

And…” I closed my eyes for a moment. “And my next thought was the need to suck the venom from Mara. But

the spider came and…”

“Did your bidding,” Father said.

“A big leap in logic,” Ulrick said from the doorway.

“Easy to find out. Opal, tell the spider to climb to the ceiling.”

“With my thoughts or my voice?”

“We can try both. How many glass spiders do you have?”

I shuddered. “Hundreds.” Drawing in a deep breath and feeling a little silly, I ordered the spider to climb.

It leaped to the wall and scurried to the ceiling. When it arrived, it disappeared. For the first time ever, magic responded to my wishes. A strange sensation swept over me and I felt weightless. I dropped into a chair and

clutched the armrests to keep from fainting.

“Hmm. Once and done,” my father mused. “I wonder if the first spider would have followed you around

until you gave it an order. Only one—”

“Way to find out,” Ulrick said. “I’ll fetch more spiders. Where are they?”

136 of 264

I told him, then snapped the remaining one. This time I ordered the spider with my mind. The results were

the same.

A couple hours after midnight, my father was finally satisfied with our experiments. The spiders were indeed

real to the touch. They had sharp teeth and they would perform a task then vanish. They would listen only to me. I guessed when I had transformed Tricky’s magic into spiders I had become the owner. Although Tricky might be

able to direct the spiders, too. And, since the only way to find out would involve him, I wasn’t going to confirm the possibility.

All those history classes I had taken never mentioned the ability to transform magic into a physical object.

And it wasn’t static. It moved, obeyed commands and disappeared. Did the magic dissipate when the spider

finished its job? Or did the power return to Tricky?

My sluggish thoughts swirled in my head as if my mind had melted. No answers formed, just an endless loop

of speculation. I dragged my exhausted body to my room. Leif dozed in a chair next to my sister’s bed. Mara slept so still, I had to watch the rise and fall of her chest before I could relax.

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