Sand and Storm by Stella Dorthwany

Author:Stella Dorthwany [Dorthwany, Stella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dorthwany Publishing
Published: 2018-03-21T04:00:00+00:00

***

Cora stood in the new indoor camp, arms folded tightly across her stomach, staring at the motionless figures of her husband and Raikh. She wondered what they were saying to each other beneath the golden haze that enveloped them.

Above her head, the wind driving the sandstorm escalated in a soprano shriek. Cora flinched, wrapping her arms tighter. It was amazing how clearly she could hear the storm even buried in these stone chambers. The wind was a cacophony of voices, each singing stridently against the others, every note piercing her brain. It was horrible, yet strangely compelling. Every time she started to put her fingers in her ears to block it out, she hesitated, feeling as though she would miss something if she could no longer hear the wind.

Raikh stirred, the golden glow that encased him fading. Cora edged closer, avoiding the disapproving gaze of a Guardian. “What’s happening to Damorin?” she demanded, as soon as Raikh stood.

He shook his head. “He’s still in the sand trance.”

Cora stuck her hands on her hips. “I can see that. Why is he in it? How long will it last?” She needed him to wake up. She needed to know the truth about the dream she’d had back in the dunes. The dream where Damorin had whispered, None of this is fair. I could have loved you so easily.

Raikh sighed, his features softening. “I suppose you need to prepare yourself. Come with me.” He slipped a hand under her arm and led her from the room.

The wind’s voices were louder out here. Cora shook her head, trying to focus. “What do I need to prepare for?”

Raikh took her hands. “In summoning the wind that destroyed the dragon, your husband opened himself too much to the sand. It has now invaded not only his essence, but his mind and body. Through meditation and sheer will, he has managed to hold some part of himself free of it, but eventually he will weaken. When that happens, the sand will possess him entirely.”

Cora felt the blood draining from her face. “What happens then?”

“The sand craves movement. When it takes full possession of a person, it absorbs what power it can to propel itself. When that person is as powerful as Magi Ardaya …”

Cora said, “You mean the sand will turn him into a human bomb.”

“One with devastating consequences. There is no telling how destructive the magic might become.”

“What do we do? How do we help him?”

Raikh remained silent. She read the answer in his face.

Panic constricted her chest. “No! There has to be something, some way to get rid of the sand.”

He shook his head. “Sand goes into a mage’s essence. It doesn’t come out again.”

“There has to be something,” she repeated, stubborn.

“You think it hasn’t been tried? He’s hardly the first mage to go too far. No one has ever succeeded in purging the sand.”

“You hate him anyway, why would you care?” Cora tried to pull her hands away, but Raikh’s grip was like a vise, crushing her fingers.

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