Gathering Storm (The Salvation of Tempestria Book 2) by Gary Stringer (howl and other poems .txt) 📕

“Well done, Mandalee,” she berated herself. “Today the world ended because the person who was supposed to stop it went out partying all night. But hey, she had a great time, so it’s not all bad.”

She forced herself to calm down. The Council building was only five minutes down the road, and it was something of a transport hub with stagecoaches ranging out all over. It was vital that she make it in time. Fortunately, she knew the place quite well: Compton, just ten miles outside Walminster. The town where she’d first met Catriona in the form of a naked boy with nothing but a strategically placed staff. She couldn’t help a small smile at the memory, but she stifled it instantly. That part of her life was in the past, while she needed to focus on the present. She could afford no more delays or mistakes. Everything was depending on her to get this right, for Mandalee’s target wasn’t a Trickster, a wizard, or even a Greater Demon. Her objective was something much, much worse.

She had to kill Daelen StormTiger because, her client had told her, if Mandalee didn’t stop him…

…he was going to destroy the world.

*****

Mandalee had no sooner reached the Council building than a strange ball of blue light appeared in the sky, through which stepped Daelen StormTiger, accompanied by his usual signature freak storm, disrupting the natural weather patterns of the day.

Anticipating an attack of some kind, the wizards and other locals fled the scene. Mandalee just froze. She was supposed to kill him in less than two hours while he was ‘weak and vulnerable.’ Yet here he was, flying overhead apparently at full strength and power. Did he know? Was he here to kill her first? There was no point running. It wouldn’t make any difference if he attacked her now.

‘Maybe he’s here for some other reason,’ she sent to Shyleen. ‘Maybe he won’t even notice me.’

“You there!” Daelen called out. Mandalee winced. “You! Dressed all in white with the cat!”

‘Not a word,’ the assassin warned her leopard before she could project a wise-crack into her head. So much for not noticing her. She consoled herself with the reminder that at least she’d had one fantastic party before she died.

“Can I, erm, sorry, can I help you?” she yelled up at him.

“Are you a wizard?” he asked.

Mandalee couldn’t believe what she was hearing. A higher planar being stopping a passing human for a chat. If she hadn’t been so terrified, she would have laughed.

“Not a wizard, sorry.”

“It’s OK if you really are a wizard,” Daelen assured her. “You don’t need to worry. I promise I didn’t do it.”

“Oh no, sorry, I’m sure you didn’t,” Mandalee called back, having no idea what he was talking about. “But honestly, I’m a cleric. So, if you’ve got an injury you want me to look at, I’m your gal!” She let out a nervous giggle. “Otherwise, sorry, I don’t think I can help you. Sorry.”

‘Why do you keep apologising?’ asked Shyleen in her head.

‘I don’t know. I have no idea what I’m saying.’ Mandalee thought back.

‘That is obvious,’ Shyleen snarked in response.

Daelen laughed. “As if I would ever need healing from a mortal – no offence.”

‘Quite a lot taken if you don’t mind,’ she grumbled to Shyleen.

“I rarely even talk to you lot – you’re just not interesting enough yet – but you still might be able to help me,” the shadow warrior continued. “Where might I find the home of one called Justaria?”

“Well, as I say, I’m not a wizard,” Mandalee repeated through gritted teeth, “so I’m not exactly familiar with…”

‘Stop!’ Shyleen cried out in her mind. ‘You may not know where this Justaria lives, but you know where Daelen is supposed to be two hours from now. Why not send him there?’

‘That’s a ridiculous idea,’ Mandalee shot back. ‘I love it.’

“But wait!” she called out again before he could fly away. “I think I have heard that one, now that I think about it. Yes! I remember now. You need to fly to a town called Compton, roughly ten miles northeast. Can’t be more specific, but failing anything else, just ask at the FaerWay Tavern.”

“Good enough,” Daelen accepted, and then flew off without so much as a ‘thank you.’

“You’re welcome!” she called out, anyway. “Don’t mention it. Oh, that’s right – you didn’t.”

‘I am so going to kill him.’

‘If you get there in time,’ Shyleen sent back.

Mandalee looked at her timepiece and swore. Thanks to the shadow warrior’s appearance, everyone had scattered – people and horses alike. If she could set off now, a horse and coach might just make it, but by the time things settled down enough, it was going to be too late.

‘I’m going to have to fly. Sorry, Shyleen, you’ll have to make your own way there.’

Shyleen sent a mental farewell and immediately ran off, while her friend used her magic to summon her flight.

“Rule one: don’t let your prey see you coming,” she berated herself as she waited impatiently. “It’s rule one! But no, I’ve got a better idea: why not give your prey directions to the place you’re going to kill them? Dear gods, I need a drink!”

Chapter 10

Outside Justaria’s house, Daelen weakly protested at Mandalee’s assertion, but Cat shushed him.

“This is a private conversation,” she insisted, “it’s nothing to do with you. Just get on the horse.”

She helped him stand and mount up. He was still vulnerable and she needed to get him away, but she couldn’t turn her back on Mandalee when she was in this mood.

“What are you talking about?” she demanded. “He’s not planning to destroy the world.”

“OK, let’s say he isn’t. Let’s say it’s something he does by accident. So what? When a wizard lets a demon loose, whether it’s a plan or an accident makes no difference to those it kills. If the world ends, it doesn’t matter whether it was intentional or not.”

“But how could your client possibly know about Daelen destroying the