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

Still wary, but intrigued, Daelen was torn for a moment. Ultimately curiosity won out.

“Very well,” Daelen acknowledged, “I accept your terms of parley. Let’s go.”

With that, the two shadow warriors flew away from the Dolphin, away from Esca, and closer to StormClaw. As soon as they were clear of the main shipping routes, they initiated their signature storm powers to deter any vessels from straying too close. Only when he was sure they were alone out there, with just the seagulls for company, was Daelen prepared to parley.

For the first time ever, thanks to Daelen’s new mortal friends, and Aden’s mistake of taking on Dreya the Dark, Daelen had a clear advantage. He could afford to be patient for once and listen to what his dark clone had to say.

It would turn out to be a momentous occasion. One might even say a meeting of minds.

*****

Meanwhile, in Daelen’s base on StormClaw, Catriona pulled a book out of her pocket dimension and sat down.

She looked up at an annoyed Mandalee and, with a sigh, asked, “What’s up now?”

“I used to think I understood you,” Mandalee replied, shaking her head in disbelief, “despite your ridiculous radical ideas, but this is unbelievable. After everything you’ve gone through to protect Daelen, even talking me into saving his life, you’re just going to leave him to fight Aden alone?”

The druidess gazed out of a window that looked out to sea in the direction of Esca. There was a storm on the horizon. A tempest of incredible power and magnitude. A storm that was utterly impossible without some kind of build-up.

“Yup,” she answered simply.

“Look at that storm, Cat! They must be going all out over there. Daelen could be hurt, badly, and you’re just sitting there like you don’t care, which I know for a fact isn’t true.”

Catriona’s feelings were bleeding out through their sympathic connection. She was only winding her friend up about them because she knew there was a truth to them.

“Yes, of course I’m worried about him,” Catriona replied, “and OK, I will admit I’ve felt a certain…attraction, but don’t you dare tell him I said that.”

“Ha!” Mandalee cried. “I knew it! I knew I was right about you two!”

“There is no ‘us two’!” Cat snapped. “Just because I love him, that doesn’t mean I want to do anything about it.”

She winced. She hadn’t intended for the L-word to slip out.

“Why wouldn’t you want to?”

Catriona thought for a moment, choosing her words carefully. “Let’s just call it personal honour and leave it at that.”

The White Assassin knew better than to push Cat into revealing more than she was willing to, so she returned to worrying about Daelen.

Catriona glanced out at the darkening sky with disapproval, before settling down and using her light from the staff’s blue crystal to illuminate her reading.

“I don’t know how you can be so calm about this,” Mandalee grumbled, pacing restlessly. “I can tell he’s alive out there, yet at the same time, he’s not.”

To her magical senses, it seemed like his power was both fading and growing. Waxing and waning at the same time. Shyleen was equally baffled. The disruption to nature was playing havoc with her nerves, and she knew Catriona must feel it, too, in addition to her emotions regarding Daelen himself. Yet the druidess continued to ignore it in favour of studying her books.

“You know more of Daelen’s past and power than I do. If you know what’s going on, tell me. Please!” she implored her. “Something major is going down out there, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“So don’t do anything about it,” Cat suggested. “Please, Mandalee,” she continued, exasperated. “I don’t mean to sound heartless, but I’ve got a lot of studying to do, and you’re being very distracting.”

“What? You can’t study at a time like this!”

“Why not?” Cat wondered, absently.

“Have you lost your mind? Daelen could be in all sorts of trouble, his power’s all over the place and the storm’s coming closer.

“Well, as to the first two,” Cat replied, turning a page in her book, “there’s very little I can do about them right now. Daelen teleported us here; if he needs our help, I’m sure he’s perfectly capable of teleporting us back again. As for the storm, it’s nothing I can’t keep under control. It may be magically generated, but what he continually fails to understand, just like wizards, is that no matter the cause, the effect is a simple storm. A thing of nature. Therefore, it makes sense to use druid magic – the power of nature – to control it. If Daelen ever comes down from his lofty, arrogant perch, he might actually realise that himself and quit wasting his own power on things that I can deal with in a much less draining way. Right now, it seems to me that I can either spend the waiting time fretting and worrying, or I can stay calm and study these priceless texts. Please, Mandalee,” she implored her, a wearied expression on her face, “do us both a favour and learn to relax.”

Mandalee directed the full force of her ire and frustration at her friend.

“Well, excuse me! You’re the one who dragged me into this, and I seem to remember you telling me that you were Daelen’s shadow, and you weren’t supposed to be separated!”

“Huh?” Cat wondered. “Oh that – that was before I got my note at Calin’s Tower. It’s not so important now. I have what I need. And I didn’t drag you anywhere, your client did. I just made you question the terms of your contract. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it together. For now, sit down or go for a walk, but either way, please relax.”

Mandalee made a show of controlling herself, but she was still tightly wound.

Catriona smiled affectionately and shook her head in mild exasperation.

“First you tried to kill him, then you saved him, then you started to like him, and now you’re