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

She smiled and waved. “Hi, I’m Catriona Redfletching. My friends call me…yes, well, let’s just leave it as Catriona for now, shall we?”

“Catriona,” Daelen acknowledged. “What happened to pulling rude faces?”

Cat shrugged. “I ran out.”

When it became clear she wasn’t planning on saying anything else, he reminded her, “You said there were three reasons. What’s the second?”

Cat shook her head. “Nope. Not like that. I’m an information trader. You don’t get anything more from me until I get something from you. Like I said: what the hell are you doing here?”

Now that he was facing her and not looking at the garden, she had a quiet word with nature to subtly erase all trace of Justaria’s message. She had a suspicion she already knew the answer to her question and intended to use her knowledge as leverage. After all, she didn’t have the power of a shadow warrior, but information was a different kind of power. It could be a weapon or a shield, depending on what she needed. Thanks to their shared sympathic link, Dreya could pursue things her way, alerting the Council and using her form of power. That left Cat free to pursue her own independent line of enquiry.

Daelen confirmed her suspicion. “I need to find out where the wizards are being taken.”

“Why do you care?”

“Hang on,” he protested, “is it not my turn now?”

Cat gave a facial shrug, conceding the point. “Can’t blame a girl for trying. OK, second reason: you just said you need to find them. If you were involved, you’d already know.”

“But you couldn’t have known that when you said there were three reasons. I hadn’t told you, yet.”

“So I guessed,” Cat admitted. “The point is I guessed right. My turn: why do you care?”

“You won’t believe me,” he warned. “You’ll think I’m crazy.”

With a dismissive gesture, Cat replied, “All kinds of people don’t believe me about things I’ve seen and accuse me of being crazy. I’m not so quick to judge.”

“Alright,” Daelen accepted. “A woman from the future woke me up, told me there was some kind of interference in Time and showed me what’s going on.”

“And what exactly is going on?”

“You’re trying to have two turns again,” Daelen admonished her.

“Whoops, so I am. Sorry. Your question?”

Daelen was surprised how much he was enjoying this. Who knew mortals could be so entertaining?

“You’re not as innocent as you make out, are you?”

“No, I’m not,” Cat concurred, “but just to show you how nice I can be, rather than count that as your next question, I’m going to volunteer my third reason.” She could let him have this one because his reaction would tell her much. “The third and main reason why I know you had nothing to do with Justaria’s disappearance – and by inference all the others – is that the signature of the higher planar energy that still lingers around her home is completely different. It’s not that dark clone of yours, either. Presumably, his signature is either the same or an inverse of yours. This signature is neither. Therefore, unless there’s a new player in town, my conclusion is that Kullos took them, and I’m guessing that I’m not going to like the reason.”

Oh yes, that got Daelen’s attention. His eyes grew wide, along with his mouth. He had not expected any mortal to have such knowledge.

“How do you know how to read our energy signatures?”

“As I said: I pay attention,” she replied, flippantly, “and that’s the only answer you’re getting until you stop trying to cheat the game. I gave you one freebie; you don’t get another. My question – why exactly is Kullos taking them?”

“He’s building an army,” Daelen answered, still reeling from the mortal girl’s last answer.

“Why?” Cat asked, taking full advantage, sneaking in a follow-up question.

“Because he thinks I’m doing the same and probably because he wants to tie up Michael.”

Cat remembered well the Day of the Angel. Daelen had drawn Kullos away while Michael tried to save her village. In the same way, a decent-sized Tempestrian army could certainly keep Michael busy, leaving Daelen and Kullos to fight it out between them. What she couldn’t immediately figure out was how that would help Kullos. In all previous battles that she knew of, Daelen plus Michael always won against Kullos. Subtract Michael, and it would be a stalemate. That meant a much longer battle and much more collateral damage until Kullos finally backed down. That was why Daelen needed Michael in the first place. So, how was Kullos expecting to win? Unless…

“He’s got more power from somewhere, hasn’t he?”

“You are one extraordinary mortal.”

Cat didn’t know whether to feel flattered or patronised. His intentions were the former, but she didn’t like someone patting her on the head just because she could add up. For now, she chose to ignore it.

“As I keep saying, I just pay attention, although to be honest, I’ve completely lost track of our game. Which is fine, because I think you’ve told me all I need to know for now, so I win but thanks for playing.”

“But you haven’t told me where the army is, yet,” Daelen protested. “You know, don’t you?”

Cat nodded. “And don’t bother looking for clues – I erased them all.”

“I think you’re forgetting who you’re talking to,” the shadow warrior warned her. “I don’t like invading minds without consent, but I can and will do it if it means I stop Kullos from destroying your world.”

“Yes, I’ve heard you lot can do that. Go on then. Just this once, I give you my permission to try it, and see what it gets you.”

Daelen assumed Catriona was basing her confidence on defences she had developed against the mental attacks of mortal wizards. She could have no idea what she was dealing with now, but when he tried to enter her mind, it felt like getting his head stuck in a steel trap. He yelled in pain.

“Permission withdrawn,” Catriona announced, releasing him, “and don’t ever