The Mists of Sorrow_ Book Seven of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [51]
“Think it has anything to do with what’s going on here?” Jiron asks.
“Hard to tell,” replies James. “It does seem just a bit too coincidental to me though.” Closing his eyes again, he once more sends his senses to the void. It could have been possible that he weakened the boundary and the meteorite punched its way through. Realizing he doesn’t know enough about how it came to be, he puts that train of thought aside for now and tries to come up with a way to close or mend the void.
After studying the void for several minutes, he comes to realize that there are a multitude of micro bursts of power directed at the edge of the void. Excited by the discovery, he narrows the scope of his examination to one small section of the void’s edge. Then understanding dawns on him.
Coming out of it, he glances to Jiron and Brother Willim. “The void is working to close itself but the creature is somehow preventing it,” he explains. “I can feel pulses of electricity that it is sending toward the edges of the void which I believe is preventing it from opening.”
“Then if we can somehow interrupt the pulses,” concludes Jiron, “the void will close?”
Nodding, James says, “I think so.”
“How do you plan to bring this about?” asks Brother Willim.
“I’m going to short circuit it!” he exclaims.
“Do you think they’re still alive?” asks Stig.
“Of course they are!” asserts Aleya.
Stig has the good grace to look embarrassed. He had forgotten her feelings for Jiron before he spoke.
After the dome in the grayness had begun to move, it continued along at a steady pace away from them. Gradually it grew smaller in the distance until they could no longer see it. Now, almost an hour later their worry for their comrades is steadily increasing. Surely something should have happened by now!
A rumble in the distance brings them to their feet. From every direction clouds begin moving across the sky toward the area where the dome disappeared. The rumble they heard was that of lightning moving between the converging storms.
“James!” Miko cries out jubilantly.
“Are you sure?” asks Aleya hopefully.
“Absolutely,” he says. “He did the same thing after we fled Cardri.”
As the sun is blotted from the sky by the thickening cloud layer, the wind that had been but a faint breeze all morning long now steadily grows stronger.
Then from their right they see a dozen people walking toward them. “They’re from a nearby village,” Zyrn tells them as the people come closer. Running across the sand, he quickly reaches their side.
“Zyrn?” asks Bokka, a man he’s had dealings with before and a village elder too.
“Bokka!” exclaims Zyrn as he greets him.
Returning the greeting, Bokka looks up at the converging clouds with apprehension. “Something strange is afoot,” he says.
“A mage is here,” Zyrn tells him. Indicating where Miko and the others are waiting, he adds, “Those are his comrades.”
“Is this mage causing the clouds to move across the sky?” another asks.
Nodding, Zyrn says, “Yes. He’s working to destroy the grayness.”
“How?” Bokka asks.
“That I do not know,” replies Zyrn. Pointing off toward the center of the gray area he says, “The mage is out there right now.”
Above the area where he’s pointing is where the clouds are converging. Dark and black, the clouds are now darker than any this area has ever seen.
It’s been a struggle to draw enough moisture to this dry area to form the storm clouds he’s going to require. Beginning to feel the strain of holding the barrier for so long, and now having pulled clouds from miles away, he holds the clouds steady as he removes the water flask from his belt and drains it.
Brother Willim removes his and offers it to him. “I still have plenty if you need more,” he says.
Shaking his head, James says, “Not right now, thanks.” Replacing his now empty water flask back onto his belt,