I introduced the Master Magician to Ulrick. He had the good sense to relax his threatening stance, but he ruined any chance of getting on her good side with a comment about her youthful appearance. She scowled.
“Sorry, Master Cowan.” He rushed to make amends. “You surprised me. I didn’t hear you behind us.”
“You weren’t supposed to. Now answer Opal’s question about the Brittle Talc.”
“No.”
Zitora glanced at me, questioning. I knew she wanted me to name him as a suspect, then she could have Master Jewelrose delve deeper into his private thoughts. But the breach in privacy would cause more harm than good. The magic in his glass pieces might be beneficial to us and it wouldn’t help if he was resentful over the Master’s intrusion.
“Is that why you brought me along?” Ulrick asked me. “To find out about Brittle Talc? Was all the talk about magic glass a ruse?” Anger pulsed from him. He was about six inches taller than me and he tried to intimidate me with his height.
It might have worked if Zitora hadn’t been there. Hard to feel insecure with a Master-level magician on my side. I shouldn’t be worried, but here I was, even with sais hanging from my belt, relying on Zitora’s presence.
“I was serious about the magic.” To prove my point, I removed his vase from my bags and handed it to Zitora. “Can you feel anything?”
She sheathed her sword, and examined the delicate piece. “No. It feels like a regular glass vase. Although, I do like the swirl of bubbles.” She peered at the base. “What’s this?”
Ulrick stepped closer. Zitora pointed to the bottom and he reached to steady the vase. When his fingers closed on the top, Zitora cried out and almost dropped it.
“It … hummed,” she stammered.
“What did it sound like?” I asked.
“Contentment.”
I pressed my fingertips to the vase in Ulrick’s hand. A pleasant rumble rolled through my palm. When I pulled it from his grip the song died, but the vibrations remained. I brought it to the Master Magician. She touched the glass with me. Nothing. No song. No rumble. It only sang with Ulrick’s touch.
Zitora motioned for Ulrick to grab the vase. Her lips settled into a contemplative purse as they both held the glass. She let go and dug into her pack, uncovering her glass unicorn. “Ulrick, what do you see?”
He stared at the animal, then shrugged. “A rather ugly creature.”
“Anything special about it?”
“No.”
Zitora and I exchanged a glance.
“Opal, you feel the magic without Ulrick’s touch. Right?”
“Yes.”
“We don’t have time or the resources right now to investigate further. Ulrick, would you be willing to travel to the Keep and let Masters Bloodgood and Jewelrose test you?”
“Test me for magic?”
“Yes.”
He brightened with interest. “How will they know I’m coming?”
“I’ll send a message. Although, if you want to wait until Opal and I return to the Keep, that’s fine.”
“How long?”
“About fourteen to twenty days.”
“Where are you going?”
“To finish our mission.”
“Can I come with you?”
“No. We only have two horses and we’re in a hurry. I already delayed here long enough.”
Ulrick considered. “I’ll meet you at the Keep in fifteen days. That should give me enough time to tie up any loose ends.”
My thoughts returned to Ulrick as Zitora and I raced back to the Stormdance lands. He knew about Brittle Talc. Perhaps he had told one of the Krystal Clan members who had ambushed us. Although, anyone in his family could have passed along the information. We would have to investigate after we finished helping the Stormdancers.
Once again, Zitora set a hard pace, and soon my mind numbed with exhaustion. Thoughts reduced to the basic tasks of eating and staying in the saddle.
By the morning of the seventh day, we reached the coast. My bruised and stiff muscles turned my dismount from Quartz into an awkward tumble. The thought of being able to stretch out on one of the Stormdance cots propelled my feet down the tight trail of The Cliffs.
Kade met us at the halfway point. “The lime has been delivered. The kiln is ready to go. Indra has melted the ingredients.” He hustled us along, handing Quartz off to Raiden in the storm cave.
There were a few new people in the cave, but I didn’t have time to meet them before Kade pulled me outside. “We need orbs. Now.” He pointed to the sea. “A deadly storm is coming.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
10
I FOLLOWED KADE back up The Cliffs and to the kiln’s cave high above. The need to hurry had given me a jolt of energy, and banished my aches from the long ride.
Along the horizon, greenish-black clouds, thick and menacing, blocked the sun’s rays. Only a dim light escaped, creating twilight in midmorning. The still air hung heavy with potential as if waiting for a signal to blow. The quiet caused my skin to tighten.
No waves crashed against the rocky shore. The flat water resembled a sheet of glass. I stared at the sea, surprised by the conflicting images of an advancing storm over calm water.
“The beast is sucking energy from the water,” Kade said. “Although far away, it’s moving fast. But no waves means the real danger will come when the center of the storm passes overhead. The winds will shift toward us, pushing all that seawater into The Cliffs.”
Kade escorted me into the cave where the glassmakers waited. “Which means, I need to be out there before the center hits. And I’ll need orbs.”
Sand and the other glass ingredients littered the floor of the cave. Indra sat at a gaffer’s bench and her two brothers, Varun and Nodin held blowpipes ready to gather slugs for their sister.
“Come get me when they’re ready. I need to conserve my energy.” Kade left.
“Did you test the new batch of lime?” I asked Varun.
“No purple color and we already melted enough sand to make six orbs,” Varun said.
“Our expert’s here,” Indra said with genuine pleasure. “Let’s get to work.” She ordered a slug and Nodin hurried to gather a molten ball of glass on the end of his blowpipe.
He placed the pipe on the bench’s holders and passed tools to Indra as she shaped the slug into an orb.
In the tight cave, I tried to stay out of their way. I checked the ingredients piled on the floor. The soda ash and sands looked free of contaminates, but without testing them in a lab, there would still remain a lingering feeling of doubt. After all, someone had tried to sabotage the orbs before.
Indra made six orbs. Although they were similar in appearance and size, each orb held a distinctive shape. While they cooled, Nodin mixed more sand to melt and Varun regaled me with his adventures with the lime merchant.
“… he couldn’t understand why we needed more lime, and he almost had heart failure when Kade dumped a bucket of water onto his stockpile.” Varun chuckled. “The merchant threatened to cut off our supplies until Kade created a swirling wind. Sand flew everywhere. And the look on the guy’s face when Kade speculated out loud about how much stock could be lost in a hard gale