A Storm in the Making

Chapter 28--I Acquire a Shadow

It was after midnight when I lay down on the squeaky, straw-filled mattress in the guest house.  I lay down on top of the gatzu robe, and for a moment was horrified that it didn’t smell as bad tonight as it had the night before.  Was I becoming desensitized already, I wondered?  Or, was I just so glad to be alone that the strange scents were welcome? 

Either way, my mind refused to rest.  My brain was on overload trying to make sense out of a the day’s events that were incomprehensible to me.

I don’t know whether I was glad or not, that Uncle had objected to the Hermits high-handed taking over of our lives like we were their employees or something.   Uncle had plenty of objections, too.  From The Hermits singling out Andrew for special treatment, to us being moved to some god-forsaken castle, as he called it, Uncle took his frustrations about losing control of his life out on the very ones trying to protect one of his own.  I think the Hermits would have been better off just telling Uncle the whole story, but no one asked my opinion.

However, I didn’t think it was really necessary for Uncle to add his personal opinions about the ancestry of Dwarves in general, the Hermits in particular, and where they could stick their planet and their magic in no uncertain terms.   There were worse things Uncle expounded upon that I refuse to repeat here.  Suffice it to say that the Hermits were insulted for themselves, their ancestors, their home, their planet, and their doubtful magical abilities, would be putting it mildly.   

I groaned aloud when I thought of the most horrible thing that had happened in a completely horrible day.   When Uncle had gotten really, truly angry, he had levitated the couch upon which the three Hermits were sitting three feet off the floor.  To make bad matters worse, Uncle was so horrified by what he’d done, he’d jerked his hands, which caused the couch to tip upside down with the Hermits still on it.

The only person in the room with the nerve to laugh was William Helm.  He doubled up with laughter from his corner, then realizing what he’d done, translocated himself outside the room before one of the Hermits could strike him dead or worse.

What a fiasco!  I closed my eyes, letting the fragrance of the dry grasses inside the mattress to fill me with its peculiar, but somehow soothing, scent.  There was no relaxing, though. Because,even with my eyes closed, I could see the way Luke, Andrew had stared at Uncle.  They couldn’t have been more shocked if they’d watched him suddenly assassinate the president.

To give the Hermits credit, they remained calm, realizing Uncle had no control over his powers, and what they read in his mind told them he had not meant to do it.  Uncle did not get off totally unscathed from the incident, however.   I felt a small smile tug up the corners of my mouth in the darkness.   The Hermits comments about baby magic-users could have blistered a wash pot, as the old saying went.

No telling what would have happened next if my blood sugar had not dropped about that time.  Julius, as a healer, and much more in tune with me than the others, realized I was on the verge of passing out.  I hadn’t agreed with Julius’s assessment but, because Julius had warned me mind to mind, to go along with him so we could all just to get out of that stuffy, tension-filled room, preferably alive; I did.   

Once we made it back to the monastery’s dining hall, Luke and Andrew broke the news to Chloe and Princess Ranaloxa.   Both girls wore decidedly gloomy expressions after that for most of the evening. The princess was better able to hide her disappointment than Chloe, but still, it was awkward.  

It was a relief when Mauk joined us. I was glad to be able to talk to him.  I was surprised to discover Mauk had a great sense of humor.  He told jokes, some of them at his own expense, though I didn’t get the one he asked about what you get when you cross a Nintuk with an Analozi?  Blue lizards were quite common on Earth.  The others laughed politely, so it had to be a Dardarian joke.