Page 33 of Mattox
He wouldn’t be surprised if they were pink right at that moment, or even paler. He’d been told since he was a boy that affection, and words and gestures of that kind, always caused them to lose their fiery redness.
“When you know you’re loved, they almost turn white,” his mother once told him. He never forgot her words, or the expression on her face whenever she addressed him with tenderness.
“See anything?” a voice from below called out. Before he could reply, his father started climbing the ladder up to where Mattox was perched. “I canceled dinner prep in the main hall tonight,” the battle lord said. “It wouldn’t be right to force those women to make us a meal when they’re worried about their own families.”
“I think I can count on one hand how many times you’ve canceled a meal,” Mattox commented.
“If my own memory serves, I think there were seven, and most of those were back in the day before I met your mother.” Yulen faced the darkness. The skies were already a dirty ash gray. The incoming clouds blanketed the sun, making it seem later in the day than it really was. “I spoke to Keelor before coming over here. She says the growling and rumbling is becoming louder. Tory and your mother claim they can hear it now, as well. How about you? Have you been able to detect it?”
A hard gust of wind almost blew away the last two words, but Mattox caught the gist of it and nodded. “Yeah. It’s like a low, distant rumbling. Reminds me of the way a rockslide or avalanche sounds. And it’s getting louder, like it’s gaining momentum.”
“Any sign of lightning?”
“No. None.” Mattox inhaled quickly. “I don’t smell any rain, either.”
“Neither do I.”
Another blast of wind tried to knock them off their feet. They were forced to grab the side of the tower to keep their balance. Beneath them, they felt the wooden structure shudder.
“Dad, do you think the walls are going to hold?”
“It’s not the walls I’m worried about.” Yulen gestured with his head. “It’s those people out there. They’re my responsibility, too. They wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for my invitation.”
“Maybe we should go ahead an—”
The blast threw them against the tower side with more force than before. Instinctively, Mattox reached out and grabbed a handful of his father’s leather body armor as Yulen lost his footing and nearly went tumbling outward. Lifting his head, he stared in near disbelief at the cloudbank that was almost on top of them.
Yulen saw his expression as they crouched close to the deck. “What?” he yelled to be heard over the increasing roar.
“Whirlwinds! I see two…threeof them!”
“Whirlwinds? Thick or thin?”
“Thin at the bottom. Thick at the top.”
“Big or little?”
“Massive!” He blinked as he watched distant trees he knew to be large in size get sucked out of the ground and ripped apart. Comparing them in size to the windstorms was like watching a child tossing his toys.
Yulen got to his feet, and Mattox saw the blood drain from his father’s face. “Those aren’t whirlwinds! Those are naydos! We have to get everybody insidenow!”
Something shrieked overhead. His father leaped for the ladder and slid down to the ground just as the bell started clanging. It didn’t ring any set pattern, but continuously pealed, letting everyone in hearing distance know there was an emergency, and to seek shelter immediately.
Mattox saw the side gates open. Guards rushed out into the field to start rounding up the attendees. The winds no longer gusted. They were constant and blowing horizontally, getting louder and more forceful with every passing second.
He caught sight of something brightly colored flying upward. A tent. A second and a third followed, twirling like dancers. Then a multitude of tents whipped skyward as if a giant, invisible hand had jerked them from the ground.
By the time he reached the side door, soldiers and battle lords were pouring through the opening. Mattox searched for Caralas, but she wasn’t among the crowd. He barreled through the mass to get outside the walls, his eyes raking the campsites for the striped tent, but it was gone.
This entire side of the wall was empty. The ground looked like it had been scraped clear.
“Caralas!Caralas!”
A man slammed into him. Snagging the guy’s tunic neckline, he snarled, “Caralas Edge! Have you seen her?”
Mattox heard something tear, and the soldier jerked free to run for safety. A tree limb flew by, barely missing him. He heard the cracking and splintering of wood as distant trees shattered. A vortex of whirling wind three times higher than the compound’s walls bore down on Alta Novis, the sound of it screaming worse than any animal in its death throes.
“Caralas!”
