Page 11 of The Study of Storms and Magic
You.
Will.
Go.
North.
It relented with a final salvo of bitter cold wind. Zethan sagged to the ground. One problem solved and a dozen more to go. Even if Heli woke up, neither of them had the strength to hike back to the house. Plus, they only had a few hours left until sunset.
Wind still gusted and snow still fell, but only in a halfhearted way. Crawling over to his pack, he removed the emergency supplies. It was a basic kit that included a tent, travel rations, and a small shovel that was folded in half.
Sometime later, he’d no idea, Zethan stepped back to admire his work. He’d built a snow wall to block the wind and surrounded the tent with the glass orbs so they’d be easy to find in the morning. Half carrying, half dragging Heli inside used up the very last of his energy. He curled around her, hoping they’d survive the night.
ZOHAV
They hadn’t come back. Unable to study, or do anything, Zohav kept glancing out the window as the light faded from the sky. The storm had weakened and moved on a couple hours ago, and they should have returned by now. Except they hadn’t, which meant trouble. Zohav grabbed her cloak and headed to the stables.
Uncle Karter intercepted her on the way. “I know you’re worried. We all are. But it’s too dark to see anything and you’ll only get lost.”
“Kitty has a good sense of direction.” She countered. “I’ll bring a lantern.”
“Do you know where they are?”
Of course not. Karter knew that. She glowered at him. “Doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does. Look, Zethan is a smart boy. He has emergency supplies. They’re probably hunkered down until morning.”
The thought of waiting until morning was the same as contemplating torture. Actually, she’d rather be tortured. “What if they got lost on their way back? What if they’re injured? What if they?—”
Karter put his hands gently on her shoulders. “Don’t speculate. We can’t help them tonight, but if they’re not back in the morning, then?—”
“I’ll search for them.” The logic was sound, but the heart… Her heart was not happy. Oh, no. Not at all. It pounded and pleaded for action.
“We’llsearch for them.” Uncle Karter met her anguished gaze. “In the meantime, we’ll light all the lanterns and post them on the north side just in case they need a beacon.”
It was better than doing nothing. Zohav helped to light them and set them up. Knowing she’d be unable to sleep, she dressed in her warmest clothes and boots. Then she patrolled the northern side, pacing back and forth. The wind had died, but an occasional gust snuffed the flames. She relit each one.
Her thoughts looped endlessly. As much as her brother annoyed her, she loved him to the depths of her heart. They shared a soul. Zethan was the bright side. The everything-good-and-joyful side. The sunny-live-life-to-its-fullest side. While she… Zohav sighed.
She’d been called gloomy, pessimistic, icy, quiet, and distant. Growing up, she’d been…happier? Yes, happy with her quiet life. She hadn’t needed a pack of friends or adventures. A few books had been all she needed to be content.
Of course, Zee wouldn’t let her stay home. He’d drag her out to play with his buddies. Eventually, she tired of freeze tag, hide-and-go-seek, and capture the flag, so she created new games for Zee’s pack. They had called her the games master, and, in order to be fair, she oversaw the hijinks and ensured the rules were followed, which had been preferable over running around and getting sweaty.
Odd. She hadn’t thought of her childhood in a long while. Not since the day it ended. When her world had flipped upside down. The day she’d spilled a pitcher of water on her uniform and hadswiped at the wet fabric in dismay, wishing it would go back into the pitcher where it belonged. Astonished was an inadequate word for her reaction when the drops obeyed her.
Soon after, Zee had insisted that someone was calling to him. That he had to go and find this person. Their parents tried to convince him it was his imagination, but one morning when she woke, Zethan was gone. They had worried and searched for him during the next two days.
He had appeared on the morning of the third day, soaking wet from the storm that blew in right behind him.
“It was the storm,” he had said as he dried off next to the kitchen’s hearth. “It called to me.” Gesturing to the window, he’d scowled. “It followed me home. I don’t know how to get rid of it.”
Sure enough, it had remained over their house until it spent all of its energy and flooded their cold cellar. By this point, their parents realized the odd things happening around the twins had been caused by magic. Zohav and Zethan had been cursed. She had no other word for it. Magic had not only ruined her life, but it might take it as well.
Their parents had carefully and quietly searched for someone to help their children, before the neighbors realized they had magic and reported them. Fear fogged all of their lives, until they had gotten word about a sea captain willing to take them under her sails.
Nell had saved their lives. She taught them how to control their magic, and how to use it to help the fishing fleet. She had transformed Zohav’s curse into a cause, and Nell took Zohav’s heart as payment. To be fair, her heart had been freely given. Zohav’s world had been righted until the pirates had come and capsized it.
Zohav jerked her thoughts to the present before the image of Nell’s dead body could appear again. A few lanterns had gone out while she was stuck in the past. As she relit them, shewondered why it was the bad memories that kept repeating in her mind. Why not the good ones? Obviously, her fear of her brother and Heli freezing to death had triggered them. Yet, she dwelled on the bad even when not worried or anxious.
