That was…until the storms came.
4
Daisy
“What’s…”Daisy’s face went slack as dark clouds churned and boiled nearby. Light flared from within before jagged forks of lightning crackled between them. The wind picked up, whipping her hair even from within Tarian’s protective magical cocoon. Thunder rumbled with a bone-rattling growl, so similar in pitch and cadence to Stratow’s growling laugh.
“Are we under attack?” she asked hopefully, probably barely heard above the howling wind.
Kieran could do this. He could create weather like this. Dylan could supply the lightning so precisely that he could kill Tarian without harming her. He could knock them all down from the sky. Before she hit the ground, Donovan could catch her with his magic. Together, they had the skill to save her. They had the ability. Their power, as a group, was great enough.
No, but that is very interesting to know about the might of your crew,Tarian said.It’s always been believed that the Celestials are much more powerful than the Demigods of yourworld, but after meeting one of them, I always wondered if that was actually the case.
He’d met Lydia, a Demigod of Hades who had tried a power play by making a deal with the fae. She hadn’t fulfilled her end of the bargain, whatever it was, and had lost her life for it. She was the reason Tarian had needed a distraction at the Demigod Summit. A distraction that had nearly killed Daisy and her family.
Lydia was a fool and not the best of her class,Daisy said, ignoring the anger from the past. That was behind her. If she needed a reason to kill this fae, she had plenty.
Gotcha.But once again, no, this is not an attack. You can’t bring a stormback down with lightning or winds or anything to do with storms. They create the storms that invigorate Faerie. The rain nurtures plant growth and fills the streams. The lightning’s destruction clears out old growth and leaves room for rebirth. The thunder…well, that’s just scary, I guess.
Thunder is the sound created by the fast expansion of air around a lightning bolt. The lightning creates a shock wave that manifests as a sound wave.
The more you know, hmm?
She wasn’t sure if he knew he was reciting a tagline from some old Chester show.
I do now,he thought.
Rain fell in heavy sheets, slashing through his magical bubble. The air electrified around them, and the temperature dropped further. Lightning flickered ever closer as the clouds continued to close in.
“What are we doing?” she asked softly, her voice quivering. “Why are we riding a creature that literally creates dangerous storms?”
It’ll be okay.Tarian gave her a squeeze.Stratow will shield us a great deal, and I will take care of the rest. It’ll be uncomfortable, but it won’t be incredibly painful.
She licked her lips, not wanting to speak in her mind. Needing to have the words spoken physically for reasons she couldn’t understand.
“Is this like the timevery recentlywhen you didn’t realize humans couldn’t tolerate high altitudes?”
No. I am well aware humans can’t handle a lightning strike.
A bolt zipped down beside them with such force that the crack made her scream. Her corresponding jump nearly launched her off Stratow’s back.
I’ve got you,Tarian said, and she heard the humor in his voice. She was forever the butt of the joke in this realm. He’d pay for that one day.
Add it to the list,he said, and he’d pay for that, too.
Another bolt crashed down, striking the stormback Kayla was riding. She leaned back marginally, not at all alarmed that the lightning had struck a foot from her.
“Oh my god,” Daisy said, pushing into Tarian. That bolt had landed right between the stormback’s wings, where she was currently sitting.
It’s going to be okay?—
“Stop saying that! This isnotokay. This is very much…” An ominous cloud rushed toward them as though it had a vendetta. Her scalp tingled before her hair started to stand. “Oh fuck, oh god. Oh god, oh fuck. Fucking?—”
The bolt nearly blinded her with its brilliance. The air cracked with an ear-splitting boom before a flare of heat washed over her body. The bolt landed right between her legs in the center of Stratow’s back. Stratow, though, was not affected. His hair-fur didn’t blacken, nor did the skin show red or black underneath.
“Why?” she asked herself. “Why do they get struck by lightning? I understand the water and the natural order of things, but why do they get hit by their own magic?”
That’s…just the way it is,Tarian said haltingly, and it was clear he had never asked. Nor did Stratow offer any explanation, not that she could feel or understand.They can somewhat control where the lightning hits their bodies. Usually, they like it in the center of their backs, between their wings, where it is striking the others. But Stratow is redirecting it so you are safe. I am minimizing the electrical discharge and the corresponding heat.
