Chapter 18

Two days had passed, and the captain had been right so far, darn him. If somebody had already grabbed the fabricata, though, they hadn’t taken anything else. This meant that the cargo hold was still full of similar crates, and they hadn’t exactly labeled one ‘secret wizard artifact.’ The search would be a slow, methodical process. The submarine was small and nimble, but still too large to easily navigate through the sunken ship’s narrow confines. Worse, its short range meant it needed frequent recharging. The Sipadan had repositioned itself over the wreck to cut down on the downtime, but that could only help so much.

It was more than I could contribute, admittedly. The only action I’d had was chasing away some unfriendly-looking clouds. I sent them north, towards the old China. Go rain on some devil’s day, we don’t want you.

So, I experimented with the Blessed Bathysphere spell a bit more. I’d made a point of packing my Remedial Spellcasting textbook after my near miss with the meridraken. I had no idea what it would have turned into if I’d used the wrong hand gestures, and I didn’t want to find out.

Since we were in the for the long haul, Zack and I had scrounged a couple of chairs, a card table, and an old cribbage board. The deck was missing the Five of Clubs, but it was still entertaining.

Though I knew just how to liven things up. “Blessed Bathysphere!” An airtight bubble formed around Zack’s head as we sat near the ship’s bow.

Zack’s eyes widened in shock. “What’re you doing?” he said, trying to claw at the energy construct. His shout sounded like a distant muffle.

I covered my mouth, covering a mischievous grin. “I’m practicing, Zakariah. I want to make sure I can get you in a pinch, too.”

“Huh? Come again?”

“Oh, right, you wouldn’t hear anything at normal volume.” I snapped my fingers, dispelling the bubble. “I said, if anything happens, it’s a way to get us a quick air supply. If we have to go under, I mean. Besides, I’m just having a bit of fun.”

Zack’s sour look told me we had very different definitions of that word. “You know I don’t do well with tight spaces. Give a bloke a little warning, yeah?” Was he sweating from more than the heat?

Had I known? I couldn’t recall. I stepped over and put a hand on his shoulder. “I forgot, sorry.”

He let out a slow breath, which visibly calmed him. “It’s fine. Just don’t surprise me like that again, yeah?”

“I won’t,” I said. I’d really frightened him, hadn’t I?

He straightened up, covering my hand with his. “I can see right through you, Rose. That’s dirty, doing that just because I was ahead.”

“If I’d had that five…” I muttered to myself. It was a cover, of course. He didn’t want to admit how much my spell had shaken him. It was exactly what Soren would have done, rather than talking about a fear, though Zack was better at actually hiding his worries. Do I have a type? “Are you going to give that hand back?”

“Oh, sorry,” he said, letting me go, to my mild disappointment. He’d been on gentlemanly behavior since we’d arrived on the Sipadan. Was it understandable? Yes, we were on duty. Still disappointing, though.

A sailor wearing a moistened bandanna around his head jogged up, looking distressed. “Captain wants to see you at the bridge,” he replied. “Something about you not doing your job?”

I felt myself bristle. “Not doing my what? Oh, I’ll see him alright! Zack, raincheck.”

“Sure, I’ll take it as a forfeit,” he replied.

“Raincheck? Not the best word about now,” said the sailor as I strode past him.

I quickly saw what he meant; the sky had darkened, and a few scattered droplets of rain began to fall on the deck. I considered reigning myself in, but I figured it was best to let them see what not doing my job would really look like.

“Cadet Cooper,” said Captain Zhang, perched over Mail’s shoulder, though he was at a different console than before. “Do you want to do something about this nonsense?”

“What are you even talking about?” I asked. “Everything was clear until your guy showed up to hassle me!”

He stepped aside, unblocking my view of a monitor. It took me a moment to recognize a weather map showing our section at the southern end of the Spratlys and the surrounding sea. Sweeping in out of the north was…

Oh. Maybe he did have a reason to be upset.

“Jesus Christ,” I said under my breath. The stormfront sweeping in on us was kilometers wide, and pointed straight at us. “Where’d that come from?”

“No idea,” said Mail, turning to face us. “It’s not in the weather forecast, and that front wasn’t on the satellites an hour ago.”

“The curse,” said Zack.

“Still no such thing as curses,” replied O’Connor as he squeezed through the door. “But that’s definitely supernatural. Care to explain, Rose?”

“It isn’t me,” I said, a bit too quickly. It hurt to have O’Connor doubting me.

“I have a hard time believing that,” said Captain Zhang, leaning against Mail’s workstation. The sailor frowned, but didn’t say anything. “You’re the specialist in this sort of magic, and like my man Mail just said, it came out of nowhere. It’s got to be you! Go on out there and do something about it.”

“We’ll talk later,” I said, brushing past O’Connor. “After I make us some sunshine.”

I rushed to the north side of the ship. The rain came down with more force, and I couldn’t help but gasp. “You look even bigger than your photo,” I murmured. As far as I could see, a pitch-black blanket of clouds extended across the horizon.

I reached out to calm the storm and found that the clouds wouldn’t even deign to listen. The rain picked up along with my heart rate, but I found I could quiet the localized downpour I’d created in my panic.

The sun had been completely swallowed up, and the noon sky was like twilight. Powerful winds buffeted the Sipadan as doom drew ever closer to us.

I can’t do anything! This storm, it’s too big to stop, even if it would listen to me!

My mind raced, coming up with nothing until I remembered O’Connor’s annoying lessons, with his stunts with the limo and the shade. Remember, Rose, you only feel like the clouds are talking back to you. They’re just moisture, temperature, and air pressure. Give them somewhere else to go, or make it so they can’t come here.

I inhaled deeply, imagining the sky above us. I started small, punching a hole in the clouds I could affect, but the high-pressure zone quickly expanded outward until it covered the Sipadan and the neighboring sandbar. A fresh wave of sweat rolled over me, and not just because the tropical sun beat down on me.

“Rose!” Zack reached out, grabbing hold of my wrist. “Get inside before you get washed overboard! Everyone else is already indoors!”

“No,” I said, struggling against his grip. “I need to be out here to see what I’m doing!”

“You’ll see yourself at the bottom of the sea!” he insisted, pulling harder.

“We’ll all be there if I go inside! Now, cut it out! I need to focus!” I felt my overhead shield waver with my concentration. I twisted my fingers, willing my magic to take form. “Lovely Fireworks!”

Zack staggered back in surprise, covering his eyes against the harmless magical sparks. “Bloody heck! Don’t fight me, Rose, those winds are murder!”

I was cut off as a palm branch from the nearby island smack against the hull right next to me with an audible clang. Clang? From a light branch like that? Just how fast were those winds?

“You have a point,” I said. “Get close to me!”

Zack attached a clip to his belt, connected by a rope to a hard point behind us, then wrapped his arms around my waist. I waved my arms in an arc before us. “Slow Barrier!” The defensive spell twisted the air in front of us, thickening it in half a defensive sphere. It had limits, but it was the perfect spell for stopping projectiles.

Not a moment too soon, as the driving rain redoubled its power. I’d never seen a Slow Barrier in the rain before; a layer of water was stuck on its face, the rest pooling around our feet as it slid off in sheets.

“Whatever you’re going to do, do it!” shouted Zack.

I nodded, closing my eyes. The stormfront was practically on top of us, but I kept our little patch of sunshine clear. The Sipadan shook every which way as waves slammed into it, but we kept our feet. If Zack hadn’t been there to anchor me, though…

No, don’t think about that. He is here, and he’s going to keep you out of the drink, too. Focus on the storm.

I don’t know how long we stood like that, but slowly, the maelstrom around us abated. The sky became responsive again as the unresponsive storm rolled past us.

“It’s over,” I declared, the sun bright enough that I didn’t need to open my eyes to tell the clouds were gone. I relaxed, my magic feeling like an overworked muscle finally allowed to unclench. I let the high-pressure zone above the ship go back to doing whatever it wanted.

“Rose?” He tightened his grip. I couldn’t be sure if it was to protect me, or out of his own panic.

I chuckled, trying to cut through the tension. “It’s okay, Zakariah. Y’know, you can let me go.” I stifled a contented sigh. Or not. I’m good either way.

The good feeling ended abruptly as Zack dropped me, almost sending my toppling over.

“What’s wrong with you, Zack?”

“Rose!” His frantic tone shattered the good mood. “For pity’s sake, open your eyes!”

I didn’t want to, but I did. The sky, which had been perfectly clear the moment before, was overcast again and growing darker by the moment.

I darted across around the corner, cutting around the ship’s bow. Captain Zhang was shouting something or other at me as I passed the bridge’s entrance. My mouth fell open at the impossible sight before me.

I couldn’t overlook O’Connor, as he took me by the shoulder. “It’s coming back!”

“Get back inside,” I said, balling my hands into fists.

“That’s my line,” replied O’Connor. “You’re barely standing after your last go-around with that storm! You don’t have the magical reserves! Get inside and we can try to ride it out.”

I glared at him, and the normally confident man shrank back. “I’m not running away when I’m the only one who can help. Not again.”

O’Connor hesitated, but nodded. He arched his fingers, filling the air before us with runes as Zack came up behind us. “Grand Barrier!”

They hadn’t taught me that one at Nagoya yet; it must have been an advanced spell. The air before us was filled with a dull, orange hue as the runes exploded to life, forming a wall half the length of the Sipadan and nearly as tall.

“O’Connor!” shouted Zack. “I recognize that one; you aren’t going to be able to move until you dispel it! What if you need to get away?”

He cracked a wry smile. “If you’re all in, then so am I.”

It’s awfully hard to seem especially heroic when you’re surrounded by brave people. Oh, well. I was glad to have them backing me up. I closed my eyes, summoning my flagging magical reserves to try and put a dent in the returning storm front.

I couldn’t even enjoy myself as Zack’s strong arms wrapped around me again. I’d have words with whoever sent this storm when we got out on the other side.

If we get out.