Thunder: The Shadows Are Stirring (Thunder Stories Book 1) (26 page)

Thank goodness I’d been clearheaded enough to remember my new drill routine because, when I see my brothers and some other kid locked in a cell surrounded by water, I know we’re headed for trouble.

Chapter Twenty-One: Riding the Storm

(SAMUEL)

W
HEN MADDIX AND JAMIE GET BACK
from the grand tour of the hills, Storm and I are waiting for them in our hut. Thunder has assigned Storm to “travel duty.” Meaning he has to practice Shifting through the spatial plane, staying in this layer but jumping locations. Thunder told him to locate us so he can practice carrying cargo. He’s not supposed to move more than three people at once, since he’s still small. I ask him what would happen if he can’t handle the three of us. He says we’d fall off somewhere unplanned, but he could always find us again. Well. I guess we trust Thunder on this one. I don’t think he’d let Storm tote us around if he’s not capable of it.

We stay in the Greens while my bones fuse back together. Jamie tells me the people here are fine, considering what they’ve been through. They let both him and Maddix do quick checkups on anyone who want it, and a few of the older ones need medicine for coughs or other simple ailments. According to Jamie, they’ll be struggling more with their mental health than their physical health in the days to come. They have a strong leader in Peter, though. And, hopefully, they’ll have time to regroup before they’re called to fight.

When we get ready to leave, they give us each these wool and leather jackets, which they make from their own sheep. The jackets hold in body heat, while maintaining flexibility. The temperatures will be dropping steadily now. As a thank you, Jamie leaves behind medicines and supplies they can use if anyone gets injured in the rebuilding, which has just begun on both the bridge sites. Peter bids us farewell with a one-armed handshake-hug similar to how Dad used to greet the parents of his former patients. The four of us are left alone on the hill, the afternoon sun warming our backs.

Scratching the nape of my neck, I glance at the others and back down at the little cub. “How do we do this, Storm?” It’s different with Thunder; he’s huge. He can carry all of us and then some. “We don’t, uh, sit on you, do we?” I mean, the kid’s just, what? Seven? Eight?

The three of us stare down at him.

“Dude, no,” he squeals. He hasn’t mastered that mind-speak thing Thunder uses, and it still startles me to hear Owen’s voice come from the fuzzy maw. “You’d squish me flat! It should work fine with you touching my back or sides somewhere. But Thunder gave me a harness until we get it down. You can attach it around me and hold onto it, and we’ll be outta here!”

I ask, just to be certain, “You know where we’re headed? We need to track down these People of the Lake, and we’re also still trying to find Livs and Ethan. No one seems to have heard from them for weeks.”

“Yeah, I know. Thunder said you’re heading for Lakeland. He showed me pictures in my head. It’s a bunch of lakes close by each other, with one really huge one. I know where we’re going, but we might have to search out the people you’re looking for. You ever been there, Maddix?”

“Nuh-uh, I’ve never been up that far.”

“Okay. This’ll be fun. Right, guys?” Storm asks, sounding hopeful. His tail twitches in a tiger wag.

I don’t know if that’s the right adjective for this trip but, for sure, it’ll be an adventure. Maddix helps with the harness, which fits around Storm’s chest like a brace and has a long loop on the top, so we can hold onto it while standing at his side. We all take a grip on the strap.

“Sweet,” Jamie says, his hand near mine on the harness. “Let’s go, Bud; show us your stuff!”

Traveling with Storm is not to be recommended on a full stomach. Lots of turbulence, hesitant touchdowns for regaining bearings, rebounding and rappelling off of who knows what, until we splash-land, shoulder deep in our desired location. Hopefully. Looking around, I’d say we’re at least in a lake. That’s gotta be good, right? It’s a start anyway.

I roll to my back, letting go of the harness and floating for a moment to let my brain stop jolting against my skull. Livs would’ve been puking out her guts.

The water’s freezing, but it’s clear enough to see the bottom, which is good. Jamie doesn’t like being in water where he can’t tell what’s happening under him. I guess if it’s clear, at least he can see if anything dangerous is lurking around before it eats him.      

“Hey, Storm!” I call out. “You did awesome! We would’ve taken days walking here, and you did it in minutes. You saved us a ton of time. Thunder’ll be totally proud of you.” I wonder briefly if Thunder had been as shaky as Storm way back when he was a little horse dude. The image makes me laugh. No way was Thunder ever small; his personality is way too big.

If a tiger could blush, that’s what Storm does, pawing at the air with an “aw, shucks” motion, which makes him tip down in the water. He lifts his face sputtering, little drips of water glistening from the ends of his whiskers. Jamie splashes him and a water fight ensues but, since we’re already soaked through and freezing, it’s not long before we call it a draw.

Surveying our immediate location, the span of the lake is almost overwhelming. It’s not as big as an ocean or anything, but it could be a cove. The sandy shore contains heaps of boulders and scattered rocks. A dense forest, which borders the whole lake as far as I can see, juts its multi-colored treetops into the sky. Across from us, where the lake practically curves into the horizon, I can see the faded blue peaks of a distant mountain range. I’m pretty sure it’s the Esperer Range, which is where we’ll be heading next, in order to track down the People of the Wind.

Luckily, Storm can zip us around because it would take us way too much time to walk all this on our own. I still don’t see how we can find Olivia and Ethan, though. Maybe we’re not going to. Maybe we’re just supposed to deal with this rallying of the troops stuff, knowing it will ultimately help with the rift, whether or not we ever run into the two of them.

Jamie’s still been having nightmares that are all twisted up with rabid dogs and hummingbird-sized mosquitos; last night he told us it was rats. They may be straight-up dreams, but I think he’s picking up on details of Olivia’s journey. For all their craziness, they feel too real to be anything else. Anyway, Maddix and I certainly aren’t having any issues. If anything, I sleep too deep and wake up disoriented.

Jamie breaks into my thoughts. “Alright, let’s get to shore before hypothermia sets in. This water’s glacial.” Always the medic, he’s right; we all swim a few strokes until our legs can comfortably walk through the water.

That is the intent anyway. About fifteen yards from the sandy beach, Maddix takes a step and disappears. Bubbles and concentric circles ripple across the water’s surface—the only indication he’d ever been there at all.

Since Jamie had been walking at his side, he’s the quickest to react, disappearing under the surface almost as fast as Maddix. The water’s not much higher than my waist, but it’s too mud-swirled to see through anymore. Ducking under, I blindly grope around, hoping to run into something solid. My fingers slide through mud, scraping against rocks and slimy junk I don’t want to question. I hit something that feels like an arm. I’m not sure who it belongs to but, as soon as I make contact, it shakes franticly. I slide my hand down until I find a fist. It’s gripping on to another hand, this one protruding through the muck of the lake floor. That must be Maddix’s; he’s been swallowed by the ground.

I tap the arm, letting Jamie know to get some air, and I start to pull on Maddix’s wrist, staying away from the sinkhole he’d stepped into. His arm comes up a little, but my lungs are going to burst. I feel a tap. Jamie, telling me it’s my turn for air.

Standing with water streaming from me, I get a brain-wave. I jam my hand into my bag, picturing what I need. “Got it!” I yell to no one in particular and then holler to Storm, “Bud, I need you!”

He’s there instantly, and I’ve already got the piece of thin rope set. I loop, twist, and knot it around Storm’s harness, before heading down to do the same around the exposed part of Maddix’s arm. When I stand, I can feel Storm’s muscles quivering and bunching, ready to torpedo through the water.

“Go!” I shout and he’s off like a shot, gaining speed at an unholy pace. I roll to my back, yelling at Jamie to do the same, so we don’t get sucked down in Maddix’s place.

The rope abruptly pulls taut and my gut instantly clenches; I could easily be amputating Maddix’s hand with this move. Maybe even his whole arm. I hadn’t thought it through. Before I can change my mind and yell for Storm to stop, a bunch of bubbles rise to the surface, along with a large cloud of floating mud particles, accompanied by a wet schlurping noise. Maddix’s body is pulled free and essentially flies through the air, landing with a hefty thud on the beach. Leaving skid marks, judging by the little tiger’s speed before he manages to slam on the brakes.

Jamie and I backstroke to the shore, not stopping until we grind our heads into sand. Then, jumping up, we race as fast as we can to Maddix’s side, where Storm is standing with his front paws pressing against the kid’s chest. I nudge him down and Jamie goes into Healer mode, checking for all the vitals. I exhale when Jamie exclaims, “He’s breathing and has a pulse! He’s a sand monster, but he’ll be fine.”

“Whew.” I scrub my palms against my eyes. That could’ve gone down much differently.

Maddix’s arm is stretched above his head, still attached to the rope and harness. With my knife, I hack through the cord; it’s saturated and the knot’s pulled too tight to untie it. While I grab a cloth to wipe the sand off Maddix’s exposed skin, Jamie pulls out the warming blanket he used on me a lifetime ago and tucks it around our friend’s prone form. He talks to him all the while, trying to get a response, before slipping some powder into kid’s mouth.

When I move to wipe Maddix’s hand, I see droplets of blood seeping through his sleeve. Jamie pulls up the cuff, exposing a bad rope burn. Grabbing cream and gauze, he cleans and tapes it.

His face gleams with intensity when he turns to me. “His shoulder is dislocated. Could you go find a flat boulder or log large enough for Maddix to lie on? We’ll need to move him onto it, so I can pop his shoulder back in place.”

“Sure thing.” I may be the Leader, but Jamie’s in charge now. Rocks and trees are all over the place, and I discover a good location within minutes. Between the two of us, we heft Maddix down my path. Maddix groans and Jamie grins with relief.

“Hang in there. It’ll only be a minute now,” he tells his patient.

I guide us to a fallen tree. We drape Maddix face down, along a length of its branchless trunk, angling him to keep his right arm and shoulder hanging over the edge.

“Sorry, Mad, but this is gonna hurt.”

Jamie straddles his backside with his feet planted on either side of the tree trunk. Taking Maddix’s hand, he pulls at his arm, tugging it away from his body. It takes a few minutes of Jamie applying steady pressure before the thing audibly pops back into place. I wince, but let my breath out in a relieved hiss when I see the tension seep from Maddix’s muscles.

In a raspy voice, he mutters his first words since getting sucked under the water. Then he coughs and spits.

Jamie helps him to his feet. “Good, your lungs sound clear! The medicine I used will help keep the joint and everything in place, but you’ll have to take it easy for the rest of the day, or it’ll slip out again.” Taking a large step back, he adds, “’Kay. It’s time to get back in the water. You need to get the rest of that sand-muck off of you before it hardens into cement.” If looks could throttle a guy, Jamie would be flattened.

~~~

W
HEN EVERYONE IS CLEAN AND DRY
, and Maddix is no longer glowering at Jamie, we start exploring. The whole “of the Lake” part is pretty vague. Are we searching for people on the surrounding shores? Creatures in the water itself? There’s no sign of any kind of settlement in this area, human or otherwise. I climb a tree with Jamie’s binoculars around my neck to see if there’s anything noteworthy. The foliage obliterates my view until I can get high enough, but there’s nothing to get excited about.

I shimmy back down. “Guys, the lake is huge; I can’t even see the other lakes through the trees. There’s supposed to be, what, three others? I could see a big island in the center of this one; it might be worth checking out, actually being
in
the lake. Let’s hop over there and set up camp. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.” I eye Storm. “You able to aim for a target like that?” Insinuating small target—lots of surrounding water. None of us are keen on another bath.

“Yeah, sure; piece of cake! Let’s go!” He’s thoroughly excited again; he’d been hard on himself for landing us in the water the first time around.

We rearrange his harness and hold on for all we’re worth, knowing what we’re in for, even if it’s a small jump away. We’re tugged into Storms orbiting winds for a nanosecond before landing with resounding thumps on solid ground, like an airplane hitting the runway too fast upon its decent. I skid to a stop and then turn around in awe, while Jamie double-checks Maddix’s shoulder. The place is amazing.