WindLegends Saga 9: WindRetriever (58 page)

The silence was eerie after the loud roar of the wind. Nothing moved on the mountain path.

Charlotte Boyett-Compo WINDRETRIEVER 257

Nothing stirred. Sybelle and her servants might well have been in the farthest reaches of the universe as where they were.

Kanan felt blood dripping down his neck and strained to hear. There was a slight roaring in his ears and a dull ache that told him his hearing had been impaired by the creature's shrill laughter.

He stumbled to his feet and made his way to the high mound of stones which had sealed the gaping hole that had moments before been formed by the demon's angry roar, staring down at the avalanche with a sinking feeling in the pit of his gut. How could anyone survive beneath the onslaught of that weight? Live after falling into that bottomless pit? Looking about him, seeing nothing but fallen rocks, there was no doubt in his mind that the Serenian was dead, crushed beneath the towering mound of stone.

Sybelle hung limply in Chaim's arms, her face streaming with tears as she stared with disbelief at the huge mound.

"Conar?" she asked pitifully.

Chaim held her to him. "He's gone, milady."

Sybelle looked up at him much as a child would and he shook his head sorrowfully.

She threw back her head and screamed.

Charlotte Boyett-Compo WINDRETRIEVER 258

The last stone was thrown away from the hole in the earth which had been caused by the fallen rocks. What lay at the bottom of the indention made every man there turn away in stunned grief.

Legion slumped to the ground, staring mindlessly at the place where his brother had fallen.

He did not feel Teal's hand on his shoulder or hear Shalu's quiet, angry weeping, nor feel the misery spreading among those gathered.

"Sweet Merciful, Alel," Paegan muttered as he, too, sank to the ground, burying his face in his hands as tears began to spill.

Sajin, awakened early by the arrival of the men of the Wind Force, then thrust into immediate action as Kanan came pounding on the door to tell them of what had happened on the mountain, sat with his head on his chest, his own tears dripping to the ground before him.

The others—Occultus, Ching-Ching, Marsh, Sentian, all the others, stood silently, disbelief and utter hopelessness stamped on their stunned features.

"Get the girl back to her keep," Meggie ordered, taking charge of those around her. "Give her something to make her sleep."

Sybelle lifted her head, feeling the old woman's hate. She flinched as Meggie's eyes met hers, but she held that vicious stare. "I loved him," she defended. "You can believe that or not, Mistress Ruck."

Meggie snorted, turning away from the Kensetti woman's tearful face. She looked at Chase.

"I will need you, Montyne," she said. She turned to Sentian. "And you and Belvoir." Her gaze swept to Occultus and his servant. "And the two of you. There's a reckoning to be had."

"What good will it do?" Nick asked as he stared into the hole. "What good at all?"

Nate stood up slowly, wiping the sweat from his dirty face. "We can only try," he said, gaining Meggie's attention and letting her see that he had some little power of his own.

Meggie nodded. She cast one last look at the hole, listened intently to the crashing sound from far below them, felt the emptiness of it to the depth of her soul, and looked away again.

Balizar walked to the hole and stared down into it, puzzling at the lapping, angry waves churning far below. "What is this thing?" he asked in wonder.

"The Maelstrom," Meggie said, gazing out across the desert. "Conar fell into the Maelstrom."

The End