Lightning rolled across the sky, followed by earth-shattering thunder. The rain didn’t fall as much as it poured like an angry giant with a world-sized bucket intent on rinsing him from the side of the mountain. Cove fell to his knees as a deep rumble shook the road, and a cascade of stones joined the water. Dim light flashed below, followed by a boom, which presaged another explosion above. His gaze shot toward the top of the cliff. Despite visibility limited to only a few meters by the torrents of water, the rock clattering against the cliff and several growing shadows gave him time to maneuver himself and the floating platform from the next shower of stones.

“Staying here is not an option,” said Cove as he fed Elystria into his lower body, leaned into the Azure gurney, and eased it ahead of him.

The next flash and explosion from below sent a fresh shot of adrenaline into his body. A memory swam through the mire of his exhaustion. "Why," he said between forced breaths, "is someone shooting cannonballs at the cliff?"

BOOM!

The world rocked. Cove rammed his chin on the Azure dome of the platform as he fell to his knees. "Ouch! Oh, shite!" The road under his toes crumbled and fell away, leaving him kneeling on the road's edge with hundreds of meters of empty air under his toes. He shaped small spikes into the knees and soles of his armor, gave the platform a soft push forward, and, with deliberate care, got to his feet.

Shouts broken and muffled by the storm caught Cove's attention. A few steps later, he recognized the voice and then the words of Chief Ceallach, the female head nurse, and Binder from the prison. "Gisaluna damned rebels! They've blown up the road! Specialist Trope, where is Professor Nocht? Did that cannonball kill him, or do we still have a chance to capture him?"

"Mam, the Stoneshaper is about twenty meters ahead of us," said Specialist Trope. "This Gisaluna damned storm is the only reason we can't see him."

"Professor Coveland Nocht," said Chief Ceallach, "come with us now, and we will let your family and friends go. You are the one Heim wants!"

Cove thought: There is no way in the Nine Hells I will abandon Kee and the girls.

"If you run," said Chief Ceallach, her voice raised, booming with the storm's thunder, "not even the Gates of the Twelve Temples will protect you. Gisaluna's storm is hiding you now, but you can't hide from our god! Heim's song is in the wind, and you will join him or die."

Cove's foot paused halfway through a step. His eyes flashed to his Family Bracelet, his mind conjuring a vision of his mother's stormy blue orb, her soul, if Gretta could be trusted, nestled within the dimensional pocket. He whispered, more to himself than the world, "Can Mom use her magic from inside my bracelet?"

"Nay, lad," said Gretta, "Yer mum is in a different dimension. She needs a body with a trained droui system to alter this world."

Specialist Trope said, "We don't have the equipment to bridge this, Mam."

"There's a lip along the cliff," said Chief Ceallach.

"Mam, are you a mountaineer?"

"No."

"I've done some. We don't have the gear to get us across; this storm would stop me if we did. Your skeletal hands are useless for holding anything bigger than a key. Plus, you can forget selling the idea to our vaptors; they're too smart to try. So, we'd be chasing the rebels on foot."

"Shite," yelled Chief Ceallach, "everyone mount up. There's got to be another way onto this Gods’ forsaken road."

"You heard the Chief! Mount up!"

The platform's momentum tugging at Cove's hand reminded him that he was supposed to be pushing, not being pulled. "Why?"

"I don't know why yer mom can't help us from the pocket dimension. Ye are the scientist; figure it out."

"No," said Cove as he shook his head, "why is Chief Ceallach behind us, and how in the ninth hell did she know to follow us up here?"

"Someone on the warship must have signaled her."

"Radios require electricity."

"Mirrors, semaphore flags, hand signals, and there were Elystria-powered radios during the last age. Oh, and one of the first things a child learns after walking and talking is to use one of the minor head droui glands for communication."

Cove thought: I guess that's possible, but I doubt anyone could have seen flags or mirrors through the storm, and the Tidewraith ate all the navy sailors. No... His mind stopped for a second, dragging something Gretta had said through the fog of his exhaustion and plopping it before his train of thought. "You are kidding, right? We come with built-in cellphones?"

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"Laddie, how are we talking now? Do ye have something stuck in yer ear? No, ye don't, and ye don't need it. Tell me, how did ye understand your hadrosaurs, talk to Long Claw, or ask that alligator for help?"

"I... I talked, and they answered..."

"Think, Cove," said Gretta with the cajoling patience of a teacher. "Before this adventure, how many people did you know who could talk to animals? When was the first time you understood something that wasn't human?"

The wind reversed, lifted, and yanked the platform towards the precipice. Cove twisted, shoving the platform closer to the cliff face, and cringed as the Azure ground against the granite face. "Gretta, my brain is a fogged-over blended mess. Save this lesson for later."

"Lad! This is important."

"More pressing than catching up with my family before Sera and Dax die from blissfire overdose?"

"The last time ye saw the lasses, they stood right here. They've got bicycles—”

"They are pushing bicycles. The Demon Squalls would blow them off the road if they tried to ride."

"Fine," said Gretta, "but they're not here. They didn't sit and wait for you. My link to the other Treoir Laoch bracelets is weak. I've got a heading, but that's all. So, the lasses are kilometers ahead of us."

"Damn it... I am going as fast as I can. This is taking everything I have. If you want to help, get out here and help me push!"

"Coveland! You cannot muscle your way past this problem. Park that contraption and use your brain."

"The platform does not have breaks, which is my mistake. This storm is pushing it around like a leaf, and it will be hours before the collectors in my pauldrons gather enough Elystria for me to add anything useful."

"I swear, if I had hands, I'd slap you."

"Not helpful."

"Merge the edge of your contraption into the side of the cliff and sit underneath it."

Cove groaned as he pulled against the momentum of the stone, crystal, and friends until they stopped. He pressed the marble slab of his platform against the granite wall and used a dribble of power to blend the two. "Huh, that worked."

"Ye might be my first scientist in eons, but not my first overprotective leader. Now get out of the rain.”

“Yes, mam,” Cove said as he collapsed to his knees and crawled under the back of the platform. His arm and shoulder rocketed upward, suddenly weightless in the column of negative gravity created by one of the four floaters. “Oh, gods!” His body twisted and spun as he was tossed like a child's toy from one floater field to the next. An eternal second later, he crashed against the cliff and slid to the ground.

“By the way,” said Gretta with the hint of a chuckle, “avoid the floater fields.”

"That would have been good to know five minutes ago."

"It should have been in the books—"

"If you remember, we were in a hurry. I did not have time to read all the sidebars."

"Not my fault. Besides, every toddler learns floater safety with his first tricycle."

"They put these things on children's toys?"

"Oh, they were common near the end of the last eon; attach the pedals to a generator, add a set of floaters, and you can ride almost anywhere."

"Do you have the plans?"

"Later, lad. Right now, you need to contact Keeva."

"How? I'm an internal mage. All of my powers require physical contact."

"True, but this skill operates on a different principle."

"Radio waves? Am I manipulating a part of the electromagnetic spectrum?"

"How much do you know about quantum physics?"

"Some, just where it brushes against the physics of Elystria."

What could have been a sigh came from Gretta as she said, "Right. The path of instinct it is—"

"I'm tired, not an idiot. I want to learn—"

"Lad, yer friends get closer to death with every step Bree takes. Ye need to communicate with Keeva now."

"Fair," Cove said as he concentrated, pushing his thoughts toward Keekee. An echo rang between his ears. He winced as the rebounding noise grew to a whine, piercing his brain like a stadium of howling children. His palms reached for his ears and slammed against the side of his helmet.

"Shite, boy, I'm sorry! I heard ye tell Keeva that Azure reflects Elystria. Ye had the trouble with yer boots blocking yer Stoneshaping, so I figured I didn't need to tell ye to take off yer headgear!"

Cove twisted the helmet left and right, working the seal through the bayonet fittings holding the helmet. He barely heard the scrape and chimes as one piece of crystal slid against another and lifted it from his head. He gulped the humid air, blessed the thunder of rain against the platform, and sighed as silence filled his head.

“Daddy? It’s Penny, can you hear me? Come on, Daddy, I can feel your mind; say something! Oh gods, are you hurt?”

Cove waved his hands over his ears. Penny’s thoughts were sharper than a scalpel, louder than a Blisterstorm concert, and hammered at his mind like a crew of miners. “Whow, turn it down.”

“Did you say something? Daddy? I swear, I’m gonna tan Essie’s hide. She said you know how this works.”

Gretta said, “Stop talking, lad. Think to her like ye did with the lasses during the tank battle.”

“Right,” Cove said as he pinched his lips and thought: Penny, this is Dad. First, please stop shouting in my ear. Next, I need to talk to Mom. Can you get her for me?

Thank Eidilorn! Mommy is with Uncle Roy, Aunt Hanna, and Miss Wendy. Something is wrong with Peyton and Kendra. It interrupted mommy’s math lessons. We need Aunt Sera.

Raptor scat sandwiches thought Cove. What else can go wrong today?

Essie! Daddy needs the swear jar. You did what? Dancing? Essie! Oh, come on. Really?

Cove ran his hand through his hair before thinking: Penny!

Yes, Daddy?

Where are you?

Uncle Roy found a cave about three kilometers from the cliff road. He said we needed to wait until the storm broke, but Aunt Hanna said Peyton and Kendra needed help. Daddy, it’s awful. There are weird lights between their boobs. I asked Eidilorn, and she said they’re becoming mages and must be drained before exploding.

Cove groaned and rubbed his eyes. He thought: This is not something Sera can cure, but I can.

Then hurry!

I need help. Sera and Dax got hurt. I need help to move them—

Four overlapping shouts filled his mind: We’re coming!

Cove gasped but held his tongue. It wasn’t who he wanted, but did he have a choice?