Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

tamed and calmed the volcanos for centuries.
     They are certain he can protect them from the fury of eruption. And we’ve all seen
     inexplicable happenings on this trip.”
    Even as he spoke, outside the cave, more stones and debris pummeled the roof, landing
     with shocking force. Riley resisted the urge to cover her ears. Every jarring blow
     sent her heart jolting hard in her chest. Fear tasted like copper in her mouth.
    An explosion rocked them a second time, the mountain shuddering, sending them reeling
     from side to side. Riley clung to the earth, digging her fingers deep, trying to get
     a feel for where the worst of the eruption had taken place and just how big it had
     been. At the same time, she tried using the soil to anchor herself. As it was, she
     sprawled hard against Gary, knocking her head against his. His glasses went flying.
     Ben fell over Annabel’s pack, slamming his shoulder into the gem-studded wall of the
     cave. Jubal was the only one who maintained a semblance of balance, riding out the
     swelling ground waves as if he was surfing on his knees.
    “Is everyone all right?” Jubal asked.
    They all nodded, shock taking its toll on their voices.
    “That sounded far away,” he ventured after a few minutes.
    Riley’s heart settled into a steadier beat. She swallowed several times, testing her
     ability to speak. “It feels far away, the other side of the mountain. I can tell there
     are several vents open releasing pressure, and that blast wasn’t catastrophic, but
     more of a burp. But it’s out.” She met Gary’s gaze grimly. “I couldn’t hold it and calm the volcano at the
     same time. So if we’re right and the blast was on the other side of the mountain and
     we’re not going to get burned up, we’re going to have to deal with it—whatever it
     is.”
    She tasted the bitterness of failure. Fear skittered down her spine, yet deep within
     the earth, her fingers curled and held on tight to . . . hope. She caught the elusive
     presence of another. Male. Power. Strength. Yet his touch was subtle, a child of the earth as she was. At once she felt comfort.
     She wasn’t entirely alone in the world. She had a brief glimpse of calm. Of determination.
     Of someone who would never surrender or back down.
    Her breath caught in her throat. For one moment he seemed to touch her mind, a stroke,
     no more, inside her mind, a caress. She knew he was every bit as aware of her as she was of him.
     He didn’t feel anything at all like the evil one had. This was so different. Gentle.
     She had the very vivid impression of a powerful being unafraid of his own strength
     and entirely confident. She wanted to cling to him for a moment, a strong anchor in
     an exploding world gone chaotic and mad all around her.
    He was gone before she could catch his path. A soft, protesting cry slipped from her
     lips. She’d felt hope for the first time. In that brief moment, she couldn’t explain
     it, but she wasn’t so alone. He understood the whispering of the earth, the information
     she gathered when she sank her hands deep into the soil—that complete affinity with
     and the need, even compulsion, to care for the plants and environment around her.
     She was the guardian, the sentinel, and somewhere another walked the same planet and
     held that same job.
    It occurred to her that she was a little mad after the murder of her mother—that she’d
     suffered some deep psychotic break—and she barely managed to swallow the bubble of
     hysterical laughter. She couldn’t afford to lose it. Not now.
    “Whatever the evil entity is—and it feels masculine to me—it speaks the same language
     as the porter chanted when he killed my mother. And I think it managed to escape with
     the blast.” She swallowed hard, her eyes meeting Jubal’s. “I’m sorry. I tried my best.
     If my mother hadn’t been killed maybe she could have done more.”
    Ben carefully picked himself up, scooting across the dirt to put his back to the wall,
     careful to keep his movements short. “Someone needs to tell me what the hell is going
     on here.” He pushed his hair back, his hand coming away filled with ash. “Because
     I feel a little bit as if I’m going insane. Did she really stop the volcano? I mean,
     we’re still alive aren’t we?”
    “For the moment,” Gary said. “I think she managed to minimize the blast and direct
     it to the other side of the mountain. The vents opening closer to us are just