Larkspur Mittel: The Lark & Owl Trilogy

10 - A Hidden, Nasty Swell

"What are you doing here?!" Hero called out through the wind which had grown stronger.

Though she was relieved to see Adelmus she was also annoyed. Sand stuck to her lips, and she spat. The empty street looked strange in the moonlight, and small mounds of sand shifted and gathered against the shuttered boers along the road. And that owl judge might catch up with her at any moment, though she knew he couldn't move as fast as her.

"Come on! Quickly- we've got to get back to Boer Mam. She sent me, told me where to come and wait for you and I promised I'd get you back right away!" Adelmus took Hero's arm and pulled her along.

"I can't go with you," Hero yanked her arm back, "A lot has happened, and it's dangerous and I need to keep going on my own!"

"And where do you think you're going? A shamal is danger enough, the city will be covered in sand. We won't make it back to Wobash Cynders if we don't wing it now- we'll suffocate, trust me! What are you wearing anyway? Is that an Ocs uniform?"

"I've got to go," Hero turned her back on him, and started down the road.

The wind whipped the cape in front of her face, and the sand stung her legs and made her eyes itch. She yanked off the cape so that she only wore the black tunic underneath which offered little protection against the flying particles of sand.

"That's the wrong way! You are heading further south- where you are going?" Adelmus picked up the cape from the ground as he ran after her, "did you find Gaulus?"

"No, I didn't. Or rather I did, but he wasn't there- I'm sorry for being so cross Adelmus- I am glad to see you, I just don't want you mixed up in this any more than you already are!"

"Mixed-up is my forte, you should know that by now," Adelmus half smiled.

She saw the worry and doubt in his face. She thought once again of Aggie's pale face sleeping by the fire, of the tiny golden dart, and how it was meant for her.

"How is Aggie doing?"

"Oh, pretty much the same. She's in a deep sleep. Boer Mam says that she'll be fine."

The wind shifted and dropped for a moment.

"Listen, do you know the way to that droll boer on the Eastern side of the market place- the one we cleaned?" She asked him.

"I think it's on our way back."

"Good, because-"

Just then, a huge wind howled which made them both look up, and a dark, bulbous mass formed at the end of the road and was coming their way.

"A shamal swell!" Adelmus cried. 

He grabbed Hero again and they ran up the road, rounded a corner, and dove to the ground just in time. A huge wave of sand flew over them and grew larger as it rolled through the street. The swell gathered strength as it flew, collecting more and more sand in a great spiraling mass.

They'd both heard the stories all too often of lark and owl children who were caught in swells and could never escape.

They waited a moment, and when all was quiet again, they stepped back into the road and walked quickly towards the marketplace.

But as soon as they entered the empty square, they were lifted off their feet and carried into the air. A hidden, nasty swell had quietly emerged from between two boers and caught them. Hero reached out for a post as her feet left the ground but it was no use. The swell wrapped itself forcefully around her and threw her up into the air. It tried to rip her satchel away, but she held tightly to it.