Wheel. They, in turn, were peering out at him, hands extended as if pleading. Helpless, Logan wished there was some way he could help his friends, but his mind told him there was none.
A million million screams speared through Logan's brain as the Wheel tilted and everything was torn asunder.
Everything.
That was when Logan realized he held the Jewel in his hands. His stomach twisted in disgust as a horrible gash split across the gem, and blood gushed forth, drenching Logan in a crimson fountain of life fluid. As the Jewel's heartbeat weakened, the blood flow slowed.
The pulsing heart of the Jewel skipped, and the red-and-silver sky dimmed… and went out.
Sleepily, Logan tore free of his dream and realized his bed was shuddering to the rhythmic beat of a heart. At first the young man thought it was his own heart, but then he noticed the entire cot was shaking fitfully, and knew the beating was not his own. Another thought struck him and he grasped the stone talisman. No, that wasn't it either, so what…?
A golden flare filled the room.
'Shit!' Logan gasped, watching as the Jewel's bag pulsed with energy.
The leather pouch swelled with an aurora of colors, and light stabbed free and knifed into Logan's face. Blinking, Logan tried to rid his eyes of the afterimage as a high-pitched shriek shattered the night. Thunder roared instantly after. The earth trembled in terror as a blue-white line of electricity forked down from the sky and blazed into the soil. The wailing scream of electrified air devoured the stillness, and a powerful blue-white flash illuminated the room. The rumble of thunder gripped the sides of the hostel and shook.
'Everybody!' cried Logan, jumping out of bed. 'Get up! We've got problems!'
The shrill screech of another bolt resonated throughout the night, bringing with it clamorous thunder. The building quaked again as Logan's companions opened their eyes and immediately reacted.
The Jewel's golden glow flooded the room.
'Matthew!' Cyrene cried out. 'What's happening?'
'Damned if I know!' Logan admitted as another bolt slashed the sky.
Moknay leapt from his bed, quickly clipping on his cape and strap of daggers. 'The Wheel!' he exclaimed. 'This is the first disaster Barthol warned us about! Come on! Let's get out of here!'
Screaming, a blue-white saber of radiance struck the hostel. Logan let out a startled shout as he crashed against the wall, striking the almost healed lump on the back of his skull. Lights more brilliant than the Jewel itself played behind his eyelids, and he could barely hear his friends yelling at him to get up.
A pitiful groan resounded in the quartet's ears, and Moknay's grey eyes flickered upward. The wooden support beams of the hostel were creaking and moaning, and the Murderer traced an almost invisible crack across one hovering above Logan.
'Logan!' he shouted, hurrying toward the young man. 'Grab the Jewel and let's go!'
Dazed, the young man got to his knees, staring dumbly at the pulsating bag. Splinters of wood sprinkled down upon him as the support beam cracked, a portion of timber breaking free and screaming downward.
Cyrene, attempting to lace up her bodice, glimpsed the falling timber and leaped, catching Logan as she jumped. The young man felt himself suddenly jerked to one side, and there was a tremendous crash as something heavy fell to the hostel floor.
'Bring Logan!' Moknay commanded Cyrene from the darkness. 'And don't forget the damn Jewel!'
Logan's vision began to clear as he and Cyrene staggered from the room, the Jewel glaring under his arm. Shouts and curses sprouted from the many rooms they passed, and lightning screeched outside. The fierce glare of the Jewel lit the stairs as the four stumbled down the steps and hurried into the street. A chilling, unnatural gale howled about them, and the quartet made their way to the stables.
'West!' Thromar bellowed over the lightning's din. 'We have to go west!'
Grabbing Druid Launce's staff that leaned nearby, Logan mounted his yellow-and-green horse. Cyrene straddled a silver horse beside him, its blue mane and tail whipping in the stormy winds.
The four horses bolted free of the stables, the tempest shrieking around them. A flaring quarrel of blue light split the ground close by, showering the group with clods of dirt.
The Jewel continued to pulse with sorcerous brilliance.
'The hostel owner won't be too happy about us skipping out like that,' Logan said, yelling to be heard over the noise.
Moknay frowned. 'First you killed four Reakthi in his building, then you tried to fry it with the Jewel. I think he'd rather have us leave than do anything worse!'
'It's not my fault!' Logan roared in retaliation, the anger returning all at once.
Thromar jabbed a massive finger ahead. 'By Brolark!' he boomed. 'The river's swelling!'
Logan, Cyrene, and Moknay peered through the blackness to see a large, dark object rise and quiver. When a blast of lightning severed the darkness, they could see the water heaving, rising skyward like some behemoth from a long sleep.
Moknay pulled tight on his horse's reins. 'We're cut off! We'll have to go back! That blob's engulfed the bridge!'
Logan halted his stallion and glared through the gloom at the throbbing wall of water. A faint feeling of misplacement ran through him as something tickled his left side. Questioningly, he glanced at the Jewel in his right hand, but that had not caused the tingle. His left hand hung at his side, grasping tightly to Druid Launce's staff.
'Moknay!' the young man shouted. 'Take the Jewel!'
The Murderer turned in time to catch the Jewel as it spiraled through the crackling lightning. Logan, meanwhile, was glancing down, awaiting the odd tingle. It came again as Thromar decided to turn the horses around and head eastward.
The feathery touch started at Logan's left hand and crept up his arm to his shoulder. As it tickled his chest, Logan clutched at it. It had felt like a big, hairy spider had clambered up his arm, but whatever he had pinned beneath his right hand was not a spider. It was a stone talisman.
Thromar glanced over his shoulder as his horse began back. 'Come on, friend-Logan! That blob won't let us get across the river!'
Silent, Logan looked at the fighter, the talisman, the staff, and suddenly a determined expression clouded his features. Teeth clenched, Logan spurred his horse forward, thundering directly toward the quivering mass of water.
Moknay jerked about. 'Logan!'
Cyrene and Thromar swung their mounts about as well, staring dumbfounded as Logan rushed the unnatural flood. The young man cast a swift glance behind him and smiled when he saw his companions racing after him. When he turned back, the rising river was closer, towering over him. With a dark grin, Logan noted the river reminded him of Jell-O.
'He's as mad as Pembroke and Zackaron combined,' growled Moknay.
A whining lightning bolt splintered a tree, showering Logan with blue sparks. He ignored the rainfall of light, sitting tall in his saddle as he held out Launce's staff. He kept his horse on the path, rushing directly for the bridge that was obscured by the growing tumor of water. As if intent on jousting, Logan charged, leveling the oaken staff in his hand.
'Friend-Logan!' Thromar bellowed. 'Stop! For the love of Lelah, stop!'
The sensation of disunity strengthened as magical energy flickered at the tip of Druid Launce's staff. Lightning shrieked about the horse and rider, bathing Logan in a blue-white glare. Moknay, Cyrene, and Thromar trailed behind him, the Jewel flaring in the Murderer's grasp.
'Part,' Logan commanded under his breath. 'Part, damn you!'
The towering mass of liquid shuddered as the staff brightened. Convulsions ripped through the Jell-O, and the unnatural bulge caved inward. The trio following Logan watched in stupefaction as the depression within the swelling river grew, leaving a gaping wound in the liquid. The wooden bridge reappeared, the waters boiling down around it. Logan's green-and-yellow mount thundered across, the druid's staff still ablaze with magical powers.
