A Storm Brews
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 36470
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Since Fred and Astra had been away for several hours over an errand that
should have taken at most forty minutes, Belboz thought that he could
hazard a guess as to what they might be doing. Perhaps a sudden mountain
storm would dampen the lovers' ardour. Snow would have been even better,
but if he caused it to snow at this low an altitude in July then Fred and
Checkers would be sure to smell a rat. They would also do so if it rained
only where Fred and Astra were, since they were probably less than a mile
away
as the crow flew. So as well as calling up the storm, when it began to
rain he would have to raise a shield against it around their campsite.
Though he and Checkers could retreat into the cave, he didn't want their
fire to be put out, their chipmunk stew to be spoiled or any of his
possessions to get wet.
The stars to the east started one by one to disappear as a cumulonimbus cloud built and drifted westwards. No thunder or lightning, Belboz decided. I wouldn't want our lovebirds to be forewarned. With any luck, they won't notice anything till the rain starts. Besides, even I find lightning difficult to control, and I don't want to accidentally kill anyone. Not yet, anyway. A chilly breeze got up. Alert as ever, Checkers looked up at the sky again and noticed that the stars were vanishing. "I think that the hat which you spoke of may have just dropped," she said. "We had better start to get as much as we can back into the cave. It's a shame about the fire, but it can't be helped." "Actually it can," Belboz told her. "I can raise a magical barrier that will evaporate the rain when it hits it. But I will find it draining, and I will only be able to keep this immediate area dry. I'm afraid that if Fred and Astra don't return very soon then they are going to get soaked."
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JH
12/5/2003 10:37:33 AM
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