Carrier

Good morning! Doldrums over, I'm deep into the writing again. I started Carrier last week, it currently stands at 8500 words and 32 pages.

The story is set in the Demons Bay world, this time right on the shore of the Demons Bay.

There are two main characters--Isa, who is a disease carrier and hasn't been able to stop anywhere because she doesn't want anyone to die; and Tonis, who is an itinerant trader who got separated from his caravan. You'd think they would be a pretty good match because Tonis is immune to natural diseases, but what Isa carries is by no means natural.

It's called Carrier because Isa was the first character I explored. The name will probably change once I get into the editing process. I'm starting to get a faint idea of where it might be going.

There are two points of view for the Baystorm, but here's one:

Clouds obscured the sun, lightning flashing across the sky to a clearly visible reverse vortex at the very center of the storm. Inside the vortex light still glowed, as bright as sunlight but made of a ball of lightning.

Power streamed in, engorging the light, but as it engorged it became dark, sucking all the light into itself.

Isa tried to press back into the wall, desperately wishing that she had someone, someone who could tell her what was happening, someone who would open the door to her and not die of it. She'd made her decision years ago.

Knowing that the sound would be covered by the rising wind and thunder she allowed herself to cry, adding a discordant note to the noise of the storm itself.

The vortex spun into a deeper darkness and then seemed to shatter, darkness streaking out along the lines of the lightning that still arched inward toward the center. It made the lightning seem all the brighter, a veritable storm of color.

Not all of it was in the sky. Lightning arched downward; a splash of fiery red, an agony of yellow. Blue blazed up from the ground, and orange lightning hid in the clouds around the vortex.

Tears streaking her cheeks, Isa walked out of the alley and into the street. The street remained empty, doors of several shops standing open, perhaps blown open by the wind. No one rushed out to close them again. She stood in the street, the storm splashing color all around her.

The air shimmered, like a mirage between herself and the light.

Baystorm.

Isa stared, eyes wide, trying not to miss a moment of the glorious display. She'd heard and read descriptions, but they didn't do it justice. She'd seen fireworks displays meant to duplicate the fury of a baystorm, but they didn't even come close.

Lightning flickered around her, a shimmering curtain. Wind tossed the open doors, but her hair remained hanging in a dirty tangle across her shoulders.

The storm didn't care. Wilder than any hurricane, it tore at walls and roofs. A tree snapped by overhead, slamming into one of the heavy stone buildings hard enough to cave in the outer wall.

She should have been terrified. Instead she stared up into the dark pit of the vortex, wondering what it would be like to die.