Page 99

"I can't stand this rain," you whine. "I think it's worth the chance."

Rial looks satisfied. Deke looks troubled, but he doesn't argue anymore.

The almost-sorceror wraps one wet arm behind his back, bows slightly, and raises the other arm in front of him, palm up. He mutters a few magic words. Your breath catches as you hear the name Vulkaro invoked.

Merlyn's breath also catches. "Is this a firespell?" she whispers, too quiet and too late to stop it.

You cheer, though, as the clouds part and the sun comes out. Then the rain begins to disappear, evaporating even as it falls. It sizzles, as if the drops had been alive and were now frying to death. All of the rain is gone, and even the ground beneath your feet dries out. The clouds in the sky vanish completely. "Hooray!" you shout, jumping for joy out from under the tree, your clothes now dry and warm around your body.

But the sunstorm doesn't stop there; the sun grows steadily brighter in the sky, and its rays are now distressingly hot. "That's enough, Rial!" Merlyn tells him. "We don't need it any stronger."

The sun continues to brighten. You run back into the shade beneath the tree, as your skin begins to peel with sunburn. Grass along the path is turning yellow, and leaves on the trees are curling. Deke huddles near the ground against the tree, muttering, "I knew this was a bad idea!"

"End the spell, Rial," Merlyn commands, looking at the ground to try to shield her face. "You can't control it."

"I can." Rial tries to persuade her, but his own pain at the sun's burning is evident in his voice.

Tears come to your eyes, and you feel like your body is on fire. "Please, make it stop!" you beg, and the rest of your party seconds you.

Still a bit resentfully, Rial releases the spell. Immediately the sun disappears, and the rainstorm begins anew, just as heavy as before. You can almost hear the grass and trees sigh with relief. The raindrops sting your burned skin and tears fall from your eyes, but the rain quickly washes them away. You look around at your party and see that everyone is badly sunburned.

"I will heal us," Merlyn says quietly. She moves awkwardly, it being painful just to perform the motions she uses for casting spells. But she utters the incantation, and your pain evaporates as quickly as the rain had a few moments earlier. A few more tears drop onto your cheeks, this time tears of relief.

"Sorry," Rial says the word very grudgingly, without looking at anyone.

"It's too dangerous to use any of Vulkaro's spells right now," Merlyn says. "We can't control them. Bad luck, but there's nothing we can do about it."

"Hmph." Rial just snorts, and sets out again on the path in the rain.

You lose 10 luck points and 10 strength points.
Turn to page 100.