Tribe of the Snow Tiger (Legends of Windemere Book 10) Read Online Free PDF

expected. She is surprised that nearly every mind is filled with a plan to survive, the animals having lived in constant awareness of what is about to occur. Before she can ask Timoran to explain the strange atmosphere, a snowflake falls in front of the cave. It drifts through the opening and evaporates in the heat before more land on the freezing ground outside. Within a minute, the rainstorm has been replaced by a blizzard that bathes the landscape in white. Drifts swiftly pile up to bury the hardy plants that have evolved to retracted their leaves and berries at the slightest touch of ice. If she did not already know that it is summer, Dariana would swear they are in winter.
    “This is amazingly beautiful and scary,” she whispers. The telepath reaches out to run her hand through the two feet of snow that sits outside the cave. “It’s a good thing we found this place. I don’t know how we would have survived out there without Nyx’s magic. Will this last long?”
    “It is hard to say, but we will probably have to dig our way out,” Timoran replies while adjusting Nyx in his lap. He flicks a stone into the snow, the projectile disappearing into the white barrier. “This will use up the rain in the clouds, so we will not have to worry about storms for the rest of our journey. A day trapped in this cave while we wait for the summer heat to melt the snow is a small price to pay for safety.”
    A small giggle is the only warning Timoran gets before Nyx lashes out with a burst of fire that cuts through the snow. The roaring flame is loud enough to snap Luke out of his trance, the forest tracker leaping to his feet with his sabers drawn. He joins his friends and scratches his head while trying to figure out where the blizzard came from. All of them watch as the channeler’s powerful spell arches into the distance and disappears over the silhouetted mountains. Scared that the young woman will go off again, Timoran gently places Nyx on the ground and moves to the other side of the cave. Dariana and Luke do the same as their slumbering friend appears to kick at someone and releases a bolt of lightning that sparks against the ceiling.
    “Dammit, Cunningham. I’m ticklish there,” the raven-haired half-elf mutters before delivering a large smack to her imaginary companion. “Don’t make me set you on fire or zap you.”
    “I did not feel like sleeping anyway,” Timoran says as he clutches his enchanted great axe and prepares to deflect any incoming spells.
    *****
    Nyx wipes the sweat from her brow as she maintains a heat aura to melt the piles of snow in front of her. With her magic back at full strength, she is happy to lead the way and carve a path for her friends. Even with a good night’s rest, it is exhausting work and she moves slowly to avoid harming any hidden plants and animals. Many times, the violet-eyed channeler comes close to setting a buried bush on fire or injuring a cowering rodent. A random surge of energy nearly causes Nyx to send a blistering shockwave ahead, but she swiftly turns the unexpected boost into a blast of lightning that spirals into the sky. She is a little concerned about the power spikes, but assumes that it has been so long since she has had unrestrained access to her aura that she is simply overanxious.
    When Luke calls for a stop to check the muddy ground, Nyx breathes a sigh of relief and lets her spell gently fade away. The midday heat of summer beats down on her, causing the channeler to wonder how the snow has not disappeared completely. Moving to the nearest drift, she can see that it is steadily melting and worries that they will face another flood. Touching the nearest mound, a tremble of energy runs around her fingers and gives her a feeling of being at one with the natural world. Nyx is so entranced by the strange sensation and the smell of the mixing weather that she never hears her friends calling. She barely registers the hands on her back as Luke impatiently shoves