The Storm Tamer

by M. Garnet

  Putting some distance between her and Rahm, she needed some time to take in a few deep breaths.

  Rahm nodded. "You felt it. Take it easy, as the air is much thinner here. Relax and let your body slowly get the oxygen it needs. I can hook up the tank on your back and give you some additional air if you wish."

  "No, I need to just relax and control my breathing. I can do this. How long will we be here in this tent?"

  "I wanted to take some time to make sure this was the controller I needed and that I knew exactly where it is. I can't spend a lot of time without air digging out this item. Both Tarm and I can go without air longer than you, but we do breathe, so it will be a limit as to how long we will be at the location. Of course, we can return if the first attempt doesn't work but I don't want to expose you to these types of elements more than once if I can help it."

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  It had worked. It had turned out to be not as bad as she feared, as she lay back on the sleeping bag and listened to the snowstorm outside the tent. Margo was looking at the redness on the back of her hands and listening to Rahm and Tarm arguing.

  Tarm wanted to leave immediately to retrieve his bead, and Rahm refused, saying Margo needed to rest and eat and get some treatment on her hands for the frostbite.

  Flexing her fingers, she thought the only thing she needed was some aloe cream. Rahm had adjusted her breathing mask under the scarf and carefully fit the glass covering over the top half of her face.

  The decision was made that she would hold a glove in each hand and the men would grab onto her wrists. Rahm instructed her to put the gloves on and keep them on until they needed to return.

  Her problem was shock. The shock of silence, the shock of no snow on the scoured rocks at this peak, the shock of being behind a small slice in the rugged black rock that kept her from being tossed from this mountain.

  In her confusion, she finally felt the pain in her hands and worked her gloves on. Tarm was standing beside her, not even his clothes blowing. These men were not of this world no matter what they claimed, if the elements did not affect them.

  Rahm was on one knee throwing short burst of lightning at a black stone, busting bits of black gravel away that the wind immediately picked up and took away from sight immediately.

  How could there be wind that blew everything away with no air to breathe? She had to wonder about the mystery of this great mountain in Tibet. Finally, it dawned on her why a person couldn't breathe up here. The wind was fierce but so cold it would form ice in your lungs with the first breath.

  The oxygen was not heavy enough to stay in the air this high, so there was not enough to supply the human body. What was in the wind this high was a lack of oxygen and air so cold it could kill you through your lungs instantly.

  At last Rahm stood up with something small that he tucked into a pocket. She had to take off her gloves, and they were in front of the tent, and Rahm actually threw her into the unzipped opening.

  The only reason Tarm had come to this place with Rahm was because it was the only way he could he could convince Rahm to let him use the woman as a connection. If they didn’t come here first for the item Rahm wanted, Tarm knew they wouldn’t go for the immortality pearl he desired.

  Over the arguing voices Margo made an announcement. "I'm hungry."

  That brought silence from the two men as they both looked at her as if she had said something amazing. Finally, Tarm looked at Rahm, and they both looked around the small area.

  Tarm's voice had a bit of tease in it. "Did you bring food?"

  Rahm sighed, “Go get soup from the nearest Sherpa tent."

  "Why should I go?"

  "Because if you don't, I won't help you get your bead. Now get out of here." Rahm's voice held a lot of exasperation, so Tarm grunted and crawled out the slit at the door and was gone.

  Moving over against her, Rahm picked up both her hands and blew on the red backs. "You have frostbite. It is not deep, and your body will heal it, but you must leave it alone. Do not rub or scratch any part of this sore skin."

  "I have some aloe cream back in Florida," Margo pouted.

  Rahm almost smiled. "Aloe is natural and a good healer. When this is over, I will have one of the cooks get you some."

  "Aloe is a tropical plant."

  Rahm turned away as Tarm pushed his way into the tent with a steaming tin can. He held out the can, but Rahm took it first. He wrapped it with his own scarf before putting it into Margo's hands.

  Blowing on it before she took a sip, the broth was rich and warmed her. "What is this?"

  Tarn threw up his hands. "Who knows with the Sherpa. It could be beef, deer, Bigfoot or one of their dogs; they eat anything to stay alive."

  She took the tin can away from her mouth to look down into the dark liquid.

  "Stop being an ass, Tarm. Margo, the Sherpa, and Tibetans raise a hardy breed of Yak. The Yak bulls have been imported into Texas and Florida ranches for a strong line that can withstand any type of climate."

  She took another sip of the rich broth. "You are an ass, Tarm. Do you know your name is one letter off from harm? I wonder if someone slipped up with that designation. What do you think?"

  Tarm laughed. "I think that mouth has a better use. Has Rahm gotten experimental or is he still being gentle?"

  Margo took another sip. "Like I said, almost harm."

  With the cold outside that still seeped into the tent and the soup warming her inside, Margo was getting sleepy. She didn't even want to take the energy to fight with Tarm.

  Margo blinked as Rahm was taking the tin from her hands.

  "My sweet, we must take care of the bauble that Tarm wants and then we can return home. I will call up a warm bath and some aloe for your hands, and you can relax."

  Looking up into his eyes, they were still stormy, so she decided he was ready for what had to be done. The soup did give her strength, and she wanted to be done with Tarm. After this episode, if she never saw him again, that would please her.

  "I'm ready," Margo announced as she grabbed a glove in each hand and inched toward the opening. Rahm went first, and Tarm followed her into the harsh storm.

  In the freezing thin air that threatened to sweep her off her feet, Rahm brought her air mask over her mouth and nose and attached the silver head cover to the top of her suit. Within this strange hood that had a support that held it above her head, there was a large clear area that gave her a good view. If she needed to see in a different direction, she turned her shoulders.

  They were instantly in heat. No, the word heat did not describe the feeling and sight that she looked at through her protective glasses and mask. The view was hard to describe to herself as the waves of the hot temperature made everything constantly changing.

  The red, orange, and white colors were almost blinding to the human eye until white smoke would drift upward. The smoke covered enough of the molten lava movement to allow her eyes to begin to orient and find that they were standing on a dark shelf with a black upward cliff behind them.

  This time, as soon as the men released her wrists, she concentrated on covering her hands with the silver gloves. She was pleased that Rahm was there to help. She had to wonder that if it came down to real trouble if Rahm could get her out of here by himself.

  Within this infernal danger where she stood, it didn't take her long to realize that Rahm didn't trust Tarm either. As Tarm moved away to grab at something, Rahm grabbed at Tarm.

  Watching the two males that were beyond superlative when it came to fighting, as they twisted and turned a full flaming tornado formed around them when they disappeared within their movements.

  Their fluctuations created a change in the portion of the lava flow around where Margo was standing. She began to feel the temperature rising even through the heavy suit. It seemed to her that the level of the hot bubbling river was rising, following the movement of the two males as they fought.

  She supposed she was protected as she stood on the d
ark outcrop with the rising wall behind her. Still, she had no illusions that this suit could protect her from the true volcano enveloping her. If Tarm did not surrender soon, they would all succumb to this caldron of devil’s fire.

  Suddenly out of the heat waves and bubbling lava, Rahm was in front of her, pulling one glove off and tucking a hot golden pearl into her hand. He closed her fingers around the bead and held his own hand over hers protecting hers and keeping her hand closed. He took his other hand and grabbed her wrist.

  Rahm was floating in the air a foot above the rock she was standing on, and as she looked up, she could see he was challenging Tarm. At last Tarm floated over, giving a short bow and threw her other glove away to grab her wrist.

  Gasping for air, she saw through the glass covering her eyes and the helmet that they were outside the dark house. Rahm immediately began to tear away her helmet, glasses, and the wrappings around her head.

  The cool air on this mountain was rich in the oxygen her lungs needed, and she breathed deeply as she allowed him to remove all of the silver suit and the outer clothes that were necessary for the cold of the strange Alps.

  Pulling on Rahm's arm, Tarm stopped him. "I want my bead."

  All movement stopped and then Rahm moved his amazing eyes to meet hers. They were the beautiful sea blue with the whites of a normal person. "Give him his pearl, and he will be done here."

  Holding out her sore hand, she opened it to reveal what did indeed look like a gleaming pearl. Tarm grabbed it and turned away.

  It was Rahm's voice she heard as he spoke to the other immortal. "We are through. Do not return."

  Undressing her down to a shirt and panties, he left everything on the rocks of the path and picked her up to carry her into the dark hallway. Without words, he was up the stairs and into the bathroom. He sat her on the edge of the tub and began to fill it with water, pouring some oils that floated on the surface.

  For Margo, she was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Watching the action between these two males stretched her beliefs and imagination.

  Was this all that there was to their world? No real good and bad, just immortals who could fight over beads and items called controllers. Men who would think nothing of going to places that had no air and would burn a human alive in minutes. Men with so much power but all they did with it were to fight amazing battles with each other that didn't solve anything.

  They could travel in time, but they didn't correct mankind's errors and stop all the wars that man inflicted on man. They played their own games with unbelievable talents but did nothing about diseases or storms.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Lying in her bed in the clean shirt he had gently put on her before tucking her between the soft sheets; she looked up at the ceiling she could not see. It was now night outside and even with the drapes pulled back with her jeans tying them in place; there was no moonlight to bring color into the room.

  He had left her, saying he was getting her food and drink. She had no desire for either. She wanted peace, and it wasn't within this house.

  Margo wasn't sure what ached the most, but she thought it might be her heart. She had to admit to herself that she had fallen in love with Rahm. How could she love someone who was older than the trees down in the valley?

  She had lost her home and her poor little dog. She lost all her friends and all her possessions. Now she had lost her heart. Would she die here in his dark house as he traveled elsewhere to chase and create his strange storms?

  Then she sighed as it dawned on her he would see her grow old and change as all people did while he stayed his beautiful young appearance forever. When she got old, and life was painful, would he help her end it quietly? Would he let one of his storms instantly end her life at the old age of seventy?

  Tears fell, not for thinking of growing old but of thinking of the fates that allowed her to run out into a storm to meet a man that she fell in love with and now had to accept the pain of such an unreal love.

  He fed her the soup he brought back and held her through the night, but they didn't talk. It was probably better as the words would have been hard for both of them to understand.

  Not expecting to sleep, she was surprised that she found herself woken in the usual way with sunlight reflected off the gold and black marble. She got up and took another shower and got dressed all on shaky legs.

  Looking across the balcony, his office was dark, so she went down to get a roll and coffee from the cook and then went out for a walk. She went down toward the village but stopped at the edge and looked at the heavy forest.

  She looked back up the path and realized the forest was normal before it got to the village. She walked off the path between tall trees that had shed a lot of their leaves and heard the crunch under her boots. The air was clean and smelled of growing things even in this late fall weather.

  Under the bushes were some mushrooms and late berries hanging down. Margo saw the trace of rabbit excrement, tiny black droppings near some still green grasses. After walking for a couple of hours, she headed back up the mountain with a couple of fall leaves in her hand.

  The lights were on in his office, so she dumped her jacket and leaves in her bedroom and went to sit and watch him work. Dinner was brought up, and they ate with very little talk.

  "You went for a walk in the woods." Rahm's voice was back to that sound of velvet.

  "Why do you have the forest so deep around the village when it is such a very beautiful woods?" Margo spoke around a fresh buttered roll.

  She watched him sit back with a deep sigh. She didn't think he was going to answer, but at last, he nodded.

  "The people down in the village are a mistake. They are here to save their lives, but they are not strong enough to understand the facts of this world."

  She could understand someone not understanding his world. "They come from different time periods, don't they?"

  A nod from his beautiful head made her quit eating. Not from his answer but just because he was so beautiful.

  "Like me? You saved me, but you didn't put me down in the village. Why?"

  Now he got up and walked away. He was looking at his books and scrolls as if he got some relief just being near the old papers. Finally, he looked back at her across the dim room.

  "Tarm knew it when he first met you and knew you could get the Immortality Bead for him. You are different, a conduit, perhaps many generations ago an immortal got someone in your timeline pregnant."

  Now she sat up. "Is that possible?"

  He shifted papers with his long fingers. "I'm not sure. It is mostly thought to be a myth. There are so few of us and most have left this world or passed from this existence."

  "I thought you were the only one of your kind and then Tarm turned up. Now you talk as if there are others like you floating around. What are you?"

  Now Rahm sat down in his chair, spread out his long legs and looked up at the high ceiling, a position he often took when he was thinking or perhaps deciding if he was going to answer her questions.

  "There is no way to explain my existence any more than there is a way to explain yours. Because you have never met someone like me before you need an in-depth description of who and what I am."

  He stopped and drummed his fingers on the desk as if he were gathering ideas and thoughts. He finally looked over at the wall that was books from bottom to top and nodded. "There is a gorilla called Koko who understands over one thousand signs of hand language. What do you think Koko's female handler would explain to her if she asks the handler what the handler really is or comes from?"

  Margo shrugged. "So, you’re saying I am no smarter than the animal so I can't understand you?"

  "No, no, my love. I am saying that Koko's people and the people of his handler have always been here and developed at the same time. They share this world. Your people and mine share this world."

  Even though she heard all the words he spoke, it was only the first ones that registered. He had c
alled her my love.

  "So why haven't my people discovered someone like you before I stepped out into a storm?"

  Tap, tap, tap went those long fingers. "Who says someone hasn't? Discoveries go on all the time and not all get the recognition one would think they deserve. Edison is honored everywhere, and Tesla is hardly a recognized name. They lived at the same time but continents apart and developed the use of electricity. Your own scientists of different studies are constantly developing or discovering new things all the time. They find new meds and new viruses and bacteria and cure disease. Someday there will be space travel."

  "Will you go? Will you leave Earth and travel to the stars? You might meet beings who are also immortal." She stood up and watched him from across the room.

  He also got up but didn't come over to her. "Probably."

  With that last short comment and his special words tucked away, she left to go to bed for the night.

  The next few days were a repeat with her walking in different parts of the forest and enjoying the fall air as it got colder outside. She ate supper with Rahm in his office and the difference was that there were now conversations.

  She tried by asking him questions but he only answered with short answers or ignored her as he made notes. There were a couple of evenings when he ate by taking bites on his feet and returning to stand at his desk and making notes.

  Understanding that he was close to solving some problem that was important to him, she was content with the silence. Just being with him was enough.

  There were nights when he took her hand and went with her to her bed. They made love in his wild combination of soft and free sex that turned her body into one of his storms. There was nothing that she refused to him and everything that he did to her always brought great pleasure.

  His body was all perfection, tall and lean and still muscular with long legs and long fingers. She wondered how he had moved like a dancer yet fought like a madman. Still, it was his face that should be in movies or on the front of magazines. It was too perfect and too beautiful yet it was male in all ways.