... ^^ Obsidian Cube ^^

— Yafet —

After four weeks at sea, we were almost to Gibraltar, and none of us had managed to get passed tying the knot on the needle.

Nevertheless, Zara explained that the process took several months for marginal success, and our progress was exemplary.

We continued to spar with staffs, and train with the needles every day. Once Zara had pronounced all of us, even grandfather, as proficient in staff-work, she put us to sparring with her apprentices, both teaching them staff and learning knife-fighting and even how to pick a lock.

We were in the Bay of Gibraltar when the Tempest struck.

—

"What are you doing?" Zara asked, sitting next to me on the rail of the ship's bow.

"I'm examining the clouds. They're too sparse for this time of year. The waves, as well, they're too active. That means a storm is coming." I said simply.

"You want to be a weather Mage?" She asked.

"In a way... I just want to understand weather. Despite my misgivings, this work you do is quite complex, and challenging. I love a challenge." I grinned.

"Mm... and this storm? How big?"

"Impossible to tell, at my level of knowledge. I only know one is coming. We should dock as soon as possible." I frowned.

The sails suddenly slacked, and we slowed to a halt in the bay, fifteen miles from the entrance of the docks, five miles from the barrier islands.

She saw the look on my face, and nodded, then turned to the others. "Everyone inside that doesn't need to be out here. Sailors, the weather Mage says there's a storm coming, and it won't be a simple Gale."

The captain spat over the side for good luck. "Oh aye... I can tell, now. The wind is being pulled towards the storm, and the waves are being pushed away... we need rowers, and to get those sails furled!" He barked.

The deck buzzed with swift, efficient activity, as the sailors tied down all the sails, then secured everything below-decks. Only ten sailors stayed out, once that was done, and the Captain stayed in his place.

My family stood on the bow, each of us attached to each other and the ship by several Storm Lines, against Zara's advice, and the Captains grumbled complaints.

The Storm Lines were thick, metallic cabling, that had been hauled out of the hold expeditiously by the sailors, who all attached themselves to the rails and small eye-hooks in the planks I'd finally discovered the purpose for. When we attached ourselves as well, they eyed us, fixed our cables swiftly, and went back to their preparations as the first of the bands of the storm came towards us.

A long, low to the water cloud, shaped more like a crescent moon than an arm, was slowly advancing towards us at around 20 knots.

Quick, for a storm, which meant either it was only circling, or it was a weak storm.

That notion was dashed to pieces when it curved, and its parabolic path scraped by us, shedding rain and high waves that quieted after it passed, around an hour later.

Zara saw the terror on my face. "That was an arm... the main storm will be... worse?"

"Much." I agreed softly.

She turned and barked to the captain. "We need to reach port before this storm!"

"No! We need to stay!" I growled.

She blinked. "Why, so you can study the storm?" She asked, confused, but not flippant. She seriously believed I wanted to study in this situation.

Then again, it would be a very rare opportunity, the study of a Tempest, and so I silenced the voice that called her unfair.

"No, so we can try to drain power from it." I said.

Grandfather nodded. "A worthy pursuit. If we five drain it, it will become only a very large storm, not a Tempest. The Port and Ship both will be quite relieved of pressing danger."

She blinked slowly. "You want to stay here... and leech a Tempest?"

I nodded and set my feet, responding with finality. "Yes."

She snorted at my display, then nodded. "Captain! Weigh Anchor!" She roared.

He looked at her like she was stupid, but crossed himself and obeyed.

She gazed at me seriously. "Don't muck this up." She said in what I supposed was a Pep Talk, and then sat against the mast.

I looked at grandfather, and he grinned. "The storm is moving in a circle, with one arm that we've seen. It's likely there's a second, twin arm, and possibly a third, but unlikely for more than two. Our options?" He asked.

I sighed. "Always a test with you... option 1 would be to carefully take energy from the core, while the bands hit the barrier islands."

"And that would leave us to survive the bands until the Core reaches us." He shook his head.

"Then we should reach, now, and take from the bands, which would be replenished by the Core, and we could continue to take the energy as it was replenished." I shrugged.

"And put it where?" He asked.

I fished in my pocket, and reluctantly revealed an empty Crystal-Carbon Cube,- most times simply known as Obsidian Black Diamond, or Crystal-Smoke,- about the size of my clenched fist.

The Crystallized Carbon, with its incredibly dense, grid-like structure, was perfect for storing massive amounts of Mana, hence why its use was heavily controlled by the governments that owned the lava fields, and the finished product was heartily sought after by all mages, though it was just a pretty stone, to anyone else.

At his incredulous look, I shrugged. "I was saving it for the battle at the Tower." I explained, raising my voice over the rising winds.

He nodded. "Alright, Everyone, surround the Cube. Woman!" He barked.

Zara raised an eyebrow.

"Come here." He commanded.

She raised the other eyebrow, and then stood, walking over. Her hand casually rested on his shoulder, but he winced at her nails digging into his skin. "What?" She asked.

"We need all the mages we can get, to siphon the storm off into the Obsidian Cube." I explained.

She froze. "You have... I see..." she gazed at it, and then pressed a finger to it. It blazed white, and she yanked her hand back, clutching it as it seemed to recover.

I blinked. "Are you alright?"

Her hand had aged noticeably, and was now healing. "I can't help. Make sure you don't grab onto me when you're draining power." She said simply, and then sat back against the mast.

Grandfather grinned guiltily when I glared at him. "I'll apologize later, I just wanted to see if she was telling the truth."

I sighed and focused on the band that was coming towards us, still at around 20 knots. "How long since the last band?" I shouted out.

"One full rotation of the sandglass." A sailor answered reflexively.

"1 hour... 20 knots... that's... the storm's radius should be about..." I began my calculations, and steeled myself at the surprising number. "We may not fit it all in the Cube."

A sailor nearby asked how much we had to leave inside the storm.

Grandfather had done the same calculations, and nodded slowly. "We'll need to leave some in the storm. It'll still be nasty, but it won't be a full-powered Tempest."

He nodded and made his way through the now-howling winds, hooking himself to the rails every five feet, and shouted in the captain's ear.

His face set into grim lines, and he nodded, shouting orders over the winds.

The Anchor was brought up, and then all the foresails opened, dragging us towards the band in what seemed like a suicidal charge.

The sailor to my left noticed my alarm, and laughed. "You said you needed to be closer. This ship can take it. You just focus on your jobs, we'll make sure you don't drown."

Then he began clambering around the rigging,- the only one doing so,- tightening knots with a practiced hand, his legs the only thing holding him still while he did this task.

I nodded and looked at grandfather, establishing a firm telepathic bond on my side. He met me in the middle, sensing it, and we brought my brothers into it.

'We did need to get closer, I supposed.' Yestan, the Eldest, and weakest, nodded.

'True. And wouldn't it be famous to ride out a Tempest? Who else can say they rode a Storm?' The second youngest, and dumbest, Farhurn, nodded, grinning wildly.

'Not many living.' Destain, the eternal party pooper, grumbled.

'We can hear that.' They all said to me.

'I don't care. Focus.' I mentally pointed at the storm.

We all sat in a circle around the Cube, and when the sailors went to place a tarp over us, to shield us from the rain,- a welcome gesture, any other time,- we waved him off, explaining swiftly that cold rain helped mages make even larger magical works, then continuing our work as they went back to theirs.

The band was almost above us when we came into range, and as soon as it reached my range, I grabbed the Cube in sync with grandfather, leaving the Cube in the middle, and began making myself into a one-way funnel.

The electricity and kinetic motion of the winds was easily converted to Potential Energy, also known as Mana.

It settled around the atoms in the carbon, filling the gaps between the base components, the Nucleus and the shields of electrons.

The band came into my brothers' ranges almost simultaneously, and they started funneling as well, the rain seeking to cool our heating skin.

The band shook the ship, but we had leeched most of its strength, and so it was no worse than the gales we'd been through. I recognized the lull, as the band passed our ranges, and used my time wisely.

During the break, I used some of the strength from the Cube to reinforce the ship, creating a perfect replica out of mana, and settling it inside of the wood, so that if anything broke, it would go back to its proper place, and then fix itself with the cube's power.

We continued this pattern, repeatedly draining the storm, even as it appeared on the horizon, 14 miles away.

As it got closer, we began to draw from the Core Ring itself, and the calm center spread, eventually breaking through the edge, and the storm seemed to shatter, though it still had a bit of strength when it passed us, and slammed into the Port.

I winced at the thought of a storm of that size, even massively reduced, striking a Port city directly.

Zara stood up as we relaxed, and hummed. "Well. That was impressively done. Maybe you're not totally hopeless." She shrugged at my incredulous look, and walked inside.