It made the men grumble uneasily,
fearing what monsters or insanities their imaginations might conjure.
All of a sudden, there was a blinding flash in the black night as a
bolt of lightning struck the ground just outside the camp, it's searing
brilliance accompanied by an ear-splitting CRRRRAAACK!!! and an echoing
thunder that rumbled across the darkened heavens.
Terrified, the entire camp scrambled for cover.
It was the beginning of a terrible lightning storm. Far into the night,
coruscating bolts like living javelins of fire struck the ground again
and again with their blinding stabs of jagged light. Si'Wren hid also,
wondering as she cowered whether the Invisible God was angry with her
for giving such clumsy explanations to the Emperor, or so pleased as to
reinforce her mere clay words with divine, jaggedly brilliant writing
sticks of his own.
One foot soldier could suddenly stand it no longer, and ran off
screaming thin shrill cries into the darkness. He had just reached a
little hilltop, a mere rise in the land, when -still shouting madly and
hysterically- he was hit and blasted. His body lay in a heap, twisted
and blackened, the clothes shredded.
Thunder rolled across the darkened land. The camels, horses, and other
pack animals were already thoroughly spooked, and Borla gave orders
that the precious, irreplaceable animals be given hands-on guarding
throughout the night lest they break their tethers and run away.
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