Raindrop's Arc

Chapter 17 of 20

The ribbons still snapped in Raindrop's hand when the next wave came. Word had spread. Drops he had never signaled were tilting in from the far edges of the sky, drawn by the color and the beat. The tiered stage filled fast. Front tier packed. Middle tier packed. Back tier crowded to the rim. And still more came, hanging above in a thick line, waiting for a place to land. Raindrop swept the ribbons low and slowed the beat. The drops in the air held. The ones on the stage pressed shoulder to shoulder. There was no room for the arcs. No room for paths to cross. A drop at the back edge slipped off the tier and fell past the stage into the dark. Then another. Latecomers were scattering before anyone could see them. He lowered the ribbons and looked out. Nigel Rainweaver stood in the wings, arms folded, watching the drops slide off the back. "Stage is too small," Raindrop said. "Yes," Nigel said. "I need it wider. Now." Nigel tipped his head toward the far side of the clouds. "Storm giant's been standing over there since the second wave. Ask him." Raindrop turned. Thundar Stormstrider stood at the stage edge, arms at his sides, lightning still crawling faint across his skin. He had been watching a long time. "I heard," Thundar said. He stepped onto the boards. The tier bent under his weight, then held. "I can't call thunder anymore. You know that." "I don't need thunder," Raindrop said. "I need more stage." Thundar looked at the packed tiers. He looked up at the drops waiting in the air. "Cloud bricks," he said. "I can press them. It's slow work. You'll have to hold the beat while I build." "Do it." Thundar knelt at the back edge. He scooped a handful of loose cloud from the air, pressed it between his palms, and set it down. A soft-edged brick, layered and rounded, locked against the tier. He scooped again. Pressed. Set. The back of the stage grew a hand's width. Then another. Raindrop turned back to his mark and lifted the ribbons. He kept the beat slow and wide, buying Thundar time. Behind him the bricks clicked into place, one after another, each one a new patch of floor. Drops that had been hanging in the air tilted down and landed on the fresh cloud. Arcs opened up again. Paths crossed. He felt the ripple spread outward across the new stage. Wider than before. Deeper. Thundar set the last brick and stepped back. His arms hung loose. The lightning under his skin was fainter now. "That's what I have," he said. Raindrop swept the ribbons high. The whole stage moved with him. No one was falling off the back anymore. The stage was big enough. The drops kept coming.