Thundar Stormstrider's Arc

Chapter 10 of 10

Thundar stepped off the path and walked toward the still grove. The pines did not sway. Inside the trees stood a frozen lightning arc, taller than he was, branching like a dead tree made of light. It did not hum. It did not flicker. It was simply stopped. At its base lay frozen raindrops, scattered in a wide ring. Each drop shimmered blue and held a tiny shape inside, like a sealed memory. Thundar knelt and picked one up. It was cold and heavy and did not melt. He understood. A storm giant had stood here once. Something had pulled the storm out of him, drop by drop, bolt by bolt, until only these pieces were left. Beyond the frozen bolt sat a small wooden lodge, warm and solid, with a sign reading TRAIL above the door. Smoke rose from its chimney into the unmoving cloud. The lodge had been built right on top of the spot. Someone knew. Someone marked it. Thundar walked to the door and pushed it open. An old keeper looked up from a kettle and nodded, as if expecting him. "You felt the pull stop," the keeper said. "They all do, when they reach here." Thundar set the frozen drop on the table. The keeper told him the truth in three sentences: the peak above the clouds was not a place a storm giant walked to. It was a place a storm giant was emptied into. Every giant who came this far left their storm here, drop by drop, and walked the last steps as nothing. Thundar looked at the door to the grove. He had his answer. Now he had to choose whether to step through.