Bid Against the Thunder || ONC 2020

Chapter 11 - Thunder

 Tabraile belly-crawled through the sand to the top of a high, black dune. "Keep your head down." The desert floor shifted abruptly beneath his hands.  

"Is this some sort of earthquake?" Anayera asked anxiously.

The electrical aberration grew with intensity and caused the hairs on Tabraile's arms and neck to stand erect before discharging the static into the surrounding air. "Hurry or you'll miss it."

Wearing a rijani dueling skirt and a black crop top that exposed a shoulder and her taut stomach, Anayera scurried up to the edge of the ridge beside him. She peeked over the dune into a sandy basin. A trio of native children were perched on an opposite ridge fifty meters across from them.

"Are we here to spy on children? This is your adventure?"

"Wait for it," he whispered.

Anchored by a small anvil cloud, a powerful streak of lightning shattered the stillness beneath the morning skies. Charged with energy, the bolt struck the desert floor with such violence it sent tiny temblors through the ground. Molten sand and slag erupted into the air like shrapnel.

Dressed in traditional red robes, an Ibhaan'I girl of twelve sprinted down the far ridge and into the basin. Carrying a knife in one hand, the child ran to where white smoke poured from the strike. She dug furiously at the scar in the ground and grabbed something in the hem of her robes.

A deafening clap of thunder shook the basin. It so startled her that she stumbled to her knees. The girl recovered quickly and sprinted away with her prize. Diving over the ridge, she narrowly escaped as another bolt of lighting struck the ground along the path where she had been.

Anayera stared, her mouth agape in horror. "Is this what Socorrans do for entertainment?"

"Not entertainment," Tabraile said. "Money."

"She could have been killed. What's so valuable that it's worth risking their lives?"

"Carrigtye. Crystals made when the lightning strikes the sand."

"Crystals?" Anayera's softened her reproving tone. "Do they work in lightsabers?"

"Why do you think I brought you here?" he said with a grin. "Socorro looks like a desert world, but there are thousands of water troves beneath all this volcanic ash."

"Those reflections I saw on the dunes early this morning? That was water?"

"Naturally filtered through the sand and untainted. One of the best kept secrets of the galaxy. That's where Elba got those berries you loved so much. The underground caves are full of them. They're the main ingredient in making Socorran raava." He winked at her. "But it's dangerous business because it's the water that brings the lightning storms."

Undaunted by the power, Anayera stared on as a powerful bolt ripped down from the skies and struck the basin. A deafening chord of thunder followed. "Elba mentioned something about this. What was the term he used?"

"Ibhidi katoi taranau—bid against the thunder. It's a rite of passage among the Ibhaan'I."

"Ibhidi katoi taranau?"

Tabraile eagerly licked his lips. "The lightning strikes, and you have seconds to get to the carrigtye before the next hit."

"Why not wait until the storm passes?"

"You felt those tremors, didn't you?" he said with a shrug. "If you don't collect them shortly after a strike, they're pulverized and turned to ash. The thunder is your warning. If you don't run out of the area fast enough ... that happens."