“Because I’m the Storm Runner.”
Her eyes flashed some sort of recognition. “That name was given to you by a goddess.”
“Okay…” I said, neither confirming nor denying it.
“The gods’ language is… hard to translate for the human mind,” she said. “There are many meanings. Runner can also mean—how do I say it?—channel, a conduit, power.”
“I’m like a channel of the storm?” Slowly, the gears in my mind started to rotate. So the demon runners were channels of demon power?
She rapped her knuckles on my forehead. “Are you understanding what I’m telling you, Storm Runner?”
She was starting to irritate me. “Maybe you could just give me the bottom line?”
“You…” She paused. “You are the storm. And the storm is you.”
Okay, so I wasn’t prepared for that. As I opened my mouth to shout What the holy heck are you talking about? she held up her hand. “The storm sleeps inside of you. Once I pound the lightning into your leg, it will awaken and race through your blood and bones like a hurricane of magic. It will locate your dominant power.”
“Power?”
“Yes, your father—god of storms, fire, and wind… Are you even paying attention? Don’t give me that sour face. We need to know if any of his strength was passed on to you.”
“Fire and wind?”
“Hello?” she said with an annoyed look. “Your father? Heavy-hitter? Creator and destroyer?”
“Fine, the guy’s tough, but what do you mean by dominant?”
“Hurakan has many powers. Not all of them have been passed to you. Something that epic would kill any human. We need to find out where you’re strongest.”
Now I was following. “So my powers have nothing to do with running?”
She wiped her brow with frustration. “The storm runs through you, in you. You and the storm must become one, which is why I must pound this lightning into you. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” She shook her head and again the bells in her hair shifted but didn’t ring. “You could also possess nothing of true value. Storms need a place to spend their power, and you may be a terrible vessel with no ability to control any of it.”
Nothing of true value? Terrible vessel? Well, that would officially stink!
“Now, do you want to know the truth of your ancestry?”
I nodded slowly.
“Then let me do my job. Up you go.”
I climbed onto the stone slab and lay back as she gripped both the bolt and the hammer.
“Wait!”
“What?”
“Is it going to hurt?”
She set the glowing thing over my leg and raised her hammer. “More than you know.”
36
Note to self: Never ask someone if it’s going to hurt unless you’re 100 percent prepared for the truth. And no way José was I prepared for the Sparkstriker’s answer.
My leg felt like a million branding irons were being pressed into it. The pain was so awful I couldn’t even scream. The world exploded in a brilliant stream of white, like I was being shot through a meteor shower. I had to close my eyes. Heat spread through me. Then everything went quiet and still.
I was in the Empty. But how? I no longer had the jade….