Intermission
Nick cringed. The vaporous puddle was still spreading. Over the last hours, it had expanded to nearly fill the loch. He had a feeling that once it did, The space left to fill was less than what a large mixing bowl would hold. Nick ran further up the hill, taking cover behind an old stone wall. A tremendous boom echoed behind him, and Nick looked back to see thunderheads rising directly from the sea. They were pitch black, illuminated only by the lightning shooting from them to the turbulent waters below. He quickened his uphill dash, sprinting away from the unnatural storm. Thunder coursed across the land again, his bones resonating with the sound. A bolt of lightning struck the Wall,blackening its stones, despite the amount of magic that had been poured into each of them. Another hit right behind him, hurling him onto the ground. His mind was dazed, but the adrenaline pounding through his veins wouldn't let his body stop. Without even realizing it, he'd shot through the Wall's gate. Once on the other side, he collapsed, legs cramping painfully. Nick reached to massage the knots out of his legs, but as soon as the first finger touched the muscle, a voice called threateningly from the other side of the Wall.
"Who dares to steal from us?" The voice contained all the power of an enraged man, but also a woman's deadly hiss. "I'll have your blood, your bones, burn your very soul!"
Cold shivers went down Nick's spine. He had been warned this would happen, he had even agreed to take on the job himself, But all the warnings he'd received paled in comparison with what was happening now. Nick gathered the last scraps of his courage and marched back through the gate.
"I did."