That knowledge might have been responsible for the grim humor in Lawler's eyes; but the rigidness of his body and the aggressive thrust to his chin were caused by knowledge of a different character.

The storm was about to break.
The sun was casting a dull red glow through the gray haze.

It was blotted out as he looked.

Southward from the horizon ends extended a broad sea of shimmering, glittering sky that contrasted brilliantly to the black, wind-whipped clouds that had gathered in the north.

Fleecy gray wisps, detached from the heavy, spreading mass northward, were scurrying southward, streaking the shimmering brilliance and telling of the force of the wind that drove them.
A wailing note came from the north, a sighing vague with a portent of force; a whisper of unrest, a promise of fury.