Buried Embers (Elemental Seekers Book 3)

by H. M. Sandlin

  “We should try to sneak in and look around before they know we are there,” I replied.

  “What if they are waiting for us? They have to know the Pulhu are trying to get in. They might think we are there to hurt them.”

  “We are not going to know what to do until we get there. There’s no point in trying to figure it out without any more information. Let’s just go and see what we find,” I said.

  “I agree,” Abby said. “We are taking a lot of different potions, and we have all been in fights before. I think we can handle ourselves.”

  “What about Mr. Mitchel?” Richard asked.

  “There is nothing we can do about that either. If he wakes up, we will need to hide from him. I’m sure he isn’t going to want to talk next time we meet since I put him in a coma. He knows I’m very powerful now, so he will probably try to kill me. Chet said we can come to him to hide after we leave the fire realm. He doesn’t have it ready yet, or we would go today. Mrs. Sullivan will protect us until then.”

  A whistle from down the hallway forced us to hide. I watched as the figure in the cloak walked past the door to the room we were in. She looked inside for a minute but continued on. I could see her through the crack between the two chairs I was hiding behind. I knew it was a female from the last time. She was wearing the same pointy black heels. I never saw any of the teachers wearing them though.

  We heard the person moving down the hallway. A door opened and closed. The whistling was cut off, and I let the breath I was holding out. Everyone started whispering. I stood up and quietly moved toward the door.

  “Where are you going?” Abby asked.

  “I want to know who that person is.”

  “What if they catch you?”

  “They won’t. We need to know who keeps coming in here and what they are doing. We need more answers before we leave the school.”

  I snuck further down the hall, my friends following me. A light was coming from underneath the same door as the last time we had seen the cloaked figure. I tried to hear what they were saying, but whoever was in there was talking too quietly. We backed away and headed out of the south wing, waiting in the common room to see the person.

  I put a shield of invisibility up around my friends and told them not to move. I was getting better at keeping us all invisible for longer periods of time, even with small movements, but I didn’t want to take any chances.

  The cloaked figure always seemed to sense our presence. The wait wasn’t long, and soon she appeared in front of the south wing door. It still took me by surprise. When you walked out of the south wing, there was no door, but when you walked into the south wing, you had to open a door. It was part of the magic that had been placed on the south wing to keep everyone out.

  The figure immediately turned toward us. She stared for a minute before walking out of sight. I followed her silently. My friends stayed with me and moved slowly so they wouldn’t break my invisibility shield. I focused on the magic surrounding us.

  We needed to move faster. I could see golden strands of magic trying to work their way into my shield, but I pushed them away. They were strands of void magic, and I refused to use them unless it was an emergency.

  I didn’t want to take that risk. Using void magic could kill me or twist me into a dark magic user. We were able to move faster as long as I kept my concentration on keeping the gold strands out. I saw the figure turn the corner up ahead and dropped the invisibility shield. We were all the way down the hallway and wouldn’t be able to catch up to her moving so slowly.

  “Wait here,” I said. “I will see where she went.”

  I quietly ran down the hallway, slowing down as I reached the corner. I made myself invisible before peeking out into the next hall. The cloaked figure was walking faster and had already made it to the next corner. Before turning down it, she looked straight at me. I focused on the magic this time and watched as it turned a bright green color before the figure moved out of sight. I dropped the invisibility and gestured for my friends to come. They ran to me, trying to be quiet.

  I ran down the next hallway and again made myself invisible before turning the corner. This time there was no one there. The figure had disappeared. I walked back to my friends.

  “What happened?” whispered Richard.

  “She’s gone.”

  “Where did she go?”

  “I have no idea. I would have seen her if she continued down the hallway. She must have gone into one of the rooms, but I don’t know which one. We can wait and see who comes out.”

  “These are the teacher’s rooms,” Richard said. “We won’t know which one of the female teachers was in the cloak. All of them are in this hallway.”

  I groaned. “I need to get near each of the teachers when they are doing magic. I know what the magic looks like and might be able to tell which one it was. The only one I can rule out is Mrs. Shaw. I’ve seen her use magic before, and it isn’t the right color.”

  “Is everyone’s magic always the same color?”

  “So far. Tider always has the same blue color even when he is using different elements. So does Richard. I’m guessing it is the same for everyone. Since no one else can see the colors of magic, I am not certain. There is no book with the information.”

  “So let’s go check their colors,” Abby said.

  “How? I don’t have any classes with Mrs. Chanley, and Mrs. Newton only teaches regular classes, so she doesn’t use magic.”

  “Are those the only two you need to check?” Adam asked.

  “Have you seen Mrs. Sullivan’s colors?” Abby asked.

  “I doubt it’s Mrs. Sullivan.”

  “It could be. You need to check everyone. Don’t forget, there are a lot of staff members here too. I’m sure a good amount of them are females. They would have access to the south wing and probably have rooms down here too. If they thought they were being followed, they might have slipped into one of these rooms to hide. It could still be anyone,” Tider said.

  “That’s a lot of people to check. Who do we start with?”

  “We can start with the kitchen staff. They always use magic when they are preparing meals. If we get down there early enough, we can sneak in the back and watch as they work. You should be able to check them out without anyone knowing,” Tider said.

  I planned to meet Tider after a few hours of sleep. No one else needed to come. It wasn’t dangerous, and it would be easier for the two of us to hide instead of all five of us.

  My alarm went off, and I rolled out of bed, wishing I told Tider to wait until the next day. Staying up late and getting up early in the morning wasn’t something I wanted to make a habit of doing. I stretched my arms over my head and almost hit Sievroth as he stretched out his wings. I spread my arms out, and he curled his neck around me.

  He only stayed that way for a minute before settling on the bed. He really was growing fast. “I have to go,” I told him. “I’m trying to figure out who keeps going into the south wing.” Sievroth only stared at me. I gave him one last pat on the head before getting ready. I was used to him only answering me when he thought it was necessary. I headed down to the kitchen to meet Tider.

  “Why are we hiding behind bags of potatoes?” I asked.

  “This is a new shipment. They won’t be touching these bags until later in the day or tomorrow.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “Before you came to the school, I had extra time on my hands and nothing to do, so I spent a lot of it learning exactly how the school operated.”

  I felt a pang of sadness, remembering that Tider had been an outcast until this year. Everyone was scared of his power and his family name. Plus, Sean had lied and made everyone believe Tider would use dark magic on them if they tried to be nice to him. Tider had a crappy few years of school because of it, but it was still better than him being at home.

  I swung my arm around his shoulder and ruffled his hair. “Now, you have a great family.”

 
; He ducked out of my grasp and smiled. “I sure do, and I think your mom and dad call me more than they call you.”

  He stuck his tongue out at me. I told my parents about Tider when I first came here, and when they met him, they decided they would treat him like a son. It worked out great for both of us. My parents had someone else to worry about, Tider and I were best friends, and Tider had people that actually loved him and didn’t care about his powers.

  A group of people came walking into the kitchen, and we settled down to watch. I threw up my invisibility shield to be safe and started scanning the ladies. They weren’t using magic, so I wasn’t able to see if their magic matched.

  “I thought they used magic,” I hissed.

  “They will. Be patient.”

  They went straight to work, washing their hands and getting out bowls and pots. Ovens were turned on, and flour was measured and poured into different mixers. I watched, mesmerized by how efficiently they all worked together. They knew exactly what they were doing and got right to it.

  As we watched, I saw lumps of dough being lifted out of the mixers by small streams of air. The dough was placed along the counter, where it began to knead itself. I followed the trail of magic back to one lady who was handling the dough. Her magic was a light pink color, and I dismissed her and started looking for someone else.

  The next lady was using air to break eggs and pour them into a hot pan. The whisk was moving on its own, and the smell of cooking eggs started to take over the kitchen. My mouth was watering by the time I looked at the magic she was using and saw it wasn’t the green color I was looking for. This went on for another twenty minutes.

  Eventually, I went through all the ladies in the kitchen. I ignored the men cooking since I was sure it was a female. No one had the color magic I was looking for. The only odd thing that I noticed was each person only used one element. When I mentioned it to Tider, he reminded me that it was rare for an elemental to have two elements. Having multiple students at one time with two elements was probably one of the reasons the council became so involved with the school in the first place.

  We snuck back out of the kitchen but didn’t go far. I was starving after watching all of the food being made, so we waited in the cafeteria for breakfast to be ready. Everyone else arrived as we were loading our plates with food. Richard had an idea to check the teachers out, and Abby had a way to check the staff that cleaned the school and took care of all the small things a school needed.

  I would go with Richard first. He wanted me to ask Mrs. Chanley and Mrs. Newton for help learning how to do a spell that each of them should know. That way, I could see their magic without telling them why, and it wouldn’t look like I was sneaking around. I liked the idea and decided we should do it at lunchtime. We didn’t have time to wait. I wanted to know who the cloaked figure was before going to the fire realm. Especially since we probably wouldn’t be coming back to the school.

  If it wasn’t either of them, I would have to go with Abby to talk to all the other staff. That would be the hardest because we would have to track down each one of them. Abby knew where to get their schedules, but it would still take a lot of work. We would start tomorrow if it wasn’t one of the teachers.

  I enjoyed my classes and was surprised when Mr. Connor asked me to meet him in the dome after classes. He wanted to teach me a few more things while the council wasn’t watching. Mr. Burwel told Mr. Connor to teach me everything he could while we had a chance. I was glad Mr. Burwel switched to our side. He was a valued member of the council and could help us out if we needed it.

  We waited until lunch to go see Mrs. Newton. She was in her classroom, getting ready for her next class. When we knocked on her door, she invited us in.

  “Hi, Mrs. Newton. We hate to bother you during lunch, but Sally is having trouble with this one spell, and I remember my mom telling me you were really good with spells. Can you help her out, or show her how to do it?”

  “Of course, I can help her. Show me what’s going on, Sally.” I did the spell but let the magic slip through my fingers at the last minute.

  “Hmm, I think you need to concentrate less. You are creating the spell correctly. Here watch at the end where you lost it. Keep your magic calm and relaxed as you create the spell.” I watched Mrs. Newton’s magic as she created the spell. Her magic was a light orange color, nothing like the color I was looking for. She used a very delicate touch with her magic, and I followed along, relaxing my grip on my magic.

  I didn’t actually need help with the spell, but I wanted to see how my magic reacted to doing it differently. My magic flowed smoothly down my arms into the spell. It was easier to create the spell, but I could see that I didn’t have as much power in it as usual. I wondered if I could use a soft touch like Mrs. Newton but still put a lot of power behind it.

  “That’s it, Sally. You did it.”

  I looked down and saw the coil of water had warped into the shape of a dog. When I instructed the magic to move, the dog walked across the floor.

  “See, you didn’t need much help. You are very advanced in magic.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Newton. I guess learning from all males hasn’t taught me anything about being gentle with magic.”

  She laughed. “Yes, men have a tendency to use their magic more forcefully. Now don’t go practicing that magic anywhere. We don’t want anyone knowing you can do such advanced magic. The Pulhu will find out. Though after what Mr. Mitchel did, they probably already know.”

  “Yeah, they know,” I said.

  “Be careful, Sally. I would hate to see anything happen to you.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Newton. I will be as careful as I can.”

  Mrs. Newton sent us on our way, and I followed Richard to Mrs. Chanley’s room. On the way, he asked me about Mrs. Newton. I told him her colors weren’t right, but I learned something from the lesson, and I wanted to try it out with other spells. It didn’t take long to make it to Mrs. Chanley’s room. We knocked on the door, and she opened after a minute.

  She looked surprised to see us and stepped back to allow us into her room. I looked around. I had never been in this room before. The walls were bare, but the tables pushed against the walls were covered in different types of rocks. Small transparent display cases with things inside I had never seen were spaced evenly between the rocks. It reminded me of a chemistry lab in my old school.

  Richard gave Mrs. Chanley the same explanation that he gave to Mrs. Newton, but Mrs. Chanley didn’t seem like she wanted to help.

  “I would really appreciate your help,” I told her. “I know you are busy, but it won’t take long. I’m hoping that getting another perspective on the spell will help me understand it better.”

  Mrs. Chanley hesitated before speaking. “I’m very busy today. Maybe we can set up a time to do it later.”

  “She really needs to learn this, Mrs. Chanley. It won’t take long for you to show her how you do the spell and give her some tips,” Richard said.

  “I really can’t.”

  I was focusing on her magic and saw a small sliver of magic surround her hand. It didn’t look like she was pulling the magic to her on purpose. She was upset or worried about showing us her magic, and the magic was reacting to her feelings.

  “That’s fine, Mrs. Chanley. You can show me the spell another time,” I said.

  I could see the surprise on Richard’s face, but I didn’t need to see any more magic from Mrs. Chanley.

  “I only have one more question. Why have you been sneaking into the south wing to meet someone?”

  “What?” Mrs. Chanley acted surprised.

  “I know it’s you. I want to know why. Are you helping the Pulhu?” I began pulling my own magic to me. Not a lot, only enough to subdue her if she gave any indication she would try to attack us.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Every person’s magic is slightly different. Your magic has a very distinct green color. I can see that color around y
our hand right now. You are pulling a small amount of magic to yourself. It gave you away. Now, why are you meeting someone in the south wing?”

  Mrs. Chanley sighed and moved to her chair. “I knew you would eventually figure it out. You saw me too many times. I’m surprised you figured it out so soon though. I didn’t realize you could see magic too.”

  “Not many people know. The only reason I told you is to give you a chance to tell us the rest of the story before I tell Mrs. Sullivan.”

  “Don’t tell anyone,” Mrs. Chanley said. “What I am doing is for your protection, as long as you don’t turn to the darkness. You weren’t supposed to know about me yet. I am trying to help you overcome the Pulhu, but it must be done in secret. I will help you when I can.”

  “How? So far, I have barely spoken to you.”

  “I don’t know yet, I only know that you will receive help if you are the one the prophecy speaks of.”

  “What about the imposter? We found it written down on the paper in the room you have been using in the south wing.”

  “The imposter is another elemental who thinks they are the chosen one. If they go up against the darkness, they will fail and destroy us all.”

  “Who is the imposter?” I asked.

  “We don’t know.”

  “So, it could be me.”

  “Yes. No one knows who the imposter is. You will have to figure it out on your own when you meet this other elemental.”

  “I’m going to meet them?”

  “Yes. At some point, you will meet and have to figure out who is who. Until then, no one knows.”

  “Who is helping you in the south wing?” Richard asked.

  “I can’t tell you,” Mrs. Chanley said. “That is something you don’t need to know.”

  “How can we trust you if you won’t tell us everything?”

  “You will have to take my word. I won’t reveal everything to you, or it could cause you to change your path. You are doing good staying away from dark magic and trying to protect those you love. Keep doing what you are doing. Eventually, you will find out everything.”