Following the Shapers Path was faster than walking because there was something about the Shapers Path itself that helped speed travelers along it. It didn’t take long for him to reach the outskirts of the city. From there, Tolan paused again, listening to the sense of the shaping. As before, it remained a steady presence, a building and rhythmic sense that tapped on his awareness. There was nothing new about it that he could pick up from here, though he wished he was better able to uncover the directionality to it. There was a source, but with so many shapings scattered all about the city, it seemed as if more than just the Grand Master and Grand Inquisitor were responsible for this shaping.
Standing here as he did, he was better able to detect other shapings. The Academy had its sense of shapings as it always did, and from here, he could ignore them. They were clustered, gathered together in a small sense within his mind, and he could ignore those as he focused on the rest of the city. Other shapings bloomed from time to time throughout the city, most of them without much power. Those would be from shapers who had perhaps trained at the Academy in the past, perhaps having never made it past the first testing, or perhaps those who lived in Amitan, descendants of powerful shapers. None of the shapings from them was sustained, and though some carried a bit of power, for the most part, they were not powerful.
Tolan looked around. The shaping sense he needed to find was along the edge here. The only time he had detected it closer into the city had been when they had come for him, but otherwise, it had remained outside, a rhythmic sort of sense reminding him a bit of the spirit shaping.
That was odd to think of, but it did fit with what he was detecting.
He couldn’t find any evidence of that shaping.
Tolan continued along the Shapers Path, gliding around the city. Maybe regardless of what Master Minden and the Grand Master wanted, he wouldn’t find any evidence of his father or the disciples. Perhaps this was a pointless exercise, a waste of his time, and perhaps he would end up back at the Academy anyway.
He reached the northern edge of the city. From here, the distant darkness of the forest spread beyond the borders of the city. Down within that forest, he had detected elementals before, some of them rogue, some of them he thought he’d freed from the bond. In the days since Master Aela had come after him, he hadn’t detected the elementals quite the same way as before.
Could it be the loss of his bondars had taken away his connection to them? He didn’t think so. When he had been shaping wind in particular, he still had felt some connection to the elementals, but it had been different than what he had known before. Perhaps weaker, but definitely changed.
Tolan breathed in the sense of the forest, letting that power swirl around him. Within that place, he was more acutely aware of earth and the earth bond, but he was also filled with hundreds of different senses through his connection to earth. It was more than just the trees; it was animals and the shape of the forest and the age, and so many different aspects to it.
In his classes with Master Shorav, they stayed in the Academy buildings for the most part, occasionally going out to the park nearby to work on their shapings, but they never went outside the Academy grounds like this. Tolan hadn’t had the connection to earth quite like this before. It was more than just an earth sensing, and now he detected it, he felt the flowing power all around him, a sense that reminded him of the energy that was found outside the city, outside the Academy, and a reminder of how the elements filled everything.
Regardless of what Master Sartan might say, all the elements were life. In this place, standing here above the forest, Tolan was well aware of how earth was filled with life. It was more than just the element bond; it was a sense of everything existing out here. Not all of it was directly connected to the element bond, and yet the power of earth still touched it.
It wasn’t only earth that he was able to detect. Wind blew between the trees, caressing the branches and the leaves, carrying the smells of the forest, that of decaying leaves and fresh pine, mixing with the occasional fragrance blowing off flowers that sprung to life. Earth and wind worked together to carry the overall sense of the forest.
More than just earth and wind were there, though.
Fire existed, though not the same way as a dancing flame. There was heat. It came from within the trees, within the animals scurrying along the trees or across the forest floor, and it came from deep within the earth itself. Regardless of how earth and fire countered each other, they coexisted, their powers and their energies lingering together in this place.
Lastly, but certainly not least, there was water. As he stood on the Shapers Path, focusing on everything within the forest, the sense of a stream burbling through, feeding the forest, giving the animals access to life-sustaining water, came to him. At night, he noticed the dew on the leaves, the dampness on the forest floor, and even a haze hanging in the air, suspended above the ground.
Tolan smiled to himself. It was strange he would have to come here to have such an understanding of the elements. None of them was tied to the element bonds. Despite that, there was still power that flowed through here.
Perhaps that was the message he needed. And maybe he needed to step away from the Academy more often in order to better understand the nature of power that rolled through the world. It wasn’t just in this place. There were others just like it.
And despite that power, there had to be something missing.
What would it be like if the elementals roamed freely within the forest?
Everything he knew told him there had once been a time when the elementals had lived out in the world. Regardless of what the shapers of today might claim, the elementals hadn’t been dangerous. Hadn’t they added something to the world?
When he had freed them, they’d wandered, disappearing, heading off into… Where?
Tolan didn’t know, and perhaps it didn’t matter. What mattered was that the elementals needed to be freed.
As much as anything, he felt that truth.
It was unusual to be aware of that, and as he felt the sense of the forest, the power and energy that came from the presence of each of the elements within it, he wondered how much more powerful it would be were the elementals there.
The Academy would suppress the elementals, to hold them within the bond, but it wasn’t necessary for shapers to have the elementals trapped within the bond to reach for power.
Tolan could shape without reaching the element bonds. He felt certain of that. It was the reason he was able to shape in places others could not.
What did that mean?
What would it mean if the elementals were freed from the bonds? Would the bonds be destroyed? They were layers of energy, hidden and yet a part of the world, a source of power, but would they shatter if the elementals were freed?
Would the earth be torn apart if they were removed?
There had been a time before, when the elements had been separate from the elementals, where the bonds had been free of the elementals, and yet the world had turned.
Tolan found himself smiling, feeling a little bit foolish about the nature of his thoughts as he stood outside the city, floating along the Shapers Path. Strangely, he was no longer quite as aware of the spirit shaping that had hammered steadily ever since he had detected it with Ferrah.
With a start, Tolan turned back toward the Academy.
Why shouldn’t he be aware of it?
Maybe the shaping had run its course.
No. It was still there, but was faint—certainly fainter than it had been before. He focused on it, listening for it, and searching for what he might be able to detect.
There wasn’t much.
Tolan started back toward the Academy. It was well past time to do so, and he had been outside of the city long enough, enjoying his connection to the forest and to the various elements. But now he was out here, he needed to return. There had been no sign of his father and no sign of the disciples of the Draasin Lord, regardless of what the Grand Master
or Master Minden might have wanted.
While starting toward the city, a sense of shaping came from behind him.
Tolan paused, looking back. It was outside the city.
He waited, hoping that it would come again.
Moments passed. Then more.
When the sense finally returned, it was distinct. Definitely a shaping, and it wasn’t the kind of shaping that he expected. He had thought it might be from one of the disciples of the Draasin Lord, but that wasn’t it at all. As he focused and listened to the sense of the shaping, he recognized a different kind of aspect to it, one far more dangerous to him.
One of the Inquisitors.
They had responded to the shaping.
Of course, they had. The Inquisitors would’ve had no reason not to respond to it. They would have known the Grand Master and the Grand Inquisitor had wanted them to come, and would have responded in kind, answering the call, and in doing so, putting Tolan at risk.
He froze, not willing or wanting to take a step anywhere. He had intended to return to the Academy, but now he detected that shaping, he wasn’t so sure anymore.
The shaping came again, closer.
Tolan frowned to himself. Why did it seem to be coming toward him?
They shouldn’t have been aware he was here. He hadn’t been shaping, and there was no way for them to have identified his presence here, and yet, each time he detected the sense of the shaping, it came closer.
Tolan started along the Shapers Path, making his way more quickly as he ran, following the contours of the path, using his connection to earth sensing to ensure his safety as he followed it. It would be all too easy to tumble as he ran, and he had no interest in falling from the Shapers Path.
It was possible he’d already revealed himself in some way. Maybe his time standing at the edge of the forest, focusing on sensing the intricacies of the interconnectedness there, had revealed him. Could he have been shaping? He didn’t think he had, but the way he had felt for the power within the forest certainly seemed possible.
Tolan continued to run, and the Academy loomed into view.
Shaping exploded near him.
Tolan stopped, looking around.
Another shaping exploded near him.
He turned, reaching for his connection to earth and wind, adding a hint of fire.
Another shaping exploded near him.
He had the sense these shapings were trying to circle him. That couldn’t be a coincidence. What purpose would they have in circling him like that?
They were trying to cut him off somehow.
Did they think they could separate him from the shaping bond?
Perhaps they did, but the advantage he had was that he didn’t need to have the element bonds in order to shape. They couldn’t know that, and yet, power continued to surge all around him.
He still saw no one.
If he lingered, he would open himself up to danger.
He couldn’t stay here any longer.
Tolan focused on the Academy. He might have to drop to the ground, but if he did, he’d then have to run through the streets. Going that way would be far slower than traveling by the Shapers Path.
And there was the possibility he was simply imagining this. What if this wasn’t the Inquisitors at all? What if this was nothing more than one of the master shapers out in the city?
He needed to be careful he didn’t accuse someone of a shaping that wasn’t theirs, and the fact he was on edge might mean he was envisioning something that simply didn’t exist.
He continued to focus, and as he did, he couldn’t help but feel the nature of the shaping. It had distinct elements to it that he recognized. He’d been attacked by it, and understood the nature of it.
There was no question in his mind. This came from an Inquisitor.
Tolan shifted the nature of his shaping, focusing on fire, pulling that inward, if only so he could protect his mind from the possibility of a spirit shaping attempted on him.
There came no sense of spirit, but perhaps they were waiting.
Another shaping exploded near him.
That couldn’t be his imagination. Now he was even more certain that they were trying to control him in some way. What purpose did they hope to accomplish by trapping him like this?
Tolan pushed on fire, holding it inside him, and was able to protect himself, to protect his mind. He could hold onto it for a long time like this, but if it came down to it, he worried that he might need to fight, and he wasn’t sure he could do that while trying to protect his mind at the same time.
Still there was no sign of whatever shapers were out there trying to reach him.
Where were they?
Unless they were right in front of him, hiding in plain sight, using some sort of earth shaping to hide themselves.
It was the kind of shaping he’d read about, but it wasn’t the kind of shaping he knew how to create.
Tolan pushed on fire, holding onto it, and as he did, more and more of the sense of shaping continued to explode around him. It was there, powerful, and he made sure to hold onto his connection to the elements in order to keep the shaping.
Another surge of power, and this one definitely came from near him.
Tolan turned his attention toward it, maintaining his hold on fire as he focused it inwardly, and as he did, he also pushed outward, using a blast of fire and wind in order to attack where he had sensed the shaping.
It struck something, parting around it.
Another shaping, and Tolan turned, using his connection to power to detect it, and he spun, this time using earth, throwing it upward so it disrupted any shaping that might be there.
The earth exploded, the Shapers Path heaving for a moment before settling.
Not settling. Smoothed.
Whatever shaper was here, they had countered his attack, smoothing it out, keeping him from doing anything that would harm them.
This skill in smoothing the Shapers Path was incredible. It happened in a blink of an eye, his attempt at shaping countered so quickly as to be little more of a threat than a gnat biting at him.
Tolan held onto his connection to earth, but a shaping began to batter at it.
It started slowly, slithering against his shaping, but with increasing intensity, it began to work its way toward him, trying to slither underneath the protection he’d placed. If it succeeded, would they be able to shape him?
He didn’t like the idea that they would be able to do anything to him. Worse, he didn’t like the idea that he would have nothing that he could do to protect himself.
Taking a chance, he jumped.
And found he could not.
He remained on the Shapers Path, trapped. Whoever was around him, masked with earth shaping, held him confined.
Tolan turned his attention toward the shaping. He had to find some way of escaping. He had to break through whatever they were doing. He simply didn’t have enough strength. If only he hadn’t lost his bondars.
He’d had that sense more than once, and this time, it came with a feeling of frustration.
With everything he’d gone through, everything he’d survived so far, to be trapped like this, caught up after the Grand Master and the Grand Inquisitor had summoned the Inquisitors back to the Academy, left him feeling a certain sort of hollow emptiness.
Tolan pulled on each of his element bonds, but the connection to them failed.
He attempted to shape, and that still came, but strangely, it wasn’t nearly as powerful as it normally was. Perhaps he was pulling on the element bonds far more than he had been aware of.
He continued to wrap himself in fire, turning it inward, but Master Sartan’s warning flowed through him, a caution that he needed to be careful about using fire too closely to himself, not wanting to use it in a way that would damage himself.
Tolan instead focused on adding other elements to the shaping. Water and wind, earth. He even pushed on spirit, though pulling upon that was difficult.
Spirit was the only element that he had a bondar for, and he grabbed it, squeezing his fist around it, hoping he could find some way to use the bondar in order to draw enough power. With everything he could detect around him, he doubted the bondar would be enough to protect him.
Without any protection, hope faded.
The Inquisitors would finally have him.
Tolan cried out.
Someone laughed. The sound came faintly, a taunt, and he cried out again, anger flowing through him, filling him.
They were not going to have him like this.
And yet, how was he going to do anything to stop them?
Exploding outward, Tolan sent his shaping away from him with as much force as possible, trying only to shove the attackers away.
For a moment, he thought he might have succeeded.
Then shaping began to assault him.
It came with an onslaught of energy, first the wind battering him, the sense of water swirling around him, the Shapers Path trembling under earth, and fire with a rising heat. There was only so much of this that Tolan would be able to withstand. As he tried, he cried out again. His voice was muted in the night, hollow and empty, and it was as if his attacker knew he was unable to do anything.
And he was unable to do anything.
Through it all, shapings slammed into him.
As they did, something else came with them.
There was another shaping, but what was it? Where was it from?
The shaping was familiar. It was like the kind of shaping he used, the same way he pulled upon energy when he was shaping, focusing on the elementals.
He was not alone.
The disciples of the Draasin Lord were there.
His father.
Tolan had to hold out, but could he?
He squeezed the ring, focusing on spirit, using the only element he could shape through a bondar. It flowed outward, a powerful shaping that surrounded him, and thankfully, it held.
The Wind Rages (Elemental Academy Book 4) Page 16