by Megan Linski
Up closer, I got a better look at the shadow in the darkness. It moved with finesse, as if every movement was calculated. The creature was stalking us, ready to pounce. It paced in front of us, its shoulder blades rising and falling with every step.
A cat.
But it wasn’t the kind of cat you wanted to cuddle. This cat was bigger than me, with sharp claws and the kind of powerful teeth that could rip a human’s throat out.
Amelia was right. I’m dead. We both are.
“Don’t. Make. Any. Sudden. Movements.” I whispered under my breath, completely frozen in place.
The cat in front of us was huge and covered in a coat of blonde fur. I’d never seen a cougar in real life before, but this seemed bigger, like some sort of African cat. Had it escaped from the zoo? I hoped that was the case and that it was used to humans… and that it wasn’t hungry.
Against my instruction, Amelia jumped to her feet and dusted the dirt off her shorts, like she hadn’t noticed the beast in front of us. Except… she stared right at it, almost like she knew the creature personally.
She turned from the cat and grabbed my arm. Her fingernails dug into my skin, but I couldn’t bring myself to move for fear that it’d run after us. She tugged harder, and I had no choice but to stumble behind her.
“I told you to stay in the car!” Amelia scolded.
“I know, but—” A screech ripped out of my chest.
Amelia’s hand fell from my arm as her body crashed to the ground again. The cat stood over her, baring its teeth. Before I could react, Amelia shoved her elbow up into the cat’s nose. The cat immediately retaliated by swiping its claws at the arm she held protectively in front of her face.
Instinct overtook. I didn’t even think about what I was doing when I drew my arm back and hurled the rock I still held at the cat. I didn’t wait to see if I hit it. I bent and grabbed a thick stick in the dirt nearby and swung it upward to connect with the cat’s jaw.
The dry stick snapped in half as it connected. The cat continued to stare down my sister, as if it hadn’t felt a thing. I hurled the remaining half of my stick at its head. By sheer luck, I managed to hit it square in the eye.
The cat stumbled backward with a whimper, but before I could help Amelia to her feet, the cat turned its frightening gaze on me. I mean, it’s one eye was winky, but that didn’t make me feel any better. Sheer terror ripped through my gut, and my skin heated so much that sweat broke out across my brow.
A split second passed, then the cat lunged, launching itself through the air toward me.
My scream filled the air around us, and I threw my arms out in front of me. If I wasn’t scared before, I was freaking terrified when a burst of red light shot across the space between us.
I didn’t have the time to contemplate the strange phenomenon. I expected a blow to come, for sharp claws to rip into my skin and strong jaws to tear me apart, but instead, the cat twisted sideways and landed on the ground on its side.
I only let my shock last a split second. I rushed forward and grabbed Amelia’s arm and dragged her to her feet. Together, we sprinted back to the car.
Amelia shifted into reverse before I even had my door closed. She tore out of the parking lot without looking back. Kiwi was going crazy, flying around the back seat.
“What were you thinking?!” I shrieked. “We could’ve been killed!”
“Forget about that!” Amelia cried. Her eyes darted between mine and the road. “Did I see you use fire, Sophia?”
“What?” Is that what that flash of red had been? Some sort of fireball?
“It was, wasn’t it?” Amelia accused. “You’re Koigni!”
“Koigni?” I practically yelled. “Have you gone insane?”
“No,” Amelia bit back, obviously offended.
“You tried to pet a wild cat!”
Amelia’s jaw tensed, but she softened her tone. “I wasn’t trying to pet it.”
“Then what were you doing?” I demanded.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “What matters is that Mom and Dad lied to me— to both of us.”
I was momentarily struck silent. What did Mom and Dad have to do with this?
“They told me you were human— adopted.” Amelia slowed the car to match the speed limit.
I swallowed hard. This had to be a dream, or maybe I’d been drugged. Apparently, an African cat attack in the middle of Salt Lake I could believe, but there was no way my parents had lied to me for eighteen years about being adopted. Sure, I was the black sheep of the family, with lighter hair and paler skin, but we told each other everything.
Yet that wasn’t the most disturbing part of what Amelia had just said.
“Human?” My voice shook. “What else is there?”
Amelia pressed her lips together. “How do I put this?” She took a deep breath. “Sophia, you’re magical… like me. You’re an Elementai.”
My brow furrowed. Maybe Amelia wasn’t insane. Maybe she was just high. Maybe we both were high.
“Elementai?” I repeated the word. It felt strange on my tongue, like it shouldn’t be there. “What are you talking about?”
Amelia hesitated. “I’m sorry you had to find out like this, Sophia, but there’s no other explanation. You’re Koigni, a Fire Elementai. Me, Mom, and Dad are Toaqua, Water Elementai.”
“What do you mean?” I demanded. Amelia had better start making sense, or I was going to lose it.
Amelia swallowed, like she didn’t know how to break the news. “It means you’re one of us,” she finally said. “It means you have magic.”
A long time ago, this school felt like home. Now all it’d become was a painful reminder of everything I’d lost.
The halls of Orenda Academy seemed dark and intimidating, not warm and friendly. Only every other torch was lit, because of summer, and the clouds outside from the impending storm covered up the sun. I kept my head down and focused on counting the stones two by two, avoiding the eyes of the judgmental paintings and tapestries.
They were all of Elementai and Familiars. I wasn’t a part of them anymore.
Orenda Academy was huge. It took me a half hour to navigate through the castle and find the Head Dean’s tower. I knew every inch of this castle by heart, yet my steps were slow and hesitant. I didn’t know what Alric wanted from me. Not yet.
I would say being summoned by him scared me, but I wasn’t scared. After what had happened, I wasn’t afraid of anything anymore.
Just living.
I entered the tower and climbed the dozens of steps that spiraled upward to Head Dean Alric’s office. I grabbed the dragon’s head knocker and knocked three times. The great iron doors opened of their own accord, and I stepped into the office.
The room was circular and large, packed with books from the floor to the ceiling in bookcases that expanded upward, the sunroof shining light into the middle of the marble floor. A fireplace burned, and Hawkei memorabilia was placed in an organized fashion in glass cabinets.
Head Dean Caspian Alric, the master Elementai that ran the place, stood in the middle of the room with his hands clasped behind his back. Each part of his suit was impeccably ironed and cleaned, his shoes shined. Though he was ancient, he moved with all the grace of a young man. His short white hair and sculpted beard were trimmed to neurotic perfection. Even the wrinkles on his tanned face appeared to fall exactly into place.
His dragon Familiar was circling above the school somewhere. I could hear the power of her wings through the walls outside as she buffeted them up and down, her dominating roar quivering the tower.
Good. I didn’t want to cross Valda today.
The four other minor Deans were situated around the room in four chairs. Dean Alizeh from Yapluma, the Air House, stared at me like I was in a zoo, while Dean Hestian from Nivita, the Earth House, wouldn’t look me in the eye.
Alizeh’s Familiar was a large yellow thunderbird that hardly glanced at me. I didn’t mind— I didn’t feel like getting zap
ped today.
Hestian’s Familiar was a white stag that had ivy leaves twisting up its legs and around its massive antlers, which were twelve-pronged on each side and six feet end-to-end. The stag clicked its hooves on the floor, but said nothing more.
They pitied me. It was a sickening feeling that I hated.
I noticed that Madame Eleanor Doya, Dean of Koigni, was missing her lioness Familiar. That was weird. Naomi was hardly absent from Madame Doya’s side. Wherever she was, no doubt the lioness was stalking some poor soul on behalf of Doya’s bidding.
Whoever had been stupid enough to cross Madame Doya would certainly regret it.
Madame Doya was dressed elaborately, as she always was, in a purple velvet dress and furs. She had multiple rings on her fingers. Her long red hair was curled, red lips puckered and tight. She had mastered resting bitch face better than anyone I knew.
My Dean from Toaqua, Professor Elliot Baine, was the only one who gave me an encouraging smile behind baggy and tired eyes. He had short cropped hair that was combed back, large square glasses, a thick and pointed nose, and a scraggly gray beard. He looked more or less thrown together, his suit sloppy with stains and shoes almost worn with holes, but despite his ragged appearance, I was glad he’d shown up.
His Familiar wasn’t here, as she needed the ocean to survive. I was glad there was a fellow Water tribe member in here with me in case things got a little heated.
And I was already on my last nerve.
“What’s this about?” I asked bluntly. It was more than a little rude.
Madame Doya raised an eyebrow, and the Nivita and Yapluma Deans shifted uncomfortably. Normally, a Third Year would get in trouble for mouthing off to their superiors… big trouble. A million punishments flew behind Madame Doya’s eyes, but no one said anything.
I was testing them. I wanted to see how far I could push, how much I could get away with— just how sorry they felt for me.
Head Dean Alric didn’t bat an eye at my attitude. By now, he was long used to it. “We’ve gotten notice of a missing child,” he began. “Eighteen years ago, an infant was stolen from Koigni. We’ve recently located her in Utah, living with members of Toaqua.”
“Toaqua stole a baby from the Fire tribe?” I asked in astonishment, before I shook my head. “No. It can’t be true.”
“It is true, boy,” Madame Doya said in that condescending voice of hers, the one she reserved for literally everyone that wasn’t from Koigni. “After all this time, we’ve discovered the missing child is alive and that she was stolen by none other than Robert and Susan Henley.”
My stomach sank. I knew the family. Not very well, but well enough to know that yeah, they’d do something like this. There were multiple reasons that my tribe, Toaqua, would steal a Fire baby. Koigni and Toaqua were natural born enemies, and were always trying to one-up each other.
But what Alric said next floored me. “We believe the Henleys took the child to prevent a prophecy from coming true.”
As if in unison, all the Deans spoke together:
“The fated Koigni child, born in the Summer Solstice in the Year of the Dragon,
Shall bring glory to the greatest House.”
Hmph. I’d heard of the prophecy, but had always rubbed it off as F.A.S… that is, fake as shit. Who believed in corny stuff like that?
Apparently, Madame Doya did, because she looked pissed. “This girl is critical to the elevation and status of my House. She needs to be returned to Koigni, where she belongs.”
“And you, Liam, are the perfect person to bring her back,” Alric finished.
Oh, great. Here we go.
“Okay… a lost Fire baby,” I said flatly. “And you want me to go looking for her… why? Why not send someone from Koigni?”
“The Elders don’t want a Koigni. They specifically requested someone from Toaqua to smooth over the delicate situation,” Dean Alizeh spoke up.
Yeah, that made sense. Better to send someone from the Henleys’ own Tribe to convince them to hand over the girl than a fiery, pissed off Koigni, I guess.
“Fine. But why me?” I stuck my hands in my pockets and stared at them. “I’m just a Third Year.”
“We know well of your… troubles, Mister Mitoh,” Alizeh said, with a wayward glance at Baine. “It was suggested that you should be the one from Toaqua to go, as it might help restore some credit to your name.”
This was ridiculous. Why was this my problem, and why did I care? I didn’t want to get involved in things that weren’t my business. I just wanted to keep to myself. That’s all I’d asked for in the past few months.
On the other hand… this was my chance. An opportunity to win my place back in society, after the horrible mess I’d created. Status meant everything to the Elementai. I didn't care about stuff like that, but my family sure did.
I couldn't bear disappointing my parents more than I already had.
“All right. I'll do it,” I said.
“Hopefully you're capable,” Doya clipped.
You ever had a teacher who completely hated you? Yeah, that was Madame Doya. I was lucky enough to avoid her most of the time, because she mostly taught Koigni classes, but I had gotten stuck with her after bonding with Nashoma. We were put into Predator Familiars together, a class Doya and Naomi ruled like dictators.
That class had been hell. I’d barely passed.
At Nashoma’s funeral, Doya had the nerve to come up to me and say that her time teaching me had been a waste. If I thought I couldn’t hate her any more than I already had, she’d surprised me once again.
“We have complete faith you’ll bring Sophia back to us, Liam,” Baine said. He nodded to me for encouragement.
“Sophia?” It caught my interest. “That's her name? Sophia Henley?”
“She's not a Henley. At least, she won’t be for much longer.” Doya’s tone was cool.
“We don't know if this girl is indeed the prophesied child,” Alric said. “But we do know that she belongs here, at Orenda Academy. It's time to bring her home.”
I nodded grimly. “Fine. Then I guess I’m your man.”
They gave me an address, along with a free pass aboard the Hozho cruise liner before they allowed me to leave.
I felt dizzy when I went back down the stairs, but I ignored it. By the time I reached the hallway, I was determined to continue on, but a sudden wave of pain bloomed at the bottom of my back and spread throughout my body, causing my muscles to involuntarily spasm. I let out a cry of pain and gritted my teeth.
This. Sucked. I put a hand against the wall to steady myself and took deep breaths to try and regain my composure.
Come on, just hurry up and die already, I moaned inwardly. I leaned against the wall and waited for the vertigo to pass. It was always like this: agony would come up suddenly and without warning. One moment I was completely fine, the next, the room would be spinning and I’d feel my legs turn to water. One too many times in the past few weeks, I’d passed out.
How embarrassing would it be if some stupid First Year came along and found me on the floor? Or anyone, for that matter.
My dad wanted me to keep moving forward in life. But he didn’t know what it was like. Most people who lost their Familiars died off right away. The ones that stuck around were older, past my father’s age, and they only stayed for a few months. Young people like me usually kicked the bucket a few days after their Familiar was gone. Elementai couldn’t live without their Familiars.
Not me. For whatever reason, my useless body stubbornly hung on. After Nashoma died, I’d gone from completely fine to completely disabled in a few short months and it fucking sucked.
After a few minutes, my vertigo went away and I felt like I could walk again, though I was significantly weaker. To distract myself from the harsh throbbing radiating throughout my body, I thought of the task ahead.
I had to go clean up a mess a bunch of stupid old people had made. Typical. This Sophia girl was probably a spoiled brat. I knew he
r sister, Amelia. I didn’t exactly not like her, but that girl’s middle name should be bossy. She loved ordering people around. I bet her younger sister was worse.
I wasn’t exactly shocked to find my father waiting for me at the entrance to the school. His Familiar, a grizzly named Tatum, was blocking the hallway so I couldn’t get around.
Fat-ass bear.
My dad was wearing a suit, too, which meant he’d been called in for a council meeting. He rarely got dressed up unless he had to. Toaqua went with the flow.
Dad had a thick nose, and tanner skin than I did. His long black hair hung loose far past his shoulders. If anyone looked like an Elementai, he fit the bill. Something I no longer did.
He never came up to the school, not unless it was important. Somebody had probably told him about my summoning. Most likely one of my mouthy brothers or sisters.
Dad looked concerned, which I hated.
“How are things going, son?” he asked.
“You don’t need to check up on me, Dad. I can handle things,” I told him.
It was a lie, of course. I’d been such a mess over the summer, and he’d seen it all. I’m surprised he wasn’t here trying to hold my hand.
“I wasn’t checking up. Tatum and I were just passing through. Your sister wanted me to speak with Professor Lopez,” he said.
Yeah. Right.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and said, “I’m guessing you know what this is about?”
Dad paused. His eyes narrowed as he said, “Yes. The missing Koigni girl has been found, I’ve heard.”
There was an awkward pause. I pressed, “Dad, do you know anything about this?”
Dad cleared his throat. “There are some things, son, that are better left unsaid.”
Tatum let out a growl of agreement, which just made me more suspicious. He was totally in on this somehow. I bet he’d helped the Henleys take her.
I didn’t really care. My job was to drag her back, it wasn’t in the details. Tribe politics bored me.
Dad changed the subject and said, “This is important, son. You must do everything in your power to convince this girl that Orenda Academy is the best place for her. Our family’s reputation, and our House’s, depends on it.”