“I’m testing something. Seeing as how every other time I’ve gone into the Convergence, my clothes have burned off, I think I need to be a little bit more careful this time. Do you mind?”
She shook her head, turning her back. Tolan peeled off his clothes and climbed into the Convergence. At first, there was a bit of warmth. The liquid was thick, and it felt strange as it washed over his legs. He stepped deeper into it, feeling its energy. And there was energy.
The moment he touched the Convergence he was aware of the power within it. He suspected he would be able to use it standing alongside it, the same way Master Minden had often used the Convergence within Amitan, but by standing inside it, he felt a different connection to it. It was almost as if he were meant to be there.
He held onto that sense of energy, letting it wash away from him as he focused.
Closing his eyes, he drew in the power of the Convergence. With each breath, there was more energy coming to him and he held onto it, focusing on that which he could detect everywhere around him. He was able to connect to the elements. The element bonds. Even the elementals.
The sense of all of them flowed into him, a few filling him with power. Tolan held onto that sense, letting it expand away from him. He could use the sense of the Convergence, draw on everything all around him, and he focused it.
He used what he could feel of the bondar surrounding the Convergence. With it, he could feel how the power was directed.
Could he draw enough through it that he would be able to guide the shaping needed to restore the bondars?
What he needed was understanding.
He didn’t have the knowledge of the bondar’s creation. If only he had that…
But he did.
By having stood in the Convergence, by using spirit to connect to the others, he had bridged that knowledge within himself. All it would take would be for him to combine it, to let that sense flow through him, and he should be able to wrap it back around. What if he turned the shaping inward? It took a considerable amount of power to do that, but he thought he had the control he needed.
Tolan closed his eyes, pulling on it internally.
It washed over him.
The memory of what he had done was there before. He awoke an aspect of it, tying to the knowledge he needed, latching onto what was required for the bondar creation, and found it was there.
It was locked up within his mind, but the Convergence allowed him to dig deeper and find the key.
Breathing out, he held onto the other senses, focusing on what else he might be able to uncover. There had to be something more.
Didn’t he want to know about the Great Mother? Wasn’t that part of the reason he questioned?
If he was able to use what he could of the Convergence, maybe he would be able to understand more about the Great Mother and his own purpose.
More than that, he might even be able to understand just what his mother had done, the purpose she had sought by attacking. The Convergence would have to be able to connect him to that knowledge.
He’d been around his mother, he’d felt her touch of spirit, and that connection should have allowed him to use it to figure out what she had done.
All it would take was understanding.
More than even an understanding, he had stood within the Convergence with her. He had used it to try to drive out the darkness from her, to extinguish the chaos suppressing her.
That was what he needed to focus on.
Could he find it within himself?
The power built as he focused on it. It seemed to roll through him, wiping across his mind, filling him.
He had to be careful. If he drew too much, he ran the risk of overwhelming his ability to control the Convergence. There were limits to what he was capable of doing, and he had to be acutely aware of just how much power was out here and just what he might be able to do.
Vaguely, he thought he had the sense of what his mother had done, how she’d wanted to use that power, but as he tried to latch onto it, he felt something blocking him.
A resistance of sorts.
Tolan tried to use the power of the Convergence to push through it, but there was a voice within his mind.
No.
Tolan focused on it was, wondering whether it was the Great Mother or whether it came from hyza or any of the other elementals, but it was distant.
Maybe the voice came from his mother, warning him against trying to uncover what she had done to him.
He focused on it, breathing in the awareness, trying to gather whether there was anything he might be able to uncover, but even as he focused, there didn’t seem to be anything.
Another push. That was all he needed. One more moment, drawing upon the power of the Convergence, and he thought he might be able to…
No.
This time, the voice and the sense of it came more firmly. It was holding him back, separating him from what he was trying to reach, almost as if it was trying to keep him from accessing that hidden part of his mind.
Which was possibly what it was doing.
Tolan let out a frustrated sigh. He couldn’t—and shouldn’t—attempt to push any further.
He looked up, turning his attention to Ferrah standing on the outside of the Convergence. They had come here so he could see if there was anything he could do about the bondars.
Priorities. That was what she had said. If he tried to do things out of order, then he ran the risk of trying to do too much. He needed to focus, especially if he was going to be successful with all of this. Any of this.
The knowledge of what he needed to do came to him through the Convergence. It would be difficult, but he thought he could do it.
He breathed out, releasing the power of the Convergence, and then crawled out of the pool. As the liquid dripped from him, returning back into the Convergence, he dressed himself, glancing over at hyza. There was an understanding within the elemental, almost as if he was aware of what Tolan had just experienced within the Convergence.
Possibly, he was.
“Did it work?” Ferrah asked, turning back to him.
“It worked. At least, I think it did. I know what we need to do.”
“What is that?”
“The others need to act, but then I’m going to need to help.”
“Why you?” She smiled, shaking her head. “I’m not trying to downplay your knowledge and ability, but when it comes to the bondars, you still don’t know nearly as much as the others. That’s why they’re working on it.”
“I don’t know as much, but I have the knowledge of all of them gathered together.” He tapped his head. “The Convergence allows me to access that. And through it, I think I know what we need to do.”
4
Before returning to the waste, Tolan made his way to the village. Most of the villagers spent their time in the waste, returning in the evening back to the village, using shapers who were able to carry them. Others stayed, using the makeshift structures erected there, trying to create something of a home within the heart of the waste. Tolan found it strange, but the others had taken to it.
Ferrah paced alongside him and hyza bounded off, leaving the two of them alone.
“I still can’t get over seeing the elementals as easily as I can,” Ferrah said.
“The elementals want you to see them. They want you to be able to use them.”
“I know that’s what you say, but it’s still strange. I wonder what it would be like for me if I were able to bond it to one of the elementals the same way you were.”
“I think it’s possible you could,” Tolan said, looking over at her, and then beyond her. There was always a sense of the elementals in this land, and it was more than just hyza. More than just the Draasin Lord when he was here. A power existed, an energy rolling through it.
He couldn’t be the only one who was able to understand the power of the elementals here; he was certain there were others.
He focused on the village and everyth
ing else he could. Within the village, there was a sense of the bondars. His mother had destroyed many of them, but in the time since then, many of the villagers had taken to repairing them. At first, Tolan wondered why, but it seemed as if by repairing the bondars, they restored something the elementals needed.
Now he was here, Tolan could feel that energy, and he could feel the way those bondars were here, giving off an energy suggesting there was considerable power present.
Drawing upon each of the elements, he created a shaping he sent sweeping around him. It touched upon the elementals, but it did so in a gentle fashion, simply alerting them of his presence. He didn’t want to harm them, and by shaping in that way, they were aware of what he was doing for them—and what he was doing to them.
“We can try to see if you can speak to one of the elementals,” he said.
“I’ve tried talking to the elementals,” she said.
“You have to believe you can talk to them.”
“Haven’t you said you need to have spirit to speak to them?”
“I have to have spirit, but it doesn’t mean you do. It’s possible you would be able to speak with them without it.”
Tolan didn’t know what it would take, but he suspected there had to be some way. Many of the elementals were connected to spirit in their own way, and through that, he thought if Ferrah truly wanted to try to reach them, and if she truly wanted to be able to connect to them, then she would be able to do so.
“Which element do you think I should try?”
“You’d be willing to try?”
She shrugged. “Given what I’ve seen, I think it’s worth a shot. I don’t know if we’ll need to be able to speak to the elementals or not, but I do know they have a much greater role than I had known before. If it takes trying to be able to speak to them, to understand the nature of the elementals and how they are connected to everything, then…”
“I think you need to do so with an elemental for the element you feel most comfortable with.”
“Water,” she said.
“Really?”
“You didn’t know?”
“Well, seeing as how you are so gifted with all of the elements, I wouldn’t have any way of knowing.”
“When I was first learning to shape, water came to me easiest. I remember trailing my hand through it, realizing there was something that would react to me. It was then I knew I was a water shaper.”
“Then let’s find a water elemental free and able to talk.”
“Just like that?”
“Well, it may not just be like that. You might have to do something more to reach the elemental.”
“Such as?”
“Seeing as I was dealing with water, you might have to get into the water to reach a connection.”
“I’m not stripping down like you do when you go to the Convergence.”
“You wouldn’t want to get your clothing wet.”
She laughed. “I wonder what it’s like when you go into the Convergence.”
“It’s an incredible connection to power. I don’t really know how else to describe it.”
“You think I could try it?”
“I don’t know. It’s possible you could use it, but again, I don’t know.”
“Maybe we should ask Master Minden before we attempt it.”
“She’s the expert on it.”
“She’s the expert on many things. It surprised me when she came out to the waste.”
Tolan nodded. It had surprised him as well. Master Minden always seemed content within the library, researching and trying to understand things, but at the same time, when she had been out in the heart of the waste, there had been something almost natural about her being there.
“I wish she would spend more time researching out in the waste.”
“I think she’s comfortable within the library,” Ferrah said.
“I’m not sure we can rely upon comfortable anymore.”
They reached the edge of the village. It wasn’t very large, and Tolan could feel the pressure of buildings spreading out on either side of him, so much so when he reached the edge of the village that there was almost a sense of demarcation, the same way as there was with the waste. Out here, there wasn’t quite the frequency of elementals. There were still some wild elementals, but there weren’t nearly as many as there were within the village itself. It left him thinking the bondars on the buildings were enough to protect and create a welcoming sense for the elementals.
If that were the case, then why here?
It had to do with the Convergence, he was certain of it, but he didn’t really know what it was about the Convergence that drew the elementals and why they would be compelled to come here.
Perhaps that was something else he would need to look into.
He didn’t know if he would ever have time to do so. There were so many different things needing to be done.
There was something else he would have to talk to Master Minden about. If anyone would understand the need to look into many different things at one time, it would be the master librarian.
“Are you going to guide me to a water elemental?”
“You want to do that now?”
“I thought we would.”
Tolan looked around. There was a stream running along the outer edge of the village. They could head there. He was certain they would find elementals within that stream that they could use and access, and perhaps Ferrah would find someone within it that she could speak to. If she were able to connect to even a single elemental, it would be better. She might be able to truly understand the nature of the elementals. She might be able to find a way to trust them, and to trust what Tolan was doing.
Not that she didn’t trust now. It was a trust founded on what he told her, not on what she believed. Eventually, she would need to have her own beliefs. She would need to know what they were doing, and she would need to know whether there was anything she could add to it.
Tolan could practically feel that need. He could feel the energy all around him. It was reassuring coming here. It was more than just reassuring: It was a sense of comfort. Surrounded as he was by the elements, the elementals, and the sense of everything here, he recognized their desire to be here. It was one he shared.
No wonder the others had come here, searching for a place they could call home. No wonder they had been willing to stay.
The villagers had turned this into something more. It was impressive in a way even Amitan wasn’t. It didn’t need the Shapers Paths, the palaces, or even the Academy to have that impressive nature to it. It was more about the elementals, the life existing here, the sense of everything. It was simple, and powerful.
Ferrah looked over at him. “Perhaps the timing isn’t quite right.”
“I just think we need to do one thing at a time,” he said.
“Now you’re taking my advice?”
“Better late than never.”
“I thought it would be never when it came to you.”
Tolan searched along the village, taking in the side of the buildings, the elementals, the energy, and then grabbed for Ferrah before drawing the warrior shaping around him. As the power surged through him, they exploded upward, carried out into the waste.
When he landed, he waited a moment for that jarring sensation to pass. It came each time he entered the waste and while he had come to terms with it, it didn’t mean he liked it. When he looked around, he wasn’t surprised to see there were others here. He needed to find his father. Searching out with spirit, Tolan found him working near the earth elemental Guardian.
“I know what we need to do,” he said.
“Tolan, we have more experience with bondars than you do. I know you want to help, but—”
“I know what we need to do. I went to the Convergence and I used the knowledge I had borrowed from everyone here before. You’re right.”
Maybe he should’ve started with that. Who wouldn’t want to know they were right?
> “Right about what?”
“The bondars. The need to be formed all at the same time. When they are, then the next step can be placed.”
“What next step?”
“You have to seal them.”
“Seal them? That isn’t how bondars work.”
“Not generally, but these are different. You have to think about them as something other than your traditional bondars. The way these work is tied not only to the bondar in the runes you place in them, but also tied to the energy of the Convergence. There has to be a bridging between them.”
It was that sense that had come to him. He thought it had come because of the knowledge he’d gleaned from the villagers when he had stepped into the Convergence, but why would they have known about it?
Maybe it came from something else.
There was no doubt in his mind he was connected to something else when he stepped into the Convergence. He had heard those voices, and through those voices, Tolan was able to use that sense of power, to recognize there was something greater out there. Perhaps that something greater was guiding him more directly than he had known before.
If so, then why?
Because the bond needed to be formed. The bondars needed to be rebuilt. The Guardians needed to be sealed back to the Convergence. Then he needed to go looking at the other side of the waste. He needed to head beyond.
“Tell me what you think you know.”
“We have to bridge the connection. That’s why they keep shattering. When you’re forming the bondars here, you’re sealing them to the Guardians, but they have to be formed between the Guardian and the Convergence.” That was what his time there had shown him. To bridge it, it was going to take the bondars being formed here, but it would also take him stepping into the Convergence again, drawing upon that power. It would require a considerable effort, and he suspected the strength involved would be massive. Even within the Convergence, he might not have the energy to withstand what it would take for them to step across the distance. It involved using power from the elemental village out over the waste.
“Do you think this can be done?” his father asked.
At least he didn’t question whether or not Tolan was right.
The Elements Bond (Elemental Academy Book 7) Page 4