My friends hadn’t come back to Astra with me when classes were over, and they weren’t in Penny’s classroom when I arrived. Keegan came in a few minutes later, his hair tousled as if he’d been high in the air, so I figured he had probably gone to the treehouse. Since Eighellie wasn’t with him, I figured she had gone to her own dorm.
“So what’s the deal with Cornerstone this semester?” Averett asked.
“We are hoping to do four, but perhaps less intensive than the ones from last time,” said Professor Penny. He spoke slowly and deliberately. It took him forever just to say that.
“Is that wise given all the threats on campus?” Hannah asked. We all turned stare at her, well aware that Hannah herself was one of the biggest threats on campus. She didn’t look at us, but maintained eye contact with the professor.
She was trying to look innocent. She was failing.
“The president of Public believes he can keep the students safe,” said Penny. “Anyone who has infiltrated campus is looking for something on the grounds. They have no interest in harming students. Therefore, it is really no more dangerous for any of you now than it has been during any other semester.”
“Feels like it was decently dangerous other semesters, and I didn’t miss Cornerstone at all,” said Keegan.
“I bet you’d be singing a different tune if we won,” said Ostelle.
“The likelihood that we’re going to win Cornerstone is slim to none,” Keegan shot back. “The Hellcats are too good.”
“If they’re too good under the rules of Cornerstone, then we have to figure out how to do something differently,” Candace put in. “Remember last semester when we talked about taking advantage of having darkness mages on our team? We also have Ricky and his essence on our team. We’re stacked, so to speak. We should be able to make something of all that.” She glanced at Greek for approval and found him nodding his head in agreement.
“Did you have a specific suggestion in mind?” Averett asked.
Candace chewed her lip. “Not exactly. I feel like it would be easier to figure something out if we knew what our first Cornerstone was going to be.”
Now we all looked at Professor Penny, who raised his eyebrows, then slowly lowered his chin, then moved his hands to the desk and started shifting papers around. Averett stared at the ceiling and Greek tapped his foot, looking like he wanted to bolt out of the room in frustration.
Finally the professor found what he was looking for. “The first Cornerstone is fire. There will be three rings, one representing each team. The rings will be three stories high and three stories wide. The object of the game is to get your opponent through the ring. How you choose to do that is up to you.”
“Oh, good,” said Keegan.
Chapter Eleven
A week flew past. We were just getting into the swing of new classes. It had already snowed once. A lot of it melted, but some hung on the ground, going from white to a brownish gray as the days went by. All the colors around campus were dull. I found myself staring into the Astra fires more often just to see a bright color.
So I was looking forward to Cornerstone, because I wanted to know who the elemental was. Whatever elemental power had attacked us before, I thought it might reappear during Cornerstone.
Anticipation hung in the air, along with a little bit of fear. I had the impression that some of the staff and professors were bracing for what was to come.
Students broke out in fights every day. The battles got so bad that there was talk of separating the types altogether. If pixies couldn’t get along with the Strange, for example, then maybe it was time the two groups went their separate ways.
It turned out that there was a new freshman dream giver on campus, but he was no relation to either of the dream givers I already knew. He was often picked on, getting shoved into walls and lockers on a regular basis. He was especially tormented by the vampires. I heard through the grapevine that he’d been put on the Hellcats team.
Of all the teams that had no intention of looking out for him, that would be top of the list, but at least now some of the rarest and most sought-after paranormals were on other teams. Even if the Hellcats didn’t recognize it, a dream giver was almost as valuable as an elemental. This freshman, Logan, was now part of a rare group, a group that Hunters would stop at almost nothing to get their hands on.
In fact, he was in so much danger that he rarely went out; unlike me and my friends, he didn’t have anyone to look out for him. His isolation made me understand much more vividly how useful it was to have the likes of Averett and Keegan looking out for me. Especially Averett, who would throw you against the wall as soon as look at you. In that way she was much like her queen. She was also much like the most powerful darkness mage in the world.
We got little outside news. I continued to wonder what Lisabelle was investigating, and what she had come up with. Had she found her own dream giver? Had she been led to the Hunters? Did she have any more information on Sip?
These were things I desperately wanted the answers to, but since I didn’t have them, I had to content myself with continuing to look for the artifacts. I found myself wandering down quiet hallways, through nearly abandoned parts of campus, in places where artifacts were displayed on dusty shelves.
There was no indication that there was anything special in any of them. In fact, most of these places looked downright neglected. There were more pressing issues at hand than keeping the school spiffy.
Like war.
President Yeast had started to throw her weight around in paranormal government. Her power had not yet reached Public, but it was only a matter of time. She was issuing many decrees about behavior and what different paranormal types should and shouldn’t do, what different types should look out for, and what we should be afraid of. Eighellie continued to take issue with all of it. As she had said often enough before, she didn’t like fear. She rejected it as an emotion.
At least she only rejected one. Lisabelle rejected them all.
To my surprise, Rake had so far stayed on campus. The previous semester he had spent days or weeks away looking for valuable artifacts, but he went nowhere these days, at least for the first week of classes.
I saw him a daily basis even when we didn’t have class, and he always seemed busy and preoccupied. Whatever was going through his mind, it wasn’t something he shared with the likes of me.
I did wonder if maybe he knew where the important artifacts were hidden around Public. Maybe he knew he didn’t have to go anywhere to find what mattered most, or to find those who were looking for the artifacts. Hunters were here. Dobrov had announced it.
My only comfort during that first week was writing to Charlotte. Lisabelle had given me an address for her. It wasn’t where she was hidden, just a post office box to send letters to. If I sent something, then someone trustworthy would pick it up and see that it got to my sister.
That would be the chain of events that would eventually deliver the letter to Charlotte, who would send one in return by a similar method. It was a long and involved process, and sometimes I found waiting frustrating. I wanted to know what my sister thought on topics right now, not weeks from now. What good would weeks from now do me?
None.
Still, I wrote to her. I wrote my questions. I told her stuff just so she’d tell me stuff back.
Then I waited.
I didn’t really have any interest in sharing what went on in my life, but I wanted to hear as much as I could about my little niece, an innocent in all this trouble. I was immensely proud to be an uncle even if the thought was still strange and the child was still a stranger to me.
My first letter went like this:
Dear Charlotte, Keller, and little Vera,
School is cold this time of year. Without you here we have stopped having lectures, Charlotte. I found that I’ve actually missed experts coming in and talking to us, testifying to their knowledge on subjects we would never be exposed to in our regular course of s
tudy. I know that’s what college is supposed to be about anyway, but there was something freeing in simply listening to the visitors. Without having to take a test, there’s less pressure. I found myself more able to enjoy that sort of lecture. Of course we have excellent professors, but like I said, it isn’t the same.
I get the impression that President Yeast is trying to stifle any real learning here. I don’t know that you want me to write her name but there it is. I don’t think she wants us to learn. I don’t think she has any respect for what we can do with useful information. She wants us to sit quietly until we are done.
As I’m sure you know, the High Council has reformed. I do believe they’re trying to effect changes in structure and artifact safety. Somehow they think that their re-formation will help the types get along. They’ve been together for months now and our relations are only disintegrating.
But I don’t want you to worry, at least not about me. I’m doing fine and school isn’t so bad. There’s a new dream giver on campus who has made me all the more appreciative of my friends. Both Keegan and Eighellie are with me most of the time. They’ve found that Astra is a nice place to stay. As you know, being a darkness mage these days can be difficult. Eighellie carries it well.
Keegan spends a lot of time in his tree house. Amazingly enough, what he still thinks is most important about it is that he can drink hot chocolate there. We’ve tried to tell him that he can drink hot chocolate anywhere, but for some reason he thinks it’s better when drunk in a tree. Eighellie and I have given up arguing with him about it.
I hope this letter finds you well. I wish I could see you. I wish I could have seen you for Christmas. The Duke made it clear that your gifts from me were delivered.
I appreciate your gift to me as well. Keegan instantly took it and started playing the video game you gave me. He thought I had the coolest sister in the world. Of course I assured him that he was correct.
You probably heard that Trafton is no longer a teacher here. I suspect he has some serious motive for stopping, but he’s missed.
And again I suspect that you knew that. I wish we could be together to speak openly about these topics and so many others. You know more about everything than I do. I’m sure that whatever Trafton is doing, he’s having a grand time of it.
Hopefully he’ll return to visit Rake soon. The two of them grew close team teaching last semester. The only other information I have for you is that Cornerstone is starting up again. I must admit that I’m excited about it. There’s something about live battle that’s more engaging than reading about it in books. I suppose especially when my life isn’t in danger.
I will write again soon. Please write to me as well. I miss you all at the cottage. It was nice when you were just outside the door.
Ricky
P.S. If you’ve heard anything else about Sip I’d like to hear it. I hope you understand that I’m no longer a child who needs to be coddled. I am here to help. Always.
I hesitated before writing that last line. Putting pen to paper was dangerous, but I felt that it had to be said. The letter would get to my sister safely, I felt certain.
I hesitated again because I wanted to say something about Lough, but there was nothing to say, so I quickly sent the letter off. I had a busy night that evening and couldn’t dawdle.
It would be our first Cornerstone of the school year, centered around rings of fire. The Lightmares had put a lot of effort into our game plan. Candace had had a brilliant idea. Even Hannah had been forced to admit how impressive it all was. She thought we might actually win. The rest of us thought the same. My biggest worry stemmed from the Hellcats. The new dream giver notwithstanding, they were a nasty bunch.
Palmer had been walking around all day smirking. He clearly believed that they too had a good game plan, and I was sure they did. Maybe it was even better than ours, but they didn’t have our firepower. They didn’t have an elemental. They didn’t have as much darkness. Sometimes the only way to win was to start seeing what we felt were weaknesses as dangerous capabilities. I have an affinity for fire. Tonight I had every intention of using it.
Chapter Twelve
“Let’s go,” a voice yelled from the other side of the door. It was Keegan, waiting for me outside.
I hurried to join him. Snow had started drifting down, not heavy yet but giving me the feeling that before Cornerstone was over it might be.
Eighellie was waiting for us on the path, standing still in the falling snow. Her cheeks were pink from cold and she had her arms wrapped tightly over her chest. She glared at me as I came out. “Come on. It’s freezing out here,” she said.
“The game is outside,” I told her. “We’re going to be out here for hours.”
“I don’t care. I still want to spend as little time as possible being cold.”
Just as we started to walk, the Burble siblings passed us. The only girl, Buky, gave us a glare. One of the twins was on the Razorhawks group; Buky was a Hellcat. They all looked ready for battle.
“Hurry up so we can throw you through that ring of fire,” she called over her shoulder.
“You don’t look like you could throw an apple through a ring of fire, let alone an entire paranormal,” said Keegan.
Buky’s face was flat. She was neither big nor strong, but she spun on her heel at Keegan’s words. “How dare you speak about a lady like that! Take it back or I’ll have my brothers fight you.”
Her brothers looked slightly uncomfortable, and Eighellie was already impatient with the delay. She stamped her foot. She had just said she wanted to spend as little time as possible cold, and now here we were, fighting in the snow.
“I’m not going to take it back. It’s the truth. I just told you that you couldn’t throw an entire paranormal. You think you can?” Keegan asked.
Hannah glared at him. “I am stronger than I look,” she said.
“But you aren’t exactly pretty,” said one of the twins.
Buky went utterly still. Even Eighellie raised her eyebrows. It was one thing to know such a thing but another to have it said out loud, especially by your brother, who wasn’t exactly pretty himself.
Very slowly Buky turned around. She marched right up to her brother, her other two brothers looking more concerned with every step she took.
The twins took a physical step back, but the brother who had insulted her did not appear to have as much sense as the other two. When Buky pulled back her little fist and slammed it into his stomach, he still just stood there looking surprised. Then he doubled over choking. His two brothers laughed and pointed at him.
Eighellie smiled. “Okay, she made the right choice there.”
“You ever hit a guy before?” Keegan asked Eighellie as the three of us left the siblings to argue it out among themselves.
As we walked away, we heard Buky’s voice raised in anger at all of her brothers. She seemed to think that they should have defended her honor. One of the brothers, maybe it was the one with the bruised stomach, said she didn’t have any honor to defend.
“I don’t have a brother to call me not pretty,” said Eighellie.
“Probably because you’re pretty,” Keegan said. Then his ears turned so pink that Eighellie couldn’t help but notice how embarrassed he was. She didn’t say a word.
“There’s the team,” I said.
The Lightmares had gathered by the Skeleton Tower, and there were other students milling around as well. The Hellcats were huddled together, whispering excitedly. I wondered if they were waiting for Buky to show up, but decided probably not. Palmer had enough conniving in him for all of them put together.
Snow was still drifting down from the sky, but very lightly. If it got heavier as the evening wore on it would make this game all the more difficult.
Greek strode up to us as we came near, Candace turning away from him as he did so. The air crackled between them. Several other fallen angels on the team glanced away. Even Hannah, who was examining one perfectly manicured na
il, glanced up to see what the tension was about.
“Trouble in paradise?” she asked.
“If you don’t shut up right now I will shut you up. Mark my words. I’m tired of being the nice fallen angel,” growled Candace.
Eyebrows all around the circle rose.
Hannah smirked. “I see love was denied. Don’t worry. You’ll still get to go to his wedding. It will just be to somebody else.”
“Shut up, Hannah,” said Averett.
Unlike Candace, Averett was scary. Hannah still wanted to make it clear that she bowed to nobody, but even so, her knees wobbled a little at the sight of Averett.
“Let’s gather around and go over the game plan again,” said Greek, clearing his throat. Candace gave him a desperate look and turned away again.
Pretty soon she’d be dizzy.
Since she couldn’t take out her fury on Greek, she turned to Averett. As the rest of us drifted away I heard her whisper angrily, “I don’t need your help. I don’t need some vampire coming to my defense.”
“I didn’t want to hear another word out of that pixie’s mouth,” Averett whispered back. “It had nothing to do with defending you. Tell me what to do again though. I dare you.” I shivered to hear the threat in her voice.
Candace stayed silent this time, and simply strode past me. Without so much as a backward glance she went as far away from Greek as possible. Greek was looking down at a piece of paper, seemingly oblivious, but I saw his eyes flicker. He was aware of where Candace was and where she was not.
As we gathered around the burly fallen angel, Averett gave me a shake of her head. She bent her head close to mine and said, “Remind me never to fall in love. Falling in life is difficult enough.”
I glanced at her and then away. Averett might or might not have feelings, but I knew perfectly well that she would never let them get in the way of killing something or someone if she thought it was necessary.
Elemental Unity Page 8