Elemental Unity

by Maddy Edwards

  “Why would President Yeast show up for just this?” Averett asked, just joining us.

  Keegan said, “She misses her youth, probably. We’ll see her at a party around campus later on. Maybe she was the one who buried something when she was young, and she’s also the one who dug it up.”

  Averett gave Keegan a long look, then sighed.

  “Sorry. I phrased that wrong. Ricky, why would President Yeast show up like this?”

  Eighellie covered her mouth to hide her amusement.

  “Because she thinks it’s important,” was all I said.

  “All right. Nothing to see here! Everyone move on,” Professor Korba called out. Ostelle glanced my way before she did as the professor ordered. I wanted to linger, since President Yeast was still presiding over the hole in the ground, but since I knew that would only raise suspicions, I turned on my heel and made my way back to Astra. Keegan came with me instead of returning to his treehouse, Eighellie following closely behind.

  Once we were safely in the Astra kitchen Eighellie said, “All right. Spill.”

  “What?” I asked, going over to the stove to make tea. I mean, it was the middle of winter. There was just going to be a lot of tea.

  “What’s on your mind? How do you know that hole is important?” she asked.

  “Sigil told me yesterday that there was someone who worked here a long time ago who used to dig holes around campus. No one ever found out why, but he was an expert in a lot of fields, including artifacts,” I said. “Sigil thinks he was burying artifacts to keep them safe.”

  Eighellie gasped. Keegan shook his head and asked, “So Hunters dug the hole in an effort to find the rest of the objects on the Counter Wheel?”

  “Probably,” I said.

  “And President Yeast knows that?”

  “Looks like,” I said as the kettle started to whistle.

  “What did Sigil think you should do about it? How do the Hunters know where to look and we don’t?”

  “Probably because they’re career criminals and we’re students,” said Eighellie.

  “Don’t be rude just because you’re jealous,” said Keegan.

  “I’ll be a career criminal someday too,” she retorted.

  “We’ll come visit you in Paranormal Prison,” said Keegan.

  “Thanks ever so,” said Eighellie.

  “No problem,” said Keegan.

  “None of that explains what we should be doing right now,” said Eighellie.

  They were both looking at me. I shifted from foot to foot.

  “I have something we could do, but it’s dangerous,” I said.

  “Excellent,” said Keegan, grinning. “Let’s hear it.”

  I told them about the idea of sneaking into Volans to get the Digger’s papers. Eighellie loved it, while Keegan lost some of his initial enthusiasm. “Volans, huh? Crazy pixies,” he said.

  “You’re part pixie yourself,” Eighellie pointed out.

  “Yeah, but I don’t like to talk about it,” said Keegan.

  Eighellie rolled her eyes. “Ricky and I will go, then. You can stay here and guard Astra.”

  “What am I, no good for anything?” Keegan demanded.

  “You’re good for some stuff. Just not this,” she shrugged.

  “All right, well, if we’re going to persist in our criminal activities, I need to go get ready.” Eighellie hopped off the stool and disappeared upstairs.

  “I’m going to get ready as well,” Keegan said. “Three hours of video games should do it.” He disappeared into one of the lounges.

  We met in the Astra foyer once night had fallen. We dimmed the lights, but I left my bedroom light on with the curtains drawn so it would look as if I were home. Eighellie showed up in her typical black clothing. This time she had even put a hat on to cover her blond hair. Keegan lumbered up wearing several more layers than usual.

  “Afraid you’ll be cold?” Eighellie asked.

  “No, just thought I’d bring a couple of tree spells with me in case all of this goes south. That should buy us enough time to get away,” he said.

  “I brought the plans for Volans. They say the library is up in one of the atriums,” she said, glancing down at the paper in her hands. “That’s probably where the Digger’s personal papers are kept.”

  “Great. Good thinking,” said Keegan with approval.

  Eighellie looked at him with surprise. “I’m so glad you’re taking this seriously.”

  We headed out. The campus was mostly quiet, though there were still a few students around. Eighellie walked with purpose, defying anyone to wonder why she looked like she was going to break in somewhere.

  Because she was.

  We had almost reached Volans when Beatrice, the transfer vampire, showed up, walking alone. She smiled and waved.

  “Too friendly. What is wrong with her? Doesn’t she know she’s a vampire?” Eighellie muttered.

  “She’s fine. Might as well have a little friendliness around here,” said Keegan.

  Eighellie wanted to say something else, but Beatrice had already reached us.

  “What are you three up to?” she asked.

  “Heading to the library. Figured we’d start studying,” said Keegan.

  “Is it true you have your own treehouse?” she asked him.

  Eighellie cleared her throat.

  “Yes, that’s the case,” said Keegan, turning slightly pink.

  “How fun! I’d love to see it sometime! In the woods, right?” The vampire smiled, eyes bright and brimming.

  “Sure. Um, maybe. Yeah,” said Keegan.

  “Great! Good luck studying!” she said.

  “Studying?” he asked.

  “What you said you were going to do?” She smiled again.

  “Right. Yeah, to the library we go,” he said.

  Eighellie and I started moving so that the awkwardness would stop. Keegan hurried to keep up.

  “I hate her,” said Eighellie.

  “Girls are so unreasonable about other girls. Might as well be nice,” said Keegan.

  “No. We’re under no obligation to be nice. We’re at war with the Hunters in every way but name,” she said.

  “Beatrice is a Hunter now?” said Keegan.

  “No. I didn’t mean that. I just meant, oh, never mind,” she hissed.

  We were close to the dorm now. Instead of walking down the center of the path, we started to try and fade into the shadows of the trees and bushes alongside it.

  Luckily, we didn’t pass anyone else.

  And then there was the Volans dorm. Like Cruor, Volans had taken on a life of its own. Except that unlike the castle stronghold of the vampires, Volans had had to be rebuilt in the past few years after it sustained damage during the Nocturn war. At first they’d thought the building could be saved, but the pixies had insisted it couldn’t.

  Eighellie wasn’t going to take us through the front door, but there really was no simple way to get in.

  One side of Volans was edged with large, lush gardens, a beautiful and different world where many of the pixies spent most of their time. Our goal was to avoid that side of the dorm at all costs. On the other side was the service entrance. Volans more than any other place on campus was like a hotel now. The pixies insisted on being treated exceptionally well.

  A beautiful structure—indeed, a work of art—the pixies’ dorm appeared to be made of bricks of white glass. Sip hadn’t been pleased about the cost, but to appease the pixies she had let it happen.

  But of course, as with most adversarial relationships, nothing was ever enough. The pixies were never pleased, no matter how much was done for them.

  At the time of the construction, not rebuilding the dorm might have cost Sip more, but I wasn’t certain she had gained enough to make the cost worth it.

  “Do you think this place will always be under construction?” Keegan muttered.

  “Public? For as long as we’re here, anyway,” said Eighellie.

  The side
entrance that we were headed for was in the middle of a thick planting of shrubs. Keegan’s magic still worked pretty well there, thank goodness, and he reached out to brush the branches out of our way.

  “I thought this was a service entrance. Why are there so many branches in the way?” Keegan asked.

  “It’s an old service entrance, part of the original building that was left standing. But they don’t use it anymore,” Eighellie explained.

  The door looked like it was rusted shut. Not only that, but it had a strangely ornate handle, long and thin, almost like an arrow pointing downwards.

  Eighellie seized the handle and tugged.

  Nothing happened.

  She tried again.

  “Ricky?” she asked when her efforts turned out to be futile.

  “Huh? Oh sure,” I said.

  We both grabbed the handle. My ring burned, no doubt in reaction to the pixie Glamours. Essence spiraled out of me in black waves. I could feel Eighellie’s power there as well, no less potent than mine.

  The door jiggled, then held. We put more of our strength into it, and finally the door shook itself open. I winced as a great screeching noise filled the air. If any pixies were on the other side of that door, they knew we were coming now.

  “Let’s go,” said Eighellie. The door was open about a foot, enough to let her peer inside. “I can’t see anything,” she said.

  I held up my hand and let a little ball of flame flicker.

  “Ah. Better. Thanks,” she said, and went inside.

  We were about to break half of the important school rules that I knew about, and probably a few more that I wasn’t yet familiar with.

  “Here goes nothing,” I muttered

  Chapter Seventeen

  Once inside, we were in blackness. Only my fire lit the way. All around us I could see piles of boxes, bags, used furniture, and other discarded items. There was even a stack of very old-looking pots and pans that had no doubt lost their usefulness.

  “Pixies aren’t clean, are they,” Eighellie said. “Why doesn’t someone come down here and clean all of this up?” she wondered.

  “Nasty, lazy creatures,” Keegan suggested.

  Eighellie nodded. “I guess so.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  Eighellie held the map up to her nose and started to look. For a long minute all I could hear was distant laughter and the drip, drip of water somewhere nearby.

  “Uh oh,” Eighellie said.

  “What now?” I asked.

  “These plans don’t match what’s here. I think the layout was changed when they rebuilt the dorm,” she said.

  Keegan smacked his forehead. “We’re doomed.”

  “Are you serious?” I demanded.

  Eighellie looked around frantically. “I thought they were the new plans. I guess the new plans weren’t reviewed by the planning board. Not surprising. The pixies would want to keep their secrets. There’s supposedly a huge store of Glamour somewhere around here. They wouldn’t want a map to lead thieves right to it.”

  “We can’t just search for the library randomly,” I told her.

  “Maybe there’s a directory in one of the front rooms,” she suggested.

  “Who’s going to go find out?” Keegan demanded.

  We all stood silently. Eighellie chewed her lip, deep in thought.

  “What about sensing wood? Can you do that?” asked Eighellie desperately.

  At first the tree sprite didn’t even realize that she was speaking to him.

  “What do you mean?” Keegan asked.

  “You’re a tree sprite! Your power is with trees, right? They’re wood. Books are always on shelves make of wood. I’m not saying it’s perfect. They probably have a kitchen or a dining hall with wooden tables, but I think it’s our only shot at this point,” she said.

  Keegan gave me a look that said everything, without his having to utter a single word.

  Eighellie saw it too and braced her hands on her hips. “Don’t you dare! If you want to make a different suggestion, I’m all ears!”

  “No, I mean, I’ve never done anything like that, but I’ll give it a try,” said Keegan.

  Eighellie’s eyes widened in surprise. Then she said, simply, “Okay.”

  Keegan gave one sharp nod and closed his eyes. Instantly, his hands started to glow. He took a few steps forward, then careened a bit sideways. Eighellie and I both reached out to steady him, but he managed to right himself without our help.

  We waited.

  Sweat broke out on his brow.

  I found myself staring down the hallway, which was the only exit from this space besides the one we’d come through. There was no one and nothing coming, but my stomach was still in knots.

  Finally, Keegan opened his eyes with a gasp. He staggered against an old table but managed to hold himself upright.

  “What did you see?” Eighellie asked.

  “The forest. I found the forest. I can sense wood! Eighellie, you’re a bloody genius!” Keegan grabbed up the darkness mage and swung her around in a tight circle.

  Eighellie grabbed his arms and braced herself. He quickly put her down.

  “I’ll try to find the library now,” he said, and shut his eyes again.

  Eighellie glanced at me and shook her head. I smiled a bit. Once Keegan took hold of an idea, his enthusiasm was legendary.

  Keegan kept his eyes closed.

  We waited.

  There was so much stuff down wherever we were in the basement of the Volans dorm that I found myself wondering if one of the objects on the Counter Wheel could be here.

  If it was, I felt reasonably certain that no one would ever find it. The space was such a mess, I’d be impressed if the Hunters ever bothered to search through this stuff at all.

  Finally Keegan opened his eyes. “I think I know where it is. I think I can get us there. It’s either the library or a wood shop. What do you guys think?”

  I shrugged. I thought Eighellie was a genius. But all I said was, “There’s only one way to find out.”

  Keegan gave another sharp nod. “This way. What do we do if we run into any pixies?”

  “You leave that to me,” Eighellie said.

  “Okay. Will do,” said Keegan with raised eyebrows.

  The dorm itself was breathtaking. Money had obviously been poured into it. It wasn’t just like a hotel, it was like a beautiful, expensive hotel. There was glass and green everywhere. The carpets were green, the furniture was green, and there was living and breathing foliage all around us. Large plants adorned the walls. The glow from sconces was gentle. There was nothing harsh about this place. It was like an oasis.

  “If this place were a spa, it would be where I’d want to get a massage,” said Eighellie.

  “I didn’t understand half of what you just said. Also, please don’t say it again,” said Keegan.

  “Don’t worry. You can come to the spa with me,” she offered.

  “Make her stop, won’t you?” Keegan begged, glancing at me.

  Then he looked around and said, slightly surprised, “Okay, here we are. I think this staircase is for servants and employees. We’re less likely to get into trouble if we go this way.”

  He stopped at a plain-looking door in the wall and opened it. Sure enough, it was just like a hotel again: it was a non-public space that wasn’t stunning. The staircase we were now facing was entirely normal, with high concrete walls. There was nothing of the beautiful foliage in the rooms we had just been walking through.

  “Where is everybody, anyway?” Keegan asked.

  “A lot of them are outside,” said Eighellie. “Some of them are probably in their rooms. Others might be around campus, like at the library or something.”

  “I just don’t believe we aren’t going to run into anyone,” Keegan insisted gloomily.

  “Try,” she said. One of her hands was clenched into a fist. I wondered what she was holding, but I knew better than to inquire.

 
; When we reached the third floor, Keegan cautiously pushed the stairwell door open. After glancing in both directions, he nodded. “All clear.”

  We followed him through the door into yet another corridor, this one with a darker green carpet but generally no less spectacular than the one we’d been in a few minutes before.

  “This is the first and only time in my life that I’ve wished I were a pixie,” said Keegan.

  “You are part pixie,” Eighellie reminded him again.

  “Oh, yeah,” he said.

  Straight in front of us at the end of the hall was a sign that said “Library.” The doors were glass; beyond was darkness.

  “Shouldn’t the library be open right now?” I asked.

  “It’s only open during the day. They don’t want pixies in the library at night. They want them to use the campus library. This one is more specialized. It’s not a comfortable space for study,” Eighellie explained.

  “Now I understand,” I said. I really didn’t, but I didn’t see the need to go into it.

  The library doors were shaped like a large leaf, and they were locked. The doorknobs were big and strange. “What’s wrong with a normal doorknob?” I muttered.

  “Good question,” said Keegan.

  Eighellie stood aside, having decided to let me open this one on my own. I reached out with my right hand. My ring had been humming since we’d entered Volans, and now was no different. The magic seeped out of me and coiled around the leaf.

  Suddenly the doorknob flared under my touch, startling me so much that I pulled my hand back and stared. For a brief moment my handprint was illuminated, then it dimmed.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “The spell is fighting you,” said Eighellie. “They’re rejecting your presence. I’m not surprised. This is a paranormal school. They’re going to have really good defenses.”

  “Sure. Great. The question is, what do I do about it?” I demanded.

  “You have to try harder. Obviously. I did,” she said. Then she covered her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing and gave me a look as if to repeat herself: “I had to deal with it, and now you do as well.”