Mark of Four

by Tamara Shoemaker

  “’Cause you had a First-Year’s help,” Trent grinned. The leaves drifted down to the floor and lay still.

  “Did not.”

  “Did, too.”

  Alayne wished she hadn’t signed up for the class. Jayme elbowed her. “Well done, Alayne. I could feel you touching the air element.”

  “You could?”

  “Yeah. That’s progress for me.” He grinned. “I couldn’t even do that this morning.” He held up his hand.

  Alayne hesitated and then gave him a high-five. “Well, congrats then.”

  The gong sounded at that moment. Professor Sprynge looked up from where he watched another group’s efforts at motion-stop. “Okay, class dismissed. Thank you, Professor Kilbrick, for letting us invade. Who would you say won the challenge?”

  Professor Kilbrick flapped her hands nervously against her face as she glanced around the room. “Miss Hayden is my recommendation, Professor Sprynge.” She pointed to a student near the front who sat limply in her chair, sweat sliding in rivulets down her temples. A collapsed puddle of water spread across the floor in front of her. “Miss Hayden wins the extra credit for today.”

  “Miss Hayden it is,” Professor Sprynge agreed. He walked to the podium to gather the notes he’d left on Kilbrick’s desk.

  Alayne rose to her feet.

  “Oh, Miss Worth?”

  Alayne glanced in surprise at the professor.

  “Chairman Dorner has asked that you come to see him in the head office as soon as you are done with my class.”

  Alayne swallowed. “Yes, sir.” She exchanged a look with Jayme.

  He shrugged. “You couldn’t possibly be in trouble. What have you done?”

  “Nothing that I know of.” She couldn’t help wondering if she had done something, though.

  “Want me to walk with you?”

  “I’ll be fine.” She wondered if she would be. She shrugged her bag over her shoulder and headed out the door.

  Chapter 7

  Alayne’s stomach hit the ceiling as the car free-fell past the dormitories and the commissary, down to the Chairman’s office a level above the gymnasium. Her queasiness might or might not have had to do with the speed. She couldn’t think what she could have done that would warrant a call to the Chairman’s office.

  She rewound the day frame by frame and finally settled on her chat with Professor Manders after History of Elementals that morning. That must be it. She was getting into more trouble for falling asleep in class.

  The chute door slid open into a reception area. A secretary sat at her desk, an earpiece in her ear. In the air in front of her, an image of a woman moved her mouth silently. The secretary nodded in agreement. “One moment, please. I’ll connect you to him.” She touched the image and swiped sideways. The image disappeared.

  Alayne approached the desk, chewing on her lip.

  “Can I help you?” the secretary asked.

  “I’m Alayne Worth. Chairman Dorner wanted to see me.”

  “Ah, Miss Worth. Aren’t you the image of your mother.” She studied Alayne briefly as she tapped her red fingernails on the desk and then stood. “The Chairman is on a call at the moment, but if you have a seat on the bench over there, I’ll let you know when he’s ready.”

  “You know my mother?” Alayne asked politely, trying to make the connection.

  A pink flush tinged the secretary’s cheeks. “A former acquaintance from a few years ago in—your City Centre.” She rose and circled the desk, straightening the stacks of magazines on the table. She stood aside as Alayne sank into the chair.

  “Thank you,” Alayne said as the secretary returned to her desk. Three benches lined the wall at an angle to Alayne’s. On coffee tables in front of the benches, collections of magazines lay stacked in organized piles. Alayne picked up a copy of Elemental Weekly.

  Taking deep breaths to calm herself, she flipped open the magazine to an article entitled Ten Worst Shadow-Casters in Elemental History and began to read.

  Simeon Malachi was number one on the list, no surprise there. The list of offenses he had committed before his imprisonment was long, bloody, and violent. The other names were unfamiliar to Alayne except number seven, Hans Jannis. His diamond earring winked at her from the portrait on the page. She shivered. Her gaze dropped down to the summary paragraph at the end of the article.

  Though these Shadow-Casters are currently imprisoned in the Continental Capital and remain under heavy guard—Alayne glanced at the date and realized the issue was two months old—their influence still flows through organizations like the Elemental Alliance, a self-proclaimed Elemental Supremacist group. Currently, thirty percent of High Court Justices publicly align themselves with this group, and the number threatens to grow. At this point in time, the High Court has declared equality for Elementals and Natural Humans. However, a motion has been submitted by the Alliance for reconsideration of that issue. The High Court is expected to convene within the year to vote on whether or not action is needed.

  Alayne jerked her head up as the secretary cleared her throat and stood.

  “Chairman Dorner will see you now, Miss Worth. Right this way, please.” She stepped toward a set of double doors behind her desk, wobbling on her high heels. Alayne followed.

  The secretary opened the office door. “Miss Worth, Chairman.”

  Alayne recognized the tall, thin man with a sparse comb-over from his earlier greeting on the school MIUs. The man rose from behind a massive cherry wood desk. “Thank you, Tarry. Would you please take this message down to Grenton? It’s for Jon Harrington at the shuttle repair center. I need him to come check one of Clayborne’s shuttles.” He held out an envelope. “And please go now; I’d like to have this taken care of before this evening. Please, Miss Worth, come in.”

  Alayne edged past the secretary as Tarry gathered her purse and headed for the elevator doors. As soon as she disappeared into the chute, the Chairman closed the door, leaving the cloying scent of lilac in the air. The Chairman motioned Alayne to one of two cushioned chairs in front of his desk. She settled herself into one, giving a cursory glance around the office. The desk was the main centerpiece, and in the corner stood a solitary filing cabinet. Some people still had paper backup, even in this day of holographic media systems. Along one whole wall, a massive fish tank had been built into the siding. Brilliant fish of all shapes, colors, and sizes swam through the bright coral arrangements and castles and sunken ship carcasses that had been scattered through the pebbles at the bottom. The Chairman noticed where Alayne had focused her gaze.

  “You like that?”

  “I’ve never seen a tank so big.”

  “Thanks. Fish are a sort of hobby of mine. I’m a Water-Wielder; maybe my fascination with them makes sense.”

  Alayne smiled, unsure of what to say.

  “I’m sure you’re wondering what this is all about, Miss Worth. May I call you Alayne?”

  Alayne nodded, confusion clouding her mind. He certainly didn’t need to ask permission of a student to use their first name.

  The Chairman paced the office, his hands clasped firmly behind his back. “Alayne, when we got the test results back from your assessment, we thought surely there must have been a mistake—a malfunction with the MIUs or some such nonsense. But we have enough firewalls built into the systems that if there is a malfunction, the whole assessment center shuts down. We’ve double and triple checked the data that came through, and apparently, there has been no mistake.”

  Alayne was thoroughly confused now. “I’m sorry, sir, but ... what exactly are you talking about?”

  Chairman Dorner stopped his pacing and stared at her. “Oh, my dear girl, I’m so sorry. I know you don’t have any idea of the mad rush to figure out what’s been going on since your assessment.” He rubbed his forehead with his hand. “You see, Alayne, you’re what we call a Quadriweave. Or we believe you are, at any rate.” He paused to look at her and then shook his head at the confusion he must have seen in
her eyes. “I’m not explaining this very well.” He pursed his lips and picked up a paperweight on his desk, tossing it between his hands.

  He returned to his chair and sat down, plopping the paperweight back onto the desk and surveying Alayne seriously. “You’re the first Quadriweave we’ve ever had here at Clayborne, the first one, actually, that I know of anywhere since...” He broke off. “It’s really quite mind-blowing that you’ve shown up here, right here, at our school.” He stared at her, amazement sparking in his eyes.

  Alayne shifted beneath the Chairman’s gaze. After a moment, she found her tongue. “I’m sorry, Chairman, what exactly is a Quadriweave?”

  The Chairman rocked back in his seat and folded his thin hands across his stomach. “A Quadriweave is a weaver of all four elements. For instance, though the person may start out feeling a particular attachment to one element, as training begins, they will soon manage to master all four elements equally. A Quadriweave can intermingle elements all by herself. You see, Alayne—” he paused, then went on “—the rest of us Elementals, we have to work together to achieve a desired result if it involves more than one element on a large scale. If I wanted to make it rain warm water for a fun summer activity for my children, I would need both a Water-Wielder and a Fire-Breather to work together to make my little shower of water as warm as I wanted it.”

  Alayne shook her head slowly. “But I don’t understand. In Elementary Elementals today, we learned that we will be able to work with other elements that aren’t the ones we’re in control of.”

  Chairman Dorner nodded emphatically. “And so you can. Every student in this training facility will be able to work with all four elements at the end of this year, but only to a small extent. They will never be able to master the other elements. A Quadriweave, on the other hand, has the ability to master all four elements equally.” He regarded her silently for a moment. “It would be much the same as a goldfish swimming in his little bowl of water compared to a Great White Shark swimming in the ocean, Alayne. Elementals can tap a small amount of another element, but a Quadriweave has extensive use of all four.”

  “Sir, I’m no different from anyone else. I don’t know what the tests showed, but...”

  “You saw the tests right in front of you, Alayne. The color-wheels are representative of each element. The brighter they are, the stronger their influence in your abilities. Usually, when an Elemental sits for their assessment, they will see one or two color-wheels, all the same color, and only one that is bright enough to claim as their element. But you,” he picked up a pen and pointed it at her, “had sixteen color-wheels representing all four elements, all extremely bright.”

  Alayne searched for words. “But Dr. Grath labeled my plaque as a Water-Wielder. If I’m a Quadriweave, then why did he give me that label? And why didn’t he just tell me himself?”

  “Dr. Grath went by the information you gave him when you told him you enjoyed most water sports. He figured that was your natural starting element, and from your first day here, it appears he was right. He didn’t tell you that you were a Quadriweave, first, because he wanted to get a second opinion since Quadriweaves are so rare, and secondly, because we have to be extremely sensitive with this information.”

  “Why?”

  The Chairman got to his feet, picking up a box of fish food and opening a flap above the tank, scattering flakes across the top. He shook his head and sighed as he returned the box to its place. All the fish swarmed the surface of the water.

  “You saw me ask Tarry to run an errand. I didn’t want to have any chance of her overhearing this information. There are two reasons why you must keep this information to yourself, Alayne. First of all, you have the potential to wield so much power, and as much as you seem like a solid, well-grounded girl, that could pose a problem for you and for us later. I’m telling you now, because if you choose to, and I hope you will, you can use your extra talents for good. You will also be able to achieve success in your efforts more easily than other Elementals around you.” He eyed her, his hand picking restlessly at a piece of paper on his desk. He leaned forward. “But secondly, I’m warning you to be on your guard.”

  “Sir?”

  “Quadriweaves, Alayne, have great power. Power always attracts people who are greedy for power. If people know about your abilities, some will try to take advantage of you and what you can do. Now, since seeing your assessment results, I’ve been doing a lot of research on Quadriweaves, and there are still several questions that need to be resolved. The main thing I’m concerned about is Shadow-Casting.”

  Alayne flinched. Her mother’s warning before her last run up the mountain staccato-stepped through her mind: Once you’re Casted, you’re completely under their power.

  “I don’t know for sure the effect Shadow-Casting has on a Quadriweave—it’s possible that a Quadriweave’s abilities are so great that Shadow-Casting would not have any effect at all. But I don’t want to risk it; if a Shadow-Caster found out about your abilities, your very powerful abilities, do you see how dangerous that could be?”

  Alayne sat limply in her chair. She didn’t know what to say.

  “I can see I’ve overwhelmed you, Alayne, and I’m sorry. You shouldn’t worry. You’ll do well in your studies, and I am excited to see how your talents progress this year. Should be interesting. Meanwhile,” Chairman Dorner rose and circled the desk. “Not a word to anyone, do you understand? Not even your best friends. We don’t want word to get around.”

  Alayne nodded numbly. The Chairman opened his office door, smiling at her as she passed through it and hurried by Tarry’s desk.

  * * *

  Alayne jogged from her room down the hallway, entered the stairwell, and grabbed the rails. She jumped down each of the eighteen flights of stairs to the common room. It wasn’t crowded at this time of day. Most people still had classes.

  Alayne glanced down at her loose t-shirt and stretch pants. She wasn’t sure what dress code was required for her hockey class, but she hoped she wouldn’t stand out too much. Since she was late, she would draw enough attention as it was.

  She hit the chute running and dropped to the gymnasium. When the door slid open, she stepped into the huge structure. It was so large she couldn’t see the back of it. She bypassed the basketball courts, two Olympic-sized swimming pools, some tennis courts, a bowling alley, and a couple of weight rooms. She finally reached the ice-hockey rinks. She checked her schedule again and headed to the second rink, jogging down the steps to the entrance. A group of students stood center ice, decked out in skates, sticks, and helmets. Alayne swallowed hard. She hated being late.

  She stepped through the doorway, appreciating the current that tingled through her the moment she touched the ice. Thinking of what Chairman Dorner had told her, she wondered how long it would take to feel the same when she took a deep breath of air or came near flames.

  “Hey, Alayne, welcome!” Blond, freckled Kyle skated over, sliding to a stop, and sent a spray of shaved ice to the side.

  “I put some skates over here for you, and a hockey stick and helmet.” He skated to the team bench and reached over the wall. Bringing out the equipment, he tossed all but the helmet on the ground and then set the headpiece carefully over Alayne’s hair. He brushed her bangs out of the way. “Now that is downright cute.” He grinned. “Put your skates on and let’s get started with some warm-ups.”

  Alayne dropped her bag over the side and fumbled with the straps on her skates. She repositioned her helmet and picked up her stick.

  Pushing her feet to the side, she skated toward the middle, where Kyle calmly oversaw the rest of the team as they weaved through a line of cones.

  “Have you played hockey before?” Kyle asked as Alayne readjusted her skates.

  “Just for fun and nothing really competitive.” When my mother let me out of the house and into Skyden. She stood upright and took a deep breath. “Okay, where you do you want me, Captain?”

  “Do some weaving throu
gh the cones; I want to see your form.” A half grin covered his face, and Alayne got the feeling that he didn’t necessarily mean her athletic prowess. Heat spread through her cheeks, and she skated to the cones, falling in behind a teammate and crouching into a weave.

  After a few minutes, Kyle blew his whistle. “Okay, guys, let’s start out with a scrimmage.” He divided them into two teams. As the players spread out, Alayne enjoyed the way the ice melded with her skates, almost as if the two separate things had become one element; the more she concentrated on the ice, the more comfortable she became. As the scrimmage took off in intensity, Alayne’s skates seemed to gain a mind of their own. One second, she was heading full-tilt toward the puck, and the next, as the puck flashed by her to another person on the other team, her skates did a one hundred and eighty degree rotation, and she was off again.

  Alayne found that the less she focused on the ice under her skates, the more confused and wobbly she became. By the end of the scrimmage, she’d pretty well caught on to how it worked.

  Kyle blew his whistle to end it. “Great scrimmage, guys. That’s it for now, but next time, we’ll start some strategy plays. Equipment in the box, please.”

  The students left the ice one by one. Alayne sat on the wall in front of the team box and pulled off her skates. She glanced over at Kyle, who had stripped off his shirt, sweat gleaming off the smattering of freckles across his chest and shoulders, his well-defined pectoral muscles, and his rock-solid abs. Alayne felt her cheeks go red again. She dropped her skates, helmet, and stick in the box and leaned over to tie her shoes.

  When she looked up, Kyle stood in front of her. “You did a great job today, Alayne. You really seemed to be getting the feel of it.”

  Alayne nodded. “It felt good—like I was connecting with the ice.”

  “Really?” He looked surprised. “You could feel the ice through the skates?”

  “You can’t? You’re a Water-Wielder, too, aren’t you?”