The Eidolon

  “Luke! Which famous Earth Elem discovered the lux crystal?” Miss Peterson asked.

  His obsessive thoughts almost drowned out her question. He glanced up sharply. Why were they discussing Earth Elem? Nutty teacher.

  “Constantine I,” he answered correctly in a monotone voice. And why are we learning about fictional Elemental objects anyway? he wanted to ask. Even if the lux crystal existed, it’d been missing for hundreds of years.

  “Eva! How did the lux crystal stabilize the Byzantine Empire?”

  She answered promptly. “By helping Constantine build the infrastructure; roads, highways and cities that made trade in his empire flourish.”

  “Correct. And how did the use of the crystal accomplish that?”

  “The lux crystal is the largest, most flawless crystal ever found on Earth. Crystals are a conduit of power, but the greater amount of flaws they have, the harder they are to use. The lux crystal was so flawless, that its capacity as a conduit was almost limitless,” Eva answered thoughtfully.

  “Chase! What happened to the lux crystal?” Miss Peterson asked.

  Chase shrugged and grinned. “It disappeared hundreds of years ago.”

  With Miss Peterson’s frizzy hair, she reminded Luke of a mad scientist. She swiveled and pointed to Amber. “Amber! What good could we do if we had the lux crystal today?”

  Amber smirked. “Well, if it’s as powerful as legend says, then the lux crystal could help us clean up toxic waste sites, assist in natural disaster recovery, and build infrastructure in low-income countries. But if it fell into the wrong hands, it could drain power from the earth and Elements, until the planet is destroyed.”

  Satisfied, the teacher turned back to the board and continued talking.

  A quick peek at his watch made him grind his fist into his thigh in misery. Still fifty minutes left. He reached over and opened the window wider, breathing in the crisp, fall air. Closing his eyes, he tasted the silvery white bark of the eastern cottonwood, the smooth acorn of the chestnut oak, and the crunchy fallen leaves of hundreds of trees.

  The low pitch of a masculine voice broke through the relaxing sounds of the outdoor symphony. Curious, he leaned closer to the window.

  “…the heir you seek, Master,” said a confident voice.

  “Good. Kill anyone who gets in your way.” This voice was deep and smooth, the tone chilling.

  Luke’s chair fell with a crash.

  Chapter Three: Eva

  Eva’s fingers shredded the page of her notebook. Still five more minutes before she was free of this class, along with the torment of being so close to Luke. The space between them still pulsed with an edgy, animated energy consisting of something more than just air. She had a strange thought that if she reached behind her, her hand would come away wet from the dewy feeling permeating the space.

  While she tried to ignore the large Earth Elem, Luke’s aura exploded with curiosity. She twisted around just as he fell. But his hands shot out to steady himself before he crashed, his chair landing with a muffled thump.

  His troubled eyes met hers. She snapped her pencil in surprise at seeing the unguarded look of concern on his face. But it quickly disappeared and his face twisted into a sneer.

  She lifted her chin and turned around, but couldn’t help wondering what bothered her usually impassive adversary. It had to be something serious for him to show an interest.

  The teacher motioned for Chase to stand up and give the senior class announcements. Finally. A worthy distraction. Like many other girls, she admired Chase’s humorous nature, athletic build, classic features, and obvious intelligence. He also seemed to have a smile and a positive word for everyone: teachers, his peers and even underclassmen.

  She propped her chin on her fist as Chase stood, giving her a nice view of his tall, well-designed body. He smiled. She pulled her hat down over the goofy look on her face.

  “The administration gave us exciting news. Each senior will be assigned a unique task this year by their Elem Advisor. These tasks are to be kept confidential. Of course, those of you who complete your task will be given special consideration by the Council when they decide on your permanent assignments. Good luck!”

  Chase flashed another grin, dimples appearing on each side of his generous mouth, and took his seat.

  A top-secret task? Her heart raced. Maybe wouldn’t be stuck behind a desk studying old parchments after graduation after all.

  She tapped her broken pencil, imagining what type of important assignment her advisor would give her. Natural disaster response team? World conflict mitigation? Or even the Council itself? With no family outside the Elemental Society, she’d spent the last three years dreaming of her assignment. Some students requested to return to locations near their parents or siblings, but Eva had no such ties. China? India? Europe? Of course her best friend Melia always came with her in these dreams, keeping her supplied with her ingenious inventions and her quirky friendship.

  The bell rang and Eva gathered her books, springing up out of her chair. Luke was already packed up and towering behind her, his arms folded across his chest, waiting for her to get out of his way. She took an involuntary step back.

  Suddenly nervous, she picked up her backpack and her open water bottle, muttering under her breath about unnatural powers. But her foot caught on her chair, she stumbled, and her water bottle spilled all over the front of Luke’s shirt.

  She gasped.

  Luke sputtered, his dark hair falling into his furious eyes. Why could nothing go her way this morning? Before she even knew he’d moved, his hands were on her shoulders, immobilizing her. She inhaled sharply.

  “You looked … too warm?” she hazarded an uneasy reply.

  “I’m warning you, Eva. Don’t test me this year.” Luke’s forceful gaze seared her, his features now anxious and filled the same earlier desperation. His intensity was almost palpable, backed by an extraordinary energy and power she’d never seen in a fellow student.

  “Alright, I’m sorry, Luke. Quit flexing that aura and those biceps at me.”

  “Just shut-up for a minute,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Eva sensed his power building and she flinched, bracing herself for what he might do. She didn’t really believe he’d hurt her, but the Luke who stood less than a foot away from her had an edgier, more unpredictable aura.

  With one swift movement, he growled and released her, placing her firmly out of his way. She watched him leave, fascinated. What was with him this year?

  She swayed and grabbed the desk to steady herself before following Luke into the hallway. She headed toward the large, ornate fountain in the lobby to await her roommate, Melia Wilcox, and breathed in the fresh, outdoor smell—thanks to the Air Elems.

  Three fireplaces, lush, comfortable couches, and over-stuffed chairs completed the main lobby. Fresh flowers hung in pots from the ceiling in a rainbow of colors, adding a dash of fragrance. Painted in earth-tones of rich browns, reds and green, the hallways and classrooms didn’t have the stale atmosphere of other schools. The wooden lockers were hand-carved in antique designs.

  The look and feel of the school reflected the talents of all the Elements, coming together in a symphony of color and texture. It was as close to being outdoors as possible without actually taking the students out into the elements that were an essential part of their being.

  In the lobby, she allowed herself to be hypnotized by the fountain, her favorite place in the school. Water danced on the surfaces of hundreds of levels of flat rock. Flowers made with glittering gemstones bloomed on the multi-tiered surfaces. Some of the flat rocks contained large stone pillar candles lit with actual flame. The Air Elems controlled the flow of water and fire, so the fountain emitted both heat and cold simultaneously.

  Eva turned her head to see Melia approaching, and smiled. Everything about Melia was efficient. Her neat jeans; ironed shirt; short, blond hair that hung rod-straight to her chin; clean, horn-rimmed glasses rounded out her
business-like appearance.

  Melia brushed away a stream of fire coming from a freshman who’d lost control. As usual, she held the small, round earth shield she’d invented. The shield fit into her palm, with the capablility of reflecting any Elem’s powers.

  Melia snorted, “Anyone stupid enough to practice their powers in the main lobby should be home with a babysitter. Here. You’ll need this with such brainless freshman around.” She handed Eva a spare shield.

  Eva nodded in agreement. “You should really be selling these, you know. How was Water Elem?”

  Melia shrugged. “I took a nap. You know how it is.”

  Eva nodded again. Water Elem could be good, depending on the teacher, but Melia had Miss Tamara. Known for her lengthy digressions on fashion and celebrities, and a favorite among the popular crowd, Miss Tamara should never have been hired in the first place. Inevitably, one of her students would be caught in the field and need to link with a Water Elem, but could only recall what color purse to match with a blush-pink sweater.

  Melia shook her head, her blond hair swishing around her chin. “I just don’t get Water Elems. Always dancing down the hallways, singing to themselves. I ought to program my shield to repel morons.”

  “Then you might end up alienating some of the teachers as well,” Eva said, laughing. “Melia, have you noticed anything different about Luke Huntington?”

  Her friend squinted through her glasses. “You mean that he’s grown even more obnoxiously good-looking over the summer?”

  Eva rolled her eyes. “No. I mean with his powers.” Though of course she’d noticed Luke’s hotness factor. Just another thing she couldn’t ignore. His face had grown more angular and intense, setting him even further apart from most of the senior class boys, whose round faces were still so young. When she added in his already intimidating height and muscular build, she wondered how Like could only be seventeen. She rubbed her arms. Her skin still burned where he’d touched her.

  She’d be really embarrassed now if she hadn’t learned the skill of masking her aura early on.

  “I haven’t seen him yet today, but Luke has always been scary. Everyone except you is smart enough to pretend he doesn’t exist.” Melia tucked her hair behind her ears and exhaled loudly.

  “It’s not like I seek him out! He’s just always there. So big and so … in my face. And never in a good way.” She tugged on her ponytail and twisted it around her hand.

  “But why does he bother you? You need a new tactic. Boys are just like the guilt you feel after eating a dozen brownies. If you ignore them long enough, they’ll go away.”

  Eva crinkled her nose. “Come on, Melia. You have to admit Luke is impossible to avoid. Even more impossible now that we have first period together.”

  Melia sniffed. “Well, it was bound to happen. You two have the worst karma.”

  “AND we have to sit together.”

  “Ha! What did I just say?” Melia rubbed her hands together.

  “So, what do I do?” She raised an eyebrow.

  Melia tilted her head to the side and gave her a sly smile. “I honestly don’t know. Maybe it’s just time to embrace your karma.”

  When Eva and Melia arrived at Air Elem, they grabbed seats together at the front of the class and took out their notebooks in comfortable silence. During class, Eva lost herself in the technicalities of air flow and power release—how to block and how to channel it—and relaxed for the first time that day.

  While she took detailed notes, her thoughts turned to the task Chase mentioned at the end of Fire Elem. Ah, Chase. She smiled. But moved on. There was a brief break after this class, and she planned on making it over to Hannah’s office to ask her about “the task.” Goosebumps appeared on her arms.

  Her last thought before class ended was that at least this task would mercifully keep her mind, and her temper, away from Luke.

  Eva waved an absent-minded goodbye to Melia and headed to Hannah’s office. She shouldered her way past a group of ditzy Water Elems, rolling her eyes at their meaningless prattle and constant obsession with their looks. Most of them ran their fingers through long, silken blond hair, not bothering to mask their confident, self-absorbed auras, if they were even capable of that skill. A few had compacts open and were adjusting nonexistent smudges of their makeup.

  Must get away. She brushed past one particularly self-absorbed Water Elem. The Elem ignored her, flipping her hair over her shoulder and raising an eyebrow at one of her companions.

  Eva smirked and rolled her eyes. She was indifferent to the Water Elems’ snobbery. None of them them would be the senior class valedictorian.

  Hannah’s door appeared in her vision and she quickened her step.

  Hannah. A memory rose unbidden in her mind and she saw herself on the day she first met her formal advisor.

  She’d been receiving e-mails for years from a mysterious woman claiming Eva was something called an Air Elem. The woman educated her about her supposed powers as much as she could, and warned her not to use them until the proper time arrived. Eva was the offspring of Elems, inheriting her parents’ talent.

  That August, the week before Eva was to enter her freshman year of high school, a neat, prim woman arrived at her cousin’s house. Ms. Hannah Smith explained to her aunt that she was a recruiter for an arts’ school in West Virginia and asked to speak with Eva alone. Eva sat across from the confident, surpringly young woman and listened intently. With a fiery look in her eyes that belied the unemotional tone in her voice, Hannah explained the training ground for Elems like Eva was the School of the Elements. When she observed Hannah lift a hand to blanket the room with a calming air, and another to summon a cool breeze, Eva packed within the hour.

  Though she’d met Hannah three years ago, Eva still felt that cool breeze on her skin. She lifted a hand to her smooth cheek to reassure herself she was here, now, and not still back at that horrible, empty house. The house where she’d never felt wanted, where she’d never belonged.

  Her stomach churning with emotion, she knocked on her advisors’ door and a familiar, tight voice called, “Enter!”

  Hannah’s office was just like Eva’s room: overflowing with books not only on the bookshelves, but on the floor, desk, and coffee table, all piles neat and sorted alphabetically by author’s last name. Eva took a deep breath. She loved the atmosphere in Hannah’s office. It was always energetic and purposeful.

  “Eva! I’m glad you’re here.” Hannah reached behind Eva, closed the door, and locked it. Her face wore an unusually serious expression. “We sensed you coming.”

  We? Eva’s heart skipped a beat. And then she noticed it—the other skillfully masked aura, coming from the cloaked figure hidden in the shadows beside a bookcase. The figure took a step forward, his grey cloak rustling in a low whisper. His face was hidden by his cowl, but he made no effort to remove it. He had the confidence of a leader and in his aura; much more power than any administrator. His height added to his imposing presence, which now seemed to occupy all the space in the room. If she took a breath, Eva expected she’d somehow be able to taste his power.

  “Eva.” His deep voice echoed through her. “I must be brief. I bring you an important message from Nicholas D’Arco.”

  She stared at this daunting Elem and managed a quick nod. Nicholas D’Arco, the head of the Council, knew who she was? Eva Sarantos? Orphan and bookish, Air Elem? Her heart stuttered. Why would he have a message for her?

  The cowled man spoke again, his voice gritty and low. “Over the last three years, the Council observed your academic excellence and your powerful talent with air. After much deliberation, Nicholas is entrusting you with a mission of vital importance to the Elemental Society.

  “As you know, crystals are the only method we have to amplify our powers. The larger and clearer the crystal, the more potential it has to magnify power. In your classes, you may have learned about the lux crystal.”

  She gaped. What were the chances that she’d had a lesso
n on the subject just hours ago?

  “Through the years, the Council has encouraged Elems to believe that the crystal has been lost, for if the Elem community knew of its existence, the temptation to seek it would be too great.”

  She stared unblinking into the dark cowl, lost to everything except the gravelly cadence of the mysterious man’s voice. He delivered his message without moving, his aura steeped in intensity, his hands folded in front of his body, hidden by his robe.

  “The Council discovered a conspiracy formed with the purpose of uncovering proof of the crystal’s existence. Their talent for secrecy has, unfortunately, been unmatched. Nicholas had no idea how widespread this organization has become. Two of his senior agents have been working on identifying its members for years without much progress. However, they’ve recently discovered that the organization has infiltrated the Council. We’ve thus been forced to keep the information about the crystal closer than ever and to go outside normal channels.

  “Nicholas is running out of people he trusts, but he desperately needs a fresh pair of eyes to look at the data on the crystal and on this organization. With your outstanding mind and impressive skills, you’ve been highly recommended by his agents to assist them. Though you are not yet of age to become an agent, your skills far outweigh others on his staff.”

  Her jaw dropped. Was what this Elem said true? Had her training truly taken her so far with her skills as an Air Elem? She took a moment to search, but could detect no hint of a lie in his aura or his voice, though his skill at masking was formidable. She closed her mouth and hid a smile, feeling a rush of pride at hearing the result of her hard work. This moment was all she’d dreamed it would be.

  “You’ll need a partner, for seeking the crystal is a dangerous pursuit and the agents’ movements are restricted. That partner will be Luke Huntington. He’ll be given the same information and instructions.”