Knowledge: The Fifth Division Saga: Book 1

by Kira Stüssy

  “Hm, let me think…pretty much nothing.” I laughed.

  “In the human world, are there countries that are considered dangerous to yours? An enemy, per se?”

  I thought of all the war and anguish in the world I knew, “Of course.”

  I waited for some sort of response but all he did was stare at the wall. He nodded a little and chewed on another bit of fry. His expression unusual to see on his normally light and sarcastic face. This was a look of haunting guilt or perhaps painful contemplation. I racked my brain, using all the skills crime television had provided over the years to try and deduce what the problem could be.

  We ate in silence, a strange occurrence seeing as he usually did not shut up about how annoying the other three kingdoms were or how crazy high the fruit stands were raising their prices. But now, he sat so quiet that I could hear the legs of a beetle scuttling across my floor as they scraped against the wooden ground.

  “Well, I best be off.” He announced, only having taken a few bites of his food. I glanced down at my own plate and sighed: I had licked that baby clean. He stood up, taking our trays, and headed for the door. I walked behind him a step and when he reached the doorknob he stopped. With his hand still on the handle and tilted his head slightly to glance back at me and say, “Be careful, Miss Mirabelle. There is more evil in the world than good, and I do not predict that changing anytime soon. Goodnight.”

  And with that, he flung himself out the door.

  *

  I stared, with glazed over eyes, at the schedule held firmly between my fingers. According to the piece of paper, I was to start my day with my Elemental lesson and then at noon go to the All Kingdom lesson.

  “Now remember,” Erion had explained to Caspian and I earlier, “nobody can know of your duel heritage. It is imperative that everyone believes you are purely Elemental. Got it?”

  “Aye, aye Captain.” I slurred, still rubbing the crusty sleep from my eyes. Waking up at five in the morning championed as the worst factor of the whole magic school plan. The only thing that yanked me from the warm, plush covers was my need to sedate my burning curiosity of all things Nostos. Plus the fact that Ash designated himself as my own personal alarm clock and had taken to hopping up and down on my bed until I finally got up.

  “And if any of your Wielding powers happen to act up, we’ll come up with a good excuse, maybe just say it is a side effect of living in the human world. Only Shades have ventured there regularly so nobody will suspect anything.”

  Caspian sighed, “Yeah, try and act like good, normal little magic beings to avoid being burned at the stake. We understand.” I snickered as we shared an amused look.

  Erion’s lip curled, unamused, “Just please take this seriously, if anyone finds out…”

  “Oh, untwist your panties!” Ash lightly shoved his friend, “They’ll be just fine.”

  The four of us now stood outside a tall building composed of logs with green ivy sprawling the length of it. Windows littered the entire front of the building. The front door constructed of dark oak wood and an assortment of odd symbols had been engraved into it, giving the whole university a mystical vibe. A large sign hung above the door reading: Nostosian University: Coniungit scientia infestantibus inimicis. The University lied directly on the line between the Wielding and Elemental Kingdoms. When I asked Ash if the Seers and Shades took offense to the placement of the school, he simply replied, “Who cares?” and left it at that.

  A powerful bell sung in the near distance.

  “You ready?” Ash’s accented voice whispered into my ear. I felt his warm fingers brush mine ever so slightly and I shuddered, swiftly drawing my hand down to anxiously fiddle with my skirt. I nodded and refused to make eye contact. “Brilliant, then shall we?” And he steered me towards the large front door with Caspian and Erion following closely behind.

  The inside of the university revealed just how old the structure really was. Ornate chandeliers hung from the domed ceiling, casting a dim light on the walls. Every space of wall had been covered in murals depicting what must have been scenes from Nostos’s past: wars, treaties, and celebrations. Everything shown there, painted in specific detail on the walls. Beyond the main entrance, a single staircase spiraled skyward, leading to unknown adventures and mysteries to be discovered.

  “Our Elemental lesson will be on the fourth floor.” Erion said.

  “How many floors are there?”

  “Five. One for each Kingdom and one for the All Kingdom common room and classroom.”

  We climbed the stairs all the way up to the fourth floor, which seemed to be higher up than on an average building. By the time we reached our landing, my breathing came heavy and labored. For the first time since we started climbing the treacherous staircase, I looked up from my feet and took in my surroundings. It felt as if we had stepped foot into the Amazon rain forest; tropical plants covered the hall from floor to ceiling with animals of all sorts rustling in the foliage and scaling the trees. I may have imagined it, but I swore I caught the sound of a gurgling creek nearby.

  Ash and Erion steered us down the wilderness infested hallways until we came to a stop in front of a gaping hole in the wall. Through the hole I could hear the creek more clearly and brilliant rays of sun streamed through the space. I heard the sound of people laughing and chatting, waiting for class to begin. Without waiting for us, Ash trudged through the hole and out of sight. Erion rolled his eyes before motioning to us and following his friend.

  “Well, here goes nothing.” Caspian muttered, glancing down at me. I nodded and, without giving a second thought, marched through the entrance. The sun beamed hot and bright, being the first thing I took notice of. The second being that this was like no other classroom I had ever seen. The entire room composed of glass, allowing the natural light to shine in freely. Also, the room spread wide enough to fit an entire wildlife landscape including a stream, a small lake, tiny prairie, a grove of trees, an elaborate garden, and various species of animals. The picture I conceived in my mind of what the Garden of Eden would look like popped back into my head as I soaked in the beautiful sight before me. To my far right, a cleared patch of grass, where about half a dozen floor pillows had been laid out facing a podium, awaited. Standing off to the side of the set up, a small group of students, all about my age, talked familiarly with one another. I spotted Laurel who currently spoke with a lovely blond-haired girl with sky blue eyes identical to Erion’s color. I noted the bottom of the blond girl’s hair tinged with a soft blue tint and I figured she must be a sky Knowledge like Erion.

  I watched Erion and Ash approach the group where they were welcomed with warm smiles and jovial pats on the back from the guys.

  “Mirabelle! Caspian! Come meet everyone,” Ash waved us over until we awkwardly shuffled toward the group. Ash started listing off everyone’s names. I counted there to be five people, not including Erion and Ash, and I tried very hard to remember every one's names as he said them. “And you’ve already met Laurel, of course.”

  Another girl, this one with dirty blond hair the same color as Erion’s and her eyes the same shade of bright green as Laurel’s stuck out her hand, not waiting for an introduction, “I’m Ivy, nice to meet you.” I shook her hand and noticed that her facial features were oddly familiar. She had an edgy look about her with her spiked boots and nose piercing. I also noticed that she didn’t have a Knowledge trailing behind her, making her the only girl in the group not to have one.

  “Yes,” said Erion, “this is Ivy, my youngest sister. She’s only in this group because she’s too advanced to be with her own age, but she’s only thirteen.”

  “Wow, don’t be patronizing or anything,” Ivy muttered sarcastically.

  “And these two,” Ash gestured to the final two members, a boy with brown hair and eyes and a girl whose strawberry blonde hair cascaded down her narrow shoulders, who intimately held hands and were not paying attention, “are Clay and Fauna but since they rarely look up, feel free
to refer to them as a single being such as ‘Flay’ or ‘Clauna’.”

  The girl looked up and glared, “Shut up Ash.” And then went back to giggling at whatever Clay had just whispered in her ear.

  Ash winked at me and I had to stifle a laugh. He then told me the blonde girl’s name but I completely forgot it as soon as he said it so I just avoided talking to her. Ash shifted away from the group, dragging Erion with him. The two of them stood off to the side with their heads bent in towards each other in a very conspirator-esque manner.

  “So you guys grew up in the human world?” Ivy breathed excitedly. I gulped, knowing this conversation would only lead to awkward questions that I wouldn’t be able to answer. I mentally flashed back to the conversation with Erion earlier that morning and how he had repeated the phrase “Nobody can find out!” a zillion times.

  But before I got the chance to talk my way out of the situation, a man hurriedly whisked into the room and called out, “Everyone take a seat! We want to get started right away today, lots to do, lots to do.”

  Caspian and I imitated the others as they sat in pairs on the floor pillows. Caspian and I sat on one in between Ash and Erion and Laurel and Fauna. I caught Caspian checking the Fauna and Laurel side more than once and couldn’t help but wonder which one he had his eye on. I hoped he realized that Fauna was definitely taken. Once we all took a seat, the man, middle aged with a short scruffy beard, spoke again, “Now before we begin, we have two new students joining us today, Caspian and Mirabelle Durrant. Let’s all be very welcoming to them. Now then, you all have your goals, yes? Very well, you may continue your practices and I will wander and assist where needed! Off you go!”

  But as the teacher raised his fist excitedly, a large gust of wind blew towards him. The air rushed strong enough to knock him off balance and caused him to crash to the ground hilariously. The man spluttered and finally managed to pull himself back to his feet while yelling, “What the devil?!” But before he could say anything more, another gust hit him, this one laced with drops of water like a miniature hurricane. The entire room erupted into poorly concealed giggles. I glanced to my side and caught Ash and Erion high-five with a small water bottle placed suspiciously at Ash’s side.

  But apparently the teacher didn’t require any evidence to know who the culprits were, “Ash! Erion! If you two were the cause of this, I’ll be forced to send you to the headmaster’s office…again!”

  “Sir, why would we do such a thing?” Erion asked innocently with Ash nodding wide-eyed.

  I could barely hear the teacher murmur “little devils” before once again excusing the now highly entertained class.

  Everyone stood up and dispersed throughout the room seemingly in relation to their Knowledge; Laurel approached the plants, Fauna the animals and so on. The only person who didn’t up and leave was Ash, who instead walked to our pillow and reached down to help me up. As he pulled me to my feet he said, “Caspian, you’ll be working by the stream and lake. It’s rather lucky that Mr. Glen happens to be a Water Knowledge as well so he will be able to really help you learn.” Caspian followed the teacher, looking a little nervous as he neared the stream.

  “What about me? I can’t really go to a specific area, can I?” I glared back at my iridescent Knowledge hopelessly, for the first time really acknowledging how lost I felt having an unknown power.

  “No, I don’t suppose you can. That’s why I have been designated as your personal trainer, seeing as I am already your Guardian.”

  “My personal trainer? You’re joking.”

  “Do I look like I’m joking?” This time, he didn’t. “I’m going to help you discover your Knowledge.”

  He led me back through the hole and into the hall, the sound of monkeys and flowing water enveloping us, “And how are you going to do that?”

  He stared down at me, an earnestness shadowing his eyes making my heart momentarily forget to keep beating, “You’re just going to have to trust me.”

  *

  Caspian stared blankly at the flowing stream in front of him waiting for a miracle to happen.

  “Just really focus on feeling the flow of the water, the power of the stream.” Mr. Glen said for the umpteenth time. Caspian gritted his teeth in irritation and bit back the angry retort that sat ready on the tip of his tongue. It had been about an hour of watching the creek and trying to feel the water. The most he had accomplished thus far was creating a small ripple, and that could have been a fish.

  Feel the water, feel the water…

  He closed his eyes in concentration and tried to become one with the trickling stream. Surprise seized him when he felt a sharp tug in the pit of his stomach and the sound of roaring waves crashing in his ear drums.

  “That’s it! By golly, that is the quickest I have ever seen anyone get a handle on their Knowledge! Open your eyes, son.”

  The thundering died down slightly and the pull in his gut loosened, but both remained present in the back of his mind as he blinked. A ball of water, approximately the size of a car tire, floated in midair right in front of him. He felt his jaw drop open in amazement. He slowly raised his hands into a horizontal position in front of him and waved them upwards. The ball moved with his hand motions, contorting and twisting at his will. He felt every particle of the water as if it were an extension of his fingertips and he could manipulate it however he pleased. He chuckled quietly, giddy with this new power.

  “It’s about time.”

  The stern voice interrupted his focus, startling him out of his trance. The hovering collection of water rained back into the stream as the tugging sensation left completely and the dull roar in his ears silenced. He spun on his heels and came face to face with Laurel’s beautiful green eyes.

  Mr. Glen stood to the side, clapping enthusiastically, “Marvelous! What do you mean, Laurel? That is the quickest I have ever seen anyone catch on to their Knowledge power! And to think he grew up in the human world? Absolutely astonishing! My boy, are you sure you did not practice before you arrived?”

  “This was my first time sir.”

  “Fantastic!”

  Laurel raised a critical eyebrow, “Hm.” She flipped her green streaked black hair over her shoulder, “It’ll take a whole lot more than controlling a raindrop for me to be impressed.”

  As she walked away, Caspian found himself wondering what the heck her problem was and why her green eyes were so darn beautiful. Shaking the ridiculous thought from his mind, he returned his attention back to the stream until the tug and noise returned and the ball of water, a little larger this time, hovered in front of him once more.

  *

  “This is hopeless.”

  “This is only the third Knowledge we’ve tried and I honestly never really expected you to be Animal or Plant.”

  Over the past hour, Ash and I already crossed two Knowledges off the list after the poison ivy gave me a rash (a Plant Knowledge would have been unaffected) and a deranged monkey attacked me (Animal Knowledges can communicate with animals). Now, we had moved on to Sky and I was less that optimistic.

  I clutched the notebook Caspian bought for me a little tighter, the gems twinkling in the sunlight. The night before I had stayed up, burning the midnight oil, jotting down different lines for songs. There was something magical about singing, it transformed an ordinary sentence into a dance of tune and emotion.

  “This is dumb. I probably don’t even have any powers.”

  “Oh shut up, will you? You’re being whiny and that’s highly unattractive.” Ash grinned. “Now, concentrate on the air above you, feel the breeze blowing on your face, feel the clouds above us. Sky Knowledges are able to manipulate wind currents to create cyclones and strong winds. Focus on the way the air moves around you.” We stood, facing each other, with about a foot of space separating us in the soft morning light of a hidden cove behind the university, isolated by surrounding trees and brush.

  As much as I wanted to mock his dramatic tone, I held back my sass an
d shut my eyes. I tried to focus on the air and the wind or whatever, but the sun just felt so nice. I had always liked the sunshine and spending the past year in Lincoln City, rays were hard to come by. It seemed that every day in the Elemental Kingdom shone pleasant and cloudless. The warm heat hugged my skin, filling my body with happiness and comfort. I stopped trying to concentrate on the air around me and just thought about how nice the bright sunlight felt on my flesh and how enriching it was and how it felt like I could literally soak up the light beaming down upon me.

  “Uh, Miss Mirabelle?”

  “Hm?” I murmured dreamily, too content to open my eyes.

  “You’re glowing.”

  At this I peeked out of one squinted eyelid, “Ash, enough with the cheesy lines please.”

  “No, you are quite literally glowing. Look!”

  I opened my eyes and looked down at my hand, my breath catching at what I saw. My pale skin had become almost transparent and a soft golden light radiated from my flesh. As I stared at it, the glow began to fade until my skin resumed its normal ghostly pallor.

  I met Ash’s wide eyes and spoke hesitantly, “That doesn’t fit the description of any Knowledge in the books does it?”

  He shook his head.

  “Of course not.”

  He stared at me strangely, but he wasn’t looking at my skin.

  “What?” I barked, thoroughly disturbed by my illuminated skin.

  “It’s just…it’s that…well, darling, your eyes were different.” I raised an eyebrow, “They were glowing too.”

  I breathed in deeply and slumped down onto the plush grass that had grown by the bottom of one of the trees in the grove. It was a lovely little clearing now that I took the time to really look at it. The trees had grown in a perfect circle to make a small and cozy oasis with an open canopy that allowed us to have a full view of the sky above. The center of the clearing had a small circle of stones with a little pile of burned wood at its center: a fire pit.

  I titled my head back to look at the burning sun and a thought crossed my mind, “Ash, what if I’m a Sun Knowledge?”