The Shape of Fire

by D. K. Holmberg

  Tolan stretched out with a shaping of each of the elements again. He strained to reach for the elementals, wanting if nothing else to at least communicate with them so that he could understand what they were doing and why they were here in this manner, but the answers didn’t come to him.

  He could feel them moving, though.

  Not just through the bond.

  The elementals of Terndahl were moving. They were making their way toward the waste but not disappearing.

  As he hovered above the waste, he looked down. Bleak rock stretched out in front of him. The waste was little more than barren land. In some sections, it reminded him of the desert with its rolling sand dunes, and in others were stacked stones that were baked by the heat and the sun, though they were also without any feeling of the elements within them.

  He came here often, exploring to try to better understand the barrier that existed here, knowing that it had been created long ago and that it served as a preventative measure to keep shapers from crossing the waste.

  He stayed aloft but still detected nothing.

  Turning his attention to the elementals, he decided that he would have to search. He needed those answers.

  3

  Tolan had spent the better part of the last few days looking for answers as to why the elementals moved through here. There was something wrong—he was certain of it—only he hadn’t been able to figure out what it was. He’d tried following the direction of the elementals, but hadn’t found what they moved away from, though he was certain they were doing exactly that. Neither had he determined what he felt within the element bonds, though the longer that he’d studied it, the more he determined there was something off about the bond.

  Before returning to Amitan, he needed to understand, though he wasn’t convinced he’d find the answers he wanted within the waste—or even the northern part of Terndahl. He might not find answers without speaking to those who understood the bonds better than he did.

  Tolan continued to probe, attempting to communicate with the elementals, but even when he found a moving elemental and approached it directly, he still wasn’t able to convince it to speak to him.

  That was strange enough.

  Stranger still was that the elementals seemed to avoid him, as if they intentionally tried to race away from him. He grew tired of chasing them. Not tired from using power, though. Tolan had used power often enough over the years that he could go for much longer stretches without growing fatigued, but he did grow tired.

  He still had no answers. Just movements.

  If the elementals were unwilling to answer him about the reason behind their movement, then he was going to have to find another answer. Tolan wasn’t sure what that was going to involve.

  And perhaps the longer that he worked at this, struggling to come up with those answers, he wouldn’t be able to find any at all.

  He didn’t have much time remaining. He considered not returning, though if he avoided returning to the Academy, he would anger not only the Grand Master but also Ferrah.

  That would be a bigger concern.

  The Grand Master would get over his irritation with Tolan. If he took the title of Master of Spirit from him, Tolan would be able to adjust. Besides, there were many other things that he wanted to do. There were places he wanted to explore; subjects he wanted to research. Working as the Master of Spirit prevented him from that.

  He hadn’t gotten anywhere.

  Because of that, he couldn’t simply keep chasing the elementals.

  Doing that would only further the complaints against him. He could easily imagine the Inquisitor response were they to know where he had been and what he had been doing. Carson, in particular, would rage about it.

  He had not seen Thoren again.

  He was aware of the elemental in the back of his mind, the power of the hyza elemental still drifting back there, chasing answers. Tolan believed that in time Thoren would come up with those answers, but so far he had not found anything.

  Instead, he struggled like Tolan did.

  Tolan stopped at the edge of the waste. He stood there, overlooking it, studying the rock and the barren landscape. He needed to go back to Terndahl, but something else compelled him to have a look.

  Summoning the power from each of the elements, he bound them together, adding a hint of spirit, and he blasted across the waste.

  The shaping was difficult. It was one that he thought he alone could accomplish. It created a separation between Terndahl and the lands beyond the waste. Tolan had explored these lands a little bit, but not much. He knew there was life here that he had yet to understand, shapers and elementals and so many other things in this land that he needed to take the time to know, but with his responsibilities as Master of Spirit, he simply didn’t have the time.

  He came here every few months, though his visits had been more frequent after he had first defeated Roland Var. As he did each time, he stretched out with spirit, reaching through each of the elements and probing the land, searching for signs of Roland. As usual, there was nothing.

  After feeling the strangeness from the elementals in the north, Tolan had wondered if perhaps he might find an answer here, not that he really expected there to be one. The elementals in this land were different. They were tied to spirit, though in a way that those in Terndahl were not. They also weren’t connected to the element bonds in the same way either.

  Tolan breathed in. For a moment, he thought he felt a flutter of a shaping, but as he searched for it he realized that it was only the wind.

  Staying wouldn’t provide him with answers. It was time to return.

  Wrapping the elements together, binding them with spirit, he pulled the shaping toward him. A burst of lightning carried him up and back to Amitan, where he emerged on the tower.

  He paused a moment. The return had revealed something, though Tolan wasn’t exactly sure what he detected. Only that something felt off about the elements. Maybe it was only the strange movement of the elementals, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something more.

  He stormed down the upper stairs, passing by a familiar hallway where paintings made by ancient shapers hung; mysterious paintings that carried with them their own sort of power, before heading down the lower stairs.

  It seemed as if he were just in time.

  Shapers congregated in the entrance to the Academy.

  For the most part, master shapers were paired up with students. They gathered and prepared to depart.

  Tolan looked around for Ferrah. He found her near the door, guiding students to the master shapers.

  “Who did you assign me to?”

  She glared at him. “You have been gone for the better part of two days. Again. That’s the very first thing you say to me?”

  Tolan grabbed her and pulled her to him, kissing her briefly on the cheek. She deserved more from him. “I’m sorry that I was gone for two days. Who have you paired me to?”

  She shook her head. “I should set you up with Draln.”

  “You didn’t?”

  He wouldn’t have put it past her, especially seeing as how he had disappeared the way that he had. Draln was a master shaper, but he didn’t have any ability with spirit, so if he went on a Selection he was going to need to go with someone like Tolan.

  “He was requested by one of the Inquisitors,” she said. “Carson, I believe.”

  Tolan arched a brow at her. Figured that Carson would favor someone like Draln. Tolan had disliked Draln from the moment they’d met in the Academy. Draln was skilled, but he had made Tolan’s earliest days miserable.

  She shook her head. “Don’t go leaping to conclusions.”

  “I wasn’t leaping to anything.”

  She grunted. “I know you, Tolan Ethar. I know the way you were thinking just there.”

  “You know no such thing.”

  She stepped back and motioned to a student standing in the distance. “You are paired with him. Before you say anything, the pai
ring was made because you made a comment about his potential. Given that we have so few students who have potential with spirit, I thought it best to further the opportunities for him to learn about spirit.”

  Velthan was standing near the entrance. He was dressed in a traveling cloak, though the robes of an upper-level student were visible beneath the cloak. He was of tall height, with an angular face, and almost severe-looking eyebrows. Tolan had known him his entire life and they’d never gotten along. Even though he was now a master shaper, he still didn’t get along well with Velthan.

  “That’s a good choice,” Tolan said.

  She frowned. “Are you mocking me now?”

  Tolan shook his head. “Not at all. I think you made a good choice. You’re right. He has potential with spirit.” Tolan had been working on that with Velthan, struggling with his connection though recognizing that he had talents.

  “Good. I wasn’t sure how you’re going to react, but given how you’ve been gone for the last few days, I decided that I didn’t really care either.” She smiled at him. “Good luck.”

  “Where am I assigned to test?”

  “The Grand Master has made a list. It sounds like you were given two of the northern cities.”

  “Only two?”

  “Do you think you should be given more?”

  “I am the Master of Spirit.”

  “You keep telling me that as if it should matter to me more than it does. You are the Master of Spirit, but you’re also the same shaper who struggled the last time he was given an opportunity to go out on a Selection, and as we were discussing, you—”

  Tolan shook his head. “You’ve made your point.”

  “Good. I can keep making it, if that will be helpful to you.”

  He chuckled. “I think it’s unnecessary.”

  He turned past her and headed over to Velthan. He waited, and as Tolan approached, he tipped his head slightly. Nothing more than that. Certainly not giving Tolan the level of respect that he deserved, though Velthan remained an upper-level student and Tolan the Master of Spirit. Still, the age difference between them wasn’t all that great. They were almost peers, were it not for the fact that a significant gap in experience separated them.

  “I understand we’ve been paired up together,” Tolan said.

  Velthan nodded. “That is what Master Changen said.”

  Tolan glanced over at Ferrah, amused at how formally Velthan referred to her. If only he would do the same with him. “Very well. When you are ready to depart, we will leave.”

  “You don’t have to bring anything with you?”

  Tolan looked down at himself. He supposed that he didn’t really look the part at this point. He’d been gone for the last few days, wandering after the wild elementals, searching for whatever had been driving them toward the north, toward the waste, and had come up with nothing.

  And he was filthy.

  While gone, he’d used shaping to find water and edible plants, but he hadn’t attempted to clean his clothing. It wasn’t a difficult shaping, but he’d neglected it. Perhaps he shouldn’t have.

  “I might change first.”

  Velthan nodded. “That might be best.”

  Tolan regarded him for a moment before turning and heading up to his quarters. It was a large room, one that he shared with Ferrah, and he hurriedly changed. If it weren’t time to leave, he would’ve liked to have an opportunity to bathe, but Velthan would just have to tolerate Tolan smelling. Most of the Academies they would visit would have baths, anyway, and he could clean up there.

  He grabbed his cloak of office, a striped robe that signified his rank as a master shaper, and grabbed the signet that indicated his rank of Master of Spirit.

  When it came to performing the Selections, oftentimes a level of pomp was necessary. Academies appreciated that. They wanted to know that shapers would be taken care of by the Academy. It was more than that, though. Given that the Selections happened so infrequently, having the master shapers appear looking as formal as possible carried with it a measure of respect and credibility.

  Tolan packed a bag that had the remainder of his clothing and grabbed his pouch of coins.

  When he was ready, he hurried back down to the main entrance.

  Most of the other shaping pairs had already departed, leaving only a few remaining. As Master of Students, Ferrah must have gone, since she was missing, though Tolan did recognize a few of the other master shapers. One of the Inquisitors was there, speaking softly to another of the master shapers, and they fell silent as Tolan passed.

  He breathed out a sigh.

  Perhaps he should do a better job of trying to unify the Inquisitors with other shapers of spirit.

  He knew that the Grand Master would appreciate that, and Tolan simply hadn’t done a good enough job with it yet. In time, he suspected that he would be able to do so, but for now, he just didn’t have the desire. It was hard enough being one of the youngest master shapers—if not the youngest. It was even harder to use his position to try to unify shapers who did not want to be unified. That, combined with the traditional stigma of the Inquisitors, made it even harder.

  He nodded to Velthan. “Are you ready?”

  Velthan nodded.

  They headed out, and once in the main courtyard, Tolan recognized the translucent energy of shaping all around him but knew he wasn’t going to be able to use his warrior shaping. Not with Velthan. It was a shaping that only a few within the Academy knew, and without much control over spirit, Velthan couldn’t perform it.

  Doing so would be easier, certainly, but if he was going on a Selection, Tolan had to offer Velthan the same opportunity to travel along to the Selection that the other students were given. It was necessary for Velthan to have that chance.

  Tolan looked over. “We head north. We will mainly be taking the Shaper’s Path, but not the whole way.”

  “Why not take it all the way?”

  “The Shapers Path leads us only so far to the north,” Tolan said. “It becomes difficult to navigate the farther that we go.”

  Velthan nodded. Tolan wrapped himself in a shaping of wind and fire, carrying himself up to the Shapers Path. As he carried himself up, he paused, looking back at Velthan.

  “How many Selections have you been on?” Tolan asked.

  “This will be my third,” Velthan said.

  “Very well. You will find that I do things a little bit differently than some of the other master shapers, though I try to maintain tradition as much as possible.”

  Velthan regarded him almost as if he were going to say something more, but Tolan ignored it. He didn’t need Velthan to comment upon how differently Tolan would do things. He didn’t need him to make any sort of remark about Tolan himself. He also didn’t need Velthan to criticize any choices that he might make.

  Tolan started off, heading along the Shapers Path.

  After traveling by his warrior shaping, using the Shapers Path was painfully slow. There was a time when this was a privilege for him, something that he couldn’t imagine being allowed to use, but these days it almost held him back, slowing him far more than he would have liked.

  Walking along the Shapers Path allowed them to move quickly. There was a boost of speed that went along with it, almost as if they were shaped along, which was exactly what was happening. Tolan understood the nature of the Shapers Path; how that power carried him forward. The ground below them blurred past, and they quickly moved into some of the northern climates, though it was a different area than where he had recently traveled. Tolan glanced back every so often to ensure that Velthan was with him but found him keeping pace, not at all struggling to keep track of where Tolan would go.

  After a while, he slowed, giving Velthan a chance to catch up. “When you were on your Selections before, where did you visit?”

  “I have been to Velminth. I have been to Jarra. Several of the coastal cities. I have gone other places as well.”

  “Very good.”

 
; Most of those Academies were large, though when they headed north, Tolan didn’t expect that they would reach any large Academy; nothing at all like what Velthan would have experienced before. Larger shaping Academies were both easier and harder to perform a Selection at. Within the larger ones, there were more students to be tested, but there was also the possibility that students with the right potential would be skipped simply because of the size of the Academy. Within smaller Academies, the Selection could take more time, offering the students a chance to really be tested; for Tolan and the others to find out whether or not they had the necessary potential to be able to come to the Academy.

  It was really tied to spirit. That was why spirit shapers were essential. Tolan understood the nature and the necessity of spirit shaping, but he didn’t know quite why they simply couldn’t judge based on talent. It was just the way that they had done it for centuries.

  “You have missed classes the last few days,” Velthan said.

  Tolan nodded. “I was checking on something.”

  Velthan looked over at him, frowning.

  Tolan shifted the bag on his back, distributing the weight differently so that it didn’t push on his shoulders uncomfortably.

  “You often go off because you have something to check on,” Velthan said.

  Tolan offered a half smile. “Is that right?”

  “That’s what the other master shapers say.”

  “I’m sure they do,” Tolan said.

  “Do they mind?”

  “I’m not so sure if they mind or not. They recognize that I do what is necessary,” Tolan said.

  That wasn’t entirely true. The Inquisitors often minded him disappearing for stretches. They made a point of demonstrating their irritation with him.

  “Why is it necessary?”

  “Because I have connections they don’t share.”

  “The elementals,” Velthan sneered.

  “Right. The elementals. As you have been taught, the elementals aren’t what we believed for all those years. The elementals need to be protected, and they do not need to be forced down into the element bonds.”