The next day, Tolan followed Jonas into a separate section of the Academy for their first spirit class. From here, there was nothing other than emptiness until reaching the spirit tower high overhead. It required a shaping to reach, proof that a shaper had at least mastered one element enough they could be trusted to visit this part of the Academy. Runes were worked along the walls, symbols that carried power but were hidden.
Tolan wondered how many of the students saw them the way he did. Maybe it was only because he had become sensitized to them that he noticed them, but it was in the way the runes were formed within the bricks making up the walls. It was subtle, the shape difficult to see, but he was convinced the power was real.
“What are you staring at?” Jonas asked from behind.
Tolan glanced over to see his friend holding onto a wind shaping. It was the default shaping that Jonas reached for when he wanted to reach the spirit tower. Jonas had control over other elements, with increasing strength of fire and earth, but wind was what he had mastered first, and it was wind he reached for first.
It was similar to how Tolan pulled on fire, though fire wasn’t the only element he could use. Ever since the day he’d faced the disciples of the Draasin Lord, he had realized he now had a connection to earth. It had worked during a time of significant distress, and he was convinced the earth elemental had been real—and had been his fault.
“I’m looking at the walls,” he whispered. He didn’t want to bring too much attention to what he was doing or what he’d seen because he wasn’t sure how anyone else within the Academy would react to his interest in the runes.
“I didn’t know you were starting to study architecture, too. Pretty soon, you’re going to end up in the library all of the time and ignore what’s out in the rest of the city.”
“The architecture of the Academy is quite impressive,” Master Aela said, coming up behind them.
Tolan tipped his head respectfully to her. She was younger than most of the master instructors, and had black hair that hung to her shoulders and her skin was deeply tanned, almost olive. Brown eyes studied them, glancing from Jonas to Tolan, and a part of him worried she was using a spirit shaping on him as she studied him.
“Tolan was remarking on the architecture within the tower,” Jonas said with a smirk. “I think he’d like to study it.”
Master Aela regarded Tolan for a long moment, and there was a fluttering within him, a stirring. He ignored it for a moment but wouldn’t be able to ignore it for long. He could feel the way she watched him and could practically feel her shaping crawling within his mind.
“I find the architecture quite impressive, particularly the spirit tower,” Draln said, coming up behind them.
Tolan glanced over, barely hiding the disgust in his eyes. It didn’t surprise him that Draln would try to convince Master Aela he was somehow superior. Considering how skilled a shaper he already had become, it might even be convincing.
“I’m surprised so many in the first year have begun to appreciate the architecture of the Academy. Most take until their second or third year before they begin to appreciate it, and even then, it’s not often we have any who really understand how magnificent the construction of the Academy is. The ancient shapers who created it, the first of the Academy, were far more skilled than most give credit to.”
Draln made a show of nodding, and Tolan wondered just how much he actually cared. Knowing what he did about the other man, it was likely all for appearances. More likely than not, he did it mostly to antagonize Tolan and Jonas.
“Now, if you all don’t mind, it is time for class to begin.” With a burst of shaping, either wind or water—Tolan couldn’t quite tell which—Master Aela made her way to the spirit tower.
Draln smirked at him before turning his attention to Jonas. “I’m surprised you recognize architecture, Golud, especially considering that slum you called home.”
“Your sister didn’t think it was much of a slum when she visited,” Jonas said, glaring at Draln.
Draln tensed and Tolan stepped between them, afraid a fight might break out. It wouldn’t surprise him to see either man deciding to instigate. Jonas was proud, and Draln too stubborn to realize when he had someone else riled up.
“I’m surprised the two of you are able to even reach this tower,” Draln said, glancing from Jonas to Tolan. His gaze lingered on Tolan the longest, and he pressed his lips together in a tight frown. “Though, it is too bad you only have a connection to a single element. How much longer do you think they’ll allow you to remain in the Academy studying when you can’t reach any others? True shapers don’t use bondars,” he said.
He leapt to the air on a shaping of wind and fire, swirling toward the spirit tower. Tolan glared after him before focusing, thinking about the fire elemental and drawing on the power of the furios. He feared trying to shape without it, but holding onto the furios, drawing on the strength it granted him, gave him a better opportunity to reach the spirit tower, and it didn’t take quite as many attempts. The longer he remained below, the more attention he drew. He had no interest in continuing to draw attention from people like Draln.
“Do you have it?” Jonas whispered.
Tolan nodded.
Jonas spun up into the air, following a funnel of wind, and Tolan focused, preparing to explode upward. The shaping came easier to him, though still not as easily as he would like it to. He needed it to be faster. He needed for it to be second nature, but summoning the power as he did, focusing on an elemental as he did, made it so no power came all that quickly.
He exploded, and as he drifted toward the spirit tower, he glanced over to see Ferrah rising past him. He tried to catch her, but she was too quick.
How long would she stay angry with him?
When he reached an enormous archway marking the entrance to the spirit tower, he landed and staggered forward. He still didn’t have the necessary control over the shaping to allow him to land with any sort of grace and dignity. He was thankful he was able to reach it at all, so landing was something that would come later.
He looked around. The others were all focused toward the front of the classroom, looking toward Master Aela. Swirls of letters had been shaped into the air, words written for them to take notes on.
As he hurried to his spot next to Jonas, he glanced over at Ferrah, hoping to catch her eye, but she ignored him, just as she had over the last few days.
“Did I miss anything?” he whispered.
“Nothing terribly important. She’s mostly droning on about the need to reach deep within yourself to understand spirit. I don’t have much hope that I will be able to do so.”
“Even after your studies on the Inquisitors?”
Jonas raised a finger to his lips. “Don’t talk about that here. If Master Aela learned about that, I can imagine her giving me more assignments.”
“You don’t want more assignments? I thought you loved the idea of learning all about them.”
“Shaper Ethar, is there something you would like to share with us about your knowledge of spirit?”
He flushed. Warmth rolled through him and a bead of sweat started along his brow, running down his face. “I’m sorry, Master Aela.”
“Please share if you have something. Each of us has our own unique experience, and if your experience has granted you insight to spirit, I would be thrilled if you were so inclined to pass on what you know.”
“I don’t know anything worth sharing,” he said.
She frowned, and he wished he could disappear or shrink in on himself. She turned back to the space at the front of the room, continuing to create her shaped letters, and Tolan stared straight ahead. Draln snickered behind him, and he forced himself to ignore it. There’d be no good in paying any attention to that, especially knowing that was exactly what Draln wanted.
“As we’ve been learning, spirit is a connection we all share. There are some who believe each of us is born with the ability to reach for spirit. While I do
n’t know if that is true or not, it seems as likely as any other answer.”
“Does that mean anyone has the potential to be an Inquisitor?” Jessica asked from the side of the room.
Master Aela glanced over at her, and a smile spread across her face. “Do you think you’d like to be an Inquisitor?”
“I—”
Master Aela laughed softly, her voice light, reminding Tolan of a shaping. Was she using spirit even now? He couldn’t tell, and he doubted any of the others could tell, either, which was somewhat troubling. What if she was shaping them?
It was unlikely anything could be done. All he could hope for was the possibility he would be able to resist her shaping, but he didn’t know if he would be able to or not. He might have avoided a shaping from Master Irina, but that had been a single shaping, and he wondered if the spirit shaping done within their classroom would be a continuous and ongoing sort of thing.
“The Inquisitors will find any with the potential to join them. There are only a few roles for those with the necessary potential.”
“Everyone who has the power to reach spirit is asked to serve as an Inquisitor?” Ferrah asked.
“The Inquisitors have an important role within Terndahl. If you have the necessary ability, then you will be asked to serve. You should consider that a great honor.”
She held her gaze on Ferrah for a moment before smiling and turning her attention back to the front of the room.
If he did have some connection to spirit—and he wasn’t sure, but it seemed possible—what did that mean for him? He didn’t know many of the Inquisitors, really only Master Irina, but what he knew about them was enough to make him uncertain about whether or not he wanted anything to do with that sort of shaping. It seemed to him that there could be a much better use of spirit shaping, though he didn’t know what else it could be used for.
“Once again, as we were saying, there has long been a belief that each of us has within us the ability to shape spirit. There is no question we are all connected, and that the ancient element bonds bind us together, though not all of us can reach them anymore. There was a time when everyone was said to have been able to reach the element bonds, though time or desire has waned, making it so such things aren’t as possible as they once were. Perhaps in enough years, the ability to shape will be even more restricted, and we will eventually fade into nothingness.”
“I didn’t expect her to get so dark,” Jonas murmured.
“Yet, spirit binds us together, and it’s because of spirit that we know we belong to something greater. We are shapers, connected to the element bonds, to an ancient power that binds us. Those who reach spirit gain a greater understanding than those who don’t, but even without that connection, most understand how they are unique.”
Tolan was surprised at the direction she was taking and hadn’t expected her to talk to them about the nature of the various element bonds. The other instructors had not started quite so basic, though in his case, speaking about the element bonds wasn’t basic at all.
“For those of you who have the ability to connect to more than one element, I would have you practice binding them together. Doing so is one way you might be able to reach spirit, though in truth, those spirit shapers who require such access to the most blessed of elements aren’t ever nearly as powerful as those who have a natural affinity for it.”
“What do you mean by binding the elements together?”
“Focus on shaping more than one element at a time,” she said, her voice musical and low. Seeing as how he had the ability of only reaching fire—and maybe earth—he wasn’t going to be binding anything together, which meant maybe his belief that he could reach spirit—or somehow prevent spirit from being used on him—might’ve been wrong. “Those of you who have the ability of only reaching a single element,” she said, sweeping her gaze around the room before it settled on Tolan, “must wait, though perhaps in hearing these lectures, and being taught about the most sacred of the elements, you might gain insight when—and if—you ever are able to reach it.”
She turned away and took a seat at a table in the corner.
Tolan glanced at Jonas, sharing a look. “Is that it?” he asked.
“I think she intends for us to practice, though I’m not entirely sure. I would’ve expected her to share a little bit more if that’s what she wanted from us, but maybe she thought we should know without her telling us.”
“I guess I get to sit back and watch,” Tolan said.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m the one who can only reach a single element. Maybe I should grab a bondar from the other classrooms and see if I can use each of them to combine together and somehow reach for spirit.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Jonas said.
“I was kidding.”
“I know you were, but it still not a bad idea. Think about what you might be able to do if you could shape through a bondar for each of the elements. It would have to bring you pretty close to reaching spirit.”
“It might bring you close, but it won’t bring you the same closeness to the element as you would have if you reached it naturally,” Tolan said, mimicking the singsong way Master Aela spoke. He glanced at the front of the room to make sure she wasn’t watching and was thankful she seemed lost in whatever she was studying.
Power built from everyone all around him. Shapings burst into being, everybody attempting to call upon their power, combining it and using it so they could try to mix their shapings, reaching for spirit in a way Tolan could not.
But maybe he could.
Hadn’t he reached for earth and mixed it with fire? That was the same as what happened with the elementals, the way hyza was earth and fire.
What if he started with one, and from there called upon the other?
He looked around at the others in the room and decided that here—and now—was not the place he wanted to do it. If he did manage to call an elemental, it would likely terrify others, and Tolan wasn’t sure he had enough control over his shaping—or summoning—to do so in a way that wouldn’t cause chaos. It would be better to do this in the park.
He got to his feet and started to make his way around the room. Others looked at him, and Draln glared at him and made a point of holding his hand out, a flame burning in his palm, wind swirling around it, and Tolan couldn’t tell, but it seemed as if water caused the flame to hiss and spit. Whatever he was doing involved at least three elements, and if he were somehow able to add earth to it, he would be able to make spirit, wouldn’t he?
And here Tolan had believed it was much rarer to do.
“Master Aela?” Ferrah said.
The master glanced over, and she smiled brightly when she looked at Ferrah. “What is it?”
“When we mix the four elements, how is it that we know if we have managed to combine them effectively?”
Tolan looked over at her and frowned. Could she really have managed to shape four elements at the same time? He knew Ferrah had skill—she had come to the Academy with significant shaping ability—but had the few months they’d been here already taught her how to reach all of the elements?
He glanced over at Draln and didn’t think even he had managed that, not without a bondar. Draln flicked his gaze from Ferrah to his palm and clenched his jaw, focusing on his shaping.
“You will know if you are successful. You will feel it deep within you, and with it will come a sense of awareness you do not find otherwise. I don’t know that I can describe it in any other way, but I do know that when that power comes, you will feel it.”
Ferrah turned her attention back to staring at her hand, and Tolan wondered if she had already managed to reach spirit. What if she had some way of doing so?
And if she did, then he wondered if he could figure out some way of his own, but it would involve somehow managing to pull on the connection to more than one elemental at a time. Even if he could manage to, something that he still didn’t know if it were possible
, Tolan didn’t think he could draw upon the power of more than two.
He made his way around the room, glancing from place to place, and noticed a bookshelf. What kind of books would she have here? Would they be the kind that would speak about spirit and reaching that sort of power? If there were books like that here, why here rather than in the library?
“Shaper Ethar, the instruction is for everyone to focus on shaping various elements together.”
Tolan turned to Master Aela. She stood only a few steps away from him and smelled of perfume, but it seemed to cover something else, a hidden odor he couldn’t quite make out. “I would, but I’m one of those shapers you mentioned who can’t shape more than one element.”
“Then you can use the time to work on reaching another element,” she said.
“It’s not quite as effective for me without having access to a bondar,” he said. Tolan hesitated, looking in her direction. “Is there a bondar for spirit?”
She fixed him with a heavy gaze. “There are no shortcuts when it comes to spirit.”
“I’m not looking for a shortcut. I’m just wondering—”
“You wouldn’t be the first who has wondered if there might be an easy way to reach for spirit, but unfortunately—or perhaps, fortunately—there is no simple method of accessing spirit. It takes practice and patience and more than a little skill. It’s why spirit is so revered. Spirit shapers are among the most powerful shapers Terndahl has, and we use the power of those shapers, and we have remained safe, a unified people for many years.”
He wondered what the master shapers who couldn’t reach spirit might say about hearing her speak in such terms about their elements. Most of the master shapers had the ability to reach more than one element bond, but as far as he knew, only the Inquisitors were able to reach spirit.
“What is involved in serving as an Inquisitor?”
“If you are interested in serving as an Inquisitor, I must warn you it is difficult, and only those most capable are granted that opportunity.”
“I’m not sure I want to serve as an Inquisitor, but I am curious what goes into the training.”
The Earth Awakens (Elemental Academy Book 2) Page 10