“If we do that, then we risk the anger of the Grand Master.”
“He already knows I’m aware of the Convergence, so I’m not sure he would be any angrier.”
She studied him for a moment. “I’ll think about it.”
It wasn’t the expected response. Tolan had expected she would have jumped at the chance, especially knowing how eager she was to get a better understanding about the Convergence, but maybe that was tempered by her desire to maintain her place at the Academy. And didn’t he feel a similar desire? He didn’t want to lose his position here, especially now he had begun to fully understand how much he wanted to be here. It was surprising to realize that, especially because he had never once considered a life where he would be a part of the Academy.
And now he understood shaping, now he had it within him, he didn’t want to be told he couldn’t use it.
“What are you doing out here, anyway?” he asked.
“I told you I was working on my studies.”
“What of your studies have taken you out here?”
“I…” She turned away from him, focusing out into the forest. A shaping built from her, though he couldn’t tell what the intent behind it was. Why would she conceal her shaping from him?
“Ferrah?”
“I’m searching for elementals,” she said.
Tolan wondered if she would even find anything about the elementals, or would knowledge of them be hidden from her? “On your own?”
“Not all of us chases the elementals when they appear,” she said.
“I don’t always chase the elementals.” When she arched a brow, he shrugged. “Well, I don’t usually. I don’t know why I feel compelled to go after them.”
“I thought it had something to do with you being from Ephra.”
“My being from Ephra doesn’t give me an affinity to the elementals.” At least, he didn’t think it did. He did have some connection to them, but was that from the fact he’d grown up so close to the waste, or because of who he was?
There were still memories buried within him that he didn’t have the answers to, and those memories needed him to search for answers, though Tolan wondered if they would ever come, or would he forever feel as if he didn’t know some deep part of himself?
“Why would you chase elementals?” She didn’t answer at first and he frowned, looking at Ferrah. “What is it you don’t want to tell me?”
“You don’t get to do that,” she said.
“Do what?”
“Accuse me of withholding things from you.”
“I didn’t accuse you of anything.”
“You didn’t need to. It was in the way you looked at me. And I’m not holding anything back from you.”
He chuckled. That she didn’t see it amused him a little bit, though perhaps it shouldn’t. It would probably upset her to know he was amused by that. “I could help.”
“What if I don’t want your help?”
“Why wouldn’t you want me to come with you? I’ve been studying the elementals. So, if there is anything about them out here, I could help so you could understand them,” he said.
“If I let you do this, you promise you won’t tell anyone what I’m doing?”
“Who would I tell?”
“It seems you and the Grand Master have gotten close, so…”
Tolan shook his head. “I promise I won’t share with anyone what you’re up to. Including the Grand Master.”
She nodded and reached into her pouch and pulled out a small length of stone. Etched into the stone were runes, and she palmed it, holding it out, and pulled on a shaping, using that to stretch outward as the shaping swept across the forest.
“What is that? It looks something like a bondar, but we’ve seen all of the bondars,” he said.
“It looks like them, but it’s not.”
“What is it, then?”
“It helps find elementals.”
“Like the Trackers?”
She looked away from him. “Where do you think I got it?”
He hoped she’d say more, but when she didn’t, he stepped forward.
“Consider me curious. There have been reports of movement outside of the city,” she said.
“Wait… are you looking to see if there are other disciples out here who might attack?”
“I’m not looking for that. What I’m looking into is why.”
“To find the Convergence.”
She turned away.
“Is that why you have that bondar, then?”
“I want to be safe in case I’m attacked,” she said softly.
Tolan caught up to her, looking around her and into the forest. “I’m not so sure the elementals would attack.”
“Why?”
He glanced at the bondar she held. If Ferrah had some way of reaching power that would help him with the elementals, it would be valuable to understanding more about what he could do.
“One of the things I’ve learned from what I’ve been reading is that the ancient shapers celebrated the elementals,” he said.
“We know that. It’s more than just celebrating the elementals. Something changed that made them push the elementals into the bond. What I want to know is why we keep finding elementals out of the bond.”
“You think that will help you understand the Convergence?”
“I think it will help me find it.”
“I’ve already told you I know how to find it.”
“And the Grand Master doesn’t want you to share.”
He shook his head. “The Convergence can’t be your only reason for doing this.”
“I’m trying to understand the attacks, Tolan. No one gives us an answer and you’re so focused on the elementals, but don’t ask questions as to why. What do the disciples hope to gain?”
“We won’t get the answers you want because we’re first-level students.”
“It’s more than that. You said it yourself. There was something out in the waste. And now the waste shifted. That has to mean something.” She glanced down at the item in her hand. “There was so much power.”
He took a deep breath. “We’ve seen elementals we assume have broken free from the bond, but what if there are elementals all around us and we just don’t see them?” That would be a better answer than him being the one to release them. Maybe his shaping only summoned them—but not from the bond.
She pulled on a shaping once again through the item she gripped in her hand. As it swept out, he felt the way it reverberated, echoing off the trees, drifting into the forest, before fading.
Why should he be able to detect something like that?
“Why here?” he asked.
“The forest?”
Tolan nodded. “Why are you searching here rather than somewhere else?”
“What makes you think I haven’t been searching other places?”
Knowing Ferrah, she probably had explored other places before finally coming here.
He dipped his hand into his pocket and ran his fingers along the furios. He focused on the runes and created an image in his mind, using that to attempt a shaping. Heat built slowly and Tolan pulled the furios out of his pocket and pointed it into the trees. A streak of flame shot from the end of the furios, and from there, it took the shape of the hyza. As it did, the elemental began twisting, turning back toward Tolan and Ferrah. Fire glowed where eyes would be, and Tolan continued to hold onto the shaping.
“Why are you pulling on fire shaping?” she asked.
“You don’t see it?”
“See what?”
“See the elemental. I’ve summoned hyza, mostly to show you it could be done.”
“You haven’t summoned anything, Tolan. All I see is fire.”
He glanced at the item in her hand. “Try that.”
She frowned, but a shaping built, starting through the device before washing out. Where it struck the fire elemental, Tolan could feel an echoing, something of a reverberation that bounced off befo
re drifting once again out into the forest.
Ferrah’s eyes widened. “What was that?”
“That’s the elemental.”
“You can feel it?”
“I felt what you did, though I don’t really know what it is.”
“A shaping. The bondar uses the shaping, and it calls to the elementals.”
“I thought you said it wasn’t a bondar?”
“I never said what it was. It is a bondar, though not one we’ve used in our lessons before, mostly because it’s incredibly dangerous.”
“Why is it dangerous?”
“You really want to know?”
“I’m thinking I don’t, but at the same time, I’m curious what you have and why you’re using it.”
“It’s a bondar for spirit.”
“Master Aela said there wasn’t one for spirit.”
She flushed. “It’s not for spirit exactly. It lets the shaper hold onto each of elements more effectively. With that, we can summon spirit.”
Tolan stared at her. Would he be able to use something like that? He didn’t see how he could. “How is it you have a bondar for spirit?”
“I came across it while we were studying in the spirit classroom,” she said.
“Ferrah!”
“Our lessons there are different than they are for the other classes, and I was determined to see if I could uncover anything that might be of use. If this bondar can allow me to reach spirit, maybe I can uncover more about the elementals.”
“I don’t think that’s what it’s for.”
“We don’t know what it’s for. Master Aela hasn’t shared anything with us.”
“Just because Master Aela hasn’t shared anything with us isn’t a reason to be stealing from the spirit classroom. If you get caught doing that, you run the risk of expulsion.”
She stared at him, saying nothing for a long moment. “Are you going to help me, or not?”
“I’ll help you, but…”
“But nothing. And I’m surprised you haven’t taken a bondar from the other classes. With you having the furios, I sort of expected you to have one of each of the others.”
Tolan wondered how easy it would’ve been to master reaching the other elements if he’d had a bondar to practice with.
As he stared at her, he realized he was still holding onto the shaping, and he released it. The elemental remained for a moment before turning and bounding off, leaving Tolan standing and watching Ferrah. She pushed on a shaping again, letting it move away from her, and it reached out into the forest, streaking away before dissipating.
“I don’t detect anything else,” she said.
“I’m not shaping anymore,” he said.
“You shouldn’t have to shape in order to detect something.”
“Which means there’s an elemental wandering.”
“You don’t know that. Besides, we don’t know the mind of the elementals,” she said.
“I’m surprised you think they have a mind.”
“You forget, I’m from Par. We have paintings in some of the ruins that show the elementals mingling with our earliest and most powerful shapers. I can’t think of anything other than the fact they have to be a part of our world.”
“You have to be careful saying that or you’ll have others accusing you of serving the Draasin Lord.”
“I would never—”
Tolan smiled, shaking his head. “I know you wouldn’t, but others wouldn’t see it that way, would they? Others don’t see me that way. In Ephra, there are too many who are happy to blame things happening on the Draasin Lord and his followers.”
“What happened with you?”
“Nothing happened,” he said.
“Something had to happen.”
“I lost my parents. Everyone says they went to serve the Draasin Lord, but that doesn’t fit with memories I have of them.”
“What if your memories were shaped so you only remember what they wanted you to remember?”
The question struck a chord, raising the same questions he’d been asking. “I don’t know. When I was in the Selection, I had a memory of my parents I don’t recall having. It makes me wonder if perhaps I had been shaped, but why? What were they trying to hide?”
“Maybe they were hiding the fact they wanted to serve the Draasin Lord,” she said softly. “You may not want to believe it, but not all parents are good.”
“Yours weren’t?”
“My parents were fine, but I’ve seen enough people who have parents who push them or were abusive, and because of that, I know not everyone has the same experience.”
Tolan swallowed. He didn’t like to think his parents had gone off and chased the Draasin Lord, but what if they had? And worse, with him beginning to wonder about whether he had some connection to spirit, what if he were destined to go and serve the Draasin Lord? He had a connection to the elementals.
That seemed to him the way it would start. First, he would begin with abusing that connection to the elementals, feeling as if he wanted to free them from the bonds, and it wouldn’t take long for him to move onto having a thirst for power that would only be satiated by abusing the elementals within the bond, forcing them to serve him.
Maybe Tolan was destined to become the Draasin Lord.
He shook away those thoughts and found Ferrah watching him, concern etched on her face. He forced a smile, though doubted he was very convincing.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s see if we can’t keep using your stolen bondar and uncover what might have happened.” He would do this for her, fix the issues between them, and then ask if she could help him understand the park.
“Only if you want to,” she said.
“I’ll help you. Whatever you need, I’ll help you.”
10
By the time Tolan had found Marcella and was prepared for his lessons for the next day, she was geared up to head out of the Academy. She had a traveling cloak and what looked to be a sword sheathed to her side beneath it, though her belt was cinched around her waist, making it difficult for him to tell—but it would also be difficult for her to unsheathe the sword if it were there. Her hair was pulled back and bound with a length of leather sash, and she wore a pouch slung over her shoulder.
“Are you ready for today?” she asked.
Tolan glanced down at himself. He was dressed for more classroom sessions, not for anything like the adventure she seemed prepared for. She seemed ready to leave Amitan. “I guess not. Where are we going?”
“I sent word that you needed to be prepared for our journey today.”
Tolan shook his head. “I never got any word we were going anywhere.”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t expect us to be gone for long, so why don’t you come as you are.”
“If it’s something I need to change for, I can hurry back to the student quarters.”
They weren’t that far away, and if changing would allow him to be better prepared for whatever they might do, he’d prefer to be dressed for what they might encounter. It surprised him that she thought she had a need for a weapon. Any Shaper’s preferred weapon was their ability to shape, nothing more than that, and for her to be carrying a sword suggested either there was some ceremonial reason for it, or she actually thought she might need the protection.
Either way, he felt underprepared. Even if she allowed him to return to his quarters, what was he going to grab? He didn’t have a traveling cloak—he’d come to the Academy without much other than a small collection of belongings—and he certainly didn’t have a weapon, ceremonial or otherwise.
“Like I said, I don’t think you are going to need it.” She continued down the hallway.
Tolan hesitated only a moment before following her. They were in one of the eastern wings of the Academy, a place where they often met, and from here, it was easy to leave and head to the park near the Academy. Most students who trained with their assigned master shaper spent their time in the park, but that hadn’t be
en Tolan’s experience with Marcella.
They reached the courtyard and she shaped, sending herself straight up into the air.
He hurriedly reached for his furios and called upon a shaping, sending it through it to allow him to blast into the air. He hadn’t expected to need it quite so soon, but he really hadn’t expected to travel along the Shapers Path high over the city. He hadn’t been here since the attack, and when he landed on it—not nearly as smoothly as he would like—he stared, looking to see if it was still damaged.
From what he could tell, the Shapers Path had been completely restored. It was a circle over the entirety of the city, a translucent shape that provided transportation, though there were crisscrossing paths that arced over the main part of the city. None appeared damaged.
“How far will we travel?” he asked.
“Not far, but I thought it would be easiest if we took the Shapers Path. Besides, from what I understand, you have some experience with this recently?”
She cocked her head, regarding him for a moment before smiling and starting away.
“You mean the disciples.”
“The Grand Master doesn’t want too many to know about it.”
“I haven’t shared with too many.”
“That’s not really what I meant. He keeps it even from the master shapers.”
Tolan wondered why that would be. There was no reason really for the attack to be kept secret from the master shapers, especially as they were the ones responsible for ensuring the protection of Amitan, and he suspected master shapers had been involved in repairing the Shapers Path.
“Why isn’t he telling the master shapers more about the attack?”
“I think he’s concerned about why disciples of the Draasin Lord have managed to reach the city.”
“If you know it’s the disciples, then you know about as much as I do.”
“I probably know more than you do, Shaper Ethar.”
“That’s not what I meant. I wasn’t trying to—”
She raised a hand, silencing him. They reached the western edge of the city and from here, Tolan looked out, noticing the rolling plains heading away from the city. An enormous paved road led toward the city itself, and carts moved along it with people walking alongside. Most of the carts appeared to be shaped, though there were some pulled by animals.
The Earth Awakens (Elemental Academy Book 2) Page 12