The Earth Awakens (Elemental Academy Book 2)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “The master shapers will be here soon,” Tolan said, hoping it was true.

  “I don’t fear them, but I do worry about the others.”

  Tolan frowned. What others? Who would Daniels fear?

  “And here I thought you would never have been useful despite your connection to your parents. I’m only disappointed I didn’t identify it sooner.”

  “What do you know about my parents’ disappearance?”

  Master Daniels grinned at him. “Did you think I took you in out of compassion? No. I wanted to know whether you knew what they knew. Unfortunately, it seemed as if you never did. A shame, really. Had I known, we would not have needed to stay in Ephra all that time. I could have used you long ago.”

  Tolan continued back up, pressing against the wall. As he did, he felt the ground rumbling.

  What was Master Daniels doing now?

  The draasin continued to circle, and he didn’t know if the shaping Master Daniels had attempted to use on it had succeeded or not. If it had, it was possible Master Daniels was in control of the elemental.

  “Unfortunately, it’s time for me to go, but I think I will take you with me. You will be quite valuable.”

  “Valuable to whom? The Draasin Lord?”

  Master Daniels glanced over his shoulder. The dark shapes of the disciples moved within the park, and one was grabbed by the earth elemental and thrown back. The disciple managed to correct himself, righting himself in the air and landing, and Tolan noticed he was holding his hands outward the same way Master Daniels had when it came to the elementals.

  “The Draasin Lord would find you quite the prize. Unfortunately, that’s not where you’re going.”

  Master Daniels reached for him and Tolan jerked back, slamming into the wall. As he did, he let out a soft call for help.

  Stop him!

  He tried to back away, but earth grabbed him the same way it had near the bondar. Master Daniels continued to stalk toward him, moving carefully, and a shaping built that wrapped around him the same way it had when Master Daniels’ men were trying to hold onto him.

  He couldn’t move.

  What had he been thinking, trying to come back into the park by himself?

  A shaping built, and it came from behind him. He managed to look back. Ferrah stood on top of the wall, holding her hands outward, a blast of wind swirling from her as it slammed into Master Daniels.

  He looked up at her. “You really would have been a powerful student. It’s a shame you never will have the chance.”

  A shaping built. With a sudden realization, Tolan could feel it was spirit.

  The only reason he knew it was spirit was because it felt so different than any other shaping he had ever known. Once it hit Ferrah, he had little doubt it would destroy something about her.

  “No!”

  He lunged forward.

  The earth released him, and he slammed into Master Daniels. He jabbed the furios at him, releasing a shaping. Both hyza and saa poured free from the furios and into Master Daniels. Tolan rolled free, springing to his feet, and backed up.

  Master Daniels pressed his hand to his chest, the elementals trying to reach for him, but the earth shaping he summoned was powerful enough to push them back.

  As he sat up, he looked at Tolan. “That is about enough—”

  Jinnar—the summoned earth elemental—grabbed him and lifted him in the air, throwing him to the far side of the park.

  The elemental looked at Tolan, watching him, and turned, heading toward where he’d thrown Master Daniels.

  With a burst of shaped power, the disciples—along with Master Daniels—lifted into the air. The draasin snapped at them, but it seemed tethered to the bondar, held in place, and the disciples continued to rise higher and higher into the air before eventually disappearing.

  22

  “What now?” Ferrah asked, looking at the wall surrounding the park.

  “I—”

  Tolan didn’t get the chance to finish. The Grand Master appeared, his gaze taking in everything in a heartbeat before settling on Tolan and then on Ferrah.

  “You can release your shaping, Shaper Ethar,” the Grand Master said.

  “I can do what?”

  The Grand Master nodded toward the park. “Your shaping. It’s no longer necessary.”

  “I…” Tolan glanced over his shoulder and realized he still had a connection to fire and earth, and through that connection, both the draasin and jinnar remained. He tamped down the connection to both, finding as before that his connection to the draasin was much more difficult to separate from, though this time, the earth elemental was more difficult than he remembered as well.

  “Shaper Ethar?” the Grand Master asked.

  “I’m trying. It’s just that this bondar or key or whatever it is makes it difficult for me to separate my shaping.”

  “As it should,” the Grand Master said. “This place is one of the many that helps us maintain the elementals within the bond.” He paused and turned to Tolan. “You called it the key. Why is that?”

  He breathed out before turning his attention back to the Grand Master. “The shaper who was here. I knew him. I didn’t realize he was one of the disciples.”

  And he still wasn’t sure what to make of it. How had Master Daniels managed to hide among the Academy so long? It seemed impossible to believe, but then he also had believed Master Daniels had taken him in, agreeing to work with him all those years ago because he had been friends with Tolan’s parents. To find out that was all a lie left him feeling empty.

  There was something more, though he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Master Daniels had made a comment about something his parents had done, some way they had tried to prevent him from getting selected. If only he’d had a chance to ask more questions.

  “I’m not sure he was with the disciples.”

  “He was the one who’s been attacking the city,” Tolan said. What else would he be but one of the disciples? Then there was what Daniels had said. Could Tolan have been wrong? “I recognized him after the palace attack. I knew he’d been called back to the city for additional training, but didn’t know more than that,” he said.

  “Called back?” the Grand Master asked.

  Tolan nodded.

  “And you saw him near the palace?”

  “I’m sure of it. Was he looking for this all along?”

  “There have been many attempts for many years to find the Keystone. One of the things the Shapers Path does is create protection, but the other is to create a shielding for this. When that was damaged, the shielding protecting the Keystone failed. And then the palace fell, another piece of the shielding. It was why they released the elementals around Terndahl. They thought they would be drawn here, but that’s not how it works.”

  “Why would the palace be a part of the shielding?”

  “Do you think it should be the Academy?” the Grand Master asked.

  “The Academy has shapers, and I just thought if there was something that needed to be protected, there would be a reason to do so there.”

  “The Academy is not always safe,” the Grand Master said. He turned his attention back to the park. “A Keystone. Not many have a connection to the Keystone, Shaper Ethar.”

  “I thought it was something like an enormous bondar.”

  The Grand Master chuckled. “Perhaps, but in this case, this enormous bondar is what separates us from the elementals stored within this place.”

  “Stored?”

  “Not all of the elementals were forced into the bond. There are some that remained, though confined to places like these Keystones. The reason behind that has long been lost, though only the Grand Master and several of the master shapers even know this place exists near the Academy.” He looked at Tolan and then Ferrah. “And now the two of you.”

  “Do you intend to have us spirit-shaped?” Tolan asked.

  The Grand Master studied him, running a thumb beneath his chin. “I’m not certain
a spirit shaping would be successful on you, Shaper Ethar. And I believe I can trust Shaper Changen.”

  Ferrah nodded.

  “What happens now?” Tolan asked.

  “Now you have revealed the presence of the Keystone and used the power here?” The Grand Master asked.

  “I suppose,” Tolan said.

  “Now it must be suppressed once again. The power of this place is dangerous and needs to be controlled. Now we know this was their target, we can conceal it again.”

  “But they saw it.”

  “They saw it, but the power will be moved,” the Grand Master said.

  “You can move it?”

  “You can move a great number of things,” the Grand Master said. “You only need the right connections.”

  The Convergence. That was what he meant, though Tolan wondered why he would tell him that.

  “I think it’s time for you to return to the city,” the Grand Master said. “As a first-level student, you must continue training for your testing.”

  “I haven’t suppressed the earth elemental and the draasin.”

  “I believe I can manage,” the Grand Master said. “And besides, Shaper Ethar, I don’t want you to be here when the other master shapers arrive, as they may feel differently than I do about you maintaining a memory of this place.”

  “Will we ever see it again?”

  The Grand Master stared at the sculpture. “Unfortunately, I can’t promise such a thing.”

  Tolan sighed and Ferrah took his hand, starting him away, but he paused and looked back. “Are there others?”

  “There are others.”

  “Why?”

  “If there weren’t, our land would become like the waste.” He paused and turned away from Tolan. “Go on, Shaper Ethar.”

  Tolan looked back, his gaze lingering on the draasin. It was never in danger of being released. The draasin was confined, though Tolan didn’t know quite how, other than the fact it seemed bound to this place. And when they left, the Grand Master would force both the earth elemental and the draasin back into the bonds, securing them once more.

  “What is it?” Ferrah asked as they disappeared back into the trees.

  “I… I just can’t shake the feeling I was supposed to find this place.”

  “Supposed to? Tolan, you heard what he said. This is a place where the elementals were able to remain, and with that being the case, you coming here—untrained, I might add—is incredibly dangerous. We’re lucky we weren’t killed when this place was attacked.”

  They were lucky, but something troubled him. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered why Master Irina had brought Master Daniels back to the city. “Do you think she knew?” he whispered.

  Shaping built around them, and he glanced up to see shapers soaring high overhead, heading toward the park. How long would it be before they moved it? How long before he no longer had the ability to access the bondar?

  Not long. Tolan doubted the Grand Master would wait, especially now the disciples knew about it.

  “Who knew?”

  “The Grand Inquisitor. Do you think she knew?”

  “Knew what?”

  “That Master Daniels was a spirit shaper. She would have to have known, wouldn’t she?”

  “What are you getting at?”

  “Only a concern, though I’m not sure what to make of it.”

  Ferrah slowed, and as they were still holding hands, he slowed too, looking over at her.

  “Are you suggesting the Grand Inquisitor was somehow a part of all of this?”

  “I’m suggesting she brought him back to the city. She gave him a reason to come. There has to be something behind that.”

  “Oh, Tolan.”

  “What?”

  “I’m concerned you are bringing me into something I want nothing to do with.”

  “Even if it threatens the Academy?”

  “That’s why I’m afraid. Why didn’t you say something to the Grand Master?”

  “I said something, but I’m not sure he thought it as significant as I did.”

  They started walking, and as they did, power built around them. It was an enormous shaping, and Tolan wondered if he would’ve been aware of it had they been in the city. It was the kind of power he remembered from when he was in the Convergence. The shapers had to be drawing upon that power and moving the Keystone.

  Would he be able to determine where they were moving it?

  “Come with me,” he said.

  “Tolan…”

  She didn’t argue, though, and as they traced the sensation, Tolan felt the movement. Surprisingly, it drifted toward the Academy.

  Didn’t the Grand Master say the Academy wasn’t a good place to hide the Keystone?

  As they reached the Academy grounds, a familiar face greeted him at the door.

  “Master Minden.”

  She looked at him with the milky gaze she had, and her mouth was pressed in a tight line. “Shaper Ethar. It’s an interesting night for you to be out.”

  “I—”

  “You should return to your quarters. You will have a long day tomorrow.”

  Tolan glanced at Ferrah and realized that any desire he might have to follow the shaping and determine where the Keystone would be moved would be thwarted by Master Minden, a master shaper he had never seen outside the library before now.

  “Go on.” When he started past her, she whispered something soft, faint, and perhaps only in his mind. “You can ask questions about the Keystone tomorrow, along with your questions about the Grand Inquisitor.”

  Tolan lingered a moment before Ferrah pulled him on. He glanced back, but Master Minden continued to stare out into the courtyard. The air swirled around her, but Tolan felt no shaping emanating from her, not as he should.

  Elemental magic.

  He started to smile. Whatever was taking place within the Academy was much more than he had imagined. He didn’t know whether the Grand Inquisitor was a part of it, but he was determined to find out. He only had to decide whether he would trust the Grand Master or Master Minden first.

  For now, he was able to shape. His connection to the Keystone had given him an ability to reach shaping that he hadn’t before. And with that ability, he was going to be able to remain a student. That would tie him more tightly to the Academy, but it would give him an opportunity to try and understand what else might be taking place here. And it might help him understand the elementals better.

  “Tolan?”

  He glanced over to see Ferrah watching him.

  “Are you coming?”

  “What else can I do?”

  23

  Once back inside the Academy, Tolan paused. They still had the testing for promotion from first level to second level, and with all the time he’d been spending out in the park near the Keystone, he hadn’t prepared.

  Which meant he likely wouldn’t pass.

  After everything else, surviving the attack from Master Daniels, now he wouldn’t even be able to stay here.

  “What is it?” Ferrah asked.

  “It doesn’t seem fair.”

  “What doesn’t seem fair?”

  “I feel like I’ve done everything we’re supposed to do, and we’ve stopped dangerous attacks on the Academy several times, but that’s not going to be enough.”

  Ferrah glanced over. She took his hand, squeezing it gently. “You’re going to do fine.”

  Tolan stared straight ahead. “I don’t know how. The testing is more than I’m ready for.”

  “After what you’ve just gone through?”

  “That’s different, and we both know it. Out near the Keystone, I had access to a powerful bondar.”

  “Then use a bondar.”

  “We both know that won’t be enough.”

  He had his furios but would need more than that in order to pass the testing from first level to second level. None really knew what was involved, only that there was a testing. At least he had stayed at th
e Academy this long. After his Selection, he hadn’t really expected to have lasted. He had expected to find himself thrown out before now.

  A hulking figure heading up the stairs caught his attention in the distance and he groaned.

  “What is it?”

  “I just realized I have more than just the testing to worry about.”

  “What else?”

  “Draln.”

  She squeezed his hand and they reached the stairs leading up to the first-level student quarters. At this point, all he wanted was to rest, but his mind was racing. There were so many questions. What would happen with the Keystone? What would the Grand Master do? Would there be any way for Tolan to find it again?

  It was that power he wanted to understand, and yet if the master shapers moved it, he doubted he’d ever be able to find it again.

  Once inside the quarters, he had started back to the rooms when he heard his name shouted.

  Tolan turned slowly and stiffened.

  Draln watched him, arms crossed over his chest. For some reason, he had a heavy cloak thrown over his shoulders, as if he’d recently been traveling. A nasty gleam shone in his eyes. “Ethar. You’ve been avoiding me long enough.”

  “I’m not avoiding you at all, Draln.”

  “You skip off from classes. It’s almost as if you don’t want to face me in a shapers duel.”

  Tolan took a deep breath, straightening his back. He wanted nothing to do with the shapers duel, but feared it was going to be required, regardless of what he wanted.

  “Let’s get it over with then,” he said.

  “Tolan,” Ferrah hissed.

  He shook his head slightly. What did it matter, anyway? If he wasn’t going to pass the next level, the least he could do was confront Draln. With his furios, he had to believe he had enough fire strength that he should be able to withstand anything Draln might do. The other man might be able to manipulate the elements, but Tolan was able to connect to the elementals. Whether or not that was safe to do was a different matter.

  “In the morning. In the park.”

  The others standing behind Draln all laughed, and Tolan shot them a look before turning his attention to Draln. “Fine. In the morning.”