The Fire Within (Elemental Academy Book 1), page 16
The woman glanced up. “Maloden would be a start, but he is at the Academy now. He deserves something more than basic.” She turned her attention to Tolan, pressing her lips together. She had deep gray eyes with a milky film over them. How was she able to see anything? Her hands were twisted, her skin spotted and wrinkled. How old was this master shaper?
“You are right, Asmane.” Master Jensen continued down the stairs and joined Tolan and Ferrah. “I can find you at your table when I grab the texts.”
“Thank you, Master Jensen.”
He only nodded, starting away and climbing a ladder of a nearby shelf. About halfway up, he leaned in and ran his finger along the spine of the books. When he reached one he had been searching for, he pulled it off the shelf and started back down the ladder.
Ferrah guided Tolan back to their table and took a seat.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Jonas asked.
“Master Jensen is grabbing the books,” she said.
“Who’s the other one over there?” Jonas asked.
“That’s Master Minden. She’s been here forever. She doesn’t usually help with finding books. She’s typically lost in her studies.”
“It looks like she’s been here forever,” Jonas said.
Tolan glanced over at Ferrah. “One of them was shaping.”
“That’s not possible in the library.”
He shrugged, glancing back at the elevated desk. It might only be his imagination, but he thought Master Minden looked over at him every so often. Then again, with the film over her eyes, how could she? He was surprised she hadn’t gone to one of the water shapers for healing.
“The library is closed to shaping,” Ferrah said.
“Quite right,” Master Jensen said, setting a stack of books on the table in front of Tolan and Ferrah. “It would be too dangerous to some of these ancient texts not to seal it from shaping. Can you imagine what would happen were a fire shaper to lose control of their shaping in here? We could lose countless historical texts. It would be a devastating loss.”
“Are these the only copies?” Tolan asked.
“Of some. Many have reproductions stored elsewhere, but making reproductions takes time, and it’s not something that can simply be shaped. It is far too difficult to do that. That’s why the ancient masters and creators of the Academy wisely sealed off the library from shaping. Besides, when you come to the library, it’s a time to work your mind and not your magic.” He tapped the top of one of the books. “Start with Maloden and work your way through them.”
As Master Jensen started away from the table, Tolan glanced over. “Master Jensen?”
The old master turned back.
“Do you have anything that would help me understand the symbols on the towers?”
“You have to wait until you are more advanced to begin studying runes. It is far too dangerous for students who still haven’t mastered their shaping to work rune magic.”
“Rune magic?” Jonas asked as he headed away. “Have you ever heard of such a thing?”
Ferrah nodded, watching Tolan. “We have some runes in Par, but most of them have degraded, falling into disrepair much like the buildings.”
“I never saw anything like that before coming here,” Tolan said. He thought about the furios and the markings on them. It made sense they wouldn’t want just anyone to learn to master runes, especially if they couldn't control their shaping. If someone could create runes, they ran the risk of also creating a furios—or another type of bondar.
Tolan pulled the stack of books to him. As he flipped open the first page, he glanced up at Ferrah. “What have you been looking into while you’re here?”
“I figured I would see what I could learn about the history of Par.”
“Why do you care about the history?” Jonas asked.
“There are things you can’t learn by experiencing them. Some things are only learned by looking into the past. Sometimes, you have to go back and learn from people who’ve come before you so you don’t make the same mistakes.”
Jonas grinned at her. “You’re to become a librarian, aren’t you?”
“Would that be so bad?” she snapped.
“Most people who come to the Academy think about becoming something more.”
“I happen to think librarians are enough.”
Jonas shook his head. “You are hopeless.”
“Could the two of you just stop?” Tolan stared at the page. He wasn’t going to be able to read through this very easily—or quickly. They had an earth shaping class soon, which meant he would either have to bring the books with him or he would have to return to the library to go through them. “Do they let us bring these out of the library?”
“As long as you get one of the Master Librarians’ permission.”
“Could you ask? It seems you have a bit of a connection to Master Jensen.”
She snorted. “He’s not scary.”
“I didn’t say he was.”
“And the Master Librarians are experts. That’s more than I can say for you,” she said to Jonas.
She went over to the elevated desk and spoke to Master Jensen, leaving Tolan and Jonas alone. “You really shouldn’t push her like that,” Tolan said.
“You know she doesn’t mind.”
“I don’t know if she minds or not, but you really shouldn’t. Just tell her how you feel,” Tolan said.
“What?” Jonas asked, sitting back while his grin faded.
“You obviously like her. And the way she gives it back to you makes it seem like she likes you, too.”
“And now you’re an expert on women?”
Tolan chuckled. “Apparently more than you.”
When Ferrah came back, she nodded. “Master Jensen said it would be fine for you to take them. He said you need to check in with him once a week to make sure you don’t have any questions.”
Tolan gathered the books and stood. “We should really be getting to earth shaping,” he said.
“We really wouldn’t want to keep Master Shorav waiting, would we?” Jonas asked.
As they headed out of the library, he glanced down at the books he was carrying. He didn’t want to be toting these around throughout the earth shaping session. “Why don’t the two of you go up ahead? I’m going to stop back in our room and drop these off.”
Jonas shrugged and Ferrah watched him for a moment before going after Jonas.
Tolan hurried along the hall before heading up to the first-year dorms and racing down to his shared room. Inside, he dropped the books on his bed before turning back. Voices along the hall made him pause at the door.
He recognized Draln and Jason. “I can’t believe they got caught.”
“We don’t know they got caught doing anything,” Jason said.
“They’re not in their rooms. And with the rumors going about…”
“Yeah, but those are just rumors.”
“I was there when it happened. I told them I could show them a more advanced version, but they made the mistake of getting too eager. I had to bolt when she screamed, not wanting to be there, but someone found them.”
“You should be careful with your advanced version.”
“Oh, it’s harmless. Besides, it’s how I advanced as quickly as I did with my shaping.”
They passed Tolan’s doorway and he remained frozen in place, not wanting to reveal himself.
Draln was talking about Teddy and Janey. Worse, he had something to do with what had happened. Tolan tried to think about what role Draln might have had but couldn’t think of anything. Maybe it was nothing more than staying involved with playing Imaginarium even when they knew they should not, but he wondered if there wasn’t something more to it.
He stayed in place, not wanting to move until he was certain they were gone. When he was, he stepped out, looking along the hallway. He needed to get to class, but he also wanted to know what stupidity Draln was up to. What was he doing?
It wasn’t good, whatever it was.
And worse, the way he’d said it made it seem as if Draln knew something about elementals.
Could that be the key to his abilities?
If it was, he could only imagine what Jonas would say.
It was time to get away from here, but he was careful, biding his time to ensure he waited until Draln and Jason were long gone before heading down the stairs and making his way to the earth tower for class. He was left with troubled thoughts the entire time.
10
The earth-shaping class breezed by. As he usually did, Tolan took the offered bondar—what the earth shapers called the golan—and attempted to sense through it, thinking that if nothing else, he could use it to help understand how to shape. His mind wasn’t on it. Throughout the class, he found himself repeatedly looking at Draln, wondering what he might have done to have caused both Teddy and Janey to get injured. Whatever it was had been severe enough that Master Wassa was impressed by it.
“We need to talk after class,” Tolan whispered to Jonas as they worked.
“If this is about what you started talking to me about in the library, I’m not interested.”
“This is not about that. This is something else. Something more important.”
Jonas glanced over. “It had better be.”
Tolan nodded. “Trust me.”
Master Shorav let them work for a while before having the students who needed additional help put the bondar away. This time, Tolan hurriedly replaced the bondar, though a part of him wondered whether he would be able to use it the same way he had used the furios had he focused on what he remembered of the earth elemental. It had been in the vision as part of his Selection and wasn’t necessarily real, but maybe it had been.
It was worth trying, but not here, not with so many others who might question what he was doing if he attempted to bring forth an elemental. He’d already seen how Jory had reacted when they had done that.
They all took their seats and Master Shorav started lecturing on the earth elementals, going through what was known of the elemental golud. Tolan found it amusing the elemental shared the same last name as Jonas, but said nothing to Jonas about that. Jonas didn’t seem to be in much of a mood for him to do so.
When class was done, they hurried from the hall and he pulled Jonas off to the side, waiting for the rest of the class to pass. Ferrah watched him and he nodded, letting her know it was okay for her to approach.
“When I went back to the room, I overheard Draln and Jason talking.”
“Why do I get the sense I’m not going to like this?” Ferrah asked.
“Because it sounded like Draln was involved in what happened last night.”
“That’s not possible,” she said.
“Isn’t it? Draln would want to work with the older students, especially when it came to Imaginarium. He wouldn’t be nervous about releasing a rogue elemental, not like you. And he’s skilled.” He looked from Jonas to Ferrah. “What if he was the one who released the elemental?”
“I don’t know,” Jonas said. “I’ve known Draln a long time, and would never have claimed he had the ability to release a rogue elemental.”
Heavy boots thundered across the tile and Tolan looked up to see Master Shorav closing the door to the classroom and locking it. He stared at them for a moment before nodding and continuing off to the end of the hall, where he climbed the stairs, likely to his quarters.
“But what if he could? What if that’s where he gets his power? What if that’s how he’s able to do all of the things he can?”
“And what if he’s just a skilled shaper?” Ferrah asked. “That’s the more likely answer.”
Tolan looked to Jonas for support. He stared back, shrugging. “I know you’d like to believe it’s more than that, but I have a hard time thinking he is using elementals for his shaping. I’m not even sure how such a thing would be possible,” Jonas said.
“It’s how the Draasin Lord uses his power,” Tolan said.
“How do you know?”
Tolan sighed. “Because my parents were taken by the Draasin Lord.”
“They were what?” Ferrah asked.
“Taken. The Draasin Lord came to Ephra in disguise, and he abducted them. There were others, but most of them were older and didn’t have any kids. I was left behind.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, Great Mother. I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, well it’s not something I really like to talk about. When I was in Ephra, most of the people worried that I sympathized with the Draasin Lord.”
“Do you?” Jonas asked.
Ferrah glared at him. “Jonas!”
Jonas shrugged. “It’s a fair question, I think. If he sides with the Draasin Lord, we should know.”
Tolan shook his head. “No. I don’t side with the Draasin Lord. He took my parents from me. How could I side with him?”
Jonas shrugged. “You know I had to ask.”
“You didn’t have to ask. You were being an ass,” Ferrah said.
Jonas ignored her and turned his attention to Tolan. “If you don’t side with the Draasin Lord, what do you know about him?”
“No more than anyone else.”
“You have to know more. There are more rogue elementals released in Ephra than in any other place. No one else can claim to have even half your experience, especially when it comes to the Draasin Lord.”
“I’m not sure that is a good thing.”
“It helps you know the danger.” Ferrah glanced from Tolan to Jonas. “It does. Knowing the danger that’s out there can help you. You have a greater understanding of that than anyone. We don’t have rogue elementals, not in Par, not the way that you do in Ephra. I’m not sure the elementals ever favored Par.”
“The draasin did,” Jonas said.
“Maybe, but it’s just as likely they didn’t. The draasin can travel anywhere they want. What if the dioramas in Par are nothing more than a depiction of draasin, not a symbol of power that had once been there?”
“I still think we need to keep an eye on Draln. If he is able to use the elementals—”
Jonas shook his head. “He’s not. I know you’re looking for a reason to hate him. The Great Mother knows I feel the same way. But I don’t think he’s involved, not the way that you do.”
“Then we need to figure out who is,” Tolan said.
“What if no one is?” Jonas looked from Tolan to Ferrah. “I wasn’t there. I don’t know what you experienced, but what if it’s nothing more than a stupid accident? They were doing something they shouldn’t.” He nodded to Ferrah. “See? I can agree with you. And you’re right. They shouldn’t have been playing Imaginarium. But it’s probably not so much that they freed an elemental as they had a shaping go wrong. That is far more common than a rogue elemental.”
Ferrah glanced at Tolan. “He’s right. I don’t want to tell him that, but he is right.”
He sighed. Maybe that was all it was. If it was, he should be pleased rather than upset. He should want to have this be simply an accident.
“Fine. I’ll do what you suggest.”
“We haven’t suggested anything,” Jonas said.
“You’re basically suggesting I drop it.”
“There is that,” Jonas said, grinning.
They headed down from the earth tower, and he tried to put away thoughts of rogue elementals and shapers who were using the elementals in ways they shouldn’t, but they kept coming to mind. It was nothing more than his imagination—he knew that—but he had seen what had happened to Teddy and Janey, and it was too easy for him to believe it was more than just a shaping gone wrong.
Even if they didn’t want to believe Draln could use the elementals, he could at least watch him. It might amount to nothing, and he hoped it did, but Tolan would keep an eye on him.
The next few days were uneventful. Tolan watched Draln as much as he could but struggled to see him doing anything unusual. He knew he should be content with that, but he expected something more, and the fact he hadn’t seen anything irritated him as much as anything else.
He spent those days searching through the books borrowed from the library and came across several things that helped him understand the elementals and their connection to the bond, but everything was theoretical.
“You’re really into those books,” Jonas said one morning about a week after the incident.
Tolan sat with his legs crossed on the bed, a lantern burning nearby, working through the book. He flipped pages, trying to come up with an answer as to what it took to separate the elementals from the bond, but didn’t see anything. The only thing he’d found was information on how the bonds were believed to draw power.
“I’m trying to catch up to the rest of you,” he said.
“What does that mean?”
Tolan cursed himself. Jonas still didn’t know about his lack of shaping, and he wanted to avoid telling him for as long as possible, but maybe it was time he shared the truth.
“Only that he went to a substandard school of shaping,” Ferrah said. Like Tolan, she sat with her legs crossed, her red hair falling down in front of her face, poring over a book. He hadn’t seen what she was working on and suspected it still had something to do with her interest in the history of Par.
“You’re one to talk,” Jonas said, laughing. “Like the shaping school in Par is that much better than the one in Ephra.”
Ferrah glanced over at Tolan and only shrugged.
He didn’t know whether to thank her or not for her silence. She protected him by not revealing his inability to shape, but he also knew she wanted him to share with Jonas, at least as much as was possible to share.
“I still haven’t found anything about the connection between the elementals and the bonds,” Tolan said.
“You probably won’t. Not in that one,” Ferrah said. “Like Master Jensen said, that one is fairly basic. You need something more advanced if you want to read anything about the connection between the elementals and the bonds.”
“I was hoping to find something about what it was like before the elementals were joined in the bonds.”
