The Fire Within (Elemental Academy Book 1), page 19
“It won’t come to that, Shaper Ethar.”
Tolan debated how much to tell Master Wassa. If he were to have any chance at helping the two, he needed to reveal what took place with the Imaginarium game.
“I worry they were attempting something that might have freed an elemental,” Tolan said.
Master Wassa frowned, turning his attention back to Tolan. “And why would you worry about such a thing?”
“There’s a game—”
Master Wassa shook his head. “No game would have left them in such a state,” he said.
“Even one where they attempt to create elementals?”
Master Wassa chuckled. “Playing Imaginarium is a game as old as the Academy, Shaper Ethar. Many students have played it over the years, though admittedly not recently. It has been lost for quite some time, and for good reason.”
“Because of—” He caught himself before asking whether it had anything to do with the Draasin Lord.
Master Wassa frowned deeply. “Yes, unfortunately. There is some fear a game like that will increase sympathy for him and the disciples who follow him.”
“Not that the game will free elementals?”
“There’s nothing to the game itself that is dangerous, at least not when done by shapers still learning how to manipulate their abilities. There is no way they would have been able to free an elemental using shapings involved in the Imaginarium game.”
Tolan sighed. He should have known better, and should have trusted that was the case, but it still bothered him. He started to turn away, but a question came to him. “What is involved in an elemental separating from the bond if it’s not what happens in the game?”
Master Wassa studied him. “You know I can’t answer that.”
“I know you can’t tell me how to do it, but why can’t you at least talk about it? It’s not as if I’m going to use that knowledge to try and free an elemental.”
Master Wassa sighed. “I shouldn’t even be talking about this with you.”
“I’m not able to shape well enough to free the elementals.”
Master Wassa studied him. “I suppose…” He motioned for Tolan to join him inside his quarters and Tolan did so, stepping inside. The room had an herbal scent to it, and he wondered if Master Wassa used medicines in his water shaping to augment them. He had heard of various healers lacking ability to shape who did so, but they were infrequent, especially throughout Terndahl where water shapers were so prevalent.
“There’s a reason they wouldn’t have been able to pull an elemental from the bond,” Master Wassa said, looking down at Teddy and Janey. “It’s the same reason playing Imaginarium doesn’t carry any danger—at least, no real danger. They shape, but that’s it. There isn’t anything else done during the shaping.”
“But they are imagining elementals.”
“Imagining elementals isn’t the same as calling to one and pulling it free from the bond. That is what is required. It’s a connection to the bond, but more than that. It’s a summons to the elemental. And from what we know, not everyone has the ability to summon the elementals.” Master Wassa watched him for a moment. “That’s the reason the bond can hold the elementals. It’s not enough that someone was to try and reach them; they must also know how to separate the elementals from the bond, and in effect, freeing them in a way simply not possible with the level of training most shapers enter the Academy with. Or leave with, for that matter.”
“What happens if they do so accidentally?” Rogue elementals were common enough that there had to be some way of doing it. He didn’t think it was only about finding them within the bond and freeing them.
“Again, Shaper Ethar, it would be incredibly rare for such a thing to happen. They would have to know what they were doing.” He turned his attention back to Tolan. “Imagine if I allowed you the ability to shape water.”
“But I can’t shape water, not even with a bondar.”
Master Wassa raised his hand. “Imagine that you could. Now, in this scenario, you certainly have the ability to shape water as powerfully as any master shaper living. Just having the ability, do you think you would be able to heal an injury?”
Tolan frowned for a moment. “I suppose not.”
“And imagine that you would need to delve deeply into the bond in order to perform that shaping. With the knowledge you have just acquired, do you think you would be able to do so?”
Tolan shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Right. Which is why even with the necessary power, they aren’t able to do what you suggest. They might be able to perform shapings you can’t even fathom, but even that isn’t enough to separate elementals. No, what happened to them was little more than an accident. Power they should not have been drawing upon, especially in that way, was released.”
“And it didn’t have anything to do with the rogue elemental?”
Master Wassa smiled. “The rogue elemental was something else, Shaper Ethar.”
Tolan breathed out. Hopefully, that was all it was, but he still felt troubled. He stared at Janey and Teddy, wondering what it would take for either of them to recover—if it were even possible for them to do so. Maybe it wouldn’t be. Maybe they had suffered enough of an accident that they were forever changed.
“Now, if that’s about it?”
Tolan took another look at the two of them before nodding. He started away before hesitating.
“Master Wassa, you don’t think there’s any way an Academy student can use elementals to make it look as if they’re shaping?”
Master Wassa frowned, tipping his head to the side as he studied Tolan. “Where would you have heard such a thing?”
His mind raced. “I think I saw something like that in the library.”
Master Wassa nodded. His gaze flicked back down to look at the two injured students. “There was a time when I would have said that was possible,” Master Wassa said. “It’s been a long time since anyone has been able to connect to the elementals in such a way to draw power from them.”
“But it was possible?”
Master Wassa nodded. “It was—and probably still is—possible. Doing so requires something we lost long ago, and probably for the best.” He took a step forward and met Tolan’s eyes. “Make no mistake, Shaper Ethar. The elementals are dangerous. They caused devastation and destruction for centuries before they were forced into the element bond. It was done for their protection as much as our own.”
He had heard it often enough to know it to be true, and his own experience with the elementals proved they were dangerous, but what did it mean that people had once connected to the elementals and used their power? Maybe they hadn’t always been dangerous.
If that was the case, what had changed?
Tolan thanked Master Wassa before making his way down from the water tower and into the library. He should return to his room and find Ferrah and Jonas, but right now he only wanted to figure out what might’ve happened.
Master Minden sat alone at the desk at the back of the library. She barely glanced up when he entered, but he had the strange sense of her shaping him, much the same way as he had when he’d first come to the library. If she was shaping in a place where it should be excluded, he had to wonder how—and why.
He needed to find information about the elementals, but asking Master Minden about it bothered him, so he preferred not to go to her. If only Master Jensen were here. At least, he suspected Master Jensen wanted to help Ferrah. And because the two of them were friends, he hoped Master Jensen would also be open to working with him.
Taking a seat at a table, he debated what he’d do when Master Minden made her way toward him. “What might I help you with, Shaper Ethar?”
“I… I was hoping to learn more about the element bonds.” She had been the one to suggest the book that had helped him, so perhaps she’d be willing to help again.
“Very well.”
Tolan watched Master Minden as she made her way around the library, plucking books off shelves. As she went, she meandered slowly, and yet despite her cloudy eyes, she still seemed to manage to see quite well.
At one point, she disappeared behind the platform where the librarians sat.
There were no shelves behind there, and as she didn’t appear back on the seat, he worried something had happened to her.
Getting to his feet, he made his way back around the platform and saw her near the middle of it.
“Can I help you, Shaper Ethar?”
He blinked. “I’m sorry, Master Minden. I only thought—”
“You only thought something had happened to me?”
Heat rose up in his cheeks, almost as if shaped, and he tried to shake his head and deny that had been his concern, but it seemed she knew.
“I’m sorry.” He looked past her and thought he caught sight of a door, though perhaps that wasn’t what he believed.
“Return to your table and I will be with you soon enough.”
He opened his mouth to question what was behind that door but clamped his mouth closed once again when she shot him a hard look.
He made his way back to the table and sat, waiting. She brought the books to his table, setting them down before him. “Start with these and let me know if you need anything more.”
Tolan could only nod.
He lost track of time as he flipped through the books and had decided to return to the dorms when he heard a familiar voice.
“You saw what happened,” Draln said.
Tolan looked over to see him sitting in a table near the corner. He seemed not to have noticed Tolan was in the library. Tolan tipped his head to the side, listening but trying not to appear too eager.
“Tell me why you want to be able to do that?”
That came from Yerciv. He was thinner than Jonas and had a sharp nose and sunken eyes that left him always looking somewhat frightened.
“We’ve talked about the best kind of shapings. What could be better than a shaping like that?”
“You saw how destructive it was,” Yerciv said.
“But if you’re the one to release it…”
Yerciv shook his head. “Even then, it’s possible you end up hurting yourself.”
“Not if you release it and run. Someone had to have done it. I doubt whoever was responsible stayed to find out how much destruction the stupid thing did. Besides, with everything we’ve been learning by using them…”
He glanced over to see why Draln trailed off and realized almost too late that Draln was watching him.
“What are you looking at, Ethar?”
Tolan met his eyes. “Just someone stupid enough to think they can release elementals from the bond.”
Draln leaned back in his chair, glaring at Tolan. “We were just having a theoretical discussion.”
“About how to release elementals? I’m sure Grand Master Normandale would love to hear all about your theoretical discussion.”
“The Grand Master doesn’t care. All he cares about is training warriors and Inquisitors. Nothing else really matters.”
Tolan hadn’t that sense from the Grand Master but wasn’t about to argue with Draln over it. “I know you were there.” Tolan stood and made his way over toward Draln.
“Now I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Draln said.
“With Teddy and Janey. I know you were there.”
Draln’s eyes narrowed and he leaned forward. “Like I said, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re lucky they’re alive. I wonder what would’ve been your fate had they died from the shaping?”
Draln smirked at him. “Probably the same as if you were to die while making your way between classes. Nothing.” He paused long enough to let the words hang in the air. “No one cares about you,” he said.
Tolan just shook his head. “The two of you should take your conversations back to the first-year dorms. If you’re going to talk about freeing elementals, you might want to do it where there’s a little more privacy.”
He made a point of keeping his voice loud enough to be heard. Draln glared at him and Master Minden gave him a warning look, though he suspected hers came mostly from a desire to keep them quiet.
“You really ought to be careful, Ethar. Training accidents aren’t nearly as uncommon as most people think. It would be a shame if you were to have one, especially if you suddenly develop your connection to one of the element bonds that had eluded you.”
Tolan stared at him, refusing to back down, but the threat was unmistakable. And there wasn’t much he would be able to do. If Draln were to attack him with shaping—something that reportedly used to happen much more often but no longer was the same type of concern—he might be able to summon a fire for defense, but could he do anything more than that?
Somehow, he had to make Draln somewhat concerned about the possibility.
“I know your secret,” Tolan said.
Draln froze for just a moment, but long enough for Tolan to realize he’d caught on to something. What was the secret? Obviously Draln had one, but what was he hiding?
“You don’t know anything. Now leave us to our studies, Ethar.”
Tolan just shrugged as he walked away, casting a glance back at Draln as he did. There was something to it. What was Draln hiding?
When he reached the library doors, he looked back long enough to see Draln watching him.
More than ever, Tolan needed to be careful and to ensure the friends he’d made would be able to keep an eye on him. If it came down to it, he might need protection.
And that meant sharing with Jonas the reason why.
12
Wind gusted out of the north, blowing through the small clearing. It whipped at Tolan’s wavy brown hair, sending it fluttering into his face. He pushed it out of his eyes before continuing forward.
The park was just outside the Academy grounds, far enough away that students would often wander out of the Academy and over to the park for a place to escape. Mature trees dotted it, and flowers bloomed despite the chill to the air, likely the effect of shapings.
Tolan found Jonas near the center of the park, sitting on a bench overlooking the pond. The water had a soft current to it, swirling slowly, and he felt a strange temptation to dip his toes in.
“Why here?” Tolan asked.
Jonas didn’t look up.
Tolan took a seat next to him on the bench. “We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”
Ferrah had seen Jonas coming this way and had suggested he be the one to come and check on their friend, mostly because she figured he didn’t want to see her.
“What’s bothering you? Why did you come out here?”
“Who said anything is bothering me?”
“I don’t know. Probably the way you’ve been snapping at everyone?”
“I haven’t been snapping at anyone.”
Tolan leaned back on the bench, looking out at the water. He could see the appeal of sitting here. It was peaceful. As he watched the water, he realized why it seemed to swirl. Jonas was shaping it.
“You’ve been short. Ever since the elemental attack, you’ve—”
Jonas turned to him and took a deep breath as if to yell before letting it out in a heavy sigh. “I can’t shape fire,” he said. “As much as I try, and as much as they continue to let us use the bondars, I haven’t been able to shape anything.”
“That’s what this is about?”
“You’ve started to do better with your connection to fire. I’ve seen it. Every time we’re in sessions with Master Sartan, you’ve been able to do more and more. It’s not like that with me.”
Jonas sat back heavily, staring at the water. It continued to swirl and waves began to crest, coming closer and closer to the shore.
“I’m able to practice,” Tolan said.
“That’s what we’re all doing,” Jonas said. “We go to class. We use the furios or the withering or whatever bondar we need, and we practice.”
Tolan pulled the furios from his pocket and handed it to Jonas. “No. I’ve been practicing.”
Jonas’s eyes widened. “You stole this from the classroom?”
Tolan took a deep breath. “No. Jory let me borrow it. He knew what I’ve been through and…” He glanced around him before turning back to Jonas. “I haven’t been completely honest with you.”
Jonas looked over. “About what? Don’t tell me you’re secretly an expert shaper and can reach all of the element bonds. I don’t know if I could handle another person near me so skilled.”
Tolan laughed bitterly. “No. It’s nothing like that.”
“Good.”
“It’s actually the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
Tolan nodded. “I can’t shape anything.”
“What? You have to be able to shape to get to the Academy.”
“Actually, apparently… you don’t.” Tolan took a deep breath and stared at the water. The sense of Jonas’s shaping pressed on him, but it was nothing more than that. “You wondered why my experience with shaping school has been so strange? It’s because I can’t shape. I was never admitted to the Ephra School of Shaping.”
Jonas sat up and looked over at him. “How did you get selected?”
“Anyone can submit themselves for Selection,” Tolan said.
“But they would be foolish to do so. If you fail, it’s possible to die during a Selection.”
“I didn’t know that, and even if I had done, I might have still submitted myself.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t expect to pass. To me, there was never any chance of success, so I never worried about failing.”
Jonas stared at him for a while, and after a moment, he started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“You. I’ve been worrying I’m just not good enough, and it turns out maybe I am.”
Tolan pulled his attention away from the water and looked at his friend. “You definitely are. Don’t think being unable to work with fire makes you any sort of failure.”
Jonas rolled the furios in his hands. “I still can’t believe that Selector let you borrow this. Why would he have done that?” He shook his head. “Can I use it?”
Tolan debated how much to tell Master Wassa. If he were to have any chance at helping the two, he needed to reveal what took place with the Imaginarium game.
“I worry they were attempting something that might have freed an elemental,” Tolan said.
Master Wassa frowned, turning his attention back to Tolan. “And why would you worry about such a thing?”
“There’s a game—”
Master Wassa shook his head. “No game would have left them in such a state,” he said.
“Even one where they attempt to create elementals?”
Master Wassa chuckled. “Playing Imaginarium is a game as old as the Academy, Shaper Ethar. Many students have played it over the years, though admittedly not recently. It has been lost for quite some time, and for good reason.”
“Because of—” He caught himself before asking whether it had anything to do with the Draasin Lord.
Master Wassa frowned deeply. “Yes, unfortunately. There is some fear a game like that will increase sympathy for him and the disciples who follow him.”
“Not that the game will free elementals?”
“There’s nothing to the game itself that is dangerous, at least not when done by shapers still learning how to manipulate their abilities. There is no way they would have been able to free an elemental using shapings involved in the Imaginarium game.”
Tolan sighed. He should have known better, and should have trusted that was the case, but it still bothered him. He started to turn away, but a question came to him. “What is involved in an elemental separating from the bond if it’s not what happens in the game?”
Master Wassa studied him. “You know I can’t answer that.”
“I know you can’t tell me how to do it, but why can’t you at least talk about it? It’s not as if I’m going to use that knowledge to try and free an elemental.”
Master Wassa sighed. “I shouldn’t even be talking about this with you.”
“I’m not able to shape well enough to free the elementals.”
Master Wassa studied him. “I suppose…” He motioned for Tolan to join him inside his quarters and Tolan did so, stepping inside. The room had an herbal scent to it, and he wondered if Master Wassa used medicines in his water shaping to augment them. He had heard of various healers lacking ability to shape who did so, but they were infrequent, especially throughout Terndahl where water shapers were so prevalent.
“There’s a reason they wouldn’t have been able to pull an elemental from the bond,” Master Wassa said, looking down at Teddy and Janey. “It’s the same reason playing Imaginarium doesn’t carry any danger—at least, no real danger. They shape, but that’s it. There isn’t anything else done during the shaping.”
“But they are imagining elementals.”
“Imagining elementals isn’t the same as calling to one and pulling it free from the bond. That is what is required. It’s a connection to the bond, but more than that. It’s a summons to the elemental. And from what we know, not everyone has the ability to summon the elementals.” Master Wassa watched him for a moment. “That’s the reason the bond can hold the elementals. It’s not enough that someone was to try and reach them; they must also know how to separate the elementals from the bond, and in effect, freeing them in a way simply not possible with the level of training most shapers enter the Academy with. Or leave with, for that matter.”
“What happens if they do so accidentally?” Rogue elementals were common enough that there had to be some way of doing it. He didn’t think it was only about finding them within the bond and freeing them.
“Again, Shaper Ethar, it would be incredibly rare for such a thing to happen. They would have to know what they were doing.” He turned his attention back to Tolan. “Imagine if I allowed you the ability to shape water.”
“But I can’t shape water, not even with a bondar.”
Master Wassa raised his hand. “Imagine that you could. Now, in this scenario, you certainly have the ability to shape water as powerfully as any master shaper living. Just having the ability, do you think you would be able to heal an injury?”
Tolan frowned for a moment. “I suppose not.”
“And imagine that you would need to delve deeply into the bond in order to perform that shaping. With the knowledge you have just acquired, do you think you would be able to do so?”
Tolan shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Right. Which is why even with the necessary power, they aren’t able to do what you suggest. They might be able to perform shapings you can’t even fathom, but even that isn’t enough to separate elementals. No, what happened to them was little more than an accident. Power they should not have been drawing upon, especially in that way, was released.”
“And it didn’t have anything to do with the rogue elemental?”
Master Wassa smiled. “The rogue elemental was something else, Shaper Ethar.”
Tolan breathed out. Hopefully, that was all it was, but he still felt troubled. He stared at Janey and Teddy, wondering what it would take for either of them to recover—if it were even possible for them to do so. Maybe it wouldn’t be. Maybe they had suffered enough of an accident that they were forever changed.
“Now, if that’s about it?”
Tolan took another look at the two of them before nodding. He started away before hesitating.
“Master Wassa, you don’t think there’s any way an Academy student can use elementals to make it look as if they’re shaping?”
Master Wassa frowned, tipping his head to the side as he studied Tolan. “Where would you have heard such a thing?”
His mind raced. “I think I saw something like that in the library.”
Master Wassa nodded. His gaze flicked back down to look at the two injured students. “There was a time when I would have said that was possible,” Master Wassa said. “It’s been a long time since anyone has been able to connect to the elementals in such a way to draw power from them.”
“But it was possible?”
Master Wassa nodded. “It was—and probably still is—possible. Doing so requires something we lost long ago, and probably for the best.” He took a step forward and met Tolan’s eyes. “Make no mistake, Shaper Ethar. The elementals are dangerous. They caused devastation and destruction for centuries before they were forced into the element bond. It was done for their protection as much as our own.”
He had heard it often enough to know it to be true, and his own experience with the elementals proved they were dangerous, but what did it mean that people had once connected to the elementals and used their power? Maybe they hadn’t always been dangerous.
If that was the case, what had changed?
Tolan thanked Master Wassa before making his way down from the water tower and into the library. He should return to his room and find Ferrah and Jonas, but right now he only wanted to figure out what might’ve happened.
Master Minden sat alone at the desk at the back of the library. She barely glanced up when he entered, but he had the strange sense of her shaping him, much the same way as he had when he’d first come to the library. If she was shaping in a place where it should be excluded, he had to wonder how—and why.
He needed to find information about the elementals, but asking Master Minden about it bothered him, so he preferred not to go to her. If only Master Jensen were here. At least, he suspected Master Jensen wanted to help Ferrah. And because the two of them were friends, he hoped Master Jensen would also be open to working with him.
Taking a seat at a table, he debated what he’d do when Master Minden made her way toward him. “What might I help you with, Shaper Ethar?”
“I… I was hoping to learn more about the element bonds.” She had been the one to suggest the book that had helped him, so perhaps she’d be willing to help again.
“Very well.”
Tolan watched Master Minden as she made her way around the library, plucking books off shelves. As she went, she meandered slowly, and yet despite her cloudy eyes, she still seemed to manage to see quite well.
At one point, she disappeared behind the platform where the librarians sat.
There were no shelves behind there, and as she didn’t appear back on the seat, he worried something had happened to her.
Getting to his feet, he made his way back around the platform and saw her near the middle of it.
“Can I help you, Shaper Ethar?”
He blinked. “I’m sorry, Master Minden. I only thought—”
“You only thought something had happened to me?”
Heat rose up in his cheeks, almost as if shaped, and he tried to shake his head and deny that had been his concern, but it seemed she knew.
“I’m sorry.” He looked past her and thought he caught sight of a door, though perhaps that wasn’t what he believed.
“Return to your table and I will be with you soon enough.”
He opened his mouth to question what was behind that door but clamped his mouth closed once again when she shot him a hard look.
He made his way back to the table and sat, waiting. She brought the books to his table, setting them down before him. “Start with these and let me know if you need anything more.”
Tolan could only nod.
He lost track of time as he flipped through the books and had decided to return to the dorms when he heard a familiar voice.
“You saw what happened,” Draln said.
Tolan looked over to see him sitting in a table near the corner. He seemed not to have noticed Tolan was in the library. Tolan tipped his head to the side, listening but trying not to appear too eager.
“Tell me why you want to be able to do that?”
That came from Yerciv. He was thinner than Jonas and had a sharp nose and sunken eyes that left him always looking somewhat frightened.
“We’ve talked about the best kind of shapings. What could be better than a shaping like that?”
“You saw how destructive it was,” Yerciv said.
“But if you’re the one to release it…”
Yerciv shook his head. “Even then, it’s possible you end up hurting yourself.”
“Not if you release it and run. Someone had to have done it. I doubt whoever was responsible stayed to find out how much destruction the stupid thing did. Besides, with everything we’ve been learning by using them…”
He glanced over to see why Draln trailed off and realized almost too late that Draln was watching him.
“What are you looking at, Ethar?”
Tolan met his eyes. “Just someone stupid enough to think they can release elementals from the bond.”
Draln leaned back in his chair, glaring at Tolan. “We were just having a theoretical discussion.”
“About how to release elementals? I’m sure Grand Master Normandale would love to hear all about your theoretical discussion.”
“The Grand Master doesn’t care. All he cares about is training warriors and Inquisitors. Nothing else really matters.”
Tolan hadn’t that sense from the Grand Master but wasn’t about to argue with Draln over it. “I know you were there.” Tolan stood and made his way over toward Draln.
“Now I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Draln said.
“With Teddy and Janey. I know you were there.”
Draln’s eyes narrowed and he leaned forward. “Like I said, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re lucky they’re alive. I wonder what would’ve been your fate had they died from the shaping?”
Draln smirked at him. “Probably the same as if you were to die while making your way between classes. Nothing.” He paused long enough to let the words hang in the air. “No one cares about you,” he said.
Tolan just shook his head. “The two of you should take your conversations back to the first-year dorms. If you’re going to talk about freeing elementals, you might want to do it where there’s a little more privacy.”
He made a point of keeping his voice loud enough to be heard. Draln glared at him and Master Minden gave him a warning look, though he suspected hers came mostly from a desire to keep them quiet.
“You really ought to be careful, Ethar. Training accidents aren’t nearly as uncommon as most people think. It would be a shame if you were to have one, especially if you suddenly develop your connection to one of the element bonds that had eluded you.”
Tolan stared at him, refusing to back down, but the threat was unmistakable. And there wasn’t much he would be able to do. If Draln were to attack him with shaping—something that reportedly used to happen much more often but no longer was the same type of concern—he might be able to summon a fire for defense, but could he do anything more than that?
Somehow, he had to make Draln somewhat concerned about the possibility.
“I know your secret,” Tolan said.
Draln froze for just a moment, but long enough for Tolan to realize he’d caught on to something. What was the secret? Obviously Draln had one, but what was he hiding?
“You don’t know anything. Now leave us to our studies, Ethar.”
Tolan just shrugged as he walked away, casting a glance back at Draln as he did. There was something to it. What was Draln hiding?
When he reached the library doors, he looked back long enough to see Draln watching him.
More than ever, Tolan needed to be careful and to ensure the friends he’d made would be able to keep an eye on him. If it came down to it, he might need protection.
And that meant sharing with Jonas the reason why.
12
Wind gusted out of the north, blowing through the small clearing. It whipped at Tolan’s wavy brown hair, sending it fluttering into his face. He pushed it out of his eyes before continuing forward.
The park was just outside the Academy grounds, far enough away that students would often wander out of the Academy and over to the park for a place to escape. Mature trees dotted it, and flowers bloomed despite the chill to the air, likely the effect of shapings.
Tolan found Jonas near the center of the park, sitting on a bench overlooking the pond. The water had a soft current to it, swirling slowly, and he felt a strange temptation to dip his toes in.
“Why here?” Tolan asked.
Jonas didn’t look up.
Tolan took a seat next to him on the bench. “We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”
Ferrah had seen Jonas coming this way and had suggested he be the one to come and check on their friend, mostly because she figured he didn’t want to see her.
“What’s bothering you? Why did you come out here?”
“Who said anything is bothering me?”
“I don’t know. Probably the way you’ve been snapping at everyone?”
“I haven’t been snapping at anyone.”
Tolan leaned back on the bench, looking out at the water. He could see the appeal of sitting here. It was peaceful. As he watched the water, he realized why it seemed to swirl. Jonas was shaping it.
“You’ve been short. Ever since the elemental attack, you’ve—”
Jonas turned to him and took a deep breath as if to yell before letting it out in a heavy sigh. “I can’t shape fire,” he said. “As much as I try, and as much as they continue to let us use the bondars, I haven’t been able to shape anything.”
“That’s what this is about?”
“You’ve started to do better with your connection to fire. I’ve seen it. Every time we’re in sessions with Master Sartan, you’ve been able to do more and more. It’s not like that with me.”
Jonas sat back heavily, staring at the water. It continued to swirl and waves began to crest, coming closer and closer to the shore.
“I’m able to practice,” Tolan said.
“That’s what we’re all doing,” Jonas said. “We go to class. We use the furios or the withering or whatever bondar we need, and we practice.”
Tolan pulled the furios from his pocket and handed it to Jonas. “No. I’ve been practicing.”
Jonas’s eyes widened. “You stole this from the classroom?”
Tolan took a deep breath. “No. Jory let me borrow it. He knew what I’ve been through and…” He glanced around him before turning back to Jonas. “I haven’t been completely honest with you.”
Jonas looked over. “About what? Don’t tell me you’re secretly an expert shaper and can reach all of the element bonds. I don’t know if I could handle another person near me so skilled.”
Tolan laughed bitterly. “No. It’s nothing like that.”
“Good.”
“It’s actually the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
Tolan nodded. “I can’t shape anything.”
“What? You have to be able to shape to get to the Academy.”
“Actually, apparently… you don’t.” Tolan took a deep breath and stared at the water. The sense of Jonas’s shaping pressed on him, but it was nothing more than that. “You wondered why my experience with shaping school has been so strange? It’s because I can’t shape. I was never admitted to the Ephra School of Shaping.”
Jonas sat up and looked over at him. “How did you get selected?”
“Anyone can submit themselves for Selection,” Tolan said.
“But they would be foolish to do so. If you fail, it’s possible to die during a Selection.”
“I didn’t know that, and even if I had done, I might have still submitted myself.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t expect to pass. To me, there was never any chance of success, so I never worried about failing.”
Jonas stared at him for a while, and after a moment, he started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“You. I’ve been worrying I’m just not good enough, and it turns out maybe I am.”
Tolan pulled his attention away from the water and looked at his friend. “You definitely are. Don’t think being unable to work with fire makes you any sort of failure.”
Jonas rolled the furios in his hands. “I still can’t believe that Selector let you borrow this. Why would he have done that?” He shook his head. “Can I use it?”
