The Fire Within (Elemental Academy Book 1), page 25
“See? It’s not so hard. Considering the elemental you made during Imaginarium, I suspect you won’t have any trouble, will you?”
Tolan could only glare at him. He didn’t trust himself to say anything more.
The others with Draln all chuckled and headed away, Draln leading them back toward the first-year dorms.
“You look troubled.”
Tolan turned to see Jory Harris watching him. It had been a while since he’d seen the Selector and seeing him now left him feeling a mixture of emotions. “I know you told me I belong, but it’s hard for me to feel that way, especially without my ability to shape.”
“The reports I’ve heard all say you have begun to demonstrate shaping ability.”
“You get reports?”
“All the Selectors receive updates on those we bring to the Academy. Since I was here for your Selection, I get those updates.”
“I can shape a little, but…”
“But you worry you don’t shape well enough to reach the spirit tower,” Jory said.
Tolan nodded. “If I can’t reach the spirit tower, what happens?”
“Well, what typically would happen is that you would be offered a position within Amitan. Normally, I would expect you would be able to use that position to help you find a place, and especially since you have some shaping ability, you shouldn’t have any difficulty making yourself useful.”
“I don’t want to just be useful.”
Jory arched a brow at him. “I didn’t think you were that excited about your Selection.”
“Now I’m here, I want to stay. I want to be able to reach the element bonds, and…”
How should he explain that he now felt a part of what was taking place within the Academy? He wanted to continue to be a part of it and wanted to stay with his friends.
More than that, with everything he had learned about the elementals, he wanted to continue to understand them. He didn’t know whether it was possible to do so anywhere else, and if he couldn’t get a handle on the elementals here, was it possible he’d end up accidentally releasing them if he were to leave?
“Just keep working,” Jory said. He started past Tolan to the stairs leading down to the main Academy entrance.
“Jory?” Tolan asked.
“What is it?” Jory asked, pausing and turning to face him.
“What do you make of the frequent elemental attacks?”
“I think the elemental attacks need to be left to the master shapers,” Jory said.
“Is anything being done about them?”
“Tolan, you know I can’t really talk to you about that.”
“I know you shouldn’t, but I was hoping you could at least explain what’s been taking place? There was the attack in the courtyard, and then I was in the earth classroom when the other elemental attacked.”
“You were there?”
Tolan nodded. “Everybody else evacuated, and I did too, but not before realizing Master Shorav was concerned about the nature of the attack.”
“Of course, he was concerned about the nature of the attack. The earth elemental was incredibly difficult to suppress. There have been rogue elemental attacks throughout the Academy the last few months.”
“Does it have anything to do with the Draasin Lord?”
Jory cocked his head to the side, frowning. “The Draasin Lord doesn’t have anyone here. The Academy is situated at the heart of Terndahl. He doesn’t have a presence here.”
“But what if—”
Jory shook his head. “There isn’t anything for you to be worried about. The master shapers have it all in hand.”
He studied Tolan for another moment before smiling and heading down the stairs, leaving Tolan alone. He couldn’t shake the sense something more was taking place at the Academy, but how—and why here?
After looking up at the inaccessible spirit tower again, Tolan headed back to the library. He paused in the doorway, looking to see whether Master Minden was here or not. When he saw her, he made his way straight toward her.
“Would you like your research books again?” she asked without looking up.
As he often did, Tolan had the sense of a shaping coming from her, and it almost seemed as if it was squeezing him. He wanted to better understand what she was able to do, not certain whether she really could shape within the library but knowing it shouldn’t be possible. Not here and not with the protections placed to prevent it.
“I think so, but I’m going to need to figure out how to pass my spirit test.”
With that, Master Minden looked up. Deeper wrinkles etched along the corners of her eyes, much more so than had been there before. She looked tired. How long had she been here?
“Most students past the spirit test, Shaper Ethar.”
“I’m not sure I am most students,” Tolan said.
She continued to stare at him, and he had a sense she wanted to say something, but she didn’t. Instead, she looked around the library a moment before turning her attention back to him. “The key is finding a shaping will bring you to the tower.”
“That’s just it. I don’t have enough shaping that I can get up to the tower,” he said.
“Perhaps you make it more complicated than you need to.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s not so much about flying, not the way so many students believe.”
“If it’s not, then what is it?”
She smiled at him. “There might be a few books I could offer that would provide you some insight.”
Tolan nodded. All he really wanted was for someone to just tell him rather than putting him through all of these steps to continue to challenge him. Weren’t they supposed to teach him here? Why make this so difficult?
“I did have another question,” he said.
“You may ask whatever question you want. There are some that don’t have answers easily found within the library.”
“This is one that I thought maybe you would answer for me.”
“If I answer it, then how is it you will be offered the opportunity to learn?”
Tolan just shook his head. “Sometimes, it’s better just to have the answers.”
“And most of the time, I would suggest it’s better to find them yourself. There is something to be said about the journey to knowledge.”
Maybe she wouldn’t tell him, but even if she didn’t, she was more likely to provide him with a guide on how to find the information. If nothing else, that had value.
“You told me there weren’t any rogue elementals in the Academy.”
“Is that what this is about?”
“I just thought I would try to understand what you meant by that. Why aren’t there any rogue elementals within the Academy?”
She looked around the library a moment before settling her gaze back on him. As he often was, he felt unsettled by how she looked at him, along with the mixture of tension that filled him, the shaping he knew she used. If it were spirit-shaping, he might not have any way of knowing what she did, or how to stop her from shaping him. A better use for his time over the last few months might have been looking into how to prevent a spirit shaper from reaching within his mind. That would be valuable.
“The Academy is a place of much power,” Master Minden said.
“I keep hearing that, but don’t really understand what it means.”
“And yet you haven’t bothered to ask?”
“I’m asking you now.”
“Asking me is not the same as finding the answers for yourself.”
“Is there something more than the shape of the Academy and the towers that makes the Academy so powerful?”
“There are some who believe the structure of the building itself is responsible for the shaping strength that those who train here are privy to, but there are limits even to the rune powers.”
“By that, you mean the symbols marked on the towers themselves.”
She nodded. “There are many students who never question those markings.”
“They were among the first things I noticed.”
“Intriguing. There was a time when those with a predilection for such runes were considered something more than mere shapers.”
“What were they considered?”
“Again, you ask questions rather than search for the answers.”
“What is it that makes the Academy so powerful if it’s not the runes on the tower?”
She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “You must look for something greater. There is a connection here that binds us to the bonds, but it is hidden.”
“How many know about it?”
“Not many, not anymore.”
“Is that connection tied to the elementals that have been attacking?”
She leaned back, a hint of a smile crossing her face. “Now you ask questions that not even the masters have posed.” She stood and tottered to the edge of the platform before making her way down the stairs. “Now. Why don’t we get back to finding you your books on the elementals?”
Tolan could only nod. There might be books on elementals, but that wasn’t what he wanted to learn about, not anymore. What he was more curious about was this something else that she described. And if she wouldn’t tell him, would there be any way to find the answers?
16
“I don’t think there’s anything more than you’ve seen at the Academy,” Jonas said.
Tolan had gathered them in their room, and, once Wallace departed, he once again asked Ferrah to seal off the door. They sat mostly in darkness, only a small shaping of fire nearby to give any illumination. Tolan glanced from one friend to the other. Ferrah watched him with a look of interest, but she had been silent. Of the two of them, he wanted to know her perspective most of all. If there was going to be something else—something more—then she was the one who would likely know. It would likely be something tied to the earliest days of the Academy, and her interest in histories was critical in them knowing—and understanding—what that might be.
“Master Minden said—”
“Minden?” Jonas asked, laughing to himself. He glanced from Tolan to Ferrah and seemed to be looking to her for help. “Everyone knows she’s old and confused.”
“That hasn’t been my experience with her at all,” Tolan said.
“You shouldn’t be having any experience with her.”
“She’s the oldest of the librarians, which means she’s likely the one who knows the most,” Tolan said.
“Could you speak sense to him,” Jonas said, looking over at Ferrah. “Tell him he’s not making any.”
“He might be mking sense,” Ferrah finally said.
“Not you, too.”
Ferrah stared at Tolan. “She said that to you? She said there were no rogue elementals at the Academy?”
“That’s what she said.”
Ferrah stared for a moment before getting up and going to her bed. She flipped up the mattress before grabbing a stack of books and a bound notebook. She held the books clutched to her chest for a long moment before looking at Tolan. “You’ve been asking me what I’ve been doing.”
“This?”
She nodded. “This is what I’ve been up to.”
“What is it?” Jonas asked.
She sat down on Tolan’s bed and flipped open the book. “I’ve been looking into some of the history of Par, and with that, I’ve come across some things that help me understand Par better than I did before.”
“How does your Par research have anything to do with what Master Minden told me?” Tolan asked.
“The research has been about what made Par so powerful back in the time when it was powerful. Everything I have been able to find has told me Par was once a place of great magic, part of an empire of shapers where that magic was used to protect Par, along with others. Whatever was there granted great strength.”
“And you think the same thing could be found here?” Tolan asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. All I know is, whatever was once a part of Par is no more.” She flipped open one of the books, tracing her finger along the page until she came to a section and pointed. “This talks about something deep within Par. It’s a place of power.” She grabbed for one of the other books and flipped through those pages before settling on a particular spot and motioning for Tolan. “This speaks of a connection to the elements—and the elementals.” She grabbed another book and flipped through the pages until she reached whatever it was she wanted to show them. “And this is where it all comes together.”
“How does this all come together?” Jonas asked, staring down at the page.
“It comes together because all these are related. Everything that was there is all tied together. They called it a Convergence, a place where elements and element bonds and elementals all came together. There was a place like that in Par, long ago.”
“And you think something similar exists here?” Tolan asked.
She flipped another section of the book, turning pages until she came to a depiction of a massive building. “Look at this,” she said, pointing to the page. “This was once the tower within Par.”
“It looks like the Academy,” Tolan said.
“I don’t think that’s coincidental,” she said. “There’s something to the structure of the building itself that taps into this Convergence.”
Tolan sat back, closing his eyes as he imagined the markings on the towers for each of the elements. “Like the runes.”
“Like the runes. And like the towers themselves. Something here taps into a greater energy.”
“From what Master Minden said, there aren’t too many people who know about this,” Tolan said.
“Probably not,” Ferrah said. “Most would view the Academy as a place of power and wouldn’t believe something else made it that way.”
“We need to find it.”
Jonas leaned forward, positioning himself between them. “Are the two of you insane?”
“Why?”
“You’re talking about some mythical power hidden beneath the Academy. Even if there were such a thing, what makes you think the masters wouldn’t know about it?”
“Because Master Minden said—”
Jonas shook his head. “Master Minden is old and senile. You can’t take anything she says for granted.”
“I don’t think she was making this up,” Tolan said.
“She wouldn’t have to make anything up,” Jonas said. “Just the fact you believe what she says is probably enough for her, but that doesn’t mean it’s real. I mean, if anyone were to know about whether there was some source of power within the Academy, they would have to be the masters.”
Tolan wondered whether that were true or not. If the masters knew of it, they would have used that power—especially someone like Master Wassa, who was trying to save Janey and Teddy.
“I don’t know that they know.”
Jonas shook his head. “This is madness,” he said.
“We could go ask the Grand Master,” he suggested.
“You would go up to the Grand Master and ask him whether there is some place of power buried beneath the Academy?” Jonas asked.
“Maybe not quite like that,” Tolan said.
“What then?” Jonas asked. He looked from Tolan to Ferrah. “You’re the one who’s been researching this. How much of this do you think is real?”
“All of it,” she said.
Jonas stared at them for a while before shaking his head. “Okay. Let’s go find it.”
“What?” Tolan asked.
“If this is real, if there’s something hidden deep beneath the Academy, let’s go find it.”
“I’m not sure that’s the best idea,” Ferrah said.
“Why not? I mean, you’re the one who’s convinced this is real, and there is something there. If it’s real, and if there is something there, then let’s go investigate before we make the mistake of going to one of the masters.”
Tolan glanced over at Ferrah. “He has a point.”
“He doesn’t have a point,” Ferrah said. “If this Convergence is real—”
“Now you’re saying if?” Tolan asked.
Ferrah shot him a look of annoyance. “If it’s real, then the Academy would protect it. We should go to one of the masters, maybe even the Grand Master, and ask them about it.”
“And say what?” Tolan asked.
“You can tell him your concerns about the elementals. How you’ve seen more than just the two that attacked.”
“I’m not sure anyone is going to believe that,” Tolan said. If it were anyone else, would it be believable? It didn’t make sense to have the elementals suddenly appearing from the element bond, especially when there was no proof of it. Tolan couldn’t be the only one who would have seen that.
“He’s right,” Jonas said.
“You’re not helping,” she said.
Jonas shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. He’s right. Who’s going to believe there have been elementals escaping that we haven’t seen? If it weren’t Tolan telling us this, I doubt I would believe it myself.”
“We can go and find this Convergence, and see if there is any evidence of elementals escaping,” Tolan said.
“What happens if we find it?” Ferrah asked.
“If you find it, then we have what we were looking for,” Jonas said.
“No. What happens if we find it, and there are elementals that have escaped? What do we do then?”
“I don’t know that we do anything,” Tolan said. “We get out of there.”
“And do what?”
“If it’s there, then we go and talk to the Grand Master.”
“You promise?”
Tolan nodded. “I promise. If we go and we find this, we will go to the Grand Master with it.”
“We go to him either way,” she said.
“He won’t believe us either way,” Tolan said.
“It doesn’t matter. If nothing else, you’ll have given warning.”
Tolan nodded. He would do that much at least.
“Good. Now we’ve got this sorted out, we need to figure out where we go to find this.”
“If it’s similar to Par, it will be deep beneath the ground.”
