The Fire Within (Elemental Academy Book 1), page 28
But they weren’t alone.
A figure moved on the far side of the chamber.
Tolan grabbed his friends and pulled them back, pressing them against the wall.
“What is it?” Ferrah asked in a whisper.
“There’s someone in there,” he said.
“Did you get a look?”
Tolan shook his head. Could it be someone like Master Minden? She was someone he suspected knew about this chamber, especially considering what she had said to him. Maybe it was the Grand Master. If anyone were to know about a place like this, it would be a shaper of power like the Grand Master, but then again, maybe it was nothing like that.
Tolan poked his head around the corner, and watched for a moment. He couldn’t tell who it was from here, but what he could tell was that there was a shaping building. It was a strong shaping, and for some reason, it seemed to reverberate within him, much like the shaping did when he drew through the furios.
It was fire.
Normally, he was not aware of which element bond was shaped. He could tell a shaping was done, and unless it was visible like a fire shaping or water shaping, he didn’t necessarily know which element bond was used.
For some reason, there was no question which bond was used this time.
It seemed to stretch his skin, pulling it tight. He didn’t want to breathe, afraid he would draw attention to them, but he also couldn’t help but notice the strength of the fire shaping.
There was something to it that was more than just a fire shaping. As he focused, he took a moment to realize what he detected—a fire elemental.
Tolan stepped forward, ignoring Jonas and Ferrah grabbing for him. He approached slowly and carefully, looking to see if there was anything he could determine from this shaper.
As he neared, he recognized the shaper.
“Jory?”
Jory looked up at him. Gone was the pleasant smile he always seemed to wear when he encountered Tolan. In its place was an angry mask, a look that seemed to sneer at him, and that would fit better on someone like Draln than on Jory.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Jory said.
“What are you doing here?” Tolan asked. He could feel Ferrah and Jonas approaching and wanted to warn them away. Something told him that not everything was as it should be. “Isn’t this the Convergence?”
Jory stared at him for a moment before chuckling. “Convergence. Yes, this is the Convergence. Most of the masters have long ago forgotten the reason the Academy was built upon this place. Then again, most of the masters have forgotten the power the elementals offer.”
Tolan glanced over, noticing he was still shaping and still aware of the sense of fire. It burned upon him and left him worrying about why he should be so aware of it.
“What are you doing with the elementals?” he asked.
“You really shouldn’t have come here,” Jory said.
“What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here? I’m doing something that another failed. I’m going to finally be the one to successfully return the draasin to the world. I’m going to be the Draasin Lord.”
18
Tolan stared at Jory, unable to speak. Could he really intend to free elementals? All this time, Tolan had wondered who might be responsible for doing that, and had never expected it would be Jory. He had helped him. Without Jory, Tolan would never have been given the furios to work on his shaping.
“Why are you doing this?” Tolan asked.
Jory laughed. “Why? You’ve been at the Academy only a few months, and you haven’t learned enough to understand, but you will. Everyone will learn.”
“Why would you want to emulate the Draasin Lord?”
“Who said anything about emulating him? I want to become the Draasin Lord. And I will.”
Jory turned his attention to the space near him, and Tolan realized there was something more in the room than he had initially seen. It looked to be something like a pool of water, though it was silvery and seemed to move slowly, almost as if thick.
“What is it you intend to do?” Tolan asked.
Jory didn’t even look up. “I intend to release a draasin. All the time the Draasin Lord attempted to rule, it was the one thing he failed to do. He had released other elementals, but the draasin was one he couldn’t release. I will change that.”
“When the draasin were free before, they were far too destructive,” Ferrah said.
Jory looked over at her. “Only because no one knew how to control them. I do.”
“You’re the reason the elementals have been getting free,” Tolan said.
“It was a risk, but one I was willing to take.”
“You were willing to risk the safety of Academy students?”
“Only because they were foolish enough to believe their game of Imaginarium was harmless. They learned too late that it was more than just a game. And you were all too helpful with needing the bondar. I thought I’d have to find someone else to take the blame…”
Tolan glanced over at Ferrah. She was looking at him with concern burning in her eyes. “Teddy and Janey are still in Master Wassa’s quarters because of you,” Tolan said.
“And their sacrifice was necessary. Because of their willingness to participate in Imaginarium, I was able to determine the location of the Convergence.” He stared at Tolan before shifting his attention to Ferrah and then to Jonas. “I am curious how the three of you discovered its location.”
“You’re just going to have to wonder,” Jonas said. He stormed forward and a shaping built from him, wind and water that he threw in Jory’s direction.
Jory chuckled and threw his hand out, cutting off the shaping Jonas attempted, stopping it immediately.
Jonas was thrown back, the effect of whatever shaping Master Jory used far too potent for Jonas. He slammed into the wall behind him and crumpled.
“The power within this place is so much more than in any other. It’s a shame he failed to recognize he could draw upon it,” Jory said.
“Why are you doing this?” Tolan asked.
“Does there need to be a reason?”
“There needs to be something,” Tolan said. “Is it just about power?”
Jory grinned at him. “Just about power? When I pull a draasin from the bond, you will see just how much power those elementals can grant. When I combine the power of my shaping with the power of the draasin, nothing will be able to stop me.”
Ferrah built a shaping. It started slowly and gradually increased in intensity, energy radiating from her. She used a combination of shaping and Tolan recognized fire within it but wasn’t sure what else might be there. If it was only fire, she might not have enough strength to stop Jory, and even if it was more than fire, she might not have enough strength. Ferrah was a skilled shaper but Jory was a master and had far more experience than she did with shaping.
Jory grunted as her shaping struck him, driving him back. “You are talented,” he said.
He pressed out with his hands and a shaping slammed into both Tolan and Ferrah, sending them staggering back. The shaping pinned Tolan to the wall, and Ferrah cried out as she struck the wall.
“I can’t…” Ferrah said. “He can’t release the draasin. If he does, it will destroy everything. We’ve seen what happens in Par. The draasin are responsible for the ruins.”
“It’s worse than that, I think,” Tolan said. If Jory had released the draasin, what would stop him releasing other elementals? How long would it take for the Academy to be destroyed by an elemental attack? How long would it take before others were hurt? When the elementals were freed years ago, too many people lost their lives or were harmed. If it happened again, in a populated place like Amitan, what would stop them?
Jory had turned his attention back to the strange silvery pool in front of him. His shaping connected to that silvery pool, seeming to dive into it before retreating. He continued to connect to the pool, and heat built from him and the shaping he used.
It was working.
Whatever Jory was doing—and Tolan suspected he was truly attempting to free a draasin, as he claimed—seemed to be working. And if it did work, how long would it take before the draasin was freed?
He thought of what he’d read about the draasin, remembering what had been documented in the books he’d found, and knew if a creature like that were freed into the world again, it would be devastating.
Jory had to be stopped.
But how?
Tolan didn’t have enough connection to shaping to be of much good, but in this place, maybe it would be more. With the potential to use not only the furios, but whatever connection this Convergence offered, it was possible he could slow Jory.
Tolan tried moving, but the shaping held him against the wall.
An outline of flame began to form, the shape of some massive creature building.
It reminded him of the game of Imaginarium. At least now, he understood why it had become so popular. Jory must have suggested it, wanting to use the game to help him find the Convergence.
“I can feel it,” Ferrah said.
“I can see it,” Tolan said.
Ferrah glanced over at him. “I don’t see anything.”
Turning his head toward her, he kept the outline flame at the edge of his vision. “You don’t?”
“What do you see?”
Tolan stared at the form of the flame taking hold. It grew and was now filling the space in the room behind Jory. How much longer would it take to pull the draasin free from the bond?
“Fire.”
The creature of flames moved, and there was no doubt in Tolan’s mind that the creature was alive.
He would pull the draasin from the flame.
Tolan focused. Jory didn’t expect anything from him. None of the master shapers did. But he could reach for fire, and now he was here, was there any way he could delay what Jory was doing?
He needed to distract him, maybe give Ferrah a chance to get free and go for help.
Tolan didn’t expect he would succeed in stopping Jory. Instead, all he wanted to be able to do was delay him, prevent him from reaching into the fire bond and pulling the draasin out.
He imagined hyza. It was the one elemental he knew the best. Even if it worked, and even if he somehow pulled the elemental free from the bond, what would it do? Hyza wouldn’t be able to compete with the power of a draasin.
But it might make Jory pause.
The flutter of power built within him. He held onto that flutter of power, recognizing it for what it was. He’d felt it before, and knew it meant some connection to the fire elemental.
He had only to reach for it.
Tolan continued to pull. He wasn’t certain whether he reached deep within himself and through the fire bond or whether he was reaching for an elemental. When it came to his connection to fire, he no longer knew.
There came a flicker of flame.
“What are you doing?” Ferrah asked.
“I’m trying something,” he said.
“You shouldn’t—”
Tolan turned away from her, ignoring the comment. How could he do anything else? He needed to reach through the connection to fire, and with it, he needed to see if his connection to the elemental was real or not. He no longer knew whether it was, and he no longer thought it mattered. The only important thing was to somehow reach for fire.
The shaping built from him.
There came a flutter, reminding him of what he had seen while out with the older students attempting the Imaginarium. The shaping reached out from him, and there came a sense of movement.
The elemental.
“Is that—”
Tolan nodded. “I told you I thought I’d released an elemental.”
“I didn’t think it was possible for you to actually release one. How is it you are doing this?”
He’d demonstrated some ability with fire, but never anything of much potency without using the furios. But then, he was in this place of Convergence, a place where if Ferrah was right, they were much closer to the element bonds—and the elementals.
The fire elemental he formed raced toward Jory.
Heat exploded from the elemental, and Jory spun, shifting the focus of his shaping.
The partial form of the draasin faded and Jory stared at the fire elemental.
“What is this?”
Tolan realized he could move. Jory’s hold on them had failed when he had been slammed into by the elemental. Tolan would have to think what it meant the elemental had seemed to help them. That would have to come later.
A fire shaping built from Jory and he turned it on the elemental. With a blast of flame, it disappeared.
Had Jory returned the elemental to the bond?
“No!” Tolan raced forward and lowered his shoulder, slamming into Jory. It was brutal and painful, and if there had been another way, he would have taken it, but he needed to knock Jory back.
Jory pushed against him, using a combination of fire and wind shapings that slammed into Tolan. He went sliding back, his feet dragging across the stone.
The shaping continued to power into him, slamming over and again, forcing Tolan back. Pain worked through him from the shapings and he wanted to hide from them, but there was no place to go. “Go and get help,” he whispered to Ferrah.
“I’m not going to leave you here,” she said.
“We need help. Go and get help from the masters. They need to know—”
“No one will be going anywhere,” Jory said. He sent another shaping that slammed into Ferrah. She grunted and collapsed onto the ground, leaving only Tolan standing. “Your ability to release the elementals will be useful. Now I have someone else to attribute this to. An added benefit to giving you the bondar.”
“No one will believe you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Shaper Ethar. No one will believe you, and when I share with them that I found you here, attempting to release elementals in this Convergence, any sympathy you think you might have will disappear. Besides, who will the masters believe? Do you think they will believe you over me?” He smiled and took a step toward Tolan, approaching steadily. His shaping continued to build, growing increasingly powerful. It pushed against Tolan, and there was very little that he could do against it. “Now, as soon as I place this binding upon you, you will forget everything.”
A shaping built, and Tolan realized with horror what Jory intended.
A spirit shaping.
There was nothing he could do against a spirit shaping. Jory was far too skilled and powerful for him to be able to do anything. And if that were the case, it was entirely possible that Jory would make it so he remembered nothing. With the proper spirit shaping, Jory could force him to admit he was responsible for releasing the elementals. Considering everything Tolan had learned about the elementals, it would be all too easy to be convincing.
He tried backing away, but was already at the wall. There was nowhere to go. “No.”
Jory smiled at him. “Don’t worry. You won’t remember any of this.”
The shaping pressed upon Tolan. He could feel it working through him, and memories flashed into his mind. They came in a torrent of activity, images of his parents and the work they had done, and times when he had been younger.
Those memories almost seemed as if they wanted to protect him, to keep Jory out of his mind.
“No!” Tolan said, his voice rising into a scream.
“Don’t fight it. It will be much worse when it does come.”
Jory stepped toward him.
Tolan wasn’t frozen, not as he had been before, and he struggled, straining against the shaping as it washed over him.
There had to be something he could do. Maybe he couldn’t shape, not the same way as the others, but could he use the elementals? He didn’t necessarily want to free them from the element bond, but if he did that now, at least he might have a chance of escaping.
Tolan closed his eyes, trying to push away the image of Jory making his way toward him. He focused on fire, thinking of hyza before changing his mind. Any attempt to use fire had failed against Jory. He was simply too strong. He had dismissed the other elemental all too easily.
Could he use earth? He thought about the elemental that he’d seen and decided he didn’t have enough of a connection to earth to draw upon it and force jinnar out of the bond.
He reached into his pocket, fingering the furios. It was his only chance. As he did, he focused his mind on the image of hyza, thinking of how massive the one in the forest outside of Ephra had been. If he could somehow connect to the elemental like that, he might overwhelm Jory.
Jory reached him, grabbing onto Tolan’s arm.
His shaping slammed into Tolan. Somehow the contact made it easier to do so, and as he did, it crashed into him, over and again.
Tolan strained to maintain his focus. All he wanted was to somehow keep the connection to himself. If he could hold onto that, maybe he could reach out and use that link to connect to the elemental.
He felt himself begin to fade. Whatever Jory was doing was taking away his memories.
“No,” he whispered.
Jory laughed. “You make this all too easy for me.”
“Why do you want to serve the Draasin Lord?”
“You are far too young to understand.”
“I’m not young. Inexperienced, but not young.”
“And your inexperience will be your downfall. I’m sorry you need to be sacrificed for this, but to overthrow oppression, sacrifices must be made.”
“What oppression?” Tolan had to hope that by delaying him, he might be able to figure out some way to escape the shaping, but the longer Jory worked, the less it felt as if he could do anything.
“What oppression? Again, you are too young. You weren’t alive during the last attack to know everything Terndahl did to suppress the Draasin Lord.”
“I’m old enough to know that so many lost their lives because of the Draasin Lord.”
