The Fire Within (Elemental Academy Book 1), page 8
The most he could hope for was to demonstrate enough shaping ability that he would be freed to return to one of the other cities, something like Master Daniels and Master Salman had been. If he were freed, would he return to Ephra, or would he take a different post?
Now he was getting ahead of himself. He couldn’t even shape and he was starting to think about what he would do in a future with shaping ability?
He looked up and realized they were no longer alone on the Shaper Path. In the distance were three others making their way along, though at an odd angle. When he pointed, Jory nodded.
“That’s another Shaper Path. There are many such paths intersecting with the main road leading through Terndahl.”
“Ephra is on the main road?”
“Ephra once was a much more prominent part of Terndahl,” Jory said.
“Why did it change?”
“Why does anything change? Time. There was a time when Ephra had valuable mines that were harvested, but when the mines mostly dried up, they lost their value. Later, Ephra had skilled shapers, and people traveled all over Terndahl to come to Ephra to learn from their shapers, but even that has changed. The rise of the Academy has triggered much of it, but so too has the rise of the Draasin Lord.”
“That’s only been over the last twenty years.”
“The Draasin Lord was exiled twenty years ago. He had been gaining prominence before that.”
“Did you know him?”
Jory studied Tolan for a moment before shaking his head. “Like most from that time, I heard the stories. Stories of the way he freed elementals throughout Terndahl, causing great destruction. Hundreds of shapers were injured, and dozens died. It took a concerted effort to force those elementals back into the bond to weaken him, and even that wasn’t enough to capture him. He went into exile and thankfully hasn’t been seen since.”
Most people within Ephra didn’t talk about the Draasin Lord. As close as they were to the forest and the wastelands, they didn’t like the possibility they might be drawn into the fight. Over the years, people had been abducted from Ephra, though most of the time, they were taken from outside of the city, but when Tolan’s parents were abducted, it marked the first time—and only time—the Draasin Lord was willing to attack within populated borders.
“Do other cities have to deal with the Draasin Lord abducting people?”
Jory shook his head. “Most are safer. The waste should protect Ephra from the influence of the Draasin Lord, but unfortunately, it seems as if even that has begun to wane.”
“Why should the waste protect Ephra?”
“The elementals can’t survive in that place. Nothing can.”
“Why?”
Jory shook his head. “That’s something not even the Council fully understands. The waste is… well, it’s the waste. Nothingness. A place not meant for shapers.”
Tolan had seen that in the vision. He hadn’t known what it meant, but had felt the emptiness.
Despite that, the strange earth elemental that had pursued him during that vision had erupted from the ground. Could it be the waste tried to hold the elementals out but wasn’t completely effective?
More likely, that had been nothing more than a vision, and he needed to ignore what he’d seen in it.
They reached the intersection of the two Shapers Paths, and Jory waited. It didn’t take long before the approaching trio reached them. One was a Selector, much like Jory, and he nodded to her. She had dark hair and an easygoing smile, and she led two younger people.
“How did your Selection go, Tabitha?” Jory asked.
She motioned to the two with her. The larger of the two wore a finely woven cloak, and his black, wavy hair reminded Tolan of Velthan. He had steely gray eyes that studied Tolan a moment before looking over at Jory, seemingly dismissing Tolan. The other was smaller and thin, and had messy brown hair and bright green eyes. A wide smile crossed his face, the kind that told Tolan he had not expected to be selected.
“Two passed my Selection,” Tabitha said.
“Two from there?” Jory asked.
Tabitha shrugged. “I know it’s unusual, but what can I say. Perhaps this is our year.” She studied Tolan, and he could feel it as a shaping built from her, sweeping over him. “Just one from the Ephra school?”
“Not even one,” Jory said.
“Where is he from, then?”
“That’s an interesting story. I’ll tell you as we walk.”
Tabitha and Jory took the lead position, keeping ahead of them. The taller of the two who had been selected by Tabitha walked slightly ahead of Tolan while the other stuck his hand out, grinning at him.
“I’m Jonas Golud.”
“Tolan Ethar,” he said.
“You’re from Ephra?”
Tolan nodded. Eventually, he suspected it would get out that he hadn’t trained at the Ephra school, but for now he preferred not to make a big deal of it. How would others react if they knew he hadn’t been a shaper before? How would they treat him if they knew he had no ability?
Maybe the same as the woman who had greeted him at the school in the first place.
“Where are you from?” he asked.
Jonas turned and pointed before facing Tolan and grinning. “We’re from a small city on the edge of the mountains called Velminth.”
Tolan knew Velminth wasn’t necessarily a small anything. It was a logging city and had grown prosperous and profitable over the years. He only knew it because of his connection to Master Daniels, but that was enough to have learned just what kind of place Jonas came from.
“And your friend?”
The man walking in front of him stiffened, but he still hadn’t said anything.
Jonas lowered his voice and leaned close. “Oh, Draln isn’t my friend. I’m not sure he wants to be anyone’s friend. He’s mostly annoyed I was selected along with him.”
“Why is that?”
“He probably thought he was going to be the only one selected out of our home school. He also thought his ability to shape three of the element bonds meant so much more than my ability to shape two of them.”
Tolan didn’t know what to say. These two could both already shape two or more of the bonds? How many of the others selected and coming to the Academy would be like that? If all of them were, what did it mean for him?
If he were going to have to be a servant within the Academy, he might as well figure out what that meant early on. At least he knew what his fate would be, though he had thought he’d known what it was going to be when he put himself up for Selection. That had turned out so well for him.
“You will find my ability to shape three of the element bonds will matter more once we reach the Academy,” Draln said, barely looking over his shoulder.
Tolan stared at Draln’s back, unable to tear his gaze away. Even Master Daniels couldn’t shape more than two of the element bonds.
Jonas leaned in. “He’s always known he was going to be selected. It’s made him unpleasant on the best of days.”
“You realize I can hear you?” Draln said. “Wind shaper.”
“You realize I’m not trying to hide what I’m saying? If I were, I might stuff a wind shaping into your ears and then you would hear nothing,” Jonas snapped. “Don’t mind him. He’s mostly bluster and you’ll get used to his unpleasant disposition.”
Draln spun and faced Jonas. “You might want to be more careful. When I’m an Inquisitor, you might find I come after you to see what infractions you might have against the Academy.”
“And what makes you think you’ll even be able to be an Inquisitor? As far as I can tell, you still don’t have the ability to shape spirit, which as I seem to recall is an essential part of serving as an Inquisitor.”
Draln glared at him before turning away.
“See? Bluster. If we didn’t have the Selectors with us, I might push him over the edge here,” Jonas whispered, winking at Tolan.
He found himself liking Jonas immediately. It put him more at ease, especially since he had felt nothing but discomfort since learning he had been selected. If he had to be someplace he didn’t belong, at least he could be somewhere with people who were like Jonas.
They walked a little while longer, Jonas making small talk, telling him about Velminth. Tolan listened, nodding along with him. There was nothing really to say. He didn’t want to reveal his lack of shaping ability. After a while, Jory pointed. “There it is. Amitan. And in the center of Amitan, you can see the Terenhall Academy of Shaping.”
Tolan turned and looked down at the city and the Academy. They were still far away, but the path seemed to magnify everything below, making it much clearer than it would have been otherwise. The city was immense, spreading nearly five times what he thought Ephra to be, and everything appeared to be made from gleaming shaped stone. The sense of countless shapings struck him even from the distance. Above the entirety of the city, massive towers rose, likely the Academy, each enormous and stretching toward the sky, towering over the rest of the city.
“The five towers represent each of the element bonds,” Jory said, grabbing onto Tolan’s arm.
Tabitha took both Jonas and Draln, and they all stepped off the edge of the Shaper Path and dropped precipitously. A shaping suddenly built around him, slowing them until they lowered onto another Shaper Path, this one much wider. Tolan looked around and realized the path circled the entirety of the city. There were several paths just like it, crisscrossing the sky above the city.
“Not all can shape, so we want to ensure everyone can move freely through Amitan,” he said.
“You let people who can’t shape travel on these?”
Tolan looked and saw the people making their way along the roads. He couldn’t help but marvel at how many were there and how they seemed so comfortable moving around. “How do they get up to these roads?”
“There are stairways.”
It amazed him. “We didn’t have anything like this in Ephra,” he said.
“Of course not,” Jory said.
They traveled down, heading toward the city, and he was happy to see he wasn’t the only one who marveled at the sites below them. Both Draln and Jonas both seemed amazed by what they saw, though they both were somewhat better prepared for it.
As they went down, the towers of the Academy became even more visible. Worked into the stone along the side of each tower were enormous markings, letters of some sort, though not any he had seen before. When he pointed them out to Jory, he just nodded and said nothing.
They continued to descend, moving closer and closer to the walls of the Academy, and Tolan realized they were heading toward what looked to be a clearing just on the outskirts of the Academy. When they stopped, Jory finally released his arm, letting him step off to the side. Others were coming down from all around, and it took Tolan a moment to realize they were no different than he and Draln and Jonas. Like them, they had been selected.
“Are you ready?” Jory asked him.
Tolan could only look up at the enormity of the building rising in front of him. How could he be ready? This was so far beyond anything he had ever expected to see, and he still wasn’t sure how to react. “Am I supposed to be ready?”
Jory only laughed. “Most who come are excited to be here. Then again, I suspect most who come have planned for this for years, hoping for the day they would be selected.
“Will there be others like me?”
“You mean others who can’t shape?” When Tolan nodded, Jory shook his head. “As far as I know, you are the first in a long time.”
It was just what he needed. Not only was he coming someplace where he didn’t fit in, but he was unusual. He didn’t get the chance to contemplate what he needed to do any longer. Jory guided him through the doors and into the Academy, taking him to a place Tolan had never expected to go.
5
Tolan had thought the inside of the Ephra School of Shaping had been impressive, but it had nothing on what he saw here. Walls were exquisitely shaped, decorated with such detail marking every square bit of them, rose impossibly high above him, so far that he struggled to see the ceiling. It was there, he knew it had to be, but he couldn’t see it.
Jonas walked alongside him, smiling the entire time. “My father told me about the Academy, but…”
“What’d you expect it to be like?”
Jonas grinned again. “Honestly? Sort of like this.”
Tolan shook his head. “I never imagined I would come here.”
“I’m sure you dreamed of it.” He turned and stared overhead. “All shapers dream of coming to the Terenhall Academy.”
Tolan only nodded. They were led deeper and deeper into the building and all the while, Tolan could only stare overhead, uncertain what to make of it. As he looked up, he realized that more than just the walls had been shaped. An energy seemed to flow through everything, and seemed as if it came from everywhere.
They passed two pillars of flame. Nothing contained them. They were simply burning, as if trying to show off the power of a fire shaping. Water sloshed somewhere in the distance, the sound soothing but strangely intimidating at the same time. He imagined wind blew through here, too, a representation of each of the element bonds, all of them combined here.
Yet there was no representation for spirit.
Spirit was unique of all the elements. Only one spirit elemental had ever been known, though Tolan—like all others who ever attended a shaping school—knew scholars suspected there had been more. The spirit bond was the most difficult to reach, and shapers who could touch spirit were treated with great respect. Most were people like the Inquisitors, people who used their shaping ability to serve Terndahl.
They were herded into a massive chamber with a domed roof. There were many shapers, dozens of them, much as Jory had promised. Each had been brought here by a Selector, much the same way as he and Jonas had. He looked around at their faces, wondering how many were powerful shapers? How many could reach more than one element bond in the same way both Draln and Jonas did?
This wasn’t his place.
The thought struck him like a hammer, and he suddenly wished very much that he hadn’t barged into the Selection, forcing his way here. This was entirely his fault. He had no one to blame other than himself, and because of that, it made it even worse.
“Gather around. Gather around.” The voice came from the center of the room, deep and booming. It carried, obviously a shaping ensuring everyone heard.
“That’s Grand Master Erich Normandale,” Jonas whispered.
“Who is he?”
“Who is he?” Jonas looked over, his eyes wide. “You don’t know who he is?”
“I wouldn’t be asking if I did.”
Jonas grinned. “He is only one of the greatest shapers in Terndahl. He’s the head of the Academy.”
Tolan turned his attention to Grand Master Erich Normandale. He was older, and small, though he knew size didn’t make a difference when it came to shaping ability. He wore thick spectacles and his balding head reflected light from the pillars of fire outside of this main entrance. Only his eyes were imposing, carrying with them weight and intensity.
“All of you have been selected from your prospective schools. All of you have passed the test that only a small fraction of shapers manage. You should count yourself lucky, blessed, as there are dozens upon dozens from each of your schools who would do anything for an opportunity to study here. And perhaps one day they will. All are offered the opportunity to be selected.” His gaze swept around the room and Tolan realized the Grand Master had shaped himself into the air and floated in place, making a small circle as he did. His gaze seemed to catch on Tolan before moving on.
“You will be taught to master each of the bonds. Not all of you will be able to reach them. In fact, most of you won’t be able to reach each of the element bonds. That is a rare gift. I would expect most of you will manage to discover a connection to more than one shaping bond. It will require that you push yourself, perhaps harder than you have ever pushed before. You will train, learning the secrets of the shapers who have preceded you, many of whom you will find memorialized throughout the Academy. You should use them as inspiration and take from them the cautions they bring. That is what we ask of you. Over the next few months, you will learn enough to reach the next testing. To remain at the Academy, you must pass or will be given a different task.”
Another test? Tolan had no idea how he’d passed the first one and doubted he’d be able to survive another. What would be involved in the next step in testing?
Master Normandale looked around the room. It seemed as if he made eye contact with each person, and as he did, Tolan’s skin tightened. Was he shaping them? It wouldn’t be hard to imagine he was, but for what purpose? All of them had been shaped to get here, tested by an Inquisitor, and because of that, all of them must have passed whatever secretive testing was involved in selecting them.
When Master Normandale’s gaze reached Tolan, he tensed, expecting the shaping but not anticipating the wave of warmth that came with it. It was pleasant, not at all like the jarring sensation he’d had when Irina had shaped him. His gaze moved on, reaching others around the room.
“Did you feel it?” Jonas whispered.
“I felt the shaping, if that’s what you mean.”
“My father studied here. He told me that when you come and face Grand Master Normandale, you feel the weight of his gaze, and with it comes an expectation. It’s the shaping, you know.”
“What’s the shaping?”
“What you just felt. It’s a bond of sorts between us.”
“What’s the purpose of the bond?”
“My father didn’t know. He said no one really knows other than Grand Master Normandale, and possibly the Inquisitors.”
Grand Master Normandale had returned to the center of the room and he hovered, his shaping carrying him high overhead, spinning around. “You will be challenged, pressed to do more than you ever thought yourself capable of doing. Trust me when I tell you that each of you has the potential for greatness. Each of you, unfortunately, has the potential to fail, as well. I would like to tell you that everyone who comes to the Academy will become a great shaper, and for the most part, you will, but not everyone will—or can.”
