The Earth Awakens (Elemental Academy Book 2) Read online

  “Does hiding it offer any protection?”

  “As I’ve told you, others would come for it if they knew of its existence.”

  “But is it really only meant for the Academy?”

  She frowned. “That’s an interesting question, but one that has been considered before. There have been many shapers over the years who have not trained at the Academy and who have claimed a right to the knowledge and power that could be found here. And who is to say they don’t? We recognize the Academy isn’t all-encompassing when it comes to shaping. How can it be, when there are other places that exist in the world that share significant power?”

  Tolan shifted, feeling a little unsettled about what he wanted to ask, but if she was a spirit shaper, she likely already knew what he was thinking. The way she watched him suggested she was aware, even if she didn’t say anything. “What about the elementals?”

  “What about them?”

  “Did they deserve to have access to the Convergence?”

  “There aren’t many who question what the elementals should have.”

  Tolan flushed. He shouldn’t be asking about such things, and he knew it would draw the wrong kind of attention, especially since he had already been associated with the elementals. But something about Master Minden seemed to draw out such honesty.

  “What if the elementals shouldn’t be forced into the bonds?”

  Her eyes narrowed and Tolan realized he had said too much.

  “You’ve seen the destruction caused by elementals,” she said.

  “I’ve seen it, but—”

  “The bond protects us from the elementals, but it also protects the elementals from us. There are benefits. And we are stronger for their presence in the bond.” She sat up, clasping her hands on top of the table, resting them on the book. “Perhaps I made a mistake in allowing you such access to the books about the elementals.”

  “You haven’t made a mistake. All I’m trying to do is understand.”

  Would she view his attempt at understanding as a way to power—which in Tolan’s case, it could possibly be viewed as—or would she view it as simply trying to understand? Understanding was his reason for asking, and all he wanted was to try and learn about the elementals, if only to understand more about them.

  “As a librarian, I recognize the need to understand. As a shaper, I warn you against trying to do anything that would involve the elementals. That way is a way to danger. That way is a way to the Draasin Lord.”

  A shaping built, and he couldn’t help but back up. He wasn’t sure if it came from her or from somewhere else, but in the library, a place where there should be no shaping, there seemed only one person capable of doing so.

  “If you seek understanding, perhaps this might help,” Master Minden said, sliding the book across the table to him. He took it and stuffed it into his pocket without looking down at it, his heart racing. “Search for understanding but avoid the Draasin Lord.”

  He nodded and turned away. When he reached the table, taking a seat across from Jonas, his friend stared at him. But Tolan ignored him, focusing on Master Minden. She never glanced up again, but he had the sense that a shaping continued to build from her.

  What sort of shaping would she be attempting, and why did it seem targeted at him?

  7

  Tolan followed Master Marcella, joining her near the edge of the forest. From here, the sense of the elements continued to build, though he wasn’t entirely certain whether that sense should be building for only him or whether he merely imagined it. When it came to working with Master Marcella, all he wanted was success in reaching the elements. He had a sense she grew disappointed in his failings.

  “Today, we are going to focus on wind,” she said.

  Tolan looked around. Each time he came with Master Marcella, he felt as if he disappointed her. Today would be no different. They were near the edge of the forest, and so far, there wasn’t much of a breeze. Typically, he had heard from the wind shapers, such as Master Rorn, there was benefit in working where there was an abundance of the element. Then again, when it came to wind, wasn’t it in all places?

  “I haven’t had much success in reaching wind,” he said.

  “As far as I’ve been able to determine, you haven’t had much success in reaching any of the elements other than fire.”

  He swallowed, licking his lips, resisting the temptation to reach into his pocket and feel for the bondar.

  “In order for you to pass on to the next level, you will need to be able to control more than just a single element.”

  “What happens if I can’t?”

  She shot him a hard look. “I will not have one of the first students I mentor fail.”

  “I don’t want to fail, but what happens to me?”

  “Students in the second level must be able to command more than one element.”

  “That’s it?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not allowed to discuss anything more when it comes to your testing.”

  The testing was all many of the students could talk about. Everyone knew it was coming eventually, and when it did, everyone wanted to be ready, though Tolan, like everyone else, had no idea what was going to be involved. Everyone agreed it involved shaping more than one element bond, even more reason to continue to find a way to connect reliably to earth. Without access to a bondar, he wouldn’t be able to do so.

  “Is it just reaching more than one element bond?”

  “In order to pass, you must have control of the elements. Which is why we’re here. I’m determined to help you reach each of the elements. Wind is no different from fire, and I will have you find your way to the wind bond.”

  As she said it, the wind began to swirl around her, gusting and sending her dark hair fluttering.

  He didn’t know enough about the various element bonds to be able to argue effectively with her, but he felt certain wind was different from fire. For that matter, earth was different from fire. When he’d reached earth, he had been clear about how his connection to that element was different than it was when he reached for fire.

  Somehow, he needed a way of reaching for the elements reliably without the bondar, and yet there remained the possibility he wouldn’t.

  He didn’t like to think about it, but if he failed to reach another element bond consistently, it likely meant he was going to fail out of the Academy. He could imagine people like Draln taunting him. Even in that, he shouldn’t feel terribly disappointed. His position had changed dramatically from where he was even a few months ago. When he hadn’t been able to shape anything, his prospects had been limited. Now he could reach fire—regardless of whether it took a furios or not—he would always have some employment. It might not be what he wanted, and the longer he spent at the Academy, the more certain he was that he wanted some role with shaping that he had yet to discover, but it was something.

  “Breathe in the wind. Focus on it. As you do, you can know it’s there, the power exists, and as you allow it to flow through you, you can find your connection to the bond.”

  It sounded far easier than he knew it to be.

  Without a bondar, Tolan had no chance of really connecting to the wind. Part of the challenge in working with mentors like this was that they had different ways of teaching than the primary master shapers. Then again, that was also considered an advantage. Learning from someone else who had their own methods was meant to provide others with a way of shaping they wouldn’t otherwise have.

  “I’m trying,” he said.

  She stared at him. “Again, Shaper Ethar, I get the sense you aren’t trying nearly as much as you should be. If you don’t take this seriously—”

  “I’m taking it seriously, Master Marcella. It’s just that I haven’t even mastered wind with a bondar.”

  “The witherings are fickle.”

  Tolan hadn’t the sense the withering was the issue. When it came to using the wind bondar, it was more about the shaper.

  “You
have several hours before your next class. I would encourage you to use that time.”

  “You’re not going to stay with me?”

  She cocked a brow at him. “Do you feel my presence will provide you with greater motivation?”

  A warm flush worked up his neck and Tolan shook his head. “I just thought that was the point of us meeting out here.”

  “The point of us meeting out here was for you to connect to the elements. Today, I would like you to focus on wind. When you discover it, we will celebrate.”

  With that, she started off, leaving him at the edge of the forest on the border of Amitan.

  Tolan focused on the wind. There was a gentle breeze, and as it brushed past his cheeks, he focused upon it, straining to see if there was anything he might be able to uncover within it, but as before, there was nothing. He breathed out, knowing there was supposed to be a connection to his breath, but even when he focused on that, he wasn’t able to reach the wind bond.

  He started wandering, heading into the forest, simply moving aimlessly. He focused on everything around him: the earth, the warmth of the sun, even the wind as Master Marcella wanted him to. He understood the desire to connect to the elements, but they didn’t come to him well enough.

  Resisting the urge to pull out the furios and shape was difficult. If he was going to practice, he might as well use the one element he could connect to, but in this place, she wanted something else from him.

  As he wandered between the trees, he lost track of time. Eventually, he turned back toward Amitan, and when he did, a sense of movement caught his attention.

  Tolan froze, pressing his back up against one of the nearby trees, looking around. There wasn’t anything he could find. He focused on the earth, using his earth sensing to discover whether there was anything out there, but as before, he detected nothing.

  He started forward and walked a few steps before he thought he caught another flutter of movement.

  His heart set off hammering.

  Was it an elemental?

  He didn’t think so, but there were the rumors Master Marcella had mentioned that the disciples of the Draasin Lord had released the elementals at the edge of the waste to draw off the Trackers or perhaps distract the master shapers from Amitan.

  Worse, he had to worry it might actually be one of the disciples of the Draasin Lord.

  As he neared another enormous tree, there came a flutter of movement.

  This time, he was certain of what he saw.

  Tolan started running.

  He tried to focus on a distant sense of Amitan and the Academy, and as he went, something pulled on him.

  That had to be the Academy, didn’t it?

  He wound through the forest and had lost track of where he was when the forest opened up.

  A grassy plain was set into the middle of the forest, surrounded by an old stone wall. He approached slowly, carefully, looking around for any signs of movement, but there was nothing. He steadied his breathing, trying to relax, fearing one of the disciples was after him.

  As he looked back toward the forest, he decided to climb the wall. On the other side, he found a sculpture rising in the center of the park. He’d never seen anything like it. It was tall, angular, and came to a point at the peak, the four sides tapering as they reached the top.

  He jumped down, looking around, thinking that if nothing else, he could hide from whatever had been following him. A sense of shaping energy built, but he saw nothing around.

  There was no one inside the park, which made the sense of shaping even stranger. He approached the wall and looked inside, focusing on whether he could see anything, but there wasn’t anything here to notice. It was all long and overgrown grass. Some flowers managed to overtake sections of the lawn, and in the center of it was the enormous sculpture.

  It was like a finger of rock, all solid, suggesting to Tolan that it had been shaped straight from the ground. From here, he could see how the stone had weathered over time, the surface rough, and parts of it almost seeming to be crumbling. If it had been shaped, it surprised him that it would be crumbling at all.

  The sense of shaping came from within here.

  Tolan looked for an entrance to the park, but there wasn’t one. There was only the low wall all around it.

  He scrambled up the wall, pausing on top. It was only two feet wide, easily wide enough for him to stand, and he stared around. From here, the hillside overlooked much of the city. The Academy was in the distance, the five towers representing each of the elements making it easy to observe from a distance.

  He couldn’t shake the sense there was a shaping near him. It continued to build, an overwhelming sense of power, and he was drawn toward it. Fire and wind, and as he focused on it, he sensed a hint of water within it. Would there be earth, too?

  He jumped off the wall and into the grass. It was nearly knee-high, and he trudged through it, wishing he had boots rather than his soft-soled shoes. Then again, this wasn’t how he had anticipated spending the time he had after working with Master Marcella. He had intended to study the runes, looking to see if there was any connection to the various elementals that he could come up with.

  The area inside the park felt strangely peaceful. All around in the city was activity, but here there was almost a sense of silence. Other than the shaping he detected, nothing else drew him. There were no distractions, and he didn’t fear students coming here and discovering him. This would be a good place to practice.

  At the base of the structure, he paused. For some reason, it seemed as if the shaping emanated from here. He tapped on the stone, and when he did, the sense of shaping suddenly stopped.

  Tolan staggered back, fear filling him.

  Was there someone inside?

  He didn’t know if it was hollow or not, but the fact that the shaping would suddenly abate the moment he approached and tapped on it suggested something like that.

  Tolan circled the tower, running his hand along it, feeling for any sense of shaping, but none came. As he circled, his gaze drifted upward, looking toward the top of the tower. As he did, he realized there was a shape on this side. He continued to make a circle and found another shape. And then another. Four shapes in all, but none easy to make out.

  He hurried back to the wall, trudging through the grasses, and when he reached it and jumped up onto it, he looked at the sculpture at the center of the park. From here, he couldn’t make out anything. It was only when he was close to it that he was able to see it.

  Tolan headed back, sensing whether there was any shaping taking place, but as far as he could tell, there was none.

  As he neared the tower, he paused once again, looking upward.

  He wished for Jonas’s ability to shape wind and make it so he could visualize what might be up there. If he could enhance his eyesight with that sort of shaping, then he might be able to see just what it was.

  And it was probably nothing. This park was abandoned, a place that had been here for centuries, a memorial to a time long past. If it were important, the Academy would have surrounded it, or they would have made some way to prevent others from coming here.

  He took a seat, leaning against the tower, figuring that this was as good a spot to practice as any. If Master Marcella wanted him to practice, he would do as she wanted, though perhaps not in the location she had wanted.

  He pulled the furios out, rolling it along his legs. He started to shape, feeling the energy of fire flowing through him. It was subtle, and for whatever reason, he felt better connected to it than he usually did. Perhaps it was the bright sun shining down on him, or perhaps the racing of his heart. He had learned that heightened emotion made him better attuned to the elements.

  Maybe he could use that to help him recapture earth. He had shaped earth on his own without a bondar once, and had to believe he could do so again.

  Master Marcella might want him to work on wind, but if he was going to pass the test, he was going to have to work on what his str
engths might be. In the case of what he could reach, that meant fire and earth. Wind and water seemed almost impossible to even think about reaching.

  Tolan worked through the various shapings he could recall, drawing upon fire, and then he focused on earth.

  He tried to think of what Master Shorav had taught in class, the lessons coming slowly to mind, but as he attempted to reach for an earth shaping, nothing worked.

  There had to be some way to do it. And he had to find some way where he wasn’t under duress in order to reach it.

  It might come down to having a bondar. If nothing else, that would allow him to reach the elements and feel the connection he needed. He had resisted the temptation to take one from the classroom, but with as much as he needed to still master, maybe that was what he needed to do.

  He could easily imagine what his friends would say if they learned he’d taken a bondar. If he were caught, it was almost a guarantee such action would lead to repercussions—possibly expulsion. He didn’t want to be expelled from the Academy, but if he didn’t reach another element bond, that might not matter.

  Tolan leaned his head back upon the tower. It was strangely cool and almost damp despite the warm sun shining overhead. Wind gusted all around him, and the pressure of the ground pushed up on him. He took a deep breath, letting the sense of this place fill him. It was peaceful.

  Better yet, there was no one else here. He could come here, work on shaping, and not have to fear other students would watch. That was always his challenge, and his shame. If he had a place like this where he could practice unobserved, and a place that seemed close to the Academy grounds, he would take advantage of it. Perhaps some of the older students knew about it, but from what he could tell, the ground hadn’t been trampled, and no one had been here in quite some time.

  This would be his place.

  Maybe it would be his secret.

  Tolan started to shape again, focusing on earth. He would start there and work onto the other elements.

  8