The Spirit Binds

by D. K. Holmberg

  Tanner blinked. “Tolan? What are you doing here?” He looked at Tolan, eyeing him up and down. “And why are you dressed like that?”

  “I was Selected for the Academy. That’s what I want to talk to you about.”

  “You were? Tolan, you couldn’t shape.”

  “Perhaps not, but do you remember when I came for the Selection?”

  “Why should I?”

  Perhaps it didn’t matter that Tanner didn’t remember, and perhaps it didn’t matter that the only reason he’d gone through everything he had was because he’d tried to support his friend. Were it not for that, were it not for wanting to offer support for Tanner, he never would’ve uncovered his connection to the elements—and the elementals.

  “Do you remember anything about having a spirit shaping placed on you?”

  “A what?”

  Tolan nodded. “Do you remember Inquisitors coming to the Academy here?”

  Tanner started shaking his head, looking along the hallway. There were a dozen other shapers, all of different ages, and they still had something of a stunned expression about them. Not that Tolan could blame them. What they had gone through was enough that it would stun anyone. Every so often, he detected a hint of shaping, though there wasn’t much power to it.

  When a particularly strong shaping surged, he glanced over his shoulder, thinking it had to be one of the instructors, but realized it came from a younger girl, probably no more than mid-teens, and she was shaping fire.

  She had considerable potential. He didn’t even need to put her through a Selection to know that, and he didn’t need to probe her with spirit to be able to detect her connection to shaping was strong, perhaps stronger than some of the instructors working with her.

  Was that part of the Selection? Was it all designed to find people like her? She was young, though. She would have been far too young to go to the Academy, where most of the time they preferred older students, given the rigors of the training and the fact they were so far from home.

  Tolan shook his head. “I need to know what you can recall.”

  "I can't recall anything. I still can't believe it's you."

  "We’ve seen each other since I left," he said.

  "We have?"

  There was so much he needed to tell his friend, and there was something about the way Tanner looked at him that suggested he could tell him. Taking a deep breath, Tolan focused on spirit. He was tired, but maybe he wasn’t too tired for this.

  Reaching deep within him, he pushed outward, using the touch of spirit, barely more than that, and sent it across Tanner’s mind. In doing so, he searched for another shaping. He wasn’t going to remove it. If it was nothing more than the spirit shapings used on him following each of the attempts at the Selection, then Tolan wasn’t going to be responsible for taking them away, but at the same time, if there was something he could uncover, if there was no evidence of a spirit shaping, there was value in that, too.

  As he probed, he found nothing.

  There were Tanner’s memories, and there was a sense from his friend’s mind that his thoughts were jumbled, probably more jumbled than they should be, but that was probably as much from the fact he’d been subjected to the Inquisitor attack as anything.

  Tolan released his shaping and forced a smile. “It really is good to see you, Tanner.”

  “How were you Selected?”

  “There is a way of detecting a latent shaping,” he said. “The Selection has a way of digging into it and uncovering it. In my case, apparently I can shape.”

  Tanner’s gaze darted to Tolan’s jacket and the pin there. “You can’t just shape. You’re a master shaper.”

  Tolan smiled. “I’m not quite a master, but a third-level student. If you ever reach the Academy, you’ll understand.”

  “How? Why?”

  “I think there is too much for me to explain right now. We’d come here anticipating a Selection, but I don’t know we will do so.”

  “Shaper Ethar?”

  Tolan turned to see the Grand Inquisitor looking at him.

  “It is time for us to depart.”

  He looked around at the other shapers. There was confusion throughout, though he didn’t need to be a shaper to know that. “Just like that? There’s nothing else we’re going to do?”

  “There isn’t anything more for us to do. We have done everything we can, and unfortunately, because of what has taken place, we need to prepare for the possibility of more like this.”

  Tolan glanced over at Tanner. His friend still looked at him, the bewildered expression on his face almost hard for Tolan to his stomach. “There isn’t a shaping on his mind anymore,” Tolan said softly, pitching his words so they were only for the Grand Inquisitor. “I used spirit, and I don’t detect anything.”

  “You might not,” she said.

  “A shaping would be so subtle I wouldn’t even be able to detect it?”

  “It could be.”

  Tolan glanced at Tanner. “He has presented himself for at least two Selections. He doesn’t remember my coming the last time when I was here for the most recent Selection, and he doesn’t recall me presenting myself in the first place, though I know he was present at both. Despite that, I can’t find any evidence of a shaping in his mind.”

  “As I said—”

  “I know what you’re saying, but just check.”

  Her shaping started slowly and built. As it did, it washed over Tanner. It was a gentle touch, even more gentle than what Tolan had done. As it worked through him, Tanner continued to stare, unmindful of the fact anything was even happening to him.

  The Grand Inquisitor continued to push, her shaping washing out from her, and she began to frown.

  “Is there a spirit shaping there?”

  “No.”

  “There should have been, though.”

  “There should have been, but… You were the one to remove his shaping?”

  “I removed it, but only because he was preparing to attack me.” Tanner had used wind, but also fire. That was progress, though Tolan didn’t know how skilled his friend would’ve been with fire. It was possible even with the ability to shape fire, Tanner wouldn’t have done anything to harm him. Tolan’s own ability with fire was significant enough that he didn’t know if someone like Tanner would be able to do anything harmful. He didn’t consider himself immune to fire, but he certainly had gained a certain resilience.

  “Perhaps that’s all it is,” the Grand Inquisitor said.

  “You think I just removed his shaping?”

  “I think it’s possible.”

  “Not intentionally,” Tolan said.

  The Grand Inquisitor focused on him for a moment. “As I said, you will need to learn more control. Spirit shaping can be dangerous, especially if used without an understanding of the dangers.”

  “I’m well aware of the dangers involved with spirit shaping,” Tolan said, letting too much of his irritation with his parents surge into his words. The Grand Inquisitor didn’t deserve that from him, and she wasn’t the one responsible for what had happened to him, though she was responsible for his Inquisition. “I was careful.”

  “As careful as you were with the first one?”

  Tolan glanced over to the man who had attacked him, the one whose shaping he’d first peeled away. He’d been more aggressive than he needed to be and had stripped away with far more force than was likely required. Despite that, the man sat on a chair, awake. When Tolan had probed his mind, testing to see if there was any permanent damage, he hadn’t uncovered anything.

  Then again, it was possible he wouldn’t be able to uncover anything from him. As much as he might try, his own control over shaping and his understanding of spirit was not so much that he’d be able to do so.

  “I didn’t have much choice.”

  “No, but now you do, you begin to understand.”

  “What if the Inquisitors wanted us to peel away those memories?”

  “What mak
es you say that?”

  “Only that the shaping used on them was blunt. What if they intended for us to peel that away, for us to find some way of realizing what they’d done so we’d be forced to act and strip away the shaping that might’ve been used on them?”

  The Grand Inquisitor frowned. “I would say that’s unlikely. Aela in particular would be far more subtle than that.”

  From Tolan’s experience with Aela, he knew it was true. She was devious, and she likely would’ve been far subtler than to pull away those shapings, but there seemed to be some reason the shapings had been changed like this. Regardless of what the Grand Inquisitor said, Tolan was convinced the shapings were tied to the ones placed following the Selection.

  What was it about the Selection they needed to conceal?

  Better yet, what was it about the Selection they wanted to reveal?

  “How long would it take for us to perform a Selection?” he asked.

  “Longer than I feel comfortable giving us.”

  “Even if we left now, what are the chances we would reach any of these other cities in time?”

  They had delayed once they reached Ephra. Not only had they rested overnight, but they had gone to the waste.

  The other parties would likely have already reached their cities. Traveling on a Shapers Path didn’t take them long to do so, and it would have given him the opportunity to explore, but then again…

  “They were going to wait for you, weren’t they?” Tolan asked.

  The Grand Inquisitor watched him, frowning. “They were.”

  “Perhaps they won’t run into the difficulty.”

  “When you came for the last Selection, what do you remember?” the Grand Inquisitor asked.

  “We met with several of the master shapers, preparing for the Selection.”

  “Exactly. And what do you think the others will have done?”

  “The same thing,” Tolan said slowly.

  “Again, exactly. If the other master shapers have been influenced in such a way…”

  “What if the master shapers weren’t influenced?”

  “What we have seen here suggests otherwise.”

  “Only at the academy, but we haven’t gone and spoken to any of the master shapers. There are at least three in Ephra, and none of them teach at the academy.” He had often wondered about that, but still didn’t have a good answer as to why Master Daniels hadn’t taught at the Academy. There was likely some reason tied to how they served following their time at the Academy. If he could find Master Salman, then perhaps they might be able to know.

  “I suppose we have enough gathered here that we could attempt a Selection,” she said carefully.

  Tolan looked along the line of people. “You think they are in any shape to succeed?”

  “I don’t expect any of them to pass, if that’s what you believe.”

  “Then what’s the point?”

  “The point, Shaper Ethar, is you believe they will.”

  She turned and strode away, going to whisper softly to someone at the other end of the hallway. Tolan was left standing with Tanner.

  “Does that mean there will be a Selection?” Tanner asked.

  “It sounds like it.”

  “I wish I could remember.”

  “You understand following a Selection, your memories will be removed,” Tolan said carefully.

  “We always suspected. We don’t talk about it all that much. Most of the time, people are reluctant to share anything about the Selection, afraid if they share too much, they won’t be given the opportunity to undergo another one. But then, it never seems as if anyone is ever Selected.”

  He frowned. “Velthan was selected at the last one.”

  “Velthan?”

  Tanner said the other man’s name almost as if he didn’t recognize it. That couldn’t be. How could they have concealed Velthan? Then again, other than his family, why would anyone need to remember him? He could be removed, memories of him wiped, and he could go with them to the Academy without revealing anything.

  Tolan couldn’t shake the sense there was something to that, something about the fact there were no memories. That was important.

  “Good luck,” he said, turning away from Tanner. He found the Grand Inquisitor at the other end of the hall, talking with who he suspected was the head of the Ephra academy. The gray-haired man who had greeted them when they first entered had reasonable shaping ability, though as far as Tolan could tell, he’d never taught at the Academy and had never trained there, either.

  When she was done, she turned back to him, watching him. “What is it, Shaper Ethar?”

  “I’m just trying to understand why people would have their memories of the shapers removed.”

  “So, they continue to serve.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “It does, but only if you understand why. Think about it, Shaper Ethar. If you were given the opportunity to present yourself and failed time and again, how would you feel about your ability to offer anything of use to Terndahl?”

  “Just because I wasn’t selected for the Academy doesn’t mean I’d suddenly stop trying to serve Terndahl.”

  “Perhaps not you. From what I understand of the Selection process, there have been previous iterations where there was no attempt to remove those memories. In those cases, the people maintained their recollection of who they were and what they were prior to the Selection. They remembered those who had been chosen while they were not. They realized some who they felt were weaker shapers were Selected while they remained behind. That has created challenges over time, forcing us to reevaluate our approach.”

  “Why?”

  “There is a natural instinct to want to be better than someone else. There is also a natural instinct to think your skill is superior to someone else’s. In the case of you in particular, Shaper Ethar, imagine what would have happened had others known you were Selected while they were not? Would they continue to work as hard as they do at shaping?”

  “I think so.”

  “Even if they believed it didn’t matter? Even if they believed their attendance at the local academy didn’t matter?”

  “But it doesn’t matter.”

  “Of course, it does. You and I both know that, as does the Grand Master and everyone else in Terndahl. Having shapers is valuable, regardless of the level of talent they possess. The need is for them to serve, to remain vigilant, and even more so here. Having shapers in Ephra, this close to the waste, has always been beneficial.”

  Tolan frowned. “I still worry there is something about the shaping placed that the Inquisitors are taking advantage of.”

  “It’s possible, but I haven’t been able to determine anything.”

  “How many of them still have a shaping upon them?”

  “None,” she said.

  “So, it wasn’t just me removing that spirit shaping.”

  She looked over at him. “No.”

  “Don’t you think that’s significant somehow?”

  “The question is how, though. Right now, their minds remain somewhat jumbled, and though they no longer recall what they had before, they might eventually gain those memories back.”

  Tolan wasn’t sure how to feel about that. If Tanner began to remember the conversations they had before, if he remembered Tolan coming to support him, would he suddenly get his friend back?

  Did it even matter? Since going to the Academy, his priorities had changed. He had been isolated in Ephra, and though there had been a similar isolation at the Academy, it was nowhere near what he’d experienced while in Ephra. The isolation he experienced at the Academy was more to do with the fact he had undergone an Inquisition, not so much because he was believed to serve the Draasin Lord.

  “If they gain those memories back, you fear that will cause problems,” he said.

  “I do.”

  “Which is why you’ve replaced those shapings.” He wasn’t sure whether or not she had, but it fit. />
  “It was necessary, Shaper Ethar.”

  “What if the Inquisitors return and use those shapings against them again?”

  “I’m not convinced it’s what they were doing.”

  “You might not be, but I worry about it.”

  “Then you should not worry, either.”

  He snorted. “That doesn’t help.”

  “Come, Shaper Ethar. It’s time for us to perform the Selection. It’s time for you to understand what the role of the spirit shaper in the Selection to be.”

  “What will I do?”

  “Observe. And if you decide you would like to become an Inquisitor, then perhaps you will perform the shaping.”

  She turned away from him, heading down the hall, leaving him standing alone for a moment. It was a strange sense. Did he want to become an Inquisitor? He didn’t think so, but then again, what were the Inquisitors?

  Maybe that was what he needed to understand. Once he did, he could decide, though Tolan had a hard time thinking he’d ever choose to serve in such a way. His role was going to be different.

  That was what Master Minden had been trying to guide him toward. And wasn’t that what he wanted to do? The idea of serving in the library was more appealing to him, but perhaps it was only more appealing because he thought he had more of an affinity for it. If what the Grand Inquisitor was saying was true, perhaps he had an affinity for something else, as well.

  Taking a deep breath, he hurried after the Grand Inquisitor. He had a sense of urgency when it came to this, and it was more than just trying to understand what he was supposed to do. It came from not knowing what the other Inquisitors were after, and the belief whatever it was would cause trouble for Terndahl.

  Even that might not matter. To Tolan, it wasn’t so much the issue with ensuring Terndahl remain safe. It was more about the elementals.

  Everything he did, staying away from the Academy, following the Grand Inquisitor, seemed as if it pulled him further and further from his search to try to understand what he could do to better serve the elementals.

  Tolan paused, staring at the Grand Inquisitor’s back.

  The Grand Master trusted her, and she’d supposedly proven herself, but what if she was the one the Inquisitors served?