A movement glimmered in her peripheral vision. She whipped her head toward it, but it was moving too fast. The prow of the massive vessel cut through the water only yards from her platform. Alayne had just enough time to hold up her hand before the prow cut across her tiny platform and tossed her into the deep green depths, the current propelling her downward as the ship moved forward.
Alayne could see nothing in the murky greenness. Salt stung her eyes, and she hastily snapped them shut, swimming frantically away from the downward current. Her lungs burned. She had to find oxygen soon. Finally, her flailing arms and then her face broke the surface. Alayne coughed out water, dragging huge gasps of air into her aching chest cavity.
She looked desperately around for her platform, but only a solitary wood plank floated nearby. The ship had destroyed the rest. The vessel rapidly grew smaller in the distance.
Alayne grasped the plank, clinging to it as she bobbed in the water. She pushed her wet bangs from her eyes. “What—”
Something long, thick, and strong wrapped around her ankle, and once again, Alayne screamed and went under. The board slipped from her fingers; Alayne grabbed at her ankle, horrified to feel the rubbery texture of a squid's tentacle. She needed to breathe. The light above her was rapidly disappearing.
She chopped at the tentacle with her hand, silently pleading with the squid to release her. It didn't. Alayne looked frantically at the surface far above her, willing something to happen, anything at all.
And then, the carpet of Professor Manders's office reasserted its brush-like bristles beneath her hands. She was on all fours, scrabbling desperately against the rough piles of the rug. She stopped moving and sat down, looked furiously at the professor as he relaxed in the rocking chair, and spit out, “What was that all about?”
Manders cocked an eyebrow as he made some notes on the folder in front of him. “That was an example of what not to do. Really, really pitiful, Alayne. You're certainly far more capable than that.” He clicked his pen shut and leaned forward to look her directly in the face. “Tell me, Alayne, why didn't you even once use the elements that were at your disposal?”
“I—I tried!” Alayne cried. “I couldn’t find them. I panicked, and it was like—I was all disconnected, and then I couldn’t seem to get my mind back where it needed to be.”
Manders leaned back in his chair and tapped his pen against his chin. Then he pointed the pen at her. “Well. That's a valuable lesson, I suppose. Fear can kill your mind and your elemental skill.” He cleared his throat. “When you get in deep water—literal or symbolic—Alayne, you must conquer your fear. Even the greatest Elementals, even Quadriweaves, can be completely undone by animal panic. It can block your access to the elements.”
Alayne bowed her head, quelling her embarrassment at her failure. “I guess—I just didn’t know what was going on. One minute I was safe in here with you. The next I was almost drowning. ”
“All of CommonEarth wants what you have, Alayne. They will stop at nothing to get the Vale. They may create any kind of ruse or trap to disorient you and send you into a panic. They will try to use fear to control you. You must be stronger. Reach into your senses—deeply—and remember what you are. There is an instinct beyond fear, and it is your instinct for the truth. Find what is real; find your connection to the elements. The elements can never leave you. Fear can only mask your awareness of them. Seek deeper. Now close your eyes.”
Alayne obeyed, though she remained rattled.
This time, the platform was in the air, so high the white-tipped swells looked like tiny insects swarming below. A gust of wind pitched her over the side of the platform before she could get her bearings. Alayne snagged one hand on the wooden edge, her legs and feet dangling into nothing. Everything was so real. Her heart slammed against her ribs. Panic rose, blinding, weakening. It isn’t real, she reminded herself. But the fear was—the simulation was designed to incite it more than anything else. Find what is real—find your connection to the elements. Alayne stretched. She could feel the four elements, like the strings on a harp, vibrant, ringing with intensity, each singing their part in her surroundings. Cool moisture, cooling evening air. Salt. Sea spray.
And lightning. Alayne's gaze snapped to the sky. Behind her, coming faster than any storm she'd ever seen, black thunderheads rolled toward her, blotting out light. The glare of the orange sun glowed like a bonfire on the horizon, slipping below the water until only gray was left. Gray and black. The clouds flickered with eerie yellow light. Distant rolls of thunder vibrated Alayne's platform.
The taut strings of the elements hummed with tense energy. Alayne hovered over the element strands, anticipating, waiting. The elements can never leave you...
A lightning flash sizzled hot, white light all around Alayne. The light stayed; Alayne's hand grasped the element strand. The lightning fork froze six feet above her head. Energy shivered through it. Tingles ran up Alayne's spine. Another flash, and another fork arrested mid-movement. A third, and a fourth. Energy gathered in the clouds overhead. Alayne bent the element strand, and then realized the bend wasn't strong enough.
With all her strength, Alayne yanked the element strand from its anchor. It detached from the rest of the element strands.
The lightning forks disappeared, and Alayne shot upward, the absence of elements creating an immediate vacuum. Closer and closer to the massive blackness, Alayne soared. In her hands, pulsing with energy, were the lightning bolts she had detached from the storm. She raised the bolts above her head, both arms straight out, and with all her strength, she hurled them into the vortex.
The vacuum exploded. Black clouds and electricity flew to the four winds. Alayne dropped like a rock toward the sea far below her. She let the air element slide through her fingers until she was twenty or so feet above the water, and then she tightened her grip on the strand, slowing herself down, coming to a stop above the surface.
Silence stilled the evening sky, dotted with stars; the water lay quiet and flat. Alayne pondered what she'd just learned: not only could she set aside her fear and trust the elements, but when she did, the elements themselves showed her new and amazing possibilities. None of the professors at Clayborne had ever mentioned that it was possible to break elements from their anchors to create vast element vacuums.
The carpet strands replaced the cool air, and Alayne lay once again on Manders's rug, exhausted and limp from her experience. She glanced up at Manders, whose satisfied smile played on his lips.
“Now, that, my dear Alayne, was impressive.”
Chapter 19
In the common room, Alayne flung herself onto the couch between Marysa and Rachyl and pulled out her textbook when a First-Year ran up to her. “Alayne?” He held out his hand, a small slip of paper between his fingers.
Alayne glanced at the paper, then back at the boy's face. “What's this?”
“Chairman Sprynge asked me to deliver this to you.”
Alayne stared at the boy, who shifted his weight in front of her. “Thanks.” She held out her hand. The boy dropped the note into it and ran away.
Rachyl laughed. “Poor kiddo seemed scared. What'd you to do him, Layne?”
“Nothing that I know of.” Alayne unfolded the note and gazed at the single sentence. “Sprynge wants to see me.”
Marysa sat up straight, dumping her textbook off her lap. She laid a restraining hand on Alayne's arm. “No, Layne. You can't go by yourself to his office. It's night—and dark.”
Alayne glanced back at the note. “He didn't give me an option.” She stood and shoved the note into her back jeans pocket. When she looked up, Daymon had materialized by her side. “He didn't say you had to come alone.”
With a light touch on her shoulder, he urged her forward. Alayne took a deep breath and touched the chute's down arrow. She and Daymon stepped into the car and fell to the Chairman's office.
The doors slid open. Tarry sat at her desk, busily arranging pictures of various students in the air
in front of her. She cleared the air with a swipe of her hand when the chute door opened. She smiled at them. “Good evening, Mr. Houser. Miss Worth. Chairman Sprynge will see you now.”
“What's with her name?” Daymon muttered in an undertone to Alayne as they passed by her desk. “I've never heard her called anything besides Tarry, have you?”
“Nope. Maybe she doesn't have a last name.” Alayne threw Daymon a nervous grin. “If she does, I've never heard it.” She knocked on Sprynge's door.
“Come in, please.”
She pushed the door open. Sprynge looked up with a smile followed by a frown as Daymon trailed behind Alayne. “Mr. Houser. I don't recall sending you a note.”
“You didn't, sir.” Daymon took a seat in the chair in front of Sprynge's desk. Alayne noticed his clenched hands as she sat down next to him. A shiver went up her spine.
A brief smile flicked across Sprynge's face before disappearing. He stood. “Mr. Houser, I don't believe you understood me. I wish to speak to Miss Worth. Alone.”
“I understood you completely, sir.” Daymon didn't get up, though he shifted forward in his seat. “But I don't know if you understand me when I say that where Alayne goes, I go, too. You see, Chairman, there are a lot of us who wonder about your close association with the Elemental Alliance. We don't understand, nor do we like, to see the head of Clayborne unfurling his banner under such an association.” His voice was quiet; Alayne could hardly hear the sentences.
Apparently, Sprynge heard them clearly. His face flushed red, then white, then slowly red again. He seemed momentarily at a loss for words. He cleared his throat and clasped his hands behind his back. Inhaling a deep breath, he looked at the floor and began pacing. “Ah yes, association. The bees will sting even when the bear misses the hive, isn't that so, Alayne?”
Alayne cocked an eyebrow. “Sir?”
Sprynge shook his head and stopped pacing. He faced the window, gazing into the black night outside. “I suppose you thought I was ignoring you this year.”
Alayne glanced at Daymon. “There are a lot of students at Clayborne, sir.”
Sprynge faced her. “But only one Quadriweave. Only one student who has managed to capture the interest, curiosity, and envy of those in high positions throughout CommonEarth.”
Alayne quelled the wrinkle of fear that his words evoked. She didn't know what to say. Daymon's tension had not disappeared.
“Alayne, if I recall correctly, the last conversation we had in this office, you gave me, in sparkling detail, your convictions about how you will not Shadow-Cast.”
Coldness washed through Alayne. “Yes, sir.”
Sprynge pulled out his office chair and sat down. He rubbed his fingers through the fringe of hair at his temple. “Alayne, this isn't Shadow-Casting that I'm asking.” He refused to look at her; he glanced distractedly across his desk.
“I'm not clear on exactly what you are asking, Chairman.”
Sprynge finally raised his eyes to meet hers. “Alayne. You hardly need to be told that you are an Elemental of amazing talent. Not only can you do almost anything already with your element control, but there is so much potential in you to do even more. You're popular, Alayne. You have the respect of most students and teachers here at Clayborne. If you were to go to the High Court, I could see you commanding just as much respect from even the most severe of the Justices.”
Alayne glanced at Daymon. His eyes were hard as he stared at Sprynge. She shook her head and turned to face the Chairman. “I'm sorry, sir, but why would I go to the High Court?”
Sprynge pressed his lips together and sat back in his chair. He studied his fingers where they were linked together in his lap. “You know, of course, that the Elemental Alliance has gained the majority of seats on the High Court bench. They won over the public's sympathy last summer. The rest is mere formality. The Elemental Alliance will take over the cleansing of our society when the High Court meets again. There will no longer be any... taint.”
“Taint!” Daymon was on his feet, the tendons standing out as he clenched his fists.
Alayne quickly laid a hand on his arm. “Just a minute, Chairman. I want to know exactly what you are asking.”
“Alayne,” Sprynge took a deep breath, “I know it's hard for you to see. That's understandable; you've been under other influences for many years. Your own father is a Natural. But can you try to widen your perspective just a little? Can you see how useful it would be to find the good in a group like the Elemental Alliance? They have worldwide influence, Alayne, and instead of using your rather persuasive skills to bring disruption and destruction to people you love, to students of this school, to your parents, to Naturals everywhere, wouldn't you rather side peaceably with the Elemental Alliance for the common good?”
Now Alayne was on her feet, too. She could feel heat rushing to her hands. She restrained the flames with an effort. “You're asking me to side with the group of people that wants to cleanse CommonEarth of people like my parents?” Her hands started shaking.
Sprynge spread his hands wide. “You're looking at it all wrong, Alayne. It's not so much freeing CommonEarth from Naturals as it is creating a better place for both Elementals and Naturals.”
“By stripping Naturals of their rights and herding, yes, herding them into NRCs. Like cattle. Branding them with their bloodlines.” Bitterness swathed Alayne's words; blood pounded in her temples. Blue flames flickered across her fingertips. She was losing control; the heat seeped past the element strands she desperately gripped, shoving its way to her hands, strengthening, spreading. In another moment, the Vale would defeat her tight grasp on the strand. She clenched her fists behind her, seeking control.
Sprynge sighed, lightly massaging his temples. “Working together will prevent more danger and death for so many people, Alayne. People look for a leader, and it looks like perhaps you may be one. Wouldn't it be better to preempt any violence? Destruction of Naturals is completely unnecessary; there is no need to fight the cause, Alayne. Won't you publicly state your support of the Elemental Alliance so that Naturals will see the futility of fighting the overwhelming majority and losing in the process? It's a done deal, Alayne. The High Court will give unprecedented powers to the Elemental Alliance, the Naturals will continue to go to NRCs, or Cleansing Centers, as they're calling them now, and there will likely be some factions of resistance among those affected. It would go a long way toward smoothing things over if you, the Quadriweave, would lend your support to the effort.”
Alayne's hands did burst into flame then.
“Layne, no.” Daymon's voice called her to reason. “Let's get out of here.” He grabbed her arm and dragged her to the door. Alayne still hovered in numb wordless shock. She stood helplessly by as Daymon opened the door.
Daymon nudged her out into Tarry's office, but before he closed the door behind him, he turned back to Sprynge. “Sprynge, it's gotten pretty obvious what's going on with you. Just a word of warning. Alayne's not alone. You or any of your Elemental Alliance friends try anything, anything at all, you're going to have every Guardian of the Vale standing in your way. And if you somehow manage to get through all the rest, you'll never get by me. Just something to keep in mind.”
He slammed the door shut, grabbed Alayne's hand—from which she'd only just managed to smother the flames—and pulled her past Tarry onto the chute. The office disappeared as soon as he hit the up button.
By the time the wave of shock wore off, the chute doors slid open into the common room. Alayne glanced awkwardly down at her fingers still threaded through Daymon's large, tanned ones and then up into Kyle's eyes as he stared at them from one of the couches. Kyle stood with a jerk and went to join the crowd around one of the ping-pong tables.
Daymon immediately dropped Alayne's hand. “Sorry.” He ushered her out of the chute. “Didn't mean for him to see that.”
“It's not your fault.” Alayne tugged on the end of her braid. She stopped walking, pulling Daymon to a stop with her.
“Daymon, what just happened in Sprynge's office? Did he really claim an association with the Elemental Alliance? I knew he leaned that way, but he'd never said it in so many words.”
Daymon regarded her soberly. “It sounded that way to me. Or if he isn't, he's certainly not doing anything to fight it.”
“I guess we knew that.” Alayne sighed. “I just hate to see it confirmed.”
“At least now we know.”
“Now we know something else, too.”
“What?” Daymon stared at her. His lips were a rigid line across his face.
“We've been so afraid that they're out to kill me, especially once the Alliance took over the High Court.” She paused, and Daymon finished for her.
“But now, we know that they intend to use you instead of killing you to get the Vale.” Anger shot through his eyes.
“Yes. Why is that, Daymon? What could they possibly gain from using me instead of just taking the much easier route of killing me and cutting out the Vale?”
Daymon rubbed the back of his neck, turning his dark gaze to the floor. “First, Layne, it's not a much easier route. You're going to be virtually impossible to kill because of the Vale and all the safeguards we've planted around you. Even if they managed it, though,” he gripped her shoulder in a grasp that nearly hurt, “it would take years for a new possessor of the Vale to reach the same level of skill with the elements that you've already reached. You've had the Vale inside you for over seventeen years now. It has adjusted to you nearly as much as you have adjusted to it.” His blue eyes stared into hers, the intensity of his expression causing Alayne to drop her gaze. “They don't want to start over if they can help it; it would add a massive delay in their plans. According to my uncle, now that they're in control of our Continent's High Court, they're aiming for recognition at the CommonEarth summit set for fall where representatives from the rest of the five continents will meet in our Capital and plan. Your death would be a major roadblock to the EA goals.”
Shadows of Uprising (Guardian of the Vale Book 2) Page 22
