Did that mean he needed to take this path?
Tolan no longer knew, but what he did know was that somewhere out here was his way back into his mind and back into reality.
And he needed to reach it.
He formed a wedge with his shaping, carving through the resistance, racing up the stairs, winding around the inside of the tower once again until he reached the back side of that bookshelf. She had tapped a series of sequences along it, and he thought about how she had done it before deciding it didn’t matter.
He slammed power into the wall. Like the other doors, this one dissolved. He stepped out, and as he did, he realized his body was still sitting in a chair in the Grand Master’s office.
Tolan raced toward it, falling forward, back into his body.
He opened his eyes, and Master Aela stood in front of him.
“How do I find the Draasin Lord?”
Tolan pulled upon a shaping and slammed it into her.
The suddenness of it startled her and he jumped to his feet, racing toward the door to the Grand Master’s room, throwing it open and hurrying outside. The Grand Master lay motionless outside his office. Inquisitors lined the hallway.
Where was the Grand Inquisitor?
Tolan spun, hurrying toward the opposite end, when footsteps behind him caught his attention. He darted into the first open door.
The library.
His heart sank.
He threw the doors closed. In all the time he’d been here, the library doors were rarely closed, and he quickly shaped, sealing them closed.
He leaned on the doors, breathing heavily.
“Shaper Ethar. There is no shaping in the library.”
Tolan turned around carefully and saw Master Minden watching him. Her eyes were narrowed and he knew he’d made a mistake. Not only had he shaped in the library, but he had shaped in the library. It was more than forbidden, it was impossible to do—and yet here he was, having used a shaping to seal himself inside.
“I’m sorry. The Inquisitors and Master Aela and—”
“Come with me,” she said.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to betray me too,” he said.
“Betray you? Shaper Ethar, I have done nothing but help you.”
“They think I’m the traitor.”
She looked back at him, the film over her eyes making it difficult to know what she saw. “Are you?”
Tolan took a deep breath. How could he lie to Master Minden? She’d been kind to him the entire time he was here. She was the only person he trusted.
“I don’t know. I just wanted to learn. I can’t help it that I don’t see the elementals the same way as the master shapers.”
She frowned. “Come along.”
She guided him to the stairs leading up to the restricted section, and he followed her, glancing back at the dais. She was the only librarian here at this time, and he was thankful for that, though he wondered why Master Minden would be helping him—if that’s what she was doing. It was possible she was betraying him the same as everyone else, but he would take the risk with her.
He’d never been up here and didn’t have an opportunity to spend too much time looking, for she guided him into a narrow hallway with a ceiling so low, he had to duck down. It led through a tight stone section. At the end of it, she pushed open a doorway. Sunlight streamed in.
“Go, Shaper Ethar.”
“Go where?”
“Go where you must. Find your way. Find yourself. Understand what happened and who you are. And when you do, perhaps then you can return.”
“I don’t understand.”
The sense of shaping built all around him, slamming into the Academy.
Disciples.
Master Aela hadn’t lied when she had said they were here. Disciples of the Draasin Lord were attacking the Academy? And Master Minden wanted him to leave?
“It’s not safe for me to go,” he said.
“On the contrary, Shaper Ethar, it is imperative you do.”
“Because you think they’re here because of me as well.” His heart sank. “I’m not with the Draasin Lord. I’m not the traitor.”
Master Minden smiled. She met his gaze with her milky white eyes, and she nodded. “I know you think that.”
“Then why do I need to go with them?”
“Because they are here for you.”
She pushed, and Tolan was forced outside of the Academy. The door closed behind him, sealing closed with another shaping. Seven shapers—disciples—landed on the Academy roof. He hadn’t realized it, but she had let him out into the center of the Academy, and atop a tower he was surprised to realize was spirit. The other four towers surrounded it.
He tried to build a shaping, wrapping it around himself, prepared to do whatever it took to escape the disciples, and he had started to push outward when one of the disciples’ faces caught his attention.
Time seemed to stop.
“Father?”
His father strode forward, taking his hand. “Tolan. There you are. It’s time for us to go.”
“Go where?”
“To complete your training.”
Epilogue
The walk through the forest took less time than she had anticipated. The ground was hard, tamped down from footsteps made over repeated journeys back and forth between Amitan, creating an obvious path through the forest. Were it not for those footsteps, she doubted she would even be aware of where it would lead.
Every so often, she paused, focusing on the sounds of the forest, stretching outward with earth shapings, but nothing came. When she was satisfied there was nothing else, she let spirit shapings drift away from her as well. Those were far more tightly controlled. Spirit took considerable strength, and while she had talent with spirit, excessive strength was not a part of it. Hers was more a creativity and understanding of the benefits—and limitations—of spirit. Knowing those limitations allowed her to know her own limitations.
Satisfied, she continued onward, maintaining the subtle shaping concealing her, masking her comings and goings from others. That was one of her greatest strengths, and a technique she had learned from her first mentor. It was a difficult skill, focusing the shaping upon oneself. Most believed it couldn’t be done, and for most people, it couldn’t be. Doing so was dangerous, and it risked burning off the ability to shape, but for those who knew how, such a shaping created potential. It allowed her to move without fear of others seeing her passing.
When she reached the stone wall, she rested her hands upon it. The protections remained. They were ancient, formed well over a thousand years ago by shapers who understood the elements and the elementals differently than shapers of today. There was power in that knowledge, and unfortunately, far too many people believed those ancient shapers were ignorant. They failed to understand the nature of how shaping had changed and evolved.
There were times when she wished it hadn’t evolved quite so dramatically. There were times when she wished shapers of today understood and appreciated that power more the way they once had, but unfortunately, pride often got in the way of recognizing the differences.
She climbed up along the wall, boosting herself with a shaping of earth, and stood atop it. As she stood there, she sent out a summons. Power radiated from her, pressing outward, reaching into the earth, stretching beyond and into the bonds.
As she focused, she listened.
Many viewed the element bonds as something shapers were meant to tap into. While that was partly the case, that power had been twisted over the years, as many things twist over time. Men became fearful of others with power, and they forced that power into the one place where they thought they understood it. In doing so, they changed the very nature of the world, often in ways they could never understand.
The element bonds were unsettled these days. They were agitated, and it didn’t surprise her the so-called master shapers did not notice it. Were they more attuned to the elements they shaped, perhaps they would be,
but instead, all they focused on was power, attempting to draw that out, unmindful the very source they pulled it from rebelled against them.
Probing deeper, she focused upon the lost powers within the bonds. It was there, buried and waiting.
There was the sense of the various elementals working within the bonds. As she focused, she could reach to them, calling to them. Summoning them and freeing them from the bonds was not her ability, but she could use her connection to spirit to reach for them, to understand how they were trapped. She could feel the anxiety within them. And she detected something else, something unexpected.
Hope.
Why would there be hope within the elementals? Could have anything to do with all of the recent attacks? The disciples had continued to work, wanting to free the elementals from the bonds, understanding the suffering they’d faced, but they were limited in how quickly they could work. They required help to free the elementals from the bonds, needing those with the natural-born connection, something only those who had it from birth could provide.
It was difficult to detect it. Not all were capable of it, and those who were capable were incredibly valuable.
Patience. We will free you soon.
You must find him again.
The voice that came back to her was deep and booming, and it seemed to flow through her, practically burning her.
The Draasin Lord.
He is coming to you, she said. He will need guidance and a direct connection.
It will be provided. You must do what you can to ensure his safe arrival.
There is little I can do, but I will try. You know I need to remain here. Others work to solidify the bonds, to make the connection permanent. Once it is…
I know. You must stop it before it becomes permanent.
The voice became distant. Communicating in this way was difficult, even for one as powerful as the Draasin Lord. She released her spirit connection to the bonds, relaxing it, and hobbled away, making her way back to the forest. She maintained her shielding, hiding herself from those who would find her, and wandered her way through the streets back to the Academy, ignoring the Inquisitors she passed. They wanted to find a traitor, and they had, only they didn’t fully understand. Eventually, they would.
It wasn’t until she was back inside that she finally allowed herself to relax, releasing her shaping, as she took her place upon the dais.
Click now for book 4 of Elemental Academy: The Wind Rages
After discovering the Inquisitor’s plot within the Academy, Tolan is offered a chance to go with his father and learn from the Draasin Lord. Doing so not only means turning against the Academy and everything he has come to know, but means the Inquisitors will succeed in their plan.
When the Grand Master comes to him asking a dangerous favor, Tolan must make a choice that might bring him into direct contact with the Draasin Lord.
Everything he’s been taught about the elementals and the Draasin Lord is wrong.
If he can stop Aela and the Inquisitors, he might be able to save the Academy, but the Draasin Lord has something else in mind for him.
Author’s Note
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading The Water Ruptures. I hope you enjoyed it. If you would be so kind as to take a moment to leave a review on Amazon or elsewhere, I would be very grateful.
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D.K. Holmberg
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Also by D.K. Holmberg
Elemental Academy
The Fire Within
The Earth Awakens
The Water Ruptures
The Wind Rages
The Cloud Warrior Saga
Chased by Fire
Bound by Fire
Changed by Fire
Fortress of Fire
Forged in Fire
Serpent of Fire
Servant of Fire
Born of Fire
Broken of Fire
Light of Fire
Cycle of Fire
The Endless War
Journey of Fire and Night
Darkness Rising
Endless Night
Summoner’s Bond
Seal of Light
The Elder Stones Saga
The Darkest Revenge
Shadows Within the Flame
Remnants of the Lost
The Coming Chaos
The Shadow Accords
Shadow Blessed
Shadow Cursed
Shadow Born
Shadow Lost
Shadow Cross
Shadow Found
The Collector Chronicles
Shadow Hunted
Shadow Games
Shadow Trapped
The Dark Ability
The Dark Ability
The Heartstone Blade
The Tower of Venass
Blood of the Watcher
The Shadowsteel Forge
The Guild Secret
Rise of the Elder
The Sighted Assassin
The Binders Game
The Forgotten
Assassin’s End
The Dragonwalker
Dragon Bones
Dragon Blessed
Dragon Rise
Dragon Bond
Dragon Storm
Dragon Rider
Dragon Sight
The Teralin Sword
Soldier Son
Soldier Sword
Soldier Sworn
Soldier Saved
Soldier Scarred
The Lost Prophecy
The Threat of Madness
The Warrior Mage
Tower of the Gods
Twist of the Fibers
The Lost City
The Last Conclave
The Gift of Madness
The Great Betrayal
The Book of Maladies
Wasting
Broken
Poisoned
Tormina
Comatose
Amnesia
Exsanguinated
The Water Ruptures Page 28
