by Jess Bowen
“You mean the Ethan and Phoebe? The Masters of Earth and Water? I mean, we knew you were coming today, but we missed the arrival. I never would have thought you would have turned up in our room!” The second boy, Jared, had still not said anything.
Phoebe seemed to find her voice again. “Well, that’s what everyone keeps telling us, but really, we’re nothing special.”
Evan laughed. “Are you kidding me? Nothing special? I’m thinking about asking for an autograph right now! Two Masters, right in our room. One of them our roommate! I haven’t even seen Dorian up close! Wow.”
Phoebe blushed again, and Ethan felt highly uncomfortable. Jared took his turn to shake each of their hands. He shook hands with Phoebe first and then turned to Ethan.
“You two are very powerful,” he said.
He and Evan settled down into chairs in the sitting room. Evan sat on the couch situated next to Phoebe’s chair, and Jared sat in the one next to Ethan.
“How do you know?” he asked.
“That’s his talent,” Evan explained. He was clearly more outgoing than his twin. “He’s a Sensor; he can tell what someone’s talents and level are by touch. He’s also part of the First Order of the Earth Element.”
“Does that mean you know what our talents are?” Phoebe asked Jared.
Good question. “Normally I would be able to, yes, but the two of you have so many that I can’t tell specifically. I can only tell you that you have a lot of power.” He sounded intimidated.
That was slightly disappointing. “What are your powers?” Ethan asked. Evan was smiling happily, clearly nonchalant about the newcomers’ presence, like they were just other normal people in the room.
“I am in the First Order of the Water Element, and am also going to be training with the elves. I’m hoping that Jared here will join me. It might be something we can actually have in common. Aside from being twins, we don’t really have much else to share over tea and biscuits,” Evan said, laughing. Apparently he was also the more good natured of the two.
“First Order?” Phoebe asked.
Evan looked confused as to why she didn’t know what he was talking about, but explained anyway. “There are three levels to Elemental powers. First Order is strongest. We have the most control and strength of power. Second Order is a little less powerful, and Third Order is last. Each Element has all three levels. The Order you get placed in is chance, but it does seem to help to have parents who are in First and Second Order. Not that there is anything wrong with Third, of course.”
“So, we’ll be in First Order?” Ethan asked. If they were supposed to have some great power, it would only make sense.
Jared spoke up this time. “Probably, although you two will be higher up than any of us. As Masters, your powers are much stronger.”
“Yeah, like five times stronger. You’re going to put all of us to shame!” Evan said as he jokingly grimaced in horror. Phoebe chuckled.
“How long have you been here training, then?” Ethan asked.
“Oh, we haven’t started training yet. That starts three days from now. We traveled here from another safe place last season so we could start our training on time,” Jared said, finally looking as though he was loosening up.
“You mean there’s more than one safe place?” Phoebe asked.
Ethan wondered why she didn’t know that. Hadn’t he asked Dorian that earlier? Perhaps that had been when the noise had started in her head.
“Yeah, there are five. The Haven, however, is the safest because Cassius is here to protect it. The Annexus and the Pool of Companions are here, and that makes it the most important place to keep safe. Cassius is the most powerful of the Guardians,” Evan explained.
“Why come so early if you don’t start training for a few more days?” Ethan asked.
“Well, it’s never that safe to travel across long distances, but it’s the most dangerous during the Season of Fire; that’s when Esmeralda is the most powerful. We came early so we didn’t have to travel then,” Jared continued.
“What is the Pool of Companions?” Phoebe asked.
“Didn’t your parents explain any of this to you?” Evan asked in disbelief.
“No, they thought it was best to leave us in the dark,” Ethan said bitterly.
He tried not to be angry with them. They had done a good thing, but it was still irritating. At least now he seemed to be getting somewhere, and he found that comforting.
Evan held up his arm to show the mark on his arm that looked like a bear. He rubbed his hand over it, and the mark turned blue while what looked like a tiny, white bear crawled out of his arm. As it emerged, it grew larger and larger until Ethan realized that it was a polar bear cub. The cub squealed with delight at being released and nuzzled its owner.
“This is my companion. His name is Bree. We only just received our companions a little while after we arrived, which is why he’s still a cub. The pool that you walk by in the second entrance hall is the Pool of Companions. It’s where every person receives their companion.”
The bear had been sniffing at Phoebe’s hands and crawled into her lap. She looked slightly taken aback, but when the bear nuzzled her hand, she relented and patted his head a few times.
6. Unexpected
“He’s adorable,” Phoebe said, still looking apprehensive, as though afraid that the animal would snap at her.
“He won’t hurt you,” Evan said when he noticed Phoebe’s reluctance to make too much contact with the cub. “He’s tame. Well, when I tell him to be.”
Ethan was amazed by this animal. He had never seen a bear up close, and this one was as tame as a kitten! And it had crawled right out of Evan’s arm! That had been creepy-looking to be sure, but amazing at the same time. Phoebe looked confused by the “tame when I tell him to be” statement.
“Each companion is tied to its Master; although they have magic of their own, they can only use it when instructed to. For example, they have power over the Element that they are born to. Bree is a Water bear. He’s still young now, though, and it’s hard to tell how much power he actually has. Companions also innately have the ability to be incredibly small or incredibly large,” Jared explained.
“This is all so confusing,” Phoebe said. Her eyes saddened, and her brow knitted in confusion and frustration.
“You’ll get used to it,” Evan said, grinning at her and taking the bear from her lap.
Jared raised his hand to his own companion mark, and Ethan watched in awe as another tiny animal crawled out of his arm and grew to the size of a small cat. It was a Bengal tiger.
“This is Sadie. She’s my companion, and she’s a Fire tiger,” Jared said as the tiger bounded off across the room, chasing a butterfly that had flown in through the open window.
“Amazing,” Ethan breathed, watching the two animals.
Meanwhile, Bree had climbed back onto Phoebe’s lap and was rubbing his nose into her cheek. Phoebe laughed, and it appeared she had finally overcome her fear of him. Just then, six small figures burst into the room. Three were rather rotund with long noses, red hair, and wearing pointy hats, green shirts, and pants. Each bore a tray of food. Three others each carried a stack of clothing. This second group was slimmer and a bit taller than the others with long, full beards but no hair on their heads. They wore blue shirts and black pants and waddled slightly as they walked, rather like penguins. They set a stack of clothing and a plate of food on each bed and then bowed themselves out of the room.
“I suppose it’s dinner time,” Evan said to no one in particular. Turning to Phoebe, he said, “You should probably get back to your room before the food gets cold.”
“Oh, right,” Phoebe replied, handing the cub back to Evan and rising to leave. Turning back at the door, she said, “By the way, thanks for everything you told us. I hope we can all be friends.”
“Sure thing. I’m glad we could help,” Evan said, and then as she was turning the door knob, he added, “Do you want to go to the cel
ebration with us tomorrow? I think Bree would like you to join us.”
Indeed, Bree had escaped from Evan’s arms once again and was trying to climb up Phoebe’s leg. She knelt down and played with the cub for a moment before answering.
“Yeah, all right,” she said. “Thanks.” She picked the cub up again and handed him back to Evan. Then she smiled and stepped out the door and across the hall to her room. After she crossed the hall, Ethan could see two other girls in her room. They introduced themselves to Phoebe as she closed the door.
The twins hastened over to their beds to grab their bowls of food. Ethan’s mind was still spinning as he walked over to his own bed and looked down at his bowl. What was inside didn’t look bad, but it didn’t necessarily look good either. It looked like watered down porridge.
“What is this?” he asked, unsure if it was actually edible, however Evan and Jared seemed to be enjoying it.
“Whatever you want it to be,” Evan said between mouthfuls.
Ethan looked down at his bowl doubtfully. It hadn’t changed. It still looked gray, lumpy, and unappetizing.
“It’s part of the gnomes’ magic,” Jared explained. “It tastes like whatever you want it to. You just have to think about what you want it to taste like. And you can change it whenever you want. It’s called glume. They serve it because it conserves our food resources and because it’s an accurate way to make sure everyone gets proper nutrition. You know, vitamins, minerals, proteins, that kind of thing. Because no matter what you make it taste like, it still has all the healthy stuff inside.”
That sounded interesting. Ethan took a moment and thought of how much he would like to have some of his mother’s spaghetti and meatballs. Looking down at his bowl he brought the spoon to his mouth. He paused for a moment. It seemed a bit farfetched, but so did everything else here. Besides, if it wasn’t any good, he didn’t have to eat any more. Ethan put the spoon in his mouth and was pleasantly surprised to find that it had the exact taste, texture, and temperature of spaghetti and meatballs. He hadn’t even realized that he was hungry until this very moment, and he greedily jammed another spoonful into his mouth.
After a few minutes, he decided to put this crazy food to the test. Ethan thought about salad—a completely different texture, taste, and temperature. The next bite was perfect. It tasted like the salad had come straight from a garden. Amazing, he thought. As he continued eating, he noticed Bree and Sadi running laps around the room.
“Not to be a nudge or anything, but shouldn’t you feed them?” Ethan asked Evan and Jared, motioning to the two small animals.
Evan laughed and choked on his food. He coughed a few times and when he had recovered he explained his amusement. “Well, we could. They don’t often eat anything, although they can.”
Jared’s face contorted in disgust, and he shook his head sadly.
Ethan was confused.
Jared spoke up, apparently better at the explaining part. “What he means is although they can eat separately if they want to, it’s not really necessary, unless we were starving or something. When we eat, they eat. Well, not technically, but when we’re done eating they’ll feel as if they have just eaten as well. It’s part of the connection.”
Oh. It was weird, but Ethan could see how that would save time and food.
The rest of the evening passed quickly. Ethan listened to Evan and Jared talk about all kinds of things he didn’t understand while he asked questions here and there. As they talked, he mostly thought over everything that had happened and been said that day.
Ethan finally had some answers, which was nice, however intimidating those answers may be. Being a Master of an Element now sounded like a big deal. He still wasn’t quite sure what power to expect, but apparently he should be expecting something. He already missed his parents and his friends. James, Mark, and Kyle had been his best friends since second grade. They did practically everything together. Ethan was pretty sure that he could comfortably call Evan and Jared friends, but it didn’t replace the ones he already had.
He had no idea what his parents planned to tell his friends when they came by tonight to pick him up for the bonfire. Maybe they would tell them he’d suddenly decided to join the military or got kidnapped by the Russian mob. Ethan was sure that whatever they said was going to sound a bit crazy, but there was nothing anyone could do about it. He was here now, and that didn’t seem to be changing any time soon.
Ethan had a full work schedule at a local restaurant for the next week. He was sure they could get someone to cover the shifts, but that wasn’t exactly the point. He loved that job. Sure he was only a bus boy, but he had a lot of fun there, and he loved to talk to all the different people that came and went. So many people had fascinating stories if someone would just sit down and listen long enough.
Then there was school, Dartmouth. His parents had pushed him hard enough to keep his grades high, and he had managed to get into an Ivy League school. All for nothing. They had known too; they had known that he would never actually be going, and that made him angry. Why go to all the trouble if it wasn’t going to benefit him in the end? Perhaps he was being a little whiney. Ethan was glad Phoebe couldn’t read his mind now; she probably would have slapped him upside the head, and he considered that he would have deserved it.
Evan and Jared were discussing training when something Ethan heard caught his attention.
“How many people do you think are in First Order?” Evan asked.
“Probably not many. Maybe ten or fifteen. I heard someone say the number keeps going down every year. After all, we’re the only two from our safe place. Although, I don’t think it’s been affecting the talents since those are pretty much random chance there,” Jared replied.
“Obviously, since everyone else in the family has one except for mom and me,” Evan replied sourly.
Ethan broke in at that. “Wait, what’s the difference between the First Order stuff and talents? I thought they were the same thing.”
Jared explained. “First, Second, and Third Order only classifies us by our Elemental powers. Talents are separate from that. They’re like extra powers and not connected at all to Elemental powers. Talents don’t necessarily gift themselves upon people with more power, either. Evan doesn’t have a talent.” Evan scowled. “But someone in Third Order could have a really strong talent like Transfiguration or Strength or Speed. And a lot of people can have the same talent, although the strength of it is usually different from person to person. Take Speed—if two people have it, maybe one could only run five miles an hour faster than normal human speed and another could run sixty miles an hour faster.”
“So, what do Elemental powers do, then?” Ethan asked. He had thought Elemental powers related to what Phoebe had said she could do.
“Conjure the Elements, you know, like storms, fireballs, earthquakes. Of course, those are examples of First Order strength. I’m not sure how strong Second and Third Orders are,” Evan explained this time.
He was apparently not happy about the fact that he didn’t have a talent, but at the thought of what his Elemental powers could do he seemed to cheer up. Earthquakes, huh? Definitely sounded like fun. Ethan wondered if he could actually do anything yet. Did it require some kind of exercise to make these powers work? He didn’t think so. After all, Phoebe had been using her talent forever it sounded like. Not to mention that shield she had thrown up. She hadn’t even noticed it. A knock on the door pulled Ethan from his thoughts.
Jared jumped up to answer it. Phoebe was back, and she had brought her two roommates with her. She smiled shyly.
“Hey, guys, I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if we came over. We’re dead bored,” she explained.
Bree turned mid-lap and raced to Phoebe to jump into her arms. Phoebe was surprised for a minute before scratching the bear’s ears.
“Wow, how rude! We haven’t even introduced ourselves to the trainees across the hall! Jared, how could you?” Evan said dramatically.
Ja
red pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. Everyone else snickered.
“Not at all, come in!” Jared said, holding the door open. Phoebe stepped in, and two girls followed behind her. Jared introduced everyone. “I’m Jared Ward, that’s Evan, and Ethan, of course. I’m sure you already know who he is.”
A small girl with bright red hair and green eyes peered around as Jared spoke. Her eyes landed on Ethan last, and he noticed that her almond-shaped eyes were the exact color of emeralds. Long red hair fell in waves down her back, and her skin was pale. The combination of red hair and green eyes was usually accompanied by a legion of freckles; however, Ethan couldn’t see one. She had a heart-shaped face and a small nose. Her eyes were alight with interest, but her demeanor was calm and composed.
“Yes, we do know. We saw you arrive. My name is Lucy Kendall. It’s nice to meet you.” Her voice was soft and melodic.
She smiled. Ethan couldn’t help but smile in response as he stood up to greet her. “It’s nice to meet you, Lucy.”
He shook her hand lightly. A shock shot through him and filled him with warmth as his hand connected with hers, even though her skin felt cold. The irritation that had filled him since his arrival vanished.
She was not nearly as small as his mother—she was five-foot-four easy—but she seemed almost as delicate. Then, feeling it would be rude if he didn’t, Ethan turned to the other girl who had entered the room. She was the tallest of the three girls, maybe only two inches shorter than Evan and Jared.
She had shorter, sandy blond hair that fell in soft curls to her shoulders. Dark, almost black, eyes stood out in contrast to her hair. The color of her eyes was slightly frightening, but she looked pleasant enough other than that. Her arms and legs were not gangly looking, despite her height; her figure was streamlined and perfectly symmetrical. She looked confident but very friendly.
“Hello, I’m Cynthia Holt,” she said as she shook Ethan’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you,” he replied. Her skin was blistering hot, and her grip was firm but sure.
