by Kay L Moody
The more she practiced, the easier simultaneous shaping got. She would have liked another week to practice, or truthfully, another year, but two days was all she had.
The next day, she skipped her shaping lessons altogether and kept practicing in the library. There weren’t any lessons left to learn anyway. At this point, everyone was just preparing for the competition. It was much easier to practice simultaneous shaping without the other students gaping at her.
Aaden hadn’t returned to the library. Or maybe he had, but she’d been too busy to notice. She tried not to think of it too much because it made her as nervous as the thought of seeing Emperor Flarius.
By the end of that day, she had started simultaneously shaping fire and water. Nothing inside her body yet. Her latest exercise involved bouncing balls of water through the air while fire arrows would shoot straight through them. It would have been enough to beat any other student besides Aaden. Against him, it would still be a tie.
When the exercise became too easy, she shaped the water back into its container and let the fire die around her.
One more day.
She just had one more day to practice. The day after that would be the competition. She always intended to rest the day before the competition, but she knew now that wasn’t an option. She hadn’t even shaped ice yet, let alone decided what to make with it.
Even as she had that thought, the image of Emperor Flarius’s portrait came to her mind. Aaden’s idea to make fire sculptures of the cherry trees Emperor Flarius loved was brilliant. An idea like that might be worth copying.
She wouldn’t make trees. Her ice shaping would never be as detailed as Aaden’s, especially with only one day to practice. She needed to make something the emperor would recognize and love, but something that would be easier. Something flashy.
His crown.
The crown would be easy enough to replicate, but it would still be recognizable. It wouldn’t be gold or have red rubies, but the emperor would still understand even if it was made of ice.
Sitting the library chair, Talise closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath. It was close to evening now and the other students were all busy getting ready for bed. She had nothing left to distract her mind. The time had come for her to shape ice.
Fear roiled through her. Her brow glistened even though her fever had healed.
This was it.
She took in another deep breath and sent a fire burning through her veins. The heat felt nice at first, but it grew unpleasant after only a few minutes. During those minutes, she figured out how to localize the heat in specific parts of her body. The fire always began in her heart, but once it was started, she could move it to only burn inside the veins of her arms and hands.
Now the true test came. She shaped the water out of the bowl, so it levitated over one palm. She started with a small amount of water, no bigger than a coin.
The fire burned harder inside her, and she took a steadying breath to calm it. Based on Master Shaper Luca’s journal, she knew to note her heartbeat, her internal temperature, and her breathing. If any of these seemed off, she’d have to adjust her fire shaping to compensate.
Talise shaped the water into a square. Then she shaped it into a flower, and then a fish. She was stalling, but the shaping helped calm her nerves.
At last, she shaped the water into a simple ball. With her eyes narrowed to tiny slits, she internally shaped water around her fingers. The urge to hold her breath was strong, but she knew it would be best to keep breathing normally. She had to regulate her breath to know if frostbite or hypothermia were imminent.
Now.
She froze the water in her fingers and let the cold air rise so it could freeze the levitating water into ice. Again, she paid special attention to her vital life signs. Her heart kept beating at a steady tempo. Not too fast. Not too slow. Her breathing remained constant. The skin temperature in her hands was cold.
Feeling the fire in her veins, she sent it just a little closer to her hands. Too close and it would melt the ice in her fingers. Too far and she’d have frostbite.
She spent a few seconds getting it just right, but soon the truth became clear. This was going to work.
With less fear, she sent another wave of cold through her fingers, and the levitating ball of ice began to freeze. Ice crystals first formed at the bottom of the water ball, but soon they crept up the sides until the entire ball had frozen.
Someone gasped behind her.
She lost control of the ice shaping immediately, and the ball turned back to water. But it didn’t matter because it had worked. One more day would be plenty of time to learn how to shape an ice crown. The emperor would never forget her demonstration, and neither would anyone else.
Talise smiled as she turned around to face the person who had gasped behind her. She smiled because she recognized him the instant she heard his gasp. It was such beautiful symmetry that he gasped, just like she had when she snuck in to see him shape fire cherry blossoms.
When her eyes met Aaden’s, she saw true fear in them.
He said nothing.
They both knew what that ball of ice meant.
She was going to win.
FOURTEEN
ICE THROUGH THE FINGERS, FIRE IN THE veins.
Talise closed her eyes as she pushed the mantra through her mind, willing it to become reality within her. Shaping the water was easy, but freezing it still came with the threat of hypothermia. With only the previous day to practice, ice shaping required her utmost concentration.
Talise stared at the porcelain bowl of water sitting on the desk in front of her. Mrs. Dew stood at the front of the classroom, fiddling with a stack of papers. Talise knew she was watching her from the corner of her eye. Everyone was.
The competition was an hour away, which meant it was too late for anyone to change their demonstration. Now she could practice in front of them with no fear.
Ice and Fire.
She could do this.
With a sharp intake of breath, she shaped the water until it levitated out of the bowl. Holding her palm upward, she moved her fingers through the air as if twisting an invisible ball.
The puddle of floating water slowly started spinning. Round and around until air appeared in the center and it resembled a spinning donut. Her fingers twisted faster and soon the water shape went from donut to a thin circle of water just big enough to fit on the crown of a head.
She continued spinning the water, taking several deep breaths to prepare herself for what came next. Biting her lip, she let her fingers freeze both literally and figuratively. As the water stopped spinning, tiny ice crystals appeared around the bottom edge, freezing the water.
Talise stood her fingers straight up, willing the water to grow tines and slowly froze the tines as they grew. As the ice crown took shape, her heart thumped in her chest, reminding her of the cold.
Momentarily ignoring the crown, she breathed a fire through her veins until her heart stopped its complaining. When both the crown and the heat were just right, she used her fingers to levitate the crown through the air until it landed on her head.
After exactly five seconds, she levitated the crown off her head and dropped it back into the bowl. She melted the ice as it moved through the air, so it was nothing more than a puddle of water by the time it hit the porcelain.
A victorious smile spread on her lips as she stared back at the water. She had this competition in the bag.
“Elements in their containers please,” Mrs. Dew said. She clapped her hands together, pressing her lips into a thin line. “We leave for the palace in a few minutes. Remember, Emperor Flarius will only choose one of you as Master Shaper. Whoever is chosen will receive a permanent place at the palace with the other Master Shapers. But even more importantly, that person will receive great honor. A silver crescent moon will be stamped on the ID cards of the Master Shaper’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.”
In the seat to her left, she not
iced Aaden mockingly opening and closing his hand while mouthing blah blah blah. He rolled his eyes and whispered to whoever would listen, “She says this like it’s the first time we’ve heard it. As if this wasn’t what we’ve been preparing for all our lives at the academy.”
Talise pinned him with one of her most wicked glares, hoping he would squirm in his seat. The entire point of this competition was to win honor. If Aaden mocked his elder so openly, he had no business winning anything.
Unfortunately, her glare did nothing but make Aaden chuckle, and run a hand through his hair coolly. Despite his bravado, she noticed his hands shaking the tiniest bit. It made the corner of her lip cock up in a smile.
Seeing her confidence, Aaden scoffed. “You’re still afraid I’ll win. Maybe you can shape ice, but my fire sculptures are more detailed than anything the emperor has ever seen.”
He’d developed a cocky attitude since he caught her ice shaping in the library. His fire sculptures were exquisite. She’d never argue that, but she didn’t think he’d win now. Not even Emperor Flarius Ruemon himself could shape ice, and he was a talented shaper. Her ice crown would win everyone over.
Mrs. Dew announced the arrival of the boat that would take them across Ridgerock Lake right to the entrance of Ridgerock Palace. Talise hung back to take one last look at the classroom. She’d spent ten years on the academy grounds, and it seemed impossible it was finally time to say goodbye.
Her thoughts drifted to Marmie so suddenly, she almost grabbed the desk to steady herself. She had to shove away the thoughts of the funeral or else she’d turn into a sobbing mess. But she didn’t push away all thoughts of Marmie.
As she stood there looking at her empty classroom, Talise made a promise. I’ll find your grave someday, Talise thought. And I’ll leave the four most intricate marks any Master Shaper has ever left.
FIFTEEN
A STUFFY, HUMID HEAT HUNG IN THE air, reminding her of the riverboat she had taken to get to academy testing. She had forgotten boats felt like that. Except this time, there were wooden chairs nailed to the deck, so she wouldn’t have to stand the whole time. Wendy waved at her so they could sit together, but Claye took the seat just before Talise got there.
Wendy’s cheeks turned pink as she bit her bottom lip. “I forgot I told Claye we could sit together.”
Talise gave a simple smile and kept moving toward the back of the boat. Nothing could sour her mood now. Her nose wrinkled when she realized every seat on the boat had been taken.
All except one in the very back, right next to her least favorite person. Aaden didn’t bother to acknowledge her existence as the boat began to slip away from the shore.
“It seems wasteful to take a boat when the palace is so close, don’t you think?” Talise asked. Maybe she shouldn’t dislike him so much, especially now when she was going to win.
He seemed to have the opposite thought. Deliberately ignoring her, he held his palms out in front of him and narrowed his eyes until flames appeared above his hands. The flames quickly formed into trees, and the branches grew out of the burning trunk just like real branches.
It took Talise far too much concentration to not be mesmerized as the flame trees grew in Aaden’s palms. Soon, little blossoms popped out from the branches, perfectly mirroring the cherry blossoms that covered each of the trees surrounding the palace. They looked so much better up close.
Forgetting her anger, Talise leaned forward to get a closer look. Exquisite. This surpassed what she had seen before. He must have been practicing in secret like she had.
Without warning, a few branches grew out of control until one licked her face. “Hey,” she said, putting a hand to her cheek. “You burned me.”
The flame trees vanished, and Aaden turned to her with a sneer. “Then use your ice shaping to cool your skin.” He turned away from her without a trace of guilt.
Her jaw flexed as she clenched her teeth together. She had already pushed ice through her fingers and against her cheek, but what if he’d been sitting by anybody else? He should have been more careful. And besides, they weren’t supposed to practice on the boat anyway. Mrs. Dew had been telling them for weeks.
Just as Talise prepared to give him the lecture of the century, sharp footsteps brought her gaze to the aisle.
“Aaden,” Mrs. Dew said with no small amount of contempt. “Were you shaping on the boat?”
“No,” Aaden said, looking straight into Mrs. Dew’s eyes.
Talise let out a huff. “You compete for honor, yet you lie to your elder like it’s nothing? You don’t deserve to win, no matter how detailed your fire sculptures are.”
Aaden held his chin high wearing a face that declared she was lying, not him.
“Was he shaping, Talise?” Mrs. Dew asked her.
For a moment, her breath stilled. If he admitted to lying, he would be punished. But if he said nothing and she told the truth for him, his punishment would be much more severe. She stayed silent for a few breaths, giving him the chance to come clean. Still, he said nothing.
Clenching her jaw, she shot him with another glare. Today was too important to protect someone like Aaden. She needed to win the competition. Years spent living in the Storm had taught her how much one good mark could change a life. She needed to be chosen as Master Shaper.
“He was,” Talise said with her eyes to the ground.
“Aaden,” Mrs. Dew said through an exasperated breath. “I told you no one was allowed to practice on the boat, and you did it anyway?”
He said nothing as he stared back, never once breaking eye contact.
“Nothing?” Mrs. Dew said. “No explanation?” With a tiny shake of her head, she turned around. Over her shoulder she said, “Then, you are disqualified from the competition today.”
“What?” Aaden said in a whisper. When Mrs. Dew kept walking, he stood up and shouted the same question. “What?”
With no response still, Aaden shouted, “You can’t do that! I’ve been training all my life for this.”
“Aaden Sato,” Mrs. Dew said. “You will keep your thoughts to yourself until I decide what to do you with you.” She clapped her hands, then waved toward the boat exit. “Everyone file out in an orderly fashion.”
Talise’s jaw had dropped, which she only noticed when she realized she’d been holding her breath. Aaden Sato? Sato? The name distracted her more than the events that had just transpired. Was he really going to be disqualified? Aaden deserved punishment, but this?
Every ounce of sympathy drained out of her when Aaden gripped her by the shoulder. “You,” he said. He didn’t speak another word, but he didn’t have to. Another pair of flames burned out of him, this time not from his hands, but around his irises. As his eyes burned, they said one thing as they glared at her.
Revenge.
The fire in his eyes was meant to frighten her, but nothing terrified her more than his name. She gulped and jumped from her seat, eager to put as much distance between them as possible. They exited the boat, but not even the sight of Ridgerock Palace was enough to distract her.
The name Sato had been revered in the Crown for years. Aaden’s family was more respected than almost anyone. Every member of his family had a silver crescent moon on their ID cards.
All except one.
Now Talise could only wonder, was Aaden honorable like his grandfather? A shiver crawled up her spine. Or would he be more like his father?
* * * * *
FIND OUT WHAT happens next! Talise’s story continues in episode 2, Wind Crown. Check out that beautiful cover (you might have to turn the page to see it).
The title of Master Shaper isn’t given, it’s earned. Let the trials begin.
* * * * *
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