Earthen Shadow

by Sara Harricharan

the request. “Done. Anything else?”

  “No sir, thank you for your time,” Terrance said.

  “You’re welcome,” I said. I picked up my own glass and took a sip, wincing at the jolt of sugar. I’d forgotten how troublesome energy drinks were, as Ellis was the one who tended to guzzle them down.

  Sugar was never a good addition to my precognitive talent. Reflective surfaces and mirrors answered to me, if I asked it of them and even when I didn’t. It was a strange combination of futuresight and a few other nameless talents.

  It was why the drinking glasses were frosted with a flat finish, and any visible reflective surfaces had been either covered or painted over. I made sure not to look at the tablet screen for too long and reached over to flip the cover shut to keep from reading into things.

  I wasn’t quick enough though and for a split second, I saw his reflection on the dimmed screen. The resulting headache made me wince as images flashed through my head in rapid succession. I saw a brief confrontation between Ellis and Terrance, an impression of what had happened months ago.

  “You should talk to him, you know,” I said, before I could check the words. Years of practice evaporated within seconds of a very vivid flashback, no matter how tightly I held onto to my mental control. It was proof that my gift worked, whether I wanted it to or not.

  As much as I wished to take the words back, the expression on Terrance’s face, worried me. There was a perfectly bland mask of indifference present.

  “Ellis? There’s nothing to say.” Terrance lifted his chin, slightly.

  I set my drink down. “You know his temperament is different from any other master elemental-”

  “I know, sir, believe me, I know. He was a good sponsor, the best I could have hoped for, but those days are over now.” He set his glass down, untouched. “Thank you for your help. I’m terribly sorry to have bothered you at such a late hour.”

  “Sit down and finish your drink,” I snapped. “There’s a pain reliever in there.” I’d slipped it in before I’d handed it over and now, I ignored his surprised look. Sometimes he was almost as easy to read as Ellis, Urukou heritage aside.

  “Thank you,” he muttered, quieter this time.

  “Don’t mention it. There’s likely to be a queue in the Medbay at this hour anyway.”

  Terrance smirked. “Because of Master Dugene’s defense training, right?” He gulped down his drink, a happier gleam in his eyes. He hadn’t taken the course yet, but he was slated to enroll within the next few weeks.

  Master Dugene, while respected for his unorthodox training methods and the results that it produced, was a difficult teacher and taskmaster rolled into one. Most students found themselves lined up in Medbay to be healed for a variety of mishaps. Interestingly enough, Dugene himself, had never lost a single student. He took their safety seriously.

  The almost smile on Terrance’s face eased the headache from his accidental reading. I preferred not to read anything for those around me, unless absolutely necessary. There were too many variables to deal with most times and nothing good came from meddling in what was already decided.

  My left pocket warmed and I felt the pulse of a silver healing ingot, hidden from view Terrance’s cuts and bruises were visible enough, so I could guess that they would heal quickly and without issue,.

  But if Ellis ran into him before he made it to the Healers, then this entire meeting would have been pointless. My apprentice was never as dense as he appeared. It would be too easy to make the connections between Terrance’s presence and his injuries. Their last encounter ended badly when Ellis forcibly pulling him out of another fight. The show of strength and temper that he’d displayed resulted in Terrance keeping his distance—and his silence—ever since.

  No matter what I’d tried, Ellis refused to admit that he’d been out of line and Terrance steadfastly insisted that nothing had happened. They’d been the picture perfect sponsor and mentored student, but I was privy to the awkward reality.

  Ellis personally disliked fighting, but he took on Terrance, an Urukou, one of the six fighting races in the Juhl galaxy—and he’d trained with him every day. Terrance was an expert in three specific martial arts styles, two of them lethal and one not. He’d sworn to Ellis, with myself as witness, that he would not use them without severe provocation and only in self-defense in accordance with his sworn Twilight Oath.

  The record of the fight that caused the rift in their friendship was sealed and locked by request of Terrance’s father, an Urukou General and the others involved refused to speak of it. Both young men carried on as if nothing had changed and to everyone else, they appeared perfectly fine, even though I knew they weren’t.

  There were few things that roused Ellis’ temper, but broken promises and lies were two of the worst triggers, along with the inability to ignore any sort of gross injustice. For all of his earth element’s unbridled strength and unwavering constancy, he’d been very short-tempered as of late.

  It worried me because I knew something was bothering him, he’d only speak of it when he was ready. Pushing him rarely produced useful results and I doubted that now would be any different.

  The ingot warmed to a nearly burning sensation as I retrieved it from one pocket and approached Terrance. I kept my movements slow and the ingot in plain sight, so he had plenty of time to understand my intention. I’d healed him this way, once before, but he’d been uneasy the entire time and in the end the healing had exhausted us both. I was not looking forward to spending the rest of the evening with a pounding headache and jittery energy, so I made sure to look him in the eye. “Don’t fight it,” I warned.

  His good eye closed in answer and he tensed for the first touch of the healing stone. It only took a few minutes to touch it to the cuts and bruises along his face, as well as the injured eye. Each newly healed injury caused his tense shoulders to lower by a fraction.

  “Thank you,” he muttered, again.

  “Consider it necessary,” I said. “Ellis would only have to take one look at you know everything he needs to know.”

  Terrance yawned as I moved away, the ingot returned to my pocket. “I’m not trying to hide this from him,” he reminded. “I know he’ll find out sooner or later. I’d just rather it was much later.”

  “Because he doesn’t lose his temper over unchangeable things in the past, yes?” I sighed.

  A slow-building temper was a documented trait for earth elementals, but I had nothing to compare it to. Ellis was the only earth elemental present for our quadrant on Amerinth. Earth elementals tended to be notoriously territorial and fiercely protective of those around them, traits that I’d never seen him display.

  “I guess.”

  “Is there anything else you need help with?”

  Terrance paused in his careful inspection of his face. “You’ve done more than enough. I couldn’t possibly have-”

  “You’re between ranks without an assigned sponsor or counselor,” I said, calmly. “I know how tricky that can be.” Moving back to the counter, I tore off a slip of paper from the magnetic board tacked to the wall. Scribbling quickly across the colored square, I signed my name with a flourish and folded it in half. “Here. This might come in handy.”

  “What is it?” Terrance stood up and circled around the table. He unfolded the paper to try and decipher my handwriting.

  “A blanket waiver for admission to any required class for your Shirron standards.” I picked up the package from the counter and retrieved my tablet from the table. “Use it if you need to and destroy it after you’ve graduated, if you didn’t. There are more contenders for the Shirron rank this season than usual, so if it helps you complete your standards in time, use it.”

  Terrance clicked his heels together and offered a formal bow, his eyes never leaving my face. “Thank you for your consideration, Master Kalen.”

  I smirked. “Take care of yourself and keep out of trouble?”

  “I try, sir.�
� He said, straightening.

  “Try harder. You don’t have to fix every problem you stumble across.”

  The listed reasons for any official altercation between him and any other Twilight could be summed up as bullying—or discrimination, whichever term the disciplinary officer on duty happened to be more comfortable with. I’d tracked his supervised matches and picked up on the one detail that Ellis hadn’t—yet. It would be a mess when Ellis discovered the real reason behind the sudden fights, but I hoped it would be solved by then, even if there was little I could do to help. Terrance fought the kind of war that only he could fight.

  Silently, I wished him well. If someone could change the discontent in the lower ranks, it would have to be someone who wasn’t afraid to meddle in affairs that were not their own. Terrance fit that bill perfectly.

  He smiled crookedly. “It doesn’t hurt to try, sir.”

  “Try not to—try—with your fists, eh?”

  “Understood.”

  I walked him to the front door and it slid open to reveal Ellis with his hand poised to swipe his keycard. I barely held back the wince at the mirrored expressions on their faces. Shock, surprise and muted embarrassment were clearly visible on both sides.

  Ellis recovered first, his light brown gaze turned a few shades closer to gold and he stood up to his full height—even though it barely reached Terrance’s shoulders. “Terrance, what are you doing here?”