The Earth Awakens (Elemental Academy Book 2)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “The Inquisitors are very secretive about what they require of their trainees.”

  “You’re a spirit shaper. Does that mean you are an Inquisitor?”

  “We all serve spirit,” she said.

  She turned away, heading back to the front of the room, and Tolan studied her, realizing she hadn’t really answered his question. What did it mean that they served spirit? For all he knew, that meant nothing more than a denial that she was with the Inquisitors.

  He returned to his seat next to Jonas, watching as his friend continued to work on mixing his shapings. He focused primarily on wind, and Tolan could see how he would add other elements to it, occasionally trying to swirl in fire, but he had seen a combination of shapings before, and this wasn’t the way to combine the element bonds.

  And maybe Master Aela was right and it was only those with the most skill who were able to shape spirit by combining the elements.

  The class was a frustrating one for him, not least because it felt as if he could do nothing. He spent the entire time focusing on reaching earth, but there was no other response, nothing suggesting he was even close.

  When class was over, most of the first-year students shuffled out, and with a burst of shaped power, they descended back out of the tower itself. Tolan lingered, and because of that, Jonas did, too.

  “What are you trying to do?”

  “I’m trying to get her to talk to me.”

  “Master Aela? What more do you want her to say?”

  Tolan shook his head. “Not Master Aela, but Ferrah. I want her to at least acknowledge me.”

  He stood off in the corner of the room, watching and waiting, but Ferrah sat at her table, continuing to shape, trying to mix the elements together, and never once looking up at him. After a while, Master Aela made her way toward Ferrah, and she leaned over the table and they began to speak softly to each other.

  “How long do you intend to wait?”

  “I guess we can go,” Tolan said.

  “You don’t have to sound so excited about it.”

  “It’s just, I was hoping to come away from this with a few more answers than I have.”

  “What? You mean you don’t have any answers about shaping spirit after being asked to mix your elements together? I’m completely surprised, Tolan.”

  He chuckled, and they stepped to the platform. Tolan focused on fire, using his ability to imagine an elemental but focusing through the furios. It was a crutch, but the kind of crutch he still needed. Hopefully, there would come a time when he could get away from using it.

  When they landed on the ground, Tolan paused and studied the walls again. There was something here he didn’t quite grasp, tied to the runes worked into the walls themselves. Were they found in other towers, as well? He hadn’t noticed them before, but the other towers were different, with stairs sweeping around through them, giving access to the upper levels, nothing like the spirit tower designed to stand apart.

  And because it was designed to stand apart, maybe Master Aela was right about spirit. Could it be that it was the most important element?

  “Are you going to continue admiring the architecture?”

  “I…”

  He trailed off as they started out of the spirit tower, realizing Draln and several other first year students were there. He glanced over at Tolan, a wide smirk spreading across his face. “Ethar. I think you’re the kind of shaper I might need to hire when I am promoted through the Academy. You know, they do still make some who fail serve the others.”

  Jonas started forward, but Tolan grabbed him by the arm, pulling back. “It’s not worth it.”

  “Oh, look. Now we have two of them who think that with their weak shaping, they can impress us.”

  “I seem to remember seeing Tolan beat you at Imaginarium.”

  “It’s about the only thing Ethar can beat me with.”

  “Would you rather challenge him to a shaper’s duel?” Jonas asked.

  “Jonas!”

  Jonas glanced over. There was heat in his gaze, but Tolan wasn’t quite sure why. Usually Jonas could be brash and impulsive, but for some reason, he was letting Draln bait him far more than he usually did.

  The two of them had some history together when they were in their home city, though Jonas never really spoke of it. Tolan had some idea, though not enough to know just how much the two hated each other.

  “I don’t think Ethar would be interested in a shaper’s duel. And I doubt Ethar has enough skill to pose much of a challenge if he were willing.”

  The four students around Draln all chuckled, and Tolan resisted the urge to flush. Even here, where he had begun to show some skill, he felt something like an outsider. He knew he shouldn’t—he had passed the Selection the same as everyone else—but he couldn’t shake the fact he did feel somehow different.

  That was much the same way he had felt in Ephra. He had felt different there, too.

  “I don’t know what a shaper’s duel is, but I’m happy to oblige you, Draln,” he said.

  If it was the only way he would gain a certain measure of respect, shouldn’t he be willing to do it? And it wasn’t as if he feared Draln. He recognized the other man had skill, but he had limits to his knowledge. He would have to. And Tolan had squared off against one of the disciples of the Draasin Lord. If he could do that and survive, surely, he could face off against someone like Draln.

  “I’m sure your friend Golud can explain the intricacies of it. I’ll give you some time to practice, not that it’ll matter, and I’ll let you know when we’ll duel.”

  “Fine,” Tolan said.

  Draln turned away, grinning and laughing with the others. It made him dislike the man even more, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it other than figure out what was going to be required with this shaper’s duel, and what that meant for him.

  “What did you do?” Jonas asked.

  “You’re the one who wanted that me to do this,” Tolan said.

  “I didn’t want you to do that. I just thought we could scare him a little, maybe convince him you would be willing to do it.”

  “What is a shaper’s duel?”

  “It’s just like it sounds. Two shapers face off against each other, and the best shaper wins.”

  “I don’t see what the issue is then.”

  “Well, typically a shaper’s duel is to the death, though I doubt he’d intend that here. When we were in Velminth, he used duels as a way to abuse other shapers, not kill them.”

  “What?”

  “Right. That’s my point. You don’t need to be facing off to the death.”

  Tolan wouldn’t have agreed to anything had he known it was to the death, especially not with Draln. The other man was a more powerful shaper, and he had a connection to multiple elements, which gave him a significant advantage.

  “Come on. We can go train.”

  “I’m not going to do it,” Tolan said.

  “But you agreed.”

  “I might’ve agreed, but I agreed to something I didn’t have any idea what it meant. There’s no way he expects me to fight him to the death.”

  “I don’t know. This is Draln we’re talking about. He has weird ideas about things. Part of that comes from the fact he believes himself as powerful as the shapers of old, something I imagine his parents helped instill in him, but part of that is the fact he actually is a skilled shaper.”

  As they made their way down the Hall, Tolan glanced back and caught a glimpse of Ferrah. Had she been listening? Before he had a chance to find out, she hurried off down one of the side halls, away from the students’ quarters, and disappeared.

  He wanted to know what she was up to but doubted she would let him.

  And he had other things to think about. If he was expected to face Draln in a shaper’s duel, he needed to prepare, even if he didn’t intend to really face him.

  But if he did, would he be able to use his connection to the elementals? It might be too risky to do so
, but if he didn’t, he couldn’t help but fear Draln might use it as an excuse to hurt him.

  9

  For whatever reason, each time Tolan came to the park to practice shaping, he felt as if he improved, almost as if the park had a calming effect on him, enhancing his ability. He was able to shape more effectively, at least when it came to fire. He still hadn’t managed to reach any of the other elements, though there seemed to be some part of him that thought he got closer to reaching earth.

  It was time for him to return. How long had he been sitting here, practicing all by himself? Possibly hours.

  Crawling over the wall, he looked around but saw no signs of movement. He hurried back, taking a different path than he had out here, knowing now how to find his way easily. He didn’t want to leave any sort of trampled path for others to follow.

  A strange sound caught his attention, and he paused.

  Whenever he came out here, he remained nervous he might encounter one of the disciples of the Draasin Lord, but other than the first time he’d come here, he had come across nothing suggesting the disciples were out in the forest.

  This time, he came across movement.

  Only there was something familiar about it.

  He trailed after it, using his connection to earth sensing, and realized it was Ferrah he tracked.

  He followed her until he reached the edge of the city. Stepping out of the forest, he stopped to admire the trees. They were much larger than those near his home in Ephra and they climbed toward the sky, making almost a perfect separation between the forest and the city. Many of the trunks took him a dozen paces to make his way around, but they stopped abruptly, as if the city prevented them coming any closer, and if there were secrets hiding in the depth of the forest that defined its edges.

  Tolan crept back to the city, still trailing after Ferrah.

  He stayed near one of the outer buildings. These were run down, not nearly as nice as some of the buildings deeper within the city, and some were abandoned, the stone having crumbled and the entire thing falling into disrepair.

  Tolan remained hidden against the edge of the building, trying to stay concealed in shadows but not thinking he did that great a job. He wouldn’t be surprised if Ferrah realized he was here, but so far, she hadn’t turned to him.

  He needed to talk with her. He needed to apologize. She had continued to avoid him, staying out of their room until late at night, and Tolan had had enough of it. He was determined to reconnect with his friend, to force her to at least acknowledge him and give him a chance to apologize.

  More than that, he wanted to show her the park he’d discovered and see if there might be anything she could help him understand about it. He’d only been there a few times, but each time he went, he felt convinced he was getting closer to understanding its purpose.

  She spun suddenly toward him. Wind swirled around and whipped at his cloak. He tried to pull it closer around him but wasn’t quick enough.

  “You can stop following me at any time.” Her voice carried on a shaping of wind.

  The control she had over it impressed him. She was able to focus the wind in such a way that it amplified her voice, or maybe that wasn’t it at all. Maybe she sent it on a whisper of wind, carrying it to his ears only.

  Tolan stepped forward, out of the shadows of the crumbling building, and jogged toward her. At first, it looked as if she intended to bolt, but she stayed frozen in place, watching him. A mixture of emotions flickered across her eyes as he neared, that of irritation and anger, but maybe there was some relief? Tolan hoped for the last.

  “I wouldn’t have to follow you if you wouldn’t avoid me.”

  “I’m not avoiding you.”

  She started to turn, and Tolan ran to get in front of her. “You’ve been staying out of the room, and you’ve been avoiding the library.”

  “I haven’t been—”

  “I know you’ve been avoiding the library. I asked both Master Jensen and Master Minden. Neither of them has seen you in the library nearly as much as before.” The only times Tolan had seen her had been in their classes, and even those had been fleeting, with her sitting toward the front of the class, alongside other students and not saving room for him or Jonas as she normally would. When class was over, she always hurried out, racing ahead of them.

  “I have a right to be angry, Tolan. Besides, I’m not the only who’s been avoiding things. You’ve been gone too.”

  Now wasn’t the time to tell her about the park—not when she was this angry. “I’m not saying you don’t have that right. I’m just saying… I’m trying to say sorry.”

  She frowned as she stared at him and finally shook her head. “I need more than an apology. With what happened to me, I deserved to know.”

  He nodded. She did deserve to know, and he should have shared it with her. He shouldn’t have kept from her the fact a spirit shaping had been used on her, hiding her memories.

  “You deserve more than an apology. You deserve an explanation.”

  “I don’t need an explanation. I know exactly why you did it.”

  “You don’t know exactly why I did it,” Tolan said. He looked around, and was thankful they were still outside the city, at the edge of the forest. At least here, there wasn’t anyone around to overhear him as he talked to her. “When you see my shaping, what is it you notice?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that when you see me performing a shaping, what do you observe?”

  “I see a shaping, Tolan.”

  “My shaping is different.”

  “You said that before, and I’m not sure it really is. It might be different in the fact you are coming to it later than the rest of us, but that doesn’t mean your shaping is any less impressive.”

  He smiled. “That’s almost a compliment.”

  “It is a compliment, you dolt.” She pushed on him with the shaping of wind, and even with something as simple as that, Tolan was made aware of the difference between the two of them. While he could shape—or whatever it was he did—it didn’t happen quickly, not like hers.

  “When I shape, I’ve told you how I use the image of elementals.”

  “You said that,” she said.

  He took a deep breath. She needed to know this. “There are times when it seems the elementals actually appear. It’s like when we were facing the disciples of the Draasin Lord. There was a sense, to me at least, that I had used an elemental for power.”

  “I didn’t see an elemental. All I saw was a potent shaping.”

  “You saw fire?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “And with that fire shaping, did you see anything within it?” He glanced around. He had a sense there was movement near him, but maybe it was only his imagination.

  “There wasn’t anything within the flames, if that’s what you were asking.”

  Could she not have seen it? He was quite certain there had been a fire elemental within the flames, but maybe it had been only his imagination. Could it be that he had been so focused on performing the shaping, visualizing the power of the elemental, that he had believed he had formed one?

  “What about the earth elemental?” he asked.

  That one, he knew he hadn’t imagined. Master Sartan had been needed to tamp it down, suppressing it.

  “The disciples freed the earth elemental, Tolan. They were trying to destroy the Shapers Path. They freed the elemental in order to do so.”

  “That was me.”

  “You freed an earth elemental?” She started laughing, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, Tolan, but you aren’t a skilled enough shaper to do that. I don’t mean that in a way to hurt your feelings, but if you had that kind of potential, you wouldn’t struggle to reach your shapings.”

  “It was the first time I ever freed earth,” he said.

  “What if you only believe you did it? What if they were the ones who freed the earth elemental, and what if they were using a spirit shaping on you t
o convince you otherwise?”

  “Listen to what you’re saying. For them to have done that would be far more steps than what should have been possible while attacking us. I just don’t see how that was possible.”

  “We didn’t pose any real threat to them. It wouldn’t have taken many steps for them to have shaped you in a way to convince you that you were the one responsible for freeing the earth elemental. I’d love it if you had that power, Tolan, but it’s just not you.”

  “There was another time, but…” As he said it, he realized she wouldn’t remember. And maybe that was why she didn’t believe him. “When we were at the place of Convergence, I used the furios and managed to summon an enormous fire elemental. It helped hold Jory off for a while, but even then, he was able to dismiss it.”

  “How certain are you it was a fire elemental?”

  “Pretty sure. He also tried summoning a draasin and had the Grand Master and Master Irina not appeared, he would have succeeded.”

  She stared at him. “You’re not making this any easier.”

  “Making what any easier?”

  “Making it any easier for me to get over being angry with you. With everything you’ve been through, all these things you’ve seen, I can’t help but feel as if I’ve missed out on them. And it was only a short period of time, but it was an incredibly important time that I’m now missing.”

  “It’s not missing the time that’s upsetting you. It’s not seeing the Convergence, isn’t it?”

  She sighed. “You can’t understand how long I’ve looked.”

  “I know how hard you’ve researched since you came to the Academy.”

  “I’ve been researching information about Par,” she said.

  “I know you have,” he said. “And I should have known how much it meant to you to find that out.” It wasn’t something he had even considered, and now he realized why she was so angry, he thought he had a better sense of what he could do to make up for it. “How about the two of us go and break into the Convergence?”

  Would that be any better use of his time than trying to understand what he’d discovered in the park? To Ferrah, it would be, which was why he needed to help her.