“The Council is holding a meeting, and they want Anya there.” Kaii claimed as he walked into Phaeora’s study the next day. Alec and I had been telling her the events that happened last night.
“Why do they want me there?” I asked, slightly panicked. My voice was still raspy. Since last night, it had come back but it was still painful to talk. The concoctions that the medic had given me from the first attack had helped, again she mentioned how I was recovering abnormally fast, but I should still try not to talk too much.
“Calm down, I’m sure they just want an introduction. They have not met you and you have not met them.” Phaeora assured me. She looked at Kaii. “When is the meeting?”
“An hour before dinner.” He replied.
“I will accompany Anya, they shouldn’t have any objections.” Phaeora said.
“I’m coming too.” This from Alec. Phaeora seemed ready to argue that point but Alec didn’t give her a chance. “We have our suspicions on Anya’s attackers but we need to know what they know. They might have some information.”254Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5KEehNHdR
“But they don’t know anyone has attacked me.” It seemed like I was stating the obvious, the only people I had told about any attacks were in this room.
“They know.” He replied.
I looked at Phaeora for reassurance and she nodded her head.
“They have a…flair for retrieving knowledge. Most likely they already looked into information about your attackers from the first assault.”
“That’s –”
“A pain.” Alec interrupted and he met my eyes with a wry crooked smile. “Sometimes.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“When students like Alec and yourself try and take part in some less than unsavoury activities if I do say so myself, it doesn’t help that the Council tends to know what they are doing before they have even planned it.” Kaii answered.
“They’re all just uptight and will never understand the meaning of humour.” Alec said.
Trying to picture Alec, as a trouble-making student was impossible. Envisioning the look on his face when the Council caught him did however bring a smile to my face.
“Anyway back to business everyone. Anya you can continue your lessons for today with Kaii. We will meet back here before the meeting and go together. Kaii I will send Terra to join you later, I had originally planned to take over today alongside her however that will have to come at another time.” Phaeora said.
With a swift jerk of his head Kaii agreed and walked out of the study beckoning me to his side. Alec trailed behind us. Ever since the second attack in my room he’d taken it upon himself to become my shadow again. Our relationship seemed to be going backwards instead of moving forward. Back in Kaii’s study we worked on my telekinesis more, it was getting easier to release blasts of telekinetic energy and lifting the massive table in his study didn’t seem as hard as before. It also didn’t seem nearly as heavy as the first time; I got it off the ground about two inches this time. Alec watched passively in the corner of the room contributing nothing.
“You’re improving rapidly, that’s a very good sign. I’d like to test your ability with the elements.”
He brought a candle to the table and set it down unlit before looking at me.
“Fire isn’t too hard to create but is very difficult to control, because it has a life of its own. Light the candle.”
“How do I do that?”
“Think…fire.” He said cryptically.254Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhTIkZScUL
How helpful. After giving Kaii an exasperated look I stared at the candle willing it to light. I thought of the heat that radiated from a fireplace, the bright, angry red of the flames, the warm touch that would crawl along my skin as I stood close to it. My vision zeroed in on the candle and I thought fire. In a flash, the candle was lit. But instead of a small flame it erupted into huge menacing living thing that I had lost control of, it nearly reached the ceiling of the room and I scrambled back in terror. I looked at Kaii who had backed away but made no move to try to stop the fire, he was yelling at me instead.
“Control the fire Anya!”
What? Control it, how? I stared at the uninhibited flames; the closer I looked into them the more I could feel it. Heat seemed to radiate from my soul as if I had my own little fire inside me. That’s when I realised fire couldn’t be controlled, it was wild and untamed. By accepting that within myself I could exert some sort of manipulation over the fire. It would do what I wanted as long as I understood that it wasn’t me that had the control. The fire settled down withdrawing into itself until it became a small flame at the tip of the now considerably shorter candle. I looked at Kaii with a grin on my face.
“I did it!” I exclaimed and then winced. I’d forgotten that my throat hadn’t completely healed yet.
Kaii had a relieved smile on his face. “That you did. More easily than I thought you would actually. Next, air.” Kaii walked around the room as he spoke. “Air is different to fire, clearly. You cannot create air; it’s all around you. All you can do is control it. So now try and create a gust of wind using the air in this room.”
Closing my eyes, I tried to feel the air in the room. After I connected with it, it was like a physical presence. Warm and still. When I opened my eyes I could practically see the air in the room. It was like summer days when it got so hot that you could see the heat radiating off the ground. Now I had to somehow turn it into a huge gust of wind. Pushing at the air I willed in to move around the room faster, this method failed. Yet I kept at it for a few more minutes. How was air harder to control than fire?
Closing my eyes again I tried to think. Air wasn’t tangible so I couldn’t force it using pressure; it’s more like a feeling. Standing with the wind blowing on my face always made me feel alive. So I thought of what it must feel like to fly. For a moment I was distracted wondering if anyone in Eithreal could actually fly. Soon enough though, I felt my hair stirring. The temperature in the room dipped. It felt like there was no ceiling and no floor. It felt like the walls had crumbled all around me and all that was left was the endless blue sky, it was exhilarating. The force of the wind increased the more I gave into the feeling.
When I opened my eyes I saw Kaii’s clothes flying wildly about him, he was holding onto the table for support. I took advantage of the wind and spun around with the air and could feel myself grinning wildly. When I finally stopped Kaii’s glasses were barely on his face and his hair was standing up in all directions.
“I can see you thoroughly enjoyed that one.”254Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡax9EpgJ9sq
I nodded, the smile still on my face, controlling air felt like flying.
“Moving on, water. Water is probably one of the easier ones to control like air.”
I didn’t think any of them were as easy to control as Kaii made them out to be but I went along with it anyway. Kaii brought a large pitcher of water and set it on the table the same place he had set the candle.
“Control the water in the pitcher, move it, shape it and try freezing it.”
Using the same technique as I did the other two, I guessed it had to be a certain feeling. Like before I looked at the element and mentally immersed myself in it. Calmness quieted my mind and my whole body filled with a cool soothing feeling. It was similar to what I left when I was floating on my back in body of water, now I could manipulate it. No sooner I thought of a shape, the water turned into it. I could turn it into a cube, a bubble of water and even a star. Freezing it was the next step which was surprisingly just as easy as controlling it. Then I returned the shapes to their natural form and dropped it back into the pitcher, it made a tiny splash as it hit the metal. Kaii had an impressed look on his face.
“You are astonishingly good with the elements Anya.”254Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoutne1AIGw
“Water was the easiest one for me.” I admitted.
“Well prepare yourself because the next one is quite difficult, earth.”
“I’m sure it’s not too bad, the others were pretty easy.” I may have been a little overconfident.
“I assure you Miss Qadriyeh; earth is considerably more stubborn than the other elements. It is why we are one of the more powerful of the elemental magicians.” A sharp voice said.
Turning to the door of the study I saw a serious looking woman standing in front of it. Arms folded with a stern look on her face. Her auburn hair was pulled into a tight bun and her turquoise eyes held an expression that showed that she meant business. She was wearing a long dark pencil skirt and a beige blouse. Earth magicians tended to wear colours of the earth I noted. I pushed the thought aside and focused on the woman before me.
“Terra, glad you could make it. I was just about to try teaching Anya earth magic.” Kaii said.
“Try being the significant word, Zafirah, you would not have been able to have her master it by the end of the day.” Terra claimed.
“Of course, well over to you then.”254Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0PUAqDM06
Terra sighed as if being in this very room with me was a burden, she walked further into the study and leant on the table we’d been working on.
“You see, earth is tough and hard. You have to be so yourself in order to control it, and I don’t mean physically but mentally. You need to know exactly what you want to do with it and where you want it to go. Any doubt and it will not do what you want it to. Zafirah here has been referring to the elements as objects to be controlled but of course they are more than that.”254Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡubVxgfDvw1
I had also realised that but I didn’t want to interrupt.
“As for earth it is the most stubborn one amongst them all, it only bends its will to those who have strength of will. So do you think you can handle it Miss Qadriyeh?”
“I can.” The croak in my voice didn’t help boost confidence.
She eyed me dubiously, and then she looked to the middle of the room, raised one hand, and made a slight gesture. A huge piece of the marble floor lifted, my mouthed dropped open. She made it look so effortless.
“Put the rock back in its place.” She said simply.
I glanced back and forth between the rock and her. This put a whole new meaning of being caught between a rock and a hard place. Obviously, I didn’t have a choice so I finally faced it and tried to get a feel for it as I did with the other elements. Through all my staring at the rock I got nothing, no feelings whatsoever. I didn’t even feel at one with the element.
Terra scoffed. “You’re weak.” With a flick of her hand, she put the marble back where it came from and walked towards the door.
“I don’t have time for this. Come and find me when she isn’t as pathetic as she is now.” Terra said, as she left.254Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDN8506jdP
I sighed in defeat.
“Don’t worry about it too much Anya, I’m sure you’ll be able to do it. I mean you’ll have to if you’re ever going to master lightning.” Kaii stated.
“I can control lightning?”
“Of course, you’ve already done half of it. Connected with the element of fire, now all you need is to ground yourself with the element of earth and you’ll be able to create and manipulate lightening. Fire magicians can do this without needing to be grounded by earth; they only work with their one element so it’s natural for them. But because you can connect to all the elements you need earth to strengthen and ground you, otherwise you may lose control.”
“What about the earth magicians?”
“What about them?”
“Can they manipulate lightening too? Does it work both ways?”
Kaii gave me a dubious look. “Of course not Anya, don’t be ridiculous. Whatever gave you that idea?”
There was no point trying to explain that he had given me that idea. So I just ignored him. Instead I was excited about the thought of manipulating lighting. As quick as my excitement came it diminished more rapidly when I remembered I had to learn to control earth first. Alec suddenly appeared beside me making me jump in surprise. He’d been so silent I had forgotten he was even there. Even when the fire was blazing, he must not have even flinched.
“It’ll soon be time for the meeting with the council, shouldn’t we be getting ready for it?” he asked.
“You’re right, we’ll go to Phaeora’s and try and sort out some sort of plan of what to say.”
Surprised it was time for the meeting I glanced out the window and saw that the sun was disappearing behind the horizon. Learning about my powers was fascinating; I had lost all track of time. Kaii bustled about his study cleaning up some of the mess I had made, Alec and I helped. When we were finished we made our way to Phaeora’s study. Phaeora had some news for us the moment we walked in.
“The council has moved the meeting to after dinner instead of before.” She informed us.
“Why would they do that?” Alec asked.
“It may not be anything of importance to us, perhaps someone has not arrived yet? It could be a number of minor details.”
“Or they need more time to talk about things they have no intention of telling us about.” Alec argued.
Phaeora sighed. “Unfortunately that is also a possibility.”
There was a moment of silence as we all pondered the implications of what the council might be discussing without our presence. Even though I hadn’t met them a slight distrust in them was already making its presence. By the way Phaeora and the others spoke of them I wasn’t sure I should trust them. Then again, thinking back to the overheard conversation between Kaii and Phaeora, they weren’t telling me everything either. Alec hadn’t avoided the question when I asked, though he hadn’t answered it. Deciding who to trust wasn’t something I thought I could do just yet.
“So what will we tell them when they ask about the attacks?” Kaii asked.
“The truth, they already know about the attacks. I’m sure they have more information than we do.” Phaeora replied.
“But we’ve had our suspicions.”
“That is all they are, suspicions. Nevertheless we probably should not mention who we think is carrying out these attacks. If they have the same suspicions we’ll soon find out.”
“Guess that means I can go.” Alec said. He walked out of the study.
Following his lead I said, “I’ll go as well.” There was no point us all sitting around the study doing nothing.
“We’ll let you two know when the council is ready to see us.” Phaeora said.
I nodded and made my way to the main hall for dinner. Catching a glimpse of Mai and the others, I quickly grabbed some food and joined them. They were sat in the middle of the hall.
“Anya! Glad you’re here maybe you can settle this debate. Sylvia says that fire isn’t as powerful as water. She’s clearly wrong, am I right?”
Erik looked at me expectantly as if I had all the answers in the world. Pretending to think hard about my decision, I sat down slowly. Seeing the rapt look on Erik’s face, I laughed.
“I don’t know for sure Erik, maybe you should ask one of the mentors.”254Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNArIqNaYY
“But fire is just…fire!” he said incredulously.
“That doesn’t explain anything! Water can be just as powerful as fire if you know how to use it.” Sylvia argued.
“She’s right, besides water does put out fires.” Mai added.
“Yeah well, I still think fire is the most powerful.” Erik said.
“What about air doesn’t that blow out fires?” I suggested.
“Or makes them stronger!” Erik argued back.
Rolling my eyes I bowed out of the debate, Erik clearly wasn’t about to let someone tell him that his element wasn’t the strongest. I laughed as the others continued fighting over which element was the strongest, Erik and Sylvia were especially butting heads but I could tell it wasn’t completely serious. As I looked at them, I noticed that there was almost every element amongst our little group, Erik was fire, Sylvia was water and Mai was earth. The only one we didn’t have was air. As if I had magically conjured someone up a tall, handsome guy with ash blonde hair and dark brown eyes arrived, joining us at our table.
“Hello everyone.” He said.
Gauging from the reaction of the others they didn’t know who he was either. It was clear since we were all staring at him with identical dumbfounded looks. Turning back to the guy I saw he wasn’t even acknowledging the open-mouthed stares my friends were giving him. No one else was speaking so I took on the role of ambassador.
“Hi.” I replied. Silence followed but I carried on anyway. “I’m Anya, what’s your name?”
“Cael.” I waited for some sort of explanation afterwards but that as all he said. He continued eating his dinner. I didn’t know what an appropriate response would be so I didn’t say anything. If he was comfortable sitting there with a bunch of strangers I’d have to be to, and so would everyone else. But they were still silent. At least they’d stopped staring at him, now they only casted surreptitious confused looks his way. The level of awkwardness was rising every second. Thankfully, Erik always the charmer spoke up.
“So Cael, fire or water which one do you think is more powerful?”
Cael looked at Erik for a moment with a serious expression on his face then he laughed. “Water of course.”
Erik looked like he’d just been punched in the gut. Mai and I exploded into laughter at the wounded look on his face, Sylvia was grinning from ear to ear turning to Erik triumphant.
“Told you, water beats fire every time.”254Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OaP6g9BNV
“That is still only your opinion.” Erik said undeterred.
Cael laughed. “Fire cannot burn water but water can extinguish fire. Is it not obvious who the winner is here?”
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Sylvia replied.
“But fire can turn water into steam if it’s hot enough!” Erik insisted.
Sylvia rolled her eyes and then gave Erik a patronising pat on the head. “Erik, you’ll never be hot enough to do that.”
The whole table erupted into laughter. Without any of us noticing the tension had broken so easily, I glanced at Cael wondering exactly why he had sat with us and who he was. He caught my eye and smiled, I found myself smiling back. His attention turned back to Sylvia, his smile automatically widening as if he couldn’t help it. Then I understood why he was at our table. Sylvia returned his look with just as much fascination. So much for Mai’s theory of her being in love with Erik. The rest of dinner went by seamlessly, Cael had managed to integrate himself into our little group so easily it was as if we’d all known him for years and by the end I was glad to have our little addition to the group. Just as we were about to leave I spotted Kaii standing at the main doors, he caught my eye and I knew it was time for the meeting. As I said goodbye to my friends I also saw Alec making his way to the entrance of the main hall, I followed close behind him.
We were walking past the doors when I bumped into someone who came out of nowhere. As I turned around to apologise the words died on my tongue. A young girl stood before me, she might have been the same age or a little younger than me. But she looked like she’d lived a life of someone twice my age. Her hair was dark as night and her skin was a very pale fawn. Almost as pale as the people in Mortalis, she was the lightest person I had seen in Eithreal. What kept me still were her blood red eyes that were burning holes into me. She stood so still it felt like time had frozen, as much as I wanted to I couldn’t look away. By the time she turned around and walked away, I felt like she had already planned my death a thousand times. I shivered. My heart was beating a hundred miles a minute and I felt faint. How could someone I had never met hate me so much? Her eyes glowed with it. Then I remembered. I’m a reincarnation, there’s bound to be a lot of people that don’t like me. Something told me that this was different though.
“Anya?”
A hand touched my shoulder. Startled, I tensed, when I saw that it was Alec I relaxed. Barely.
He acknowledged my reaction with a curious look, but otherwise didn’t comment. “Let’s go, don’t want to be late.”
Still trying to compose myself I agreed and we left.
I was surprised I even made it to Phaeora’s study in one piece. They didn’t waste a minute either, as soon as Alec and I arrived Phaeora sauntered over to the left side of the room. Placing her hand on the wall, I heard a small click and it opened up revealing stone stairs leading down a dark path. The only lights glowing dimly were the torches on the sides. My eyes widened as she gestured for us to follow. At the bottom of the stairs was another knight in black armour. The torches ended at the bottom of the stairs, so where we were standing we faced complete darkness.
“The council will see you now.” The knight said. He took out a crystal but this one was like nothing I’d seen in Eithreal, it was gold, pure gold. Like what Alec had done in the meadow the knight stepped forward placing the crystal in thin air, except it wasn’t thin air it was like an invisible wall or barrier. Only this time it was a diamond shape that formed on the barrier instead of patterns, it glowed for a second like before. The knight stepped back, which meant that we could go through, Phaeora went in first followed by Alec and I. Going through the barrier felt the same as the first time. Blinking was all it took for us to arrive in a large room with an arched black marble table. Seated behind it were seven people. That was it. No other pieces of furniture and no one else.
Each of the council members sat stoically as we stood waiting for them to begin. There was a woman who sat in the middle, directly in front of me; she had ash blonde hair with streaks of grey in it and incredibly silver eyes like steel. She had no irises. So her gaze was even more eerie. It was the first time I’d seen those kind of eyes here in Eithreal, which was saying something. She didn’t smile when her gaze landed on me. She spoke first and her voice was authorative.
“I am Cordelia Tesserae, the head of this council. Let me make myself clear Miss Anya Qadriyeh; we are not your friends. For you are considered an imminent threat to Eithreal and the rest of Aldonia as we know it.”
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