The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) (17 page)

Elijah snorted, and the others joined in the awkward guffaw.

“Okay, I’m done,” said Toby.  “Who’s next?”

“I’ll go,” said a confident voice to Elijah’s right.  “I’m
Ruth Hopkins, and I live in the main village by the Southern Gates.”  It took a
moment for Elijah to get over the fact that Ruth was a year younger, but as
soon as he did, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.  She wasn’t as strikingly
pretty as he considered Hannah, but there was something about her demeanor that
intrigued him.  She had dark brown hair and brown skin.  She wore a set of
eyeglasses that matched the color of her hair.  Her teeth had a slight gap in
the middle, and she didn’t make herself up to perfection the way that lots of
girls tried to do, but that just made her more intriguing.  Ruth sat up tall, though
she was still a head shorter than the others, and her voice was absent of any
fear or nerves.

“I pretty much will eat any kind of seafood, except
oysters.  I hate oysters.  They’re like eating phlegm.”  Everyone gagged and
made unpleasant noises with their throat.  Elijah laughed.  “And, even though
my parents
did
go here,” she shot a nasty look at the sandy-haired girl,
“I don’t really have any questions yet.”

The dark-skinned boy with glasses, named Jeremy went next,
followed by the sandy-haired girl, who was named Abby.  The rest of the group
tried to remain polite as she talked, but Elijah could almost feel the cool
stares from the others.  The last one to go was a boy named Noah, who looked
like he wanted to faint as he talked.  Elijah felt sorry for him.  He shook rather
noticeably, and his voice was barely audible.

Finally, it was Elijah’s turn.  Elijah wondered if the
others could sense his reluctance to take his turn.

“I’m Elijah,” he started.  “I don’t really have a favorite
food.  I live by the Southern Gates like Ruth.  And I don’t have any
questions.”

“Wait,” said Abby after Elijah finished his frantic race to
answer the questions.  “Elijah?  As in the boy the Maliphists are after?”

Elijah blushed.  “I suppose that’s me.”

“So you’ve gone here already,” Abby stated.

Elijah nodded with a sigh.  He had hoped that he could get
through orientation without drawing any attention, but it seemed as though he
was going to have to reveal himself.  The others dug in for interrogation.

“So what’s it like here?”

“What do they have to eat here?”

“Is training hard?”

“Are classes hard?”

“What do they have to eat here?”

“Is there curfew?”

“Can you move the elements yet?”

“What do they have to eat here?”

Finally, Toby stepped in.

“All right, all right.  Let the man talk.”

Elijah scratched his head, looking very much like Mr.
Button.  “Um.  Training’s okay, I guess.  It’s hard work, and you’ll be sore
for about a month.”

The students groaned.

“Why are you here now?” asked Jeremy.

“I needed to come to basic orientation since I missed it
last year,” Elijah said.

“Why?” Toby asked.

Elijah paused.  He didn’t really feel like telling him his
whole story.  For a group that had no questions just a second ago, they
certainly seemed to find their rhythm quickly.  Thankfully, Mr. Button was
close by.

“You’ll all find out soon enough, eh?”  Button wrung his
hands together.  “Let’s leave Elijah alone for now.  There’ll be plenty of time
for discovering the unanswered questions later.”

Elijah was thankful for the interruption.  By the look on
everyone else’s face, it was quite literally killing them not to ask him more
questions.  Abby’s face was bright red, and a visible vein could be seen
pulsing at her temple.  Ruth drummed her fingers against her thumb, looking
like a small child preparing to pillage a candy store.  The only one who didn’t
seem on the edge of their seat was Toby, who looked as relaxed as ever.  In a
small way, Toby reminded Elijah of Isaac, only without the clumsiness.

The remainder of Preliminary Orientation felt as long as a
history lesson on economics.  There were a few more “get-to-know-you”
activities Elijah had to suffer through, and even more lectures about what to
do and what not to do.  However, Elijah surprisingly enjoyed some of the tours
of the barracks.  He knew most of the area from parading back and forth from
class to his room to the cafeteria, but there were areas he had not quite
discovered, and some of these areas were downright mysterious.

He became even more intrigued when Mr. Button talked to the
students about the secrecy underneath the library.  Why he took them on another
trip down to the library and reminded them all about the doors to the lower
level baffled Elijah.  It was almost as if Mr. Button was daring them to sneak
down there.  Elijah wondered if a second or third year Novice would spill the
unknown to him.

Another area of the barracks Elijah never noticed was right
above the neutral area, between the preliminary boys’ and girls’ halls.  A utility
ladder, secured to the back wall, led to a trap door in the ceiling.  It was
similar to the massive ladders in the library only not as tall.  Elijah had
seen the ladder numerous times, but never noticed it.  It was as if it stuck
inside his subconscious and he only realized it once Mr. Button said never to
climb the ladder.  Now, all Elijah could do was fantasize about climbing the
ladder.  He may have spent his entire career at the barracks never noticing or
caring about the ladder until Mr. Button said he couldn’t climb it.

Now that his curiosity had been piqued, Elijah began
noticing all kinds of areas around the barracks that he never noticed before. 
There were rooms and hallways and little nooks and crannies that needed to be
carefully examined.  The mysterious barracks kept Elijah’s mind busy until the
end of Preliminary Orientation.

Finally, after three long days, most of which were spent
trying to steer clear of Thomas, it was time for the Novices to arrive.  Elijah
thought the day would never come, but when it finally did, he was relieved.

The first day of Novice Orientation was even more chaotic
than Preliminary Orientation.  Although the students were less squirrely and
looked more stoic, there were four times as many of them, which created an
unbelievable maze of people.

Elijah waited by the fire pit, which was now lit, and
watched for someone he knew.  He spotted plenty of people he recognized like Andrew
Glavin, a pale redhead from his year, and Rachel Woods, a white-blonde haired
girl who had obviously grown a lot of confidence during the summer.  She glided
around the main level, her head held high, while many of the boys turned to
look her direction.  Adam Flemming was the first of Elijah’s friends he spotted.

Elijah hadn’t seen Adam since term ended for the summer, so
it shocked him how much Adam had grown.  He was at least four inches taller
than he remembered, and his short, black hair had been grown out and arranged
into three-inch dreadlocks.  Adam still looked like a puppy with his large eyes
and sad face, and it didn’t help matters that he slouched more now that he had
grown.

“Adam, over here!” Elijah shouted.  Adam strode over and sat
next to Elijah.  He picked up one of the fire pokers and played with it.

“Hey, Elijah,” he said.  His voice had changed too.

“Nice hair,” Elijah said.

Adam smiled faintly and pawed at his dreadlocks.  “I was
going to cut it before I got here.”

“Don’t,” Elijah stated.  “It looks good.  You should grow it
out long enough so it whips you in the face when you turn your head quickly.” 
There was a long pause, which made Elijah slightly uncomfortable.  “Did you
have a good summer?”

Adam nodded his head and looked back at the floor.

Elijah looked at him expectantly.  “So…why don’t you tell me
about it?”

“Okay,” said Adam, as though the thought had never crossed
his mind.  “I didn’t do much.  I mostly just stayed at home and worked on my
exercises.”

“Were you able to control anything?” Elijah asked.

“A little,” Adam replied.

Elijah wanted to prod Adam to go into more detail, but they
were interrupted by a shoe being hurled across the room, smacking Elijah right
in the gut.

“What a shot!” Paul shouted from across the room.  He was
holding up his hands like he had just scored a goal.  He shot over to Elijah
and playfully wrestled and punched him a few times before Elijah pushed him
off.

“Where’d the shoe come from?”

“Dunno,” said Paul.  “Saw it lying around by the stairs. 
Probably belongs to a Preemie who lost their laundry.”

“A what?”

“A Preemie.  You know, a Preliminary.  They’re just so cute
and smaw and widdle,” Paul said in his most annoying baby voice.

Elijah was about to say that it was only a few months ago
that they were all preliminary students, but he remembered his last few days
doing everything he could to avoid being associated with the Preliminaries.  He
thought it would be hypocritical to correct Paul.

“So how was Baby Orientation?” Paul asked.

“Uncomfortable!” Elijah admitted.  “I felt like I was on
display the whole time.  I didn’t really learn anything anyway.  Thank goodness
you guys are here now so I have someone to talk to.”

“Hey there, motor mouth,” Paul said as he rubbed Adam’s
hair.  “Nice locks!”

Adam smiled, his brilliant white teeth contrasting with his
dark skin.

“So I got us all down for cottage housing if they pick us,”
Paul stated.  “I think I was one of the first to turn in the paperwork.  I got
you down too, chatterbox.”

“Do you think we have a chance?” Elijah asked.

“Why not?”

“Didn’t Isaac say they usually pick the older Novices for
cottage housing?”

“Isaac doesn’t know what he’s talking about.  They wouldn’t
let us apply if we didn’t have a chance now, would they?”  Paul picked up the
shoe again and threw it toward a group of girls a few feet away.  He turned
quickly back around once it hit.

“Where is Isaac anyway?” Elijah asked.

“He’s just checking in I think.”

One of the girls from the group hit by the shoe marched over
with the shoe in her hand.  Elijah thought she was quite pretty.  She stood
right up to Paul, held out the shoe with one hand and had her other hand on her
hip.

“Is this yours?” she asked directly to Paul.

Paul looked as innocent as a newborn.  “Who me?  No way.  It
was…his.”  He pointed to Isaac, who was just walking up to the group with a bag
of snacks.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Isaac said.

“This young lady wants to know why your shoe ended up in her
hands,” Paul said.  The girl rolled her eyes.

Isaac looked at the shoe with a vacant expression.  “What?”

The girl slammed the shoe into Paul’s stomach which made him
double over.  Then she marched back to her friends.  Paul held the shoe in his
hands again and snickered.  “It’s the gift that keeps on giving.”  He hurled
the shoe right back at the girls and then took off.  Not wanting to be left
alone to answer to a group of angry girls, Elijah, Adam, and Isaac quickly
followed him.

After they had put enough distance between them and the
girls, the four boys found some comfortable chairs by the far end of the fire
pit to relax.

Isaac was still panting from the short jog.

“So tell us more about this orientation with the Preemies,”
Paul said.

“Stop calling them that,” Isaac said, annoyed.  Paul rolled
his eyes.

“It was just a whole lot of get-to-know-you stuff.  But I
did learn that we get to use the elements for defensive warfare this year and
stuff like that.”

“We are?” Isaac asked excitedly.  “I didn’t know that.”

“Apparently Isaac needed to go to orientation again too,”
Paul retorted.

“Hey, I can’t remember everything they said from a whole
year ago.”

“So what’s your excuse when you can’t remember things from just
a few minutes ago?”

“Shut up,” Isaac said with a half smile.

“I did meet someone pretty interesting,” Elijah said.  The
others looked at him curiously.  “This new kid who’s apparently from Malpetra
is going here now.”

“Yeah?” Paul inquired.

“His name’s Thomas.”  Elijah looked around the arena.  “I
don’t see him now, and come to think of it, I haven’t seen him in a while.  But
he’s kinda creepy.”

“What do you mean?” Isaac asked, looking nervous.

“I don’t think I can explain it.  I just feel it.  He seems
up to something.  I caught him looking around the library, only he wasn’t
looking for a book.  He was looking for something else.”

“Like what?” Isaac asked.

“I don’t know,” Elijah answered.  He brushed his light brown
hair out of his eyes.  “It was like he was looking for something hidden.  He
kept moving the books around and checking behind them.”

“Hey, I caught Isaac doing that one day looking for a snack
he left for himself,” Paul joked.

“You did not!”

Paul laughed.  “Alright, so there’s a kid who lurks around
the grounds and seems a little off.  I know tons of kids like that!”

Elijah evaluated his impression of Thomas.  Maybe he was
being a little too suspicious.  Maybe Thomas was looking for something harmless
in the library.  Elijah shook his head.  “I still don’t know.  The way he
looked at me…you just don’t look at someone like that if there’s nothing wrong
with you, y’know?”

“Well, we can always spy on him,” said Paul, with just the
tiniest hint of excitement.  “We can see what he’s up to and then decide
whether or not you’re out of your mind.”

“What if he’s dangerous?” Isaac said.  He had stopped eating
for the first time since arriving at the barracks.

“More dangerous than
us
?” Paul said proudly.  He
puffed out his chest, looking very soldier-like.

“If he’s dangerous,” said Elijah, “then all the more reason
to find out what he’s up to.”

“Sure,” said Paul.  “We can stop him before he blows up the
barracks.”

“Okay, let’s not get carried away,” said Elijah.  “I don’t
know anything other than what I saw and felt, and it isn’t much to go on
anyway.  But I like the idea of tailing him for a while.  Maybe he isn’t
anything like I thought and he’s just adjusting to being new.”

“Don’t get cold feet now, Elijah,” Paul lectured.  “C’mon,
let’s find him now.  What’s this brute look like?”

Elijah began to lead the other boys across to the other side
of the fire pit, keeping a distance from the group of girls glaring at Paul,
when Hannah Maybury approached them.

“Hey guys!  I just checked in.  What are we doing?”

The boys exchanged awkward glances.

“Um…”

“Well…uh.”

Hannah cocked an eyebrow.  “It isn’t even the first day yet
and already you’re up to something?”  She looked right at Elijah with
suspicious green eyes.  He caved immediately.

“I met this guy from Malpetra who’s going to school here,
and he’s real creepy, and we’re going to follow him to see…”

“To see what?”

Elijah sighed.  “To see if he’s up to no good.”

“Sounds to me like he should be the one tailing you four,”
she said.

Isaac turned around quickly.

“Well, at least you have something to keep yourselves busy
until our orientation,” Hannah remarked.  “Can I tag along?”

“Are you finished with your snide comments?” Paul asked.

“I’ll just keep them to myself,” said Hannah.  “So lead on.”

Elijah took his friends all around the main level, weaving
in and out of the many clusters of students.  He led them up the stairs,
through the Preliminary Hall, and down the corridors into the Novice Hall. 
Hannah left them at the neutral area and told them she would wait for them in
the Novice’s neutral area on the other side.

The boys poked around the hall, which was much livelier than
during the Preliminary Orientation, but they didn’t see Thomas anywhere.

Just as they were about to start sneaking around into other
areas of the barracks, they heard Mr. Button’s announcement that Novice
Orientation was going to begin in five minutes.

“Well, I guess that’s that,” Elijah stated.  “I’ll show him
to you later.”

Paul said, “What year is he?  He might be at our
orientation.”

“I’m not sure actually,” Elijah said.  “He’s not a
Preliminary because they put him in the Novice Hall.”

“Does he look older than fourteen?” Hannah asked as they
followed the crowd of Level One Novices into the arena for orientation.

Elijah shrugged.  “No idea.  He didn’t look that much older,
but then again, Paul looks like he’s about twenty, so I really don’t know.”

“That’s ‘cause Paul’s a man child,” Isaac joked.  Paul
punched him in the arm.  “Ow!  See?”

They followed the crowd to the farthest end of the arena,
and to Elijah’s surprise, went outside through a set of doors that led into an
amphitheater.  The amphitheater was cut out of the mountain, like a bowl with
the front stage deeper than the back.  The stage had several lit torches,
creating a dim light for the audience.  Mr. Button was on the stage.

They took a seat at the very top to be as far away from the
stage as possible.  Mr. Button, looking as frazzled as ever, talked with a few
of the teachers on the stage.

“So what did you do this summer, Paul?” Hannah asked as they
waited for Button to call them to order.

“Nothing mostly,” Paul answered.  “I went hunting with my
crossbow a few times when I could sneak out of the house.”

“Is your sister here this year?” Hannah asked.

“Next year.  And I’m
real
excited about that,” Paul
said sarcastically.  “What about you?”

Hannah shrugged.  “My family and I took a trip overseas.”

“Wow!” Isaac said.  “Where did you go?”

“We went to Westhaven first to visit some relatives,” Hannah
answered.  “And then we went to London.  That was weird.”

“What was weird about it?” Paul asked.

“It was just…busy,” Hannah replied.  “There were so many
people.  And all sorts of driving machines and pictures and buildings.  It was
fascinating, but it was also tiring.”

“What’s Westhaven?” Elijah asked.

“A Magi city in Europe,” Hannah answered.  She looked like
she was going to say more, but just then Mr. Button called everyone to quiet
down.

“Welcome to your second year!” he said.  “Or, for some of
you, your third or maybe fourth!”  He looked at a blonde-haired boy in the
front and many of the students sitting near him laughed and slapped him on the
back.  In good humor, the blonde-haired boy turned and waved at everyone, who then
broke into applause.  Elijah turned to Paul.

“Who’s that?”

“Oh that’s just Steadman,” Paul answered.  “He’s been a Preemie
for three years.  Finally graduated last year.  Poor guy might be in training
until he dies!”

Mr. Button continued, “No doubt by now you all think you’ve
got everything pretty much figured out.  And it’s true, we believe this will be
the most advanced year ever.  However, please take note that training will
become much more complicated from here on out, eh?  Your physical and mental
exercises will continue to test you to your limits, and your elemental training
will push you to use all the tools you have been training with all last year.

“I must also announce,” Button continued, “that due to last
year’s unfortunate incidents, we will be enforcing a much stricter check in and
checkout policy.  For those of you who are accepted into cottage housing, we
will be keeping very close watch over you to make sure you’re kept safe, so
please follow all rules explicitly.

“Now, let’s get on with the new items up for business. 
First of all, since you are all now Novices, you have the opportunity to make
some extra money.  There are many employment opportunities available to
students, and we will be posting these positions right after orientations. 
Also, applications for cottage housing have been looked through and those
selected will be posted along with the positions for employment. You will find
these on the wall in the main level, also after orientation.”

Paul leaned in and whispered.  “Hey Isaac, I’ll put in a
good word for you at the dining hall.  But I don’t think snacking on the job
will be part of the interview.”

Isaac gave him a thumbs up.

“All right then,” said Mr. Button.  “I believe that does it
for instructions.  Now we have your schedules to pass out for this year.  If
there are any questions, please come find me or one of the other teachers as
soon as you possibly can.  When you hear your name, please come get your
schedule.”

Adam Flemming’s name was the first of Elijah’s friends called. 
He slowly walked to the front of the amphitheater and returned holding a piece
of paper and a pile of books.

“Yowza!” said Paul.  “That’s quite the haul!”

Adam smiled sheepishly.

“When do you have elemental training?” asked Isaac.

Adam looked at his paper.  “Um…Saturday.”

“And what about physical?” Paul demanded.

“Tuesday and Thursday,” he said.  They all had a good look
at his schedule and books.  Elijah Hawk was called next, followed immediately
by Paul Hetfield.  Elijah looked over his schedule.  He had physical training
with Adam, Hannah, and Isaac—Tuesday and Thursday—and his elemental training
was on Wednesday this year instead of Saturday like last year.  On Mondays and
Fridays, he had academic studies with everyone in Novice Level One, and Saturday
was mental training.  Last year, they only had one physical training day.  This
year, he had two, which made him ache at the thought of the extra day of
pushing his body.

After all the students had gotten their schedules and
compared them carefully with their friends, Mr. Button dismissed the students.

The main level was completely packed with novice students as
they waited for cottage housing lists to be posted.  There was a palpable
tension in the room as everyone anxiously waited.  Along the back wall,
opposite the fireplace, were many tables with applications for employment. 
There were applications for a fire pit crew, supervising assistants, cleanup
crews, dining hall workers (Isaac took two), door monitors, and many more. 
Elijah picked up one to work in the library and one for the grounds crew.  He
figured working outside might be a nice break from being cooped up in the
barracks.

Finally, a herd of students swarmed around two teachers carrying
five large poster-sized pieces of paper with the list of cottage housing
applicants.  The entire room seemed to contract as the students pushed their
way toward the lists.

Elijah didn’t want any part of the crowd so he stood back.

“I’ll go see,” said Paul, who was already shoving smaller
students aside for a better look.

“Was it this bad last year?” Elijah asked Isaac as they were
shoved around by the stampede.

“I think so,” Isaac replied.  “Only I don’t remember it much.”

After a few minutes, Paul waded his way back with a scowl on
his face.

“Whatever,” he huffed.  “C’mon.”

“See, I told you,” Isaac said as they walked to the novice
lounge.

“Shut up,” said Paul, who was not joking this time.

Later that evening, the students who did not get an invite
to stay at the cottage houses were informed that they were to pick up their
room keys at the front office, the small room by the front doors where they
checked in and out of the barracks.  Paul and Isaac decided to play cards in
one of the game rooms, so Elijah and Adam stood in line together without them.

When Elijah got to the front of the line, he gave his name
to the clerk, an older student with bad acne and slicked back hair.  The
student turned and looked through a large set of small slots in the wall.  When
he located Elijah’s slot, he pulled out a key and a piece of paper.

“Looks like you’ve got some mail already,” the pimple-faced
boy said.  “Can’t say that’s usual.”  The boy handed Elijah a letter and a
modest package about the size of an infant.

“Thanks,” Elijah said and walked off.  His key was to Room 43. 
He couldn’t remember if that was on the side with the windows or the side by
the washrooms.  As he waited for Adam to get his key, Elijah opened the
letter.  It was from Olivia.

“Elijah –

I’m looking forward to seeing you on
Wednesday.  Come prepared to stay overnight.  Our first lesson might be a bit
much for one day.  Phinneas and I will explain to the barracks why you may miss
the following day.

-Olivia”

Elijah folded the letter and shoved it into his pocket.  He
decided not to concern himself with why he was being asked to spend an extra
day training.  With everything happening so fast, he had enough questions to
keep his mind busy.

His new room was much more to his liking than the communal
room he was given with Thomas.  For one thing, it was his own.  It was on the
near side next to the washroom, which meant that there wasn’t a window (he
wondered if that was on purpose since last year the Maliphists broke in through
his window to kidnap him).  It was quite a nice room.  The setup was the same
as last year.  There was a bed with a desk and chair, plus a nightstand and a
very large chest to keep his belongings.  However, this room also had a
fireplace all to himself, and it was quite a bit larger than his other room. 
It was decorated with generic pictures and a fine red rug in the middle of the
room.

He opened his package and he pulled out an old,
antique-looking gas lamp.  It was very plain with a round base—no bigger than a
soccer ball—and a glass cylinder on top as the shield for the flame.  Elijah
thought it an odd gift from Olivia, but it did make the room more original.  He
placed it on his nightstand next to his clock from Walter.

After he lit his lamp, he took out the painting of the
Roddicks and hung it above the fireplace.  He flopped down on his bed and
looked at it as he began to drift off.  He fell asleep listening to the fire
crackling in his very own room.

Chapter
9:

NOVICE LEVEL ONE

The September gloom made it feel like a good time to take a
nap.  More often than not, it rained.  It was a lazy rain.  The drops were fat
and slow, and they plopped on the soggy ground like great big teardrops.  It
began to cool down significantly, bringing with it the need to bundle up
outside.  The grass outside of the barracks had turned from a brilliant green,
well-manicured lawn, to a muddy swamp with uneven patches.