The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) (18 page)

It was a good thing the training gear the Magi children wore
was extra warm.  During the summer months, the brown coats and thick belts
would be much too hot, but thankfully, the uniform was a perfect temperature
for the colder months in Savenridge.

Sunday was usually the day the students would leave the
barracks for a day back home.  Some of the parents who lived farther away came
to pick up their sons or daughters on Saturday night to spend as much time with
them as possible, but on this Sunday, the Sunday before the first day of
training, no one left.  The entire barracks pulsed with anticipation for the
coming day—the first day of training.

The preliminary students were looking dreadful.  Some threw
up.  Others chattered on nervously.  But most only kept to themselves, quietly
awaiting the unknown.

The novice students who had been to the barracks before were
noticeably less anxious, but as it is with any first day of anything, they
looked slightly on edge.  Many students blew off steam in the game rooms
playing cards or table games.  Some took a jog in the rain alone or with a
friend.  Elijah, however, spent lots of time in the library.  He wasn’t allowed
to check out a new book until the librarian had assembled a staff, which he
hoped would include him after they reviewed his application, but he was allowed
to read while he was there.

Elijah had invited all his friends to join him in the
library.  Paul laughed out loud until he realized Elijah wasn’t joking.  Then
he laughed again for the ridiculous assumption of him spending a day at the
library.  He told Elijah he was going outside to fire off his crossbow. 
Weapons weren’t allowed at the barracks, but Paul never thought the rules
applied to him.  He took Isaac with him.  Adam was feeling sick, so he stayed
in bed in order to rest for the following day, which meant only Hannah was
available.

Elijah sent one of the hall monitors to ask for Hannah to
meet him in the neutral area.  He could always count on her to be up for
reading in the library.  Last year, they spent a lot of time either studying
together or just enjoying a fire while they lost themselves in their books. 
She would always curl her feet under her legs as she read, almost like she was
trying to make herself into the smallest figure possible.  Hannah was tiny to
begin with, but when she curled up, she was practically invisible.

Hannah trotted down the hall in a gray oversized sweater,
her ponytail bouncing back and forth.  Her face was as joyful as ever.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“I was going to go to the library and everyone else ditched
me,” he said.  “I wondered if you wanted to go.”

“So I’m a last resort,” she said playfully.

“No, no!” Elijah stammered.  “It’s just…er.  You weren’t
around and…um…well, they were there, but they just…”

“I’ll get my bag,” Hannah laughed.  “Relax, Elijah.”  She
turned back toward her hall while Elijah wiped the sweat off his forehead.  He
was trying to not appear needy, but apparently, sounding non-committal was
going to get him into trouble.

Hannah and Elijah walked down the flight of stairs into the
main level, then the arena, and finally, into the library towering with books. 
There were a handful of other students, older mostly, who were reading archives
and narratives on elemental training to prepare for their end-of-term exams no
doubt, but for the most part, the library was fairly empty.  Elijah and Hannah
found a cozy spot under a large abstract painting of flames and what looked
like a large man screaming.  It must have been new since Elijah hadn’t noticed
it before.

Elijah picked out an old adventure book while Hannah reached
for a mystery.  After reading for almost an hour, Elijah grew restless.

“So how did you do this summer with the elements?”

“You mean was I able to move any?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“A little.  One day I tried to shift the water of a puddle
outside my house and got it to make ripples.  I was also able to garden a
little without touching the plants.  Although they were small sprouts and
pods.  Nothing major.”

“That’s pretty good,” Elijah responded.  “What about fire?”

Hannah shook her head.  “I have trouble with fire.  You?”

Elijah didn’t want to make Hannah feel bad, and more
importantly, he didn’t want to sound like he was bragging.  So instead he just
said, “I’m getting there.”

Hannah only smiled then changed the subject.  “So, have you
heard from Master Roddick yet?”

Elijah took in a deep breath.  “No.  I don’t think I’ll hear
from him until he gets back.”

“Did you ever find out what he’s doing?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry.  Do you not want to talk about it?”

Hannah’s quick apology made Elijah wonder if he had snapped
at her unintentionally.

“It’s not that,” Elijah said.  “I just don’t know what to
say.”  He was about to tell her about his awkward encounter with Roddick, but
that would raise suspicion about why he left Savenridge in the first place.  He
wanted nothing more than to talk with her right then about it, but he decided
not to.

Hannah studied him for a moment before she said, “Any
sightings of that creepy guy you were trying to show us yesterday?”

Elijah chuckled.  “No.  I think he just disappeared.”

“That’s concerning isn’t it?” said Hannah.

“I guess.”  He looked around.  “Actually, the last place I
saw him was in here.  Right over there.”  He pointed at the far wall by the
door to the lower level for older Novices.

“Well c’mon,” Hannah said.  She dropped her book on the
table nearby and grabbed Elijah’s hand, which made his heart beat just a little
quicker than normal.  “Let’s find him.”

Hannah and Elijah darted around the library like a couple of
toddlers playing hide and seek.  They peeked around the bookshelves and Hannah
squealed a few times when they ran into a few students unexpectedly.  Once they
began to get nasty looks from some of the students trying to read, they decided
it was time to be done.  They laughed all the way up the stairs.  Hannah clung
onto Elijah’s arm, still giggling and would lean into him every once in a while
trying to regain her balance, which was a little thrown off from laughing and
running around the library.

Elijah, meanwhile, was busy wondering whether or not to read
into Hannah’s actions.  Was this flirting?  Or was she just being friendly? 
Was she holding onto him for affection?  Or was this nothing?  Maybe he was
seeing something that wasn’t there.  Maybe it was nothing.  Or maybe it was
something.  Elijah became frustrated with all the guessing so he forced himself
to forget it.  Either way, he enjoyed the moment.

Monday morning, Elijah rolled out of bed at 6:30.  The
hallway to the washroom was much warmer than he remembered it being last year. 
The novice students on the hall seemed much more at ease as they walked
casually from their rooms to the washroom, although there were three times more
students, so it was still quite crowded.  Elijah wondered if the preliminary
students were as frantic and chaotic as last year.

Elijah felt more relaxed about this Monday because he was
attending his academic studies class rather than physical training, which was
last year’s Monday ritual.  Instead of being pounded each day by a large rubber
pillar or forced to escape out of a pit of foam blocks (which was much harder
than it sounded when Elijah tried to explain it to the Roddicks), he got to sit
in a classroom for five or six hours with frequent breaks.

Elijah got dressed and took the two large flights of stairs down
to the rooms inside the arena.  A few students who had physical training were
already stretching and warming up.  He entered the classroom along the far wall
labeled Novice Level One.  Paul and Hannah were already there, sitting in the
third row from the back.  They were discussing something when Elijah sat next
to them.

“Hey,” said Paul.  “You seen Porky anywhere?  He was
supposed to meet me by the dining hall.  Probably ditched me for a second
omelet.”

“Porky?” Hannah asked.

“Yeah.  Isaac.  You’ve seen him eat.  Anyway, you seen him
or not?” he said looking at Elijah.

“No.  I didn’t even go to the dining hall.”

“Figures.  So, did ya have a good time at the library?”

Elijah looked at Hannah who smiled sheepishly.

Paul rolled his eyes.  “Oh give me a break you two.  How
nerdy can you get!  Hey, Hannah and me were just talking about training.  What
do you think they’re gonna do for defense training?  Do you think they’ll
actually let us combat?”

Elijah shrugged.  “I’ll find out Wednesday.  Can you do
anything with the elements?”

“Sure I can!  Why, don’t tell me you can’t,” Paul said.

“I can manage,” said Elijah.

Just then, a tall girl with dark brown hair walked into the
classroom.  Paul started to say something but he looked up when Becca Uribe
headed toward them.

“Oh please don’t come over here,” whispered Paul.  “Quick,
put these two pencils in my ears and then clap them real hard.”

“Oh stop it!” said Hannah, waving Becca over.  “Be nice.”

“Seriously,” Elijah added.  “What’s she done to you?”

“Are you kidding?” Paul said.  “I—”

“Hey, Becca!” Hannah interrupted.  Paul huffed.

“Hi, Hannah,” Becca replied.  “Elijah, how are you?”

“I’m good.”

Paul didn’t make eye contact with Becca and drummed his
fingers on his desk.  He cleared his throat.

“Hello, Paul,” Becca said obligatorily.

Elijah and Hannah exchanged an awkward glance.

Becca noticed and talked to Elijah and Hannah directly as if
Paul was completely invisible.  “He’s mad at me because yesterday I caught him
telling lies to a few preliminary students, so I set the record straight.”

Paul snorted.  “I wasn’t telling lies!”

“You told them that you were the only one in our level who
could manipulate the elements,” Becca said.  “You were trying to show off.”

“I was not!  I only tried to help show the Preemies who they
could aspire to be like.”

“I sure as heck hope that you don’t mean you.”

“Better me than you,” Paul said.

Becca took a lightning fast glance at the back of the
classroom to see if the teacher was present, and when the coast was clear she
threw out her hands quickly and a sudden gust of wind knocked Paul out of his
seat.

“STOP DOING THAT!!!” Paul shouted as he gathered himself
back up.  He turned toward Elijah and Hannah, who had been looking back and
forth between Becca and Paul like watching a tennis match.  “This is why I
didn’t want her sitting here!”

“This can’t be any more embarrassing than in front of the Preliminaries,”
Becca said.  “I can’t imagine how that must’ve hurt your pride after you’d gone
on and on about how superior you were to—”

“GO!” Paul shouted as he turned bright pink.

“Fine,” said Becca with a smug smile.  “I’ll sit somewhere
else.  Good seeing you two,” she said in an overly pleasant voice to Elijah and
Hannah.

As soon as Becca left they looked toward Paul.

“What just—”

“I don’t want to talk about it!” Paul said bitterly.  “I’m
here to learn.”  He turned around to face the front.  Hannah and Elijah
exchanged a suppressed smile and then collected themselves as the teacher entered
the room.

This year’s academic studies teacher was a very old man who
looked like he should have retired a decade ago.  He was very short.  His head
was bald on the top, but he had a very bushy ring of gray hair around the
sides.  He had an even bushier mustache.  He walked in with a briefcase and had
a considerable waddle, very much like a duck.

“Good morning,” he said, out of breath.  “I’m Master
Constantine.”  He pulled out two textbooks and notes that looked like they were
written fifty years ago.  “Let’s begin now.”

The whole class turned around as Isaac burst through the
door panting.  He wheezed and coughed and made a ridiculous amount of noise
getting to his seat.  Amazingly, Master Constantine didn’t seem to notice as he
wrote on the chalkboard.

As Elijah turned back around to face the front, he suddenly
made eye contact with the cold gaze of Thomas, who sat in the very back just
behind him.  Elijah slowly turned back around and faced the front of the
classroom.

“Psst.”

Hannah didn’t look at Elijah.

“Psst.”

She still didn’t look.  Elijah slowly and slyly tapped her
on the shoulder.

“What?” she asked, keeping an eye on Master Constantine who
was writing lists of words on the board.

“It’s
him
,” Elijah said as softly as he could.  He
motioned in Thomas’s direction with his head ever so slightly.

Hannah looked up over Elijah’s head.  “Which one?” she
asked.  Although they knew most of the students in the class from the previous
year, there were still a few unfamiliar faces.

“He’s the one with long, dark hair who looks like a
vulture.”

Hannah looked up again then looked back with eyes a little
larger.  “Yikes!”

Paul looked back and asked what was going on.  Elijah and
Hannah both tried to communicate silently with Paul what they were talking
about.  Before long, the three of them were involved in a very slow, silent
conversation about Thomas during Master Constantine’s lesson on ancient
philosophy.

Elijah noticed they weren’t the only students in the
classroom trying to communicate silently.  Every time Constantine turned to
write on the board, a folded piece of paper in the front of the room flew to
the middle of the room and was returned on Constantine’s next turn. 
Additionally, a group of students on the opposite side of Elijah and Hannah and
Paul had apparently developed their own sign language during class and they
used it to converse with one another during the lesson.

Master Constantine was not only clueless about his classroom
during the lesson; he was also clueless about giving them any kind of break. 
He rambled on in a very high, monotone voice, stopping only to adjust his
glasses.  He neither asked questions nor called on students for three and a
half hours.  By the time they were dismissed for lunch, their rears were
practically glued to the seat.