The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) (51 page)

Both Toby and Bernard were so surprised at Elijah’s
appearance that they didn’t have time to react.  Elijah harnessed the anger
that was already consuming him and shot a stream of fire toward Bernard and
knocked him over, engulfing his cloak in flames.

Chapter
24:

SERVANTS OF THE MAGI

Apparently, Toby Bradshaw was not as ready for a fight as he
appeared.  As soon as Elijah’s flame blasted past him and hit Bernard, he took
off running through the forest.  Becca and Paul quickly followed and chased him
into the woods yelling and screaming.

Bernard doused himself quickly and then faced Elijah.  He
didn’t hesitate.  Just as he did with Thomas, Bernard shot a bolt of electricity
toward Elijah.  Since Olivia and Master Young had been preparing Elijah for
defensive warfare, especially with the fire element, Elijah knew what to do
with electricity.  Making matters easier, the force from their bolts was much
stronger and quicker.  Bernard’s bolt seemed slow.  Elijah reacted quickly.  He
created a stream of water that countered the bolt.  The moment their streams
met, it created loud pops, and steam sizzled at the site of the connection.

To Elijah’s surprise, Bernard didn’t adapt his strategy.  He
continued forcing the bolt of electricity toward Elijah, and each time Elijah was
able to react even quicker.  He wondered if he could actually try to go on the
offensive and corner Bernard into surrender.  Master Young had been teaching
him how to block attack.  It wouldn’t be that hard with Bernard reacting so
slowly.

During their battle, Elijah heard Isaac say he was going to
get help.  That left Adam and Hannah somewhere behind him, but he didn’t dare
turn around to see where they were.

Over and over, Bernard attacked with the electric bolt.  It
was as if he didn’t know anything different.  Elijah didn’t change either.  He
even began to have a stream of water ready, created by another hand, as the
battle continued.

Once their fight became routine, Elijah took opportunities
to take a peek around.  Hannah was with Thomas on the ground.  She had pulled
him further away from the fight so he wouldn’t get struck again.  Elijah
couldn’t see Adam, so he hoped he was out of harm’s way.

Elijah finally decided to go on the offensive.  Bernard was
out of ideas, and if Elijah could unleash enough power through his elements, he
could capture Bernard.

Bernard again shot a bolt of electricity toward Elijah, and
Elijah countered again with his stream of water, but from his other hand, he
shot forward his own stream of fire.  To Elijah’s surprise, Bernard swiftly
blocked the fire this time and then flung his hands forward with enough force
that Elijah was knocked backward into the rocky mountainside, knocking the wind
out of him.

Before Elijah had gotten a chance to get up, Bernard
unleashed a whirlwind of offensive attacks.  He attacked with a flame, which
Elijah mostly doused.  A small particle caught his left boot on fire, which he
quickly rubbed off.  Then, Bernard sent a bolt from one hand and a blast of
wind from another.  Elijah countered the bolt like he had before, but he
couldn’t react quickly enough to the wind and it slammed him hard against the
rocks again.  He felt his insides slam against his body as he contorted from
the impact.  Elijah tried to fight back with another stream of fire, but
Bernard only dodged it.  He sent two more quick blasts of wind at Elijah.  One
hit him right in the chest, and he was pinned against the mountain.  The other
missed his chest, but hit his shoulder instead.  The blast caused it to
separate when it hit the mountainside, and Elijah screamed in pain.

Apparently, Adam was close by.  He sent his own stream of
water toward Bernard, but Bernard simply shoved it aside and then sent a quick
gust toward Adam, sending him flying backwards.  Elijah was getting weaker, and
he knew his fight was almost over.  He couldn’t even focus on an emotion to
access the elements appropriately.  He was helpless.

Bernard continued to send short, intense gusts at Elijah
that continued to slam him against the mountain.  Bernard wasn’t trying to kill
him.  He could have done that already because Elijah had stopped putting up a
fight.  Bernard was just beating him up for whatever reason.  He got close to
him.

“What do you know, Elijah?” Bernard said in a high whisper. 
“What have you and Olivia been planning?”  He sent another small gust and
Elijah’s head hit the rocks again.  Elijah was close to blacking out.  “Just
tell me and I’ll stop.”  Elijah swung at him with his fists.  If he couldn’t
hurt him with elements, at least he could get one last punch in.  But he
missed.  Bernard gave him another blast which made Elijah throw up.  “I know
you know something,” Bernard whispered.  Elijah spat at him.  “Fine,” Bernard
said.  He stood up straight and prepared to attack Elijah again, but before he
could, two soldiers and Master Lopez ran out of the opening of the passageway
and surrounded them.

Elijah grabbed at his abdomen with his good hand.  Hannah
left Thomas and came running to Elijah.  When Adam picked himself up, he also
came to Elijah’s aid.

Bernard looked panicked.  “Thank goodness you guys came,”
Bernard said to the soldiers and Master Lopez.  “I was patrolling the area—on
council’s orders of course—and I saw this young man attack that young man over
there.”  He pointed at Thomas.  “I tried to get him to stop, but he and his
friends attacked me as well.  I’m glad you came before I had to use too much
force.”

Hannah looked as furious as Elijah had ever seen her.  “HE’S
LYING!!!” she screamed.  “He attacked Thomas because he was plotting with Toby
to break into the barracks!”

“Silly girl,” Bernard said.  He turned to Master Lopez.  “You
really should get a better handle on these children.”

“It’s true, sir,” said Adam, joining in.  “What Hannah said
is the truth.  He attacked first.  And he is planning something with the
Maliphists.”

Master Lopez considered the situation.  Three teenagers
versus an assistant to the Savenridge council.  He looked at the pleading eyes
of both Hannah and Adam and studied Elijah, who was in considerable pain.

“May I ask why you were patrolling the area outside the
city?” Lopez asked Bernard.

“I have my orders,” Bernard replied.  “And I really don’t
think I need answer to you.”

Lopez scratched his face.  “So I guess we’re stuck.  That
is, until Thomas wakes up.  You should stay with us here…what was your name?”

“It’s Bernard.  And I’m not staying anywhere.”

“You can either stay here until this is straightened out,”
Lopez said, his eyes suddenly very stern, “or you can walk away and admit
guilt, which then I will have grounds to capture you by force.”  He turned to
the soldiers.  “We’ll need to get Thomas and Elijah to the infirmary.  Can you
two take them there?”  They nodded.  “Mr. Bernard, you may accompany me to my
quarters where we will talk.”

Just then, they heard a hoarse voice yelling insults coming
from the forest.  It grew louder and louder until Paul appeared carrying Toby
by his pants.  If Elijah hadn’t hurt so bad, he would have laughed out loud. 
Becca followed behind.

“Get your hands off me!” Toby yelled, swinging at Paul as he
dangled in the air.

“Shut up, Preemie,” Paul said.  He threw Toby down to the
ground at the feet of Master Lopez.

Toby scampered up and looked at the soldiers, one carrying
Thomas and the other escorting Elijah, and Lopez, who at that very moment
flexed his enormous muscles and looked as intimidating as ever.

“It’s not my fault!” Toby said.  He pointed to Bernard.  “He
made me do it.  I didn’t want anything to do with the Maliphists, but he forced
me to against my will.”

“Did he?” Master Lopez said, looking at Bernard, who at this
point was looking quite ill.  “I think we’ve heard enough here to send over
another soldier.”

Bernard stammered, “I was just following orders!  From the
council!  They told me to!  Ask them!  They’ll tell you I was just following
orders!”

“I’m sure you were,” Lopez smirked.  “Follow me to my
quarters.  And don’t either of you think of running.  I used to be a soldier myself,
and I’m dying to revisit my skills.”

Elijah relaxed finally, knowing he and his friends were
safe.  He let his head rest on the rocks as his friends surrounded him.  His
eyes began to blur into a haze.  The last thing he could remember was Paul
shouting rather inappropriate insults at Toby as he was ushered back into the
barracks.

The following afternoon, Elijah woke up in the infirmary. 
He blinked over and over until his eyes focused on a plain white ceiling above
him.  He felt worse than he remembered feeling the night before.  His shoulder
was still hurting, although it felt better being in a sling, but his entire
chest and abdomen felt like they were on fire.  Just moving was excruciating.

He remembered being in the infirmary before, but last year
it was his uncle Stan who was injured, not him.  Now that he was the person
lying in the bed, he thought the infirmary was even worse.  Everything was dead
quiet except when someone would walk by, and then, the loud thumping that
echoed down the halls was enough to drive him crazy.  It also didn’t help his
splitting headache.

The room was completely empty except for a chair at the far
corner where Hannah Maybury was sleeping, tucked into a ball with a thin
blanket wrapped around her.  She was dead to the world.  Elijah couldn’t even
see her breathing.

“Did you stay here all night?” he asked in a husky voice
that surprised him.

Hannah opened her eyes and looked at the room, confused for
a second.  She rubbed her mouth.

“Yes.”  Hannah walked over to him and tidied the bed, which
Elijah thought was pointless since he was in it, but he let her anyway.

“What happened?” Elijah asked.

“You have some pretty bad bruising on your chest and
stomach,” Hannah replied.  “They say you’re going to be okay.  Master Roddick
stopped by to see you, but you were asleep and I said that I would stay so he
could be with his family.”

“Thomas?”

“Bernard’s bolt got him pretty badly.  It wasn’t strong
enough to kill him, but they say he’ll be in here a while.”

“I can’t believe he risked his life for all of us,” Elijah
said, feeling awful for not seeing Thomas for who he was.  All Thomas had done
was give him a creepy stare before the beginning of the year and then act odd. 
And all the time, he was trailing Toby, gaining information so he could tell
Button.  Thomas saved all of their lives, and most likely, no one would ever
know it.

“A couple of us wrote him a note,” Hannah said.  “Isaac and
Adam and I.  Becca too, I think.  Just a thank you for everything.  We wanted
to tell him in person, but he’s still unconscious.”

“That’s a good idea,” Elijah said.  “What about everyone
else?”

“They’re fine,” Hannah said.  She put her hand on his
forehead.  “You’re a bit warm.  Why don’t you get some rest?  Do you need
something to drink?”

“Water if that’s okay.”

Hannah smiled and then left to get water.  Elijah never did
get to ask Hannah about her interest in him, but he was glad he hadn’t. 
Roddick was right.  There was plenty of time for that.  He liked what he had,
which was a friend who watched over him throughout the night.

While Hannah was out getting him something to drink, Master Roddick
stopped by.  He carried with him a paper sack and held it up.

“Brought you something to eat if you ever get sick of the
food here,” he said.  “I hope it’s okay, but I told Miranda and the girls to
wait at home.  I wasn’t sure how you’d be feeling.”

“I’m fine,” Elijah said.  “I’m pretty sore, but if they want
to say hello, I’d love to see them.”

“I’ll let them know when I go back,” Roddick said.  Hannah
walked in with the water.

“Oh.  I’m sorry,” she said.  “I’ll wait outside.”

“Nonsense!” Roddick responded.  “You got yourself a good
friend here I see,” Roddick said and then winked at Elijah so that Hannah
couldn’t see.  Elijah tried hard not to make an expression.

“So I’ve just heard that there was some excitement at the
barracks last night,” Roddick said.  “Some kid named Toby was sent back to
Malpetra and Bernard was sent to Valcore.  Who knew that ol’ Bernard would be
one of them?  Not that I knew him well.”

“He was sent to Valcore already?” Hannah asked.  “Don’t they
usually let them plead their case to the council?”

“Apparently they didn’t think he needed to do that,” Roddick
replied.  “I talked to one of the soldiers who was on duty last night at the
barracks and he said that Marcus Riley put in an order to send Bernard to
Valcore immediately.”

Hannah looked quite upset, but she held her tongue.

“Didn’t Bernard work for Master Riley?” Elijah asked.

“He did,” Roddick replied.

“And he didn’t get a trial?”

“Nope.  Is that upsetting to you?” Roddick asked with a
curious look on his face.

“It just seems odd,” Elijah said.  “Every criminal we’ve
ever studied about has gotten a chance to plead their case to the council.  And
this guy worked for the council for years, but
he
doesn’t get one?”

“I wouldn’t read too much into it,” Roddick said.  “They
know what they’re doing.  I’m sure they had their reasons.  It may have been
too dangerous to keep him around.”

“I suppose,” Elijah said, unconvinced.  There was something
strange about the other night.  Elijah wondered what the council was trying to
hide by getting rid of Bernard so fast.  “It all is very strange.  Plus, how
did Toby just wander in from Malpetra unnoticed?”

Roddick shook his head.  “I don’t know.  Seems like a total
breakdown in the system.  Which actually brings me to some even more upsetting
news.  We were all informed, as guardians of Magi-in-training, that Mr. Button
has been asked to resign his post as supervisor.”