Sunday morning came streaming through the blinds sooner than I was ready for. Aiden and I had talked on the porch until well past midnight, and the few hours of sleep I had managed to steal were fitful, as thoughts of the Order, the assessment, my identity, and my parents swam through my convoluted mind. Aiden had done a quick search on his phone, but couldn’t find anything linking anyone with those names to the Order; nor did he see any articles on a missing person by the name of Rowan Fulman.
Aiden. Perhaps nearly as much as the thought of my parents, that night he crossed my mind as well – the fact that he was connected to them in some capacity, yes, but also his warm, yet sorrowful eyes, his close embrace, his scent… Those thoughts I tried to push away the hardest; they confused me and added further complexity to an already-overwhelming situation.
As I stood at the kitchen sink, mixing instant coffee into a mug of cold water, I briefly thought about visiting Evelyn, but my watch advised me otherwise. 7:32 a.m. I took a seat at the kitchen table, then looked inside the mug in front of me, crinkling my nose at the clumpy, brown mixture I was stirring. Furrowing my brow, I focused intently on the cold, muddy liquid, willing it to warm up. A moment later, steam was curling from the top of the mug and the instant coffee grounds dissolved easily into the hot water. Satisfied, I took a tentative sip, then immediately spit the scalding water back into the mug. I’d have to work on fine-tuning that particular skill. Out of time, I tossed the near-boiling liquid down the sink and grabbed my jacket and helmet from the front door. I didn’t want to keep my eager spectators waiting.
***
Twenty-five minutes later, Savannah was walking briskly beside me down the basement corridor, occasionally touching my arm as she spoke. I tried to resist the compelling urge to tear my arm away from her.
“I’m sure you’re terribly nervous, but I just want to assure you that there’s nothing to be anxious about,” she said in what I assumed she thought to be a comforting tone. “You’re going to be great!” Her voice sounded a little shrill; if anything, she was the one who seemed nervous.
“Now, there will be a slightly-larger-than-usual group of people there this morning, but you won’t have to worry about introductions until after the assessment. They, and I, will be observing from above, both for your comfort and our safety.” She chuckled as I gave her a sideways look. “If you’re curious, it’s that tinted rectangular ballistic glass about halfway up the wall of the Hydromancy quadrant; if at any time you get nervous, just look up there and you’ll see me cheering you on.”
I gritted my teeth. Sure, Savannah, there’s no one else in the world I would want as my cheerleader than the two-faced liar who’s been hiding my identity and the names of my parents.
We arrived at the steel door.
“I’m going to let you in the arena, then head upstairs to the observation deck with the other evaluators. Please head to the Auromantic area first. Where the two plexiglass partitions meet a few feet before the center of the pentagon, you’ll find a clear door that leads inside. You won’t have to wait long. In a few moments, you’ll hear instructions over the intercom from Ben, the Lead Evaluator and test proctor.” She punched a code into the keypad, and it buzzed. Then she turned to leave, only to pause again, as though she had forgotten something.
“We’re just so excited to have you join us, Aspen,” she practically purred as she turned around to face me. “And I wanted to tell you that I have secured permission to personally put together and oversee a special investigation team to try and figure out who your parents might have been. We won’t stop until we get some sort of lead on your family and your identity.” She gave me a tight hug then, and I genuinely thought for a moment that I might punch her in her phony face.
Thankfully, I managed to keep my arms stiffly at my sides.
She took a step back, gave me one more profoundly-artificial smile, then quickly turned to head for a side door that led to a dim staircase.
My blood was boiling. I clenched my fists so tightly my nails started to cut into my palms. Don’t let your anger towards Savannah get the better of you, Aiden’s advice from the other night reminded me.
Easier said than done, I thought in annoyance.
I yanked the door to the arena open, striding through the Terramantic quadrant over to the clear purple-tinted acrylic door near the center of the arena that led to the Auromancy triangle. Inside, there were dead leaves scattered in a crunchy brown layer across the grass, and the gnarled, uprooted oak tree was even bigger up close than I had realized the other day. I felt a very light breeze blowing from the metal vent placed about ten feet above the back wall of the section, though the purple flag on the flagpole was hanging motionlessly. At the base of the flagpole, embedded in the grass, was a large stone compass rose, marking directions in chiseled black letters.
Just then, microphone feedback whined loudly through the arena’s loudspeaker. I whipped around to look at the room behind the thick two-way glass across the arena, doing my best not to openly glare. There was Savannah in her bright-green blouse, standing in the center of a line of about twenty-five people. Everyone in the room was dressed in formal business attire; the men were all in two-piece suits and the women wore dark dress pants or tailored skirts. They seemed cramped in the small space. I wondered if anyone else in that room knew my parents’ names like Savannah did, whether the whole lot of people up there were laughing at me, enjoying their little secret.
A man’s voice came through the speakers then, and I could see it was the thin, middle-aged man in glasses who was standing several feet away from Savannah.
“Good morning. My name is Doctor Ben Stenson, Head Evaluator and Proctor of these three sets of assessments this morning. Let’s begin.”
No small talk needed here, I thought.
“The first portion of this multi-Elemental assessment evaluates the subject’s Auromantic ability, taking special consideration of the fact that the subject remains entirely untrained to this date.” He looked at Savannah as he spoke that last part, as though he had said it on her behalf. “Please retrieve the safety goggles hanging on the handle of the door behind you.”
Compliantly, I walked over to the door and took them, trying not to let the rubber strap become ensnared in my hair. Once the goggles were on snugly, the voice spoke again.
“Commencing Test A-1 now. Please manipulate the breeze sufficiently enough to stimulate the purple flag on the pole.”
Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I listened to the soft sound of the breeze passing through the vent above, then concentrated on intensifying it further. The flag didn’t stir. I glanced over at the observation window, suddenly feeling self-conscious. If I can knock over a truck, I can certainly make a flag wave, I reminded myself. I focused on the gentle, unending currents of air lightly seeping through the metal vent. I could sense, in a way, that they had no beginning or end, no destination or goal. I wanted to give them a goal, to breathe some structure into something that felt otherwise formless.
The breeze strengthened then, and the flag danced lightly in the air, revealing the black and purple triangular symbol for Air.
“Auromantic Abilities confirmed,” Dr. Stenson’s dull voice stated over the intercom. “Test A-2: Please adjust the wind’s direction from northeast to southwest.”
Glancing at the compass at my feet, I waved my arm in front of my face and the flag darted in the opposite direction. The wind also picked up slightly, blowing my hair around my face. Dead leaves were skipping about my feet. I tried to suppress my own self-satisfied smile.
“Test A-3: Please reposition the fallen tree using only air currents. For your safety, do not stand near or around the bough during the exercise.”
My jaw dropped slightly. I glanced at the dead tree, which was about twenty-five feet long. The roots itself, which still had clumps of dirt hanging from the tendrils, were taller than me. Glancing over my shoulder at the window again, I saw Savannah staring at me intently. Several people in her close proximity had taken a break from their clipboards to watch me, their synchronized pens hovering in anticipation above the paper.
I swallowed tightly, then cleared my throat, concentrating on feeling the wind blowing through the enclosed space. It had picked up speed and intensity, whipping around me. The flag was blowing wildly; the branches of the standing trees were swaying and bending against the gusts. But the massive tree trunk didn’t budge. Despite the wind, sweat dripped down the back of my neck from my nerves and the exertion. As if in response to my discomfort, the air around me cooled, dropping almost to a frigid temperature. A tone chimed from the loudspeaker, but there was no supplemental explanation.
The room was freezing now, as cold gusts of air blew around me. The cold sweat on the back of my neck felt as though it would freeze against my skin. I started shivering. Distracted by my own discomfort, the gusts of wind abruptly slowed. The purple flag hung almost-lifelessly again. I looked back at the observation deck. Savannah was showing something on her clipboard to the head evaluator. He nodded, then spoke into the microphone again.
“Test A3 terminated; supplemental information on record adequate to fulfill requirements. Test A4 was prematurely initiated, however recorded temperature data was sufficient enough to consider as rendered complete.” Most of what he was saying was gibberish to my ears, but I assumed his comments were more for the evaluators than me. “Auromantic portion of assessment has now concluded. Please remove your safety goggles. You may leave the Auromantic chamber and head to the green-designated Terramantic triangle.”
Suddenly Savannah’s voice cut in over the intercom. “Aspen, do you need anything? Bathroom break, water?”
Teeth still chattering lightly, I briefly considered asking for a hot drink, then changed my mind. I didn’t want to accept anything from that woman, not even tea.
“I’m fine!” I yelled at the window, then shook my head to indicate ‘no’, in case they couldn’t hear me through the high plexiglass walls of the Auromantic training area. She nodded, then handed the microphone back to Dr. Stenson, who looked slightly annoyed even from where I was standing.
I took off the goggles, painfully ripping out a few strands of hair in the process, which only added to my aggravation. I knew I wasn’t supposed to show off in the arena – Aiden made that much clear enough – but I didn’t like feeling like a failure, either.
I could have moved that tree, I couldn’t help but think sullenly as I left the chamber and headed to the neighboring green Terramantic section to the right.
You’re not here to show off or get a gold star from these people, I chided myself. You’re here to get closer to the people who hold the answers you need.
As I stepped into the green triangle, which was demarcated by small green flags on a nylon rope fence, I surveyed the pockmarked ground, which was covered with various holes and strangely-shaped rock formations. The test administrator spoke again.
“Because significant Terramantic aptitude has already been demonstrated and confirmed by the test subject, we will omit tests T-1 and T-2 for the sake of time constraints,” he stated. “Commencement of T-3. Please raise the ground beneath you into an elevated platform, ensuring that you also reinforce the dirt underneath. Failure to do so may cause substantial terrain instability, which could result in injury.”
Dumbfounded, I looked at the ground, then back up to the windowpane of scrutinizing faces. “I have no idea how to do that!” I called up to them. The line of evaluators glanced around and started speaking amongst themselves.
A woman from the back row of observers stepped forward to take the microphone from Dr. Stenson. She was small in stature, with short-cropped blonde hair.
“Hey, Aspen,” she said into the microphone. Feedback crackled through the speakers. “My name is Eileen. I’m a Terramantic instructor who recently transferred here from the D.C. Chapter.” Immediately my chest tightened as I remembered Aiden’s family, and possibly my own family at one point, were part of that division.
“We don’t normally provide assistance during assessments, but since you have no background or guidance in Terramancy, I’m happy to be of service.” I nodded up at her stiffly, clenching my fists at my side.
“I’d like you to concentrate on the ground beneath you. There is no concrete beneath the grass in that section of the arena; only soil from which the grass grows, and below that, a subsoil of iron, clay, and various metallic compounds. Beneath that, the ground becomes firmer and more solid, until you reach the bedrock.” She made a downward motion with her hand. “It sometimes helps Terramancers to kneel, so they can ground themselves closer to the earth to feel its layers.” I obediently did so, lowering myself to one knee. While I did not have a positive impression of the Order, and by default, its members, I couldn’t help but appreciate her guidance in that moment.
Eileen continued. “You should be able to sense the density of the earth below you and discern the various components of the terrain separately.” I pressed my hand against the ground, as I did with Aiden in the forest. She was right; I could almost picture the layers of Earth beneath me.
“For this exercise, you will not push or carve, figuratively speaking,” she explained, “but rather you will pull. However, as you do pull upwards, you’ll feel a hollowness beneath you as the layers of dirt and rock are displaced. It is very important that you guide surrounding components to fill the gap from the overburden, otherwise the ground may become unstable and crumble beneath you.”
Yeah, I know all about that, I thought drily, thinking back to the other day with Aiden in the forest.
I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind until I found the hard, dense bedrock several dozens of feet below. Slowly, cautiously, I mentally tugged on it, causing the ground to rumble below me. I took a deep breath, praying I wouldn’t eventually have to be harness-lifted out of a chasm in the ground, then tugged firmly, ensuring that there were no empty pockets between the layers of displaced Earth. The ground below me swiftly jerked upward, and I toppled backwards from the force – as well as my own shock.
Sitting on the ground slightly bewildered, my feet splayed out in a wide angle in front of me, I surveyed my immediate surroundings. I was sitting on a small column of Earth, raised just above the rest of the field by about two feet. My eyes widened. From the window, Eileen was beaming at me proudly while several evaluators around her scribbled furiously into their clipboards.
“Test T-3 complete,” boomed the head evaluator’s voice from the loudspeakers.
Aiden’s voice sounded in my head then: The more powerful they realize you are, the more they will try to use you. I shook my head to clear it, dizzy with pride from my success. I can’t believe I actually did that!
I stood up carefully, feeling a little taller than before – and not just because the ground below me was raised. Dr. Stenson’s voice sounded over the loudspeakers then.
“Please note that an evaluator will be present on the testing ground for this last part of the Terramantic assessment.”
Just beneath the observation window, a section of the unpolished stone that comprised the back wall of the Hydromantic quadrant swung open on a nearly invisible hinge, revealing a hidden door that seamlessly blended into the dry rock several feet to the left of the waterfall. An older man in thick black coveralls and a white t-shirt emerged. He had a green Terramancer’s tattoo on the inside of his left forearm. He gave me a quick nod as he crossed the arena floor, then walked over to the small, steel container in the center of the green triangle we were standing in. Each of its four sides was about two feet wide by two feet high, and it was filled with light pinkish-brown rocks.
“These are feldspar rocks,” he stated as I approached. I didn’t know what that meant.
“T-4, the final Terramantic assessment, will now commence,” came Dr. Stenson’s dull voice over the speaker. “Using the molecular excitation method, please try to attempt a state change by converting these rocks to their molten state.”
“Terramancers can do that?” I asked incredulously. The gray-haired man standing beside the steel container nodded.
I looked across at the observation deck as Eileen once again stepped forward to take the mic from the proctor. Savannah, also a Terramancer, had a slight look of indignation as she did so.
“What Ben means by ‘molecular excitation’ is that the faster the molecules move, the hotter the stones will become. To achieve this, you will need to add pressure to the rocks, enough that the resulting friction will cause the feldspar’s molecules themselves to become excited, releasing adequate heat for the state change.”
Nodding, but still feeling somewhat bewildered, I took a step towards the steel container. Looking to the evaluator with the small hope that he might offer an extra word of assistance, he offered nothing but stony silence.
Ha – ‘stony’. I’ve got to remember to text that to Aiden later. The man in front of me shifted on his feet impatiently.
Taking a deep breath, I peered inside. The pink rocks were roughly-cut, ranging in size from marbles to cantaloupes. I really wasn’t sure what to do so I squinted at them, imagining I was squeezing them tightly with my hands. Nothing. I furrowed my brow deeper, feeling a little stupid as a scrunched-up look of consternation crossed my face. Again, nothing. I sighed in frustration. Try something different, I chided myself, trying to clear my head. Ben had said ‘molecular excitation’ – I clearly had to think smaller in my approach. I stood there a moment, considering the trillions and trillion of atoms packed into each one of the rocks in that container, locked placidly together in crystalline matrices.
“So, what happens if I disrupt that?” I asked aloud to one of the rocks. The man beside me awkwardly shifted again, but said nothing. I wasn’t terribly concerned about appearing crazy at that very moment. I was fascinated. I locked my eyes on one of the smaller rocks at the top of the pile, imagining again that I was squeezing it. But this time, I didn’t envision my own hand squeezing the rock; what effect could my soft palm have on a solid rock? Instead, I imagined the force of the air around me pressing against the rock, crushing it from all sides. I imagined the molecules themselves being jammed together, their staunch, crystalline blocks disturbed from the inside out. Several long moments passed.
Suddenly, to my delight, the rock began glowing faintly, a soft orange light emanating from the inside.
It suddenly dawned on me that, as a Pyromancer, it would be fairly easy to harness even more heat from the stones once it had been created by the initial Terramantic pressure and friction.
Does this mean that it’s theoretically possible to make heat without a separate source of Fire?
My curiosity urged me to test the theory, but I knew I couldn’t let them find out that I could manipulate Fire. Using all the restraint I had, I ever so gently coerced the stone’s growing heat, stimulating the high temperature building up in the core even further with a slight nudge that I hoped would be imperceptible to the evaluators. It worked; the stone began glowing brighter.
Entranced, I focused on the slightly larger rock next to it, and several more rocks next to that, simultaneously applying the same force to those from all sides while adding the tiniest prod of Fire. I glanced up at the evaluators’ window; they were still watching me like chiseled statues. Savannah’s hands were pressed against the window as she craned her neck to see better. I remembered the black file with my parents’ names on her desk, and her counterfeit, self-serving smile as she lied to me that morning and said she’d help me find my parents, as if she didn’t already know exactly who they were.
The rocks grew brighter, until they glowed almost white, then suddenly ignited into bright yellow flames.
“Several of the rocks are undergoing a plasma breakdown,” the evaluator beside me spoke into a radio on his shoulder.
I stopped then, unsure if that was a good or bad thing. The man and I both leaned forward to get a closer look. The flames immediately receded from the half-dozen or so rocks, then began dimming from the outside in, from blinding-white to yellow to orange to red. As the light retreated inwardly, the glowing surfaces of the rocks were replaced by charred blackness; the very center of the rocks remained red.
“Seven of the rocks, one as large as my fist, ignited,” the man spoke into his radio again. “All of them have molten centers; two of the smallest rocks, with initial diameters of slightly less than one inch, are almost completely molten.”
“Is that a good thing?” I asked him curiously.
He took his thumb off the talk button and replied, “Let’s just say that only about five percent of Terramancers can do what you just did, and I don’t think even Eileen could have managed that in the same amount of time that you achieved. By the way, this probably goes without saying, but don’t touch the rocks. They’re really hot.”
With that, he walked away, heading back over to the hidden door beneath the evaluator’s observation window.
Shit. So much for holding back, I thought ruefully.