“Wake up!” I pounded on Hael’s bedroom door. “Up, up, up. Only three days to live. You can sleep when you’re dead.”
“Go away,” came a muffled voice from inside the room.
“No way. Your gods are already up. It’s time for you to join them outside.”
A series of clunks sounded from beyond the door, and Hael yanked it open. His dark eyes peered at me under narrowed eyelids. His dreadlocks fell over his shoulders. He tossed a few out of his face. “You’re bossy. You know that?”
“People keep telling me that, but I don’t believe it.” I turned and headed from the house, calling over my shoulder, “Outside in five minutes please!”
He mumbled something I didn’t hear before slamming the door. I doubted it was complimentary.
When I stepped outside, the fresh air energized me. My skin tingled with excitement about the day ahead of me. I wouldn’t be killing Mages—sadly. But if I had my way, I’d learn how to perform that task better. I bounced up and down on the grass, barely containing my energy.
The air smelled fresher here, like dirt and rain and sky. I breathed in deeply through my nose and felt a smile dance across my face. Tension drained from my muscles, replaced by renewed confidence.
With Ra barely in the sky and Solaris still at the horizon, the world had a reddish tint. Dew drops clinging to the grass sparkled red. Crimson glowed on the faces of Believers walking one way or the other along the dirt road. Although it was early, the day had already begun here. Unlike the inner city, which was occupied almost entirely by Nonbelievers, the Believer village hadn’t shut down its normal operations in light of the Vision.
The exception was schooling, since many Believers attended the University. The University was unmatched in any field except religion, so they could find classes that didn’t violate their belief system. But it was inside the city and shut down until who knew when.
Right now, that meant Hael was out of school and available.
After I’d been outside for seven minutes—I was just on my way back inside to drag him out—Hael strode from the house looking like he’d been awake for hours. He’d pulled his dreadlocks back into a thick ponytail. His brown eyes shone brightly in the sunlight, and his feet bounced over the grass as he approached.
As I’d been the first time I’d seen him, again I was surprised at how eerily he looked like Jin. The main difference between them, besides the age gap and the hair, was that Hael seemed to be constantly cheery.
“So why am I awake at this ungodly hour when school’s been canceled until the end of time?” Hael asked.
“Will you teach me the thing with the comm unit?” I said.
He stared at my comm. His brow crinkled. “What thing?”
“Last time I saw you, the comm unit jumped right into your hand. How’d you do that?”
He pursed his lips. “I’d like to teach you that. Really, I would. But you wouldn’t believe me if I explained it.”
“Try me.”
His voice was flat when he said, “The gods helped me.”
“Come on. Be serious.” I unhooked my comm, dropped it on the ground, and held my hand out over it. “Now what?”
Hael tilted his face toward Ra. “Now, you ask the gods to channel your power, so you can call the comm toward you.”
I stared at him without speaking. If there were gods up there, they had no more to do with elemental practice than they did with any other science. And that’s all we had to rely on right now: science. There was no evidence of gods. In fact, there was evidence to the contrary—with Pace dead and the countdown clock ticking downward. Since my father was a Seer, I had to assume he’d believed in them. And where was he now? Dead too.
Even if the gods existed, they’d released control of our fates long ago.
Hael chuckled. “I’m serious. Although since you’re new at this, it might be better to wait until both suns are up. And it’s best if one of them is at their high point in the sky.”
“Elemental practice is a science—not a religion.” I thought he might have flinched when the word science left my mouth. I contemplated calling this whole thing a mistake and suggesting he go back to bed.
We were silent for long enough that I found myself shifting my weight from foot to foot. I dug through my brain for something to say to break the awkwardness.
“So,” I said, “Loken keeps telling me how my ability is the harnessing of my internal energy into something outward. I can feel myself doing that, even without help from your gods.”
“You don’t need them for basic practice, no. But to access your ability fully, you do. The gods don’t belong to just the Believers, any more than the grass or the air does. We’re just the ones who’ve recognized them.” He gestured with his hands as he spoke. His motions became jerky, showing his aggravation.
“Then why don’t I see Believers doing amazing things with their abilities all the time, if that’s all it takes?” I knew I was pushing him further than I should, but his position made no sense. Elemental practice was a science, always had been.
“I didn’t say that’s all it takes. Faith is just a part of it. There’s also knowledge, practice, and inherent ability.” His face relaxed a touch. “Have you ever done something you didn’t think you could when you were thinking about them?”
I imagined the glass back at the Council shattering outward. I could have sworn it happened a split second before I actually touched the glass—a theory that was supported by the fact that it hadn’t cut me at all. In that desperate moment, when I’d been worried about Loken being burnt to a crisp, I’d called on Hael’s gods. And it hadn’t escaped me that I’d said a prayer just before attacking the lady Mage as well.
But those were just coincidences. I had nothing but coincidences in favor of his gods, but hard evidence—in the form of a dead brother—in favor of no gods.
“No,” I said. “There have been times when I’ve thought of the gods, and then my ability exceeded my expectations. But those were also times when I was desperate. Desperation makes things happen, makes people stronger and more capable.”
He raised a solo eyebrow.
This conversation was going nowhere. Time to change the subject. “For argument’s sake, let’s say I believe in your gods. Wh—”
“The world’s gods.”
“Right.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “The world’s gods. Let’s say I believe in them. What are the mechanics behind making the comm unit come toward me?”
“That depends. What do you see when you’re accessing your ability?”
“I can see ether in the air,” I said excitedly. My chest puffed with pride. “Like little blue specks around everything.”
To my surprise, Hael did not look impressed. He frowned. “When you are ready to fully access your ability, you won’t see the blue specks any more, unless you’re actually looking for them.”
I stared at him, waiting for him to explain.
He continued. “If you were learning to breathe for the first time, you’d think about your lungs, about the breathing rhythms that are most comfortable—the same way you probably did when you first learned to swim. But since breathing is second nature to you, you don’t think about it. You don’t have to think about the mechanics of it. But your lungs work just as well anyway—in fact, better than they would if you tried to make yourself breathe. It’s easier when you let it come naturally.”
“And that’s how I want to be with ether—so comfortable that I don’t notice the blue flecks at all?”
“Exactly.”
“How do I get there?”
One side of Hael’s mouth quivered, like he was trying to keep from laughing. “Faith.”
“What’s my second option?”
“Mediocrity.”
I scowled at him. “Let’s just work on the mechanics for now, and you can lecture me on ignoring the mechanics later.”
“Okay.” He laughed, showing off that very Jin-like smile. “It’s pretty simple actually. You can control the ether around you. All those little blue specks.”
“But I’m not touching them. I can only control ether that I’m touching.”
He gave me a knowing smile. “Ah, but you are touching them—indirectly. You’re touching everything. There is no space that’s completely empty. There’s air between you and the ether surrounding that comm unit.” He pointed at my comm on the ground. “And more importantly, there’s ether between you and that comm. Some of that ether is touching you. Some of it is touching more ether. And some of it is touching the comm.”
“So it’s like a chain of stuff from me to the comm.”
“Mm-hmm.” He nodded and reached his hand toward it. The comm shot upward into his palm.
I snatched the device from him and tossed it on the ground. Its smooth, black surface formed a small circle. The digital screen on its face was now blank, dark except for the countdown clock running backward in small red digits.
Blue specks snaked around it, and around my hand, and in the space between my hand and the comm. It sounded simple enough. I imagined the blue specks all being connected to me. After a deep breath, I willed the ether to pull the comm toward me.
Nothing happened. The comm lay just as still on the ground as it had ten seconds before. I dropped my hand back to my side and glared at it.
“I told you what you had to do.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
I gritted my teeth and thought of his gods. Help me move this comm, I asked them. Still nothing.
Shaking his head, Hael walked back toward the house.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Hael sat in the grass and relaxed against the house’s exterior. His eyes closed. He mumbled, “I’ll be right here if you ever want to discuss how your ability really works.”
“Hael!” I called.
No answer.
I swept the comm up from the ground—by hand—and stomped across the yard. I stood in front him, so my shadow fell over his face.
“Can you get out of my light please?” he muttered, without opening his eyes.
“I thought you were going to teach me.”
“I’d be happy to teach you if you were willing to learn. Move the comm unit one inch. That’s all. Then get back to me.” He yawned and scooted to the right, finding his light again.
I stomped back to the other side of the yard, and tossed his comm on the ground again.
I spent the rest of the morning trying to call it into my hand, while Hael slept against the house. The bastard. For a few minutes, I even tried praying to the gods to help me. I didn’t mean it though. There were no gods up there—just two balls of gas and fire.
When both of the suns had crested and started a path back toward the horizon, I was ready to give up. Hael had long since abandoned his nap and moved on to the rest of his day.
“What are you doing?” a familiar male voice said behind me. I spun around with a smile. Rey and Krin stood behind me.
“Hey!” I wrapped them in a three-person hug. Krin giggled and hugged me back.
Krin’s face had more color than usual. Pink tinged her cheeks, and her lips were plumper than usual. Her tousled dark hair stuck away from her head in numerous directions. She and Rey stood disturbingly close, so close their shoulders brushed together. And a hair was out of place in his ponytail.
“Oh no! Please tell me you two weren’t kissing.”
She shrugged. “Rey’s not so bad. A little full of himself, but he’s got great hair.”
“Let’s not forget my infectious personality,” he said.
“I just hope for your sake he doesn’t have any other infections,” I whispered, too quietly for Rey to hear.
“I heard that,” he said.
I stuck my tongue out at him and then hugged him again. “I’m so happy to see you guys. Won’t you get in trouble for not being at the Council right now?”
“Nah,” Krin said. “Loken’s covering for us.”
“You’re going to get him locked up! You have to go back.” I shoved Rey in the direction of the road, where his transport idled.
“No, we’re good,” Krin said. “A bunch of us have patrol duty just north of the city, but no Mages are expected to show. No one will even notice.”
“Is he in trouble for my escape?”
Rey shrugged. “I’m sure he is. I’m also pretty sure his punishment is postponed for now.”
I hoped it wouldn’t be too awful, whatever it was. “What’s going on? I mean, of course I’m happy to see you guys, but why are you here? Is everything all right?”
“We could all use a little fun,” Rey said. “Maybe we could hang out at the lake. I’d like to spend some of my last days enjoying myself. All my old friends are tied up with their assigned duties, so you guys will have to do.”
“Thanks, Rey. I love you too,” I said. “Can we pick up Sona before we go? She loves the floaties at the lake.”
Rey shook his head. “We checked on Sona on our way here. There are Council guards watching her. Looking for you, most likely.”
“Oh.” I stared down at my feet, disappointed. “I don’t think I can go to the lake without Sona. I’d just think about her the whole time, and feel guilty for trying to have fun without her.” There was something else I wanted to do with Rey and Krin, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to put them at risk.
“What are you thinking?” asked Rey. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Liar.”
I sighed. “Okay, I kind of want to go back to the Council and—”
“No way,” Krin cut in. “Rey and Loken worked hard to get you out. And you just want to hand yourself in? No. Not going to happen.”
I held up my hands to stop her. “Relax. I’m not going to turn myself in. It’s just, my mom mentioned that Elder Kohler and my bio-dad were friends. Kohler knows all about me, he knew my father, and he doesn’t like me at all. Something’s off about why I was assigned to the Ethereals, and I think it has to do with my birth father. I want the truth.”
“So you’re going to stroll into the Council, have a conversation with Elder Kohler, and then stroll out—without getting set on fire?” asked Rey.
“Actually . . . we’ll most likely have to tie him up before having that conversation. But that’s the gist of my plan, yes.”
Krin’s mouth hung open. “She’s kidding, right?”
“Sadly, I don’t think so.” Rey turned to me. “How serious are you about this?”
“Absolutely serious. So serious that I will do this by myself if you guys don’t want to get involved.” I grinned sheepishly and nodded toward Rey’s transport. “But I’m going to need a ride to the Council either way.”
“No way,” Rey said. “I’m not turning down an opportunity to tie up that bastard Kohler and help you at the same time. I’m in!”
“What about you?” I asked Krin.
She smiled widely. “Definitely.”