Spark (Legends of the Shifters) (20 page)

“
How?”
I answered hesitantly.

“
The
headmaster sent her on a quest. The same one that he’s sending
you on. She never came back.... Anyway, there are tales of natives
that live on the island who guard the plant. It will be very hard for
you to find it, and dangerous, too.”

“
What
should I do?” I asked. “He said that he would graduate me
if I went.” He had also said that this was the first time he
had ever done something like this, which according to Kurt, was a
lie.

“
You
have to refuse him. When he brings you back to talk to him, which he
will, you need to tell him that you won’t go.”

I
didn’t say anything for a while. Finally, I answered, “I
will do as you say…but only if he’ll agree to graduate
me a different way.”

Kuris
put his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes wearily. “Fine…
Do whatever you want.” With that, he stood, flipped open the
tent flap, and angrily walked out.

I
followed. “Did I say something wrong?” I asked.

“
It’s
your choice whether to go or stay. I don’t know why I got
involved,” he replied. He quickened his pace to signal that he
was finished talking with me.

I
stopped walking toward him and scowled before turning around, and
resuming my former trek to my room. If what he said was true, the
quest would be harder than what the headmaster said...but it was
still far superior to staying here at the school.

To
me, it was better to go, even if there was some unknown dangers that
have been known to make people disappear.

A
month and a half passed by too slowly. My training was proving to be
more difficult than ever. I couldn’t do anything with my
useless left arm. Instead, my right arm was getting immensely
stronger than the other, making me feel unbalanced. I was also
forbidden to change forms, as that would make my splint disappear. I
wouldn’t be able to fly anyway, which made survival tests much
harder.

Kuris
got mad every time I called him Kuris, so I went back to calling him
Kurt. We trained every day like normal, and I learned how to do many
things with only one arm. The only things that I found impossible
were the bow and arrow and the double-sword. You truly needed two
strong, healthy arms for those weapons.

About
once a week, the headmaster took me into his office to explain some
things about my upcoming journey, but not once did I tell him that I
wouldn’t go, like Kurt had told me to say. I wanted to go. He
told me that the island was much like tent number 44, and although I
had yet to get that number, he'd described it as a very humid place
with lots of fog.

When
the time came to remove my splint, I was overjoyed. I hurried to the
infirmary, but had to wait almost thirty minutes until the nurse
could see me.

Once
it was off, she washed my arm with soap and a sponge. The sight made
me laugh, not only out of relief, but also because my left arm was so
pale it was almost blue and comically skinnier than the other.

The
nurse said that the bone had healed up nicely, but that I might still
want to take it easy for a while. I nodded, but I wasn’t really
listening. As soon as I was done in her tent, I went off to find
Roland.

He
was training with Natalia, and when I walked up, we talked together
for a while. I wasn't sure, but it seemed like Natalia was grateful
for the break.

I
rolled the sleeve away from my arm to show them, and they both
laughed at its pitiful state.

“
It
looks like they replaced your left arm with my grandmother
Gertrude’s,” Roland said. “You’ll have to
build it up before you go on your quest.”

I had
told him about my future endeavor, as well as Liana, Natalia, and
Grix. It was surprising how well Grix and I got on, considering how
we started.

I
went searching for him then, to show him my healed arm. I found him,
but what I saw shocked me. Somehow he had evaded his trainer and was
hounding on a new student. I narrowed my eyes and walked toward them
disbelievingly.

The
new girl looked at me, her eyes as big as saucers.

I
pushed Grix aside. He stumbled backward, taken by surprise. “Grix,
what do you think you’re doing?” I asked in a low and
threatening voice.

He
narrowed his eyes. “What I do to every new student. I’m
welcoming them in.”

“
By
bullying them?” I hissed.

He
was silent. The girl hurried toward the training arena.

I
pursed my lips. Before I walked away, I said, “Just to let you
know, I have no respect for bullies.”

He
looked at his feet as I left.

I
wouldn’t be talking to him for a while, but I had hoped that I
had had some sort of impact on him. I don’t know what compelled
him to victimize people, but it had just caused us to become enemies
again.

Kurt
found me near the bow and arrow tent, where I had gone to release the
anger that Grix had caused. It proved not to be very successful. “I
was wondering where you had gone off to,” he said.

I
didn’t reply, but instead concentrated on my target, and let
loose the arrow. It fell just short of the mark, like all the others
I’d shot before it.

You’re
going to have to build up your other arm before you try that,”
he said.

I
sighed. “I know. That’s what Roland said.”

An
annoyed expression showed on his face. “Are you still training
with him?” Kurt interrogated.

“
No.
I talk to him so
metimes,
though. I’m allowed to have friends, right?” I asked.

He
raised an eyebrow. “As long as they’re the right kind.”

I
stopped fiddling with my bow and arrow. “You don’t
seriously think that I—”

“
Perhaps
not you,” he interrupted. “but Roland might.”

I
shook my head. “That’s ridiculous,” I muttered.

Kurt
shrugged. “Well, anyway, now’s not the time in your life
to be thinking about things like that.”

“
I’m
not!” I said in fake repulsion. I truly didn’t know how I
felt about it.

He
smiled, knowing that he was making me squirm. “Good. Let’s
hope it stays that way.”

I
turned away and carried the bow and quiver back to the table. “How
do you suggest I build up my left arm?” I asked Kurt, knowing
that he was following me.

“
I
have a few exercises in mind,” he answered.

“
Like
what?” I pressed.

“
You’ll
see.”

I
rolled my eyes.

It
turned out that I would be lifting a five pound sack of flour above
my head, lowering it to the ground, and then picking it back up. My
arm was aching and sore, especially where I had broken it. I hoped
that I wasn’t pushing myself too hard.

At
break time, I found myself looking over at Roland, worrying over what
Kurt had said.

He
looked at me once and smiled. I smiled back and looked away, hoping
that he couldn’t read my mind.

We
trained for four more hours, but this time Kurt replaced the other
sack of flour with one twice its size.

By
the time training was over, the muscles in my arm were burning. When
I walked out of the arena, the first thing that I saw was Headmaster
Drake looking for someone. I knew he had to be looking for me, so I
tried to hide in the crowd. It didn’t work. He saw me.

“
Ivy!
Come over here!” he shouted across the sea of students.

I
exhaled deeply, but went over to him.

“
I’ve
been told that your arm is better. I would like to talk to you in my
office.” He pulled me away from the students, past a few boys
headed toward the dorms, exhausted from their day. We went past
Gibble, who was poring over paperwork. He barely acknowledged us as
we passed.

I sat
in the same seat I always did, and the headmaster sat in front of me.

“
I'm going
away for a few weeks because of some business that I have to attend
to.
I thought it
would be a good time for you to start your quest.”

“
When
are you leaving?” I asked.

“
Tomorrow,”
he answered. “Before anyone is up.”

Fear
struck my heart for the first time. I was reminded about what Kurt
said. His first apprentice had died on this quest.

“
I
won’t go,” I said suddenly.

“
What?”
the headmaster said surprised.

“
I
said, I won’t go,” I repeated.

Headmaster
Drake narrowed his eyes. “Yes, you will.... If you don’t,
I’ll make sure you don’t graduate for another two years.”

I
swallowed hard. Two years was a long time. I had only been here for
five months and a half, and it already seemed longer than that.

I was
quiet.

“
And,
if you don’t go,
I’ll
be your trainer for the
remainder of your stay. So I don’t recommend getting cold
feet.”

I
thought about it for a few minutes. “Fine,” I said. “But
I’ll only go if someone else goes with me.”

He
raised an eyebrow. “Such as?”

I
thought about it for a while. Who was someone that I knew wouldn’t
slow me down, but instead, spur me on? There was Kurt, but I knew
that I wouldn't get along with him. I could probably trust him, but
just the thought of having him with me rather than someone else made
me feel...
unsettled
.

Liana
was another option, but she was my best friend here. I wasn’t
sure I wanted to put her in danger. Natalia seemed a much better
choice. She was talented and brave, and I believed she wouldn’t
slow me down a bit, despite the fact that she couldn’t fly. She
could swim, and we were about to cover a lot of ocean.

I
opened my mouth with the intention to say her name, but instead, I
blurted out, “Roland.”

I
surprised myself. He must have been lurking in my subconscious.

“
Roland?”
the headmaster asked, clearly taken aback. He hadn't expected it
either.

“
I
won’t go unless he comes with me,” I confirmed, not
wanting to lose the argument.

The
headmaster tapped his fingers on his desk as he thought. His face was
screwed into a sour expression.

Finally,
he sighed and sat back in his chair. “I don’t normally
have people go on quests together, but if it’s the only way
you’ll go, then fine. I’ll tell Roland to be ready in the
morning.”

I'd
won. I held back a victorious smile, and nodded sharply.

“
You
may go now,” he said.

I
stood up and left, closing the door a little too hard on my way out.
Gibble winced and frowned in my direction, the ink splotching onto
his paper as he looked up.

I
went past him and continued down the steps, wrapped deep in my
thoughts. I was so absorbed that I ran right into Roland before I was
even out of the building. Roland! I hadn't even asked him whether or
not he wanted to go.