The Magi (The Magi Series) (40 page)

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Elijah, but I was here.” Then, Olivia turned her head with curiosity. “Tell me what happened just before the earthquake.”

“I was thrown off the horse and lying on the ground. Then, the Maliphists prepared to attack me, but my friends jumped in front. The Maliphists told them to get out of the way or they would kill them, but they still stayed. Then, the earth just swallowed them up.” Olivia had a sudden look of awe, and a funny smile crossed her face as she gazed out into the forests.

“From that which we still do not understand, there is much to learn,” she said dreamily, slowly shaking her head.

“What?”

“I was not there, Elijah,” Olivia said. “Nor was anyone else, right?” He shook his head. “So what are the options? What would make the earth do that?” When Elijah still didn’t respond, Olivia continued. “Do you believe that the earth swallowed up only the Maliphists by coincidence?”

“Well, I guess not,” Elijah said.

“So what then?” Olivia said, urging him on. “What makes the earth move? Think back to our lessons.”

“Care. Protection. Nurturing.” Elijah still wasn’t understanding what Olivia was trying to point out.

“Think, Elijah. Think about what you just said. During that time, what was happening that was caring and protecting?”

Instantly, Elijah knew what she was asking.

“My friends,” he answered. “When they stepped out in front of me.”

“Your friends created the earthquake, Elijah.
They
stopped the Maliphists. Not knowingly, of course, but out of their sacrifice and unity, they created a force so powerful that no Maliphist stood a chance. You asked me a while ago how we can win, do you remember?” Elijah nodded. “If there is a way, it will have to be through unity. When we are united, we are more powerful. That is how your friends defeated the Maliphists, and that is how we can win.” Elijah thought of his friends. They may not have been able to move a single element by themselves, but together, they defeated the evil Maliphists.

The final weeks of training went by quickly for Elijah. April turned into May; May turned into June, and before he knew it, the final week of training was upon him. Paul explained to him that at the end of the term, Mr. Button and the trainers got together to evaluate each student.

“The evaluation determines whether you have to repeat your preliminary year or if you get to move on into your novice year,” said Paul.

“What happens if I have to repeat my preliminary year?” Elijah asked.

“Exactly as it sounds, genius,” Paul kidded. “You have to repeat it. You’ll do the same things next year that you did this year. I wouldn’t worry, though, you should be fine.” Elijah wasn’t so sure. He continued to struggle with his physical training all year, and he didn’t know what Zempke would have to say about him. He did, however, find one thing he would be thankful for if he
was
held back: He could finally stop getting up hours early to do his catch-up exercises. Since Samuel had left, he had to do those exercises alone, which he hated.

Sure enough, right after Elijah’s final Thursday discussion class, Mr. Button found him.

“Do you have a minute, Elijah?” Mr. Button asked as they climbed up the stairs to the main floor.

“Sure.”

“I’ve set a day that you will have your evaluation with all of your instructors. We’re going to meet Saturday morning, just before you have your final elemental training for the year. How does that sound?” Mr. Button asked.

“Do I have a choice?”

Mr. Button laughed. “No, not really.”

“I guess that sounds okay,” said Elijah nervously. “Do I need anything?”

“Nope,” Mr. Button replied. “Not a thing. Just come down to my quarters and we’ll have a short discussion. I’ll see you then, eh?” He headed off back down the stairs toward his quarters. Elijah stood on the next to last stair for a moment before he went back to his room, feeling like he needed to throw up.

The evaluation ended up going very well. Zempke, as Elijah expected, said that he was a little behind in his physical training, but that he was doing quite alright for being introduced to the demand of training just a short while ago. Elijah’s discussion group teacher, Mrs. White, said that he was doing okay, but that he needed to be more assertive. He wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but he was satisfied with her marks. Mr. Ismai raved about Elijah the entire time he gave his evaluation. He said Elijah had natural mental discipline, and he had never seen some of the things Elijah could do at such a young age. Olivia also had good things to say about Elijah. She didn’t laud him the way Mr. Ismai did, but Elijah was pleased with her comments too.

After a quick discussion, all the instructors decided to graduate him to a First Level Novice. As soon as they said that, Elijah’s heart skipped a beat, and a huge wave of relief flooded him. He was about to run up to tell his friends, but he remembered he had one last lesson with Olivia before the summer break. As soon as the meeting was over, they left the barracks, but didn’t go far.

For weeks, they had been working on the other elements, trying to leave water alone, because he had a good handle on it already. Elijah still practiced as much as he could with water to keep up his skill, but he was beginning to make good progress with fire and earth. He still wasn’t able to get the wind to do anything.

During his last session, they worked with fire mostly. He had been able to produce a small flame to light a camp fire, but this time they worked on harnessing the energy to create a bolt of lightning, like he saw the Maliphists do. After a couple hours of no luck, and seeing Elijah become a little frustrated, Olivia decided to go to a lake and continue working with water—something Elijah could have some success doing.

“Don’t be discouraged, Elijah,” she said. “You’ve done very well this year. By this time next year, you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve come. In fact, you should think about how far you’ve come this year alone.”

“I think I have you to thank for much of it,” said Elijah. “Speaking of, I wanted to thank you for helping me—not just in training. I would have been killed if you hadn’t saved me from the Maliphists.”

“Oh, not to worry,” Olivia said. “I also had help. By the way, how is your uncle?”

“He’s doing well,” Elijah said. “He’s been staying with the Roddicks and feeling great. I think he’s pretty much back to normal.”

“Are you going to go and live with him during the summer break?” Olivia asked. Elijah realized he hadn’t thought about where he was living after the break. What
was
Uncle Stan going to do when he was better? And was he going to live with his uncle?

“I don’t know,” Elijah said honestly. At that moment, Elijah thought of Phinneas. He remembered wanting to ask Olivia about his capture. “Mrs. Rose,” Elijah said, very seriously. “May I talk to you about something?” She sensed his serious tone immediately.

“Of course. What’s on your mind?”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever told you what happened to my parents.”

“Well, that’s a very personal, very painful subject I imagine.”

“Yes. But for some reason, I feel that I need to tell you now because I have a question for you.”

“Are you sure?” Olivia asked.

Elijah nodded. He began telling her the events of that night last August when his parents were murdered, and when he escaped from the Maliphist with the yellow eyes. He continued his story through his arrival at Saint Phillip’s Academy and when he moved to Savenridge.

“That’s quite a story,” she said when Elijah had finished. “I am sorry that you had to go through all of that. I did know most of it, though, when Glen brought you here.”

“I know,” Elijah continued, “But I got to thinking of telling you everything after you talked about Phinneas. He was taken about ten years ago, right?”

“I told you that I was not going to talk to you any more about that, remember?”

“Yes,” said Elijah. “But here’s the thing. My uncle said that my parents were once both Magi.”

“Really?” Olivia inquired. “Now
that
, I didn’t know.”

“Neither did I until recently,” said Elijah. “And the most interesting part is that it was ten years ago—the same time you said Phinneas was captured—when they left the Magi.”

Suddenly, Olivia became rigid. She slowly stiffened up, and her eyes widened, looking like she was on another planet. Without any inflection in her voice, she said very seriously, “Elijah, who are your parents?”

“William and Julia Hawk,” he answered, wondering what his story was now meaning to Olivia. Still in a state of deep thought, Olivia continued questioning.

“Do you happen to know why your parents were killed?”

“My uncle said that it was because—”

Suddenly, Elijah wasn’t sure if he should share the information that his uncle gave him. After all, whatever was apparently in the book was important enough to murder for. Olivia looked impatient.

“Because of what?” she asked. After a minute of contemplating, Elijah decided to tell her. If he couldn’t trust her, there were very few he
could
trust.

“It was because of a book, I think. The Maliphists apparently wanted this book they had, but at the last minute, my dad gave it to my uncle because they knew they were in danger. Why?”

Elijah couldn’t help but stare at Olivia uncomfortably right after he talked. Her deep-blue eyes seemed to be lifeless. There wasn’t a motion in her body. Then, it looked as though a great catastrophe happened inside of her that she wanted to keep in. She winced and bit her lip. Her eyes and face looked so pained at that moment that he was sure she was going to explode. He continued looking at her as her silence continued, but in moments, she came back to life.

“No reason,” Olivia said dryly. “I think you and I need to have a talk about something now. Something that you must promise not to tell to anyone until I say so. Not even your uncle. Do you understand?”

Elijah nodded.

She looked around, making sure the soldiers were not within listening range. “First, is that book safe?” she whispered intensely.

“I think so. But it’s not here. It’s back where my uncle used to live,” Elijah said, wondering what was going on.

“One day I will tell you more about this, I promise, but for now, I want to let you in on something that you need to know now.” Elijah nodded again. “There is something that the Maliphists want very badly. It’s been a legend for centuries, but I believe it to be true. More importantly, the Maliphists believe it to be true.”

“What is it?” Elijah asked.

“The legend of the sphere,” Olivia answered.

Elijah looked curiously at her.

“The legend,” she continued, “says that Maliphist, the man, created a sphere that contained inside it the power of all four elements at once. With the power of the sphere, he could destroy anything. The sphere was powerful, and anyone possessing it would be indestructible. When he died, says the legend, the sphere was taken to a place unknown to anyone. However, there were clues left behind to its whereabouts, and whoever was wise enough to solve the clues and find the sphere, would be invincible. If a city were to obtain the sphere, it would be unconquerable. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“So you think Malpetra is trying to get the sphere?” Elijah asked.

“I know it,” said Olivia. “And that book that belonged to your parents is one of those clues.”

“Is that why they came after me? To see if I had the book?”

“I believe so,” said Olivia. “It would make sense.”

“So what do we do?” asked Elijah.

“I need to work that out,” answered Olivia. “I will have to talk with Phinneas first. The two of us have spent most of our lives trying to find this sphere to keep it away from the Maliphists. If they find the sphere first, it will be disastrous.”

“Can I help?” Elijah asked.

Olivia smiled. “Much to my objections, I believe you will have to. But not yet. There are more important things for you to do for now.” Olivia’s tone changed from serious to cheerful in an instant, and her quiet whisper turned to casual conversation. “First of all, you will need to come and visit me this summer. Don’t think that just because you’re on break means that you get to stay away.” Elijah grinned and stood up.

“I will,” he said.

“Good. Now, what do you say we call it a day, huh? Would you like to come over to my house and have a cup of vanilla cider with me and Phinneas?”

“I’d love to,” Elijah said enthusiastically.

They never got to training with the water. They started toward the house, and Olivia requested that Elijah tell her fond memories of his family. On the way, she explained to him that it helps to remember often those we have lost, because when memories are told, lives are never forgotten. Elijah gladly relived his happiest memories as they traveled toward the house. And it felt wonderful.

The last day of term was full of goodbyes. Girls were crying over leaving their friends. Lots of long, awkward hugs were given to one another as they were packing up, leaving the barracks for the break. Elijah thought that this was all completely absurd because they all lived close enough to one another anyway that most of them could walk to each other’s houses.