Spark (Legends of the Shifters) (4 page)

“
What
training does this conservatory have to offer?”

“
Depends
on what your second form is. Your training will probably be tougher
than most,” Niko answered gruffly, an eerie smile pulling at
his lips.

“
What
kind of training will I have to go through?” I was beginning to
lose the feeling in my hand.

“
I
have ideas,” he replied.

I
stopped talking, not only because I could tell that I wasn’t
going to get any more information, but also because I heard the
chatter of voices up ahead. We were getting close to the entrance,
and this was about the time when all the friends and family and
entertainment seekers usually gather at the front to discuss certain
trials and to see the survivors before they go wherever they are told
to go.

We
exited the arena, and entered the throng of people. Niko finally let
go of my arm, and I tried to rub the feeling back into it.

I was
never told the outcome of the other trials, but by the look on the
other contestants' faces, I could kind of tell. The girl that had
sneered at me was crying her eyes out.
She
probably turned into a rodent,
I
thought with malice. The poor boy was reserved, but I could tell he
liked what he got. He might’ve been placed one step above where
he was originally. The other boy had a bland look on his face. He was
probably stuck in the same class. As I studied these three, I noticed
that there was one missing. The middle-class girl. She must not have
made it. I was kind of sad for her, although I had never met her
before in my life. She didn’t seem like a bad person.

I
walked silently through the crowd, trailing behind Niko. He glanced
behind him every now and then to make sure that I was still
following. The people parted for me as if I would bite them if they
got anywhere near me. I narrowed my eyes and kept my head down.

My
heart jumped when I heard Ayon's voice yell for me. I searched
through the crowd until I spotted him and Elna. Everything seemed so
different from my regular life that I’d almost forgotten about
them. I started toward them, but before I could take my third step,
Niko saw what I was doing and grabbed hold of my arm once again. “Oh,
no you don’t. We don’t have that sort of time. You can
visit your friends after your training is over.”

I
frowned at him. “But that’s not the regulations,” I
protested.

He
pulled me away. “It is, for people like
you
,”
he growled.

I
hated that he was stronger than me. I wanted to push him away and go
to my friends. I was surprised when he dropped my arm, but then I
understood when my feet continued to follow him involuntarily. I
tried my hardest to break out of the pattern, but I only succeeded in
stumbling. The power that was holding me was too strong. Niko glared
back at me, a warning to keep from struggling. I turned my head to
look at them one last time. Ayon stood in the middle of the crowd,
watching as I left them behind. Elna was trying to fight through the
crowd to get to me, but the people acted as a solid barrier between
us. I had a feeling that Niko had something to do with that.

My
feet stepped up into the awaiting carriage, and the door slammed in
my face. I could only watch as the arena—and my past—faded
out of sight.

The
carriage went on for what seemed like hours. I refused to look at or
talk to Niko for the entire ride.

Eventually,
I fell asleep only to be jarred awake a little while later. I looked
out the window in a hurry. We were on a giant, snowy terrain, except
we were surrounded by tents and buildings. The horses' hooves clicked
against a cobblestone path. The snow on the ground was hard packed,
as if hundreds of feet had trampled it, but there was no one here.

Niko’s
voice made my head swing toward him, breaking my efforts to keep from
acknowledging his presence. “I was afraid that I would have to
wake you up myself.”

I
didn’t answer, but looked back out at the terrain. The light
was dimming fast, and it wouldn’t take long for our
surroundings to become shadows.

I
knew that this had to be the school that Niko was talking about.

I
jumped when the carriage door opened. The man holding the door had
several missing teeth and bloodshot eyes.

Niko
stepped past me, and exited the carriage. I followed hesitantly. The
driver stood by as we got out, but I wished he would go farther away.
He smelled like alcohol and vomit.

Niko
handed him a few coins before continuing on.

The
driver counted the money and opened his mouth to say something,
showing his horrible teeth. “You owe me two more coppers, sir,”
he said.

“
I
owe you nothing,” Niko said, keeping the same pace and not
bothering to turn around.

The
driver stared at Niko, but when Niko still didn't turn, the man
narrowed his eyes and got back up on the carriage. He slapped the
reigns against the horses’ rumps, and they jolted forward
immediately, clattering out of our sight as it descended down a path.

I
heard a slam to our right, which made me jump for the second time. I
looked at where the sound had come from. A girl had just come out of
one of the bigger buildings and was headed toward a smaller one. She
had black hair and a pale downcast face. A ragged cloak was wrapped
around her shoulders. “Natalia!” Niko yelled.

She
looked back at us, her face void of expression.

“
Take
Ivy on a tour. She’ll be in your dorm,” he said to her
briskly before walking off.

The
girl didn't respond, and waited for me to walk up to her. She looked
me up and down and sighed heavily.

“
Let’s
start with the most important places,” she grumbled as she
turned away.

She
went to the right, where the biggest of all the buildings loomed. I
hurried to keep in step with her. She didn’t talk to me until
we were almost there. “This is the training arena.”

It
looked similar to the trial arena, except this one was a little
smaller and made with a darker color of stone. Two gargoyles guarded
the entrance, their faces warped and eroding. I couldn't help
shivering as we passed them.

Natalia
continued on, “It’s where we spend nine hours of every
day. Each morning, we wake up at six, eat breakfast, train for five
hours, break for a small snack at twelve, and then train for four
more hours before two hours of free time with dinner at seven. Then,
we have another hour of free time, and one more to get ready for bed
so that we’re asleep before ten.”

I
could barely keep up with her as she rattled off our schedule.
“Sounds busy,” I said unenthusiastically.

“
You
get used to it,” she said as we walked through the archway into
the arena. Unlike the other one, this one had no mazes built into it.
There was just a wall to surround the area and a tunnel leading into
it. The whole arena was mapped out like the marketplace, where people
set up stands to sell what they make, except these stands are set up
with weapons. The ground was packed with snow, but the path that we
were on was so well traveled that it had turned into mud. In the
middle of the arena, a black cast-iron fence stood out against the
snow, towering almost as high as the arena walls.

“
So
how hard is the training?” I asked Natalia as I walked past
her, taking in everything.

“
Depends
on your trainer,” she answered before starting out of the
arena. “For some of us, it's the most difficult time of our
lives. For others, it's a breeze.” The tone of her voice hinted
that she leaned more toward her first suggestion.

“
Wait,”
I said after her. “Aren’t you going to show me what we do
at the stands?”

She
didn’t look back. “No. That's your trainer's job.”

I ran
to catch up. Again, she didn’t say anything until we got to a
big tent. Inside I heard groans and crying. Alarmed, I asked, “What
is this?”

Natalia
opened the tent flap as she said, “This is the healing tent.”

I
cringed and looked away. There were so many people in there that the
twenty or so beds were already taken, and many students were forced
to sit on the floor, “How did all of this happen?” I
asked, glancing inside the tent before looking away again.

She
shrugged. “It’s just the end of another day, although
today, there
is
more than usual. That's usually the case on
Mondays.”

“
Why
is that?”

“
Because
Mondays have the most challenges,” she answered, not offering
any more explanation. She closed the flap and began to walk toward
two buildings that appeared to be replicas of the orphanage, but with
less damage.

“
These
are the dorms, aren’t they?” I asked.

She
nodded as we entered the one on the left. I was pleasantly surprised
when the inside was much nicer than the orphanage. The orphanage had
a drab interior of stained red and green walls, with floors covered
in rotting wood. The conservatory dorms had floors of marble, and the
walls were tan with pure white trim. It was beautiful.

“
I
didn’t know that we would be living in a palace!” I
whispered in awe.

Natalia
laughed harshly. “This is no palace,” she said. “This
is a prison.”

I
swallowed tightly.

She
led me down the hall and around a corner. As we climbed a set of
stairs, a thought struck me. If I had known nothing about my second
form before I came here, was everyone else's second form just as
rare? “Is your second form special, too?” I asked
Natalia, barely thinking before I said it. I tensed, afraid that she
would be angry at me for asking.

“
I’m
a mermaid,” she answered coldly.

I had
heard of mermaids, but I’d thought that they were a myth. They
are said to be good in some stories…but in others they are
said to be evil and deceptive.

“
And
what is yours?” she asked me.

I
hesitated, but didn’t see why I shouldn’t tell her. “I’m
a phoenix.”

She
stopped dead in her tracks, and flipped around. “A phoenix?”

I
knitted my eyebrows. “Yes?”

She
took me in a little more carefully. “Then I have some advice
for you. Don't tell anyone else what you are.” She looked
around to make sure that no one was around to listen. “Not many
people know of the phoenix, but my mother was fond of history. A
phoenix is very rare, and certain people will use you because of it.”

“
How
do you know?” I asked.

“
I’ve
seen it happen with other powerful students. Many times.” She
paused, and tilted her head. “I think this tour is over with.”

She
started back down the stairs.

“
Hey!
Wait! You’re not going to show me which dorm is ours?” I
said.

“
I’ll
show you later,” she answered. “After dinner.” She
hurried out of my sight. I tried to follow her, but when I turned the
corner , I didn't see her anymore.

I
sighed. Natalia had not shown me where we were supposed to eat, but I
guessed that it was the building that she had been heading to
earlier.

I was
right. When I walked in, however, I was clueless. I wasn’t sure
what I should do. Everyone was sitting down at wooden tables while
servants served them drinks. I looked for an empty seat, and finally
spotted one next to a few girls.

“
Is
this seat taken?” Two of the girls looked up at me with big
eyes, but the girl next to me shook her head as she popped a slice of
apple in her mouth.