Mark of Four Read online

  “It gets better, you know.”

  Alayne whipped her head around. A tall, thin boy leaned against the other side of the tree trunk, facing the other way. Brown, nearly black curls clustered over his head in a riotous mess, and he shoved long, brown fingers into the thickness before he slid around the tree trunk and settled himself on the floor next to her couch.

  “I’ve been here a week now, and I was homesick my first couple of days. I was supposed to arrive today, but there was some assessment confusion.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I’m here now.”

  Alayne wiped the residue from her eyes. “Do you miss your family?”

  “No family to miss. The principal at the Basic School where I attended was the one who walked me through the application process.”

  Alayne bit her lip. She didn’t want to press on a sensitive area. “That was nice of him.” Holding out her hand to the boy, she said, “I’m Alayne Worth.”

  The boy shook it. “Jayme Cross.”

  Marysa returned, carrying two drinks. She handed one to Alayne. “It’s a Raspberry Twist. I didn’t know what you liked, so I just got what I’ve always liked and figured you could tell me if you didn’t like it. Hi.” She nodded to Jayme without drawing breath. “I’m Marysa.”

  “Jayme.” The boy shook her hand.

  A loud gong sounded, vibrating the air around them. Alayne threw her free hand over an ear, cringing from the sound. Suddenly, a massive herd of students headed for the chute.

  “Supper time. Good thing, too, because I was getting really hungry.” Marysa tossed her half-finished drink into a nearby trash receptacle without a second thought.

  Alayne and Jayme stood, and the three of them melted into the crowd hurrying to the chute.

  Alayne shouted to Marysa over the confusion. “So is the whole training facility on the same spire?”

  “Yes. We landed at the top, of course, and then under the landing platform are several floors of classrooms and training areas. Library, too. Then there are the dormitories, where we are now, and below us is the commissary and gymnasium and athletic fields. Do you play sports?”

  “I’ve never tried any, except running and swimming and stuff I did by myself. I’ve never played on a team before.” She glanced at Jayme. “Do you play anything?”

  “Ice hockey.” He shrugged. “I was on the team at our City Centre.”

  Marysa’s mouth dropped open. “You were? Wow, you have to be really good to get on a City Centre team. Which one did you play for?”

  “The Grandview Ice-Eagles.”

  “No way!” Marysa’s eyes were as round as moons. “That’s my brother, Del’s, favorite team! Oh man, it’s too bad he’s already graduated. He’d probably ask you for your autograph.”

  Jayme’s cheeks flushed a ruddy red. He looked at his toes and shrugged. “Well, I’m not on the team anymore. I had to come here.”

  They’d reached the chute. Alayne led the way, cramming herself in with ten other students. Jayme wedged himself next to her, and Marysa squeezed in just before the doors closed. The car dropped, and Alayne thought she might throw up.

  A moment later, it opened again, and the students joined the larger group flooding the commissary floor. Marysa led the way to a long table. Alayne sat next to her, and Jayme vaulted over the table and sat on the other side.

  Before they could speak again, holographic images of the Chairman of Clayborne popped up across the commissary. “Good evening, and welcome, students!” the Chairman said as he pushed his glasses farther up on his nose.

  “Katrina said they’ve been doing a quick news bulletin before the start of meals,” Marysa whispered to Jayme and Alayne. “Ever since Simeon Malachi and the rest of the Shadow-Casters escaped.”

  Alayne looked back at the Chairman, who had finished his short welcome speech. Stanwick Jones appeared, projected by the MIUs. He folded his hand across his holographic desk and nodded solemnly to the camera. “Reports of Vale sightings have been flowing in all across the Continent and even from overseas. Thus far, there have been no new encounters with Simeon Malachi, although Continental Guard Units have several tiplines open.” Numbers scrolled in front Stanwick.

  “Do you guys know anything about the Vale?” Alayne whispered.

  “I don’t think it’s real,” Marysa shrugged and flipped her bush of hair behind her shoulder. “I think it started in stories after the GD and then built a life of its own.”

  “Wouldn’t it be awesome if it was real though?” Jayme asked. “I mean, how cool would it be master all four elements?”

  Alayne shifted uncomfortably. “I wouldn’t want the responsibility. I think if you have a lot of power, you’ve got a lot of expectation to be good, to do the good thing, to—save CommonEarth and all that. I’d rather be content with my own backyard.”

  Stanwick Jones’s image abruptly disappeared, and the noise of laughter and chat filled the room again.

  “Oh, you have to watch the food coming in.” Marysa grinned at Alayne. “It’s so cool!”

  Alayne glanced around the room. “Where do they bring it in at?”

  Marysa pointed. “Check it out.”

  Alayne looked up. Along the vaulted ceiling, plates of food floated in the air, hovering in rows above the tables. As the students seated themselves, the plates began to lower. As soon as there was space above the plates, vents opened in the walls on both sides of the room and cups filled with liquid shot out and hovered above each plate. Slowly, they began to lower as well. The silverware followed.

  The plates settled on the table in front of them. Fried chicken was on the menu, along with salad and rice. Alayne’s stomach growled.

  Jayme gave an incredulous laugh. “Wow. How do they do seconds?”

  “Katrina says all you have to do is ask. I’m gonna try something.” Marysa held up her hand. “Vinegar oil dressing, please.”

  Alayne looked back up. The vent opened, and a single bottle shot out of it, lurching to a stop just above their table. It slowly descended.

  “So Air-Masters are the catering staff here then?”

  “Yes. Del applied to be a chef here when he graduated, but they wouldn’t even look at him because he was a Water-Wielder.”

  Alayne glanced across at Jayme. “What’s your element, Jayme?”

  Jayme gulped the huge bite he’d just taken. “I’m an Air-Master. Or so they tell me. I haven’t been able to do anything with it yet.”

  Marysa shrugged. “Well, that’s completely normal. Elementals can’t even start bending the elements until they’ve had at least a few days of training, sometimes longer depending on their aptitude.”

  “Really?” Alayne stared at Marysa. Her mother had told her most Elemental kids couldn’t work their element until training started, but she’d always taken it for granted that they could at least bend their elements a little.

  “Yep.” Marysa set down her fork. “Why? Can you?”

  Alayne flushed as she took a bite of salad. The lettuce was wilted.

  “Come on, Alayne, tell me,” Marysa pleaded. “Are you able to, you know, wield water?”

  Alayne glanced around. No one seemed to be paying attention except Jayme. She nodded briefly. “Since I was a kid.”

  Marysa’s mouth dropped open. “Well, come on, let’s see it then!”

  Alayne could see that Marysa wasn’t going to give up, and the longer she went on about it, the more likely someone else was to notice. She dipped her finger into her cup.

  When she pulled it out, she held her finger against the table next to her plate. Concentrating on the way the water felt on her skin, she drew it up and fashioned a tree out of it. She shaped the long sweeping branches of a willow along the top, struggling to give detail to the bark and tiny leaves.

  Marysa’s mouth hung open in a perfect O. Jayme’s face lit up.

  “Showing off again, Worth?”

  The tiny willow collapsed as Alayne jerked around. Daymon Houser stood behind her, a smirk on his handsome
face.

  Alayne scowled at him. “Bug off, Daymon.”

  The dark-haired boy narrowed his eyes. A small smile played on his lips. “You’d better be careful. There’re an awful lot of things that can get blamed on an untrained Elemental that’s learned the craft too early.”

  Chapter 5

  The next few days passed in a blur. On Monday, Alayne paid a visit to the registrar’s office on the two-hundred-and-sixteenth floor and signed up for her classes.

  The registrar was a round little man in a wrinkled vest and suede jacket, whose name, according to the plate on his desk, was Sydney Rolland. He chuckled joyously over every class Alayne selected on the list of courses that hung in the air.

  “Yes, yes, that’s a fabulous class.” His round red cheeks shone in the light as he beamed at her schedule. “Seems like only yesterday that I sat in that class myself. Oh my, what it was like to be young.”

  He scrolled down the list of classes and pointed. “This is your first year, so you’re required to sign up for Elementary Elementals.” He touched the words, and the course name whisked out of sight, while the next course on the roster moved up to take its place. “According to your assessment, you’re a Water-Wielder, so you will probably be interested in Water Currents and Throw-Casting—now that’s a fun class—and you’re required to take History of Elements as well this year.” He faced her. “So that leaves you with two electives, or you can take one elective and one sport.”

  Alayne eyed the list of elective classes, randomly choosing Points of Motion-Stop, and signing up for intramural ice-hockey. She’d heard that there were several teams. She was a little afraid of what Jayme would think of her pitiful skills since he had played professionally, but she shrugged it off.

  Mr. Rolland swiped the air clean. A card slid out of a slot on his desk. He handed it to her, chuckling. “Well, you’ll certainly be busy. But you’ve picked a terrific set of classes. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them.”

  He shook her hand, and Alayne carried her card away, already nervous about her first day of classes. She found Marysa and Jayme shooting pool in the common room. “Hey,” she greeted them.

  Marysa bounced on her toes. “So tell us, tell us! Are you in any of my classes?”

  “I have Elementary Elementals and History of Elements, which are both required, right? So we’ll for sure be in those together. Then I’ve got Water Currents, Throw-Casting, and Points of Motion-Stop.”

  “Ooh, I’m in Throw-Casting, and you are, too, right, Jayme?”

  Jayme nodded and put down his cue stick. “I’ve got Points of Motion-Stop, too. I’ve heard it’s a good class. It’s with Sprynge, who’s Deputy Chairman. He and Chairman Dorner both have to teach some classes, because some of the professors quit when the Shadow-Casters broke out of prison.” He leaned his tall frame against the edge of the table and folded his arms.

  “What? Why?” Alayne asked.

  “Overheard Professor Brinks talking to Manders in the commissary. She said that three professors had quit, left without saying goodbye to anyone, terrified of their own shadows.”

  “But Clayborne’s safe.” Alayne’s thoughts flashed to the reassurance she and her father had tried to give her mother. Dad’s right, I’ll be just as safe, if not safer, at school. Can’t you see that?

  Jayme shrugged. “Most people think it is. We’ve certainly been reassured often enough that it is; otherwise, parents would keep their kids out. But those three couldn’t be convinced.”

  “Who were they?” Marysa asked. “I’d probably know them, at least from my siblings’ descriptions. I wonder if any of them heard of it or know anything about it?”

  Jayme nodded toward a board on the wall where hung the smiling portraits of all the faculty and staff at Clayborne. Their names were written in bold black beneath each picture. “Brinks said it was those three: Walters, Pepper, and Foy.”

  Alayne studied them. Walters and Pepper were big-boned middle-aged men, Walters fair and Pepper quite dark, and Foy’s shadowed eyes and petite frame hovered mournfully below them. “She looks sad.”

  “Oh, that’s her?” Marysa asked. “She probably was sad. Her whole family was in prison for Shadow-Casting. They were some of Malachi’s most staunch supporters.”

  “And she was a teacher here?” Alayne asked.

  “All of the teachers have to pass a really intense screening program. It’s common knowledge. The fact that she and her two co-workers disappeared does seem a little suspicious, though.” Marysa twirled a strand of hair around her finger and nibbled on the feathery wisp.

  “Isn’t anyone trying to figure out what’s happened to them?” Alayne returned her attention to Jayme. “Have they heard anything about them? I haven’t seen it on Continental Media.”

  “As far as anyone’s heard, they all returned to their homes. At least, that’s what Manders told Brinks. But there was a lot of commotion, and I lost the thread of the conversation after that.”

  Unpleasantness tightened Alayne’s midsection. The news disturbed her. It was odd; there was little reason to be nervous. Her spine tingled as she stared at the pictures.

  “So, what’s your last class?” Jayme’s voice broke into her spiraling thoughts.

  “My last class?” Alayne raised her eyebrows.

  “You’ve only listed five. You’re supposed to have six.”

  “Oh.” She shoved the card into the back pocket of her jeans. “I just signed up for sports.”

  “Cool, which one?”

  “Intramural ice-hockey.” She held up a finger. “But please don’t make fun of me when you see my attempts at playing.”

  Jayme spread his hands wide. “I wouldn’t dream of it. I think it’s great. We might be able to scrimmage together.”

  “Are you doing any sports?” Alayne asked Marysa.

  Marysa made a face. “Me? No way. I hate sports. Although I’ll come watch all your games,” she amended hastily. “I chose to take two electives instead. Fire Dance and Elemental Physics.”

  Jayme screwed up his face. “Physics? Didn’t you have enough of that in Basic School back in the City Centres?”

  “It was my favorite subject there, and when I talked to the professor here at Clayborne, he told me that the class will look at physics from the point of view of an Elemental.”

  Alayne and Jayme nodded and glanced significantly at each other.

  Marysa huffed. “Oh, come on, you guys. An Elemental bends the laws of physics when they practice their talent, so to take a class that studies the very basics of how that’s done is really valuable information.”

  Alayne laughed. “I know. It’s just fun to give you a hard time.” She gave her friend’s arm a squeeze.

  That night, before she settled into bed, Alayne wrote to her parents, detailing her first few days. She could have gone to the library and talked to her parents on the MIUs (they weren’t allowed to have them in the dorms), but picking up her pen and letting the ink flow onto actual paper was a release. It helped her to think and to process all the new things that were happening.

  Alayne described the friends she had made and the various classes for which she had signed up. She didn’t tell them how much she missed home, and she folded her letter carefully and slid it into the drawer of her nightstand. She lightly touched the ring her parents had given her. After a moment, she slid it off her finger, wrapped it in a tissue, and stuffed it into the drawer with the letter. As beautiful as it was, and as much family heritage as was behind it, she didn’t want to run the risk of losing it or breaking it. She would only wear it occasionally.

  She pulled the sheets up to her neck and then folded her arms across her chest, her fingers restlessly rubbing the empty spot where the ring had been. Homesickness leaked out in liquid form, sliding in slow streaks toward her temples.

  * * *

  Alayne settled into her uncomfortable desk chair the next morning and glanced over at Marysa. Her friend’s wiry hair had been twisted back into a bun, b
ut the freckles sprinkled across her pug nose kept her from looking very business-like. She flashed a nervous smile at Alayne before studiously opening her book and lining her pen up beside it.

  Jayme slouched in the chair on the other side of her. He tapped his fingers on his desk. His large brown eyes looked anxious. Alayne understood.

  A door in the front of the classroom opened. A petite, dark-haired woman entered the room and walked to the podium. She lowered her glasses to the end of her nose and looked over the top of them at the tiered classroom.

  “Good morning, class.”

  The students answered dutifully.

  “Welcome to Elementary Elementals. In this class, you will be learning the basics of your gift—how to use it, how to master it, and most importantly, how to control it. I’m passing out the syllabus. Please take a copy when it comes around.”

  Stacks of paper floated through the air to the ends of the rows, and the students on the end snatched them and passed them down.

  Alayne took hers as the professor continued.

  “I am Professor Rylee Brinks, Professor Brinks to you, and I will attempt to shape your young minds into a creation that is worth something by the end of this year. We will begin today with the most basic element bending there is. All of you have different talents, but you will find that with enough concentration, you can also excel in other areas. Mr. Pilman!”

  A short boy stood nervously in the front row. “Professor?”

  “Your element.”

  “Earth-Mover, ma’am.”

  “By the end of this year, with enough study, you should be able to not only bend the earth to your will, but also possibly create a mist, make a light object float in the air, or raise the temperature of a room to eighty degrees should you so desire. Sit.”

  Mr. Pilman sat.

  Professor Brinks began pacing the stage. “Granted, elements outside of your area of expertise will not come naturally to you, and you will never get as firm a handle on those as you will on your own talent. However, I expect small steps of progress in these areas, even though full accomplishment will never be reached.”