Aaron opened his eyes, now dark blue. His head was swimming and he was seeing the world in a spinning haze. His temple throbbed and he wanted to press it to make the pain go away, but he was trying to digest the information he had just seen.

Tace was leaning over him. It was only then that Aaron realized he was on the floor. As the world stopped spinning the pain sank in, like a nail being smashed into his head, Aaron groaned and brought a hand up to his temple, feeling the shadow of the old injury gently with his fingertips.

“Shit man, what happened?”  Tace asked, offering a hand to help his friend up.

Aaron stood, looking at the room. The elders had all stopped arguing, and were staring at him in stunned silence. Aaron cleared his throat, “I-- ahm sourrry,” he said, trying to make eye contact with each and every one of them, his eyes fading back to their almost white shade, “Ahi have’n’t hrad an ehpisode loike det en many yearrs.” Based on how Tace and the others had looked at him just then, Aaron could guess his had slipped back into his old accent.

Malachi sighed, “Aaron, as soon as you are dismissed you are to report to the infirmary.” He bowed his head, “Your views have been taken into notice, however, I can assure you that this mission is not to be taken lightly. Maybe this mission will give you some...” he paused before using the term he wanted to, ‘enlightenment’, instead going for the word he knew would connect to Aaron better, “Some insight. The Fire Spirit, or possibly his last living descendent, has been located. With this Spirit, all of the other spirits can be reborn.” 

Aaron nodded silently. “Yes sah. I ahnderstand.” He dutifully said, no real emotion behind his words. He did however clear his throat, as if that would shake off his natural accent.

Elder Malachi eyed the man carefully, reluctantly nodding and raising his hands in dismissal, “You have a long journey ahead, go pack and be ready by noon”

As the elders left the room, one by one, Elder Malachi walked up to the boys, “I trust you understand what this means?”

Tace began pacing, rubbing his temples, “This is huge…”

Elder Malachi nodded slowly, “Now then, Aaron, I believe I gave you orders to go to the infirmary? Why are you not on your way there now? Come along, we do not have much time.”

Aaron sat on the foot of the infirmary bed, on the other side of the room Tace paced the floor impatiently. The infirmary was broken down into three spaces, the open clinic for students and soldiers, where cots and stretchers had been placed in a long well lit hall. This was where the physical ailments and bedridden individuals were treated. Off to the sides of the hall were private clinic rooms for times when a case may be more serious, and in the back of the hallway there was a simple double door to a surgery room. Aaron and Tace had been guided into one of the private clinic rooms due to an overcrowding in the open clinic. Tace couldn’t help but to laugh when he realized that it was crowded with students from the brawl he and Aaron had provoked earlier that day.  

While they were waiting their room was dead silent, but next door Aaron could hear one of the nurses calming a student down. From what he could hear through the echoes of the stone walls, the student had dislocated his shoulder, but wasn’t letting anyone near him to help relocate it. The infirmary was a clean place, Aaron thought. Obviously it was hygienically clean, but to Aaron there was something more to it. He always associated the feeling of cleanliness to the smell of freshly cleaned linen’s, constantly scrubbed white floors made from a polished cleanstone-marble, and glass door shelving units that held sterilized gauze and medical supplies. The water waver had come in here plenty of times to have injuries looked at, but it wasn’t until he had gone to a field hospital that he realized how much he appreciated cleanliness in a healing space. He remembered one time he almost died because of a poorly maintained field clinic.

Aaron looked outside through a glass window; outside he could see the valley and the edge of the forest that came right up to The Academy’s right side. In the distance he could see the red mountains, the one natural barricade that separated this section of the mapped world from the main brunt of the war. There was a waterfall in those mountains Aaron had visited a few times. The pool beneath it sank so far into the earth he could not reach the bottom, even if he swam for days at a time, which being able to breathe underwater he could. The dark and cold of that chasm always perked Aaron’s curiosity, despite the fact that staying in the mineral rich water too long always dyed his hair and skin temporarily red.  The first time he had discovered this Tace had told him he looked like he was a Kelrainian pink strawberry, which resulted in Tace being thrown into the pool of water himself.

The sky was turning grey, thunder rumbled in the distance, “A storm is approaching.” He said. Tace made no reply, just continued to pace. Finally getting annoyed, Aaron leaned forward to Tace, “Calm down will you? You’re making me antsy just watching you.”

Tace stopped and looked at his friend. “What the hell happened back there? You were just standing there, and then you suddenly yelled and fell over. Then you pop back up and boom, there is that accent of yours again for like a minute.”

Aaron sat up a bit, “I yelled?”

Tace nodded, “Yeah man, sounded like your head was about to explode.”

Aaron shook his head, trying to remember back to the meeting. “Odd. I don’t remember that.”

“So you want to talk about it?” Tace asked.

Aaron was quiet for a moment. He had long suffered from headaches, an unfortunate affliction due to the same injury that had caused him his memories when he was only seven years old. From what the healers could gather he had been thrown into a hard surface, most likely a boulder or a tree, and struck it hard enough to cause long-term damage to his brain; the healer at the Academy even theorized it was why he had such a hard time connecting to emotions. Since no one knew exactly what it was that happened to Aaron, they were only left with the broadest of speculations as to his injury. If  memory loss wasn’t enough,, it wasn’t the only permanent affliction Aaron had received from that fateful and mysterious past. Aaron thought about all of this for a second, then he sighed, “You know I get headaches.” He said, “I get them frequently.”

“I thought that had stopped?” Tace asked, “I mean, yeah, when we were kids you had headaches, damn annoying when you woke me up in the middle of the night because of them. But you haven’t complained for years.”

“I just grew used to them.” Aaron admitted, “It was like background noise.”

“So you’ve just been living with these headaches this entire time?” Tace asked, “Why haven’t you said anything?”

“It just didn’t seem to make any difference.” Aaron said, “Even the healers have never been able to help. They taught me their teqniques so that I could help myself when we were on missions, but it doesn’t help much.”

“And I’m not surprised.” Aaron and Tace turned to the entrance to see an elderly woman walking in, the head healer of The Academy. She was in her mid-sixties, with tightly braided grey hair and a firm jaw. Her blue eyes had faded to a grey over her many years, and the wrinkles on her face wrote the story of all those years hard work. She was wearing a white tunic with a blue emblem resting above her heart. The emblem was something she had sewn on herself many decades ago, a source of pride for her and expression of her status as a healer. It depicted four clockwise turning spirals clustered together, and a diamond shaped star connecting the four. It was commonly known as the healer’s star. It was simple, but the message was a strong one. She looked at Aaron, hands on her hips, “Young man, how often have I told you that you need to keep up on the healing for it to be effective?”

Aaron looked down, like a scolded child might, “I understand ma’am. I just-”

“You are just too busy training and running around with soldiers and playing war to take care of a simple pain in your head.” The healer scolded, “Come now, is that really an excuse?”

Aaron looked down, a sheepish look crept onto his face, his ice blue eyes changed color to a warmer blue now, “Yes, I know. It was irresponsible of me.” He held his hands out as the healer walked over. She placed her hands on his palms and closed her eyes. Aaron felt a cold prickle rush over his skin, but he didn’t shiver. She was using her own water waving to read his ichor, or mist-blood, a product created only by those the Mist had gifted with powers. He closed his eyes, greeting the healers technique warmly, letting her powers scan over his, sensing his energy so she would know how he needed healing. “You have been neglecting your sleep.” He said.

The healer lifted a hand and lightly smacked Aaron’s, “I am scanning you, not the other way around.”

Aaron smiled, amused. “Yes, ma’am. I was just worried, Gladice.”

Gladice gave a tender smile, then patted his cheek, “Alright, now be still.”

Aaron closed his eyes, taking a deep breath in, and then released it again. He felt Gladice sense deeper into his own system, the reaction of a natural clash between two energies making the hair on the back of his head stand up.

Gladice sighed, “Aaron, what am I going to do with you?” she asked. “You need a healing session.” She said, walking over to a basin of water. She dipped her hands in, and then pulled them out, the water following her hands.

Tace sat on the edge of the counter, leaning in. He had only ever seen Aaron’s water waving techniques, seeing someone else water wave was foreign to him. He found himself speaking up, “You don’t see water wavers too often anymore. But… you are still out there, right?”

“More or less.” Gladice said. “A great many of us died when the Supplanters released the Purge.” Both she and Aaron flinched as she said the word. “But our blood still trickles through the veins of this world.”

Tace scratched his head, “Why aren’t their other waver children then?” he glanced at Aaron. The question wasn’t exactly what he meant to ask. He had meant to ask ‘Where were the other children as we were growing up?’. Gladice seemed to understand his question just fine.

“What do you think the Purge was for us, fire wielder?” She asked.

Tace shook his head, “I honestly dunno. No one ever talks about what happened to you guys. It’s some big secret.”

Gladice looked Tace quietly, her eyes flicked up and down. “You already know the answer. You just have to think it through.” She said quietly.

Tace didn’t understand, but he recognized he was breaching a very uncomfortable topic. He tried to change the subject, and failed. “So. How did you escape the Purge?” He  instantly regretted the words as he saw Gladice freeze.

She turned and looked at him with cold eyes, “The same way any warrior would.” She sighed “And that’s how my back and shoulder were injured. Which is how I came to be a healer, and how I came here.”

“The water wavers must have been a great race to have in battle…” Tace mused.

 Aaron threw his hands up in the air, “What can we provide no other warrior can?” He had been told many times he was an asset above other warriors on the field, but Aaron had never seen how he was any better or worse of a fighter. It was said as a compliment to him, but more than anything he was frustrated by that statement.

Gladice sighed, “When the Spirits faded, child, much of the elemental powers went with them. Only the strongest bloodlines still have the power over our elements. But water wavers still held true power, because we are more closely connected to the Mist.”  She placed a hand on his arm, pointing to two veins, “Our blood and our ichor are mingled with the Mist more so than the others. It gives us the ability to fight the supplanters on more equal grounds.”

Tace cocked his head, “So, water wavers have a power that is closer to that like the Children of the Mist?”

“I don’t understand your question, boy.” Gladice asked. “We are all children of the Mist. Supplanters were not meant to be this way-“

“I know.” Tace cut her off, “They were the Mist’s children. Then they were corrupted. Being the children of God doesn’t change that they are psychopathic murdering beings now.”

Gladice sighed, “Sadly, this is very true.” She agreed with Tace. She then gave a start, as if just remembering why she was there. “Come now, Aaron! You have stalled this healing session long enough.” She raised her hands again, the water rising in front of her pleasant smile.

Aaron shifted uncomfortably where he sat, “Really, no, I’m fine.” He said, voice insistent, shoulders tense.

“Aaron, I’ve never seen someone so negligent to take care of their pain.” Gladice scolded, “Now hold still, or I’ll have your friend hold you down.” She brought her hands in front of Aaron, the water followed. Moving with a life of its own the water moved forward, wrapping around the crown of Aaron’s head. “This won’t hurt.” Gladice assured him, placing her hands on either side of Aaron’s head, allowing her fingers to gently descend into the wreath of water. 

Aaron flinched, sitting even more impossibly straight. Air rushed through his teeth as he took in a sharp breath. He squeezed his eyes shut and his fists tightened until the knuckles were white.  

Tace leaned in, “I thought it wasn’t going to hurt?” he growled.

“Shh!” Gladice quieted Tace in a reassuring tone, “He’s causing this, he is resisting, making it more difficult.” 

“I’m not… trying… to tense.” Aaron gave an indignant reply.

The water around Aaron’s head suddenly began to ripple, a soft light reflecting from within it. Tace’s eyes widened, following the pattern of the light as it illuminated the scar and the fractures beneath, allowing him to see just how his friend’s head had been struck and the skull fractured when he was younger. His scar wrapped from his temple to three inches around the back of his head, but this was not the worst of the damage. Almost the whole right half of Aaron’s skull had a web work of fracture marks, only now visible because of the healing process, illuminated from within as the healer went about her work. Tace had known Aaron had suffered blunt force trauma as a child, but to see it had made this much impact on his skull… it was no wonder he had headaches.

Aaron’s expression went from pained to sudden relief, he looked up at Gladice, “It’s working." He said, letting out a ‘whoosh’ of air.

Gladice lifted her hands away from Aaron’s head; she intended to let the water fall and soak the young boy’s shirt, teaching him to take more notice and more care of himself.  She was surprised when the water simply lifted from around his head, and danced through the air, slithering like a snake, and funneled back into the basin. Gladice stared at Aaron, her mouth open in surprise. She regained her composure, then she touched her hand to her head, and gracefully dipped her hand down to above her heart. Without stopping she then brought it back up, tracing the center of her throat. As her hand reached her chin she fanned her fingers out gracefully towards Aaron. Aaron, in return, bowed his head and placed a hand in her outreached one. He stood up and bowed formally to Gladice, “Thank you, ma’am.” He said, smiling. It was a symbolic handshake to the water wavers, signifying the strength of mind, heart, and voice. To perform this handshake was highly formal, and a way to express your friendship or loyalty.

Tace shook his head, “You water people and your formalities.” He said.

“Watch it, hot head.” Aaron said, “This is my culture you’re talking about, my heritage.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tace waved a hand dismissively to Aaron, “The lost civilization of puddle splashers.” Without waiting he jumped off of the counter and took off out of the door, running around the corner before Aaron could reply to the insult.

Aaron sighed and shook his head, “If you will excuse me, ma’am, I have a friend to teach a lesson to, and a mission to prepare for.”

Gladice smiled, but it was a sad smile of knowing and pain, “Of course, good luck warrior.” She watched as Aaron walked to the door, “Oh, and water waver?” Aaron stopped and looked back at her, Gladice nodded, “I know you still feel the pain from your old injury.” Her eyes drifted to his hairline, where her trained eyes were able to make out the slight indentation from his scar, “The relief I have given you will only last a short while.”

Aaron simply nodded his head to her, a silent ‘understood’. Then he turned and left the room, traveling with a quick step to pursue his friend.

Tace hadn’t gone far, he stopped in the next hall, waiting for Aaron to catch up. As his friend approached he glanced to look at Aaron, who stared sternly at him.

“Ya still look kinda green.” Tace said, putting his hand into his pockets. “You sure you’re up for this mission?”

“I’ll be fine.” Aaron growled. Even as he said so though a wave of nausea hit him. He swallowed and tried to focus on something else. Then the dizziness set in. He tried to shake it off but staggered a step, and Tace leaned over to help support him and prop him up.

“Dammit Tace!” Aaron hissed, “I’m not weak!” He tried to shove Tace away.

“Yeah, no one would say that.” Tace agreed. “But… your head.”

“Don’t change the subject!” Aaron said, shoving Tace off of him in anger, “What you said back there-” he stopped and swayed, gripping the side of his head and muffling a groan.

Tace approached again, and again pulled Aaron’s arm over his shoulder, “Heh, such a positive note to start this mission on.” They went back down the hall, Aaron groaning and gripping his head, Tace unusually quiet. They had made it to the end of the hall when Tace decided he needed a distraction. “So… about our conversation earlier.” He said, “I have a second mission, well a personal project.” He looked to Aaron, “You’ll thank me later.” He smirked.

Aaron looked at him seriously, or as seriously as he could, “What are you getting at?” he asked point blank.

“Girls, dude! I don’t even think I remember you going on a single date. I’m going to fix this.” He nodded his head to the end of the hall.

Two girls, the same age as Tace and Aaron, were walking down the hallway towards them. Aaron shot a warning glance at Tace, “Don’t even think it, Tace.” He warned. He was fairly certain he knew where this was going.

Tace grinned, “When do I ever?” He asked, flipping Aaron’s arm off his shoulder and ‘bracing’ the sick water waver against an unlit brazier. He looked Aaron over quickly before the girls came close enough, his face reading ‘it will have to do’. “Think you could fake your accent again? Heard the girls here love it when you slip into the Northern talk.” Tace had a reputation throughout the academy as a ‘ladies’ man’, and surely he knew how to sweet talk and charm the girls of the academy. Aaron looked at him with an expression that read ‘drop dead’.

He whistled as the girls moved to walk past, “Excuse me ladies, could we borrow you for a moment?” He asked, voice smooth and warm, one many women had been wooed and left heartbroken because of.

‘By the Mists. It would serve the bastard right if I had gotten sick out here rather than the meeting room.’ Aaron thought.

The girls, as it turned out, were twin brunettes. They stopped and looked at Tace, looking slightly surprised. In their moment of shock Aaron was able to see that they were identical twins, their looks the exact same, from long wavy brunette hair, to their heart shaped faces. They had button noses and high cheekbones that held up firm honey colored skin. Even their clothing was almost the same, wearing matching pants and jackets, with slight differences in tunic tops and their boots. If Aaron hadn’t seen them together, he wasn’t sure he would have thought they were different people.

One of the two gave Tace a shy smile, “What can we do for you?” She asked, her voice was sweet and warm, her brown eyes were wide, like a curious doe in the woods.

Tace grinned and looked to Aaron, who rolled his eyes and quietly groaned. The fire wielder leaned forward, getting as close to the twins as he could and spoke in a hushed tone, but not too quiet that Aaron couldn’t hear him, “You see, my friend over there is really shy,” He gestured to Aaron, who said nothing but waved weakly, “But he wanted me to tell you two that he thinks you have the most rockin’ bodies in the academy.”

Aaron would have yelled at him if he didn’t think it would split his head in half. His head was killing him, he was as still as a statue, and he was beginning to plot how to best get revenge at his friend for this. Tace didn’t notice Aaron’s rigid state; he just grinned and continued talking, “Yeah, he was wondering if maybe you would be willing to double date sometime.”

Both girls looked rather surprised, then, after a quick glance to each other broke down and giggled, looking to each other. “Excuse us one second.” The doe-eyed one said. The two sisters stepped away a few feet and leaned in close to each other, whispering so neither boy could hear. After a few moments discussion doe-eyes stepped over next to Aaron and carefully linked her arm with his.

Aaron’s face went bright red, his eyes widened like a panicked creature, but he did nothing, it was like he was frozen. He remained still, not daring to move a single muscle; he didn’t want to send any unintended messages to this girl, or trigger his sudden illness in a bad way.

Suddenly blood rushed to every part of Aaron’s body; again his knees went weak as he nearly fell over in surprise. Tace! It wasn’t that the hot-head hadn’t tried to set him up on dates before, but this time he was getting more aggressive. If the timing wasn’t bad enough, Aaron had at least thought that his sudden sick would have kept Tace from trying this.

The girls looked at each other and nodded. “We would love to go on a date with him.” The twin standing next to Tace said, brushing her brown hair back out of her face and smiling to Aaron. She looked back to Tace and instantly her face hardened. Aaron knew right away something was wrong, but he couldn’t react fast enough before the girl had slammed her foot to the ground, which quaked and opened below Tace. 

Tace fell into a hole the earth quaker had created, landing waist deep. As soon as his feet hit the bottom, the mouth of the hole closed back in around him, trapping him halfway in the floor, “You however have some nerve asking us out again!” The girls said in almost seamless unison.

Aaron had to bite his lower lip to keep from bursting out laughing. He was sure that if he did his head would split. Tace looked up at the two girls, surprised he hadn’t realized they were earth quakers. He specifically studied the one who had sunk him into the hole, “Annabelle?” He asked.

The girl leaned down, a triumphant smirk on her face, but a hurt look in her eyes. She reeled her hand back and slapped Tace on his cheek, “Annalisa.” She said, almost hissing her name, she pointed to her sister, who still had her arm looped around Aaron’s, “And my sister, Bellini.”

Tace realized he was in trouble. Obviously he had a history with both of these girls, and obviously he had forgotten. Trying to play it cool, which was the wrong move, he said “Hey girls, long time no see.” He half laughed, sounding more nervous than amused, “What have you two been up to?”

Annalisa slapped him again, “Pig!” her voice like a sharp bite, “For two weeks you dated me, then you turn around and go out with my sister!” She shook her head, “That is unforgivable.” She said

Bellini unlocked her arm from Aarons and stood next to her sister, “You have some nerve fella!” she hissed.

Tace gulped, he knew he had messed up, “Hey, listen, I’m sorry girls. I-” he paused trying to think of something to say, when nothing came to him he looked to Aaron for help. Aaron just shook his head, still trying to hold back laughter. Panicked Tace blurted out, “I didn’t know you were twins.”

Aaron covered his mouth with one hand, trying to hide the huge grin on his face and disguise it as concern for his friend. The factor that he was fighting back laughing didn’t help him though.

Both girls scoffed, Annalisa looked completely disgusted, Bellini looked shocked, both turned on their heels, and walked away. Tace watched them in silence at first. When they were almost to the stairs he laughed, “Yeah, very funny girls,” they continued walking; Tace pushed against the floor, trying to break out of the hole, “You left me stuck in the floor you know.” He yelled after them. Annalisa walked down the hall and disappeared, Bellini stopped for a second, looking at Tace, who looked at her almost pleadingly, “We have a mission to go on! The Elders themselves said it was high priority! They’d hate if we were late.” He tried to reason with her. With a coy grin she kissed her hand and blew it at Tace, and then she too slipped out of view.

Aaron chuckled now, despite his headache, “I think that was a ‘No’.”

Tace again tried to play the casual part, not willing to lose face in front of his friend. He shrugged as if the whole event was no big deal, “Hey, how was I supposed to know?” He tried pulling himself out of the ground again, he was stuck tight.

Aaron looked at him and raised an eyebrow, “Seriously?” he asked, baffled. “Tace, you were dating twins! I’m sorry, but you can’t have been completely ignorant that they were different women. And worse, to openly say that to them!” he gripped the right side of his head as he laughed, “I’m sorry, you deserve this in a way.”

“What? Would you rather I chase only one girl?” Tace asked. “Where is the challenge?”

Aaron groaned, “For you that will be a difficult find.” He admitted, “But yes, Tace. For the love of the Holy Mist, stop chasing every woman you see.”

Tace crossed his arms and looked up at Aaron, not content to say if he would agree or disagree to the request. Instead he changed the topic. “You know, I’m stuck here until another earth shifter comes along.”

Aaron stared at him, his face blank but casual, “I don’t know, I may just leave you there and come back for you later.”

Tace looked at him, “You wouldn’t.” he said, eyes slightly widened.

Aaron’s face remained serious as he began walking down the hall away from Tace. He stopped when he was just out of his stuck friends’ sight. “You deserve it! Propping your sick friend up to try and milk a date out of two girls.” He called, taking a few extra steps away from Tace. 

Tace shook his head, “You’re bluffing.” He said. He paused for a second, sensing that Aaron was moving further away, then turned his head around as much as he could, “Aren’t you?”

Aaron shook with a silent laugh, “You have no idea how funny you look right now.” He said, walking back in front of his stuck friend, “This must be your punishment for your womanizing behavior.” 

Tace crossed his arms and huffed slightly, “Are there any earth shifters around?” He asked impatiently.

Aaron shook his head, “I should probably go and retrieve those twins. They could get you out fairly quickly.”

Tace cringed at the thought, “Oh no you don’t! They’d just do something worse instead.”

“Well, we need to get you out of there.” Aaron said pacing the hall in front of Tace, “Tace, I have to go and find someone.” He finally concluded.

“You ain’t leaving me here alone!” Tace warned, pointing a threatening finger at Aaron.

Aaron looked down at his friend half buried in stone and shook his head, “The Great Hall is only a few yards away. I’d be back in no time.”

Tace looked at him, his face finally growing truly serious. “Come on, you know better than that.” He said in a flat voice.

Aaron shook his head and sat down in front of Tace, “Of all the people in the world to have claustrophobia, why you?” he pondered aloud, “It is illogical that someone as brave as you would be afraid of… soil.”

“It’s not claustrophobia,” Tace defended himself; “It’s taphophobia.” He pushed against the ground, “And there is nothing illogical about being afraid of being buried alive!” He tried shifting his body, but it was stuck tight, “Call it the fire inside me. Being buried under earth smothers flames.”

Aaron stared at him, “I didn’t know you knew that word.” He joked, “You’re not completely buried you know. Waist and up you are still good.” He tried using logic, which sometimes worked with Tace. Tace just stared at him, obviously this was not one of those times. Aaron shrugged, “Fine, I’ll wait here with you, someone’s bound to show up soon.”

The two of them sat in silence at first. Tace drumming his fingers on the ground impatiently, Aaron sitting in a meditative stance, legs crossed, eyes closed, his hands balanced in front of him in a relaxed ‘slump’ as he took deep calming breaths. Every now and then amused grins creped onto Aaron’s usually blank face as he heard Tace struggle and curse at his failed attempts to pull, push, or shove himself out of the hole. Tace twice managed to slip out almost an inch, but then his lower legs became stuck and he could move no further.

Eventually Tace gave up and looked to Aaron, “I don’t know how yet, but I’m going to blame this on you.” He muttered. 

Aaron, still in his meditation stance, simply looked up, opened his eyes, a warm indigo color, and smiled, “You say whatever it takes to make you feel better.” He said.

It took fifteen minutes for an earth shifter to happen onto the scene of the two friends. Luckily Aaron knew him, a young man by the name of Ilar, and raised a hand, calling his name to gain the earth shifter’s attention.

Ilar walked up to the young water waver and greeted Aaron with a curt nod of his head, then his eyes fell down to Tace, an irrefutable look of amusement flashed in his eyes, “So what did he do this time?” He laughed. Ilar was a cheerful young man, with a smile that could easily have extended onto the next two people. He was a tall sturdy man, with thick skin and a thick head. Though he wasn’t the best fighter amongst the earth shifters, he was a good wielder, and an excellent teacher at defensive maneuvering. 

Aaron scratched his head, looking at Tace for a brief moment, then he began to explain to Ilar just what had happened. It took some time to get Ilar to stop laughing, though most would say it was justified, given Tace’s reputation. Tace looked up at him, “Yeah, yeah, funny huh? Now would you mind helping me out?”

Aaron put a hand on Ilar’s shoulder, “My friend, I would usually willingly let you enjoy this moment, but we do have a mission to work on.”

Ilar smacked Aaron on the back, “No problem. I still owe you for last time.”

Tace looked up at Aaron, “Last time?” He asked, intrigued to hear that Ilar had owed Aaron a debt.

Aaron shrugged, trying to dismiss the topic. When he saw Tace wouldn’t let it go he sighed and began to explain. He had been working as an assistant for Professor Milstone, the new professor for combat training. They were running a field drill, where the students take part in a mock battle scenario and fight to the last person ‘standing’.

“Ilar was in that competition, but he had twisted his ankle. Instead of reporting that he was out of the competition, I healed him.” Aaron explained.

“Dangit water waver! You never did that for me!” Tace crossed his arms, now thoroughly ticked off at his friend. “What’s a friend for if he won’t use his healing powers to help in a competition?”

Aaron looked at Tace with a blank face, “You never needed that help, and when you did it was down to just you and me in the fights. It’s not exactly tactically to one’s advantage to heal one’s opponent.” He smiled, “Besides, Ilar was doing a good job, I didn’t want him to fail because he tripped.”

Ilar smiled, “I came in fourth on that competition, my personal best.”

Tace raised an eyebrow, “Fourth is a personal best?” Tace personally would have considered fourth place a great tragedy as he usually came in first or second. It was part of his stubborn competitive nature to make sure he was always first, but when it came to fighting Aaron, he did lose his fair share of the fights. Aaron, upon hearing his friend insult Ilar’s success, leaned down and smacked Tace on the head. “OW!” Tace complained, “What the hell was that for?”

Ilar’s laugh boomed through the hall, “I don’t mind that, I would have come in third if your little roommate hadn’t also been in the competition.”

Tace cocked his head to the side, “Trevet?” He looked at Aaron, sudden realization coming to his face, “Ahh, so that’s why you were working on that competition.”

Trevet was the only other student to share a dorm room with Tace and Aaron, a room built to comfortably room four. He was only a young earth shifter, thirteen years old, but he had amazing potential. Aaron had taken Trevet under his wing almost as soon as he had arrived at the academy when he was nine. Tace was never sure why, but Aaron had taken to a certain kinship with the young boy, and saw to it that Trevet trained, practiced, and studied at the best of his capabilities. More than that, the three roommates together had a family-like relationship.

Only a few months ago Trevet had been giving his first training mission away from the academy, much to Aaron’s protest. It seems that Aaron’s protests were sound, as there had been no news about the young earth shifter. Trevet had yet to return.

Aaron shrugged, “I just wanted to make sure that he didn’t get hurt.” He said, one could tell though, Aaron had always acted like a protective brother to Trevet.

Ilar laughed, “Little chance of that, he came in first!”

Tace heaved a sigh, a flicker of flame escaped between his lips, an indication he was truly becoming impatient. “Not to break up this lovely conversation, but can you guys get me out of here?” He motioned to the stone floor. “Or am I now a permanent addition to the building?”

Ilar again gave a boisterous laugh, “Of course, I suppose you have been punished enough today, eh? Just hold on for a second.” He stepped directly in front of Tace, “Give me your arms.” Tace reached up, and Ilar grabbed him by his forearms, near the elbow. “When I say so, jump.” Ilar commanded.

The stones encasing Tace moved slightly, then they seemed to shift and stir, as if the stones had not been set into mortar for hundreds of years, but rather were as loose and malleable as pebbles in quicksand. “Jump!” Ilar commanded. Tace jumped, and Ilar pulled him up high into the air. Tace had barely cleared the hole when the stonework hardened.

Tace arched his back and landed on his feet, brushing small amounts of dust off of his pants, new additions to the stains and smudges from the earlier brawl. “Thanks for that.” He said casually to Ilar.

Ilar just laughed and shook his head, turning to Aaron, “Tell me the next time something like that happens, I want to see that again.” He continued laughing and walked away.

Tace watched him as he left, “Quite the happy fellow, isn’t he?” he asked, stretching his arms above his head. “Anyway, I think it’s time to get back to our earlier task.”

“Yes, we need to get ready for the mission.” Aaron said, straightening his shoulders, trying to look more stable than he was at that moment.

Tace waved a finger at him, “Uh-uh, wrong. We’re looking for a girl for you.”

Aaron’s face palled, “No, we are not.”

Tace thought about this for a second. “So… you meant the other conversation?” Aaron slowly nodded, which Tace mirrored. “In that case… yeah bye!” He turned and bolted as fast as he could down the hall, running away from Aaron before he could do or say anything. Aaron just shook his head and slowly made his way back through the school’s halls, taking his time to get to his dormitory.

Aaron entered his and Tace’s shared dorm room to see Tace pacing the floor. There were three beds occupying three of the four corners of the room, two neatly made, one haphazard and filled with many books. The latter was Tace’s bed. Aaron’s part of the room was neat and organized, books neatly tucked onto a book shelf, papers and maps organized, and weapons shined and mounted properly. The third bed, the vacant one right now, belonged to Trevet. The bed was neatly made, but the books were not organized neatly, and the war axe that had been left behind could use a good cleaning. The room had originally only belonged to Aaron, who used the spare space to practice his water waving. He had been reluctant to share his room at first, but looking back now, he knew it had been the best thing for him and his little emotionless bubble. He stopped in the doorway and crossed his arms, using his gift to cause the humid air to suddenly turn cold.

Tace looked up at him as he stood there and dove behind the table for shelter, “Don’t kill me! I was joking!”

“About my culture.” Aaron said, making his voice sound cold. He was fighting to not smile or laugh. He honestly wasn’t mad at his friend, but this was amusing to him.  

Tace popped his head up from under the table, “Sorry, I’m just nervous.”

“About?”

“Dude! Didn’t you hear a thing about our mission?” Tace asked, leaping up, “The friggin’ Spirit!”

“Oh,” Aaron nodded, “So you’re culture is a sacred thing to be respected, yet mine-”

“This is our shared culture, Aaron!” Tace snapped, “Man, I said I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would upset you that much.” He edged away from the table, unsure if Aaron was going to attack him still or let the matter drop.

“What more can you expect from a ‘puddle splasher’?” Aaron asked, crossing his arms.

“You can’t hurt me, we’re about to go on a mission.” Tace warned.

“Maybe I’ll just go find those twins again.” Aaron said.

“You wouldn’t!” Tace said, his voice cracking, “Aaron, they’d kill me!” Aaron turned and walked back to the door, ready to pull off his bluff. Tace leapt at him, “Okay! Okay! You win! What do you want?”

Aaron burst out laughing. He couldn’t help it anymore, “That’s a first.”

Tace quickly realized he had been duped. “Son of a bitch!” He shot a fireball at Aaron, who quickly opened his waterskin, pulling out the water, and generated a shield against the fireball. He gave Tace a funny look as the fire wielder continued to talk, “I’m serious man, this is huge. We’re going to find the Alpha of all of the fire wielders.”

Aaron waited until Tace wasn’t looking, then he drew his right arm behind his back, and shot it forward, blasting a stream of water straight at Tace. While Tace was recovering from the blast, Aaron assured his friend, “You have nothing to worry about. You’re just going on another mission, that’s all there is to it.”

“Yeah, but,” he looked at Aaron, “I mean, how would you feel if you were told we were going to go find the Water spirit?” Aaron laughed at this, shaking his head. Tace tilted his head to the side, “What?” he asked, “Aaron these are the Mist’s defenders I’m talking about. What’s so funny?”

Aaron shook his head and replied, “I don’t know. It just was.” He shrugged, “Call it my skepticism, I respect the power of the Spirits, but I also respect the dead. I believe we are more likely to find a tomb than a Spirit.” His eyes were sober and cold as ice.

The bell in the main courtyard began to ring.  Aaron and Tace looked at each other, then leapt up. There was a sudden bang on the door. Aaron hurried over and opened the door to see one of the elders standing there, Elder Marjix, a cat hybrid. He was a six foot man, with four inch large cat ears, a feral snout, and sand brown fur covering his whole body. He narrowed his eyes as he took a deep breath. “We have a problem, you must come quickly.”

Aaron and Tace ran through the halls with the elder. Tace ran up next to the feline elder, “Where are we going?” He asked.

“The front gate, there is trouble.” Marjix replied.

Tace nodded and ran ahead of the elder and Aaron. Students were stepping out of their rooms and classrooms, looking around in confusion. Tace waved his arms to the students, “Outta the way!” He yelled, “Clear the halls!”

“Report to your dormitories, and stay there!” Marjix yelled as they passed a crowd of confused children.

The three ran down the stairway and out the main entrance. Aaron saw that a great deal of the elders, headmasters, and elite trainers had gathered, all of them looking angry, all carrying some form of weapon.

When they neared the large group several of the elders looked to the young men. Aaron saw many stare at him. Any anger from his speaking out earlier was now far gone, replaced by a look of fear, and expectation. Aaron took a deep breath and walked through the crowd, swiftly and fluidly moving through them, never actually bumping shoulders or brushing against any one of them. He walked up to Elder Malachi and bowed his head, “Sir?”

Malachi looked at him, “Aaron, lad, we have a problem.” He said, “A grim one.”

Tace shoved his way through the throng of older men and walked up next to Aaron, “You’d think the war was at our doorstep.” He commented.

“They are.” Malachi said. “Or rather, they are coming.”

Tace’s face palled, “What? How?”

Aaron shook his head, “Sir, the treaty? It was clearly stated that the academy, and other non-military buildings would not be harmed.” He shook his head, arms thrown out in clear frustration, “We’re an orphanage!”

“We are also a training academy for young warriors, almost all of whom go into the military. Many families have been sending their children here for many generations.” Malachi said, “The orphanage is considered a side-trade by the military, The Academy is officially a military school, and the Supplanters see fit to take us out.”

Elder Warren spoke up, “The Supplanters have discovered the information we have received, and they know we are sending people to find the Spirit. They are coming to extract that information and terminate you two.” He stopped and looked at the two young men, a look of almost-pity in his eyes. “You need to leave now, before the Supplanter forces arrive.”

“Aw shit!” Tace yelled. “You have to be Fu-“

“Tace!” Aaron yelled over his friends’ profanity.

“-ing kidding!” Tace finished, still ranting, “This is our home! They’ll destroy it! How did they even find out? You only told us about it an hour ago!”

Malachi shook his head, “I don’t understand it myself, fire wielder, but this situation is very sensitive.” He pointed to the large wooden gate, “There is a representative out there right now, who has informed us that, I quote, ‘we are turn over the information we have on the location of the Fire Spirit within two hours, and then they will destroy us’.”

“Charming.” Aaron said in a flat tone.

“A representative?” Tace asked.  He looked over at the gates, then to the side door next to them. “You mean a supplanter’s out there?” Flames began to dance across his hands, his eyes were ablaze.

Aaron quickly placed a hand on Tace’s shoulder, “Calm down.” He warned.

“We must prepare the academy for a potential attack.” Malachi said, “But the supplanter refuses to leave until we give him a message to take to his superiors.”

“I got your damn message.” Tace growled. He broke out of Aarons hold and stormed to the side door of the gatehouse before anyone could stop him. The elders all watched him in horror as he opened the door, “Hey ugly!”

The men all cautiously walked over, slowly circling behind Tace, not sure what he was about to do. Aaron walked up next to his friend and placed a hand back on his shoulder, “You told me before not to do something foolish, I am here now to give you that same warning.”

Tace seemed to ignore him as he stuck his head out the door, runes carved into the stone frame and on the wooden door itself began to glow, a barrier field that would protect from the supplanters. The enemy in question had wandered away a few paces, but now it staggered back, lurching and scraping the ground as it dragged one of its feet. Tace growled, eyes narrowing in on the undead entity. “Don’t you want your damn message?”

Aaron whispered subtly just over Tace’s shoulder, “Look ahead, there is another.” Tace looked, there was another Supplanter standing just off the path further away, partially hidden by an overgrowth of bushes, well out of harm’s way.

The supplanter lurched up to be right in front of Tace, only five feet of space between them, a space both could cover easily in a split second. It was as close as it could get without activating the runes. Aaron wrinkled his nose, the thing smelled of death. He watched as the thing slowly tilted its head, watching Tace. “You have…” it wheezed, “Message?”

Tace rolled his eyes, “For the love of the Mist… it’s only a damn drone.”

Aaron eyed the supplanter, sometimes it was hard to tell, but this one was all too obvious, this was only a drone supplanter, a weakling, at the bottom of the power chain. It had taken a younger man’s body, now long dead, the skin was grey and decaying, large patches were falling off, exposing open, rotting internal flesh. The eyes were milky white, but somehow you could tell that it could still see, in the way that they still moved and followed you, trying to pierce into you.

This is what supplanters did. They themselves were detached beings, with bodies made of misty vapor, not really a part of this world, but bound to it by the Mist itself. They used to be called Seraphs, Angels, or Children of the Mist, genderless and pure beings that were supposed to be representatives of the Great Mist. But that was near the beginning, when the world was remade. The Seraphs had grown dark and jealous, hating all other races because they were, as they would put it, flesh-bound. Some say it started as a morbid curiosity, them taking bodies, but then things escalated, and the Seraphs changed, they became a race of body snatchers and soul trappers, invading the bodies and minds of any they could lay a misty finger upon, and taking that body for their own.

Tace crossed his arms, looking at the body with pity, but at the supplanter itself with nothing but hate. “Yeah, ‘we have message’.” He said, mocking the supplanters voice. “I have a message for all you assholes!” he yelled, loud enough for the one far away to hear. He made a fist in front of his face, a large flame grew around his hand, “Tell your superiors that they’re gonna burn to a crisp!” He threw his fist out, sending a fireball pulsing straight at the drone supplanter.

The weakling drone never had a chance as the fireball blasted through its chest in a messy explosion. The body fell to the ground, a grey steam rising from the open wound. Everyone watched the steam cautiously, only to see the vapors form together and rising up into a balled shape, the most this detached supplanter could probably muster. The weakling didn’t have enough strength to hold its form for long, and so, in a desperate attempt, flung itself at Tace. This was not Tace’s first Supplanter, and he knew wisely to be well behind the runes that guarded the walls of The Academy. As the drone tried to approach one of the runes activated, a blast of energy rippled out from the rune and struck the supplanter, forcing it to retreat back, fleeing in an attempt to prevent its own decay. It made it only a few yards away before the misty vapors began to fade, and then break apart completely.

It was a rare thing to see a supplanter, even a weakling, naturally fade into death. It left everyone stunned for a second, and encouraged once more that these beings could in fact die. Tace waited to make sure the supplanter was truly gone, then leaned his head out and flipped the bird to the supplanter in the distance, “You go tell your superiors that there is more where that came from!” he bellowed.

Aaron grabbed his friend and pulled him back, slamming the door shut just to be safe. “Are you mad?” He yelled, smacking Tace upside the head, “Tace, you know better than to detach a supplanter!”

“It sends them the message that we’re not gonna hand over the Spirit!” Tace said, unmoved by Aaron’s anger. “Come on,” He turned to walk back to the dorm room, “we have a mission to prepare for.”

Aaron shook his head, “You go, I’ll be right there.”

Tace’s expression was dark, but he nodded and walked off. The crowd of elders parted, giving him a large grace period for space. No one was foolish enough to mess with an angered fire wielder. Silently most of them approved of his action. One less supplanter in the world didn’t trouble any of them in the least.

Elder Malachi cleared his throat, “Elder Marjix? Will you be able to reactivate the protection rune?”

“With little trouble.” Marjix said, a deep purr in his throat as he bowed formally to the head elder. He walked over to the door, opening it cautiously, just in case there was still a threat. Seeing none, and hearing none with his great and sensitive ears, he stepped past the protection of the runes, standing just at the threshold of safety. He reached up to the rune that had activated, chanting low and deep in an ancient tongue that few could properly pronounce anymore. Aaron could just see the corner of the rune from where he stood, and he saw the faint flicker of energy as it was reactivated, draining energy from Marjix himself to do so.

Elder Marjix was almost done chanting when movement flickered to his left. He stopped mid chant, the connection to the rune severed. He turned, listening, watching, trying to tell what he had seen. Aaron felt his gut tighten, “Elder, step back inside.” He suggested.

“It was nothing, lad, just a leaf falling from above.” Marjix said, his voice shook with hidden nervousness, “Still doesn’t hurt to be too careful, does it?” He turned back to complete the rune, chanting faster now, his whiskers twitching slightly.

Aaron was sure the elder had seen something, but what it was he didn’t know. He silently urged the cat hybrid to hurry, as did all the other elders. Finally the feline stepped back. “There. That should keep them further away now.” He said, satisfied. It was just then that a twig snapped in the distance. Marjix spun, pulling a long curved dagger from his belt and hissing violently. He took a few steps towards the sound, out of the protective range of the runes, “Show yourself.” He spat. Aaron moved to go and help the elder, but Elder Malachi held out a hand, stopping him in his tracks. Aaron grit his teeth, Marjix had just walked into a trap!

“No. Now it is you who will show yourself… to me.” A bodiless voice echoed.

Too quick for words, a pale pink mist rose from within the woods, dipping low from under its hiding place to come up under Marjix’s feet. Marjix could not move as the mist touched his body and had wrapped around him. The hybrid’s fur was standing on end, eyes wild in frantic thought. Mustering all his strength he threw his dagger to the ground, the hilt landing in first, blade pointed right at him. “If you take the body, my soul goes free.” He said, not even pausing as he fell onto the blade, piercing his own heart. The mist clung to his body still, his fur rippled as it moved over the dying body. This was the way of Marjix’s people. Death was more honorable than supplantation to the feline races.

The supplanter laughed, “Thank you for making this easier for me.” Its voice changed, it was now speaking through Marjix’s body. There was a violent convulsion in the hybrid’s body, and then it lay still.

Aaron stared, holding his breath. Had the supplantation failed? Hybrids were harder for supplanters to take, because they could not take the bodies of animals. The question was how human Marjix was. Aaron watched the body, scanning it for movement. Then the paw-like hand twitched. “Someone get me a bow and arrow.” He said. “Now!”

Several elders offered up their bows, Aaron took the first that he could reach, and grabbed two arrows to go with it. He then ran to the stairway and up to the balcony above the gate, hoping to get a better angle. Just as he arrived and was taking aim, the body of the former elder was stirring, lifting itself up from the ground, standing with a staggered step. Aaron pulled the string back and fired. There was a loud ping that rang through the still of the air, and Aaron stared in pure rage at the sight of the supplanter, twirling the elder’s dagger, the very one he had taken his own life with. He had deflected Aaron’s shot! Quickly he notched his other arrow and took aim, “Rot in Hell.” He said, pulling the string back with all his strength, waiting to release it at just the right moment.

A freshly supplanted supplanter will still have some troubles moving the body in the way they want. Movements will be jerky, sometimes the body will have a random spasm. This was what Aaron waited to see before firing his arrow. One twitch was all he needed. And when it happened in the right arm that a muscle moved in a direction the supplanter didn’t command, Aaron fired his second shot. This one flew true, the spasm had given Aaron just the right amount of time. The arrow pierced through the head of the supplanter, the body fell weak.

“Cut off its head! Now!” One of the elders shouted from below. No one hesitated to run out now, and three elders at once came upon the supplanter, one hefting a mighty sword in his hands.

Aaron didn’t see them decapitate the body, the only sure way to kill a supplanter, he was retreating back down the stairs to the main courtyard, where he calmly returned the bow to its rightful owner. This didn’t make sense. A trap had been pre-set. The supplanters had known this would all happen. Had they planned for the drone to be killed? Perhaps that’s why they only sent in a drone. But why set a trap to supplant the elder? Aaron closed his eyes as he realized, it was because Marjix could repair runes. The supplanters knew that a rune speaker would need to fix one of the activated runes, and with danger so close the elders would send the strongest to repair it. Aaron cursed their luck that no one had seen this before it happened, and cursed himself for not doing anything to help the elder faster. After taking a moment to beat himself up over this, Aaron then walked up to Elder Malachi.

“Sir, I recommend every student over fifteen be told to prepare themselves to fight and defend our home, younger than that should be prepared to evacuate.” He said, face grim.

Malachi nodded, “I am well aware of what to do, Aaron, I’ve been an elder longer than you’ve been alive.” He gestured to the dorm rooms, “Go, you can be sure that now the supplanters will strike sooner than they say. You need to get out of here.” Aaron nodded silently and turned to leave. Malachi grabbed his arm, “Aaron,” he looked into his eyes, “You must find the spirit, the world depends on his return.”

Aaron lifted his hand and removed the elders, “I will go, elder, but I do not know what I will find.” He said honestly.

Elder Malachi shook his head, “None of us knows.” He said, “Now go.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 3