The Magi (The Magi Series) (21 page)

Isaac went wide-eyed. “You got an elder as a mentor?!? Wow! How did you manage that?”

“I’m not sure. Why? Do elders not usually mentor?” Elijah asked.

“Not that I know of,” said Isaac, looking back at Paul for validation. Paul shook his head. Elijah couldn’t help feeling like an outcast. Being mentored by an elder was just one more thing that was setting him apart from everyone else.

Sunday morning was a day off, and Elijah felt as good as he had in a long time. He woke up for the first time in a week without being stiff and sore. He began to feel a little more at home at the barracks, and he had the entire day to do as he wished. There were many possible things to do today, but Elijah had only one thing on his mind. After he washed and got dressed, he signed out to leave the barracks (giving his destination), took the walk back into the center of town, and knocked on the door to the Roddick household.

Mrs. Roddick opened the door and before he knew it, Elijah was engulfed in a big hug. Master Roddick came into the room once he heard the commotion, and soon afterwards, the two Roddick girls were welcoming Elijah back. It had only been a week since Elijah left, but it felt much longer.

“Sit down, Elijah,” Roddick said handing him some vanilla cider.

“Do you want something to eat?” Mrs. Roddick asked.

“No, thank you,” said Elijah.

“I’ll whip something right up,” Mrs. Roddick insisted. Elijah knew better than to argue with her, so he sat down with his vanilla cider and began to sip the meringue off the top.

“So how’s training going?” Roddick asked. “Are you sore?”

Elijah laughed. “A little. I’ve definitely felt better. The first few days were the worst. My schedule spreads out the physical days pretty evenly, so I have time to rest.” Mrs. Roddick came in with some food, gave it to Elijah, and sat down. Elijah could hear the girls playing in the back rooms.

“How is your training with the elements?” Roddick continued.

“Pretty good,” Elijah said. “I didn’t do much yesterday, and Mrs. Rose had me sit and watch water for hours. I’m not sure why, to be honest.”

“So Olivia’s your mentor?” Mrs. Roddick asked looking surprised. “That’s interesting.”

“What’s interesting about it?” asked Elijah, remembering the shock on the face of his friends when he told them.

“It’s not bad,” said Master Roddick. “It’s just that elders usually don’t train students. They are needed elsewhere, and they’re really busy most of the time. But it’s obvious that you have something Olivia thinks is worth cultivating.”

“She had me doing things that the other students didn’t do,” said Elijah.

Roddick smiled and nodded. “I’m sure of that. Did you learn anything?”

“Yes. I think so. Well, at least I hope so. But why is training different for me than it is for the other students?” Elijah asked.

“Well, first of all, you have a different mentor than anyone else. Different mentors have different methods. But I honestly don’t know, Elijah,” Roddick said. “All I can say is to trust her. She knows more about our power than anyone else here. You’re really lucky to have her as a mentor.” Elijah decided it was too early to question Olivia, especially since it seemed as though he had learned more in his first lesson than any of his friends had. “I’m glad you stopped by, though,” Roddick continued. “I talked to some people and I think I’ve found someone for you to ask about your parents. His name is Walter, and he works closely with marshals that are stationed outside of Savenridge. He lives in the northern part of the city, close to Arthur. I say one of these days we both go up there and talk with him.”

“Does he know my uncle?” asked Elijah eagerly.

“I don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to ask him. I haven’t even met him, actually. I’ve just heard that he would be the most likely person to know.”

“Can we go today?” Elijah asked, putting down his cider.

“I’d be more comfortable if we didn’t just go barging into his house on a Sunday. Besides, by the time we’d get there it would be almost dark. I’ll see if I can make an appointment with him. How’s that sound?”

Elijah nodded his head in disappointment. He wanted to go talk to Walter now.

“Can I ask you about Mrs. Rose?” Elijah asked thinking about Uncle Stan and Phinneas Rose in the Maliphist prisons.

“Sure,” Master Roddick said.

“Her husband has been in the prison for a long time, right?” Both Roddicks nodded. “Why is he there? What did he do?” Mr. and Mrs. Roddick looked at each other and then back at Elijah.

“I’m not sure either of us knows the whole story,” said Master Roddick. “But what we do know is that the Maliphists think Phinneas has something they want.”

“Or it could be Olivia they’re after and they’re just using Phinneas to get to her,” Mrs. Roddick said.

“Whatever it is has heated up the conflict between the Magi and the Maliphists,” Roddick continued.

“What do you mean?” asked Elijah. “I thought the Magi and the Maliphists were already in conflict.

“We believe different things,” said Roddick, “that’s for sure. But there have been years where we have coexisted in relative peace. We work to stop their delivery of young men and women to their cities, and they work to stop us from getting in their way, but other than that, there hasn’t been anything that we would consider going to war over. That is until they started to terrorize our city and take our people, like Phinneas. We’ve had to be very careful the last few years. Like I said, things have been heating up.”

Elijah wondered what would make the Maliphists want Olivia’s husband. And if the information that Phinneas had was so important, why were they willing to give him up for Elijah? He certainly didn’t think
he
had any information that was important.

“And Mrs. Rose accepts all of this?” Elijah asked. “I mean, is she doing anything to get him out?”

“I think some things are best left alone,” said Roddick, a little short. “At least for now. Let her concern herself with her husband. It would be wise not to worry about it.”

“But I have someone I care about in there too,” said Elijah defensively. “I’m just trying to find out if anything is being done to get them out.”

“I’m sure those who are involved are doing what they feel is best to do,” said Master Roddick.

Elijah gritted his teeth and stared at the sword and shield hanging on the wall across from him. He wasn’t satisfied with that answer, but he knew it would have to do for now. Either Roddick didn’t know what was being done, or he was choosing not to tell him. Whichever it was, Elijah knew he would get no more answers on the matter. He picked up his cider again and drank some more.

Elijah and the Roddick family spent the rest of the afternoon visiting. Elijah told them all about his training and how he had failed to get out of the pit. He told them how he aced the mental training exercises and all he had learned about water with Olivia. Appropriately, Roddick seemed most interested with Elijah’s discoveries with water. After all, he was a water controller.

Elijah also talked about the friends he had made during his first week, although, he conveniently left out his conversations with Hannah.

When it was time to say goodbye, Elijah felt like leaving was just as hard as the first time they said goodbye. Mrs. Roddick again promised a meal for Elijah whenever he needed it and told him to give Samuel some encouragement. He waved goodbye and took the long walk back to the barracks.

Just after he crossed the river, Elijah suddenly began to feel very warm. It had been a while since he last had this sensation, but he felt a hint of danger creeping into his thoughts again. Realizing that he was alone, Elijah became increasingly scared. He looked around, but no one was in sight, and he still had a long way to go before arriving at the barracks. He picked up his pace.

Darkness quickly fell over Savenridge, which made Elijah even more nervous. His body continued to emit heat, and his instinct told him that the danger was near. But where? This time, the silence of the winter was not comforting. It was terrifying! He stopped walking for a minute to listen. Elijah tried using his training to his advantage. He couldn’t see, but he needed to use his other senses.

Silence.

More silence.

He wondered if stopping was such a good idea because the quiet of dusk was beginning to make his heart race, and instead of focusing on what was around him, he could only hear his heart hammering against his chest. Just then, he heard a faint sound coming toward him. At first it sounded like the air rushing beneath the wings of a large bird. As the sound grew louder, Elijah recognized the sound of footsteps in the snow. He heard only one set of footprints, but they were getting louder, and the closer it got, Elijah could tell whoever was making the sound was running. Toward him!

Elijah thought about running for it, but whoever was coming was fast. Too fast for him to outrun. He would never make it to the barracks in time. His heart pounded with frantic speed. Finally, out of the shadows of the spreading darkness emerged the outline of a person reaching for Elijah. He almost screamed, but just before he did, the hand grabbed his arm, dragged him forward, and pulled him toward the barracks.

“RUN YOU IDIOT!”

Elijah didn’t think. He ran side by side with the tall figure that had grabbed him, giving every ounce of energy he had to keep pace. When Elijah had a chance to glance at the face of the figure, he saw it was his friend, Paul Hetfield. It was hard keeping up with him, but Elijah managed to do it. His adrenaline was racing, and every few seconds, he looked back to see a darker sky each time. If anything was out there now, he wouldn’t know until it had him.

After what seemed like days, Elijah and Paul came to the entrance of the barracks. Paul opened the door and led Elijah through. The entire building was buzzing with panicked and flustered students and trainers.

“What’s going on?” Elijah asked Paul.

“What the heck were you doing out there by yourself?!?” Paul asked, ignoring Elijah’s question. Elijah was taken off guard by the concern in Paul’s voice.

“I—I thought—” He didn’t have an answer. Paul shook his head.

“I thought you were taken for sure. I almost went all the way to the Roddick’s house before I found you.”

“Found me? You were looking for me?” Paul grunted as they walked toward the stairs that led up to their rooms. “Why? What’s going on?”

As they climbed the stairs, panting for air, Elijah saw a large crowd of students right outside his door. They all turned to look at him as he slowly walked toward them. They parted ways to let him through. Mr. Button was standing next to Elijah’s door looking at him.

“Y’ alright, Elijah?” he asked. Elijah didn’t answer because he was looking at his door. On it was a note. Pinning the note to the door was a thin, wooden stake pierced completely through to the other side. Elijah read the note:

To all who protect Elijah Hawk:

Release him to us or next time the penalty will be more severe. Until we claim what is ours, more than one will be taken.

Elijah looked around at everyone as they gaped at him. He glanced inside his room. It was completely torn apart! His wooden chest by the window had been opened, and everything he owned was scattered around the room.

“More than one will be taken? More than one what?” Paul sighed and glanced at Isaac who was standing in front of them both. “What?” Elijah insisted. Isaac stepped toward Elijah to speak.

“The Maliphists took Samuel.”

****

CHAPTER 13: KIDNAPPED

Elijah looked at Isaac in disbelief. The others standing nearby seemed to have the same feeling. They looked around at each other, stealing quick glances at Elijah, and looking sick to their stomachs. Mr. Button waved his arms in the air signaling attention to all the students that had gathered.

“Please go back to your rooms everyone! And lock your doors!”

Mr. Button shooed the students along, especially the crowd that was continuing to linger around Elijah’s door.

“When did this happen?” Elijah asked.

“Not too long ago,” said Mr. Button. “I’ve alerted the elders, and the soldiers should be here soon.”

“Soldiers?” Elijah asked as he looked again at the note stabbed to his door.

“Protectors of our city,” Paul said when Mr. Button didn’t answer, obviously distracted by the continued commotion in the halls. “They’re stationed around the city to keep out Maliphists. Kind of like a lookout. They’re trained and skilled in using the elements for warfare if they need to.”

“Well, they’re going to need to now,” said Mr. Button, returning to the conversation, a hint of panic in his voice. He looked around anxiously, making sure that things were still okay.

“How could they just walk in and take Samuel?” Elijah asked. “Wasn’t anyone here? Did anyone see it?”

“I did,” said a small, timid voice behind them. They turned around and saw the big, round eyes of Adam Flemming looking like a frightened puppy.