The Magi (The Magi Series) (39 page)

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CHAPTER 21: ANOTHER SECRET

Elijah didn’t get much sleep that night as he obsessed over the life he never knew he had. He played back countless memories of his parents in his head, thinking about them differently now knowing they were Magi. He also couldn’t help fantasizing how different his life would have been had his parents been alive to tell him everything. After he finally got to sleep, he had strange dreams about his parents, Detective Scott, and Kyria’s diaries. It was a relief to wake up to reality the next morning.

When Elijah arrived back at the barracks, he was greeted like a celebrity. Everyone wanted to ask Elijah about his adventures in Malpetra.

“What was it like?”

“Did you really break into their prison?”

“Did you fight the Maliphists by yourself?”

“Were you scared?”

“Is it true that there’s a secret passage way into the city?”

He was cornered, it seemed, every free minute he had. The questions he could handle, but the constant staring was grinding on his nerves. Even during his physical training, which was still not successful for him, he felt the eyes of dozens of his classmates watching him perform each exercise. He told everyone who asked that he couldn’t have escaped Malpetra without the help of his friends, but everyone heard what they wanted to hear.

He wasn’t the only one that was being pummeled with questions. Becca and Paul dealt with their fair share of curious classmates asking them all sorts of things too. Hannah, of course, was asked multiple times what it was like being captured by Maliphists and how she survived. In typical fashion, she answered every question politely and sincerely, with a sweet smile on her face. Elijah noticed how her eyes danced and widened as she talked. If she was annoyed, she never showed it.

Right after Elijah and his friends had finished their trainings for the day, Mr. Button summoned them all to his quarters and told them that a member of the Magi council wanted to talk with them. All six of their hearts sank, knowing that a giant lecture was coming. Since they arrived back at Savenridge, they had all gotten a pretty good talking to by their parents or guardians, and it only seemed logical that the elders wanted to scold them too. When Olivia walked into the room, however, Elijah felt a little better. She would probably scold them, but Elijah had heard her lecture already when the battle between her and the Maliphists concluded, and it wasn’t so bad. She walked right into the center of the room and asked the six students to sit down.

“Well, there’s a lot to say to you,” she said very calmly. “First of all, I want to talk with you about your decision to leave Savenridge to help your friends. I hope you understand how dangerous it was for you to leave.” Isaac and Adam hung their heads. Becca and Elijah looked at each other remorsefully. Paul continued looking directly at Olivia, unmoved. “But most of all,” she continued, “I want to make sure that what I’m about to say doesn’t come across as encouragement for future disobedience. Is that clear?”

All six teenagers nodded.

“Very well,” she continued. “I want to thank all of you personally. What you did was very admirable. While you acted foolishly, you behaved exactly the way that we try to teach young men and women like yourselves to behave. We teach how to protect the good in the world, and that often requires action. Sometimes our people confuse fear and inaction with being safe. I am guilty of that myself. There are reasons that I didn’t act this time, which I won’t get into now, but I wanted to tell you that even though you were very unwise to leave the safety of the city, I believe that you have all set an example for our people to follow. You acted selflessly. You sacrificed your safety to protect your friends. And, you stood up to evil. So, I came here to applaud you for your bravery. You deserve some praise for what you did…and probably a good kick in the pants too.” They all chuckled nervously.

Just then, Adam raised his hand. “Mrs. Rose, is your husband going to be okay?”

“Yes,” she said nodding. “He’s going to be in the infirmary for a while now.” She smiled and looked grateful. “But it has been wonderful having him back.”

“Why didn’t you go after him before?” Paul asked curiously. Elijah glared over at him. Paul was just being himself and had an honest question—a question they all had—but Elijah felt that it wasn’t the right time to ask it. Olivia, however, took it well.

“I suppose that would seem a little strange to you all,” she stated. “Like I said before, there are reasons I couldn’t go after him. As much as I love him, I have a responsibility here. Many years ago, Phinneas and I agreed that if something happened to one of us, we would never put Savenridge in danger in order to save the other. We made a promise.”

“So, you knew that there was a possibility he could be taken?” Isaac chimed in.

“Yes,” Olivia answered, “and that’s all I’m going to say about it. I’m sorry to be abrupt. I know you’re curious, but some things need to be left alone for now. When the time comes, you will know more.” Listening to Olivia talk about the possibility of danger made Elijah think about his conversation with Uncle Stan the other day. If he heard right, Phinneas’s capture was ten years ago, right around the same time that Uncle Stan said his parents left to live with the common people. Elijah wondered if the two were connected somehow. He decided to ask her later. Hannah’s hand shot up.

“Yes, sweetheart?” Olivia asked.

“I want to know if we are safe here. Will the Maliphists come back?”

“Mr. Button and I have put in new security measures here at the barracks to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Olivia said confidently. “Unfortunately, one of our soldiers guarding the barracks happened to be a Maliphist. That’s how they were able to break in so easily last time.” Becca looked over at Elijah and smiled triumphantly. She had been right. “He had somehow gotten into our city in disguise and coordinated their break-ins, giving the other Maliphists opportunities to enter the city and the barracks when he was on guard. We caught him as soon as Hannah was taken, and immediately sent him to Valcore.”

“How do we know there aren’t more of them in the city?” asked Paul. “Maliphists, I mean.”

“I’m afraid that it’s still a possibility and concern,” she answered. “That’s why we have put the new security measures in place. Plus, we have a team that is constantly evaluating our safety. They are looking into ways to make the city, and especially the barracks, safer each day, but you will still need to be extra careful.” Paul nodded his head, but the others were still nervous.

“Well, I’m sorry to say I must go,” said Olivia. “Elijah, I hope you forgive me. It’s been ten years since I’ve seen my husband, so I’m going to miss a few weeks of our training if that’s okay. I have lots of lost time to catch up on, and Phinneas needs care.”

“That’s okay,” said Elijah.

“Keep practicing, though,” she told him. “I’ll know if you don’t.”

Elijah smiled at her. “I will.” Olivia waved at the rest of them and she walked out. Elijah noticed an extra kick to her step and a youthful flash in her eyes. No matter how many lectures he got, he would never be sorry for what he did to help.

It was mid-April before Olivia sent word to Elijah that they were going to resume their elemental training. During the weeks prior, Uncle Stan had been released from the infirmary and was practically back to his normal self. The Roddicks graciously offered him their extra room for the time being, until he had a place to stay. Elijah found himself frequently visiting his uncle whenever he could, and this suited the Roddicks just fine as they got to see Elijah more often.

Elijah had also gotten quite good at his elemental training—especially controlling water. As Olivia requested, instead of training with her, he would go out with three soldiers every Saturday to work on his training alone. It was a relief not to have the lakes and rivers frozen as the warmer April weather had melted the ice away. Instead of snow, it would rain, and instead of freezing temperatures, the days were beginning to warm up, bringing with it the urgency for summer. On a few of the rainy days, Elijah practiced moving the water away from him as it came down, keeping him relatively dry. It was quite a shock to his friends when they came back one Saturday from their training completely soaked, and then noticed Elijah, who hardly had a drop on him.

“Did you go out today?” Isaac asked him.

“Sure I did,” Elijah said smugly. He still hadn’t told them that he could manipulate the elements.

“Then how are you so dry? It’s pouring out there!”

“Oh, I don’t think it’s raining that hard.” Elijah walked away feeling rather pleased with himself. He knew eventually he would have to tell his friends what he could do, but for now, he was having fun being coy.

When Olivia finally met up with Elijah, she took him to the lake where they had their first training. The walk was much different this time. The snow had melted away, so the land was full of green plants springing out of the rich soil. Olivia first asked Elijah to show her what he could do. He walked over to the lake, raised his arm, engulfed his emotions with a peaceful memory, and gathered a baseball-sized ball of water. It formed up out of the lake, raised about ten feet, and then Elijah let it fall, but just before it hit the surface of the lake, he spread his hands quickly, and the ball of water shattered into hundreds of drops and they all fell back into the lake.

“That’s quite the control you’ve managed to learn,” Olivia said. “Keep trying different things like that. Experimenting with the elements will help you learn how to manipulate them easier. Just make sure you’re careful.” Elijah agreed and for the rest of the lesson he continued to show Olivia other things, using other elements, that he had worked on during her absence.

When their session was complete, Olivia requested that they both sit down on a large root at the base of a nearby tree. Like always, she snacked on the crackers that she brought with her. They gazed out over the lake, now moving freely, with small ripples of waves rhythmically hitting the shore.

“I ended today’s session a little early today so I could have a minute to talk with you,” Olivia said. “I want to make sure everything’s okay. You seem to be doing remarkably well for someone who has been through such an intense experience.”

“I think I’m fine,” Elijah answered.

“I had a chance to talk with Master Roddick a little while ago, and he mentioned that you ran into Samuel,” she said. The statement was a question in disguise. Elijah knew she was asking how he was dealing with Samuel’s decision.

“He helped me escape,” Elijah said. “But he’s staying. He thinks that the Maliphists are not bad.”

“What do you think?”

“I think they’re manipulative and Samuel was easily manipulated. I think he saw them show off their power, and since we don’t do that in Savenridge, he assumed they were more powerful.” Elijah thought for a moment. “
Are
they more powerful?”

“No, and yes. The Maliphists are not more powerful than the Magi in ability. The Magi can use their power just as skillfully as any Maliphist. But what makes the Maliphists more powerful is their willingness to abuse the power.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” he said.

“Well, we do everything we can to avoid using our power aggressively. Some might call that weakness. Some might call that foolishness. I call it wisdom.” Olivia’s tone became very thoughtful. “It doesn’t take any skill to destroy something. Young children can destroy things without knowing what they’re doing. However, it takes a great amount of control and wisdom to have the power to destroy, but choose not to use it unless necessary.”

“Like you did to save me from the Maliphists?”

Olivia nodded. “Sometimes, it
is
necessary, and that’s why we train to use the elements. But the choice that we have made as Magi, to hold back until necessary, puts us at a disadvantage against those who use their power to destroy first. So in that way, the Maliphists are more powerful.”

“So how do we win?” Elijah asked, feeling a sense of defeat already.

“I’m not sure we ever will,” Olivia said sullenly. “I’m afraid there may always be those who look to destroy first. But it’s our responsibility as Magi to work against those who think that way. There is a hope that one day, we will live in a world where everyone looks for the good first, while keeping their power in check. There’s so much to learn about the world, and I’m afraid some will never know because they’re not looking.”

After a silent moment, Olivia stood up and motioned for Elijah to follow.

“Well, I think it’s time to head back,” she said. “We’re going to have to continue your work on some of the other elements since you seem to have a knack for controlling water.”

“I wouldn’t mind learning some of the things you were able to do to those Maliphists. I assume earth is your element?”

Olivia chuckled. “Yes. It has always come natural to me ever since I had children,” she explained.

Suddenly, Elijah remembered something. “Did you help us?”

“What do you mean?” Olivia asked curiously.

“Right after we rescued Hannah, there were three Maliphists that caught up to us. They were going to kill us. Then from out of nowhere, the earth just opened up and swallowed them. Only them—not us, and we were right there. I thought it might have been you.”