SWORD ACADEMY (censored)

“I can’t look.”

I press my fingers to my eyes. I’m nervous and excited in equal parts and maybe a little nauseous to top the cake. I’ve waited my whole life to come here. I’m not foolish enough to believe I’ll come away sparkling, but I had hoped and prayed to the light and dark for something else, something I’d somehow managed to convince myself might be possible while here—entry to the Registry.

Except, that wasn’t allowed. Only Orderlies, Sparklers, or special pass holders are permitted access. The Scholar Sect guard all spark resource material like treasure. It isn’t available at Regular high schools or public libraries. They hold the key to the knowledge I so desperately crave, and I was devastated to learn the ceremony only served to dangle it above my head just out of reach.

“You have an earth spark!” Nick booms.

Wait. What? My heart stops beating right inside my chest.

“And water!” Elaina chimes.

I feel suddenly woozy and worry I might throw up.

“More earth than water,” they say in unison.

I slowly lift one eye to look for myself, not really believing them. This is unexpected. The chances? Too low. Sure, I’ve dreamed about it. Haven’t we all? I’ve longed for the opportunities ignition presents, the specialized insight only Sparked Scholars can provide, but that was more a fantasy than potential reality for me. Facts are where my joy lives, grounded by the truth of documented history.

By the time I open my other eye there’s no denying the scales I’m seeing. My Saturation Ceremony is complete, and I ignited earth and water sparks. I lose focus, my brain rattling against my skull with all the questions residing there. I’m going to learn so much more now, every possible thing I could ever want to know. All that information will be right at my fingertips. I know exactly where to get started.

“I want to go to the Registry!” I squoosh with enough volume they all jump.

Elaina comes around first, a soft smile forming at the corner of her mouth. “You don’t have anything you want to ask?”

I squinch my brow. She thinks I might start asking a million questions, but I don’t need answers from them anymore. I can search those out myself.

“Don’t you at least want the cliff notes?” she tinkles.

“I was sort of hoping to figure stuff out on my own.”

Her lips downdraft. “Do you want us to walk there with you?”

“No, I know the way.” I sat outside the Registry gazing at it longingly yesterday for four straight hours. Now I’ll be granted entrance! It’s a beacon to my heart.

“We don’t mind,” she plinks.

“I’ll walk her there,” Grady yaps.

I know Elaina and Nick worry about us, and Elaina has a much softer streak than Nick, but I’m not daft. Only an idiot would get lost in this place. There are five paths extending from the circular courtyard. Every path leads to a building connected by long corridors between them. All the paths are straight. Even if I get the wrong path four times, I’m going to find what I’m looking for on my fifth try. Their poor assumption about my navigation skills is borderline offensive.

“There’s so much you don’t know,” she tinks.

That makes sense, but they don’t need to worry about me over it. I don’t need extra support from them. I just need the resources to dig for my own answers which is why I’m going straight to the Registry.

“You know I want to be here, right? I’m not running away,” I clonk.

“We know.” She worries her lip.

For the life of me, I can’t understand why they’re stalling me going someplace meant for education. It isn’t like I’m asking to go to the Stadium. Just thinking about that building makes me quake. I’m not a fighter. My brain is my weapon. My hands just hang around to turn pages for me.

“I promise I’ll go straight there,” I swear. “No pit stops. Cross my sparks.”

Elaina tings a sigh, and Nick eventually pitches his head, waving his hand like he’s jetting me away. “Off you get then.”

Grady seems eager to go off-leash. When I offer him my hand, he happily takes it. He’d likely take any hand at this point to get him away from them.

“Maybe you’ll sparkle soon too!” I clink cheerfully, every step closer to my hope chest brightening my mood further still.

Pritchett’s still skulking near the door. The charges surrounding him have begun a renewed and stronger effort to console him. He’s clearly heard my good news. I might feel sorry for him if not for the fact that having the spark or not has no impact on his ability to learn about it. He’s already enrolled for four terms which he droned on about endlessly. That comes with full access to the Registry and anything else to do with the academy. As an Orderly, he’ll support the spark in whatever path he chooses. So, he might be rightly disappointed he doesn’t sparkle, but he’s still well off, and that should count for something.

He glares at me as I pass him. I consider asking if he’s alright, but I’m scared he might yell at me or remind me how undeserving I am of this gift. While I know that’s true, I also know I’ll do everything in my power to never squander what I’ve been given. I’ll pay back my debt ten-fold by doing whatever’s expected of me and more, starting with learning about the history that’s been shielded from me before now.

Grady isn’t letting it slide though. “Looks like Fiona’s a first too, Pritchett. First to sparkle. How does that crap sandwich taste?”

I tug Grady along behind me. He seems content enough to be towed. He can’t go in the Registry yet, but if having him with me for the short trip helps quell Elaina’s sudden overprotectiveness, and he doesn’t mind, I’ll accept him nipping at my heels.

The Orderly at the desk gives me a sympathetic smile when we exit the room. They must think the results are bad news. With ninety-five percent leaning toward that result, I can hardly blame them for the wrong assumption.

As we head down the stairs, we pass Luke’s charges. I shove up against the right side to give them more room. Luke’s behind them in the middle of the stairs, his steely gaze threatening to whip them back in line if they fall out of step before him. I stare at my feet to avoid eye contact.

I cringe at his proximity as we draw closer. He isn’t moving over to his right, so I smoosh myself against the wall as if that might stop him from touching me at all. I have to physically force myself not to recoil like the coward I am when the side of his hand slightly brushes mine on his way by.

Just when I’m about to release the breath I’d been holding, Luke swirls back around. He’s on me before I exhale, grabbing my bare arms and using the leverage to push me hard into the wall. I squeal in pain when the railing bites into my back.

Grady keeps hold of my hand. I focus on that connection with all my might, trying to ignore how much my arms ache where Luke’s squeezing them. His grip isn’t what’s hurting me. It’s his hands. Well, what’s coming out of them, actually. They’re projecting the bite of the coldest winter. That cold funnels into me, flash freezing everything in its path.

Luke never says a word the whole time. When he releases me, he turns his attention back to the stairs and jogs up to meet his charges who are staring at me with slack jaws and horror in their eyes.

“Are you alright?” Grady yips, pulling his hand from mine and shaking it fiercely to still the throbbing where I’ve crushed it in mine. He puts it back right after, but I just hold it limply. I feel numb, like the chill is still crawling its way through my bones and filling in the cracks.

“He took something from me,” I clank.

“What did he take?” he growls.

“I think…” I take a long, steadying breath. “I think he took some of my water spark.”

Grady’s appalled and clearly ready to act on that sentiment, but I catch his arm before he can run off and do anything foolish. “Let’s just go,” I suggest.

The Orderly at the entry desk smirks at me like they know some secret I’m about to find out. My unease grows. I quicken my pace, tugging Grady to keep up. He keeps looking back at the stairwell, clearly unconvinced Luke isn’t coming back. I have no idea what’s just happened, but I don’t want to be alone, and I definitely don’t want to stay at the Ward in case he’s right.

Grady’s brow crumples as we step outside and onto the path. “What was that?”

“I wish I knew,” I admit. “You’re walking with me, right?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” he assures me.

“Can you walk me back to my room instead?” I ask quietly.

He frowns at my clear one-eighty. “But your heart was doggone set on the Registry, like really, really set.”

“I’m tired.” A wave of exhaustion rolls over me. “I just want to lay down for a while.”

He wraps a supportive arm around my shoulder and starts guiding me back to the Dormitory. My unease escalates further as a tall person with a pixie cut as dark as midnight surveys me curiously when we meet them at the courtyard. They reach out toward us as though they intend to casually connect with my hand as we pass by. We veer hard away from them. The move is intentional, and they have to know it.

“Calm down,” they smoulder seductively. “I was just going to see if I like the way you taste.”

Every muscle in my body seizes under their gaze. Thankfully, Grady has a presence of mind enough to move us into a run.

“What. Is. Happening?” I rasp when we finally make it to my room.

His eyes are wild with fear, and he just shakes his head.

“Can you stay?” I clatter.

“Well, I’m not going back out there,” he yowls.

We sit down on my bed together still shaken from the experience. I try to steady my racing heart but fail miserably. He reaches a hand over to wipe a tear from my cheek, and my fear geysers.

“Oh no, Grady,” I whimper, tears free falling like a waterfall. “No, no, no.”

“What’s wrong?” He starts panicking again.

I squish a nervous lump down my throat and prepare to tell him what I’m sure will be the worst news he’s going to hear in his life. “You’ve saturated too,” I squeak.