Page 8 of Elemental Hall: Nautica
“I’m fine. Is he always like that?”
“Ash? Pretty much. He’s one of the senior students in our class. He’s decided that puts him in charge of everyone. I’m Orion.”
“I gathered. I’m Sera.”
“I know,” he says. He looks momentarily bashful. “I asked.”
He asked? Now, why would someone like him ask about someone like me?
“You know,” he says, “what you did on the deep dive, saving Aria like that, was impressive. There are a few of us who study together in a circle. You could join us. We’re due to meet up by one of the rock pools. A couple of people with water affinities are thinking of trying to bond with a creature.”
“Bond?” I try very hard not to show my ignorance. I suspect that I fail, because he starts to explain.
“A lot of elementalists form a bond with a creature linked to their element. For me, it would be some kind of earth-dwelling creature. They say the link can boost your power, and that it gives you access to the kind of deep knowledge that only a magical creature can possess.”
“That sounds like something you memorized,” I say, tilting my head to one side.
He smiles. “It is. My tutors made me memorize a lot of things before I came here.”
His tutors. Because of course Orion is from a family wealthy enough to afford them.
“I’m not sure if I want to commit to bonding to something like that,” I say. I’m not sure about committing to anything right now. Not his circle. Not… anything.
“You don’t have to,” Orion says, “but in a place like this, it could be good to have every advantage you can get.”
I get the feeling that he’s someone who’s used to having every possible advantage. Do I really want to go hang out with some guy I’ve only just met? He’s right, though. It probablywouldbe helpful to train with other people. Maybe some of them can catch me up on all the things I’ve missed out on that I should know.
“All right,” I say. “Lead the way.”
He does, and I follow behind, still not really knowing the layout of the islands, still a little envious that everyone else here seems to know their way. It’s a reminder that I haven’t been here long, while they’ve all been studying already.
Orion leads the way down a path to where a curving spur of rock forms a deep pool with a small beach running in front of it. It’s sheltered by palm trees to form a beautiful, secluded cove. There are half a dozen students there. One young man is in the water, and I see a crab easily the same size he is scuttle out of the water, stopping in front of him and regarding him as if trying to work out what he is. Then it scuttles back into the water without looking back.
“So close!” a girl nearby says with a laugh.
“It isn’t easy,” the young man retorts. “Andyouonly attracted eels, Kinsey.”
They all look around as Orion and I approach. It’s obvious that they’re all looking at him. I mean, who wouldn’t? In any case, his presence seems to draw attention as naturally as the sun rising over the horizon would. It takes several seconds of back-slapping and greetings before any of them notice me.
Orion introduces me. “Everyone, this is Sera. She’s the one who saved Aria.Andshe got the bracelet.”
“Impressive,” a young woman says. “You want her to join our circle?”
I note that she doesn’t ask me. Orion is clearly the center of attention here.
Orion nods. “I figure that, if we’re in Nautica, we might learn a lot from her.”
They might learn a lot from me? That isn’t the way I imagined this going.
“Do you want to try for a companion?” a girl named Sybil asks. She’s pretty, slender, dark-haired, with a flower in her hair that seems to move under her command.
“I wasn’t planning to,” I say.
“What’s wrong? Don’t know how? Or just don’t think you can manage it?” There’s a challenge there, and the worst part is that the others are watching me, even Orion. They’ve heard what I did, so now, of course they’re eager to see if I can do more.
“I…”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Orion says, putting a reassuring hand on my arm. If anything, though, that only pushes me to do it more. I don’t want to be just some girl he brought along out of pity. I don’t want to feel useless, because he’s been kind to me.
