Images of the void from my nightmare consumed my thoughts as I said my good-byes to Clay and waited in the 3C building for Stace. Some students began shuffling in and taking their seats. One key seat remained empty. Trevor Carson—the little skinny blond with wide brown eyes behind huge owlish glasses—was still in the infirmary recovering from Alec torturing him. Once he recovered, he got the reward of going through another tribunal one week after going through his first. The kid bugged me, I wasn’t going to lie, but he didn’t deserve the universe taking a dump on him like this. I’d talk to Stace and see if he could get a pass. He wasn’t dark. Alec and Spencer didn’t turn him by torturing him. He didn’t need to be retested.
The class was only about one-tenth full by the time the professor walked in. Most of the students in 3C were first years, so I didn’t expect more. My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out to check the text. My heart hammered when I saw who’d sent it.
The academy’s healer, Syd Franklin. Need you on a call. Come to the infirmary. Holy crap. My first call as a healer. Well, interning as a healer, but still. Close enough.
“Professor?” I held up my phone. “Syd needs me.”
“Go ahead. I’ll manage without you.” She smiled warmly, her default gesture when she regarded me.
“Thanks.” I hurried to the other side of campus, beyond the main hall, the small dining hall, and finally made it to the infirmary. I was out of breath by the time I found Syd in his office gathering things and putting them into a very Nelem-looking black doctor bag, the leather cracked and worn.
I had no idea elemental healers used them and nodded at the sad bag. “I thought those were only on TV.”
“They’re extremely convenient and have loads of room.” He grabbed it by the handle and thrust it into my arms. “This one is yours.” He then reached down behind his desk and pulled out a slightly larger black doctor bag, this one shiny and unblemished. “I’ve been dying to try out this new bag Rose got me.”
I had a doctor’s bag. Me. I felt so official now and damn proud at my first step at mastering the whole adulting thing. Holding the bag with both hands—it was heavier than it looked—I waited for his instruction, having no clue what a day in the life of a healer was like. Did I rush to the scene and yell out commands like stat or code blue? Maybe I should just wait for Syd to tell me. “Where’s the call?”
“We’re heading to the field,” he explained as he led me out of his office, through the waiting room, and out the double doors of the infirmary.
I hurried to keep up. For someone only a few inches taller than me, he was deceptively fast. “Why the field? Did something happen?”
“No, but Dean Carter wants healers there in case something does. There will be healers posted to every side of the field. We won’t be the only ones there.”
Made sense, I guess. Although they didn’t have healers on the sidelines during normal tribunals, these weren’t normal. I couldn’t help but think the reason the Council had been brought in to run the tribunals had something to do with the way they planned to test the students. Stace tested them to discover their primary and how many other elements they could call. The Council planned to test them to uncover who had dark magic forcing the elements to answer their call.
“Now, when we get to the field, it’s important for you to stay on the sidelines. Most—well, in fact, all until you, should you decide to be a healer when all is said and done—are singles. We only have the power to control light. As you know, calling light around other elementals weakens them, shorts out their powers, if you will. Therefore, healers won’t be allowed onto the field until we’re signaled. It’s for our own safety.”
Again, made sense. I nodded and continued to practically jog to keep up with him. By the time we got to the field, a dozen tribunals had already begun. I slowed at the sight. Council members battled terrified first years. Fireballs flew. Waves of water crashed down. Roots sprang up from the ground. Airfields popped up left and right. It was chaos. I couldn’t keep track of who did what. Screams from students periodically filled the air. There was crying. More screams.
My stomach flipped as a Council member used a giant root to knock a student to the ground, and the student didn’t get back up. I braced myself to run in and help him.
Syd brought up his hand. “Not unless they call for us.”
“But he’s hurt.”
“No, Katy. We are not to enter the field unless they wave us on. Is that understood?” He studied me from above his rimless glasses, his expression hard, his stare intense. I’d never seen him so stern. I nodded and stood down.
A white flag shot up, along with a piercing whistle that caused my ears to ring. “What’s that?”
“That’s the call for a healer. It’s on our side.” He held me back when I took a step forward. “Not until the battles come to a stop.” He waited until every tribunal paused. I didn’t know how he stayed so calm. I shook in eager anticipation to get out and help the poor kid needing light to not die. Syd finally nodded. “Now we can go. Come on.”
We hurried onto the field to where a tall thin man with a terrible thinning comb-over held the flag high in the air. He spotted us and lowered the flag before
