The Realm Protectors

Chapter 5 - Nikolina

My heart races in my chest as we all stare at Professor Grantwood. Us? I ask myself. The first full team of Realm Protectors in over five hundred years? I look at the eight of us in a crescent in front of the desk and think about the things I've learned about them from hiding around the shadows of campus. An Otherborn with a slapstick sense of comedy, a boy who spends too much time in the past, a moon witch, a moody athlete, a giddy and over-optimistic ball of sunshine, a girl with a temper hotter than the sun, a surfer boy who spends more time on the water than he does reading, and me. A girl who's a little too good at blending into the shadows. And we're supposed to be the strongest elementals of our generation?

"Us?" I ask. My voice comes out as a squeak. The athlete girl – Avani, I remind myself – stares at me with a strange look in her eye. Almost pity. I want a shadow to sink into.

"I know it seems preposterous, but think about it!" Professor Grantwood leans across the desk and motions to our necklaces. "Just look at your first elements. Yours are the biggest Asavanra's ever seen!" I pull out the silver chain and the ball of shadows inside the marble. It's true that our elements are quite large. I look around at everyone else's necklaces, all of them in lockets of varying sizes, but there's no denying the fact that Grantwood is right: our elements are all bigger than the ones I saw on other people this afternoon.

"And if that isn't enough to convince you, then just think about the way you all came into the Realm!" Grantwood's face is flushed under the lights, stressing her point. "Avani, Ciana, both of you did the same thing this morning that Carter and Faris did when they were first sects! You were so powerful that you all passed out upon entry to the Realm. And you four Elenatives nearly died as infants coming out of the womb because of it!"

The eight of us look around at each other in astonishment. Avani looks at Professor Grantwood like she's grown a second head. Ciana's somehow paler than me, and the rest of them look somewhere in between.

"I know it sounds crazy." She pauses. "And there's no real way to prove it to you all until you take over as High Arches someday and your tattoos begin to reveal themselves. But–"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Surfer boy cuts in. "High Arches? Who says we even want to be High Arches?"

"Nile," The red-head scolds softly, her eyes never leaving Grantwood.

"The fact that you dislike the position means that you're probably a good fit for it!" Grantwood assures him. "There's no rush to take over. All eight of us High Arches have to agree to step down, and we aren't planning on doing that for a while yet. You'll figure out what position you're meant to take, and you'll all be trained under your respective Arch. You will be prepared to step in by the time you'll have to."

"What if we're not supposed to be the Realm Protectors?" I ask under my breath. Grantwood's face softens and she sighs, leaning back in the chair.

"I know that you're all fit to lead. I've seen how each one of you acts. Some of you need some work in certain areas, whether it be confidence or humility, seriousness or letting loose, but you'll all get there together." Grantwood looks through the windows to the city beyond the campus. "But if you eight had the power to protect this beautiful place, wouldn't you want to team up and use it?"

The eight of us glance at each other, starting to understand where Grantwood is coming from. We clearly have the power, maybe we should use it.

"I'm in." The red-head says firmly. Grantwood spins around and smiles at her with pride. "If our home is in danger, then I'll help protect it."

"Me too," Surfer boy – Nile – says. "En and I stick together."

"I'm in too," Ciana pipes in.

"Me three,"