Elem woke up just before the break of dawn. He hadn’t been able to sleep much but at least his nerves provided him with enough adrenaline to start his day. He put his black Sekuheim tracksuit on as quickly as he could and left his dorm room to eat some grits with fruit in the kitchen.

As usual, the others were already waiting outside the School gates. Aja raised her brow when she saw him.

“Really? Even today we have to wait for you?”

“We got enough time!” Elem growled back as he pointed at the Thunderbird. The mountain loomed over their town like some dark giant.

“It should only take us a few hours to get up.”

“To get up there, yes. But for us all to complete our rituals and connect with our Summons, we gotta be there early, dummy.”

Bertrand seemed annoyed with their playful bickering and gestured at the road.

“Can we do this while we walk?” he offered.

The Sekuheim School was built on a hill on the outskirts of Lightningrod City, so it wasn’t a long walk to the foot of the mountain. They walked twenty minutes before crossing the parking lot belonging to Thunderbird Mountain’s gondola station and began their ascent.

“Look at those lucky bastards,” Aja mentioned, noticing that the first cart of the day was already on its way up. “Can you imagine if Master Ardan would let us take a cart up?”

Elem laughed. That would be something, he thought. It was unfortunate that his father was so strongly bound to tradition.

“There were no gondolas in my day! So you can’t have them either!”, he joked, mimicking his father’s voice.

Aja laughed but Bertrand couldn’t appreciate the joke.

“Only tourists take that stupid thing up. They want to see the sunrise reflect on the lake without putting in the work. It’s lazy. ”

“At least they’re willing to wake up this early to see it. Isn’t that good enough for you?” Aja asked as she stuck out her tongue. Bertrand didn’t answer.

The trek was difficult. Not only was the trail muddy and narrow, it was layered with rocks, logs and other debris. If they didn’t watch their feet, especially in the dark, they could slip and gravely injure themselves.

After a stressful three hour long hike, their path led them to a steep rock face. From there onwards they’d had to climb to reach the peak. Elem wiped sweat from his forehead. It seemed the hardest part was still ahead of them. He wanted to rest for a little while but there was no point in wasting time now.

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The sharp rocks dug into his fingers as soon as he latched onto the wall’s dew-covered ledge. Elem grunted as he hoisted himself up the wall. A ride on the gondola would’ve been nice now, he thought as he suppressed a chuckle.

At least he wasn’t afraid of heights. In fact, while climbing the mountain, he had a perfect view of his home town. Lightningrod was a medium sized city but now it looked as if the whole town, from its business district to the residential flats on the outskirts, could fit inside his pocket. Even the train approaching from the other side of the valley looked like it was just a toy.

He had spent his entire life in Lightningrod and while he had always considered it a great place to live, he had always dreamt of traveling the world outside his hometown. There were so many places to explore, so many adventures to be had.

Although the other disciples were faster than him, Elem reached the top quicker than he expected. Thunderbird Mountain’s crater lake shone like a blue mirror. In its center waited his destination; the elemental temple containing the Sacred Fountain.

Now he just had to get there. The temple was famously inaccessible to the public. The same tourists who’d ascended the mountain through the gondola now lined the lake’s shores, admiring the ancient temple and the panoramic views. This was the closest they would get but disciples attempting to connect with a Summon were allowed to go further.

Elem noticed that Bertrand and Aja had already begun swimming.

“Crap!” he cursed, realizing he forgot his swim trunks. How could be so stupid? He didn’t even bring a plastic bag to keep his clothes dry.

There was not enough time to be upset. He had to manage the situation with what was at his disposal.

Elem threw off his tracksuit and plunged into the lake. He yelped at the water’s icy temperature, almost dropping the clothes he was dangling over his head.

When he finally reached the shore after an exhausting spring, Aja had just finished getting dressed again and Betrand had already entered the building.

Under any different circumstances, Aja would have made some lame joke but both of them were too nervous for that now. Instead they just exchanged a long, wide-eyed stare. Elem couldn’t believe the moment he’d been waiting for for so long was finally there.

Standing before the stone temple, it all felt so real. Elem had seen the building from the other side of the lake plenty of times but he had never come this close. The temple was smaller than he had expected it to be. The building had a robust, blocky construction, consisting mostly of large stone bricks and a colonnade of four large pillars.

In any other context he would’ve thought the building was unassuming, even underwhelming, but Elem swore he could feel the Essence emanating from the Sacred Fountain waiting behind the temple’s stone walls.

He turned to Aja.

“Once Bertrand comes out , you’re up next. Do you think you’re ready?”

Aja had never looked so serious.

“Yes,” she said, forcing a smile. “Of course I am.”

They waited for a while in silence, trying to meditate and prepare their Essence for what was coming. It could have been an hour, maybe even multiple, when the heavy temple doors finally creaked open.

Bertrand stepped out of the temple drenched in sweat. His chest heaved up and down as if he had just climbed the mountain another five times and his eyes carried a weary but satisfied expression.

“I did it,” he declared triumphantly. “I got a Wind Summon.”

Elem and Aja cheered and moved to embrace their fellow disciple but Bertrand stepped back.

“Let me show you,” he said.