The Keeper's Curse by Diana Harrison Read Free Book Online

them?”
    “ It’d be nice,” Alex said, “but no. The thing you have to keep
in mind is you own them. People use their hands to move them but you don’t
have to – it’s a mental thing.”
    “ They seem to pop up when I’m mad,” Emmy said.
    “ Yes, they tend to be more sensitive when your heart rate goes
up, because that would be when you need them, especially if you’re
scared.”
    “ So I need to train myself to get upset?”
    “ Pretty much.”
    At first
she was hopeless, feeling stupid waving her arms around. But the
more frustrated she got with Alex, the more frequent a palewraith
would pop up in front of her, even if it was only for a second
before fading away again.
    She slept
well that night, exhausted by the practice, and the following day
was just as busy. Alex had brought home school forms to fill out
regarding class scheduling and enrolment, a task that proved to be
difficult to do since she didn’t have proof of citizenship, which
every crafter received after their admission exam.
    By the
time Alex led Emmy up to her room for bed that evening, she had
spiralled downward into a panicky mess.
    “ They had a list of crafts on the application, and I didn’t
know which ones I had,” Emmy wailed, as Alex pushed her onto the
bed. “I don’t even know what a craft is!”
    “ I’ll give you a list of the crafts in the morning,” he said
calmly, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “It’s just another word
for ability. Now clear your head and get some sleep.”
    He
sounded so much like their father the back of her eyes started to
burn. She tucked herself in as Alex let himself out and climbed
down the ladder. She tried to empty her head, which proved to be
impossible. Emmy wasn’t fond of school in general, but now she was
downright terrified.
    Her eyes
lingered on the moon, once in a while seeing a visible change in
its position. Was she going to get any sleep? She began counting
stars, and when she ran out, she counted trees. The boughs
encircled her little window, and that was when she noticed
it.
    There had
been something on one of the branches all night. At first she had
thought it was some sort of growth, but then it ruffled, and a
light flashed her way. Emmy got to her feet and went over to the
window, pressing her face up against it to get a better
look.
    It was a
silver raven with pure white eyes, staring right at her.
    Get a grip , she told herself, but
she felt a prickle in the back of her spine. She had never seen an
animal look so directly at her, eyes so unmoving from her
face.
    She shook
her head, pulled down the blind, and trudged back to bed. Emmy fell
asleep with two white lights glaring at her through the
curtain.
     
     
     

Chapter 4
    Urquhart Institute
     
     
     
    The
compulsion to vomit on Monday morning died with Alex and Jade, who
kept her busy by drilling her with information on what to do.
Alex’s list of crafts, of what different crafters could do with
palewraith magic, was settled in Emmy’s pocket:
     
    Transposer – can
move things with mind
    Driver – can make
someone do anything with a verbal command
    Breaker – can
teleport
    Flyer – self
explanatory
    Elemental – can
control an element (subgroups: salamander (fire), nymphs (water),
sylphs (air), and gnomes (earth)) – usually only one of the
four
    Shifter – can
change the body into any shape (includes invisibility)
    Strapper –
abnormally superior physique; very strong, very fast etc
     
    Like Alex
had informed her, while palewraiths could do much more, crafters
were limited to only physical powers such as these. Jade explained
that everyone was a transposer (like Emmy herself), with the
ability to shift the palewraiths, which was the bare minimum to be
a crafter. She took that moment to declare she was a strapper as
well, one of the more specialty crafts.
    In the
excitement, they almost forgot to inform her that Jade was in her
grade and would be able to help her the whole way along. Emmy
figured it