Mercury Mind (The Downfall Saga Book 1)

by Chris Mccready

  Sitting down on the frigid bench, Donovan looked her in the eyes and saw tears streaming down her face. “What’s wrong?”

  “I ..,” she started before breaking down.

  Donovan draped his arm across her shoulders and pulled her close, holding her until she regained her composure.

  “It’s just ... if I get behind ... my parents,” she stuttered.

  Donovan sat there, gently rubbing her back until she tried again.

  “I’m just not getting it,” she stated slowly, before words started streaming out of her mouth. “If I fall behind, I’ll never catch up. My parents are going to be so disappointed. You need to help me.”

  “Sure, sure,” he said soothingly. “What can I do?”

  “You can’t tell anybody else. You must promise.”

  “I promise. Now tell me what’s going on.” He put his hands on her shoulders and held her an arm’s length away so he could look her in the eyes.

  “Well ... you see, I’m having trouble with Arithmetic. It doesn’t make sense and I need your help.”

  “It’s only about school,” he said with a sigh of relief.

  “Only about school?” she said in disbelief. “What could possibly be more important?”

  Donovan could think of more than a few things, but kept quiet.

  “I don’t know who else to turn to,” she said. “Caddaric’s a jerk and Kort would never let me live it down.”

  “Just calm down. I’ve already been helping Kort, so I already know some of Professor Higgins’ failings.”

  “I feel so stupid.”

  “Well, you shouldn’t. You’re the best in the class except maybe for Caddaric. Besides, Professor Higgins teaches it as a routine. Intelligence plays no part in it, it’s all about memorization and repetition.” He could see the confusion in her face, so he started again. “Let me put it another way. If I gave you a recipe, you could cook a delicious meal without understanding the significance of what you’re doing.”

  “Not if I’m the one cooking.”

  “Let’s pretend for a moment that you can. You could follow the recipe for that particular dish, but wouldn’t necessarily be able to apply the same techniques to something new. Action without meaning is merely an automated response, and repetition of the action will not lead to understanding. Professor Higgins doesn’t understand this and teaches students to memorize rules and solve problems by rote.”

  “I think I follow,” said Ravyn, “but what are you going to do differently.”

  “Bring it off the page,” said Donovan, picking up a handful of colorful leaves.

  Using the leaves as markers in different denominations, they did a series of problems until well after the frost had left the grass.

  That was the first of many Sunday morning lessons that the two of them had. While he would never admit it, deep down Donovan was relieved to see both Kort and Ravyn struggling because he had his fair share of struggles. His lack of knowledge about even basic events forced him to spend many hours in the library trying to catch up. He read about the Breaking a millennia ago, when the Shem had last invaded and the Deogol joined forces with them. Large swaths of land became desolate, a large proportion of the populace had been killed before the Shem were driven off and the Deogol Empire disappeared into obscurity. People had studied the relics that were left behind but no one could explain how the entire race had become extinct.

  This wasn’t the only strange occurrence during the last Breaking. Many of the authors remarked how many maps had changed with no explanation as to why. Previous to the breaking, the maps showed an open isthmus connecting the continents, but afterwards they all prominently showed the Cleft. There was some debate whether it was missing because people hadn’t explored that far south yet, or if they didn’t consider it an important enough feature to include on their maps.

  Donovan found references to some of the prophecies that Professor Cleary liked to talk about, where these cataclysmic events occurred roughly every thousand years. The books could trace the history back through four of these earth shattering events. According to the dates of the previous events, they were nearing the end of another cycle.

  Arcana wasn’t much better for Donovan. He was the weakest in the class and Caddaric reminded him of it every chance he got. The only good news was that his defenses were exceptional, shockingly so according to Professor Moncha.

  Professor Severn’s class was miserable for everyone, but especially so for Donovan who’s ineptness with the staff was staggering.

  ***

  On a clear Friday morning, Donovan headed to the Arcana class, preparing himself to face ridicule from Caddaric and his cronies. Taking a seat at the back of the room with Kort, he waited for Professor Moncha to start the class.

  “Good morning class,” she said cheerfully. “I have a special treat for you today. As you all know, we’ve been practicing using our Gift to light these.” She held up one of the glass spheres. “We’ve both lit them and dimmed them separately, but today you’re going to be splitting your concentration to do both at the same time. The best way to do this is to compete against each other.”

  A murmur of conversation exploded into the room as everyone chatted excitedly with their neighbors and predicted who was going to be the best.

  “Silence,” said Moncha. “I will not have my class descend into chaos. These duels will be done one at a time and I will be carefully monitoring each one. You will not attempt this without my supervision, and if I tell you to stop then you must immediately do so.”

  “Why is that, Professor?” asked Caddaric.

  “Competitions between students have a tendency to intensify emotions and cause students to lose control. Losing control of your Gift can cause disastrous results that can far exceed anything that you could consciously do with your Gift. Alright, now who wants to go first?”

  Most of the class turned to see if Caddaric was going to volunteer, and when he didn’t, a few of them raised their hands.

  Tam and Clyde were selected and sat at a table near the front of the room, a glass sphere sitting in front of each of them. When Moncha gave the word, the duel began. Tam’s light shone brightly as he focused on it, while Clyde’s was dimly lit as he siphoned the energy away from Tam. With a quick reversal of tactics, Tam snuffed Clyde’s light and was declared the winner.

  The duels continued throughout the class, each time they ended when either one of the competitors had a lapse in concentration, or they changed tactics and surprised their opponent. Each duel lasted for less than minute.

  Finally, Caddaric volunteered for the duel and took one of the seats.

  “Do we have a volunteer to duel Caddaric?” asked Moncha, but only silence lingered in the air.

  Ravyn slowly raised her hand.

  The two of them faced off for a good five minutes, the battle moving back and forth as they switched their focus between the two spheres, each adeptly countering the other’s moves. After a series of quick reversals, Caddaric finally was victorious, which was met with a roar of approval from the other students. Caddaric raised his arms over his head and basked in the adulation while Ravyn slunk back to her desk.

  As the noise died down, they could hear a commotion out in the hall. Moncha headed towards the door to see what was going on. “I expect none of you to perform any magic until I come back.” She disappeared into the hallway.

  “It doesn’t matter anyway,” laughed Caddaric, “because none of you can beat me.”

  Donovan sat quietly while most of the class laughed.

  Donovan locked eyes with him, and let a smile drift onto his face.

  “You want to go, Donovan?” asked Caddaric.

  “It wouldn’t be fair,” said Donovan calmly.

  “That’s right. You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  “I meant that it wouldn’t be fair for you. You couldn’t beat my defense if you had a million years to try.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Let’s
make it interesting. It’s obvious to everybody that I cannot beat you, nor can you beat me on your own. I challenge you and anyone who wants to help you to try and defeat me in less than five minutes.”

  “You’re on,” said Caddaric, serious once more.

  Donovan took the seat across from Caddaric, while Brutus, Thurl, Tam, Bodhi and Clyde gathered behind Caddaric.

  “Stop,” said Ravyn forcefully. “You’re all going to get in trouble.”

  “No they won’t,” said Kort, taking up a position by the door and peeking into the hallway. “If I give the word, then you’d all better get back to your seats quickly.”

  Donovan lit his sphere before turning to Kort at the door. “What do you think they’ll be serving for lunch?” he asked.

  With a glance at the people behind him, Caddaric led the attack. Donovan felt a slight chill down his spine but did his best to not show any outward signs of struggle.

  He continued his lunch conversation with Kort as Caddaric stared intently across the table, the muscles in his neck showing. As the seconds ticked by, his face became redder and redder, and a vein began to throb on his forehead, but still Donovan sat there, apparently at ease, the light in the sphere had yet to even flicker.

  Finally Caddaric broke off his attack, well after the five minutes had elapsed. “You’re lucky that I was tired from my duel with Ravyn,” he sneered.

  “So she provided you with a challenge?” asked Donovan, eyebrows raised.

  His response was cut off when Kort said, “She’s coming,” and everybody hurried back to their seats.

  “That was brilliant,” whispered Kort when they were seated together once more.

  “I don’t think that he’ll leave it at that for long.”

  ***

  Donovan had another treat waiting for him that Saturday. Osmont had given his group climbing lessons the previous week, and now he was taking them to a section of one of the mountains to see what they had learnt.

  At the bottom of the winding path, he turned left and led them along an open area between the base of the mountains and the start of Kenelm Forest. After a half hour jog, he stopped them at the base of a craggy face of mountain.

  Everybody stared up at the steep ascent, basked in a hazy glow from the early morning sun. The lower section was full of cracks and fissures, their depths etched in darkness, but the further up they looked, the smoother the face became until it reached a large overhang below a large shelf.

  “Now I want everybody to take it easy,” said Osmont. “This is about using your brain to tackle a problem, not a race to see who can fall off first.”

  “I’ve already claimed the right to fall first,” said Archie.

  “That’s the spirit,” said Hugh, “it’ll make the rest of us look better in comparison.”

  “As I was saying before I was interrupted,” said Osmont. “Carefully pick your holds and you should have no trouble making it halfway up. Feel free to try and make your way further, but I’ll be waiting down here to pluck you out of the air. Just tuck in your limbs and watch your head, so you don’t get too beaten up on the way down.”

  Everyone energetically began their climb except for Donovan who backed away from the cliff, and scanned for an easy spot to climb before starting his ascent. He began at a slow pace, focusing on the ledge high above, and imagined the magnificent view and sense of freedom up there. He maintain a steady pace, his lithe frame well suited to climbing, and as others slowed down, he began to pass them.

  The climb was peaceful. It was just him and the mountain. Even the occasional gust of icy wind couldn’t dampen his spirit. He paused when he reached a section where there weren’t any great handholds within reach. Twisting around, he looked out over the forest towards Carrick’s Stand. It loomed over the forest, only a couple of miles east of where he was, large grey stones protruded from its surface. He thought to himself that he wanted to visit Carrick’s Stand one day, perhaps in the spring, after the snow had melted, when the temperature had warmed up.

  “You’re pretty quick for someone so small,” came Hugh’s voice from his right, interrupting his thoughts.

  Glancing around he saw many of the group were far below, clinging to the rock face, catching their breath. True to his word, Archie stood on the ground beside Osmont, presumably because he had fallen.

  “You’re pretty nimble for someone so big,” he said, turning his attention to Hugh who clung to the rocks to his right.

  “I’ll race you to the shelf,” said Hugh. “That is, unless you’re scared.”

  Donovan looked at the shelf above, surprised at how far he had climbed. “Of course I’m scared. It’s a long ways down,” said Donovan, forcing a cocky grin onto his face, “but at least I’ll have your body to cushion my fall at the bottom.”

  “You’re alright, Donovan,” said Hugh. “Now prepare yourself to stare at my perfectly toned butt.”

  With that, Hugh resumed his climb. His longer reach and muscular arms allowed him to pull himself up by his arms, even when he couldn’t find suitable footholds.

  Not to be outdone, Donovan began his ascent anew. Clearing all thoughts from his mind except for finding the next handhold. He stretched as far as he could to get a grip in a shallow crack. Pulling himself up, he slowly made his way up the steep face. The climb became easier with each grip he took until it felt like he was crawling over a flat section of rock. Seeing a rise in the rock in front of him, he began to climb over it.

  The people on the ground watched in awe as Donovan moved up the sheer cliff face like a spider up a wall. After his previous slow pace, it seemed that he was practically flying up the smooth rocks and, from their vantage point, it didn’t seem like he was even pulling himself up by his arms and legs but rather was crawling along as if on flat ground.

  As he cresting its apex of the small rise, Donovan saw nothing but clear blue sky in front of him. The world seemed to shift around him. He was no longer crawling along a section of rocks, but was hanging underneath the overhang of the shelf. His right hand gripped the edge of the shelf, the fingertips of his left barely had any purchase, and his legs were dangling in the air below him.

  He hung there, panicking, trying to figure out how he had gotten himself into this position. It wasn’t until the muscles in his right arms started burning that his mind woke up, and he focused on his predicament.

  Pulling his knees up to his chest, he began feeling around with his feet for any sort of purchase. His left foot found a narrow ridge. He heard a scream from below, growing fainter by the moment. Holding his breath, his heart threatening to bludgeon its way out of his chest, he pushed with his left foot and grabbed the lip with his left hand. Pulling himself up, he laid down on the shelf of rock, laughing hysterically.

  Rolling onto his side, he took in his reward. He could see the imposing mountain peaks to the north, signaling the start of Kern. To the east, the Kenelm Forest blanketed the ground. He couldn’t help wishing that he’d made the climb a few weeks earlier when the colorful leaves still clung to the trees.

  He felt free up there. His struggles at school, missing memories, and not knowing himself or his family were all forgotten for the moment. Standing, he walked to the very edge of the shelf and looked down, completely at ease with the daunting fall inches in front of his feet, and pumped his fist in the air.

  Seeing that everybody else was already back on the ground, most not by their own choice he guessed, he knew that it was time to head back down. Seeing Osmont far below, he thought about stepping off the ledge, feeling the rush of air around him as he fell, and putting his faith in another to save him. He lifted his leg over the edge, enamored by the thrill, before withdrawing it, and searching for a way down.

  The way down was much more difficult than the ascent had been, but he doggedly made his way down, refusing the temptation of pushing off and floating to the ground in Osmont’s enchanted grasp.

  The Bishop twins each gave him a big hug when he reached the botto
m, while Hugh and his gang complained of beginners luck, and making everybody wait for him to come down.

  Osmont pulled him to one side as they started back to Haven.

  “What happened up there?” he asked in a low, urgent tone.

  “What do you mean?” said Donovan.

  “You stopped climbing about two-thirds of the way up and began crawling like a spider until you reached the shelf. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

  Donovan tried to explain the sensation that he’d felt when the world reoriented itself around him, but had trouble putting it into words.

  “There’s something strange about your Gift,” said Osmont, stroking his chin. “I just wish that I knew what was going on.”

  “You and me both.”

  The sun was just setting as they arrived back at Haven. A full moon replacing the sun in the clear sky. Donovan said his goodbyes and watched as everyone made their way between the buildings. As had become his habit, he circled around to the far side of the building to come in the rear door which was closest to his room. Rounding the far corner, he stopped in his tracks when a series of shapes detached themselves from beside the building.

  “We need to talk,” said Caddaric, as Clyde and Tam grabbed Donovan’s arms and began dragging him away from the building.

  Chapter 9

  Donovan slowly appraised the two people holding his arms. “You have plenty of opportunities to talk to me each day, without this filth soiling my clothes,” he said calmly, with a shrug of his shoulders.

  “Good,” said Caddaric. “Let’s go somewhere quiet where we can talk.”

  “Lead on.”

  Donovan calmly followed Caddaric and the rest of his posse across the quad, with Clyde and Tam still firmly gripping his arms, until they reached a secluded spot where they could barely see the lit windows in the buildings.

  “You made me look like a fool in class today,” said Caddaric menacingly.

  “You do a fine job without me,” said Donovan, smirking.