KOTLC Grady Fanfic!

Instructions

Chapter One: <> <> <> <> <> <> “All right, class,” Sir Agen says, pressing his hands together in a slow clap. “Who’s ready to manifest as a Mesmer?” Whispers fill the classroom. Mesmerism is a newly discovered ability—and totally rare. Only one or two elves have it. The discovering of the ability had taken place a few months ago, when one elf who went to Exillium discovered he had it. The news had been delivered to my home, Havenfield, in a scroll from the Councillors. My parents hadn’t been happy nor sad about it—they hadn’t really cared. Now, in this classroom, I feel my heart fall to my toes. I don’t want to be a Mesmer. I heard they could control elves’ MINDS or something. Is that creepy or what? I really want to be a Conjurer, like my mom, Annika. That seems like a cool ability. We haven’t tested for it yet, though, so I guess I won’t be able to tell until we do. My friend, Terik, slowly raises his hand. “Do you really think one of US could be a Mesmer, Sir Agen?” Sir Agen shrugs. “Why not? Two other elves manifested. I’m sure you kids could, too.” Nervous glances are thrown around the classroom as Sir Agen says, “All you guys have to do is narrow your eyes at me and see if anything happens.” “How will we know if it works?” I ask. Sir Agen looks at everyone seriously. “Believe me, you’ll know. Who wants to go first?” Nobody seems to want to. Finally, Terik steps forward. “I will, I guess,” he says. “Okay, then. Go ahead, Terik. Narrow your eyes at me. See if anything happens.” Terik narrowed his eyes, making a totally hilarious face. He scrunched up his brow and practically closed his eyes. Nothing happened. Sir Agen patted Terik on the back. “Sorry, buddy. I guess you’re not a Mesmer.” Terik smirked. “Big surprise.” “All right, who’s next?” Sadly, I was next in line. Sir Agen smiled encouragingly at me. “Go ahead, Mr. Ruewen. Step forward.” “Okay…” Doubtfully and nervously, I got a little closer to Sir Agen. How was I supposed to do this? Just narrow my eyes at him? There has to be more, right? Should I talk? Should I tap his head or something? IT’S JUST NARROWING YOUR EYES, GRADY! I think. STOP OVERTHINKING IT! So, just to get it over with, I narrowed my eyes really quick at Sir Agen. I turned my back on him and started to head towards Terik, fully expecting Sir Agen to say “Sorry, kid—you’re not a Mesmer”, just like he said to Terik. But then I heard something that made me stop cold—bone crunching, and gasps echoing throughout the room. I quickly wheel around… …and gasp. Sir Agen’s fist is still pressed against his now-bleeding nose, and everyone is slowly backing away from me. Pure shock is in Sir Agen’s eyes. “What—how…uh…” My mouth is dry like sandpaper; I can’t seem to speak. Sir Agen quickly recovers, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbing his bleeding nose with it. “Well,” he says, deliberately avoiding eye contact with me, “there you have it, folks. I suppose we have a Mesmer in our class. Congratulations, Grady Ruewen!” Nobody claps. Murmurs rise up throughout the room. Juren, a pretty rude kid in class, whispers, “Oh, great. He’s probably going to go crazy and start mesmerizing everybody now, like a Pyrokinetic goes crazy and starts fires.” I glare at Juren, who, out of nowhere, punches himself in the nose. Sputtering and coughing, he demands, “What was that for? OW!” “Uh, hail the Healing Center,” Sir Agen tells Terik. “And, um, Grady? Maybe, um…maybe you should go home early today.” I can tell that’s his nice way of saying, “Please get out of here before you hurt anyone else.” I didn’t mean to hurt Juren! I just glared at him! Did I mesmerize him in the process? Without protesting, with tears burning in my eyes, I dash out of the classroom, rush down the halls to the Leapmaster 5000, and command, “Havenfield!” I heard the fear and dread in my voice. I’m a MESMER. Life will never be the same now.