Discern, Mosaic Chronicles Book One

Chapter Three

"Many of us are familiar with the Tarian legends—the ones that speak of the great and intelligent Shoggoths that could change shape as needed. About their creators, the Agarchs, who stole powers from the first three children of every family, giving it all to the Fourths. And . . . it wasn't until recently that I began to wonder if those legends really are true."

Murmurs cascaded through the room, and Nicole watched the expressions of disbelief and shock that crossed most people's faces.

"What's a Shoggoth?" she whispered to Lizzie. She couldn't even remember the second name Coolidge had mentioned—"Shoggoth" was weird enough.

"What he said—a huge monster that changes shape. They can be taller than a building or small enough to fit in a car. All exaggerated stories, of course."

Coolidge continued. "The evidence is under government protection. Yes, I did see it. No, I can't tell you what it was—I'm under oath to protect the secret until the expedition has been successfully completed. And although the government doesn't believe my theories, what was found gave them the push they needed to get our expedition funded. I've been forbidden to seek out proof of the creatures directly, but I believe that as we search, evidence will naturally point that way."

Coolidge ignored the many hands that had shot into the air when he stopped talking. Instead, he loaded up a presentation and pointed at the first thing on the slide.

"All the tests will be held on the same day, a week from this Saturday. For the first test, you'll be required to prove that you can discern between several magical items. It'll be similar to what was done in class this week."

He handed a piece of paper to a student on the front row. "This is the signup sheet. Only four students at a time can be tested. You'll be assigned a time and a room, where you'll have five minutes to place several things in their correct order. Once everyone has been tested, I'll post the results, and those who pass will move on to the next test." He looked up. "Any questions about this specifically?"

No one spoke up, so he continued. "We'll be using a handful of classrooms near my lab. As soon as we've finished up here, I'll show you where that is and let you look at and touch all the objects. I want to make sure you have exposure to everything before being tested."

Nicole swallowed. Only a week and a half before the tests, and she'd just barely found her focus. And it was a defective one at that. What was she thinking? And what if those legends really were true?

She shook her head at herself—now was not the time to start allowing little doubts to enter her mind. She could do this!

Coolidge sat on the desk again. "The second exam will be on the items themselves. Between now and then, you'll study them. Learn about them. Figure out how and why they became magical. Understand the cultures of the people behind them. You'll be tested on that knowledge."

Judith Ann raised her hand. She waited until everyone was looking at her, then folded her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry, but I don't see how that could possibly help us with the expedition."

Professor Coolidge stared at her for a moment before responding. His expression was blank, but Nicole imagined he was probably annoyed. Nicole would've been. "Does anyone else want to guess why I'm testing on this?"

Nicole glanced around. She figured she knew the answer, but she wasn't about to enter into a battle with Judith Ann. The girl had problems.

A guy on the back row spoke up. "We'll probably come across magically charged items on the expedition. Exposure to other things and why different cultures charge them will help us understand what we find."