Mage Catalyst Read Free

throughout my skull with stunning force. Sarah had joked that hangovers could sneak up on you, but three days later? This was crazy.
    Thud. Thud. Thud.
    Pound. Pound. Pound.
    Thud. Thud. Thud.
    Light became unbearable, the sound of chalk on the blackboard became even more painful, and the dull monotone of Mr Cromby’s voice made me sick to my stomach as shivers shook my entire frame. Why was he even using the blackboard? There was a perfectly good whiteboard next to it but our Maths teacher’s response to progress and modernity was obviously to quietly ignore them.
    I’d had Mr Cromby for Maths for several years and I’d always managed to retain a cordial relationship with him despite my grades and complete ineptitude at maths. I urgently raised my hand. I needed to get out of there – quickly.
    “Mr Cromby, I think I need to go get some water or something,” I mumbled as I swayed to my feet, taking the liberty of getting up before I had permission.
    “Yes, Devon, that’s fine,” I heard him call as I made my way to the door. I contemplated going to the school nurse, but thought that some water would be a good first start. Maybe it was nothing more than just dehydration or something like that. Then the walkway I was following blurred and I had to lurch to catch the handrail. I quickly readdressed my decision to visit the school nurse but again chose not to – the bathroom was closer and there was the distinct possibility that I might now throw up.
    I found that by closing my eyes, the pain subsided a little and so I clumsily made my way from the walkway into the toilet block at the end of the quadrangle without opening my eyes – an impressive effort that only resulted in my walking into things twice. Once inside the washroom, I staggered across to the wash basin and threw some water over my face. I gripped the edge of the basin as I let the water trickle slowly down my face. I breathed out as I prepared to open my eyes again – this was going to be unpleasant.
    When I did open my eyes again I was immediately sucked into a world of hurt. My vision swam and I saw reflected sparkles dancing across vision. The effect might have been incredibly beautiful if not for the pounding in my head. I gasped as I looked down at my hands. A small particle of blue light was sliding up my arm. More appeared as I watched. They didn’t appear to be following any sort of pattern. I pulled my shirt sleeve up to follow them as they moved further up towards my shoulder. I quickly undid the top three buttons on my shirt and pulled it open to see the particles lazily forming a rough circular pattern on my chest. I took several steps back to see the effect properly in the mirror.
    There was nothing. The figure standing in the mirror looked completely normal. No sparkling lights. Amazed, I brought my hand up before my face – the particles were definitely there. They were rotating around my wrist and forearm, slowly making their way back up to my chest. When I returned my gaze to the mirror there was nothing. No, wait – that wasn’t quite right either. I moved forward to gaze at my reflection. Something was definitely wrong.
    My eyes, my God, my eyes!
    The pupil of each eye was a tiny dot almost lost in the sea of blue that was my iris. In fact, I could see small tendrils of light sweep outwards from my iris expanding over the whites of my eyes. It wasn’t affecting my vision at all, but the effect gave me an otherworldly look. I could see the irises of my eyes pulsing slightly, flexing as I gazed at my reflected face. A face that should be familiar appeared alien and threatening now. My changed eyes altered the entire balance of my face, giving me a malevolent look. I shuddered as my irises finished their transition, completely consuming the white. Then suddenly, as if someone had simply flicked off a switch, all the pain in my head stopped.
    I quickly threw some more water across my face, closing my eyes and hoping when I opened