Looking For A Legend (Book 1)

Looking For A Legend Chapter 1 - Elijah

Elijah Coates was ten minutes early for his meeting with Dr. Utkin.  By Eli’s standards, he was running late.  He sat quietly - Eli did everything quietly, on a bench outside of Dr. Utkin’s office, his folders and moleskin notebook balanced on his knees.  Despite the warm summer weather, Eli wore a matching set of brown tweed waistcoat and trousers, a crisp white button down, and polished oxford shoes.  He couldn’t bring himself to present himself in any more casual a fashion.  He’d thought of wearing a tie, but after the sweat he’d worked up merely crossing the green on campus, he was glad he didn’t.  From his pocket, Eli pulled a handkerchief embroidered with his initials, and patted at his brow, then pushed his dark brown hair back into its ill-maintained coif.  Like his choice in fashion, Eli liked his hair to be “kept properly”, which for him that meant short on the side and back, with some length on top.  He’d comb his hair back with a part, but it would never stay and always fell on to his forehead and into his eyes.

There were not many people on campus.  With still a month before classes started, most of the bodies were staff, with a few returning students.  On the fourth floor, there were fewer people still, so when Eli heard the thump-step-step of Dr. Utkin’s shuffle, he knew his teacher immediately.  He knew better than to walk with the older man.  Dr. Utkin was stubborn like that.  Instead, Eli waited.  A moment later, Utkin was there, cane over his arm, fumbling with his keys.  Eli was practiced with is patience.

Doctor Anton Utkin was not a medical doctor, though he looked the part.  At only fifty years, he was aged beyond that.  His brown hair had gone white at the temples, as had his beard.  He relied more on his cane every day.  His personality became more obstinate and his Easter European accent served to add years to his age.

“Meester Coates,” Utkin sank into his overstuffed leather office chair, behind a large oak desk.  The whole thing made him look very official.  It fit his title and position.  Dr. Utkin was a professor at Denvellia Hall.  He studied powers, though he always used his own terms, and now made it his life’s work to help students pursue their own thirst for knowledge in the field.  ”Thanks to you for meeting me today.  Eet means much to me.  You are steell on vacation, after all.”

Eli made a gesture with his hand from his chest in a circle, signing a pleasantry to Utkin.  Sign language was Eli’s primary form of communication, but he was not deaf.  He could hear perfectly, but Eli remained mute since childhood.  He never felt words were good enough to express his feelings.  Sign language was still nothing compared to his gifts.  Eli was a telepath, but even better, he was an illusionary.  He had a rare gift to put his own full sensory experience in to another’s mind.

“You brought your notes.  Good, good.  You are always prepared, Meester Coates.  But we are not here for lesson.  I have an opportuneetee for you.” Utkin folded his hands on his desk, protected by his wall of photos in wooden and metal frames, all facing in toward him.  With his thumbs together, Eli pushed forward, asking for Utkin to continue.  ”I have beesnees back home I must seetle.  I would leek to have you over see the projeects while I am away.  I beeleeve you say ‘teaching eed.’  Weel, you do not say eenytheeng.  So, Meester Coates, are you eentereested in the position?”

A smile broke out across Eli’s face.  A fire lit in his stormy blue eyes.  In an instant, he was thanking Utkin repeatedly with both hands, gesturing out from his lips.

”Okay, calm down, Eeleezhah.  You are my beest studeent, of course eet would be you.  I weel be leeving at weeks end, so there ees much to deescuss.  You and I weel pour over these program apleecations.  We weel select twentee, then after meeteeng them and reading their work, you weel keep only feef of theem.  Of course you weel continue your own work.  I am looking forward to reading your reesearch on cheeneng, uncheeneeng, and ferality theories.” Utkin and Eli nodded together.

Elijah crossed his finger on his left hand and gestured twice to his right, arcing from fingers to the heel of his hand, made a signal with his right index finger from his right temple, and then made a upward pinching motion with both hands at his chest.  He wanted to know what they were looking for in the applications.

In response, Utkin removed a stack of folders from a drawer and dropped them on his desk with a thud.  Then he removed three more stacks.  Out of all these candidates, they needed to choose twenty, then just select from those.  Eli remembered the rigorous standards Utkin kept, and worried about getting cut in the first week of every semester.  The past winter semester was the first he felt comfortable with his position in the program.

Denvellia Hall was a unique school.  Following the Greco-Roman style of academics, Denvellia Hall was an institution of independent study.  As long as their students continued research work satisfactory to their program’s director, the students were free to study want they wanted.  This alternative education style was extremely popular, but many program directors were extremely stringent with the students they accepted to avoid lazy pupils trying to avoid their coursework.

“We want a deeverse group, yes?  Een our feenal feef, we must have one female, and one weeth no geefts.  Een thees search; we must feend seeveral studeents to feet that parameeter.” Utkin passed Eli a few of the folders, then opened one for himself.

Eli inclined his head as he accepted the folders, tapping his cheek with his right smallest finger, and then set the folders on his lap to gesture with both hands, putting his fingers to his thumbs and moving them away from himself.

“Eef we do not feend eny female or eeny chelovek, we weel keep the leest bad female or chelovek, then with hope we can eleemeenate theem een the next semester.” Utkin scanned the contents of several folders in the time Elijah got through only one.  The stacks seemed extremely daunting, with only a week to get through them all.  And suddenly Elijah was once again concerned with the upcoming semester. He removed his handkerchief again, dabbed at his brow, took a deep breath, and then poured into a student’s application.