Spellcrafter
DELTA
This book is dedicated to my love, Madison, my very own Lucky Penny. She pushed me to continue writing even when I wasn’t sure if I would be successful. If it wasn’t for her, this book wouldn’t even be in your hands. Because of her, these characters have come alive, and the universe has been born.
Copyright © 2018 by Christopher J. Kirkland
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author, addressed “Attention: Spellcrafter permission request,” at the email address below.
Email: [email protected]
ISBN-10: 1985044919
ISBN-13: 978-1985044913
Printed in the United States of America
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Chapter 1
Tori
There was nothing but a quiet forest. Pure white snowflakes fell all around, the wind blew, and animals scattered, desperately trying to find a spot to keep warm. The white sheets continued to pile up. The only human for miles trudged along the gentle slope of the snowbanks. They finally stopped and looked around wearily. There was nothing but snow and trees in every direction. Surely, this was not the only thing here, there had to be a cabin or some sort of civilization that resided somewhere near. The stranger removed the scarf from their mouth, reaching down to take a sip from their water canister. They lifted it above their mouth and upturned it, lips parted. Nothing. Empty. They threw the container down in frustration. The hood drew back, it was a boy with emerald green hair, blue eyes, and a melancholy expression. Would he die out here?
He folded his arms, feeling colder than cold. A small chirping sound came from somewhere in front of the direction he was facing. He began to head in that direction, following the sound. A small fruit bat struggled before him, fighting against the wind and snow to stay airborne.
“Are you cold too? What are you doing out here?” he asked the creature.
It flew away from him toward the large snowy mounds. He followed, his feet dragging in the snow, numb, aching, and exhausted tears were frozen to his face. The creature had disappeared. He began to search around the nearby trees, and what he believed to be bushes, behind one of the many trees to his right. He spotted the creature’s remains.
“It died so quickly?” he wondered aloud to himself. The bat slowly vanished and became snow through his fingers, and as the wind blew, took to the air. He was alone yet again.
Suddenly, he heard the calls of an owl, and it scared him. He looked around to find the source. After a while, the owl’s calls became a voice speaking clear English. “Mr. Spellcrafter!”
The cold world around him faded into darkness. He died, and that was the end.
Chris lifted his head to find all of his classmates were laughing and snickering. The teacher wore a grey sweater, dark grey pants, and had a clean all-around fade haircut, green eyes, and a less than pleased look. The other students in class had turned to watch, only a few remained working.
“You fell asleep during your assignment yet again, I’ll have to tell your parents--” he paused. Chris made a face. “...Just see me after class, alright?” the teacher asked politely.
“Yes sir…” he replied quietly. A few kids began to laugh. Chris shook his head, irritated and tried to ignore them. Who cared if they laughed? He had a good reason for staying up late. The students always laughed if you did something wrong. It was something he had grown used to. It died down after a while and his classmates returned to work. He lowered his head and took a deep breath before letting it out, and relaxing himself. He looked up from his desk, nodded at the teacher, and faced the front.
As the teacher left, time seemed to slow down as Chris noticed the girl in the very front row, third seat to the window, watching him. Her brown eyes focused solely on him and only him. She slowly turned around and went back to her work. He found this behavior to be quite weird; why would Victoria, one of the prettiest, nicest, smartest, and most popular girls in school be looking at him? She was still fairly new to the school. She had only been at this particular school for a month, yet she took it by storm. She obviously knew he existed if she was staring at him, but it wasn’t common for her to notice anyone. People thought she had ADHD because she barely paid much attention to anyone. She would always glance over them, including Chris.
He sat in the middle of the classroom, third row; the desks had a grey, shiny color with a red interior. The floor was a clean and shiny white color; the janitors did an amazing job on upkeep. The bell chimed, it was time to go to lunch. The class stood up to leave. Mr. McCormack waited patiently at his desk for Chris. Two others remained in the room, obviously having some significance to him.
“I’m sorry I called you out like that, Christopher. But you must try to stay up in my class and stop staying up so late. I know you can do the work, I’ve seen you do it. You’re smart, and when you understand something, I see you leading other kids and teaching them what to do. You have to stop searching for your sister and rest. She wouldn’t be too happy if she came back and found out you got no sleep,” he instructed.
“I know,” Chris replied plainly. “I can’t focus,” he said dully, walking past the teacher and out into the white hallway. The teacher did not make a move to stop him. The girl and the boy who were still in the room looked at each other and then at the teacher.
“Go on after your friend, enjoy your lunch, keep being good friends,” he told them. They immediately took off after Chris. After they caught up, they began to walk at his pace.
“Hey, Sleeping Beauty, are you alright?” asked the girl to his left, bumping him with her hip.
“I’ll be fine, Jackie.”
“I’m noticing a pattern here,” Jackie mused with a tilt of her head and a sly smirk. “You always say that after people get worried,” she elbowed him in his chest.
“I don’t always say ‘Jackie’ with it,” he replied with a smirk.
“You’re right, this is the first time I’ve seen Jackie display any form of concern for anyone, I think we should celebrate!” Ty suggested jokingly.
“Pretty sure you could arrange that, Ty. Ever since you got elected as our homeroom leader, you’ve earned Mrs. Johanna’s trust. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” Chris said as he began to laugh.
“I’m always nice! Ask anyone!” Jackie insisted.
“Well, I think you can be if you really want to be, but--” Ty began. Chris began to drown them out. They were his only friends here, and they really did care about him, he smiled to himself. At least I have a reason to come to school. I don’t have any other reasons, he thought to himself.
Chris felt himself tripping over something and bumping into a person taller than him. Tim was one of the best players on the football team. He was also on the wrestling team, and all of his friends resided behind him.
“For the last time! Watch. Where. You’re. Going.” he snarled, yanking Chris’ collar.
“You’re too big to miss,” Chris muttered.
“What was that?!”
Jackie quickly stepped forward and attempted to shove Tim off, only to be knocked onto the floor. “Get away from him, I’m sick of you beating him up! I could take--”
“Jackie, please think,” Ty pleaded as he help
ed her to her feet. A girl with black hair made her way through the crowd.
“Ty, he needs help.” Jackie hissed as she prepared to try again. Jackie noticed a girl moving through the sea of people. “That girl, that’s--”
“Victoria! Hey,” Tim chuckled as he tightened his grip on Chris. “Do you want to watch me teach this kid a few things?” Victoria made her way out of the crowd and quickly observed the situation. Tim callously smiled as he turned his gaze to the girl now standing beside him. She walked over and stood by Chris. Then she folded her arms and stamped her foot on the ground.
“No, Tim,” Victoria scoffed. “I don’t want to watch you beat up my boyfriend!” she spat, pouting. “Now put him down and go.”
“Boyfriend?!” Ty and Jackie cried in unison. Victoria turned slightly and held up her finger to hush them as she continued to cause a scene.
“Put him down and let him go,” she commanded.
Tim stared at her in disbelief, dropping Chris who fell and made a slight ‘oof’! “You and him? Hold on, when did you and moss hair get together? I thought we were going to be a thing,” he began.
“Well you thought wrong,” Victoria sneered. “Now leave us alone. Don’t bother him again. Go away.” Filled with embarrassment and contempt, Tim shoved his hands in his pockets and sent a hateful glare Chris's way.
"This isn't over, Spellcrafter," he growled. Chris sent a smug look back as he trudged off in defeat.
Victoria turned to Chris and smiled. “Before you say anything, there’s no twist. I honestly did want to help you.”
“Why? And why did you call me your boyfriend?” Chris asked, baffled by her actions.
“I wanted to help. The way you were being treated wasn’t right. You did nothing wrong and so...here we are.” Victoria shrugged.
“Um hello?” Jackie yelled from behind Chris. “We can’t trust you! You’ve been with that group of jerks for a month, and now you help him?!” Jackie had always been a very protective friend and full of energy. “Let me at her!” she snarled. Ty was currently restraining her, and trying to hold her back by holding her arm and covering her mouth.
"Jackie, just calm down, give her a moment to explain!" he advised her in exasperation. He let out a sigh of relief as Jackie finally ceased her writhing and turned to him with a disapproving glower.
"She's never helped him before, Ty. We can't trust her if she's one of those kids."
As the students stood alone in the empty hallway, Chris finally spoke up.
"Wanna...come to lunch with us?" he hesitantly offered.
Before she could answer, a watch on her wrist began to flash and ring. Hastily, she hid it behind her rear and out of sight.
"I will, but not right now. I forgot I have something to take care of, I swear I'll catch up. What table?" she asked as she trotted backwards.
"The one closest to the windows," Ty replied as she took off. "And thank you!"
The three of them disappeared as they turned left toward the lunchroom and out of earshot. Victoria went into the first empty classroom she could find and brought up her watch. An interface projected from the device in a brilliant blue light. She pressed the green button. After a moment of silence, a girl’s voice spoke, and a volume bar appeared on screen.
“Toriiiiiii, how much longer until you come home? I miss my sister. I’m so bored and I only have Morgan to keep me company!” The girl whined.
“Hey now, I thought you liked Morgan and she was a ‘good friend?’” Victoria cracked a smile. “And hello to you too.” As Victoria and the girl continued their talk, it was clear that Victoria had been gone for some time.
“I guess I should let the bookworm get back to work.” The voice said as it hung up. Her sister had always called her a bookworm, so this was nothing new still, Victoria did feel bad for leaving her sister alone for so long. She took a deep breath and lowered her arm, then she walked out of the classroom. She turned left, continued down the hall, then turned left again. There she saw the lunchroom, the same dull color as the rest of the school. She sat beside Ty and across from Chris and Jackie.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Chris asked.
“No. I ate earlier actually,” she answered. “I was wondering maybe we could walk together to P.E since we have the same class. I don’t want to go alone, it gets boring, and I don’t really know many people in that class.”
Chris agreed. After lunch, they began to walk through the many halls until they were outside. They continued to a large white and brown gym with a white roof. Victoria explained that when she came to this school, she did not expect to meet so many different “personalities.” Chris guessed Victoria was just trying to be friendly, however, he continued to wonder why. Victoria had gone from never speaking to him, to immediately wanting to help him. He found it weird, but maybe she just felt like it. He wondered what was going through her mind as they made their way into the gym.
Chapter 2
Dynamic Duo
When they got to the gym, they quickly proceeded down a small ramp and into the main area. There were about thirty kids heading to the locker rooms. After changing, everyone came back into the main area. They were all wearing white shirts with a blue patriot on the back, and blue shorts with a red “E” on the right leg. Victoria placed herself beside Chris at the back wall. There was an excited atmosphere about the entire room and rubber balls lined the white line at the center of the court. Today they would play dodgeball.
Victoria commented that she had never played dodgeball, so Chris explained the rules. Despite Chris saying how likely it was to get hit with a ball in all of the chaos, Victoria just smiled and said “Yeah, yeah. We’ll be fine,” every time he tried to warn her. The coach stepped out of “no man’s land” and stood on the right side from where they were standing. There were no less than fifteen students per side.
“I want a clean game. If you catch a ball, the person who threw it is out. If you are hit, you are out. In this game, if you are hit in the face, you are out. Remember that you cannot cross the white line. The last team standing wins. If the game takes too long, I will say that every ball caught allows back one team member,” the coach announced.
He had big muscles, wore a blue shirt, and shorts. Even though he had a megaphone beside him, he did not need it. He was loud enough for the whole gym to have heard what he said. Even the health classrooms could hear him.
The whistle blew. Both armies charged, soldiers grabbing ammunition. Chris was unable to grab one of these. Instead, he stayed more toward the middle, dodging shots and handing off the balls he picked up to the other members of his team. One down on the opposing team. Two down on theirs. Victoria caught a ball a few inches from her face and tossed it back, knocking the other boy, who was running to avoid fire onto the floor.
The shots kept flying through the air. Many of the less enthusiastic players on both sides stayed more toward the back and eventually got out anyway. Chris saw a red ball coming straight for him. He reacted instinctively, tucking and rolling forward, then dodging it completely.
“Nice play, Spellcrafter!” the coach roared with a hefty laugh. Victoria took note of this.
She tossed Chris a yellow ball and told him to hit the one farthest to the right who was now moving left, for he was one of their heavy hitters. He threw the ball and hit him square in the stomach, and despite some protest, he did walk out and off the court. After sometime, only five remained on their team and ten on the other side. The other three were taken out easily, leaving only Chris and Victoria. She grabbed two of the balls and tossed one to Chris.
Victoria dashed forward and hit two people closely grouped together. Eight remained. Chris threw another ball and missed.
“It’s okay we can do this!” Victoria called over the cheers from their team. Victoria quickly caught another ball and tossed it to Chris. “I’ll get another. You worry about covering me, okay? I can’t do this by myself.”
“You got it!” Chris replied. He tossed out a
nother ball, this time in such a way that it was like a homing-missile angrily seeking its target: the brown-haired boy. It struck him on his leg, and as if he had been hit elsewhere, he fell. Seven remained.
“Team two is making a comeback, and team one is getting obliterated by just two.”
Victoria jumped up and caught another in the air, and hit a kid about to throw a ball at Chris from across the court. Five remained. Victoria cartwheeled out of the way of another ball. Chris watched her, astounded. She was good and she said she had never played this game before, but with the way she moved, he had to assume that she had. As their shots flew and littered the opposing side of the line, fewer of team one remained in play. It was now even. Two against two.
“Alright, time to make things interesting. From now on, catching a ball does not make the other player out. It now brings in one of your teammates in the order that they got out! One catch equals one teammate! This should be a blessing team one...believe me...it is for you…”
“Hey!” called one of their team members. “Don’t worry about catching. If they catch some just drop them again! You two can do it!” He was the third to last boy to get hit.
“Alright. Tori?” Chris asked.
“Oh yeah, I’m up for it,” she smirked.
“Hey, let that rule only apply to us! They don’t even care!” cried the girl with red hair on team one. “They don’t need it anyway. We’re getting destroyed!”
“Fair enough I suppose,” the coach smiled, he seemed excited to see how this progressed. “They do need a handicap,” he agreed. “Still, I’ve never seen two people take on ten and win.”
As the dodgeball battle continued, more of team one’s members returned to the field. There were now six in total. While the remaining members of team one were panting and sweating, Chris and Victoria still seemed full of energy and ready to go.
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