Spellcrafter-Delta

by Christopher Kirkland

  “I don’t know if I can do it,” Megan said humbly.

  “I agree Megan. You are very intelligent and skilled, but you are not a leader. You are the backbone of this team.”

  “Yes sir, I understand,” she nodded.

  “What about me?” Ian asked confidently as he placed his hand on his chest.

  “Ian, with all due respect, you are unwilling to adapt to a situation and you tend to act before you think. You are the strength of this team.”

  Ian grumped and dropped his hand back to his side. Megan laughed quietly, but Chris could hear it. These two really did like to bicker. Yet, when they worked together they accomplished so much. It was extremely unusual to him. That was the best way he could describe their partnership, but the same could be said of his.

  “Penny, I want you to know it is not because you are a Sorcerer. I think you are a wonderful student, an amazing fighter, and an extraordinary pilot. You can be impulsive at times, but I do think with practice you could be a great leader--”

  “I don’t want to be a leader,” she interrupted abruptly. “I never have and never will. I just don’t like making decisions like that. Tori was a leader, but I guess I didn’t pick up on that.” Penny didn’t seem to mind as much as the other two. I kind of want to be a leader, Chris thought to himself. But I’d find a way to mess it up. I usually stayed quiet in group activities at school. Ty usually was group leader.

  Penny spoke suddenly and clearly, interrupting his thoughts, “Chris wants to be leader.”

  “What?” Chris was now staring at her, completely stunned.

  “I heard you,” Penny explained confidently. “You said you wanted to. I heard it clearly.”

  The headmaster raised his head as she said this. Chris was awed by the fact that she had known this. She had said what he was thinking. Penny had read his thoughts in an instant. He wondered how she did that.

  “I just focused on you. I can’t explain it”, Penny’s voice was now in his thoughts.

  I can hear you now, Chris replied mentally. Penny smiled at him and nodded, he in turn smiled back.

  “Christopher, you have leadership skills, but you need practice. You tend to think you have to do everything alone, and you are afraid of the worst outcome occurring. Even so you stay positive for the sake of those around you,” the headmaster studied Chris carefully. “It makes sense as you are Emily’s brother. She always has been calm and collective in a dangerous situation, but you’re more active. I think you’ll make a fine leader.”

  “The healer, the knight, the shield, and the leader,” Ian thought aloud. He placed his arms behind his head and yawned. “Best team composition I’ve ever seen. I can’t help but feel like most teams aren’t this balanced.”

  “You’re treating this like a game,” the headmaster sounded amused. “Do any of you object?”

  “I don’t,” Ian shrugged.

  “I don’t disagree, but I do hope you realize the responsibility,” Megan placed her hand on her hip and looked at Chris. “I need one mature guy in this group.” Ian made a face behind her. “I trust you.”

  “No problem, but--” Chris began.

  “I know you can do it,” Penny said sweetly. “I know it’s big, but I believe you can.” Chris’s heart skipped a beat.

  The headmaster began to make a note of the team on an official document. Chris wanted to say something, but his chest was tight. He couldn’t. He couldn’t, because everyone believed in him and he didn’t want to let them down. Chris wanted Megan or Penny to be leader. Of course, he thought he wanted to be leader, but now that it was happening he was having second thoughts.

  “You can all leave, dismissed,” he said cheerfully. “Have a good night.”

  The others began to leave the office at once. Chris was the only one to stay. Only Penny turned to see what he was doing.

  “Sir,” he found himself saying suddenly. “Can I speak to you?”

  “Of course,” he nodded his head and gestured his head at Penny who was standing by the door. “Would you like her here?”

  “Well, she can,” he agreed. Penny left anyway, respecting his privacy. “I’ll be outside”, she communicated as the door shut. It was just them.

  Chris and this man who ran the entire school. Would he seem pathetic if he told him honestly that he did not want to be leader? He had high expectations for him due to Emily Chris didn’t even know most of the things Emily did. She was simply the headmaster’s right hand to him.

  “With all due respect...why did you pick me as leader? I’m the weakest and I’m still fairly new at this. I know what you said about the others, but I had flaws too.”

  “Flaws make you human, Christopher,” the headmaster stood up from his comfy chair and came over to Chris’s side of the desk. “A person I should say. Not all of my students are human.”

  “Why...I can’t.”

  “You can,” he said as he took Chris’s shoulders. “You’re strong and you don’t even know it. You keep shifting from overconfident to fearful. Find a balance. They need you. Those three out there are counting on you.”

  “What if I let them down?” Chris lowered his head. He did not want to make eye contact after this comment. It was pathetic thing to say and would typically get someone teased or scolded. The headmaster softened his grip on Chris’s shoulders and knelt down.

  “You want the honest answer?”

  “Yes…”

  “You learn. You try again. They may not always understand, but they’ll look to you. Even other leaders may. If you need advice go to Emily. You can even come to me,” he smiled again.

  “You’re one of the best students I’ve seen. You grew fast, and you still have a long way to go, but you’ll be there in no time.”

  “What’s the reason you picked me?” Chris tried again. “The real reason?”

  Headmaster Brood stood and placed his hand on Chris’s back and guided him to the door. He opened it and let Chris out. He gave him one simple answer that Chris was not expecting. Even though it was simple; it was clear and made sense. “Because you wanted to be one, Christopher.”

  Chapter 22

  Confrontation

  Chris couldn’t believe he was the leader of the squad. Not only that, but the other three agreed. From the moment that he came to Terminus he thought he would just die. He didn’t know anything, and Penny was basically the only thing keeping him from doing something stupid or dying. Chris learned to fight and use magic in a relatively short time, but he still had much to learn. Once the schools were done; he could do even more.

  Right now, Chris’s focus was on finding Emily. With everything going on, he did not have much time to look. Now he did, but it was getting late. The sun setting low and practically disappearing behind the many buildings. The lights were starting to come on in the city, and in the distance village fires could be seen burning. More people were out tonight and it was a fairly cool night.

  Ian claimed that he was tired and so he headed back to Megan’s house. Megan decided to go along with him to relax. After everything she just wanted a small nap. Chris didn’t object to this at all and neither did Penny. Penny told Chris she was going to pick up something to eat and bring it back to the dorm, so Chris decided to head back to their dorm and wait for her.

  The dorm wasn’t very far, but he was tired of walking after going down to the village, fighting, and then walking all the way back to see the headmaster. Chris had done a lot of walking, but he would soon be off of his feet enjoying a meal with Penny. It sounded nice after everything, but he couldn’t help but worry about his sister. She was still in the city, and Hunter had no way to escape besides his plane, but he would simply be blown out of the sky if he tried. He stopped walking to think, He’d be blown out of the sky...with Emily onboard. I can’t risk that. I have to find Hunter.

  Chris stopped walking and took a deep breath to calm himself down, he could feel himself getting anxious. The sky began to pour down heavy rain as the sun fi
nally disappeared completely. The rain felt painful as it splashed onto his skin. The rain stung slightly, it was not a storm, but it could become one. Chris pushed himself forward and began to try to solve the mystery of where Hunter could be. He was in the city, and yet no one had found him. How? Surely, he could not just walk on the open streets, he would be discovered immediately.

  He took cover under buildings as he went, but he wanted to keep going so he could reach the dorm. However, he could not shake the feeling of eyes on him. Was someone watching him? He turned back to look and the street was mostly empty. Only a mother and her daughter were present. The mother had curly brown hair and orange eyes, she wore a yellow dress and carried a yellow umbrella. The little girl also had brown curly hair, but she wore a green dress.

  “Sunale, stop,” the mother spoke in a disapproving tone. Her daughter ran ahead and began jumping into one puddle after another. Splash. Splash. “Sunale, come back!”

  “I’ll come back in a minute, mommy!” Sunale continued to run forward and hop into any puddle of water she could find in the street. The mother was unable to catch her.

  “No, come back here now! I’m worried about you!” the mother demanded.

  Chris smiled to himself, but internally frowned. Unwanted memories pushed through the cracks of his mind to the surface. The little girl began to look like him from when he was five, and the mother began to look like Emily. How could such an old memory still feel so fresh?

  “Chris, stop,” Emily chased after him. “Chris, come back here!”

  “I’ll come back in a minute, Emily!” Chris laughed as he ran faster.

  She couldn’t catch him. He loved the park and the freedom it gave him. Being with Emily was nice, but she was always so sad. Why was she always so sad? Mom and dad had just disappeared for a while, but they would be back eventually. Chris was convinced that they would. Emily probably just missed them. Emily sighed and gave up her chase. Chris stopped in his tracks and spun, smiling.

  “What’s wrong, big sis?” he stepped toward her slowly.

  “Nothing, lil bro,” she knelt down to his level. “Just a lot on my mind.”

  “Like what?” he questioned, poking her cheek.

  “Like you staying close and not running off,” she answered with a straight face, holding his finger momentarily to stop him.

  “Sis...I didn’t go far.”

  “I know.”

  “And it was just over that way,” he pointed.

  “I know. Just please don’t go far.”

  “Why?”

  “Because,” she reached out and placed her hand on his head. “I can’t lose you. I have to protect you. You’re my only brother. My only family. It scares me.”

  “...What could happen to me? You’re protecting me, aren’t you?”

  “I…” she ran her fingers through his hair, tangling it between her fingers. “I will, but I need you to realize there are bad people out there. Mom and dad--”

  “They’ll be back like you said right?”

  “I said we’ll see them again one day,” she corrected.

  “When?” he questioned.

  “...Let’s go get some ice cream,” she stood and took his little hand and guided him to a white ice cream cart with a red and white umbrella. He took her hand and stared up at her with wonder, his sister knew so much and she protected him. What more could he ask for? If Chris’s parents were here it would have been perfect. They never really did get to be a family very long, but they would reunite.

  “Chris?” Emily’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “No matter what, remember one way or another I’ll be looking out for you.” He stared up at her, listening and grasping onto every word. “I love you. Please realize that--mom and dad are-- you know what? Nothing, okay? Let’s get you that yummy ice cream!” she smiled, but he knew something was wrong. That wasn’t her smile.

  Chris recalled her crying that night when they got home after she put him to bed. He snuck out of bed to check on her and sat outside of her room door only to hear her crying.

  He chose to wait until she fell asleep to make his move. He pushed the door aside and crawled stealthily to her. Emily was asleep and half dangling off of her bed. He didn't recall what she was wearing at all; he just wanted to help her, he was worried. Chris climbed into the bed with her, pushed her arm slightly and slipped under it and lay with her. When he couldn’t sleep he had a teddy bear, so he would be hers. When she woke up, she would most certainly wonder what he was doing in her bed, and to that he would answer as he always did: I had a nightmare. It was a lie. It all felt so fresh and vivid to him, like it was just yesterday and now she was missing - again. He would find her one way or another.

  Chris came to his senses as another splash echoed along the walls of the buildings. The little girl was coming in his direction. He could only imagine how much that mother worried about her safety, and so he decided to do something. Chris stepped in front of the girl just as she was about to pass and caught her. He knelt down to her level. “Hey...she said to come back,” he said this as calm and soft as he could.

  “But she’s always worrying! I know the way home and everything!” the girl groaned. “I’ve got it.”

  “You need to go back,” he persisted, glancing behind the girl to see the mother.

  “Why?” the familiar question finally came. Why?

  “Because she cares and worries for you. She doesn’t want anything to happen to you,” Chris looked her in the eyes. “I know how you feel, but you need to listen to her.”

  “What makes you say that? She’s always bossy and--”

  “I know because of my sister. It took me a while though. I want you to apologize and walk with her this time,” he turned her back so she could see her mother. The mother seemed to be rather confused about what was going on.

  The little girl nodded and returned to her mother with a lowered head. Chris walked with her until she reached her waiting mother. There was silence for a moment before the child apologized and looked back at Chris. He smiled a little and gave her a nod of approval.

  “Please don’t run off again, Sunale,” the mother instructed.

  “‘Kay…”

  “Spellcrafter? Thank you,” the mother hugged her child to her side, as if to make sure not to lose her again. “She always does this…”

  “You know my name?” Chris returned his attention to the mother now.

  “Yes, your sister is Emily. She helped me find my daughter when she ran off and got lost during a parade one time,” she explained. “I was about to panic when I saw her walking with Sunale.”

  “Really? How did she find her?”

  “She had heard me call for her. Your sister walked off without any words to me or even a simple ‘I’m going to go look for her,’ she simply went and found her for me in a crowd of-- there were a lot of people.”

  I guess...I’m not so different from her, Chris smiled to himself and nodded his head. “Anytime, but I don’t think she’ll do it again.”

  “I don’t know. My little Sunale always does this. You had better get out of the rain before you catch a cold.”

  Chris waved them off as they left down the street, turning to head toward north Terminus. He lowered his hand and held it in front of his face. He stared at it and relaxed a little, continuing in the direction he was going before.

  Chris was about to pass by an alleyway, but as he was passing he was grabbed and pulled in. Someone had their hand over his mouth so he could not scream for help. His back was pushed against the brick wall as a pistol was pressed against his stomach. He could not see the person very well, but they were female. There was just enough light for him to tell what they were wearing: a long black and red dress that was cut in such a way that it would reveal the right-side leg, a black serpent design wrapped around the other leg. The chest of the dress was slightly revealing with black and red laces. Her hair appeared to fall a little past her shoulders. The figure stepped into light. Her eyes seemed
unfamiliar to him; not the brown that he had come to know, but a spine-tingling purple. A small grin formed on her mouth, but not one that he expected. It was not like the one Gatchi had made when he had encountered her. It was shadow Victoria.

  “I knew I’d catch you,” she seemed to be applauding herself haughty.

  “I thought you left the city,” Chris felt uneasy now. Who knew what she wanted? “You got what you wanted.”

  “Looks can be deceiving. I was at the hearing too,” she walked over to his left and leaned against his shoulder, pointing her gun at his head. She was there? Where? How? “For example, I look like Victoria, and sound like her--”

  “You aren’t,” he spat instantaneously.

  “My, my aren’t we angry? I didn’t kill her, Vedi did.”

  “I don’t care. You aren’t her.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Misdirected anger isn’t good for you, Christopher.”

  “You still aren’t her.”

  “I will tell you this though,” she lowered her gun for a moment. “I think you and I can...help each other.” Victoria paused to let her words sink in for a moment. She waited for some form of reaction or reply.

  “Why would I ever help you?” he turned his head toward her.

  “You wouldn’t help me out of the kindness of your heart?” she sighed sarcastically as she placed one of her hands to her chest, acting hurt and offended. “I guess it’s a good thing that I have something you want.” She got on her toes and whispered into his right ear as clear as she could, “Because I know where Hunter is.”

  “What?” Chris was taken aback. “Where?” he demanded.

  Victoria had a telling smirk on her face. Chris could tell he had made a mistake in showing such interest in the subject. At first, she said nothing, then she turned and waved her gun toward the clock tower looming in the distance of the clouded night sky, “He’s been moving constantly to different buildings, but right now he’s in there,” she lowered her gun and turned back toward him. “I’ve been helping him relocate every night.”