“You’re doing your job.”
“I don’t see any other reason to take up anymore of your time. Once we interview Marques after the game, I’m confident the investigation will come to an end,” said Agent Castle.
“As am I,” Agent Mauthe commented.
Andrades scoffed and ignored her verbal barb before turning to Agent Castle. “I hope so. Now that I think about it, I would like to extend an offer for you to attend my wife’s annual banquet in celebration of the War. It’s three days from now, so I hope this is enough notice. The Avatar Commission as well as the Flamekeeper Belgarath and others are attending; I hope you do as well. You’re invited too of course Consultant Mauthe. But I would hope personal feelings can be kept aside. This will be a meeting among friends and colleagues and we wouldn’t want anything of unruly to occur.
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Agent Mauthe responded forcing a smile.
She turned on her heel and walked out of the front door of the estate.
“Thank you for your hospitality. Until then, Lord Archibald,” said Agent Castle with a slight bow.
Andrades returned a bow of his own. “Until then, Agent Castle.”
Edgar joined Andrades side as he watched as the Agent Castle exit his estate.
“Tell me Edgar, do the bees know where the pollen is?”
“Yes sir, they’ve been informed.”
Chapter 15
Doubt
A sharp pain in Rook’s shoulder opened his eyes. His hazy gaze fell on Colt standing over him poking his shoulder with his finger. Nightblood sat underneath a window, with his legs crossed and his hands resting on his lap.
“He’s up,” said Colt before turning to lean against the wall. His nose was high as he crossed his arms. “At least for now.”
Rook analyzed the room as his blurred vision settled. He turned away from the sunlight that radiated through a window, and shielded his eyes with his arm, when Nightblood suddenly reached over his head and shut the tattered blue curtain hanging above the window.
“Where’s Bishop?” Rook asked.
“He needed time to be alone,” said Nightblood.
“I’m fine, too, thanks for asking. You’re lucky to be alive,” Colt commented.
“So are you,” Nightblood responded.
“What… happened?”
“You almost dying; that’s what happened,” Colt snapped. “Were you not listening at all? And here I thought you were inept.”
Rook’s eyes wondered around the room for several seconds. “I… don’t remember much. I just remember the girl, Giselle standing in front of me and then a sharp pain in my back.”
“Here, let me fill in the blanks for you, kid,” Colt snapped as he stepped off the wall in a huff. “After you decided to let your guard down while I stopped that gal from killing you, her Avatar took advantage and struck you from behind, leaving me to defend you, but even I know my limits and that gal and her Avatar together would have killed me, so I had no choice but to take the cowards way out and yield to them.”
“So… I lost.”
“This isn’t just about you kid,” Colt snapped. “We lost. You lost your spine and me my pride.” He turned away from Rook and returned to his position on the wall. “I tried to communicate with you on the battlefield. Were you not listening?”
Emotions of self doubt and grief overtook Rook as he buried his face into his hands. He remembered hearing a voice call out to him several times, but he pushed it away, focusing his efforts on defeating Giselle.
“Now isn’t the time to feel sorry for yourself,” Nightblood explained. “The War has begun and there’s no turning back. Giselle and Victoria are waiting, less than a mile away to challenge you again. In less than an hour, our Yield will end and you will have to face her—”
“And she will kill him instantly,” Colt interrupted. “He’s too selfish and too weak to stand up to her. He’d be better off taking the easy way out and quitting at least then I won’t have to suffer for his selfishness.” Colt turned and punched the wall, his hand went straight through. “Never in any War did I have to save my own damn Link from being killed during the first battle. I’m ashamed to have chosen you.”
“Colt!” Nightblood snapped. “The boy has suffered enough. I understand why you feel that way, but you’re not helping the situation.”
“I’m really that useless?” Rook questioned aloud. “I held my own for as long as I could!”
Colt turned away from him as Nightblood turned his attention on Rook.
“Had it not been for Colt yielding when he did, your deaths were certain. Luckily, I’m proficient in healing magic and Bishop told me to heal you as best as I could. You’ll still feel some pain, but transmutation magic is deadly, and takes a while to heal completely. Luckily, I made it to you when I did,” Nightblood explained.
“Thank you, Nightblood.”
“There is something I am curious about, if you would not mind explaining it to me, Rook?”
“Sure.”
“From your perspective, how do you think you did during the battle? Based on what you can remember.”
Rook settled his eyes on the wooden door of the small square room and recalled everything his mind could conjure about the battle with Giselle and Victoria. Slowly, his memories were returning and he could recall some of the battle, though some of it remained a blur. He couldn’t tell if he was imagining it or if it did occur.
“From what I can remember, she knocked me off the rooftop, and then Colt caught me. I tried to attack as she came down, but she evaded, Colt, stopped her by firing his spellguns. When she hit the ground, I landed an attack, but that was part of her plan to get me close and she injured my shoulder. Before I knew it, she was about to attack when Colt… saved me.”
Rook realized in that moment why Nightblood asked that question specifically. It wasn’t so Rook could retrace his steps, blow-for-blow, but reveal to him the key event that occurred throughout the battle: Colt saved Rook at every high point of their battle and he realized in that moment why Colt was frustrated.
“I see you come to understand now. Can I ask you why didn’t you communicate with Colt during the battle? Did you not hear him?”
“How could we talk? He was fighting Victoria, and I was fighting Giselle.”
“You didn’t hear me calling your name?”
“Call my name? We talked—”
In that moment, Rook realized that Colt was trying to communicate with him during battle. What he thought was just a voice in his head, an effect of a spell cast by Giselle, was actually Colt trying to coordinate their tactics, but he thought he was imaging it and ignored it.
“That was you, Colt?”
“Who else would it be, kid?”
“I thought I was imagining it, a spell that Giselle placed on me. No one told me I could talk to you in my head!”
“It’s not everyone’s responsibility to tell you everything you need to know!”
Rook gripped the sheets of the bed into his hands. He cursed himself for not knowing, but it never crossed his mind.
“When a mage Links with an Avatar, they share more than their lives. They share their emotions, their pain and their thoughts.”
“It must be Colt’s anger I’m feeling right now then,” said Rook.
“It’s true, he’s angry, but he’ll get over it. Trust me, I know. The anger you feel isn’t from Colt, it’s yours,” Nightblood explained. “You’ve told me how you viewed your battle, now let me tell you how we did; Instead of coordinating your efforts with your Avatar, you used him as a life raft. You didn’t analyze your situation accurately and instead focused your attack only on the Link while Colt picked up your slack and was forced to battle them both. It was easy for the girl and her Avatar to overtake you. You relied on Colt to handle the Avatar by himself while you handled the Link was your biggest flaw and almost cost you your life. They coordinated their attacks while yours was focused on what was in front of y
ou and only you. I do not blame Colt for feeling the way he does. And neither should you.”
Rook absorbed Nightblood’s words for several minutes before he spoke. “I—I understand now,”
“Do you, Rook?” Nightblood asked. “I don’t think you do. Us Avatars fight alongside our Links, not alone. As a Link your job is to work with your Avatar and it is our job to work with you. That is the ebb and flow of the shared connection between Link and Avatar.”
“I’m sorry I let you down, Colt. I truly am.”
“From what I hear, you’ve been sorry a lot lately,” Colt dismissed. “And I can’t do a damn thing with sorry, kid.”
“What do you want from me?” Rook exclaimed. “I lost the battle, I get it!”
“I want you to grow a damn pair!” Colt roared. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself and pick your ass up! Learn from your mistakes, and stop letting them defeat you!”
Colt’s words struck a chord with Rook, every word stung more than the next. He watched as Colt stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. The gust of wind moved the curtain on its impact.
Rook turned and sat on the side of the bed for thirty minutes, thinking about everything. His shoulder and his back hurt and winced as he moved. The words hurt him more, even worse when he realized it was the truth. He was selfish and thought of only himself. He had relied heavily on Colt being there to save him when he needed without once thinking of what Colt was dealing with.
Because they were Avatars, they would return to their orb even if they died on the battlefield. Rook didn’t have such a luxury, so he only thought of his own survival. Bishop not being there made it all the worse. He knew he’d disappointed him once again and couldn’t imagine what was going through his mind at the moment.
“What will you do now, Rook?” Nightblood asked. “Will you give up your life because you are unwilling to change or will you fight back?”
“I want to fight back, but I don’t know if I can.”
“There’s only doing or not doing. If you want to fight back, there’s nothing stopping you, except, you.”
Rook stood from the bed and walked toward the door before stopping and turning to Nightblood, who still sat on the floor with his eyes closed.
“Thank you, Nightblood.”
Nightblood didn’t respond as Rook turned and left the room. He entered an unfamiliar hallway with wood floors and gray walls. In the distance, he could hear Colt cursing and throwing things inside a room as he approached. He reached the door and opened it as the sound of a vase crashing into the wall echoed into the hallway.
“Colt…”
“What?” He snapped.
Rook entered the room, closing the door behind him as his Avatar turned away from him, hiding his anger.
“Just go away kid, you aint cut out for this,” said Colt dismissing him.
“Did you know three weeks ago I was a part-time cook in my uncle’s cafe? It’s not like I cooked much, he doesn’t get much business, so I’d probably say I’ve cooked a meal a week on average,”
“No, I didn’t. So what? You cooked, good for you! Why are you telling me this right now?”
“Just… listen, please,” Rook pleaded. “Before I met Bishop, I never stepped foot outside of my neighborhood. My Uncle Niles is overprotective, but he means well—I understand why now, but at the time I didn’t. I only wanted one thing after my parents died and that was to see my little sister again. I was naive, I looked in phone books, on the Internet, and I even posted signs with pictures I drew around the neighborhood, believing I could find her. Then I met Bishop and my life changed ever since. He showed me another world, the real world and everything that comes with it. And he promised me; he would help me find my sister one day, and he did just that.”
Colt turned to Rook before leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. Lowering his head, the brim of the cowboy hat covered his eyes. Rook walked to the wall across from, stopping to turn to Colt. He felt Colt’s emotions and was sure Colt felt his too, which is why he didn’t storm out again.
“The day of the Flame Ceremony I found my sister, but then I lost her again and now I’m here. I was tricked into signing the Avatar contract and joining a war where my life is on the line if I lose. I’m scared. But the one thing that keeps driving me forward is seeing my sister. So no, I don’t have the skills to be a good Link, no, I don’t know every aspect of this stupid War, I didn’t ask for any of it! The only thing I want, I lost again and I don’t care if I die trying or if anyone stops believing in me or leave me to do it by myself, I will see my sister again. With you or without you, Colt.”
Rook exhaled before turning to the door and opening it.
“Wait!” Colt shouted. He exhaled and raised his head. “You entered this War with no idea what you were getting yourself into even though it wasn’t your doing. That takes guts. You’re right kid, you don’t have the skills or knowledge and you are too naïve. But the one thing you have is heart. And I respect the hell out of you for it. Let’s go.”
Rook stood confused. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s go! Go get your stuff; we only have a little bit of time. Let’s go bag us some witches!”
Rook smiled and shook Colts hand.
It didn’t take him long he and Colt to gather their things. Rook changed his clothes and slid his pocketknife into an old leather sheath Colt gave him and attached it to his belt. They finished packing in five minutes and stepped outside to rays of the magically created sun.
“Rook!” Bishop shouted.
Rook focused his vision and in the distance stood Bishop with Nightblood by his side in the middle of the street. He wasn’t wearing his jackets and lowered his head to his chest. He buried his hands in the pockets of his jeans as the wind blew his hair to the side. Colt and Rook turned to each other, after a moment, they shrugged and walked toward them. Colt stopped in his tracks, using his arm to block Rook from advancing toward Bishop.
“What—what are you doing?”
“Something isn’t right,” said Colt. “I’m sensing a… murderous intent.”
Rook scoffed. “What are you talking about? Its Bishop!” He argued before trying to advance, but Colt stopped him once more. “Colt—what the hell are you doing? Hey, Bishop are you seeing this?”
Bishop didn’t respond, and neither did Nightblood. He kept his head lowered and stayed still.
“Bishop, what’s going on? If you’re mad at me for losing—it’s okay now. I get why I lost and—”
Seeing Bishop’s green eyes as he lifted his head startled Rook. They were empty and devoid of emotion and a look Rook never seen from him before. His focus shifted to Nightblood who removed the map from his back pocket.
“The time has expired,” Nightblood said to Bishop.
“Bishop tell me—”
“I challenge you.”
A fissure of green energy appeared to Rook’s right, signaling a Judge’s arrival.
“You’re challenging me? What’s gotten into you—”
“I told you before we left my reason for coming here with you, Marques,” said Bishop. “I only came here to make sure you didn’t get yourself killed. But you are intent in doing so, but I will not allow your death to come at the hands of another. I’ll kill you myself.”
Before Rook could respond, the Judge spoke.
“A challenge has been declared. F.U. Bishop has challenged Marques Montcroix to combat—”
“Wait, a minute!” Rook interrupted. “I will not fight you Bishop!”
“You don’t have a choice,” Bishop remarked.
“Marques Montcroix cannot Yield, however F.U. Bishop has one Yield. Both Links will wager one badge a piece. Those not taking part in this battle must fall behind me and watch. The battle will begin in ninety seconds.”
“Put a stop to this madness, Bishop!”
Bishop ignored Rook’s plea and turned to Colt. “Hey cowboy! You and the Chief are not to interfere. This is between
us.”
Colt turned to Nightblood and focused his eyes for a moment, then turned his focus back to Bishop and nodded. Without a word, he lowered his arm and walked away from Rook as Nightblood left Bishop’s side.
Bishop removed his hand from his pocket to reveal his conduit swinging in his hand. “If you want to live and see your sister again, you have to defeat me, right here and now.”
Rook turned to see Colt looking away as well as Nightblood. Before him stood his best friend, partner and teacher but now he was the standing in his way, challenging him to a fight. He tried to steady his shaking hands when suddenly the confused and painful feelings inside him subsided. He felt calm. Content, even. Even with the threat of his best friend, he no longer felt afraid.
The Judge threw up his hand. “Begin!”
Rook unclipped the conduit from its sheath and ignited it. His eyes focused on Bishop as wind fiercely swirled around him. Raising his conduit to his side, he moved his feet and settled into the Duality defensive stance. His only path now, was to defeat his best friend, he had no choice, and that was exactly what he intended to do.
Author Note
Thank you for taking the time to read, Magecraft, the first book in the Magik: The Avatar Wars saga. This is my first official book as an author and again, I thank you for taking the time to read it.
Magik: The Avatar Wars will be an 8 book saga and is a personal project for me. It’s an experiment to see if my craft and my story-telling skills improve by the sagas end by tedious trial and error. Some things will work, some things won’t.
If you would like to follow my journey, as I write the books and see the steps I’m taking to improve with each book, please, feel free to follow my personal blog at: www.ahauthorship.com, there you can stay updated with my process with a daily blog, and a weekly blog.
If you like the world of Magik: The Avatar Wars please visit: www.MagikSaga.com, there you can read in-depth character profiles, organization, and learn about the latest news about the books.
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