Mage Catalyst

by George, Christopher

  It only took a quick flick of the wrist to arrest the motion of the white ball, sending it knocking into the blue ball and causing it to flick deftly into the pocket with a satisfying clunk.

  The white ball was sent ricocheting off the padding, knocking our opponent’s ball out of the way and sending it sliding across the table knocking another of his balls out of position. This had the effect of leaving our opponent with only one ball still set up for an easy sink.

  Tony nodded professionally as if this had been his desired outcome. Our opponent simply stared daggers into the back of Tony’s head.

  “What do you recommend now?” Tony drawled as he walked past me grinning in a mocking fashion. Our opponent was getting a little red in the face and looked worried. His eyes darted nervously from side to side. He obviously couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

  “I think maybe the red ball in the middle pocket,” I called to him with a smile.

  “Okay.” Tony nodded back, spinning the cue in his fingers with ninja-like skill.

  Tony would have probably been able to handle this shot without my assistance but I wasn’t about to let this opportunity go to waste. Tony didn’t even take the time to aim. He simply leant forward and took his shot. Unfortunately this caught me off guard as I’d expected more show boating from Tony. Fortunately the white ball was at least heading in the right direction. It didn’t take too much correction for me to guide it towards our desired location.

  With a subtle clink it bounced against the red ball, sending it tumbling down into the pocket.

  I took this moment to walk past Tony, pretending to get a better view.

  “At least look like you’re trying,” I hissed to him as I passed.

  Tony just chuckled to himself and moved to the other side of the table to assess the remaining balls on the table. I’m pretty sure that I saw our opponent’s eyes narrow in anger at our display, though I doubt he heard us, especially over the bar room noise.

  It didn’t look good; even using mana it was unlikely we were going to be able to pot another ball this round. I think Tony knew that too or he had counted on me to alter events. I had decided, however, that it might perhaps be more fun to sabotage our opponent’s shots rather than sink more of our own balls.

  It also allowed more opportunity as he had almost twice the number of balls left on the table than we did. Tony’s next shot went wild and I suppose in some way I should have informed him of my intentions as his ball went fiercely into a cluster of balls. Tony had obviously counted upon me controlling the course of the ball into a desired direction. A slow hiss escaped his mouth and he glared up at me in anger.

  I wasn’t quite sure what to do. It was obvious that Tony had looked at me when his shot went wild. I now had both tradesman and apprentice looking quizzically at me. I shrugged nervously and gestured towards the apprentice to take his shot.

  “That would be two shots,” our antagonist commented dryly, not taking the opportunity for a cheap shot. Something was definitely wrong here.

  I wasn’t interested in embarrassing the apprentice so I left his shots alone. He was obviously nervous and I could tell that the pressure was getting to him. It was at this point that I realised that he probably couldn’t afford the money any more than Tony or I could. This was unfortunate but better it be his problem than ours.

  The apprentice took aim at the remaining ball that was setup and with a casual skill that undermined his nervousness calmly potted the ball into the pocket. This wasn’t a great loss as we were still far ahead. His next shot went wild as he used too much force and bounced his desired target from a good position into the centre of the table.

  I nodded to him and went to take my place. I had some doubts that I would be able to use mana and focus on the pool game as well. Fortunately I didn’t need to, as the white ball had been placed in a fortuitous place almost directly in the path of one of the balls we had set up earlier.

  With a deep breath I attempted to take the easy shot, but misjudged the force required. I hit the ball but all I did was simply move the ball closer to the corner pocket. This wasn’t a bad outcome all things considered as the ball would be easily potted later.

  Again our antagonist chose not to say a word, merely moving into position to take his shot. It was pretty obvious from the outset what he intended to do. He was going to attempt to knock my newly placed ball out of position and sink his own in its place.

  I had no doubt that with his degree of skill he would be able to accomplish this feat. Unfortunately for him I had another outcome in mind. Slowly wrapping a mana tendril around my ball, I strengthened it against the table.

  When the inevitable impact occurred, even I was slightly surprised by the noise. The noise of the two balls crashing together created a loud “thwock” that reverberated around the table. As expected my ball didn’t budge an inch. Our opponent’s ball, however, was sent ricocheting across the table and it didn’t require too much modification from me to cause it to accidently knock another one of our balls into a convenient pocket.

  “That would be two shots,” I commented dryly. I had matched my mannerisms to his comment from before. I had expected him to curse and swear at me.

  He jerked himself up from his leaning position over the table his fingers curling into fists and I seriously thought he was going to throw a punch at me. This stunned me slightly. I hadn’t expected him to actually resort to physical violence. I was more than capable of defending myself if he actually punched me but I just hadn’t expected it. I had no doubt he would have been able to catch me with a sucker punch that would have floored me. Fortunately he must have spotted the bouncer. He took several deep breaths and appeared to be in control of his anger.

  “Your turn,” he snarled at Tony, turning away from me.

  It was at this point that I’d decided enough was enough. You can only push someone so far. It was time to end this. Better to end this quick. We had only two balls and the black left to pot. One of these balls was already set up so it wouldn’t be too hard to finish this.

  Tony seemed to have the same idea as he took aim at the more difficult shot. The shot required a rebound off the far cushion to hit our desired target. This was fortunate as it was quite easy to redirect the ball from the cushion and send it rolling towards its target. This left the ball balanced delicately against the edge of the pocket.

  I thought about tipping it in; however, I quickly realised that this wouldn’t be necessary. Tony had a second shot and possessed the skills necessary to pot both balls.

  All I needed to do was make certain that the white didn’t disappear down the pocket with it. No further meddling was required, as with accustomed skill Tony sent the white smacking into its target and rebounded to place itself within easy reach of its next target, setting him up for an easy sink. The sound of the last coloured ball dropping into the pocket was greeted with silence as the four of us acknowledged the end of the game was near. We had only the black ball and they still had five balls on the table.

  Tony moved into position and I noticed with some degree of relief the look of weary resignation cross our opponent’s face. With a noticeable ‘thunk’ it hit the black, sending it arching towards the far pocket. Tony’s aim was true. The black ball dropped into the pocket leaving the white to bounce harmlessly against the side cushion.

  “That would be game, gentlemen,” Tony drawled, looking up and grinning slightly.

  The apprentice looked helplessly at his elder and threw down a couple of twenties on the table.

  “That’s all I’ve got,” he said helplessly, looking at us.

  “I said you were covered,” the older man stated.

  I nodded agreeably as Tony recovered the money from the table. “You still owe us one hundred and eighty dollars,” he said.

  I noticed that the older man cringed slightly as he heard the amount.

  “Good luck getting it, ladies,” he said.

  “You have to pay!” I insisted.


  He nodded, almost eagerly. “Money’s in me van,” he said.

  Tony and I escorted him out into the car park towards a van parked on the far side of the car park. It had gotten quite dark by this time and I realised with some degree of concern that I had no idea what time it was. I hadn’t intended to stay out this late.

  Our opponent pulled the keys from his pocket and turned the keys into the back sliding door of the van. Tony and I stood several metres away from the car nervously watching as we heard the rummaging noise. We both took a step back as he returned with a crowbar held firmly in his meaty fist.

  The apprentice cursed to himself and took several steps back, a look of fear and slight disgust on his face. Any thoughts I had harboured of him being in on this were instantly dispelled. He looked positively sick at the thought. In fact he looked more scared than Tony or I did.

  “You’re going to turn around and walk away now,” the tradesman commanded slowly, gesturing at us with the crowbar.

  Tony looked at me nervously and then back to the loutish tradie. There were two of us and one of him. We could probably take him but that crowbar looked like it would take either of us down without too much trouble.

  “Sure,” I replied, stalling for time. “But after you pay us what you owe us.”

  “You’ve got balls kid, I’ll give you that.” He laughed and for once I heard genuine amusement in his laugh.

  There was something strange in his eyes, almost like grudging respect. This statement had fortunately given me the chance to throw a mana thread out and wrap it around the crowbar. The crowbar was no longer a threat. Unfortunately our opponent didn’t know this.

  “Just pay us,” I entreated nervously, walking forward with my hand outstretched.

  “Sorry kid,” he snarled, “it’s not personal.”

  “Don’t,” I whispered.

  I was aware that it was already too late though. He had pulled the crowbar back, ready to bring it smashing down onto my skull. They say in times of stress and terror the mind shuts down all higher activity allowing you to assess and act far quicker than your rational mind would allow.

  I remember seeing the crowbar descend and a look of rage cross the tradesman’s face. There was a hurried shriek from the apprentice behind us and Tony leaped forward to pull me back out of the way.

  Then I reacted. In a swift motion of my arm I used the mana thread to sweep the crowbar from his grasp. I tore the crowbar easily from his fingers as if he were no more than a baby and sent the crowbar sliding across the car park.

  A gasp of pain escaped my attacker’s lips as he turned to look with stunned shock at his weapon now sliding from his reach. The look was replaced by one of stark horror as my backswing sent a thread into his torso catching him just under the ribs on his right side. I heard a sickening crunch.

  Time seemed to slow down even more as the reality of this sunk in. The impact hit him hard and lifted him off the ground for a few seconds. I saw his face scrunch up and grimace in pain. His eyes clenched shut and his teeth clamped down as the air was forcibly expelled from his body.

  He fell down to his knees holding his stomach. With each cough he winced in pain as the cough racked across his shattered chest. Blood oozed from the corner of his mouth as he fell to his knees before me. He made no attempt to flee – in fact I doubt he even could have. He simply blinked twice and looked up at me, his eyes widening with horror and fear.

  I knew he couldn’t have seen the mana thread that downed him. But I also knew that he would have seen my eyes staring unmercifully down at him. He would have seen my irises alight with the mana and seen my face turn into the cruel stranger.

  I knew this because I could see my small pupils centred in a cruel and merciless face, reflected in the whites of his eyes. I was ready to end this. I wanted to end this. I wanted it with every fibre of my soul. It scared me how much I wanted to complete my dominion over this wretched man.

  Fortunately for both my victim and myself I never had the chance to complete the act.

  “Run,” Tony hissed in my ear pulling me away. At first I fought against him but the red haze lifted from my vision and I realised that he was right.

  I turned to the apprentice who had backed away in fear against the far side of the van.

  “You saw nothing!” I commanded harshly.

  I took a half step towards the poor guy who flinched in terror.

  I heard the muffled thump as the body of the tradesman finally collapsed to the ground behind me.

  “I saw nothing!” the poor guy uttered, his voice quaking with fear as his eyes darted down to the fallen body of his employer.

  “He was hit by a car!” Tony hissed at the apprentice as he pulled me away.

  My last image of that night was a horrible one. The body of the tradesman collapsed in on itself. The apprentice was staring at our retreating figures with terror in his eyes. The worst part was the wild look on Tony’s face as we ran from the car park.

  * * * *

  “I can’t forget the look on his face,” I murmured into my hands.

  “Don’t think about it,” Tony advised as he passed me a bottle of whisky.

  It was about twenty minutes later. We were sitting at one of the local parks as neither of us really wanted to go home just yet. Tony had stopped in at his place on the way here to collect a couple of jackets and the booze from his brother’s stash. There’d be hell to pay later but I don’t think he cared at this point in time.

  “This can’t have been the first fight you ever got into, is it?” Tony asked.

  “The only other fight I’ve been in was when I was ten! And I lost that one!” I retorted mournfully.

  “Well you’re now at a 50 percent batting average now.” Tony grinned cheekily.

  I couldn’t help but chuckle even though I didn’t really want to. “It’s not really the same,” I replied darkly.

  “I know.” He nodded. “Still, if it’s any consolation, you probably saved both our lives. He was going to hit us with that crowbar. He wasn’t messing about.”

  “We wouldn’t have even been there if it weren’t for me,” I objected.

  “Well, by that argument we wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for me either!” Tony retorted.

  As much as I hated it I couldn’t fault his logic.

  “I felt it,” I mumbled, taking a swig of the bottle as it came past again. I cringed as the liquid slid down my throat. It burned uncomfortably.

  “What?”

  “I felt it, you know, when I hit him,” I repeated.

  “You can do that?” Tony’s eyes were wide.

  “I didn’t think it was possible, but I definitely felt something, there was a crunching kind of feeling when I hit him.”

  “There would have been more than a crunching feeling if he had whacked me over the head with that crowbar,” Tony retorted.

  It was an obvious point. Except that the crowbar wasn’t aimed at Tony. It was aimed at me.

  I was the one standing to the front. I was the one who didn’t back down. I really had goaded the tradie into it. I was so confident in my ability to handle the situation. I handled the situation just brilliantly – the poor wretch was probably lying in a morgue somewhere right now. I shivered at the realisation.

  I may have just killed someone.

  Tony saw the look on my face and nodded slightly. He obviously saw what was going on in my head. He had a habit of being able to do that.

  “You’re an arrogant bastard. You do know that, don’t you?” he hissed angrily at me.

  “What?” I turned, slightly alarmed.

  “You’re going to take responsibility for his actions, aren’t you?” he accused, his eyes narrowed. “He’s an adult and responsible for his own actions. He chose to start something he couldn’t finish. End of story.”

  The accusation hit me hard and fast and what’s more, it was true. But I also knew without a doubt that I was responsible. There was no shirking that respo
nsibility.

  “What the hell!” I snapped back. “That’s supposed to cheer me up?”

  “You want to be cheered up – go to a woman!” He snickered cheekily, dropping out of his angry routine.

  “I’m all about tough love,” he continued, grinning at me in the darkness.

  “Yes, I’ve heard you’re into that kind of thing,” I snapped, then chuckled.

  “That’s better. Now gimme that bottle.”

  “You think he’s alive?” I tentatively asked after a few seconds.

  “Don’t know, don’t care,” Tony muttered nonchalantly.

  But he was lying, I could tell that he did care. It was all he was thinking about, it was clear from his expression on his face. you didn’t have to be a mind reader to see the events playing again over and over behind his eyes. I knew this because the same events were going over in my mind.

  “I think I’d like to find out,” I whispered.

  “I know.” He nodded and got up. “Come on, it’s getting late. We should go.”

  It was a cold and lonely walk home alone. I didn’t get any sleep that night and I doubted Tony did either.

  * * * *

  It had been several days since my encounter in the pub car park. I hadn’t realised it or consciously made the decision, but I’d stopped using the mana and it was beginning to show. I had become nervous and jittery again. My eyes darted nervously and I jumped at any sudden noise or movement.

  I’d returned to a pattern of not sleeping properly again. I became more and more anxious and impatient with those around me. Once again I’d alienated those closest to me. Tina in particular was quite upset by this. I couldn’t really blame her either as I wasn’t trying with her at all, but this was something I needed to work through on my own. I hadn’t gone to Dad’s last weekend. I feigned sickness to get out of it although it wasn’t really all that much of a lie. The night of the incident I didn’t sleep at all. I simply went home and sat in my room gazing out of the window into the darkness of the backyard all night. I didn’t sleep the following night, although I did try. I lay in bed cursing at myself to sleep but sleep eluded me. Eventually I gave it up and got up.