Bishop walked to Rook, patting him on the shoulder. “Are you ready? This is it.”
“I am. With Colt, I can’t fail,” Rook said confidently.
Rook found it unusual Bishop didn’t say anything in response. He showed no emotion and didn’t have a witty quip to follow up with. Bishop reached out, and they shook hands before he and Nightblood walked to the Judge’s side. With a clap of the Judge’s hand, an orange dome-shaped barrier encompassed them, protecting them from any stray attacks from the battle. The barrier lifted and carried them away to the rooftop of an adjacent building. Using their magical pressure to push them, Rook and Colt leaped into the air and landed on the rooftop where Giselle and her Avatar, waited for them.
“My, my you are a beautiful woman,” Colt commented staring at Giselle’s Avatar. “My name is Colt Cassidy, my friends used to call me Six Guns, but you can call me Colt. Can a fellow ask your name?”
“How gentlemanlike of you, Colt. My name is Victoria Swan, but I’m known as the Violet Witch.”
“Victoria Swan, huh? That is such a beautiful name. It’s a shame I have to kill you today.”
“I wonder why you carry such big weapons, Colt? You trying to make up for it elsewhere?”
Colt smiled. “Why are the deadliest ones the most beautiful?” he asked aloud.
“Are you done? You ready, Colt?” Rook asked. “It’s like Bishop two-point-o.”
“Born ready, kid,” Colt responded removing a shotgun from its holster, chambering his magic inside. “This isn’t my first rodeo, but it is yours. I should be asking you that.”
“Yeah… I’m ready.”
The sound of the Judges voice interrupted their discussion as he spoke. “The first match of the Sixtieth Avatar War shall now commence,” said the Judge, raising his right arm. “Begin!” he shouted as he through his arm down.
All right, she’s left handed and her wand—
Rook started to hear a voice speak, but didn’t know its source. He figured it was a spell by Giselle and dismissed it. Rook removed the pocketknife from his back pocket and ignited it, spreading is feet and holding it up, while raising his other front of him while his palm started glowing a green aura. It was the Duality magecraft combat form Bishop trained him in before the War.
Wind swirled around him as Colt aimed his shotgun at the Victoria. Giselle removed a gold wand from inside her jacket and charged at Rook. Her speed caught Rook off guard and he hesitated. The surrounding wind swelled and spun around him, the closer she got.
Rook, don’t—
Sensing his hesitation, Colt shot a round off toward her, but she ducked and came to a stop before Rook, before slashing at him with her wand. A red arch of energy poured from it, clashing with the cyclone of wind that surrounded him. It held until the red energy dissipated.
“Your fight is with me cowboy!” Victoria roared, holding her wand high above her head. Forks of lightning erupted from its tip and connected with its target sending Colt flying to the ground.
The Avatar leaped after him until they were out of Rook’s sight, but his attention quickly fell back to Giselle who launched another attack against his defensive wall of wind. This time, the fury of her attack started to break through, getting closer than before, until dissipating.
“Is that the best you can do?” Rook questioned as his confidence rose. “Your attack is useless.”
“A wind bearer? You’re not going to get very far with just that,” Giselle scoffed. “Even if I can never break you pathetic defense, Victoria will kill your precious Avatar thus killing you,” she replied. A grin crossed her lips before raising her wand once more.
Rook couldn’t see their battle, but from the sounds of gunshots, Colt wasn’t down and out just yet. The wind defense Bishop trained him in was effective, but he knew it wouldn’t hold forever and had to find the perfect moment to strike her. Since their battle began, she used the same attack twice, and they had little effect. Rook readied his conduit while watching her movements closely.
“We’ll see about—”
“What are you doing? Get out of there Rook—”
Before Bishop’s scream was heard Rook aimed his conduit and blasted a shot of white energy at her. She struck down his effort with a single swipe of her wand before returning with an attack of her own. It clashed with his wind defense and broke through.
It took him a split second to realize she was testing the strength of his defenses with her previous attacks to gather enough magical energy to break through his defenses.
He rolled to his left to evade her initial attack, but it left him wide open for a bombardment of red energy beams from her wand. Without a moment’s hesitation, he gathered the defensive wind around him to block whatever he could. The result ended with her attack landing on its target. It sent him flying from the rooftop to toward the ground where Colt managed to catch him before his fatal landing.
Colt helped Rook to his feet. He held his revolvers high and scanned the area for Victoria.
“Thank you, Colt. That was close,” said Rook as he struggled.
“Save your thanks until after the battle is finished! Now get up! Why aren’t you responding?”
Rook stood and went back to back with Colt while he scanned the area with his pistols looking for signs of Victoria.
“Listen closely kid, they are both using transmutation magic, so follow my lead and—”
Another arch of energy rained down from the rooftop. Giselle’s wand was its source as she stood on the roof’s edge. Rook, holding his conduit with both hands pointed at her as the green glow emitted from them. Wind circled around he and Colt, dispersing her attack as a funnel of wind crashed into edge of the rooftop she stood on. She leaped out of the way, when Colt turned one of his pistols toward her, while keeping the other pointed behind him. He fired them both as Giselle fell toward the ground.
Follow my lead and don’t—
The shot he fired at the building behind him exposed Victoria, who leaped from its shadows and pointing her wand at the energy blast aimed at her Link, destroying it before it reached her.
Giselle rolled onto the ground, recovering then firing a fury of red beams at Rook. He returned a fury of his own white energy from his conduit causing their attacks to clash. The magic blasts exploded on impact, sounding like hundreds simultaneous explosions around them.
Rook threw a gust of wind toward her, causing her to leap into the air. Expecting her reaction, Rook maneuvered the wind and it circled around her, connecting with her back. It pushed her toward him, right in his range of attack. He aimed his blade and struck her with a shot of energy to her chest, sending her crashing to the ground. His opponent was down for a moment and he knew he had a short window to follow up. He ran toward her, igniting his conduit in an electric fury.
Stay back, kid! She’s—
Upon reaching her, he noticed her gaze and grin. He looked down to see her wand pointed directly at him, with its tip glowing red and a swift shots of magical beams pouring out of it. Two of the blasts connected with his shoulder, throwing his him off balance while the wind to avoid the others.
“Rook!” Colt shouted from behind him, as he rolled to his left, avoid the remaining onslaught.
Rook gripped his shoulder hoping to reduce the pain that radiated from it as Giselle picked herself up before him.
“You are predictable,” Giselle remarked, as she strode toward him.
His hand felt wet as he held his shoulder. He was so focused on the pain; the blood coming out of the wound didn’t alarm him in that moment. Giselle raised her wand once more, but quickly turned to her right as Colt fired several shot from his revolvers.
She was quick and parried every shot with swipes of her wand. Rook rose to his feet, only to feel a sharp piercing pain rip the skin from his back. He cried out in pain before collapsing to his knees, slowly turning to see Victoria stabbing her wand at him. She was joined by Giselle who successfully evaded Colt’s barrage as Rook collaps
ed to the ground. Colt ran to his side, making sure to keep a pistol pointed at the two as they readied for another attack.
Rook’s vision blurred and tunnel vision took over. The pain he felt in his back was indescribable as he attempted to cry out. But couldn’t.
“Get up, kid!” Colt shouted. “Now is not the—”
Rook saw Colt’s mouth moving, but there was no sound, there was only silence as everything around him faded to black.
Chapter 14
M.A.N.A Investigation
Salamandra laughed out loud. “Not the result you were expecting, Andrades?” she hissed.
Andrades sat in the study of his Star City estate as the battle between Rook and Giselle came to an unexpected end. The image of the battle disappeared from Salamandra’s orb, before he rose. He brushed off his black suit jacket and walked to the window. Avrice stood next to the chair with his head covered by the hood of his jacket. Staring out the window Andrades could see the flashing lights of battle in the distance and the sound of thunder rolled in the sky.
“Not exactly,” Andrades responded. “We will just have to… adjust.”
A vehicle pulling into the estate caught Andrades attention. He recognized it immediately and tightened his eyebrows.
“Agent Mauthe,” he grumbled.
“Really?” Salamandra questioned. “I’ve been wondering when we would see her again.”
“I can kill her if that’s your wish, Lord Archibald,” said Avrice.
“Not yet, Avrice,” Andrades replied.
“Think she figured out that you are behind the murders of the Royal Court?”
Andrades snapped his attention to the old witch. “No. She has nothing to tie me to them,” he replied. “No, her visit today is about the boy… she is trouble and I can’t afford to deal with—”
He stopped speaking when he a thought crossed his mind. His anger and annoyance of her return drifted away as curled lip turned into a grin. “No, I can use this.”
Salamandra stepped forward. “Really, how?”
“Avrice, ensure that Isabella is placed in her cell tonight,” he ordered. “Salamandra, give Lothar these orders. He is to accompany Avrice tonight at all times. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.” Avrice answered with a bow. He turned on his heel and left the study.
“You know he won’t listen to me!” Salamandra argued. “Lothar the Loyal,” she scoffed with content. “Why you chose to Link with him, I will never understand. He undermines your every word not to mention I’m tired of hearing of honor and duty! Tell him yourself!”
“That’s why it’s an order. As my Avatar, he has to listen to me, now go, before she arrives,” he ordered.
“Fine, but if he screws this up, that’s on you!” Salamandra growled before turning and disappearing through the floor.
Andrades sighed when she left, realizing the truth behind her words. He requested to become a Commissioner so he could gain access to the Avatar orbs before the games. He linked himself with the Lothar the Loyal, the only Avatar in history to have won ten different Avatar Wars.
Being one of the strongest and most efficient Avatars in existence, Andrades chose him specifically for the one quality he needed to his exploit to achieve his goal: Lothar’s loyalty. Unlike Avatars like Salamandra and Izuul, Lothar had no ulterior motives and was loyal to the end with every Link he shared the battlefield with. Choosing him was strategic on Andrades part; he didn’t trust either of the Avatars he used to summon using his family. If any of them tried to betray him or kill him, he knew Lothar would defend him, even if his morals got in the way.
A knock on the door alerted Andrades to Agent Mauthe's arrival.
“Enter.”
The door swung open as Edgar led in Agent Mauthe and Agent Castle of the M.A.N.A.
“This is quite a surprise. I wasn’t expecting any company tonight, least of all Agents of the M.A.N.A.,” said Andrades. “Have a seat.”
“Andrades Archibald IV,” said Agent Mauthe, her voice dripping with disdain.
“Agent Mauthe, how are you? How’s the new job at Headquarters behind a desk? I hope its to your satisfaction?”
“There’s only one thing that will satisfy me—”
“Lord Andrades,” Agent Castle interrupted. “Agent Mauthe is here as a consultant to assist me in my investigation. I just need to ask you a few follow up questions if you don’t mind.”
Andrades smiled. “Agent Castle, congratulations on the promotion. I couldn’t think of anyone who deserved it more. I’ll answer anything you want to know, please.”
He offered them seats before sitting on the couch across from them and crossing his legs. Agent Mauthe didn’t take her eyes off Andrades as she and Agent Castle sat down. Andrades could see the contempt and hatred in her eyes and smiled out of pure enjoyment. When they last met, Agent Mauthe accused Andrades of killing the members of the Royal Court as well as Morgan and Lucia Montcroix, but she didn’t have the proof she needed to arrest him. She was so worked up; she lashed out at him and was reprimanded for it by the Department of Utilities Director Falco, a friend of Andrades. Since then she was reprimanded for her behavior and removed from the case entirely, taken out of the field and given a desk job at the M.A.N.A Headquarters in order to keep her badge.
“Well sir, it has come to our attention that Marques Montcroix, son of Lucia and Morgan Montcroix returned recently and is currently partaking in the Avatar War,” Agent Castle explained.
“That’s right; it was a shocking turn of events for everyone at the ceremony. Lord Kane’s son returned as well. Apparently the two have been living together outside the community.”
“That is correct sir, but we spoke to the Flamekeeper as well and he an informed us of an incident between yourself, Edgar Killshaw and the Marques in the aftermath of the Flame Ceremony. From what the report stated and from Commissioner Quinch’s written witness statement regarding the event, both of the boys accused you of holding his sister Isabella captive in your chambers, but upon search of your chambers, no one was inside.”
“Yes, that is right. Like I explained to Commissioner Quinch after the misunderstanding happened, I believe that they were looking for a way to get themselves disqualified after they realized how dangerous the Avatar War was. It’s happened before and it won’t happen again.”
“Misunderstanding? You call kidnapping—”
“Allegedly.”
“Pardon me?”
“Allegedly, Consultant Mauthe,” Andrades responded with a grin. “I’m again a victim of baseless accusations, I see.”
“Victim? The only victims I know of are the ones your murdered.”
“Nyre!”
“Excuse me? Do I need to contact Director Falco again Misses Mauthe or are you done disrespecting me in another one of my homes yet again?”
“I’m sorry Diedrich, but we’re wasting our time with him,” said Agent Mauthe. “You can see the holes in both sides of his mouth.”
“I’ve had enough of this, Edgar!” Andrades roared. The door to the room swung open and Edgar stepped through. “Please escort Agent Castle and Consultant Mauthe off of the premises at once!”
“Right away sir,” Edgar responded. “This way, sir and madam.”
“I—”
“Enough Nyre,” said Agent Castle interrupting Nyre once more. “My apologies for this Lord Archibald, but we won’t be able to leave just yet,” he said before pulling out a folded piece of paper from his jacket pocket. “We have a warrant to search both your home outside of Star City and this estate. Flamekeeper Belgarath has already given his approval.”
Andrades sighed and grabbed the piece of paper from Agent Castle. He opened it and read the warrant, skipping over the official diatribe only paying attention to the scope of what the warrant entailed.
“Fine,” Andrades scoffed. “But you are to not talk to or address my staff in any way during your search.”
“That’s fine,” Agent Castle agreed. “We
already have Agents ready to search at your estate outside Star City. Once we’re done, that will be the end of it.”
“And what exactly are you looking for?”
“The girl,” Agent Mauthe responded quickly. “We can’t question Marques or Lord Kane’s son until after the War, but rest assured, that will be our first priority.”
Andrades said nothing. His features showed concern and anger, but on the inside, he felt calm and content. They could search all day for as long as they wished, but they would never find Isabella nor would they have the chance to question Marques at the end of the War. Even if they did, there would be nothing they could do. No one to arrest and no one to execute. By the time they would get around to it, he would be in Mage Society, far away from their reach.
“Fine,” Andrades responded. “But I will be with you to make sure no one sully’s the integrity of your investigation, Agent Castle.”
“If you insist, sir.”
Andrades led them to every room of his Star City estate. It was as massive as his other estate outside of the magical city. The Agents took their time in every room, moving books, lifting pillows, analyzing writing on paper, anything they could get their hands on, and they searched looking for evidence of Isabelle Montcroix. They started on the top floor of the estate and worked their way down to the basement. Andrades watched their every move, without saying a word and keeping an eye on Nyre Mauthe in particular. After several hours of searching, they returned found nothing.
Agent Castle communicated via spellscreen with the Agents at Andrades residents outside of Star City and they returned with nothing as well. Andrades noted the disappointed looks they expressed, but he could tell Agent Mauthe wasn’t convinced and he knew she never would be. In truth, he respected her. She was good at her job and knew he was guilty. Had she chosen a different path in her life, she would be formidable. Of all the people Andrades has been at odds with, Agent Mauthe was his greatest opponent. And he hated her for it.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Andrades. I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” said Agent Castle.
Magecraft (Magik: The Avatar Wars Book 1) Page 9