“Yes,” said Nightblood. He sat and crossed his legs and arms and closed his eyes.
“Fine,” Colt responded, following Nightblood’s lead.
Bishop and Rook looked at each other and shook their heads in disbelief. They were amazed at the power the Avatars possessed. In only several minutes they nearly reduced their hideout to rubble all while evading one another’s attacks. Their skill and use of magecraft were unprecedented.
Both used the evocation magic, with Colt using the Gunslinger form of magecraft and Nightblood using Archery. Bishop and Rook witnessed the true power of legendary Avatars and why they are considered elite mages.
“We need to come up with a plan of attack. Find out which enemies we have the best chance at defeating,” Bishop suggested as he and Rook sat between the two Avatars forming a cross.
“You’re wasting your time,” Colt scoffed.
“And how do you figure that, cowboy?” Bishop asked.
“You can’t have a plan of attack if you don’t know what enemies you are facing. Even if the Link is weak and can barely use magic, until you know what the Avatar is capable of, you’re wasting your time.”
“What say you, Chief?” Bishop asked.
“While I believe planning ahead is the correct strategy, unlike the cowboy here, he has a point,” Nightblood responded, before getting a glare from Colt. “We do not know whom we are facing. So the only plan is to watch. That’s what the Links of the past did, anyway.”
“This isn’t your first War?” Rook asked. “How many Wars have you fought in?”
“This would be my fourth and unlike your Avatar, kid. I’ve won all of mine.”
“Because the Link did all the work,” Colt muttered under his breath. “Sat around waiting for them to get killed too probably…”
“Try speaking louder,” Nightblood scolded reaching for his bow.
Bishop intervened, trying his best to avoid another Avatar showdown in their hideout. As Bishop spoke to Nightblood about past Avatars and their strategy, Rook’s attention followed Colt’s eyes as they shot to the steel door that led outside He said nothing as he slowly retrieved a revolver from its holster, pulling the hammer back. The sound of the hammer locking in place grabbed Bishop and Nightblood’s attention. No one turned to the door; they watched Colt, waiting for him to make a move.
Rook raised an eyebrow and turned to the door before turning back to Colt. “What is it?”
“Someone’s outside, kid.”
Bishop rolled out the map in front of him, to see his and Rook’s flame together, but now there was another hovering above theirs. Colt took aim at the door within half a second.
“Reveal yourself!”
A sudden explosion shook them and caused Colt to fire his weapon at the door, completely destroying it. The roof of the hideout peppered chunks of concrete and dust over them as they covered their heads to avoid the falling debris.
After the dust settled, they rose, bolting outside to find out the source of the explosion. The artificial full moon and stars of Star City illuminated Warehouse section as they exited. Scanning the streets outside the hideout they found the building across from them turned to rubble. An unfamiliar voice called out to them, grabbing their attention before they turned to see its source.
“Up here!” A girl demanded.
She stood on the roof of the hideout. Rook remembered seeing her during the Flame Ceremony. The girls hair was long, brown and fell behind her black jacket covering a white shirt and purple and white checkered tie. She wore a miniskirt matched her tie and her legs were lined with long white socks and she wore black shoes. Her Piercing grey eyes struck fear in Rook for a moment as a woman appeared behind her.
Her Avatar wore a Victorian age violet hoop skirt and black corset. Black gloves lined her hands to her elbows. She held a black wand in her hand with a glowing red crystal on its tip. It took Rook a few moments, but he finally remembered the young girls name: Giselle Baptiste.
“You!” Giselle stabbed a finger at Rook. “I challenge you!”
Rook didn’t respond immediately as he watched her. Confidence radiated off of her and it surprised Rook to see such a young girl so confident. Colt suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder, stepping to his side.
“What do ya say, kid? Think we can take’em?” Colt asked confidently.
This was it. The War had begun and there was no turning back. After weeks of preparing the moment had finally come. Although Rook wanted to witness a battle first, he knew there was always the possibility that he would be challenged first.
Rook turned to Colt, then back to Giselle and smiled. “I accept.”
13
The Violet Witch
A two-meter fissure of blue energy grabbed their attention. It was the signal of a Judge’s arrival. The Judge materialized from within the fissure, wearing gray robes and a black cloak. On its face was a half black half white mask hiding its features completely.
“A challenge has been declared,” the Judge announced in a booming raspy voice. “Giselle Baptiste has challenged Marques Montcroix. Both Links have their Yields and will wager one badge a piece. Those not participating in this battle must remain ten meters away from the battlefield until combat has ceased, and a victor decided. The battle will begin in ninety seconds.”
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 said nothing 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 as her black hair fell past her shoulders and her grey eyes admired him. “The name’s Colt Cassidy, my friends used to call me Six Guns, but you can call me Colt. Can a fellow ask your name, pretty lady?”
She bowed gracefully. “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?” Rook asked. “You’re like Bishop two-point-o.”
“Born ready, kid,” Colt responded with a grin. He removed a shotgun from its holster, chambering his magic inside. “This isn’t my first rodeo, but it is yours. I should ask 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 threw his arm down.
All right, she's left-handed and her wand—
Rook heard 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 with white energy. He spread his feet and held it up while raising his other hand in front of him while his palm radiated a green energy. It was the Duality magecraft combat form Bishop trained him in before the War.
The wind swirled around him as Colt aimed his shotgun at the Victoria. Giselle removed a gold wand with a clear crystal tip from inside her jacket and charged at Rook. The crystal erupted in a red glow during her charge as her speed caught Rook off guard and he hesit
ated. The surrounding wind swelled and spun around him, the closer she got.
Rook, don’t—
Sensing his hesitation, Colt fired a shot toward her, but she ducked and came to a stop before Rook, before slashing at him with her wand. An arch of red 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 red lightning erupted from its tip and connected with its target sending Colt flying to the concrete street below.
The Avatar leapt 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 broke through, getting closer than before, until dissipating once more.
“Is that the best you can do?” Rook questioned. “Your attack is useless.”
“A wind barrier? You will not get very far with just that,” Giselle scoffed. “Even if I can never break your pathetic defense, Victoria will kill your precious Avatar thus killing you, Marques,” 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 followed by explosions, Colt wasn’t down and out just yet. The Duality form 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.
“What are you doing? Get out of there, Rook—” Bishop shouted from his perch.
Before the rest Bishop’s warning 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.
He took 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 open for a volley of red energy beams exploding from the glowing red crystal atop her wand. He gathered himself and moved the surrounding wind into a defensive wall to block the incoming attack.
The result ended with her volley hitting its target. The attack sent him flying from the rooftop toward the ground where Colt caught him before his fatal landing, rendering his wall defense useless.
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 red energy rained down from the rooftop. Giselle’s wand was its source as she stood on the roof’s edge. Green aura engulfed Rook’s hands as he aimed his conduit at her. Wind circled around him and Colt, dispersing her attack as a funnel of wind crashed into the edge of the rooftop she stood on.
She leapt off the roof to evade his attack when Colt spun on his heel and aimed one of his pistols at 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 leapt from its shadows, stabbing her wand at the energy blast aimed at her Link, exploding it before it reached her.
Giselle rolled onto the ground, recovering quickly before firing another volley of red beams of energy at Rook. He returned a volley of his own white energy from his conduit causing their attacks to clash. The beams if magic energy exploded on impact, sounding like dozens of simultaneous explosions around them.
Rook stabbed his free hand at Giselle, throwing a gust of wind toward her, causing her to leap into the air. Expecting her reaction, he maneuvered the wind, and it circled around her, striking her in the back. It pushed her forward, right in the path of his next attack.
He aimed his conduit and struck her with a blast of white energy to her chest, sending her crashing to the ground. She 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 of white energy.
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. A single blast of red energy exploded from it, hitting him in the shoulder.
“Rook!” Colt cried out.
Rook gripped his shoulder hoping to reduce the pain that radiated from it as Giselle picked herself up before him. The pain was piercing and burned to the touch as he winced.
“You’re predictable,” Giselle remarked, as she strode toward him. “I think after I kill you, I’ll add that conduit to my collection—a keepsake to remember who I killed.”
His hand felt wet as he held his shoulder, but was so focused on the pain; the blood coming out of the wound didn't alarm him at that moment. Giselle raised her wand once more but quickly turned to her right as Colt fired several shots from his spellgun revolvers.
Giselle 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 off his back. He cried out in pain before collapsing to his knees, slowly turning to see Victoria stabbing her wand at him and an arch of red energy ripping into his back until she rescinded her attack.
Giselle joined Victoria at her side after successfully evading the barrage of energy from Colt’s spellgun revolvers as Rook collapsed to the ground. Colt ran to his side, keeping 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 tried 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.
14
Search Warrant
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. His nephew 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 across the sky.
“Not exactly,” Andrades responded. “For an Avatar, you sure find things amusing than most, Salamandra. 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.
Salamandra stretched her thin black lips into a wide smile, exposing her blackened teeth. She walked toward the window as her tattered black robes dragged across the floor behind her. She moved her unkempt black hair from her eyes and peered out the window.
“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 you’re the one 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 b
oy… she is trouble and I can’t afford to deal with—”
He stopped speaking when a thought crossed his mind. His anger and annoyance of her return drifted away as his 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 and the hidden entrance is closed,” 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 door.
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 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.
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