Axel Light Trilogy: Wands and Shield

Chapter 08-B

 Axel sat on his hospital bed, waiting for Commissioner Linden. Stanley had told him that Linden would be coming to have a chat with him before his discharge from the hospital.

Axel twirled his wand like he would usually twirl his pens. He looked intently at the wand as it twirled. Sometimes, he would spot a spark at the tip, while sometimes, the whole wand might glow.

It could be something wrong with his eyes, because sometimes, his key would glow or sparkle as well; sometimes, it would even vibrate. His wand too...

Axel pinched the bridge of his nose.

He knew what Linden wanted to talk to him about. Linden would ask him to keep his wand aside. Maybe he came to take his wand away from him, to keep it somewhere safe.

Axel had no recollection of what had happened at Million Wands after Monsford had said that MaxPol would help him. Stanley told him that he had nearly destroyed Million Wands and had fainted. Stanley had also said that it was not his fault, he just did not know how to control his wand.

He did not know that he would need to control a wand. He thought that owning a wand would be everything there was to being a Magical. He owned a wand now, he should feel complete. He did feel complete. But he was also fearsome of his wand – Ebony.

One of the first thing that Axel had asked when he woke up was for his wand and if he could keep it. He did not really pay the full price of the wand.

'Once you had chosen your wand, or rather, once the wand had chosen you, we can't really undo that,' said Robert, and he added quickly when he saw Axel's worried look, 'Don't worry, I had paid for it.'

'Thank you, Robert,' sighed Axel, relieved, 'When Mr. Krow said that it was two-hundred dollars, I only had about fifty with me...'

'Two hundred??!!' said Robert, flabbergasted, 'He told me it was five hundred Max Dollars! And I paid him!'

Axel looked at Robert bemused while Robert cursed Mr. Krow. That might be the first time he heard Robert cursing.

'I'll... I will... pay you back...' said Axel, sheepishly.

'It's not that!' said Robert, still angry, 'that swindling, old, crook... best place to get a wand, yes, but a crook!!'

'Well, I had destroyed his shop, maybe he is just angry at me,' said Axel sheepishly.

Mr. Krow had to shutter his shop for a few days for clean-up and repair. MaxPol had paid for everything – broken wands and renovation. Axel wondered if he would need to pay them back, but he did not dare to ask.

Stanley had warned him not to use his wand in the hospital. Axel knew better; he simply could not afford to fix a hospital if the same thing that had happened in Million Wands would repeat itself. He had no idea what and how it had happened.

So now, Axel would just hold, touch and stare at his wand, occasionally twirling at it like he was still doing, while waiting for Linden to arrive. He felt extremely comfortable holding it, as if he had owned it all his life.

The door opened so suddenly that Axel dropped his wand on the floor. Sparks emitted from the tip when it hit the floor. Linden walked in and they both stared at the wand as Linden closed the door behind him.

Axel watched as Linden walked up to the Ebony wand and picked it up. For a fleeting moment, he thought he saw Linden's eyes flashed when he touched his wand, but it could be a trick in his eyes again. Linden held it for a while, weighing it, before he placed it in Axel's hands.

'Nice wand,' he said, smiling gently at Axel as he sat on a chair waiting for him, 'You need a strong heart to wield it.'

Was Linden mocking him? thought Axel, or was he just ignorant that Axel did indeed, had a weak heart?